City Seat Circle

        The focal center of the city, the two lengths of Main Street 
meet here, forming a circular drive around which a number of important 
public buildings are situated. Erected in the small park in the center 
of Circle Drive is Beacon Harbor's Lady of Progress, a twenty five foot 
tall statue of a woman clad in armor, sword upraised, pointing to the 
brave new future for the city and it's inhabitants. A small fountain is 
positioned in front of the statue, and a number of benches are 
scattered around the small park, providing lots of places to sit; for 
lunch, to relax, or for the disenfranchised. Beneath the park is a vast 
underground structure that provides parking for the many government 
buildings that line the outer rim of the circle. Circle Drive splits 
off in three directions from here, northeast toward the financial 
district, northwest towards the commercial district, and southwest 
toward the monolithic residential district.

Mike is on his way across the Circle, heading in the general direction 
of West Main (and work, woohoo!). He's not jogging this time (phew), 
but walking briskly, looking pretty satisfied with the world in 
general.

Jinrai is, unusually for him, sitting and watching the people wandering 
by in the circle. What's unusual is that he's sitting on the 'park' 
bench, as opposed to watching it in dragon-form from the library roof.

Amy Anderson is sitting on the curb in front of the Town Hall, 
apparently lost in thought. Her briefcase rests on her lap. She looks a 
bit worrisome, and seems rather oblivious to her surroundings.

Blake is heading into the Circle from the direction of West Main, a 
large clinking cloth bag slung over his shoulder. He keeps glancing at 
a piece of paper in his right hand.

Mike almost walks right past Amy before the recognition circuits kick 
in, and he pauses to talk to her. "Hey," he says conversationally.

Jinrai manages to notice two things at once (made all the easier by the 
fact they noticed each other)... Mike J. Nelson, and Amy Andersen. The 
former because he's still somewhat annoyed with the human for shouting 
at him (though not annoyed enough to actually contemplate violence 
against the poor schlub), and the latter simply because of her hair 
color. . o O (Like Soyo's....) A third thing gets his attention, 
actually.. as Blake's distinctive scent wafts through the air towards 
his sensitive nostrils.

Amy Anderson lifts her head up a bit, brought out of her thoughts by a 
familiar voice. Not wanting the jogger to see she'd been crying, Amy 
makes a quick gesture with her hand to wipe the tears away before 
completely lifting her head. She gives a gentle smile. "Oh, it's you 
again. You're...." She pauses, not able to recall his name. Did he ever 
give it to her?

Blake has to set the bag down a moment, as it is rather heavy. 
Something glass breaks inside, but Blake either doesn't notice or 
doesn't care. He takes a moment to rest and frown some more at the 
paper.

Mike is nothing if not helpful. "I'm Mike. And you're Amy. How's it 
going?"

Jinrai stands. And walks towards Mike and Amy. Well, Amy, mostly. Could 
it be? But she doesn't smell like a 'relative'... He veers around 
people in his path as he heads for them, arriving a few seconds later 
to say "Hi." That's all. Just 'hi'.

Amy Anderson smiles. "Yes, I'm Amy." She ponders for a moment... her 
distaste for lying made her a bit hesitant to say she was fine. Still, 
she wasn't about to just start on her problems. "Oh, I'm just a bit 
lost around this place. I'm... not from this part of town." There, that 
was vague enough. She looks up as she sees another man approaching. 
After hearing his greeting, she gives a polite smile to the stranger. 
"Hello, sir."

Blake stuffs his paper away somewhere and retrieves his bag, slinging 
it once again over his shoulder. He heads towards the museum.

Mike frowns. Not from around here... "You're from somewhere else in the 
city? Or some...other city?" He's not good at dancing around subjects, 
this is his best shot.

'Not from this part of town', huh? Jin's hopes - as ill-founded as they 
are on a wild coincidence - go up another notch. He nods "Yeah. I was 
originally from out of town.... it takes a while to adjust." He doesn't 
bother asking where she's from, because Mike just asked that, instead 
just awaiting the answer.

Amy Anderson internally winces. She wished he hadn't asked that. There 
was no dancing around this one. She didn't know this place well enough 
to just pick somewhere and say she was from it. Nodding at the other 
man's comment, she answers Mike's question. "No, not from this city," 
she admits. "I do live in another city, though, rather far from here. 
I... doubt you've heard of it." Actually, she wasn't sure about that.

Blake is suddenly 'escorted' from the museum, his bag still clanking 
and clinking noisily. "*Please*, sir," the museum official is saying as 
he shows Blake the way out. "Refrain from bringing such...vocal props 
into our establishment. The patrons--" "Yeah yeah, fine, I know," 
growls Blake, stalking away. "Schtupid muscheum wouldn't know art if it 
fell out of the schky and uh...hit the ground." He stomps down the 
steps.

Mike sits himself down on the curb next to Amy. He's not exactly LATE 
for work yet. "Try me," he says cheerfully. "I've heard of a lot of 
places. Melbourne, London, New York, Bangkok, Madison...where you 
from?"

To his credit, Jin manages not to scream 'Forget all that.. ARE YOU A 
DRAGON?' Actually, from this distance, the girl's scent is registering 
as 100% human. Maybe she just dyes her hair. He says, distractedly 
"Probably somewhere in the far East..." The Big Anime Eyes must have 
given it away. He frowns, and looks over towards the hub-bub in front 
of the museum.

Amy Anderson blushes. "I'm from Tokyo. It's... quite different from 
this place." She hasn't really been able to figure out if this place is 
a like an alternate world. She's suspected it, but she's still unsure. 
Still, she doubted Tokyo would have alternate versions of her friends 
here. Or would it? Oh well, something to ponder later.

Getting over his sulkiness in moments, Blake hops down the rest of the 
steps, and spots the crowd in front of the Town Hall. "Hi Mike, how'sch 
it goin'?" he asks cheerfully. "Hi," he greets the others. He drops his 
bag with a loud crash.

Mike blinks at Amy. "Why wouldn't I have heard of Tokyo?" He is 
distracted from thoughts of - whatever it was he was thinking about - 
by Blake turning up. "Hey, Blake. Pretty well - I hope you didn't need 
whatever that was."

Jinrai nods "Tokyo... in Japan, isn't it?" His own world's geography 
isn't the same as this one's, so while he had a land corresponding to 
Japan at home, it's not identical. (Exposition. You know *I* love it). 
"What brings you...." He breaks off and jumps as Blake drops his bag, 
and blinks at him. "Hi." Beat ".... musical instrument?"

Amy Anderson blushes as Mike asks why he shouldn't have heard of Tokyo. 
"I... wasn't sure, that's all." Was *that* ever the truth. She turns 
and gives a nod to the other man's question. "Yes, it's in Japan. It 
seems so far, sometimes." She turns to greet the newcomer, but is 
startled by the bag's clammer on the ground. She puts her hand to her 
chest in her alarm, then looks up at Blake. This apparently was a 
friend of Mike's. "Hello."

Blake grins at bit at all the attention he's getting. "Thisch? Nah," he 
responds to Mike's and Jinrai's questions simultaneously. "And I need 
it broken--it'sch no good to me if it ischn't." He gives the bag a 
little kick, to further illustrate his point, and it clinks some more. 
"Scho whasschup?"

Mike gives Amy a slightly offended look. "Not all Americans are idiots, 
y'know," he says reproachfully. And blinks at Blake's bag. 
Ooookaaay..."Nothing much. Blake, this is Amy. Amy, this is Blake. 
Don't worry, he's always like this."

Jinrai looks at the bag dubiously, then back at Blake. "Nothing much. 
Just.. chatting. That's the word, right?" He looks to Amy "I.. lived in 
Japan for a while myself. That was a long time ago, though." Dammit, 
it's difficult to have a Secret Dragon Conversation with Mike and Blake 
right there.

Amy Anderson blushes an even sharper shade of crimson at Mike's 
comment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." She turns to Blake. 
"It's nice to meet you Blake. What *is* in the bag anyway?" she asks, a 
bit curious. Before he can answer, she turns back to the other man. 
"You lived in Japan?" Perhaps he could tell her a bit about the Japan 
of this place. "We'll have to talk about that sometime. Actually... I 
haven't gotten your name. I'm Amy, as you've heard. And you are?"

Blake has a seat next to Mike. "Hey," he says, elbowing him. "Nische 
uniform. You look ready to infiltrate the air ductsch now. You've got a 
power drill in there, right?" He glances up at Amy. 
"Juscht a project. It'sch not ready yet." He picks the bag up about a 
foot and drops it again, and more glass breaks. "Getting closcher, 
though."

Mike reddens slightly, in his turn. "I wouldn't trust me with a power 
drill," he says. "Or an air duct, for that matter." He blinks as Blake 
smashes more stuff.

Jinrai holds out his hand "Right. .. Jinrai Shinden. To use the 
American name order." - now *that's* a Japanese name for you. Though 
'Thunderclap God's-Lightning' is an odd name even by Japanese 
standards. "Glad to meet you, Amy." He turns to stare at Blake again 
"What is it you... do?" And to Mike: "... I didn't even notice. You 
join the army or something?"

Amy Anderson ponders Jinrai's name. *That's interesting... I wonder if 
that's his birth name or one he got some other way.* "Nice to meet you 
too." Of course, all this wasn't doing anything to help her problem. 
She still had no place to stay in this city. All three seemed nice, but 
she was still cautious about telling any of them too much, or asking 
them to put her up for a night. Still, it was awfully cold. Maybe she'd 
have to. Her mind grapples back and forth with this dilemma.

Blake shrugs at Jinrai. "Well, *this* week I'm reschycling. The kidsch 
at the homelessch schelter have been collecting bottles all week, and 
we're going to make schtuff with them." He looks at Amy. "Amy, isch 
it?" he says. "Um...Thisch might schound weird but, aren't you a 
bit...well, cold?" He tries not to make his concern over her short 
skirt look like anything else, as she is far too young for him to be 
interested.

Mike doubletakes. "Hey, yeah. Don't you have a coat or some jeans or 
something? It snows here all the time, you'll freeze." He grins at 
Jinrai. "The army? Me? I don't think so."

Jinrai looks at Amy again, awaiting the answer. Humans need to wear 
heavy clothes in Winter. Emphasis on 'humans'. Of course, Jin himself 
isn't wearing anything more than a T-shirt, but.. see point 1. "Didn't 
have much time to pack before you left home, did you?"

Amy Anderson begins, "I'm afraid this is all I brought with me for 
clothing." *Ugh, I must sound either very stupid or like I'm a waif. 
Then again, I suppose I am, here.* "I admit I'm a bit cold, but it's 
not unbearable. I've learned to live with it over the past day or so."

Blake doesn't look convinced. "You can't go around dressched like that 
in thisch weather," he argues. "Not *outschide*, anywaych. Scho if you 
haven't got anything elsche to wear, I think going *inschide* might be 
the logical thing to do." Ah, yes, logic. He learned it from 
Tweedledum.

Mike frowns at Amy. "The past day or so? You kidding me? You've been 
outside for that long?" The thought that she might mean she's just 
moved to this area doesn't actually occur.

Jinrai tilts his head "Maybe you should get.. inside.. wherever you're 
living now?"

There is a faint flash of silvery lightfrom Southland drive, not really 
noticable unless you were looking for it. About two minutes later, John 
Carter enters. He sees Mike and waves to his friend.

Amy Anderson frowns just slightly. "I... I haven't really...." She 
trails off, although those few words said mouthfuls. She looks down.

Blake doesn't like the way this is going. "How old *are* you 
anywaysch?" he wonders aloud.

Mike glances in John's direction, nods in a 'yeah hi whoever you are' 
sort of way, and turns his attention back to Amy. "You haven't got 
anywhere to stay?" Leap of the intelligence there.

Sadly, Jin's not about to offer. For one thing, it'd be tough to 
explain why there's a large pile of gold in the bedroom in lieu of a 
bed. Instead, he just says "... a hotel, maybe?" He pauses, then adds, 
"You arrived in town... rather suddenly, did you?"

Amy Anderson is surrounded by the queries, and she addresses them all 
at once. "I haven't really been around here long, so I haven't been 
able to locate a place to stay. I don't think I could afford a hotel 
for long." *Or at all.* "That's what I was thinking about before you 
showed up." She seems visibly distressed now.

John Carter looks around and sees Amy. "Good Evening," he says to the 
young lady, his voice a bit shaky.

Blake hms. "Yeah I...I remember that," he mutters. "Well, don't do what 
I did--go to the Schelter or schomething. Schtaying on the schtreetsch 
is dangerousch."

Mike gives John a slightly odd look. And says to Amy, "Look, don't get 
upset - and don't go to that homeless shelter either. There are plenty 
of places you can stay. Haven't you got any friends around here?"

Well, Jin's Dragon Theory has gone down the tubes (it was rather shaky 
anyway, based on the logic of 'Hey, she has blue hair like my 
sister!'). He nods to John, recognizing him vaguely from the park. To 
Ami-chan.. er, Amy.. he says, "Maybe you could... get some money from 
the bank?" Poor Jin. He really never did figure out how those 'bank' 
things work.

Amy Anderson smiles gently at Jinrai. "I don't think I'd get a lot from 
them." She turns back toward Mike, thinking. Gee, no friends, no cash, 
no place to stay... this was going really well, and making her look 
*really* good. She still didn't want to let anyone know about her entry 
into this world, so she came up with a hopefully convincing half truth. 
"No, you see, I want to be a doctor, and this place has a college with 
a nice program for medicine." At least she hoped. Actually, this was 
darned close to lying. Heck, it was lying. "But the trip here left me 
with no money." That much was true. "Still, if a shelter's the only 
place I can go, then that's where I'll have to go. There's nowhere 
else."

Blake pulls his bag towards him and kinda lift-and-drops it a few 
times, breaking more glass. "Um," he says awkwardly. "I have room at my 
plasche but...it'sch kind of out of the way, and...full of schtuff like 
this." Gives the bag another kick. More glass breaks. "You'd hate it, 
I'm schure. But I wouldn't want you to freeze or anything."

Mike isn't at all sure how to put this so it doesn't sound illegal, 
but... "If you need money, I can probably lend you some. And there's a 
couch at my place. There might even be money *in* the couch, so you can 
kill two birds with one stone there." He glances at Jin, and adds, "To 
get money out of a bank you first have to put money in." That guy is 
WEIRD.

Jinrai nods slowly. She's either dodging the Infinity Portal 
implications (understandable), or she's... a perfectly normal person 
who just happens to have blue hair and is sitting in front of City Hall 
in way too little clothing for this weather with no money and no place 
to stay. Jin takes option 1 (he, of course, has some familiarity with 
the whole Portal business). He looks at Blake and relaxes slightly. 
Someone *besides* him offered. He blinks at Mike "Oh. I knew that." 
Suuuuure you did, Jin. He looks back at Amy for her answer, after 
another quick glance at John.

Amy Anderson smiles. Considering her options, she had to stay with 
someone. She was sure Blake was nice, but he was a bit... odd, there 
was no way around it. Besides, Mike's spacy moments and occasional 
accidents reminded her of Serena. Besides, she met him first and he 
seemed nice. She turns to him. "Oh, I... I wouldn't want to be any 
trouble. If I stayed, I'd have to repay you somehow...."

John Carter asks Mike, "How's Gabe doing? I haven't seen yi or him for 
some time.

Blake seems much relieved that he won't be coming home with a strange 
teenage girl in weird (go ahead and laugh) clothes. Besides, he's 
already late..."Glad you got to keep your room *now*, I'll bet, 
Nelschon," he grins at Mike.

Mike is taken aback. He hadn't expected her to actually take him up on 
it. "Yeah," he says to Blake, "or it would've been more difficult. I'm 
really meant to be on my way to work..." Brief pause. "Someone'll cover 
for me." He gives John a slight smile and a 'not now' gesture.

Jinrai looks at Mike, and grins "Well, I'm glad she has *some* place to 
stay. Don't ravage her in her sleep like those other fifteen girls you 
took home with you." Yes, his tone is beyond joking. He looks at John 
and arches a brow... Gabe?... He shrugs and looks at Amy "There, 
problem solved. Next time you travel, bring money, okay?" His mind 
screams 'Dammit, ADMIT YOU'RE AN IMMIGRANT! ADMIT IT!' while his face 
just shows another grin.

Amy Anderson gasps and looks toward Jinrai, obviously shocked. *Oh, 
THIS is good.* He had to be kidding, this guy's too nice. If it was a 
joke, she certainly didn't find it funny at all... if it was true... 
well, she sincerely hoped it wasn't true. She recovers and nods to 
Jinrai. "Yes, hopefully next time I'll /have/ more money to bring."

Blake stands up then, picking up his noisily clinking bag. "Well," he 
says, completely unfazed by anything Jinrai had just said or how he had 
said it, "Looksch like you're all schet. I hope your schpotlessch 
record at work won't schuffer for thisch, Nelschon," he remarks 
jokingly to Mike. "You'll need that penschion schomeday." He shoulders 
the bag. "You'll all have to excusche me, the kidsch are waiting. And, 
feed her, Mike, she'sch too pale. But schkip the peanut M&M'sch. Bad 
for the complexschion." And with that he walks off across the Circle.

Mike goes bright red and has a nasty couple of moments when he can't 
quite remember how to talk. Eventually he manages to tell Amy, without 
looking in her direction at all, "He's joking." Jinrai gets a brief 
glare. That was *not* funny. Unless you're someone other than Mike. He 
blinks, notices Blake is going and adds, "Bye."