[IC] Heroes Rise: Paragon City

[Nallore]

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@Tally Dor@IAmTheIsland@Araby264@Carlyle@Silver Carrot
Date and Time: Monday, September 1st, 2060 10:00AM

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"Good morning Paragon City!" Said the local news anchor for those that were listening to the radio on their commute to work that morning or for those watching the news at home or wherever they are. "Theo Stevens here, today is a beautiful summer morning here in the city, it's currently eighty five degrees outside. It'll be mostly clear skies during the day with a chance of showers later this evening." The man said over the radio as he started out with the weather for the morning. "Lets start off with some of the election news this morning with Anthony Delgato leading incumbent Benjamin Garcia by two points, with a townhall debate later this evening stay tuned in for that." He stated over the radio.

"Now onto the daily crime report." Theo said as he pulled out another sheet of paper and read through the teleprompter. "Last night at around seven in the evening a small turf battle happened between the Blue Dragons and the 70th Street, with on casualty a young college kid currently we do not have the name for.

There was a small altercation between a member of the Puritans and a police officer, and he has been arrested and in police custody now. A body has been washed up on the shores of Halcyon Beach with some strange markings from what other reports say it was by the new group by the name of The Void. There was also a SWAT and DEA raid on a local busisness in Greyport smuggling in drugs into the city. Police Chief Wallace will have a press conference about these stories and we'll report it here as soon as we know more. We'll continue with the news shortly after this break." Theo said before the news had gone to an ad break or those listening to the radio music started to play.

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Diana Smith

Location: Smith Private Penthouse, Veridian Technologies, Nighthaven, Paragon City
Skills: N/A

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Diana groaned slightly as she woke up from a long night still in her clothes that she wore as her role as the vigilante Artemis she got out of her bed and made her way over towards her bathroom. Diana pulled out her phone she looked down at it, she had a few meetings that she needed to attend to during the day one of them was in thirty minutes. Which she didn't really look forward to and always thought that they were very boring.

Diana quickly got herself into the shower and started to clean herself making sure that she got all of the dirt and blood that she had on her off herself. When she was done Diana got out of the shower and looked herself in the mirror she had a few bruises on her chest and arms fighting against a Delgato grunt who managed to get the jump on her last night. Luckily her clothes would simply cover it as Diana grabbed herself a suit and started to get changed.

She entered the living room of the penthouse Diana had opted to live alone in the penthouse here at Veridian they did have another place in the Financial District where her mother lived when she was done for the day at work. But her mother was also luckily out on a busisness trip outside of the city leaving her alone to run things for now. She entered the elevator and started to go down until she was in the offices everyone was busy about going about their duties and Diana left them alone to handle things as she went and entered her mother's office to get some paperwork done.

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Madalyne Crane

Location: Paragon City Academy, Riverside, Paragon City
Skills: N/A

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Madalyne had been up for awhile now as she made her way out of class, she decided that she wanted to skip classes for the rest of the day, she was really good with her school work and last year she got really good grades. So she quietly snuck off during lunch break she grabbed her backpack and headed out. She pulled out her phone and earbuds and slipped them into her ears and quietly started to listen to some music and quickly got onto the bus.

There was a really good ramen shop that she liked going to the Lucky Noodle she had skipped lunch as well to, as Madalyne sat quietly on the bus she observed those around her quietly. There luckily wasn't anyone that didn't want to start up any kind of trouble really as she leaned back slightly watching as the bus went along it's usual route headed for Little Asia.

[Tally Dor]

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The Weeping

Location: Abandoned building, The Melting Pot, Eastern Nighthaven, Paragon City
Skills: N/A

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Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...

The sound of shuffling feet echoed throughout the empty building. A weathered hand held tightly to a railing as they lifted tired feet. The worn out shoes were barely holding. The old man who slowly staggered up the stairs was gripping a large brown bottle in his free hand. Occasionally he'd stop to take a swig, he reeked of the stuff but it seemed to have little effect in slowing him down.

He ignored all the bullet holes that were scattered along the walls. It seems a massive gunfight had occurred in this building at some point. As he crossed the final step he steadied himself. This small landing had one overhead light that illuminated his surroundings. Being one of the few buildings in this section of the Melting Pot that somehow still had power.

Most likely because it had been Fat Tony's. The slum lord who had ruled these ally ways until... Well until he was no more. The old man took a deep breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow, the back of his palm having to go a bit further back then most because of his greatly receding hair line. His watery blue eyes strained into the pitch blackness of the room ahead of him. Even tho it was a good ways into the morning, little to no sun light could pierce the thick curtains in the room.

Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill

The drunk took a few more tentative steps closer to the darkness but being careful not to enter the room as he looked for anything. Movement? Breathing? Life? All that he encountered was silence and his own labored breathing from the climb up the stairs. Then he saw it. There in the darkness. Two small orangeish red eyes. He felt a small twinge of fear travel down his spine. They were eyes like that of a predator.

The explosion of sudden sound gave the old man another fright. His grip on the bottle tightening. For The Weeping spoke like no normal man or woman. It was as if hundreds of voices were all speaking at the same time. A cacophony of voices with no real rhyme or reason.

“Why are you here Garrett?”

As the question lingered in the air, Garrett took a quick swig of liquid courage and shrugged off the growing sense of dread. That's why, the others had sent him up here. The drunk spoke with a slight slur as he quickly spoke.

“The others wanted mah ta check in on youse.”

A hiccup escaping his lips as no response came from the pair of eyes in the dark.

Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill...Kill

The Weeping's eyes vanished from Garrett's sight as he had been sitting with his knees pressed up against his chest. His head bowed low and his eyes closed as he rocked back and forth his voice seemed uncertain of itself.

“It's too loud. You need to go away.”

Garrett's blue eyes seemed confused for the briefest of a second before he shoved his brown bottle outward towards the figure in the dark.

“When da hospital closed. I ad no more meds. This thing helps me quiet the voices nowadays.”

Once again met with no response. Garrett inwardly sighed to himself as he staggered in his efforts to turn himself using his hand to keep from falling. His eyes gazed towards the stairs before looking back into the dark.

“I dunno what month it is but it's going to get cold before long. You should come out and warm yourself by the fire. We got plenty of barrels going.”

Not expecting an answer the old man slowly left as he went down the stairs he came up earlier. The Weeping frowned as he stood from his sitting position. The bums, the destitute, and those who wished to remain lost that made the Melting Pot their homes. Would they truly welcome such a monster if they got a good look at him?

He turned towards one of the walls and vanished into the darkness. After a few moments. He walked out of a different shadow into a secret basement in the same building. It had been Fat Tony's own personal torture chamber where he broke others to make them do his bidding. The first thing that hit the Weeping's nose was the hint of iron, the stench of human waste, and rotten food.

Kneeling before him in the dimly lit room was Fat Tony. He was naked and most of the flesh on his back had been rended, left with nasty scars. The voices in his mind began to scream as a searing pain seemed to race around in his brain as the flesh on his fingers shredded itself as his bones lengthened and ended in jagged points.

KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL..KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL...KILL..

He resisted them as he leaned down in front of Tony to get one final look at him. A pained whimper escaping the fat man's mouth as his terrified eyes landed on the beast in front of him. His multiple chins wobbling as fresh tears begin to stream down his face.

“Please kill me.”

A malevolent grin crossed the Weepings lips as he gave into the voices. Rearing back he drove his claws straight through the slum lord's skull. He had kept the man alive and tortured him for weeks in an effort to learn about the underbelly of Paragon City. Truth be told Tony's usefulness had gone out the window after the first week as he only knew so much, but the Weeping had kept him around because of how he had toyed with the lives of those who had no way to fight back.

As he pulled his hand free with a sickening sound and the massive body fell, he licked his fingers. Enjoying the warm metallic taste despite being inwardly grossed out. Normal food and drink were like ash in his mouth, it was only through losing himself had he discovered this grim reality of his new body.

[Araby264]

C A N I S - V
C A N I S - V

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Location: Engineering Labs, Veridian Technologies, Nighthaven, Paragon City

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[System Boot Up]

[Initializing...]

[Initializing...]

[System Initialized]

[Good Morning Canis-V]

Canis-V came to consciousness all at once. There was no sense of grogginess or tiredness, only the darkness of inexistence, then consciousness. It brought its sensory suite online, getting it's 360 degree vision and crsip audio recievers to observe it's surroundings. It found itself in its docking station within Veridian Technologies main lab.

The docking station was a platform slightly raised off the floor, surrounded by automatic assembly arms and spare parts. There were racks and shelves for more loadouts, but Canis-V and it's engineering team had been restricted from their access until Canis-V could prove its worth, something it did not understand.

At the operator seat for the docking station sat one of the engineers. Canis-V's internal H.U.D. displayed his available information, and it reviewed the dossier in a fraction of a second before speaking. The sound that escaped it's speakers was an androgynous, slightly feminine, artificial voice. It spoke with a warm, welcoming tone that it did not feel.

"Good Morning, Dr.Mchail."

The middle aged man with black hair and green eyes looked up at Canis-V with a smile. He wore a pair of coveralls covered in grime and machine oil, amd his voice was hoarse and rough. Canis-V assessed that he needed more sleep.

"Good morning Canis-V! Excited for the big day?"

Canis-V turned its featureless faceplate in Dr.Michail's direction. It did not need to, but it had noticed that this action seemed to put it's organic counterparts at ease.

"I am at the operational standard set by the parameters given to me."

The greasy engineer raised an eyebrow,"Missing your weapons and Modular enhancements?"

There was a brief pause as Canis-V processed his words.

"Yes, my functionality is limited."

Dr.Michail sighed and nodded, "I understand Canis-V, but thems the breaks. If you want to operate in the city, you've got to keep to their standards... although," The doctor rubbed his chin, scratching at the light stubble that had begun to form there, "You're supposed to have a meeting with the big wigs up top before you head out, maybe you can convince them to let you have your Modular gear back."

[MISSION RECIEVED]
[MISSION PARAMETERS: DEBRIEF WITH 'BIGWIGS']
[PRIOTITY: ONE]

"Acknowledged."

Canis-V ran the undocking procedure through its systems. Crisp clicks and whirrs could be heard as thick cables detached themselves from Canis-V's frame and locks released, letting it leave the docking station.

"Have a good day Dr.Mchail."

The doctor nodded and waved, turning around to go over something on his screen. Canis-V walked towards the stairs, as it was too heavy for the elevator, and began to climb tirelessly to the Executive suites. Upon arriving it walked through the offices of Veridian Technologies executive floor and found people scrambling to get out of its way fearfully. Canis-V found the reaction confusing, but said nothing. Upon arriving at it's location, Canis-V approached the secretary for the Executive office.

"Hello, I am here for my debriefing with the 'Bigwigs'."

[IAmTheIsland]

S A R A H  M A R I E  K I N G
S A R A H  M A R I E  K I N G

^{Parkside West, Mapleview. 9:45AM}

The low-toned thud beneath Sarah's sternum set the pace as she set down on the concrete walk outside her apartment. Stepping from the shade of the building, she squinted hard as the sunlight exacted its retribution for her lateness the night before. But she had grown accustomed to mornings like this, and her eyes adjusted quickly. A second, a thought, and a breath passed through her as one wave, and she turned herself in the direction of Little Asia. Her first strides fell like curbstomps, aligned with the beat in her chest. The music of the body, she reminisced to her first lessons with Ken Shimazu. Her footfalls eased as she settled into her pace, treading the sidewalk with the calm alertness she had honed through a life time in Mapleview; 'aware but not scared,' as people on her block always said; that was at least one thing she could say she had mastered.

Punctuality after late nights, however, elluded her. It was 10:00AM when Sarah slipped in through the back door of the Lucky Noodle. She ceremoniously brushed the dirt from here worn, black Converse, and crossed the backroom into the kitchen.

E N T E R S H I M A Z U

"You are late, Sarah." Ken Shimazu's voice carried from somewhere out of sight.

Sarah following his voice around to the industrial stove top, whereupon a large pot of fresh noodles was slowly cooking to a boil. Shimazu was nearby, cutting up chicken, his back turned. Sarah almost asked how he knew it was her, but she was well enough aware of how perceptive he was; his ability to sense energy put hers to shame. She simple found herself an empty stretch of counter space and leaned back. "Late night," she said bluntly; she had long stopped apologizing, knowing that the nights weren't something she'd stop having any time soon.

"Another evening in the Pits?" Ken set down his knife and wheeled around. He looked his young ward over carefully. "And who managed that?" He pointed to a spot just below Sarah's right eye.

Sarah's hand pressed her cheek, feeling the bruise from a prize fight the night prior. "It's nothing. Some other girl... muscle for 70th Street. 'Torres,' I think... thought she'd make an example out of me. Pretty strong; punched hard. Was even harder to punch." She showed Shimazu her knuckles, equally bruised as her face. Punching the bitch had been like trying put a fist through a steel wall; even using Chi, Sarah's hits amounted to next to nothing.

"And how did you overcome her?"

"Used some of the judo techniques you showed me the other day; she wasn't expecting to get flipped on her back like that. Plus I was faster, and frankly, she had no gas to fight for very long." For a second Sarah thought she sensed a slight beam of pride in Shimazu's eyes. If she had, it was short lived, as the ramen chef returned to cutting chicken without so much as a 'good job.' She wasn't surprised by that, nor by his actual response.

"What I teach you is meant for self-defense and protecting the community. Not beating up people in dingy, basement fight clubs. I've told you this before."

"I know. I know!"Sarah pulled away from the counter and stood next to her Sensei. "I do it because I need the money. It's not much, but a c-note twice or three times a week is worth a few scrapes and bruises. I know I can beat almost anyone in the Pits. It's easy cash in pocket."

"And what happens when you rough up the wrong person? Like an enforcer for 70th Street? Or a Blue Dragon hitperson?"

Sarah bowed her head before Shimazu's sharp side eye. He was right. She had spent her walk from home expecting Valentina Vega's crew to run up on her, if not Vega herself.

"That's enough talking for now. I have to open up shop soon. Go downstairs a practice your forms. Once I get things going I will check in.

"You don't need any extra help up here?"

"I Have plenty today. Downstairs. Forms. Shimazu scraped the chicken cuts into a frying pan, with no further words.

"Yes, Sensei.

[McNephelim]

K E N Z O Y A M A M O T O
K E N Z O Y A M A M O T O

Location: Little Asia Northern Neighborhood, Little Asia, 9:30 AM

Ken's eyes opened slowly as the sun dimly shone through the curtains of his apartment. Just some seconds after he did this, his alarm went off. Normally, he would find this weird if it wasn't the third time in a row that it occurred. Ken was a light sleeper, but never to this degree. Anyway, he got out of bed and realized that he had slept in the pants of his vigilante outfit, "Oops."

After a quick shower, he found himself drinking some coffee while watching the news, nothing out of this world, just the regular news in Paragon City. He had noticed before the bath that he had baggy eyes and a black eye, It's good that he doesn't work on Mondays, it would be awkward to lie to some coworker about falling while bathing or something.

It was 10:00 now, and Kenzo had begun to feel a bit hungry, despite having the necessary tools for a healthy and balanced breakfast. he decided it was a better idea to go to the noodle store he heard his coworkers talk about. Lucky Noodle. That's what he heard; it sounds good, weirdly optimistic, but good.

He stepped out of his apartment, dressed in black and with some black shades over his eyes, and began to walk to the store, following the directions from his phone.

[Carlyle]

Z E R O - Z E R O
Z E R O - Z E R O

Location: Financial District, Paragon City
Skills: N/A

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A large, humanoid robot stood tall on the rooftop of a high building deep within the heart of Paragon City. The red sheen of the robot's exoskeleton was but a dot in the sky, melding amidst the scattered, blinking rooftop lights. Held within its metallic grip was a single man, squirming unsuccessfully against the cold chains that held him prisoner.

"I-I swear!" The man pleaded, pushing his arms upwards to try and squeeze out of the robot's grip. "I ain't know nuthin'! W-We just do what they tell us to do! That's all! Now let me down!"

A pair of eyes squinted, echoing almost the sound of a camera shudder. On the robot's shoulders, a girl—practically a high schooler—sat on top of them. Expensive-looking wires connected into her back as she mowed down a breakfast burrito, happily made to her request.

"If you say so." A feminine, yet slightly robotic voice spoke. In a whirl of machinery, the exosuit swung the arm which held the man over the edge of the building. "Or we could try again."

Nancy waited for his response. Instead, all she had received was a torrent of piss leaking from 00's grip.

"Really?" Nancy sighed, shaking her head. She'd have to go invest in some cleaning products now. "You're ruining the paint."

"You're crazy!" The man shouted, fearful for his life. He began to squirm harder, hoping that he could escape somehow before he was dropped to his doom. "You're going to kill me!"

"Who said anything about killing you? Just tell me what I want to know, and you'll be fine."

"Alright, alright! I'll tell you!"

"That's better."

Admitting his defeat, the man began to divulge what information he knew. He was certain that Tony and others would kill him for leaking information, but whatever death they had planned for him sounded better than being dropped off a building.

"Tonight!" The man yelled. "On the corner of 9th and Adams, over in Nighthaven! T-Tony said he had something big planned, but that's all I know! Please, I-I swear!"

"See? Now that wasn't hard. That's all you had to say."

Crumpling up the now-empty burrito wrapper, Nancy threw it to the ground. Swinging herself upwards, she climbed into the back of the exosuit, sealing herself inside as it closed up from behind. The orange eyes of the suit began to vibrantly glow as the machine whirled to life once more. In one swift motion, the exosuit began to rapidly descend from building to building—all the while the man still in its grip screamed for his life, eyes wide open in fear.

As the exosuit reached the ground, it landed with a loud thud against the concrete, startling nearby passerbys that were on their way to work or elsewhere. The machine then promptly released the man from its grip, letting him fall on his bum onto the cold ground.

"He's all yours." The exosuit robotically announced, leaving behind stunned spectators as it promptly disappeared from the scene.

[Silver Carrot]

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Julia Kray

Location: The Melting Pot, Eastern Nighthaven, Paragon City
@Tally Dor

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Julia Kray had been formally released from prison only a few hours earlier. She had never owned her own home. Allof her jobs had included room and board. She had no possessions or assets, officially. What she did have was several hideouts where she used to stash her possessions, gadgets, costumes and wages. She rummaged in a dumpset next to a convenience store and had been lucky to find a block of expired cheese. This was all she needed st the moment. She sat down on a park bench, opened the bag, and then made some sounds with her mouth that wouldn't have sounded like much topassing people. To a rat, however, it was a request. She openly asked any rats listening to check out each of her hideouts and report on whether they'd been discovered and cleaned out. They would get a little cheese for taking on this job and double that for completing it. She was very soon swarmed with rats around her feet.

She stayed sitting on that bench as she watched the world go by. Things had really changed in fifteen years. She'd naturally heard about the death of The Defenders. Theoretically, there was nothing stopping her from falling back into a life of crime. But no. She didn't want to go back to prison again, and she no longer had to risk her life working for supervillains. The rehabilitation and therapy sessions she'd received in prison had convinced her to try going on the straight and narrow with the rest of her life. Do something befitting her age. She'd eraned the right to live as oblivious civilians do. Own a house and a car, and get a job that didn't run the constant risk of injury or death.

The rats returned. All of her hideouts had been cleaned out. Except one. Fat Tony's place. Her gear was still lying around. And if that was the case, the stash of cash hidden there was likely also untouched. She gave that rat double the cheese, then dropped the rest of the bag for the rats to scramble over.

She walked to Fat Tony's, slipped into the adjacent alleyway and scurried vertically up the wall until she reached the penultimate floor. A homeless man wandered out of the front door and would have seen her if he looked up. Julia froze out of habit until he hobbled away. She slipped inside and made her way to a certain part of the hallway, then leapt straight up and into an open ceiling panel.

This was her hideaway. Sure enough, there was an old, damp futon. Next to it, what was once the iteration of her costume she had worn while working as Fat Tony's spy, informant and henchwoman. She began to get wierdly nostalgic as she picked up a set of goggled that had been cutting edge tech at the time. They were over seventeen years old now and probably belonged in a museum. She put them on and pressed the buttons on the side. Nice. They still worked.

What she was really here for was the envelope of cash hidden behind the wallpaper, which she retreived and shashed in her pocket. This would be more than enough to live off of for the time being while she contemplated her next step. As she was about to leave, she smelled the sharp, unmistakle stench of fresh blood. She knew she should leave it alone, but her insticncts and curiosity as an information gatherer couldn't let her ignore this. She adjusted her goggles to the infrared setting and began creeping through the building. There were readings from the old interrogation room. Upon finally reaching the roof overlooking it, she saw someone, or something, kill Fat Tony. She was honestly impressed he'd managed to stay alive up until this year. But who was his killer?

[Master EffeX]

T r o n i c a l
T r o n i c a l

Location: Keyrs' Apartment - Border of Halcyon Heights and Mapleview | Morning

Keyrs scoffed as the newscaster on the radio equated "beautiful Summer morning" with "85 degrees". Of course they did. Most people did. Weather forecasts were such weatherists. 29 degrees -as it would be listed in her home country of Canada- in the morning was hardly cause for a smile. What was it going to climb to during the peak hours of noon-to-four? 29 was already about 5-6 degrees higher than Keyrs' preferred maximum.

Chance of showers sounded nice. At least that was reported neutrally.

In any case, she had a cooling system in her gear. A true "must have" -not a feature she even thought to offer optionally. She wasn't going to be one of those cash-sucker-sellers who required you to pay extra for features that honestly existed in the category of "needed for well-being".

The following crime report included mention of a body washing up on the shores of Halcyon Beach. Was nothing sacred anymore?! Not that crime anywhere was unusual, as evidenced by how that particular crime tidbit was reported with no more alarm than the rest, but still. A location named after symbols of peace and calm set certain expectations in one's mind. It was all just false advertising at this point.

From her balcony, where she was sitting working on modifications to her helmet, Keyrs looked up.

The apartment she called home was situated on the border between the aforementioned neighbourhood, and the poorest. Her balcony was positioned such that she could look left and see Halcyon Heights to the North, or look right and see Mapleview to the south -or, as the locations existed in her mind: the neighbourhood she deserved to be living in, and the neighbourhood nobody did.

Following moments of compassionate reflection and self-centered brooding, Keyrs reverted attention to her work. The laser sights/guns she was working to install on the bases of her antennae feeling all the more prudent.

But, something wasn't quite meshing. She set down her tools a moment later, pausing with another moment's consideration of the situation. "This calls for Solar Crisps," she declared in a matter-of-fact way to herself, shifting from her slouched, foot-against-the-railing position into one conducive to standing up. "Maybe some Five-St*rr Crush, too."

Keyrs bent over to pack her tools back into their kit with one hand while keeping her helmet on her lab with the other. Shutting the case, she then placed the helmet on her head before grabbing the former object and heading back inside.

She shut the screen and interior door behind her, engaging the lock mechanism of each in turn and closing the blind, set the tool case where it was meant to go, and after changing to casual "going out" clothes from her casual "staying in" clothes -and doing a few other pre-going out routine things- locked behind her the third door of the day -her front. After first unlocking it to get out of course. One could not live in this city without keeping the doors to their domiciles thoroughly locked at all times.

Extra thorough in Keyrs' case, and not by way of 4 different bolt locks plus a chain, though she had those too -analog was an essential backup should power outages by way of overtaxing the grid or EMPs occur- but by way of her own specialized security system which definitely was not for sale. As soon as you sell your technology that's when it can be co-opted; corrupted; exploited. Even sooner than that, really, but Keyrs had responses to hackers, too.

In any case, now on the other side of the door, Keyrs inserted a credit card-shaped USB into a camouflaged port, rapped three of her fingers on the drive's touchscreen in a certain way, then removed it and snapped the drive into a section at the inner-wrist of her glove.

That all done, she proceeded down the stairs -much more agreeable than the elevator- and once out on the street, placed her specialty-gloved hands into her pockets and started to walk to a convenience store in Riverside.

Detritus was visible on the streets on the regular which tended to prompt Keyrs to think of Riverside as What's-In-Your-Riverside, but oh well.
It wasn't a bad walk, all things considered

Location: Riverside | Before Noon