There was a knock at the door. Jumping to his feet, Nick said, "I'll get it!"
Heading to the door, coins in hand, Nick opened it slightly and looked out. There stood Cipher, and... Charlie? The fuck?
Opening the door completely, he said, "hey guys. Uh... come in, I guess."
"Who is it, Nick?" asked a female voice from the kitchen. Nick winced. He'd assumed his mother was in bed by now.
"Just some friends of mine, mom. I told 'em about the break in and they wanted to check on me."
"Oh, how nice!" his mother exclaimed. "I'll go pour some lemonade!"
Without exactly greeting Nick (for they had already been communicating digitally, further analogue communication would have been a waste of time), Cipher crossed the threshold into the hallway. Putting his hood down, but keeping his cap low over his face, he looked subtly from side to side for a few seconds.
"It's clean." he whispered. "No foreign devices detected. Nothing piggybacking external communications. We can talk freely..." he glanced over to where the voice of what he assumed was Nick's mother had come from "but quietly."
"Right," said Nick, leading the others to the sitting room, and planting himself back in the armchair, depositing the handful of coins back on the coffee table.
Charlie remained quiet as Cipher did the talking, her hands in her jacket pocket as she smiled at Nick. "Our man here said you might have been in trouble, you know, what with that guy walking around still." She removed the cap from her head, ruffling her hair into place as she took a seat. "Cipher thought I might be able to help if we came across any trouble." She had immediately regretted her words as soon as she spoke them. How could she help? She wasn't a meta, as far as Nick knew.
"Should probably clarify..." Cipher chipped in "Discovered today that Charlie is an unregistered meta-human, capable of electrokinesis."
A small part of him felt bad for outing Charlie, but the situation just made no sense otherwise! And they couldn't afford to waste time getting Nick to trust that everything was under control.
"Oh Jesus Christ, dude." Charlie whimpered as she put her head in her hands.
"Huh," was all Nick said, giving Charlie a bemused look. At that point, Nick's foster mother appeared, with a tray in her hands. She was blonde and rather pretty. Setting it on the coffee table, she gave Nick's 'friends' a look over. Her eyes lit up when she looked at Charlie.
"Oh my, you look absolutely lovely! Much nicer than the last girl Nick was with. Honestly, she seemed like a bit of an S.L.U.T.!"
Nick, who had been reaching for a glass of lemonade, jumped in his seat. A vivid blue spark jumped from his fingertips to the glass, catapulting it across the room, where it hit a wall and exploded hard enough to chip the plaster. "Jesus, mom, it's not like that!" He was bright red.
Eyes wide, Charlie went rigid in her seat as a glass went whizzing by her head and almost imbedded itself in the drywall. Chuckling nervously, the girl grabbed a glass of lemonade from the offered tray. "Thanks, Mrs...er... Nick's... mum." The girl trailed off as she hunkered down in her chair and took a small sip of lemonade.
"Oh, call me Sally, dear," she replied with a smile. "And my husband's name is Bill." The aforementioned Bill came out to join her now, and they stood together. With Bill's red hair and Sally's blonde, someone unaware would be hard pressed to see them having a kid like Nick, with dark hair and dark eyes.
"I think it's important to encourage a child's gifts, even if it isn't something normal like writing or drawing, so we're very proud of his special talent," Sally said.
Cipher, completely unfazed by the social minutia that was heralded by the arrival of Nick's mother (which for once made him the least awkward person in the room, simply took the last glass of lemonade from the tray, saying a quiet "Thank you." before sipping. It was nice and refreshing, although, he still would have preferred plain water.
"You mind giving us a minute?" Nick asked his parents. "Please?"
"Sure, Bill replied. "Come on, Sal." Just before they disappeared out of the room, Bill turned back, a pack of cigarettes in his hand. Pulling his own out with his teeth, he waved the pack at Nick.
"Yes please," Nick replied, and his father tossed the pack to him. Then they were gone.
Lighting up the cigarette between his lips with a battered zippo, Nick said, "you know, you guys didn't have to come out here," before adding with a touch of defiance, "I can look after myself..."
"Unlikely." Cipher cut him off, unaware of any egos he might be bruising. "An untrained, inexperienced teenager is outmatched in the face of a killer who has a track record of despatching meta-humans, and who's identity and whereabouts remain unknown even to the highest authorities. Besides, your status already means you have the attention of several of said authorities. There is little you could do on your own without drawing the attention of those who may be inclined to perceive you as a threat."
Nick took a drag on the cigarette, and said, "look, all I wanted to do was maybe get everyone together and tell 'em that this shit happened. I don't have Adrian's number or anything, so I thought maybe you could send him a message."
Lighting up a cigarette for herself, Charlie furrowed her brow as she thought for a moment. "I know you think you were helping, but I don't see a bunch of metas getting together as something anyone is is gonna think is a good idea." She took a long drag, narrowing her eyes as she blew the smoke from the corner of her mouth. "Last thing we need is the MHRB thinking some of us are grouping up to be vigilantes or whatever, especially if there's..." She hushed her voice slightly as she glanced around. "Unregistered people, like me and Cipher."
"Correct." Cipher argued "We should keep this on as small a scale as possible. Focus on removing you from the attention of the authorities, so we won't be impeded." Cipher grimaced in irritation. "Of course, now the police have been contacted, such a task is now a lot more complicated. Besides, we don't know if we can trust the others yet."
Nick spread his hands. "So, what? We all just go our separate ways and get picked off one at a time? Because that's how it's been so far. This person or these people or whatever get by coming after us when we're alone. Seems stupid to let 'em keep that advantage."
Nick looked at him. "Well? Have they all been registered?"
Cipher was silent for a moment, starting ahead into the middle distance.
"Not necessarily. I cannot tell you will 100% accuracy. Those that do not appear on the MHRB's general classification may be unregistered, or they may be registered at a higher level of discretion for various reasons. What I can say, is that I'm certain the targeting of these victims is not happenstance, and that it would require considerable skill and oversight to track down any Meta on the general register from the outside, and much more so for those who are not listed..."
His face gave little away, but a few faint twitches told the others that Cipher was pondering the situation very hard. Doing calculations, trying to put the pieces together in a fog of supposed unknowns.
"Have you considered that the Meta-Murderer might be placed inside the MHRB itself, using it's infrastructure to find their victims?" he asked the others. "In that case, tracking down registered Meta's would be easy, and unregistered Meta's, while more elusive, are always being searched for by the Bureau. It would be an... efficient, platform from which to operate. There is even the worse possibility, that there is no one culprit, and that a silhouette of a lone criminal is in fact a smokescreen for the MHRB itself to dispose of individuals it feels are too dangerous, before they commit any crimes that would give them the pretext to do so openly. We cannot know without more data, however, I am sure that in all things, the first step for people like us should always be to avoid their attention at all costs. They are not to be trusted, and no good can come from reaching out to them..."
There was a darkness in Cipher's eyes, and his hands fidgeted as if the very mention of such topics was making him uncomfortable, even angry.
"Believe me."
"Alright," said Nick. "Alright. So answer this one: If you don't think people like us sticking together is a good idea, if you don't think it benefits us to look out for each other... then what the fuck are two of you doing in my house?"
Charlie met Cipher's eyes, a small smirk curling her lips as she shook her head slightly. "Because we're morons, apparently." The girl chuckled before taking a sip of lemonade.
Nick laughed. "Yeah, maybe. But hey, you're unregistered, right? Long as you don't dick about... as long as Cipher stops announcing to anyone who'll listen about what files he can see, and that there are no bugs in a room or drones trying to spy on us... well you're normal people, meeting up for a drink, right?"
"Most Meta-Humans are not me." Cipher replied, without a shed of arrogance. "My ability is well suited to operating below the attentions of authorities. I can extend the same level of freedom to the two of you. After that is done, then we can start reaching out to others, after we have observed them from every angle, ensuring that they can be trusted."
Nick clapped his hands together, smiling in the way only a man who knows he's gotten what he wanted could smile. "Alright then. I'll trust you to deal with that. For now, just... make sure they know what's happened, right? I don't suppose Adrian matters. He's not Meta, so he's not involved in any of this."
"That is incorrect." Cipher pointed out "Adrian's neural activity corresponded with the rest of you. He is also a Meta."
"Great! Every man and his dog is Meta!" Charlie held her hands up in defeat before stubbing out her cigarette. "I thought we were supposed to be rare?" The girl chuckled incredulously.
Nick shrugged. "My counselor said it's like... two percent of humanity, more in America and Europe than anywhere else. Weird, huh?"
"Two percent, my arse." The girl muttered as she sipped at her lemonade.
"It is an anomaly that warrants further investigation." Cipher added "However, we have more pressing tasks at present."
They stayed long enough to finish their drinks. As Nick shut the door behind them, he turned back towards the living room and grinned. They'd been reluctant, but he felt like he'd brought them around, at least a little. He felt buoyant as he returned to his room to finish the joint he'd had to abandon.
Heading to the door, coins in hand, Nick opened it slightly and looked out. There stood Cipher, and... Charlie? The fuck?
Opening the door completely, he said, "hey guys. Uh... come in, I guess."
"Who is it, Nick?" asked a female voice from the kitchen. Nick winced. He'd assumed his mother was in bed by now.
"Just some friends of mine, mom. I told 'em about the break in and they wanted to check on me."
"Oh, how nice!" his mother exclaimed. "I'll go pour some lemonade!"
Without exactly greeting Nick (for they had already been communicating digitally, further analogue communication would have been a waste of time), Cipher crossed the threshold into the hallway. Putting his hood down, but keeping his cap low over his face, he looked subtly from side to side for a few seconds.
"It's clean." he whispered. "No foreign devices detected. Nothing piggybacking external communications. We can talk freely..." he glanced over to where the voice of what he assumed was Nick's mother had come from "but quietly."
"Right," said Nick, leading the others to the sitting room, and planting himself back in the armchair, depositing the handful of coins back on the coffee table.
Charlie remained quiet as Cipher did the talking, her hands in her jacket pocket as she smiled at Nick. "Our man here said you might have been in trouble, you know, what with that guy walking around still." She removed the cap from her head, ruffling her hair into place as she took a seat. "Cipher thought I might be able to help if we came across any trouble." She had immediately regretted her words as soon as she spoke them. How could she help? She wasn't a meta, as far as Nick knew.
"Should probably clarify..." Cipher chipped in "Discovered today that Charlie is an unregistered meta-human, capable of electrokinesis."
A small part of him felt bad for outing Charlie, but the situation just made no sense otherwise! And they couldn't afford to waste time getting Nick to trust that everything was under control.
"Oh Jesus Christ, dude." Charlie whimpered as she put her head in her hands.
"Huh," was all Nick said, giving Charlie a bemused look. At that point, Nick's foster mother appeared, with a tray in her hands. She was blonde and rather pretty. Setting it on the coffee table, she gave Nick's 'friends' a look over. Her eyes lit up when she looked at Charlie.
"Oh my, you look absolutely lovely! Much nicer than the last girl Nick was with. Honestly, she seemed like a bit of an S.L.U.T.!"
Nick, who had been reaching for a glass of lemonade, jumped in his seat. A vivid blue spark jumped from his fingertips to the glass, catapulting it across the room, where it hit a wall and exploded hard enough to chip the plaster. "Jesus, mom, it's not like that!" He was bright red.
Eyes wide, Charlie went rigid in her seat as a glass went whizzing by her head and almost imbedded itself in the drywall. Chuckling nervously, the girl grabbed a glass of lemonade from the offered tray. "Thanks, Mrs...er... Nick's... mum." The girl trailed off as she hunkered down in her chair and took a small sip of lemonade.
"Oh, call me Sally, dear," she replied with a smile. "And my husband's name is Bill." The aforementioned Bill came out to join her now, and they stood together. With Bill's red hair and Sally's blonde, someone unaware would be hard pressed to see them having a kid like Nick, with dark hair and dark eyes.
"I think it's important to encourage a child's gifts, even if it isn't something normal like writing or drawing, so we're very proud of his special talent," Sally said.
Cipher, completely unfazed by the social minutia that was heralded by the arrival of Nick's mother (which for once made him the least awkward person in the room, simply took the last glass of lemonade from the tray, saying a quiet "Thank you." before sipping. It was nice and refreshing, although, he still would have preferred plain water.
"You mind giving us a minute?" Nick asked his parents. "Please?"
"Sure, Bill replied. "Come on, Sal." Just before they disappeared out of the room, Bill turned back, a pack of cigarettes in his hand. Pulling his own out with his teeth, he waved the pack at Nick.
"Yes please," Nick replied, and his father tossed the pack to him. Then they were gone.
Lighting up the cigarette between his lips with a battered zippo, Nick said, "you know, you guys didn't have to come out here," before adding with a touch of defiance, "I can look after myself..."
"Unlikely." Cipher cut him off, unaware of any egos he might be bruising. "An untrained, inexperienced teenager is outmatched in the face of a killer who has a track record of despatching meta-humans, and who's identity and whereabouts remain unknown even to the highest authorities. Besides, your status already means you have the attention of several of said authorities. There is little you could do on your own without drawing the attention of those who may be inclined to perceive you as a threat."
Nick took a drag on the cigarette, and said, "look, all I wanted to do was maybe get everyone together and tell 'em that this shit happened. I don't have Adrian's number or anything, so I thought maybe you could send him a message."
Lighting up a cigarette for herself, Charlie furrowed her brow as she thought for a moment. "I know you think you were helping, but I don't see a bunch of metas getting together as something anyone is is gonna think is a good idea." She took a long drag, narrowing her eyes as she blew the smoke from the corner of her mouth. "Last thing we need is the MHRB thinking some of us are grouping up to be vigilantes or whatever, especially if there's..." She hushed her voice slightly as she glanced around. "Unregistered people, like me and Cipher."
"Correct." Cipher argued "We should keep this on as small a scale as possible. Focus on removing you from the attention of the authorities, so we won't be impeded." Cipher grimaced in irritation. "Of course, now the police have been contacted, such a task is now a lot more complicated. Besides, we don't know if we can trust the others yet."
Nick spread his hands. "So, what? We all just go our separate ways and get picked off one at a time? Because that's how it's been so far. This person or these people or whatever get by coming after us when we're alone. Seems stupid to let 'em keep that advantage."
Nick looked at him. "Well? Have they all been registered?"
Cipher was silent for a moment, starting ahead into the middle distance.
"Not necessarily. I cannot tell you will 100% accuracy. Those that do not appear on the MHRB's general classification may be unregistered, or they may be registered at a higher level of discretion for various reasons. What I can say, is that I'm certain the targeting of these victims is not happenstance, and that it would require considerable skill and oversight to track down any Meta on the general register from the outside, and much more so for those who are not listed..."
His face gave little away, but a few faint twitches told the others that Cipher was pondering the situation very hard. Doing calculations, trying to put the pieces together in a fog of supposed unknowns.
"Have you considered that the Meta-Murderer might be placed inside the MHRB itself, using it's infrastructure to find their victims?" he asked the others. "In that case, tracking down registered Meta's would be easy, and unregistered Meta's, while more elusive, are always being searched for by the Bureau. It would be an... efficient, platform from which to operate. There is even the worse possibility, that there is no one culprit, and that a silhouette of a lone criminal is in fact a smokescreen for the MHRB itself to dispose of individuals it feels are too dangerous, before they commit any crimes that would give them the pretext to do so openly. We cannot know without more data, however, I am sure that in all things, the first step for people like us should always be to avoid their attention at all costs. They are not to be trusted, and no good can come from reaching out to them..."
There was a darkness in Cipher's eyes, and his hands fidgeted as if the very mention of such topics was making him uncomfortable, even angry.
"Believe me."
"Alright," said Nick. "Alright. So answer this one: If you don't think people like us sticking together is a good idea, if you don't think it benefits us to look out for each other... then what the fuck are two of you doing in my house?"
Charlie met Cipher's eyes, a small smirk curling her lips as she shook her head slightly. "Because we're morons, apparently." The girl chuckled before taking a sip of lemonade.
Nick laughed. "Yeah, maybe. But hey, you're unregistered, right? Long as you don't dick about... as long as Cipher stops announcing to anyone who'll listen about what files he can see, and that there are no bugs in a room or drones trying to spy on us... well you're normal people, meeting up for a drink, right?"
"Most Meta-Humans are not me." Cipher replied, without a shed of arrogance. "My ability is well suited to operating below the attentions of authorities. I can extend the same level of freedom to the two of you. After that is done, then we can start reaching out to others, after we have observed them from every angle, ensuring that they can be trusted."
Nick clapped his hands together, smiling in the way only a man who knows he's gotten what he wanted could smile. "Alright then. I'll trust you to deal with that. For now, just... make sure they know what's happened, right? I don't suppose Adrian matters. He's not Meta, so he's not involved in any of this."
"That is incorrect." Cipher pointed out "Adrian's neural activity corresponded with the rest of you. He is also a Meta."
"Great! Every man and his dog is Meta!" Charlie held her hands up in defeat before stubbing out her cigarette. "I thought we were supposed to be rare?" The girl chuckled incredulously.
Nick shrugged. "My counselor said it's like... two percent of humanity, more in America and Europe than anywhere else. Weird, huh?"
"Two percent, my arse." The girl muttered as she sipped at her lemonade.
"It is an anomaly that warrants further investigation." Cipher added "However, we have more pressing tasks at present."
They stayed long enough to finish their drinks. As Nick shut the door behind them, he turned back towards the living room and grinned. They'd been reluctant, but he felt like he'd brought them around, at least a little. He felt buoyant as he returned to his room to finish the joint he'd had to abandon.
