Heroes: Shadows over Millenium

[Shark Bait]

John’s dreams were plagued with horrible feelings of fear and death, he relived whatever Demise had done to him over and over, though to a lesser extent thankfully. He knew it was a nightmare this time so when he finally did wake a day and a half later he was quite certain what was real and what wasn’t.

John hopped out of the chair, glad to be finished with that damn thing for the time being. He looked down at his new hand, opening and closing it slowly he smiled, it worked perfectly. He then walked over to a hot plate that was sitting on his work bench and turned it on he then went to a sink used for cleaning parts and filled a pot with water. He placed the pot on the hotplate and dumped some coffee grounds into it, he obviously couldn’t drink coffee, in fact he hadn’t actually ingested anything since was about five years old. He did this every now and then simply because he liked the smell of coffee, and he would rather smell it than the new synthetic flesh he was going to have to put on soon.

John stood in front of a large polished steel mirror looking over his endoskeleton everything seemed in order and the motors for his face had been repaired so bonding the new skin should only take a few hours. He stepped over to the machine that had started making the specifically designed sheets of synthetic skin and took a deep breath passing air over his ofactory complex he could smell the coffee and that was somewhat comforting. He closed his eyes and stepped into the machine, a robotic arm came down and started bonding strips of synthetic flesh to his torso, his “noseâ€

[Charon]

Legacies shook his head. "We should not plan this very extensively. The more planning we do the harder it is going to be to pretend we aren't planning on attacking him. If we can, we need to take him out quickly and quietly before he even knows a fight is starting. But we don't think Tarot is afraid of anyone. Why would you be when you can see the future?"

[LadyTevar]

"It would depend on the future, would it not?" Lei replied. "And if one can see the future, as I pointed out to Blackheart, what keeps him from attempting to manipulate the present to get the 'best' future for himself?"

She looked over to Garth. "Why would he poison not just me, but you as well? Why was he so insistent that you had been 'corrupted'? What future has he seen, that he wanted us apart... or dead?"

[frigidmagi]

There was knock at Blast's door. He opened it see Blackheart with a twelve pack under his arm. "You up for a talk?"

Blast opened the door, he was unmasked and wearing a blue t-shirt and shorts. His uniform and mask had been shoved under the bed to be hand washed in the sink tomorrow. Tobin figured Blackheart pulled his address from the file, but he wasn't gonna ask to many questions with free beer sitting there.

"Yeah, sure, come on in. Call me Tobin, we're all civies right now right?" He said.

[Dark Silver]

"Don't know" he replied, holding the beercan in hand lightly, only half done.

He was brooding, thinking, plotting. Tarot didn't scare him, what the man did to Lei scared him, somewhere deep down, but also infuriated him.

"Whatever the case..Tarot is to dangerous to allow to live. I don't know how he's managed to finangle a life with his abilities, and how he's in the position he is now. But he needs to be put down. Hard. Whatever he sees, he doesn't know how to tell the "might be" from the "what is"."

[Cynical Cat]

"Yeah," said Blackheart. "Call me David if you want. You have room in the fridge for these lonely travellers, or can you just cool them off by sucking the heat energy out them?"

[frigidmagi]

Tobin considered that idea... Could he do it? There was only one way to find out after all. Why not?

"I got room in the fridge for em yeah, but..." He said grabbing a beer and concenrating. He could feel the heat energy, could see it, barely, it was like a blurring shadow, the kind when you're trying to see past something. He "reached" into it and carefully, gentlely pulled and actually felt it flow into him, the beer got colder. Amazing. It wasn't enough energy to power a pop rocket however, useless combat wise. Still a neat party trick.

"Why wait?" He finished handed the cold beer to David and grabbing another one.

[Cynical Cat]

"Nice. Sometime we've got to work out if I can charge you up with my flash vision. Starting somewhere around "heat lamp" level and working from there."

[frigidmagi]

"My first fight was against a terrorist, he shot lighting has his power, no joke. Every time he shot me, he just charged me up, but the fucker could fly so I had problems hitting him. We ended up dropping a small building on each other by sheer accident. I figure that means I could charge up from the flash vision or anyother energy based bit." Tobin said taking a drink from the now cold beer.

[Cynical Cat]

"Good to know," said Blackheart. He twisted the top off the top of the non-twist top beer and took a sip.

[frigidmagi]

Tobin took a seat and waved to another chair nearby.

"Please, take a seat." He said.

[Cynical Cat]

"Thanks." He sat down. "How are you holding up?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Avatar finally got back from taking Salley out for dinner. He told her the harrowing tale of how he helped rescue the senator by being captured and subsequently tortured. After saving the memorial Part from fire. he had actually hoped that telling her that would scare her away from keeping up her sexual advances. But it didnt, only made it worse actually.

Finally after she tried to kiss him at the door he had to tell her that were anything physical were to happen, she would be physically injured because such activity would force a transformation. WHich he had to show her. Then he had to deal with the aftermath of that. Still, they were still on good terms. She at least recognized that it wasnt his fault that he was born a half-crocodilian monster. It was rather disconcerting though.

So disconcerting that he decided to take a dip in his pool of normal hlorine treated water, kept warm by the constant temperature beneath the city. Granted, he kept his eyes and nose above the water instead of floating on his back like a normal person. Old habits died hard

[frigidmagi]

"Thanks." He sat down. "How are you holding up?"

"Went to Confession yesterday. That helped. I'm alive. Is it always like this?" Tobin asked.

[Rukia]

"Is it always like this?" Camie asked Suzan. "I mean boring as hell and not having any privacy?"

Suzan laughed, "Yeah, hon. It is."

"I was afraid of that." She took a sip of her Milkshake. "Do you know when I'll be able to go h-- Leave?" She didn't have a home. Whne she left, she'd be out on the street again. But that was her fault, she'd been stupid.

"Not till Blackheart or Tarot sees you and gives the go head. You seemed to have healed up ok. But you have to remember you suffered major head trama. You might need to stay for a bit longer." She patted Cam's hand. "Unfortunately I haven't been able to get a hold of Blackheart. He seems to have left his house and has his phone off. I left him a message though. On the other hand Tarot is away for a few days. Lucky for you." She smiled.

[B4UTRUST]

Two individuals stood in a shadowed hallway. Behind them on the wall was visable an image, a DNA double-helix with a dagger down through it.

"Your appointment to Ultima should be finalized within the week. I've already discussed the matter with the Senator."

"I take it he was agreeable?"

"He didn't really have a choice."

"Has he been infected?"

"Oh yes, most certainly. When I mentioned that we could put him on the priority list for the vaccine, he was so willing it was almost pathetic."

"This anti-meta movement -- the problem is intensifying to the point where we may not be able to contain it."

"Why contain it? Let it spill over into the schools and churches, let the bodies pile up in the streets. In the end, they'll beg us to save them."

"I've received reports of armed attacks on agents. There's not enough police forces to go around, and the underclasses are starting to get hostile."

"Of course they're hostile. They can smell their death, and the sound they'll make rattling their cage will serve as a warning to the rest."

"Mmm. I hope you're not underestimating the problem. The others may not go as quietly as you think -- intelligence indicates they're behind the problems in Africa."

"A bunch of pretentious old men playing at running the world. But the world left them behind long ago. We are the future.
"We've had to endure much, you and I, but soon there will be order again, a new age. Aquinas spoke of the mythical City on the Hill. Soon that city will be a reality, and we will be crowned its kings. Or better than kings. Gods."

---------

Agent Bowman sat typing at his terminal. Information scrolled downwards, displaying diagrams and schematics, engineering specs that were incomprehensible without a eight year degree in nanoscience and biomechanics.

A notepad sat next to him, pages filled with hastily written shorthand, though still neat and decipherable. Beside it sat a cup of cold black coffee and a half eaten sandwich.

His findings troubled him greatly. He was researching not only Tarot's little nanites but Tarot himself. His mysterious incident with the Bravo Team so many years ago. His equally strange reappearance two years later. His rapid rise through the ranks. It was all strange, all adding question upon question to his investigation, yet yielding no answers. Everywhere he turned was a dead end, classified documents and files, missing case numbers. Nothing to link Tarot to anything. He was clean, squeaky clean. But he had messed up. He had injected nanites into Ultima members... He couldn't get away with that...

----------

"And in other news the Comoro Islands, just off the coast of Africa, have come under attack. This is the second African nation to fall to such gurriella attacks and civil war in a matter of weeks. A U.N. Council is investigating. No news on the leader of the Comoro Islands or the leader of the rebel organization."

[Charon]

"Don't know" he replied, holding the beercan in hand lightly, only half done.

He was brooding, thinking, plotting. Tarot didn't scare him, what the man did to Lei scared him, somewhere deep down, but also infuriated him.

"Whatever the case..Tarot is to dangerous to allow to live. I don't know how he's managed to finangle a life with his abilities, and how he's in the position he is now. But he needs to be put down. Hard. Whatever he sees, he doesn't know how to tell the "might be" from the "what is"."

Legacies nodded. "Are we sure he's the problem though? And not someone above him that's pulling the strings? I don't wanna waste time on any middlemen while the leader remains untouched."

[LadyTevar]

Lei had been taking a sip of her soda, but slowly lowered it as Legacies pointed out the possibilities. "That... is disturbing." she stated simply. "However... I don't get the feeling that he's working for anyone but himself. He's too ..." she frowned, trying to think of a way to put it. "... self-centered."

[Cynical Cat]

"No, it usually isn't this fucked up," replied Blackheart. "For all his suppossed prescient abilities, Tarot is constantly behind the eight ball instead of in front of it. It's like he's deliberately trying to fuck things up. The rear echelon motherfucker. In any case, he talks a good game but I've never seen him seriously back up his shit." Blackheart wiggled about, getting more comfortable. "Things in general have been getting hotter of the last couple of years though. All the guys who were kids during the great die off coming into their own. Did confession help you at all?"

[frigidmagi]

"Yeah, it did. Helps me deal, get it out in the open... You ever looked at Tarot? I mean really give him a once over?" Tobin asked.

[Cynical Cat]

"He's a slippery fuck," said Blackheart. "I've only served with him recently and his record is sealed shut, just like mine. My understanding is that he only came to Ultima recently. Beyond that I can only say that I've never seen him do anything really impressive and whatever black program he served in before Ultima it wasn't the one I did my time in."

[frigidmagi]

"Not quiet what I meant. Look after the fight in the park, I've started... I see things a bit differently. I can see and hear the energy around me. When I look at people that way, they got a kinda... field around them, they connect to the world around them. Tarot doesn't. He's a hole. A big black hole in the world and it's not normal." Tobin said and took a long drink.

[Charon]

Legacies nodded. "Well I'm going back at the end of the week. I hope I see you there Saibot. It's the only way I can think of to get to Tarot." With that Legacies headed for the door.

[LadyTevar]

Lei blinked at the sudden departure, looking over to Garth who didn't seem surprised by his friends actions.

"Come again?" she called after Legacies, not sure what exactly to say before the door closed on his retreating form. Her black eyes turned to face Garth squarely as she asked. "Is he always this way?"

[Cynical Cat]

"Fuck what's normal," said Blackheart. "I've got a giant space wasp larva in my chest and I can do my own grilling without the air of fire and charcoal. Its what he's up to that matters."