WELCOME TO NEXUS.

[nekostar]

A hot dog and soda for breakfast? This city was seriously awesome. Kim had to admit, this wasn’t exactly how she’d imagined her first trip to New York, arriving via mysterious Apocalypse wish-granting genie guy still wearing the fuzzy pink slippers she’d forgotten to change out of when she’d left home, but it was still amazing. A quick switch to the sneakers she’d accidentally shoved into her back pack instead of putting on, and a jacket over her pajamas, and she was ready to face the world. There was something that made her feel so different only last night, something that bubbled more than her Coke. It was excitement, and nervousness, and a new beginning.

Taking in Times Square as she walked, Kim brushed the crumbs off the pink stripped pajama bottoms she still wore, watching the streets fill with early risers. When was the last time she was up so early? Probably never, but she hadn’t slept either. The excitement was too much, with the confusion of suddenly ending up in the middle of a busy sidewalk, as if she’d been standing there all the time. Too early, she’d figured, to call her parents or her brother just yet, she could take care of herself for a couple more hours, then find a pay phone. After all, she was a big girl now, 13 and definitely not a kid anymore. And she was a mutant now.

It had been a huge decision, going to Apocalypse with her simple request, but it seemed to be the right thing to do. How fair was it that David couldn’t come home because he was a mutant, and that he’d be all alone? She’d liked the new trust her parents gave her, letting her take the bus back from school with her friends, but she had to admit, she missed seeing her brother’s face when he came to pick her up. As much as she would miss her parents, she figured it would be easier for them, when they didn’t have to worry about her anymore. They couldn’t worry, not when she was with David. They worried because they loved, but she was growing up and would be fine away from them for a while. This was for the better.

New York City was an incredible start for the new Kim. This was better than seeing this place on TV for new years. It stank, it was loud, and it was so real. So far from home, it felt like another world, like a fantasy. Since she’d made her little trip to Egypt, she hadn’t thought too much on how to tell her brother, too busy realizing she was no longer in Kans- Chicago. Kim couldn’t wait to see her brother’s face when she would tell him her news. God, she hadn’t even thought about much. She didn’t even know what her power was! If it was something like David’s Super-geek smarts, she wouldn’t mind. Or flying, yeah…that would be awesome! It was all so surreal that she had to take a moment and stop at a newspaper stand to check the date and make sure it wasn’t some crazy time traveling dream. That’s what people always did when they wanted to be sure where and when they were, right? Right date and everything… Polishing off the rest of her hot dog, Kim grinned.

“Bzzt….Fffshh….Zzzz…” Waving her fingertips at the cover of Cosmo and half expecting sparks or fire or jelly beans to burst into existence, she nearly laughed at the promise on the front. “ ‘A new you!’ He’s gonna be sooo surprised.” He had to be. Kim was positive he’d be ecstatic about her joining him. And her powers, wait until he saw the real proof that she was special, jut like him. She was as curious about her unknown powers as she was excited about reuniting with her brother. It was what qualified her to join him at his school, somewhere in upstate New York.

Where was this school exactly? Well…she’d forgotten the address, but she was sure it was too far to walk. That phone number scribbled and only half smeared on her arm in a Crayola marker was all she had. So much for her original plan, with David opening the front door to greet her after her long trip. But it was okay! She still had the sprinkled covered donut she’d bought for him! That would make up for having to pick her up. And he couldn’t do that if he didn’t know she was here.

Ducking into the nearest store for a pay phone booth, Kim dug into her pocket for change, whatever was left from the surprise donut she’d bought. Three misreading of the number on her arm, and a talk with an impatient operator had her connected to the school, finally had the phone ringing. For the impatient Alleyne girl, it was an eternity for the phone to be picked up, and at first click, she’d begun speaking without waiting for an answer. Why wait when she knew exactly what she wanted?

“Morning um…Could I speak to David Alleyne? He’s my brother, and I reeaaally need to talk to him, like, right away. And could you hurry? I used up the last of my quarters on this call and I don’t want to run out of time. Thanks!”

Blowing on a chilled hand as she waited, Kim hummed to herself as she settled more comfortably in the booth. They had to find him soon. It smelled funny in here, and she was running out of graffiti to read. “Hello…” Singing into the receiver, she sighed and gave it a few impatient whacks for good measure.

“David David David David…”

[Someone]

(OOC: Repost of relevant excerpt from "Office Space: The Final")

The phone rang. Seemed that Karma just wasn't going to get any peace around here. At least she could actually say that she took a call in that office instead of pretending so that some stranger could be satisfied. Raising her left hand to wave Floyd out of the room, she was serious about what she said and didn't want to have to use her powers to make him comply, she attempted to calm her voice for the sake of whomever was on the other end of the phone. They hadn't been discourteous to Xi'an yet, after all. "Thank you for calling the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, this is Xi'an." What she heard was the voice of a very young girl.

“Could I speak to David Alleyne? He’s my brother, and I reeaaally need to talk to him, like, right away. And could you hurry? I used up the last of my quarters on this call and I don’t want to run out of time. Thanks!”

What was it with these kids and speaking in too familiar a tone with grown-ups whom they did not know? Oh well, this call was going to be David's problem. "This is a big school," Xi'an started. "I can call David on the intercom but he may not be able to get to the phone right away. Give me the number to your pay-phone and I'll have him call you back there. Then you can talk as long as you need."

At first Karma thought it odd that somebody who was claiming to be Alleyne's sister was calling from a public phone, but then she realized that perhaps there was the possibility that the child would not have been able to make such a call from her home. "And next time, just call collect if you need. Now, does he have more than one sibling? Who should I say is calling, by name?"

[nekostar]

Intercoms were so fun. It was like the Voice from Above, that booming message that could get you out of any class but struck fear into hearts of the young. It never meant Car-with-headlights-left-on adding to the excitement of whether that trip to the office was a punishment or worse. As long as they weren’t her, it seemed so exciting to have your name announced, especially if it was just about some kid whose mom brought them lunch. Kicking the sides of the phone booth with a grin as she imagined David’s face, she mulled over the idea. Intercom usage would be worth having to ask for change for a dollar.

“Okay, intercom is good. Because this really is important.” Kim giggled again his face. He was a good kid, she always knew, and that what were the chances he’d ever get a summons like this? Just added to the surprise, that’s all. This was good, because while she was waiting, she found herself boredly picking at the donut she’d saved for him. Sort of evened out the loss of one surprise.

“Number? It says…212…502…and then there’s a sticker on it with some…bad words. Hold on…” Kim dropped the receiver as she worked quickly for a moment to peel off the thing, giving up a moment later as she suddenly ran to the other phone booth next door. 4809, 4809…

“4809. That’s the number for the other phone booth next to me. You know, these things really smell funny, like...old socks and something else....” If you were going to vandalize something,, why not something more interesting? Like maybe the outside of the booth? Because unless you really needed the phone, she didn’t think of much point destroying things in here.

"And next time, just call collect if you need. Now, does he have more than one sibling? Who should I say is calling, by name?"

Well, she’d had quarters, and she’d been excited. How was she supposed to remember to call collect? Pouting a little at the questions, Kim pulled off her beanie with a sigh. Who knew it was going to be this hard to get in touch with him?

“Someone sounds sort of grumpy…” Her mouth opened before she thought out before she thought of the rudeness of the words. “Say Kim. And unless Mom and Dad have someone hidden in the basement, I think I’m the only one he’s got.” Which reminded her, she also had to call home after this. That reminder was reinforced by a tap on the class as a large man put a glass of orange juice and a quarter on a table, miming a telephone with his hand and pointing to the ceiling. Phone…home… Clever ET reference! Giving him a wave and a nod, Kim realized it was a little more than obvious she was a runaway, with her stuffed Hello Kitty back pack laying outside the booth. Realizing she had darted into the open door of a closed restaurant while the guy must’ve been cleaning, she looked for a name as a reference.

“Can you tell him I’m at some place called…well, it’s got a name I can’t pronounce, and it starts with a C, and there’s that big sort of umbrella thing that sticks out of a building, but it’s blue. And that I’m sort of near Times Square?” She wasn’t much of a direction’s person, and she was getting impatient, wishing she could talk to her brother soon. How much would it be to just get a taxi or something? She did have some money she took from home…

“Anyway, I think I need to call my parents right now, so tell him to call me back, and thanks sooo much. Bye!” Kim spoke fast and hung up suddenly, eager now to phone home and prove she hadn’t been spirited away in the middle of the night. They’d be so upset, she bet, but that was the great thing about calling on a quarter. They couldn’t yell at her forever. And thanks to nice restaurant man, she had the funds to make the call. Dialing quickly, she waited for the ring and found herself smiling at the familiar voice at the end, demanding her name.

“Hey Mom…so…you’ll find this hilarious, but guess where I am!”

[Someone]

(OOC: Repost of relevant excerpt from "Office Space: The Final")

"Wait, let me get a pen," Shan interrupted Kim, wanting to write down the number in the event that somebody else bothered her and she'd lose it to short-term memory failure. The Professor's desk was neatly kept, he did a lot of work on his computer, but being the man that he was, he kept paper and pens in the drawer beside his right-hand side, just in case he had to write a note to give to somebody. This included a yellow legal pad and official letterhead for the institute. Pulling out the former, along with a blue Bic ballpoint, she succinctly told the girl, "Okay, go."

When told that that she sounded grumpy, the Vietnamese mutant sighed. "You've no idea the bad day that we've been having around the Institute. Just give me the number." It wasn't Kim's fault catching Shan like that, but the woman needed a moment to think without having to deal with anybody. The sooner she could get this girl off of the phone and talking to her brother, the better for all parties. Karma had no reason to impede the communication; at least the girl had a reason for calling and she called instead of walking right into the house without permission.

Kim started with the area code. "Two-one-two..." Karma had been to New York City before, she knew that was the area code for downtown. She wrote it down, though, for David's awareness. Kim recited the rest of the number, which Karma copied dutifully while Tran was still at the door shouting, "No, your OTHER left. I actually think this child is getting dumber by the minute." Shan ignored him and repeated, "Five-zero-two, -four-eight-oh-nine," into the receiver. She then followed Kim's explanation of who she was and where she was calling from with, "Alright, you call your parents." She didn't know what was going on there but no need to question it. "I'll have David call you back."

[nekostar]

Her message was in good hands. Well, the grumpy Shan sounded professional enough, if not a little tired. That was fine for her, as long as David got the message, and soon. Clicking the receiver down, Kim popped the money in for her next call, as she chewed her bottom lip. Hearing the other end pick up almost instantly, Kim knew she had to speak fast to avoid a long distance lecture.

Parents worried way too much, the obvious conclusion Kim had come to when she dropped the receiver back into its cradle. The great thing about the telephone was that she controlled how long she had to listen, avoiding a detailed lecture on the irresponsibility of her actions, and her mother’s indecisiveness on whether to get on the next bus home or stay until someone came and got her. Living with the woman for the past 13 years taught her to talk fast and not allow much of an answer, telling she was going to David’s school, that she loved her parents very much, and that she’d call back later before hanging up. Really, she felt bad, but she did what she thought was right, and was out in public, borrowing a restaurant’s pay phone, really the best place for this kind of conversation?

When she got the chance, she’d write a long letter and spend a week on the phone with her parents to help them understand why she’d done what she did. Sitting there by the phone, Kim took a moment to feel the guilt settle and allow herself wonder if she should’ve set about this entire plan in some different way. Such as waiting until day to run away? She had to admit, she might have been a little overexcited and hasty, setting out the minute she knew here parents were asleep, but there was too much of a chance being caught by them, or seen by someone she might know as she made her way to the bus stop. Still, Kim couldn’t even imagine what it could have been like for them, to find her missing and suddenly have her calling from several states over. She could be grounded for three lifetimes, she bet, but leaving home did have the perk of avoiding that.

Sipping at her glass of juice, Kim looked back to her current task, given to her to keep her out of trouble until whoever she was calling could come get her. How many more silverware sets did she have to wrap with napkins before David called back? All the juice she could drink, and an ice cream was a fair trade for the labor, and it helped pass the time, but Kim was getting impatient. Leaving was out of the option, especially when she was waiting for a call. Her brother wouldn’t be able to find her either. Kim wasn’t stupid. She knew all about how big this city was, and that thing they taught all really little kids, to stay in one place if lost. While Kim wasn’t quite lost, she did need to be found.

Like she’d been doing every few minutes since she’d found herself in New York, she began rehearsing and rewriting her speech in her head. They couldn’t possible send her away from the school, not when she was a mutant, and her parents wouldn’t pull her out for the same reason, would they? She’d run away because she was excited, and afraid of what her parents would say at a second mutant in the house. Or maybe, because she didn’t want the prejudice that David faced when he was revealed. That sounded pretty good.

Looking proud of herself, and of how well this all went, Kim decided she earned her break, tossing her latest bundle on the pile decide her as she invited herself into the kitchen to look for her ice cream.

[TBC: New York, NYC: "Something Good"]

This post has been edited by Mystic Frost on May 8 2008, 02:39 PM

[Someone]

(OOC: Joint Post between Nekostar and Someone)
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After the fourth attempt at calling (the lack of a line switch or call-waiting on public phones was not soon to be addressed by AT&T, how little they were interested in making that a feature in public phones), David Alleyne finally managed to get a dial-tone. The busy signal coming from the receiver annoyed him; the phone was in use. Was Kim on the phone? Had she moved? He didn't know what was going on to suddenly get a phone call from Kim. At a restaurant called Calabre Pébroc? Sounded French. Since when did she eat anything French that didn't involve the following word "bread" or "toast" or "fries?" But after repeated call-backs (he didn't know Xi'an Coy Manh very well but she didn't seem as such a person to play a prank on him so he kept redialing), the phone was finally picked up at the other end of the line. "Kim?" he fished for a familiar voice.

Someone was using the phone. Her phone. The one that she waited by, anticipating the ring as her brother answered the message she'd left with the grumpy lady who had picked up earlier. His wife could easily wait to know what he wanted for dinner, and complaints about a credit card could hold until he got home. All she'd done was make a trip to the restroom and discover he'd happen to choose her particular phone. The anxiety built up was enough for her to nearly snatch the phone from his hand as he finally hung up, scowling at the young girl who'd taken that moment to push in front of him. No sooner had he turned to return to his table did the phone chime out. "David?" Kim recognized the voice on the other line. "David! What took you so long to call back? There was this guy who was on the phone forever and wouldn't get off." She had so much to tell him, and so little time! Settling on the floor under the phone, Kim made herself comfortable.

So it was her, a relief that he wasn't being pranked on, not that it was a huge concern of his. But hearing that Kim had called for him earlier, he appreciated the chance to get his mind away from all of various issues shooting around his head that no unwilling teenager should ever have to worry about. The X-Men weren't his concern. Helix... the people in it were no problem with him but he didn't want to be part of a training unit and he wished the others would step back for a few moments and assess their situation. And having seen Wolverine he couldn't help but believe that it wasn't a matter of *if* that would happen to the young ones, but *when* and that didn't sit well with him at all. Kim's call was a fortuitously unexpected ray of light in an otherwise dark day for the African-American man.

Putting his head back in the here and now, focusing on the girl who had so graciously taken time out of her night to give her dear older brother a ring, he responded to her in typical David Alleyne fashion. "If there was someone on the public phone the number of which you provided for callback, I was going to be at the mercy of his phone call until it ended." What took him so long to call back? Really? Whatever, he was happy to hear from her and the lightness of his tone in speaking with her registered that feeling of appreciation. "Kim, what are you doing calling this late? And from a pay phone? Why are you out of the house? What's going on? Where are you? Tell me everything."

She lost him after the "if," and shook her head to clear the confusion that came with trying to understand whatever he said. That was her brother alright. Sometimes, he was such a geek. Her grin as she rolled her eyes gave away her happiness at finally getting in touch with the elusive Alleyne, and she saved the "dork" accusation for later. "Because I was trying to find your school, only, did you know it's further from the city than I thought?" She'd learn to check a map first, next time. "And...don't kill me, but...I sort of ran away. I'm in New York and I sort of need you to pick me up, because I don't think I have enough money for a taxi all the way to your school."

Checking for eavesdroppers, Kim cupped the reciever in her hand, struggling to get the words out. This would get him here in a moment, she bet, and she'd have all the time in the world to explain herself better. Faintly smiling at the thought, and looking at her hand, she couldn't find herself feeling any different than she was the day before, but she trusted that whatever that Apocalypse did had worked. Lowering her voice, she watched from the corner of her eyes for anyone listening in as she spoke. "Don't worry, I called Mom and Dad already while I was waiting for your call. I just haven't told them yet that I'm a mutant." Piping up once more after the word fell from her mouth, she breathed a sigh of relief. "So when do you think you can pick me up?"

Kim really wanted him to come to get her as soon as possible and was trying to be as accomodating as possible. "Do you really want to know?" David asked his little sister, fully aware of her occasional habit of asking questions just to ask questions. "It's a canopy, but don't worry about that. I'll try to look up the directions. Phone company information can give me the number and I can ask the restaurant for directions. Now listen, Kim, I want you to stay there as long as you can. Tell the maître d' that you missed a bus and you're waiting for your brother to come get you, then stay inside the restaurant. Do not leave it. Am I clear?" This didn't even address that Kim hadn't told their parents she was a mutant. They'd be expecting him to send her right back home otherwise.

"Matre what?" Kim checked out the restaurant. "You mean that guy in the penguin suit seating people, or is that one of your fancy words for waiter." Well, she'd find someone to ask. "I mean, fine, I'm not going anywhere, Mom." She didn't mind the commanding tone a bit. In fact, she sort of missed it. It was just big brother looking out for her as usual. "I do have some money. Want me to order your like a slice of cake or something to go? There's a table over there that has one that looks pretty good."

"Yes, the person at the front who takes names and arranges tables for people. Tell him what's up; for liability reasons they won't kick you out." David was only assuming, of course. Out in Chicago, where people cared a little, if a little girl walked up and said that she was alone and was waiting for somebody to pick her up, she wouldn't be kicked out. Not like New York City, where, if Law and Order was accurate, people don't even stop what they're doing to talk to the police about their just-murdered friend, let alone stop for a living stranger. "No, thank you. You know I don't eat sweets outside of a holiday or something to that effect. I'll be there as soon as I can, but it may be an hour or 90 minutes."

"Gotcha. They're pretty nice. Gave me ice cream." Who'd throw her out? She'd offer to wash dishes, beg or something. Worst case scenario, she'd wait outside. She'd do best as she could not to make this more difficult than it already was. After all, she couldn't wait to see him. Where else would she go anyway? She didn't know anything about the city. "Hour or 90, got it." Kim checked her watch. "And why can't you be normal and like sweets?" He was from Mars. She was sure of it... "I'm getting you pie. You can't say no."

"If you insist. At least let it be a fruit-based pie? None of that Oreo Creme Pie nonsense. If I've got to have some then I'd at least wish to feel as though there's some minor nutritional value." Knowing Kim, she'd say that cookies are nutritious because they have carbohydrates, and everybody loves carbohydrates. It was the most important base portion of that food pyramid that they were always showing the kids in school. "I'll be there soon, Kim. See you."

"German chocolate pie," Kim decided. "It's got coconut in it. Fruit enough for you?" If he tried to make her eat well, then it was her job to get him to remember the best part of daily diet: the desserts. "I'll see you whenever you get here. Can't wait!" Hanging up the phone, Kim did a quick survey of the room and spotted the door to the kitchen. Time to see about that promised pie.

(Kim Exit // Prodigy resumes in: Xavier Labs => "Post-Initiation.)