[b][h3][center][color=ec100c]Bryson Green (Ifrit)[/color][/center][/h3][/b][center]The Zenith - Protectorate HQ[/center][hr]

	The more the scene unfolded before me, the more I could feel a sly grin forming on my face. It couldn't be helped. Joining a new team was always difficult in the beginning, but each team had [b]very[/b] different challenges. You had to build trust with your teammates, get a real understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, both in terms of combat and emotional health. The most painful part was always figuring out their baggage... As capes, we all had to pay a terrible price for our power. A trigger event always entailed what was essentially trauma, those with physical powers were sometimes considered lucky as it entailed [i]physical[/i] trauma, although mental factors were usually still heavily in play, things like rape, being trapped, being chased, being tortured and so on. That was why it was more common for those in unstable political climates, like the middle east, to have more in the way of physical powers. On the other side, mental powers tend to correlate with mental trauma, emotionally disturbing phenomena or extreme pressure, they were a lot less predictable and in some people opinion, more mentally damaging. The downside, in other words, to having lots of [i]tinkers[/i] on the same team would be that there was a lot of mental trauma, a lot of baggage. It could be challenging for people with similar emotional weaknesses to be a n effective team. 

	This team, fortunately, already felt familiar in a positive way. I could recognize the group dynamic, it was certainly unique, but I could tell I would get along with the others here. Definitely an advantage of having so many tinkers on the same team. As the woman I assumed was Vector headed off I started to make a gesture to call her back, but then thought better of it. She seemed rather determined and I got the sense that if she so much as [i]perceived[/i] someone as hiving her the slightest hindrance, that someone may not live to regret it. 

	“Oh, Replicant. And… a new face? Ah! You must be Ifrit. Bryson Green, wasn’t it? I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” the man, who I now recognized as Pallas, greeted me. I gave him a warm smile and offered him a nod, it would have been awkward to give a handshake from so far. "You must be Walter! I am very pleased to meet you, your NIKE suit was partially responsible for inspiring my primary suit. You were one of the first to demonstrate the advantages of using power-suits to enhance mobility, rather than just piling on armor for durability and upping the firepower." The lounge we were in looked to be a sort of hub for the Tinkers, and probably other capes, with no workshop equipment I could see, but it looked quite nice, probably higher quality then the other protectorate shops, but I couldn't really say for certain as I had always been limited to the Ward facilities before now. I gestured toward Astrid, "If she needs a ride via relatively stealthy means, I may be able to help, but fair warning it wouldn't be the most [i]comfortable[/i] of rides."

	Walter [i]looked[/i] like a tinker. At his age and level of experience, it was relatively rare to still have a civilian identity really under wraps, especially given his background, and he seemed to have embraced that fact. His "civilian" clothes looked like they  belonged to the future, like how Han Solo [i]should[/i] have dressed if he were a space-scoundrel. His coat was made of high quality materials, and was large enough to hold what was surely an untold number of unpleasant surprises for anyone who found themselves his enemy.

	 "So what is the plan here? I know I haven't had time to really get fully acquainted with everything, but I am at least prepared for action. If we are up against specialized threats, with some time I can get something together as well. My biggest issue is.... I don't actually have any lethal weapons at the moment. In a pinch, I can adjust the dosages on my tranquilizers to kill, but it would be pointless at that point. If I have some time to prepare though, I can create some tools that would actually take advantage of the.... non-priority, for keeping a target alive." I couldn't quite keep the uneasiness out of my voice for the last part.

	It was a pretty uncomfortable point for me. There were kill orders on multiple targets within the city, something that was exceptionally rare in the PRT and reserved for only the most dire  circumstances, threats like the slaughterhouse 9. It wasn't expressly forbidden per se, but in the cape community there was something called "the unwritten rules." It was a... [i]truce[/i] of sorts. An understanding that we wouldn't kill each other, since those in power wanted to stay in power, they would essentially go easy on threats that didn't really threaten their power. That is why most cities stayed in equilibrium, the PRT wanted more mild villains to be in power so that the more brutal ones didn't come into power. What was happening in Boston.... It was what happened when things fell out of equilibrium, when someone got too ambitious, or when they got desperate or careless. The city was falling into an increasingly viscous situation, and the smart people knew that it would trigger an escalation that would be the most punishing for whoever lost. That fact would only raise the stakes, and in the end, only the strongest side would survive. Fortunately, I was currently chatting with one of the most experienced battle tinkers, inside of our floating super-fortress. If that didn't say strength, I had no idea what did! 

	Despite this, I was still extremely put off. I had never killed anyone, and I didn't have any desire to. I was willing, I would do whatever was necessary, but.... on something like this I could not help but wonder if it would actually be necessary. I understood the importance of responding in kind, of deterring the most brutal of enemies from using such means, and I also understood that if my enemy was out to kill me, I would absolutely use lethal weaponry for even a 5% improvement of my odds. But still, that didn't mean I would want it. 

[i]Immediately concerned:[/i][@Sickle-cell][@ProPro]