These are the apartments above Apokryphos Cafe and Coffeehouse.  Most tenants are younger people who have no other places to go, or who have slipped through the cracks of the social services to be left on the streets otherwise.

Lina didn't have an office space persay. Well, at one point she did up until several months ago. Her partner, Carl Reyna was KIA during a mission where they were investigating a lab experimenting on humans, giving them abilities. What they were doing was illegal. Everything was fine until the situation turned upside down.

They called the woman "Patient Zero". Lina felt some kind of connection with the lady, like she knew her "signature". Though the woman's face was hidden through a ninja mask and shrouded in deep purple ninja gi, Lina believed avoiding detection would be easy. Wrong. When they were discovered, Lina took Carl and ran. Then he turned on her.

Something was off about his movements, like he was bieng controlled. He tried to kill Lina. The latter knew what would sever the tie but refused. She didn't want to live the rest of her life knowing she ended her partner's life, just to save them. So Lina did the most human thing she could... run, not knowing the latter would make it worse. Last she remembered was seeing the lady kill him in front of Lina... AS LINA!

That was the straw that broke this young lady's back. For the past several months, Lina went AWOL from the DPA and lived as a young teen in the Apokryphal Apartments area. Lina's spacial manipulation powers gave her the abilities to not only affect time around her but also on herself.

Everything was destroyed that day. Lina's confidence--an enemy that knew her every move, even using them! Then using the latter in mockery as she stood there helpless to save her partner.

Broken inside, Lina felt that returning to the DPA would be a disgrace to them. She was sure everyone was looking for her... But the girl wasn't ready yet. She couldn't cope with the failure of losing one of her closest friends. No, it was something more than that. Lina ran over her mind again in again the image of the shapeshifter that tricked Carl into believing it was HER. It didn't add up. Lina believed there was no way a small operation could duplicate that kind of power in a short length of time and with whal looked like a dozen and a half people (only a few of them were ACTUAL scientists working on "Patient Zero" while the rest were foot soldiers). They had to have had help. Given Lina's current state, very little is known about this group except for their name... They called themselves the Firestorm Cult. Yet for several months, they've been quiet. Good... As long as Lina didn't show her face, no more embarrasing moments could happen.

Lina sat there in an alley outside the apartment complex, laying up against a wall. She was drapped in a tattered greyish silver hoodie, holed blue jeans, and black sandals. The hoodie hid her face, wet from the tears of her bereavement.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Tue 27 June 2017.

A woman dressed in tattered clothes and carrying a multitude of bags entered the alley. Her gray hair was matted and filthy, she had a layer of grime on her hands and face and her clothes were mismatched rags. She started down the alley followed by two unusually large cats, but stopped when she saw Lina. "Your territory?" She asked in a raspy voice as she kept a respectful distance from Lina, as one normally would with a wild animal.

Lina didn't move. She acted like she didn't hear the lady but she knew she was speaking to her. The lady didn't quite hear what the other said to her so she rewinded time a little to catch what the passerbyer said to her in full.

"I don't understand." Lina started. Her voice was weak. "I have no territory."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Tue 27 June 2017.

The cats were moving slowly, one on each side of the alley.  They were sniffing everything, like they were looking for something, or suspected something unseen was there.  They worked with an eerie tandemness that was abnormal, being cats.  Dogs might usually work this way, but cats did not usually.  Not smaller cats, anyway.  Perhaps lions in a pride together, which was what these made you think of when you watched them, but these were not lions.

The woman looked confused at Lina's question she paused a moment, then pointed at the cats, and then herself. "Us..." She paused as if searching for the right word. "Welcome?"

Lina took what the lady said as a question of whether or not she could stay. She didn't want to probe her mind to get the lady's full intentions. Lina normally would just to get information from said person depending on the situation. This time was different. Lina doubted herself. Life was meaningless and bieng an immortal made it even more so because there was nothing she could do to make it better. No matter how far she went, the pain would follow. Every scenario she played out in her mind on how she could've saved Carl ended in the same result.

Lina had been alone for months and maybe company was what she needed right now. Sentient biengs were capable of doing beautiful things but also terrible ones. Lina's first notion was to run. Yet something inside of her wouldn't, believing the woman was harmless. Even if she wasn't, depending on the threat level, only time would solve it.

"Yes." You could hear the sadness in her voice. Lina sniffled.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:06, Tue 27 June 2017.

The woman sat down on the ground next to Lina, as the cats finished their search of the alleyway. The cat's returned to the bag lady, both keeping a watchful eye on Lina. One positioned itself between Lina and the old woman, the other sat on her lap, keeping a watchful eye on both sides of the alley. The woman looked over at Lina and asked in that raspy voice. "Hungry?"

"What do you have?" Lina asked as she turned her head toward her. The lady could catch a few tear drops falling from the girl's face.

  The woman nodded, and looked at her two companions, then tilted her head.  The one in her lap made a rather disgruntled noise, shooting Lina a concerned look, then back up at the woman, before emitting a rather mournful sounding 'merrrrrowooowww' sound.  Clearly less than happy, but the cat rose, and padded off down the alley, disappearing around the corner.  Several long minutes later, the cat reappeared, carrying a little box of chinese takeout.  It smelled good, although one could not discern exactly what dish was in the box by smell.  She looked to Lina, and said "Hungry?"

Lina nodded at her. She didn't drop her hoodie. Not yet. Trust wasn't the issue here yet a small voice inside of Lina's head begged to differ. Whether or not she admitted it, lina hadn't eaten in a while... A rather LONG one at that. Not like she needed it.

Unfortunately, absence of death due to a lack of nourishment disentegrated the last hope Lina had in trying to leave this life (yes, she's tried almost every method and failed). Something/someone was giving her another chance at it. Lina didn't want to believe it at the moment. Yet she still took the old lady's gesture as one of goodwill.

The smell of the chinese food got to her. At the smell of it, Lina's stomach growled.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Tue 27 June 2017.

The cat placed the container down in front of the bag lady and mewed, the bag lady smiled widely and mewed back, opening the container and revealing the assorted scraps within. The bag lady scooped some out with her filthy fingers and fed the cats from her hands. She looked over at Lina, tilting her head quizzically at her and looking uncannily like her feline companions as she did so. "Also stray?" She asked in her raspy voice.

There was something quite strange going on with this woman. She seemed to not be quite right in the head, but at the same time it was clear she had somehow communicated with the cat, asking it to find food and much to it's chagrin. The cat's didn't behave like other cats either, they seemed more alert, more aware, not to mention their size dwarfed most cats, while losing none of the agility.

"Kinda sorta." Lina harrumphed. Her voice sounded more confident. She noticed the offness of the lady. Lina deducted that she lady could be a parahuman. Innocent as it seemed, it brought back memories to when she first was found by the Anomaly.

7 years of her life gone. She didn't remember who she was but growing up in an unknown world while at the same time, learning of her powers day by day was frightening and wonderful both at the same time. Her behavior was akward to her new family, however; they were alien to each other. The Anomaly knew nothing of an "enhanced" human and Lina knew nothing about the Anomaly except their advanced technologic race and strange purple skin. They were also stronger than the average human, though also like them form wise. Some of the Anomaly had super powers similar to Lina herself.

For the first time in a while, Lina felt at ease. The exchange with the "Cat Lady" started to remind the girl of her humanity. Lina closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

"So you talk to cats?" Lina's voice was warm. "I once knew a little girl that could talk to mythical beasts. The power to talk to animals is great to have!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Wed 28 June 2017.

The Bag lady edged the box of scraps towards Lina. "Eat." She urged in her raspy voice as her and the cats had their fill. When Lina asked if she talked to cats the woman tilted her head in confusion again. She looked downward her nose scrunching in concentration as if she needed to take a moment to understand what Lina was saying to her. She pointed at the cat's. "My pack, my...family."

She looked up at the sky and a pidgeon flew down to land in front of her, then a pair of rats scurried up to stand next to the pidgeon, and a stray dog trotted over to join them. "My friends."

Lina smiled back at her and took some of the scraps she offered. She enjoyed every bite of it. Being one with the "land" was what brought her down to Earth. In the times that she wasn't, she remembered spending most of her time out in the wild with her friend... Lina couldn't quite remember her her name.

Then she whispered after taking a few bites, "Her name... Was Hilda." Lina's memory of her friend was the times her "family" protected them from their enemies, mainly those who were after the very animals Hilda protected. Sadly, Lina left for greener pastures but was sure Hilda was okay, even though they were many dimensions a part. On an Earth where dinos still roamed, dragons and wyverns existed, Lina and Hilda were their "protectors". Yet Hilda was the only one, at the time, that came between the poachers and these rare animal's extinction. "Hilda Izdubar. Much like you, she had a pack. Believe it or not, there is an Earth where dinos, dragons, and wyverns exist. Hilda lived among them. They were her family and they watched after each other."

The woman smiled as Lina talked, but she could tell the old bag lady didn't really understand her. Her mental patterns in fact seemed more like an animals than a human, as if in gaining her abilities she somehow lost her humanity.

The pigeon cooed and the old woman cooed back before the pigeon flew back into the sky, the rats and dog also dispersing, going back to their business.

Lina felt bad for the lady. But she didn't want to.... Not just yet. It always backfired. Lina inhaled as she remember the last time she read someone's mind. It was the last time her partner was alive. Lina believed she could release Carl from the monster that mind controlled him. She could hear him scream as the two fought in his mind. It was like a tug-o-war but the end result was a braindead human (and later a molten ashed one). Lina slowly rocked back and forth, holding her arms. She was afraid to use her powers on/with other people. Though there were many successes, that "clone" did something to Lina that left a bad tast in her mouth.... er mind. And that taste was still there.

At the end of the alley, a glowing blue portal roughly the size and shape of a door appeared and out walked a sharply dressed man with short dark hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He looked over at Lina, a sad smile on his face. "Agent Anomaly, I believe you've had enough leave." He took a step forward, offering a hand as his expression and voice softened. "Lina, it's time to come home."

"You knew where I was the whole time?" She slowly stood up. She wasn't sure how they found her but then again, what puzzled her was why they didn't all those months. Then she looked away, she started crying again. "How can I return after that incident? Why would you accept a failure like me back?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:53, Tue 11 July 2017.

Ethan nodded. "Yes, I have. I chose to give you some space, some time to work things out in your mind, because I know how it feels to go on forever while everyone around you drops like flies. How it feels when you lose someone you care about and your forced to just go on and have to keep doing it again and again. I once spent twenty years getting drunk and looking for a way to kill myself after losing someone I cared about, I think a few months living in alleys is much better by comparison..

What happened wasn't your fault, that operation was far beyond what the intel suggested. In fact what they accomplished should have been impossible. There's only one man whomever achieved artifical paras on that scale and he's been dead for years.

And Carl wasn't your fault either, he was being controlled, he wasn't himself. You defended yourself, you didn't have any other option."

In reply to Ethan Sharpe (msg # 19):

She stood there taking in everything he said slowly. She recounted the times situations did spin out of control. Even in her own situation. The Nightmare... When she was in the same concious that is. Lina wasn't in control and that so called benevolent race that put the evil betch in her mind was the blame for that. It was clear that they sent her to destroy all worlds she visited. Some next level meglomaniac type stuff.

Now you have this doppelganger running around. The DPA helped Lina repair her image but Lina feared this baffoon would reverse all of that. This was a mission to be solved on another day. For now, duty called.

"You're right." She said as she dropped her hood. Lina looked back to the Cat Lady. Her young teenage figure slowly morphed back into the early 20 year old woman that she was.

"Thank you for helping me to remind myself that there is hope. Not for just me but for all of us." her thoughts were heard in the Cat Lady's mind. She turned back to Ethan.

"See that this lady is taken care of, please? I've been amongst the homeless for a while and saw their struggle but only she took the time to talk to me. I haven't talked to anyone since that day."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:41, Tue 11 July 2017.

The Immortal Pirate gave Lina a roguish grin. "Of course, I always am." Ethan tapped his hand to his ear, requesting another door to his office before turning back to Lina. "Also, as a tip, if you're trying to hide from me, it's probably best not to squat next to the building owned by my unofficial niece." With another smile he gestured towards the portal. "Ladies first."

"Duly noted. Should've went out in space since I can survive in it's vacuum. But it's kinda cold out there and I hate the cold!" Lina answered with a small giggle, she helped the elderly lady up and the two went through the portal along with her cats before Ethan.

----> Ethan's office.

"Well then you'd have to worry about the Guardians spotting you from their orbital base, though they'd be less likely to alert me." Ethan chuckled as he followed behind her.

>>To DPA building>>