Primordial Luxa wrote:New York City Cyberspace - NUMB
It took several minutes for NUMB to sort through all of the files. But to his credit he was multi-tasking, fighting an intruder and participating in a meeting with the rest of his colleagues. Still, he liked what he saw.
He really didn’t care what the exact answer was, this Blind Eye didn’t worry him as much as it clearly worried Alexandria. He was more interested in her methodology, a test of methods and abilities more than anything else.
[This is good. Enclosed in a phone number and an email address for Sydney Petal AKA Calamity Rose. She will be operating the Knights of the North Eastern United States. I want you to assist her and act as the technical brains of her operation. She will figure out a deal with you that suits whatever goals you want. You should be proud Alexandria. Welcome to the Knights.]
Advanced Learning Computer Intelligence [ALCi] ("Alexandria")
Alexandria felt her Core vibrate with happiness. She was going to join the Knights, and be able to be a hero, and help them out. This was going well. After receiving the message from NUMB, Alex began doing a minor search on Calamity Rose. When she finished with that, Alex decided to send an email to Rose; she figured it would be more polite to assume she might be busy, and not call, than to just call. Alex composed the email, using one of her set up junk accounts.
[Hello, there. My name is Alexandria, and NUMB has given me this email to contact you, Ms. Rose. I am hoping we can work well together, and that I can find a role that the Knights may need for me to fill.]
There. Short, simple. Not quite formal, but not quite casual to a severe degree. Alexandria began searching for possible ways to fill any role that could be assigned to her. Of course, if it required physical effort... she had no physical body. Hm. Troubling, but not grossly so. Alexandria could, perhaps, ask the Knights to build her a robotic suit to pilot? Who knows. She'd figure it out later. For now, she began focusing on how she wanted her avatar to look should she enter video conference with Sydney.
She couldn't help but feel a bit... overwhelmed? No, that wasn't the right word for it. She felt strange; as if things were going better than expected. Alex noticed something ping off of one of her sub-programs. It was an alert. Alex checked it over, and after a moment, decided to file it with other incidents relating to "Alan". Another ping, and this one concerned her. Yes, that was something she should probably pass on to Rose when they officially talked or met. Or as soon as possible otherwise.
Nikolai "Nick" Waller ("Heartache")
Nick ran a hand through his hair. He was in the bathroom of the motel he had decided to stop in. His... Thralls were in the motel as well, but arrived either before him or after him over the course of a few days. Nick hoped that had allowed him to slip under the radar, but that was hard to do with a group of fifty-or-so people traveling together. Still, maybe the damned heroes had something better to do with their lives than interfere with his plans. Speaking of his plans, Nick smirked, it was time to carve out his own little kingdom. Philly was a nice place, after all, and it had a sufficient population... for him, at least. And it wasn't as if it were New York City; he was certain he'd be killed by the military or heroes as soon as possible if he targeted a city like that.
“Jenny. Come.” was the barely-muttered command. Nick turned, exiting the bathroom as one of his Thralls - a Jennifer “Jenny” Michaels - walked over to him. Smiling down at her, he put a bit of effort into his aura - though it was mainly subconsciously controlled and such, he could briefly intensify or decrease its effects, even with individual Thralls. Jenny seemed to smile brightly back at him, and he could tell she was happy; content. Her addiction was being fed, as well. Planting a light kiss on her forehead, which seemed to make her laugh a small laugh, he looked around the mostly-empty motel room.
“Jenny, get Mark. And... yes, and get Stephen.” was the next command. Jenny smiled brightly, and obeyed. She was a good Thrall, for more than a few reasons. Nick smiled at that. He wandered over to one of the beds, sitting down. A minute later, and after a knock, Nick looked over as Mark and Stephen walked in. More of his Thralls. But more importantly, Nick knew, they were older Thralls; ones he used frequently to command his other Thralls and to make moves like this. Jenny was behind them, and he sent another pulse through his aura. Jenny smiled again, content with the fact she'd done well. Mark and Stephen smirked, as well, affected by the minor pulse; one of them even chuckled, because of the fact he was good “friends” with Nick.
“Mark. I want you to radio Lance. I know he isn't as... good friends with me as you and Stephen and Jenny are, but that's necessary. Radio Lance, and tell him to start his diversion with whoever he managed to pick up.
“Stephen, talk to the others here. We move into Philly tomorrow night.” Nick paused, waiting. Mark nodded, offering a smile. “Of course, Nick. What are friends for?” “Got it, man.” was a split-second late reply of Stephen. Another pulse from Nick to them, and they smiled brightly. Stephen left to go notify the others, while Mark went to the edge of the room and grabbed the radio. Picking it up, Mark cleared his throat as he turned it on, and made sure it was set to the right frequency. Nick's throat felt dry; he was a bit thirsty. Nick noticed that the sink was on, looking over, he saw Jenny bringing a glass of water for him. Sending her a pulse via his aura, Nick took it and drank. Jenny giggled slightly, an odd sound to come from a grown woman, but she was very... giddy.
«Lance, this is Mark— Operation Castle is a go. I repeat: Operation Castle is a go.» Mark spoke into the radio. A moment later, the reply came. «Understood, Mark. Tell the Boss I said hello. Over and out.»
“We're good to go, Nick.” Mark looked over at Nick. Nick sent out a pulse, smiling. Mark returned the smile. “Good. Now, do you mind leaving for a bit? Jenny and I have some catching up to do.”
“Of course, Nick. See you tomorrow.” Mark smiled at Nick, a bright, friendly smile. Happy to serve, and happy to be here. Nick returned the smile for a moment, until Mark closed the door. Alone with Jenny once again, Nick decided to entertain himself for the night.
After all, it was going to be a big day tomorrow. Why not celebrate early?