Utopia

Kira followed after Russell, struggling to keep up with her much shorter stride. Was he mad that she didn't have any information? He seemed a lot less friendly than before... She bit her lip, figuring he'd just been trying to gain her trust so she'd be more willing to talk. She started to mentally berate herself. She should've known that no good would come from even sort of liking a police officer.

When they reached the bottom, Russell put his hands in his pockets for his keys and found Kira's bottle of panic meds. He turned, handing it back to her with an apologetic look.

"Yeah, I forgot I had them, sorry. Just... Really annoyed you had to go through that, it just wasn't right. He's such a fucking asshole, y'know?" Russell vented slightly, feeling both a big guilty and a bit angry. His car beeped as he opened it remotely, turning to walk towards it again.

Kira took back that bottle, fidgeting slightly in front of the passenger door, swallowing another pill before getting in. She quickly buckled her seat, looking a lot more scared than the first time around. "It's...I-It's f-f-fine... I...I j-just w-wish Luke w-was around..." she said softly. Then none of this would have to happen.

"Oh yeah, maybe I could help there. Obviously I don't know where he lives, but I know that he used to frequent this fighting club in this bar called the 108 in the outer city. I also know that people he's supposed to work for are rumoured to be working out of the Shelbourne Hotel, you know the one on the outskirts of the inner city?" Russell offered, eager to lend a hand. He would have loved to investigate the leads, but he knew a police officer likely would have been stabbed. "I know it's not much, but I'd like to give you a hand, tryin' to make up for all this."

Kira looked over at Russell, obviously surprised. Why was he telling her this? Was it some sort of trap for Luke or something? She decided it would be easier to clarify than just wonder. "Wh-Why are you...t-telling me this...?" she asked, biting her lip as she watched Russell, trying to figure out if he was trying to trick her or something.

"Because, to be honest, he didn't deserve what he got. He was wrongly persecuted, and I think that the longer he spends in that company, the more likely that he'll become a real criminal," Russell explained, scratching his head. "Also, if I try to investigate those leads, chances are I'd be stabbed for being a cop."

Kira leaned back in her seat, musing over what Russell had said. She didn't really think he was lying, or at least he didn't seem like it, though she hadn't always been the best judge of character. She frowned slightly, staring down at her lap for a second, before looking back up. "I...I told the b-babysitter th-that I probably w-wouldn't pick Jason up t-tonight...s-since this was g-going to happen," she began uneasily. "I...I d-don't suppose you could...could drop m-me off a-at the Shelbourne, or I g-guess a few blocks a-away..."

"Yeah, me dropping you off probably won't do you any favours, so I'll drop you off a couple of blocks away," Russell nodded affirmatively, taking a left at the next junction, wondering if this was going to prove to be a good idea. It might endear him to the other side of the crime war, which might lead them to treat him a bit more lightly than the other decent cops. He already wasn't well liked in the police department for trying to do his job.

"I guess this is as good a place as any," he piped up after a second, pulling up on the sidewalk.

Kira attempted a shaky smile at Russell, unbuckling her seat belt. "Thanks..." she said softly, feeling a bit more reassured that at least part if the police was on her side. She got out of the car, shivering a bit and pulling her coat closer to her, before waving good bye to Russell. The Shelbourne wasn't too far from her house, either, so this could be convenient.

She walked into the hotel, looking around. Where was she supposed to even start? Maybe the man at the desk? How did a gang even work out of a hotel? It was always bars or something like that in the movies...

Nathan frowned to himself and followed slowly over the rooftops after the hospital secretary. He was Nate Stanton, Utopia's most wanted man who could use his intelligence to come and go as he wanted when it came to both the inner city and the outer city, he was good with faces! Intuitive Aptitude made sure that every face he saw could become part of one of his disguises. He could transform into anyone he had ever met, but this girl was different... she was a mystery, an anomaly almost.

And Nate didn't like anomaly's when it came to his existence. He leapt into an alleyway and after changing his appearance to that of a fifteen year old boy who wore slacks and a shirt, he based his hair on a young Zachary's and had symmetrical face. Right now he was just gathering information on this woman so that he could find out where he knew her from.

Kira sighed to herself, not really sure where to start exactly. It couldn't really hurt to go the obvious route, though. She took a deep breath, feeling a bit anxious as she walked up to the receptionist's desk, clearing her throat. "Um, you w-wouldn't h-happen to have a...a Luke E-Evans staying here, would y-you...?" she asked a bit reluctantly, realizing this wouldn't be as easy as she had originally hoped.

Rebecca stopped for a moment, before looking around. Why did she feel chills go down her spine? Was sshe being stalked? She quickened her pace, moving through people, aiming to get back home sooner than she thought just in case.

Nathan felt his way towards this woman with Telepathy and Empathy, trying to get gauge her, but he wasn't getting much. With these two more refined flows he always had slightly more difficulty. With a sigh he moved forward at a slightly faster speed, but still managing to blend into the crowd. Could it just be that he wasn't as used to leaving eye witnesses as he thought? He steeled his determination and continued forward, people parting before him.

His intuitive aptitude enhanced eyes never left the woman.

Rebecca glanced over her shoulder, before ducking down into a allyway, halfway through she stopped and folded her arms. If she had a stalker, she would...welll, see who it was then possibly run. She had no flow anymore, no blessing.

She wasn't as timid as she was back in the tournament. She could still, somewhat defend herself.

"...Hmmm? Luke Evans?" the receptionist glanced up boredly from a crossword before looking at his computer and typing quickly. After a few seconds, he looked back at Kira with an interested tilt of his head. "We have a reservation under that name, actually. Can I ask who's asking?"

Kira's face lit up a little as a wide smile appeared on her face. "We used to t-travel together before coming to Utopia," she said. Though it was a bit of a lie, it was also sort of the truth. They had been together before they'd came to Utopia. "My name's Kira."

Nathan frowned down at the alleyway from his position on the rooftop. Whoever this woman was, she didn't appear to be very smart. They were in the middle of the outer part of Utopia in a neighborhood that was notorious for its street crime and she'd just walked down a dark alleyway. He rolled his eyes and made to turn away, but on the corner of his vision he saw a sight that caught his attention.

Three thugish looking men in scruffy clothing were heading in the woman's direction, and they were closing in. Being in an alleyway she was completely cut off and had no escape.

Oh boy, Rebecca thought as she continued to move down the allyway, Where I go, trouble seems to follow still. She wondered how she would actually get out of this one.

"Alright then, there it is," the receptionist replied after a second of rapidly scrawling out a number on a piece of paper and handing it to Kira, before pointing at a corner of the hotel's entrance hall. "There's phones over there, if you need one."

Kira smiled as she picked up the paper. "Thank you," she said to the receptionist, a childish look of glee on her face. She tried to tell herself that this might be a dead end, but she felt it was the closest she'd ever gotten. Walking over to the phone in the corner, she dialed the number on the paper, waiting for someone to pick up, crossing her fingers.

"Kira Ryneheart? Listen to me closely," a voice answered at the other other end of the line, quite threatening and very much not Luke's own. They wasted no time after this, not caring whether Kira spoke or not or how she reacted "We can see you very clearly, and if you want to make it out of this easily, follow my instructions very carefully. Turn around, and take the second door on the corridor to your left. Don't do anything stupid now."

Kira stiffened visibly, pursing her lips in agitation and disappointment. Of course. It just had to be a trick. Her eyes flicked around the lobby, figuring she could fight her way out with plants if need be...but for now she'd listen to whoever was on the phone. She turned around, shooting a glare at the receptionist as she walked past him. This was a cruel trick.

Walking down the corridor, she hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob, biting her lip. This was probably a very bad idea. Very, very bad. She bit her lip, before pushing the door open.

When Kira opened the door and stepped inside, she would find herself in pitch darkness for a minute or two, before eventually finding herself in a very different room than the hotel room had been, seen most evidently by the fact that the windows indicated she wasn't on a ground floor any more. It was large, nicely furnished room, but the view indicated that she wasn't in the hotel any more.

"You must be Kira Ryneheart," a voice came from behind her. If Kira turned around, she'd see a woman of about her age, looking a little above college age and dressed quite simply in a shirt and jeans, her brown hair falling to her shoulders. She looked quite friendly and happy to see Kira more than anything else. "You look just like the picture... Sorry about this, by the way."

Kira slowly turned around, a slight green glow forming around her hands. She took in a shaky breath, her eyes flicking around the room like a caged animal. "I just...I j-just want to see h-him. Is that so wrong...?" she asked weakly. Were they going to kill her? Or at least try to? She'd fight back, though most people probably did when forced into a situation like this.

"Well, given where you've just come from, I'm sure you can understand my trepidation, Miss Ryneheart," the woman replied pleasantly, clasping her hands together and eyeing Kira calmly, her exterior not really betraying anything.