Spectrum Act 2, Chapter 13. Dead Air, Part 2.

I'm sorry for the delay, this whole thing gets complicated and I needed to plan it out bit by bit.

Act 2, Chapter 13: Dead Air, Part 2

The door slammed open, Morgan looking around her shared dorm room until she found her closest, just past the bunk beds on the right wall after the room splitter for the second half of the dorm room. She yanked the door open, taking her swords carrier bag and slinging the strap over her shoulder, before grabbing her duffel bag and popping it open, yanking clothing from the hangars and stuffing them hastily inside the bag. She also took her canteen, a first aid kit... but opted out of packing her armband. It tracked her location and she didn't want to draw attention from the authorities, what she was doing she assumed was going to be fairly illegal.

Robin stormed in after her, looking at the black haired girl putting supplies in her bag before zipping it up. Her blade was kind of large, but she managed to make it look like a second bag of luggage on her back, her duffel bag of supplies hanging off her side as she lobbed it onto a shoulder, dangling it of f her hip. “Why are you in such a hurry?” Robin asked as Morgan lightly wiggled to make sure nothing fell off, before looking at her. “I'm leaving -today-.” Morgan replied, walking past her and attempting to leave the room before the dinner rush was over. The dorm halls were usually when people went out to dinner, the perfect opportunity to sneak out.

“...This seems pretty rash. Are you sure you're thinking straight? You may want to recons-” Robin was cut off of her motherly chastising by Morgan. “People forget how much of a luxury it is to have a choice in how they approach things. I wish I had a choice.. I wish I could just... Walk up to their front door and just ask them if I can have my brother back.” She said, before walking forward. Robin hastily grabbed her supplies with no time to check what the contents were, though she knew that was where her weapon was stored. “But, the only thing that's going to get me is killed. The person I contacted... She has push, she has power... She might be able to do it.” Morgan explained, but Robin just frowned. “What if she can't?” Robin asked, closing the door behind her as they both walked out into the hallway. “Then I'll fucking make them do it. If this is my only option then I'm going to either make it work, or die trying.”

Morgan turned away from Robin, walking at a breakneck pace toward the staircase, her boots thumping the carpet covered floor. “The meeting with my contact is going to be in 2 hours, I need to hurry.” She felt herself stop, Robins hand gripping onto her shoulder for a slight ache to emanate from it. “Not without me.” Robin stated firmly, Morgan furrowing her brow before turning to face her with a slight frown on her face. “You sure? This has the potential to go all kinds of bad, I don't want to drag anyone down with me if that happens.” She warned Robin, but Robin just shook her head. “You're my teammate, Morgan... I'm not going to let you die if I have the choice to.” Robin argued, Morgan nodding her head before looking back down the hall, climbing down the stairs slowly with Robin in tow. “Thanks, I guess.” Morgan said with a somber tinge... the 'I guess' an attempt to cover up the face she was slightly moved by someone looking out for her.

Robin always had a motherly grace to her, even if she was only 6 years her elder, it was kind of nice to have someone looking out for you occasionally, she's never had anyone like that before. Even the people who ran the orphanage took care of their kids in a more impersonal way unless you made friends with them. They quickly dashed out the canvas as fast as you could walk in an inconspicuous manner. They headed to the parking lot, where Morgan's motorcycle was parked... A dark red colored chopper with white pinstripes in flame-like patterns. Robin ran up, bending down to inspect it with curious eyes. “When did you get this?” Robin asked, Morgan pulled the keys from her leather jacket, which was wrapped over top the taped shoulder and tank top she had on earlier that day. “Saved up for it because I knew this was going to happen -long- ahead of time.” She said, turning the engine on with a low chugging sound.

“It's pretty nice.” Robin complimented, as Morgan straddled the seat and scooted forward, patting the back half of the seat. “It fits two, barely.” She said, as Robin slowly climbed just behind her. Morgan was a bit taller than her, so she couldn't really see over her shoulder until she hunched down slightly to grab the handlebars. “Wait.” Robin said in a hurried voice as Morgan revved the engine. Morgan looking back somewhat disappointed she couldn't take the bike for a spin just yet. “...What?” She asked... And Robin gestured to her own head. “Helmets! We need helmets!” She motioned, Morgan sighing and grabbing a helmet that was hanging off the frame of the bike, strapping it onto her head and flipping down the visor. “There.” Morgan said, voice slightly muffled by the black helmet with a playing card on the back that displayed the Ace of Spades.

“...And what about my helmet?” Robin asked, Morgan just shrugged at that. “I don't have a second helmet... Just imagine a helmet, you'll be fine.” She said, revving the engine. Robin frowned at her, poking her once on the shoulder. “I'm not sure it works that WAAAAYYYYYYYOHGODNO-” Robin suddenly shouted, as Morgan pulled the throttle full tilt to rev the engine so loud it echoed, making it skid it's tired and billow out of the parking lot in a billow of smoke. Robin clung to Morgan's shoulders, leaning up and pressing her legs in so they didn't end up scraping the ground as Morgan leaned to turn.

Eventually the loud engine noises settled to low rumbles, as Morgan wasn't stupid enough to break the speed limit, but she was still in a hurry.. her hands jittered as she revved the engine, turned the handles or grabbed the brake. She raced through the city as the sun set, she responding to the darkening light by turning on the bright headlamp to guide her way, quickly approaching the parking lot of the aforementioned Greyson Park. She kicked out the kickstand, turned the engine off and took her helmet off, Robin following behind her as she slightly shivered from the motorcycle ride she just took. “That was... Less fun than I expected.” Robin commented as they both entered the park.

It was a small recreational park near the intersection of two street corners, the fence warning people to not let their pet dog into the park. A lone man stood in the center, leaning against a small play structure for children, lighting a cigarette. He heard the creaking of Morgan pushing open the gate, and he nodded his head some to gesture them both to come closer. As they approached, they got a good look at him. A man in his early thirties, a neatly parted brown haircut just underneath a fedora. His build was lithe, a beard to cover up his slightly effeminate mug. He wore a black dress shirt with a red tie and suspenders holding up his black dress pants. On his cheek was the symbol VII, scrawled in a thin tattoo ink.

“You the kid Stella wanted me to meet?” He asked, hand still holding his cigarette between his middle and ring fingers, the light red glowing just illuminating his face enough to see, as the streetlights haven't turned on yet. “Morgan, yep.” Morgan replied as the man pointed his thumb to the girl standing beside her. “And this chick your partner?” He asked brashly, Robin frowning a bit as Morgan stepped forward. “Uhh... Yeah, She's with me.” She awkwardly replied, hoping that Robin wasn't too offended by calling her 'chick' Robin just rolled her eyes as the two continued their conversation.

“Well... We only have a one hour deadline, so I better keep this as brief as possible.” He said, pulling out his touch screen phone and tapping a couple of buttons, spinning it to face Morgan. “Y'know this area?” He asked, Morgan squinting in the dim light and holding his wrist to life it closer to her face, her lips slanting a bit as she thought it over. “This is the old railway station most places used before we opened up the new Maglev trains...” She correctly stated, the put away the phone and placed it back in his side pocket. “They still occasionally use this station for small freight operations, but they fell into the pockets of Elliot after he bribed them. The wolf has a surprising amount of money on his person to dig himself into so many pockets.” He added, Morgan narrowing her eyes some as she looked at him. “So why do you want me to go to that old ass train station?” Morgan asked, putting a hand into the pocket of her currently empty leather jacket, her other hand adjusting the strap on her shoulders to be a little looser as it was squeezing up against her chest for that entire motorcycle ride.

“Keirsberg is making a move, our informants have been covering this over the last month and it's getting worrying the more they do.” He said, slowly pacing back and fourth, the soft crunch of the wood chips they use to protect children from high falls under his nice dress shoes. “They usually warehouse hop. Hide in storage shelters, use hit and run tactics, rob and attack in small amounts.. But their numbers have suddenly spiked when they started putting money in the pockets of mercenaries.” He continued, Morgan crossing her arms and looking away for a second. “Wait.. wait wait wait.” She stammered, bringing her hands out in front of her. “Mercenaries? What kind of mercenaries work for an anti-government terrorist organization?” Morgan asked. “The kind who don't want to work for a government, you bloody fool.” Robin applied with just a bit of sass, Morgan felt slightly stupid for saying what she did, just sighing and sinking her shoulders in defeat.

“She's right, Kiddo. Some people want to fight for profit and don't want to be tied down with red tape. Mercenaries are perfect for that. I fuckin' hate bureaucrats, just we don't work in the line of war, we work in the line of influence and profit.” He continued, hands sliding into his pockets just after he snapped his fingers. Two men wearing black and red suits appear from the dark of twilight, lightly tossing two bags onto the ground. “Keirsberg has been moving his men every week on a train leading to some city in the northeast. He ships nearly 100 people at a time every Sunday. We want you two on this train.” He explained further, Robin slowly undoing the bun in her hair and letting her long hair drape on her shoulders some, pulling it in a bun pulled on her skin, making her eyebrows constantly raised and her face sort of weirdly tight.

“Why do you want only two people to go on this train? Are you expecting us to fight them all off while outnumbered 50 to 1? That's absurd! What are we, cartoon action heroes?” Robin asked incredulously, her head softly shaking as she couldn't help but have her face turn slightly in disgust. “No no no, ladies... two is the perfect number for exactly what we want you to do.” He said, walking up to Morgan and gripping his hands against her shoulders to reaffirm her and Robin with some bravado, but Morgan just kind of gripped his wrists and pulled him off as he spoke. “You're going to stow away on the train, and ride it all the way to the town so you can contact the locals there.” He said with a smile, but Morgan's head just softly tilted slightly to one side. “...Why can't you just drive us or fly us there?” Morgan asked, slightly confused.

“If we enter that town in any sort of vehicle, we'll be spotted and attacked. We need sleepers, people who won't draw any attention... Your friend back there is your contingency plan, just in case you end up being unable to complete your job.” He said, Morgan kind of not wanting to think the exact meaning of that phrase for now. Danger sort of spooked her, even if it was her day to day job. “Inside those bags are your disguises, standard issue Silent Fall uniforms, one size fits most. Look, we only have 55 minutes left... You will get more information once you're in the town we want you go to.” He said, tossing his cigarette into the grass, not caring if it was still lit or not. “One more thing... Don't fuck this up.” He said, snapping a finger and his two goons follow leave the park. He reached into his pocket, placing a similar looking cell phone into the hands of Morgan. “The name is Sticks, this phone will be for Robin so you may both communicate with the Rousell family as you continue your mission. Don't fuck this up.” He explained, before following after his two lackeys, leaving the park and climbing into a car to drive away into the night.
“Last chance to go home, Robin.” Morgan warned, turning to Robin with tight lips as Robin slowly felt her gaze drift away from Morgan.

Robin shook her head, looking at the grass covered ground as she was pat on by Morgan, slowly walking over to her motorcycle as Morgan placed the key in the ignition, turning it on to a low rumble to get the engine turned over once again. If it didn't warm up, the engine would choke and stall. No one ever said Morgan got the bike -new.- “...Well... Do you think these guys will be capable of giving what you want? They seem shady, I'm not exactly sure they can hold up their end of the deal.” Robin mentioned, she didn't know of their results, these guys could just be blowing nothing but a big gust of wind with no results for all Morgan knows.

“Well... It's either this or having him die or end up in a prison for doing something stupid. This is stupid, but it's the best chance I got.” Morgan added, slowly putting on her helmet, bur flipping the visor up so her speech wouldn't be as obfuscated by the Plexiglas visor and face padding. “And are you willing to die for this, knowing that it might not even work? Why immediately go to a crime family to ask for help with this? Are you daft? Why couldn't you ask ANYONE ELSE in the entire damn planet for help instead of going to these shady people you don't even trust?” Robin began to rant at Morgan, though Morgan, annoyed and clenching harder on the throttle than before, pulled it back for a loud rev to cut her off. “Don't you think I know this is fucking dangerous!? I tried official means, and if I go to the Sterlings or the government and file an appeal, I will be forced to wait for months and months of legal proceedings.” She said, Robin climbing on the bike just behind her.

“I don't have time for that, every single day is a risk of me not ever seeing him again, and I want to do this as fast as I possibly can.” Morgan added, leaning forward just a bit in a riding position. “Even if I die... I want to save the life the only person who gave a single shit about me, even if he's an idiot.” She said, driving off into the night to head to the train station.

Spectrum: Act 2, Chapter 12: Dead Air, Part 1.

Back after a hiatus, but back!

Act 2, Chapter 12: Dead Air, Part 1

Morgan and Robin both left the front gate of Spectrum, it's only been 2 weeks since the test was finished, and they both managed to get promoted. Admittedly, being promoted isn't as lucrative as they expected, as it only increased their pay grade by about 20%. It was a little more wiggle room in the month, but at best it just means they can spend the small increase on better food or maybe a couple extra sets of clothes. “You know, for the fact I have a slight limp now, I expected a huge reward.” Robin stated, Morgan stretching just a bit as one of her shoulders were bandaged up. It was hard to put on anything difficult, she had to ask Robin to help put her black tank top on from just how busted her shoulder felt.

“I'll take anything I can get.” Morgan replied with a chuckle, before she winced and hissed from the sharp pain going up her shoulder. She not only dislocated it, she fractured it at her attempt to relocate it... This really was a dumb move. “I guess that's true, maybe I'm just spoiled from not having a budget growing up.” Robin mentioned, Morgan turning her head and raising her eyebrow as they slowly progressed down the street. “You know, I barely heard of the Goldshore family besides in the occasional newspaper article. You're the real deal so.. Tell me about 'em?” Morgan asked, but Robin just chuckled a little at her. “I'm surprised you're interested, you're usually hanging out with Erika.” Robin admitted, but Morgan just shrugged her good shoulder, reaching out and gently slapping her fingers against the cyclone fencing of a park they were walking past. “I was going to find out eventually, right?” She mentioned as Robin took a short breath.

“Well, Rosewall has had this arrangement of kingdoms for the last 400 years or so. A lineage of Kings ran the country, but couldn't feasibly take care of the land. He assigned various other houses who attempted to stake a claim at the throne to hold various territories. House Goldshore was a very minor house, not one of the seven that became very prevalent.” She said, slipping her hands into the pockets of he dress, wearing a long flowing white gown for the summer, her hair braided in a long tail down to her lower back. “It ran pretty smoothly, even if the head of the house was technically a Viscount and not a Duke, we weren't ambitious and we were pretty well off compared to most other places.. But the Ash Scramble a couple of years ago changed everything. Towns imploded in gang violence, and even Astra invaded us to try and take some land from us. The Rift opening has caused this whole world to become a lot more desperate of a place.” Robin continued with a light sigh, Morgan gently kicked a pebble to watch it roll across the ground, before dropping into the road just as a car passed by.

“When the kingdom dissolved, some of the members of the large houses took charge and formed a council. We were a pretty small house, so we weren't able to influence any decisions.. but it turned out that it wasn't really helping out case. The gold mine we used for our treasury began to run out and we pretty much lost our biggest financial backbone. We slowly entered a pretty big debt, especially because of my fathers fraudulent spending.” Robin added, Morgan lightly nodding a bit as they continued to their destination. “I joined Spectrum to get away from that life for a while.. Refocus and try to get my life back on track... Also because my brother wants to make a name for himself and watch over him.” She finally finished, Morgan chuckling a little bit at the last part. “I remember a while back me complaining that you didn't think your motivations through, joining only to protect your little brother...” Morgan commented, Robin nodded her head once as she turned more to face her.

“While I'm still looking out for my brother, I decided to stay because I want the Rift to finally end... Maybe after that, I can go back home and have a kid with a husband I actually care about.” She said with a shrug of the shoulders, Morgan nodding as well. “So.. Where are we going?” Robin finally asked, Morgan turned to face her other shoulder, pointing to a tattoo on her shoulder. “A... Chess piece?” Robin wondered aloud, a black knight's chess piece tattooed onto Morgan's shoulder which looked slightly faded, indicating that she got that quite a while back. “I got this tattoo back when I was a member of Checkmate, I want to visit some of them to see what they're up to.” Morgan halfway explained, but Robin just stared at her confused as they walked down the curb to cross a road, hopping quickly onto the next side of the road as they cut back into the city. “And checkmate is..?” Robin wondered aloud.

“Well, back when I was younger, my friends and I made this group called Checkmate. It was a kind of gang... We would brawl with each other and any willing participants and have people bet on us to see which one would win. We would take those earnings from people betting one either us or the guest fighters winning, and we would take the earnings and use it to buy supplies for the needy.” Morgan said with a grin, Robin chuckling a bit. “And that tattoo means you had a membership?” Robin replied as they passed by a small fast food place. “I was the 'knight' of Checkmate. It pretty much means I won a lot of fights.” Morgan said, pointing her good arm at herself as Robin smirked a little bit. “Impressive, do you think they're still up and functioning?” Robin replied.

“That's what I want to find out, I'm taking you with me because well.. I wanted to talk to you. You could turn around if you really wanted to.” Morgan added, Robin nodding gently. “Well color me curious, I want to see it for myself.” She added, but Robin just kept trekking along with her. “It'll be fine, don't worry so much about it.” Robin said with a little bit of a smile. They slowly walked through the city until they entered The Barrows, a underprivileged part of town just a couple of miles past the old orphanage she lived in, as they approached a wall, Morgan walked up and placed her hand on the concrete side of the building. “What are you even doing?” Robin asked her as Robin pointed to the graffiti, an intricate symbol drawn on it. “This used to be our old tag we used to help direct people to the location of the fights.” She said, patting on it as Morgan turned a shoulder to begin walking toward the next marker.

And just as Morgan thought, there was another one just down the block, facing the right side of the building. She gestured Robin to follow her once again, as she was still standing back at the first checkpoint. Robin jogged over to catch up as they followed check point by checkpoint through streets and alleyways. They finally arrived in a small warehouse, probably used as small vehicle production facility before it was closed down.. A typical case for being shut down as more industrial and efficient methods began to outstrip the heartiness of elbow grease. Men woke up to find out that they were replaced by a computer, and promptly had their asses kicked out collectively to the street, the pinnacle of hard times.

The approached up the concrete stoop, the door was rusty and covered with a thick layer of both dust and oxidization that turned the door a rustic brown. There was sort of a faded painting of a checkerboard hastily painted on the front, this wasn't really helping the matter. “...Do you think people still hang out here?” Robin asked, apprehensive. Morgan felt a pang of thought in her head.. How long has it been since she's been here? This -was- her hobby every week when she didn't have chores, or school work.. When she left school, she started working on making her own motorcycle, finding work and winning fights held by the gang to see who was the toughest... It's been nearly a year since she joined the school, and she was in her twenties. 'Holy shit, I'm in my twenties..?' She thought, before Robin snapped her fingers to bring her back to the real world once again.

“Why did you just zone out..?” Robin said, before Morgan just grabbed the door and pushed it open. “They have to be here.” Morgan said, before her and Robin stepped inside. The floor was coated with thick dust, the metal parts of cars were pushed to the side and what could be seen of a cyclone fence was resting on each side of the dimly lit building. There were faded spray paintings denoting an octagon on the ground. “Looks abandoned.” Robin mentioned as she stepped inside, the sound of her footsteps echoing about the room. Morgan felt her heart sink a little bit.. I guess a group where people punch each other for fun and profit with a bunch of rambunctious teenagers spending their allowances was an easy concept to grow out of, What a shame. “Long abandoned.” Morgan chimed in, gently walking over and finding an old set of barstools, some of the seats they used for spectators if they got sick of standing, Morgan dragged both stools along the ground and sat them next to eachother, gently patting one to let Robin take a seat. Robin dusted off the seat before taking a seat on it, though Morgan didn't care, showing no caution of getting her jeans dirty.

“You see that octagon over there..?” Morgan said, pointing to the painting on the ground. “We would prop up chain link fencing along it, standing it up with rebar along with way as a makeshift fighting ring. We started using the painting on the ground because we couldn't eye an octagon to save our lives.” Morgan said, Robin chuckling a little bit at that. “Geometry not a thing in public school?” Robin idly joked, Morgan chuckling once as her leg crossed over the other one, letting one of her black boots dangle off the other side. “We had to constantly pull the cage open and closed because none of us were good enough to make a door frame, it was the most clown-shoes thing you'd ever seen.” Morgan said with a grin, Robin giving her own polite chuckle in response.

After that, the conversations slowed as they realized the short pause became longer, just sitting next to eachother for 5 minutes in complete silence. “It's so quiet in here...” Robin muttered to herself as Morgan stood from her chair, walking forward just a bit as she looked around. “It's so quiet I could hear my heart beat for a bit.” Morgan she added as she turned to face Robin. “Morgan.. I had a question.” Robin asked Morgan lifted a brow as she turned to face her, arms crossing over her chest as she nodded to her. “Yeah, ask away.” Morgan replied, before Robin stood up, slowly walking to the fencing leaning against the wall and softly running her hand along the grates. “Do you ever wake up and realize that.. this is the world we live in?” Robin asked, but that just made Morgan confused. “...What the fuck was that?” Morgan replied in her typical crass way, this would normally offend Robin but she's been around Morgan long enough to just... not care.

“Well.. Think about it. We're in a pretty desperate situation. Monsters are attacking us from a physically impossible phenomenon... And yet we have quiet, and happy days sometimes. We wake up in our beds and all of this terror just seems so far away that it's hard to imagine that it's even real.” Robin explained, Morgan gently walking up beside her and watching her play with the fence grating. “That's a very meta sense of denial you got, there.” Morgan replied, but Robin softly rubbed one of her arms, looking back at her with a frown. “We go on missions and deal with some horror movie shit, I still find it hard to sleep at the end of the day and I've been doing this for a year now.” Morgan argued, but Robin just grabbed one of the half inch thick steel rebars that Morgan mentioned a short while back.

“Yeah but... It doesn't happen often enough to feel normal.” Robin said, gently letting it hit the ground with a metallic ping sound filling the room for a brief moment. “It's hard to have a happy and relaxing day, days where I'm at peace, or having fun with you guys, when it's a very realistic possibility that at the same moment... far, far away.. some boy's parents were killed. I'm just relaxing in a chair whilst he cries over the remains of his burning home, his life completely in shattered remains.” She explained, Morgan frowning a little bit. “That's just how life is, sometimes...” Morgan replied, but Robin just softly shook her head. “I don't feel like it's okay, I just wish it didn't happen at all.” Robin said, somewhat upset.

“Uhm... Where did all of this even come from?” Morgan asked, not one for melodrama and clearly just kind of confused. “I just.. I've been feeling like that for a long time, I just wanted to saythat it just feels so strange to live in a world like this.. and not be miserable all the time. I feel guilty.” Robin added as Morgan just pat her once on the shoulder. “Whatever makes you feel better.. Wanna get some food?” She asked, before a ringing came from her pocket it. Morgan's hair on her neck stood up as she quickly rushed down to her pocket, pulling out a red cell phone... the one that Stella gave her and told her that one day she would accept the call. The LED was lighting the phone's caller ID, a blank space with no numbers listed.

“Uhh.. Morgan?” Robin asked as Morgan hit the talk button and turned away from her. “I need to take this.” She said with an urgency not normally seen from her as she rushed to the other side of the building, as far away from Morgan as possible. She decided to slowly, but quietly approach her from behind as Morgan spoke to someone on the phone. “Is this our contact?” The man asked, Morgan quickly replying with “Yes, this is Morgan.” The man on the phone muttered something to someone behind him. “This is a pretty big deal to get one of these phones from the boss, they're only given to her special contacts, and from what I heard... that was your first meeting with her.” He said, slightly astounded, but Morgan just sighed. “Look, she told me just to do.. whatever my orders are. Can you explain what I'm doing?” She asked, as the man fiddled with some papers to get the details that were printed out.

“Your job is pretty much act as a face as you deal with a situation in a town called Ravenglass.” He added, Morgan staying quiet just to let him talk. “Silent Fall is going to be making a move soon and they know it, they're trying to move a base in a more discrete location to use more guerrilla tactics in their weird as shit 'Violent Protests.' Having a base in the town they're planning on attacking is just stupid and they're currently planning on moving several hundred of their members into this new building.” He continued, Morgan tapping her foot some as he realized he should just continue.

“It's a ghost town, so it's a pretty smart move... The only hitch in their plan? There's a fairly big group of locals squatting in a hotel district who have been raiding their caravans for months now.” He continued, before Morgan spoke up. “Why would locals squat a ghost town?” She asked, but he audibly shrugged. “I guess they hope to rebuild, or maybe they're just insane.” He replied, before flipping a paper. “Our informants have signified that they maybe intending on wiping out these stragglers.. yet, they're skilled enough to steal from them and not get caught until only recently? Stella wants them as allies, and she wants you to be her negotiator.” He explained.

Morgan wondered aloud. “Why would she send me, and not someone more skilled?” She asked, the man just chuckled. “One of the members of the group Silent Fall is going to wipe out... One of our boys did some digging, and you perhaps know of him. Ever heard of a Gabriel Caine?” He asked her, Morgan gasped sharply... The redheaded kid back when she joined Spectrum? She might not have been great friends with him, but he always seemed like a good kid. How in the hell did he get to Ravenglass? “Before you ask, we hacked the records of Spectrum, cross referenced it with the census database and even sent someone on a stakeout to confirm that this is indeed someone you knew... All of this was taken into account, your prior friendship will be our key to get them as our allies.” He mentioned, Morgan slowly pacing just past Robin as she talked, almost completely ignoring her.

“Why do you need a bunch of squatters and petty thieves?” Morgan asked, but the man just chuckled. “Well... They have enough training to be stealing from what could be described as one of the biggest terrorist organizations in the past decade. The thing about crime families that you should know... It's about connections. You make as many allies as you can, forge bonds with as many people as possible... Because one day? Someone will ask them to betray you.. and you want them to an answer with a resounding 'No.' The boss wants them as allies and contacts... Do this, and we'll arrange to free your brother.” He said, Morgan clenching her fist at the word, the plastic of the phone creaking just a bit as she did. “How will you free him?” She asked, he took a couple of seconds to breathe before answering. “Hostage trading is the answer, we have... 'acquired' Elliot's beloved daughter just this last week as we prepared for your mission. If you're successful, we will trade him back his daughter, he normally doesn't let people who work for him leave... But this is a scenario he can't refuse. You will have your brother, and the boss will have about 200 more people joining her ranks... Everybody wins.” He replied, though.. Morgans heart raced as she gripped the phone tight once again. They kidnapped Elliot's daughter as a bargaining chip? What the fuck is wrong with them?

Morgan swallowed her pride, and some of her morals at that very second.“...Tell me what I'm doing.” Morgan said as she closed her eyes. “You will be meeting us tonight at 9pm near a place called Greyson park. It's not too far from Spectrum Academy, so if you look it up online you will be able to find it.” He said, Morgan grabbing a pen from her pocket and scrawling the area and time roughly on the back of her hand, her skin turning red and swelling slightly where the ball point pen rubbed against in her writing. “You may bring a friend to help you out.. but there are two warnings to this, and these warnings are dire.” He said, Morgan waiting on baited breath.

“You must trust that this ally will be loyal to you, if word gets out about this.. We're talking about a potential gang war with the law getting involved.. It will be a shitstorm and the blame will rest entirely onto your shoulders.” He mentioned, Morgan nodding some as he added the next warning. “Do not bring your Spectrum armband. This will go horribly wrong if she gets involved.” He said firmly, Making sure Morgan understood that this was a terrible idea if she brought her armband, it would pretty much constantly track and monitor them. “Is this clear?” He asked, Morgan just softly replying before turning off the phone. “Yes, clear.” Robin pressed her hand onto Morgan's shoulder, clearly concerned. “What was that?” Morgan had a brief panic attack when she realized Robin was still with her... Did she hear all that? Did she talk too loud?

“It doesn't concern you.” Morgan tried to brush the entire thing off, but Robin was stubborn and she knew it.. There was no way she was going to make it out without some details slipping. “As both your friend and ally... I demand to know what you are going to do! What is that red phone for?” Robin said, Morgan putting the phone in her pocket as she frowned. “Please, don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you... If you do, I'll beat the shit out of you... Got it?” Morgan warned, Robin gently nodding at her before letting her continue. “My brother is in Silent Fall.” She said, Robin gasping a bit as she stomped her foot down, her loafers making a strange and dull thud on the concrete. “You -do- know that's a terrorist organization, right? That's completely mad!” She shouted, Morgan sighing and shaking her head gently. “Of course I fucking know.. Nick didn't know that, and wanted out... But Silent Fall doesn't like people who stir too much trouble... They threatened to kill him if he deserted them. I tried to go to Spectrum to help, but they said they were just going to arrest him when... Well.. He's forced into this!” Morgan added, Robin frowning and looking at the ground.

“I had to get help from outside means... I can't name names... But these people can set my brother free and he won't be thrown into prison like a damn pig.” Morgan stated, Robin gently rubbing her chin as she thought it over. “So... Doing this task for the people on this phone will set him free, do you know it will even work?” Robin asked her, but Morgan just slowly began to walk for the door and head back outside to the streets of The Barrows. “I don't know... But this is my only shot... It's either this, or having my brother get killed knowing that didn't help him.” Morgan stated as Robin grabbed her wrist, looking up at it to see the address written down on it. “So, this is where you're going?” Robin asked, Morgan just gently nodded. “They said I could bring a friend if it really helped...” Morgan mentioned, but Robin just sighed. “Let's go get food.. We'll discuss this more when the time comes.” Robin answered as they both started to walk down the road.