Superhuman Genesis

[NerdyOgre254]

Chapter 1

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014, 10:22AM

It's a cold but sunny day in Manhattan, and the streets are filled with the sounds of people rushing about their day, going from place to place for reasons known only to themselves.

The sun is out, but high winds take away any warmth provided, and everyone other than the few tourists wandering around have rugged up.

You're in the vicinity of the corner of West 86th Street and Columbus avenue. Sitting right on the corner is TD Bank, a single-story small business bank, surrounded on all sides by small independent shops of all varieties. The common fixture of a Starbucks can be seen further down West 86th Street.

What are you doing in this area?

[HopeHubris]

Khaldun walks down the street, appearing to be just a regular man in a nice suit.
He looks around, listening in on any interesting conversations as he heads towards the bank, one of many he uses
This mundane existence is so dreadfully boring

[Zelphas]

Christopher is sitting in the Starbucks, drinking coffee. He doesn't really need it to keep him awake anymore, but hey, coffee is coffee, and he did technically just get off a night shift. Best to keep up appearances.

As he sips his coffee, Christopher scans his laptop, searching through sites of Hebrew lore and mythology. "Still no sign of an Ifriel..." he mutters under his breath, resigned.

[Mekboy]

Rachel was sat in Starbucks. She hadn't ordered anything, but they didn't seem to be bothering her yet. She was engaging in her favorite hobby - people-watching. People were so interesting! The sheer variance, even in the people she could see from where she was sat, was amazing.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Central Park, Manhattan
10:22, 15-Jan-2014

The cold wind sent ripples across the Central Park reservoir, but Agent Li was well-insulated against the stabbing chill. A thick wool overcoat and a quality suit. Basic and boring, enough to blend in, not enough to be memorable. It was one good point of the Agency; they provided high-quality clothing. An agent dressed frumpily would stick out.

She had recently been assigned to the New York office. This place was always a hotbed of unusual activity. The rich that congregated here had an unfortunate knack for getting their hands on potent artifacts, while a lot of the extraterrestrials chose to land down around here. The most common theory for that preference was that they saw the movies humanity had been beaming into space for decades and thought that landing in New York City was just what they were supposed to do.

<While you do cut quite the dashing image standing on the windswept lakeside, you really should get going. There at least five subjects within your vicinity.

Of course, Martin wouldn't appreciate just sitting outside, or being around other people. Being such an extraordinarily strong telepath made being around others uncomfortable, and his clairvoyance essentially meant that he could just sit in his comfy chair at the office and see the world. Still, it would be nice if he could give others a moment of peace and privacy.

<And you should really mind your own business. I haven't been back here since cultural navigation training, and I just wanted to take in the sights. It won't take that long to find them and make contact.>

She sets off towards Columbus Ave. It was going to be a long day. After all, subjects could always be touchy about first contact.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin C. Gregory

Mel somehow found himself walking by Starbucks at West 86th Street and Columbus avenue. All he wanted to do was to cool off from what has happened. From New Jersey to Manhattan, things just don't seem to be going well for Melvin ever since.
Glancing at the place, he noticed somebody familiar. It was Christopher...... whatever-his-last-name was, with a laptop and a cup of coffee. If there was anybody Mel needed to talk to, it was him.

"Hey Chris. Mind if I help myself to this seat here really quick?" Mel said as he got near Christopher's table, grabbing a seat and sitting down in it before he could finish talking.

[Zelphas]

Christoher looked up, surprised. The youth who just sat down seemed familiar...

Then it hit him, and he swallowed down a wave of guilt and anger. Melvin Gregory had been the son of George Gregory, a man who had been submitted to the Sloan Kettering Cancer center with a strange form of cancer just a few months ago. Christopher had begged and pleaded with the director of medicine, Dr. Burgess, to be assigned to his care, but Gregory had been placed under more 'experienced' doctors. He had met the family a few times and gotten to know them somewhat, but Mr. Gregory had died before Christopher could find an excuse to get to him.

"Of course, Melvin; what do you need?" he asked, closing his laptop and facing the youth squarely. Hmm, he seems.. bothered by something. Well, I can't blame him; it hasn't been long, after all. Still, why would he want to talk to me?

[Doggie_arf]

Alex Mason

Alex jogged slowly along West 86th Street, dressed in a faded blue tracksuit and cold-weather jacket. He had left his apartment earlier in the morning, supposedly to jog around the city and pick up some groceries. In reality, the jog had only taken about 15 minutes; the rest of the time had been spent practicing his fine control in one of the abandoned subway tunnels. He'd reappeared in an empty side road he'd scouted out on an earlier trip, ran a few blocks to work up some sweat to mask the smell of old tunnel, before stopping to make his purchases at one of the small shops along West 86th.

Granted, it probably did seem rather strange for him to be moving around the city on foot, considering the abilities he had at his disposal. Apartment security had enquired after his well-being after he'd failed to sign out for three days in a row, however, and he didn't want to make them any more suspicious. Hence his newfound 'jogging' habit, to give himself an alibi that would satisfy the provost's paranoia. Not to mention that he needed the exercise.

The green and brown of the Starbucks stood out against the assorted shops in the vicinity, about 165 feet from his current location. To Alex's eye, the franchise outlet's appearance clashed with the surrounding shops. Maybe that was the point, to attract the attention of customers, but still...

Anyway, coffee was coffee, and he still had another project to work on later in the afternoon. Adjusting the grocery bag on his shoulder, he headed towards the Starbucks...

[Mekboy]

Rachel shifted her focus to two people sitting together - one with a laptop, the other a teenager with thick hair. She smiled to herself, wondering what they were here for. Perhaps they were friends, meeting up after years apart? She did love making up these stories...

[Drakeburn]

Melvin took a quick deep breath before beginning.
"You might know what I've been going through, with my old man..... gone." He tried his best to not to show his pain and sorrow. This wasn't the time for that!
"But I'm starting to experience...... Something else."
He took a couple quick glances at their surroundings. Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to them. Everybody seemed to be minding their own business at the moment.
"Listen, you're probably the only person I can approach about this. If my mother and older sister knew about it, they'd freak out! And being kinda new here in Manhattan, I don't know who else to trust. Can I count on you to help me get through this?"

[Zelphas]

"You can trust me, Melvin. I'll do my best to help you with whatever you need, and I won't reveal anything you tell to me to anyone else," Christopher responded, outwardly the image of a calm, confident man. Inwardly, however, his thoughts were racing. Something else? If this isn't about his dad, what could it be? Drugs? He wouldn't go to a doctor he barely knew about that. What else?

Christopher didn't notice he was toying with the small green amulet around his neck until he chanced to look down. Forcing his hand away, he looked back at Melvin and smiled. "What have you been 'experiencing'?"

[Drakeburn]

Melvin's gaze caught onto a small green amulet Christopher was toying with. When he forced his hand away from it, it looked as though it was in slow motion. Christopher's question helped him snap out of it, whatever it was. Everything seemed to be happening normally now.
Melvin responded with a head shake.
"I can't really talk about that out here in public. It is a really........ complicated condition. I'd prefer if we discuss this somewhere more private. Can I perhaps make an appointment?" He tried to act casually at the last part. He noticed that there was somebody watching the both of them. Maybe he was overreacting, but he didn't want to take any chances.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:24, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki kicks through the mounds of dirty slush pushed up on the sidewalk. The long shadows cast by the surrounding brown brick buildings didn't help the temperature much. Her face was going to be bright red by the time she actually found any of these people and made contact.

She pulls out her phone and flips to the dossiers. Might as well get the teleporter out of the way first. Anyone who could teleport was inevitably a pain. They were hard to find, and when they didn't want to talk, it was obviously impossible to get them to stay. Hopefully this one can't attack with his teleportation. The ones who could do that particular trick always involved a lot of cleanup. It was hard to explain why chunks of the landscape had just disappeared, so it would always involve large amounts of cash for some quick demolition work, or just the brute force method of wiping memories.

Oh, and this one just had to go and be average. Male, caucasian, brown hair, brown eyes, average height. Kiki could see at least a dozen of those without moving her head. It was a lot easier when they had green skin or flaming eyes. Might as well get some coffee. I'm going to be here a while. She heads over to the close-by Starbucks.

[Doggie_arf]

A blast of heated air washed over Alex as he entered the Starbucks, bringing along with it the smells of brewed coffee. The store didn't seem very crowded at this time; only two of the tables were being in use at the moment. A young teenager appeared to be discussing something urgently with an older man at one of the inside tables; the young lady seated at the window table seemed to be paying attention to their conversation. The two tables were separated by 12 feet and 3 inches of space, and Alex idly wondered just how much the latter could hear of the former's discussion. Or why she was listening in in the first place.

Anyway, it wasn't really Alex's business; he was just here to buy his coffee and leave. Walking up to the counter (6 feet, 5 inches from the entrance, give or take half an inch...), he took out his wallet, extracting a few greenbacks and a half-filled Starbucks stamp card.

"One grande latte to go, please," he told the barista on duty. "And hold the cream."

[Zelphas]

Christopher raised an eyebrow at Melvin's request for secrecy. Whatever this is, it's serious... or at least the kid thinks it is.

He grinned in response to Melvin's statement of making an 'appointment'. "I'm not really, that kind of doctor, Melvin, but sure, I can pencil you in." He picks up his coffee again and takes a drink. "Just let me finish my coffee, and we can walk and talk. Central park is pretty bare on a day like this."

[NerdyOgre254]

At TD Bank:

Khaldun walks along the length of Columbus street, slowly making his way to the bank. Situated on the very corner of W 86th and Columbus, TD Bank is a small brick building, obviously a remnant of older times. At the corner is a small outdoor seating area, housing a single oak tree and a trio of wooden benches around it. At this time of year, the tree is bare and the benches wet and dirty with snow and water.

[Everyone roll Perception - if you don't have Perception, roll Awareness]

The bank itself curves around the small seating area, made of old brick. The main entrance faces north, with a queuing area for the tellers as you walk into the bank on your left. Ahead is a door leading to the staff room, and to the right is the office area for dealing with customer loans. From your experience, the safe is around the corner from the office area.

Taking up the remainder of the lot is a small carpark only partially filled with vehicles at this early time; a pair of business cars with the TD Bank logo stenciled onto the side, several vehicles of varying size, and a pickup truck with some large sports bags in them. You can also see the manager of TD Bank, an overweight and balding white man, taking a cigarette break under the security camera at the side door.

As you walk in, you are immediately recognised by Denise, a young African-American woman who is the assistant manager of the bank. Prior to your entering the bank, you had noticed she was merely observing, but as you enter her demeanour shifts to one of obeisance fitting that of a customer service worker.

"Good morning, mister Kingston," she chirps out brightly, "Did you need access to your safety deposit box today?

At Starbucks:

[RACHEL] As you watch the people go about their business, typing away at laptops, having conversations, or just staring into their coffee cups and contemplating their existence, you notice an immediate shift in some of the patrons. Before you have time to wonder, your systems register a high-level scrambler frequency deployed in the immediate area - not enough to block out your internal systems, but strong enough to make radio communication impossible. As your systems start trying to pinpoint the direction of the source, you see a teenager in denim jeans and hooded jumper walk up to the counter and ask something of the clerk, while pointing at his phone. The clerk, while handling the change from another customer, examines his screen for a moment, then looks to his phone, and merely shrugs at the teenager.

[ALEX] As you hand the barista your money, a rail-thin teenager in jeans and a hoodie almost pushes past you to the counter, and holds his phone up to the barista. "Hey man," the boy says, "Is there something wrong with your wifi? Signal just dropped." The barista, in amidst handling your order, looks at the register and his phone, and shrugs. "I'll go reset it in a minute. Must be acting up again, sorry about that."

[KIKI] As you absentmindedly play with your phone while waiting for your turn in line, you notice that your cellphone signal has dropped completely. No wifi, no data connection, no GPS, and no telephone signals. Never a good sign.

[MELVIN/CHRISTOPHER] Engaged in your conversation as you are, you're only dimly aware of the loss of service, and the dissatisfaction of the customers surrounding you as their lives are interrupted, if only momentarily.

[Zelphas]

Wait... Christopher suddenly froze, sensing the mood in the coffee house shift. Unfortunately, he froze in the middle of taking a sip of coffee, and the scalding liquid soon burned his tongue. "AHH!" he yelled, spitting coffee everywhere. He could already feel his tongue healing, but still, pain hurts! So distracted, Christopher failed to notice much of anything.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex nearly drops his groceries as the guy in the hoodie jostles him. Shooting the teen a dirty look, he adjusts the bag he was carrying, quickly checking to make sure the eggs he'd bought were still intact. That done, he turned back to the barista handling his transaction, in time to catch the man's comment about the router.

So their access point is down, he thought to himself, still annoyed at the teen's rudeness. Wasn't planning to stay here just to use their Internet, anyway...good thing I'm paying by cash today. He glanced around the shop idly as he waited for his order to be completed. Hope this doesn't take too long - I still have that writeup to get back to this afternoon.

[HopeHubris]

Khaldun notices a man on the roof as he enters the bank
I do so hope he tries something, it should be a nice diversion
"Hmm? Oh, yes, thank you"
Good woman, polite, if I have the chance I'll stop the roof fellow before he can do much of anything


Following the woman if she starts towards the safety deposit room, trying to subtly look around for any sign of danger

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Starbucks on Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:26, 15-Jan-2014

Oh, just wonderful. A loss of wi-fi could easily just be a kicked cord, but a total signal loss seemed altogether too sinister. This seemed like someone's prelude to a much bigger move. It could also be an infestation by a radio-spectrum waveform, but that seemed unlikely as such thing usually started out smaller, and their next breeding cycle wasn't due for another 40 years.

Or, Agent Li reminds herself, she could just be paranoid. The Agency tended to have that effect.

Still, better safe than sorry. <Martin, I've just lost all standard communication signals. I think something interesting might be happening.>

[Mekboy]

Hmm... scrambler frequency. That was ominous. Rachel stood up from her chair and walked over to the window to watch the crowd, this time looking for anything particularly suspicious looking. Sure, maybe she was overreacting, but when something a bit stronger than that could have done her some harm she couldn't help but take it a little personally.

[Drakeburn]

Just he was about to make progress, it happened again. Everything around him looked like it was in slow motion. From the complaints everybody around him were mouthing out, to Christopher's reaction to getting his tongue burnt. "What's going on?" Mel asked out loud, slightly confused. Everything around him began moving normally as he spoke.

[NerdyOgre254]

Criminal Expertise Check: SUCCESS
A successful bank heist involves a few things, depending on approach, but the biggest factor to consider is the alarm. Once that goes off, your time is very limited until you get police involvement. Shut down cameras, make sure nobody hits the panic button, and limit access in and out of the building. If you need to, take hostages. Shoot the guards, not the civilians. The second that police realise that you can't be bargained with and those lives are forfeit, they will throw everything at you. Barricade windows, block doors, take cover. Work out how you're going to get into the vault beforehand. Some people will subvert the system and try to walk in with an access card. Some people will put a thermal drill up to the vault door.

And once you get inside? Knowing what's in the safety deposit boxes is as important as getting them out. If you can get inside information on who stores what, you can at least start to put some guesses on the value of what's inside. It's not an exact science though, and the payday will vary.

Then you have to get away. No identifying marks on the vehicle, make it a Plain Jane affair. If the crew can afford it, get a van with tough suspension and a bigger engine. Fuel economy's going to suck, but you need it when you're hauling bags of cash, gold, jewels and your perpetrators in the back too.

You are led around the corner, past the offices to the vault, the main door of which is shut. Her thumbprint is scanned, her eight-digit code is entered, and her security card is swiped through the reader. As the doors are about to open, the lights flicker, and then go out with a loud whine. The screen for the security system flashes from green to red, and over Denise's shoulder, you can see the words POWER FAILURE LOCKDOWN in bright yellow letters. In the offices, the sound of murmuring voices, curious as to the strange event, voice their concern.

Perception Check: SUCCESS
Switching sight modes to a radio-filtering mode, you start scanning the area, and as your head turns to view the top of the bank across the street, your view is filled with the harsh colors of what is undoubtedly the jammer. Switching back to normal optics, you see a man (you suspect) in a plain blue suit crouching at the roof access door for the bank. Black leather gloves cover his hands, while his left side is weighted down with a large duffel bag, the strap across his right shoulder. In his right hand you see a pistol with a large silencer on the end of it. You don't manage to see his face, as he puts on a strange Oriental mask as he moves to the open door.

Perception Check: SUCCESS.
Insight Check: FAILURE.
As you turn away to let other people order, a faint whisper of motion over on the bank's roof catches your eye. Stopping, you stare up at the bank's roof. Moving towards the door of the bank is a man in a blue suit, with a silenced pistol in his right hand. Over his shoulder is a duffel bag, and covering his face is a high-quality ceramic mask of a ninja, with the Queen of Hearts stencilled onto the front of it.

Perception Check: FAILURE.
Insight Check: FAILURE.
Like the buffoon he is, the young man in front of you has stopped moving, and simply stands in your way, staring concernedly across the road in the direction of the bank.

Perception Check: FAILURE.
Insight Check: SUCCESS.
There's a few people looking very tense in the area - a young woman sitting at one of the small booths to the side of the store, and a young man who just finished ordering his coffee. Something appears to have caught their attention on the other side of the street.

Perception Check: FAILURE
Doctor Horeb looks to be distracted by something else, and nobody else seems to provide any anser to your question.

[HopeHubris]

Truck full of bags outside, man on the roof and now this, I wonder what could possibly be happening...
Khaldun thinks sarcastically before turning to Denise
"Well, this does not look good, it seems quite likely that your bank is about to be robbed, I would advise you to hide somewhere safe, or failing that, if those hiding places have electronic locks, stay behind me or one of the 'heroes' that are bound to show up"
What to do, hmm
"I saw a man on the roof, what could he be accessing from there?"

[Drakeburn]

"Hey Doc. Are you alright?" Melvin asked Christopher, snapping his fingers at him to get his attention.
He was sure that something was going on, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Things just keep getting and better around here, he thought to himself.

[Zelphas]

"I'm fine, sorry; the coffee was still too hot, I guess," Christopher answered. The burning was already gone. "Is it just me, or is something happening across the street?" he continued, turning to look quickly out the window.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin looked in the direction Christopher was facing, trying to make sense of what is going on. It couldn't be that bad, is it?

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Starbucks on Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:26, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki glances over at the bank. If there wasn't something immensely interesting happening in that direction, then the young man in front of her was going to pay dearly for being between her and the coffee. This was just supposed to be a simple contact mission. Spend a few hours doing this, then go look for an apartment. Now I get to spend another night in the dorms. Great.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex walked the 7 feet, 2 inches from the cashier to the collection area to wait for his coffee, his mind already dwelling on the half-finished report waiting for him when he got back to his student apartment. Gotta put these eggs in the fridge first, though - that idiot had better not have cracked any of them...

Speaking of rude idiots, the hoodied teen was still fuming at the counter where Alex had been standing earlier. The Chinese [?] girl behind him looked just as annoyed, probably due to said rude idiot having cut in front of her. The man at the table (6 feet, 7 inches from here...) appeared to have choked on his coffee, his younger companion was fussing over him, and there was someone in blue standing on the roof of the bank at the junction -

Alex did a double take at that last, his gaze focusing on the man standing across the street 168 feet away. Normal people tended to use the front door when visiting the bank, not the roof. And they usually didn't go in wearing masks with playing card motifs. Or bring duffels and - wait, was that a gun he was carrying?

Without thinking, he started scrabbling for the phone in his pocket with his free hand, a fact made difficult by the grocery bag he was holding. Perhaps if he called the cops... But wait - what if they ask me to stay and fill an eyewitness report? Dammit.

[NerdyOgre254]

Everyone:
From the front area of the bank, the sound of smashing glass can be heard. The relative quiet of the morning is shattered by a trio of gunshots, and in a moment, all eyes are on TD Bank. Almost instinctively, the people in the Starbucks and the bank drop to crouching positions, hiding in their booths and behind their chairs. Phones come out, and people start dialling 911.

Denise starts to fumble for her personal alarm system, and presses the button. As this happens, the sound of two suppressed gunshots is heard from the roof access, followed by the thumps of what you assume is two bodies hitting the ground. The door bursts open, and a man in a blue suit - likely the man you glimpsed before - moves in at a brisk pace.Gripped in both hands is a pistol with a silencer. Slung over his shoulder is a duffel bag, and you can see some contraptions inside, resting underneath a small submachine gun. He sweeps his view left, checking for more security guards. As his gaze turns to you, he aims the pistol at your head, and threatens the two of you in a gruff voice, "Down on the ground, hands behind your back, now."

As you manage to get your phone out of your pocket, you look at the screen and are quite surprised to see the bright 'NO SIGNAL' response on your cellphone.

[Zelphas]

Christopher is one of those who's phone is out immediately, but he almost instantly notices the lack of any signal. Looking around, he notices that the rest of the people are having similar bad luck with their phones. "There's no signal... Melvin, do you know where the nearest police station is?" Christopher says, hoping to get the boy out of potential danger quickly. "I need you to get there as fast as you can. It looks like the phones are down, and the police needed to be here, oh, thirty seconds ago."

Gunshots... that probably means casualties, Christopher thinks furiously. He reaches slowly up to grab the amulet at his neck, his face set in resigned determination. I'm not needed here until the crisis is past. This looks like something for Ifriel to handle.

[HopeHubris]

"Denise, I'd really rather you didn't talk about what I am about to do"
Khaldun says, as he dashes forward at an inhuman pace, punching at the fool daring to point a gun at him
"And please get to safety, I may not mind a few bullets, but I doubt you are quite so resilient"




Move Action: Dash over to the guy
Standard: Punch him in the face

I'm assuming a 22 hits, I can change the post if it doesn't

[Doggie_arf]

With some effort, Alex managed to fumble his phone out without dropping it. Flipping to emergency call, he immediately punched in 911 and put the phone to his ear...before realizing that the call wasn't going through. Wait, what the hell...? he thought, staring at the NO SIGNAL on the screen in consternation.

And then the bank across the street exploded in gunfire.

Alex found himself crouched on the ground, along with everyone else in the Starbucks. Bullets were scary, even when they weren't being aimed at you. "Please tell me this isn't happening..., " he muttered to no one in particular as he cowered behind a table, staring at the chaos across the street with his heightened vision.

It wasn't as if he could do anything. Or could he?

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:26, 15-Jan-2014

Well, this could be good. Some of the more altruistic types of empowered individuals might show up to this sort of thing. In the past, such entities were usually too far away to do anything, or didn't really have abilities that were suited to doing anything, but the recent marked rise in their numbers and capability had changed that.

Agent Li hangs her coat on a nearby coatrack. Hopefully it will still be there. . . oh wait, I'm in New York City. Oh well. She foregoes the coffee, stepping out into the street. At a thought, her suit shifts into active mode. She feels a tug at her consciousness as her persona is backed-up, spirited safely away to the Agency's memory vaults. At the same time, she goes from being there to not there, as the suit conceals her. The suit itself shifts into a more practical shape (near-black cargo pants, near-black turtleneck, and running shoes) and exposing her gear. She hustles over to the bank, looking for any wannabe heroes that might show up.

[Drakeburn]

From under the table, Mel shook his head.
"I'm afraid not. I'm still new to Manhattan. And whoever is shooting over there, they'll probably be done by the time the police show up."
He couldn't just stand here and do nothing about it. With the "changes" he's been going through, Melvin actually has a chance to do some good here. He wants to, and feels as though he has to. Melvin takes a quick glance at everyone, and whispers to Christoper. "Make sure nobody is watching me."
From where Melvin is hiding, he takes out the clothing he had stuffed in his bag and puts them as stealthily as he can.

[Zelphas]

"The nearest station is on..." Christopher begins, but stops, his eyes widening as he sees Melvin pull what looks like a costume out of his backpack. He glances quickly around to make sure no one is watching. So it was something else, after all. "I'm guessing this is what you wanted to talk about," he whispers dryly. He starts to slowly get up, gesturing to Melvin to follow him. "Everyone's attention is on the bank right now; if we get up and move to an alleyway, you're less likely to be noticed changing clothes." And then I can 'change' too.

[Doggie_arf]

Well, this is just great, a part of Alex thought from his low vantage point. A few brave souls like the Chinese lady had decided to chance the streets to escape, but the rest were cowering behind tables and chairs like he was. The front door of the Starbucks was just 11 feet and 9 inches away from his current location, but it might as well have been on the other side of the continent. He didn't want to be stuck here, but he didn't want to risk becoming a target of whoever was shooting up the bank at the junction...

Wait a second. I don't have to use the front door, do I?

It was such a simple idea, and he immediately felt like kicking himself for not considering it earlier. But then, he'd never actually used his powers in a crisis situation before.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he glanced around the room quickly to ensure that no one was watching, before scanning the stretch of West 86th visible from the Starbucks' front window. Need to find somewhere far enough from the bank that they won't see me. Probably the next junction over...


Making some assumptions here - Alex might have seen Kiki (and some others) walk out the door, but not what they'd have done after that. Will change if necessary.

Anyway, Alex is trying to find an area on West 86th to teleport to (range 900 ft.) that's far enough away from the main fluster-cluck of hostile people with guns. Visible from within the Starbucks, of course.

[Drakeburn]

Mel had already changed into his running shoes and jogging pants when Christopher said that they should head into an alleyway.
"Then I'll make it quick." Melvin whispers back to Christopher as he puts on the hoodie. Finally he puts on the ski goggles around his forehead and pulls the hood over his head. He quietly closes his backpack, which have his sneakers inside, and looks back at Christopher.
"Somebody's gotta do something about this." He whispers.

[Zelphas]

"I agree," Christopher answered quietly. "I have a... friend, who can help here. I need to contact him. Go, do what you can, but stay safe! Your mother doesn't need another worry in her life." With that, Christopher gets up and walks out to the nearest alleyway, moving quickly and trying to avoid notice. As soon as he is out of sight, he grabs Ifriel's amulet and gives up the control of his body to the spirit within it. Please, don't kill anyone this time...

The amulet explodes in green-white light, enveloping the young doctor. Dark green armor fades in over his clothes, encasing his body completely. A sculptedgreen helmet forms around his head, hiding all except the barest hint of hazel eyes. From his back, the light resolves into downy wings, pure white with the barest hint of mint green. The armored form gestures imperiously to the ground, and out rises a great stone warhammer, which the angel grasps with one hand. If anyone were near enough, they would hear Ifriel speak. "I have slept in this form too long. It is time for Ifriel, the Hammer of God, to rain vengeance upon the wicked once more."

[NerdyOgre254]

Attack Roll: SUCCESS.
Toughness Save: FAILED (Three degrees: 1 injury and Staggered - Dazed and Hindered)
Responding attack: SUCCESS (Roll Toughness, DC 21)

You lunge forward, and with a powerful blow strike the criminal in the right side of the face, just above the cheekbone. The mask is made of surprisingly tough material, and does not break under the strength of your blow. The same cannot be said for the mortal underneath it. You hear the high cracking noise of a cheekbone breaking underneath your fist.

The criminal reels at this unexpected and shockingly powerful blow, but to his credit he remains mentally composed. As he stumbles back, you see his thumb flick a button on the pistol. He squeezes the trigger, and three bullets fly out with the dull thud of a suppressed weapon. Two of the shots hit your chest, and one strikes your collarbone.

From behind you, Denise yelps "Holy ****!" and you hear her heels scraping on the carpet as she scrambles behind a water cooler next to the staff room door.

"Bulldozer at the vault door, need an assist!" the criminal slurs into what you suspect is a radio system. You realise that you may have fractured his jaw as well, judging by the speech pattern.


Perception Check: PARTIAL SUCCESS
Before you head out into the alleyway, you notice that someone is missing - the Asian woman. You vaguely remember seeing her running out toward the bank, but were preoccupied with your own transformation. As Ifriel arises and Christopher Horeb slumbers, you are dimly aware of someone else in the alleyway with you.

Stealth Check: SUCCESS
Perception Check: FAILURE
As you put the hood over your head, a powerful feeling hits you. This feeling is not uncommon for you, but for some reason, in this moment the rush is so much more powerful. It reminds you of the rush of adrenaline from starting a race, or running from the police, but on a level that profoundly affects you, and you have to force yourself not to grind your teeth together and smile in the manner of a madman.


Quickly scanning the area, you notice two places that you might be able to use.

132 feet, 9 inches away, the back door of the bank is slightly ajar, and the lighting inside shows that a jump to there would allow you to get inside the bank with nobody the wiser.

at 476 feet away (14 feet 7 inches vertically, 473 feet horizontally) there's a clear spot on the top of a delicatessen, next to an exhaust vent. From there you should be able to see into the bank while having some cover and concealment.

As you hustle towards the bank, your head is filled with Martin's voice.
<I hear you. We just got a big emotion spike of fear in your local area. I've got police and SWAT ready to roll should you need it. Alpha priority is saving these people, beta priority is contact and ID on the metahumans. Clear?>

Ahead of you, past the garbage skip, is the rear door to the bank, left slightly ajar.

[Mekboy]

Okay, what to do? The rooftop man was quite obviously up to no good. A bank robbery presumably. The theft of the money would be regrettable, but no doubt there were innocents in danger. The sound of gunfire confirmed her thoughts. Damn, not good, not good...

Rachel gave a quick glance around, checking to see if there were any security cameras nearby or if anyone was paying massive amounts of attention to her. The Doc would be even less happy with this if she got caught.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex's eyes narrowed as he identified a likely destination within range. There weren't many safe spots along West 86th, and this one looked sheltered enough. But what if someone was watching? He wasn't entirely certain that everyone was too scared to pay attention to their surroundings. No. I'll lose my chance if I hesitate now. Do it.

The student of architecture focused on his location of choice. In his mind's eye, the stretch of West 86th he could see was like a grid in a design program, with himself as one of the models on that grid. With a thought, he "dragged" said model towards the exhaust vent 476 feet away and "released" it...and felt his senses blur for a moment as his physical form disappeared from the Starbucks, reappearing at his destination a split second later.

The sounds of combat and gunfire were much louder from his new vantage point, and he briefly wondered if he had been too hasty in considering this spot as safe. At least I'm not a sitting duck anymore, he thought grimly, trying to keep his breathing under control as he examined his new surroundings.

Move: Teleport to the exhaust vent above the delicatessen.
Free: Look around.

[Zelphas]

"Who dares to gaze upon the glory of Ifriel unannounced?" the angel roars, sensing someone in the alleyway with him. He spins, trying to find the skulker, his warhammer upraised and ready to strike.

Move: none
Free: Perception to find the alley inhabitant (rolled in dice thread)
Standard: Strike on alley inhabitant (rolled in dice thread)

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:26, 15-Jan-2014

Saving the people was the first priority? Oh, right, that do-gooder Reyes was the head of the New York office. Of course she would prioritize the civilians. Still, orders were orders. <Clear. Tell Ms. Paladin that I'll charge to the rescue. Or something more tactful than that."

Kiki draws her weapon, takes a calming breath, and throws up a shield. Positioning herself next to the open door and glancing in, he considers her options before charging in.

Currently Concealed (all senses) and Shielded. Making rolls in the dice thread.

[Drakeburn]

This is it Mel, he thought to himself.
This is your chance to make things right.
Mel pulled down the ski goggles over his eyes, took a deep breath, and finally took off.
It felt so amazing. Everything around him appeared to be happening in slow motion, while he flew past them with such a burst of speed. With so much energy within him, it reminded him of the thrills he used to have in his past. But this was so much better. Within a short moment he found himself in the bank, looking at a scene that appeared to be frozen in time. A man in a weird mask and a duffel bag, pointing the gun at somebody who looked as though he may taken three shots.
Mel took the gun from the apparent robber's hands as he passed by, made his way into the bathroom. At the moment it felt as though everything was moving normally again, he dropped the gun into the toilet. He couldn't help but to laugh hysterically.

Move Action: Move from Starbucks, to the scene at the bank, and into the bathroom.
Standard Action: Disarm the robber by taking his gun.

[HopeHubris]

"Eye of Horus!"
Khaldun shouts as the symbol appears in front of him, before moving to his eyes and settling there and glowing.
He looks behind him, making sure Denise had successfully scrambled for cover, then grabs the heaviest object within reach and hurls it at the injured man
"I am giving you this opportunity to surrender"
Take the offer you damned fool, I would rather not kill you in front of the woman


Move Action: Activate Eye of Horus
Standard Action: Throw stuff

[NerdyOgre254]

You glance around the area, but nobody appears to be paying you any attention - too busy cowering. Several people have left the starbucks, oddly enough. An older man, two young men and an Asian woman - they were here just a second ago.

Architecture Expertise Check: FAILURE

The front of the bank (75 feet) is empty. Across the front windows you can see a heavy metal lattice that was not there before. A number of people are on the ground, and you can see three criminals in the bank.

The first one is a male, roughly 5'9", wearing a tan suit. over the suit is a chest covering body armor jacket. He sweeps the front foyer of the bank, yelling at people to get down while brandishing an automatic shotgun in their faces. His face is obscured by a mask of a pig or boar, spraypainted with the Four of Diamonds. You see him move to the front of the doors, and place something on the doorframe - a small box that your keen eyes pick out has FRONT TOWARDS ENEMY printed on it.

The second one is probably a woman, judging from the body shape. As you arrive, you see her using cable ties on the civilians. A large assault rifle is slung over her back. She appears to be wearing repurposed riot gear - blody armor, kneepads, and arm guards. Her mask is like that of a Plague Doctor from olden times - a smooth mask with a beak-like protrusion. Painted on this is the Seven of spades.

The last one is undoubtedly a man, and a big one at that - by your measurement 6'10" tall, and about 3' wide. This bulk is increased by the very heavy armor on his body - undoubtedly a repurposed Explosive Ordnance Disposal suit, covering almost the entirety of his entire body, further reinforced by steel plates bolted onto it. In his meaty hands is a machine gun undoubtedly stolen from some army or PMC somewhere in the world. Slung on his back is a large circular saw. Before he turns away from the front of the bank and starts slamming his way through the staff room, you see his mask is similar to that of a Hollywood Alien, with the Ace of Clubs printed onto it.

Summoning a costume out of thin air is not something you've tried to do before. As you summon the armor onto your body, you realise that costume design is not something that comes to you naturally. You forgot to take into account two things - the first being that you're not the sculpted Adonis you think you were, and the second - you need to breathe.

With all the fury of the Seraphim behind it, your hammer flies true, towards the head of this foul interloper. With a righteous arc, your blessed intrument swings true - straight through the person, with no slowing from connection with unholy flesh. As your view of this intruder disappears beneath your hammer, and strikes the wall of the building with a thunderous crash, you see that this intruder is no longer there. Was she an illusion? It was of no importance at this moment in time - there were foes to be defeated elsewhere.

Perception Check: SUCCESS
Criminal Expertise Check: FAILURE
Urban Combat Tactics Check: SUCCESS

Moving around to enter the bank, you find yourself next to the stairwell. Slumped in the corner near the door to the bank interior are two corpses - both of them shot in the chest and head, wearing the uniform of the security company. Looking into the bank proper, you can see two mean fighting. One is obviously a bank thief, with a blue suit, ceramic mask and a silenced Glock 17 in his hands. The other man looks to be older, wearing a suit and coat, possibly a patron of the bank. You see the older man strike the criminal in the face, and wince as you hear the high cracking sound of a cheekbone and jaw fracture. In response, the criminal fires three shots into the older gentleman - which he thoroughly ignores. Any suspicion that this person might be one of the metahumans your mission required is immediately dispelled as he shouts "Eye of Horus!" and his eyes begin glowing with a golden light. As this happens, you realise that he is now aware of you as well - how did he do that?

But seriously, who robs banks in broad daylight anymore?

Best approach would be to attack from surprise, and focus on disabling their gear. Disarm, destroy. Whatever they will use to get into the vault will not be immediately replaceable on-site, and if you take down their communications jamming system and start freeing hostages, they should abort. These guys don't look like your average dumb criminals - they look like a team who knows when a job is impossible to complete.

As you stand there, you are vaguely aware of a mental presence moving past you faster than you can see - it moves around you, and into the bank.

Apparently metahuman vigilantism is like waiting for a bus - you wait long enough, two are bound to show up simultaneously.

Disarm Check: SUCCESS

As you sprint into the bank through the rear entrance, you feel as if something is in the way, something you can't see. Leaping over it, you continue into the bank. From the stairwell, you can see two men in a struggle - a suited criminal wielding a weapon, and an older gentleman with bullet holes marking his nice coat and suit.

Running in, you effortlessly grab the weapon from his hand as the spent shells fly through the air. Unfortunately, a gun that has just been fired is somewhat warm to the touch as you grab the weapon from the barrel and lift it from his hands, and you have to grit your teeth to hold onto the weapon. Quickly rushing to the staff room, you dash past the coffee machine and into the bathroom, tossing the weapon into the toilet. As it leaves your hand, it returns to realistic speed and hangs there in the air, moving very slowly toward the toilet.

Turning around, your breath catches in your throat as the biggest man you've seen begins to barge through the staff room. He's easily a foot taller than you, and bedecked in the armor that the bomb disposal guys from the Hurt Locker movie wear. In his hands is a machinegun, and covering his face is a mask like the other criminals - although this one looks similar to an alien, with the Ace of Clubs stenciled onto it.

Attack Roll (Thrown Object): SUCCESS

As you reach around to grab something to throw at this man, you feel a rush of wind. Suddenly, the man is no longer holding the pistol, a fact that seems to surprise him just as much as the object hurtling for him. He rolls with the attack, using his forearm to deflect the attack. It still strikes him, but you can tell his arm is severely hurt.

Enemies:
Ninja Mask Criminal: 2 Injuries, Staggered (Half movement speed, 1 free action and 1 standard action per round)
Pig Mask: Fine
Plague Mask: Fine
Alien Mask: Fine

As the object smashes into his arm, he stumbles back and starts immediately moving away from Khaldun - it's clear he's outmatched. His left arm looks injured, possibly broken, and with his right arm he reaches into the duffel bag and pulls out a submachine gun. With a clumsy motion from his damaged arm, he points the gun at Khaldun and holds down the trigger. Unlike the pistol, this weapon is not silenced, and the noise of the bullets in this closed area is deafening.

As the bullets hit him, from the staff room a menacing figure smashes through the door, wood splinters and drywall cascading from him. This man is as tall as Khaldun, an impressive 6'10" and his bulk is supplemented by some kind of fanciful police riot gear. Khaldun's eyes widen as he sees the machine gun and his arms come up as bullets fly from the barrel of a machine gun held at his hip.

[Khaldun, make 2 toughness rolls, DCs 28 and DC 27]

[Zelphas]

"What devilry--" the Hammer of God begins, but is cut off by the sound of more gunfire from across the street. His snowy white wings snap outward, and he sails out of the alleyway and into the front foyer of the bank, moving so fast that a clap of heavenly thunder follows in his wake. Ifriel assesses the situation in an instant, and soars past the man in the boar mask, his mighty warhammer sweeping down upon the man's head as he passes. He ends up hovering with his head brushing the ceiling of the foyer, his resplendent wings and mighty warhammer outstretched.

"Foul thieves! Shatterers of peace, murderers of calm and comfort!" Ifriel's voice rings out, filling the foyer of the bank. "I am Ifriel, the Hammer of God! I give you this one chance: lay down your arms and submit to me, and face the wrath of the governing authorities. Continue to fight..." Ifriel's voice drops dangerously low. "Dare to defy me... and face the wrath of God."

Move Action: use Flight 10 (4 miles per round) to move out of the alleyway, into the foyer, past Boar Head, and end up above the center of the foyer.

Standard Action: Use Move-By Action to hit Boar Head as I pass by (DC 25 Damage if hit).

Free Action: Make a wrathful speech.

[Doggie_arf]

He had been hasty in picking a teleport location. The place was sheltered, true, but it was also uncomfortably close to where the bulk of the action was taking place. The man in the blue suit was missing, but there were three others in the foyer - a woman (81 feet...), a man close to Alex's own height at the doors (76 feet...), and a giant 6'10" behemoth (93 feet away...). Probably from the same group, though, judging by the designs on their masks. Even as he watched, the behemoth busted his way through the staff doors and opened fire at something or someone Alex couldn't see, the sound of machine gun fire drowning out everything else.

At least they didn't seem to have noticed him yet - one of the perks of being 14 feet and 7 inches above ground level. And with his improved vantage point, he could probably find a better place to escape to. He began to scan the area again...and instead found himself looking back down at the bank and the people within.

People who, up until a few minutes ago, had been going around their ordinary daily lives.

People whose ordinary lives had just been shattered.

People like him.

By all rights, there shouldn't have been a need for Alex Mason to do anything. But I'm no longer ordinary anymore, am I?

He'd need a costume - something to shield himself and mask his features - if he was going to go charging in there like the hero he wasn't. Putting all thoughts of escape out of his mind, he concentrated again, this time focusing on himself. Trying to feel as much as he saw, he imagined a lattice of material forming on his body, starting from his feet and working upwards...

The helmet came last, dull gray and metallic...and Alex immediately ripped it off, gasping. No one had told him how hard it was to breathe in those damn things! Looking around in consternation, he grabbed his grocery bag and emptied it of what was left of its contents. "This is going to look extremely stupid," he muttered, before pulling the flimsy bag over his head and tying it loosely.

After poking some holes for himself to see and breathe, of course.

Free: Heroic mental monologue.
Previous round's [?] Standard (since I only teleported last round): Fail horribly at creating armor.

Move: Suffocate Rip off "helmet".
Standard (?): Empty bag and wear it instead.

Feel free to tell me if Alex's actions take shorter/longer than the above, and/or if Alex is interrupted partway through.

[HopeHubris]

"Your weapons are useless, surrender before I am forced to make you"
Khaldun demands, punctuating his statement by throwing the filing cabinet between the two
This was a nice suit :smallfrown:
"If you do not throw down your arms and submit, the next one will not miss"

Now that the Eye of Horus is active, Khaldun looks around the building, noting any 'heroes' or other members of the bank robbing group.



Free/move action: Intimidation/Coercion
Standard Action: Throw filing cabinet (which missed, but I'm pretending that was intentional :smalltongue:)

[Mekboy]

More gunshots. Okay then, time to be a hero.

Rachel's synthskin subsystems fizzled away into nothingness, revealing her smooth metal carapace. Simultaneously, concealed jets fired from within in her arms and legs, propelling her through the window (Oops, scratched up the paintjob there...) and across the street, into the bank. A quick glance around confirmed her target - big guys with machine guns in banks tended to be the bad guys. She aimed her (not inconsiderable) weight at him, finishing her flight path by tackling him bodily.

"Hey guys! Sorry to drop in unannounced!" Too cheesy? Nah...


Free action: Deactivate morph.
Move action: Fly to the bank, 1600ft move.
Standard action: Attack the big 6'10" guy with the machine gun, making it an all-out attack (-4 to active defenses, +4 to hit)

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:26, 15-Jan-2014

As the bank lobby explodes into action, Agent Li first makes contact with the older gentleman with the glowing eyes. <I know you can see me. Please keep these cretins distracted while I take care of their support equipment.> She then reaches out to the speedy mental presence. <Don't panic. Yes, I'm talking directly into your head. It looks like the older gentleman and the flying robot have the giant well-covered. I'm going for their support equipment. If you see something like this...> She flashes images of various man-portable communications jamming devices at the speedy presence <Please be so kind as to turn it off.>

Kiki next turns her attention to the giant. Rather than scope out the whole place, it would just be easier to get information straight from the source. She activates the suit's ghost-mode and with a thought, she invades the giant's mind.

Telepathic Communication: Free
Routine Expertise: Communications Jamming Devices check: Free
Activating Insubstantiality: Free
Mind Reading: Standard

[Drakeburn]

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Mel whispers to himself as he tries to shake off the heat of the gun he took away. His attention however, was turned towards a big man with a machine gun entering into scene.
Then he saw the big man get attacked by some kind of robot. Where it come from, he shouldn't care. As long as the big guy is busy, that's all he needed. Then he heard some kind of voice in his head. It sounded like a woman's voice. Then an image of jamming do-hickeys flashed in his head. I'm way over my head in this. Mel thought to himself.
He ran off with a burst of speed, past the hole the big guy made and into the foyer, where there were two more robbers, innocent bystanders being tied up on the floor. One robber appeared to be occupied by some sort of angel, so he took on the robber with the weird long nosed, or beaked mask?
It didn't matter. Mel went for that one anyways. He weaved around the civilians, trying to use his speed to try and make his hits more effective against his target's armor, before retreating back to the bathroom. How many times he hit, he couldn't keep track of.

[NerdyOgre254]

1 injury and Demoralised (-2 on all rolls) applied to Four of Diamonds, Demoralised applied to Seven of Spades

At the last moment the craven swine turned his head, cursed be! Your divinely appointed strike was deflected at the last moment, striking the mask and pushing him onto his knees for a moment. As you hover over him, threatening the righteous vengeance of the Lord, you see him tremble ever so slightly. To see even such a hardened criminal quake at his deserved judgment fills your heart with honor. The same fear can be seen in the eyes of the scoundrel next to him, as she begins to speak...

1 injury and Dazed applied to Seven of Spades

...but all you can hear is the rushing of your own heartbeat as you hammer at the crook with all you have. An elbow to the lower back leads into a fist to the collarbone, into a foot to the knee and a slap to the hand to throw off the aim of her assault rifle. Chuckling as you retreat back into safety, you see two small devices attached to the door at about knee height, with the 'FRONT TOWARDS ENEMY' label stamped on the front.


No damage, but target is grappled: immobile and vulnerable

You barrel through the window, the criminal not wearing armor dropping to the ground in reflex as you thunder past him into the largest foe. Your fist strikes him cleanly in the jaw, but he doesn't even shift - it's as if you hit a mountain. Whipping your arm across and around his neck to grapple, you begin to pull him off balance - and then you feel him go limp, as if unconscious.

Demoralised applied to Queen of Hearts

The big thief seemed entirely unmoved by your display of strength, and hefted his weapon in your direction, preparing to fire again. The smaller one you had struck earlier was much less sure of himself, and began to back away. He starts to limp away, only to be forced to hit the floor as a mechanical human flies through the window behind him and crashes into the bigger one.

With your Eye of Horus active, you can see a number of interesting characters nearby: At the rear entrance of the building is the Asian woman you heard in your head earlier. Hiding in the staffroom is a young man wearing running gear, a hoodie and some ski goggles. In the front foyer, there are two criminals. One is a man in a pig mask, wielding a shotgun while the other is a woman with a plague doctor mask and an assault rifle. Floating above the two of them is an angelic creature, wielding a large stone hammer. You can see that he is speaking, but you can't hear anything other than the familar EEEEEEEEEEE noise of ear damage. Out on the street, hiding on the balcony is a young man with a shopping bag on his head, with eye and mouth holes.

Over near the crowd, you can see someone slightly different, and you can't work out why. A woman, possibly in her late thirties or early forties, dressed in a grey woman's pantsuit, with shoulder-length brown hair. You saw her for only a moment, as once the metal woman flew through the window, she disappeared.

Mind reading vs. Ace of Clubs, 4 degrees of success.

Your mind jumps from yours into his, and you come to a realisation - the Agency gets you to practice on hardened targets for a reason. The tiny mental shields that stand in your way fade in an instant, and you find the plan for the heist.


The Queen of Hearts was to infiltrate first, entering from the roof, deploying a transmission jammer to block all calls out for the block. He would then find the security room, next to the stairwell, and kill the two guards in there.
The Seven of Spades would cut power to the bank, stopping them from hitting the silent alarm.
The Four of Diamonds would enter from the front, killing the security guards in the front area.
The Ace of Clubs would surprise the bank manager on his cigarette break, dragging him into the bank and unlocking the teller booth.
From there, all members other than the Ace of Clubs would apply zipties to any civilian hostages.
The Ace of Clubs would set up the thermal drill on the bank vault door, and return to the front.
If the police were called at any time, the Queen of Hearts would place barricades on the windows, and the Four of Diamonds would place claymores on the front doors. The Seven of Spades would place ammo bags in the staff room for ease of access.
When the vault door was breached, the Ace of Clubs would use his circular saw on the interior door, and begin opening up safety deposit boxes with the saw. He would then return to the front and keep a path clear to the exit van while the other members alternated moving bags to the side entrance.
Once the vault was cleaned out, the Ace of Clubs would be given the contents of Box 924, and all members would protect him on the path to the escape vehicle.


Stepping further back into his memories, you come across something else unique. You watch in his eyes as he enters a darkened room, and sits down at a long table, in the shape of a circle, surrounding a central dais. Everyone in the room is seated, and you can see that everyone wears masks of differing designs, all stamped with a card facing.

In the center of the room, that all participants face, stands a man. No, not a man - a mannequin, with a totally blank face. There are no features on this mannequin, and yet it moves of its own volition. It is dressed in a suit, the kind of suit that screams class and money. In its cold plastic hands is a deck of cards. It slowly shuffles them, and draws four, one at a time. As it draws each card, it slowly intones the name on the card, although how it does so without a mouth is a mystery to you.

"Queen of Hearts. Four of Diamonds. Seven of Spades. Ace of Clubs."

You see the people marked with the matching masks stand up, and can feel yourself standing up in the memory, and then with a mental yank, you are returned to your own body.

As you put on your makeshift costume, you hear another crash and thud from the rear of the building as something blurs from the Starbucks and into the bank.

Enemies:
Ace of Clubs - Unconscious
Queen of Hearts - Demoralised, 1 injury, Staggered
Four of Diamonds - Demoralised, 1 injury
Seven of Spades - Demoralised, 1 injury, dazed

As the huge criminal collapses, the slender criminal with the Queen of Hearts mask changes his tone. "Ace is down!" you hear him yell. From the front of the bank, the woman yells, "Fall back! Out the side door! ID and relay!"

The Queen of hearts grabs a grenade from his pocket, rips the pin away and lobs it in the general direction of Khaldun and RCH31. the lever flies free as the grenade soars into the air, to land at Khaldun's feet, emitting a burst of light turning the room bright as day for a moment.

[Khaldun, RCH31 and Agent Li, please roll Fortitude Saves vs a Sight Dazzle effect, DC 20]

Out in the front of the bank, the two criminals raise their weapons at Ifriel and open fire. The woman, perhaps panicked by the sudden surprise attack, misses widely, but the man with the shotgun's aim is true, and pellets rain fiercely onto Ifriel. After this, they begin moving towards the side exit, stepping over hostages and corpses alike.

[Ifriel, make a Toughness save. DC 23]

[HopeHubris]

Khaldun does not even blink as the Flashbang goes off, instead closing the distance to the criminal
"That is not how one surrenders"
He says, as he catches up and throws a punch at the man, attempting to grab hold of him with his other hand as he does
Telepaths... I really should work on some sort of protection against their ilk, no offence.


Move Action: Move to dumb criminal
Standard: Attack (Probably success)
Hero Point spent for Fast Grab (Probably fail)

[Doggie_arf]

Alex flinched reflexively as something rocketed out from the Starbucks he had been in a moment ago, shooting into the bank and out of his sight. "Focus on the task at hand," he told himself sternly, trying to keep his hands from shaking as he tied off his makeshift disguise.

There, done, he thought, assessing his rough efforts. The tracksuit he wore was now layered with dull metal, forming rough plates on his limbs and across his chest, protecting his body while still allowing him freedom of movement. At least, that had been the intention - he hadn't expected his 'armor' to be so stiff. Or heavy. And as for his head...well, the less said about that, the better.

Good thing he didn't have to worry that much about moving around - that was one of the perks of being a teleporter.

Turning his attention back towards the bank, he noticed that the two remaining criminals in the foyer appeared to be retreating towards the door at the side of the bank. And that there was a green, glowing angel floating in the center of said foyer (11 feet off the ground...), wielding a gigantic warhammer. Even from where he was, 83 feet away, Alex could feel the angel's imperious countenance as the latter stared down at his targets. It was unnerving...and yet, relieving at the same time. At least he wasn't the only one doing something.

"Right," he muttered, visualizing the "grid" in his mind once more, and "dragging" himself from his vantage point above the delicatessen into the bank foyer. His vision blurred as the shift occured, and he was in the foyer, exactly 6 feet behind where the angel was floating. Concentrating again, he focused on the exit the two masked criminals were heading for, reinforcing its framework and building a new layer of material across the steel and glass of the doorway.

Blocking off their escape.


Move: Teleport into bank foyer.
Standard: Use Perception Create 9 to block off staff room side door. 21 on checks to "craft" a seal thanks to Skill Mastery: Expertise (architecture).

[Mekboy]

Huh. That was unexpected. Shrugging, Rachel dropped the limp body and leaped into the air once more. At this point the grenade went off.

One of the big bonuses on being an android compared to a human is that sensory overload isn't really a thing. So when Rachel's sensor's took in the sudden flash of light, Rachel saw a massive flash of light. For a second her view was obscured, then everything was fine again. No blindness, not even any little spots in her vision.

And so, completely unhindered by the grenade, Rachel launched herself forward towards the woman in the plague mask. "Leaving so soon? But the party's just getting started!"

Immune to fortitude effects.
Free action: release grab
Move action: Move to the 7 of spades
Attack action: All-out attack. -4 to active defenses, +4 to hit.

[Zelphas]

Ifriel grunts as the pellets strike him, but gives no indication of pain besides that. His eyes seem to burn from within his helmet, focusing on the foolish mortal who had dared to shoot him despite being warned of the consequences. "You dare to attack an Angel of the LORD?!?" he roars, winging swiftly forward once more to smite the arrogant boar-headed fool. "You cannot flee your fate; mercy is beyond you now!"

Noticing that the door has suddenly grown new material, Ifriel looks around the foyer once more, discovering the presence of a man in a grey, armored suit and... a plastic bag on his head?

Ifriel, the Hammer of God, did not really know quite how to respond to this strange apparition. "Art thou friend or foe, bag-headed man?" he asked finally, returning to his position at the center of the foyer.

Status: 1 bruise

Move Action: loop around Four of Diamonds and back to hovering at the center of the foyer.

Standard Action: Try (and fail) to hit Four of Diamonds with the Hammer of God as I fly past.

Free Action: gaze in heavenly confusion upon a man with a bag on his head.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex took an involuntary step backwards as the angel's gaze fell upon him.

"F-friend!" he stammered, raising his hands placatingly towards the equally imposing apparition floating 9 feet and 5 inches away from him.

"...er, my helmet kinda didn't fit...," he added in a smaller voice as the second part of the angel's sentence registered.


Free action: Placate confused angel.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:27, 15-Jan-2014

Reflex takes over as Kiki twists around and shields her eyes from the flash. Blinking the few spots out her vision, she heads towards the vault. It didn't look like the remaining robbers would be going anywhere soon, given the assortment of characters they were now facing.

She first contacts the speedy one and the man with the glowing eyes. <If you go out front, you'll find a van these thugs were planning on using as an escape vehicle.>

[Drakeburn]

And if you actually looked at the entrance, there will be boxes there that might be bombs, Mel thought, trying to communicate with whoever this person.... or thing is.
Listen, unless you're my subconscious, I'm gonna keep doing my own thing. Now with that taken care of, Mel darts out of the bathroom, back into the foyer. He saw the two masked robbers trying to get away, only to have the entrance blocked off by some kind of material. He grinned as he went for the bird-masked robber again, scoring a few quick punches at the head and back before turning to the other. He tried to slap the boar masked guy, but he only managed to wipe his fingers on his helmet. Missed him.
Instead of running back to the bathroom, he went through the backdoor again, running back to the front of the bank, where there was somebody wearing a bag over his head there. "What's up?" Mel said to him casually. "Garbage Man, I assume?"

Standard Action: Rapid Attack on the two robbers in the foyer (attacking the robber first, the same one I struck before).
Move Action: To the foyer and around to the front of the bank outside, next to Alex.
Free Actions: Communicating with Li / talking to Alex

[NerdyOgre254]

Khaldun:
You can see the fear in Queen of Heart's eyes as you race forward and grab him by the mask. Lifting him up in the air, you slam him down onto the carpet with a thud that shakes the few remaining windows and knocks the water tank off the water cooler, causing Denise to yelp in fear. Pressing your massive bulk onto the criminal, you faintly hear from below you, muffled, slurred and winded, "Yeah, I'm done. I give up."

RCH31:
Flying through the staff room, papers and documents fluttering into the air, you land a fist onto the Seven of Spades' back. In one smooth motion, you grab her left arm and bend it back over her right shoulder, and put your foot into her left leg, bringing her down on one knee. She struggles for a moment, and then stops. "Alright, I surrender. God damn."

Mercury:
Bursting from your hiding place, you unleash a flurry of attacks on the two criminals in the foyer. Your attacks seem to bounce off of the armor of the Seven of Spades, but your fists strike true against the Four of Diamonds, throwing him off balance. As you dash around to the front, you notice that a mechanical being has got the Seven of Spades in a very complex hold, one she is unlikely to escape from.

Everyone:
The Four of Diamonds drops his gun immediately after seeing Seven of Spades go down, and his hands go up in the air with lightning speed. "Surrendering!" A silence falls over the bank, interrupted only by the fearful sobs of the hostages.

Denise stands up from behind the water cooler, and shakily walks over to the staff room. She picks up a pair of scissors from the stationery drawer, and walks out into the foyer and begins releasing people from the ziptie cuffs. "Are the phones working again?" she stammers out.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:27, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki resumes solidity as she makes her way over to Denise. "Not yet, but we'll get that resolved soon. Now," she says, whipping out an identification that clearly identifies her as Agent Samantha Fong of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "as soon as possible, I would like whoever is in charge here to meet me at the vault. I know you're all frightened, but time is of the essence."

She shoots a quick thought off to the speedy one. <Good eye. Those are claymores.>

This assorted crew could likely handle keeping the robbers contained. Having the phones remain down would make it easier to see what it was the thieves were after, and make further contact with the assembled metahumans without interference.

[Zelphas]

Ifriel slowly descends to the floor. "You were given a chance to surrender," the angel says quietly, his eyes seeming to bore into the boar-headed man, "And you defied me." Slowly, very slowly, the angel paces over to the now unarmed man, his armored feet ringing out against the tiled floor. "You were offered mercy, and you responded with scorn and gunfire. And now that you have faced me in battle, now that your plotting has been confounded by myself and others who did what was right, now... you believe that mercy is waiting for you?" By this time, the Hammer of God is standing directly in front of the Four of Diamonds, his great warhammer hanging loosely at his side. Silence hangs in the air for a long moment.

Then, with one swift movement, Ifriel brings the hammer across the man's face. "You forfeited your mercy when you fired your gun," the angel spits, staring down at the man. Then he turns aside, his head held high. "If you and I ever cross paths again, mortal, your life will be forfeit."

Move Action: Drop to floor. Walk slooowly up to the Four of Diamonds.

Standard Action: Smack an unarmed man with a stone warhammer.

Free Action: Explain why Ifriel smacked an unarmed man with a stone warhammer.

[Mekboy]

Rachel winced sympathetically as the angel brought his weapon down on the man. Yeesh. Evidently not exactly the forgiving type. "'Spose you're lucky to get me rather than fire-and-brimstone over there, huh? Now come with me. And no funny stuff." she muttered to her captive, relaxing her hold a little to part lead, part drag the woman into the main foyer with the others. Rather louder, she shouted "Okay, is anybody badly injured? Are we going to need an ambulance at all?"

[Doggie_arf]

"Ergh," Alex replied to the man with the hoodie and goggles, grocery bag crinkling as he put his hand to his head. "Why do I have the feeling that I'm never going to live this down...?" He hoped that the...err...flying robot (?) that was now restraining the woman wouldn't make any comments about his makeshift getup.

He flinched as the green angel demonstrated that his warhammer wasn't just for show. "Geez, was that really necessary?" he blurted, staring at the criminal's newly-wrecked face. No wait, what are you doing? Don't provoke the angel with the 6 foot hammer, you idiot!

Calming his breathing now that the fighting had died down, he looked around the wreckage that had once been a bank foyer. They don't make buildings in this style anymore... a part of him thought. At least there didn't seem to be any gross structural damage - it would really be a pity if they had to tear the place down.

Anyway, it was probably time for Alex to make his escape. The bank wasn't going to (physically) collapse, and he'd only get in the way of anyone providing medical assistance. And there appeared to be some federal agent talking to one of the bank tellers in the staff area 45 feet away (Now where the heck did she come from?) - the last thing he wanted was to attract the attention of the authorities.

"Wiping" away the barrier he had formed with a thought, he started looking around for a teleport escape route, and then paused, remembering something. He turned to face the bank's main door (6 feet, 4 inches...), wincing as the plates of his "costume" chafed in some rather uncomfortable areas. "Now what are these supposed to do?" he muttered, staring at the boxes that the boar-masked criminal had mounted on the door frame a while ago.

Dispelling barrier on side door (free action?). Skill Mastery'd E(Architecture) to confirm that the heroes and villains didn't irrevocably wreck the bank.
Also improvising on the same skill to figure out what the heck the boxes on the front door will do to said bank. Rolling for that one in the thread - apply penalties if needed.

(Alex probably doesn't have to move from his spot to see the boxes - hooray, Enhanced Vision!)

[Drakeburn]

"Don't sweat over it." Mel replied, giving the guy with the garbage bag a pat on the back.
"You did your part pretty well. I'd like to stay and chat, but there's a voice in my head I'd like to run away from. See ya!"
With that, Mel took off, taking the extra long way home to enjoy his first day as a superhero.

Free Action: Talk/pat Alex on the back
Move Action: Run as fast as he can around the city before he goes home.

[Zelphas]

Ifriel freezes in the midst of preparing himself for flight, his head turning to the man with a plastic bag on his head. "Necessary?" he echoes, sternness warring with genuine puzzlement in his voice. "The criminal defied my offer of mercy and then attempted to reclaim it once he realized the battle had already been lost. Necessary is of no matter; it was just."

[HopeHubris]

"Very well"
Khaldun says, signalling for the sentient mystical force that operates his Sanctum, teleporting the Queen of Hearts into a holding cell withing
"It would appear that this is over, though some of the 'heroes' have caused quite a bit of damage"

Should I be protecting my secret identity or my false secret identity, that is the question, reveal that multimillionaire Khaldun Kingston has superpowers, or that there is millennia old animate mummy walking around aaaand damn, I already forgot about the telepath, I will end you if you reveal anything I have thought about, but feel free to weigh in...
I have been far too lax with my magical studies, if only I had bothered to prepare more than a single disguise spell

[NerdyOgre254]

Denise looks at you with a bit of nervousness. "Unfortunately, Agent, that isn't possible," she mentions, pointing at the screen next to the next to the bank vault. Above the fingerprint scanner, the small screen shows 'POWER OUTAGE LOCKDOWN' in bright yellow lettering, "Once the power is restored to the bank, we can access it. But I will need a subpoena or warrant to allow you to open it without the owner's presence. I can provide you a name, though, once everything clears up."

People look stunned as you bring your hammer across the face of the man with the Four of Diamonds mask. He crumples to the floor, unconscious.

The Seven of Spades is entirely compliant as you drag her over to the front of the foyer. "So are you a real girl in there, or just pretending to be?" she asks of you, half jokingly.


You're pretty sure these are explosives of some kind, due to the use of the term 'Enemy' on the front. You can also see a Lockheed-Martin symbol on the side - a known weapons manufacturer in the US. Given that they're facing away from the doorframe itself, probably nothing will happen.

You start jogging around the city, zig-zagging streets, under railway bridges, up buildings, around and through parks. As you turn onto Morningside Drive from West 113th street, you a sudden blur of motion catches your eye - it's moving at your speed, not the slowed down speed that everything should be at. A brown-haired woman in a grey pantsuit standing at the corner turns around, just as quick as you do, and brings a large DSLR camera up to her face. She quickly adjusts the camera, and a flash throws you off balance for a moment. Blinking to clear your eyes, she is gone.

The Queen of Hearts disappears in a swirl of magical energies, which faintly brightens the room for a moment, and you're left to survey the damage.

Mostly to your suit, although the walls and surrounding area did not escape unscathed. Empty shells and bits of brick and drywall litter the area around you. The filing cabinet you threw still lies there, its shelves open and spilling out like a drunken lout. You can distinctly see the imprint in the carpet you made when you threw the Queen of Hearts to the ground, his duffel bag and weapon discared nearby.

From the staff bathroom, you hear an older voice.

"Denise, why is there a gun in the toilet?"

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:27, 15-Jan-2014

I already forgot about the telepath, I will end you if you reveal anything I have thought about, but feel free to weigh in...

Kiki had heard of Khaldun Kingston. It was quite a revelation that he was reanimated mummy though. The Agency would be quite interested to hear that. <Do not worry, Mr. Kingston. I have no interest in revealing your secret. If you would care to meet me a bit later though, after we extricate ourselves from this situation, I think it would be mutually beneficial.>

As for Denise..."Understandable. I wouldn't want you to get in any trouble; everything by the book. If you wouldn't mind giving me space here though, and leading people out, I'd appreciate it. This is an active crime scene, and I need to get to work."

As soon as Denise is out of sight, assuming she complies, Kiki goes into full ghost-mode once again, invisible and insubstantial, and drifts through the vault door. Once inside, she looks around for Box 924.

[Drakeburn]

"What the?" The mysterious woman who suddenly appeared and disappeared made Mercury stop.
There was no way anybody could be that fast. How could somebody be as fast as him, yet alone have super-speed?
It was something Mel just had to figure out. So he ran around the city again, this time on a mission to find out who that person ways. With his hoodie and his ski goggles, there was no way she could know who he was. Even if it did show his face, he was still new in Manhattan. There was no way anybody could recognize him. That is what he hopes for.

[Doggie_arf]

"Necessary?" he echoes, sternness warring with genuine puzzlement in his voice. "The criminal defied my offer of mercy and then attempted to reclaim it once he realized the battle had already been lost. Necessary is of no matter; it was just."

"Er. Okay. Not arguing with that."

What else could he say to the scary angel with the hammer?

----

Alex had remembered seeing the words "FRONT TOWARDS ENEMY" on one of the boxes when the boar-masked man was placing it - hence his decision to examine them from 6 feet and 4 inches away, trusting his enhanced vision to make out the details.

Judging by the logo on the box, his caution had probably been warranted. Military explosives, from the looks of it. And there had been the machine gun that alien-masked giant had been firing earlier...They must have really wanted something from this bank if they were packing that kind of ordnance...

Anyway, Alex was relatively certain that said explosives weren't meant to destroy the bank. There was still the problem of removing them safely, and he wasn't sure if he was up to the task. The guy with the goggles had left, and he really didn't want to go near the fed or speak with the angel again. That left the flying robot by the side door (14 feet, 10 inches away...)

"Excuse me," he called out to her (?). "I think I might need some help here..."

[HopeHubris]

Public identity it is, worst case scenario I finally learn better illusion spells and buy a new identity, I can't really put the whole "Living Mummy" thing back in the bag
Khaldun sighs and walks out to the foyer

"I agree with the angel. Surrender, once a battle is over, is no surrender at all"
I will consider your offer telepath

[Zelphas]

Ifriel has stopped listening to the people around him in the foyer, preparing to take his leave. Then the man with the plastic bag on his head calls for help from the woman of steel, staring at the front doorway. Ifriel pauses once more, glancing over the entryway...

"Hmph," the angel exhales haughtily. "These criminals were this determined to end human life... well, it does not matter. I shall deal with this." Ifriel gestures imperiously at the wall next to the doorway. The stone wall flows like water, wrapping around the explosives in the door while opening up a hole to the outsides world. Ifriel waits a moment to oversee his work, nods in approval, and flies out the newly made hole in the blink of an eye.

The Hammer of God glances over at the bag-headed man askance. I came through that portal not one minute ago, bag-man; what need is there to fear it now?" With that, Ifriel blasts through the door and away.

Assuming that he makes it out of the bank unscathed, Ifriel lands in the same alleyway where he first appeared. "Time for me to sleep once more," the angel murmurs, a hint of regret in his voice. "Mortal Christopher, would that I could speak with thee... it is of no moment. Thou wilt call upon me once more." The Hammer of God slumps, his warhammer falling to the ground and being reabsorbed into the earth. His armor and wings fade away, leaving a blond-haired, hazel-eyed man in khakis, a blue button-up shirt, and an old silver jacket behind.

Christopher stumbles and then gets his bearings. "The alleyway again," he says to himself. The bank! I have to see if there's anyone I can help... Christopher begins jogging towards the bank.

[Mekboy]

"That would be telling now, wouldn't it?" Rachel replied in an equally joking manner, but sounding slightly worried. Real girl. That hurt a little.

Fortunately the bag-headed man interrupted at this point. "Sure thing, give us a second. Hey, shirt-and-tie! Keep an eye on this one for now would you? Wait, what happened to the other one?"

[NerdyOgre254]

You melt through the door, and rematerialise inside the bank vault. It's pitch black (as a sealed steel box with no power going to it would be) but you have your flashlight handy, and find Box 924, over the opposite side of the room, locked as you would expect. Martin's voice appears in your head.
<Kiki, need a sitrep. Call just went out to the police, and they're on their way. What metahumans are we looking at on-scene?>

You see the small boxes on the door, and bend the earth around them. A moment later, they make a small bang and you can hear the sound of ball bearings hitting the ground.

As you start jogging toward the bank, you're dimly aware of what happened in the bank, of gunshots and hammer blows. People are sitting on the floor or what few chairs remain, bullet holes litter the walls, and the lights remain off. An african-american woman in a tattered bank uniform is on the phone, presumably to 911. Next to the front door is one of the criminals, presumably a woman judging by body shape. Lying on the floor next to them, totally unconscious, are two men, one about your height and one nearly seven feet tall. The other people of note in the bank are an unusual bunch - a person with metal armor over their body and a grocery bag on their head, with eye and mouth holes, a large man in a very bullet-damaged suit and coat, and what you can only guess is some kind of robot.

[roll Treatment to diagnose and treat the members of the public]

The winged angel flies out the front door, shortly after moulding the concrete around the claymores. As the earth closes over their sensors, a muffled bang can be heard. Well, that's that problem solved. As you look out on the other side of the street (42'), you see a woman, probably mid-40s (5'11"), taking photographs of the bank and yourselves - and then she disappears into nothingness.

As you stand in the bank foyer, Denise walks over to you, putting her phone away. "The police are on their way, you'd better get going. I'll cover for you."

As you sit the Seven of Spades down with her back to the wall, you notice a kid with a mobile phone take a photograph of you and the bag-headed hero, the shutter click sound immediately catching your attention. The kid, a white boy roughly 13 or 14, then looks down and starts typing away.

Whoever that was, they threw you off your pace, and by the time you get home, your muscles are sore and unresponsive.

[Zelphas]

As he jogs through the gaping hole in the side of the bank, Christopher inwardly groans. Moving earth. Of course. Ifriel, why do you always have to go for the grand entrance? He continues onwards into the main foyer, not really expecting an answer. "Hello, my name is Christopher Horeb. I'm a doctor. Is there anyone who..."

He stops, struck by the strange people standing in front of him. "Oh, hello," he says, addressing the man in the tattered suit, the robot, and the... grocery bag man? equally. "You're the ones who stopped the bank robbery, I guess. Let me tend to these good people here, and then I can see to any of your injuries." He blinks at the robot. "Well, except yours, I guess. I'm a doctor, not a mechanic. Unless that's just a suit?"

Christopher then moves among the civilians, assuring them that everything is well in-hand and checking over any injuries he finds. If there are any smaller or more easily-concealable injuries, Christopher quietly transfers them to himself, where they heal in seconds. All the while, he thinks to himself. No massive blunt-force trauma on the civilians, that's good. Ifriel hasn't attacked a bystander yet, but still... it looks like no one has died here, either, though that guy in the boar mask looks like... oh man, I better check on him soon...

[HopeHubris]

"Thank you Denise, you have been most helpful"
I should get her something as thanks, maybe a new automobile? I believe people these days like automobiles
"I have no injuries for you to see to and I have no more reason to stay, farewell"

Khaldun walks into an unoccupied portion of the building and signals for a teleport home.
When he arrives at his Sanctum, he makes sure that the prisoner is secure then leaves into the main house, calling for one of his men.
"Maurice, I require your services. This suit has been damaged, I require a new one, you have my measurements. Oh, and while you are out, buy an automobile for Denise, the woman at one of my banks, people like those, yes?"

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:27, 15-Jan-2014

<So far, I've seen four directly, and evidence of a fifth. Assigning codenames Runner, Angel, Mummy, Robot, and Builder. I'll complete my report at a debrief. Right now, I'm trying to get at what the criminals were here for.>

Kiki opens a sealed metal container on her hip. Inside is what appears to be a dull-grey dust. Through the mental interface, she gives it a command. A small bit of the dust flows out and into the twin keyholes in the front of the box. Two bars grow out the keyholes, and solidify. Kiki twists the new-grown keys, and the box opens with a well-oiled click. She removes the interior box and examines the contents.

[Drakeburn]

Whoever that mysterious woman was, she was gone. If she was as fast as he was, she could be anywhere in Manhattan, or beyond Manhattan.
As Mel got near to his home, he could feel his muscles getting sore, and harder to respond.
Uh oh. I ran farther than I should've! Melvin realized. His powers were still new to him. He didn't spend a lot of time to train himself, and he's starting wish he had.
Then his house came into view: a two story house that was painted white with dark red roofing, with a garage door, and a walkway that led to a raised red brick porch. It had white wooden railing around the raised platform and both sides of the stairs. Two hedges stood aside the stairs, tall enough to block the view of the railing on the raised porch. And just enough space in between the porch and the bush for a person to hide behind.
Using all the strength he had left, Melvin steered himself to get behind one of the hedge bushes. Mel managed to get off his goggles and hood before collapsing headfirst onto the ground of exhaustion.
I hope that woman doesn't find me here. Melvin thought. Thankfully, nobody was home yet. His mother was out job hunting, and his older sister was at college.

[Mekboy]

Rachel froze. That certainly wasn't optimal. There was just the matter of how bad it was. She was pretty much completely designed and built by the Doc, so her parts couldn't be traced. There was nothing to link this with her synthskin coated appearance. The photo gave no clues at all to her true identity. But the fact remained, there would be a photo of her floating around on the internet. The Doc would not be pleased. But that was something to be worried about later.

"You're a doctor? Great! I'm pretty sure there's no-one seriously injured. Um... no need to work on me though. Perfectly fine here. Now where's the guy in the suit gone? Huh... coulda sworn he was here a moment ago. Anyway, what did you need, baghead?"

[Doggie_arf]

Alex flinched when he heard the muffled blasts. Turning around, he was just in time to see the angel leaving from the newly-formed hole in the wall, smoke still trailing from where the explosives had been set off.

"Err, never mind, I think that problem has been sorted out," he said, trying not to groan out loud at what said hole could do to the building's structural integrity. As for the boxes themselves...had the angel just melted concrete and molded it like clay?

This train of thought was interrupted when he noticed the woman with the camera (42 feet away...). Before he could react, she had taken his picture and (literally) disappeared. What in the...did she just take my picture? he thought, panicking. And where did she disappear to? Being seen was already bad enough, but being caught on camera in this getup...

And then the doctor stepped through the hole. After all the excitement with superpowers and military grade weapons, seeing a normal person was a relief. Especially one who could help the other normal people who had been caught up in the robbery.

"I'm not injured," he replied. "I think there was an older man in the staff area who was s-huh, where did he go?" There had been a man in a tattered suit earlier, hadn't there? He'd remembered him standing 35 feet away, talking with that secretary...well, it didn't seem like he'd need it, though. From what Alex had seen of his suit, that man was definitely not normal either. Being hit by dozens of rounds from that alien-masked behemoth's machine gun without turning into a bloody pulp kinda excluded one from that category.

Well, being able to teleport and create matter at a whim did exclude Alex from being normal too. And right now, he had something to do that required those "abnormal" abilities.

"Erm, Doctor, if you could move away from the wall?" he asked, stepping towards the 7 foot, 4 inch diameter gap the angel had created. "I'll just need to repair this hole..."

"And please don't talk about the bag...s'embarrassing..."


So what Alex is attempting right now is to excise the most twisted and structurally unsound parts of the wall using his Spatial Rending (Perception Damage 10), trusting on his Expertise (architecture) [Skill Mastery'd for 21] to avoid total collapse.

If you don't think that's suitable, he'll use Extra Effort to stunt off his teleport array to get something like Ranged Damage 10 effect with Accurate 5 and Precise. Accurate probably doesn't matter since the wall's inanimate, and Precise would allow Alex to cut more effectively.

tl;dr - Alex wants to remove the damaged bits via Portal Cut (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PortalCut), before filling them in again.

[NerdyOgre254]

You set to helping the people in the bank. Nobody is seriously injured, amazingly - the assistant manager has a blown eardrum, and almost everyone else has minor cuts and bruises, with some people sustaining hearing damage. The people with the biggest injuries appear to be the criminals.

As you shed the suit, Maurice looks at the tattered clothes worriedly as another servant provides you with a replacement. "I will handle it immediately, sir. Although if the gift of an automobile is in any way related to this," he stares wonderingly at the suit and coat, "Perhaps it would be best if we do not do so immediately for the sake of not arousing suspicion. I will handle it."

Another servant brings you a fresh suit, and lays it out for you on the lounge.

Before he departs to throw away the wasted suit, Maurice asks, "And what of the man in the cells below the house? I assume you wish to speak to him at a later moment?"

<Debrief at 1300, Agent Li. Martin out.>

Opening up the safety deposit box, you find a manila folder. Inside this folder are a number of documents. Some childhood drawings, done by a child by the name of James. There are some satellite images of what you guess is a manor in the countryside, or at least the ruins of it, at the coordinates 51°14'10.8"N 0°06'16.7"W. There are some fake passports, with no picture in them, for a number of countries - Britain, Pakistan, Israel, and the US, to mention a few. An old and worn brochure for the town of Bristol, in rural England, with a few circled locations around the town map - one is labelled 'No Threat', another is labelled 'Abuse of powers'.

Underneath the folder is a small leather book, quite old and worn as well. Opening it up, you see that the notebook is filled with names. Dozens of pages of names, written in a cramped writing style, all crossed out with different colors. One name catches your eye, not because of the name, but because it's been crossed out with blood. The name is Cindy McMahon.

As you tend to the injured and keep an eye on the criminals (the one of them that can still move under their own volition), you receive two emails simultaneously on your HUD. The first one is from Doctor Carver's email address, an automated email detailing the telemetry from your systems and providing a comprehensive report in an easy to read format.

The second is from an unknown source. While your gear normally resolves the name of the inbound email, this one remains as an IP address, IPv6, to be specific. The sender is labelled ATCG:ATGC:AGCT:ACGT:ACTG:AGTC:GTAC:GTCA. With no subject line, and only a single line of text, and an attached picture. The message reads:

"I DON'T THINK WE NEED THIS PICTURE ON THE INTERNET, DO YOU?"

and attached is an image file - your photograph, taken from the camera that the child had.

You manage to fix the angel's impromptu remodelling with a bit of effort. As you turn to your next task, your phone makes a notification sound. Pulling it out, you see it's a text message from one of the guys you share your building with - a freshman architecture student by the name of Jimmy.

http://i.imgur.com/EcYg8Jr.png


You collapse on the ground out of sight from the street. You're vaguely aware of your fingers still being tingly from grabbing onto that gun. The ground is hard and cold, but against your windburnt face it feels quite nice. As you turn your head to the other side to cool your opposite cheek, you realise that something saw you rush in and change.

Thankfully, only your neighbour's dog, a massive Great Dane, staring over the fence at you, panting and slobbering loudly, its breath steaming in the cold air.

[HopeHubris]

"Hmm, yes, very well, deal with the woman as you will. Do not worry about the prisoner, I will question him later"
Now... How to go about meeting that mind reader

"Thoth, teleport me to the prisoner and review your memory of the bank heist, see if you can find anything of import to do with the telepathic one"

[Drakeburn]

"I really should get myself a better costume." Melvin groaned as he slowly sat up and started taking off the hoodie, the running shoes, and the jogging pants. Thankfully he snatched his bag really quick after that mystery woman took a picture of him. To believe he almost forgotten about it. So he stuffed his costume, or his cheap idea of a costume, into the bag and put his sneakers back on.
"And good morning to you to Duke." Melvin called out to the dog as he got up from his hiding place and headed to the door. When he checked his left pocket, he was relieved that one of the spare keys to the house was still there. He unlocked the door, and went inside.

In there, was a living room with a grey couch, a brown tv stand with a DVD player and DVD movies inside, and a flat screen tv. The only other things that was on the pale green carpeting were piles of boxes. Boxes of his father's belongings. Trying to be a superhero for the first time made Melvin forget that he was going through a hard time in his life. Now, he remembered. His father, probably the only best friend he ever had, wasn't here for him anymore.
"If only you could see me now dad." Melvin sighed as he grabbed the remote from the TV stand, sat on the couch, and turned on to the local news.

[Mekboy]

Okay... That was a little creepy. Certainly very helpful, but creepy. Rachel quickly sent off a reply.

Who is this? How did you get this address?"

[Doggie_arf]

"Dammit, not now," Alex muttered as he read the message. He'd normally be happy with helping out, but after losing his groceries, performing precision "surgery" on an angel-warped wall and being caught on camera with a bag on his head, the university sophomore was feeling rather cranky and uncharitable.

Then again, there was that dinner offer. Definitely better than the cup noodles he'd be stuck with for the next few days (thanks to not having any groceries...), at any rate. Go back and take a shower first. Then see what Jimmy wants.

"I'll be making a move first, then," he said to the doctor and the robot, before stepping through the hole in the wall to the street outside.

Removing the twisted brick and steel had widened the hole by 10 inches - thankfully, whatever the angel had done hadn't affected the support pillars, and he hadn't had to "cut" into them and risk collapsing the entire foyer. The warped material - along with the remains of the explosives - had been teleported into a small pile of rubble exactly 3 feet away from the hole. Examining his "handiwork", Alex briefly considered sealing the hole up, before settling for a simple, removable lattice to brace the wall and keep the hole covered. He didn't want to interfere with the actual repair work by forcing them to remove his stuff, and he wasn't certain how long his creations could actually last. Two months had been the record so far, but the bank had been standing for years.

I'll have to take the "other" way back in, he thought after the lattice had been materialized. There's no way I'm going to get past apartment security in this getup, especially if that woman's picture is circulating around on the Internet. Scanning the area quickly, he immediately "dragged" himself to the roof of a nearby boutique (137 feet, 3 inches...), reappearing on said roof a split second later with eyes already on the lookout for another teleport location.

In between jumps, Alex quickly keyed in a reply to the freshman.
<I'll take you up on your offer. Meet you near entrance at 1230? We could do lunch instead.>

After covering the unsightly hole in the wall, Alex will amscray via repeated teleportation. While texting.

The Teleport power mentions being able to warp to familiar locations even if you can't sense them - I'm guessing that Alex's apartment counts as such a place. So instead of going in the front door, he can "jump" in from an alley within range.

Alex does have the Extended extra on his personal teleportation, but I'm not too sure of the distances involved, so he's doing short jumps for now.

(And no, Alex is NOT Kuroko.)

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:28, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki slips the documents into a conveniently formed pocket. She uses the edge of her sleeve to wipe off any fingerprints (Forgetting to form some gloves, rookie mistake.), and slides the interior box back to into its hole. She closes the door (sleeve over hand), and the dust flows back into its vial.

She elects to go out through the normal entrances, rather than just floating out the back wall. There was always the risk of awkward questions when nobody (nor any any camera for that matter) could recall seeing someone leave. I'll have to wipe any camera that were pointed at the vault to, damn it. I hate high-security locations. Always so much. . .security.

Agent Li drifts back out through the vault door, this time taking care to rematerialize out of sight of any cameras. Solid and visible again, she goes to find Denise. Once she does, she says "Just a few more things, ma'am. Do you have on-site storage of your security cameras, and if so, where would that be? I'm going to need a copy. Don't worry, I don't need a warrant if you surrender the tapes freely. You saw how dangerous those people were, and it would really be in the public interest for us to get started as quickly as possible."

[Zelphas]

Christopher heals the hearing damage, simply binding up the cuts and bruises with whatever's handy (and clean) for now. Having the bank noises go in and out of focus was a bit disorienting, but the pain was little compared to what he'd been through before.

After checking over all of the bystanders in the bank, Christopher walks over to the two downed criminals. He notices that the plastic bag-headed man had partially fixed the doorway--Maybe Ifriel won't cost thousands in taxpayer's dollars this time after all--and had then vanished. It looks like everyone's leaving before the police get here. I should probably get out soon too--but first... he leans over the two criminals, checking the extent of their injuries.

[NerdyOgre254]

Thoth's voice echoes in your head. "Hmm. I have noticed several things of interest from your surrounds. A great deal of magic emanated from the 'angel' creature. It appeared to be very directly focussed on retribution. Caution should be taken in future to identify what the creature defines as a misdeed deserving of action."

"The telepath appears to be some kind of government-trained individual. More information required on the scope of the controlling agency is required. From review, it does not appear directly hostile."

"The robotic creature appears to be some kind of mechanical entity, and is definitely nonliving - no signs of life were detected. At several points, it moved in a manner not possible for organic joints."

"I will require more time to carefully analyse the actions of the entities in the altercation. In the meantime, your prisoner awaits."

You feel the strange vertigo-esque sensation as you are teleported to the holding cells below your manor. You materialise in the cell, opposite the small bed in which your prisoner lies. With his mask removed, you can see the damage you've done - bruising covers the entire left side of his face, and his left eye is swollen shut. This man, the Queen of Hearts, is a male, probably in his mid twenties, with short brown hair and a clean shaven face.

"Here to beat on me again, are we?"

You switch over to channel 5 news, but nothing of your recent exploits yet. Probably this evening it'll be on. You notice that your mom left the job section of the newspaper on the table near the TV remote, as a not-so-subtle hint. The vast majority of them are not something you could do - you don't even know what a "Head Receiver" even does (and it's probably not what you were hoping for, anyway). There are some jobs for janitorial work, custodial work, and a package courier job.


You send the response email, and immediately bounces back as <Non-valid IP address>. A moment passes, and then you receive another email, this time with the sender ID of ATTG:ATTC:AGTT:ACTT:TCTG:TGTC:GTAT:GTCT.

"NAMES COME LATER. I SUGGEST YOU LEAVE THERE NOW AND FIND ME. HERE'S A HINT - GEIGER COUNTER."

You receive a text message a couple of moments later.

"Sure. It's kinda complex, so if it does take more than an hour or so I'll get dinner for us as well. See you soon."

Dragging your imaginary model to your apartment, you reappear inside with nobody the wiser. Time enough for a shower, and then go see what Jimmy needs help with.

Phasing through the vault door, you appear under the camera's blind spot. Denise takes you to the security room, still and silent, absent of power. After looking over it for a moment, she finds the eject, and hands you a small tape. "Everything should be on there, although if they took out all the power, even the emergencies, then there might not be anything on it. I did get the contact details of the person they were targeting - one James Winfield. Here's his phone number and address."

Looking over the two criminals, you find the evidence of Ifriel's work - a broken collarbone, a busted eardrum, and skull fractures. As long as the ambulance gets here, this man will be fine. A few weeks in the hospital and he'll be fine.

[HopeHubris]

"I did only what I must to subdue you, if you had surrendered you would not be in quite so poor a condition.
If you are willing to tell me everything about what you were after, and who you are working for, you will be free to go, otherwise you shall remain there."

Khaldun stops talking, clearly expecting the man to tell all

[Zelphas]

Christopher pauses for a moment. It looks like Ifriel's left no lasting damage, this time, and the cops will be here soon. Still, the skull fractures seem somehow.. too far to him. The reasonable part of his mind tells him that healing those wounds might make the criminal more coherent, letting the police talk to him sooner, possibly getting a confession.

With a slight grimace, Christopher kneels next to the man, placing his hand on the criminal's masked head. With an effort of will, Christopher seals the man's skull back shut, feeling his own skull fracture in response. I'll never get used to this, he thinks hazily, waiting for several seconds as his wounds heal under his skin. Even though he is fully healed, he stands a bit unsteadily, the remembered pain making him slightly woozy. "I think that's all I can do here; I'll take my leave now. I hope everyone has a better day than they've had so far," he says, attempting lightheartedness with a small smile. He turns to go out the hole, then blinks in surprise at the lattice suddenly covering it. "Um..." he says in surprise, looking for a way out. He sees the side door a few seconds later, and walks out with a wave.

Once he gets out of the bank, Christopher walks back to the Starbucks, stopping for a moment to gape at the busted window. I don't think Ifriel did that... Melvin maybe? He looks around a bit for the youth, but finding no sign of him, he sighs and begins heading home. If Melvin really needed to talk, he'd find Christopher again.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:28, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki accepts the tape and the contact details with a smile. "Thank you, Denise. You have been very helpful."

Almost too helpful, in fact. How did you know exactly which box the robbers were after? Kiki takes a peek inside Denise's mind; the explanation might be innocuous, or there might be another threat to deal with.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin sighed as he looked over the Wanted Ads on the newspaper. His mother is struggling to find a job, and now she's expecting him to find one as well? It was either that or go back to High School. After his experience of being the new kid so many times, being chased by mean kids of all sorts, there was no way Melvin would want to go back. Besides, it has only been.... three or four days after his father has died? From how he feels, that isn't enough time to get over somebody's death. But the bills needed to be paid, so somebody needed to earn money. Melvin turned off the TV. There's nothing good on anyways.
He got up from the couch and made his way to the refrigerator. There was a hand-written note that read;




Melvin,
while I'm gone,
could you please pack the rest of your father's belongings
and wash the dishes for me?

~ Mom




That was her for sure. But then again, with her husband gone, and needing a job to support the family (Or just Melvin and his mother, since Ashley is at the local college with a job as a tutor), Alice Gregory is having a really tough time getting things together. And the fact that Mel dropped out of High School and has a past of misdemeanors and a felony didn't make it any easier for her.

Melvin turned his attention to the sink, which had a small hill of dishes in it. This is gonna take me forever, Melvin thought as he groaned. Then he realized something that made his face lighten up. Unless.....
Melvin knew that his mother wouldn't be home for a while. At least not until the afternoon. His muscles were a little bit better, but slightly still sore.
He took a moment to take deep breath and warm up a bit, and then he got to work.

Move Action: Casually walk to the kitchen (at average speed of course)
Free Action: Read mother's note
Standard Action: Wash Dishes

Melvin does have Quickness 15 after all. Muahahahahaha!!!!!

[Doggie_arf]

Alex sighed as he examined the meager contents of his fridge. Ever since he'd started living by himself as a student, he'd come to realize just how much he'd taken for granted that there would be food on the table every day. The monthly scholarship allowance had seemed like a lot, until one subtracted costs for rental, meals, utilities...not to mention accidental damages caused by materializing a giant steel bar on top of your desk and couch. That had been difficult to deal with.

"Yep, I was right. Nothing but cup noodles for the rest of the week." Grumbling, he closed the door and walked towards the bathroom, passing over the round carpet with the concentric rings where he'd reappeared a few moments ago. He'd cleared that particular area of his room as a safe landing spot, and also as a reference point - some calculations and empirical "measurement" (via Alex-vision) had placed it 225 feet, 6 inches away from the air-con/heater compressors behind the student apartment buildings. One of four locations he'd identified for teleporting back into his apartment, and the one he'd used today.

As he walked, Alex "erased" the rough armor he'd been wearing with a thought...and nearly fell over as the effects of crudely fitted plating rubbing over one's skin and clothes made itself known. "Argh," he gasped, steadying himself against the nearby wall. After he'd recovered enough, he stumbled the remaining 3 feet, 3 inches into the bathroom. There, he gingerly peeled off the jacket and track suit he'd been wearing, wincing every few seconds as he did so.

That task done, he dumped the ragged clothing (and the plastic bag he'd been 'wearing') into the laundry basket and stumbled into the shower. The first blast of heated water against his abraded skin nearly made him scream again, and he hastily lowered the temperature and pressure to a more comfortable level.

Probably have an hour and a half till I have to meet Jimmy, he thought as he showered. Guess I'll have to set another day for my own work. He'd better not be rushing an assignment - not much I can do to help him if that's the case.

tl;dr for above:

Teleport into apartment.
Rip off plastic bag.
Complain about state of fridge.
Remove 'costume'.
Complain about abrasions from 'costume'.
Shower.
Complain about how water hurts abrasions.

After the shower, Alex will do assignments/kill time until about 10 minutes before the meeting; then he'll port back out and walk to the apartment entrance (technically, he's still signed out).

[NerdyOgre254]

The Queen of Hearts looks at for a moment, then sighs, and shifts on the bed slightly. "We got told to hit the bank. Primo target was deposit box 924, anything else was just providence. No idea why the boss wanted whatever was in it, not what I do. I just do tech."

"I reckon your next question is why the masks, and why the cards. It's an easy way to identify who's who. I know that the Ace of Spades has a Dillinger mask, that the 9 of hearts has a zombie mask, and a couple of others. As for who they are, I dunno. Masks are always on when we meet. I knew Seven of Spades from the Bosnia conflict, and Ace of Spades has been with her since then. Lotsa different folks from all round the world. Most with military experience, and a few honest-to-God sociopaths in there."

"As for the boss," he pauses, "No idea. The guy's a bit unusual, a bit like yerself. He's a walking talking mannequin, and that's about all I have to say about that."

The walk home is uneventful and uninteresting for the most part. The sun is out, but the wind takes most of the warmth away.

AS you reach into Denise's mind, and start poking around, you notice that the thought for Safety Deposit Box 924 is a bit strange, like it's been planted there.

As you begin moving faster and faster, washing dishes with the speed of a man possessed, the phone begins to ring.

RING RING! Glasses are done.

RING RING! Cutlery too.

RING RING! Plates are clean.

RING RING! Pots and Pans.

RING RING! Sink is draining.

Dashing around the house, you start putting your father's belongings in the box, dimly aware of the greatly slowed electronic warbling of the phone. Two rings later, it's all packed away.

You fiddle around with a few assignments, potter about the house for a while, and then at 12:20, teleport and walk back over to the entrance.

Jimmy is already waiting at the entrance, and he gives you an enthusiastic wave as you come closer. Jimmy is a British man in his late twenties, with military-length black hair and a lanky look about him - all arms and legs. He walks over to you and smiles, all rugged up in a long worn oilskin coat.

"Thanks for this, man, you're my guardian angel. Anyway, where did you want to go for lunch?"

[Zelphas]

Christopher unlocks the door to his apartment and steps inside, shivering. His living space consists of a large living room, with a sofa, a flatscreen TV, and two bookshelves, one filled with medical journals and the other with fantasy and science fiction novels; a connected kitchen and dining area, with a stove, a refrigerator, and a small folding card table (I really need to get around to buying a real table one of these days); and two doors, one leading to a medium-sized bathroom and the other to a decent-sized bedroom. He pays a ruinous price for the space, but it was New York; compared to some other places he had looked at, this place is a bargain, and it's only a 20 minute walk from there to Sloan Kettering.

Christopher flops down on the sofa and switches on the TV, flipping through the news stations to see if there's anything on the attempted bank robbery on 86th. If nothing catches his eye, he puts in a movie, grabbing the latest medical journal from the bookshelf and skimming through it as he half-watches. He has nothing to do but to kill time until lunch.

[HopeHubris]

"You have been most forthcoming, much more reasonable than earlier, I will see about having you released as soon as possible. Thoth, how long would it take to prepare a memory erasure spell?"

"A ritual would require 8 hours to prepare and 20 minutes to cast"

"There you go, Queen, assuming nothing goes wrong, you shall be free on the morrow, unless of course you have objections to me preserving what anonymity I possess"



If he has no objections, Khaldun spends the next four hours designing it, unless something happens, then he spends as much time as he has before that, and finishes later

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
TD Bank, Columbus and W. 86th, Manhattan
10:30, 15-Jan-2014

Well, that is certainly interesting. There is certainly more to this story, and I don't think Denise here will be able to fill me in on the details.

Kiki breifly considers wiping Denise's memory, but quickly discards that idea. Though it would be convenient if Denise didn't remember a mysterious federal agent showing up, the memory wipes weren't always the most accurate. It would be implausible for a bank employee to have missed the entire bank robbery, and besides, there might still be some memories in that head worth exploring.

There was enough to go on for now, though. She walks out the front door (Good thing there was a doctor so close) and walks a few blocks to hail a taxi.

<Martin, I'm on my way back. Send someone to pick up these goons. Unfortunately, it looks like one of them already got away.>

[Mekboy]

Well, she had no reason not to follow the strange emails for now... the criminals were dealt with and it would probably be best to get out before she got any more photos taken of her. Hurriedly leaving the foyer, she took to the air to find someplace secluded to reactivate her synthskin.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin had just about finished packing away his father's hiking gear when he heard the phone's automatic voice speak:

"At the sound of the beep, please record your message."

The phone gave off a beep for two seconds, then it spoke again, this time in his mother's voice.

"Hi Melvin, if you get this message, after you get the dishes done and pack your father's stuff, could you please clean out your father's office or one of the spare storage rooms? I'll explain when I get back from my interviews."

And the phone beeped again, meaning that was all she had to say.

For some reason, his family had an odd habit of picking houses that had more rooms than needed. For every house they had moved in, his father made himself an office and some kind of workshop in the basement. Melvin's father established that the basement was off-limits, no matter which house it was.
All Melvin knew was that his father was some kind of inventor. What he made exactly, he didn't know too well. What Mel did know was that his father's job was the main reason why they moved so often.

With a sigh, he went upstairs, and turned to the left. His dad's office happened to be at the last door to the left side of the hallway, with the bathroom next to it. What room was next to that one? Melvin's room. Mel just casually walked in, in a room that had an office desk, an office chair, and an empty bookshelf. With all the little things already packed away, Mel was left to pull all this stuff out of here. Oh, how I wish I could trade my super-speed for some super strength right now.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex couldn't help smiling at Jimmy's cheerful attitude. Despite being a few years older, the British student had a certain boyish enthusiasm about him that made him seem younger than his actual age - he sometimes seemed more like an overgrown teenaged little brother than a grown man in his late twenties. They'd worked together on a few projects over the past semester; the man was a hard worker, but he did tend to forget things at times.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be anyone's angel," he said wryly, remembering the one who'd been at the bank earlier. "Anyway, I have no preferences for lunch." Alex paused for a moment, then hastily added: "Er, make that anything but noodles." I have the feeling that I'll soon be sick of them.

"So what did you want to ask me about?" he asked, as they walked towards Jimmy's choice of eateries.

Extrapolated a bit of stuff regarding Jimmy's personality from what you mentioned. If it isn't what you had in mind, do tell me and I'll change it.

[NerdyOgre254]

You channel surf for a while, and while there is a minor mention of the robbery on CNN's minor headline display ticker - "Bank robbery thwarted by vigilantes, undercover law enforcement" - nobody's covering it with any substance. Flicking through the medical journal and half-watching the movie, eventually starting to doze off.


RITUAL DESIGN CHECK: SUCCESS
"Not like I really have a choice. Whatever." Queen of Hearts shrugs.

You spend the next few hours preparing ingredients, preparing sigils, and designing the ritual itself.

Agent Li:
As you get into the taxi, and give the driver directions, noting the faint spice smell from whatever the driver had to eat recently, you notice the police and ambulance vehicles moving onto the scene. Martin's voice fills your head, as the taxi pulls away from the curb and towards the Agency facility. Looking down at the

<Ordinary law enforcement has them now, we'll pull rank on them once they've been processed. See you soon.>

Rising up into the air, you manage to spot out a small alleyway with enough room for you to change forms uninterrupted. Dashing down to ground level, the alley has plenty of cover - dumpsters, fencing and the like. Shifting back into Rachel Carver, you take a step out and watch the street. Now to find this mystery person.

It's hard not to be disheartened at the disheveled state of your late father's office - memories of how he would sit in the chair just so, staring out into the backyard as he worked out something in his head, only to dash back to the desk and adjust whatever he was writing on. His books still sit up there - some of which he wrote. There are some you recognise by their sheer value to science - "On the origin of Species" for one, but others are more esoteric - what the hell is "Gravitational waves and Cosmic Fission"? The thoughts of why are quickly displaced by other thoughts - why are the cartons of these books so damn heavy?

As you walk towards a diner near your place, Jimmy starts explaining what his issue is. "I've got an assignment coming up. Before you say anything," he says, putting his hands up in front of him to stifle any complaint, "I have almost all of it done - it's a proposal and submission for a council building. But I've got this nagging feeling I'm missing something, and for the life of me I can't find it. I've looked over the assignment, I've looked over my designs and the other technical parts, and I know, just know, that there's something in there that is going to screw me. So can you have a look over it and have a look, make sure there's nothing hugely out of the ordinary?"

You head into the uninterestingly named Saul's Diner, an older building (96 feet wide, 55 feet long, plastic neon sign 14 feet off the ground) and order a burger and fries each. It's a good meal, and a welcome change from noodles, noodles and more noodles.

After the meal, and after sitting around for a moment afterwards to let the meal sit in your stomach, you both walk back up to your apartment block, and to his apartment - the floor below yours, at the opposite side of the building.

Opening the door to his apartment, he beckons you in. Walking inside, you realise that Jimmy is probably a bit better off than you are, and definitely better at cleaning too. Everything in his apartment is shiny and clean, and apart from the worn floor and the slightly flaking paint around the walls and ceiling, this apartment could be in a design magazine. Walking over to his computer (6 feet 11 inches away) he grabs a folio from the desk and starts pulling out documents and drawings. He pulls a chair out for you and puts it near the desk, then boots up his computer, typing out his password with a mechanical 'clack'.

Looking over the assignment, you notice that this is a well put-together assignment. It has all the elements that the professor is asking for, and more - but it's pretty long, definitely the document length required for a major business proposal. As you wade through this monster of an assessment, you look at your surroundings, and it hits you.

Nothing in here is made of plastic - it's all metal, wood, and fabric.

[Zelphas]

Christopher blinks and sits up, rubbing his eyes. I didn't even know I could sleep anymore...

Briefly, he's tempted to give in and see what dreams came, but that might let Ifriel out, and who knows what he might do. Glancing at the clock, Christopher decides on an early lunch at Torelli's Pizzeria (Pizza is a lunch food, right?) and then off to the library to research some more ancient Hebrew mythology before his shift that night. Man, I need a girlfriend the young doctor thinks as he grabs his coat and heads out once more.

[Doggie_arf]

"Alright," Alex said as he settled down into the proffered chair next to the desk. "Let's see what you've got here..."

He felt a bit self-conscious, sitting in Jimmy's apartment. The single apartments were all around the same size (12 feet long, 7 feet wide...), but Jimmy evidently had the budget to spring for much better furnishings, and the expertise to maintain it. Granted, Alex hadn't had much money to replace the furniture he'd accidentally destroyed...he still had to admit that the British international student was much better at keeping his stuff clean and shiny.

It's like everything's been polished to a mirror-like finish, he thought idly as he checked through the proposal document, switching his attention between the screen and the folio to compare details. You can even see your reflection in the desk...huh.

Apart from the folio and the computer before him, there didn't seem to be a hint of dull plastic anywhere within Jimmy's apartment; it was all cloth, metal and wood. Now that's quite an interesting choice of decor...maybe I'll ask him about it after I'm done looking through this.

End overcrowding and world hunger - take a child out for dinner!

Routine Expertise (architecture) for 21 to vet Jimmy's proposal, I guess?

Not sure what to say about his 'plastic' aversion...

[NerdyOgre254]

Getting your coat on, and resolved to enjoy a slice or two (or four - such was the nature of pizza) you begin the walk down to Torelli's Pizzeria, a short walk from your home.

This isn't the original Torelli's Pizzeria, the original being on a New Jersey street corner. Good quality pizza, now going franchise. To their credit, until you walk in the door, it looks almost like a perfect replica. The illusion is shattered, however, as it is not an Italian man behind the counter, but an Indian woman, probably in her late teens. Before you can order, however, someone taps you on your shoulder, and a familiar girly voice sings out, "Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

Whirling around, you see the head of Sloan Kettering's assistant, Micah, a very short blonde woman, with her hair tied up in a ponytail, in what you assume are her work clothes.

"-iiiis" she stops, a mischievous (possibly flirty? You can't really tell with this one) grin on her face. "What are you doing here?"

The folio given to you by Jimmy is very well written, and well put together (and quite large - 61 pages all up, including the concept sketches), well above the work a freshman is expected to put together - as it is, it would most likely get a Distinction, given the depth of it. Adding in some formatting and some use cases for the building, showing how the building could be used for additional elements would push this very easily into the High Distinction category.

As you pore through the document, you hear a knock on the door from behind you, and the voice of a British woman calls through the door, "Not interrupting anything am I, James?"

Jimmy immediately slams down the metal cup he was drying off on the counter (leaving it four inches from the edge) and dashes for the door (covering the distance in five steps, with a distance of 10 feet plus the arm movement for a total of 11 feet 3 inches) and opens the door. Standing at the door, in a grey pantsuit and long coat, is the same brown-haired middle-aged woman who took your photo at the bank.

"Hey mum," Jimmy says, giving the woman a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
"Hello my boy," the woman replies, hugging him back. She lets go looks him up and down, and tilts her head to the side, sighing. "Seems like every time I leave the country, you get skinnier."
"Actually, mum, we just went out for lunch; this is Alex, one of the seniors. He's taking a look at my assignment and making sure I didn't miss anything."
The woman looks over, sees your face, and smiles. She walks over to you, taking her gloves off as she reaches over to shake your hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Alex One of the Seniors," she says as Jimmy lets out a groan at her awful pun, "I'm Kathleen DeVere, James' mother."
Kathleen looks at her son, hand still offered out for a handshake, and bites back, "What? Can't I make a terrible pun once in a while?"

[HopeHubris]

"Now I remember why I never bothered mastering the disguise spell, Thoth, I don't suppose anything interesting is happening?"
Khaldun sighs as he asks the question
"I am ever so bored, that robbery was the most interesting thing that has happened in a while, even if it did ruin a good suit, hmm, speaking of the robbery, what was that angel fellow, you said he was magical in nature?"

[NerdyOgre254]

"The angelic creature you saw appeared to be some kind of celestial being, as you have no doubt already guessed. Abrahamic faiths posit a varying number of categories of angels - the Catholics have a three-tiered system of classification. This angel appeared to be some kind of foot soldier and avenger, so we assume that this angel sits at the lowest tier. Without more information, or additional interaction, I cannot provide more information to you."

Thoth's speaking form flies away, pauses, and returns to you.

"It is perhaps possible to provoke the angel into appearing, through the presence of great suffering. However, today has shown that you are not the only uplifted individual in this city, and perhaps not the strongest or most prepared. May I recommend taking the special agent up on her offer? If moved to our side, she would provide excellent support if our true motives were obfuscated."

[HopeHubris]

"I'm not particularly interested in causing great suffering, to be quite honest and I was planning on getting around to the meeting at some point, and I am quite bored, what time is it? It feels like I have been working on this for hours."
Khaldun says, standing up and stretching, not that he needs to, but it is an old habit.
He considers whether he should get the ritual finished and over with before leaving, but decides that since if it works, he won't even remember his time in captivity, he wouldn't mind the wait

"Well then, I suppose I should meet with this agent, do you have the contact details at all?"
After a brief pause, he ads
"And do not think I have dismissed your little remark, I am the strongest, did you not see me in that bank, not even slightly harmed, my father ruled an empire and I myself am one of the wealthiest men in the world. To say I am not the strongest is absurd, did you forget that I created you? With a little help from one of my descendants, yes but I created you none the less."




Bugger it, I have to buy Billionaire now, after that remark
1 PP spent, Billionaire

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
11:00, 15-Jan-2014

Finally making it through the last of the Agency's arduous security checks, Kiki steps into the cool, sterile air of the underground bunker. The place had started out as little more than a finished basement, but had gradually expanded over the years to be veritable warren. Unlike most such places, it was neither dark, dingy, and cramped or boringly industrial and practical. No, the Agency had spared little expense it making sure the inhabitants felt quite comfortable in their secluded space. Soft but bright lighting, various hardwoods, and subtle decorative touches were the norm. Sometimes the agents liked to ponder the fate of the poor team of interior designers that had the misfortune to have been selected for the contract. There was a dining hall, dormitories, even a theatre. There were also facilities devoted to the Agency's missions of course, including the ops room, the armories, and of course the brig.

Luckily for Kiki, the dorms were on the first floor. It made it easier for agents to come and go as needed. Her psychic signature and hand print opens her room. It was as she left it a few hours ago; small, clean, tastefully decorated, but somewhat spartan. It wasn't a space for personal expression. As far as the Agency was concerned, the agents who were in the dorms had no other purpose for the rooms other than sleeping and then getting back to work. Kiki takes a quick shower, then settles in at the desk, dressed for maximum relaxation in baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt. She first uses the Agency's network to locate and e-mail multiple accounts, all seeming to belong to one Khaldun Kingston.

K,

23:00, Gramercy Tavern

A

She uses the same resources to ensure that there is a decent table reserved for the meeting. She then sets to searching for the coordinates given, Cindy McMahon, and the mysterious James.

[Zelphas]

Christopher spins around, a smile coming to his face when he sees who it is. "Micah!" he exclaims, delighted. "Oh, you know, just paying homage to the 'Za Lord," he replies, internally wincing as soon as the words leave his mouth. Lord, I'm a nerd... "Anyways, how are you, Micah? Keeping old Burgess in line?" he jokes, quickly changing the subject. "Did you just get off shift? How's SK daytime?"

[Drakeburn]

After Melvin had finished with the book cartons, he went back into the office to take the office chair downstairs. It was probably one of the easiest items to move from there. After putting the office chair with the rest of the towers of boxes, he went upstairs, but instead of the office, Melvin went into his room.
It was nothing out of the ordinary: A bed with black bedsheets with a flaming design. A white, tall, and plastic laundry basket. The room also had a wooden desk, which came with a shelf a bit above it and 3 drawers on the bottom right side of it. It had a set of sliding mirror doors, which was where the closet was.
Just as Mel thought about jumping onto his bed, a realization hit him.
The bag!
Mel made a quick dash downstairs, pulled out the tie-dye clothing he had in his bag, retrieved a plastic bag from the kitchen, stuffed the clothes in there, ran to the garage, and put the bag of clothing in the garbage bin, and snatched his backpack on his way back to his room. The only thing that was in it now was the ski goggles. It seemed hilarious after his mother's disapproval of the ugly running gear Melvin and his father gotten, he finally gotten around to throwing one of them away like she asked him to.

With that out of the way, he let himself fall face first onto his bed, and rested there.
I'll just take a quick nap before I move the desk downstairs.

[NerdyOgre254]

As you finish reprimanding Thoth, Maurice opens the door to your study. In his hands is a small computer tablet.

"Sir, I have two pieces of news. The first is that a number of your investments and business ventures have paid off exponentially. And you have a dinner invitation. It only mentions the Gramercy Tavern, at 11PM tonight, from someone who chose to name themselves as 'A'. Potentially the Agent whom you met at the bank today, potentially someone else. It could be a trap, sir, so I would advise caution."

He leaves the tablet on the desk next to you, with the email facing you.

Searching through the database takes a while, being the monolithic mess it is. Starting with the GPS coordinates, you get the same satellite images of a ruined estate in Bletchingley, England. Stepping back through prior images, you see the following:

September 9th, 1994: location destroyed.
September 8th, 1994: emergency teams and police vehicles at the burned out site. Four dozen bodybags lie in neat rows over on the scorched lawn.
September 7th, 1994: The mansion is on fire, and obscures most of the satellite imagery. What you can see is quite obviously the evidence of a battle between two superhuman forces. Craters mark the grounds, and strangely older weapons, like single shot muskets and even a ship's cannon litter the area.
September 1st, 1994: The grounds are in pristine condition, and out on the upper balcony, two people appear to be talking. The first is a young blonde girl in a pink dress. The other is a woman in a grey pantsuit, with shoulder length brown hair. The suited woman is pointing at the girl angrily.

Looking up the location of the estate, you find the name - McMahon Preparatory College.

From behind you, you hear someone clear their throat. Turning around, you see Martin standing at the door.

"Can you get changed? Your debrief is on in five, and because you found so many new recruits, Section Head Daniels wants to hear the whole story."

Micah groans at your pun. "No, no. We have someone looking to make some serious investment in SK, so they've been chatting all morning to Burgess and the other doctors. We're just at lunch - she's not from here, so I figured here was a good enough place."

Without waiting for a response, she drags you by the arm and sits you down at the booth.

"Chris, this is the new investor, and she's interested to meet you and get some opinions," Micah says as she sits down next to you (worryingly close to you as well, you notice).

"Good afternoon, Doctor Horeb," the woman says in a cultured British accent. Probably in her mid to late thirties, with shoulder-length brown hair and a grey pantsuit, she reaches over and shakes your hand. "I'm Kathleen DeVere, and I'm interested in providing investment to Sloan Kettering."

[Zelphas]

"Me? But--" is all Christopher manages to get out before he is dragged across the room by Micah. When he sits down, he notices Micah sitting close to him. Huh. I wonder... then again, Micah was the prankster around Sloan Kettering. Making him look awkward in front of a potential investor would be just her idea of fun. He decides to ignore the close proximity between he and Micah... for now.

Smiling, Christopher shakes the hand offered to him. "It's nice to meet you, Ms. DeVere. I know Sloan Kettering is always looking for investors, but I'm not sure why you'd want to talk to me. I'm just a lowly resident, not management like Micah here."

[Doggie_arf]

Alex hoped that he didn't look as shocked as he felt. His surprise wasn't, well, surprising, considering that the woman who was fussing over Jimmy's appearance and diet had also taken his picture earlier in the day. It was a good thing he was holding on to her son's folio of notes - putting it down neatly and walking around the desk gave him a chance to (hopefully) regain his composure.

"Just a sophomore, Mrs DeVere," he said politely, taking the proffered hand. "But as your son mentioned, I am Alex. Alex Mason."

It didn't hurt to be polite, right? Besides, it wasn't as though the lady had seen his face under that bag...had she?

Gonna leave other stuff until after the lady's response. Just in case something happens when Alex shakes her hand (Life drain? Power drain? Joy buzzer? I dunno.)

[HopeHubris]

"I suppose I won't need those contact details after all, but that is quite a while away, I suppose I'll have to get this ritual with before then. Trap or no, I need something interesting to do and I am more than capable of taking care of myself, though, Thoth, do watch carefully, if I do happen to get killed, teleport me to my sarcophagus."

Khaldun appears to be glad he has something to look forward to that isn't the dull and dry art of crafting a ritual, magic is fun, magical theory not so much.

"Thank you Maurice, you are dismissed, I really do need to focus"

And with that, he turns back to his preparations and works until he is finished (Or another significant distraction arises, of course)

[NerdyOgre254]

You shake her hand, and it feels a bit tingly, and very warm - in a weird way, it feels like the heat from a bowl of soup that's been taken out of a microwave.

[Roll a Will Save]

"When you have something to offer, people often have something to hide. I like being able to talk to everyone and make sure that their needs are being met, and that any problems within an organisation get removed. And realistically, I'm not looking for some corner-cutting instant return, I'm looking to make Sloan Kettering the top standard in care."

She pauses for a moment, distracted for a moment.

"This is a weird question, but what does Sloan Kettering use for stuffing in pillows?"

You shake her hand, and it feels warm and tingly. The best analogy you have is the feeling of a cup of noodles coming out of the microwave.

[Roll a Will Save]

"I'm glad James has someone to help him out. Hey speaking of which, I'm only going to be in town for a few days. Did you two want to come out for a meal and a few drinks later tonight? My treat."

Both Maurice and Thoth murmur assent before departing to leave you be.

As you lie there, the phone rings again. Not bothering to answer it, it goes to voicemail, with the same introduction message. Your sister's voice rings out on the loudspeaker.

"Melvin, if you're home, learn to answer the phone. Secondly, mum told me what's going on with the spare room - we're letting it out to renters. I'll be home soon, lesson ended earlier than expected. Bye."

[Doggie_arf]

Alex frowned slightly as they shook hands. What had that feeling been - static? Pins and needles? Mrs. DeVere's grip hadn't been that strong...

"He doesn't need much help, from what I've seen today," he said, resisting the urge to surreptitiously massage his hand. "I'm serious," he added quickly to Jimmy. "It's an excellent and well-written proposal as-is. Add a few possible alternate uses for that council building in relation to its surroundings, and it'll go from excellent to exceptional."

"Er, sorry about that - we were 'talking shop' before you dropped by to visit." he said to Jimmy's mother, hastily racking his brain as to how to respond to her earlier question. The lady was just here to check on her son, wasn't she? And he really wasn't looking forward to noodles, noodles and more noodles.

"I wouldn't mind the meal, ma'am," he decided. "Have to pass on the drinks, though - I have classes and a report to work on tomorrow."

[Zelphas]

Christopher suppresses a frown, letting go of Ms. DeVere's hand rather quickly. Well, that was weird... "Pillow stuffing? I'm not exactly sure, ma'am, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd think it was the same cotton-polyester blend that's in most pillows," he responds, arching an eyebrow slightly at the question. Maybe part of her investment is planned to increase patient comfort? Well, the rooms for the patients could definitely be nicer.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
12:30, 15-Jan-2014

It was always startling to see Martin. One could feel the laziness, ennui, and general lackadaisical nature in his mind, but in person. . .oh gods. The man was a vision. He was one of those naturally blessed by genetics in every conceivable way: tall, model-handsome, naturally muscled. It was enough to engender natural feelings of resentment. Plenty of people in the Agency had acted on these feelings in petty office politics, but Martin's unbelievable telepathic strength had effectively blunted these attacks. Martin and Kiki were firmly friends though, and nothing more than that, especially given that Martin had no interest of that sort in the opposite sex.

"Yeah, yeah, no problem." Kiki saves all the accumulated data to her personal account; it wouldn't do much good to put it on the Agency-wide network for perusal until there was something more to go on. She quickly changes into a more professional outfit and heads to Daniels' office.

[Drakeburn]

"Fantastic." Melvin moaned.
Melvin ran by a bank robbery, had a mysterious woman take his picture, washed the dishes, packed away all of his father's belongings from his parents' bedroom, and threw away his makeshift superhero outfit. Was it too much to ask for some peace and quiet? It was a really, really, intense day, and neither my mother nor my "perfect" sister would let me have a break.

Turning his head from the alarm clock, it was almost 1 P.M.
Melvin made himself get out of bed and walked into the office again. He should mind as well move the desk, if it means not having his family nag him for being a lazy bum. Then again, he did wash the dishes and did the packing. He then proceeded to grab the desk. It was a black desk, with a row of drawers under the desk. He slowly made his way, pulling the desk out of the office, and made his way towards the stairs. Just as he made it to the stairs, he heard the door open and close downstairs.
"Melvin, I'm home!" His sister announced.

[Mekboy]

Rachel considered her options. No doubt the Doc would want to see her as soon as possible after she'd gotten into a fight for proper systems diagnostics and the like. On the other hand, that would not doubt involve a dressing down for being 'impulsive' and 'rash'. Besides, this could be important. The identity of the mystery emailer was certainly interesting - that they could clear her image from the internet suggested they had quite a lot of power. Now that she thought about it, she felt a little out of her league. They knew about what she was. They seemed friendly at the moment, but did they have ulterior motives?

She shrugged to herself. All the more reason to find them as soon as possible. Luckily, Dr. Carver was nothing if not prepared. A Geiger counter was one of the many useful sensors he'd added to her body. She flipped the mental switch that turned it on and got to work.

Using my Innumerable Subsystems feature for a geiger counter.

[NerdyOgre254]

At Ms DeVere's touch, you can feel your healing factor kick in - in the most wrong way possible. Your lungs tighten up, your knees go weak, and colored motes appear in your eyesight. You've pulled out the most heinous of cancers from some of the sickest people, and this feeling might be worse than any you've ever felt. For the first time, you can feel Ifriel and the amulet in the back of your mind, holding up your body and forcing you to fight through it.

Through sheer willpower you fight through the nausea and keep talking.

She continues the questioning, asking all manner of things about Sloan Kettering, your job, procedures and how things are handled. A lot of hypothetical questions get asked, too. There are a few questions that seem so oddball that you can't see how they'd be related to Sloan Kettering at all. The questions and back and forth seem to go on for a while, until Micah cuts in. "Sorry Kathleen, we have to get back."

Kathleen looks a bit irritated at this interruption, but her mood shifts almost immediately.

"Excellent, we'll have to continue this conversation at another time," she mentions as they both stand up. As Micah leaves to pay the bill, Kathleen hands you a card with a phone number on it.

"If you need to tell me anything, give me a call anytime," she says, and winks slyly as they both walk out the door.


Heading out of the dorms to Sector Head Daniels' office, you notice that the halls of the Agency are a bit on the quiet side today.

<So what was that research you were doing? Case related?> Martin inquires of you.

Daniels' office is spartanly decorated, with only a desk, chairs for all of you, and the filing cabinets to fill the space - not even a pot plant. An American in his mid fifties, with a thick crop of dark brown hair and a large bushy mustache, with the trademark beer gut of someone in management hiding a powerfully built frame, Ronald Daniels sits in his chair typing away at his computer. As you walk in, he shuts his laptop case, and asks in a rough voice, "Kiki, Martin, take a seat. I hear we have had a busy morning. Good work on minimising civilian casualties. But that's not why we're here. Fill me in from the start."

He pulls out a pen and paper and sits at the ready, interested to know what the events of the day were.

Your sister walks in, looking slightly frazzled. She slowly climbs the stairs, and stops as she sees the desk taking up the vast majority of the hallway.

"Yeah, you may as well put that back in the office. Mom said that we were renting out that room, probably to a student, so just put it back in there. Thanks for doing the dishes though, champ."

She starts walking back down to the kitchen, and you can hear her mumble under her breath, "I just hope it's not one of mine."

As you switch to the Geiger Counter scanning system, you immediately receive a readout well above the norm for background radiation. You set off following it, moving through streets and alleyways, through carparks and shopping malls, over bridges and out into Central Park.

Sitting on a park bench opposite the pond is a woman - late thirties, early forties, brown shoulder length hair, grey pantsuit, holding a camera on a strap round her neck.

"Took you longer than I expected. Sit down," she mentions, without much emotion.


Insight Check: FAILURE
As you head back to your apartment, something troubles you. Something was bizarre about that one. Wait a minute... shouldn't they have the same last names?

[Fast forwarding to 6:00PM]

Heading out to the front of your apartment block, you are met by Kathleen and Jimmy.

"Come on Alex, we're driving, get in," Jimmy says, as he points to a black Mercedes sedan with diplomatic plates. Kathleen gets in the driver's seat while Jimmy sits in the back, leaving you to take the front seat.

As you get inside, you notice that much like Jimmy's apartment, this car is entirely devoid of plastic - it's all metal, wood and leather. You set off towards wherever you're headed for dinner, the engine humming perfectly. The lights of the city flash by as you make your way downtown. The radio is tuned to the local channel, playing canned pop hits designed to keep the late teen demographic excited for the weekend.

As the clock ticks over to 6:30PM, the songs from the radio cut out and are replaced by the evening news. A man's voice reads it out, with little emotion.

"This morning at roughly ten A.M, the TD Bank at the corner of West 86th Street and Columbus Avenue was attacked in an attempted heist by a well-armed group of criminals who have as yet been unnamed. Eyewitness reports that a number of vigilantes stopped the heist and subdued the criminals, describing one as an angelic creature, one robotic person and one heavily-armed man with a shopping bag over his head. Local and federal law enforcement were quick to respond, and the criminals were taken into custody. More news at nine." The pop music comes back on after this.

"Just when you think America can't get any more bizarre, they go and do it again," Kathleen mentions, as she looks over at you and winks cheekily.

[Zelphas]

Outwardly, Christopher is calm, simply answering the questions asked of him as succinctly as possible. To Micah, he might seem a bit more reserved than usual, but besides that, he seems normal.

Inwardly, however, Christopher is a mess of confusion and panic. What was--what did she just try to do to me? I've never felt anything like that! Does she know about me, about Ifriel? Who is this woman? Throughout the conversation, Christopher racks his brain, trying to remember if he has heard of a Kathleen DeVere from anywhere. He studies Ms. DeVere, attempting to assess her motives as well.

As Ms. DeVere and Micah leave, Christopher waves goodbye, watching until they are out of sight. He then stares at the card in his hand, committing it to memory in a few seconds' time. If there's a business name on the card, he tries to remember all he can about it. Either way, he pushes up from the table a minute later, his appetite forgotten. He walks briskly out the door, discarding the business card in the trash. He's off to the library, but Ifriel isn't what's on his mind anymore. Time to research a certain Ms. Kathleen DeVere...

[Drakeburn]

"Now you tell me." Melvin mumbled under his breath.
"One more thing little bro," Ashley said as Melvin pulled the desk back into the office.
"I have somebody coming over to tutor, so could you not annoy us please?"
"I'll behave." Melvin sighed as he got the desk back in the office. He went back into his room and closed the door behind him, and fell back onto his bed.
Melvin's older sister, Ashley, always had perfect grades, in every school she ever attended. How that was possible, he didn't know. She has won all sorts of academic competitions, the top Honor student of several schools, you name it. She was everything he wasn't. No wonder she was their mother's favorite child.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Kids! I'm back!" His mother's voice called out from downstairs. Melvin opened his eyes and glanced at his alarm clock. This time, it was now 5:30. Wow, I really slept through most of the day.
Melvin came downstairs, to find Ashley at the dining room table, while his mother was carrying a couple boxes of pizzas to the table. She was dressed in her navy blue business attire. She had blond hair that reached down to her shoulders, and had a round face. Ashley had their mother's face, but her hair was darker than her mother's. Melvin still couldn't believe his mother could still look like a cheerleader when she's almost forty.

As Melvin came down, his mother was inspecting the boxes and the sink with awe.
"Wow Melvin, did you really get all that done while I was gone?" His mother asked with amazement.
"Actually, he got it done before I got back." Ashley added. This added to his mother's amazement.
"How could you have gotten all this done so quickly?" Alice Gregory asked as she set the pizza down on the dining room table.
Melvin responded with a simple shrugged. "I don't know. To me, it was a breeze." He said as he grabbed himself a slice of pizza.
"So, any luck with the job hunt?"
"No," His mother answered. "But there's tomorrow to look forward to." Mel could tell that his mom was trying her best to remain positive.

[NerdyOgre254]

Christopher:
Insight Check: SUCCESS
She does a stellar job of hiding it, but when she was thinking, you definitely saw the thousand-mile stare of someone who's suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There's a trustworthy person in there somewhere, but breaking down the mental walls is going to be a challenge.

Well Informed Check: SUCCESS (3 Degrees on the Business, 1 Degree on Kathleen)

Up until the start of your shift, you spend your day asking around about Kathleen, and the business. Facebook and LinkedIn provide no information to you, so looking further is necessary.

An accountant you know takes a quick look into Bletchingley Investment Group. the business investing in Sloan Kettering, and when he gets back to you, he leaves a voicemail message on your phone.

"Hey Chris, Stan Bauer here. Had a look at that company. For the life of me I cannot work out where the money is coming from, but I can tell you where it's been going. I'll send you the details I have, but I'll give you the basics of it now - large expenditures in medical research worldwide, starting at Bristol Public Hospital over in England, and the newest acquisition being your workplace. Lots of money spent on psychiatric care, lots of money on adoption agencies, charities, Youth groups, social work, and a number of donations to a number of political parties. Honestly, man, this is way out of my league. I can give you a list of people who can look through this and give you a better idea, but it's going to be expensive."

Moving on, you try to find further information on Kathleen DeVere, and come up with a bit of information. You find that she was born in London, England, at 8:08AM on January 9th, 1974 to Martin and Sarah DeVere. Her last known residence was 15 Tennant Plaza, South London. The rental property was reclaimed by the owner for missing payments and tenant abandonment, March 1993. No new addresses have been registered since then.

[Zelphas]

As Christopher looks more and more into Kathleen DeVere, the situation just seems to get grimmer and grimmer. The separate facts were alarming enough, but put together they make a picture that is more worrisome by its incompleteness than the parts that were clear.

He calls Stan back just before going into work. "Hey Stan, it's Christopher. Thanks for looking into this for me. If you could, send that list along to me; I'm not sure if I'll use it yet, but it's good to have it, if needed. I'll just ask one more thing, could you give me the names of the members of Bletchingly Investment group? If not, I'll understand. Thanks again, Stan. Have a good night."

When Christopher gets to work, he is still a bit troubled by the revelations that he discovered. This is getting way beyond me. There's got to be someone in charge of super...issues, right? As he crosses the threshhold into Sloan Kettering, however, he feel his stresses fade away. While at work, only the patients mattered. He could lose himself in his job for a while.

[Drakeburn]

After the whole family finished their dinner, everybody separated to do their own thing. Mel's mother opened her laptop and worked furiously, probably to post the ad for the room for rent. Mel's older sister went into her room, probably to study or whatever perfect older siblings do. As Melvin was about to go upstairs, his mother stopped him.
"Mel, could you please post the sign for the room in the front lawn? I left the sign and the hammer on the front porch."
"Sure thing mom." Melvin replied as he turned around and went out the front door. From there, he went to work on putting up the Room For Rent sign.

[Mekboy]

Rachel did as she told and sat down, wondering who exactly the woman was. Government perhaps? The suit suggested as much. But perhaps that was why she was wearing it - to give some sort of feeling of authority. Or maybe just genericness, to make her difficult to pick out or recognize.

"It was a long walk. So... um... who are you? And what do you want from me?"

How cliche sounding...

[NerdyOgre254]

The woman smiles in an attempt to show friendliness.

"My name is Kathleen, and I'm someone who's been doing this for a whole lot longer than you have, darling."

"As for what I want from you? I just want you to be aware of what you're doing, particularly in regard to who and what you are, and what you represent to people, if you get what I mean."

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
12:35, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki relays the morning's events the best she can, which is quite well when assisted by an eidetic memory and the ability to beam memories directly into another person's brain. She describes the metahumans she saw, matching their images up with the codenames she had assigned them in the files. She also relays the memory of the faceless puppet-doll thing, and the odd feeling of the planted memory in Denise's mind. Lastly, lays the material retrieved from the box in front of her on the desk, and pulls her research from her personal file.

"Also, I've made contact with Kingston Khaldun, codenamed Mummy. Or at least, I think I have, assuming he is the type to regularly check his e-mail. Don't worry; the message was short, cryptic, and bounced through enough proxies to make anyone die of boredom before they managed to trace it. I'm meeting him tonight."

[Mekboy]

Rachel paused for a second, considering her response.

"I just want to help people. Surely that's all that should matter..."

[Doggie_arf]

With the arrangements for dinner settled, Alex gave Jimmy a few pointers regarding possible use cases for the proposal, before saying his farewells and returning to his own (less classy) apartment.

That was much faster than I expected, he mused, walking the 5 feet, 6 inches from the door to the battered desk he'd bought a few months ago. He'd been expecting to be kept busy for the rest of the day, but Jimmy hadn't needed much help from him at all. And his mother had been, well, surprisingly friendly. Most parents didn't come straight to the apartments to visit their children, let alone offer their classmates dinner.

"It's not like she's going to bite your head off," he chided himself as he booted up his own computer (which had somehow survived the, er, 'accident' that had wrecked his old desk). "She's not on your case; she just came here to check on Jimmy..."

Which didn't really explain how she just vanished after snapping his picture in the morning. Then again, he'd had that bag on his head - she couldn't have recognized him...could she? And wasn't Jimmy's surname 'Winfield'? She introduced herself as Kathleen DeVere...crap - I was calling her "Mrs. DeVere"; I hope she isn't picky about maiden names...

Report. He should be worrying about his report now - he'd already lost half the day. Putting all thoughts of how disappearing British camerawomen liked to be addressed out of his mind, Alex reopened the half-completed document on his computer. Within a few minutes he was busily typing, lost in the rigors of his assignment on urban planning and redevelopment.

----

Stopping his work around fifteen minutes beforehand, Alex quickly showered and donned a new shirt, jeans, and a blue jacket, before heading back to the apartment block's foyer to meet the others.

"So I'm riding shotgun, huh?" he said as he settled into the proffered front seat of the sedan, making sure he was buckled in before Jimmy's mother drove off.

As they moved out onto the street, Alex noticed the utter lack of any plastic in the car - it seemed like Jimmy had 'inherited' his parent's tastes. "Interesting choice of decor," he remarked over the sappy music, trying to inject some humor into his tone. "Are you two allergic to plastic or something?"

And then the news report came up on the radio. Alex nearly felt like teleporting out of the car right there and then when he heard his own description. "Heavily-armed?" Really? And they just had to mention the plastic bag on the news...

"Must have been really embarrassing for everyone involved," he replied, trying to cover his own embarrassment. Dammit, that remark...she had been taking photographs - how much did she know? "Er, so where were we headed for dinner again?" he added, attempting to change the subject.

Denial a-go-go, baby!

Just realized that myself (and Alex) failed to notice that Jimmy is a bit old to be Ms DeVere's son (late-20s vs mid-40s [?]). Possible 'mundane' explanations being that he's adopted/a stepson, or that Kathleen DeVere had been a very young mother.

I doubt it's that simple, though.

...or maybe he really IS her son (blood-related or otherwise), and completely in the dark about all the funky stuff his mom is up to.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking this. Welp.

[NerdyOgre254]

Daniels listens to your descriptions of the event, writing down notes as you go. When you finish, he puts the notepad down and stares at the two of you.

"So we'll be getting the three of them into our custody soon, based on that. If you have a plan for contacting the remainder of them, run with it."

He takes a look at the materials arrayed in front of him, sifting through. He looks at the satellite pictures, and his mood shifts from interested to worried. He sees the brochure, and his face goes slightly pale, and he says something you've never heard him say.

"Aw ****."

He picks up the small book, and flips through it.

"Well Agent Li, uh," he stammers, "Looks like you stumbled on information belonging to someone affiliated with Codename GRAYMAN, if not GRAYMAN itself."

Kathleen gives a small chuckle at that. "That's noble, I'll give you that. But this isn't the first time this has happened - people like us have been around for a while, and you are all sitting at the edge of the same crisis many of us went through. I'm making sure we don't end it the same way. Assuming that you can just go and help people was one of the things that started it last time."


Kathleen ignores the comment on the decor, and continues driving.

"Given that I spent the last three months negotiating between Israel and Palestine, and I wasn't even out of the country before they ****ed it up again," she says grumpily, "I need to go somewhere with as much bacon as possible. So, I'm thinking Outback Steakhouse."

You arrive at the restaurant, and are shown to a table. The restaurant is Australian-themed, with a lot of wood decor, the lighting being somewhat red-tinted. You all sit down, and are persuing the menu when Jimmy stands up.

"Sorry, too much coffee earlier today, I'll be back in a moment," he walks away toward the bathroom, leaving you and Kathleen at the table.

There's a moment of time, silent and awkward, hanging in the air.

"You may want to work on a new costume, plastic bags can and have strangled people before," she says, not even looking up from the menu.

[HopeHubris]

21:00
"Well, Thoth, I think I am finished with the preparation, now we shall see if it works, teleport me down to the man"

Khaldun picks up his things and waits for Thoth to transport him.

As he arrives at the holding cell he prepares the appropriate ritual preparations and addresses the Queen.

"As you might have notice, little Queen, I have completed the preparations for your memory erasure, are you yourself prepared?"

[Doggie_arf]

Alex didn't quite spit out his drink when he heard that. He spent the next few moments doubled over, mind racing as his body tried to recover from the inhalation of a large mouthful of cold water. Oh God she knows I was there she recognized me under all that junk and today wasn't a coincidence at all what does she know...

""Y-you didn't just call me out here to eat steak and bacon, did you?" he managed weakly after a while, leaning on the table as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. Dammit, he really felt like a fool for thinking she hadn't known...

[NerdyOgre254]

"Well, given a lack of other options, I suppose I'm okay with this. I hope you aren't jerking my chain though pal, 'cause this would be one ****ty way to die."

He looks at the ritual as it sits there, and stands quietly.

You begin to chant, and perform the hand motions for the spell. The magical energies start bending themselves from the world around you to your will, and with it the heat of your ancient home fills the room. The Queen of Hearts starts sweating - whether from nerves or the actual heat, it is of no real matter.

As you grab hold of his head, and the spell reaches its completion, the Queen of Hearts' eyes close, and you see his eyes moving as in a dream. With the spell complete, the temperature returns to the chill of winter underground.

Kathleen smiles cheekishly, and picks up her drink.

"It's honestly half and half - you helped my son out, and that's worth at least a little bit of gratitude," she says, putting down her glass after taking a sip.

"Until I shook your hand, I had no idea. You got away before I could properly identify you. I've found the remainder, but the fact that you know my son and might drag him back into all of this is something I can't have happen, so you get the hands on treatment. I can help you get where you're going, but you need to keep James out of it."

[Doggie_arf]

"So that's what I felt," Alex said weakly, staring at his right hand as though it had sprouted tentacles or something.

"Wait, drag him back into what?" he asked. "What is this 'this' you're referring to, anyway?"


http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Parasyte_Hand_3.jpg

Speaking of which, I wonder if that anime of Parasyte is any good...

[HopeHubris]

"You could have opted to stay imprisoned, but yes, this is the better choice"

And with that, the ritual began.

Khaldun's magic flicked through the Queen of Heart's memories, erasing any memory of both himself, and the organisation that he worked for, as well as his colleagues and any crimes he had committed, the man might as well have been innocent for all he remembered.
That's not to say he wouldn't become a criminal again, but for now he was a clean slate.

"Thoth, teleport him to a nearby hospital, I will pay for his medical expenses, provoked or not, I did cause the injuries"

Now finished with everything he had planned for the day, save for the meeting, Khaldun started thinking about what he would do to pass the time before it began.
Becoming once again bored after 10 minutes, he decided to arrive at the location just over an hour early, just in case there were any traps set up beforehand

"Thoth, take me to location mentioned in the email"

[NerdyOgre254]

"This is a cloak and dagger fight between a number of groups of incredibly dangerous people of all races and creeds. None of them can be trusted-" she looks over to her right, and changes tone, as she sees Jimmy coming back from the toilets "-but we can talk later about this. So where do you come from, Alex?"

Jimmy walks over, and takes his seat, tucking into his steak, waiting for a response from you before he interjects.


With the Queen of Hearts wiped clean, Thoth shifts you to the Gramercy Tavern, just around the corner and out of sight of any citizens. Walking in, the Gramercy Tavern is split into two sections, an open bar section with a wide selection of wines, and a more upscale-looking dinner section.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
12:55, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki gives an impassive face for a moment. "Seriously, GRAYMAN? Do you mean to tell that isn't just some myth? There is seriously some kind of super agent-hunting boogeyman out there?"

Of course Kiki had heard of GRAYMAN. Every agent had, but it was always told as a story. It had all the elements of a bad spy novel: the Russians spilling toxic chemicals around the UK coast during the 1990s, mutants appearing and getting locked up by the government, a metahuman hunter going rogue and sabotaging Agency actions afterwards. Everyone assumed it was a story because it was frankly one of the only things that could truly hamper the Agency. Most of humanity didn't have the capability, much less the interest, to interfere with Agency ops; one of their own turning against them was something entirely different. It was a good story to remind Agents not to get too cocky and overconfident in their own abilities, because somewhere out there, GRAYMAN might be watching and plotting how to make everything go sideways.

Still, if GRAYMAN was real, then this just got a lot more serious. Kiki couldn't discount the possibility of fate and luck, that she has been the one to stumble upon this sort of evidence. She had seen first hand the power of those forces, and those who could actively manipulate them.

[NerdyOgre254]

Daniels looks at you darkly, his hands steepled in front of his face. "Yeah, she's real, and those sat-photos are her handiwork, I guarantee it."

He walks over to the filing cabinet, opens the second drawer, and reaches underneath, to the bottom of the drawer above it. From this darkened place, he pulls out an old folder, wrapped in plastic, bearing the CLASSIFIED stamp you're so familiar with. He removes the folder from the plastic and hands it to you. Stamped on the front is a single word: GRAYMAN.

The first page is the birth certificate for Kathleen DeVere. Born January 9th 1974 at 8:08AM to Martin and Sarah DeVere at the London Base Hospital.

Page two is a transcript from one David Lembridge's call to the London Emergency services, detailing that he'd been attacked by a 'witch possessed'.

Page three is a statement correcting the record after the fact - Mr Lembridge had called London Emergency as a retaliation. GRAYMAN (at this point not an agent, rather a debt collector with elements of London's criminal underground) had broken the man's ring finger and threatened his family for non-payment of gambling debt.

Page four is the entry assessment of the subject's power scale.

Page five is a transcript of the Disciplinary Recording:



RECORDING BEGINS

INTERVIEWER ONE: the time is nine oh four PM, Sunday 12th November. Subject is one Kathleen DeVere, primary interviewer is Doctor Marcus Reynolds, assisting is Doctor Anna Slater.

SLATER: Do you know why you're here, Kathleen?

[Silence, 2 seconds]

KATHLEEN: I got caught trying to escape.

REYNOLDS: Correct. You were observed on east hallway 4 on the thermal imaging cameras. Did you really think that would work?

K: Figured you lot wouldn't have the funding or brains to use it. This is John Major's term in office, right?

[S snorts in amusement, clinking of chains as K raises hands as if to accept applause]

R: Political discourse aside, did you really think that was going to work? What were you going to do once you got through those doors?

K: Take the same path Doc Slater here takes to my cell every morning. I pulled the imprint off her head when we first met. Didn't get much more out of it, before she started talking and threw me out. By the way, that ticking noise in your engine is the hydraulic lifters and if you don't take it in and get it checked out, it'll cause misfires and eventually your engine will **** itself.

S: I didn't know that. Thankyou.

R: Really? Engine makes unusual ticking noise and you kept driving it? Still-

[Silence, 1.5 seconds]

S: Let's deal with this problem and worry about my car later. Kathleen, I want you to tell me why you did this.

K: Your routine bores the **** out of me-

R: Language, Kathleen.

K: - I don't give a **** -

R: Second warning, Kathleen.

K: - I mean who in this day and age does interviews at five in the morning? Do you guys even go home? Not important. And I wanted to see whether I could, if your word was legit.

R: Doctor Slater's word?

K: The info from her skullcase. Certainly no way to get it from your thick ****ing sku-

[Scraping chairs, slapping noise]

S: Get out, Reynolds! ****!

[Sobbing from K]

K: ****.

S: Kathleen, you know we're only doing this for everyone's safety. Including yours. I'm sorry but we'll have to keep you in your -

K: Cell.

S: *Room* for the next couple of days. That wasn't supposed to happen.

K: Bloke's been angry. I get it. His wife tested positive, and she's preggers, so she'll be in here before long.

S: How did you know that?

K: Broadcast it as he hit me. Also, it's been going on around the rumour mill.

S: So that means you're getting along with the others?

K: The ones I can stand. The ones that realise the gravity of **** going on here. Speaking of which, Armordillo is goign to be trying a breakout at next rollcall. Figures if he gets enough speed going he can bust through those doors and out into the hall.

S: Why are you telling me this?

K: Because you care, because he's a ****head, and because I don't want to be associated with him and that bull****. And as a side note, if he does get a bit out of hand, go for the knees, they're his biggest weakness.

S: Thankyou, Kathleen. I'm glad you trust me enough to say that.

K: Sure, doc.

[Addendum: Intel provided by subject was correct - at roll call the following day, subject Thomas Dillon, colloquially known as 'Armordillo' attempted escape, and was subdued before causing any harm]


You see one more page before you realise that Daniels wasn't expecting you to read it all right then and there - the pre-deployment psychological profile.


PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE, PROJECT GRAYMAN
Author: Doctor Anna Slater
Subject Name: Kathleen DeVere
Gender: Female
Race: Caucasian
Date of Birth: January 9, 1974
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 102lbs

The subject is entirely within her own defining category of superhuman abilities, capable of mental and physical alterations of a complexity and breadth as yet unequalled. Subject has several internal metahuman mechanisms, listed below:

1. External Cognitive Reception, colloquially known as 'Mind Reading' at approximately an Andersen Score of 520, although this has been shown to vary in strength dependent on emotional state.

2. Optical Camouflage, or 'Invisibility'. This appears to work only work on the visible wavelength, as Subject is visible on ifrared and ultraviolet wavelengths, and is not capable of dampening sound (refer to disciplinary recording 001 for example).

3. Synaptic Instability - this is a mechanism that is quite difficult to quantify. It appears that the Subject emites a field operating on the visual level that distorts perception and prevents easy recall of identifying features (or causes the viewer to imagine additional nonexistent features). This mechanism appears to work not only on humans but also on recording devices and security systems capable of capturing video (refer to documentation FTEST_SI_001 for further information).

Subject's greatest ability by any measure is a complete mutability of all aspects of genetic, morphological, physical and mental structure. Subject has the capability of mimicking any mechanism she has seen and has in fact been able to create her own abilities to best suit the problem at hand. Such abilities have come at a cost (refer to disciplinary recording 002 for more details). Subject has a tenous relationship with other Program subjects, given the nature of her abilities - many subjects have developed a harsh sense of identity defined by their mechanism, and seeing them mimicked by Subject has caused some friction (refer to disciplinary recording 003 for more information).

Psychologically, Subject represents a challenge to her handlers but with aspects that allow for efficient control and manipulation. Subject's greatest need is that of facilitation - she derives great internal satisfaction from helping others achieve goals and has been shown to take a great deal of care in maintaining the physical and psychological welfare of the younger subjects (refer to commendation files 001 and 002 for examples).

Another motivator for Subject is recognition and praise for her actions - it has been noted that performance increases and effort expenditure increased by a factor of 100 to 150% following praise commensurate with the level of effort and results.

This advantages situation has come at a cost. Subject has developed a minor phobia of losing her own identity in amidst transformative mechanisms (see Event 37A, 'Night Terror' and interview 037A for more information). Handlers would be advised to develop a series of challenge/response questions with Subject in order to reaffirm identity.

Subject has gained a moderate phobia of public spotlight, although this appears to stem from incidents prior to the manifesting event. This is a continual cause of emotional conflict within the subject, often causing the Subject to act erratically or perform excessive measures in order to achieve tasks while remaining low profile.

Subject's least desirable trait is her sometimes petulant nature and petty attitude. If Subject feels slighted by other parties, Subject will often attempt revenge on the involved parties (see disciplinary recording 004 for a perfect example of this behaviour).

Summary: while a challenge to contain and control, Subject remains a resource far more useful than any risk would convey.



You look down from the psychological profile, and both Daniels and Martin are staring at you.

"I shouldn't have to say these two things, but I will, for both your sakes. The first is to not tell a single damn person about this, I don't want everyone else compromised because they start seeing the boogeyman in every suspect - if you have to, go rent an apartment off base to keep this secret.. And the second is, if you encounter GRAYMAN in the field, back off, identify who they're with, and extract. If she ID's you, don't pull weapons on her. Back off, and if she wants to talk she'll talk. And if she does," Daniels says, standing up from his desk to show you out, "Tell her that Daniels is still grateful for Tikrit. Now get out, dismissed."

[Drakeburn]

"Done." Melvin sighed with relief.
The sign was nailed into the front yard, for every passerby to see. But who knows how long it'll take for somebody to answer to the offer.
He walked back into the house, overhearing his mother on the phone. She was trying to make an appointment for a job interview with Khaldun Kingston, whoever that was. Things haven't been the same since his father died.
Melvin climbed upstairs into his room to go to bed. Not for a nap, but to call it a night. He helped stop a bank robbery, gotten his picture taken by a strange woman, gotten some housework done. It has been a really long day for him. As Melvin fell asleep, he couldn't help but to dream about what could be ahead of him tomorrow.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
13:00, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki gives a lopsided salute in acknowledgement. "You've got it, boss. I'll make sure to sweet-talk the bogeyman." She saunters back down to her room, flopping into the chair with a huff.

She spends the next few hours alternately reviewing available information on GRAYMAN, assembling a file on Khaldun, filling out post-action paperwork, and searching for a room to rent. At 20:30, she leaves, heading to he meeting with the mummy.

[NerdyOgre254]

As you leave Daniels' office, Martin starts conversing with you telepathically. <What do you think he meant by Tikrit?>

You start getting all your documentation in order, tapping away. Searching for a room is a bit harder - new year means new students heading into apartments, and all the cheap ones that would have worked well for your needs are gone. Except for one that was registered on domain.com at about 1630 - a spare room in a two-storey house over at the south side of the island. It's a long walk to work, or a short drive, but it's about your price range.

You get changed and take a company car to the Gramercy Tavern. Heading inside, you see the bar section occupying the front of the venue. Wooden decor lends an aged look to the bar area, with people sitting around having drinks and chatting. In the back is the restaurant portion of the venue, with cream walls and spotless carpet, fine chairs and a warm diffuse light. Sitting at one of the tables is Khaldun Kingston.

[Doggie_arf]

Dangerous groups? Cloak and dagger? If they can't be trusted, then who should I be turning to? Can you be trusted?

Alex resisted the urge to blurt out those confused questions as Jimmy returned his seat. What little Kathleen DeVere had mentioned had been extremely disturbing, and he didn't know how much of it was true.

There were some things that he was certain of, though. By using his powers at the bank, he had entered a new world that he knew nothing of. And whatever this world was, James Winfield had once been part of it - and Kathleen DeVere did not want her son to be drawn back into it.

And last but not least - his life was probably in her hands. She had found him within hours, while he knew nothing about her, or the abilities she had at her disposal. Trustworthy or not, he'd have to follow what she wanted for now.

Right now, it seemed that what Kathleen DeVere wanted was small talk and a quiet family dinner. Looks like she really doesn't want Jimmy involved. From what she mentioned, he might also have powers...not that this is the time or place to ask.

"My family comes from New Jersey," he said, poking half-heartedly at his pork medallions as he tried to think of some small talk. "I've always been passionate about architecture, but as I grew up it evolved into an interest in urban planning and development, which is why I came here to study." Pausing to take a bite, he added: "Dad was pretty relieved about my shift in interests - at least I wasn't building stuff around the estate that might endanger my relatives and neighbours..."

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li
Agency NYC Office
13:05, 15-Jan-2014

<I'm guessing Grayman saved him from screwed-up situation. From that personality profile and interview, it seems like the kind of thing she would do. Which, of course, makes it even stranger that she has such a nasty reputation for screwing up Agency operations. It seems like unless people give her a good reason to be hostile, she generally isn't.>

Agency NYC Office
17:25, 15-Jan-2014

Well, isn't this just super? She really only had to come into the office for meetings and the like, but it would still be a pain to make it all the way over here from the available room. It looked like buying some form of transportation might be in order, given that the Agency wasn't likely to take too kindly to her explanation as to why she was late for some briefing of world-saving importance being "I missed my train." She briefly considered tapping into the funds the Agency provided her to live a more luxurious and convenient lifestyle, but quickly decided against it. Agents were expected to keep a low profile in the outside world, and that obviously didn't include a high-class apartment. Wistful, she makes a note of the offered room and determines to go see it tomorrow.

Gramercy Tavern
22:30, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki smirks a bit as she notices Khaldun. He had apparently had the same idea she had, showing up early to make scout out the place beforehand.<A bit overcautious aren't you, Mr Kingston?> she sends to him before walking up to him with a smile on her face and a casual wave.

"Good to see you! How have you been?" she proffers in a cheery voice. <We can speak out loud about whatever you want. If you want to keep something quiet though, just think. I'll hear it.>

[HopeHubris]

"A little caution never hurt anyone, and I was finished with my business anyway. Apart from my suit, I'm perfectly fine, why did you ask me here little miss secret agent?"
Khaldun asks, before adding another question via thought.
I do hope you didn't mention my secret to anyone, for your own sake, primarily

[NerdyOgre254]

Heading into work takes your mind off the pressing issues for the day. Walking the halls of Sloan Kettering on the night shift is similar to Ifriel's work, in a weird way - waiting around, and springing into action if needed. But mostly waiting. From outside, the noise of the streets can only very faintly be heard, as the heaters work to keep the building hospitable for all inside, particularly in this cold time of year.

As quiet as the hospital is at this time of night, the ICU is still. Only the sound of breathing machines, heart monitors and that ever-present barely-perceptible hum that electronic gear gives off.

The clock rolls over to 10:00PM, and you manage to get a chance to sit down in the break room. Pouring a coffee, you turn away from the table to pour a coffee, and turning back, seated opposite your seat, is Kathleen.

"Hello, Doctor Horeb. Feel like a more honest chat?" She smiles somewhat coldly, gesturing to your seat.

"We've had pretty similar experiences with being on the move," Jimmy says, between mouthfuls of steak, "And that's the way it's going - you have to keep moving to stay with the work. Kinda sucks."

The rest of the evening progresses without much of interest - just the normal conversations normal people have. After dinner, you get back in the car and head home. Kathleen says goodbye to Jimmy, and gives him a hug. Turning to you, she shakes your hand, and smiles. "Nice to meet you Alex. We'll all have to catch up when I'm in town next," she says, ever so slightly nodding towards her hand. As you shake her hand, you feel a small card being placed in your hand.

Heading inside, you look at the card.

CNR Bennett Avenue, W 190th Street. 9AM.

K

[Zelphas]

Christopher sighs in slight resignation at seeing Ms. DeVere in front of him. He shouldn't have been surprised; she was looking to invest in Sloan Kettering after all. "I would be glad to," he answers, checking to see if the room is clear before sitting down. "What would you like to talk about? The mysterious money of Bletchingly Investment Group, perhaps? Or maybe what happened between 1993 and the present day to have given you PTSD? We could also talk about whatever you tried to do to me when we shook hands at the pizza place."

Christopher looks Ms. Devere full in the face, his gaze clear. "I'm not a very good liar, ma'am, and I figured that you'd probably want to know what I'd figured out since this afternoon. I'm guessing you don't want to talk about any of the above, but before we talk, I want to explain. I'm helping people here, and I can't do that if I get dragged into the spotlight. I'm willing to talk with you, and to listen to what you offer; but I'm not willing to lose my job over it. I'm where I need to be right now, and I won't jeopardize these people's lives."

[NerdyOgre254]

Kathleen is taken aback by your quick tongue, and she leans forward, the facade of politeness gone.

"Well, honesty is appreciated, Christopher," she says tensely. "So you get a few answers. Firstly, my money comes from a lot of places. The Investment Group just allows me to spend it anonymously. As for the PTSD," she says, sighing and breaking eye contact for a moment, "It's a long story. Maybe another day."

She straightens up, and puts her hands in her lap. "And I didn't do a thing to you - well, except probe to see if you were more than human. Thing is, that lovely touch of yours - you have such soft hands, by the way - tries to heal people, and you can't heal me. I know you want your anonymity, and that's what I'm here to do. There's a lot of us out there, and there's a lot of people who want to take advantage of us. Like that 'government agent' for example," she says, miming quotation marks.

"Basically, all I'll do is teach you and the others how to do what you all do best, under the radar, because right now you're all action and reaction, no planning or preparing. Deal?"

She holds out her hand for you to shake.

[Zelphas]

So, she doesn't know about Ifriel... yet, at least, Christopher thinks. "'You can't heal everyone' is the hardest lesson I've had to relearn since I got this power," he responds, looking down at his hands for a moment. "All I have is your word that you want me to remain anonymous, but you also hold all the cards here; I have nothing to hold over you, and I don't think I'd want to." He studies her hand for a moment, then meets her eyes. "I'm sorry about this, but I don't think I want to shake your hand," he explains, looking truly apologetic. "I still have some secrets, I think, and I'd like them to be my own for now."

Christopher glances at the clock, and begins to get up. "It looks like my break is about up. I'm guessing you already have my number, but if you don't, it's ," he states. "I realize that my anonymity has been more luck than skill so far, and I would appreciate the help; the method of introduction threw me off a bit, though. Give me a call if you have more that I need to know." Christopher waits for a reply before walking back to work.

It isn't until he is out of the break room that a thought strikes him. [I]Wait, there was a government agent at the bank? Christopher shakes his head and keeps walking. If he or she contacts him too, he'll know his cover is really blown. Until then, there's no reason to worry about it.

[Doggie_arf]

The rest of the dinner and the drive back were entirely without incident - it was as though Kathleen DeVere's hair-raising words had never been said in the first place. Alex had never really been one for small talk, and the earlier conversation made it even more difficult to speak - and act - as though nothing had happened.

He (somehow) managed to keep up the facade of normalcy until Jimmy had left for his own apartment. As soon as the lift reached his floor, he pushed between the doors even before they were fully open, walking towards his own room in a suppressed panic. This turned into a full-on dash as he turned into the corridor where his apartment was located. Stumbling to a halt in front of his doorstep (62 feet, 7 inches 'later'), he fumbled with the lock with his left hand, nearly dropping his keys twice before managing to get the door open. Upon entering, he kicked off his shoes, threw the deadbolt, and staggered the remaining 9 feet to his bed.

He lay there panting for a few minutes, just staring at the ceiling. After a while, he brought his right hand up to his face, unclenching it to reveal the slightly-crumpled card within.

"Dammit," he muttered tiredly, letting his hand drop. "What have I gotten myself into now?"

Alex hadn't asked for (or expected to have) powers; they had just appeared by themselves. Ever since that incident, he'd been using what spare time he'd had to practice in secret - not to explore what he could do, but to ensure that he could control his abilities. A moment of carelessness, and he could easily be a danger to himself and others.

And then the bank robbery had occurred. He had been in a position to help out, and he'd decided to do so instead of running away. Sure, it had looked really awkward, but he'd thought he'd been able to act without anyone identifying who he was. However, someone had found him within hours, and if her words were any indication, he was extremely fortunate that she had been the first one to contact him...

"That's what you get for acting on an impulse," he chided himself, turning to face the wall. Several hours work with paint and sealing plaster hadn't quite masked the dents in that section, the result of the steel support beam he'd accidentally created all those weeks ago. If he'd been sitting half a foot to the left, or if someone else had been in the room when he'd been pulling that all-nighter...that was something he didn't want to contemplate.

It took a few more minutes for Alex to drift off into a fitful sleep, his mind still dwelling on the repercussions of his actions.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin was running through the streets, running past buildings and cars with extraordinary speed. He would stop a mugging here, save an absentminded pedestrian from getting hit by a car there, he was stopping crime wherever he went. Melvin felt unstoppable. He stopped for a moment to look back, to see that he had left behind a flaming trail. Man, I'm fast! Melvin thought to himself.

At first it looked awesome, but then the fire began to grow and spread, catching the buildings on fire. Melvin heard cries of fear and pain surround him, every window around him had a person pounding against it, pleading for help. Horrified of the scene, Melvin ran into the nearest building. Melvin never meant for this to happen to anybody. He didn't want to endanger anybody!

Melvin kept running, then realized that he was running through an endless hallway. The other end seemed to be stretching further and further away from himself. I have to do this! His mind screamed as Melvin put in more effort into his speed. He gave it everything it got, and managed to outrun the infinite hallway. At the end however, he couldn't believe his eyes. In a pitch black room, he saw a woman in the middle of a fiery circle, trying to shield something in her arms. Melvin immediately realized that the woman was trying to protect her baby.

"Why!?" The woman screamed over the roaring flames.
"How could you do this to us!? WHY!?"
Melvin knew that she was screaming at him. He felt as though a dagger was thrust into his heart.
"I'm sorry!" Melvin managed to say. The guilt really made it hard for Melvin to say anything.
"I didn't mean to do it!"
The flames obscured Melvin's vision of the woman before she could say anything else back at him. The flames rose higher and higher, then there was a crackling noise from above. The next thing Melvin knew, there was black debris falling onto the spot where the woman and her baby were. Melvin tried to run, but he was moving in slow motion as the debris fell at normal speed.
"NO!!!!" Melvin managed to scream out, before everything turned black and silent.

Melvin woke up, taking in a deep gasp of air as he rose up. He was still in his room, in his bed. His alarm clock read 11:39 P.M.
"What a nightmare." He groaned as he fell back into bed. But he knew it was far more than a nightmare. No matter how much he denied it, it still haunted him. No matter how hard he tries to forget about it, the memory didn't go away. As Melvin went back to sleep, he wondered what it'll take to redeem himself from it.

[Mekboy]

Rachel smiled. 'Noble'. It was a little flattering really. But she was still a little confused by the woman.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at here..."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:31, 15-Jan-2014

<Don't worry; I didn't tell anyone. At least, nobody that would ever care to reveal your secrets. We actually have converging interests in keeping your unique status out of the public's knowledge. Your own subtlety would also be appreciated; wiping the memory of every single person in this place would be such a chore.>

Physically, Kiki gives a coquettish giggle. "Oh, you are such a charmer. Not every woman in a suit is some sort of secret agent, Kingston. Besides," she says, leaning in conspiratorially, "I'd really be a terrible agent meeting you in such a nice place like this."

<I represent a group that takes an interest in individuals like yourself. What we like to do when such people come to our notice is simply make an introduction, and have a nice chat. All we want to do is make sure that you don't pose an active threat to humanity. Now, I've done some research on you, and you seem to not fall into that category, at least from the available information. After all, threats tend to make the news, or at least leave a noticeable pattern. Is my assessment accurate?>

[HopeHubris]

"Exactly what a secret agent would say"
Khaldun laughs as well

I have no intention of harming anyone that does not either break the law, or threaten me with harm, and you should not be wiping the minds of innocent civilians, that is rather immoral

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:31, 15-Jan-2014

The waiter brings bread, water, and the menus. Kiki checks the wine list first. "I think a nice cabernet sauvignon would be a good way to start off." She signals to the waiter and points to a wine. After a minute, the sommelier comes over with the bottle and two glasses, pouring out the excellent vintage for the pair.

<Wonderful! I'll make a note of that. Always easier to deal with people with such a reasonable outlook. Don't worry about us interfering with your vigilante activities. In fact, we somewhat encourage them, at least in cases where those with capabilities beyond the human norm are involved. We usually prefer to let the usual authorities deal with the other cases, though as you saw we are not above helping them along. It just makes things easier for everybody, giving law enforcement something to do and letting the populace see that they can regulate their own behavior. Oh, and don't worry about the memory wipes. We just get rid of inconvenient memories that many of them would prefer not to have anyways, and it is almost always safe.>

She takes a sip of the wine. "Ahh, this was a good choice. I'm so glad you're paying," she says with a wink.

<Now, in case you haven't figured it out already, one of those special cases has turned out to be the situation at the bank. It is very unusual for that many metahumans and such to appear at one location. Furthermore, a bit of investigation has revealed some interesting facts. What do you know?>

[HopeHubris]

"Oh, I'm sure I can afford it"
Khaldun doesn't require sustenance and is incapable of becoming drunk, but he takes a sip, for politeness sake.

Those were metahumans? They just seemed like regular well armed bank robbers. The one I took down barely got a few shots off before he went down, and the large one went down from a single hit by the robot.
As for what I know about the group, they work for some big shady organisation with other similarly masked fellows, and the leader is unknown to them.

[NerdyOgre254]

Kathleen reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small business card, handing it to you.

"I'm offering to train you, help you find others like you. Give you the tools you need to stay one step ahead, and keep one step ahead of everyone else. Anyway," she says, looking at her watch, "I have somewhere to be. I hope you'll come see me tomorrow."

And with that, she stands up and begins walking away. Written on the card is an address:
CNR Bennett Avenue, W 190th Street. 9AM.

The rest of your evening progresses without incident. As you're finishing up your shift, you receive a text message.

CNR Bennett Avenue, W 190th Street. 9AM.
- Kathleen

[Zelphas]

After checking his text, Christopher glances at the clock, groaning when he sees that it is 5 o'clock. "Nothing ever happens at 5 in the morning," he grumbles, dragging on his coat and heading out into the still-dark morning. "All the stores are still closed, and every sane person is asleep," he continues his grumbling, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that says talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity. "I don't know why everybody bemoans having to sleep so much; going without is mostly just boring."

Despite his sour words, a cautious bit of optimism is germinating inside of his mind. The circumstances may have been a bit...disconcerting, but the chance to connect with an actual super-powered group might give him a chance to do more good. And they might be able to control Ifriel, too.

Christopher decides to drop by the Starbuck's at 86th again, to see how the bank has recovered since the robbery. If he finds nothing out of the ordinary, he goes to CNR Bennet Avenue where it crosses W 190th, nervous but slightly hopeful for what this meeting will hold.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin's new morning had begun with the harsh buzzing of his alarm clock. Without looking, he tried to find the off button without looking. Finally finding its mark, he pressed it. And there was silence again. But for some reason, Melvin actually felt refreshed and energized. He wasn't feeling sore anymore. He felt more awake than sleepy for some reason. Mel peeked at the alarm clock, to see that it was six in the morning. He got out of bed, took off his clothes from yesterday, since he was too exhausted to take them off last night. From his closet, he put on some red running shorts, a plain white T - shirt, and some red and black running shoes. He had seven sets of running shoes for some reason, not including the ones he threw away. After he put on a headband for the heck of it, he sneaked downstairs, got out a granola bar from the kitchen, and quietly let himself out.

It felt like a regular day to him. Starting it with a jog in the early morning.
"Ready dad?" Mel said, but when he turned to his side, his father wasn't there. It made him remember that today was different, and remember that his father wasn't here anymore. Melvin just started jogging anyways, doing the best he can to act casual. To hide his secret, and his pain. Since he was already out of the house, he figured he should mind as well jog by to that Starbucks he was at yesterday, before the bank robbery happened. Maybe there, he'll find Christopher.

[Doggie_arf]

"Ergh," Alex groaned, sitting up groggily and squinting at the clock on his desk 2 feet, 10 inches away, which now read 6:47 am. He didn't feel very rested, and falling asleep in yesterday's clothes without brushing his teeth had not helped matters at all.

Mumbling under his breath, he levered himself out of bed and staggered the 4 feet, 6 inches to the bathroom, stripping off his wrinkled and musty clothes along the way. A thorough gargling with mouthwash killed the fuzzy sensations in his mouth, and a few minutes under the shower helped make him feel almost human again.

Now wearing a fresh T-shirt and pants, he moved over to the small attached kitchen to find something he could eat, which was (unfortunately) limited to cup noodles. And I'd been planning to make bacon and eggs this morning... he thought sadly, selecting a bowl of instant chicken ramen. At least I still have coffee.

----

After finishing his breakfast and clearing the dishes, Alex picked up the clothes he'd fallen asleep in and deposited them in the hamper. The tracksuit and jacket he'd worn yesterday morning were still inside - he frowned as he noted the fraying and tears in various places where the plating he'd made hadn't fitted so well, especially around the shoulders and joints. Best to have some kind of harness to support the plates, and to form a framework for them to be built on. Something similar would be needed for the helmet, like a skullcap or something...

"Why are you even thinking about that kind of stuff?" he muttered to himself in annoyance, closing the laundry hamper and walking back to his desk. "Don't tell me you want to be a hero that badly..." Sitting down in his chair, he woke up his computer from sleep mode, and quickly checked his e-mail and schedule.

Let's see...Architectural Design 202 at 1, and then there's that appointment with Professor Baldwin regarding the urban planning report at 4:30. And then there was his, well, latest high-priority appointment, with the time and venue written on the card he'd been given the previous night. Good thing I don't have morning classes today - I really don't want the black mark on my attendance.

Shrugging on a grey jacket (Need to do laundry tonight - I don't have any more jackets...), he let himself out of his apartment. There was still about one and a half hours before the meeting at CNR Bennet and West 190th, but he didn't feel that he could get any work done during that time. "Baldwin will just have to be happy with what I have at the moment," he said as he locked up, before heading towards the lifts. "Maybe I'll go and get some eggs again - really, really don't want to eat just noodles..."


Basically fluffing out Alex's class schedule/lessons/lecturers etc.

Alex is going to kill time by walking around until the meeting, perhaps dip into some rainy day funds to buy stuff to 'spice' up his daily bread ramen. Whether or not he passes by West 86th (and bumps into Christopher/Melvin) along the way is up to you.

[NerdyOgre254]

The walk from your home to the West 86th Street Starbucks is not a short one, and it requires you to walk the width of Grand Central Park. With the Great Lawn to your left and the Resevoir to your right, the leafless trees and snow cover lends a quiet air to your walk. Behind you, at a distance, you can hear the huffing and puffing of someone jogging, the sound of their feet on the gravel and snow making a large crunching noise as they stride onward toward you. Dressed in running gear, outburst of breath steaming in the air, is Melvin. He gets close and stops, panting slightly.

Settling into your familiar pace, you start making your way through Grand Central Park, your shoes crunching on the gravel surface. Up ahead, walking along and watching the frozen lake is Chris.

The walk from your apartment is a long one, so say the least. Slowly making your way up the edge of Central Park, you trudge and trod.

[Drakeburn]

"Hey Doc!" Melvin called out to Christopher with his best Marty McFly impression.
"I hope I'm not late for my appointment." Despite how cold it was, especially when he was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, he was happy to see somebody he can talk to. He was happy to have a friend here in Manhattan. It helped that to know that in the struggles he was going through, he didn't have to go through it alone.

[Zelphas]

"You're right on time, I'd say," Christopher answers, smiling as he checks his watch. 7:30-ish... I should probably start heading over to Bennett Avenue by 8:30, if I don't want to be late. "I actually have my own... appointment in about an hour or so, but I have free time now." Christopher continues walking along the street, looking for a good place to sit down. "I'm guessing what you want to talk about is related to the attempted robbery yesterday. You weren't the one with the bag on your head, were you?"

[Mekboy]

Rachel waved after the woman.

"Thank you!"

Now was a good time to go home probably. It was a long way to walk, but she liked walking. It meant she got to spend more time around people, watching the world move on. Smiling, she worked out roughly where she was in her head and began the journey home.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin shook his head.
"Nope, the fellow with the bag over his head wasn't me." Mel answered as he walked along with Christopher.
"I actually couldn't be seen by anybody. Well, anybody except some woman. She managed to take my picture after I left the bank. She had brown hair and a grey pantsuit. You wouldn't by any chance seen her, have you?"

[NerdyOgre254]

It's quite a walk from Central Park to your home at the lab. For flesh and blood humans, the walk would be an exercise in tedium and cold extremities from the wind, but for someone like yourself it's simply a pleasant way to see the world. Eventually you wander home. Opening the door to the lab, your father Doctor Carver is currently seated at his lazy chair, typing away at his laptop, and muttering grumpily.

Marching along the edge of Central Park, you notice, just ahead of you, two people in conversation. One is a blonde man in his late twenties to early thirties, and the other is a teenager. Both of them were at the Starbuck's yesterday morning.

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:31, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki makes a show of casually perusing the menu.<You aren't incorrect, but you're missing a large part of the picture. What you've described could be any number of large, well-organized gangs. These particular individuals were after some documents that they shouldn't have known existed, and the leader you mentioned is clearly. . . well, something more than human.>

[HopeHubris]

More than human? That is hardly uncommon, especially these days, and if his men are anything to go on, I'm sure I'm more than capable of dealing with him, assuming I can find him of course. Which I assume is where you come in

[Zelphas]

Melvin's mention of the woman stops Christopher in his tracks for a moment. He looks shocked, but almost immediately begins walking again, his face fading into an expression of gloomy resignation. "Yeah, I've seen her. Kathleen DeVere. She's my 'appointment' this morning, and unless I'm wrong, you're going to have an 'appointment' similar to this one with her soon. Why she just took your picture is a bit... odd, though. Why don't you tell me what you wanted to tell me yesterday; if it relates, why did you say that she 'managed' to take your picture? Is it difficult to do?"

[Drakeburn]

The fact that Christopher not only knows who this mystery woman is, but that he's also on his way to meet her, made Melvin hesitate for a moment. Then, he snaps out of it and keeps walking with Chris.
"I've been going through some changes. I noticed it after my father's death actually. It started out as everything appearing to move slowly around me, as if it is in slow motion. But it got more..... interesting when I wanted to practice for one of those marathons where you run for good causes. I wanted to do it in honor of my father. So I was on my mark, got set, and ran around a bit. But when I looked at my gear, I realized that I managed to run over a hundred miles in just six seconds!"
He glanced around for a moment, and then turned back to Christopher.
"Would you like to see what I mean?"

[Zelphas]

Christopher raises an eyebrow in amusement at how Melvin begins his story. Must not make puberty joke... must not make puberty joke...

By the end of the tale, however, both of Christopher's eyebrows are up, and his eyes are wide. "One hundred miles in six seconds? I'd like to see that." There was no trace of skepticism in his voice. He was an un-aging, sleepless, rapid-healing doctor who sometimes turned into an Old-Testamental angel and beat people up with a hammer; who was he to be doubtful?

[Doggie_arf]

With few shops open before 8 am, Alex ended up strolling along one of the western paths of Central Park instead. "Don't usually buy stuff at this time," he mumbled, stifling a yawn as he gazed at the snow-covered banks of the Reservoir (62 feet away...). "Damn that robbery...screwing up my grocery shopping schedule..."

He paused for a bit at where the path crossed 85th Street, breath steaming in the chilly air as he rested himself. There weren't many people around the Park, it being a weekday morning, and this suited Alex just fine today. He felt like he needed the quiet time to center himself for a while before he went to find out what Kathleen DeVere wanted. And what he had gotten himself into.

It's about 8:05 now, he thought, checking the time on his phone. Should be moving soon if I want to get to West 190th... Stretching, he started to turn and walk back, and paused as he noticed the two people walking down 85th in his direction (91 feet and closing...).

Not just noticed; recognized - he remembered seeing them having a serious conversation in that Starbucks yesterday. And the older blond man had come running into the bank after the criminals had been subdued, saying he was a doctor...Calm down, man; your face was covered. He probably won't recognize you from the bank. Not that that had stopped Kathleen DeVere from finding him...

They'd probably noticed him at this distance; it'd probably look a bit strange if he tried to avoid them. He'd just have to hope they (especially the doctor) didn't have such a good memory. "Good morning," he said politely as the two drew closer, as one person taking a morning stroll in Central Park to another. That was what he was doing after all, wasn't it?

Chris seems to be coming from the east, while Alex's apartment is around the Upper West Side (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_West_Side) according to a quick scan of Wikipedia; I'm guessing the two parties would run into each other around the southwest side of the Reservoir.

And yes, I know Chris (also) has Eidetic Memory. But Alex doesn't. :smallwink:

[Zelphas]

"Hello," Christopher responds politely. He then blinks, and subtly takes a closer look. This guy was at the Starbuck's yesterday, and the build's about right...

"Hey, I'm just taking a quick poll, for curiosity's sake. Which do you ask for at the supermarket: paper or plastic?" Christopher asks innocently, trying hard not to laugh.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex blinked, bemused at the sudden question. Now what had that been about?

"Er, whatever they provide, I guess? I haven't visited the supermarket in a while, though..."

That was actually true; he'd made his purchases at smaller groceries lately. One perk about his "excursions" - they'd allowed him to discover several interesting corner shops around the city...

[Zelphas]

"No, no, I'm sorry, I wasn't talking about carrying receptacles; I was talking about, ah, headgear," Christopher responded, obviously smiling now. If he was right, it would be nice to meet another super; if he was wrong, he'd probably never see this person again, so why not test him a little more?

[Drakeburn]

Before Melvin could say or do anything, they had come upon somebody along the way. Had he met him before?
When Christopher asked the poll about paper or plastic bags, he had to jog past the both of them casually, trying his best to hold back his laughter. It reminded him of the "Garbage Man" he met at the bank yesterday. He decided that maybe he could catch up with Christopher later today.
Who knows? Who knows......

[Doggie_arf]

"Headgear?" Alex echoed shakily, trying not to (openly) panic. "W-why would I use a plastic bag for a hat?" Trying to think of something to change the subject, he added quickly: "Or were you talking about bowls? They carry stuff, too."

[Drakeburn]

Melvin casually jogged till he managed to get a good distance away from Christopher and..... whoever that man was. Snickering he left off at full speed, trying to grab onto the man's pants. But Melvin realized that he had gone too fast, and missed. He messed up on a good opportunity to prank on the unsuspecting target. Melvin changed course to back home. Within a few seconds, he was back home, crouched down on the porch so that he is hidden behind the hedges and the railing.

[Zelphas]

Christopher lets out a short bark of laughter, but reins it in when he sees the panic in the poor guy's eyes. "I'm sorry about that; I just wanted to be sure. Don't worry, I have powers too. I know you were at the bank robbery; so was I--later, at least," he amends, slightly annoyed with himself for letting a possible connection to Ifriel slip out. "I'm Christopher Horeb, by the way." Christopher considers putting his hand out to shake, but remembers Kathleen DeVere and thinks better of it. "And you are?"

[Doggie_arf]

"Or you could use cups, although they won't fit as well..." Alex trailed off when saw the grin on the doctor's face.

"I'm just digging myself deeper, aren't I?" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Just my luck - being recognized twice in two days..." Well, the cat was out of the bag (again) - he might as well be forthcoming.

"Alex Mason," he replied in resignation. "Yes, I recognized you from the bank, Doctor Horeb...it is Doctor Horeb, correct?" That was what he'd introduced himself as, after all. "And as for the bag...well, my first attempt at a disguise didn't quite work out..."

He noticed that the doctor hadn't offered a handshake. That was fine with Alex; he was still leery of them after what had happened in Jimmy's room...

Alex's routine Perception check fails to beat Melvin's Stealth - he's too busy (failing in) tricking Christopher to pay any more attention.

Not sure how "pantsing" would work in MnM. (And why are you all picking on meh?? :smallfrown::smallmad::smalltongue:)

[Zelphas]

"Yes, it's Doctor Horeb, but Christopher or Chris is fine," Christopher answers, smiling. "I was just talking to Melvin here--" he turned around to see that the youth was gone. "Huh, I guess he really is that fast... anyways, I'm on my way to some sort of 'appointment'. Apparently some woman saw me at the bank and knew that I had powers, and she works for a shady pseudo-government agency that wants to sort-of hire me for possible vigilante-ish work." Christopher stops for a moment, reviewing what he just said in his head. "You know, that sounded even crazier when I said it out loud... but my point was to give you a heads-up in case someone like that comes looking for you."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:31, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki gives a slight smile. <You might be correct about that. My information network is. . . rather extensive, and quite thorough. I'd imagine you have substantial resources at your disposal too, of course; money does have a tendency to make people cooperative. My first priority though is locating the other metahumans who were at the bank.>

[HopeHubris]

Oh, I'm sure I can find any funds required, but can't your just track down the other 'heroes'? You didn't seem to have any problem finding me, admittedly I was there in my public guise, rather than in the form of an angel or... wearing a bag.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex's frown deepened as the doctor - Christopher - mentioned his appointment. Kathleen DeVere had been busy...

"I think I've met the woman that you've mentioned," he sighed, taking out the card he'd been given after the dinner. "And unless she can somehow be in two places at once, I suspect that we're both going to be headed in the same direction..."

[Drakeburn]

"Hey squirt." A voice said from behind. Melvin turned to see his sister, dressed in jeans and an orange T - shirt with a backpack over her shoulders. She looked ready for the day.
"I see you had a good run. Well, I gotta go.." With that said, she left. Panting slightly, but not as heavily as he did yesterday, Melvin proceeded to enter the house. He went to the kitchen, helped himself to some cereal and milk, and ate his breakfast in peace. The fact that Christopher had met this woman, Kathleen DeVere, made him slightly uneasy. How did she know all this? What is she capable of? What are her intentions? There are so many questions he has, more than what he started with.

[Zelphas]

Christopher probably should be surprised, but at this point he'd believe just about anything if someone said Kathleen DeVere did it. "I wouldn't put it past her to be in two places at once..." he mutters. "CNR Bennett Avenue and W 190th? We should probably head there, then, if we don't want to be late."

[Mekboy]

Knocking on the door a couple of times to get his attention, Rachel cleared her throat guiltily (or at least made a passable approximation of the noise). Best to just get it out of the way.

"Um... hey dad. Er... there's something you should know. You see, er, I was kinda out in town, er, just watching people and stuff, right? And then suddenly this communication jammer type thing goes off, which is pretty suspicious. And then I hear gunfire, and I see there's these guys with masks and guns in the bank across the street. So, um, what I'm trying to say is I got in a fight again. Um. Sorry..."

[Doggie_arf]

"Yes, yes we should," Alex replied. "Staying here won't let us learn what she wants. I just hope your friend doesn't mind..." He paused, noticing the absence of a certain teenager. "Huh. Where did he go, anyway? He was just standing there - " 7 feet, 9 inches away " - a moment ago..."

[NerdyOgre254]

Your father stops typing, and with a sigh closes the laptop, putting it on the table. He looks at you with a mix of resignation and endearment, standing up to move over to you. Putting his hands on your shoulders, he looks into your eyes, a pained expression clear on his face.

"Every time this happens, I worry and panic. I wonder if you would do this if you didn't have dermal plating," he mutters, looking you over for damage. Finding nothing, short of minor paintwork damage, he stops fussing.


"Anyway, I have to go, I have a class to teach. If you need me, call me. Love you," he says, leaving the room and grabbing his bag and laptop.

The evening progresses without incident, and the morning after you find your way to the building on the corner of West 190th street and Bennett Avenue. standing at the corner are two men, one still in his twenties and one in his thirties.

As you get closer to the corner of Bennett Avenue and West 190th street, you notice a woman ahead of you on the corner of the street - the same woman who was sitting alone in the Starbucks outside TD Bank.

The building on the corner of West 190th Street and Bennett avenue is a multiple storey warehouse of brick and steel, an old faded logo on the side, too worn to read properly. Chipped and sun-bleached wooden doors face north, and the windows above are boarded up to prevent vision into the building. The shimmer of hot air rising from the building shows that machinery within it is active.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex exhaled in relief as they emerged from the subway entrance near Bennet Avenue and 190th. He had spent the trip from Central Park in silence, not really wanting to talk to Christopher. While it was a relief to know he hadn't been the only one contacted by Kathleen DeVere, learning that the doctor had also recognized him had been, well, extremely disconcerting. You would have met him anyway, and he'd have said the same thing. Probably. Doesn't make it any less embarassing, though...

Considering how fast he'd disappeared, Alex was rather surprised that the other guy, Melvin, hadn't been contacted by Kathleen yet. Maybe she missed him, he thought as he climbed up the stairs into the sunlight. Or maybe she's saving him for later...

Put that way, that sounded even scarier.

----

"Huh, " Alex murmured as he recognized the woman standing at the meeting place (76 feet away...) from the Starbucks. Does that mean she was also at the bank yesterday? If so...

"Good morning," he said as they neared the junction. "So which one were you - the angel or the flying robot?"

Assuming that Alex has realized that Melvin isn't entirely normal, either. Chris did mention he was fast within earshot of Alex...

Anyway, most streets in Manhattan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners'_Plan_of_1811#The_plan) are about 60 ft wide, with a distance of 200 ft between streets. Considering that Chris and Alex were starting near the Central Park Reservoir at 85th Street, that's a distance of about 27240 ft*, or slightly more than 8 km. This assumes that they're just heading straight north - going to the relevant junction might take even longer.

Since 8+ km in around an hour is quite a fair bit of exertion for a normal human, I'll just assume that the two took the subway or something. Alex isn't quite comfortable with teleporting someone he's just met at the moment, especially when the person just trolled him. :smalltongue:

* - This is an extrapolation based on the number of streets and blocks traversed - going from 85th to 190th (assuming that all streets are sequentially numbered) yields a total of 105 blocks and 104 streets.

[Zelphas]

Christopher is quiet on the way to CNR Bennett Avenue as well, mulling over the scope of whatever he has gotten himself into and trying to guess Alex's powers--besides lattice creation and questionable headgear, of course. The lighthearted activity kept him from panicking about possibly walking into a place full of supers and being conscripted into who-knows-what.

Christopher twitches slightly when Alex mentions the "angel", but otherwise does not react. So this is the robot, then. Interesting...

[Mekboy]

Rachel, as usual, walked to the meeting point. Of course it took a while, but it was always nice to see the city. Getting there though, she felt a little disappointed. The place seemed kinda... decrepit. Had she got the right address?

"Good morning. So which one were you - the angel or the flying robot?"

Turning away from the building, Rachel found herself facing two men, both significantly taller than her (not that that was particularly unusual), and panicking a little. Someone else had seen her? Panic quickly gave way to curiosity.

"Wha-? Er, wait... do I know you? Something about you seems kinda familiar..."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:31, 15-Jan-2014

<Yes, you were indeed the easiest to find. The others were at least visually disguised, though a few of them can be identified if I take the time to do so and I'm in range. Regardless, it will be tedious work, requiring rather more luck than skill.>

[HopeHubris]

Ah, yes, you do not have the benefit of ensorcelled eyes. To me their disguises were as nothing before me. If I were to see them again they would be easy to recognise, but I am not sure what you would require of me

[Drakeburn]

After Melvin finished his breakfast, he put his bowl and spoon into the sink. He went upstairs into his room, and changed out of his jogging outfit into some regular black and white sneakers, jeans, a white T - shirt with a swirling blue dragon on it, and an olive green sleeveless jacket. He could hear that the shower was on. From his guess, his mother was probably trying to get ready for her big job interview today. Who this Mr. Kingston is, he wouldn't know.
He decided to go downstairs to read those newspaper ads his mother wanted him to read when he noticed the mail at the door. He went over to the mail, picked it up, and looked through them.
"Bills, bills, bills..... Hello, what do we have here?" He noticed a letter that came from the same place where his father was taken into for his cancer.
He opened it, and with the few notes, he found a key in them.

Dear Melvin,

I'm writing to you what may be the last words I have for you.

I want you to know how proud I to have you for a son. That you strive to be a good man, despite the mistakes you have made in the past.

Can you promise me not to run into any trouble, and to not just be good, but to do good as well?

I wish I could be here for you, to see you grow up to become a man, and see that good that you do in this world.

Please take care of your mother and sister for me, and I hope for the best of you.

I want you to know that I love you so much.

~ Your father, George.

[NerdyOgre254]

From behind you, the door to the building opens, and Kathleen pokes her head out.

"Good morning guys, come in," she says, holding the door open for you.

The interior of the building is large and empty, with dim light coming from fluorescent lamps twenty feet above the smooth concrete floor. Steel I-beams are spaced every thirty feet to support the roof far above.

In the centre of the room is a trestle table around which several foldout chairs have been positioned.

"Grab a seat, folks, we've got some things to talk about." She sits at the table, inviting you to sit down.

[Drakeburn]

Melvin has stood there for a few minutes, rereading the note about twenty or so times. He would've reread the note more if the key didn't slip out of his grip. The sound of the key hitting the floor made Mel snap out of it. Turning his attention towards the tiny object made him curious. Is this key for what he thinks it is for?
It seemed like the best of time to test it out. Melvin turned his attention towards the door to the basement. For so long he knew very little of what his father did down there, and for so long he wasn't allowed to see what it was. Now, he has the chance to see what it was. Melvin put the key into the keyhole of the door. It actually fits! Mel hesitated for a moment, and listened closely. It sounded like his mother has finished her shower, and probably getting dressed and ready for that interview. With that Melvin slowly closed the door behind him, and found that the other side of the doorknob had a keyhole as well. So Melvin slowly and quietly closed the door behind him. The darkness was only brief when a fluorescent light fixture lit up from above him. Must be motion - activated, Melvin thought to himself.
Melvin only went down one stairway when he came upon a square platform and another door. Only this one appeared to be metal plated, and that it had a keypad above the doorknob. "What were you up to dad?" Melvin muttered under his breath as he gave a hard stare to the keypad.

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:32, 15-Jan-2014

Well, it would be helpful if you would let me know when you see them. It would be even better if you happened to know who they are and such. If you don't want to be bothered with so much trouble, you can just ask them to contact me. I can leave you a way to get in touch with me. I'm interested in seeing what the story is behind this robbery, and it is always possible one of them has the critical bit of information.>

[Doggie_arf]

"Weeeell, you probably weren't the old guy in the suit," Alex replied, trying to force a chuckle that he didn't really feel. Probably not the angel. The robot, then? She does seem to be about the right height... Dammit, here was someone who'd had a better disguise than he had - and Kathleen DeVere had still found her?

"We were also at the bank and Starbucks; I believe someone contacted you about that incident yesterday? I'm Alex Mason, by the way."

----

All right, calm down, he thought, staring at the open door 5 feet and 7 inches away from where he stood. She's not leading you into a trap. Probably not, anyway.

Bracing himself, Alex stepped into the relative dimness of the warehouse. "Interesting choice of meeting location," he remarked in an attempt to cover his apprehension, looking around as he walked towards the table and chairs in the center of the room.

"So, er...what did you want to tell us?" he asked after taking a seat at the table.

Messy post is messy because I wrote this at two three different timings. becausemyentirelifeisthelastthreedayshavebeenunlim itedjavascriptworks :smallsigh:

Looking around the interior of the warehouse, paying attention to stuff like the condition of the building and any (obviously visible) fixtures. Routine Perception and Expertise (Architecture) at 20 and 21 respectively, if relevant.

Also - how many chairs are there?

[HopeHubris]

I had not met any of the empowered 'people' (if they can all be called such, one of them is a robot) prior to the incident at the bank. Is it considered rude to make a phone call at a tavern? I shall see if any of my people are aware of the identities of the others.

Khaldun calls the phone in his manor, one that is connected to Thoth.

He then starts talking in a hushed voice.
"Have you found anything about any of the others at the bank?"

[Zelphas]

Christopher sits down quietly at the table, his hands folded in front of him. Now that he is there, his worries have mostly disappeared. He simply waits, content to see what Ms. DeVere has planned for them before he asks any questions.

[Mekboy]

"Heh... yeah, I suppose so. Um..." She paused awkwardly. "I'm the robot. Sorry, um, bit of a sore point." She went silent for a couple of moments before apparently brightening up. "Sorry, didn't mean to get all gloomy on you there. Yeah, I got contacted by this Kathleen woman? Speak of the devil... Oh, yeah, names. I'm Rachel."

With this, she followed the other two into the building, before gingerly sitting on a seat. It could probably hold her weight, but she was a lot heavier than she looked. She'd had a fair few embarrassing moments thanks to that.

[NerdyOgre254]

Thoth's voice comes through the phone, polite and crisp. "I can provide an image of the robotic creature, as you managed to view it as it changed from a civilian form into a combat form. Additionally, the one that moves quickly was not wearing any gloves, and his fingerprints may be on the weapon he took from the Queen of Hearts."

Kathleen walks into the room, and takes the final chair. Leaning back, she crosses her arms.

"First, congratulations on helping people over at the bank. You're good folks. But just being good folks won't be enough - you have to be smart about it. Find others. Network. Work together to keep each other straight, help each other out when things get hard. You guys weild an unprecedented amount of individual power, and only as a group can you come to terms with it and stop it from warping your perspective of the world."

She pulls out several photographs. The first is a young man in goggles and hooded jumper, running between two cars. The second is an older, larger man walking toward a bank vault. The last is a young Asian woman, dashing across the street, her legs missing from the photo as they phase into invisibility.

"These guys are a good start."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:32, 15-Jan-2014

Kiki sits and calmly drinks her wine while Khaldun makes his call. When the waiter comes over, she orders a large bowl of split pea soup, perfect for warding off the chill that was deepening with the darkness outside.

[Drakeburn]

ACCESS DENIED. The red words popped up several times as Melvin speedily went through a number of combinations. Melvin knew that he was capable of getting into a lot of places, but this basement was harder to get into than he thought. He then gave off another fury of combinations, flashing the red words again and again. It wasn't until he pressed 9 - 0 - 1 - 3 that he finally got the message he wanted. ACCESS GRANTED. Melvin heard the door click, and he opened the door.

At first it the room was really dark, and Melvin could only make out the shape of a table in the center. He felt around to his right for a light switch, and flipped it on when he found it. The whole basement lit up, revealing a counter on one side that was littered with what Mel guessed was unfinished gadgets and gizmos. The wall ahead of Melvin had two screens. One looked more like a marker board, and the other one he could identify as a wide computer screen, complete with a keyboard and mouse that rested on an ordinary wooden desk.

In the far right corner of the basement was a neat row of filing cabinets. On the other side of the basement, there was something that was covered in a sheet. It almost took up the whole wall, with just enough space for a filing cabinet. Mel walked over to it and pulled it off, revealing a glass display case with helmets, gauntlets, boots, masks, and utility belts of unusual designs in there. What caught his eye were three mannequins wearing three different outfits.

The first outfit was dark red, with a helmet and a visor for a whole face. It had a fire insignia on it.
The second outfit was completely white, with a black visor with the helmet. It looked like something straight out from a Hunger Games movie.
The third outfit however, caught Melvin's interest. It had two different shades of blue, it had gloves, a full mask with a visor just for the eyes. This one stood out to him more than the other two. Melvin gently slid the glass to the left, and took the blue outfit off the mannequin. By taking it off he soon learned that the mask was attached to the entire outfit like a hood.

He quickly wadded his new costume into a ball, ran out of the basement, closed and locked both the doors as he got out, and darted into his room. He slid the costume under his bed and sat on top of his bed. As soon as everything felt normal around hi, he heard his mother say "What was that!?" She probably heard the doors to the basement slam shut.
"What was what?" Melvin replied back.
"Never mind, I must be hearing things." His mother answered.
By the sound of it, Mel could tell that his mother was really anxious. She really needed this job. Wishing her luck probably wasn't good enough. So Melvin grabbed himself a fanny pack from his junk drawer, got out his costume and stuffed it in there, and went downstairs. Just as he finished fitting the fanny pack around his waist, he grabbed the newspaper and went out the door.

[Zelphas]

Christopher feels his eyes involuntarily widen when he sees Melvin on one of the pictures, but he attempts to give away no other signs that he recognized the speedy youth. "I'm a little confused about what you're asking us here," he says, his voice carefully cordial. "Are you asking us if we recognize any of these people? Do you want us to seek them out? Or did you have something else in mind?"

[HopeHubris]

"Thank you, Thoth, send me the picture and tell me if you find anything else"
Khaldun says, hanging up

Best I can do is an image of the robot in civilian guise, no other particularly interesting information

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:32, 15-Jan-2014

<Well, it wouldn't be an interesting problem if it were so easily solved. I'm sure we'll find out the identity of the other soon enough. People with unusual abilities tend to make themselves known eventually, especially if one knows what to look for.>

[Doggie_arf]

"I won't call myself 'good folks', ma'am" Alex replied tentatively as he examined the photographs Kathleen was holding. "I just happened to be in a position to do something..."

As had the people in the pictures, apparently - he'd remembered seeing them in the bank and at the Starbucks. What were the odds of there being so many people with powers in the same area, anyway?

Assuming that these are the other three, Alex would probably remember seeing them at the bank/Starbucks, although not enough to, say, recognize that Goggles Guy was Melvin. Yet.

[HopeHubris]

I do not require sustenance, so if that is all, I shall cover your bill and depart

[NerdyOgre254]

"What I want you to do, guys, is find others like us, and help them. There are people out there who can do an absurd amount of damage. Group up and work together. There will be people who try to use their powers for carnage and chaos, and those people need to be brought down. The authorities don't know how to deal with them, not yet.

[Drakeburn]

It seemed rather funny that Melvin's stroll lead him back to the Starbucks he was at yesterday. He was reading through the newspaper, from the articles to the job ads. For Mel, it seemed hopeless. The mistakes he made in his past would pop up if his employers decide to do their research on him. Who would want to hire somebody who committed trespassing, vandalism, disturbing the peace, and........ Melvin didn't even want to think about that.
So Melvin just helped himself to a seat and opened the newspaper to the comics section.

[Zelphas]

"If we're just offering to join as a group to deal with superpowered issues, I'd be happy to help," Christopher said calmly. "This group seemed to work well together foiling that bank robbery, from what I saw of the aftermath, at least. I don't want to force anyone to work with us, though."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki and Khaldun
Gramercy Tavern
22:32, 15-Jan-2014

<That sounds quite fine to me. We'll keep in touch.>

Kiki finishes her soup before returning to the office. It had been a productive day of work, but tomorrow would yield even greater rewards.

[HopeHubris]

<I will be off then>
Khaldun stands, pays off the bill, and departs.
When he is out of the sight of all passers by, he calls for Thoth to teleport him home.
Unsure of what to do next, he passes the time on trivial and meaningless tasks, while trying to think of a device to create, or for anything interesting to happen





Going to start using <> for projected thoughts now, normal italics for non-projected ones, now that he is aware that he needs to make a distinction

[Doggie_arf]

"I can see where you're coming from," Alex said slowly. Powers like his could be extremely dangerous, as he knew from experience, and the best way to keep them in check would be to have other, equally powerful people nearby.

"But there's another reason for having us band together, right?" he added, looking across the table at the woman seated 7 feet, 9 inches away. "You mentioned yesterday that there were other groups - dangerous groups that cannot be trusted." He paused to catch his breath, before continuing: "What can you tell us about these groups? What can we expect?"

[Mekboy]

Listening to the conversation, Rachel felt a little out of her depth. This was quite a bit bigger than she'd expected. They were forming a team - like in the movies! But that was good, wasn't it? It was all about helping people.

"Well, I'd be happy to help you guys."

[NerdyOgre254]

"There are a lot of groups out there who could stand to gain from superhuman abilities. Consider yourself, Alex," she says, leaning back in her chair, "Someone with your abilities could remove any requirement for logistics and manufacturing. Even a criminal group could use you to sell raw materials for practically no money."

She rummages around in her purse, and puts three keys on the table. "The first group that I ever came into contact with was a government agency whose job was to contain and round up superhumans. Their agents were other superhumans - mostly victims of the Russian Radiation Crisis of 1993, like myself. The primary concern is rounding up superhumans for service to the State, and for the killing of those that are too hard to handle. Other groups exist, but very few of them both know about superhumans and have the resources to handle us."

Heading to bed, the morning rolls around with your 5AM alarm. Looking at your phone, you see that Martin has sent through an email.

"Forensics pulled a fingerprint from the pistol in the toilet, and he's in the system. Belongs to one Melvin Gregory."

[Drakeburn]

"So much for that." Melvin muttered under his breath as he folded the newspaper, tucked it under his arm, and began walking back home. Part of him feels hopeless about his future, that his mistakes were going to keep him from having a good life. But there is another part of him felt otherwise. It was like the need for speed, but it was more than that. It was the need to do good, and that there is still a chance to make things right.
Melvin eyed around his surroundings as he walked by, hoping to see anything that looks like a good opportunity to try on his new costume, and to be a hero of course.

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki
Agency NYC Office
Freakin' 05:00, 16-Jan-2014

Years. It had been years of waking up this early in the morning, and Kiki still started every day hating her alarm clock and past self. She dutifully rises to the screeching beat though, and silences the alarm with a glare and a mental shove. A mug floats over to the coffee pot, which tips itself to release its miraculous brew. A spoonful of sugar waits patiently, then stirs itself into the coffee. Kiki sits down at her computer, the mug flying to her outstretched hand.

Ok, Melvin Gregory. Lets see who you are. She types along, trying to find the man.

[HopeHubris]

"I don't suppose anything interesting is happening, Thoth?"

I need to do something to pass the time, I may be absurdly wealthy, but there is only so much you can do with wealth, especially when you are dead, I suppose I could create something to contain people without teleporting them back here

[Zelphas]

Christopher raises an eyebrow at Alex when Ms. DeVere mentions the use of his power. So, not just lattice-work then. "I understand the idea of forming a super-hero group and fighting crime," he says aloud, "But what would our stance be with this group you mentioned? They have a vested interest in controlling supers, so they're bound to object to our little vigilante group; then again, you seem to be suggesting that they are fairly powerful. They also seem to be at least attempting to do good. Obviously, we can't deal with them as though they are criminals, but we're likely to run into them if they're hunting supers. This may be thinking a little bit ahead, but what are we supposed to do if we run into this agency?"

[NerdyOgre254]

Continuing your walk home, you walk past a small bookshop, jammed between a butchers and a gym. Two large windows have books and stands displaying the current new releases - two teen-oriented scifi novels and a romance one, probably about vampires judging from the picture of a woman's neck. As you walk past, you see a young black man in a white puffy jacket and saggy brown pants slyly move a book from a shelf to his bag, glancing around to make sure that he wasn't seen.


Martin's email links you to the file of Melvin Gregory - male, 5'8", 152lbs, black hair, brown eyes. Prior arrests include trespassing, theft, vandalism, disturbing the peace, and arson.

Thoth immediately responds with a few suggestions.

"A minor author, Bertram Langley, is signing books tomorrow morning at 9AM. Several local bands are playing music at venues on the island, and the Christopher Henry Gallery unveiled a pointillism exhibit this evening."

"That's a good question. My approach is to go off the grid, and have backup plans and contingencies. Someone once suggested taking a leaf out of the comic books and being large, obvious and valuable to the community, but that's not something I could provide any help on - last time someone suggested this, it was to a bunch of spooks, spies and general gray men, and all it got was a bit of laughter. Anyway, these keys are for each of you," she says, handing a key to each one of you, "You can come back here any time, these are for the front door."

[HopeHubris]

"So, nothing that is bank-encounter interesting, then? I don't suppose any of those events are likely to be interrupted by crime? Unfortunate.
Failing that, have you detected that angel's magics?"

[Drakeburn]

Melvin thought for a moment if he should intervene with the shoplifter.
Not really a serious crime to stop, but it is still wrong, he thought to himself.
He should probably interfere with the shoplifter, and probably have fun with it as well.
He darted into an alleyway, then pulled out his costume and put it on as quickly as possible. Melvin was impressed on how well the costume fit him.
Then rushed out of there, into the bookstore. There, he simply pulled the book out of the young man's back, put it back into place, and rush out of there. He gotten behind the best hiding place he could find to see the young man's reaction to what happened. That is, if he noticed.

Free Action: Change Into Costume

Move Action: Run in and out of the bookstore

Standard Action: Put the book back

[Zelphas]

Christopher accepts the key, a troubled look on his face. "I'm not sure which of those two options would work for me," he begins after a moment. Ideologically, I favor the open approach; I think we should deal honestly with people and make ourselves trustworthy to them. However, I have a job which I love and in which I can help people who sorely need it. Revealing my identity would probably take me away from that job."

Christopher sighs and pushes his chair back, standing up. "Then again, we should probably gather the party before we decide how we should act." He turns to Alex and Rachel. "So, how do you think we should do this? Each of us split up and find one of these three," he begins, pointing to the pictures on the table, "or stick together and find them one at a time?"

[Mekboy]

"I prefer the idea of letting people see us, y'know... Probably just me being naive, but it'd be nice for people to see us as heroes... I mean, we don't necessarily have to let people know our identities, do we? As for finding these other guys, I think maybe sticking together would work better. Let them know there's more of us out there and that."

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki
Agency NYC Office
05:05, 16-Jan-2014

Kiki goes through her morning hygiene routine and gets dressed, having the suit take the form of a simple pair of jeans, a turtleneck, and a thick coat. It would be best to scope out the target unnoticed, and people dressed in suits tended to get noticed in residential areas when it wasn't time to be going to or coming home from work.

She heads to the mess hall, eating her fill of the somewhat bland but nutritionally-optimized food. By this time, she already has the public transit route mapped out. Somebody might notice a taxi dropping off a woman who went nowhere all day, but someone on a bus wasn't a problem at all. Just another person checking out the neighborhood, with nowhere in particular to be.

As the sun finally clears the horizon, Kiki hops on the bus, heading towards the most recent address pulled from the file.

[Doggie_arf]

"I'm all for keeping a low profile," Alex replied as he examined the key he'd been given, trying not to shudder at Kathleen's off-handed mention of how his abilities could be used...or abused. If she could learn that much from a handshake and some photographs, how much could an entire government agency find out? "Gaining these powers hasn't changed the fact that I have an ordinary life as a university student," he continued, trying not to think about superpowered agents dogging his footsteps. "I'd prefer not to have said powers control that life, if possible."

He stared at the key for a bit longer, before making a decision and putting it into his pocket. "It would be good for us stick together, though. Like it or not, we have these abilities; at the very least, we know there's someone who shares that burden. Better us finding them than some other, ah, less trustworthy group."

"I'm not sure if having all of us drop in is a good idea - they might think we're the untrustworthy ones, ganging up on them like that." he added, turning his attention back to the photographs on the table. "We should probably keep it one-to-one, a personal talk. But with the others nearby in case something happens."

"It'd also help a lot if our, er, representative knows the person in question. I can't help much with that, though; haven't met any of you before yesterday..."

[Zelphas]

"Sticking together it is, then," Christopher states, slightly disappointed. He would have liked to talk to MElvin alone first, but he's supposed to work with these people, so now is a good time to start. "Unless anyone has a pressing appointment, we could start now, I already have a lead on one of the pictures." He waits for the others to rise before leaving the warehouse.

Assuming there are no objections, Christopher walks for a block or two in silence, making sure the others are following him. He then turns towards the others. "I didn't want to say it directly in front of Ms. DeVere, to try to preserve his anonymity, but I know the kid in goggles. His name is Melvin Gregory. He's tried to tell me about something--I'm guessing it's his powers--a few times, but we keep getting interrupted, so we have a standing appointment. The thing is, I don't have his number, or his address. Anyone have any idea how to find him?"

[Doggie_arf]

"Might as well," Alex replied as he got up from the table. "I'm free until lunchtime."

----


Assuming there are no objections... *snip*

"Can't really help there; maybe we should check a directory." Realizing something, he added: "Wait; was Melvin the other guy that was with you at Central Park?"

If Rachel has some kind of computer uplink, she could probably try searching for the Gregory family via online telephone directory or something. Otherwise, we'll probably have to go hunt for a cybercafe or something...

[NerdyOgre254]

The long, winding bus trip takes at least two hours, and you're thoroughly bored by the time you get to the Gregory residence. It's a rustic-looking two storey house plasterboard house, with a high slanted roof of tile. A somewhat tended garden sits in front of it, with a rough-cut stone wall lifting the front lawn away from the sidewalk.

"I have been sweeping the city since the encounter with the angel, and have since discovered some small sparks of that particular flavor of magic. The most concentrated area is a healer's ward called Sloan Kettering, in the southeast of the city. It is likely that this is the base of operations or the hunting ground of the creature."

Sliding into cover, you watch as the young man walks out of the store, turning to get out of line of sight. He stops a short distance away, reaching into his bag. His grin rapidly disappears, and you see him somewhat frantically fumble through his bag, looking into it incredulously. His mouth opens as if to say something, and then he stops, dropping his arms by his side. After a moment, he dejectedly pulls his bag back over one shoulder and tromps off.

You receive a text message on your phones, from a number none of you recognise.

"Forgot to mention - powers often give off detectable elements or have side effects. Melvin probably puts out a lot of heat or has a very fast metabolism. I have to leave the country for a few days, will be back later. Take care. K"

[HopeHubris]

"I suppose that will have to do"
Khaldun says, activating his Eyes of Horus before he teleports to a location near the hospital.


When he arrives, he walks up to the apartment nearest the area with the most magical activity.
He knocks on the door.
Assuming someone opens it, he asks:
"How much would you like for your apartment, you would have to leave immediately"
Khaldun is willing to pay three to four times what it is worth, not that he couldn't afford more, but it is the principal of the thing, and he could always try another.

If that doesn't work, he repeats it until it does, someone is bound to be willing to sell out for 4 times their houses' value :smalltongue:

When he secures himself an empty apartment, he settles in, watching all traffic in and out of the building, looking for the man that was an angel.


Biiiiilllliiiioooonnaaaiiiireee
So convenient :smalltongue:

Also, Eidetic Memory to remember everyone on the street + he had the Eye of Horus on when the angel turned back into his mortal form, so he should definitely recognise him.

If he sees no one in... 6 hours, let me know, and he'll start describing the man he saw to people, see if he can get a name.

[Drakeburn]

"Awesome!" Melvin quietly said to himself before speeding off.
Speeding past the traffic, the suit felt amazing. It fitted around his whole body and his clothing, although next he won't be wearing a coat under it. He couldn't feel the wind in his face. This thing was so amazing! Melvin thought to himself.

For a moment he sped past his own house, and he noticed that there was somebody else there. She didn't look his sister. She was dressed in jeans, a turtleneck, and a thick coat.
Well, why not?
He slowed down just for a moment to get close to her ear just to say "Meep Meep." before blasting off in full speed back into Manhattan to find more things to do as a superhero.

[Space Lawyer]

Agent Li is just about to sit on the wall and wait for a good time to fade when she hears someone say "Meep meep." and senses the same mental presence as the speedster at the bank suddenly zoom away.

Oh, you have got to be s******g me. Those with hyper-speed abilities usually proved almost as much trouble as teleporters. Well, why bother hunting him down though? Assuming he wanted to continue playing the normal kid, he'd have to come home eventually. Besides, stopping a speedster usually required a lot of prep time and a good lure for getting them into an enclosed space, neither of which Kiki had at the moment.

She settles on to the wall, puts in her headphones, and waits.

[Mekboy]

"Wait a sec, I'll check online. Decent signal here, shouldn't take too long. Name's Melvin Gregory, right?"

Before she got an answer, Rachel's eyes unfocused slightly as she stopped looking out of them and went online. A quick search later turned up a couple of directories. She stuck Melvin's name into the first one.

[Drakeburn]

That was fun, Melvin thought to himself as he sped by the cars on the road.
So much to do, and it was still morning. Although he should probably call in to let his mother know that he's okay.
He took off his costume and put it in his fanny pack as he ran through an alley. He came in dressed as a superhero, and when he came out the other end he was a regular guy again. Melvin couldn't believe how freaked out he was when he first discovered his superpowers, and now he's having fun with them. He walked to the nearest phone booth he can find. He searched his pockets for his spare change, and then made the call to the home phone when he had the coins he needed.
"Hello?" His mother's voice answered.
"Hi mom, it's me, Melvin."
"Oh, hi Melvin. I was just about to leave for my interview. What's up?"
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay. I've been running around town, exercising and job hunting. So far, I'm not having any luck."
"Well, thank you. I'm glad to hear that....." There was a pause over the phone for a moment.
"There's somebody sitting on our wall outside. Maybe she'd be interested in that room for rent. I'll talk to her before I leave for my job interview."
That woman again. There aren't many explanations for a stranger to sit in front of somebody's house. She couldn't be staking out for somebody, was she?
"Anyways, I gotta get going. I love you."
"Love you too mom." Was what Melvin said before the call ended.

With that out of the way, Melvin set out to find Christopher..... again.

[NerdyOgre254]

The first apartment you go to is owned by a family of four, who shut the door on you immediately. The next two are unresponsive, and the fourth contains a young man living on his own, who immediately vacates the premises for you. It's the home of a lazy mid-thirties single man, clothes and boxes all over the place. Pulling a chair over to the window, you settle in and observe.

The door to the house behind you opens, and a woman with short blond hair and a round face, dressed in businesswear walks down the path to you, tapping you on the shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Warming up, you stretch your legs, and run and run and run, from street to street, across parks and thoroughfares, searching for the good doctor.

[Roll Perception to find Christopher]

You start combing the internet for Melvin Gregory. 36 matches in New York on Facebook - this might require a bit more effort.

[Roll Investigate to find the right Melvin Gregory]

[Space Lawyer]

Kiki
Agency NYC Office
08:25, 16-Jan-2014

Way to go, Super Secret Agent Li. Really, top notch job, being conspicuous enough for a suburbanite to come out of the house to ask if you're alright.

She pretends to flinch in surprise, and stands up to face the woman. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine! Sorry for sitting on your wall. I was, ahh, she hesitates, then notices the "Room for Rent" sign, an idea immediately forming. "I was just trying to get the vibe of the place, ya know? I'm looking to move to the area, so I'm just checking out the neighborhoods. I figured its easier to do it that way and look for apartments in the neighborhood I like, rather than find a place and hope it's somewhere nice."

[Drakeburn]

Melvin went around in a casual pace to look for the doctor. For some reason, it didn't feel quite the same. He felt restrained by running like everybody else. Pretending to be normal isn't as easy as he thought. Becoming a superhero is something he could live with, but having to act like everybody else is something else.
So Melvin went on, jogging around to see if he could spot Christopher.

[Doggie_arf]

Alex watched bemusedly as Rachel started her search. He'd attended that seminar on emerging mobile technologies as part of his urban planning course - what his new companion was using was definitely far more advanced than that. It would make sense for her powers to be tech-related. Which makes the 'flying robot' a form of powersuit, I guess?

"Find anything yet?" he asked after a while, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder. It'd probably only be visible to her, anyway.

Still alive, and waiting for Mekboy/Zelphas/Ogre to say something...

[Zelphas]

Christopher waits patiently for Rachel to finish searching. "There's no hurry for me. I work nights, and tonight happens to be my night off. I needed something to do anyways."

Sorry, still alive too. There didn't seem to be much for me to do until Melvin arrives/is found.

[NerdyOgre254]

You wander the streets for a while, sneaking in a quick burst of speed here and there. Eventually you find the doctor, standing on a street corner with two others - a young man not much older than yourself, and a young woman who appears to be staring blankly ahead, eyes glazed over.


Over across the street, a young man matching the description of Melvin Gregory is wandering round, constantly scanning like a meerkat for something.

The woman's curiosity turns into relief almost immediately. "Sure thing! Come in, we just cleared out the room yesterday."

She takes you into the house. It's a well lived in house, but there are signs of change recently. One chair at the end of the table has not been moved in a while, judging by the fine layer of dust on it.

[Zelphas]

Christopher notices Melvin on the other side of the street, and shakes his head. "Three years under the radar, and then I help out with one bank robbery, and boom. Suddenly I meet three supers and get recruited into a team," he mutters under his breath. "That's Melvin there," he says to Alex and Rachel. "I'll go talk to him."

Christopher walks briskly across the street, waving his hand to catch Melvin's eye. "Hey Melvin. Have you got a moment? I think it's time we had that appointment."

[Drakeburn]

"Hey Melvin. Have you got a moment? I think it's time we had that appointment."
Melvin heard as he watched Christopher come over to him.
"Sure thing, I guess." Melvin replied.

How many times does he need to find this guy?

[Doggie_arf]

"You might be free, but I still have classes in the..." Alex trailed off as he noticed a familiar-looking teenager standing at the opposite street corner (116 feet, 7 inches away...).

"Well, that's convenient," he muttered as Christopher made his way over to Melvin. "Hey, he's already here," he added to Rachel. "You can stop searching now."