[IC] Worlds of Fire

[Totem]

The Rockfall café is a bar on the edge of Longhampton, on the main route out to the city’s college and biggest industrial estate. It’s popular with the students and locals, with a ‘seasonal’ clientele based on the time of day; at this time of the morning it is mostly haunted by students and those on their way to work trying to grab some breakfast before starting their daily toil.

The smell of coffee and cooked breakfasts fills the air as you step into the café. Several students are sitting around discussing something from a TV show that was on the previous night. A couple of drivers are bemoaning their respective routes between mouthfuls of greasy fry-up. Further individuals, mostly on their own, are taking up about half of the seats in the café.

As you enter you observe that a table off to one side is not only nearly clear, but the tables around it are as well. A single man sits at the table and looks up as you enter, gesturing for you to come and join him. He already has a meal on the table in front of him, along with a book that he was reading from. A bag, similar to those carried by the college students, rests on the floor by his feet.

“Glad you could make it,” he says, indicating for you to sit. “Once we’re all here we can get down to business. Order yourself something whilst we wait; I’ve got the tab.”

[OOC: Everyone playing feel free to introduce your character, look around, make a few comments, ask a few questions, etc. Once everyone playing has turned up the explanations can begin. Anyone wanting to establish a speech colour for their character please do so now.]

[Character Specific: As she enters Gabrielle notices a very faint touch against her mind; the figure sitting alone is the source, clearly a telepath. He isn't doing anything invasive; it's just the telepathic equivilent of glancing at someone to see where they are.]

[Character Specific: Serena (Mark-315's Overwatch AI) notes the presense of an ECM field, subtle but powerful, that surrounds this lone figure and the table that he is sitting at.]

[RogerBW]

As far as Gabrielle is concerned, this is a strange business. She's managed for a while by keeping her head down. But caution is a wearing habit, and surely it can't hurt to play things straight just once...

Gabrielle is a tall woman in her mid-forties, cafe-au-lait skin and dark brown hair currently worn straight and above the shoulder. She could be pretty stunning if she held herself just a bit differently, but something about the way she moves whispers "don't notice me, look over there at that other person instead". She's wearing casual clothing, perhaps a little warm for the time of year, and carrying a small backpack with something else (maybe three feet long and two inches wide, in its own bag) sticking up from the top of it.

She orders coffee with too much sugar and cream - clearly not any sort of coffee snob, and apparently not too worried about her figure either - and joins the stranger at his table - sitting with her back to a wall, and scanning the room every few seconds.

"Thank you for the invitation - I suppose. I'll save my questions until after your introduction - but let me put you on notice that I have a lot of them."

[ErhnamDJ]

Douglas messes with the door for about ten seconds, trying to get in. He keeps pulling on the door that only pushes open, then he switches over to the door to its right, but that one's locked. He's not used to this kind of thing.

He can smell the coffee. That's the first thing he notices inside. Then he sees a plate with some sausage links and eggs. That's the thing that gets him about these other worlds. Not the technology, or all the noise everywhere, but the food. There's so much food. He once followed dog tracks for four days across the desert, hoping to eat that mutt. He never found it.

There's a man over there. Looks like he was waiting. Douglas goes over, pulls out a chair, then sits down. His duster is split in the back, so he can do just that.

Douglas is tall by his standards, average by most worlds's. His clothes are coated with gray dust that will never wash out. But that's okay. They're so old, so ragged, that they'd probably disintegrate if water touched them. He has a big black beard on his face. It's trimmed, but it still looks big. He has a little bit of hair around the side and back of his head, but that's it.

He takes off his sunglasses, closes the frames, and puts them into a crude protective leather pouch. "Howdy," he says, then leans over the table. "Is this the kind of place where someone comes over and takes your order? Or is it where you need to go up and talk to someone first?"

[Totem]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

"Thank you for the invitation - I suppose. I'll save my questions until after your introduction - but let me put you on notice that I have a lot of them."

The man nods in reply. "I'll try to answer those that I can. We've still got a few people to turn up though."

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

He takes off his sunglasses, closes the frames, and puts them into a crude protective leather pouch. "Howdy," he says, then leans over the table. "Is this the kind of place where someone comes over and takes your order? Or is it where you need to go up and talk to someone first?"

"If you sit here on your own long enough they might take an interest," the man replies. "Otherwise you need to order it yourself." He indicates a menu. "Just tell me what you want and I'll sort it out."

[ErhnamDJ]

Originally Posted by Totem

"If you sit here on your own long enough they might take an interest," the man replies. "Otherwise you need to order it yourself." He indicates a menu. "Just tell me what you want and I'll sort it out."

Douglas picks up the menu. "Coffee, some of these pancakes, sausages. And hash browns."

He looks over at the woman sitting at the table. "My apologies, ma'am. The name's Douglas. Guess you're in on this too, huh?"

[Totem]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

Douglas picks up the menu. "Coffee, some of these pancakes, sausages. And hash browns."

The man nods and for a moment his gaze focuses somewhere off into the distance before returning to Douglas. "Done. It'll be here in a minute."

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by ErhnamDJ

He looks over at the woman sitting at the table. "My apologies, ma'am. The name's Douglas. Guess you're in on this too, huh?"

"Gabrielle. For whatever 'this' may turn out to be. I'm guessing you're not from around these parts? For myself, there's no place like home, as long as it lasts..."

[ErhnamDJ]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

"Gabrielle. For whatever 'this' may turn out to be. I'm guessing you're not from around these parts? For myself, there's no place like home, as long as it lasts..."

"Pleasure to meet you. And no, I'm not from this area. Not exactly. And from my experience, home isn't all it's cracked up to be." He leans back in the chair. "Besides... nothing lasts forever."

[KS Pathfinder]

Pausing before the door of the arranged meeting place Mark-315 once again sums up his options, and once again with no other recourse decides to enter, and is about to reach for the door handle when Serena humorously makes her presence felt.

Serena <Voice in his head>: “Please try to be nice this time okay? Your social skills still need a lot of work.”

Mark-315 <Aloud>: “No promises. Besides, last time they started it first.”

Upon entering, Mark-315 is a tall man, taller than the tallest person in the room; Caucasian and in his mid-twenties with short brown hair parted at the centre, with blue eyes hidden behind large sunglasses that seem to radiate the feeling that they serve some other purpose than simply shielding his eyes from the sun. He could be described as being unintentionally ruggedly handsome, except for the presence of a large decorative scar running across his right cheek, and a decorative scar running down from one corner of his left eyebrow and continuing down from below his left eye.

Along with his obvious height Mark-315 carries himself in such a way that marks him out as different from everybody, his movements strong yet smooth and confident, almost drilled and militaristic. What he’s wearing also points him out as different, with a large grey/brown overcoat, trying and obviously in a number of places, failing to hide the clearly full body hi-tech military black bodysuit covered in silver/grey modular armour, with what could amount to some futuristic armoured motorcycle helmet, made of the same materials as the armour, with a blue reflective full-face covering visor attached to his hip by some unknown means underneath his overcoat.

Quickly summing up the situation and spotting the trio at the table, and clearly not interested in any sort of food or drink, he strides over to their table and sits down opposite the unknown woman present with perhaps the same unconscious motives as she, dropping a large drawstring bag to the floor next to him as he does so, the chair audibly groaning with the weight of Mark-315 and his armour. Very quickly realising who’s in charge and perhaps who sent him the message he turns to the gentleman neither any of them know.

Mark-315: “Message received. You’ll forgive me for coming somewhat overdressed, but you can never be too careful. Besides, it kind of goes with what I am.”

[Totem]

Originally Posted by KS Pathfinder

Quickly summing up the situation and spotting the trio at the table, and clearly not interested in any sort of food or drink, he strides over to their table and sits down opposite the unknown woman present with perhaps the same unconscious motives as she, dropping a large drawstring bag to the floor next to him as he does so, the chair audibly groaning with the weight of Mark-315 and his armour. Very quickly realising who’s in charge and perhaps who sent him the message he turns to the gentleman neither any of them know.

Mark-315: “Message received. You’ll forgive me for coming somewhat overdressed, but you can never be too careful. Besides, it kind of goes with what I am.”

The man looks the figure up and down, an eyebrow raised in something that might have been puzzlement. "Interesting... I wasn't expecting a Sentinel," he pauses as he looks closer at the chestplate armour where an 'IV' is stensilled, "Four..." He considers for a moment. "You lot were some of my best work in recent years... That armour though..." He sighs and seems to concentrate once again, his eyes closed.

For a second nothing happens, then the armour and greatcoat appear to shimmer and fade, being replaced by normal looking clothes in a style worn by the locals. Mark can still feel the armour, and still hear Serena's voice, but can't see it.

In his earpiece Serena jumps in before he can ask; "I don't know what he's done but... I think he's distorting the light around your armour somehow. My infra-red isn't affected, but I can't see anything by normal light. Even the Kreyt couldn't do that this well though..."

The man's face clears and he takes a shuddering breath and opens his eyes. "Okay... Don't make me do this again... I can keep it up as long as you're here, but it won't last if I lose concentration. Remember to change into civvies before I leave."