Richard had arrived in New York the night before, had slept well and had risen early to get acquainted with the city that he might well soon call home. He put on a fitted v neck cotton shirt that showed of his fit  physique, lose comfortable cargo pants and a hoodie. This was his free running outfit, he had been rocking this combo to free run since soon after he started almost 10 years ago as a high school student in Hong Kong.

It was still mostly dark, the sun not having yet peeked its head over the horizon. Richard was going to catch the sunrise. The streets were mostly deserted, when Richard left the lobby of the hotel and started jogging towards the waterfront. He had a vague idea of where he was going thanks to a little research on Parkour forums and the brilliant gift called Google maps. He jogged up to the top of a 3 story carpark and started his warm up exercises.

He selected Chicane's latest album (a sample can be found here) walked over to the railing and kicked into a series of handstand push ups. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. On the fifth one he held for a minute then let him self fall forward, letting go of the railing performing a mid air somersault and hitting the roof of the adjacent building in a perfect break roll. Then he was off, reveling in the freedom of movement, the feeling of wind blowing past his face. He hit the ground running, moving from rooftop to rooftop. He spied two air conditioning units close together and did a double kong over them, almost laughing out lout with joy. He climbed, jumped, rolled and run. Each movement fluidly joined to the next, like an object constantly in motion with no beginning or end. Finally, he landed on a roof a building with an unobstructed view of the water and where the sun was just about to rise. (for a sample of parkour see here)

Richard rolled into a crouch and stood, stopping to catch his breath. He straightened, running his hand
through his hair that was damp with the light falling drizzle. He loved running in light rain. He was happy, he was at peace. He stood watching the sunrise when he heard a sound behind him. He turned to see a stunningly beautiful woman standing there. Turning to her, the sun seeming to rise from behind his shoulders (OCC: sorry I could not resist being a little flamboyant) he spoke. "I hope I am not intruding, if so I am happy to leave. My name is Richard." He extended his hand to her, his grip firm. His voice was deep, his accent british. He awaited her reply.

It's not like Sveta woke up early - she simply didn't go to sleep at all. She had a long night of hard vigilante work behind her, with beating up muggers, scaring off criminals, and escorting victims home to safety. Sometimes it was all quiet on the streets of New York; this night wasn't one of those.
As it got close to sunrise Sveta settled on a roof, changing out of her vigilante outfit and back into normal clothes - jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket. She put on a pair of long gloves and was just about to pack up and leave when she heard the sound of someone running.

Turning around, she noted the guy on the roof. How long had he been there?... How much did he see? She stood, kicking her backpack out of sight.

>>"I hope I am not intruding, if so I am happy to leave. My name is Richard."

"Hi" she said a little cautiously as she stepped closer "You are not intruding. It's not my roof."

Richard let his extended hand fall back to his sides. He did not mind. Some people just did not like shaking hands. The lady stepped closer. Richard distinctly felt something bordering on indescribable shift. He mentally searched for a moment then he had it. The barriers to his "gifts" seemed a lot more flimsy than usual. Ever since the episode on the mountain side Richard constantly tested the barriers to his gift. hoping that perhaps it would function like a muscle. The more used the less strenuous and painful the process would be and the easier to access. But back to the world at large.

Richard shook his head. "Sorry, still a little out of breath, blood flowing back to brain." He said with a smile. "I just got here, well.. I mean that in more ways than one. I, just arrived in New York as well as this roof top" He paused. "I was chasing the sunrise you see." "Have you been in New York long?" His stomach rumbled. "Say do you know of a place nearby where I can get a spot of breakfast? I am famished".

>>"Sorry, still a little out of breath, blood flowing back to brain. I just got here, well.. I mean that in more ways than one. I, just arrived in New York as well as this roof top... I was chasing the sunrise you see. Have you been in New York long?... Say do you know of a place nearby where I can get a spot of breakfast? I am famished".

For someone out of breath, the guy sure did talk a lot. Sveta tilted her head and conjured up a smile as she listened. If he wanted to get off the rooftop, she was all for it. At least she could distract him from the duffle bag and the guns.

"I know a place dat does bagels" she said, nodding in the general direction down the street "It's a New York ting." she paused "... welcome to New York!"

She moved instinctively towards the fire escape before she caught herself and started towards the rooftop door instead. An elevator was much more comfortable at this height than climbing down.

"So, what brings you to de city? Are you studying here?"

"I know a place dat does bagels. It's a New York ting."

"That sounds excellent, please, lead on!"

Richard smiled.breakfast sounded good!

"Welcome to New York."

Richard laughed, "Why thank you, I feel most welcomed!"

He followed her through the door brushing the handle of the door as he did so. A passing thought slipped through his mind 'I wonder how this work...' He never got a chance to finish the thought as a torrent of information hit Richard like a slap in the face.

Suddenly in his minds eye appeared exploded blueprints of the door, the knowledge of how it went together, what it was made of, how it was assembled, the approximate pin heights to turn the tumbler to lock or unlock the door, as well as a sense that the door would break soon.

Richard faltered in his steps and leant against the wall for a moment to gather his thoughts. Luckily the lay, who still had not given her name, had her back to him.Still he wondered was he going mad? What in the world was happening to him?

"So, what brings you to de city? Are you studying here?"

Richard collected himself just in time to hear the question directed him in a pleasant Russian accent.

As they got in the lift Richard began to answer her.

"Well, I have just finished graduated with my second masters, and felt like it was time to explore the world, get a real job, go somewhere new, make new friends.." Richard paused as he hit the button in the lift for the ground floor.

One stray thought lead to another tidal wave of information about the panel, and the circuitry behind it.Richard snatched his hand away from the panel accidentally brushing against the lift doors as he did so. Bam! Information about the door mechanism exploded into his mind. Richard braced himself against a wall making sure this time to keep clear of any mechanisms or electronics. This was getting insane, he was not sure how much more he could take before his brain overloaded.

Should he tell her? he asked himself. Sure she was pretty, but then again beauty was just an outer shell, a shroud over the character beneath. Should he open up more? Should he tell her the other reason for coming to New York. he decided to go for it. If "pretty lady" turned out to be shallow, she would probably be put off, and worst case scenario they might have breakfast and go their separate ways. But... But if she turned out to have depth, Richard may have found the makings of a new friend.

He continued " And.. and.." He hesitated, this was something he was struggling with and he was about to share it with a woman he hardly knew, but he was going slightly mad with it all. He bit the bullet and went on.

"..And to perhaps discover if I am a mutant or not. Alot of strange things have been happening to me lately, even more so this morning, and perhpas i hoped that by coming here I might discover if I am a mutant or just simply going mad."

There it was out. He had revealed a slightly vulnerable side of himself. part of him hoped that she was shallow and this would scare her off, part of him hoped that she would want to know more and ask him about it.

"How about you?"

Sveta was locked in an elevator with a mutant.
Her morning just took a nose dive for the worst.

>>"Well, I have just finished graduated with my second masters, and felt like it was time to explore the world, get a real job, go somewhere new, make new friends... And.. and.. ..And to perhaps discover if I am a mutant or not. Alot of strange things have been happening to me lately, even more so this morning, and perhpas i hoped that by coming here I might discover if I am a mutant or just simply going mad. How about you?"

Sveta tactfully moved away from the guy as the elevator door closed, fitting herself into the farthest corner of the enclosed space, and reflexively checking her gloves. The kid was a mutant. Oh joy.
She was also not going to share the real story of how she arrived to New York as a mail order bride.

"I came here to work" she summarized shortly, then returned to the information he had just dropped "So... vat makes you think you are mutant? Vat strange things have happened to you lately?..."

Oh great, meet someone new, have a bad day and start scaring them off minutes after meeting them, well done, Richard said to himself as he observed the lady position herself as far as technically possible from him in the elevator.

"I came here to work"

"May I ask what work do you do?"

He was curious as to her profession.


"So... vat makes you think you are mutant? Vat strange things have happened to you lately?..."

Hmm, that would make an interesting story, and Richard evaluated how much he should tell her as they walked to the bagel shop. After they had ordered and sat down he continued.

"Well you could say a series of strange occurrences. Please stop me if I am starting to bore you." This was probably the first time anyone had asked him about this. Then again this was the first time he had told anyone about this so in a way he asked to be put in this situation. Considering that his life had recently taken a turn into crazy land and there were not really that many people, well anyone he could share it with. It was down to sharing life's crazy occurrences with strangers , and a young one at that, she looked to be at most early twenties? He thought with a sigh.

"It all started on a camping trip.." Richard began, and gave a short summery of what had transpired in Mutant Engineer sets out to see the world.

"... So I am still not sure if that was just by chance or what. So as far as I can tell, If I am indeed a mutant, I have two abilities," Richard continued hoping he was not boring the lady who still had not given her name. "The first is the ability to understand devices and mechanisms and the second is to manipulate them, to mould, shape, fix or break."

Richard paused for a breath, was she bored? She did not appear to be, if anything she looked interested, possibly understanding? Thus encouraged, Richard continued. (OCC appeared only, feel free to react as you wish)

"Usually I have to expend a lot of mental effort to activate either of the two powers, if that is what they are and I am not going crazy. But I don't know if it is coming to New York or you or running, my powers have been going a little crazy of late. For example when we were going off the rooftop past the discarded backpack, my hand brushed against the door and I just wondered, just for a second how it worked, immediately diagrams and information exploded in my head, how the door lock was made, the pin positions needed to make it lock and unlock etc., the same thing happened in the lift. If I am not careful I will get information overload. I have not even thought of using my second ability, what happens if I accidentally push something out of shape? I dread to think what could happen although the scientist in me is tempted to experiment with something small like this disposable plastic cup."

Richard took a deep breath. "Hence the statement about strange things."

Well that was a bit more than he intended to say but he had said it now, there was no turning back. Would she laugh at him? Would she get scared and run away? Would she? Could she understand? What were the odds that he was actually talking to another mutant who understand the challenges of discovering and living with mutant powers? No, he told himself, that would be lovely but unlikely. What was more likely was that the lady would probably brand him as crazy at best dangerous at worst and he would never see her again or worse she would call some mutant control group to lock him away or something. Richard awaited the verdict.

((OOC: So sorry for the wait! April was crazy!))

Oh yeah, he was a mutant all right. He was as mutant as a calf with three heads.
Splendid.

Sveta was starting to wonder if an unknown part of her ability was attracting the friendship of mutants.

>>"... So I am still not sure if that was just by chance or what. So as far as I can tell, If I am indeed a mutant, I have two abilities, The first is the ability to understand devices and mechanisms and the second is to manipulate them, to mould, shape, fix or break... Usually I have to expend a lot of mental effort to activate either of the two powers, if that is what they are and I am not going crazy... Hence the statement about strange things."

"It's not New York" she sighed, sipping some water form her cup "It's me. I boost mutant powers. Dat's why I didn't want you to touch me, my powers activate yours on contact."

With the usual disclaimer done, she sat back and folded her arms.

"It sounds like you have a useful mutation though. Sounds like something you could do a lot with if you get it under control..."

"It's not New York. It's me. I boost mutant powers. Dat's why I didn't want you to touch me, my powers activate yours on contact." Said the un-named lady sighing as she spoke.

"It sounds like you have a useful mutation though. Sounds like something you could do a lot with if you get it under control..."

So she was also a mutant, and evidentaly one that had experience with her powers.

"If I may ask, how did you learn about your powers and how did you learn to control them?"
Richard asked, interested. Firstly learning that he was a mutant was a bit of a shocker, and now knowing he was one changed a lot of things. He needed to do some research on how people felt about mutants, sure there were bound to be lovers and haters and the indifferent crowd but Richard would have to work out who belonged to which crowd and more importantly how being a mutant would affect him, his view of himself and his daily life. It was as if a previously hidden side of him had suddenly opened up, revealing the potential for wonderful and scary products.

Richard decided to experiment a little bit, it couldn't hurt right? He focused on the cup he was holding and there on the rip of the cup a little finger of plastic began to "grow". It was no wider than a pencil and was of the same thickness as the cup rim. after it had grown to about a centimeter in length it stopped. Richard furrowed his brow as he tried to do something. Then his face brightened. "So that's how you do it." He said softly to himself. The liftte "finger" of plastic slowly bowed to the girl who sat opposite him, then it slowly waved side to side. Richard opened his eyes and smiled. "You learn something new every day" He said softly as the finger stopped moving. Richard felt weary, using his powers took energy. "I am sorry, we have been talking for a while now I still don't really know what to call you."

>>"If I may ask, how did you learn about your powers and how did you learn to control them?"

"Dat's a long story" Sveta smirked. It really was. And it involved mail order brides, and acid saliva, and a whole bunch of things she was not ready to discuss yet.

>>"You learn something new every day. I am sorry, we have been talking for a while now I still don't really know what to call you."

"You can call me Effie" she said with a shrug. It was her second name by now, anyway.

"I learned by practice. The trick is to stay away from mutants, mostly" she chuckled "But dere is a place, if you want to train. A mutant school here in the city. If they take you as a students, dey help you to train with your powers there."

She watched him mold the cup, and while a part of her brain wondered if they'd have to pay for it, it was still fascinating.

"That's a neat trick."