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 Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
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.
Posted by Gina Schuyler on Mar 11, 2012 14:03:01 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Koga picked up the basket and eagerly leapt onto the carpet, trusting it to catch him. Gina followed him up hesitantly, her feet testing the stability of the carpet before she fully distributed her weight onto it. It was weird, thinking of letting something do the flying for you. Like riding in an airplane. Why let a machine do the flying when you were capable of doing so?
>> “While I realized that you could mosst likely fly, I didn’t think assking you to carry me around wass very becoming. Sso I thought we’d travel in sstyle. Plus, I think that we sshould explore ssome before we ssettle on a sspot.”
Gina giggled at the notion. Would she even be able to take to the air with a guy of Koga’s stature in her arms?
“That would have been quite the spectacle to behold,” Gina agreed in a humored tone, “And kind-of awkward.”
It would have only been romantic if Gina was the reptilian mutant and she was being whisked away by a gargoyle-Koga. Then again… she’d probably be too polite to ask of such things. At least, on a first date. Gina carefully took her seat, tucking her legs under her so that she sat, carefully, upon the carpet. It was difficult to recall that none of this was real… that Ginas’ talons wouldn’t actually tear through a real carpet, but a simulated one. She was handed the tassels, at which Koga earned a quizzical look.
It was like presuming someone who would walk would be able to walk on stilts, which often wasn’t the case. For her, flying was second nature. But, flying a carpet?
“Um… okay,” Gina said with determination. But how hard could it be? Gina had the mindset for flying, so why shouldn’t she be able to fly a carpet, “Ready?”
When she received a response from Koga, Gina tugged lightly at the tassels and suggested, “Okay… once around the park, carpet?”
The carpet obeyed, taking off at a leisurely little speed. Gina couldn’t help but grin at the bizarre sensation of being airborne without having to work for it. What was even more bizarre was that none of this was real, but it seemed really realistic.
“You could get lost in here for days,” Gina murmured, grinning from ear-to-ear, before shifting her attention to Koga, “How are things back there?”
Her eyes skimmed the landscape below, flickering over treetops and fields of flowers. She hadn’t spied her name, not yet. She was glancing around for a spot.
He nodded and proceeded to babble a bit.“ I considered it, I wasn’t sure of any other talents you might have had mutant wise and I’m nothing if not equal opportunity and what not. I figure if I had wingss and could pull it off I would have ssimply sscooped you up and took flight, sso it’d only be fair…but yeah flying carpet iss a good plan A.”
Koga preferred to get lost in the dream of it, escape the reality for awhile when they could. Be the only sentient beings in the world, where he was the Adam to her Eve and they were simply male and female. Not Gargoyle mutant and reptile mutant. Not that he wasn’t proud of who he was, but at times simplicity was worth more than pride.
Koga grinned at the furrow of gina’s brow, she looked like he had thrown down a gauntlet, challenge her, the momentary surprise washed away. “Yup, I’m Ready.” His grin became a soft laugh as she simply requested the carpet move.
“Abssolutely,” he said watching her dark hair get caught up in the wind current. “ I’m good.” Koga was fascinated with his companion at the moment. The same awe that was washing over Gina about the scenery was washing over him at the purely happy girl in front of him, He promised he wouldn’t let himself crush on her like he had on others before, but still he couldn’t help but admire her pale gray skin against the perpetual sunset that was beyond her.
He kept a hand carefully placed on the basket and his free hand was ready to grab a hold of her if something went wrong. He’d attempt to save her before he simply ended the program of course though, if it looked like they might be in danger of falling or some such than he would do what was needed.
“Hey Gina!” Koga stretched his arm out and point towards a valley they were about to pass. A stampeded was occurring of what appeared to be horses at least until their huge feathered backs stretched and became immense wings and the heard took flight. The pegasi shimmered like oil and reflected every color around them as they flew around them acting like dolphins excitedly playing, neighing and whinnying.
Posted by Gina Schuyler on Mar 24, 2012 11:18:00 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Gina grinned as Koga opened up and talked about being “equal opportunity”. That was amusing and cute, in a nerdy sort of way. She had to confess, she was getting absorbed by her surroundings. She was smitten with the landscape, the surrealism of, which had been crafted for her. She let her gaze flicker from her surroundings, back towards Koga, where her gaze lingered momentarily. The carpet wobbled faintly in the moment of inattention, and Gina looked away quickly.
>> “Hey Gina!”
“Hmm?” Gina answered smilingly. She inclined her head enough to see Koga’s gesture, her gaze redirecting itself towards where he pointed. She gasped at the herd of horses… they were such beautiful creatures. But soon, they vaulted off of the ground, and rather than simply leaping, they took the air, wings unfolding from their backs.
“Whoa!” Gina gasped, a her face lighting with a smile. She realized that they were flying closer, hesitated, and glanced back at Koga again for reassurance. The pegasi rose up around them, frolicking and tossing their heads lightly. They neighed, and whinnied, and Gina simply marveled at them, hesitant to touch them.
“You thought of everything,” Gina said with admiration, “Koga, this is just… beyond amazing.”
Here she was, supposed to be looking for a picnic spot, and she was too busy admiring their surroundings.
He wondered a bit if their cheeks were going to hurt after today, They had both been smiling since they had got in here, that had to be a good sign.
“I tried to think of everything. If you decide later you’d rather explore we can sskip the sshow and jusst run around and have fun. Catch a sshow ssome other time perhapss.”
He suggested casually. To be perfectly honest he had picked a show in case things were going poorly, it was good way to spend time with someone that you couldn’t keep a conversation going with and it was a precaution on his part solely. She seemed cheerful enough, but now that they had seemingly hit it off, he thought that it might not be necessary at all.
An area filled with flowers long soft grass and a pair of water falls in the distance whipped past along with several other nooks and areas that might be ideal for picnicking. He wondered if he did to well, should he have made a certain spot that would stand out more than others to make it the obvious choice.
He watched the sky for a moment and couldn’t help but wonder at what else he could have added. It would still take voice commands but he didn’t want to mess with a program that was already beyond amazing.
“SSo Gina, do you have any hobbiess?” Learning about one another was important he supposed, because while yes it was fun to look about his surroundings he wanted to know more about her.
Posted by Gina Schuyler on Apr 2, 2012 10:42:06 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
>> “I tried to think of everything. If you decide later you’d rather explore we can sskip the sshow and jusst run around and have fun. Catch a sshow ssome other time perhapss.”
Gina nodded. It’d be difficult for a show to top this. This was the sort of grand finale to a date, the main event—the show… they could go to the show if they made it. Gina looked around as a breeze teased her curls, drawing her gaze towards waterfalls framed by flowers and grassy nooks. Gina urged the flying carpet to slow, a smile touching her features.
She wouldn’t have any complaints if they didn’t make it to the play.
The carpet circled around lazily, as the gargoyle driver surveyed the grassy platforms.
>> “SSo Gina, do you have any hobbiess?”
“Yeah,” Gina breathed. She’d put a lot of her hobbies on the auction paper, but she indulged in Koga and told him. He was making conversation, “I sew a lot. More out of necessity, but since I modify a lot of clothes, it became a hobby… and you already know the theater bit… shopping, reading…yeah. I like to talk, too. Far too much.”
“What are your hobbies?” Gina inquired in return. While Koga wanted to learn more about her, Gina also wanted to learn a thing or two about him. Beyond the giving a girl flowers and making her a elysian alternate reality, Gina didn’t know much about him, though those actions alone were a strong testament to character. She paused at one stretch of grass, and looked towards Koga inquiringly.
“Talking a lot iss a good thing, I have been accussed of being sshy before, but mosst learn their misstake before too long, I am jusst obsservant more at firsst than anything. And then you can’t sshut me up.”He leaned back on his plams relaxing more than he might have dared in the real situation, though he looked relaxed his palms were on the carpet and that would ensure a good gripe.
“Oh, I like Anime, Video gamess, Gymnasticss, playing violin, sstudying, Martial artss, working out and sswordplay. Really though more than anything I would ssay that my number one hobby iss learning, I like to know how thingss work and why.”
He looked at the scene before him and nodded. “ This spot is fantasstic.” After they set up the picnic it wouldn’t be long until the Faye showed up, wisps, fairies, brownies, pixies, sprites, They would congregate in a half circle between them and the waterfalls playing Celtic instruments. Three faires would fly over and play with gina’s hair if she let them. giving her a fairy princess style
The programming capabilities of the danger room were endless, making it do what you wanted and how you wanted took some effort, it was interesting teaching the fairies to work together to braid hair while ensuring they wouldn’t pull too hard.
Posted by Gina Schuyler on Apr 14, 2012 23:49:59 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
>> “Talking a lot iss a good thing, I have been accussed of being sshy before, but mosst learn their misstake before too long, I am jusst obsservant more at firsst than anything. And then you can’t sshut me up.”
“You, shy?” Gina echoed at the appropriate moment, smiling faintly. That was slightly hard to fathom. But, as Koga revised that statement, Gina giggled. That made more sense. People learned the errors of their ways, the errors of their thoughts… that Koga was actually not very quiet. Gina was compulsively outgoing. Obnoxiously so. But a lot of visibly mutated were on the introverted side.
>> “Oh, I like Anime, Video gamess, Gymnasticss, playing violin, sstudying, Martial artss, working out and sswordplay. Really though more than anything I would ssay that my number one hobby iss learning, I like to know how thingss work and why.”
They had very little in common, but that meant very little, besides the fact that there’d be more to talk about. Koga agreed to the location and Gina urged the carpet downward, until it settled on the grass. Gina let go of the carpets’ edges, turning to Koga with a look of victorious delight upon her features.
“Hey, I didn’t crash the carpet,” Gina announced with a winning smile, crossing her legs beneath her. Perhaps that wasn’t even possible, maybe the path that the carpet traveled was as predictable as a ride at Disneyland, without there being any real danger, but Gina had felt like she’d been the one controlling the flight.
She reclined, facing Koga, rummaging for the right words.
Gina didn’t even know where to begin, asking him about all that he did. She’d start with the violin and migrate towards the sports, perhaps? Gina was about to ask Koga something, but that’s when the fey approached, heralded in by Celtic music. Gina paused brown eyes rolling towards the approaching fairy creatures. Her eyes illumed with curiosity.
Some of them drew closer, towards her head, her hair, and took her hairclip.
“Hey!” Gina gasped, smiling as her curls were freed. That had taken her forever, to tame her hair into submission. Oh well.
Funny, to think that Koga had thought of this all—how didn’t he have a girlfriend, anyways? The fairies began to pick at Gina’s hair, and Gina sat there, bemused and baffled, gaze tilted towards Koga as if she were trying to act as if nothing unusual was happening. Which was totally ridiculous.
“So,” Gina said, “How long have you played violin?”
“I asssure you I can play sshy, quite well.”When he was merely the short studious kid at public school he had learned to stay quiet and be unobtrusive quite well. He didn’t allow himself to be picked on either, but what was the sense in drawing attention.
Koga agreed happily. “You were a natural.” She was too, She could of sent them to toward the dirt or into a tree if she felt like it, He would have called time out if they were in real danger but otherwise he would leave it to the fail safe in the carpet to not let them hit the ground and their genes to get them out of any crazy situation.
Koga for a moment could have been one of the Fay for the mischief that resided in his dark eyes and corners of his mouth. Her reaction to the fairies was simply perfect. As if this was how she woke up every morning to have her hair fixed, by little fluttery hand maidens. It was simply charming.
“I’ve been playing since I was six, so close to twelve years. I’ve taken to finding more modern accompaniment and playing alongside it. ” He glanced at the little band. “ I’ll play for you ssometime if you like.”
He paused for a moment. ‘ I like your work, I’ve seen a couple of pieces you made on other students at the school, pieces made for students that would have trouble finding things that fit just right, it’s kind of you to do.” Noble, sweet even.
The fay finished up the braid and flew back to the band where they added their voices to the tune that seemed to be part of the utopia they had ended up in.
Posted by Gina Schuyler on Apr 21, 2012 12:37:56 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Gina nodded in thanks, smiling lightly. It would make sense that she’d be decent at flying, considering that she had wings upon her back. But sitting upon a vehicle of and soaring through the air while her wings sat motionless upon her back had been an unnerving sensation. Just as she was secretly uncertain about the fey, but was trying to be casual about it. Koga grinned, and Gina smiled back.
“That would be really nice,” Gina agreed quietly, as Koga offered to play the violin for her, “Agnes plays the violin, too, but she’s usually pretty private about it.”
Gina loved music, and envied people with musical talent. She had none, really, but had always admired those that had some musical inclination.
>> "I like your work, I’ve seen a couple of pieces you made on other students at the school, pieces made for students that would have trouble finding things that fit just right, it’s kind of you to do.”
It took a moment for Gina to realize what Koga had meant. What work, she wondered? What pieces? She was still stuck on the musical train of thought, and then moved-on to visual arts. Gina didn’t have any musical talent, and most certainly didn’t have any artwork floating around the school. It then donned on her.
“Oh, you mean the clothes! Thank you,” Gina gasped, snapping her fingers. Gina modified a lot of clothes for the visibly-mutated kids like herself. She’d been tailoring her own clothes for ages, so was more than happy to help kids like her that needed specially-crafted clothes, “Eh, it’s no biggie. It’s just good to help people out like that sometimes. My civic duty, or whatever.”
“Ah, sometimes I sneak into the trees out front or onto the roof and play, or I hold the music room hostage at times. But there are definitely times when it seems like you need to play for yourself as well.” “I disagree, I am sure it makes all the difference in the world to have something that fits right, that might not be able to come by otherwise. Koga grinned. “ Is there any other you do that I’d be interested in?” He was not implying anything at all about anything, nope certainly not anything unseemly, absolutely not jokingly.nope nope nope. Koga pulled out a pair of glass plates he had commandeered from the kitchen, along with a couple of wine glasses. They would be drinking juice, but still the glasses proclaimed fancy mischief. He hadn’t brought alcohol, but they did dare her to think he did. “Hmmmm, tell me ssomething you haven’t told anyone elsse…it doessn’t have to be embarrasssing or anything, jusst ssomething no one elsse would know.”
Posted by Gina Schuyler on May 4, 2012 0:35:40 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Gina inclined her head as Koga asked if there was anything else that she did, that he’d be interested in. Gina combed her hair back with her free hand, giving the inquiry some serious thought. Hobbies that a boy would be interested in? Not hardly. She was pretty sure that she was a very boring person. To this, she confessed.
“I don’t believe so,” she said with a smile, “I mean, sometimes I read, other times I like to tell stories… I dunno, I’m a pretty boring person.” This was said with a laugh shortly after, and a grin, “I just talk and sew!”
Gina watched as Koga rummaged out some wine glasses, arching her eyebrows briefly, and nodding her head. She had never cared for the taste of alcohol, when sips had been offered to her by family members at holiday get-togethers. She hoped it was just for show.
Then Koga tossed a question towards her—tell him a secret, he asked, but it didn’t have to be a deep, dark secret. Just… a secret. Gina stroked her chin contemplatively.
“Man, I don’t know… I mean, I’m a pretty open book,”[/color] she trailed off as she struggled to think of something. Then, it hit her, “Oh, I got it!” she announced, snapping her fingers, “The first time that I ever tried to fly, for real. There’s a good secret.”
She brushed her hair back, eyes aglow with mischief, “I couldn’t fly when I was little—the wings were just for show, because the muscles were undeveloped—I found this really annoying, but had gotten to a point where I could glide. So one day, I decided that I wanted to fly for real.”
“I was going to try a cliff, but whimped-out... because if it didn’t work out, I can’t swim, so… So I jumped off the roof of my best friend’s house instead, because it was built into a hillside, and relatively exposed on the downhill-side. That was the first time that I ever flew.”
Gina inclined her head, “What about you? What’s something you’ve never told anyone else?”
Koga grinned at the girl across from him as she rubbed her chin contemplatively, he wasn’t sure if she was pretending she had a beard or not, he thought she might be. He pulled the bottle of chilled apple juice out with flourish and poured two glasses as he prepared, to be trusted with something good.“it iss a good year.” He jested lightly.
“That’ss pretty awessome, I am glad you were cautiouss when learning. I admit I’m jealouss of your flight. It sseemss like it would be fun. Have you gone back to that cliff ssince or do I need to teach you how to sswim?”
He smiled again. “ I got my story pretty quick.” He chuckled.
Koga furrowed his brow. “Hmmmm, I’m not much for keeping ssecretss either. Ummmmmmmmmmm.” He looked to the rug as he thought. “ The only thing that I’ve got that I can think of iss where I went, when I dissappeared a couple yearss ago. I’ve only told a couple of people."
He took a deep breath and went on. "I wass trying to help figure out what wass going on with a sstring of kidnappings, locate who wass doing it, sstop them.There were over twenty kids missing from five to thirteen. ‘his tone lost a little bit of its joviality as he talked, but oddly he didn’t sound as broken as he thought he would. He’d obviously healed more than he thought.
“It turned out that a telepathic mutant was mind controlling them and making them steal stuff for him, clean his house, do his dishes. He made them sslavess. Well, I tracked him down and got mindcontrolled, for the majority of a year. It was sso weird not being in control.” He smiled lightly. “Itss ok now, I sspent ssome time with my grandfather and trained with him until I wass over it. It ssoundss like kidss are getting kidnapped again and I am going to go after whoever is sstealing the kids again…”
His solid black eyes looked up to see what she would say about it, why did he have to vent so much, couldn’t he just seal it away?
Posted by Gina Schuyler on May 15, 2012 11:10:12 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Gina smiled, “The cliff is my favorite place to take-off from, back home. Mendocino is a small town, so there aren’t really any tall buildings to leap off of—I guess that’s one of the great things about New York City… plenty of high places. But I still cannot swim, not well. Something about the way my feet are, and the wings.”
Gina flapped her hand dismissively, and warmly concluded, “I’m usually restricted to the shallow-end of swimming pools. I'm too short, too inept at swimming.”
Koga exchanged a secret, in-turn. Apparently he’d pulled a disappearing act for a few years, because he was searching for a kidnapper who had acquired twenty children under the age of thirteen. Gina listened intently, brown eyes fastened unto his face unyieldingly. For a year, Koga had served this man, and had to train with his grandpa to become strong enough to resist. And now, kids were disappearing again, so he was going to go back after them.
That was so… typical… of someone affiliated with Xavier’s—going off on some vigilante mission to rescue kidnapped kids. Was it a good idea? Probably not. Was it heroic? Definitely. Gina’s gaze was still intent when Koga looked up at her, and the gargoyle shifted her weight, uncertain of what to say.
“Why did you go alone?” Gina finally spoke, “What more, why didn’t anybody go after you after you were gone for so long? I mean, I would notice if a friend was gone for a year… or did they think you were somewhere else other than with this telepathic man? Somewhere safe?”
Koga raised his eyebrows, she had a lot reasons she couldn’t do it, some probably hampered her. “I may have made the water breathable when I wass writing the program. And the dolphinss might be willing to pull you along.” Koga smirked. Had he done too much the last couple of weeks preparing for this? He didn’t think so. “but asss for earth, the sshallow end issn’t bad, sso long asss you get to enjoy the water.”
He listened to the cheeky little melody the Faye folk were getting into; they had broken into their own little party not so far away. Each time he spoke about it some weight was lifted from his shoulders. Still he had rendered his date speechless momentarily.
“I hadn’t intended on handling the kidnapper or kidnapperss alone, I was just trying to locate them, I was going call back to the xmen, and help from there, but I didn’t want to chance loosing my lead either. Sso I followed Jenny and Alex too far in. once I was there, there was no calling back for help, everything moved too fasst. I didn’t do proper planning, if I had a cell phone on me, they could have tracked my gps, if I at leasst let anyone know what I was up to, they might have known to look for me. let them know what city I was working on that day.” Koga shrugged slightly.
“I had a lot of time to think about what I could have and should have done. I’m sure people noticed, but unless you are left some clues, the city is a hard place to track someone down in. I’m not sure what they thought happened; regardless I left them nothing to work with. I would think they assumed the worsst. But the lessson was learned, I won’t be leaving home for anything adventurous, without leaving detailss about where I am going and what I am doing. ”
He sipped his apple juice. “ I apologize, I sshould have thought of a more lighthearted ssecret.”
Posted by Gina Schuyler on May 21, 2012 22:53:06 GMT -6
Omega Mutant
palevioletred
pansexual
taken - by nessa
1,265
196
Apr 25, 2024 23:12:30 GMT -6
Sophy
Gina grinned as Koga announced that the water might be breathable, and that the dolphins could pull Gina along, possibly. He was a sweet guy, and had truly thought of everything. Guys like that were hard to come by.
Gina laughed as she countered, “But, I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”
It was difficult to remember that they were in the Danger Room, and not some far-of, Elysian place. It was easy to forget that said “swimsuit” was right upstairs, in your wardrobe.
And then she laughed, for no apparent reason, and held her hand in front of her face, as if to hide behind it. The mood sank slightly as Koga spoke, but Gina still listened intently as he did so.
To Gina, what Koga spoke of sounded just like a spy movie. She leaned in as he spoke so nonchalantly, before begging an obvious question, “So you’re one of the X-Men?”
And, as he continued speaking, Gina put-in small comments and inquiries here-and-there to show that she was listening attentively. For example, when Dante said it was hard to find missing people within the city, Gina breathed a sigh of, “Oh, that’s right. I forgot.”
And, when Koga had finished with the lesson that he learned, swirls of events from October churned in Gina’s head—from when she’d been gunned-down in the former botanical garden. She’d learned that lesson, too.
It wasn’t like Mendocino, where everyone knew everything that was going on at that very moment, and who was involved in what, and so forth. The city wasn’t safe like that. It was anonymous.
Gina smiled as Koga apologized, and she shook her head, “No, it’s fine. It was a good secret. I actually had a more grim secret, too, but it wasn’t much of a secret. Or at least, I didn’t think it was.”
Gina also took a sip of apple juice, shifting her gaze towards Koga, “It’s not really a picnic conversation though.”