JACQUELINE'S STORY, PART TWO [Jacqueline Carlysle, ex-con, cat burglar, and now a newly manifested superhuman, has been caught in the act of robbing a wealthy businessman's home, and now finds herself running from a mysterious assassin, in the company of another, equally mysterious intruder.] *What the Hell!* Moving by instinct, I'll follow the kid. *Whatever happened to reality. Did George slip me some acid or what?!* That whacko did some major damage. Following the kid, check and see how bad I hurt. *Broken?* Let's hope he's got a car, I don't think I'll be runnin too good. "Hey kid, where we goin'? " -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Outta here, if we're lucky!" the kid snaps. You both stumble out the front door and head for the wall. Out the living room window, you see two police cars pulling up. "Over the damn wall, now!" He shoves you at it and half-boosts, half- throws you. Your boots scrabble against the brick, and there are bushes on the other side; you know you're going to make a lot of noise. But you don't. In fact, you suddenly have the sensation that you've gone deaf. You can't hear *anything*! Your body scraping against the wall makes no sound, and the leaves and branches you break on the way down are totally silent. It's eery, and makes you panic, wondering what happened to your hearing. You also notice that you seem to be covered with dust, and your clothes are too loose on you. Your belt is falling off, and your pants are also slipping, while your boots seem too loose as well. You keep following the kid, shaking your head to try to get your hearing back. He leads you to a motorcycle parked in the driveway of a house down the street, concealed behind another car. He drags it out, and suddenly you hear the normal noises of the air moving through trees, and background noises from the city. "I'll take you outta here," he says, "but I'm dumping you off as soon as we're outta reach of the cops and that hunter. This don't involve you, and if you're smart you'll forget this and make a career change!" <><><><><> Hop on the bike and go wherever with the kid. Look myself over to see if my clothing still doesn't fit right, do a body check to see if I'm wounded or bloody. *I must be hurt worse than I thought, hearin's shot and I'm hallucinatin'. What the hell is goin' on?! George better have some answers or I'm goin' to pound him for slappin' me acid!* "Kid whattya have one of them screechers? That sound pretty much deafened me. I need an few answers. Who was that guy? I have enough problems without some mystery whacko trackin' me down. I need some info, I'm involved now. As funny as it sounds, if I didn't show up first, that guy woulda got the drop on you and you'd look like me, cooked S***!" When the kid drops me off, call George to come get me. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "I coulda taken care of myself," the kid says. Ignoring your other questions, he gets on the bike, waits for you to get on behind him, and starts it up. Silently. You hear the bike rumbling beneath you, but all sound has vanished again. You pull out of the driveway, and without turning on the headlight, he accelerates down the street. Wrapped in utter silence, you are totally unnerved. Even stranger, you are acutely conscious of the bike beneath you, the aluminum and stainless steel frame, the chrome, all those tingling metal parts. The kid has some loose change in his pockets, some kind of electronic gadget in his jacket, full of wires and a few screws, metal studs and zippers lining his clothes....metal, like a living element, seems to glow in your presence, and you can literally feel it, like a new sense. You don't think you're seriously wounded, though. You'll have a lovely shiner, a very unaesthetic bruise across your chest, and various cuts and scrapes, but nothing a first aid kit can't handle. Your worst problem right now is keeping your pants from falling down. No metal. You suddenly realize that your belt buckle is gone. So is your snap and zipper, and every other bit of metal you were carrying. When the kid with the smart mouth pulls to a stop at a corner, several blocks away, sound suddenly comes back on again; the bike seems to roar to life beneath you, though you could feel it roaring before. You grab your cellular phone and try to dial, but get no signal. All the wires inside are gone. Dust drifts out of it as you hold it to your ear. "Great, don't tell me you're a dealer too!" the kid exclaims. "Crazy bitch, the people you're messin' with will fry your white ass faster than any Columbians!" <><><><><> "Kid, you've been about as helpful as a bucket of dirt. Thanks for nuthin'. One more time, what the hell is goin' on?! I can't just pick up knowin' there's some psycho or psychos out there without some kind of idea of what to deal with." *I must be on something. Have to be, like that time I could hear colors, acid droppin' after that was dumb. Too freaky for my already screwed up world. Maybe I should just have some fun with this, this night can't get much worse* Pay attention to what I sense, the coins in his pocket say. Have them crawl into my hand. *You crazy girl!* *What's with the dust and where's my zipper?! It's like the metal just crumbled up. That guy hit me harder than a few bruises, didn't he? I mean my hearin' ain't no good anymore.* If the coins come to me *Ready for the loony hatch* concentrate on them and see if I can make them disappear or absorb them. Is the deafness all total or is it selective, one ear or both? Do I feel the bike's vibrations as it moves? Check my pack and see if my picks are safe. Head for Barney's for a stiff drink. Double tequila, Cuervo. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You can feel the vibrations of the bike, but the deafness is total, in both ears. The coins....move, somehow, twitching in the kid's pocket, but you can't get them to come into your hand at first. As he looks down at his pants (you're still riding the bike at this point, and it's still silent), the coins thrust out through the fabric of his pants, becoming small points that stretch and extend until they soften and return to their disk shape in your hand. When you try to make them disappear, they disintegrate into dust in your hand. When he pulls to a halt, and the sound returns, he says "What're you doing, pickin' my pocket or something?" Meanwhile, you open your pouch, find the metal snap that held it closed is gone, and inside is a pouchful of grey dust, where your tools were. "Girl," he says, (and it's annoying to be called "girl" by someone almost ten years younger than you!), "there's a lot of weirdness in the world, and you just got a taste of it." He doesn't seem to be referring to the weirdness you're engaged in right now; though he is feeling in his pocket and frowning, probably at the lack of coins. "Now go find something safe to do, like playing in traffic." <><><><><> *Smug lil' bas****. Whoa! I can move metal??!* Stare at the kid's pants and look at the holes to make sure they are real. *Ok maybe this isn't all in my mind* Looking at the kid, think about absorbing the sound he gives off. "Hey kid, got any last smart remarks?" Smiling a wicked smile *This kid deserves it, knock him down a peg or two* Imagine the metal rim inside the tire, imagine a spike form into the rubber and inner tube, pop it good. "Goin' my way kid?" Try to form a quarter out of thin air, or reform the dust into a quarter. Call George and tell him to pick me up. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "What the hell?" he exclaims, when his tire pops. He gets off and checks it, while you try to recreate your quarter. You succeed in congealing the dust back into a vaguely coin-shaped object, but it ends up looking like a slug, with a rough outline that might be a silhouette of old George (Washington that is, not your erstwhile accomplice ), with a lot of imagination. "What the hell did you do?!" the kid demands angrily, as you dial George. The line is busy- he's probably frantically trying to call you, you realize. <><><><><> > "What did I do? Why that's the closest thing to a normal response I've had since meetin' you. Just tryin' out some tricks I learned or on one hell of a bender kid. Why don't you fill me in a tad, now that I have your attention." I know it's a pain in the butt, but it might help me understand it better. Not that you'd want that to happen. > Reform another coin or use one I didn't pop away/disentegrate. Try to levitate it an inch from my hand. Look at the phone. Looking out for any possible wires or thin lines of metal, imagine the locked coin box as a a small wall of water. See if my hand can pass through it and grab some coins. Pay attention and see how much concentration it takes. If I'm able to grab a few coins, concentrate on being deaf or whatever that was. Drop the coins from one hand to another. While I'm doing this, "Hey kid did you hear the clinkin' of the coins?" If the coins are taken, try to form them all into one ball. Think of dough being kneaded together. Stop concentrating if/when they become a single mass. If they do, freeze into that shape, let my mind go and see if they 'snap back' to their original forms. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] [Umm, forgot you had nothing but the slug now. But, Jacqueline *was* able to manipulate the coin-drop mechanism. ] Your new "metal sensing" power would be difficult to describe to someone else. It's a sense you never had before, and trying to explain it would be like the old dilemna of trying to describe color to someone who's been blind since birth. It's kind of like a combination between touch and smell, but neither, because it's entirely in your head. The metals seem to glow or pulse or something, an electrifying sensation comes close, but still woefully inadequate. The sense seems to be global, in that you are aware of all metal in your immediate vicinity, but non-specific, in that you know the approximate amount, and direction, but you can't "see" it; you sense the motorcycle behind you, but you wouldn't know it was a motorcycle without looking; just that it's a large collection of various metals. Each metal has its own distinct taste/feel/aura/whatever- while there is nothing about any particular sensation that leaps out and says "steel" or "aluminum" or "copper", you are starting to differentiate between them, and with practice (if this crazy feeling continues), you think you'll be able to recognize each type, including alloys, which "feel" like a blend of different metals. You can sense the minute amounts of nickel and copper mixed together in what was your loose change, for instance, and you sense several different kinds in the bike; mostly steel and aluminum, surely, with a bit of chrome, but you know there would also be some small amounts of copper and iron and maybe a bit of silver, in the wiring and the engine. Attempting to levitate a coin produces no result, but when you concentrate on making it move across your hand, it literally bunches up and "crawls" across your palm, as if suddenly turned to rubber, then settles back in its coin shape. The pay phone is another cluster of diverse metals, mostly steel, with some other stuff inside that would be both the wiring and the coins in the coin box. You can't sense the wiring as such, just as a small mass of more trace metals inside. When you put your hand through the coin box, you *see*- literally, the surface of the phone box ripple and move aside for your hand, and you know you caused it, somehow. The kid sees it too. "What the hell're you doing!?" he exclaims. You grab a fistful of dimes, quarters and nickels and jingle them in your hand. "Yeah, of course I hear it!" he snaps. "How long have you been able to do this?" Then his eyes bug out when the coins compress into a big metal ball, with striations of different alloys, kind of like squashing different colors of play-do together. The ball remains, even after you stop concentrating. "DAMN!" he exclaims. "You're an ace, you're really another f***in' ace!" Suddenly tense, you sense his attitude towards you has gone from wary contempt to alert hostility. "Too much of a coincidence, you bein' at Napes house the same time I was, and that assassin showin' up! Who the hell are you, girl?" He is in the same flight-or-fight stance you had assumed earlier, but he seems to have a definite predisposition towards "fight".... <><><><><> "Kid what in THE hell are you talkin' about?! I thought my partner slipped me some acid or somethin', this is too weird for me. I was at the Napes' house to snatch a bunch of artwork and bonds. I never even knew anyone was there, except those dogs. Don't start givin' me static. I spent four years in the clink, I think if I could do this before I woulda been out on a special parole. Kid, think. If I could do this when that psycho attacked me I wouldn't look like cooked dogs*** right now. How about you tell me a little of what I don't know." Concentrate on the ball of metals, try hard to seperate the minute traces of silver into my other hand. Pocket whatever, if anything I can get. With the rest, imagine it to change in shape to a metallic spider and have it crawl onto my shoulder into my other hand. If the kid let's me experiment a bit, I'll concentrate on the spider to go fluid and wrap my hand in the metal. Think of a glove, try to have it in a state of flux, a malleable metal glove that allows my hand to move. Stop concentrating and see if it freezes or stays fluid. Look at my hand before/if it wraps around, is my hand and body sensed comparable to the metals? Is it compatible or is it invisible to this new sense? "Kid, it first came around when that whacko popped f***** claws from his hands and shoved them into my gut. When his hand pulled away they were gone. Then before you got me and he was poundin' the hell out of me, a steel table lamp leapt across the floor like a snake and grabbed him. That was it. Then my hearin' went buggy, don't know if that was because of you or some new weirdness. I'm just tryin' to get a handle on this." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You are able to make some of the different metals flow into separate chunks, but you don't think it's a pure "distillation"....maybe you can improve with practice. The kid stares when you create the metal spider, which walks jerkily up your arm, like something out of those monster movies they made before computer animation turned stop-motion photography obselete. "I remember when I first discovered my powers," he says quietly, the first time his voice has held anything but hostility and contempt. "I was experimenting all over the place, tryin' to figure out what I could do." He watches as the spider melts around your hand to form a malleable glove. It moves like a second skin while you concentrate, but becomes a stiff shell holding your hand immobile when you stop. You can't sense your hand inside with your "metal sensing" power, any more than you can sense your other hand. It would take more time for your discrimination to be such that you could guess the mass of the shell and tell whether it was solid or hollow. Your hand still feels soft and uncomfortable inside the glove- you're pretty sure it's still normal flesh. "This ain't the time or place to be doin' it, though." He kneels and looks at his tire. "Great, you hadda experiment on my bike." He stands up and looks at you sourly. "I was absorbing the sound, when you went 'deaf'. I got a good mind to show you what else I can do with sound, for messin' up my bike like that." He shakes his head. "Girl, you really stepped in it now. I don't know if I believe your story. It's still a real coincidence. 'Cept coincidences seem to happen a lot, around people like us." <><><><><> Grinning, "Kid, I think we both came into more than we expected. Let's bring the bike to a garage and get the hole patched, my treat. Nice motor by the way, yours or someone else's?" Concentrating on all the metals I've molded together, pay attention to what happens when I try to make them disentegrate or whatever it is. Slow the process down if I can and see what happens to the metals. Does it just wink out, slowly disperse or get absorbed somewhere? Putting her hand out to the kid, "Please to meetcha, I'm Jackie. You know other, what was it you called them 'aces' around?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] Cautiously, the kid shakes your hand and says "You can call me SFX" (pronouncing it "ess-eff-ex"). "And I ain't introducin' you to no one else until I know more about you." Trust obviously isn't one of his greatest attributes....but then, it isn't one of yours either. Taking his bike by the handgrips and pushing it along, he says "In case you haven't figured it out, which you probably haven't- there's some people trying to kill us. 'Us' as in you too, since you're an ace and you're involved now." "I don't suppose you know anything about computers?" The metal disintegrates in a puff of metallic dust. You grab a handful and recombine it into a lump, though most drifts to the ground or scatters in the breeze. It seems likely that in your panic, when the mysterious clawed assassin struck, you disintegrated ALL metal near your body. Which reminds you that you're still holding your pants up with one hand, and even your bra is slipping, under your shirt, because the metal snaps are gone. <><><><><> As she looks a mess already, sliding pants and bra aren't much of an annoyance...yet. "Well kid, we can always grab a car, unless you want to drag that thing across town. Not that we aren't conspicuous enough Who the hell would try to kill us anyway? Why? Because we're different? What the hell is an ace? If you want to ride in style, I can get us something, if not I can give a call for a ride." If the kid goes for an alternate mode of transport, look around for a car, Without an alarm! Form some metal into the doorlock and solidify it. Open the car and do the same for the ignition. Vrooom! "So kid, can you SEE sound or somethin'? It looks like I can see/feel metal. That's all I come up with. Sorry. Nope, no computers, the closest i've come is a calculator." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX shakes his head as you 'appropriate' a car. "I guess you're gonna have a field day with jewelry stores and banks," he says. "I think hangin' around with you is gonna be a bad idea." He leaves his bike sitting in a well-lit parking lot next to a 24-hour restaurant, and gets in. "No, I can't see sound, I hear sound," he answers you, looking at you like he can't believe you asked such a stupid question. "I *control* sound!" His voice suddenly booms, as if coming from an immense loudspeaker pointed at your ear. Then the car engine suddenly sounds like a jet fighter taking off. "All kinds of things I can do with sound," he says, as the audible environment becomes normal again. "Like blast the hell out of people. People who are about to kill some stumble-into- things-don't-know-what-she's-doing white girl, for instance." "Those people are out to get us, and we don't know exactly why. But it's a big conspiracy, and it developed fast, 'cause us superhumans haven't been around that long. That's why I was at Napes' house. Napes is one of 'em. A friend of mine calls 'em 'Card Sharks', from some books he read. That's where I got 'Aces', from him, and his books. The press is calling us "superhumans", or just "supers". Girl, these people have killed a bunch of aces already. They'll get you too, if they find out about you. And they got aces working FOR them, and some of their aces can sense other aces." <><><><><> "Scuse me kid for bein' so stupid, forgive the hel out of me! It's not every day you rob a house, catch not one, but two people there, get the livin' crap out of you and discover you can command metal with your mind. Kid, you seem smart enough, so don't push me too far. You want out in the street next to your bike just say so!" Jackie drives on towards the warehouse, reigning in her temper. Her hands white knuckle the steering wheel and pays attention to the road. "You don't trust me kid, fine. Likewise. You can come in and have my bike in exchange and then you can go. I'd like to know what's goin' on, but I'm not goin' to play pattycake with you. You guys are goin' to need a lot of help, the way you treat other 'aces'." When the car gets to the warehouse wire fence, she'll think of the fence as crisscrossing lines of mercury to allow the car to pass, then snap back to a fence grid. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX snorts, mutters something you can't hear, and stares out the window. The fence doesn't part quite as neatly as you intended; a few ends of the links you separate stay solid and you feel them scratch along the surface of the car. When you reform it behind you, you see in the rear view mirror that the fence now looks slightly twisted and many links are bent. George isn't at the warehouse. SFX gets out and looks around, and checks out your bike. "Nice bike," he says. "You a biker chick?" "What're you gonna do now, anyways? Start usin' your powers to rob people and get rich? You know the government has some aces working for them now, and so do the card sharks.You keep it up, and you'll run into someone who'll hand you your head. Or worse, if you ever meet Legion." <><><><><> "Yeah, sort of a biker chick. Look you want another crack at that computer at Napes'? We could do it if we work together. I don't know what I'm going to do, eventually my rep will catch up to me. How many people like me can change metals and walk through walls? Not many I'd wager. If your friends are livin' 'underground' they need that info, right? They need money to live too. I say we go back in a few and do it right this time. We may not trust each other, I'm not even sure what is going on myself. But if I put my butt on the line for you and yours, it might get me in the know." Go change clothes, grab a sports bra, charcoal sweat pants, black T and my leather jacket. This is as close to no metal as I can get. Grab my gold earring and study it's 'signature' how it feels/looks/senses. Give the kid a can of soda, "Go ahead an throw that at me, aim for my back. I want to try something." Keeping my back to him, I'll wait. I won't concentrate, but will see if my power protects me on it's own. Next concentrate on a lead pipe in one of the garbage piles. Strain as hard as I can to make it move as fast as it can to my hand. Look the kid over real hard. Focus as much as I can on any trace metals he may have in his body, just to see if I cans ense anything "So what do you say slick? Shall we go for it? Lightnin' ain't goin' to strike twice." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX looks at you sardonically, probably considering whether to just toss the can at you or bean you with it as hard as he can. He elects for a soft, underhand toss, and the can bounces off your shoulderblade with no apparent effect. "Hold on, lemme try somethin' else," SFX says, picking the can up again. The can slams into the back of your head, hard enough to raise a bump- or would have, except it disintegrates, and the soda splashes all over you, drenching your hair. "Subconscious perception of danger," SFX says, as you turn to glare at him. "See, we already know that stress makes these powers work better sometimes, and when you knew the can wasn't gonna hurt you, nothin' happened, but when your...subconscious, realized it was gonna hurt, it activated the power for you." The metal pipe twists and writhes across the floor, like a snake. It slides along the ground towards you, making the sound of metal scraping on concrete, reaches your foot, and begins twining its way up your leg. You confirm that you cannot make it levitate through the air. The kid has his walkman, and some kind of electronic device in his jacket, some more metal in his pocket, hinges in his sunglasses, (which are hanging by a nylon cord around his neck), metal snaps in his jacket and pants, and some other trace metals here and there on his person. "You crazy!" he exclaims, at your suggestion to return to Napes' house. "Look, they KNOW we were there! Napes is one of the sharks! You think whoever that assassin was is just gonna go away and leave the house undefended again? Forget it!" He pats his chest, where he tucked that disk from the computer, and says "I got some info, maybe not as much as I hoped. But we'll see what we can do with it." Looking you over, he says "Controllin' metal could really be handy, yeah. I don't know of anyone else who can do that. 'Course, controllin' sound ain't nothin' to sneeze at. But there are all kinds of powers out there. You can't ever start thinkin' you got the hottest power, 'cause someone else'll have just the power to waste your ass." <><><><><> After washing the soda out of my hair and changing my soda stained clothes look over the kid. "Kid, what do you suggest then? I want to know what the hell is goin' on. I never said my power was hot, useful, it'd make me a damn hot thief, but no way would I survive a round with Paladin. No matter what, there's always someone better, faster and stronger...learned that the hard way. I could probably live the high life for a long time before these whackos catch up with me, or the cops. If this power does what it says, subconscious whatzis, no prison will hold me. Have a tough time catchin' me too. Guns, electrical systems, vehicles even handcuffs ain't goin' to do jack. I ain't no killer, no use for deadly force against me. So the way I see things, I have to worry about these Card Sharks, that's where you come in. If you don't want to help me, take the bike and vamoose. I can take care of myself somehow. I'm good at runnin' and livin' out of a suitcase." Start packing clothes and goods up. Try to give George a call, wherever he is. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Jeez, you got a short fuse!", SFX says, shaking his head. "Chill out girl, if you had a couple friends wasted and people tryin' to kill you even before you know what's goin' on, like I did, you'd be kind of paranoid too!" George's line finally rings. He picks it up before the first ring ends- "Christ! Jackie izzat you? Where the hell are you?" <><><><><> Speaking into the phone, "Boy where are you! What's goin' on? I'm safe. I'll meet you at Barney's." Hang up the phone, hoping George is smart enough to make it there. "So kid, what's it goin' to be? You goin' to fill me in or set out on your own? I'm game for either, just watch your butt." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Who's this 'George'?" the kid asks. "You know Barney?" <><><><><> "George is a guy I used to hang with in the trade. Yeah, I been goin' to Barney's for a while now. Don't tell me he's into it? If I got in touch with George go to Barney's. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Barney's, uh, well, he kind of runs a BBS that us supertypes use. He's a mysterious dude, don't talk much about himself, but a couple of us know we can count on him when we need some help. I don't think he's an ace himself, but who knows?" You're not sure exactly what a BBS is, but you vaguely recall it has something to do with computers. Which surprises you, because Barney has never seemed to be the techno type. The most sophisticated technology you've ever seen in his bar is the jukebox. SFX accompanies you to Barney's place, where George is nervously pacing back and forth on the street outside, looking ready to run. He glances at you, looks around as if to make sure there are no cops, then fixes his gaze on your young companion. "Who's this?" he demands. "Who're you?" SFX demands back. <><><><><> "George this is the Kid, Kid this is George." Give George an OK sign that this guy's alright. Smiling at George, "You did good pal, didn't let me down this time. Things have taken a definite turn for the worse. Take everything you can and get out of town." Throw George the keys to my old apartment, "You can take whatever you want, I won't need any of it anymore." "Take care George, get a real job, your luck's goin' to run out one of these days." Give George a quick hug. Turning to SFX, "Ok what now? Do I get an introduction or what?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] George looks at you flabbergasted. "Hey, waitaminut, what the hell is going on, what do you mean you're leaving, did you get me dragged into something heavy?" He looks worried. "C'mon, you can't just take off like this!" <><><><><> "George, go get a room somewhere and I'll call you later, Ok? -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX sighs, and says, "OK, yeah. C'mon." Barney looks somewhat surprised to see you and SFX come in together, though he clearly recognizes both of you. The younger male approaches the tall, muscular man behind the bar and says "Hey, dude, whassup?" Barney nods, looking at you. "Can we talk, man, in the back?" Barney tells one of his assistants to watch the bar, and you all go into his office. You are somewhat surprised to see a small PC there, but it certainly doesn't look very elaborate, just the kind you see in homes and businesses everywhere nowdays. SFX clears his throat, and you sense he has a lot more respect for Barney than he's shown to you thus far. "Man, this lady, Jackie, she's, uh, looks like she's one of us. An ace, I mean. An' we ran into one of the Sharks." Barney's eyebrows rise slightly, but he shows no other sign of surprise. "Hmm. You know I don't like you coming to see me in person." Looking at you, he says "So what plans do you have now?" <><><><><> Looking at Barney, a twinge of weirdness washes over Jackie. *Looks like the world isn't as simple as it used to be. It's like an onion, layer upon layer, with new ones appearin' out of nowhere. Like an onion it smells bad and if you're not careful it'll make you cry.* "Barney, hey, I barely kow what's goin' on. Things have gotten a bit strange lately. It doesn't look like I'll be able to ply my skills in the way I'm accustomed anymore. If they can find me, whether it's these 'aces' or the law, they're gonna want to poke me one way or another. I ain't got no respect for the law, so what other choice have I got? I've always lived on the fringe, but now it's even farther out. I've got to find a home, if it's gonna be among my own kind, well that's all right with me. Where do I sign?" To no one in particular, "Say anyone have a smoke?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX shakes his head. "Girl, this ain't like some secret society. We just a bunch of superhumans and we got together, mostly over modem, and some of us have figured out there's some other group which is tryin' ta kill us. We don't have no safe houses or anythin', though maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea. Heck, I don't know what to do with you! I just figured I shouldn't leave you to get wasted not havin' a clue." Barney looks at SFX and says "Weren't you trying to get some information off of Napes' computer?" "Yeah," he says, suddenly remembering the disk in his jacket. "Haven't got to look at it, though. Miss Super Cat Burglar here kind of botched things." <><><><><> "Miss Super Cat Burglar?! Much better SFX, see how a bit of nice goes a long way?" "Barney, so this is it. What are the goals of this group? How big? Who are they? What kind of talents do we have?" "I am sorry about the disk, but we both had sepearate things to do and we screwed up each other. Just imagine what we can do together." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "No group," Barney says. "Just a bunch of people who know each other over the modem." SFX says "I always been a computer cowboy, like you called me. These powers just *happened* to me, a few months ago. I posted some discrete messages on BBSs, trying to find out if anyone else had had somethin' like this happen to 'em. Without comin' right out and sayin' 'Hey, I got superpowers, any of you know someone else who does?', right?" But a few people HAD, and they saw what I was hintin' at, and they got in touch with me. Problem is, we found out at least one of 'em was hostile. He or she eliminated two others, after they set up a meetin'. All we know about this sonafabitch is he or she used the handle "Terminator". Real cute. We thought he was just a Schwarzennager fan." SFX shakes his head, and the look in his eyes reveals more anger and hurt than he's showing on the surface. Barney just sits on his desk with arms folded, looking impassive. SFX goes on. "A coupla hackers, better'n me, got into some government computers, and so we knew the government knew about people like us, even before they came out and admitted they did. And we know the government has been recruitin' superhumans, and possibly killing the ones that don't sign up, though that may have been some rogue agents, or double-agents or somethin', probably not their official policy. But somethin' real bad happened a while ago. One of our friends actually joined the government group. He just disappeared, about the same time we got some hints that somethin' seriously bad happened at their secret facility in Denver." SFX shudders and says "Wizard, he called himself, an' he was a telepath, he could read minds, and even better, he could sense other supertypes. Well, every now and then, he...*talks* to us. In our heads. But only briefly. It's like he's trapped somewhere, and can only get a message out now and then. But he told us to beware of Legion, that this dude called 'Legion' is hunting superhumans." SFX laughs mirthlessly and says "I stumbled on the connection with Napes myself. See, there was this KKK meetin' last month, and I heard 'bout it, decided it would be a kick to scare the hell outa them, total all those big-ass trucks that stupid redneck crackers like to drive around in, send em runnin' for their lives with their white sheets flappin' in the breeze. It was just outside a New Orleans. Well, some a' those crackers had f***in' rifles with explosive bullets! When I started bustin' eardrums while they were all drinkin' beer and pouring gasoline over a big cross, a few of em' ran for their trucks and grabbed these big rifles and started throwin' firepower all over the place! Hell, I blasted 'em so hard they shoulda wound up in the hospital, but they didn't. Least not in New Orleans. And I took off. But I hooked up with some other people, don't worry 'bout who, and we know that there's this group doin' a lot of recruitin' from groups like the Klan and survivalist weirdos and all that, and they're preachin' that there are "inhumans" with "unnatural powers".... you see where it's goin'? And a little computer detective work, an' I found out Napes is a secret financier for the Klan in this area. He probably would have the connections to know who's behind this other group, maybe. An' after what happened tonight, it's a good bet he does!" <><><><><> "Kid, I knew a few psychos in the can who were Klan or worse, nutjobs who should be put away for good. Shoot, they give rednecks a bad name! I ain't been to happy with my life up to now, but I don't blame it on folks as screwed up as me. I'm in if you want me." With a grim smile, "Maybe we should take the fight to them? I mean hurt them good. Both of us would make the perfect strike team, quiet and destructive. Mostly, things are made of metal right? We could put them out good. Bye bye weapons, vehicles, electrical systems. This might sound like some deathwish, but I been away to long and not about to let some new nutjobs take it away from me again. I'm in." -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "OK, but what exactly do we do next?" SFX asks. He looks at Barney as if for answers, but the tall, bare-headed man just shakes his head. "I'm not worried about my own safety, I can take care of myself," the bartender says. "But you shouldn't get me directly involved- not if you want a safe place for exchanging information and relaying messages." SFX looks frustrated. "Maybe....maybe me an' the chick here could just start nailin' these guys. Grab a Klan bozo and smack him around until he tells us who the local Grand Poo-Bah is, and just move up the ladder....?" <><><><><> "You guys seem pretty handy with all this computer crap, maybe we could start hittin' them where it hurts...in the wallet. The two of us kid, can pretty much get in anywhere and get what we want or get rid of what we don't want them to have. You had Napes figured, what about some other smaller fish? Check the disk, is there any associates he's dealin' with we could case out?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] SFX scratches his chin and says "Yeah, I still gotta check that disk out. I guess I gotta take it home, though." Looking at you, he says "I have a real life, y'know? Like parents and all that. What're you goin' to do, now that you chucked your pad an' all?" <><><><><> "Don't worry none about me, I have the warehouse to go to." Give SFX George's phone number so he can get in touch. Call George and tell him to meet me at the warehouse. Make way back there. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] George is pacing nervously in the warehouse, and jumps when you come in. "Jeezus, Jackie! Man, are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on now?" <><><><><> "Well George, things have gotten very complicated lately. I was in the house and disconnected the alarm. Then I found a teenage black kid] tappin' away on a computer. Then a guy came through the window and tried to kill both of usThat's when I found out I could do this..." Make a lead pipe scamper across the floor into my hand. "It looks like I'm one of those weirdo super types, now. It looks like somebody don't like us much. I'd rather get you out of here, if they don't like me, then they certainly won't like you. I don't even know if Wang knows about any of this. What do you think?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Holy S***!" George almost jumps across the room as the lead pipe snakes across the floor into your hand. He stares at you like you've suddenly transformed into a werewolf or something. "How'd you do that, is this sumkinduvatrick?" he jabbers. "Jesuschrist I don't wanna get involved with psychonuts who can throw cars and set people on fire and crap!" <><><><><> Smiling at George, "I wish I could say the same, but Fate done dealt me a bum card. I got no choice now. I would like your help, but your luck is already bad, I don't need to complicate things for you any. So go and grab anythin' you can from my apartment and get out of here. Get as far as you can, start over somewhere else." Write George a check for a grand, "That's severance pay, if I were you I'd start fresh, somethin' out of the way...say straight? Good luck, you didn't let me down this time George. That's real important to me, we're clear." Give George a hug and kick him out. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Yeah...." George looks dazed and confused. "You take care, Jackie." He slips away, shaking his head. <><><><><> Spend some time practicing with my newfound power, with most of the time trying to work out detecting and seperating metals into their different types. With the junk work on steel, iron and lead. With my few pieces of jewelry, try it out on gold. Create bars on the windows and reinforcement on the doors. Catch George before he leaves and get the phone from him, since mine is fried. Get some sleep here in the warehouse. If I get a chance, go shopping. Pick up some thick silver bracelets, several yards of heavy duty steel chain, a leather jacket with studs. Buy a new tire for SFX's motrocycle. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] Manipulating metal sends a strange thrill through you. The power and the sensation is like nothing you've ever experienced before. But being able to reach out with your mind, and watch solid steel melt and flow in whatever pattern you wish, and reform itself- it's a rush you never got from your few foolish experiments with drugs. Every type of metal bends to your will, even precious metals like gold and silver. You go shopping, get your equipment, then go home to crash. <><><><><> Again determine a few limits to the new power. Mix several metals together into a fused ball and try to extract each metal that went into it. Try to reconstruct the metals into their previous forms, do they snap back or merely become my best guess? In the warehouse, gather together all metal (loose) in one ball, have it flow around my whole body. See how much concentration it takes to keep it "liquid". Having noticed that objects "called" to me reform into their original form, experiment as to the limits, i.e. more complex forms made of mostly metal. Mix the smallest amount of gold I can think of (re:molecule) and mix it in with the other metals. Determine if I can extract it amongst the rest. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You can mix metals and then separate them again, but not perfectly. You don't know if you need more practice, or if it's like squishing two different-colored balls of play-do together and then pulling them apart; maybe some bits will always end up mixed with the other. You find that once you've "molded" the stuff, it won't just "snap back" into its previous shape. While the metal masses seems to carry some sort of "memory" for their old form, making it easier for you to put it back the way it was, it always looks a little bit different, as if the ring or tool or whatever was melted a little bit. The more complex the item, the more altered it is when you put it back together, and you suspect that if you started playing with small machine parts or electronic wiring, there's no way you'd be able to put it back in working order again. It does occur to you that you wish you'd chosen sculpting or pottery as a hobby, in the prison crafts shop. You can create a metal "shell" around yourself, with about as much concentration as it takes to carry a box in both hands, and about the same amount of effort. With items made partly of metal, you can control the metal, but not the other components. An old tire, for instance- you can control the metal hub, but you can't make the tire come to you, only make the hub pop itself out and come by itself. Trying to exercise control at a molecular level doesn't seem to work, at least not that you can tell. You're able to affect very trace, but still perceptible, amounts. <><><><><> [GM] Go outside into the fenced in area around the warehouse and have the blob of metal follow me out. See if I can have the tire roll out after me by shifting most of the metal in the hub forward, then roll it back and forth to gain a bit of momentum. With the blob of metal, think of a pteradactyl, but one with twice the wing span and wing width ( a small version, not full size ). Try to make it as light weight as possible. Concentrate on the bird thing flapping it's wings in a smooth motion to try to get it to fly. If it doesn't work, try wider and longer wings. Dig out some of the prep work on Napes' house, specifically sculptures and such. Using a picture, concentrate on the metal making it look as much like the sculpture as I can picture. Start concentrating on "flexing" different muscles...this super power "ace" stuff is hard to swallow, but maybe something hasn't been discovered That Paladin guy can lift real heavy stuff, fly and is invulnerable...maybe my little ol' brain can't conceive of what I can do yet. Think about flying. Try to pick up the kid's motorcycle, yeah right. Like the kid said some can see others like us, try to find the kid by thinking about it. Call a bit of metal to me and form a metal whip. Make it fluid and remember how Daddy used to use them. Flick it around to crack the whip, but imagine the end coming loose and form a razor spike in mid throw, direct it at the brick face wall. Connect a few yards of chain to the leather jacket from the chest to the back. Go get a haircut and a dye job, no sense in making it easy for those nutjobs. Dirty blonde. yeah. <><><><><> [GM] The tire trick works, more or less; with enough patience, you can get the hub to rock the tire onto its side and roll after you. The pterodactyl doesn't work out so well; you get a vaguely bird-like thing with flapping wings, but no matter how hard you try, you can't get it airborne. Again, you aren't sure if it will take more practice (maybe more knowledge of aerodynamics?) or if it's just a limit to your powers. Looking at photos and models definitely helps you in shaping metal; after a bit of work, and correcting errors here and there, you are able to construct a very passable replica of Napes' house. None of your other attempts to discover new super powers works. You don't seem to have enhanced strength, and don't sense anything outside of your new metal-sensing power. You sure can't fly. The whip, though; that's cool! You marvel at how you can make solid steel/lead/whatever else you threw into it turn into a serpentine whip, as flexible as a strand of hair. The spike trick works somewhat; you get the end to separate and go flying, but your aim is off, and it hits the brick wall at an angle, rather than straight point-first. That, though, is something you're sure you could master with practice. After your dye job, you can't wait to see the look on SFX's face. With your bleached hair and chain-studded jacket, you really look like a biker chick now! All you need is a few tatoos.... <><><><><> Practice a bit more with metal seperation. All this super stuff is coming from th old brain right? Maybe, I'm going about it all wrong. Now when I tried to learn all that worthless math in the can; algebra, word problems it helped to visualize...maybe this is like that. Mixing the gold back into the mass of metal, try to seperate it. Think of a big old Gold magnet a few feet away from the blob, just like the cartoons sucking it right out. If that doesn't work, think of the blob as a big ball of metal, but the gold is like wax held near a hot flame...the gold will just melt right out like gangbusters. As a last trick, form all the loose metal into a man shape, in the Arnold model. Practice moving it around as close to normal movement as I can get. In the dark, sense the metal against the terrain of the warehouse interior getting used to all the different elements forming one picture. Finally, determine how fine the disintegration is. Imagine a cylinder as wide as a quarter in diameter, but 2 feet long. Visualize this and take a "shot" at "Arnold". See if I can inscribe my name into the surface of metal. Make way for Wang's place. Ask him for a new job, something straight, a big safe and a payoff. Ask him if he buys cars. And if he has any contacts for fake IDs. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] Your "gold magnet" idea seems to work better than before; the separation is more pure. You can't tell, though, if there might still be microscopic flecks of gold left in the mass of metal. Your "Terminator" neither looks nor moves as smoothly as the one in the movie. Again, possibly something that improves with practice. Also, when you gather enough metal into the figure to make it man-sized, you begin to lose control of it; it becomes unstable, and some parts move as you command while others stiffen and become inert again. You finally have to reduce it to about the size of a child. When you start disintegrating it, you find that you can't destroy metal with as much finesse as you can mold it; you turn a fist-sized chunk into powder, and as much as you try to narrow the focus, it's still something like spraying a narrow jet of water into soft dirt. Where your power touches the metal, it spreads out and disintegrates all the metal near the point of contact. Wang is not particularly impressed with how you did the Napes place. "Cops all over the place, and it don't look like you got much," he says. "Why do ah want to find another job for y'all to mess up? What the heck happened?" "No, I don't buy cars. But I can at least get y'all some fake IDs, yeah." <><><><><> "Wang, I don't know what happened. I got in and disarmed the alarm and took out the dogs. While I was rifling through his stuff scoping out the artwork some Indian kid came in. Then this beefy guy came in the second story window and beat the crap out of me. I was able to get away, but was out of luck grabbin' anythin'. Was this guy connected? These people didn't seem to be amateurs. The reason I ask is because I was all set to clean house. I could use the cash. Something easy, a safe, vault or pawn shop. You said this place was free of Mob, but there was plenty of action there despite that. These guys were totally nuts, I sent George on a trip. I could use the job. I didn't screw it up, not this time. Yeah, and ID would help, as soon as you can. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] Wang sighs. "There's a chop shop up by the Mission. An old Har-V autobody paint shop. Maybe you can dump your car there." "An' how easy is easy? I know a hotel where someone's keepin' an awful lotta jewelry. The hotel ain't got a lot of security, but it's real fancy, they'd notice you slippin' through the main lobby wearin' a biker getup. And the vault is s'pposed to be real tough. You didn't tell me you were a safecracker." <><><><><> "Wang, how did you expect me to get into Napes' safe, ask real nice? Poof it goes open. C'mon Wang, get real. So this safe, where is it? In the front office or away from there? An this chop shop, your name good enough or do I need an intro?" -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] "Don't be gettin' sarcastic with me, missy!" Wang tapes some prices to a crate of canned goods. "The hotel vault is in the back, where they got a bunch of administrative offices, behind the lobby. They got people inna lobby 24 hours, and security patrollin' the hotel reg'lar, but all y'all gotta do to get ta the vault is slip past'em an' then get into the security chief's office, assumin' of course y'all plan to do it after hours. As fer the chop shop, yeah, just tell'em mah name. They's a buncha black folks, though, so they might not be too friendly to a little white girl like you, but with y'all's attitude, I figger you should be able to handle 'em." He winks at you. <><><><><> Smile back at Wang, "You know me already don't ya? Thanks Wang, mebbe this time I can make us some dough. I'll be seeing you with some nice swag." Stop by the hotel and check it's event calendar, mainly looking for a fairly busy evening, with a wedding party or graduation being held. Check out the chop shop. See if they are interested in a slightly scratched stolen car. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] The next event at the hotel seems to be an auto collector's convention, which promises to bring a reasonable amount of commotion to the place. Speaking of autos, the chop shop you bring yours to is a pretty shabby place. The middle-aged black man with an enormous pot belly who runs the place isn't interested in talking to you at all, until you mention Wang's name. Then he takes you into his office, and after you haggle a bit, he offers about half of what you could probably get for it if you took the time to find another place to sell it. But you are after bigger fish... <><><><><> Take the cash for the car, expense money is always welcome, besides I'm not a car thief. Case the hotel dressed in my current clothing and some heavy shades. Pay special note to the vault location and security. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You mean you plan to case the hotel in your biker chick outfit? <><><><><> Yes, if there is a bar/restaurant hit that and get a meal or drink. I'll get rid of the chains on the leather jacket, so I'll only look slightly out of place. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You get some funny looks at the hotel; it's definitely an upscale place, probably not used to shady characters with leather jackets walking around. The offices are down a hallway behind the front lobby, as Wang told you. You suspect you won't be able to go down there during normal business hours without someone questioning you. <><><><><> Make a room reservation for the night of the car group that's coming in. Don't give a credit card, as I'm not going to come in, leave the name as Jeanette Latour. Go buy a tasteful dress, not too upscale and get a new hair statement, jet black, 40's flapper style. French manicure, be pampered a bit. Get a nice matching purse, big enough to take a good amount of swag. -Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] You feel almost like a new woman in your getup. You almost laugh when you look in the mirror; no one from prison, or anyone else who knows you, would believe it! You feel almost like a little girl playing dressup. Wonder if you could get used to an upscale lifestyle? Naaah... You have a couple nights before the auto convention. You stop in at Barney's in the evening, and he tells you that SFX wants to talk to you, if there's someplace you can meet. "Not here anymore," Barney says. "It's a bad idea, and besides, he's too young to be hanging out in bars." <><><><><> Tell Barney that the kid can call me on the cellular phone to set up a meet. Give Barney the number. Pick up a few cigars at a news stand, it's been a while since I've had a good one. Practice on moving metals back at the warehouse. Since there is some mass/weight limit, try adding a few pounds to the metal automaton I'm able to create. See if I can work around this limit by adding slightly more each time. Try a few different effects. Remembering those Spiderman cartoons as a kid, those herky jerky early 70's ones, try to work something similiar to those shooters he had. Momentum's the enemy. Work this around the whip effect I've been able to create. Throw off a few spikes for accuracy, but also try to latch onto a target and then pump the excess metals on my body along the line to envelope. Mold the metals around me in a bodysuit. See if I can lift more weight in this form. Also, while this form does take concentration, does the metal weigh me down? Put on a pair of shorts and go on a walking jag. Putting a pair of Gargoyles on, close my eyes and try to navigate around the streets by only paying attention to my metal senses. Pay attention to the shapes bobbing in mid air; buckles, teeth fillings, rings, necklaces, etc. Give space these phantoms. Try to practice in this way, to learn more about spatial, depth and weight of metals only through the metal sense. When objects go by, try to look at them sideways, like wearing 3D glasses. The image gets lost sometimes and then you have it shift into it's full effect. Work on that, but also try to mentally combine different metal shapes that I see to combine a whole. case in point, cars, motorcycles, etc. --Jacqueline- <><><><><> [GM] Adding metal gradually to the mass you're manipulating only works to a point; it becomes more and more unwieldy as you add mass, kind of like gradually aiding to a stack of books you're carrying, one book at a time. While you can cause metal to move "liquidly", you don't seem to have the speed or control to turn it into "webbing". The metal you try to send shooting along your whip ends up spraying off the end in a jet of dust. Your metal body suit doesn't seem to add to your strength, but the metal moves like a second skin, and doesn't encumber you at all. You also think you could probably lift a little more, simply because the metal provides support like an exoskeleton, so you're not as likely to strain your muscles. You won't be picking up cars, though (although you could certainly move them!) Your metal sense can be used as a targeting sense, but not as precisely as vision. You can reach out with your mind and affect any metal you can sense, but while you'd be aware of a man's location and movement by the metal he's carrying on him, your aim if you were to shoot at him with a gun, using this sense, would probably not be too great. After getting some more experience sensing different metals (you're pretty sure you can recognize all the major ones at a "glance" now; iron and its alloys, aluminum, copper, silver, brass, tin, nickel, gold...with closer inspection, you're starting to be able to tell subtle differences in quality and temper and the like. You'd make a hell of a metallurgist, or a blacksmith, or jeweler, or any number of other honest (boring ) jobs. You eventually return to your warehouse, and have just fallen asleep when your cellular phone rings. After a sleepy, irritated "Hello?" you hear SFX say "Yo, white girl, whaddayou say if I tell you these 'Sharks' got a list of possible Ace sightings, and they think there's another one here in New Orleans, and a third up in Baton Rouge?"