[IC] The Gifted: Insurgency

[TheDarkTemplar]

---

CIR Headquarters, Los Angeles
October 3, 2049
4:45pm
Sentinel Commander Harland's Office
 
Forms, reports, requisition requests, and a myriad of other papers lay scattered across Sentinel Commander Harland's desk. Work that was appropriate for a man accustomed to office work. But Cole was not that man, a life of action had made him restless as he'd sit behind his desk reading a seemingly endless pile of field reports and filling out countless formality papers. While he wished he could return to his previous line of work, Cole found happiness in the fact that if he did it wouldn't be for the same reasons as before. "Its probably best if I stay out of the field nowadays anyway. Not what I used to be with this thing attached to me now", Cole thought to himself as he eyed his cybernetic leg. He had lost his leg a while back in an accident and since then he's never fully gotten used to the replacement. Getting out of his chair Cole walked over to the rear window of his office overlooking the surrounding area. The sun's rays seemed to glisten in the air as a gentle breeze could be seen passing through the trees. All the colors of the world seemed to be intensified with sharp contrasts and the view of the cars and people below seemed almost perfect. Of course things would never always be perfect, that was the entire reason for the founding of the CIR. There will always be fighting between humans and gifted, and the CIR will be there to make sure it doesn't get out of control. 

"Commander Harland, I just wanted to remind you about your meeting with Mr & Mrs Reynolds this afternoon. Your presence has also been requested by members of our R&D Department. What's more I have a new set of field reports waiting for you. I don't know much but apparently there's been a string of killings, all victims were Enforcers", Anne-Cole's secretary-was already giving Cole the rundown of the day the second she entered the office. With her eyes glued to her tablet Anne didn't even notice that her boss was not even at his desk. It wasn't until Cole replied after an awkward moment of silence did she realize where he was. "Why weren't these killings noticed sooner?", he said with a stern tone in his voice and an even more serious look on his face.

"I'm not sure, sir. As I said everything we have on this are in these files"

Cole sighed in frustration before dropping into his chair. Grabbing the nearest of the new files he began to read them but stopped before he got too far. "Thank you Anne, that'll be all for now. If you see the Reynolds let them right in"

"Will do, sir"

---

---

CIR Headquarters, Los Angeles
October 3, 2049
4:45pm
Archive 4

The screen was a blur as an indistinguishable amount of files, articles, books, even TV dialogue lines flew by. For Aaron it was not a blur but rather a form of finding entertainment. His quad-goggles were capable of quickly snapping pictures of each piece of information that went by like a high speed camera. While The Archives mainly held project blueprints and case files there were documents of certain import stored there as well should it's use aid a future investigation. But all this searching was not for an investigation, Aaron was simply looking for a certain book he favored. Niccolò Machiavelli's "The Prince" was a personal favorite of his and while he'd come to own a few copies over the years inevitably they all were lost.

"Found you, finally!", a smile grew on his face as he began downloading the book onto a flash drive. "It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things", reciting a line from the book Aaron smirked and went on his way to the upper levels.

Upon reaching the Sentinel area Aaron was greeted by his fellow Sentinels, despite the Sentinel Program being a very selective process there still was a considerable number of these elite CIR Agents. Some had minor cybernetic augmentation while others chose replacements so extensive their arms, legs, and parts of their torso were given augmentations. Aaron understood the need, it was a lot easier to get killed nowadays with these new blackmarket weapons. A weapons cache had been raided a few months back and they'd found heavy weapons that were modified beyond what they had seen. The CIR could do the same but that would only cause escalation and the last thing this city needed was to be made a battlefield between the authorities and the criminals. Instead a more subtle approach would be taken. Agents would capture weapons caches, stop smuggling routes, apprehend key distributors, all while keeping the peace between two species.

"Hey Walsh!", cried Esmond a fellow Sentinel with a rather bulky frame. Aaron grinned but that grin quickly became a look of horror. Esmond had a strong handshake...a very strong handshake, and it wasn't even due to cybernetics. The last time Esmond shook Aaron's hand he broke his prosthetic hand. "Oh hey Esmond! Wish I could stay and chat bu-", It was too late, Esmond was already approaching Aaron the second he recognized the goggles. Instead of a death grip handshake Aaron received a bro-hug but with the muscle density in Esmond's arm it felt as though Aaron had been slammed into a wall. "Haha I haven't seen you around the messhall for quite some time. What are you up to?", Esmond might have been a walking mountain of muscle but he wasn't a meathead. While he never really suspected Aaron of doing anything against the CIR, Esmond tended to be a bit inquisitive.

"I've been hitting the archives lately. I was looking for a certain book"

"What book might that be? Hmmm?"

"Ever read 'The Prince' before?", Aaron asked Esmond but received only a shrug in response.

"Its by Niccolò Machiavelli, meant to be a guide on being an effective ruler"

"I see your ego has inflated a bit, the only thing your the ruler of is finding the most irrelevant shit to read"

"Think of it this way, a king isn't successful why? One person watching over a massive amount of people. If we all learned how to effectively keep the peace on an individual level the world would run smoother right?"

"Whatever you say idealist, anyway I'll see you later. I wanna hit the gym before before the mess hall closes", with that Esmond stomped off creating slight tremors with each step. The only thing going through Aaron's mind was, "Is the gym even necessary at this point for you?"

[Ace of flames01]

Hospital

The sounds of consistent beeps from a heart monitor and the quiet hiss of air being pumped could be heard in the hospital room where Ace laid unconscious, a bloody gauze was tightly wrapped around her stomach. She had came out from the operation room, a few hours prior, due to the treatment of a gun shot wound to the stomach region and a few other minor injuries. She was lucky. For if she had been found any later than she was; she probably wouldn't have been alive now. When she was first found, she had already lost a lot of blood and was barely conscious. Even with the modern technology and medicine available; the doctors were unsure of her chances for survival.

Jack was sitting at her bedside and was holding Ace's hand tightly. It had been 15 years since he had last seen her, and he certainly didn't expect meeting her again under such circumstances. Unfortunately, nothing could be done at this point; there was no information on how or why Ace ended up in her condition. All Jack could do now was wait for Ace to wake up and for her to tell him what happened.

Jack had a solemn look on his face as he eyed Ace, hoping for signs of her waking up. A few hours had passed since the Ace's surgery and the the doctors had repeatedly assured Jack that they'd keep constant surveillance on Ace and let a Jack know of any kind change in her condition. Jack sighed before finally standing up. He made his way to the nearest telephone and paused.

"After 15 years and this is the first time I give them news on Ace...." Jack murmured. He then chuckled a bit before continuing. "They're all going to be so pissed."

Jack picked up the phone and dialed the number for the CIR HQ. The phone wrong a few times before a young woman finally answered.

"Hello. This is Anne, Commander Harland's intern."

"Ah, hi. May I speak with the Commander? It's on personal business."

"Personal business? I'm sorry but Commander Harland is currently busy. Would you like to schedule an appointment?"

"Appointment? No... No... Can I just talk to him real quick? It's concerning a friend of his."

"A friend? Excuse me but may I ask who's calling?"

"My name is Jack Clarke."

"Jack Clarke? Hmmmm.... No I'm not finding a Jack Clarke on file... Are you sure that you have the right number?"

[Cuccoruler]

Cia walked into the CIR Headquarters with Patrick right next to her. He had a plate of what looked to be tarts with him, some that he had made himself which only meant that they would be to die for. As she entered the building she was welcomed by quite a few of the people inside, many of them knew who she was, of course it was pretty hard to not know who she was as she was one of the few people who constantly refused to get robotic arms or any kinds of prosthetic. She walked around without arms and she was proud of it. She never did like the prosthetic anyways.

Once she got to the elevator to turned to look around for John. "You need to hurry up John! We are going to be late and you know how much I hate that." Cia said turning back towards the entrance. Patrick was right next her still holding the plate of tarts in his hands. "If you don't hurry you aren't getting any tarts!" Patrick said to his father smiling and hopping around. He always loved to see his uncle Cole and was excited to share his latest treat with him.

[ShaggyDoo0]

A young man in blue scrubs covered by a white lab coat made his way down the hallway to room 433, his long white hair pulled back in a ponytail as he pushed a small cart in front of him with a single syringe next to a small bottle filled with a pale yellow liquid. As he reached the room he stopped to check the name on the door Ace. He was at the right place. Norville carefully opened the door and walked inside pulling the cart behind him. A quick glance around the room revealed the man on the far end of the room on a phone and the woman unconscious in the bed. Norville smiles kindly before introducing himself in a soft tone "I'm nurse Norville, I'm just going to quickly check her chart and vitals."

He reached over and grabbed the chart and quickly read it before moving over to the heart monitor. He quickly pulls up a detailed report of the last few hours and pulls out a small tablet and jots down a few things.

[ArkmageddonCat]

Blood...there was blood all over the floor and walls...and in the center were maimed corpses, who's skulls and rib cages were crushed and destroyed. Upon closer examination, there appeared to be an arm-less woman, a young child, and a young woman. Further on, in the darkness...there was a glow, which was slowly fading away...then suddenly a shriek shattered the silence as the vision abruptly turned to black

It was just another meaningless vision...

John had broken out into a sweat, and had been standing in some kind of daze at the front door for a few moments as his family continued on towards the elevator. After taking a moment to wipe the sweat from his face, John realized that they were calling out to him, and he hastily made his way towards the elevator that his family had entered. Once inside, he chuckled and offered a smile in return for Patrick's little taunt about the tarts, before looking to his wife, Cia. "Sorry, I seem to be a little out of it today..." He started to say, then pressed the button labeled with the floor number where Cole's office was located.

Taking a step back as the sliding doors closed and the elevator began to move upwards, John turned to Patrick and ruffled his hair a little bit. "Excited to see ol' uncle Cole, are we?" He asked, though he already knew the answer, and gave a warm smile. By now he had cleared the vision from his mind, but the fear and worry were still there...and he did his best to keep that from showing on his face. After all, they were only visions...they aren't real, and they aren't true.

=

Meanwhile, Mayumi was sitting in a chair waiting outside of Cole's office for Cia, John, and Patrick to show up. She had come earlier this morning to get some of her work out of the way in time to attend the meeting between Cole and the rest of her family, as Mayumi had recently been hired for an office job at CIR. In truth, she would've preferred to be an information specialist working out in the field, but, well, she took what she could get. Perhaps she could use the meeting as an excuse to speak to Cole about getting a job transfer?

[TheDarkTemplar]

---

CIR Headquarters, Los Angeles
October 3, 2049
4:50
R&D Department

Natalie's eyes were glued to the moniter as she looked over her information over and over again. Months of research and countless hours of experimentation and observations have resulted in a now rather obsessed individual. Natalie may be young but she was well beyond her years in terms of knowledge of the metahuman physiology. "I'm so close I can feel it. Where are you hiding?", she whispered to herself as she reevaluated her findings. Unfortunately Natalie had reached a dead end...Or had she? Natalie got up from her relaxed position in her chair and began to furiously look through her autopsy files. "I know you're here, hiding in plain sight this whole time", at this point she was no longer whispering but speaking aloud as if to another in the room. There was a moment of silence ending her ramblings before she gasped harshly. Natalie hurriedly compiled all the autopsy files into a flash drive and exited her lab once the transfer was completed. "The Director needs to see thi-wait no. Mom would want a copy of this, can't let this get into the wrong hands without a backup", Natalie stopped her mad run towards the director's office and began to head to the exit when she once again stopped herself.

"Maybe it's time to let dad know? We haven't met yet but mom said he could be trusted...more or less. Dammit what to do! Alright alright here's the plan: tell dad, bring him to mom, whatever awkwardness happens, then the three of us can decide on what to do with this. To his office then!", to an outside observer Natalie looked like a madwoman running back and forth without purpose. Natalie bolted towards the elevator but before she could even yell for those inside to hold it open it shut. "Too many floors up to take the stairs, there is an elevator on the opposite side of the lobby!", Natalie turned tail and once again sprinted for the elevator this time she practically slid into the elevator as the doors began to close. She frantically pressed the button to the top floor and in a moment the elevator began to carry her and the confused CIR agents up the tower. After what felt like an eternal elevator ride Natalie arrived at the top floor and she practically threw herself at the secretary's desk. "I need to speak with Sentinel Commander Harland immediately! It's urgent and for his eyes only!", there was a look of urgency in Natalie's eyes and it was rivaled by her aura of obsession with whatever it was she was trying to show the commander. Anne raised her brow as she looked over Natalie, she was clearly from R&D but protocol was protocol. "I'm sorry but do you have an appointment?", she asked hoping that Natalie did so she wouldn't be stuck with her.

"I don't have time for that he needs to see this now!", Natalie would have continued had she not realized how insane she was sounding. "Relax before security tases you and throws you out of the building", Natalie took a deep breathe and calmed herself before she spoke again. "I'm sorry I don't have an appointment but what I have for Commander Harland is of the utmost importance and it's for his eyes only"

Anne was surprised by Natalie's sudden civility but nothing changed, protocol is protocol. "I understand that but the commander is about to be in an important meeting, afterwards you'll be free to speak with him if you still wish. Until then please wait over there"

Natalie let out a breath of frustration before nodding in acknowledgment. Sulking over to the waiting area in defeat she sat herself not far from Mayumi and began fiddling with the flash drive in her hands. "Held back by a damn secretary...what the hell"

---

"Yes of course I have the right number!", Jack replied getting slightly annoyed. He was aware of the fact that this was just protocol, but with Ace in her current condition; Jack was a little on edge and was impatient. He sighed before continuing. "Please... I'm begging you.... Let me speak with the Commander... My daughter.... His friend... Is dying... So please... Please let me speak with him..."

Anne wanted to pull her hair out at this point. Her moral compass challenging her job at the moment she decided it would probably best to just let this man through and get ready for whatever ordeal was next. "Alright just a moment, let me inform the commander", Anne put Jack on hold as she called into Cole's office. "Sir, there is an individual who desperately needs to speak with you. His name is Jack and he says he needs to speak with you about a certain 'Ace'". Cole immediately replied to the call informing Anne to put him through. Without another word Jack was on the line with Cole, "Jack how are things? You said you wanted to talk about Ace?"

"Yeah....." Jack replied, the tone of his voice was tired and solumn. "Ace got hurt really bad and just got out of the ER a few hours ago... Cole... Ace is dying... She hasn't woken up yet and though her condition is currently stable and slowly improving; the doctors aren't sure if she'll survive..... I'm sorry that the first time I've ever spoke of Ace's condition in 15 years had to be this but.... At least you'll now be able to finally see her again, right?" Though it couldn't be heard in his voice; Jack was on the verge of tears. He was afraid that he might be loosing his little girl and that he'd loose what family he had left.

"Its fine Jack just have you considered having her undergo cybernetic prosthesis? She'd look and function the same and if its a matter of money I have no problem paying for it", Cole wasn't going to let Ace go without a fight. He had the resources to do this it wasn't a problem of how just a matter of when. There was a catch of course, but Cole wasn't sure if Jack would approve of it. "Listen Jack, the cybernetics aren't a problem but there is a catch to it. If you approve of this then Ace would have to work for the CIR for a period of time. The cybernetics would be considered company property and she'd have to work it off. I swear it won't be permanent and I'll make sure she's taken care of. I know this is hard and I wouldn't do this unless it was Ace's best chance for survival", Cole stopped in wait for Jack's answer. He knew this wasn't something that could be decided in an instant but time wasn't exactly on their side.

A prosthetic? Jack had never considered the idea, mainly because of the fact that he was uncertain as to whether or not it would actually help Ace or not. Jack paused."Cole, I'm not supposed to be telling you this but... For the past 15 years, Ace has been secretly working for various branches of the CIR. She told me to keep quiet about it but I think it'd be okay if I told you. You see.... Ace wanted to protect the peace you and the others fought to create. She figured that the best way to do this was by becoming a mercenary and to disappear from the rest of society for a while. This included you and the others. The reason why I'm telling you this because I have no problem with Ace working with the CIR. The only problem is that a prosthetic might not be able to fix this problem. The injury Ace received was a gunshot wound to the stomach, just bellow the right lung. When they found her; she had already lost a lot of blood and was barely conscious." He explained, hoping that this news wouldn't shock or enrage Cole too much.

"She's still got that fire in her after all those years", Cole sighed before looking out the window. "Listen Jack if the cybernetics don't fix what's wrong with Ace they'll at least give her more time. I'll handle everything don't you worry, I'll have her transferred to our facility for testing and once they find the problem the augmentations will begin. Best case scenario Ace'll be back up and running with no problem. Worst case is we'll have more work to do on her. I won't let her go easily, you have my word. Now what hospital was she admitted to? I'll send transport over for her pickup and you can come too. We can catch up and I might have something you'd be interested in."

"I have no doubt that you would keep the promise you made to me all those years ago..." Jack sighed before continuing. "We are currently at the Los Angles Critical Care Center in room 433..... Cole... Please... Save her...."

"I will Jack, I'll see you two soon", Cole hung up the phone and dialed his secretary, "Anne, have medical transport unit sent to LA Critical Care Center Room 433 for Ace Stahl". He didn't wait for a response, Anne knew to simply have it done. As for Cole he sat at his computer and accessed the Sentinel roster. Cole hesitated for moment before entering Ace's name and information into the roster and setting her status to critical and "under intensive care".

Once that was taken care of Cole stood at the window of his office, peacefully admiring the view when he heard the sound of yelling outside his office causing him to wince at the sudden interruption of his zen. "Female, young, not John or Cia. Too unfamiliar to be Mayumi, most likely some bureaucrat sent from the higher ups. As if I didn't have enough to worry about", Cole's suspicions were put to rest when Anne entered his office. "Sorry to disturb you sir but I just wanted you to know there is a rather determined young lady from R&D who wishes to speak with you

"R&D? The hell is she doing here? Isn't this the director's job?

"My thoughts exactly but she was adamant that what she had to show was for your eyes only"

"Alright send her in after the Reynolds. Speaking of which are they here yet?"

"Mayumi is waiting outside but the rest of the family is in the building and on their way up. They should be here any second"

[Cuccoruler]

Cia gave a smile to her husband ever since she got married she had been nothing but smiles. Of course she was unaware of the visions that he had been having, if Cia knew she would worry a lot more about him, and her smile wouldn't be there as often.

Cia exited the elevator with Pat going out before her with the tray for tarts in his hand. "I brought Tarts! You want one Mayumi?" Pat yelled with glee as he offered Mayumi a tart. Cia gave a smile to Mayumi truth was though Cia didn't much like that idea of Mayumi working with CIR but atleast it was a desk job and not out in the field. She didn't want anyone to go through what she had gone through, and she really didn't want Mayumi to find out about what she did to a certain cyborg. "Working hard Mayumi?" Cia said to her with a smile. Cia was protective even a little over protective when it come to her children, even those at the orphanage knew that Cia was a bit over bearing sometimes.

As soon as Cia saw Cole though she could tell that something was wrong. She didn't want to discuss anything like that in front of Patrick though, he was still so young and didn't need to know about anything that could trouble him. Cia always wanted to see smiles on her children's faces, but before that she wanted them to be safe. That was what she fought for after wall, that was what she risked becoming a monster for.

[Ace of flames01]

Jack hung up the phone and quietly turned to Norville, who was still jotting notes on a piece of paper. He walked over to him and patted him on the back once before sitting back down next to Ace. "Thanks." He replied to Norville. He looked back down at Ace and murmured quietly, " Don't worry, sweetie... Help is on the way.... So just hold on for a little bit longer, ok?" Jack knew that Ace was against the ideas of having a prosthetic, but he didn't have a choice; Ace was dying and this was something that even modern medicine couldn't fix. He could only hope that Ace would eventually forgive him for his choice.

[ArkmageddonCat]

Mayumi jumped as the relative silence was broken by Patrick's yelling once the elevator reached the floor, then proceeded to laugh at her own fright as her younger brother offered her a tart. "Sure, I'll take one." She said, carefully picking one of the tarts off of the plate. She had just picked up the tart when her mother, Cia, asked her a question. "Yeah...had to finish a lot of my work before I could manage to fit this meeting into my schedule...and I definitely don't want to stay here too late, or I might never go home. She replied, adding a little sarcastic joke in at the end. Of course she would go home, but if she stayed after her day was supposed to be done, then she might loose track of time...like when a kid stays up late studying or doing homework.

Taking a bite out of the tart, Mayumi let out a muffled sound of enjoyment, and a few moments later she swallowed and smiled at Patrick. "Mmm! These are good..." She declared, taking another bite...then another, and another. Soon enough, the tart was gone.

"That tart didn't last very long at all." Said John, who now stood beside Cia. Mayumi giggled for a second, then remembered she needed to thank Patrick for the tart. "Oh, thank-you for the tart, Pat-Pat." She spoke with a smile, then stood up from her chair.

[ShaggyDoo0]

When he finished taking notes on Ace's vital readings for the past hour, he picked up his notepad and walked over to the small cart that he had wheeled in earlier. He offered a smile to Jack before he picked up the syringe, "Excuse me for intruding sir, but what is your relationship with Miss Ace?" He asked as he removed the cap to the small bottle and prepped the syringe.

He inserted the syringe into the small bottle then measured out exactly 3.5ml of the yellowish liquid before removing the syringe and removing any bubbles from the medicine. He moved over to the IV that was in Ace's arm and inserted the needle into the port on the tubing. While slowly injecting the medicine he kept his eyes on her vital monitor. "This is a supplement that will make up for the lack of enzymes from her damaged liver, this is the best we can do while the lead doctors of her case are working out what we can do to get her back on her feet and to every day life as soon as possible." Norville removed the now empty syringe and slightly adjusted the IV drip. He knew that the only way to get her well again was a new liver, but being new to the care of Miss Ace, he couldn't just disclose everthing to someone who wasn't either family or her guardian while she was in the hospital.

[Zeff]

Elsewhere

Rows of men and women were packed into the back of the truck. They had been riding for a while now. With blindfolds over their eyes, none of them knew exactly where they were headed, or for how long they had been travelling. A lone guard in the back ensured there was no peeking either. "It's a security measure," he had declared when loading them up, "Don't want any of you ratting us out. No electronics get to come along either."

Finally, after a long, bumpy trip, the truck had pulled to a stop. "Alright. Blindfolds off, recruits, and follow me. No time to stretch your legs. Commander wants to see you. Now." The guard stated, leaping out and motioning for them to follow.

As they each hopped out, they were greeted by the sight of a circular clearing admist dense woods. Inhabiting this clearing was a network of tents and other temporary dwellings. All around them the denizens of this camp were busying themselves with daily routine: lumbering, crafting, training, sparring, cooking, maintaining guns and other equipment. "It might not look like heaven, but at least it isn't hell. Come along now. We're heading to the main tent. We'll get you oriented later." The guard once again instructed.

Soon enough, they made their way into the longest, highest tent. Within were a motley collection of chairs purloined from a variety of sources, set out in rows. As they took their seats, Kyle Kruger emerged from the back flap of the tent from an adjoining one. He grinned broadly. "Many recruits this run. Sweet." He said to himself as he pulled up to the podium. He waited for all to find their seats and for chatter to settle, cleared his throat, then spoke.

"Brothers. Sisters. We, the Storm Hounds, welcome you with open arms, welcome you to struggle for the survival of our race and way of life as comrades in arms. I will not fool you: this fight is not an easy one. But make no mistake, it is a righteous one.

As I'm sure you all remember, it has been nearly 20 years since this nation was taken from us by anti-democratic forces, proponents of 'tolerance', 'unity' and 'integration.' A fool and criminal President Callahan may have been, but isn't it also a crime to have robbed the American people of any choice in the matter? If you ask me, I'd say selling our government out to what had been, and still remains, a mortal threat, is a crime. A crime with a very specific name: Treason. Despite this, the international defenders of 'justice' exploited and abused the Callahan trial like sharks drawn to blood in the water, and through it took our entire system down. The pro-metahuman and metahuman minority thus displaced us, the anti-metahuman and pro-human majority, in an organized mutiny of feelings over reason.

Well, we can see now the product of their blindness, their naivety, can't we? While we have turned our swords into plowshares, the swords of the metahumans remain swords, and they now prey upon our weakness. There was a guy from Florence hundreds of years ago who said, 'Hence it comes that all armed prophets have been victorious, and all unarmed prophets have been destroyed.' And our rival prophets are heavily armed indeed. Never let yourselves be fooled, never lower your guard: a being with the powers of a god, but with the mind of a mere mortal, is always a threat to peace and stability. We must do everything we can to undo these mistakes thrust upon us by Callahan's mad drive for power. Every metahuman dead means thousands of ordinary humans can sleep just that little bit more cozily at night. They are weapons, nothing more. Letting them into society is just like letting our children play on land-mine laden fields before they are cleared."

Kyle scanned his audience, noting the more enthusiastic ones and their faces, mentally earmarking them. He extended a finger. "Excuse me." he offered, then reached for the glass of water on his podium and took a swig.

As he wandered out from the podium, he continued. "Not many know this of me, or would expect it of me, what with being one of the US' most wanted domestic terrorists and all..." He got some chuckles from that. "But I used to want to be a teacher. Yeah, I know. I didn't quite end up reaching that dream, did I?" He flashed a grin, then reached for the cord of the projector screen positioned at the back of the space, then unravelled it with a yank.

"This why I apologize in advance for the information overload I have in store for you guys today - I know it isn't good to burden students like this. Heh." His grin became a sheepish, apologetic one. He then motioned to a soldier at the other end of the tent, who at his command switched on the projector.

"But, you know. Screw it. You've read the newspapers, or saw it on Chirp or whatever the fuck the kids browse these days. Point is, things are getting real bad out there. I usually like to space out theory, even introductory stuff like this, much more, but present circumstances do not grant me this luxury." He explained as he clutched a stick between his hands.

Kyle then thwapped the end of the stick against the board. "Anywho, originating out of the population, the guerrilla war is conducted by local resistance movements. Without support from, and this is important, the population or an armed power, resistance groups cannot sustain themselves for long." Kyle paused to reflect for a moment, then continued. "That same man from Florence that lived hundreds of years ago recommended against relying on foreign forces anyway, so, support must come from the population. I'm not asking for you to be good little boyscouts or girlscouts, but this support must be achieved and held by all means. Don't go shooting anyone who isn't a metahuman, unless if defending yourselves, obviously. I've been shooting at these things for about as long as a lot of you have been walking, by the look of things. Don't sweat it, I'll tell you more about the signs to watch out for when gunning for metahumans later. Now..." Kyle's instruction continued on and on.

At the end of it all, there was a common thought among the people huddled in the hall: What was longer, the trip here, or the lecture? Despite its length, most understood its importance, fortunately. "Failing to prepare is to be prepared for failure", as Kyle himself had put it during his instruction.

[Ace of flames01]

Jack was in a daze. For the past hour he had been trying to wrap his mind around not only the fact that Ace was in the hospital and that she needed to receive a cybernetic prosthetic but how she was also going to have to work for Cole as a Sentinel. But the thing that was mostly on Jacks minds was: who did this, how could this have happened, and why was she attacked?

Ace was an incredibly strong fighter, even without the use of her gift and could easily take out a squad of Scions. To end up in her current condition seemed unheard of until now, which means she either had gotten careless or she had tried taking on an opponent strong enough to be her equal or be even stronger than her.

Ace was also (at least according to her last update with Jack) currently off duty and wasn't taking any really big jobs. So why would she be attacked?

This brought Jack to his last question. The Scions of Divinity were targeting humans not meta humans like Ace. The only reason why the Scions might target her is for the revenge of fallen comrades, she was an Enforcer or Sentinel, or the perhaps saw her as a threat. However, Ace had taken on Scions before without receiving any major injuries; so the likelihood of the Scions be her attack was small. The only other group that would attack her and for it to make sense was The Storm Hounds. The Storm Hounds were notorious for lynching meta humans and attacking meta human supporters. Ace had not taken on many Storm Hound agents in the past so the amount of power they have is currently unknown. The injury Ace received was another thing to take into consideration. Since it was a gunshot wound and not a wound caused by a "gift"; the likelihood of her attacker being human increases. While it is true that the Scions have used weaponry and firearms; the Scions are known to kill using gifts and not weapons. Storm Hound agents are humans therefore they-

These thoughts swirled in Jacks mind over and over again. It was only until he heard Norville speak that he snapped back to reality. Jack hesitated briefly before responding to Norville's question. He looked up at Norville, dead in the eye, holding a steady yet tired gaze. Jack noticed that the top half of his eyes were shrouded in a golden hue. "A gifted? hmmm... he must be an abnormality.... I've never seen a Gifted with eyes like those before." He thought silently before he spoke allowed."heh... I.... I guess you could say that I'm this little wild fire's father." He replied referring to Ace.

[TheDarkTemplar]

The Warren Residence, Los Angeles
October 26, 2049
5:00pm
The Net Room

Mood Music

"Well if you can't afford my information I'm afraid our business is concluded", Josephine's finger hovered over the keyboard but she had no intention of ending the call. The client was trying to haggle himself a better deal but Josephine would have none of it. As expected the voice on the other side of the line abruptly spoke up, "Wait! Wait!...I can pay your fee, if the cost hasn't increased". A smile ran across Josephine's face as she knew that the payout was as good as hers. "The cost hasn't changed and neither is how you'll pay. As I said when we first began this deal I get paid in cash only. I'm sending you the directions to one of my dead drop locations. Leave the money there and within five minutes of doing so one of my contacts will arrive to confirm the money is there. Once that's been done they will take the money and leave in its place the files. However you will wait until my contact has left the area with the money before you go to claim the files. If you try anything that compromises this transaction I will expose all of your illegal activities to the public".

The client was left in shock at the conclusion of that final statement, "What do you mean 'all my illegal activities?!'". This was always Josephine's favorite part of the transaction call. While her clients would often spend most of their time trying to find ways out of paying, she'd spend part of her time finding ways to make sure they pay. This individual in particular had a long list of dirty secrets which she'd have no problem with showing to the world. "Just know that I'm aware of all the skeletons in your closet and if you try to steal from me I will take everything from you...the directions have been sent, the transaction will take place tomorrow at 5am", with the press of a key the call was ended and Josephine exited the Net Room. Once she was back in the living room, with the pull of the nearby wall light, the false wall slid back into place leaving virtually no sign that there was a room behind it. "Now to relax and wait for the deadline", heading to the bedroom Josephine passed by a mirror on her way there. It had been twenty years since the incident and as a result she looked as if she had barely aged a few years. "Gotta love cybernetics", she thought to herself with a smile that quickly vanished soon after. The memories after her operation along with the knowledge of what she'd done beforehand still haunted her to this day. Still she had a second chance at life and while it wasn't the American dream it was the best she could do with her skill set. 

Once in her room she grabbed a small touchpad and with a few quick taps the house sound system began to shuffle through her music library. If any aspects of her past life survived it was her love of music. Josephine could listen to music for hours and it was then that she'd be at peace with herself. It was as if the outside world simply fade away into the entrancing sounds she'd envelope herself in. However even as she lay on the bed trying her best to drift into the music her memories of first waking up after the blacksite still filled her mind while everything else was a blur. Despite desperately trying to push these thoughts out of her mind her attempts were to no avail. Frustrated beyond belief Josephine headed for the shower with the hope that perhaps the warm waters would ease her mind. Once in the shower, Josephine let the hot water cascade down her body as the steam began to fog the various mirrors in the rather large bathroom. "Twenty years and the only memory I remember best is that...", she thought to herself as she raised her head to let the water wash over her face. Josephine remembered that day so vividly it was as if she was still there. She could feel the searing pain as the flesh which already hung from her body was pulled with each involuntary muscle movement. She could feel the immense pressure from the endoskeleton that was attached to the remaining half of her skull. Her head felt as if it had been sawed open, filled with razors, then bolted shut and shaken. The rest of her body felt like molten steel was being poured on whatever areas could still feel anything at all. In that moment Josephine felt real pain for the first time in her life; not when she'd taken multiple bullet wounds in her previous profession, not when she was beaten to a bloody pulp, it was when she awoke after death. In that moment all she wanted was to be given what they'd just taken from her. Josephine had wanted to die. 

Mood Music

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell being rung. Hurrying out of the shower she wrapped herself in her towel to see who it was. At one end of her room there was a small screen which showed whoever was at the front door. While she wasn't too surprised to see Cole at her door it was rather untimely. With some speed in her step she headed downstairs to answer the door and upon opening it revealed the Commander of the Los Angeles CIR Sentinels. Cole's eyes widened once he realized Josephine was wearing only a towel and he quickly averted his eyes to avoid the look from her which he was all too familiar with. "Oh uh sorry is this a bad time?", he asked as he looked to the side. Josephine simply turned away from the door and began to walk back into the house. "As a matter of fact yes it is, I was just in the shower as you can see", she said with an annoyed tone in her voice as she quickly glanced into the living room to check if she had sealed the Net Room. 

"Sorry about that I just wanted to stop by, maybe catch up since we haven't seen each other in a while", Cole had been here before, after the meeting with Natalie she brought him here and the trio had a short conversation mostly about Natalie's findings. Now he was back again but this time it was personal instead of for business. Josephine chuckled at Cole's remark, "'In a while' is putting it mildly", looking rather indignant as she headed back upstairs to change. Cole followed but was halted by the closing of her room door in his face. "Hold on a minute", was all Josephine said from behind the door. Cole, with no choice, headed downstairs to wait in the living room.

"Is Natalie home?", he asked as Josephine finally came downstairs dressed in a rather unusual attire for the afternoon. She was wearing an outfit similar to the one she favoured during her time as a Warden. The only difference was that it was all black with a hood and a light scarf hung from her shoulders. "You should know, she works for you after all, doesn't she?", from behind the door Josephine began to sound rather annoyed by the entire conversation. "Natalie is in R&D, actually. But that's not why I came here", that stung at Josephine as she looked away towards a picture of herself and Natalie. "Of course not, no you're here to 'catch up' right? What's there for you to catch up with? You left, I had Natalie and we lived fine without you"

"Josie-"

"No you don't get to call me that! You don't get to act like we're good friends who've just been busy for a few weeks! You abandoned me and for twenty years I had to survive on my own and at the same time raise our child who you couldn't give a single shit about could you?!"

"You think I don't care? For fuck's sake she's my daughter of course I care about her! I'd do anything to keep her safe!"

"Then why the hell did you leave?", there was a long silence that felt so intense in comparison to the yelling which echoed throughout the house mere moments ago. "...I had no choice", was Cole's only response before Josephine laughed sarcastically as she walked away into the kitchen. "You know I had no choice, Josephine! You know that so don't you dare make this sound as if I just left in the middle of the night!"

"You did have a choice! You could hve stayed, put this all behind you, and we could have lived fine, probably in this same house together, and Natalie would have had a father and a real family!", Josephine was at this point pouring herself a glass from her wine shelf. "I couldn't stay! I had a duty to my country, to our kind!", Cole had followed close behind and was separated from Josephine by the island in the kitchen which he stood at the opposite side of. "But not to your family right? Noooo, the noble Cole Harland must put the needs of others above all else!"

"Natalie wasn't even around then, how was I supposed to know I should have stayed?!"

"BECAUSE I WAS THERE!", another deafening silence filled the room before Josephine spoke again. "Because I was there. I was there with you and after all we went through you left to go play the hero again.."

"I'm sorry-"

"Sorry isn't enough. Because it's not just me you need to make it up to, you owe Natalie as well"

"I will make it up to you both, I promise you that"

"When Cole? When will that be? Because I'm not going to wait another twenty years and neither will she"

"Right now I'm dealing with a serious case but I promise you both, when it's done I will walk away"

Josephine hung her head low as she began to laugh morosely with her face veiled by her long black hair. "Just go Cole...this has been enough 'catching up' for one night", Josephine wouldn't let him see her tears. She turned away from him and leaned against the island looking out the nearby window. Cole quietly headed towards the kitchen exit but stopped just outside it. "You know I always thought about you after I left...", he said with a much more sullen voice then what he had when he first arrived. "That so?", Josephine replied, still not looking in his direction as she tried to subtly wipe the tears rolling down her face. 

"Every day I'd think back to the day I left and every time I'd playback what we said to each other", Cole said nothing more and Josephine listened to his footsteps as he approached the door. The second she heard it close she slammed the wine glass onto the kitchen floor.

[Ace of flames01]

(OK! HERE'S PART 2 COMING AT YA!)

Things had taken a turn for the dull for Aaron. After being assigned a new squad much of his day would be spent in the training rooms or in the various recreational rooms. Today was no different as he found himself in the training room sparring with whoever was up to it. Unfortunately that was not the case, so far anyone who wasn't already sparring with someone else was making a go at the punching bags. "Alright I guess I'll just go it alone then", he thought to himself as he headed towards the weights. "Not sure how much longer I can sit around doing nothing", he thought as he started doing bench presses. "No spotter, no problem", a grin came over his face as he piled on the weight to the bar, "Alright let's do this".

Ace's life wasn't any easier. Soon after she had woken up from her prosthesis she was told of her situation and how she was going to be working as a Sentinel; and ever since then she has felt broken. She has, since that fateful day, been training hard to distract herself in the gym and today was no different. Ace entered the gym wearing a spandex tank top and a pair of leggings that exposed the multiple scars that run up and down her arms, legs, and shoulders. Soon after entering she tied her hair up in a pony tail as she eyed the other Sentinels, that were either sparing or working out on the weights. She sighed slightly annoyed as she had been hoping to blow off some steam by sparing, but at the moment it had looked like everyone had been busy.
"ok.... so I guess I won't be taking on anybody today..... great..." Ace mumbled to herself feeling fairly annoyed. She made her wasy to an open punching bag and shuffled a few times before punching it as hard as she could, keeping light on her feet the entire time.

"This was a waste of time, I might as well just go to the rec room or something. I need something to distract me", Aaron couldn't help but feel like he could be doing something worthwhile with his time. Unfortunately until the rest of his team was brought up to speed he'd be spending a lot more time getting acquainted with the training and rec rooms. Just as he was about to head for the exit he spotted someone who looked relatively familiar. She was working on the punching bags and while he couldn't see her entire face the half he could see struck him as one he'd seen before. Grabbing his comm pad from his duffel bag Aaron brought up his squad's roster and just as he suspected she was his teammate. "Huh well I guess now's as good a time as any", he said to himself as he walked over. "Hey, Ace Stahl right?", Aaron asked as he closed the gap between the two of them "Aaron Walsh, looks like we'll be working together for a while". Aaron extended his hand towards Ace, making sure not to have his powers active at the time. Not that it mattered though as she appeared to be wearing boxing gloves, still he could never be too careful.

At first, Ace wanted to just ignore Aaron and continue working out, but in her current situation it seemed impossible. Ace stopped and took a step back before examining the new arrival. She sighed as she removed the boxing glove, revealing her pair of gloves with the tips of the fingers cut off underneath, before shaking his hand. "Yeah a pleasure." she replied warmly. She looked him in the eyes for a moment and instantly acknowledged him as a gifted before continuing, "hold on.... I remember you... yeah... Cole told me about you. So you're the Sarge that Cole was talking about. Well I certainly look forward to working with you." Ace released her grip on Aaron's hand and grinned softly.

"I hope he only told you the good things about me", Aaron looked over to the sparring mats and noticed one was clear "hey you up for some sparring? We can talk more there, that is if you can handle both". The fact that Ace referred to the commander by his first name caught his attention. Aaron was casual with most of his superiors but he didn't have the balls to refer to Commander Harland by his first name.

"Sure, as long as you can handle getting your ass handed to you." Ace replied amused. She then made her way to the sparing matts with Aaron and got in a readying stance. "I'm ready when you are." She called over to him smirking, she had an amused glint in her eyes. She knew that Aaron had no idea what he was getting himself into, but at the same time Ace kept herself from getting too cocky as she knew that it would lead to her downfall otherwise.

"So I gotta ask", was the first thing Aaron said before he darted towards Ace, "how do you know the commander? I mean no one else dares to call him anything but Sir or Commander Harland" once he was close enough Aaron slid towards Ace with the hope of catching her with a leg sweep.

Ace's expression quickly turned solumn as she jumped up and over Aaron then quickly turned around replying, "well yah see..." She quickly too a step back before continuing, "I've know Cole for a long time, I guess you could say I had a part to play in taking down President Callahan and that's a major reason as to why I know him." Ace remained on the defensive as she waited for an opening to attack.

"Wait so you're the Ace Stahl?! I can't believe I didn't realize sooner. Don't they have a statue or something of the whole group back in Manhattan?", Aaron stepped forward carefully watching Ace's movements as he came in for a right cross followed by an uppercut.

Ace ducked then leaned back, dodging both attacks. She quickly recovered and then countered with a an uppercut to the stomach, she holding back a bit before taking another few steps back. "Yeah... Not the best chapter of my life and the memorial was the Conclave's idea. I unfortunately didn't have much say on the matter." She replied.

"That was a bad time for everyone...still it's an honor to be working with you. Hopefully we get an assignment soon and we can really see eachother in action", Aaron had at this point already recovered from the blow to his stomach and was now circling Ace and looking for an opportunity to strike. She wasn't the average CIR operative so Aaron didn't have to hold back. First came a kick to her knee followed by a left swing to her side then a right jab at her shoulder, Aaron didn't stop there as he then tried once more for a leg sweep. The idea was to just overwhelm Ace until she didn't notice the leg sweep until it was too late. "You don't have to answer but what happened during that time? The media was pretty confused at the time and to hear what happened from someone who was there would be great", of course there had been documentaries about the rebellion and what went down but it was always from people who read reports of what happened. This was an opportunity to hear the reality of what happened and a chance to get to know his squadmate better.

Ace kept her composure as she took the first few blows but when Aaron came in again to leg sweep; she quickly dodged and countered again by catching one of his legs with her own and then kicked the back of his other knee cap and knocked him off balance before quickly pinning him down. "It was hell." She replied as she catched her breath. At the angle Aaron was at, he could clearly see the scar from the gunshot wound she received at the blacksite 20 years ago.

"I take it that that's a souvenir from back then?", he said looking towards the scar. "Can't say I've got one but I did lose something. My dad died fighting the DMA, pretty much why I'm here today. But you've already fought and the others, even the commander, have settled down. So why are you still fighting?"

Ace released Aaron and plopped herself on the ground and sighed, "Because I don't have a reason to stop or slow down. I keep fighting because I keep getting reasons to protect the peace my friends and I created. Until I know that this world is safe; I can't stop fighting."

"Well then if that's the case", Aaron got to his feet and reached out his hand to help Ace up, "It'll be fun fixing the world as a team".

Ace grinned as she accepted the hand offered to her and was lifted up to her feet. "It most certainly will." She replied smiling warmly.

[ShaggyDoo0]

Norville started to sweat almost the instant he stepped into the training room. All the body heat hit him like a wave as he made his way to the side wall with the machines. "Let's see who is in my squad." he thought to himself as he set up his water and notepad into their respective spots on the treadmill before he set himself up at a decent jogging pace. He quickly pulled up his small squad on his notepad. He already knew the names Aaron Walsh and Ace Stahl, he just wanted to put faces to the names so he scrolled on past the introductory to the bottom and instantly recognized Ace. She was his last patient before he was brought over to the CIR and joined the Sentinels. He had stumbled in the shock and quickly glanced around hoping no one saw his fault but was greeted by the sight of his two squad mates on a sparring mat. His face had turned a deep red from its normal pale shade as he hoped that this would not be his first impression on them. He turned back to his notepad and tried to recompose himself before he was embarrassed further.

[Zeff]

A soldier forced the tent flap out of the way and stepped in. Awaiting him on the other side was Kyle sat before a fold out-desk. He was scrutinizing piles of handwritten notes. He glanced up to the interloper with a grin. "Hey Jack. What can I do you for?" he chirped.

"I just saw the truck head off. That mission you had in mind... who'd you pick?" Jack asked, stepping further in. Kyle offered him a seat. He then held the sheaf of papers up, flicked through them, and then picked out the relevant ones and set them out before Jack, tapping the cluster for emphasis.

As Jack picked up the files and perused them, Kyle answered. "Sam Helter. 19."
Jack's expression faltered into shock. Kyle's remained as is. "19? And he's on his own? He's going to--"

"Get killed. Yeah, I know." Kyle said absently as he shifted forward in his seat, smile still in place. "I know, it sucks, it sucks a lot, but... well, read on. The kid's a headcase. Daddy beat his mommy, mommy beat him. For some reason thinks it's the fucking metahumans that are to blame for his parents being so wretched. He's also the one that's been cutting up the wildlife, according to testimonies of a few of the men. So long as we keep him in our organization, he's a danger to everyone around us. Making use of him is better than just kicking him out, which runs the risk of defection."

Jack huffed, shaking his head as his eyes scanned the papers in his hands. "You're right, I suppose. But making a sacrificial pawn out of the kid? Have him spill his guts at a university of all places?"

Kyle nodded, smile becoming a grin. "Uhuh! Gotta remind people we're out here some how, let 'em know we still carry on the fight. Surely there's others out there who are just sick to death of living under the heel of our old enemies, yeah? Besides, it's a -Conclave- University. It's a free fire zone, as far as I'm concerned. Honestly, how many non-metas do you -really- expect would end up at such a place, huh? It's not the god damn Hand in Hand Galilee School in Israel. It's by muties, for muties. Humans are second class citizens. By very nature, even."

Jack once again breathed heavily and shifted forward to lean against the desk elbowfirst, his fingers tracing along his moustache in contemplation. "How many... something between some and none, yeah. But... he's still one of us. And throwing him away for a... a massacre. It just doesn't feel right, you know?"

Kyle sunk low to the desk to meet Jack's gaze, fingers steepled. "When I returned home from the Second Crimean War, I got swamped with protesters. Among the usual soundbites, like 'murderer', 'fascist', 'baby killer', I also got a new one: 'You're being used! You're just disposable heroes!' The way I see it, we have no martyrs that aren't years and years old. I'm already feeling the downward tug of apathy setting in. The way I see it, we need some disposable heroes to stoke the engine," Kyle tilted his head slightly, "Yes? No? Phone a friend?"

______________________________________

Sam Helter had been dumped in the wilderness, not far from Manhattan's perimeter, but it was still a fair walk away, and several bus trips, to get to his destination. It was difficult for him to resist the temptation of bringing a hand to the bag that hung from him by a strap that was slung over his shoulder. He pressed his hand deeply and drew it along the grooves of the carbine concealed within. "This is real," he thought to himself, "I've been waiting all my life for this." His grin beamed, and he tremored with excitement.

The iron lettering of the sign crowning the hill ahead spelled out "The Manhattan Memorial Institute." His objective and destiny were so close now.

[TheDarkTemplar]

Previously...

---

Mood Music
Ace awoke to the sounds of medical equipment. She blinked slowly a few times as her eyes adjusted before finally sitting up. She winced from a sharp pain in her stomach. "Ow... Jesus.... What happened...?"

Jack on the other hand was well on his way to Cole's office. He burst through the door to Cole's office before finally stopping. He was breathing heavily and was drenched with sweat but he was smiling and had a look of relief, "Cole.... She's awake... My little girl is finally awake...." He replied before finally collapsing on his knees; he hadn't run like this for a while and he knew he wasn't as young as he used to be but he wanted to tell Cole personally of the great news.

Cole jumped out of his seat the second Jack said, "She's awake". "How's she feeling? Did she seem off in any way?", Cole asked as he headed for the door. He was confident the CIR could help her but it was Ace personally he was concerned about. They needed to figure out who did this to her and if she had any memories of what happened Cole hoped she'd be in the mood to share.

"She's fine. Just sore and a little tired." Jack replied as he got up and followed closely behind Cole. "I haven't told her about what happened yet.... So I think we should hold off on telling her about the prosthesis until after we figure out who did this..." He knew that if they had told Ace of the prosthesis; she wouldn't want to talk.

They soon arrived at Ace's room. Jack opened the door and replied, "hey sweetie, I came to see you... And I brought a guest with me... Can we come in?"

Ace directed her attention to the two figures at the door; she instant recognized Jack and smiled warmly. "Yeah sure.... Come on in..." Her voice was tired but warm and gentle. She gestured them to come in.

Cole slowly stepped into the room with a slight smile which in a second became that all too familiar stern look he wore. "Been a while Ace, it's good to see ya but I wish it wasn't under these circumstances", Cole was speaking but his mind was going at a mile a minute. Every possible reason as to why or how this happened was being played out in his head yet he couldn't figure out who could do this.

For a split second Ace's expression was that of shock but she quickly regained her composure and warm smile as she replied, "I agree. I had planned on staying hidden for much longer." Unlike her expression, that she wore so well, her voice was cool and crisp. To be perfectly honest, she was overjoyed to see her beloved friend but at the same time she was utterly embarrassed for Cole to have seen her in the condition she was in.

"Do you remember how you got here? What happened before you arrived?", while he didn't wish to get straight to business, Cole had to find whoever did this to her. Whoever they were, for them to go up against a meta like Ace was not good for their health. These people were either very lucky or very skilled. That meant that if these people weren't brought in soon there'd be another incident like this or worse.

Ace sighed," Jesus... You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you....it's kinda disappointing.... Though I gotta say... I didn really see you as a President of a large company such as the CIR.... But then again I guess I don't know you all that well to begin with..." She was avoiding the questions. She looked at Cole dead in the eyes before continuing. "Of course I know who it was that did this to me and I plan on giving them hell for it. Unfortunately I am not authorized to give you that information." she smirked. This was her way of pay back to mess with Cole.
Mood Music
Cole smirked as he rounded her bedside and over to the window. "Between you and me I'd rather be out in the field but I'm afraid if I do that my back will give out. Perks of being old", he said as he glanced back between Ace and the window. There was some confusion when he heard Ace say she was unauthorized to tell him but quickly picked up on the joke. "Really? That's too bad then, I was going to give you access to the armory...speaking of which...there's something you need to know", Cole looked over to Jack with a sullen look that he knew Jack would understand it's meaning.

Jack listened quietly until he noticed where the conversation was going, "don't you dare." Jack replied threateningly his eyes locked with Cole', his eyes were cold and showed killing intention.

"She deserves to know what happened, Jack. If anything it'll only strengthen her resolve to find the suspects if getting beaten half to death wasn't enough", tensions were high and the last thing he wanted was a brawl in the hospital room. With a sigh Cole turned to Ace before pausing to assess he situation, "Ace...you weren't just jumped. Whoever it was that attacked you put you on your death bed. We had to act fast...so we implanted a cybernetic replacement or your liver". Cole waited for Ace's reaction before telling her of the second half of the deal. This was not something you could rush and he was already doing just so.

" I-I see..." Her voice trembled as she hugged herself tightly. Ace hid her face as tears ran down her cheek. Her entire body was trembling. "I see..." She repeated. On the inside, Ace was desperately trying to hold herself back from taking the nearest sharp object and use it to carve out the thing that was currently keeping her alive.

"I'm sorry Ace but it was the only thing we could do to keep you alive, at least until we figure out a permenant solution", Cole didn't want to tell her the last part. How could he? To wake up and learn you've been saved only to serve as a soldier was not something the average person wanted to wake up to. Even though Ace was more than the average individual Cole knew it was still wrong for Ace to be forced to work for the CIR. "We had no choice", he kept telling himself, not that it made the feeling of guilt go away. Finally after noticeable silence Cole spoke again, "There is also one other thing...the CIR covered your operation on the condition you work for them for a certain amount of time. How long I don't know, I'm supposed to receive news on how long after you wake up".

"So you need me to work for you and clean up the mess you made... That's why you kept me alive?! Because I'm some kind of tool at your disposal?! I'm sorry to break it to you but I'm not a weapon!" Ace yelled, her voice was filled with a burning rage. She was loosing quickly control of herself and her gift. Suddenly the heater in her room caught fire; it quickly spread directly towards Cole and wraped around him, encasing him in a burning prison that one misstep could leave Cole with a nasty burn.

Things had gotten real bad real fast and in Cole's situation there wasn't much he could do without setting himself aflame in the process. "I did it to save you, Ace!", Cole yelled over the roaring blaze surrounding him "You would have died if we didn't, there was no other way!".

"Then you should've just let me die!" Ace yelled, making the room fall silent. The fire surrounding Cole died down to the point where he could now step over it wiith no problem. "Do you have any idea what it's like being a monster? To know that a part of you is slowly getting stronger and in the process is slowly killing you? Do you know how that feels, Cole?!" Ace was crying heavily, a part of her nobody else has seen before, not even Jack.
Mood Music
"You were with us when we fought the DMA. You saw what I had to do to keep us safe. If anyone is a monster here its me", Cole's mind wandered to the time he first gained his powers. He killed a man for the first time in his life and from then on he's only done so again and again.

Ace broke out into a fit of laughter, "you really have no idea what I've been doing for the past 15 year, do you? Ignorance must be blissful." she continued to laugh for a bit longer before continuing, " come here, Cole. I've got something that will make you realize how much of a 'monster' you really are." Ace gestured Cole to take a seat next to he as she pulled out an object wrapped with documents dating back as far as 15 years ago. All of the papers were detailed reports on all of the jobs Ace had taken on for the past 15 years; containing a brief description of the overall job and the statistics on the kills, injured, and missing people caused by her; the numbers were frightening to say the least.

"...you've been busy...I guess that makes us monsters together then", Cole glanced at the various reports before looking back to Ace. "Ace you know I did this for you. If there was any other way you know I would have taken it. For now at least you'll be back on your feet until we can find a way to fix the problem. In the meantime, you'll be working with a Sentinel team. You'll get your assignments some time soon but while you wait speak to Sergeant Walsh, he'll be your squadmate for the remainder of your time here. He's pretty casual, a little too casual, but all in all a pleasant person to work with. Cole looked away and sighed, this line of work had made him focused on business, a quality he could live without. "I'm sorry it had to be this way Ace. While you're working for us I'll have people look into this further. Like I said speak to Walsh, fill him in and he'll do what he can to help whenever the two of you are free". A low beep went off on Cole's phone which he quickly answered by turning on his phone. He stared at the screen for only a moment before getting up to head for the door, "I hate to leave like this but i have a meeting with some R&D scientist. I'll see you later, okay?"

"....yeah.... see yah...." Ace sighed as she hugged herself tightly, she was tired and has had enough for one day. For her, this was the first time she had felt truely broken in her entire life. The people who did this to her were going to have hell to pay; Ace was going to make sure of that. Ace glanced back at Cole one final time before finally replying to the questions Cole asked her prior. "The people that did this to me were the same people that have been killing off your Enforcers....They plan on picking us off one by one.... like flies... I was only the first one on their list.... once they figure out that I'm still alive... they'll be back to finish what they started..... and then they'll come after all of us.... Just like the DMA did 20 years ago except this time.... it won't be just Gifted; they'll be going after the humans, too. This wasn't just the work of the Scions..... it was also the Storm Hounds.... Cole, they don't just want us dead.... they want to start a war."

While this all went down; Jack listened quietly until he heard the part of who Ace's attackers were. Jack froze in fear. He glanced at Ace for a brief moment with a worried expression on his face before following Cole out the door. He then grabed Cole's shoulder before quietly replying, "Hey I'm sorry for not intervening back there but I feared that if I had done something; it would have only made the situation worse.....Look. I just wanted to say that... the reason why Ace can say these kinds of things to you is because she loves you very much and you're very dear to her..... Your like the brother she should've had... Now a' days... there aren't many people Ace can truly call her family..."

[Zeff]

Sam was now on the campus grounds. Previously he had been darting from wall to wall, hugging close to them to avoid notice, as he had seen in his movies and videogames. One problem: he was noticed. After being called a "Sperg" one too many times by the people who caught onto what he was doing, he made his way through the university like anyone else, through the crowds of people swarming to and fro. When a student got too near, he darted to the side. "So much heterochromia. So many muties. Disgusting." He thought to himself. That last word echoed in his mind with vehemence. "Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting."

He had at last pulled into a corridor that appeared empty. He slumped against a wall and huffed heavily.

He was jolted to alertness by a sudden voice. "What's got you in such a hurry? You look so stressed...!"

A girl had followed him. "An attractive one..." Sam mentally noted. He froze as she drew close to him. "Say, I haven't seen you around here before." She said pleasantly, a smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

As she brushed hair out of the way of one of her eyes, Sam's heart nearly sprang from his throat. "Heterochromia! A mutie!" He winced with intense revulsion and forced his eyes shut. Sam suddenly darted away from her and sprinted down the hall.

The girl paused for a moment, then shrugged. "How strange. I hope he'll be alright." she said to herself, then carried on with her day.

Sam had took a turn into a restroom. He didn't take the time to note which gender it was intended for. He looked in the mirror. His mid-length light brown hair was a mess. His face was tomato red and he was drenched with sweat. He followed the lines of the scars he had received from many a beating that cracked his face here and there. "I... I can do this." he reassured himself.

Sam swung the bag onto the sink, then reached for the zipper. He fetched from within several magazines, stuffing his pockets to burst with them. Finally, he retrieved the main attraction: the carbine. He pointed it at his reflection. "Fuck I look cool." he thought to himself. He shook his thoughts away, then headed back out.

As he left the restroom, he noticed across the hall the double doors of a lecture room. He approached slowly, then quickened his step. He tried to kick the door open, but didn't have enough strength to pull it off. He forced down his embarrassment and reached for the knob, then made his way in.

As expected, the eyes of the rows of students and the professor as well were already on the doorway, having heard the loud crash of his kick. He swallowed, then raised the carbine at his mostly baffled, hardly shocked audience.
Sam cleared his throat. "J-J-Jes... Jesus... s-sent... m... m--" Sam stammered. "Shit! I've been thinking of how this was supposed to go all morning! Damn it! Damn it!" He thought, followed by a rapid sputtering of curse words.

As frightened as the students were, some snorted, others chuckled. One called out, "T-t-today, junior!" This was followed by outright laughter and many more jeers.

"S-shut up!" Sam called out as he swung the barrel of the carbine around the hall, pointing its barrel here and there like an accusatory finger. This only worsened the situation for him. The urge to laugh had fully overcome the fear of death among all those in the hall. Sam's eye twitched.

"SHUT... UUUUP!" Sam yelled as his finger slammed back on the trigger. A first burst of fire cut down the professor. He then directed the burning lead onto others in the crowd. The massacre commenced.

[Ace of flames01]

Back in Manhattan, Jack was on his way to work at the lecture hall. Jack had to return to work soon after Ace had woken up; to his misfortune. He had recently adjusted back to the mundane life as a college professor and everyday had seemed just like the last: mundane. He expected that today would be just as it was yesterday and the day before that and even the day prior to that. However, he couldn't be any further from the truth.

Upon entering the Manhattan Memorial University, everything seemed normal; students and teachers alike were either chatting or on their way to the next lecture. That sense of normality quickly faded into oblivion; when Jack heard the sound of gunfire cut through the air. Chaos.

Students and teachers were running for their lives, desperately running for the nearest exit, breaking windows, cutting down doors, pushing and shoving, and leaving others to die; all hell had broken loose in what felt like an instant. The sounds of gunfire thundered down like a storm as the chaos ensued.

Jack fought his way to the epicenter of the chaos and found a young man who was stained with the blood of students and teachers and had a gun in his hand. The boy stood in front of the doorway to a classroom with a terrified, yet proud and excited, expression on his face; his body trembling with adrenaline.

The boy seemed to have not noticed Jack yet; so Jack took this chance to his advantage. "Stop!" He ordered.

The boy must've not heard him for he continued his rampage.

"I said 'Stop!', damn it!" Jack repeated, furious.

This time the boy froze in his tracks. He slowly looked up at Jack, his eyes wild with terror. He attempted to point the gun at Jack but Jack was quicker to respond, "Drop your gun now!" Jack ordered.

The boy reluctantly obeyed Jacks command. Confusion and an immense amount of fear flooded the boys mind. Little did he know that this was all thanks to Jack's gift. In the boys case; Jack's word was law. He couldn't help but obey.

"Now stand still! You are under arrest for murder." Jack ordered.

The boy desperately wanted to run but could not and stood still, helplessly as Jack tightly fastened a pair of handcuffs to his wrists.

Jack looked back into the room the boy was standing in front of and saw the corpse of a professor and 10 or more students. He sighed as he led the boy out to his car where he'd personally escort the boy to the nearest CIR station for questioning and his punishment.

"Ain't no rest for the wicked, I suppose." Jack thought to himself.
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Ace had just finished her sparring match with Aaron when she had noticed a familiar towhead whose face was buried in a notebook. It was Norville, and upon further inspection, Ace had noticed that his face was a touch on the rosy side. Of course, whether it was from embarrassment or heat; Ace couldn't tell the difference.

She approached him smiling, " Hey, kiddo! I didn't expect you to be here! I thought physical stimulus wasn't your thing?" She hugged him then discretely whispered, " hey are you doing okay? You're a little red in the face. You shouldn't come in here if the heat is bothering you this much."

She then released him and her warm smile returned before continuing the conversation prior, " This is Sarg. Aaron Walsh, he's going to be on our team." She gestured to Aaron before continuing, "Aaron, this is Norville. He's going to be our team's medic."

[ShaggyDoo0]

Norville smiled as he returned the hug. "Don't worry Miss Stahl, I have ways to beat the heat." He smiled wide as his skin started to lose the rosy color of being overheated. He forced the sweat on his skin to turn to ice, which created a thin sheet of ice over his exposed skin. After Ace introduced Aaron Walsh, he turned to him with a kind smile. "Sargent Walsh, it is a pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand to shake as he gave a quick glance to Ace. "Oh miss Stahl, I see you recovered well." He turned his gaze back to Aaron Walsh. "Try not to let miss Stahl win all the time, we don't need her getting too hot headed."