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Thriller OPEN The Seeking

Discussion in 'Role Playing Forum' started by SirakRomar, May 4, 2020.

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  1. SirakRomar

    SirakRomar Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 30, 2007
    [​IMG]
    Mobile HQ of COS near Paris

    Colonel Thierry was watching the assembly of screens right in front of him. Satellite pictures, tactical maps, twelve helmet cameras of Capitaine Manon and his troops. They also had their lifesigns.

    "Eyes on the ground." The Lieutenant next to him reported and the Colonel sighed. He could see that himself.

    "Merci." He simply hissed and leaned forward to take the headset in front of him and put it on. "Open a line to the 117th." He said and immediately he heard the beeping in his ears.

    "Captain, report." He simply said.

    "No contact, moving to waypoint one. Repeat no contact." The Captain was calm, but there was a certain anxiety in his voice only a soldier would recognize.

    "Give me some details, Captain." The Colonel said and leaned back, rubbing his forehead.

    "The streets are empty. We went into one of the houses. Meals still standing on the oven and dog food cans opened in the kitchen. TVs were running. Showers. AC. It looks like everyone just vanished in a blink of an eye." The Captain's camera showed him approaching the Champs Élysée and it was completely empty.

    "Bodies? Animals? Anything?" The Colonel asked.

    "Nothing, Sir. No sign of life so far." The Captain reported. "We documented the scenes. Sending the files now."

    "Understood." The Colonel said and stared at the satellite picture. "You get close to the target now. Be careful Captain. We have no idea what we are dealing with."

    "Affirmative." The Captain said and his men had to walk around crashed cars and fires that had broken out. With nobody to put them out, it was not unlikely these fires would consume the capital of France the experts had said. If the water from the sewer systems did not get up first. Nobody could say how long the pumps would work with nobody there to make them work.

    "Target in sight." The Captain then said. "Await orders."

    "Zoom in." The Colonel ordered the Lieutenant next to him. The man needed a moment to see what his superior meant, then he enhanced one of the soldiers camera view. There she was. In the middle of the street knelt a young woman and her head moved slightly forward and back, her hands covered between her hands.

    "Stay at a distance. Code Red." The Colonel ordered the Captain. "Can you determine what she is doing?"

    "I believe she is crying, Sir." The Captain said and the Colonel leaned back.

    "Get a five on her." The Colonel said and looked around in the command room.

    "Got a five on her." The Captain confirmed, as his sniper took aim. "Target is a teenager, Sir."

    "Understood. Deadly force is authorized. Take her down." The Colonel said and waited for confirmation. The Captain took his time. "Captain that girl killed two million people. Take her down."

    "Confirmed." The captain said and on the screen a clean shot silently hit her chest and the girl collapsed. It was almost trivial when you watched someone die on a screen. "Target down." The Captain confirmed.

    The Colonel leaned back. "Give her another one to the head. We need to be sure." The Colonel sighed. They had executed a girl. A girl who was the greatest mass murderer of all times. What had the world come to?

    -------------------

    Conference Room, EU Headquarters, Brussels

    The Defense Ministers of the European Union had come together in an emergency meeting. They had all been in town to discuss budgets. France was represented by General Roman De Croix, as their Minister had been one of the victims of events in Paris. The Minister of Agriculture had not been in town and had taken over the duties of the French Government, but it would take days before he would have appointed staff to even the most rudimentary offices. The whole French Government and Administration had been victims of this ... attack.

    "The Terrorist was a 15 year old Girl named Louise Leroux. She was a registered Gifted and the survivor of the attack." The General reported, doing a good job at keeping his voice under control, also he was clearly shaken.

    "Has she been detained?" The Minister from the Netherlands asked.

    "Today at 1223 a team of our special forces neutralized her, Minister." He answered. Nobody objected. Everybody simply nodded.

    "Please continue." The Hungarian Minister said. The General nodded.

    "The estimated victims are one point six million including the whole Government, Military High Command, High Court, Parliament, Police and Administration. Within the radius of the attack we have so far found twenty seven survivors who have been detained and are questioned as we speak. They are all registered Gifted, like the terrorist." He concluded his report and put down the paper with shaking hands.

    "Did you have relatives among the victims, General?" Anna Albrecht asked. She was the German Defense Minister.

    "My family lived in Paris, Madame. Only my daughter survived as she studies abroad." The General said and now his voice was failing as he fought tears.

    "My deepest condolences, General. It goes without saying we will support France in any way we can in this dark hour and ..." Anna Albrecht was cut short as Rodrigo Manolo from Spain spoke up.

    "Yes, of course. Let the speeches be done by our heads of state. We are here to discuss more urgent matters. Do we know why Ms. Leroux committed the worst terror attack in the history of mankind?" He asked.

    "She seems to have been mentally unstable. We retrieved her medical files saying she was treated for a narcistic personality disorder with signs of paranoia. She was released a month ago from Saint-Anne where she was committed for being a potential danger to herself and others." The General reported what the remains of their intelligence had gathered in impressive speed.

    "A psycho with the power to wipe out cities. Great." The Italien Minister Rossi sighed.

    "How many Gifted are registered in Europe as of today?" Banolo asked.

    "4.355 Gifted are registered within the member states. 345 in the U.K. 63 in Swiss. Over twenty thousand worldwide. Gifted have appeared in 73 nations so far. But not everyone is registering. In Africa only SA and Egypt have begun the process. China, Japan and Singapore are very effective, but many of the emerging countries are struggling. Large parts of Asia are blind spots. Mexico and Brazil do not share their numbers." Anna Albrecht said. Her blue eyes went through the room. Intelligence and national security representatives were not even present here, but the concern among the assembled was clearly visible.

    "Bloody hell." Rossi said. He leaned back and shook his head. "We have discussed about bans to weaponize them over the last twelve months." He shrugged. "Obviously they do that all by themselves now."

    "My Government is doing a threat analysis of all Gifted as we speak and I suggest your Governments do the same ..." Albrecht said. Again Banolo interrupted her.

    "And then? What do we do if someone is a threat? What then?" The Spaniard asked.

    There was a long silence in the room.

    "Ladies, Gentlemen." Minister Lampros raised his voice. Greek had suffered an attack with two hundred dead earlier the years as they tried to arrest a criminal Gifted in Thessaloniki. "We need a practical solution. If we declare war on the Gifted, who are still citizens of our own countries, they will be pushed into action and retaliate. We have seen today where this might lead. The possibility we might loose such a war is very real."

    Anna Albrecht sighed and now it was Herbert Knapp of the Austrian Defense Ministry who spoke. A state secretary only, he represented his Minister regularly and was known to have deep ties with the international intelligence community.

    "There might be a solution." Knapp said. "A final, irreversible solution." He gave the room a shy and tortured smile. "But we need the Americans for it."



    ------------------

    The Seeking

    -----------------​

    [​IMG]

    Welcome to The Seeking, the third game in the Trilogy that began with The Crossing by LordTroepfchen and was continued in The Reckoning by HanSolo29 and DarkLordoftheFins.

    You are not familiar with the games? Don't worry. They never happened. A time-travel in the finale of The Reckoning voided the events and left a different world.

    The game plays five years after these events and the world knows about the Gifted by now. The Gifted are people who gained the power to manipulate time in one way or another. Nobody knows why, but everybody knows it happened! There are an estimated 20.000 Gifted in the world, some with minor powers and some with almost godlike abilities.

    As expected some people are enthusiastic about this and some feel threatened by it. Governments have actively begun to seek the services of those Gifted, but an international initiative forces every Gifted to register with their Government. The failure to do so leads to imprisonment. Rumors of secret testing programs and an underground movement are all over the place.

    The game will show how both Gifted and normal people are drawn into a chain-reaction of events, that might change the world again and bring up the question if the Gifted can be allowed to exist in a world where most people are at the mercy of such beings ...

    You can play whoever you want to, but all returning players are encouraged to reprise their characters (or cameo with them at least). If you are not a returning player your character will start as a non-Gifted and if you have 'it' in you will be solely my decision.

    [​IMG]

    Character Sheet

    Name:
    Age:
    Appearance:
    Nationality:
    Occupation:
    Equipment:
    Biography:


    If applicable ...

    Gift:

    __________________________

    The Rules

    1. All Character Sheets must be sent to the GM for approval
    2. GM word is law
    3. No Godmoding, including metagaming or powerplaying
    4. All posts must follow the TOS
    5. The first two weeks the game will update at least twice a week, after two weeks the game will update weekly.
    6. If a player fails to respond for a prolonged period I reserve the right to move him along or take control of him.
    7. Enjoy!
     
  2. galactic-vagabond422

    galactic-vagabond422 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2009
    @SirakRomar Approved
    Name: Jane 'The Freelancer'

    Age: 27

    Appearance: [​IMG]

    Nationality: American

    Occupation: Assassin/Mercenary

    Equipment: Whatever she needs for her job though usually she'll have a silenced Glock 17, a bulletproof vest, military combat knife, and her lucky leather jacket, along with more than a few fake IDs and traveling papers to get out of any jam she finds herself in.

    Biography:No one's quite sure where she came from or who trained her but, given her abilities some think US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) however she has demonstrated elements of Israeli hand to hand combat, and British entry tactics. However she was trained, she is very good and has been selling her services to governments around the world. She does things they can't be seen doing. If she gets caught, which to this point she never has, they have deniability and she knows how to keep her mouth shut.

    With the appearance of Gifted and other threats, Jane's life has gotten interesting. Some targets were Gifted, and sometimes people she met on the streets were Gifted. It was hard to tell sometimes who would be an issue and who wouldn't be. Thankfully she's hasn't come across a problem she couldn't handle, either through her training and skill, or her gift. Who better to send after Gifted, than one of their own. Not that anyone outside of her Uncle Owen, a former Operator that has since 'retired' from the game, know about her status. Being registered would make her job exponentially more difficult.

    If applicable ...

    Gift: SloMo: Ability to slow down time around her.
     
  3. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    GM approved

    Name: Sebastian LEGO Stein
    Age: 33
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]

    Nationality: German
    Occupation: Street Artist
    Equipment: Spraycans, mobile, facemask, fake ID
    Biography:


    LEGO is a mystery. The internationally working street artist and his graffiti art have achieved global fame, yet the man behind the art is elusive and remains a mystery. Most suspect him to be from the U.K., some think he might be American. His politically charged pictures in Russia and Jerusalem made him famous and his pictures have sold for millions at auctions.

    LEGO is famous.
    LEGO is unpredictable.
    LEGO is legend.

    And that scares Sebastian Stein a bit. Because he feels nothing like a legend.

    He trained once to become a policeman and was kicked out after being tested positive in a drug test. One night in a club ruined his life. Or saved it. It is a matter of perception, really. Since then he has been an artist and lived mostly in isolation. He had a number of affairs, met some people in cafes and the truth is ... he has few real friends except Mike, his "agent". He actually told people he won the lottery to explain his sudden richness. Those few who asked. His parents and sister basically. He is sad and angry at the world which seems ... wrong. But one thing he is not ... is silent. He speaks through his art, while taking every measure to never be associated with it.

    You could say he lives in hiding. He is hiding from the whole world.

    That has not got any better when one day he suddenly found out he can freeze time. Now an unregistered Gifted his art has recently begun to reflect on this topic and the many questions arising from the existence of the Gifted.


    Gift: He possesses the ability to stop time. Everything freezes and he is the only person who can unfreeze it partially or completely.
     
  4. RachelTyrell

    RachelTyrell Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2009
    Approved by @SirakRomar


    Name: Annabelle "Anna" Talbott
    Age:
    23
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]
    Nationality: US American
    Occupation: Student

    Equipment: A lot of sharp dresses, really a lot of vinyl and every cool gadget and accessories imaginable.

    Biography: Annabelle, she hates the name and usually goes by Anna, was a twenty something as Hollywood imagines them in horror movies. Irresponsible, light-hearted and fun-loving. She was a year ago still living with her parents, who were travelling a lot. She was making money as a DJane and Instagram influencer (150k followers) and occasional photo model (actually too small for modeling). Her live went nowhere. She liked it like that. An endless chain of parties, boys and cool people talking cool stuff.

    Then a number of mysterious messages appeared on her phone and whoever send them seemed to know everything about her. In the beginning they were scary, but she came to understand this friend actually cared about her.

    Under the influence of that friend she finally took the step to move away from home and she applied for the Colombia University in New York. Fashion Design. She got accepted and her life has changed dramatically since then. She now is a good student and works in a library as a sidejob. She still makes money from Instagram though. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to happen anymore, but she is happy.

    Gift: None yet, as she never had a Crossing.
     
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  5. AgentViper007

    AgentViper007 Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2005
    GM Approved by the mighty @SirakRomar ^:)^

    Name: Hugo Klaasen

    Age: 34

    Appearance:[​IMG]

    Nationality: South African

    Occupation: Assassin

    Equipment: Sniper rifle which he carries disassembled in a case or bag, pistol for close combat, clothing is anything black, casual or fatigues also can dress smartly if the need arises.

    Biography:
    Born into a wealthy family in post apartheid Johannesburg in South Africa young Hugo saw his father as a role model. A soldier in the South African army his father was always off on deployment whether it be in South Africa itself quelling unrest or deployed throughout Africa on peacekeeping missions with the African Union or the United Nations.

    Eventually when he was old enough he joined the Army himself and passed the exams and physical tests. His mother begged him not to join but he always wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. He became quite proficient as a sniper and decided his talents would be best used in this field. But on a peacekeeping mission, Hugo accidentally shot a civilian who he thought was a terrorist. Dishonourably discharged, Hugo's father disowned him telling him he had brought shame on the family name.

    And so he decided to spend his time among the criminals of South Africa, sharpening his sniper skills and becoming part of a mercenary group. His skills as a soldier helped him with his use of weapons and acquiring skills in close quarter fighting.

    But the biggest pain was yet to come. One day Hugo received news that his father had been killed in an accident. What emerged from the aftermath was that it was no accident, he had been killed by a person with powers, a person known as a Gifted. Swearing revenge at his father's funeral Hugo now had his sights set on a new target, killing Gifted.

    After the death of his father he decided to sell his skills to the highest bidder. And so he traveled the world becoming an assassin for hire. Mercenary groups, terrorists, whomever would hire him he offered his services. He didn't care who he killed so long as he got money for it. As far as Hugo was concerned he had nothing left no one to love or be loved in return, it was only the job that mattered.

    One day he was contacted by a mysterious benefactor who knew his story and skills and wanted to utilize them for one thing: to kill those considered as Gifted. They would give him money, resources, targets, anything he needed to get the job done. Hugo happily accepted the offer and traveled to Berlin to execute his first target. He did so successfully and was paid a handsome sum of money for it.

    Now Hugo is on the hunt again, this time in the city of New York in the USA. His target? A young girl considered dangerous….
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2020
    Kurisan likes this.
  6. Lawbreaker

    Lawbreaker Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2018
    Ladies and Gentlemen?

    GM approved





    Name: Juan Eduardo Angelo Mauricio Duran aka The Spaniard
    Age
    : 44
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]

    Nationality: Spanish half-Gypsy (Roma)

    Occupation: Criminal

    Equipment: Several mobiles, several IDs, several guns, several bank accounts and several ideas. Cars. Girls. Watches. Even fake bracelets for Gifted registry. Actually The Spaniard considers the world his, question is just what he takes and what he leaves to the others ...

    Biography: Born and raised in the streets of Madrid he was always on the fringes of legality. Son of a hooker and a gypsy criminal father who left his Mum before she could tell him she was pregnant Juan never belonged to any of both worlds. Drifting through his youth, he started looking for his Dad when he was 14. It took him a year of errant runs and pity crimes to get deep enough into the secret criminal brotherhood calls the Garduña to actually be trusted. Then a strange thing happened. He got advise from a strange man he found hard to remember or identify. The advise was invaluable though and soon he exposed a mole and saved one of the Lieutenants of the assault of another Gang. He started moving closer to the center of the organization.

    Finally he gained enough standing as a junior member of the Garduna to achieve why he originally joined it. He found his father ... and was just laughed at by him. The man made fun of him. He was a monster. The voice told him in no unclear words what he had to do.

    That night he became a man.

    That night he fixed his mothers broken heart.

    His Dad died screaming.

    In the following years he travelled the world as the Garduna hunted him. He acquired many skills and had many teachers, who used his desperation for their purposes. But the helpless boy often proofed to be their undoing. It was just an instinct, that if a master taught him the arts, these skills were so much more valuable when he was the only one to possess them. Sooner or later fate or opportunity took down these Masters. The Voice often guided him in these moments.

    When he returned to Spain almost two decades later he was surprised to be welcome among the secret society and made a Germanía, a Member.

    He spend time in Naples the following years, building up a small crew and moving to Marseilles and Amsterdam, organizing several Art heists. His life is one of hedonism and enjoyment. The fun-loving criminal really, breaking hearts and safes.

    Finally he ended up in Berlin, far away from the home turf of the Garduna. There the crew encountered a man who seemed almost unrealistically skilled. Damian Burckhard was a policeman who had lost his job and got mingled up with the Russian mob doing odd jobs for them. Juan smelled the undercover stain on him. But every attempt to get him and every game Damian came out on top. A simple twenty-something bested Juan with ease at every round of the game. It was frustrating. The Voice was silent on him.

    In their final confrontation Damian wiped out the whole crew, leaving only Juan alive, telling him 'I would never kill one of us, we are too rare'.

    Shortly thereafter Juan heard voices. They heard him too. Funny enough the voice still talked to him, as he became the voice himself talking to his younger self.

    Juan soon learned about The Gifted and realized he was one of them. A new power rarely rises. This was a power to be reckoned with. More powerful than any Garduna or any criminal ever before the Gifted are what Juan focuses on. He knew this is his time! His chance to imprint his will on the world! Leave a legacy!

    He began to seek the Gifted within the criminal organizations he was in contact with. From them he assembled a new crew.

    One unlike any ever seen before.

    Because Juan knew making money was not a challenge anymore. This was about taking over the world.

    Gift: The ability to talk to his own past and future self.



    The Crew:

    Raimund "Ray" Holz
    The Muscle

    [​IMG]

    Anton Janssen
    The Talent

    [​IMG]

    Boris Krinsky
    The Face

    [​IMG]

    Günther "Capitano" Strauss
    The Voice of Reason

    [​IMG]

    Valeria Cortez
    The Godess

    [​IMG]
     
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  7. LordTroepfchen

    LordTroepfchen Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2007
    GM Approved


    Name: Matthew "Matt" Andrews
    Age:
    50
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]

    Nationality:
    US Citizen
    Occupation: Secretary of Homeland Security and Director of TARC
    Equipment:
    Encrypted mobile, whatever he needs really, he had made it a habit to occasionally carry a gun, also he is not very good with it.
    Biography: Matt Andrews has been in politics since his father introduced him to them as a boy. He began handing flyers out before the supermarket, ran for speaker at his high school and later worked for the Senator of Louisiana and the Governor of Michigan. Then one day he met Kurt Roland, a charismatic and ambitious former banker and junior politician who shared many of his ideas. They became close friends and Matt took a leap of faith and became his campaign manager for his run in Pennsylvania. He served as his advisor the following years after winning the election (and many afterwards) and the rest ... as they say ... was history.

    Kurt Rolands final campaign was for presidency and Matt was there when he won and became his friends trusted Chief-of-Staff. What appeared to be a peaceful and uncomplicated term soon changed dramatically. First a series of SMS provided proof to a larger conspiracy within the Government that lead to a reform of their intelligence community and the dismantling of what they had called the Shadow Network. Then the existence of people with powers was revealed and they spend most of their term dealing with the fallout of it. Especially after the President of France revealed their existence to the public, dubbing them officially as "The Gifted". Matthew spend some time in the presence of one of them, a young woman from an alternative future who explained him a lot about this new sub-species of mankind. With knowledge came power though and armed with this power he was instrumental in creating the Federal Agency for Temporal Anomalies Research and Control (TARC). He also lead the cleansing operation to regain control over a secret operation called Antville. Both demanded of him to make tough choices and also his loyalty to President Kurt Roland was unquestionable, the job changed him. Against the will of his President he supported the registration act for all Gifted and convinced Kurt to establish it as an international standard.

    When reelection came they won in a landslide victory against the anti-Gifted campaign of the opposition. The Senate initiated a fruitless investigation of the elections to find out if Gifted had influenced it. A suspicion Matt shared, but officially denied.

    He did not return as Chief-of-Staff, as he was by now so involved in TARC and homeland security Kurt asked him to take reslonsibity for it. He did and became the Secretary for Homeland Security and in secret the Director of TARC that had by now employed several Gifted to join their ranks.

    He has seen Kurt less since then, but that is about to change as they embark on a journey to Europe to coordinate with the allies oversee on using the Gifted. A mission put in jeopardy before their arrival by the events of Paris.
     
  8. Kurisan

    Kurisan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2016
    Approved by @SirakRomar with many thanks!

    Name: Saori Nishimura
    Age:
    31
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]


    Nationality:
    Japanese
    Occupation:
    Investigative journalist (freelance)
    Equipment:
    Press pass, CIA ID (stolen), microchip scanner/cloner (stolen)
    Biography:

    Articulate, curious and tenacious; Saori was attracted to journalism from a young age. With a flair for languages, she studied Journalism and International Affairs for five years in Montreal and speaks English and French fluently. She returned to Japan and broke a story for a national newspaper busting a ring of “psychics” scamming the elderly with miracle cures for cancer. She also tackled a Chinese gang trafficking North Korean women and running illegal brothels out of massage parlours. Her senior colleague stole the credit for these, twice, so Saori quit and went freelance. Her anonymity worked in her favour as she sought to investigate international stories. She worked in Northern Iraq and Syria, exposing government and IS atrocities, using aliases for bylines to Reuters, the BBC and CNN. This initially endeared her to the US government – who were looking for international consensus for a regime change – until a change of administration brought a more pro-Russian stance and the decision to leave this region to its fate under Russian influence. Saori was forced to sneak and bluff her way out of trouble several times before reaching Greece.

    Saori was working from Ukraine, following a story across Europe about Russian cyber-agents agitating for a break-up of the EU using disinformation campaigns, when the Paris Atrocity occurred.

    Now she is investigating all aspects of this, sensing deeper truths lie behind government announcements. What and where are the secret testing programmes? What happens to registered Gifted? And what do the Gifted themselves want?

    She is armed with her international press pass. She also has a discarded CIA ID she recovered from a warzone in Iraq (with her picture and alias “Sara Nishima” carefully grafted on). She is unsure if the previous owner is dead. These get her past most doors – the clandestine nature of the CIA usefully means no-one, not even other agents, challenge it, though she is aware eventually a red flag will be raised and the Americans may catch up with her.

    Finally, she once “liberated” a small microchip code scanning and cloning device while searching the offices of a criminal gang in Tokyo that she was investigating (before she called the police in). This neatly fits inside the case of a beeper device she carries and she can use it to bypass security locks.

    For more unofficial, "underground" situations, Saori can only rely on quick wits and what she has learned with her brushes with criminals in the past.

    In another life Saori perhaps would have been a spy, and she deploys this arsenal, along with charm when necessary, in her insatiable quest for the truth.

    Gift: None.
     
  9. Sir_Draco

    Sir_Draco Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2007
    GM approved

    Name: Justin Pfeiffer
    Age: 20
    Appearance:

    [​IMG]

    Nationality: German

    Occupation: CEO of the Backstorm Media AG

    Equipment: Laptop, mobile, sharp clothes and every gadget he sees useful.

    Biography: Zuckerberg. Bezos. Gates. Pfeiffer.

    Justin Pfeiffer is the synonym for a teenage prodigy. He started an app company with 17 and produced a number of groundbreaking apps in media and social media area. When he was 18 he got the first offer to sell his company. The game ENDLESS alone made several hundred million in revenues by then and was called "the addiction of the century" by Wired Magazine. When he was 19 he made billions when an attack by Gifted on the stock exchange made the Dow Jones crash. Justin had bet millions against the DOW, shorting it. He bankrupted the bank that was counter-party and offered a take over instead. He used the new found capital to buy his two biggest rivals, becoming a de facto gaming giant. The youngest billionaire in history and the seventh richest man alive he was a desired bachelor, a role-model for million of young people. Risen from the poor upcomings he became a living legend.

    Then a strange thing happened. Rumors spread he was found dead and indeed a police investigation questioned him for several days as a body was found identified as his. He hired the best lawyers money could buy and got out of it without a spot on his reputation. His lawyers declared he had fully cooperated and was no suspect.

    Anyway, he withdrew from public after that. Until in June they launched a game about the Gifted. It was a thriller called "The Crossing" and was a huge hit with critics and gamers all over the world, bringing a straight of the news pages topic into a conspiracy thriller. It got him the attention of scientists, Gifted and intelligence services worldwide for his correct depiction of Gifted.

    In his final interview he was asked what was his secret of success. He smiled and said: "I am from the future."

    Nobody was sure if this was a joke or not.

    Gift: None
     
  10. TheSithGirly

    TheSithGirly Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2007
    GM Approved


    Name: Maria "Dfact" Liang
    Age: 24
    Looks:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Specialty: Hacking, investigation and tracking
    Organisation of Origin: NSA, now independent
    Equipment: state of the art laptop, designer clothes, self-designed pad that is connected to her own set of shadow servers.

    Short Bio: Maria has been what people call a "hacker" since her 14th birthday. When other kids tried to be good at school, she hacked the schools computer. Over the years she build up a reputation in the scene hacking harder targets and becoming a legend among her peers. Then she found the holy grail of networks. A shadow network, coordinating operations by the Government so secret not even the Government knew about. It was a frightening and dark treasure she had stumbled on. Technology not even introduced to the market, programs of the CIA and NSA that were violating the constitution of the country and access to servers all over the world that were considered safe that nobody could ever know about.

    It took her a year to gain access and what she found in the network shocked her so deeply, she never was the same.

    A week later she walked into one of the secret bases of the NSA and showed them what she had done. To the amusement (and delight) of the NSA she did ask them to join. Over the next years she was out to good use and developed a talent to find those individuals who were "off the grid". She did not mind most of these people did not survive long once she located them. She even asked to be present at some executions, when they were especially impressive in hiding. She enjoyed the hunt and she began enjoying the kill. She even underwent basic training by the "experts" ...

    The game changed, when she met Mr. Adrian Simmons. A man deeply routed in the shadow network and with access to all intelligence services he put her to good use. His tactics were superior and creative, the tasks challenging, the missions thrilling. In time she grew closer to the cold and smart man and eventually they became lovers. They could never trust each other, but who else in the world understood their reality?

    Then the cleansing came and Maria executed her exit plan. She left everything behind as the President of the United States of Amerika with the assistance of his newfound Supermen called "The Gifted" came after the Shadow Network. Maria survived.

    Nowadays she has settled in Berlin now and has been living a relatively normal life as a security advisor for several companies for a few months now. It is a much better life of she is honest and she enjoys the peace it has brought her. She is even in love and that came as a surprise to her who considered her always to be so cold hearted.
     
    Jerjerrod-Lennox likes this.
  11. Mitth_Fisto

    Mitth_Fisto Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    GM APPROVED!!!

    Name: Kawin Muthurangu
    Age: 37
    Looks: 'Mildly' Overweight Caucasian Male with large glasses and curly reddish brown hair.
    Nationality: Canadian
    Occupation: Claims Associate at Suncor INC. or Corporate Cog #269
    Short Bio: Born in Red Deer, Alberta, he has had a rather calm life. He was adopted too little to really remember and so has had a happy childhood without much care to really know his birth parents. His life has not been without turmoil of course, he did have that failed marriage to an emigrant that ended after her citizenship came through. So without further ado, single, no children, and a little gun shy when it comes to the fairer of the species. Also, a bit nerdy, seeing Star Wars and Star Trek shows like nobodies business as well as going on hunting trips up through the Territories and fishing wherever and whenever he can work around to it.

    Works basically in a glorified customer service / hand holding service for the company, which has become something he feels he could do in his sleep. Overall a good if lonely life. Or at least it had been until recently when he met Christina Monroe and somehow started dating her. The fact she didn't need citizenship papers really has confused him as he always wonders how a guy like him has ever ended up with a girl like her, she is just amazing. So amazing they were taking a trip to Italy to see Rome, well that was the official reason. Honestly he had a small ring burning a hole in his pocket.

    So life is good, beyond that weird episode of deja vu he had recently. Surely that was all that it was in that weird car crash that never happened.

    Gift: When he dies time 'resets' back a bit before the actual event of his death.
     
  12. HanSolo29

    HanSolo29 RPF/SWC/Fan Art Manager & Bill Pullman Connoisseur star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Apr 13, 2001
    GM Approved:

    Name:
    Kurt Roland
    Age: 60
    Appearance:
    [​IMG]

    Nationality: American
    Occupation: POTUS
    Equipment: Private iPhone and iPad, the ‘Gold Codes’ (nuclear launch codes), and anything else that he may require
    Biography: Kurt Roland is an American politician who previously served as the junior senator from Pennsylvania and in the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 7th District; he was elected President of the United States as the Republican nominee in 2016.

    Born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Kurt is the youngest of four children. While his father did not identify with any religious denomination, his mother was a devout Catholic; he was brought up a Catholic and remained so well into his adulthood. This originally influenced his decision to attend Harvard University for religious studies and theology, though this goal fell by the wayside after he met his future wife, Beth Andersen. She realized that Kurt was a natural leader and quite an influential speaker. As a result, she ultimately convinced him to switch his studies to business with the intention of kick-starting a career in politics. After a brief stint as a consultant for JP Morgan, he returned home to pursue this objective in earnest.

    The first few years were difficult to get himself established, but that all changed when Kurt met Matthew Andrews at a fundraiser in Philadelphia. Matt was a political strategist who worked on various campaigns over the years, from the Senator of Louisiana to the Governor of Michigan. The two hit it off instantly when they discovered that they shared many of the same ideals. After an informal talk over drinks, Andrews agreed to join Kurt’s staff as manager for his upcoming run in Congress. That would mark the first major victory for the Roland Campaign.

    Matt Andrews would become an invaluable asset in Kurt’s arsenal for years to come, both during his duration in the House and the Senate, serving as a chief advisor and a close friend. Andrews would also be the one responsible for persuading Roland to run for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2016. It was a tough campaign with many setbacks, but eventually, the media deemed Kurt as the insurgent candidate; he defeated his opponent in the primaries and went on to win the presidency by one of the narrowest margins in history.

    However, the biggest challenge for the Roland Administration would come in the first few weeks following the inauguration. A dangerous conspiracy buried deep in the very heart of the government led to a reform of the entire intelligence community, including the abolishment of what became known as ‘the Shadow Network.’ Through this operation, they also uncovered the existence of people with special abilities, or powers, who were capable of manipulating time. Kurt assigned Matt to lead the special task force designed to deal with the fallout of this startling discovery. One of their first tasks dealt with a secret project entitled “Antville”, where several of these highly powerful – and highly dangerous, individuals were held. Everything pertaining to this facility was systematically purged.

    The situation only got worse when the French President made a formal announcement to reveal these super-powered beings to the public. Now known as ‘The Gifted’, it became a race against time to contain the damage.

    In response to this revelation, Congress passed a bill highlighting what they nicknamed the ‘Roland Initiative’. It was a mandate outlining the formation of a new federal agency designed to conduct specialized research, track down, and integrate The Gifted into the U.S. intelligence network. The goal was to build mutual relations between The Gifted and U.S. officials on the quest for the common good. The agency became known as Temporal Anomaly Research and Containment, or TARC. Matt, as leader of the original task force, would become its first director.

    [​IMG]
    President Roland speaking to the media to announce the ‘Roland Initiative’ and the formation of TARC

    The creation of TARC also paved the way for the Registration Act – a legislative bill that stated all Gifted had to register with a government database in an official census that would document their numbers and whereabouts. Kurt vehemently opposed such a law, citing censorship and discrimination as the biggest factors. This would become a point of contention between him and Matt, who firmly believed in the program’s benefits.

    In the end, Matt talked Kurt down and convinced him to make a public stand on its merits, even going as far as becoming its main advocate on the international stage. While he hated the idea, the world had evolved into a dangerous place, and there was much more at stake. This included trade agreements, international treaties, and sanctions – it had become a game of politics.

    When re-election came around, Kurt won in a landslide victory, though there was a dark cloud hovering over the administration for the start of the second term. For one, the Senate suspected the Gifted had rigged the election and responded by launching a thorough investigation. While they found no evidence of any tampering, it remained at the back of Kurt’s mind.

    Matt Andrews also stepped away from his position as Chief of Staff after Kurt appointed him to a new role – the Secretary of Homeland Security. It was widely considered a wise move with Andrews’ background with TARC, however, some senior staffers in the White House believed that it was intended as a rebuke after his disagreement with the President over the Registration Act.

    Now, as Kurt heads to Europe to strengthen their overseas allies, tensions continue to rise as Paris burns.
     
  13. RIP.CommanderPonds

    RIP.CommanderPonds Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2020
    GM Approved

    Name
    : Alfonso “Alfi” Cabrera
    Age: 44
    Appearance:
    [​IMG]
    Nationality: Brazilian/American
    Occupation: Security Contractor
    Equipment: Alfi prefers the Taurus PT92 (sidearm) and the MP5, but proficient with most weapons.
    Biography: Alfonso grew up in the slums of Rio, deep within the favelas of the city. His family lived in the equivalent of a small wooden shack, and he learned from an early age that city gangs and drug cartels were the primary power, not the police. As he grew up, Alfi hated the corruption and violence that dominated the poverty-stricken areas of the city, and enlisted in the Brazilian Army, hoping to be a member of the elite Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais (BOPE).
    After months of grueling training and conditioning, Alfonso was selected as a member of the 400 man Task Force. BOPE was specialized in urban warfare, and primarily focused on ending the cartel’s reign of terror in the city by slowly tearing apart their influence, piece by piece. Alfonso took an active part in over 2 dozen police raids during his 16 year stint with BOPE, and helped recover over 1000 pounds of illegal substances and 10 Million dollars of drug money. On his 40th birthday, he decided his career with the BOPE had come to end. He retired from active service, learned english, and moved to America.
    Alfi found there was a lot of money in protecting Hollywood bigwigs and Tech Execs in California, and found himself doing easy security work for more pay than he could even imagine. 3 years in, and he hadn’t even touched his gun on the clock. But still, Alfi was getting old, and some gray hairs were coming in. He was working in a job for younger men, and he couldn’t keep up forever. Alfi was looking for one big contract, one big breakthrough, to set him up for his retirement.
     
  14. SirakRomar

    SirakRomar Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 30, 2007
    [​IMG]

    Time. Free will. Power.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    Three concepts that defined the understanding of the modern human being about himself. All of the three concepts are now outdated.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    The cogs of the machine had always been turning. Now they have become visible to those who are Gifted.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    Most lacked the practice to see them turn. Almost all of them lacked the skill to rearrange them. The Seeker knew the machine intimately.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    Every event, every moving atom, human life, movement or thought ... even the universe had one thing in common. They had a beginning and therefore they had an end.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    A watchmaker who could not stop the clock, but who could stop time was not only a watchmaker anymore. A clock became the world. The Seeker had become the watchmaker.


    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.


    The Seeker knew the crime was beyond forgiveness. Seven billion fates in the hand of one. A game for the future of mankind.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    The Seeker wondered if they would ever know. He hoped they would. New eyes to the blind.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    The Seeker sighed and watched people pass by. They were ignorant to who walked among them.


    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.


    Gods were creatures made up by men to fill the gaps of what could not be explained. The Seeker was sure someone would use the label one day for the Seeker. The Seeker was no God though. He was not here to fill a gap. He was here to create one.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    The Seeker knew the weaknesses of his plan all too well. Chains of events so fragile any disturbance could make them crumble to chaos.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    So this chain would begin like all definite chains began. By eliminating the eventualities. The seed of chaos was not allowed to grow.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    The Seeker had come back to bring them a simple truth. They might bend time, stop it or even travel through it. In the end they could not escape the simple truth the Seeker presented to them.

    Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

    Truth was ...



    Time's up.










    The Flat of Sebastian, Berlin, Kreuzberg


    The Penthouse flat in Berlin's rough and artistic part of town was dark as he entered it. Music was playing somewhere. Bob Dylan of he heard right.

    He had concluded his Berlin series tonight and a brand new LEGO would soon be spotted by the ever vigilant art fanatics. The forums would discuss the message and again discuss of LEGO had moved to Berlin. They did not know he had been for a year since leaving Hamburg behind for the German capital.

    "There are other words than this, Gunslinger." The voice came from the dark. A female voice. He saw the dim illumination of an iPad Pro from the couch and the shape of a slim black haired woman sitting there in the dark.

    Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @TheSithGirly


    Rome, Piazza Nuvona

    [​IMG]
    Christina Monroe, or simply Tina as she preferred to be called was sipping of her Latte Machiato and smiled at Kawin.

    [​IMG]

    "Italy was the best idea ever." She said with a smile. They had spend their bonus they had received for a trip to Europe and had been lucky enough not to pick Paris, where the desaster had happened. Well, lucky was relative as Kawin might have made a difference there. They had followed the advise of a colleague though and where now in Rome, the eternal city. With all the monuments and excellent restaurants it had been an enjoyable start of their European tour and Tina and Kawin had actually plans to visit most major cities of Italy over the next two weeks.

    "Tomorrow maybe Vatican? The sixtine chapel?" She asked and went through the Lonely Planet guide she had got at the airport.

    Kawin was probably distracted for a moment. Time around him slowed and it took him a minute before he made out a girl in the tourist crowd picking people's pockets with her newfound ability. Probably made this really easy. She was not wearing the black bracelet every Gifted was forced to wear in Europe nowadays. It was a tracker the internet said. In Canada they used subdermal implants. Kawin did not have one of those either.

    Nobody else but him could see the girl use her Gift of course. Only the Gifted were immune to other Gifted.


    Jane was sitting on the opposite side of the plaza and sipped on her espresso. There he was, her target. Kawin Muthurangu, Canadian citizen, 32. Finding him had been a pain. A tourist was always hard to track. Moving around, changing places. The man was sitting with his blonde girlfriend who looked a little out of his league and enjoy a Cappucino or something, not knowing he was running out of time. The contract had been send to her through the usual chanels, the material had been well researched and the provider anonymous. Business as usual. Only one thing had been curious. Jane had been provided an email to use if the first attempt failed. As if her attempts ever fail. Under no circumstances she should attempt to kill him again in that case before reporting. Now she knew why. The girl who stole people's purses had the same ability than her. Slowing time. Jane was immune to it. But once the world turned to slow motion she realized so had Kawin. The man was another Gifted.

    Tag: @Mitth_Fisto, @galactic-vagabond422




    Starbucks Cafe, Colombia University, New York

    [​IMG]

    "This is so awesome! Look at this! The guy can teleport!" Jimmy was turning the iPad, showing a grainy video of a teenager who grinned into the camera and then vanished from view. Only to appear a few meters back again.

    "Man, that fool will have the TARC guys all over him. Why did he not enlist in the army right away?" Jessica said and grinned at Anna. "Boys. Always need to show off."

    Jimmy leaned back on the couch he was sitting on. "Heard these abilities show up when two of them meet. Any of you ever met a Gifted? I haven't! Man, I wish I had something like this too. Invisibility maybe!"

    Patrick the fourth in their little clique looked at Jimmy and smirked as he put his glasses back in place and stroked through his black hair before correcting the handsome blonde Jimmy with a sigh.

    "They cannot be invisible. All abilities the Gifted show have something to do with time/space. They have the ability to manipulate it. Haven't you read the book by Professor Cale? The Danger of our time?" He sighed. "Probably not."

    Jessica laughed. "I met one once." She said.

    "BS!" Jimmy shouted out.

    "No, really. He used his powers for magic tricks down Fifth Avenue. Me and a few friends got there and watched. Could make stuff appear and disappear." She laughed. "Did not catch the bug! Many gifts I have, but not that one." She pulled back her black hair and leaned back. Half Afro American she was always fighting with her hair a bit.

    "They are dangerous." Patrick finally proclaimed. "Heard of the kid who froze that poor cop in D.C.? They put him down, but they cannot move the cop. Not even with a bulldozer they could move him an inch. Stands on a street there for all eternity like a damned stature."

    "Stature man, yeah. That was a teenager, right?" Jimmy said. "Anyway, these guys are making stuff possible. My uncle had one in his company. Made the concrete dry in seconds. They built houses like crazy. Made a fortune."

    "What do you think, Anni?" Jessica asked and turned to Anna Talbott now.

    Tag: @RachelTyrell



    Outside the Starbucks Cafe, Colombia University, New York

    Hugo Klaasen had many jobs in the last years, but none like this. The mysterious client had provided an insane amount of insight into the victims habits and daily routine. After arts classes she always spend time in the Starbucks opposite of the campus. They seemed to have studied this girl for months. Maybe they even hacked her computer and tracked her mobile. The question was why? It seemed like an ordinary girl. Nothing special except she was above average cute.

    Then again such questions were not the job of a hitman. He had been ordered to kill her, because she was a Gifted. They said time is of essence and therefore he had come directly from the airport to this place. Where the plan provided said she would be found. She was indeed here, in the public and therefore save. Her next station of the day would be the library and then she had to go home. Study for a test on Tuesday she would never take.

    In the radio they talked about Paris. An event had made two million French citizens vanish. The media suspected a Gifted was responsible. Europe was in shock. Governments declared they would help. Solidarity was the word of the hour.

    Tag: @Jerjerrod-Lennox



    Grill Royale Restaurant, Downtown Berlin Mitte

    It was hard enough to get a table at the Grill Royale, the favorite hang out of minor celebrities and those who wanted to become one in Berlin. Getting the separe on short notice was nothing but spectacular. Nevertheless this was exactly what Bertold Harms had done to meet the Spaniard. It underlined the importance of the meeting.

    [​IMG]
    Bertold Harms

    "The world changed tonight. Do you realize that?" The man looked up and cut another small slice of his steak. "Yesterday the possibilities seemed endless. The ability to manipulate time. Do you know most Catholics believe that not even God can travel through time? If so, what would tell us anything ever really happened? Here we are and the Future and Past seem so much closer now. A gift. Those who carry it seemed Gifted. After tonight? After what happened in Paris? I can feel it coming. The fear. The hatred. The unlimited envy and misgiving of the masses. There is nothing humanity can extinguish. History has shown us that much. Suddenly those who have been gifted are an endangered species." He chewed his steak. "It is time to think about ones future, isn't it?" He smiled and it was not a smile showing amusement. He put down his fork and knife and looked at the Spaniard, the man he had summoned here tonight when half the world wanted to talk to him. Harms was an extraordinary rich man with influence into the highest circles. He was powerful in a very traditional way.

    "I have been thinking about mine and how little time I have to conclude my legacy. My son studies here in Berlin. Humbold University. He writes his Master thesis on the theoretical implications of killing Hitler. Suddenly the Professor asked him to take the theoretical out of the title." The ins man looked up and took his wine glass.

    "The game has begun, Mister Duran and I offer you a seat at the table. It is a game for the rest of the world."

    Tag: @Lawbreaker


    Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Paris

    Once the quarters for the poor and unwanted the 18th precinct was now all the was left of Paris. Everyone else was gone. Especially the police and military were now virtually non existent.

    The only logical consequence to the people was ...

    [​IMG]

    ... riots.

    They had begun immediately once the extend of the attack had become clear and since then had not stopped. Saori Nishimura had stumbled into a warzone.

    Yet, her guide had expertly got her around all spots of trouble. Achmed was only 14, but he was obviously home in this district, knowing every path and shortcut.

    [​IMG]

    Finally he made it to the destination her potential source was rumored to be at. It was a bit strange no rioter or any other person seemed to be around as they approached the spot where the man they called Le Phantom was said to reside. The only Gifted in the area who had not been rounded up, dragged away or detained.

    [​IMG]
    "Il est là-haut. Deuxième étage. Attention madame, il est dangereux." The boy said and pointed to one of the abandoned buildings. He is up there. Second floor. Be careful Madame, he is dangerous.

    He was also what remained of an organization called La Vague, better known as the Gifted underground. If anybody knew what happened to the Gifted it was him.

    Tag: @Kurisan



    The Appartement of Justin Pfeiffer, Zurich

    "Your story is too impressive." The journalist said and smiled. "Almost too impressive to be true. Yet, you did all this in three years. So what next? Are we gonna see you design another game? A sequel to the Crossing maybe?" She smiled to Justin Pfeiffer. She looked Chinese and yet spoke with a heavy American accent.

    [​IMG]
    Walking past the wall with all his trophys she smiled. She had asked for an interview and agreed to a date. Impressed by the size of the downtown apartment in the center of Europes most expensive city she sighed.

    Li Ang was working for the Guardian according to her press pass. Hard to say if she was still looking for a story yet. She had promised and signed an NDA to assure him, that she would not print a word he said.

    [​IMG]
    Tag: @Sir_Draco, @You_Know_Who


    Convoy entering Brussels, Belgium

    "The schedule is now complete chaos. We had to cancel your historic speech in front of Brandenburger Tor because of protesters all over Berlin and all heads-of-state are on their way here because of Paris. The EU seems to want a united response." Gavin Rossi was the American Ambassador to the EU and had navigated the murky water of EU politics for 16 years now. Nobody knew better than him how rarely the European Union united. Since the Brexit it had become worse, as various Governments flirted with leaving the union now. Paris had obviously changed that.

    [​IMG]
    Gavin Rossi

    The man had picked up the President himself. Now he sat opposite of President Kurt Roland and Matthew Andrews in their limousine, which was one among twenty. They were on their way to the Le Chatelain downtown.

    "The Germans and Italians seem to support an initiative made by the Austrian Government and the Benelux and Scandinavians will probably jump on board. I took the liberty to arrange a meeting with the Mastermind of the whole thing Herbert Knapp. He is a very influential state secretary in Austria's defense department and has gained trust and respect among all member countries." Rossi sighed. "Two Million dead in Paris. They are scared and ready to do anything to avoid this ever happening again. Elections in many countries are coming and the people on the streets want their revenge." Rossi sighed.

    Tag: @LordTroepfchen, @HanSolo29


    Bureau of the Minotaur AG, Zürich

    Alfonso Cabrera had worked for several large companies, but the Minotaur AG was certainly a stand-out. The rising star of the tech-scene the company had made use of both top-tier developers and the so-called Gifted to produce technology way ahead of it's time.

    Success probably created enemies, so it was not surprising they looked for freelancers. Especially if one considered they were know as a Gifted-friendly company and Gifted were quickly turning into public enemies now that Paris had been wiped out by one.

    The power of the company became apparent when Alfi had tried to make his background check on his conversation partner. Adrian Simmons was called Head of Security, but truly the man was a Ghost. No file, no trace on the internet.

    [​IMG]

    "Thanks for coming, Mr. Cabrera. Especially on such short notice." The man was sitting behind his huge Mahagoni desk in his equally large bureau with a view on the Zürich lake. Alfi recognized the heightened security right away. Double bullet proof glasses, state-of-the-art cameras and security scanners at every floor and door.

    "We have a very particular project and after what happened today we assume security on it an issue. One of our recruiting agents is about to embark on a journey to find a very special talent. The Agent is what they call a Gifted. We need someone to take care of her, someone with experience and a cool head. You come highly recommended. We would pay you triple rates to reflect the urgency of this contract and a 200k bonus if you return her safely to Zurich once her job is done." Simmons looked at Alfi and raised his brows. "Would that be acceptable to you?"

    Something about the man was off. He seemed wrong in this office. Something about him seemed ... dangerous.

    Tag: @RIP.CommanderPonds
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2020
  15. AgentViper007

    AgentViper007 Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Mar 9, 2005
    IC: Hugo Klaasen
    Location: Outside Starbucks, Columbia University, New York City


    The City That Never Sleeps.

    Well one person would not be sleeping tonight…

    He had spotted his target in the Starbucks along with her friends. Probably catching up on things in between classes. Might even be regarding the recent events in Paris.

    Where some Gifted scum had made two million people vanish. Hugo was in Berlin at the time, executing his latest target on the orders of his mysterious new employer. He never asked questions, never wondered why he had been chosen by this shadow, he just did his job.

    Because it meant he would eradicate Gifted from the face of this Earth. As he had promised his father at his funeral in Johannesburg he would not stop until all of them were dead or perhaps locked up in a cage like the animals they were.

    The blonde haired, brown eyed South African assassin studied his target from nearby. Dressed in his customary black, today a black top, trousers and shoes with a black leather jacket, a gun with silencer holstered in his jacket, his sniper rifle disassembled and in a black bag slung across his shoulder. Leaning casually against the wall, looking at his phone like most people did but occasionally glancing inside to keep an eye on his target.

    The shadowy benefactor had provided a plethora of information on the girl. Her habits, her movements, what she looked like, which if Hugo cared about such things he would have considered pretty. Today he was going to end her life, make her vanish, and send her straight down to Hell.

    It would be too risky to try and kill her here, way too public and way too enclosed. Besides as a trained sniper he preferred the long distance assassination. It was a little bit more trickier but as a former soldier he did like a challenge. He had studied the layout of the campus of the university on his burner phone and had figured out the best position to make his kill. The visitor centre right smack bang across from the library. One shot, done and then disappear. He would have to get her before she entered the library, plus there shouldn't be as many people since there was more space to move around and it would not be so enclosed.

    If her friends were about then so be it, perhaps they would see her for the freak she was. Time was of the essence here, or so his benefactor said, but like any predator Hugo wasn't going to play with his food. He was going to execute her when the time was right, no room for sloppiness just because his employer wanted the job done as quickly as he could.

    After all he was getting a handsome amount of money for it.

    Time to go and get set up. He stole one more glance in before making his way across the road.

    You're mine sweetie...

    TAG: @SirakRomar , @RachelTyrell
     
    RachelTyrell and Kurisan like this.
  16. galactic-vagabond422

    galactic-vagabond422 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2009
    IC: Jane
    Rome

    Jane 'the Freelancer' sat at yet another cafe across the plaza from her target. She looked like every other person, tourist or local. Just quietly enjoying her espresso while looking at her smartphone. She'd always had a knack for blending in, always looking like she belonged, even if she didn't.

    On her phone she went over Kawin's and his girlfriend's last few locations. Her list only went back a few hours, having spent most of her time just tracking him down. Sure she knew the places they would visit, all the tourist spots, she just couldn't pin down when. Now that she found him she would follow him for a bit and find her moment to strike. She looked over the information provided from her client, very well researched, a failed marriage, a corporate 9-5, hunting and fishing experience. Seemed like an average normal guy going about his life. Odd that someone would want him dead, then again she didn't really care. There was cash in her account, and a target on her list. Didn't matter to her who and why, she was a weapon. Her pistol didn't stop to consider why it was being asked to shoot someone, and neither did she. The only difference being, she liked killing, got a rush from watching others die by her hand. Half the reason she stayed in this business, the other parts were the travel, and the money.

    The one thing that irked her was the stipulation that if he didn't die on the first attempt that she was to contact the client. Her brow furrowed, he knew who he was hiring right? The Freelancer, a professional, she doesn't fail, and if this person had the capability to contact her they would know that. It was an offense to her pride, a client thinking she couldn't do the job.

    Out of the corner of her eye she saw everything slow down. She however wasn't affected, gifts don't work on other gifted. One of the very few rules Jane has learned in the short time she's had her gift and hunted others that had them. It came as a shock the first time, slowing time and suddenly the target lashing out as if her power was nothing to him. She saw the culprit, a young girl almost dancing among the crowd lifting wallets and taking their contents. This could have given her an opportunity to end this contract right now, if only Kawin wasn't also moving at normal speed.

    This explained quite a few things, and made her life more difficult. After realizing that he was a gifted Jane did her best to be still to look as though she wasn't a gifted. It wasn't easy but hopefully from the other side of a plaza it would be hard to spot. Though she was careful to keep him in her sight.

    This alters her plan, instead of just a clean bullet to his head from close range she would have to use her knife, or a stake knife from whatever fancy restaurant he and his wonderful girlfriend would visit in the evening. It would take some setup but she could do it, and give just enough evidence that the girlfriend did it at least in the initial giving Jane time to escape the country.

    For now she just had to stay still.

    TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @SirakRomar
     
  17. Kurisan

    Kurisan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2016
    (apologies - try that again... thank you @Sinrebirth !)

    IC: Saori Nishimura, Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Paris

    [​IMG]

    “Merci beaucoup. Pouvez-vous rester ici?”

    Saori smiled at Achmed and handed over the promised euros, with a bonus. She had a feeling he needed them.

    She surveyed the building. She had seen better conditions in downtown Aleppo. Saori composed herself. She was not naïve to danger; in her time she had confronted violent criminals and dodged bullets in warzones. She had been detained, strip-searched, kidnapped, tortured. She was resilient.

    But she was not sure what she would find inside, and insanity frightened her. She had been in the hands of the IS and had discovered true, psychopathic evil did exist.

    La Vague. The source had been vague too, but urgent.

    She had been deciding whether to first follow a hunch to Justin Pfeiffer or the more obvious EU offices, when the lead had come through. Her usual professional business attire made her stand out uncomfortably in this neighbourhood, and she had learned not to make a target of herself. But this story was moving at lightning speed, and she had not had time to change.

    She smiled inwardly at that. Time. The word seemed to take on a new and nebulous meaning now.

    She entered the building and climbed the stairs to the second floor. The stench assailed her nostrils. Then she stepped along the filthy corridor of the abandoned building. All was quiet.

    If he was here, if she wanted to talk to him, better to not make herself seem a threat, either.

    She cleared her throat and called out.

    “Le Phantom! Vous êtes là?”



    TAG: @SirakRomar
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2020
  18. Lawbreaker

    Lawbreaker Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2018
    Juan Duran, The Spaniard
    Grill Royale, Berlin

    Juan took the glass of wine and drank from it. An expensive Italian wine. Expensive never meant good. He made a grimace and took the napkin to wipe clean his lips.

    "The Problem about this city is they do not know what a good wine tastes like." He said and then turned to Bertold Harms.

    "The game has been going on for a while, Monsignore." He smiled a bored smile. "So long actually I appreciate what happened today. Paris was a vision of our future if you ask me. A grande encore that Initiates the endgame." He put the napkin down and sighed. "So don't tell me I need you, when it is so terribly obvious you need me. Me and my people." The Voice whispered and he put his head aside and closed his eyes to listen.

    The Girl, he will tell you about the girl.

    "So tell me about the girl. That is why you summoned me, isn't it? To talk about her."

    Juan smiled. He turned his head to make sure his crew that had assembled in this room was present. They were all in position. He turned back to the old Billionaire and kept in smiling as he took the glass of wine, looked at it and then sat it down and took the water instead.

    "What is it about her that makes her so important?"

    Tag: @SirakRomar
     
  19. LordTroepfchen

    LordTroepfchen Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 9, 2007
    Matt Andrews
    Brussels, Comvoi

    He listened to Rossi and gave the man one of his thin-lipped humorless smile. The particular problems would be Kurt's to deal with. His negotiation position was undermined completely by this. They would not negotiate an international cooperation of Gifted to enhance security and science. They would discuss the Gifted-problem now.

    Paris. One of the oldest Capitals of Europe was wiped from existence. 2 million people wiped from existence. A horror, an absolute horror.

    Knapp was mentioned and Matt recalled the name. Austria's responsible overseer of the intelligence and security services. Austria was small, but Knapp was influential. He took out his mobile, the encrypted one and send Roberts bureau he needed the whole file on him. Then he requested TARC to apply for foreign operation rights with Belgium and Austria and Alden and Preston should move in under diplomatic guise. He needed some back-up in case this turned into something more practical than political debate.

    Looking at Kurt he felt almost like cheating on him. He had gotten very accustomed to using TARC, scanning his Agents for every problem that came up if they provided an easier, more effective solution.

    He send another message, that they should get Timothy Travis ready to be deployed. His nuclear option was his best bet to solve any situation that needed a little more of a ... brute strategy.

    Finally he turned back to Roland and Rossi.

    "I'd say it is essential we find out what they are thinking before the meeting tomorrow. Otherwise we get a surprise and need to react with inappropriate information. Truth is, this is their hour. Paris justifies anything now. Question is if the more moderate or more radicals take lead. Austria and Hungary seem to be more radical. If it is Knapp's plan we need to be careful."

    He turned to Rossi. "Is France even able to participate? I can imagine their response will be driven by the need to have retribution for this."

    Tag: @HanSolo29, @SirakRomar
     
  20. RachelTyrell

    RachelTyrell Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2009
    Anna Talbott
    Starbucks, near Colombia Campus, New York City

    "Gifted can be like any other human being. They are either a benefit or a hazard. If they are a benefit it is not our problem!" She said seriously and then laughed. "Who knows which movie that is?"

    "Blade Runner." Patrick simply proclaimed.

    "Oh, you are good!" She said and sipped from her Flat White. "Seriously guy, you really think there is one type of Gifted? One type of person who acquires these Gifts? It is total random. Guess good guys get a gift and so do bad guys." She shrugged. "Must be cool though. Having powers, like Spiderman! I wonder why so few go into crime fighting now. They are superheroes, right?" She wondered what she would do with a Gift. She had read a theory LEGO her most favorite artist had one probably. It explained how he escaped being identified despite getting more and more daring with his art.

    She checked her clock and sighed. "Need a book on drawing fashion designs. I still suck at that. Can't miss the library hours, guys." She got up and packed her bag.

    Tag: @Jerjerrod-Lennox, @SirakRomar
     
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  21. DarkLordoftheFins

    DarkLordoftheFins Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 2, 2007
    Sebastian Stein and Maria Liang
    Flat of Sebastian

    Sebastian sighed and shook his head. "You haven't ..."

    Maria Liang slided her long legs of the couch and stood up, giving him her most innocent smile with her large Asian eyes.

    "You were away forever and I could not resist!" She confessed. "I can tell you the finale was too good!" She laughed.

    Sebastian could not believe it. They had binge watched the whole show together and now she had watched the finale without him. "No spoilers! I wanna watch the in all my dreams i DROWN finale completely unspoiled you hear me?!?"

    "Are you angry?" She asked giving him that little cat look as she sneaked closer.

    "A little!" He admitted as she slung her arms around him.

    "You were away for hours!" She sighed and kissed him. He felt how hard it was to be angry with her when feeling her soft lips. It made him become even angrier and a lot more forgiving the same time.

    "They put up a construction site at the Élysée so I needed to find a new spot." He sighed. "You are lucky I am so madly in love with you." He smiled.

    "I know." She replied and kissed him some more, starting to open his belt. "I am gonna make it up to you." She smiled and he grinned.

    "You are the devil!" He said and allowed her to continue.



    They lay naked in his bed a few hours later and the pad was now allowed between them. It showed the pictures of an empty Paris.

    "This is not gonna help." Maria said. "I am glad they don't know about you."

    Sebastian gave her a thoughtful nod. He had always been a critic of the Government and it's access to private lives of people. Registry had never been an option for him, when he had found out what he could do. He also felt not part of any community of Gifted. He had never met another one. Well that was not entirely true. The abilities showed only when two met. The Crossing they called it.

    "What do you think they are gonna do?" He asked. Certainly he was a political creature, but this seemed more her area of expertise. His fantasy was not enough to imagine what the reaction would be, but she had looked deeper into the dark corners of Governments.

    "Something stupid." Maria said. She could imagine how the intelligence community went crazy now. TARC wound gain even more power. The man who had dismantled the Shadow Network and made her a fugitive of sorts had probably also his own ideas about how to gain from these events.

    "Roland is coming over tonight. They will put their heads together and discuss their most radical ideas, because now they can get away with it. Panic looks different in politics. They will make moderate statements and then they will do something stupid and assure each other it was a reasonable response." She sighed. "They are all racists if their political followers give them support for it. Now they will target you." Maria looked at Sebastian.

    "Yes, but we are no easy victims, are we? These powers ... it is dangerous antagonizing our kind." He said.

    "Very." She said and Sebastian nodded. He took the iPad and got up.

    "What are you going to do?" She asked.

    "Let you sleep and watch two episodes of DROWN." He winked.

    "C'mon. You can do that tomorrow when I am at work." She said and he grinned.

    "You brought this upon yourself." He declared and put on a shirt and jogging trousers and went over to the living room.

    He was not tired. He barely ever was these days. A side-effect of his Gift he assumed.

    Tag: @TheSithGirly (combined), @SirakRomar
     
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  22. SirakRomar

    SirakRomar Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 30, 2007
    For the early birds ...

    The Flat of Sebastian, Berlin, Kreuzberg

    In the dark of the flat only the lights from the street outside illuminated the living room in the sickly yellow of the energy saving light bulbs they used nowadays.

    "Du bist so glücklich, es bricht mir das Herz." [You seem so happy it breaks my heart.] The voice came from the dark and was male and strangely familiar. It spoke in German to him. A figure was sitting there in the dark, wearing a black hoodies with the hood over his head and a brown jacket and jeans. All three pieces of clothing looked exactly like Sebastian's clothes, also his leather jacket was hanging at the wardrobe near the entrance.

    "Keine Angst, ich bin nicht hier um dir irgendein Leid zuzufügen. Das schlimmste was ich tun werde, ist dir schlechte Nachrichten zu überbringen." [Don't be afraid, I am not here to do you any harm. The worst I will do is be the bearer of bad news.] The Voice said. The figure leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. A gesture now seeming overwhelmingly familiar.

    Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @TheSithGirly


    Starbucks Cafe, Colombia University, New York

    Anna was just about to leave, when a woman grabbed her arm. It was not painful, but a steady and firm hold.

    "Ms. Talbott? Laura Changte, TARC. I must ask you to accompany me. A car is waiting outside." The woman said with a voice that made it clear saying 'no' was not an option. She was wearing a black overall, a vest and a gun. Her black cappie said T.A.R.C. in grey letters.

    [​IMG]
    "Hey, she got rights!" Jimmy proclaimed, taking his chance to show chivalry.

    "Yes she does. So do you. You want me to read you yours?" Changte asked and Jimmy held up his hands.

    "Is she arrested?" Patrick asked and he was not so easy intimidated. Changte sighed.

    "No. We take her in for questioning under 3.5.4 of the Roland act." Changte said and looked at Anna. "Please don't make this any harder on both of us as it has to be." She said and gave her a sympathetic smile.

    Tag: @RachelTyrell



    Outside the Starbucks Cafe, Colombia University, New York

    She was packing her bag, finally leaving. But Hugo recognized something else when he was halfway across the street. A black SUV with tinted windows arrived and the same time a woman approached the target. A woman who had Government Agent written all over her. She checked the room constantly and barely was hiding her gun.

    Two men in suits left the car and both looked around. They would probably spot a man with a gun if he got too close. These guys were trained for this kind of things.

    Tag: @Jerjerrod-Lennox



    Grill Royale Restaurant, Downtown Berlin Mitte

    Harms gave Juan a knowing smile. He was not surprised, but rather Juan's sudden insight seemed to confirm he was here with the right man.

    "The Girl is a person of interest to certain circles of a foreign intelligence organization to which I have a very good relationship to." He put down his glass of wine in agreement with what Juan had said and sighed. "What I could find out was she might be the key to act out the Governments plan against the Gifted."

    Harms folded his hands. "I want you to find her and get her to safety. It is imperative you act fast and as decisive as your reputations says you do. I will reward you most generously for the job. Even by your high standards. Say? Ten million Euros?" Harms looked at Juan and kept his hands folded.

    Tag: @Lawbreaker


    Ruins, Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Paris

    "My French is pretty bad." The Phantom said and he had a pretty bad accent. German if she heard right. He had appeared from the shadows right behind her.

    [​IMG]
    "Most people try to stay away from me nowadays, so you are either brave or unhealthy curious. Either way, I wonder what it is that brought you here?" He was of medium height and stood completely still. His voice sounded like he knew the answer to his question already.

    It seemed almost a little unnatural how she could not penetrate the shadow of his hood. Something about Le Phantom was terribly off. No wonder the people had given him that name.

    Tag: @Kurisan
     
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  23. Mitth_Fisto

    Mitth_Fisto Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    IC: Kawin Muthurangu
    Rome, Piazza Nuvona

    [​IMG]
    It was beautiful here, the old buildings and new accents mingling in some odd way that simply worked. Sitting down at an outdoor little shop drinking his shakerato, some ridiculous sweet and bitter ice coffee looking over at Christina Monroe, or simply Tina as she preferred to be called. Watching with contentment as she was sipping of her Latte Machiato and smiled at Kawin. Smiling back like the fool he knew he was for her he felt so happy in this moment.

    "Italy was the best idea ever." She said with a smile. They had spend their bonus they had received for a trip to Europe and had been lucky enough not to pick Paris, where the disaster had happened. That would of been horrible beyond words to have gone on a romantic trip with her merely to have it all end. Thankfully they had followed the advise of a colleague and where now in Rome, the eternal city. With all the monuments and excellent restaurants it had been an enjoyable start of their European tour and Tina and Kawin had actually plans to visit most major cities of Italy over the next two weeks.

    "Tomorrow maybe Vatican? The sistine chapel?" She asked and went through the Lonely Planet guide she had got at the airport.

    "Sistine Chapel sounds good." Kawin absently replied as he noticed things seemed quieter, different. He wished he could say he noted it right away but it took him a minute before he made out a girl in the tourist crowd picking people's pockets, only she wasn't just picking pockets. Tina wasn't replying and everyone seemed to be moving painfully slow instead of the steady bustle. Probably made this really easy for the thief. She was not wearing the black bracelet every Gifted was forced to wear in Europe nowadays. It was a tracker the internet said. In Canada they used subdermal implants. Kawin did not have one of those either. Until now as the implications that he wasn't slowed settled in he realized that what he had been brushing off as paranoid or hypervigilant deja vu was actually something more. Something. . .Gifted.

    Looking around for some indication that he wasn't the only one seeing this, only he didn't spot anyone else moving normally. He didn't want to be Gifted. He was just beginning to be happy and had a ring burning a hole in his pocket! This really was depressing and took the wind out of him as he realized how this changed his plans. Would Tina ever want to be with a Gifted? She was already out of his league without him being registered.

    Tag: @SirakRomar , @galactic-vagabond422
     
  24. TheSithGirly

    TheSithGirly Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2007
    Combined with Sir_Draco, @SirakRomar and especially @LordTroepfchen

    Justin Pfeiffer and Li Ang
    Apartment

    "Eventually we will launch a follow up to our great success, yes. I am only mildly involved in that one." He shrugged, filled two glasses of champagne and brought it over to her, handing it. He knew the dating game, but this was not any usual dating game of course.

    "Really? You seemed so involved in every aspect of The Crossing. What made you step away from the sequel?" Li asked and gave him an appreciative smile. "Moët et Chadon?" She asked as she smelled the champaign.

    "Laurent Perrier Brut." He simply asked and turned to the poster of The Crossing. "I had only this one story in me really. So I think artistically I expressed myself. Games are the great art form of the 21st century if you ask me. Player agency allows to influence the players thinking in ways movies or comics can't."

    "Interesting." She said. She seemed so interested in everything he said. Justin smiled.

    "Have you ever played it?" He asked.

    "Three times. I have actually become a gamer through you." Li laughed and toasted at him. "To the great art form of the 21st century then."

    Justin returned the toast and sighed. "What End did you get? The first time you played?"

    "Kevin defused the bomb, but Christian let the world end." She said. Justin nodded.

    "Interesting. I thought you would be one to save the world." He laughed.

    "Made my decisions by instinct. Does that say something about me?" She asked flirting over her glass.

    "Sure." He answered.

    "What does it tell you?" She eyed him.

    "Depends. Did you play again?" He asked.

    "Until I got the right solution. The one where the world is saved. Yes. Totally. I felt actually the whole game was a puzzle. I had to play it again and again until I found the right configuration of events that saved the world." She admitted.

    "Yes. That is actually right. It is exactly how it is meant to be played." Justin admitted and emptied his glass. "What happened when you made it? I mean what was the ending that made you stop playing?"

    "Oh let me see. Christian killed Alysha, after she killed the President Donald. Kevin got paralyzed by this Arab Assassin, after he stopped him. The Professor died. Jenna survived. The others died in the club. Quite dark still, but the world was saved! Is there actually a happy ending to the game?" She asked and emptied her own glass.

    "No. This is the best one you could get." He admitted. "How many play throughs did you need?"

    "Seventeen. I am terrible at it I guess." She laughed.

    "What about Mara Ling? She made it?" He asked.

    Li nodded. "Yes. But I would have liked her to die. After I split Christian in two, which I believe is the key to winning the game, she killed one of the two. Oh, I hated her for that one."

    Justin smiled and nodded. "Yes, I know. It is what it is. You can win the game, but it comes at a price." He got the bottle and refilled both glasses.

    "How did you come up with those characters? Those plots? The Informer, Crawlville, Alysha, all those seemed so very well defined. I wondered how you acquired such a complete vision of the game world." She asked.

    "It is based on a source that gave me a lot of ideas." He smiled. "A Benefactor."

    "Who?" She asked and for a moment there was a curiosity and hunger in her eyes. "C'mon you know I can't use a word of what you tell me."

    "I know. Then again, you are no journalist." He said and drank from his refilled glass.

    "Sorry?" She laughed. "I am pretty sure I got my press passport and a job ..."

    "At the Guardian? No, I don't think so." He smiled an almost tired smile.

    "What makes you think I am not a journalist? I am sure your people made a solid due diligence on me." Li stepped back a little now.

    "They did and you passed with flying colors. But I recognized you the moment you stepped out of your Uber." He smiled. "It is okay, Maria. Just tell me what it is you want? I got ten security guards on standby in the other room and they wanna go home." He smiled. This time it was the smug arrogant smile of a man who was one step ahead, even though he looked like a kid.

    Tag: @Sir_Draco, @SirakRomar
     
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  25. Kurisan

    Kurisan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2016
    IC Saori Nishimura; Ruins, Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Paris


    Saori spun around, alarmed. She was observant, not many could sneak up on her.

    She studied the man, the darkness in the hood, and felt the wrongness.

    Her pulse quickened. It was surely him. She had expected… well, she had not known what to expect. Usually there would be a gang, large rough men, a gauntlet of searches and blindfolds, before she got to the one. Some kind of security. Le Phantom had many deadly enemies right now.

    He was alone, facing her. The confidence in that act burned brightly in the gathering night.

    She considered his words. There was a hint of a threat. She was used to that. She said, “I am curious.”

    Not brave. She did not want to give him a reason to hurt her. She listened to the last question and bit her lip. Usually she could read people. Should she start with leading questions, let him build up to the point? Or, go straight for the headline and fill in backstory after?

    She peered into the gloom of his hood but could not see his face. He was unreadable.

    She made a decision. She would not insult him by playing games.

    It did not matter if it was true what they said. He did not have to be a demigod to know the single most desperate question on the lips of eight billion people across the world at that moment.

    Despite his statement, she switched back to French reflexively one last time. It seemed appropriate to use the native tongue of the beautiful city around them that had been so wounded. Its meaning would be clear to him. He knew what she wanted.

    Her voice was a whisper but it carried clearly in the quiet.

    “L’Atrocité de Paris… Pourquoi?”


    TAG @SirakRomar
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2020
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