PLOT

It was early morning but the heat of the sun was proving that it was going to be a hot day. Charlie was glad he had organized the run for the morning before it got too hot. He waited in the training area, stretching near the brick wall and wondering who, if anyone, was going to show up today.

Given what was planned and what had happened in Charlie’s last session, he didn’t expect very many people who wanted to go for a run in the forest behind the unit. It could just be me this morning. The thought didn’t bother Charlie as he would appreciate the solitude and peace of the run on his own. Especially after his talk with Madison. It had been tense and he hadn’t meant it to be but Charlie hadn’t known who else to deal with the mimic.

Had be been too tough on her? Maybe. Charlie did have high expectations for other people and he believed in holding them accountable for their actions. As he stretched, Charlie went over the talk in his mind. I definitely could have handled it better. Maybe I should have waited until I was calmer. There was nothing to be done about it now and Charlie focused on stretching his arms behind his back. He had dressed comfortably in loose black pants and a white wife-beater with his usual running sneakers.

In the distance he could hear birds and Charlie closed his eyes, listening. He breathed in deeply. Why did the woods always smell so good after a rainstorm? He didn’t know but he enjoyed the fresh scent before letting out the breath again. Being outside always relaxed him and made Charlie feel better, relaxed. He opened his eyes just in time to see the first arrival. “Good morning”, he greeted the person. “Glad to see I’m not the only one going for the run”.

--------------------------------------------
OOC: No posting order here.

Running normally was not something Fritz would have gone for but the temptation for fresh air and activity won him over. After stopping back at his cell to change from his jeans & boots to shorts & sneakers, Fritz made his way out to the training area. He had noticed that his cell mate was gone and not only that but everything the cell mate had was also gone.

It struck Fritz as strange but he wondered if he should ask about it. Wilson could have decided that putting such a young and obviously inexperienced man in with a harden criminal like Fritz was a bad decision. It didn’t matter, Fritz didn’t have any ties to the boy and had no reason to care what had happened to Benedek. With any luck Fritz would now have a cell to himself which pleased the prisoner. It meant he could sleep comfortably without worrying.

As he reached the training area, Fritz watched as the blond man practiced his deep breathing. You should never close your eyes like that. You don’t know who could sneak up on you, he thought before Fritz reminded himself once again that this was not Stadelheim. Things were different here but would he adjust? Of course. It’s what I do.

Fritz was a con man and survival depended on being able to adjust to the situation he found himself in. “Good morning”, Fritz replied flatly as he sized up Charlie. Strong, the criminal thought as he watched the other man, taking in his mannerisms. Since they had just met there wasn’t a whole lot for Fritz to pick up on but he did get the impression of authority.

“You must be Charlie Evans”, Fritz said as he recalled the name listed on the schedule and it made sense to him since Charlie was the only one here so far. “I’m Fritz, I arrived yesterday. Am I the only to arrive?” The answer was obvious and Fritz mentally kicked himself for asking such a question. “Obviously, I am. Do you expect many others to join us?”

This was total bullshit. Running? That was a session? What did running have to do with their powers? Bryan kept silently complaining as he walked toward the training area but he didn’t stop and head back to the unit no matter how much he wanted to. He had been lazy enough by skipping most of the sessions this week when he came down with the stomach flu. While he hated running, Bryan knew he had to get back into the swing of things and what better way than to attend one of Evan’s sessions? Mister Military himself who was one of the higher ups and would notice Bryan’s attempts to be a team player.

The words ‘team player’ were not words Bryan even applied to himself before. He preferred to work alone and get the glory for himself, ever since school. If Bryan could avoid it, he never participated in group projects. He was trying to change that now to show the unit head that he was dedicated to them.

The first month in the unit Bryan had hated it with a passion. Nowhere to go, nothing to do, stuck up bitches and assholes all around him. It sucked plain and simple. Things changed when Bryan began to train with his power and went through the experiments. Some of them were scary, sure but it was worth being afraid when Bryan discovered how to move between shadows instead of simply merging with them like before.

I can put up with this shit if they can teach me, Bryan thought as he joined Charlie and some bald guy in the training area. Damn, total sausage fest. “Morning”.

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. That’s what his dad always said. It wasn’t one of Eli’s personal mottos but when someone has been saying something to you for nineteen years every morning as they try to wake you up, it tends to stick in your mind. So this morning, he was up a six o’clock, two hours before the wake up alarm. He didn’t know what to do. He had only gotten in early this morning, around midnight, and didn’t know how things worked around here. So he had sat on his bed for two hours, meditating. Personally, he thought the practice was stupid but his sister swore by it so he tried it every now and then. But it never did help him to clear his mind. He couldn’t clear his mind when he had so many question that really needed an answer. Like where the hell was he?

But right now, he was outside and he was putting his thoughts aside for a second. He had always had a rather strict training regimen and just because he was taking his life in a different direction than he had originally anticipated, he still had every intention of keeping that up. He made it outside, proud of himself that he had only gotten lost once. And that was only because someone gave him wrong directions. But he had made it, dressed in a sleeveless blue shirt and a matching pair of shorts.

It was rather nice to get back to nature. For the past two weeks, he has been in London. It was a wonderful city and Eli loved it but sometimes it could be just a tad bit cramped. It was nice to get back to open spaces. Though he was sure if he spent enough time outside, he’d get tired of that too. But right now he was glad to be out, which was one of the reasons he wanted to go on this running thing, besides the exercise. Anyways, he was approaching the training area. Some people were already waiting there.

“Good morning,” he said to the assembled group. ”I’m guessing we're all here for that morning run, huh?"

The day had started out magnificently. Not only was Nicolae well and imprisoned with her, but her childhood friend - who was eerily similar in power and expression- was here as well. Not that Roma should ever be imprisoned, but it did make being here all that much better. At the same time Glas noticed the competition there seemed to be between Nicolae and Demitri. The odd thing was that Demitri likely didn't think of her in any other way than a sister, for at the very least he was like a brother to her. He should have nothing to compete for. She was not a trophy.

The morning run seemed to be the only scheduled thing for outside and Glas felt she needed this. Screw that it was what the Unit Head expected, but the prat was even holding wilderness survival in the lecture hall. Like that helped. She had offered it up to the boys to join her before she left them to change and Glas didn't hide that she really hoped they would join her. Some of the more ambiguous clothes she was not sure if it was meant for her or Salome, but as she had welcomed Salome to use her clothes Glas was sure she would not be bothered by her use of Salome's. Changing out of her skirt, she threw on a pair of rather short black shorts that she had no choice but to wear and a baby blue tank top. Just as she was walking out of her cell, she remembered that shoes were needed and put on a pair of sneakers from the closet.

As she walked outside, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. The smell of the storm from the night before still lingered in the trees and plants that graced the side of the paths. Glas decided that she needed to come here more often, the yard was so bleak compared to the forest path. When she finally opened her eyes again, she noticed a group of boys gathered in appropriate running outfits. Chewing on her bottom lip, she approached with confidence and hoped that the caution and little essence of fear in her eyes didn't show. With her fellow Roma in the building, she was more confident in herself but that didn't change the fact that any of these people could have been the one who kidnapped her from her home.

"Bună dimineaţa," she greeted in Romanian. She paused a moment before correcting herself in English. "Sorry... good morning?" None of the men looked like they were fr0m Romanian or even the surrounding countries. Looking down away from the boys, she put on a smile and found a tree close by to stretch on.

Doing some stretching exercises before the run seemed like a good idea, so Katherine took her time with some simple routines. All the while, her head was turning left and right, not very secretively. This was, after all, her first session in the Unit, and she was pumped full of adrenaline, ready to jog. And to meet new people while she was at it.

She could see many diverse characters already, and no doubt more would be arriving soon. There was the dude that was leading the session, somebody who look real serious and no-nonsense. A tall, muscular looking man stood next to him and Katherine couldn't help but have the impression that the man was just a little intimidating.

Wow, this Unit was filled with handsome guys and pretty girls - if a little young. Katherine grinned, despite feeling a little self-conscious from the couple of glances aimed her way. She was going to love this place!

Finished with her normal stretches and seeing that they were still waiting for arrivals, she whipped out a dollar bill from the bag. Not to buy anything, obviously - Katherine assumed that money had no value here, but who knows? Instead, she started folding it methodically, her heartbeat calming with every familiar crease. Folding origami could be a strangely meditative practice.

She finished a crane, one of the first things she'd learned to fold, and tapped the shoulder of the person she was next to. "Hello, there. Do you want this to keep?" After she finished asking, she raised both eyebrows. Hm. There was something wrong about her grammar, almost imperceptible, but still there. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Poppy was late as she jogged toward the training area, hoping that the others hadn’t taken off yet. She was in luck as she came upon the training area to see the others. From the looks of it, most of them were just arriving too and as Poppy slowed to a stop, breathing a sigh of relief. “Morning”, she said brightly to the others as she looked them over.

There was no sign of Jack or Sofia or Yuri, the only people Poppy had met so far but she wasn’t worried. Wasn’t the point of attending these sessions to get to know each other? Oh, and develop their powers and improve their physiques. With her power, Poppy could see the benefit of exercise. Yes, she could mimic anything she saw but it would be easier to mimic if her body was in top shape. Poppy planed on keeping it that way.

I wonder who the best runner is? Poppy looked over the others. The blond man called Charlie? He was leading the session so that was a good bet but some of the others looked to be in good shape too. She had already done some stretching in the yard before realizing she was going to be late so Poppy didn’t bother repeating the same moves.

Instead she looked around the training area. This was the first time she had been in the forest behind the unit. What a nice place. It was peaceful and pretty in the morning and the day was already proving to be lovely and warm. Not as warm as Poppy was accustomed to from living in Kingston, Jamaica but it was warm enough.

“So how far are we going today Charlie?” Poppy asked politely before thinking, Shit, should I have called him Mr. Evans instead? “It is Charlie, right?”

------------------------------------------------------------------
word count: 306 , clothes: running outfit, other notes: n/a

Their group was getting bigger, yet they still hadn’t started the run. Waiting patiently really wasn’t one of Eli’s strong points so he busied himself with stretching, making sure that he didn’t pull a muscle. Once he had neglected stretching and both his legs had cramped up something awful. It hurt like hell. He could barely walk for the next two days. After that, he made sure that he stretched before any physical activity. While stretching his leg up behind him, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He dropped his leg and turned to see who was trying to grab his attention. It was a girl offering him something. Her English was a tad bit off; nevertheless, he understood what she was trying to say. “Thank you,” he said and took what she was offering him. He looked down to see an origami crane perched in his hand.

His sister had done the whole traditional folding of a thousand cranes when she was thirteen. Well, technically she folded 1,117. Eli had accidentally destroyed some of them when she had left them out on the floor and he had tripped crushed them. It had been an accident but Micheleine hadn’t been convinced. To this day, she still hung it over his head. She just didn’t know how to let it go. In his opinion, he was doing the world a favor as she was a horrible origamist. Her cranes looked more like some sort of misshapen boats. But this one was actually good.

What with her appearance and accent, he assumed she must be Chinese. And as such, she must speak the language of the country. Call it stereotyping, but he was sure of it. Effortlessly, he switched his mind to think in the Chinese language. On the off chance that she actually spoke the language, he said to the girl in Chinese, “It’s very nice.” He slid the creation into his pocket. He could always use another dollar. He had about 20 euros worth of a variety of currencies in his wallet. He continued on in Chinese, “Do you speak Chinese?” It might have been a better idea to ask the question in English, since he actually knew she spoke that language, however stunted it may be. Didn't really matter either way.

"You're welcome." She smiled as the cute guy next to her accepted her offer of the crane. It felt just a little bit weird, but she naturally gravitated toward him, probably because they very likely shared ancestry. He looked almost lost in thought for a moment, staring and the crane, before he put it away in his pocket.

"Xie xie ni de kua jiang. Zhen de mei she me." Thank you for the compliment. I-it's nothing really. Katherine said, with a grin and a hint of a blush. Yay! She found somebody who spoke her first language. It felt so much more natural to converse in Chinese than in English, because in Chinese, she didn't have to be thinking about whether or not she was making a grammatical error every three seconds.

She held out a hand, "Jing tian cai dao de."Just got here today! "Name's Katherine. Glad to meet you!"

She definitely had the feeling that she was going to become good friends with this man, and generally speaking, she trusted her sixth sense, especially when it came to people. At least she would have somebody to talk to while waiting for the run to start. It made her a lot less nervous to have somebody standing next to her. Almost unconsciously, she reached for another bill to fold. She couldn't help it, the habit was hard to shake, and back home, she had thousands of different origami animals hidden under her bed to prove it. It was a wonder that her parents hadn't found out about the hobby!

"Ni de ming zi?" Your name? Katherine waited, secretly wondering if this man was older or younger than herself. It was really hard to tell. One thing was certain though - he looked way more athletic. She was a little bit on the pudgy side, but hey, that had never gotten her down before.

Maggie was not a runner. She wasn’t an athletic person at all but that didn’t stop her from attending such sessions as combat training or running. One, it was simply to nice to get out and do something and two, Maggie was certain there was a purpose behind these types of sessions, even if she didn’t always get it. She was glad to see Charlie had held off from starting the run, no doubt waiting for other people to arrive although they had a good number of residents here so far.

A lot of new faces Maggie noted although she recognized Bryan and Glas. Bryan had been here for almost as long as Maggie and was a fellow Canadian while Glas Maggie had met the night before. “Good morning”, she said brightly as she pushed up her glasses and joined the gathered group. Most people seemed to be stretching so Maggie clumsy copied some of their movements.

I should probably stick to the back, Maggie thought as she looked at the others. They looked like capable runners to her and she didn’t want to slow anyone down. Already, she had no delusions about how well she was going to do. I’ll be lucky if I can keep up, Maggie thought with a trace of self-mockery and amusement. Oh well, it’s good exercise. One woman, someone Maggie didn't know, asked how far they were going to go and Maggie looked at Charlie expectantly, while thinking. I hope it isn't too far.

--------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Feel free to skip Maggie, she'll be hanging in the background I think. Maggie's clothes because it's easier to show than describe.

“That’s what they tell me”, Charlie replied as he eyed the young man. Fritz Eisenberg, recently incarcerated at Stadelheim in Germany and has the power of persuasion. Better be careful to watch what he says. “I expect we’ll be joined by some of the others–“He broke off as he spotted Bryan. “Right about now. Mornin’ Bryan”, Charlie replied with a tight smile. Not one of his favorite people but at least Bryan tried to take part in the sessions. After Bryan a few more people showed up. Another three new arrivals, Eli, Poppy and Katherine along with Glas who arrived yesterday or the day before, Charlie wasn’t sure and the one of the veterans, Maggie.
“Good morning everyone”, Charlie greeted them poliety.

He fixed his blue eyes on Poppy Miller. Another mimic, he thought, not exactly happy with having another one but he kept his smile. “2 kilometers into the forest and 2 kilometers out. There is a trail so please stick to it. If you feel you have to stop and take a breather, do so. This is just a jogging session to get you all outside really. It’s not a race and if you get too tired, you can head back. Now, has everyone warmed up?” Charlie had seen a few of them doing so while he waited for people and once he was assured that they had, Charlie turned to lead them toward the trail. “This way folks”.

The senior member of the unit started off on a slow steady pace as he jogged down the beaten path. He soon picked up the pace when he heard the others catching up, occasionally glancing back to make sure he hadn’t lost anyone.

One of the runners caught up with Charlie pretty quickly which impressed him. After years spent in the military, Charlie had always been in good shape but after a few months here training in the unit, he was at his peak. “Not bad”, he said to the person next to him. “Do you run much?”

-----------------------------------------------
OOC: Your characters can wander off the trail if you want and players, you guys can skip Charlie in posting.

The footsteps were muted by the grass and dirt so Fritz didn’t hear the others approach, so much as feel it. A prickling at the back of his neck, a sixth sense that had kept Fritz alive in prison. He turned his head to the side as Bryan approached and sized up the young man. Pale and skinny, he didn’t look like a threat to Fritz. Outside of Charlie, none of them did. They’re looked normal...average. The kind of people who have never before seen the inside of a prison.

“Good morning”, the German returned the greeting though he disguised his accent, making his country of origin hard to tell by his voice. Fritz hadn’t bother before but with a large crowd like this, he instinctively went into blend mode. His voice gave nothing away and his body relaxed, standing casually. Years of conning people had sharpened Fritz’s talents so he knew how to make himself inconspicuous when he wanted.

Discreetly, he watched the others. Taking note of the weak and the strong. Who looked useful and who looked wastes of space. There were more wastes here then there were useful ones. A pretty and confidant Asian woman with a strangely Caribbean accent caught his eye and he wondered what her power was.

He was curious to know what all their powers were truthfully, partly due to simple interest and partly due to a natural desire to access what he could use. It was just Fritz’s nature to always be on the look out for things that could help him. Observation had helped him out more than a few times. His eyes moved to the trail leading into the forest that Charlie started to jog towards.

Not one to be left in the dust, Fritz quickly followed and it wasn’t long before he caught up with the leader. “Only when I’m being chased”, Fritz replied with a side glance at Charlie. “I’m assuming since you’re the big man in here that you know all about me. You know about everyone here, right?”

Fritz knew he’d have to play it careful with Evans for as much as he wanted to get information out of the man, he suspected Charlie knew a lot about him. He didn’t want to piss Charlie off or make him suspicious. “Not trying to be nosy”, he added. “But whenever I’m in a new place I like knowing where the danger lies. Who should I watch out for? I don’t want to piss off the wrong people my first day here”.

It might have started as a sausagefest but it didn’t stay that way, which pleased Bryan as he sized up the women who joined them. Ignoring the other guy, ‘natch. Two hot Asian girls, a teenage brunette who didn’t speak English and the nerdy Maggie who was at the bottom rung in this group. “Nice shirt Maggie”, Bryan said as he looked at her chest, checking her out as always but he was being sincere. Stars Wars was one his favorite movies.

While the others stretched, Bryan stood off to the side looking bored. This was not his scene and he was reconsidering coming here. Do I really need Charlie to show me how to run? Do I really need another hour of listening to Charlie? Before Bryan could decide to turn back, the run had started and he watched as the others joined in.

Bryan sighed and started jogging, keeping to the back of the group so he could watch the girls in front of him and because he was a shit runner. Not like the big muscular guy who was catching up to Charlie in front. Show off, the Canadian thought sourly. He hated jocks. They reminded him of high school, getting picked on and shoved into lockers.

The only person Bryan figured could relate to his hatred of jocks was the equally nerdy Maggie who had to have gotten picked on in school. Just look at her! Bryan was running along side Maggie and turned his head to glance at her.

Yeah, she’s been inside a locker before. “Hey Maggie, what’s the deal with mister show off there?” Bryan huffed, gesturing to Fritz up ahead. “Do you know him?” Outside of Maggie and Charlie, Bryan didn’t know anyone here or when they arrived since he had been dying with the flu for the past week or so.

So he was right. She did speak Chinese. Probably better than he did. Though he had been speaking Chinese for most of his life, it was still technically the third language he had learned, after Malay and English. But, since he had been speaking it practically all his life, he was sure that he had a good handle on it. He was fine with speaking either Chinese or English but since she seemed more comfortable with Chinese, he was going to stick with that.

“Eli Siang, at your service.” Eli shook her offered hand and then, dropping her hand, he gave her a deep bow with a flourish of his hand. It was the same way he ended each and every one of his performances. Old habits die hard. And this one wasn’t too bad. He considered kissing her hand as well but he figured that that was a bit too far. Some people just don’t like that kind of thing. “Very nice to meet you. I just got here today too. Really early this morning.”

Eli turned to see the guy in charge (Charlie was his name, wasn’t it?) finally start the run. It was about time. There were only so many stretches you could do before you were as limber as a snake. “You ready to go?” he asked Katherine. Usually, he would be at the front of the pack just to prove that he was the best of the best. But since he was talking with Katherine, he was gonna have to take it down a notch or two. She didn’t really look like she could run too fast. He was sure he could slow it down.
“So, are you from China? Or Malaysia? Taiwan? Indonesia? Or do you just randomly know Chinese?” Though that was highly unlikely.

His bow made her smile, though it was also very puzzling. Katherine had never in her entire life, met somebody who actually bowed after introducing themselves? Was Eli royalty or was she just reading too much into it? Deciding that she might as well play along, she gave a little curtsy of her own.

"Did you get lost?" She inquired curiously. Not everybody had a perfect sense of direction, "I kinda wandered into the swimming pool. How cool is that? They have on here!" Hoping she didn't sound too excited about something like a pool, she watched Eli for his reaction.

"... Not really?" Her voice came out in a squeak.

The run was finally getting under way. Katherine wasn't sure how she felt about that. Well, of course to run was the reason why she'd come to this session in the first place, but she'd been awfully content just standing around and chatting. Now though, she had to balance her breathing with her speaking - otherwise she'd risk losing her breath and falling behind in pace. To be frank, not even five minutes into the run, she was already losing sight of the man leading them up along the trail. It should be fine though, because, the Unit people wouldn't actually stick them in a place where they could easily get lost... Right?

"Guangzhou, China, yep. What about you? Pardon me, but I get the feeling you get around a lot more than I do. Your English is probably better too..." She sighed, then noticed that while she was huffing and puffing already, Eli looked like he was hardly breaking a sweat at the pace they were going in. "A-are you going slow because of me? Because I wouldn't want to keep you back or anything." Speaking of falling behind, Katherine twisted her head a bit to see who was up front with the man leading the jog. How could they keep up?!