As a fairly liberal place whose citizens included "everyday superheroes" long before the Gifted arrived, Seattle has been fairly accepting of the new breed of humanity that seemed to pop into existence thirteen years ago. In fact, the local laws surrounding non-dangerous displays of Gifted abilities are far looser here than even in Las Vegas! And though it has always been welcoming, it is has recently been transformed into the new "Hollywood for The Gifted." Over the course of the last few years, many Gifted individuals have risen to celebrity status as they've come out of the shadows.

Seattle's Gifted celebrity culture is heavily fueled and informed by what cultural commentators have called a "classic superhero culture." This culture is difficult to explain to outsiders, but, in general, non-Namidian, destructively-inclined Gifted gangs are more present here than most places in America. As such, the threat that such "supervillains" pose is more real here than anywhere else. Yet the sheer number of heroic Gifted ready to combat them keeps these villains in check, rendering low-intensity Gifted battles a regular occurrence that many citizens don't even worry about.

These cultural elements changed, however, after Gaultown. Many of the former celebrities have been publicly rebuked for their recklessness and inaction in the face of the ITSDA's "corruption." Meanwhile, others have turned against their former comrades, becoming armchair protesters and bloggers that endlessly decry "Gifted entitlement" and "Gifted Messiah Complexes." Nevertheless, it is not particularly shocking to see someone use powers or manifest them in public settings here. Moreover, many of Seattle's citizens remain interested, both intellectually and personally, in the Gifted. Some even still support them openly and wholeheartedly!

The recently backlash is, some fear, going to spark a wave of Anti-Gifted hostility in Seattle. This fear has only magnified recently now that scientists have declared that the appearance of "The Big One," a world-ending Gifted powerhouse, is entering the realm of possibility. But for now at least, the Gifted still have a home in Seattle. And, more dangerously, those who would destroy them have a target...
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:00, Sun 12 June 2016.

 Brian Jameson stood before his assembled class. The room was set up like a lecture hall and made it easy for Brian to speak to his interns despite their laptops strewn about with an air of frustrated genius, "...the divisions I'll be hiring you to will need your expertise to be effective. I've hand picked each of you because of your unique qualifications, some of you are Gifted, others of you are brilliant, analytical or possess technical insight that I've found to be extremely valuable to our work. All of you are reasonable enough to see the merit in secrecy of these systems. The computer language I'm teaching you will be proprietary and emulates a human mind, therefore will have greater recall abilities, associative capabilities and are an intuitive learning platform. I've selected each of you because each of you will learn a piece of this computational library, compartmentalizing this language so that hacking it will be virtually impossible. This will prevent misuse or outright failure."

 "Imagine an issue where nullifier-handcuffs could be hacked? So you can see the issues that might arise there," Brian said. He looks at his watch and back to his class, "Ok, we'll meet back here Monday, you'll each find your final lessons. Class dismissed -- have a good weekend."

He gathered his satchel and stuffed his laptop into it.

His recent elevation into the spotlight had afforded him a few perks of visibility. The first was that several computer science undergrads had offered their services to him, to intern with him. He couldn't say no to the chance to make things better, to affect a new generation in a positive way. He did hand select each of the interns out of those whom applied to his tutelage. A few were a bit shady, and they had an even more thorough background checking. Six were felons of one sort or another, but all of those he recruited were hackers he found.

 So he had become a posterboy for nerds, great.

 He refocused his thoughts. Johnny-5 had been scouring the web for signs of life from the Namidian wave, after their recent defeat they had been all but silent, however no major movements had been detected. The AI had reconnected with Meta after the Gaultown battle. Happy to have been able to help, relieved that his maker was safe.

He began to walk to his office, through the halls of the Ranier bldg., downtown Seattle, his new home.

 After that it almost looked like it would be old times, but unfortunately that was not to be. As calculated, media coverage had been plaguing his every move afterwords and it seemed all but impossible to retreat back to his old anonymous life. So instead the pair had begun to step into that limelight. Attempting to champion causes and defend the ITSDA's actions.

 What he began to realize very quickly, was that there would be no way for ITSDA to move forward without significant growing pains or die trying. Meta hadn't wanted to stay much anyways, but Jill Irvine had reached out. He did owe her his life, if not for her he would've likely been assassinated on Interstate-70 that fateful day. So he owed her and her team. He would help in any way he could, but having been rendered crippled for their actions that day, the ITSDA would not be able to effectively combat the Namidian Wave. They were condemned for what was essentially a two day war, the battle of Chicago, Gaultown and New York had irreparably damaged their credibility with the public and as a result, the United Nations; they had simply been doing what the organization had been designed for.

 That had been what had kept him up late at night before they went to trial. Having decided that a new course needed to be plotted, Brian made a rough outline of a foundation, a non-profit organization that would deal with the destruction, the impotence of the populace at large and potency of the unrestrained Gifted. He would need heroes, he would need policy makers and diplomats, he would need researchers as well as media to effect the goals that seemed clear to him, but he knew where not so easily identified to the world. The world needed a hand, and the foundation needed to be the one to give it, because the ITSDA could not.

 That's how the Gaultown Foundation had been born, or GTF for those who needed acronyms. Brian knew that in order to do this they would need money and manpower, and probably a lot of it quickly. So he set Johnny-5 on the case, selecting for background, accomplishments, and potential, if they were gifted made no difference to Brian, he had hardly considered himself gifted for a long time before he donned the Meta-suit. Besides, he knew that Gifted weren't the only minds on the planet that mattered, and that was important to represent within his organization, Gifted and Non-gifted alike, working together.

 The money was harder, because Meta had never needed great sums, he hadn't focused his particular set of skills on the subject. Now however he was learning a great deal. He had already accidentally created a bit of a hiccup in the stock market, something which his analysis had accurately forecast that he had thought would be hardly noticeable but enough to startle many investors apparently, something that had been beyond his ability to see. He knew that too good an application of his talents could greatly upset the delicate economy after that, so he simply toned it down, which still afforded him a great deal of cash, just a slightly slower stream of it.

 With cash flowing in, he began to buy start-ups and the Ranier Bldg. A large condominium location near Pike Place Market by the waterfront in Seattle's Belltown district. A place to start from. He spent some of the capital on upgrading the building's old electrical systems, and upgrading them with various emergency protocols and surveillance systems. In addition the twenty story building held space for twenty condominiums after renovating several of the floors. The top floor held the operations level a place to invite guests, convene meetings and hold lectures like the one he just dismissed. Work would be ongoing for the rest of the building, but soon it would be complete.


 The plan was to seed these graduate students into the start-ups he had bought and relocated to the Ranier building to begin work on various projects like the inhibitor cuffs, designed to baffle Gifted powers in a controlled way (he was always concerned when he heard of out of control gifted), or to disarm them entirely (or psychopaths like Kane). So far he could only temporarily make this happen in his prototypes. It was something which would bolster belief in the Foundation's causes and solve the problem of Police ineffectiveness against Gifted.

 Meanwhile Johnny-5 had begun to divert some of his attention to the seeking out of researchers whose fields of study would help to move things forward, as well as candidates for PR and diplomacy, team training and special efforts. The list was growing by the day.

He found himself in the lounge and he propped his feet up on the couch as he laid back to do some work, newly installed plexisteel windows allowed light through to illuminate the room with Seattle's first sunny day in the intervening time since he'd moved in.

 Already names were beginning to crop up. Several of them had fought with him in Gaultown...He began to dial the first name on the list using his retinal contact interface.

 "Hello, this is Brian Jameson, yes, Meta the bright bulb..., yes, everything's fine....Oh, nice, you're with Peter too? Great say hi for me, I actually called because I have an opportunity opening up that I think you both might find interesting...because as you know, everything is actually not fine."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:04, Sun 12 June 2016.

Frank Jackson, Peter Vargus, and Sarah Darley entered the lobby of the building, looking around as they did so; they didn't see a flesh and blood person, but having met the owner of this structure before they had no doubt countless cameras and scans had heralded their arrival. Not sure exactly wha to do with themselves, the three potential new employees stood around and waited for something to happen.

 Their arrival had been foretold, a local security group had effectively secured the grounds because news had traveled fast. The first tweet with a pic had shown the twitterverse the three Gaultown comrades disembarking at the airport. Locals already knew that in all likelihood they were traveling to the the new and rather quiet goings on with the developing GTF. Reporters and newsmen clambered at the perimeter to the garden steps of the building for a shot of the three as they entered.

 Once inside the trio could see compact robotic forklifts moving payloads around the lobby which was still very much still under construction. A young lady of early twenties with a catchy smile and bright eyes appeared before them, introduces herself, "I'm  Lucy Ranier, and this is my building, or I should say that Mr.Jameson owns it, but he created me. I'm a virtual receptionist as well as a security specialist," she paused and leaned forward and spoke to them in slightly hushed tones a bit nervously, "I'm also still a bit new at this so, please just let me know if anything seems off."

 The obvious introduction out of the way she continues at normal tones, her form flickers a moment like an old tv screen and you realize that she's a hologram, "I'm supposed to be a smart building, so I'll just venture a guess that you are here to meet with Mr.Jameson? If you'd like just sign here and peruse the contracts, a copy of which I'll send you, or you can speak with him first if it suits you better? I've also let him know you've arrived so he should be along presently in any case."

 She smiled brightly and cocked her head slightly to the side in apparent assumption of some response.

Frank ignored the cameras and clamoring reporters, while Sarah had fun vibrating just fast enough to blur any pictures taken of her. Peter, however, disappeared from sight in a cloud of black smoke, only to emerge seconds later clad once more as Black Magic. He performed all sorts of minor tricks for his audience, at one point getting so involved in his impromptu performance that Jackson had to grab the back of the man's cape and yank him along.

When the trio of heroes finally got inside the build, the Immortal Soldier didn't seem startled or surprised at what wonders they saw; of course, after standing at ground zero of a massive explosion created by a knight composed of light imploding, it stood to reason that automated forklifts and holographic women just weren't special in his book. Peter enjoyed looking around now that he wasn't elsewise distracted, as did Darley. After the image before them stopped speaking, Vandal pointed to one of the efficient machines humming along and asked;

"Hey Frank, how come the ITSDA never had anything like this? We could have fixed up a lot of damage with little gizmos like these, but I've never seen one until now.

"That's because the ITSDA exists to fight a war, not to rebuild in the aftermath of it."

The man with snow-white Elvis hair addressed the projection with a lip-curled smile.

"Well now, Lucy, if your looks are anything to go by, your boss has good taste. Thanks for the offer, but I always like a face to face meeting before I sign any contracts. We'll wait for him, if it's all the same."

 Brian emerged from the elevator at the back of lobby at a pace to meet up with them. He had a tablet in hand and swerved around a forklift and a couple construction contractors as materials, conduits, wiring and other materials were being transported around. Another set of drones were each picking up bricks to construct a fountain in the lobby in a swarm-like hive-mind. They weren't flashy but they were apparently doing the trick. Another was covering the last part of the bare floor with some heavy duty looking tiles, beneath more tech gleamed up, embedded into the floor. "Excuse me gentlemen and robots."

 He waved his arms wide to the trio and sported a wide grin, "guys you made it! Good to see you. Thank you Lucy, talk to you later."

 The girl nodded, pleased with herself and disappeared from view.

 "So, do you guys wanna see your rooms or do you wanna see what I've been working on this week?" he asked with a sly wink, he was really pleased with the place, it's apparent.

Frank returned the grin, then walked forward to offer the man a handshake.

"Good to see you again, buddy. Looks like you're doing well, I'm really happy for you. Well it's your show, despite what a certain primadonna might think..."

Jackson nodded his head in Black Magic's direction, whom in turn pretended not to notice.

"...So you take the lead, and we'll just follow you."

In way of a greeting, Vandal gave a friendly wave and Peter bowed.

 Brian smiled and nodded, "You're gonna like this. Ok, Lucy lets go through Power Test in sector 2."

 Lucy's disembodied voice spoke in calm yet authoritative measured tones. "ATTENTION: UNAUTHORIZED POWERS USEAGE DETECTED IN THE LOBBY. ACTIVATING ANTI-POWER ZONES."

 Suddenly each of the foursome felt a tingle in their skin, each of the Gifted suddenly felt the weight of their bodies as their Gifts left them, their enhanced strength and agility now simply human strength and agility. The lights flickered a bit but a constant hum could be heard as they each attempted a trick of their powers. Except Frank who probably felt as though he was a sack of wet potatoes moving in high-G.

 "Crazy right?" Brian suggested as he felt the effects as well, "It has no lasting effects, but can disarm powers on the premises. The main problem is the electrical grid drag it causes. I call it a nullifier field, as long as you're exposed to the field it shorts the parts of the body that hold the 'gift-boxes', my own pet name for particles that seem to govern power use. It's absolutely harmless to norms."

 "Now Frank is just a tough guy and you two are just a couple cool looking folks. You'll fit in nicely in Seattle by the way," he watched their smiles turn into frowns as he stood gauging their reactions, "okay, okay. Lucy disengage Power test and add Frank Jackson, Peter Vargus, and Sarah Darley to the authorized list."

 Suddenly they felt their Gifts surge back to life like an engine starting in their chests.

 "Feels good eh? Well Lucy has the ability to detect those gift-boxes that enter the building. I'm working on a system to see if we can make that kind of scanner mobile," Brian said, his teacher tone starting to emerge, "ok so follow me and I'll show you the condos."

 Each of the condos were spacious with a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and spare bedroom. For now each has a set of five year or older appliances but they look in good shape for the most part. They've recently been repainted white and Brian says they are free to do whatever they'd like to the places, apart from destroying them entirely. Upgrades on a few things will be standard soon, he explains that he just hasn't been able to get to that yet.

 Then he shows them the top level. A cadre of bots are busy cleaning the lounge when the doors open. It's a spacious circular area and the first thing they see, flanked on either side by halls that jut off to two other rooms. To the right, a conference/lecture room/briefing room, as well as several small labs and work rooms along with a cargo elevator and garage, still unfinished. To the left, a communications room with seating for twenty operators and analysts. Finally a fully automated kitchenette, serving twelve kinds of food, all made to order and specifications, there's a bumper sticker on the machine that says 'Made at Google'. Beyond that is a medical bay, now still covered in plastic sheets, equipment not even taken out of packaging yet. Most of the rooms have spacious bay style windows that stretch from floor to ceiling and look to be made out of something very thick. Brian knocked on one to draw attention to it. "Don't try to jump through these suckers, it's a steel-plexiglass combination, very tough stuff and, it turns out, pretty easy to program with a nanomachine layer in the center," to prove his point, he turns up the brightness on the view allowing in maximum light, and then opaques it into a solid wall, and then back again to window. "Yeah, this place should be able to stand a big earthquake. The roof is the best way outta here in an emergency, if it every comes to that, but there's an airlock to prevent intruders from that route."

The three Gifted let out an audible gasp as their powers were stolen from them, feeling dazed since what they'd learned to live with everyday for years simply wasn't there anymore. The trio glowered at Meta, the frowns they displayed clear indicators that a little warning might have been nice. The restorations of their special traits felt comfortable like a worn favorite pair of jeans, but the grins of before were absent as the tour continued.

No words were spoken by the Immortal Soldier, Speedster, or Magician when they saw the condos, they simply dropped their luggage off in one each with Vandal and Black Magic taking one to the left and right of Frank.

They looked about the lounge when they got to that location, mutely nodding at what they saw, and watched as Meta tried to impress them with his wall/window. Finally, the others smiled once more.

"Nice little setup you've got going here, Brian. That sucker punch in the lobby was rough, but it's good to know what the bad guys are in for if and when they decide to visit. I would like to know how your defenses are against normals too, but we can get to that later. You've shown us your HQ, where we'd be living if we signed up with you, and even over the phone suggested a good salary. The only thing left out that I can see is, what exactly it is you want to hire us to do."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:17, Tue 14 June 2016.

 Brian scratched his the back of his head and wrinkled his nose as his cheeks reddened in embarassment. "Yeeeah, sorry about that. I'm not usually in the habit of surprising my own people like that. It is good to know what it's like though."

 "Ok, good. Right to the point. I need to make you guys the heroes of Gaultown, show that you support the memorial I've been cooking up, that's just the short term. Long term, I need people who can effectively handle battle, as it's sure to arise, and solution solvers. We are doing other events too, that's the part that will involve the PR work, charities, galas and outreach. You guys can do a lot more than just battle to do good work. A quick estimate says that there are roughly twelve thousand Gifted under the age of 18 in this country, if we do some outreach, give talks on proper use of powers and teach people how to control them, and teach them all tolerance, we won't be handing Namidias an entire generation of kids..."

 He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "anyways, that's my speech, that's what this place is aimed at trying. I've got several companies that would die for the rights to produce our inhibitor cuffs, something I cooked up for local police, but there's an angle there too if you want to chase it that is.

Jackson gave a dry chuckle.

"You know what outreach programs there where for kids, when I was young? Somebody decided to give you a break with a job or not calling the cops, and you didn't louse up what might be your one shot out of the gutter. Or, if not out, at least a chance to float on the surface instead of being dragged in the filth on the bottom. The first one of you who cracks a dinosaur joke goes through the unbreakable window, so don't try it...

"Well it sounds to me like what you've got planned might take a while, but then I'm immortal so what do I care, right?"

The big man laughed, and gave Brian a friendly pat on the back. Then he looked to his friends.

"What do you two think of his offer?"

"It sounds good on the surface, and I know what it's like to be a Gifted kid that your own parents are afraid of. I'd like to help others like that, let them know someone understands what they're going through, that they're still them and not monsters or something."

"Dear Meta, might I inquire as to if your dining area is stocked? If it is, I humbly suggest we have a bite to eat while looking over our contracts. This way we can ask you any questions we might have, and if all is well then you shall have three new employees by desert."

"Magic, you needn't ask twice. It absolutely is stocked. I wouldn't be alive currently if it wasn't. I haven't left this place physically in a week! Just key in the meal you'd like and the Cook-o-tron will make the meal...Oww, What?! I didn't name it that!"

 Minutes later the three are enjoying dinner, each having picked out a different meal from the Cook-o-tron's menu of available items. Brian's was chicken-fried steak and eggs-scrambled. "Now that you've had a chance to ask some questions, whaddya think? (I think it's almost dessert time.) The reason I ask is because there's a high likelihood of the Wave attempting to steal a project that's en route to us here. UC of Berkeley to Seattle isn't too far, a colleague is afraid for her team's safety and that of the project, she's got transportation lined up if we can get you down there by tomorrow..."

Frank was enjoying a triple bacon cheese burger and a side of fries, ah the joys of not having to watch your diet. He let out a belch, wiped his mouth with the back of a hand, and turned to look at Meta.

"Well I had a couple last questions, the first actually tying in to your guard detail; my Devastators were ITSDA property, and while I'm really, really good with my feet and fists, if you want me packing you'll have to give me something cause right now I've got a big goose egg.

"The second thing isn't really important to anyone but me, but is there any way you could use that big brain of yours and make me some cloths that don't burn or rip off easy? I'm kind of tired of winning the day, only to be naked at the end of it."

Peter about finished with a steak dinner, and politely dabbed at the corners of his mouth before taking a turn speaking.

"If I may ask, how big, and heavy, is the item? What I have to say next, will be influenced by those facts."

Vandal remained quiet for once, enjoying the last of her pork chop supper and letting the boys speak for a bit.

 Meta looked at Frank a bit dourly as he drank the last of his vodka milkshake, his newfound status notwithstanding, he was always a bit of a grump when it came to orderly manners. It was one reason he liked Black Magic so much, at least as much time as he'd spent with him. "the project is large, it's 40ft wide and deep, 15 ft tall. It's going to take a cargo plane to move it and it's a weighty sonovagun at 14 tons..."

 He took a breath to let that sink in and he shut down his tertiary conversation with Faye, GIPS and Gwen; he allowed Johnny to continue in his place, his full attention would be needed here to get all the details explained well.

 "It's also extremely dangerous when powered up. We can't let that happen. The project-lead is a fair lady named Faye Loveliss. She's Gifted with gravity control powers, her Gift is the only thing which can safeguard the device when powered up. So failing to prevent it from being powered up, protect her. There will be some hazard pay for this by the way," Brian stated flatly, and looked at the three faces assembled, "to answer your first question last; I've got two souped up versions of what I could remember of your Devastators Frank. You can give them a try in the range set up on the Sixteenth floor, rudimentary for now, but I'm working it into a training level for future teams. I've also got body armor that is form fitting and can change colors to match a background or style of your preference, or it can stop a bullet and absorb the kinetic force without injury, it's insulated against heat attacks and electrical attacks. There's only five of them right now so watch for wrecking them in the first go. They aren't so easy to make and impossible to patch up. It's a simplistic modification of my old suit. the more you wear it, the more comfortable it should become though."

Somewhere beneath the waves of Lake Union a school of dark shadows passed beneath the hull of an anchored Yaht. A sailor leant over the vessels side to admire what he thought was an unseasonably large school of bass- although when one of the 'fish' looked back with a glowing red pupil he stumbled back in a shocked flinch. He rubbed his eyes, swore, decided to get back to work, and forgot about the incident.

Elsewhere the bulbs of the Seattle Great Wheel winked and blinked in an attempt to draw customers. Wedged tightly between the rides lamps was an errant light- which was only visible as a single stray point of red light encased in a dark grey metal shell. Almost no one noticed it, and those who did simply assumed that it was part of the attractions hardware.

A family of American Robins chirped at each other irritatingly. They'd nested in a gutter overlooking Victor Steinbrueck Park, which they considered safer than attempting to nest in the small oasis of green itself. A few weeks ago their nest had been invaded, but in whatever small way that animals felt emotion they had grown used to the intruder and learned to ignore it. Their own cluster of bright-blue eggs nestled among a larger metal one, which seemed to keep a constant interest in the area. While construction crews had busied themselves by refurbishing the Rainier Building the 'eye's attention had been undivided.

Somewhere, in fact everywhere, other drones were at work. They were all on individual missions, but had a shared interest- and no matter what they had all been individually searching for they kept a particular eye out for red scarves...
This message was last edited by the player at 22:31, Sat 18 June 2016.

 A crowd of paparazzi begin to form outside of the Ranier building. A press conference is scheduled for minutes from now...

 After a few moments a young woman and four of the GTF's leadership emerge from the building and begin briefing reporters on what to expect.

 Meanwhile up on the twentieth floor the dinner meeting comes to an abrupt end. "I'm sorry everyone, I've got a crowd of reporters to address. I'll give you a bonus if decide to introduce yourselves to the public tonight in the next few minutes, but...," he glances down at his watch in a gesture that gave off the air that he was on a schedule, "I've got a crowd to speak to so if you'll excuse me, or conversely, follow me if you'd like that bonus."

 He abruptly stands and walks into the hall, he took the elevator to the bottom floor and emerged into the lobby, then finally, onto the steps of the building to join the rest of the Foundation leadership.

  "Thank you all for coming, I'm here to announce a new initiative that the Gaultown Foundation is proud to be taking part in. In working with ITSDA, we've been allowed and authorized to take into custody a captured Namidian Wave terrorist, Jake Williams aka Mr.Green, who I've been working with to understand the nature of a branch of the 'Wave called the Schwartz Augen. Earlier this year he was apprehended while serving as a squad commander on their behalf and taken into custody. Now with the Foundation's help we have taken important steps forward in learning more about this organization and how it works, because of the cooperation of Mr.Green. As you can see he has willingly accepted this second chance to reform and make a better life for himself and our fellow Gifted for the development of a more peaceful world," Mr.Green comes from behind the assembled Foundation leadership a bit sheepishly, "come on out here and take a bow Mr.Green, you've earned it."

 Mr.Green leans into the mic a bit too closely and says with a tinge of an Australian Accent as he shakes Meta's hand, "thank's for this opportunity to show the world what we can do together."

 The man nods and smiles charmingly, stepping back once again.

 Brian smiles into the cameras and nods back towards Mr.Green, "I think you'll agree that whenever Gifted work together, things get better for everyone. So this is also part of a pilot program designed to rehabilitate former criminals and give them an optional way out of such criminal work. They will be tracked and rendered powerless if they are violent Gifted."

 He paused and let that sink in a moment before continuing, "I am constantly amazed by our world's ability to solve problems with ingenuity, compassion and everyday heroism. Anyone who wishes to join the Foundation, can, and we encourage those whom wish to use their Gifts and ingenuity to better our world. Please consider giving the gift of life to a young Gifted, whom may be conflicted right now, not sure which way to turn. We are here to help. To report unusual Gifted activity or violence please call our 24/7 toll free hotline."


 "Secondly, I want to announce our second initiative, the GTFUnited initiative. This program gives money to police departments whom consult with Gifted professionals and incorporate Gifted into their contractor structure. We'll never have to face another Gaultown Incident if we work together to stay vigilant and cohesive, Human and Gifted, to prevent the spread of crime and terrorism. You CAN make a difference....Thank you all for coming this evening. At least it's not raining!"

 "Lastly, the GTF is proud to be employing a few of those extraordinary heroes from Gaultown in our forward team. They'll provide outreach and support to our operations. Thank you again for coming, that is all tonight!"
This message was last edited by the player at 09:24, Sun 19 June 2016.

Among the crowd that Brian was speaking to, a single man stood. He was dressed like your average street thug, but around his neck was a red scarf, the end tucked into his jacket.

Adjusting the scarf, he muttered, seemingly to himself. "Any luck?" He whispered.

***
A fair distance away, another man -dressed identically- replied, as though he could hear the first man's voice.

Leaning against the railing nearby the ferris wheel, his words were little more than a whisper. "Not really. I'm pretty sure that's just a blinking light. What about you?"

***
In the middle of a park, a woman with a red scarf spoke softly to thin air. "Rendezvous in Victor Steinbrueck. I've got eye contact."

***
"You sure about that? I don't want another laser-pointer fiasco, no matter how funny the boss thought it was." The second man asked.

***
"Oh, I'm sure." The woman glanced to the side, where she saw a little red light shining from a gutter up above, amid a chorus of chirps. "A little birdie told me."