Doubts and Discoveries

The shadow of old painful memories pass over Doc's and Joe's face for a moment. They exchange a glance and Joe turned to Tigerwasp and asked, "What looks good?"

Doc said, "When I first... became. War between the baselines and novas seemed certain. It wasn't obvious, but the social trends were clear for those who knew to look. No one hated the other side, no one wanted a war... but we were going to drift into one."

"There was a solution to that one. A way to sidestep the problem without trying to win the war. We need to find out more about the council and see what they think they're doing, and we need to find out a lot more about this paradox."

Joe turned away from the deep thinkers and quipped, "Thunder and Lightning? Does that mean I'll need to insure my tongue?" When the waitress Joe says, "I'll have what she does."

Doc said, "When I first... became. War between the baselines and novas
seemed certain. It wasn't obvious, but the social trends were clear for
those who knew to look. No one hated the other side, no one wanted a
war... but we were going to drift into one."

"There was a
solution to that one. A way to sidestep the problem without trying to
win the war. We need to find out more about the council and see what
they think they're doing, and we need to find out a lot more about this
paradox."

"It's interesting, the way you put that," adds Armor. "The primary reason I got into this line of work was because public sentiment was turning against super-humans using flashy powers. I'd realized that mankind's negative reaction stemmed from the lack of an inspiring hero straight out of the comic books: a baseline human who fights crime and saves lives by just hitting the gym and the library to hold his own alongside metahumans -- showing that we're far from obsolete, helping ordinary humans as one of their own. In time, I'd hoped my popularity would extend to the metas that mere humans can equal."

He repeats his earlier chuckle. "The opposite never occurred to me: that metas would seek out my help, in hopes of walking among humans as mere equals!"

"Life is full of little ironies like that" Southern Cross replied "And speaking of ironies-the humans of this world are so afraid of metas, they haven't wised up to the fact that the world is actually ruled by monsters".

Tigerwasp wrote:"...she enquired as to the future strategy.

"So, what happens now? Why are we in Italy and more importantly, do I have time for some more shopping tomorrow?" The last was said only half jokingly.

Joe replied quietly, "They don't know. We've missed some details but this is rapidly getting heavy... but it sounds like a slow motion disaster type of a thing."

Armor wrote:"It's interesting, the way you put that," adds Armor. "The primary reason I got into this line of work was because public sentiment was turning against super-humans using flashy powers. I'd realized that mankind's negative reaction stemmed from the lack of an inspiring hero straight out of the comic books: a baseline human who fights crime and saves lives by just hitting the gym and the library to hold his own alongside metahumans -- showing that we're far from obsolete, helping ordinary humans as one of their own. In time, I'd hoped my popularity would extend to the metas that mere humans can equal."

He repeats his earlier chuckle. "The opposite never occurred to me: that metas would seek out my help, in hopes of walking among humans as mere equals!"

Chronos replied, "Interesting perspective..."

{OOC: Doc q-scans Armor to check if he's unknowingly a meta}

Joe replied quietly, "They don't know. We've missed some details but this is rapidly getting heavy... but it sounds like a slow motion disaster type of a thing."

"You think?" Tigerwasp responds rather sarcastically.
"As for the slow motion thing, I have no idea what that is. Still if it's all so slow, there'll be plenty more time for shopping." She adds with a broad and mischievous grin.

"And speaking of ironies-the humans of this world are so afraid of
metas, they haven't wised up to the fact that the world is actually
ruled by monsters"

"Speaking of metas," says Armor, "there must be a great many of them in this underground, Truth; who else can offer superhuman assistance on this? The right resources could make all the difference."

Truth hesitates only a moment and a sense of guilt passes her face.
"There are many in this underground, but unfortunately many do not last long. The council tracks most of the lower powered and aggressive ones. They then disappear, assumed dead. No organized unit exist and most if not all are reluctant to group up. I am sure you understand why."

"You though, all you were not born of this earth and thus your energies are not in Gaias memory. None of you can be tracked indefinately and hunted. You would be the only true organization. You could, I mean we should be able to enlist help from time to time of others on the run."

NARRATIVE UPDATE
March 25, 2010 - 1120
Carpino, Italy
Participants: Armor,Southern Cross, Doctor Chronos, Tigerwasp.

Crumble was not oblivious to the Carbonara sauce incident nor was he ignorant to the fact that of a sudden turn of events. At the higher end of his audible hearing range he heard some sort of high pitch mechanical whining. He was not totally aware of it but with a slight drop of the general clamor of the restaurant; most had to look at the poor waitress or at least look for the broken dishes; he became aware that it was going on for the past several minutes. It seemed to start as Lucy headed went to the restroom.

Now there was a pair of men at the maitre d'. They seem to be asking of his some questions of the current customers. As the clamor of plates falls, one of the men dressed in motorcycle leathers begins to walk around the room making no illusions he is examining the occupants. The second man is still questioning people.

Crumble and Tigerwasp are currently involved in this one.

Joe looked at Lucy's dress, the figure it held, and said with a smile, "It's hard to avoid thinking of wet teeshirts, but you still look great."

He nodded to the two men and said, "Looks like they're looking for someone. Doubt it's us..." Crumble looked at Truth and said, "...oh. Crap."

Crumble looked back at Lucy and said seriously, "How distracting can you be?"

Across the room, the rest of the team are now aware of the unfortunate events.
"Stay here at the table. Please. I won't be able to cover you once your noticed." Truth speaks calmly.

Lucy is certainly gaining more attention than she had when she entered, which was hard to do. Some patrons gasp while others are smacked by their significant others. The pair of men are not as taken as the rest but are absolutely stirred.
The striking woman walks between the men and one of them reaches out to touch the supple skin of Lucy's butt. He stops inches away as the other noticed him. Once Lucy is at the door, their stance changes to one more serious.

While everyone was looking at the gorgeous half naked woman, time Halted. For the entire universe.

Light dimmed and shifted red. Shadows appeared and colors shifted. A bird flying past the window halted in mid-flap. The effect extended over everything, everywhere, with the only exceptions being Lucy and the people sitting at Doc's table.

When Doc wanted to slow things down he didn't fool around. Doc raised an eyebrow at Joe, inviting comment.

Joe said loudly to Lucy and everyone else he said, "TigerWasp? You might as well join us, the universe effectively ends in every direction except for a path back to us. Time is at a right angle for us and us only. Even air is invulnerable so we can only breath what little we brought."

To Truth he said, "Those two guys are looking for you?"

"So you have time manipulation powers as well?" Southern Cross replied "I think we'd better get ready for a fight."

Armor shrugs. "Fight or flight, what's our goal?"

Doc and Joe sat and waited for Truth to reply.

Truth is certainly impressed at the display of power, but the look of astonishment passes as quickly as it came.
"How long can you maintain this, or rather, can we leave this area without disrupting the temporal pattern and thus loose the regular flow again?"

Chronos replied, "I can hold this past us running out of air and disruption isn't an issue. We're between ticks of the clock, nothing out there can affect us, but that works both ways."

Doc added dryly, "Mostly I've used this for holding unobservable business meetings. Leaving is harder but do-able. We walk out the open door Tigerwasp used, then I try to set up another field letting us walk away. Poof. From their standpoint we disappear. TW teleported and the rest of us got up and left during the confusion."

Chronos unhurriedly took a sip of water then got out his wallet and took out some money and put it on the table. He added, "But speaking of business meeting, we have the time and we're not being observed. Who are those guys and why should we care if they catch us here?"

Truth Stands from her chair and looks over at TW and then the frozen pair of men.
"To me it is unmistakable that those men are shifters, shape changers of the Garou or 'wolf' council. Their aura tells me that and is likely something you all cannot see. This is the biggest reason I wanted you all independent of my bias to investigate them yourselves and see the facts firsthand. "

She pulls from a cache on her hip a sleek chrome plated pistol, ejects the ammo clip, eyeballs the rounds held within and reloads and readies the weapon in a quick fluid motion of just over 3 seconds.

"If it were my call and my actions were without consequence, I would end that pair of lives this moment. I truly do want to see for my self that the bullet wont hurt them."

Truth stashes her weapon again.
"They are sentries Chronos. They arrive when a mechanical alarm is triggered sensing a meta or when someone alerts them as the suspected presence of one. Their job is to investigate and ensure registration or apprehend should cooperation not be found."

Narrator wrote:"They are sentries Chronos. They arrive when a mechanical alarm is triggered sensing a meta or when someone alerts them as the suspected presence of one. Their job is to investigate and ensure registration or apprehend should cooperation not be found."

Armor leans in. "Two questions -- one apiece, I suppose. First," he says, to Truth, "where's the nearest alarm? As Cross suggested, their methods of detection might be the key to any long-term strategy." He turns to Doc. "And, in the short-term, I've got a teleportation device ready to pop us out of here if you think it'll help; figure you've got time down just fine, I can maybe help with space?"