ic Unfinished Business

[Electra]

"Close enough to maintain the public trust in ArcheTech, the Freedom League, which he was a member of at the time, and superheroes in general from taking a sharp and unaffordable dip," Miss A said bluntly, giving Grim a level look. "There is no "Old Dok," not in the way that you think. His possession manifested as a complex schizophrenia, and began long before you ever knew him. He was aware of a second voice, an additional personality urging him to evil, but never discovered the nature of the voice. The man you knew was already possessed, already sliding toward madness.

 "In the year leading up to his final psychotic break, the possession became stronger, began taking over his body at times. We believe he may have been responsible for up to twenty unsolved murders that year, mostly of superheroes or metahumans that he'd had dealings with. After he was captured and subdued, the Scarab and other psychic heroes were able to scrub the traces of the possessing force from his mind and restore most of his sanity. He was released from custody less than five months after the incident." Her face gave little away, but it did not seem like this was a decision she entirely agreed with.

"After his release, he went into near seclusion and eventually dropped off the map entirely. We believe he may be somewhere in Germany, but there are few ways to find him if he doesn't want to be found. So unless you have some other way to contact him, then no, it seems unlikely you'll be able to speak to him any time soon. He has no continuing relationship with ArcheTech except the respect owed to him as company founder, and the continuing rights we hold to his inventions." 

Miss Americana rose from her seat, as though spilling that much information made it impossible to stay still. "Don't worry about recompense," she told Lynn with a wave of her hand. "You had no ill will, it wasn't your fault you were given a booby-trapped access card. The trap was very specific, it was disruptive and highly noticeable, but it caused no actual damage. It also alerted me to the presence of a back door in the system I hadn't found before, which will make our system that much more secure. If you would like to see about a consultant position, we can always use expertise in less-studied forms of magic, but we pay for that sort of thing." 

[The Sailor]

Seahawk breathed a sigh of relief. "Heh... yeah, I was seein' that from the breakout, boss." She said. "Seems poor Doc has had a pretty raw deal. He deserves the vacation. Can't blame the guy he had a bug in the brain and hopefully our boys helped fumigate the ol' noggin." she said. Smiling. "And ya know, to be honest Grim's alright by me, too."

"Why do I get the suspicion this company's startin' to pick up strays. Mirror's thinkin' of signin' up, and are we considerin' pickin' up a bookstore owner?"

She grinned, she was trying to lighten the mood. "Anyways... didn't ya say you were a pilot or somethin, Grim? What did ya fly back in the day? I wager with your team you guys had some pretty sweet rides. Mostly what I'm doin' when I'm not usin' my fancy flight pack is the occasional prototype jet. I sorta wanna see what Archetech will get into on the Aerospace front. After those Communion rottens tried invadin' I wouldn't mind test pilotin' a starfighter."

"Best be an X-Wing or I'll riot."

[Heritage]

So strange to think that the man she knew, in many ways, never existed; was it all a sham, or were at least some of the kind words and thoughtful gestures real? It would take her a while to fully process all of this; maybe she could look up her old therapist back in Atlantic City.

 

"Well, running the store is my full-time job, plus I'm back in school, though there's no hurry on my degree, that's just...something I feel the need to do. But if you want, I can give you my card-" Lynn held up two fingers and a crisp white business card appeared. "I can travel through that, believe it or not, as long as I'm within two hundred miles, so I can be here in a jiffy if you need me. But if you want to keep any secrets from me, better keep it in a box or something, so I can't snoop." 

 

Turning back to Seahawk, she sighed and tugged at the front of her jacket like it was a pair of suspenders. "To be honest, I have no flying experience on Earth, or at least not this Earth; mostly weird ground effect craft like skimmers, the odd microlight and my late husband's flying motorcycle. Oh, and Martian low gravity flippers; those things can really move!" She grinned. "And of course, the occasional spaceship..." 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Heritage

[The Sailor]

Seahawk grinned. "Were there Zeppelins? PLEASE tell me there were Zeppelins!"

She really did like the lighter than air stuff. That was always fun. Although the blimp concepts Archetech had tried out just didn't have the same charm as a good old, classic, big skyship of a Zeppelin. "As for flying in general, let me know. Sometimes I get to fly something two-seated, and it gets lonely in the back. I could see what sort of strings I can pull to get you to come along on a basic flight. The perks of my job? Sometimes I can take out a plane from the pool to take a swing around the bay to relax."

"Trust me, I love my flight pack, but there's something about flying something with actual wings..."

[Heritage]

Lynn nodded. "Oh yeah, they had dirigibles; mostly luxury craft, trans-Atlantic flights, that kinda thing. Lovely way to fly, very Orient Express."

 

Then she smiled and stretched out her arms, like she just woke up from a nap. "Yeah, piloting's alright, but for me personally..?"

 

Suddenly there was sharp inrush of air, and Lynn Epstein collapsed in on herself like an airbag in reverse; there in her place on the chair stood a tiny pixie, about a foot high. Her features were clearly similar to Big Lynn, though her face was more elfin and her short hair was reddish-brown and spikey. Her two pairs of long gossamer wings buzzed and she took to the air like a toy helicopter.

 

"This is the only way to fly!"

 

She flew a quick circuit around the room, including an impressive loop de loop before returning to full size in her chair with a loud 'foom!'

 

"So, can I have my stuff back?"

Edited March 22, 2017 by Heritage

[Electra]

"I'm going to have to keep the keycard," Miss Americana told Lynn, polite but very firm. "I'm sorry if it was a keepsake, but it's simply too dangerous to have laying around. We'll be patching our systems, of course, but it may well have been designed to trip traps in more than one building in Freedom City. We'll analyze it and destroy it before it can cause any more damage. You're free to take the rest of your things." She gestured to the small pile of personal effects on the table. "I apologize for how you were treated in the lobby, but I'm sure you understand the grounds for the misunderstanding. It's better to be safe than sorry with so many lives at stake when it comes to safeguarding the building. Was there anything else you needed to know?"

Edited April 24, 2015 by Electra

[Heritage]

Lynn held up her hands and shook her head. "No, by all means throw it in Mount Doom; I never want to see the thing again!" She scooped up her belongings and began to stuff them back in her pockets.

 

"S'alright, I know when to take things personally and when not to; your boys were just doing their job. No harm, no foul." She sighed and shook her head. "I guess this is as close as I get to closure on this whole..." She frowned and waved a hand vaguely in the air. "Sad, sorry tale; I will choose to remember the good side of Dok, even if it was just an illusion. After all, I'm a faerie-" The changeling held out her hand, and an orate Bavarian cuckoo clock appeared there. "I know all about make-believe." She smiled sadly and closed her hand over the tiny marvel, which turned to vapor and slipped through her fingers.

 

"No, I guess I'm good to go, unless you need anything else from me." The bookseller got to her feet and indicated her business card with a nod, sitting on the edge of the desk. "Keep it and give me a call if you need me; madman he might have been, but at least his legacy lives on, and that's something I can still respect and believe in."

Edited March 22, 2017 by Heritage

[Electra]

Miss Americana nodded and picked up the card. "I will do that, I never know from day to day what sort of oddities will come up and an outside consultant will be needed. Thank you for coming in, it's been educational on both sides." The news that Dr. Archeville had employed the Interceptors was surprising, but it did fill in several important gaps in her personal understanding of what had happened. The wider implications would require further thought. "I hope if you ever have need of our help, you won't hesitate to call either. And if you or any of your friends happen to have other mementos of Doktor Archeville of similar vintage in your possession, you might consider at least bringing them in for examination. It's better to be safe than sorry. And take care out there," she added with a friendly smile, her first of the entire meeting. 

[The Sailor]

Seahawk smiled. "Well, Miss A smiled. That means she's good with ya'..." Seahawk said, standing up, brushing off her suit. "So... got any common patrol routes?"

"I've been operatin' around Trainor Airport. Obviously... that and it's easy f'me to balance my life as..." She pulls her goggles back. Her accent becomes a bit more refined, military even in precision. "Naomi Baines." She holds out her hand. "Test pilot for Archetech... as we're keeping your secrets, I wager you can keep mine."

She presses a button and her suit turns international orange with red sections and black patches on the elbow and knees, as well as it's treaded shoes. "Never thought you'd be trading numbers with a test pilot for one of the biggest tech firms on the planet, eh?" She said, giving Lynn a business card from the belt of her suit. "To be honest, Miss A's been encouraging me to start making connections in the superhuman community."

She smiles. "There's perks... I get to risk my life on dodgy prototypes so no one else has to, and even if I lawndart, I get better. Takes a little time, but I get better." She said, moving some of her hair behind her elvish ears. "And if the ears are a little off-putting well... long story. Just starting to learn about everything myself. Talking with my mom is... revealing things. Haven't had to punch bad guys yet, but I've saved people here and there... oh... and there was this time I got into a guy's plane who had a heart attack and prevented a crash! Saved the guy's family... I still have to check on the guy though. I think they revived him at the scene..."

"Never the less... Although having Miss A revealing things... I think there's been enough lids being blown off." She said, scratching her head with a smile.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Osprey

[Heritage]

Lynn chuckled and lifted up her hair, fully revealing her own pointed ears. "Now why would I let something like that bother me?" She winked and reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Naomi." Then she exchanged business cards with the pilot.

 

"Patrol routes? God, I haven't patrolled in forever; maybe I should get back on that! No, right now I have an assistant, and the two of us are monitoring the internet and police radio, looking for patterns and such; my focus is largely investigative, unless something falls into my lap. Which happens with alarming regularity..."

 

Offering them both a quick salute, she made ready to head out. "Keep in touch!" Maybe I'll take you up on a flight one of these days."

Edited March 22, 2017 by Heritage