Picking Up the Pieces

Annie was amazed as Jeisen revealed the extra room. This kind of technology far surpassed anything she had ever seen. It was certainly impressive. Weapons, numbers, lights, it all made her head spin. However, ahe couldn't deny that she was impressed. Had he done all of this himself? If so, it certainly was an impressive feat.

Annie watched as Jeisen brought up the hologram of his suit. The whole situation reminded her of a movie that the scientists at the lab had shown her to show her how stupid the media had made metahuman society out to be. She couldn't quite remember the name, but it involved a charismatic man who built a superpowered suit, and constantly wanted to improve on it. However, while the man in the movie gradually annoyed his friends with how much time he devoted to his suit, Annie couldn't help but smile as Jeisen seemed...at home, content. She hadn't really seen him like this before.

"Uh huh, sure thing." She made a small giggle. "Anything else you need?" Annie asked as she leaned on the wall.

Jeisen twirled a soldering tool in his hands as he stared down at his suit. His mind went a thousand different directions as he began to think over the necessary steps to repair the suit. Pain and fatigue washed away from his body as he focused on something else now. But he paused in the middle of thinking, looking over at Annie. After a second he held out the soldering iron.

Jeisen: "Would you like to help me?"

Annie stared at him for a few seconds, as he held to strange tool in front of her. "Y-You want me to help you with...well, I'm not very good at..." She admitted that it could be interesting. He might never offer again, so Annie shrugged. "Why not? I...guess I could give it a try." She gave an admittedly dorky smile as she grabbed the iron, but then soon realized...she was holding a foreign object. She didn't know what to do. "Er...now what?" She gave Jeisen a quizzical look.

With a flip of a switch, the iron turned on hot. A couple more buttons pressed and the sides of the tables were laid out with a multitude of different tools and materials. Jeisen helped Annie hold the iron properly then grabbed a few supplies from under the table. As he was grabbing things, he was talking

Jeisen: "So... first things first, we have to have a plan on how to fix it. Luckily, Nolan has already done that for us. Nolan can you bring it up?"

Jeisen came up from underneath the table with a few small wires and strange metal alloy. Nolan floated down to the table and lifted the armor off of it with his little beam. Jeisen moved most of the suit away from the table, leaving only the left arm of it hanging in the air. It had been damaged in the fight when Jeisen's arm had been covered in a lava like substance briefly. Jeisen had been forced to take his arm out of the armor and leave it behind to fight. Nolan had recovered it right after the pair had moved on to a different location, but now it needed a good rewiring for the cooked internals.

Jeisen: "What we are going to be doing is rewiring the inside a bit to restore power to the arm. After that I'll have to take over as it requires some complex workings. But for now... Nolan can you highlight the line in red? Thank you."

Still limping, Jeisen came around the table and stood right next to Annie. He pointed out a small red line where a small cord of wires had been fried. He put up a floating magnifying glass so she could see it better

Jeisen: "See right there? That little bit of wire has been fried and needs to be cut out of the arm. After that we have to solder in a fresh bit of wire to both ends of the cut. Use these microwire cutters to cut the chunk of wires out then use the tweezers and soldering iron to solder in the wire. Simple right?"

While explaining what to do, Jeisen set down the needed tools and pointed out where to use them on the armor

"Uh....right. Cut the wire, then solder it." Through all the technical language, Annie manages to get the main goal out. Cut the burnt one, solder in the new one. Through her nerves, Annie slowly cut the burnt wire, and actually managed to do what Jeisen asked. The wire was now freshly soldered. Annie scratched the back of her head.

She was skeptical. It certainly didn't look the greatest. Annie was sure that Jeisen would take the iron from her at any moment and do it himself, yet he still let her finish.

"I...think I did it? Is it right?" For some reason, she really wanted to impress Jeisen. She hoped that she did it right. "It, um...was pretty easy, considering. I sort of just...did what you said." Annie's face reddened. She really was embarrased now. "Look, maybe I can do something else. I mean, I don't want to ruin this suit of yours."

Jeisen: "You did a great job with that. Repairing things is actually pretty easy once you figure out whats broken..."

He cut himself off as his mind wandered again. Jeisen leaned over to take over with the soldering iron. With a small motion after finishing up, he let it go in Nolan's zero gravity. He pulled out a few more tools and tossed them into the beam silently as he was thinking over something Annie could do. After a second he looked at her with his head cocked slightly to the side

Jeisen: "Would you mind just staying here to talk then? It feels good to talk right now"

Anything to get his mind off of the fight. He had gone over every aspect of it a thousand times by now with a thousand things he could have done better in it.

Annie sighed. "I...suppose I could do that."  She scanned her mind for a conversation topic. "So...what's your story? I mean, you seem to live here in this little apartment with Nolan. Where did all of this tech stuff come from? Come to think of it...you haven't really told me much about yourself than your name and your profession." Annie laughed. "I've been staying in the house of a stranger. For all I know, you could be some psycho who'll murder me in my sleep..." Annie cleared her throat, realizing the awkwardness of that comment. "Um...kidding, of course. But still. Where are you even from?"

Jeisen paused as he thought about her question for a second, before going back into work. Sparks flew all around him but if they burned, he didn't seem to mind. His hands darted across the arm with lightning speed, pulling tools and wires from the gravity beam around the arm.

Jeisen: "Hmm thats a tough question really. I guess I'll have to start at the beginning with being a kid. I was born in a small town a few hours north of Los Angeles to a normal family. Normal childhood till I was about seven. Well, semi normal... I always seemed to learn much faster then other kids. But they just thought I was 'gifted.' Turns out I was, just.. not how they quite thought. When I was seven, I sparked for the first time."

Jeisen paused, relazing that Annie might not know about his meta human powers. He looked over at her.

Jeisen: "By sparked, I mean literally."

He held out his arm and phased it into electricity. It became see through as Jeisen converted his body into pure energy in the form of lightning then back into his normal arm seemingly effortlessly.

Jeisen: "I am a metahuman with lightning physiology. I can actively convert my body into a 'lightning' form. But back when I was a kid, I didn't have control over it. So I sparked wildly and it scared a lot of people. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me, but everyone else around me seemed to think they should get rid of me. I knew enough to get away... so I did. I hotwired a car and drove to the peer where I phased through the lining of a ship for the first time. The ship went to china and from there, I just sort of drifted.

He twirled the arm over and began to work on the otherside of it now

Jeisen: "As for where all of this stuff came from, well.... I designed most of it myself. I "Borrowed" a few pieces from down alien crafts and government agencies that didn't quite understand what they had on their hands and improved it. Materials come from a company that one of my contacts runs. They keep me well supplied."

"I've read your files and know a bit about you, but what else could you tell me? Files only tell so much"

"Oh...wow. That's...something." Annie whesitated as she was asked to reveal her own past. "Well...I grew up here in London. My parents were scientists...they worked in that stupid company. I lived a pretty normal life. I don't know the full story, but...apparently my parents made some deal with the company that they didn't really hold up their end on. So one day...these armed guards kick down our door, screaming and hollering...before I know it, there's a couple loud bangs and...well, my Mum and Dad are dead on the floor. Then they hauled me off, and...well, the rest is a blur. They helped me discover this..." Annie flicked her hand, and she was holding a small needle. "They're poisonous. Can send a grown man writhing on the ground. There's also the eye thing...I can kinda see people through walls if I really want to. Oh, and..." Annie sighed. The part she was least proud of. The reason she had to cut slits in the back of her clothes. Annie proceeded to unfurl her insect-like wings. They were big, but small enough to fit in the room. "I...wasn't born with these. They're artificial. The lab...they did some weird cell rearrangement. All I know is that it...really hurt. I don't know if it was worth it or not. Annie folded them back again. She really didnt like having them out.

"So...yeah. There's my story. Kinda...depressing, I know."

Jeisen stopped his work, looking at Annie. He gave her a small lopsided grin

Jeisen: "Well... good thing your story isn't over. Always time to write a better ending."

Something he knew he intended to do for himself. If he could, he would do a lot of rewriting before the end. Lots of wrongs out in the world to right. Hell, he has the name Guardian Angel now. Can't just let down that name now. Jeisen turned over the arm and passed it through the beam to Annie. He had fixed almost all of it in a short time, just had to reattach the outside panels on it.

Jeisen: "Anythings fixable if you know what to fix"

Annie paused for a moment as she received the arm. He had certainly fixed it up well. "You know what...you're right." Annie smiled back at Jeisen. "When you break something in life...you just have to pick up the pieces and move on. We all lose things in life...we just need to keep moving." Annie looked closer to the floor. "Um...Nolan told me that the guy you fought was your friend. It must be terrible, having to do that..."

Annie looked back up. "But...I can see that you're an honorable man, Jeisen. And I think we both have the same interests at heart. I want to show the world that we metahumans aren't all crazy maniacs. I want to expose people like Mathis and this weird organization that tried to kill you. Maybe I shouldn't become an aimless drifter, like I was planning. Maybe it would be a better option to...help you out, maybe? Better yet..." Annie's eyes lit up. "Maybe I could join this team you keep mentioning! These...these 'Guardians'!" Annie looked Jeisen in the eyes. "If..if you lost a teammate in that fight...why not give me a chance?"

Jeisen grabbed the hand out of the hair, but his smile froze on his face as he He broke his gaze with Annie and placed both hands on the table. Queitly....

Jeisen: "I didn't lose a teammate in that fight. The fights not done just yet. I haven't lost him and I will not lose him. I will bring that man back to us even if I had to burn this group to the ground to get him. I swear it to the goddess across the sea I will bring him back."

He sighed though, and relaxed slightly. He closed his eyes and nodded

Jeisen: "It would be good to have more people though. We need all the help we can get to fight these bastards. I've seen you in action, you can handle yourself which is what matters. But.."

Jeisen paused as he thought about the best way to say this

Jeisen: "We give our lives to people who we've never met or ever will. Are you sure you want this life?"

It was an honest question. Annie had a chance at a normal life now that she was free. She could go far away and live a life without strife. But then again... Jeisen didn't think thats who she was.

Annie shook her head almost immediately. "I wasn't bred to live a normal life, Jeisen. I want to help. It's time for the world to stop being afraid of metahumans. It's time for change. I want to work with you. And if that means working for people that we don't know, then so be it." Annie smiled. Nothing could stop her from this oppurtunity. She was ready.

"I can finally have a purpose, Jeisen. Please, I want this."

Jeisen: "Well... then.... Welcome to the guardians."

Jeisen stopped his work on the suit and grabbed a spare trasnponder from the near by shelf. He flipped it on then handed it to Annie. He rubbed the back of his head.

Jeisen: "We don't have a big welcoming really, but we do have a small saying. Repeat after me."

He stood up striaght, giving respect to the hero before him

Jeisen: "In peace, Vigilance. In war, Victory. In death, Sacrifice"

Annie held the transponder in her hand. She gave it a good look. This would be her life now. This was the device that would dictate who and what she was. A Guardian. Defenders of the people.

Annie took a deep breath, standing up as straight as she could to seem respectable. "In peace, Vigilance. In war, Victory. In death, Sacrifice."

Powerful words. Simply saying them gave her a sense of honor.

Jeisen pulled down the rest of the suit and began to work on it with renewed vigor. He had a small grin on his face as he thought about the newest Guardian of Humanity. This is a hard life, but Annie wouldn't have to walk it alone. She had a new family with the group. A place to focus and do good work. Jeisen was more then a little glad she was staying. Something in of itself that surprised him.

Jeisen: "Just wait till you see the bases. They blow this little house out of the water."

With a small laugh, Jeisen quickly broke into small talk as he continued to work on the suit. Hours would go bye before Jeisen noticed the time.

[End thread}