Awakenings (IC)

[Neo-Paladin]

Kensington listens for a moment, then nods again, stroking his beard somewhat absent-mindedly.
" We know that we have found 129 individuals with extraordinary powers so far. Of that number, 87 are what i have dubbed 'Supernormals', people with abilities that are theoretically possible. The others are 'Aberrants', people whose powers ar ebeyond the scope of our knowledge of physics. Of these, 23 have exhibited dangerous mental illnesses. These are our main concern. But we also should not neglect the others. These people need to be found and contacted beforethey become a danger to themselves and others."

[whiteprofit]

Heather Rushie
HP: 1

Heather uses her power to read into the thoughts behind Kensignton's words. For the sake of the others, she asks allowed, "Are you asking us to find these people? The 42. Is that why you've brought us here?" Though she already suspects an answer, Kensington seems on his guard with his thoughts and a clear answer can't be found. Heather has also learned from experience that hearing it out loud is more reassuring than fleeting thoughts.

[sirzanek]

Zach Spencer

Zach had barely noticed the quiet girl's entrance. Not overly surprising, as he had been devoting much of his focus to verbally sparring with the flamboyant red head. He definitely appreciated how direct she was. "And of the remaining 19, how many are part of our little club?"

[Neo-Paladin]

" Well, if you choose to work with me, there will be you, me and Marcus. I contacted you because you all seemed the most...stable. What we need to do is find others before dangerous people do. And I consider the military among the dangerous ones."

[whiteprofit]

Heather Rushie
HP: 1

Heather tried to shut out the horrible imaginings that jumped to the forefront of his mind when he mentioned the government 'working' on and with test subjects with super powers. She noticeably flinched and then the room went dark around her. She had been seeing and hearing everyone through everyone else and when she tried to shut out just one, they all dropped. Heather was far from mastered in her powers.

Because of the severed link, she didn't already know the answer to her next question. She had felt something in the doctor's mind, before she lost control, that lead her toward this question: "Is there a more immediate reason for calling us all together? We're far from trained for such things, or at least I'm not."

[sirzanek]

Zach Spencer

"Hmm...well, as I already said, I'm in, doc. I'm not sure what to think of the whole side effects aspect of things, but if I am going to start to lose it, I'd rather be aligned with someone who might be inclined to help instead of going straight to vivisection." Zach starts looking around the room and begins thinking out loud. "Ok...so, you're definitely not military, doc. That much is clear. I'd say not intelligence community either, or Marcus wouldn't have to dig around the CIA using his powers when you could just access it. However, you did manage to pull together a whole lot of information, and your mistrust of the government sounds like it comes from the sort of rational thought gained from experience not idealism. Some consultant work or empolyment with some other government branch? CDC, World Health, something like that?" then, like a switch has flipped, it seems Zach processes everything he has just said and he shrinks a little with embarrassment. "Wow, I'm sorry, I have read way too many spy novels. Shutting up now..."

[Neo-Paladin]

" I know you are not trained...but, unfortunately, you are our best best...no offense intended", the doc responds. " And i called on you now because we have a problem."
He nods in Marcus' direction, who uses his powers to change the picture on the main screen. The image splits up, showing to the left the face of an unassuming middle-aged caucasian male, looking a bit unshaven but not really remarkable. The right side shows that same man being in the middle of what seems to be the "Occupy" demonstrations from a few months before...in the video being played, it shows him attack a group of police officers who used their sticks on a protester who was already on the ground.
What follows is probably the most epic beatdown anyone of you has ever seen.
As anyone with even a passing interest in Martial Arts can see, the man's technique is absolutely flawless and absolutely devastating. Within 3 seconds, he has taken out the officers and is attacked by another, whom he takes out even quicker.
It goes on from there...
" This is Adam Shanks. 29, living in Brooklyn. No criminal history. Currently working as a temp in an accounting firm. And, given Marcus' analysis, the perfect fighter. Absolute coordination, superhuman reflexes, high resistance to pain and perfect muscle memory, All you see here are techniques he has learned from watching movies. He managed to take out 67 officers, all trained in riot procedures and all heavily armored, before he was shot in the knee and transferred to a hospital. Where he vanished." Again, the screen switches to show another man, a haggard, drawn figure in a suit. The man's left eye is covered with an old-fashioned eyepatch, the other an unsettling shade of purple.
" This man was last seen visiting him. We do not have any ID, no fingerprints, nothing. The minds of the hospital staff have been tampered with, with all of the night staff suffering from short-term amnesia. We need to find Shanks because if anyone else does...well, just imagine him being duped or controlled. The perfect assassin."

[Walking Dad]

Chris Mason
Character Sheet - HP: 1 - Luck: 3 - Condition normal

"He is the best assassin they found... or the least obvious powered one? It seems this purple-eye pirate is much into secrecy. And why did they shoot the karate guy? Shouldn't we give this police bullies a lesson first before stopping the "assassin"? Maybe purple eye is a good guy, too, and was just freeing the man." Chris wonders.

[sirzanek]

Zach Spencer

Zach listened to Chris' comments and took a second to process them. "Well, it seems that what we need right now is information. Dealing with the three cops that were abusing their power is a matter for internal affairs or the civil court. Doc, correct me if I'm wrong here, but if we start going around using our powers to enforce our idea of justice, it could make things hard on us and anyone else who discovers they have powers. As far as the other cops knew, there was a guy wailing on some cops that by all appearances was probably hopped up on PCP and was incredibly dangerous. The fact that they only winged him in the knee should be counted as a small blessing. Sure the first three cops deserved it, but not the other sixty four, necessarily. Not to mention the fact that it looks like Mr. Shanks already beat you to the punch on that particular lesson, in the most literal of senses. My read is that the biggest problem is that we don't know anything about Captain Pink Eye's motivations or involvement. If he is a friend and has similar peaceful motivations, great, maybe we can set up some kind of partnership. But given the fact that he violated the minds of several innocent people who were just doing their jobs at the hospital, it gives one pause. Plus, we were given a choice to come here or not. Is it so far fetched to think that if Professor Cyclops can mess with memories, he may have used that ability to get Shanks to go with him? if you wake up in a hospital with a gun shot wound and no memory of how you got it, you would probably be pretty open to what some really helpful guy said. So we should probably figure out his angle before we take any kind of definitive action."

[Neo-Paladin]

" That's very true", the Doc said, nodding at Zach. " Hence why I need you to start an investigation. I doubt that Mr. Shanks acted out of malice towards the officers. The video shows him shove one of them aside rather clumsily...his skills only seem to kick in after he has been attacked in return. Marcus and I believe this to have been his 'breakout event', the first instance his powers manifested. I think most of what happened afterwards happened due to his reflexes taking over. And the other man...as stated, we know absolutely nothing about him. No fingerprints, no digital traces...nothing except this one photo."

[Walking Dad]

Chris Mason
Character Sheet - HP: 1 - Luck: 3 - Condition normal

"Alright, IF we dothis, how and where should we start? Is one of us a "super-investigator"? I'm sure that isn't me." Chris asks.

[Neo-Paladin]

The doctor shrugs. " I would start with the only thing we know for sure...Shanks. Maybe he knew the other man or maybe he has been contacted before. We have his adress, you could check that out."

[Walking Dad]

Chris Mason
Character Sheet - HP: 1 - Luck: 3 - Condition normal

"Ok, this is a start. But before we go, is it possible to check his telephone use, e-mail accounts and social networks. If he was contacted, likely we can find something there. But if they there thorough enough to delete everything, I bet we will find nothing at his address as well." Chris ponders.

[Neo-Paladin]

" Already done", comes the voice of Marcus from the speakers. " I can give you his mail account, his facebook friends - 122, to be exact, the last 100 sites he visited on the net, his phone protocol...which contains a few more and more frantic calls from his girlfriend, apparently...any specific info you are looking for?"

[Walking Dad]

Chris Mason
Character Sheet - HP: 1 - Luck: 3 - Condition normal

"Let's start with the obvious. Any anonymous messages or an addressor that seems faked? Most recent facebook friends. Did we only got the numbers and stuff or the actual mail contents?" Chris asks, starting to get excited by the secret agent/spy stuff.