[hr][h1][color=DimGray]Sam Clarke[/color][/h1] [@Mr Allen J] [@He Who Walks Behind] [hr] It had been a rough and incredibly boring day. From the time Sam had gotten to work to five minutes before the meeting, he had been buried in paperwork from NEST and KINGFISHER all day; police reports, cross-examinations of witness accounts, profiles of the alleged kidnap victims. He had read the profiles of the ten metahumans who went missing during the fair, but he hadn't been able to figure out any pattern between them. He scanned the profiles over to KINGFISHER headquarters in Mendel and figured they would be better at finding the links than he would. While dull and boring, he figured it was better than being shot at. Yet again, invisibility couldn't hide you from your paperwork, whereas bullets... He put those thoughts out of his mind. Of course he preferred paperwork over getting shot at. Sure there wasn't that same rush of adrenaline and sense of hunter-like euphoria that overtook him when fighting, but it was only normal to prefer non-deadly situations...right? He sipped his coffee and plowed through, burying himself in his work to stave off the thoughts. There was always something rather therapeutic about doing the same arduous, mechanical task over and over again. Soon the meeting started, and he came on down to the conference room, where he met up with Anastasia. Technically, she still wasn't a KINGFISHER agent per-say, but after the day before he had begun to trust her. Admittedly, he wasn't sure how comfortable he was trusting someone from outside of the Agency, but she had saved his life before. If she had ill intention, why wouldn't she have just let him die? As he sat down in his seat across from Lihua, a member of the agency who he admittedly wanted nothing to do with. It wasn't until he sat down in his chair and took a briefing folder from the table that he realized how truly hungry he was. He had worked right through lunch to get the paperwork done, and boy was he starving. After the meeting he'd have to get the KINGFISHERs together for an early dinner or something. A few seconds later, KINGFISHER CONDOR sat down to Sam's right. "How are the feds, Samson?" Sam asked. "They're absolutely awful." CONDOR replied in his Rwandan accent "I'd take NEST anyday over the damn FBI. So many protocols, and they all look at me like I'm some kind of monster." The room quieted and the meeting began. ---Allen's post pretty much goes here--- "Exactly how difficult would it be for someone else to acquire metahuman energy, though?" Sam asked "It doesn't sound like something which is easy to acquire, but I'm sure that other scientific agencies with a less [i]ethical[/i] approach to things could theoretically acquire them. Perhaps the Fiends are being fed by someone else. If I am correct, however, I believe that my colleague Samson Omondi, codename KINGFISHER CONDOR, has been researching the mutagen alongside the FBI." He turned to CONDOR, who stood up at his seat. "I have been working with the FBI as well as VPD detectives, but we haven't found anything more than what agent VuHong has already said. I would like permission to look into the Intelligent Defense System more closely. Perhaps the FBI and I can find some more compelling leads. It's possible that there could be a double agent within the company who is supplying the Fiends with the mutagen." The word "double agent" seemed to ripple through the room like the shockwave of an explosion. Sam sat back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. God this was dull. He wished the conference room had a window to stare out of. [hr][h1][color=OliveDrab]Rafael Davila[/color][/h1][hr] "Good evening, everyone. This is Sandra Collins from CNN with our four o'clock report on the Verthaven Lockdown." all around the United States, film of the police line separating Downtown from the rest of Verthaven was shown, a news reporter in a red pantsuit standing in front of it. Superimposed in the top right-hand corner of the screen was a picture of a chain-link fence with the words "VERTHAVEN LOCKDOWN" across the front of it. Behind the fence, darkness and fires rising from the abyss. The title at the bottom of the report read "50 dead in Verthaven Terrorist Attack". From the standpoint of nation and international news media, the terrorist attack was the best thing since the Baltimore Riots in April. The front page of CNN was a dramatic picture of a man in a gas mask standing above a woman cowering in fear, a haze of fog obscuring the background, and all morning CNN and Fox News had been reporting the situation from Downtown Verthaven. "As of this exact moment, the exact death toll of the attack yesterday is fifty, and the hospitals are packed with the wounded. A few hours ago, the National Guard arrived" the footage cut to film of Humvees driving down a central street downtown as the reporter continued talking "and since then things have gotten quite interesting. At least four suspected Fiend hideouts around Verthaven have been raided by a combination of NEST and National Guard troops, and the number of gang members apprehended is estimated to be around fifty," a number which she blindly pulled out of her ass as the footage switched back to her standing at the closed-off bridge "We now take you to James Schuyler, who is at NEST Headquarters with the NEST Director of Media. James?" The footage cut to outside of the NEST Headquarters on Isabella Isle. A middle-aged caucasian man with balding brown hair stood outside, a microphone in his hand. Next to him, Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations, stood with his hands behind his back and a look of general disinterest on his face. He was a tall and imposing man, 6'3" with a look of professionality to him. He wore a black suit with NEST insignias on the shoulders and a purple-and-white striped tie. "Thanks Sandra," he said "I am here with Mr.Rafael Davila, NEST's Director of Media Relations. What can you tell us about NEST's efforts in this lockdown, Director?" "Not much that you don't already know, James." Davila said, a slight Hispanic accent to his voice "NEST is working very hard to ensure that the people of Verthaven are safe, and our agents are stationed around the city in areas where we know that a Fiend presence exists. Thanks to assistance from the National Guard, we have been able to fully secure the Rosalina Isle district and can assure citizens in these areas that, so long as they stay in their homes and abide by the rules of the lockdown, they are perfectly safe." "Can you give us more information on these supposed raids of Fiend hideouts around the city?" James asked. "Due to the sensitive nature of those raids, I cannot, James. I can tell you, however, that with the help of the National Guard, we have been able to bring many of the members of the Fiends to justice." "Good, good." James trailed off "Now I'm sure you're expecting someone to bring up this video footage which was caught during the attack and went absolutely viral." [i]The screen split, and on the other side a video from a smart phone was pulled up. It showed the fair enshrouded in fog, and limping through it several of the animated dead which Khan had summoned, their arms outstretched and their mouths agape and dripping saliva.[/i] "Now what can you tell us about this seemingly zombie-like encounter, Director?" Rafael paused a moment, thinking of what to say. "Well we know that this was an incident caused by a metahuman member of the Fiends, James." Rafael said "Their name and information have yet to be discovered or declassified, but we know that they are not in NEST's database of registered metahumans, meaning that they are almost certainly a professional criminal. We also know that this fog has a hallucinogenic effect, making this metahuman extremely dangerous." "Interesting. And what plans does NEST have in protecting people from this powerful meta? Do you have a way to counteract her abilities?" Once again, Rafael paused. "Well, figuring out how to counter metahumans is a task that takes a lot of time," Rafael said "Because a metahuman ability is something which is unique to every metahuman, we cannot create any sort of counter for a metahuman ability until we can analyze their DNA, which, in this case, we do not have. Needless to say, our agents are on full alert for this metahuman, and if anyone sees any kind of supernatural-looking fog or experiences unexplained hallucinations, please dial 911." "Alright. So what about these disappearances in University Row, Mr.Davila? Do these have any connections to the attacks yesterday?" "Well it sure seems like it, James," Rafael said "But I cannot speak definitively on the matter. Our detectives are in the process of investigating the disappearances of those men. We at NEST send our condolences to all of those families who are missing loved ones due to those kidnappings. We will do everything in our power as an organization to see to it that those men and women of Intelligent Defense Systems are brought back home safely." "We know you will," James said "That about wraps us up, Director. Thank you for speaking with me." "It's always a pleasure, James." Rafael said. The camera stopped rolling and Rafael took a deep sigh. "Thanks for that, Rafael." James said after a moment "You feel like getting some coffee?" "Wish I could James, but I've got to get back to HQ." Rafael said. "Alright, then," James said "See you around." The man walked away, and Rafael rolled his eyes. God, he hated news reporters. [hr][h1][color=forestgreen]Eva Chilver[/color][/h1][hr] When Eva got home, she locked her door and ran upstairs into her bedroom with Orion at her heels. She crashed into her bed, pulled, the pillow over her face, and cried. For about a solid hour she cried, and as she did the roses in the garden box outside of her window wilted. Orion snuggled up next to her and he too began to whimper, hearing his master's cries of fear. God, she was never leaving home again. That night, she ate dinner in her room, snuggled up near all of her animals, and then drank some tea and talked to them to calm her down. Talking to her animals always made her feel better. The next day, Eva went to work at the zoo as normal and tried to bury herself in her work. She couldn't help but think back to all of the things that had happened yesterday, though. After she left the safety of her bench, she ran home through the wasteland. As she did, she couldn't help but notice all of the bodies laying around, and bloodstains on the sidewalks. She had never been more terrified in her life; she had watched one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in United States history right before her very eyes. The animals didn't giver her much trouble (they never did), and though she was distracted she got everything done. She didn't talk much all day, and went home as soon as she could, where she planned to sit and drink tea for the rest of her evening. Goliath, her Rhinoceros Iguana, had other ideas, however. "No, I'm not going out tonight, Goliath." she said. The iguana croaked back. "No! My decision is final! This place isn't very safe right now and I don't want to take my chances." He croaked again. They continued arguing for about five more minutes. In the end, the iguana won, and Eva decided to take a load off and go to the beach. This time of day, the number of tourists would be decreasing, and she would be able to relax in peace. She put on a seafoam green bikini top, a pair of jean shorties, seafoam green flip flops, and a pair of green sunglasses. She grabbed a backpack and placed a few items in it: a beach towel, some sunscreen, Orion's frisbee for when he inevitably got bored. Then she put Goliath's and Orion's leashes on and they walked out of the door. It was a very short walk from Eva's apartment to the beach. Most of her neighbors had gotten used to her walking down the street with a lizard the size of a beagle, and there were few tourists around (Eva was sure this had to do with the attacks). When she arrived at the beach, it was relatively clear. She found a nice flat spot of ground and rolled her beach towel out. Then she put sunscreen on her stomach, back, arms, and legs, and laid down in the sun. She had only been laying there for a few minutes when Orion began to get bored. He ran around the sand, jumping at seagull and frightening tourists (Eva began to understand exactly why there was an ordinance against a dog not having a leash on) until Eva decided to shut him up. She sighed, petting Goliath, who was just fine snuggling down in the sand and taking a nap, and whispering to him "I wish all animals were as chill as you." She got up and went to chase the dog. Goliath shrugged and waddled over onto the beach towel, where he curled up in a little ball and quickly fell asleep in the sunlight. Orion ran towards a small crowd of girls talking at the edge of the beach, his eyes locked on a seagull behind them. If he could just catch it...Just as he reached them, Eva shouted for him to stop. He came to an abrupt halt and looked back, whimpering. She walked over and clipped a leash onto his collar (not that it would matter; he could pull her weight). "Sorry about that." she said to the girls. Then she noticed one of the girls as a student at the Academy; Meifong. "Oh hey!" she said "You go to Academy 12, don't you?"