Kamigakari: Bustin' in Boston with the Old Guard

[Eshkigal]

Welcome friends, to a realm of magic and bladework, beasts and gods threatening the peace of the world, a world where nothing is what it seems. One familiar to all here, yet not. For it is Earth, today, but a different one than what we know. For the monsters and heroes of old areally all real, if hidden from view by their glamours and wits. It is upon this world that we focus, finally closing in on a huge city named Boston. It is from there we close in further, focusing on four who have found that the oddities of the world are their norm...

Selenia, Eli, Arash, Riley, you each find yourselves in Durgin Park, or on your way.

Eli, as you find yourself wondering what now after finding yourself thrown out of a cash 4 gold place run by a many armed...thing, although after cashing in enough that you may have accidentally paid for college twice over on a couple of those gold pieces you seem to manifest when you want from the arm, you bring yourself to an old haunt from before the accident. Durgin Park has not changed much in the past month, or at least not nearly as much as you have under the casts. It has taken effort to not accidentally dent things you grip with even your normal hand now, the hand under the cast flexing to your will and nearly crumbling the fake cast's grip again as take a moment to try and recapture normalcy.

Arash, still getting a handle on the world you have awoken to, you have begun to explore the city in order to learn more about what may be expected in general society. However, even with new powers and abilities, the transition has not been easy. However, one of your more useful utility abilities has at least let you get plenty to live off of, and though the city is confusing, both in structure and sheer numbers, it seems to have useful spots. Such as the only place you have found to get a taste of home...run by those descended of your kin, though too far to really be kin at this point.
Suffice to say, the future is weird.

Selenia, as you idly sit in an Irish pub looking at the selection of lunch or "lunch", depending on if you wanted to have some fun while there, you also consider swinging by the aquarium to slip into the dimension of the awakened turtle at the aquarium. While she wasn't much of a conversationalist, her realm was modeled off memories of laying eggs upon a tropical island's coast, making an immaculate and pristine beach with a gentle sea to laze in. It would be perfect for tanning, so long as you took what you brought in-apparently that has been a reason for some other God Hunters to find themselves dropped out of the beach and into the ocean just outside the aquarium, unable to return.

Riley, you are currently inside the Boston Aquarium with your your mother, Nina, as she gets her hand stamp, the seal you were looking at snoozing under the water of their tank becoming dislodged and slowly drifting towards you as a couple of water sprites giggle, having the sleeping seal move as they want. As she settles up, they slowly drift the seal into the glass, causing the face to smush against the glass and rebound, before the seal wakes up and heads back down to the vent it was sleeping on underwater. As the two laugh, you enter with your mother, coming to see a large pool full of penguins (and for you, different water spirits playing with them) with the walls holding different displays. Above you, against the muted colors of the rest of those around, you see a deep green glow as a giant sea turtle almost as long as you are tall slowly drift past. The green glow continues to suffuse their being, their eye facing the glass following you. As the turtle looks far more vibrant than their surroundings, it would seem there was the spirit of this locale, though after some time drifting back into the tank again.

[Ionbound]

Selenia, dressed fashionably as always, licks her lips. Obstinately reading the menu, she also has one eye over the top, looking at a cute red-headed waitress as she considers what she wants to do with the day. Eventually, she decides against that plan and orders a shepherd's pie.

[cryum]

Finding a bench to sit on, Eli tried to get some homework done. He'd just about finished catching up in school, although if he had known that Fool's Gold was worth so much, he would not have spent so much effort scrimping on paper and coffee.

Unfortunately, the benches in the park were taken. Eli wandered off towards the aquarium, one-handedly removing a pen and notebook from his backpack in a practiced motion. Maybe some sea creatures will take away the tedium of differential calculus.

[DoctorFaust]

Arash finds himself sitting alone, once again, in the park beside the Aquarium, staring idly at all the people around him. In a time not long past, he would have thought that everything about them was strange, from the color of their skin down to their clothes, but the past few months have taught him they really aren't that different than his companions back in the war. With a sigh, he glances over to the aquarium, an extravagance he hadn't even thought possible back when he was live, and takes a bite of the take-away he had gotten for lunch. The future may be weird, but at least they can make a good kebab.

[RdMarquis]

Riley didn't pay too much attention to the exhibits until the faeries got involved. He decides against intervening, at least for the moment. They weren't putting any animals or people in danger. In any case, he was trying to figure out the best way to ask his mother about this trip. They were still new enough to Boston to play tourist, but he couldn't help wondering if there was another reason for their visit to the aquarium.

Another supernatural distraction presents itself before long. Riley pulls out his phone before remembering that mundane cameras couldn't usually capture stuff like auras. Still, he does send a quick text about the turtle to his...well, they'd been working together for a while. He supposed that qualified the other Awakened as comrades-in-arms, at least. <Heads up. One of the sea turtles at the aquarium seems to be a spirit.>

[Eshkigal]

Arash, as you gaze at the building built near the coast from your seat, you notice one young man who seems to stand out as vibrantly as others who share your kind of gifts, like a shining beacon against the muted nature of the powerless around you. You also notice a young girl who seems to be moving away from the entrance to the metal serpent paths that are known as "subway systems" that seems more real than most around her, but flinching away from the oddities in the air as a particularly diminutive Vatu zips past her head with glee.

Riley, as you headed in, you catch sight of a middle eastern man who seems to also have his own shard taking note of you. Not seen him in the ranks before. However, after your text, your friend contacts you back.
Big Green is a neutral force. Seems content protecting the area.

Selenia, you eventually get a plate delivered by the redhead. While not the best you have had, it is still good shepherds pie.

Eli, as you head to depart the crowded park, you spot something peculiar. Three people who, unlike most others, stand out as vibrantly as the myriad little creatures you have begun to see. The first two seem to know one another, a girl who seems to gleam with steel and silver in the day's light for a brief second, hair changing to all colors known and a few you had not seen before in that brief moment. The boy seems to have some odd beast tightly bound to a covered up arm, the thing slumbering as it curls around him before disappearing from your view. Then a third, a girl of Asian descent, who just seems to be more...there. Have more to her than the crowds, as if something had concentrated a person into something more than what they had been.

(Link to New Recruits here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?528859-Kamigakari-Bustin-in-Boston-with-the-New-Recruits) for Arash if he decides to follow Ruza, or for Eli if he pursues his first lead)

[cryum]

Glancing at the prismatic hair, Eli realized he recognized the person: she was in the spirit store just now. Thinking it best not to take any chances, he hurried into the aquarium.

Inside, however, were more.....spirits. The word was not something he was used to referring to things he could see, but now he could see more than he'd ever seen in his life. One gargantuan turtle in particular stares straight at him, critical and evaluating. Nervousness made his "bad" arm spasm again, but Eli was sure that if he made a scene he would not live to talk about it.

Bench. Notebook. Calculus. Suddenly math was more calming and reassuring than boring. He even got into a good rhythm, tapping with his foot to each problem, before pressing on his pants to close the emitters on his leg and tapping with the other foot.

[Eshkigal]

Eli, even as you think that, another pair of oddities catches your eye. The first being another youth who seems gifted, a young boy with a woman who looks similar enough to probably be his mother checking out the turtle among the throngs of people bustling about inside. The other...
"-no, I don't wanna go in I changed my mind I'm scared-"
The other a young girl in a wheelchair, who looks like she can't even be ten, but has bandages covering the left side of her face and arm. An arm that make your blood freeze as you see the bandages slip, and notice an all too familiar sight-an arm that mirrors your own peculiar prosthetic, a blue glow you are unfamiliar with beneath one eye that begins to send pulse after pulse of brilliant azure light through her visible skin, faster and faster as she stares at the sea turtle with fear. As the bandages ripple and shift, she clutches a similarly bandaged teddy bear...but did it just move its head and eyes to look at you?

Riley, as your mother seems pensive to talk to you about something, you notice two newcomers, though one seems far too young. The elder of the two is a bit older than you in appearance, apparently mortal save for two limbs that, despite almost being completely covered, seem to be made of ornate armor and machinery to your eyes, an orb as blue as the sky glowing through his chest for a brief moment and sending motes of light through his veins before passing. The other...
"-no, I don't wanna go in I changed my mind I'm scared-"
The other a young girl in a wheelchair that seems to be trying to get a parent to head away, who looks like she can't even be ten, but has bandages covering the left side of her face and arm. However, you can see the gold armor beneath, covering her like a second skin, a blue glow like the man's beneath one eye that begins to send pulse after pulse of brilliant azure light through her visible skin, faster and faster as she stares at the sea turtle with fear. As the bandages ripple and shift, she clutches a similarly bandaged teddy bear...one that, to your practiced view, shows signs of being possessed by a bear mononoke, likely bound by the child's desire for their friend to be real. One that seems rather protective of it's charge.

Selenia, just as the waitress winks at you, you get a text from Riley about the sea turtle. Guess he didn't know.

[Ionbound]

Selenia winks back and opens her mouth to say something, but it cut off by her phone buzzing. She sighs and checks, then laughs as a thought comes to her, <"Yeah, no **** Sherlock. Go say hi. She likes presents, especially. Just leave them on her beach. You'll know what I mean.">

[RdMarquis]

<Right. Got it.> He should have expected Silhouette and her group to already know about the turtle. Riley sighs and types a reply to Selenia as well. <Give me a break. I got fired by the people who keep my updated on this stuff. Long story.> He cringes at an unpleasant memory. Just as he hits "send", he spots the young man and girl...and the teddy bear. <Do you know about a pair of cyborg looking people, too? Guy about my age and a little girl? Blue energy crystals? The kid has a possessed teddy bear, too. Might be a problem. Stop by if you can. We're still in front of the turtle tank.>

Riley feels a twinge of guilt as he tells Nina, "Mom, I'll be right back." He had his weighted gloves in his pocket and was wearing his greaves. Unfortunately, you could run into supernatural trouble anywhere. Like now. Riley is sure the two are able to see his reflection in the glass, but he still greets them as he approaches. "Hey. Is there a problem here?"

[DoctorFaust]

Arash's first thought is to follow after the girl that emerged from the "sub ways", since it looks like she's in distress, but when another...girl? comes to her aid, he decides to go after the man entering the aquarium with what looks to be their wife.

He quickly slings the bag holding his bow over his shoulder, picks up his kebab, and starts making his way towards the aquarium. Being picked up by the Mage Association gave him a lot of experience recognising God Hunters, but very few of them had quite the same aura. It feels older, refined, more stately. Almost like Manuchehr did in life.

[cryum]

That kid....welp, can't just leave her like that.

Eli briskly jogged over, careful not to trigger any weapon systems in his leg. "Something wrong? Umm, where is your p-" what kind of parent leaves their kid alone in a wheelchair? "....guardian?"

The guardian might be a nurse, someone who knows about whatever operation the girl went through. Someone with answers.

[Eshkigal]

Eli, Riley, there is a polite cough from behind the wheelchair as you both realize, somewhat embarrassingly, that you got so caught up in the girl you did not notice her rather ragged, tired looking dad behind her, almost half asleep from apparent fatigue and lacking the modifications.
"Huh? Oh, ah, ha ha. No, no problem. She just has had a really active imagination since she woke up. And...quite the pair of lungs at times..."
He gives a long yawn, the bags under his eyes speaking volumes as the girl stares at you two, the best staring past at the turtle.
"...Can you see them too?"

Arash, once you notice they do check bags, you quickly tuck the contents of the bag in a different dimension as he moves through. Once inside, it is, well, rather bizarre to say the least. People seem to line up to pet some sort of fish to one side, weird flightless birds take up the center and chase little water yazata, and odd fish line the walls in elaborate domains behind glass, headed by what is evidently a beast who has awakened. However, nearer to you, there is not just the one Hunter you sought, but three in conversation, though one is far too young for the hunt as she is still just a young child. The two that are not the one you spotted earlier sport similar marks of having their gifts built upon their bodies rather than being born to them.

Selenia, just as you get back to seeing if you can get more than just a shepherd pie, you get another buzz on your phone.

[cryum]

Eli questions the dad. Are you okay? You look terrible. After a bit of back and forth, Eli points to his own cast and asks about what operation the girl underwent. Name drop the hospital that disappeared.

But he pays close attention to the girl, too. Whatever that other guy says about the turtle could be very important.

[Ionbound]

Selenia grumbles unhappily as she's writing her phone number down next to a generous tip for the waitress, giving it a moment before she checks her text messages. Her eyes widen as she reads what's up, and texts back, <"Do not engage with her. If she's an unknown shard, I'm going to have to chat directly. OMW.">

She stands up, exiting the pub at a swift but elegant walk, mouthing 'call me' to the waitress as she hurries over to the aquarium, looking to nip the conflict that she can just imagine unfolding in the bud, before she'd have to wipe people's memories.

[RdMarquis]

"...Can you see them too?"

<Uh...too late. We're all watching the turtle. Sorry.> In fairness, he meant it. Riley glances briefly at the older man, who was making him rather suspicious. Admittedly, an Innocent probably couldn't see the implants. But for all Riley knew, the man was lying. He decided to try and make things a little easier on Selenia by avoiding trouble. At least for now. "See what? The animals?"

[DoctorFaust]

Arash wanders towards the little group of Hunters, stopping as soon as he can make out their conversation to try and not draw attention to himself. The sheer number of yazata flying around the halls is almost overwhelming, but he still holds out a scrap of pita as a peace offering to the little spirits.

[Ionbound]

Selenia swears under her breath as she picks up her pace towards the aquarium.

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, as you make your way out of the pub and onto the streets, you notice flickers that are somewhat worrisome. Namely, at different streets are two more unknown Hunters who seem to be cyborgs trying to cover up golden pieces, blue cores of what you can tell are pieces of a spirit sending out energy to help them bind. Before you can chase either, both too far away save for the gleam of gold and blue you see, they are heading different directions. However, there are two you can take a look at, and know. So you head to the aquarium, and find Riley and three unknowns there, though one seems to carry himself far more comfortably than the others, one a man, the other just a young girl matching Riley's description.

Eli, Riley, the tired man takes a couple attempts to ask just from how tired he seems to be.
"Mm? Oh, Mary's just been having bad nightmares lately. Probably has to do with the fire."
He yawns again, shaking his head for a brief moment as a look of melancholy spreads over his face.
"Truth be told, been costing me sleep too. Nearly...nearly lost her too. Most doctors thought she wouldn't wake up from the potential brain damage from fallen debris. Damn near lost hope until this...think her name was Angela? Came by on behalf of a Doctor Baloma. And...he did what everyone else could not. He got her to wake up."
As he talks about it, a series of memories come through from your stranger powers. A Christmas tree that caught fire in their house, a tragedy that cost him a wife and nearly his daughter. A brief moment of terror, of pain, of being dug out and treated, seeing his daughter still and hurt in a bed nearby. Despair. Then two faces of people familiar to only Eli. One of the nurse of the hospital he had been to, tall with a warm smile and calm demeanor, blonde hair and gentle touch. The other, this Baloma, the one who took care of you with a different name, but with the same warm smile, tired eyes, and aged face. You knew him as Chiyu. And then, well, seeing her wake up. Seeing his daughter open her eyes again, after months of hopelessness.
Meanwhile, the child shakes her head, clutching her bear before leaning in.
"The monsters."

Arash, one of the yazata nimbly flips out of the water, nipping the bread from your fingers and giving you a nod. As does the turtle. However, you seem to be getting some of the view that the other two hunters are, the memories of a man burned and given a miracle at his lowest moment.

[Ionbound]

Selenia hmms to herself unhappily as she notes the two cyborgs outside. More unknowns are, to her, never a good sign. But she keeps that to herself, planning on chatting with Eli about it later as she walks up to the group. She waves to Riley as her jaw slackens when she sees the father and daughter pair, but keeps her composure as she says to Riley, "Hello there Riley! Can you introduce me to your friends?"

[cryum]

My head....what? It's not painful, but this sorrow is the dad's, isn't it? What the hell kind of prosthetic let's you READ MINDS!? I guess I'm really not a human anymore. Heh, monster indeed. Peeking at other people's memories is just...invasive. Wrong. But the fact that it was useful was not lost to Eli. There was no way for him to know that Chiyu and this Baloma would be the same person otherwise. Forget that, what about the girl? A child too young exposed to too harsh a memory...

"Baloma? Yeah, I figured as much; He operated on me, too. I think I know what she's going through. Let's see if I can help your daughter with her nightmares."

Eli walks over to the girl. "It'll be fine, they just want to....play. I think. Maybe." Damn, I really don't know much about them myself. "My name's Eli, what's yours? Yours too, Mr. I Look like I know what's going on."

Someone else approaches, though. Apparently someone who knows this "Riley", and she's- Boobs. Booooobs. Wait, no, crap, what if MY thoughts can be read!? Nevermind, have to help this girl, think with the heart and the brain, not anything else! Keeping his eyes on the wheelchair and the girl's augments, Eli was ready to pick apart whatever Riley would let slip.

[Eshkigal]

As Selenia distracts Eli at least (maybe Riley and Arash too, though Riley's mom seems rather concerned that he has such a...gifted friend), it takes the two newcomers a moment to take note of the strange, sweeping horns that sweep around from the back of her head and arch up like a crown, spade tail, and small wings that seem unable to actually support her before the more obvious parts diminish away with glamours. Mary, the girl in the chair, seems to clutch her bear closer even as the spirit inside seems to want to stand up and throw down in her defense, terrified eyes darting to her, the turtle, the spirits in the water...and the water seems to have begun to form strange ripples. Meanwhile, a girl who seems to be more vibrant than the people around you all, a girl of metal and cybernetics, and a boy who has a large, slumbering beast overlapping one arm make their way in, before fading to simply more vibrant than the rest of the area.

[RdMarquis]

Riley takes a deep breath, wishing he'd gotten a warning before that vision. It explained a few things. "Few" being the operative word. He glances around at what appeared to be a gathering crowd of Awakened. He recognizes Selenia among them. "Hey. This is, uh, Eli." Riley indicates the older student, then turns to him. "I've been on the job for about half a year. What do you want to know? Also, who's Baloma?"

He says to Mary's father, "You might want to take her outside. I think the crowd is starting to worry her."

[Merilan]

Ruza -- in all respects just a regular high school student in a blazer, skirt and leggings -- shrieks as Terence yanks her along, exclaiming in Japanese, <"H-hey, please wait, ow! Don't pull!"> and looks deeply baffled as she looks to Fidele, the cybernetic girl by her side. <"Ask him to stop!">

[Ionbound]

Selenia smiles graciously at Riley's mother, introducing herself, "Ah, hello. I'm one of Riley's teachers. I don't believe we've met before?" She then shakes her head and says, "It doesn't matter."

She then turns to the girl in the wheelchair and kneels in front of her, a calming smile on her face as she says, "Hi. My name is Selenia. What's your name?"

[cryum]

Well, that was a lot easier than I expected. Looking at Riley curiously, Eli decided to just list everything he knew. "I, and as you might guess with miss Mary here, got into accidents. We were slated to receive everything modern medicine could offer. Instead, our mysterious doctor Baloma gave us these-" ,gesturing to the cast and Mary's augments, "-before disappearing, in my case with an entire hospital."

"So what's this "job"? I get that these spirits are just living as they please, but do I need to register for extra-natural citizenship somewhere? Oh, and umm....you're not a criminal, right?"

[DoctorFaust]

Arash shakes off the images with a wince, but is clearly rattled by them. The girl has been through far more than she should've given her age. But before he has long to pursue that line of thought, he gets distracted by the appearance of another group of Hunters, this one a lot noisier than the other.

He intercepts them with a few quick steps, and put his hand on the shoulder of the girl speaking some sort of Asian language. "Is he bothering you?"

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, Nina looks at you with confusion and uncertainty as the dad seems to wake up a bit more at Riley's suggestion.
"Nnh? Ah. Good idea, kid. Maybe the seals in front will be more relaxing..."
He begins to wheel Mary away, which is convenient as the bear tries to swipe at Selenia's face as Mary stares at her with great fear, spectral claws just missing her as the water begins to return to normal seeing as the minor demon is no longer right in her face-seeing as she could see that portion, after all.

[aturtledoesbite]

He intercepts them with a few quick steps, and put his hand on the shoulder of the girl speaking some sort of Asian language. "Is he bothering you?"

"Huh?"

Terrance stops when the man interrupts them. He replies, "Nuh-uh! She was being bothered by a bird, so we brought her here to the aquarium so she could calm down. Did you know there's a magic talking turtle here?"

It's hard to tell exactly (for Fidele, at least) what point Terrance shifted from 'what if the turtle can talk' to 'it's a talking turtle', but it was probably sometime during the trip here.

[Merilan]

Ruza looks between Arash and Terence, before looking like she really doesn't want to raise more of a fuss, her head sinking down between her shoulders. <"I--it's fine..."> A pause, before she switches, "I am doing fine today," in broken English.

[Elfbird]

Fidele's hair flares chestnut as she looks to Ruza with something approaching awe.

"Wooow... For Kurama Ruza to be doing fine after surviving her home being destroyed by urban development meteorquake ghosts, moving to Boston,
being bullied by an Ex-Breeze, kidnapped by Terrance to see a magic-turtle-that-will-let-Terrance-ride-it, accosted by a muscular and objectively handsome Middle-Eastern Godhunter, and even now forcing herself to speak English...! <I greatly admire your inner strength and fortitude!>"

(Reposted from the New Recruits thread and Discord, in case any of the Old Guard haven't seen this yet. If you have, this'll be the last time you have to put up with it xD)

Fidele will translate everything that Ruza says in Japanese around her into English from this point on, without exception, unless explicitly told not to or told to stop completely. She even changes her pitch while speaking translated lines, to approximate Ruza's known vocal range.
She'll also translate English that appears directed at Ruza into Japanese if she does not demonstrate comprehension.
Mind that it's being run through translation software both ways, so feel free to reinterpret liberally :P

Isn't having a convenient crutch a great way to not learn English? and become totally reliant on Fidele no she's not a manipulative little yanderebot I swear

[RdMarquis]

"Oh. Great." He takes another deep breath, then switches to telepathy. Okay, not to alarm you, but those implants are probably out and out magic. Which means you are now magic.

Riley grimaces. I almost did a stint in juvie, but that's not important. Also, don't make a habit of telling people about this. Innocents (that's what we call Muggles) can't normally see magic, but it's still not a good idea. Admittedly, He smirks. I wouldn't bat an eye if, like, SHIELD was a real organization that keeps an eye out for people like us.

He stops to let Eli process what he has said. As for the job...have you played Devil May Cry? Or read the Mortal Instruments books? That's what we Awakened do. Hunt monsters and try to keep the world safe. As you can probably tell, we're effectively vigilantes. The authorities can't know about us. But we have a few organizations of our own.

Ugh. He rolls his eyes at himself. Should have led with the fact that I'm not here to draft you. I and a few others could probably use your help, and we can help you understand your powers, but we're not about to make you join the hunt. By the way, the Awakened are telepathic. Try talking to me in your head. Or, uh, thinking at me. If that even makes sense.

[DoctorFaust]

Arash frowns at Ruza's response, and focuses his spirit energy. I'm sorry, I didn't realize you didn't speak English, he sends. Is it true that they're taking you to an Anaitis here?

His eyes flicker back to Mary, and then return to Fidele. "That must take great strength of will to overcome. But if she's Kurama Ruza, and that's Terrance, what would your name be? And thanks for the compliment," he adds with a laugh.

[Ionbound]

Selenia barely recoils in time from the spectral claws, but sighs and says, "Fine. Be that way," more directed at the bear than Mary. She shrugs and says to Eli, "You wanna see the best part of this aquarium? I'm feeling in a tanning mood."

[Elfbird]

Fidele bows to the muscular and objectively handsome Godhunter in greeting - an odd habit in the States, but one that her otaku creator heartily encouraged. Her hair gradually fades to straw-colored.
"How do you do? My name is Fidele, and I am two years old. Will you be my friend, Mr. Godhunter?"
She then offers a more typical handshake.

In the background, she's working on piecing together Arash's ethnicity, identity, and probable native language and culture. The unusual difficulty of this research baffles her, though she wouldn't show it on her face.

[Merilan]

Ruza looks just a little alarmed as the telepathic message washes over her. Anaitis? Godhunter? Look, I just-- I don't know what any of that means, okay...? She doesn't even know if she can broadcast it back in turn.

[DoctorFaust]

The muscular, objectively handsome Godhunter takes the offered hand and shakes it. "I don't see why I wouldn't. I'm always happy to meet more of, uh, us. I'm Arash."

Arash's frown deepens again when he receives Ruza's reply. Did nobody tell you why you can see the things you can? What your mark means?

[Eshkigal]

Eli, as Mary is wheeled off, you find yourself reaching out, hand brushing against her head without thinking. From her, you get a different flood of memories, of waking up in a weird room with her dad crying over her and bandaged up himself, of seeing spirits much like the ones you have been seeing. A night where something's long, broken limbs slowly slid out from under her closet door, before the world changed and faded away, save for the torrent of water that suddenly flooded it and the bear her father got her on their way out of the hospital standing up, shedding some greenish light, and turning into a giant spirit bear that tore the many limbed thing from the other side of the doorway, more like a ball of arms than anything she had seen before, and began tearing into it with abandon as it screeched and tried to flee. Of other such monsters, the sort that may be childhood nightmares, meeting such a fate as well in the night. Then of you, of fear of the turtle, the spirits around the room, the people who stood out...
Suffice to say, life is not simple for anyone who seems to get these powers if this is anything to go by.

[cryum]

"I see. No, not really, but I'm at least interested in helping that girl out." Like this? Whatever, let's go with this. Looking over at the girl being wheeled, Eli focused intently. HEY, YOUR BEAR SEEMS LIKE HE CAN HOLD HIS OWN, BUT IF YOU NEED HELP JUST CALL ME. Hmm, should I bring a snack?

Finished, Eli looked back at the rather sizable gathering. "Okay, so my arm and stuff is magical? Lemme tell you about Doctor Chiyu, or Baloma in this case." It's only after explaining how Baloma seems to be operating on people and disappearing that Eli realizes that perhaps he may have used telepathy incorrectly.

Turning over to Selenia and noticing the horns, Eli replied. "Okay, but this isn't going to involve getting eaten by the turtle or something right?".

[Ionbound]

Selenia facepalms as she listens to Eli's explanation and says, "R-right. You just did that didn't you. Oh my god..." She sighs and looks around, making a quick count of the Innocents present to figure out how much she was going to have to feed later.

[Eshkigal]

Even now, some of the passers by are eyeing Eli like they are trying to determine if he is on drugs. Them, and Riley's mother who had been staying close since about when Selenia showed up.

[Elfbird]

Fidele's hair quickly darkens and her jaw goes a little slack as she tries and fails to find Arash's nonexistent personal electronics.
"You... but... is it broken...? Arash, how can we be friends if we cannot exchange digital contact information?! ...Right! We must go to a store the moment Terrance and Ruza finish their date at the aquarium, which I am chaperoning! I've located a Verizon Wireless retailer just one mile to our west."
Her hair resolves to a deep orange comparable to autumn leaves.

"...Also, please be advised that there is an Awakened and several Innocents nearby displaying elevated vital signs, in immediate proximity to a powerful mononoke that is not the Sea Turtle. They may be experiencing distress. Fidele standing by."

[Merilan]

Ruza looks towards Arash with a kind of look like she might know a thing or two, but she's rather too stressed to be pressed further. J-just a few things, but... I don't want anything to do with it, okay? I'm not a Godhunter or anything!

[Ionbound]

Selenia pauses, then mentally says to Fidele, "Wait. Powerful Mononoke that's not Sea Turtle? Where?"

[DoctorFaust]

"Wait, there's a mononoke? Where?" Arash glances around, trying to pick anything that looks possessed out of the crowd. "Did you just sense them?"

[Eshkigal]

There is no sign of any within, and as you may begin to move Riley finds himself stopped by Nina.
"Alright, hold up. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt with her, was going to ask some questions about your friends, but what is going on?"

Meanwhile, assuming people check the area, the only mononoke to fit the description is Mary's Bear.

[Ionbound]

Selenia sighs and says, "Right. Was hoping to this wouldn't be necessary, but..." She reaches out towards Nina in an attempt to grab her. If successful, she'll draw the woman into a deep kiss infused with magic that will allow Selenia to edit the woman's memories.

Using my Bewitching Magic skill on Nina with the Out of Combat usage to edit her memories.

[Eshkigal]

Nina gives a surprised yelp as she is drawn into the sudden kiss, eyes wide before they go hazy for a moment, falling back and away a bit when let go.
"I...What was I saying? Oh, look, it's your LARP group. Have fun, Riley."
Shen stumbles back a bit before her eyes clear up, wondering why her mouth tastes like shepherd's pie all of a sudden.

[RdMarquis]

At first, all Riley can say in reply is "Uh huh." He buries his face in his hands and reminds himself that he had something important to deal with. "We're just going to plan our next session. I'll let you know when we're done." Namely, the mysterious doctor implanting people with shards. Not to mention his "patients" (more like test subjects).

"I'm not thanking you for that," he tells Selenia. Riley then notices the other Awakened standing nearby. "Now what? Are all of these people here to look at the turtle?" He lowers his voice to a whisper. "Or investigate Baloma? I think we need a place to talk things over with them."

[cryum]

"Are we going to see the turtle yet? These painkillers(Lie) aren't going to distract me forever." Having accepted that the turtle is a permanent resident rather than some recent troublemaker, Eli decided to give this whole situation the benefit of the doubt. He walks over to the glass divider of the aquarium. "Hello turtle 1, hello turtle 2, and hello to you too, big turtle. How's the water?" That's as polite as I can be without sounding more suspicious than crazy.

[Eshkigal]

Looking to each other for a moment, then at the crowds, you split apart a bit, finding different spaces where you can slip between worlds without drawing attention. As each of you slips away into the Turtle's Paradise, you find yourselves on a broad expanse of warm sand, tropical trees dotting the shoreline among exotic flora in colors not seen in the normal realm. Gentle waves lap at the shore, even as grandiose, shimmering fish burst from the water, rainbows of color that seem to be the size of whales as they dance across the waves with one another. Occasionally, small sprites peek out of the water before splashing away, keeping their distance from those on the shore. However, beneath the waves you can see a behemoth move, looking like a giant turtle as brilliant green eyes shine from the deep to watch you.

[Elfbird]

Fidele's hair resets to silver, slightly whiter than usual. Given her natural reflective properties, it's a little hard to look at her directly in the tropical sun.

"Air temperature: 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
Humidity: 63 percent.
Wind: 12 miles per hour.
Water temperature: 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Spirit Barrier integrity: 97 percent.
Please do not litter. Leave only footprints, take only memories.
Welcome to paradise."

She looks to Eli across the sand - a much easier feat without the aquarium's Innocent crowds.
"The salt here will not corrode your body. The primary dangers of this area are, in order of immediacy: angering the Sea Turtle; diving into the sea and becoming lost, leading to severe mental instability; remaining so long that you lose all sense of identity and fade into the ether. There is a significant gap between those and the next most present dangers unique to this location."

[Ionbound]

Selenia grins as she finds the world shifting and arrives in paradise. She calls out to the turtle, "Thanks! Might have been a bit of a sticky situation otherwise."

With that, she produces a beach chair and lays it out, taking an opportunity to relax.

[DoctorFaust]

Arash makes a few apologies to Fidele, and then hurries over to Selenia, as she looked about the most in control of the situation. "Are we going to do something about the other Mononoke?" he asks. "It does not seem very advisable to leave it unchecked, but I don't know what destroying it would do to the girl."

[Merilan]

Ruza, on the other hand, didn't seem to be calm at all as she looked around and saw herself upon a beach that did not look like any of those that she'd seen on the coasts of Japan. "W-where is this...?! What-- what just happened?" She stares towards Fidele. "M-mental instability?!"

[Elfbird]

Fidele responds to Ruza. There's some repetition of prior statements, but that's okay - humans can only process a fraction of their total sensory input at any given time.
"We have entered the pocket dimension that is created and governed by the Sea Turtle. Mother says that the Sea Turtle is peaceful and kind to strangers, so long as we do not fight or litter in her domain. This is a safe place to rest and talk without Innocents nearby - aside from the aforesaid dangers unique to this area. All Awakened are capable of creating altered space like this; you--"

Fidele goes silent and shifts her attention to Riley, apparently having registered some subtle cue that he's preparing to speak to the group.

[RdMarquis]

He nods in reply, approaching the gathered Godhunters. "Okay. This is obviously new and scary to some of you, so I'll try to keep the explanation simple. Again." Riley frowns briefly. "But there's one issue I can't tiptoe around. Everyone here is a supernatural being. From what some people have told me, we've outright inherited the power and magic of the gods themselves." He gives a sad, sympathetic laugh.

"Look, if I was in your shoes, I'd think was crazy, too. But just look around." Riley gestures at the tropical paradise they were using as a meeting place. "You really think this is a room in the aquarium?" He falls silent, allowing the surf noises to speak for themselves. "We are the Awakened. "Godhunters", to some. And, to be honest, I don't know why that is. I can't tell you why we ended up this way. Sorry."

Riley takes a deep breath. "All I know is, becoming Awakened means Power. Probably enough to change the world. My, um...friends," He glances at Selenia with a hint of uncertainty, "and I try to use that power for good. To protect people from danger. Usually monsters or demons." He hurriedly continues, "Don't think I'm trying to draft you or say you can't live a normal life, though. You should be fine as long as you stay out of trouble."

"But we could really use your help. There are a lot of dangerous and even evil things out there. The world needs someone to keep it safe. If you're willing to join us in this fight, we'd really appreciate it."

[cryum]

"I guess I'm in, on one condition: PLEASE tell me there's a closed dimension or whatever you call these with time dilation. I've got no problem skipping class, but I have assignments to turn in and papers to write." Even as he says this, Eli's thoughts about university shift and warp. As he finally accepts what he is, the world starts to shift into focus. Previously difficult problems become simple step-by-step, and calculations are solved as soon as he can think of them.

Taking off his cast, he studies his arm with renewed scrutiny. The golden metal gleams like always, but now he feels something new flowing underneath. Information? Instructions? Is that a clock rate, or my own heartbeat?

"Well, I take it you guys don't have a lead on Baloma? Would the master of this place know?"

[aturtledoesbite]

Terrance, for his part, mostly ignored Riley's speech (and, also, everything else) in favor of watching the magic turtle. Aside from terms, it wasn't really anything new to him anyway (and the terms themselves weren't really new, he just never remembered them).

While he doesn't try to say anything to the turtle right now while Riley's talking, he does wave to it, kiiiiiiind of hoping that it would come out of the water. It's kind of hard to ride it while it's underwater anyway...

[Eshkigal]

Terrance, the water shifts as the turtle god breaches the sea, scales of platinum and opalescent shimmerings lazily dancing in the light of the strange sun as a voice seeps into the minds present like a trickle of water, carefully managed and kept from flooding over your own thoughts.
Have you brought the Offerings of the Land?
An image of strawberries forms in your heads after that, as the scales slide back to reveal a soft glowing blue eye that stares at you all.

[cryum]

"Sorry, I only have mulberries." Reaching into his bag, Eli pulls out a ziplock of dull orange berries. "....what? Always bring a snack. Besides, most berries stain, and these don't."

[aturtledoesbite]

"Aw man, I didn't know I'd need to bring food..." Terrance supposed he'd have to try it next time.

But still. Wow! A talking turtle! Well, more like a thinking turtle, but it was close enough. It occurred to him, though, that he had no idea what to ask a talking turtle. Oh well, that wasn't going to stop him from being happy.

He runs back over to where Fidele is. "Heeeeey, Fidele! And...your name was Ruza, I think? Anyway, look, it's the magic turtle! It said it wanted strawberries, but I don't have any..."

[Merilan]

Ruza looks just a little less stressed as Riley starts explaining herself, shuddering as she mumbles, staring at Fidele as she speaks, <"This-- this-- okay, I mean, I know this isn't a dream, but -- it's like you said -- all I want is to just live a normal life. That's why we ran off all the way here to Boston. If I stay out of trouble, I'll be fine, right?"> She pauses as she lets her translate, before sighing again and-- blinking towards the turtle.

"That is scary," she speaks in her broken English, before unzipping her bag and taking out ... a bottle of milk, some bread, spring onions... aha, a punnet of strawberries! out of a bag of groceries. "... Will this do?"

[Ionbound]

Selenia nods to Riley and says, "Friend is the right word. As for you all..." She sighs, and shrugs, then says, "It's hard to say. You can try to live a normal life, but...Aramitama won't care about that. They'll try to kill you anyways."

[Elfbird]

Fidele shakes her head slightly, hair darkening as she quotes a passage from somewhere.
"'However, the souls of those compatible with Shards, because they possess fine qualities several times better than normal people, will always be a target for Aramitama. Therefore, it is inevitable that those who awaken as Godhunters will continue to fight against the Aramitama.' From the Codex Spirituum, author Urabe Masato, translator Carol Armitage. Unpublished."
She repeats that once more in Japanese for Ruza.

[RdMarquis]

"Yeah." Riley cringes. "I'm really sorry. I should have mentioned there are two exceptions to what I said. First, the source of magic (or Shard) inside you is going to give you certain abilities, no matter what." He indicates his eyes. "You've seen some supernatural things already. That's a power that comes with being Awakened. I don't know of a way to turn it off."

"Second, some people are going to see you as an enemy, even if they don't have a good reason to. Not all magical beings are like the turtle. They can be as bad (or good) as any human. The Aramitama, though, they're...they're pure evil." He meets Eli and Ruza's gaze, silently asking them to understand that he is serious. "They're demons who want to destroy the world. They'll try to kill us for being a possible threat to them, or just because they can."

"Please let us teach you how to use your powers. At least so you can defend yourselves. Look, it won't be all about fighting." Riley waves his hand at the beach. "You'll be able to create a space like this, too. And yeah," He nods at Eli. "Time moves a lot slower in here. I don't think even a minute has passed, outside."

[Eshkigal]

The turtle surfaces more gills as the sacrifice is shown, bringing it's head over to the shore for the offering and taking care to enjoy as it responds.
The offering is sufficient. Each of you may ride this visit.

[Merilan]

Ruza kind of sags as she sits down against the sands and presses her head to her hands for a moment, in thought. <"I just fed a giant turtle and now it's offering itself like it's an amusement ride. This day is crazy enough already...">

There's a despondent sigh, before she admits, <"Fine-- maybe I do have-- whatever it is you're talking about. But it's completely accidental."> She looks at her Shard marking on her left hand for a moment. <"What's-- what's it going to take to learn how to use our powers, though...?">

[Elfbird]

<"You do not think about how to operate your organs, or how to move your body when you run, or how to shape your neurons into a recollection of data. You bear in your soul the memories of the world - just as the memories of your cells let you act as a human, the memories of the world will let you act as a Godhunter once you embrace them. For some, awareness is enough; others must be pushed to terrified desperation before they can fully wield their powers. Which will you be?">
Fidele's hair turns a soft green as she continues, approaching the color of the tropical sea. One might wonder what passes as "instinct" for an A.I....

[cryum]

"Training montage? Yeah, I'd appreciate that a lot. I think I counted 14 holes in my dorm room before I figured out how not to turn on the laser emitter every time I farted. " Eli briefly considered moving to a new place, but remembered that he would need to fill out file ADF section-C in triplicate for the damage to the room. THEN, he'd have to explain to his parents where he got the money, and file the tax forms for THAT. It'll have to wait.

Stepping unsteadily onto the turtle, Eli found a spot to sit on, admiring the turtle's shell. Shimmering and ephemeral, yet he got a sense that it was solid and tougher than steel. "Shards are pretty big deals, huh? Wonder where that Baloma got enough to spread around to just anyone."

[Merilan]

Ruza kind of stares agog at Fidele as she explains, mumbling, <"Do-- do I already count as being in terrified desperation? I feel pretty close to it, to be quite honest..."> Her eyes widen as Eli goes to climb on the turtle. Strawberries or not, she didn't feel safe riding on it... but she's kind of tempted.

[Elfbird]

<"Vital signs do not indicate that you are experiencing mortal danger or lethal injuries. Analysis: terrified desperation equals false. Would you like help chang-->"
"Ah, it is time to ride the magic turtle."
Fidele finds a spot on the shell that she can balance on, murmuring a thank-you to the Turtle as she climbs up. She looks down to catch Ruza's eye for a moment, then kind of zones out - using the serenity of the impending turtle-ride to give some extra attention to the thing Eli had privately asked her to look in to earlier...

Starting from available records surrounding Eli's and the child's accidents and subsequent surgeries, it was easy enough to identify a few individuals common to both incidents. From there, find verifiable photographs from the Internet and certain private databases, then perform facial recognition searches across accessible camera networks, beginning with Boston's harbor district in the past 24 hours and gradually expanding area and timeframe...
Actually locating the target would take a great deal of either time or luck. Fidele has no sense of tedium, and can always run it in the background during routine functions.

Spirit pool: 5, 4, 4, 1

Rolling Intellect to play Where's Wal--Baloma, Boston Cam-Hacker Edition: [roll0]

If the result is less than 14 (or if the check fails, not sure if this is declared before or after outcome), spend that 5 to use Cyberdrive to auto-succeed. Leaving my spirit dice unchanged this time.
If that's too broad of a check, go ahead process it for the portion it buys~

[Merilan]

<"... Why do I even bother..."> Ruza deflates further, and rummages through her bag and just takes out a can of soda, as she climbs up after the fellows onto the turtle's back. She takes a sip from it.

She stares at Eli for a moment, before mumbling, <"I guess I at least don't have to worry about lasers.">

[DoctorFaust]

"Well, if we're just going to leave the Mononoke be..."

Arash sighs and flops down to the ground, closing his eyes. If he tries hard enough, he can almost imagine he's back in Iran with his king, and all his long-forgotten comrades.

[Ionbound]

Selenia shakes her head as she responds to Arash, "Probably not, unfortunately. We're going to have to track Baloma down, and they seem to be recent patients. Sadly the Mononoke seems to be protecting the girl from anything she's afraid of, not anything that's a threat."

[Eshkigal]

The first time Fidele tries, she finds herself quickly reminded that even she cannot hack into information that is a world away. At least, not without some concessions, as she lets more power flow through her, opening up a small rift between realms to give her the access she needs. Even then, as she cross references Eli and accidents, as well as Mary, she finds only one similar entity. A tall woman of European descent, one who seems to pose as ambulance driver and worker to Eli and nurse to Mary's father. You watch feeds from both, and notice that there is a certain point where they disappear from any and all cameras-likely slipping into a personal pocket dimension. But from there, it seems she is hard to track, barely noted. So you pour more of yourself into your work, and crack it open by sheer force and presence in the system, starting with trying to find a record of her. Which is hard, until you access a Finnish databank among the many checked and begin running her aged back and forth from that image.

Given your best guess, as the last picture you can find before her disappearance, is of one Maylene Eigenmer, age 10, parents deceased in an automobile accident, no family. Seems she disappeared shortly after, only to surface again here. Which, as you search further, seems to be rather consistent over the past two decades, expanding out into a web crossing the entire US with no sign of her ally. But it seems they have a pattern-they find someone in terminal condition, she gets them off camera, they end up surviving and making a full recovery. Over the past two decades, there have been 50,994 such cases. Over the past ten years, it dropped down to 2096. Of these cases, only the past 40 seem to have had the current effects, given the sheen and gleam occasionally seen by following these folk after. Also far more confined, only showing up in Boston.

That said, their pattern seems to bounce between 29 different hospitals as a starting point, as well as Harvard, changing weekly. Currently, narrowing it down would seem to be in the area around Harvard, which includes two hospitals nearby-Beth Israel Deaconess hospital, and Boston Children's Medical.

[Elfbird]

After some time on the turtle ride, Fidele condenses the results of her research into a series of lightly encrypted text message to Eli, then relaxes and turns her face into the wind to let her circuits cool down. Her bluing hair flutters behind her in the tropical breeze.

{Research and analysis complete. Overall confidence in findings: 85%}

{Subject: Maylene Eigenmer, Finnish, age 37, female}

{Background: All known family of subject died in a vehicular collision in Finland in 1990. Subject was reported in critical condition; subject disappeared from the hospital before treatment was initiated - that case remains unsolved, according to Finnish police records. Subject's next appearance after that is in the United States in 1997.}

{Targets: individuals admitted to hospitals in the United States who suffered from terminal conditions.}

{Modus Operandi: Subject poses as an EMT, nurse, housekeeper, etc. - anything to put her in a position to remove the target from sight of all recording devices. Such recording devices are sometimes altered to render false data. Target then reappears where they were left, cured of all medically significant conditions - not only the condition for which they were hospitalized. 100% survival rate in cases where subject appeared.}

{Activity: 50,994 recorded incidents since 1997. 2,096 recorded incidents since 2007. 40 recorded incidents since July 2016, limited to hospitals in Boston, MA.
Subject operates around Harvard University and the 29 hospitals in Boston, rotating on a weekly basis. Based on pattern analysis, current week's location is most likely one of Harvard University, Beth Israel Deaconess hospital, or Boston Children's Medical.}

{Development: Only targets of the most recent 40 cases have displayed signs of supernatural augmentation post-recovery.}

{Inferences: Subject is capable of accessing pocket dimensions. Dr. Baloma wields potent healing magic, in addition to the physical and supernatural augmentations he performs. Subject and Dr. Baloma are both Awakened; because subject is human, she is a Godhunter by default, and will be targeted by aramitama. Dr. Baloma likely healed subject in 1990.}

{This concludes the summary of my findings.}

[Attached are three photographs of Maylene: one of her at 10 years old from the accident records, one artificially aged to 37, and one of the clearer face-shots from Harvard cameras in the past year]

[cryum]

Reading through the message carefully(When did she hack my phone number? Could I do that?), Eli decided to take a stance. "Looks to me that Dr. Baloma here is benevolent, at least on the surface. I'd rather pick through some, if not all, of these 40 augmented patients before going straight to the doctor. Damage control may be prudent, and if it means 1 or 2 more augmented patients cropping up, I'm willing to trust that they'll at least not be harmed. Also, well, if these augments ARE dangerous, then all the more reason for me to get more used to my own powers work before doing anything risky."

[aturtledoesbite]

Terrance was not at all sure what anyone here was talking about. He was here for the turtle, and thanks to Ruza's strawberries, he's getting to ride it! He'd have to figure out some way to thank her.

Speaking of, she seemed a bit down. Terrance plopped down next to her on the turtle's shell. "Hey there. Everything okay?"

[RdMarquis]

"We can't do that," Riley says to Eli. "Even if the doc is trying to help people, these implants are going to give them powers they're not ready for, or shouldn't even have in the first place. Not to mention the monsters that will be after them just because they've become Awakened. Just one new patient could cause a ton of trouble. We need to find Baloma and get him to stop these augmentations, first." Which wasn't to say Eli didn't have a point. Riley takes a deep breath. "Okay, what if we split up into teams?"

"Fidele, you've got a list of names, right?" He looks to the robot. "Three or four of us can check on some of the newer patients while the rest start tracking down Baloma. We can trade numbers. I also know some local demon hunters that can help us with this. Just, uh..." Riley looks uncomfortable. "Keep in mind, they're not totally trustworthy. I've been on the business end of these guys before."

[Merilan]

Ruza stares towards Eli, Fidele and Riley, before looking back to Terence. <"I-- um, I feel like I'm missing a lot of the context here... what am I getting roped into again?"> She looks at Terence a bit closer to say, <"... not really, no.">

[DoctorFaust]

"That seems like it's going to be a very, very big issue, then. If someone so much as startles her by waking her up, they could get killed." Arash sits up to get a better view of Selenia. "If we're not going to do anything else for them, we need to at least take them to see Absalom. He should be able to help get their training started."

[aturtledoesbite]

Terrance glances at the others when Ruza mentions them roping her into something. Turning back, he says, "To be honest, I don't know what they're talking about either. I'd just not worry about it."

He seems to be taking his own advice to heart.

[Eshkigal]

Finding yourselves each finding less and less to contribute to the idea at hand, you all eventually just drift into taking a rest, either upon the island turtle or the shore, sometimes messing about with some of the rather diminuitive fish spirits that abound. Eventually, you part, finding only half an hour had passed in the normal world as you slip away to handle things...

(Right, breaking it back up here to move things forward. Not going to force you to follow any threads, but it would be encouraged as Mary isn't the only scared kid)

[RdMarquis]

"Give me a minute," Riley says to his friends. "I'll be right back." He was already feeling guilty over throwing Eli and Ruza into the deep end of the Awakened pool. Realizing he was about to ditch his mother again (on top of the whole memory thing) just made the feeling worse. He hurried over to Nina.

"Sorry about that. One of my friends is actually planning on visiting the doctor. It's nothing serious, but I think they could use some moral support." Riley knew the business with Baloma couldn't wait, but there was a question which had been bothering him. "Hey, Mom? Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

[Eshkigal]

Nina looks a bit troubled at that, pausing and looking nervous herself.
"It's...well, it is something we need to talk about, but I did not really wish to bring it up today. Just wanted a couple good days before having to deal with that, you know?"

[DoctorFaust]

After they leave the realm of the Anaitis, Arash joins up with Mary's father and offers him a handshake. "Hello," he says with an easy smile. "I don't think I ever introduced myself to you before, but I'm something of a work colleague of Selenia's. And I think it might be a good idea for you to go see someone about your daughter's, ah, nightmares. I can give you the address of someone that helped me a large amount when I first came to the United States of America, if nothing else."

[RdMarquis]

"What do you...?" Riley stares. "Oh." He leans on the wall next to her. "You can tell me. It's not like I don't have my own issues with George." Though, the last hour or so put into perspective how many secrets he was keeping from her.

[Eshkigal]

Nina sighs, leaning on the wall as a sea horse swims by.
"I really wanted to wait until we actually had something solid to work with, Riley, but...he wants to meet you. More than that, he wants to have you in his life. For you to know your sister, too. That said, he had just contacted me about it..."

Arash, the man wakes up with a jolt as he seems to have fallen asleep standing, visibly exhausted still as he shakes your hand.
"Oh? But it cost a lot to just get back on our feet. I'm not sure we could afford a specialist like that right now, no matter how much it could help."

[DoctorFaust]

"Oh, really? That sounds awful." Arash rocks back, looking pensive. "Well, he does sometimes do work...ah, what's the word for it again? Pro...pro something. Pro Wrestler? For free, anyway. And I definitely know some of his colleagues do as well. Do you want to be introduced to him, to see if he will want to help you?"

[Ionbound]

Selenia stands next to Arash as he talks to the family and says, "Pro bono, sweetie. And yes, he does. Particularly for exceptional cases like that of you and your daughter."

[RdMarquis]

Riley is a little annoyed by her news, but he tries to hide it. "Why now? I haven't seen the guy in years." He'd only recently found out George got married and had another child.

[cryum]

Pulling out his phone to access the public wifi, Eli considered how Fidele was able to just pull information through her mind. Picture the wifi signal bouncing around the room, and copy how my phone is responding to it. Various packet information and protocols blazed through his head as a tiny antenna poked out of his elbow. Wifi passwords, server-client handshakes, there were ways around them simply because Eli could react and adapt on the fly in a way no program can, but the possibilities were dizzying. Sitting on the bench once more, Eli considered his options.

Of those 40 cases here in Boston, I need as many addresses as possible, and which ones I can do the legwork for for a meet and greet.

Rolling INT for investigation: Dice mistype, rerolled in Discord (1,1)+4 = 6

After noticing that 1 case in particular involved thugs who may be empowered, Eli added an afterthought to check which ones seem safe to investigate alone.

[Eshkigal]

Eli, you find the workings of the infosphere slow to unfold to your whims, your body unused to literally taking in information as such. However, when all is said and done, you pull addresses for all the kids, the cop, the thugs, the construction crew, eight women, and five octogenarians.

Arash, Selenia, the man's interest seems piqued as Mary stares at the unfiltered world with fear, still.
"Well...it could definitely be useful. What's their info?"

Riley, your mother shrugs.
"He caught me at a bad time, and I couldn't get much before my phone crapped out. Really regretting not upgrading this piece of junk sooner. I had been considering waiting until we were home to call him back, with how bad this scrapheap's become."
She holds up her phone, which you notice seems to have a Stalling of gremlins that have infested it. Stupid things ate the call, apparently.

[RdMarquis]

Riley snorts. Once, he thought magic would make life more interesting. Now he knew it just made everything more complicated. "I'll call him. He wants to talk to me, anyway." He can't quite meet Nina's eyes as he says, "My friends are waiting. I'll be home as soon as I can, but call me if you need anything."

He turns to catch up with his companions. "Sorry about that. What'd I miss?"

[DoctorFaust]

"Ah, right, pro bono. I thought it had something to do with a band."

Arash fumbles around in his pockets for a moment, eventually pulling out a scrap of paper and a pencil that he uses to scrawl down a phone number and address near Fenway. He passes the paper over and says, "If you call him and tell him Arash sent you, he should do his best to help you. And I can be there when you first meet, if you like."

Struck by the sudden realization that they've been talking about her like she isn't there, Arash looks down at Mary and sends, Do you want to learn to control it?

[Eshkigal]

Riley, you find yourself next to Selenia and Arash as well as Mary and her father. While the man seems to be looking over a note from Arash as Mary still looks scared.
​Can...can they take it away?

[cryum]

They can help you make it stop. Kind of like potty training?

[Ionbound]

Selenia also mentally reaches out and says, We won't take anything away from you. Just help you learn to use it.

[RdMarquis]

Riley rolls his eyes at Eli, but says nothing to him. Hey, Mary? Can I ask you something? What's something you've always wanted to do? Something you've always dreamed of?

[Eshkigal]

She looks confused at the sudden onrush of thoughts, before latching onto the last one.
So... I CAN be a space empress? With a castle on the moon? And a whole army of Martians?

[Ionbound]

Selenia gives Riley a Look that he's probably rather familiar with as she replies, "I'm afraid not, dear. Believe me if that were possible, I'd be there way ahead of you."

[RdMarquis]

Riley is a little impressed, honestly. He doesn't know if he would think of anything that elaborate. The moon empire might be a little out of reach. But the secret castle and the incredible powers are a different story. Plus, we meet magical creatures practically every day. He smirks at Selenia. So don't let her get you down. You'll be surprised at what you can pull off with a little help.

[DoctorFaust]

Whatever the mental equivalent of a face palm is, Arash is currently doing it. Unfortunately, probably not. But learning to control it means that the things under your bed might not bother you any more.

[Eshkigal]

Mary frowns, but seems resolute.
I...I wanna be free from being scared.

[RdMarquis]

There's no one in the world who's free from being scared. Riley shakes his head sadly. What we can do is teach you how to protect yourself. We'll have your back too, if you need us.

[DoctorFaust]

It's okay be to scared sometimes, Arash sends, But you can learn how to fight back against that fear. And what things you shouldn't be scared of.

[Eshkigal]

Her eyes go wide after a certain point as ideas sink in.
"Gonna be the best superhero ever."
Her dad looks rather confused at the result of the conversation he has not been privy to, which passed in an instant.
"Eh? Thanks for your help by the way."

[Ionbound]

Selenia moves to tousle the girl's hair and says, "Yeah you are. You're gonna have some of the best teachers around, too."

[cryum]

"So....are we good?"

[DoctorFaust]

Arash bows respectfully to the father. "You're welcome. If you want me to be there when you and he meet for any reason, just tell him, and he will be able to relay any information you want. I don't have a cell phone yet, but he knows how to contact me."

[RdMarquis]

Riley nods at Eli. So far, so good. But next, we need to start working on finding Baloma.

[cryum]

"I was expecting a lot less talking and a lot more walking around and fighting when it was brought up that we would be wasting time not finding Baloma. But if I'm really not going to be helpful to the rest of the newly Awakened, I guess I'll help look for Baloma after all.

[Ionbound]

Indeed. I did let myself get sidetracked, but honestly we can't have a little girl running around with powers ready to go off as soon as she's scared of something. But I can probably deal with them on my own...If you guys can track down Baloma, or Chiyo, or whoever this guy is, I can meet up with you once I get things sorted out with them.

[RdMarquis]

We'll try one of the hospitals Fidele mentioned. Riley pulls out his phone and begins looking up directions. Call us if anything comes up, okay?

[Eshkigal]

Mary looks way too lost in thoughts of being STAR EMPRESS OF MARS, THE CHAMPION OF JUSTICE to answer in any real way, while her dad rubs the back of his head.
"I think we will be okay. It shouldn't be too overwhelming, anyway."

As you lot depart, you check the map. While there are some places nearby that could be checked first, there is an area with four likely points that his Assistant will return to. You could either be thorough in your search, starting from where you are, or you could try and start with the narrowed down area. Though with no idea of what he is after, or how they may react to inspection, who knows how Baloma will react?

[Ionbound]

Selenia smiles and nods to Mary's father and says, "Alright. Still, I'll give you my cell number. If you need anything, especially to do with the supernatural, just give me a call. I'll be there." With that, she writes down her 'special' cell phone number and hands it to the man.

[DoctorFaust]

Once the group leaves Mary and her father behind them, Arash cranes his head over to look at the map of Boston. "I see an area there that looks like it would be good to hit. It seems very concentrated, so we should be able to cover the most targets the fastest."

[Eshkigal]

As they walk off, the man looks rather confused at Selenia's remark.
"The supernatural? Eh?"
However, the group has headed away at that point.

[cryum]

"I'm in favor of hitting up the more likely spots. Maybe one of those assistants was there for my operation."

[RdMarquis]

"Same here." Riley nods. "If we take too long searching, there's a chance we could miss them."

[Eshkigal]

Following the lead you have, each of you hops onto the subway, getting a text from Fidele that Ruza and Terrence were currently suffering from heat stroke and had been taken home while on the way towards Harvard. She meets up en route as there would be plenty of people to meet as well, leaving you with three locations of interest. Do you head to Harvard, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and Boston Children's Medical. Who goes where?

[Elfbird]

"I must stay with Arash. Please allow me to serve as your mobile communication center until you acquire and become proficient with a cellular phone.

"Other than this, I have no available data that would suggest optimized unit-site placements. Recommended heuristic: select in pairs the most attractive name; the last of us to decide must go alone to the remaining location."

[Ionbound]

Selenia sighs and replies, "Right. Hospitals are...Not my favorite places in the world, so I'll head to Harvard. Anyone have a problem with that?"

[DoctorFaust]

"We can speak to each other in other ways, Fidele. Though I certainly can't say I am against that arrangement," Arash replies. "If, of course, we do split up. It may be a better idea to hit one location with all our strength than to divide and possibly end up without enough of our forces in one place to deal with any danger. At least, that would be my fear."

[RdMarquis]

"I think we'll be okay as long as we avoid fighting until the whole team is together." Riley says. "If you see anything weird, let us know and we'll rush over to you. Anyway, I guess I'll take the children's hospital." Just in case Baloma was planning on making any more kids into Awakened cyborgs.

[cryum]

"I'll head to the children's hospital too, maybe I'll recognize some other doctor or patient."

[DoctorFaust]

"Then that leaves us with the...Israel Hospital, wasn't it?" Arash says to Fidele. "We should meet back here in a few hours if none of us find anything."

[Eshkigal]

Some plans made, you each slowly head off to your destinations, Eli and Riley heading to the children's hospital, Selenia taking off alone for Harvard, and Arash and Fidele left to cover Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

Selenia, as you explore Harvard, noting many potential fun times for later and shooing away some spirits munching on the dreams of students whose caffeine had finally given out, it seems you may have your work cut out for you. The area seems to be awash with small creatures, although even for the normal pervasiveness of mononoke, this is somewhat excessive.
(2d6 +insight, please)

Eli, Riley, you both head to the children's hospital, making your ways in using your own latent abilities to avoid any prying eyes or having to bother with some of the formalities. Spirits wander the place, seeking out sickly sorts to siphon strength from, or any of a myriad other functions of the entities around you. However, well, where do you start?
(2d6+ insight, please)

Arash and Fidele, you head to the Israel Deaconess Hospital, finding it easy to enter with your abilities. However, the ambient level of mononoke seems to be rather high, potentially from how easily this place can be a spot to feed as it is a place to protect sworn charges. But where will you start in here?
(2d6+ insight, please

[DoctorFaust]

"This Baloma goes after very injured ones, correct?" Arash mutters to Fidele."We should check the emergency area first. The ICU, I believe."

[Elfbird]

"Affirmative. Commencing search of the ICU for supernatural abnormalities."

Fidele walks side-by-side with the objectively handsome Iranian, her spiritual senses extended into the rooms adjoining the hall. As a subroutine her physical eyes will be checking anyone they pass against the likeness of Maylene Eigenmer.

Intellect to run the scanners; will use Cyberdrive if the roll fails to make it instead succeed :smalltongue:

[roll0]

[cryum]

"Yeah, let's look for the terminal patients. If we don't find him, we might be able to figure out what kinds of patients he DOESN'T target."


Eli Insight = (1+6)+2 = 9
Switch 1 with 6 from spirit pool
Eli Insight = (6+6)+2 = 14

[RdMarquis]

Riley shoots a venomous look at the spirits draining energy from people, but agrees. "Right. First things first. If we don't find the doc here, we can move to another hospital."

[Ionbound]

Selenia hmms as she strolls around Harvard, noting the rather perturbing rise in spirits.

Insight Roll: [roll0]

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, as you wander around and keep your mental tally, you notice that there seems to be an eye to the storm of the abundance of spirits. It seems to be around an area set aside as a display, the beasts giving the entire area an almost excessively wide berth. Even as you get close, you feel something too. Almost an encompassing aura of peace, something resides here. Something strong that has flown under the radar of many. One that seems to be the top of the local food chain...

Eli and Riley, as you pass more people who seem to be coming to terms with terrible things, though their spirits erode before you, there is a gleam. Another youth, barely thirteen, who despite the bandages over their chest seems to burn with a great intensity, most of their face replaced by gleaming golden features.

Fidele and Arash, on the other hand, spot someone familiar without the expected signs of divinity. They spot Baloma' s aide talking to a family over a comatose, middle aged man, vital signs slowly dropping on the monitor. However, she seems to be merely mortal...

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, looking into it further, you slowly investigate the area, noticing that the circle outside seems to be closing slowly. Eventually, you find why in one of the displays - one on the roots of medicine, holding what looks to be an ancient mortar and pestel. One that, to your eyes, is surrounded by a slowly dying light, warm as the dawn. A Nigimitama, or Divine Soul, you were never aware of in your town. One that seems to be reaching the end of it's days as you realize the swarm outside isn't shying away from it - the hungry, gobbling things are waiting for it to be weak enough to consume all it has left.

[Ionbound]

Selenia blinks as she sees the Nigimitama, and wastes no time in flairing her dark aura and shouting at the swarm, "AWAY WITH YOU ALL!". She then looks at the dying spirit and says, "I...Don't believe we've met?"

[DoctorFaust]

How do we do this? Arash sends to Fidele. Call the others in, or talk to her alone? She has no aura like we do, so we should be able to easily deal with her.

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, the swarm backs off considerably, the buzzardlike circling backing another 800 feet away in a good hurry, but not fully leaving. The spirit within says nothing, but a door appears before you, with the same comforting light. Entering it seems to lead into an idealized form of hospital, staffed by extensions of the nigimitama's will by the glow of the nearly angelic seeming constructs. Each of which, to you at least, seems to be modeled for the greatest comforting effect, possibly tailored to the person or spirit in question, or each of them seeing only what they are told to see, perhaps. One slowly forms before you, giving you a bow.
"Welcome, Miss. Are you here to take up the mantle, or to meet [Healer]?"
Even as the construct speaks the made up name, the word seems to warp to your ears, the true name of the godhunter who resides here, even as maybe a hundred spirits and Innocents alike are tended to for injuries and ailments sustained.

Arash, Fidele, as you watch her, you see her hold up a hand and reach into her purse as you faintly hear a ring tone. From it, she pulls a phone that seems to have a minor spirit of some sort housed inside, likely to act as a means of communication between her and Baloma. However, it could potentially be hackable...

[Ionbound]

Selenia hmms to herself and replies, "I'd rather not take up your mantle. But I would like to meet this [HEALER]. I believe I may need to discuss some matters with him."

[Elfbird]

Fidele scrunches her face, hair tinging lavender as she tries to figure out how to respond to Arash's telepathic message.

Finally, she reaches into a pocket and, with some reluctance, hands Arash her smartphone. She then shows him how to hold it to his ear, calls it with her internal wireless system, and forces it to answer. She doesn't actually need to talk in person to make her voice come out the phone.

Take good care of Bell; she's my darling.

Precedent suggests calling in backup would frighten Ms. Eigenmer; engaging her ourselves seems optimal. In order to determine best method of approach, please restate mission objective.

[RdMarquis]

"Damn it." Had they just missed the doctor? "Well, he's definitely been here." Riley stares at the boy, wondering if it would be a bad idea to wake him up. <We found another kid with those cybernetics. No sign of Baloma, though.> He sends the text message to his friends, then asks Eli, "You recognize this kid?"

[DoctorFaust]

"Of course I will," Arash replies. "And we are here to find Baloma. So if we are not waiting for the others, going up to talk to her might be best."

[cryum]

Wait, I DO recognize him... "Jake? Jake, is that you? Are you alright?"

Eli recalled a dark-skinned boy, doted upon by a newly wealthy couple. He had signed up to tutor, for both the money and the chance to go over older topics. Jake had a hole in his heart, but not to the degree that he couldn't walk or needed to be put into the terminal ward. In place of that now was a faintly violet chest, and a burning heart of steel and divine metal.

I can handle him, but I don't see any hint of Baloma?

[Eshkigal]

Riley, Eli, the boy smiles weakly, the painkillers still in his system as he almost drunkenly raises a hand.
"Hiiii, Eli. Hee, that rhymed...yeah, 's me. Doin' alright, 'side from the fall..."
Looking at the chart, you notice that apparently Jake had originally been brought in for a nasty fall down the stairs at his school, which had broken a couple ribs and torn the hole wider. Considerably wider. However, a surgeon seems to have treated him recently - a Dr. Paranama had handled the procedure.
"Hey, pst! Hey, did you know you are glowy an' stuff?"

Fidele, Arash, Ms. Eigenmer looks rather pleased about something as she turns to talk with her current family of the potential. Eventually, they relent, and soon she is wheeling the patient away. Could be time to intercept.

Selenia, the nurse nods.
"Of course, miss. Please follow me,
[Healer] would be pleased to see another before his time."
The construct leads you through the halls of the Healer' s domain, eventually leading to a simple door. Opening it, you find yourself before what, to first looks, seems to be a tired, old man, bald and shriveled, laying back. But with your second sight, you can see what seems to be more a statue of golden metals, slowly being dismantled by the domain as parts crumble away to dust, pieces of a heart seemingly of brilliant sapphire being cautiously divided by his own will. As you approach the spirit, it's frame ripples as empty eyes open, new ones slow to form as it rumbles for air, voice weak and weary.
"Hel...lo child. What...do I o...owe this pleasure to?"
Nurses form behind it to help the divine soul up, but the harvest continues, slowed but ongoing.

[Ionbound]

Selenia inhales sharply, then exhales slowly as she sees the source of the parts. She waves her hands at the nurses doing the deconstruction, shouting, "Stop! Stop! At least for now let us talk without whatever this is!" She then looks at the Nigimitama and says, "You do realize that the children your parts are finding their way into are becoming tyke bombs of unrestrained supernatural power?"

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, the nigimitama shakes as more of it crumbles away.
"Time...waits for...none, not...even us. Esp-*hck*-ecially...the old. What is not...given will...be lost...or taken."
The nigimitama bows it's head a moment in a coughing fit, before looking up at you.
"Wha...t do you...mean, though? What...of...the he*kaff*irs?"

[DoctorFaust]

Arash nods to Fidele, and walks forward confidently to intercept Eigenmer. "Excuse me," he says as they catch up to her. "Can we have a moment of your time? We need to speak about an old patient of yours."

[RdMarquis]

Riley can't quite keep a grimace off his face. "Aw, jeez..." He whispers to himself. One thing was for sure, Baloma was not short on aliases. They might have to assume they couldn't find him with any of the names he had used before. Me, neither. Let's look around one more time, then catch up with the others. I'll be right back.

He sends another few texts, this time to Silhouette. <Hey, remember that cyborg thing I told you about? We found another one. I doubt he'll be the last. Can you spare anyone to look after a couple of newbie Awakened?>

[Ionbound]

Selenia's face takes on a rictus of anger as she replies icily, "Heirs? Are you senile or were you always this damn dense? This morning I had to keep a little girl from accidentally blowing up the Boston Aquarium because she was afraid of the water spirits. What you are doing goes beyond misguided good intent. I can't let you keep going." As she speaks, her voice shakes with anger, and her real form flashes into and out of reality as she has trouble maintaining control of herself.

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, [Healer] looks puzzled as coughs shake it's frame.
"Don't...understand. Thought...there were many...more like us...here? Enough...to help them...grow into it. Where...did they...all go? Or...did they...go ahead...before me..."
A nurse rises up, opening an album before you. One that, as they go through, shows you faces you have seen before. Some in old, black and white photos of your own family, like great, great grandfather Vincent, who was the first of your demonic lineage to come to America (sometime during the Revolutionary War, mind), and who had finally died of old age in the 1950's. Or, among the hundreds, perhaps thousands of photos, your Great Grandmother Maleficarna, who moved to somewhere in upstate Canada before you were born and is likely why you have a pleasing mortal form. Many of the images are faded and old, but...well, normally if a god slayer goes down, it is rarely ever a natural death. Could he think they all still roamed Boston?
"Don't tell...me they...are gone. Not even...a thousand...years? Too young...for them...to die...much...too young..."
He pauses as his head slowly turns down.
"All...of you...of flesh...of blood...die so young...so, so young..."

After a moment, Riley's phone chimes as he gets a text.
-Will see what I can do. Pic and location?

Arash, Ms Eigenmer looks you up and down for a moment before nodding.
"I do not recall having met either of you before, and you do not dress like doctors. Might I ask the name of the patient being inquired about, and relationship to them?"

[RdMarquis]

<Boston Children's Medical Hospital. His name is Jake.> Riley takes a quick picture of him. <I doubt you'll need to do much more than keep an eye on the kid. He's sleeping off some painkillers.> He scowls in regret. <Probably just got his implants. Thanks, by the way.>

He tells Eli about this arrangement. I'm calling a friend over to look after Jake. Just in case any Awakened problems come up.

[Ionbound]

Selenia scowls and says, "Mostly they were killed. Just like these kids are going to be. A few moved away."

[Eshkigal]

Selenia, [Healer] looks down at the images, a look of loss flooding his face.
"Did...not know. But what...can I do? Just...die? And let...a [Forsaken] consume what is left? I...refuse to strengthen...them. Better...more to face them, even untrained...than that."
His fingers clench the book tightly as he speaks of aramitama, and you hear the creak of the book binding under his grasp.
"N...o. No. An heir...is needed for...the rest."

Riley, your phone comes back with a thumbs up emotional, but now what?

[cryum]

As Riley's coworker comes in, Eli introduces the two before heading out.

"We haven't heard from the others in a while. Let's head to Harvard and back Selenia up."

[Ionbound]

Selenia pauses, thinking for a minute, then says, "I think I have an idea." She flips her phone open and dials Riley, if he picks up saying, "Hey Riley I need you and your cyborgness. I think you might be the perfect fit for something here."