The Conduit Initiative

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She looked at him a long while as they walked before saying, "Sources or not, it's creepy to think you were watching me," she teased with a small smile before addressing his last answer. "Different. I guess we're different, but I'd like to think a lot of people are, including you, Charlie. No, I think there's something deeper that made you choose us in particular." She grinned. "I'd like to think you're fond of us, but I can't be sure. I just met you all ten minutes ago though and I'm exhausted, perhaps this 'deep thinking' is just that, exhaustion."
 
He listened close as the child muttered her theories. She made sense, and maybe she was right. Maybe it was because he liked them; liked the people they were. He couldn't divulge this though. If he was to have a successful business relationship with the group, he couldn't get too personal with them. As she finished her sentence, he smiled and gave a content sigh. "Perhaps. We will all be in the right mind once we reach HQ and get a full nights rest."
 
Mud nodded. "By the way, how far is this HQ?"
 
Aberdeen fought through a bit of her own hesitation before trailing after Charles. His intentions seemed to be genuine, they really did, but the ever-present thought of what if? nagged in her mind and put her nerves on edge, despite how much she wanted to be calm and trusting. Hearing him speak about the group and how he talked to Mud eased her anxiety a tad. He's a nice guy, she told herself. Charles really wants to help. In some distant place in the back of her consciousness, Aberdeen wondered if the HQ had hot water. She heard Mud ask a question. "Yeah," she said, "And are there any others at the HQ? Others like us?"
 
Aeny looked around and saw the lobby of the hotel start to empty. He quickly scampered off after Charles and the others who had left. The others started to ask questions about the HQ they were heading to. Aeny wondered if he would get a room when he was there. With a bath, maybe. Or a bed. These were luxuries to him and he felt warm just at the thought.

He also thought about the HQ in general. It sounded like the base for a team of superheroes, from the comics he had seen happier children reading on the bus or in the park. Stories about heroes and villains, their fights against their light and dark side. He wondered if that was what this would be like. Whether by the end of this project people would no longer see him as the dirty urchin off the streets, but see him as a hero, a role model. He liked that thought even more than the one about the bed and bath.
 
Mus was very talkative and curious. So many questions spewed from her mouth. She was like the little girl who wanted to know if they were there yet on a road trip. Strangely enough, she wasn't very irritating or annoying. In fact, he enjoyed the small talk between the group. She asked another question, followed by the attractive women.

"HQ isn't very far; probably a 30 minute walk. As for the others, no, they aren't 'like you.'"

He continued guiding the group towards their destination. They had been walking for 15 minutes or so. Halfway there.
 
(Glad to hear you're not closing this rp down. I'm still praying you feel better soon. ^.^)
Victor followed quietly. Listening intently to what was being said and palming a bone blade just in case things called for it. He was a cautious man and tended to keep his abilities a secret by making the blades he formed from his body a separate from himself. Nobody would put two and two together about what he could do. Even if he had a pocket of chicken bones that were dry and Sun bleached.
 
Mud groaned and tilted her head back, looking at what could be seen of the night sky through the city smog. The stars shone faintly, nothing like what they were back at home, but the thought that these were the same stars she had looked at with her grandmother made her feel better. "Can't you just move the concrete so we get there faster?"
 
This childish question made Charles burst into laughter. The thought was very cartoonish. Simply moving the concrete to get them there faster. After Charles came out of his laughing fit, he wiped a tear from his eye and said,

"Afraid it don't work like that. Lay off it will ya? We will be there in a few minutes," he said with another chuckle


"I sure hope so," James muttered underneath his breath.
 
She frowned at his laughter but a smirk came across her face and she nodded. "I hope so, for your sake," she said with a wave of her hands at him, as if she was a witch. She then giggled and went back to admiring the stars.
 
Aberdeen couldn't help but smile at the banter between Mud and Charles. Nice interactions with other people were hard to have, let alone witness, when you were a Conduit -- out of the desperation wreathed upon people by fear's hand, the world turned bitter and harsh, skepticism now considered essential for survival and "safety" even more so than it was before. Fear makes people either too emotional or too stoic.
 
After a long and tiring walk through the dark, the group finally made it to this, "HQ" Charles had mentioned earlier. As they neared the building, there was a sense of hesitation and nervousness in the air. It was almost like looking into the future. This would serve as the team's home for a long time to come, and it was clear that the group had their reservations about the whole situation. Since the team arrived in the middle of the night, it was difficult to make out any sort of distinguishable feature on the building in front of them. The only thing the group could see was that the building was very large and intimidating. It didn't seem to have windows and the design was odd to say the least. However, before the group could get a good look, they reached the front gate.
​
Charles's legs ached from the walk. At his age, walking any discernable distance tired him to the point he could hardly speak. He regained his breath, straightened his back, and turned to face the team.

"Here we are," he began. "Home sweet home." With that, Charles approached an interactive console that was embedded into the left wall. He didn't know what most of the buttons did, but he had to call up to the security room and identify himself in order for them to be let in.

Charles lifted his thumb and pressed to buzzer, making a terrible ringing noise echo into the night.

"Thomas," Charles panted. "It's me -- get your ass down here and let us in."​
 
Aeny shivered. It was cold and wet. He could usually put up with these kinds of conditions but something about the building in front of him put him off and made him want to shiver. He couldn't tell if it was the dark that made what stood before him so ominous, or if it was the thought of what stepping through that door meant. It meant discarding his old life, for better or for worse. He would no longer be a homeless thief. The prospect of this oddly terrified him.
 
Mud was curious, and looked around at everything. Never before had she seen a place so big. She watched Charles and studied the buttons, the temptation to press one growing.
 
A response would come from a speaker right above the button Charles had his thumb mashed on. Of course, it wasn't the speaker itself, but rather a person on the other end, in the security room. "I'll be down there in a second," was the response Charles received. With that, the speaker shut off automatically. A second was, in fact, a major underestimation of how long it took for the door to be opened. Nevertheless, machinery could be heard clicking and moving in the door as the locks were loosened. The door opened up, and behind it, an Asian man, a smile on his face. "Welcome back, Charles. Come on in, all."

Thomas stepped aside and would let both Charles and the group he'd gathered enter the building, closing and locking the large door behind them. "My apologies for the rather long wait, I was up in the Security Room," he said, directed to both Charles and the others. He turned his attention to the group of people Charles had gathered. They were all there. He knew because he had done his homework on each and every single one of them. "A hello from the bottom of my heart to each of you. My name is Thomas Yamamoto. Though you may not know me, you may know my moniker: Origami. Together, Charles and I have been working nonstop to create The Conduit Initiative. You six are the first initiates of the Initiative."

"If you have any questions and Charles can't afford to answer you at that moment, you may seek to ask me. Think of me as a co-Founder and a right-hand man to Charles. If no one has any initial questions, I would like to take you through the HQ, a tour of sorts, to orient you to our center of operations."
 
Crossing her arms, Aberdeen eyed the building with curiosity. Though it was difficult peering through the darkness, she could tell the building was featureless, so much so it didn't look to have windows. Shortly after Charles rang a grating buzzer, a voice spoke up over the microphone to tell the group he would be down in a moment. Well, it took way longer than a moment. Aberdeen occupied herself with shifting her weight from foot to foot, investigating her surroundings despite being shrouded in the bleakness of night.

The man arrived, opened the door, and Aberdeen trailed in with the group to the inside of the building, with the door closing in behind them. Aberdeen swiveled her head to the sound of the door locking, eyes lingering there a moment before the man began speaking. There was something so final about that door closing that stirred her stomach, but she held onto the hope that everything would work out. The sound of 'Origami' snapped Aberdeen out of her train of thought. She'd heard so much about Origami -- he was an activist for the Conduit cause, and looking at the man behind the mask now felt like staring at a superhero who'd just come out of incognito. Her brows raised, but she managed to keep quiet.
 
"Erm" Aeny blushed as he put his hand up, surrounded by older conduits, he was shy and embarrassed "before we start a tour can you tell me where the nearest bathroom is. I really gotta go." His voice had a slight whimper to it as he spoke, marking that he really did need 'to go'.
 
Mud watched the man who had appeared, watching him with curiosity and listening to every detail. She raised her hand, then asked, "What kind of food do you have here?"

That was the first thing on her mind, despite having millions of other questions, she found this one to be the most important and least dangerous. Everything else could wait. If this was a trap, and she was doomed to experiments or suicidal missions or forced to live in a room several thousand feet below the ground for the rest of her life, she would be able to handle it much better with a full stomach.
 
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Charles had led the group past the front gate and into the warm building. The inside was luxurious! Coming through the door, you stepped into a very large living area with concrete and paper decorations everywhere. The building was tall, at least 25 floors adding to its height. It had a homey feel to it, yet it also felt professional. It was a very nice place indeed, much to contrast the way it looked on the outside. This was only the lobby after all.

After the group was all inside, Charles gave a sigh. Before he could introduce Thomas, the young man did so himself. Thomas wrapped up everything Charles had to say in a matter of seconds. Knew I hired him on for reason, Charles thought for a moment, snickering to himself. Thomas finished his practical speech with an offer to give them all a tour. Good, Charles thought to himself. I've got a bunch of shit to do and I can finally slip away. Charles cleared his throat, casting the attention on to himself.

"For tonight," he began. "Thomas will show you around and lead you to your bunk rooms when you are ready. There aren't specific sleeping arrangements quite yet, so you can decide who you sleep with. I have some business to take care of, so for now, he is in charge. Follow him and listen to what he has to say. I'll regroup with you in the morning." With that, Charles gave a slight nod to Thomas, and made his way to the elevator.


A bunch of things had happened in the last few minutes. They were led into this extravagant place they wouldn't likely leave for some time, they met the famous, "Origami," and finally, they were left by the one man they had a thread of trust within this entire place. James was nervous and this was shown through his shuffling feet. Origami looked trustworthy and kind enough, but who could really say at this point. James took his place next to Aberdeen, awaiting the tour's beginning.
 
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