Birds Of A Feather [Alastair, Natsumi]

Alastair supposed he was comforted to know that she was not a physical fighter, but there was still that disturbing remark about what happened to those who lost these bouts. The optimist in him wanted to assume that they were simply dismissed from the program and returned to the streets, but that was almost certainly not the case. Lady Duvalier had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the true nature of her business interests confidential and, even as he began to scrape away at that illusion, he was rapidly becoming more aware of the sickening depths that she had gone to for reasons he could not quite envisage.

"Supernatural abilities, then. But not necessarily in the spiritual sense. Do go on--"

The note-taking continued until Alastair suddenly felt the chair rising beneath him. Leaping to his feet, his reactions were a little sharper than her reassuring words, as a hand rose up to grip the table and pull it down. He did not use full strength, mostly for the table's sake, but found himself pleasantly surprised that the table remained in place for a few moments more before crashing down to earth as the control was released.

"I see. You possess a talent for Telekinesis." Again, the tablet moved onto a new page. Another line of discussion. He waited for the chair to settle before returning to it, certainly taking things a little more warily than before. "Did you develop this power during your time at the facility or before? How did this first manifest, if you can recall? This is not a normal thing for people to possess, and it must be challenging to control and manipulate."

Natsumi's smile brightened after seeing how quickly he moved. She pointed at him with excitement, "You're a fist fighter, aren't ya? I bet you are case y'er quick on ya feet. Zippin' around in the blink of an eye. I met someone that could do that, but all I gotta do is put a barrier aroun' me and he ran right into it. Bam! Knockin' himself out that way. Didn't have to throw 'em or nothin'. Won that battle cause of that."

Natsumi was becoming a bit impatient. Her boredom was getting to her. She thought she'd be banging down some doors, but it was just more interrogation. She started swinging her feet back and forth, movement she normally wouldn't be able to do. If noticed, her chair was being lifted a few inches off the ground.

"Nah, only hard if something too big or too heavy, or if I'm scared or somethin', but that don't happen often." Natsumi explained. "Can't answer none of those other questions though. I was in there since I was shorter than this table. Can't remember all that kinda thing. They said my parents threw me away, so... Don't believe that no more; all they do is lie, so they probably stole me like they did some of the other kids they couldn't buy. Ain't no parents just sellin' their children."

"I am a Sternritter. Being quick on my feet can be the difference between life and death."

His statement was an almost instinctual reaction, impassioned perhaps but certainly honest. It wasn't a rebuttal of her assessment, as he was certainly capable of holding his own at close quarters, but his skill set was a little more vast than that. Still, the capabilities of Natsumi continued to surprise him. Which only gave him more to worry about. She was a free woman as best he could tell, but there could always be more like her and there was very little information that he had to go on to begin tracking anything down. This was something he would probably be better off leaving to the Todgestalten, but he could save that for a dinner conversation with Reida.

"Of course, this must have been a trying experience for you. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions as best you can, I will not keep you for much longer." Taking another long drink of boiling coffee, his eyes did wander down to her still-floating chair. "Do you have a place to stay within the city or a means by which I can contact you? It might be best that we stay in contact in case there are any more developments."

When he asked about contacting her again, the chair dropped like she forgot to keep it up. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I certainly do." Natsumi picked through multiple pockets until she found a small, folded piece of paper. "The lady I stay with now, name's Natasha Miller. She's givin' me a room as long as I help around the house when she needs it. She's real nice and gave me this just in case I gets lost."

Natsumi's eyes widened. It was a moment of realization. She looked around and realized something important. "Thinkin' on that, I realize I ain't rememberin' how I'm gettin' back. Whole city kinda got me turned aroun'. You thinkin' you can get me back? I don't meant to be a bother to no one, especially someone who took the time to believe me, but I really could use the help... An' before I fergit, here ya are."

Natsumi handed him the folded paper. On it was the information she needed to find home: an address and a phone number. She watched with a small, hopeful smile. He wasn't the most friendly, but he wasn't mean, so she hoped he wouldn't let her stay lost. Being lost was not exactly fun. She should have paid attention.

The mention of Natasha's name was another small surprise for the Sternritter, though his stalwart visage did not betray it. It was hardly the most shocking of conveniences for her to be living with a colleague, but it was not one he was exactly familiar with. Still, it was all a means to getting a good end: helping this lost girl find her feet in a world she hardly knew.

"I am familiar with Ms Miller; she is a fellow Sternritter, but if you have her address, I can certainly guide you back there. It would be quite remiss of me to just throw you back out onto those unfamiliar streets."

Taking the piece of paper, he unfolded it and read the address with a slow nod of the head. His grasp of the city's geography had become quite encyclopedic from the years spent on patrol or during downtime, which was a fortunate talent to possess for situations exactly like this one. Pressing a few more buttons on the tablet, he saved the report and stored it for future reference, and then made to stand.

"Please, follow me, and do keep me in mind if you recall any further details that we did not discuss today."