A Quiet Fire (Ark/Open)

[Teagan Swift]

Teagan had grown restless as of late, things were just too static for her liking. She did not want to become stagnant and let the world continue to become complacent, as she suspected it was doing. Even the creepster had fallen short of his usually nefarious activities as of late, at least as far as she was aware. Though that part she might have preferred to stay the same, the fact that he knew about her secret escape perturbed her greatly. There was nothing to do for it though, he knew of her sanctuary and as long as he kept things cordial, she would not be treating him to the witches of old ceremonies. 

She wondered what Christian was up to, as well as the other scientists and employees of Ark. There was the one Kilvayne, who seemed to brush her off merely because she used to be a model. As if the fact that she was attractive meant that she had little intelligence or she did not earn her place in the company. That was far from the case, yet apart from her hobby studying of the astronomical bodies, she had yet had the chance to show that she belonged with the company. 

What would Christian do in her position though? That was an easy question, either he would not care one iota about the opinion of a coworker or he would prove his ability. What then would provide the means for her to show Archie and the others who thought she was just another pretty face? Her abilities certainly would not help in that regard, she was not interesting like the codirector of the Company or that one Special who could control space and time. All she had was a burning fire that kept her body in shape...

Perhaps that was the key then, that she could repurpose all of that excess energy into something that was beneficial. Leaning on her right hand, she produced a small ball of fire in her left and stared at it with a certain amount of interest but also a tad of disillusion. "Where it so easy to discern everything I needed about you, then those silly gits in the labs would not snicker behind my back. Alas you are a mystery even to me, despite what I already know about you." The flames flickered and her majestic green eyes stared ever deeper into the burst of flame. 

[Maria Sola-Reyes]

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice
She's a Killer Queen

Maria Reyes was not one to doubt herself at all, but she had to admit that her life as CEO of the Kilvayne Corporation was a bit harder without Lucius Kilvayne himself to give her advice when she needed it. The President was in a coma, but that was a fact few were privy to. The public believed that he was going about his business as usual. His mother was a shapeshifter and was doing a good job filling in the role for the time being. Alexander Kilvayne and Dakari Johessman were of course instrumental in guiding the country at the moment as well. And without Gabriel Constant, she knew all would be lost for the Kilvaynes, Johessmans and most likely the world.

Then again, maybe not. She was one of the new players in the circle so to speak. Her take on things was not fully evolved. Just first impressions of people she had barely spoken to at parties and other functions. While Lucius had stepped down, he still had a lot of stock in the company and would continue to be influential over its future. Provided he survived the damage his body had sustained in the earthquake. She wasn't sure what might happen if such a man were to die in these times. The world had been changed by his hands, and the hands of those dear to him. The people needed to know their great leader was not going to be taken down so easily.

Maria had some idea of where to go to maybe help out with the cause. She would go to Ark Industries and dig around for some of the data Lucius had cached there when he was taking the hands on approach to running the place. Before Christian Moynihan had been hired. He was not one to keep all his eggs in one basket, so there was no doubt that the gaps in the files left at the Kilvayne Corporation labs would be filled in at the Ark labs.

She was walking down the hall to the genetics department at the very moment. She came to the door and opened it, concerned that it wasn't locked...

"Were it so easy to discern everything I needed about you, then those silly gits in the labs would not snicker behind my back. Alas you are a mystery even to me, despite what I already know about you."

The place was occupied by the department head. She was not ideally supposed to be here necessarily, as Maria figured this would be a much simpler task if she didn't have to talk to anyone. Well, Teagan was pretty cute, and smart for sure. Maybe it would be a fun trip too?

" Powers can be funny that way," Maria said with smile, " Sorry for barging in on you, but allow me to introduce myself if you don't already know me. I am Dr. Maria Sola-Reyes, and CEO of the Kilvayne Corporation. I trust you are well today?"

[Fallon Daugherty]

It was about time things got quiet. Fallon was tired of drama. All she wanted to was relax, work when she was needed, and, well, just have time to herself. That was difficult enough with having a crazed housemate, but she did have her little ways of getting away. The beach - any beach - was a favorite of hers. So was flying. As much as she could fly, at least. The sight of Los Angeles from on high was somehow very comforting.

Her parents had reconciled after the Lilith drama, so at least there was that. Dominion Airlines, her father’s company, was doing much better now that people were becoming less afraid of flying again. Ark itself was doing well too, and, naturally, so was the Kilvayne Corporation. Lucius as President was still a strange thing to her, but he seemed to be running the country well enough.

She only had two problems. One was the imminent intrusion of Reier Technologies of London into the American market. Just when they had crushed their competition…. She had to sigh thinking about it. At least they would avoid charges of running a monopoly. But as Ark’s PR manager, it would be up to her to keep up the company’s image versus Reier’s, who she already expected to try to tarnish it, pretty CEO and all.

And on that subject… she found herself having to explain away Christian’s unplanned, mysterious disappearances. As those disappearances began to increase she had finally confronted him about them, at which he simply instructed her to tell anyone who asked that he was strengthening Ark via its Kilvayne ties ahead of the Reier attack by attending regular strategy meetings in New York. That was not an explanation, that was a party line. Helpful for her work. Not so much for her suspicions.

So she was surprised to see Maria Sola-Reyes with Teagan in one of the Ark research labs. She knew Alain had just dropped Christian off in New York, so she would have expected the standing CEO of the Kilvayne Corporation to be at the “strategy meeting’ as well. But here she was, chatting casually with the genetic research VP about abilities and their flightiness. Fallon for one took her abilities for granted, so talking about them was a bit strange.

Fallon took a seat and crossed one leg over the other. “Teagan. I hope you’re adjusting to life here well. Ignore the men. They’re suspicious of pretty faces.” She turned to Dr. Sola-Reyes. “We haven’t met, but I’ve heard plenty of things about you. All good things, natch.” She tilted her head. “But I would have expected you to be at the Ark-slash-KVC meeting with Christian.”

[Teagan Swift]

Teagan was slightly started when a voice shook her from her contemplation as she thought about her powers. "Powers can be funny that way. Sorry for barging in on you, but allow me to introduce myself if you don't already know me. I am Dr. Maria Sola-Reyes, and CEO of the Kilvayne Corporation. I trust you are well today?" It was true, she had never met the doctor before, but she had heard of her and how she was more or less replacing Lucius at the head of his company. To that end, the doctor had to be both incredibly well connected as well as leader in their field, Lucius was not the type of person to associate with lackluster characters.

"I am well, thank you Doctor. I assume you already know who I am, but all the same, Teagan Swift current head of the Genetic Research subdivision." It was a mouthful and it still felt weird for her to say, with her often wondering why Christian had chosen this subdivision for her. Perhaps it was because of her powers and how she seemed to understand them while also being completely and utterly perplexed by them. Such was the odd duality that came with being a Special in the know and having access to various geneticists trying to understand the Special code. 

"As for powers, I just wish I knew more about how it worked rather than what it does. Sometimes I feel like I am a slave at its whims, while other times it actively feels alive within myself, as if it was sentient, almost as if I was merely a vessel for it." Was that perhaps getting too deep into how she felt with her powers or would the doctor understand what she meant. Oh well, if the doctor thought Teagan was crazy, it would not bother her, Maria would hardly be the first to have such thoughts. 

However it seemed that her office was a popular destination today as none other than mistress PR herself was now in the vicinity looking for the doctor apparently. A shame, it seemed as if Maria was going to have to leave, Teagan would have liked to talk to her more and find out just what her specialty was and thoughts on powers themselves. However she understood if the doctor had to make a dash of it, as it seemed there was some sort of growing competition from abroad. Not that Teagan wanted to be at such a meeting but it seemed as if it would likely decide the immediate future of the company. 

"Boys will be boys, I will merely have to show them up when the opportunity presents itself." Her smile was a pleasant as she could make it whilst not evolving into a pure smirk. Fitting in was fine, being an active contributor to the company's growth and success was a much more difficult task. She had never shied away from anything in her life thus far, she would find a way to overcome her current obstacles just the same.

[Maria Sola-Reyes]

"I am well, thank you Doctor. I assume you already know who I am, but all the same, Teagan Swift current head of the Genetic Research subdivision."

"Indeed," Maria said with a smile, " I actually happen to be looking into something that you can help me with..."

Before she could elaborate, Fallon Daugherty was in the room, and joining the conversation. Maria was not sure this was a good thing or a bad thing. The crowd was not what she had anticipated.

“We haven’t met, but I’ve heard plenty of things about you. All good things, natch.”

Maria smiled, and answered, "Likewise, Ms. Daugherty, I am very pleased to meet you."

Fallon was very good at her job from everything that Maria knew about her. She had been instrumental in changing the tide of public opinion regarding Ark Industries, to the point where they were a trusted company once again. Kilvayne Corporation affiliations also helped in that regard. KVC had been a quiet titan, whereas Ark Industries had pushed the envelope into somewhat disastrous territories. But the potential outweighed the stigma, so Lucius had said to Maria when the merger took place. She definitely was excited when it happened, her own research had been greatly augmented by collaboration with Ark scientists.

“But I would have expected you to be at the Ark-slash-KVC meeting with Christian.”

"When my errand here is finished," Maria said cautiously, " I have arranged for a teleporter to retrieve me. I intend to be back there with time to spare, don't worry."

She returned her attention to Teagan, " To that end, perhaps you can help me by preparing a flash drive with Dr. Kilvayne's research that was stored in the computer servers here. There are gaps in some of his projects and he informed me that there was data from when he was more directly involved in managing this facility. Things got hectic with the battles and such, that he never got around to transferring the files himself."