alderwitch
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Talya was silent for just a fraction too long. Most people would miss the moment of hesitation. Erik and Min were not most people, "I'd have to make some calls to confirm," she said, her words crisp and clipped with the posh accent more pronounced than usual, as if she drew it up like armor - which, really, was what it was. "Blackstone is notoriously closed mouth about its escapees, which is why I check in every couple of months. I cannot fathom why anyone would ape this particular identity. I have enough enemies but there is little enough reason to fake this particular persona if one was not, in fact, the Major." She gave a little shake of her head, as if to stop herself. Closing the folio, she ran her fingertips over the lettering with the same delicate light touch that she used with particularly tricky locks. "No, it would have to be..." Talya grimaced once, her gaze down on her bare hand with its french tipped nails, not entirely avoiding Erik's gaze but certainly not meeting it dead on. Focus on the task at hand, she could feel guilt later.... Later, when everyone was safe. "Bennet. His name is James Bennet. I served under him during the war. I stopped him in the 70's. He's immortal, like me." She paused once, finally pulling her blue eyed gaze up to Erik's clenched features "Its the sort of folio he'd send back then, when I had a target. It's a mission dossier." What Talya did during the war remained unsaid but heavy in the air, her expression finally faltering.
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That the poof of fire and brimstone wasn't immediately alarming said something about the level of 'normal' in the Espadas household, but it was unusual enough to immediately capture the ex-thief's attention. Talya set down the glass that she'd been drying on the sink's edge, droplets of water still clinging to its surface and the towel was forgotten as she set it down hastily to give her attention to the package. The relief at seeing Raina's code phrase was short lived as her gaze dropped from the teenager's handwriting to the envelope it was attached to. It was all too familiar; a typography that Talya could have happily spent her immortal life without ever seeing again. Her hand was steady as she flipped open the folder, her expression mutely impassive as she opened the folder with practiced fingertips. Methodically, she began to lay out the glossy photos as if they belonged to someone else entirely, as if it wasn't Mia's sweet little face, as if it wasn't Min walking Eden to her preschool, the little girl's expression so very serious about making a good impression on her first day. Picture after picture, Talya scanned, assembling them mutely in a grid on the kitchen table, next to the neatly written schedule of their comings and goings. She let out a slow breath, the only real outward sign of tension as her hands squeezed the back of one of the kitchen's chair until the wood creaked in protest. Talya's hands were strong; she dangled from buildings by her fingertips after all, but if she'd had Min's strength, the chair would have splintered in pieces.
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"Alice!" Sofia shrieked, the word a little strangled from the grip on her neck. Alice getting shot had been not part of the plan - for what little plan there was. She had no idea how bad the injury might have been, not in the chaos, but Alice certainly jerked like she'd been hit. Without thinking about it, Sofia swung the hand holding her phone down and back like she was going for a nut-shot, just as she triggered the pulse that turned the small hand held electronic device into a proverbial taser. She stepped away quickly as the man twitched and collapsed like a pupped with his strings cut, too concerned about her teammate to even take the time to fire another volley of insults. "You okay?" She demanded as she rounded on the man who'd fired the thug, brandishing her cellphone like she just might brain him with that. Her expression was fierce as she growled, "Okay, pendejo. Now I'm'gonna hurt you. When I'm through with you, gonna be like living in the dark ages."
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Riley wasn't the only one putting in the effort to be 'normal' tonight. It felt strange, having her tight curls free from twists, braids or a scarf. Her dark curls almost seemed shorter as they were free to spring up in a cloud around her shoulders. The sandals were new-to-her, a recent score from the school's lost and found, but the dress had been actually bought with scraped together cash, brightly printed and new-new. Every so often she found her fingertips straying to rub the fabric absently, unused to the texture against her skin. She gave Riley a small smile, not quite nervous but perhaps a little unsettled about being out of her element. This, really, was very much not her world. "Relax, Raina," she offered with a side long smile for the tall blonde, her voice turning teasing, "This thing is so secretive that its not like there will be gossip if we are somehow un-cool."
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"The word is awesome!" Sofia enthused with a grin for Alice and Lou. She gave the big man a small nod and a thumbs up at his holding of the tapes, ensuring that he knew how to carry them without destroying the devices. She winked once, "I think even Lou might admit that he enjoyed himself. Maaaaybe. Just a little smile?" Her laughter was light as she turned back to Alice to inspect her rope as the door shut.
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She'll use the taser in her phone:
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Toughness save: 14 Yuck, using that HP for the reroll: 24
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"Ugh this thing is sooo scratchy," Sofia complained as she went to shed her housekeeping gear and retrieve her own. "Like rubbing wool on bare skin. Blech!" She was just zipping up her jeans when she finally registered Alice's question, "Please, I'm a professional! We got a copy and we pulled the data. Not only did we get 'the thing' but we're the only ones who got 'the thing'." She grinned briefly, showing even white teeth against her tanned skin before she reached out and pulled her tanktop back on. She nodded her head, still covered in the kerchief that kept most of her hair under control, towards the pulled banks in question. "It's all right there. We're golden."
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"Well that stands to reason. I generally advise against utilizing a power nullification system for all-day, every-day use except in the most extreme of circumstances. It tends to lead to backlash of one sort or another, and - worse - prevents development of control and coping mechanisms other than the external system. There are a few individuals we've helped fit with something that extreme but its almost always part of a program that works towards other measures down the line." Alex agreed, her tone taking on a mix of excitement and investment that was certainly indicative of a personal investment, "I honestly think that's the route that they went with our daughter and led to some of her control issues in her teen years that we saw although I never did get to verify the theory before she went home." Alex gave a little shake of her head, "Regardless, I'm sure Mike would be happy to give you his contact information too if you have any questions. You have a great deal in common, I think, with much of his personal trajectory - poetry aside," she added to the large man with a mischievous grin.
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11
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The room around her fuzzed and faded, the holograms were clearly holograms and not the seamless reality that the final product would be. Gingerly, Talya sat down on one of the hard light chairs; it was a bistro she'd visited on many occasions, halfway across the world from the West End but familiar enough, her legs crossed and one hand absently curling around the handle of a tea cup as she gazed at the scene. There were many good shooting galleries in Freedom City, any number of which would allow her to practice advanced targeting, but none quite as complete as these sorts of scenarios where the variables were entirely controlled by VINCE through the software. She did, after all, have decades of enemies to draw from. She was watching for people, but the van swerving in towards the crowd of holograms was certainly easy to spot. Less easy to address as the crowd began to scream and scatter. The table reacted to her kick like its real world counterpart would have, clanging over onto its side to provide meager cover from the solid light slugs shot from the passenger's side. Talya steadied it from rolling with her off hand as she drew the fire arm from behind her jacket. Thirteen, twelve, eleven... A Browning hi-power held thirteen bullets in its clip, and the first three slammed into the windshield on the driver's side driving through to hit holographic flesh. Blood on the windshield confirmed the hit although Talya wouldn't mark the target off the list until the kill was confirmed. Until then, the driver remained an active threat in her mental list even as she made a mental note that the hologram did not extend to baffling the sound. The gunfire was loud - ever so much more loud than movies made it out - and her senses registered the reverberation in the concrete room rather than the open plane of the simulation. Dropping her shoulder behind the adhoc shield, she automatically scanned behind her for further threats as she waited for the passenger to get out and present a target not shielded by glass. Ten. She squeezed off the shot, taking the passenger out with one bullet as he moved to swing a snub nosed automatic weapon in her general direction. It was lower than she'd have liked - Talya was more rusty than she'd thought - but the bullet caught him square in the t-zone; where the skull was thin enough to ensure that a bullet would be swift and lethal.
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Sofia couldn't just vanish, not like Alice could certainly. She didn't think the thief had actually left but she was reasonably certain that if she had, she'd be back with backup. Her gaze skimmed over the frightened patrons and a reluctant breath hissed through her teeth. Man, I really hope that Alice is still here. "Chill out," she said in response, her hands raising up a little to show that she wasn't making any fast moves. She let her lip curl in disgust at the gun men's antics, "Yeah, real big cajones you got there, 'Latin Ace-holes', scaring some kids and knocking over a store that's one step up from the 7-11. Gonna get, what, maybe couple hundred all told. D'you think you'll be able to buy some better masks so you have less concern about cameras then? Spent all your start up cash on guns to make up for the mini-pecker you're packing?" Dutifully she reached into her pocket for her wallet and dropped it on the ground. Eyes on me, loud mouth. Eyes and guns on me and not the kids crying. Fantastic plan, Sofia. Now what?
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The other young woman was only a smidge taller although far brighter in dress. Sofi's curls were a riot of dyed pastels, clipped back high on the crown of her head and she wore a sundress that showed off her compact, curvy form over a pair of capri leggings. The flat sandals were cool and comfortable, as if Sofi was fighting through fashion alone the slow turn of the seasons to cooler weather. Her voice, when she spoke, held the faint lilt of a Hispanic accent as well as dry amusement, "I have never wanted to just climb a building, no. I'm not saying that you can't take on the occasional odd job, just that if you get into trouble, you're probably better off giving Xavier a heads up so you don't get a lecture in your earpiece halfway through it for him having to put things together alone. The man needs a hobby, am I right?"
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"Claro que sí," Sofia said dryly, the bemusement coming across through her drawled Spanish despite any potential language barriers. She scooped up the ubiquitous spray bottle and rag from the trolley to not have her hands empty as despite the complaints she did understand how to blend in. Under her breath, she added to Lou, trusting the microphone to carry her words even if the towels obscured what she was saying, "And your job kinda is crap - no offense. I mean you were good at it, but being the person who's gotta jump towards the bullets rather than away has some serious drawbacks to it."
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recruitment Interceptors: Transform and roll out!
alderwitch replied to angrydurf's topic in Archives
I'll have Robin in the first and Talya in the second. Don't think I have anyone who works well for the last! -
"This is racist," Sofia felt the need to note as she dutifully took the uniform that was tossed at her, but despite her complaints, she stripped down to her skivvies swiftly and tossed her clothes in the bottom of the hamper that Lou was expected to inhabit. "Its profiling, is what it is." She grumbled as she hauled on the scratchy maid's uniform, her sneakers thankfully nondescript enough to not draw second glances. The multicolor hair, though that was liable to draw a few raised eyebrows so she quickly knotted a handkerchief over the plait she put into it with quick fingertips, tucking the bulk of her curls under and away before she pulled the cap on top of the thing. She couldn't help but point out to Alice as she picked the towels up to adorn Lou with once he eased his frame into the small space, "Pulling yourself through tiny vents is sort of what you do. That's like me getting mad about having to pull the data or Lou getting upset about getting hit." She paused once and then added pointedly, "Or Xavier getting mad about having to tell everyone else what to do all the time."
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"Words change, people's self definitions change, none of it changes who you are," Alex said, giving Mike's hand a gentle squeeze. "And at eighteen, its just something most people are really starting to figure out for themselves. In that, you have a great deal in common with your peers. Its what your late teens and early twenties is for; learning who you are as a person, what you want from your life and what matters most to you. Its an exciting time." Alex spoke like the time was well in her past, despite the fact that she was maybe four or five years older than Fred herself but her hazel eyes were, not quite old; more that they were somehow ageless. "You might find adding some social sciences and anthropology to your curriculum for the year benefits you. The years between when you arrived and now are formative and there was a great deal more to the adult society of your era than you were aware of upon leaving it due to your age. You might find some comfort in knowing more about it; uncomfortable though the learning might be. Personally, I would always rather know than not know. I think we have that in common, but its just a suggestion."
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Content Notice: Violence (Holographs) Talya stood in the center of the empty concrete room, incongruously dressed for her barren surroundings. Her heels echoed as she took a step towards the simple folding table in the center and the weapons laid out on it with military precision. It would be a significant amount of time before she had managed to have all the alterations made to the Interceptors Headquarters knocked off on her list, but at least they'd hollowed out the concrete cavern that would be filled with advanced technology eventually. It was sturdy enough - and sound proof enough that Talya felt comfortable moving her exercises down to the space. Picking up the familiar Browning in her manicured grip, Talya checked the chamber with the comfort of long practice before loading the clip into the holster with a soft 'click'. "Vince?" The cultured, clipped tones broke the silence. There was no need for a response from the AI, the click of the thick door was answer enough. Talya took her live-fire exercises very seriously. Solid light holograms were well and good for targets but at least to Talya's senses, they didn't feel quite right. It was akin to the difference between practicing with a wooden blade versus the real thing. There were differences, small and slight, but enough to throw off her muscle memory if it was all that she practiced with. The gun slipped into the holster hidden by her carefully tailored suit jacket, in the waist band of the skirt. She shifted once to adjust to the weight against her spine before concealing the rest of the weapons, all equally lethal, all the former tools of her trade; blades, garrote, and one exceptionally thin, wicked stiletto hidden as jeweled pin along the brim of her hat. Once every weapon had been concealed, Talya quickly closed up the folding table to store it against the far wall of the concrete room. The last thing she wanted was to bang into a real object that was obscured by the holograms as they static'd into existence. The tech was still rough, very much in the 'working the kinks out phase', much like the room itself. It would provide Talya with both necessary exercise as well as needed calibrations to fine tune the program and technology for its final installation.
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recruitment Interceptors: Transform and roll out!
alderwitch replied to angrydurf's topic in Archives
Thpoilerth! -
recruitment Interceptors: Transform and roll out!
alderwitch replied to angrydurf's topic in Archives
We might want to do a bridge between the reveal and the splitting of the party as some of that might be better decided 'on screen'? -
recruitment Interceptors: Transform and roll out!
alderwitch replied to angrydurf's topic in Archives
Thank yoooou! -
"We're good! I got it." Sofia caught up to Lou, to stare wide-eyed down at the fallen men. "That's... impressive." She hesitated over the word choice, uncertain what else to call it before she caught the wince, "You hurt?" Concern sharpened her voice although she wasn't about to slow down until Lou stopped. She didn't see any blood so that was probably a good sign, right? "I know a bit'a first aid. Stabbed?"
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"It might for some but your friends are no more 'normal', I imagine, than you, yourself are. They're cognizant of the risks inherent if they're willing to engage in romantic activities," Alex said with a small smile, her hand finding Mike's as if sensing his mute discomfort with the topic at hand and going to soothe it even as the bulk of her attention remained on Fred. "Despite what modern media presents, there's a wide spectrum of acts that can be engaged in other than penis-in-vagina sex, if your interests run in a heterosexual bent and more sapphic interests don't actually preclude that particular interest. Your largest hurdle, I think, isn't going to be the Alkahest directly, but finding the words and comfort to have genuine honest conversations with your prospective partner, or partners. That's really the fundamental part of romance and everything else is a part of a conversation that you both choose to engage in; a conversation that's no one's business outside of those you welcome to it." Alex gave another little shrug of her shoulders. "That part is scary for everyone and likely more difficult for you than many as your culture is well outside of what your peers are used to thus the inevitable communication barriers."
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Alex tsked at Mike's suggestion that he beat a hasty retreat, giving him a small, scolding shake of her head. Her voice was kind as she turned her attention to Fred, "I don't mean to embarrass you at all. We're both scientists though, and its a scientific subject, isn't it? It's a matter of physical and hormonal responses that everyone is capable of to one degree or another and most people are interested in engaging in at some point in their life. Not everyone, though, there are those who identify as asexual but the vast majority of humanity fall somewhere on a spectrum of interested party." The last caveat was said with a little nod towards Mike as if acknowledging his particular identity. "Which is not to minimize your condition and say you are capable of 'normalcy' for whatever that particular term might mean. You are going to have a unique and singular life, I imagine, but I wouldn't assume that anything is permanently out of your reach if its something that's worth working towards." Alex shrugged and added, "And its not silly for something like an intimate relationship to be on your list of 'willing to work hard for'. You won't find any mockery or judgment here."
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Absently, Alex patted Mike's thigh at his patented 'telepathy face'. At least his lips didn't move anymore. Most of the time. Her other form is much more id; not in her conscious control. Alex's explanation was succinct but layered with memories and intonations that gave far more than mere words would have. Without pausing or missing a beat - she was much better at multitasking than her partner - she continued the the conversation, "I'm happy to answer any and all questions. I don't embarrass easily at all and you're safe here, Fred. If you can't keep calm, I'm more than capable of projecting emotions to help and even if you did transform, you'd not do more than break a few dishes. Mike's one of the few people who could handle your alter-ego in full rage, so you're always welcome to stop by if you have questions or concerns." She gave a little one shouldered shrug at Mike's commentary, "Well, I'd have to do some studies but from what I understand, its like any sort of adrenal situation; even if the physical symptoms didn't trigger a transformation, the fear and anxiety of transformation could be enough of a contributing factor but that doesn't mean that its something you couldn't work around even if you never managed to fully the control the Alkahest, Fred. You just might need a bit more unique protection for safe sexual intercourse than your average teenage girl." She waved one hand absently, "A pair of discrete nullification bands could probably be worked up to allow you to enjoy physical encounters without having to be stressed about alternatives as you work to master control of the transformation."