“No, I-”
Iosif nearly jumped to the ceiling. Or at least, he felt like he did. Spinning around, he immediately tried to swing his hands up into a defensive position, only to find the coat was unbelievably restrictive when one has their hands in the pockets.
With a tremendously bad job at pretending it was all intentional, Iosif looked out from the top of his eyes to actually identify who was talking to him.
“Woah, hey, it’s okay! Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” The boy grinned sheepishly, holding out his palms in a placating gesture. He was fairly lanky, but not too tall, and had short, dark hair and piercing emerald eyes, “I’m Tom. What’s your name?”
“I-Iosif Zolotov.” Iosif stammered out, once again trying to avoid eye contact. “I arrived here fifty-two hours ago.”
He was careful to avoid words like ‘transported’ or ‘facility’; hard to tell if the other people here would be miffed if they were reminded of their imprisonment.
Tom blinked, “That’s definitely… specific. I thought you might be new, though, didn’t recognise you. Nice to meet you Iosif. You settling in okay? I know it can be scary getting used to all…” He waved his arms a bit, “This. I remember I wouldn’t even come out of my room for the first couple days after I came here.”
Iosif blinked in response. Does he not know he’s being watched? Or is he, like… Whatever it is they say, brain-scrubbed?
“I, uh… How many people are here?” He shifted his weight to his other leg to imitate how American people seem to have casual conversation despite being obviously uptight.
Exiting his apartment complex, Gideon continuously sorted and re-sorted the three or four papers in his hand and re-read them.
Ever since the attacks had escalated he had decided to only wear his casual attire when out, lest someone should punch him through a wall or empty a magazine on him - didn’t want his expensive three-piece getting damaged so soon.
Part of him desperately craved getting one of the goons to attack him, however; it was a boring life to be invincible and have absolutely no way of taking advantage of it. Only once had he seen Adelaide after their trip to what he liked to call ‘Wacko City’, and not long enough for anything other than a friendly wave, which he still wasn’t sure she actually saw.
Regardless, rent was coming up soon, and hopefully his newly-typed resume would be able to land him something.
“Huh?” This conversation was definitely throwing him a curveball, “I, uh… I dunno, a lot, I guess. I haven’t really counted or anything. Why?”
As Gideon meandered through the neighborhood, he might catch a sound that seemed suspiciously like a window shattering not too far down the street.
Iosif swallowed while still keeping a blank expression.
“No reason.” If it’s over thirty, they’ll need guards. Terror tactics can work for up to that many, but not more than thirty. A hundred? Automated defenses. Granted, this is all the bare minimum, and it’s likely way worse.
Iosif couldn’t think of anything else to say but he couldn’t just walk away. So he stood there, trying to think of some excuse to leave and continue wishing he had never been born.
Not that he knew how that worked.
Stopping and straightening suddenly, he looked about for other people to be interested and be the good Samaritan for once while he went to his job interview.
There was nobody.
“Welp.” He sighed, folding his papers and stuffing them down his shirt. Slightly quickening his pace, he moved to where he heard the sound, ready to go gold in an instant. “Looks like I’m missing that interview too.”
Tom frowned a little. This kid was definitely starting to weird him out, but Janice had always told him that he should be friendly and approachable, especially to the weird kids. So he did what he always did in these situations: he changed the subject.
“So, uh. What can you do?” He asked conversationally, glancing at Iosif’s plugs, “Something to do with electricity?”
As Gideon approached the storefront, he would spot three individuals, all clearly boosted up on snakebite. Two of them were busy hauling out TVs and loading them onto a truck, while another stood over the cashier and store clerks to make sure they didn’t try anything funny.
Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap.
Rather shamefully, Iosif pulled his sleeve further down his wrist to hide the obvious hex port. “Y-Yeah,” He mumbled. What’ll I have to do now? Snap his neck? Is he gonna go tell his cellma- I mean friends? Maybe the head of security? Crap, I need those plugs memorized NOW.
Gideon could feel stomach acid crawling up his throat.
Not having been spotted yet, he whipped out his phone and snapped a picture of the gang mid-act. Looking about, he stuffed his phone under some trash squished against the curb and silently prayed none of the goons managed to step on it accidentally. Then, he approached with three loud steps and pointed his finger dramatically. “Hey, you ugly mugs! That’s illegal!”
“Uh… Stop it!” He stood with triumphant bravado, having difficulty keeping himself from turning gold during his abysmal performance.
“Cool!” He grinned, “I can… uh, well, it’s probably better if I show you, maybe just stand back a bit.” He warns.
The two guys hauling the loot turn Gideon’s way, leering at him.
“Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do to stop us, tiny?” One of the hulking brutes rumbles, not even bothering to set down the TV he’s holding.
Iosif gladly takes the opportunity to create a distance between them, stepping farther back than would probably be necessary.
Gideon’s skin flashes gold.
“You tell me.” He resumed walking towards them. Need to get all their attention, make a racket, call the police please mister whoever you are hiding behind the cash register…
“Okay, here goes. Just, don’t freak out, okay? It’s kinda weird.” Tom adds, before closing his eyes and concentrating. After a little straining, there’s a sudden shifting of movement on the skin of his right arm, like something trying to escape, before a second, fully-grown arm pops out, giving a little wave, “Ta-da!”
The other criminal squints, “What the hell…?”
“Aight, let’s see what you got!” The first man grins, setting down the TV and cracking his neck, his comrade following suit. The guy inside glances at the unfolding scene for a moment, but doesn’t keep his attention away for long. Gold or no gold, it was still two on one.
Iosif watched the display with little to no actual interest - okay, he did have a little; what if this kid’s power was blowing up and painting the room red? might be interesting - until the additional limb suddenly appeared, and his eyes went wide.
The next second Iosif threw up violently onto the floor and collapsed with both hands clutching his stomach, desperately trying to remain conscious. The depths of a distant laboratory in the outskirts of Russia was an unkind place to any but a twisted mind, and the memories were painfully fresh.
“Nngh… Создание…”
“You drug-snorting bullies couldn’t beat up a cat,” Gideon scoffed. “So I’ll have the pleasure of knocking your teeth out while you cry and whimper on the ground without the slightest pain on my part. Except, of course, for your horrific hygiene.” He waved a hand in front of his nose with a revolted expression to emphasize the point.
I wonder if I can get the license number…
The stranger does not respond.
Lauren rolls her eyes, slipping to the back of the crowd to take some more pictures.
OOC:what am I supposed to do with this?!? 
IC: Hayden continues being bored
“Woah, hey! Uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Tom grimaces a bit, letting the extra arm retract. He felt tempted to come over to pat his back, but it was pretty clear by now that Iosif needed his space, “I don’t think anyone’s reacted quite like that before… Um, let me just, uh, go get somebody to clean that up.”
Before he could even begin to move, another person entered the room, a middle-aged man who seemed to work for the center, “Hey, is everything okay in- Ah.” He surveyed the scene quickly, locking eyes with Tom.
“I was just trying to be friendly, but then I showed him- and he-”
“It’s okay, it’s alright, you couldn’t have known he’d react that way, Tom.” The man waves him off, coming over to crouch by Iosif’s side, “Alright kiddo, just take some deep breaths. Need me to help you up? We can go get you a nice glass of water to wash your mouth out, okay?”
The first man’s nostrils flare, “How bout you come say that to my face, punk!” He roars, stepping forward and throwing a wide, awful punch. His buddy steps in to back him up, but doesn’t intervene for the moment.
At this moment, a small procession of guards file into the block, a couple of them brandishing inhibitor cuffs. Some of them approach Hayden and Mosh Pit’s cell, while the rest head over to that of the mysterious stranger. They in turn deactivate the cell doors and step in.
“You.” One of the guards points to Mosh Pit, “Get over here.”
The long-haired meta rolls his eyes and hops off the bed, strolling over to them.
“You know the drill, Khan.” Says one of the guards in the other cell, holding out the cuffs for him.
Adelaide pretended to cheer along. Wait we’re not people? Wow man, that really sucks. Do we just not have human rights or…
The logistics confused her as she decided to shrug it off. Though she spotted a new target for her concerns.
Adelaide waved to Lauren. “Hey I didn’t expect to see you here, buddy!”
Doing her best to push through the crowd over to Lauren, Adelaide happily found someone to bother. Wait, since she’s here does this mean shes bad?
Iosif’s eyes quivered and shook as he relived less-than-pleasant memories and saw things in the room nobody else could see because they didn’t exist. After a moment, however, the light of reason returned, and he noticed the awful taste in his mouth.
“I can stand.” He quietly responded, pushing himself up on one arm and immediate falling onto the floor again. “I can’t stand.” He looked up in some confusion, not sure how to process someone genuinely wanting to assist him. “Help?”
Gideon watches the fist come to his face with a glare.
It connects with a sickening KA-CRACK, snapping his head to the side and nearly knocking him over, forcing him to step back to avoid toppling from the impact. His tongue quickly darted inside his mouth to ensure he hadn’t accidentally left his lips open and accidentally cracked a tooth.
Nope, all good. My immaculate smile is still intact.
“Pretty good,” He adjusted his collar. “At least you’re capable of dealing with a feline. How about you, sir?” Hie eyes motioned to the other thug.
Khan stands, offering up his wrists without comment.
Lauren blanches as she sees Adelaide. Why is she here? This is the worst time for this…
Lauren holds one finger up to her lips, shushing Adelaide. “Hey, now’s not a great time. Not really a great place, either.” Seriously, why are you even here? “I’ll talk later, okay?” She makes a shooing motion with one hand.
“It’s what I’m here for.” He smiles warmly, gently easing Iosif up to his feet, “My name’s Mark, by the way. You new around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
“He said he just got here a couple days ago.” Tom supplied quietly, just standing there numbly, “I’ll, uh, go get something to clean this up.” He added, heading off in the other direction to find a cleaner or something.
That sound didn’t bode well for the attacker’s hand either. After the punch connected, he seemed to immediately regret it.
“GHHOOWWWWW! What are you made of!?” The brute howled, glaring at Gideon in shock that he hadn’t even dented him.
The second man takes a step back, quickly reconsidering the situation as he holds his hands up in surrender, “Uh, nah, I’m good, I’m good.”
“What’s going on out here? Can’t you idiots beat up one guy?” The apparent leader of the group snaps, turning away from the civilians and stepping out of the store to see for himself.
“Attaboy.” The guard smirks, cuffing him up and leading him out of his cell.
Meanwhile, in the other cell, much the same is happening, albeit with more of Mosh Pit flipping off the guards.
“Where are you even taking me, anyway?” He demands.
“That’s for us to know and you to find out. Now shut up, and start walking.”