inFamous

[Atomyk]

Interest Check
inFamous OOC

"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny."
— Jean Nidetch

In the Chinatown neighborhood of Chicago sat the unassuming and unmarked building. Whatever use the building had before, it now sat abandoned, rarely receiving a second glance from passers-by. While the front entrance was boarded up, this was not the case for the entrance that stood at the side of the building. This had been the entrance used by visitors traveling from the quiet parking lot behind the building at one point in time. The metal covering door was rusted with disuse, but the door that lay just behind it looked far more new than the rest of the building.

It was here where various Conduits had been told a meeting was taking place. It was here a group was gathering.

Inside, beyond a short hallway, stood a brunette woman in a black suit. Her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, as if she was some sort of secret agent. With a small nod of her head she stepped aside, revealing a waiting room. The room was noticeably boring, featuring bare white walls and grey carpeting. By the empty counter and lone door across the room was a girl. She leaned on the counter with one arm, her fingers thumping against the surface. She smiled at those who arrived, sometimes adjusting at the suit she wore as well. Without the sunglasses, she looked far more like a business woman than some sort of agent. Her red hair was quite vibrant in contrast to the colorless room around her.

"I'm glad you have taken up our offer," she said to everyone that came in. "Please take a seat while we wait for everyone to arrive." She gestured to the armchairs that littered the room. There was at least fifteen of them in total.

"Don't get too comfortable, we won't be waiting long."

[Valendreth]

As Tyler walked down the sidewalk, he received a few strange looks from people. It was nighttime, after all, and he was wearing his sunglasses. He tried to ignore them as he made his way to the Chinatown District.
The building was said to be unmarked, and unsuspicious to the naked eye, but any Conduit worth his dimes could tell something big was happening there. Tyler crossed the street, careful to avoid any traffic that may be coming. There was surprisingly very little. He figured most conduits liked to travel on foot, like he did. That, or he was just very early. Either way, Tyler found the side entrance his contact had spoken of and entered. He was greeted by a woman in a suit, who told him to take a seat and wait for the others to arrive. Tyler went over and found a seat in the corner that faced the door. This way he could see everyone come in and they wouldn't be able to sneak up on him. These people may be conduits like him, but you could never be too careful. He hoped that he would eventually come around to trusting others, but for now it would have to wait.

[PassionCross]

Strolling along the streets at night was something Alex enjoyed. As a conduit with the ability to control and travel through shadows, that would have coke as no surprise. Of course, no one knew what she was capable of due to the nature of her primary power. Many people thought he'd to be a ghost mercenary type who got a job done and was simply not heard of until she was called upon for work yet again.

A little smirk came to the blonde's lips as she disappeared into the shadows, swiftly travelling through what she dubbed as the shadow world. In doing so, she was able to merely walk through the wall of the unmarked building this gathering for the conduits was supposed to be held. She'd stuck to the shadows, her presence hidden thanks to her ability. She supposed she would just watch and listen until things got started, her unseen form taking to leaning back against the very same wall she'd phased through.

[Daxam]

Isaac leaned against building across the street from the unmarked building, watching as people walked inside of the building, scanning each face for the one who took everything from him. Not seeing him, Isaac sighs and walks inside, where he's greeted by a woman in a suit. Passing by her and through the hallway, he arrives in the waiting room, just as the girl up front tells everyone to take a seat. Isaac sits down in the back, away from everyone else. Now he allows himself to wonder what's going on. He's half-tempted to ask the girl at the head of the crowd, but decides not to, realizing he won't get any answers before everyone else.

He leans forward and holds his right hand out in front of him, the markings on his arm glowing a soft silver. Metallic liquid rises up from the ground, leaving a small hole, and hovers over his hand in a small sphere. A thin, black mist envelopes the iron and slowly merges with the metal, turning it a shining silver. Concentrating, he makes the metal change shape. He starts off turning it into a star, then a large ring, then tries for something more complex: He forms the metal into a small figurine of a woman in a flowing dress and makes her dance. Smiling, he thinks, I'm getting better. Slowly, but surely.

[Atomyk]

With a quick glance at her watch, Theresa stepped away from the counter. She cleared her throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"It looks like no one else is coming," she said, a slight edge of disappointment in her voice. At least half had arrived, but Theresa had been hoping for more. With a shake of her head, she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.

"My name is Theresa. I am a conduit like yourselves." She paused for a moment, trying to be a bit dramatic. "I'm not the one who has brought you all here, but you will meet him eventually. For now, about half of you will come with me. We've separated you into Group A." Smiling again, Theresa then read off the names of Group A. She opened the door behind her and waited for everyone she named to stand. "Just follow me."

Theresa led the group through the doorway. The brunette woman didn't follow, instead continuing to stand in silence by the entrance. Eventually, the door everyone left through opened again, revealing a male. He wore the same kind of suit as the others, but hadn't donned a pair of sunglasses.

He was Daemond Wright, son of Gabriel Wright. His father was famous for being the owner of Dayland Pharmaceuticals. While it was possible for those who were interested in that sort of business to recognize Gabriel, it was far less likely they would know who his son was. That was fine with Daemond, especially now that he was so much more than just some rich kid.

"Thanks for waiting patiently, everyone. As you were told, you are being considered Group B for now." Quickly, the boy turned around, heading back the way he came. "You will follow me."

As everyone followed Daemond inside, the brunette woman trailed after them. Daemond cleared his throat as they stepped down this new barren hallway. "I understood not everyone I extended my offer to would accept. However, we realized that not every conduit arriving would want to calmly step into our hands. I know many of us are paranoid." The boy looked over his shoulder, his eyes moving from the group following him toward the brunette agent behind them. "We do have security in place in case anyone wanted to try something. I am confident we will be fine if anything does." Daemond intended it to be a threat of sorts, though he managed to say it as if he were calmly discussing the weather. He finally stopped at one of the hallway doors.

"You will be able to ask your questions inside."

***

Group A had entered a similar door. The room they entered was small and compact, holding just a wooden desk and a few chairs. Beside the desk stood a tall and built man. Much like the brunette woman from before, he looked like a secret agent himself, sporting not only a suit and sunglasses, but a shaved head as well. Theresa took a seat beside him at the desk. The room was particularly darker than the lobby with its grey walls.

"Here we are," Theresa said. The girl had tried her best to sound pleasant, though she just could not shake her nervousness. She desperately wanted this all to go well. "You all must have at least a few questions. Please, take a seat and I'll hear you guys out."

***

Daemond sat at his own desk, in a room that might as well have been an exact copy as the other. The brunette agent had pulled out a glass and wine bottle from underneath the desk, placing it in front of the boy. Daemond slowly and deliberately poured himself a drink before speaking.

"Before I begin, if any of you have any questions, I'd do my best to answer them." He looked from up his glass, starting to sip it. "Any takers?"

[Diggerton]

Mickey walked down the street as inconspicuously as he could. He was new to the whole 'secret meeting' thing and wasn't sure how discreet he was supposed to be. However, as he walked, he felt that taking extra care to be inconspicuous only made him all the more noticeable, so he began to walk as he normally would.

As he arrived, he felt he was already late. He arrived in the middle of a woman's speech- probably one of the 'leaders' of the group. The woman was slightly shorter than him, at least by his estimation, but it was hard to tell since she stood over them. She introduced herself as Theresa, and announced several names, one of them his, and dubbed them Group A. He wasn't entirely sure why they were being separated, but he followed her as she had instructed. They were whisked into another room, sparsely decorated and dark, it felt almost like a torture room you would see in a movie. Standing near the desk was a large man wearing a suit. He looked like some sort of bouncer, and that's what Mickey figured he was- security. Theresa spoke, a tinge of nervousness in her voice, asking if anyone had questions. He kept quite.

[mast3rlinkx]

A lone figure stood atop a building, observing the streets below. The man was tall, and moderately intimidating. He had dark brown hair, almost black, and wore a pair of half-rimmed glasses, which had rims around the top half of the lenses. His skin was fairly ruddy, having a healthy, moderately tanned appearance. He was wearing a plain black tee-shirt, black jeans, and a pair of black converses. In his opinion, black was a good color to wear. His build was moderately heavy. He took a deep breath, and gave a light smile. He enjoyed the way the cold air felt when he inhaled it. It had a sharp feeling to it. This man wasn't an ordinary man. Due to the detonation of a device known as the Ray Sphere, he was what would eventually come to be called a conduit. His primary ability was terrakinesis, with a secondary of metallokinesis. With a small step, he was falling through the air. The man slammed into the ground with a loud thud. As a conduit, he was unharmed by the fall, but he still felt the impact. A grunt escaped him as a result, but it was quiet, barely even audible unless you were within five feet of him. Cracks appeared in the ground as he impacted with it, but the damage was minor. With a mental command and a wave of his hands, the cracks sealed up as he shifted the stone, which his terrakinesis extended to, to repair it. This man preferred to call himself Terraform, but the civilians had come up with some considerably uglier names for him. One, however, never failed to amuse him, and that was Planet Mutilator. For some reason, he found that name to be humorous. As he thought about it now, a smile lightly touched his lips. He had the feeling that he could become quite powerful. For now, though, this man, John Gillan, had a terrakinesis ability that was pretty limited. He couldn't move much earth the way he currently is. Still chuckling about the name, he began walking to the place he'd been told by a complete stranger to go. He'd never met these two people that were bringing the conduits of Chicago together. He'd only been contacted via his cell phone.

Eventually, he arrived at the building. It was obvious which one it was, because it was the only unmarked building on this street. And he was damn sure this was the street he was told to go to. Nobody was outside that he could see, but some conduits may have abilities preventing him from seeing them. He didn't care, though. They were all in the same situation as he was. However, the front entrance was not where he was going. That was unusable, being boarded up with wood. Even if he wanted to blow through those boards, his powers don't extend to organic or biological substances. He can only manipulate inorganic material, such as rock and metal. He wandered into the alleyway and spotted the entrance he was told to use. Entering it, he gave a nod to the brunette and took a seat in the waiting room. He was near the middle of the back. John crossed his arms sat in the chair in a relaxed manner, with his feet set quite a bit in front of the chair. Eventually, the young-looking girl behind the counter introduced herself as Theresa and stated that she was a conduit. This made John wonder what her powers were. After a little while, she read off a few names from a list. His was not among these names, so he sat tight for now. Eventually, a boy appearing to be in his late teens appeared from the door Theresa just left through. He never gave his name, just told the rest to follow him. John stood up and closely followed the boy. He was several inches taller than this guy, but he didn't seem intimidated at all.

Eventually the boy stopped in front of a door, and his next statement implied that this was their stop. John was the first to enter, and sat in a chair near the front. He sat in the same manner as he did in the lobby. He adjusted his glasses as the boy sat down and poured himself a glass of wine before asking if they had any questions. John didn't have much, but he did have a few questions that he dubbed to be extremely important that several other people were likely going to ask as well, but one stood out above all the others. This was the one he asked first. "Who are you?" His voice was very deep, and perfectly matched his large body. But it wasn't really lacking emotion like most low-pitched voices do. The emotion it had was hard and cold, as if this man knew hardship. Which, in fact, he did. He'd lost his entire family to the detonation of the Ray Sphere, and, not long after, nearly leveled the area around it due to lacking control of his powers so early into getting them. Said event was what caused the humorous Planet Mutilator title, and the more common, and much more fearsome, one of Ravager of the Earth.

[Valendreth]

As Tyler sat there, he watched as a few others came in. There were much less than he thought there would be, but he figured more would arrive later. His thoughts were interrupted when the woman behind the counter took a few of the others with her. A young man then came in, and told Tyler and a few others to come with him. Tyler stood up and gazed at the others through his sunglasses. There was one man, who looked to be in his 30s or 40s, and wore glasses. Another had long dark hair and pale skin. He could feel another with them, but he couldn't see him or her. He figured that had to do with their abilities.

The group finally arrived in a small room with some chairs facing a desk. Tyler took a seat in the back once again, so he could watch the others around him. He had already come this far, and he wasn't going to let anybody ruin it for him. He wasn't even sure exactly what this was. When the man asked the group if they had any questions, Tyler raised his hand and said, "Why exactly did you call us here?"

[Daxam]

Again, Isaac chose to sit in the far back, trying to keep some distance from everyone. After a quick scan, he still couldn't see any sign of the man. If he's here, he's with the other group, he thinks. Shrugging, he sits back, looking ahead at the young woman at the desk. After being granted permission to ask questions, he raises his hand and, unaware that one of the same questions are being asked in another room, asks, "Who are you guys and why are we here?" Although he has several questions running through his head, he decides those two are the most important. If he's right, and they're going to have to start working for them, it seems fairly important to know who they're working for.

((Sorry for the short post. Having a slight writer's block right now XP))

[Atomyk]

Daemond's eyes narrowed on John. He was the oldest man in the group by far, so it was unsurprising he was the first to speak up. His question was a bit surprising however, as being the oldest made him most likely to recognize someone of the Wright family. Not that Daemond minded, he realized.

"Right, I'll just get my introduction out of the way." With a slight smile, Daemond leaned back in his chair, absentmindedly swirling his drink. "My name is Daemond Wright. My father is the owner of a pharmaceutical company. The main headquarters is located here in Chicago, and, well..." The boy paused, considering his words. He placed his wine on the table. "I'm a conduit myself. My mother and father were rather displeased to find out, to put it lightly. They've done their best so my secret is only known to a few people within the company. It should be easy for me to lay low and avoid the stigma of being painted as a mutant, still... You met my friend Theresa just moments before. I didn't like the idea of staying comfy under the protection of my father and his money while people like her were forced out of their homes and into the arms of a public who hated them."

Closing his eyes, Daemond took a deep breath. "I don't want to ramble, so all you need to know is that the Wright family has nothing to do with this. It's just me and those who I know I can trust." He nodded toward the brunette woman, who made the briefest of nods in reply.

"As for why you've all been brought here, I'm sure you have your own ideas." Daemond gestured toward himself. "I haven't brought you here to start some reckless gang like so many others that have popped up recently. While what we do as a group is up to us to decide, you all need to understand that this will be a group that works together. We will look out for each other, for better or for worse. I need you all willing to work with others. What I don't need is a bunch of lone wolves." He shook his head. "If you don't like hearing that, you are welcome to leave right now if you want. All I ask is that you don't reveal this location or the people here to anybody."

***

Upon hearing Isaac's question, Theresa explained who Daemond was. She was quick to tell of her distaste of Daemond's father and how different Daemond was from him. "And me, well... I already mentioned I was a conduit. I wasn't much welcomed anymore by my family, but Daemond approached me with this idea of what he wanted to do..." The girl suddenly leaned forward and pointed at the wall. There was an undeniable passion behind her words. "All we want is a group of conduits who can rely on each other. Out there, people are killing us because they don't understand us. Even worse, we're lashing back at them because we have no other choice. What this group will be is security. I promise that to all of you." Letting that sink in for a moment, Theresa lowered her arm.

"If you were hoping to hear something more romantic, then I guess you're disappointed. You all can leave whenever you want, even right now, but I think it will be best if you wait just a bit. Can you give us that, at least?"