Mettaliar walked into the local restraunt and found a table and sat down. As soon as the waiter gave him the menu, he quickly picked it up and hid his face in the menu. His paranoia about the strange happenings around the city made him scared that he would be next. He could not remember what had happened, yet what he did know was that the majority of the people at the school were suddenly gone and Mettaliar felt hopeless in finding them. He knew he was going to meet someone here, yet he hoped she would show up soon as the public mistrust he had around him made him shake. He was glad it was near Christmas, as the cold would help hide his trembling.

He looked constantly at the door, waiting for someone to show up. He sipped at the glass of water the waiter had given him, the cool ice making him cooler than the weather outside. He sighed as he put the glass down. He held up the menu again, waiting patiently....

Melissa Rivers walked into the restaurant. She was perfectly punctual, exactly as Hunter wished his employees to be. She scanned the restaurant, checking to see if the person she was meeting had already arrived. She spotted someone sitting alone, looking at their menu. She recognized his unique hairstyle from the description she had been given.

She smiled politely at the hostess waiting to seat her, "It's alright, my party is already here."

She wove her way over to the corner table. She was glad he had chosen the corner, discussions were more private that way.

"Hello," she greeted the young man warmly with a smile.

Mettaliar looked up from the menu at the lady. She looked about his age... something that triggered was his personality was: shyness. He sinked his head and gulped slightly. He prayed he wasn't blushing, or if he was his cheeks had reddend from the cold outside. He sat up straight again and nodded his head.

"Hello there," he returned. "How are you?" He decided he'd start off the conversation casual, as to be sure this was the company that he was expecting.

"I am fine, considering," Melissa responded. "It has been a rough few days at work." She sighed and opened her own menu and glanced over the items listed. "So Mark, you've had a head start on this menu. Did you see if they have fettuccine alfredo? I positively can't resist that stuff."

Mettaliar nodded his head. "I see. Well, hopefully today you can relax. It's a true bummer to be under a lot of stress, me personally knowing from experience way too many times." He looked up as he saw her sit down and gulped again, returning his glance to the menu. "Hmmm, I think I saw it. It should be here, though, it's a great dish." he responded with a chuckle. He scratched his chin continuing to look at the menu.

"I would be able to relax if I could get business off of my mind. We have a rather large project we're working on right now, and we just don't have enough people working on it. Honestly, we could use some more help. I don't suppose a talented individual such as yourself would be looking for an opportunity for a job like this? Some more helpers could really help free up some of our people who would be better off working in a different area. If you want, I could talk to the boss, to see if we can get you a position."

To anyone who could overhear, this would be a perfectly normal conversation. Hopefully Mark, though, would understand what she was getting at without her having to spell out the more crutial details in public. She was offering him a chance to join the resistance, how would he respond? Melissa waited for his answer.

Mettaliar slowly looked up from his menu. He was starting to connect the dots. Slowly, he held his hand to his chin. He had a feeling of what was going on, but he wanted to know more. And he deffinatly knew that saying it out loud in here would get them caught. He nodded his head and decided to play along with the "decode the message" game.

"Hmm, well I have have been looking for a job for a while now. I don't suppose your place would be willing to hire someone like me, would they? I mean, I am quite talented, after all." He leaned in and place his head on his fists, listening closely.

"You're a little young," Melissa answered honestly, "but if you are really as talented as you say, then I'm sure our company would have a place for you. Perhaps we should arrange for you to come to the company headquarters for an interview. You could tell all about your talents and ask any questions you have about the company."

She looked at the menu again. "You know, the service here is lousy. Maybe we should go now instead of waiting around forever to be served. What do you think?"

If he decided to leave now, they could continue with their little interview in the car on the way to the resistance. It would be much more private that way.

Mettaliar smirked at the "little young" comment, but smiled as she continued. He caught her drift as she mentioned leaving and looked at the menu again, for show. He didn't know why, but he guessed instinct.

"You know, you're right. Let's go. Unless you want to stay, than it's up to you." The ol' whipped Mettaliar came out right at that part. He sighed at himself and smirked at the lady again.

He was a bit submissive, but maybe that was because she was being so bossy. Melissa smiled to try to give him more confidence. "No, I think it is best we go." Melissa left a tip for the waiter, even though he'd only brought water for Mark. It was lousy to lose customers before they even ate anything, and the tip might help him forget that they had even been there.

She led the way out to the parking lot where her car waited. Most of the other employees drove a standard black jeep, but to Melissa they stuck out as trying too hard to be inconspicious. They also tended to roll easier if they got in a chase or some such thing. Instead she drove a wood sided station wagon. It was so ugly, it practically was invisible. People's eyes were simply repelled by it's ugliness.

She unlocked the driver's side door, opened it, then unlocked the passenger side door as well. The outside may not look like much, but the inside of the car was comfortable. It even had heated seats, which were a life saver on cold evenings like this one. The engine was also nice. It had a few minor modifications in it that made the station wagon more than a match for, say, a police car.

Once Mark had gotten in, Melissa backed out of her parking space, and started driving toward the labs. It would take awhile to get there, since she was deliberately taking the twistiest route to avoid people following them. It would also give them a chance to get Mark all caught up with the resistance business.

But first, "So, tell me a bit more about yourself. What exactly are your talents we were speaking about earlier? Oh, and sorry about the food. I promise you'll eat well as soon as we get to the resistence."

Mettaliar nodded his head and put the menu down. He headed out the door, following the lady. He put his hands in his pockets and created some knives, just in case things got hectic. He got into the station wagon that she lead him to and fastened his seatbelt. He leaned back and looked around a bit, waiting for some kind of conversation to strike up. He wasn't very good at starting one of those, especially in the presence of a female.

When she started asking about his "talents," he chuckled and looked out the window constantly. "I can make wooden and metallic objects out of air. The closest thing to alchemy on this Earth, as far as I'm concerned." When she mentioned the resistance, his ears perked up; half with excitement and half with extreme curiosity. Mettaliar didn't know the full details of the situation going on outside, and the sound "resistance" didn't give him a good idea about it.

He decided to not ask about it... yet. He figured she would let him in on it anyway, so it would be best not to waste his breath. All he said next was, "And don't worry, I can go a while without food. No need to worry about it."

Melissa smiled. "That is indeed an interesting talent. Can you also change the shape of things that are already made of wood or metal?"

She waited for his response before going on. "Now, the resistance is a group that was formed by a powerful mutant. The goal os to fight and defeat the Mutant Registration Law. Our leader is currently working on the legal angle, while several others are working on freeing the inmates of the mutant concentration camps as soon as possible. Curently we are training and gathering enough recruits to attack the camps and break everyone out. We are also researching ways to defeat the Stalker robots that patrol the camps and capture mutants that haven't registered themselves to take them to the camps as well. The resistance is located in a safe and hidden area, where the Stalkers can't find us. That is where we are going now. In fact, we have already arrived."

Melissa pulled her station wagon into the vehicle bay and put it in park. "If you will follow me, I will show you to a room that you can stay in, and I'll give you a map of the facilities so you can find your way around. Do you have any further questions for me?"

"No, only create it. I can create the material into any shape I want, yet after I have finished the conversion, I can't manipulate it anymore. I'm working on advancing that, yet so far that is all I have." Mettaliar sat uneasy in his seat, as he feared he made himself sound too weak. He hated admitting that his powers weren't super amazing, yet he dealt with it.

As he listened to the rant about the resistance, he got excited. He was happy that mutants weren't standing around doing nothing and working towards something. As they approached the place, he heard about if he had any questions for her. He had one in mind.

"Would it be possible for me to help with the political/legal part of this plan? It's not that I don't want to be out there, it's just politics and law are just... my cup of tea." He looked at her with his hazel eyes, curious for an answer.

"I'm sure we could work out something so you could work from that angle. Was there anything you had in mind?"

"Well, possibly using history to our advantage. And comparing what the government is doing to us what previous genocides. There are many angles to work by that I've been thinking about ever since this whole thing has started. If your boss let's me, I think we can launch a campaign to end this." Mettaliar stopped there. He didn't want to sound weird or stupid. He just lost himself in a rant again.

"So, care to show me to my room, please miss?" he said in a cutish way with a chuckle.