A Base To Call Home

by **ghost** May 17th 2024, 8:37 pm

Amanda was scrolling through the news on her holographic feed, sipping her coffee at a small bistro not too far from the docks. Her casual clothes were modest, a light yellow plain short sleeve shirt and jeans. She wore large sunglasses, trying to conceal at least some of her identity from the casual onlookers. She didn't want to draw a crowd. Keeping most of her equipment out of site, her suit was in a leather bag that was draped around the back of the chair, just incase something happens during her meeting. Otherwise her metallic wristband hung casually from her body and long white hair braid was laying lazily over her shoulder.

A few weeks ago she had sent a voice message to, "Sean Collin", also known as "Arcana". A man who had a rather extensive heroic background for a meeting. She remembered seeing him and a group of heroes on the news a lot, years ago, and was excited about their get together. She was going to talk about the formation of Daybreak, and ask to use the old Halo base. The government was willing to front a tone of money for her endeavor, and being based out of an iconic structure like the one at the New York docs would no doubt boost their groups reputation. Whether that was good or bad rep was still to be calculated.

She didn't mention the government grant in her voice message. Amanda knew that many didn't trust the government, if it wasn't for her watchful eyes on the people she worked with, she wouldn't either. There was something in her that tried to let go of the paranoia, she wanted to take a blind leap, be an example to the metahuman world, but... the humanoid mind was so easily corrupted by evil. No, her voice message simply stated she who she was, that she was an old hero looking to start back up, looking for a place to form a group of heroes that would send the human race into a new golden age. A place to train the young metahumans that had nowhere else to go. She'd try and imply the rest later.

"ORCHID, use any available satellites to watch over my current position and tart a recording from my HUD for later analysis." She whispered into her cup of coffee.
"Yes, ma'am. Working." She could feel that he was. "Done. Blackjack is watching over you. I will let you know of any possible threats nearby. A recording of your meeting will be sent to your archives for future analysis." He said.

She looked at the time on her HUD. 1000, local time. She still had a half hour till her meeting. Call her paranoid, but she just wanted to be sure to be the first one sitting down.

"Another coffee please." She ordered to a barista passing by.

by **Arcana** May 18th 2024, 3:32 am

Why was he answering this call? A voicemail left from someone he didn’t even know. An old hero looking to start back up, whatever that might have meant. The real question was why she wanted to talk to him. Did she hope he would join whatever endeavor she had out before her? Even still, here he was, leaving his house through a portal and stepping out from an alleyway onto the streets of New York. It was still early morning, the hues saturating the sky. One cities pollution tended to smell like any others, so he didn’t feel too much of a difference there.

Even still, it was home in a way. Where he’d grown up and a place that had been hit hard twice. Seeing the city rise around him, still moving despite it all, was the kind of sight that could make one feel hopeful.

This was supposed to be a casual meeting, so he chose a simple pair of cargo shorts and a black shirt with a rainbow design on it. His bottomless bag slung over his shoulder. Honestly, something he just dug from his closet. He sent a text to Zell, letting him know where he was going before going anywhere. Where he was going was a small bistro, one of many that likely existed in the city. Sean wasn’t there to eat, but that didn’t mean he would enjoy himself when his time was being used up.

The bistro was easy enough to find, and he came fifteen minutes before the meeting was actually scheduled. Did he even know who he would be meeting? Voice messages didn’t exactly have descriptions with them, so he was mostly flying blind right now. He picked out a table, and looked over the menu while he waited for whoever he was waiting for. Steak frites ended up being what he ordered, feeling the need for something heavy to eat because he was just skipped breakfast for some reason.

Waiting for his meal, Sean leaned back and looked down at his phone, occasionally flicking his thumb across the screen. They’d come eventually.

by **ghost** May 31st 2024, 6:37 pm

"Amanda, at his present speed Sean Collin should be entering the bistro in three minutes." ORCHID said in her ear. She nodded in response. She hasn't felt this nervous since she spoke with the government official about setting up the group. Her hands were a bit shaky and she could feel sweat on her forehead. With a few deep controlled breaths she managed to lower her blood pressure to a reasonable level, telling herself that the worse that can happen is he says no. But if she doesn't ask, it'll be, "no" anyway. She stood up, shot the last of her coffee like whisky at a club, and walked over to the door.

She could see the man through the glass windows and before he could grab the doorhandle she already had it open, her hand outstretched to shake.

"Sean?" She asked. It was him of course, she had looked at his picture dozens of times. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Amanda Martin." She started as they walked over to the table. "How are you today?" and "Thank you for meeting with me." Where some of the first things to come out of her mouth.

When the waitress came over she ordered another coffee and gestured to Sean, "and my friend will have... It's on me." She'd nod.

by **Arcana** June 7th 2024, 11:30 am

He waited a little but not too long, before someone approached him. A woman, which wasn’t a surprise considering the name he had been given. Slipping the phone into his pocket, he gave her his fully attention. ”That’s me.” He responded with a wry smirk, motioning for her to sit down. Not that she needed him to give her permission. This was a meeting she set up, which meant she had some reason to meet with him. Maybe she wanted something from him, though what that was is yet to be seen.

”I’m fine. A little curious what you could want from me, but that’s why i’m here now.” Silver eyes met with hers, remaining there as if trying to decipher what she was thinking. ”So, what’s the business? How can I help you this fine day. Doubt you called me out o New York for the pleasure of my company.” He reclined in his seat, and interlaced his fingers, working over what he should do if this were some kind of trap.

It couldn’t be like with Alba could it? He reached for a fry and bit it in half. ”I’d like a cappuccino.” He ceded before returning attention to he conversation.

by **ghost** June 8th 2024, 11:03 pm

Amanda pushed the thought back that caused her face to turn red and flushed. She had went to the restroom for just a moment and had missed him from walking in. It was only thanks to ORCHID that she was able to rush out and meet with him. Her hands still wet from the sink. She took a shaking breath in and walked up to him.

After taking a seat and listening to the man she couldn't help but giggle. "I'm afraid not." She answered him, though spending some time to get to know him was tempting. It could have been used to break the ice, gather rapport, but that was all broken now. The whole conversation was a rush now it seemed. She took a breath and stifled the lighting from jumping from finger to finger.

"Well..." She smiled. "I was really hoping to take our time to this. Maybe elaborate on my history. But now I must simply state that I intend to launch the next golden age for both humanity and Meta's alike, and would like to use the old Halo base as the base of operations." She smiled. "See, events like London and the constant trouble that plagues New York has set Metahuman-Human relationships back to the stone age. I intend to teach the young heroes of the world to not only defend what they love, and how to use their abilities, but also to give back. To help humanity, to forge lasting relationships and create lasting peace." She said, her face going from serious back to smiling. "... And I'd like your permission and if your interested... your assistance."

by **Arcana** June 9th 2024, 5:29 pm

He sat back and listened, taking in everything she said to him. Golden ages sounded nice on paper, as most things did, really, but he couldn’t help feeling skeptical on the matter. He didn’t interrupt her until she finished, though, looking neutral enough as if trying to school himself like he’d seen Zell do so many times.

”So, you want to shack up in the old Talons headquarters and run some kind of Metahuman and human cooperative?” He inquired, keeping his tone even while he chewed over a fry. He’d seen enough government pushbacks against metahumans to know what kowtowing to higher powers might lead to. Threats were often eliminated, Dominus and The Agency proved that very true. He’d even heard whispers of more anti-meta human groups rising from the shadows.

” How exactly do you plan to go about this? Have some private backer with too much money and not enough sense? Government agents who don’t want to see thousands in collars” He arced a brow, leaning forward with the intent of gauging her reaction. ”What’s the plan? I’m not going to exactly buy this pitch of peaceful coexistence easy peasy.”

by **ghost** June 9th 2024, 10:31 pm

Amanda nodded as the words "cooperation" left Colin's mouth. "That's right. I'd like to use the old Talon's base as a stepping stone into the future." She smiled before sipping some of her coffee. It was her fourth cup, she wasn't sure it was good for her, but by now it was just something to fill the space.

She tried to read his face. She's spent more time on this planet than most. She didn't need her HUD to tell her he wasn't really buying into it. Part of her wondered if she would either if she was in his shoes. So many plans have fallen through in the past. In her mind she gripped ahold of the faith she had in humanity. There is hope.

"The plan is to get more metahumans off the streets, out of fear, and somewhere they can learn and contribute to society. We will be an open organization. We will let the human world in on our decisions, walk them through the decision making process. We will have people designated in each group to explain what the thought process was, these will be people the human world trusts." She paused taking another sip of coffee.

She tapped the table and a holographic map appeared of New York. It wasn't anything grand that would draw attention, rather it was pretty much flush with the table it's self. Their location was a flashing yellow dot and on the north and south parts of New York state where two pale flashing dots. She spoke as she tapped one. "We have been given two locations for housing." The holographic image zoomed in and showed the layout of the buildings. Flashing red dots showed the locations of the robotic patrols on the grounds. "I've already retrofitted some of the rooms and am ready to make the necessary modifications to other rooms for the specific needs of the students." With another finger flick it she was able to show the layout of the rooms. Bubbles on the side of the screen listed off some of the modifications that had been made. "But to have the honor of using the iconic location like the Talons base as the central hub for operations would do wonders for our status in society."

by Sponsored content

A Base To Call Home

A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home

Re: A Base To Call Home