The pickup and transportation were a little bit rough, but that was about how Marcus expected it to go down. He hadn't quite expected the 'prisoner' treatment of transportation, but upon reflection, he figured it made sense. Not many people were very fond of the empowered, so it made sense that they'd be on their guard. Everyone else in the transport seemed to just be quietly riding it out; Marcus figured that some of them probably didn't have a choice in the matter. He, while quiet for most of the ride, punctuated the most dreary of silences with the occasional comment: "Hey! Can somebody tell me where the mini-fridge is back here?" "Any chance we can turn on the radio? It's dreadfully silent back here!" "Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we..." "Oooh! Can we stop and get ice cream!? I'd really love some ice cream right now!
None of these really caused anything but an angry glare his way, but he still sat back with a smile on his face. The humor helped him take his mind of the crippling fear of wherever the hell they were going right now, but the occasional deep breath helped too.
When the Precursors had shown up, Marcus of course craned his neck and pressed his face up against the transparent side of the truck, like an eager child looking at Christmas lights. "Awww, you guys put together a fireworks show for us? It's not as interesting as the radio, but I suppose it'll do!" he said to the truck, watching the battle outside.
It was the shout from the captain the shut Marcus up for the rest of the ride. Clearly these things were not for show and tell, and something out there was going wrong. The weird insect thing would certainly make an appearance in his nightmares, but that was norm nowadays. He sat silently in his seat, trying not to slide to the back of the vehicle, until they arrived at the complex.
New Arrivals
"Holy moly, does everyone around here have a stick shoved up their backside!?" had been one of Marcus's comments as they were being unloaded, before the Director showed up. Nobody in the facility seemed to have any concerns regarding the openly hostile treatment of the newest members, and Marcus was starting to get a little irritated. Not irritated enough to pick a fight with one of the guards, but irritated enough for his jokes to start accumulating the telltale inflection of contempt.
He stood in line, listening to the director's speech as she pointed out the various ways that she was gonna end their miserable existences. Oh man...threats to splatter us across the floor like paint, what way to make a group feel at home! He felt slightly validated when a couple of the other attendees spoke up. He smirked as the man with the mug spoke, grateful that he was at least somewhat aware of the current mood in the room.
"Um, yeah, Queen Stick, question over here!" Marcus said, looking to the Director. "Can I get my mandatory criminal ankle bracelet in chestnut? Anything else tends to clash with my eyes." He said this with a defiant smirk; he wasn't necessarily being openly defiant, but he had to have some sort of outlet for his irritation, and it felt like a small victory to him.
Of course, now that he'd said it, he gauged the director and the rest of the room for reactions. If something were about to happen and he were about to get punished for his smart mouth (it wouldn't be the first time), there wasn't much he could do to stop it, but he could at least try and brace for it.
You want me to PM you a two page essay on how Marcus thinks Lawrence is the greatest? Because I'm not gonna do that; it's far too early for your self-indulgent fanfiction!
Alright, Marcus's thoughts are in! Don't get mad and come to stuff him in whatever they use for lockers around here!
I'll probably update that as more people get put onto the CS. I know there are some that have been accepted, but my writer's block is starting to set in, so I need to go beat that to death with a broom.
EDITZ: God, I was trying to figure out what it was about Lawrence's opinion section on my post that was pissing me off so much. Turns out I put two spaces between his name and Marcus's description. You authority people aren't the only ones with that OCD curse!
EDIT: I suppose I should actually make some constructive decision. Just throw Marcus in anywhere, he'll probably do well with anybody people that are willing to tolerate his presence!
DOUBLE EDIT: Well, since everybody else is doing it, I'll put together a list of people Marcus would want to hand around with. Eventually.
Marcus is a very disheveled human being, but he doesn't necessarily mean to be; he always looks like he just woke up and someone told him that he immediately needed to get ready for some important event, regardless of how much time he's had to get ready. However, one gets the feeling that it's almost on purpose. His hair is a calculated type of messy, and his clothes are always purposefully plain; although a careful observer would notice that he never wears anything but long sleeve shirts.
His face bears some scarring; two slashes underneath his right eye and a small slash across his mouth. If one were to look underneath the long sleeves he always wears, one would find that his left arm bears some serious burn scars. Despite this, Marcus's eyes always twinkle mischievously, and he tries to maintain a smirk or smile. Around his neck, he wears a set of dog-tags, which he tends to fiddle with when he gets nervous.
ℙ 𝕖 𝕣 𝕤 𝕠 𝕟 𝕒 𝕝 𝕚 𝕥 𝕪 :
Marcus, despite everything that's happened in the last years, tries to play the funny guy. He's always got a quick quip or humorous joke to try and lighten the mood. Even if he can't make people burst out laughing, he reasons that a brief chuckle is better than a moment of sullen silence.
In moments where he's alone, he finds himself prey to the same sullen silences that he tries to avoid. Very often, he sits by quietly by himself, doing something to occupy the time. Most of the time, he's lost in his own train of though, eyes reading over pages in a book without comprehending them, or some other task.
If confronted in these quiet times of his, he's quick to snap out of it and return to his funny guy persona. Usually this will be accompanied by some sort of light scolding, but it usually takes a moment for his words to stop sounds hollow and get back to the innocent cheeriness of his usual guise.
Marcus and his powers were discovered by what could tentatively be described as a nurse. At the time, he was in a make-shift hospital near a recently destroyed town. He found himself bedridden for a while, having been brought in by a search and rescue volunteer team. This gave him plenty of time to mess around with his powers a little bit, and he did so carefully, after re-positioning his arm where his IV wasn't; it didn't take long for one of the more attentive nurses to notice something off. Three days before he was to be discharged, a couple of government 'recruiters' showed up and gave him an offer. Now, he finds himself a new member USARILN East.
𝕄 𝕒 𝕘 𝕚 𝕔 : Temporal Displacement
Marcus has the ability to affect his own personal timeline. When he uses any of his powers, it affects him and his personal belongings only. Travel is near instantaneous, and to outside viewers it would appear as a short-ranged teleportation. Marcus's set location for any of these powers is definite; if there is anything obstructing his end point, it will be immediately vaporized, allowing Marcus room. It should be noted that this vaporization effect only occurs on the bare minimum amount of matter required for his body, so it is possible for him to become trapped inside a solid object. Whenever Marcus does use one of these powers, a loud static sound will emanate from the location he will appear in. Currently, Marcus has three powers:
Temporal Rewind: Marcus has the ability to rewind his own personal timeline, but only by small amounts. He rewinds back to his position and state of being as he was exactly four seconds before activation. If he was damaged in some way in this four second interlude, some of damage received immediately heals itself, provided the wounds are not very extensive. In cases where he rewinds after sustaining too much damage, the wounds will only partially heal. This power takes half a minute to 'cool down'.
Temporal Leap: With this ability, Marcus can travel up to eight seconds forward in time, allowing him to close small distances very quickly. In order for this power to work, Marcus must physically be able to get to the location in eight seconds; otherwise he is moved as close as possible to the desired location. If he attempts to pass through solid objects, he will simply impact the object at full-running speed. If an object is somehow moved into his path in the middle of his power, the vaporization situation mentioned above will occur. This power is on a similar, but separate, half a minute cool down as the Rewind.
Marcus can activate these powers twice before a 'cooldown' is required. The abilities can be chained together for rapid movement, but he must wait for one 'jump' to completely finish before entering into another one. Both powers are still on separate cooldowns.
Temporal Stasis: After touching a creature, Marcus can completely stop all their movement and actions for exactly two minutes; he cannot end the effect early. They are immovable and indestructible during this time, and are completely unaware of their surroundings until the stasis ends. While this power is in effect, Marcus cannot use his Rewind or Leap powers. A target affected by the stasis appears to be visually artifacted, similarly to a corrupted video. It takes half a minute after the end of stasis for Marcus to be able to use this ability again, during which he can use all his other powers normally. Using Stasis 'resets' the number of Rewind/Dashes Marcus can take before 'cooldown'.
𝔻 𝕣 𝕖 𝕒 𝕞 :
Marcus found himself seated still, in inky darkness. Before he could comprehend what was happening, two bright lights shown out directly in front of him, startling him with a sudden noise. The world tumbled and turned into a maelstrom of sharp objects and loud noises. As he felt he could not bear it any more, he found himself sitting back in his original position, strangely relieved. Everything was calm, and he could relax. Around him, he found friendly faces, all of them his, and all of them reaching a hand out to help.
ℕ 𝕚 𝕘 𝕙 𝕥 𝕞 𝕒 𝕣 𝕖 :
Marcus found himself face to face with a man. This man stood still, but held a gun to Marcus's face. He did not fire, nor did he move as Marcus walked around him, examining him closely. Finally, after what seemed like ages, he took the gun from the man's hand, and the man did not resist. All Marcus could see was the fear in his eyes as he pointed the weapon at the man's head, and pulled the trigger. As he did, he saw the flesh of his arm wrinkle, sag, and rot away to reveal bleached bone underneath.
𝔸 𝕨 𝕒 𝕜 𝕖 𝕟 𝕚 𝕟 𝕘 :
Arbiter
𝔸 𝕣 𝕞 𝕒 𝕞 𝕖 𝕟 𝕥 𝕤 :
xxx
You have none, yet. You will get some as the story progresses. Keep track of them here. Some of them might be really important or something, I don't know.
"Listen to my words, very carefully: Mandatory. Once a week. I expect you to at least, at the bare minimum to text me once a week."
"Alright! Alright! Jesus! You don't need to shou-"
"A. Week. And I will personally come find you if you do not."
"I told you, the island had shitty reception; how was I supposed to get a message out? You want me to climb a palm tree or something?"
"You got a message to be once, you can do it again."
"You're acting crazy. Sammie, tell her she's acting crazy."
"Nuh-uh. I'm staying out of this one. This here is a family discussion."
"Thanks Sammie, you're super helpful."
It hadn't taken long for Marcus to seek out a quiet spot after they'd gotten off the helicopter. It had been a while since he'd updated Max, and he certainly didn't mean to worry her, even it the circumstances had meant he wasn't even able to contact her at all. Still, even though it was currently shouting at him, it was good to hear her voice. She only shouted at him because she cared, or something heartwarming like that. After a while, she calmed down, and they were able to have an actual discussion.
"So what have you two been doing anyway?"
"Well..."
"Oh! Oooh wait until you hear this one, Marc. You're going to love this."
"Shush you, I'm getting there."
He grinned to himself as he heard the sound of a raspberry being blown in the background, but listened intently. Usually his sister wasn't this cagey about something unless it was important...or embarrassing.
"We sort of...
"We?"
"It's somewhat your fault! You are my co-pilot, aren't you?"
"Only when it's good times, you're on your own when shit like this happens."
"Maaax, what did you do?"
"I...sort of..."
"She crashed the plane."
"You did what?"
"Hang on. Listen first."
"I'm listening."
"Some shitty DC monster caught the underside of the RedLine with a laser or something, and it took off our landing gear. I still managed to land it, but it was a little choppy."
"Pfft."
"Nice sis. You yell at me for not calling you, but you crash a plane and I don't hear a damn thing."
"I was going to tell you next time you called."
"Urgh. So what? You're just grounded for now?"
"Until they get it fixed, yeah. Plus there's some paperwork I need to fill, and a formal briefing we both have to go to, but after that we should be good to fly again."
"After I repaint the design you sheared off my plane!"
"So what have you been doing now?"
"Hanging out mostly; kicked some ass at cards the other night, and Sammie insisted we have a girl's night tonight, so we're watching some old movies."
"The Notebook is a classic! Besides, you chose Alien!"
"Isn't that a super old horror movie? Don't you hate horror, Sammie?"
"I mean...it should be fine. I'll just hide behind Max!"
There was a moment of silence as Marcus chuckled slightly to himself. They were sure in for an interesting night if Max was exposing Sammie to horror movies. Poor girl probably wouldn't sleep for a week. She'd have nightmares for weeks.
Maybe they would have something more in common than Max. He was only vaguely aware of a voice coming through the phone, snapping out of his thoughts in time to catch the tail end of it.
"-eam, Marc."
"Say that again, Max? You cut out a little." Marcus lied.
"Tell me a little bit about your team, Marc."
"I mean, it's not my team. I am on a team, and there are other people in the team-"
"Oh shut up about the semantics. When I need something to brag about, it's your team."
"Oh god, you don't actually do that, do you?"
"She does."
"Gaaaawwwwwd."
"Tell us already! Out with it!"
"Gaaaaaawd...fiiiiine..."
"Which one's that?"
"I don't actually think he's made the public eye yet. Tall and blond, looks like he really doesn't give a shit even in the worst of circumstances?"
"Not ringing any bells."
"Alright. Overall, he's a...decent enough guy? He's incredibly hard to read, but I think that's his schtick."
"What does that even mean?"
"I'm pretty sure it has to do with his power. Something about 'altering emotional states' and 'bringing them closer to his own'. Said he mostly just used it to calm people down when they needed it."
"So if he's calm...
"...you're calm. Exactly. It can get a bit unsettling though."
"How so?"
"Well...there was an...incident during one of our latest missions. He came by to see how I was doing after it, and I was almost sure he was going to scold me. And...I'm still not sure if he did or not? It seemed like he was just talking business the whole time, rather than actually getting angry or irritated. I don't know...I wish I had a different emotion to judge him by other than 'ambivalent'."
"Yeah, I guess I could see how that would be a little weird. Maybe he just needs someone to open up to?"
"I highly doubt that. You haven't met the guy/"
"Hey, you never know!"
"It seems like a really bad idea. I dunno. He's supposed to be giving me some advice now that we're back on campus, so maybe I'll talk to him then."
"Heh. Norn."
"I know? It's a really weird name, but it's super fun to say. Norn.."
"Noooooooooorrrrrrrrn"
"You guys? Hello? Focusing? You said she almost blew you up with a grenade?"
"Yeah, that was the first time we met. I don't think she really knew what she was doing when she-"
"Then she shouldn't be throwing live explosives around everywhere!"
"Hey, to be fair; she took out the targets she was aiming at. I think."
"Yeah, and she almost took you out too! Christ. Thank goodness you've got those-"
"Yeah. No kidding."
"Have you interacted with her since?"
"Once or twice. She seem like a nice enough girl. A little scatterbrained, and it seems like she gets easily overwhelmed. She's a healer, which is a very important person to have around."
"Oh boy, I bet. D.C's boys are tough, and I only fight the little ones."
"We. I'm here too, you know!"
"But she heals by doing damage to herself. Last time she had to do that, she took a lot at once. I was worried she was going to..."
"Eugh. That does sound rough. As long as she knows her boundaries."
"Yeah. That's what I'm worried about."
'"Oh god."
"What?"
"Emma is..."
"What?"
"She's..."
"What, Marcus?"
"...she's...Pandora."
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-"
"Jesus Christ."
"Oh my god, are you two actually dating? Is she as cute as she is on TV?" "Sammie." "Where does she get her hair done? Have you two been doing cute couple things?" "Sammie." "Have you two kissed? Oh my god, have you two-" "SAMMIE."
"What?"
"Calm down."
"Awww...."
"Thank you."
"Yes. Absolutely. I think she does it herself. Yes. And Yes."
"D'awww."
"Well, tell us a little bit more about her."
"Yeah! Give us the deets!
"Well, you saw her power; she summons those big dudes and they fight for her. The big one's called Determination, and he's pretty intimidating."
"Yeah, I saw that guy. Is he...real?"
"Honestly...I'm not sure how to answer that. Like, he talks now. And he seems to have feelings."
"That's a little weird"
"I know. It kinda freaked Emma out at first. And I honestly don't know if she's gotten used to it yet."
"Tell us more about her though!
"Gawd. Alright. She's cute, and funny, and she can deliver sass as well as she can take it, which is something very important when dealing with me. She's great to just...be around. Really good at being a friend first, you know what I mean? And I feel like us dating has only made all of that stuff better. I know that she'll always be there for me, no matter what happens."
"Careful; you're going to send Sam into another one of her 'high pitched noises' episodes.
"But..."
"But?"
"I worry about her. I said I can always rely on her being there for me...but I don't know if I can rely on her being there for herself. I don't know if it's her st- if it's just something she's going through, but the last few missions seem to have taken their toll on her. I think she's bottling it up too much. Plus, I'm pretty sure there's more things she's going through that she's not telling me...and I just wish she could know that I can be there for her. No matter what happens, she can always fall back and I'll be there to cushion her landing."
"I'm gonna cry, you guys. It's too sweet." "Sounds like you two are close...is she someone you'll finally talk to?" "...Marcus. You can't keep doing this to yourself."
"Gleep-near.
"What does that even stand for?"
"Long 'I' actually. 'Glaiyp-neer'. It's the chain that holds Fenrir until Ragnorak. End of the world and stuff."
"..."
"What? I know things. Plus, Mr. Hemsworth was a total stud back in the day."
"Anyway...I honestly don't know much about the dude. We haven't interacted like...at all outside of the few missions we've been in. He just seems to vanish as soon as we're finished. I don't know if our schedules just don't ever have us running into eachother, but...it's not like we've been in huge areas. You'd think I would have seen him once."
"Maybe he's hiding from you."
"Maybe he's hiding from everyone. Whisper style. Loner bad boy type!"
"He doesn't seem the type. He just seems...automatic. At least, from what I've seen."
"I'm going to kick his fucking ass."
"You're going to have to get in line, sis."
"What? He thinks he can just pick fights and then nearly kill you when things aren't going his way?"
"He says it's because he's a 'monster' and 'can't control himself'."
"Our cure for those is usually Fox 1 and Fox 2. Or Fox 3, 4, 5 and 6 if you're Max."
"Oh, I can definitely make sure he's fucking 'controlled', alright. Put a combat boot so far up his pasty white ass..."
"Oh trust me. It's not going to happen again. Unless Zhang is quick on the cuff switch, she's going to end up with one less frontliner on this team."
"If he's going to pull that kind of shit, he doesn't deserve to be on the team in the first place. She needed to plug him twice in the head when that first happened."
"Vampire? Does he sparkle?"
"You should know, you saw the footage. Extensively."
"WHAT!? N-no..."
"Yeah, he's kind of an odd duck. Also he's super gay."
"Hah! Told you!"
"Yeah, I think he's dating Christmas. That's 'Pixie' as you would know him. He seems like a nice enough guy normally. A bit on the passive side..."
"I sense a 'but' coming."
"He's another one of the wild ones. When he's in combat mode, he's basically no better than a feral animal. Hell, he bit Callan during a training session. Like, with teeth, left a mark and everything."
"Kinky."
"Yeah, and that was after he got his pants torn off."
"The hell kind of 'training' are you guys doing!?"
"It makes sense in context...I think. That's not the point. He's dangerous when he's fighting, and I'm worried about the collateral. But then...I see him around Xmas...I just don't know what to think about him."
"Sometimes it's not just black and white. People tend to be more complex than that."
"Yeah, I just wish I knew where he was on the spectrum."
"..."
"He's totally a top."
"Big black sword? Bright aquamarine hair that you can see from a mile away?"
"Oh! That one! The one Ifrit was carrying! She was-"
"Sammie. I want you to think very carefully about what you're going to say next. She's one of my best friends. She's my roommate. I have to live with her. I know you wouldn't say anything incredibly weird about one of my best friends."
"I...would never."
"I appreciate that."
"It must have been pretty cool fighting next to Kadabra!"
"I bet, it's definitely something I'll have to ask her about next time we talk, if she's feeling up to it."
"Have you not talked to her recently?"
"No...she's been holed up in her room for the last few weeks. Some bad shit happened in D.C and...I think she's taking it pretty hard."
"Well, you said she's your friend. You gotta be there for her if she needs it."
"Yeah. Definitely. She scares me though. Like, legitimately scares me."
"What? Why's she scare you if she's your fr-"
"Nono. Scared for her, not by her. She's our invincible supergirl; paragon of champions and better than the rest, and she knows it. But that's what I'm worried is going to get her hurt. I'm scared that someday she's going to come up against a challenge that she isn't going to be able to fight, and I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. Because if there's something that she can't deal with...what chance do I have of stopping it? And every time we go out on a mission, that possibility seems to get more and more real." "I can't...I can't lose her...I can't lose anybody else. Not again." "First of all, calm down. You're starting to freak yourself out too much. I can hear it in your voice."
"Yeah. No. Sorry. I'm good."
"You really ca-...worry about her, aren't you?"
"...yeah. I just...I don't want anything bad to happen."
"Well, she's your friend. You have to trust her. Even if that means the possibility of her getting hurt. You do trust her, right?"
"Of course! She knows...she knows what she's doing."
"Well there you go."
"...I guess you're right."
"...also I shoved macaroni under her door."
"You're an idiot."
"I don't think she's made the news yet."
"Yeah, I don't think there's been much on her. Not that we've seen at least. White hair, you said?"
"That's the one. Hot-headed and abrasive, but I think her mind is in the right place, at least."
"Nope. Haven't found anything like that."
"I'm not surprised. I already told you...it got a little rough down there."
"And I still don't know what you mean by tha-"
"Ask her if the carpet matches the drapes!"
"You want me to die, Sammie? I thought we were friends here. Besides, I probably owe her my life; don't want to make her think twice about saving me next time."
"...although..."
"What? Although what? Do you know?"
"No! Nono! Nothing like that...it's just...I think she peeked on me in the shower."
"EEEEEE-"
"That's a little creepy, don't you think?"
"I doubt she meant...anything by it."
"Did she wink? Say anything? Give you her number?"
"...no."
"She did. Oh my god Marcus, you have got to-"
"No! No! Nothing! We're friends! And nothing else! We shot guns together! Once! And there were other people! We're a team!"
"But she did-"
"Nothing else!"
"Zip Zip Boooooiiii!"
"God dammit."
"Somewhere out there is a mythology professor that is super excited about all these new names."
"Yeah, I had to look that one up myself. I guess it fits..."
"It's a little mean though!"
"Oh you haven't met her. It's not that far off. She knows what she's good at...and it's not pretty. Especially not when she's lashing out against our teammates instead of our allies."
"She did seem...angry."
"Oh you wouldn't believe it. She seemed nice at first, but I ended up on her bad side, and it is not a place you want to be."
"I'll trust you on that one. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Everything's fine. We...exchanged some words. She's a bitch, but she doesn't hide from that. Thinks she knows everything and thinks she can get away with bullying people into submission."
"Maybe just stay away from her then? Seems like the best course of action to me."
"That's the plan."
"She plays a mean game of pinball though. Kicked my ass."
"Everyone can kick your ass at pinball."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"H-help me. I can- I can't breathe..."
"As a newborn baby. And she didn't even care."
"Oh my god. I'm crying. Max, help."
"And it's weird, because she seems like a nice girl, modesty aside. She's incredibly literal-minded, and sheltered to the point that she didn't know what saltwater was, but she's really nice when you get to know her."
"And you...you got to- to know her pretty intimately, didn't you!"
"Listen. She asked me if the reason I wasn't frolicking around with her was because I thought she was ugly. What am I, as a decent human being, supposed to do in a situation like that?"
"'Frolicking'? Bro, your personal life is not any of my business."
"No, I didn't mean it like-"
"You cheating on Pandora aside-"
"I hate you."
"-what's her power, even?"
"Well...as far as I know...she makes a giant fist...
"Uh-huh?"
"...and punches stuff with it."
"...I see."
"Straight to the point! I like it!"
Slyph. No. Sylph. I think?"
"Yeah, Sylph."
"Siena. Her name is Siena. Way easier to remember."
"She's the one who saved all those people, right?"
"Yeah..."
"You don't sound so happy about that."
"Yeah...it's hard to explain. She wanted to keep going, despite the risks. And despite the toll it was taking on her. It was going to kill her...and she knew that."
"What, she just didn't care?"
"No. She didn't."
"What happened?"
"I...stopped her. I prevented her from using her powers any more. It didn't go over well."
"Oof."
"'Oof' is right. And it pretty much spiraled from there. She's my roommate, so I thought I knew what she was like. I always thought she was just quiet, a little bit sheltered, maybe a little naive...but that's all been turned on its head. Now it turns out that she's got a shitty homelife that she probably doesn't even consider shitty, she's stubborn as a mule, and she has no regard for her own well-being! And this all came out in the span of a week or so! How am I supposed to deal with that?"
"One day at a time, that's how. Are you two still friends?"
"I don't even know anymore. I think we've been avoiding each other."
"Do you want to be friends?"
"Yeah, of course. She's my roommate after all."
"Then you need to do more than avoid each other. Talk again."
"I've tried that. Last time we had a serious discussion, she told me that I was supposed to let her die if push came to shove."
"..."
"Yeah. You know I can't do that. And you know why I can't do that.
"Yeah. Yeah I do."
"So...I don't know. I can't keep that promise."
"If she's going to keep throwing herself into the fire, I'm going to keep pulling her out. Forcibly if I have to."
"At least one of us here has to care about her life. It might as well be me."
"Excalibur? Oh! That's...that's...I think her name is Allison?"
"You think?"
"We haven't talked. I literally have not interacted with her more than a single time since we've been here."
"Sounds like you need to make a new friend!"
"Pixie is a cute name for a girl!"
"She's a boy."
"Oh..."
"But I honestly don't think he would mind. Last time I saw him, I'm pretty sure he was wearing a woman's swimsuit."
"Oh...?"
"Who cares what the guy wants to wear? It's not like it's your wardrobe."
"I didn't mean...I don't mean it in a derogatory way; I'm just stating facts!"
"Mmm. Well what's he like?"
"He's very shy. Very soft-spoken. Like he doesn't want people to know he's there. Too kind for this team of ours."
"Not a fighting spirit?"
"Not at all. Plus, his power is healing blood. Poor kid's getting cut open all the time, and that's without him getting horrifically maimed in-field. I don't think I've ever talked to him when he wasn't bleeding from some portion of his body. But he's helped me out in the past, and our healers are always saving our lives. Maybe I'll snag him some Precursor band-aids or a fruit basket in thanks."
"Do you still have those dumb things?"
"It's funny, I think you can actually see me trying to sneak away in the back of that interview."
"Using someone as media bait is a pretty mean thing to do, Marc."
"Hey, it was his idea. Besides, I think he did just fine. Spouted a lot of bullshit - half that interview was completely him just messing with the reporters - but did fine nonetheless."
"Wait? That was all just fake? It sounded so cool though"
"Most of it yeah. Brent's a master in bullshitting, not an acting General in charge of monitoring mystery girls. You really think they'd let a teenage boy anywhere near 'Command'?"
"He's got you there."
"He's a decent enough guy though. Seems too high-strung though, and either has too much self-confidence or not enough."
"He's snotty?"
"He tries too hard to be perfect. The perfect friend. The perfect body. The perfect teammate. It all comes off as some sort of act. Every so often it slips a little, and there's someone else underneath. Honestly, I think it's going to get him hurt one of these days. He's going to realize that his plans aren't as perfect as he makes them, and he's going to get a rude awakening."
"I'll be there to pick him up of course, we are Team SAP after all."
"Team what?"
"Ernie is a guy that I know I can depend on. I feel like he knows how hard it is to find good friends, so he tries to reciprocate the feeling. Plus it's good to have a few guy friends, too."
"I don't think I've ever heard a guy complain about having too many female friends."
"Hey, you need someone to get into trouble with every now and again! Him and I have certainly had our fair share of trouble. Like those tabloids for instance."
"Oh! That's him? What's the story behind those pictures anyway?"
"Precursor practical jokes."
"You sure it wasn't forbidden love? Because I've read a few stories that say otherwise."
"You're a degenerate, you know that?"
"Thbbth."
"Did you just spit all over my phone?"
"But yeah, I feel like I can trust Ernie to be right behind me whenever trouble comes knocking. There are a few things we...disagree on, but he's had my back every other time besides that. Even when it would have almost gotten us melted into goo. Guess it's up to me to make sure I've always got his back, huh?"
"Aww, it really is true love."
"I'm gonna hit you."
"She's so young and she's already been through so much. I feel awful for her."
"Yeah, life can be rough like that."
"I feel so bad though. Like, I tried to talk to her about it once, and I think I caused her to have a panic attack or something."
"Yeah, DC's made it hard on all of us. Is she going to be okay?"
"I don't know. She's quiet. I doubt she'd ever tell anybody even if she wasn't. And after that, I don't want to check up on her and ask her either. Last thing she needs is for me to be reminding her of all that shit."
"She's gone? You asked her to leave?"
"Yep. Had her go grab me some M&M's. What's this about, Marcus? Are you okay?"
"God, Max. I don't...I don't know."
"She was the first. Even after all that time recovering in Saratoga, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing dead people."
"It's not something anybody should ever have to get used to."
"...and it's...it's all my fault. I'm the one who killed her."
"Marcus. Marcus, I need you to come back to me. There wasn't anything you could have done about it."
"But there was! I could have done anything else, and she would probably still be alive! I don't...I don't know what to do about this."
"You can't blame yourself-"
"But it was my fault, Max!"
"You couldn't have known. There is no way you can be perfect in every scenario."
"God...I killed her. She didn't even know what was happening."
"Marcus, I..."
"I'm sorry."
"Have you told anybody else about this?"
"N-no. They wouldn't understand. They'd think I did it on purpose. They'd think I wanted her to die. Not after-"
"Marcus. It's not the same. And besides, I was there for you."
"I'm not there now, Marcus. You need to tell somebody."
"No. No! I-I can't...not now. I just...I just need more time. I can explain if I just have more time to think about this."
"Oh, Marcus. I'm so sorry. I wish...I wish you didn't have to go through this."
"Less than 48 hours. That's how long it took for one of my teammates, one of my friends to die. I talked to her two days prior, and then she's suddenly gone."
"Are you okay?"
"No! I'm not okay! She's dead! Gone forever!"
"Marcus...I know how you must be feeling-"
"Fuck, Max...I was cracking jokes with her. We were talking about pulling pranks together. We were going to do so much stuff when we got back. But...but she never made it back..."
"How am I supposed to live knowing that could happen at any moment? How am I supposed to protect my friends if they could be killed the second they leave my sight?"
"Marcus, I-"
"I'm tired, Max. And I just want my friend back."
"...and they didn't make it back."
"Oh my god...is she...?"
"She's doing the best she can. I heard her trying not to cry last night."
"It's rough...losing friends..."
"Yeah...it is. It really is."
"Remember what I said, Marcus. Once a week at least. I'm your sister, I deserve to at least know that you're okay."
"Yeah! Don't make us buzz your dorms, because we definitely will!"
"Alright, alright. Jesus you two. I'll keep in touch."
"You'd better!"
"Tell your roommates we said 'hi'! And Pandora!"
"I'm not going to do that."
"You're a brat."
"Learned from the Queen!"
"Alright. Stay safe out there, Marcus."
"Will do. You guys do that same. Once you fix the plane of course!"
"Hey! That is not-"
Click.
Lawrence
He’s a hard read, but I think that’s his whole schtick. Like, he doesn’t want to open up to people for some reason. I honestly thought he would be more angry about what happened at Wisford and DC, but he was perfectly calm. But again, maybe that’s the schtick in action. I don’t know how to take the advice he gave me. Yeah; if I can’t handle the weapon, I shouldn’t put everybody in danger because of my actions…
But what about me? What about my safety?
Lily
Alright, second impressions: even worse. She’s a nice girl, I can tell that right of the bat without even talking to her. It seems like every time we get near each other, one of us almost gets killed because of the other. First she almost blew me up, and then I made her nearly bleed out. Is there a fruit basket I can send for ‘sorry I almost left you dead in the middle of the street’?
I didn’t see her much at the estate. I wonder how she’s handling DC.
Emma
We had quite the talk at the Estate. She thinks she’s worthless and not worth the trouble it takes to save her; that’s a hard rut to come out of, I know. She apparently doesn’t talk to many other people about this sort of thing if it made her so uncomfortable at the beach. Or maybe she was uncomfortable because of whatever it was she didn’t want to tell me; I assume I’m not being told the full story as usual, but it’s not best to pry. It’s hard to keep secrets of your own if you’re always snooping into other people’s. I’ll stick by her side. Not just because I’m her boyfriend, but because she needs someone to be able to talk to. Someone who legitimately cares about her. Someone there to bring her back up to stable ground.
Of course, I could just be projecting. That’s always a possibility.
Grant
We fought together the first day, we fought together at Flag Football, and we fought together in DC. You’d think after all of that I’d know more about the guy. I never seem to see him outside of the life-threatening missions, save for one time that he helped me unload logs from a truck. I guess my opinion of him has to be positive then.
He’s a valuable asset in battle: Quick-thinker, listens to orders when he needs to, and is able to come up with his own course of action when he doesn’t. Although…I’d like to evaluate him as more than a soldier someday.
Christopher
I don’t know what this guy’s deal is, and I’ve stopped caring. He scorched my leg down to the tendons on the beach, in a fight that he picked. I don’t care what little sob story he pulls about ‘being a monster inside’ and ‘not being able to control himself’. He’s an arbiter. I’d buy the buillshit if he was an abe, but I know for a fact that whatever choices he makes are based off his own rational thoughts, not whatever ‘stigma’ the others have to deal with.
If his intention was to come out to the beach to kill me, why stop? If it wasn’t…why start? Whatever the reasoning, Zhang had better be aware that I value my own life more than I value a hot-headed dragon, regardless of how good he is at fighting DC.
Sander
God, between him and Ernie, I’m having a real hard time learning to trust aberrations. Or, the male ones at least. I thought he was a maniac, and then I saw him around Christmas and thought he could be a good guy, and now I think he’s less of a maniac and more of an asshole.
His obsession with Christmas is a little over the top at best, and downright dangerous at worst. Back in DC, he ran off with one of our two healers without even saying a word, and then never came back. I don’t know if he went off to fight or what, but I was expecting him to come barreling through a crowd of people at any point. I don’t know if he’s legitimately trying to act feral, of if he’s just dumb enough to think it’s a good idea.
Callan
God, there was something about seeing her rolling around without an arm that still chills me to the bone when I think about it. Like some image from a dream that you can’t do anything to stop it. Seeing our invincible supergirl nearly biting the bullet really sobers you up.
I haven’t seen her since DC, but I imagine she’s probably not taking what happened there lightly. Even if she had nothing to do with it, how does it look when the Hero is hanging out with the villians?
I really wish she’d talk to me about it…
Kusari
She’s beaten me, saved me, and shot guns with me. I’m not sure where to categorize her on the ‘friendship bar’. She seems nice enough when we’re not on a mission, maybe a little abrasive and a little hot-headed, but friendly at least.
Then there’s the truck incident…we’ve really got to keep coming back to this one, huh? Not publicized, and the only part of her that was shown had the audio cut out. You and I know what happened, but the rest of the world is left in the dark. Hard to tell if the monster limbs are a reflection of her power, or her actions as a whole. But who am I to talk?
Padma
I never actually knew her that well. She was on our team that first day and...she didn't make it back. Reminds you of how cruel the world is now. A child doesn't matter here, indeed. I don't know that I would have saved her, either
Marcus
I don’t know what to say about myself anymore. I thought during the interview with that lady that I could be a shining beacon of hope, but I clearly have no problem being exactly what everyone's afraid subnaturals are. I killed a man. I’m a murderer, and that knowledge will never go away. Not that it hadn’t been there already. So why do I not feel guilty for it? He probably had a life; a caring wife, children that loved him. And I ruined all of it. Shouldn’t I feel awful about it? I’ve tried to…but it hasn’t worked. Has this place really broken me down to these levels?
Zoe
Zoe’s…tricky. Callan seems scared of her, and I think it’s because of whatever happened back in Wisford. Apparently she has the power to literally rot people to death, which is pretty horrifying. Plus, I’m almost positive she was deliberately trying to frighten me back at the arcade.
Still, I saw her once at the Estate, and that was during Siena’s night. I have to at least be appreciative of her being there, if nothing else. Guess if you can get past the rocky exterior, you’ve got a friend for life. Maybe I should give it a try…one of these days I’m prepared to get shouted at.
Siena
What can I say about Siena? How much do I even actually know? I heard her talking to her father, which seems like a pretty screwed up relationship there. I also apparently chucked the one thing she needed to not freak out during DC. So from her point of view, I’m an asshole who deserves everything I get.
But from mine, I was keeping a friend from killing herself. She thinks I don’t trust her not to hurt herself…and she’s right. She asked me to sacrifice her life if the time comes…and I absolutely refuse to do so. ‘Just one more subnatural’ is a lot easier to justify that ‘just one more friend’, and too many of the friends I used to have are gone.
If I have to break a friendship to save a friend, I’ll do it.
Angélique
God, I feel so terrible for her. How must it feel to constantly have the universe just kicking you right where it hurts the most. A girl, terrified of accidentally hurting innocent people, being forced to hurt innocent people to save herself and her team. It’s awful, and if there were any for me to stop that from happening…I wish I would have seen it.
I said too much during the car ride, and I’m afraid I’ve pushed her too far. But, even at the end of it, she still seemed like she was taking it better than I would have expected. Either I’m great at pep talks, or she’s better at hiding her feelings than I am at noticing them. In all honestly, either one’s possible.
I want to be friends with her, but I want her to be friends with herself first.
Allison
That’s the girl that was shopping with Siena and Angel and Brent, right? She was sympathetic when Siena punched me again. That’s…all I know about her, actually.
Savannah
I’m coming to terms with the things I’ve done. Give me a little longer. Some time to prepare before I face myself.
Christmas
Christmas seems like a nice enough kid. Way too skittish in my opinion, and certainly too willing to be beaten up by bullies if that whole Ernie situation is anything to go by. Still, it seems like he's got some amount of strength to him, at least.
Besides that, I’ve not seen him at a point where he wasn’t unconscious or rapidly nearing unconscious. Maybe once we get back to USARILN I’ll track him down, see how he’s been since the dog incident. Did I ever properly thank him for that…?
Brent
1/3 of our apparent boy band, Team SAP. I like the guy, I really do, but he always seems to cool for his own good. Like he knows exactly what to say or do to try and make himself seem perfect on the outside. He’s a good friend, and excellent shot, and an all-around great guy to hang out with. But if he were so perfect, he’d probably know better than to snoop around stories that are better left untold.
He knows about Savannah, and I’m grateful that he at least made that much painfully obvious. I’m not sure when the other shoe is going to drop…hell, I’m not sure if he’s even scheming anything; he’s a hard read, at least around me. At this point, I’m not sure if I should prepare myself for the worst or just keep going along and hope that whatever happens, he at least has the decency to make it quick.
Ernie
I wish circumstances were a little bit different, because Ernie actually seems like a pretty cool guy. We’re friends, and he’s the other member of our little ragtag ‘SAP’ group. He’s friendly, can take a joke, and has shown that he is willing to take down someone just to defend my honor.
Any other time, I’d trust him with my life. But our little talk made it clear that there’s a storm brewing between the two of us. Our thoughts on the matter are too different; something’s got to break between the two of us, eventually. When it does…I’m not the kind of person that would be willing to kill one of my friends.
That’s why I know Ernie would win.
Sophia
We talked. She’s quiet, but she seemed like she was always quiet. I wish I could apologize more for what I put her through, both in Wisford and DC. And it was me…all of the shit she had to sit through was all directly related to my attempts at being someone I can’t be: a leader.
It seems like I have a habit of saying too much. Or is it just a habit of saying the things that are better left unsaid? She’ll never tell me how she’s feeling…but I genuinely do wish her the best. Hopefully, her coping methods are better than the rest of ours.
Rain
She seems like a nice enough girl. Apparently she slipped her cuff though, and I don't think I've seen her since? I hope she's alright... Marcus stopped, watching the waves crash onto the beach, fidgeting with his dog-tags as he walked. It helped to at least voice these thoughts out loud, and he knew that there was always someone listening when he had these little discussions. "Put in a good word for me, will you? I've done some terrible things...I'd like to see you again when it comes. Although...hopefully it's a long way off..."
“What? You want my thoughts on the other kids you got corralled in here? You might not know this; but I haven’t exactly been here that long. I also don’t have a degree in psychology, so I can’t psychoanalyze them and…just the first thoughts? Alright, alright, but only because you asked so nicely.
Lawrence seems like a nice enough guy. Dude’s got a sharp tongue though, and he’ll destroy you in a battle of wits if you don’t know what you’re getting into. He knows what’s going on and what he wants out of this place though, but I imagine that comes from experience. Although…if I’m being completely honest, he kinda creeps me out with how calm he can be. I know he tries to stay neutral because he doesn’t want to risk affecting others, and I’d like to see what he was like before all this. Part of me worries that if he drops the façade, he’ll actually be super crazy and just slaughter everyone. That’s ridiculous though…right?
Lily...Excuse me? Full name? Jeeze, I didn't realize I was talking to Mrs. Zhang herself here. Fine. Lilliana is a great big ball of energy. I could certainly see her and I getting along perfectly well when she’s not in one of her moods. Bipolar disorder, right? Yeah, I figured as much. God, it’s kinda sad, isn’t it? I just want to pull all her troubles right out of her; let her be happy all the time! Power-wise, it’s interesting. I don’t know that I’d rather have her over a good old fashioned med kit though. At least with the med kit, you know the wound’s not coming back! I mean, I doubt she’d ever intentionally hurt someone, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to put myself on the receiving end of.
Emma's a blast! Thank whatever fucked up god is out there that somebody at this place at least knows how to smile! You might not have noticed, but I’m not dealing with the best of crowds here; fortunately, she seems like one of the few who’s actually willing to TRY and have a good time, rather than mope around and let everything go to hell. Those little things she makes though, the ‘Tulpas’, I don’t really care for them. Those things give me the heebie jeebies; reminds me a little bit too much of DC’s boys, and I’m not the biggest fan of those guys. Don’t tell her I said that though; don’t want her taking it to heart! I've seen her psych report. Perhaps we have more in common than I thought.
Grant...There's not a whole lot I can say about him. He’s quiet, but most of all, he’s lazy. Hell, he might be quiet just because he doesn’t want to expend the effort to talk! He seems content to just let life pass him by, you know what I mean? Just wandering through the days, stickin’ to a routine, and not really contributing anything for himself or anybody else. Makes you wonder how a guy could do that every day of his life and not get bored. If I’d met him before this whole business went down, I’d say he was a total buzzkill. Nowadays…I don’t know…he might be the smartest one of us here.
Christopher's an asshole. There’s no two-ways about that. Dude’s got a stick the size of a flag pole stuck up his backside, but I’m not gonna be the one to point it out to him. I don’t know what kind of history the dude has, but I’m not too interested in talking long enough to find it out. You’d think he’d have a better time given the fact that he can turn into a DRAGON and all; if I was given that sort of ability, I would abuse the hell out of it! But, I don’t have that, so all I can do is sit here and talk about how he needs to loosen up a little. Frankly, the only reason you’d put us in a room together would be to test how long it takes him to punch me square in the face. D-don’t…don’t do that. I like my face unpunched, thank you.
Sander is a man with a plan. He plays along fairly well, and I certainly couldn’t tell you what his plan is, but nobody is that spick and span without having some sort of ulterior motive. If I were a snitch, I’d tell you to keep an eye on him, but I’m not. He’s the kind of guy I’d like to stick close to, were it not for his power. You want my honest opinion? Dude’s a liability; he needs to drink blood to ‘activate’ himself, and then he goes into a frenzy the more blood he gets? You’re gonna have the gall to be surprised when shit goes south, aren’t you? That being said, I’m just interested to see how high he soars…or how much collateral he takes when he crashes.
Callan seems nice enough. She almost seems like Grant, if he were just a touch more willing to extend himself. She’s honestly the closest thing we have to a super hero around here; and you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw her in action. Once you get her going, she’ll play the super hero to a ‘T’; it’s actually kind of funny to see how drastic the change is. The rose tinted view of DC bothers me a little bit, but it seems like it bothers her too. Which, I can understand; it gets hard to stand up for what you believe in and see the good side when it keeps fucking everything up all the time. Wait…no…that was rude of me; don’t write that down. It’s certainly not a topic I’d bring up if she was here, but I’ve got my own opinions on the matter. Aside from that, she almost seems like a normal lazy teenager. A lazy teenager that could throw a truck across the parking lot. Ain’t it weird what passes for normal nowadays?
Kusari has been interesting to try and figure out. First time I saw her I thought it was DC himself; my lungs nearly came out of my mouth at that sight! She’s small, but don’t let that fool you; girl’s got a bite! And damn, does she bite HARD! The things that come out of her mouth…she doesn’t try and hide her opinion of you, that’s for sure. Honestly, I could see her and I being two sides of the same coin. Like, take me; I’ve got humor, quick wit, a great personality, stunning good looks, and…well you get the idea. If you were to take me, strip away the jovial nature I have, and make my jokes a bit meaner, I have a feeling you’d get a similar personality. She’s not really worried about anybody but herself, and she’s not afraid to make that known. You’d think her power would be suitable, but she’s got the chance to be the most self-sacrificing person here. It’ll be interesting to see what she does.
Padma scares me. Like, not fear scare, but I’m definitely intimidated by her. Have you seen the chick? I’m willing to bet serious money that she could break me in half and not even call it a warmup! Definitely not the kind of person I would normally hang out with; hell, I spent my free time yesterday trying to figure out how many buffet cheesecakes I could eat. It’s not a lot, if you were wondering. Her ability’s a sneaky one; she can hide in the shadows and move around without you seeing her! There’s a lot of opportunity for that, but she can probably do more good with it than I can. But yeah, I am in no way prepared enough as a human being to keep up with her. I applaud her for her regime and determination, but I applaud her from my nice comfy chair.
Zoe seems like she could also use some lightening up. She’s got a temper, but as long as you can avoid setting her off, she’s a pretty okay person! She’s upfront, which is something I can certainly appreciate; if she doesn’t like you, then you had better believe that you are gonna know about it. Although, I get a ‘big sister’ vibe from her; if you get past the rocky exterior, I feel like she’d be a friend for life. She seems like she’s trying to do all the right things, but I just think she’s going about it from the complete wrong direction. I’m afraid to see her when she’s angry though! God help whoever has to deal with the brunt of her wrath!
Hazel's a robot, right? You put a fully automated robot in with a bunch of students to see if we could figure it out? It’s impressive technology, I’ll give you that! It’s super lifelike, but it doesn’t act like a real…pardon? She’s not a robot? What the hell did you do to her then!? She did it voluntarily? That’s…god. Yeah, yeah…give me a second. That’s a raw deal. Was she like that before all of this went down, or is it a present from our good friend in the sky? Hmm. I don’t know how much you want me to say about her then. She’s gone; there’s no person in there. Her power? Yeah, sure, I mean, she can punch shit really well. Like I said…there’s not a whole lot to say, there.
Siena seems like your basic nerdy rich girl. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great to hang around with, seems like a real bubbly person when you get to know her. Although, I don’t know if I’ve gotten to know her either; every time you talk to her, little things change. Like she doesn’t even know her own story, no pun intended. She’s a huge bookworm too, which is something I can certainly get behind. Actually, I guess that makes sense: the girl with the power to take from books would be the one who reads the most books. Yeah, I only just now pieced it together, shaddup. She’s nice, like I said. A bit too uptight, and a bit too anxious, but maybe a public school will be good for her.
Angélique seems like your average, angst fueled, rock and roll teen. I feel like she’d be a nice person to hang out with, if only she could get out of her own head. Before all this, I bet she would have been great to be friends with. Yeah, I’ve heard about the incident. That’s something hard to live with, hurting that many people. That’s the kind of thing that’ll stick with you, something that’ll rot you from the inside out. I feel for her; that’s a burden that must be tough to bear. I imagine that’s why she always irritated; probably tearing herself up all the time. She’s been through a lot, and someone just needs to tell her it’ll be fine, that everything will turn out okay. I bet if I asked her about her music, that’d cheer her up for a little bit at least.
Allison and I are two different sides of the same coin, I think. She’s nice, but she’s certainly not willing to make a few enemies if it’s necessary. She certainly enjoys teasing people and messin’ with ‘em, which I have no problem with, but some people don’t take it quite as well. Of course, I’ve heard some nasty rumors about her, but I try not to pay much attention to those. Unless I should actually worry about that…she…she can’t ‘Last Crusade’ a guy, can she? No? Energy blade!? That’s pretty awesome! She could be like a samurai or something! Sorry, yeah…like I said, she seems nice enough; I could see us getting along.
Savannah is one of the few people here that actually scares me. I heard she’s like, ALWAYS angry. Not just frustrated or a little pissed, like, tear your face from you skull if you blink incorrectly. But god, look at her! She looks harmless! ‘Oh, gimme back me lucky charms, you blokes, or I swear on me mum I’ll throw me blarney stone at ye!’ God…was that mean of me? I feel like that was mean of me. What, you don’t think she’d appreciate that kind of joke? I mean, she can’t blow me up if I just don’t rewind, right? Easy solution! Nah, you’re right; probably best that I just don’t say anything around her.
Christmas …Listen, I don’t hate the kid, but he’s irritatingly passive. I want to go all older sibling and protect him, but it seems like a wasted effort, honestly. He’s a doormat; people are going to step all over him, and he’s not gonna do anything about it except shake and cry. Maybe that’s why I don’t like him; I hate seeing people being afraid of things that have solutions. If there’s something I could do, I’d love to help, but there’d always be something else! Hell, even his magic is like that; he can heal other people only if they’re willing to hurt him? That’s a recipe for some screwed up interactions, there! Like I said, I’d love to help him somehow, but the kid’s gonna give himself an ulcer or something before long.
Aaron is a great guy to hang around! He’s super relaxed, and seems to be one of the people actually dealing with this place in a decent way. Hell, he seems like he never even skipped a step between normal life and here. A genuinely friendly guy; the kind that I’m willing to bet would always be there when you need him. He’s a total gamer too! I never used to have many games when I was young, but I always wanted to get into that kind of thing! I like his power; little clockwork dudes? Good to see someone’s power fits in with what they’re lifestyle was like before everything. But hey; he and I could have some sort of a theme going if you put us together!
Alexis? Freakin' barf-o-rama there. She's one of those goody-two-shoes people that tries to see the good in everybody, no matter what. I'm all for it, but she's definitely going to get her and and anybody around her killed by trying to talk down this week's latest threat. She's fine, but I'm not a huge fan of being collateral, you see.
Brent seems like my kind of friend. A jokester, never takes much to heart, always has a funny quip. I dunno, something about him rubs me the wrong way though. He seems like he lays it on a little bit thick; like the jokester personality isn’t his actual personality. Like he’s afraid of breaking character or something. God, I am SUCH a hypocrite; let me start that again. Seems a lot like me, but he also feels like he needs to be more sure of himself. I heard he survived a Perfume attack though, so I’ve got to give him some respect for that. His power’s certainly interesting enough; seems like there’s a lot of things he could do with it if you gave him the materials. Let’s call him a wild card, shall we?
Ernie appears to be a nice enough guy. Real clingy though, and super OCD or something. I don’t know that I’d be able to hang around the dude for very long before I politely excused myself from his company. But I’ve heard some things about him, which is mostly the reason I try to avoid him. I was never a fan of bullies back in my hometown, had a few incidents with them myself, but I was lucky enough to have someone standing up for me. Heh, would you believe I was not always the charming gentleman before you? Well, let’s just say that I wasn’t always able to laugh everything off and quip back; and Ernie’s ‘fame’ reminds me of just how much I hated those days. I know he comes from a troubled past, but he let his past define him, and not in a good way.
Sophia is super quiet. Like, SUPER quiet. I haven’t exactly been able to chat to her very much. Are we just recruiting child soldiers now? Between her and Savannah, that’s two children your just letting run around risking their lives. Yeah, I know, I’m only four years older, but four years makes a helluva difference! All the little things she does certainly makes her seem like she cares though. From what I’ve heard, she can get pretty sassy too, which is enough material for me to work with. All in all, kind beyond her years; much more willing to care for people than a thirteen year old girl should have to be.
“Is that all? No more questions? Did I win any prizes? Damn, I thought I gave some really moving answers too. Well, feel free to come around and chat some more, you know how much I love listening to myself talk for minutes on end. I don’t suppose I get to know what sort of database all those responses are going in, huh? Nah, didn’t figure as much. Just do me a favor; warn me before this becomes public knowledge. I’ll need some time to barricade the door.
