Participants:
| Scene Title | Threads To Follow |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Agent Lin comes to a couple members of the Cooperative to ask about the recent thefts. |
| Date | March 6, 2018 |
Eric Doyle Memorial Children's Library
A restored, 19th-century carriage house, this library rests between two much larger buildings. Opened in March of 2018, this Library serves the public. This 2,600 square foot building acts as a learning space for the youth of the New York Safe Zone. The services and books within catering primarily to children and young adults, with classes and clubs to enrich and entertain.
The building is named in honor of Eric Doyle, a Ferryman, who sacrificed his life in a daring raid on the Cambridge Institute facility, where dozens of children were being held.
It's true that the library isn't technically open, but then Bowie isn't here as a patron. Although he probably will be in the future. Today, though, he's driven by a more official purpose. And a more worrisome one. He strides up to the front doors, coat over his arm and his identification in hand, ready to present it if he actually finds a person. Personal residences are always an option, but he likes the idea of something like this, public, a workplace, a little less intrusive.
The agent knocks on the front doors, loud enough to be heard. But then he steps back from the door, just a bit.
Bowie can see a woman, dressed in a long sky blue coat emerge from one of the many shelves of books. At first it might even look like she's headed towards the door to let Bowie in - at least until she suddenly turns, veering away and towards a table that has a stack of books on it. The woman, short with slightly unkempt hair, holds a book open in her hands as well, a wide smile on her face.
Book still open, she places a hand on top of a stack, and suddenly lifts the whole thing up as if the books themselves were glued to her hand - and each other. Smile widening, she turns again, and this time she notices Bowie.
Which is probably why she shrieks, startled by the (to her) sudden appearance of a man at the door. She stumbles back, into a chair. It tips back, taking her and the books - which scatter into the air - with it. With a loud thud she lands, legs hanging over the edge of the chair. For a moment, silence falls again.
"It's u-unlocked. C-Come in…" a meek but audible voice offers back, a hand reaching up from the heap of chair, person, and books to wave Bowie in..
Getting this place ready for opening day takes a lot of extra work. Most of the books are on the shelf, but there's still a few boxes worth that need to be shelved. There's still a few cushions that have their covers washed that need to be added back on. There's paintings that need to be hung. At first, Gillian thinks it might be the last shipment of books when the door is knocked on, but she spots the man. Yeah, he doesn't look like he's going to be delivering books. Delivery men don't look like that.
Though Iris already called him in, she moves to open the door, since her hands aren't full. "We're not open yet— but you also don't look like you're here to read the books." Considering most of them are children, middle grade and young adult, they seem a little young for this man.
"Can we help you?"
When Iris sees him, Bowie starts to wave, but she screams and he lifts his hands up to prove he's not here to hurt anyone rather than to say hi. It's good that Gillian comes to the door, because it looks very much like he wasn't going to barge in even with the invitation.
"Oh, not today," he says, greeting her with a smile. "Agent Lin," he introduces himself, showing ID and all so she can look it over. "I was hoping to talk to some of the Cooperative. About the recent food theft? I know this is a busy time, but I don't take up too much of it." He pauses there, glancing back to Iris. "And I'm sorry for startling you," he notes, finally getting in a wave in her direction.
Iris rolls herself over and out of the fallen chair, coughing as she begins to gather up the books. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Childs!" she says excitedly, scrambling up to her feet, a few of the books held in hand and set aside on to the table next to her. She turns to Bowie and offers a small bow and a smile. "Oh, it's nothing! I'm, uh, I'm sorry I yelled, I was just-" startled, like he said.
Clearing her throat, Iris looks back to Gillian with a smile, and then to the man. "Oh yeah, that…" Iris trails off a bit, wrinkling her nose. "I'm really glad it wasn't my turn to help out with handing out food this time." She takes a deep breath, smiling as she sets the last of the books back where they were and pulls the chair upright, starting over towards Gillian and Bowie. "I'm not Council, but I'll help however I can!" Because she always does when it comes to Co-Op stuff.
"It's fine, Iris. They don't look damaged," Gillian says, understanding the startling. And even if they had been damaged, she wouldn't have been mad. Plus, she knows the girl happens to be a little bit of a klutz. It reminds her of… other people.
"Ah. Come on in. We definitely want to bring an end to the shortage, especially after the riot the other day." That had not been an ideal situation. But people panic, after everything that led up to the war and the war itself, they had very good reason to. Thankfully, Gillian has her own storage worth of in her basement. It didn't get taken.
"How can we help?" She's including Iris, cause the woman does help with the Safe Zone in many ways. Especially with the libraries. Thankfully, only food has been the target thus far.
"It's alright. I've been told I can be intimidating," Bowie says to Iris, although with a crooked smile that implies that no one has ever told him that ever. "Thank you, both of you. We're going to need the help of the citizenry to get into this matter. So, thank you. The— riot, yes. I'd like to correct this so we won't have need for that again." After all, he lives here, too.
"Mostly, have you seen anything lately that was out of the ordinary? People who are new to the area? People you know who have been acting strangely? Anything that has stood out to you. However minor it seems." He puts his ID away and pulls out a notepad instead. Old school. Pencil and paper.
"Um." Iris's nose wiggles back and forth a bit as she scrunches her face, trying to think. "I mean…" Her gaze tilts up a bit, hands clasped in front of her as she continues to think, before suddenly snapping a finger. "Oh, yeah! Some of the folks I buy books from in the Market, that one reeeeeally big stall-" Iris opens her arms out as side as she can for effect, "The night the theft happened! A whole bunch of their stock got absolutely destroyed!" The more she talks, the more excited she seems to get, the pace of her words picking up a tiny bit with each one. "Completely shredded, like you stuffed some old document into one of those-" a small laugh," shredders." She slaps her hands against her legs, eyes locked on to Bowie. "Those poor books! News papers too! Like, a whole bunch of money's worth too! Who… even… does…"
She lets out a nervous laugh as she realises she's ranting. "Oh. The food that went missing, right. Um. Hold on…" Hands on her hips, she tilts her gaze a bit more towards the ceiling, falling quiet as she thinks harder.
"I didn't hear about that," Gillian responds when she hears about the books. Shredded. That is very unfortunate. Good books were hard to find these days. "Maybe we'll have to set up cameras in the library after all." They had discussed it, mostly for the children's safety, but now, perhaps, they have another reason to set up some close circuit cameras hooked up to the generator they'd already added in the basement, in case of emergencies so the children didn't panic, but…
"I can't imagine who would have done that. Or why. Perhaps a side effect of an ability that was used?" There's so many side effects of so many abilities, that it could happen. And sometimes abilities have totally different side effects between people who use them. She doesn't add to it with her thoughts, yet, letting Iris finish if she has more to add.
Bowie's eyebrows lift as Iris speaks, and he takes notes. In Mandarin. If one could recognize the language. Even if it's not food, he is interested in her observation. "That is definitely out of the ordinary," he says, this time without a smile. Because it's a big loss in a lot of ways. "I'll have to ask them if they saw anything." Threads to chase down.
He looks over at Gillian, nodding at her thoughts. "I recommend it, if you can manage. It might not stop everyone, but it is a deterrent. And it helps people like me." And, of course, there's her theory. "That is a possibility. I would rather not jump right to it, but it is a possible explanation. But so is someone who has the right set of skills." All possibilities are entertained, it seems.
"Oh, well. Um." Iris takes a deep breath, glancing over at Gillian. "I mean. I could've been someone's ability? There's the one kid- the booksellers told me 'bout him, can't be older than… 11 or 12? He likes to hang around there a lot, always talking to people." Her brow furrows. "He, um- I talked to him once or twice. He was really sweet, always talks to people about the books they buy. Offered to get him one once, but he said no thank you. Apparently he never actually buys or reads the books?" She going on again, pressing a finger into her palm as she recounts things, as if counting them off.
"People like to say he can walk through walls, and he's really good at disappearing when I talk to him, but I don't think that could've shredded books! Not if he actually likes them, and why wouldn't he!" She reaches up and taps her chin twice. "I think his name was Will. I don't think he would ruin books or take food…" But if he can walk through walls, maybe possibly… Iris frowns heavily.
"That is also a possibility. That people were made to help. Nothing is ruled out yet. For now, all I'm asking anyone is what they've seen around recently." Including phasers. Bowie writes the name down in English, but goes right back to Mandarin with the next word. "He sounds very much like a person who would not want to destroy books," he adds with a soft smile for Iris. Reassuring.
He looks over at Gillian, pausing a moment to finish jotting down his notes. "And you? Have you seen anything strange?"
When Bowie looks over towards Gillian, so does Iris. She's been dominating the conversation so far, but the mention of a "Bill" that is so similar to her "Will" grabs her attention - and her imagination. "Oh wow! Do you think they're the same person? Oh, or twins!?" Her eyes light up at that possibility. "Oh gosh I think I read that one once. Oh, what was the title…" Her brow furrows together again as she tries to drum up the title of the book. "I'd hate to think of someone being forced into something like that… I guess it's possible." If this wasn't a SESA thing now, maybe she'd make like Sherlock Holmes and go investigate around the bookseller's stall some.
Probably… probably not the best idea though. Hands back on hips, she listens and thinks.
“I haven’t seen anything else that’s strange. But the night of the theft I felt something. I’d been in the Market to check on something,” Gillian sees no reason to reveal what, but she will give the name of the person she’d visited if asked. “I’m not sure when the theft happened exactly, but that night I felt something. Remember how I said I can feel the presence of Evolved if they’re near? I felt a lot of them. I couldn’t pin down numbers, just… a lot of them. Like my ability… swelled?”
She shakes her head, but feels the need to continue, “I understand my ability, and I understand Evolved a little too.” Enough that she has an Instructor endorsement on her SLC-Expressive card, and has since the system had been brought into place, “It could have a duplicator, perhaps, cause each of them have their own little… ball of energy that I can sense.” She knows from being around Brians so much, even if she’s no longer on the best of terms with her brother right now.
“It also could have been something else, maybe someone who mimics an element. Split into pieces. Like drops of water that were all from one Evolved.” She’s still used to calling them Evolved. Even if some people feel like it’s a bad word now. “It may not be connected at all, but it did happen that night.”
"Like I said, nothing's been ruled out," Bowie says to Iris once there's a lull for him to break into. His smile seems amused, though. And he makes a few notes, so he must not mind her excitableness.
With a glance over at Gillian, Bowie's pencil moves again and he nods to encourage her to go on. "That's helpful, thank you," he assures her. "Can you tell when someone is using their ability versus not?" That might make a difference. Although he doesn't seem sure it will, just curious. He reaches into a pocket to pull out a card for each of them. "Before I forget, I'm going to give you these. If you can remember details, times especially, or anything else happens, I'd appreciate a call." Cards relinquished, he looks between the two of them again. Apprehensive.
"Have either of you heard anything out there, before the thefts, of anyone being… frustrated? With the Safe Zone. Not just frustrated, that was a poor choice. We're all frustrated sometimes, right? But I mean anything that sounded threatening or frightening. Someone who wanted to bring the Zone down a peg or… anything like that. It's hard to ask if a whole Zone has any enemies, but like that."
"Oh my gosh." Iris looks over at Gillian as she talks about her ability and the possibilities it could imply. "That's so… cool! It sounds like something out of one of Savannah Burton's books!" But then cards are handed out to them, and she refocuses herself on the discussion at hand. "I mean…" Iris looks at the card, taking a deep breath as she focuses on it.
"People always complain, particularly at the food lines. I guess some folks still aren't used to it, or think they deserve more…?" She shrugs her shoulders as she looks back up at Bowie. "I mean, I haven't heard of anyone wanting to go totally Hunger Games or Lord of the Flies, but there's plenty of people who don't seem to like the Co-Op or the Zone, which is like - insane, right?" Hands back to her hips, Iris lets out another humph, "For real! All we want to do is help! How can people be mad about that? It doesn't even make sense!"
“No, I can’t tell when someone is using their ability unless I’m actively boosting them, but I can feel that… knot of energy.” Gillian’s not sure how else to describe it, but she tries. “It’s like sparks. Some of them are soft and whispery like a firefly, some are explosive, like fireworks. Only it’s not really a light at all, but a feeling.” She glances toward Iris, feeling her little spark. “My ability is to manipulate that spark in different ways. Empower it, depower it. Not full negation, but I can increase or decrease it.” Which also led her to sense it.
She hasn’t added that, she actually ripped that source of energy out of someone and put it in someone else.
But it’s not something she can do— normally. And she wouldn’t be offering that up even if she could.
Taking the card, she nods. “Of course. I also think you should look into Staten Island. I would not be at all surprised if some of the food that was stolen winds up on the market there. There was also one man, him and his accomplices were kicked out of the Market for public drunkenness on the 25th. He may have also been trying to steal things. His name is Eugene Arrowhead, but I don’t know the name of those who had been with him.”
"That sounds like a very special gift," Bowie says when Gillian explains what she can do. "The way the world must be for you— " He stops himself there, because that was not part of this line of questioning. He clears his throat. "Sorry." He looks over at Iris, then, perhaps to have something else to say as quickly as possible. "Change is difficult. I don't hold that against people. But if you hear anything serious, please. Let me know. Or anyone at SESA."
Then he looks back to Gillian. "Eugene Arrowhead. Staten." He frowns at the location. Because that's not a good place by any stretch. "That's good. Thank you. I will look into him and his associates." He looks up from his notes, giving the both of them a grateful smile. "Thank you. Both of you. You've been very helpful. And kind. And after I scared you and everything."
"Arrowhead?" Iris blinks at that. "What a symbolic name," she muses, her head tilting slightly to the side. Turning back to Bowie, she offers a wide smile. "Oh! Don't worry about it. I, um… I kinda get absorbed into things-" books - "easily. Sorry I screamed at you, I really didn't mean to." Iris gives him a sheepish look, scratching at the back of her head. "But you're welcome! If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know! I'll be-" she stops abruptly, again looking sheepish. "Well, here, probably."
Was it Arrowhead? Gillian frowns a moment, before shaking her head. Yeah, she thinks it was. it isn’t “Well, we better get back to work. We still need to wrap a few more things up to be ready for noon.” And by wrap, she means actually wrap. Iris might be one of the few people who knew everything she’d had planned for the event. “I hope you manage to sort this out, Agent Lin.”
She’s not worried about going hungry herself? But those who don’t have quite as much saved up as her— that definitely adds some major worries. The government assistance to move into the safe zone isn’t enough for those who are just starting out. Those who still live in Spring’s Creek will be the hardest hit of all.
"It's no trouble at all," Bowie says to Iris at her apology, his smile turning amused. "I'll let you get back to it. Oh and good luck." Since it's kind of a big day for them. He looks over at Gillian, her expression sobering. "I hope so, too. I'll do everything I can. We all will." He nods to the pair of them, then turns to show himself out. His notes getting tucked into an inside pocket in his coat. For safekeeping.