raisetheearth | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Keldek & Associates, Ryuuzaki and maybe others
Where: Gateway and Infinita City
What: The recruitment drive continues. This time we're looking for brains over brawn. Also, there might be something with some kid who showed up on his doorstep.
Warnings: Ryuuzaki. Maybe a little violence? I dunno.
Status: Closed

Number One: Closed to Ryuuzaki
It's well into the night by the time the black car pulls into the motel parking lot. It really was one of the... seedier places that the otherwise bright city had to offer, populated by the human detritus that eagerly fed off a society that allowed them to exist.

Circling once, the car came to a stop at the room number that had been indicated as the one that currently housed the one they were there for. The driver's door opened up and a large man in a black suit stepped out, straightening his jacket before opening the passenger side to allow a tall, black-haired woman in business attire to step out.

Of course, the sudden arrival drew some attention. They were approached only once, but three applications of an enormous fist left the poor fellow more concerned with picking his broken teeth out of a pool of blood on the concrete and the rest sufficiently dissuaded from trying their hand.

The brief burst of violence didn't even slow the woman for a step. In fact, she seemed to ignore it entirely as she strode up to the door and reached out to knock with a slender hand.

Part 2. Closed to Alexandra
Somehow, the days seemed to grow both longer and shorter all at the same time. Longer in that his work often kept him busy until well past sunset, but shorter in that no matter what was accomplished there was always more to be done. Nonetheless, there was a satisfaction there. Things were progressing smoothly. He'd managed to recruit a number of "special" individuals to his cause and the little test they'd conducted the previous month had gone well and that particular project was ready to progress to the next level.

Now, however, the day's work was done and he sat in peaceful solitude in his large office. Or at least it was for him. He turned his chair toward the window and watched the lights outside as his construction crews changed shifts, sitting back in his chair and breathing out a cloud of smoke from the cigarette in one hand, the other holding a glass of whiskey. So much progress in just a few short months. Very soon his city, his domain would finish rising out of the depths of this wasteland and then....

... Well, that was still in the future. For now, he could rest easy knowing that all matters of importance had been dealt with for the day.

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Most of the time Alexandra only stopped by her grandfathers office when she was asked to make an appearance. He was a busy man and she didn't want to disrupt him if she could help it. It was the least she could do considering how kind he had been when it came to taking her in. Today she had to make an exception to this. She had known for nearly a month now that her numbered abilities and memories were connected to a larger group of numbered that were already around. She couldn't help but feel a little uneasy that someone might end up recognizing the changes that had happened to her or her alter ego and connect the two, either could be very problematic with her current line of work.

At first she tried to ignore it, but the thoughts continued to nag at her despite her best efforts. She knew now was the best time to explain her situation and find out what to do about it.

Anton will hear a faint knock at his office door before it creeks open just a touch.

"...Mr.Keldek? May I come in?"

The decision to take in the young girl hadn't been quite as altruistically motivated as she might hope. He'd barely known her before she joined him here, having only seen her at all once or twice as an infant before his daughter had severed contact. As it had stood, he probably would have lived out his final few years without any family at all, had fate... and an alien invasion not intervened.

But the fact remains that the girl is his. His kin, his blood, and no family of his would simply rot away in some slum or on a street somewhere. Anton Keldek has no illusions that he could be called a good man, but he looks after his own.

Or at least, he sees to it that there's a place for them.

He turns his head slightly at the knock on the door, and the quiet sound of it opening. There's a moment's pause as he doesn't answer right away, tapping the ash from his cigarette before speaking without facing.

"What is it?" It might as well be a yes. At least as close to one as he might come.

His intentions may not have been completely pure of heart, but they did provide her with a place to stay after she had lost everything. She wasn't about to start nit picking over every detail with him, she could find other plenty of other places to misplace her frustrations.

She pauses for a moment after he speaks before she opens the door enough for her to slide into the room before closing it again. She kept silent at first and took a few steps closer to his desk. She wasn't exactly sure how he'd react to this issue and it made her a touch a more nervous than she already was. Enough to get her to beat around the bush before getting to the point.

"It's been a couple weeks since I last saw you, I thought I should stop by and see how you were doing?" ...Hey, the first part is true at the very least. He'd likely be able to see right through that though.

Edited 2015-09-26 00:58 (UTC)

A couple of weeks? It had been that long, had it? Hm... perhaps it had, but he's a busy man and could hardly concern himself with the day to day upbringing of this child. She should be able to handle herself by now, and she had enough access to staff and resources to take care of what she could not.

He turns his chair to face her, stirring up the heavy cloud of tobacco smoke that seemed to perpetually hang around him.

"I'm doing well, as you can see." He eyes her for a second. "Is that all you came here to find out?"

She would have stopped by sooner but there wasn't anything really new to report. She had caused a little bit of trouble in Gateway but that was more to stretch her legs and test out her abilities than anything. She didn't want to bother him if she didn't have to.

She takes one nervous step back as he turns to face her and states what she could indeed already tell.

"Yes, I just thought a personal visit was in order." Okay. Those eyes on her were starting to wrack her at her nerves just a little. ...Maybe it would be better to just get things over.

"N-no, of course not." She said and gave him a rather meager shrug.

"I've... Learned something new about my abilities when I was out last. I thought it was something you should know about."

Nervous or not, those eyes are never really leaving her. Cold and dark and calculating. Not unlike a hunting wolf's... or maybe a snake's.

He doesn't invite her to sit in either of the open chairs in front of his desk, settling back into his own high-backed chair, the slightly raised platform his desk is seated on giving the appearance of being much higher than whoever he's speaking to.

"Hm." He nods, drumming one finger on his armrest. "You're talking about your... escapades in Gateway City not long ago."

She can't say that she's surprised that he knows about that. Her alter ego and abilities were secret to most people but certainly not to him. It's still a little unsettling that he brought it up though, and it is partially why she was here.

"Yes, and no." She said with a bit more confidence than what she had shown a few moments ago. "I regained memories during the event... I-uh-think that my powers are connected to another group of numbered here." She said and took a few more steps toward the desk.

"No, I don't think they're connected. I know they are but I'm not exactly sure how."

Of course, what she'd gotten up to hadn't gone unnoticed. They'd had their own operation running in the city at the same and, as such, heavy observation had been necessary. They hadn't been watching for Alexandra's games but she'd been seen nonetheless.

Ah, that's better. That little extra confidence in her voice and stance is clear, and preferred. If there's one thing that Anton could not tolerate in his presence, it's weakness. Deference, respect and obedience, yes, but never weakness. Even less so in someone of his blood.

He doesn't offer a seat yet. She's earned his attention but not that much just yet.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first. Why don't you start with what you do know?"

Focus on what she did know. That seemed simple enough, she could work with that. She took a moment to mull over her thoughts before started to speak again. When she did she was able to maintain that same bit of confidence she had earlier, it wasn't much but it made talking to him feel a little more comfortable.

"Well, you see, sir. I found out my past is somehow connected to a group called Precure. There are few numbered that are a part of that group. I don't know exactly how I'm connected to the group, but I'm fairly sure mine aren't the same as theirs." Seeing as she's pretty sure the precure don't make violent monsters like she does.

"I'm more concerned that eventually one of them is going to recognize what I can do or who my past self was."

"Precure." The name almost comes out as a scoff and his face twists into a frown.

Out of all the Numbered that he might try to recruit, he's already certain that nobody from that particular subset would be willing to take his side. In fact, he already anticipates them being quite stalwart in their opposition when the time comes.

"Enough of them have appeared that I suppose it was only inevitable." He pauses for a moment, taking another puff of his cigarette and exhaling the smoke as he speaks. "They call themselves warriors, so it only stands to reason that they'd have had enemies. ... Does anybody else know anything of your powers?"

His reaction gives her the strangest sense of relief. She had been humiliated by two of the Cure's during her excursion at Gateway and did't think she'd find anyone on the Network that would see eye to her with her on the matter. She was glad she was proven wrong there.

"I suppose that's true." She said thoughtfully. An enemy of the Precure? She could live with that.

"A few saw my transformed self in Gateway and the monster I created, but that's as much as anyone knows about it. I haven't mentioned anything about my powers on the network, so no one should know about that aside from you."

That had happened, but that one defeat wasn't a great cause for concern. The next time would simply have to go better.

"That doesn't matter, it was only ever a matter of time before that was discovered." He looks down at the cigarette between his fingers, before abruptly standing up and walking to the large windows that take up the wall behind his desk.

He looks out over the construction, building up the city that would be his domain.

"Alexandra," he doesn't turn around when he addresses her, but the rare utterance of her name should serve just as well, "do you understand what I'm trying to achieve here?"

She gave a small nod of agreement at the first comment. She had gone out to pick a fight with her powers, it was only natural that someone would notice and start swinging back at her. She just wished the end result had gone a little better. She'd have to try harder next time.

She takes a small step forward and her eyes track him as he steps toward the window, ever curious to see just what he would do next. She freezes when he actually says her names and blinks a few times in surprise.

"I Believe so." She starts then pauses and glances to consider her words carefully. "I can't say I know exactly what's going on in your head, but I don't think I need to that either." She takes a breath, thinking over how he took her in and helped her get back on her feet again.

"I know that you assisted me, and I'd like to do what I can to do the same for you."

A lesson learned then. If she did act again, perhaps next time would find her better prepared to deal with the so-called "heroes" who would interfere.

He smiles a little bit, hearing her step closer and then at her simple statement. She won't even question him, will she? Such loyalty can be especially useful. Very well, he'll see how far that loyalty extends.

"They'll try to stop me, those Numbered." He turns his head slightly, watching her reactions. "... I need your help to keep that from happening."

It wasn't her place to question what he was doing. She owed him a great deal for helping her, she would repay him however she could.

Her eyes narrow slightly at the comment and she could feel her hands clench into fists. It only lasted a moment but her annoyance and anger with the other numbered was clear enough. That only lasted for a moment though as she was suddenly assaulted by strange sensation as new memories found a way into her mind. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized how similar this conversation was to one that her past self had been through. That was strange, very creepily strange.

At the same time it was comforting to know that her past self was dedicated to a cause. It made it easier for her to respond to what her grandfather had said. She waited for a moment to compose her thoughts, to let her anger toward the other numbered die down and for these new memories to solidify her resolve.

"I'll do what I can, they wont interfere."

Edited 2015-10-03 02:35 (UTC)

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