The Conduit Initiative

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The first two questions he received made Thomas chuckle lightly. The first question, from Aeny, was about the restroom. The second question was from Asoka, and was about food. He first addressed Aeny's need to relieve himself. "There is a restroom on each floor. The restroom on this floor is to your left, the hallway marked 'Lavatories'." Bless Aeny, he was so cute. That would be good for their resistance. The public generally has a hard time ignoring something when there are children involved. But, The Conduit Initiative was much more than just that. It would be a permanent home for all of them, a safe haven for the members of the group.

After showing Aeny the way to the restrooms, he turned back to the group. He then answered Asoka, saying, "We have organized an underground chain of supporters for Conduit rights and our cause that will take care of needs such as food and medical care. Food, specifically, will be delivered freshly cooked from a local diner. We will have prepared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners every day, at 7 AM, noon, and 7 PM, respectively." He ended with a smile to Asoka.

"Now, after Aeny returns from the restroom, I will begin our 'tour'. If anyone else has something they'd like to ask before we move on, feel free to ask it now," Thomas said with a smile.
 
Mud grinned, her mouth watering at the thought. On special occasions, such as her birthday, Mud's grandmother took her to the diner in town, where she was allowed as much as she wanted. Yes, the diner was one of her favorite places for food. She waited for the others to ask questions, her own having been politely answered by this strange man who she was still figuring out.
 
The silence that filled the room with Aeny's absence made James shudder. He decided he would break the ice and disrupt the silence.

"Where are we sleeping?" he asked. "And are we restricted to similar gender roomates?"
 
"Is it safe here?" Aberdeen asked Thomas, managing to keep her anxiety out of her voice. "I'd imagine the D.U.P.s would be on your asses." Between the non-conspicuous look to the building and its security measures, it seemed secure, but the D.U.P. spent all their time hunting down Conduits to give the regulars some sense of peace.
 
Of the two questions he was just asked, and of all of the questions he'd been asked so far by the initiates, Aberdeen's was the first profound, meaningful one. So, naturally, he answered her first. When he did, his smile faded. "In this building, yes, you are safe. We've been highly proactive and taken every precaution to make sure the D.U.P. cannot reach us here. This is a sanctuary, a safe haven for us. I can't promise that the D.U.P. won't hurt you anymore. I can't promise you that yet. But from the deepest depths of my being, I promise that it will not happen here."

A few moments after answering Aberdeen, he would come to James's question. "I will be showing you where you will be sleeping. As was previously stated by Charles, there are no standing arrangements for the beds. However, you will not be sharing a bed with anyone, per se. Every person has their own bed. Though, the beds are arranged in a bunking formation, so you must arrange who you bunk with, and who gets which bed, among yourselves. Though, my personal suggestion would be to bunk with the same sex," Thomas answered. Looks like the only one with a profound question so far was still Aberdeen.
 
Mud straightened, a thought filling her mind, pushing away everything else. In a quiet, cautious voice, yet still curious, she said, "I know we can trust Charles, he's proven himself, to me at least. But, you haven't given me any reason to trust you. Why should we follow you into a building where only you know the way?"
 
Thomas's smile faded once more as Asoka asked a second question, this one about their trust. Thomas didn't answer right away. He, instead, would reach into his jacket and, from inside of it, pulled out a mask. It was the mask he wore when undercover as Origami. "This is why you should trust me," he said, showing the mask to the group. "I've been working undercover as Origami, a Conduit rights activist, for years, destroying D.U.P. efforts across this general area of the United States. Now, I am a co-Founder, working alongside Charles, to create The Conduit Initiative, a unified force for Conduit rights and equality."

Putting his mask back in his jacket, Thomas continued. "I am a Conduit, just like you all. I am not a Bioterrorist. The D.U.P. and their ability users are the Bioterrorists. I am under just as much danger as each and every one of you. In fact, more so. The D.U.P. have a specific and succinct want to seek me out and silence me forever because, without Origami and the network of supporters I'd gathered and formed, Conduits would have no security from the grasp of the Bioterrorists. I have devoted my life, risked my life, to making the world a fair place, where Conduits can be integrated seamlessly into normal society. But, to do that, I can't do it alone. This is why I agreed to help form The Conduit Initiative. I cannot and do not demand your trust. I ask you from the bottom of my very being, please, trust me in this."
 
Mud looked at him solemly and nodded her understanding. For now, that would be enough for her. He had gained trust, and she relaxed, ready to follow him for the tour.
 
Aeny watched the group from the shadows he had run towards. They all thought that he was going to the toilet, but that had just been an excuse to get away. Whilst they distracted the strange looking dude that had let them in he sneaked along, reaching the stairs and quietly and skilfully climbing them, as silent as the shadows that surrounded him.

Once he was out of their sight he relaxed. They were all older than him, and he didn't want to get in a fight with any of them. He walked along the corridor that he had now found himself on, there were no doors at the sides, but a large one at the end spoke to Aeny, willing him to come closer. He could sense the power radiating from it, the promise of eternal riches, the ability to squash all those who had attacked him for his powers, even him, his oldest friend. Things he could never have, but those images crossed his mind as he approached, his arm outstretched, reaching for the handle...
 
Victor jumped when the door was locked behind them and let the bone blade he had been palmning fall into a reverse grip hold and fell into a low crouch, ready to fight if he needed to. Sure the place looked nice, but he was clearly on edge. "Looks like we've been fighting the same people, but I also went after everyday criminals. Never covered my face though. I worked directly from the shadows." the bone and wire conduit said as he relaxed a bit. "My question is how much do you know about us and how did you go about gathering that information? I've been keeping myself hidden in plain sight. How did you find me and get some credible intelligence on me?"
@Yosuke
 
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James stood, arms crossed off to the side of the group. He listened close to the questions being asked, most of them questions he had as well.
 
Thomas was asked yet another question, this time, by Victor. "I know enough to know that you all were in that hotel, in the lobby, all at the same time, by some act of fate. Unfortunately, I'll have to disclose this with Charles before I release that information to you all, but you have my word that we'll introduce you to our methods. For now, I will leave you with a few details. We have many reliable sources, some supporters, some not. It's amazing what restricted D.U.P. files will tell you. Too bad their servers were wiped, courtesy of Origami. Many of you were closer than you may have thought to being captured by the D.U.P. Too bad years of intelligence, gathered from all across the world, have vanished from D.U.P. servers, rendering any and all suspicious peoples incognito once again." As he ended, he gave a smile.

Thomas then would say, "Excuse me for one moment," before leaving the group to check on Aeny. Luckily, he did, because he found Aeny in a nearby hallway, about to open a door. Walking down the corridor, but stopping before he got too close. "A boiler room isn't the restroom, last time I checked." When he said this, he didn't say it with anger in his voice. He expected, and was prepared, for something like this to happen, especially from Aeny. A smile on his face, Thomas said, "If you're done spelunking on your own, join the rest of us, and we'll go around on a tour of the entire HQ. How does that sound?"
 
When she got news about the D.U.P. servers being wiped, Aberdeen's brows raised. For as long as she's known she was a Conduit, she's feared the D.U.P., taking any and all paths she could to stay out of their way and keep herself from being captured. Now, all the intel they might've collected on Conduits was erased. Gone. Just like that. She imagined it was a weight off of everyone's shoulders, including herself -- it's like they never existed to the D.U.P. Who knows how long it'd take the D.U.P. to scramble some information back up?

Clasping her hands in front of her, Aberdeen waited for the tour to begin.
 
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