Heritage

For a tiny Jewish girl, Lynn loves Christmas, mostly because it involves decorating and giving gifts. Like Adept, Gretchen tends to be kind of grumpy, which makes it funny when she's surrounded by good cheer. Casey normally spends Christmas with her extended family at a rented cabin in Aspen, though she might make an exception for a visit. All of these ladies fly, so being snowed in is less of an issue, though a nasty blizzard might make flying hazardous.

"She went off the deep end a long time ago," stated Gretchen matter-of-factly as she stood with her arms crossed, glaring at her bizarre girlfriend. "Sometimes I forget she's not human, but she always finds a way to remind me." "I wish you wouldn't say that," replied the changeling, looking genuinely hurt. "Just because I'm sometimes weird or random doesn't mean my feelings aren't real; I was born human, after all." The young barista tilted her head to one side as she studied her partner for some time, saying nothing for several seconds; Lynn merely swallowed as she awaited her response. Finally Gretchen sighed and nodded. "Well, then. It seems I owe you an apology." Then she stepped forward and gave Lynn a slightly awkward hug, which though a little stiff made up for it in strength. "I'm sorry. I forget things sometimes." "Me, too." She gave Gretch a last little squeeze and then let her go, wiping small tears from her eyes as she laughed self-consciously. "Sorry 'bout that; every couple has its little moments." She reached over and took her lover's hand. "Um, not sure what to do, either, I guess; I mean, we have to stay here until the HVAC guy gets here, but maybe we can do something later? Do kids still do patrols and stuff like that?"

For several seconds, Grim just stared at the bizarre scene, trying to wrap her mind around it; finally, she just accepted the fact that some things...what was the phrase Grampa Lou had liked? 'Beggars description'. "Is that him? Do we just sorta...hold hands and float out to him? Think happy thoughts?" Gretchen, on the other hand, was freaked out beyond the point of sarcasm, and therefore was at a loss for words.

The young journalist nodded as she relinquished her plates to the caterer, suitably impressed. "Noble goals indeed, doctor. Is there any specific area of research of greater interest to you? An endangered species perhaps, or a major topic of concern about which you're particularly passionate?" Casey's instincts told her this young man was on the level, and she liked what she saw so far; he wasn't some yacht club playboy trying to justify all the money he spent on boats to the shareholders, but in fact a man with both a vision and a firm commitment to protecting not just the Great Bay, but all the world's waters. Perhaps he'd be willing to take on a young volunteer..?

"Can we get some climbing rope," Casey called out to the protectionist. "Nylon, anywhere from nine to eleven milimeter, say at least a hundred feet? If you have any carabiners, I'll take 'em, but I can make do without them. I want try and bring them both back." Once she had the rope, she tied one end of it to the firmest anchor she could find in the real world, and the other to her waist, making sure the knots were good and tight, a point of pride for any Scout. Then she turned to the AEGIS agent who'd been so helpful, and sighed before giving him a nervous smile. "Okay; apologies in advance in case I damage your wall." And with that, she lifted into the air and plunged right into the screen .

Casey's eyes went a little wide for a second, but then they quickly returned to normal size as she began to think through everything she'd heard. "So hypothetically...if a concerned citizen were to make an anonymous tip, maybe providing copies of incriminating documents...basically like 'Deep Throat' did for Woodward and Bernstein, then the FCPD could do its job. Interesting..." Despite her squeaky-clean reputation, Miracle Girl was actually more willing to work outside the box than most people might think; in fact, recently she'd done something rather shocking in the name of justice, and this time innocent lives were at risk. At length, she sighed and shook her head. "Well, detective, I wish I knew someone like that, someone with murky morals; if I did, maybe I'd tell them Mercury's address or what floor their office was on, and then let them make their own questionable choices. Buuuut, unfortunately, I'm pretty much a straight shooter." She shrugged and looked sympathetic. "I've got a reputation to maintain, you know? Little kids look up to me." And then she stood there, expectantly.

Another iconic videogame character soon dropped out of the sky and approached the mysterious location; Casey Blankenship, aka Miracle Girl, wasn't very skilled with costuming, so she instead opted for a simple rental outfit. While she was still out on the street, she did a quick IR scan of the building, because part of her still thought this might be a trap. I hope Sakurako was able to make it; we haven't hung out in forever!

Technically Casey doesn't have a radio; she IS the radio, via her Communication (Radio) ability, though he could certainly relay what he heard to others.

Miracle Girl might work well in this, but I'm not sure if she's fast enough.

All condolences are appreciated. We're a fairly tight-knit family, so I know we'll be alright. Posting will be spotty for a bit.

My father just passed away. He'd had a massive heart attack early in May, and was in either a hospital or rehab center since then. His wife, my step-mom, was there with him, and his grandchildren in their Halloween costumes. He was happy, and not alone, which I suppose is more than some people get. My father loved and respected all faiths, so if you have a chance, say a prayer to whatever gods or goddesses you cherish , or at least raise a glass to my father, Walter David Karcher. He loved Tolkien, Harry Potter, Bob Newhart and George Carlin, and he passed his love of books, music and nature to all of us. I love you, Dad.

I just noticed they're much closer in age than I realized; Tristan turned 22 in May, and Casey will be 19 in December!

The young blonde held up a finger as she swallowed the rest of her Rueben. "Excuse me! Actually, I'm a student journalist; Casey Blankenship, writing for the Claremont Clarion. It used to be a physical newspaper, but now it's the official school blog. It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Delacroix." She tucked her recorder under her chin to offer him a surprisingly firm handshake. Finally feeling the presence of the cream cheese on her lip, she hastily wiped her face with a napkin, then juggled her burden so that she had both near-empty plates stacked in one hand, and her recorder in the other. "Sorry about that, Doctor! As I said, I'm a student journalist, and I think scientific matters are sadly underreported in most school papers in this country, and I'm hoping to change that." She took a deep breath, then smiled, seemingly amazed she'd gotten this far; she really was a charming young lady. "So Doctor, if you don't mind, could you explain your vision for OCEAN-Freedom, and why you chose the Great Bay for its location?"

Casey studied the scrawny young millionaire for several seconds, shaking her head at his core body temperature. Poor man must work himself to death on his projects; I bet his doctor is always telling him to 'take it easy'. But then she noticed his body in action, which made her seriously confused; the man looked like a human Q-Tip, yet inside he was built like a racecar. He burned fuel so efficiently that he- Suddenly, out of nowhere, Casey's stomach growled loudly, like an angry jungle cat, and her cheeks went a little pink. How long ago did she eat breakfast? Did she really skip lunch? The smell of the buffet made her mouth water, and she knew if she wanted to do her job right, she couldn't afford to be distracted by an empty stomach. She quickly made her way to the back of the sevice line and grabbed a plate and a few napkins, but then after a few thoughtful moments she added a second plate, and she began to load them up with finger sandwiches, cheese and crackers, cookies and slices of cake, chopped veggies and a large glob of spinach dip, boneless mini-Buffalo wings and those cream cheese and tortilla curls she couldn't resist... The two plates were stacked high when her and her plastic cup of punch finally wandered back into the crowd; the servers had to get refills on several of the trays because she so depleted their stock. Her lady-like image was certainly impacted by the sight of her wolfing down finger sandwiches with a tell-tale smear of cream cheese on her lip. The hunger pangs finally dealt with (for now), she once again quickly picked out her quarry from the crowd, the mysterious Dr. Delacroix, and she made her way in his direction as she stuffed a whole mini-Rueben in her mouth. "Scoose me," she somehow managed to articulate around the large wad of food in her mouth. "I like talk...talk to you, if you don mide..."

Sorry that last one was A little short , but I couldn't think of much more to say.

"Well, I checked all the other ones on this dock, and they seemed to be clean," Miracle Girl said as she swept an arm to indicate the containers; then she realized this might be confusing, so she pointed to her eyes as she elaborated on her comment. "I can see for miles and into infrared; the grenades give off a faint heat signature I was able to detect." She shrugged. "I'd happily offer my sevices to your investigation in any way I can, sir."

1d20+2=17 Woo-hoo, she made it!

Casey returned his handshake with a firm one of her own; her strong grip shouldn't have been surprising, considering she'd just lifted several tons, but it was still a bit incongruous coming from a such a young girl. "Likewise, detective; happy to help." "Of course," she said in response to his querry, and she followed him away from the crowd. "I know the foreman said there was no record of it on his manifest; he suspected some sort of smuggling operation right away. Have you been investigating this 'Mercury Shipping'?"

Casey has Super-Senses 6 (Extended Vision 3 [10,000 ft], Infravision, Microscopic Vision 1 [Dust-size], Radio) and Notice +10 with Skill Mastery, so she can take a lot in. She's being respectful and not snooping, but she may well catch something the other journos miss.

There were many reasons Casey Blankenship was excited about the opening of OCEAN-Freedom. Since first arriving in the city two years ago, she'd spent a lot of time out over her waters, especially with her friend Sakurako. She was also looking for ideas for her Gold Award project; she was torn between doing something involving the Great Bay, the Fens or the Southside (both neighborhoods had parks in sore need of a champion), and she hoped to possibly find some inspiration here. Last but not least, she was a reporter, in her heart as well as for the school blog, and when she first read about the research center, she was intrigued enough to request a pass away from school to cover it, and Headmistress Summers complied. Proudly displaying her USPA press pass on a lanyard around her neck (she applied for one the day after she turned eighteen), with her big hemp bag over her shoulder and her Canon digital camera in her hand, Casey entered the facility with the other journalists (the other journalists!) and began scouting for interesting shots. Her amazing eyes took in everything, of which her camera could only capture a small portion. She also had a digital recorder (only kids recorded interviews on their phones!) and spare battery packs for both devices. "This is so cool," she muttered under her breath. She'd picked her clothes very carefully today; low-heeled suede ankle boots, a sensible knee-length skirt with matching jacket (currently over one arm), and a nice silk blouse. As usual in her civilian identity, her hair was up and her glasses perched on her nose; though still clearly young, she actually managed to look almost professional.

Yes, such a patch exists, and considering her interests in aviation, journalism and rescue work, I'm pretty sure she earned it handily

"No!" cried Miracle Girl as Sea Devil got sucked into the screen. "Now they're both stuck in there!" Biting down on her thumb, Casey desperately tried to think of another way to bring them out, but then she recalled Punchline's last message. "Wait a minute! I can broadcast and receive radio frequencies, including UHF! Let me see if I can contact them in real time; I'll start at four hundred megahertz and work my way up to eight hundred megahertz. I think that's where the TV channels are, if I remember my Radio Merit Patch training." And with that, she began to alter her vocal frequency by increments of five megahertz; to anyone on this side of the screen, she appeared to be just mouthing words. But to anyone listening on the UHF band, her voice came through loud and clear. "Testing, one, two, three. This is Miracle Girl broadcasting at [insert frequency]. Do you copy, over."

Um...kinda want to wait on another GM post before posting again, just to see if Aquaria's technique is working.

Noting the detective beckoning to her (she was pretty sure any cop in a suit was a detective, but she could be wrong), Casey stepped crisply over to him, doing her best to fix her hair a bit. Between the work she did containing the explosives and her dunk in the river, she probably looked pretty rough, but there wasn't much time to worry about cosmetic appearances. She stood with her hands folded in front of her and gave the bearded man a nod. "Hello, detective, I'm Miracle Girl; how can I be of assistance?"

Gretchen put her book down on the counter and stared at Cass in disbelief. "Why would you do that? She has an ego the size of a small moon. The last thing you should do is encourage her showboating." Lynn frowned, shook her head and shrugged as she took several paces away from the freelance photographer. "Uh, the young man asked for a demonstration of my powers, Gretch; it's not showing off, it's, like, for science!" Then she turned back to Cass and grinned like the Devil himself as she rolled her shoulders and dropped into a crouch. "You think that was cool? You ain't seen nothin' yet!" Gretch buried her face in her hands. "Oh god..." Suddenly she started charging towards the fire manipulator at a full tilt, but after a few steps she dropped down on all fours and turned into a frickin' black panther! The great beast's glossy hide shone as it flowed like liquid death towards Cass, leaping to close the distance in one lethal bound- ! Only to shrink with a thump of vapor into an adorable little pixie, barely a foot tall, that stopped herself just short of the young man's face with a flutter of wings. Floating before his wide eyes, she giggled and gave him a tiny wet kiss on the cheek, and when she spoke, her voice was a chipmunk squeak. "Made you look!" "That was...so not cool!" Gretchen came out from behind the counter, hands on her hips and shaking her head a dismay. "What if you didn't stop in time? What if his heart exploded?" "Oh, he's fine," said Pixie Grim with a dismissive wave of her hand. "If he had a heart condition, hero work would've killed him a long time ago!" But then a look of doubt crossed her face, and she returned to her original size and clothing. "I'm sorry, kid; that probably was a bit much. Sorry if I scared ya there; sometimes the power makes you a little...y'know, a little crazy, am I right?"