what are you doing here.

Ashes · May 13, 2017

R offered only a dark smirk at his initial explanation. "Of course. After all, if you're a famous murderer, you're doing the job very wrong." Another little chuckle. Honestly, if experience had served... it was better to have powers on your side, but it also made one more detectable.
"As for the burning... You're right. People - well, most people - will pick at the weird, the unnatural, the standouts of society. The ones who don't conform to the stupidity of understanding... Seems kind of like a paradox, doesn't it? The stupidity of understanding." R sighed as she looked out into the distance, glancing among the branches of the campus trees. "Lucky this island is here, really." If she had been back in the real world, in the times during the witch burning of Salem... Would she have survived? It was a dumb question to ask, really - but the thought of it... it interested her. Would she be considered a witch, even if her magic came from a special object....?
It truly had been a bout of luck that Murphy had... somehow... survived his fall onto the ceiling... He was quite interesting, to say the least. Offering her a hacking option of the school's grades? Genius. She would have to keep that in mind - NO. Her days of hurting people were over. No more of that. At least not for now. She wondered if Murphy had any more smokes.
"... Same as you, I guess. I hung out with the wrong people, they offered me a smoke... I took the opportunity for an escape, and sooner or later, I was addicted. Luckily I didn't do much else. Drugs don't really interest me, to say the least. I've thought about quitting, but in the end... It didn't suit who I was, really." Another shrug. "On the topic of smokes... have you got another one? I won't drop it this time." Probably.

Omino · Jun 20, 2017

Murphy tossed her the pack and rummaged around for a lighter. "I suppose that's a good enough lead for me to ask what DOES suit who you are, really? I mean, what's your long con? Going to school, graduating, then what?"

He managed to located the small, sad lighter that had managed to survive the massive amount of abuse he went through and offered it up. "Something I never quite got about the island. Sure we can take classes and graduate with degrees in crap like Molecular Biology, Economics or the like, but I really wonder if people would be fine just doing a nine-to-five job day in and day out when they have fucking SUPERPOWERS."

He craned his head up and glanced at the stars above.

"Contrary to what I've said, all of the powered individuals are unique in a way. We have abilities that can largely be used to shape the world in amazing ways. We have people who are fully immune to physical harm, we have people who can end thousands of lives in the blink of an eye... so why are we conforming to the rules and beliefs of those who lack these gifts?"

He'd brought up the topic before and the instructor had gone on to lecture him about some nonsense regarding 'the responsibility of power' and how it was one's duty to use that power to protect. Fucking stupid, he thought.

"Almost any five given individuals on this island could shape the world drastically regardless of how strong or weak their powers are but for some reason the academy forbids it. There's even rumors of a squad of people who are meant to hunt down and eliminate those who break that rule in particular. Why do you think that is?"

@Ashes

Ashes · Jul 7, 2017

R sighed, fishing another, bent cigarette from the pack, and took out her own lighter from her pocket - shiny, sleek... burnt orange. "Don't bother," she told him, lifting up a slender hand to him. Then she lit the end of the cigarette, a thoughtful look on her face as she watched the plumes of smoke rise from the end of it.
That was a good question - while a small part of her wanted to see his reaction to the truth, a larger part of her had numerous problems with that. So, she answered again, very vaguely.
"At heart, I am a girl, so let's see... I will marry the one I love, settle, start a family. Get a dog, perhaps. A house with a white-picket fence. Does that sound about right?" Well... that was the closest to her actual goal. Or, rather, a grossly simplified version of it. Very simplified. Well, it wasn't like she could go screaming about her... erm.... past... around to some total stranger. She had to have her wits about her. Which, if she was being honest to herself, was getting really tiring. She chuckled, after a few seconds of pondering. "My real goal is to become a powerful businesswoman. Or maybe a mafia boss. That sounds like fun - have money, get to have fun however you want. Even the law would be afraid of me, for once." Or, for twice, she thought - her little trick with the bracelet in her last meeting with Elias had really shaken the police force.

Elias.... She still missed the poor boy....

At least it was easier to blend in as a student. "Well yes, it's weird, but then. Think. Most of these people have been abused, or treated differently by the world. Psychology explains why they want it - something normal, boring, in their lives. Continuity. It's simple. Most people are simple, if you figure them out enough." Being on the run had certainly taught her that lesson, to her core, about others.
"People want, and will always want, to be part of a group. It's human mentality. We conform to the previous experiences we've had, and that inevitably pushes us towards or away from each other. But no matter what, we want to belong, to follow a routine. it's what makes us so easy to pick off, so willing to follow a mundane lifestyle."
A puff of her cigarette, as she too glanced up at the twinkling stars. She'd always been aware of them, but to sit and stare like this, without any indication she needed to run... it was relaxing, to say the least.
"Any person who can think for themselves as a fear of not belonging. A fear of power. A fear of dying, or destruction. So they restrict destruction to its most minimal form, and that gets in the way of what I want - or, I guess, of what WE want."

"At least, that's my take on it," she shrugged. "Who's to say if i'm right or wrong, or truthful? I'm not a fortuneteller."
"You seem to be a black sheep in the crowd though. Questioning the law. What's your long haul?"

@Omino

Omino · Jul 15, 2017

A mob Boss? Well there were plenty enough mob-esque groups around that would love to get their hands on someone with powers like hers. Shadow powers were, unsurprisingly, valued by the underworld community both for their obfuscation ability and aesthetic. There was a pretty simple reason why groups with illicit intentions loved the whole 'strike from the shadows' thing.

People were afraid of the dark.

Even in a world flooded with automatic lights and high powered LEDS, people still woke up terrified of what lurked out just beyond their sight.

Oh man, she could go far as long as she was half as cautious as she seemed to be.

He toyed with the tiny lighter as she continued. He understood mob mentality, or at least the desire to be a part of the mob rather than move outside of it. There was safety in numbers. Not just physical safety but mental and emotional too. Tarde and Le Bon had said something like that from what little psychology he could recall.

But he couldn't agree with her reasoning.

"Granted, people always want to be a part of something and in the normal world we act like they want us to so we can remain a part of that greater group. But look around."

He waved towards the Academy.

"We are in a place where that judgement doesn't happen. Where people without gifts are more likely to be the outsiders. Given the lack of that social pressure I would assume that those fears woukd turn to resentment and anger to those who wronged us. There are enough of us here that at least SOMETHING would agree with you, so why haven't we heard anything about any groups just taking off from the island to wreak chaos upon those people?

Why are we all so damn COWARDLY. "

The words echoed across campus and a few late night students glanced their way.

He was angry, angry at a world in which those with power were cowed and ruled by the rhetoric of the weak. Bitter about how the rules of the island keeping the normal world safe was completely unknown by those it was saving. If power didn't give you the right to be respected, then what DID it Do?

He loosened his grip on the rail and turned back to R with a nearly manic grin. "MY long haul? Well as I'm sure you can guess my powers kinda keep me from ever reaching my actual goals but if I had my way..."

He leaned in and in a conspiratorial stage whisper finished,

"I want a revolution."

@Ashes

Ashes · Jul 16, 2017

Perhaps it was the motif of darkness that attracted her to the title, the money, or the power… or all three… but she had a feeling, and she knew that Murphy knew this as well, that she was to be very valuable in that field. Especially considering that she was cautious as all hell, smart…. And people, no matter the species, were at least a little afraid of the dark. Every single being, whether human or no, had a fear. Even if they didn’t admit it. And pretty soon, she was going to embody that fear.

Back to the topic at hand. R listened intently as Murphy swept his hand through the air, towards the campus of Starlight Academy - no, the people of Starlight Academy, most of them sleeping in peaceful, almost blissful ignorance of the conversation of the two on the roof.

"You do have a point." . It was the same situation, very much so, here as in the real world. Or, she supposed, the “real” world, where all was uniform and people were punished for not being so. She let him explain his point, with only a drag of the bent cigarette in reply.

“At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, you don’t hear about them,” she continued casually, a glint in her eye, “because they don’t exist. Because the government, too, is afraid of too much power - “

“Why are we all so damn COWARDLY. "

Shit, he was drawing more attention to them. Normally R would have done some form of damage to him, maybe shut his jaw for him, but then she remembered that here, she needn’t be so cautious - besides, she would just cause more attention to be shifted onto them. So, on the outside, there was no reaction to the shout, except for a tap of her cigarette, dropping hot grey ashes to her feet.

She could tell…. He was angry. Angry at the world which was so cowardly and weak. Bitter about the rules…. All the rules that he had to follow. Hm….. If she could earn his trust, he could be very valuable… as both a resource and…. Maybe… a frie - um alibi. Alibi. Was she about to call this kid friend?

At any rate, she understood his anger, his bitterness. She could relate. Wasn’t that a funny thing, to finally in all her years relate to someone? His manic grin only sealed the deal. IT would be a pain to trust, but if that grin was telling her anything, it was that he was almost exactly like her.

"You want a revolution, hm?" she drawled, offering her own manic grin to rival Murphy's as she left the side of the wall she was leaning on. "Stick with me, Murphy, and the world will be our oyster."

@Omino

Omino · Jul 19, 2017

Murphy took a deep breath and brought himself down from the manic edge he'd been riding. He gave R another appraising look. She certainly had the moxie and powers set to make a change, but if she wanted him to throw in his lot to he fullest there was more he needed to see.

Still, couldn't hurt to tag along for a bit. And that smile, yeah, she seemed to have just the right amount of insanity that one needed to go toe to toe with some of the big dogs on the island, though he wondered exactly how much she knew about the current power dynamics.

Over the past couple of years he'd worked at almost every major institution for at least a bit. The news station, the police, hell he'd even done some shady shit for the seedier elements of the city. He didn't have an impressive power set or the charisma to lead, but there were few people that Murphy didn't know about and even fewer places he couldn't get into. It would be interesting to see if she capitalized on it.

"Stick with you, huh" he stretched and sucked in a sharp hiss of air when he was reminded of a couple of potentially broken ribs.

"Well... before I throw in with some girl I literally just met I would be remiss not to ask..."

He leaned in and gazed steadily and unblinkingly into her eyes.

"What do you have that makes you think you've got what it takes to Rule? Oh its easy to talk about accumulating power and using it to take what you want, but you're literally decades behind some of he gangs here. Do you even know who your enemies are?"

He looked back over the academy. She wasn't the first person to come along and claim they were going to make change, only to wither and shirk their ideals when they realized what they were up against. But still, something about her made him think she was different. Maybe it was her confidence, maybe it was how easily they had been able to talk about their powers and how they were willing to do what they had to to get what they wanted....

Maybe it was because he saw a younger, less jaded version of himself when she spoke. Christ what a difference a few years made.

"I ain't sold, not yet. But you've got enough spirit to get my attention. Anything you need to know I can tell ya. If I can't then I can tell you who can."

He offered a hand in a more official manner.

"Murphy, Murphy Banks."

@Ashes

Ashes · Jul 28, 2017

That appraising look - R was sure now, more than ever, that now she'd cast her lot - he knew her plan, he knew how willing she was to crush to get what she wanted. And he knew how much force she was willing to use. She didn't have the power to turn back the hands of time. So, she mused to herself. Murphy. He is my fr - accomplice. Alibi, at least.

From the things he'd told her earlier, she figured he'd have to have been here longer than she, and so she also figured that may have meant that he'd have some sort of grasp on the circles here. What they did. Who they targeted. How they worked. And, even better - he'd offered to hack into the school records for her. That, if anything, was a valuable asset. It meant he'd get in trouble with or for her, and he knew a great deal about hacking. Which, R had to admit - she needed to find a way to capitalize on.

As she looked and listened to Murphy regaining some hold on his near-manic grin, she tapped the ash on her cigarette. He was still hurt, the sharp inhale reminding her of his fall from literally out of nowhere.

In a moment his eyes were staring, unflinchingly, unblinkingly, into hers. It was piercing, almost frightening. Almost. They both had nerve in abundance. Little tolerance, little sanity... Her gaze, too, was unflinching, as she spoke calmly, evenly.

"I have an idea. I'm not as stupid as some may think I am - I've done my homework, scouted around. But scouting around as a newbie to this scene can only take you so far. And with no hold over anything to speak of in this town - I'll need assistance. That's where you come in."

Oh, she wasn't delusional. Or stupid. She knew she was decades behind on her criminal lore, on her connections to everything. On her game in general. It had only been a month or so she'd left her hometown, and she had ruled that place like a queen. But she knew she was going to conquer something, something even those whelps who thought they were onto something wouldn't be able to do. SHe knew she had the confidence. The charm. And most importantly - the experience.

She was different from the rest - and she was going to make damn well sure that everybody knew it.

"Well, that's the magic of it. You don't have to be sold, only sympathetic. Which you certainly seem to be."

"Chang. R Chang."

@Omino

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what are you doing here.

Ashes

WELP THIS JUST GOT INTERESTING.

Omino

Well-Known Member

Ashes

WELP THIS JUST GOT INTERESTING.

Omino

Well-Known Member

Ashes

WELP THIS JUST GOT INTERESTING.

Omino

Well-Known Member

Ashes

WELP THIS JUST GOT INTERESTING.