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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fletch137" data-source="post: 1596346" data-attributes="member: 19337">chapter 2It looks like it's going to be weekly updates for this story.  Hope I finish before the release of D20 Trinity.  By the way, I'm pretty new to the Story Hour format, so I'd appreciate whatever feedback you'd care to offer.  Especially along lines of ideal post/chapter length and which works better dialogue or exposition.  Thanks for reading.********Chapter 2The lights flickered on as Rick entered his apartment.  He moved directly to his small kitchenette, putting his small bag of groceries on the counter before turning to see if the two strangers had even entered the apartment behind him.  They had, of course.  The man moved confidently to the sofa in the main room while his partner remained standing by the front door.  She didn’t seem to be guarding it, she just didn’t look as comfortable as the man did entering a stranger’s home.“I know what you’re thinking, Rick,” the man said.“Then it looks like you left your Ministry uniform behind,” he replied.“I don’t have to be a telepath to know what’s going on in that head of yours,” he explained.  “If I had parted ways unfavorably with Proxy del Fuego, I’d be thinking the same thing if I saw a stranger of my creed hanging about my door.   “Let me put you at ease, friend.  I’m not from the Norca, I represent another, larger organization.”“You’re Aeon,” Rick reasoned.“Special agent Hector Ramirez.”  He leaned forward and extended his hand.  Rick didn’t take it right away.  He wanted some other things cleared up first.“And her?”The woman spoke up then, offering her own name to the conversation.  “Rena Hafzalla.”  Now that he had a better look at her, he could see she was of Middle Eastern origins.  Her name suggested she was probably Egyptian.  “I think it’s fair to warn you that I’m a clear.”Which told Rick how right he was not to bother running.  There were very few places Rick could go that a clairsentient couldn’t find him again.  There was really only one place he could think of, and he hoped to never go back there.  It was best that he confronted them in the comfort of his own home.“So, what brings the Trinity knocking on the door of an ex-Norca outcast?”“We’re hoping we could draw on some of your experiences from when you were with the order,” answered Ramirez.“If you’re looking for Pai de Norca’s dirty secrets, you’re going to have to look somewhere else.”“I’m not looking for secrets, I’m looking for experience.  We’ve found ourselves a puzzling mystery that may require your special skills to solve.”“You want me to become an Aeon agent?”“Not yet, there’s a certain period of observation and probationary-““Forget it.”“Or you could just be an associate free-lancer, however you want to work it,” Ramirez tacked on. “Where does she come in?”The clear had been so quiet, Rick had almost forgotten she was there.  She blended into the background almost as well as Rick did himself.  He didn’t want to repeat the mistake of forgetting about her.  “You’d be working closely with her,” answered Ramirez.  Rick had been hoping the woman would answer for herself, but the agent had spoken up before she had a chance to.  “Rena’s worked with us in the past to help us find things.  Her gifts give her a real advantage in that area, but where we need help is with what goes down when we find it.”“What is it you’re looking for?”For the first time in the conversation, Ramirez wasn’t ready with an answer.  In the brief pause, his eyes darted from Rick to Rena and then back again.“We’re not sure.”“Well, let me know how that turns out, then,” dismissed Rick.  Turning his back to the two, he started to unpack his waiting groceries.“But we suspect Aberrant involvement.”  The words seemed heavier coming from the Egyptian woman.  Rick stopped in mid-motion and turned to face them, still holding a container of soy meal.“If you have an Aberrant, you’re going to need more than a clear and a shapeshifter.  You’re going to need an entire Legion company.”“And I’m sure we’d get one, if we had an actual Aberrant to show them,” retorted Ramirez.  “Right now, we only have suspicion of.”“And you need proof before anybody will make a move.”“That’s about the size of things.”Ramirez let the room sink into silence.  Rick had faced down a couple Aberrants during his time with the Guerreros do Berco.  He’d had an entire Norca strike team on his side, and even then there’d been casualties.  If Ramirez’ mystery did lead to an Aberrant, things would get messy with only the two psions facing it.  At the same time, no Warrior of the Cradle, even an ex-warrior like himself, could bear to have an Aberrant running loose on Earth or its colonies.“Free-lance?”“Hired by the job.”“Then I guess you should start filling me in on what you do know.”</blockquote>

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