Cold Springs [IC]

[Biabri]

From the grand oak, a sly raven falls down to glide upon the winds, black and accursed wings spreading far wider than plausible, trailing the shadows in the style of a fine oil painting. Moonlight falls from it, as if it were a duck in a pond of pearl-hued light. It goes unnoticed, not one of the many humans below bothering to look up to see the thing, fell fowl disregarded entirely by the ignorant and unseeing mortal eye. It wouldn't matter if they did, their eyes weren't meant to see this, not in this form.

The beating of wings stops as the bird settles to a halt once more, aligning itself on another branch, in another place. The beady and foul eyes on it's face peer downwards into a window, watching the inhabitants. It can see the way in which destiny is woven so tightly about this place, the people inside. The scent of fox, strange flesh and after-rain are imprinted so deeply that it knows, clearly. There is change coming soon enough, and this change, in some way, will be brought about by the ones inside this place.

It can't attack here. It knows that in some way, it will not win this so easily. With a bloodcurdling caw that unsettles the local earth in mysterious ways, the bird takes off once more, making itself scarce before it is revealed.

~~~

They gather round with the fire low in the apartment, it's late and despite the youthful buzz, they had been here all day telling their stories, sharing what had happened to them, or at least, as much as they wanted to reveal. The angel, the shapeshifters and the strange awakening to whatever world they found themselves in suddenly. They couldn't carry on living how they had been, things were going to change for them whether they wanted them to or not.

The daily visits from "The Church" didn't exactly help. The agents sent were always reluctant to answer questions, and often scornful of those they considered lesser than them. The powers displayed went unexplained, and their purpose was just as nebulous. The books they left seemed like they'd be a good start though, and a list of locations and people to get in touch with?

It was enough to get a grasp on this new world, supposedly.

[Rendel Nep]

Mr Doe stands at the Door passive and neutral looking.
"Hello, Marie, Olivia and Austin. He greets as soon as they answer the door.
It is unusual to meet all of you again but I have a confession to make. I am not human." Johnathon Doe says plainly with no dramatic emphasis and emotionless.
I am an Android, created by your father, Austin." He says pointing to the young man.
Your Parents, All of your parents fought some threat that was never disclosed to me when you were young. They disappeared and I had to make do with what I had. I should have let you be adopted but in my hubris I created poor facsimiles of your parents to cover their disappearance . They clearly failed in what I intend them to do. I can only ask for your forgiveness and hope you can assist me in determining their true fates. He says, once again without emotion.

[Ilena]

Standing at the door holding it open , staring almost blankly at her old teacher, dressed in a tank top and shorts, form fitting to show off her curves, more to tease austin at what he left at prom then anything, a little growl at the thought ... ugh i hate that guy ... i dont know why sis allowed him to stay here UGH. Going back to the guy at the door, her foxy tail swishes and ears perk in more of a confused look, as he says hes an android and made their parents .... what? She turns around and calls to her sister, "SIS! Our old science teacher is here and hes insane!" Even after all that has happened to her, shes pretty much disbelieving of that, i mean ... an android? Made their parents? Seriously?

[TheFederalist]

Far in the back of the room was a man lying on a couch a fair size too large for another to fill completely, yet a fair size too small for fit him completely. Dressed in torn, old jeans, a pink-brown shirt that appeared to have once been white, and a single boot hanging precariously off a twitching toe (with the other nowhere to be seen around him), the man nonchalantly flipped the page on the book in his hands, held high right above his face unwaveringly despite the odd announcement that erupted out of the doorway from his... roommate. He let loose a groan a few seconds later as he found himself obligated to turn his head to look at the new entrant and the... fox girl, which was an addition he was certainly only starting to get used to. He stretched his back out, pushing his spine against the armrest he was leaning on as he reached with his hand towards the coffee table, and let the bottle of beer in his grip drop onto it. It struck the table with a thud, twirling around precariously as it found its balance while he pushed himself to a sitting position on the sofa behind it.

"Mr. Doe? An android? Well, look, I've seen and heard plenty of **** so far, like the fact that you girls have a tail protruding from you, and all of it has been utterly random so far.
Funny enough, this makes the most sense. Oh, also, what the hell did he say about my parents?"

[Ilena]

" hey imagine living with it like this thing is here all the time and doors hurt !" She calls back to him and says" our parents apparently are dead or something and are machines ... So fun ... Sooo not my problem."

[Morcleon]

Marie Valentine

Getting up from her laptop at the kitchen table, Marie walks carefully toward the door, relaxing a bit as she spots Mr. Doe. Her tails twitch slightly as she smiles at him. "Hello Mr. Doe. Would you like to come in? Want anything to drink?"

"If it wasn't for what happened recently," she gestures at her tails, "I probably wouldn't have believed you. But apparently magic is real and I can use it."

She shrugs and sits back down. "So what do you know about our parents? Our real parents."

[Biabri]

Magical Theory is an interesting subject, if slightly confusing. Some abstract terms and magical jargon is a bit unsettling, making it seem more like a science than the unexplained mystical force that it seems to be to the group. Even the divine and holy theory hinges on exponential amounts of abstract measurements of some sort of unknown essence.

It seems like the night is going to be a long one, until a flyer is knocked off a table where it had been placed, an offer on pizza. The place stops taking orders at 11 PM, and it's only just about to turn nine PM as the supposedly Android former teacher arrives.

There's little food in the house.

The contacts you have are interesting and varied too, and you feel a little bit less lost in this world you've been flung into it. Kind of.

[Rendel Nep]

Just water would be acceptable. Mr Doe says as he walks in and takes a dining chair.

" Very well, there's not much to tell since your parents did not divulge much of what they actually did to me. I was activated on the 14th of October 1990. I had limited access to the outside world and my duties consisted of baby sitting, having dinner ready and maintaining the house. I was fine with this, I had no ambition and was content to follow the commands given to me by your parents. Over a course of a decade, my neural cortex was improved and my duties extended until I was also given the task of watching over Mr Dirac-Benish's dimensional portal gate.

I only know they been elsewhere and that they would brought back strange artifacts such as unusual arms and armor or large nondescript machines with them , all of which were secreted to somewhere off-site. More often than not when they called me to operate the portal gate they would come through and they would be disheveled and exhausted. I assume they kept much of what they were doing hidden from me because of the potential security risks that could arise from accessing my memory core."

He launches into the account of the fate of their parents.
"Then on the 24th of February 2001 I got a distress call from Mrs Valentine. I immediately ceased all that I was doing and hastily went to Portal room. Upon my arrival, I saw the portal was open but no one had come through, then i saw a hand emerge. I ran to grab the hand but but just as I reached out to it, the hand faded as if it had passed through the portal to it's destination. Then all the portal gate itself start billowing with smoke, crackled with lightning and with a loud grinding sound, imploded." He pauses for dramatic effect, his experience as a teacher telling him that he would be expecting a litany of questions to follow.