Mage - The Spiral [IC]

[Fanog]

Taylor's townhouse
London, England
October 2002, around 9 PM

The man next to Taylor slowly raises an eyebrow at his comments. Taylor can feel the car begin to move, the engine giving a soft humming as they make their way through the streets of his neighbourhood, possibly heading for the ringway.

The man's voice is slow, giving the impression that he is weighing each word to make his point. "It's interesting that you should mention that. I can relate to what you mention, and I guess you could say that it is at least partly the reason why we are talking. All of these people live their lives caring only about themselves, obllivious to the fact that they are ultimately not the centre of the universe. Do you know where this would lead, each and every person on this planet caring only about themselves, and not recognizing the need for cooperation and a strategy? ...I can tell you - It would lead to total chaos."

He takes a moment to let the words sink into the young man next to him, but continues before Taylor has a chance to interject him. "It is this chaos that we are here to prevent, this is the task of the organisation that I represent. Humanity has demonstrated on quite a number of occasions that they need some guidance. It is this that we provide. Our organization is always on the lookout for like-minded individuals, those who can see beyond their own needs and the needs of the individual, those who have vision and are willing to develop a course for humanity. Are you interested?"

OoC: Taylor

 

[loxmyth]

Jason Siddique was angry. The man's words had echoed in his brain for a while after that; even the sweet, sweet liquour couldn't totally erase the man's words. Tucked away in some obscure corner of the city, the little Irish pub he'd sought out carried his current poison of choice, and it was here he came for refuge against the deluge of the outer world.

"I'm not crazy, you are," he whispered into his beer, imagining the small man was the reflection that stared back at him at the bottom of his mug. His reflection, distorted into a horrible mask of caprice and cruelty in the golden liquid, remained silent.

"Mister Siddique, you can not out-run or out-drink them... Fleeing in fantasy will only bring them closer"

Snorting, he tried to shake his head for the umpteenth time in an attempt to clear it. "Can't remember my own phone number most days... but some nut on the street spouts off craziness and it's like I got an eidetic memory or something."

Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he set it down and looked at the resultant little stain. No, an apple tree, that's what it was, tall proud and strong. Fishing out a pen from the depths of his pockets, he started fleshing out what he saw in his mind's eye on the scrap of paper.

 

[Fanog]

On the Court, Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
October 2002

The rest of the Nuggets player's give Leo a quick greeting as he steps onto the court again, some of them with a take-it-easy look in their eyes. But those looks are pretty soon forgotten after the game starts again... The tension picks up again, the fans cheering while the home team breaks even by the start of the third period.

Leo plays okay, he's scoring his points and doing his job. He just can't shake that nagging feeling that he's missing something...

OoC: Leo
_______________________

Streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
night, October 2002

Night finds Jason in an alley somewhere in Boston. He doesn't recognize where he is, but it looks to be somewhere in the not-so-good neighboorhoud. What's more, he doesn't even remember how he got there in the first place.

He has had black spots before, caused by too much to drink. That fuzzy feeling that the memories became dimmer and dimmer until the moment that they just seem to stop. Jason gets the distinct impression that this is somehow different. He can perfectly recall everything that happened, up unto some point. And he hadn't had that much to drink. He was just sitting in the bar, draining another glass and setting pen to paper to draw something. From that moment on...
nothing.

OoC: Jason
_______________________

As the young woman walks, her darks curls bounce around her face. She is wearing a brilliant smile, sparks can almost be seen twinkling in her eyes. "Hi, Albert. How did I do? Kind of sad I think, this probably being my last one here for a while."

The cat gives her an affectionate smile and pours her a glass of wine. "You did just fine, and I sure hope I'll see you back her some time. I'd like you to meet Charles Arctor. Charles, Carrie."

The woman shakes Charles hand, a look of recognition coming upon her face. "Oh yeah, I think I saw you playing here a while ago. Yeah, I think you had a good set there. You've got a great voice. Say, I'm going to go east tomorrow, finally got myself a big break. If you're ever around, give me a call, maybe hang out, or try playing something."

She hands Charles a piece of paper with a phone number scribbled upon it. Charles recognizes the piece of paper as the one he gave her at the bar that night. It even has his own phone number on it...

"Hey, I could introduce you to the man who made my dream come true. Maybe he can also do somthing for you? - What do you say?"

OoC: Charles

 

[loxmyth]

Streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
night, October 2002

"I am slowly going crazy..." Jason sings to himself softly, a simple jingle from his childhood. He feels unimaginably tired, like he's aged four decades or run a marathon or had his puppy die. He feels physically, mentally and emotionally... exhausted.

What was going on today? He really couldn't say. All he knew was that things had been getting stranger and stranger as the day wound on. And he could trace it all back to that strange little man. He knew he should be even more confused and put out by the whole experience, but frankly, he was beyond that at the moment.

He put a hand against the wall to steady himself, put a hand to his temple. "One-two-three-four-five-six switch."

Lurching forward, he emerged at the head of the alleyway and peered around in the deep darkness. "Crazy going slowly am I," He straightens with effort, and then strides out into the middle of the street giggling insanely. "Six-five-four-three-two-one switch."

He scans the horizon, trying to gain his bearings and head towards a main street or at least some place familiar. Someplace to go to sleep so he can wake up from this dream.

 

[Mickerus]

Charles accepts the note and looks it over before pocketing it hastily at the realisation that not only is it his number, but is in his own handwriting as well.

"Ah, pleased to meet you. Sure, I'll have a talk with the guy, though I don't really know what good it would do. How long were you planning on hanging back, anyway? I think this cat was wanting me to play something tonight."

As he stands, Charles takes a quick glance downwards, and sighs in relief at the affirmation. That's a relief; I hate the no-pants dreams...

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Taylor looks somewhat puzzled by the end of the doctor's speech. "I'm sorry, but I'm rather curious as to why you've come to me. I don't have any real interest in politics, I'm committed to my studies."

He's silent for a moment, then continues, "Your driver mentioned your field as being 'applied philosophy.' What did he mean by that?"

 

[kuroshidaku]

Ty raises his eyes at the driver's tirade.

Sheesh, this guy's a looney. Oh well, at least this is sorta the right direction.

He hangs on, enjoying the ride as best he can.

"Yeah, they should really learn their place" Ty agrees, not really comprehending the man's anger. However, having just escaped being run over, he was happy to accept the man's comments.

Ty's gaze wanders around the sports car, trying to find some clues about who this this maniac driver was. He prayed he wasn't just going to end up in a worse accident.

 

[Keia]

On the Court, Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
October 2002

Leo played through the quarter, faking the opponent out, making his shots, playing defense - but something didn't feel right. Not surprising considering what's been going on today, Leo pondered.

As he played and when he rested on the bench, Leo tried to figure out what was missing. He checked himself physically, flexing and tensing muscles to make sure they all still worked and had the appropriate pop. He checked his vision, but didn't look into the crowd. Was it my edge? Leo thought, Nah, I'm still as aggressive as ever.

'Only when I run up and down the mountain again' . . . does that mean I've done it already before? Was it my slam? Leo thought. Well, let's see if it was . . he thought as he went for another slam.

 

[Fanog]

On the Court, Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
October 2002

Leo soon found a moment for another slam dunk, and went up with great agility. Just as he pushed off, it struck him... He was actually holding back.

At the beginning of the game he had been so tense, so desperately looking to shake the fatigue from his muscles. He had to give everthing to perform despite the fuzz in his head, had to go all-out.

As Leo flew to the basket and slammed the ball in, he could tell that he was really holding back now, he wasn't pushing nearly as hard as he had done the first minutes of the game.

OoC: Leo
_______________________

Carrie takes a look at her watch before answering. "Well, he was supposed to pick me up here, so I guess he'll be here any minute. I'll just introduce you to him, and see if I can persuade him to listen to you play. You seem like a great guy, and I think you deserve that. Mind you, I can't promise anything..."

The woman looks beyond Charles, noticing something at the entrance. "Oh there he is. I'll be back in a moment."

Charles takes a look around, seeing a short asian-looking man with graying hair, standing in the door opening.

OoC: Charles
_______________________

Cambridge Streets
Cambridge, England
October 2002, late evening

The young fellow knows how to drive, and he seems to handle the speed quite well. There is one quite close call where he doesn't quite see a pedastrian trying to cross, but the woman gets out of the way just in time.

Ty looks around the car, spotting a file folder thrown on the dashboard. There's a logo in white and green and the name "Brewer Investments" written in grey blocky letters.

The driver turns his face to Ty, his staring look seems like he only really sees Tyrone for the first time just now. "So, what is it that you do, normally?"

OoC: Ty
_______________________

en route to the M6
London, England
October 2002, around 9 PM

"Right, we know that you are more of an independent researcher than you are a politician. You must know that we are not engaged in politics. See, people have the tendency to respond awkwardly if they know that they are being governed. They like to have a choice, and freedom. This is why we rarely intervene directly."

"Our work is more subtle than that. We are more focused on the contraints of human society. This is what I like to call applied philosophy. It will become clearer to you later on, I am sure. We use global innovations to steer humanity along its course. To lay this course and to bring it to the people, we need person like yourself."

OoC: Taylor

 

[Fanog]

Streets of Boston
Boston, Massachussets
2 am, October 2002

Jason stumbles through some alleys and small streets, receiving little attention from the few people still on the streets. A church bell lazily informs him that it's two in the morning.

As he makes another turn, Jason finally comes across a street he recognizes, one that cuts through most of the city. As he reaches the street, he spots a city bus some hundred yards off. It's heading in his direction and will soon pass him. The bus appears to be empty save for the driver, but the sign tells Jason that the bus is heading for the city centre, where his room is located.

OoC: Jason