Novice 1.10

January 7th, 2011. Brockton Bay.

It was a late Friday afternoon, and Thomas was feeling bored. He had been stuck indoors for most of the week, seeing an average of 3 clients a day, though yesterday he only had 1 person to heal, while today he had in turn had four show up, three of them in a group and one arriving separately.

Given the way his personal funds had grown, he had managed to get his hands on a secure account thanks to Faultline knowing who to contact, arranging an account to be prepared for him by Numberman. While the man might be Cauldron member, they were good at their 'job' and this was hardly a noticeable contact for him.

So he had a seemingly normal account with a little over 10k in money in it, a new wallet with a sum of $200 carried along if he went shopping and wanted to pay in cash for some small purchases, and a separate secure account card that was locked up in his room for any larger acquisitions he might eventually choose to make.

For now, that secure account was simply storing some funds, others being put in place under a false identity, also acquired through Faultline's contacts, that meant a part of his money was put to work trying to made additional profits. He had some hopes in that, but since he wasn't investing it himself he had a feeling it might not pay off in the end. The sum he'd diverted to that was a quarter of his earnings, sizable sum right now, but not enough to bankrupt him if it did not come out right.

Letting out a sigh he glanced down at the treadmill he had been jogging on, touching the screen before him to set it to ending the run at a slower pace. His legs ached lightly, but he had been running more than he expected, and feeling a bit better for it. His physical looks had not really changed, but he felt he had pushed his body a bit, and felt small improvements over the week from the continued exercise.

He had not been too eager to do so at first, but playing games or reading books all day did not seem interesting enough, and surprisingly enough the run had actually helped him clear his head somewhat. The way his body had changed seemed to make such practice a little easier, and the benefit of it might come in handy sometime.

Stepping off the treadmill after the pace had slowed down to near crawl and soon stopping entirely, Thomas headed off to take a shower and change. He had not been told of any clients for that particular day yet, but he expected there might be one or two.

The Merchants and the E88 had been clashing all over the city, and, while ABB had largely stayed out of it there had been talk about Oni Lee sightings. Apparently ABB had been happy to let the others fight each others for most part though so he did not know what to really expect from them.

There had actually been a few customers that did catch his attention though. A group of three boys who had been working as goons for Uber and Leet, got hurt on the job, and showed up to get patched up afterwards. Their injuries had been relatively minor so they payment for it had been rather small too, but Faultline had accepted it since it had been a slow day, they were an easy job to pull off, and she also managed to squeeze out a bit of information out of the boys as well from what he had overheard.

The two video game villains were more amusing than actively dangerous in his opinion at that time, but the video they'd uploaded of their latest antics had shown off Glory Girl covered in ooze that made her furious and add to her unofficial 'collateral damage barbie' title.

Honestly, he had been surprised to learn that apparently that weird little squids and ink shooter guns videogame had actually been published on Earth Bet, and ahead of schedule as well if he remembered correctly. He hadn't paid it much attention, it was a console game as far as he knew, and he'd been part of the PC gamer crowd. Not that he was a serious gamer, more a casual gamer for the fun of it and to relax on the weekend.

Still, he had recognized it and seeing Glory Girl covered in the black ink 'ooze' had definitely got him laughing. Though her decision to slap an unpowered thug in a way that would have possibly sent him to a hospital if not for the padded outfits they wore had sparked some conflict on the PHO as well.

Stepping out of the shower and getting dressed, he had headed over to a shared lounge and intending to visit the kitchen briefly, when he ran into Gregor in the hallway.

"Hey, just to let you know, Faultline got a job lined up for us starting tomorrow. We'll be gone for at least four days, possibly five."

That bit of news made Tom frown slightly but he nodded his head still. Faultline had probably received a job offer with more lucrative terms to it than making money watching over him. He couldn't really fault her for that. Unfortunately it also meant that it would be a good time for anyone else to try and snatch him up.

"Okay, thanks for letting me know. I guess the jobs are on hold until you are all back?" Gregor's nod made him let out a sigh and then smile. "Well I guess I'll try and find something else to amuse me in the meanwhile."

Gregor smiled briefly but turned to head away. Despite his initial awkwardness around the group, he considered Gregor and Newter to fun people to be around. Faultline had seemed to ease up a bit on him after several days without real issues, but he got the feeling he was still firmly in the client category, not a friend. He could respect that, though he did wish she'd relax around him like she seemed to do when it was just her crew.

Knocking on the door to Faultline's office, Thomas waited a moment before hearing her speak up. 'Come in' was said in a tone of a command rather than an invite, making him wince slightly but open the door and proceed.

Seeing her seated behind a desk, a folder closed on the table, and wearing gloves and a mask, it was apparent she had been relaxing without the outfit before his knock given the short pause before she had called for him to enter. He was pretty sure the others didn't knock, or had some particular knock. He hadn't tried opening the door before knocking but he was also rather sure it was locked and only opened after she gave permission, given it had a card reader by it on the outside and she had one hand under the table when he entered.

"I heard from Gregor you are all heading out tomorrow. I wanted to say I finished the first set of 'scrolls' already, and was meaning to talk about them later. Seeing as you are going to be gone though, I figured I'd hand them over, in case you run into any trouble." His voice serious, he looked at her and watched her for a moment just staring back at him.

"I thought you said you were not sure if others would be able to use these though?" She picked up the bundle of scrolls, looking them over curiously. Fine white paper bound with a red string, containing a few words written in plain English at the top, followed by a number of symbols that she likely had no real idea how to interpret.

He had been surprised when he got to work writing them, but the symbols seemed to flow as if by instinct as he worked. It took him nearly an hour to finish even a single scroll, and a feeling of 'emptiness', actually consuming one of his charges entirely the first time he'd done it.

The charge had returned the next day, so he had dared to try with two more, and finally today he'd written three earlier in the morning. The charges came back, but the day he created something the said charge was gone until the end of the day. Which meant he could make them, but any 'mass production' was impossible.

"I believe I managed to come up with a workable solution with a bit of trying. You must speak the short string of command words while holding the scroll, preferably held open but grasped in one hand even rolled up should work. The other hand will act as a channel to the power in question." Thomas explained this seriously while standing before her, watching her look through the six scrolls quietly.

He had prepared three arcane and three divine spells for a test, wanting to know if they'd work for others. His choices had been Entangle, Comprehend Languages and Cure Light Wounds for the Divine spells, and Feather Fall, Disguise Self and Mage Armor for the Arcane. Of course, he had not named them so in English, merely listed a few choice keywords that the scroll was writ to activate on.

Mage Armor would protect someone, Feather Fall was likely not going to get used but was an interesting option if one of them did have to jump off a roof at some point, and Disguise Self was a useful short term 'stranger' power, even if a weak glamour.

Comprehend languages could be useful if their foe spoke in a language they didn't know and they got access to their communications preferring to listen in. Cure light wounds was a rather simple choice, it could help out in emergency to keep someone alive at least, and the last one, a druid spell actually, would see the ground itself rise up to grasp those targeted in roots growing swiftly in a way that would likely give a scare to any would be pursuers.

Examining them for a while, Faultline lowered the scrolls down on the table, eyes narrowed behind the mask.

"Just who, and what exactly are you? You walk in and mention Cauldron which is a boogeyman on the net, a group that we are not exactly prepared to investigate yet ourselves, not at just your word that they're involved. I took you in as you are a curiosity, and your ability is useful enough as well. The healing you can provide brings not only money but favors and goodwill, so I have tolerated the mystery." She paused at this point.

"However, you are also a black hole when it comes to thinker information, either they notice you and suffer for it, or they bypass you as someone who doesn't really ping their radar, so to speak. Now, after a week here, you tell me that you are some sort of a mix of weird tinker and trump?" She lifted one of the scrolls.

"I am not sure if this is some Dumbo effect your power calls for, but if these are real, then that means your power is not only strange, but versatile enough to bring a lot of trouble to our doorstep. I will take these, and we'll see if they work, but when we come back I expect answers, the whole story, and a long talk about sharing relevant details." The way she was looking at him Thomas briefly wondered if he should have just kept quiet and not revealed anything at all. He had grown somewhat attached to the crowd, and had felt they weren't quite as bad as many of the gangs in the city.

Right at that moment however he was pretty sure Faultline had grown very suspicious of him, his motives, and his intentions towards them. He had sought them out after all, and if his powers were versatile enough to offer him options like the scrolls, she might begin to doubt he 'needed' protection.

Which was actually a matter he wasn't quite sure about. He was vulnerable right now, before he could gather more power for himself, but that vulnerability came with a timer, and his practice was pushing him forward, little by little. It was not as good as going out to the field and fighting, or as good as actually healing someone, but it did provide some gains to his power's growth as well as his physical growth.

Unfortunately he had not gained a jump like he had after his trip outside, and he had a feeling he would need to get more involved in things if he wanted to progress with any real speed when it came to growing in power. The only good way to build up strength was testing his limits against foes that were well suited for his current power level. Which would mean seeking out and taking down mooks.

He leaned more towards rogue than a hero, and more towards a hero than a villain, but he also liked to consider himself a pragmatic guy. If he was pressed against the wall and given the option to either become honorary Asian or die in a fire, he'd take Lung's offer and look for a chance to slip away later. It wouldn't do any good for his self-esteem to work for the man, but he'd rather look for a way out of the trap than make some stupid grand gesture and end up a human matchstick.

Skidmark and his gang though? He'd probably fight tooth and nail to avoid that. He was pretty sure that way would end up hooked on drugs by force, and he was not convinced his gamer body was completely immune to that. He did not want to find out the hard way. Alcohol had its effect on him after all, no real hangovers but he could get buzzed. He hadn't tried to drink beyond that to a point he'd pass out at any point, but he wasn't planning to try anything stronger than alcohol either.

"Understood?" Faultline finished a talk in front of him, making him wince and nod. "Good. Now get back to your room." She waved him off, and he turned to go.

He had listened to her but after the initial words the rest of it was more or less the same, a scolding to remember that he was now a known figure at the Palanquin, someone who had healed a number of people who's tales of that would likely have got out to a number of interested ears.

Grumbling slightly to himself he retreated to the room he had been given, and sat down before the screen, checking the channels for anything that would let him relax for a bit before he'd think about what to expect in the coming days. He might have to consider leaving when Faultline and her group were gone, and slip back under a disguise spell. At least now he had money and a false identity to work with.

Resting back on his throne the masked figure grasped the chin of said mask, rubbing along it with a gauntleted hand while staring at the trio gathered before him. The fluttering light of the torches on the wall scones did not give much light, but he could still see the tension present in the room, only made stronger as they had began to eye one another after making their choices.

He doubted that any of them would choose to work together. It was possible, but he did not find it a likely choice from any of them, not when they had already exhibited a touch of perfectly normal suspicion. They had been picked to find and kill someone, and the one who scored the kill would win the hunting game. Any alliances that could be made would come at a very real risk of betrayal, and failure would have unpleasant consequences, even if they were returned home eventually.

"In the moments that have passed for you, a week's time has passed for the one sent off first. You will enter the world in the dawn of the eight day, and with your arrival, the ten year period begins. While you may find that to be excessive amount of time right now, the time you need to complete the hunt depends on your own skills as well as those of your quarry. Besides, if you rush in just remember that while it is a chance for a quick triumph, it is also a chance for a very unpleasant stay if you happen to die trying."