[MM3]Sunstormers IC

[Tony Jones]

*Thank you!* Khemis sends to Deborah.

"Well, I wouldn't need 100% of the people to believe me," comments Khemis. "Just enough of them. But yes, let's avoid getting sidetracked."

"First, as I said, Albert is a friend. I don't anything bad to happen to him, and I certainly don't want him to go on a rampage, killing people. He seems far too decent a guy for that, and whatever might push him that far would have to be seriously bad, for him, and for other people too."

"Second, and maybe more importantly, how could I call myself a good person if I stood by and let evil happen when I could stop it? Assassination is bad. Period. And even if your soldiers can handle every Sunstormer you might call on them to handle - which I kind of doubt given the sorts of weird powers that seem to exist - you don't have any Sunstormers on your side. Maybe you could use one. Unofficially as it were."

[Shadowmask]

A block past Jun's apartment, Helen abruptly ordered Park to stop the car.

"What's wrong?"

"The guy we've just past. No, not the bum and his pet rat, the one with the body of a male stripper. Possibly a marine visiting or maybe a government suit or perhaps even Flyboy."

"Hell of a leap in logic, Hel."

"F#!$ you! After training for a few days at Rizzo's Gym with these federal guys up close and personal, i can tell the difference. There had been far too many coincidences for this to be mere paranoia. Jun's neighborhood has become quite the tourist hotspot. Expedia and the other travel agencies would make a fortune. Have Ramsey to send his undercover surveillance crew pronto.

Make a sweep of the area. Four block radius then come back here. In the meantime I'll find and ask the stud for a date."

Without waiting a reply, Helen got off the car. She limbered and flexed her legs and took a couple of steps forward.....

.....and jumped up four stories to the roof of the building she and Park stopped at.

Helen cannot actually fly but after recent training with the FBI, she had discovered that she can sort of simulate flight in a way by increasing her resistance to gravity. In short, she can levitate at will. Once Helen is above the surface of the ground, she still must have something to push off against like the ground.

By pushing off the surface with just the right force and turning her body at precisely the right moment, she was able to simulate flight and somehow increase wind resistance. Helen can control her level above the ground and to a lesser extent, her relative position (face up, prone, upright, etc.) through force of will alone.

She steadied herself on the ledge and then proceeded to follow Mister Universe rooftop to rooftop.

[Neo-Paladin]

---Helen---
//I would need a stealth check to remain undetected, please.

---Khemis---
McMillan blinks. " Going on a rampage...? How do you know...?"
It might be confirmation bias on his part, but he seems to link her rather vague and actually obvious words about Albert to his vision immediately.

[Tony Jones]

"Sunstormer powers once again," replies Khemis seriously.

[Neo-Paladin]

----Khemis----
" What DO you know about him? Or about what he could do?"

[Neo-Paladin]

---Helen----
Suddenly, the man picks up the pace and starts weaving through shadows, obviously attempting to escape detection.

//If you want to keep him in your sights, Perception check against his Stealth check of 24

[Neo-Paladin]

---Helen---
It speaks to his abilities that, even without knowing exactly where he is being watched from, he manages to elude Helen's sight after a few seconds.

[Shadowmask]

Helen became mildly annoyed as she lost sight of the creep. Hardly surprising as she stood out like a sore thumb dressed in full uniform. He had good senses for somehow detecting a tail 40 feet above the ground and a half block away.

He definitely had a great future as a stalker. A potential sunbather or one of Nibiru's people or even one of Khemis' Al-Qaeda buddies? At the thought of Khemis, Helen immediately calmed down. After her talk with Jun, Helen knew she shouldn't really blame her or any other Islamics for Francis' death but hard feelings still lingered. Harold's carnage had brought back all the anger and resentment she had been suppressing for years. She focused her mind on the current events. Such as why is Albert Jun become so popular anyway? There were other sunstormers, either in hiding or gone public like Helen did and she wasn't that naive to believe she was the only one, especially in Uncle Sam's employ. So what exactly did Jun have that the government wanted?

Helen could go and talk to Lloyd Price but knew there will be no point. The pompous FBI agent won't tell her the truth anyway.

Speaking of pompous, she idly wondered what the diva, Deborah Gold has been doing in the weeks since the Federal Plaza incident. Usually the glory seeking debutante would love to meddle in situations like this, hoping to get more approval from her fan base. Maybe she should watch the rich snob's websites. Keyword was "maybe".

Still, Helen could use with a laugh while passing the time though and made a mental note of watching the 'net.

She floated down and continued her search of Mister Steroid Abuser.

[jmucchiello]

"Ugh, Khemis, I said he was skittish and you told him something only he knows and most likely has never told a soul," Deborah communicates to her. "Please dial it back. 'Sunstormer abilities' is not a calming statement. It just makes him more skittish. You have essentially told him there's a telepath invading his thoughts. Do you think that was a good idea?"

Deborah looks at Sunny and whispers, "Maybe you were right. I'll explain later."

[Tony Jones]

" What DO you know about him? Or about what he could do?"

"I know he has electrical powers," replies Khemis. "And that someone tried to murder him because they only suspected he was a Sunstormer. I wonder how many innocents have died because of that since the SUnstorm?"

"I know he spotted your goo... soldiers and asked for help. I know he could have run, but decided not to let his fear win. And that he's a decent man."

"Whatever you think he might do, as I said, I think he would have to be pushed a lot to do it..."

"Ugh, Khemis, I said he was skittish and you told him something only he knows and most likely has never told a soul," Deborah communicates to her. "Please dial it back. 'Sunstormer abilities' is not a calming statement. It just makes him more skittish. You have essentially told him there's a telepath invading his thoughts. Do you think that was a good idea?"

*Maybe not,* admits Khemis. *And I will try to dial it down. But he will figure this out eventually in any case. Maybe it's better to rip the band aid off...*

[kenmadragon]

Sunny frowns at Albert's message. He didn't seem panicked, which was a good thing. But why was Officer Helen Paladino, "Sanctioned Sunstormer" for the Chicago PD, visiting Albert? Today of all days? The woman had the subtlety of a bull in a china shop, and the stubbornness to match. Those goons stalking Albert would have spotted her meeting with Albert, and who knows what their reaction would be. A brief sojourn in super-speed allowed Sunny to ponder several possible reactions. Most of them were bad, but that just might be the cynic in him, worrying and fearing for the future.

He texts back, ">>Had some updates on your stalker situation. Paladino showing up might complicate things. It might get hairy soon. Text me with any updates. We can go over the details once I get there. Sit tight and stay safe.<<"


Of course, Sunny was also keeping an ear out for the conversation outside the balcony and down on the ground-level. Super-hearing was useful for that.

And, naturally, Khemis was coming off too strong and blunt when dealing with the paranoid spook. Just like he'd suspected she would. Was it rude if Sunny thought Deborah would have been infinitely better at soothing McMillan's fears? She was certainly an easier sight on the eyes, even as heavily disguised as she was.

He bit back a scoff when Khemis tried to play the morality angle. McMillan worked for the NSA. Invasion of privacy was their bread and butter. The problem wasn't that McMillan was stalking Albert, it was that he didn't have nearly as much control of the situation as he hoped to have. 'She should have pointed out that his attack-dogs are threatening to slip their leashes, and he's losing control of his Op. He does not have this handled in the slightest,' Sunny thought, in case Deborah was listening in.

From what Deborah was conveying to him, and what he could hear from McMillan himself... the man was being ruled by fear. Sunny could definitely empathize with that. He too was once ruled by fear. But it also meant that appealing to McMillan's better nature and mercy was not the right angle. It was fear that motivated McMillan, and Khemis seemed to be stoking his fear in all the wrong ways. She was filling his head with fears about other Sunstormers with powers he didn't know about, with agendas he didn't know, etc etc. In Sunny's mind, she should have been focusing more on reminding him that this operation is already doomed, that McMillan was losing control of the entire situation, and that the only way to salvage it without creating a further mess is to abort before it's too late.

When Deborah whispered to him, he shot her a wry smile, shrugging. There was little they could do about it now. They had made their bed, and now they had to lie in it... and let Khemis do the talking.

He shot Deborah a text, remembering that she'd mentioned earlier that all their phones were on a low vibrate, that should hopefully be unnoticed by McMillan as he was occupied with Khemis. ">>Tell her to stop focusing on what Albert might do and more on the fact that those black-ops thugs he's got on this off-books op already blew their cover, and are compromising their own surveillance. That they're not trained for this kind of thing. That he is losing control of the situation, and he knows it. And that the longer he tries to keep this going, the bigger the fallout is going to be when they inevitably blow it. He needs to shut it down now, while he still can, before he loses control of the situation entirely. McMillan is in over his head. He should know that, even if he doesn't wanna admit it.<<"

[jmucchiello]

Deborah nods and communicates to Khemis, "Maybe don't focus on Albert. Focus on McMillan losing his grip on the attack dogs he set to surveil sunstormers. You only know about Albert. Ask him if he's got other death squads watching other sunstormers. What will he do when they start to slip their leashes? He can guess you/we were listening in on Ebert's report. Just don't mention that we know he has other sunstormers under surveillance by name."

(Although, Deborah hopes to use the question to bring to the surface thoughts about other operations McMillan is running.)

[Tony Jones]

*OK,* Khemis replies to Deborah.

"Though on a more practical note," she continues to McMillan. "Your soldiers are not exactly subtle in their surveillance, and have already blown their cover, which has compromised what they are doing. And from what your team leader said just now, it sounds like they are nearly out of your or anyone's control in any case! And if a special forces team goes rogue in a major urban area, how is that not as great as problem as any Sunstormer? With potentially huge political repercussions? The headlines about death squads practically write themselves. What is your plan to deal with that possibility?"

"And have you got any other teams like them looking at other Sunstormers you think might be dangerous? Are they as close to going out of control as this one? With the same bad outcome?"

[Neo-Paladin]

---Helen-----

But he seems to be gone. Whoever this guy is, he's great at urban camouflage. However, suddenly, she hears a female voice behind her, accompanied by the click of a gun being readied.
" Back off, lady. This is as far as you go."
There is something in that voice...something she knows...the excitement at the prospect of violence.

---Sunny---

Albert responds: " She's not that bad, actually. Just angry. Still, you probably shouldn't get in her way, might make things worse."

---Khemis----

There is a heavy pause...before finally, McMillan reengages the safety and removes his hand from the gun. " F*ck!" he curses and he seems to deflate as he hisses out the obscenity. Suddenly, he just looks very, very tired...

[Shadowmask]

Helen didn't turn around though she didn't put her hands up neither. Her hands were close to her gun but unfortunately not that close. The bimbo would shoot her instantly. She spoke with her usual snarky tone:

"Threatening a Chicago public official such as police officers or any other public services provider is a Class 3 felony for a first offense and can carry up to five years' imprisonment and a $5,000 fine. So, which government agency hole did you crawl out from? It's hard to keep track of all the groups that love using the words of the alphabet for titles although I'm not really one to talk. I am part of the CPD after all."