Chapter Two: The Meeting

[albatross]

[Tiger]

As the team came into the room, Tiger looked over everyone carefully. Not seeing any permanant damage, she allowed herself a small feeling of relief. Not that she had expected otherwise, but it galled her to wait patiently while the had fought.

She met Tribe's eyes and nodded sincerely, yet casually in response to his acknowledgement of their efforts. At his question she smiled. "We are here in the hope that you can introduce us to some of your friends. People that are hard to meet." She pauses, looking at Tribe calmly and intently. "You seen us operate a little, perhaps you can recommend us..." She watches Tribe to gauge his reaction.

[tag: Tribe, any]

[shiivster]

* Jeckle is currently in the back of the group and examining one of the gadgets. doing a visual scan of it first and recording her nearly silent comments as she turns the item about in the fingertips of one hand.

*to her, the world has dropped out of sync as she is involved in her study. as the bottles of water go by, she reaches out with one hand to grab a bottle, wedging it between the knees she twists the cap off. then nodding and slipping it away looks about and shrugs before drinking some of it.

[tag]

[Dome]

As Dante walks in he takes a moment to look over the surroundings and furnishings in the office. He is hoping that the decorations may give him a key as to how they should best negotiate with Tribe. He thinks for a moment of diving into Tribe's mind, but feels that is unwarranted at this time, and perhaps not a safe move to try. Instead he just stays toward the back, trying to remain unnoticed, and listen as the discussion unfolds.

[tag]

[logan]

Patriot

Following Tribe inside, Patriot doesn't bother trying to hide who he is after what took place outside. He didn't like having to be so public about in his actions, but the situation forced his hand. Entering the office, his first impression of Tribe was one of an arrogant man who was a bit full of himself. Seeing that Tiger had already begun a dialogue with him even before they entered and the fact that this was her show, Patriot let her do the talking until he was addressed or a point came up that he wanted to make.

[shiivster]

* Jeckle seems to rest her head on one hand .. and seems to be dozing. she is in fact getting her mind into 'record' mode. she then straightens up and takes a drink, her eyes now watching the various people in the room. realizing she's finished the water .. sits back and shifts the glasses to cover the eyes and the semi glazed look they get as her photographic memory kicks in

[tag]

[dakota]

Khris let Magician's reply slide as they walked inside. He tried not to let on as each Tribe he encountered had an unnervingly felt slightly different than other metas. As they entered the meeting, he took spot near the back of the room and leaned against the wall with his arms folded. This wasn't his area of expertise, so he stayed out of it, more intent on trying to block out the throb from the bruise on his leg.

[tag]

[shiivster]

*the hands steeple in front of her. the index fingers tap together as she waits for something to happen. her eyes count the seconds, which seem to slow down as she sits and waits.

[tag]

[albatross]

[Tribe]

The Tribe that Tiger is talking to looks at her carefully. He is more than a little irritated that she hasn't really stated her purpose. "But why-" he starts to growl angrily.

Tiger cuts him off by raising her hand. She says quietly, "You told me you wanted to shield this place from trouble, including legal trouble. Even if our job is legal," she glances sidelong at Patriot, "that doesn't mean that your knowing about it won't cause any problems for you."

Tribe folds his arms across his chest. "So your 'job' is going to cause problems." His tone is calmer, and harder.

"Only if we tell you what we are doing." Tiger responds. "If you introduce us to a few people, we can find out what we need to know. Introducing people won't cause any problems." She smiles politely. The two of them stare at each other for a few seconds. Tiger's gaze is calm and expectant, Tribe's eyes are narrowed.

"No deal. Not good enough." Tribe says finally.

Tiger snorts, "So if I told you exactly what we were here to do it would be good enough? Think about it, even our dust up tonight is bound to piss somebody off." She lets out a small sigh, "The decision is entirely up to you. We aren't going to give up trying, no matter what you decide. The real choice is whether you want us blundering around trying to prove ourselves to you and poking around for information or if you would like us out of your way on someone else's doorstep." Tiger waits for a reply.

(To Be Continued...)

[albatross]

[Tribe]

“If you want to meet people so badly,” he responds, “it can be arranged.” Now that he has made his decision, Tribe quickly strides for the door, opens it and proceeds halfway down the hallway. He knocks, and a section of the wall opens revealing a hidden door.

Tribe waves everyone inside a long, dark room. As Tiger passes he says quietly, “You had best watch your step. This isn’t a place for your kind.”

Tiger smiles graciously and says to the rest of the team, “If things do get rough, don’t use any weapons or kill anyone. I want our new friends to remain alive and unharmed.”

Once everyone else is inside the room, Tribe closes the door from the outside, without bothering to come in himself. Muffled conversation can be heard in the far end of the room, where it is quite dark.

[tag: any and all]

[shiivster]

*From the back of the group, hidden in the darkness and behind the larger more competent members of the group comes Jeckle's voice ' .. aww nuts .. can't record anything other than 'its dark in here .. hope this isn't what you meant by 'being on someone else's doorstep' .. ' .. *then a faint chuckle as she squats to avoid a backhand from any of the others.

*she then reaches into an inner pocket of her trench coat and pulls out something and then peers about in the darkness. her night-vision / heat sensor goggles scan about the area as her mind 'photocopies the area, from the ground up.

[tag - any]

[albatross]

Everyone who can see in the dark can clearly make out eight mutants at the far end of the room, and everyone with super hearing will be able to understand that their hushed conversation is about the Patriot sightings that day, although its hard to tell from their conversation how they feel about them exactly, its more of a fact based conversation.

The mutants are heavily mutated, at least one has a tail, one is covered with short, thick fur, others are unnaturally bulky. One is extremely small, less than three feet tall.

As the team approaches, the sound of a cover of the Rolling Stones can be heard clearly, though it must be playing downstairs, "Paint It Black." The girl singing on the remix isn't bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original

[tag: any]

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and theyre all painted black
With flowers and my love both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby it just happens evry day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door and it has been painted black
Maybe then Ill fade away and not have to face the facts
Its not easy facin up when your whole world is black

No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin comes

I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm,...
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

(O.O.C.: Thats what you get when you rely on the internet for information - Led Zepplin, what was I thinking! *shakes head in disbelief at brain malfunction*)

[dakota]

(ooc: Hate to do this, but I have to. Paint it Black is a Rolling Stones song)

Khris could 'feel' the mutants ahead long before he saw or heard them. He took Tiger's order not to kill anyone as directed more at than some of the others, knowing this wasn't the place for a firefight anyways. As the lyrics became clear, he suppressed a cringe, " Some things should never be tampered with. Kieth Richards would be rolling over in his grave to hear thisif he'd admit he's been dead for the past ten years and only the chemicals keep him going."

[tag]

[shiivster]

*Jeckle looks up at the others, before standing up and moves along with the rest of them.

'never cared much about music. listened to the classicals, myself. easier to think and work to than some pounding thumpity screamy thing ... but her voice isn't that bad. lyrics .. '

*she realizes that she's starting to blather again, and goes quiet but turns about to observe the rest of the room. making a note of all the obvious places of enterance and then wishing she had more of her 'toys' to check for hidden spaces behind walls.

' .... ooo ... cool wonder if it ... ' *whatever else she was going to say is lost as she starts to mumble about extendable this or thats .. and other strange broken comments. her mind is currently thinking about how to 'mimic' what the mutants have naturally as tools of the trade*

[tag]

[Dome]

Dante says nothing as he enters the room. He does not know what they may be in for but makes sure that he keeps an eye on Magician and Jeckle as he know they may need the most help come any encounter.

[tag]

[shiivster]

*somewhat distracted now, Jeckle removes a pad of paper and then a small illuminated pen, and as she stands there beside.behind the others .. she starts off with a few lines and then writing is in some kind of code as she makes notations and other marks.

'ooo .. could make that into an electronic lock pick .. sorta .. but .. sorry' *she goes quiet once again and resumes her doodle and word and now takes the time to make the adjustments on paper. unaware of any possible danger, she moves away from the others and then squats to write on her knee instead. the light is only strong enough to illuminate the paper and the hands holding the 2, and a faint outline of her face.

[tag]