In some ways, Cedric Wessex can consider himself blessed. He was the youngest head of an International Agency at 20, one of the most influential voices within the Reformist Movement. Handsome, skilled, and, due to his parents retiring early and giving him his inheritance, rich, the brown-haired, blue-eyed man had 'pull' and 'weight', far more than his Metahuman powers could have given him naturally.

But this good fortune was more than balanced out by tragedy, tragedy that, for the most part, came from what happened to his mother figure, Elena Reyes, formerly of the FBI, and his 'elder brother figure', Constantine Ramiel King. Both of them had been his mentors and guardians, and, well, Elena had manifested the worst possible Metahuman powers, slowly mutating into a feral felinoid woman whose apperance brought tears to his eyes...

...While Constantine had been killed in the line of duty, trying to infiltrate a North Korean Airbase. Let's just say that Cedric, then 18 and barely legal age, took it hard, but working closely with Light, that helped. So was working to keep Metahumans and Normal Humans from killing each other, as well as keeping both categories of people off a prison system that he considered broken.

And, finally, there was finding justice for people screwed over by both Corporations and Government, rooting out conspiracies in both. For five years, he had found nothing major, but as Constantine had warned him, he had to be wary, he had to keep being sure. For he did not want new grievances to inspire new incidents, which in turn result in more greivances directed even against those who had nothing to do with said incidents.

[i]You cannot stop things; another conflict is inevitable,[/i] a voice from inside told him. Said internal voice referred to the so-called 'Underground Movement', an 'umbrella group' of people who had given up on peace, decrying the recent state of truce as false. This group was not able to be infiltrated, any evidence of its activities only gained through documents and verbal accounts. But, to Cedric's genius mind, a picture was slowly emerging.

A clandestine group with both terroristic and non-terroristic elements, filled with its own ideological geniuses, formed from the remaining greivances that the Reformists were not able to tackle, from cynicsm at Baseline Humanity, and finally, from distrust of wider institutions as a whole, the very same institutions that the Reformists were trying to, well, reform. To the 'Underground Movement', the Reformists' decision to work with the institutions...

...Had corrupted the latter. Was it true, could the Reformists have gotten too comfortable, too used to the reins of power? True, they've done a lot of good, passed and enforced a lot of laws to help everyone, extended concrete aid to those who needed it, but, they've become an institution as well, with all that entailed. And, Cedric had to admit it, lawful means had its limits. Which was why he had to find a way of affecting the small-u underground as well.

He needed an arm in the underworld, he needed a proxy in the metaphorical alleys. Hmm, should he try and call back Elijah Craigh from the US? Or should he just call Alto and his Mercenary Group? Hmm, the latter; it's cheaper, and besides, he hadn't personally met that person for five years and counting now, even though they had fought on the same side; one of the shortcomings of being a kid then.

It was settled, he was going to call Illegal Stuff. pty - oh, wait, there was that Trickster person; from what he heard, that guy was still doing his mercenary work, and Cedric wanted to work with an Illusionist; enough information had come out about the man for him to make the deduction. Actually, he was probably going to call [i]both[/i] Illegal Stuff ptd. and Loki, which he did, sending two separate calls:

[i]To Illegal Stuff Ptd: Here's 5 Million in Cash upfront; with 5 Million more if you can get me information on the Undergeround moment. I'd also like to give you 2 Million for an unrelated job, additional protection for civilians in Los Angeles; another Disney cannot happen again. Oh, and if I and your leader can meet in person, I'll be at the StuCorp Labs, visiting Gary.[/i]

[i]To Trickster: You don't know me, but Gary Stuart has fond memories of you. If you are still working for cash, I have 5 Million if you can find out stuff about the Underground Movement; also, if you encounter any plans to mass-murder another few thousand people like in Disney, don't hesitate to tell me. Oh, and if I and your leader can meet in person, I'll be visiting Gary at the StuCorp labs.[/i]