[b]November 30th, 2019 11:54 PM, PT Satomi Towers, Coast City[/b] [hr][center][h3][color=#22ff00][u]Echo[/u][/color] and [color=#00a651][u]Lightning Bug[/u][/color][/h3][/center] [b]Ezra[/b] [hider=Room Inspiration][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XOBl2Tal.jpg[/img][/center][/hider] His room was much neater now, the more obvious bits of tech had been deactivated or otherwise covered so as to not be quite so obvious and eye-catching. His window, which had been stained by his glowing green blood earlier this morning, was now shiny and clear like it hadn't been since even before he'd moved in. Similarly his ruined clothes had been shoved in the trash and he'd located some bandages to cover his still healing wounds. There were still far too many glowing green pieces for Ezra's liking however, a power converter, a capacitor, some loose wires, even a neon green crystal he'd been slowly growing. All it'd take to lure Jessie in was a single peek at any one of the devices and she'd have a million questions. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that particular conversation, sure he could just pass himself off as really smart, but there were too many alien concepts, and he didn't know enough about human engineering and science to properly explain the mechanics of his tech without giving away the fact they were alien. Jessie was too smart for her own good really, but it was part of what had allowed him to get so close to her, despite her very human appearance and mannerisms, she was smarter than most of her species, more akin to the average intelligence of his own people- perhaps smarter. Vaguely she reminded him of some of his parent's students; excitable young scientists eager to learn, tinker, and make waves. Those had been the sort of people who were at the forefront of technological innovation, truly great minds, and many of them had been friendly to him and his sister, but they'd also been... reckless, and sometimes their eagerness and their ambitions caused conflict. At least Jessie wasn't in their position, those scientists had caused the apocalypse of their world after all, not that Jessie could do that. Small perks of living on a less advanced world right? He glanced to one of his work tables, eying the beginnings of an ecto-ray power core. Less advanced world [i]for now[/i]. He sighed, that wasn't his priority right now. Jessie's visit had thoroughly distracted him from the threat of the human government and his now dead friends, but regardless of the seemingly inane worry he needed to focus on appearing human to his human friend- his only human friend. It should have been a piece of cake but he just had to pick the smartest, nosiest, and sneakiest human he knew to be his friend didn't he? He adjusted his glasses, which he didn't normally wear anymore but had dug up after this latest scare in hopes the frames would obscure even slightly the glow of his eyes. Speaking of glows, he turned on all the lights, even though the sun was already pushing its way through the window and providing plenty enough lighting. Finally, after what seemed like only a short amount of time, Ezra was forced to give up on hiding the incriminating bits of alien paraphernalia when Jessie's voice called through the door to him; "Yo Ez! I got food for you, dude!" Right. The macarenas she promised. Macarenas? Was that right? Something like that. Probably. So much for leaving them at the door. He did his best to blush, knowing the action caused his pale face to tint an ever so slight shade of green, and then pasted on his most pathetic expression- which wasn't hard given he'd cried not hours earlier and even know was experience an obscene amount of stress- and then opened the door. "Hey, Jess." He greeted awkwardly, eying the mac... aroons? Eying the macaroons curiously. He didn't eat out much, but he was sure he'd seen the food somewhere before. Maybe in a box at the grocery store. Human food, what a nightmare. At least it looked... like something?? Then his eyes actually fell on his friend and he frowned at her eyewear. Surely those weren't actual glasses, they looked too techy for that, like something his parents would wear in their lab. Had she been tinkering again? What did they do, he wondered, hopefully they didn't see radiation or anything like that, this entire building was thoroughly drenched in low-level ectoplasmic energy, but his room was probably the worst- and he could only imagine what he'd look like, he was the source of that radiation after all. He did his best not to cringe at the gadget, hoping it only did something mundane like enhancing images or recording videos, like normal human tech. [b]Jessie[/b] Jessie pasted on a big grin as the door opened oddly eager to see her friend despite all the strange circumstances surrounding the visit. She offered forth the tupperware of food, cocking her head slightly as an expression of what seemed to be confusion came over Ezra's face. Maybe he'd never had macaroni and cheese before? She had to suppress a laugh as he caught sight of her goggles, the confused look only getting worse. The goggles were doing their job nicely today, it seemed! "Right, so this should still be hot but if it isn't you can pop it in the microwave for like, a minute and a half or so; it's baked mac and cheese, not stovetop so it's more solid than a lot of people are used to, and way better. Also there's polish sausage in it and it's incredible and do you mind if I bring this in?" Jessie asked, not going to bother for an answer. She needed to talk to someone about her rooftp adventure, and even if Ezra wasn't involved in it and it was some kind of crazy coincidence, he'd be the best person to talk to. And if he actually was sick, she probably wouldn't catch it anyway. Though the hyperactive girl had mostly spent her long-range Piffs for the moment, the minutes she'd spent in the elevator and walking the halls had given her enough of a rest that she could jump about ten feet or so-- Right into Ezra's big open room. [b][i][color=39b54a][h3][center]PIFF[/center][/h3][/color][/i][/b] Jessie now stood in the middle of Ezra's apartment, adrenaline spiking again as her heart began to pound. Up until now, the only people who knew about her were her parents. They were the only ones she cared enough about to let them know. But now, she had a friend. And a cohort. And if they were going to get to the bottom of a mystery and maybe be a wacky bank-robbing duo, he'd have to know... And besides, she wanted to show off and it got her in the door. [b]Ezra[/b] Ezra started to refuse, an excuse already on his lips, but then he blinked and she was gone with only a small 'PIFF' to mark her movement. He spun around, behind him being the only place in the immediate area he couldn't see, and there she was, standing in the middle of the room despite his body blocking the door. She hadn't walked through him, he knew what that felt like, it was almost as if she'd teleported... but she seemed so... human? "What?" He asked, perplexed, already running through a mental database of aliens he knew and their abilities. Off the top of his head he couldn't think of any teleporters, though the technology certainly existed he couldn't see any sign of it on her, not to mention the tech would be far too large to just carry around. [b]Jessie[/b] Jessie grinned widely, setting the tupperware on a nearby table and pulling off her goggles. She knew what she'd look like right about now. Eyes bloodshot from exertion, wild-eyed with excitement, her hair was probably a mess too. But this... She'd been dreaming of moments like this since she first discovered what she could do. To show off. To impress. To be what she really was. "Okay," Jessie began, sticking the goggles into her backpack and cracking her fingers. "This is gonna be weird for you, and trust me it'll be weird for me too. But you gotta trust me, okay?" Jessie held her hands out in front of her, palms facing each other, and with the barest hint of a though, conjured an arc of purplish lightning between her hands. She could feel the heat around the bolt, smell the rising ozone in the air, and laughed wildly as she got to show off for Ezra. "Remember when I said my dad used to be a geneticist. See, he saw the Activists back in the day, people who were the best at what they could do, after lifetimes of training. Looking at that, and some research of his own, he theorized that one day, humanity would evolve beyond what it currently is to form a race of 'Super Men'. People who could rival even those as powerful as the Activists at just their base, natural level. " Jessie's eyes darkened a bit as she recalled the next part of the story and her left hand fell to her side. The purple bolt sparked andrecoiled to stick to her right hands, dancing along her fingertips as she held her hand up for Ezra to see. "He was called crazy. They said he was tretching, at best. Some people even called him a Nazi." She said, nearly spatting the word. "But the thing is... He was right. He calls me a Metahuman. I can... Do things. Teleport, control electricity... Find stuff I'm not supposed to find, more often than not. Which brings me to why I shoved my way in here." She said, clenching her fist and letting the apark die out. "Did you know you have an 'Invasions of the Body Snatchers' pod on your roof?" [b]Ezra[/b] So... what? He became more and more bewildered as she spoke, showing off her abilities. His eyebrows rose at her display of electrokinesis. This was evolution? That... explained a lot. Well, it didn't, but offered some insight into the way the galaxy worked. Most species in the galaxy developed abilities such the Tamaraneans great strength andKheurbim shapeshifters, it'd even begun happening to his own people, though they had blamed the ecto-star for their abilities, not evolution. It was, oddly enough, extremely plausible that humans were experiencing such a leap in evolution, and not that Jessie was simply an adopted alien- which was a possibilty he'd only half begun to consider before her explanation clicked in his mind. A metahuman huh? She looked... happy. Jessie was excitable, and usually pretty chipper, but this was somehow more genuine, more meaningful. Her wild hair and wide eyes, her huge grin and loud laugh, he'd never seen her like this before. Maybe it's because she hadn't been showing her real self to him, and wasn't that a stinging realization? He was the same. Then the most bizarre comment came from her mouth, so utterly unrelated to this new development he couldn't comprehend it for a second. "Body Snatchers?" He parroted, bemused. Wait, the roof? "Oh-! ...oh." The realization sunk in. this was it, all that work and stressing to keep his identity revealed and now... this muddled situation was the result. He didn't have a choice did he? Well, he did, but not really, Jessie had been so genuine and honest with him, likely expecting nothing in return and risking herself by showing him her secret powers, how could he not do the same? Besides, Jessie was his friend, and after the events of the past night he could use an ally. "Oh Zon, okay, here we go." He muttered nervously, mostly to himself, closing the door behind him quickly and taking a few steps further into the room, but stopping before he could start full on pacing. "Okay, here it goes, just gonna say it-" he took a deep breath, looked somewhere in the middle space between him and Jessie, steadfastly avoiding eye contact "-I'm an alien," he rushed out, then hastened to add more in a jumble or words; "andI'vebeenhidingonEarthforthreeyearsandnowthegovernmentishuntingaliensandIdon'tknowwhattodoandI'msorryforlyingtoyou!" He peeked up from where he'd been facing downwards and partially hiding his face, nervously searching her eyes for a reaction. [b]Jessie[/b] Jessie blinked in surprise at Ezra's reaction. She had expected... She wasn't really sure what she expected. But it sure wasn't a reaction of nervousness and almost... Dread? Something was really strange here, and if she played her cards right--[b][i]Did he just say alien?[/i][/b] "You're a freakin' whatnow from--Alien like outer space?!" She exclaimed, her exuberance shooting through the roof. "What the Hell are you doing on Earth, there aint a gawddam thing here that I would think you wanted what are you hiding from and what'd you do what do you mean the government is hunting you that thing on the roof is yours and I guess that'd explain why you keep running off do you have to recharge or is it like photosynthesis do you actually eat or--" Jessie cut herself off as the words tumbled out of her mouth in a torrent of activity. While she spoke her mind was processing the information. She had no real reason to trust that he was an alien, other than circumstantial evidence. Then again, nobody would believe in superpowers without a demonstration either. Plus that stuff on the roof was otherworldy, and now that she looked around she could see similar technology badly hidden in the apartment. And, well... The idea of aliens was really cool. Who wouldn't want an alien friend? "Okay right, sorry!" She said, finally regaining control of her brain and mouth. "Priorities, right... What do you mean the government's hunting aliens? Like, Area 51 style, are they gonna put you in a research facility in New Mexico or something? Secondly, everything else. Like space and aliens and whatever that thing is." She said, pointing to a slightly glowing piece of technology poking out from behind a book. [b]Ezra[/b] Some of Ezra's tension began to ease off as Jessie turned into just as much a motor mouth as he had been, rambling a long string of words before centering herself. Her reaction was... one fo the more favourable outcomes certainly, but he was just relieved she didn't turn that lightning ability of hers on him and make a break for it. "Right, so-" he paused a moment, hesitating over revealing the alien bar before realizing it was compromized already anyway, "-so there's this place for aliens under The Small Café, or there was one anyway. It was raided tonight by- here," he darted over to a wallet on his desk and plucked an ID card from it. He handed it to her with a nervous grimace, "I don't know, all I saw were government agents and dead aliens. I wasn't there when it happened, I just stumbled in after and managed to get away." He wrapped his arms around himself wearily, and then committed and began emitting a harsher glow from his body, causing his clothes to smoke, the room to cool, and the dye in his hair to evaporate, revealing stark white hair. The harsh glow faded and he removed his glasses, flicking off a light switch and standing far enough from the window for the green glow in his eyes to be more noticeable. Then, just to send it home the fact he wasn't normal, he raised his hand and gathered an orb of glowing green energy in his hand. "I guess I should explain from the beginning right? Er, well my name is Edan Fo-To D'sra, and I'm from a planet called Ghol. My people were the Ectonians, but we- our- um, well Ghol doesn't exist anymore. I haven't seen another of my kind in a long time. The pod you saw is mine, I used it to escape- well, it's a long story, but- but you get it right? I- Earth is all I have now, I can't leave- it's like you said, Earth has nothing anyone wants, and under primitive world protection treaties there's no way off the planet. I'm- I'm stuck." He shrugged, a little hopelessly showing his dejection and despair at the situation, "And now the government knows about us and is hunting us? I'm, well," he gestured around the room, "I've started making things, to protect myself. My people's technology..." He trailed off, hesitant to ask for her help or offer her the chance to study it, but decided not to finish. Jessie would help herself anyway, no sense in telling her not to, no point in giving permission either. [b]Jessie[/b] Jessie listened intently to the story, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow as she took in the new information. There were more aliens, right here in the city? A meeting place, a massacre... Sounded like something out of the X-Files mixed with Supernatural. Jessie nodded as Ezra, or... Edan finished his story, and she took a few steps closer to him. "Well Edan, I have to say," She started, reaching out and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "This is absolutely the best day of my life. I mean, not so much the dead alien friendsand the raid and the government guys, but... I mean the rest of is freaking awesome. And I'm going to help you!" She said, finishing with a flourish as she reached over to pluck a piece of technology from it's barely-hidden spot. "See, I don't just shoot lightning and teleport, I also have an uncanny knack for gadgets like this. So whatever you're trying to make these things do, I can probably coax them into it! Aside from that, you now have an ally and a confidant, and we're gonna figure out exactly who these government asshats are and take 'em down! Cuz not a goddamn person in the universe is gonna take my friends away if I have anything to say about it!" Jessie exclaimed as she began to focus on the stgrange piece of alien machinery, extending her consciousness into it to try and understand its intended purpose... [b]Ezra[/b] He was touched by her loyalty, the fact she just... accepted him, his story, and declared herself with him no matter what. "I- thank you," he said earnestly, and then added, "and I'm the same; if you need me, I'm there for you. This metahuman thing, whatever else, I've got your back." He promised. He then made a split second decision; "this tech too, I'll teach you about it. You'll be the smartest human on this planet, and we can reinvent my people's technology. It'll be hard, it runs on ectoplasm, which isn't easy to produce, but it's powerful." Ezra allowed his attention to be drawn to the gizmo she'd picked up; a Gholic translator, usually called a gabber, it functioned as both a long range communications device, like human's mobile phones, but also as a translator that helped the user understand foreign and alien languages by translating them as they were heard. That piece's partner was hidden elsewhere in his room, though he didn't remember where. He had yet to finish the software portion of their functions, mostly because he didn't know much about languages, but his pod had a similar system in it and he'd been building it based off of that one. It took him a moment to explain the device's functions to Jessie, using a bunch of terms that were very sciency and technical, "I can show you the original system if you want, you should probably see the pod anyway, it [i]is[/i] the only piece of Ectonian tech that works on this planet." [b]Jessie[/b] Jessie was only aware of Ezra/Edan's explanation of the device in the vaguest of terms, as she gathered information directly from the device itself. Her eyes unfocused as the internat design of the machine unfolded itself in her brain. It was incredibly alien, completely removed from anythign she had ever seen... And yet it made perfect sense. The power supply in particular was interesting, the ectoplasm Ezra had mentioned seemed to be a more stable and efficiant fuel source than anything on Earth. And even though the software of the thing wasn't finished, it knew what it wanted to be. She could feel the link too, to the second device over... Jessie's feet began to move seemingly of their own volition. She walked slowly towards a shelf on the far side of the room, her eyes vacant as she reached behind a set of books and pulled out the partner piece to the one in her hand. Jessie snapped out of her fugue state as the second device was revealed, dropping it like a hot potato as she cried out, "Ectan Fra'Dak!" which she could only describe as an invasive alien phrase that she instinctively understood as a curse word. She reached up and rubbed her temple as she winced, looking back to Ezra. "Sorry, sorry about that... Momentary feedback from the two being too close, like two microphones next to each other I guess... Uh, found the other one though! And a fun new curse word, apparently! I guess the little things picked up some of your home language?" [b]Ezra[/b] He smirked, amused, "A Dazzan curse word, from a language closely related to my own tongue. Think of American sland and British slang, we spoke the same language but in Dazz it was a whole other thing." He shrugged, "Accurate though, very accurate." He didn't elaborate on the meaning. He held back a sigh, annoyed at how fruitless his programming had been. "The database would be the most difficult part, if I ever got that far at least, I can't open up the pod to get access to the systems stores without potentially damaging some of the more sensitive systems like the cryo-function." He hmm'd in thought, the new dynamic between them already normalizing itself. "Your ability though, it could vastly simplyify things if you can connect to it without needing to touch it." He theorized, already beginning to see how her 'connection' could be applied to a million other uses. "Here, let's try this..."