Otto, Tyler, & Alkura
Tyler remained silent when Otto returned and removed all of their handcuffs. He didn't have to tell her not to use her abilities, she already knew that. Her lips were still sealed as they were loaded into a military SUV. Alkura apparently decided that they would be sitting together in a seat which meant that the other girl was practically on top of her. Since it was two to a chair, Tyler just gave up trying to share it and grabbed Alkura by the legs and waist and just lifted her onto her own lap so the girl was basically just sitting on her lap. Even with another body on top of her it was more comfortable this way and they were not fighting for seat space. Plus, this little girl was pretty small so she wasn't really a problem. Though Tyler said nothing about it, she was kind of surprised that the younger girl had wanted to sit with her even after Tyler had pretty much told her to shut up earlier. It was mature of Alkura to not take it personally.
When she was as comfortable as she could get, she leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes to relax. She could still hear the others talking, the negative banter between Otto and Maine starting to annoy her. Luckily, they cut themselves off and for a while, everyone was silent. It didn't take as long as she thought it would, but they finally arrived and as soon as the door opened, Tyler picked Alkura up princess style and stepped out of the vehicle. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she set the smaller girl back down to stand on her own. Carrying her out of the SUV was just easier and faster. She didn't hesitate to follow Otto toward the building, hoping with everything she had that this place had hot, running water. She was in desperate need of a shower. When Otto mentioned showers Tyler internally fist-pumped the sky in joy.
Tyler caught the stack of money that was thrown at her and tucked it into her pocket, nodding in agreement with Otto's plan. As a blue chick though, she feared how easily she would be spotted in an open market. People would stare. It worried her that she would be so obvious out in the open, especially if the E.I. had drone or something out looking for them. She supposed now was as good a time as any to test out a technique she had been working on. Tyler slowly let herself warm up, doing so at a slow pace and deliberately trying to keep herself from bursting into flames. The more she heated up, the more the blue skin tone and hair color started to recede until her skin, hair, and eyes were back to their normal colors. She had been practicing this alone for a while, but it was hard to do. Staying like this for a long period of time was energy-consuming and it was difficult to keep the perfect balance of heat that kept her from going up in flames from too much heat or turning blue again if she didn't produce enough. It was something she had to focus on quite a bit. She moved to stand by the door, waiting to move out.
Alkura gave out a little bit of a surprised yelp when she was moved from her position next to Tyler to on her lap. She had halfways expected it, but she didn't think the woman would simply move her. The strength with which she did so belied the frame of Tyler. She had picked her up without much effort at all.
Alkura remained silent until they reached their new home. At which point she let out another surprised yelp as she was picked up by the woman again, this time as if she were some kind of princess out of a fairy tale and Tyler was the hero of this story. When Alkura was put down, she followed and listened to Otto for a moment, before almost completely losing interest and letting her mind wander. She didn't even blink when she saw the money get thrown at her. She simply caught it, still lost in thought.
However, when her name was said and a choice presented to her. She snapped out of lala land and looked at Otto.
"Who do I want to go with? Well..... I uh..... I'll go with you and Tyler."
Alkura said nothing else, instead choosing to once again get lost in lala land, and stuffing the wad of pounds in her pocket.
Otto looked at all of them before focusing on Tyler and Alkura. He was fascinated as he felt Tyler's temperature rise and her skin gaining its color back. "Well, that's a fancy trick Tyler, a useful one as well." He noted, Otto knew that some people had been giving Tyler odd looks due to her skin pigmentation but the people of this land were too weary to care. He noted that Alkura was spacing out. He snapped his fingers near her to get her attention. "Alkura, I get you probably got things on your mind but this place, it's the Wild West out here and a good number of human traffickers out here and you are a prime target for them." Otto spoke to the teen, he had seen what happens to women out here if they were sold as a slave and it was horrific. "Other than that, are we ready?" He asked the two.
Tyler glanced over at Otto and simply nodded, trying to keep focus on her temperature. She was getting close to the average 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. The fact that she normally ran so much colder now was part of the reason for her skin color. That and oxygen deprivation. She nodded again to Otto's question about being ready. "Let's go." She then strode out the door, but hung back once outside, not sure how they were going to get to the market. Would they walk or was there a vehicle for them to take?
Alkura's eyes went wide when Otto spoke about human trafficking. She had never been to a third world country after all, so it was a relatively new concept that stepping out into the streets would be so dangerous that it held the possibility of being turned into a slave.
Suddenly Alkura found herself glad that she was in the presence of the viking like man. Since as far as she knew she was pretty much defenseless when it came to fighting in general. Still, the white test uniform from the E.I., dirty though it was, would make it make her stand out as much as the two jungle BDU dressed people she was going with.
She sighed, and nodded.
"Yeah, i'll keep my guard up."
She then followed Tyler out the door.
Otto followed out behind the two females of the group and out into the harsh heat of the Syrian desert. "The market is a quarter of a mile north or so, walking is our best bet luckily it is just a strait shot up the road we came in on." He spoke as he walked out of the gate on the wall and took a turn right onto the road leading the market. "We will get some looks but generally if you got money the people of the market don't question what you are doing or how you look."
If it was only that far, then going shopping at this location would be incredibly simple. Tyler could easily run that distance. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and turned in Otto's direction to follow him, meandering down the road leisurely on her way to the market with Otto and Alkura. "So, Kid." She didn't look Alkura's way, but it was obvious she was talking to her. "How old are you?"
Alkura followed after Tyler, stopping so that both Otto and Tyler could get ahead of her. Along the way she let her mind wander, despite what Otto had warned her about, but snapped out of it when Tyler called her "kid". Alkura cocked her head to the side at the question, feeling slightly mischievous, she thought for a moment about giving the woman a casually vague answer, if anything it was because Tyler called her a kid, however she remembered what the woman had done to the camera, and fearing for her face, spoke truthfully.
"I'm fifteen. And my name is Alkura, don't call me kid. You aren't my father."
As they all walked Otto stayed quiet as Alkura and Tyler spoke to each other, he had nothing to say as his eyes scanned the road ahead and the building around them. The war was never far away no matter where you were in Syria and the rebels were fond of using snipers and IEDs in the area they were in, the rebels thought that if they disrupted traffic into the main city from the old city they would be able to choke the capital out but it never worked. They were nearing the market and the sounds of voices bartering, food cooking and animals bleating filled the air.
Tyler threw a semi-sharp look at the younger girl, but after a moment of that stoic stare a small smile lifted one side of her lips. Feisty. "How the hell was I supposed to know your name? You showed up mid-battle and were dragged away while I was being arrested." Fifteen, huh. Young. Young enough for the child to think that she was old enough. Tyler's students used to act the same way, thinking they knew everything. They were normally just brats in need of a whooping. Tyler glanced over at Otto, quirking up at eyebrow just slightly. Why did they have to watch over the pre-teen again? She turned her attention back to the road ahead of her, glancing from people to random animals and around. She didn't look too much, trying to keep her eyes straight ahead as if she belonged and just looking to find some fresh fruits and veggies.
Alkura flinched, thinking she was about to get from the sharp look she received. Then she noticed that the woman was smiling, And then she spoke and hit her with the facts of the situation. Alkura gave a sheepish smile and laughed a bit.
"Oh yeah..... I forget that I know more about you guys then you do me some times....."
Otto raised his hand to get the attention of a man with a donkey that was tied to a cart, he spoke some words in Arabic to the man who nodded and shook Otto's hand. He looked back to Tyler and Alkura. "Load anything you want onto this cart, this man will hold and transport our things as we buy them and take them back to the compound." Otto spoke as he began looking at some of the male clothes on sale, ranging from traditional sets of robes to the latest in fashion trends. He bought a few sets of shirts and pants along with some other articles for himself and put them in the cart. "Feel free to spend you two, money isn't an issue at the moment in time." He said to the other two.
The fact that Alkura knew more about them was a tiny bit disturbing. Had the founders been telling her about them while they were separated? That thought was a little worrisome. Tyler glanced at the girl briefly, so quickly that Alkura probably wouldn't notice it had happened. She stayed in close proximity to Otto at first until he had convinced someone to cart around their things. When Otto gave the go-ahead to start shopping, Tyler nodded and wandered off toward a clothing stand. She felt that she stood out too much in the fatigues. Finding a couple pairs of typical Western clothes, she tossed them into the cart, making sure to throw in a baseball cap. She also made sure to get a traditional style, long-sleeved, baby blue tunic top with black pants and a black hijab. She didn't plan on wearing those in reality but if something happened and she needed to blend in with a crowd or hide her features for any reason, she would be willing to switch it up. After the clothes, she made her way to a food stand and started loading up of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as some bread. She took as much as her arms could carry before getting it to the cart, and then went back for more. They did have a lot of people to feed, a few of which were still in their growing stages. It didn't take Tyler long to finish shopping for necessities and when she was done, she stuffed her hands into her pockets and stood near the cart, letting her eyes wander to just look at random stuff at nearby carts. Jewelry, clothes, foods…. Her gaze stopped, locked on one cart in particular. There she spotted a certain dagger that gave her pause. She didn't know what it was but she knew she liked it. Tyler stepped up to the cart. Picking the Janbiya up, she pulled it from its sheath and looked down its curved blade. She tested its sharpness on her own hand before determining that she was pleased with it. Tyler quickly paid for it, tucked it into her belt, and moved back to the cart to wait for the others to finish.
