So uncivilized (Darkshift)

"So where did you find this one?" Daniel asked as him and Lucius appeared in an alleyway from out of nowhere, it was that nifty teleportation of Red's second in command. The question was a decent one, though Lucius didn't know why it needed to be asked. Lucius had his ways of finding people, and it could be left at that. He was doing this potential recruitment personally. Yeah, he could have sent someone else, but he never got the same results. Lucius had a way with words you see, he could convince people to do things quite well. Though, he wanted those he brought into his little group to have free will. That was pertinent, he didn't want robots, he wanted free thinking and diverse metahumans. He was building a culture really, and that was good, it would be a requirement later on.

"I wouldn't want to bore you with techno babble, but let's just say the usual method." Lucius said through his ominous voice converter. It combined with his rather....imposing choice of clothes could scare some, but then again most got over it pretty quickly. If this girl wasn't totally skittish, well then she would stick around at least long enough to hear Lucius out. Red and Daniel then walked out of the alley into the rainy night, last he checked the girl was pretty close by, perhaps in some kind of shelter or cheap ass hotel. Eventually they found such a place, and it seemed to be where this person was hiding out. So what would he do? Well, probably just show up. Yeah, Lucius didn't really care if he scared the shit out of someone by just teleporting in front of them at random.

"Stay here...." Lucius said to Daniel before activating his own teleportation device. He would appear in this girls room, right in the middle of it. He looked around in disgust at the place, really, he would rather sleep in his car.......well, yeah, anyone would, that thing was awesome. If the girl he was looking for was in this room, he would speak to her, if not, he would just wait for her to show up, leaning up against one of the walls.

"Hello Arienne."

Arienne didn't keep to normal sleeping habits. It wasn't as if she had a normal 9-5 job or any obligations at all, really, that required to her to be awake during the daytime hours. What she did do for money was normally better off done in the dark anyway, regardless of her unique advantages. She was adapted to to nocturnal life and didn't see any reason to fight against that which nature clearly intended for her. She was what she was.

Thus, when a voice appeared right in the middle her room Arienne had been in a dead sleep. "What the fuck?!" It was amazing just how quickly one could move when interrupted from a dead sleep in the middle of what was supposed to be your private dwelling by an unfamiliar voice. In a flash Arienne was on her feet, instantly alert, black energy rising up by instinct to veil her body and foot and a half long spikes growing from the top of each of her wrists.

"You've got about 30 seconds to explain why the fuck you're standing in the middle of my house, not to mention how in the hell you got to be in my house to begin with!" If there was one thing Arienne did not appreciate it was strangers breaking into her house and threatening her. Even if the threat was merely implied by the fact that they were in her house to begin with.

As expected the girl freaked out, anyone would when someone who looked like a sith lord just appeared in their home. What Lucius dIdn't expect though was the activation of the females powers. She didn't seem to mind revealing herself as a metahuman. Good, the ones that were scared of what they could do were the hardest to convince. Lucius let out a low chuckle which sounded pretty creepy through his mask, he liked this one.

"You have some fIre In you, that's good." Lucius said as he removed his mask and set it on a nearby nightstand softly, then pulled his hood down to reveal his face.

"My name Is Lucius, and I'm here to help you fufill your destiny. As for how, well, teleportation." Lucius said with a friendly yet still smug and sophisticated smile.  He hoped the girl would realize he wasn't here to harm her, he had dealt with recruts like that before and it just made things a whole lot harder.

"I'm like you my dear, the only difference being I'm fully realized. I hate to see my kind reduced to being runaways and thieves, we are so much more..." Lucius said as he lit up his hands with the crimson glow of his energy, pausing to let the female take this in and ask the questions she likely had. These things had to be taken slow, especially with teenagers, they resisted all authority, so when speaking to them it was best to appeal to that nature.

'Destiny' was a word that caught Arienn'e attention although she couldn't quite decide if that was because of its shear ridiculousness or if it was actually something enticing. What she was certain of was the fact that there was some crazy freak standing in the middle of her house talking to her. Uninvited. Unwanted. The gall of the man; it was almost admirable in its own twisted sort of way. Or at least it would be if it was someone else's house instead of hers.

"I'll show you fire," Arienne all but yelled, black energy coming up from her feet and roiling around her. The man didn't seem intimidated by her first display of power and may be he wouldn't be intimidated by her second, but she was pissed! What gave him the right to just 'teleport' into her abode anyway? If he had something to say to her that was oh so very important then what happened to that modern technology called a telephone?

"Lucius. Hi. Nice to meet you. You obviously all ready know my name so I guess no introduction is in order there." Sarcasm dripped from her voice, an almost tangible quality. What Arienne wanted her next words to be were get the hell out of my house I don't want to hear anymore, but something held her back. As ridiculous as it sounded and as much as she was probably about to be duped as a fool, her interest was piqued.

"So I'm your kind now? And what 'more' are we supposed to be...?" His answered had better be good ones otherwise she had no problem at all sticking him with a spike and forcing him out of her residence.

Well, it seemed this one was quite set on fighting for some reason or another. But Lucius wouldn't, to many times had him just trying to help turn into that. Her display of power was pretty impressive, but nothing he hadn't seen. If fostered, well, she could be quite powerful. Lucius took it upon himself to grab a nearby chair and slowly sit down, his movements that of a very proper aristocrat or billionaire.

"Settle down, I'm not here to hurt you, quite the opposite really." Lucius said, remaining calm and unphased by the girls attempt at intimidation. He understood why the female was so jumpy, heck, she had probably been through the ringer, but Lucius was there to put an end to that, not continue it. He was picking up on a ton of sarcasm in her voice, well this looked familiar. Oddly people her age picked up that snotty and snarky attitude a lot. Lucius didn't exactly enjoy dealing with it, but then again it was easily bypassed.

"As far as I can tell, you, just like me, are metahuman. Thus, you are my kind. And we are so much more, more then you could ever imagine. And we are feared because of it. Have you ever felt like an outcast? Unwanted? Have you ever felt so helpless that you resort to things you would otherwise consider wrong? I know you have, because we all have. As a race, we are feared because of what we are, what we represent. So we're brushed under the rug, chased away like rats. No one deserves such treatment.  For years, i've been trying to unite our scattered and weak race to make something stronger, to take our rightful place. You're special my dear, a goddess, yet one that is thrown away like trash out of cowardice. I'm here to offer you a chance to rise." Lucius would explain, trying not to be too long winded. He didn't want to scare the girl with this, and he really did want to help her. This conversation had to be taken slowly, or it would be a bust.

It took some effort for Arienne to calm herself down and the only reason why she bothered was, quite frankly, because the man's words intrigued her. She knew it was probably against her better judgement and that, one way or another, she'd probably come to regret it but damn it, she wanted to hear what he had to say. No doubt about it, he had hooked her and now there was nothing to do but wait, listen and see which direction this unsettlingly interesting conversation went.

"I was an outcast long before I found out I was a metahuman," Arienne answered not bothering to hide her bitterness. Life, for her, hadn't exactly been fair nor had it been easy. "Feared or not, realizing I was special has proven to be one of the few blessings in my life. Why would I need the trust of the masses out there anyway? Its not like they trusted me when I was one of the merely mortal, anyway." They didn't trust and they didn't help. Which brought her thoughts back to the uneasy question of why this Lucius was here, making this speech and offering to help her in his own way. No help came for free.

"So what you're saying is you go around finding people like us, people who are special and what, have us work for you in your quest to have us become the leaders of this world?" It wasn't quite what he had said but she was pretty good at reading between the lines and that seemed the gist of it. Insane. Completely insane. Surely it was, wasn't it?

"That's right." Lucius said plainly, not caring if that sounded crazy. That's essentially what he did, yes. But there was more to it then just that. But if that was unsettling to the female, perhaps she wasn't right for his new world, perhaps she hadn't evolved enough. Or maybe she was just a defensive girl who had been through a lot, one that had something far greater then a street kid inside her. Whether she believed in herself or not, Lucius knew all of his kind had been through the same thing. Even before they realized they were different, metahumans seemed to be outcasts.

"I'm not going to pretend i know what you've been through. We all have a sob story, and as sad as it may be we have to live with it in our own ways. But instead of acting like a victim, i use my experiences to achieve. You don't want to be a common thief do you? You don't want to be looked at as lower then you are, do you? So why not use what you have to make yourself and this world better? I'm just trying to improve this decaying planet, trying to save it. It's not about being a ruler, it's about survival of the fittest, and unless we unite, for the first time in history the fittest won't win." Lucius said. He of course had much more to offer then this, she could get out of this shithole and live a better life, but Lucius wasn't one to bribe someone. He wanted her to agree with his ideals first, or at least see his point.

Arienne didn't want to be defined by her past. Part of the reason she had left her past so far behind was because she didn't want to be defined by it. Her experiences would always be a part of shaping who she was as a person and she didn't want didn't want to feel ashamed of where she had come from, but damn it she was more than a teenage runaway from a drug addicted prostitute mother! She was more than that and she deserved to have more than that in her future. Was this Lucius the way to achieve that? Maybe or maybe not but it wasn't as if she could move much further backwards than where she was all ready. Maybe it was time to take a risk.

"I want to be something," realizing as she spoke the words that they were true. "I want my life to be about more than where I'm going to find the money for food and shelter. Maybe I even want to be able to do some good in this world and improve things a little because we sure as fuck know the world went to hell a long time ago. I don't know if you can actually help with any of that and I'm probably going to regret saying this because your'e just some weird with a mask and a bit of charisma that appeared in the middle of my house, but I think I might just be willing to take a chance to your words."

Deep breath, the words were out for good or ill. There was a thrill of it all to go along with the uncertainty. Perhaps, in some ways, the uncertainty was part of the thrill. Certainly Arienne had no experience to pull upon now.

Lucius smirked at the girls words, it seemed he had gotten her passed the whole dude appearing in her room thing. That was good, it was always nice to get another willing supporter. His community was now large and ever growing, and he was almost ready to make his move. What would come of that, he wasn't sure, all he knew was it would likely give his race more of a foothold.

"You will, we all will. In the end, the willingness to unite as a people of individuals like you will see us through. Now my lady, are you ready to leave this dump?" Lucius asked, getting up and alerting Hector telepatically to get Daniel in there. Suddenly Daniel would appear, the female would definitely have to get used to that.

"This is my associate Daniel. He knows how awkward this must be as i came to him only a few years ago with the same offer. This is your final choice, take his hand and enter a new world, or stay behind and watch from afar." Lucius said, prompting Daniel to hold out his hand in an offering manner. They would all be teleported to Lucius' Sanctuary if she did.

Arienne was about to take a leap of faith that was going to change her life forever, for good or ill. Things weren't likely to get any worse than how they stood currently, so what did she have to lose? Her status as an anonymous, lower-class runaway? Didn't seem like much of a risk when she put it in those terms.

"Nice to meet you Daniel." Arienne might have been one step above street punk but that didn't mean she couldn't be polite. Besides, it probably wouldn't be the smartest move to piss of her new...employers? Benefactors? Allies? Well, she wasn't quite sure what they were considered at that moment but either way it seemed best to be polite.

After stashing a few meager belongings into a backpack, Arienne took Daniel's hand. "All right, I think I'm ready for this thing." Sink or swim time now, right?

Lucius watched as the girl got some belongings, it seemed she had made her choice. Daniel smiled and waved when she greeted him, and pretty much left it at that. Upon touching Daniels hand he reached over and grabbed Lucius and they were all teleported across the globe, to a secure location they called The Sanctuary. They were in the busy courtyard, right next to a large and beautiful tree that sat in the middle of the mostly sleek black and high tech facility. It seemed this place had it's own artificial environment. Everything was either black or had a holographic glow to it, and metahumans all walked around as if this were a city, and it almost was. All manner of rooms could be found here from a indoor Japanese garden to a rather fancy restrurant style room where you could get pretty much any food you wanted. And that wasn't even taking into account the personalized rooms every member of the community got, curtsey of nano technology. Really, anything anyone wanted to do for fun could be found here.

"Welcome and make sure you keep these handy, you can use this facility whenever your heart desires it." Lucius said, handing the girl a small teleportation device that would only work for her, whenever she wanted to come back here or leave all she had to do was activate it. He also handed her a rather plane looking ATM card that could be used to withdrawal money from a virtually empty-less bank account.

"So, what do you think?" Daniel asked. At this point it seemed Lucius had other matters to attend, but Daniel would be able to answer any questions the girl had and pretty much show her any part of the facility she wanted.

In an unexpected instant, Arienne's life had changed in ways she could not even begin to predict at that moment in time. She had gone from a runaway street kid with super powers to...an underling in an evil metahuman supremacist organization? Well, the truth was that she could probably do worse for herself. A little voice at the back of her mind told her that she had probably just gotten in way over her head but she forced it soundly down. Maybe she had, but this was her opportunity to actually be someone. One way or another she was going to make it happen.

"Um, thanks," Arienne answered, accepting both the card and the teleportation device. She knew she was probably a little glassy eyed, taking it all in, but that was nothing to be ashamed of, right? Surely she couldn't be the first gifted teenager they had brought through these doors.

"This is all pretty amazing. Do I get a room of my own?" Arienne was nothing if not able to adapt and a small corner of this grand place to call her own would go a long way to making her comfortable.

Daniel wondered why the female asked about her room, of course they would provide her with one. Why would they bring her here and tell her to abandon her dump if they weren't going to? Daniel would nod and reach out with his hand, offering to teleport the female to her room. If she accepted they would appear outside a room, and this room had a computer terminal next to it.

"That terminal allows you to design your room in any way you want, just type it in and the room will change. Nano technology at it's finest." Daniel said proudly. It wasn't tat he actually had any part in making that tech, but he was still proud to work with the person that had. Once the female chose her room layout and style, she could walk in and find it exactly as she had created it.

Felix wasn't an fan of The Sanctuary. It wasn't necessarily how the place looked, though he wasn't really big on the high tech, sleek look that Lucius had seemed to favor. Black slick walls like the hull of a jet with the odd hologram dotted around to add some change of color. Bad feng shui? No, what rubbed Felix up the wrong way was how the place felt. It had an odd clinical vibe to it, like some great hospital waiting room. The last place Felix wanted to be. It felt just a bit fake, just a bit unreal. Like living in a painting, it looked lovely but it was all two dimensional in the end.

Stomping through wearing his black overcoat and combat trousers Felix cut a clear line through the small crowds he passed. His presence when he'd first taken up residence here had sometimes stirred people near him. Not in a bad way, perhaps he was just a bit different from the usual people Lucius pulled into his little den. What was he saying? Of course he was different. Not many places boasted a live in mercenary.

Walking out into the courtyard Felix saw Lucius, along with Daniel and another unidentified girl. Felix let his mouth twitch in a half smile "Another one for the menagerie"

Staying to one side he waited for Lucius to finish with his new client. Once he was free Felix would step toward him, waiting for his employer to notice him.

With Daniel gone Lucius would find himself confronted with another member of this little community, though calling the male that may have been a stretch. Lucius couldn't help but feel it was just for the money with this one, which was fine, but he wasn't exactly on top of the list of most trust worthy individuals under his employ. Lucius smirked slightly at the mans comment, then removed his mask, allowing it to collapse into something no bigger then a usb stick before clasping it into his belt. After that he pulled his hood down. As nice as the whole mask/hood combo was, it could get annoying at times, especelly when Lucius wanted to see without looking through optics.

"I would hardly call them wild animals, but yes, she's new." Lucius said in response, closing the distance with the mercenary. The man was not of Lucius' type, being less of a gentlemen and more of a hardened soldier. That was all well and good of course, just a bit uncivilized for Lucius' taste.

"Anyway, i haven't seen you in awhile. How have you been?" Lucius asked, making small talk mostly. It was good to keep a relationship with those under him, and a friendly one at that.