In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 697):

There don't seem to be any hidden blocks anywhere.  The walls of this room have several 'Can't See Me' spots though.  But it doesn't feel like hidden blocks is the answer here.

The blocks are probably made of a high grade plastic.  There doesn't seem to be anything reality bending about them.  Someone just put a lot of thought into the layout of the tunnels when they cut them.  There is just no way to get them to form a maze with all passages connected as they are now.

Your fingernail scrapes into the plastic easily enough. You being you and all.  The think you can alter the tunnels either with your fingers or your atomic vision thang.

Jack lays out the thirty six blocks, lines them up so that they'll be able to be connected by the ant and the honey blocks, then neatly punches a straight bored hole through one end and out the other about the size and diameter of a human finger. Using one eye, he closes the other for the neatness of control, and also controls his output to keep from outright melting the things. He then blows a quick breath through them to cool them down. Once they're all set, he puts the ant and honey blocks into place.

"Done."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Sat 13 Feb 2021.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 699):

HT chuckles.  "Was figuring you'd do something like that.  That's how I solved it too."

He points to a spot on the floor.  A chair rises up from below. "Have a seat.  This next bit is a bunch of psych type questions.  So you know.  I'm just askin' 'em.  Some one smart'll score 'em.  Or whatever they do with the answers.  Yeah, your answers are being recorded."

You're also being video taped.  They're probably also measuring your body temp and heart rate.  The equipment looks like stuff Mom cooked up when you were four to monitor your night exploring phase.

HT pulls a sheet of paper out of his pocket.  He unfolds it and studys it a moment.  Then he starts reading it.


"I am going to read you a list of descriptive words.  Say the name of the first person that comes to mind who you think exemplifies that description the best.  For example, if I said 'Awesome', you'd probably say 'Hard Time'."

He chuckles.

"Alright.  Ready?

Happy
Sad
Confused
Obnoxious
Steady
Awful
Boring

"Okay.  Next test.  Listen to this situation and then give what you think is the best answer.

A young woman gets a call from her sister.  Their mother has died.

The woman flies back home and attends the funeral.  During the funeral she meets the man of her dreams. He's handsome, smart, kind.  Everything she wanted in a partner.

A week later, the woman kills her sister.

Why do you think the woman killed her sister?"

"Last one-"

He stops and frowns.  "Uhm.  Okay.  This one is new.  But I gotta ask it."

He peeks nervously over the top of the paper.  Then back down at the sheet.

"Would you rather kill your Mom or your Dad?  Why?"

Jack just nods his head slightly, “There were other options, but I thought that one was cleanest. Second only to destroying them completely and leaving only the two,” he reasons and walks over, taking a seat. Paying attention to Hard Time’s explanation of things, he nods his head again. That’s his standard response to things. Nodding. He does that a lot.

The heart beat recording will surely make them chuckle, and be utterly worthless. Since his wouldn’t waver in the slightest at any of this, same with temperature and pupillary response and all the other things one might analyze, and that’s if his heart beat weren’t phenomenally slow.

It’s part of what lets him hold his breath so long.

“Sure.
Lydia, Mom, also Mom, Odelia, Mr. Casey, Sand Shovel Serial Killer,” he answers each with basically zero pause between the word and his answer, giving the impression that he’s answering from his gut, the truth is, he thinks about each. Such that while he considers answering ‘Hard Time’ to give him a hard time, he doesn’t actually call the guy boring, and instead says, “Mrs. Hollister.”

He listens to the tale and thinks about it.

“Gut answer? The guy was married to her sister, or it’s an inheritance dispute, or her sister killed the person, and the new guy is unrelated, or she was unhinged. My gut said the marriage thing though. The textbooks say that murders are often motivated by that sort of thing,” he explains and quotes a statistic from the DOJ website.

He listens to the last question and doesn’t even look confused, just thinks about it for a few moments longer. Actually taking the time to think about it.

“I’m assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the question is: ‘if you had to kill one of them or the world would end, which would you choose?’ because I’d rather not kill either of them,” he points out after a second. “But, I’ll go on that assumption. It’d be the sperm donor I sometimes call my dad so that people know who I’m referring to. Why? Because she’s my mom, and he’s the guy who abandoned us years ago,” he answers, not sounding quite as harsh as his words my paint him in a transcript someone might read later.

“Just to be clear, I hold no animosity toward him. But he’s a stranger, she’s my mom. I don’t even consider it a toss-up.”

His gut tells him his dad planted the question, let him chew on that for a bit.

I'm actually not sure Mrs. Hollister is the most boring teacher, but her class gets the least mentions, so I figure it's the one he really sort of glazes over during.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 701):

Hard Time looks a little embarassed.  "Sorry about that last one.  That one is...weird.

"Anyway.  Lemme give you a rundown on how we'll proceed and how the program will work.

"You're in Phase 1.  This is mostly about figuring out what you can do and what your limits might be.  A lot of stuff will be solo.  You'll be workin' with me or maybe Desmond...I'll introduce you two later...three days a week.  Saturdays for sure.  The other two days we gotta schedule out.  I'm leaning towards Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  There will be some additional sessions as required.  We expect the program to be your top priority.  Keeping your grades up and such...well.  Lemme know if that becomes a problem.

"From what I've seen, you won't be in Phase 1 for too long.  The more familiar someone is with their powers, the shorter the phase lasts."

He gives you a wink.

"Phase 2 is about training.  The point of the program is to train the next generation a' capes.  We need to make sure you're capable of not only handling yourself, but that you know how to do the least amount of damage.  At the end of Phase 2, you'll have some decisions to make. About whether to continue the program or not.  Though I'm pretty sure what decision you'll make.

"Phase 3 is where we start takin' you out on missions.  Until you are cleared for Phase 3, you may not start doing anything that could be considered 'cape' or 'cowl' activity."

He gives you a meaningful look.  "What happened in the past isn't relevant.  We don't need to know unless you've broken the law.  And we're not saying don't get involved.  If you're walkin' down the street and you see a building on fire with a little old lady hanging out the top window, you don't just walk on.  But you going out lookin' for the arsonist is a no-no."

He crosses his arms.  "To be honest, I expect you'll hit Phase 3 pretty quick.  But we need to be sure you're ready before we get there.  And since we're the ones paying the premium on your insurance policy, what we say on that goes.  We on the same page?"

He sighs and puts his hands on his hips.  <Darkblue>"Alright.  Last bit.  You bein' a black is honestly something we weren't expecting.  It...makes things interesting.  Gut Shot'll talk to you about that.  But for now, let's keep the circle about the extent of your powers small.  Don't tell anyone about it.

“It’s fine, it was probably inserted by someone with too much time on their hands and a distinct lack of parenting skills,” Jack consoles HT--speaking indirectly to whoever inserted the question.

“My grades won’t be an issue,” Jack mentions when that’s brought up, staring off into space for a moment as he listens to HT explain things. This has been happening a lot with the Cape, but he doesn’t mind. The man doesn’t add too much redundant information, and generally sticks to the necessary facts. “Of course, my limits, I’m not sure any incredibly accurate measurement will be strictly useful to anyone, you should make note that I’m not ‘finished growing’ so to speak. I haven’t spontaneously developed any new abilities in a while, but I’m faster than I was a few years ago, and I expect I’ll be faster and stronger in another year.”

Listening to the tale about phase two and then three, he glances over, mulling over every comment before he takes a moment to reply.

“I can’t say that I went looking for any of what I’ve found, and you didn’t even know I existed until I showed up in the woods a few days ago. Though,” he pauses, “You might have seen me defusing the bomb on that one guy. I know that got recorded,” he admits.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 703):

HT nods.  "There was a blur on the camera when that one guy got defused, yeah.  We were wondering if it was you or someone else.  And as far as trouble finding you and not you finding trouble, so noted.  Honestly, in this life, trouble always seems to find you.  It's part of the territory.  But like you said, all we're asking is you not go looking for now.  At least until we know what we're gonna unleash on the world."

He says that last with a grin, like he's making a joke.  Though you notice he doesn't sound too much like he's making a joke.

HT goes over some other material with you.  He mentions the other students besides Darja but doesn't go into specifics.  He gives you an overview of this level of the facility.  It seems to be both the lab and gym section.  You notice, besides cryptozooloy, there's a chemistry lab, an alchemy lab, something referred to as the Missing Tome Room, and the Computer Sciences lab.

There are five gyms of various sizes.  The one you were in was one of the smaller ones.  There is one gym as large as the school's gym.  One of the other gyms is in use and you can't go in.  But you can see Odelia inside it, being lead through some exercises by a guy wearing coach shorts and a yellow baggy T shirt.

HT sighs.  "Desmond must be in training.  We'll have to hook up with him later.  Let's get to Gut Shot's office."

Gut Shot's office is near an elevator that seems to lead up to a a broom closet by the school cafeteria.  It's not very large.  HT stands in the doorway as the desk and Gut Shot only leave room for one of you.

Gut Shot has bundled her hair back in a tight bun.  She listens to HT go over what you covered and then nods, but frowns when he mentions the odd psych question.  "Thanks.  Have a seat please Jack."

HT nods at you and shuts the door as he leaves.

Gut Shot sits behind her desk and sighs.  "I guess the first thing I should say is thanks.  I appreciate you stepping forward.  Honestly, we had you on our radar.  We didn't know who you were.  But there was enough evidence around to show us someone was out there."

She grins tiredly.  "Also Omen has been bugging me non-stop.  He's been wanting us to track someone down.  Since he's stopped going on about it, I'm guessing that was you."

She leans forward on her desk, clasping her hands together.  "I guess we should cut to the chase.  You are one hell of a find.  A level Black meta.  One seemingly in control of himself.  You're obviously bright if not genius level.  And you seem to be willing to throw yourself whole heartedly into the Life.  That's rare."

She studies you a moment.  "I know you've been asked this several times.  But I want to ask just once more.  Sorry for the repetition.  But...why?  Why do you want to wear the cape?  Metaphorically that is."

“On the U of M campus a few weeks ago? It was me. I did a few other things too, but I’ll save those for another day when we aren’t headed somewhere, I actually sort of want to follow up on what has happened with them,” Jack mentions when Hard Time brings up his previous save. When he answers, he is thinking not only of the kids he’d reported to the FBI, but the BEs and Roger. He wants to hear what they have to say as a group.

And he wants to know that things are being done by someone, because if not, he is going to step in. He wants to make that clear.

When Hard Time mentions 'unleashing him,' he smiles and replies: “I’m not new to my powers, HT.”

He still sees that memory every day. He has been learning to deal with it, but it still occasionally makes his eyes flash orange as he simmers deep down.

Looking in on each of the rooms, he mentions idly, “I’d like to be able to walk around and check all these rooms out, sometime.”

Looking in on Odelia training with ‘Desmond’ he tries to reckon the man he sees with the lineup for the Cape crews who work this gig. Trying to reconcile who Desmond might be. Even paying attention to the guy’s moves. He loiters deliberately for a second though, hoping that Odelia will spot him. The drama of her seeing him and then not getting to figure out why at first, would be hilarious, and she deserves a little messing with. Such a B.

---

Getting to Gut Shot’s office, he glances at that entrance up to the school, and mentally makes another note of yet another entrance. He wants to keep track of everything, just in case. Taking a seat as indicated, he folds his hands in his lap and sits, taking care to relax his spine so that he isn’t so straight postured. Something he’d had pointed out a few months ago when he first started.

“Hello.”

He nods his head at the thank you.

"I'd like to meet him, sometime," he mentions when Omen is brought up.

Listening to the question after the ass-kissing and rehash of facts, he expects she’s saying these things to reiterate things to herself, putting her thoughts in order, not explaining them to him.

“The answer is complex and layered: the short answer is that I want to be able to help people and have access to resources that I otherwise lack. This path is a shortcut to those resources, and based on what I’ve seen and heard, the commitment you’re asking for is minimal in relation to the benefits I’ll get. Which means more people will be safe. There’s more to it though: I need access to Capes other than Kevin. I need to be able to walk into the FBI office downtown with one of you and work with a sketch artist.  Admittedly, I could have kept doing things on my own, but despite what my mom might want, I can’t do nothing. I had only the two options: Cape or Cowl. I can’t listen to the screams and bury my head in the sand,” he answers.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:17, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 705):

Odelia is most definitely a B, but she does seem to be a focused one.  She doesn't pay attention to the door, only to her training.

'Desmond' notices you.  He gives you a once over, just as you do him, and simply nods once you make eye contact.  He seems the military type, much like HT.  Definitely in good shape, but not the overt brick type like HT.  You can't get a read on him other than that.

---

Gut Shot listens carefully.

The ends of her lips start to frown slightly when you mention Kevin.

"I can arrange a sketch artist.  Or, I suppose if you're willing, when you met Omen, he can pull the memory from your mind.  From what I can surmise, one of your few areas of vulnerability might be mental attacks.  It might be good for you to start receiving training on how to deal with that.  Omen is the best teacher we have on the subject.

"Kevin..."  She stops what she's about to say and then sighs.  "If you've talked to Kevin, and I believe you've mentioned Roger, then you probably know about what happened the first time around with this program.

"I won't offer you any fake sounding reassurances.  Things like that happen when you're in the Life.  Capes and Cowls are human like everybody else.  Mistakes get made.  Bad choices get made.

"I don't gamble.  And I don't tolerate anyone who does.  But things happen.  People betray you.

"I want to be completely frank about something else.  There's a second reason we want you in the program.  See, we weren't counting on finding a black like yourself.  That always raises a lot of flags.  I'll try to head as many of them off as I can.  But you probably figured out that a lot of people are going to become interested in you.

"One aim I have to keep in sight as part of developing a program for you is, what do I do if you go rogue.  We have to figure out what your weaknesses are.  And we have to come up with a plan to deal with you should you become controlled or..."  She waves a hand. "Make a bad decision.

"You probably figured this out yourself.  But I'd rather we just get it out in the open.  So everyone is on the same page.

"Concerns with what I just said?"

“I’d appreciate that, one of my few fears until I’m fully aware of my mental defenses is that someone might control me to hurt others,” Jack mentions to Gut Shot honestly. She might want to learn to defeat him if he goes crazy, but the thing she should fear more is someone taking control of him. He isn’t sure how likely it is, he feels like his mind is strong and his willpower indomitable, and he might even have psychic defenses rivaling his physical ones.

He just has no idea.

The matter of the business with Kevin and Roger earns her a nod of the head. He doesn’t quite buy the explanation that they are ‘just people’ that was some heinous behavior, not a simple mistake.

When she reiterates about him being controlled or ‘making a bad decision’ he resists the urge to roll his eyes, though only scarcely.

“I’m not concerned, no. I’d rather that everyone feels safe, and to know that if some deranged psycho with a grudge against humanity somehow did wrestle control of my body, you guys might have a chance. Though I’d prefer to avoid that entirely, and start training with Omen to test my self and learn to defend my mind,” he mentions.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 707):

She gives you a wry smile.

"Fine.  I just want to make sure you have all the facts I can provide to you."

She settles back in her chair.  "I'll definitely set you up time with Omen then.  Is there anything else you want to concentrate on?  Any other aspects of the Life or the job you have concerns about?  Or course work you want to add on?

"On that note, I am working on getting you access to AER.  It's...basically Google on steroids.  A database maintained by some of the science oriented metas.  It should give you access to the advanced material you requested.  I'll have an interface device for you next time we meet."

Just want to make sure there isn't anything else you want to add to Jack's other school days.  If so, don't be shy.  If not, I will move us along to his big date.

Thanks

“AER,” Jack repeats back the initialism. “Excellent, and that’ll keep up with me at higher speed?” he questions, he’d asked for some specific things, but the big takeaways were that he wanted access to that information, and he wanted a device that could keep up with him when he was going between articles and scanning things. Consumer electronics just doesn’t cut it. Standing up when she seems to introduce him, he nods.

Thinking for a moment as he lets his spine straighten, rolling his shoulders slightly. Going through his checklist of things that normal people do so that they don’t move like a robot. His muscles and tendons had been no tighter or looser for having sat, he wasn’t cramped, and he feels no distinct relief from having stretched.

But when a person simply rises and sits with no excess movement, apparently it looks weird.

“I do have other questions, Gut Shot, but I feel like even if you know half of them, I’m wiser to simply wait for the access to that database. I don’t suppose that also would give me access to law databases? Books on law? Meta or otherwise,” he asks the most pertinent question. He’d actually asked HT for a full load of books or digital copies of textbooks from top Universities.  “I’d like if I had a full collection of subjects, not just the sciences.”

Specifically, because he is thinking he wants to understand the legalese involved with his mom before he goes to see her, and so that he can make sure that her attorney is handling everything correctly. But also, because he has random questions. Questions like: what would happen if he were to randomly fly over to Pyongyang and start pushing for leadership changes? Who is going to care? What’s the legal recourse in a foreign country? Are there international groups that’ll take issue? The UN?

He thinks for a long moment about his outstanding questions: there are several open cases he wants to dip his foot into. But in the end, he thinks that the only two that are active concerns for him specifically are: "What has happened with Roger? And, who has been looking into the BEs? I think they may have armed themselves recently?"

School is good. Friends have been getting some attention so they shouldn't feel ignored.

Mom needs a visit though. Jack will save that for after the date.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:03, Mon 22 Feb 2021.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 709):

Gut Shot gives you a puzzled look when you bring up legal topics, but nods her head.  "AER is primarily for scientific research. But it does have access to all academic fields.  I know it should have the Yale, Stanford, and Duke libraries online.  And that is full library access.  Legal.  Archives.  Special collections.  So that should give you all the latest legal information."

You recall Casey mentioning Duke and Yale as being the stand out programs for meta-law related studies.

"As far as the device, speed and size of access is considered.  The interface I was looking to get you is the same type that my team's Anne Hawethorne uses.  It's also the model used by Al Moondream."

Al Moondream.  The leader of The Resolve.  Even Mom and Dad respect him.  This universe's Reed Richards

She straightens up when you ask about Roger and the BEs.  "The BEs are being investigated by the ATF.  We can't make a move on them at the moment, as a couple of them have dealer licenses.  And they've shown that they are actually trading most of their stock.  But they are on the radar.

"As for Roger.."  She sighs.  "I won't bullshit you.  He's still out there and most definitely a problem.  He's why I brought Omen down here.  But Roger is...well.  Think of him like a virus.  Very tough to contain.  And even harder to vaccinate for.  I will tell you this.  The likelihood he can possess you is low.  Very low.  It's...against his nature.

"That's all I can tell you about him at the moment.  If you run into Roger, contact Omen first.  Myself or Hard Time if you can't get hold of Omen.  The AER device will be able to contact us all securely."

---

Moving on

The Saturday training with HT is mostly you doing laps.  He measures your flight speed.  Running speed.  Reaction time.  He has you lift various objects, none of which are at all hard.  Though the old passenger bus was awkward just because of how large it was and the wind being strong.

Sunday comes.  You spy Lydia at the mall entrance.  She's wearing a very nice sweater.  Very...tight and fuzzy.

She smiles when she sees you.  Beams actually.  "Hey!  So you wanna eat first?  Or go look at suits?"

The explanation about the AER device is going to have to suffice, he isn’t sure it’ll keep up with his speed, it sounds like it’ll have all the processing power and more information than he’ll ever need since it can keep up with Moondream, but can it handle super-fast button pressing? He’ll find out. He doesn’t want to grill Gut Shot for technical specs, he considers what they’re offering more than good enough.

“That sounds more than sufficient, thank you, Gut Shot,” he says to her. Still using her Cape name. She’ll tell him when he can call her something else.

The explanation about the BEs earns a nod of the head, he might have to slip someone a note about the hidden rooms in their apartment complex, and the storage lockers. It’s hands off enough that someone like Omen should be able to pass word without feathers getting ruffled.

Hearing about Roger, he nods his head and thinks about it.

“I’m told there are headbands that keep him out? If so, if you can provide some of those in an accessible place, I can put them on people, in the case that he’s ‘in the area’,” he mentions as a potential option. “If not that, I’d just have to knock everyone unconscious,” he admits with a shrug, from what he’d heard that’d cover his bases.

---

The testing with HT goes as expected, in fact, he finds that he clocks in a bit faster speed wise, than he’d expected, and his ability to lift is still outside of a measurable range for the moment. Awkward bus over head, he waits for HT to tell him he has finished that aspect of the test.

---

Meeting up with Lydia, Jack looks at her outfit with a smile and mentions, “Hey, I like your sweater, you look beautiful,” and leans in to give her a kiss on the cheek and a hug, assuming she allows the gestures of intimacy. Holding out his hand for her then as they walk into the mall, he looks around in thought. Taking in the busy nature of the suit shop, and the hour.

As they walk through the mall’s entry area, he is looking around, making sure nothing is out of order. No people with weapons loitering in the wings, no hidden bombs. He just makes sure that he can protect her, since at the moment, she’s his number one priority.

“Suit shop is oddly a bit busy,” he tells her, since she can’t see it. “Let’s eat first.”

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 711):

"The headbands don't work any longer."  Gut Shot sighs.  "Like a virus, he seems to be mutating.  When we can come up with a good patch, I'll let you know."

---

Lydia nods her head and reaches out, lightly taking your meaty paw with her warm, soft hand.  She looks anywhere but at your eyes as she does so.  It's amazing how deep a shade of red she can turn.

She leads you down the mall hallway to a place called Pho Down.  "The Pho is worth trying.  But if you want a sandwich, get the bahn mi.  It's awesome. "

She orders a Mr. Pibb and shrimp rolls to start from the waitress that shows up.

When the waitress scurries away to fetch your drinks, Lydia, sitting across the table from you, looks at you bashfully.  "Jeez.  I feel like such a school girl."  She laughs nervously. "So.  How are things?"

There are a couple of other people in the restaurant.  But none seem close enough to hear you.

Walking with Lydia, hand in hand, Jack looks at the Pho place and sniffs slightly, not really his first choice, but he doesn’t comment or make a hassle for Lydia. He’s just glad to be out with her, and he can stomach whatever she chooses, just for the company.

Looking at the menu, he spots some classic Chinese-styled choices that seem to be on every Asian themed restaurants menu. Fried rice. “I really like chicken fried rice,” he admits with a little sheepish grin. And actually orders that rather than going into the more daring Vietnamese menu. But just to be a full date, he decides to also get some other things, just to experiment. He can afford a little extra.

With all of that in mind, he places his order.

“Coke. The pork egg rolls, and then I’ll get the pho and an order of chicken fried rice,” he tells the waitress and then looks back to Lydia.

Listening to Lydia, he smiles at her comment and points out.

“You are a school girl, Lydia,” he points out with a smirk. “Things are good. I signed up for that thing I mentioned, everything is going well with that, I did explain about that, right?” he questions, wondering like he’s wondering if he needs to explain things again. He’d been sort of vague the first time.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 713):

"A little," she says.  The drinks and rolls arrive.

"Is that something you're allowed to talk about?  Or should I not ask?"

---

You pop the last bit of your pork roll into your mouth when the main dishes come.  The pho is good soup.  The broth is clear and tasty.

"How well do you know Dan Cabrazzi?"

The two of you had been chatting about this and that up until now.  Dan hadn't really come up as a conversation topic before.

“You can ask questions, they didn’t make me swear an oath of secrecy, but there are certain secrets I wouldn’t divulge for your safety and because they aren’t mine to share, like if I knew what a person looked like under their mask for instance,” Jack explains softly and reaches across the table to gently hold her hand for a moment while he waits to see if she has some questions to follow up with.

He feels like if he starts just explaining everything, he might overshare. There are so many things worth talking about with joining the program.

Later on, as he is switching to the soup, he eats slowly but at a steady pace. Eating not out of hunger but to enjoy the food.

“Not well. Up until the other day I thought he was probably an okay guy, though there have been a few flags with him. That cart that suddenly came at you on the stairs at the library, could be a coincidence but he’s the only person there that knew you, that I know of, so he gets on the list. Then the other day, he was threatening Ronald with an ass-kicking over something, I’m not sure what,” he explains patiently.

He really doesn’t seem to have any judgment, he’s just presenting some facts. He can’t be sure how she’ll take it, but that can’t be helped.

"Why do you ask?"

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 715):

"Oh wow!  Secret identities.  Honestly...that never even entered my mind.  Weird.  You would think that'd be something I'd be all kinds of curious about.  But..."

She shrugs and chomps on one of your pork rolls.

"I guess I'm curious what you can...do.  Ya know?  But I'm kinda afraid to ask cos I don't know if that's like...personal or something.  And I guess I'm curious if you'll have to wear a costume.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

---

She uses her chopsticks to slurp up some noodles from the Pho and wipes her mouth with her napkin.  She has a surprised look on her face.

"That cart?  Wow.  I had forgotten about that.  You would think I hadn't.  But...if Dan did do that, it would really surprise me.

"No.  I'm askin' cos...you remember he started dating my friend Ronda?  She and I were comparing boyfriends other day...you won by the way...and she...She said things started really good.  But over the past couple of weeks, Dan's been acting weird.  Like he's afraid someone's following him.  Ronda's kinda worried about it."

She stops eatting when you mention Ron.  Lydia just stares at her soup.  "Ron, huh?"

Lydia pushes the bowl away from her, puts her arms on the table, and crosses them in front of her.  She looks towards the restaurant door like there was something there she was trying to see.

"I really to admit this.  But if it was Ron...part of me kinda hopes he beats Ron's head in.  Ron attacked one of my friends last year.  She changed schools cos of it."

Lydia shakes her head.  She bites her lips and her eyes get a little misty.  "Ron's a real asshole."

Jack smirks at her finding novelty in his chosen profession, and he nods his head slightly. The question she does end up asking earns her a nod of the head, and he remarks, “Well, like I said a week or so ago, when we first talked about it; I wanted you to know what I was, and to be willing to stick around before I told you too many secrets, but now that you have, we can talk about everything like that. That’s definitely mine to share.”

He reaches across the table to take her hand and then spends a moment sort of just looking around, checking for any signs of surveillance.

“Okay, take out your phone and come sit next to me,” he tells her and takes out his own phone, pulling out the battery and setting it on the table. If he gets her to come and sit next to him, and to pull out her phone, he first does the same for her phone. Making sure that they aren’t getting eavesdropped that way. Then he drapes an arm across her shoulders and explains quietly so that they can’t be overheard.

“So, I have a bunch of powers. I can fly, I’m strong, fast, tough, my senses are all enhanced, I can heat things with my eyes,” he sort of just goes through it all in one go. Not getting into how much, but clearly giving her more information than he normally gives anyone. “You can ask questions about any of that, I’m not deliberately being vague. I can also take you flying once we’re done with the suit thing.”

---

When she talks about comparing him with Dan, he just smiles slightly, but being a teenage boy, he allows a little eyebrow waggle to slip out when she talks about how he’d come out ahead in the comparison. Like she was talking about their prowess in other areas.

“Who? And do the school staff know?” he asks, and starts to put his battery back into his phone. “He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?”

And switching sides, he puts an arm around her, comfortingly.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 717):

Lydia's eyes get big when you offer to fly her.  She nods, sort of like a five year old who's parents ask her if she'd like to go to Six Flags, and she's so stunned by the offer, all she can do is nod.

When Ron comes up, Lydia looks down at the table.  "He hasn't done anything to me.  Or to anyone else I know of.  Estelle...my friend...she didn't really go into specifics.  One day last year, Ronda found her in the girl's bathroom, crying.  Her..."

Lydia seems to consider what to say here.

"Ronda said there wasn't any blood or anything.  But that Estelle was really freaking out.  Estelle said Ron dragged her into the bathroom, but wouldn't tell anyone what happened.

"Estelle didn't want to make a big deal of it.  It's like...if you say something like that, you're worried everyone is gonna look at you differently.  Estelle just said she wanted it to go away and she moved schools.  She stopped talking to all of us.

"Ronda confronted Ron about it.  He said nothing happened. He said Estelle grabbed him and dragged him into the bathroom.  He said she was singing the whole time.  Some choral piece or something.  I dunno.  That just sounds too crazy to believe.

"But I have to honest.  I don't know what happened.  I just don't like people who hurt my friends."

The response to his offer to fly her is rewarded with a genuine smile, and he continues to sit next to her. Holding her for a moment, though not as much as he’d been inclined to watch out for her when she seemed to be suffering for a moment there. Listening to her tale about Ronald, he nods his head slowly.

“I’ll investigate, Lydia, I promise that if he did something to her, he won’t get away with it, and I’ll also figure out what’s going on with Dan,” he tells her softly and squeezes her hand gently for a moment before he circles back around to his side of the table.

Sitting down again, he resumes eating while he thinks about it. He knows that Ronald’s power is somehow vaguely mental, but then there was Dan threatening him recently. There are questions that Ronald needs to answer, but he should talk to Omen first.

“But for now, just avoid both of them, okay? Don’t Scooby Squad. Leave it to me, okay?” he tells her with a smile.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 719):

She laughs. "Yeah trust me on that.  I'm a coward and happy to leave things like that to the professionals."

She blinks, like she's just realized something.  Lydia looks up at you.  "I guess you're one of those now, huh?  A professional."

Jack nods his head in agreement, he’s happy to have her leave it to the ‘professionals’ or in this case, him. Whatever he might be. The question about whether he’s a pro, however earns her a smirk and he appears to think about it for a moment before he answers, “I’m a professional in training, I suppose. I’m sure there are things still to learn, experiences to gain. Just because I’ve read every Sherlock Holmes novelization doesn’t make me Sherlock Holmes. Though you do remind me to add some books on investigation, to my 'to study' pile.”

FBI have a field manual? That’d probably be the golden standard? And the AER should have all sorts of information on forensics, since it’s a scientific field.

Pushing his half-finished pho out of the way, he looks toward the kitchen for a second to check on the status of their next ‘course.’ Also, coincidentally, looking for signs of neglect on the kitchen’s part, before his gaze turns to the area, doing his periodic sweep for Lydia’s safety.

“So, what did you say the theme of the dance was going to be? Or is there a theme? Are we going to try to match?” he asks a few questions, sitting forward slightly, engaging her in conversation on the topic of their soon-to-be shopping. “You’ll look stunning in whatever, but I’m thinking I should go with at least a little blue, for my eyes?” he asks.

In reply to Jack Sharpe (msg # 721):

She giggles when you bring up matching.  "Let's not go the route of matching sweaters.  But...I wouldn't mind wearing something blue."

Another shy glance in your direction while blushing.  If it's an act, she's got it down pat.

"They said it's 'Light In the Darkness'.  Or some kinda feel good stuff.  I know they've bought a bunch of glo-sticks.  So I would guess at some point the lights will go down.  Or off.

"But let's get you that suit.  I'm gonna go pay."

The two of you finish lunch and head for the men's wear first.  A clerk walks up, seeming to measure you with a few flicks of his eye.  "Hello.  Can I help you two find something?"

Any particular kind of suit you want?