Meta: A super power RP with lore! Closed/Started

[Dogmatic99]

Nick had been in history for about twenty minutes, learning about some treaty that fucked the Germans at the end of the first world war, when the intercom sounded.

"Will Nicholas Compton please report to the Principle's office?"

Nick blinked. He hadn't done anything, had he? He struggled to remember. Getting up and heading for the door, he tried to puzzle it out. Eventually he arrived at the Principle's office, still none the wiser. But when he opened the door, the Principle wasn't there. Instead, a relatively attractive woman of about thirty was leaning against the desk.

Leaning respectably, but a little suggestively. Just a little. Violet had opted to augment her usual work attire with a business skirt and waistcoat that drew attention to all the right curves. But not too obviously, she had her dignity after all. Though less of her pride it seemed as she was willing to use her dangerously feminine wiles on a teenage boy.

"Nicholas Compton, I presume?" She looked at him over the top of the sleek glasses that she didn't need. "Or do would you like it to be Nick?" She daintily offered him her hand to shake.

Nick shook her hand. "Uh... yeah. Just Nick's fine. What's this about?"

"Hi Nick, I'm Violet." She smiled sweetly. "How 'bout you take a seat? There's nothing to worry about, I'd just like to have a talk with you in private. Can I get you anything before we start?"

'Your phone number, maybe?'

In other circumstances, he'd have said that without hesitating. But something was... weird about this whole thing. "Nah, I'm good," he replied.

"Alright then."

Violet took a seat just next to Nick's, lightly placing her hands in her lap. She gave Nick a nervous, almost sad little smile before looking away for just a second. Her strategically positioned hands were fidgeting among themselves as she twisted the ring on her finger, that was clearly not a wedding ring, giving Nick just enough time to steal a glance.

"Nick I want to be honest with you, I'm sure you can tell what's going on here. I'm with the MHRB. We heard the reports that you suffered a break in last night, and given everything that's been happening recently, well I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Gotta make sure to place the pronouns right. "How are you handling it?" Violet leaned forward in her chair.

Nick's eyes widened for an instant before he mastered himself. "I'm fine," he replied. "Nothing got taken. Guess I'll just have to shut my window next time, huh?"

"Nick..." Violet eyed him up, taking on all the air of a real therapist. She'd dealt with enough to have it down pats. "Y'know this kind of thing could be pretty scary for most people. There's no shame in needing a little help, and that's what I'd like to do, Nick. The MHRB is here to help."

"Right..." said Nick. He wasn't exactly against the MHRB. He'd never have registered, otherwise. But now he knew unregistered Meta Humans, he felt like he had to keep them as separate from the Bureau as possible. "But the fact is I don't know anything." It was true. "I mean I don't know if this was a burglar, or that Meta-Murderer. It's pretty freaky, but there ain't shit I can say that you don't already know."

"There's no details that could be too small here, Nick. Any little detail you could think of could be of help. Like if you've seen anyone suspicious around recently, or if anyone might have approached you, however irrelevant you might think."

Violet tilted her head slightly, letting a strand of hair fall out of her eyes and just so happening to show off the line of her nech and collar bone a little. "And even if you don't-" She was just reaching out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder when her phone went off. Isiah shouldn't have been calling her now. "I- I'm sorry, Nick, I have to take this."

She saved it by flustering herself a little more than she needed to, making it seem as if she was embarrassed for some other, less professional, reason. Just to give him a little more control. It was a text alert.

Urgent intel incoming. Database login required.

'Oh boy.'

"I'm so sorry, Nick. Something urgent's come up." She sighed, looking at him like she really didn't want to go. Which wasn't totally false. If she was in the kid's shoes she'd be pretty pissed. "But please, if you think of anything, or if you just want to talk, if you just need someone; please call me. Anytime you need me." Violet handed him her card before elegantly getting up from her chair and excusing herself from the room.

Once she was out in the hall she broke into a serious stride and had her phone out in a flash, looking up her latest alert.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

All that was left was for Cipher to nod, and begin the process, working all the while as they ate breakfast together. Erasing Charlie from the digital landscape proved to be even easier than he had anticipated, and he was finished before he'd polished off his last piece of toast (although he was eating slowly).

"It's done." He told her, getting to his feet in order to go and wash up his dishes. "Thank you for the breakf-"

As he had risen, Cipher's eye was drawn to the small red splotches that had just appeared on the coffee table below him. Reaching up with a trembling hand, he confirmed, with a sinking feeling, that his nose had begun to bleed heavily. Before he even had time to panic about the potential progression of symptoms, he began to feel dizzy, and the room blurred in front of him.

Fighting the attack from yesterday was about to come back to bite him.

"I'm sorry." he slurred, woozily "I got my blood on your tab-" before he collapsed, smacking his jaw on the edge of the table on his way down.

 

[The Funslinger]

San Francisco...

"You got a bead on her?" came Vic's voice through Damien's earpiece. Damien's scope centered through the window of the cafe on the weirdly dressed girl with goggles. "Yeah, I got her," he said. "...You know, I could just take her out."

"No, we have our orders," Vic replied. "Am I set to go?" This question was directed at the three other members of their party. Two were fixing strange silver cuboid shaped devices to the cafe's walls, while the third was on the roof, running a metallic band over the top of the cafe's glass fronted entrance, paired with two more of the cuboid devices on the sidewalk in front of it.

The premise was really quite simple. The devices connected to each other and generated an electromagnetic field around the building in question. This field was designed very specially by the Bureau's R&D as a method of dealing with teleporters. When a Meta-Human teleported, their body and everything they took with them were transmuted to particles somewhat like light, albeit able to move literally instantaneously. However, when they tried to move from within this field to outside of it (in this case, from within the building this 'Ciri Jinx' was in, to anywhere outside of it) the particles were forcibly bounced back, essentially planting the person right where they had started, leaving them very disoriented and nauseous.

"You're all set," came the reply. Vic nodded and got up from the bench at which he sat. Show time...

As he passed through the cafe's door, he noted a rather uncomfortable static charge pass over him. The sure sign the devices were working. Once inside the cafe, he pulled out his badge. "Ladies and gentleman, this is an emergency. I'm gonna need you all to stand up, and very quickly and quietly leave the premises. There is a gas leak in the building, and you are all in danger of inhaling toxic fumes."

This caused a bit of a stir, but Vic shouted over the crowd, telling them all to line up and leave single file. He pointed at Ciri, however. "Not you. You wait right there."

It took several minutes, but at last, everyone was gone. Vic shut the door behind him. As the crowds dispersed, his comrades, now carrying weapons, could be seen lining up in front of it.

"Now, Miss Jinx," he said politely. "I'd like to have a word with you. And before you do what I know you're thinking of doing... that's a bad idea."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Charlie continued nibbling her toast as Cipher set about doing his thing. After a few silent minutes, the girl glanced at the man. "Cipher? Are..."

"It's done."

Getting to her own feet, she placed her plate on the table, a look of concern creasing her brow as her eyes followed the blood now dripping from Cipher's nostrils. "Are you okay?" She bit her bottom lip nervously as the man swooned slightly.

"I'm sorry. I got my blood on your tab-"

Charlie got her answer as Cipher collapsed to the floor, hitting the table on the way down.

"CIPHER!" Charlie cried as she fell to her knees next to the man. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The girl hovered her hands over Cipher hesitantly. The last thing she wanted to do with accidentally stop the guy's heart. "Cipher? Cipher?... Shit." The girl dug her fingers into her temples as panic raised in her throat. "What officer? No, it's not what it looks like, only the unconscious body of the unregistered meta that was erasing me from government records, did I mention I'm an illegal immigrant and also an unregistered meta?"

Pushing her coffee table to the side, she leaned over Cipher. He was breathing, which was good. Quickly getting to her feet, she rushed to the bathroom and returned with a roll of toilet paper. Ripping off large handful of paper, the girl held it to Cipher's nose. At least she could try and stop the blood. "Come on dude, don't stroke out in my apartment, it's not cool." She chuckled nervously as she grabbed a sofa cushion, propping up the man's head.

 

[The Funslinger]

The morning was coming to a close, the sight-seeing was nearly done, and Ciri was indulging herself in a good cup of hipster coffee in a little mom&pop shop she didn't quite catch its name. All was well - she saw the new exhibitions in the musuem of modern arts, ate some delicious Ben&Jerry's and even snooped on top of the Grace Cathedral, catching the view below.

She nearly forgot all about last night - but she couldn't shake one thing off, that scream which was cut midway through, that blood-curdling yell of pain and panic, mixed in with a dread so deep - Something was wrong.

People were panicking now, leaving the cafe, and following the orders from a strange man dressed in black waving his badge around. Something about a gas leak, that was what he said, but she knew something was up. Normal policemen didn't wear those fancy clothes.

"Not you. You wait right there."

Crap, Ciri didn't even bother to stand up. She continued to sit with her hot cup of coffee, regretting the fact she never had the chance to taste it yet. Everyone else in the building left, not even taking a second look at the strange situation, and how that one girl was left all alone in the dangerous gas-filled structure.

"Now, Miss Jinx," - They know my name - "I'd like to have a word with you. And before you do what I know you're thinking of doing... that's a bad idea." - and they know what I am.

'This is it, then. This is the end of my anonymity. This is when the big bag government comes to get me, because I'm different, and I can't bend by your rules-', she raised the coffee cup to her lips, the searing hot liquid only touching her lips. She pulled it back down, a muffled curse stuck in her teeth.

'The Men in Black, the Big Guns, the Shiny badges... Tell me, Agent, Should I call you Mister Wood, Mister Stone, or-', she raised an eyebrow, scanning the black-dressed gentleman with scorn, '-Mister Town?'.

'You all look the same, wearing those identical suits. Nothing special, nothing unique... but you hate that, don't you?'

"Uh... okay," Vic responded. Privately, he was a little disappointed she hadn't tried to teleport. The apparent result sounded hilarious. But whatever. Sitting down across from her, he said, "alright, why don't we start with what happened? See, first we have this testimony from a woman claiming some teleporting girl saved her from two men. Then we have a guy with a criminal record and a California State I.D. being taken to hospital in North Dakota claiming, and I quote, "this crazy ***** in goggles came outta nowhere, and next thing I know, me and my buddy are falling." Propping his chin up on his shoulders, Vic continued, "you've gotta understand how this looks, Miss Jinx. We have a murderer apparently running around California, and then you show up, kill one guy, and cripple another."

'Don't call me like that-', Ciri leaned forward, her tongue cheeckily wiggling at Mr. Town, shaking her head in disapprovement. She zapped away to a nearby table, changing her perspective on the mysterious agent.

'I'm scared more of you than any wannabe Charley Manson', She leaned back on her chair, opened her hand in front of her and zapped the cup of coffee in her hand. Ciri raised the cup and tried to taste it, Still too hot... I can't leave till I've tried it.

'I'm glad he's crippled. He deserved it'.

"Well I'd be inclined to agree with you on that one," Vic replied. "But look at the facts from our perspective: You murdered a man, and seemingly fled the state. If you weren't under our jurisdiction, and we didn't have the ability to collect facts that the United States Government sadly lacks, you would be in a shit ton of trouble. But you are, and we do. I'd advise you to cooperate from here on out. It'll make things much easier on everyone."

a shit ton of trouble...

'Are you threatening me, Mister Town?', Ciri asked as innocently as she could, her big brown eyes staring at the big bad wolf dressed in a black uniform.

'The fuck is up with this kid?' Vic wondered. Out loud, he replied, "no, Miss Jinx. I'm warning you that you've already killed a man, and if you continue to act out, the MHRB will be forced to reevaluate how it handles this situation. I'm trying to help you get out of this unscathed. If it weren't for the fact that up until now, your open displays of your ability have been resoundingly harmless, the consequences for what you did would be much worse. That isn't a threat, it's just fact." After a moment of consideration, he added, "let me put it this way: If I were a police officer investigating a crime, would you be talking to me like that?"

If you're the good cop, then where's the bad cop?, Ciri looked around the room, she couldn't notice anyone hiding inside. She looked outside, and she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

'You're not alone, are you?'.

"No," Vic replied. "There are the others in my squad out there, covering the exists, and a sniper on the roof. I don't see that it makes any difference. Now, I don't know what you think is going on here, but I'm not trying to mess with you. If I wanted to kidnap you and put you in some deep, dark government facility, I wouldn't need to bullshit you to do it. In fact, the way I want this to go, you'll be back in Westlake City before tomorrow. So are you gonna cooperate, or not?"

'The way I see it-', Ciri took a small sip of her coffe and closed her eyes. No, it really wasn't all what she was expecting. Maybe it was the Men in Black threatening her, but she thought the brew was lackluster. '-this isn't a police investigation. You don't need evidence. You don't need due process. You can hang me on the golden gate bridge and they would applaud', she was waving her hand at the street outside. This was getting boring, fast. She had to get back to her schedule and see Joe soon. Ciri pointed at the buldge in Mr. Town's coat.

'Is that a gun-', she smiled suggestively, 'Or are you happy to see me?'. The buldge disappeared, Ciri zapping it outside and away from her - but it then unexpectedly popped back inside, crashing against the opposite wall and breaking into tiny little bits of metal. She stared wide-eyed at what just happened, the slow realization that it could have been her getting smashed against the wall breaking her confidence like a sledgehammer going at a plaster wall.

'Christ', she exclaimed nervously, 'Y-you mean business'.

"Of course we mean business," Vic snapped, finally losing patience. "We're a U.N. established organization to deal with people whose abilities could quite potentially destroy safety and civilization as we know it. You think this is some bullshit game of cat and mouse, where we try to bait each other? It's not. You think we haven't dealt with teleporters before? We have. You think you're doing anything good by fucking around like some coy, pixie little vigilante? You aren't. All you're doing is making people more scared than they already are of people like you, and wrecking the efforts thousands of people have gone to, to make sure Meta-Humans can coexist with regular people safely. Are you fucking proud of that? Are you?"

T-They told her to bend over... they...

Ciri let go of the cup. Her eyes constantly darted away from his gaze, instead occupying herself with the pieces of broken gun on the floor. She couldn't look him in the eyes. He was lying, she was sure of it, he was just trying to get something out of her... something...

'They told her to bend over the dumpster'. She whimpered, in a barely audible sound. Hearing herself, she closed her eyes to avoid his gaze. What she had done... She never meant to kill those men. She never meant to do any of that. She was just feeling like a superhero, like a real x-man... someone who never gets scared, who always saves the day...

'I...I didn't mean, t-to...'.

The floodgates opened at that point. All of her fantasies, they all had a price. A bloody price. Ciri leaned forward, her head descending slowly down, her forehead touching her left forearm. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, making a small pool underneath her face. She didn't mean to... she didn't really mean to... All she ever wanted to be was a painter, she didn't want any of what had happened to her. Sometimes you don't choose your destiny, but your destiny chooses you.

This isn't a comic book... wake up, Jinx. You've fucked it all up again.

Vic leaned forwards. All traces of anger had gone from his face. "I know you didn't, ma'am," he said. "The Bureau knows that. Why do you think we didn't come in guns blazing and apprehend you by force? You're gonna be fine, I promise you. You just need to let us handle this from here on out, okay?"

They're going to take it away, take everything away

The tears kept going and Ciri was slowly returning to her old self. Her power was the manifestation of freedom - and now it was all taken away, for her own safety.

'You're going to put me in a room like this', she said between heavy breaths, raising her head slightly, her eyes going up to meet the agent sitting in front of her, 'I can go everywhere I want... and you don't like that'.

She was at her wit's end. There was no way of getting out of this situation in one piece. The die had been tossed. Her number came up. It was time to wipe away her debt.

'You don't know how it feels...', she took a couple of deep breaths, wiping the snot on her face with the back of her hand, 'the freedom I have. I can't live without it. I can't...'.

"No," Vic said. "No rooms. Just home. Here's what's gonna happen: I'm gonna take some personal information, so we can register you in the MHRB database. There's gonna be a record of... the incident, but lucky for you, it ain't gonna show up as any kind of criminal record the police can look at. That's a little perk I've been authorized to give you for your own peace of mind. Once we've taken care of that, you're gonna come with me, and I'll be putting you on a plane that'll take you back to Westlake City. There, you're gonna meet some agents we have working in the city to investigate those murders. They're gonna be like your parole officers for the next few days. It's an incubation period while they assess you, and we deal with all the odds and ends of that man's death, and your self defence plea. Now, you'll have to wear a special anklet that allows us to monitor your location. It'll also disrupt your teleporting, kind of like this room, but I absolutely promise that it'll be off in a couple of days. I can hand-wave a lot of this away, but I can't change that. The agents in Westlake need to know you can't go pulling a fast one while they're evaluating you. Think of it like house arrest, except you can still go anywhere you want inside the city limits."

'It would break my mom's heart if she ever found out I was on parole', Ciri wiped away the rest of her tears, 'and Joe won't shut up about it'.

She smiled, imagining the expression on Joe's face when he's see her walking around with an ankle-bracelet, acting like a convict. It brought her mood back to the sunny side, and away from bad memories.

'The X-Men never had to deal with paperwork when they were kicking bad-guys... You guys just let them take out the trash'.

"My cousin reads those comics, and I'm pretty sure the X-Men had to deal with the government sending giant robots after 'em from time to time," Vic replied with a smile. "Now, if you'll put your foot up on this chair, and pull down your sock, we can get the unpleasant part over with." With that, he set a small black briefcase on the table.

'Yeah... Don't get any ideas there... I would hate having Sentinels hunting me down'. Ciri laughed awkwardly, noticing she wasn't supposed to be joking around with the agent who not so long ago threatened her.

Did I just spell doom for the entire meta community?

'S-sure...', Ciri raised her leg and placed it on top of the chair. She pushed the sock down, and looked up at the agent with teary eyes. 'I... I really don't want to do this', she begged him, her big brown eyes trying to get as much sympathy as humanly possible. 'I can't...', she turned away and looked down at her foot. She found herself sitting on top of a coffee table on the other side of the room.

You have to be in control, just calm down

'Sorry', she said shyly, noticing how startled he was at her sudden disappearance. He was already about to wrap the ankle bracelet around her leg when she zapped away. 'Just... be gentle', she was already back in her seat, where she was sitting earlier. 'Promise me', she closed her eyes, his hands wrapped around her thigh, holding the raw jeans tight.

Stay calm, relax, it's all going to be over now...

"Don't worry about it," Vic replied, popping the briefcase. The device in question was a compact black rectangle with a black strap. Pulling it out, he peeled off a plastic layer. "On the inside here is a kind of... skin treatment thing. Basically this thing fits so tight you'd need to cut it off without the proper key," he pointed to a slot in the top of the rectangle. "So this balm stuff basically makes sure you won't get any irritation over the next couple days. The device is completely waterproof too, so don't worry about showering or bathing."

Clipping the device, Vic pulled it tight and there was a click as the strap's mechanism locked into the optimum fit. A light on the side of the rectangle flashed twice to show it was active, and then went out.

"There's a kind of... current passing through your body. You'll feel a little bit weird for the next couple hours, but after that, you'll adapt and feel just fine. And even though I know you won't try anything, I'm obligated to tell you that if the device comes off, or is shut down or disrupted without authorization, that'll be considered a violation of your parole. I'm... just legally obliged to tell you that. Now let's go. You can fill out the registration forms on the plane."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Cipher awoke on the floor, one whole side of his face throbbing and the taste of blood in his mouth, the recovery of his mental faculties with their usual sharpness not being entirely welcome, in light of the pain it brought him. He didn't remember hitting his head, but he could surmise as much.

At least he hadn't urinated all over himself this time.

Groggily lifting his head, wincing as he did so, a quick scan around the room revealed Charlie, sitting on a stool across from him still not dressed for the day. Her expression was one of mixed concern, being slowly replaced by relief.

"How long was I unconscious?" Cipher asked, before a panicked thought struck him. "You didn't call anyone did you?! No paramedics! No police!"

"Oh thank god." The girl sighed in relief as she quickly rose to help Cipher to his feet. "No, I didn't call anyone." She chuckled as she grabbed his arm. 'And land us both in the shitter? I ain't stupid.'

"You were out for about five minutes." Her brow creased as she searched his face. "What was that? Is this like what happened at the bar?" She chuckled nervously. "But worse, obviously."

Cipher wasn't quite ready to stand up yet, and wobbled, leaning against the arm of the couch for support, before gently sitting down, while Charlie bombarded him with questions.

"The attacks are more manageable in some moments than others." He told her "I hope you were not too alarmed..."

A pregnant silence followed, while Cipher stared at the floor while he processed Charlie's queries. A part of him wanted to deflect or refuse to answer. His illness was a private matter. Revealing it to another person could weaken him. Then again, what difference was there between public and private for a man like Cipher? In fact, telling Charlie his story might even strengthen a trust between them, which served his ends. Yet, there was something else, something unusually sentimental for him... Charlie had taken him in. He'd known her every secret within minutes of first laying eyes on her; and, rather than shun him for it, she had trusted him with sensitive matters. Whatever else lay ahead for the both of them, this was the first time Cipher could remember anyone else ever placing faith in him, and she was owed something honest in return.

Even so, Cipher had never before expressed the dilemmas of his past and present out loud, and he faltered, unsure where to begin.

"You kinda scared the crap outta me." Charlie chuckled nervously, but you don't seem all that surprised by them." Helping him onto the couch, Charlie took the tissue from his hands, now caked in dry blood. "I'll go get a wet cloth and some ice for that." She grimaced as she pointed at her jaw. "Kinda hit it hard on the way down."

"Thank you." Cipher mumbled, as she got to her feet. For some reason, he found it easier to speak once her back was turned.

"Most Meta-Humans don't manifest until adolescence, so that their abilities don't overwhelm their fragile systems..." he began, stony-faced. "I was not so fortunate. I was barely a child, orphaned and homeless, when a group kidnapped me. For nearly half my life I was their prisoner, and they wasted no time in, 'unlocking' my ability. I don't know what they wanted out of all of it. A slave? A spy? Perhaps they just wanted to toy with a young and unaccustomed mind, to see what I was capable of and how much I could take? Every day for years they drugged, augmented and tortured me, attempting to peel away my psychological barriers and realise my full potential. Simply put, I exceeded their expectations; and, when I discovered that they were not capable of restraining me, I killed them."

Cipher's hands fidgeted nervously as he recounted the trauma; and yet, deep down Cipher felt a twinge of something cathartic.

"It was the MHRB. By extension, at the very least, if not directly. Who else would have known what to look for? Who else could have directed my future torturers to just one out of millions of orphans in Beijing, and provide then with the resources and insight they needed to achieve success? Ever since I left their prison, I have been running from them, but I can't escape the tumour they left in my brain. I don't know if it was deliberately engineered as a safeguard against me, or just a side-effect of the trauma I experienced. All I know is that symptoms range from nose bleeds and headaches, to hallucinations and seizures. I can't get treatment. I am a wanted man internationally, considered a terrorist by several governments, and the MHRB has systems and spies all over their public services. If I ever walk through the doors of a hospital or doctor's surgery, I will never be allowed to leave. I must find the answers for myself."

Charlie was back with him now, and for once, Cipher felt comfortable looking her right in the eye.

"Even if I am unsuccessful. I will not let them do to people like you what they did to me."


Charlie placed her hands on the sides of the sink as Cipher suddenly had a lapse of the life stories. Was it true? Was any of it true? Furrowing her brow, the girl rinsed a cloth under the tap, a couple slithers of electricity arcing from her fingers and into the cloth. 'Why would he lie? What could he possibly gain from lying?'

Tortured? Experimented on? No wonder the poor guy was so fucking twitchy, how do you even recover from something like that? Drying her hands, she moved over to the freezer and removed a bag of peas. A brain tumour would explain the nosebleeds and unconsciousness, but what if the man's, frankly, out there story, was the figment of a diseased brain? What if he could have gotten help this entire time, but was so delusioned that it prevented him from seeking help.

Placing the damp cloth on top of the bag of peas, she made her way back over to Cipher. "I'm going to put this on the table, my powers freak out when I touch water, and I don't want to hurt you."

Running her damp hands through her hair as she headed to her bedroom, she began getting changed into something more suitable, when a thought occurred to her. "You know, Cipher." Charlie grunted slightly as she squeezed into a pair of jeans. "I'm gonna bet you didn't have anyone watching your back before." She slipped into a long sleeved tartan shirt, buttoning it up as she re-entered the living room. Regardless of whether what he said was true or not, Cipher needed medical attention, sooner rather than later. "I take it you have access to funds, so money isn't gonna be an issue." The girl shrugged her shoulders as she lit up a cigarette and took a long drag. "Why not see a backdoor surgeon, someone good, but who doesn't ask questions?" She furrowed her brow. "If you're worried about getting caught, I dunno..." She smiled weakly. "I can keep an eye on things, make sure you don't get screwed."

Charlie had no idea why she felt so compelled to help this man, this stranger she barely knew. Yet she felt some kind of kinship.

"Still too risky." Cipher replied immediately. It was clearly an avenue he had considered before. "But, thank you, for offering."

"I am not without ideas, however." he continued. "The brain is little more than an organic computer. It's purpose is to interpret electrical signals, sensory data, store memory, and to calculate stimuli in order to solve problems. Of course, an organic brain is countless times more complex than even the most powerful super-computer ever built, and no two are identical. Even when taken into consideration, however, I believe it is possible to extrapolate my affinity for digital minds to chemical ones. I have been using my abilities since before I was ten years old, and they are still growing stronger. I have well surpassed all the expectations of those who once had me at their mercy. If I still have the time to grow, to evolve, to circumvent or push aside the barriers in front of me, it is entirely possible that I might reach the stage where I can rewire neurons with the same ease that I can rearrange lines of code." As he spoke, something inside Cipher's voice stirred, hungrily.

"From there, theoretically, anything is possible. Manipulating my brain to bypass, and eventually repair, damaged areas would only be the start. I could rewrite instinct, delete or download memory, and corrupt the senses to make nothing be as it seems. I could fundamentally change the core of what it means to be human. All I need is time, and data. It's all any research ever needs."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Not gonna lie dude, sounds kinda waaaaaaay out there." She wasn't sure what she thought of the idea. "I mean, say you figure out how to do... all of what you just said. Tampering with computer files is one thing, but messing with people's brains?" She blew smoke from the corner of her mouth. "I dunno man."

"Look, regardless of that, you've got a ticking time bomb in your skull, and you need to fix it. You spout a lot of statistics, so tell me Cipher." Charlie tilted her head slightly. "What are the odds of you... dying before you figure out how to fix yourself? Then match that up against the likelihood of you getting caught, with me to make sure you're okay."

"I... do not know." Cipher had to admit, a little bit embarrassed that he'd allowed himself to get carried away. He had to be careful around Charlie. "My episodes have become more frequent within the last year, though how debilitating each attack is still varies wildly. It would certainly have been too risky to seek outside help before, but... you alter the variables somewhat. I need time to think."

It wasn't often that Cipher had to say that.

"However, helping Nick is our next priority. It could be a matter of hours before the MHRB catches up with him."

"He'll be fine for the next two minutes I'm sure." She sighed as she plopped herself down on the sofa next to Cipher. "I'm more worried about you." She chuckled to herself. "You know, you're not an easy man to read, and I'm sure you think that's a good thing, and normally you'd be right." She shrugged her shoulders. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on her knees, splaying her fingers apart, she rubbed the bottoms of her palms against eachother as she pondered.

"I get the feeling you've spent a long time on your own." She glanced at Cipher from the corner of her eye. "Would it kill you to make at least one friend?" She smiled sadly. Charlie knew what it was like to be alone, granted, she hadn't been tortured and mindraped, but it was the thought that counts.

"You already know everything about me." She shrugged her shoulders. "That kinda makes us friends." She bit her bottom lip as a nervous smile curled her lips. "In a creepy... stalker... kind of way?" Staring at the man's deadpan face made things all that little more difficult.

"If my ability unsettles you, I can make a conceited effort to pretend that I know nothing about your personal history." Cipher responded, utterly sincere.

"That's sweet." Charlie pursed her lips. "I think..." Stubbing out her cigarette, she turned to face Cipher. "Lift your head up, show me your chin."

"My injuries are not serious." he protested, though complying anyway. "Had they been, I would have refrained from talking."

"Shut up." Charlie chuckled as she leaned forward to get a better look. Using her sleeve as a barrier, she gently pushed Cipher's head up. Inhaling sharply through clenched teeth, the girl shook her head. "Gonna be a big one I reckon. Keep those peas on it, at least get the swelling down." Grabbing her tea, the girl slumped back in her seat. "Does it happen when you use your power, or is it completely random?"

"Both." Cipher replied, as he pressed the peas to his face. They were soothing. "I do not need to be using my ability to suffer an attack, nor do I always suffer an attack when I use my ability. However, heavy use of my ability to perform complex digital tasks is usually accompanied by at least minor side effects."

He was finding it much easier to talk to Charlie now. By all accounts, he should have been more guarded around her than most people. A feather touch on her part could stop his heart with ease, if she wanted to, but, there was an earnest friendliness about her that was infectious. Cipher spent so much of his time delving in to the dark secrets of important people, sometimes for personal gain, though mostly just for protection. Charlie's simplicity was... refreshing.

"That is not to say that my effectiveness has been damaged." he continued. "Far from it. I become capable of more and more every day."


"Alright there stud, calm your jets." Charlie chuckled. "You don't have to impress me." Even though she knew the man was being completely sincere, she couldn't help but tease him. Taking a sip from her mug, the girl crossed her legs. "Soon as this Nick stuff is over, we're gonna go fix you up, okay." She wasn't asking. "You're fucking mumbo jumbo computer brain shit won't save you if you're a vegetable."

Cipher looked at her, and managed a small smile. This time, timid as it was, it seemed to suit him.

"Okay."

"Oh my god..." Charlie clasped a hand to her mouth. "Are... are you smiling?" She cooed. She giggled as she took another sip of her tea. "You should really do that more often." She winked at the man.

"I will try." He told her. "Though, once the swelling has reached it's peak, the result will likely frighten small children..."

There was a few seconds of awkward silence, as Cipher waited for some kind of conformation of success.

"That was a joke."


Charlie merely stared Cipher for a few moments, her expression completely neutral until her façade finally cracked. "Pfffffft" She tilted her head back as she laughed. "Oh man, that fucking sucked." She nudged the man with her shoulder. "The internet has many jokes, go find them."

"I have explored that avenue before." Cipher replied, a little crestfallen "Many of the allegedly humorous adages circulated online appear to make little sense, being based around misspelling words, and animals who's natural facial contours are similar to certain anthropomorphised expressions."

"It was an admirable first try." She smiled, not wanting to put the man off of ever trying again. "You made me laugh didn't you?" She grinned.

"Then, I shall endeavour to make you express mingled pity and embarrassment through outbursts more commonly associated with humour on a regular basis." Cipher said, smiling once more.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Not gonna lie, I saw this coming," Isiah said as the three agents walked back through the parking lot. According to the college's art teacher, Ciri had vanished into thin air roughly twenty minutes before they'd arrived. "God, teleporters are fucking annoying. At least other Meta-Humans have to take a cab."

Opening the door of his SUV, Isiah sat down sidesaddle in the driver's seat and pulled out his phone. "Guess I'll report it. Control is gonna be pissed."

===================================================

'That was weird,' Nick thought as he headed down the corridor. When he came to the turn that would take him back to his class, instead he went the other way, towards the building's exit. A few minutes later, he was striding out of the school grounds, his phone in his hand. Scrolling down to Charlie's name, he sent her a text saying he needed to talk. An alert flashed up, 'UNABLE TO SEND'. Her phone must be broken or something. Realizing he had no way to directly contact Cipher or Charlie, he kept scrolling until he reached the name of some girl he'd bumped into at a party the other week, and started writing a quick text.

He might as well have some fun while he waited to inform the others of what had happened.

 

[Dogmatic99]

Later that afternoon...

Isiah and the others sat in the airport terminal, waiting for the plane to touch down. When eventually it came, he set down the newspaper he was reading, and stood up.

Out on the tarmac was a small private jet taxiing in the final stages of its landing. "Well shit," Isiah said. "They sure brought her back in style, didn't they?"

"Perhaps it was to make her feel more at ease with her situation?" Reno asked, sounding unsure as he looked up and saw the jet that had just landed.

"Cus that's totally how we deal with killers in our custody isn't it?" Violet frowned, as she thought back to the scratchy bastard she and Isiah had bundled up like a sack of potatoes just twenty four hours ago.

Isiah shrugged as they walked out onto the runway. "Well, you read the file. Ain't a black and white murder case exactly."

Meanwhile on the plane, Vic was opening the door. "The agents who'll be handling you are just outside," he said. "I'm to wait on the plane, to make a round trip. Goodbye, Miss Jinx."

"Don't call me like that", Ciri closed her eyes and nodded her head, "Just Ciri."

She walked past the agent and down to the hallway connecting the airplane with the terminal. Pictures of various airfields across the US littered the two walls to her sides.

"You must be Ciri Jinx." Violet welcomed their new charge as she made her way into the terminal. The girl wasn't what she was expecting, that was for sure. "I'm Violet McCracken, I'll be one of the agent's assigned to your case. They weren't too rough on you I hope." She came in close to Ciri as she ushered her on to join them, taking on a calm but not unkind tone. Something a little more formal than the approach she'd taken with Nick.

"I, yeah" Ciri was getting dragged along the ride by a black-clad woman, of all things, ironically named Violet. She must have been dreaming, and she'd soon meet Mister White and Mister Black, but that wasn't a Neil Gaiman Novel - this was real life. She was actually getting tagged and bagged, added to the massive database of metas in the country. She didn't really think they could catch her, not with her powers, yet now everything seemed possible.

"Hey" She said quietly, standing awkwardly in front of the other two agents sent for her. She was staring down at her own feet, trying her best to avoid eye-contact. 'I'm Ciri, and you must be my babysitters from now on'. She gave off a smirk, if only for a second, and then returned to her submissive stance, like the poor, little and misunderstood girl she was.

'The quicker we get this over with, the quicker I get the hell out'.

"I'm Isiah Freeman," Isiah said. "Gotta say, the last teleporter I saw in one of those was struggling a lot harder than you seem to be." he gestured at her anklet.

'You don't know how it feels when they take it away from you. You never could even begin to imagine. It's like they tore a part of your own body.'

"Yeah, I can manage, walking isn't that bad. I need to lose a few pounds" She grabbed at her flat stomach, giving off a shy smile.

Reno looked over Ciri as she was making small talk with Isiah. It seemed at some moments she was confident, but at other times scared. At a guess, he imagined that she was close to his own age, maybe a year or two younger.

"You'll certainly be getting a lot of it over the next few days. I'm Reno Garland by the way, a pleasure to meet you Ciri. Or would you prefer Miss Jinx?" Reno asked as he pushed up his glasses.

"No, just Ciri" She looked up at the other agent, the one calling himself Reno.

'What kind of name is Reno?'

She hid her hands behind her back, moving her weight from her heels to her fingertips, slowly rocking forward and backwards to the sound of elevator music in the terminal.

"I, eh... It's nice to meet you all."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Isiah said. "Anyway, let's go. We'll drop you off at your house. We'll meet with you tomorrow afternoon."

Violet fell in line with the group, keeping a keen eye on Ciri as they walked on. It was still early days to make any clear calls about the girl yet, at least based on anything outside of the report, but as of now they were her keepers and every moment in Ciri's company was time on the clock. She looked to Isiah out of the corner of her eye. They were going to need to talk about this later.

'I can't get away from Fergurson with this bracelet on...'

"I don't think I can go back home" Ciri whispered anxiously, trying her best to show a distraught appearance, "The landlord would kick me out when he finds out I'm..." She lingered, thinking of that word he mother told her when she couldn't reconcile her faith with her own daughter. "special."

Isiah pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. "What do you guys think?"

Violet squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed at the back of her neck for a second as she pondered up something. Sending her off to a hostel in her current situation could only push her further over the edge. Possibly. It was hard to tell right now if Ciri was the kind of person prone to reaching a breaking point. The report seemed to suggest it a little. Then again, she could have just been playing them. It wasn't like they hadn't met metas like that before. If only Mercy was here, she'd have had this girl in line and dancing to her tune in a heartbeat.

"We still have something left in the budget for accommodation expenses, right? Push comes to shove we could always put her up in a hotel. At least for tonight, until we can help Ciri get something more reliable." Make sure to use her name and warm language. She was on good cop duty this time round.

Isiah sighed. "I guess that works. We are meant to be observing her, after all. We'll upgrade you to a two person bedroom and she can stay with you." They were out in the parking lot now. He pressed the button on his keys, and the SUV beeped in the distance as it unlocked.

"Remember when we were here tracking down a murderer?" he asked wryly.

"Yeah, best we get back to doing that once we've sorted Ciri out with a room." Reno remarked as they headed towards the SUV.

"We can multi task it. We are supposed to be the best." Violet cooed nonchalantly as she made her way around to the other side of the SUV. As she opened the door and took her seat next to Isiah she shot him a cold ass look while the other two couldn't see her face behind the headrest. It very clearly said: 'I am not sharing a room with anyone!'

"Guess we could take turns in both watching Ciri and working on this investigation. Sort of on a shift basis." Reno said as he got into the back seat behind Isiah.

"Jesus," Isiah muttered, frowning bitterly at the look Violet gave him. He already had a god damn wife to deal with, he didn't need this shit.

"I don't know," he replied to Reno. "We do what we do. It's only for a couple days. We'll just... I dunno, stick whoever's the least essential to the investigation at the time with her."

With that, he started the car and started backing out of the parking space.

Oh shit they were talking about her like she wasn't here. That'd only come back to bite them later if they kept this up. "Sorry about this, hun." Violet turned to Ciri in the back seat. Giving her the same sympathetic look you give a friend when it's all gone wrong. More flies with honey and all that.

Ciri walked through with the agents - they were taking the bait, talking about putting her up together with Violet. She would milk them for as much as she could. It was the very least they could offer for what they did to her.

'A slumber party?', she smiled at the thought, imagining what was behind all of that rough exterior of the black-clothed agent.

She was herded through to a large black SUV, and she was seated next to Reno. He didn't seem much older than she was, though his eyes looked tired beyond anything she could imagine. She slowly edged closer towards him, her hand resting on his knee, her finger slowly going in circles around and around. She looked at him slightly blush, then she turned away and placed her hand on the leather between them.

Violet turned around and finally addressed her, as if she wasn't a piece of furniture they were delivering that day.

"That meta-murderer, I heard about that, are you going to catch it?"

"That's the plan," Isiah replied. "Although your little stunt sidetracked us real bad. So uh... thanks for that."

Ciri frowned, turning her head to the driver's seat. "I saved someone. When did you last get to say the same thing?"

"About three weeks ago," Isiah said. "And... two weeks before that. And a month before that. Because usually that's what we do, instead of babysitting little girls."

"I'm not little" Ciri protested meekly, turning her attention elsewhere. She lowered her head, her eyes examining the most curious spot on the floor of the SUV right between her knees.

"She has a point there Agent Freeman. After all, who was the last little girl that you knew who killed someone; albeit unintentionally of course in the case of Ciri here." Reno remarked with a smirk as he was busy sorting the emails on his tablet.

"You'd be surprised in this line of work," Isiah said darkly. He didn't elaborate any further, however, but just kept driving.

 

[The Funslinger]

8:00pm

The bedroom was lit only by a small beside lamp, and in the dimness, the last tendrils of smoke could be seen curling towards the ceiling.

Nick gave out a long groan of pleasure, and opened his eyes. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the bobbing head of the girl knelt in front of him. She stopped what she was doing and looked up at him with a smile. "Bet you liked that, huh?" she said. The question was clumsy and awkward, but Nick was too stoned to care. "Damn right," he replied, a lazy smile plastered across his face.

Getting to her feet, the girl sat next to him on the bed. What was her name again? He felt slightly bad for being unable to remember; he'd texted her just a few hours ago. But it wouldn't come to him, so he discarded the thought. No sense being guilty over something you couldn't change. He turned and looked at her, as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. Not bad looking at all, although her hair was dyed an alarming number of colours. It looked kind of cute, he supposed, but he thought she'd be hotter without it.

Casually ducking her when she tried to kiss him, he reached into the pocket of his jacket on the door and pulled out a fresh joint, and then thought better of it and put it back. If either of them had too much more, he thought they might 'white out' (the extremely unpleasant sensation of feeling very sick from too much pot too quickly).

"So..." he said. "Mind if I get a glass of water?"

The girl smiled devilishly. "I've got something better than water," she said. "I got a bottle of coconut rum on that shelf up there. Let's get fucked up!"

'Booze, huh?'

"Nah, I'm good," he replied.

"What, you don't wanna get drunk?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

He thought. "Eh, it's complicated. See, I kinda picked out where I want my first drink. I've been looking forward to it for a while now. Don't wanna ruin it."

The girl screwed up her face. "That's weird."

"Whatever," Nick replied. The mood was gone now. Getting to his feet, he started putting on his jacket. "Well, I'm gonna get outta here. See you later..." nope, the name still wouldn't come to him.

"What, you're leaving?"

"Uh... yeah," Nick said. "That a problem?"

"Well..." the girl replied, once again putting on a coy smile. "I was kinda hoping you could... spend the night."

'The subtlety of a fucking brick, this one...'

The offer tempted Nick, but he decided a night of sex wasn't worth spending several hours with this girl. He'd probably hang himself. He tried to look conflicted before he said, "nah, I got a load of shit to get done, babe." He imitated her smile. "Maybe next time, huh?"

"Hurry back, Nicky," she replied, in what was clearly supposed to be a breathily seductive voice. Nick nodded and left, rolling his eyes as soon as his back was turned.

When he got back home some time later, his mother flagged him down on his way upstairs.

"Hey Nick, a couple of men from the MHRB came around, asking about the break in."

"What?"

"Oh yes, they were so polite," his mother replied. "Not at all how I'd have expected them to be."

"Uh... okay, mom," he said. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth."

"Good night, honey."

"Night, mom."

=================================================================

Much later that night...

Stalking down in street, his mind was full of rage. Everything had been thrown out of balance, everything! His carefully laid plans had fallen to naught, and he'd had to leave! Leave before the job was done! Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

Well, he'd get him. Nicholas Compton had just been another name, part of the larger evil, but by ruining the plan by not showing up when he'd been wanted, he'd sewn seeds of genuine, personal hate in the man. The next time he went after that boy, he wouldn't be so lucky. And he'd suffer. He'd beg for death before the end.

But in the meantime, it was time to make things right. Missing Compton meant a break in routine, and that had to be compensated for as quickly as possible. So the man had selected a new target. Now he stood outside the parking lot of the Westlake Mall, making the final checks on his equipment. Reaching down to his belt, he flicked the switch on a small grey box strapped at the small of his back, and it started whirring quietly. That little box would make sure any CCTV cameras he passed wouldn't be working as he passed them by.

That done, he checked his weapons and headed to the east side of the parking lot. According to the documents he'd lifted to make his plan several days ago, the night guard he was after was posted on the third floor of the mall's east side. Uncoiling a length of rope, the man whirled it to build momentum, the hook on the end flashing in the moonlight. When it was nothing but a silver and black blur, he let fly and it arced high into the air, catching on the edge of the roof. Fastening the end around his waist, the man took hold and began to climb up the side of the building, until eventually he was on top of the large flat roof. Approaching the vent, he pried off the grill and climbed inside. The crawl along and down to the second floor took around ten minutes, but eventually he was out, prowling the east side. Keeping to the shadows, he hunkered down and cast around for his target.

A flashlight came on up ahead briefly as its carrier checked down the corridor, saw nothing, and switched it off to preserve night vision, before carrying on along his route. The man straightened up and carried on pursuing. He followed him a little way before picking a shop. It was an athletics equipment store. As soon as his target was out of earshot, he began picking the door's lock, and slipped inside. Then he waited. When he knew his target was coming back, the man kicked the wall behind him, and waited.

Curious, the night guard turned on his flashlight and opened the door, not seeing the man standing behind it. Leaping out at him, the man delivered a savage punch to the night guard's back, driving the air from his lungs, before kicking him onto a pile of empty cardboard boxes.

Turning onto his back, the night guard tried to speak but was wracked by a coughing fit. When he could finally get a word out, he wheezed into the radio on his shoulder. "Shoplifter in Sports Goods, repeat, shoplifter in Sports Goods."

The man smiled. There would be no help coming. The device on his back that shorted out the cameras also had the additional benefit of scrambling frequencies. His radio was useless. Advancing on the man, he drew out a large combat knife, selecting it over the silenced 9mm pistol holstered next to it.

"Jason Bradbury," he said in a low, sonorous voice. "No longer shall you and your fellow demonic kin roam free on this earth. The time has come for retribution to be exacted for what you are."

"Stay back, man! Stay back!" Jason cried, reaching for the stun gun on his belt. As it came up in his hand, however, the man threw the knife in his hand. There was a splash of blood, and the stun gun clattered to the floor. Suddenly, Jason's entire body seemed to vibrate into a blur. He flew back and ricocheted off of the wall, flying at the man. But the man had drawn his gun in the midst of Jason's whimpering, and now he fired. There was a muted pop as the gun went off, and the bullet caught Jason in midair, sending him sprawling on the floor, twitching violently as blood spurted from his chest.

Stepping around the widening puddle of blood, the man knelt before the dying man, and took up the knife he'd thrown earlier. Gripping Jason's jaw tightly, he said, "sleep now, and spend an eternity burning in infernal flame for the sin of your birth."

With that, he jammed the knife into Jason's eye. When the body lay still, he removed it, and wiped it clean on the dead guard's sleeve. Again circling the now much wider pool of blood, the man returned to the vent he had emerged from, and disappeared into the night. The lord had been sated, and he could rest once more.

 

[Random Fella]

Jim lugged his bag onto his back and set out to the bus home.
He contemplated on what Nick had told him about this apparent break in, he thought of messaging him to satisfy his curiosity, but decided against it.
He arrived home to the usual scene of his mother doing some chores waiting for him to arrive, newspapers covering the table with basic job availabilities that someone of his age would usually be looking at.
Greeting his Mother he made the trip up the stairs toward his room and started on his school work.

The time clipped by 8pm, his work was long finished and he was doing the usual on his computer, his mind thinking back to when he had met all of those people at the conference, and the silent joy he got out of being social for a change.
Quickly he shoved it back out of his mind, the worry brought by what he was told this morning was enough to think about.

 

[The Funslinger]

The following morning...

With his plate loaded up from the breakfast buffet, Isiah sat down with the others. "Alright," he said. "Call came in last night. We've got ourselves a crime scene to investigate."

He'd been woken up at four in the morning by a phone call from someone from the local P.D. A night guard at the local mega mall had been brutally murdered. None of his colleagues on site had professed to overhearing anything strange, and none of them had resisted being taken into a twenty four hour holding period. A point in their favour, certainly. On top of that, they most likely all had alibis placing them in the city at the times of all the previous murders.

Still, it warranted investigating. They had no conclusive evidence that this wasn't a group of people cooperating.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Ciri bit into a tasty pear, the juices running down her chin. She wiped it on the back of her hand, which she dried up on the tablecloth. The hotel experience was great, especially when it was free of charge - and if she could keep it up, she would do it till the end of time. No rent and no need to do the groceries - everything is laid out perfectly for her on every meal, and it's all for free.

She wiggled her way out of the room, being left alone by the agents. Violet slept in the double-bed, and Ciri had to do with the tiny little sofa in the corner of the room. She didn't sleep as much as Ciri did - it was as if she was watching her all night, never dozing off in fear she might jump through the window and teleport away... if she could still do that.

Being normal sucked hard. She had to walk everywhere, she had to reach for things and she was constantly wasting her time getting places. It was seriously getting on her nerves, and she feared it might be a part of a permanent arrangement. The hunt for the mass-murderer was on the daily agenda, and she wasn't going to miss out on the MIB in action, no matter what.

"Call came in last night. We've got ourselves a crime scene to investigate."

'Cool', Ciri said out loud, then noticed she was supposed to keep quiet. She already broke the unspoken rule, so why not go further - 'Do you have forensic guys, like in CSI?', she turned to Reno, 'Or are you some kind of psychic meta?', she looked back at Isiah. 'I can totally help', she said enthusiastically, 'and you can't all split up just so you could baby-sit, I can come along, I won't get in your way'.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Call came in last night. We've got ourselves a crime scene to investigate." Said Isiah as he sat down with the others carrying a loaded plate of food. Reno meanwhile was having one of the many breakfast omelette's that the hotel was offering, along with a pot of tea on the side. Almost immediately Ciri started talking.

"Cool." She said aloud. "Do you have forensic guys, like in CSI?" She then turned to face Reno. "Or are you some kind of psychic meta?" Ciri then looked back towards Isiah. "I can totally help." She said with enthusiasm, which Reno thought it was nice of her to offer, though she may be doing it to try and get the anklet off sooner. "And you can't all split up just so you could baby-sit, I can come along, I won't get in your way."

"We've got something akin to forensics like those on the show, though unfortunately we lack a substitute for Caine, so no witty one-liners to cap the investigation off with I'm afraid." Reno remarked as he had a sip of tea whilst reading the morning newspaper; seeing if anything interesting. After a few moments, he set the paper down.

"So where's the scene of the crime then?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"We have a complication." Cipher announced, seemingly out of the blue, as he and Charlie walked down the deserted street of one of Westlake's more run down Inner City blocks, on their way to an address Cipher had meticulously researched all of the previous day.

"I've been taking another look at Nick's MHRB profile," he continued without provocation "looking for leverage that the Bureau might want to use. Original purpose irrelevant now. Have discovered sub-files, of much higher classification. Cannot possibly dig deeper in current circumstances. Confirming their existence was dangerous enough."

His stream of consciousness paused briefly, and his hands twisted nervously in front of him.

"Must conclude that the MHRB has had an interest in Nick for some time, since before the Meta-Murderer was ever an issue. Cannot guess at details, but it was likely always impossible to ever approach Nick without drawing their attention. Suggest course correction now. Let MHRB approach Nick first, focus in on him. Then, use them to gather more intelligence."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Must conclude that the MHRB has had an interest in Nick for some time, since before the Meta-Murderer was ever an issue. Cannot guess at details, but it was likely always impossible to ever approach Nick without drawing their attention. Suggest course correction now. Let MHRB approach Nick first, focus in on him. Then, use them to gather more intelligence."

Charlie furrowed her brow, a cigarette hanging from her lips as she thought for a moment. "What's so special about Nick?" The girl asked herself, rolling her eyes slightly as a smile curled her lips. "Apart from the 'shooting shit across the room with a touch' deal, I mean." Hands stuffed in her pockets, the girl nodded her head from side to side, tongue in her cheek as she thought. "They had an interest in him before the murderer showed up, right? Maybe they're thinking of recruiting him? It makes sense why'd they be keeping an eye on him."

Charlie glanced at Cipher from the corner of her eye. The man was looking a lot better now, most of the colour had returned to his face.

 

[The Funslinger]

'and you can't all split up just so you could baby-sit, I can come along, I won't get in your way'

"Keeping an eye on you twenty four/seven was never part of the deal," Isiah said. "And this ain't some bullshit TV show where the plucky moron with no experience spots something the trained investigators miss, just 'cause she's the protagonist. Besides that, our work's classified. You ain't coming with us."

Taking a swig of orange juice, he said to Reno, "and I get the feeling if I say where we're going in front of her, she's gonna miraculously turn up, and it's too early in the morning for that shit. I'll drive us there."

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"It makes sense why'd they be keeping an eye on him."

"That would be a straight-forward conclusion." Cipher (partly) concurred. "The question that would still remain is, why him? Other than being registered, he shows few signs of being a suitable candidate for integration into the doctrine of the MHRB... quite the opposite, in fact."

They'd arrived at the place, and old warehouse building that had been converted some decades ago into low-range apartments, which had then in decades since become largely uninhabited and derelict. Cipher had been adamant before that he would deal with nobody who had establishment ties. However, straying so far of the straight and narrow came with it's own dangers. Two young Hispanic men sat on the steps outside the building, giving the appearance of simply killing time. However, whenever their gazed passed over Charlie and Cipher, it was sharp and cold; and, while they took care to keep them concealed, it wasn't hard to discern that both men were armed. Cipher's own revolver felt heavy in his pocket.

"This is our destination..." Cipher said quietly, before looking sideways to Charlie. For once, emotion shone through quite clearly on his face. He was scared, both of the people they were about to meet, and of potentially finding out if his situation was hopeless. When Cipher had been busying himself in theoretical prognoses with equally theoretical treatments, it had been easy to keep such fears at bay. Now though... what if he was about to find out that his remaining lifespan was a matter of months? Or weeks?!

He didn't want to die.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"The question that would still remain is, why him? Other than being registered, he shows few signs of being a suitable candidate for integration into the doctrine of the MHRB... quite the opposite, in fact."

Charlie grunted in agreement, taking a long drag of her cigarette as the pair approached their destination. Charlie casually eyed up the two men, not belying her nervousness. The girl had dealt with these types in the past, it was the same no matter where she was in the world, the only thing that changed was how well armed they were. She'd take some chav crackhead from London over some punks with guns any day of the week.

"This is our destination..."

"Yeah." Charlie muttered as she blew smoke from her nostrils, her eyes not leaving the two men. After a few moments, her eyes finally rested on Cipher. For the first time since she met him, she knew exactly what Cipher was thinking, it was written on his face. "Hey." Charlie cooed softly as she nudged the man with her shoulder. "You know we need to do this." She smiled warmly as she tried to comfort him. "I got your back, remember?" She winked as she tossed her cigarette to the ground, grinding it beneath the heel of her shoe. "Let's do this."

 

[TheIronRuler]

"So where's the scene of the crime then?"

Ciri eagerly awaited to hear a response, but Isiah cut right in, shooting her down like she was a bit of dust on his shoulder.

"and I get the feeling if I say where we're going in front of her, she's gonna miraculously turn up, and it's too early in the morning for that shit. I'll drive us there."

Ciri twinkled her nose, giving off a scowl, showing everyone at the table she was ticked off and disappointed.

'I can't move around like I used to-', she tapped the bracelet with her hand, a dim metallic sound coming off it, '-So I can't miraculously turn up anymore'. She turned back to Violet, trying her best begging pose, 'But you need to look after me, I'm a lost cause with this thing on... I'll forget I can't 'jump' and get myself in trouble'.

She fluttered her eyelashes, trying to look as harmless as humanly possible, pleading the MIB agents to let her go. This could be a dream come true if she ever does see a real crime scene, and the excitement... Oh, she could hardly wait!

 

[The Funslinger]

'But you need to look after me, I'm a lost cause with this thing on... I'll forget I can't 'jump' and get myself in trouble'.

Isiah gave her a blank look for a moment before his face split in derisive laughter. "*****, do you think we're stupid? You've been walking around half your life without teleporting any damn place. You can make it two days not being a lazy mother fucker. Hell, if you couldn't, if you were that fucking dumb, we wouldn't need to worry about you, 'cause you'd be dead within a week after we left anyway."

Swallowing his past piece of bacon, he turned to the others. "Hurry that shit up, and let's go."