Parahumans: the First Dawn

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Hospital|

She is about to give an answer to him, but then suddenly finds herself at a loss. "I actually don't know. I think I've been awake since we arrived... man, I'm gonna need some coffee after this..." She chuckles with a smile under her breath before she notices the new people in the room, and blinks in confusion. "Oh right, those guys. I think those might be more people that had experiences with who we're fighting. I asked a nurse or two, apparently two of them fell into the thames together. One can make stuff just by thinking about it, the other one came in with metal hands. The other guy... I really actually don't know.

Either way, I'm getting close to being done with your new leg. Or, rather, something that'll take the weight out of it while healing so you can actually stand. I just need to find something that'll actually negate the weight in the first place, which hopefully shouldn't be too hard. Maybe pressurized air will do..." She holds her chin in a hand as she debates what to use in her mind, and her eyes droop as she almost falls asleep before managing to wake herself up. Boy, I REALLY need some coffee.

 

[ThomazM]

|Esaias|
|Hospital|

She is about to give an answer to him, but then suddenly finds herself at a loss. "I actually don't know. I think I've been awake since we arrived... man, I'm gonna need some coffee after this..." She chuckles with a smile under her breath before she notices the new people in the room, and blinks in confusion. "Oh right, those guys. I think those might be more people that had experiences with who we're fighting. I asked a nurse or two, apparently two of them fell into the thames together. One can make stuff just by thinking about it, the other one came in with metal hands. The other guy... I really actually don't know.

Either way, I'm getting close to being done with your new leg. Or, rather, something that'll take the weight out of it while healing so you can actually stand. I just need to find something that'll actually negate the weight in the first place, which hopefully shouldn't be too hard. Maybe pressurized air will do..." She holds her chin in a hand as she debates what to use in her mind, and her eyes droop as she almost falls asleep before managing to wake herself up. Boy, I REALLY need some coffee.

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I can't help but to chuckle with her reaction, she worried like that is cute, in a weird way -- though, it ironically worries me a bit as well, she really needs to get some sleep, I don't want her to just faint over whatever machinery she's messing with because of me. I straightened my back slightly more, trying to get stay at the same height as she was. Still with the voice down, I said:

-"You really need to sleep.". -I empathize the second word, looking at her deeply in the eyes, with a slightly more serious, but worried look- "Go check with the nurse if the sleeping center is functional -- I'll not let you faint over any of this machinery of yours."​

 

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Hospital|

She is about to retort before her emotions get the better of her, and she sighs, smiling at him softly. "Yeah, it's pretty much just about done anyway... I just need to find the right part to neutralize your leg weight, which shouldn't be too hard... hopefully, anyway. I'll build that thing from scratch if I have to." She chuckles before reaching over and pushing a few hairs out of his face and placing them back behind his ear. "You should get some sleep too - you don't look much better than I do, honestly..." Esaias pulls her hand back before standing up and picking up her notebook, quietly walking out of the room. There was a small mess of sketches and books still left over in the general area where the finished leg was, some sloppy, and a few showing clearly instructed blueprints on how to construct certain parts. It was pretty clear that her brain had been working overtime all night.

 

[ThomazM]

|Esaias|
|Hospital|

She is about to retort before her emotions get the better of her, and she sighs, smiling at him softly. "Yeah, it's pretty much just about done anyway... I just need to find the right part to neutralize your leg weight, which shouldn't be too hard... hopefully, anyway. I'll build that thing from scratch if I have to." She chuckles before reaching over and pushing a few hairs out of his face and placing them back behind his ear. "You should get some sleep too - you don't look much better than I do, honestly..." Esaias pulls her hand back before standing up and picking up her notebook, quietly walking out of the room. There was a small mess of sketches and books still left over in the general area where the finished leg was, some sloppy, and a few showing clearly instructed blueprints on how to construct certain parts. It was pretty clear that her brain had been working overtime all night.

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I sighed at her comment -- I'm really not feeling too good, and it's not like I've really got anything to do around here, though I'm not entirely sure it's safe to lower my guard when next to these folks who just showed up, they could mean danger, if I'm not too careful, you never know. And I didn't pay much attention when she said it, but if one of these three actually has the power to materialize anything he wants, he might be extremely powerful -- I read it once or twice in science fiction books that, apart from reality warping, "creation", or "materialization" may just be one of the strongest superpowers out there, if mastered appropriately, it's odd to think how this knowledge may actually be handy. It's really not safe for her to stay in here, even more when considering how sleep deprived she is -- however, before I could say anything, she had already left -- I release a sigh of relief. Trying to diminish my thought process, I stretch my arm to the table she was working at, and grab a sheet of blank paper, and a few pens -- I hope she won't mind, but writing really would diminish the stress, and it's been almost two days since I've put my hands on an actual piece of paper, I miss it. Hopefully I can go back to the old habits -- someday.

 

[GPuzzle]

|Glade|
|Streets|

I look Simon up and down. Yeah that ain't gonna work..."I'm okay, and even if I wasn't I don't know if you could carry me anyway" I hope that wan't insulting...I think it might have been...crapcrapcrapcrapcrap

|Simon|
|Streets|

"No, no problems... Oh, heavens, the times! Shit, I'm sorry, I have to leave!"

I straightened up my shirt and turned to Glade, to explain why was I so hurried.

"Sorry, I'm the one who's gotta make dinner tonight! See you tomorrow at 10 AM in front of my building?"

After that I started speeding up towards my apartment. I had a lot of stuff to tell Eric and Martin.

 

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Simon's Apartment|

She felt bad about lying to Watson straight in his face after developing something that would allow him to walk with a broken leg, but she had to openly admit, the most recent point when she got sleep was when she had been knocked out by that explosion. She hadn't slept in a long while before that, so she was sort of used to being sleepy all the time. It just always had effects at first. So, with an interesting idea in mind, she decided to head off to the apartment of one of the people she met to check up on everyone and make sure they were alright.

It didn't take much of a search to find out that, near the alley they had fought the concrete man, was where Simon worked. From there, not much deducing was needed more than a few questions of the staff. Of course, most of them at first thought that she was out to rob him or something, but... well, her charms took care of that problem rather quickly. Sometimes it almost felt evil abusing how attractive she was, especially since she hated people that tried to romance her due to that fact. She approaches his door cautiously, but curiously, and knocks.

 

[RJS]

[The Thames]

The darkness of the water engulfs me, blotting out all light. Combined with the fragility of my mind after all that's happened today, repressed memories start to relive themselves in my head, as if a mental scab had been ripped off by the impact. The water takes me in its grasp and I am powerless to move, to fight back, to resist. I scream, and the water fills my lungs. Unconsciousness, when it arrives, is a merciful escape from the demons of my past.

[The Hospital]
As my consciousness returns, the memories of yesterday fade back into my psyche. I crack my eyes open and am blinded by a clean, white light. As my eyes adjust, I recognise the room as being in the hospital. That's good. The hospital had always been a place of safety for me back when...

I feel tears on my face. I try to hold them back, but they continue to fall. I thought I'd run far enough from back then, done enough to be at peace. "How much would it take to ever be free of this?" I wonder, as I give up and allow the tears to flow.

 

[GPuzzle]

|Simon|
|Simon's Apartment|

"Someone's knocking on the door!"
"Then go open it, you fucking sloth."
"Aahhhhnnnrg."
"Martin, I doubt that's the sound sloths make."

I opened the door, just to see a girl standing at my doorstop. And this time, it was the green-hair-big-tits one. Didn't she hook up with that Watson guy back at the Hospital or something?

"So, why did you come to my door at 8 AM? I'm tired, spent my last night writing an essay for University."

 

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Simon's Apartment|

"Mainly because I wanted to make sure that you hadn't run into any trouble last night - both with Glade, and with the guys who are after us. I'd rather make sure everyone is alright before we get everything organized. I mean, we don't have a meeting place, no organization... nothing. Right now we're pretty much floating in the river as a kite and hoping that we don't hit a rock. Besides, I'd prefer to meet everybody before I do actually make plans for getting a group of some sort together... whenever that even happens." She grabs her chin for a moment and seems to be thinking as she looks away from him at a weird angle, then looks back to him. "Er... sorry. I've been in an inventive mindset all night."

 

[GPuzzle]

|Simon|
|Simon's Apartment|
"You're not wrong. Glade will be here soon, so I think I can ask her where she lives, and I'll answer you back tomorrow, alright? Sarah works at the coffee shop, so you can ask her personally. The rest, I have no fucking idea."

"But yes, we need a place to gather the group. So, goodbye, farewell, what-have-you."

 

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Simon's Apartment|

She sighs and shakes her head a little at his reaction, and for a second gazes around the background of his apartment. Not many things caught her eye, but the bass guitar and bow definitely did. If there was one concept she loved, it was the idea of being able to handle a bow correctly. It just felt comfortable. Really versatile, too, considering that the arrows are essentially blades of their own. Except she could never really find anybody with expertise.

"...I can tell that we're going to be great friends." she mocks sarcastically at his almost immediate rejection of her presence. "I'm honestly surprised that you haven't closed the door." Most people like you aren't really good with people, anyway. Bet you consider yourself so lucky for getting that girl, meanwhile you push other people away like this. Confusing... and yet, interesting. "I do understand that you're irritated since it's so early in the morning, but I would at least like to ask you a question. You any good with that bow, or does it belong to someone else?"

 

[GPuzzle]

|Simon|
|Simon's Apartment|

"Yeah, it's mine, and I'm pretty good, actually. Sorry if I'm being an asshat, I didn't sleep today due to the essay and an asthma attack, and when I'm tired I become an asshat for no reason. You interested in bow-shooting or anything? It's a lot hard than it seems. Here, take a look at the inside of my hand."

I hold my hand out, showing several scars, covering fingers and palm.

"I sure as hell didn't get those by playing the bass with barbed wire instead of strings."

 

[Nisteth]

|Esaias|
|Simon's Apartment|

"Nah, that's just fine. There's no way I could really know about that stuff." She looks at his hand curiously as he holds out his hand. "Er... hadn't really thought about that much. It does make sense, considering that the bowstring is pretty much shooting past your palm. But hey, there's a reason why I wear gloves." She chuckles before shaking her head to get her focus back.

"Er, yes, I'm interested in bow-shooting. I imagine that if I'm going to try and be efficient with this whole velocity power of mine, I may as well learn how to use something that it'd work with. Hopefully it's not too hard - but there's always other things that I can try, anyway. Though a bow and arrow is something that I've definitely wanted to learn how to use, for a long time." A soft smile grows on her face in that reply.

 

[GPuzzle]

|Simon|
|Simon's Apartment|

"Well, I reccomend you get a bow, for starters - you can get one in any decent sports store - and I'll try to find a place we can shoot without accidentally ripping someone's eyes off. By the way, gloves generally don't help with bows. Slip too much off your fingers and palm. Sorry, but I have to finish eating my breakfast, because I didn't eat dinner yesterday, and I'm fucking hungry."

I closed the door and took a deep breath. Well, that's one more thing in the list of weird stuff that happened recently.

"What was it?"
"Just a girl I met yesterday asking me to teach her how to shoot a bow."
"When did you meet that girl?"
"Yesterday."
"She was doing drugs with you, wasn't it? She caught my eye, she definetively looked like some kind of junkie."
"I've told you, Eric, I was not doing drugs! Shut up already!"
"Wasn't you getting around with that other cute girl?"
"Screw you two, I have a breakfast to finish!"

 

[ThomazM]

[The Thames]

The darkness of the water engulfs me, blotting out all light. Combined with the fragility of my mind after all that's happened today, repressed memories start to relive themselves in my head, as if a mental scab had been ripped off by the impact. The water takes me in its grasp and I am powerless to move, to fight back, to resist. I scream, and the water fills my lungs. Unconsciousness, when it arrives, is a merciful escape from the demons of my past.

[The Hospital]
As my consciousness returns, the memories of yesterday fade back into my psyche. I crack my eyes open and am blinded by a clean, white light. As my eyes adjust, I recognise the room as being in the hospital. That's good. The hospital had always been a place of safety for me back when...

I feel tears on my face. I try to hold them back, but they continue to fall. I thought I'd run far enough from back then, done enough to be at peace. "How much would it take to ever be free of this?" I wonder, as I give up and allow the tears to flow.

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I couldn't get myself to close my eyes again, writing, surprisingly enough, kept me quite awake -- it's a feeling I missed, most definitely. I overheard a faint voice coming from my right, making me put down the pen. I glance over to the direction of the noise: that was surely one of the individuals who were brought to the room. I couldn't identify exactly who it was, as pretty much all of them were lying with their backs facing me, not that it really mattered, at this point. I sighed, I just couldn't keep myself quiet.

-"Don't worry" - I said, picking up the pen again- "We're safe here, for the most part.".
​

I paused for a couple of seconds.

-"Name's Christopher Watson, by the way..." -Shouldn't I be worried?- "May I know yours?"
​

For the most part, I'm trying to keep eye contact with her-- nothing here is telling me she's not going to go into a rampage of sorts, my guard is not lowered, but if she's one of us, I'm more than capable of understanding her confusion. I'd be the last one to blame him if she was scared.

 

[RJS]

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I couldn't get myself to close my eyes again, writing, surprisingly enough, kept me quite awake -- it's a feeling I missed, most definitely. I overheard a faint voice coming from my right, making me put down the pen. I glance over to the direction of the noise: that was surely one of the individuals who were brought to the room. I couldn't identify exactly who it was, as pretty much all of them were lying with their backs facing me, not that it really mattered, at this point. I sighed, I just couldn't keep myself quiet.

-"Don't worry" - I said, picking up the pen again- "We're safe here, for the most part.".
​

I paused for a couple of seconds.

-"Name's Christopher Watson, by the way..." -Shouldn't I be worried?- "May I know yours?"
​

For the most part, I'm trying to keep eye contact with him -- nothing here is telling me he's not going to go into some sort of rampage, my guard is not lowered, but if he's one of us, I'm more than capable of understanding his confusion. I'd be the last one to blame him if he was scared.

[Hospital]
A voice cuts into my sorrow. I freeze, wondering how much they heard, wondering whether I blurted anything out in the middle of my attack. With the thought of someone else watching, I manage to wipe away the tears, and adjust a bit of the mask of Lorna Bales into place, enough to string together a coherent answer anyway.

"I'm Lorna. Lorna Bales." I hope that he can't tell from my voice that I've spent the past few minutes crying - from his question I can't tell if he's genuinely unaware or just trying to cheer me up.

"I don't know about you, but I had the day from hell yesterday and I could use a drink. They do room service here?"

Lame jokes. I guess I can start shifting the mask back into place after all. All I need is to get out of here and blot out my thoughts for a while, then maybe I'll be able to get back to living my life.

 

[ThomazM]

[Hospital]
A voice cuts into my sorrow. I freeze, wondering how much they heard, wondering whether I blurted anything out in the middle of my attack. With the thought of someone else watching, I manage to wipe away the tears, and adjust a bit of the mask of Lorna Bales into place, enough to string together a coherent answer anyway.

"I'm Lorna. Lorna Bales." I hope that he can't tell from my voice that I've spent the past few minutes crying - from his question I can't tell if he's genuinely unaware or just trying to cheer me up.

"I don't know about you, but I had the day from hell yesterday and I could use a drink. They do room service here?"

Lame jokes. I guess I can start shifting the mask back into place after all. All I need is to get out of here and blot out my thoughts for a while, then maybe I'll be able to get back to living my life.

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I chuckle sorely, just not to leave the joke hanging. Still writing, I continue:

-"I'm assuming you're not too keen with sharing what happened to you, correct?" -I assumed the answer would be yes, and continued- "Well, if it makes you feel any better: Just today, I was attacked by three different monster-like creatures, jumped out of a moving motorcycle, and to top it all off, in the fall, I broken my leg" -I chuckled.
​

I paused, stopping to analyze what I've just said:

-"Woah, it sounds even weirder when I say it out loud like this..."​

 

[RJS]

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

I chuckle sorely, just not to leave the joke hanging. Still writing, I continue:

-"So, I assumed they put you into this room for a reason..." -I struggled to find a nice way to continue that phrase- "If I'm not being to intrusive, mind sharing what... Ability you have?" -The word "superpower" sounded odd, for some reason- "Feel free to not answer, but I, apparently, can store things in a pocket dimension sort of deal, then shoot them out, in the same momentum I stored them in."​

I paused, stopping to analyze what I've just said

-"Woah, it sounds even weirder when I say it out loud like this..."​

I smile, just a little. If he's noticed the thickness of my voice or the redness of my eyes, he's been polite enough not to mention it.

"I can...make stuff. Not anything, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've done swords and shields, but it failed when I tried to reinforce a floor. That's part of how we ended up in the Thames. I assume you've had some pretty freaky shit happen to you too, because I've already fought off a corpse and dealt with a crazy powerful magnetic field. Not really a good day to be called into work with a raging hangover, if I'm gonna be perfectly honest."

 

[ThomazM]

I smile, just a little. If he's noticed the thickness of my voice or the redness of my eyes, he's been polite enough not to mention it.

"I can...make stuff. Not anything, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I've done swords and shields, but it failed when I tried to reinforce a floor. That's part of how we ended up in the Thames. I assume you've had some pretty freaky shit happen to you too, because I've already fought off a corpse and dealt with a crazy powerful magnetic field. Not really a good day to be called into work with a raging hangover, if I'm gonna be perfectly honest."

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

Yep, she's been crying. Again, I don't blame her for trying to hide it, and I'm not going to be the one to bring it up. And my theory that the unfairness of the universe servers pity to no one continues, it goes without saying that no one should go through anything even remotely close to this. I chuckled faintly.

-"I was chased by three different monster-like creatures, jumped off a moving motorcycle, and to top it all of, in the fall, I managed to break my leg. Coming from a guy who used to spent ninety percent of his time reading, this is quite a big game changer, that's for sure." -I laughed sorely.​

I paused once again, sighed, then said:

-"I guess what's left to us is to try to make the best of this." -I smiled, thinking of a certain someone- "You can always look for the bright side: You're not alone in this, there are more like us - and as of right now, we're all willing to help each other." - I turned my head, smiling.
​

She represents no danger, she's just as confused as we all are -- and I feel the need to make her realize that no matter how bad the situation may seem, we have her back, it's the least I can do.

 

[RJS]

|Christopher Watson|
|Hospital|

Yep, she's been crying. Again, I don't blame her for trying to hide it, and I'm not going to be the one to bring it up. And my theory that the unfairness of the universe servers pity to no one continues, it goes without saying that no one should go through anything even remotely close to this. I chuckled faintly.

-"I was chased by three different monster-like creatures, jumped off a moving motorcycle, and to top it all of, in the fall, I managed to break my leg. Coming from a guy who used to spent ninety percent of his time reading, this is quite a big game changer, that's for sure." -I laughed sorely.​

I paused once again, sighed, then said:

-"I guess what's left to us is to try to make the best of this." -I smiled, thinking of a certain someone- "You can always look for the bright side: You're not alone in this, there are more like us - and as of right now, we're all willing to help each other." - I turned my head, smiling.
​

She represents no danger, she's just as confused as we all are -- and I feel the need to make her realize that no matter how bad the situation may seem, we have her back, it's the least I can do.

[Hospital]
"You'd have thought I'd have been better suited for something like this - every night shift in a rough neighbourhood is an invitation for someone to try and stab me. Nevertheless here I am, hospitalised just like you. I guess none of us were really ready for this huh?"

As much as my words seems companionable, my stomach feels hollow. No matter what this kid might say, however nice he's trying to be, he doesn't understand. I am alone. I've been alone for the past ten years, looking in on the world whilst drifting through it, the nauseous feeling of separation building up only to be washed away by another drunken binge and a casual fling. I feel like a ghost in a living world, untouched by all but the sharpest of sensations.

The room feels suffocating all of a sudden, and I feel a desperate need to get out, to be anywhere other than here, to run from my feelings of the past. I feel soiled, not just from my swim in the Thames, but by my existence. I consider calling the nurse, but I'm too fragile right now. After everything that's happened the last thing that I need is to break down again in with someone watching. I climb out of bed, and realise that I probably ought to say something to ...Christopher.

"Erm...I'm going out for a walk. I'd offer for you to join, but I don't think you'd appreciate it. If anyone comes looking, tell them that I'm fine and I'll be back in a bit."

That said, I have to physically concentrate to stop myself just running out the room and to force myself to walk calmly. As soon as the door shuts behind me, I dash off, in search of a shower that I can use to try and make myself feel clean again.