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[Text]

This is Hank Anderson, and I recently got my promotion so it's now Det. Hank Anderson. Which is why I wanted to make this announcement.

[Hank still wants to research into the missing people and initiate his vague plan to devalue the iterations. Right now the public see them as a protective force for good. Hank wants the people to see other fucking people as their reliable protective force. That in the many variations of temperaments and personalities and creative resolutions to conflict, they can find their safety.]

I have a case that could use some assistance from some specialized outsiders. If you could come to me and lay out your experience and training, I would like to offer you temporary deputy work in helping solve this case.

Necessary qualifications include:
-Combat against armed opponents
-Negotiation and Interrogation
-Ability to secure an area until CSI arrives (cursory crime scene analysis a bonus)

Due to Dualis's policy on providing payment through credit, if you would want rewards we would have to attach a name to your activities. However if you'd want to work off-record [which is as close to anonymously as he can get] we could come to some sort of arrangement such as donated payment.

I'll be at the cat cafe to conduct interviews 4:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon for the next week. You can show up when it's convenient to talk. Sounds like a fucking weird place for it, yes, it'll make more sense when you're there.

I've also arranged for donated goods to be offered when people come in and might find themselves in a state of disrepair or any nicer version of saying fucked the hell up. New clothes, medical things like crutches for people with chronic conditions, sanitary supplies like soap and toothbrushes, things of that nature. So if you want to donate something to the people coming in there's a donation box in the dormitory's lower entryway and they'll be taken to the temple.

[Action]

Like he promises, Hank's waiting around at the cat cafe whenever someone shows up. Usually reading a book, sometimes bored, sometimes deeply into it. Right by his side though? A mammoth green cat, purring and resting her head against his arm. She's twitching her tail to and fro.

Hank is pretty sure he'll be able to tell if someone is bullshitting their credentials and whether they'll do intentional harm with their new role. It's hard to do background checks when different universes are involved, but he thinks he's figured out a way to beat the system without having to use any of the department's lie detectors.

Note: Plotting post here.

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He closes his eyes at the touch to the back of his neck, tilting his head forward a little to give Hank's thumb easier access. He's grinning fondly as he squeezes Hank's other hand in both his own, letting the pleasant warmth of that feeling flow through their connection.

"Thanks," he murmurs. "I'm sure there's somewhere we can keep a couple gallons of thirium."

At his part-time job, if it comes to it. It's not urgent - they've already established there's a lot more they need to take care of first.

"Did anybody else say they were coming down here?" he asks presently, taking one hand away from Hank's only to momentarily pet the cat who's realised it's not the centre of attention and is craning up to nose at his face.

Hank finds a bottle of very necessary beer to drink, because, yeah, he wasn't kidding about feeling that need for booze.

"That's a good idea, too. I don't think it damaged anyone's training. I've not been limited in any capacity." He can still throw down well. And from what he'd seen from that brief glimpse of Thane, maybe he hadn't been limited either. Unless this place somehow set him to being sick.

"No, not like that. The people still come back as they were when they die, up until they've been here for a year. And you and I? We're a couple of people that's been here the longest. Apparently the whole -bring people back- shit system isn't exactly the same as what the clones were. The clones just move in and take your place when they're done cooking. After that, they live as you did. All the same feelings, the same ability to get drunk, to build families. What the fuck ever."

He raises his hands and motions towards Squall. "The reason you can't do summons could be that chip in your head. Not sure. So no matter how strong we are? We can't do anything until we take care of that. 'Cause he could get a wild hair up his fuckin' computerized ass to turn everyone's powers off. Also that Suzaku guy? He didn't have to touch him. He just had him enclosed in as pace on his turf and fuckin' turned him right the hell off."

That's what's evident from the memory, anyway.

"We don't know yet who's who. Not many. Anyone who's been here longer than a year. Maybe some people that aren't with the Heart anymore."

He thinks of something that Thane just mentioned. "Hey, can you do me a favor? Can you go ask your buddies how your abilities were all limited? Thane's onto something I think; we can judge a little more about what he's done to us. Remember to do it where you got sound and visual cover, alright?" He's going to aggressively reinforce that.

"Only a couple of people. If anyone else shows up, it'll be with their names off the network." And he can't blame them. Right now he's using the excuse of people not wanting to reveal their secret identities as vigilantes to allow them to avoid naming themselves. But he can also see, now, how careful he'll have to be about showing what they can do.

"You know, despite everything? It feels good to be doing this again. Even if it's only a hot fuckin' minute... at least it's a good-bye to something I really loved doing, you know?"

Connor might have hated it. His context was horrible, as they'd just discussed. The goals nightmarish, and his own kind was terrified of him. But to Hank? He'd made the world a little better with it. He doesn't know how much it matters here, but he's glad to try.

"I imagine you never had to watch in the first place," but there's a jest in his tone, along with that smile, that suggests he's just trying to lighten the mood. Androids were strange in the first place, but affixing mortal traits to a being without an expiry date was foolhardy. Loki does, though, recognize it's not his place to say so.

"It sounds as though it's a useful talent, though, unpleasant to witness or no."

"It's hard not to watch when he gets started with that." He makes a 'blech' sort of noise, a comically overreactive one. But Loki is absolutely right. He didn't have to watch. But he 100% did.

"But yeah, I'll fuckin' deal with it because we need everything he could get. He was sensitive enough to be able to tell for certain that my DNA and the DNA of the clone's blood matched. He's also got facial recognition, so he could look through pictures and- ...shit, I gotta figure out how we can get him some online access."

They really need to find those two guys.

This whole thing makes his skin crawl and also makes him want to run his hands over every inch of his head. But he listens intently and he nods. Clones. Great. Just peachy.

"I know someone from the Heart who's been here a year. I go to her bar sometimes. She'll be in danger." And as much as he doesn't trust the Heart as a whole, he does kind of like Nick and doesn't want to see her dead. She'd have her clone and the Head coming after the Heart to worry about.

He shakes his head, trying to sort the information and his thoughts. "I'll tell my friends and ask the ones not from my world. It won't change my ability to summon if we turn off the chips. The Guardian Forces aren't here. They didn't arrive with any of us." He unfolds his arms to shrug off his jacket and pull up the short sleeve of his shirt, showing off a tattoo of a stylized lion on a shield. "But some of us did get the magic tattoos from the city. We'll be able to use some magic if we have to." He pulls his jacket back up.

"We have plans to gather our own resources. It might be a good idea to keep those separate for now but I'll let them know they can trust you."

"I think I know who you're talking about. And she already knows. She doesn't have a chip anymore- the Heart pulled it out. She's immortal- somethin's up with her, fuck if I know exactly what, but whatever they learned from pulling out her chip can't apply to someone like us."

But Hank stops and puts his hands up.

"Squall. Please listen to me. Making plans now is a bad idea." He wants to be harder. He wants to scream and curse and talk about how stupid that fucking is. But he won't, 'cause this is a child soldier, and while it does mean soldier it also means young and too ready to fight.

"It's not just that he can turn off your powers. It's that he can turn you off. Just like that. And then there are eight to nine million people in this one goddamn city. This is a huge place. Each one of them can be triggered to swarm you like a bad zombie movie. And they're not going to take turns and come at you one by one, you won't get time to rest and he's not going to pick just the big burly fuckin' men to go after you. He's going to pick everyone, regardless or age and gender, and they will tear you apart.

"And we don't know where the fuck he is. That temple? Might just be his face. Like... you know the computers in our room. The screen is in one place, but all the information is in the box, right? The tower- whatever it's called. All our memories and everything are being kept in a server farm and if you go after him from what we know, you might just punch the screen while the rest of him is just fine, still active, still watching.

"Now, trust me, please. I do wanna fuckin' attack him and take it out. But wouldn't you rather those nine-million people be on our side, or at least not a risk? They're both his victims and his tools. And wouldn't you rather know for absolute sure we're hitting the right place?"

He raises his eyebrows at the revelation about Nick. Well, that changes some things.

But then Hank continues to talk and his own expression darkens a little, a scowl forming. He's not looking to attack without a plan. He knows this is bigger than that. Even though Hank isn't wrong to think so. He's a soldier, a mercenary. His whole purpose is to fight.

He shakes his head, impatient and he's folding his arms again. He sounds annoyed.

"We're not going to just attack. We're not that stupid." As much as he wants to. And he does grip his arms as he says that, equal parts frustration and anger at the situation. "There's not enough information. I'm not risking everyone's lives for that. We have until our year is up before our clones are ready, so we'll prepare, then fight."

He loosens his grip to gesture with a hand, the petulant anger making way to a far more steeled expression - the kind expected of a soldier.

"I'll help you, whatever else you find. You'll know if I do too. But if the time comes and the city is still under the Head's control, I'll do whatever it takes." Give his life. Die trying.

"Last I checked, your eyes move, as does your head." But his tone is still teasing, still light-hearted. He's beginning to understand Hank has a soft spot for Connor, and he understands he watches because he cares.

At the last, Loki arches an eyebrow and looks over to his new friend. "It sounds as though you need access codes. I happen to be handy at...acquiring though. Who would have them? If they take a nap for an hour or so while someone else wears their face, who's to be the wiser?"

"Me? No." He shakes his head, but he's not particularly put out about it. "Hank got here before I did, and he has a lot more experience. I only ever worked one case."

For about three days. Of his three month life. He's not really surprised he hasn't been promoted yet.

"I don't blame them for being paranoid, all things considered." He jerks his head towards wherever Hank is in the room - meaning, what Hank just told them. "But they have to offer us something in return for what they're asking."

He looks thoughtful as he takes a bite of cake...but didn't realise that cake is very crumbly and half of it falls apart in his hand. Smooth. He stares at it in sudden consternation.

"That one meeting they had with us..." And, pretending that didn't happen, he puts the remains of the cake on a paper plate instead and turns back to Squall. "Were you there? Did they talk to you?"

Edited (just realised I lost part of my tag omfg) 2019-11-30 23:06 (UTC)

"I know you're not that stupid, just- Just please, hear me out. Any plan against the Head right now, isn't enough of a plan." He counts on his fingers, genuinely taking tally of things they need to know, but they need that fuckin' dead ass nerd and the other person to do that. "We gotta find out what'll happen to utilities if he's turned off. We gotta see if he's got some sorta explosive failsafe. If this is the only city. If he'll release that disease again as a defense and start over."

There's a fuck of a lot to be worried about. Especially now that the Heart did something as stupid as they did. Fuck, they could have just told them! They would have believed them. But they went and made the Head mad and made it crack down.

"And I really just don't wanna see you fuckin' die. I want 'noble fucking death' to be the very last thing on the list. I want as many of us to live as possible." He just learned to handle his own life a little better. He doesn't want to go and watch people with so much more potential than him. "And that's not just an idealism thing. That idiot with the Heart was right about one thing, I really think we can do this with the right intelligence. And I'm absolutely fucking sure, without a doubt, we can do the best version of it if we're patient.

"Okay. Right now I've been using my current case to find some places to hide out. I avoided using iterations for the investigation so I was able to find where people had already been successfully been hiding from them and keep it private. So we can use those. Can your guys help us map out the underground and the areas around the city? I can keep digging up up some above-ground spots."

Connor actually grins. "I'd hope he would." He's not sure if Hank was clear about the meaning of partner - maybe it's one of the perks of having gone from genuine police partners to...a more general and romantic meaning - but either way, it's still nice to hear Hank's mentioned him to someone. In a good way.

"Loki, right - he mentioned you." Didn't 'mention' him so much as think about him directly into Connor's mind, but that's a good enough placeholder for now. "You figured out the doubles weren't finished, right? We were talking about it.

"You're not a cop, right?" Connor would have seen him around if he were - even if Connor is just a traffic cop.

"You don't have to say good-bye to it," he says, and means it. Even if Connor doesn't want to be in the same field, Hank needs his own life. He needs something that makes him feel like he's doing something, here and home, wherever home ends up being. No functioning police department will ever let them work together anyway. "You're good at it. You're a good cop - a good person. We need good people."

He's still referring to cops as 'we', somehow. Maybe he's not totally divorced from this just yet.

"Just because I don't want to do it anymore, doesn't mean you shouldn't."

Well, back home.. I was part of a program called project rebirth so I basically am a super-soldier. I am one of the only ones since the guy that made the serum was killed after he injected me.

But I have enhanced hearing, sight, strength, agility. Is that what you're looking for?

He snorts at that first bit (and Loki's not wrong). But still, come on.
Trainwrecks happen.

"Well, that bit we need to disable the Head's limitations on him for- But at the PD... Maybe we can use that on days we know he won't be doing much and we need Connor to do something and he needs a double."

Somehow Hank assumes he won't be doing anything important.

"Did he? Only good things, I hope." He smiles playfully, though. Even when serious, it was rare that Loki came off as such. He nodded at the young man's question. "I did, yes. There was no other explanation, really."

But when Connor asks whether or not he's a cop, he laughs, shaking his head. "Heavens, no, at least...not at the moment. Consider me a...concerned citizen. I take personal offense to being replicated, especially so poorly."

Super soldier? [Well that is pretty useful. And even though he asks a question there, he gets it. Enhanced hearing, sight, strength, agility.... Yup, he's on board.]

Do you know how much has been limited by the Head?

Drug dealers.

[storm clouds overtake jason's expression as he repeats those words. most of the rest of what hank says slips right through jason's ears, because drug dealers is one of his big trigger buttons, and all he can think for a moment is how incredibly fucked up it is that they're stuck here in this city with machines that want to kill them all, and there are still people here who want to hurt and take advantage of others in this specific way.]

Well, lucky for you, I can be pretty damn scary when I put my mind to it. And I'm bettin' I can be scarier than this dealer, so ... I'll get 'em to talk.

"I do, though. I need to recognize when I've hit a hard limit about doing the right thing." He picks up Connor's hand and kisses it again. He doesn't know why he enjoys it. Maybe it's just that he likes scruffing his facial hair against his knuckles as he does.

"If the Detroit PD was asking me to send a man to his death for not being a good enough of an investigator, I had no place there."

And here, he knows he'll hit a hard line of being a decent person, too.

I think if you can convince them that you can keep them from getting mutilated or something, that'd help, too.

[They're still trying to dig through details.]

I'm sure there are some average civilians in the area that are sick and fucking tired of her, too.

"I happen to have a talent for making it appear someone is in two places at once." He'll respect Hank's desire not to speak on it anymore. For now.

"Useful, I suppose."

"That's a damn useful thing. Honestly it's a lot more useful than anything else I can contribute."

He's being rough on himself, but also trying to be aware of his limitations. Yeah, he dug up a lot of info here, but that's about the best he can do. Other than shooting a gun relatively well and being a big guy that can stand up decently to a beat down by other piddly mortals like himself, he's has given about as much as he can give.

"Sorry if I didn't sound appreciative. I do need your help. I really fuckin' do. Thanks. I mean it."

Squall presses his lips together, grim and trying not to be impulsively annoyed. He shakes his head.

"When I said plan, I mean gathering resources. Money, shelter, weapons, food. We have nothing to fall back on if another blackout happens or if we get hunted. My friends and I have a place but it's too far out of the city and our clones found us there already. Seifer is making weapons there..."

He inhales slowly. "I don't want to die. I don't want anyone else to. But we have to be prepared if it happens." He ducks his head. "If it comes down to it, I rather it be me."

He wants his friends to go home and live a better life, okay? He looks back again, focusing back on tasks.

"We can look underground."

Squall sees that cake crumble, stares for a second, and then looks to the side. Totally didn't see anything. We good.

"I was there. I didn't talk to them." He did listen though. "It doesn't feel like they agree with one another. If it comes down to it, they might sacrifice us to save themselves." And he can't really blame them for that either.

Though, hang on. He turns back to Connor with surprise.

"You can eat?" He refused the ice cream before, didn't he?

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