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

[TheIronRuler]

Ciri wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, the beads of sweat rolling down her soft skin dropped to the floor in a soft thud, the sound of it completely overshadowed by the noise coming from the buses nearby. School was coming around the bend, and graduates were running to check their new higher-tier education in work. She stared at the college campus with a burning passion, her envious eyes scanning the young kids around her. Her annoyance at the privileged kids coming to college with the money their parents pump out for them was nearly enough to ruin her day, but her day didn't need much help getting any worse. The weather was already tiring her our, the scorching California sun making her break a sweat even when she's not even walking through her job. Teleporting should make the deliveries a piece of cake, or really, a slice of pizza, but the weather just makes it unbearable. If only she had a car, she would be sitting in it cranking up the AC and listening to a track by Bob Marley.

'I got to get out of this crazy sun', Ciri was already ready to go back to base, sit around the pizza joint and listen to Joe the desperate cook yammer about the time he was in Vietnam. She knew he was thirty and could faint at the sight of blood, but she didn't mind his tales of courage and bullshit to keep her awake during her shift. Last night was a doozy, she had to admit, and the greatest example of the shock she got was her hands and their refusal to stop shaking eight hours after the fact. Ciri shrugged, look another look around her and smiled. The day was just starting out, a beautiful day of excitement and pizza, and nothing could happen that would ruin her day. Except for the heat, of course.

Ciri pulled at the two earphones tucked behind her in the right back pocket of her navy-blue mini skinny jeans and joyfully inserted the two plugs in both of her ears. She fumbled through her iPhone, picking a right Jam for the moment. She smiled again and thanked the heavens for the gift of hearing, and the gift of Bob Marley.

Spoiler: Jammin'

She pulled out her white tank-top, letting the breeze rub against her skin and hopefully dry her out. A moment later, Ciri was standing atop the main Campus building, looking down at the ant-people swarming the place. Her head bobbed up and down to the sound of the music, and a spark of inspiration broke her train of thought. She had to take the picture, and a strong sensation overcame her. She was already at the art room and back before you could have said 'Metamorphoses'. She held a block of high-quality paper in one hand and a neat pencil in the other, sat atop an AC unit on the roof and took in the view.

"California, You're a Beauty".

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Meta-Human Regulation Bureau West Coast Headquarters - Location Unknown - Date Unknown - 2020

Reno was down in his usual haunt of the Intelligence, IT and Communications Department, sorting through some dossiers when he got the call that there was an assignment waiting for him. He had been here a couple of weeks after spending a few months at the Bureau's New Hampshire branch, and he was settling in well. Normally they didn't mind Reno wearing his lab-coat when going about the base, but insisted that he switch to the agency black jacket when handling field assignments, a request that he could handle.

It was a relatively short elevator journey to the mission room where the assignments were handed out; a benefit of the Intelligence Department being situated above ground. Whilst he waited his summons, Reno passed the time by watching the local news. Being that the base was out of the way from prying eyes, the news was a mixture, a quandary if you will from various locations, and what was being reported was your standard media fare. He had heard news of a press conference taking place in Westlake City down south, perhaps he might catch some of it later on, for now though he looked at the weather; mildly sunny with a breeze coming across from the south west.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: Listen!

The bar was stuffy as ever, the locals didn't seem to mind. Charlie minded though. She minded like it was nobody's business, she couldn't even distract herself by watching the TV, the regulars insisted she keep it on the news channel. Some big press meeting was going down or something, who knows, Charlie didn't really pay attention to the local goings on.

"Oh sweet Christ, that's good." The girl breathed a sigh of relief as she held a glass of ice to her forehead. Propping herself up lazily behind the bar, her cheek resting in her palm, she groaned happily as the ice did its job.

"Charlie, that ice is for the customers." Bennie sighed, as he entered from the kitchen, a tray of clean glasses in his hands. Placing the tray under the bar with the other glasses, the huge black man placed his hands on his hips, a disapproving look in his eyes as he stared at the girl.

"Gimme a bloody break, okay Bennie?" Charlie chuckled as she looked at the man from the corner of her eye. "It's like 35 degrees out there." As the man opened his mouth to respond. "Celsius, Bennie, Fucking hell." She shook her head, placing the glass of half melted ice on the bar. "This is your fault, you know." She accused the man, a smirk curling her lips. "If you'd just fix the air con, then I wouldn't be forced to such drastic measures." Bennie attempted to speak once more before Charlie cut him off again. "I know your plan, mate, this is all some subtle ruse, you think I'll just show up here wearing less clothes, well it's not happening Bennie, do you hear me?" The girl closed her eyes, panting slightly as she raised the glass to her forehead. "Holy fucking Christ, it's hot." She mumbled to herself.

Bennie stood there for a few seconds, making sure Charlie was finished with her rant before he attempted to talk. "What I wa-"

"It's sexual harassment is what it is, Bennie, and I'd ask you kindly to stop checking out my arse whenever I bend over, it's demeaning, and frankly I don't need that in my life right now."

"I'm g-"

"Gay, so you claim, you've said a million times before, I'm onto you mister." Charlie turned to face the man, one hand on her hip as she pointed two fingers at her narrowed eyes and then to Bennie.

"Whatever, Charlie." Bennie sighed, moving a hand over his bald head as he walked towards the kitchen, mumbling something about women being a pain in the ass and that coming out of the closet was the best thing he ever did.

With a sly smile, Charlie resumed her lazy vigil over the bar, downing the glass of near melted ice.

 

[Random Fella]

To his relief the cramped bus had finally stopped and he had the chance to get some piece and quiet. That was until he felt a hand clap his shoulder "alright, we got the run of the place. Let's go drink something cold.". It was a voice he didn't recognize, quickly he turned to see the face of someone he had seen around the campus before, but had never really met, he seemed to look relieved and slightly confused. Astonished, Jim replied "A drink, yeah, it is pretty... hot I guess, but do I know you?"

He noticed the other students wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts or tank tops, the temperature was not extremely noticeable to him, 'A cold heart never feels warmth' he thought to himself in a chuckle. Probably explaining why the guy tapping on his shoulder looked slightly confused.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Cipher was sat down in a far corner of the bar, hunched over with his baseball cap pulled down low over his brow. In his hands, he nursed a glass of Coke. Cipher didn't drink alcohol. In fact, the popularity of legal substances designed dehydrate you and cloud your perceptions, especially on a hot day like this, was one of the many things he had never understood about Other People. Instead, Cipher had come to this bar for the crowd. They made him inconspicuous, and offered him plenty of opportunities. The wealth of data access offered by so many cell phones congregated in one place, not to mention the PIN machines at the bar, and the ATM on the adjacent wall were... stimulating. Almost as an afterthought, Cipher was siphoning his own little cut from the credit cards of every patron who went for another round of drinks. He's learned long ago that it was better to steal small amounts from multiple sources, rather than a large amounts from one. He drew less attention to himself that way.

Mainly though, Cipher's attention was focussed on the news report. He was seated too far away to see much detail on the grainy screen of the old TV set, nor could he hear the voice of the reporter above the general hum of the crowd. However, it was neither his sight nor his hearing, that Cipher was using to gather information.

It was possible, highly likely, in fact, that the local news' version of events was exaggerated and sensationalised to get more people watching so their sponsors would get more money (another mystery of Normal People: Why did they enjoy being lied to and frightened so much?). Be that as it may, Cipher wasn't inclined to take chances with the threat of this so-called 'Meta-Murderer'. He felt nothing for the victims so far. After all, no sympathy would do them any good now, and it only served as a distraction. Cipher's concern was for himself. Whoever the culprit was, he had proved himself merciless and highly capable, able to track down even unregistered Meta-Humans, like Cipher himself. It made Cipher wonder if the Meta-Murderer had an already pre-ordained list of targets, and if Cipher himself could be on it. Even if he wasn't a target, the Meta-Murderer's activities were bound to have the attention of the MHRB. If they followed the culprit here, Cipher ran the risk of getting caught in their crossfire.

He would redouble his efforts to ensure that his electronic footprint was wiped completely clean. That was not enough, however, too much was unknown about the capabilities of both sides. Their was only one way Cipher could ensure his continued safety. He would have to leave the country. Create a false identity for himself on the government registries. Obtain a passport, funds, and a one-way ticket to somewhere far away (he was thinking maybe Prague this time). The process should take him all of five minutes, just so he could be completely sure that he was being thorough.

For now, however, there was something else that drew his attention. In the crowded bar, Cipher's air was thick with electro-magnetic energy, projected not just from man-made devices, but from the brain waves of the people themselves. Two of these signatures flared for him like beacons, their readings markedly different from the rank and file. They were Meta-Humans. Cipher knew the signs by now, although he could not tell as of yet what their abilities were. One of them, the girl behind the bar, drew his eye particularly. She was suspicious. From her accent, Cipher could tell she was foreign. The way she spoke marked her out as confident, playful, and relaxed (a part of Cipher hated her already, while other parts felt markedly different). She didn't seem bothered by what was on the news, despite the fact that someone like her should have every reason to be frightened. Cipher checked the MHRB's registry for a match on her (He only dared look as far as Tier 3 access, break past any more firewalls, and his intrusion might be detected)... nothing. Broadening his search, Cipher spent the next few minutes cross-referencing her facial profile with the census data of the entire country... still nothing. She was an illegal and an unregistered Meta-Human. That made her attitude even more suspect.

From her accent, Cipher guessed the United Kingdom as her country of origin, and repeated the same process with the British census data. It took a little longer for him to access said information, but once he did, the pool of data was far more manageable. After a few more minutes, Cipher had a match of 95% accuracy...

Finally, Cipher realised he had been staring, and quickly looked away.

 

[Dogmatic99]

'I can not be doing with this today.'

Adrian grumbled along with the crowd, sounding like some irritable cartoon character as he pulled back every urge to shout and cuss at the sea of single minded strangers that had swept him up and jostled him along and out the door into the open.

It wasn't like a hangover or a fever but there were defiantly elements of the two. Why did it have to be so hot today, or was it just him? That was legit question, he'd been burning up like crazy over the past few weeks and resorting to thinner clothes by the day. Sure it could have just been the California sun but something about it didn't feel right, he'd never taken the heat so badly before. But the nights were okay so Adrian just wrote it off as something he had to ride out.

That was of course until a few days ago.

When it felt like his whole body was on fire. That his chest might rip itself open. Then just his arm but somehow the concentration just made it worse and the pain brought him down to his knees. Until it passed so suddenly and pulled his hand away to see the scorch he'd left on the bathroom rug.

He didn't tell anyone about it. Hid the evidence and nearly drowned himself in cold showers. Adrian had spent the last week unable to concentrate on anything, not wanting to eat or sleep. He just spent the days going through the motions, stressed out of his gord and neurotically checking his skin for burns or weird blood vessel shit or... stuff. Maybe if he just stayed busy things would feel better.

But nooooooo! He had to get stuck waiting for this display or whatever, herded in like sheep. Maybe he could duck out and just hide in a restroom stall. He could do with something cold first though.

Christ, just go see a doctor already. I bet it wouldn't be so bad if you told somebody.' He wouldn't tell anybody though. He tried to ignore it but Adrian was all too aware of why he'd kept quiet. 'Maybe go see the councilor instead.'

He could do it. Maybe they could run a test. Rule it out as a thing and tell him it was just a bizzare coincidence. A one off. Or that he was sick with something else like hand cancer or some shit.

'I'mma get a drink.' He sighed internally.

 

[The Funslinger]

"A drink, yeah, it is pretty... hot I guess, but do I know you?"

"Not really, but I'm buying," replied Nick, rubbing his hand on his jeans to try and forget the strange, unnatural coldness. Expecting the other guy to follow, he turned and started pushing through the crowd. People started parting at a light touch from him, moving as though they'd just picked up an unpleasant static charge. Nick had to keep from grinning too widely as he played with his power.

"Let's go, man. Ice cold soda awaits. Or tea, if that's your thing. My mom said they drink it in India to keep cool. Something about a hot drink making you sweat, or something. Sounds like bullshit to me, but whatever."

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

A man stepped out of a beat up old rental Buick, into the sun. He was around 6"2, with short brown hair, and the first signs of real age. He looked anywhere from late thirties to early forties. Wincing, he pulled some shades out of the pocket of his work shirt, and headed across to the bar he'd picked at random. 'One Eyed Merry's'. Sounded the place to pick up a nice, tasty dose of the clap, but as long as they had cold beer, he didn't give a shit.

Pushing through the doors, he glanced around. Not too busy, not too quiet. Good enough. Pushing into the bar, he propped himself up on it, next to some guy with a cap pulled low. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a wallet, reaching past the cell phone, which was, of course, switched off. You could never be too careful, and there was nobody who would even have his number.

Flipping open the wallet, he pulled out a bill, glancing at the I.D. inside as he did so. The name next to his picture was 'Michael McClaren'. Close enough, Michael thought. Back inside, the wallet went. It was full of assorted bills. Michael knew better than to use a card.

"Hey," he said, calling to the pretty young girl behind the bar. "Gimme a Midas Gold." That done, he pulled out a pack of pall malls, extracting one with his teeth and lighting it with a zippo lighter that was engraved with the emblem of the U.S. Marine Corps.

 

[TheIronRuler]

Ciri was staring at the procession beneath her, the ant-people being shepherded towards the huge stage at the end of campus, flowing slowly like a mighty river down to the ocean. Each of them was a person, a living being, a rich-kid with cash to burn and time to waste in a beautiful day like this. She looked further down to her hands, cocked her head to the right in wonder and stared at the jumble of lines she drew a moment earlier. Her hands couldn't even draw a straight line, she couldn't even start to imagine how the idea of drawing the whole campus crept in her mind. It was an utter failure, and she tossed the pad away, crashing down in the entrance to the main hall.

'Some artist I am...' she sulked, slumped forward and stared at the ground. 'I can't even stop the tremors...' was all she could say before she snapped back two meters away and found herself sitting on thin air. 'Uh' she gasped before falling on the hot roof, a soft thud echoing around her. 'I'm going to end up as a red stain some day on the asphalt, I swear to god-' she gazed at the slow moving clouds, imagining the amazing things she could do with her powers. She thought of the night before and the stunts she pulled with her wind-surfing. The feeling couldn't have been compared to anything else in the world. She was freed from everything, submerging herself in complete escapism, attaining complete freedom - and conquering fear. At least that's what she thought, but her trembling hands told a different tale altogether. Most of last night was spent on practicing free-falling, and nothing was more terrifying than free-falling. She could only imagine a superhero would get used to the feeling of the wind at their face and gravity as their only guide. If Superman mastered it, any oaf could do it.

'Weird...' Ciri saw some strange fluctuations in the current of the ant-people river. Something was cutting through the water of bodies, making way through with incredible speed. 'Uh' she shrugged her shoulders, zapped back on her feet and started running to the edge of the roof. A college professor saw Ciri jump in the air, gasping for air as he waited for her young body to go splay on the pavement, but instead winked and saw nothing in the air. She zapped forward to the crowd, falling awkwardly on top of a youngster wearing a hoody. The thought of how crazy a guy would be to wear these clothes in the height of summer was immediatly overshadowed by the cool sensation she was feeling across her body. Ciri was sprawled on top of the hooded teenager, her body pressed against the ice-cold fabric of his clothes.

'Mhm...You're cool-' she mumbled in confusion, taking in the smell of cold air around her. Ciri opened her eyes and saw herself pressed hard against an eighteen year old kid, practically hugging him as an escape from the heat. 'He's a walking AC!' she tightened her grip around the boy, wrapping her legs around him and pressing her chest to his cold body. 'Incredible!' she blurted out, attracting the attention of some passers-by.

'At least I'm not a red stain on the asphalt'.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Glancing up from the bar, Charlie caught something from the corner of her eye. Was that Asian guy checking her out? Why did he look so serious?

'Maybe he doesn't look serious, and you're just being accidentally racist again.'

Her eyes lingering on the man, who at this stage seemed very intent on not making eye contact, her attention turned to the bar as someone approached it. Guy in a grey suit, middle aged, wearing shades.

"Hey, gimme a Midas Gold."

The girl stared at him for second. 'What the fuck is a Midas Gold?' Turning on her heel, she stepped over to the shelf containing all the bottled spirits. 'That would be a 'back of the shelf' brand, then.' Pushing several bottles aside, she finally found what she was looking for. Pulling the unopened bottle from its hiding place, she glanced over her shoulder, before blowing the fine layer of dust off the bottle. 'Shit!' A few of the stray dust particles sparked with static, visibly so. Her back was turned though, nobody would have noticed, thankfully.

Cracking open the bottle, she placed it on the bar as she fetched a glass from under it. Pouring the deep amber liquor into the glass, she glanced up at the man, her eyes widening.

'Is he?!'

"Whoa there pal, you can't smoke in here! Hell, I can't smoke in here!" She glanced at the lighter in his hand. She didn't recognise the emblem, but it had that kind of design that suggested an American branch of government or military, coming to that conclusion based on the eagle insignia.

The Americans loved their fucking eagles.

 

[Random Fella]

"Not really, but I'm buying,"
Before Jim could even respond the boy turned and began to push through the crowd, it would be impolite to simply ignore him, and anything to peacefully get through this huge crowd would be appreciated. He noticed it didn't take much for the people to move out of the guy's way, some of them even slightly jumping from his touch, at first it looked like he was pinching them, but after observing his hands movements noticed this wasn't the case.

"Let's go, man. Ice cold soda awaits. Or tea, if that's your thing. My mom said they drink it in India to keep cool. Something about a hot drink making you sweat, or something. Sounds like bullshit to me, but whatever."
'Sounds like a good enough excuse for me' Jim thought as he continued to follow. He just hoped that they wouldn't draw any attention in a crowd like this, especially with how he still didn't have great ability to control himself, his body, for instance, was still pretty cold, 'As long as no one gets too close I'm sure they won't noti...' Suddenly he hears something close and looks up, his eyes widen as a girl awkwardly falls on top of him, causing him to fall to the ground from the impact.

'Mhm...You're cool-'

"Th-thanks?" he said in a confused tone before being practically embraced by her, she further increases her grip, wrapping her legs around him and pressing her chest to his body. Jim started to blush, and before he could ask her to get off she blurts 'Incredible!'
Quickly he pushes the girl off of him, his gloved hands not cold like his body, the attention of the crowd suddenly moved toward them, he readjusted his hood to further cover his face "Do you mind?!" he said hastily in a whispered tone as to not attract more attention. Jim quickly calmed himself and looked back to her "Who are you anyway?" He assumed that she had jumped on him purposely, and hoped he hadn't met her before and had forgotten her name, females tend to dislike that... Greatly.

 

[TheIronRuler]

'Is that a person I'm rubbing against? ....Shit!, it was all Ciri could do in her power to disengage from the massive walking ice-block. The realization dawned upon her - she was rubbing against a high-school senior, probably making his dreams come true in the process. She loosened her grip on him and looked up to see if she recognized him, 'Thank god, he's a stranger'. Ciri untangled herself from the teenager and pushed her body away. She had to save grace and turn the attention elsewhere. She let out a high shrill screech of panic and slapped the boy she fell on, "How dare you?" she acted her best.

Ciri stood up, holding the last shreds of self-respect she still had in both hands. Thankfully the crowd around her forgot her quickly enough and was going back to doing their mindless shuffle elsewhere. "Sorry about that", she whispered to the boy who was still laying on the ground, "I tripped and fell". Another one was standing next to him, staring at Ciri with the might of his eyes, hoping to burn a hole through her clothes with his stare. She had to change the subject if she would escape the questions about her appearance from nowhere. "What are you?", she asked curiously, "You're cold as ice...that's not normal".

 

[Random Fella]

"What are you?", she asked curiously, "You're cold as ice...that's not normal"
Jim stood up and brushed the dirty from his sweater, she had ignored him and turned the event on him, typical. At least she had the courage to admit it to be her fault, despite only admitting it to him personally.

"The name's Ji-" 'Wait, cold as ice? Oh god...', an expression of shock came upon his face as he quickly stuttered before getting out a clear answer.
"Jim, and, well it was a really hot day, so I, uh, put some packs of ice down my shirt, one of my Mothers old tips, that's why I'm wearing the sweater, to hold it all in, I'm not anything" He awkwardly laughed as he put one of his hands behind his head and rested on it. Noticing the crowd had gotten back to their usual movements, he pulled down his hood, his sapphire like eyes glimmered in the sun.

He rubbed his cheek, it wasn't a painful slap, but still...
"So, who are you? I haven't seen you around school before" She looked rather young, so he assumed her to be another student.

 

[TheIronRuler]

'Jim, and, well it was a really hot day, so I, uh, put some packs of ice down my shirt, one of my mothers old tips, that's why I'm wearing the sweater, to hold it all in, I'm not anything', 'Bullshit, I didn't feel any ice-cubes down there', Ciri tried to wrap her head around the mystery of the cold senior. She gave up a heart-beat later, gently shrugging her shoulders and reminding herself to think about it later in the day.

'So, who are you? I haven't seen you around school before', Ciri's lips curved upwards at the edges. She desperately tried to stifle her laughter at the suggestion. 'No, I've finished school a long time ago. I'm just here, err...' she was stuck, her pride making her unable to admit her job, she had to fabricate a reason for her being here. In a moment of lies and deceit Ciri achieved her dreams, '...here to deliver my papers, I'm going to be an art student'.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

This new arrival was causing the hairs on the back of Cipher's neck to stand up. Another Meta-Human, definitely, but there was no record of him in the seconds in took Cipher to check, not on any low security register, at least. Beyond that, an adult out in public in the United States of America carrying no activated electronics was suspicious in and of itself. When the man sat next to him and opened his wallet, Cipher got a brief glimpse of the name on his ID, and repeated the same background checks he'd employed before on the girl behind the bar.

Nothing, no record of a Michael McLaren matching this man's profile, and no clues about his person to suggest where else to look, despite the one example of military paraphernalia, which was not a good sign in Cipher's book. Often, Cipher mistrusted people because of all the dirty little secrets he could find out about them just by giving them his full attention for a minute or more, but there was no-one he mistrusted quite so much as someone who left no trail at all. No truly innocent person looks clean. People only care about leaving no trail to follow, when they have more than average to hide.

Cipher was afraid. Fortunately, he heat of the day made the sweat beading at the side of his neck seem inconspicuous. Nevertheless, he was more aware than usual of the weight of the knife and gun in his pockets, and he gripped his glass more tightly, to mask that his hands had begun to shake. His instincts screamed at him to get the hell out of there. This man was bad, bad news. He meant harm, he had to, Cipher was sure of it. He had to run. Running, however, meant leaving the strange girl alone with the dangerous man.

Why should he care? Why did he care? He didn't care... right?

His glass was empty, and his throat was dry. Wordlessly, Cipher raised a hand and pointed down at the bar, signalling for another drink.

 

[Random Fella]

'...here to deliver my papers, I'm going to be an art student'
Jim then realized that not everyone in the college grounds would be a highschool student off the bus and self facepalmed in his mind.
"Oh, cool, I'm thinking of going to college for science, maybe some Physics or Chemi"
'Wait, no one cares about the stories of your dreams' He thought to himself, he still needed to figure out how he's going to pay for it, after all.

"Well we were going to get a drink or something" he changed the topic as to not bore her.
'It would be polite to ask her if she wants to come, she looks parched, but..'
He was far too shy of a person to ask anyone to join him for anything, and he still didn't even know her name, probably for a reason he thought.
He adjusted his hood back over his head as to once again shade his face, the whole time not even once having sweat come down his face.
Letting out a breath as one would see on a frosty morning, he looked at the girl.
"Well, cya later" He said, turning back to the other guy who was going with him to get the drink.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Well, cya later"

Nick rolled his eyes. Looking back at Ciri, he said, "you must be really fucking dehydrated or some shit, if you're collapsing on strangers. Come get a drink with us."

Now that he actually looked at her, damn, she was pretty hot. Nick grinned. Today had just gotten interesting.

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

"Whoa there pal, you can't smoke in here! Hell, I can't smoke in here!"

Michael took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked at it, as though expecting it to suddenly go out at the English girl's insistence.

"Nobody's complaining," he said. After a brief moment, he thumbed the pack open, and held it out to her. "So what brings a girl like you to California?" he asked. "Usually it's the British guys that come out to the U.S., in my experience. Don't tell me you're in this fucking frying pan of a state by choice."

 

[TheIronRuler]

'Hanging out with kids, as if I've got nothing better to do' Ciri reminded herself she had more deliveries to run for the next few hours. If the heat wouldn't get her, it was definetly going to be Joe and his bullshit. Today he was sure he was a POW and got stuck in the same cage with John McCain. 'Whoever that old geezer is...' She thought about the time it would take her to reach the delivery address and back - she had already delivered the pizza, so Joe would expect her back in forty minutes.

'Sure, it's been hot today. What have you got around here?' she looked at another guy who asked her out on a drink, 'Courageous boy'. The cold-hearted one was already walking away from her, apparently too embaressed to even look back.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"Nobody's complaining"

Charlie raised an eyebrow as she leaned forward, her face reflected in the man's sunglasses, she reached for the cigarettes, flicking the pack closed. "No smoking." If she couldn't have one, she'd be damned if this CIA reject got to. Plucking the lit cigarette from his lips, she turned to the sink behind the the bar, running the cigarette under the tap before tossing it into the trash. "Six fifty for the drink." She added as she drifted down the bar to another customer, the Asian guy from earlier.

"So what brings a girl like you to California? Usually it's the British guys that come out to the U.S., in my experience. Don't tell me you're in this fucking frying pan of a state by choice."

"Not much sun back home." Charlie smiled before momentarily turning her attention to her other customer. "What can I get you?" Leaning against the counter, she looked back over to the other side of the bar.

'Who is this guy? Oh god, he's not from immigration is he?'

Last thing she needed was that. "Eh, you know, see the world and stuff, better than being cooped up I guess."

 

[Random Fella]

"you must be really fucking dehydrated or some shit, if you're collapsing on strangers. Come get a drink with us."
'Friendly guy' he laughed at the thought, still, it did make him look like a total dick for not asking in the first place, the other guy didn't seem too amused by his response either. At least the conversation was over, talking to people he doesn't know definitely isn't on of Jim's strong points.

'Sure, it's been hot today. What have you got around here?'
Jim was still standing still waiting for the guy to continue, anything to get out of this crowd. 'Maybe I should have just said no and found somewhere to sit to wait for whatever it is they brought us here for' he sighed as he thought. He decided it was best to keep following them, socializing is probably healthy and all, just hopefully there isn't too many life stories.

 

[The Funslinger]

'Sure, it's been hot today. What have you got around here?'

"Well it's a campus, so I figure there'll be a vending machine or something somewhere to get some sodas," he replied. "I'm Nick, by the way. If you wanna get a real drink, I was gonna head out to this place I know, after the press conference."

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

"Eh, you know, see the world and stuff, better than being cooped up I guess."

The girl kept glancing at him like a deer who can hear the wolves rustling in the trees. Michael repressed the urge to chuckle.

"Well I'd recommend New York," he replied. "Or Toronto, come to that. I wouldn't mind heading to Canada soon as I'm done here, actually. The trip out here was a fuckin' waste of time. Typical California."

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

One of the office doors opened, and a heavy set black man, wearing the standard suit, minus the jacket. Pit stains were visible, as well as a standard issue Beretta in a shoulder holster.

"Agent Garland," he said. "Step inside. We got a job for you."