Neena chuckled a bit at Raina's message; she would be so relieved to hear the woman's voice again, but it was a small comfort to at least see her smiling again.

When Nika walked in, she paused on her way out just long enough to return Nika's hug, and reassure herself that the catgirl was okay. She'd been awfully quiet since the booched slumber party and escape on the men's side. Once sure, she returned to work.

(OOC: And Neena's offically gone now. Bye! *waves*)

Michael returned Nika’s hug and offered Raina a warm smile. Felling Nika’s scar dampened his mood a little. He’d never gotten a scar, and was never going to get one. In this place he’d seen just what a blessing his mutation was compared to many others. Raina’s had rendered her mute, Neena’s risked blinding her, Ted had to avoid injury and all were susceptible to beatings. All he had to fear was the shocks, and they didn’t seem to do him any permanent damage. They hurt worse than anything he could imagine, but compared to what the others had to deal with it was nothing.

“Light work huh,” he said with a smile, “well enjoy it while you can. Considering my lack of superstrength I’m left with the light stuff, and seeing how hard they push Ted I’m a little glad. I may be invincible, but I still get tired like the rest of you.”

((wow, glad you guys waited for me.))

Ruby watched as people continuied to come and go, having diffrent interactions with one another. The fox girl kept working though, due to the fact she was under constant watch. It would seem that Ruby was one of the guards favorite inmates to make an example of. Ruby was scared of various things so the guards took advantage of that and managed to exploit her weakness at any time they could.

When Ruby saw Raina and Nika come in she brightened up slightly, glad that the other women still had their spirits in tact...somewhat. She did observe the strange actings of the guard who seemingly stood on the outskirts of things. The guard was one of the very few guards who was somewhat nice.

She had been listening to Michael's and conversation with everyone when he mentioned super strength. She nodded grimmly in agreement with him. The fox girl had seen the guards pushing Emerald as much as they were pushing ted but the fact that she was so sensitive to the cold made her work even harder so she could get inside quicker. Ruby was terrified that her older sister would strain herself or that she would snap.

"The guards are really mean to the stronger mutants. Emerald comes back to the barracks with shock wounds all the time I have seen Mr ted come back with them to. It is almost like they are trying to push them so hard so they will eventually break, giving them a reason to hurt them. " Ruby told the group, in a quite voice.

> "The guards are really mean to the stronger mutants. Emerald
> comes back to the barracks with shock wounds all the time I
> have seen Mr Ted come back with them to. It is almost like they
> are trying to push them so hard so they will eventually break,
> giving them a reason to hurt them. "

Sonya considers that theory for a moment before discarding it... from her experience, the abusive guards don't think nearly that far ahead. That said, the girl is right about the stronger... or, well, the stronger-seeming... mutants getting more than their share of the abuse.

"No #!@#!," she's somewhat surprised to hear herself saying. "Give a scared little boy enough power and he's gonna whip the biggest, meanest-looking guy around. Makes 'im feel more like a man."

Which, when Sonya thinks about it, makes a lot of sense. What makes less sense is her feeling that she's speaking from a lot more than one day's experience.Again, no #!@#!. Been working with these #!@$@ for weeks.

Oh. Well, that explains... um... not much, actually. She shakes her head, as if to clear it, and continues to observe.

Listening to Michael talk about Ted followed by Ruby speaking about her sister Emerald and finally the outburst from one of the guards, which was rather surprising, Nika can tell the weight of the camps was upon everyone. She hoped Ted was going to be ok. At the same time she was somewhat glad she had been layed up in the infirmary for awhile. In that way she hadn't been exposed to as much punishment and abuse as Ted. Though a few of the male guards had tried to push the catgirl to her breaking point.

"We have to do our best to keep up our spirits and keep each other company if we hope to get through this. I know we all have had bad things happen to us since this stupid law has been in effect, but we're strong and we can get through it."

Nika tried her best to sound hopeful and reassuring. She even gave Ruby an extra hug. It was the type of hug that was given to one person but really meant for another. Though Ruby and her sister weren't feline in their mutations Nika still felt some what of a bond with the other girls because of their animalistic nature. In a way the sisters were like the physical manifestations of Nika's character. Ruby was the sweet and loveable one while Emerald was the serious kick butt type.

This might not be the smartest thing he has ever done, but to him, it seemed the most logical thing... He was tired of running, and thought that if he willingly came to the camps, he would get good treatment. Walking into the Customs from the outside, the Draconic being looked around.. obviously he had been expected via phone call earlier.. there were a few guards around, a few were startled at his enterence, but others being more used to seeing mutants of all shapes and sizes, casually turned to watch him...

Taking his trench coat, and hat off he revealed himself fully.. Ayesac is 7'5 covered in red scales.. Yes.. he is a Dragon. amber eyes reflected the light of the room, they seemed to be emotionless though he was really scared.. in his head he thought.. 'Maybe.. this was a bad idea..' his wings were folded tightly to his back.. He walked to one of the desks of the Customs, two gaurds ran up, one scanning him with a wand, the other checking his trenchcoat.. the guard behind the desk, shoved a Clip-board and a Pen to him.. "Sign your name here.. date here.. ... take a seat over there and wait.." nodding, Ayesac took a seat against the wall in one of those hard plastic chairs, with his tail to the side.. these things were very uncomftable.. he proceeded to fill out the information sheet.. Name.. Birthplace.. Emergency Contact.. known health problems.. ect...

(( OOC: Just to let you know, Red -- Sonya is a mutant shapeshifter, a little bit like Mystique, and is currently infiltrating the Camps by taking over the identity of one of the guards (male, named Doug). See her profile for more explanation of her powers. ))

Sonya/Doug is startled when several more guards enter the Customs area. At first, she thinks she's screwed up and revealed her imposture, but it quickly becomes clear that they are here for some other reason. Some discreet questioning reveals that a new mutant arrival is being processed, which leaves Sonya intrigued.

When the "new mutant" arrives, she goes from intrigued to astonished... this guy -- or girl, it's not easy to tell in this case -- is almost as big as Abyss! Maybe bigger... it's hard to tell how much of the bulk is wingspan. Man, and I thought Ian was blatant. It was obvious that this particular mutant couldn't walk the streets without being spotted, so it's no huge surprise that he ended up at the Camps.

What is surprising is the way he's treated by the guards. Sonya had watched the Sanctuary residents being processed, and the process they're putting Dragon Boy through is practically a birthday party by comparison. I wonder what's changed?

Of course, it has been a couple of months, and it's possible the Camp is trying to shed its concentration-camp image. Not that anyone could guess that from the way the guards behave. Or maybe this guy is some sort of VIP mutant?

Truthfully, she has no idea what's going on, but she's become somewhat accustomed to that. So she nods a neutral greeting to the draconic arrival and watches him, the guards, Michael, and the two animal-girls to see if anyone else has more of a clue.

(Red has been filled in on as many of the characters I could think of, Including Sonya. *Grins* I’ve also tried to answer as many of his questions as possible. He is not being processed for the camps. *Grins even more.*)

Jeminai came up just behind Doug’s shoulder. Was it her or had he lost weight. Well there was something different… Had he started Yoga? Well either way she stopped just to his right. Hands resting on her hips where she could easily grab for her gun. Her other hand held a clip bored with a stack of more paper work for her new coworker.

“What do you think of the new guard?” She whispered in Doug’s ear. “Guess they think Hiring a mutty will look good. Guess one wasn’t enough.” (Speaking of Blood Fang as the other mutant guard.)

Having said that Jeminai strolled past Doug smiling at the dragonic mutant as she handed him a stack of new forms. Most of them stating things like if he was held hostage, stabbed, bitten, develop a mysterious rash, blown up, he wouldn’t sue the pants off of the camps. Then there was another stack of papers consisting of scenario questions.

> "What do you think of the new guard? Guess they
> think hiring a mutey will look good. Guess one wasn’t enough.”

What? Huh? Sonya/Doug is utterly confused by the comment, but conceals it behind a noncommital grunt of "Guess not" as Jeminai went off to run the dragon-mutant through more paperwork.

Mutant guards? This elicits some vague feelings of familiarity, presumably from Doug's psyche, but no useful details or information. But from the sounds of it, this is a policy of some standing.

She shrugs and goes back to monitoring the other mutants, unsure of how to respond further.

(I beleive that Abyss is 6'5.. Red is 7'5.)

Proceeding through the paperwork, he looked up to be greeted with more paperwork.. red tape was a pain in the ass..reaching his clawed hand up toward Jeminai, he carefully took the papers from her.. "Thank you Miss... " he spoke calmly to her, though this was a little stressful for him, but this may be stressful for everyone in this situation.. They haven't done anything to provoke him yet, this was a good start.

Lifting his left leg he his ankle under his right knee, with the clipboard on his lap.. his left arm was over the chair next to him, as he was writing.. tail flicking slightly periodically.. he was concentrating on some of the questions.. most of them were easy, but others did require a little thought, mostly on to how to word things in an acceptable manner... looking up toward Jeminai "Ma'am... I have completed some of the papers... It's a little hard for me to write though, these damn things are a real pain sometimes.. accidentally ripping the paper, snapping the pen in half.. ya know, the general side effects of having claws.. Though I have gotten better at it" he smiled, trying to non-threatening looking.. "Your lucky, your not cursed"

Jeminai nodded as he took the more paper work. Thanking her? She was just thanked for more work by a mutty? Ok. She’d have to get used to that. Most people would moan and groan about more paper work.

The comment about the trouble with his claws received another nod, although her back stiffened. Those claws had to of been just so close to her own fingers a moment ago when she handed him the more paper work. “Would you like extra copies just in case, Sir?” She asked. As she stood there she wanted to look at him but also not wanting to look like she was staring. Ach. So hard. Then she was staring. He Grinned and her mouth dropped open. The Smile, what was normally such a nice site was unnerving for Jeminai. Just look at those teeth!

Some how she snapped herself out of it, making her eyes drop to the floor. “Oh I almost forgot.” She said with out looking up at him. Pulling out an index card she placed that on top of the stack of paper work. “I need you to write down your measurements. So we can have you fitted with a uniform.”

(OOC: *Dons mod hat* Red still needs a shock bracelet, as no mutant in the camps is without one, his will just get used a lot less. Also his wont go off when he uses his powers, just if his tries anything and a guard activates it. *Removes mod hat*)

IC: Michael watched the new mutant silently. He was going to be a mutant guard, which ment one of two things. Either he was as sadistic as Bloodfang or just wanted to try and get an easier time of things. If it was the former, they could be in trouble, as most people with even a vague animal like mutation usually have sharp senses. He was very glad of the code phrases he had put in place.

If it was the latter then Michael might have something to work with. While he was dubious about Doug, Neena was willing to risk it, so he'd let her handle it. After all, Neena didn't know a lot about what was going on on his side of the camp, so if she was compramised it wouldn't be a complete disaster. A mutant guard who proved not to be a complete asshole he'd be willing to try and get to help them. After all, big red over there didn't seem to have any non physical powers, so only the bracelet was a worry, and by now that was nothing new.

Thinking for a few moments, "No Ma'am.. I do not need extra papers.. I got quite dexterous with these claws after awhile." Ayesac was getting rather amused by her reactions, of looking around trying not to stare at him.. he thought she was cute... for a human.. "I don't know my size.. would you measure me?" he slowly stood up.. "Were would you wish to go to get measurements Here.. or another room?"

(I was told just to help Red get involved. Wasn’t told about the devise things.)

The stalker uncloaked giving it’s command and Jeminai’s normally white skin turned pink. She’d been dreading this moment. She’d kept her diplomacy by being polite. Hopefully that had helped.

Nodding she pulled Ayesac’s cuff out of a bag and held it out to him. There were three ways this could go about. She could snap it on his wrist without permission, Judging my his size and build that wouldn’t’ go well. She’d seen the things come to life and attach them selves to the mutants. That may not go well either. Or she could ask him to out his cuff on himself.

She opted for trying the third choice. “If you please, think of this as one of those Trojan balloons. It’s for your safety and ours.”

Sonya snorts quietly at the notion of fitting this guy with a guard’s uniform… she doubts greatly that the Camps stock uniforms in his size, let alone anything that can handle the wings. But it would be fun to see them try! Unfortunately, the humor of the situation disintegrates completely when the invisible robot thingie appears out of nowhere and makes its announcement.

This is closer than Sonya has ever been to one of the Stalkers – at least, to one that wasn’t in combat mode – and she has to admit, it’s damned impressive-looking. The chassis seems designed to freak people out, it looks like something out of a horror movie. It looks smaller than the ones she remembers seeing from Sanctuary, but that might just be her own panic talking; either way it’s plenty big enough. Somehow, whoever designed this thing made it as flexible as a whippet while still keeping it armored like a tank…then stuck weapons wherever they’d fit. Not something Sonya has any desire to fight, ever.

So how do we take these things down? Originally, Sonya’d figured they could neutralize the Stalkers by shutting down whatever site they get their orders from… but she’s been able to figure out from snippets of conversation here and there that the Stalkers are actually autonomous AIs, with no shutdown signal. Sounds crazy, she thinks to herself, not for the first time. I mean, what kind of an army creates an ultimate soldier with no means of controlling it?!? What happens if its programming glitches and it decides to kill everybody… don’t these people watch movies?!? Privately she’s convinced there has to be some kind of shutdown protocol, but she’s had no success in finding any signs of one so far.

Actually, it might not be so bad for us if they went rogue... they're a lot more dangerous than mutants are, maybe the government would have to stop fighting us in order to concentrate on them. A small smile plays on Doug's face as the scenario plays out in her mind... what if the Stalkers somehow became convinced that, say, anyone with any kind of congenital illness was a "mutant" by the standards of its programming?

There's a certain appealing symmetry to the idea.