"The Collection" (Susan/Aya)

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

Dark eyes scanned the twilit street quickly as he unlocked the front door. He spotted no immediate threats or customers, but the night was still young. He flipped the sign on the door to “Open” and then moved back into the store front.

This place was new in the grand scheme of things; only 50 years he’d been running this storefront. Still he was certain that this was his favorite venture yet. He’d been collecting for millennia and despite his keen eye he still sometimes ended up with things that were not as unique as he had at first thought them to be. He also had become something of a tinkerer in recent decades. And so, he had plenty of merchandise.

In the decades this place had been running he’d built a rather profound name for himself in this strange city, on this stranger world. Entities of every variety imaginable seemed to come through that simple glass door and walk across that ancient, frayed rug and stand before his beaten mahogany desk. If the peeling paint on the beige walls could talk, they’d have stories nearly as numerous as his own to tell.

Acacius sat down behind his desk in the black leather chair. He pulled up the sleeves of his suede jacket and got back to work. Before him sat an array of parts for an ancient clock he was repairing. Gears and cogs and tiny screws to one side and his tools to the other side. A small smile played at his lips as he fell back into his work.

To either side of the ancient desk there were black doors; pockmarked and unremarkable looking, but behind each was what drew his various customers. From one there was the near silence of unliving objects. Behind the other; well, that was a different story.

[Aya Hakk]

Susan was told that she in order to get what she needs, she had to go to Massarosa, a supermassive city, in earth standards, and when she was flying over the city in her shuttle, she had to admit, even she was really impressed with the sheer size of the massive city, that she has found out was literally several already major cities literally warped together.

Susan parked her shuttle in a small park not far from the given location, with the park being just big enught for her to land her shuttle confortably, and as she exited the shuttle from the cargo bay, she used a small cell phone-like device and activated several security measures on the shuttle, in case anybody was stupid enught to play with it.

She also activated the advanced cloaking function, and smirked slightly as the shuttle dissapired from sight. She was not worried about loosing it, as the control device would easily able to find the shuttle, even if for some wild situation, it would be warped from the originally parked position.

Susan decided to go to the meeting without her armor, but her cellphone-like device also has a 3D holographic projector built into it, and could show the armor to the person in it was needed.

After a short walk of 10 minits, she arrived in front of the store and took a last look at herself before she started walking towards the entrance. The green skinned Spartan was waring normal black colored running shoes, a pair of jeans that was 2 sizes bigger then her current form, and also had a short on her that was also a bit bigger on her that it should have been. This was due to her earlier constant transformations, something that after a few months, from her early age, she was always issued slightly bigger training uniforms to finally stop always tearing her uniforms.

She finally reached the door, and gently pushed on it, to open the door and walked inside, smiling slightly at the other person, who was fixing some delicate watch or something, so for a few more seconds Susan waited in silence, not wanting to disturb the person. In the meantime, she did however scan the walls of the store and when her eyes caught the gleam of something all too familiar, her eyes narrowed at the feared and powerful weapon. It was a covenant Energy Blade. After a few seconds of narrowing her eyes at the weapon, she finally turned back to the person, easily up fairly, and continued waiting.

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

His skilled hands carefully continued with the delicate repair work; replacing tiny gears and smaller screws and setting them just right as he reconstructed the ancient clock that was easily nearly as old as he himself was.

He kept his senses tuned to the few beings that passed by his storefront, though there were not all that many. Acacius had only a few customers, mostly regulars, although from time to time new ones found him. Still, his business was thriving to him. All it took was one rare acquisition a year and a lucrative sell once a month and he was doing more than good.

He heard the steady, light foot steps approaching several moments before the door opened. He didn’t look up right away; instead he carefully placed the gear he was working on and secured it in place; taking a moment to let his keen senses run over the customer. Soldier. Human or similar. Female. Only soldiers moved with that kind of deadly, quiet grace. It was more pronounced than what he would expect from a typical human though.

Curiosity genuinely peaked, he looked up with a slight smile on his face. He immediately saw her viridescent eyes on the Covenant Blade, mounted on the wall along with many other weapons and various objects from countless dimensions and worlds. There was recognition there, he was certain. Not many had seen such weapons. Her verdant skin was remarkable, a shade he’d never seen before he was certain. Her scent was human, but not. He definitely wanted to know more about this creature.

“Welcome.” He greeted her with a genuine smile on his face as he stood and approached her slowly. His dark eyes flashed silver briefly; he could never quite hide his interest in rare specimens. “I’m Acacius, owner of this strange collection.” He offered “Is there something specific you’re looking for today?” He asked and offered her his hand from a respectful distance.

[Aya Hakk]

Susan waited until she was addressed, and when the person finally looked up at her, Susan studies him for a long moment, her greatly enhanced brain putting the picture together, much faster then other humans. He was a pretty charming person and very elegant at that. This, and his genuine smile put a soft smile on her own face as well.

" Pleasure to meet you, Acacius. I am Susan Strong. " She said, having pre practiced the use of her civilian name countless times in the past, during her trips for staying at hotels and attending concerts. It was still somewhat hard to use her civilian name seemingly so naturally, due to spending and entire lifetime as a soldier, but she was far more used to also using a civilian identity then pretty much any other Spartan.

When she was asked, she did not hesitate to inform Acacius of her situation. "Your close friend directed me to your location, i would be interested in if you would be able to supply me with a new hi tech combat armor? " Susan spoke to the person, and again scanned the walls with her green eyes. "You have a pretty impressive collection. " Susan spoke with a faint smile. The wide selection of different weapons and gear on the walls caused Susan some suspition, though. She only recognised 2 weapons on the walls, one was a standard Spartan rifle and the other was the Covenant energy blade, so Susan only had a lurking idea, that the other weapons where probably not from her home dimension. Heck, not Even Susan herself was in her home dimension. 

" I am guessing that... you have been... around. " She half smiled, and motioned around, towards the walls, without looking. At this point she was certain that he has been to her home dimension, or if not him, then his friend.  

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

“The pleasure is mine, Susan.” He smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. Something about the way she said her name made him curious. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, but he wondered if perhaps it wasn’t her real name, although that didn’t seem right. Many of his clients used false names, he wasn’t one to push; anonymity was a part of his business in many regards.

Combat armor, not surprising. She carried herself with the air of someone utterly deadly and focused. He had many “friends” all over the multiverse, and again he didn’t push for details on which of them had sent her his way. All that mattered was that she’d found him and he was rather certain he could find exactly what she wanted.

His smiled deepened as she scanned the shelves again; her lovely eyes tracing the weapons mostly. He chuckled softly at her comments and the dubious look that flashed in her eyes.

“That would be an entirely correct guess.” he assured her. “My travels are not limited to this world or even this ‘verse. I’ve moved between so many worlds that I’m not even sure if I could find my way to my original ‘verse.” He went on. “Not that I’d want to.” He added darkly.

“Please, follow me, I’m sure we can find something that will suit you.” He said as he turned toward his desk. He tapped a button on the backside of the desk. A series of clicks and small motors purring behind the walls filled the room for a brief moment.

“Security system activated, Acacius.” a soft, feminine voice pooled from the walls. “Would you like me to watch the store?”

“Yes, Prism.” He responded to the AI. Immediately the AI’s hologram appeared in his chair. It was a very detailed hologram and extremely life-like. She looked like a human kid; maybe 16 years old with pale white skin, jet black hair with streaks of neon yellow and pink and tied up in pig tails, dark makeup on her eyes and lips and a very grunge punk look to her outfit. She kicked her feet up on his desk and her attention to detail was so intense that he could here her heavy combat boots smack his desktop.

“Have fun!” Prism grinned and leaned back in his chair.

Acacius sighed, shook his head and continued to the black door with a gesture for Susan to follow. He placed his palm on the scanner and glanced over his shoulder at his newest customer. “Please ignore her.” He said with a smile. “I made the mistake of purchasing an AI that’s more sentient than I’d sometimes like.”

He lifted his hand from the pad as the door clicked and swung open. “You might feel a tingle as you step through the door way, it’s just the security system allowing you to pass. It’s based on Xinkhoi technology which is neither science-based nor magic-based but something strangely both. They assure me there’s no way to be rid of the sensation entirely, but its perfectly safe.” He stepped through the door and into the brightly light room beyond.

The floor, walls and ceiling were all pristine white in the room that was about the size of a football field. Ten rows of white tables went down the middle of the room all filled with various items. The far wall was all weapons, the back third of the room was all various vehicles some more alien than others and the nearest wall was entirely covered in various types of armor, most extremely high tech from hundreds of various civilizations.

He gave her a moment to take it all in before stepping toward the armor. “Can you give me some details on what you need the armor to do for you? Certain abilities you need it to have? With or without an AI system? Tech only or magic? Or both?” He listed off the basic questions he would need to narrow her search down.

[Aya Hakk]

As the teen girl looking like a punk or metal music fan, Susan could not help her fascination at the outstanding detail and live-like appearance. "Wow... extremely advanced hard hologram, i have not even seen Covenant or Forerunner AI technology be this advanced." Susan spoke, and grew wied eyed in great amusement as the AI,kicked her feet up on the table and spoke to Acacius.

It actually made the Spartan... laugh. She only laughed or had a lot of fun while attending concerts or staying at luxury hotels on the concert nights, but this really really amused her! Susan was still being tickled by laughter as she followed Acacius into the massive room, where she slowly looked around, and her laugh turned into a wide smile of being really impressed.

When she focused on all the tables however, brief flashes of the horrific Argumentation process flashed in her brain, literally stunning her for a long moment, and causing the otherwise very focused and collected Spartan to loose her sense of reality for a few moments, muttering. "Oh gosh, not that. "She muttered, as she shut her eyes and slowly shaking her memories away, before forcing her self into the present, but even at that it still took a few more seconds for her to get over the horrific memories. Heck, she only lied to herself about getting over such things, she was never able to forget, never able to let go, never able to fully move on, she was unable to.

So many of her new family, be killed, or very severely deformed or crippled, and even much more, be KIA, it hurt. A lot. Sometimes it hurt her so much that she wanted to just give up. But she knew that she had no such option, from the very start. That is why, her only fun, and way of escaping into a normal world, was attending of concerts. That was the only normal thing in her life.

After a few seconds, Susan was finally able to focus on the current situation. She slowly took in all the suites, weapons, crafts and tech, that lay on the many tables. " Well, i am hopeful that this round is safe from listening devices, and the actual specs of my current armor are highly classified. And as my current armor would be in need of some system repairs, i still need a new armor until that can be repaired. " She explained, being a bit embarrered that such an extremely expensive combat suit would actually be need to be repaired. during all the missions, she external pain, would be really messed up, that was one thing, but the internal systems... that was another, serious issue.

" The suit would need a number of specifications, namely it should have an own energy source, an energy shield, Magnetic weapon holders, very advance HUD system, with the helmet capable of effectively housing a smart AI, something that multiplies the abilities of the wearer, also the suit should be able to be sealed for space or water based missions, a possible undersuit, integrated thrusters, an auto-repair system, radiation and biohazard protection systems, and a few other extras like extra compartments for ammo or gear, active camo system and a holographic emmiter, and i am also open to other suggestions from you, as you probably know a lot more about armors then me, even if O.N.I has allowed me to study the detail of the suits that we used. Oh and probably the most important, it has to be able to expand slightly, from my current build and height and then shrink back to my current size. " Susan finished with a slightly embarrered half smile, hoping all these specs would not annoy him.

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

He watched her carefully, still unsure as to her exact nature. She moved from amusement at his pain-in-the ass AI to something else entirely, very suddenly. Was that fear he saw in her lovely eyes? He tracked the angle of her eyes and realized she was looking at one of the biotech surgery tables. He slid himself very subtly in front of the tables and then her eyes continued to assess the rest of the inventory.

He quickly put a few pieces together in his mind. She had recognized the Covenant blade and some of the Spartan weapons in the storefront. She carried herself like a living weapon. Clearly she originated from the same ‘verse as those items. He suspected she had likely gone through the Augmentation procedures. He’d witnessed the procedure once, years ago, and was certain he would never forget it.

In many ways it reminded him of what the invaders of his home world had done to him and so many others when they were barely more than children. His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched as he forced the memories away. He took a deep breath and forced his focus back onto Susan.

“No one can see or hear into any of my facilities without alerting Prism, and once she’s alerted they won’t last long.” He assured her with a slight smile on his lips despite the dark edge to his voice. “My customers privacy is always my main concern.” he added, noting the lilt in her voice and darkening of her cheeks that he assumed was chagrin. He wasn’t surprised at the reaction, he was familiar enough with her world to know that the military didn’t like to admit to faults in their tech.

He listened carefully to her list of specifications and needs. As each point was added he created a list in his mind of the various armors that would work for her. When she was finished he nodded with a smile and let his eyes cast along the wall of armor, still working quickly on the list in his mind.

“I have a few options for you.” He assured her as he moved along the wall, still comparing pros and cons of each armor suit he had to her list of needs. “I know a former O.N.I tech who can probably help you with your current armor. Although, I think you’ll find something here you’ll prefer over it.” he ventured. “I mean no disrespect, but there are more than a few civilizations out there with far more advanced tech than where I believe you’re from.” He explained with a rueful glance over his shoulder at her.

He stopped near the middle of the various combat suits mounted on the wall. He gestured to the first; a sleek, solid black suit that looked like nothing more than a silicone catsuit with a silvery hexagonal pattern over the entire thing, but was in fact far more advanced. “This is made by a civilization known as the Traken. Humanoids with perhaps the most advanced tech I’ve ever seen. This is the undersuit, made of a type of carbon-fiber with built in nano-tech that fits it to the wearers measurements at the touch of this button here.” He pointed to the silver button on the chest.

He paused for a moment and then gestured to the silver button at the waistline. “This buttons calls out the armor itself.” He tapped the small silver button and it flashed once before lavender light pulsated from the entire suit. In less than two seconds the simple undersuit transformed before his eyes. Black and silver metallic plating emerged from seemingly nowhere, making the suit appear nearly twice its original size.

It was a sleek and deadly looking combat suit; all smooth lines and deadly grace. He detached a small black box from the weapons belt and turned to Susan. “This is a detachable control, but you can also control everything about the suit from the HUD display and built in AI.” he showed her the sleek remote and then pointed it at the suit. The helmet appeared in a flash of lavender light; shiny black with no apparent screen to look out of, but it was only see-through from inside.

“Built to withstand the powerful vacuum of space and up to ten-thousand feet deep in earth-like oceans. The AI can always let you know how deep you can go depending on the planet you’re on.” He explained. He pressed another button and a series of weapons appeared on the suit. “A mounted grenade launcher on the left shoulder, rocket launcher on the right. Plasma rifle that can transform to a pistol here.” he pointed to the first gun on the belt. “A few blades here and here. And I’ve never known of Traken blades to need resharpening.” he indicated blades that emerged from the upper arms and thighs. “Standard projectile rifle that again can transform to a pistol here.” he pointed at the last gun.

“The plasma gun has an unlimited charge and the projectile weapons each have capacity for 100 rounds.” He went on. He tapped another button on the remote and two compartments opened on the chest and another on the thigh. Black and lavender light pulsed from them. “These are ammo storage, and don’t let the size fool you. Traken-tech utilizes a form of quantum physics that allows even the smallest compartments to hold vast amounts of storage. Currently the suit’s weapons are fully loaded and the ammo storage is loaded with 200 additional rounds for the rocket launcher, 500 rounds for the projectile rifle and 100 grenades.”

“The suit can withstand massive amounts of radiation and heat; I actually once flew a Traken combat suit into a sun. Not a scratch on it or me. It was a little hot, but not unbearable.” He chuckled. “It’s also able to withstand nearly every bio weapon I’ve ever tested it against as well as a long list of chemicals. Again the AI system can give you the details and inform you if it can’t handle something.”

He stepped back from the wall a few feet. “Take a step back for me please.” He asked her politely. When she complied he pressed another button on the remote and the suit seemed to come to life. It jumped down from its position on the wall; shaking the floor with its massive weight and stood before them on it’s own. He pressed another button and with a soft click a section detached itself from the back of the suit and floated to the front. It looked like nothing more than a simple pistol case but after a brief pause it unfolded itself to around six feet wide, a foot tall and a foot deep. He lifted the lid and a flash of purple light again pulsated from the jet black interior. “This can store literally everything in this room and more if you wanted. Even something that wouldn’t appear to fit through the opening. Say, a vehicle.” He explained. “Anything you want in the box, you simply place it in front of this scanner; he indicated a glass-like square at the front of the container. And then stand back and the AI will pull it into the compartment. You can pull up a list in the HUD of everything inside and select what you want brought out at any time.” Another tap of the remote had the container folding back in on itself and reattaching to the rear of the suit. He tapped again and the weapons slid back out of view.

He gestured to the now empty belt. “Magnetic holders for your own weapons if you prefer.” he pointed them out. “The helmet allows for infrared sight as well as a form of night vision and ultraviolet sensing. Sensors built into the suit can monitor the environment in a variety of ways for up to 200 feet in all directions; biosigns detection, motion sensing, chemical analysis, radiation levels, contaminants, biohazards, etc.” He listed further specs before tapping the remote again. A network of silvery light flashed over the entire surface of the suit and then disappeared. “Energy shielding about ten times stronger than the most advanced Mjolnir powered assault armor system.” he said referring to Spartan armor. “Even without the energy shielding the suit can withstand a five kiloton nuclear blast. And a massive amount of projectile weapons fire.”

“The AI controls an army of nanite technology within the armor allowing it to self repair from nearly any damage you might put it through. There is also a nanite system within the undersuit to enhance any natural abilities you may have to a certain degree such as strength, speed, reflexes, etc. It can also heal minor injuries to you.”

“The suit can lift nearly two tons of weight and withstand pressure of up to 12 PSI. It can run 150 miles per hour and fly at speeds of up to mach 1. And like the plasma rifle the suits energy source is limitless as it utilizes zero point energy.” With another press of the remote he clipped it back in place on the belt and the suit reattached itself to its place on the wall and the armor plating disappeared to reveal the simple undersuit.

“I have two other options you might like as well. But this is the most advanced armor I have.” He told her, wondering what she thought of the rather amazing armor. For some it was too much, but she was already used to a rather advanced combat suit it seemed.

[Aya Hakk]

Susan listened when Acacius said that nobody can hack of enter into his facilities, or if they did manage, the intruder would be killed off fast. Susan has long gotten so very used to killing others, that the death of a person who was not her friend or family, or ally... it would not phase her at all, not even the slightest hint of concern about the heath or status of the person. 

She grew really surprised when he mentioned that he has different facilities. "Wait... facilities? More of such sized rooms... can supply militaries with a lot of extra firepower, but a lot of these gear, tech, weapons, armor, vehicles... i know from personal experience... are not cheep toys. " She said, as she was actually the owner of an aerospace and defence company.

"You may or may not have guessed that i was in the military, and was also the owner of a smaller, but very profitable, aerospace and defence company. " Susan spoke. " But i could never own more then a large shuttle, i was not allowed to. " Her face grew dark, when Acacius mentioned knowing a former O.N.I techy. " You know about O.N.I?... that means you have also visited my Verse... i am not sure when you where there, but Humans ave won the war, and officially made peace with the Covvies... i mean Covenant, but for years afterwards, we still had to fight many battles "  Susan said, careful to not give away too much about being a Spartan, but she did suspect that it Acacuis knew an O.N.I techy, then he also knew about the Spartan armors, so there was no real need to play a dumb civilian. But she was so used to keeping her Spartan life and actions a secret, that it was just seared into her... Spartan programming.

The green skinned Spartan listened to everything Acacius said and shows her about the suit. The hyper advanced tech suit did in fact, turn out to be much more advanced and stronger then even the latest Mark V suits of the Spartans, in pretty much every aspect. And Acacuis clearly gave away clearly knowing about even the latest Mark V suites. Susan was pretty dissapointed at the ONI tech for giving out even bits of info about the classified and very advanced and expensive suits. 

The pure level of power, gadgets and capabilities of the suite before them, excited her to the point that she was grinning and shaking her head at some of the crazy powerful capabilities. She however knew that such a suit would be very expensive, but was already sute that it would be just right for her every possible need. She slowly turned serious again, but did smile at the though of flying into a sun. "For the record, i never plan to fly into the sun or take a direct nuclear blast. " Susan spoke, and then nodded slightly. 

" As extreme as the capabilities sound, i like the suit, and i do not want you to spend so much time, briefing me about a few other possible suits, so i wish to buy this one. " Susan spoke, unintentionally being a bit too direct with her intention to buy the suit, but she was just programmed this way. "Even if i am very drawn to my current suit, it was actually my second suit from O.N.I. " She said, and then after a long second, she frowned. " O.N.I and we, have had a very serious love/hate relation... something that no outsiders know about... with great power, comes great responsibility... but also so so so much pain. " Susan looked away, becoming very sad, lost and alone, all of a sudden. "My gosh... where did everybody go? " She spoke softly, being in a lot more emotional pain that what her face expressed. In truth, she was close to tears, something that last happened, decades ago. 

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

He smiled at her question of him having multiple facilities. Really it was all one place, this room in which they stood was one entrance to his cache. The moment they’d stepped through that doorway from the storefront they were no longer in the same reality. There were thousands of rooms this sized stacked one atop the other, row after row within his demesne. It had not been cheap to set up, but unfortunately creating his own private reality was something he didn’t have the ability to do himself.

He nodded. “I could easily supply many, many worlds militaries with enough to fight their wars for centuries to come. I’m not in the business of full-scale war, however. I am more than happy to supply mercs and small groups with what they need, but most of my cache is private.” He explained. “You’re correct that nothing I have is cheap, I deal in the rare and unique and often times powerful only. Most of what I have here no longer exists anywhere else."

He nodded at her admission and her statements about her home world. “It’s not hard to tell you’re a soldier and a well trained one at that. You carry yourself in a way that could be nothing else.” He said with a small, appreciative smile. “I have indeed been to the verse that is home of the Covenant and the Halo Arrays. I am attracted to unique things.” He said with a flash in his eyes as he took in her unique coloring once more. He couldn’t quite stop his eyes from tracking down her lithe frame either. “It’s been many years since I was there, and I was unaware that the conflict was over, however. I'm glad to hear it.” he went on quickly.

“The O.N.I tech I know owed me a debt when he left his ‘verse. Payment was his knowledge.” Acacius explained, not sure why he gave her any details at all. That wasn’t his way. He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Susan and her assessment of the armor.

He chuckled at her words and crossed his arms across his chest. “It wasn’t exactly my intention to take a shortcut through a sun either, but sometimes things go sideways.” he laughed.

He nodded when she confirmed her interest in the Traken suit. He liked her directness. He could play the salesmen and haggle as well as anyone, but he preferred bluntness most of the time. He saw a darkness surface in her eyes and again the weight of his years flashed behind his own dark eyes. He gave her a moment to collect herself and pulled a small black box from his pocket. “Prism, is the testing room available?” he asked his AI through the communicator.

“Sure is boss, my experiments are all sorted away for the moment.” her chipper voice responded instantly.

He turned back to Susan then and stepped back toward her. “Before we discuss a price, would you like to test the armor out, be sure you like the feel of it?” he asked her. A door across from the one they had entered slid open. “I have a testing simulation available. No live fire, but you can check out the features and familiarize yourself with the AI. I can answer any questions that may come up, as well.” He offered as he took the armor’s undersuit off the wall. It was exceptionally light despite all the tech it had hidden away within it.

[Aya Hakk]

Susan, the otherwise really collected and calm spartan, grew wide eyed and a bit open mouthed in great surprise, when she hear the insanely massive amount of military hardare that he has already collected. Susan was frozen in surpise, taking even her extremely fast mind a long second to process that info. After a long second, Susan smirked, being very impressed. "With that amount of firepower, you probably have the largest private military. " She said, and then listened to him. something about the way that she said he collected unique things, caught the attention of the Spartan. He was collecting unique things, unique crafts, armor, tech, weapons, military hardware... witch she herself was infact a living weapon, a unique living weapon, the Strongest and second fastest of the Spartan II generation, in itself elevated in all aspects from the other spartan generations, who where also greatly elevated from the baseline humans. This could have mean that Acacuis would have also wanted to collect a Spartan II soldier, and with her being not fully human in several ways, that might add to her uniqueness. This though pattern took several long seconds for her to process before looking at him, with a shy half smile.

"So, when say that she collect all sort of unique things, that clearly included all sorts of military hardware... all sorts... including a unique green and muscular female soldier? " Susan grinned, unable to hise her amusement at the fact that he would be interested in also collected her... but the Spartan actually did understant his desire. "While i may allow you to add me to you collection... how would that work out for you, as well as me? " Susan asked with a half smile, but still had a fair bit of amusement in her eyes. She then grew serious when he mentioned the ONI agent. " Wait, he payed with his mental skills and... memories? Not there is something i did not know can be done." Susan grew even more serious. This was something that even after all the alien tech, weapons, and experiences, this was something that was unknown even to her as a Spartan.

The Spartan gave a half smile, and a smirk when Acacius explained how and why he did fly into a sun, once. It would have been more amusig for the green skinned Spartan if it was almost not the case during a past mission. " We almost had that happen with our largest capital ship, luckily we Spartans managed to do an impossible mission again, like we have always done. " She finished a bit darkly,

She then listened and looked at the large simulation room, and broke out into a amused smirk, and a slight grin. "No live fire? that is almost an insult at this point... but understood. " She said, suddenly turning fairly serious again. The Spartan took the undersuit and after she put it on, she took her own AI and inserted it into the backside of the helmet area. "Diana, we are getting an upgrade, record and analize all system data. " She said to her own AI, witch could also be heard to the outiders, namely Acacius. After a few moments, Susan activated her armor and full HUD visuals and started doing some combat simulations, running, leaping, summersaults and flips, dodges, kicking and punching at the air, all during this, every few seconds, she mentally contoled the armor systems to activate and ready a weapon, and a few seconds later retract that weapon. She was interested in if she suit systems would be able to keep up with her fast and very sharp mind, witch it did perfectly.

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

Susan’s grin was infectious and he chuckled and grinned back when she realized he was speaking of collecting her. She was beautiful and clearly dangerous, a combination that was always attractive to him. He appreciated that she appeared to have an open mind about him collecting sentient beings. Many that he had tried to acquire over the years had thought him some sort of monster; assuming that his collection was something like slavery. That was not the case at all. Some were too narrow minded to understand that or even give him a chance to explain.

HIs smile was wide and genuine at her response to the idea. “I’ll let you get acquainted with the combat suit and then I have an offer for you.” He said as he walked beside her to the door of the simulation chamber. He remained in the doorway with his back turned as she slipped inside and donned the suit. When he heard her talking to her AI he turned around to watch her.

There was something astoundingly pleasing about female warriors. They could be just as deadly, often times more so than their male counterparts, but they were by far the more beautiful. There was a grace borne inherent in the feminine soul that made every dangerous and deadly move appealing. He’d often thought he’d prefer to die by the hand of women if he could in fact ever die.

Despite how alive he was, and how nothing yet had seemed able to kill him, he did often think of death. Many would think it morbid to keep a list of all the ways he had been mortally wounded only to live, but he did in fact have such a list. While he enjoyed life, he did sometimes wonder what it might be like to truly die one day. Immortality was unnatural for him. Some days it took its toll.

He was pulled from his thoughts when she approached him and his smile returned. “You appear to approve of the armor.” he said. As they stepped back into the other room he turned toward her and leaned against one of the tables covered with various small vehicle parts. “Hmm, now, I want to make you that offer.” He said as his eyes trailed down her frame once again before he met her bright gaze.

“Become a part of my collection; spend time with me when I request it, and when you would like to; let me get to know you. The terms on which we spend our time together will always be at your discretion, I would never force anything upon you.” he started. “Sometimes we might simply spend time talking or going out, other times we could hire ourselves out together as mercenaries, or you might enjoy accompanying me on salvage missions or helping me hunt down artifacts. In exchange I’ll give you this armor, and take care of all your needs. And I do mean all of them. I can provide you a place to live, even if only part time, and anything you need I will give you. Anything you might desire we can discuss. And while you can clearly take care of yourself, as part of my collection you will always have my protection.” he offered. “If you would like, you can meet others in my collection before you make your decision, as well.” he added.

He held up a hand quickly before she could respond and added; “And as part of my collection, you’ll have access to peruse my entire demesne where my inanimate collection is stored.”

[Aya Hakk]

She spend only a few more minits running, leaping, punching, and kicking the air, doing several short bursts of all out sprint, pushing her own, olready superhuman speed limits. It felt great to finally run so fast again, it has been only a few weeks since she had to sprint full on, and she missed it already.

She spoke fairly excitedly, something that was due to the excitement of the new armor. " Oh yes, the armor is incredible, I am a bit relactant to admit that the suit abilities and brief trial was enught to compare the armor abilities, this armor is clearly superior. " She said finally coming to a stop just a few feet from, him, mentally commanding her helmet, to move to show her head. She was smiling and looking over her armor, for another long second, before she smiled shyly at Acacius. Susan then listened to him, thinking the offer over, within only a a few short seconds. Susan though several times faster then the normal human, so under that little time, she thought a lot about his offer.

On one side, she wanted to be free from ownership, first O.N.I, pretty much owned her, nearly her entire life, she has gotten to used to that, that she would not be able to imagine, not being owned by somebody. Sure, she was never actually a slave, but was forced into another kind of slavery, as the military hardware of an agency. She was only free from her slavery of the agency, when she was traveling to a concert, attending concerts, or staying at luxury hotels, that the different bands where also staying. That was her only true freedom in her life, other then that, she was a Spartan. Susan admitted to herself that as part of the collection of Acacius, she would have much more freedom in her life, to do what she wanted, and when she wanted. She then looked up at him, with a serious look on her face, but was stopped for a few seconds before she could have answered. The second offer, also got her a even a bit more fascinated.

" Acacius, after being owned as a living weapon pretty much all my life, stripped of many kind of freedoms... being in your collection will be a much better change in ownership, with apparantly far more personal freedom, for witch i am beyond grateful. So officially i accept all terms and conditions of your offer, and please do not feel the need to lavish me so much, but yes, we can spend as much time together as you like, go on missions of all sorts, and if you like, concerts, for witch i would be happy to pay, i usually sleep in my shuttle or at luxury hotels, but a permanent place would also be very welcome, if that is not a burden? For any combat related things, apart from this incredible armor, i would only need weapons and ammo, a hoverbike or a sturdy, strong and fast armored combat vehicle. " Susan let out a half smile motioning around the massive room that was filled with all sort of military hardware.

She then grew serious again before speaking. "At the moment of my death, from mission or very old age, the suit is to return to your sole ownership. And, as payment for the suit, if you accept, my shuttle, not much but it is very expensive, also you can have my other armor, if interested. " Susan spoke seriously. 

[>Flighty<]

"This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us."

Acacius watched her closely as she listened to his offer and then clearly thought about it. His lips pressed together and a tension spread down his spine as he watched her. He hadn’t brought anyone new into his collection in nearly three centuries. Despite his long years and the experience he’d gained in that time adding to his collection, he was always a bit nervous when trying to collect sentients. It could easily offend those who misunderstood, few people could grasp his need to own. It was not about having power or control over others, but about knowing he alone held something unique and precious. It was about knowing that no one else could take advantage of that singular being and that he could give a part of himself to always protecting someone so rare.

In the beginning his need to own was darker, and sometimes he knew that darkness was close to the surface, but he his need had evolved. He had watched far too many beautiful, unique beings be destroyed by slavery and worse over the centuries. He couldn’t claim and protect all of the rare creatures in all the ‘verses but at least he could take care of some. Not a soul in his collection had never been harmed by outside forces or been broken by the worlds. He surely wasn’t what anyone could consider ‘good’ but he did right by those in his collection; always.

He enjoyed the fact that Susan didn’t simply reject or accept his offer immediately, she was clearly thinking carefully and considering all the the had said. Still, it was an uneasy moment for him, but he reminded himself to breathe, and be patient. He saw a spark in her eyes that blossomed to interest and something eased in his chest. He could easily admit that something about her had captured his attention more than many in his collection, and he was not entirely sure of what he was feeling at the moment.

As she accepted his offer and spoke glancing around the massive room, he was able to truly breathe again and a smile split his face and his dark eyes danced. He dipped his head in a slight bow, the smile still on his face as he looked back up at her. “You honor me, Susan.” he assured her. “I can provide you whatever weapons and ammunition you need, any time you need it. And it will be my pleasure to provide a more permanent home for you. As far as your shuttle and armor, it’s not necessary as payment, unless you wish to part with it.”

He pushed off from the table and stepped toward her, closer than was appropriate for a simple business transaction, but he couldn’t help himself. He looked down at her; the smile still on his face. “I’ll have a contract drawn up; I want you to know exactly what it is I am offering you. And all I ask in return is for you. You are the payment, Susan.” he added softly as he reached up and twined a lock of her beautiful, silken hair around his finger.

After a brief pause he forced himself to lower his hand and step back. “I can have a temporary room prepared for you at my estate by tonight and when you’re ready we can discuss what you would prefer for your permanent quarters. I’ll have the contract ready by morning. If you need more time that is fine, as well.”