:Rəset: (PRIVATE)

Once all his ducklings were in a row, Jason took the lead and guided them into the apartment building. Upon entering, Jason felt a buzz coming from his pocket. Taking out his phone, he noticed he had a new text message. Reading it silently, he stopped moving for a moment. "....huh." He blinked before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. The redhead continued his walk, glancing back every once in a while to make sure everyone had kept up. Jason approached the elevators, going to hit the button.

The arrow didn't light up, though...

"...Uhh.." Jason blinked. He tried pressing it again, but yet again, nothing lit up. No sounds, nothing. Looking around, Jason frowned. Noticing a sign posted, Jason walked to the other elevator door, a paper on it stating: Elevator's out of Order due to Earth Quake. Please use Stairs. "Damnit... Guess we have to take the stairs..." Jason turned to the group, shrugging before taking the lead to find said stairs. Luckily it wasn't too far away, just around the corner and down the hall. Opening the door to the stairway, Jason popped inside and immediately began climbing it. He tried not to go too quickly, just in case Sun was still feeling unwell from earlier. Once at Floor 3, the redhead opened the door and waltzed down the hall. "Alright, our room should be just around this corner." Jason instructed the group. Once turning around the corner, you could see a tall figure leaning against a door. They looked visibly uncomfortable due to their body language...

"Hm." Jason smirked, walking down the hall. "I guess Katy changed his mind..." Jason looked down at his phone again. The text he'd received earlier had been from KatyKr00ger himself. Jason stepped up the pace, running to catch up to their friend who'd decided to reveal themselves. Once close enough, you could make out his physical appearance. He was very skinny and frail looking, long brown hair and a fair pale complexion. He wore a mask containing various shades of pink and the clothes he wore were teal. Long sleeves, one rolled up on his right arm. The bottoms of his pants were rolled up to his ankles as well. Upon closer inspection, you could see an earring on his left ear as well. His posture was weak, slumping over and leaning against the wall.

"Hey Katy... you aright? You seem a little..." Jason started before being cut off by the other man who was visibly shaking.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to go against what I said before I just... Things are different now. I have... I have to talk to everyone. U-uh!" The man looked to the group, trying to straighten up before bowing profusely, holding his mask in place with his left hand after it had slipped a little. "Ah, I... I'm KatyKr00ger! Y-you guys must be... y-y'know..." The man stood up straight, shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling out some keys. Losing grip immediately, the keys fell all over the ground, clinking and clanging as they scattered. "Ah, oh my god!" The man scrambled to go grab them off of the ground before Jason could even lean over, shaking a little as he did. As the man breathed heavily gathering them all, you could hear him sniffle a little. "Oh uh, c'mon we should, uh..." The brunette stood up quickly, stumbling back a bit. Jason put out an arm to catch him but Katy shook his head and ushered to the door in front of him. Opening it up, a whoosh of cold air from the air conditioner in the room hit them immediately. "Oh shit did I forget to turn that off again!?" The brunette poured the pool of key's into Jason's hand before running inside and turning off the air conditioner. Once he was done fiddling with it, he spun around to address the group.

"A-ah, welcome to your new home... Uh, please come in and shut and lock the d-door. Please! I uh, this is IMPORTANT." The brunette put a lot of emotion into the what he said, but did not speak above a normal talking level.

Jason was bewildered as to what was possibly going on. Katy was always a bit nervous... but not like this. Also, Katy was so against showing up earlier... but now he'd shown up at the double studio all of a sudden... Jason felt it was now the best time to use his powers... He trusted Katy but... he didn't want to take any chances. Putting a hand on Katy's shoulder, he looked him straight into one of the openings into the mask and lowered his voice to try and put him at ease.

"Katy... calm down. Tell me exactly what is going on." Jason spoke clearly, using his powers to make him come forward with what was happening.

---

Meet KatyKr00ger!



Name: KatyKr00ger (Online Username)
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Birthday: ??
Sexual Orientation: ??
Height: 6'1
Weight: 138lbs
Power: Sense
Power Strengths: ??
Personality: Nervous, Pessimistic, and a bit of a cry baby. He likes making people laugh and smile. He's quite insecure about nearly everything he does, though.
Strengths: Quick to act, loves to entertain, and has a good heart.
Weaknesses: He's known to fret over lots of things, thus being hesitant on meeting up with everyone. He's not very confident in his abilities and finds himself to be weak willed. He's a bit clumsy and he gets freaked out easily.
History: He's never talked about how he removed his chip, but there is a nasty messy scar where it didn't heal properly due to how it was extracted. He hasn't talked a lot about his family. He owns a few apartment spaces and lives by himself not far from the places he owns. He usually rents them out to people who make low income.
Other: Underweight, likely has an eating disorder that he doesn't like talking about. He has an Auricle Piercing on his right ear. He occasionally gets his long hair stuck in it.

---

Jason quickly shut the door once everyone had entered, locking the bolt on it before coming back up to the man. He gave a stern nod to the group, as if trying to assure them it would be okay. Even if he didn't know what was going on, using his powers insured him that they would get the information they needed about whatever was happening.

Taking a deep breath, Katy did exactly as Jason said and calmed down a bit before speaking up.

"Okay... So you all felt that tremor not long ago, r-right?" Katy's voice shook a little. He sat down slowly on one of the beds in the room, looking out the window before looking back to the group. He switched his gaze from each and every one of the people who were inside, even if they couldn't tell because of the mask. "W-well that was no regular earth quake... Once it happened, I knew something was wrong. I mean a-after all! New York... an earth quake...? It's pretty unheard of... As you guys recall, I have the power of Sense... And well, right before the earth quake occurred, I kind of... knew it was coming? I knew it wasn't anything ordinary either..."

Katy started to play with his hair, pressing the strands between his fingers and letting go multiple times. "So anyway, I went online to see if anyone knew what had just happened and.... a-and..." The man shook a little. "On the forum, several were saying it wasn't an earth quake at all. Some said it had to be a bomb going off somewhere or something... I wasn't t-too sure about that though... A bomb big enough to cause an earth quake and no smoke...? I dunno, it didn't sound right. B-but then someone said... they'd heard it was probably a nuke going off somewhere. P-Probably in Canada... When I heard that... I-I suddenly got another jolt in my chest... l-like... What they said HAD to be right... I can't explain it, I really can't... I think it has to do with my sensing ability but I really... I really can't explain it..." Katy hiccuped a little, sniffling under his mask once more. "Shortly after people were talking about that suspicion... everything was gone. Deleted! E-everything! The board they were posting in... gone... The other people who had replied to the thread were on a one-day ban... and so was I. I-I posted in the thread about feeling like they were right and..." Katy started to break down crying, his whole body shaking. "I-I'm so scared, Jason! What if they know who I am now!? What if the government tries to take me away!? I shouldn't have posted anything... I shouldn't have posted anything oh my god..." Katy was bawling now, hands shoved under his mask, his cries echoing between his fists and his mask. His mask lifting ever so slightly, his chin visible.

Jason couldn't believe what he was hearing. A nuke...? There was a chance Katy had been wrong. He said he wasn't comfortable in his powers, so he might be completely wrong in what he felt... However, a few other people thought the same thing too. And the sudden deletion raised a lot of flags too. Maybe they were onto something... And if they were... Katy could definitely be in trouble. He wasn't sure if Katy had a lot of protection against his computer or any proxies except for ones Jason installed himself... But since he wasn't invited into the meet up thread, Katy didn't have nearly as many protections installed for him as everyone else did.Katy could be could be at risk. Jason took a few steps towards his friend and wrapped an arm around him, leaning him against his own chest. Katy gasped at the sudden gesture, letting his weak sobbing body lean against the redhead.

"Katy... where is your computer right now?" Jason asked with concern. They needed to either destroy it... or him and Major needed to work together to put Katy's risk to 0. Katy knew about the meetup because of their private interactions and the build up to the thread, and he knew about all of them here in this room. They all couldn't risk Katy being caught.

"It's a-at my house.. I.. I turned it off though. Once I saw what happened I started to panic and I turned it off immediately before coming here." His voice wobbled as he spoke, lowering a hand out of his tilted mask.

"Okay. Don't turn it back on. Unplug it. As soon as you can, bring it over here and Major and I will take a look at it." Jason assured him, looking up in Charlie's direction. He nodded at her, expecting her to be on board. She had to be.

"O-okay... I... I can do that." Katy nodded, sniffling a little, his crying ceasing. Leaning off of Jason, he straightened his mask once more and nodded, more so to himself than anyone else. "I'm so sorry... I know you all must be so on edge right now, after meeting up in person, and now this, and I wasn't..." Katy took a deep breath, trying not to cry again. "Since I'm here and all... and already making trouble for you guys... If you need anything at all... Please contact me! I will do all I can. E-even if it means I act as a guinea pig or some sort of experiment... P-please!!" Katy stood up quickly and bowed. "Accept it as my apology for this!!"

Great, she sighed; the elevator was closed. She huffed in disappointment as she followed the rest of the crew up the stairs, thankfully not to the 20 thousandth floor. It better be all worth it if they can hang out at their pad and work out all their cool ideas, or at least take a nap. She followed her teammates to the apartment itself, only to see a creepy man laying on the door.
..This was Katy? This stringy, creepy looking weirdo? The little one's face immediately turned sour at the realization. She watied for their conversation to cease before entering the apartment, a blast of cold air greeting them. It wasn't the amazing place she'd hope it'd be, but at elast it wasn't a rat infested hell hole.

Katy wasn't anyone she talked to extensively, nor did she really trust: he seemed way too nervous to be able to handle such a dangerous operation, and it really showed.If he couldn't even manage to hand over keys without squirming like a worm in sunlight, then there really was a problem. Regardless, she held her tongue in anticipation of what was about to happen next.
Charlie nodded her head at the responses, paying attention to every word that Katy was spewing out. The story did seem to connect, albeit she had no way to actually tell. That would require her actually having powers to access information to other countries; any North American server would have wiped that incriminating data ages ago. It wasn't until Katy's involvement in the story that she really felt uneasy.
What kind of idiot government bans people for one day for expressing opinions that would threaten their power?

...Oh. They would only need one day to hunt down those people who made those suggestions... and kill them... The only thought now was that Katy was as stupid as they came: why the ever-living hell would someone express opinions like that without proper proxies for protection!? Or even for using a site that wasn't in the deepest darkest corners of the web, since the government could so easily go on and ban people? One of Charlie's hands strayed to her face, pushing up her glasses in favor of her hand completely covering her eye.



She slightly jerked her head at Jason at the mention of her nickname, nodding in response to his suggestion. 

    The first instinct was to grab the phone in his pocket. The immediate temptation to fall back on his sister's ability to contact the world outside their borders was strong, to hear the veracity of this statement from someone he trusted above all others. But he froze, that childish and reckless impulse fading as soon as his fingers brushed against the smooth glass of the phone screen sitting in his pocket. The foolishness of even attempting to use code speech right now was off the charts. Certainly, the government would be locking down on communications within the earthquake's radius, closely monitoring activity as to make sure word of their brutality did not leak. Logic overpowering reaction, his hand slid back out of his pocket and returned to its nestled spot, arms folded tightly.

    A nuke going off so close that they could feel the residual rumbling... It was surreal. But this is what they were here to do. To expose what horrors the government had been doing, and stop --

    His train of thought came to a crashing halt as Katy continued to speak.



    ... You goddamn idiot. Drei could feel his nerves pricking with each syllable dropped from Katy's quivering lips. Fingers raking into the skin of his arms, it took every bit of willpower he had in his body not to immediately begin reaming the masked man. Dissenting against the government on an unprotected forum, most likely while unprotected himself... he could feel an irate chill run up his spine. Frankly, this anger burned more hotly than his anger directed towards the possible bombing. The nuke was a problem they could do nothing about, and the ultimate solution of exposing the event to the public was what they'd set out to do in the first place.

    However this... This degree of entirely avoidable danger was infuriating.



    "No," Drei snapped, finally letting the frustration that had been dammed up behind his lips and restraint flow freely from his mouth. The others had remained surprisingly silent during this revelation, sans Casanova who took the opportunity to make nice with the other man. And while the skin contact once again could have had other more strategic implications, the saccharine wording and hair ruffling made his stomach twist. What's done is done? Are you serious? Stepping around the others, he positioned himself in front of the door, arms crossed and face hardened. "He should not go back to his house alone. If the takedown and bans are really the work of the government, and he's not protected by multiple proxies, then at the very least they have his IP address. But the worst case scenario is that they've already figured out his home address. Do you want to risk that?"

    The specific one day ban and the stringy idiot's panic over being tracked down led to his assumption that he was poorly protected. And if the government truly wanted to keep the word from getting out, then what would stop them from acting immediately? The blonde glared at Jason. "All it takes is one spineless rat for the whole operation to go sour. I can accompany him, and we can retrieve his computer." Or destroy it.

The harsh tone of the taller man struck a nervous chord in the little girl's mind, yet what Drei was saying was right. This was totally fishy, and Katy was a real danger if he opened his stupid mouth again. Anyone with half a brain and a 50 dollar laptop would be able to trace an IP address, and it was incredibly likely Katy didn't protect his. 
Gil was right too... why would someone nuke a whole country? Especially as big and close as Canada no less. And could nukes even cause earthquakes in the first place? She needed answers, and she needed them quick: even if she couldn't get them herself.

Drei did say something about his sister having access to info from other countries. If she could get this confirmed and have some peace for the group, or at least know Katy wasn't a no good lyin' scum sucker, that was all she needed.  Charlie then pocketed a small surge of energy to her brain to stimulate her social ability and sauntered over to Drei and tapped him on the shoulder, getting up on her toes to be able to whisper.

"Your sister has that ability to get info from other countries, right? We might need that to see if everything here is true. and if we can get Gil's sister in contact, that'd be nice too," She went back to having her feet completely rest to the ground and turned to Katy, eyes shining with stony determination.

"And we need to wipe everything on that computer, even if it means removing all records of it existing in government files. I- I really don't want to die, OK?" The last few words shook with fear as she cut off the feed of energy going to her brain. She needed as much as possible if she was going to perform arduous tasks like hacking.

Then again, she could easily do what she announced; the energy would just make it a lot easier to do it without many careless mistakes.

   His expression softened, realizing that his attempt to turn the table on the man for information was working. If it went that smoothly, imagine how easy it could be to-
   Kaine raised an eyebrow. Of course Four-eyes would be the one to speak up. In truth, Kaine believed him to be right when it came to the government tracing Katy's location. Yet for Drei to stick his neck out for the coward like that irked him, and made his eyebrow visibly twitch with irritation. Did you forget your own nature? If Drei was caught in Katy's mess, there was potential for the seabird to give in with his previous pull-back habit. If anything, they should let Katy walk into his own damn mess, as he created it for himself out of his own carelessness. He was the "spineless rat" after all. Like a rat, he should be caught by a cat- the third party in this case. It was just their job to put the cheese in the trap, and make Katy squirm his way into it himself. Getting him to stop sobbing and have a false sense of security could've achieved that on its own, but of course the ever-critical Glasses needed to insert his two cents. 
   To top it all off, Kaine found himself hastily shoved aside by Gil, who had gripped Katy by the shoulders.
   Great. Shout at the guy. He'll really want to keep quiet now. 
   A sigh escaped him; the waterworks weren't coming to an end today. Not to say he didn't have sympathy for the poor fellow, as now not only was he pushed into a rather sketchy scenario but now his sibling was possibly announced dead. Everything had gone downhill and in a matter of seconds, but they didn't necessarily have time for mourning. Their security was being compromised, that needed to be dealt with first. Having two people lose their composure was detrimental to the rest of the group's progression. Katy was reduced once more to his pitiful bawling demeanor, and the noise was grating against his eardrums. 
   The sound of a smaller voice reminded Kaine that a child was within their group. Her suggestion further prodded at the scenario of retrieving the laptop instead of leaving Katy to his fate. He shook his head to himself as he heard the words continue on. 

   "I really don't want to die." 

   That's right. They had a child on their hands now and yet they insisted on pushing forward into Katy's ordeal. They were supposed to be sensible adults, but they quickly dragged a kid amidst all the commotion as if she was an independent variable among the equation. They were endangering themselves the more they insisted on helping the fool. His gut churned uncomfortably as his eyes fixated on Charlie. Her parents practically abandoned her with them...

   ...What a sickening thought. To think a kid had to act as an adult in such heavy matters; it was no wonder why his stomach felt this way. He drew his eyebrows together as his lips tightened, reluctantly preparing himself for his next course of action. "...It's up to you guys whether or not you really want to get the laptop. Though if a third-party already tracked him down then there's a strong chance they'll wait for him to come back. If you're set on going back... I can help out." Thrusting himself into such a mess wasn't his ideal choice, but at least if he went along, he could provide backup and ensure Katy's silence.

  Even if it meant sealing his mouth shut. 

Jason felt no remorse for his actions. He wanted straight answers and to get this whole ordeal taken care of as soon as possible. Sure, he wanted them all to be comfortable with one another, but in the end he didn't care if Drei got upset at him, so long as he did as he'd promised to do prior to the face-to-face meetup. To make things right again. "Oh, Songbird, eh?" Jason raised an eyebrow. He didn't remember speaking much to this person, but since Drei spoke the truth, this person sounded vital to getting the information they needed. "Good! It's good to hear your family is quite resourceful! Tell me, is your sister single?" Jason cracked a grin, trying to lighten the mood a bit.




Katy looked relieved when Jason had confirmed his honesty, looking back down pitifully to his lap that was stained in tears. Wiping the corners of his eyes, his gaze remained downwards, glancing over at his mask. He felt even more a fool for trying to protect his own identity... He should have trusted them all from the start... or at the very least brought his laptop instead of his stupid mask. Sniffling, the brunette pushed some of his locks behind his ears to get out of the way of his face.


At the sound of Kaine's offer, the weak man lit up a little more. Kaine was so kind! So very very kind! He almost felt like crying out of happiness all over again. "Th-thank you. Oh God, Thank you so much... b-both of you..." Katy looked to Drei and then to Kaine. He slowly rose to his feet, wobbling slightly.


"A-ah, you're right!" Katy felt his pockets, as if making sure he had all he needed, even though he only had a few keys and a cell phone on him. "I uh- Thank you!" The man said once more, lowering his head in Drei's general direction. Drei seemed to know what he was talking about... Geez, Katy wished he could be like him. "U-uhm!! May I know what name you go by? I'm a-afraid I don't know who is who here, aside from Jason... but if you don't trust me... you can tell me your aliases..." Katy smiled weakly, taking a few steps in front of the two to open the door. "My name is actually Katie, b-but spelled a little different. But don't worry! Kr00ger isn't my actual last name ahaha..." Katy forced a small laugh, looking away from the two as he entered the hall. Geez, they probably thought he was really stupid now, huh? Using his real first name as his online alias...

"Hey! You have my phone number, Katy! Give it to the others and call or text me if anything happens, okay? Also text me your address!" Jason called from inside the room, taking out his phone. His eyes looked over the series of texts Katy and him had sent over the past few days until he looked back to his computer. The ginger was frustrated by the lack of information... Even if he was good at protecting himself and others from behind a computer screen... he was nowhere close to as useful as Charlie. Or even Drei's sister. Maybe he should have practiced his power more when he was younger...

   Kaine's eyes widened upon realizing the influence Jason carried over the others. He had already utilized his strength to force an honest answer out of Katy without them even knowing. Such an ability could prove to be both an exceptional help... and a hindrance if he decided to abuse it. Out of all the powers gathered, Jason possessed the most terrifying one when it came to raw potential. Persuasion was just a step under mind control if anything. If only he'd persuade Katy to stop crying. 
 
   The palm of his hand reached to cover his face, before swaying to the side to rub his temple. Oh boy, and he called me Casanova. Drei was probably going to blow up at the small jest, but maybe then Jason and Kaine could at least prod at him further with their newly acquired titles. Though that would be saved for a different time. Right now they had clean up after Katy and Gil was in no mood for a joke of any kind. Hopefully, the rest of the group could work on comforting him in their absence. His pupils wandered the room as his eyes caught notice of Elrod's limp body that weighed heavily against the flooring. His face was obscured as his body curled inwards, his breathing only barely audible with a few gasps. Was he having a panic attack of a sort? Kaine's fingertips rubbed the side of his head in a circular motion as he observed the boy in his fretful ball. Yet, the hand that fidgeted had lowered itself, and he seem to motion to Jason and then back to the floor. They should have their hands full while we're gone.

   He was brought back to reality by Katy's jittery voice. Telling him his first name didn't concern him now, being that he already opted into retrieving the man's equipment. If he got caught there, it's not like it mattered whether or not his name was known. They'd apprehend him on the spot as being guilty by association. However, if they acquired the laptop successfully; it might be worth withholding the information until they made it back to their apartment safely in case Katy called him out in front of the possible third-party members. "For now, I'm Abel. I'll tell you my name when we get back." If we get back. The fact that Katy had made his alias his first name made him question the man's sensibility. For a moment, he wondered if Katy mistook the forum for someone's everyday social media profile. It felt incredibly ill-thought out. 

   "Now let's get going, we can't waste time. Lead the way," his voice urged as his eyes fixated on the lanky figure.