Sand in the machinery (Tenshineko, open)

N.I.U.S was not exactly acclimatized to the endless swathes of desert that made up the world of the hollow, the endless battle for survival and the barrage of sand constantly entering through the minimal cracks between its metal plates. It was a land of promise however, the perfect battleground for improvement for a creature such as itself as it could cut and absorb its way through beings greater then human souls. And when it came to the place itself it had proven itself as the perfect place for it to be, it felt stronger then anywhere else when here. The air itself seemed to strengthen it and it had a perfect chill that allowed its processors to always operate at optimum without even coming close to overheating without needing to activate its internal cooling. It was inhospitable, but it had proven to be a far more fitting place for it to be then earth, although it certainly still went there.

For now it was merely prowling, the metal serpent slithering through the sands as it hunted for feral hollows to consume. It wasn't that it viewed other hollow as worth only to consume but as things were here it had found very few hollow who were actively willing to converse. It didn't take long for it to find another hollow, a feral by all accounts, growling at seemingly nothing as it too prowled the wilds yet it was taken by surprise as the giant chromed creature lunged out from the sands, pinning the creature down underneath it in one fell swoop. Immediately afterwards it took the hollows head between its metal jaws, sending electrical currents through it and leaving it paralyzed as N.I.U.S proceeded to consume it alive.

The chainsaw like teeth grinded the hollow's flesh as it tore its way through, the physical matter being converted into spiritual energy and then absorbed by the machine, the waste matter simply being removed and thrown out of the jaws. This process made quick work of the hollow and it was only a matter of moments before it was no more. During the process however N.I.U.S kept little to no attention to other matters and it would have been easy for someone or something to encroach upon it.

Ren was in a good mood she was finishing up her kill when she heard a raor behind her. Her ears twiched and she looked back. Her entire body went tense in faer, right behind her was a huge metal hollow with its mouth gaping open blood dripping from its jaws. Ren could tell that it was hungry. She knew that it was stronger then her but she had to defend herself. Thinking fast she used her Aura Shard. Sending it twoard the hollow the attack had no effect. It must of felt like a tickle to him. she thought.

Ren growled at the hollow trying to scare it off. Baring her fangs she leapt at the hollow and bit down on its shoulder. Hopeing that it would do some damage.

Ooc: I appoligize that it is short.

It had been surprised to find another hollow so close by to its last prey but it was certainly not unwelcome. It took the form of a great cat, although one of the smaller types of them. It had noted that it was so common for hollow to be found in the shape of animals. Her speed at reacting to its presence was duly noted, she was far quicker then it was and it was far too easy to note for its own sense of security. That quickly returned to normal however when it noted the weakness in her first strike, not even denting the platings on impact.

The creature growled at N.I.U.S, reacting in a way one would to drive off a greater predator but of course such things were meaningless to this metallic serpent. The bite however was less meaningless. The crunching bite buckled and dented the plates right underneath the massive head, keeping her safely away from the creatures jaws. But it quickly formed a rather simply way to counter this attack. N.I.U.S quickly lifted its head, moving the body upwards then slamming down and planning to smash the other hollow between itself and the ground.

Ren felt herself lifted in the air with the matalic Hollow. Too late to relize that it had slamed her in to the ground. The force alone knocked the wind out of her leaving her gasping for breath. Stuggleing to get up she fell again. Breathing heard and her vision was getting fuzzy. Looking up in frustration she waited for the Metal Serpent to consume her.

Ooc: It is short. I'm sorry. DO NOT EAT HER.

It was surprised by how simple she had fallen, so eager to fight rather then flee yet still one blow was enough to bring her to her knees. The serpent reached out with its tail, still having her pinned down before letting the tail take her instead, holding her tight between the metal plates. It looked at her, the red eyes cold and analytical as they observed the cat caught in its grip, holding her like a vice. "You are weak. That you have survived in this wasteland with so little power is an improbability I never would have expected to be seen overcome. How is it that you live, how can a hollow this weak exist?"

It was cruel yet it was not its intent as it lacked the capacity to willingly wish cruelty on others, it was truly curious about how such a thing could have transpired as it always sought more knowledge. It was not truly expecting it to reply however, for all it knew this one was feral as it so far had shown no real sign of intelligence. But despite that knowledge in mind it decided that it was better to keep it in its grip before consuming it, it wasn't going to be that much energy to consume anyway.

Ren was caught in the Serpents iorn grip. It spoke to her in a robotic voice.Saying nothing but insults Ren just got even more angry. With each insult just seemed to push her more. "How can a hollow this weak exist?" this last remark really make her mad.

She growled. "I can't help it if I'm weak! I just became a Hollow! And second, I suvived this long is because I stay out of the way of the stronger hollow's you overgrown worm!!" Panting hard Ren tried to calm down. She just insulted a stronger hollow no dout now that she will be eaten. She struggled to get out of the metalic hollows grip.

It tilted its head, observing the creature in its hold once more. She said she was fairly freshly turned hollow, which made sense considering the signature it picked up from her. Again however this one had, like others had before, confused it for a worm. It was curious how that mistake could be made, was it not as obvious to everyone else that it was a serpent? It decided that it was best to correct her before that impression stuck in the impressionable mind of the young hollow. "You are mistaken. I am a mechanical representation of a snake of undescript type. Not a worm. You would feel quite embarassed about your mistake if you were able to see the spine that is within my shell."

Deciding that its correction was sufficient, it turned to the other matters at hand. It studied it closer, the big head of the serpentine robot only inches from the cheetahs head, a soft buzz being heard from the chainsaw like teeth hiding in the massive jaws. "So you say you are recently turned hollow. Then your weakness is understandable. You should spend your first days in the human world, easier prey and less danger as long as you can avoid the shinigami. Seeing as you aren't strong yet, I will let you go. Perhaps we will meet as allies some other time, or maybe I will eat you when you've gained more 'meat on your bones' as one could say."

A snake, huh? she thought. Ren looked at the metal hollow. His face was so close it made her even more scared. When it said for her to go to the World of the Living she knew that it was right. Her ears droped down. "I know that I should be in the World of the Living, But I have to come here to train. she said with determination. She looked at the hollow, " I have no reason to be your enemy though I hope that we could be friends. Also when I get stronger will do the honor and battle me?" she asked.

She wanted so badly to get stronger and to become an Espada.

So timid, eager and weak. She reminded it of one of the scientists that had observed it, she was always pushed around by the others and fumbling with the controls yet always willing to try again. It never liked her much, she kept doing things to its terminals that it did not appreciate at all. This one however was a much stranger sample, how could such a behaviour pattern belong to a hollow? It made no sense, hollow were monsters who ate the souls of humans and cannibalized on their own kind. How could one such as them act like this?

So little it took for her to seem to completely forget the tensions between them only a moment ago, it still held her in its grip yet she talked as if they were two young human children who had just met, asking it to be her friend like this. It had never understood the concept of friendship, why would one wish to stay so close to a person and be willing to sacrifice so much for the other. Certainly such closeness could bring out an intense loyalty from others, but it was at the cost of personal freedom and requiring sacrifices so why bother. The facade could suit its purposes however so it formed its words with a different mind.

"Certainly, I would not mind an ally such as that. When you get stronger, we will fight. Such training would benefit us both and as such I do not disagree with it." It approved of solving issues with conversation, it always considered it a more suitable application of its abilities then simply killing. Slowly it started to loosen the grip of its tail, still quite prepared to move if the cat were to try something again.

Ren looked at the Serpent in shock."You are the first hollow that I have encountered to not try to eat me. Why is that?" She felt it lossen its grip on her just a little bit. But she stiil could not get away. She thought for a moment. He seems different from the other hollows. If i could only gain his trust. She struggled again to get away but it was no use.

She was pathetic to look at, N.I.U.S was considering putting her out of her inevitable misery right then and there but deciding that she may prove useful in the future it decided that instead it would let her live for the moment. And now she wondered why it was not going to eat her, had it not already told her? Or perhaps she was as forgetful as she was weak. Regardless of which it decided that it would remind her even if it did not truly appreciate the entire ordeal. "I will not eat you because there is so little for me to gain from doing so. I will let you live with the intent in mind for you to improve and help strengthen me in the future. I always try to plan in advance."

The tail finally let her go now, dropping her to the ground as it towered over her. N.I.U.S was expecting it to run at the first opportunity and so subtly moved its tail in a large area around her, blocking her exit while at the same time simply giving the image that this was how it normally stood seeing that it was a snake. "Now, what is it you plan for the future? A future ensured only by my good will today." It made sure to give her the feeling of debt to it, to ensure loyalty for the future.

Ren was set down by the hollow. Only it had no intention of letting her go just yet. When it asked her what her plans for the future were she thought for a moment. She closed her eyes and thought long and hard. After a moment she opened her eyes; she had an awnser for the hollow. "I will become stronger.My wish is to become an Espada. I want to protect the ones that I'm close to. But most of all I want a family." Why was she spilling her heart out; if she even had a heart. True her hollow hole was filled with Aura it would not fiil its emptyness.

She looked up at the hollow with sad eyes. "That is what I want for my future. To prove to the other hollows that I may be different but that will not stop me. I will get stronger and prove to them that they were wrong." She stopped for a minute to get herself calm. "What are your plans for the future, and what is your name?" she asked.

She had ambitious plans for one so unimpressive, wanting to join the ranks of the legendary espada. Not that it would have considered them legendary only a few weeks ago as back then it wouldn't have any idea what she was talking about. But now that it was aware of this it knew that she wished to become part of the group of the strongest arrancar in existance. It was curious how she could have picked up such knowledge when considering how little actual power she possessed, but decided not to bother as it was completely unimportant.

Now the questions were redirected to it, was there so little tension now? This one was naïve, for sure. "I am going to improve myself. I will achieve a level of power at the top of Hueco Mundo." It realized its own ambitions were similar, but it had reached further then this one. "I am Nebulous Interactive Universal System. You may address me as NIUS." It would ask her name, but it felt pointless. If she wanted to say, she would. Either way meant nothing to it.

Ren sensed a hollow beind Nius and shouted, "Look out!" She jumed up above Nius's head and used her Aura Shard. She got the other hollow but it shook its head. Landing in the sand she thought, Darn! It'is not strong enough! She went around Nius and fired at the hollow again trying to get its attention. Running as fast as she could the hollow was on top of her. She looked back and continued to run.

Ooc: Sorry if it is short.

It appeared it had been in one place too long and that the previous fight with the cat like hollow had drawn attention to them as the lithe one jumped over it and attacked the unwelcome guest sneaking up on them. The same attack she had attempted before she now tried against the new arrival, with better but still very underwhelming results. The towering serpent simply watched as the small feline ran around its body, attracting the other creatures attention and began to give her chase.

As they both were moving it quickly calculated that it would only be seconds before they ran out of reach and it was broken in opinion on whether it simply wanted to let them run and no longer care about the cheetah hollow or stop the hunter now and gain an easy additional boost of energy. After the mere fraction of a second it takes for the robotic hollow to form its thoughts it had decided that it would prefer not letting this opportunity go to waste. As the hollow ran by it, the serpent lifted its tail and snapped it in the direction of the hunters leg and sent a discharge of electricity. The bolt of energy hit the leg and the creature fell over as it went numb and within moments the tail of the machine slammed down into the hollow's gut, penetrating it and pinning it to the ground.

Ren heard the Hollow screech in pain, lokking back she saw that Nius had killed the Hollow. Watching it turn to dust she looked at Nius in a shocked expression, "Thanks I think. Why did you do that you could have let it take my life. I was right to consider you an ally." she gined. Laughing she started to walk to her left leaving the Snake-like hollow in the desert. "I hope that we meet again, Nius."

As the serpents tail dug into the creature and began absorbing the energies within, the other hollow had spoken and apparently not only had N.I.U.S gained an easy kill but also a new ally. Whether she would remain loyal was something to be determined at another time, however. The cat was strangely cheerful about the whole thing and it certainly left N.I.U.S with little to make conclusions from, organics were so hard to understand from time to time. As she left and the hollow was fully eaten, N.I.U.S decided to depart as well, it had stayed in one place for far too long and that was never good in this desert.

It made its way from the site in the opposite direction of the feline, not really interested in taking the risk of running into her again. However N.I.U.S considered how she could be used for the future and whether or not she was actually capable of becoming a useful asset. For the moment it was doubtful about that but it decided to leave it as a possibility for the moment. If she proved herself capable, actions would have to be taken to secure her loyalty.

Rizt sat in his forest to shy to say anything or leave the whole ordeal was strange watching but he had learned more about others fighting style. That girl is strange, he had a interest in that girl her abilitys had potiential and he noticed it the second the fight had commenced the desert sweeping over the battlefield signaled the battles climatic ended they both put up a intresting fight.

Very intresting indeed.....