Movin' In... [Halo's H.Q. -Open 4 All, 4-Ever!-0]

[Anonymous]

B.I.T.C.H. slowed as Her engines hummed to a silence; the machine beneath him stopping as he arrived at the place. "....." It was a total dive. Dirty. Broken. Smashed. A rat-hole. It was perfect. Just the kind of place sleaze felt most at home in. A trash can. He wouldn't pause to deploy a kick stand, B.I.T.C.H. attain a perfect 90 degree stance courtesy of the gyro inside, that provided the machine with an almost supernatural balance. It remained erect as Her rider dismounted and made their way towards the domicile.

And, to think he paid for this place...

He was beginning to question his past choice, when it occurred to him this wasn't the worst thing that could happen to him. And wasn't. Not by a long shot. Pushing the door open, the pile of rocks and wood behind it shoved back, as he pry his form inside the narrow passage. Inside, he removed black gloves, and stood in the center of the room, where he began taking inventory of the area, the rooms, walls, holes, openings, passages and doors. First rule of survival; exploit homefield advantage. It time, he would memorize this entire layout, converting it into his headquarters... But, not without supplies, first... and a cleaning crew...

He vacated the structure, donned the bike, and with a firm hum, zoomed off....

[center:twe57ez7])(----------Three------------------------Days-----------------------Later)([/center:twe57ez7]

"...Yea... I know.... They finished your room this morning...! Ah, Anna.... ok, bring the cams online first... yes, I promise...! Now, the cams...?" The repairs and renovations had gone off rather smoothly; these sorts of things usually did whenever Anna oversaw them. Halo wasn't much of a leader. Not that he didn't have the wit, he just rather leave the technics to the brainy people, like 8 year old Anna, a refugee he found two years ago, wandering aimlessly. Her family having died just weeks prior from starvation. The poor girl was not so far off when he came across her withered self. They'd been together ever since. And, ever since, she's been nothing but a marvel to him...

"What're you doin' up there, anyway...? Yanno, I'm the adult... I should be taking the risks..." He argued back, as he pace back and forth the foyer-slash-office of his new entreprise... Civilian Law Enforcement... or, otherwise known... "Oh, right... Because you can rewire Meson Collider cables...." A young voice came back over the comm, making him sit down suddenly at the blatant...well, truth. Anna was a genius when it came to applied sciences... "Hey, don't talk back to your elders... unless yer gonna lie about somethin' nice..." He leaned back in his chair, reaching for the rapidly cooling pizza he bought to celebrate the opening.

"Look, I know yer alright, I... I just want you to hurry... yanno..." Genuine concern leaked into his tone. Anna paused in her work as the tone tugged on her heart strings. "...Halo...?" He sighed. "....Hurry down...k, babe..... I'm missin' frikkin' Marshal Decisicion!" His very favorite show. "Oh, Halo.... you stink... ugh..." She gripped a wire, and inserted it after realigning is magnetic relays. "Well, here's your fancy little show..." Power cuts on in the foyer moments later. Monitors flicker to life. Cams pace and float about capturing images of empty, secure rooms. The alarm system and Emergency Protocols showed online and active. But, above all else, the TV worked... "Yes! Oh... yea, uh, good work, Anna... Come down now..." The little girl sighed, shaking her head as she take the elevator down.

In the foyer, Halo enjoyed another slice of cold pizza. Comedy & Tragedy strapped to his hips, Macbeth on the wall, under Queen Hera and Lunas. B.I.T.C.H. was parked upstairs, in the garage. "Open for bidd'ness..."

[Anonymous]

The Rules of Halo's House!

So, you say you wanna partake of Halo's services, but don't know how to go about it? Well, here are the ground rules and other info needed to enlist the old Dog.

1. First rule, all petitions to Halo must be in IC format, meaning you have to reply to this thread, which is always open, never to close, and open to entire roster of ROTE. If you want to do something particular, you can PM me with the details, but will still have to RP out the actual meeting and agreement.

2. I prefer you be straight with Halo, but if you lie to him, that's also cool; just be aware of the IC results of double-crossing him. [lol] if you accept that, you're good.

3. Big jobs have big prices. Small jobs small prices. He doesn't haggle.

4. Halo's services are wasted on more mundane jobs [finding petty criminals, etc] and shine their brightest against tougher, perhaps [humanly] impossible contracts.

5. Halo's home has a state of the art security system, free-floating cameras w/ optional nerve gas/ballistic payloads, and over all, his turf, not yours. Respect his home, and he'll respect you.

6. If you want Halo to intervene in a current, developed plotline [one with several posts to it] all relevant info from said post should be provided. It's just easier than me reading several posts/pages, and can be in bullet form, or w/e medium you choose. It's the idea of being brought to speed that I'm concerned with here.

7. Please alert targets before hand that Halo will be entering their lives; I don't want to step on anyone's rules.

8. The hunted party has the right to OOC decline being hunted. If you don't wanna bothered by me, that is your right!

9. And, most important of all, Anna likes cotton candy. Give her some, or she won't like you. She's also his accountant lol.

Well, that's all for now! And, happy, uh, running away! [waves!]

[Anonymous]

It was late at night when two men had stopped just outside the supposed 'Retrieval Expert's' domain. "... Charming." The shorter of the two men said in a hushed, borish tone as he looked over the less-than pleasently maintained dump. He turned to his assiociate, a toweringly-built man, who remained silent. When they had finished appraising the trash heap of an H.Q., they silently made their way inside.

The towering man opened the door to let the shorter one inside, then soon followed after him, letting the door close behind him. Just in front of the door they both stood, side to side, now looking the interiour over. The sight wasn't much better.

The shorter man had a very cynical demeanor, his hair was an icy-blonde, which he kept short and slicked back, and his skin was a deathly porcelain color, which looked almost transparent along with his ghost-like blue eyes. A long and flowing black buttoned-up coat covered his frame, with a silver Thanatos Inc. logo on it's upper-left portion. His posture was always upright, as if to overlook everyone around him in a superiour fashion, despite standing only at 5'6". Quite the Napoleon.

The towering man had an intimidating demeanor, standing at 6'6". He was physically fit, very muscular, yet at the same time, he was trim. He was bald, and jet black lenses covered his eyes. His skin was very pale, but had a disturbing shade of blue. He wore a lighter version of the suit that the TRIM guards wear, without the helmet. Two pistols dangled from his belt. He stood fully erect, with both hands in front of him overlapping each other over his lower torso. He didn't look like he talked much.

[Anonymous]

Once inside, the two men would indeed be able to witness the dump Halo called his base of operations. What they couldn't see, at least not without some type of X-ray vision, were the wires, positronic cables, and yarda upon yards of fiber optics lined expertly within the walls and infrastructure of the first and second floors of this two-story heap of architechure. While its facade was rather homely, baby had a nice body on her.

A desk, and an open foyer, with two stair cases on opposite sides which both led to the same balcony, which overlooked the first floor foyer; a Fike tree was tending to its growth by the wall. About the same time these men noticed the interior, four small, hovering cameras appear, on either side of both. They would descend to about each man's shoulder height, before a thin, red beam harmlessly traced their contours. Upon completing this, they'd waft upwards again, mooring themselves magnetically to the ceiling.

When this had completed, not moments later did a young girl waltz into the room, watering canteen in hand. It was obvously a bit heavy for her, though she managed it well enough. She placed it down, speaking aloud as she regained a new grip, and hoisted the container up. "One second, gentlemen...." The water spilled out the bottle, and onto the dry soil.

As the duty became completed, Anna would leave it on the ground besides the plant, and amble towards the desk, wherein she would slide onto a leather office chair, and press and touch her tiny fingers to the screen. "...Wake up, Halo You got 'guests' " ..." Almost right away, his voice came over the net. "Wasn't sleepin', ya munchkin... Comin' out." The transmission ended, and within a few minutes, he'd come into the lobby area, which looked like it was once a hotel or someplace; it was way too spacious to have been a residential building.

Shirtless [as he had been snoozing, but didn't see any reason to admit that to the munchin!], the smell of his favorite narcotic, that being Marjiuana, preceded him before he was ever seen in the room, the Werewolf elder eyed both men carefully as he descend stairs, deciding once he saw the Thanatos logo, so proudly displayed, that he didn't just have company. He had important company; self-important. At the staircase bottom, he took time to glance at the water canteen, and then to Anna. "Dunno why you keep watering that thing..."

Approaching the desk, Anna rose, as he moved to sit down. "Evening fellas, please, have a seat. Take a load off; and tell me, what it is, that brings you my neck of the woods...?" But, he already knew. Even as he waved his hands for them to indeed be be seated, he already knew. Business. His kind of business.

Once they'd sat or didn't, he'd go on. "Is it lost, stolen, or not yet in your possession?" He'd reach into a draw, gingerly pulling out a semi-disassembled pistol, assembling as he listened.

[Anonymous]

A look of both curiousity and annoyance showed on the shorter man's face as the small child entered the foyer. It was clear that he didn't care for children. He didn't say anything about it, though. The towering man didn't move an inch from where he was. The still, unchanging shadows around him seemed to have more life than he did.

The shorter man feigned a smile followed by a noticibly sarcastic chuckle towards the girl after she alerted the man they had come to see of their presence. Minutes later, the same man had entered the room. The shorter man smirked and straightened himself out as Halo sat down behind the desk. "Business, of course, Mr. Gunslip." He said in a articulate, good-natured voice in response to his initial quetion. To anyone who knew the most basic ways to read people, though, they would find that his feigned politeness was way overly exaggerated.

The shorter man slowly sat himself down, though the towering one still hadn't moved a muscle. Though his lenses were thick and dark, it was obvious that his eyes were dead-set on 'Mr. Gunslip'. The shorter man relaxed slightly in his chair. "I suppose you could say 'not yet in our possession'. But it's not an 'It'. It's a 'He'." He paused briefly, to see if Halo had anything to say about it, though it wouldn't have mattered since the man was going to continue on with what he was saying anyways. "We are, as you might have guessed, representatives of Thanatos Inc. I trust that you know of it?"

[Anonymous]

Anna promptly and silently removed herself from the room, retreating to a room unseen by any within the foyer. ".....Hm." Halo released a groan of consideration when it was replied that it was a case of physical repossession. Those were pricy. He liked pricy. "Who hasn't...?" So far, the Wolf repaired the gun, showing little interest in the men, their presence, or anything going on, save that pistol. But, trust, he was well aware, and attentive to all proceding. "Tell me about this 'Man'. He must be a unique man if he has your attention. Please, feel free to be forthcoming; I garauntee Client-Halo privilege." True indeed. Any who knew him knew his reputation for secrecy.

A while later, Anna returned, this time her hair in a bun, a pair of glasses transfixed on the bridge of her nose. She'd brought in some tea. Indeed, he treated all potential clients well. It was the Bounty he would treat otherwise.... She placed the platter down, and poured Halo, and the two men a cup in turn. Afterwards, she'd stand besides Halo. "......." Halo broke away from the men to look at Anna. "...What? I'm busy..." She'd lean into him and whisper in his ear. "...they didn't bring me anything...." Another thing about his rep; most knew to bring his young assistant something to eat. She prefered candy...

[Anonymous]

The shorter man smiled and nodded briefly at the mention of 'Client-Halo Privilege'. "Yes, that is why you were recommended to us, Mr. Gunslip. Thanatos Inc., like most major corporations, you understand, has it's secrets. We do understand, however, that it is important for you to know what it is exactly that you are about to get involved in."

As the young girl returned and hospitably poured them tea, the shorter man forced a smile onto his face, though it came out as more of a sneer than a smile. He cleared his throat loudly, brushing a few specks of lint off of his pant lap as he waited for the child to finish interupting. The towering man didn't even look at the girl, or the tea.

"As I was saying..." He continued. "Thanatos Inc. has a secret institute, the Thanatos Research Institute of Metaphysics. Now, what exactly the institute is for, you need not worry yourself with. And my associate and I do hope that you do not give ANYONE else any reason to do so, either." He paused, shifted in his seat, then continued. "What you should know, is that we are interested in... 'gathering' certain special individuals. Some of them are mages, and others are psychics. Most of the time, they are of little trouble to aquire. Now, obviously, we wouldn't be here if the man we were after was just another psychic misfit. This man is trouble. A physical manifestation of chaos. We can't even get near him, because frankly, he attracts too much attention, and we can't risk the public knowing about our special 'collection'."

The shorter man leaned foward, his hands rested in his lap and his ghostly-blue eyes now fully focused on Halo. "Mr. Gunslip... It is not nessecary that you know the reasons for our interest or... intentions in obtaining this psychic. This is, however, a serious matter, and we are more than willing to pay seriously for your assistance."

[Anonymous]

The sneer-slash-smile was noticed by both Halo and Anna. And discounted by both, too. It wasn't much of a concern if this paying customer disliked children. So long as he remembered he was in Halo's house. And, then, things moved to a much more interesting topic for him; payment. This drew his eyes to the man, the pistole placed down without the barrel attached. "Indeed. I don't need or want to know anything that might make your superiors...uncomfo rtable. Only who I'm after. And, what. Cuz, let's face it... it's getting stranger out there..." He leaned back in his chair and allowed both heels to rest atop his desk.

At that moment, he and Anna exchanged glances. Then she walked to the other side of the room. Behind the two men. And held up four fingers. Halo smirked, slightly, and lowered his eyes. "My accountant and I have two price ranges. High. And cheap. This don't sound cheap. Psychics can be hard to track; depending on their powers... their range.. well, one actually walked up to me a day before I even met the guy who wanted me to find them. Long to short; we want four million. And you'll have your man in seven days."

Placing the tips of his fingers together, in a steeple-like shape, he sat, staring past the length of his folded hands, to the shorter man. That was his price. Four mil. Seven days...

[Anonymous]

Four million. The words alone made the shorter man's face scrunch. Only slightly, but surely. Even the towering man's brow wrinkled. The shorter man looked down momentarily before returning his gaze to Halo. "... Done. However, we insist on payment AFTER delivery. Is that an inconvenience, Mr. Gunslip?" His stare was hard and unfaltering, as he waited for the man's answer.

[Anonymous]

Halo rose, and moved around the desk, until he was standing between the two men. A bit of silence, before. "Not at all... Though, next time remember to bring something nice for Anna. If that's not too inconvient?" Halo would smirk.

When they'd left and Halo and Anna had time to talk freely, the pair shared a high-five... or mid-five, considering Anna's height, glad that business had picked up. And a heavy hitter, too. Thanatos Inc... "Ah, finally! You got a job! Now you can, like, start doing something!" Halo paused to look down at Anna's gleeful face... before bopping her on the head. "Ow...!"

"Get the stuff ready..." This Dog was on the Hunt...