((Aawww no worries. Things'll probably stay at a slow pace anyways so you should be able to catch back up))

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No! Could it be that they have come for me already? Has this sweet taste of newly found freedom been destined for failure? May it not be so... it will not be so if I can help it! Acting almost on instinct, Kanai reached for her handgun, her most trusted ally. "W...where are you?" she called out, trying to make her voice as bold and strong as possible, and failing. Every light and sound was a possible enemy.

Holding her handgun low, Kanai backed up against a solid wall of brick behind her. Thinking again about what she had just said, she called out again, only softer this time. "Are you friend or foe?"

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The buzzing of Mr Janus' intercom drew his attention away from Dr Statler. The voice of his assistant Stephanie crackled over it.
"Sir, Fixer is here. Shall I let her in?"

"Yes, thank you Miss Jones." he replied back, his eyes back onto Dr Statler.

The door clicked back open and a tall women with scarlet hair neatly tied back into a braid strode into Mr Janus' office. An air of confidence about her. She stood in front of Mr Janus' desk, folding her arms tightly behind her back. She nodded to her employer respectfully.

"You remember Kae, don't you Edward?" he said with a smirk, pointing his hand towards the stoic woman clad in black.

"How could I forget?" he replied, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

Both Janus and Kae noticed and approved of this.

"So, sir. What's the mission?" Kae asked, intuitively. Focussing back on the job at hand.

"All will be revealed once everyone is here." he replied, his smirk leaving his face revealing a cold hard expression.

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Gregg ran across the rooftops, jumping over alleys here and there. His small bag was securely attached across his back, allowing him to run freely. He ran up an incline and leapt over a fence, landing with a roll. This is why he was an Operative. He was free to run, dash on buildings and rooftops, leap through the city air.

After ten minutes, he landed on the roof of Janus Industries, a remarkable feat seeing as it was the tallest building in this city. But possible, if one knew where the niches and gaps were in the building. He walked past the security team stationed on the roof, unnoticed by them and entered the building with his pass card. Ignoring the lift, he took the stairs, leaping across the flights. When he finally arrived at the office where Mr. Janus was, he calmed himself down and entered in.

"Gregg," the secretary said. "Mr. Janus is waiting for you at his private office."

He ignored the weakling as he walked in. "Sir," he greeted. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

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I was cured all right.

((I'm adding a couple of unnamed Operatives as expendable fodder))

All the heads in the room turned when the Operative known as Gregg, or Mercury, burst into the room demanding answers. Kae gave him a slight nod in acknowledgement and turned back to wait for the answers she too was waiting on.

"Aah, now you're all here" Janus spoke, ignoring Gregg's abruptness and focussing on the four Operatives in front of him. "To be frank and straight to the point, there are several fugitives that need to be brought back in and Janus needs the finest Operatives to do just that." he finished

"Fugitives?" Kae asked, raising an eyebrow at the word as she repeated it back. "What or who exactly are we talking about?"

Mr Janus turned to Dr Statler, "I believe this is your area of expertise Doctor"

Statler fumbled and fidgeted as he thought of how to begin.
"The Fugitives...are experiments from a project that was named Eden. There was a breakout and many of them escaped and are now on the loose in New York"

"What kind of experiments Doctor?" asked Kae, her voice not hinting towards any kind of emotion.

"Very similar to you and other top level Operatives. Genetic engineering rather than cloning. Though some went wrong...they've changed. Dangerous." Dr Statler explained as best he could, his voice changed to one of desperation "You have to bring them in at all costs!"

"Indeed" Janus interjected, "You will bring them in as quickly as you can"

"And if they refuse?" spoke up the Operative known as Jonah

"Then you will eliminate them" Janus replied back coldly, his eyes focussed and determined.

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JOS6409 reached out with his mind as he approached, making his fellow fugitive feel calm. It was a gift he possessed, an almost unfair means of persuasion at times... No wonder it'd been so easy for him to lead the escape.
"It's me," he said softly to her. He rarely raised his voice. "Joss." The name sort of slipped out. He'd been toying with it in his mind for quite some time now - his title without the numbers seemed far more human.

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~*~ I am the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. ~*~

The hand with which Kanai held her gun began to relax, shaking involuntarily. "Joss... Joss..." Kanai whispered several times to herself, as if trying to grasp the meaning. Suddenly it clicked - her brain, bursting with a mixture of fear and fury, processed what Joss had said. "Is it really you?" she asked softly. "JOS6409?" She still held her handgun, though in a much less threatening manner. Breathing heavily, she rested her head against the brick, listening intently.

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Joss stepped forward into the light that pooled out from the streetlight on the corner. The light cast over his handsome features and illuminated his trivial gaze. He cast a nervous glance around him, then looked back at her. "It's me," he assured, now that she could see his face.

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~*~ I am the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. ~*~

"It's... you..." she said slowly. She began to close her eyes, but jumped forward suddenly. Flicking her handgun back into its hidden holster, she leaped toward him, arms outstretched. "Get out of the light!" she hissed as loudly as she dared. "You don't want to risk... being seen..." She bit her lip and clutched at his arm.

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'Eliminate them', Janus' words rang through Kae's mind. She had no problem with her orders. She had requested several parts of her humanity altered to make her a better soldier. Guilt was one of them. Casualties of war were no longer a hindrance for her. Death was just another part of her job description. Her thoughts were broken by Janus finishing up the briefing.

"Go to the weapons cache and take what you think you need. Though make sure and take an taser pistol. You'll need it to stun the more endurable ones. Good hunting people."

Without a word, Kae turned on her heels and made her way out slowly. Waiting for the others.

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Joss let out a soft "huff" as she grabbed him. He jerked himself and her out of the center of the sidewalk into the shadows of an alleyway. "It's alright," he assured her, his expression alert. It was always so; Joss carried himself with a sort of casual awareness, never looking behind or around, yet somehow still alert. "I can't feel any of them around us..." He emphasized 'them' with a malevolent tone, eyes narrowing.

"What happened to the others?" he breathed softly, running a hand through his hair.

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~*~ I am the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. ~*~

Gregg flashed an arrogant smile, "Bag and grab operation? All right, then." He didn't mind killing them though. That worked just as well under his books. He made a mock salute to Janus, pretty sure that was exactly what he wanted right now, before making his way into the weapon cache.

As the fastest member in that team, he sprinted his way towards the weapon cache, ignoring everyone else. The Janus Military Division probably held one of the largest armouries in the country, if not the world. Unfortunately, they were, as one would say, a bit too advanced for his methods. Sure, guns were excellent and all. In fact, Gregg carried a handgun around him in the case he needed it. But the weapon that Gregg preferred the most were those considered rather primitive and medieval: crossbow and knives.

Of course, as technology advanced, so did these weapons. The crossbow grew lighter, reloaded faster, fired more accurately and silently. The knives themselves went through an entire make-over. Faster, more agile, lighter, Gregg could stab someone and withdraw the blade within seconds. Or slit someone's throat like cutting through butter.

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I was cured all right.

Kanai followed him gladly, his presence making her more and more at ease although a hunted and angry look remained in her eyes. "Even if they aren't around, others may be..." she warned. "I'm not all that comfortable out here." Her eyes scanned him, taking in every detail of his relaxed figure. It was still the same old JOS6409, just in a different setting, perhaps.

Realizing that she had not yet answered his question, she fumbled for something to say. "I.... I don't know. I don't know what happened to the others. I don't know where they are..." She stopped speaking and looked around, peering into the many nearby shadows.

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Wasp came flying down the street her hair flapping wildly behind her as she laughed and breathed the free air. Another twirl. She had never realized how tall the buildings were, she thought looking up at the skyscrapers surrounding her. People parted and gave the strangely excited woman a wide birth. She stopped her revelry and tried to consider where the rest of the Eden projects had escaped to. It seemed as soon as they all escaped they went their separate ways.

"Huh...." she mused, "I wonder where they went." The though dissipated to nothing as something else on one of the vending carts caught her eye. "What's that?" She asked aloud walking over to examine a particularly colorful scarf.

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Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

The bolt of wild colored hair caught Joss's attention across the street. "Look!" He grabbed his companion's arm and pointed towards the vending cart across the street just as Wasp pranced over.

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~*~ I am the Patron Saint of Lost Causes. ~*~

Kanai jumped as Joss grabbed her arm. Her eyes darted frantically about. "What?" she cried in alarm. Peering ahead, following his pointing finger, she caught sight of Wasp. "It's... Wasp," she said, laughing quietly and nervously. "You found Wasp." Then it dawned on her that Wasp was out in the middle of the street... in full view of everyone, as if all she had to do in the world was see the sights. She shook her head. I'd know that head of hair anywhere, and I wouldn't be surprised if they knew it as well as I do. "We've got to get her attention and get her out of the sight of everyone," she told Joss, clawing at his arm.

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