The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
For some reason, knowing that Other Becca and Other Mirror (who was, apparently, called Mirage in his/her own universe) were out there on the other side of the rip made the idea of crossing over a lot less daunting. People were people on both sides. Some people were the same people on both sides, which was weird, but also made the Other Universe look a lot more normal. No dragons (he'd asked), no magic, and no... other weird things, apparently.
This was not Mirror's first trip through the portal. He had done some scouting for the X-men, and some private trips just to look around from the safety of the mirrors. Mirage and Other Becca visited occasionally too, since Mirror was their only way of connecting with each other. He was happy to help. But today, Gawain was merely taking a short trip over to the other side, to take a look at Other New York, and maybe drop a message off for the Other X-men.
Except, he somehow accidentally ended up in a strip club. And it totally was an accident.
The place looked high end, like one of those private clubs they liked to show in movies when a detective needed his priorities questioned. The lighting was all blue, and the stage was state of the art, and there were various well-dressed guests and under-dressed staff members. Gawain walked in through one of the mirrors on the wall, reflecting the blue-lit space and making it seem bigger. Realizing where he was, he noted that Sam would be envious, and decided to move on... except he caught a fleeting glimpse of blue hair from the stage, and paused to do a double take.
It wasn't often she got a full shift on the stage, the floor manager liked the girls flitting around among the punters to get them all happy and giddy about being close to the person who had just been showing off her skills on the stage and with the nature of her mutation, that went double for her. What respectable businessman wouldn't take advantage of a dancer with the power to literally get the gets riled up with only a light touch. It was just good sense really.
The only issue? She'd been using up a lot recently and if they wanted her to be able to do her magic for the big game tomorrow, they had to give her an easy day before. Hell, she wasn't going to complain, she pulled in plenty from tips and she didn't have to spend the night with a foggy mind with the after effects. Win, win situation really.
All in all, it was a damn good day. Well, mostly a good day, there was the incident of someone getting a little grabby when they gave her some bills.
He got dealt with pretty quick, hard to not appreciate good security boys who looked out for the dancers. Some of them 'really' appreciated them but they were frankly a bit too beefy for her. If she wanted man to share a night with she frankly preferred the dancers they had. Something to be said for a guy who was tall, cute and flexible.
Coming to the end of her dancing and striking a pose, she loved this little part for the end. She got to play up the posh accent she had and it drove the poor dears wild. "Well then darlings I hope you don't forget about me after seeing the rest of tonight's performers. Wouldn't want a visit from Cheshire in the night now would you?" Adding a playful wink and sauntering off towards the dressing rooms, she could finally relax, have a nice refreshing drink and maybe see about teasing Paige before she finished her own shift.
Sliding into her chair, she took a nice look in her mirror, impressed by how resistant the new make-up was to a night working. She had to get more of the stuff.
Colour Code:054288 - Alice speaks in a strong, very posh, British Accent Massive thanks to Lix for the awesome Sig!
Paige was still riding high on the buzz that came with being Sherri. It had been another good night, though her feet were starting to kill her. Cheshire was getting a night of stage dances, so Sherri took it upon herself to spend more time on the floor flirting up the male and female patrons, sitting on laps, and pulling those who flashed some extra money into a private room. The more she flirted and the longer she allowed her power to affect her customers, the more inclined they were to part ways with some large bills.
Sherri made very good money perusing the tables, even if it was less fun than performing tricks on the poles. Still, she was less tired on the whole with the exception of her feet, which had been walking around in heels all night. Things had gone well, with the notable exception of one customer who could not help but get too greedy during a private dance. He had evidently been warned after getting too handsy with Cheshire, but Sherri’s intoxication aura dredged up old habits and got him kicked out for the night. She felt almost bad before a security guard told her about the incident with Cheshire. Knowing he was just a creep in general made her feel like she had done the club a service.
Her shift still was not over, but she was slowing up to wind down her night. She had more than enough money to pocket for a fun night post-shift. Sherri was not seeking to work too hard or too late, knowing the next work shift would be a big one with all the girls in high demand working their a**es off on stage and the tables. She started heading towards the dressing rooms when she was sure something odd caught her eye.
She could have sworn there was someone standing near her in a reflection on one of the large glass walls, but when she turned around, there was on one close. She felt a shiver run down her back, but she ignored the trick of the light and left the main floor. Her aura did make her tipsy, so it was probably just in her head.
Spotting her friend Skye sitting at her regular chair, Paige approached her and placed hands on her shoulder’s from behind. ”You look wonderful for a woman who just finished a night on stage. I hope you’re not too tired; I was thinking we could hit a club and dance the night away.” Paige was itching for some simple fun, and while Skye was not necessarily the party girl Paige was, she could also be coerced into a night of fun on the town with the proper incentives.
The blue hair on the dance floor was a very familiar shade of blue. Gawain primed to spot more doppelgangers after his encounters with Jesse and Ami, paused to do a double take, in case Alice somehow had her alt-dimension version working at a strip club. But the moment he got a better look at the girl's face, that possibility went out the window. Maybe they just used the same hair dye. Gawain moved on, not wanting to be spotted by security that had just carried a guy none too gently off the premises. He was still half distracted by the conundrum of what made a doppelganger (if they had a different face, a different power, and different name, could they still be the same person?...) so that he noticed a few moments too late that he had walked into another mirror, in a completely different, much more intimate space. It wasn't one of the private dance rooms - rather, it appeared to be the green room where the dancers could talk and relax. Gawain blinked in the bright makeup lights like a deer in headlights.
"Always love a day away from touching, feel wonderful without all those nasty side effects." Hardly surprising Paige wanted to party after a good shift. It was her go too on a good day and she could usually convince a reluctant Skye to join her. Well, a mostly reluctant Skye, today she was more than up for for dancing and drinking off the clock. Somehow it being work just wasn't the same.
"And yes, I would love to join you on a night out just let me have a nice rest. I'll need some energy while I'm out with you." She was a tough one to keep up with and a devil to go out with. Everything tended to blur a bit after a couple of hours.
Leaving her co-workers hands where they were, she looked her in the eyes from the mirror. "Remind me to thank you for the make-up tip. This stuff is great." Sure it cost a bit more than her usual stuff but the results spoke for themselves. In their job hard wearing stuff was a god send.
Casually slipping her bra off and dropping it in her bag, the nudity didn't really bother her. It was their dressing room and frankly if someone wandered in a saw something they weren't meant to, that wasn't her problem. Plus it gave the 'girls' a chance to breathe after being locked away while on stage and if her friend got as nice eye full, she wouldn't be upset. Frankly she deserved the reward for the advice.
Slight movement in the mirror caught her eye. It looked like a guy? Wait that couldn't be right, none of the guy dancers were in tonight and they usually said if they were coming in for any reason. Turning in her chair to look past the other woman, there wasn't anyone there. Huh, that was weird. Looking back at the mirror and he was gone.
"I must be going mental, thought I saw someone for a sec there in the mirror but he wasn't anywhere." Mental shrugging it off, it was probably nothing.
Colour Code:054288 - Alice speaks in a strong, very posh, British Accent Massive thanks to Lix for the awesome Sig!
Skye did not put up a fight when Paige proposed a night out. It was becoming increasingly easier to convince Skye to come out in the recent weeks, in fact. More of her nights were involving Skye outside of work, and while she was not the only “play partner” Paige had, she was certainly making herself the most frequent. She enjoyed Skye’s company, and they worked well together. So maybe Paige had a real friend amongst her list of acquaintances; nothing wrong with that, right?
Paige unhooked her bra, deciding it was close enough to the end of her shift to start changing into street clothes. Her jewelry glinted in the reflective surface of the mirror. They had been a good purchase; being eye-catching was always beneficial in their line of work, and they were certainly eye catching. Even Skye could not resist sneaking glances, which Paige appreciated.
”Don’t mention it,” she replied to the thanks. ”Good makeup isn’t the kind of thing I’d keep from a friend.”
Paige was more concerned with disrobing than looking into the mirror, so she was shimmying out of her lingerie when Skye made a concerning remark about figures just barely noticed in a mirror. It was strikingly similar to the moment she experienced outside the room with an equally comparable justification. What were the odds that they were both just imagining things?
Paige covered the lower portion of her body, suddenly self-conscious. She had no problem showing skin, but there was something dirty about a possible Peeping Tom invading the sanctuary of the dressing room. ”I don’t think so. I saw someone like that outside, too,” she warned, before making an effort to call out to their mystery guest. ”We know you’re hear, so stop hiding, creep!”
>>"I must be going mental, thought I saw someone for a sec there in the mirror but he wasn't anywhere."
As the women began to undress after their performance work, Gawain soon realized that he was lingering in the worst possible place. If they noticed him, he'd be dead, and if they didn't, then he was just a pervert, and no one would care that his reasons for lingering had nothing to do with female bodies. Seriously, he had one of his own. Rather, it was something familiar... He just decided to move on and get out, but the blue-haired girl spoke again, and he was struck with the same familiar feeling. Was she...?
>> ”I don’t think so. I saw someone like that outside, too. We know you’re hear, so stop hiding, creep!”
Well, there it was. He could have just fled, but at this point it was a point of pride for Gawain to prove he was not a creep. It was probably the dumber choice of the two.
"Um, hey." he waved from the mirror "Didn't mean to intrude. I'm not a creep, I mean, I'm a girl too..." wrong day "... sometimes. I just... I thought I recognized one of you."
Posted by Alice Rivers on Aug 17, 2017 12:16:03 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
Alice 054288
Gay
284
98
Nov 5, 2021 14:16:24 GMT -6
Khzar
"So you sneak into the changing rooms of a strip club, while two of the girls are changing and you're not some kind of creep? You gotten a good enough view now or you gonna keep staring?" Frankly, she was too p----- to put something on to cover her. This was her changing room, why the hell should she feel ashamed for being half naked in it? Looking into the mirror she was giving the guy one hell of an evil look. Whoever he was, he was a mutant. Not just anyone could appear in a mirror, or get through the Atlantis club unseen.
Wait, what did he mean a girl sometimes? That didn't make any sense or that he recognised one of them. It wasn't bragging to say the pair of them were pretty memorable, there wouldn't be any doubt if he had met them before.
"I'm fairly sure I've never seen you before, so unless you know Paige here I think you might have the wrong place." Not only did Skye have to deal with old fashioned creepiness at work and in the streets, now she had to watch the mirrors for this, person in case he was some weird stalker. Not just a weird stalker, a stalker who could wander into anyplace she had a mirror and invade her life.
This city was seriously going off the rails. General badness aside they now had tears in reality and a whole other world of people to cause them issues.
Pulling on a t-shirt and shorts she kept in the rooms for when she was cold, she stepped up to the mirror, getting a good view of the guy. She needed to remember him, in case he ever came back in. That and the boss would want to know about anyone sneaking around, considered them potential 'security risks' and liked to have them dealt with.
"Look, if you don't explain yourself and quick, we're gonna have security in here. You don't want to be on the big mans s--- list."
Colour Code:054288 - Alice speaks in a strong, very posh, British Accent Massive thanks to Lix for the awesome Sig!
Posted by Vanessa Berry on Aug 18, 2017 7:02:56 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
chocolate
Hella Gay
Taken by Belladonna
351
150
Apr 26, 2023 0:39:04 GMT -6
Aly
Working in a club that employed (almost) exclusively mutants, Paige had grown more accustomed to the unexpected. That did not mean she was going to be prepared for everything initially, particularly in her pseudo-intoxicated state, but she could figure out how to roll with the punches. She had been expecting some pervert lurking in the changing room, but to her surprise, the intruder was in the mirror. Paige had to look over her shoulder, then back to the man in the mirror before reality sunk in.
A mirror mutant. She could deal with that. He calmly defended himself, assuring the two undressed women that he was not some creep. He then made an unexplained comment about being a girl “sometimes.” Paige arched an eyebrow, but she supposed they did live in a brave new world. Gender is a social construct, the binary is really a spectrum, and all that jazz. She could soften to the idea, though it did not excuse his/her/their presence in the changing rooms. ”Well, honey, it’s great you’re living your truest self, but this area’s definitely off limits to men, women, and otherwise unless they’re dancers.”
Paige folded her arms in front of her chest less for modesty and more to give her arms something to do. She was trying to be open to what the newcomer had to say, which was more than could be said for Skye. The blue-haired woman tossed on clothes, but Paige held off; a fringe benefit of her permanent buzz was a natural lowering of inhibitions. It was not like they were seeing anything different than what was on display outside the door.
So she would take her attempt at playing good cop to Skye’s bad cop. ”What made you think you knew one of us? Saw something familiar?” It was not like they hid much, so the trigger could have been anything, assuming the intruder was even telling the truth.
Skye’s threat sent a shiver down Paige’s spine, and she had to add, ”Believe me, neither of us wants to bring our boss into this if it can be helped.” Poseidon allowed her to work at the Pearl Lounge, but she knew she was walking on eggshells, waiting for whatever reason he might eventually have for kicking her to the curb… or worse.
Okay, so things were not exactly going well. Gawain should have expected as much. Both girls were beyond pissed at him, which made sense, and he was still standing around inside the mirror, which made the conversation even more awkward. He was not sure if stepping out would make things better, or worse. Probably worse.
>>"So you sneak into the changing rooms of a strip club, while two of the girls are changing and you're not some kind of creep? You gotten a good enough view now or you gonna keep staring?"
>>"I'm fairly sure I've never seen you before, so unless you know Paige here I think you might have the wrong place."
"I'm sorry..." Gawain muttered again, pointedly staring at a neutral spot on the floor to avoid the girls glaring back at him, in various states of undress. There was really nowhere else to look. Not without getting the mirror smashed on him.
>>"Look, if you don't explain yourself and quick, we're gonna have security in here. You don't want to be on the big mans s--- list."
>>”What made you think you knew one of us? Saw something familiar?... Believe me, neither of us wants to bring our boss into this if it can be helped.”
The big man. Gawain had no idea who the big man was, but it was safe to assume that he probably ran the place, and that he probably really, really did not want to get on his bad side. Especially not as a creep. Nobody liked creeps. He held up his hands, resorting to telling the truth, and hoping it did not sound too crazy.
"Sorry, I was just passing by... uh, I walk through mirrors, and can't exactly see where I'm going until I get there... anyway, I just saw, well, the blue hair..." he nodded towards the blue haired girl "And it looked familiar. I have this... uh, friend, her name is Alice, and she has hair like that, and I thought, well, that you may be... her copy." he blinked "I came through the portal. I shoulda started with that."
Rolling her eyes, she didn't really believe the apology. Seemed a bit too convenient the guy had 'stumbled' into a strip club and found his way to the changing rooms purely by chance. Yeah, she might use her mutation to her benefit but his had stalker vibes all over it.
Alice? No one in the club had that name as far as she knew and her hair dye was hardly the most expensive one around. Not hard to believe that someone else had the same colour. "Sorry love this is Paige and I'm Skye so unless she's changed her name I don't think we're her. But what do you mean copy?" That wasn't a normal thing to say, even with how odd stuff was now with a rip open between worlds.
Wait, did the other place have copies of everyone?
This was getting all to strange for her now. Taking a seat now that she was dressed her anger was just giving away to tiredness. The world was falling apart, portals were open to parallel worlds and Paige still wouldn't stay over on a night and a snuggle post fun.
It was all decidedly frustrating.
"Look, I get you might be genuine but you've got to admit this looks dodgy. My last names Rivers if that helps at all." Once this mirror person sodded off now that he knew she wasn't his friend maybe she and Paige would be left alone again.
Posted by Vanessa Berry on Aug 28, 2017 20:30:46 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
chocolate
Hella Gay
Taken by Belladonna
351
150
Apr 26, 2023 0:39:04 GMT -6
Aly
The new guy had walked into the storm without an umbrella dealing with Skye. Paige always made an effort to be amicable and easy-going, but the blue-haired woman had no aversion to confrontation. The best he could do was apologize and come clean. He held up his hands like he was forfeiting and offering a good explanation for his presence in a strip club changing room.
He sounded like his own explanation was confusing him, which did little to stop the tipsy dancer from losing track as well. ”Copy?” The word was drawn out with an uptilt as she tried to understand what the man was talking about. Her foggy mind eventually connected his words to rumors she had heard about the Rip in space downtown. ”So… are you from the other side then? Crazy…” She unfolded her arms from her chest and approached the mirror, examining him more closely. Was there any way to tell if he was from the other universe? Maybe an extra finger on each hand or weird pupils?
Paige stopped surveying the newcomer when she heard Skye mention her last name. It caught her off guard because she was still in work mode. ”I mean, I’m not typically in the business of sharing my full name with customers and mirror-lurkers, but if it helps: I’m Paige Bookman. Not that I’m your blue-haired girl or whatever, but… yeah.”
Now that Gawain got a better (embarrassingly better) look at the two girls, it was clear that he had been wrong about Alice, in the worst way possible, since now he was stuck in a dressing room with not much proof that he was not just a run-of-the-mill creep using his powers to sneak around. He sighed, scratching his neck as the women reacted to the news that he was from the other side of the dimensional rift.
>>"Sorry love this is Paige and I'm Skye so unless she's changed her name I don't think we're her. But what do you mean copy?"
>>”Copy? So… are you from the other side then? Crazy…”
"Yeah, I'm from the other side" Gawain allowed, a little relieved that they changed the topic "It seems like... a lot of people exist... in some version, on both sides. Some have the same face but different powers, and some have different faces and names but... the same powers? It's weird."
>>”I mean, I’m not typically in the business of sharing my full name with customers and mirror-lurkers, but if it helps: I’m Paige Bookman. Not that I’m your blue-haired girl or whatever, but… yeah.”
>>"Look, I get you might be genuine but you've got to admit this looks dodgy. My last names Rivers if that helps at all."
"Um... nice to meet you, Paige..." Gawain waved a hand, but then paused then the blue haired girl chimed in. "Uhh... not sure if it does, but... the Alice I know is also called Rivers." So... was this girl Alice From The Other Side? Or just a coincidence of names and preferences in hair color? "Do you have, like... video game powers?"
Posted by Alice Rivers on Sept 3, 2017 15:17:16 GMT -6
Gamma Mutant
Alice 054288
Gay
284
98
Nov 5, 2021 14:16:24 GMT -6
Khzar
Different faces different powers? Then they weren't the same person were they. "If literally everything is different about them then this Alice isn't me is she? Like at all. She's just coincidentally like me in some minor ways, so what." Skye was her own person, that was a damn fact. No way some bad copy would take that away from her. Not after everything she'd fought tooth and nail for.
So the next statement from their lurker floored her a little. This person, they had the same last name. And hair colour. OK that was weird but it wasn't an entirely unknown last name. Unless she was also from certain parts of the UK then she was safe. She was still the prime River model. The one and only.
"What? No of course not, that's f------ stupid. Who the hell has video games as a damn power." Not that she was giving away the secret, if they needed more info smacking him with some Joy for a while might help. No for now she was getting info. "Where's she from, this Alice. Because there's no way she's from the same place as me."
No she was the only child out of that s---hole they called the Rivers estate, not that her mum got anything from the worthless bint that owned it. No she got thrown out by her own damn mother over stupid old time rules or some BS.
"OK Paige, I'm not the only one thinking this is weird right? Because this is weird. Talking to a mirror, like some weird wonderland book or something." God she hated that damn book, too many memories of home. Too much to think about. Reflexively pushing the memories away, she locked that bit of herself back up tight. Skye wasn't that scared little girl anymore.
"I could also do with a damn drink, even after a night near you. You reckon on of the drink staff is free enough to bring a bottle of bottom shelf rotgut back here?" Getting drunk seemed like a very good way to deal with the day.
Colour Code:054288 - Alice speaks in a strong, very posh, British Accent Massive thanks to Lix for the awesome Sig!
Posted by Vanessa Berry on Sept 7, 2017 23:16:33 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
chocolate
Hella Gay
Taken by Belladonna
351
150
Apr 26, 2023 0:39:04 GMT -6
Aly
It was unreal to be talking to someone who was totally foreign to the reality Paige grew up in. Whoever their mirror guest was, (s)he seemed to have a better understanding of the rules of cross-dimensional doppelgangers. She was trying to wrap her foggy head around the idea; in some ways, it made sense. Little things could change so much. If someone was conceived on a different day, they might look entirely different. One of their parents could have ended up with someone else, making them a genetic lottery. It could even explain the differences of names. ”Woah…” she muttered to herself and her drunk thoughts.
Their new guest was stammering, which was not an uncommon side-effect of chatting with two underdressed women. (S)he would get a free pass on that one. What Paige was more curious about was the idea that there could be a version of Skye who was really Alice and who had “video game powers,” which, at first glance, sounded like a fun time. People liked video games and mutations were cool, so a video game mutation would probably make the world that much more enjoyable.
While Paige’s head was considering the idea of doppelgangers, Skye was dead-set against the idea. It was clear she didn’t appreciate the notion that this “Alice” was another version of her. Meanwhile, Paige was already wondering what the other her would be like, if there was one. Skye was right that things were weird, but Paige absentmindedly added some perspective. ”I mean, it’s weird. But it’s not weirder than the hole in the universe, I guess. Still… hey sweetie?” Paige shifted her attention to the mirror-dweller. ”Are you… you know? Able to step out of that thing? It might make things less weird talking to you face to face. Right now you’re kind of like a talking TV.” And of course, she had to hope Skye would not take an opportunity like that to throttle the potential pervert from beyond the rift.
Skye needed alcohol to deal with the bizarre situation and Paige was not cutting it, so she considered options before reaching for her phone from the purse under her makeup station. ”I might have a fix for that. Chloe is working behind the bar tonight and I—“ On second thought, that tangent would have been wholly unnecessary in the company of a stranger. ”She’ll send us something if I ask.” Paige quickly swiped her screen, composing a text message to be sent to her favorite bartender.
As the message left her phone, Paige returned her focus to the (wo)man in the mirror. ”So… I mean, probably a long shot if your New York is as big as ours, but do you happen to know anyone with the last name Bookman?”