Jonah Tanner's Story

"Don't do it Liam!" Jonah yelled as he held on to Liam by the collar of his shirt. Some jerk just rushed passed them and knocked them both down, and Liam being hungry or thirsty or whatever, wanted to teach him a lesson by draining him dry.

"Come on! Just a little!" Liam pleaded as he dragged Jonah, who had his heels to the ground and both hands on his collar, across the room. "He deserves it!"

It was kind of hillarious, since they both looked ten. BUt if you knew their backstory, their history, you would realize this was them coping. Both of them watched their families get murdered right in front of them before they got cursed.

"No! Stop Liam!" Jonah told him as he continued to get dragged across the room. "I have a blood pack for you in my bag!"

"But the guy is an asshole!" Liam whined.

"He is not worth getting into trouble for!" Jonah shouted.

"Okay" Liam said, finally stopping and causing Jonah to slide across the floor and nearly trip down the stairs. Luckily, Jonah managed to get a hold of the railing, and transmute it so that it stopped him from falling by bending it across the stairs and giving him something to land on that wouldn't break his neck. Liam ran over, and helped him get up as the railing returned to normal. "Oops. Sorry".

"Its okay. Lets just find someone to talk to. We need to get started somewhere, and I want to get started out in the field" Jonah told him, and the two kept walking forward. Liam was a vampire, and Jonah a Sorcerer. And while Jonah did not admit it, it wasn't okay. There were any number of spells he could have used that would have been a lot easier then transmuting the railing, but transmuation was for some reason instinctual for him. Most people just considering transmuation as something that lets you turn silver to gold or something like that. And maybe for those people, that's all it was. But Jonah could transmute anything he touches into all sorts of things, so long as it "made sense". Like, he could not turn a stick into a sword, but he could turn a pen into a sword.

Of course, the two of them got lost. Twice. They were not used to the building. Jonah was carrying a dufflebag with him containing a variety of things. It was also warded so if anyone tried to open it without his permission, enough electricity would go through their bodies to make them rethink that. Liam might have been an accidental test subject to its effectiveness.

Speaking of Liam, Jonah passed him a Bloodbox. It was a juicebox filled with blood. Of course, Liam was still eyeing any source of blood that got too close....except for this one fat guy. His blood actually make Liam get repulsed, even though he was bleeding. A papercut. "Exactly what made you avoid him?"

"His blood smelled like bacon. Now, granted, I like bacon. But holy shit, that blood had more cholesterol in it then actual blood. I might be hungry, but even that blood is off menu".

"Nice to know I am not the only person who you don't have any desire to drink from" Jonah mentioned.

"Hey. Technically, the only person I ever drained fully was that one serial killer and the drug dealer. And both of them had it coming. And I don't do babies either, despite the fact they have the purest, richest blood I have ever smelled..."

"Liam, you are drooling. Which, given the topic, is creepy".

"Oh, sorry. Need to drink faster" Liam mentioned, drinking the blood faster. Jonah was just glad the awkward conversation was over.

"Yes, please do. You start the creepiest conversations when hungry".

Then, they finally found the receptionist. "Hi, yes. My name is Jonah Tanner, and this is my friend Liam Mitchell. We are the new recruits".

She looked at them, and responded with a voice Jonah took as insulting. "Aren't you both a little young".

Liam quickly grabbed Jonah as he tried to claw his way to her, holding him back. "We...are....both...cursed! And I am a Vampire! My friend here who hates being talked to in that voice is a sorcerer! We were both cursed by a witch to be kids forever! Now, who are we supposed to talk to?"

As the woman got to showing them around, Jonah listened while Liam was still a little....aggressive. But he was not done drinking yet, so that was understandable. When she introduced myself, Jonah introduced them. "My name is Jonah. Sorcerer, and I am a LOT older then I look. My friend Liam here is too, plus he is a vampire".

"Did he mention we were cursed to be this age forever?" Liam mentioned inbetween sips. "I swear, when we find that witch, I am ripping her damn head off".

Jonah looked towards Val. "He gets a bit more agressive when he is hungry. Luckily, we have a deal. I keep him out of trouble, he keeps me out of trouble. And he should remember we can't kill her in case she is the only one who can break the curse, remember?"

Liam pouted. "I can at least make her suffer right?"

"Yeah yeah, though look at it this way. At least we got to meet Frank Sinatra in person. Aren't you still obsessed with him?" Jonah told him, before looking at Val. "I think your doing a great job by the way. Don't mind Liam too much, this is just a sensitive topic that makes him want to rip off heads, and me set things on fire".

"And cause all that stuff to happen in France" Liam mused. "And for the record, how can anyone not be obsessed with Sinatra?"

"At least what happened there was better then what happened in Vegas" Jonah retorted, before focusing back on their guide. "Alright, Liam, scout them all out and find us the biggest available room".

As she finished explaining things and Liam got back, they heard various loud noises. "Is...that a werewolf with her? Is it a friend or a foe?"

The two of them had encountered werewolves before. Some of them would not be happy to see them again. One of them at least still wants to eat them. And...Jonah noticed that Liam was playing a Sinatra song via his headphones. Still, when Val went to go investigate, they got curious as well. Liam quickly put their backpacks in the room, and then they ran towards the noises.

And then, they met some other people, as well as seeing some vampire scientist appear behind this one guy. Liam and Jonah stayed out of it, but they did not feel good about this whole situation. There was a possibly out of control werewolf in the area, and they were the least familiar to the beast they were pretty sure. Which probably meant the beast would be most likely to attack them.

As a result, Jonah put himself into position. Jonah could use magic reguardless of what position he was in, but certain parts of his magic worked better when he moved a part of him, or had physical contact with something. Should the werewolf come after them, there was a pen inside his right sleeve that he could transmute into a sword, as well as being fully ready to raise a barrier around them.

Liam looked towards the others. "Is this common?"

Alexander rubbed the bridge of his nose, throwing the papers he was looking through onto the dimly lit desk in front of him. Paper work had become his bane recently, the organization seemingly always needing more forms to be filled or more requests seemed to appear on his desk. Sitting back in his chair he gazed emptily towards the door. Despite this being his personal room, he had arranged it very much like an office, a large imposing desk in the center of the room, facing the door. The rest of his furniture was arranged around the sides of rooms.

A noise drew Alexander's empty thoughts back into reality, screaming. He already had a pretty good idea on what it was, and who had caused. As soon as the screaming stopped he dismissed it from his mid as he went back to silently cursing the papers in front of him. It was only when he heard a large crashing sound that his interest finally peaked and drew him from his seat and out of his room.

It did not take him long before he laid his eyes upon the group of people in the corridor. He came to the conclusion that Kora could not of been far as he soon spotted Dr Kovalekno. He took note of the others who had been gathered by the noise including two faces which Alexander did not recognize and seemed rather young. " A Truly impressive amount of noise this time Oren.... how long do you reckon till she reverts?" he said towards the vampress, He actually needed to speak with the she-wolf, but that required her to be in a talkative mood, and less furry.

Arturus was the first to make the 32,000 foot jump to the surface, armed with a silenced Vector and a silenced USP-45. An Israili militia outpost was their target, reecently made contact with a small faction of god knows what. Arc was still getting used to this whole supernatural side of the world, but it didn't bother him. S.C.I.O.N. paid his bills, and that's all he was worried about at this point.

They landed half a click south of the encampment, covered by the pitch black night. Arc took point, leading him and two others through a small patch of trees, emerging five minutes later near a fence. Two patrol guards were fairly close. Instead of raising an alarm and killing them, he let them pass.

"Alright, cut it J"

His second took out a small pair of bolt cutters, and chopped a human sized hole through the fence.

Arc took a look around, the outpost was fairly light on personnel, then he heard the trucks. 3 at 2:00 heading into the barracks, 2 at 12, 2 at 10:00, two trucks incoming, estimate 4 in each vehicle. thankfully, smoke grenades were a great distraction. The three made their way through the fence, and tossed a smoke about 15 yards to their left, drawing the attention of the patrols long enough for them to slip inside the barracks undetected. Three inside, headshots finished them quickly. Now, the real fun began. Arc threw another smoke from the door, his sqadmates throwing two stun grenades, all in different directions. Now that the soldiers were good and confused, the three of them exited the barracks, easily dispaching the heavily confused guards, then burning the place to the ground.

Their walk back to the LZ was silent.

Arcturus arrived back at camp before daybreak, and had managed to sneak into the kitchen before anyone had noticed his late night dissapearance, except, of course, the staff. They usually didn't say much to Arc, but that was mostly based on the fact that he wouldn't say much back. The only one he had any sort of an acquaintance-ship with would've been Rafael, Arc thought they had some similarities. He poured himself a small glass of milk, and proceeded to his room. His path was temporarily blocked by a young wolf dashing past. He paid no attention, and continued on his way, he had work to do, his gun was dirty.

Rafael holstered the luger and shrugged. "Trust me when I say this, there are far worse things that can run free..." he turns to leave
"Oh, and doctor, if you ever want to see a real demon" he would motion to Kora, "You need only ask" he walked down to the kitchen and made his way to the freezer. Taking out a hot pocket he caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye. "Good to see you back, Arcturus." Putting the frozen ball of heart attack in to the microwave, he would turn and lean against the counter.

He didn't need to eat, being immortal, such things were not mandatory. How ever he had gotten in to the habit of having one the little frozen treats due to their varied flavors and he didn't have to worry about their negative health effects. He had found that during his...extended stay in life, he had to enjoy the little things in order to keep it down. His spine shivered the last time it had made its existence known. He felt his mind slip and he started to see flash backs of jungle trees and...No, he couldn't have a flash back now. He didn't need the questions it would bring, and didn't need to explain they story behind it. What brought him back to reality was the sharp Ding of the microwave.

Walking back to his room he bit the end off and smiled. Bacon, egg, and cheese was his favorite.

"Well it is a study on werewolf transformation. How else would I gather data?" Oren responded to Kate's apparent concern.
"Besides, nordic wolf, bred for war...she's been doing forced shifts since before she could write her name...assuming she's capable of that even at this stage."

Some more crashing from inside the room at the werewolf slmmed down on the table in the small kitchen and crushed the legs inwards, the researcher peered round the door whilst she endeavoured to answer Alexander's question.
-"Can't give an exact answer. Moon-based shifts stay in effect til moonfall. Battle shifts work until the fight is over. Shifts invoked for scientific study and upheld by the werewolf attempting to ruin my morning are a little hard to predict."

What prevented her from intervening directly was mostly that she was aware of the wolf's pathological hatred of her, and the likelihood of it trying to behead her on sight, regardless of whether Kora was deliberately doing this. You were still dealing with an animal, and it was still likely to act on instinct.

This was more a practical concern than one borne of fear. Oren wasn't really easily rattled. She didn't really want to end up damaging a useful asset (particularly not one with an influential family) and she also didn't really want to get mauled in the line of duty. It was hard to get things right when you were covered in werewolf bites. Her previous career had tsught her that.

Still, she wasn't concerned so much as she was irritated by the whole thing, and Rafael's comment provoked an eyeroll from the vampress.
"There are no 'real demons' in SCION, only big scary egos that possess people and cause their head to disappear up their-" Oren switched off into muttered hungarian that was, if one understood it, more than a little obscene. Her only cause to shift was the entrance of Roderic Montana, because, hey, if he wanted to get his hand bitten off, that was his affair.

Inside the rooms, the form of Kora was tearing the cupboards off the walls of the kitchen, biting clear through the tin cans that had been left in for whoever was going to occupy it and messily bolting some corned beef from a freshly ripped-open tin. The beast turned as Montana made his way in, and eyed him levelly, pressing its paw-like hands onto the linoleum.

As he spoke the sides of its mouth pulled back to show the full set of teeth, like a sort of wolfish approximation of a grin, and, as if taking his offer as a challenge, it sprang forwards at the man.

"So, I take this as a sign that this is normal" Liam mentioned to everyone. Meanwhile, Jonah was a little off put by what Oren said, having learned Hungarian and German to learn a strange dialect created by werewolves in the region. The dialect had then been adopted by the Coven of the Silver Spoon, which for the record sounded much better in both Hungarian and German then in English. Jonah had done research into this Coven even more so then normal Covens, because this Coven specialized in charms, illusions, and curses. Of course, none of their curse removal spells panned out, but it did give him insight.

"You know, you didn't have to go that far. Kinda obscene" Jonah told Oren. "Also, whats the deal with wolfy there? I didn't think werewolves liked to shift inside. If I recall correctly, Werewolves prefer to run in open environments, only shifting inside if nessisary. Oh, sorry, have not met yet. My name is Jonah, Jonah Tanner. And for the record, neither me nor Liam over there are actually ten. Its just a stupid curse we cant get rid of".

That was when they saw the wolf charging, and Jonah had a rapid reaction. It reminded him of a time, while he and Liam were in China chasing down some Monks known for curse removals, and a werewolf just happened to decide to hunt down supernatural creatures...for sport. Plus, there was that time near upstate Wyoming, where a pack of werewolves tried to kill them so that a demon would grant them full control and more power. Was not pretty.

Either way, Jonah conjured a barrier around everyone to protect them from the werewolf. It was a Level 3 Barrier spell, but it should be enough. Jonah's father taught him spells of varying difficulties in the form of levels. Each sorcerer family has their own way. The DuMonts use an Animal rating system, their most powerful spells being Dragon level. The Asters used an Alphabetical ranking system. The Tanner's used Levels...most of the time. Magic was unpredictable. While most spells can be rated, some can not. For example, Jonah's ability to transmute anything does not follow any level system because it was fluid. Turning copper into gold was easy, while creating a giant Stone Guardian out of pure stone was much more difficult.

"So, just curious" Liam mentioned. "Is this guy a friend or a foe? Its hard to tell with werewolves who transform like this. We know some werewolves who can actually control and remember their wolf forms though".

As Jonah kept the spell up. he waved his hand and the barrier reinforced itself. He didn't know if he actually needed it, but he figured attacking a possible SCION operative would make for a poor first impression. So he figured staying on defense was the best idea.

Meanwhile, Liam looked over at Alexander and the others. "So, can someone explain to me who everyone is and what is going on? Preferably before the werewolf makes bite marks out of my friend?"

"Hey! I can totally take on a werewolf if I need to! I just don't want to is all. If this wolf really is an SCION operative like I gather, I think killing, attacking, or wounding a SCION operative on the first day is a bad idea. Gives a poor first impression" Jonah remarked.

Alihambra reappeared in the hallway, mostly due to boredom and the group of people. Hearing Jonahs and Liams repeated questions, he leaned up against the wall and spoke. "The lobo there is Kora, Nordic wolf, big family, Dr. Oren here is a vampiro, Montana is our spy master, by the way, shes coming your way." he would get up and move out of the She-wolfs way. "I take it you already met Val, shes a Succubus, so you might want to keep an eye on her; Arcturus is...well Arcturus." he would motion to the bulk of the group. "Theirs my self, Rafael Alihambra aka the resident sorcerer, and last but not least, we have our dear Kate Opal...who if memory serves is the only one here older then my self....Oh, there is Wiseman as well. Kind of a introvert, side affect of being an Elder Vampiro"

He would put his gaze on Jonah, "Trust me Nino, you don't need to worry about using a barrier, as scary as she looks, Kora is in control, she just likes to piss Dr. Oren off." he would turn to Liam, "Sure, you could take her, its obvious you two are not children, not regular ones anyway; but Kora comes from a large and influential clan of Nordic Lycans, you mess with her, and her family eats you alive. "

Arcturus put the last spring back into his Vector, cocked it, and fired. The clip was, of course empty, so nothing came out the business end. He liked this gun, it was compact, accurate, and easy to manoeuvre. However, the M14 was his all time favourite, he'd be putting a request in with Val later, she was usually pretty good to give him what he wanted.

"Arcturus is...well Arcturus"

Arc immediately exited the room, to find that Kora had begun to destroy everything she had seen fit. Ol' Doc was at again. He made his way into the crowd, looking for a sign of why she was transformed in the middle of the fucking morning. Not that anyone really gave a damn, but this was his quiet time, before he'd start training again, preparing for their next mission, whatever it may be.

He made his way to Rafael. "More fucking experiments?" he said in a somewhat disgruntled voice. It did piss him off that they could just lock anyone they pleased in a room and force them into doing as they pleased. God damn bullshit, the one plus was that Arc is human, they didn't give a shit about him.

"What's with the kids, field trip?" he looked down at one of them, covered in some kind of magic, Arc didn't really care what it was, but it did look like some sort of forcefield.

He made his way closer to Kora, before lighting a cigarette, leaning against the wall, and looking her in the eyes with a half cocked smile. He didn't blame her for going on a rampage, he knew if it was him, the doctor wouldn't be breathing. He had to commend her for that, she held more value for others lives than he did, maybe it was just his military background, always taught that the mission comes before yours or anyone elses lives.

"It's supposed to be obscene. That's why I said it." Oren responded to the, apparent, boy who'd addressed her. She assumed most people in the place would not be fluent in Magyar, and if they were then they might also be familiar with the language's culture of colourful an elaborate swearing. She saw no need to censor herself.
"And thank you for the fun facts, but I am the head of cryptobiology here, so I'd save them for somebody else. Werewolves are sentient after all. They're stupid, brutish, and they smell bad, but they've got the autonomy t shift wherever they want. Outside or inside is down to practical implications. You don't turn into a giant canid in your living room for the same reason you don't turn a bear loose in your shower."

Noticing people starting to wander off, Oren sighed irritably.
"No no, I'll stay and make sure this is tidied up. Not like I have vital projects ongoing or anything..."

However, as if in answer to her complaint, her phone let out a sudden bleep.

A seemingly young woman who was truly in her late eighties, Oren was not really a fan of technology, but it was policy that they be contactable, and whether it was technical wizardry or something a little more...esoteric in nature, the messages that arrived came with no trace of their sender. It was the lack of any trace that made it clear who they were issuing from.

' -----

Kovalenko.

Something has been shipped to you that might be of interest.

Tell us what you think it is.

New deployment to begin shortly. '



The message choosing to inform her of a deployment gave Oren a sinking feeling.

She tended to avoid field deployment if there was any possible way for her to avoid it. Oren was far happier in her laboratory working on her research than going out to get her hands dirty again, but, her contract with her organization was not a specific one. If she was required to go out into the world, then she was going to have to capitulate.

Alexander Wiseman

Alexander observed the scene that unfold out in front of him with practiced indifference. Kora going on a rampage though going to be costly in the scheme of damages it was not costly in the subduing of the beast, Montana had bravely decide to enter the room with her and had fair rather well, though he knew that if the wolf had truly decide to go after anyone it would of been a vastly different story. Technology was something he was not vastly keen on but it was also one of the few times he had marveled at its capabilities.

He was about to introduce himself to the new faces, until he heard his name mentioned by someone else, he was probably one of the few that people could put a name to a face with just the information of him being an Elder vampire. His planned introduction were again foiled when he noticed movement approaching him. His gaze fell onto Kate as she seemed to inspect him before beginning to chide him.

" I find it either worrisome or amazing that you can tell that at a glance" he remarked with an arched brow before relenting his expression with a sigh. " My apologize, its easy to lose track of time at this age" he said feeling strange about making that comment to someone elder than him. " I suppose my body still feels the effects even though i can restrain my hunger...Its the young vampires that need to worry... i claimed a small village once in my youth out of pure hunger...a celebration or festival brought them together...a terrible mess really" he said forgetting that there was new blood around, which he slid a glance across to " It was a time before....willing... donors"

Liam nearly wanted to rip the throat out of the guy who mentioned the field trip comment, but Jonah gave him a look to stop it. "Sorry about that. You would think we would be used to it by now after a few decades".

Jonah started to get a migraine, but luckily it passed quickly. A side affect of the curse, they got headaches when they tried to remember how old they are specifically, and a minor one for generics. They could mention events and places and times they had been at since the curse, but getting their exact age was currently impossible.

Liam calmed down again as Kora went down. Seeing this, Jonah dismissed the barrier. He looked over at Oren. "Oh, I don't care about censorship. But there are situations that are far worse and would be far more deserving of that level of cursing. Like out running falling flaming debris".

When she got the call, they got interested. Field work meant they would get closer to what they wanted. Because there was no way the witch would stay off SCION's radar, especially once they made sure everyone knew of her. Her, and her demon benefactor. And when they did find her....well, Oren was not the only one with colorful words.

Meanwhile, Liam had gone off to make a phone call, so Jonah looked around. "I don't supose you have a database on curses. Or an expert on them?"

"I decide what merits my own swearing, thank you. If I wanted someone auditing my language I'd have already filed a request with dispatches." Oren responded drily, her mind only half on the subject as she was wondering what it was she'd been sent to analyse.

No further info. Yet. She suspected they were going to keep her in the dakr to make sure she didn't find any excuses to avoid the brief. They were assuming what ever she'd been sent was going to leave her too curious not to want to go out and look at this.That was quite a big ask, as she was very averse to field work...but from what she gathered whoever the funder of SCION nowadays was, they tended to prefer carrot to stick in trying to motivate their employees. And they knew that Oren was a control freak.

She realized the kid was still talking.
"There's no database on curses. Curses are the physical manifestation of the will of their caster. That is, they vary. Also, Mr Montana I hope you'be not damaged my subject. I don't know where I'd find another nordic werewolf at short notice."

Back inside the room, the collapsed form of the wolf-beast had begun once again to move, though not to attack but rather in the spasmodic, crunching jerks that came with a transformation. The fur fell out in clumps, the sharp teeth retracting back into the jawline and the limbs snapping ans twisting back to ordinary lengths until it was a tall, red-haired woman lying on the kitchen floor, who gave a very delayed, uncoordinated swipe at where Montana had been when he'd been petting her on the head before wrapping her arm over her eyes.

"Ugh..what the hell..."

"This would be a pretty shitty field trip if you ask me" she'd muttered more to herself than anyone else. It took only several seconds for Val to again grow uninterested in the scene playing out before her and decide to head to her own room this time.

After pushing herself off of the wall she was leaning on Valerie would walk over towards the two boys she had given a tour to earlier and sarcastically remark "Welcome to SCION, we hope you enjoy your stay!" in the voice of a stewardess before approaching Arcturus and gently plucking the cigarette out of his mouth so that she could take a few puffs from the cancer stick herself and then hold it back up to his mouth for him to grab or let fall to the floor if so chooses.
"Thank you kindly." she'd say to the Canadian with a wink and a smile before feigning a Southern accent laced with sarcasm as she turned and began walking towards her condominium. "Yall have fun now ya hear?"

Arcturus just looked her in the eyes as she held the cigarette out, and watched it fall for a moment before catching it with his two fingers. he brought it back into his mouth as she winked at him, faked a southern accent, and walked away. It seemed as though she liked him, which was great, considering he needed a favour. He quietly brushed past the others, and continued to puff the last bit of his cigarette as he made his way into Val's room.

"I need an M14, silenced, with a holo sight if you could." before he made his way back into his room, removing his personal dossier, and beginning the report of last nights mission. The report would be easy, black-ink, not so much. of course, SCION had their own report, which would probably be much further blacked than his, but still, black-ops reports were definitely not his strong point.

He slid his dossier file back in the drawer and locked it. There were things in there that even the people (if you can even call them that) wouldn't want to see, and did not need to know. He spent about 45 minutes on it. He set the report on his desk once it was finished, to let the ink dry. The last word triggered a flashback. He began seeing a particularly bloody night, one of his first nights in JTF2


"OPERATION VIPER"
Sept 22, 2001.
Zabul, A.


*Kicked in the door, Infant beheaded, Woman hanging from celing, Sound of a knife, chewing, black bag, car, crying, yelling, Cleaver sounds in the distance, bright light, Israili Accent "You'll make good meat, boy", blood, knife slips into hand from sleeve, tie wire cut, bag cut, whispers "Kill them all" to himself, disembowelment, grabs AK, kicks out door, 7 headshots, screaming, young girls in cage, naked, mixed race, males in separate cage, organ processor, meat grinder, children running, 9 more headshots.*

He came back into reality. He remembered it well. Got himself kidnapped on purpose by an organ trafficker who was believed to be assisting is the funding of the Taliban. They were selling organs of children and young adults, selling fleshmeat, sex slaves. Something in him snapped that night, he killed every single non-prisoner in there. The guards didn't get it too bad, but the the butchers. Cut every single finger and toe off, cut arm veins and hung them from the feet until the bled out. Killed the kids working the proccessors and grinders. He never recovered from that bloodlust since.

Arc made his way into the kitchen for some food. A few hot dogs would do. He grabbed four, threw them in the nuke, grabbed a jar of mayonaise, took anunbelivably large scoop, and threw it on the plate as he took the dogs out. He sat in the living room, removed his respirator, and began eating. He could tell from the onlookers he was enjoying his meal far too much. Having a couch to sit on was a fairly now concept, but it was definitely enjoyable. Once finished, he headed back into his room to finish his report. It looked like someone had moved it. Not a big deal, it wasn't something that needed to remain secret. He slid his drawer open, without unlocking it. Something wasn't right. His ;ast mission, previous to his switch to SCION. The assassination on Kofi Annan during the peace talks in Syria. Paid 3,000,00 dollars to continue the war, and allow the UN to step in and take down the Assad government. Someone knew, and it wouldn't be long before he found out who. People around here liked to talk.

"No damage Ms. Kovalenko, I'd never harm a fellow operative if it could be helped." A small change in perspective. Subject vs Operative. This wasn't an indication that Montana harboured any kind of dislike toward Oren for her work. On the contrary, he attributed his continued survival to the research she did. It was more of a friendly nudge on the shoulder of a work colleague who was very immersed in their work. Something he might not have bothered to do had there not been two fresh recruits present.

"Ms. Norriventer." Jumping from one conversation to the next, he turned heel and moved back over to her still, and decidedly nude form on the ground. The gentlemen he was, at least in the context of facility life, he blocked her view with his crouching body from the others. "You're lucid and speaking among the bipedal humanoids again, good, Oren.."

Montana turned to the vampress and offered her a disarming smile. Not that he imagined it would have much sway on the cold being, both body and heart it was directed at. It was more of a habit, and, you know, anything was possible. "Could I trouble you for your lab coat?"

"I'd rather not escort Ms. Norriventer, a lady to the infirmary in such an immodest fashion." Montana's subdued personality often made it hard to place just how serious he was being in a casual situation. Well, SCION casual, given his fellow operative had just created a money, and time consuming mess after breaking out of a testing session with their top researcher.

"Of course if I had to, I'd bear the responsibility with as much quiet dignity as I could muster." This time he turned back to Kora, and his smile had straightened into a more serious line. Very serious.

"...Isaid I'm fine..." Kora mumbled, shrugging the support off as she rose to her feet, leaning against the wall. She paused there to clear her head before setting her gaze on Montana.

"Not that I don't appreciate your concern, but I have been training to force changes since I was five or six. I can manage."

She straightened up, made her way over to the sink in the smashed-up kitchen, and poured a glass of water. Well, a plastic cup. They didn't tend to keep too much that was easily broken for...well mostly for that reason entirely.

"...getting freakin' tazed on the other hand is not something I'm quite as adapted to. Not that I hold a grudge or anything. Unless it's Oren. Then it becomes funny."


She downed a glass of water in one gulp, clearing the rather unpleasant taste of blood that tended to follow a transformation. You did not tend to bleed too much, Oren had gone one about how the blood vessels massively constricted during a shift, however, when you had a set of fangs bursting through your gumline, it did tend to leave that nasty taste on your mouth.

"I'm not going to the infirmary. Spent all morning in research. Had enough being poked and prodded by people in white coats to last me a while. I swear every time that leech looks at me she's picturing a dissection session and I don't doubt she'd do it. Vamps. They give me the creeps. Like reptiles." she paused, casting a glance in Stride's direction.
"Uh, no offence intended."


She was about to speak again, when the SCION intercom flared suddenly into life. The speaker system had been set up for remote access...where the 'remote' was was less clear, but the voice, that of a female speaking calmly and clearly, but with a chipper enough tone, broadcast out.

"Good morning agents of SCION, I do hope you're all well. A new case has come to our attention. Please will all field-cleared staff, medical dept, and research convene in the meeting room immediately."


Kora gazed up at the small speaker with narrowed eyes.
"It's like you do this on purpose. Am I really expected to swan into a staff briefing in a table cloth? Is this where my life has led me?"