Non-HPU: Beacon of Hope

[Legotron123]

Kolt was about to ask Solomon another question when he flew off, leaving the Concertian to sit there and ponder. ”If ‘Justus,’ Gods that’s a dumb name, was blown up, then how could he still alive? He should be a pile of assorted giblets right now.”
Maybe he has become a ghost, and Solomon was mistaken when he said there was evidence of his survival.
Kolt sighed. ”The sad thing is, I can’t really just dismiss that idea like I could a month ago. That Kingdom Hearts rip-off of a god kinda threw my whole world view into wack. Anyways, where’s Jenny? He said she was coming, but I don’t see, oh there she is. Hey Jenny!” He said, spotting his maybe girlfriend as she walked into view. ”You mind if I call you Jen? Dropping that syllable at the end makes it roll off the tongue better.”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"No trouble at all, Kolt," the Ratlady said, stepping out onto his level. "I was going to ask if you were O.K., but I sense you and Hive talked things through?" She stooped to sit next to him. "Been a day, hasn't it?"
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Jaken went with the bee and Rika towards his new place, holding her hand and watching everyone they passed.

[~\Rook/~]

Rika followed along, wishing she had put her clothes back on before they entered the portal. Although it wasn't many people, she was not happy about the stares she was getting..

[Welsh Halfwit]

Jaken noticed the staring and looking and had to admit he didn't know why Miss Rika didn't seem to like it. He'd always been told to let people appreciate the looks they got but he decided to help out. "Seems they like seeing beauty," he said chirpily, "the way they are all looking at me!"
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"Ah," Hannabell 'Death Vixen' Presana sighed as they arrive at the interrogation rooms, "this takes me back. I haven't been in one of these rooms in... twenty years now? I take it the security system is not the Siggle-Meyer 5490? With its' unfortunate security flaw against narrow band radiation?"

[Legotron123]

”Yeah, we talked for a bit, he made me laugh, and now I’m feeling kinda okay. Not good, I’m still a little sad inside, but I’m at least feeling better than I was a couple of minute ago.” Kolt said, leaning to rest his head on Jenny’s shoulder. He gave a small chuckle at her statement that it’d “been a day.” ”That’s one heck of an understatement. It’d be ‘a day’ if I just got to have my world view shaken up by that dark god. It’d be ‘a day’ if the group had just had to face an assassination attempt. Those two combined with everything else make for a pretty unique first day on the job. You wanna know how I spent my first day in the Magni? Power testing. Ten straight hours testing every single thing my powers might be able to do, with small breaks to eat and unwind. I didn’t see combat until almost a week later. And even then it was against D-list villains who were just robbing a bank.”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"I was chasing parking violators and running wiretaps my first few months as an agent," Jenny confided, appreciating the contact. "They wanted me to learn patience to correctly investigate a crime rather than what I did on the simulations. You hadto find which house in a street had hostages and hostage takers in it. You had to save the hostages. I chose a house I figured had them, Kicked the door in and stormed the place by myself. The simulation wasn't prepared for it so it froze and I won.
And got disciplined." She chuckled.

[Legotron123]

Kolt scoffed at the simulation freezing over something so simple. ”Whoever programmed that simulation clearly didn’t put enough effort into it. Any video gamer designer could tell you there’s always going to be players that will do the complete opposite of what you want them to do. If you don’t program your games to account for that, then they’re not going to be good.” He said, his tone rather dismissive. He clearly didn’t think highly of whoever would leave such an obvious flaw in their work. ”So, we’ve checked out the water park section of this place. You wanna try out the amusement park portion now, or should we just sit here for a little bit longer and talk about our feelings?”

[CyberDragon]

Jaken noticed the staring and looking and had to admit he didn't know why Miss Rika didn't seem to like it. He'd always been told to let people appreciate the looks they got but he decided to help out. "Seems they like seeing beauty," he said chirpily, "the way they are all looking at me!"

The hive droid let out a short static burst of a laugh as it led them through a portal-door kiosk (A phone-booth sized kiosk that contains a portal door) and into the Champion Tower lobby. "All right, I think Rika can show you to where you will be staying from here, Jaken. Rika, once I get some droids down there that aren't disposing of a potential bioweapon I will retrieve your clothes from your locker and return them to your room. You don't have to worry about it." With that, the droid left and went about it's business.

When she gets to her room, Rika would find that it had somehow spontaneously sprouted a new bedroom fitted for a child Jaken's size and fitted with all sorts of popular Celican items and memorabilia.

---------------------

"Ah," Hannabell 'Death Vixen' Presana sighed as they arrive at the interrogation rooms, "this takes me back. I haven't been in one of these rooms in... twenty years now? I take it the security system is not the Siggle-Meyer 5490? With its' unfortunate security flaw against narrow band radiation?"

"Of course not. That was thirty years out of date the moment it was developed." The heavy security droid said as it cuffed her to the interrogation chair. "I'm the security here." It didn't bother to elaborate. "Tell me everything you told Golta. You've already given that information up, so this should be easy."

[Buster]

Kol is just kind of following the group again. Not really sure what the place they've shown up in is for... her discomfort around crowds and her suit's battered apearance isn't helping make her all that aproachable either.

- - - - - -

>Next question, Brakwall. Who is Julian?

"You mean originally or currently? Because he changes faces more often than I change clothes. If you want his origional face, ask your rat friend for the dossier on 'Sleeper'. Last I saw him, he looked human." the prisoner commented with a shrug, "And he'll probably change it again. If you don't find him by tonight, don't expect to. Don't ask me for details, you monkeys all look the same to me."

He's telling the truth, his memories are fuzzy on the details other than brown hair and caucasian, he either didn't pay attention to or notice much else about him.

He's also mentally grumbling about this being the most boring interrogation ever. He seems to think Hivemind already knows the answer and is only asking to be annoying.

"Just erase me already and get it over with."

- - - - - -

>I don't know if crazy is the right word. Eccentric maybe. How does it feel to be able to pay for a replacement hull for your ship after one day's work?

>If this is really what you put this team together for, you're going to wind up spending enough to bankrupt a planet by the end of the month. you know that right? I mea- Hold up...

While those two were talking Kobor and June have paid and headed off. June's 'random exploring' somehow leading to the shop Hivemind originally intended to show her. Noticing where Kobor had piloted her, Talya cut off her conversation with Hivemind and became more than a little agitated.

"Okay, HOW do you keep doing that? Recovering stupidly fast, entering the correct code to bypass the doors by accident, Finding the right part of a city-sized module at random... HOW. It's like you can just ignore the fact that these things should be statistically impossible!"

"I... Don't know? I just get a feeling that things are going to work out... and they do?" June tries to explain Giving a shrug as she continues to swim forward.

"Oh... I really hope i'm wrong... June Look at me." Kobor grumbled, putting the pieces together faster than Talya for a change.

"Yes?"

"If you had to guess the registry number of the TCV Endurance, what would you say it is?"

June paused a moment, thinking before she answered. "LC-22154. Did I get it right?" She guessed.

Kobor just gave a frustrated sigh in response. Talya speaking up before he could confirm that, Yes, she got it right. "Did I see that right? Her eyes..."
"No, I saw it too."
"I thought most of them were spliced or augmented humans though..."

"What's wrong with my eyes." She seemed rather alarmed now...

"Nothing... Everything... It's called a corona. Black Sclera, violet glowing irises. Only appears for a few seconds unless you intentionally maintain it. It's hard to spot on you, since your eyes are already all black, but it happens when someone taps into a 'gift'."

Why do you make that sound like a bad thing? Most gifts are amazing. Almost anyone would give anything to have one.
Most. Probability control one of the three S-Class gifts that there's a permanent kill order on.
So, even if we make it back, she's stuck here, and nobody from our side can ever find out she's here?
Yup.

Greeeaaat...

While Kobor is discussing his concerns with Talya internally, externally he continues to explain what she has to June. Despite Kobor being a bit of a downer about the whole thing, she seems excited.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Gladly," Hannabell said, pulling slightly at the cuffs, "although this is hardly necessary. What, I'm going to go on the run? |This morning I was just a tourist, looking forward to someplace called 'Orlando'. Then I get a mail - and you can check that, although it's probably vanished by now, knowing these people. The message said to capture the Cub and bring him back to Celica. The reward stated was Fifty thousand Credits. Not enough to hire someone like Death Vixen, I don't suppose, but the fact that it was to be paid into my Grandcubs accounts?" Once again the genteel Grandma persona fell away to reveal the cold Celican inside and it was easy to believe er next words. "THAT threat could not go unchallenged and the best way to find out who I had to kill was to bring the boy back. The alternate to keep them safe was to die and I didn't manage that either so I take the route left. To work with you lot and hope for the best."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaken looked around his room and went a little weak kneed. Three Dimensional posters of several up and coming hunters and one Vixen singing into a microphone whilst wearing something that nearly covered part of her body with a possible PG13 rating. A bed with a thick, stripy, duvet. The model of a Celican spine and skull on the desk and even a small computer terminal... He gave Rika a tight hug and a lick on the cheek.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think that's up to you, Kolt," Jenny replied. "I think there's time for both. And, being honest? Just spending five minutes sitting and doing nothing is kinda nice," she continued, resting against him.

[CyberDragon]

"You mean originally or currently? Because he changes faces more often than I change clothes. If you want his origional face, ask your rat friend for the dossier on 'Sleeper'. Last I saw him, he looked human." the prisoner commented with a shrug, "And he'll probably change it again. If you don't find him by tonight, don't expect to. Don't ask me for details, you monkeys all look the same to me."

He's telling the truth, his memories are fuzzy on the details other than brown hair and caucasian, he either didn't pay attention to or notice much else about him.

He's also mentally grumbling about this being the most boring interrogation ever. He seems to think Hivemind already knows the answer and is only asking to be annoying.

"Just erase me already and get it over with."

>I am not planning on erasing you.
>However I can do whatever I feel like. Just because I wish to keep you alive does not mean I cannot do anything to you.
>For example: You now feel an itch in the back of your neck because I put it there.
>Next question: Who sent you?

--------------------------

>If this is really what you put this team together for, you're going to wind up spending enough to bankrupt a planet by the end of the month. you know that right? I mea- Hold up...

While those two were talking Kobor and June have paid and headed off. June's 'random exploring' somehow leading to the shop Hivemind originally intended to show her. Noticing where Kobor had piloted her, Talya cut off her conversation with Hivemind and became more than a little agitated.

"Okay, HOW do you keep doing that? Recovering stupidly fast, entering the correct code to bypass the doors by accident, Finding the right part of a city-sized module at random... HOW. It's like you can just ignore the fact that these things should be statistically impossible!"

"I... Don't know? I just get a feeling that things are going to work out... and they do?" June tries to explain Giving a shrug as she continues to swim forward.

"Oh... I really hope i'm wrong... June Look at me." Kobor grumbled, putting the pieces together faster than Talya for a change.

"Yes?"

"If you had to guess the registry number of the TCV Endurance, what would you say it is?"

June paused a moment, thinking before she answered. "LC-22154. Did I get it right?" She guessed.

Kobor just gave a frustrated sigh in response. Talya speaking up before he could confirm that, Yes, she got it right. "Did I see that right? Her eyes..."
"No, I saw it too."
"I thought most of them were spliced or augmented humans though..."

"What's wrong with my eyes." She seemed rather alarmed now...

"Nothing... Everything... It's called a corona. Black Sclera, violet glowing irises. Only appears for a few seconds unless you intentionally maintain it. It's hard to spot on you, since your eyes are already all black, but it happens when someone taps into a 'gift'."

Why do you make that sound like a bad thing? Most gifts are amazing. Almost anyone would give anything to have one.
Most. Probability control one of the three S-Class gifts that there's a permanent kill order on.
So, even if we make it back, she's stuck here, and nobody from our side can ever find out she's here?
Yup.

Greeeaaat...

While Kobor is discussing his concerns with Talya internally, externally he continues to explain what she has to June. Despite Kobor being a bit of a downer about the whole thing, she seems excited.

>If you want to know how I pay for everything, I will say. Maybe it will make sense then.
>First, I invented cost-effective FTL travel. Anyone who has an up-to-date FTL drive payed me for the technology.
>Second, I own mining rights on a planet orbiting close to a high carbon star. This diamond-rich planet is estimated to contain $25 nonillion USD worth of diamonds. Because I was the only one to develop the technology that made mining it possible, the rights were cheap.
>Third, The Beacon of Hope conducts trade between worlds. Everything we carry is rare and in-demand somewhere because many things common on one planet are nonexistent on another.

When Talya broke off talking to discuss June with Kobor.

>What's wrong? Why is having a gift bad?

--------------------------

"Gladly," Hannabell said, pulling slightly at the cuffs, "although this is hardly necessary. What, I'm going to go on the run? |This morning I was just a tourist, looking forward to someplace called 'Orlando'. Then I get a mail - and you can check that, although it's probably vanished by now, knowing these people. The message said to capture the Cub and bring him back to Celica. The reward stated was Fifty thousand Credits. Not enough to hire someone like Death Vixen, I don't suppose, but the fact that it was to be paid into my Grandcubs accounts?" Once again the genteel Grandma persona fell away to reveal the cold Celican inside and it was easy to believe er next words. "THAT threat could not go unchallenged and the best way to find out who I had to kill was to bring the boy back. The alternate to keep them safe was to die and I didn't manage that either so I take the route left. To work with you lot and hope for the best."

"You landed quite a ways from Orlando. We will get back to that. Next question: If you like to minimize collateral damage, why did you aim for Rika's head?"

[~\Rook/~]

Jaken noticed the staring and looking and had to admit he didn't know why Miss Rika didn't seem to like it. He'd always been told to let people appreciate the looks they got but he decided to help out. "Seems they like seeing beauty," he said chirpily, "the way they are all looking at me!"

The hive droid let out a short static burst of a laugh as it led them through a portal-door kiosk (A phone-booth sized kiosk that contains a portal door) and into the Champion Tower lobby. "All right, I think Rika can show you to where you will be staying from here, Jaken. Rika, once I get some droids down there that aren't disposing of a potential bioweapon I will retrieve your clothes from your locker and return them to your room. You don't have to worry about it." With that, the droid left and went about it's business.

When she gets to her room, Rika would find that it had somehow spontaneously sprouted a new bedroom fitted for a child Jaken's size and fitted with all sorts of popular Celican items and memorabilia.

"No need, Jaken got them for me!! Even though he shouldn't of.." Rika called after the droid, saying the last part through gritted teeth directed at Jaken. "Thanks anyway! See you at the dinner!!" She then showed Jaken how to use the lift and which number her room was as they rode said lift to her room's floor. "..And here we are, home sweet home!" She said as they entered the apartment, chucking her backpack into the center of the room next to a pile of boxes. "Your room is the first door on the right-side wall, the bathroom is the next door up and my room's the third. The rest is self-explanatory.. Er, 'obvious'. The door on the left, next to the kitchen, is my lab. Please don't go in there.. Other than that, make yourself comfortable!"

With all that explained, Rika heads into her room..

Jaken looked around his room and went a little weak kneed. Three Dimensional posters of several up and coming hunters and one Vixen singing into a microphone whilst wearing something that nearly covered part of her body with a possible PG13 rating. A bed with a thick, stripy, duvet. The model of a Celican spine and skull on the desk and even a small computer terminal... He gave Rika a tight hug and a lick on the cheek.

Rika had left her room in time for Jaken to tackle her with the hug. "You really like your room then?" She said with chuckle. "You should be thanking Hivemind, although licking him wouldn't be a good idea.."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"The rifle was uncalibrated," she stated, "at least not calibrated by me. That's the only reason I had the laser scope. Well, the main reason. You focus the target and then move the trajectory. I may have placed the spot on the head but I was not looking to place the shot there. Wounding the young woman would serve my purposes better than killing her anyway.
Killing her would have had me with her friends headed my way. Wounding her meant her friends would be split on coming at me or protecting her and I get a chance to move away. Of course they kept who her associates WERE from me so I couldn't prepare...". She sighed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Yeah," Jaken agreed, "he'd taste of metal. Blargh!" He barked a short laugh.

[Buster]

>Normally it isn't. They're rare traits that no two beings can have the same one of at a time. But because most gifted are human they fall under the jurisdiction of the Terran Colonial Imperrium, who's government has a kill order on certain ones that it deems 'too dangerous for any one person to possess'.

[~\Rook/~]

Rika laughed too, genuinely. "..Anyway, I'm going to have a shower. Do you need to use the bathroom before I go in there?" She asked, patting the young Celican on his head. He answers no. "Alright. Once I'm done it's your turn, then we'll pick out some clothes for you and head to the dinner. Sound good?"

After Jaken answers, Rika grabs a bundle of clothes and a towel from in her room before heading into the bathroom. Within a few seconds running water could be heard, along with the humming of a happy tune.

[CyberDragon]

"The rifle was uncalibrated," she stated, "at least not calibrated by me. That's the only reason I had the laser scope. Well, the main reason. You focus the target and then move the trajectory. I may have placed the spot on the head but I was not looking to place the shot there. Wounding the young woman would serve my purposes better than killing her anyway.
Killing her would have had me with her friends headed my way. Wounding her meant her friends would be split on coming at me or protecting her and I get a chance to move away. Of course they kept who her associates WERE from me so I couldn't prepare...". She sighed.

"Bet that caught you off guard. So. Tell me about your grandcubs."

---------------------------

>Normally it isn't. They're rare traits that no two beings can have the same one of at a time. But because most gifted are human they fall under the jurisdiction of the Terran Colonial Imperrium, who's government has a kill order on certain ones that it deems 'too dangerous for any one person to possess'.

The robo-dragon gave itself an unmistakable facepalm. "Are you kidding me? Can't we have one government that isn't trying to send assassins after super-powered kids?" It let out a sigh. "Don't worry. We'll keep her safe, even if we visit wherever you are from, we will keep June safe. We've encountered governments that have kill orders on supers and one of two things happen: They challenge us and loose, or they look at us, see the 500 mile long armed ship minding it's own business, say 'NOPE' and back off. Anyway, I should ask if June wants to attend the dinner meeting with the Prime Minister? I assure you it will be safe."

---------------------------

Predator flew undetected over the park until it got back to the main court. The dozen or so Biohazard droids working in the awkward silence. Predator swooped down jaws open and scooped up one of the droids, dropping it's camo before shutting it's jaws on his own droid. It was a weird sensation, downloading himself. The third light in the array on Predator's abdomen lit up, only this one was blinking as it copied parts of the droid.

[Flamethrower copied]
[Spacial displacement updated with pathogen detection]

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Corvis is a little sod," Hannabell admitted lightly, the one whi tests the limits and the patience.
Nine with the attitude of a teenager. No hunters on his wall, He likes to buck the norm by rooting for the prey. He wants the prey armed to make it a real game where both sides can win. Forever trying to get into small scale trouble and failing, mostly because of his brother, Golten. Two years younger and a pile smarter than anyone around him on Cana. Sensitive is a good word. First time he killed anything he cried and I don't think he's done it again." She chuckled. "Very UnCelican but, thankfully, he has brains and patience. We already know he's destined to be a talker. In politics possibly. Although I hope not. I prefer him innocent. I prefer them BOTH alive." She took a breath to remove the emotion from her tone. "How's the Lycan, by the way?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leaving the door open, Jaken removed his shorts and jumped onto his new bed, bouncing a couple of times before landing, face down, in the plushness and letting himself sink in.

[Buster]

>To be fair, it's only Temporal Manipulation, Probability Manipulation, and Mental Domination. All three of which have been abused in the past to produce Interplanetary Dictatorships led by god-emperors.
>And invisible is better than safe. A good half of the alliance would back the Imperium up if they came for her.
>I doubt you're equipped to deal with the fleets of a thousand worlds working together.

[Deske]

Ulrich looked around, "So are we once again free to go about our day until the dinner?"

[~\Rook/~]

A while later, Rika emerged from the bathroom. She poked her head around Jaken's door with a towel draped over her head, which obscured her veiw, and another towel wrapped around her body. "I'm done, your turn. The water's still on so get in there quick, alright?" She said simply. She then headed into her room, rubbing the towel over her head as she went and not bothering to shut any doors either..

[Legotron123]

Kolt grimaced a little at the idea of doing nothing. ”I don’t know if I can just sit around and do nothing.” He said, tilting his head a little to look at Jen. ”I get antsy really quickly if I’m not doing anything. It’s why I alway have at least one gaming system on me at all times. Can we maybe just talk for a couple of minutes? How about you tell me why you joined the Champions.”

[Neon Icy Wings]

Tatiana gave a shrug to Ulrich, "No idea. I mean as long as we keep our communications on it shouldn't be that big a biggie if we go and do what we were doing. Though I'm still confused on what just happened."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Yeah, a'course," Jenny answered, continuing to lean against him whilst talking. "I was on Silanus a few months back when a supergroup fought a battle in the middle of Farin City. They'd received information on this team so tried to ambush them in the area of the city with less people in. Unfortunately they had needed to improvise once they discovered the explosive device the enemy group were carrying. I found this out during the fight. AFTER the fight I discovered that they hadn't spoken with the local police chief beforehand as they'd feared the police getting in the way and getting hurt. You want to imagine what the Police Chief thought of THAT as a reason? It meant that I had to issue warrants for the arrest of the leaders of the group involved for reckless endangerment of civilians. Relationships between the police services and the hero groups have to improve. The best way to do that is to embed police or Agents in the groups to help them come together. I understand it's beginning to happen now after I did it first."
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Jaken peeled himself off the bed and trotted into the shower for several minutes to get drenched again. He towelled himself down and wondered if Rika had an incinerator for the towel afterwards. When that was done he found one of the seventeen pairs of plain shorts HiveMind had ready for him and pulled them on. After that he trotted towards Rika. "Miss Rika," he said, knocking her door. "Why is it you do not like people looking at your Beauty? Don't you like them feeling a bit jealous?"

[Deske]

"Good point. Though I do not have much in the way of instant communication, but I do have a phone." He pulled out a thin sheet of capacitive glass and held it up for Tatiana to see, "But that is all." He checked the time on his watch, "Think we have time to go actually seethe jelly fish?" He looked between Tatiana and Kol.

[CyberDragon]

Ulrich looked around, "So are we once again free to go about our day until the dinner?"

Tatiana gave a shrug to Ulrich, "No idea. I mean as long as we keep our communications on it shouldn't be that big a biggie if we go and do what we were doing. Though I'm still confused on what just happened."

"Good point. Though I do not have much in the way of instant communication, but I do have a phone." He pulled out a thin sheet of capacitive glass and held it up for Tatiana to see, "But that is all." He checked the time on his watch, "Think we have time to go actually seethe jelly fish?" He looked between Tatiana and Kol.

Somewhat surprised that absolutely nobody had any reaction to the sudden appearance of a sixty-foot-long robot-wolf-raptor thing appearing out of nowhere and eating an android, Hivemind chalked it up to it being "one of those days."

"You can go wherever you want while we wait for the meeting." Predator said. "Be sure to keep the phone on. I will contact you, Ulrich, when we need to get going. Also... stay away from any first aid kits. The syringe thrower admitted to placing infected syringes inside two of them."

With that, Predator began it's search. It fired up the upgraded Spacial Displacement Sensor and immediately located the two remaining thrown syringes. It gave Morgan's armor a scan and determined the shield repelled the infection and left the armor untouched. Predator placed the syringes in an open area on the concrete and opened it's jaws again. Inside of them in the back of the 'mouth' was an odd device made of a series of spinning disk-like objects. It looked a little like a portal generator of sorts. The device started to spin and a small disk of light appeared. Predator pointed it's head at the syringes and belched out a stream of thousand-degree fire that vaporized the syringes and the pathogens within (also melting the ground beneath it). With those dealt with, it turned it's cloaking system on again and took flight, looking for the infected first aid kits.

--------------------

"Corvis is a little sod," Hannabell admitted lightly, the one whi tests the limits and the patience.
Nine with the attitude of a teenager. No hunters on his wall, He likes to buck the norm by rooting for the prey. He wants the prey armed to make it a real game where both sides can win. Forever trying to get into small scale trouble and failing, mostly because of his brother, Golten. Two years younger and a pile smarter than anyone around him on Cana. Sensitive is a good word. First time he killed anything he cried and I don't think he's done it again." She chuckled. "Very UnCelican but, thankfully, he has brains and patience. We already know he's destined to be a talker. In politics possibly. Although I hope not. I prefer him innocent. I prefer them BOTH alive." She took a breath to remove the emotion from her tone. "How's the Lycan, by the way?"

"They sound like good kids. We will do what we can to protect them. Which is more than what your employers can do to hurt them." The Heavy Security droid said with confidence. It isn't boasting if you can back it up with action. To her questioning of the Lycan's health, he responded Don't forget..." The heavy security droid said. "This is an interrogation. Your cooperation and the overall lack of hostility that results from it might make it seem like a conversation, but I will be the one asking questions. Who would be familiar enough with your real identity to know both that you were a retired assassin and that you had grandkids to threaten?"

--------------------

In the hospital, Randy was in critical condition in a quarantine area of the ICU. The Black Plague was beginning to show it's early stages, and something else was causing his heart rate to become erratic. The Good Doctor was on her way.

--------------------

>To be fair, it's only Temporal Manipulation, Probability Manipulation, and Mental Domination. All three of which have been abused in the past to produce Interplanetary Dictatorships led by god-emperors.
>And invisible is better than safe. A good half of the alliance would back the Imperium up if they came for her.
>I doubt you're equipped to deal with the fleets of a thousand worlds working together.

>a few years ago, we would be able to.
>Though this presents a problem.
>The Beacon is the only ship capable of jumping timelines.
>We need to use the Beacon to take you home.
>However, I have, as you saw earlier, a form of Mental Domination.
>Here it is called Zero-Range telepathy, and I have a pretty potent form of it.
>We will need the original five, possibly all six original champions if we are to return you home.
>Now that I think about it though, I have a question.
>Do you by any chance recognize Kol's species? She's the four armed sort of feline-marsupial-reptile from a frozen world?

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Oh," she breezed, "anyone who used to follow Sports and local news and can add two and two to make four. Or five. Government types - or business bigwigs with deep pockets - who can access files so secret that they're not kept on computer but in a secure vault." She sucked her teeth. "I suppose you can rule out Balbury. He's vicious, certainly, but he'd never involve the cubs." Her eye glinted. "By the by, you are missing a really obvious question based on what you've already been told, you know?"

[~\Rook/~]

Rika, who was now fully dressed in her casual attire once more, turned to the young Celican. "It's.. A little more complicated than that.." She replied, sitting on the end of her bed. She patted the space beside her, motioning for Jaken to sit. Once he did, she continued. "..It's not really about the people, Jaken. I like my body, yes, but that doesn't mean I want to or should show it off. It's like.. You would wear a coat if it was really cold, right? Or shoes if you wanted to protect your feet. It's more about the moment or your enviroment, you know? Thats why. Like.. When we walked through the transport hub, just before we got here? Did you see anyone else wearing swimming clothes apart from us? No. We stood out. Now nothing's wrong with standing out sometimes, but It felt wrong to me at that time.. Thats why."

[CyberDragon]

"Oh," she breezed, "anyone who used to follow Sports and local news and can add two and two to make four. Or five. Government types - or business bigwigs with deep pockets - who can access files so secret that they're not kept on computer but in a secure vault." She sucked her teeth. "I suppose you can rule out Balbury. He's vicious, certainly, but he'd never involve the cubs." Her eye glinted. "By the by, you are missing a really obvious question based on what you've already been told, you know?"

"And what question is that?"

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Well," she tutted, leaning back, "if you don't mind me asking the question? I've already told you, at least twice, that, less than an hour before the unpleasantness, I was just a tourist waiting for her ship to land. In Orlando. Florida.
" She leaned forward again for emphasis. "The United States. I wonder who could change the itinerary of a cruise halfway across the universe like that?"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I... would wear those if I had to," Jaken said, clearly a little unsure, "but I think I understand.
Had thought you did not think you were very beautiful. Wanted to tell you that was a lie. Not quite Celican in level, of course, but you are more beautiful in look and spirit than all others here that I saw, Miss Rika," he said solemnly.

[Buster]

>No, what you are is a Psycher by our standards. Not a gifted. There's a difference.
>Psychers can have abilities from empathy and telepathy to kinesis and projection, but there is no limit to how many there are in the universe, and they don't just instinctively know their ability.
>I don't know about here, but over there, anyone can become one but it takes a lifetime of training.
>There is only ever ONE dominator. They are born that way, and at some point they awaken.
>when they do, they can use their gift to it's full potential instinctively. Like June they might not even know they're doing it unless someone points it out.
>A gifted with that power wouldn't need to try. They would just order and anyone, even a fully trained psycher, would obey.
>Even if they know they wouldn't be able to fight it.
>It's by FAR the most dangerous of the restricted three.

The way the twins are talking right now their voices are blurring together. It's easy to believe there's only one of them when they do that. while thats going on, June is looking at outfits. Their tone shifts when Kol comes up.

>What you mean the elder Rhoui in the red environment suit? I just assumed they were more advanced on your side.
>Their home system has been charted, but they're considered a fledgling race. not ready. Contact is restricted to disaster prevention only until they've figured out the tests that were left for them.
>I mean heck, they only just figured out how metallurgy and printing work. and even then it's using a press or hammer and stamp to emboss sheets of metal because they don't have anything to make paper out of and they finally figured out that clawing stone was impractical. they're nowhere near ready.

- - - - - -

"Someone who said They could get my travel ban to the home-world lifted if i didn't ask those kinds of questions."

[CyberDragon]

"Well," she tutted, leaning back, "if you don't mind me asking the question? I've already told you, at least twice, that, less than an hour before the unpleasantness, I was just a tourist waiting for her ship to land. In Orlando. Florida.
" She leaned forward again for emphasis. "The United States. I wonder who could change the itinerary of a cruise halfway across the universe like that?"

"That was actually my next question. I think we both know the answer, but I want to hear it from you."

---------------------------

>No, what you are is a Psycher by our standards. Not a gifted. There's a difference.
>Psychers can have abilities from empathy and telepathy to kinesis and projection, but there is no limit to how many there are in the universe, and they don't just instinctively know their ability.
>I don't know about here, but over there, anyone can become one but it takes a lifetime of training.
>There is only ever ONE dominator. They are born that way, and at some point they awaken.
>when they do, they can use their gift to it's full potential instinctively. Like June they might not even know they're doing it unless someone points it out.
>A gifted with that power wouldn't need to try. They would just order and anyone, even a fully trained psycher, would obey.
>Even if they know they wouldn't be able to fight it.
>It's by FAR the most dangerous of the restricted three.

The way the twins are talking right now their voices are blurring together. It's easy to believe there's only one of them when they do that. while thats going on, June is looking at outfits. Their tone shifts when Kol comes up.

>What you mean the elder Rhoui in the red environment suit? I just assumed they were more advanced on your side.
>Their home system has been charted, but they're considered a fledgling race. not ready. Contact is restricted to disaster prevention only until they've figured out the tests that were left for them.
>I mean heck, they only just figured out how metallurgy and printing work. and even then it's using a press or hammer and stamp to emboss sheets of metal because they don't have anything to make paper out of and they finally figured out that clawing stone was impractical. they're nowhere near ready.

>It seems things operate differently here.
>I was born with this ability. It comes naturally.
>All I knew was that I could not see anything from other perspectives, or even leave my own head and obsessive thoughts unless I was in physical contact with another person.
>All I knew was that whenever I touched someone, I learned things they knew.
>I found out that I was influencing the people I touched. I could take them over. Put their mind in the back seat.
>I started wearing gloves.

Upon hearing them confirm they knew what Kol was, Hivemind was admittedly surprised. Exactly what were the odds of that?
>No. She came over in a portal generation accident.
>Her species does not show up on any database I have access to, and I have access to all of them.
>This means she is from your timeline.
>This gives us even more reason to visit.
>I think she wants to learn some of the Beacon's technology, namely how to get plentiful food in a frozen environment.
>I gave her the environment suit because she showed up in furs.
>The heat of the ship and the heat of the Bahamas would have been dangerous to her.

[Welsh Halfwit]

Hannabell looked up, her ees cold and sharp, fully open for the moment. "You think I know," she asked, putting a hand to her chest. "I could give you a list but it wouldn't narrow it much. You have the CEO of Immersion tours and her senior staff, all of whom are rich beyond money. you have the government section hesds and their deputies but you also have those who can find out who know what from the web. So, rounding down from Thieves, the government and hackers, we've managed to rule out
absolutely no-one." She sat back and showed her handpaws. "Onwards. Is there a chance of a coffee?"

[~\Rook/~]

"I... would wear those if I had to," Jaken said, clearly a little unsure, "but I think I understand. Had thought you did not think you were very beautiful. Wanted to tell you that was a lie. Not quite Celican in level, of course, but you are more beautiful in look and spirit than all others here that I saw, Miss Rika," he said solemnly.

"..Thank you, Jaken, that's very kind of you." Rika said quietly, smiling. "You're a very brave, confident, young man Jaken." She added, propping herself up on her elbows. "I'm very glad to have met you.."

[Legotron123]

”Yeah, that’s a classic rookie mistake amongst superheroes. You got to maintain a good relationship with the police, make sure they don’t think you just view them as the guys who take the baddies once you’ve done all the quote unquote ‘real work.’” Kolt said, rather content to just sit there with his head on her shoulder. ”My team back home always tried to keep a good relationship with the local police office. Granted, that was one of the first thing that went kaput when Allsight began his campaign of torment against us, but we’ve done a pretty good job of rebuilding since then.”

[CyberDragon]

Hannabell looked up, her ees cold and sharp, fully open for the moment. "You think I know," she asked, putting a hand to her chest. "I could give you a list but it wouldn't narrow it much. You have the CEO of Immersion tours and her senior staff, all of whom are rich beyond money. you have the government section hesds and their deputies but you also have those who can find out who know what from the web. So, rounding down from Thieves, the government and hackers, we've managed to rule out
absolutely no-one." She sat back and showed her handpaws. "Onwards. Is there a chance of a coffee?"

"Alright..." The android said. "I suppose I have no more questions for the moment. Not for interrogation anyway. A little coffee can't hurt."

Not long after, a second android walked into the room and handed Hannabell some coffee. "Now is the question of what comes next. You did not do any permanent damage, and you claim your intent was specifically to avoid it. However, you assaulted several Champions and attempted to kidnap someone under our protection. On the other hand, you claim your family was threatened by your employers, whoever they are, and that you were only doing it to protect family." The first droid leaned forward. "Here's the deal. You work with us as a witness. Our first stop is to pick up any family you have that might be in danger. Our next stop is Celica, where we will investigate this matter further and take action to ensure the people behind the attack are arrested. NOT killed. You will not be charged, and you will be helping us protect your family in exchange for any further information you might be able to provide in the future. You will not participate in any fighting, you will not be given champion authority. You will be a civilian witness. No guns, no engaging hostiles. If this isn't acceptable, I will send you to a high security reformation center on charges of assault and attempted kidnapping, possibly for most of the rest of your life. Your choice."

---------------------------

"Someone who said They could get my travel ban to the home-world lifted if i didn't ask those kinds of questions."

>Thank you for your cooperation.
>I have no other questions at this time.
>I suggest you get comfortable.
>It could be a while before I can transfer you to a physical location.

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Agreed," the old hitter stated, "although I do claim self defence rights if it all goes birdies up." She drank some of the coffee. "Not so terrible," she admitted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jenny chuckled. "It's a good job no-one got hurt here, either. Something about siccing three sixty foot tall mechs on three Celicans is kinda overkill. Good job Hive seems to be one of the best."
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Not half as glad a I am I met you, medicant of courage."

[~\Rook/~]

Rika's smile widened. "Its doctor, Jaken, doctor.." She pushed herself up and patted Jaken on the head. "Now, what should we do? We've still got a little time before the dinner.."

[Welsh Halfwit]

"Explore," he asked, bright eyed. "Or see programmes on the ship to see what I want to see later? What does Doctur Rika want to do?"

[Legotron123]

”Eh. There’s this hero back home called Wyvern who does the giant mech thing better. Though she doesn’t also have a spaceship the size of a country under her control, so I suppose it evens out in the end.” Kolt said, nuzzling his head into Jenny’s shoulder. ”You know, I’m kinda surprised you haven’t asked about why I got so upset. I mean, I get it, respecting my privacy and all, but I’d be willing to tell you. If the two of us are going to take this relationship seriously, I think we should be willing to ask each other uncomfortable questions.”

[Welsh Halfwit]

"I think I'm able to guess some of it, Kolt," Jenny advised. "Through personal experience, I mean." She sighed lightly, enjoying the feeling of him. "I figured there'd be a time you'd tell without asking, sweet, but I'm willing to talk. And willing to listen."