The safe-house was small, dark, and noisy . . . but more importantly, it was unobtrusive. The apartment on the third floor of a grungy apartment building. The ceiling leaked in one corner. A window was busted out. The only furniture was a wobbly wooden chair and a bare mattress shoved up against the wall. Oh, and the old tube TV sitting atop a small cabinet in one corner.

The TV, which had been playing the news, a piece about a young woman wanted by the authorities for questioning in relation to the disappearance of a scientist, faded into loud static.

Locke had woken up in this apartment a month ago. They had no memory of who they were, no identification on them. There was nothing. Their only effects were the clothes on their back, the mysterious case that contained their weapon,  In that time, they'd left the apartment periodically, found some work in the area. Not all of it honest. Time and again, though, they found themselves back in this dingy little room, looking out across a street at a city full of high-rises.

As they stared out the window, Locke's exceptional eyes narrowed in on two, all-black sedans with heavily tinted windows that pulled up and parked on each side of the corner tenement building. Like clockwork, four men opened their doors and stepped out in unison, each dressed in tailored black suits and hats.

The TV static slowly resolved into a black screen. Vibrant white letters scrolled across it. They're coming for you. You'd better move quickly. -Mr. K

Looks like trouble hand found Locke.

"Well damn, the Men In Black. Question is, am I an alien, or am I a threat to the aliens?"

Standing up and away from the window, Locke would grab his gear and then fade into nothingness as he stepped up onto the wall and walked along the ceiling. The roof access would be the best exit for him, he could jump to the next building and disappear into the city from there, he wasn't about to get into a fight if he didn't need to, getting hurt when you legally don't exist is a bad idea and he'd managed to avoid it using stealth.

Locke ran through his catalogue of memories, focusing on everything within the scant month of episodic information, searching for something to indicate what had happened to reveal him, who these spooks may be, and who Mr. K was, but to no avail. There just wasn't sufficient information, he'd have to try asking around the couple dives and dens he'd managed to find.

One hand holding his case, the other one of his handguns, the stealthed stalker would strive to slip away without a trace, whether he'd succeed would be up to whatever gods actually gave a damn if there were any.

"Whomever you are, Mr. K, I hope you have answers."

If only it would be that easy. As Locke slipped out the window and onto the fire-escape, he saw that one man was already climbing it. Though he was invisible, the man and black was heading up, and the way the fading light glinted off his dark shades made him uneasy. Heading up, he found himself on the roof, but the buildings around him were either taller, or far enough away that escaping to another roof would prove difficult . . . though not impossible. He could hear the clatter of black shoes on the metal railing behind him, and in the building below, men were clearly inside the room he'd just been in. He'd need to think quickly if he was going to get out of this.

Like I said in the other thread, go ahead and accompany your action with a roll, whether that's strength and athletics to try and get to another building, or dexterity and stealth to try to maneuver around the agent coming up the escape. You're invisible, so that will help there considerably.

Well damn, guess I better take a detour.

Locke wasn't about to try squeezing past the spook on the fire escape, nor was he about to reveal his position by jumping too fast for his cloak to compensate, the only apparent option was to take the road less travelled. He would creep over the edge of the building a couple meters to the side of the escape, and begin walking down the side. After getting lower than the MiB he'd wait a moment until the fellow was facing away before taking a leap and floating across the alley to land on the other building. After that, Locke would start making his way upward, there were several more buildings that he'd like to put between himself and the spooks before returning to the ground and melting into the crowd.
Hopefully they hadn't thought to have a bunch of agents stationed in surrounding buildings, keeping their force small to avoid being conspicuous, but he wasn't about to count any chickens when he hadn't a clue how many eggs he was getting.

-----
Spending 4 personal motes to trigger the secondary effect of the PGMA, leaving one in the pool.
13:48, Today: Locke rolled 2 successes using 6d10 with the White Wolf Exalted system with a target of 7 ((1,5,10,6,3,6)). Plus 3 more from Specialization enhanced by the Transpuissant Dexterity Upgrade for a total of 5.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:55, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

Like a silent ripple, Locke moved past the agent as he carefully scanned the rooftop, silently gliding through the air to the building across the alley to land on a wide ledge. As he began to slowly scale it, however, he heard a phone ringing . . . the agent's. "No, sir. There's no sign of him. He's vanished." The agent stood silently, listening for several moments. "Another target has been sighted!? We'll dispatch a car immediately."

Just then, the phone in Locke's pocket buzzed quietly. It was a text message from a number already recorded in the phone book, but from a contact he didn't recognize, simply named "K".

Don't move too quickly. If you want answers, they have them . . . or they will, as soon as they catch who they're after. She's dangerous to them, and if they get to her first, the answers you want disappear with her."

Wait... I can just text the guy?

Locke knew that he couldn't keep up with cars so trailing them wasn't an option, and killing them now wasn't an option either since that'd eliminate the one lead he currently had. The only option that was immediately apparent to him was to get to their target as the crow flies and/or intercept it along it's path and then eliminating the threat there. Mr. K should be able to tell him where to go.

I hope you can tell me where to intercept, following the cars on foot is not really an option and I'd rather not lose a lead so recently gained. Also, you want the pursuers simply repelled, or ought they be terminated?

While waiting for a possible response, his skin would turn to quicksilver and flow into the guise of the most generic and unassuming woman he could think of before resolidifying, the agents were looking for a man, logic would dictate that looking as unlike himself as possible would assist in avoidance of detection/pursuit even if visible.

-----

Spending 1 will point and 6 peripheral motes on husk sculpting apparatus, the essence flair is suppressed by the Aura Dampening Component thus maintaining stealth. Current Mote Budget: 1personal/42peripheral, 9/10 Will points
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Fri 23 Oct 2020.