New York City

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New York City, 7:00 AM

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The dawn sky graced the rigid skyline of New York City. Carrier shuttles puttered through the air, delivering their passengers to their workplaces. Down below, citizens bustled through the streets. One particular shuttle carried Felix Grelen, current leader of the rebel Network. The scruffy man looked out the window from under his hood, towards the giant hulk that was Signet. A look of indifference passed over his features, which quickly dissipated. No need to think about them now. He wasn't at work, was he? Felix smiled as his stomach growled slightly, and he remembered his job.

The shuttle landed at it's station near Times Square, a docking platform with adverts and kiosks lining it. Felix stepped off and began walking down the street, which was alive with morning commuters, to a glass-walled café on the corner. The door slid open, admitting Felix into the sleek establishment. Silver, white, and black was the theme here at Viva La Java, the best damn coffee joint that would support the Network. Felix stepped up to the beveled counter, and gave the bell a ring.

A short, young, auburn-haired girl with light, yet fierce, features came to greet him. "Cat, there you are! I was wondering when you'd get here. We got your order in the back. 2 sacks of regular and 2 of vanilla, right?" The young lady relayed to Felix, using the nickname he wore in public. For some reason, she insisted on calling him Cat. Maybe the chin-whiskers? "Hey there, Ellie. Yeah, sounds about right. I'm sure the customers will love it. Go ahead and deduct it from our account." Felix greeted and instructed, which Ellie heeded right away. "Alright, all done. We'll get it over there soon. Here, have a cup of this new stuff, since we had extra. It has orange and hints of vanilla in it." Ellie handed the man a paper cup of the piping hot brew with a smile, and Felix took a sip.

"Hm, that's pretty good. You think you can add a bag to the next order?" Felix asked, and the girl nodded. "Sure thing, Cat. Take care now!" Ellie cautioned, and Felix gave her a kind nod. Stepping out of Viva La Java, Felix had a visible smile on his face. The proprietors of the coffee house, Ellie and Thompson Henders, were a father and daughter team. The Network, wanting to establish economic ties and assets, chose to reach out to the Henders, since no one could protest to a good cup o' joe. At first, they had refused out of fear, not wanting to be shut down for working with rebels. However, that changed once Ellie's mother went missing after an eco-rally. Signet was obviously behind it, and out of anger, they befriended the Network, and established a friendly partnership. They both supported each other, with the exchange of money and supplies hidden in the bags of coffee beans.

Felix walked down the street, and turned into an alley. Taking out a key card, he opened the backdoor of an old brick apartment building. Inside, it was abandoned, broken furniture and dust everywhere. Felix slid another key into a hidden reader, and a floor tile opened, revealing a ladder down into darkness. Felix quickly descended down the ladder, closing the tile and shortly arriving in one of the Network's security checkpoints. It was a simple scanner in an old piping room, with guards positioned at the entrance. Staring into the scanner, a gentle light pulsed over his retina, and confirmed his identity as Felix Grelen. Nodding to the guards, he stepped into the atrium from behind the storefronts. "Morning, everyone! The coffee and things are on their way, so you'll get your fix soon enough. Get ready for the day, folks! Today we do some more recon." Felix instructed, briefly before metal crates fell from a grate above them, briefly hovering before hitting the ground.

"Oh hey, lookie there. Go ahead and pop it open, fellas. And where's Kiana? We need to get the plans sorted out." Felix asked as he shifted into work mode.

Gabriel Turinn

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New York City, 7: 00 a.m.

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Gabriel was awoken by his alarm clock. He slowly rose with a throbbing headache. A soft groan escaped his lips as he shut the alarm up, using his powers to drop a shoe on it. Next to his bed was an empty bottle of vodka. He was almost sure it had still been full when he got home from work yesterday. Clearly he hadn’t been able to control his drinking habit last night. He sighed and rolled out of bed. He limped towards the bathroom, one hand pressed against his head, and got under the shower. As the hot water streamed over him, he felt slightly better. For what was probably the hundredth time he reprimanded himself for his lack of self-control. Perhaps one day he would take his own advice. He didn’t stay in the shower for too long, knowing he was risking being late. He quickly put on a white shirt, black pants, black shoes and a red vest. He cast a final look in the mirror and put on a pair of sunglasses. His eyes were bloodshot and definitely didn’t help his already haggard appearance. Today was going to be a rough day.

Next he went to the kitchen and opened his fridge. He was met by a disgusting smell. Apparently the pizza from two days ago was still in there. Just one more thing he had forgotten about. He slammed the door of the fridge shut and quickly opened a window, desperate for fresh air. Slowly the nausea was fading away. He supposed this meant he would have to pick up something to eat on his way to the office. He then turned on his coffee machine, watching the lights flash on for a second before going out once more. He gave it a short tap on the side before accepting it probably wouldn’t be making more coffee anytime soon. He opened a cupboard, looking for something else to drink, preferably something strong. Then it dawned on him the empty bottle of vodka had been the last one. He sighed, donned his grey trenchcoat and took his black suitcase before running down the stairs. He closed the door behind him and tried to look at things in a more positive light. At least the lack of food had saved him the trouble from doing the dishes for now. Maybe he should force his neighbour to clean the place up. It wasn’t as if the old man had anything better to do. It was either that or buying a new place.


As he stood outside, enjoying a brief ray of sunshine, he lit a cigarette before continuing his walk to work. He stopped at a local store to buy an apple, some sandwiches and a cup of coffee, grateful for living in the centre of New York. It was probably the only reason he was only occasionally late. Finally he reached the offices and took the elevator up. He tried to ignore the looks of other co-workers. He could feel them judging him. As the anger started rising he fought the urge to lash out and calmly ate his apple. If he’d hurt anyone, they’d probably dock his pay check for at least a month. At the 33d level he left the elevator and entered the offices.
“Hello,” he spoke calmly as he tossed the apple in the trash bin, doing his best to come across as casual. To his surprise, the place was completely empty, apart from Gale of course. Now that wasn’t right. Usually almost everyone else had already arrived and were ready to give him some scolding glances.

“Is no one else here yet?” he mumbled, the surprise clearly showing on his face. He checked his watch and a frown appeared on his face. Surely it was at least half an hour later than that? Then he realized he hadn’t checked the hour as he left his apartment, merely assuming he was risking being late, as usual. But since the place was almost deserted it seemed his alarm had gone off way too early. It was nigh impossible for everyone, with the obvious exception of Gale, to be later than him.

“Well, well,” he muttered, resisting the urge to swear. He knew a certain mister alarm clock that would meet mister trash bin really soon, “apparently my clock was off,” he added with a slight grin, trying to sound good-spirited rather than frustrated. He sat down at his desk and put his suitcase down. He quickly gulped down his coffee, crushing the plastic cup in his hand and doing his best to stay calm. He disliked the idea of freaking out in front of Gale. She was alright and a great co-worker. He probably even respected her, and that was a rare thing. He took some quick breaths before getting up and walking towards Gale. He cleared his throat and did his best to avoid sounding like someone who suffered from a hangover:

“So, what’s today got in store for us? Any dashing young maidens we have to save from the Network?” he asked with a slimmer of hope. Just one day he would like to have a truly glamorous mission. Then again, he was more than willing to settle for ruining the day of at least one Network operative. His day might be bad, but he was confident he could make someone else’s day a lot worse. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to use his powers too much today. After heavy drinking it was always a bit more difficult to focus and if possible, he'd like to avoid making an embarrassing mistake such as telepathically sending a message to the wrong person...

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The sound of busy downtown traffic woke Ignatius up early, as it so often did. He knew it would be this noisy when he moved in, but he stubbornly insisted on being at a walking distance from the Signet HQ, in case of an emergency. He didn't really mind being woken up early, as it gave him some more time to get ready. He took a shower, had breakfast, all the usual routine. It had been long since the last good raid, and he was starting to wonder wether that was a good thing or not. He put on his suit and grabbed his case. The clock showed he was still very early. He headed over to the HQ first, to check on the guards that had been on duty that night.

The guards on the entrance hall were chatting on about some tornado in the news. Their shift was almost over, and they were all very tired.
-"What do you all think you're doing? Your shift isn't over yet." He said as he walked in. The guards, caught by surprise, quickly stood up and remained silent. They didn't usually see Serafino this early in the morning, and they weren't expecting him to show up without notice. Normally he'd contact HQ before meeting with someone.
"Today's shift will be off your paycheck. You're here to keep watch of the building, not to gossip like a bunch of idiots."

After supervising as the guards for the morning shift came in and took their places, he quickly walked back out of the building, leaving the guards confused and shocked. Those who had been working with him for some time had gotten used to his character, but the new guys were still very much afraid of him. And that was the effect he was going for, after all.

Back in the street, he checked his watch: 7:15 am. He was going to be late if he didn't hurry. Getting in his shuttle, he headed over to the Field Office. Glaring down at the city below him, the people and cars flooded the streets like an army of ants. "Few sights could be so inspiring and deppresing at the same time." -He mumbled. After a couple minutes on the shuttle, he got to the office. The building was quite tall, but it paled in comparison to the HQ he was used to. He had been working at the Field Office for almost a year now, and he still didn't like it.

The elevator was somewhat crowded, but then again, the whole damn city was. Once it got to the thirty-third floor, he stepped out and looked around the office. Surprisingly, only a handful of people had arrived, including Gale, as usual, and oddly enough, Gabriel.

"Good morning everyone. What news do we have?" he said as we walked over to his desk.