[Char. Dev.] Ties that Bind
Impetus startled out of another waking nightmare, memories from his chrysalis coming together for the third night in a row. He didn't sleep much, but when he paused to rest or remember the events of his day, the fragmented images and feelings took over. He could still feel himself as part of her, connected to Caroline and their daughter, all of them in chrysalis at once and joined by the very fabric of the universe. Looking around, Impetus noted that the room was as bright as day, and that he was leaking quantum like water from a sieve. Tamping down the power, he tried once again to remember.
She had been in chrysalis too long, and they had gone to check. Santiago and Raoul revealed her hiding place, a cave deep under the sea, but when the three of them arrived they foud nothing. They were all concerned, but held a tentative hope that she had emerged and was exploring her new powers and form. They put out feelers, but she was nowhere to be found. Imp knew there was something wrong, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Until tonight. The vision from tonight was different.
He could feel Caroline's distress. She was taking longer to emerge from the quantum cocoon because of the baby, but she was never alarmed until that night. Impetus could feel her fear as a shudder through the core of his own being. She had sensed a familiar, trusted presence, but he shouldn't have been there, shouldn't have known where to find her. His presence, normally a balm, grew sinister and overwhelming. Then there were others, felt by their energy signatures but never seen, touching her, moving her, taking her away. She struggled to emerge, instinctively trying to guard herself and her child, but she was trapped by the cocoon that also protected her. And then the presence that comforted Impetus throughout his own transformation was just... Gone. Only a cold emptiness remained of her, and he shuddered at the wrongness of it. Fighting to emerge, the shield of solidified quantum began to unravel, and Impetus burst forth, confused and disoriented, from his transformation.
The memory fell into place, and left Impetus with a gnawing fear as his constant companion. What had happened to Caroline?
---
Gravitas glanced over notes on the latest Utopia proceedings. He wasn't a member anymore, but he still got the courtesy updates, and they paid him a hefty consulting fee to work on some of their tougher problems. Most of the issues were either terribly simple, outside his areas of interest, or required more time than he cared to give to them. One item caught his eye however; a string of murders, obvious nova culprit, few leads. Several of the victim's bodies were missing, and those that remained had not decayed as they should. The details of the case struck him as familiar, and once he looked at the notes on the victim's tissue samples, he knew. Ben.
Quentin looked at the notes again. They would find the connection, Ben's tissue samples were on record. The question was, what should he do about it? Throw them off? Help Utopia track him down? Find Ben and help him? If Utopia got ahold of him, he would likely wind up in one of the holding facilities, and the rumors surrounding those places were unpleasant at best. Ben wouldn't be able to avoid Utopia for long, either. Quentin watched the second hand of the wall clock slowly move forward, and as it ticked out the passage of another moment, he knew that there would be precious little time to save his brother.
---
Suzukaze returned from another mission battered and tired. She intended to just visit Shiro for a moment before turning in. The sleeping guard was her first clue that things weren't right. Suddenly alert and eyes full of deadly resolve, 'Kaze moved into Shiro's room. But he was gone. In his bed was a note, written in kanji.
Wind. You thought you would leave us. You were wrong. Shiro is ours, and if you value his life, or that of your family, you will do nothing to oppose us. And when we ask it, you will help us. When you tell your new employers of the kidnapping, say nothing of this note, or what you love will die.
---
After another long day of publicity events and charity work, Dillon sat at his desk staring at a picture of his family. Comstock tried to be good to them, stay close to them. Maybe it was love, maybe it was guilt, maybe it was responsibility. Probably it was all three. But whatever the reason, he took care of them, made sure they were happy, gave them what he could. Not all of them knew exactly how to deal with the transition, and things weren't exactly normal at home anymore, but everyone put on a happy smile for Dillon when he came to visit, and they mostly put his gifts to good use. Except for his older brother.
Terrence and Dillon were close as children, with Terrence always the protective over-achiever. Whatever Dillon could do Terrence could do better, but he was never mean about it. When Dillon had trouble through his life, Terrence was always a stable and successful shoulder to lean on. But after Dillon erupted, everything changed. Suddenly Terrence was second best, constantly in his brother's shadow; then the nova boom industries started competing with traditional manufacturing, leading to Terrence's layoff. Now, Terrence lives off of Dillon's charity, and is in a spiral of self destruction. He doesn't even show up to family gatherings anymore; he's too ashamed. Gambling, drinking, and fairweather friends are his only company.
When the phone rang and Dillon saw his brother's cell number show up on his caller ID, he knew it couldn't be good. And when he answered, it wasn't. Terrence was in a jam, at some dive bar, and needed a ride. No, a cab wouldn't do, he needed his brother. Terrence ended the call with another plea for help before abruptly ending the call, and left Comstock to consider his next course of action.
---
Gale had a day to herself. She was away from base, staying at her apartment. Taking a little time for relaxation and a chance away from the media. She was just about to settle in to a book and some pleasant music, when she heard yelling from her door guard in the hall. She hadn't asked for the guard, but Utopia insisted, and he really had been quite helpful at keeping the press away. She probably should at least go check on him.
Peaking out into the hallway, she was completely surprised by what she saw. A young man stood arguing heatedly with the guard. He was still in his teans, wearing weathered denim, tennis shoes and a tank top, with sun bleached hair and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He smiled at Gale as their eyes met. "Hey sis, you wanna help me out here?"
This message was last updated by the GM at 21:10, Fri 30 Aug 2013.