Soulriders 5.0: Legend of the Unending Games

<Brian> When last we left our heroes, Bigfire had hauled Eb to Texas, where they're expecting to catch the MiBs in the act of capturing someone else, even though they all think it's a trap.
<Ebiris> We're crazy and desperate!
Halbarad suspects nothing.
<Brian> After an interesting (if not entirely eventful) night of sleeping in the hayloft of someone else's barn (also, more restful than had been expected), David wakes everyone up and whispers for them to follow him outside.
Ebiris silently follows as told, looking around a bit nervously.
<Brian> The other three (Carlos, David, and Ryan) are pretty light-footed, but there's no cows in this barn.  It's a bit chilly out, and there's frost all over the ground.
<Brian> It's probably about 5:30 AM or so ... you're not entirely sure.  But it's before sunrise.
Ebiris shivers slightly, hefting his duffel bag over his back while looking at the others expectantly.
<Brian> The area immediately around you is covered with short grass, frost, and the occasional haystack.  In the distance, through some light fog, you can see a herd of cows all bunched together for warmth.
<Brian> David peers about for a second, and then looks at Carlos.  Carlos blinks, and then points roughly towards the cows, saying, "That's north."
<Brian> David nods, and heads off at an angle.  The others follow him.
Ebiris likewise follows, trusting the others to know where they're going.
<Brian> Very shortly, you reach a road, which they then follow.
<Brian> "A nice quiet morning," Carlos says after a few minutes of walking.  "Gah.  I miss regular showers."
<Ebiris> "No kidding," Daniel mutters. "I could really do with a hot shower right now...."
<Brian> David and Ryan nod glumly in agreement, and then David says, "If this is the end of the trail, like we expect, we can meet up with the others and find a place to stay for a while."
<Ebiris> "We'll see, whatever we find in Austin..." Daniel says thoughtfully, not really sure that he can say anything meaningful, being rather new to the 'fleeing a terrorist conspiracy with claws in all levels of global government' thing.
<Brian> David nods, and you walk on towards what signs shortly reveal to be the city itself.  Either they've been here before, or David really knows his way around.
<Ebiris> "Whereabouts in Austin is the address we got, yesterday?"
<Brian> "A state institution for mental health," David says, examining the scrap of paper.  "Which makes sense.  People who are ... 'different' ... often exhibit some form of minor power."
<Brian> "We're looking for someone named Kyle Defoe.  I'm not sure who it is, yet ... but I imagine we'll find out."
<Brian> It doesn't actually take too long to begin walking through a sort of sporadic suburbia, interspersed with empty fields, and then, suddenly, you're in downtown proper, the sun is up, and businessmen are walking around in casual clothing, but still carrying briefcases.
Ebiris nods, continuing to follow the gang through town, although wondering exactly what they're going to DO at the institution...
<Brian> Before you get to the institution, Carlos stops at an ATM.  He puts in a library card, pushes a few buttons, there's a power surge, he looks both confused and innocent, and then shrugs as he accepts four hundred dollars in cash.
<Brian> Then, Carlos gives everyone one hundred dollars.  Ryan nods, and says, "Breakfast?"
<Ebiris> Going slightly goggle-eyed, Daniel resists the urge to laugh out loud. "Sounds good to me," he says as he accepts the cash.
<Brian> David nods in agreement, and explains, "Visiting hours are probably not until ten.  We should make sure we're at our best in case something goes wrong."
<Brian> After that, David picks out a Denny's, which is not the best restaurant, but it's busy enough that no one will really stick out.
<Brian> And ... we now cut to Halbarad.
<Brian> Halbarad.  You have just entered the office and sat down at your desk, looking over your paperwork.  And trying to make sense of your interesting, if bizarre dream.  (Also, that lipstick doesn't seem to come off your collar-bone.  You're wearing a high-necked shirt today.)
Halbarad pulls at his collar uncomfortably as he sorts through which clients he's supposed to meet with today.
<Brian> Your current project is a young man -- about fourteen years old -- named Kyle Defoe.
Halbarad looks for the previous case worker's notes, as he hasn't visited with Kyle before.
<Brian> Apparently he suffers from some mental disorder.  But the previous case-worker doesn't know which one.  He's disassociative, and apparently perceives everything in a fuge-like state.  He's sluggish, and his reflexes are slowed ... but there's nothing physically or chemically wrong with him.  The notes indicate he might just be autistic, but he doesn't respond to the same stimuli that many autistic children do.
Halbarad frowns a bit at the odd diagnosis, but gets his things together for the visit anyway. Maybe a first-hand visit with the boy will reveal a bit more.
<Brian> And maybe the previous case-worker didn't even bother to try -- that's a half-assed report if you ever saw one.
<Brian> As you leave the office and pass briefly through the lobby, one of the attendants flags you down, jogging a bit to catch up.  "Tim!" she calls.
<Halbarad> "Hmm? What's up?" Tim stops for a moment.
<Brian> Ah, Susan -- the gossip.  Catching her breath, she explains, "There's two men here to visit Kyle -- they want to withdraw him from the program and take care of him themselves.  They claim to be his father and his uncle, respectively."
<Halbarad> "Have they provided any identification?" Tim asks, frowning a bit.
<Brian> "Well," Susan says, fidgeting a bit with some piece of knitting she was working on.  "Yes ... but he was dropped off last week by his father and his mother.  And the man in the lobby is not his father."
<Halbarad> "That's odd," Tim muses. "Well, if you can stall them I'll try to take care of it after I get back. I was just about to head over to the hospital to give him a visit. I can get them sorted out after that."
<Brian> "They're really demanding, though," she says, shaking her head.  "And I can't legitimately tie them up for long -- their ID matches.  It's almost like ... like the people who dropped him off were lying about their identities."
Halbarad grumbles to himself. "They're going to HAVE to wait. I'm not going to release him until I can get a chance at a better diagnosis, and I can't do that until I have a visit with him. And they're going to have to wait for me for a release, unless Ella transferred his case to someone else already?"
<Brian> "No," she says slowly.  "But they are threatening to call the police."  Making up her mind, she nods.  "I'll do what I can to stall them."  With that, she turns around and starts jogging back to the lobby.
Halbarad sighs, hurrying out to his car. Susan might be a bit of a gossip, but she's good about favors.
<Brian> And now, we cut to a local Denny's....
<Brian> Ebiris!  The food was ... really not spectacular.  Not awful.  Just really ... unimpressive.  The service was pretty lousy, though, and David is currently debating in a low voice with Carlos over leaving a hundred dollar bill (their only currency) to pay for the bill, or just walking out.
<Ebiris> "It's probably not worth drawing attention to ourselves like that," Daniel suggests. "Just pay. Not like it's our money."
<Brian> Carlos breaks off mid explanation about how its their moral duty to leave a tip, since the waitress depends on that money to survive when he suddenly sits up straight, and blinks.  "They're moving in," he says, glancing at Ryan.  "I caught one of their transmissions -- they mentioned 'Kyle'."
<Brian> David swears, and throws down a hundred dollar bill, since the waitress isn't going to offer to make change any time soon, and swiftly heads towards the exit, Carlos and Ryan only a half-step behind.
Ebiris follows right behind the trio!
<Brian> You step outside into the daylight.  It's probably about ten, maybe ten thirty in the morning.  Still pretty chilly.  Carlos points to a nondescript van (looks like a blue Chevy Astro) as it rounds a corner.  "That's them," he says.
<Ebiris> "So, what's the plan?" Daniel asks, unzipping his duffel bag to take out the tazer and put it in his coat pocket.
<Brian> David nods.  "Let's see what they're up to.  Daniel, stay with me, Carlos and Ryan will circle around and get them from behind."  Ryan and Carlos nod, and run off, and David moves to follow the van, which goes another block and then stops in front of an government building ... looks like an administrative office for something or another.
Ebiris keeps a hand in his pocket with the tazer, feeling rather nervous as he walks alongside David.
<Brian> David has his hands in his pockets, too, and you follow the van from behind.
<Brian> And now ... we break to Halbarad.
<Brian> Halbarad!
<Brian> You're not sure what's going on -- you've gotten to the hospital, but those two men are right behind you, and look furious.
<Brian> You've got no idea why, unless Susan did something she really shouldn't have.  Though, the large coffee stain on one of the men suggests that she just might have.
<Brian> The two of them look relatively similar, enough so that you might believe them being brothers, but both of them really look a bit too young to have a fourteen-year-old son.
Halbarad glances back at the two men, scowling a bit. At least they can't get into the hospital proper without authorization. Quickening his already fast walk a bit more, he heads for the entrance.
<Brian> You make it to the entrance first, and are through, though they're gaining on you.  Just after you clear security and look back, both of the men draw guns and badges from their pockets and force their way through security.
<Halbarad> 'What the hell?' Tim breaks into a jog through the corridors of the hospital, heading for Kyle's room. Whoever these guys are, they're sure not interested in his well-being - not with guns.
<Brian> You sprint.  When the men see you running, they yell, and run after -- but all their muscle seems to slow them down, so you get ahead of them.
<Brian> In a few seconds you reach Kyle's room, short on breath but otherwise okay.
Halbarad ducks inside quickly, looking at Kyle as he tries to regain his breath. "Kyle?"
<Brian> You see something odd when you enter the room.  For a moment, your vision is doubled.  Kyle is sitting at a table.  In one sense, you see a very sleepy, but otherwise normal looking teenager.  In another, you see the same kid wearing gold armor and a pair of golden revolvers with silver handles.  But when you blink, the secondary image vanishes, and he looks at you sleepily.  "Doctor?" he asks, his voice slightly slurred.
<Brian> He's of average height, and has short but unkempt black hair, and brown eyes.  There's a scar on one cheek, just below his left eye, though it's relatively small.  That's about his most distinguishing feature.
<Halbarad> "No, my name is Mr. Maus. I'm your new case worker," Tim answers, locking the door behind him. It probably won't hold the two outside for long, but hopefully it'll give security enough time to catch them. "It's nice to meet you, Kyle," Tim says, giving the young man a smile.
<Brian> "Oh, hello," he says, smiling dreamily.  "Pandora says she met you last night."
<Halbarad> "Pandora?" Tim says, taking a seat at the table. "Who's that?"
<Brian> "She's the woman you talked to on the mountain prison," Kyle says, seeming to gain awareness the more he speaks.
Halbarad blinks. "Wait... huh? Mountain prison... I only dreamed about that last night, I didn't actually GO anywhere like that," Tim says, his fingers unconsciously moving to his collarbone.
<Brian> He blinks, like he's just waking up, and then rubs at an eye.  "She said that Pax Arcana would come to try and kill me today, because I'm one of the last anchor-points for the Brothers of Morpheus."
<Halbarad> "Wait... Pax Arcana? Brothers of Morpheus? Who are they?" Tim asks, barely keeping his composure. This sure doesn't match the diagnosis in the boy's file at all.
<Halbarad> And the fact that he's talking about Tim's own dreams as if he was there isn't helping much, either.
<Brian> And ... we cut to Ebiris here.
<Brian> Ebiris: As you approach the building, you see two men emerge from the van, and draw guns.  David swears, and breaks into a run for the building, but they vanish inside while he's still headed towards it.
Ebiris bolts right after David. 'Guns?! Oh, shit... America sucks.'
<Brian> You both run up to the door, where flustered security guards refuse to let you pass.
<Brian> "You can't come in without authorization," the chief guard growls, his face slightly red, and looking very angry.
Ebiris glances at David, hoping HE has some bright idea.
<Brian> David chews his lower lip angrily for a moment, then whips a badge out of his pocket.  "I'm with Interpol," he says tersely.  "Two known terrorists claiming to be FBI have just broken into this facility with drawn weapons."
<Brian> The security guard's eyes widen, and he says, "I ... can't let ... we ... I have to process your badge numbers to verify your identity," he says.
<Brian> "Of course," David says aloud, then dropping his voice so low you can barely hear it, and saying, "close your eyes."
Ebiris dutifully does so.
<Brian> roll 14#1d6
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 14#1d6 --> [ 1d6=2 ]{2}, [ 1d6=3 ]{3}, [ 1d6=3 ]{3}, [ 1d6=1 ]{1}, [ 1d6=5 ]{5}, [ 1d6=2 ]{2}, [ 1d6=6 ]{6}, [ 1d6=6 ]{6}, [ 1d6=6 ]{6}, [ 1d6=5 ]{5}, [ 1d6=2 ]{2}, [ 1d6=4 ]{4}, [ 1d6=1 ]{1}, [ 1d6=3 ]{3}
<Brian> There's a flash so bright that you flinch with your eyes closed.
<Ebiris> "Eeehh..." Daniel winces, taking a moment to recover before he opens his eyes, blinking.
<Brian> When you open your eyes, the guards are staggering around with their eyes open wide, unable to see anything.  "Security!" one of the guards yells, before he trips over another guard.
<Brian> David is already moving through the metal detector -- which goes off the second he passes through it.
Ebiris bolts after David, hoping Ryan can get them out of this place. The front door doesn't look like an option, now.
<Brian> David seems to know where he's going, and you rush down a corridor, then a hallway (or was it the other way around?), rounding a corner, and confronting a pair of men.  One of them fires his pistol as you see him, shooting through the lock on a door.
Ebiris pulls out his tazer right away, aiming at the man not currently shooting up the lock. 'Oh, God, I am so dead...'
<Brian> Halbarad, the lock of the door to your room has just exploded.  Blinking dreamily, like he's going back into his fuge state, Kyle whips what looks like a solid gold revolver with a silver handle out of literally no-where, and hands it to you before he dives to the floor.
<Brian> We'll call this phase 0.
<Halbarad> "What the hell...." Tim gapes at the gun in his hand.
<Brian> Everyone except the MiB who shot the lock off is assumed to have a held action.
<Brian> The door is now swinging open.  Ebiris has declared his action, so he will act first.
<Brian> Go ahead and make your roll to attack.
<Ebiris> roll 3d6 for Zap!
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Ebiris ... : 3d6 for Zap! --> [ 3d6=10 ]{10}
<Brian> This is good enough to hit -- roll your damage.
<Ebiris> roll 7#1d6
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Ebiris ... : 7#1d6 --> [ 1d6=5 ]{5}, [ 1d6=1 ]{1}, [ 1d6=1 ]{1}, [ 1d6=4 ]{4}, [ 1d6=3 ]{3}, [ 1d6=5 ]{5}, [ 1d6=2 ]{2}
<Brian> Your shot causes the man to spasm, drop his weapon, and fall to the ground.
<Brian> It's now David's action, and he just gestures with one hand at the shooter.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=16 ]{16}
<Brian> His shot goes wide -- you think you see the knife from the Denny's you were at (among other things) shoot into the floor at his feet.
<Brian> He swears.
<Brian> Halbarad, the door has just swung open, leaving you facing a man with a drawn gun, the barrel still (faintly) smoking.
Halbarad readies the gun that just came out of nowhere and fires back - he doesn't like people shooting at him.
<Brian> Go ahead and roll to hit.
<Halbarad> roll 3d6 for Bang!
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Halbarad ... : 3d6 for Bang! --> [ 3d6=6 ]{6}
<Brian> roll 3d6 for hit location
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 for hit location --> [ 3d6=9 ]{9}
<Halbarad> roll 1d6+1d3
<Chibi-Suu> them bones was tossed for Halbarad ... : 1d6+1d3 --> [ 1d6=3 1d3=2 ]{5}
<Brian> You tag him in the shoulder -- he spins around, falls to the ground, and impales himself on the culinery impliments lying there.
Ebiris yelps at the sound of gunfire from inside the room, wincing at what just happened to the unfortunate MiB.
<Halbarad> "Oh my god...." Tim says, his arm going limp. "What the hell just happened?"
<Brian> For the moment, it looks clear -- his partner (there were two of them) is lying on the ground and twitching.  Though, a wire does lead from his chest and then away....
<Brian> The gun in Tim's hand vanishes into nothingness.
<Halbarad> At the moment, this only registers as a slight weirdness, considering that he just shot someone.
<Brian> "We have to go," Kyle says sleepily.  "They'll try and kill me again.  And if I die, the Brothers of Morhpeus will lose an anchor."
<Brian> David looks around the corridor, and then cautiously peeks into the room.
Ebiris winces as David does that, hoping he doesn't get his head blown off.
<Brian> Halbarad, you see a very tall, thin, blond-haired man peeking into the room at you and Kyle.
<Brian> "We're friends," he adds, thoughtfully, when he sees no weapons between Halbarad and Kyle.
Halbarad shakes his head, Kyle's words breaking him out of his shock. "Right.... come on then, we'll try to get you someplace safer." He glances up at the man, moving to position himself between Kyle and the doorway. "What do you want?"
<Ebiris> Seeing that hostilities seem to be over, Daniel scoops up the gun belonging to the MiB he just tazered, also retracting the wires from the device. Not that he plans on shooting anyone with a gun of course, he'd just rather it was in his possession than the MiBs...
Halbarad sighs. "I am SO lost here." He looks over at David. "You're not here to hurt Kyle, are you?"
<Brian> "No," he says, shaking his head.  "We're trying to stop the MiBs."
<Brian> "Speaking of which," Carlos interjects, "this place isn't such an awesome area to hang out.  I think it's time to make operation number thirty seven a reality."
<Brian> Ryan and David stare at Carlos blankly, until he adds, "Operation 'book like fuck'."
<Halbarad> "If you mean those guys that just shot the door, I'm grateful. Right now I want to get Kyle out of here - I don't understand what's going on, but this place isn't safe for him anymore."
<Ebiris> "Yeah, making an exit sounds good to me," Daniel nods as he pockets the gun.
<Brian> "Oh," David says, as you hear footsteps rounding the corner.  "Carlos -- the lights.  Ryan, get us to Jim and Sterling."
<Brian> And then everything happens at once.  The lights overhead pop, shedding a sprinkle of sparks across the floor, and when your eyes adjust, you're standing in the same positions, but you're outside, behind a building, and it's the dead of night.
<Brian> There's no clouds, you're next to a warehouse, which has a light flicker on, struggling to shed any light, and you can see the stars.
<Halbarad> "What the hell?!" Tim asks, looking around rapidly. "What just happened? Where are we?" he fires off in rapid succession.
Ebiris nods approvingly at Ryan. "Nice work. Where in the world are we, now?"
<Brian> Ryan just grunts and passes out -- David catches him before he hits the ground.  You notice you're still standing on the tile floor ... Ryan even brought the bed and the table with him.
<Brian> "I kind of wonder what it looks like we left behind," Carlos mutters.  "We should be in Australia, somewhere near ... uh ... Melbourne.  Sterling, Jim, and Walker came here to chase down some of the other terrorists.  This seemed like a good time to meet up with them."
<Ebiris> "Fair enough," Daniel shrugs, already getting used to this wackiness.
<Halbarad> "Australia?" Tim says, his mouth gaping. "That's halfway across the world!"
<Brian> David nods.  "Okay, well, this isn't going to be too subtle, but we need to find someplace safe to hole up and get some rest.  Ryan's going to be out for probably a good day -- teleporting this far takes a lot of effort."
<Ebiris> "You guys know anywhere around here we can use?" Daniel asks, giving Tim an apologetic look.
Halbarad just looks rather stunned... in the space of half an hour he's been shot at, shot someone else, and transported halfway across the world to the middle of a continent half a world away. "What the hell is going on?" he says to no one in particular.
<Ebiris> "We're being chased by a psychic global terrorist conspiracy with claws in all levels of government. I think," Daniel replies succinctly. "Sorry that we got you mixed up in it, but we heard they were after Kyle... and I guess we were right."
<Halbarad> "Normally I'd look into having you admitted to the program after hearing you say that, but after the past twenty-four hours I'm not so sure about what sanity IS anymore." Tim sighs.
<Brian> "Well, first things first," David says, putting Ryan on the bed he teleported from Texas.  "Let's see if we can use this warehouse."
<Ebiris> "Yeah, my life was normal a day ago, too," Daniel replies with a grimace. "I'm Daniel, by the way."
<Brian> Carlos and David prowl around one of the doors, leaving Daniel and Tim together with Kyle, who's now sitting up right and rocking back and forth slowly, humming to himself, and Ryan, who's quite passed out.
Halbarad sticks out his hand. "Tim Maus," Tim introduces himself. "Kyle's case worker, which is I think what got me mixed up in this whole mess."
<Ebiris> "Tim... Maus..." Daniel repeats slowly. "Oh, shit... Hal?"
Halbarad blinks. "That's the name I go by online, yeah. Been using it for years." He narrows his brows, giving Daniel a critical look. "How did you know it?"
<Ebiris> "It's me, Ebiris!" Daniel says, stunned. "Crap, I should've known... that being Austin, and all..."
<Halbarad> "Eb?!" Tim says, gaping. "This is just getting weirder by the minute. Always wanted to meet you, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind," he says with a slight grin.
<Ebiris> "Yeah, a far cry from going to A-kon with Merc, I bet," Daniel snorts. "Well, I guess this saves me the trouble of getting online to tell you how I'm fleeing a global psychic terrorist conspiracy and will be afk for a while," he chuckles, trying to make light of the situation.
<Brian> In the distance, you hear the sound of something heavy and metal breaking, followed by the sound of an aluminum warehouse door rolling up.  "Jackpot!" Carlos calls.  "We've got a crash-space."
<Brian> The two return, Carlos hauling Ryan onto his shoulders and heading inside, and David looking at Halbarad and Ebiris in turn.  "How are you two holding up?" he asks.
<Ebiris> "Just filling Tim in on what's going on," Daniel explains. "Turns out we actually know each other on the internet."
Halbarad looks over towards the warehouse. "About as well as you'd expect from someone who just got ripped out of his life," Tim says with a sigh. "I'll manage, but it's hard to get used to the idea. I'm guessing you can't get me back to Austin anytime soon?" he says without much hope.
<Brian> "Small world," David says, scratching his head.  "We can take you back, probably in a day or two.  And normally, if you're not involved, we'd try and help you out.  But you did shoot an MiB, so that's liable to make things difficult."  He looks apologetic at this last.
<Ebiris> "Ryan could probably manage it tomorrow," Daniel shrugs. "I was back in Britain, yesterday, myself." Grimacing at David's words, "Yeah... those MiBs tried to kidnap me. Apparently I'm psychic, now."
<Halbarad> "Figures," Tim says with a sigh. "Guess I'm stuck whether I like it or not." He looks back at Kyle. "You need any help getting inside?" he asks the half-catatonic boy.
<Brian> Kyle stands up again, and again Halbarad has an eerie double-vision of him being some golden-armored warrior, briefly.  "I'm okay," he says, grabbing the edge of his bed and wheeling it towards the warehouse.  "But I'm stronger when I'm dreaming.  This is a good place for dreams."  He pauses, and frowns.  "You should dream about Pandora," he says, nodding at Halbarad.
<Ebiris> "Who's Pandora?" Daniel asks, falling in step with Kyle towards the warehouse.
<Brian> "Who's Pandora?" David asks.
<Halbarad> "That woman in the sphere?" Hal asks, for confirmation. "How am I supposed to choose what or who I dream about?"
<Brian> David looks at Daniel, and then scratches his head.  "Huh?" he manages.
<Brian> Kyle stops pushing the bed, and shakes his head.  "You learn it, as you go on.  You've got potential."
Ebiris shrugs. "Some psychic ability involving dreams?" he hazards to David.
Halbarad idly rubs at his shirt where the lipstick is concealed. "If you say so," he says dubiously. "Although with everything else that's happened so far today, it's as likely as anything else."
<Brian> "Well, it's about three in the morning.  I figure no one will come by for a bit ... but when they do, this table is going to stick out.  Maybe the tile floor, too.  But we can move the table inside," David reasons, flipping it over and folding the legs underneath it.  It's just a card table, so collapses easily.  "Let's head in."
<Brian> With that, he trundles into the warehouse, and Kyle follows with his bed.
Ebiris likewise follows them inside.
Halbarad follows along behind, his steps a bit heavy.
<Brian> The inside of the warehouse is pretty spacious.  Carlos pulls the door down once everyone's in.  There's a large number of couches and sofas scattered across the massive room, most of the far half being filled with sofas stacked end on end.  Nearby, Carlos and David have pulled a few aside to relax on, and Ryan's sleeping on one.  There's also a carboard box full of clothes and M.R.E.s, along with a scrap of paper with something scribbled on it in dark brown ink.
<Brian> Kyle moves his bed next to a couch, climbs in, and dozes off almost immediately.
Ebiris ambles over to take a glance at the paper on the box.
Halbarad flops down on a couch himself, still trying to sort through what's just happened - from the dream to the craziness of the day after.
<Brian> It appears to be a note.  It reads:  "Bitches:  Here's some crap.  Take care of yourselves.  Peace out -- Sterling D."
<Brian> David says, "That's just Sterling and Walker's way of reminding us that they still care.  Help yourselves to an MRE if you're hungry, and even though it's early, try and get some sleep to adjust to the new day-night cycle.  I think we might be here a few days until Carlos can get in touch with Jim."
<Halbarad> "Sleep... actually sounds good," Hal admits. "I feel like a nervous wreck right now. I just don't know if I CAN get to sleep."
Ebiris nods. "I'll sleep in a bit, maybe," he says, sitting down. "Barely been up a few hours..." shaking his head. "This is some pretty crazy shit, Hal. But I don't know if you'll have to get mixed up in it as deeply as I have."
<Halbarad> "Sounds like I am whether I want to be or not," Hal grumbles. "You heard him - I actually SHOT someone back there. If they figure out it was me, what the hell am I supposed to do?" He leans back on the couch. "This is just seriously messed up, period."
<Ebiris> "Well, yeah... shooting people isn't cool," Daniel agrees, "But at least they've got no reason to pick your brain, so to speak."
<Halbarad> "Okay, so they want revenge on me instead of sticking me in a lab somewhere. Which would YOU prefer?" Tim shoots back. "Sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that. I'm just... really on edge right now."
<Brian> Carlos nods solemnly, and says, "Well, I'm turning in.  See you when it's light out."  With that, he sacks out, though David prowls around the edge of the circle of couches for a few minutes more before finding a spot to sit and watch the door.
<Ebiris> "Eh, can't be helped," Daniel shrugs, not entirely unsympathetic. "It's a shitty situation all round." Nodding over at Carlos, he adds "'Night."
<Halbarad> "'Night," Tim calls over automatically. "So yeah. Like it or not, I'm stuck in this now." He looks over at Daniel. "How'd you get caught in this anyway? Last I heard from you, you weren't psychic." He grins a bit. "You just played one on IRC."
<Ebiris> "Heh, yeah," Daniel chuckles. "Apparently I can now see the future. Albeit only when said future pertains to my grisly demise..." he snorts, "Since I've never really been in a life threatening situation before, I guess that explains why I never knew about it..."
<Halbarad> "Something I wouldn't really want to be useful myself, either," Tim agrees. "Things have just been weird for me since that dream last night. I actually remembered my dream - which is weird for me. I dreamed of being in a room with a lot of doors, and I went through one of them into the mountains. There was a woman there - Pandora, I guess. We talked for a few minutes, she blew me a kiss, and I woke up - with lipstick on my chest."
<Ebiris> "Huh... weirdness," Daniel replies succinctly. "I guess that's more fun than picturing the building you're in blowing the fuck up about 2 minutes before said building really does blow the fuck up." He shakes his head, "Remember I mentioned going to that psychic testing thing on IRC the other day, probably a few hours before I Peered and didn't come back?"
<Halbarad> "Yeah, figured your connection just crapped out again," Tim agrees. "Seemed kind of weird, but hell, I'd do it if I had the time. Sounded like it was good money."
<Ebiris> "So I figured," Ebiris nods sourly, well aware that he was NOT paid for his time. "Place just went up like it had a bomb in every room..."
<Halbarad> "Huh. Explains why you never signed back on, at least," Hal says wryly. "At least you made it out okay, or you wouldn't be here."
<Ebiris> "Yeah. I saw a sequence of events in my head leading up to the explosion, and after several of those events happened in reality... well, I made a quick excuse and got out." He sighs, "I feel bad for not warning anyone, but... I hardly believed it myself. Why would anyone else believe me? Then I ran into David and went to my place, which was being raided by a gang of MiBs..."
Halbarad sighs. "And I bet I can guess the rest after what just happened. How'd you end up in Austin, though?"
<Ebiris> "Yeah, we knocked out two of them and tied the other two up at knife-point - that was when I met Carlos and Ryan. They were carrying papers with my name and address, as well as an address in Austin for Kyle," he gestures at said sleeping kid. "After having the whole 'psychic government terrorist conspiracy' bit explained to me, Ryan teleported us all over to Austin before we ran into you."
<Halbarad> "If I wasn't in the middle of it, I'd say it sounds like the plot of a really cheesy movie," Hal sighs. "Cheesy or not, though, we're here."
<Ebiris> "Ain't that the truth," Daniel nods glumly. "David can explain more about the MiBs than I can, but even then... we know pretty much bugger all. Think they might be connected to Forge, though. Maybe."
<Halbarad> "Great. So somehow my dreams are tied up with one of my clients, who's being hunted down by a bunch of terrorists. And not only that, but one of the people I know from IRC is involved too." He groans. "I think I'm going to take that guy's advice and get some sleep. Maybe it'll make more sense when I wake up, although I'm not too hopeful."
<Ebiris> "And if not, at least you might get to have a fun dream, right?" Daniel suggests, grinning. "I guess I'll try and get some sleep myself," he adds, shrugging before taking off his coat and using it as an impromptu blanket as he stretches out on his chosen couch.
Ebiris frowns, sitting up and taking the tazer and gun out of his coat pockets and placing them in his duffel bag before lying down once more. '"Night, all."
<Halbarad> "Night," Hal says, stretching out on the couch. At least it's fairly comfortable.
<Brian> Both of you fall asleep instantly.  And also end up having a dream.  Which is interesting, and a bit eerie, because it's the same dream.  Both of you are in the room with the doors that Halbarad remembers from the night before.
Ebiris glances askance at Hal. "Are you a figment of my dream, or are you the real Hal and this has something to do with your apparent psychic power relating to dreams?"
<Halbarad> "Again with the doors," Hal mutters, looking around the room before he spots Eb. "And Eb's in.... wait, are you real?"
<Ebiris> "I hope so..." Ebiris shrugs. "We're both in the same dream?"
<Halbarad> "Sure looks that way," Hal admits. "This is the way my dream started last night."
<Ebiris> "Uh... if any girl's start kissing your chest, I'll find somewhere else to be..." Ebiris says awkwardly, looking for likely escape routes.
Halbarad snorts. "Ha ha." Shaking his head, Hal heads over to another door at random, figuring he might as well look around while he's here again.
Ebiris follows Hal, really hoping that the dream doesn't turn in that direction. That would just be too damn awkward...
<Brian> All of the doors are blank, except for the one marked with a plaque.
<Brian> They look like nice, solid wood, with polished brass finishes, though.
Ebiris reads the plaque.
Halbarad heads for the one with the plaque, reading it as he opens the door. It's the only one that really stands out.
<Brian> To Ebiris's eyes, the plaque is lined with gibberish, like the 'language' of old 80s cartoons.  To Halbarad, it says, "Pandora" in a large gothic font with nice little curly scrawls around it.
Halbarad chuckles. "Well, he DID say to dream of Pandora again," he says, opening the door. "You coming?" he asks Eb.
<Ebiris> "Sure," Daniel shrugs. "Not much else to do around here."
<Brian> When the door is opened, it opens onto the same place it did last time, a mountain path with stairs carved into the side leading up towards the peak.  The mountain is particularly desolate, just barren stone, no sign of plants, and the top is wreathed with clouds.
<Brian> Something still glints and shines above, through brief breaks in the cloud cover.
<Halbarad> "Looks like it's still up there," Hal says, beginning the climb. Although he does wonder what happened to the snow from the last time.
Ebiris follows Hal up the mountain, not really concerned with his surroundings. It's just a dream, after all.
<Brian> Halbarad blurs and zips forward, moving halfway up the distance in a single step.  Ebiris finds himself restrained to mortal movement, which turns out to be a bit annoying, as it's a good kilometer up the stairs to the top.
Halbarad notices that Eb isn't behind him anymore, and looks back to see what the holdup is.
Ebiris makes a face. "Joy..." he mutters, trudging tediously up the mountain.
<Brian> You look down the mountain and see Ebiris trudging up after you ... you can also see down below him.  You never looked back the last time you were here.
<Brian> The stairs lead down some distance -- your door is gone, but would have been on a landing.  Each kilometer-long segment of the stairs is interspersed with a landing, ostensibly as a rest area.  But the stairs stretch away through a good ten landings before vanishing into deep and dark clouds below.
<Brian> Looking around, you can see a number of similar peaks; this one doesn't seem to be any taller or shorter.  But you think there are switchbacks and stairs visible on some of those other distant peaks, as well.
Halbarad whistles, looking out across the clouds. "How high up ARE we?" he wonders aloud. This is a dream, so anything's possible, but it's pretty wild-looking.
<Brian> Ebiris: It's a long trudge, but at least it's a dream, so you don't feel tired.
Halbarad waits for Eb before going on. Might as well avoid getting separated.
<Brian> Ebiris arrives after probably twenty minutes of Halbarad admiring the view (and noticing, incidentally, the lack of any birds, wolves, or any other animals).
<Ebiris> "Bleah," Ebiris says succinctly as he catches up with Hal. "How come you get to go so fast?"
<Halbarad> "Beats me," Hal says. "Maybe it's because I've been here before? Maybe if I hold on to you I can bring you with me."
<Ebiris> "Eh, there's no rush," Ebiris shrugs, looking to see how much farther they have to go.
<Brian> You're about halfway there at this point.
Ebiris continues his journey up the mountain!
<Halbarad> "See you at the top then, I guess," Hal says apologetically, before continuing on.
<Brian> Halbarad reaches the rim of the large bowl that contains Pandora's (one supposes) glass sphere.  It's still filled with cloudy, murky ... stuff.
<Halbarad> "Pandora?" Hal asks, moving closer to the sphere.
<Brian> Ebiris manages to catch up before there's any response -- apparently Pandora was waiting for both of you to arrive.  But once Ebiris crests the top of the staircase and enters the Greek-looking architecture (just pillars, actually -- there is no roof) Pandora emerges from the mist inside the sphere, and presses her hands against it, blinking at the pair.
Ebiris approaches the sphere, eyeing it curiously.
<Brian> "Hello," she writes on the side of the sphere, smiling at both Ebiris and Halbarad.
<Halbarad> "Hello again," Hal says, giving Pandora a slight smile. "So this was real... but what's going on?" Hal asks.
<Ebiris> "Hi," Ebiris waves. "Pandora?"
<Brian> She nods, and turns to Halbarad, quickly writing: "The Brothers of Morpheus are quite weakened from the time of their prime ... only five anchors remain, and they've lost the way to me.  I am the fourth oracle ... but ... there are forces that seek to eliminate the Brothers of Morpheus."
<Ebiris> "Kyle... he said he was an anchor of... the Brothers of Morpheus. What are the brothers of Morpheus?"
<Halbarad> "That sounds like what Kyle said today - he's an anchor? But who are the Brothers of Morpheus?"
<Brian> "The Brothers of Morpheus exist in dreams, and protect the sleeping world from what lies beyond the reality those within it know.  But they do not live ... so they rely on those who exist in the world of dreams and the waking world at the same time to keep them from fading."
<Brian> This is, of course, written, not spoken.  The silver letters fade after both Halbarad and Ebiris read them.
<Halbarad> "Is that what I saw when I looked at Kyle? He looked like a man in gold armor for a minute. A couple of times, actually."
<Ebiris> "What lies beyond reality?" Ebiris blinks. "Sounds a bit Lovecraftian... are there elder gods and things like that?" Well, when you discover you're psychic, anything's possible...
<Brian> "We call what lies beyond the Enemy, for it seeks to destroy what lies within," Pandora explains slowly.  "The Brothers of Morpheus know that in dream, style is valued over substance.  Strength of will defeats other strengths."
<Brian> "So Kyle would appear as a Brother of Morpheus, for he is one.  But he also exists in the waking world."
<Halbarad> "That makes sense if this is a dream," Hal agrees. "Seems like you could change the way things are here just by thinking about them."
Ebiris nods slowly, digesting that. "And... the Enemy, is connected with the Men in Black?"
<Brian> "No.  The ... the Men in Black are one of two other factions, which seek to either kill three quarters of humanity, or to abandon this world, and move on to a new one.  They do this to hide or flee from the Enemy."
<Brian> "And yes, in a dream, everything is mutable by will.  But it all depends on who ... or what ... maintains that dream.  In your own dream, anything is possible.  It is one of the two axioms of the Brothers of Morpheus:
<Brian> "Anything is possible.  And nothing is forever."
Ebiris nods. "More complicated, still... so there are two factions that David and his friends are dealing with, and then this third Enemy?"
<Halbarad> "Running and hiding don't seem like they'd do much good for long," Hal muses. "Although I'm not sure what else you could do against an Enemy that's outside reality."
<Brian> "The Enemy has not yet acted within your world, beyond making it cold.  That is their first strike.  They will cause global warming, which results in two possible situations.  Either people die, or flee.  The Enemy is held at bay by the anchors we still have."
<Ebiris> "Damn..." Ebiris shakes his head. "But it can only be held at bay by the anchors? It can't be defeated or... negotiated with?"
<Brian> "The other anchors haven't realized their own potential yet ... there is a young man in Japan named Takeshi," she writes, looking thoughtful.  "And another, in America, named Paul Durant.  Should either of these -- or the other two anchors, which I have not yet found -- perish, then the Brothers of Morpheus become weaker, perhaps unable to stop it."  She thinks for a moment at this last question.  "The only beings who could confront the Enemy and not be destroyed by it are Alan, and the Wanderer."
<Halbarad> "Who are they?" Hal asks. "And is there any way for us to help against this Enemy?"
<Brian> "The Wanderer?  I do not know ... I think ... he was one of the Enemy.  Or perhaps ... he was from this world and left.  But either way, he is not from this world.  Alan is the current leader of the Brothers of Morpheus, who rallied them from a dying band of lone warriors into the organized force they are today."
<Brian> "To help ... you would want to contact the Brothers of Morpheus ... or perhaps find a way to resurrect the Order of Symmetry."
<Halbarad> "How would I go about doing either of those?"
<Ebiris> "We," Ebiris interjects.
<Brian> "You are a dreamer," she writes, looking at Halbarad.  "You could search for them in dream, with practice.  They could train you, and in time, you could become another anchor, like Kyle.  The Brothers of Morpheus are doing what they can ... but they have lost me, their oracle."  She smiles wryly.  "I'm not exactly able to get to them easily.  Kyle is aware of me ... but can't contact the other Brothers of Morpheus yet.  They are simply too few to find him."
<Halbarad> "I can definitely give it a shot," Hal says. "Since I'm caught up in this anyway, I might as well try to do something useful."
<Brian> Pandora nods.  "The Order of Symmetry is bound by its Oracle.  The last I saw of her, she was stolen from the Vatican by someone who lives in the southern continent.  If you can find her, or whoever has her, then she could refound the faction, and you could strive for the third possibility.  Instead of fleeing, or killing your own, you could return respect of the world around them to humanity."
<Ebiris> "Someone in Australia?" Ebiris asks, noting that she hasn't said squat about how he can contribute to this grand endeavor.
<Brian> Pandora turns to Ebiris and nods.  "Yes.  He is shielded, though.  Cassandra doesn't remember me, and therefore tries to hide her presence from me."
<Halbarad> "That's... actually a pretty handy coincidence, since we're in Australia now," Hal says wryly. "Although a little more to go on than that might help."
<Ebiris> "Hmm... no clues? I take it Hal would be able to find her through dreams with his power or something, then?" Ebiris asks hopefully.
<Brian> She looks thoughtful.  "There ... is a group that calls themselves 'great flame', or the like ... their path will take them to the one you seek in the waking world.  And in dream, you can help seek the Brothers of Morpheus."
<Ebiris> "Great flame..." Ebiris nods, filing that away.
<Brian> She looks apologetic.  "That is all I know now."
<Halbarad> "I'll do my best, although it'd help if I can get more information on HOW. Do I just start looking through my dreams at random, or what?"
<Brian> "You must learn to dream," she writes.  "You have doors in your dream library.  You should change that room to suit you ... it is your dream, after all.  Then practice creating dreams.  That will attract the attention of the Brothers of Morpheus.  Simply open the books or doors you haven't yet touched, and create a dream for them."
<Halbarad> "All right, I'll start working on that," Hal agrees. "Will I just dream myself into that 'library' from now on?"
<Brian> "Yes," she writes, nodding.  "But, too, don't forget that sleep without dreams is more restful."  She turns again to Ebiris.  "You would be a powerful ally for anyone, with your ability to know danger when it is coming.  Your aid could very well shed the light of hope on an otherwise doomed mission."
<Ebiris> "Thanks," Ebiris nods, "I guess it is pretty handy to know with certainty just when you would be doomed... This is far bigger than I would have imagined."
<Halbarad> "Well, I'm used to sleeping without dreams... it'll take some time to get used to this, I expect," Hal admits. "But at least I know I can do something to help. Thanks for the information, Pandora."
<Brian> "It's ever been the way," she writes, her handwriting becoming a little sloppy as she gets a distant look in her eyes.  "I wish you both luck," she adds, focusing on writing again, "and pray for you."
<Brian> ...and you wake up.

<Brian> We'll begin with the mighty C-Rat, who is enjoying his van ride of DOOM! with his newfound allies, and headed ... north.
<Brian> A night passes, and C-Rat wakes up the next morning a bit stiff from sleeping in the van.  Jim has switched places with Sterling, who is now driving.  "This is our warehouse," Sterling says, pulling the van to a halt outside some run-down looking buildings.
<Brian> There's a heap of tile lined up next to a dumpster, positioned as though the tile was still meant to be a floor.
<C-Rat> "Nice place," comments Carthrat, extricating himself from the car.
<Brian> The buildings are solid enough, though the signs indicate that they really belong to some furniture company.
C-Rat glances around, looking for other cars/signs of people.
<Brian> "Thanks," Walker says, climbing out of the van, and grabbing the box of weapons and random junk.  "Jim, can you get the door?"  Jim grunts, and opens the sliding door to the warehouse.
C-Rat walks towards the door, shivering somewhat; it's too damn cold for midsummer.
<Brian> When the door is opened, light floods in, shining on a number of people lounging on couches.  There's a short guy with dark hair, sitting up like he just woke up, who kind of blearily blinks at the doorway.  There's a guy with an unruly mop of black hair and glasses next to him.  In front of them is a tallish guy with fine, straight blond hair who's holding a number of throwing knives.
C-Rat lets someone else do the talking!
<Brian> Halbarad, Ebiris: The door slides open, and you see four people -- an average height, somewhat overweight looking man with a poof of frizzy dark blond hair and a beard, his skin tinged gray for some reason.  An extremely tall man wearing a 'Harvard Law' T-shirt who's got a goatee, long black hair that looks like it could use a wash, and another man with medium-length blond hair and no facial hair at all.
Ebiris glances over at his newfound companions to see how they are reacting to the latest arrivals before he does anything himself.
<Brian> David blinks at the men who're standing in the doorway, and asks, "Did you bring food?"
Halbarad looks up at the sound of the door. "Uh..." Seeing that none of their hosts seem particularly concerned, he takes a few moments to look over the new arrivals.
<Brian> "Love for everyone," Sterling says, eyeing Halbarad and Ebiris, and then hefting a huge bag.  "I brought some take-out."
C-Rat rubs a hand through his hair, yawning again. Too damn *early*!
<Ebiris> "Coolness," Daniel looks at the bag hungrily. "So, the gang's all here, huh?"
<Brian> "So," Sterling continues, turning to C-Rat.  "This is most of the rest of the team -- David," the fair-haired and thin man, "Carlos," the man with glasses, "Ryan, and ... these guys, who I've never seen before."
<Brian> Jim then glances at the wheeled hospital bed in the corner, where Kyle's still sleeping.  "Oh, and a guy in a comma.  Who wants a croissant sandwich?"
<C-Rat> "Yo," says Carthrat to the Room In General.
<Ebiris> "Daniel," Daniel supplies helpfully with a lazy wave.
<Halbarad> "Tim," Hal volunteers, "And he's not in a coma, but... hell, anything's going to be a long story at this point."
<C-Rat> "Huh. And I'd be Tom," replies Carthrat, shrugging.
<Brian> "Awesome," Walker says.  "Let's all introduce ourselves.  I'm Walker Pennington, this is James 'Will Kick Your Mechanical Ass' Erickson, and our esteemed colleague, Sterling Dubert, esquire."
<Brian> Sterling blinks, and eyes Walker.  "I don't even know what-- no, no.  Shut up and eat.  Just-- Speaking privileges revoked!  No more."  Walker shrugs, and begins parceling out breakfast sandwich rolls.
<C-Rat> "You guys sound almost ... dignified," comments Carthrat, rolling his eyes.
<Brian> "You don't know us as well as you ought to," Carlos opines, taking a sandwich for himself.  "Ooh, bacon."
Ebiris helps himself to a roll, eyeing the new arrivals. "So, what psychic powers do you guys have?" he asks curiously. "I can tell the future, but only if the future involves my grisly demise. Which is kind of helpful, recently, I admit."
Halbarad accepts a sandwich for himself, as well as trying to get another one for Kyle - assuming he can wake the boy up long enough to eat.
<Brian> Kyle does indeed wake up long enough to eat, wander into the restroom, and then go straight back to sleep.
<C-Rat> "I call bullshit," comments Carthrat. "It can't involve your grisly demise if you're still alive."
Halbarad quirks an eyebrow at the odd turn of phrase.
<Ebiris> "That's because I saw it and kind of got the hell out of the building before it mysteriously blew up. And blow up it did," Daniel nods.
<Brian> "Useful," Ryan says, between bites of his own sandwich.
C-Rat shrugs. "I'll bet."
<Brian> "I work with computers," Jim supplies.  "Walker, who's been silenced by the Mandate of Dubert, can only speak for the team pledge.  But he can fix most things that are broken."
<Brian> "I use electricity," Carlos adds, nodding at the lighting rig which is currently illuminating the room.
<Brian> "Shadowy teleportation magic," Ryan adds helpfully.
<Halbarad> "Apparently I've got the ability to dream or something," Hal chips in, glancing over at Daniel. "What exactly that MEANS yet, I don't know. But I'm going to find out if I can."
<Brian> "I am unstoppable and can't be killed.  Despite numerous efforts," Sterling says.  "Also, I can command Walker to be quiet, which even his mother couldn't do."
<Brian> Walker eyes Sterling, and says nothing, merely chewing on his breakfast roll.
<C-Rat> "I'm ... uh ... capable of knowing when I'm in over my head?"
<Brian> "That's also useful," David says.  "I just throw things.  Really well."
<Brian> "Well, that was a productive palaver," Sterling then adds.  "So, we've pretty much covered the fact that we're all abnormal and have these awe-inspiring if unasked for powers.  The question is what to do now."
Ebiris glances over at Hal, wondering if he's going to tell anyone about the funky dream with Pandora and all the stuff she told them.
<Halbarad> "I've got a question for you guys, if you don't mind," Hal says. "Does the name Brothers of Morpheus or Order of Symmetry mean anything to any of you?"
<Ebiris> 'Damn, I'm good,' Daniel thinks to himself.
<Brian> Sterling grunts, and looks thoughtful.  "Never heard of them before," he says slowly.  "Uh ... nope.  I don't think I have.  I only know of, like, three groups of people who gave themselves names."
<Brian> "Orbis Magus," Jim supplies.  "Who knew that old hermetic men in their basements with circles of chalk would hate us?"
C-Rat has an expression of cheerful ignorance!
<Brian> "Then there was the group, what, the Sons of Judea?  I can't remember what their deal was, but they didn't seem to want to kill us, and they gave David flowers, so that was probably okay," Sterling adds.
<Brian> David shrugs and nods.
<Brian> "The third group is us," Ryan finishes quietly.
<Halbarad> "Pandora mentioned two other groups too, along with the Order of Symmetry. Didn't give any names though," Hal muses.
<Brian> "Who's Pandora?" David asks, wrapping up what's left of his sandwich and tossing it to Walker.
<Halbarad> "An oracle of some kind," Hal says absently, still thinking. "I've had dreams about her twice now - she gave Daniel and me a lot of information while we were asleep last night."
<Brian> "Well, that's nice," Jim says between bites.  "Anything useful?"
C-Rat grabs some takeout, and munches away, listening intently.
<Ebiris> "Yeah, said that those two groups are controlling the men in black, and they hate each other. Order of Symnetry is a third group which is extinct, though," Daniel adds helpfully.
<Brian> "Oh.  So, two bad guys, and some dead guys," Jim comments.  "Anything else?"
<Halbarad> "Just that she needs to find the Brothers of Morpheus, and supposedly I can help her with that. And we're supposed to look for another oracle who was taken by someone here in Australia - she said something about a group known as 'great flame' leading us to who  has her."
<Ebiris> "Um... there was some stuff about an 'Enemy' that wants to destroy the world, which is what's making things colder... one of the groups wants to flee from the Enemy, and the other group wants to kill a bunch of people," Daniel scratches his head. "I don't get that. Do they figure if they kill enough people, the Enemy will say 'Hey, you've done my job for me! I'll go home, now and leave you alone!'?"
<C-Rat> 'Well, that's a no-brainer,' thinks Carthrat, with his mouth full.
<Brian> "Oh," Jim says, grinning slightly.  "Great flame, eh?  That must be us."
Halbarad blinks. "It is?"
<Brian> All of the people in the room look at one another, except for Kyle, who is sleeping (already) again, and put down their sandwiches.  As one, they yell, "Together!  Allegiance or death!  BIGFIRE!"
C-Rat blinks.
<Brian> Shrugging, Walker picks up his sandwich and resumes eating again.
<Ebiris> "Bigfire ... like in Giant Robo?" Daniel asks, dumbfounded.
<C-Rat> "Hey, hang on, what's this about a supernatural force making the world colder?"
Halbarad snorts. "Bigfire... yeah, I guess that would fit."
<Brian> "It's based on Giant Robo, but we're not really terrorists," Jim says, shaking his head.  "We fight terrorists.  When we were all hanging out together in Silicon Valley before the bombs, we played a lot of games."
<Brian> "And one of our friends, who did not make it, always insisted that our teams in our games be named 'Bigfire'," Sterling adds, rolling his eyes slightly.
<Brian> "We kind of kept the name after we were put on the run and it stopped being a game," Walker supplies.
Ebiris nods. It's as good a reason as any, really.
<Brian> "You're not allowed to speak," Sterling says, pointing at Walker.  "Even though that is true."
<Brian> Walker eyes Sterling coolly.
<Brian> "Okay, you can talk again," Sterling says, looking away.  "Anyway.  I've never heard of anyone actually trying to make the world colder.  I guess anything is possible, though."
<Halbarad> "Sorry to hear that," Hal replies almost automatically. "But at least that's part of the riddle explained. Pandora said that you guys' path would take us to the one we're looking for in the waking world - although I have no idea what your path IS, to tell the truth."
C-Rat leans back against the wall, wondering where he'll fit in in all this.
<Brian> "Neither do we," David says, frowning.  "But, hell.  Any guidance has to be better than no guidance.  If we'll get some kind of actual goal to go after, then it won't be so bad."
<Brian> "Wow," Jim says, frowning.  "We haven't made friends in a long time.  Ever since that guy, what was his name?  The telekinetic, Bart.  He was cool."
<Ebiris> "She never really explained what the 'Enemy' was. It kinda sounded like Cthulhu or something like that to me... something beyond reality, she called it," Daniel offers, shaking his head. "She said the Order of Symmetry represents a third way, to stop the Enemy rather than fleeing from it or... killing a bunch of people for some reason?"
<Halbarad> "Well, Pandora said we should either look for the Brothers of Morpheus - which apparently I'll do when I dream, when I get a little more practice - or try to revive that Order of Symmetry that Eb just mentioned. How we'd do that, I have no clue."
<Brian> "You know a buttload more than we do," Walker says, somewhat regretfully.  "We've spent pretty much every moment from the time the bomb was dropped running away and trying to get a grasp of what our situation was.  We knew what it was before Nick got killed, but after that we were pretty much cast adrift and screwed."
C-Rat pauses for a moment, the cogs working slowly in his mind.
Ebiris shrugs, "I'm just parroting what Pandora told us. I don't have the first clue about what's going on, really..."
<Brian> "You think you could ask her more?" David asks, somewhat hopefully.  "Some direction ... or even a better understanding of our situation ... would make a huge difference."
<C-Rat> "Hey, how'd you two meet up with Bigfire?" he asks, curiously. "I mean, I think I can tell you're either not part of them, or you haven't been around for long."
<Halbarad> "Same here, really. About all I managed to really understand is that I can look for the Brothers of Morpheus in my dreams, which I'll definitely do if I can." Hal nods to David. "Yeah, I can try it. I think I can find her again the next time I dream - the place she was in was marked."
<Ebiris> "Just a couple of days ago when that building exploded," Daniel shrugs to Tom. "I met David right after, and then the Men in Black raided my house."
<Brian> "That'd be ... that'd be cool," David says to Halbarad, before falling quiet to let the non-BigFire members speak to one another.
<Halbarad> "Then David and his group managed to keep me from getting shot when I tried to stop the Men in Black from killing Kyle," Hal says, nodding towards the semi-comatose boy in the bed. "After that, we wound up here."
<C-Rat> "Why'd they want to kill Kyle?" asks Carthrat, glancing towards the kid.
<Halbarad> "Apparently he's an anchor for the Brothers of Morpheus. I'm not sure exactly what that would mean if they kill him, but I'd guess it's nothing good."
<Ebiris> "Pandora said they need anchors to hold off the Enemy," Daniel supplies. "Of course, if those groups are trying to flee the Enemy, wouldn't they want it to be held off as long as possible?" He shakes his head, "None of this shit makes sense to me..." he sighs.
<C-Rat> "That makes three of us, I think," comments Carthrat, shrugging. "Guess we'll just need to stick around and see what happens...."
<Brian> "Well," Sterling says, rubbing his hands together.  "I have a proposition for you gentlemen, then, if you're up for it."
Halbarad looks up at Sterling. "What's up?"
<Ebiris> "Least it won't be boring, I guess," Daniel mutters, before turning to Sterling with a curious look.
<C-Rat> "Shoot."
<Brian> "Well.  I think we could work well together," Sterling says.
Halbarad shrugs. "Sounds like as good an idea as any," Hal admits. "I sure can't go home after what happened in the hospital, and I have nowhere else to go."
<Brian> "More importantly, I think we've got a lot to offer each other.  We're good at this, because we've been doing it for a few years ... and you know a lot that could help us get out of our rut and either get something accomplished, or at least gain enough awareness of our real situation to TRY and do something about it."
<Brian> "Any port in a storm," David comments.  "Well, then, in that case, Tim, welcome aboard."
<Ebiris> "Works for me," Daniel nods. "I mean, I'd already pretty much thrown in with you guys when those Men in Black raided my house. Might as well see this through, if I can."
Halbarad grins wryly. "Thanks. I'll do the best I can to help, although I'm still new at all this stuff."
<C-Rat> "I'll bite," comments Carthrat. "Not that I know anything or have odd powers, but I can hardly go home, can I?"
<Brian> "Also very cool," Sterling says, "nice to have your help, Tim."
Halbarad glances over at Daniel. "Guess we're in this for good, then. Nothing I ever would have expected in my wildest dreams, though."
<Brian> "Alrighty," Sterling says.  "Then, I think this calls for drinks.  David, you got anything?"
<Brian> David produces a cooler of sodas from behind one of the couches, and offers everyone a drink.
Halbarad accepts one gratefully.
Ebiris helps himself, waiting for Sterling since he's presumably going to offer a toast.
C-Rat grabs a drink, nodding thanks.,
<Brian> "Here's to teamwork," Sterling toasts, once everyone's prepared.

"Well, that's positive," Sterling decides.  "Now.  We're a team, we're in Oz, and we're pretty much without a clue.  What should we do?"

"Hook up with Mark and Wallace," Jim opines.  "If they're still around, anyway."

Sterling considers this, and then looks at Tom, Tim, and Daniel thoughtfully.  "You have any ideas?"

"Well, that oracle in the dream said you guys would lead us to the other oracle, so we might as well try and find your buddies and see what else we come across on the way," Daniel offers.

"Beyond that, she mentioned two other Anchors like Kyle," he gestures at said somnumbulent lad, "A guy in Japan called Takeshi, and a guy in America called Paul Durant."

Daniel looks a little bit thoughtful for a moment as he tries to recall just where he's heard that second name before, as it rings a bell... but a moment's digging still draws a blank.

Jim grunts.  "Any lead is better than nothing," he suggests.

Sterling shrugs, and lounges on a random couch.  "Alright.  I think Wally is in Arizona.  Maybe Colorado.  Mark should stick with him, because he's a lazy bum.  So when can we get there, Ryan?"

Ryan glances across everyone, including Kyle, and frowns.  "Early morning," he says after a moment.  "Maybe four A.M."

Walker grunts.  "Plan until then?" he asks.

Sterling scowls at him.  "What makes you think I know?  You come up with your own plans for your free time.  Me, I'm just going to kick back, unwind a bit."

"Huh. Paul Durant?" says Carthrat, musing. "Coulda sworn I know that name somewhere.. from some book or something.. what was it.. ah, well, fiction won't help us.

I think."

He stretches, and looks at his watch. "Hey, this dreaming thing. Has it happened like every time you've gone to sleep?"

"Well, so far for the last couple of days it has. But I've only gone to sleep twice in those two days, and it's happened both times. Pandora said I won't always, and it's probably best NOT to dream like that all the time, so it sounds like I have some measure of control over it. Damned if I know exactly how it all works yet, though."

Hal sighs. "I guess the thing to do for now is just to keep going the way we are. I just wish there was some more specific direction than that."

"It happens," Sterling says dismissively.  "Is there anything you guys want to take care of while we're not being shot at or on fire?"

"Since putting things in order back home isn't an option, I'll have to say no myself," Hal says with a wry smile. "I just hope the being shot at thing doesn't become TOO regular an occurrence."

"Eh," Daniel shrugs, "Might as well just kill time here until we're ready to leave. Unless more Men in Black show up or something."

"Hopefully not," Walker says.  "But do you need to learn how to handle yourself in a fight, or can you do that already?"

"I've had a couple of years of martial arts," Hal replies a bit dubiously. "Technically I know how to handle a short staff or spear, but that's not tremendously useful against a gun. Other than that... well, I've fired a gun before. That's about the extent of my combat knowledge."

"Better than most people," Sterling decides.  "It's not like you run into THAT many profesional soldiers, anyway."  He pauses for a minute, and looks thoughtful.  "Well.  We can teach you some more tricks, then."

"I can throw a punch and shoot a gun," replies Carthrat, shrugging. "Got a black belt in karate last year, though I havn't really kept it up since then."

The man looks somewhat shifty at that. "Heck, I wish I could contact my parents. I got into a.. well, sort of fight before I wound up here, and I want to let them know that I'm ok.

And apologize for not getting my mother a fricking birthday present. Gawd."

Sterling rubs at his jaw thoughtfully.  "I'd suggest writing a letter," he says after a moment.  "Harder to be tracked, and not as likely to be read.  Hell, if you want, Ryan can probably just drop it in their house directly."

"Hey, thanks, man," says Tom. "Means alot to me. Got some paper and stuff?"

"I'm not really much of a fighter," Daniel admits, "But I guess I can handle myself - I did okay both times we had to take on those Men in Black.

"Honestly, I'm more interested in figuring out this sixth sense than new and exciting ways to render people unconscious."

Walker finds the small office inside the warehouse, and retrieves paper, pens, and envelopes.

"That's not a bad idea," Sterling says to Daniel.  "If you've got a sense that tells you when not to be somewhere ... that might be even better than knowing how to fight."

"Yeah," Daniel nods, "Better to just avoid trouble entirely than fight past it. Just wish I had an idea of how to refine it. I guess it's been reliable enough in telling me when the shit is about to hit the fan, but it seems to be at fairly short notice."

"It's really hard trying to figure out how your ability works, at first," Carlos offers.  "But it's been so different for all of us, that I doubt we can offer much advice."

"I guess it's only been a day or so," Daniel admits. "Hopefully with time things'll become clearer."

"Hell yeah. Heck, just knowing what to expect would give us an edge," comments Tom, taking the paper and pen. Musing, he starts to write..

Hey, guys. Just want to let you know that I'm ok. I don't know if anyone has told you anything, but whatever it is.. let's just say it's not the whole picture.

For security reasons, I can't tell you where I am or what I'm doing. I won't lie to you; whatever I end up doing from now on, it's likely to be dangerous. But make sure of this: Any crime that I might be reported committing, any sort of 'terrorist' crap I might be accused of, just remember that it's not real. Heck, with any luck, you won't have a clue what I'm talking about.

I'd love to try and stay in contact, but this is probably the last you'll hear from me in ages. Avoid strange men wearing black suits, and it's probably in your intrest to be somewhat paranoid, at least for the next few weeks.

Whatever you do, don't go to the police about me or anyone else. And if anyone asks, you didn't recieve this letter.

The writing done, Tom seals the thing in an envelope and writes his address on the front. "I'm done," he comments.

Ryan nods.  "Where do you live?" he asks, evidently preparing to send the envelope there.

"Far away from my parents," replies Carthrat, nodding. "They live on 13 Burke Rd, Camberwell. It's roughly in that direction."

Ryan looks the direction pointed.  After a few seconds, his eyes go blank for a while, and then the envelope vanishes into darkness.  Ryan blinks, his eyes back to normal, and nods.  "Okay," he says.

Sterling claps his hands together, and then rubs them together.  "Excelent," he says evenly.  "And now we shall discuss what our future plans are."

"We're going after Mark and Wallace," Walker says abruptly, nodding at Sterling.

Sterling cocks his head to one side and looks at Walker askance.  Walker sniffs, and raises his chin, looking down at Sterling.  Jim coughs quietly, and says, "Thank you, ladies.  Now.  The question is what we will do once we leave here.  Apparently, there is marked support for 'Operation: Get Our Fucking Allies', and thusly, the majority of us will be doing this thing anyway."

At this, Sterling charges into Walker, who grabs the rushing man in a bear-hug.  Once pinned, Sterling levers one shoulder free from Walker's grip, and throws a punch into Walker's stomach.  The burly man grunts, and in return knees Sterling's pelvis with as much force as he can before the two fall over, and grapple each other to a standstill.  Once this is achieved, both men spontaneously burst into laughter and pound eachother on the back.

After a few seconds of this, Walker shoves Sterling off of him and says, "Ew!"  This causes Sterling to laugh even harder, and Walker shoots him a dirty look before going after another sandwich.

"Then to find Mark and Wallace it is," Jim concludes, sitting on one of the Lay-Z-Boy chairs, and then reclining.  "It's good to be a team.'

"So, where do we start?" asks Tom, brightly.

"Well, like the man said, we're going to find their buddy at 4am, so we might as well kill time for now and have an early night before we leave?" Daniel shrugs.

Of course, having a Gamecube or something to help with the killing of time would make this plan a lot less dull.

"Okay," Sterling says, nodding decisively.  "Then until such time as we shall need to leave, we will either train, or game.  I'm running a Mage: the Ascension campaign.  Who wants in?"

Daniel vaguely recalls hearing absolutely horrible things about Mage: the Ascension in the past. "I'll just watch," he offers politely. "I've never played Mage, so it'll save you having to explain all the rules and stuff."

"Don't look at me," Hal says. "My only experience with White Wolf was visiting a really bad Cam LARP about five years ago. I learned my lesson then."

Sterling heaves a put-upon-sounding sigh.  "Stupid re-release of the World of Darkness.  Well, that's fine, then.  We can just chill and play cards, or something.  We've got some time to spare."

"I don't particularly care - cards are fine. I was thinking about taking a nap though - a REAL nap. Those weird dreams aren't exactly restful, and if we're leaving at 4 am I won't be good for much if I don't get SOME kind of rest before then." Hal sounds a bit apologetic. "Not that I don't want to hang out, but I get really damn grumpy when I'm short on sleep."

"Cards is fine with me," Daniel nods.

Hell, maybe I might manage to master precognition for things other than my impending death... he thinks hopefully.

After some game playing and general relaxing, everything falls into a spate of rampant boredom.  This lapses into sleeping hours, eventually, and then Daniel, Tim, and Tom find themselves being shaken awake.  "Time to move," David says, glancing over to where Carlos and Walker are waking up.

Ryan is sitting in a corner, staring into the shadows pensively.

Daniel nods, scooping up his duffel bag as he gets up off the couch and checks he has everything he brought with him.

"Whereabouts in America are we going, this time?" he asks, approaching the corner Ryan is in.

"Arizona," he says after a pause.  "There's a trailer park...."  He trails off and shrugs.

"What he means to say," Jim clarifies, "is that the last we heard of them they were in a trailer park in Arizona.  We'll be arriving a mile or so away from it and then walking in so as not to attract suspicion, and to make sure that the place isn't crawling with MiBs."

"Arizona," Hal says, shaking his head. "Of all the places we could end up, we'd go to the one that's hotter than Texas. At least it's January."

"Not that I've noticed it's very hot in the US," David comments.

"Yeah," Sterling says, looking somewhat thoughtful.  "If we're in Oz, then shouldn't it be summer here?  It's really not that warm.  It's actually kind of chilly."

"Well, according to Mercator projections, Australia and Antarctica are only a few steps apart," Carlos contributes.  After a moment of silence, he adds, "Not that those are accurately to scale.  We're actually much closer to the equator."

"Fascinating," Jim says dryly.  "From the man who apparently couldn't tell the difference between Scottland and England."

"It's a cold island with lots of fog and alcohol," Carlos says dismissively.

"I'm Scottish," Jim says, shooting Carlos a hard look.

"And I'm a fan of Redhat," Carlos says with a shrug.  "But I don't judge you."

This causes a few chuckles all around.  "Though, now that you guys bring it up ... didn't you mention something before about freaky weather?" Sterling asks.

"Melbourne weather is always freaky," comments Carthrat. "Though it's still pretty unusual for it to be this cold for this long; it's been a while, now, and it *is* midsummer."

Chuckling a bit at Carlos' quip, Daniel nods to Sterling. "Yeah, apparently the mysterious 'Enemy' that both groups of Men in Black are agitated about is making the Earth colder as a first step or somethin." He shakes his head, "Exactly how it does this is beyond me."

"It HAS been colder than usual," Hal agrees. "Not cold enough for snow though, at least at home." The last is said with a hint of a sigh.

"I heard it was just that nuclear winter thing," Walker says, frowning.  "It's snowing in California, according to the news."

"Yeah, but that's California. Even BEFORE the blast they didn't have normal weather."

"El Nino is a long way from snow in San Francisco, though," Sterling says, shaking his head.  "So, they say that the Enemy is somehow making things colder.  That's ... kind of freaky.

"Anyway.  Ryan can get us to the US, though he might need a few trips to get us all there without straining himself.  We've got two more potential allies to pick up and assemble ourselves into a regular wrecking crew.  But then where should we go?  We should probably have some kind of plan when our lives are on the line.  Usually it was just, 'Piss off the MIBs because they screwed us over', but now?  The stakes seem decidedly higher."

"The situation may deserve a bit more respect," Jim agrees.  "But I'm not the best planner, ever since operation, 'Hide until they go away' failed."

"Not a bad idea," Tim replies, taking a moment to think. "The question is where do we regroup? I'm assuming Ryan can get us just about anywhere in the world, given time, which gives us plenty of options. But we're going to need to figure out where the best place to be IS. The middle of the Amazon would probably be good if we're just out to hide, but if we plan on doing anything about this we'll probably need to be closer to civilization."

He glances around at the others. "Any ideas?"

Walker shakes his head.  "Meet up with Wallace and Mark," he suggests.  "If nothing else, we can hit them up for maps.  Find someplace we can build a base, or something."

Long-term," David says, shaking his head at Walker.  "Beyond that.  Establishing some kind of ... home base is kind of appealing, but it's also giving us a weakness.  A point where we can easily be attacked.  We can't afford to establish something like that if we can't hold it."

"I could probably cobble together a security system," Carlos says thoughtfully.

"I could probably make it actually work, but it'd take a lot to slow down some of the enemies we've made," Jim warns.  "Still.  With Wallace and Mark ... it might be easier.  And it'd be nice to have some place to call 'home' again."

"Security wouldn't necessarily have to stop them, just give us enough time to get ready or get away."

The thin man considers briefly. "Here's how I see it, at least for now. No place that any of us have lived recently - or probably even for a while back.

"A big city wouldn't be a bad idea, but I don't know how good it'd be either. They weren't really that shy about coming after us in public before -at least with me - but it might be a little harder to find us among a lot of other people. It DOES limit our options on what we can set up around us, though.

"If we head out more into the countryside, though, we'd have plenty of places to set stuff up, and it'd be a lot easier to figure out if someone coming our way was meaning to come for us. And any trouble would be a lot less likely to catch bystanders in the crossfire."

He glances around at his companions, a wry smile on his face. "Somehow I don't think anyone here's a very good farmer, though."

"Alright.  We're going to be leaving at 4:00 AM ... so, since no one is interested in a fun, fulfiling, and fantastic game of White Wolf: the Angsting, we can try other things," suggests Walker.  "Since we're likely to be in bad situations, I can help anyone who wants to learn some unarmed self-defense."

"Good thinking," Jim supplies.  "In Arizona, we should be able to find space to practice firearms, if you've got any."

"I've got knives if anyone wants them," David says.  "If Mark and Wallace are still there, I don't think we'll be walking into any kind of truly dangerous situation, but at the same time, we won't always know that in the future.  So now might be a good time to train in anything you expect you'll be doing a lot of in the future.  Or rest, if you can't think of anything we can teach right now.  At 4:00 AM we'll be going to Arizona ... it'll probably take an hour to get us all there."

"I should probably brush up on my aikido," Tim muses to himself. "Haven't really practiced it much in a few years, but it might actually come in handy.

"And as for a gun, I HAD one for a minute earlier, but I have no idea how I got it or where it went. Never really learned to shoot one before, so it might not be a bad idea to learn in case it shows up again."

"More allies would be a good thing if we're going up against these... whatever they are. They seem to have a lot of resources and clout," Daniel nods. "I say we get your two buddies first, then see what from there."

"For now, well... I'd like to practice with that cool taser thing, but it'll probably run out of batteries if I do that," he snorts. "I guess I'll join the unarmed combat class."

"Charge is not an issue," Carlos comments, holding up a hand, briefly wreathed in electricity.  "But I don't think you have to spend charge to practice firing the darts."

"Excellent point," Daniel laughs a bit, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'll work in some practice with this thing," he produces the taser from his pocket, briefly marvelling at it. "It's nifty."

"Huh," ponders Tom. "I could probably brush up on my technique. Man, I havn't been training for a while, now... a knife might be an idea, too. And a gun.. I'm sorta leery about a gun.

I guess it's better to have one and not need it, than to be without it when I do... or something. Eh.

As far as setting up goes.. hey, how much money do you guys have access to? I probably ain't got access to my own account now, which is a pity.."

Tim nods to Daniel's earlier point. "Yeah, I wasn't thinking of getting established somewhere without picking them up first. It's more a case of where we're headed AFTER that."

"As far as money goes, if they've blocked your account I'm sure they've blocked mine as well by this point.  Got about $40 US and a healthy supply of pocket lint."

"I cleaned out my account before leaving, luckily," Daniel notes, fiddling with the taser. "Got about a thousand pounds. Which probably makes me a millionaire in funny American money.

"Anyway, yeah, I know we need to figure something out after we find those guys. I'm just not so good at planning stuff. Which makes my superpower somewhat ironic, I guess."

"I think a thousand pounds is worth about 1,800, US," Jim offers.  "Not sure if the conversion rate changed in a while, though."

"Money's not usually too much of an issue," Carlos says, shrugging.  "It's in ATMs and free for the taking when you need it."

"It also makes us easier to track," Sterling warns him.  "So we should probably get some cash before we leave this place.  With any luck, they'll think we're still around here.  So ... Carlos, Jim.  Why don't you two take Walker and get some money?"

"We can't spend Australian money in the US very easily, though," David warns.  "It'll probably be suspicious if we convert it to US money here -- it'll tell them where we're going.  Let's get it changed to Pesos -- we'll have Ryan take us to Mexico and convert it to US cash, then we'll go to Arizona.  That should be easier on Ryan, too."

Ryan nods wordlessly.

"That sounds good," Walker says.  "You should hang onto your money though, Daniel.  You might need it later, and I'm sure we'll come back with enough for us to get by for a while."

"Sounds like we've got a plan, then," Sterling says.  "David's got knives if anyone needs them, and I think we've got three or four guns left.  Not a lot of practice rounds, but we'll be able to restock on ammo at least in the US.  So ... I think that leaves you and me to see if we can un-rust your martial arts, Tom."

Carlos, Jim, and Walker begin heading towards the door, but only after Jim puts on some 'flesh' colored sun-screen to conceal his gray skin.

"I've got a gun I scavenged at the hospital," Daniel offers, rooting in his bag and taking the weapon out very gingerly. "Dunno how many bullets are left in it or anything, but I guess if we're going to America it's easy enough to buy more..."

"I'll hold off on practicing with that then," Tim says. "If we're short, we'd better save it for the trip to Arizona. Might as well see if I remember any of my old katas."

With that he begins a short search around the warehouse and its vicinity for something he can use as a short staff and begins his practicing.

Daniel's gun has eight bullets in the clip, and a ninth chambered.  Tim is able to find a sturdy looking broom-handle which will serve for the purposes of practice.  It probably wouldn't hold up to severe abuse, though.

Carefully replacing the gun in his bag, Daniel practices shooting the taser at a couch and rewinding the cable. There's really not much to it, and he soon grows bored after a few tries.

"There's not much to it," he notes, before putting the taser away and taking out a coin so he can try and call coin flips to see if his precognitive abilities have gotten any better.

Tim sets up in a relatively empty corner of the warehouse, beginning to run through his exercises. It takes several false starts, but before too long the broom handle begins a series of graceful sweeps and thrusts around him as his long disused skills come back.

As he practices, though, he can't keep one thought from his mind. He's learned how to defend himself before, but hasn't ever really had to make use of those skills. Will he actually be able to do any good in a real fight if it comes down to it? With a slight shake of his head he gets back to his practice, using the forms to try to banish the doubts - and indeed, any thoughts - from his mind, at least for the time being.

Tom nods at Sterling. "Right here, right now?" he asks, cracking his knuckles and starting to bounce on his feet a little.

"Outside," Sterling says.  After a few hours of burning stress in the form of mock-combat with Bigfire, Carlos, Jim, and Walker return.

Each is carrying a plastic bag from what appears to be a Chinese takeout place.  "We come bearing edibles," Walker announces.  "Now set up a table."

Ryan obligingly kicks the MRE crate, which tips over and then makes a passable table (if a bit small for everyone present).  Carlos is also carrying a stack of pesos -- looks like he's got quite a few.  "These should be worth about one thousand dollars US," he says.  "I'll split them up once we get them exchanged in Mexico.  Until then ... dig in!"

Around this time, Kyle wakes up (again), and rubs his eyes sleepily.  After surveying the room, he nods to himself, and settles back down to sleep.

"Once we finish eating, we should probably get some rest," Jim says, not eating right away, but wiping the sunscreen from his face and hands.  "I also grabbed you a can of Jolt, Ryan.  Caffine might help."

Ryan nods, and pockets the can Jim proffers.

Tim takes a moment to check on Kyle while he's awake before joining the others for something to eat. He chows down on the food quietly, seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts for the time being. Best to get it out of the way while he can, at least - if things are going to be as hectic as they were yesterday, he won't have time for reflection any time soon.

Tom is breathing heavily, and slumps down over the food gratefully.

"There better be duck," he mumbles, grabbing a bottle of water and downing that.

Daniel grabs some of the offered food, nodding to Jim. "So we rest for a bit before leaving. Mexico's what... six hours behind here? Or is it ahead?""

"6 hours?" snorts Tom. "Try sixteen hours behind. Oh, sure, eight hours forward, but they live in the past.

All of the continent lives in a bizzare time frame! I'll tell you, it makes coordinating stuff online between people there and people here mighty hard, sometimes."

"Yeah, I suck at remembering time zones," Daniel shrugs unapologetically. "I just figure Australia is twelve hours ahead or behind of me, and Mexico's about half the distance. Guess it doesn't really matter, that much."

"Heh, guess not," replies Tom, shrugging. "Never been to America myself. I always figured it was pretty much like here, only a bit more expensive and with more jerks."

"Well, my first time there was yesterday. I got shot at, so I guess my expectations were vindicated," Daniel snorts, finishing up his meal and going to sit on a nearby couch.

"Hah," replies Tom. "I have this feelings we'll be getting more than our fair share of that."

"We do," Walker says.  "Get attacked a lot."

"Comes with the territory when you fight terrorists," Jim adds.

Sterling sidles up to Tim after the meal, and quietly asks, "What's the deal with the kid, anyway?  Is he okay?  Does he need medicine or something?"

"He's not on any medication, at least from what I saw in his case file. In simple terms, he's been diagnosed with multiple personalities - which is probably his ability to dream showing up - and he tends to be a bit slow to react to things. From what I remember of his casefile, there wasn't really a concrete diagnosis made - his 'symptoms' don't line up very well with any established disorder. This is apparently just normal for him."

He glances over towards the sleeping boy. "I don't recall him being on any medication though, which is probably good. Unless you feel like breaking into a hospital pharmacy or two, it'd be pretty tough to get our hands on antischizophrenics for him, since that's about the only thing you could use to treat the DID. He's gone past any normal point where he'd have taken medication though and doesn't seem to be having any problems though, so I'd guess he'll be fine - it's just keeping him aware when we need him to be that might be a challenge."

Sterling shakes his head.  "It's not a big deal.  Wally's a healer, so we usually just chase him down when we're in trouble.  Lot less questions than a doctor, and ... well ... more reliable, in general.  I was just checking in case there was anything we needed to avoid for him.  Jim can't stand bright blue LEDs for some reason," he says.  "Well, in that case, I'm going to take a nap for a bit.  Hopefully tomorrow will be a slow day, and we can take advantage of our host's bathing facilities."

"Japan's public baths were kind of handy," Carlos says suddenly, causing Walker and David to glance up from their Peking Duck (which Tom has also served himself a portion of).

"Maybe for you," Jim says, shaking his head.  "Somehow, waterproof sunscreen makes it kind of hard to really clean what's beneath it."

After finishing the meal, and tossing the remnants in the office's tiny refrigerator, all of Bigfire except for David and Carlos go to sleep.  Carlos takes watch up at the door, and David is sharpening his collection of knives.

Tim follows suit, hoping to get a bit of normal sleep - there doesn't seem to be a lot else to be done at the moment, anyway.

Tom yawns, and finds a couch to collapse on.

"Mmm. That good food," he mumbles, getting all ready to toss and turn all night (as you do.)

Seeing everyone turning in for the evening, Daniel does much the same, curling up on his couch and using his coat as a makeshift blanket. "'Night, guys," he mutters before dozing off.

Shortly before 4:00 AM, Walker wakes everyone up, and says, "We're ready.  Quick stop-over in Mexico before Arizona.  Anything you need to do first?"

"My schedule is remarkably open," Daniel deadpans, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before grabbing his stuff.

Tim shakes his head. "I'm good to go."

"Get another, like, 12 hours sleep," mutters Carthrat, shooting Walker a dark look. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be fine after I stagger blindly into a wall. That tends to be a real eye-opener."

Walker nods.  "Get some more sleep," he advises Tom.  "Ryan needs to move just one person at a time to avoid wearing himself out, so it's going to take a while."  Sterling and Jim are already gone, and Ryan steps out from a shadowy corner, yawning.

"Next?" he asks.

David looks at Daniel and says, "If you can forsee danger, and we're going to be split up, maybe you should go help them out next."

"Oh, good," replies Tom, gratefully. "Wake me up if, uh, something happens."

With that, he falls back on the couch.

"Works for me," Daniel nods, slinging his bag over his back. "See you guys later," he waves, heading over to Ryan and waiting for him to work his shadowy powers.

Over the course of about 40 minutes, everyone is transfered to Mexico without incident.  Daniel's danger-senses seem quiet at the moment (a welcome change), and the only incident was a bit more grumbling from Tom before the move was completed.  Kyle seems a little dissapointed about giving up his bed, but Ryan was already tired enough without making an extra trip.

Now that you're in Mexico, you appear to be in the back of a mine.  It's dark, but Carlos is glowing, and surrounded by waves if writhing electricity.  This illuminates the track (which he carefully does not touch) which probably supported mine-cars at some point.

"North is that way," Carlos says, pointing one direction.  "But I'm picking up signals from up the tunnel.  Should be electricity from a town.  Where are we, Ryan?"

"About five miles from Caborta," Ryan answers.  "I think."

"Okay," Sterling says, frowning, and grabbing David's wrist to look at his watch.  "It should be around 1 PM.  Let's get to the sunlight."

A quick walk around a bend in the tunnel leads to the exit, which is boarded up.  But most of the boards have fallen down a long time ago....

Outside of the mine entrance, there's a largely overgrown road leading down a hill.  In the distance (probably about five miles away), there's a fairly large-sized looking city.  Judging by the air-traffic, big enough to have an airport.  Hopefully, an international one, with money-changers in it.

"We shouldn't all go in together, but we should send someone who can speak the local language, and has a way to get in touch with us," Jim says.  "Carlos, that means you."

"Well, I don't want to go alone, so who should I take with me?"

Sterling glances around and says, "Well, realistically, if we're trying to avoid being spotted, or sticking out, we should take our cleanest and least obviously destitute people.  I got all my skin burned off a few days ago, so I'm still relatively clean, and I think Daniel, Tim, and Tom are otherwise at the top of the list.  Are you up for a five mile walk?"

"Well, hey, we just crossed oceans. I suppose a walk can't hurt," replies Tom. "And at least I don't *look* destitute."

"Couldn't hurt, I guess," Daniel nods. "I don't speak any Spanish, but I bet that applies to a lot of people at an airport."

"I've got no problem with walking," Tim replies. "Never learned Spanish, though."

"I speak a little Spanish," Carlos says, frowning.  "But I'm from El Salvador.  Oh well.  I'm sure they'll just think we're tourists anyway.  Well, let's go."

With that, he turns around and starts walking towards the city.  It'll probably take about an hour to reach the city.  The sun is bright, and it seems like this area is very arid ... but it's not that hot.

Tim heads out after Carlos, no stranger to long hikes.

"Watch my stuff, will you?" Daniel asks, dropping off his bag and taking the taser from his coat pocket to leave it as well before heading off with the others.

Tom trails after Tim, humming a tune as he walks.

It doesn't take too long to reach the city, or at least, time spent walking around and not hiding or being shot at is relatively peaceful.

It's actually closer to about four miles to the city, and then another two to the airport, but there's a banking district before reaching the airport, and Carlos says the signs say it offers to exchange currency.  It's a branch for a US bank, so this is probably a pretty popular tourist location.

It's not really clear what this place has to offer -- it's not near the coast, so no beaches.  The area outside of the city is pretty desolate, and not that enticing to look at (scrub brush and uneven terrain pocked with stones of varying sizes).  The mountains to the north and west look semi-scenic, but not that imposing in terms of climbing.

Then you see the signboards, in English: "#2 location in Mexico for UFO sightings!"  "Home of the Chupacabra!"  And then you see the other tourists ... and that the majority of the men seem to be either alone, or only with other men.  And the majority of naitive women in this city are both attractive, and scantily clad.

"Chupacabra!" Daniel exclaims excitedly, pointing to one of the signs. "Cool, I'm willing to believe it's real by now, too."

"Never heard of it," replies Tom, looking around. "Man, you really pick your vacation spots, don't you?"

Tim chuckles a bit to himself at the signage. "UFOs... although I guess I don't have much room to talk at this point."

He looks between the others. "We all going in together or spacing ourselves a little apart so we don't attract as much attention?" he asks quietly.

"Aww, come on? Who's gonna notice 4 guys wandering around? Especially in this place. No, it'd be weird if we had a girl wearing more than two items of clothing.

Might be just as weird for someone to see us splitting up and returning together, all hush-hush."

"Only one of us really needs to go in. Just so long as we're all still nearby in  case something bad happens," Daniel notes, taking time to ogle the attractive scantily clad women.

Carlos considers, and then says, "I think we'll blend in with the tourists well enough that we don't need to split up.  If we do, we could be in trouble."  He glances at Daniel, who has not yet had a twinge from his danger sense.  "Right?"

"I don't predict any impending mayhem," Daniel nods to Carlos. "Anyway, no harm in it. Let's go," he says, heading into the bank.

In short order, everyone goes together into the bank.  Everything proceeds smoothly, and the English-speaking clerk doesn't even ask for any form of ID.  Carlos frowns a bit, but says nothing until everyone's outside.  Then, he mumbles, "Well, he stiffed us about 10%, but we can't really complain about people skimming from our stolen money."  He pauses.  "We should probably pick something up for breakfast for everyone."

It's about this time that Daniel gets a sensation that something bad is going to happen in this town shortly.

"Uh, actually..." Daniel picks up. "About that impending mayhem I said there was none of? Check that. I think we should get out of here. Quickly."

Tim's mouth twitches into a frown at the loss of a chance for breakfast, but he nods. "Anything specific, or just 'find somewhere else to be'?"

"Dunno," Daniel shakes his head. "It'll probably get clearer the closer we get to it, but... I don't want to get close to it.

"We can pick up some snacks at a convenience store on the edge of town, maybe, but I don't want to stay here any longer than that."

With that, he begins heading back the way they came out of town.

Carlos nods, his eyes going slightly blank as he follows Daniel.  "I'm picking up radio traffic," he mumbles.  "Looks like the Forge."  He shakes his head and his eyes clear.  "I'll try and let Jim know, but five miles on foot means we should probably just grab something on our way out of town, like Daniel suggested."

"Quick snack it is, then."

Taking the initiative, Tim ducks into the first such store that presents itself, grabbing a cup of coffee and assorted pastries and chips before continuing on his way.

Carlos adds a gallon of water to that list, and then throws a pair of twenty dollar bills at the cashier.  At about a mile from the town, when everyone is slowing down, an explosion sounds from the airport.  Carlos turns back to look and says, "Jim and Sterling got a pair of jeeps and should be here in about two minutes."  A column of dust is rising from the path ahead, presumably from the incoming reinforcements.

"... the hell?!" Daniel jumps at the explosion coming from the city. "Thank God we never went to the airport... you said you picked up Forge transmissions?" he asks Carlos. "Any idea what's going on back there, now?"

"They're quiet now," he says, as a huge cloud of smoke begins to rise from the airport.  "But why are they attacking this place?"

"It doesn't seem like a meaningful target," Daniel agrees. "But if they'd tracked us here, surely they'd be able to do something more precise. So just what are they up to?"

"Well, two easy answers to that. Either there's something here they're after - which I guess is possible with all the UFO stuff - or they're able to trace us somehow. But if they're after something paranormal here, why bomb the airport?"

"As a diversion?" Daniel muses, glancing over at the approaching dust cloud. "But where does that leave us? Should we investigate and maybe trip them up, or just get the hell out of dodge?"

"I vote for getting out, at least for now. What exactly can we do here? I mean, sure we could go mess them up, but we've still got to get to Arizona and god knows what we'll run into there. I'd rather not borrow any extra trouble we don't have to."

Carlos shakes his head indecisively, and then the two jeeps (both of which are dark, and look old, and very beaten up) come into view.  Sterling jumps out and squints at the rising smoke cloud.

"Well, what's the plan?" Jim asks, climing out.

"We've got to go save some lives," Walker replies, jumping out of the back of one of the jeeps, and walking towards the city.

David kicks Walker's shin once and says, "Try again, only think about the consequences before making a decision."

Walker scowls, but stops walking.

"I don't think this involves us," Jim says, frowning.  "Should we take advantage of the fact that they probably don't know we're here to screw them up, or should we just get away before they notice us?"

"They could be trying to capture more innocent people," Walker says.

"And it could be a trap, too," David counters.

Daniel is no longer recieving the urgent and immient sense of danger -- only the vague impression of something large and monstrous ... and a lot of blood.

"There's something..." Daniel shakes his head, backing away towards the jeeps, "... Really fucked up. This is way worse than when I predicted that explosion back in Edinburgh. It's... I don't know, but it scares the shit out of me."

Carlos thinks for a moment, and then looks back at the mine.  "Okay.  I'm kind of curious about this, but I'm not sure I like the risk involved.  If we wait an hour or two, the sun will set, and then if something bad happens, Ryan should be able to get us back to the mine safely.  As far as things go right now--"

"They're after another anchor," Kyle suddenly says, jumping out of the jeep and breaking into a run towards the city.  After a handful of steps he seems to ... flicker a little bit, and then is armored in what looks like banded armor made from gold.  He's also wearing a pair of sidearms which look to be made out of gold with silver handles.

"Damn," Daniel curses. "Guess that settles it. We've got to do something. But whatever they've got there... it's not going to be easy to deal with."

Tim sets his jaw. "Well, the anchor we're supposed to be keeping an eye on is currently headed right into the middle of whatever it is.  Looks like he gets the casting vote."

He heads over to the nearest jeep. "Ready when you are, gentlemen."

"Kid!" Sterling yells.  Kyle slows down and looks back.  "Get in the fucking jeep!"

Kyle turns around and climbs into a jeep.  "Okay," Sterling says, as the jeeps make for the city.  "Here's the plan -- everyone stick together.  If we get separated, try and stay behind Walker or Jim.  They tend to be our bullet magnets.  What do we know about what's going on?"

"Forge radio activity before the explosion, I don't know if they've gotten what they're after yet," Carlos yells from between the two jeeps (Sterling is driving one, and Jim the other).

"That means the airport is probably a distraction, so we'll want to avoid it," David notes.

"Right," Jim mutters.  "I'm trying to get into the security networks, or cameras around the area, but we're too far away for good reception."

"They haven't gotten her yet," Kyle says quietly.  "South ... there's ... something there.  A nightmare."

"South of the airport," Sterling says, as the jeeps break city limits, and screech to a crawl.  The streets are jammed with people milling around in a panic, police and fire vehicles trying to fight through the crowds to reach the airport in time.

"Damn," Sterling grumbles.  "Let's go on foot.  Carlos, David, Walker, I want you to go with Ryan and find a spot we can fall back to in an emergency.  Jim, you're with me and the new guys -- keep in contact with Carlos."

Without waiting to hear a reply, he stops the jeep, and hops out.  He starts heading into the city, and Kyle follows, garnering only a few curious glances from the largely stunned crowds.

Tim jumps out of the jeep and follows Jim and Sterling, trying to keep alert for anything out of the ordinary. Well, ordinary for a situation like this, anyway.

Daniel stops to grab both his taser and bag before taking off after Sterling and Kyle, falling in step with the latter. "You know what's ahead?" he asks. "I can only sense... something big, and a lot of blood... although the blood probably belongs to whoever gets in its way..."

Kyle shakes his head.  "It was made and not born.  It's afraid of fire.  I know that much," he says apologetically.

"Awesome, we're fighting something that's not even human?" Sterling asks.

"Not ... human," Kyle agrees, offering one of his revolvers to Tim.

Tim wordlessly accepts the gun, trusting that it'll be of some use in the fight that's got to be up ahead.

"Afraid of fire... well, at least that's SOMETHING to work with. Question is, how do we use that?"

Taking the gun from his bag and pocketing it for easy access along with the taser, Daniel looks pretty pale and scared as he falls silent, trying to mentally prepare himself for... whatever it is they're going to find.

Kyle points at the gun Tim accepted.  "Fire," he says, before turning back though the crowds.  Sterling shakes his head and stays in front of Kyle, pushing people aside.

"By applying fire to it," replies Tom, crackling his knuckles, and trying to look far less scared than he really is. "With invincible-man here able to take risks for all and sundry, I'm sure some opportunity will present itself. Somehow."

He shrugs, a bit lamely.

Sterling grunts at that.  It takes a bit of muscling to get to where Kyle is trying to lead everyone, but the crowds are broken through into a largely deserted plaza.  There's a few tourists (or possibly naitives -- hard to say) fleeing the area, and the occasional staccato burst of gunfire.

"Well, time to do some dirty work," Jim says with a resigned sigh.

"What've we got?" Sterling asks, grabbing Kyle by the back of his armor to keep him from walking into the plaza.  "I don't see anyone shooting here.  Sounds like it's coming from that building."  The building in question is a hospital.  Just after Sterling points at the building, a section of wall about the size of one room explodes outward, showering rubble across the plaza (some distance away from the group).  Something huge just moved behind that cloud of dust ... too big to fit through a doorway, to judge by the gaping holes that appear to lead into a hallway.

Nurses and doctors are fleeing the building with as many patients as they can wheel out, and a tendril of smoke is begining to rise towards the already murky cover overhead.

Tom eyes the building. "The anchor's inside there, I take it?" he asks Kyle, some wariness in his voice.

He nods quickly in response, and Jim cracks his knuckles.

"Their electrical systems are down -- I've got nothing," he says, grimacing.  "And now that the crowds are gone, I'm going to stick out."

"Like the shiny armor on golden-boy here won't?" Sterling asks.

Jim shrugs at that wordlessly.

"And I thought it was bad when they tried to grab Kyle," Tim replies, shaking his head. "Are we ready for this?"

"No, probably not. We need fire," says Tom looking about. "We need an improptu fire. Like, I dunno, a flaming plank, or something."

He eyes Sterlings clothes for a moment.

"Well, if Kyle's right we've got fire," Tim replies, hefting the pistol. "Incendiary rounds, maybe, but no way to know until I have to use it."

"Don't look at me," Sterling says.  "Let's see what we're actually up against before we do anything rash."  He glances across the plaza, then shakes his head.  "No one's shooting at the doctors.  We should be able to make it inside, at least."

"Yeah, you're right," says Tom, eyeing the hospital. "We could head in where the wall exploded. We're at least assured that it's *near* there, but probably not immediately next to us. I think."

Tim glances around the plaza before starting to head towards the hospital along its edge. "I swear, if we live through this I'm getting every last one of us sent in for evaluation for suicidal tendencies," he mutters

"And hey," Jim says, jogging forward.  "Easy exit if we need one."

"Can't argue with that," replies Tom, jogging alongside Tim. "I like to think every step I take is a life-preserving one. For the *long-term*. Yeah, that's it."

"We are the monkey wrench," Jim says, nodding.

The section of blasted out wall is rougly spherical, revealing the bricks beneath the white plaster of the wall.  The room inside is pretty thrashed.  There's no body here, but there is a medical bed which has been folded in half, and has a lot of blood on it.

The wall leading into the hallway is also made of brick and plaster, but the hole is smaller.  The inner hole is about two meters, circular, while the outer one is about three.  The hallway is eerily silent, until a body flies across the aperature, and vanishes across the distance.  It's some seconds before anyone hears the crash of impact.

The body was thrown from the direction the smoke came from, and thrown away.

Sterling is about to take a step forward, when Daniel says, "Hold on.  Check before you go into the hallway."

"How?  I can't exactly see around corners," he replies peevishly.

Tim carefully pokes his head around the corner, ready to draw his head back at the first hint of any kind of danger.

Daniel yanks Tim back just before a heavy piece of medical equipment -- looks like a defribulator -- smashes into the wall where he was trying to peek out.  He didn't get a glance of more than a huge, hulking, largely humanoid figure.

However, everyone now hears a loud grumble, and the loud stomp of approaching (very heavy) footsteps.

Tim takes a quick breath, giving Daniel a quick thanks before preparing for the approach of whatever the heck it was he just saw.

"I have this horrible feeling," mumbles Tom, pulling out his gun and taking a few steps back.

Jim grabs the remains of the bed and hefts it over his head.

Sterling pulls a knife from his pocket and shakes his head.  "You first, then I'll try and keep ... whatever ... busy."

Then there's no real time left for planning, as a huge ogre of a man charges into view.  He looks like a man, at least.  He's huge, his muscles overdeveloped to almost comical proportions.  His eyes are large and crazed, his hair is wild, and he's wearing a collar, to which two long-handled poles are attached.  There also appears to be a pair of devices on the collars to shock him should he wrench them out of someone's grip.

At a guess, they didn't work.

He's wearing a clean canvas coverall, dull gray in color, and his hands are empty.  He's probably got nearly two meters of reach with his arms, and he stands just over three in height.  His hands are empty, and a stream of spittle flows from one corner of his mouth to his chin.  His mouth seems to be locked in a scowling grimace, and he makes a gurgling, growling noise.

Jim immediately flings the bed at the monstrosity, and Sterling is right behind it, knife at the ready.  The bed flips end-over-end, and one corner of the metal frame smacks directly into the thing's forehead.  Sterling stabs it with his knife in the thigh, just a quick jab, and the thing sweeps the bed to one side, incidentaly flinging Sterling down the corridor and out of sight.

Tim grimaces as Sterling takes what looks like a pretty painful hit. Taking aim with the pistol, he fires it at the ogre once he's got a clear line of sight.

The bullet sinks into the thing's chest, causing it to grunt, and turn towards Tim with murder in its eyes.  It's bleeding fairly profusely, but this thing's probably got a lot of blood in it.

Tom hurriedly follows suit and raises his gun, points it at the ogre-thing, and squeezes the trigger a couple of times.

Tom's shots go wide, sinking into the ceing and the walls.  Kyle aims his own pistol at the ogre, and squeezes the trigger once.  A line of fire traces from the tip of his gun and across the side of the thing's fave, shedding a generous amount of blood and flaming sparks across the floor.

This gets the thing to shift its attention, and it lunges at Kyle instead of Tim.  Jim throws himself in front of Kyle, but the ogre just knocks him over with one arm, and then steps on the gray-skinned man.

For what it's worth, Jim doesn't look to be crushed, though he does wheeze, and is pinned.  Daniel fires his tazer at the ogre, but it doesn't really seem to notice.  On the other hand, attacking it with a knife seems less than wise -- it didn't work well for Sterling.

Tom fires again, cursing his inexperience. Repeatedly.

Man, this was soooooo much easier on the range, when I wasn't sweating so much that my hands felt like liquid.

Tim grits his teeth and fires at the thing again - hopefully if they can keep it distracted enough it won't be able to do any real damage to any of them.

And getting it to take a step so it's not on top of Jim might be a good bonus, too.

Tom's next shot goes wide again.  Tim's shot, however, has traces of red fire behind it, and blows through the ogre's left elbow.  The arm below the elbow suddenly goes limp and dangles uselessly, also unbalancing the ogre.

Jim manages to lift one foot of the thing off of him, and it reacts by stomping on his chest and crossing over him to try and reach Tim.  There's the sound of something cracking, and Jim groans, now pressed into the floor-tiles, which have broken around him.

Dropping his tazer for the moment, Daniel draws the gun he scavenged in Austin, and fires a quick shot into the thing's kneecap.  Kyle fires another shot into the thing's chest, and it staggers, but continues towards Tim.  Tom fires another round into it, which staggers it further ... and then it collapses, slamming into the ground heavily, and bleeding out across the floor.

Tim takes a moment to gather himself - he was afraid he was about to have his head removed for a minute. Making sure that the thing isn't moving, he quickly heads over to check on Jim. Those cracking noises can't have been good.

Tom advances slowly, glancing at the things wounded body.

"Shit. SHIT," he says, trying to maintain a little calm. "Ok, ok, ok. First things first. Look, I'll keep an eye on this guy. Daniel, maybe you should.. uh, go check on Sterling."

"I think I cracked a rib," Jim grunts, sitting up slowly.  Sterling limps into the room, a bloody gash over one eye sealing itself as he peers in.

"Good, you're not dead," he says.  "I slammed into a Forge terrorist at the end of the hall.  We got to have a knife fight.  I don't think there's anymore alive -- this thing must have turned on them.  Everyone okay?"

"Maybe," Jim says, wincing as he probes his chest.  "Good thing we're going to meet up with Wallace."

Kyle cocks his head at the ogre, and then shakes his head.  The entire mass suddenly dissolves into flaming dust, which quickly vanishes into nothingness.  Even the creature's blood is gone.  "There's one more," he says, looking into the hallway.

"What, another one- geezus," mumbles Tom. "Where is it?"

"Of... those?" Tim asks, cocking his head towards where the ogre just disappeared. "Or just more Forge guys?"

"I'm going to say directly above us," Daniel says, running into the hallway, as the ceiling overhead begins to creak ominously.

"Crap!" Tim replies, making an undignified scramble towards the hallway himself.

"Oh boy," says Tom, beginning a litany of cursing. He bolts into the opposite side of the hallway from Daniel, bracing himself and holding up his gun.

Sterling hauls Jim to his feet, and out of the room.  Kyle's just ahead of him, though the creaking stops, and there's now a rythmic pounding from upstairs.  Kyle says nothing and merely breaks into a full-on run towards the staircase.  

Jim shakes his head, and grabs an IV stand to use as a cane.  "Go on without me," he says shakily.  "I'll find a dark supply closet -- Ryan's trying to find somewhere dark to teleport in to."

"Be careful," Tim replies, heading after Kyle. He halts at the foot of the stairs, bracing himself as the rhythmic pounding from above continues.

Tom bolts after Kyle- "Hold on, man!" he says, charging up the staircase fater him.

The stairs look clear, except for the body of a man in light tactical armor with no insignia on it.  Sterling doesn't take a chance, and stomps on his windpipe in passing.  Kyle's already at the top of the stairs and headed back towards the room above the team's entrance.

At the top of the staircase, the hallway looks like someone's smashed all the equipment in the corridor out of the way, and then bashed their way into the room Kyle's headed to.  There's flashes of purple light emanating from it in time with the thumping, and someone (it sounds like a little girl) screaming in panicked Spanish.

"Aw, hell!" Throwing caution to the wind, Tim charges up the stairs after the others, the girl's cries managing to break through even his own fear at this point.

Tom rushes into the room after Kyle, brandishing his knife in one hand, his gun in the other, and looking for something to hurt.

The scene in the room gives reason for pause.  There's a girl, probably nine or ten years old, dressed in a high-quality looking Sailor Moon outfit ... no, wait, that's not Moon, that's Pluto.  She's also holding a pretty solid looking (if smaller scaled) Time Key, and the gem on the end is projecting a field that's (for the moment) protecting her from the ogre who's beating on it.  He's about to drive the protective field through the floor at the current rate, though.

Kyle raises his gun and fires at the ogre, causing it to turn around.  The bullet entered the beasts back and got stuck somewhere inside....  However, as soon as the girl sees Kyle, there's a flash of ... something between them, and the shield's glowing intensity brightens.

"What the hell...?" The odd appearance brings Tim up short for a moment, but only for a moment. Taking the opportunity of Kyle's distraction, he sets himself up and fires at the ogre again, hoping his luck holds.

Tom gawks as he stumbles into the room.

"What the-" he mumbles, holding up his gun and firing at the ogre.

After Tom and Tim fire their rounds into the thing's bulky torso, blood spurts across the floor.  As though summoned by the gunshots, Sterling catches up.

"Take tw-what the fuck?" Sterling says, as he charges into the room with his knife at the ready.  The ogre slams its fist into his gut, and throws him back through the doorway (narrowly missing Daniel), but not before Sterling's combat knife tears a gash into the ogre's clothing, and stomach.  He slams into the far wall of the hallway and vanishes in a cloud of dust, from which emits a raspy, "Damnit."

Daniel takes the time to snap a shot at the ogre, and a bullet slams into its shoulder.

Tom snaps off another shot at the thing, narrowing his eyes for better aim.

"Take it all, bitch!"

This time Tom's shot goes straight into the thing's eye.  This appears to not actually kill it, but it does knock it down, and hopefully out.  It's not moving anymore, but it is still breathing.

Tom pulls out his knife and rushes over to the thing to coup-de-gras it.

If it's attacking a little girl it probably doesn't deserve to live, he reasons.

Reason probably doesn't apply to monsters.  And the thing's skin is tough, but Tom is able discover it's still got a jugular.  Well, had one, anyway.  After a moment of panic when the blood that spatters on him catches on fire (thankfully harmlessly), the ogre is gone.

Sterling steps back into the room, muttering to himself and sheathing his knife.  David, Carlos, and Walker burst into the room just behind, Jim leaning on Ryan behind them.  "Did we win?" Jim asks.

"Wait, is that Sailor Pluto?" Carlos asks.  "We rescued a cosplayer?"

The little girl blinks, and then faints, her outfit and key vanishing to be replaced with a hospital gown.

"We won," mumbles Tom. "Man, this feels like one of Dune's omakes. Bizzare- to the max!"

With that, he heads over to the girl to see if she's ok.

"Must be something like Kyle's armor if she's another anchor," Tim replies, hurrying over to check on her. "And yeah, it does sound like a bad omake..."

He pulls up short, looking hard at Tom. "What did you just say?"

"Huh? I said it felt like another of Dune's omakes," says Tom, blinking. "He's, uh, this guy I knew online once. Ran this Sailor Moon game, y'know, role-playing and all that. Ran little side-games, too. Fun times."

Tim just stares at Daniel for a moment, then turns back to Tom. "What name did you use in that chat room?"

"Ahaha! That's a sekrit." says Tom, rubbing the back of his head with his gun.

"The silliest one there, that's for sure."

The little girl seems fine, if she's asleep.  Kyle's guns and armor vanish, and he yawns, explaining, "Her image isn't her own yet, so she borrowed another."

The room suggests that this girl has been here for a long time, and the equipment suggests she was in a coma for most of that time.  Apparently, she was also a big fan of the Sailor Moon show, by the pictures and figurines sitting on her bedside stand.

Carlos goes to admire them, while David scans the hallway, and Sterling peers out the window.  "So, now what?" Jim asks.  "We leave?  Or do we kidnap her to keep her out of harm's way?"

"She should come with us," Kyle opines.  He goes over to the bedside stand and opens the drawer, revealing a change of clothes.  Then he taps the side of his head with one finger and collapses into a pile on the floor.  At the same time, the girl wakes back up, and looks around herself in confusion again.

Tim files the information away for later discussion, the girl taking his attention as she wakes up - but not without a quick, worried glance at Kyle. "Can you understand me?" he asks her.

Tom slips over to Kyle and checks him, concerned. "I think we'll be doing as the unconcious man said," he comments.

"Radio transmissions," Carlos suddenly announces.  "They're rolling out the big guns, so we should get gone."

The little girl says something in Spanish, and Carlos says, "She wants some privacy to dress."  The girl then grabs her clothes and climbs out of bed, walking into the little bathroom nook and pulling a curtain across it.

"This is getting confusing," Sterling says, sighing.  "And how many anchors are there?  I mean, what are the odds of us running into this right when we did?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Tim says with a frown. "I thought there weren't more than a bare handful left, and not only do we find one, but we somehow randomly run into another one without even meaning to. Who picked this particular city to come to, anyway?"

"I think these are questions to be answered at another time," comments Tom. "Like when we're not in imminent danger of being shot at more."

The girl emerges from the curtain, dressed in sturdy looking overalls and a t-shirt.  After pulling on some shoes, she shakes Kyle to wake him up, and he does so, catching her as she falls asleep, and then standing up, carrying her carefully.

"Okay," Jim says, frowning.  "On to Arizona?"

"Supply closet's this way," Ryan says, turning around, and heading back into the hospital.  Smoke is now lining the ceiling of the corridor, and sirens can be heard in the distance.

Tom trails after Ryan, musing. "Say, should I know you or something?" he asks Tim as he goes.

"The sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned."

Tim follows Ryan closely, still trying to figure out what the heck is going on - why would this happen in the same place they picked as a halfway point coincidentally?

In short order, everyone is bundled into a supply closet, and then returned to the mine outside of town.

"Once night falls, we can get out of town," David says.  "I think we've got a bit of time to rest in a place we can sure it still somewhat safe before moving on.  This is a little unusual, even for us.  We've never had to fight monsters before."

"I just hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence," Tim says dryly. Making sure Kyle and the girl are settled, he takes a moment to search out Tom.

"You said something back at the hospital about a chat room, right?"

Tom is leaning against a wall, looking tired.

"That's right," he says, shrugging. "What of it? You seemed kinda interested.. were you into that stuff too?"

"Yeah, but it's been a few years since I've done it much."

He pauses for a moment. "How long did you live in Australia before we ran into you, anyway?"

"I always did," replies Tom. "Heck, I'd only moved out my parents house a few months ago."

"I remember a Sailor Moon RP that a guy named Dune ran a while back, although I hadn't thought about it much until just recently. There was one guy who used to hang out in the room where we talked about it, although he didn't actually play in it. A certain... rodent, who lived in Australia."

Tim watches Tom carefully, trying to gauge any reaction to his words. Although considering how thick and fast the coincidences have been flying around in the past couple of days, if this isn't Carthrat he'll be mildly surprised himself.

'Tom' eyes Tim, looking over him carefully.

"Huh. That right," he muses. "Well, it's not that much of a stretch."

He stands up, and glances over at Daniel. "Yeah, I might just be that rodent. Who'd that make you?"

"Let's just say that Dune never did manage to make a meal out of me," Tim replies with a grin. "Halbarad's the name you'd probably know me by."

"Hah! But last I recall, that was Eb's shtick," says Tom, grinning himself. "Trippy stuff."

"You'd have to ask him about that yourself," Tim answers, nodding towards Daniel.

"What, really- geezus," blinks Tom. "That's really stretching it.

Um. Some cosmic force is drawing us together, it seems."

"What the hell were those things?" Daniel asks generally. "I mean, if the Forge are engineering shock troops, you'd think they'd have a better way to control them. And if they're not engineered, what are the odds of there being two of them?"

As to Tim and Tom's conversation, he shakes his head. "Rat? That's just beyond ridiculous. I might care more about the coincidence, but the other weird shit takes precedence right now."

Fuck... I can't believe I actually shot at someone... or what used to be someone. What the fuck where those things?! Psychic men in black were bad enough... shit, I just want to forget this crap.

"Maybe some outside group broke the restraints," muses Tom. "Maybe those two were the first iterations. Maybe they were planted by some other group, and Forge wanted them... with disastrous results.

And I'm not going to pin down the fact that we know each other as 'coincidence'. I've half a mind to get online and poke around."

Daniel snorts. "Oh. You going to poke your head into void and ask 'Hey! Any of you guys got psychic powers or noticed strange men in black hanging around?'"

He shakes his head. "This whole thing is a series of coincidences - especially what happened just now at our supposed 'brief stopover', but unless it turns out that Nabiki has made us psychic by the power of The Internet, I'm pretty much past caring. Weird shit is now the norm, it seems."

"That's one fucking long string of coincidences," replies Tom, shaking his head. "Something is suspect. Who knows? Some higher power probably has it in for us, and I'm not sure I mean that figuratively anymore.

As for poking around, well.. it'll be something to do. It's not like I'll be too obvious about it."

"Hmm," Daniel decides to play along. If nothing else, it'll help him unwind after this latest homicidal adventure. "Right, so it'll be like 'Hey guys, have you noticed that black is like, making a comeback in fashion lately?' or maybe you could ask 'If you could have any superpower, what would it be?' and look to see if anyone gives a knowing chuckle or something?"

He sighs. It's not really helping. "Forget it," he apologises. "Anyway, you're probably right about the higher power bit, if all that talk about anchors is right." He shrugs, "Maybe we're being subconsciously manipulated to go to certain places. There's no way to know for sure, though. And I don't want to start second guessing myself. Things are bad enough as it is."

"Maybe," replies Tom, musing. "Man, I hate being in the dark. I'd just like to.. do something myself, y'know? Not based on 'coincidence' or any such crap. Feels like we've been blindfolded and dragged along, so far."

"Tell me about it," Jim says dryly.  "We've been running around fighting terrorists with super-powers for a few years now, but haven't really encountered anything like this before.  And now that everything's happening, it's all happening at once."

"We meet some new allies, and just happen to run into what you're looking for on the way to more ... this kind of reminds me of how things were when Brian called us up to the observatory.  Kept us out of the valley when it was nuked.  None of us expected to run into the others there, and when we were trying to figure out why he called us there...."

"Boom," Walker supplies helpfully.

"Then we started getting powers," Carlos says with a frown.  "Except ... Sean killed Nick, and then it felt like things were somehow ... derailed.  Are we now getting back on track?"

"I don't know," Sterling says, shaking his head.  "But it's probably a good thing we've got you guys on our side.  I know one thing for sure, and that's that we were able to at least screw up the Forge a little bit.  I don't know who this kid is, but if the Forge wants her dead, I'm happy to spite them and make sure she lives."

Kyle smiles wanly.  "I can explain some of it, but don't know the full story," he offers.  "But ... you're all being drawn together and guided by a spell that was started years ago, and until recently, faltered."

This garners silence from the other members of Bigfire.

"Well there we go," Daniel shrugs with a sardonic smile. "Anyway, I'm all ears," he says, waiting for Kyle to explain more about this spell.

"Yeah, a little more information would be a big plus at this point. The coincidences... well, it's more than a little wild that so many would pop up at once."

"Someone tried to set things in motion so that people would be assembled -- people who knew one-another but had the requisite skills and personalities required for the task -- that way, they could be swiftly assembled into a force that could take on the Enemy that lives outside of what can be known," Kyle says.

"Oh, we're fighting Elder Gods," Jim says.  "That's encouraging."

"I don't know who it was, only that Pandora says that because of what must be done, coincidence generally will fail around us.  Coincidence is a tool to convince humanity that odd things can happen and be unremarkable.  The truth of the matter is that you are now remarkable people with remarkable skills -- the rules that control the rest of humanity do not neccesarily apply to you."

"So we're Awakened, and fighting the Elder Gods?" Sterling asks sceptically.  "My powers over time seem to be lacking."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Kyle says, "but what it essentially boils down to is that for better or worse, the unusual is now the norm.  Reality is moving in such a way that those who do not adhere to it will be rejected by it.  Unless they can reshape the world to allow such things to exist."

He frowns at this.  "I don't know why someone would try and involve you in this, but my guess is that it started with a common point -- the sacrifice.  In order to kick something like this off, someone has to die, and it can't be the person who's trying to set things in motion."

"You said the common point was a sacrifice? Does that mean that someone HAS died to bring all this about, or that someone WILL die?"

"That Brian guy you mentioned?" Daniel guesses, glancing at the assembled Bigfire group.

"Brian's not just dead -- he got nuked," David says grimly.  "But it could have been that, I guess.  Now, since he told us to go to that mountain top, was he part of it, or did someone else send us those letters?  It doesn't really matter unless we can ask a dead man questions."

Kyle shrugs.  "Pandora doesn't know where whoever it was is, except, if he's alive, it's not on Earth, and he doesn't dream," he offers.  "But in order for things to come this far, someone must have already died."

"Not happy to hear that, but I just wanted to be clear whether we should expect someone to die anytime soon. Not that it's not possible with all the weird crap that's been going on, but it sounds like that's something we'll have to get used to one way or the other."

Tim ponders for a moment. "Is it possible that whoever did that might NOT be on Earth and still alive? Where would they be?"

"Yeah, lots of people have died," Daniel snorts. "But I guess that's some of it. Some guy sacrificed himself to kick this off, then the cosmos picks us and works to bring us together so we can save the world from the Elder Gods?"

"Sounds excellent," mutters Tom. "So if this person is alive, but not on Earth, he's likely somewhere inaccessible to us.

And if he's dead, he's also inaccessible to us. Yeah. Any ideas on where he is and how to get to him? If it's even possible?"

Kyle just shakes his head.  "I think there are far more immediate concerns," he says before lapsing into silence.

"Well," Sterling mutters.  "That was educational."

"Yeah. Finding someplace to stay is one of them," Tim concurs. "After our trip to Arizona, anyway. I just hope things aren't this crazy there."

"Normally I'd say 'Like anything exciting could happen in Arizona,' but considering what just happened in the middle of nowhere in Mexico, I think it's fair to assume trouble will find us no matter what. Just a pity there's bugger all we can do except be careful and alert," Daniel notes.

"Yeah," Jim groans, nodding at Daniel.  "It sounds like Kyle's implying we get to look forward to this for a while," Jim says quietly, one hand still resting on the upper portion of his ribcage.

"Maybe, and maybe not," Kyle says, shaking his head.  "Remember.  Part of this is drawing you to allies.  So if you do deal with this, you'll have more support."

Sterling ponders, and rubs his chin.  "Well, actually, that makes it sound not nearly as bad," he admits.  "I mean, I think having you guys onboard certainly helped.  So, more allies, eh?"

Kyle nods.

"I guess my danger sense helps, even if we do wind up just using it to direct us to trouble instead of away from it," Daniel nods slowly. "But if we can find a few more superpowered allies along the way..." he shrugs, "Hell, before I knew about any of this, I'd have considered a group with abilities like this a force to be reckoned with."

"I'm just glad I was able to do something besides get myself killed today," Tim says with a sigh. "My 'power' seems like it's fairly useless to us, at least for now. Information is nice, but it's not going to keep us alive in a tight situation, since I can't exactly take a nap in the middle of a fight. But I'll do what I can to help, regardless. Planning is at least something I'm good at, or I'd like to think so."

"Good, you can cover for me," quips Tom. "Then again, it's not like we've had much information to work with so far. It's all been on the spot and go-go-go.

Oh well. This will be an excellent point in my life to test the theory that you can get used to anything. I think I'm already halfway there."

Carlos nods.  "We can get used to anything," he agrees.

Walker shakes his head.  "All I can say is I like the sound of having more people with us," he mutters.  "We've been in this alone for way too long."

"No sense worry about things," David decides.  "We should rest, so that if things turn bad in Arizona, we'll at least be ready for it."

"Yeah, that's right," nods Tom. "If things don't start happening before we leave, of course. Maybe an extra person on watch tonight? With things speeding up like this... well, you know."

He makes a weird gesture, then shakes his head. "Um, yeah."

"I'd think one would be enough. Two people aren't going to get the rest of us up any faster, and the more rested we are when we get to Arizona the better."

He sighs. "That said, I'll take the first lookout. I didn't do much today, so I'll take my share by watching while you guys take some R&R. You look like you could use some rest." Tim particularly looks towards Jim and Sterling as he speaks.

"I'll take second watch, then," Daniel offers. "Just wake me when you get tired."

"Didn't do much.. eh, killing an ogre was always 'lots' in my book," chuckles Tom. "Have fun with that, then."

After watches are sorted out, everyone settles down to rest.  The mine is at least comfortable, at a relatively neutral temperature thanks to the lack of wind.

A few hours pass, but once the glow of the sun has completely faded, Ryan rises, and says, "I'm ready."

The rest of Bigfire stirs, Jim rising last.  Despite the injuries he had sustatined, Sterling seems indifferent to his own wounds, though.  "Okay," he says.  "I'll go through with Ryan first.  It'll take a few trips, but better safe than sorry."

In short order (much faster than the trip to Mexico from Australia) everyone is standing in a dark alley between two buildings in a poorly lit down-town area.

Walker rubs his chin thoughtfully, and says, "Now, we just need to find the most filthy and disreputable pool hall in town.  Then we'll know where Mark is."

David shakes his head, and Carlos says, "As good a place to start as any."

"I can't help but feel that we're practically looking for trouble, the way you say it," Jim mutters.

"Better we find it than it find us!" announces Tom, striding confidently out the alley. "Ah, a pool hall. Awesome, another game I'm lousy at."

"Pool I'm at least half decent at, although I doubt we'll have time for a game."

Tim shakes his head. "Us? Look for trouble? I don't know where you'd get that idea."

"I'm only good at pool when I'm drunk. It's uncanny," Daniel chimes in. "But I doubt getting wasted would help should we have more trouble find us, tempting as it may be."

The road is fairly deserted, and the air is quite a bit colder than in Mexico.  A fine sheen of frost glistens on the roads and sidewalks.  Directly across the street from the alleyway is what looks like a theater that's been shut down, fences blocking access to the doors.

To either side are a laundromat (which is open), and a small convenience store (also open).  More convenient than the store, however, there's a pool hall down the street.

The sign overhead says, "South Creek Tables", though all of the vowels have either burnt out, or been vandalized.

"Well," Carlos says brightly, "this looks good.  Shall we step in and have a look around?"

"Or should we check for any kind of signals we'd recognize, in case it's a trap?" David asks.

Jim shrugs, and says, "I'm not picking anything up."

Sterling glances at Daniel, and raises an eyebrow curiously.

Daniel shrugs. "It's all good, as far as I can tell. But that's subject to change at any time, just like it did back in Mexico."

Shrugging, Sterling walks towards the poolhall.  It's got no windows, and the doors are solid, so there's no way to see inside.  But the buzzing neon sign says that it's open.

Once he reaches the door, Walker joins him, and then they confer briefly.  "Okay.   Let's not all go in as one huge group.  I'll go in with Walks and David.  Then Daniel, Tim, and Tom, can come in next -- Jim, you and Ryan should wait out here where you can see anyone coming up to the building for us," Sterling decides.  "I'm pretty sure that this place won't card us if we don't try and buy booze, but Kyle and ... the other kid should wait out here."

Kyle nods, still carrying the little girl.  "If something goes wrong, Ryan can get you out of here more easily than where it's well lit," David adds.

"Okay," Sterling says, heading in with Walker and David.

A few minutes pass without any noticable explosions or outbursts.

Daniel leans against the wall with his hands in his pockets, watching the mist form from his breath. Oh, well. At least it's not snowing...

After a few minutes pass, he starts towards the door. "Well, shall we?" he asks Tim and Tom.

"As good a time as any," Tim replies, shrugging.

Tim hauls one of the doors open at the same time it begins snowing lightly.

In interior of the pool hall is fairly spacious, with a high ceiling, though the upper reaches are obscured behind a thick curtain of cigarette smoke.  There's about fourty tables scattered around the floor, only three of them for billiards.  The rest are all pool tables.

About a dozen are occupied, and the patrons of this establishment look like what you would expect to see in a dive.  Most of them are scruffy, and have visible tattoos, shaved heads, or piercings.  There's one table in the far corner where a scrawny guy of reasonable height is playing by himself.  He's the only one who doesn't fit in.  Sterling and David are playing a round of 8-ball at the adjacent table.  Walker's perched on a stool nearby, munching on a basket of onion rings.

As the door swings shut just behind Tom, the last to enter, someone kicks the jukebox loudly, and it stutters to life, playing U2's Sunday, Bloody Sunday.  A weathered looking woman with a shaved head, cargo pants, and a thick, denim halter-top is carrying a tray, and chewing bubble gum.  She stops to look at the new entrants, and eyes you all up and down before shrugging.  "Help yourselves to a table," she says, her voice ... somewhat deeper and much more gravely than would be expected from someone of her size.  "I'll get your drink orders in a minute."

She starts heading to the small door to the kitchen in the back, picking up empty glasses from the other tables before vanishing.

Daniel nods in greeting to the woman, heading over to the table by Sterling and David.

There's a table for drinks next to the actual pool table, and a pair of stools are resting beneath it.  Atop the table is a smudged menu, offering a variety of drinks, and a few snack foods.  Nachos, onion rings ... though judging by the quality of Walker's order, not very good ones.

Tom takes a stool and leafs through the menu idly, nodding his head to Tim and Daniel.  "You two play the first game," he suggests.

At the other table, David and Sterling are pretty evenly matched, though both keep shooting sharp glances at the man practicing by himself.  Walker is obsorbed in the contemplation of his onion rings.

Tim follows along behind Daniel, doing his best to get a measure of the other people in the room without looking TOO obvious about it. Particularly the misplaced-looking fellow at the table next to the Bigfire members.

Daniel takes a pool cue and puts some quarters into the table to release the balls before setting them up. "You wanna break, Tim?" he asks, not really paying much heed to the other patrons.

"Sure, I don't mind." Tim takes a moment or two to get the straightest cue he can find, then proceeds to break.

Tim takes a few casual glances while picking out a cue.  The nearest group is four people at two tables.  Three of them are wearing thick leather jackets, all have very short hair.  The one without a leather jacket is the one female, and she's wearing a denim coat, buttoned up all the way.  All are wearing sturdy jeans, and all look worn.

The lone practicing man glances at Tim as his gaze wanders in that direction, and then back to his table.  He's got a cue that doesn't match the simple wood and laquer style of the house-set; it looks custom.  The man's also very good.  Not perfect, but only rarely does he miss, and he doesn't seem to scratch at all.

Tim returns his concentration to the table he shares with Daniel, although he does pay attention to the other man peripherally as he continues to play. If coincidence is really out the window... well, best not to ignore something that seems out of place.

Daniel concentrates on the pool as best he can, although he's pretty bad. While it is tempting to order a beer or two to improve things, he forces himself not to in case it affects his suddenly very important precognitive powers.

In the intrests of being social, and the fact thatTim and Daniel look like they may be... some time, Tom decides to do head over to the lone man playing pool.

"Hey, buddy. Fancy a game?" he asks, jocularly.

He raises an eyebrow, and glances for a moment at Sterling.  "Sure," he says, nodding.  "You want to put money on it?"

"I have some cash," comments Tom, rummaging in his pockets and slapping down ten bucks.

He snorts at the bill.  "Alright," he says.  "Eight ball, or nine?"

"Eight," replies Tom, rolling his eyes. What, bet more than that on an assured loss? Fat chance.

"Right," he says, quickly racking the balls and setting them in formation.  "You can break."

Tom lines up, taking careful aim. He holds the pool cue in the manner he was taught- that was wrong.

He sends the cueball flying... off the table.

"....eheheh!" he comments, scooting off to get it.

The guy expertly snags the ball out of the air before it can land, and raises an eyebrow.  "Try again?" he asks, rolling it across the table towards Tom.

Tim glances up as the man catches the ball. Damn good reflexes - he'd be hard pressed to catch a ball like that if he was expecting it to fly. Shaking his head slightly, he grins over at the shooter.

"Nice shot," he calls over to Tom with a smirk before returning his attention to his own game.

"Yeah, ok," mumbles Tom, embarassed.

A repeat of the previous shot takes place, complete with Tom considering stabbing himself with the cue.

Man, I used to be able to break, at least.

The man sighs, and shakes his head.  "My break," he says, walking around the table.  He lines up the shot, and as he's leaning over low to the table, quietly asks, "You're with Sterling?"

"That's the one," replies Tom, all set to lean back and watch the guy win the game.

He nods, and breaks.  He knocks a stripe in, and then walks around the table, carefully selecting his shot.  "Those guys in leather jackets," he says quietly.  "They've been watching me.  Probably best not to let on to the fact that you've got any connection to me, unless you want a fight."

"I might win a fight, unlike a game of pool," mumbles back Tom. "Are they anyone in particular?"

"People who'd blow my cover and put me back on the run again," he grumbles, sinking two more stripes in rapid succession.  "But the proprieter here doesn't like fights.  She handles them quickly.  It'd get ugly, fast."

As he mentions this, the woman in the cargo pants who was carrying the tray approaches, looking between the Bigfire members, the loner, and Daniel, Tom, and Tim.  "Mark, here's your tea," she says, hanging him a bottle of Arizona iced tea.  "Can I get the rest of you anything?" she asks.

"Tea sounds good to me - hot if you've got it. Bit chilly out there tonight." Tim straightens up from his latest shot, stretching a bit - sleeping in a mine isn't exactly the best thing in the world for his back.

"Coke," replies Tom, shrugging. "That so. How do you know Sterling?"

"We used to have some common friends in the valley," he says, sinking another ball, and then pausing to open his drink.

The woman nods at Tim and says, "I'll getcha something.  And your coke is on the way.  How those onion rings working out for you?"  This last is directed at Walker, who's just finished the last one.

"Very edible," he replies.  "Thank you."

"No problem," she says.  "I'll be right back with your orders, then."  After that she walks to some of the other tables, dispensing more orders before heading back into the kitchen.

Tom snatches a glance of the people in leather.

"That so," he mumbles.

"It is," Mark replies quietly.  "They've been following me for a while.  Now, I'm guessing Sterling brought you here, which brings me to a question.  What, exactly, are you looking for?" he asks.  Sunday, Bloody Sunday ends, and the jukebox whirs for a moment in silence before it begins to boom out No Woman, No Cry.

"Allies and trouble, in that order," replies Tom, shiftily.

Daniel briefly glances up from his epic game of pool at Tom and Mark, before returning to it. Although he does try to eavesdrop on the conversation without any further visual cues.

Well, at least I don't sense any impending mayhem, so far... I hope none of those guys have guns.

"Well," Mark says quietly, rapidly sinking the rest of the balls on the table in succession.  "We'll see what we get, then."

At about this point, Daniel's danger sense starts to warn him that danger lurks near.  The nearby thugs in leather are peripherally dangerous, like running with scisors.  Something a bit more dangerous is waiting further away, though he's not certain what it is.

Daniel lets out a cracked sounding little chuckle, hanging his head as he leans on the table.

You just had to think it, didn't you? Stupid idiot...

Sighing, he works his way around the table near where Tim is taking his shot and also close enough to Walker and the others. "Guys," he begins quietly. "Some bad shit is about to go down."

"Why am I not shocked?" Tim murmurs, the ghost of a smile crossing his face. "Suppose we'd better do what we came for and move on quick, then."

"Well," Mark says, turning to look at Sterling.  "You probably came for Wallace."

It's at about this point that the guys in leather coats turn and start looking in the corner where everyone's gathered, but don't move.

"Yeah," Mark grumbles.  "Not going to start anything when they're outnumbered.  Let's get going.  I hope you guys brought cars."

"We have Ryan," Walker says, eyeing the thugs.  Mark just grunts and tosses the ten dollars he won from Tom on the drink-stand.

"Okay," Sterling says, cracking his neck.  "Let's move."

He then starts walking towards the door.  Mark and David spend a moment eyeing one another before following.  Walker sticks with Daniel.

Daniel heads out alongside Walker, keeping his distance from the leather-jacketed guys and avoiding eye contact.

Tim joins Tom as they make their exit, doing his best to act like nothing's wrong.

The leather-coated ones look like they're about to move to follow, but are halted by the woman in the tank-top and cargo pants.  Whoever she is, they don't seem willing to push their way past her, though she shoots a very dirty look at Mark as he leaves.

Outside, Carlos is leaning against the wall nearest the door, nodding in relief when he sees everyone together.  "Bad news," he says without preamble.  "We're tracking radio activity.  Someone's been searching for you, Mark."

"Terrorists?" he asks.

"Forge?" Sterling tries to clarify.

"You're not going to believe this," Carlos says, looking the slightest bit uncomfortable.  "The, uh, NSA."

"The NSA that are working for one of the men in black groups, or just the regular NSA?" Daniel clarifies unhappily. Not that it makes all that much difference.

"Only one NSA that I know of," Tim replies, shaking his head. "You guys really do know how to make friends, don't you?"

"Don't look at me," Carlos says.  "We've never had a government hunting us down before.  What exactly did you do, Mark?"

"Uh, why don't we go somewhere safer before discussing this?" Mark asks, looking around.  The streets are deserted right now, but that may not be true forever.

"Right," Carlos mutters.  A second later Ryan, Jim, and the others emerge from the shadows of a nearby ally.

"Where's Wallace?" Ryan asks.

"About two miles from here, roughly north-east.  We've got a trailer in a trailer park.  It's the one with bulletproof siding," Mark answers.

Ryan nods, and Daniel's danger sense spikes -- the street's about to be swarming with ... soldiers?  A lot of people, most of whom won't mean well, at the very least.

Daniel practically jumps. "Guys, we have to move. Right quick. A ton of soldiers are about to drop in on us!" he warns, looking around frantically.

"I don't--" Jim begins, just the muted roar of a number of approaching helicoptors sounds.

Ryan's eyes go wide, and he runs into the alley, motioning everyone to follow.  Once in the shadow, everything gets strange again, and everyone is standing between two trailers in a trailer-park.  Ryan collapses to the ground the moment everyone arrives.

Tim grimaces. "We'd better hurry. If they've already got soldiers here and coming for you, they probably won't be long in getting here.  Someone stay with Ryan while the rest of us get Wallace?"

"I'll stay," Daniel nods, figuring that looking after their ticket out of here is the least he can do.

"Damn..." he adds after a moment, still breathing a little heavily from that close shave. "How do we keep winding up in these situations?" he asks, not wanting an answer. Another lecture on coincidences he could do without.

"Not a problem," Mark says.  "We're right here."  He thumps on the door of one of the trailers a few times, and a light comes on.  The door opens after a few seconds, and a huge man -- he's at least two meters tall -- looks out the doorway, and blinks at the crowd amassed in front of his trailer.

"Sterling?" he asks, before looking everyone else over.  He shakes his head, and steps to one side.  "Come inside."

"Apparently we upset the NSA, bro," Mark says apologetically.  "They're chasing after us," Mark says, as he enters the doorway.

Walker stoops to pick up Ryan before entering.

Daniel shrugs and follows the gang inside, still looking all jittery as he glances this way and that.

"Works for me," Tim says, heading inside the trailer as well. "We'd probably best get out of here ASAP, though."

The interior of the trailer is fairly spacious -- you wonder how mobile it would be.  It's not as big as a proper house by any means, but almost everyone can find a corner of a bed, couch, or chair to sit on.  Ryan's set on a floor in the back room, and Kyle puts the girl on a bed nearby.

"So," the large man (presumably Wallace) says, looking Jim over critically.  "The NSA is after us, and you've gotten hurt again."

"Well, these events turn out to be unrelated, Wally," Jim says, as Wallace presses one palm against his sternum.  It glows softly, and Jim seems to relax.  "Ah, thanks.  I got stomped on by an ogre."

"You can deflect bullets with your face," Wallace says flatly.  "I'm a little worried about something that can stomp on you."

"A good position to take," David says.

"So, who are your new friends?" Mark asks, opening a closet, and producing a chinese sword, which he belts to his waist.  The windows are all currently covered, so it should be impossible for anyone to see inside.

"Well, this is Tom," Sterling says, clapping a hand on Tom's shoulder.  "He's our master pool-player.  This is Daniel," he says, pointing, "and that's Tim.  The kid is named ... I forget.  The girl, I think is some kind of magical girl.  Kind of strange.  Basically, we came to try and meet up with you.  We got a heads up about some terrorist activity, which led us to meet up with these guys.  After that, we were really only headed here from Australia to meet up with you, but we ended up finding some Forge terrorists who were trying to kill the girl.  After that, we got here, and Carlos says that the NSA is moving in on Mark."

"Actually, I told Carlos that," Jim says.  "I've been trying to listen in on them.  They've been watching you a while from the sound of things."

"Probably," Wallace admits.  "We probably aren't subtle enough ... oh well.  It's probably time to move.  So, what's your plan, anyway?"

"So far, it's kind of loose. The general idea is to find someplace where we can hole up and catch our breath, hopefully to the point where we can start doing something other than run. We've found out that this is a lot bigger than just the folks who've been after us, and right now I think a good chunk of time to do some research and understand exactly what we're fighting and what we can do would be a very good idea. But we need to get underground for a while to do that."

Tim glances around the room. "That said, I have no idea where specifically to go from here. I just think hanging around here for too long is not going to be good for our health."

"Without a couple of cars or a van, we're not going far until Ryan's rested up," Daniel notes, idly waving as he's introduced. "I don't want to stay here, particularly, but given our track record, something bad will happen no matter where we go..." he adds pessimisticly.

"That's actually along the lines of what I was thinking," Tim replies. "If we can get some regular transportation, we get on the move while Ryan rests up. Once he's feeling up to moving us again, that's when we stop and head to our final destination. If we can grab a van, we can probably work on where to go while we move."

As Daniel finishes making this comment, he senses a lot of troops closing in on his current position from all directions.  It seems (to his senses) like an entire army.

"Then maybe we should leave places behind," Kyle suggests.  "Take a step into the Dream until we understand what's going on."

"I don't care how, but we should move right now," Daniel nods quickly. "I dunno how they're tracking us, but they're going to arrive here soon."

"We can do that? Go entirely into the Dream?" Tim looks a bit surprised at this.

"Well, normally, no," Kyle says, shaking his head.  "But ... if we work together we can go there.  I don't think most people would be able to chase us there, and if they did, they'd have to fight us where we were strongest."

The little girl comes out of the back room and says something in Spanish.  Carlos says, "She says that she thinks she can do it, but that it would need to be done very soon."

Wallace rubs his chin, where he's got a short blonde beard.  "I'm not quite sure I understand how this works ... but if someone's coming and we can't fight them all off, it sounds like a good idea, I suppose," he says.

Sighing, Mark nods.  "Count me in.  You can only run so far," he mumbles.

"Great," Sterling says, looking between Kyle and the little girl.  "So how does this work?"

"We ask Morpheus for a favor," Kyle replies.  The little girl presses her palms together, fingers pointed upwards, and starts glowing.  A circle of light springs into being around her feet, tiny, but marked with odd symbols.  After a second, another circle forms outside of that, and then another, and another.

All colors of the rainbow are represented, everyone in the room finding themselves in a small circle that fits between the rings of the circles of light she's generating.

And then everything goes black....

This thread now moves to: The View From Here (http://pishoque.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=53904#53904).