Heroism 2.0

[ARedthorn]

This is a continuation of another story, which starts here.
Should the original GM return, it may continue. OOC is here.

*****

Shelly woke up late, having stayed up until the wee hours, going over the computer's data analysis... the results were as disturbing as they were interesting. Shelly knew as much biochemistry as she needed to for post-grad psych, but really needed a good medical eye on the compound the computer had managed to isolate. Maybe Jacob knows someone trustworthy... If she brought her contacts in on this... the cat would be out of the bag, and the feds would have to get involved.

From her co-opted room, to the shower, Shelly makes it halfway down the stairs before noting the hustle and bustle of the house, and pulling up short.

"I..."

How did I miss this? How did I sleep through it? Are the walls soundproofed?!?

"I need coffee."

[Roberts]

Denzle snuck into his room, which took him a while, saying all the rooms look the same when the doors closed and you don't remember going to it the first time. Eventually he did find it, and saw that Jacob had beat him there, a suit as promised, which was good, he couldn't very well be seen in his outfit, or walk around naked. James was doing up the last cufflink as he walked into the room full of people who when they saw him looked almost shocked to find that someone 'normal' was in the house, which James decided he liked, and thought he knew exactly why. "Have you happened to see a really hot naked woman walking around?" One of the guys spoke up, "The queen of Iceland, she went that way." James nodded, resisting the urge to laugh and walked the way they pointed, which brought him to the kitchen. "So your alias is going to be The Queen of Iceland, whoever thought that one up needs to give me one, thats way cooler then James Knight." He said this while walking in and leaning against the wall, looking at the far wall so as not to feel rude, though he could keep his eyes up if he wanted, he'd had his share of parties.

[JHarrisford]

Jacob entered the kitchen a half-dozen seconds after Shelly and poured himself a cup of tea with one hand while stealing a piece of sushi from a plate with the other. "Mm, wow," he said, chewing. "That's...spot on. Who knew the heiress of Iceland was good in the kitchen?" He smiled over the edge of his tea cup, taking a sip.

"Good morning Shells," he said a second later, passing her a mug as she groped for the coffee pot. For a moment he remembered Clockworth and his ability to anticipate anyone's needs. It was handy, if not a touch creepy. I'm not getting a butler. "Did the computer find anything?" Jacob watched James not-watching out of the corner of his eye.

[Astarael42]

Syren had no need of freshening up; she had spent the night doing just that and obviously didn’t need to find clean clothes. So by the time the others joined her in the kitchen she had effectively crafted a party sized tray of sushi. And she was good at it…the only human food she really liked she was damn well going to make it properly.

She had also put on a pot of coffee, made iced mint water, and cleaned the kitchen. People assumed that she could do nothing for herself…in reality independence was highly valued skill by both herself and those who had trained her. Spoiled ineffective rulers were crafted when you allowed too many servants and slaves to dance attendance on the ruler. However the illusion that she was helpless had often come in handy and she rarely dispelled people’s notions on the subject.

She was, in the grand scheme of things, a creature of illusions. She could be whatever was most expected of her. In a political arena it was a vital skill, people let their guard down and she could make deals and treaties that they would have otherwise resisted. She assumed it would be the same in the business world and she guessed that the former owner of this Manor had possessed many of the exact same skills.

As the others trickled in she was sitting on her towel, common courtesy considering her state of dress, and perched on a chair sipping a glass of mint water. Her red hair had dried and so had she, it was even more uncomfortable now. She hoped the strangers would be on their way pretty soon so she could dress herself in water once more instead of dealing with this slow suffocation.

She smiled at James as he came in. “You are welcome to have my moniker Mr. James” she said easily “I didn’t ask for it. And your welcome to sushi too of course.” Then she turned to Jacob, smothering a smile but her eyes still held a grin. “I have many surprises up my metaphorical sleeve Mr. Jacob. Grow not complacent. And I still want my lollipops.”

[ARedthorn]

"The computer? You could say that. The kid's hormones were off the charts. Literally. They weren't human anymore- something had modified them. When I finally logged off, I was trying to figure out if I could get it to reverse engineer the stuff, but I'm not nearly enough of a chemistry or computer expert."

"That aside, we could also use a discrete doctor to do a full autopsy... I have no idea how this may have affected them physically, but I know it will have... and if I bring in my contacts..." Shelly trails off.

Shelly eyeballs the sushi. It looks good, but... not breakfast. Though, if anyone can prepare good sushi, it ought to be an Atlantean... for that matter, there's no one else I think I'd trust to make it naked.

Lollipops? "My inside joke sense is tingling..."

[Serra_Angel]

Serra walked in several minutes later than the rest, she had taken time over her ablutions. Her prior day had been quite miserable, the night long, and by the time she finally felt refreshed quite a bit of time had passed. Exiting the shower she spotted clothing laying on her bed, Jacob must have sneaked in when she was in the shower.

Jeans and a gray tee shirt were perfect, and she took the others and carefully placed them on the built in shelves. Not point in not keeping the room neat. The dirty laundry had been whisked away, she hoped it would be returned in a rather cleaner state but she would not worry about it now. Her short white hair was still damp and slightly spiky, but she wouldn’t wait any longer. She was hungry.

She worked her way down to the kitchen, passing workmen who didn’t pay her a second glance. Apparently a 20something girl in jeans and a tee shirt were not worth noting. Considering the other inhabitants of the manor she was pretty ordinary.

She found the kitchen and walked in just as Shelly was saying something about an autopsy.

“I could do that autopsy for you” she said abruptly as she entered. “I may not be a graduate of some fancy medical school but I am very familiar with anatomy and physiology and medicine.” She didn’t mention how she got her schooling but medicine, physiology, anatomy, all those were part of her studies from the time she could read. She had been trained by some of the best physicians in the world…considering that Apollo was the father of medicine. “If you want anyway.”

She bowed slightly to the naked Atlantean queen and then dished up herself a plate of sushi and coffee. She sighed deeply as she drank the coffee, she hadn’t realized how much she needed that too. The deeply dark bitter liquid was almost as satisfying as finally getting to eat.

[Roberts]

James thought about Syren's offer then decided against it, you cant have two people in a house going by The Queen of Iceland though this did raise a question, so while pouring a glass of mint water James asked. "By the way Jacob, are we gonna get cool new titles, and in my case a cool new last name, or is dad gonna send us to our rooms for the party?" Although James making it sound like a joke he meant it, he would gladly go by the last name knight as he usually did but fitting in to a party of rich people, when you haven't been one since you were 18 would be hard without some form of a fake backstory. When Syren spoke about the lollipops James raised an eyebrow.

"Oh and by the way, I can cover the computer part of the job, its one of my specialties." He said this while eating a piece of sushi, which was really good, he would have to remember this next time he wanted seafood, go to the Atlantean.

[JHarrisford]

Jacob hesitated mid-motion when the word "lollipops" came up again. "I'll...figure something out." He had to tense his jaw awfully hard to keep from grinning, or worse, giving alternative ideas. He may forever have the hormones of a thirty year old man, but he was a gentleman. I'm a gentleman... I'm a gentleman... I'm a gentleman... He was almost relieved when Shelly walked in. Somehow it was easier to behave when she was around. She knew him like a sister which meant she had plenty of dirt she could use at her discretion.

"It makes sense," he said to Shelly. "There are a number of techniques they could be using with this drug. Maybe it isn't just a drug. Maybe it really does change their DNA. Which would be bad because those bloody things were..." Really hard to kill.

Jacob hadn't realized he was making fists thinking about them, but he forced himself to relax. Those creatures had killed nearly everyone he knew. Only a few people survived. Thankfully Shelly had other duties to tend to. But people like Alex had barely gotten out. Everyone had fought on some line. Everyone on the front line had died. More were injured, put out of commission. Others fled in fear. At times he thought them cowards, but the truth was he could never ever judge someone who was running for their life.

His thoughts were interrupted by James, which was a good thing. Jacob relaxed and leaned his back against the fridge after stealing a few more bites from Syren's tray. He looked James in the eye and said, seriously, "Why don't you want to be a Queen? What would be so bad about that? You should be proud, not to mention there may still be plenty in holding somewhere for you...if you want it." If he didn't want to be, they could work around that, but being related to Oliver Queen was an honorable blood rite. He smiled. "This could be your coming out party..." He avoided eye-contact with Shelly.

Ah, Jacob breathed inwardly. Minor amounts of chaos in a controlled setting. It was almost relaxing.

He was about to recommend Hamilton Labs, which was built after STAR Labs was destroyed during the invasion, but then Serra walked in. If she had the knowledge and was up to such a large, and potentially busy task, it was definitely welcome. "I have no issue with you reviewing the bodies," Jacob said idly towards her. He hoped that his lack of enthusiasm would come as a vote of confidence, and not one of disregard. "We could use a skilled physician. I'm not worried about the tile. I'm sure your teachers taught you well." He smiled lightly.

A busy looking man appeared in the kitchen doorway holding two colors of drapes. By the look on his face he hadn't been here when the Heiress of Iceland had appeared the first time. He stammered a sentence that might have been a question about color preferences. Unphased, Jacob waved his hand and said, "Surprise me," and shooed him away.

[Roberts]

James thought about it, he really did, but he thought about this quite often, it sucks going to court, its worse when you have to go to court just to prove your alive, its stupid, then James remembered the money, after being silent for a little over a minute he decided, he took a deep breath then said. "Money it is, if someone would be so kind as to bring me a phone, and figure out one of my sisters numbers, and I guess my mothers as well, I don't remember any of them. I don't know why I'm doing this, but for some reason, being a Queen seems like a good idea now that a New Justice has begun." with that he left the kitchen, still drinking the mint water, which he would have to remember to thank Syren for in some dramatic way, and started asking people for a phone and the phone numbers.

[ARedthorn]

"New Justice? Better than what I'd come up with."

"They aren't strictly alien... the DNA came back recognizable- a little off, but no more than some supers. If there is a connection..." Shelly shrugs, "This isn't my area of expertise, and even requisitioning some alien DNA for the comparison would raise flags in the agencies. Maybe there's a sample in the computer, but I wouldn't know where to start looking, even assuming He had time to submit a sample in the middle of that hell." Shelly gives Jacob's shoulder a brief squeeze.

I'll need to talk to him later about how much he remembers... Shelly cringes slightly...
...Not that there's a good answer to that question, where he's concerned.

"I'd absolutely welcome the help." Shelly nods thanks to Serra and James. "I could especially use a good look at their brain. Anyone know where we can borrow an MRI? It can tell us more than a physical exam could... I'd like Serra to focus on the musculature, and endocrine system..."

Shelly falters, looking at the sushi.
"Perhaps this conversation should wait... Until there are fewer ears, and no one's eating."

Unable to resist making his head spin even more, Shelly stops the contractor short and adds "Just be sure they match the carpet. It's always disappointing when they don't, right, Jacob?"