ravenDivinity — Roleplayer Guild

    14 March 2200.
    Held high above the protesters alongside raised fists, signs hung on the air like the silence of the tellers in the bank as they observed the newest spilling of tension onto the streets of New London.

    OUR HARD WORK IS FOR LORNE.

    END THE OPPRESSION!

    WE ARE PEOPLE, NOT SLAVES.

    Their shouts blended into a dissonant roar; the crowd had no distinct leader, only the push and shove of the enraged majority. The greed of the banks drew the mob's ire, another product of the anti-Lorne pressure cooker. Luther looked upon the protest with a distant gaze as he processed the highly polarized expression of opinion. With empathy he ruled the cause right and just. In a day and age when Lorne Corporation held most of Mars' economic power and dominated Earth but less so, the ubiquity of the Lorne brand was deeply abhorred. News of alleged disappearances and subsequent media cover-ups spread so quickly through the furthest reaches of social networks and online communications, and they bespoke LC's surreptitious touch. Although Luther found himself in staunch agreement with the protest's overall goals, he could not help an inkling of dissatisfaction with the ignorance of fact. A handful of political action funds, each with a mark of Lorne money, continuously dumped money into United Nations elections in order to sway control of governing bodies, and the insidious work of PAFs and the pervasive influence of Lorne Corporation did little to dissuade Luther from following the money trail to the beast itself. Nothing could shake Luther from that hard truth.

    Click. The snapshot of the protests across the street from Luther was saved to his holotablet, and he held it down at his side to then allow the Martian breeze to caress his face. He lived vicariously in that moment, but how he longed to toss himself into the chaos and emerge the champion of order. What held him back? Was it the pull of fate? Was it the hesitance of youth? Luther crossed his arms as he stood by...

    Ardelia had stepped off of the monorail and gone back outside when she came upon the protest. The pure, unfiltered emotion emanating from the crowd made Ardelia's world spin dizzingly before righting itself as Ardelia took a few breaths to steady herself. Colors surged and pushed against invisible barriers, threatening to spill out and fill the city with their intensity. Ardelia could only make out specific hues in the auras of the people closer to her. Further into the crowd, the auras became a great big blob of dingy grey-brown, like the color that you get when you mix too many colors together when painting with watercolors. 

    The protesters were agitated, waving signs and creating a wall of noise. Ardelia didn't know what to make of it; she certainly didn't want to overthrow the Lorne Corporation-after all, she was indirectly employed by them-but she did agree that it was very controlling. Ardelia had always just gone with the flow. She was a fashion designer, not a politician, and most of the regulations implemented by the Lorne Corporation had seemed fairly reasonable. 

    But what about the disappearances? A thought came, unbidden. They haven't exactly been very forthcoming about that. Ardelia didn't know very much about the recent disappearances, and she honestly hadn't given them much thought at first. Crime was a reality of life that everybody grew up with. 

    Ardelia glanced at the person standing a little to her left. He looked young, like a teenager. He had brown hair and a peachy complexion, and his aura was an intrigued pale gold and a troubled crimson. "Do you know what's going on?" Ardelia asked plainly.

    Luther noted the approach of a young-looking woman with tan skin, chocolate eyes, and a wavy ponytail of caramel brown hair. Black dominated her outfit, a tucked-in, Peter Pan-collared shirt with rolled sleeves and a flowery, pleated skirt. She wore ebony tights and heels underneath. Oha, unglaublich modisch! The student looked her up and down and recognized something more unusual about the woman, and it took Luther a moment to remember that she had asked him a question.

    "These folks are protesting the WFGS Bank. Something about worker's rights, government corruption, general UN hegemony, and Lorne's excessive control, I think," Luther answered her. WFGS stood for Wells Fargo-Goldman Sachs, formed from the merger between the banks Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs in 2093. Both were two of several banks in the late 2080s whose machinations screwed over a large number of Mars and Earth's people by encouraging loaning to people who were not guaranteed to pay back their mortgages and loans. The shortfall caused both banks to collapse and millions to lose their homes to foreclosures and declare bankruptcy. The UN Assembly bailed Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and the other banks out, and the merger enraged the struggling working class because WFGS soon built itself back into a banking giant in order to turn more profit off the lower classes' economic hardships. That anger extended into rage over corporate lobbying and Lorne Corporation's influence on Mars, and the tension in New London has only escalated in the years following 2093.

    Luther took a glance at the sky and down the street as if he expected law enforcement to come immediately within the next few moments. It was just a matter of time. "How do you suppose we get past this little obstacle?"

    Ardelia listened intently as the brown-haired boy told her that the crowd was protesting the WFGS Bank. Ah. So it's the banks they're mad at this time, she mused contemplatively to herself. Though people are always mad at big corporations. I can't say that I haven't felt my fair share of frustration with the Lorne Corporation, Ardelia thought. Granted, she was only ever frustrated with the Lorne Corporation when they picked something utterly ridiculous to be mass produced (Ardelia was convinced that the representative who had decided to try to popularize jean skirts again should be shot-some things are best left in the past), but it was the actual frustration that counted, right?

    Ardelia was too busy considering the implications of the protest that she almost didn't notice a small flicker of curious yellow-orange (that particular shade reminded her of a pineapple-orange smoothie, and it also reminded her that she hadn't eaten since lunch time) that began to dot his aura like sprinkles on a cake. Whoever is baking this cake is really liberal with those sprinkles, Ardelia thought wryly to herself as the specks of yellow-orange continued to pop up. It was slightly unusual for the average passerby to be that curious about a stranger. Perhaps he had noticed something out of place in Ardelia. Is there something on my teeth? she wondered, before shrugging it off. There were more important things to be worried about at the moment. 

    The pair watched the crowd for a few seconds before the boy spoke up again, asking if she had any ideas as to how to get past the "little obstacle". Ardelia laughed lightly. "A 'little' obstacle is a bit of an understatement," she replied dryly, giving him a small half-smile. "In all seriousness though, I have no idea. Maybe we could find a detour or something, but the street that the crowd is blocking is the fastest way to where I'm headed. That's a shame. I'm really craving a smoothie right now. Something citrusy would be nice," she continued, completely aware of the fact that the boy probably did not give a damn about her spontaneous cravings, yet adding in the useless tidbit anyway. "Do you have any suggestions?"

    Luther chuckled a little at her response. "If it's a smoothie you're after, I know a place around that corner. From there, we can take a detour around that rabble," he said, pointing with his hand at some innocuous area down the street. He was content with grabbing a smoothie right then. He had not the slightest idea of her identity, but the eclectic broad piqued his interest with her peculiar vibe which pervaded the air. Perhaps he was being overly optimistic about her being a truly unique person; his youthful mind was full of deceptions after all. And yet, he saw no reason to cease pursuit. If Luther found something odd about her, why not chase it on whim? He had time to spare and money to spend.

    Ardelia laughed brightly when the teenager suggested a smoothie place around the corner. She decided right then and there that anyone who was willing to grab a smoothie with some random stranger was someone that Ardelia wanted to get to know. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked, noting how the curious yellow-orange surged in his aura. "Let's get going! Although, are you sure that a young man like you won't be embarrassed by being seen in public with an old lady like me?" Ardelia said in a playful, teasing tone, turning around and beginning to walk in the direction of the area the young man had pointed out, her ponytail swishing from side to side as she walked. Ardelia wasn't sure what the brown-haired young man saw in her, but there was a keen intelligence in his eyes and expression that told Ardelia that it wasn't something as small as a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth. Whatever it was, Ardelia saw no harm in spending some time with him. After all, she did genuinely want a smoothie.

    Luther procured the bottled water from his bag and took a quick sip. He was getting thirsty. "Uh, yeah, as long as you keep it cool, old lady," Luther teased with fake pretense, running a hand through his brown-sugar hair for comedic effect. He laughed heartily, a cheeky grin on his face. "Here, let's get going. It's th-" He could barely form the next word. A loud alert tone interrupted the conversations and protests on the street. Luther set his water bottle down to wait for the announcement. New London fell so deafeningly quiet that one could hear even the distant echoes of the voice who broke the silence.

    "Ladies and Gentlemen," said Roland Quee hoarsely over the transmission. "I know my friends, that there have been speculation on what has been going on this past month since our very planet shook. Many of you have noticed the quarantine zones, felt the increased military presence. Heard of disappearances, though today I tell you the truth." Quee rubbed his eyes, but the gesture seemed so laced with deceit that Luther found it hard to take what Quee was saying as truthful. A series of images flashed on the screen. The people depicted in the footage performed amazing feats, on the scale of Luther's own... quirk. But the words which followed the videos underscored the purpose of the announcement. This was not just a message to placate the masses. This was a call to action, and it doomed Luther and anybody like him. The perfidy and the distortion oozed from every screen on Mars, and the sheep-like crowds ate the lie as a glutton would eat fudge. Luther could feel his blood as it began to boil, and his knuckles turned white.

    In the corner of his eye, the bottle of water froze so quickly that it expanded and exploded at his feet into a mess of ice and ripped plastic.

    And the truth hurts.

    The sound of Roland Quee's voice froze Ardelia in her tracks. She turned back around to watch the transmission, listening intently to what was being said. At first, the announcement had only piqued half of Ardelia's interest-she was more focused on getting that smoothie-but when he mentioned disappearances and "the truth", Ardelia's head snapped up abruptly as she directed all of her attention to the screen. Video clips of people with what could only be described as superhuman powers appeared, and Quee went on to say that they were the one responsible for the disappearances. For the first time that she could remember, Ardelia found herself questioning the validity of the government's announcement. What? This makes no sense, she thought, puzzled. I'm one of them, I guess, if seeing colors everywhere counts as a power, and I haven't done anything. Calling me dangerous is like calling a smoothie gross. Granted, an angry person in six-inch heels is pretty dangerous, but still... One thing was for sure, though; Ardelia now had a reason to keep her ability a complete secret. She certainly did not want to get tangled up in the entire mess. I suppose I'm fine. I don't do anything against the law.
    
    All through the announcement, Ardelia cast surreptitious glances at the young man, noting the violet suspicion working its way through his aura. As the announcement progressed, the violet was quickly replaced by anger-bright scarlet anger that seemed to burn when Ardelia looked at it. That took Ardelia by surprise, but what surprised her more was when his water bottle exploded.

    Ardelia took a step backward, her eyes widening slightly. She took a look at his aura again, and noticed a flicker of something that she hadn't seen before. Ardelia looked around wildly, hoping desperately that nobody had noticed the water bottle explode. She grabbed his arm. "Let's get out of here," she said in a low voice, not a hint of her earlier playfulness left in her voice. She pleaded for him to trust her with her eyes, giving the ruined water bottle a meaningful glance.
ravenDivinity Member

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