Mutants & Masterminds: The Unlikely Prophets - Issue #3: "History is a Bomb"

[Radiance]

Hikari smiled. "Yeah, going back to stay in Seattle, probably isn't the best Idea for me right now. I did do work for the Order, work that featured the building we went into."

[z-Gloom]

At the sound of 'Hex's' voice, Gloom looked up. Realizing she was talking to her, she grunted, "Hey." Silently, she went back to filling her bucket with water. Some remaining social training told her that she needed to be 'polite'. "Thought you went back to Seattle." It was an inquiry, though not phased as a question.

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur popped into the room from nowhere, dressed in some worn, functional clothing, including faded leather hiking boots and a wide-brimmed hat. "Larissa, hi! One sec." She vanished, some moments passing before she reappeared holding a small daypack, shoving a canteen full of liquid into one side pocket. She tilted her head, curiously. "Something wrong?"

[Charlotte]

"Well, most houses have rain barrels, but the filters will all be worn out. You'll need new ones. In the meantime you'll have to just carry it from here. Or cart some in from wherever." Jack patted the barrel and indicated where the filters were found. "Bodhie might be able to help. Larissa too."

"Nothing's wrong. Well... nothing with a solution. Just that I didn't quite expect just about everyone to stay here. I expected some, but... I suppose most of you don't have anywhere else to go." He sighed. "And I feel a little guilty about that."

[SalmonMax]

"Oh, I'm not staying, I just..." Larissa sighed. "I just don't have anyone else I can talk to about any of this. Once I was home and by myself, it all started to sink in how...incredible and bizarre and insane all this is. Like someone just turned reality over and shook it really hard."

"I can help with the water though, as long as you're moving it to a place that has doors."

[Radiance]

Hikari looked to Larissa and smiled. "I can sympathize with that. This is insane. But at least here everyone's kinda in the same boat."

[z-Gloom]

"Yeah, I don't mind the help," Gloom said softly. She added a bit more water to the bucket and nodded to Jack. "Thanks for the advice and help."

Turning to Larissa, she described where the house was, before stopping and saying, "Or I can walk you over there, if you need to see it, first."

[Radiance]

"If you need something larger, I can make it."

[Necronaut]

Norman Yan became a fly dancing haphazardly over the rancid picnic of Australian mortality. He stopped in graveyards, naturally, but also ghost-towns and forgotten battlefields. Or, at least, where he guessed battlefields might have been forgotten. He wasn't as familiar with Australian history as he would have liked. Sometimes he found the dead and sometimes he did not. Occasionally, by accident, he found the living. He made a point of taking pictures of interesting, particularly obscure, doorways.

In the course of a day he circled the continent. The ocean was a daunting psychological barrier, even though his mode of transport could bypass it in a matter of hours. Later, he thought to himself, a world tour would be in order. But he had only brought a few extra sandwiches.

The muffled banshee-howl of the ghost-plane disturbed the peace of Jack's back-yard out-back just as dusk was falling...

[Bodhie Armstrong]

Bodhie was lost in thoughts for a while, not registering the commotion around her. The idea of going back home made her sick in the stomach and right now she wasn't sure if she wouldn't just kill her husband on sight.

She would have to wait and see how her new situation would unfold and what the future would hold in store for them. Maybe one day she could try to make contact with her family again but right now there was no way, no words to describe how she felt like and what she was going through. Actually this change was very much welcomed and she felt guilty for abandoning her son like this but at the same time relieved and liberated.

"I'm a bad mother...", she silently confessed to herself unaware of the others. Her brain subconsciously picked up on parts of the conversation and she perked up when her name was mentioned.

"Sure I could help... I gladly would if there's anything I can do? And Jack... if you don't mind I'd like to stay right here at your place. I can cook for you and keep the place tidy - that's the least I can do for you.", she smiled at him and brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face hoping that he would take her offer.

[Charlotte]

Necronaut's efforts to find out more about the Iron Gates were unsuccessful. He did, however, manage to send a few people on to wherever they went after limbo, by patiently explaining to them that the man or woman who'd done them wrong in life was long gone and that maybe they should be too. As he landed, he heard Jack speaking.

"I wouldn't mind the help at all, Bodhie. I was a little lonely here with Lori going away." Jack smiles a little. "But I'm just thinking about what Sharatur said. About how she kind of hated Lori for doing all of this. And I have to admit, I can see why. There's a lot of you staying here who don't or can't go back, and the first thing I asked you all to do was help me overthrow the Order without really letting you settle." He exhaled. "I just hate them so damn much."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"Don't be sorry for what you've done, Jack", Bodhie said trying to comfort him with her voice. She walked over to him placing her large hands on his shoulders supporting her words with physical contact.

"At least I won't blame you for what happened and it makes sense to me. To be honest I feel liberated and free for the first time in my life and I'm thankful for that. Doing some housework for you won't hurt my pride and that way I can stay close to you and protect you if something goes wrong."

The large woman rubbed his shoulders briefly before she walked around him to face Jack, "Why don't you tell us why you hate them so much and what you remember? As far as I understood the Order has put some magic spell on us to keep us herded like sheep? Is that right?"

[The Scarlet Samurai]

Kenshin laughed bitterly, "What the hell have they done? You know the more I think on it the less convinced I am that they are the problem here. The Order has brought peace to our world. There is no more war. No more poverty and inequality, and until a couple days ago I had a home and a family that made sense."

Kenshin wandered out into the yard his long sword in one hand and an unopened beer in the other, his steps wavered slightly. He scowled at the beer and then with a brutal flick of his wrist sliced the top off the bottle with the sword, cutting through the glass like it were hardly there. He brought the headless bottle to his lips and drank deeply, pulling a long continuous drought that drained the bottle in nearly one go.

"My mother... The Order ... if they hurt my mother you're going to regret this." The sword swung up, its blade gleamed wetly with broken foam from the beer, "I'm just a history teacher. I'm not a soldier, I'm not a hero. I didn't want any of this!"

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"But why blame Jack for this?", Bodhie said in defense for the blind man. "Don't you think that something is really wrong about the Order? They may have brought peace to our world but at what cost? It's like a huge world-wide Jail and that eye up there is our jailor who's 24/7 on watch. We're not living... we're just waiting to die one day and that's it."

Bodhie didn't want to provoke Kenshin and did her best to move as little as possible. Her eyes jumping back and forth between Kenshin's face and the tip of his blade. She had no idea if she could take a blow from his blade and she had no intention of finding out any time soon.

[SalmonMax]

Larissa opened her mouth to reply to Gloom, but her attention was distracted by the nearby fracas. She stood there, mouth gaping, then said to her four-armed companion, "Before we do this, would you mind helping me with something else? I think we need to confront this question head-on, because it's going to come up again."

She looked at Gloom. "You have a perspective the rest of us don't. I think we need to hear what you have to say."

The schoolteacher-cum-witch then went to Kenshin and put her hand on his sword; not trying to force it down or move it...just gently laying it atop the flat edge. When she spoke, she looked at each person present, addressing everyone.

"I have doubts too," Larissa admitted. "There's been things the Order's asked me to do that I don't like. Things I've felt are a bit sinister...but asking if the sacrifices we make under the Order are worth what benefits the Order brings is a good question. I think our problem is that we've all been pretty ordinary people until now. None of us have made waves, or confronted the Order...and so none of us have seen all of what the Order is."

She nodded at Kenshin. "If it was just a matter of asking me to edit children's textbooks sometimes, then no...it wouldn't be worth it. But is that all the Order is costing us?"

With one hand she patted the cover of the Book of Keys. "Look at what's possible in the world. Look at what's been denied to the world. What else is there that the Order is keeping from us? But it's hard to judge someone, or an organization, based on things we don't know exist."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"I can't judge what is right or wrong with the Order but I know for a fact that my husband worked for one of their law firms and what they did is... they destroyed peoples lives if they didn't do what the Order told them to - if they liked it or not didn't matter. This surely feels wrong to me."

Her eyes remained on Kenshin now that Larissa had somewhat taken care of his blade, "I'm no hero either, but I strongly believe that there must be a reason for what happened to us and our very existence seems to be a threat to the Order. Maybe we don't have much of a choice now but it surely won't get us anywhere if we complain about it. Would I have done this if I had known from the start? Definitely yes. I trust Jack."

[The Scarlet Samurai]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"Look at what's possible in the world. Look at what's been denied to the world. What else is there that the Order is keeping from us? But it's hard to judge someone, or an organization, based on things we don't know exist."

In reply Kenshin tossed the empty beer bottle into the air. The gleaming blade moved in a blur that was too fast for most of their eyes to track, but the result was plain as day, the bottle was sliced cleanly through into over a dozen pieces in less than a second. "THIS IS ALSO POSSIBLE," he raged, "Weapons. Death. Pain. If we overthrow the Order what stops others like us from rising up? What prevents those who do from falling to greed and corruption? What if I lose control over this sword and falls into its bloodlust?" His hand was shaking and the sword wavered as though he were fighting with an invisible other for control over the deadly blade.

[Necronaut]

Norman watched this exchange from the shadows. By accident, obviously. Lurking in the shadows wasn't his thing. With Gloom around he was developing a nagging self-consciousness about being in the dark anyway. He cleared his throat loudly before approaching, not wanting to bear the brunt of anyone's twitchy reflexes.

"Greetings, all. Kenshen... San? If I may observe, the situation is actually pretty bad. For both the quick and the dead. I mean, doesn't this, The Order's World, already look sort of like what we would get if people like us went bad and won? There might be some good points, but overall it's really sort of crummy and it can't ever get any better unless we do something. There's nobody else."

[Bodhie Armstrong]

"That's a good point, you should listen to him, Red.", Bodhie nodded at Necronaut, relieved that he came up with a reasonable argument.

"Aside from that, it's in our own hands to make things right and not wrong... and if we stick together we can watch each others backs.", she hoped Kenshin would calm down a bit but she also had no idea what he was struggling with. From what he said it seemed the sword had a mind of its own which was kinda scary for her.

"Why don't you put that blade down and we talk about it?", the large female bodybuilder tried to sound as calm and friendly as she could hoping that Kenshin would agree.

[SalmonMax]

Somehow Larissa managed not to flee the apparition that Kenshin had become. She couldn't help flinching, retreating back a step, though she regretted it immediately afterward.

"Power's a temptation for any of us," she confessed. "The Book of Keys has spells that...well look, even just what I know now, I could do just about anything. Rob banks. Break into people's houses. Spy on people. Kill whoever I wanted. And I know it's different for you, the Book doesn't urge me to do things like that, but I'm still only human."

"I'm just saying that the only thing that makes us different than the Order is what choices we make, and why we make them. That's really all. Every time you choose not to listen to bloodlust, you prove yourself different. No matter what the sword wants, you're in control, so it's always your choice."

She glances briefly at the others, then back at Kenshin.

"The Order's done a good job of making a society that looks healthy on the surface...but from what I've seen, and from what other people here are saying, there's a sickness underneath, and it's getting worse. But maybe that's something we should explore more. So we have a clearer idea of how to help people. Not just fight the Order, but actually help people while we do it."

(OOC - Perhaps we could do a series of one-shot 'fics' where each of our characters tells a story of what the Order 'means' to him or her? It'd take too long and be too big to really be done in-thread, I think...but as fics it'd be neat)

[The Scarlet Samurai]

Originally Posted By: Necronaut

"I mean, doesn't this, The Order's World, already look sort of like what we would get if people like us went bad and won? There might be some good points, but overall it's really sort of crummy and it can't ever get any better unless we do something. There's nobody else."

"And who says that we know what is best? Don't you think that the anarchy that this would cause would do more harm than good? What gives us the right to choose for everybody that the Order needs to fall?" He did seem angry as he asked those questions but genuinely curious. He clearly wanted somebody to give him a clear reason why they should be the ones to decide the Order had to end.

Originally Posted By: Bodhie Armstrong

"Why don't you put that blade down and we talk about it?", the large female bodybuilder tried to sound as calm and friendly as she could hoping that Kenshin would agree.

The long sword quivered, "Because if I put this sword down I'll never want to pick it up again."

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

"Power's a temptation for any of us," she confessed. "...And I know it's different for you, the Book doesn't urge me to do things like that, but I'm still only human."

"... Every time you choose not to listen to bloodlust, you prove yourself different. No matter what the sword wants, you're in control, so it's always your choice."

Kenshin's knuckles popped, "You've no idea what it's like. The sword, the armor, I ... it's like I'm only partly in control. I don't know how to fight, I barely made yellow belt in my classes. The sword, the armor, they take over a little ... I didn't want any of this."

Quote:

"... But maybe that's something we should explore more. So we have a clearer idea of how to help people. Not just fight the Order, but actually help people while we do it."

"If we're even helping people at all..." he muttered. He looked at the others, meeting their eyes was difficult, especially with the sword screaming for slaughter in his hand, but he did, and he gave them a glimpse of the torture beneath the surface.

[SalmonMax]

A wave of pity, and a little fear, washed over Larissa. She'd had no idea how bad it was for Kenshin. Then something occurred to her.

"Your father used these things before you, right? Maybe there's some way to control them that he knew about. The Goldsmith computer recognized them, so maybe it knows more. There must be an answer."

[z-Gloom]

"If you don't believe in what we're doing, put the sword down, walk away." Gloom had been utterly silent until now. Stepping forward, she crossed both sets of arms and added, "You have to want this, and you're right to question. We don't know anything other than this, we don't know that what we'd bring about would be better.

"But Darkness does."

Gloom paused and took in a steadying breath, gathering the courage to talk frankly about the creature that inhabited her body. "Darkness comes from a place without anything like the Order. I can... see, remember, I guess, its life there. There, its people are free to be people. They don't get disappeared by the Order if they do something it doesn't like." Gloom snorted. "The Order tells us we're free to live a life without the worry of crime or war. But I was a Knight. Know how many actual criminals I dealt with? Not many. Lots of dissidents, though. Little old ladies who had whispered the wrong thing to the wrong person. Kids just shooting their mouths off over a beer at night and finding the Knights at their door in the morning."

She paused and the hard, blank 'cop-look' she was so good at wearing faded. "I thought I was doing good, with the work I was doing for the Order. But Darkness has shown me - I was a goon, a thug. All I was serving was the Order's ends, not protecting the people.

"If you don't believe that the Order needs to stop, then I don't know that you can fight," Gloom added to Kenshin. "I don't know what it's like dealing with that pig-sticker. But I do know what it's like to share your body and head with something that's not you. I'd be willing to help you with that, if you want. You know... talkin' and shit." She shrugged, a fairly complicated process. "If I can help, I will." Then she lapsed back into the silence that was more typical of the shrouded woman.

[Radiance]

"It is up to us, to fight, to win, and whatever happens afterwards."

She nods. "Anything that comes next, it is because of the sum actions of all of us. For that reason we should continue, we need to see this through."

"You ask what happens if others who have powers, or if any of us are tempted to use our power as the Order has. That should be obvious. We're a team, and when one of us strays the others bring them back in. When one needs help they get it."

"Saying that, If you truly want out, to go back, then do it. I won't stop you."

[Charlotte]

Jack took one cautious step towards Kenshin, and then another. He removed his sunglasses, revealing milky white irises and scar tissue around his eyes.

"Archon took my eyes."

He paused for a moment, thinking back. "Understand, I don't know if any of your are old enough to live during the Gap. For those of us who are, it's something we don't like to think about. Some of us can remember nearly everything, except minor details like who was President of the United States or what wars were going on. I can't remember anything from the Gap. Everyone over the age of thirty's lost a part of our lives to the Order.

"My first memory is being in Las Vegas on the strip, which was in chaos, although I don't remember why. People shouting, screaming... someone fired a gun. Someone hit me and I remember cards in my hand, and I remember them fluttering up like a flock of birds, set free... and then I remember him.

"I remember that cloak - the red one, with gold trim. It was torn, but I suppose he's fixed it since then. I remember the lightning crawling along his armor and I remember that helmet, and then the lightning flared and - " Jack stiffened at the memory.

"It was the only thing in my life I've ever seen."

Jack put his glasses back on. He looked out towards the town. "The Order took this town. They locked down Ayers Rock from the tourist trade, for years, and never asked permission and never told us why. They reopened it just in time to be too late. People left this town because there was nothing left, and the Order didn't do a thing to help them relocate. So much for the perfect economy - honestly I think they hated the thought of economic behaviour they didn't have a hand in. Lori and I kept in touch, as best as we could, with some of the people who moved away. One by one, we stopped getting letters back. If my eyes and my town were the only atrocities committed by this Order I'd look the other way - metaphorically speaking." He smirked. "But they aren't, are they?"

"When I woke up from losing my eyes, months had passed and everyone was talking about the New Order. That was their name back then. Everyone seemed fine. I think everyone seemed fine because whatever was clouding our memories was making us... amicable. Putting a little voice up there - " He tapped his skull. "That was telling us that everything was going to be okay and maybe we should sit down and shut up. I think that voice gets inside of us through the Mathemagician, who runs the cellular networks, the televisions, the internet and the radio.

"You might be asking me why me & Lori were immune. I might reply that I don't listen to the radio, I don't use the Internet, and I don't have a television. How many people do you know that can say the same? They talked about this when we were riding the elevator in the Cardinal building. How once they had control of the security system there they were going to roll those robots into some town in Eastern Europe. That they'd lost power for a few weeks and decided to keep the power off. No power means no radio, no internet, no TV..." He spread his hands. "Just my theory. But you have to admit: anyone that can throw a lead blanket over the entire world's memories is probably capable of giving people a little mental push.

"Now, I won't stop you if you wish to walk away. But I cannot - I will not - accept that this is the best that we can hope for. That some butcher in aluminum foil who can turn your brain inside out with an electromagnetic pulse is meant to be celebrated because things might be - not will be, might be - worse without him. He's got to go. The Order has to go. That mind controlling green... whatever, has to go. To do that we need to get to them. To get to them we need a way past AEGIS-1 and we need to find out how the Mathmagician works. If what the program in that Vault said is correct then AEGIS-1 and the Mathemagician were technology designed by whoever this 'Goldsmith' is, and then appropriated by the Order. So we need to open the Vault. We need to find Jasmine Gold. We need to find Iron Gates. And if we get that Vault open, by the way, well... the program knew about your father, Kenshin. Don't you want to know about the man he used to be?"

[Necronaut]

Gradually, as people spoke, Norman shifted from nodding in thoughtful concurrence to blank stillness. Something, somewhere had touched a nerve.

"The Order..." he frowned as his planned statement ran into a mental block. He continued lamely, "...does a lot of bad stuff. Stuff that nearly everyone just ignores. Because we're supposed to. Because it's easier not to think about it. Because if you try to do anything about it, it'll happen to you too. Ignoring it makes life sort of tolerable. I've got no right to tell anyone to do otherwise. But if you do let yourself look, you won't like what you see. And you might be glad you have a sword."

[The Scarlet Samurai]

"You don't understand, none of you do." He raised his left arm, giving it a shake to allow the sleeve to fall, his forearm was lined with cuts all of them recent. "I cannot sheath this infernal sword without allowing it to taste blood. Mine or somebody else's, it doesn't matter which, and the more the better." He brought the blade down and ran it along his arm near the most recent cut, blood welling up and being drawn into the blade like water into a sponge.

He sheathed the sword, "This is what it means to me. This is why I need to know for sure that this is right, because one day we won't fight a bunch of tin cans, it'll be people. And unlike at the cemetery I know now that they will die by my hand.

"So I'm glad that you all feel so strongly, so utterly convinced that you are right or that this needs to be done, but this is why I have my doubts, this is why I am reluctant; because for every vile man behind one of those Knight's helmets that enjoys his work there are no doubt dozens like you, or you, or you." He points to Gloom, then to Larissa, then in turn each of the others finally stopping at Jack.

[Charlotte]

Blackjack couldn't see the blood, but he could hear the tone in Kenshin's voice. He took a long moment before he spoke.

"I suppose one solution would be to keep the sword holstered until you were absolutely sure you needed it in lethal combat, but if what you're saying is true, then yes. That's a problem.

"If you want, you can bury the sword out here. Head back home. It'll never bother you again. We'll keep watch over it - so to speak. But this is going to be hard enough with just the few of us already. We could use your help, if you're willing to provide it."

[SalmonMax]

"I never said I didn't have doubts," Larissa says quietly, chastised. "And I don't want to become a hardened killer...I've never even touched a weapon before now. We've got to be realistic though. Sooner or later, going down this path, we're going to have to hurt someone, or kill someone...just like sooner or later one or more of us will probably get hurt, or even killed. It's serious business. But what I'm hearing from most of us is that we believe that what's at stake is enough to justify what's at risk."

"I understand your doubts though, I really do. My own personal struggle with the Order is...well, it's over things like what's in schoolbooks, and what we teach children. It's important, but nothing I'd want to KILL someone over."

She looks at the other people there. "But I've heard a lot and learned a lot about the Order since all this started. I think the world can do better, if we give it a chance. That's going to mean we take risks we wouldn't normally take...and it's going to mean we'll have to do things we don't want to do. None of us are going to get out of this without changing...and that's a scary thought. I don't know what I'm going to become. All I can do right now is have some faith in myself, and in all of you, that we'll be able to hold onto something good inside us and change without losing that."

She took a deep breath. "And I believe that about each one of us. Including you. What's important though is what YOU believe, Kenshin."

[Radiance]

Hikari said nothing more, waiting to here how Kenshin responded. In truth, her own mind wrestled with what they were doing, but in her heart she'd made her choice and cast her lot with the others. This was simply how things would be.

[IndyPendant]

Sharatur was silent, listening to them all talk, her pack lying forgotten on the floor beside her. She stood there pensively for a long few moments, before finally finishing jamming the water bottle into her daypack. As she shouldered the pack and adjusted the straps so it was sitting right, she said--perhaps just a little too brightly--"I'm off to explore Ayers Rock for the day. I might be back tonight, I might not. If not I'll make sure to check in tomorrow." She vanished before anyone could respond.

Outside, she began walking toward the rock, contenting herself with examining it in the distance for a while as she thought. Sharatur was deeply troubled, she had been ever since she developed her powers, and she didn't know why. At first she thought it was because of the whole tipping-up of her entire worldview, and that was certainly part of it, but that was too simplistic. She was adjusting to that, difficult as it was for her to believe even now. Already, she found herself teleporting places she could have just walked to, barely noticing as she did. But there was something else going on, something deeper.

She deliberately put aside her brooding for now, and began to test her limits. Exploring Ayers Rock had always been one of her greatest dreams, and she was very much looking forward to the next day or two. But this was her second reason for the trip: she had never tested herself in controlled conditions, stretched her powers to their limits.

Today she would.

She closed the many miles to Ayers Rock in scant minutes through short hops, combined with a light jog that moved her faster than most people could sprint. She found she could vanish in the midst of one running stride and reappear on the landing without so much as losing a step. Slight slopes, irregularities in the ground, rocks and twigs never bothered her; she somehow automatically and instinctively adjusted for them, the same as any other person might during a normal run. She grew bolder, teleporting herself into a handstand, into a crouching position on a wall--then back to a standing position when she fell off it Okay, I can't walk on walls.--and a few dozen other experiments. No matter how she tried, she found she had a hard limit of around four hundred feet when she could see her destination, and only about a hundred feet when she couldn't.

She proceeded to explore Ayers Rock for most of that day, reveling in the sense of freedom she possessed. Okay. I could get to enjoy this. Once she teleported too far by mistake, and found herself standing on air about ten feet from the western edge of the Rock, a quite literally breathtaking view spreading below and ahead of her. ...Wow. She tested the limits of her powers, and found she could teleport and run quite literally above the clouds--though that grew a bit too cold for her and she quickly returned. She spent the next hour or so rising high into the sky and 'turning off' her airwalking, freefalling without a parachute only to teleport to a standing stop at the last moment.

It was exhilarating.

Throughout her explorations, throughout her experiments, her mind worked. She gnawed at the troubled spots in her heart, thought about their situation, and slowly began to realize what was bothering her this time. She had joined a small and select group of companions with special powers, with the express intent of bringing down the established Order, in the belief that this would bring about a better world. She was reluctantly coming to believe that the Order really wasn't what she had always thought it was...but there was a word for the type of people they were going to become. Freedom Fighters her mind insisted. All right. But people were going to suffer. Because of what they did, because of what she did, innocent people, people that just wanted to go about living their lives, people like she had been only a few days ago, they were going to get hurt. And some of them were going to die.

Was she ready to face that?

She didn't know. But at some point in the course of her explorations, a kind of peace settled on her. Let the others work primarily to bring down the Order. She knew they were none of them ruthless killers, that each on some level had at least some concern for the people they would all be putting in harm's way. But each of them, to a varying degree, seemed more concerned with the goal than the cost. She would come along and help when needed, but that would not be her main purpose. Her main goal would be to spare as many casualties as possible along the way. She resolutely ignored the voice inside that whispered words such as hypocrisy, rationalization, and conscience-soothing posturing. She knew, no matter what she did, some would be hurt, some would even likely die. Nevertheless.

This was the choice she could live with.

[Guest Anonymous]

The Necronaut regarded the Samurai's accusatory finger warily. "Razor vs. hatchet, though, right? Killing, even in a necessary cause, isn't just serious business... it could also make matters very awkward for me. I'm holding out some hope that it won't be necessary. I like to imagine between all of us... we don't just have the power to win a fight, but the power to do so gently."

He cleared his throat and added uncomfortably, "...but if it comes down to it, yes, I'm convinced that removing the Order is worth the risk to ourselves, and others. Something about the needs of the many or... Ugh, there's no way to make it sound good."

[Charlotte]

After a long moment, Kenshin simply shook his head. “I am sorry,” he said in a low voice. “I cannot do this. You're going where I cannot follow.”

Blackjack nodded. “Okay. I'm sorry I brought you into this. We'll take you home now.”

After the decision had been made, it was almost anticlimactic. A spot was located and a landmark chosen, and super-strong fingers began the work of burying the past. Kenshin placed the sword and the mask in the hole that had been dug. He stood over it for long moments, then they piled dirt atop the artifacts from a bygone era. With each shovelful, Kenshin imagined the voice growing weaker and weaker, until it was gone.

When they finished, Jack spoke. “If you change your mind, Kenshin - “

“If I change my mind, I will be in touch.” Kenshin nodded to Jack.

Larissa knew the way home for Kenshin, and opened a doorway for him. With relief, he stepped through, turning back to face her momentarily. Neither one said anything, though Larissa knew what he must have been thinking. What Larissa had mentioned about a connection between her father and his.

“I have to talk to my mother,” said Kenshin, straightening up, the hunch in his shoulder leaving him. “She lost her husband recently. That's all the comfort I can give this world right now.”

Larissa nodded. She shut the door gently. Sh turned to face the others. Jack didn't look back – he couldn't – but he acknowledged her.

“Okay. Now, I think we need to start searching for - “

“Yeah, here's the thing,” pipped up Cyan. “I got to chat with the angel again last night. I'm needed somewhere else.”

“Uh. What?”

“Yeah. Don't worry, secret's safe with me, you old geezer. Your secret outback base is gonna stay secret. But the angel told me that they needed to 'oil the door.' I asked him what that meant and I thought it was something kinda filthy and he told me. I gotta spread the word of the Almighty. Quickly too.”

“... okay. Do you need a door somewhere - “

“Nope! Doors are for sissies. See you all 'round. Bye!” Cyco was gone, leaving a Cyco-shaped cloud of dust in the air that settled after a moment.

Jack sighed. “Okay then. All right. Down to six. Anyone else having second thoughts? Now's a real good time.”

[Radiance]

Hikari walked over and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "I said I was in, and I mean it." She looked around to the others. "Them leaving just means we're going to have to work even harder, but I believe we can make this happen."

[Charlotte]

Jack nodded. "Okay. To the bitter end." He nodded towards the house. "Then I think we need to get started. We need to find out what Iron Gates is. If anyone has contacts inside the Order's law enforcement arm, or its bureaucracy... anything that can give us a lead, now might be the time to call on them."

[Necronaut]

The Necronaut watched the others go, The Samurai in particular. He re-ran the parting exchanges, trying to reassure himself it wasn't something he said. ... Probably not, he concluded.

He nodded in agreement with Radiance, "I'm not going anywhere. I mean, anywhere unrelated to our chosen task. ... Unless I take a break, and I'd come back from that."

He cleared his throat and was glad there was a subject to change to. "I checked around a few of the major cemeteries here down-under, but no luck. I could maybe go find some nearer the major administrative centers? Or.. er.." he glanced back at the shadows, assuming Gloom would be lurking nearby, "..we do sort of have an inside-person already, right?"

[SalmonMax]

Larissa nodded and looked at Gloom.

"Is there any way you could gain access, even temporary access, to the Order's internal computer network? Maybe they haven't turned off your clearance, or...I don't know. If you need to actually show up in person somewhere, I could put an illusion on you to make sure no one noticed anything unusual. This 'Iron Gate' thing is definitely something belonging to the Order though, so I doubt there'll be much public information on it available."

[Charlotte]

"Necro, good idea. Check cemeteries and see if anyone died who might know what this place is." Jack exhaled. "That's enough water. I'm heading inside for a spell. If you're heading away from our... I suppose we'll need to give our secret HQ a name. I vote 'secret HQ.' If you're heading away from it, let someone know where you are."

[Necronaut]

"Right then... off I go. Across the sea in my tiny air-plane." He shuffled a few feet toward the door. "Hours in the air, jet lag, and only the lonely spirits of the departed for company." He sighed and wandered out.

A few moments later he popped his head back through the door and added with diminished drama, "Er, that is unless you could open a door to somewhere on the East Coast maybe, Larissa? It would save an awful lot of time..."

[z-Gloom]

Originally Posted By: SalmonMax

Larissa nodded and looked at Gloom.

"Is there any way you could gain access, even temporary access, to the Order's internal computer network? Maybe they haven't turned off your clearance, or...I don't know. If you need to actually show up in person somewhere, I could put an illusion on you to make sure no one noticed anything unusual. This 'Iron Gate' thing is definitely something belonging to the Order though, so I doubt there'll be much public information on it available."

Gloom lapsed into silence. It was long enough for others to start and finish conversations. She wasn't paying attention to that, and was surprised when she realized Larissa was being asked for something by Necronaut.

She waited until Larissa accepted or denied the request, then said, "I'm willing to try." Let unsaid was the fear that Gloom felt at having to do something like this. She knew how the Order treated intruders in their buildings and systems, and she was afraid of getting caught by them.