Disappearances (1x1 with τίmε)

[Harpalyce]

The economy of many countries is falling to pieces, as many people think their governments are wasting money - they are not. No, the truth is for the past few years there has been a group, perhaps even a single person, that has managed to find away of taking money from a country of their choice.

Members of the law, be it secret investigators or the local police, have come to an international decision to capture the culprit. Except there’s a slight glitch to the situation. No one knows who they are looking for. Nor do they have the faintest idea where to start. It’s easy to figure out that there’s a mastermind of the sort behind all of this, no one has been able to track them.

And now there are only a few questions left. Who is behind it all? Is there someone who can trail and then capture the criminal without them knowing? And how will it all end?

[Harpalyce]

Name: First Lieutenant Tobias Berry

Nicknames: Lt. Berry, Toby, 'Flipflop Assassin'

Sex: Male

Age: 27

Relationship status: Single, and has been for quite awhile. If anything he seems a little disinterested, or married to his job.

Skills/Talents: Thanks to some experimentation, he more or less has become the invisible man. It takes an effort for him to not make most things directly touching him, well, visible. (This does have some exceptions, like the floor, but it's tiring for him to make his clothing appear, for example, or his motorbike.) As he's spent much of his life in the Marines (and then, in a special task force), he is rather skilled in combat. Although useless with a sniper rifle, he's good with a combat rifle (especially in close-quarters urban combat), proficient with a pistol, and rather good at hand-to-hand combat (in the school of Krav Maga - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga ). Because of some experience, he is rather good at sneaking around - knowing how to be silent, and how to kill silently (he usually prefers a syringe full of poison over a silenced pistol) - even if he does have some quirks like always preferring to go barefoot and making sure the air conditioning/heating in a target's house is turned up all the way (for white noise to mask the noise he makes).

Weaknesses: Tobias is not a people person. He takes orders well, but he really doesn't know how to carry on a conversation. It wasn't that he was abused as a child, or actively neglected - he just isn't comfortable dealing with people on a personal level and often sees it as far too much work. His power also comes with limitations: although he may be invisible (even to laser setups and light tripwires), he still has weight and heat - so he's not immune to any detection by any means, just visual detection. He also tends to use his martial arts skill a bit too heavy-handedly, leaving him vulnerable to moves as in Jujutsu that use the opponent's own power against him. He is also prone to being a bit of a daredevil when riding his motorcycle.

Appearance: Currently, well, nothing. Before his 'accident', he had dark brown hair, usually kept short, blue-grey eyes, and a rather strong jaw - rather like so: http://i31.tinypic.com/aaizia.jpg . When actually meeting with people, he tends to dress in a racing jumpsuit and helmet, similar to this: http://resources1.news.com.au/images/20 ... e-stig.jpg though it takes some effort for him to actually remain visible, and he doesn't keep it up for long. What he actually wears when 'on the job' is a bit of a mystery, but he apparently dresses for minimal noise, often going barefoot (to the point where he drives over wearing a pair of flipflops which he then leaves as his signature at the scene, earning him the rather silly nickname of 'the flipflop assassin'). He promises he's stopped going around nude just for the hell of it, though. It's a promise, anyway.

Personality: A military man through and through. He's rather serious and literal-minded, tends to salute people out of reflex, and feels lazy if he sleeps in past 7 in the morning. He is meticulously clean, and tends to be almost stupidly loyal. He's not good at giving orders - but he is very good at following them. Although one would expect him to be somewhat bitter after the accident which left him, well, invisible (especially as 'accident' is a rather euphamistic term - it's very possible that he was intentionally picked to be a test subject), he seems to not mind at all. To him, he gets to live in his own apartment, with a dog, and a large salary, and pretty much whatever he wants - so it's a pretty sweet deal, and he's not bitter in the least, much to many peoples' surprise.

History: A typical army brat, Tobias was bounced from place to place as his parents were assigned to different stations. Both of his parents were in the armed forces, so he was more or less raised by his best friend's mother (who had the time to stay at home instead of having to be on duty). It was pretty much expected for him to join the armed forces once he was of age, and so he did, going into the Marines. At age 22, his mother died in a car crash; Tobias had never been very close to his father, and they didn't have a spectacular falling out as much as they simply drifted apart from one another, settling for a phone call at Christmas, Easter and Tobias' birthday. His best friend, in a fit of college rebellion, had denounced soldiers and the war in Iraq, and had cut off his relationship with Tobias rather firmly after calling him a murderer.
Essentially, he was alone. After being wounded in Iraq (a few broken ribs and a concussion), he ended up in an armed forces hospital. What the doctors told him was a medicine was, instead, an experimental serum that - well - made him the invisible man. He admits he doesn't understand the process in the least. But he took this rather in stride, simply seeing that it was a new way in which he could serve his country.
He has since carried out around fourteen reconnaissance and assassination missions of various degrees of success - the first few were a little rocky, but he has managed to work out a system that seems to work well - though he has gotten into some odd habits (like the one that's earned him the nickname of 'flipflop assassin').

Family: His relationship with his father is very much a three-calls-a-year affair. His father is about to remarry and respects his son's disinterest in integrating into the new family - not hatred, just disinterest. His biggest relationship is with his dog, Scout. The dog is blind - and so is more or less the only one to treat him the same without constantly commenting (or seeming) weirded out by his, well, visible-imparedness. The dog is a big creamy-white thing with quite a lot of fur and large ears - there's probably chow and german shepherd in there somewhere, but what else there is, that's anyone's guess.

[SnowFlies]

Name; Jay Franklin

Nicknames; Jay, Franklin, Frank, Blue, “Blue Jay”, "The Blue Jay"

Gender; Female

Age; 25

Relationship status; Currently single, other than evening dinners (aka “dates”) here and there.

Crimes Committed;
- Hacking into computer databases and transferring money/info
- Robbery i.e bank robbery
- Fake Identity
- Theft i.e theft of transport
- And maybe a number more she, herself isn't aware of.

Familiy; Her mother was young when she had Jay, a case of teenage pregnancy, and quickly left after she was born. This resulted in living with her father, who was a banker and ex-criminal who still had a bad reputation under his name. Despite all of this, Jay ignored these facts as he at least bothered to look after her.

History; Despite her dad having a bad reputation and being stared down upon by a various number of people, Jay completed school, went to college gaining straight A’s and ended up going to University gaining more things that would look good on her CV. The typical beginning of a life many stereotype. Of course during this time she took up activities, like gymnastics, horse riding, and even this “air cadets” course so she knows how to fly a plane, along with various other activities.

Although while at university, Jay encountered a fire as some idiot had a lighter and aerosol can. The fire was small only taking up a dorm or two, comparing to the damage that could have happened, but she managed to get the worst of it being trapped. The only reason someone would bring the subject up, would be because of the question “how did you get that scar?” Expect no answer.
Another life affecting story of her life would be the death of her father. He was shot, once or twice and died in her arms. The reason being why he was shot was because the two were at a jeweller, her dad getting her a set of blue earrings for her twenty-first birthday. And having had had a bad reputation under his name, was shot by people of the law without question while the man who had a large amount of expensive jewellery got away.

Once successfully finishing university, Jay had her first job at working at a bank. It was then she discovered her talent of hacking as she gave herself a pay rise, the money being transferred to her account in a higher value. The Bank dismissed the possibilities of Jay changing the figures because of her straight A’s and no evidence of her learning anything about computers.

Now, she knows criminal organisations are looking for her. Being in the papers as “The Blue Jay” (after leaving a small detailed blue jay bird made of metal at the crime scene) she’s known as hacking into banks, why not legal documents? So other than that threat of being forced to help a large organisation, the law is out to get her as well. Jay has equipped herself with a pistol of the sorts, only using it to injure her attacker, not kill. Killing isn’t in her books. As well as that she’s better at dodging attacks rather than to fight back.

No one knows her motive for her committed crimes ((nor the fact of who has committed them)); in fact she was rather confused when she began all of this, now it’s just a hobby in a way but with a motive behind it. But if she dies no one will get their money back. If the law kills her, no one will get their money either. It’s just a question whether someone will listen to her reasons and try to understand her.

Appearance; She’s averaged height with her earned womanly curves, standing shorter than most men in the world around her many of which she has caught their eye and nothing more. Her eyes are a piecing blue, high cheek bones framed by dirty blonde hair that reaches her shoulder blades. Jay has her ears pierced, like many women do, and wears blue stud earrings that match her eyes. She also has an Auricle ear piercing on her right ear, which consists of a piercing on the outside rim halfway down the ear; this is where she wears a ring with a miniature blue jay, the bird, on it. The scar from the fire looks like flames crawling up from the bottom left side of her back and finishing on top of her left shoulder.

Personality; Jay is rather much an actress, especially while applying for a job she’s faked her qualifications for. The majority of her criminal time she been acting, why? If she behaves like a silly blonde applying for a job, and then gets to know the colleagues that way, she can’t be herself.

But behind all the acting; she’s broken and misunderstood at heart. And what would seem surprising is that at times she wants to turn a new leaf and be forgotten, but it’s rather difficult being the most wanted person on the planet.

((I might edit parts of this later . . .Would you like to start first?))

[Harpalyce]

((I'm going for a job interview, right now, but sure, I can start. It depends on what kind of scenario you want to have them meeting in, though. If they don't know about Jay yet, likely they won't send Toby to her house on a spying mission. Perhaps he's on guard duty as they leave out some 'bait' for her? (Though that's hard to do, with cybercrime, but you know what I mean.) Or do you have another idea? Really, whatever's fine. ))

[SnowFlies]

((Bait sounds like a good idea, as Jay has done bank robberies, maybe a load of money had been transferred to a bank and that could be the "bait". . . Toby might not get as far as getting a name
Oh, good luck with your interview ))

[Harpalyce]

((All right! We'll go with that idea. And the interview-ish-thing went really well, I am pleased!))

Tobias wasn't really used to stakeouts.

Not that the change in pace wasn't welcome. It was refreshing, really, even if rather boring. The lights were off in the office building, but the air conditioning was on - and he figured that he could chance a sweatshirt and sweatpants. As usual, though, he wore no shoes. But there were a pair of flipflops with a United States Marine Corps logo printed on them.

In fact, the flipflops were really the main indication that he was even there at all. There were some new wrappers in the wastebasket, but that melded seamlessly in with the refuse that came with a workspace. It would seem like whoever worked at the desk really liked Snickers bars, though. So far Toby had been through four of them. Not the most subtle thing to eat, but certainly enjoyable. He was vigilant, but that didn't mean he was exactly optimistic about this plan actually working.

It was an elaborate setup, to be sure. A pile of money from the United Nations, stored away in a safe - though numbers on a computer were far more important, nowadays. The funds only accessible from computer stations in the building. Specifically, it was only accessible from one computer station that was un-networked from the others. And Tobias was sitting across from that one computer station.

And so far, he had been staring at it for five hours.

He was a Marine, and he did what he was told. He was good at following orders. Even when those orders were incredibly boring. ...He just wished that he had another Snickers bar.

And so he stretched out his bare toes, shifted in his seat, and continued to watch.

[SnowFlies]

Jay yawned, covering her mouth as she did. She still hadn’t recovered from jetlag after her flight from Germany, which was only a small holiday lasting a week. It also gave her the opportunity to invest in a few useful materials, none of which was bought by the money she had stolen. She would never do such a thing.

But having been back only a few days, she was back in business. Even though newspapers everywhere were practically hinting for her to rob a particular bank, through hidden words they yelled “bait”, “trap”. And despite a part of her knew she would be risking her freedom, a part of her wanted to face the challenge these people had set up.

By now, Jay had easily managed to find a way in; that would be thanks to the little card she kept from her fist job which let her access various parts of the building; including switching the power off. Meaning no working cameras, lights, various other electrical systems or the air conditioning that for some odd reason, had been on. If it wasn’t for the fact she used to work here, then maybe the things she had accomplished so far would have been on the difficult side of things.

The only problem was that doing all of this, had set the alarms off which were on a different wiring system. It would only be a matter of minuets before the local authority was going to be here, less if there were others in building. The course of action to set the alarms off was risky, but only done to lure the police into one half of the building, while she herself would be in another grabbing what the papers advertised to her and gone before anyone had time to search the premises for her.

Her usual choice of clothing for a job like this was dark sweatpants, shirt, gloves with grip, trainers and not forgetting a beanie which hid blonde locks of hair. This way, Jay easily blended in with the surrounding’s shadows as she ran towards her destination treading lightly.

She was sure nothing could stop her.

[Harpalyce]

Tobias had been halfway through another candy bar when the air conditioning whirred to a halt.

It was more of an inconvenience than anything. No air conditioning meant no white noise. No white noise meant nothing to even barely cover up the sound of his chewing. And that meant no more Snickers bar. The wrapper would crinkle too much if he stuck it in his pocket, so he put it on the desk. ...and stared at it somewhat mournfully. He was rather hungry, too.

More annoyingly, the backup batteries connected to the computer servers squealed. Which meant the computer right across from him started steadily beeping in a shrill whine as it complained that it only had fifteen minutes of battery left on the UPS, warning him to shut it down and save his work. He didn't, of course. It would be interesting to see if this was part of the thief's plan - she didn't have very long, unless she planned to somehow bring her own power supply to the computer...

Or it could just be a power outage.

Either way, he crossed his hands over his chest and waited, watching the countdown on the computer's UPS.

[SnowFlies]

Faith. Jay relied in her belief of succeeding. If she didn’t accomplish this task, then her freedom was gone. Gone forever.

Her hand was now on the handle of the door, where behind it was the computer. Time was ticking by, and the young woman was beginning to have doubts. What if today was the day she was caught? A possible chance of leaving everything behind and begin again would be thrown off the table. A chance to have a family . . .

But her dream of being married and having children was gone as soon as she found herself in her own mess. The world wanted The Blue Jay caged nothing more or less even if her motive was reasonable. Which it was, but her freedom would still be stripped from her nonetheless.

The only thing she had to lose.

With these thoughts set in mind, she swiped the card before hearing a small beep of conformation. Jay pushed the door, letting it swing open on its hinges silently. The office was dark yet only lit by the screen of the computer. Who knew why it was left on, maybe only an accident as it squealed to be fed by life from a battery supply. Something she did not have nor need.

Jay had the horrible feeling she was being watched, but how was it possible in a room where only she was in it? Forcing this feeling away she closed the distance between her and the computer. In the hand resting on the table was her pass card with her name on it, her other hand was lingering over the power switch of the computer. Why now, did it feel as if someone was only a mere few centimetres away?