Character City

[Near the Library (Entertainment District)]

A very tall man with dark, messy hair, a grey trenchcoat and mirrored sunglasses was walking near the library, heading towards the bus stop.

He looked young, probably around college-student age but maybe younger, and he had a sense of both scruffyness from his untucked shirt and messy hair, contrasting a sense of rich sleekness from his tailored clothing. Those who were sensitive would notice a strange sense of immense power around him, a sense of wrongness, of death and darkness and entropy. He seemed to be aware of this, and composed himself almost as if everything around him were made of glass and cardboard. His eyes were different: the left one with a blood red iris and the right one covered in a milky-white film. His eyes darted around, hidden behind dark, mirrored glasses, watching everything around him for potential threats or anything interesting.

Underneath the folds of his coat was a holster with a Glock 9, a large knife, and in another pocket, a makeshift thermite grenade (Which is totally legal! Honest!). Sadly the assault rifles and more flashier explosives had to stay hidden inside the cars, but the young man was confident that if push came to shove, he would be able to hold his own end in a fight, even without his main magical focus, to at least to give himself enough time to run away.

[Commercial District]

A man in his early thirties stumbled out of the restaurant, with bloated stomach and smiling in contentment. He forgot the last time he ate like this. Heck, it must of been, what? Christmas?

He had straw blonde hair, dark grey eyes and was fairly tall, around 5'10". He walked unaided and was quite handsome. He wore a tan trenchcoat and his white dress shirt that was nicely tucked into his pants, but his clothing wasn't very expensive-looking.

He glanced at the restaurant, where he and his companions just ate a great big breakfast buffet. They had arrived at the city late at night, but only then was he able to rendezvous with his friends at the restaurant. It was great to see them again. They haven't talked in over a week, driving in separate cars in separate paths. The city was a planned rendezvous point during their great odyssey to GTFO of the old place, before the police arrested them for holding contraband, or hiding fugitives, or whatever bullshit charges the city could slap on them.

edited 25th May '13 2:40:23 AM by Tehpillowstar

[Memorial Park]

A cat started to chatter and chirrup in the shrubbery behind the park bench. She stopped when when an other homeless man appear from behind and got seated on the bench next to the other man. Atleast he looked the part with unruly brown hair, beard and a dirty old carmine colored longcoat that nobody know when it was last washed or if it really was carmine colored. He smelled to be homeless too, not like hadn't washed up in weeks, more like he had done so in the river or a pond in the park.

"Nobody comes to this part of the park except me and that cat."

"I'm Andreas Mal."

edited 25th May '13 3:22:09 AM by m8e

-Memorial Park-

In Memorial Park, a woman was walking through the park. She was wearing a black t-shirt over a pink sweater. She was also wearing green sweatpants, purple sneakers, and a black bowler hat, on top of her blonde hair with purple highlights. She was also wearing sunglasses.

"Wow, this HAS to be the wrong stop, or I overslept for WAY too long..." The girl said, then commented to herself. "Okay, Omelette... This isn't the only time that this happened to you, or your friends."

Omelette continued walking through the park, in hopes of finding someone to help her out.

[memorial park]

He smeled the other man before he saw him; damp and mildew, stale sweat and unbrushed teeth, and internally grimaced. He had wanted to rest a bit first, to eavesdrop on people in the park and build himself an identity before he tried it on anyone else.

Looks like that decision had been made for him.

He looked at the man beside him, Andreas, and quickly scanned him over. He was obviously homeless, and he was on his patch, thankfully his own not-disguise seemed to be enough for the man to accept him as a kindred spirit. Best to play along in the mean time, he’d be able to pump him for information, on the best places to sleep and eat and beg for money, but he’d best not get too close. He didn’t want to be remembered after he’d moved on.

“Finch, Todd Finch,” he decided, knowing from experience that a pair of very common names were even more distinctive that a single uncommon one. He twisted his voice into a perfect imitation of a smokers rasp to fit with the fledgling persona and hide any accent he may have picked up after weeks of speaking only in rudimentary Mandarin supplemented with Japanese.

He held out his good hand in an offer to shake, as rudeness was remembered more often that good manners were.

The cat emerged again from beneath the shrubbery, scrawny and crawling with fleas, no doubt as much a vagabond as Andreas. It mewled and he rubbed at it gently with the heel of his foot, only to spook it and send it running back into the shub. Poor thing, no doubt kids had been poking fun at it, or loose dogs terrorising it.

“Sorry if I’m intruding mate, I just need a little shut eye. Can’t sleep at night for all the kids marauding around in their cars with their boombox what do ya call its. It ain’t safe anymore, not for folks like you and me. You know how it is,” said the newly christened Todd, hoping that the other vagabond might offer up some street secrets out of sympathy.

edited 25th May '13 3:50:11 AM by Lockedbox

[Memorial Park]

Amu opened a single eye as he heard a woman's voice. A curiously dressed woman in a bowler hat, with... wait, weren't t-shirts supposed to go under sweaters? And purple-streaked hair... hair dye was popular among his people, but the streaks were quite strange.

Still, Amu had not come to this place just to meditate. He put his leg down and walked over to the odd woman who had called herself "Omlette." Wasn't that a food? No matter. "Good afternoon," Amu said, his voice so soft and gentle it was almost a whisper. He gave a deep bow, then upon standing, adjusted his crown, which the gesture had caused to slip slightly forward. "You seem lost. Is there anything I might do to help another stranger in this strange land?"

edited 25th May '13 6:01:16 AM by KillerClowns

Memorial Park

Violet was glad for the shade. Her eyes had trouble adjusting in the light, causing her to be horribly nearsighted. It was a weakness shared by all of her kind, and not something that could be fixed by glasses or laser eye surgery. Genetic modification, maybe, but that posed its own risks.

Violet rarely strayed into the light, preferring to keep her workplace dark, only turning on lights for visitors. It was in the dark where she saw the best, where she didn't have any problems with nearsightedness.

It would be better if it was darker, though. If it was nighttime... Unfortunately, judging by the position of the sun, slowly rising into the sky, it wouldn't be night until much later. A shame.

Suddenly, Violet stopped. She heard a voice, a man's voice, from somewhere just ahead... "You seem lost. Is there anything I might do to help another stranger in this strange land?"

Slipping out from the trees, Violet stepped into the wide clearing where the man and some hideously dressed woman were standing, her vision blurring almost immediately.

"'Stranger in a strange land'?" said Violet in a questioning tone. "It's simply unforgivable to say something like that in real life. I forbid you to do it again." She glanced at the other woman, her nose wrinkling as if she smelled something foul. "At any rate, if you're a stranger too, you won't be able to help this... woman. Of course, giving it some thought, you most likely knew that and were just asking to gain her trust. A commendable tactic, I suppose."

Sharply, Violet asked, "If you aren't from here, then what are you doing here? Who authorized you to be here?"

edited 25th May '13 6:37:10 AM by Collen

[Memorial Park]

Amu scoffed as he looked over at Violet, and crossed his arms. "I am a stranger in a strange land," he said, smirking. "Now, how do you intend to enforce that which you have forbidden?" He slipped into a combat stance — even with his magical powers suppressed, five hundred years of practicing hand-to-hand combat in Uel was quite sufficient. If the woman pulled out a weapon, Amu would break her arm and snap her neck in a matter of seconds unless she had literally superhuman reflexes.

In fact, if Violet does reach for or conjure a weapon, you can simply assume Amu attempts to do just that.

edited 25th May '13 6:52:57 AM by KillerClowns

Memorial Park

Violet rolled her eyes with breezy confidence. "Are you going to try fighting me? How quaint. Do you usually get this angry when dealing with your superiors?"

She laughed, carelessly advancing forward. "Besides, if you do kill me, I will personally sue you as soon as I am cloned. My father will see to it that you pay up. Now, stop being ridiculous before you hurt yourself."

Unbidden, Violet's eyes flicked upwards towards the diadem perched upon the man's head. Not as ornate as it could be, but probably still an expensive piece. Pure silver...? In her head, Violet started to make calculations on how much it would sell for. She'd have to take into account the amount of silver along with the sapphires it was adorned with. They were rather large, too...

"What are you wearing that ugly thing for, anyway?" asked Violet, her mind still churning with ideas. "It hardly suits someone like you. To be honest, it just makes you look ridiculous. You spent money on that?"

edited 25th May '13 7:06:26 AM by Collen

[Memorial Park]

"How charming," Amu said. "Your immediate attempt to assert authority suggests that any confidence you possess comes from... titles, perhaps? Or wealth?" He titled his head. "Perhaps both. Either way, it is clear to me that you are, underneath this quaint bravado, a scared little girl, hiding behind your daddy's legs, terrified because you know, in your heart, that you are too weak to stand on your own. I pity you: it must be terrible to spend all your life trying to suppress the fear that defines you with empty displays such as this."

Memorial Park

"I think you're lost," said Molly in an even tone. Her soft shoes made almost no sound as she walked down the path with Adrienne.

"I'm not lost," said Adrienne.

"You have no idea where we are, though."

"But I have every idea how to get back," Adrienne answered, "And that means that we're not lost." Adrienne stood a bit shorter than Molly and wore glasses. Androids never needed glasses, and technically Adrienne didn't either, not anymore, but she did appreciate the extra screens the glasses afforded her.

"I never said we were lost," said Molly, "I said you were. There's a difference."

"Shove off," muttered Adrienne. They continued on, and while Adrienne had no idea where this path let off, or how big this park was, she did know that to find her way back all she needed to do was retrace her steps. That meant that she was not lost.

However, the path curled a little too close to two individuals who were currently engaged in, well, something. Something that did not look enjoyable — it looked confrontational, actually. It was too nice a day to have confrontations.

"Hey," she shouted to Violet and Amu, "Can you two quit the dick-measuring contest? Some of us are trying to enjoy the actual sun here."

[Memorial Park]

Amu glanced over at Adrienne and Molly and said, "dick measuring contest? Hardly. This poor woman," he motioned to Violet, "is, as you shall soon see, in the midst of a mental breakdown. I'm trying to help her come to understand the source of the fear she tries to mask with her rudeness but," he sighed, "sometimes you must be cruel to be kind."

For the record, Amu is being completely sincere — he totally believes himself to be some sort of Warrior Therapist.

edited 25th May '13 7:30:11 AM by KillerClowns

Memorial Park

Ignoring the newcomers, Violet said,"Amusing. Simply amusing." She grinned, apparently unfazed by the man's words. "You do not seem to know who I am. Allow me to enlighten you: I am Violet Wheeler. My father is the owner of Virtus, galaxy-wide technological dealer and manufacturer. You see? I have a stronger foothold in the world than you ever will. But I don't know your face, and if you told me it, I wouldn't know your name. I feel pity for you, being so utterly unimportant." Violet's eyes narrowed, her voice hardening. "You are making me feel pity. Stop it this instant."

edited 25th May '13 7:33:35 AM by Collen

[Memorial Park]

"Nice to meet you Todd," Andreas said while returning the handshake.

"and don't worry, you aren't intruding. It's just that nobody comes here for some reason. Might be that cat or maybe the crazy guy that usually sleep here." he said jokingly. "This is a good place to sleep, don't like the shelter, to many rules and people steal your stuff."

[Memorial Park]

"Ah," Amu said. "Now it makes perfect sense. Yes, of course. It must be hard living in your father's shadows like that." He shook his head in pity. "Living every day knowing that all you have is your father's doing and that, without him, you would be nothing? That must be terrible. No wonder you're screaming — if I were in such a miserable state, I'd be screaming to."

[memorial park]

"No, I'm pretty sure it's a dick-measuring contest going on here," said Adrienne. "See, I was working with military engineers for the last seven years, and Molly's a registered nurse. We know dicks when we see them."

"I definitely see dicks," said Molly with a sigh.

"So both of you can maybe put them back in your pants and stop," said Adrienne. "How does that sound?"

edited 25th May '13 7:35:38 AM by ohsointocats

[memorial park]

"Likewise, heaven knows I've been there," said Todd, smiling and nodding.

"It's good to know, the last shelter I stayed under was much the same. It's the junkies that do it you know, spoiling it for the rest of us. They'll do anything for a fix and hey don't care where or what they have to destroy or steal. No respect," he shook his head and wheezed out a hiss or distaste.

He was about to fish for some more information on the local charities when his keen hearing picked up the sound of voices in the distance, angry ones. He couldn't make out the words but guessed that one was male and the other female, the woman offensive and the male either deflecting or denying. As useful as local intel would be, he could not risk being questioned by police. Witness or no, any kind of paper trail would be a nail in his coffin. Subtly, he slid his leg beneath the bench and kicked a stone in the into the shrub, toward the voices, making and audible plunk. As he hoped the cat started at the sound and hissed, streaking out from her place beneath the shrubbery and across the lawn.

Feigning surprise he stood and peered over the hedge after the cat, and then looked up to the fighting couple. There was silent third party, no doubt to fearful to involve herself, and the two arguers held their stances with trained poise and confidence. This would be ugly. Thankfully they were a safe distance away, on the lower ground toward the parks centre, while he was safely on the high grown close to the main road and river levy. The sloping wedge shape of the park still afforded a good view of them, and the sound carried easily. Time to make an exit.

"Aw crap, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Look at 'em, middle of the park having a punch up, no shame. I'm sorry to leave you like this mate, but I don't want to be dragged to the police station an go through all that paper work because these kids have a punch up in the middle of a public park, and heaven help us if they have friends. Thanks for letting me share your patch," rasped Todd, putting just the right mix of flustered, indignant and fear into the line.

He offered an apologetic smile and stood, bowing his knees and rocking slowly upward as if frail and arthritic. He began making his way back up the garden path, wishing he could simply climb the sound blockade between the road and the park, but that would be too conspicuous. Instead he moved a a slow,aged pace from the grove to the nearest exit, which was still too far away for his liking, but the last thing he wanted was to pull attention to himself. Unfortunately he put himself in full view of the couple half way through the journey, but there was no alternative with them being in the middle of the wide, open picnic area, so he simple kept them in the corner of his eye, put his head down, and hoped they'd be too bus fighting to take not of him, just as he would be too busy walking to take note of them, if anyone should ask.

edited 25th May '13 7:45:53 AM by Lockedbox

Memorial Park

Violet shook her head as if sincerely in disappointment. "You don't know as much as you think you know. In fact, you know nothing at all. Day by day I am eclipsing my father. Soon my name will be known by everyone. People will recognize me as the true power I am. I am making a fortune with every passing week, and my area of influence is increasing..."

Violet finally turned to the women who arrived on the scene. "And who are you? You both have occupations that involve no individual work, so I'm not expecting anyone of much importance. But I suppose it can't hurt to know your names."

edited 25th May '13 7:46:36 AM by Collen

"We're not really the kind of people you want to talk to," said Adrienne.

"I'm not even a people," said Molly with a shrug.

[Memorial Park]

Amu sighed as he rubbed his bracelets. Magic would make this so much easier. "A dick measuring contest," Amu calmly said, "implies that both sides are attempting to show off their power in an attempt to intimidate. But it doesn't matter how powerful I am. Power is ephemeral. In fact, I'm just a slave wearing stolen silks." Which was, from a certain perspective, true. "But," he said to Violet, "you know I'm still right. You claim you are eclipsing your father, but your claims ring hollow. You constantly reference him, unable to make any threat that does not depend upon that which he has given you."

edited 25th May '13 7:52:45 AM by KillerClowns

[Memorial Park]

At least the initial regaining of senses was over. Now, he was starting to notice all the little details, such as the fact that he had fingerprints and had to get used to having such things as an inner ear, a blinking reflex, a metabolism, pulse, etc. This was the first time in public with the human vessel, and so far, save for some odd occasions of him examining his own hands and suddenly realizing that he used his father's actual fingerprints, it was going rather smoothly.

Raphael, the younger of the two, looked up at his father with bright blue eyes. He had the appearance of a preteen, still soft and thin if not for the varied scarring on one side his face that seemed to extend down his neck and almost to the collar of his- respectably styled, at any rate -pink dress shirt. At his side, the young doctor carried a messenger bag- mostly standard Earthen medical supplies if he couldn't afford to draw attention, or in case his father tried something stupid such as using a mandoline with his fragile-as-hell human vessel.

His father, Vinicio Acquati, looked very distinct- angular, bony, thin-eyed, like a Mediterranean-originating Disney villain brought to life. This time, he did not bear the dangerously high levels of magic that many, both in places such as these and his home world, had grown to associate with him. For once, he breathed and exuded life through a thoroughly human vessel. He wore no Anakali clan medallion or flashy, frame-hiding cloak, but opted for something simpler, a thin navy sweater over a white dress shirt and dark jeans. His choice may have unintentionally made him stick out even more because there was nothing to fill out his lanky frame- Raphael had even told him that if he used the vessel for much more than a few years, he would probably develop arthritis.

But no matter, for there was an altercation already. Raphael wanted to stay and watch out of pure fascination, suddenly happy that he probably wasn't going to have to rely on Earthen technology at all just by the varied magoenergetic signals he was getting, but Vince only wanted to keep moving, tired of the shit that seemed to plague his attempts to have a normal day in a populated area. What was it this time? Sighing, he thought he heard the words 'dick-measuring contest'. He shook his head.

edited 12th Aug '13 4:27:49 PM by CrystalGlacia

Memorial Park

Violet shrugged. "And you are a misguided fool. You have tricked yourself into believing you are some sort of psychological master when, in fact, you have absolutely no skills of worth. You are much too lazy to do any investigating into a person's past and just work on what information is given to you. You claim you are a slave, but from my perspective you're just a filthy liar."

My father has given me nothing, thought Violet, gritting her teeth. If only you knew how wrong you are.

edited 25th May '13 8:08:11 AM by Collen

Adrienne pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Listen. I spent all morning wrists deep in an android who thought it would be fun to fill his motherboard with chewing gum. My patience right now is razor thin. I'm not going to define dick-measuring contest because you obviously would try to so 'cleverly' sidestep it. Because you're one of those people who are incapable of seeing themselves in the wrong. You know what, I can tell you're obviously the bigger dick here. You won. Now piss off," she said.

[Memorial Park]

Amu nodded as he saw Violet grit her teeth. "Your expression belies you. But I give you credit on one matter: I was not lying, but from the most conventional perspective, I am not a slave. At least, not any more, but that," he examined his nails, "is a story for another day. And investigating your past serves no purpose. Your present is shaped by it: like a mirrored chandelier, every word you say give me perspective into the events that made you into the insecure, angry little girl who stands before me."

That was when he heard Adrienne. He said, "I'm afraid I can't do that. This isn't about 'winning'. It would be irresponsible of me to let this woman continue to hurt others and herself."

If he's coming across as frustratingly arrogant and deluded, I'm doing my job right.

edited 25th May '13 8:19:51 AM by KillerClowns

[Library]

Nick tapped his foot, a little annoyed. "Look, don't be nervous! We just wanted to see if anyone else is here!" He glanced over at Jackson, "Sounds like they're not in the talking mood."

"I'll see if I can talk to them." Adam said. "I think they're just shy."

The moment he said it, he heard the chairs falling over nearby. He walked over to the area, noticing one of the chairs was on top of someone's back. "Oh! So that's where you were! No need to hide from us. We don't bite." He pulled the chair off of the stranger's back, then bent down to take a good look at their face. "Why are you so..."

When he got a look, his eyes widened. He remembered that face, all the way back from his time in the university. "...Owen?"

-Memorial Park-

Omelette was watching what was going on with awe.

"Um, guys? Please don't get mad, but what are you doing, anyway?" Omelette asked.