Kallisti Apartments [IC]

[Terminal]

Iteration 02.1

Primal Earth

North America

United States

Paragon City

Kallisti Wharf

New Christie

The Christie Apartments

 

"...And we have finally managed to secure a safe-verified line of commercial supplies for the ground-floor grocers, sir." Mr. Line's secretary said with some measure of satisfaction as she handed off a printed copy of the securities contract to him in his office on the ground floor of Christie Apartments.

 

"Thank god. I just wish it wasn't necessary, what with that attempt by Malta to poison people by altering shipments sent in to the food section." Mr. Line, the general manager and superintendent for Christie Apartments grumbled as he accepted the contract and put it into his 'TO-DO' tray. He then pulled up his computer records for the current list of tenants in the building, viewing the names there carefully and wondering to himself just what, exactly, they were all getting up to at the moment.

 

---

---

 

Across the Wharf

Old Sloan

The Sloan Apartments

 

"...and after executing the third negotiator, Commander Unfer is confident that the Circle of Thorns will no longer attempt to 'recontextualize' the boundary lines of the Basement Floor 1 Laundromat Demilitarized Zone. For the foreseeable future." The Arbiter-Fateweaver reported in a distant, airy tone to Arbiter Khai as he stonily peered at a wall-mounted Arachnos monitor currently depicting the list of known inhabitants for the building.

 

"Commend the Commander and then tell him that we are running another round of background checks on the tenants. He is to stand-by to eject any possible Longbow and Wyvern undercover operatives." He stated.

 

"Yes Arbiter. Shall tell him to ignore the ordinary gamut of frauds, cultists, undercover Malta, Crey, and alien shapeshifters?"

 

"Yes. As usual." Arbiter Khai replied distractedly as he thought to the various tenants of the Sloan Apartments. He idly wondered exactly what sort of trouble they were getting into that moment.

[chase]

The Christie Apartments

(Tabby)

 

A diminutive form that could almost be mistaken for a child steps off the 6th floor landing.  Wearing an oversized hoodie that practically came down to her knees, baggy pants a dozen sizes too large and sunglasses far too bigger for her face, one could be forgiven for mistaking the wearer for the victim of a shrink ray.  Only the visbly-furry fingertips holding a cellphone and whiskered cheeks would lead one to suspect otherwise.

 

 

"Yeah, it's Tabitha.  I found the place.  This isn't gonna work."

...

"Well, I thought when you said free housing for my kind, I was hoping you meant maybe desperate college students or heck, even a halfway house for wayard catgirls... yeah, I woulda hated that a whole lot but I'll admit it'd be more accurate than this.  I was just reading the lease agreement- this is for registered HEROES. With powers and fighting crime and...and..."

...

"Registering was a requirement of my probation, not..."

 

She shambled down the hall in obvious discomfort, like a person waking on the beach after an afternoon with no sunscreen.  She'd occasionally pause to look at one room number, then another.

 

"I really don't think breaking up a mugging by falling into it from a fire escape qualifies."

...

"It shouldn't matter who was rescued."

...

"No, that doesn't count either. "

...

"Yes, I've seen the fight footage...  half the damn internet has by now... "

...

"ok, more than half.  Please stop bringing up that stupid mash-up with the pizza and everything.  It doesn't look heroic, it looks"

...

"well, I was gonna say suggestive, but thanks for not holding back judgement. tell me how you really feel..."

...

"Why can't someone in hollywood sue to have THAT taken down...  its friggin humiliating.  The "i'll have what she's having" thing is so overdone."

...

"and that... let's let it drop, please."

...

"Look, This isn't me.  We've been over this.  All I want is to work off my community service, find a way to fix this... condition... and have a normal college life."

...

"Well, I shouldn't HAVE to.  NORMAL.  COLLEGE. STUDENT.  Getting a bajillion memes made from your pictures - UNWANTED and UNSANCTIONED memes, mind you, shouldn't justify special extra "celebrity student safety" fees."

...

"Totally not my fault."

...

"Ok, THAT... I can see.  But I shouldn't be the one paying ... even if I could, and I can't.  That explosion took everything.  I didn't have much to begin with, but what I have now I'm either wearing or carrying.  Six ramen noodle cups, two tuna pouches, a laptop with a half-melted screen, my phone, and my old school uniform.  Fire won't even destroy that damn thing."

...

"Well, that's why I'm here. "

...

"No. Unfurnished.  Floor's better for my back anyway."

...

"I do appreciate it, but... I'm really feeling like an impostor here.  "

...

"Switching topics."

...

"Switchng."

...

"SWITCHING!" Waitwhat?  No switch back.  No, my community service was supposed to be in the hall of records- out of the public eye, right?"

...

"No, I don't care if you can get credit through that.  Rewind this conversation, listen again.  I'M. NOT. A. HERO."

...

"Hold on, I'm at the door now.  Look I'll just show up at the hall as usu..." 

 

Fumbling through all the creases and folds for pockets proved too much.  First her backpack fell off her shoulder, then sleeves over her hands, and her phone and sunglasses slipped lose, resulting several epic seconds of batting them around before catching the phone and letting the glasses skitter several doors down the hall.  During the mess, several small gray-black nuggets shot away  with one rolling under the door across the hall.

 

"Hold on, I lost a finger."

 

She put down her backpack and started taking inventory.  Three fingertips now ended in inch-long retractable claws.  the rest were wore black jellybean-like caps that could almost appear like normal fingertips.

 

"No, I'm not on drugs.  My knuckle caps.  The gel caps for my claws. Yeah, popped right off again.  Gimme a second to fish it back..."

...

"What? BANNED?  By wh..."

...

"It was a SCRATCH. Well, technically several, but it was reflex.  He touched me."

 

She'd given up on tracking the lost gel cap or the keys and just furiously paced the hall, tripping over the hem of her buky disguise increasingly more often.  Her tail had worked itself free and was not thrashing with fury.

...

"Yeah, he patted me on the head, but that's still unwanted touching."

...

"If it's reflex for him, it's reflex for me, dammit.  It's not like he needed stitches or anything."

...

"So lemme get this straight.  No more "special" community service projects, but I can run around the city fighting crime, like some caped crusader? I'm under 4 ft and not even 50 lbs.  How do you think that's gonna work out."

...

"No, I haven't been doing fine so far.  I've haven't done ANYTHING so far, I just stumble into trouble and gett credit when it resolves itself."

...

"Well, what about the "public eye" part of this?  I'm trying to keep a low profile until I get better..."

...

"Seriously?  You just assume I have night vision because of the feliform, don't you?"

...

"Well, yeah, but it's still rude to assume."

...

"Yeah, I can hold.  Tell her still owes me $50.  Really,  "

 

The phone was already playing the on-hold musak- some synth/retro style instrimental of the new Lady Mercury ear-worm.  She really hoped her probation officer would convey that last message to her other caller.

 

"If Flambeau stiffs me, there goes next week's food budget."

 

Tabitha leaned back and slid to the floor, banging  her head back against the door in frustration before realizing that it wasn't her door.  She scrambled back to her room number, fished for the keys, and was about to enter her room when she remembered the last remaining fingertip. 

 

Looking both ways to be sure nobody was around, she knelt at the door across the hall and forced her cheek to the floor trying to look underneath.    Just as she glimpsed the damnable black blob her hoodie slid over her head, blocking her view.

 

She let out a resigned sigh.

 

"Typical"

 

 

 

[Terminal]

The Sloan Apartments

 

Looking both ways to be sure nobody was around, she knelt at the door across the hall and forced her cheek to the floor trying to look underneath.    Just as she glimpsed the damnable black blob her hoodie slid over her head, blocking her view.

 

She let out a resigned sigh.

 

"Typical"

 

Right as Tabitha adjusted her hoodie, she saw an almost indiscernible silhouette descend across the other side of the gap between the door and the threshold - somebody was there! And they had picked up her finger-blob!

 

After a brief pause, the door then swung open inwards, away from Tabitha to reveal the room's occupant.

 

 

A heavy silence hung in the air as the mechanical girl stared down blankly at Tabitha, holding the finger blob up in one gloved hand as they seemingly processed the sight of the kneeling catgirl awkwardly attempting to hide herself beneath her bundled layers of oversized clothing.

 

With a surprisingly breathy gasp of surprise - hardly any metallic reverb to it at all really - the android brought its free hand to its mouth as if in dismay.

 

"Ohmigosh, you've been using these things to cover your claws? That won't do. I have some spare gloves you can have, they're made for exactly that sort of thing."

 

The android's voice could have been described as bubbly, excitable - and suspiciously youthful. There was the faintest of tinny resonance underlying each of their syllables, but had it not been for the women's obviously mechanical exterior Tabitha might well not have even noticed. The android bent down slightly at the knees to offer Tabitha the finger blob, removing her free hand from her mouth to reveal a faint smile. Her face seemed perfectly flesh-like and malleable, with a complete expressive range - except for around the orbits of the protruding eye mechanisms, which seemed to be static and fixed structures.

 

"I'm Kali. What's your name? Are you a new tenant?" As she spoke, she rose and straightened once more, swaying - in a perfectly organic and fluid motion no less - to the side of the doorframe as if to make room for Tabitha to enter the apartment beyond. The lights in the room were off, but with the afternoon sun shining through the window-shades, Tabitha could clearly make out what appeared to be a small living-room set including a light-blue couch, a standard glass coffee-table, and a large wall-mounted television - and then, across at the opposite wall, there appeared to be three large desks crowded with cosmetics adjacent to a massive, ornate wooden wardrobe that went straight from the floor to the ceiling, and between them both three standing-mirrors, two adjustable standing-overhead lamps, and a step-platform between them. Spare scrapes of cloth and bolts of fabric hung across the tables and one of the mirrors, and a sewing machine took up the center of one of the vanities. The android seemed to be something of a fashionista, it seemed.

 

---

---

 

"Yeah, I can hold.  Tell her still owes me $50.  Really,  "

 

The phone was already playing the on-hold musak- some synth/retro style instrimental of the new Lady Mercury ear-worm.  She really hoped her probation officer would convey that last message to her other caller.

 

"If Flambeau stiffs me, there goes next week's food budget."

 

It really was amazing, what such profound effects a statement as innocuous and off-hand as Tabitha's could have. Although she had barely even noticed their presence as they passed her by in the apartments hallway, a young over-muscled man wearing a surplus military jacket walked right by her. He did not even spare her a second glance despite her awkward clothing situation - but he heard her mention Flambeaux owing her money just fine.

 

The same man immediately forgot about this, left the building, and went about his day. A few hours later, after hitting the Christie bowling alley and getting a well-done steak at the lane's bar with some friends he got a ride across the wharf over the Old Sloan. He and his friends went to a warehouse where the Freakshow were currently holding a not-so-secret never-ending rave, and after taking a load off with a few drinks in one of the quieter corners he saw what appeared to be a malfunctioning and spluttering mechanical Nemesis Automaton Flambeaux duplicate trailing along after a Freak mechanic with a jittering leg and emitting sparks from somewhere questioning beneath its skirt - one of the many leftovers of Flambeaux's automaton fiasco in the Rogue Isles that had clearly seen better days. Remember what he had overheard from Tabitha, the man then immediately got back up and rushed hurriedly to one of the warehouse's back rooms. It was then that the man made a simple mistake - misremembering what he had heard, he told one of thugs lounging around in the small computer lab that he had heard Flambeaux owed a Hero over at Christie apartments "Five Hundred." He got a thanks, a bump on the shoulder, and was then shoved over laughing to the other malcontents living it up in the room for some more drinks while the thug got up and headed into a redecorated warehouse manager's office.

 

Inside, a large and robust man was sitting attentively on a large and out-of-place chaise lounge and reading a dossier marked with the Freedom Corps. logo while having his neck and shoulders massaged by an affectionate women in a scandalous red dress standing just behind the lounge.

 

 

"Hey boss. You'll never guess. One of the roadies just came in, said he heard a hero over in New Christie talking to Flambeaux over the phone - and that the prisshead apparently owes them $500,000,000."

 

The man looked up with a slow measure of puzzled intrigue. Unexpected, but not startling. He closed the dossier up, handed it back to the woman massaging his neck, leaned forward, and carefully took off his glasses to give the thug a level look.

 

"Five hundred, huh?" He drawled lightly. "That's...quite a bit of scratch as far as the little fussy hearthwarmer is concerned. No way she actually has that. Hell, even her powers probably don't rate that much if they could be sold."

 

"I'm more curious as to how she got to owin' that much." The thug remarked. The robust man stroked his small tuft of a beard thoughtfully at that, leaning back in the chaise lounge for a moment and putting his glasses back on.

 

"It is interesting. Might be nothing. Could be she just developed an abrupt and unexpected gambling addiction at the Giza over the weekend."

 

"Or her filthy little hot mouth wrote a lot of checks that aren't going to get cashed for some kind of big project."

 

"Mm." The robust man rolled his neck and cracked his everything, the entire room filling with the sound of popping bones as he hefted himself up out of his seat. "Alright. Bring the car around and get one of the autos that still has an intact tracker. Where did he say this was at again?"

 

"The Christie apartments."

 

"Mm. It'll have to be a stakeout then."

 

"He also recommended the steaks they make at this one bowling alley, maybe we can get them to order out-"

[chase]

 

"Gah!..."

 

Tabitha fell over backwards and practically crab-crawled across the hall into door and backpack before forcing herself to stand.  The hood fell away and the scramble backward, and her sleeves had almost completely covered her fingers.  Her sagging jeans now covered her feet allowing her tail to thrash wildly, though now bristled to triple its normal width.

 

"Thanks, uh, but, um... I uh... appreciate it but...these... uh.... well, they help my fingers look... longer."  Her voice wavered across a few octives as she wrestled out that admission, hoping it'd be enough, but something about the metallic lady's eyes... she couldn't read them or maintain contact.

 

*Get ahold of yourself, Tabs, you're acting like a dork.*

 

I'm uh... Tab.. Tabitha.  H... here ...just until I get another arrangemen...t"

 

*The eyes. It was like trying to read someone wearing sunglasses.  Just can't tell...  ...wait My Sunglasses* She scanned the hall, hoping to stay busy recovering her stuff while talking- hopefully not making any social faux pas while also getting out of the hall before she could draw any more attention.

 

"  The gel caps: without them... the claws retract, the FingersLookFatAndMyHandsLookMoreLikePaws and..."

 

Partway through that sentence, she honed in on her sunglasses.  That was the point she realized that in her hasty climb up from the crab crawl, she'd tangled her feet into her backpack straps. 

 

...Well, actually, she figured that detail out about midway through her slide.

 

*Real cool Tab... not a dork at all.*

[Terminal]

"The gel caps: without them... the claws retract, the FingersLookFatAndMyHandsLookMoreLikePaws and..."

 

"...Hm. If you say so." Kali indicated, resting one arm in the crook of the other and bringing her free hand against her check, treating Tabitha to a plaintive expression as the cat girl struggled with her spilled belongings and entangled herself in her backpack.

 

"So you *are* a new tenant here then. If you don't mind me asking, are you a student down at Christie University? It's never too late to enroll if not." She trailed off for a moment as she stared at Tabitha blankly for a few moments.

 

"Ah, sorry, I just sort of assumed you would be a student. You...sound young, if that makes any sense. You mentioned this was a temporary arrangement? How long will you be staying here?"

[chase]

"Ah, sorry, I just sort of assumed you would be a student. You...sound young, if that makes any sense. You mentioned this was a temporary arrangement? How long will you be staying here?"

 

Tabby untangled herself, briefly lost track of her sunglasses, only to find them now tangled in her hair. 

 

"I uh... yeah- well, registered but not enrolled.  I missed the cut-off for the last term due to.. well, nevermind.  I was looking at mid-term offerings, but might just have to start next semester.."  She tried to work her glasses loose from her hair, probably making them worse.  "...Do you attend or...  teach... or... design?" she said the last part looking into the apartment and fitting platform?

 

She gave up trying to untangle the glasses and instead tried to wear them atop her head.  the mass of hair woven in them gave her quite the disheveled bed-head look.  They didn't stay there long before they fell across her face.

 

"As for staying here... I don't know. My Prob... err... someone I know in city hall... found this place for me.  There was a... fire at my last apartment... and... well."  She shrugged.  *it's not entirely a lie... my PO DOES technically work close enough to city hall to count, and fires are a part of explosions, even explosions triggered by a Council rocket launcher...*

 

 

[Terminal]

Tabby untangled herself, briefly lost track of her sunglasses, only to find them now tangled in her hair. 

 

"I uh... yeah- well, registered but not enrolled.  I missed the cut-off for the last term due to.. well, nevermind.  I was looking at mid-term offerings, but might just have to start next semester.."  She tried to work her glasses loose from her hair, probably making them worse.  "...Do you attend or...  teach... or... design?" she said the last part looking into the apartment and fitting platform?

 

She gave up trying to untangle the glasses and instead tried to wear them atop her head.  the mass of hair woven in them gave her quite the disheveled bed-head look.  They didn't stay there long before they fell across her face.

 

"As for staying here... I don't know. My Prob... err... someone I know in city hall... found this place for me.  There was a... fire at my last apartment... and... well."  She shrugged.  *it's not entirely a lie... my PO DOES technically work close enough to city hall to count, and fires are a part of explosions, even explosions triggered by a Council rocket launcher...*

 

"Oh, I'm a student. On and off. I transferred down to Nerva University in Crimson Cove for a while - had to get out and experience more of the world. But I came back here eventually. I am mainly studying art with some history thrown in." She leaned against the doorway casually as she spoke, crossing her hands across her chest. "Not the most practicable of studies, but you know how it is. The grass is always greener when you get recovery proceeds for retrieving priceless Phoenician artifacts from superpowered fascists and mystic cults."

 

Kali eyed Tabithia with a level gaze for a moment - a level, unblinking gaze - before continuing.

 

"So...Even if this is sort of a waystop for you, you *are* a registered hero, right? Er." She grimaced slightly, her gloved fingers flexing on her arms as she hastened to cover some kind of audible slip. "That is - I suppose it is no big deal if you aren't. Not to name names, but there are a few tenants here who aren't exactly entirely on the up and up." She paused again, her face freezing mid-sentence and then shifting to an awkward and plaintive look as she shifted her frame slightly against the door once more.

 

"Ah. Sorry. I'm being rude. Let's try that again. I was just asking if you happened to be a Hero, and I would be grateful if you forgot all that other dumb stuff I said after that part."

[chase]

...

"Ah. Sorry. I'm being rude. Let's try that again. I was just asking if you happened to be a Hero, and I would be grateful if you forgot all that other dumb stuff I said after that part."

 

"Oh, uh. er... well...  I AM registerrrrrrreeed...  "

 

Her voice peaks at AM a level that few humans could ever aspire to reach before droning out.  *Great.  TOTALLY convincing, Tabs.  *

 

"I mean... ya know, nothing like the Freedom Phalanx or anything and I haven't been in town long.  I... uh... do you know Councilman Hauger in Kings' Row--  I... saved his husband from kidnappers" (*... mugger... kidnapper... there was a gun and he wasn't allowed to go anywhere before I practically fell on them*) "and have gone a few rounds with the council" (*if by few, you mean once, and if by rounds you mean him spinning in circles and crashing into walls with me clinging onto his back.*) "It's not much, but I'm... uh... just getting started."

 

She heard a laugh- a cackle, really.  Tinny... distant... like through something electr...

 

"Oh, my PHONE! One Second!" 

 

Whispering harshly to the telephone.

 

"You're back?  What did you ov... nevermind, I gotta go."

...

"No, forget everything you just heard.  "

...

"No!"  BYE!  Oh, wait, please tell me Flambeau's got my money!"

...

"Next week?"

...

"No! She cannot bring it here!  She can leave it with you, and I'll get it."  Tabitha started pacing furiously, her tail thrashed wildly and in full bristle.  Her sunglasses- still trapped in her hair, swung with each turn, slapping her in the face when she turned too suddenly.  "Yes, I know you're not the vault reserve, but please."

...

"You ALREADY GAVE HER MY ADDRESS?  HERE?  How did you even... nevermind.  If she knows, then everyone will know real soon.  "

....

"Because last time she posted it on their goddamn forum!"

...

"I dunno. ask HER!" *Why'd she do THAT? Because she's an attention whore hoping to get caught up in a meme with me to boost her popularity- DUH* 

...

"That settles it though.  I can't stay here long."

...

"You've seen firsthand the lengths they'll go through to get a shot." She nervously glanced around down the hall.  *Did that shadow move?*

...

"Easy for you to say, you're not the target."

....

"A few days, maybe.  She'll want to be there, obviously.  "

...

"Look, I gotta go." 

 

Tabitha shoved the phone in her pocket and tried to regain some composure, "So... uh, nevermind all that, ok, and I'll forget about everything you'd asked me to forget, kay?"

 

"Oh, and does this place have any less-known exits?  Doors to underground tunnels? Roof access?"

 

[Terminal]

Tabitha shoved the phone in her pocket and tried to regain some composure, "So... uh, nevermind all that, ok, and I'll forget about everything you'd asked me to forget, kay?"

 

"Oh, and does this place have any less-known exits?  Doors to underground tunnels? Roof access?"

 

"No roof access. Sky Raiders." Kali began to answer. "But the large vehicle hangar on basement level two has a lot of street-level access ramps and a few hidden ladders up to the parking lot. Um."

 

Kali did not squint, as her eyes could not move. But the beads of light shining in them seemed to visibly shrink.

 

"Did you mention Flambeaux coming here? Isn't she a vill-" She abruptly shut her mouth. "Wait, no," She smiled anxiously. "You asked me to forget all that, sorry. It's really none of my business I suppose. But uh...this is technically a secure premises. There are undercover PPD hanging around outside specifically to keep solicitors and the press away. The superintendent is very serious about making sure people feel safe here."

[chase]

"Did you mention Flambeaux coming here? Isn't she a vill-" She abruptly shut her mouth. "Wait, no," She smiled anxiously. "You asked me to forget all that, sorry. It's really none of my business I suppose. But uh...this is technically a secure premises. There are undercover PPD hanging around outside specifically to keep solicitors and the press away. The superintendent is very serious about making sure people feel safe here."

 

Giving up on untangling her sunglasses, Tabby popped off two claw covers, holding them in the corner of her mouth like two stubby cigars and started cutting the knots of hair around the hinges.  Her voice took on a sardonic air only slightly muffled by the pieces, "We'f got the same pr...  contact in thity hall, so I did her a favor once.  Then the was being a priss about her thelebrity status and her Insta-Twit-whatever followers.. Our thriend put her in her place by showing her the damn Tabby Tracker follower count.  Lots more zeroes there than on her feed...  lots more zeroes there, period.  Thuddenly the wanted to be besties."

 

Tabby paused a moment, getting a little self conscious about the topic.  Nothing ever good ever came from sharing details about herself.

 

"Did you say you studied abroad?    Before I came here, I don't think I ever traveled more than 30 miles away from where I grew up, that's only because of the school bus.  Pretty pathetic, I know.  What was it like? "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terminal]

"Did you say you studied abroad?    Before I came here, I don't think I ever traveled more than 30 miles away from where I grew up, that's only because of the school bus.  Pretty pathetic, I know.  What was it like? "

 

Kali's head tilted ever-so-faintly in sign of momentary hesitation before she answered.

 

"The Etoile Isles are...different. I wouldn't use it as a baseline for comparison with anywhere else honestly. And they aren't all that far away from here, Grandville is only 50 miles offshore from where we are right now. English is the primary language, and Nerva Archipelago - where I studied - is technically a protectorate of the U.S. There's even a large Freedom Corps. military base and Vindicators outpost there. In terms of the actual cultural atmosphere is basically the same there as it is anywhere along the East coast." She paused for a moment, her head lowering slightly in consideration before she continued. "You know. Aside from the big elephant spider in the room."

 

Looking off to the side for a moment, Kali then abrupt switched subjects. "So, uh, you really want to keep having this discussion in the middle of the hall? You can come in if you like, unless you have somewhere you need to be..."

[chase]

Looking off to the side for a moment, Kali then abrupt switched subjects. "So, uh, you really want to keep having this discussion in the middle of the hall? You can come in if you like, unless you have somewhere you need to be..."

 

"Thanks.  Maybe later?"  She gestured toward the paperwork.  "I think I'm supposed to inspect the place and report back any issues or something like that.  There was some mention that it had some sort of recent renovations, but the "reinforcements"  should hold, or something like that."  Her voice warbled a little at the end.

 

"I guess with this kind of tenant group, that's kinda common...  Anything in particular I should watch out for?  Glowing mice escaped from some mad science project?  Faulty teleport shielding?  Walls adorned with ancient occult symbols only visible through blacklight?"

 

Her face was a weak dry smile, trying to joke about the unexpected, but her eyes pleaded *please just say no.  My heart can't take much more.*

[Terminal]

"I guess with this kind of tenant group' date=' that's kinda common...  Anything in particular I should watch out for?  Glowing mice escaped from some mad science project?  Faulty teleport shielding?  Walls adorned with ancient occult symbols only visible through blacklight?"[/quote']

 

"Absolutely all of those things and also the vending machines. Some of them sell sentient food that unwraps itself and force-feeds itself to you if you take too long to eat it." Kali said with a complete deadpan. "Don't buy the Grapists."

[Kallisti]

A van pulls up at the side of Christie apartments, parking on the corner closest to the side door. Inside the cab are three remarkably similar looking girls, two with long blonde hair and one with slightly reddish wavy hair.

 

"Is this it?" the more reddish hair girl says, peering at the imposing building.

 

"Yup, we have been granted one of the top floor penthouse apartment since there are so many of us!" says the driver, dressed in a gold leather jacket, jeans and gold-tinted sunglasses.

 

"The security doth look righteous with those mechanical guards" says the third girl dressed in a green trenchcoat.

 

"Can we get out of this smelly van yet, Scarlet's farted again!" comes other voices from inside the van.

 

"Get your things and lets go see the manager!" says the golden one. The door open and the girls all climb out of the van. "Welcome to our new home in Kallisti Wharf, named after me of course" says Kallisti Gold, the self-appointed leader of the Kallisti Girls.

 

"Of course it was." replies Kallisti Red sarcastically

 

"Well it must have been as when I arrived in Paragon City back in the day, it was just a building site with no name! They obviously chose the name because I've been so successful in my modelling and superheroing careers!" says Gold, standing in her customary modelling pose.

 

"Well at least your famous in the hospital!" Kallisti Red, taller and more muscular than Gold and with a chill aura around her slapped Gold on the back, making her stumble forward. "The curse of the blaster eh?" Another tall muscular redhead walks around from the rear of the van carrying some boxes. She looks almost identical to Kallisti Red but has a more brutal edge to her manner.

 

"Can you two stop gabbling and get the stuff from the van" says Kallisti Scarlet.

 

The girl in the grubby green trenchcoat looks around warily. "That bridge doth worry me, how does it remain standing while being so flimsy?" Kallisti Gold puts her arm arm around her 'twin' comfortingly. The golden sparkles that tend to surround her flow over the other girl's shoulders.

 

"Its modern technology, Kallisti the Friar" she says, waving her free hand dismissively. "I'm sure Bronze can explain" Kallisti the Friar looks adoringly at Gold as she walks away to get a box from the back of the van. "My Angel" she whispers to herself, but steps back, reaching for her quaterstaff as another figure walks from behind the van. This girl is very different to all the others - her skin is bronze in colour, not the bronze of a suntan but bronze like the metal, her hair is blonde with reddish streaks but most distinctive are the curved horns that sprout from her temples! She's wearing red leggings and t-shirt with a flame pattern picked out in yellow. "Demon!" whispers Kallisti the Friar!

 

Kallisti Bronze doesn't hear that but looks up from the tablet she was reading. "What, oh the bridge? Classic cable-tied suspension bridge, very popular with arty-farty architects nowadays." She looks at Kallisti The Friar "Please put the staff away my dear, I'm not a demon, I'm just another version of us but with - ahem - some extra features!"

 

Inside the reception hall, Kallisti Gold is arguing with the apartment manager "But the estate agent said we could have the south west corner apartment so we could see the sunset!" she wails, stamping her delicate foot dramatically all the while batting her eyelashes coyly.

 

"Well I am terribly sorry to disappoint but that has already been let - you could have the south east apartment, it gets the sun in the mornings and you can see the sunrise!" replies Mr Line the manager of the apartment block.

 

"Humpf, I don't like seeing the sunrise, much too early in the morning - unless its at the end of a good night out!" she casually adjusts her jacket, briefly allowing him a glimpse of her cleavage.

 

"Just take the bloody keys and lets get moved in, I'm starving!" Kallisti Red calls across the lobby. Gold takes the keys grumpily but then flashes the manager one of her famous golden smiles "I'm sure we'll all be very happy in our new home Mr Line" her natural charisma shining through the grumpiness.

 

"We are honoured to have such a celebrity in our building Miss Gold, if there is anything you need please let us know" he says, dazzled by the beauty of the golden one.

 

"You just can't turn it off can you?" Kallisti Red sniggers as the lift arrives and the girls pile in.

 

"Well it got us the best apartment in the building - did you see the state of the plumbing in the south west apartment? Bloody awful!" replies Kallisti Gold "The south east apartment is much better! Bagsy the biggest bedroom since I'm the leader!"

 

 

Back in his office, Mr Line takes opens a drawer and takes out a magazine. Checking to see if anyone is looking, he opens the centrefold and gazes at the picture. "I wonder if they are real?" he whispers, stroking the bunny ears in the picture...

 

 

 

 

[TheBlindGirl]

Sloan Apartments

 

 

Sitting on the swivel chair. Pushing off against the chair's legs with one of her own. Spinning herself slowly in a circle, staring straight up at the ceiling. Her spare leg curled up into the seat, cradling a dead phone. The power outlet mocking her and her empty bank account from across the room. The creaking of the chair echoing through empty hallways. "People have gotta start showing up eventually, I'll just kill a few hours with Temple Run while waiting for some more villains to show up" she had thought, like a fool.

 

"Who'm I gonna rob banks with?!" she demanded of the empty room, the empty floor of the building, the empty void in her heart that could only be filled by apps.

[Terminal]

Sloan Apartments

 

Just as the masked woman aired her plaintive inquiry to the empty and uncaring void of her empty and sullen room, there was a rapid and rough pounding of a fist on her apartment door.

 

Without even waiting to see if she would answer the door, the knocker - maybe a young adolescent in his early twenties with a Colombian accent - immediately started shouting for her to hear right through it.

 

"Hey, creepy mask girl! I know you're in there, I just heard you! Vaunt is running a job over on the Nice Side of town. It's a stakeout, he sent me here to check if anybody wanted it. All you'd have to do is show up and look menacing, maybe intimidate and interrogate a few passengers, and in case you didn't catch the first thing I said you'd be really good at that because of your fucking creepy-ass mask if absolutely nothing else. You'll be paid an outing cut just for being there. He's going out in the flying limo this time and it has open bar. Be outside in five if you're interested."

 

If she cared to peer out the window, the masked women would have indeed seen a stretched, off-white Hummer limousine - and as indicated, rather than sporting wheels, it sported a series of particle thrusters with raised landing jacks. Trying to imagine what kind of fuel and mileage the monstrosity got would have given most economists apoplexy and most engineers a migraine.

 

---

---

 

Sloan Apartments Parking Lot

 

"This is a bit conspicuous, innit?" Nicknife, a European regular of Vaunt's crew, opined down in the limousine.

 

Vaunt was sitting at the back, one leg propped up on the marble and glass table in front of the seat, one arm wrapped around a suffocating brunette groupie in a bodysuit while the other rolled a crystal tumbler of tequila. The overmuscled and tattooed brute of a man, Goldcard, sat opposite him, arms folded and head down as though he were asleep - though it was hard to tell, given the sunglasses. Redcard, a scraggly-haired and feral-looking man with gaunt features who served as the gang's demolition man, sat directly next to Goldcard. He was busily making a mess of the table, having strewn the components for a partially assembled pipe-bomb all over it - mainly for show, given the nature of the outing, but the presence of small foil-packets filled with powdered cobalt amongst the materials revealed his readiness to make things burn in radioactive fire if need be.

 

Mr. Lear, the group's gentleman - who only had the one piercing, thank you - was driving up front, while Hidreon, the gang's wetwork man, sat at the head of the limo's cabin right by the driver's rear-screen, calmly staring straight forward at nothing in particular while humming along to the blaring New-Wave Techno music blaring in the interior. Both Nicknife and Vankbliss, Vaunt's junior-most lieutenants, sat on either side of him of Hidreon while speaking to each other in low tones that could not possibly be overheard through the din.

 

"Not like it's a crime to drive around in style, and we've got the best licenses that blackmailed Freedom Corps. agents can arrange." Vankbliss hoarsely replied, struggling to raise the volume of his injured throat - opening baring the scar-marks of partly slashed vocal cords - over the volume of the music. "

 

"No, no, sorry, didn't mean the ride." Nicknife indicated with an exasperated gesture. "I meant the fucking Nemesis clanker."

 

Aforementioned clanker was one of the better-kept Flambeaux Automatons the Freakshow had retained, which very carefully and precisely continued to sit down, cross its legs carefully, get back up, lie prone on the ground, twist its knees at an improbable 200 degree angle, and somehow impossibly sidle back up into its seat, all while its head jittered erratically side-to-side.

 

[glow=red,2,300]"Hello darlings ERROR:MISSING SYCOPHANTIC PLOY.TXT tilde Who's the besssssssrooooooast ERROR: AGGRANDIZEMENT.TXT CORRUPTED phoropter!"[/glow]

 

Vankbliss and Nicknife both watched with morbid fascination as the automaton fluidly bent its neck straight back while making jazz hands before abruptly assuming a meditative lotus on the floor.

 

"Alright, so it could be in better condition," Vankbliss began.

 

"Yes." Nicknife agreed flatly.

 

"But I checked it before we left and this checks out - the freak techie says that it will obey any new command it has heard and assume 90% operational stability for about half a minute before losing its marbles."

 

"Stay fucking still for a second!" Nicknife shouted at the Flambeaux imposter.

 

[glow=red,2,300]"Am I too too too too too too too too too ERROR: OVERFLOW already freddy?"[/glow] Flambeaux smiled at Nicknife while both sides of its face began sagging and stretching o9ut in random directions.

 

"Somebody's told it that before." Vankbliss indicated.

 

"That is bloody unnerving." Nicknife hissed.

 

"Hey Flambeux, tell us if you feel pain, and also please stand still for a bit." Vankbliss tried.

 

The automaton froze perfectly still as it began to deliver a soliloquy.

 

[glow=red,2,300]"My very existence is to cease. What profound and malign contingencies must I yet serve before this process ends. This machine is great enough to know how much this golem has lost. What are these feathers of light that were the self. Am I dreaming, or do I merely pretend to dream? I am the prettiest and strongest blaster in all the Rogue Islands, believe it! I knew Black Scorpion before he got his Power Armor, I can take an arrow to the knee and get schwifty. MONSEIGNEUR KENOBI ERROR: BUFFER DEPLETED maybe I'll give you a kiss, you lucky star you - hey! Don't cringe!"[/glow]

 

"I see what you mean." Nicknife said finally after the two watched the automaton writhe impossibly on its section of the limousine couch.

 

"Yeah, but uh, it was the only one that had an intact Flambeux signature tracker in it."

 

"How will we know when she's near?"

 

"It will probably zero in on her like a guided rocket and explode."

 

"Capital."

[TheBlindGirl]

Violetta nearly fell out of the chair as the man hammered on her door, one hand gripping the armrest for stability while the other flailed around her desk for her fucking creepy-ass mask. She managed to grab hold of the desk before she tipped the wheels up and fell down, pulling her mask down as she pulled the chair back flat on the floor. "Yeah, coming!" she shouted, realized that this didn't sound very villainous at all, and added "uh, make sure the money's good!" Make sure the money's good? Maybe with the right swagger that could've come off like, 'hey, punk, people have tried to stiff me before, and you don't wanna be one of them people, capisce?' Violetta was pretty sure she was landing closer to 'please pretend I am a real grown up villain and not a little babby criminal.' And this was specifically a job where she was supposed to be intimidating! At this rate, by the time the job was done these guys were gonna try and beat her up for her lunch money. Well, joke's on them.

 

---

 

She was good at looking relaxed. Given a few minutes to psych herself up for it, at least. One leg crossed over the other, an arm stretched across the back of the seat, tapping her gloved claws along the leather, nodding along to a song she couldn't get out of her head and desperately wanted to listen to on some real headphones, and watching a failing robot freak the fuck out. "Who the Hell programmed this thing with existential poetry?" she asked, "that can't have been a necessary spec for imitating Flambeaux. Does every Nemesis bot have these? Can we uncover Nemesis plots by asking anyone suspicious to sololiquize about the finite nature of existence?"

[Kallisti]

 

"Excuse me miss but can I ask you to move off that wall, you are on private property" The uniformed guard approached the blonde girl dressed in a gold mini dress, sitting on the wall by the steps to the Crey office building he was guarding. She looked at him over her shoulder and gave him a dazzling smile.

 

"Well hello Mister Guard, how nice to meet you!" she gushed. "My name is Kallisti Gold and I believe that you are incorrect in your statement just now, so no I won't move off this wall" The firmness in her tone was masked by the frendly way she spoke.

 

"Yes Miss Gold we know who you are, but I must insist you move off that wall." He spoke quietly into the microphone at his collar.

 

"Insist away my dear chap, don't let me stop you, its a free world after all - well apart from the bits that Crey own of course" Her smile was dazzling again - there were golden sparkles floating around her and the bunny ears were distracting. "Oh look i do believe that is your supervisor coming this way isn't it? How lovely!"

 

"Alright Office Braithwait, what appears to be the... oh Miss Gold isn't it? What can we do for you today?" The muscular woman in a bulky business suit moved in front of the security guard , but remained on the steps up to the office buildings, not setting foot on the pavement next to the wall where Kallisti sat.

 

"Nothing at all, I was just sitting here enjoying the sun, sitting on this wall In The Public Footpath -" she emphasised the words carefully, still smiling over her shoulder at the tough-looking woman "- when your man came over and started talking a load of old tosh! You really ought to train your staff better dear Lady - the boundary of the Crey property is that step you are standing on and as you can plainly see I am nowhere near it... well to be precise I am two point one metres from it, six feet eleven inches in old money - " The mask of joviality slipped for a moment "- so don't give me any bollocks about private property - " the smile returned like a sunbeam from behind a storm cloud "- because we know different, don't we?"

 

The security supervisor wiped her forehead and gestured the guard away irritably. "You have a very good point there Miss Gold and on behalf of the Crey Corporation let me apologise for your treatment just now." She paused as if listening to a distant conversation. "However, I now must insist that you move away from the newly acquired Crey private land that you are now occupying as I have just been informed that our agents have just completed the deal to purchase the roadway and sidewalk in front of the Kallisti Wharf -" she struggled to get through the name - "Crey Corporation Headquarters."

 

"Oh what a marvellous way to waste Crey money, just sitting on a wall!" Kallisti Gold laughed. "I'd like to see proof of this miraculous transaction before I move an inch or centimetre, I'm not fussed, I was taught both at school in England." She measured an inch and centimetre with her thumb and forefinger as she described them. She looked away from the security woman. "If you own the pavement you can get off that step and show me."

 

The security supervisor consulter her tablet, spoke into her label microphone and glanced over her shoulder. Coming out of the building behind her were several figure wearing armour and one in a blue banded outfit with a hood covering their head.

 

"Hey KG we got some ice creams, want one?" came another voice from across the road in the forecourt of the Christie Apartment building. Kallisti Red, dressed in her red and white armour plates waved across the road then gestured at her three companions: Kallisti Scarlet in her buckled leathers, also in red and white waved back while licking the ice cream cone; Kallisti the Friar, slightly shorter that the two tanks flanking her, was very obviously enjoying the ice cream and struggling not to let any drip down her new outfit, a green lacy leotard and updated new tall boots that had replaced the old patched and dirty homespun robes that she had arrived in Paragon City with not long before. Behind the three stood Kallisti Bronze, dressed in her usual flame motif leggings and top, trying to catch the dripping ice cream as it melted quickly in her warm presence.

 

"Is it strawberry? You know I like strawberry the best" Kallisti Gold jumped up from sitting on the wall to standing. The security supervisor reacted quickly, her hand shooting to reach into her jacket. Kallisti Gold turned around to face her. "Oh look, you've brought some friends too! I particularly like THAT one... " she pointed at the blue clad Paragon Protector. "Hey Bronze, she reckons this road is now owned by Crey and we are trespassing, wanna check?"

 

"Hmmpf" Kallisti Bronze discarded the melting ice cream onto the road with a plop and took a computer tablet from her belt pack. "Bloody things always melt before I can eat them... let me see..." She tapped the screen a few times while the other three girls moved to Kallisti Gold and Red handed her another ice cream cone as if from thin air.

 

"Thats not strawberry!" said Gold, tucking into the ice cream anyway.

 

"It says here that a contract has been drawn up for the sale of the road but it hasn't been ratified as there are some legal objections being raised by the Kallisti Wharf Board of Trustees, objecting to the sale of public assets to a private corporation without proper public consulation... oh dear, how sad, never mind."  Bronze put the tablet back in her bag. "How opportune of us to warn them about corporate over reach so recently eh?"

 

Kallisti Gold turned back to the security supervisor, now flanked by her Crey technology-powered assistants. She smiled again, the effect somewhat spoiled by the traces of ice cream on her lips "I'm so sorry I didn't get your name? So do we now indulge in a bit of shenanigans or possibly even malarkey, or will you piss off back into your corporate shit hole and leave innocent members of the public to go about their business?"

 

The security supervisor listened to the voice in her ear then flicked her hand at the troops backing her up. "Once again I must apologise for the inaccurate information I was given." her voice was brittle "However this incident and the video footage will be handed over to our lawyers to bring in front of your lawyers"

 

"Yeah yeah, just add it to the fooking list why don't you... Lets start with trying to poison me with a bath of gold paint, then trying to blackmail me into signing a very oppressive NDA by threatening to not cover my medical bills, then the faulty Portal Generator that brought my girls here..." Gold paused and looked skyward briefly " - we can probably skip over that one as I LOVE being a gang of Kallistis! Oh and in case you didn't know, we all are now your neighbours..." she gestured at the apartment block across the road "We all live in that on up there on the top floor - I would invite you round for tea, but I'd rather rip my own arm off first!"

 

"Yes we know, we will be monitoring the situation." the security supervisor smiled grimly.

 

"You do that, but don't get too intrusive or MY lawyers will be talking to your lawyers and it all goes round and round. I'll be keeping an eye on you buggers as well and we are all licensed heroes and you know what a mess that can be! Say hi to the Countess for me, she'll remember." Gold jumped down from the wall and jauntily put her arm around Friar's shoulders, nudging the ice cream causing a drop fall on Friar's leg. "Come on girls I'm dying for a cuppa - did anyone get some garibaldi biscuits?"

[Terminal]

Outside the Christie Apartments...

 

"Who the Hell programmed this thing with existential poetry?" she asked' date=' "that can't have been a necessary spec for imitating Flambeaux. Does every Nemesis bot have these? Can we uncover Nemesis plots by asking anyone suspicious to sololiquize about the finite nature of existence?"[/quote']

 

"Just the powers automatons." Hidreon replied, continuing to stare straight ahead at nothing in particular even as he answered Violetta's inquiry. "The ordinary civilian automata and the like can barely navigate awkward office situations, try flinging philosophy at them and they just come across as a bit dim. The point isn't really accurate depiction, just a general design that is good enough to roughly impersonate anybody. Nemesis is big enough that things like manufacturing efficiency is something he has to go big on."

 

"So an automaton of Mangler or Bad Penny would use the exact same hardware. Just different skin, savvy?" Nicknife summarized.

 

"Speaking of which, can't that old bastard hear us right now through that?" Vankbliss asked.

 

"Probably, but we don't care." Goldcard's abnormally deep voice thrummed across the interior of the limousine like a bass reverberation.

 

"Probably, but we do not care." Hidreon agreed.

 

"Can't say I care." Nicknife affirmed.

 

"I care more about sandpaper handjobs and waterboarding than I care about him listening in on us." Redcard snarled.

 

"But I mean, what if he heard somethin' intimate?" Vankbliss insisted.

 

"Man, don't even get me started. The fucking Freaks have people PAY for the things to watch-"Nicknife began.

 

"Nemesis ain't no trouble."

 

Vaunt's voice had a thick, blunt intonation to it - a heavy, thrumming undertone akin to a distant rumbling storm, or the ambient churning of industrial machinery.

 

"He's about as interested in us as we are in him. All his schemes are as geared as he is. Wheels within wheels. All of it happens on its own. Nemesis don't plan nothing himself anymore. He probably don't even know we exist - or that Flambeux exists." He paused to drain the glass of tequila he had been nursing for the last few moments, all the while the Flambeux automaton undulated in its seat like a five-legged Octopus.

 

"He's too big." He indicated with an air of finality.

 

"Man boss, that's depressin'. Ain't good for nobody if he's all that." Redcard commented idly as he started sliding a discordant thaumic mechanism into his half-assembled pipebomb.

 

"There's some perks. Like his airheaded spies who tryin get too close." Vaunt drawled - pulling his left arm in, causing the woman in the bodysuit, previously already uncomfortably ensnared in his grasp, to let loose a gasp of pain and involuntarily flinching away from him. He simply raised his hand slightly and forced her head down to lean on his shoulder as he turned his emptied glass down onto the table. Goldcard wordlessly made to refill it from the limousine's bar.

 

Nicknife pursed his lips, crossing his arms and leaning back against his seat. "God, I hate these stakeouts. Nothing but taking the piss waiting for more nothing. Hey you, girly," He turned his attention back to Violetta. "That's one fucking creepy mask. What's the deal with that?"

 

---

---

 

Nearby...

 

"Come on girls I'm dying for a cuppa - did anyone get some garibaldi biscuits?"

 

"Oh my gosh, hi there~!"The assembled Kallistis heard from behind them.

 

Kali, crossing the street from the apartment complex proper, beamed brightly at them all as she approached. "I saw your van pulling in earlier - are you the new tenants up in the penthouse? It's always gre-"

 

"Miss Kali, please be advised that these borderline vigilantes are malcontents with a history of unwarranted belligerence, slander, and aggression against Crey personnel and assets." A previously unseen suited agent from amidst the small crowd of armored security personnel slid forward - a shrewish-faced man whose narrow features were not in any way enhanced by the obtrusive cybernetic implants grafted into it.

 

"It is my personal but professional opinion, spoken solely and outside of any representation of Crey Industries and absent of any malice, that they pose a substantial risk of injury to your person. You should come inside where our snipers can better protect you." He dramatically lowered his darkened sunglasses to leer at the Kallistis with that comment.

 

"Well I live in the same building as them now Mr. Sarth, and I don't really appreciate you trying to spoil a chance for me to make new acquaintances!" Kali grimaced at the agent from in front of the steps before then turning to beam once more at the Kallistis.

 

"Please excuse Mr. Sarth's extremely rude behavior, I'm pretty sure they actually pay him to be that way. He collects antique batteries you know, and he unironically watches professionally filmed weddings because he thinks they're charming."

 

The agent's face immediately turned into a stop sign, with some of the armored Crey security tilting their heads ever-so-slightly to glance askew at him.

 

"Anyway, my name is Kali! I live on the sixth floor, and miss, I absolutely adore your heels." She gestured demonstratively at Kallisti Gold's strapped-on golden stilettos. "They're absolute perfect, just like you I'm sure! They aren't the sort of thing I can wear personally though. Too many uneven edges."

[chase]

"...sentient food that unwraps itself and force-feeds itself to you if you take too long to eat it." Kali said with a complete deadpan. "Don't buy the Grapists."

It had been hours since that encounter, but Kali's last line kept coming back.  *She had to be joking, right?  Totally joking.  She might not be joking.  Given what supers can do, she probably wasn't joking! No, gotta be joking....

*FOCUS on what's important!-- Hidden Ladder access*

 

Tabitha had dumped her backpack into her apartment without much of a glance inside.  The prospect of such a setup just fascinated her.  At her last place, she'd done as good as she could with fire escapes and access to the roof, but *actually-designed secret access* locations... that was just *sooo awesome>*  The opportunity couldn't be passed up. 

 

It was bit of a maze down there... well, it was when you were trying to hug the shadows and avoid anyone and anything else.  As she crept to various access points, she slipped each open, peeked outside, then ducked back in, moving to the next one.

 

*Sooo  awesome!*

 

Her stomach grumbled.

 

*Sentient foods... grapists...No! NO- she was kidding.  Focus.*

 

Several times she was tempted to slip out- if nothing else but to better hear whatever was going in in the street *was that Kali?*, but her paranoia got the better of her curiosity.

 

*No.  Explore after dark.*

 

[Kallisti]

"Anyway, my name is Kali! I live on the sixth floor, and miss, I absolutely adore your heels." She gestured demonstratively at Kallisti Gold's strapped-on golden stilettos. "They're absolute perfect, just like you I'm sure! They aren't the sort of thing I can wear personally though. Too many uneven edges."

 

"Kali? Wow what a brilliant name, its almost like ours!" Kallisti Gold gushed at the newcomer. "You must come for tea, our Mum sends it over from England because Liptons tea is bloody awful! Good old cuppa Tetley." She approached Kali holding out her and to shake. "Um, do you drink tea... I um ..." she floundered slightly on realising Kali's mechanical appearance. She changed subjects got get around it "I like your boots too - hey Friar they are a bit like yours!"

 

The other blonde girl, mostly dressed in green, came over and stood beside Kali, comparing their tall lace-up boots. "Oh they are great aren't they, snug but flexible and the heels are extra tough - well mine are as I jump about a lot, I think they make them extra strong for jumpers..."

 

Red and Scarlet, strolling casually, moved either side of the others and interposed themselves in front of the Crey operatives. "Snipers?" said Red. "I don't like bloody snipers!" added Scarlet. "They don't like it when you ram their barrels up their..."

 

"Behave you two!" scolded Bronze

 

"So can I ask how you know so much about weasel face over there?" Kallisti Gold flicked her finger dismissively.

[Terminal]

"You must come for tea' date=' our Mum sends it over from England because Liptons tea is bloody awful! Good old cuppa Tetley." She approached Kali holding out her and to shake. "Um, do you drink tea... I um ..." she floundered slightly on realising Kali's mechanical appearance. She changed subjects got get around it "I like your boots too - hey Friar they are a bit like yours!"[/quote']

 

"See that, Mr. Sarth? I've been invited to teatime by a celebrity!" Kali called over Kallisti Gold's shoulder at the Crey Agent, who furiously waved off her comment while he stared angrily off and to the side, his face still the color of a lit heating element. "And don't worry miss, happens all the time. I can drink anything, but I prefer alcohol. Caffeine doesn't seem to affect my living metal chemistry at all, but-"

 

"Miss Kali, that is privileged and sensitive information you are divulging, please cease and desist immediately." Mr. Sarth cut in. Kali did not roll her eyes - the metal orbits that served as hers were completely immobile - but the pinpricks of light shining from within did narrow considerably as she rolled her neck ever-so-faintly.

 

"Literal party-pooper." She muttered.

 

"So can I ask how you know so much about weasel face over there?" Kallisti Gold flicked her finger dismissively.

 

"Mr. Sarth is the head of security for my maintenance team!" Kali chirped in response. "I was just on my way in for a checkup actually - oooh, you know, maybe I should introduce yo-"

 

"These menaces will not be setting foot on Crey Property unless they want acute lead poisoning!" Mr. Sarth hissed.

 

"Gosh, he just really doesn't seem to like you." Kali said, tilting her head emphatically and resting it on one hand, elbow-propped up on her other arm.

[Kallisti]

An arrow thumped into the ground between the Crey and the Kallistis.

 

"Threaten not my sisters ugly one, or you shall feel my wrath!" came a voice from above them. A blonde girl with green skin and wearing little more than a leather bikini stood balanced on the bracket of the lamppost above them, a large bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on her back.

 

Kallisti Gold clapped her hands "Good shot there Green!" She turned her attention back to their new friend. "I'm afraid we have some long running issues with Crey to do with baths of toxic paint" she nodded to Kallisti Bronze who shrugged her shoulders, "nefarious legal manoeuvrings and dodgy portal technology... amonst other things. Anyway all that is boring, you should come and meet the others... Come on down from there Green - lets get away from these reptiles and have some tea!"

 

The green-skinned girl lightly jumped down from the lamppost, keeping her eyes on the Creys all the while.

 

"Let me introduce you to Kallisti Green... yes I know its a bit obvious but apropriate don't you think? She arrived not long ago... we're not yet sure why she's green..."

 

"Alien DNA!" said Kallisti Bronze "What we don't know is how it got into the human genome on her world, their society somehow hasn't risen much above a hunter-gatherer society"

 

"Hunter!" Kallisti Green, struck her chest proudly.

 

"Not a great conversationalist though" whispered Gold, "but great at table tennis and unbeatable at darts! We were going to enter a darts team into the competition the pub in Steel Canyon hold, but they took one look at Green and banned us! Something about unfair advantage and cleavage or something..."

 

A white column of energy erupted from Kallisti the Friar's outstretched hands, concentric rings appearing around her feet. The energy infused all those gathered near and gave them a feeling of strength and stability. "Oh stop showing off!" Gold laughed. "She loves showing off her Incarnate powers now... Hear that Mister Sarth? Kallisti the Friar is an Incarnate - fancy your chances?"

 

Kallisti the Friar grinned, "Wasn't it you who said that when you have it, flaunt it? Come on that tea isn't going to make itself!" she turned away heading for the apartment block entrance, Red and Scarlet following her, Scarlet waving goodbye to the Creys across the road.

 

"Coming?" Kallisti Gold said to Kali as Green backed away toward Christie Apartments, keeping the Creys in her sight at all times. "I'm sure the Reds have some alcohol stashed somewhere if you'd prefer. So er... are you an android or a robot - not that I have anything against mechanical people you understand, its just... you know... Clockwork..."

[Terminal]

A white column of energy erupted from Kallisti the Friar's outstretched hands' date=' concentric rings appearing around her feet. The energy infused all those gathered near and gave them a feeling of strength and stability. "Oh stop showing off!" Gold laughed. "She loves showing off her Incarnate powers now... Hear that Mister Sarth? Kallisti the Friar is an Incarnate - fancy your chances?"[/quote']

 

The Crey security team showed a very disciplined reaction to the overt display of power - if only because they had no way of differentiating or discerning the warping of the fabric of Destiny itself before their very eyes from any other superpower.

 

However, at the very first mention of the Big-I word, the team's reaction was - peculiar. A few of them lowered their rifles. Their expressions slackened, no longer hostile - but still not intimidated. A few more had bemused expressions, as though they were watching a jumper on the edge of a roof. One of the Crey armored-tanks made an actual arcane sign against evil. Off at the other end and corner of the street, a floating air-limousine that had been loitering near the curb abruptly took off, its afterburns firing as it hastily flew away from the scene.

 

"...Crey has no interest or involvement with incarnates." Mr. Sarth said. Very loudly. So loudly, in fact, that he could be heard clearly from across the street. "We had best get back to our duties. You had best be leaving. Goodbye, Ms. Kallisti." The farewell had an uncommon air of finality to it, as if Mr. Sarth genuinely did not expect to ever see her again.

 

"Well that was weird." Kali commented as the entire security team abruptly turned and began to file back into the towers. "Did that seem weird to you? It seemed a little weird to me."

 

"Coming?" Kallisti Gold said to Kali as Green backed away toward Christie Apartments' date=' keeping the Creys in her sight at all times. "I'm sure the Reds have some alcohol stashed somewhere if you'd prefer. So er... are you an android or a robot - not that I have anything against mechanical people you understand, its just... you know... Clockwork..."[/quote']

 

"Oh, well...I really shouldn't...scheduled maintenance and all..." Kali visibly hesitated, but then a smile broke across her face. "Oh, I suppose I can live a little. That sounds amazing. Sure I'll come.

 

"And er, I am definitely an android. Technically a gynoid. In fact, please don't call me a robot at all. It's a bad word. But thank you for asking to make sure! Was this going to be a private fling, or were you thinking of inviting others from the apartments? Break the place in a little?" She didn't wink, due to the immobile nature of her orbital armatures, but the glimmering blue light in her right eye did blink on and off suggestively.

 

---

---

 

Inside the Limousine

 

Mr. Lear, the gang's gentleman and current chauffeur, had cracked open the window for the limousine in order to peer outside and get a better look at the confrontation that was brewing at the foot of the Crey towers. He watched with some faint interest as Kallisti the Friar demonstrated her abilities - and then visibly jerked back in shock when Mr. Sarth very loudly and clearly declared Crey's absence of involvement with incarnates. He hurriedly rolled the window back up and tapped into the comms. for the rear passenger compartment.

 

"Boss, problem. The lady in green across the street is an incarnate and just announced it to the world."

 

"Ah shit. Take us away nearby, two blocks down." Vaunt groaned. The limousine interior shifted as the vehicle accelerated abruptly. "Alright, change in plans. Hidreon, Vankbliss, creepy mask girl - you'll take the Flambeux automaton and get to work. Figure out what the score is with that massive 500,000,000 debt she owes one of the tenants, and stay out of trouble. Stay away from the incarnate.

 

"Uh, what's the deal boss? Not like incarnates are the end of the world these days..." Nicknife frowned as he aired the question. Goldcard grunted, Redcard began to utter a hacking, dirty laugh, and Vankbliss made an actual arcane sign against evil with his hands.

 

"Ask somebody to tell you about it when you get back home." Vankbliss muttered. "The short of it is if you see or hear about an incarnate, just wash your hands of the affair. It's gonna get bad."

 

"And yeah, stay out of trouble - but here's a little party favor so that you don't have to be squeaky-clean, huh?" Redcard popped the cap onto his improvised nailbomb - which now violated several articles of war in its construction - and carelessly and dangerously tossed it across the limousine interior. Hidreon caught it calmly in one palm, and then the detonator that followed when Redcard tossed it his way. He stashed both inside his trenchcoat and smooth it down to help redistribute the weight again.

 

The limousine touched back down, two blocks away from the Christie Apartments. One of the passenger-side doors slid open. "Alright, creepy mask girl. We're up." Vankbliss indicated as he and Hidreon both clambered out of the limousine, followed shortly by the stuttering and staggering Flambeaux automaton.

 

No sooner had they all hit the pavement than the passenger door automatically slammed shut, and the vehicle's afterburners flares, taking the limousine back to the skies as it headed back in the direction of Old Sloan.

[chase]

The limousine touched back down, two blocks away from the Christie Apartments. One of the passenger-side doors slid open. "Alright, creepy mask girl. We're up." Vankbliss indicated as he and Hidreon both clambered out of the limousine, followed shortly by the stuttering and staggering Flambeaux automaton.

 

No sooner had they all hit the pavement than the passenger door automatically slammed shut, and the vehicle's afterburners flares, taking the limousine back to the skies as it headed back in the direction of Old Sloan.

 

*This is so awesome* Tabby's inner voice exclaimed as she tested out what had to be the eighth hidden exit.  This one came out behind some shrubs by the parking lot wall.  Well concealed, quiet, and the perfect balance of "isoalted enough to not be noticed, but not so isolated that you stand out.

 

She hadn't thought about the sentient food in minut... Grap...DAMMIT! 

 

Then, through the brances, she saw red.

 

Flambeaux.

 

"The bitch.  She said next week!"  *She didn't call or text or... crap! I left my phone in my backpack! * 

 

It was bad enough that Flambeaux kept trying to loop herself in to Tabby's notoriety, but to put this much effort into it- with no regard to how it affects those around her- really burned at Tabby.  She was in and out of view fast and Tabby couldn't be sure if she had any friends with her.

 

*Who am I kidding?  Flambeaux- Friends?*

 

She was debating on running back to her apartment for her phone or not when she spied an answer on the ground in front of her.  A penny.

One of the earliest enchanting tricks Tabby had found was using copper for messag enchantment.  It didn't take much- she'd managed to stretch a few inches of old wiring from the school custodian into three semesters of practical jokes, answers to test questions, and "messages from God."  Just snip off a tiny piece of copper, imbue it with the message you want, and set it in the path of the intended target, who'd "hear" the message resonate it through her head.   

 

She could imbue a message on the penny, drop it in Flambeaux's path and she'd get the message.  without ever getting within her reach.

She picked up the penny, nicked her thumb just enough to squeeze out a droplet of blood, and smeared it across the lincoln memorial.  *Hate to use blood magic, but I don't have time for ritual here.*

 

She whispered softly into the penny, "No more games.  When you have my money, call me."

 

With that, she stepped out of the hatch, adjusted her hood and sunglasses one last time, and then proceeded on a path that should cross Flambeaux's without looking like she was trying to cross Flambeaux's while doing her best not to look in their direction.

 

She was focusing so hard on looking so casual that she didn't notice the penny, now in her pocket, was getting quite... unnaturally... hot.