Episode 6A: The King's Archives

[Malikai]

Jeremiah "JJ" Johnson
Location: The Hospital, AKA The Hospital Scene
Around: Aaron ( Gus )​

Jeremiah was really questioning whether or not it would be a good idea to go through with talking to Aaron. He had two horrible coughing fits just while Jeremiah was waiting for a response. It was just as he had all but made up his mind to leave that Aaron beckoned him forth, seemingly having gotten over the current one he was going through, The time for bailing is definitely over now. Alright then... I can do this. Jeremiah took a seat in the closest chair to Aaron's bed, having to slowly lower himself from his stance with his crutches until he dropped roughly onto the chair.

Jeremiah winced, though thankfully the very small fall had not been enough to hit either his knee nor his thigh. A sigh escaped Jeremiah's lips. A very shaky sigh that had somehow slipped past Jeremiah's defenses. Seconds passed as the blonde boy glanced around the room. His gaze focusing on various items, but also continuously moving from one to the next. After a while delaying speaking felt pointless, and so Jeremiah slowly spoke out his words, "I... I'm sorry to have to have brought this up... right now. I know that you're, um, busy," Jeremiah directly avoided that the 'busy' part was Aaron currently in hospital hacking his lungs out, "I just... I feel like..."

Jeremiah looked to the floor. His mind set about working the words he wanted to say in his head over and over again. Making sure he felt completely comfortable with saying them. Of course even when he had finally formed them in his head he still wasn't comfortable with how they sounded, "I'm not a hero. I know that's obvious, but... I failed at even trying to act like one. I couldn't muster anything up when the knights-a week ago with what happened. I'm just not sure that I'm cut out to be one. I feel like I'll just screw up again. I'll just let even more people down. I thought I'd be able to go through the training to become a blue card holder, but clearly I can't even function with my powers normally. I guess... I'm not sure why I decided to talk to you. I just felt like maybe... I don't know, you'd have an idea of controlling your powers."

The plan Jeremiah had come up with for speaking had all but been thrown out the window. He was completely unsure where he could go with what he had said. There wasn't even anything that he felt like Aaron could say back to him. What was he going to do? Say that it's okay to suck with your powers? Tell him that letting people down was okay? Jeremiah wanted to bolt, but unfortunately it would be much slower with the need to use his crutches to escape. Instead he just kept his eyes facing the floor, dreading what the man would say to him.

 

[Giyari]

Mood: Tense
Location: Mental discipline classroom
Company: NA, Nearby Sullivan, Maple, Luther, and Aiden
@'s: The Fuzzy Pixel Syrenrei Necessity4Fun Tyrannosaurus Rekt
Other: Bullshit hacking is bullshit, but just go with it.

Viola Porter
The sound of voices echoed up the stairs. She was not alone.

Viola quietly took a map of her position. She needed access to a computer, preferably one with Commonwealth database access. All the staff offices were down below, where the voices were, and getting into one of them without being noticed would be a task she wasn't sure she could manage... Not from the inside anyway. Luckily for her most of the facilities windows on the top floor had been taken out by the explosions, and the majority had yet to be fixed. The ground floor was another story though, security demanded that the lower windows be boarded up or replaced to prevent break ins, not that it stopped her.

"Shit shit shit... Okay plan B" Viola thought to herself before quietly slipping back into the mental discipline classroom. All she needed was an internet port, she could get the rest on her own.

The Mental discipline classroom was all but empty, the computer that would have existed on the faculty members desk had been moved elsewhere to prevent damage from the elements. But behind the desk, the outlets remained. Pulling a cable from her communicator, Viola plugged it into the facilities network and got to work. Her eyeglasses flashed dimly as a ghost of the facilities server interface booted up. Now all she needed to do was find a back door in. If she couldn't access the director's PC in person, she would have to settle for a remote connection.

~~~~~​

Downstairs, Swan's computer booted from it's sleep, the blue light of it's screen illuminating the darkened office. Shadows bounced around the room as various windows opened on the screen, casting glaring light over broken glass and dust covered surfaces. One by one the windows cycled through as programs were prodded for weaknesses, passwords flashed in and out of various user fields before being deleted once more. The quiet hum of the PC was only interrupted by the buzzing of the hard drive plates as files were read and overwritten, and as the occasional light beep sounded from the motherboard as the BIOS rerouted power across the machine.

 

[Giyari]

Mood: Relaxed
Location: 6A4: Saint Leo’s Roman Catholic Church
Company: Kate, Belgrave
@'s: Gus
Other: -

Agent Dawlish
Looking over Blegrave's shoulder as they were approached by one of the crowd, Milly jogged her memory about the notable individuals present. Kate Barret, Janus. Reporter and Vigilante. She had been present on the day of the attack, like many other Vigilantes Milly first assumed that Janus would be interested in the up and coming talent studying for Blue cards, but with her also being a reporter she could have been there to cover the notorious facility's happenings. Either way, her presence had no doubt saved lives.

Thinking over the blonde woman's file, Millicent built a small picture in her mind of who she was about to converse with. Unpowered in twilight, now, strrong willed and known for a duality of personalities and powers, almost like she was two people occupying the same space, hence her codename.

Listening as Kate aired her concerns, Milly Nodded and looked towards the rear doors of the church. It would make sense to have security given Chernov's position within the agency, but there was one thing that had slipped Kate's mind, the Director was far from helpless.

"Ah, hello. Kate, isn't it? Janus?" Milly asked before continuing on with her own introduction. "Agent Dawlish, Viper. Nice to make your acquaintance." she finished, smiling as she held her leather gloved hand out for Kate to shake.

"It's quite possible, but the Director is far from defenceless. Like the majority of Commonwealth agents, she's combat trained and has powers, she can more than hold her own. Plus my associate is currently outside too, he can back her up if need be till we get there." Milly answered Kate's concerns calmly as Belgrave nodded along as if to say "believe me she's dangerous enough on her own". In fact it almost looked like Belgrave was agreeing from experience.

"But thank you anyway. It's nice to know you're still looking out for people despite not being "on duty" if you get me. Vigilante's have it tough... At least I get days off, aha!" Milly added with a sigh as she took another sip of coffee. Looking at Kate and down at her cup, she nodded towards the drink urns.

"You want one?"

 

[Damafaud]

Aid Ward
Location: Saint Leo's Church
Nearby: Mr. Lowe ( Malikai )

Saint Leo's Church. While most people were making small talks, consoling each others, or cried over the death of a beloved one, a single boy, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere, was secretly holding a handheld game console, leaning against a brown backpack. His eyes stares blankly at the screen, but it was obvious he wasn't into the game. Aid turned off the console and sighed. His left hand unconsciously went to his ear, but his pen, a four coloured ink in one, was not there. He lost it during the exam amongst the crowd.

Aid was mostly unharmed during the attack following the exam. When the knights arrived, he activated his power and dove underground, swimming toward the faculty. A small lump was left on his head where someone accidentally stepped on him amidst of the chaos when he surfaced to took a breath. That was when he lost his pen, too. A teacher found him later, floating on the field ground, crying.

To be frank, he didn't want to be at the church. He wanted to be at home, in his room, where he can play video games and read books and lost himself until he forget about the incident. About all the screaming, of people dying around him. Unlike in stories, death is a mess in real life. If Grandma didn't push him to go out, he would still be inside, on his own, floating on the bed. Trying to go back to the world where everything is fine. But he was there anyway. Tucking the console into his backpack, Aid jumped off his chair and walked away from the crowd.

Grandma would take a while. And he already had permission to visit the facility before going home as long as he didn't go home too late into the night. Aid moved his gaze slightly higher, to the face of the adults towering over him. Most of their face were unfamiliar; He was only a kid after all. Even so, most of them showed a similar expression. Grief, anguish, sadness, anger. Sad emotions. As his gaze swiped pass the crowd of people, one person caught his attention.

"Mr. Lowe!" Aid, waving his hand, approached him. He hadn't seen him since the mission with the cat. And that was before the exam. Did he lose someone? Why was he there? Maybe his grandma forced him to go outside and do something as well. Pushing these wild thoughts away, Aid smiled at the teacher.

"Are you accompanying someone? Why are you here?"

 

[Gus]

Aaron Mallory
​

Location: Room 105 --> Just outside the 108 ward.
Mood: Waxing philosophical. Less tired, now that he's up and about.
Nearby: JJ, Zayne, Lucas, Gergo, and Matron
@s: Malikai ChaosZereul The Oldest Blueberry welian

Aaron looked the boy up and down, smiled wryly. He swung his feet over the side of the bed and let them drop to the floor, levering himself to a standing position. The bed alarm and several others protested, but he ignored them, and the nurse who peeked in decided that whatever he was up to she had best ignore as well. Now that he was on his feet, he felt a bit better. A walk would do them both good.

“Walk with me Jeremiah. ...now don’t look at me like that. I am not so old and fragile that I can’t totter around the hospital ward while we talk. And if the bum flaps of my gown don’t quite close, at least the cosmic censorship principle keeps things blurry.”

They made a circuit of the ward in silence, nodding hello to other patients here and there until they found themselves in the hallway just outside the main ward. He laid a hand, very gently, on the young man’s shoulder.

“Look at me Mr. Johnson. Some of those people we just walked past are alive ...because of you.” He held up a hand to forestall any protestations. “Don’t mistake me. Controlling your powers is a critical step in your training, and you’re not wrong to think that will take more work on your part.”

“Where you are confused, son, is in your thinking that your training has anything to do with what makes you a hero. You were rash, you were reckless, and you were lucky you weren’t killed. But you were also brave as hell. You acted where others might have frozen up. You stood up to well armed, well equipped attackers, and you interfered with their plans. Plans that involved the deaths of everyone at the facility that day. Everyone like us, everyone who stands with us, they want to wipe from the face of the world. You slowed them down. More than I did. Gave people time to run, set up defenses. You threw off their aim, upset their timing. And you need to understand: that saved lives. And you were wounded for your trouble. You could have done nothing. Could have taken cover and hoped for the best. You might have come through unscathed. But others would have suffered in your place. You acted. And that makes you a hero. Not your powers. Not your training. You did that. You saved lives, and you didn’t take any either.”

He turned away, allowing the boy time to think, and started down the hall, no particular goal in mind, but figuring as long as he was up, he might as well get some exercise in.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Rekt]

MISSION: Investigate 108
LOCATION: Facility 108
MOOD: His Other Brain is Talking
GEAR: Supersuit, 10 Burgers, Taser, and Wallet
TAGS: Syrenrei The Fuzzy Pixel Necessity4Fun

Sully was staring at a place on the ground. He leaned into it closely. Old blood or shit? Old blood or shit! This was not really his job, but he'd taken a long drag on his stale joint, and so things had become more important than they should have been. Honestly, he hadn’t found anything here that the other agents wouldn’t have noted. That being said, he hadn’t taken to all the squishy, small spaces. No. He liked to remain in human form as long as he could, and not slide into human silly-putty at a drop of a hat. First and foremost, it was always a weird sensation to turn into practically liquid. Also, those that watched him usually puked into their hands. No Bueno!

So, he stared a long arcing curve of brown and narrowed his eyes. Inexpiably he decreed that it was blood. That meant that the cleaning crew hadn’t gotten here yet. He figured that he needed to follow this clue further. The less the cleaning crew had touched, the more clues there were.

It was then that his ears rang. "I MIGHT HAVE HIT A CAR IN THE PARKING LOT, ANYONE WANT TO CLAIM IT?" Well, that would suck to whoever’s car was hit. He smirked. It was then he realized that it might be his car. His eyes went wide. He didn’t have insurance. What if they expected that? What if they contacted their insurance and discovered he didn’t have it? The government would come for him. Well, the government was already pretty meh with him, and he didn’t want to disturb that. So, he pulled himself up and moved towards the voice.

A quick jaunt and he was faced with a woman in clothing that shut down all imagination and a gun. The gun didn’t scare him. No. The shape of her form, perkiness of breasts, the curve of her buttocks, and the commanding way that she stood—he could practically melt, and literally as well. He spread a long smile across his lips and placed his hand hands on his hips.

“You can hit my car as many times as you want to,” he said with a wink. It was then the fact that she had a gun hit him like a pile of rocks. “Oh right,” he reached into his jacket. He paused at what he was doing. “Don’t worry, all I have is a Commonwealth badge.” It wasn’t that he feared bullets, but bullets always destroyed his clothes. It was problematic and costly. Slowly, he drew he badge out and presented it towards the sexily clad woman. “Commonwealth, Agent Sully. Single and always ready to mingle.”He winked.

It was then he saw Maple. “Oh, shit, Maple.” He turned bright red. He liked her. He’d always liked her. She was—well she was a lost cause given his current actions. “Good evening Maple.” It was then he turned his attention towards the person her attention was on. “And person talking to Maple.”

Sully turned his attention back to the woman in the skin-tight suit and sexy gun. “I was sent here to look for evidence that normal investigators couldn’t reach.” He smirked. “I’m very versatile and flexible.” He wagged his brows. “And if you did hit my car, I can just pay you. No need for the insurance agencies to get involved." He offered a fake chuckle.

 

[Malikai]

Lewis Lowe
Location: Saint Leo's Church
Around: Aid Ward ( Damafaud )​

Lowe, immediately upon hearing the voice of Aid, stuffed the cigarette he was holding into his pocket. As soon as he had stuffed it into his pocket, where he felt it unfortunately crumple slightly, he turned around to give the young boy a smile. Lowe didn't have to wonder too much on why Aid was likely here. Many other people who hadn't been too affected by the attack had taken the time to show up here. It was likely he had come for just the same reasons they had. Thankfully the boy didn't seem too injured. Of course Lowe could only just glance over him for any injury. Perhaps he had something else that would take some deeper inspection to fully unravel.

Taking his minds out of his thoughts he focused in on what the boy had actually been saying, and shook his head solemnly, "No. I am not accompanying someone here. I'm simply here to pay my respects like so many others are. I was unfortunately out of town during this attack. If I had been... well anyways, are you here to pay your respects Aid? Or do you have some other reason for being here?" Lowe gave the boy a kind smile, his voice had been quite soft so as to not carry over any of the other quiet conversations going on closer to the church.

After a moment of thought Lowe also added, "And... how are you doing yourself?" Concern had filled into Lowe's voice, but he kept up his smile.

 

[Teh Frixz]

KINGSLEY

Location: Johns Hopkins Hospital -> Just outside the 108 Ward, Nurse station
Mood: A righteous sense of indignation
Nearby: Agent Daniels & The rest
@'s: Malikai ChaosZereul The Oldest Blueberry welian Gus

The doorway that would eventually lead to the 108 Ward swung open with the sort of care not often found in hospitals or general places of rehabilitation. The care in question being defined as 'with none at all' which luckily didn't cause injury or harm to any of the patients, staff or visiting well wishers. One of those loosely defined well wishers being the man who had just nearly thrown open the door and was awkwardly strolling toward the nurses station. The suit and tie, accompanied by glasses now stowed safely in his breast pocket instantly identified him as 108 staff, the ID on his suit identifying him even further as Agent Daniels. A man obviously without a bucket on his person.

Reaching over the nurses desk without asking, Daniels grabbed what looked to be a room assignment cheat sheet for the nursing staff. A finger strolled down the list before perking up and locking eyes with the injured pair of Mallory and Johnson. A quick spark of concern flushed over his face before being hidden once again by the expressionless visage of absence that was Daniels face as he dropped the chart and sauntered over with an awkward gait.

"AARON" A layered voice spoke out, Daniels face flitting between concern and blankness. "You weren't lying to me after all, that's a relief I suppose, my goodness what happened? There was some attack? Daniels' mind is fairly locked off to me as he's conscious but essentially dreaming right now but recent memories are still there. This is outrageous, why didn't you let me know sooner? I wouldn't have had to end our conversation so abruptly on the phone if I'd known." The eyes Kingsley operated caught the look Aaron had and she carried on, piggybacking on his vocal chords. "Daniels was worried about bringing me in the hospital in a bucket so I said that you said his poker debt was forgiven if he let me hitch a ride inside him. How much does he owe you anyways? His mind reeks of desperation and looks like the inside of a destitute orphanage. Everything is mostly locked away too. Horrid." Kingsley shrugs Daniels body before pointing a finger at JJ. "And who is this? Another victim? Metahuman I assume, he feels like one. How many actually were hurt? I'm assembling a mental headcount starting with you two."

 

[ChaosZereul]

Zayne Richards​

Mood: Growing ever more Frustrated
Location: Johns Hopkins "108 Ward"
Nearby: Luis and several others - Malikai , The Oldest Blueberry , Gus , welian , Teh Frixz
Barrier Health: ▰

​

Luis Gonzalez
Role: Zayne's Childhood Friend
Power: Leaps and Bounds (launches air bursts from feet)
Status: Stuck in Bed

Zayne rested his head on his hand, his fingers resting up against the edges of his gelled-up hair as he stared at his still-incomplete worksheet. The numbers on the page seemed to slowly move about, not in a helpful way, but rather in a way that only further confirmed his combined feelings of exhaustion, frustration and academic ineptitude. With a low growl, Zayne moved his hand down across his face, hoping to wipe away at least one of those three negative emotions, but the gesture proved fruitless. With a start, Zayne moved the side table away, stood up from his chair, then raised his arms high in a stretch before returning them to a neutral position and muttering, "Gonna go for a walk..."

A short moment paused before Zayne winced, then turned to face his friend; more accurately, he turned to face Luis's legs, which were both fully cast. The Knights attack had severely wounded them, and although Luis didn't show it as much now, his concern over his eventual - or even possible - recovery was significant. Luis barely gave Zayne a moment to regret, however, quickly gesturing his understanding. "I'm not gonna get triggered just cause you need a stretch. Though, I am getting thirsty..." Luis added with a smirk.

Zayne smiled. "I saw a vending maching down the hall. My treat."

His frustration subsided for the moment, Zayne headed out to find the vending machine he saw. He didn't get far before seeing a familiar face, his soon-to-be roommate Jeremiah walking with...a large, blurry man. He had met Jeremiah a few days ago during one of his visits to the Hospital, but he had only gotten the occasional glimpse of the other man. Must be someone important...

Before his thoughts could go any further, a man in a suit walked past, joining the other two. His voice was strange, but he spoke clearly enough that Zayne caught the gist of his dialogue. The brash nature of it, sounding less concerned and more...eccentric, brought Zayne's frustration rushing back. Without any concept or concern for the situation or his place in it, Zayne approached the group, tapping the man's shoulder from behind, his frustration visibly furrowing his brow.

"I don't know what your deal is, but this isn't some game and visiting hours are almost up. Come back tomorrow if you really wanna get a headcount of the injured."

 

[Malikai]

Jeremiah "JJ" Johnson
Location: The Hospital, AKA The Hospital Scene
Around: Aaron ( Gus ), Kingsley ( Teh Frixz ), Zayne ( ChaosZereul )​

Jeremiah watched as Aaron suddenly swung his feet off the bed and began to stand up. If Jeremiah had been hiding any kind of emotion he surely wasn't now. An expression of fear and concern rose up on his face as he quickly stood up from his own seat, moving to try and help him in standing up. Of course just as he began to move quickly pain rocketed throughout his leg. Which one was a good question, and unfortunately Jeremiah couldn't tell the difference with how they both reacted. He quickly backpedaled to pick up his crutches from where they were leaning on the seat and held himself up with them. Still he donned the look of concern as he watched Aaron begin to walk.

A look that Aaron was quick to shoot down, causing Jeremiah to be a bit embarrassed that he had worried as much as he had. He listened to Aaron as they walked out of the room and into the hall. His comment on censorship had gotten Jeremiah to think how lucky the rest of the world would be if it had some set of rules that governed them into what they could actually say. It sounded similar to the plot of a book Jeremiah had heard about in High School, though that felt like ages ago. A gentle hand on his shoulder drew Jeremiah out of his thoughts, and he stared at Aaron listening intently.

Before he could even protest on what Aaron was saying he was stopped by that raised hand. Thus Jeremiah just stood there quietly, listening to Aaron talk. After listening to Aaron's whole speech Jeremiah looked down, a smile starting to spread on his face. Hearing such encouragement from such a clear and stable person really broke through the haze that Jeremiah had let himself stay in. Though he wasn't entirely convinced about all Aaron had said, there was a lot of it that had truly made him see things differently. He wiped away any possible tears that could have appeared and looked up to see Aaron walking down the hall. Jeremiah, as quickly as he could, walked his way over, Though it's a bit more like I just crutched my way over. Jeremiah stood slightly behind Aaron when he spoke, "Thank you Mr. Mallory. Really, thank you."

It was the first time Jeremiah had felt some kind of justification for his action. Dwelling on sentimental stuff was interrupted by a loud voice shouting at Aaron. According to the loud voice he was Daniels, however he claimed that's who he was in a strange way that Jeremiah couldn't decipher. Said loud voice also pointed at him, asking if he was a victim. The bluntness of such a question didn't reach Jeremiah when he responded, "Yeah I suppose I am another victim. Not sure how you could guess I was..." Jeremiah ended the train of thought, figuring that any further response wasn't needed, and turned to head down the hall. Though the next voice he heard made him stop in his tracks, That voice is vaguely familiar. Where have I heard that again? It was a few days ago I think... was that the day I hadn't been feeling sick? What had I done that da- The realization hit Jeremiah like a truck and he quickly turned to see Zayne tapping the shoulder of the loud man.

Jeremiah waved to get the attention of Zayne, "Hey Zayne! I see you're moving about. You should join me over here. Away from, uh, Daniels, there. Where are you headed anyways?" Jeremiah was getting some strange vibes off of Daniels, and he didn't really want a fight to start in the hospital. From the tone of Zayne's voice he was a bit frustrated, and at the very least having him frustrated at Jeremiah wouldn't end up hurting anyone. Jeremiah readjusted one of his crutches, a bit of pride swelling him to stand more upright.

 

[Syrenrei]

Luther Rousseau
"Reliquary"
Location: AEGIS Facility 108
Near: Sullivan ( Tyrannosaurus Rekt ) ; Viola ( Giyari ) ; Aiden ( Necessity4Fun ) ; Maple ( The Fuzzy Pixel ) ​

Luther wasn't really expecting to find anyone at the school at this late hour- in her mind there was virtually no reason to be there. Frankly she didn't see the appeal to be here of all places late at night unless you were working and as far as she had known she was the only one scheduled. Bars, clubs, restaurants, movie theatres, plays, even putt putt were more exciting than a site of a terrorist attack in a more derelict part of Baltimore. To say she was surprised to find some meek kid battling his inhaler as he sized up the worthless memorial was an understatement. Maple being there working late and having invited some Commonwealth agents, who also decided it was a good idea to work at night, was damn strange. Usually it was Luther being batshit crazy; and, to her credit, she was aware of her insanity. That these folks standing around acting like 8 pm was high time to be cruising around a damaged facility where blood had been sprayed down days before made Luther feel like she was in the twilight zone.

"Whatever floats your boat, Maple," she said while side-eyeing her younger peer a bit. Inviting agents over didn't bother her at all but she was starting to wonder if Maple shouldn't get out more. Sure her powers were a bit of a killjoy but didn't they all have drawbacks? Luther's dream had been to start a family but once that had been destroyed she had to improvise. Perhaps she'd encourage Maple to join her at a party of more accepting individuals so that she wasn't going over paperwork at odd hours. "And yeah, I'll take a hot chocolate later. Just ring my cell when it's ready..." she drifted off. The assistant to the director seemed to know the young man that was struggling to breathe so Luther stepped aside both mentally and physically. Maple was more than able to assist.

The drizzling rain ought to have drenched Luther considering she wasn't using an umbrella. Rather than cover herself, which would utilize a precious hand to hold the umbrella, she had simply turned on her power. Only flesh was a true gateway to the portal dimension so her hair was soaked. Droplets that landed on her supersuit, hands, and face disappeared on contact leaving those portions of her completely dry. Once Luther had joked this sort of inconvenience might make her shave her head. If she had been more feminine she might have. It was Luther's fear that being ex-military, muscular, and possessing less-than-perfect nose made her look too masculine that kept her hair long. It was one of the few ways she could tangibly grasp onto a little softness. Hair couldn't make her a pretty princess, but it gave her a certain confidence in her appearance she knew she would lack with it gone.

Sully's appearance had been the weirdest. His reason for being there was legitimate enough but the flirtation, bright red face at maple, and then redirection back to flirting was bizarre. Not that Luther was of a mind to object to the flirtations. Even if she was on the job she was a woman with certain proclivities, needs, desires that demanded fulfillment... and Sully was not hard on the eyes, not at all. Admittedly Luther hadn't had too many dalliances with gingers. They were a dyeing breed apparently and she only slept with the bottom of the barrel where they were even more rare. Tonight certainly was odd.

"Well, Agent Sully- I didn't actually hit your car. I just wanted to see who was here. My bike was totaled from the attack last week so I'm driving a shitty rental and I do not need reasons for my insurance company to reduce the amount they are giving me for a new bike by banging up the shitty rental." Luther glanced at the card only to make certain it was authentic and then shrugged. Why was he being so forward with her and yet looking embarrassed with Maple. It didn't strike her as shy but maybe... maybe there was something else going on between these two that she didn't know about? But if that were the case why was he hitting on her if they had a thing? Didn't he just say he was single? Whatever powers this man had were not the only eccentricities in his portfolio.

"Versatile and flexible?" she repeated with a raised brow. Luther wrestled momentarily with she ought to do and what she wanted to do. Ever since Thomas she had sworn off decent men. Decent men wanted (and deserved) the chance at a family; moreover, she knew she had far too much baggage for her to feel comfortable laying at the feet of a nice guy. Not just anyone could cope with the fact Luther had killed and little remorse for doing so. She had also been told (more than once) she was a bit threatening to some men with her physique and fearless behavior. Not one to emasculate Luther had decided relationships were just doomed- and as a result she sought out flings. They had to be someone she wouldn't want to stay with, wouldn't feel guilty leaving, and wouldn't even think to ask for anything more than a night. But Sully did not tick all those boxes. While his intentions were clear, and he wasn't dropping hints he was looking for a committment by any stretch of the imagination, the Commonwealth also didn't employ the dregs of humanity. Not only that, he knew Maple and she didn't want to make Maple uncomfortable with this scenario. Then again, they were adults and the chances of them crossing paths again was slim...

"I have to do a little tour of the facility here, make sure it's secure. Maybe you'd like to join me? I'm sure we can put your flexibility to use making certain no one's hiding out in those small corners," she said with a coy smile. Seeing as there was no threat at the moment Luther slipped the gun off her shoulder and, holding it out in front of her, pushed it grip first into her abdomen. It simply disappeared as it met the slick, shiny black fabric of her outfit. Once the muzzle had vanished and there was no longer any sign of the weapon she put her hand on her hip. "I have all sorts of useful things in storage that might help you as well," she added with a wink.

 

[Gus]

Lucas Marsolet
​

Location: Outside ward 108
Nearby: Kingsley, Aaron, Zayne, JJ, Matron, Gergo, and Ms. Williams
Mood: Excited!!!
@s: Teh Frixz ChaosZereul Malikai welian The Oldest Blueberry

Lucas had to restrain himself from actually skipping and dancing down the hallway. Now that he had his limiter dialed down, he could feel all the wires in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Their staccato beat, sixty times a second, was warmly comforting, tracing out the hallways to guide his footsteps, as well as making him a little bit hungry. His physical therapist hurried to keep up, gently remonstrating with him to take things slowly.

“Lucas, take it easy! I can only imagine how exciting this must be for you. This is a major breakthrough, but you still have to take your time getting used to your new normal, ok? Slow it down. There’s no rush.”

“Oh but there IS! I have to tell the others in the 108 ward about this! Lucas is back in business! Je suis revenue!”

Unable to resist any more, he began to mock-waltz his way down the hallway, spinning and and stepping and humming something that vaguely resembled ‘The Blue Danube’ if you were not too fussy about fiddly details like consonance, correct melody, or consistent tempo.

It was hard not to smile, but Ms. Williams managed it, now seriously concerned he was going to harm himself or someone else. She moved in swiftly to try to moderate his exuberance, attempting to seize him around the waist. Lucas, for his part, was blissfully unaware of her until a split second before she caught him. Just as she was about to touch him, he sensed her somehow. A slight difference in the potential of the human body versus empty air, perhaps? He did not know, or even think about it; he simply knew she was there a split second before she grabbed him. For Lucas, a split second is a long time to react, and he twisted around like an eel as her arms closed about him. For just a moment, he incorporated her into his dance, but she was surprisingly strong, and he quickly allowed himself to be stopped, however reluctantly.

“Take. It. Slow!”

“Ok, ok… Sorry. I just…”

“And dial your limiter back up.”

He frowned, grudgingly clicking it up only as far as setting two before allowing her to take his elbow. He was back to grinning soon enough, and he had to admit, without her guidance he might have missed a step or ten on the stairs; there was no wiring in the floor or ceiling of the stairwell, only the walls. While the progressively lower height of the light fixtures might have clued him in if he’d been paying proper attention, more likely he’d have gone tumbling down the stairs in his distracted state and returned to the ward at high velocity with more than a few new bruises, scratches and possibly even nasty fractures.

As it was, he managed to negotiate the stairs safely. It was also with Ms Williams skillful guidance that he narrowly avoided a trolley full of meal trays that had tried to run him down but without the crash cart’s electric buzzing to warn him of its approach. Once he knew it was there, he could feel the slight variance in potential of the metal trolley and the plastic trays, but it was far more subtle. It was a little sobering to realize: amazing as this new discovery was, it was a long way from sight, and would take practice and concentration to develop.

Nevertheless, when he recognized voices among the hubbub of conversation outside the ward, his enthusiasm came crashing back and he broke away from Ms. Williams and rushed over toward JJ and Zayne, stopping just short of bumping into them. “Mes amis! Look what I can do!” Oblivious to the fact that what he was doing was not obviously amazing, he walked down the hall ten steps or so, turned and walked back to them, grinning triumphantly.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Penny
Facility 108
Sullivan ( Tyrannosaurus Rekt ) Viola ( Giyari ) Aiden ( Necessity4Fun ) Maple ( The Fuzzy Pixel )


Vacation

This was a vacation. 108 was a vacant vacay villa as her alternate insta account stated in annoying font over the top of a digitally altered copy of herself at a perfectly staged beach scene. Donations would come flying in as Penny had made sure to shop out the trio of pimples that had annoyingly popped up in the middle of her cleavage. Posting time had only been a few minutes and already she was getting the usual 'sho bobs n vegene' messages along with a fair amount of 'donations' to her make believe vacation.

The beach scene emanating from the screen reflected off her greasy skin as Penny finally stood up with a groan. She'd been almost purposefully gross since 108 evacuated just to rub it in when someone finally showed up to visit. They'd spoiled her rotten with their visits. Imogen and Aaron. Even Larry had been conspicuously absent and she was getting angry staring at the exterior camera with the ever growing pile of her deliveries sitting there. She'd have busted out the egg to go get them but that was out of commission and apparently the 75% containment rate of her experimental 'skin suit' wasn't good enough for public use yet.

Wagging her head back and forth as she walked the pins and needles out of her legs, Penny took stock of her situation. Despite being a week without a wash, there was still no stink on her baggy shirt and she hadn't actually worn pants in nearly a month. Couldn't blame that on the explosion but eh. Her rooms were a wreck, no dishes had been done and Penny had started stacking them in her shower. Clothes were scattered around in various states of being laundered and some bones from her friend chicken last week had nearly turned to ash.

Still though, some good things stood out from the muck. The treadmill Aaron had convinced her to buy was well kept and showed signs of regular use, her toothbrush was actually near a sink and the stink of old smoke was vanishing slowly as she'd kicked the ciggie habit. Despite the progress she was starting to get a little cagey and more than a little spiteful. Her online presence was getting more and more negative as she started bad mouthing victims and shitposting at anyone related to 108 or the Commonwealth. Feelsgoodman.

But it was shockingly starting to get boring. Reactions weren't the same and there was a spark of worry starting to grow at her situation. Penny finished a little lap of her place before grabbing a 108 laptop to check and see if anything had changed yet.

Something had

More than half of her cameras were blacked out, like legit offline. Someone had come by last week and reset most of her AV systems so there shouldn't have been this many screens knocked out. Plus they'd been working fine a couple hours ago. Penny swore loudly and started tapping away and grabbed a wax encrusted pair of ear buds to get some audio. Audio that came clearly as soon as the cable pushed in.

“I’m v- versatile and flexible. And if you- my car, I can just pay y- -gencies to get involved."
What the fuck... Some closeted f a g s were using her home to hookup in? The audio was fuzzy and broken but she'd heard enough. This was an insult and a call to action. Yanking the buds out, Penny rolled over the side of her couch with a creak in the furniture signaling that it was on its last legs and managed to find the cable she wanted. Audio input to facility intercoms.

The coms weren't working well, not even half were active, but might be enough to deliver a spook if they were listening and scare them off before they desecrated the land above her hovel. Firing up the slow ass browser installed on the 108 system took a minute but gave her enough time to queue up something.

 

[Necessity4Fun]

Aiden Eillie Fowler

​

Location: AEGIS Facility 108 - Entrance Gate
People Around: Maple and her co-workers (Luther and Sully)
Interactions: The Fuzzy Pixel , Tyrannosaurus Rekt and Syrenrei (because you can probably hear it too)

Aaaaaah I'm causing Maple trouble, I'm so sorry!!!

He was trapped.
The poorly illuminated, ruin of a landscape had something of intriguing and alluring, compelling the teen to stay. Perhaps, some morbid curiosity impeded him of averting his gaze or turning back. Whatever it was, tears had risen to his eyes. A silent, gentle stream that had no real reason to be. It just felt... off. Something seemed missing. He was crying, and yet, there had been no actual feeling behind it. Just an empty gap from where nothing but a disorientating confusion overflowed...

It was as if Aiden had suddenly been transported to a new plane of existence. The scenery that the downpour enveloped had seemingly frozen in time but in contrast, the teen's mind raced, too fast for any of the messages to reach their destination. A mess of marbled and jumbled sentences that had eventually overlapped into an incessant ringing.
Maybe... he shouldn't have come. Anxiety crept on the corner, looming, threatening to strike once more. This was a mistake and he shouldn't have come...

His mind had started wandering places, dark, gloomy and despairing sections it hadn't been to since his childhood. Reliving thoughts and ideas and feelings that his unconscious self had tried so hard to hide, so hard to move past, to patch up all of the pieces into an emulation of stability and here, his conscious self had just thrown a flaming wrench into that balance as if it was nothing.

He really shouldn't have come.

"Aiden?" "Aiden, are you alright?"​

With a blink of his eyes, the world had returned to its normal state. The boy's gaze travelled one last time through the immediate scenery, finding no sign of the invisible, yet thick black haze that had been about to engulf everything merely a moment ago. Still processing bits and flashes from a cacophony patchwork, Aiden's body had responded to the call of his name, but his mind had lagged behind.
He had glanced at Maple's direction nearly robotically, without a clear emotion in his face, then half a second passed and he suddenly remembered the full context he found himself into, eyes widening in both surprise and panic. The teen averted his gaze and hurried to dry his face as quickly as he could:

"Y-yeah!", he had finally looked back at her, wearing a warm, bright smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. T-That was nothing, I just seem to have overreacted back there... I-It happens all the time, don't worry", the boy laughed softly

"W-what?! What am I doing? Why am I hiding this from Maple? What do I even have to hide?", the boy reprimanded himself. Welp, there was his old bottling-up habit again, "Ugh, I made it sound so suspicious too. She's going to think I'm weird now... If, that hasn't been established yet. Which it probably has."

He had been about to attempt fixing his response when an unknown person showed up, wishing both him and Maple a good evening. The boy had managed to merely hold up his arm in greeting and soon a new conversation could be heard in the background... Oh no! He was getting in the way of her work, wasn't he? Aiden deflated slightly feeling guilty for wasting Maple's time.
The universe though seemed to have other plans, and before he could start to slowly distance himself to start leaving, a cold breeze had sent the teen into a new coughing fit. He had winced after that, taking notice of the return of the characteristic 'whistle' that traversed his breathing in the present time.

He honestly just wanted to go and stop being a nuisance to Maple and her co-workers as soon as possible, but with this weather and the fact that dropping the umbrella earlier had left him quite drenched, Aiden wasn't given much of a choice. Noticeably uncomfortable, he raised his voice again, the tone still mildly raspy after the coughing:

"Uhhh, actually... Uhhh... I- I know that you're all probably busy and have a lot to do and I'm probably just wasting your time and bothering everyone and I'm truly sorry for asking but... W-would it be too much trouble if I went inside for a while?", he averted his gaze in both shame and embarrassment, "I admit it. I picked the worst time possible to come and... T-the worst weather conditions too. I should have checked the windows before I left..."

"...If, it IS I... I can just leave."

A tense silence remained afterwards with Aiden wondering how Maple would take his request, the uncertainty of it making him nervous. Then out of nowhere, a misplaced, oddly cheery chiptune song played faintly from inside the building, causing him to jerk his head back up in both shock, confusion and about to panic:

"Oh. Is this...? Have I, interrupted some kind of staff event??! Oh boy, I'm so sorry!!! Do you want me to leave? Am I making this awkward?! Oh god, I'm so sorry, I had no idea!"

 

[Damafaud]

Aid Ward
Location: Saint Leo's Church
Nearby: Mr. Lowe ( Malikai )

Hearing Mr. Lowe's question, Aid's smile faltered. Was he? He knew he wasn't hurt. The bump on his head was no longer visible under his thick black hair. He didn't see anyone got hurt or die. He didn't see the Knights at all. In fact, he escaped the accident completely fine.

...but he was scared.

For the first time, the world didn't look so happy. Murders and assaults were things in the news and in games. Bad people were the rude men that smoke near children, teachers that give too many homework, and people didn't pay taxes (at least according to Grandma). Even if there was bad people in the world, those people were far away from him. In a completely different place and couldn't possibly harm him. But the attack proved him wrong, and he was scared.

"I'm okay, Mr. Lowe," Aid brought back a smile to his face, but the light in his eyes didn't come back. "I'm just a bit scared. And confused." He wanted to forget it. After several seconds of silence, Aid changed the topic.

"Grandma brought me here to pay respect or something. But why here? I can pay respect from home or a restaurant or the facility. I already paid respect at school, too. I don't understand why I need to go here instead of the facility," Aid complained, visibly pouting. Maybe Grandma wanted to meet more people in the church, but that was exactly why he didn't like it. It was full of people that remind him of the attack. He didn't need that. He wanted to move forward.

"Have you gone to the facility, Mr. Lowe? I heard they made a memorial or something. I want to see it."

 

[Teh Frixz]

Tabitha Crane
St. Leo’s Church
Inside -> Outside

Standing like a scarecrow escaped from a corn field for several silent moments, Tabitha panicked and was the first to flinch. It felt like the eyes of the room were burrowing into her skin, leaving collapsing tunnels of fleshy insecurity and self conscious thoughts. The few seconds before she gave in, Tabitha had been all to aware of the sweat beads pooling on her forehead. Too much tension to handle. Playing it off like she was balking at the audacity of the smoker, Tabitha peeled away with a desperate flippant hand gesture of exasperation. To be fair, she played it off well but her facial expression upon turning away revealed how desperate she’d been to get away from the situation.

Hurrying back to her spot at the pew, her mom was still busy politicking and her dad looked ready to leave, but committed to his fate of being by support husband. Tabitha sat beside him, leaning so far forward her forehead was touching the back of the pew ahead of them. Ready to spend the rest of the time here counting the floor tiles, Tabitha was brought back to awkward reality by the unmistakable pat on her back by her father.

“Tabby, Not gonna make you wait around again here.” The keys to the car jangle in his hands “Go outside and get some air, we’ll be right out. We'll get home soon”

Nodding must have been all the response he needed as Tabby felt the keys fall into her palm as he turned back toward the conversation between her mother and the small crowd, giving her the opportunity to take a few long steps down the aisle and out into the rain.

 

[Gus]

Kate Barrett
​

Location: Church and steps of church
Mood: Darkening with the evening
Nearby: Tabitha, Millicent, Belgrave, Lewis, Aid, Manami, and Director Chernov
@s Teh Frixz Giyari Malikai Damafaud welian

Kate smiled graciously at Agent Dwalish's offer of coffee, but shook her head faintly. She'd had coffee from church urns before. Surprisingly recently actually, at some church function Aaron had dragged her to. It was not an experience she was anxious to repeat.

Disgusting swill.
Trying to poison us!
Should we kill her, be on the safe side?​

Stop it.

Just testing you, Katie-dear. We'll have control soon enough...​

...or I could get out the restraints. Bind us up till daybreak. How about that?

NO please! We'll be good! Promise!​

Goddamned right you'll be good. You'll be good all night as well!

Aloud, she simply said, "Oh, no thank you. I have trouble enough sleeping as it is. It's not even the vigilante life so much as the reporter life; I notice things, I follow up. Sometimes, hijinks ensue. Every once and a while, I get a big story. It pays the bills while I work on my book, but sleeping is not much part of it at any point. Caffeine just makes it worse. You know, I think I will just go out and observe. Just to be on the safe side. Nice meeting you both. Perhaps I'll catch you later for an interview? There's quite an appetite just now in the style section for candid character sketches of supers. The director even did one. Good counter-propaganda and all that."

As she headed to the door, she could not help but notice the towering adolescent loitering on the steps outside. At nearly six feet, Kate was not often overshadowed by anyone, but this young woman was at least an inch taller, and gave the distinct impression of not even being at her full growth yet. She was about to edge past, her concern with the potential for violence outside outweighing any curiosity about who the big girl was.

But then she recognized her. And the potential for backup if things got ugly.

"Tabitha Crane? Kate Barrett. Don't worry about the press badge, I'm not really on duty, per se, just paying my respects along with everyone else. Do you mind tailing along with me for a minute though? I have some concerns about the red-head over there and the hoodie girl talking to her. I have a hunch that it might help to have more than one set of eyes on this particular conversation. If you want to hang back, no worries. Just, um... just catch me if I end up airborne, yeah? I don't fly so well after sundown."

 

[Teh Frixz]

Tabitha

Nearly out of the church and hopefully, at least temporarily out of her moms orbit, Tabitha was more than a little stunned to be suddenly waylaid in her attempt at a subtle exit. There was already enough drama in her life and the last thing that she needed was interaction with the press. She nearly had to hire a service to get her digitial footprint erased as the sheer amount of adult video propositions, blackmail spam attempts and creepiest of all, fan mail. A quick search of Baltimore giant girl brought up so many links to deviant images it made her want to puke. Needless to say, this Ace Reporter Kate Barrett was making Tabitha anxious. She didn’t want to be tricked again.

Having decided to simply shake her head and turn away, Tabitha was stopped by the unusual request. Her eyes flit over towards both Hood and Red Head. “What are you expecting, why would you need backup?”

Hopefully that got across her point, what was so pertinent that it risked creating a problem at a memorial service?


Gus

 

[Bag o Fruit]

Anneliese Van Can Gus February 12th, 3:37 am. Dr. D’s Secure Stash, Aleph-nought

Lambda drone looked rather the worse for wear, but gamely stood guard over the bolthole that concealed Dr. D’s ill gotten gains. Lars's hands made a flurry of gestures at the drone’s one functioning optical sensor which could be loosely translated as ‘D sent me. Stand down and deactivate failsafe charges.’

His life no longer in imminent jeopardy, Lars opened the concealed door and proceeded down the steps into the dimly lit vault. From outside, the low ‘whumph’ of Lambda’s self destruct mechanism activating barely carried down to him. By now, it would hardly be distinguishable from the other detritus blowing around the junkyard. He opened the passenger door of the armored truck and slid in alongside the spider drone, which eyed him warily. He made a quick, almost peremptory gesture and then held out his hand. The device seemed to hesitate a moment before, almost eagerly, it scuttled up his arm to his shoulder where it perched in a fair imitation of an elaborate decorative pin.

Lars slumped back against the seat. It had been a long and exciting day, and he was dog tired. He couldn’t sleep though. Not yet. The casino heist had only been a small part of the day’s festivities, and he needed to catch up. Opening his phone, he found 187 alerts for super related activities in the Baltimore area. Gamely, he began searching through the stories, searching for anomalies. When he got to Anneliese’s interview, he stopped dead. She… she knew things. She saw past surfaces. He could feel it. He grabbed a couple of stacks of cash from the back, perhaps fifty thousand dollars, and called a cab. There was ground work to be laid. Sleep would have to wait.

April 26th, 6:03 pm. 108 Main building

It had gotten dark. Daylight savings time had already started, and the days were much longer than anyone coming out of the previous winter was used to, but by this point in the evening the sun was on its way down behind the distant buildings of Baltimore nonetheless. Students, now carrying more pain and loss than anyone should ever bear, had been sent home many hours ago. Even the janitors had gone home for the day. The blood would still be there for them to clean in the morning. Police had scoped the facility some time ago, but by some incompetence or divine intervention had not opened the door to Anneliese’s office.

She still sat at her desk, watching the world weave itself into place like a living thread, or an ant, climbing this way and that, leaving little black marks on white. Her eyes followed the firelight flickering through the air around her head, and a small buzzing shadow as it flew circles through the emptiness.

After a long time, her eyes focused, and through her every vein ran a dire purpose.

You can run, Mister Magnusson…

She stood, increased the depth of her breaths and softened them to all but silence. She rocked back and forth, as if she were standing waist deep in the tide. Something clicked. She turned behind her, hopped up onto her chair and inspected a small device at the intersection of her wall and ceiling.

But you can’t hide.

Searching her room, she found three more projectors. She removed them with a wrench and placed them methodically in a small box.

Kicking the wooden feet of her couch confirmed that they were, in fact, hollow. She yanked them off and found an explosive charge hidden in each. She carefully put them in a safe she’d received as an employee benefit.

Lastly, she put on three pairs of latex gloves, and dropped the drugged pen into a plastic bag, sealing it. She scraped samples off an extremely thin residue that covered her desk, crushed it between two glass slides, and taped them shut.

With the box and the bag in her arms, she left for her car. I’ll have to inspect the charges later.

February 17th, 8:28 am. Ramada inn, supply closet

Lars had missed the transition from sleep to wakefulness somehow, leaving him wary. Most of the time, his paranoia served him well, but mornings like this could be a real pain. Could he still be dreaming? He really needed to sleep in a proper bed. He didn’t dare use one of his safe houses yet. He had dug deep on Ms. Anneliese Van Can, and he did not like what he saw one bit. Not one bit. Her associates were potentially problematic, but they were geared more toward obvious existential threats like out-of-control S-rank individuals. They would never see him coming. Her view of threats however, was far more subtle. She was plugged in and primed for exactly his kind of battle. It would take every bit of his guile to keep her out of his affairs long enough to… But it was better not to think about such things. It could leave a trace. Instead he amused himself by carving a message for her on the underside of the shelf above the one he had used for a bed.

“You are amazing. -L 2/17/40”

He thought about carving more, but was worried now that he had already given her too much to work with. He wriggled out of the shelf onto the filthy, grimey floor, stood up, and went to check his dead drop.

April 27th, 10:26 am. Anneliese’s house, undisclosed

Forensics couldn’t give me much. The projectors and charges were planted a day or two ago, at most, and the mist from the pen had degraded beyond identification. Which I suppose I knew would be the case, clever as he is.

She checked the facility camera records for any entries to her office in the last few days for which she was not present, finding only a janitor who had gone in twice. Lars was a breathtakingly good actor; it took her two viewings to notice the difference in his gait.

February 29th, 5:00 pm. Tiberius and Terri-Beth’s Terrific Theater, backstage loft

It was time to move on. The buzz on the street was that the Knights would be attacking 108 directly on the day of the exam, less than two months away. That should provide adequate cover for making contact, but it was precious little time to set up a cover and scope the place. He needed an in. The janitorial staff was the obvious weak spot, but even that was not so weak. The head guy, Ernie, was a retired agent; not so easy to fool that guy, and running into Anneliese before he was ready could be disastrous. What he really needed was not to get hired, but to find a rube already working there. There was bound to be a minor NPC on staff he could ply with drugs for a master schedule. Once he had that he could take the rube’s place only on days when boss-man wasn’t around and the counselor was booked solid. To anyone besides those two, a janitor would be practically invisible. The only question was who. Which of these guys was the weak link? He flipped a coin. Barry then. Anneliese would no doubt eventually track him to Barry’s apartment, but by then she’d either be won to his side, or busy dealing with the dead janitor in her basement. Either way.

April 27th, 11:10 am. Anneliese’s house, undisclosed

Aside from L.A.R.R.Y, there’s only one person on the janitorial staff who was on the killed or missing list after the Knight attack. All things considered, he would be the perfect person for Lars to target. A former, minor drug addiction on his record, and a former vacancy for a roommate. I can’t believe I didn’t notice any shift in his behavior… but I guess Lars wouldn’t have allowed anything in it to lead to him, so it wouldn’t have made much difference in any case.

But Barry is now missing. Anneliese considered suitable dumping grounds in the city. Authorities would only be searching the facility premises and the family should have his remains if… possible… He wouldn’t. Please let me be wrong, and he really wouldn’t.


The smell in her basement confirmed that yes, he would. "Shit."

As she walked back up the steps, she scrolled through her contacts until she found ‘G’, and dialed it. No time to waste on police questioning. “I need a favor.”

April 2nd, lunchtime. Facility 108

Lars sat on the docks, chewing the panini thoughtfully. He had pretty much everything he needed. Any further surveillance risked exposure for little gain. And yet. He almost couldn’t help himself. There was so much drama bubbling below the surface in this place. It was delightful. So many major arcana in such a small area. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. A heady brew. And all hell was going to break loose when the knights attacked. Security was lax. Almost deliberately so. Like they were rolling out the red carpet of chaos for the knights and for him as well. The only real question was: how highly placed was the mole? Swan? Ward? The director herself? Or some outsider? Anneliese would know in an instant if she were only prompted to consider the question. The trick was not to let her think on that until after she had agreed to join him. He was pretty sure she would. She had to. It was too perfect. She was a jewel, and she would be his. Unless… he almost choked, considering the alternative. What if she tried to stop him instead? It was an awful risk, revealing himself at this stage at all, but especially to her. In the end though, as ever, he had no choice in the matter. He smiled and closed his eyes, savoring the last of his sandwich in the warm spring sunshine.

April 27th, 12:40 pm. Anneliese’s house, undisclosed

She sat back down at her desk after the situation had been dealt with. A few pulls from her vape pen helped her to stop thinking about Barry and his family.

Lars knows quite a bit about me. He knew about the Q, albeit not much. He knew I’d be a useful ally, and liable to believe him... but that much could be gleaned from my Commonwealth file. She ran through a brief range of other things he seemed to know, based on facts to which he had alluded and on hidden knowledge she had picked up on in his speech and mannerisms. From the depth of his knowledge, and considering his intelligence, I imagine he must have been studying me for two or three months… Meaning he became aware of me around the Haywood incident. Makes sense.

She opened Google and searched “Anneliese Van Can”, filtering out results from later than February 12th, took a hit from the vape pen, and began to study herself. After many hours of examining her own Commonwealth file, news stories, background, and allowing for a certain amount of black-market information and personal surveillance to which he may have had access, she had formed a duplicate of Lars Magnusson’s first impression of her.

Nervous. Like a young boy planning to ask his crush to a dance, I dream of the rewards if I were to succeed and dread the consequences if I should fail. And so had he. I can be a powerful ally, but I could also be just as powerful an enemy… if not more so.

She sat back in her chair. She began, as Lars, to plan for all eventualities of the rejection he anticipated. I would have avoided any base that could be connected to me, instead finding new places to stay every night… He would hide in the last place I’d look. So where is that? ... I’ll have to start looking for low-security vacation homes or hotels with reports of suspicious events over the last two months...

She glanced at her clock, which read 11:57 pm. Tomorrow.

April 24th, 12:13 am. Comfort Inn Suites parking lot

There was a movement up ahead in the deeper shadows. The matronly woman crossed herself and scurried backwards towards the pool of light cast by the street lamp, backing directly into a man she hadn’t heard come up behind her. She shrieked with fright, barely registering the slight sting of the hypodermic needle.

“Sorry Ma’am. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

She stared at him, mouth agape and pupils dilating rapidly.

“It’s all right, you don’t need to speak, just listen.” Lars murmured into her ear, instructions inaudible to anyone but his new puppet. He placed a small metal canister into her hand, closing her limp fingers firmly around it. “Understand?”

She nodded, blinked. She was alone in the lot, and she went about her business.

April 28th, 11:28 am. Comfort Inn Suites

“Alright. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“Well, I don’t rightly recall the dates, but I guess, maybe three times over the last two months, we had to roust a homeless feller outta the supply closet on two? He was nice enough about it. Apologetic, like. Said he just needed a place to wash up. Not all that unusual, to tell the truth. Why it stuck in my mind was that he also said he was having to move on anyway. Account of a game he was playing?”

Anneliese frowned. It would be useless to ask what he looked like, or sounded like... “Did you get any identification? Police involved?”

“Oh, those types don’t have ID, and as long as they’re not violent, it usually isn’t worth bothering the police.”

She nodded. “Sure. Did he leave any hints about where he was going? Or have you heard about similar incidents in the area, recently?”

“Well I expect he just moved on to the next hotel, you know? There’s not a good deal of security staff, and I guess now that you mention it, I do remember hearing rumors of similar incidents here and there…”

“The same things said, about the game? Similar looking man?”

“Yes, more or less. Same basic tinfoil hat sort of story: Supers searching for him, needed to keep out of sight. That kind of thing?”

“Right.” It must be him. “Can I check the hotel security cameras for exact dates on these incidents, and can you jot down a couple of places you’ve heard, specifically, that... that, uh… that you’ve heard of that… exact thing happening?” She paid more attention to the woman’s body language as she answered. Something’s not right.

“I dunno about specific places, and I’m afraid the security footage gets wiped every two weeks… but I could show you the room where we found him if you want?”

She hesitated. This is… far, far too perfect… But, what the hell. “Sure, if you would be so kind.”

They came to the room in question and the housekeeper unlocked the door. Stepping inside, she put one hand in her pocket and with the other gestured to the closet. “This is where we found him… You can have a look inside…”

Anneliese made sure not to examine her directly, and opened the closet door, feigning exploration. The housekeeper slowly pulled the canister from her pocket, her thumb on the small blue button on the side. Just before she pressed down, Anneliese spun and caught her by the wrist, knocking the canister out of her hand...

But just barely too late. The canister went off in mid air, spraying mist mostly over their legs. It continued to spray. Anneliese kicked it into the bathroom, and pulled her thick sweater up over her nose and mouth before she pursued it. She pulled the shower curtain off the rod, wrapped it around the canister and twisted the ends closed tightly around it. She then opened the toilet lid and jammed the package straight into the bowl. She stood up, panting, and feeling slightly light-headed.

The housekeeper stood in a state of absolute shock. “What was… I didn’t… I think…” She collapsed. As soon as Anneliese was able to cover the distance between them, she pulled her head up out of the dissipating mist covering the floor. Her eyelids felt heavy, and the room seemed much stranger than before. It’s just like the pen gas… She thought. Fuck, now how am I going to get home? … ha, ‘pen gas.’ That sounds funny.

 

[Gus]

April 26th, 2040. Just before the time skip. ​

Tony was starting to come out of his stupor before they’d gotten to the beltway. That would have to be dealt with. Mental note: Thinking fast included burning through sedatives fast. He winked in the mirror at Piper and gave Tony his best disapproving side eye. “Hey, cuz! You really tied one on last night, huh?” Tony looked at him, puzzled. There was something off about this. First of all it was mid-afternoon… and he had already been to work today. And why was Joey driving his car? And why wouldn’t his mind kick into gear? Even near blackout drunk, he’d never felt himself think so slowly before, like his brain was being strained through cheesecloth.

“Joey… did you drug me, man? I know what drunk feels like and I know what hangovers feel like, and this is not...” he paused, trying to remember what he was saying.

Surreptitiously dialing up the valve on the canister he’d attached to the passenger air vent with his knee, he gesturing theatrically at Tony’s head with his right hand, mostly for Piper’s benefit. “Sleep now, cousin. All will be revealed in due time.” Tony, still looking puzzled, slumped forward against his seat belt. Piper, who still hadn’t been hit yet by the second wave of drugs locked eyes with her captor in the mirror and asked thickly “Where... are you... taking us?” He grinned back at her, genuinely amused.

“Oh the places we’ll go! He has brains in his head, you have feet in your shoes, I can steer you both any direction I choose! For now though, you’ll need to rest. I am going to count backwards from three. As I do you will feel yourself getting more and more sleepy. When I reach one, I will snap my fingers and you will go to sleep and remain asleep until you hear the phrase: ‘Arise, awaken, and animate again.’ Until then you will remain in a deep and restful sleep, all right? Three…. Two…. One.”

He snapped, and her head lolled forward as if she’d been switched off. He waited a moment more, mentally calculating how much more dosage it would take to keep them both out another 45 minutes. Satisfied they were well and truly out, he turned off the gas canister and rolled down the windows of the car. He popped the microfilters out of his nostrils and slipped them into his shirt pocket.

Hypnosis. He chuckled at the conceit. Most of that stage claptrap was utter bullshit, but it was one of those myths with just enough truth to lodge permanently in the public consciousness. And for whatever reason, people seemed to feel less violated if you pretended it was a mind trick instead of drugs. Drugs were, however, far more reliable.

Undisclosed Location, halfway through the time skip.​

It always felt weird to be moving around in between ‘official’ times. Nobody ever seemed to have noticed him doing it before, but then again this was the first time he’d taken another major character with him, let alone two. He’d stowed them both aboard his jet and fitted Tony with an IV drip to keep him out. He might prove useful later, as a foil, but for now he was too unpredictable. In any case this whole charade was essentially for Piper’s benefit; it was time to wake her. He applied a topical anesthetic to her neck and gave her a shot of adrenaline, mainline.

“Arise, awaken and animate again!”

Her eyes popped open almost instantly and he vanished the hypodermic as he might a coin.

“Hello Piper,” he said as he began peeling off his facial prosthetics.

“I trust you slept well. Sorry for all the cloak and dagger stuff, but I had to sneak you both out of the limelight while they weren’t paying attention. Right now they’re distracted, you see. No doubt setting up the next scene. I have a few things to show you while they do that. We’re going to peek ‘behind’ the scenery if you will. I promise you won’t be hurt. I just need you to document what you see and tell the others.” He braced himself against the acceleration as the plane began its take off run, speaking slightly louder over the engine noise.

“Make yourself comfortable. It’s a bit of a trip. Both literally and metaphorically. I need to confer with our pilot but I will be back in due time. Tony will be out for a while but will join us later. There’s a phone charging station over there, and food in the galley. There’s a mini-bar over here if you drink, as well as more exotic chemical modifications if your tastes run that way. I’m particularly proud of the LSD. It’s a special organic blend with just a hint of mushrooms.” Outside the windows, the last ragged wisps of cloud fell away below them, spreading out majestically in the late afternoon sunshine. He popped out his contacts and smiled warmly, eyes twinkling.

“Welcome to my humble private jet, Piper! I can’t tell you how pleased I am to finally have guests who matter! It’s been a lonely existence, but no longer! The revolution has begun!”

As the plane leveled off at cruising altitude, heading east, he winked theatrically, turned and slipped into the the cockpit, locking the door behind him.

That ought to keep them busy for a while, he thought. To the lifelike dummy in the pilot’s seat, he whispered. “Keep them secret. Keep them safe. I have questions. Questions that need answering.” He giggled.

Opening a hatch in the floor, he dropped to the tarmac under the plane’s nose, ducked around the hydraulic lifts, and headed for the hangar door. He estimated no more than a week until official time resumed, but he had no reason to believe that would slow Anneliese down one bit...

It was time to prep the funhouse.

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Piper Farrar	Rank: E
Attire: Camera bag over left shoulder, grey t-shirt, black leather jacket, black jeans, and dark grey converse	Location: Joey's Private Jet
Tagged: Gus (Lars and Tony)

Slowly waking up, Piper felt a bit groggy at first before a scowl slowly settled on her face. He was sitting in front of her, acting so relaxed and happy even. As muddled as her memories were, she knew that something was very wrong here. She just could not quite place it. It was as if a cat had gotten her tongue. Worse still, as she was trying to fix her memory gaps, the man in front of her began casually removing his face. No, wait, fake facial things.

Almost immediately after the man began trying to explain himself, Piper found herself staring at him dumbfounded. What in the world was he even talking about? Nothing he said made sense to her. What scene was being set? Had she been kidnapped for some theatrical reason? Piper knew something was off and this was only making her more certain of it. This man clearly had a screw or two loose up top. While he continued to rant about oddities, Piper glanced sideways to see Tony still knocked across the isle from her. If she could get him to wake up, perhaps he could explain things to her.

Glancing back at the weird man when he mentioned documenting things, Piper decided her best bet for now would be to simply play along. If something was really wrong with the man, fighting back would do her no good. As far as Piper was aware, neither her nor Tony had any superpowers to defend themselves with. They were at his man's mercy, wherever he had taken them. Piper had no way of knowing where they were headed either. They could be in another country by the time they landed for all Piper knew.

Screwing up her nose at the mention of LSD and then understanding the chemical concoctions to be more drugs, Piper muttered, "Why in the world would I care for any of that?" She had to resist the urge to punch this man simply for kidnapping her without merely asking for her help if he wanted her to document something. She loved to do this sort of thing, he really should have just asked her. Well, it was clearly too late for any formalities. The creepiest aspect of all of this was that this man knew her name and she did not know his. Or did she? As Piper furrowed her brows in concentration to try and retrieve lost memories, the odd man left for the cockpit.

The moment the door shut behind him, Piper leapt up and while she was concerned for Tony, she also knew there may eventually be a chance to call for help if she charged her phone back to life. It seemed to have died while she had been out of it. Leaving her phone on one of the chargers, Piper then hurried back to Tony's side and looked him over. All she could see attached to him was some sort of IV, but she had no way of knowing if he needed it to wake up or if it was keeping him asleep. There would only be one way to find out and if she was wrong, then they could be in big trouble once the odd man returned.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Piper decided to look around the plane a bit more before pulling out the IV. She really had no way of knowing the outcome and hoped there may be another solution instead. Yet, she found very little of use around the seating area. There were certainly plenty of drink options, though Piper wisely avoided them after the mention of LSD. The clouds were very peaceful outside and Piper figured one quick photograph of them would not hurt. She snapped one and then quickly realized she should photograph everything around her as evidence. Perhaps this could aid in eventually capturing this odd man once she escaped with Tony. Walking around the seating area, Piper soon captured everything, including the unusually high amount of drugs in the drink area. She also went ahead and took a photograph of the sleeping Tony, not so as to be creepy like the odd man, but to show that he had been drugged by the odd man.

Satisfied with what she had photographed and decided to look at the shots another time, Piper turned off her camera and put it away in her camera bag for now. Sighing, Piper decided it would be better to pull out he IV than sit around and do nothing. She feared twiddling her thumbs and allowing the odd man to do something else to her. The memory gaps still frightened her, but there was little Piper could do about it on her own. Leaning over Tony briefly, Piper carefully and slowly pulled out the IV before promptly maneuvering the thing away from Tony's side and back near the drinks area. She then returned to her seat across the isle from Tony and decided to simply stare at him until he woke up and reacted.

 

[Gus]

Aaron Mallory
​

Location: Hospital hallway, near reception.
Nearby: Kingsley/Daniels, Zayne, JJ, Lucas, Gergo, and Matron
@s: Teh Frixz ChaosZereul Malikai The Oldest Blueberry welian

The weird doubled voice thing still gave Aaron the creeping horrors, but he was careful to leave his face an impassive mask. While he had hoped to provoke Kingsley Rothlundt into taking some kind of role in the recovery process of her new community, he had not expected that role to be quite this aggressively intrusive. Or so soon. But aggressively intrusive was sort of her idiom, he supposed. One day, perhaps, he'd stop being surprised by it. For now, the main concern was to make sure she stayed in Daniels while she was here; escaping AEGIS custody in a cadaver would not be something he'd put past her, and it would be terrible press as well as the end of Daniels career. The other concern, and possibly more worrisome was that she'd get into one of the patients in the ward, particularly one of the teenaged boys. She'd had a disturbing influence on his own equilibrium, and God only knew what she'd get up to with an under experienced bundle of hormones carrying her around inside him. With her skill in flattery, goading them onward with half true whispers of untold enhancement of their powers? She might not be capable of actual mind control, but she'd certainly be able to twist almost any of these hapless boys around her little finger. If she had a little finger... He moved forward, interposing himself between Daniels and Jeremiah as subtly as he was able. He beckoned to the other boy, Zayne was what JJ called him? A third boy power walked by, saying something in French that he didn't quite catch, and seeming very pleased with himself, though what about was unclear. The situation was far too fluid for his liking. He needed to lock it down.

"Mr. Johnson, and er... Zayne was it? Could you come over here by me, please? This is Ms. Ro-- uh, this is Kingsley. She is a super with a sort of... symbiotic powerset. She is currently occupying Mr. Daniels here, which was not exactly what I had in mind for your visit, Kingsley! There are, as Zayne here noted, protocols for hospital visits. You can't just show up, and you also can't just ride around in your minder like he's a human taxi service." By now the other boy had orbited back to them and nearly bumped into him, all the while grinning like an idiot. Aaron fell back a half step to stop the boy from hurting himself. "Hey kid! Watch where you're going would you?"

 

[Malikai]

Lewis Lowe
Location: Saint Leo's Church
Around: Aid Ward ( Damafaud )​

If Lowe could take back his question he easily would have. The kid looked genuinely upset by what he had asked. Well at least by what the question was referring to. Aid quickly recovered with a smile, but he was affected by what Lowe had asked. It was surprising that he hadn't quite considered how some people might be hiding from themselves what happened. Unfortunately that kind of hiding would be hard for Aid to gain again, if ever he would, "It's perfectly normal to be scared. Everyone right now is scared. Even I am, though I'd like to think I do a good job of hiding it."

The cigarette that Lowe had previously had still lingered in the air, and he swatted it as though it would remove the smell. Focusing back on Aid he continued, "It's important to show up here. It means a lot to the people who put this together and to those who lost family. I haven't gone to the facility. I've been trying to stay away from it." Lowe bit his tongue to prevent him from saying too much. Though showing Aid that he was similarly scared and confused on what to do was important he didn't want to seem to weak. Lowe hadn't been at the facility since before he had left town, and he had no plans on returning until he had to. Regret over what he could have done filled his mind, even now.

"You said your grandma brought you here? How has she been doing? Well I hope..." The attempt at switching the topic was obvious, but there was hardly anything else Lowe could think to to talk about. He hadn't expected such a long conversation coming to the wake.

 

[Gus]

Kate Barrett
​

Location: Just outside church
Speaking to: Tabitha Crane
Nearby: Director Chernov, Manami Hamasaki, Millicent Dawlish, Aid Ward, Lewis Lowe
@s Teh Frixz welian Giyari Damafaud Malikai


Tabitha Crane's shyness was almost contagious. How did someone so big seem to take up so little space? It made Kate herself feel awkward and gangly almost in solidarity. It had been decades since she had felt such insecurity, even by proxy, but she had a fair idea what the young lady was going through.

Big girls of the world united.​

Shut. The. Fuck. UP!

Sorry.​

Aloud, she said, "I'm not seriously worried? The professionals inside the church think I am just paranoid, and they are probably right, but I have always been a 'Better safe than sorry' sort of girl, you know? The one in the hoodie is one of your classmates, Manami Hamasaki. Normally quite gentle, as I expect you know, but her parents died in the attack on 108, and I am worried she might blame Director Chernov for that. She's the redhead in the cloud of smoke. I'm going to try doing my 'Ace reporter' impersonation and get a feel for where their conversation is heading. From there, we'll just have to play it by ear, eh?"

She smiled with a bravado she did not feel and headed toward the pair, hoping her fears were ill-founded.

Because if they were not, she was going to have to think of something brave (and foolish) to do, and fast

Or... we could just die?​

Pretty much always an option, yes. Thanks for that.

Time for a brilliant opening gambit...

"Director Chernov, I was wondering if you could confirm something for me about the text of your speech this evening?"

 

[Bag o Fruit]

Anneliese Van Can Gus April 30th, 6:14 am, Anneliese’s house

Investigating hotels had led her nowhere, just as Lars had planned. It only took two for her to find what he had done, but after the effect of a few whiffs of his drugs, that was enough to have taken up two full days of investigation. She had gone to bed pissed off, and woke up not much improved. She sat down at her desk with a mug of coffee, not without leads but no longer with a consistent train of thought. It hurt her head to start over, but she had no other choice.

If it takes me any longer to find him, I’m going to lose him until he strikes again. After that setback, I’m close to losing my foothold.

But after a few hours of empty investigation, she noticed a new angle of attack in the missing list from test day. Anthony Costanzo. It’s just too good for him to have passed up.

She quickly deduced that he had taken Piper Farrar as well. I know a little about her. Good kid, tenacious journalist, even if she’s a little dim sometimes. About Anthony, I can’t be sure, but Piper… Lars would have to believe she was player-character material. I believe it. So they’re relatively safe.

She put herself back into Lars’s mindset. I have a player-character in my grasp, possibly two. If I can’t kill them, I have to store them somewhere… and leaving them in a deep dark hole does not make for a good story. She nodded. I’ve found his mistake, and I have him now. Making for an interesting story needs to happen in permanent bases: somewhere that can be traced more easily than a hotel.

No, more than that… Making for an interesting story requires a set-up. Props, tech… A stage. He needs a stage.

She immediately looked up nearby theatres and news stories she believed to be his work, and started putting pins in a map of Baltimore.



April 26th, Late evening. Tiberius and Terri-Beth’s Terrific Theater

“Lars, my boy! It’s been far too long… how have you been keeping?”

“Well enough, you old fraud, well enough. I have fifteen thousand dollars in ill gotten cash about my person; if you can ferret it out before I go I’ll consider it a donation to the theater, otherwise you only get five.”

“You wound me to the quick, you impertinent young pup! To cast aspersions of avarice upon a fellow thespian as if he were a common thief!? If I were only twice your age, why, I’d… oh wait though… accusations only sting if they are true! C’mere then!”

Lars allowed himself to be drawn into a bear hug, warming to the older man’s patter even as he tried to detect the telltale signs of his money clip being lifted from the secret pocket in the back of his shirt. He felt nothing. Amazing.

A sweet feminine voice trilled from somewhere backstage. “Is that Lars out there? You tell him, he’s in big trouble!”

Tiberius turned beat red and whirled away from Lars to face the curtains behind him, roaring
“Woman, I am not your dad-blasted messenger, I am your husband!”

“Common-law!” came the reply. “Make me an honest woman and maybe I’ll reform!”

He hung his head in mock defeat, then spread his arms wide, appealing to the heavens for help or perhaps judgement. Lars chuckled at their banter. He really should make the effort to visit more often. And he should have offered more than… hang on… the money was still there! Was his old friend slipping? Should he have just kept it in the wallet after all? His hands went back to his sides as Tiberius finished co-miserating with Zeus and turned back to him looking concerned.

“She says you’re in trouble lad. Is this true?”

“No more than usual. 108 was attacked by terrorists today, so that is a bit of a hornet’s nest... To tell the truth, I may have poked one hornet in particular. Not the queen exactly, but you may be getting a visit before long. You can reach me at the usual number.”

“You won’t be staying for supper, then?”

“No, sorry, I have… Guests.”

“You see, I told you. He’s in big trouble. With me! When will you next grace us with your presence Mr. High-and-Mighty-Plot-Plotzer?”

“Terri-Beth you know I adore you both. Just now, things are complicated, and I don’t want you two caught in the middle. When Anneliese calls on you, tell her whatever you like. She will likely deduce the rest. For now, I really have to go. My guests are expecting a show, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”

She really seemed upset, and Lars left feeling bad about not staying. He promised himself he would take in a show of theirs again soon. As he passed through the box office, he stopped to drop his cash clip through the ticket taker window slot… and where there had been a hundred and fifty hundred dollar bills, there were only strips of newspaper.

He chuckled all the way back to the funhouse.



May 2nd, 11:00 am, Tiberius and Terri-Beth’s Terrific Theater

Anneliese sat comfortably on an uncomfortable wood chair in the theater, facing Tiberius Bartholomew Davidson and Terri-Beth Andrews. As she observed them, she realized what had sounded amiss over the phone. They knew I’d be coming. She casually glanced around for signs of traps. “Quite a remarkable establishment you have here. You don’t see a lot of places like this anymore, not in the states. How do you do it?”

“With panache!”

She grinned. “Well spoken, Mister Davidson. Or may I call you Tiberius?”

“Well, I must admit, that is my name when I’m at home… but you have the advantage of me my dear! Several advantages in fact…” he ticked them off on his fingers, “Let’s see: Youth, beauty, intelligence, and…” he paused, appearing to have lost his train of thought, then brightened. “Ah yes, I don’t believe I know who you are?”

“Of course! My apologies. I’m Anneliese Van Can. We spoke over the phone earlier, but I may have been… flustered. I’ve been out of sorts recently. Nevermind that. I called saying I’d have a few questions for you. I’m looking for Lars Magnusson, but as I’m sure you know, he’s hard to keep in contact with and far harder to find.” She squinted a bit, smiling sweetly.

“Well I can’t say as I’ve ever gone looking for him. He comes to us from time to time, though less so, of late. He makes donations to the theater pretty regularly, but only cash. He’s a bit mad, of course, but most patrons of the arts are. And of course artists can rarely be choosy about patrons, mm?”

Almost no tell… but just a little bit of humor in his voice. She laughed. “Unfortunately so, I would say. It’s truly a shame how little respect people have for the theatre. I’m quite an admirer myself, and I’m happy to donate today. However, I’d ask for my watch back, if you don’t mind. It was a gift from my grandmother.”

“...damn! He said you were good. It’s been a long while since anyone has tagged me. And may I say: your grandmother had excellent taste!”

Taking her watch back, she nodded graciously “You’re too kind! I’ll pass that along when next I write to her.” Fitting it on her wrist: “You’re extraordinarily skilled yourself. I have... had my share of experiences with sleight of hand, but I believe you have just usurped the standing of the best of them. Anyway-” she said, leaning forward “I must get to the matter at hand. How much do you two know, exactly, about Lars’s… theory?” Her query betrayed nothing of the fact that she knew the answer.

“That we’re characters in a storybook you mean? He told us all about it when we first met, years ago. He makes a convincing case too, though I admit it just made me laugh to think of it, and he hasn’t pushed his views on us since, which is more than I can say of most religious types... But I told him from the first: if life is a story, the writers are beyond simple madness. He says he wants to get their attention. Wrest the story from their control, if you can believe it! I’m not sure which is more frightening to think about: that he’ll face disappointment, or that he’ll get what he wishes for.”

Anneliese unclasped her shoulder bag, which sat beside her chair, and brought out handful of files. “I’m sorry to say, I think there’s more to be frightened of on the road to his ascension.” She handed them to Terri-Beth. “What’s inside these may be upsetting, I will warn you. These are the criminal incidence and mortuary reports of Barry Newell, Joseph Swan, Henry Williams, Joey Costanzo, Piper Farrar and Anthony Costanzo. All have gone missing or been found dead after suspected or confirmed contact with Lars.”

She waited as they flipped through the files. It was necessary, but it hurt her heart to watch them as they read.

May 2nd, 11:23 am, Funhouse control room

Among the clutter on the workbench, something buzzed. Lars picked it up and slid to answer, listened briefly, then broke the connection. He sighed, almost with relief.

She’s coming. At last.

May 2nd, 11:32 am, Anneliese’s house

Now he knows I’m coming. Doesn’t matter. I have him in a corner. Tied down by his obligations with Piper and Tony, and knowing that I know about the theatre, there are very few places he could run, and I know all of them. Now, to cut off his escape routes and close in for the capture, all I have to do is narrow it down to a couple he’d be most likely to go, get Kate to crash the less likely, and…

May 2nd, 11:33 am, Funhouse control room

Wait.

May 2nd, 11:33 am, Anneliese’s house

Wait.

He knows I know about his theatre hideaways, and I’d be likely to assume he’d avoid them like the plague, because those would be the first place I’d look…

May 2nd, 11:33 am, Funhouse control room

… unless she thought he wasn’t going to be there. She had to know Terri-Beth and Tiberius would call him...

May 2nd, 11:33 am, Anneliese’s house

And he’s smart enough to realize I triangulated his other bases. So would he hide at a theatre? Or even with Terri-Beth and Tiberius? Or would he realize even that I’d considered that possibility?

May 2nd, 11:33 am, Funhouse control room

How clever did she think he was? Well… he just needed to figure out how clever he actually was, and then do the opposite of what he thought he’d do. Unless she had underestimated him… or overestimated.

May 2nd, 11:34 am, Anneliese’s house

Anneliese put a fist down on her desk, and with her other hand picked up her coffee. We’re in stalemate. So, I need a game-changer… visions of chess danced through her mind, and an idea struck her. For example, some way to cover multiple bases at once. She picked up the phone.