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.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 19, 2009 21:11:47 GMT -6
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He was awake. Tarin was actually awake. It had been over 24 hours since Slate had managed to reconnect his mind to his body, and Tarin was awake. Other points worth mentioning included the removal of the feeding tube which was accomplished with only a minimum of cursing, and Tarin discovering that his hospital bed was one of the fancy ones with a switch that helped him sit up.
That's what he was doing now, sitting up. Sitting up in his own bed, with his own arms and legs and fingers and toes at his command. Tarin had marveled at it for a while, how he could move the individual parts of his body on command. After a month of not being able to feel anything, just breathing felt awesome. Especially now that it didn't hurt so bad. There was something else too. Lee.
Those first 24 hours had been crazy, a haze of in and out and awake and asleep. Lee had been there the whole time though. Every time Tarin opened his eyes, Lee had been there. Lee was still there. Lee was talking to him.
Tarin's head jerked up and he tilted it to look at Lee as she asked him the questions that had probably been burning in her brain since his barely coherent ramblings the day before.
"I meant what I said." Tarin said quietly, as Lee sat down, reaching his hand out and laying it on her knee. "You weren't crazy when you were feeling things. You were feeling me."
She wanted more, and he was still a little tired, but Tarin could do this now. His brain was working much more in sync with his body and he thought for a few moments, then spoke. "Lee...I was here the whole time. I can probably walk you through what you did for entire days. I just wasn't here. Something happened to me that night in the graveyard Lee...I could see, I could hear..." Tarin stopped and shook his head, raising a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temple with his thumb. "It was unbelievable...but it happened...and sometimes when I was the most frustrated with not being able to do anything about it...you could feel me. So you weren't crazy. I just didn't have any way to make you realize it was me."
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 19, 2009 20:27:57 GMT -6
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Night at the Museum: (Developed with contributions from Luke, Shin, and etc.)
While Tarin was in his coma, I started working a lot with Kealey and I realized that we needed a couple of little plot points that involved the people who aren’t affiliated with the factions. Now that I’ve managed to build Kealey up a little, I don’t want to lose her. Then, I came up with this idea and the Cbox, being full of amazingness helped me flesh it out.
Here’s the idea. One of the museums downtown has opened an exhibit about mutants throughout history. Basically suggesting that some of the strange things that have happened throughout history to certain historical figures have been as a result of their being mutants. (Luke’s Example: George Washington being fired on during the French & Indian War but managing not to get hit at all…that’s because he’s a mutant. Shin had some great ideas too.) That would draw all kinds of people from all kinds of different factions…or no factions at all…interested humans too. Maybe some protesting, angry humans as well.
What better place for the Order to attack?
The reason this would work so well, is that we could pull in characters from all over the place. Obviously the Order would be there attacking, and the X-men wouldn’t miss an opportunity to bring kids from the school to something so positive about mutants, indies would be there because it’s interesting and we could pull our favorite NYPD boys in when the nastiness starts to go down. It really wouldn’t take all that much coordination or work from the mods to get the ball rolling, and people could break off from the main thread whenever they wanted to spawn their own.
I think this would be a perfect little thing to spice up everyone’s spring. Especially since it’s a pretty straightforward plot that involves everyone!
Another side bar idea that Luke pointed out. If the Order doesn't think it's realistic that they would be attacking a pro-mutant exhibit like this...what if they're there checking it out like everyone else, then an anti-mutant gang shows up and starts attacking. Then we can go for that.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 19, 2009 13:51:14 GMT -6
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Lee agreed, it would be a good idea for him to get some rest. Did he look that bad? Tarin managed to chuckle slightly then choked slightly on the tube down his throat again, "This thing has got to go..." he muttered as Lee helped him lay back down. She was confused, he could see it written all over his face, but he was simply too tired to explain anymore today. It would have to wait.
He sank back into the pillows and moved his arms, wiggled his toes, thanked all that was holy that Lee had thought to bring him clothes that weren't backless as he summoned all the strength he could muster to move onto his side. That's how he liked to sleep, not flat on his back like some kind of bas relief statue.
Lee said she'd be there when he woke up. Of course she'd be there, she'd waited a month for him to figure out how to get back into his body...what was a few hours while he rested the weak ass body he'd had to leave behind for a while?
"I love you too." Tarin said, eyes still on Lee as he started to relax and drift. He thought about it for a moment, this was going to be the first time he'd slept in a month. He'd never think about Lee sitting up, awake, the same again. Then something occurred to him and he fumbled around until he could find Lee's hand. "You're not crazy..." he said, yawning and letting his eyes slip shut, "It was me you could feel...I was always there..." the last was a mumbled whisper, because Tarin had already fallen back asleep. Not the still, deathlike sleep of the last month, but calm, regular sleep.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 19, 2009 10:39:54 GMT -6
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Lee was in on it too. As the doc walked away she tipped a little more of the liquid amazingness into his mouth and Tarin let it trickle down his throat thinking that he would never again forsake water. Just because he was in Texas and had drank soda out of a sippy cup didn't mean he could have water. It had been too long since he'd given water the respect it deserved. Well no more! Water was amazing...water was the best...and apparently Lee was now done giving it to him.
Then something amazing happened. Tarin chalked it off to the fact that he was just coming out of a coma, but if he wasn't mistaken, which he was sure he was, he could have sworn that about 8 conflicting emotions crossed Lee's face at once. Apparently the coma hadn't limited all his abilities. He smiled again, especially at the blush. It was so good to see that, and know that he was responsible.
Then Lee spoke again, and she was serious, asking how it was possible that he saw all those things. Tarin knew he was going to have a lot of explaining to do, but he really was starting to feel exhausted. Tarin knew it would be just cruel to rest now after giving Lee that teaser.
"I was here...the whole time. Mostly with you." he said, looking right back into the eyes he'd been thinking about for the last however many hours. "I just couldn't do anything. We'll talk about it later...you wouldn't believe how much I have to tell you...I'm just glad I'm back.." he said, closing his eyes for a minute and taking a deep breath, "I was starting to think I'd never get back to you. It was horrible being with you, watching you and not being able to touch you."
It took effort, more than he really thought he had, but Tarin managed to get his arms up and around Lee and squeeze her for a few moments before they fell back, he was really tired. "I think I might need to rest now..." he said softly, "This body is so weak...."
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 19, 2009 9:43:19 GMT -6
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Lee said hi back and Tarin managed to smile slightly despite the fact that she couldn't seem to stop crying. It was almost painful for Tarin to see that, she'd cried so much over the past weeks. Tarin knew they were happy tears, but tears were tears and for someone who'd never really let go of control before, Lee was doing a great job now.
She was trying though, he'd told her to stop crying and she was doing her best to stop, but the tears seemed to be flowing freely. Slowly though, gradually, they slowed. Tarin supposed it was the best he could hope for now. It was almost as surreal as the first few hours out of his body had been, being able to control his body again. Then Lee agreed to the birthday kiss and there was a real smile. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his and Tarin kissed her back. Yeah...no matter how much he'd gotten used to being out of his body, this was what had been missing.
Then Lee asked the million dollar question and as she pulled away, Tarin smiled, an odd smile to be sure. Slightly sheepish, "Because I was standing there," he said, nodding his head to the wall by the head of the bed, "Watching you play and sing."
Lee had heard his water request and from somewhere she produced a bottle of water. Tarin was already trying to sit up, but it sure helped when Lee slipped her arm behind his shoulders. The water bottle was at his lips and he'd almost had his drink when...
"You can't have that yet!" Doc exclaimed, looking like he wanted to slap the bottle out of Lee's hands. Tarin gave him a fierce glare and took a little drink...just to show he could. It was amazing and he wanted more...lots more. "That's enough! We'll get you some ice chips...and stop glaring at me Tarin, you haven't had normal food or drink for a month and you'll be the one to regret it if you insist on going too fast." Then off he went, hopefully to get the ice chips.
"And when you're back, you're going to get this goddamn thing out of my nose." Tarin said, wrinkling his nose and clearing his throat again.
Tarin realized Lee was still holding him and he smiled at her, again, "Thanks for all the sponge baths." he said.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 18, 2009 22:23:47 GMT -6
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He was alive...he was awake...he was breathing and controlling his own body. Truth be told...it kind of sucked...scratch that, it really sucked. It hurt, alot. His lips were super dry and his throat hurt. It felt like he hadn't had a drink in...a month. Well that made sense...he hadn't...and part of the discomfort in his throat was the tube they'd stuck down his nose to feed him. Thinking about it made him choke slightly and Tarin lifted a hand and weakly batted at the thing only to have his hand drop limply back to the bed a moment later.
Lee had heard him, Lee was there, she was crying a lot. Suddenly there was nobody else in the room. Not even the Doctor who was trying to shine a light in his eyes and ask him questions. Screw his questions, screw them right in the ear. Lee was there and for the first time in a month she could feel it when her hand grasped his and when her other touched his face. Tarin leaned into Lee's hand on his face and smiled.
"Hi..." he said, wincing slightly at the effort it took to talk and the way that tube felt down his throat. He lifted his free hand again, clumsily trying to wipe at the tears on Lee's cheeks. "No tears...no more tears. You cried enough...what the hell is with all of this..." he said, gesturing at the tube and all the wires. "Can't swallow right...can I have some water?"
Yeah...there was definitely not anyone else left in the room...at least not as far as Tarin was concerned. He was frustrated though, he was so clumsy, so uncoordinated...so exhausted just from the few motions he'd made, Lee wast there though...touching him, and it was amazing. Worth it all. He tugged slightly at her hand, "Come here...stop crying...I want a birthday kiss..." If that didn't prove to Lee that he was going to be alright...nothing would.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 18, 2009 17:14:00 GMT -6
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OOC - The beginning of this post shall be vague for the time being...but will be edited when the post before it is spruced up.
The kid had heard him! It had worked. For the umpteenth time since he'd arrived in New York Tarin made a mental vow to find something nice he could do for the spirit at the top of the Empire State Building. Slate confirmed that indeed he was there, and Tarin confirmed that yes...he should do his thing. From there, it all moved so fast. There was a moment for confirmation of readiness, some exclamations of excitement from Tarin, and then it was happening.
The chaos that had been there when he pulled himself away from his body wasn't there this time, but the same surreal feeling was present. Tarin could feel a pull, a pull that he gave himself over to completely, allowing the boy in the room with him and Lee to do that thing he did. The last thing he saw was Lee standing in the room. "I love you..." he said, looking right at her, and then, for a moment there was nothing.
The body on the bed had been there for a long time. To the average person, a month wasn't that long at all, but a body laying without a soul for a month was a long time. A very long time. The mind reset, and as hoped it flowed back into the body on the bed. The body, however, hadn't been asked if it was ready and it wasn't.
The heart monitor that had been steadily beeping since the nodes had been placed on Tarin's body a month ago stuttered and beeped irregularly as the mind and body tried to reconnect after such a long separation. Something was wrong. Alarms started going off and the body on the bed convulsed, the most movement there had been in a month, but it wasn't good movement. The convulsion continued for another moment, the heart monitor beeped wildly, then a solid tone.
At the sound of the first alarm, Doc Prof had come running from the office where he'd sat during all of these visits. So far the kid had managed to do nothing more to help than he'd been able to do himself. So slowly he'd retreated into his office. Then there was the alarm, Doc had arrived just in time to see the patient in the bed register a flatline.
"What did you do to him?!" Doc Yelled, then, "Get out of the way!" There was a crash cart in the room with the prone man and though Doc had to think back to medical school to remember the last time he'd actually used it, he pulled it towards himself, ignoring everything else going on around him.
Out of the holders came the paddles, on the system went and it started charging at 200 volts. There was no need to say clear, everyone had backed away from the yelling as he came into the room. Shock. The monitor beeped, then flatlined again. Up to 250 the machine went. "Come on" Doc muttered as he put the paddles to Tarin's chest again, "You've been laying here for a month...don't die now." The machine was recharged. Clear the Doc said mentally. Then the shock. Nothing...but then, the machine beeped on its own, then settled into a normal sinus rhythm and the Doc heaved a sigh of relief as he put the paddles back into their cradles and turned to the boy.
"I don't know what the hell you think you were doing...but you're done experimenting on my patient..."
"Doc..." Came a weak voice from the bed, "Don't be so hard on him...I think he just save my life...unless I'm dead...and if that's the case. This is a sorry excuse for either heaven or hell."
Tarin felt like shit. There was no other way to explain it. Just opening his eyes felt like running a marathon, so did taking a breath...but the key thing there was that those things felt he could feel again.
"Lee?" he said, pretty positive that he was too weak and unused to moving to turn his head, but hoping that his wife was there nonetheless.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 16, 2009 16:48:59 GMT -6
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OOC - This post is partially in response to Lee’s last post in her solo thread.
The spirit at the top of the Empire State Building had been helpful. Then again, she usually was. That was the strange thing about New York City, there always seemed to be some fateful occurrence that kept him going, kept his feet on the ground and kept Tarin Brooks where he was. Those things didn’t always work out the way a person would expect them to, but they still happened, and he still stayed. Lee was one of those things, but the woman at the top of the Empire State Building, the woman who had caused the huge fence to be put around the observation deck was another entirely.
Tarin had been working off and on since his visit to her with recognizing the energy signatures that indicated that a person was living. If he closed his eyes and concentrated hard enough, he could find them now. Connecting to them on a mental level was another thing entirely though, it was the first thing he’d done when he’d realized he could sense Lee’s consciousness. It hadn’t worked. Tarin hadn’t really expected it to work but had tried anyway. The spirit had said that only certain people had a mind that could be opened to the thoughts of the dead…or the in between. Apparently Lee was not one of them, neither was Sam, nor anyone else at the mansion. At least not to a degree that Tarin was able to make a link with them. Maybe that Slate kid was though, he’d said he could reset brains, Tarin supposed it all came down to whether it was consciousness that Slate reset or the physical brain itself. Connecting to the physical hadn’t worked with Tarin, so he still had to hope that the mental would.
Tarin was thinking on these things when he realized what Lee was doing. She’d seemed antsy the whole morning, trying to read another one of the crap books from the shop that had to do with the occult and psychic abilities. Tarin hadn’t read any of them before he’d decided to stock them, just flipped through them enough to see if they were things that would be sold in a shop like his. If they had, then they’d joined the others on the shelf. Lee had been reading them like they were encyclopedias lately, Tarin had caught a few of the pages she’d marked…they were all about ‘astral projection’. From what he could see, it was similar to what Tarin was experiencing, but not to a degree that he was comfortable using the phrase. All the books just built in the person doing it having a ton of control, being able to project their consciousness from their body. Not getting scared out of their body and not being able to get back in. The books didn’t say anything about that. Big surprise. Tarin was just glad that it wasn’t the books he was relying on anymore. It was himself, and Slate, and hopefully that was enough.
Lee was starting to break up a little bit. She’d been an emotional wreck the first few days…the first couple of weeks even. Now, she was just settling in, and sometimes that was even more worrisome. As much as he hated to admit it, Tarin was going to have to thank Sam when all of this was over. He’d acted like a gentleman, and taken care of Lee. He was even working on her powers with her now, developing the people radar that she’d always talked about working with. The people radar that seemed to detect him from time to time, even in his present form, Tarin had tried several different times to trigger it, but it simply seemed random. She was antsy though, especially today, and Tarin wasn’t really all that surprised when she finally stood, going through her exit ritual then leaving the room.
Down the now familiar route to the room Lee had been assigned, Tarin followed Lee as she went into the room to get her jacket. This was different, apparently they were going outside. Lee’d already spent her required time out of the infirmary, the fact that she was going so far away meant that there really was something up.
So outside Lee went, with Tarin following behind. Only, once they were outside, things didn’t get any better. Lee was walking around, not even looking at anything outside, but she wasn’t idle. Not at all. Tarin watched as she thought, face taught with concentration, muttering to herself every now and then. Doc Prof wasn’t doing anything to try and figure out why he was in a coma, so apparently Lee was taking it upon herself. Tarin knew that lately she’d been worrying that she was going a little crazy, he only hoped she didn’t realize she was carrying on a conversation with herself now. That wouldn’t help Lee’s mental state…not at all. It didn’t seem like Lee was on the right track though, not at all. She was muttering about merges, talking about how it wouldn’t work, then shaking her head. Tarin didn’t know what to do, it didn’t really have anything to do with the merges, other than he’d done whatever it had taken to get away from it happening. Actually, Tarin thought, he did know what to do, he knew the only thing he could do. So he followed her around, followed her listening to the muttering and the frustration in her voice and wished that he could do something anything to help.
Then Lee spoke, she wished that she could ask him. “I’m here…” Tarin said, feeling helpless for what seemed like the millionth time since Lee had walked into the infirmary the night that Ash had found him. “I wish I could help..” But he couldn’t help. Not yet, but there was hope now. Soon he’d be able to help, and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure he never went away again.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 16, 2009 9:01:32 GMT -6
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Dude, major props on the sample RP! You're so original! Nice work on writing out the dialect. I look forward to seeing you around, maybe our characters can meet up at some point. Welcome!
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 14, 2009 19:16:19 GMT -6
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(OOC - I'll edit...Tarin's thinking more in general though. He said he could reset peoples' minds, so Tarin's calling him a telepath. Psychic would probably be a better word.)
The boy ddin't waste any time. Tarin didn't blame him though. This was a nasty business, especially since he didn't seem to think that there was much chance of this working. Tarin watched intently as the boy moved to his bedside and put a hand on his head. Nothing happened, not immediately. Tarin realized he wasn't trying anything though, he was just watching the boy work like a bystander.
It took effort to make the link work this way, Tarin knew that though. Proximity helped, it was true with the spirits when he was in his body and he assumed it would be true in this form too. Moving from where he'd propped himself up against the wall of the infirmary room, Tarin moved next to Slate and focused on him.
Tarin closed his eyes and looked, looked for the life forces of the people in the room with them. Just like the spirit had said, it was a conscious effort, reaching out...and there they were. Lee was there, pulsing form her spot next to the bed, he reached out to her but it was like there was some kind of brick wall blocking the way to her mind. On to Slate, Tarin went, reaching out and looking. It was different than with Lee, this time, it was like the door was open.
Mr Brooks
Tarin was shocked by the contact, he could feel it then, the link. It was just like when he connected with a spirit. That had to mean that he wasn't connecting with spirits at all...it was the other way around...he could just control how open his mind was. Time to try, afraind to talk and break his concentration Tarin tried something else the spirits did, sending mental pictures of what exactly it was that had happened to him that night in the graveyard.
Worried that the pictures weren't enough, or that they weren't working, Tarin decided to try verbal conversation as well, "Hello?!" he ventured, startled by the sound of his own voice after so long silent. "Can you hear me? If you can...try your thing with me...not my body. I...I'm right next to you...to your right."
(OOC - Okay, I gave you a few things to work with here. Take it where you want to take it. If you want to hear AND see...do it...if you just want to do one or the other...go for it. Just assume that if all you see is pictures, you saw something to help you out.)
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 14, 2009 8:38:30 GMT -6
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This was the day. Tarin was nervous in spite of himself, but then again it was nice to feel anything after a month of almost complete numbness. It was getting worse too, he wasn't frustrated nearly as often now, a kind of strange apathy had settled on him. It worried Tarin. It worried, him and he knew that he needed to try...now.
Lee had set up another meeting with the boy wonder. Tarin knew that they'd been talking , a lot, and frankly the kid was something else. Tarin had seen the wisdom in some of his words and he planned on talking to Lee about it when he woke up. That was the spirit...when was such a better word than if. So what if he hadn't managed to make the mental connection with anyone since the spirit at the top of the empire state building had taught him what to do. Something felt different though when he tried...and this Slate character was supposed to be some sort of psychic...he could reset brains after all. That had to count for something, didn't it?
It was his birthday and Lee was there. Lee was always there. This was diffrent though, she'd brought her guitar down from her room and she was playing for him. Tarin had watched her all morning, the music was comforting, it helped him concentrate. Concentration was good, Tarin was going to need all the luck and concentration he could get in order to come back to her...and if this didn't work, he didn't know what would. The body in the bed was kind of starting to waste away, and Tarin couldn't blame it. It had been laying in the same place, not moving, for a month now. This had to work.
The boy wonder arrived, greeted Lee and engaged in small talk for a few moments.Then it looked like he was ready to get down to business. Tarin was tense, tense as hell, but he forced it away, trying to do anything he could to increase his concentration. This was the time.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 9, 2009 19:23:16 GMT -6
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The walk to the ESB seemed shorter. Tarin didn't know if it was because he didn't feel the usual fatigue he felt after walking a long distance, or if it was because he could move faster in this noncorporeal form. Then again, Tarin thought, it could have just been the fact that he was eager to get there and find things out.
At any rate, he made it to the Empire State Building in good time. Looking up from the ground, Tarin remembered it as the place where it all had began. What it was, he couldn't put an exact finger on, but it was everything that had happened since he'd set foot off the train in Grand Central Station with nothing but his duffel bag. This place had followed, then the shop, then Central Park, then Lee. It was strange how all the things that happened in a person's life could be traced back to a single event in a single place. This was that place, and hopefully the person who had jumpstarted his life would be willing to do it one more time.
Tarin couldn’t help but think as he literally walked through the line and into the elevator that there were certain benefits to a lack of body. If he wanted to spy on someone, or if he needed to get somewhere without being noticed, this was the way to do it. Nobody knew he was there, though, and that was definitely still weird. But Tarin figured those things took getting used to, he didn’t want to get used to it though. That’s why he was there in the first place. The elevator lurched and started moving upwards, and Tarin watched the floors light up one at a time as they rose. People were giggling nervously and talking quietly, the close proximity of the elevator making them nervous. Then the doors opened and they flooded out onto the observatory deck.
Tarin waited until everyone else had left, why he didn’t know, but it felt right. Then out he went and to the corner where the woman usually stood. He wasn’t disappointed, she also didn’t walk away from him. Tarin didn’t approach for a few moments, then smiled with relief when she gestured to him to approach.
“I was worried you wouldn’t talk to me. So many of the others act like I don’t exist.”
The woman tilted her head, a small smile on her face, “That’s because you don’t…well not really anyway.”
Tarin frowned, this wasn’t exactly what he’d expected out of the conversation, but the information was interesting and potentially useful nonetheless. “Why?”
“Well,” she said, “You’re stuck between the worlds aren’t you? Your vessel still lives and breathes, but you’re not using it. They’re bitter.”
Tarin nodded his head as he regarded the woman, “That makes sense, I guess. I want nothing more than to get back into my body though… That’s why I’m here. I want to know how it works. There’s a boy, he’s a telepath. He seems to think he could link with me and fix what’s wrong. The problem is, I can’t figure out how to link backwards. So I need to know how you do it…how you link with me when I’ve got a body.”
The spirit looked at Tarin, walked a few steps away, then turned back and nodded, “I can tell you that. It takes a great deal of power and practice though. So there’s no guarantees.”
Tarin grinned, “Lay it on me. It’s better than what I’ve got right now.”
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 6, 2009 15:29:52 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
1,597
4
May 15, 2024 5:56:07 GMT -6
Jules
Tarin had hope now, but the means to bring about what the hope drove him to do was much more difficult to come by. For days he’d sat in the infirmary concentrating until he felt he should be blue in the face. Tarin had thought for sure that he would be able to create the mental link with Lee. There wasn’t anyone in the world who know him as well as Lee did or connected with him on the same level. It hadn’t worked though. Tarin was frustrated, so frustrated, but this time he refused to give up. There had to be something he could do.
There weren’t any spirits to talk to at the mansion, and Tarin kind of marvelled at that fact. There had to be something about the culmination of powers that kept them away. That wasn’t the case when they left though. Just like the night that all this had happened in the graveyard, Tarin could see the spirits as clearly as he could all the other people. The only difference was, that he could interact with them. Could was the key word, though because most of them didn’t want a thing to do with him. Others looked at him with what could only be described as pity, and some regarded him with spite. Tarin had learned quickly just to keep his head down and ignore them. That had changed now, though. If he was going to figure out how to link with a person he was going to have to figure out how the link had always worked in the first place. Unfortunately as Tarin redoubled his attempts to talk to the spirits, the more they redoubled theirs to ignore him.
They were at the apartment one day, Lee switching out clothes and Tarin nearly seething with frustration when she picked up a picture. Tarin moved to look over her shoulder as he’d taken to doing over the past few weeks and saw that it was one that had been taken at the top of the Empire State building. Lee had been shocked that day, the day she’d met the spirit…
Tarin’s eyes widened, why hadn’t he thought of that before? If there was a single spirit in the city that would be willing to talk to him it would be that woman. She’d always felt grateful that he’d brought the shop back to life and more than that, she knew him. Tarin stepped back and looked at Lee. She was starting to wear down. Despite the fact that Slate had almost vowed to cure him, Lee was wearing down. Tarin knew he had to act, and had to act fast. His body was wasting away too.
As much as he hated to leave Lee, as completely disconnected as he felt from the rest of the world when he stepped out a room with her, Tarin knew where he needed to go. Lee still had to go to the shop and Tarin knew what would happen while she was there. Nothing. If there was anyplace in the city that was safe for Lee to be alone right now, it was the shop.
So, when Lee left the apartment for the shop, Tarin watched her go then turned the other direction towards the Empire State Building . Towards what appeared to be the last chance Tarin had to figure this whole thing out.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 5, 2009 21:44:47 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
1,597
4
May 15, 2024 5:56:07 GMT -6
Jules
Hope. The feeling that Tarin had been most terrified to allow to manifest itself from the beginning. Early on, the situation had started to feel helpless, and the more that he sat with Lee in the infirmary looking at his completely inert body, the worse it got. Down and down into unassailable depression he sunk, even though Tarin knew that Lee could feel him sometimes. All Doc Prof could say was that there was nothing wrong with his body, and Lee couldn’t figure it out, nobody else at the mansion was any use either. Tarin had practically given up. Until the day that a teenager had turned everything around.
Tarin had to admit, this wasn’t an average, everyday teenager. The young man spoke like a person from the last century and his demeanor seemed to match. Lee had met him in the hallway and brought him down to the infirmary. The young man had tried to fix him, and failed. Momentarily the depression had settled in again, but then the young man, Slate, had said that he was determined. Determined to heal.
Slate said that his powers worked by connecting with the mind of the person he was trying to heal. That made perfect sense to Tarin. Perfect. The problem was, obviously his mind wasn’t connected to his brain at this point. The boy had compared him to a roast beef sandwich. Tarin had been chagrined at first, but that had faded with the reality of the statement. The meat bag on the bed wasn’t him.
There was a way. Tarin knew there was a way to make this work. This wasn’t how his life was supposed to end, with him stuck in some alternate place after he’d finally figured everything out and gotten what it was he’d always wanted. So Tarin thought. He didn’t sleep, there was no need for him to sleep, so he had tons of time to think. Lee had always pointed out that when a person didn’t sleep they did a lot of thinking. It was true.
Tarin had never looked at his powers in a disconnected way. He’d always just thought about them as they were. He could see the spirits, he could link with the spirits, and he could ask them to do things. It was the second part that he finally grabbed onto as his eureka moment. He coud link with the spirits. Tarin had never realized it before, but his powers were psychic on a level that he’d never recognized…and if he could connect with someone who was dead, when he was so obviously alive and in a physical body…who was to say that he couldn’t connect with someone who was living when he was in this non-corporeal state. It was thin…effing anorexic to quote Mel Gibson in the first Lethal Weapon…but it was something. It was more than he’d had. It was a reason for Tarin to continue hoping.
Posted by Tarin Brooks on Mar 4, 2009 10:09:52 GMT -6
Mutant God
DodgerBlue
Straight
1,597
4
May 15, 2024 5:56:07 GMT -6
Jules
As had been the routine since Alice had caught Haywire, Tarin woke up alone in the room that he and Lee shared. Over the years, Lee had learned incredible control over her powers and it wasn’t rare that she made it up before Tarin, but it had been even more extreme in the time since Alice had taken ill.
Lee was nowhere to be found, not even in the shower and Tarin was slightly surprised by this, though he knew she would have woke him if something had happened. Reassuring himself with that, he took his time, running through the shower and grabbing a bagel from the kitchen before heading down to the infirmary.
According to DocProf, Alice was ‘out of the woods’. There had been a few tense days, more tense than they’d had any right to be when one as young as Alice was concerned. She’d made it through though, and more and more, their daughter was returning to normal. She’d even been coloring over the past few days. That was definitely a good sign. Lee still insisted on hovering though, and Tarin left her to it.
By the time he made it down to the infirmary, Lee was standing at the glass, coffee in hand and a smile plastered on her face. A smile? Tarin’s eyebrow rose as he approached his wife, that was something he hadn’t seen in far too long, a real smile. Coffee and bagel in hand, Tarin approached the glass and looked at the bed…the empty bed.
Why was Lee smiling at the empty bed? Then Tarin realized that Lee wasn’t looking at the empty bed at all, her gaze was directed somewhere else entirely. Following it, Tarin saw what Lee was smiling at, and smiled too. There was Alice , still looking tired, still looking a little peaked, but sitting on the floor and coloring with vigor.
He said, leaning over to give Lee a quick kiss on the cheek. “This is definitely encouraging. Maybe tomorrow I don’t have to wake up cold and alone.”