Compass

Patio

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With walkways providing a shortcut to the Compound: Level One East on either side of the Compound: Cafeteria and sidewalks that fork and flank the entrance to the underground Compound: East Parking leading to The Compound: Dormitories, the patio is an open area for people to gather and enjoy some sunlight. There are table and chairs and benches scattered around the area and the concrete slab is lined with flowers and greenery. Additionally several large trees provide some areas with shade.

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Fulther led the way from the dormitory building. "Damn, I'm looking forward to breakfast," he grumbled to himself. With food nearby, it was possible Silera would be too, and despite their casual arrangement, he was looking forward to seeing her following the lockdown.

"Fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood~" Harkin groaned in agreement before scanning the surrounding area suspiciously, as though expecting some lingering molasses in the leaves.

With a small chuckle and a shake of his head, Fulther headed into Compound: Cafeteria.

Harkin followed Fulther to Compound: Cafeteria at his shuffling pace.

Shrill was making a little wheezing noise now, as it made its way across the patio. "Gonna have to take a breather...when I get inside." it said, a little winded. It then vanished inside the doors of the Compound: Cafeteria.

Asher gestured happily at the building ahead. "Thena, there it is. Can't you just feel your stomach calling to it!" Giggling she grabbed a hold of one of the doors and help it open for both Thena and Rehn. "In we go." She ushered them both inside the Compound: Cafeteria.

Coming from The Compound: Dormitories, Thena kept her head down and followed a few steps behind Asher, whose joyfulness, the spider-woman wished, was infectious. She smiled wanly at the pink-haired girl's remark-- the Thena hadn't eaten in days, but she really wished she could make food in the comfort of her own dormitory. Instead she said, 'Thanks, it's pretty easy to get to.' Making sure her head was covered by with her hood, she hesitantly entered the Compound: Cafeteria.

Oh, the bubbliness, it was beginning to get to Rehn. Asher was so sweet, it was almost sickening, he didn't even know how to react!. But, so far, she was still preferable to his other suite mates. Shrill, who was just plain scary, and Thena, who seemed so self absorbed, to Rehn she was well, boring. Maybe he could do something about that though, and began to ponder on the different possibilities as he followed the spider-lady into the Compound: Cafeteria

Marcus noticed the other special heading for the cafeteria and followed along, he knew some of the others but wasn't going out of his way to be chatty with everyone. He took one last look around and grabbed the door into the Compound: Cafeteria.

With her tray balanced in one long-fingered hand Thena emerged from the Compound: Cafeteria once more, this time holding the door for Asher. She took a quick scan of the area, relieved to see that they would be the only occupants for the time being.

"Thanks," Asher smiled as she emerged from the Compound: Cafeteria. "Never have I seen someone...something eat like that. It was gross." Shaking her head she noticed some tables off to the side and led the way over to them. Setting her tray down gently so as not to spill anything before sitting down herself.

Gently closing the door behind her, Thena followed Asher to the table she'd selected and daintily sat herself down in a chair after sliding her tray onto the table. 'Yeah, is he... uhm, or she? I mean, like... one of us?' she asked without certainty, a little embarrassed that she was even asking the question. No one really resembled anyone else here, from what she could see; while there seemed to be some apparent physical differences, no one looked like her, at least. Unsure what to say or do next, Thena picked her fork up and poked at the pile of scrambled eggs, scooping a little bit up onto the tines.

Asher eyed Thena and smiled softly. Doing the same thing with her eggs she stuck a fork full into her mouth and chewed softly. After she swallowed the eggs she shrugged her shoulders slightly and relaxed into her seat. "I'm not entirely sure. I've never actually talked to... it." Popping a grape into her mouth she chewed it silently as she stared out across the Compound.

When he came out of the Cafeteria Marcus took a deep breath and cleared his mind. "Good morning ladies." he said with a smile to Thena and Asher before walking to a different table and sitting down watching the dorms. If Luther was serious about this plan of his then it would be best to hammer out details now. He did however look once at the young ladies sitting together, neither of them had Ashleigh for a handler so he had not spoke to either one before. But, he tried to be nice to everyone until he had a reason not to be.

'Oh,' Thena said quietly and almost a little guiltily before she popped some egg into her mouth. She chewed thoroughly, swallowed, and, doing her best not to wolf the entire plateful of food down because she was ravenously hungry, willed herself her take a drink of water before asking, 'Does it have a name?' Over the rim of her cup of water, as she took another drink, Thena looked over to Marcus when he greeted her and Asher. Saying nothing for a prolonged moment, she finally tipped her hooded head in his direction and offered a very tiny, soft, 'Good morning,' in return.

"I believe it's name is Shrill. I've only been awake for a few weeks so I've only heard snippets about it but I'm almost positive that's what someone called it." Taking a drink of her chocolate milk she sighed gently and slowly ate her breakfast. "You know, as long as you don't do what Shrill did, I won't judge. I didn't see you come out during our lock down days to eat so you must be hungry." Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone else join them on the patio and smiled. "Good morning," Asher said loud enough for him to hear. "I'm Asher, handler is Jollel, who might you be? If you don't mind me asking."

Marcus walked back over to them and extended his hand to Asher, "Marcus McCaffery, handler is Ashleigh. Nice to meet you Asher and you would be?" he asked extending his hand to Thena with a smile. It was nice to see people whom he missed when they were first brought in, still he wondered about Silera whom he hadn't seen since that night.

Her tan cheeks flushed a rosy red at Asher's comment; had Thena been so transparent? Allowing herself to eat another couple forkfuls of eggs, the four-eyed woman turned her attention to Marcus after he'd made his introduction, set her utensil down and wiped a napkin over her lips. 'I'm Thena,' she offered quietly and with a fleeting smile, then glancing to Asher and back to the newest arrival to the Patio, she added, 'Uhm, my's handler's... uhm... M... Michael,' taking a moment as if she needed to recall his name. She looked at his hand then hesitantly slipped her long-fingered hand into his for a rather limp handshake.

Asher had shaken his hand and shrugged gently. "I don't think I've met either of them yet. But I'm not very good with names." Returning to breakfast propped one foot up on her chair and ushered with her free hand to one of the remaining chairs at their table. "Feel free to join us." Asher eyed Thena carefully. Marcus appeared to be harmful and nice. He could possibly help to acclimate her into society

After letting go of Thena's hand Marcus had a seat and thanked Asher for the invite to join them. "Sometimes eating in the same vicinity as Shrill can be, well, let's say a little of watching him goes a long way. So, have either of you been here long?" he asked making a bit of small talk until Luther approached him or he decided to go for a swim.

'Uhm, not long,' Thena offered very softly after Marcus inquired about how long they'd each been in the Compound. 'A few days... less than a week ,' The memory of her capture was still a rather fresh wound in her psyche, and her expression became somber. She did glance curiously from the sides of her eyes at Asher, but it was a very brief look before Thena focused solely on her plate of food, where the woman poked listlessly at a cube of melon with the tines of her fork.

Asher shrugged her shoulders gently. "I've only been awake for a couple of weeks, how long before that I couldn't tell you. I've had no desire to ask. How about yourself?" He could help them get acquainted with things if he were nice enough, which he seemed to be so far. Breaking a piece of bacon in half she popped on end into her mouth and chewed on it quietly as she thought this over.

Leaning forward Marcus whispered, "I woke up in the Lab where the others found me so I've been here about a week or so. Not yet sure if I like it yet, but considering where I woke up this place is the Ritz." he smiled, "At least here I doubt a creature with acidic blood and a desire to eat me will pop from around the corner." Both young women seemed very nice and polite, which appealed to him it was nice to make friends.

Since the other Specials were in front of her, Delilah had to veer off to the side to pass by them, heading from the outside patio into the main building, through the passage way that flanked the cafeteria, leading directly to the Compound: Level One East.

Thena occupied herself with her food while Asher and Marcus spoke. It didn't seem like her pink-hared suite mate was overly acquainted with the Compound yet, either, and that made her feel a little better about her own status. Pinching the stem between her long fingers, Thena picked a strawberry up from her plate and bit into it when Marcus mentioned some sort of awful-sounding creature, and all four of her glossy dark eyes widened slightly, lending a concerned looked to her face. 'Do you know, uhm... where did you wake-up?' she meekly inquired after a beat, then looked between both people sitting there at the table, as the question was for either of them, a small, bright red piece of strawberry still smudged on her lower lip;maybe she could better understand her own situation by talking to whomever would talk to her.

He turned his attention and smiled at Thena and mentioned she had a little strawberry on her lip. Then Marcus said, "I woke up in a conservatory in a Lab that looked like a tornado ripped through it. I was with Silera and while we were looking for a way out we were attacked by something that seemed like a mindless eating machine before Lysander and the others found us. But, we weren't going to come here and got tranq'd." He had seen Delilah go into the building and made a mental note to see how she was doing.

Aailyah was smiling as she lead her little troupe of followers (at least it amused her to think of them that way) out onto the patio.

Asher raised her eyebrows and shook her head gently. "Wow... I wonder if anything like that happened to me." Propping her head up on her hand she picked a random piece of fruit from her tray and popped it into her mouth. Glancing over at the new people that came into site she cocked her head to the side slightly before bringing her attention back to the ones at her table. "I have no memory before I woke up here. Complete blank slate."

Luther looked over the group here, and nodded to Asher. "Morning all." He then looked to Aaliyah. He wounded. "Is there a shop anywhere around here my lavender eyed temptress?"

Dropping her gaze, Thena hastily grabbed the napkin out of her lap and wiped at her mouth before returning her now-rapt attention to Marcus as he regaled she and Asher. 'Silera? You, uhm, were with someone?' she asked, then softly and sympathetically added, 'That sounds awful.' Turning her face to Asher, her brow furrowed slightly at the technologically-equipped Special, and she asked, 'You woke up here?' more as a verification than an actual question. That seemed fortuitous. 'I woke-up in an, uhm, in a lab, or something, too, but I got out,' Thena admitted as if she were saying something she oughtn't be, then followed Asher's line of sight to the beautiful redhead and her entourage. Hunching her shoulders beneath her bulky sweater, she tugged at the edge of her hood and focused on her food again.

"We had no idea who the other was, just figured safety in numbers." Marcus explained nodding to Aailyah and her bunch. "In truth Thena if you woke up alone and made it out of your lab you must be quite resourceful and talented." he said looking Thena in the eye. If her lab had been anything like his then she was a formidable friend.

Lysander was still grinning as he followed after Aailyah eagerly. "There are plenty of things one can do for entertainment... my sssweet little viper..." He flickered his forked tongue out at her, wondering just how much he could insinuate.

Asher turned her beautiful ice blue eyes to Thena at her question and shrugged her shoulders. "I believe it was here. I slept in the room for a few days so I suppose I could have been moved from that location to another. Do you think they would tell me the truth? Psh, how would I even know if it were the truth?" Shaking her head she sat back in her chair as she pulled her knees to her chest. She noticed Luther nod at her and she gave him a friendly smile and a small wave as she popped another grape into her mouth, not willing to keep her mood down.

'No, it wasn't anything like that,' Thena quietly admitted as she poked at another strawberry on her plate, just rolling it back and forth. 'I woke-up who-knows-where, and once I could, I just ran.' She paused and shook her head slightly. 'It was self-serving cowardice that saved me,' Thena said then ended with a sigh. Weeks spent in hiding in solitude had left her a lot of time to think about who or what she was, and why she was in the surreal situation in which she found herself. With a doleful half-smile, she nodded hesitantly in agreement to Asher, then glanced in the direction she'd seen her acquaintance wave, and, as before, back down at her half-eaten plate of food.

Marcus looked at Thena, "If you woke up like I did strange place, no real memory and scared getting away isn't cowardly it's smart. Get your bearings and make sense of the situation then act. Abu Bakr said 'Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile.' so don't be too hard on yourself."

Asher reached across and placed her hand on Thena's. "It wasn't cowardice. It was instinct, to save yourself and to stay alive. Besides, if you hadn't done what you did I wouldn't have a new friend." Asher smiled sweetly at her and shook her head. "You did good."

Cerah followed Aailyah. She was examining everything she could. She adjusted her glove. She then looked back to her surroundings.

Aailyah smiled between Luther and Lysander, "You're awful." She told Lysander nudging him with her elbow before continuing to walk, "As for shopping," she told Luther, "I usually do mine online. They don't really let us out much."

Marcus caught Luther's eye and called out, "That thing you wanted to talk about, after you eat okay?" Turning back to his new friends he confided in Thena and Asher, "Look at it this way they shot me full of tranquilizer to bring me in and I bet if they videoed it would be something comical. You at least held onto your dignity by not being tranquilized."

Luther Shrugged and kept walking, "guess I'll have to get in the habit of not having a tailor to fit my clothing then." His tone was full of humor, but he was concerned. He hated looking bad.

Cyrus came out of the cafeteria and paused to look at the Specials eating outside. He didn't blame them, the weather was fine today. Before any of them could react to his presence he marched past and along the path to The Compound: Dormitories.

"You get used to it..." Lysander told Luther with a shrug. He was typically a suit man, himself. He knew how difficult it was to get one that fit just right without being permitted to go have it fitted.

It looked like Thena was uncomfortable with the attention she was receiving, for the hooded woman's shoulders hunched a little, although she did glance sidelong at Marcus and offered another wan smile. 'Yeah, I guess that makes sense,' she quietly admitted. Her hand flinched at Asher's touch, unaccustomed as she was to contact, but she tried to make it seemed like she intended to move her hand and reach for her napkin, and offered a fleeting, nervous smile to her suite mate. 'Uhm, so, what else do you guys do around here?' she asked quickly, to both of the other two seated at the table.

"I have been waiting for them to decide what to do with me and of course practice my card game, I've a weakness for poker." Marcus said taking another sip of his water. Ever since the lock down he spent a great deal of time working on his percentages and where would be the best place for a game. "Do either of you young ladies play?" he asked.

Taking a sip out of her chocolate milk, Asher shook her head and pulled her cube out of her pocket and set it one the table. "I have never played cards. I mainly tinker. I also fix a lot of the computers and such." To give an example the end of her left pointer finger opened up and out slid her lock pick and in the the middle finger out slid her flash light.

'Poker?' Thena asked, her full lips forming the word as if it were alien to her. Eventually the spider-woman shook her head no to Marcus and set her fork down-- she was pretty much done with her breakfast by now, anyway-- and she looked down at her unnaturally long, tapered fingers. 'I'm not sure how good I'd be with cards,' she uttered softly before sliding a sidelong glance toward Asher who was doing something fascinating with her own extremities. 'That's just... in your hand?' she hesitantly inquired in reference to the flashlight.

Shrill waddled out through the cafeteria doors, much disapproving of the sun and its assault on Shrill's eyes, Shrill quickly made its way into the shade of a nearby tree. "What we need now is a nice smog cloud. Cover up that horrible sun."

Marcus ignored Shrill and instead produced a pack of cards from his jacket pocket and opened them pulling five cards out and handing them to Thena. Then taking five for himself and fanning them out in his hand, "Might seem awkward at first but I'm sure you can get the hang of it with a little practice. If either of you would like I can teach you how to play perhaps get a good size game going once I get chips to bet with." It'd be fun to pass on some of his skill and have something his fellow specials could do away from whatever this place wanted them to do. Collapsing his hand he put his cards away and put the pack in front of Thena.

Holding her hand out to Thena, Asher allowed her other fingers to open up as well. Showing the lock pick and soldering iron and a few screw drivers. "Mostly the mechanism is but the metal goes almost throughout my entire body. This here," Pointing to her left eye she smiled. "Mechanical, it allows me to recognize the different parts of machines and computers as well as any possible problems, breaking it down piece by piece without even touching it." Glancing over at Marcus she watched as he laid out cards, him wanting Thena to get a feel for them in her hands. It was a good idea, not wanting her to feel abnormal and very kind of him. Kind or he just wanted more people to play with, she wasn't sure which it was yet.

Holding the cards Marcus had given to her as if they were a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest, as opposed to simple rectangles of glorified paper, Thena didn't look particularly at ease. She looked even less so when one card slipped through her long, slender fingers, followed by another. 'Uhm, maybe you should just...' she started to say as the third started to slip, although she managed to catch by squeezing it between her fingers. 'I'm so sorry,' she uttered as she accidentally bent it, then added, 'It looks like Asher's got better hands, anyway,' as she scooped the cards together into a small pile on the tabletop. Hiding her hands in her lap and out of immediate sight underneath the table, Thena tried to put the focus on the pink-haired Special, instead, although she was genuinely interested in the strange, mechanical quality of the other woman's fingers. 'Wow, that must come in handy and stuff... I mean... I don't mean handy, I mean... you know, uhm... like, useful...'

Marcus noticed the group from his dorm still milling about outside the door, "You guys might want to get in there before Harkin goes back up for another round. Otherwise who knows what you'll be eating for breakfast." he didn't mention Shrill who seemed to be lounging it..him..whateverself after breakfast.

Lysander looked at Aailyah and smiled warmly. "Well, m'lady? I think we'd best take Marcus's advice. Who knows what will be left when Harkin's through."

Luther looked to Lysander and shrugged, "So who is Harkin?" He asked wondering how much on man could eat.

Asher chuckled gently and nodded her head. "Especially when I'm working on computers and such. I also can't be electrocuted and can pretty much diagnose any mechanical or computer problem with my eye. But don't go giving all my secrets away." She winked playfully at her new favorite companion. Thena wasn't comfortable in her own skin which was the complete polar opposite of Asher. It kind of drew Asher to the other girl, made her want to befriend the girl.

Irah entered the patio and took a look around, there were others here, some she hadn't seen before. It didn't matter she had her orders. She did in fact know who was in charge of her. So pushing her long white hair behind her shoulders once again she pressed on through the patio to the Compound: Cafeteria without another glance toward anyone on the patio.

Cerah looked at Lysander and Luther. She rose one eyebrow, she then turned and saw a glance of the woman with long white hair, she watched her for a moment. "Yes who is Harkin?" The thought crossed her mind on who could eat so much.

"Harkin would be the rather sickly looking fellow who can't seem to get enough to eat." Lysander explained simply. He shrugged, "He just loves to try new things."

Cyrus came back from his excursion to the dormitories and skirted the patio and headed into one of the doors that led to Compound: Level One East.

"I don't want to be eating his leftovers again." Aailyah commented as she headed a little more quickly towards the Compound: Cafeteria.

Raising her eyes to Asher's, Thena squinted slightly and regarded the other Special's face. 'Really? You have,' she started to say, but she wasn't sure what to call it, so she paused and pointed to her own eyes, just off to the side, 'uhm...wiring and stuff? In there?' She smiled shyly and looked back into her lap, looking down at her spindly fingers again, then glanced sidelong at Marcus and the other couple of individuals who lingered on the Patio. She flinched slightly, but felt immediately guilty for doing so, when she saw that Shrill had joined them. 'I wonder how many people here are biologically enhanced, and how many are mechanically enhanced,' she quietly inquired, as if she were simply thinking aloud.

Cerah nodded at Aailyah. She followed along with Aailyah to the Compound: Cafeteria.

Marcus chuckled, "Well, if everyone is sharing what we can do I suppose its only right to do the same." He concentrated for a moment and took Asher's form and again smiled at the two women. "Granted I can't do what you do, but I can make a good doppelganger." he said in Asher's voice before turning back into himself. "Pretty neat party trick huh?"

Lysander gestured after the two ladies. "I may not be hungry, but I certainly don't want to get left behind." He said to Luther with a grin before following after Aailyah and Cerah in the Compound: Cafeteria

Luther remained quiet and followed to the Compound: Cafeteria

Nodding her head at Thena's question, Asher smiled slightly. "Some. But I'm not entirely made of mechanics. Thankfully." Turning to Marcus she watched in amazement as he shifted forms to look like her and clapped her hands, giggling softly. "That is impressive."

Not feeling the need to share, as Marcus put it, more than what could currently be seen of her enhancements, Thena smiled awkwardly. The woman wished she could be as comfortable with her body as Asher and the shapeshifter obviously were; granted, they were rather normal-looking to begin with. Making no attempt to hide her shock at Marcus's sudden transformation, Thena looked between he and Asher. Her brow furrowed as she watched the transformation back, but she quickly glanced away when she was afraid that she was being rude and staring at the man. Focusing back on Asher, Thena tried to only take a quick survey of what she could see of the other woman's skin, as if she might spy something robotic about her. Screwing her mouth to the side, Thena suddenly changed the subject as she curled her long fingers under the edges of her food tray. 'Where, uhm... where do we put these when we're done eating?'

Marcus smiled, "There is a place inside, here I'll take it I plan on hitting the pool anyway." He took the tray from Thena and smiled at her then Asher, "I will see you ladies later then." then he turned and took the tray back into Compound: Cafeteria.

Asher waved goodbye to Marcus as he walked away. Smiling softly at Thena she propped her feet up on the bars that ran across the bottom of the table. "What would you like to do?" Asher had allowed her fingers to go back to normal earlier and now they fiddled with her jacket as she sat, relaxed in her chair.

'Oh, you... thanks... but, you don't... you don't need to--,' Thena started to say to Marcus, but he was off before she could studder-through the rest of the words. She sat there silently for a moment, just blinking her glossy black sets of eyes. 'Ohhhhhhhh,' she eventually ventured to say before drawing a long breath in between her lips, 'I... don't know. I guess I'd like to... get familiarized, or something, with this place.' Her gaze skated over Asher, then up and around, taking-in the Compound's main building its outbuildings.

"Would you like company or would you like to do that on your own? I'm a people person but I can tell when someone in uncomfortable and you my dear are that embodied." Glancing down at her almost completely empty tray Asher smiled and stood. "I can show you where to put these since Marcus took the liberty if you'd like."

'Oh, I wouldn't want to put you out, or anything,' Thena said very quickly, 'You probably have your own stuff to do.' She smiled, although it looked like a bit of a wince and looked down at the table where nothing was left with which she could occupy her hands. She didn't want to seem needy, but after so long on her own, she actually would't have minded the company. Of course, she said nothing about this, though. 'That was nice of him, although I would like to find my, uhm... way around and stuff.' Pausing, Thena suddenly felt rather self-concious for some reason, and she added as she pushed her chair back to stand, 'Uhm, lead the way.'

Pushing her chair back in, Asher picked up her tray and led the way. "I don't mind. But if you'd like to be alone I understand. I would just go back to my room and tinker some more." She smiled as she entered into the Compound: Cafeteria.

Nodding to Asher, Thena smiled wanly and drew her 'normal', visible arms around her torso, giving herself a hug. She cast Shrill a scant glance from the corner of her eyes before following the pink-haired Special into Compound: Cafeteria.

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