Spoopy Scary

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

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Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

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"Ahhhh, don't sweat it," Francis said, merely shrugging. "I don't mind the little things - I ain't like the others... just be careful with them."

"I appreciate that." Andrea replied as she softly smiled.

"And don't worry about the chairmen," Francis reassured her, before his smile turned upside down, and he looked off to the side. Andrea saw this and nodded in understanding. 'They just have a lot to deal with.' She thought to herself. Francis shrugged and finished what he said, "they... just have a lot to deal with. Trust me."

Andrea was grateful for Francis' understanding. He seemed to be more down to earth and reasonable than some of the agents working with DOVE or RAVEN; not to suggest that most of them weren't reasonable, but took to such a degree of professionalism - which she could respect - and bureaucracy, that she felt could blind them to alternatives or possibilities. Her head was not so far up into the clouds as some of her colleagues might believe. 'I just know things they don't. I can't hold that against them.'

Then it hit him; she was that intern all his coworkers complained about! Normally, he stayed out of the affairs of DOVE, but he has a few DOVEs on his team. They didn't like that Andrea person whom went after Happiness instead of just dealing with what her bosses tell her. Those kinds of hotshots aren't that well liked, especially in an organization they work for.

"Oh!" Francis exclaimed. Andrea raised an eyebrow. So something about her struck a chord in him. Scratching the back of his head, the man continued, "In fact, I have heard of ya', some of my coworkers think you're a huge pain in the ass... hehe..."

"Oh..." Andrea muttered. "Is that right?"

She knew that her fixation on Happiness was cause for some frustration in her supervisor, they might've been out of earshot when she was at home, but those feelings stick with a person. She always figured that her vendetta was a topic of conversation, but hearing it actually being said was an entirely different matter. She felt Francis' words pierce her chest and her eyes fell to her feet.

"You're up in arms about that drug... right?"

"Yeah." Andrea confirmed. While she felt rather somber in this, ah, moment of sobriety, she also felt her share of frustration. How could she not? She was thrown under the bus by her superiors - not much of a practice in good faith. Still, she understood why they might feel that way. It didn't change that they were wrong in ignoring the problem. Francis seemed different. The man stood differently, he was thinking in an odd pattern - and he was going somewhere with this. She didn't want to pry too hard; she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him explain himself before brandishing the key. She was thereby left wondering if he had taken her side - but a persuasive nudge in the right direction would help her make sure.

"Are you with them?" Andrea asked, her ordinarily soft voice carrying a little more bite this time. "Because if so, I'm sorry, but I've already filled today's quota for dissenting opinions."

She made sure to stress the last two words spoken in her effort to be as diplomatic as possible in her "rejection" of Francis' input. Though goading, there was still genuine frustration dogging her over this issue. She really wasn't looking for criticism anymore, but she wasn't looking for yes-men either. She just wanted the case resolved. She felt personally invested in this, and she knows for a fact that nobody in the organization had looked into the Happiness drug as much as she has. She had more to go on than any of the rest - she just wanted someone to help her uncover the truth. If what she sensed from Francis was true, he may yet help her.

She sighed to relieve some of the tension that she had built up, and was beginning to pick at her nails a little more intensely.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

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Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

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"Oh, yeah? Better fix that!" Francis enthusiastically said as he put his hand out. "I'm Francis, a transfer from Brazil. You're a DOVE, right? I don't do too much business with the DOVEs, so that explains why we haven't met yet, yeah?"

Francis talked fast, and with a thick accent, which made it surprisingly difficult for the girl to keep up. As soon as she felt her ears lagging behind, she focused on him a little more - and his words and thoughts were coming to her easier. He seemed to slightly remember her and she didn't detect any sense of animosity or annoyance, so he clearly wasn't too bent out of shape about what happened earlier today. Still, it didn't keep Andrea from appearing just a little taken back by whole slew of words dumping from Francis' mouth. She followed it with an amused smile, and reached for the gentleman's hand.

"My name is Andrea." She replied. The girl had her own accent as well - Polish, if one were familiar with it, but was otherwise difficult to pin down to anything more precise than northern European.

"And no," Andrea explained, "not exactly. I'm just an intern for DOVE. I actually wrote an outline for today's schedule, as per my supervisor's request; including the speech, but..." Andrea huffed a little. "I guess they weren't exactly... interested in it?"

She rubbed her shoulder slightly and made an awkward shrug. Looking down, she found herself clicking her pretty red nails together, nearly picking at them. She had a purpose in talking to him other than chit chat, and she ought to get it out of the way. She bit her lip a little bit. She continued, "I wanted to formally apologize for startling you earlier today and making you drop your paperwork. I shouldn't have been in such a rush and I should have been more considerate."

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

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Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

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That wasn't much of a speech. Definitely not the one she had written.

Andrea had stood off to the side of the rest of the DOVE faculty along with the rest of the minor players. Office workers, interns, and everyone else that played some part, however small, in making this whole event happen. She wore the same outfit, being sure to maintain a professional representation of their organization, only that she wore a black wool peacoat over it to keep warm in the cool weather as the sun gets closer to the horizon. With her, she had a professional looking messenger bag hanging from her shoulder carrying some "much needed" resources, some work-related, some she wished that was. She also stood rather uncomfortably close to her supervisor, who was quite keen on prying the truth behind Andrea's particularly extended absence in delivering the rally papers to their meeting. Not fond of lying, she told the truth - part of it. Helped a man pick up the papers he had dropped - but Andrea wasn't really interested in this show. She suspected, given the skeletons hiding in Baybridge's closet and the director's lackluster speech, neither did he. There were monsters on the prowl and this was just one remedy of many to ease the tension of one disaster before the next one storms in... and there wasn't anything wrong with that. People deserve breaks.

The organization was uneasy though. She could feel it coming off of most of the high-ranking members, like waves of heat emanating from a bed of embers. Security was provided, courtesy of RAVEN, and they were on the lookout for any especially suspicious behavior. Perhaps, unconsciously, Andrea was too. She might even be able to detect them before they do. This was an odd feeling, as though she were a part of this grand conspiracy without any of the actual participants knowing she's a player, too; but this also wasn't a battle Andrea wanted to fight. It wasn't a battle she was suited to fight. She figured if she really wanted to help, she can do what she's been doing, even if the people around her think it's nothing that DOVE should worry about. Andrea believed that the threat of Happiness was very real, even as mundane as it seemed.

Frankly, super-terrorists were more exciting.

Andrea scanned the crowd as they dispersed, quite content to remain where she was and of excitement's way. It appeared as the she was looking through the people as she stared. The number of people who had attended this rally... 1,479. Given the approximate five hundred grand population of Baybridge... carry... nearly 30% of 1%, or nearly a third of a percent of Baybridge's population came to this rally. Not a tremendous number. Even considering the people who had to work today, were busy with something else, or didn't support the organizations enough to warrant coming, or maybe they'll come later for the food and entertainment, and avoiding the crowds and the bureaucrats patting themselves on the backs. Then... ah... oh. Oh no. The guy she ran into earlier today was here. Was he high ranking? Maybe he wasn't and just... then he wouldn't be on the management level... but Andrea was also there - Andrea's glowing blue eyes fixed on him and refocused with an intensity as she dug deeper... deeper... memories of Brazil flickered behind her eyes - no, too deep, more recent. Reassignment... dropping papers... the meeting. He was there at the meeting, so apparently he was a big shot, which was enough to put her on edge, but one word kept echoing through her head. Devil, devil, devil...

It didn't mean anything to her. How could it? It could've been one of any word said at the meeting they had, but it carried enough weight behind it that left a lasting imprint on his psyche. Andrea wanted no part of it. The man earned his privacy, and quite frankly, she wasn't interested in learning any more of the dark secrets RAVEN was keeping. Odd, though. He didn't look Brazilian. More Haitian.

Still, part of her wanted to apologize to the man properly, especially just in case he really did have the power in his hands to fire her. That being said, she also kind of wanted to fade away with the rest of the crowd, but she learned long ago that you can't fix problems by hiding them. She focused on the path in front of her, and muttered a small phrase under her breath.

"Find a path."

Through her eyes, a number of featureless, ghostly apparitions formed a line - almost like a chain weaving through the crowd, suddenly falling into place, leading Andrea directly to him through a path that would leave her uninhibited. Most people might not be able to find a specific person in a crowd of people, so perhaps he had not seen her coming, but Andrea cut her way through the crowd without having to squeeze by or a single person, almost as though the crowd moved around her. It was one of many subtle advantages of such multifaceted telepathy, knowing almost intuitively where multiple people will end up going and through where.

"Um, hello?" She softly said, tapping the back of his shoulder. "I don't think we properly met."

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

Big thanks to our own Altered Tundra for setting the bar low, and making the rest of us look good. Especially me.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

We'd write them as if it read like a book. You sort of just combine both of your writing.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

In the past we've usually used Titan/Pirate/Etherpad. I'm not sure if Allen has deviated to any other medium or not.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

Samantha Bayard

[35 | Samantha Bayard | Female]

Description:
Ms. Bayard's job is the smooth operation of the administrative offices of DOVE headquarters. Her role as their supervisor has her busy at pretty much all times of the day, going so far as to even take calls while she's at home. She's a tall woman with brunette hair that is frequently done in a tightly pulled bun, and an entire wardrobe full of formal dress wear. Most people wonder if it would kill her to live it up some, but no, this gal is strictly business. She's passionate about DOVE's work and what she does, and the only thing that could stand between her and DOVE's vision realized is the sweet embrace of death. Though as effective as she may be, she plays the game safe and doesn't like taking unnecessary risks. She plays by the book, follows the rules, and doesn't tolerate too much deviation from the plan she has set for offices. This puts her at odds with some of the more, uh, "willful" folk, but she's a swift deliverer of discipline when the time calls for it. Despite what some may say about her, no one can deny that there's never been a more efficient administrative supervisor in the building. One of her quirks is that there's a particular saying she abuses nearly all the time, and it could be any variation of the phrase "running [this place] like a well-oiled machine".

Power:
Powerless
But many people assume that she simply doesn't require sleep. Only the sweat and blood of her minions.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

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Ambiance

RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast|

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The persistent clicking and clacking of the DOVE offices was the normal atmosphere, phones ringing - the job never ended, and especially this morning, with the upcoming rally today, it was seeming there was ever more work to be done. Extra copies to print out, extra documents to be written, more phone calls, more rushing, more boxes being moved, and more bigshots walking through to make sure that everyone was doing their part. Some of the big names would cut right through the floor without looking at grunt laborers to head straight to whatever meeting they were supposed to attend. The atmosphere, while certainly somewhat chaotic, also carried with it an air of excitement and foreboding, but not like a calm before the storm. It felt more like this was everyone's big chance. A chance to make DOVE and RAVEN look good, or for particular someones to make their next big break. Perhaps some wished to stand out to their superiors and finally snag that big promotion they've been aching for. Whatever it was, everyone was working at 110% to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

A blonde, tousled-haired young woman was off in one corner, without her own desk to sit behind, waiting anxiously to receive printed copies of one of the many different possible excerpts and notes that one of hotshots required for a speech. One of her arms were full of orange filing folders, and she pushed back a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She wore very simply garments, such as a pretty white blouse which had sleeves down to her wrists, and the tail was tucked behind the black lace pencil skirt at her waist which had black leggings beneath so that her legs didn't catch the cold breezes whenever someone walked past. As the printer finally spat out the last of the copies she needed she crouched down and rushed to organize them into the appropriate files. As though hearing a whisper in her head, she immediately sprung up and turned around to find a tall, suited older woman with brunette hair tied back into a bun making a very quick, albeit dignified, beeline towards her. She greeted this woman with a nervous smile and luminous blue eyes that shone gently like night lights, quite literally, but she was met back with just a shake of her supervisor's head.

"I'll never understand how you do that." The older woman said flatly.

"How I do what, Ms. Bayard?" The blonde one replied.

"Know whenever I'm coming? It's like you always see me before I see you."

"Is it a problem?" She asked anxiously. "Because I can--"

"Never mind it." Bayard said. "Are you done printing out those scripts?"

"Yes, miss."

"Good. Make sure they get to Maximilian Cornell and Deborah Javuant right away and then--"

"I-I'm sorry?" Andrea stammered. "You mean, Max and..."

"Yes, I do. Then when you're done, you can finish your analysis on the Ramos v. State of Washington case. After which, you can report to me."

"Uh, right, um. Are you sure it's alright for, I don't know, someone like me to walk in there?"

Bayard, who had just started walking away, sighed and, with a roll of her eyes, turned back around to face the younger blonde. "Look, Andrea. You're an intern. The only person you have to worry about is me. Deborah is my boss, I'm yours. If they don't get into that meeting on time, I'm the one who's going to pay for it and there's no one else in this damn city who's going to make these offices run like a well-oiled machine."

Andrea just nodded her head, and hesitated in asking one more question. "...After the Ramos v. State of Washington analysis, is it possible that I can--"

"I told you to not keep fiddling with that Happiness report!" Bayard said incredulously as she started storming across the room.

"I'm telling you--" Andrea persisted in hot pursuit of her, but her supervisor interrupted her.

"--And I'm telling you, that isn't our area. DOVE deals in meta-human relations, welfare, and regulation, and performing run-of-the-mill drug-busts would be a waste of RAVEN's resources and would be crossing the line into BPD jurisdiction."

"But my findings show that they're anything but conventional!" Andrea argued.

"Conventional drugs?" Bayard repeated.

"Happiness has shown to cause physical ailments and deformities unlike most other abused substances. Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin - one way or another, they break down tissues and destroy the body, but Happiness has reports of stimulating the growth of body matter while breaking down most other essential functions. Not to mention the steady decline of cognitive ability of even sober one-time users--"

"Enough." Bayard ordered. "Are you a detective or a law student? I've given you a job. Now do it."

"...Yes ma'am, I understand." Andrea resigned. With that, she retreated down the hallway further from the offices and pushed a button for an elevator. As she waited, she couldn't help but think about that damn drug. It was so different. For something to remain so active after being ingested, even in a sober person, it was almost as if...

Ding!

The elevator door opened. With a sigh, she stepped inside and entered her destination. As the elevator brought her to the next floor she hurried down the hall with her heart jumping to her throat and looked at the clock.

'Oh God, oh God, oh God...'

She found the door to the meeting room. She hesitated as she reached for the door knob and took a deep breath. She turned it, and pushed the door open.

"...Starting with ZODIAC, and our old friend the Hound... or Sovereign as he calls himself now..."

Andrea quietly closed the door behind her and nodded to everyone, but remained silent and avoiding eye contact. She knew she was a couple minutes late, thanks to her little debate with her boss over that stupid drug. She could hear it now, some of surface thoughts of some of the few at the table. They knew she was late too - but she said nothing. She had already interrupted enough now, the last thing they needed was for her to start spouting the word "sorry" off like a machine gun. As she walked toward the end of the table, she caught glances of all sorts of important figures. Even that one girl, "Hero of Prague", who fought the Founding Family. If she wasn't the one in charge, she wondered what kind of person that Maximilian had to be. Or even Deborah. She wasn't a RAVEN, but if Andrea recalled correctly, she was at least apart of the original NEST organization.

She set the files down between Maximilian and Deborah and nodded to them quietly, before walking back to the door in a rush. Part of her also wanted to hear what it was they were talking about, though. She was always too curious for her own good.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

Where in the setting will this interaction be had?

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

The day I go back to work. Nice.