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[color=00a651][b]Date/Time:[/b][/color] November 11th, 2022. 6:00 PM.
[color=00a651][b]Location(s):[/b][/color] Redline PRT Headquarters
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Fukuda was looking as displeased as ever, and Will could sense a little unease in his gaze. Or maybe it was weariness, or just annoyance - hard to tell, since the guy seemed to only have a limited set of facial expressions. 

[color=fff79a]"Call me Director. As for the question... You can be the judge of that."[/color]

Oh yeah, definitely annoyance. Will tried to keep his smirk from growing. Even if he regretted it, Will couldn't help but take a bit of pride in his work. He resolved to check if they unclogged all the toilets when this meeting was over. 

[i][color=00a651]'That's what they get for being innocent bystanders in the warpath of your temper tantrum.'[/color][/i] Will thought to himself, but he quickly shook it. Self-deprecation was only useful to make yourself seem more approachable, or to get a laugh out of someone - not too good to stick to that mindset.

The next guy showed up only a minute later, a boy that seemed closer to Will's age than everyone else in the room. He fanboy'd a little over the older kid in the room, but the information he provided was very useful - the kid with the sweet jacket was Overclock!

...Well, it would probably be more useful if Will knew jack shit about heroes. A big chunk of Redline knew about Overclock, Will included, but his wealth of knowledge on the vigilante ended at 'He's a really fast speedster.' If Will knew that he'd be on a team with the guy, he probably would have hung out with the Cape Nerds more often during lunch.

"So, what's your name? Mine's Andrew, but you can call me Andy!"

Will snapped out of his thoughts, and turned to the guy that walked in just now. He was sitting in the chair next to Will, and was actually starting up a conversation.

Thank god someone here was friendly! If Will was lucky, maybe he could get this 'Andy' kid to be his friend before he had to reveal that he was a master. For some reason, the fact you can mess with someone's brain by just talking to them really turns people off. Crazy, huh?

[color=00a651]"Real pleasure to meet you Andy, name's Will."[/color]

[i]Young, younger than me but not by much. Some muscle definition, maybe sports? His clothes look worn in, they're probably second hand and he couldn't afford new ones-[/i]

Jackpot. Will smiled now that he found his in.

[color=00a651]"Not usually a fan of the ripped jean aesthetic, but you pull it off man. If you're not busy after this, maybe we could go clothes shopping."[/color]

Casual, leaned back. Pause a second. Make it look like it's no big deal.

[color=00a651]"I'm getting a new jacket anyway, so no skin off my back."[/color]

Perfect. If he was lucky, Andrew's fashion sense was more out of necessity than simply not caring. A few dozen dollars and maybe some shoplifting, and Will could have a friend that felt indebted to him. It's a lot easier to get friendly with a group if another person is already your friend - the Wards couldn't be an exception. The only way it could be better is if Andy was already friendless, but his casual introduction didn't really give Will that kind of feeling.

Before the conversation could get much further, another girl entered. She just walked in without saying a word, and chose to stand in the corner by one of the terminals while listening to her music. It was hard to tell if she was just shy, or wasn't really a talkative type - whatever the case, Will was starting to notice a pattern.

Everyone was older than him. 

Well, Andy wasn't - Will even was under the impression that Andy was younger than him. But the pair were quickly joining a minority in the room.

[i][color=00a651]'Well of course they're older - they're doing crazy fighting shit. If some tween got mutilated, they'd get more flak than they could handle. They can afford to get a baby like me, I'm going to be on the sidelines and won't risk bad PR.'[/color][/i]

Will silently nodded at his conclusion - that had to be the reason why there were so many big kids.

Or he was just overthinking things, and the parents of older teens were just more willing to sign the papers the PRT needed them to. 

Will shook his head. The tangent was pointless to think about - the new girl liked music, so maybe he could get close with song recommendations? She might like Tchaikovsky, Cole was a big fan of classical... Nah, she didn't look like a douchebag, probably have different tastes in music.

[color=fff79a]"Before we continue, you all will be needing these."[/color]

Will caught the container that was slid his way, noting the earpieces that laid within. He realized their purpose too late, and couldn't speak before Fukuda continued.

[color=fff79a]"Those earbuds will allow communication between the lot of you, as well as between you and me. Additionally...They're a necessary precaution to ensure Gray Man can't pull anything on you."[/color]

Of course, as soon as Fukuda said that, everyone in the room started staring at Will. The young man cursed at the Director under his breath - normally he'd love this kind of attention, but he had learned what those looks meant all too well. 

Apprehension. 

Anxiety.

[i]Distrust.[/i]

No one really liked a Master - especially the ones that could affect you, instead of doing whatever minion shit some of them had. Will understood that, and it made sense on a logical level. But god it was annoying to be treated like a leper when they learn that little piece of information.

...But Will couldn't really be too mad. It made sense to hand out something that stopped your fresh team of capes from being Master'd on accident by one of their own. He just wished that Fukuda could have let him break the news instead.

[i][color=00a651]'Well at least now I can be guilt-free about the Coffee thing. An eye for an eye, or whatever.'[/color][/i]

One of the standing girls was eyeing him up particularly hard, though she was doing a better job than some at hiding it. Maybe Will could break the ice with a snide comment? [i][color=00a651]'Like 'em on the younger side? I don't min-'[/color][/i] No, Will could tell she was the shy type just from the way she was standing. Calling her out would just embarrass her, and Will needed all the clout he could get right now...

Didn't stop Will from giving her a sly wink. The shy ones were the most fun to mess with, after all.

[color=fff79a]"Once you've got those situated, I believe some introductions are in order..."[/color]

Will perked up - finally, the part he was waiting for! 

First girl to speak up was the Tinker- er, the Tinker without the metal arm. Bev. Bit of an accent, but he couldn't place it. Kept messing with that device in her lap even while she talked. She seemed nice enough, maybe a- 

All of a sudden, a massive stream of confetti whirled out of the device in her lap, quickly burying the girl in a stream of confetti - quite a few strips of colored paper landed on Will, though he was too shocked to be too annoyed. A hand burst out of the pile and formed a thumbs-up as Bev called out from within, and the shy girl from earlier ran forward to help. Well, makes sense why she was picked - Will on the other hand, chose to protect himself from the harmless exposion of paper, rather than help Bev up.

[color=00a651][i]Phew[/i]. Wow, uh, nice [i]Terminator 2[/i] reference, but could ya warn us next time you-[/color]

All of a sudden, a portal appeared within feet of Will and the Director, and another girl promptly walked out. This time, Will clearly jumped in surprise and nearly let out a yelp, cheeks flushing red in embarrassment as he sat back in his seat.

[i][color=00a651]'Tinkers can make their paper bombs, so portal girls can make their portals - should have seen that one coming, Wilbur.'[/color][/i]

The girl, who introduced herself as Aaliyah, quickly sat in a nearby seat, the shock of the situation making it so that Will couldn't pick up much more than her name. And other than a final anxious look at him, Memento - had to ask her real name after this, Will was not a fan of the made-up names everyone had going on - had such a brief introduction that Will couldn't glean much from it. She was definitely heroic, and healing was a power that everyone was interested in. But if it was just simple healing, she would make a much bigger difference by just walking in hospitals and healing the sick...

Will shrugged. Maybe she knows that if she does that, she'd have to spend most of her day doing nothing but healing people. Or maybe her power is limited too much to do that. Whatever the case, she'd be real popular once she got past her shyness their lives a few times.

After Memento stepped to the side, Will cleared his throat and started speaking.

[color=00a651]"Wow, already a pretty colorful cast of characters, huh?"[/color] Will exaggeratedly wiped a few of the bright pieces of confetti from his shoulder as he spoke. [color=00a651]"In more ways than one. Kudos by the way Aaliyah, lot of panache in that entrance."[/color]

Lean forward. Straighten your back. Smile- no, [i]with your eyes too[/i], dippy. The slight change in posture and his false cheer quickly made Will look more like a used car salesman, rather than a prospective Ward.

[color=00a651]"You guys can call me Will, or if you're a fan of the whole made-up name thing, Gray Man works. I enjoy long walks on the beach, slasher flicks, an- oh, and I got a little side bid-ness, so if you guys need a fake ID, come to me after the meeting and I'll hook you up!"[/color]

Will threw a glance at the Director, and made a few scared expressions.

[color=00a651]"N-nah, I don't do that kind of stuff, heh..."[/color] Will added in a couple exaggerated winks for flavor, and grinned at the wriggling sensation in his gut. Test successful. Just confessed he lied, and the master effect broke - clearly these earpieces weren't too effecti-

Wait, no. False alarm. Aaliyah just hadn't put hers in yet.

Damn it.

[color=00a651]"Oh shit, sorry Aaliyah - wasn't intentional, that will go away in a second. Mr. F, you, uh, got any more of those earpieces?"[/color] Will paused for a second, waiting to make sure everyone had their earplugs in before he continued. [color=00a651]"Yeah sorry about that, just wanted to see if those things would work or if you guys would have that classic [i]'Wooooah, I just got Master'd!'[/i] look. Give whoever made these things a raise, Mr. F."[/color] Will shook his empty earpiece container as he spoke.

[color=00a651]"But yeah, I'm starting to get bored - I'm the team Cheerleader and Comedic Relief, that's basically all I got going on. If you want to get into a concert for free or need something that [i]doesn't[/i] involve punching a guy in the face, hit me up."[/color]

Lean back. Relax. Ease up on the smiling, a smirk works for now. No sense telling them how his power worked - he was already dragging on a bit long, and could always tell them later. Will did his best to keep a casual disposition, but was eagerly observing how everyone took his introduction. It was hard dealing with new people - but once he got a better grip on their personalities, maybe he could do the 'make friends' thing more seriously. If they laughed, he could keep hamming it up - if they cringe, well it looks like they take their spandex crime-fighting [i]very [/i]seriously, and he'd need to lean off the jokes.

However they took it, it didn't really matter. Will was already wearing a mask - he just needed to find the right one to swap to, the one that they'd like.