Once more, Gloriosa, with the feels.

Drew actually shuttered at the thought of using sugar or salt packs for lunch. “Wouldn’t ketchup be better? At least that way you’ll be getting a vegetable in you, in truth a fruit really.” Her eyes going to the girl as the guy stepped in grateful in truth but wasn’t about to point it out. Not caring if the boy was engaged or not, she didn’t see interest to begin with, he being so young or she thought young by the looks of him. “Remind me to show you some more of the free perks of the job. Certain places let us eat for free on certain days and so forth. On those they don’t . . . if you’re in needing find me, I’m sure I can spare enough scratch to at least get you a cheap sandwich after all, in our line of work we need to look after each other.” He had the female in question so she would rise slightly, perhaps as if to get another cup. Heading to the counter, figuring if he did decide to do his job she would at least get in a better angle herself to help out. Ordering him another black coffee just in case he decided to stay though, who knows it could be used as a weapon if anything went down.


The fact the girl seemed to panic and run didn’t help, she let it slide though coming back to set the cup in front of him. “They’re all scared . . . no one knows what’s going on and those who do aren’t talking. You can’t really blame them.” Was Drew really given an excuse for those leaving in such a way? “Maybe they’re worried that even being near the area there is a chance we toss them in. Then again they have rights to that fear . . . you never know when the zone might grow after all.” Her eyes focused on Igarashi as if that was a warning for him to be careful. Where his moral compass point after all, was he a mindless bot like a lot of cops she knew, or did he have a heart, a soul, was he smart enough to know when to question and stand down on his own? Was his justice what he was taught, or what he felt and found naturally.
 
"Myou fink?" Igarashi said, his lips now holding a sugar packet between them as he crammed some more into his rather deep pockets. Once done, he took the one from his lips and tore it open. He gave a look at the newly arrived coffee then at his near finished one, then to the packet. He emptied it into the new cup. "Thanks, I'd really appreciate it. I guess I could repay that favour if I need to. If you run into any trouble, don't stand on the ovation, give me a ring." He finished his first cup and swirled his new one, all the while swiping away on his phone. He stopped swiping, paused, then turned to look at the door where the girl had just walked out. He removed his glasses and his eyes shifted back to the phone.


"Do you know the girl?"


Confused stutter, panicking, signs of clumsiness in both speech pattern and physical movement, possibly suffering from some sort of dementia. Paranoia. Wildly looking around, seems to be looking for someone. Igarashi made several clicks on his phone, swiped left a few times, made the same presses, then swiped some more, repeating the process at least 3 more times, before nodding and tucking the phone away under his coat. She's definitely with a group. Her odd gravitation towards Ms. Drew isn't the only reason she would flee.





A smirk played on his lips, a smile that seemed more cunning than his original foolish grin, then as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. Igarashi pushed the glasses back on, his hand hiding part of his face. When he was done, his expression was of a rather calm one. "Do you think your dear friend requires some further investigation regarding her movement from here onwards? Just a question, nothing to lose sleep on."
 
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Jevel was flustered, to say the least. He didn't realize the girl had grown so attached to him, nor had he realized he was attached to her as well. Even though they had only known each other for the better part of an afternoon, they had grown close, had become friends.


Jevel hadn't had very much time for girls, what with his constant time out in the field studying and excavating. The close-up female embrace he was then experiencing was new and foreign to him, but it made him feel familiar feelings, feelings that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He didn't want to keep standing there awkwardly, so he set his arms to rest around her.


At her comment, he nodded slowly with an understanding look in his eyes.


"It's okay, I shouldn't have expected you to spill all of your secrets to a complete stranger...we can talk about it later, okay?"


He started off at a light jog towards the other two girls that had briefly accompanied them in the cafe, gesturing for the girl to follow him.


"By the way, I never got your name."
 
Sebastianne forced herself to pay attention to real sounds, and listened to the Angry Girl speak. For perhaps the first time that morning, Sebastianne agreed that there was probably a very real chance that they were in danger of being pursued by the authorities. While she had discounted the possibility of being tracked after escaping the tunnels as minimal, the run-in with the coppers was an entirely new situation. Sebastianne checked the street, looking for cameras-- it seemed that they were far enough away from any intersection to be caught on film. Now, as long as the police stayed in the cafe...





Without understanding the reason why yet for some reason trusting this girl enough to follow her instructions, Seb pulled out her mobile from the pocket of her jeans, noting there was a new text message from Chloe. Made it to the QZ. Meet @ the uni, still? The timestamp showed it had been sent about ten minutes ago. Seb texted back quickly Can you pick us up at Speedy's cafe on Regent Street? The response was immediate. b there in 5. Once the short conversation was finished, Seb passed her mobile over to-- "So, you're name's Alani, yeah?" Seb asked as she looked down at the newly-added contact in her phone. She looked at Alani with a frown full of confusion. "Why are you trusting me?" Whatever the reason, Seb was grateful for the offer of shelter at a place that wouldn't implicate her flatmate in this new "Altered world" that Seb had been forced into. And, although Seb would never admit it, for better or for worse, Alani was one of the few people Seb felt she would ever entrust with her Altered status.





Seb returned the favour, adding her first name, mobile number and address into Alani's contact list-- not that the address would be of much use for a while. "I'll probably head over to my flatmate's boyfriend's place first, to grab a change of clothes and a cap before taking the tube to your address." As Jevel ran to catch up, Seb tried not to roll her eyes. "I suppose I'm taking those two with me."





"My name is Maria-- what's your's?" Sebastianne lied as the boy and the black-haired girl jogged towards Seb and Alani, thinking it the question was directed at her. As she said it, Seb pulled out her mobile again and sent off two text messages, the first to Chloe which read: Got company. Call me Maria when you meet me. You'll be Jessica. Stephen'll be Matt. The second text message, to Alani read: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you mind if these two tag along to your place?


A minute later, a blue, compact-size Honda pulled up to the curb driven by a bloke with dreadlocks that cascaded past his shoulders. A peroxide blonde with black eyeshadow highlighting bright blue eyes poked her head out of the passenger window with a large grin on her face. "Maria! Sorry it took so long-- traffic was a bloody travesty, since the tube when down for about an hour, what with the power outage! So, how many we got? We've space for as many as will fit in the back and the boot. Jump in!"
 
At the prospect of talking later, Robyn is happy to accept; the fact that he did not turn her away for lying meant a lot. It was true what he said too, they were just strangers, and it added to the fact when he asked her for her name. She hadn’t even introduced herself yet to him…


“People call me Robyn”


She had worded it in such a way that she wasn’t lying; after all she hadn’t legally changed her name yet, but made sure everyone would call her such. Actually, considering her lawyer for her case, her name might have been legally changed… An odd fellow of the sorts, but it was thanks to him that Robyn hadn’t stood on trial.


The pierced girl had thought Jevel was talking to her and introduced herself as Maria, turning back to her phone not long after. It seemed that the three of them; Jevel, Maria and her, would be getting in the car that pulled up to the curb. A blonde was sitting in the front, with a man in the driver’s seat of the Honda, he and the pierced girl seemed to know each other well enough. Remembering she hadn’t taken the time to introduce herself to Jevel, she does so again for the bigger group.


“I think there is three of us…I’m Robyn by the way…” as an afterthought, she apologizes, “Sorry for the scene back there…I thought she was someone else.”
 
“So you’re name’s Alani, yeah? Why are you trusting me?”


The girl’s eyes drifted momentarily towards the cordoned off area of the city at the question before she met her companion’s frown with a half-grin. “Simple,” she murmured after a second’s thought, “what they’re doing is wrong … and if I don’t try to help, I’ve no right to expect that others would …” A slight blush touched her cheeks at the sheer stupidity of the statement itself. Nervously she bit at her lower lip after having finally put into words her driving motivation, but the meek mannerism only lasted for a second.


As the two idiots from the café rejoined them, she just rolled her eyes and let her expression sour considerably. “Don’t let the ******* simpletons get you killed …” she murmured callously before walking off to rejoin the crowd of onlookers at the disaster site.


Those two walking disasters ruined everything. She had hoped to fish for more information, but now found herself needing to keep her head down just to avoid suspicion. Thus approaching the officials in this area with jokes, snickers, and information requests was simply a strategy that wasn’t on the table. As such she settled in to listening to the banter around her as she let the crowd sweep her about. Her patience for their excitement at human misfortune ran short after only about fifteen minutes or so, however, and so she decided to head back early to get in a shower before her guests arrived.


Around a googolplex… She texted back as she made it into her apartment and finally noticed the text waiting on her phone. Do it anyway … I’ll ******* deal …
 
Hopping into the car alongside Robyn, Jevel took a quick scan of the car's interior and inhabitants. He said nothing, except to tell them his name. From now on, he decided, he'd be a little more discreet about personal details and information. He wasn't just an average anybody, not anymore.


This thought briefly gave Jevel a shard of joy at achieving his goal of being extraordinary, but the feeling was soon followed by a feeling of gloominess, regretting that his dreams had to be realized at the cost of his own security and, possibly, sanity.


He leaned back into the leather seat and stared up at the sky through the sunroof.
 
Gerry took the other male's offer and got into the van, taking a seat and looking over toward the female with a raised brow. He looked her over, then gave a bit of a chuckle. "I take it you're the 'Random Stranger' then, eh?" Before she could respond, the other guy mentioned him asking about the smoking and then went into more words about groceries and a place to stay.


The dreadlocked man could only nod, then turn to the gal in the wheelchair as she went off about the plan then just kind of... wandered off into thinking about something. "Hmm, well, if it's any condolence I'm down thus far with sticking to any kinda' plan. As it sits I'm off my knob in confusion here about... well, everything. If you lot have a basic understanding, I wouldn't mind lending my ear whenever."


When the woman suggested calling his 'friends', Gerry gave another nod and dug out his mobile, looking back-asswords at his arm. "Bloody number's upside down," he murmured with a hint of frustration, finally getting the number saved and pressing the call button. Leaning back in the chair while it rang, the male gave a sigh, but this time it was one of relief. He didn't want to get too ahead of himself, but things looked like they were heading toward right for once today...
 
Sebastianne waited until Jevel and Robyn hopped into the back seat, and then scooted in after them before closing the car door. As the door closed, "Matt" hit the pedal and raced away from the curb, suctioning them all to the backs of their seats. While there were indeed three seats in back of the compact-size car, it was cramped. Sebastianne tried to press herself against the car door so she wouldn't smother Robyn who was sitting in the middle. Isis, however, had other ideas, and fickly abandoned her owner's lap for Robyn's. Robyn, at least, hadn't mistreated Isis all morning.


Once they had made it a good distance away from the quarantine zone-- the traffic had lightened considerably from the gridlock caused by this morning's disruption-- Chloe twisted around in her seat and extended a welcoming hand to Jevel and Robyn. "I'm-- Jessica. This is Matt," Her inch-long nails were adorned in red and white nail polish which made them to look like pokeballs. Her thumbs were painted like Pikachu faces. "So, did you guys see the explosion?" Chloe asked, her curiosity overcoming her concern for Sebastianne's welfare. Chloe knew that if something was seriously wrong with her flatmate, Sebastianne would have told her. "The footage on the telly only showed the aftermath and the riots... and that lawyer that got arrested. What was his name? Garret? Gerald Reap or something?"


"Garrick Rake," Sebastianne replied absently, looking out the window as the life of all the normal people flew by at thirty miles per hour. As soon as she said it, Seb tensed up and swore inwardly, scrambling for an excuse of how she had come by such information.


"Yeah, that's the one," Chloe replied cheerfully, who hadn't noted her friend's discomfort. "And all these "Altered" people. If you ask me, it's all bollocks-- just some bloody prank that a few people took too far." Chloe rolled down the passenger window and opened up a pack of cigarettes, sliding one out and lighting it in a practiced gesture. With the cigarette hanging from her lip, she turned around and asked her travelling companions in the back: "Want one?"


Seb would have killed for a cigarette. However, the ghost-thing's warning about traffic cameras echoed around her skull, and she didn't want to expose herself to the cameras anymore than necessary by rolling down her window. The cigarette could wait. Sebastianne shook her head at the offer.


Just then, her mobile started playing the guitar solo from GNR's Sweet Child O' Mine. Sebastianne squirmed around in her seat as she tried to remove the mobile from her pocket without squishing Robyn. She looked at the display and didn't recognize the number. Normally, she would have just let the call go to voicemail at the sight of an unknown number, but after this morning....Sebastianne flipped open the phone. "Who's this?" She asked in a voice that was just short of demanding.


Sebastianne was on the phone for most of the car ride back to Stephen's flat.


+-+-+-+


Stephen had a two bedroom flatshare in South London. The upside was that it was close to a train station. The downside was that it was a tiny, grungy sort of place, with a carpet so dirty it was shocking to believe it had once been blue, and old pizza boxes lining one of the walls which lent a distinctly greasy smell to the place because neither Stephen nor his flatmate placed much importance on sanitation or nutrition. There was also an abundance of glassware covering the coffee table in the living room, including the crowning achievement of a four-foot tall hookah adorned with three hoses.


In short, it was not the sort of place that Sebastianne imagined that either Jevel or Robyn frequented very often.


Once inside, Sebastianne ignored any discomfort her newfound companions might be feeling and flung herself down onto one of the sofa's sunken cushions and fiddled with the mp3 player that was leaning in its docking station on the coffee table. She searched through the artists until she found Divine Winter, put the mp3 player back in the dock, and listened to the heavy rhythm laid down by distorted guitar riffs, overlaid by clear vocals. Seb leaned her head back against the wall and relaxed into the sofa, smiling a little as she heard the music and also "heard" the music with her powers, like a faint echo of its rich sound. She pushed everything else out of her mind-- it was becoming surprisingly easy to ignore the voices in her head as the day progressed-- and listened to the song as she thought about the guy from the band. Idly, Seb wondered if he was still going to play gigs, given his Altered status.


Her mobile vibrated in her pocket. Without even checking it, Sebastianne knew it was a text from Alani, and she knew what the message contained. Sebastianne smiled wryly. Even texting, Alani swore the sky blue. Then Seb's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she realized she'd understood the text without looking at it.


"Are you guys going to stay here for a while, then?" Chloe asked the three guests, taking the ceramic bowl off the top of the hookah and upturning its burnt contents into an ashtray. She replaced the bowl and filled it with shisha from a package with the words "Triple Apple" typed in bright green font, placed a perforated aluminum foil overtop of the bowl, and lit a coal. She then sat down cross-legged on the grimy carpet and inhaled from one of the hoses, breathing in little smoke from the first few puffs.


"No," Sebastianne replied for them after a minute, moving from her relaxed pose to hunch forward, her elbows resting on her knees as a new wave of anxiety washed over her. "We're heading out soon. But we'll need to change first. Got any clothes and hats we can borrow?"


"Maaybe?" Chloe grinned impishly, looking over to Robyn and Jevel. Surely nothing that Steven had to spare would be up to the standards of these two. "Matt's got a ton of old cosplay costumes shoved up in the broom cupboard, along with some clothes that people have left here from parties. Want to take a look? Broom cupboard's at the end of the hallway." Once Chloe had the hookah going, Stephen came and sat down across from her on the couch, and inhaled from another hose. He just smiled crookedly at the lot of them.


"Sure," Seb replied, getting up from her space on the sofa and walking over to the broom cupboard. As soon as she opened the door, a pile of clothes, capes, hats, cosplay weapons and shoes came tumbling out. How some people forgot their shoes at a party was beyond her. She picked out a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring, and a button up shirt that probably belonged to a guy about her size, an oversized felt jacket from some sort of cosplay outfit, and a newsboy cap. "I suggest you guys change," Seb added, looking at Robyn and Jevel. "We're going to take the tube back to the other girl's place, and you probably don't want to be recognized."
 
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When she slides into the back seat Robyn is comforted by Jevel’s presence next to her, her thoughts slightly more clear. Energized, even, and when the cat she hadn’t seen before crawls into her lap she coddles the girl, petting her as she rested on her lap. “Awhh” she murmurs as the cat licks her fingers in response before rubbing her head against Robyn’s hand.


Continuing to pet the animal, she is distracted when the blonde in the front introduces her and the man driving as Jessica and Matt, respectively. It was either luck or that the blonde noticed her cast when she extended the correct hand in Robyn’s direction. Shaking it with a smile, she repeats their names despite the fact she had already introduced herself at the curb, and Jevel, himself, in the car. She noticed her fingernails had an odd design that seemed familiar, but Robyn shook it off when the girl started asking questions.


The ebony-haired girl was unsure of whether it was rhetorical or not, but answered it anyways; “I didn’t see the first one, but the others I did…” When she continues on to say that a lawyer got arrested, Maria has a chance to fill in the blank before she did. Garrick Rake. She turns to the pierced girl suddenly, but then pulls her gaze away; it was probably better for her to jump in then Robyn. After all explaining how she knew the lawyer would open up a can of worms she wasn’t ready to deal with.


Jessica then continued to rant about the ‘altered’ people, calling it a big prank; it was ironic that there were two of them in her back seat at the moment. When she offered her cigarettes back, Robyn waved off the offer with a smile, glancing out the window. A phone rang and she didn't have to check her pockets to know it wasn't hers, Maria picked up, giving her a one-sided conversation to idly listen to as she focused on the outside world. Growing up in London, she had seen many of the structures before, but in the time since her arrest, London had changed.


It took the drive there to realize she was back in the south area of London, and before Robyn could look around, the group had started to the apartment. Following behind them with the cat, she was led to a tiny apartment, with plenty of garbage and a rather odd smell. Jessica asked if they were staying and Maria made it clear that the trip was business, getting clothes they could change into. The girl seemed at home in the apartment, earlier flopping down on the couch to set the mp3 to some sort of weird music. Robyn was rather awkward, letting the cat wander while standing at the door and watching as Jessica and Matt both take a hose from this weird…vase-like thing. Frowning, she instead followed Maria down the hall to the broom closet, which she opened. When the clothes tumbled out, the girl grabbed some for herself then asked them to grab clothes of their own.


Already having to change her clothes once in order to stay inconspicuous, Robyn simply rolled her eyes and sighed, shifting through the clothing. “I’ll need some help changing” she gestures to her arm, and then glances between the four of them with her. She throws a flannel, plaid, dress shirt over her shoulder; it would be big on her, but it would do. She exchanged her flip-flops for some weird looking boots, and grabbed some stockings that must have come from the cosplay section with their odd techno-colors. After a thought, she also grabs some sunglasses from the pile, sliding them into her hair before standing up.


Not really sure where they were supposed to change, she pulls at the draw stings of her sweats before flipping the flops into the pile. She then starts taking off her pants, right in front of the broom closet, rather awkwardly with her impairment.
 
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Lori had put together a shopping list for Duncan. Duncan had glanced over the list, then directed Sister Christina to hit a store. Gerry looked like hell had frozen and was still having trouble warming over again. And the man needed to get ahold of his friends. So he offered Gerry the option of staying in the bus. Lori was nervous almost to the point of twitching just from being out of her apartment and not living according to her routine. So he offered her much the same. Besides her being in a wheelchair was just going to slow things down. And Lori seemed to want to work on her laptop.


Lori was more than amenable. This had become a day for throwing caution of the window, She had made so many mistakes today that she was losing count. Part of her wanted to just cry. At this point she’d have given just about anything to be back in her apartment - alone and quiet.


Duncan chose to take the nun and Emilyn if she wanted to come. He explained that the groceries needed to be bought in two parts. Most would be for the church soup line. The other part would be for the group. The latter needed to be whatever the group would eat. Anything unused could be donated. Emilyn he pointed toward the deli section suggestively - considering her mention of hunger.


Duncan was finding the grocery store a smorgasbord to his senses. he made it a point to hit the spice section and sniffed at every spice there was, grabbing a bottle just about everything. Truth was, he wasn’t really a cook - unless you counted grilling and the occasional stew. But his senses seemed to be peaking. It was the first sign that anything unusual had really happened to him. Well there was the fact that he was starting to recall things he had studied long ago - math formulas he had hardly used, engineering techniques he had learned, then set aside as not needed for the less than technical jobs he worked. He found himself in search of challenges.


He blatantly tipped a handful of workers at the store to help Sister Christina out, citing that the Church was planning to feed some of the displaced people from the zone affected by all the explosions. That sent the nun with a group of 4-5 people each with a shopping cart following her everywhere. Duncan almost swore he caught a smile from the woman.


As he walked around gathering supplies for the group he nearly flew past the floral section and stopped. He cocked his head at the variety - which wasn’t great but still gave him ideas. Lori had described some of what she had seen. One of those things had been the manipulation of plants. Despite the scents of the flowers being a little overpowering, he grabbed an extra cart and began filling it with a veritable jungle of various plants. He had no idea WHICH person had the powers except that it wasn’t Gerry. But his first suspect was Emilyn. She was the most likely person to have developed the power to manipulate plants according to his theories about how powers developed. And that was just based on what he had smelled. The variety should give her something to practice with.


Next his mind began to turn to Gerry. Eyes that glowed in the darkness? Sensitivity to low light conditions? He had SEEN Lori in her spirit form! Maybe he wasn’t psychic, but what about seeing into parts of the EMF spectrum? He would be able to see “auras” easily. That was a normal phenomenon. Which types of cameras were used to pick up on ghosts? They were going to need to hit another electronics store if he was right. But he already had one toy that would prove useful - the laser pointer on his keychain. He had fun teasing a friend’s cat with it. The question was whether Gerry would be able to bend a laser beam …


It dawned on Duncan that some of his new friends might not WANT to know what they could do or explore. But the simple fact was they NEEDED to know. And at least his way of testing was going to be a lot simpler that what the government would do.
 
Lori got to work once she was all but alone, tapping along on her laptop. She really wished she had her full setup. Working with a single computer was slowing her down badly. She had other computers she could access, but until she could update them they were useless. And it would take a day or two to set up all the new computers she had picked up. And she really didn’t want to do that at the church. Helping these people was becoming a royal nuisance. She was losing her patience with them. If they didn’t WANT her help, ……. them. She was safer without them.


She had already assumed the girl whose cell she had called would turn any GPS functions off. But that didn’t stop Lori from accessing it and all her contacts through the app that she’d downloaded with the map. She wanted to research all the names on the list, but instead just looked at the call history and picked the most recent. Then she sent out a feeler to a few stores on the cell number. Many stores offered discount or rewards cards and often tracked data by phone numbers. Punch that in and you had spending habits. She ran the numbers of the contacts as well. The result would be a geographic story.


Two main locations. The university region and London South side. And her phone was headed south. That meant a horrible drive to get there. The woman was flagged for certain types of offers as well according to her spending habits. Lori didn’t need to see those to guess the woman lived an active social life. She looked the part - even on a bad hair day. She looked … self-pampered. Lori looked down at herself, a little conscious of her own appearance. She had really not wanted to meet Duncan looking like this. Gym clothes?


As much as Lori wanted to dig she had already seen more than enough. Alani was a creature of habit. She was smart, but not trained to give herself a true zero electronic footprint. She was pleased to note that Alani’s face wasn’t showing up on cameras everywhere. Lori couldn’t say the same for her friends. But unless someone got into her contacts or witnessed the meeting and got pictures that wasn’t so much of a risk yet. It was too soon to tell if it had dawned on Alani to avoid microphones - or that any cell phone was a recording device.


Smartphones were too damned smart.


Really NO cell phone was safe. Even her secured phone wasn’t complete safe. Confined to the small area of London anyone who knew what to look for could track it - without needing to use cell towers. A cell phone was really just a radio even if a very weak one. And any EMF signal could be triangulated. Of course that took specialized equipment - like would be available in an electronics van. At least Alani lived well outside this area ...


St Anne’s wasn’t going to be safe for herself and their new friends.
 
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Emilyn left Puddin in the van and followed Duncan into the store and immediately her stomach grumbled loudly. "Oh man." She mumbled and nodded as she headed for the deli section as Duncan asked her to. She whistled a little tune as she made her way towards the counter where behind it a large lady was grumbling around and angrily slicing meat.


"Hola-ito, senora." Emilyn greeted to the dark skinned woman who in return, gave a very unamused stare. Emilyn nodded and gave a smile that lasted a little too long for comfort before continuing. "Alright, well I need a shit ton of meat and a boat-load of cheese." She said and crossed her arms nonchalantly, waiting for the woman to to just hand her what she asked for.


The deli employee raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms back at Emilyn. "Ma'am, I'll need you to be a bit more..." She started and Emilyn gasped and laughed.


"Oh-oh of course, I need exactly like- a pallet of that, that and that right there of meat, just take like a cooler and fill it with meat, It will great, do the same with cheese but choose whatever cheese you think will be best, I'm not picky. Hey, while you're doing that I'll be right back I'm going to the bakery, the ice cream cakes are taunting me and It's Emilyn's go show it who's boss. B-R-Bizzle." She smiled kindly and briskly walked away to the bakery section.


When she was done, after arguing for a few minutes with the fat lady behind the cake counter on the quality of the ice cream cakes she returned to the deli counter cakeless and received the two ice coolers of meat and cheese happily in her own buggie then, made her way back to Duncan who was shopping around. He seemed to have a look of deep concentration of his face as he pushed the buggie.


"Whelp, I hope you like sandwiches, I love sandwiches, I make an awesome sammich and yeah, what's up with all the flowers? Into gardening?" She asked as she coasted buggie slowly aside his.
 
The phone call portion of this post is a joint post between Vive and myself.

​




"Who's this?" Sebastianne asked rather tersely, shifting in her car seat in a fruitless attempt to give herself some privacy from Robyn and Jevel.


"A friend," Gerry answered with a laugh. "Naw, it's Gerry. Y'know, Divine Winter bloke, happens to have your number on his arm." Smirking to himself, he eyed the number again and shook his head. "How're you lot faring? Everything well?"


A ghost of a smirk passed Seb's lips as he referred to himself as "Divine Winter bloke". However, the smile disappeared immediately as he reminded her of her present circumstance. Sebastianne thought carefully about her wording. She had no desire to tell "Jessica" and "Matt" more than necessary, at the risk of compromising their safety if they were indeed being pursued by the police. "We found Jevel," Seb replied at last, adding, "the boy we were looking for. However, we had a run-in with the police while we stepped into a cafe for a coffee break."


It was Gerry's turn to frown this time at the mention of police and this Jevel person. "Well... that's unfortunate. Nothing major though, yeah?" he questioned.


"No nothing illegal, if that's what you mean. We didn't see them follow us, so..." Seb's voice trailed off, belaying her anxiety of their present situation.


Gerry nodded to himself at her words. "Well that's good," he said at her pause, and then shut up as she started speaking again.


"Anyways, didn't think it would be a good idea to find you guys again, especially, since Random Person seems pretty paranoid, so we're going to..." What were they going to do? Did Seb even have a plan? Did she dare take these two people who seemed to attract no end of trouble to Alani's place, and put another person in danger? Of course, Alani wasn't an altered, but still-- maybe they'd charge her with being an accessory to a crime. In any case, it was probably best not to mention any detailed plans over the phone, just in case. "Anyways. We're going to keep away for a while, I think. I haven't thought much beyond that."


The dreadlocked man frowned a little, but waited for her to finish her thought before he started jabbering on again. "Makes sense, I 'spose," he agreed, but it was almost halfheartedly in its tone. It wasn't that he didn't trust those that he was with, but, not only were he and the Stoner Girl not really a 'fit' with them, he didn't know a damn thing about them. More paranoia gripped his chest, trying to worm its way to panic. He bit it back and gave a slight uncomfortable sigh at her further words of uncertainty.


"Anyways, you sure you can trust'm? Jevel? Just don't want you lot getting into unnessary trouble or anything." He adjusted himself in the seat uncomfortably, aching for a cigarette but ignoring the feeling


"I'm not sure," Sebastianne replied, unwilling to say much more while she was sitting next to the boy in question.


After a second's awkward pause, Sebastianne asked, "What about you? Did you meet up with the Random Person?"


"Erm, yeah. Met up with'r and some other guy. They're grabbing up some supplies and then we're heading to a safe place." The male rubbed a hand through his beard thoughtfully, wondering just how much information to share over the phone. Now HE was getting paranoid about all of this. "Will you all be joining up at some point?"


"Maybe?" Seb replied uncertainly,"If we do, it'll be much later today--" Speaking of, Sebastianne forgot that she was still supposed to work tonight. "****" She muttered under her breath. "It's just confusing right now. I don't really know what's going to happen."


He laughed dryly "Yeah, tell me about it. This whole day's been a mess so far." He leaned his head back against the (hardly) cushioned seat and grumbled. "Well, on the plus side of things, we're not all bloody mad. Well, mostly, anyway."


Sebastianne snickered, something that was genuine and comforting-- to him at least. "Just some of us," she quipped


The male chuckled lightly and replied. "Yeah, isn't that the bleedin' truth..." he murmured, trailing off a little as an awkward silence set in between them.


Seb tried to think of what else to say. The awkwardness of the situation was dawning on her. She had given her number to a guy she'd known for barely two hours and whom she still knew almost nothing about. Except that he was part of the Divine Winter band. She didn't even know what instrument he played and was afraid to ask in case someone was listening. Goddammit, Alani and the ghost-girl had really gotten to her. "Well... I'll give you a ring when things die down, alright?"


"Hey, sounds good. Keep in touch, eh? All this shit's got me on edge to say the least." He rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling very, very exhausted. "Talk to you then."


"Ta," Seb replied before flipping her mobile shut.


Gerry pressed 'end' on his mobile's screen and shoved it back into his pocket when the male mentioned he and the gal could stay on the bus. Gerry accepted willingly, leaning back in his seat again as the others left. For a few moments, he stayed quiet, looking around almost as if aimlessly. The woman probably thought him off his rocker.


Looking down at himself, not realizing the other was doing the same, Gerry cursed under his breath. Not only did he reek of various lovely scents, but he didn't exactly look like a productive member of society. Not only was he dirty from scrambling around in the tunnels, but he'd just tossed on the first things he could grab from his place after... whatever happened this morning happened.


Finally he spoke up, trying to break the awkward silence in the bus and trying to get to know this Random Stranger. "Hey, wanted to say thanks for all this. You lot seem to have some kinda' plan at least and we're nothin' but lucky you happened to find us. Or came looking... **** I dunno." He kicked himself inwardly, not quite sure what to say to the female. He didn't want to go on about powers or anything, but what else could they talk about?


"Have we figured anything about this morning or is there even anything being talked about?" he questioned, wishing he had something other than his mobile with him so he could check a few sources for information.
 
Duncan’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the coolers filled with snacking goodies. He winced inwardly as he realized this probably wasn’t what Lori and Sister Christina wanted, but it was probably a better choice than they would have expected. Lori had probably been thinking more along the lines of materials that could be stored. She was the bunker sort. The only problem he could see was that they were in a minibus - and someone (translation him) was going have to lug all the groceries around. He merely smiled amiably.


“Welp, what I don’t eat, the rest of you can share.” Then he glanced at the growing floral display. Most of what he was grabbing were potted plants - not cut stems. These are for you I believe - most of them anyways. His eyes lost their smiled just briefly as he became more serious. “When you can take the pebble from my hand Grasshopper, you will have learned.” His voice was gentle, not voluminous to draw attention. He didn’t maintain eye contact for more than a second, playing the moment off as just random fun. “Some of the cut flowers are for someone else. You don’t suppose this will embarrass her too much, do you?”


Duncan waved a couple beautiful red roses around like they were practically a wand. “I think she’s my personal stalker. But I won’t tease her too much about it. She just knew way too much about me before we even met.” His voice trailed off for a moment. Then his voice dropped even lower, almost conspiratorial. “Excuse me …” He turned to the floral employee. “You have a good count. Can you mark this one as Paid? Don’t worry, I’ve got enough.”


As soon as the floral employee nodded he turned and walked over to an elderly woman shopping alone on one of those motorized shopping buggies. “Ma’am? For the beautiful lady.” He bowed a little and handed the tagged paid rose over.


Instinctively the woman reached out to take the rose. But she tried to scowl and retort. “Young man, I haven’t been a beautiful lady since I was old enough to be your grandmum.”


Her attempt to be angry didn’t phase Duncan in the slightest for he raised the other rose to his nose and sniffed. The woman mimicked the gesture without realizing it. And in spite of herself she blushed. Then she leaned a little to look around Duncan at Emilyn. “Now he’s a keeper.” And with that she rode on no longer frowning at everything.


Duncan turned back and grinned at Emilyn, now a little embarrassed. His ears were turning red. “Well, it seemed like a good thing to do.” Then again his voice dropped. “I’ll explain later about all the plants. I’m not just guessing.”
 
Lori looked up. She thought for a moment before speaking. having finally heard the man speak, her estimate of his IQ had shot up about 30 points. That put him at about average IQ now, which meant the possibility of holding a conversation with words of more than one syllable. Good.


“Well, I had a plan. But it has been shot to hell several times already. First off, there was no ‘luck’ involved. I went looking for you. You were one of three groups I spotted. One group there was nothing I could do for. The second was a pair of idiots that didn’t do as they were supposed to do or they would already be safe and in hiding. Your group was the largest, but it split up like a bunch --,” she stopped as she realized her accent was starting to come out. She wasn’t British.


She took a breath and started over. “I’m sorry. It is just that I am used to living like this. I have done so for a very long time. I have no electronic footprint. I’m a zero - no ID. I don’t even have a birth certificate - never did. I never went to school. I have never driven a car, just a few exotic vehicles - like a mobile SAM launcher and a tank.” She smiled a little. “I was a little kid and about all I did was steer.”


“Okay, here’s the deal. You have a few choices. If you want to disappear, you need to ditch all the traceable electronics. I bought about 20 burner phones. Two of you showed up. Hmm?” She frowned and mentally kicked herself. “Okay, sorry. Now because of the two girls that left your group YOU are now at extremely high risk. They have HER face associated with Jevel and Robyn. Not really her name by the way.


“It is no longer a question of IF the ladies will be found, but WHEN. Eventually even microphones - like every phone and computer around us - won’t be safe. Most major countries have a version of the Echelon Program. It may take time, but eventually they will get your voices on recordings. From those they get voiceprints. Once that happens, every time you speak you could get tagged.


“You will need money - a lot of it. I have already spent thousands of Euros on you people today. And I already know the money is wasted. You are going to get caught. You’ve already screwed up. But … you can make it take longer. And the trick is not to do anything too illegal avoiding getting caught. I am already working on a plan to save you and the people already taken. But for that I need time and a place to work. I already have everything I need - I hope.”


“I recorded everything right up until the first explosion. I had the data backed up. just part of my routine security protocols. The sad part was I knew about something going down well before it did. I just didn’t realize how unusual it was. It looked like a stakeout and raid that had nothing to do with me.


“The authorities were after someone - before the explosion. That means all of this was premeditated in some way. Police don’t follow someone without a reason. You don’t raid a building without the person you are after being thought dangerous. And they set up a QZ in less than 30 minutes and started testing for Altered. genetic testing normally covers only 16 specific sites in our DNA. They weren’t testing for that. They already KNEW what to test for. Initial tests for something like that normally takes hours of days - not minutes. And they brought the materials to test thousands of people and tag them. Duncan has some ideas about what happened. I don’t know how he’s come up with anything from no information. I think he figured it all out from listening to a few things I mentioned - and seeing the rainbow lights. And I think he has some ideas about that - like what caused them.”


“Anyways … a plan. For the moment, I have rented the Main Hall and this minibus from St Anne’s. We can stay there tonight - or see about an alternative arrangement. If it were just me I would vanish completely off the grid. That is the only thing that will save the others now. Now I can arrange for it. It won’t be fun though. The alternative is to find a nice, private flat somewhere - maybe convert a warehouse.


“Longer term? We need to find out what has happened to us. I hate to say it, but those who were captured will have an advantage on us along those lines. They will be pushed to perform. You guys will need to push yourselves. The faster we learn, the harder it will be to take us prisoner - or keep us prisoner.”


“Oh … and all my security? Even that may not work in light of these new abilities. I am trained more to deal with mundane methods of tracking people. But how do I stop a Remote Sensing person? Or someone with a super sniffer? Psychics? That is why I am not going to push the whole extreme off grid idea too far. I think that has become obsolete.”
 
Emilyn smiled innocently as she caught his little surprised expression upon seeing the coolers of meat and cheese. When he told her the flowers were mostly for her she rose an eyebrow and shot him a 'not bad' face.


"Well, I have to say, I'm flattered but you're not really my ty-" she started and stretched, feeling pretty impressed for a moment that someone so cute had an eye out for her. Then he mentioned a stalker an stopped short, she had a feeling she knew who it was he was actually referring too.


"Tyyype of shampoo do you use? Your hair smells nice I'm sure she loves your smell, flowersaregreatshe'lllovethem." She made a wide nervous grin and giggled.


Her eyes quickly flitted over to the buggie again and to the other plants after just catching the quote. "So uh-you're gonna teach me something? You have a green thumb? I mean I seem to have some...sort of..." Her blue eyes moved around the store and she decided it was too public to say anything about the alterations. "Gardening skills but all I seem to sense from you is a way with the..." She gave a quick impatient smile to the old woman after she mentioned him being a keeper and then rode off into the florescent over head check out counter sunset on a dieing battery.


Her eyes moved back to Duncan. "Ladies. But I don't think I need schooling in romancing nature." She said and ended with a weird duck face.
 
The ringtone of his phone made Igarashi start up suddenly. To any connoisseur of the musical arts, it would have been obvious Ave Maria was what came from his speakers until he swiped one finger across the screen and held the phone up to his ear. "Detective Igarashi speaking." His usually carefree face shifted into one of a grim and serious line. His eyes glanced at Drew, before he stood up from his seat, excusing himself with a nod and exiting the cafe, leaving an unfinished cup of long black still warm on the table. Once outside, he took the time to look around him, before continuing his conversation.


"Boss." he greeted the other voice on the other end.


"Still standing on ovation, Shin? Come on, we know each other for nearly our whole lives. Now, with regards to your investigation..."





"I haven't been given time to search through the evidence, Ueda." Igarashi walked down the street and turned the corner, before stopping and leaning against the concrete wall. "Seems like Daito has its fingerprints all over it, though." Igarashi waited for Ueda to stop cursing on the other end of the line, taking attention to the masses that gathered due to the attention from the quarantine. No luck with the ones he had marked out on his phone. After Ueda finished his tirade, Igarashi strode over to a police motorcycle, its owner standing by the side, watching the procession, and spoke again. "The law here is too busy with other things right now. Just my luck to be caught up in these things."





"Then get uncaught up."





"What do you think I'm doing? Ueda, you know I'm always one step ahead. " Igarashi threw one leg over the bike, and ended the call. He prodded the officer on his back. "Hey, you. Detective Igarashi, Foreign Affairs. Your salary can be for better or worse depending on whether you give me your keys."


"Sorry?" The cop gave him a confused look.


Igarashi sighed. "F*cking give me your keys or you'll be living on the streets with your wife and child by the end of this f*cking month, is that clear, you goddamned pissant?


He turned the key in the ignition, the bike rumbling to life. Igarashi rubbed the back of his neck and gave a furtive glance at the cafe, then around him. No luck with his quarries today. He scowled, an uncharacteristic expression. He'll get them sooner or later, Lady Luck be damned with her shining else where. Safety thrown out of the window of the thirtieth floor through the ignoring the fact that helmets save lives, Igarashi revved the bike up and sped off away from the quarantine area towards the nearby precinct. If he had a single pinch of remorse for leaving Drew alone, he did not show it on his face. He had his own job to do.
 
Drew took her seat again, wondering what the guy planned to do, only to laugh when he spoke of repaying a minor favor. “I’m rarely in trouble that I can’t handle.” She smirked, her eyes going back to the door more to watch it for those who might enter rather than those who were leaving. Not even glancing back to the boy when he questioned her knowledge of her. “No . . . I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before . . . although I do have a slight nagging feeling I may have, then again those feelings tend to be some photo long ago, or on a show or magazine . . . You know she could be some star hiding or playing one of those prank shows on others. She could be a look alike for all I know . . . all the more reason I should stop watching that nonsense at night.”


Drew frowned when the new cop in her eyes asked if they should look into the girl more. “Don’t you think we have a bigger deal to focus on than some random people who are probably all scared and paranoid due to the quarantine as is?” Troublesome, did he really wish to play patty cake with the other kids? The last thing Drew wanted to do was chase them down, picking up loose ends was more of a job for the grunts who didn’t ask questions. Something bigger was going on inside surely, and those who asked, would be pondering the same, wanting to find out about that over playing these minor games with smaller fish.


Her eyes widen as his phone suddenly rang . . . strange . . . was it a personal call while on duty? If it was business why would he stand to leave as if to keep it from her? Shrugging Drew just shook her head and stood with her own drink, allowing this one to slip through the cracks as well for now. Igarashi . . . was an interesting kid to be sure . . . where he truly seemed to sit was in question which only amused her more, making her grow more curious. He was one she planned to get to know better, hang around more, if only to share a drink now and then. After all it was rare not to find just another grunt.
 
The story so far.


It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.


Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy....


Wait, that's not right.


An explosions in a section of London has caused a few problems. A little change of mind, and DNA for that matter. It is a time of stress and worry, as police have cordoned off a Disaster Zone, as the government were quick to call it. A small riot occurred people were separated from their loved ones. It was a shame, really, that a lot of police had called in sick with the flu. understaffed and mostly rookies, it took two people to calm the tempers of an entire group, but not before the damage was done. They gave the government their excuse. One man, a lawyer, set up a charity for those affected, speaking the truth, and was arrested live on air for trying to remind people that even if they were one of the new Altered, they were still humans to be treated as such. Although technically he was arrested for attempting to incite a riot.


The problem, however, was that the efforts of the police still meant that people slipped through the cracks in security, even as they had a base group of people they detained and are now in the process of moving to their new "Temporary Residence" in Pentonville prison, to be studied under the watchful eyes of Doctor Eileen Dietrich amd her team of government scientists, working to discover the cause of the change.


A nefarious group of criminals were planted and helped escape the zone with their new powers to cause a ittle bit of a problem for the police. This group led by Ayden Finn Baxter are about to release a new meaning of terrorism.


~~~~~~~~~~~


"Smile for the cameras, Pup. As for friendly, don't worry, you're not my type if that's what's worrying you."


Horace laughed and smiled prettily as they were led by the cameras, a couple of which were still filming. being led into an occupied van. He half recognised the young woman and man from near where he had gotten tazed, and gave them both a nod.


"Horace, this is Kai, I guess we're going atching to the new retreat for special individuals."


The van doors slammed shut as the trip began, the smile never crossing his face, leaning back and looking at Yurev on the table. He would lean and poke the man gently before working to untie the straps with a strange ease.


"So, has anyone figured out a way out of this yet? I mean besides getting our plight on the news. I mean, they say I have a power, but that's a load of feke."


He wasn't nervous, he was just slipping back into the bad practise of carnival lingo. He grew up speaking it, and it was a sure giveaway of his heritage. It was bad, he only really backslid when he was nervous in any way, really. Something about someone in the van with them was making him nervous.


~~~~~~~~~~~


Garrick had gotten the handcuffs off easily, he had a spare key he had lifted from one of his friends in the police department, and used them as cufflinks anyway. It helped the fact that the same friend had a habit of leaving him handcuffed to the bed on their rare meetings for that.


"No power, you say. I'd say you were a respectable actor, at the very least."


Garrick was smiles as he said it to the man who he had recognised. He had been on a date with someone who had won tickets to a show starring the man, and couldn't even scalp them. It was rare for such a talented individual to make the audience cheer and volunteer to help kill Julius Cesar.


"I'm not here for anything except trying to get your plight out into public knowledge before you all get hushed up. Garrick Rake, human rights barrister, well, at the moment. Usually criminal, but, well, prosecuting the government for this kind of concentration camp behaviour is horrible. Make sure they know you have the right to phone me at all time. One of the screws at Pentonville will have my number."


A wide grin as he slipped the handcuffs in his pockets, taking out his wallet and checking, handing over his last business card to Lizzie. He would look at her a little and set his mouth straight.


"Tell me the name of the guy with your kid. If you want I can make sure they get in good hands. And I will work on those being yours. Guy on the table, tell me your name and I'll get working on making sure people know how you are being treated. Actor boy, stop thinking escape. All it will do is cause more problems for those unfortunates. Think Ghandi. Polite behaviour will annoy the powers that be more, and I'll do my best to make sure you all get on camera. Skater girl, I'd suggest listening. All of you play nice with the authorities, and I'll do what I can to make their lives miserable."


He would give a wide, wicked grin.


"After all, it's what I am being paid for."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It would not take long for the trip in the van, and they were shown to nice cells, except Garrick, who would make good on any offers he made, standing back, and say he was being escorted with the prisoners and had been arrested improperly, making a fuss. Somehow, for some reason they let him go on his own.


They were all shown to cells, one each, but they could see, between the guards and the scientists they were apparently being treated much better than one might expect from a prisoner. People were being allowed to pick their own cells, even though they were cells, and had run of the common areas and yard. No one was introduced to another, yet, they were allowed to mill around until about two in the afternoon, when everyone who had already been identified got an alert over the PA system to come to a meeting with Doctor Deitrich, who was to explain the situation as best she could.
 
"..Pup..? "


She had walked with her hands in her pocket , slightly smiling at the cameras like she was told. Pup...she thought. She had puffed out her cheeks before looking up toward the back of his head. She growled a little before the camera light was flashed in her face. She covered her eyes and hissed at the man who had manage to back up. Another flashed the camera on her and she gave him a sweet smile. Like a 10 year old girl who was born in to a rich family of Five. She had a slight blush cross her visage when he said she was not his type."


"Who wants to be with an old man like you. Go die."


She had stuck out her tongue from behind and had pulled down her eye lid like a little kid before entering the van. She seated herself all the way down toward the right. Crossing her legs then her arms before looking away. Pup meant dog right, it had to be. She growled again before looking back at him then toward the table.


"I am no dog...."


When everyone else filed in she had closed her eyes. They began to talk about things that her mind was to tired to comprehend. She decided to keep quite and listen. Her foot moving up and down as her finger tapped her arm. She hated to be confined in small things. She hated vehicles like these. Her thoughts were interrupted when he said skater girl. Don't cause trouble. She hissed before looking down.


"Fine."
 
Frowning at the man before her, Lizzie shoke her head with a smirk. "Help me, you say? This bastards took the only thing that mattered from me and if this power of mine exists; I´ll make sure they´ll pay. But if what you say is true; Lucas. Lucas Stuarts, he works for the government, some dirty jobs here and there... " With venom within the first few sentences before muttering the rest out, she sat silently throughout the ride with a bunch of thoughts circling her mind.


She was stuck with an arrogant actor, a skater girl, Yurev; which she didn´t bother to help and some kind of humans right idiot in a truck heading for who knows where! Her day was just dandy now wasn´t it? How come she has to go through more crap then anyone else in this world... How come she always loses.


Mommy always said life was unfair...





Once they arrived; she followed the guards, noticing that Garrick had left them. Not much commitment to the words he says, huh... Lizzie didn´t plan to stay long so it didn´t take her to much time to pick a cell. One with a nice view of the backyard was enough to satisfy her before she decided to take a stroll, wasting time. This certainly couldn´t be how she would live for now, could it? All caused by that goddamn bastard, oh Lucas; how she wished to strangle him. How she wished to take his head and bash it on the ground, make him suffer and scream in pain. How she wished to see them again. Soon enough, she was told to go to a certain Doctor Deitrich, to get to know why she was here in the first place.


Gladly she strolled over to the meeting place to see this lady and when she sat down, she couldn´t help but glare at her. "I don´t even care why we´re here so why don´t we get straight to the point; is there any way I can leave?"


 
Duncan decided the shampoo question was rhetorical. As it was the whole subject of romance had him a little flustered. It had been easy with the elderly lady, despite the fact she was a total stranger. He’d gone out of his way to cheer someone up. But serious romance was simply not his forte. Women truly were the great mystery that defied definition.


The ‘not her type’ statement he had made, however, gave him pause. He tried not to show his surprise and for a moment wondered if Lori was more this girl’s type. Somehow he had a feeling Lori wouldn’t reciprocate.


He shook his head ever so slightly to get his head back in the game. “Me? No, no special skills. Although I take up just about any physical solo sport - rock climbing. scuba, skydiving, caving, whatever. And I’m fairly technically inclined. I fix stuff. Been converting an old storage building into an apartment and private dojo / gym. Beyond that, nothing really special - not even gardening skills.” He eyed her meaningfully to let her know he wasn’t talking about gardening either.


“Romancing though? Hell, I could use lessons there. In that department I am all thumbs. Like most guys I’m a coward in that area. Male ego thing. Gotta protect it lest it get bruised.” His eyes unfocused slightly. “Actually the whole stalking thing is kinda cool.” He blushed again and exhaled sharply. “Maybe we should finish the shopping…”
 
Parker desperately continued trying to swallow, fear and tension had teamed up to form a lump in his throat and a dull roar in his ears. Gritting his teeth he kept pace behind the guard, mulling over the recent events repeatedly in his head. The majority of the van consisted of his incessant questioning, which the guard, who was leading him now, continued to compare to whining.





"Here we are, take your pick, we've got a few rooms that haven't been picked" the guard said, as he made an abrupt gesture to a cell, a prison cell. Parker frowned, he squinted, he sucked his teeth, he huffed, he knew there was no way they were putting him in a prison cell.





"This is a cell! A prison cell! No matter how nice you try to make it seem I'm in a cell! Whatever terrorist attack you guys are dealing with has no concern with me, I'm American! I should be able to go! My God, there is rubble in my hair, and I don't have a way to get it out!" Parker hissed, his expressive hand movements matching his equally if not more expressive tone. But by the time he had finished his rant the guard had walked away.


"Hnngggg... of all the..." Parker began, the rest of his words slurred and distorted as he bounced on his heels in an irritated fashion, muttering under his breath. His little verbal fit was allowed to continue until the PDA system called for a meeting with some doctor, Deeshrish? Dee-trit? Their name didn't matter, though. What mattered was that they were about to receive the verbal smackdown of a lifetime, with narrowed eyes and swift footsteps he made haste to this meeting, apparently the beatdown had already started, he noted, watching a blond woman begin the show with the question they all wanted the answer to.
 
At approximately quarter to seven, in a darkened office, the glow of a 27-inch television illuminated the face of a thin, middle-aged woman with greying blonde hair styled in a fashionably short haircut. The telly was currently broadcasting the aftermath of the explosions that had occured in the City of London proper, and the declaration of "altered" individuals.





Garrick had not failed to deliver exactly what he'd promised.


The woman trembled with excitement. Her body was filled with a visceral, intense sort of energy that only comes when a person knows that they are following their calling. It filled her every gesture with purpose, it made her feel elegant, it made her feel like she could crush glass with her bare hand. In this moment, she saw the world and her place in it with absolute clarity.


Then, the woman's narrow eyes slivered as a very familiar face appared in front of the news cameras.


"I have attempted to go in and meet the people being held unlawfully, but police have not allowed anyone to enter or exit, they will not give us a statement. People being held without reason or cause, and are being moved to Pentonville prison. Doctors, scientists and police are all here. The government has said that this was caused by a riot, but friends, loved ones on the inside say that the riot started when people began to show signs of some kind of change."





Then he gestured to the ice cube containing three people which stood behind him. The woman's jaw nearly dropped. Oh, how she wanted to play with whoever had done that. Shackle the person to a chair and analyze every inch of what went on in that body. Perhaps apply some psychological pressure just to see what --


"Now, either this is some army experiment gone wrong, or some kind of alien invasion or something else just as silly. It was much more than a riot. I seem to be the only one demanding an answer from the government. Exactly what happened here? It wasn't a riot. These people have somehow been altered from normal humanity, but they are still people, who deserve better treatment than modern day concentration camps."





For a fraction of a second, the frown lines on her brow creased minutely. Why was Garrick slandering all the work he had assisted with...? She watched impassively as the newscast showed his arrest. The cameraman was unsuccessful in sidestepping the authorities, and was forced to show, from a rather distant and undramatic angle, Garrick's back entering the transport vehicle that would momentarily head towards Pentonville prison. The woman shut off the television, flicked on a small desklamp and opened the three-inch thick dossier of notes that outlined all the roles and responsibilities of each one of the employees in the facility. She had compiled the file herself, but sat in silence to review it again.





It wasn't long until the phone rang. "Pentonville Detainment Facility, Doctor Dietrich speaking," she answered, her voice crackling from forty-five years of use.


"Doctor, we're bringing the first round of identified Altered individuals to Pentonville. Expect us in twenty minutes."


"Excellent," Dietrich replied with a hearty approval. In a sudden burst of energy, she pushed the high-backed leather chair away from the expansive maple desk and stood up. The lamp illuminated thin silhouette of the woman who wore a business suit and stood at 5'8 in her two-inch patent leather heels. "I'll inform security and the scientists. Call Alan if there are any unusual developments. He'll organize the contigency plans."





Dietrich spent the next few minutes on the phone alerting various personnel in the detainment facility about the expected increase in activity they should shortly anticipate. Then, the phone rang again. "Pentonville Detainment Facility, Doctor Dietrich speaking."


"Mummy, it's Amy."


In the time it took Dietrich to blink, she transformed from Eileen Dietrich, PhD, Double MSc, BSc, to Eileen, mother of one.


"Hello, darling," Eileen Dietrich responded warmly. It was accompanied by a genuine smile which accentuated her prominent cheekbones, make the crow's feet around her small eyes crinkle, and made her thin lips disappear almost entirely.


"Why're you not home?" At the question, Eileen felt a stab of guilt and wave of exhaustion wash over her. She sighed and perched on the corner of her desk, arching her neck as she looked up at the tiled ceiling, searching for an answer that her four year old daughter would understand.


"Mummy had to go work early because of the explosion." Eileen neglected to mention that she had been at Pentionville prison since one in the morning to ensure that everything went according to plan.


"Why?" The incessant questioning of a toddler.


"Because lots of people became..." Altered? Possibly gained power beyond anyone's wildest dream? How should she explain this scientific marvel to her daughter? "...sick this morning, and Mummy has to help make them better."


"Will I get sick, too?" Amy asked.


"No, my darling. I promise," Eileen replied in a soothing voice. It never ceased to amaze Eileen Dietrich that she felt such a strong attachment to forty pounds of molecules arranged just so to produce the unique human that was her daughter. "I have to go now and help these people."


" 'Kay. Love you," her daughter added.


"More than all of the planets and stars," Eileen replied, putting the phone back in its cradle. In the quiet of her office, Doctor Dietrich closed her eyes and summoned the energy-- that raw feeling of anticipation she'd felt while watching the news broadcast-- as fuel to stay awake. It was likely going to be a long day. But, this was the moment she had worked towards for over twenty years.


This is your moment. Seize it, Eileen thought. The words, cliche as they were, suited her sentiments perfectly.


The phone rang again. "Doctor Dietrich? The first Altereds arrived five minutes ago."


"I apologize. I'll be there in a moment," Dietrich replied smoothly before hanging up, turning off her computer and walking across her large office. As she locked the door behind her, she squinted against white fluorescent lights of the hallway. She smoothed the creases out of her navy blue blazer and matching trousers, opting to forgo the lab coat in favor of a slightly more personable appearance, and walked past the row offices with her heels clicking on the newly-polished tile floors of the facility.


Pentionville prison was built in a radial style, which meant it was shaped roughly like an asterisk, contained within fifteen-foot walls in the shape of a pentagon. The exterior was immaculately whitewashed from foundations to roof. The first of the five asterisk's sections, and the shortest, contained the foyer, the Meeting Hall where family could visit detainees, as well as the guard room and the food pantry. The second section has been renovated completely, and now contained a medical ward, including a research laboratory, and several offices. Two more sections contained living quarters, including communal bathrooms and cells which had been repainted in a soothing green and refurbished with simple but modern furniture including reasonably comfortable single beds with drawers underneath the matress, a small closet, a bedside table and a sink. In short, they were more like college dorm rooms than cells. The last section contained the mess hall, kitchen, the Recreation Room, a chapel and a small library.


Dietrich arrived in the laboratory as the second truck of Altered individuals was unloaded. While the lab assistants sorted through the blood samples, Dietrich spent the next few hours reading through the paper files that had been created for each detainee as they had passed through the medical tents, absorbing as much information as possible before she had to interact with the altered individuals.


Meanwhile, as the officers ushered everyone through the metal detectors at the facility's entrance, the detainees were forced to empty their pockets, purses and bags of any metal objects. All computers, smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices with internet capabilities were confiscated from the detainees, who were told they would be kept in storage until their owners were released. Anyone who tried to make a fuss was immediately sedated by a group of scientists standing around a metal cart with bottles full of chemicals and different sizes of needles.


Once all the detainees were inside, they were kept under the watchful eye of an army of security guards, nurses and scientists. For the first few hours, the detainees were allowed to wander about the unrestricted areas and mingle as they pleased. Finally, at two pm, an announcement was made over the PA to meet in the foyer.





Given the number of people gathered, Doctor Eileen Dietrich's arrival was unassuming. Amongst the crowd, she was remarkable only because her straightened back, upturned chin, and calm clack of her heels cut through the anxiety that was nearly palpable.





Dietrich's expression was cool and fearless. She surveyed all these individuals who had been altered into glorious specimens no one fully understood, and it filled her with breathless wonder. So much to learn, so much experiment with--


And then a bratty blonde who appeared to be about twenty piped up before Dietrich had said a word.


Dietrich just looked at the girl for a long moment, a faint, pitying smile ghosting at her lips. Finally she spoke softly, "I'm sorry, Miss Conrad-- the short answer is no."





Doctor Dietrich subverted further questioning by addressing the Altereds in a louder, clearer voice: "I understand that you are all confused, and likely afraid. What you are all experiencing is an entirely new and mysterious phenomenon, and I regret to say that you are the chosen few who have shown its manifestations, meaning that anomalies have arisen in your blood tests." The doctor did not mention that it had taken a group of scientists more than six months to identify Altered genetic markers, and another three to devise equipment that could identify these anomalies in a manner of seconds. "This morning, a few of you witnessed or experienced things that exceeded normal human capabilties. A few of you inadvertently caused harm or even killed your fellow citizens."


Dietrich paused for a few seconds as she allowed these words to sink in.


"What this means, for all of you, is that until we understand the full extent of your unique manifestations, the government has mandated that you all be monitored in a secure facility," Dietrich continued matter-of-factly, beginning to understand how useful it was to blame "the government" for all the ills caused today. "That facility is what you see before you: Pentonville Detainment Facility. Although it was once a prison, it is no longer. You will not be locked in cells; you will have access to most areas within the facility's walls, including the mess hall, the library, and the recreation facility. There is also a chapel, should you wish to attend a non-denominational Sunday service. We have telephones for you to use in the Meeting Hall, which is just beyond this foyer, as well as in the Recreational Room. There are also computers for you to use in the Library."





Dietrich failed to mention that Pentonville was a strict no-internet zone, and that all computer activity would be monitored. In addition, there was only one television in the recreation area, although it was only useful for playing videogames and watching DVDs, since it had no cable or antennas. The only phones available to the detainees were in the Meeting Hall and the Rec Room, which were also bugged and monitored. Should any portion of any conversation contain content that could alert the Altereds to the current state of London, the call would be dropped immediately.





"On a brighter note, I'm happy inform you that the government has given you a small grace. After you choose your rooms, personnel will come around with Item Request Forms, which you may fill out if you desire to have any personal belongings brought to you from your homes." Eileen looked around. "Let's see, what else? Oh, breakfast will be served between seven an nine am, lunch between eleven am and one pm, and dinner between five and seven pm. There will be snack and beverage options available between mealtimes. We will also aim to set up a weekly schedule of activities, based on personal preferences, which you can fill out in a General Information Form that personnel will send around. I believe that's it. Oh, and my name is Doctor Eileen Dietrich. And with that, you are dismissed," Doctor Dietrich turned around and walked out of the foyer, leaving the Altereds to wonder what would happen to them.





Dietrich spent the next several hours observing the detainees from various security cameras that wired back to the guard's room.
 
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