San Fransapporo (Masks: A New Generation IC)

[Merilan]

Freedom was about to speak further, but flinched with agitation as she whipped her head and stared at Shade and Reaver both crashing into Starbase in their usual high-octane freneticness. "I--I am here," she murmured, looking a lot more wan and pale than before. She didn't know how long she had before her spell would wear off, and the spider would continue to strike at her. "You don't have to yell. What... is it?"

She stared at Reaver, and grimaced slowly, looking down. "Socket traced the hack back to Hexxen Tech. The Britt can't move without solid evidence, though. Did you find answers... in the ether?"

[CoreBrute23]

"The only evidence I can provide is in my memory banks, and I don't think we can get anything out of it. Even the new memories I've made since I was awaken is heavily encrypted, let alone whatever memories come before-" Suddenly Shade appeared, shouting Freedom's name.

"I, Socket, am also present." Socket announced, not wanting to be excluded.

[Razade]

Wereshark

"You're the one who came to us dude!" The woman shouts back even as she backs up, her weapons dropping from her hands like they're simply toys. "If you don't wanna fight get the hell out of her!" she shouts, keeping her distance even as she looks for a way out from the situation. She's inbetween a rock and a hard blace.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

She's not attacking but who knows how long that'll last, she's obviously scared but she's not running. Where's she going to run anyway? What do you do?

Dynamis

The anti-Meta agents of Tonbogiri are closing in, the barricade keeping them at bay but the end of this fight is pretty clear here. There are only about eight Valkyrie on the wall, one fighting Wereshark, there's only three full agents from Tonbogiri along with their police backup which numbers in the dozens. Not to mention the helicopters that are keeping you away. "Dynamis of the Worst Generation. This is a Tonbogiri Operation. Please leave the designated area, we have it under control. Failure to comply will authorize us to use force."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Answers!

1. Help fend off Tonbogiri

2. The Valkyries.

What do you do?

[Zen Gypsy]

Shade
Condition: Angry, Guilty, Insecure.

"Oh sorry!" He lowered his voice at Freedom's re-buff, as he walked by Socket he noted the damage and scoring that had been done to his normal golden hued self. "Ouch Socket, some battle damage there. We might need to break out the Armor-All and the Sham-wow. You feelin' ok?"

. . . "Stop, okay? Just STOP!" she yells as Shade comes catapulting into the base less than a second behind her.

"What are you doing, dude? What the hell are you doing?"

He spun and looked at his oldest friend, beneath the mask Sam's face twisted into a grimace of guilt, and insecurity, Amelia could hear it in his voice, but his game face was on, he shoulder's were squared, he was ready to take on all comers in a stubborn act of defiance and self sacrifice. "I'm doing what I can to save Freedom ... if she's been infected by some spiritual darkness, shadow, spiders, *I* can see it?!? It's kinda my thing right?"

He paused, if he was going to be able to do this, he needed his team to back him up, "Listen Reaver, you stepped over to Oz, didn't you?" When Amelia first spoke of Karnifel, he could see the pain, and the loss written large on her face, he never teased her about it, but he always referred to it as something other than it's true name, to him it seemed to lessen the blow to her. "Talked to the man behind the curtain, and he told you what? That you needed my help?" He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezed slightly, "Maybe letting me do my thing *IS* that help. It'll be ok, I promise."

He strode over to where Freedom was sitting and lowered himself to the floor in front of her, sitting in a half lotus. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "Hey there Myorei, how ya holdin' up?" He paused, considered how much to share, again the insecurity flickered. "I got my powers when your sister, Justice, was tusslin' with some ninjas. I know, San Fransapporo right?" He tried a smile, a soft chuckle, "While she was kickin' @$$, I was hiding in an alley, saw one of the guys protecting something, she saw him too. When she attacked him he dropped it, it looked important so I picked it up, figured I could take it to the Shrine after all the excitement."

He shrugged non committally. "When I touched it, it went all shadow hentai on me." He shuddered at the memory, "Wasn't pretty, your sis missed me in the wrap up I guess. I woke up hours later, the thing is, the next day I talked to a man whom I really respect. He told me what I had felt was a chi imbalance, too much yin energy. Yin is dark, secretive, sinister. Yang is bright, open, honest. That's us Myorei." He reached out, and took Myorei's hand in his, "My connection to Yin, to the shadows, might let me isolate the spirit, draw it out. To at least identify it."

He swallowed, hard. "The question is, do you trust me?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I am going to Unleash, to extend my senses to allow me to 'see' the Infected Spirit. I am rolling Freak, +3, I have Influence on Myorei, for an additional +1, and Game Face allows me to take a +1 Forward, that'd bring me to +5, however, I believe it's capped at +4, so we'll save the Game Face bonus for another check. Here we go! (2d6+4)[11].

[herodofcows]

Reaver
Conditions: Angry, Guilty

Reaver's face softens as she looks at Freedom's frailty. The guilt of how she's handled things comes back full-force, and Shade hits her with the hard sell for the easy option JUST at the right moment.

"I . . ." she begins, trying to clap back with the appropriate level of vitriol before succumbing with a faint half-whisper, "I don't know if that's how it WORKS, Sam. I think we have to follow the steps exactly or else . . ."

Shade turns to talk to Freedom, and Reaver is left with the feeling that she's failing. Again.

"Uh . . . there's a ritual for your condition, yeah. I need an orchid from a graveyard, a newborn's blanket, and me and Shade need to go back to the Innominate at midnight. I don't know how general or specific things have to be, but the Innominate hasn't steered me wrong yet . . ."

Your end remains. Your end will come. There is no hope for you. No hope for The Reaver.

". . . so you're going to be okay, promise," she finishes, putting on a hopeful smile that she only half-feels.

She rounds to Socket, looking for some kind of . . . outlet.

"Hexxen, huh? Is that where Dynamis and Wereshark went off to?"

[CoreBrute23]

Socket shook his head, still very confused by Shade's abracadabra-ing.

"No, they went to fight Shield Maiden's Valkyries. I don't know where that is though." Socket looks back at Shadow and Freedom.

"Uh, I may not be an expert on magic," Socket said slowly. "But the ritual didn't say bring Myorei did it?" He turned back to her. "If it didn't say bring her, maybe Shade is supposed to incubate this...curse, to bring to your Ozzy land." Honestly Socket had no idea. He just wanted his team to stop yelling at each other.

"Maybe you and I can go talk to the people at Hexxen Corps?" He asked Reaver.

[Mr Sitouh]

"Dynamis of the Worst Generation. This is a Tonbogiri Operation. Please leave the designated area, we have it under control. Failure to comply will authorize us to use force."

Well, this plan went south faster than anticipated. He sighs, getting ready to talk instead.

""Hold your fire, AEGIS!" he shouts, his voice pitched to carry even over the choppers' noise. ""I have information relevant for your investigation and the safety of your officers. Can I come tell you in person, or would you rather have it on the six o'clock news?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

So, not sure if that'll be enough to count as provoking someone susceptible to my words, but in case it does, I want them to let me in to talk to whoever's in charge.

(2d6+2)[8]

[herodofcows]

Reaver
Conditions: Angry, Guilty

Reaver gives this the nod. Midnight's a while away, and it's not like she cares enough about her Friday classes to go back after all of this.

"Sure. Let's pay them a visit. You okay to go back there, big guy?"

Assuming the answer to be yes, Reaver starts making tracks towards the sewer route putting her (and, presumably, Socket) near the public entrance to Hexxen.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Feel free to move us along to there, Core or Raz!

[Kirjath]

Wereshark
Conditions: Angry, Guilty

That wasn't quite what Phil had expected from a ex-lackey to the battle hungry Shield Maiden. It was almost civil. Then again, he had attacked first, so it was likely the best response he could have possibly gotten. The Tonbogiri were shouting at Dynamis in the distance, and they seemingly hadn't even noticed Wereshark's arrival on the docks yet. Time to make this succinct.

"Uh...just tell me who or where Shield Maiden got her new armor tech from, and you can go back to fighting the Tonbogiri?"

[Merilan]

Freedom was still trying to digest everything, everyone was speaking at the same time and suddenly she'd gone from taking a phone call to having to conduct a ritual with Shade and Reaver. She trembled a little, her hand feeling very pale as Shade held it. He asked her if she trusted him.

She hesitated.

Shade never told her who he is -- and while she had come to respect that, she felt like that had come not out of some sense of privacy but perhaps because of another reason... another reason that'd come clearer not. "Do you not tell me who you are because of Hiryou? When we infiltrated that clan, Hiryou told me that you were a threat, a dark taint."

She furrowed her brow, and advised, "Shade, I trust you, but imbalance is dangerous for a reason. You yourself have said it -- that shadow scroll has misaligned your balance of yin and yang." She frowned. "If you were to draw this dark spirit, it may seek you and further imbalance you."

She sighed very quietly. "What will Reaver's ritual do? I-- do not know of Karnifel's rites. What did she say? Will it eradicate the dark spirit, or at least channel it harmlessly away?"

It bothered her, the way Amelia teleported away earlier, with that look on her face that said that she was ready to do anything ... she was scared. She was scared that this spirit would just move between her allies.

[Razade]

Freedom/Shade

Your shadow senses expand through the main room of the Starbase, Shade, casting everything as a negative. Large spiders crawl over the stark white relief of Freedom, black splotches covering her skin where the first "bite" occurred, angry black veins radiating from it. These things aren't beings of shadow however, they're not even really there in a spiritual sense. It's as if they're some manifestation of the venom coursing through Freedom's system. What's worse, as Freedom airs her misgivings and worries the black veins start to grow.

Freedom, you of course can't see this but you can feel it. The venom seeks out those negative feelings, feeding off of them. You can feel the weight of your worries grow, trying to pull you down further into disillusionment and anger. You can feel yourself slipping. Would Justice be having these issues? Would she risk her friends and allies like you have, just from a simple mistake? Maybe she should take over for Grandma.

Spoiler: Freedom OOC

Show

The venom's taking its hold, do you give in to these baser emotions? Do you reject them? Roll to reject the influence of the Venom.

Spoiler: Shade OOC

Show

The source of the problem is clear, Freedom has spiders in her soul. Maybe this is above your expertese? Maybe Reaver's solution is the better solution?

Reaver/Socket

Hexxen Corp is at the edge of the city, it's more than a simple jaunt through the sewers though it does bring you out to the city above. Neither of you can fly so it's either foot travel or public transportation, either way. It's going to be a journey. Are you sure this is the right thing to do though? Freedom's in a bad way and Shade might be too if things go wrong. Freedom caught this thing, it's clearly communicable and its not like Hexxen Corp is going to be going anywhere.

Spoiler: Socket OOC

Show

Nothing's holding you back, you and Reaver are free to go to Hexxen Corp. Shade's doing some crazy stuff though, think it's clear to leave?

Spoiler: Reaver OOC

Show

To Hexxen Corp? To Hexxen Corp! Or you could stick around, Shade's doing some crazy stuff.

Dynamis

The helicopters continue to circle you though they don't seem too willing to just give you what you want. They're also not trying to shoo you away, you can't see the pilots but it seems there's some conflict on how to handle you and your demand.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

They err, you get a critical opportunity.

Wereshark

The Valkyrie gives you an incredulous look, glancing back at the ongoing battle. "Really? You're here about Shield Maiden? How the hell would I know, last we saw her was a month ago when she got the stuff! Came in a big crate. Doesn't matter, we kicked her out. Technology like that doesn't make you a better warrior. It's a crutch, she took a crutch because she was getting old. Now you can either help us out here or get lost. Don't have time for you!" With that, she turns and rushes back to the front lines where the fighting seems to hit a fever pitch.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

She doesn't seem to be lying though who can tell. You could help Tonbogiri out here, these are criminals after all. Or you could help out the Valkyries, or just leave like asked. What do you do?

[Merilan]

Freedom took a moment and squinted herself. Hiryou... you'd have no trouble with this. You were always so powerful... you wouldn't put anyone in danger. Your friends wouldn't need to... She paused, trembling, as she looked back to Shade. You were always Grandmother's preferred one, so why did you leave...?

[Mr Sitouh]

>>Wereshark, you having any luck?<< Dynamis calls over the comm, banking away from the choppers before he stalls out. >>I can back you up, but I'd have to kick Tonbigiri's ass to do it.<< He comes in for a landing near the edge of Tonbigiri's cordon for the public, listening for Phil's reply and looking to see if any senior officers or news people come over to talk.

[Kirjath]

Wereshark
Conditions: Angry, Guilty

Phil watched warily as the Valkyrie left. Wereshark was dying to get his jaws around something, anything, and Phil was trying his best to squash that impulse. Threat of the Tonbogiri severely dampened his fighting mood and left him feeling immensely frustrated. Another dead end in their search for something to help Freedom.

Dynamis' voice over the comlink interrupted his brooding, and Phil turned his attention back to his friend in the sky.

>>No luck, really.<< He answered as evenly as he could. >>Turns out the Valkyries and Shield Maiden split a month back. They don't know where the tech came from, only that it was shipped here in a crate.<<

The Tonbogiri were really letting the Valkyries have it. Phil could feel Wereshark itching for more combat, but his own fear was proving greater. There was no possible way a tussle so close to the agency would turn out well for him. And if he ended up losing control...well, Phil tried not to think about it.

>>I'm leaving, Dynamis. There's nothing here worth a fight with the Tonbogiri.<<

And with that, Wereshark dove from the dock again and into the San Fransapporo bay.

[Razade]

Dynamis

"Sir!" you hear as you land, it seems the helicopter pilots, a prim and pressed officer is quick to move to where you land looking quite cross. "Unless you've been authorized to assist in capturing this band of criminals, we'll have to ask you to vacate the area. We understand that you wish to help but we can't afford you being injured. If you have information, we ask you share it and move along."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Wereshark is off. You and he both heard Socket say that what ever went down near the base came from their corporate headquarters. You'll need Socket to hack things. Let's not forget that you've got more than just this super stuff to worry about. And Tonbogiri has got you more or less surrounded.

Wereshark

The Valkyries seem to be too busy fighting to stop you, and you suspect probably happy to see you gone. You could always head to Hexxen Corp though that'll take you out of the water and they're not reasonably likely to just let a teenage shark man into their corporate office. Freedom and Socket are back at base, who knows where Shade and Reaver are. Maybe it's best not to coop yourself up though? And what about Dynamis?

Spoiler: OOC

Show

It's a wide world out there, where are you planning on going? Back to base? Somewhere else?

[Mr Sitouh]

"Shield Maiden's armor in the Diamond Square attack carried a contagious magic - right now we're working on treating Freedom for exposure to it," Dynamis replies. "Wereshark and I were coming to see if we could find more information as to where it came from. So if you find a large empty crate delivered about a month ago, approach it with caution." He turns to go, then pauses. "Also, if there's anything you want to pass back to the Seven Stars,", he looks meaningfully at the officer, "Bridget Bishop knows how to contact us."

[Razade]

Dynamis

The officer frowns, clearly mulling over what you've told him before muttering into a handheld radio at his belt. Before you take off however you hear the officer shout your name. "Dyamis! Hold a moment!" He makes a quick few steps in your direction, his voice going a little lower as the fighting seems to reach a fever pitch. "If you could bring us Freedom, we might be able to assist you. The medical staff at HQ is second to none, it would be our pleasure to help. As a thank you for your cooperation and assistance in taking down Shield Maiden?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

What do you do?

[Zen Gypsy]

Shade
Condition: Angry, Guilty, Insecure.

"Shade, I trust you, but imbalance is dangerous for a reason. You yourself have said it -- that shadow scroll has misaligned your balance of yin and yang." She frowned. "If you were to draw this dark spirit, it may seek you and further imbalance you."

He paused, looked at Myorei, his brow furrowed. Lightness tainted by shadow, Yin energy, imbalance. Was she ... the Yang to his Yin. He flinched, yea, that sounded ... not entirely appropriate. When he felt the heat rise to his cheeks he was grateful for the mask.

"Perhaps you are right. I had hoped, that by stepping to the Between, the place between shadows, I could draw out ... spiders ... the infection." What he had noticed is the way the spiders seemed to increase their activity when she doubted herself.

"You're right about your sister, Justice, she was hunting those ninja's pretty hard core, maybe she's concerned that there shadow magic will make me one of them." He kind of shrugged, "What I do know, is that you and your sister, you've trained for this your whole life. Reaver, she was plucked from her regular life, but she had a whole lifetime in Narnia to learn how to be a hero. Dynamis, and Socket, despite their personal tragedies, were built for this. And Shark, well, what happened to him sucks, but there's no doubt in my mind he has both the physical and mental strength to succeed."

"Me, I'm just a kid who was lucky enough not to die when he touched the bad mojo ninja scroll." He stood up, and awkwardly held a hand out to Myorei to help her up, "I've always admired you Myorei, even before I picked up that damn scroll. Your a symbol of what's best in all of us." He smiled wanly.

"Let's go tell Reaver I haven't martyred myself for the team just yet ..."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I am triggering my Team move, by sharing a Vulnerability with Freedom, revealing the secret that Shade doesn't feel like he matches up to his teammates, and that she provides him with an example of what a hero should be.

I would give Freedom Influence over me, but she already has it, so she can shift my Labels as she sees fit. However, after she shifts my Labels, I will shift my Mundane up and my Freak (My mask's Label) down.

[Mr Sitouh]

"Bring you Freedom? What kind of team do you think we are?" Dynamis' voice is incredulous.

He turns back, facing the officer directly, his posture straightening. "Thank you for the offer of assistance, Officer," he says, his wording formal. "I'll inform the rest of the Seven Stars, and we'll send notification ahead if we determine that to be the best course of action." His message delivered, hopefully on all levels, his wings flare into life and he launches up and away.

>>Yeah, they don't want our help, let them handle the mess,<< he comms to Wereshark. >>Let's head back, see if Reaver's figured out how to get Freedom back on her feet.<<

[Merilan]

Freedom
Condition: Guilty

Myorei had a flattered, sincere look on her face for a moment, and placed her hand on Shade's shoulder. "Shade, it doesn't matter whether you lucked into it or you were born to be raised into it -- you made a conscious choice to make a positive difference. You could've been any other one of those ninjas, who chose to commit crimes and be selfish. But you didn't. And that counts for the most. Don't... don't forget that."

She looked a bit more assured afterwards. "I'm glad you didn't, too. Come on, let's see what Reaver has in store."

She picked herself up and looked at where Reaver and Socket had gone off to...

Spoiler: Action

Show

Myorei is telling Shade that he's a Savior - I think Savior up, Danger down?

[herodofcows]

Reaver
Conditions: Guilty, Angry

Reaver is in the midst of exiting the sewers before she realizes that Socket isn't following.

"Socket? Sock- oh, what the hell man . . ."

Grumbling to herself, she reenters the base.

"Swear to god, that bucket of bolts had better . . . Oh!"

Her eyes snap over to Shade and Freedom, both standing and talking as though nothing is wrong. Her heart skips a few beats.

Holy hell, did it work??? Did Shade just . . .

"Uh . . . hey!" she calls out with a half-smile hidden beneath her mask, "Did it, you know . . . I mean, wow, that was fast! Huh!"

She goes up to Shade and raises her hand for a high-five. Her mouth goes motoring as relief floods through her.

"Dude, props! Like, I'm gonna admit, I doubted you there! Didn't think you'd be able to pull it off! Never again, though. Remind me of this next time I ever question you!"

Her gaze turns to Freedom now, and her glee is palpable. She grabs her up into a massive hug, popping her back a little with the sheer ferocity of affection behind it.

"And you! Look at us, acting all terrified and doomy-gloomy over this! Shows us to get all worked up over a little bit of nothing, right?"

She looks around at everyone, beaming.

". . . Right?"

[Razade]

Valkyrie Battle Site

The panel remains as Dynamis jets off, the Tonbogiri Officer reaching for his phone.

The panel cuts to Brittany Bishop in her office, a cluttered place though there's a method to her madness. She says nothing as the muffled voice carries through the telephone into the room, the call brief. "It was The Worst Generation again, as predicted." she states, turning to look at High Secretary Ava whose back is pressed against the office door. "And you didn't get a read on their base?" she asks coolly, inspecting one of her trade mark pistols.

"No Ma'am. The trace was disrupted, seems they were watching out for it. We tried to keep Freedom on the line but...it was a lost cause. I still think Dynamis is our best bet to keep them in line. He's the most mallable, I can call his..." Ava sighs, holding up a hand to silence her Operative, slowly standing up off the door as she holsters her weapon. "I want you to keep an eye on them. They're willing to offer help to us now, let them do the grunt work then. If they decide to stop being so helpful you have your orders. Do not attempt to deviate from them Operative Bishop. Are we clear?" The tall woman takes a few steps to Bishop's desk, placing a large card on the table before the panel shifts directly to Brittany Bishop, her face a mask of polite understanding as the sound of boots clip off into the distance. The panel closes on Bishop's hand next to it, the card marked with two spears crossed into an X with another spear thrust down its center. "Yes Ma'am."

Dynamis/Wereshark

Both your travels back to Star-Base are uneventful and you arrive just in time to hear the tail end of the conversation.

Spoiler: Both of you

Show

I'd say give Socket a chance to post. Then you're all free to do what ever/

[CoreBrute23]

Socket hadn't moved from his spot when Reaver began to leave, watching the interaction between Freedom and Shade, (although he wasn't close enough to hear what they were saying) his face emotionless. He then stood up as Reaver came in.

"I'm not sure anything was done." Socket said slowly. "Albeit, I don't understand how magic works, but whenever Shade has done something before it was always visually impressive." Before he could elaborate further, Wereshark and Dynamis arrived.

"Hello." He waved at the two. "Did you discover anything?"

[Kirjath]

Wereshark
Conditions: Angry, Guilty

Wereshark arrived at the base in the usual manner: stalking in from a random entrance and soaking wet. He had some sort of fish in his mouth that he quickly gulped down. Glancing around, Phil noticed that all the other members of the Stars were finally present. Reaver was wrapped around Freedom and seemed...happy? Socket was looking slightly scratched still, but otherwise looked the same as always; and Phil hadn't even seen Sam for most of the day. Dynamis had also arrived at around the same time, perhaps a bit earlier.

"Hello." Socket waved to the two arrivals. "Did you discover anything?"

Phil shook his head and balled a fist up in irritation, his arm shaking with barely contained frustration.

"No," he growled. "How is she?"

[Mr Sitouh]

Dynamis

"Hey, you got more than I did," Dynamis says, pulling back on his flannel shirt. "At least you were able to confirm someone else provided Shield Maiden's new armor. All I got was hassled by Tonbogiri." He grabs himself another slice of pizza. "They tried to offer their help dealing with Freedom's situation as thanks for our assistance, can you believe it?"

[CoreBrute23]

"Oh that explains it!" Socket said to Dynamis' statement. "That must be why they attempted to locate us when they called. They wanted to send help for Myorei." Socket placed his head in his hands.

"Now I feel bad for redirecting their tracer hacks. I should have told them where we were." He started wiggling his ear.

"Should I call them back?"

[Zen Gypsy]

Shade
Condition: Angry, Guilty, Insecure.

". . . Right?"

As Amelia got brighter and more optimistic, the shadows deepend around Shade, still bolstered by the Between. "No, I tried, I got a look at it, but it isn't something tied to the Between, it's something ... else." He sighed, folded his arms across his chest, "You had a Plan B though right?"

[Merilan]

Freedom flinched a little as Reaver threw herself to her -- she hesitated, but then placed an arm around her as she squeezed back. "Reaver..." she spoke up, but then her voice just dropped, like she felt it becoming heavier, and heavier. "It isn't Shade's fault. I felt it was too risky for him to attract another being of darkness -- a being of Yin. I don't want us to just -- pass this around like it were a potato. Let's try this ritual you've painstakingly found for us in Karnifal."

[herodofcows]

Reaver
Conditions: Guilty, Angry

And just like that, the weight settles back inside of her stomach.

"I . . . yeah," she says slightly dully, letting go of Freedom (with perhaps a touch of reluctance?).

"Shade and I need to go into my longhouse at midnight. We need an orchid from a graveyard and a newborn's blanket. Shouldn't take too long to gather that. We'll get you ship-shape in no time . . ."

It's not fair it's not fair it's not goddamn FAIR

She notices her fists have clenched. In her hand, her Soul Arm has turned to a cruelly-curved flensing knife, of the variety that she and Carrow would use when . . .

She relaxes herself forcibly, and her Soul Arm is dismissed.

"But hey, Hexxen, right?" she exclaims with brittle cheeriness, "Turns out they're responsible for the blackouts. What say we pay 'em a visit?"

[Merilan]

Freedom
Condition: Guilty

Freedom took a deep breath and looked around towards the group, nodding towards everyone. Good. They were all here. As long as they were all here, it feels like they can have hope. It was only when they strayed apart, was when things started to feel like they fell apart.

"Okay," she spoke up with a much more familiar voice, stronger and full of confidence. Time to step up to the plate.

"We've got three situations on hand, two of which relate to Reaver's ritual. We need to find out what's going on at Hexxen Tech and find out the source of the hacking, we need to find a newborn's blanket at a nearby hospital, and we need to find an orchid in a graveyard."

She looked at each of them in the eye.

"Socket and I will go to Hexxen Tech -- I've got the rep to probably pull some strings and let us get someplace, and I spoke to the Britt earlier, so that should make things easy."

She looked towards Dynamis and Reaver, and then said, "Dynamis, Reaver, you two can head to the hospital. You two can pass for human better than Wereshark and Shade can, so you'd be a better fit for that mission."

Finally, she looked to Shade and Wereshark. "Wereshark, Shade, I want you to find an orchid in a graveyard. Wereshark, you've got a keen sense of smell, so you can probably identify it by scent, and Shade, you're used to the darkness, so that'll be a big help too."

She faltered for a bit, as the guilt of knowing that the last two missions were only a problem because of her started to creep up to the back of her mind. The arachnid claws started to pick away at the edges of her soul, make her doubt about her actual capability--

--no, enough!

"Any questions?"