SoullessGinger

Cassandra Alkaev Puppet Day (3) Coming to America (1)

Cassandra eyes the illusions warily and nods as the heroes that introduce themselves. "I am Cassandra Alkaev. I hit things," she says by way of introduction. "I do not know much about babies, but am good at protecting peoples." She keeps a careful eye on Edge, noting that the others seem to be in awe of him and listens intently when Monsoon speaks. She eagerly accepts the offered cloak and does her best to cover herself with it. "Thank you. Will try not to break it. Clothes are so.. flimsy." She takes the stuffed toy that Bonfire offers from the bin and gives it to Baby. "Nonsense. Is good to make scary things into toy. Is how you learn not to be afraid."

Cassandra plucked at her new skirt and shifted her open top. She removes her new tiara and collar. "Is nice. Maybe is too... small? Am being afraid to breathe too much in this." She pulls on the cuffs of her gloves and flexes her fingers, "But these are very nice!" "I am more comfortable with man who does not want to sell baby being in charge. But you are right, baby should be let play," she nods as she responds to Punchline.

Cassandra follows the other heroes lead until Quirk withdraws. She didn't know who he was but she picked up on the wariness of the others around her. "Why I need new clothes to watch baby?" she mumbled. She leaned over and peaked at the infant after hearing the others talk about her. "Is baby god? Is small for god... Who is eBay and why he want her?" Cassandra then took a moment to look around for any baby related supplies,

Cassandra set her container down as the first worker turned into felt. Despite the yelling, he did not appear to be hurt. She circled above the docks to see if the event created any dangerous situations. Satisfied that her home and her friends were safe, she left her comfort zone and headed into the city. She passed the support groups and crisis centers, they seemed to have the situation well in hand, a certain side effect of living in Freedom City. Finding the new street wasn't terribly difficult, people were either gawking at it or avoiding it entirely. The new doorway was equally obvious as several costumed heroes steeled themselves and stepped inside. Cassandra took one more pass over the street before landing in front of the strange doorway. She paused for a moment to consider its odd appearance, then pushed the door open and stepped inside. She stopped just inside the door to consider the scene before her. She normally wasn't too concerned with her appearance, but the costumed group in front of her made very conscious of her worn BDU pants and dirty tanktop. The group did not seem to be paying much attention to her as they were distracted by the young man with a baby. She spoke quietly to the costumed folks standing near her, "Is very strange, yes? He is young to be father."

Cassandra considers her new friend for another moment. "Can tell you think is important. You tell me where to go, I go. Now my turn for question. What make you care? People different here. Can tell most are good when you give them a chance. But you care about a stranger. Just meet me and can tell you want to help. Even good people not care like that. So what make you care?"

Cassandra chuckles, "Where is private?" She gestures around the bar, "Anyone can find me. Am done hiding. Have jobs, have place to sleep. Someone want to take that away, they can find me. Someone wants to hurt these people who help me, they can try. They maybe not like what they find." She shakes her heard, then looks back to Dancia. "Am always wanting to listen to help. I think you are person who likes to help people. If you say these people can help, I listen."

Cassandra Alkaev: 7 posts Coming to America

Cassandra nods, then focuses on Dancia's questions. She stares straight ahead as she answers. "Can tell you what I know. I come from Vladivostok. My life start by the docks there three year ago. Was confused. Scared. I only understand Russian, no English. No clothes. Have to fight many people who try hurt me. Was like... animal." She takes a deep breath, then a swallow of her whiskey and continues. "Not everyone bad. I find people that need help. I help them and they teach me things about the world. But I was selfish. Not really helping them. Was saving myself. Vladivostok is hard place. I take work when I find it there. Is not always good work. Sometimes fight for money. Sometimes hurt people just to collect monies. So I leave. " She pauses again, then looks directly at Dancia, "Things very different here. They tell me am ILL-EAGLE immigrant. But do not send me to prison. Just tell me not make trouble. Am criminal now, yes? But still have better life here than in Russia. Have jobs to be proud of. Have people to care of. Responsibilities. But you did not ask about that. You ask about family. If I had family before, I do not know them. Do not remember anyone. I have only what I make now."

Cassandra shakes her head, "Is strange. People very different here. Sometime so different..." She looks lost for a moment, peering into her drink. "But this good different. Is better way to be, I think." Her nostrils flare briefly at Dancia's next statement, "No one uses me. Never." She smiles, "No apologies. Is not just in-ter-view. Is talking with friends and drinks. Friends have no secrets. Ask your questions."

Cassandra frowns as she mulls over what Dancia said. "I do not understand. But I not understand many things here. I think you are honest person. If you think that is best, I think on it." Cassandra drains the rest of her whiskey and signals to Josie for another. From her nearby eavesdropping distance, the mother hen quickly refills it and looks inquisitively at Dancia with the bottle poised to pour. "But I not have family. When I wake up, is just me. No one knows me. No records." She raises her glass to Josie, "I have make friends here. So not all bad."

Cassandra gave Dancia a grateful look for letting the comment pass. Her expression became much more serious with the next question. She nodded, "Names important. When I first wake up, they call me 31." She tugs the strap of her tanktop down slightly so that Dancia can clearly see the tattoo under her collarbone. "31A" in plain, block script. "Was long time before I knew they were using this mark to tell me who I was. Then I pick my own name: Cassandra Alkaev. Is good name. I don't need another."

I'd love to throw Cassandra into Entrance of the Gladiators or What Should Not Be Unearthed. If you are still up for running these, they sound fun.

"Cats always grumpy. Er, but I'm sure yours is very nice." Cassandra had the good grace to look embarrassed as she realized she just insulted her new friend's pet. She changed the subject quickly. "I do not know these words. But I never had chance to punch monster before... You have questions for me?"

All good so far. More folks are always welcome though. I started it off, but there's really not a GM yet to throw in ninjas, pirate, zombie nazis, etc.

"You have actual monster here? I thought it was stories." "Is fine," Cassandra continued while giving Dancia's phone a curious look. "They tell me stay out of trouble, so I find job. I work, not make problem. Is important for asylum."

Cassandra Alkaev: Coming to America (1)

She pointed Josie to a bottle on the top shelf. Dancia immediately recognized it as a cheap but brand name whiskey. "Thank you. I do not seem to feel the effects of such drinks, but flavors are nice." Cassandra grasped Dancia's hand with a carefully measured grip. "Pleased to meet." She shrugs off Dancia's comments. "I break a few things and get lucky. Now I have jobs." Cassandra nodded to Josie as she brought two whiskeys in relatively clean glasses. She took an appreciative sip, "Much better than my old home."

"And just what would you be wanting with that person?" Josie asked turning a critical eye on the newcomer in her bar. "Not everyone wants to be on the news." "Is OK, Josie." Cassandra interrupted. Josie bit off whatever she was about to say and took a single step back, her frown and sidelong looks indicating she intended to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Am thinking you are looking for me," she said giving the woman an appraising look. Cassandra leaned back on her stool, allowing Dancia to see her worn tanktop, military surplus BDU's, and heavily used second-hand boots. This bar was probably the only place her wardrobe allowed her to blend in to a crowd.

I was finally able to get things rolling. I fastforwarded her timeline just a bit to get her situated. Feel free to drop in, have ninjas show up, etc. I'll be traveling tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to respond until Wednesday.

Out of character thread for Coming to America.

Cassandra woke up to the light streaming in past the plastic sheeting. It didn't make for a very good window, and was an even worse door, but it was free. She changed into her spare tanktop and pants, pushed the sheeting aside, and stepped out of her makeshift dwelling. She took a moment to admire her new home. It was amazing what you could do with corrugated steel when you can bend it with your bare hands. The place wasn't much to look at but it was free. Well, almost free. She stretched as she took a walk around the scrapyard grounds. Metal cots made for stiff muscles and none of the available padding was something that she would be willing to sleep on. After going around the perimeter, she noted that the fence was intact and there weren't any big pieces of scrap missing that she could see. She unlocked the gate and pushed it open as a red pickup drove in. She smiled as a short man with coke bottle glasses hopped out of the driver's seat. "Good morning, Marco! Everything fine. I go to work!" Cassandra exclaimed cheerfully. The man pushed up his glasses and grunted something that sounded vaguely affirmative. Cassandra walked along the waterfront towards the shipping yard. Flying was faster, but this was her favorite time of day and she was in no hurry. She enjoyed the sights and sometimes even the smells of the docks waking up. Cassandra had lived next to the water for as long as she could remember and found that she always missed it whenever she went too far away. She walked up to the small office space cut out of a warehouse with a red and green sign. She reached into the clear plastic organizer and found a small stack of papers with drawings and numbers on it. Reading English was still beyond her but she could match the numbers on the sheet to shipping containers, and the drawings showed her where to move them. She waved to the group of warehouse workers who were lighting up their first cigarette before work and approached the wall of stacked shipping containers nearby. She matched the symbols on the paper to the white stenciled ones on the paper, then referenced it to the drawings. Once she memorized the route, she tucked the papers away and focused on strengthening her muscles. Cassandra relished in the feeling of strength, then slowly rose above the ground. The familiar red-orange flare sprang up around her as she freed herself from gravity's hold. Cassandra grabbed the container and slowly guided it to its allocated space. She checked her papers and moved on to the next container on the list. Several hours later she dropped the papers back at the office and collected a small amount of cash. Cassandra pocketed the bills and walked inland off the docks. She navigated the nearby alleys until she found a dimly lit building with neon signs in the windows. She walked past the heavily reinforced door and sat down at the bar. "Hello, Cassie. Hungry?" an elder woman asked with a kind smile. "Always, Josie."Cassandra replied. "It's been slow day, shouldn't be too long." Josie said as she patted Cassandra's hands, then trundled off to the kitchen. Cassandra turned on her stool to face the bar while she waited. Josie's was quiet at the moment, but shift change was still a few hours away. The place was always busy, but much quieter of late. Josie attributed that to Cassandra putting a 250 pound stevedore who couldn't keep his hands to himself through her door. While Cassandra fretted over how to pay for the damage, Josie decided to pay her in food and booze to spend time at her place. The number of fights immediately plummeted and Josie considered that worth the price of a new door. Cassandra settled in to what she hoped would be a quiet night.

Thanks! I meant to log in that last night but my travel plans took a left turn on me. Southwest cancelled my flights after I waited at the airport for 9 hours. So I rented a car and spent 12 hours driving. Now that I've had a chance to rest and shower, I'm thinking I might start a thread on the waterfront and let people pop in, throw aliens at her, what have you. I should have time to get that running Tuesday night, assuming my travel plans don't get completely screwed up again.

I'm honestly fine with either one. I assumed that the logistics and minutia of daily life would be required since I took the Impoverished drawback. She doesn't even own a cellphone. Your question also makes me realize that this is a bit of a tall order for just one pc. I can fast-forward her timeline a bit and have her a bit more settled to pursue your latter suggestion.

So Cassandra is ready to storm the beaches of Freedom City and I was hoping to find an intro thread to help get her established. Her background puts in her a shipping container arriving at the FC docks. Would someone be willing to help me get her acclimated to the city? She's got some typical new arrival things to sort through (housing, work, immigration status) so some street level adventures to help her get her feet wet would probably work best. Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm traveling this weekend. I'll only be around at night and likely not at all on Monday.