Hemalurgic Headshot

There was a pause from the back as Kokichi thought, the only sound coming from the crinkling of the gummies' bag, the hum of the engine, and the quiet Elvis playing in the background. After a moment, they spoke. "Well, let's see," Kokichi began, then paused. "FYI, you'll keep driving normally so don't worry about crashing." Liam blinked and looked back at Kokichi, who was still lounging on the sofa. He quickly glanced back to the road, but the van hadn't started to swerve at all. Liam turned back to Kokichi. "How do you do that?"

Isn't Nicro on the other side of Edmonton?

Riley's backstory, v.1

Primary Power: Can channel heat energy between objects via touch (drawing heat from one thing to another thing), and can gather and release heat energy from self. When acting as a conduit, heat transfer up to maximum is near instantaneous, but can continue to transfer heat at maximum capacity, but at a rate of 30 kJ per second. By doing this, the target object can collect much more heat energy than he could transfer at once. Secondary Power: Thermal Resilience. Maximum temperature is ~2500 C. The specific heat capacity of the human body is ~3.5 kJ/(kg.K), and water has a specific heat of 4.184 kJ/(kg.K). Steel is .49 kJ/(kg.K). At the specific heat capacity of a normal human, he could theoretically transfer 591.3 MJ at once, if he went from maximum to average body temperature. If he theoretically transferred all of that energy into the air immediately around him (3.87 cubic meters), that the temperature of that air would increase by ~164726 degrees Celsius.

Alright. What about "above-average?"

Hmmm. You're right. I just need some sort of reason for Riley to be hanging around. Because Sherwood Park is much more controlled than the rest of town due to the influence of the feds, I'm struggling to find a good hideout for this guy, or someplace where he would blend in with the rest of the population. Technically. It would be a large exothermic event. However, Riley doesn't have any grand ambitions, yet. He kind of bums around.

So I came up with this Epic

Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang The red van sped through the formerly quiet neighborhoods of Sherwood Park. Though here and there a house lay vacant and unattended, its lawn overrun with weeds and its window shutters stolen by some looter, suburban life seemed to go on as normal. It was clear that the Albertan government kept up some utilities in the area. Liam caught glimpses of startled residents peeking out their windows as the Samba zoomed past. Let’s rock everybody, let’s rock Everybody in the whole cell block Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock Liam reached over and turned down the music a bit, then called over his shoulder to Kokichi, who was sitting on the sofa in the back, munching on some gummy worms. “So, uh, Kokichi. Tell me a little about yourself. Where you’re from, what you do… if you’re fine with that.”

Okay. That's good to know.

So, do people still live in neighborhoods? Are they like creepy, decaying ghost towns, with overgrown grass and cracked driveways? Is every third house populated, either by a family struggling to hold on to their normal life or a scavenger hiding out? Is Sherwood Park better than most other residential districts, because it's under the protection of the Albertan government?

Liam found Kokichi standing in front of a large box-like container, towering up to the ceiling. The container had drawers and compartments, all enclosed and marked individually. He looked at the particular compartment that Kokichi had mentioned. On a small plaque was the inscription “LINKED L024 X.” It must say what it is on the catalogue, Liam thought. Beside the plaque was a keypad, presumably for opening the compartment. “L024 X,” Liam murmured. “L for Linked, the number is definitely the ID, but what’s X?” He checked a few other compartments nearby. L035 X. M006 X. L010 X. Every compartment was labeled X. “I’m going to throw out a wild guess here and say that X means something bad. If it was something good, this stuff wouldn’t be stuck in a dusty storage room,” Liam pondered. He leaned in to examine the keypad, taking out a Blocker to bypass the code. With the Blocker in place, the edges hissed as the vacuum seal was broken, and the compartment slid out, revealing its contents. “Woah,” Kokichi said. Inside the newly opened compartment was a hat, a charcoal-colored trilby to be precise. It appeared to be a little scuffed up here and there, but otherwise was in good condition. There was no indicator of what it could do. “Sick hat,” they said. Liam took it, then shut the compartment firmly and removed the Blocker. After a second, there was a suction sound as the compartment resealed. Liam looked at the hat a few moments, then placed it on his head. Nothing happened. Then he flickered. His body went invisible for a second, then reappeared, then disappeared again for two seconds. Liam watched as his hands disappeared before his eyes, then reappeared. After a minute, he took the hat off. “I suspect that X means broken. This was probably some sort of invisibility device, but not anymore,” he said. “That was awesome. What other junk is in here?” Kokichi began looking at all of the other compartments, reading the labels to himself out loud. “Wait, be careful,” Liam began. “L071 X!” Kokichi exclaimed, and punched through the compartment, pulling out a red rubber bouncy ball. And then the alarm sounded. WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA WHA “Oh, now look what you did!” Liam shouted, trying to speak over the blaring alarm. “Sorry!” Kokichi said. There was pounding on the door. Liam ran past Kokichi towards the back of the storage room. The pounding at the door continued. “Follow me!” He called to Kokichi and ducked behind a shelf. At that moment, the door burst in and guards began to file into the room. “We have you trapped! There is no escape here. Approach us with your hands in the air and we will not shoot.” “Sparks,” Liam hissed. He turned on his com. “Bear?” There was a moment of silence on the line before Bear’s cheerful voice spoke. “’Sup, Moose?” The guards began to search through the aisles. Liam moved further into the back accordingly. “Hey Bear, this isn’t the time to chat. I need you to pull up the building plans for Strathcona Community Hospital,” Liam directed, hoping he remembered the name from the front of the building correctly. “Where are you hiding?” One of the guards called. He sounded quite close. Liam moved to a shelf a bit further away and peeked through the boxes. Thankfully, the guards were a few aisles away, and moving slowly. “Strathcona…” Bear hummed to himself. “Strathcona. Got it. It’s a pretty new building, built about a year before Calamity. I’ve got the plans right here.” “Good. Can you see if there are any other entrances to the storage area in the left half?” “Uh… you mean the loading area?” Liam’s eyes lit up. Yes. “Yes. Perfect.” “Wait a second, Moose. I’m looking at your com position, and I’m making an assumption here, but you’re not in the loading area. There’s a wall in the way.” Liam looked at the guards, who were getting nearer every passing second. They were all armed, assault rifles from the look of it. Bulletproof vests. He could take out a few with his shotgun, but he’d prefer if no one got hurt. Well, at least not killed. Liam check behind himself. There wasn’t much room left to retreat, only a few more aisles. After that was a wall, presumably the wall keeping them from freedom. He leaned over to Kokichi and whispered, “Can you break through walls?” Kokichi looked at him and grinned. “Well, duh. I can break through anything if I put my head to it,” they said. “Cuz, you know, I put my head to it…” They trailed off. Liam looked at Kokichi strangely. “So, you want me to run you into the wall?” Liam asked after a moment. Kokichi winked. The guards were closer now, almost to the shelf where they were hiding. “Well,” Liam said. “It’s better than dying.” Checking to see that the path was clear, he peeked out from around the shelf. The back wall was bare, and the ground, though dusty, was uncluttered. He looked back at Kokichi. “You really want me to ram you into the wall?” “Yes. Heck. Freaking. Yes.” “Alright, here goes nothing,” Liam muttered under his breath and picked up Kokichi under his arm, their head facing the wall. Kokichi was lighter than they looked, but the bright red hoodie wasn’t best for stealth. As they stood up, one of the guards spotted them. “Hey! I’ve found them!” Liam bolted. Well, after a second while his legs spun in midair. Then he bolted. With Kokichi’s head out front, he sprinted towards the back wall, the dust billowing in clouds behind his feet. The guards opened fire, bullets pinging off steel shelves and ripping through boxes. Some shots ricocheted off the tile floor at Liam’s feet, but he was remarkably unscathed by the storm of gunfire. Then they collided with the wall. Kokichi’s head smashed through the cinderblocks, throwing up a cloud of dust and rubble while they stumbled through the gap they had made. Liam tumbled to the ground, losing hold of Kokichi, who rolled into a dashing pose as the dust behind them began to settle. I can’t believe that worked, Liam thought, slightly dazed. “So cool!” Kokichi exclaimed. Liam glanced back at the startled guards, who had paused their gunfire when Liam had burst through the wall. He scrambled to his feet and pulled out his shotgun from his jacket as he ran to catch up with Kokichi. The guards looked at each other for a moment, then pursued. “Targets are behind the building, on the run. Requesting backup. Over.” “Cycle patrol deployed. Over.” Liam’s heart pounded in his chest as he ran towards the front of the building. He had to get to the van. Guards were everywhere, and Liam was diving every five seconds to avoid becoming Swiss cheese. Kokichi was bouncing the red ball as they ran. Up ahead, in the parking lot, a line of guards had formed. “Halt! We have you surrounded!” Beside the guard who had spoken, the line raised their weapons. “Hands in the air where we can see them!” Kokichi looked at the ball in their hand. They grinned, that same mischievous glint flashing in their eyes. “Nice,” they said, lifting their arms. In one fluid motion, they tossed the ball towards the line, bouncing on the pavement before coming to a rest at their feet. The guards began to back away, but not before a bubble of energy sprung out of the ball, knocking the closest guards off their feet. The bubble lasted only a few seconds before it flickered into nonexistence. Those few seconds were enough. Liam and Kokichi were already sprinting past them. “STOP!” The guard shouted, and the line opened fire. Liam spun around and fire off a few warning shots with his shotgun, causing a few guards to duck. They were almost to the space where he had parked the van. With his free hand, he reached into his pocket for the keys. Up close, the visual distortion on the van didn’t work as well. A hazy afterimage could be seen within five feet of it. Amid the flying bullets, Liam flung himself around to the other side of the van, unlocked it, jumped in, and started up the van. The gravatronics hummed, the engine roared, and Liam opened the side door for Kokichi to get inside. “Climb in, it’s getaway time.” Bullets pinged off the sides of the van. Thankfully, Liam had outfitted the old Samba for battle, and this wasn’t even the worst it had been through. He turned on the stereo. The warden threw a party in the county jail The prison band was there and they began to wail The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing You should’ve heard them knocked-out jailbirds sing Liam grinned and gunned the engine. The van sped out of the lot and swerved towards the main road. It smashed through the chain fence with barely any problem, and within moments the sound of gunfire was behind them. Let's rock everybody, let's rock Everybody in the whole cell block Was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock Liam turned to Kokichi. “Let’s not stop in with them anytime soon.”

I’d say like September or August. Late summer.

Everyone is welcome. Good to have you here.

Hmmm. This would be interesting. I feel like Liam would try to let that not happen, but I feel like a car chase isn't going to go the best. he might go quietly. Unless this goes off into side-quest territory: "We'll lift your charge if you go take care of this for us, and then maybe we'll help you with Karabiner." sort of thing.

“Liam, help me, I think I broke her.” It took Liam a moment to process what was happening in front of him. The secretary’s professional manner was now in shambles, and she was positively smitten—squealing and waving—by Kokichi, who was standing nearby and emanating an aura of… impressiveness? Whatever it was, it had left an impression on the secretary. Liam looked back and forth between Kokichi’s confused face and the spontaneously romantic secretary. “Umm,” he began, “either way, she can’t come with us. Sorry,” he said to the secretary, who didn’t notice. Liam grabbed Kokichi’s shoulder and started leading him down the left hall, taking a right towards the labs in the back. The secretary began to sob as Kokichi left and tried to reach out and grab him in vain. ”Hallelujah,” Kokichi breathed, looking very relieved to get away from the swooning secretary. “I’ve figured out what we are up against,” Liam began as they walked down the tiled hallway. “Karabiner, the Epic I’m tasked with eliminating, runs a black market that specializes in equipment that mimics Epics. Quite dangerous. However, Dr. Moore mentioned that the lab purchases a number of these items for research purposes, which I presume are kept in storage.” Now that Kokichi was far away, the secretary regained her senses. She blinked a few times, then stared at the hallway that Liam and Kokichi had gone down. “Wait!” She yelled. “You can’t go down there!” Meanwhile, Liam and Kokichi had arrived at a door. They had passed a few labs, which Liam had peeked inside and snapped a few pictures to send to Margaret but had mostly ignored. At last they came to a door labeled “Storage.” Liam tried the handle. Locked. He retrieved a pin from his beard—just in case—and began to pick the lock. Within a few moments, the door opened, and Liam motioned Kokichi inside. Liam did a quick scan of the room for security cameras. There was one at the door, so he stuck a Blocker on it. Blockers were a handy bit of tech Margaret had whipped up from a sample from an Epic named Malware. Malware could shut down all electronics within thirty feet of him and could control electronics with touch. Blockers did the former with the requirement of the latter. “Take a look around. If it’s labeled as Linked, tell me,” Liam told Kokichi as he began to search the room.

I put an explanation on them in the character thread. I'll summarize it here. Pretty much they are a research organization that has a group of operatives that target specific Epics and eliminate and/or incapacitate them to get DNA samples, which they take back to HQ for experimentation and analysis. Liam is one of those operatives, but his mission is a bit more complex, since he has to topple a black market that deals in Epic DNA instead of just a single Epic. The Circle also acts in some ways like the Reckoners by supporting those that oppose Epic rule, but never in an open or aggressive manner.

@Comatose I suppose Notley can respond to Liam's request, somehow. Also, more comprehensive info on the South Commons gang is on page 72. It's all spoilered though, and at this point in the RP, literally no-one, except perhaps one brave soul who has devoted their life to studying Typhon, knows that stuff.

“Karabiner is an Epic with an interesting power set. His ability can essentially Gift another Epic’s powers to inanimate objects. The objects get a simplified version of these powers, however, from what we’ve been able to tell. There are some limits on his powers. We keep a list of all the “Linked”—that’s the term we use for the gifted items—gear we see, and a matchup with the Epic it might have come from. It appears that only one Linked item can be made from each Epic, unless that particular Epic has multiple powers. The Linked item mirrors the power but can’t do anything else. “Karabiner showed up about two years ago. He was from out of town and wasn’t prominent enough for us to have heard anything about him previously. When he first appeared, he didn’t cause much commotion. Kind of laid low for a while. After a few months, strange new tech began entering the local black markets, with the ability to mimic an Epic’s powers. Motivators were still very rare, and none had come to Edmonton yet. We tried to seize some of the tech, but more came to replace it. “At the same time, Karabiner started to show his face a bit. He would appear sporadically, facing off with an Epic here and there, then disappear. The odd thing was, mimic tech would show up in the black market with the same abilities as the Epic Karabiner faced just a while earlier. It didn’t take much for us to put two and two together.” Liam ran his fingers through his beard. “So why didn’t you try to stop him?” He asked. Dr. Moore shrugged slightly, almost sheepishly. “Doubletake was still strong, and the Government had to be careful about which fights it fought. And… Karabiner is a good supplier. We became a market for some of his goods. And I’ll assure you that those Linked gadgets have been put to good use, either in the field or in my lab. Not to mention our catalogue of Linked items…” Dr. Moore gestured off to the side, to some imaginary list. “It was a strategic venture.” Liam nodded. This explained why Karabiner had set up business. With his powerset, he could exploit a very valuable market. He clasped his hands together. “Unfortunately, Dr. Moore, I’m here to shut Karabiner down,” he said. Dr. Moore raised an eyebrow. “Why?” “Well, it’s clear,” Liam spread his hands. “A black market that sells Epic tech? Maybe even some Motivators, since he’s gotten rich enough. It’s a terrible security risk. Epics can access these weapons, use them to become even more of a threat. Though, Doctor, a black market deals to both sides, it is in the best interests of this city, even the whole nation, to shut Karabiner’s operation down.” He stared at her, waiting for her response. She pursed her lips. “Mr…” She trailed off. “Dunton,” Liam offered. “Mr. Dunton, I understand that this is a very important mission you’ve undertaken. However, the Albertan Government cannot help you. At least, it is not my place to extend help. I can forward your request to the Headquarters, and perhaps the council will review it, but that is all.” Dr. Moore gave him a sad half-smile, then stood and walked to the door to open it. “I hope I helped you,” she said as she opened the door. Liam rose and shook her hand. “It was very helpful. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he said as a strange noise came from down the hall, “I need to find my companion. Good day.” He began to walk, then jog in the direction of the commotion.

That was a very good part of Funtime’s arc. Too bad we can’t see the rest of it.

Honestly, I thought Nathan was Twi's best character, and Funtimes brought out the best in him.

The hospital could be seen from the road. It was a large brick and concrete structure of mostly one story, but it seemed like a second phase was being built on the roof. Barbed wire fences surrounded the premises to repel intruders, but they would be useless if an Epic decided to stroll in. In fact, the entire facility was nearly defenseless aside from the various security checkpoints and armed personnel. I suppose they just hope that their insignificance will make the Epics focus their attention elsewhere, Liam thought, as the van neared the first checkpoint. He turned to Kokichi. “I’d prefer if the van didn’t get filled with bullets, so let’s not piss off the guards, alright?” Kokichi stared at him and grinned, their teeth looking eerily sharp and pointed. Their eyes glinted mischievously, but they said nothing. Liam sighed, and approached the checkpoint. “Halt!” Two armed guards wearing black bulletproof vests ran up to the van, guns ready. Liam stopped the vehicle accordingly and rolled down the window to face them. “This is an Albertan government facility! Level three authorization required. What are you doing here?” Liam leaned out the window and opened his right palm towards them. The guards tensed. On the palm glowed a circular symbol, showing a ring of light with a maple leaf in the center. The symbol flashed for a moment, then disappeared. “I am an agent of the Circle of the Shield. I would strongly suggest you grant me access, or I will do so myself,” Liam declared. The guards glanced at each other and then at Liam. Then one spoke into his radio, “Vehicle at checkpoint 1A, moving in. Over.” He then pointed towards the hospital. “There’ll be another checkpoint up ahead, and they’ll search your vehicle. You’re free to go.” The guards retreated, and Liam drove on. Shortly after, at another break in the fence, four guards approached. “Halt! Relinquish your vehicle for searching.” Liam leaned out of the window. “I’m afraid not,” and showed his palm again. “As an agent of the Circle of the Shield, this vehicle contains equipment that will remain with the vehicle.” He heard a curious “Ooh” from Kokichi when he had mentioned the equipment and groaned inwardly. They better not break anything. One of the guards stepped up to the driver window. “Our orders are to search every vehicle and person that comes through the checkpoint. I’ve never heard of this ‘Circle of the Shield,’ and I think your sparking hand is just Epic witchery. So surrender your vehicle or we will be forced to remove you,” the guard hissed, and raised his gun. Liam frowned. “I don’t want this to get messy, sir. You can talk to the building warden or something, your superior, but I am getting to this hospital and I will not let you stop me. So, please let me pass.” The guard glared at him, and tightened his grip on his weapon, but backed down. Liam nodded and proceeded to drive to the parking lot. Kokichi leaned over and whispered, “So, what kinda stuff do you got in here?” Liam shook his head. “It’s not important,” he said as he parked and pressed a button on the dashboard with an eye etched on it. He reached under his seat and pulled out his folding shotgun, and then grabbed his jacket from the sofa behind him. “Let’s go,” he told Kokichi, and climbed out of the van, locking it behind him. The van now looked very peculiar, seeming to be on the street in the distance, or in a parking space three cars down; everywhere but where it was. It was a bit of Motivator tech Margaret had whipped up with a sample from an Epic called Parallax. It distorts others’ perception of the user, causing them to appear elsewhere. Hopefully it would keep the guards from snooping around. A few guards flanked the main door, but they didn’t bother as Liam entered the building. They glanced up at Kokichi, but they had pulled their hood up to cover their spectacular hair. But they had made it through the checkpoints, so the guards didn’t care. The front lobby was rather tidy, with a secretary desk immediately opposite and office spaces off to the side. Liam decided the first place to ask was at the front desk. He walked up to the woman sitting there, focused on her mobile. “Excuse me, but I need to speak with the head official here,” Liam said. The woman looked up and set her mobile down quickly, a few small exclamation marks bobbing above her head. She glanced at what was probably a list of phone numbers, then back at Liam. “Do you have an appointment, sir?” She asked, scrolling through her mobile. “No,” Liam replied, “but this is quite important, and I would prefer that it be taken care off as soon as possible.” The secretary raised an eyebrow, looked down at the mobile, then back at Liam. “Well, sir, you seem to be in luck. Dr. Moore does not have any meetings right now. Do you have a reason for your meeting?” “Tell her that there is an agent who needs to discuss the city.” “Done,” the secretary said, setting down her mobile. “Dr. Moore’s office is down the right hall, second from last on the left.” Liam smiled and nodded. “Thank you.” Then he left, making his way towards the office. Liam knocked at the door. “Come in,” came from inside. Dr. Moore’s office was tidy, like the rest of the facility, and charts, diagrams, and instruments lined the walls. Dr. Moore herself was a younger woman, perhaps in her mid-thirties, with tan skin and shoulder length brown hair. She gestured to one of the two seats in front of her desk. Liam check over his shoulder, but Kokichi was nowhere to be seen. Oh no… Liam thought. “Please sit,” Dr. Moore said, so Liam did. She glanced at her mobile. “So, you are ‘an agent who needs to discuss the city’?” Liam nodded, and showed her his palm. After the image disappeared, she leaned back and pursed her lips in thought. “Interesting. Well, the city has been a bit more chaotic lately, since Doubletake died.” Liam nodded. The briefing had mentioned that. “What exactly do you want to know? This is a research facility, not the headquarters.” Research facility? Margaret will want to hear about this. Liam leaned in. “First thing. Who is Karabiner?”

Okay, I’ll make a draft and PM it to you before I post.

Also, the Albertan government will be meeting a red van with two interesting passengers very soon. @Comatose, do you want to dictate how the research faculty reacts, or could I sub in dialogue for my purposes?

“Oh, that—look, its already fixed.” Kokichi said offhandedly. Liam glanced over. Indeed, the window was as if it had never been punched through. Even the glass shards on the seat were gone. “B-t-w, do you wanna be five minutes away from wherever it is we’re headed and skip the rest of this boring drive?” Kokichi set a bag of gummy bears on the cupholder and munched on a few. Maybe I didn’t hold you All those lonely, lonely times And I guess I never told you I’m so happy that you’re mine Liam reached over and grabbed a few of the gummy bears. It’d been a while since he had some of these. Now, what had they said about suddenly being right outside their destination? If I make you feel second best Girl, I’m so sorry I was blind Liam chewed the gummy bears and focused on the road as the song played in the background. … …You were always on my mind. As the song ended, Liam glanced around. The exit for Sherwood Park was just ahead. He took the exit and followed the road towards the nearby hospital, noted as a facility used by the remaining Albertan government. If anything, they would have intel on the Epics of the city. But how had they gotten here so quickly? Liam wondered, unaware of the question marks hovering above his head.

The neon-haired Epic, because Liam had concluded that only an Epic could have this degree of flair, or that color hair, grinned as curved horns grew from their head and a pointed tail slithered out beneath them. "I’m your local non-binary agent of chaos, though you can call me Kokichi cuz that’s my name,” Kokichi said, still grinning mischievously. Words and letters appeared in the air around their head, suggesting non-binary pronouns for Liam to use. Yep, definitely an Epic. Kokichi’s horns and tail faded back into their body when they finished speaking, becoming instead an aura of golden light. They continued, “And window? What window?” Floating question marks punctuated their statement. Liam frowned. As far as he could tell, this Epic wasn’t particularly hostile, despite breaking into his vehicle while it was moving. They had some sort of manipulation over reality, which could be dangerous. He pointed past Kokichi at the shattered window. “That window. The one you shattered when you hopped in. I’d prefer if you replaced it,” Liam said, attempting to keep his voice from showing his irritation. “Maybe I didn’t treat you Quite as good as I should have Maybe I didn’t love you Quite as often as I could have” “Always On My Mind” began to blast from the speakers as the next track started to play. Liam glanced at Kokichi, who had begun to bob to the beat. Well, if they’re fine with my music, they can stay. For now, he thought. He pulled the van back onto the road and continued on to Edmonton. “Little things I should have said and done I just never took the time” Despite himself, Liam smiled and mouthed the words. You were always on my mind You were always on my mind