Make me more energetic in setting right what I find wrong with the world instead of complaining

[portsmouth-crew.livejournal.com]

Your mission, should you choose to accept it--and you will, because that's the kind of people you are--is to find out why so many homeless patients are disappearing from the streets of Portsmouth. The doc doesn't take on the easy cases. Look at me. Look at any of us, really.

This one didn't go out on the tip board. No point in panicking people, but I've been combing through the e-mails and postings on our board to see if anything comes up. Not sure I've come up with a whole lot. The answers are probably out there on the streets.

Camilla can't remember the last time there were this many people at the doc's house. Usually it's just him, Charlie, maybe Nite-Lite and some of his crew, Tara when she can, and Camilla herself. The Black Canary a couple of times, Arisia--who makes Camilla feel big and clumsy--but the pilot's new. Great cook, that lady. This Manhunter chick's scary, even without the gauntlets and the staff, but she's looking for someone, and Tara likes her, so that's something in her favor.

Poor Arisia. Used to be, when she came here, she'd be helping out the doc, but this time around she's mostly been sleeping or being quiet somewhere in the house. Still nice as ever, but something really bad must've happened.

Camilla leaves off wondering about Arisia as everyone files into the meeting room. Time for her to start tracking what they find, see if there's a pattern to the pieces.

Comments

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

He's good at detecting such things.

"It won't be long now, though. Your physiology is quite unique, and your regenerative capabilities should get you airborne in a matter of days."

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

Better than nothing, she supposes. Arisia wriggles her nose and goes back to waiting to find out what the heck this meeting is about.

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

Pieter clears his throat.

"I'm glad you all could be here. I most certainly appreciate your help, and Portsmouth will do the same once we solve a current dilemma that a good colleague of mine has brought to my attention."

His hands clasp behind his back.

"It seems that the regular patients of an AIDS clinic I've been supporting have been vanishing somewhat mysteriously. The frequency of these disappearances stretch beyond any logical mortality rate, and given the amount of chemical warfare we've seen from the more nefarious criminals we encouter in our general line of work, I believe this is cause for our grave concern."

[zinda-blackhawk.livejournal.com]

Zinda can't help but get a distinct feeling of déja vu as she takes this news in. Her smile turns into a flattened line. "I don't like the sound of that, Doc."

[the-manhunter.livejournal.com]

"Neither do I," Manhunter speaks up from her corner. "Especially with some of the crazy rumours going around." She's been quiet until now, taking everything in. Kate's never been much of a talker, especially in a room of people she's not familiar with. But it looks like it's theory-tossing time, and she has to join in.

Let's just hope they don't look at her like she's some sort of crazy, serial-killing freak.

She slides her staff behind her and her armchair just to be sure.

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

Dr. Cross raises an eyebrow.

"I don't believe we've met, ma'am. I'm Pieter Cross."

He crosses the room carefully, blind man that he is, to shake her hand.

[the-manhunter.livejournal.com]

Manhunter stands up, feeling a little odd dressed in her entire costume, as she peels off a metal gauntlet and shakes his hand. "Manhunter," she states simply. "It's good to meet you, Doctor."

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

Arisia watches the exchange in silence at the moment. She doesn't have anything to add, though the observant might notice a faint increase in the green glow which has been generally ever present with her since she's arrived.

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

"And vice versa. Glad to have your help on this."

Although it may make it a bit difficult to maintain any secrecy in identity.

A turn to face the rest of those gathered in this room. For a brief moment, it occurs to him that, save for himself and Nite-Lite, they're all women. That brings a hint of a smirk that he lets pass quickly.

"Now then. Manhunter, as well as the locals here - myself, Tara, and my associate Nite-Lite," he says, indicating the tank-sized man still at the doorway, "have begun an investigation throughout the city, and with any luck, there is enough cunning and intelligence in this room to pool our information and come up with a working hypothesis on what might be occurring here."

"In the interest of not drawing any erroneous conclusions, let me share with you what I've turned up so far - simply anecdotal, of course, but I've learned to distill truth from the stories of the city."

"I followed up with two of my former patients most relevant to the clinic in question. One was a woman who called herself Blue China Mary. As you might guess from the name, she was a former prostitute, who I'd been helping to change directions. She was HIV-positive, yet her disappearance so far has only been explained by stories of someone wealthy taking her away in a limousine. Perhaps a customer, or perhaps a pimp. This seems counter-intuitive, since Mary had left the life when last I had spoken to her."

"The other paitent I'd tracked was an unfortunate-looking man who had sadly earned the nickname Rat Boy. An ex-addict and a victim of a dirty needle, he'd had been clean for some time after he'd been sent to me, but he hasn't been seen since an apparent collapse of some sort, and was gathered up in an ambulance to be taken away. I've uncovered no records of him ever arriving at a hospital in the area, and there is a prevailing theory that it was some sort of, if you'll excuse the cliche, 'Men In Black' operation. Certainly an angle to consider. I would like to think the post-Luthor government would abandon such practices as human experimentation, but there have always been rogue factions of any government unwilling to discontinue their works."

[portsmouth-crew.livejournal.com]

Nite-Lite rubs his chin.

"Sounds funky, Doc," comes his booming voice.

"Sent my boys out to cover some ground. People got some strange-ass ideas. You remember Fast Eddie? Bartender down at the Manhole? Got a handful o' people swear to heaven and hell and back again that the brother was taken by a 'white angel.' One guy's even sayin' there's a lotta 'angels of mercy' sweepin' the streets to end the suffering, though the poor sucka was obviously hopin' insteada thinkin'."

His head shakes. "We got people sayin' aliens, people sayin' it's the 'cleansing of the Great White Shark' comin' to purify the city of the unworthy, and people sayin' it's a special police squad roamin' around in white sedans, pickin' up sick folks for science. One brotha was specific, sayin' he saw a white Chevy Express work van, 07, parked in front of St. Christopher's. Didn't gimme a plate, though."

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

"Funky, indeed. Strange that it wasn't a passenger van... I'll have to ask Harry if there's been any maintenance work done recently." Then, for the benefit of the room. "Dr. Harry Fansler. He's my colleague running the facility, and a good friend of mine."

[zinda-blackhawk.livejournal.com]

Zinda's taken a seat by now, and set her ever-present hat on the table in front of her. "A limo? I could see about hackin' into some local gas stations' CCTV. Somethin' that big won't go far without refuellin'. See if we can get a plate and an ID."

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

That tilts the doctor's head in the woman's direction.

"You have a talent with computers, do you?"

Mildly incredulous, actually.

[zinda-blackhawk.livejournal.com]

She lofts a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him. "I've picked up a few things here and there, sugar. You don't get pulled from the Forties and get to fly anything in this day and age without havin' some kinda technical ability." And then a smile. "I picked up a few things from the boss lady, too."

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

That gets a wider smile.

"You truly never cease to amaze, Zinda. Perhaps you and Camilla could learn a thing or two from each other as well."

[zinda-blackhawk.livejournal.com]

"I'm already lookin' forward to it." That smile won't be moving from her face for a little while.

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

Arisia smiles a little bit, adding softly, "Zinda's got a lot of talents."

[the-manhunter.livejournal.com]

Manhunter looks between them, amused.

Of course. Back home I have Damon and Todd. This had to happen.

"I'm sure she does. According so some reports I heard, though, so does Wonder Woman. One of the reports I heard had Wonder Woman kidnapping the victims on her white jet."

[midnite-md.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it's white now? And not invisible?" he quips.

[elfinlantern.livejournal.com]

"You can kind of see it if you know how to look."

Arisia's voice is still quiet as she speaks.

[portsmouth-crew.livejournal.com]

"Sounds like everyone agrees that the missing people were taken somewhere," says Camilla thoughtfully.