HaloInc

[Ian] muttered a quiet “Sorry,” before turning toward Kruth’T with his warm and cheerful smile.

Ella was momentarily confused by Ian’s apology. None of what happened was his fault.

“No Ian” Ella started reaching for his hand as he pulled it away, but thought better of it “I am the one that should be sorry…that IS sorry. It was my fault entirely” Her voice grew slightly stronger.

[Ian] “Sorry about yesterday, Kruth’T. I didn’t mean to push that whole situation out of control like that but you were still composed enough to help bring it under control so thanks.”

With eyes still glistening, Ella smiled at Kruth’T as well. He really was her hero. Things could have been so much worse if it hadn’t been for him.

She stayed back quietly to let Kruth’T handle Orchid’s introduction.

Ella’s body tensed as she was momentarily startled, but she did not lash out. She took a deep breath then forced herself to relax her body. She not only relaxed but she actually slumped into a dejected posture. She turned slowly, in a non-threatening way, and she turned in a way to allow Ian to keep his hand on her shoulder, if he so chose.

As Ella turned to face him, her large and expressive all white eyes were even larger than normal. It looked like her eyes could barely contain how sorry she felt. Her eyes glistened near the edge of tears.

She looked at Ian, searching his face, wondering what he thought of her after all that had happened yesterday. She tried a forced smile that her eyes did not support. She had betrayed him so horribly, so completely. She had used him in an attempt to escape. Would he? Could he ever trust her again?

She opened her mouth to say 'hi' but the words did not come out. A knot formed in her stomach and, her lips simply quivered. The first of her milky white tears floated from her eyes and tangled in her eyelash. She gingerly dabbed the tear out of her eye with the corner of her sleeve.

Her body shuddered slightly as she took another deep breath. She looked fixedly at the ground somewhere between her's and Ian's feet, unable to look him in the eyes, and then she spoke in a small frail voice.

“hi ian”

Ella studied Kruth’T’s stance while he had shot, then she made a number of educated assumptions on his physiology specifically his joints and muscles.

She studied Orchid as well but her form was near flawless. Perfect posture and stance, perfect release. She really did have the Zen whole body attitude to her shooting.

She watched with very sharp eyes as each arrow reached the target. Orchid wasn’t simply aiming for bull’s-eyes. She picked a spot on the target then placed the arrow there. It was really beautiful.

Kruth'T then joined Ella. "Sorry you weren't allowed fire one of these devices as well." He said to her.

“It’s okay. They think that I am dangerous, and they are right I can be, so I understand” She spoke very plainly, not exactly detached from the observation but with full acceptance of it.

“Would you like some pointers on your shooting? You would be better off with a custom bow for your physiology but there is room to improve with this one” She made sure that she sounded pleasant. She wanted to be helpful and not sharply critique him. She liked him. He was her friend. He had said so.

I think that we are getting some good examples, of what not to do.

It sounds to me, that this should be water under the bridge. I don't know how far in the past this is, but everyone that has chimed in seems to have strong feelings about it.

A good opportunity of PM reconciliation or an opportunity to agree to disagree.

((Some of this was rehashed from another thread, but I feel it partly belongs here))

Much of the often used term Godmoding can be attributed to misunderstandings. I like to think that most writers on the boards that are into roleplaying have a semi-clear understanding to their characters, and therefore a vision of who/what their characters are. Much of this may be lost, misinterpreted of for sake of brevity not included in a post. Many times this can be sorted out with a Private Message (PM) to set some ground rules/expectations (preferably) before a fight begins.

This is not to say that some Godmoding is blatant or simply based on ego. In cases with ego we should rely on the thread’s GM to provide balances, scales and limitations. In the rare cases where it is the GM Godmoding, politely call him/her on it [u] in PM [u] and see if an understanding can be reached, else you always have the option to leave the thread, and use your beloved character in another thread.

A Combat Rules Basic in most threads:

It is general forum etiquette that you decide if you get hit by an attack, and only describe your attacks so others can decide if they get hit. When you decide that a hit does land then you also describe how effective/damaging the attack was.

This can potentially lead to endless fights were neither writer acknowledges a hit :P It is considered good form or forum etiquette to take a hit now and again.

Taking hits also depends on the characters involved in the fight too. If tough character A is hitting, squishy character B with enough force to split a battleship in two, then character B HAS to dodge/evade everything or end up being killed in one shot. Some characters (Tanks/Scrappers) can easily take hits while other characters simply can’t without being put down instantly/too quickly. In this situation a PM may go a long way to help provide understanding to both characters involved.

It is better to never assume. If an action was not responded to or missed or ignored bring it to the others attention (by post or PM) so they may make the proper acknowledgment. Sometimes things are innocently missed while reading through the boards. This may happen more in fast reactionary post, especially in fights involving more than two posters with everyone posting quickly.

On some occasions it is best to work directly with the other combatant via PM, so that you both have a fair understanding of each other's vision of their characters abilities, so that you can post something that is satisfactory to both parties, and true to the vision of both characters. This does take longer but the end results can be more satisfying.

However some posters do like surprise and reactionary style fights which can be fun and mentally challenging to write. Even if this is the style a PM may help decide some of the ground rules or posting preferences.

Sometimes based on character reasons you don’t wish to reveal why an attack missed or was ineffective. Again in this situation a PM may go a long way to help provide understanding.
After all the boards are cooperative writing, even if the characters are adversaries.

Necro-post

For those new to the boards or if anyone wishes to add or re/clarify anything.

A steel panel slid open to reveal the range rules. It was all the rules that common sense dictated and them some. ((Use your imagination, with a safety first motto))

After a few moments a metal drawer opened in the face of the bunker. The drawer was a huge version of the drawers used at a bank drive though. A scrolling display showed Orchid’s name over the drawer. Inside it was a basic archery set ((Your choice of recurve or compound)).

Next Kruth’T’s name appeared over a similar drawer with the equipment he had requested.

A drawer didn’t open up for Ella. She didn’t seem surprised by this at all. She seemed simply excited to be here and to talk with people.

Ella excitedly watched as Orchid extracted her equipment. She wanted to offer to help with it but knew better than to even touch the quiver full of practice arrows.

Arms Master Waires’s holographic eyes were not subtle at all about watching Ella’s movements.

[Kruth’T] "Who do we see for the 'Archery' equipment?"

There was a sharp buzzing in the air, as soon as the question was stated. Soon the buzzing concentrated in an area of air in front of the hillside bunker. Then a digitally fuzzy image of man appeared. He wore a jumpsuit that bore a reasonable resemblance to the Clinic Security Uniform without all of the decorative trimming. He seemed tall, wide, and very muscular. The top of his head was bald but he had shaggy orange-red hair along the side and back of his head, and a matching shaggy beard with a few streaks of gray.

“Alrighty, step forward to be scanned” His voice came from a metal grill on the bunker. His voice was gruff and matter of fact.

Ella smiled her normal bright smile and hope forward offering her wrist to be scanned. Ella’s eyes quickly surveyed the holographic man, taking in his name tag. ‘Arms Master Waires’.

Though Waires was holding a scan-gun, the beam projected from the bunker and shot though the holo to scan the small barcode on Ella’s wristband.

Waires turned to his left, presumably looking at a screen from where-ever he was projected from, before turning back to face thee others.

“Okay next”

Ella listened thoughtfully to Kruth’T’s theory. Taking a few seconds to weigh and balance the idea based on her knowledge and personal experience. She took several more long seconds recalculating what she ‘knew’. She had very little real-word experiences of her own. She had never been to Atlas Park, Kings Row, or Galaxy City even once, though she had detailed knowledge of them. They only parts of Paragon that she spent any real time at (that she could remember) was Independence Port and the Zig in Bricktown.

Her first memories none of which were real, were of being raised in the Hollows. This was before it was called the Hollows, but it’s what she remembered, before her memory failed her. It was important for Ella to know these memories were fake. If she started to accept them as real, then her interpretation of reality was vastly different from her current perspective. Ella was a repository on brainwashing techniques and could write volumes on the subject if most of her knowledge wasn’t illegal. Brainwashing wasn’t the only subject that Ella could expound upon. She was an expert in many many things, and again a lot of that knowledge skated the law, but she was an expert on that too.

Everything after those false memories of growing up in the Hollows came in bits and pieces. They were horribly fragmented, and worse they were maliciously doctored and tailored to make her a certain way, a certain person. That almost succeeded too, as a matter of fact it did succeed, as her episode last night showed. But Ella had placed several mechanisms in place, while she was still herself, to make sure that the right people found out about what was happening to stop her.

Ella shook her head letting her long wavy hair cascade over her face before shaking it back over her shoulders. She sighed softly before she spoke again.

“I am sorry Kruth’T” There was a slight apologetic tone in her voice “I don’t think that they use it for that purpose, at least I have never seen anyone training here, except for the Clinic’s own security staff. But it certainly sounds like a good idea”

She smiled her bright winning smile. It was warm and friendly and unmistakably genuine. It was something that even the cold calculating version of Ella with all of her immense thespian skills could never fully pull off.


((Glad to hear it Pyrria!))

((Well I was waiting for someone else to reply to Chotic_Blue before I posted my response, but I have over waited.

I would like to take a quick inventory of people that are still around and interested in participating in the thread.

I will continue to write Ella here, as she is one of my favorite characters.))


[Kruth'T]"Is this a seasonal event?" He said gesturing to the autumn foliage. "I though they were usually a different collar. Or are these diffrent from the ones in Paragon?"

"Yes, Kruth'T it is a seasonal event. The leaves turn from green to these autumn colors" Ella made a sweeping motion with her hand indicating the broad canopy of threes with their yellow and orange leaves. "Then the die and fall off, and the trees are barren until spring"

As the three walked the woods reopened to a large field. there was a low round hill on the closer side of the field where they emerged. Ella lead them around the hill until they got to the front of it. The far side was completely flat and man made (as was the entire hill). It was designed to be unobtrusive but from this close the word bunker leap instantly to mind when looking at the concrete front.

"This is where the Master of Arms keeps the weapons. I don't know why they built it like this. It seems a little much for just practice weapons" Ella explained.

Ella had her own theories about what else was hidden in the reinforced bunker.

((Sorry to hear about your back Rakesh, hope that you are feeling better soon!))

Ella led the pair out of the building, and stopped to look both ways at the golf cart crossing. There was only one golf cart in sight and it was obviously headed away from the trio. The driver was a huge hulking figure that barely fit in the little vehicle. His golf bag was sitting on the back of the cart with the addition of a cane added among the clubs.

Ella escorted the pair across the crossing then let go of their hands, some part of her reminding her that it was silly or inappropriate. She looked up awkwardly her white eyes large and apologetic.

“It’s this way” She nodded with her head and led on.

It didn’t take long to be beyond the golf coarse, and at the edge of the woods.

The main grounds of the Clinic were always immaculately kept. This extended into the woods. It was naturally pleasant yet carefully cultivated and cleaned, the large tall trees, some of which were centuries old provided plentiful shade to the passing party. A light breeze rustled the tops branches, knocking off a few of the first autumn leaves.

Ella stopped and caught a leaf as it glided gently down. She held in carefully in her hand and stared at it. The leave had reached its end of season, this one much earlier than the thousands of others still in the trees. Would her life end the same way? Was she to be the early one? She’s been over the calculation hundreds of times already. Her life span would be less than a decade but just how soon or how late? Any way she calculated it her margin of error was still over six months. Would that be six more months of life, or would they be taken early like this leaf’s. Most importantly would she spend them at this Clinic.

Ella had plans, but everything she planned was limited in this place. They had all of the equipment that she needed right here. She needed access to the advanced labs. She needed to refine the formulas to make the proper calculations. But her handlers wouldn’t even trust her with a stethoscope.

Ella crushed the leaf in her small fist. A soft golden glow around her hand, and the leaf was crushed to powder. She brushed her hands together trying to clean the dust off of them as to not get any on her white track suit. She then hurried the few paces to catch back up with Kruth’T and Orchid wearing her pleasant smile again.

Kruth'T seemed to perked up at that suggestion. "Some practice would do me some good." He said softly. "At least it would help pass that time."

“Okay” Ella nodded enthusiastically. She hurriedly started feeding her mouth forkfuls of waffles as fast as she could chew them. She half rose from her chair as she continued eating; cleaning the plate of the last bits of waffles.

Ella inhaled the last bits of her breakfast then hurried after Kruth’T to clear her tray as well. She was full of girlish excitement as she hopped her way back to the others.

“Shall we?” She smiled brightly. She offered to take each of their hands (Kruth’T & Orchid’s) to lead them out of the common room and outside.

Internally she was deciding what route to take them. The weapons range was kind of far off. The shortest path was straight across the golf coarse then though the forest. There were many paths through the forest, some short and some long. Ella knew them all but her access to the forest was somewhat restricted as her handlers liked to keep close tabs on her.

((FYI, I got a note from Midnight Dawn, and Magda. They are having some account trouble but hope to have it all straightened out soonish. So they expect to be back with us in about a week. <crosses-fingers&gt)

Ella watched and listened at the various conversations happening all around her. She knew all about the physics of archery, bow design and even fletchery but has never once held a bow. She also knew exhaustive amounts about physical conditioning and weight lifting. She knew far too much about many, many subjects. What she didn’t know was social interaction. She knew all of the theories and terms that psychologist would label things and behaviors, it was the actual interaction she had very little experience with. At least based on what was legitimately her own experiences were very limited.

So she sat and watched and listened, never intending to be antisocial. She tried to ignore the protein compositions of the species of maggots that Kruth’T was eating, that popped into her head every time he took a bite, and tried to stay focused on actual things.

Ella who was looking around as if watching a tennis match from one participant of the conversation to the next, and then the next. Suddenly started as she realized that she had been addressed. She blushed bringing only the very faintest hint of pink to her face.

“Oh I’m sorry” She sat up a little straighter to speak then wiped the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

“Yes, they have an archery range, but the bows they have available are very weak and substandard. They don’t like <air quotes> weapon grade </end air quotes> equipment around for security reasons. Unless it is part of your talents, then you are allowed supervised use at the weapons range for rehabilitation purposes. But that is for those that signed in and surrendered their equipment on admission. There is lots of paperwork involved”

‘If you guys are interested they have a Heroes Discussion Group** starting in little while. That’s when one of the patients gets to story tell about their adventures and heroics. They are normally lots of fun despite that they usually end with a arguing and a brawl. There is someone who always thinks they know more about this or that villain group.”

“But if you are not interested in that, I can show you to the weight room and the weapon range.”

((OoC: ** I actually have nothing planned for the discussion group, so if anyone is interested in going to that, or leading the discussion with a long monologue feel free to jump in and run with it.))

[Void] "Oh right, Orchid, I don't believe you met Ella yet did you? Orchid, this is Ella. Ella, this is Orchid."

Ella’s smile broadened as Void introduced Orchid.

[Orchid] "G'morning Void. Very nice to meet you Ella. Those waffles look delicious as do the biscuits and gravy. I'm on a bit of a liquid diet or I'd be having what you're having."

Ella nodded politely with a pleasant smile fixed on her face. She was the picture of perkiness and friendly, though she didn’t extend a hand to shake as hers were occupied with utensils while Orchids were occupied with yogurt and blood.

“Its very nice to meet you too Orchid” Ella over emphasized the name as someone does when committing something to memory.

[Orchid] "So, what's fun for girls to do around here during the day? They had me on some rather strong medication that pretty well knocked me out yesterday, so today I feel like seeing more of the amenities and activities of this place."

“There are lots of fun things to do here” Ella managed to be enthusiastic despite having been here longer than most patients and physically healthier than most of the patients that have been here longer than her.

“There are plenty of outdoor activities, weather permitting. But the weather is usually pretty good. I think there is a storm controller here somewhere that keeps thing closer to the pleasant side of things, but I haven’t figured out who” (Though not from a lack of trying).

“There is some indoor stuff as well. In the recreation room and …” She was cutoff by Void’s response, though not impolitely. She waited patiently for him to finish.

[Void] "O-oh, well, you know, I'm just uh..looking to start getting more physically fit again. I think I've been losing some of my edge since my last mission. I'm gonna start weight training, maybe find some people to spar or train with, then um...relax at the hot tub I guess. I'll just add more things as I go along through the day, I still haven't even seen it all here."

“I can show you around…if you like.” Ella’s tone soured slightly as she spoke the next bit. “There are sections of the gym that are under repairs that might not be available today” There was a hint of remorse and embarrassment in her voice, luckly she was saved by the latest arrival…

[Kruth'T]. "Hi all! Mind if I join?"

“KRUTH’T!” Ella’s face light up in a huge bright smile as her friend Kruth’T entered.

A powerful urge to hug him passed though her like a wave. She grabbed the table to steady herself as the powerful urge swept though her. There was a muted crack under her hand where she had squeezed the table too hard leaving a small crack in the plastic top. This luckily went largely unnoticed as Void invited Kruth’T to join them and made introductions.

Ella’s smile didn’t fade though. She made a mental note to report the feeling to her shrink. It was precisely the type of thing her shrink was interested in Ella reporting.

“How did you sleep Kruth’T? Was your room okay?” If Ella was pleasantly perky before, then she was perky to the point of being fidgety now as she smiled across the table at Kruth’T.

[Void] "Hi Ella, how are you feeling? Are you better from the..umm...incident?"

Ella looked up and smiled at Void. She had just shoveled a large fork full of syrup drenched waffles into her mouth, so she didn’t answer immediately. She gave him a pleasant and embarrassed smile while she chewed the waffles down to a manageable level. Eventually she spoke.

“Oh, I am fine now. Thank you for asking” She said in a soft yet confident tone. “I am sorry for any of the trouble that I caused”

She swept her long white hair back with her freehand while her other stabbed some more waffles with the fork.

“How did you sleep? The rooms here are very nice” The subject shift was done effortlessly, and didn’t seem remotely forced.

Ella turned and looked at the new arrival at the table. (Orchid). She blinked once slowly at her, but smiled politely at the same time. She shifted her head toward Void, because it wasn’t obvious when she shifted her eyes. She noticed that the new arrival seemed to know Void and waited patiently for an introduction.
---

Both Kia and Hali were awake and dressed. However they were awake and dressed for different reasons. Kia hit the gym early and was working up a good sweat and appetite. Hali was dressed leisurely to relax and enjoy the Spa’s facilities.

Just about the time that Hali strolled into the cafeteria, Kia was starting the next phase of her workout. She had a trainer robot set to defensive mode only, and it was busy blocking the combinations of punches and kicks that Kia was delivering.

There was plenty of room to criticize Kia’s technique. As much as she might think otherwise, she was NOT a scrapper. The trainer robot was effortlessly blocking every punch and kick she threw. She had enough skill to hold her own against untrained fighters but everything else was just heart and attitude.

Either way Kia was getting a superb workout as she attacked relentlessly, strike after strike. She was drenched in sweat and breathing hard, not using her powers, and loving every second of it.

[A New Day]

Ella awoke at precisely six AM, without the aid of an alarm clock. She hopped out of bed and lightly skipped off to the bathroom to start getting ready for the new day.

Sometime later…

Ella stood at the message board at the entrance of the cafeteria and read today’s activities. After breakfast there was a Heroes Discussion Group. She all ways found them entertaining. She loved hearing the stories of heroics and epic battles. Ella herself didn’t have any stories to tell, she was never a hero, almost quite the opposite. The stories were almost always passionate, and the sessions started out great. She wondered if today they would end as per usual with lots of arguing.

After the Discussion Group there were some outdoor activities (for patients mobile enough) that were weather permitting. She didn’t need to go see Doctor Tyler today, and she knew that Doctor Tyler could almost always see her anyway.

Ella queued up in the breakfast line, and waited several minutes for the waffle press to become free. She took a seat at what was currently an empty table and looked around to see if there was anyone she recognized.

((Hello All and Thank you for being part of the Clinic.

I am thinking of jumping the RP time to the next day soon. I'm thinking possibly Monday August 20th.

If anyone would like to keep time progressing 'naturally' please PM me.

Anything that is currently ongoing should either be posted out by Monday or settled in PM between the parties involved.

If I get enough PM's to move the Monday date further off or cancel the time jump I will post the notice.

Thank you all, and your feedback is welcome

Halo ))

[At the Gate]

The presented card was quickly scanned, and in seconds her identify was confirmed. About the same time as the ambulance pulled up to the gate, Jezabel’s medical history was coming up.

The rear doors of the ambulance flung open and paramedics rushed out to take over. The security team quickly briefed them on what they knew and didn’t.

The first paramedic scanned Jezabel with a medical scanner, then flashed a green healing beam on the wound. The microscopic nanites immediately went to work repairing tissue damage, and stopping bleeding. Everything would hurt just the same for a while but it took her of the ‘life threatening’ category.

She was carefully lifted onto a gurney and would be hurried off to the emergency room for further treatment.

The security team at the gate sprang to action. A medical team was summoned immediately and would arrive in moments. Six security guards flooded out of the gate, all were trained as medics. Three of them set a perimeter around the unidentified woman (Jezabel) while three went to work on her. They ignored Void’s presences.

“Miss, you are at the Clinic and we are treating your wounds. Can you tell us your name?”

The second security/medic examined the abdomen wound, and decided direct pressure was helping it more. He quickly placed a trauma patch over the wound and held it firmly in place.

The third medic was looking for her hero ID card. It wouldn’t be the first time that a villain tried to access the Clinic by injury.

An ambulance was rushing down the driveway. It looked more like a rugged armored car painted white and orange with the decorations of an ambulance.

((I'd like to welcome our newest writers!! With a welcome to the Clinic!!!))

Kia held tightly to the hand rail as she pulled herself up the stairs. For the moment she wasn’t paying much attention to Kruth’T or Ian. She was lost in her own thoughts, and those being broadcast by others. Her short hair rose up slightly as she sensed out telepathically. Faint purples and pink energies swirled behind her eyes as she felt out into the psychic world.

There was more than the normal amount of psychic traffic traveling about, but that wasn’t the alarming part. The alarming part was how it was traveling. Most thoughts at least those of a telepathic nature traveled like ripples on a pond emanating outward, but these were traveling awkwardly. They were being echoed and warped.

’Shino? Chiro?’ There was so much psychic disturbance that she didn’t get the name right until the third echo reached her. ’Shiro’.

Kia had plenty of experience dealing with villains and knew that this wasn’t psychic shielding or dampening, the Clinic had plenty of that. This was something else entirely. This was someone plugged into the psychic network, someone who was immensely powerful.

Kia shuddered, and tried to make her psi presence as small as possible hoping to go unnoticed…

----

Jaime had her face pressed up against the glass of the Intensive Care Unit. They were used to see her there. It was where her master was, the one who had summoned her.

The glass was frosted over from Jaime’s touch, and she was drawing pretty pictures in the frost with her finger. She turned when she heard the faint music it took her a second to recognize it and to then associate it to the source.

---

Hali was still playing the ice flute while walking the halls; she carefully stepped around a janitor’s wet floor sign as she made her way, when Jamie suddenly skated around the corner. Jamie skated up to Hali and threw her tiny blue arms around Hali’s waist.

Hali embraced the young iceling and smiled, the wet floor froze around the pair as the janitor clung to his mop which was frozen in place while he struggled to maintain his footing.

---

I would like to say that Ella fought the good fight. That she held her ground against the Specialist, but that simply wasn’t true.

Ella had no defenses at all against the Specialist, and manacled as she was she only had one offensive option. This too didn’t work. The Specialist effortlessly sidestepped the defensive mechanism and went to work.

The first few seconds Ella fought with everything she could. Her young body glowed a vibrant golden light as she coursed with ridiculous amounts of strength that was useless against the manacles, and she knew it. She knew it deep down. On one of her ‘good’ days she had designed the manacles herself for this very purpose. She had all of the strength and then some to shred the manacles into pieces. To bend and rip and rend the titanium with her bare hands, but they were designed to resist with calculated leverage. They were designed to break her own arms, before the manacles would yield.

In seconds the fight was over and the golden glow faded. The defiant arrogance faded, the cold hard look in her eyes faded to softness and her body relaxed. There was an apologetic sorrowful look in her eyes. She didn’t need to say ‘I’m sorry’ it was felt though and though. And unlike the other Ella who would feign emotions it was sincere.

Ella sat on the ground of the cell. She was very uncomfortable in the manacles, but not in pain as long as she didn’t struggle against them.

The Specialist continued their work as Captain Roberts watched though the one way glass.

---

Eventually Kia turned back towards the stairs to see Kruth’T coming up. She had her arms wrapped tightly around herself, giving herself a hug.

“Let’s go this way” She nodded with her head, towards the lake, away from the hospital building.

((Editted for readability))

----

[Kruth'T] "What is it?" he asked in his usually calm manor.

Kia smirked her smirk and in a very low voice, (that Kruth’T would have no trouble hearing) “There is something weird going on here”

She motioned with her head a ‘Let’s get out of here’ gesture, then took a step towards the exit. She glanced back to see if Ian and Kruth’T were coming before heading up the stairs.

---

Hali wandered the halls of the Residence building. She had recreated her ice-flute and was blowing though it. The flute was inaudibly to human ears. However to ice-beings it sung out a friendly melody.

Meanwhile her Jack-Frost searched the open areas of the grounds, so far neither had found any sign of Jaime.

---

Captain Roberts and Brice watched the lone figure step through the Portal. Roberts didn’t visibly react at all, when the Specialist stepped though. While Brice’s only reaction was to clenched his jaw slightly tighter, a ‘tell’ that also worked against him on poker night also.

No one spoke, the three simply stepped down their secured hallway and into the waiting tram shuttle with the blacked out windows. The tram rocketed off along the tracks emerging above ground for several hundred yards of its journey, before dipping back below ground under the main hospital building into another secured station.

The three passengers disembarked and all but Brice stepped into the elevator waiting for them. Brice had been interviewed in detail about his encounter with ‘Happy Camper’ and was no longer needed for the Specialist’s visit.

Almost immediately the elevator proceeded down, though many secured levels until it reached its destination. Very few people knew of the existence of this particular section of the Clinic. Even fewer were allowed access to it.

Many security doors later they made it to the observation room where Ella was. She was sitting quietly glaring at the one-way observation glass. Occasionally her nostrils would flare in annoyance and even despite the complicated array of manacles she was still in, her posture shone with arrogant annoyance.

The specialist simply made a small nod, to Capt Roberts, then entered Ella’s room

(( [ QUOTE ]
Void Blazer looked back at Orchid again, and said curiously, "So, you don't remember signing up at the Clinic? So you have some memory loss problems right? Any idea how you lost them, or theories on what lead to you coming here?

[/ QUOTE ]

Memory loss will qualify her/them to be in Ella’s support group, but Ella will be indisposed for a while. At least until the specialist arrives))

[Spa, outside hot tub area]

There was a very frustrated maintenance man staring at the hot tub. It seemed it was frozen completely solid. Once it thawed out most of the pipes and internal workings would need to be completely replaced. Hali isn’t psi active like Kia is, but it was obvious that he was very very unhappy.

Hali looked over his shoulder at the damage a worried look on her face. She knew who had done this, and it could be said that it was partly her fault for leaving her behind in all of the commotion. Hali stepped out of the hot tub area and into the pool area. With her fingers she brushed her long white bangs away from her eyes and scanned around the area. She was obviously looking for something or someone.

“Hallo Jaime?” She called out. There was no response. However she saw a pair of people seated over on opposite side of the pool area. She didn’t recognize the female. She had to be another guest/patient. She was speaking with Void Blazer whom Hali had met earlier.

((I can’t really remember what happened earlier, and am writing this offline. I think that she had met Void, either way its easier if we just go with it))

Hali walked around the pool. She took her time. Her eyes searched the shadows of the statues, sculptures and shrubbery looking for her wayward charge. She took a funny zig zag path moving between the poolside lounge chairs to see if Jamie hid behind any . She wanted to summon a Jack to assist her search, but was wary of the maintenance man’s reaction to seeing an Ice Spirit on the prowl this close to where Jaime’s mischief had taken place.

By the time she had reached the far side Void had already disrobed. She half noticed it on her way over, but didn’t watch as she was busy with her search. She did see enough to recognize him again out of costume. By the time she got to the pools edge, Void had just finished relating his story to the young woman. Hali was too preoccupied on her approach to listen.

“Bonjour Void Blazier, ‘ave vous seen the little girl Jaime aboot?” She half turned to Orchid who was getting ready to start some laps. She smiled as politely at Orchid as her current worry allowed “Bonjour”

Hali still had her swimsuit on under her Spa robe, and her feet comfortably in Spa slippers.

---

[Security Center, Captain Roberts Private Office]

The speaker phone buzzed, “The call is on secure line 4 sir”

“Thank you, and get me an update on the Edwards situation. I want the surveillance team in the comms once I am done with this call” Captain Roberts scooped up the handset, and entered his pin for the secure line. It took a second or two for the phone to synchronize the encryption codes it was used.

“Hello, this is Captain Roberts”

“……”

“Yes we have had an incident here, escape attempt. “

“…”

“Subject is currently back in custody, under the treatment of Steward” Robert’s used the code word for Doctor Tyler. Even he didn’t trust secure channels in this day and age, especially around Paragon City.

“…”

“Steward request you here at best speed. We already have a gate prepped at Portal Corp.”

“…”

“Very well, I will me you at the gate in fifteen minutes”

The call disconnected.

Capt Roberts left his office to talk with the surveillance teams. They were utilizing stealth gear and raptor packs to track Edwards and Sis. They stayed a very safe distance away, and were under orders to only intervene if threat to public safety became apparent.

Before he picked up the radio he turned to a lieutenant “Call the Arrival Center, tell them to execute Code E-7, I will be down there in fourteen minutes. Find Brice and have him meet me there”

Capt Roberts turned back to the radio and then took the other call…..

---
[The Gym]

Kia turned her attention away from Ian for a moment. She decided if he needed help getting up Kruth’T looked capable enough.

[Kruth’T] Kruth'T then stood, and turned to Kia. Slowly at first, he gave he his view of what had happened.

While Krith’T updated Kia she locked eyes with Doctor Tyler whose own eyes were lingering on the group of heroes.

Kia’s posture went from relaxed to a slightly confrontation pose. Kia was never good at subtle. Her eyes still locked in on Tyler’s.

Doctor Tyler was still fighting the battle of need for secrecy and a right to know. When her eyes locked into Kia’s as the young defender stared at her defiantly. Tyler’s hand slide down her lab coat and touched the pocket she had placed Ella’s torc necklace in. She just realized that she had made a mistake, and quickly turned and hurried out of the gym.

The lights blink and went on fully as someone from maintenance patched the damage that Ella had done earlier.

Several seconds after Doctor Tyler left Kia turned back to Kruth’T and Ian. She had a’we should talk’ look in her eyes. Kia rocked on her heels a little bit as a mischievous smile spread across her face.

----

[Elsewhere]

Code E-7 was going into affect. Extra security guards were positioned strategically at the arrival station and hospital complex. Security doors were closed creating an isolated corridor from the arrival station’s tram to the hospital. An elevator was allocated and reserved. Only Roberts and Brice would meet the Specialist on arrival with only very select handful of senior supervisors would remain to operate the portals.

((Sorry all I am traveling and have limited access to internet. I will read the last few post offline to get caught up. With luck I will be able to post tonight/tomorrow...whatever (timezones :/) ))

Void Blazer was given courteous treatment, and was placed on a similar gurney, while a paramedic checked his vitals. His personal doctor was notified in case any specialized treatment was required.

Brice rounded up his team and hurried elsewhere. He left behind two men. One injured and one medical corpsman to look after the fellow. After placing several trauma patches on the downed soldier, he too was placed on a gurney and wheeled off.

The medic made his was over to the upside down Ian.

“Do you need medical assistance?”

Doctor Tyler gave the orderlies a slight nod and they wheeled her away towards a bank of service elevators.

Ella’s all white eyes snapped open, and very briefly she fought against her restrains. A pained expression crossed her face, as she twisted in the complicated metal braces. After a few seconds she gave up and slumped back down to the gurney. In a terrible fury she cursed at the orderlies. They didn’t seem to mind, mostly because the curses were in Portuguese. The string of profanities was ended when the elevator doors closed.

Doctor Tyler turned and looked at the collected heroes that have gotten caught up in this. They were owed an explanation, but how much could she tell them. It was more dangerous if they started snooping on their own (as heroes do), then there could be no information containment.

---

Kia flitted to the ground dropping the last few feet in an acrobatic display that was completely unnecessary. She would have placed an arm on Kruth’T’s shoulder and nonchalantly leaned on him but he was taller than she.

“So what fun did I miss?” She directed at Kruth’T. She then looked down at Ian and tilted her head to kind of line up with his perspective.

“Tough day at the office champ?” She smiled her smile. It was designed to be cocky and slightly light hearted, but you kind of needed to know her to get the light hearted part.

((Thanks to Ex Libris for for placing a sticky on this thread!

I will post descriptions for Lady Halifax and Miss Kia soonish))