Extrasensory {CLOSED} IC

[shadow_claw]

The keys Arc left behind were, of course, not actual keys. Mina knew this well. They were usually USB's, filled with document after document of science. Not that she understood it all. But it was interesting. Besides, it wasn't hard to get to the key. They had agreed on places to stash within the safehouses. And as small as this shack happened to be...it wouldn't be hard to find. As she drove past the crime scene, her form changed yet again, becoming that of a young man with pale skin. Cops tended to turn a blind eye for white people. So even if someone noticed her, there was a pretty high chance she would be ignored.

 

She forgot how well she had taught Arc. The shack was perfectly unassuming, and nobody was around. It only took a mild look around for her to pocket the key and leave. She had a bit of a drive before she could make it to safehouse sixteen. Even then...This would not be a welcome reunion with an old friend. Arc was unstable at his best times, and downright murderous at his worst.

 

There had been a rather violent grapple between she and Arc the last time they met face-to-face. If Namina hadn't been able to alter her body (and therefore, become resistant to electricity), she would have died. Even now, there remained a yellowish bruise around her neck from the incident. The downside to being a shape-shifter was her generally low metabolism. Injuries healed slowly. They always lingered. Though, arc had suffered some injuries as well. A frown twisted on her lips as she thought about it. Maybe she had been too careless.

 

It had been the first time she had showed her face. There had been brief messages and relays of cash, but not much more than that. So when she asked to meet them, they were likely startled to realize who she was. International criminal, wanted for several accounts of murder and even more accounts of treason. Cat burglar. Queen of the underground world. Her face flashed on "America's Most Wanted" every night. Mina had figured that she was in the duo's good graces, as she saved their hide. Apparently she had been wrong.

 

Absentmindedly did a hand drift to one of the fresher wounds from the incident, the one on her abdomen. It re-opened every once in a while, but the bandage that adhered to her stomach held fast. At a stop sign, she pulled out her phone and typed a message.

 

[unknown number]Thinking about our last powwow. Please don't do the thing. I'll probably die.

<3

-N

Edited November 30, 2015 by shadow_claw

[pudding]

There were eight of them overall, nine if you included their leader. But the man who supervised this group of ESPers himself had no abilities and did not actively participate in what they did. His role was more like a medium between the squad and the rest of the military and supplying them with marks. He was the one holding their leashes and his purpose was simply to point out a target and let go. Now, that wasn’t to say any of the squad disliked him, or looked down on him for that. On the contrary, the entire group tended to act like one big family. So, that made Titus the baby brother.

 

While technically-and he would insist this-Teddy was not the youngest, the rest of the squad insisted that Dr. Corvid aged in bird years and that the bird was a doctor. The rest of them were well into their teens and twenties while Teddy alone was the child in their eyes. So, naturally, it came as a complete surprise to him to find himself sitting in a room with Dr. Corvid with their supervisor deciding that the two of them would remain in the United States to combat the criminal actions of the group E.D.E.N. It wasn’t like this sort of thing would be easy and they were pushing them out of the group. On the contrary, fighting against a group like E.D.E.N. would probably be the hardest thing they had ever done. Overseas, Teddy was used to fighting against normal people. He’d never really fought against a fellow ESPer before. Especially not a group as notorious as E.D.E.N.

 

“I don’t understand,” He protested, looking around at the rest of the squad as they looked relax. Clearly, this was something that they had all discussed in advance and agreed on.

“You and Dr. Corvid work well together already,” one of the squad members replied gently. “And he’s the only one who can gather information.”

“But we don’t fight against other ESPers,” Teddy replied with a frown.

“You do now,” his supervisor replied in a much firmer voice. “Everything we do outside of America doesn’t count for much if we are devastated back home. We’ve already decided you two will stay here and help domestic ESPers however you can.”

 

 

———

 

“Well, I’ll patch you up and see if I can restore some of your damage components,” Nano replied, holding her toolbox at her side. The scrap metal would probably come in handy now more than ever since trying to fix him up would be a fairly big task. Although, if it worked, they had a functional robot on their hands. Oh man, she could probably make him really great. Adding some of her old projects onto him to give him some pretty sweet features. Could she steal some anti-ESP tech for him too? That would be fantastic.

 

Mind rolling now at the possibilities, she took his hand and tried to pull him up, only to find the robot didn’t budge. Wow, he was heavy. “Um…. can you walk? I don’t think I can carry you without a forklift. Or ten."

 

[Thaelasan]

The sun shone slightly upon the bedside as Arc flipped over nervously. He opened his eyes to find that - sure enough - Mel was right next to him, still sleeping. He checked himself cautiously, pinching his arm, patting his face, anything to try and make sure this was the true reality.

It was scary, really, to think that he had to trust Mel so much. In fact, he couldn't prove that none of this entire dilemma was a dream she had locked him in. How could he prove he had ever woken up? It seemed like a dream.

Espionage. Hidden drop offs. A life of intrigue. Didn't a lot of people dream about things like this? Lives full of danger and adventure?

To be frank, Arc would have loved to hand it off to someone else. He rolled over again, sighing.

What if his entire life was a dream made by Mel? Could she do that? From the day he was born? How strong WAS she? Even in the two years he'd known her, he still believed he didn't know the full extent of her power.

He heard her groan softly in her sleep. He looked over, concerned, but she was still napping peacefully. He moved her hair slightly before he realized what he was doing.

She needed a haircut. She needed clean water to bathe in. He knew it. And safehouse sixteen was supposed to last them six months until Namina could set something up. It could even be permanent. He was hopeful in that regard.

She had sworn, completely off the radar.

He lay back, putting his hands behind his head, pondering Namina for a long while. When they had first met in person, he'd honestly been shocked and attacked her, fearing for Mel's safety. He hadn't known she was Namina. She had taken on a shapeshifted form to meet with them, and - unfortunately for her - had somehow chosen one that looked EXACTLY like a member of Strife they had seen before, without the tattoos.

Whether she had done it on purpose or not, he didn't know, but-

"Oh. There's a text..."

Mel was sitting up now, surprising Arc out of his thoughts. She was holding the phone in front of him, concerned.

"I see." he said, reading it quickly. "Then we better get going. No use in making her wait."

"Right..." Mel said, grabbing a few of her things as soon as she left the bedside.

[shadow_claw]

Dr. Corvid was the only successful ESPer animal, for for several reasons. Ravens are incredibly intelligent creatures, up there with both dolphins and humans. This likely helped his chances. And, the bird was known for being tenacious. Operations or not, he was known for staying alive. It was this reason that he was the sole survivor of the (now abandoned) project.

 

That, and he scared people pretty easily. After all, a sassy bird that could commune with a human being was pretty unsettling. So when the debriefing began, he sat mostly alone. Except for Titus. Titus was his tried and true companion in the EDEN wars. Beady eyes locking on the small boy, he croaked softly.

"DON'T BE SO EASILY FOOLED. HAVING A CHILD KILLED IN THE NAME OF WAR WOULD BE DEVASTATING FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS" Hopping onto Teddy's shoulder, his feathers fluffed up. "BESIDES. CHILD LABOR LAWS INSIST AGAINST MILITARY ACTION. YOU ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE GOTTEN THIS FAR."

 

---

 

There was only a slight pause until the machine agreed. Carefully did it pop open a panel on its chest, revealing a tangle of thin, worn wires. "Very well...Do what you must." What had fallen was, well...disturbing at best. Not only has a cooling fan of sorts fallen down, but the bones of some long-dead creature did as well. Other than this, several wires had corroded away and had been disconnected.

 

"It isn't that bad, is it?" He asked quietly. Things felt...wrong. He could tell right away that was the case. Things weren't communicating throughout his body well. "I...just do what you can. Please."

 

---

 

Ah, her cabin. She missed it so. Sliding out of the car, she leisurely swirled her index finger around the keyring. The door to the cabin was unlocked, and the thief slid inside. Her hand slid against the wall, and a light switch was eventually slipped on. There was a pause before the lights turned on. The generator had to kick in first.

 

It really was a cozy cabin. Two bedrooms, a large kitchen, and three bathrooms. A hot tub sat outside near a deck. But the den was likely the nicest. Adorned with expensive, cozy furniture, it was all placed around the central mantelpiece and a fireplace. A dusty flatscreen hung above the fireplace, safely out of way. Mina lit the fireplace and ventured into the kitchen. She had taken a three hour drive. The least she could do was have a bite to eat before the other guests arrived.

[pudding]

Teddy glanced at the bird as he spoke up, looking at the large bird as he stepped closer and hopped up onto his shoulder. His words had touched an apparent nerve with the members of the group, as the mention of child labor laws seemed to make them all very jumpy. A small cough came from one of the older members of the group before the supervisor shook his head.

"Dr. Corvid, you should know as well as anyone here that normal laws do not apply to ESPers. Titus is allowed here just as much as anyone else. However, we have simply choose you two to work on this front. If it makes you feel any better, the rest of us will also be divided up into groups and sent to other places to deal with EDEN." Teddy looked equally frustrated by this but, in the end, gave up. Leaning backwards slightly while careful not to disturb the bird perched on his shoulder, he nodded.

"So do we just listen to whatever the local ESPers tell us to do?" He asked, slowly standing up. Picking up his hat and goggles from the chair next to him, he shook them slightly then nodded. "Alright, we'll do our best. You can count on us." Turning his head to look at Dr. Corvid, he smiled. "Let's go look at who we'll be working with."

 

------

 

Nano peered into the chest panel, looking at the worn wires. She'd have to sort them all out but she couldn't just disconnect them willy-nilly. She needed to carefully look over everything and get some replacements made for them. Then she could disconnect them one at a time so she didn't mess anything up. Or at least attempt to reinforce them. "I'll need some more tools than what I have on hand," She replied with a frown. "But I can at least start to clean in here." Reaching in, she carefully grabbed ahold of the bones and began to pull them out, tossing them away as soon as they were clear. "But it doesn't look all that bad," She admitted with a small nod. "Just relax. I'll get you some better wires and connect the missing pieces and that should fix that issue."

[Thaelasan]

The drive began as Arc sat in the front seat, leaving Mel to sleep in the back. One drawback of her dreaming powers was constant exhaustion - her biological clock was entirely wrong, setting some days to being completely awake, and others to be unable to even open her eyes. Sometimes she seemed utterly comatose. It had gotten better over the two year span, but it could still pose a problem at times.

At first, when they had entered the car, she had entertained herself by climbing over everything to inspect every inch of vinyl while Arc stood outside, patiently waiting for her ok. Finally, she had set up a blanket in the backseat, laid a pillow out, and got comfortable. For a while, she had chatted to him quietly about how long they would stay at the safehouse or if they would be able to get new clothes soon - which, to Arc, seemed rather non sequitor and possibly meant she was beginning to descend into spouting nonsense while she fell into slumber. He was right. When he turned around, she was silently asleep.

The next instant, he felt her specter form sitting next to him in the chair. She couldn't speak to him like this, no, but she could observe. It was obvious she was looking out the window, enjoying the fact she could sleep and yet be awake in this way.

In fact, Archer had begun to just go with the assumption that her true body wasn't the female form lying in the backseat, it was the ghost seated in the passenger side, free, unfettered, able to act as she wanted without any consequence. The only thing she couldn't do was speak.

The drive wasn't very long, but it took them off the road quite a few times, until finally road was no longer an existing idea. When they finally arrived, Arc noticed a beat-up vehicle already parked outside.

He got out of the car, then helped Mel to her feet. She stretched, yawning, as she gazed upon their new surroundings.

"Is this... really ours?!" Mel asked, running forward. "This place?!"

"Yes." Arc replied simply, adjusting his clothing. "Go on ahead in, Mel. I won't keep you. Just be careful."

"No. We go in.. together." Mel said, indignant. "...Right alongside each.. other."

"Next you'll be asking me to carry you over the threshold bridal style as though it was some form of honeymoon.." Arc muttered under his breath, out of her earshot, as he headed over to the van. He inspected it for a long while, checking under it for any sign of explosives or dangerous devices. You couldn't be too careful.

He traced his finger over the hood, feeling the very faint heat from within it. The engine had only been turned off for a short time.

"Mel, we have a guest. A very important one." Arc said, "So be on your best behavior."

"You too!" Mel said sternly, putting her face in his. "The last... time we saw her... You didn't... make a good impression!"

"I know. I know." Arc held up his hands in surrender. Mel smiled, turning in a circle to head to the door. She stood, waiting by it patiently.

He placed a hand on the doorknob, opening it quickly and checking his surroundings. If there had been a tripwire of some sort, his tendrils had been ready to react.

But there wasn't. It was an honest shelter.

Mel walked next to him, eyes wide.

"It's... so humble and... rustic!" she said, dancing inside. "Like one of... those old homes.. in stories! Cabins!"

"Very... But there's electricity." Arc said, flipping the switch experimentally. "Must be a generator. I doubt she has electric cables running out here. It would make us show up on the map."

He walked further inside, his feet making slight noise on the rug placed for those who entered.

"Namina?" he called, hearing his voice echo throughout the house. "We're here."

[shadow_claw]

Even though she had expected them, hearing those familiar voices made the woman stiffen. Her skin crawled as she resisted a change in her form. It had become instinct by now. Wanting to hide as another person instead of confronting the issue. She was adamant about her non-confrontational ways. Running in head-on got people killed.

 

Slowly did she turn, a can of Spaghetti-O's in her hand. Well, she was technically still a he. But that form melted away to reveal her usual appearance. Her actual appearance. "I, uh...Hey." For a few short seconds, her eye color flashed wildly. She was nervous. It was getting harder to restrain her abilities. "Glad you could make it." A weak, forced smile played on her lips as she spoke. Mina was tired. She was stressed. She was afraid. The effort she was putting into being hospitable was clearly a struggle.

 

---

 

The bird screeched in response, snapping his beak in irritability. By fluffing up, he looked even bigger than he had been to start with. "YOU SAY THIS AS IF THOSE GOFTED WITH SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES DO NOT SHARE THE SAME GENETIC CODING AS THOSE WITHOUT. THEREFORE, ALL THOSE WITH ESP BUT I ARE HUMAN. YOU KNOW JUST AS WELL AS I THAT TEDDY HAS MANAGED TO GET THIS FAR ON A MERE LOOPHOLE." He fixed the group a stern look, before hopping up onto the boy's head. He rooster there, settling down as if it were a nest. Close enough. "BUT NEVERTHELESS, I CONCEDE TO YOUR FAINT SEMBLANCE OF AN EXCUSE. ALTHOUGH I AM A SKEPTIC, I AM NO WHISTLEBLOWER." There was really no need. The rest of the government was already very uneasy with the idea of weaponizing civilians. Bringing a bird and a child into the public eye would make them a laughing stock. Teddy's words seemed to calm the agitated bird, however. Having such an optimistic companion made Dr. Corvid somewhat more mellow. Because usually, he was a pain to endure. "YES. WORKING IN AN IRBAN SETTING WILL INDEED BE MORE INTERESTING THAN THE ANARCHY OF A WARZONE."

 

---

 

There was only one way JET could actually relax, and that was the semblance of sleep. His internal battery was running on the weak light in the room, and that wasn't really enough. So, nodding weakly, the blue LEDs in his eyes began to fade. "Please alert me to when you wish for me to relocate myself. For now, I will rest." Slowly did the machine fall still, it's internal mechanisms silencing. It wasn't exactly sleep, but it was close.

Edited December 1, 2015 by shadow_claw

[Thaelasan]

Mel was immediately concerned for Namina's well-being. Arc only barely noticed it, but Mel was appraising Mina with a careful eye.

"She.. is afraid.." Mina whispered to Arc. He nodded.

"I can see why. Don't worry, this time, there is no confusion, Mina." Archer assured, both her and himself, as he took a seat. He tossed a small USB on the table, then reached into his own bag.

"We're both lucky today. Someone knew about the drop-off and also knew the relative location of 15. It's the only explanation I can come up with." he said with a sigh, removing a laptop from the depths of his personal luggage. "They popped an Anti-ESP off roughly 2 miles from where we were, a radial one. Thankfully it was only medium-range or we would have been in more trouble."

Mel realized Arc wasn't going to tell Namina about the part where she locked Arc in a dream and shifted nervously.

"The problem was that it caused me more of an issue because I took the bulk of the signal due to being on the driver's side." Arc explained, as the laptop went to the desktop screen after a short period. "Mel only took a small bit. I ended up careening the car off the side of a damn mountain and into the water below. It was an amazing experience, I promise."

His voice was heavy with sarcasm as he typed the first few keys of his encrypted code.

"From your message, I'm assuming we'll have to go with Plan B, unless he DID take the device?" Arc asked, turning to her slightly as the computer began a download and a few other operations.

 

(( Must make next post longer to compensate for size of this post. *^* ))

Edited December 1, 2015 by Thaelasan

[pudding]

Alright. So now all she had to do was head back to her room and get some supplies. She hadn’t expected to be working in here so she was missing some key things for fixing him up. Although, it would be significantly easier to patch him up now that he was in what looked like sleep mode. Poking around inside a robot that looked so human was weird, especially when it was talking to her. Grabbing her toolbox, she quickly ran out of the room, making her way towards her office. Ever since ditching her supervisor she had turned the office into basically a bedroom. Officially, she also had a room in a nearby apartment building but what was the point of that? She just used it for storage anyway. Working in the main area was much better in case something happened.

 

Several minutes passed before Nano returned, dumping a large supply of tools and wires onto the table. Sorting through them before pulling out a few things, she moved back over to the robot and looked at his control panel. Taking one out at a time, starting with the worn wires, would work best for trying to replace these. After that was done, she could work on reconnecting his arm so it was functional. She could have him power on after that and make sure there wasn’t anything else that needed to be done.

 

———

 

Teddy smiled at the bird and gently patted his head before making his way out of the room. They had been set up in one of the nicer meeting rooms in the building that, apparently, housed a large group of local ESPers that were used to combat ESPer-related crime. He hadn’t had the chance to look around earlier since they were rather quickly swept into the board room but now that they were going to be here for some time, it was probably a good idea to look around. See where they’d be working for a while. Or at least until E.D.E.N. was no longer a threat.

 

Making his way down the hallway, he looked up at the various people they walked past. It seemed like there was a pretty large mix of normal people and ESPers that worked here. None of them really wore uniforms to identify which one of these two they were, but that had been in the debriefing. Along with information about the E.D.E.N. and it’s leader. There wasn’t much time to keep up with current events when you were off fighting overseas. The criminal organization was clearly centered in the United States so they had limited contact with them while they were in the warzone. “They did say that nothing much has happened in the past few weeks,” He said, glancing up at his avian companion. “I don’t understand why they’d pick now to put us here when nothing is happening.” Sighing, he paused near a window, looking down at the busy streets below. They were pretty high up since the building was a skyscraper, but even now they weren’t on the top floor.

 

 

———

 

The machine was left safety at the boat with his ESPers and as he stood there, they were working on figuring out how to properly combat it. Having Anti-ESP devices was more or less useless to them as an organization. What they needed was a way to fight back against them. Mina’s thievery had come through once again. But now, back to the present. They had been quiet for far too long. He needed to make a statement to bring back the public’s attention. The easiest way to do that was to start up a fight. But first, he had to get the attention of the ESPers.

“Whoops,” Lars muttered as he suddenly jerked his hand to the side. A power line suddenly snapped, sending a very live cord crashing to the ground. Another movement had several more in various places doing the same. While not exactly the most dangerous thing he had done, it served it’s purpose to drive the people nearby into a panic of yelling and screaming. Standing on the edge of the large building, he hummed to himself as he began to turn his gaze on the abandoned cars left near the scene. One of them lifted up, seemingly on it’s own, and flew straight into a nearby building, sending bricks flying in various directions. Now, how long would it take until some ESPers arrived?

[shadow_claw]

Mina sagged visibly when the duo chose not to approach any closer. She rose quickly from the chair, instead moving towards the deck. "Look, if you wanna chat, you'll have to join me outside. I need a smoke or I'm going to vomit." She declared. It wasn't often she smoked anymore. She usually layered on a nicotine patch or two. But right now, she was nervous enough to give in to her anxieties. She shuffled out of the room quickly, the sliding door opening and closing.

 

Upon arriving outside, however, she had seemed to change her mind. Instead, she was warming up the hot tub. And, as soon as it was warm enough, she peeled off all but her underwear and submerged herself. It'd been so long since she'd been in safehouse 16 that she forgot it was there. Avoidance was usually her go-to tactic in dealing with issues. Which meant she didn't deal with issues. At all.

 

With basically no clothes on, a variety of things were visible on her body. The first, most noticeable thing were the pink, mostly closed wounds dotted about her body. She was a slow healer. The second thing that showed up were her scars. A large one rested between her ribs on her left side. Other scars dotted her body, likely from past fights and injuries. Sighing, the woman sank into the water up to her nose. At this point, she had no modesty. She didn't care who saw her.

 

---

 

Dr. Corvid settled down on Teddy's head, even as the boy began to walk. "IF THEY ARE TELLING US WE ARE TO BE HERE, I AM CERTAIN WE WILL BE MOBILIZED SOON." They wouldn't have woken them up so early if there wasn't a reason. And being told they were to move elsewhere meant something was wrong. "BE PREPARED. WE WILL LIKELY BE CALLED TO ACTION SOON."

 

---

 

It seemed some things still worked within the machine, for halfway through Nano's work did he jerk to life. Speakers crackling like a radio, noise soon exploded from his mouth. "ALL TO EVACUATE PHILIDELPHIA AREA. MASS POWER FAILURE. SUSPISCION OF AN EDEN ATTACK." Blinking in his own surprise, he stared down at Nano in shock. What was EDEN? They sounded like terrorists! "What...was that? Was that a local broadcast? Are we in Pennsylvania?" To answer his question, the lights in the room promptly flickered out. That wasn't good "We cannot sit idly by. If we are truly under attack...then you must help me assist those in need." Slowly did he rise, struggling to stand beneath his own weight. After all, he weighed about eight hundred pounds.

[Thaelasan]

Arc frowned as he saw Mina leave, confused. He stood up to head outside, but then saw Mina messing with the spa.

"What is she doing right now? Doesn't she realize the imminent threat we're facing..?" he trailed off, absolutely vexed, but then turned back to his work. He'd give her time to think.

Mel, however, noticed the water and turned to Arc, pleased.

"Why don't you join me?!" she asked excitedly, pushing his shoulder. "You've been... fretting... for weeks now...! You need... to relax!"

"It's not you I'm worried about." he lied. Truth was, sitting in a hot tub even barely clothed with Mel would make him self-conscious, let alone naked. He still wasn't even sure of his own feelings towards her, though apparently she'd already decided what they were.

"Aww... well you're... right... Mina seems... timid..." Mel said, turning slightly to look out the window at her.

There was a silence.

"You can join her if you want. I doubt she'll try anything. But if she does..." Arc began, looking at her.

"I'll handle it..." Mel promised, nodding. "Don't... worry."

With that, she headed outside. Though naive, she was still a bit conscious of Mina's presence, so she didn't undress as much as the girl - still wearing a shirt. She entered as well, but said nothing. She'd wait until Namina felt ready to speak.

Arc, still inside, was nervous. The activation was being stopped by something. He had to admit, the connection could be weak because of the distance, but... this wasn't right.

 

----

 

"He's already initiated the attack? Dammit! Where's Lesley?"

Barbara swore at her phone, looking around impatiently. She could hear the sounds of destruction in the distance as Lars enjoyed himself, causing havoc. And he was waiting on them to start the next phase - and how could they if Lesley was missing?!

"Lesley!" Barbara called, nervous.

"I'm here, damn."

Lesley landed behind her, taking a few steps to steady herself. "Jeez. I'm on time."

"FIVE MINUTES LATE." Barbara shouted, anxious.

"Uh.. no.. your watch is fast. Look." Lesley replied matter-of-factly, revealing her own timepiece. "We didn't synchronize them, but I set mine for the time on Lars' own clock."

"When!?"

"This morning before we left. Where is he?"

"Center of the town. GO."

"Roger, ma'am." she mock saluted, flying up into the air and off into the distance towards Lars.

 

[shadow_claw]

Namina said nothing when Mel entered the hot tub, choosing instead to smile weakly beneath the water. She sat back, raising her head from the water and sighing. For obvious reasons, she felt much safer around Mel than she did Arc. "We didn't really get to talk last time we met." the thief began carefully. "I know a lot about you than you do of me...so let's change that. My name's Namina. I'm twenty seven and I'm an Aquarius. I have nearly a million dollars on my head but had twice that value stored in a safe in this very cabin. Sometimes I kill people, but most of the time I steal. And..." She paused, taking a dead breath. Quickly did her hair change from raven black to vibrant green, and back again. "I am a pure shape-changer. This is what's kept me alive for nine years."

 

Honestly, she didn't want to talk about EDEN. Or the civil war tearing the country apart. She wanted to have small-talk. She wanted to pretend everything was okay, even if it was only ten minutes of doing so. "I...heard about what happened to you. I'm sorry." Her voice grew soft at this, as if it affected her as well. "They're...awful people. I was in their custody for two weeks before..." She fell silent as she thought about it. It had been pretty easy to sneak out. All she had to do was nab a guard uniform and trick some poor moron into thinking she was locked in by accident. His death resulted pretty quickly after. As did seven others. Eight people in all, even more if one counted half the building that she had set on fire. People didn't tend to get away with screwing her over.

 

Chuckling weakly, she shrugged. "Shape changers are a rare commodity...you know? We're some of the strangest and most unexplained ESPers out there. I'm...I just wish things like that didn't happen."

[Thaelasan]

Mel listened intently, which was one of her strong points, but her eyes began to droop. The heat of the water combined with her own natural desire to sleep was almost making her faint. She rose a bit from the water, trying her best to stay awake. Namina's words were sounding very distant halfway through the conversation, until they became mixed in her own.

"I..have... an ability that's... rare too... I... can see dreams... walk out of them... when I sleep... and see people's... memories... but Arc... says... that I shouldn't... tell people... I trust.. you though..." she mumbled, then slowly began to sink further in the water, in danger of drowning.

Thankfully, Arc stepped outside at that very moment, obviously very shaken. But he tried to sweep it off, instead immediately getting caught with his eyes fully on the back of Mel's head. From what he could see of her from the door, the water was doing her good. She already looked far more vibrant. In fact, almost bea...ut..i...

He shook his head.

"Mel, you're falling asleep." Arc said, putting his hand on her shoulder gently. "You'll drown if you do that. Do you need some coffee or something?"

"....May..be..." Mel muttered incoherently, trying hard to turn around. "The water...so... nice..."

Arc sighed as he put his tendrils under her arms and his own hands, lifting her from the water slowly and putting her down on a chair next to the tub, one made of plastic and vinyl. He then quickly went inside and fetched her a towel from a bin that seemed to have been made for that purpose.

While he made sure she was tucked in the towel safely, he spoke to Mina, his voice hurried.

"The activator has gone off, and the signal is weak but present. You did it, but something is off. I checked on the government sector's recent reports using the trojan we hid with them two months ago, and it's not good." Arc said, shaken. "I think Lars is acting sooner than we believed. I think I, you, and Mel are out of time, if it's true."

He placed his hands on the side of the tub, looking Namina directly in her eyes.

"This is a good base of operations but we can't hide anymore. I can tell you don't like confronting people and you won't have to. That was the point of the tracker. But I do need you to use your power for one, very important job."

He held up a small, radar-like device in his left hand.

"This. You have to find the person this is attached to in the government sector. They're an ESPer who I used to speak to back in EDEN. He activated it because he's in trouble, and Lars is most likely attached to. But you can trust him. You just need to shapeshift, get in there, and find him. Just tell him 'Lightning doesn't strike twice.'"

He leaned forward, ashamed.

"I know I'm asking a lot after all you've done, but if we can get him out of there and get him set up here, in this safehouse, we will be able to finally begin acting out the plan I've been considering for two years - to finally bring EDEN and the government to their knees and force them to stop fighting. I'll be damned if I'm going to release any further research on ESPers or ways to combat them until I'm absolutely certain they'll stop fighting like children, and forcing me and several others into the middle. And you as well."

He backed away from the tub, pondering for a long while.

"Those wounds on your body. When you're done with your bath, let me take a look at them. It's because of your shapeshifting, isn't it? That's why they take so long?" he asked, turning slightly. "I've been meaning to have a look at the shapeshifting type since my time at EDEN but we never had a proper subject. Fascinating."

He then suddenly seemed to realize something and looked apologetic.

"Oh but not to make you a lab rat by any means. I just need a small blood sample. Completely voluntary."

 

(( And yes, the character I want her to speak to is the one I'll be making a sheet for later today which will hopefully be accepted. If not, I'll remove him from the plan entirely. :3 ))

[pudding]

Teddy glanced up towards his head at the words from the bird, although he couldn’t quite see him due to the nature of his perch. Still, that didn’t stop him from smiling at the bird. “That’s true. You’re so smart, Dr. Corvid.” As he looked outwards again, the lights overhead suddenly went completely dark. Thanks to the window they were not plunged into complete blackness but the change was immediately noticed. “What happened?” Teddy asked in confusion, looking up at the light.

 

———

 

There was a large smile on Lars’s face after only a few moments. Skipping easily across a thirty foot gap, he twirled his fingers, causing the wires to thrash about on the ground even more wildly, sending the remaining people scattering away. He had been careful to target a district filled with shops, meaning the number of homes was much smaller. He didn’t have much to gain attacking apartment buildings and the like. No, there was much more publicity when it came to attacking stores. Fewer lives were claimed but E.D.E.N. earned a lot more money with a very simple, open attack. Not all their money making had to be done covertly. Sometimes, obvious brute force was the easiest way to go.

 

“Aaaaand here we go,” Lars remarked as he noticed the familiar gleam of blue and red lights flashing as police cars made their way down the road. Now the games were really beginning. The police showed up first in an attempt to slow ESPers down and prevent them from escaping while the Government fussed about, trying to get it’s ESPers ready. Although, looking at the time, the police had been a bit late to arrive this time. And usually they were so prompt too. Moving to stand in the air about fifty feet above the road. His coat, being unbuttoned as it usually was, flapped around in the wind as he looked down on the police cars. Perfect. Even if they were just a little bit late, things looked as though they were progressing smoothly. All he needed now was for the ESPers to show up. If it was him, they couldn’t just bother to send one.

 

———

 

Nano looked at the robot in surprise, nearly dropping the wire cutters she was working with when he suddenly returned to life. “What was that?” She asked in confusion. No, she knew exactly what that was. It sounded exactly like a news report. “I need to go,” She said suddenly, standing upright quickly. When the robot also attempted to stand, she frowned and placed a hand on his shoulder. “No, you stay here. I haven’t finished fixing you yet.” Grabbing her toolbox off the ground, she turned towards the entrance to the meeting room and began to run. She had to get to the scene quickly. Pulling a communicator out of her pocket, she looked down at it. Any second the call would come in telling her where the attack was happening. She had to figure out where she was going if she was going to stop E.D.E.N.

[shadow_claw]

When the lights shut off, Dr. Corvid sprung from his perch. Although he didn't see perfectly in the darkness, he saw much better than any human could. He glided silently, landing on the windowsill. Instantly did he pick up traces of terror, flashes of a city in chaos flickered through his mind. These images were quickly relayed to Teddy. This was not good. "WE SHOULD LEAVE AT ONCE. WAITING FOR THE OTHERS TO ASSEMBLE PLACES MORE LIVES IN DANGER." He declared. Although anxiety didn't exactly sound in a mental conversation, he was giving off that feeling of uneasiness by pecking at the window. They needed to get there as soon as possible.

 

---

 

"Do not be daft, I cannot remain here!" The machine's chestpiece closed quickly, and he was on his feet. Soon was Jet running after Nano, though much faster than the average man. And when he hit the sunlight...He was off like a rocket. For a long-abandoned robot, he still operated surprisingly well. Unlike Nano, Jet had nobody to contact. No team to assemble. He could run into the fray of chaos without orders.

 

For such a historic city, it was plunged into anarchy as quickly as any other place would. People were screaming and running in all directions. One crashed right into the android, knocking the man unconscious instantly. Worried, Jet caught the man and carefully lowered him to the ground. Who would do something like this? Why would someone attack such a place?

 

Traces of energy were everywhere. His sensors were finding it all over, as if it were connected to the very electricity. And to find the source...well, that was easy. After all, the man standing above all the others radiated with this energy. Naturally, this was the man Jet approached. Not violently. No, all the android was equipped with was a modified taser, meant for absolute emergencies. So when he met eyes with the seeming ringleader, he approached with raised hand (his other one still hung limply at his side).

"This...was your doing, no?" He asked. His speakers were cranked up at full volume, their base reverberating throughout the area. "Pray tell...why instigate such...such senseless violence? I cannot understand the malice humanity enacts upon their own. How does the suffering of others excite you so?"

 

---

 

"Oh? I didn't...I didn't think dream-walkers existed..." The woman smiled faintly, as if interested. It was a fabled ability, really. She had never met anyone with the ability, nor anyone who had ever spoken of it. Even in her lifetime, she had met another shape-shifter. She could not say the same of Mel's ability.

 

When Arc joined the duo, however, the calm air she had managed to create dissolved.

Mina visibly tensed up. She was an open book when it came to her emotions. That was pretty obvious. So it was no wonder when she subconsciously edged away from the man. Her hands clenched into fists, albeit unwittingly. Her whole form stuttered for a second or two, before she managed to calm herself.

"Although thievery is my usual occupation...I will do this. For the sake of all involved." This war was padding her pockets pretty well, but...It would destroy the country if the flames were fed for too long. She knew this. "Lars is rushing things. He has a deadline that's popped up, it seemed. Perhaps he is afraid of being usurped?"

 

Another pause of silence, and she sank deeper into the water. Her chin just brushed the hot tub's surface. By now, her breaths had grown somewhat shallow. When Arc finally chose to back, away, however, she seemed to open up once again. Staying in close contact with the man had her ready to spring into violence.

"My...oh." Shame lit up on her face at the mention of her injuries. Many of them has small lines branching outwards from them. They should have healed months ago. But her shape-shifting often re-opened them, and it all wore down her metabolism. Non-stop use of her abilities took a toll, and it was visible.

"I...yes. Do what you want but...I have to warn you." Slowly did she stand, rising to her full height and stretching. It was then that another scar became visible. A thin line stretched from one hip to the other, just below her navel. Not that she seemed to paying attention to it. "I get...really jumpy with that sorta stuff. It's a reflex now. I can't help it. I'm...I'm gonna need to be restrained to some degree. So I don't lash out...ya know?" One leg after the other, she climbed out of the tub and began to gather her clothes. "I've never done well with being touched. Not anymore. I hope you understand."

 

[Thaelasan]

She was older than him, but for a split second, Mina looked... rather young. He shook his head again to clear his thoughts, turning to Mel to distract himself. She was still laying upon the chair, now fast asleep. Where her specter was, he had no idea.

"Then we can avoid it until you're comfortable." Arc shrugged. "The older me would have immediately tried to restrain you with my powers but we both know that's foolish and rude, and possibly the cruelest thing I could do now."

He held up both hands in surrender.

"Two years changes a man. But, I digress." he said, tossing her a towel. "It's better to put on clothes once you're completely dry. And don't worry about us. I'll be enacting phase one while you're away."

He held up a thumb as he walked back inside, to what had shaken him up so much.

On the screen of the laptop were two, very large, very prominent words.

"HELP ME."

 

----

 

In a chair in the government sector, in the deepest bowels of the security section, behind several bars, under the watchful gaze of marshals and several ESPers, a single man sat in front of a monitor, two cameras watching him intently as he scrolled through pages of what appeared to be adult material. He honestly couldn't care less anymore what they saw him doing.

He'd be damned if they caught him actually HELPING them, and god knows they had pretty much already arrested him. What were they gonna do, torture or execute him? This was already serving both purposes. He fell backward in the chair, sighing heavily as magazines fell on his face, electronic and mature alike - all supported by the government in the hopes he would "comply voluntarily."

Bribes don't work if you take everything else away, idiots.

He laid on the floor, completely lost and alone. For only an instant - a second, a moment - the internet blockade on his computer had lowered and allowed him to send a message of help to the last IP address of a former colleague. He'd also managed to gather information regarding WHY it had fallen - the servers that kept his computer locked and managed had had a blackout due to power lines being cut in a nearby sector.

Nothing that involved him. Let them run around like headless, mindless chickens.

He spread his arms out, his long hair falling around him on the floor, his chair pushing deep into his back. It wasn't all that comfortable but he supposed it was better than nothing.

Plastic cups, tissues, napkins, paper plates, and other related trash were strewn about the room everywhere they could possibly be. If he moved his arms a bit, he could make snow angels.

Apparently, the government didn't care about how filthy their "employees" were.

Well, he supposed he'd be angrier if they DID clean his room every day. And it was HIS room, now. HIS.

He sat up, pushing his chair back into position and taking his seat again. Suddenly, he heard a very faint beeping from his pocket. He checked it, bored. Then his eyes lit up.

THE TRACKER WAS WORKING!?

He almost screamed but shut his mouth and quickly put the small, almost invisible device back in his pocket, acting like he'd dropped a piece of food from the lunch on the table in front of him. He had to keep up this facade. Act like an idiot. Act like he didn't know every single man and woman standing outside his bars at every hour of the day. Act like their estimations of his abilities were spot on.

"He can't see our private logs and data. They're on a separate server."

"He can't find out who our families are because they aren't on our logs."

Idiots. Idiots. IDIOTS!

A single moment of range between him and their precious "private" phones and radios, and he had every message they texted stored in his brain within an instant. He craved it. His years of being fed information had suddenly ended, and now even the most mundane pieces of wisdom fed to him from the electronics he could reach now kept his addiction stable. He knew Alfred Wits was cheating on his wife with one of the male guards down the block. He knew that Mayferd from Accounting was busy shoveling funds into his own account by hiding them behind two foreign trade accounts that no one would bother to check if they were valid. He knew one of the guards, Francis, kept asking for a transfer every other day. He also knew that two of them had children, one who had just graduated from some high school nearby with PRESTIGIOUS MARKS OH MY.

How GREAT.

None of the information helped him whatsoever so he didn't know why he even bothered. He supposed, one day, he'd just give it all to some foreign government or even EDEN and let them start shooting each other over their private documents.

And he had been planning, planning so long, so very long, for the day he could be free to ruin again. And soon, it would all be within his grasp.

He just needed to be patient.

"Hey, what are you doing in there? Are you touching yourself?" one of the guards joked from behind the bars, grinning. "Oh my what's that on your monitor?"

"It's your wife, Alfred. Not like you care about her anymore."

If it hadn't been for the high security bars separating them, Nate - and that was this man's name - was sure that he would be dead. The anger within Alfred's eyes was intense.

"Someone open these ****ing bars RIGHT NOW! I KNEW IT! HE'S FINDING THINGS OUT ANYWAY!"

"Oh shut up it's not like everyone here doesn't know about your love affair, Al."

"WHAT?!"

The complaining went on for a long, long time.

But time was all Nate really had.

 

------

 

Lesley landed short of Lars, staring at the robot with disgust as she approached her leader.

"Sorry about that. Family business. Nothing, again." she said quickly, rubbing her nails on her jacket. "So how much power do you want me to add, glorious leader?"

Whether the last part was sarcastic or not was up to interpretation.

[shadow_claw]

The towel was wrapped around the woman's torso, tucked securely into itself. Mina, although wary, appreciated the other man's concern. Although she talked big, she was rather fragile. All the muscle she had was lean, and even then it wasn't much. She had some chub here and there, especially on her thighs, but her face still seemed hollow and malnourished. Such was her life. Extraordinary abilities came with huge penalties. Spider-Man should've had that in it. It would've been much more realistic.

 

Green eyes narrowed, and then widened at the screen before her. That...wasn't good. She knew much of the government's shady dealings (after all, she was usually the one to pull the strings), but had never heard anything of this. Which was incredibly unusual. She knew just about everything going on with anti-EDEN motivation. Why didn't she know about this?

"Who is this man, and why have I never heard of this before?" Her voice took on a bite to it, her anxiety masked by a slight hostility. "I need an address. Names, numbers, details. If I'm breaking in there, it's going to go my way."

 

"Mina's way" usually meant learning many a thing about the targeted base. The residents, the time of shift changes, where the weapons were held, etc. She needed weak points, and weak people. People she could bribe into keeping their mouths shut and hands she could force. If she was doing this, she'd cripple the entire base. She was aiming for the knees here. She would usually kill the director, take their place for a few days (after memorizing their schedule that is), and work her way down. Everyone in that base would either be picked off or fooled into believing the ruse. There would be a slip in the security cameras when she entered, disguised her target, and the both of them slipped out. Nobody would ever know the damage until she was gone.

[pudding]

Teddy offered up a nod in response, the mission clear to him. Staring out of the window for a moment, he frowned then quickly ran down the hallway. These windows wouldn’t open and he had no way of trying to force them open. The easiest way would be to find a way to the way up to the roof and use that as a point to jump. Trying to go all the way to the ground floor would be too bad. “This way, Dr. Corvid!” He yelled as he ran down the hallway. Quickly finding a flight of emergency exit stairs, he forced the door open, waiting for Dr. Corvid to follow him before running up them.

 

———

 

The arrival of a strange-looking man among the police was certainly an oddity. Staring down at the man, Lars tipped his head to the side, placing his hands in the pockets of his coat. Huh. Who on earth was this supposed to be? It wasn’t a familiar face and certainly wasn’t a police officer. Moreover, it didn’t even look that much like a man in the first place. Although, when he spoke, Lars completely dismissed the idea of him being a man at all. The Government surely had their hands busy if this thing was what he thought it was.

 

“Hey now,” He replied, slowly descending until he was nearly level with the ground. An arrogant grin rested on his features as he remained hovering several feet above the ground, though he was now able to look at the creature more clearly. Human clearly was not the right word to describe it, even though the mistake could easily be made from far away. “What in the world are you?” The police officers that had gathered around them had moved around them, skirting around the edges of the street with their guns trained on the two figures. But these actions went completely ignored by Lars, who simply smiled at the figure standing in front of him. “Morality questions coming from something not even human. That’s downright adorable, now isn’t it?” Bending slightly at the waist to lean forward and look at the creature standing before him. It looked like someone already had the opportunity to play with him a little before hand since the robot’s arm seemed to be falling off.

 

Glancing over at Lesley as she landed, he smiled then waved a finger. “Ah, not just yet. Just wait a few more minutes until the others arrive.” It wasn’t fun to start up powered up just to fight off a few police officers. If Lesley was going to power him up, they had to wait until actual ESPers arrived on the scene. Just doing it for plain old normal people was hardly good.

[shadow_claw]

Jet's eyebrows knitted together, the android seemingly concerned by Lars's words. He tilted his head slightly and took a small step forward. "Humanity is often defined by a set of principles. If one is to judge by appearances alone, then the many monsters born under the name homo sapiens would be considered human, no?" Now that they were speaking face to face, Jet had softened his voice. He was speaking gently, as if concerned. All this violence worried him greatly. He was supposed to protect someone, take care of them, and they could be here among the chaos.

 

His worried expression quickly melted into surprise and maybe even fear as his malfunctioning arm was unceremoniously ripped off. Free hand shooting to the sparking, hissing stump, he stared up at Lars as if he were a kicked puppy. "Why...why would you do this?" The android took a step backwards, now clearly afraid. He had wanted to be peaceful about this. And it wasn't like he could fight back for his arm. The only thing he was equipped with was a modified taser. "I...don't understand." His body didn't ream to react well to the loss of a limb, either. Something hissed internally, causing the Android to twitch and spark violently.

 

In mere moments, Jet was brought to his knees by one simple action. A look of sheer and utter confusion dominated his features, as well as fear. Compared to humans, Jet had a very innocent outlook on the world, and genuinely couldn't understand the concept of malevolence. Why would someone hurt another...just because one could? The idea terrified him. Staring up at his persecutor, the blue light that served as his eyes flickered violently. He couldn't hold on like this. He could feel himself...dying? Yes, that's what humans called it.

 

 

[Thaelasan]

Arc sighed as he sat in front of the laptop, checking the trackers on numerous targets.

"His name is Nate. And for a while, I hoped we wouldn't have to bring him out of hiding. Truth be told, the man is dangerous. I'd actually rather he was locked up. But the situation is growing worse and we both know it." he paused a moment, clicking something on the side of the screen. "And also, he hates the government and EDEN as much as we both do, so we can trust him to at least take care of them. His power is technomancy."

He stared up at Mina for a long time to allow that information to click.

"That's right. Any electronic device within ... I believe it was a foot or more.. of him, and he can access it, manipulate data, and download it into his own memory - all within a moment." Arc said slowly, hoping the immensity of a power like that would hit her in an age like this.

"He's currently locked within a government facility not too far from here, about two cities over, under maximum security." Arc said, pulling some papers from his computer to show her map printouts.

 

------

 

Lesley sighed, crossing her arms.

"Don't take toooo long though, or the bomb will go off with us here." Lesley whispered, leaning towards him. "Barbara and the others are almost done."

 

((Also, question, what city are we currently in? We're in Philadelphia, I assume, but... ))

Edited December 2, 2015 by Thaelasan

[pudding]

“Well that’s where you’d be wrong,” Lars replied, tutting slightly as he wagged a finger at the robot. It was so strange how violence seemed to bring out this childish part of him. Even while he easily could be considered carefree while just working, he always kept a certain level of seriousness about his role that just seemed to break away whenever he was about to fight. The only other time it seemed to surface was when he was actively recruiting civilians to their cause. The obvious reason was because he had to be“Because I am hardly judging based on appearances. You’ll find humanity is actually judged based on ability.”

 

His hand opened up, neatly catching the severed limb. Looking down at the arm, he wiggled it around slightly, studying the various artificial joints. While the arm itself certainly was heavy, it was no match for his powers so the piece of metal was hardly a feather in his fingers. Rolling his fingers over the broken wires sticking out of the arm, he frowned slightly then looked down at the robot. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a robot so advanced. There wouldn’t happen to be an ESPer controlling you, would there?” Despite having ripped off the robot’s arm, Lars was acting rather passively towards the machine.

 

This look quickly faded, however, when a gun sounded off. Stepping backwards quickly, Lars looked at the bullet hole in the wall nearby before turning his gaze on the terrified police officer who had discharged his weapon. The bullet had narrowly missed Lars’s body and, had he not moved with speed only achieved through his abilities, he likely would have been hit. Trying to bring up a barrier to block bullets took a few more seconds than dodging did, after all. However, this kind of action couldn’t go unpunished. “Lesley,” He replied, looking over at her with a smile. He knew the time constraints well enough. Even so, as long as she was near him he trusted his own ability to shield them both from the explosion. “Be a dear and kill these policemen for me. Maybe that will lure the ESPers here faster.” Of course, he needed them to show up so he could be assured they would be chasing after him. As long as he dragged them out of the way of the bomb, the only casualties would come from normal people and their belongings.

 

((Yes, it's Philadelphia.))

[Thaelasan]

"You can't kill what's already dead, sir." Lesley crossed her arms, gesturing to the fresh corpses of the officers surrounding the body of the one man who had shot his gun. She wiggled her fingers experimentally, then shrugged.

"I may not be a pure telekinetic but I learned from the best." she smiled, patting Lars' shoulder. "They shot at my leader. They die. End of discussion. You don't have to tell me to do that."

Her hands were on her hips now as she tapped her foot.

"But this is BOOOORING." she sighed. "And who's the metal man? He's talking but everything he says is just bleeegh."

She made a mouth motion with her hand as though to mock the robot.

"Get out of here, rustbucket." she stated, waving dismissively. "Go be robocop somewhere else."

[shadow_claw]

Recognition flashed in Namina's eyes at the name she was given. Nate. A technomancer. It all sounded a tad bit too familiar. Her jaw set as she accepted the maps. This wasn't a person she wanted to release, and it showed on her face. "Then you know what letting him loose into the world will do." She replied carefully. Even as a teenager, he had killed some of his peers. Awful rumors, when added to a social pressure point, could be devastating. Five juniors killed themselves that year. It had been an absolute disaster of a year.

 

It was only when someone happened to leak some...telling information about Namina did she meet her breaking point. The only semblance of a normal life, with friends, was ruined with Foster Home records. That alone was enough to ruin someone socially. But no, it got worse than that. Records were dug up from when she was very young, only about seven. How she had been abused in for first foster home. One of her foster siblings killed themselves, and tried to take her with them. It had been an awful time. And now everyone knew about it. All of it.

 

Mina's face grew red as she recalled the incident. She had beaten the tar of out Nate, in front of everyone. He retaliated by putting her in genuine danger. A person she'd been avoiding, who had been acquitted from several cases of murder, was tipped off about her location. It was no wonder why she dropped from school altogether. She had feared for her life and fled a rapidly sinking ship.

 

"You're asking for a huge favor here. I know this man...and he...We aren't on good terms. If this wasn't so important...I'd let his ass rot in there." This facility was one she had screwed over in the past. But never before had she seen where Nate was held. A select few knew about it, then. This meant she had previous payoff guards. Pulling her phone from the ball of clothes, she quickly typed a message.

 

Guess who's coming back for seconds

 

;p

---

 

ESP? Was he supposed to know what that was-At this moment did Jet jerk violently, a ripple of electricity racing through him. He remembered something about that word. He could recall a person, a being with impossible abilities. His maker had been a technopath. The android could only remember that much.

"I..." He looked up at Lars, pain flickering across his face. He wasn't supposed to remember. It was hurting to know even this much. "Please...I don't want to think about this."

[pudding]

Lars looked at the robot silently, clearly thinking for a few moments. Finally, he leaned backwards, waving a hand in obvious disregard for the robot in general. “Alright,” He replied, using the robot’s own arm to gesture in an almost careless shrug. “The show is about to start anyway.” Looking up, he raised up his free hand just in time to create a barrier of compressed air between himself and the ESPer that had appeared in the air. A large boot screeched to a halt only inches away from his head, before the shoe and it’s owner abruptly disappeared. The new arrival on the scene reappeared quite quickly standing next to Jet. In her hands, she held a large, red toolbox.

 

“What the Hell do you think you’re doing?” Nano asked, staring at the ESPer floating a few feet off the ground. And, more specifically, the metal arm he was holding. “Give me back his arm right now,” She hissed, holding out a hand. Lars only smirked in response, rolling the arm around between his hands.

“Why?” He asked, wiggling one of the dead fingers. “You’re the only one here. I don’t see why I should.” He looked at her, head tilted slightly to the side. “Where are your allies? There’s no one here except for you. And you certainly can’t handle me on your own, let alone two ESPers.” Turning to look away from her, he looked back at Lesley with a shrug. “We might as well do it now. We’re running out of time and powering up might help attract more."

 

------

 

"I don't know where to go," Teddy said, looking at the bird as he looked out over the city. Many of the city's lights were out but he couldn't locate the source on his own. Dr. Corvid, on the other hand, had the ability to help him track down the source of the panic. And they had to do something about that. So it was up to him to find out where they had to go so they could stop whatever was causing the panic. "Can you feel anything?"

[Thaelasan]

Lesley grinned. Giving power to Lars was one of her favorite past times. The lord of EDEN wasn't feared for no reason. She held out her hand, focusing all of her attention upon him. A large, white surge of power immediately coursed through her body, visible to even the human eye, but blinding to ESPers, as she began to fire a stream of shining strength at Lars, directly at his form.

 

----

 

Arc looked at Namina oddly when he noticed a spark of recognition in her eyes.

"Wait, you know of him?" he asked, moving a few more papers aside. "Nevermind. The point is, this IS important, and what he doesn't know is that we have a generator powering everything in here. If he gets out of control, we just shut it off. If there's no electricity, his power is null and void. Just make sure you never enter the room with him while carrying your phone or any other personal device. He told me a story once about how he'd altered a pacemaker. Anything with electricity, he can manipulate."

He ensured the information sunk in before he turned back to the computer, sighing.

"But as for our tracker, we didn't give it to him in time. Damn..." Arc cursed, slamming his fist on the table. "DAMN! A day sooner, and we could have prevented Lars from doing any of this. Right now he's not leaving a good mark on people's minds but a very, VERY poor one. I wouldn't be using Nate if it weren't for how dire this situation is."

He fell back in the chair, breathing out heavily.

"All of my plans up to this point, two years of calculation, careful procedure, hiding like frightened animals from hundreds of wolves... I won't... I WON'T LET IT SLIP THROUGH MY FINGERS!" he shouted, furious. "Not now. Not ever. I've come too far, Lars. TOO FAR."