Welcome To Gary

JP with Jaxx, mdman, Trustno1, Redsword and Cindy

The desolate decay of the area permeated every block of this once thriving city. Graffiti hung on empty buildings, as if calling attention to the fact that people still lived here, despite seeming almost abandoned.

A street corner, an elderly woman with white hair sat on an overturned bucket. Wrinkled skin, a posture which told of being exhausted. She held up a sign, Hungry. Sick. Please help.. The hacker's heart went out to this stranger. There was just no stopping in the van, not with all that equipment. Even with Max, who could take care of almsy any issue that arose.

Another street corner, a stop light, two teens likely younger than Max actually was. They looked around suspiciously. Money was exchanged, then a small bag of something. It was easy to guess what.

They finally arrived at the hotel, a blue brick building with white trim that could use a paint job but overall didn't look awful. The tall metal sign at the front of the lot read "Lake Center Inn." It was one of the few hotels operational left in the city. The rest were farther out and less convenient.

The front doors slide open to reveal a lobby area, tiled floors, wallpaper with small green vines, a faux wooden half circular round front desk, which a man and women were behind. A security guard always stood near the entrance, right now was no exception. He was tall, broad man who could probably take on most people and win. Though the irony wasn't lost on Alyssa that Max could probably beat the security guard.

Slightly beyond the area, were tables and chairs and the free breakfast area. No room service here.

The hotel had four floors, no suites. They had gotten connecting rooms on the 4th floor. Not anything super fancy but they were clean, two double beds and a view if the city, not that Alyssa had any plans in opening her curtains. There was also a microwave , small refrigerator, TV, wi-fi, all which had become common for a lot of hotels.

They made their way to their rooms and Alyssa said, "I'm going to get to work. I'll text you if I need anything”

The Templar agents arrived at the hotel. Upon checking in, they were surprised that rooms had already been reserved for them. Dahlia was impressed, not with the accommodations, but with the efficiency of whomever made the arrangements. At least the paparazzi wouldn’t be looking for a princess here. Kat could go undetected.

They took the elevator to the fourth floor. Dahlia gave Kat a hug at her assigned room, then walked to her own. Going inside, she thought Not what I prefer, but may be the best in town.[\i]

After the long flight, Dahlia looked forward to a quick shower and a change of clothes. Suddenly, she remembered that she had Choi’s phone number. While the shower was warming up, she shot Yeong a text: [i]Just checked into the hotel. Not pretty, but will do. Looking forward to working beside you! 😉

After splitting off with Alyssa, Agent Powers went into his room and looked around. He then realized he needed some ice for his drinks he headed out r find the ice machine.

Meanwhile Princess Ekaterina and Dahlia entered the hotel and made their way to their own rooms after a sweet hug. Then Ekaterina entered her room and looked around. It was a far cry from the accommodations in her palace back home, but not the worst place she had been in. It was far more suitable than the sewers in France. As she pondered a bit she took a deep breath in and summoned a few bugs from the room and mentally instructed them to monitor all the rooms and the hotel. Then she looked at the mini bar and made a yuk face before heading out to get some ice.

As Agent Powers was finishing up getting ice he felt a presence behind him and looked to see the pretty lady from the Templars. Sadly he forgot her name but remembered she was nice and like his coffee. He then replied, "Hey aren't that Templar from the last case?" Ekaterina smiled elegantly as she was surprised to see Powers alone. She replied, "Yes I am Agent Powers. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Princess Ekaterina Malysheva Grimaldi, but you can call me Kat for short." Agent Powers was a bit shocked as this was his first time meeting royalty in a nice way. In the past he did kill some royal members in North Africa but they were horrible people. Oddly enough she resembled the Princesses he saw in the Disney movies. Agent Powers replied, "Umm wow a real Princess. Nice to meet you. Am I supposed to bow or something?" Ekaterina elegantly giggled at Powers and replied, "Oh please don't. They do that too much at the palace already and I am under cover right now.”

Agent Powers realized they were on a mission together. He replied, "Oh my bad. So did you need something from me?" Ekaterina looked Agent Powers up and down with a sly smile and then replied, "Well.....since you asked so nicely..... can you get me some ice?" Agent Powers was feeling a bid odd but didn't know why, but at the request for ice he snapped back to reality and replied, "Oh yeah.....that makes sense. Shall I get it for you?" Ekaterina replied, "Oh you are such a gentleman Agent Powers. Its nice to see a man with manners these days." Agent Powers was feeling a bit confused since the Princess was being very nice to him. When it came to a woman's charm he was ignorant and innocent, which left him vulnerable.

Then before he realized it Ekaterina was making small talk with Agent Powers and exchanged numbers before going to his room to taste his baked sweets and his gourmet instant coffee. Ekaterina then continued to charm Agent Powers, making small talk about his hobbies and getting him to mention his past a bit.

Alyssa had her headphones on, the sounds of Vampire Weekend played into her ears, as she lost herself in her work. She had her laptop set up to alert her in case of text or calls on her phone, but so far no word.

After about an hour though her stomach rumbled in protest, reminding her, other than the cookie, the hacker hadn't eaten since this morning.

She texted Max Hey, I'm starving. You up to get some food.

Agent Powers was in the middle of telling Ekaterina how he used natural sugars to avoid using processed sugars when his phone alarm went off. He then picked it up and checked it to see Alyssa asking for some snacks. Agent Powers apologized to the Princess as he opened up his bag and assembled several various snacks and canned drinks that Alyssa seemed to like. He then excused himself from Ekaterina to walk down the hall to knock on Alyssa's door with a armful of snacks.

Dahlia finished her shower. She put on a pair of tight black leather pants. A white camisole was under a leather jacket that she zipped halfway up.

Looking in the small fridge, she spied a wine spritzer. She opened it up and took a sip, crinkling up her nose. It would do until she could get some real wine.

She hadn’t heard back from Choi yet. He was probably busy with the case. She was sure she’d hear from him.

So, she texted Alyssa: Checked in, showered, and ready to go. Thanks for the accommodations.

Alyssa opened the door, Max was accommodating as always. "Thanks," she took the snacks. "I.." She was interrupted by her phone vibration. "Apparently, the Templars are here. I was told they would be arriving together. That was Dahlia. Anyway, can you find some place to get dinner? It'll need to accommodate the Templars, Kosher, I believe for one of them." She didn't have her notes in front of her exactly.

She texted back to Dahlia, Glad you arrived safely. We will have to meet later. I would like everyone, who's here, to gather for dinner.

Agent Powers nodded to Alyssa as he took a mental not on food for later. Then her replied, "Oh yeah Princess Kat is in my room. She was tasing my snacks and making small talk. I can get the Kosher details from her. Did you need anything else?" Agent Powers waited to see if Alyssa had other needs.

"Thanks for this. No, I'm good. Tell her I said hello." She shut the door, to let Max get back the Princess. Princess[i] Alyssa hoped the woman wasn't stuck up or something, she already had to work with one person she could barely tolerate due to their attitude. First impressions of Kat hadn't giving that vibe but they only briefly spent time together. Alyssa sat down with her soda and snacks, and went back to work.

Agent powers went back to his room to talk to Kat about dinner plans and what they could choose from in the area. So they looked up several restaurants in the area to accommodate them. Kat was looking up Kosher places while Agent Powers looked up places Alyssa and Choi would like.

Dahlia finally got a response from Choi: [i]Great! See you soon.

She smiled. Laying back on the bed, Dahlia clicked on the local news to see if anything about the case might be on it.

She got the text from Alyssa and responded: Just let us know where.

Then to Kat: Made contact with Choi through text.

While Kat was looking up Kosher places she got a text from Dahlia and smirked a bit. She then texted, I am with Powers. We are looking for places to eat. She then looked at Agent Powers who was copying the information from decent food places that also delivered onto his notepad app. Then they found the "Smoke By Crunch" place that had food for everyone and decided to go with that.

Alyssa went ahead and did two things, secured a meeting room (surprisly this hotel had three) and sent text to everyone in the group. For everyone here. Dinner 7:00 PM. Meeting room 2.

Sung received the texts and arrived at the hotel this was one of the worst places he had stayed in a long time. When he stepped out of the SUV he felt out of place with his dark suit and dress shoes Sung thought Sung probably looked like a drug dealer or a high-end pimp. He pulled his two roller suitcases and walked to the front door He saw the tall metal sign at the front of the hotel that read "Lake Center Inn." the typical vagrants and thugs were near they all eyed
Sung as he walked inside.

The inside was not much better than the outside as he walked to the desk he gave a name and got his room. Sung walked into His room and threw his suitcases onto the bed he looked around and sighed. He thought about sleeping in the SUV it might be better for him. Sung looked through the room it was better than a box in an alleyway he thought. He searched for the normal listening devices cameras and other magic or otherwise equipment.

Sung waited until 7 and made his way to the room they were to meet in.

It had been a few months since Sartre had seen the members of the other factions as well as Alyssa. They worked so well together it was as if they could become an organized team of their own. He took the time to finally gather his things from his London apartment and had been living in the dormitories of the illuminati headquarters. The Labyrinth. The last investigation was indeed his hardest. Seeing and hearing the things that he had allowed him to Reevaluate where things were in the Secret World. It was a new secret world. In the chip: [/i]May I join you all for dinner Alyssa?[/i]

Of course, Alyssa responded back to Satre, in the chip.

Sartre asked, in the chip, How have you been Alyssa?

A slight smile crossed Alyssa's lips, she was after all alone in her room, so no one could see it. Alright. Working hard, as always. You?

She had missed him but there was no admitting that to anyone, not even herself. Things had just been weird with them, the last assigned, Peter had been so pushy. Alyssa didn't like that, it actually normally would have sent the hacker running in the other direction. It almost did. She had needed time away from him but then. ..It was so complicated.

In the chip I'm all right, I heard you were investigating some sort of haunted theater. It will be great seeing you again! I heard you got a new mystery machine. Yukko at the Council of Venice said that the team we had last time was there. She said we might be coalescing into one team. Have your dreams been all right?

Yes, that's all correct. One team, huh? My dreams have been alright. After the first two weeks or so of being home they got better but I'll explain more to you later about that. I have to go, work to do. They were going to see each other soon enough. Alyssa hit a few buttons to make sure she had everything she needed on her laptop.