Checking in [Mathew]

[Delilah A. Black]

The corners of Delilah's lips twitched as David grinned his pride at their victory. Though it did not come without a cost, it would seem. And, gradually, started to relax as he approached. However, she did side-step daintily as he reached for her arm-- she couldn't let him touch her. She gave him a small shake of her head, eyes widening slightly with worry, not wanting to interrupt. She had to regain control of her Qi before anyone could touch her.

"I'd sit with you and be more calm, but I have to control this first," she gestured a herself, her voice relaxing as she gradually eased into calm again. "I don't want to put any holes in the couch."

And it was nice of him to bring up the Barker situation again, though she had tried to drop it; Mathew had offered a perfect explanation.

--Her eyes turned to Mathew as he snapped at her. Not unreasonably so, she knew how she was acting and standing. Again, not responding to his tone, but to the man behind it. She could feel the cold logic she needed to control her Qi when it was this activated slipping away.

When he finished speaking, she would incline herself at the waist slightly towards all of them, "I sincerely apologize for my behaviour and...my appearance. I was hoping to leave the explanation to the end, when you were all done speaking, but I see I can't do that when i'm like this."

Understandably, she had been misinterpreted as demanding-- a trait that was very out of character for her-- without any of the men in the room knowing her true reason for being the way he was. "Seeing him alive has given me something of a shock, especially since we discussed what would happen in the briefing before the battle. Things changed; I needed to know what changed, which was why I was so blunt. Part of the reason I'm here, is a debrief. This was your show, your idea you included us in on. I wanted to make sure you had the first say, because this is important and affects all of us."

She didn't like Mathew's decision to revive Barker, but given the unexpectedly noble circumstance in which it occurred, she agreed and even respected it. Especially since it related to her secondary purpose.

"I was going to give you my report of what occurred on the battle field after you left. No doubt David or Kiyr has filled you in, but this ties into the second reason I'm here... and am glad the rest of you are as well."

Silvery eyes shifted and shimmered seemingly as she looked back and forth between Mathew and Barker-- couldn't help herself.

"But if I've offended you, I can leave if that is what you wish?"

[Mr. Kaar]

Leon would take the handle tot he face! Looking at Avenger after his head recoiled he'd throw a huge shrug and a snipe face at Avenger like.

~Da fuq bro!~

But then the woman near him shifted a bit closer.... Within arms reach.... Her ass was right there... So close...

So Leon would quickly try to slap it. If it worked, he'd try to get eye contact with Barker and throw him a thumbs up, cause that how he roll.

[David B.]

David frowned at Mathew. He didn't disagree, but the ass could have been nicer about it. After Delilah finished though, he would wave her off.

"Hey, We're all stressed with whats been going on, I know. I was there for the part after he left, and have filled him in for the most part. But I wonder...what was the second reason?"

It must be something interesting if she was happy all of them were together.

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew motioned for Delilah to sit down. She was allowed to stay. For now. He was still put off by everything that had been going on in the last few days since the battle. Bastille, his arm, Hades, Strike, and everything else. The world was piling on top of him and he didn't want to shoulder the burden. He wanted to run out and find his wife. He wanted to tear apart the world until he found her. But Bastille would not like him if he shirked everything. She may not like the Dragons, but she liked him and the kind of person he was. And that meant he must endure.

"As I said in my speech. We celebrate. We have had a wonderful triumph. We rest our men. Nothing has changed in the grand scheme of things, only moved up a notch."

He sighed and tried to lean back in his seat, but he couldn't get comfortable. Scowling his stone arm shifted and twisted unnaturally. A wince of pain as the barbs attaching it to his shoulder twist painfully. But the arm was aligned more naturally.

"I've heard quite a bit of it, but if you want to give me your perspective then I am more than happy to hear it. Also I will give you a word of advice."

He said before his eyes slid to Barker and then back to Delilah.

"I'd avoid expansion right now. It might be problematic if Strike decides to make his move now."

[Delilah A. Black]

--Sidestepping another swipe at her behind, this time from Leon --W-why does sempai want to touch me like that?WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO TOUCH ME D: -- she gave David and Mathew a thankful nod...but remained standing, opting out of sitting until her Qi had stopped being insane, honestly not wanting the risk of brushing up against someone or destroying his upholstery. Though she wished she could; it had been a long couple of days.

"You seem pretty informed, so I'll be brief; the battle went well on the outside, better than expected. The trap I had in mind help up excellently, for the most part. Probably won't work a second time in that fashion, though. Personally, I got off easy. Some of our others weren't so lucky, as you probably know."

Marcus, Rai, Aryn and Olesya had all been injured at one point or another while in the midst of battle, not to mention the soliders they lost, which were few in comparison. There was a niggling sense in the back of her mind that if she had been in the centre, drawing the most fire, they could have avoided some other casualties...or at least, spared the ones who did get hurt.

"When the remaining generals were defeated, Marcus and Rai were trapped in the facility...which then exploded. Levi and I got them out, and healed them. Marcus needed to be revived, and as far as I know, both are in Dragon territory receiving treatment.

"After the fight, though, Lucien told me that John Strike broke Barker's neck before vanishing again. It got me thinking about what summoned him; Rai and one or two others were using the masks at the time of his death; When Strike showed his true colours, I learned that one can look through the masks into the minds of others who have them, or certain people who can be controlled. That might be what brought him there in the first place."

Gradually, the Qi was beginning to fade from her flesh as her mind because focused on something else. Those goddamn masks.

"That's my other reason for being here; the masks and John Strike and what I've learned," She turned her now blue eyes back to Barker. "But I have a few holes in my thought process. And we have the perfect person to help fill us in right in our midst."

Delilah beamed at him, with a sharp, metal smile that did not touch her eyes.

[Mr. Kaar]

Leon finally got to learn something about the battle besides information on a single enemy! The thing about the masks was interesting and he thinks he remembers Lucien saying something about it, but then Leon sat up and his eyes narrowed before looking around.

~It's quiet... Too quiet.~

"Where is Bastille?"

Yeah Cause Leon likes to know where not to be.

He was perturbed by Delilahs ability to dodge. There would have to be a fight later where Leon challenges Delilah to a battle of First Ass rules. Being the first one to successfully slap the ass of their opponent wins. Yet right now, it was about self preservation.

[Delilah A. Black]

As Leon spoke up, Delilah gave a grimace. She hadn't wanted to bring this up, considering Mathew's mood...he probably already knew. She didn't want to rub salt in his wounds.

"She was abducted by Mitsoumi," She said after a long moment with a scowl at herself. "She was behind the front lines at the archer's and canoneer's positions when it happened. He abandoned his fight with Raikotsu to go after her. I didn't see it happen myself, but one of Tengu reported it to me."

[David B.]

David had left for the bathroom at this point- sitting on the toilet, reading one of what he assumed was Mathews titty magazines!

"Who has J sized breasts...? Impossible..."

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew turned to glare at Barker. Barker was already on top of it. Stepping forward now that David was absent.

"If he abducted her it was not by my order. Though..."

He paused and looked over at Leon with a considering look. His right hand raising up to stroke his chin.

"It wouldn't be the first time that clones were used. I can explain the functions of each one of them to you later in detail and you can determine for yourself which one if any she would likely be in."

He offered actually trying to be helpful! And escape Mathew's wrath. Super helpful!

[Delilah A. Black]

Delilah watched Barker with a slightly cocked brow, but refrained from voicing her suspicion; it didn't matter whether or not it was true; if it was good enough for Mathew to take at face value, then it was none of her business. Her eyes moved back to Mathew, apologetic. She wanted to voice her own anguish in losing Bastille along with everything else, but knowing how it paled compared to his, in this she decided to be silent as well.

"My knowledge of the masks is fairly limited, but I have ideas," she began, finally sitting down on the arm of the couch. "They're literally pieces of John Strike. An old part, but not all of it. They give you significant power and abilities that seem to more or less coincide with your Qi, but can only be used for a certain amount of time. It's some kind of symbiote, a parasite with a personality. My suspicion is that the more often you use them, the more ingrained the 'entity' becomes in the person, the more it starts to make itself at home."

She frowned again, this time at herself as a brief memory of the third time she used the mask and engaged with Arkeus flitted across her vision.

"When I started learning about the depths of it's power, Strike attacked us from within our own base using..I don't know what you'd call them. Sleeper agents, I guess. On a hunch, we gathered all of our soldiers into one place, and I looked at them using the mask. Five fell under my thrall.

"Which means the masks can control others, who are susceptible, with the mind. During the battle, when I pulled on the mask to dig Rai and Marcus out of the rubble, I could hear someone yelling for help, inside my mind. Most likely, it was Raikotsu. The explanation ties in with how Strike snapped your neck, anyway."

Now, she was more or less speaking to Barker, in hopes that he could shed some light on the masks or Strike's plans to use them. It was only a small piece of the puzzle, but it had a lot of work to go before it would start to reveal the bigger picture.

"Did he ever tell you what the purpose of the masks were?"

[Mr. Kaar]

Leon would plot more on his ass slapping fight challenge to Delilah, which he was completely serious about.

Barker however would share.

"From my understanding the masks are basically a test... He IS NOT human. That's as far as I have gotten into his story. There are a finite amount of masks, each has the power to lead those augmented through mind control, effectively turning someone with a mask into a general. We captured two Gods members. Beta, and Omega. Strike decided to see what would happen if a human was given more than one mask... It didn't end well, not only did the subjects die, but apparently they where able to infect others with the masks bestowed on them."

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew rolled his eyes when Barker said that Strike was not human. He didn't believe that for an instant. The God's were human. All of the freaks he had ever fought were human. He may be twisted and changed from who knows what. But at his core he was still a human being. They were all just humans.

He didn't say anything though and opted to just listen. Even if he was doubtful about any claims about Strike being anything but Human, the information about masks was an area that he was lacking on any real information on. So he would let those in the know hash it out.

[Delilah A. Black]

She went from nodding at Barker's words (this was so surreal still that she was starting to believe this was all just a really weird dream) to slowly narrowing her eyes.

"'Able to infect others'...? Do you mean 'Project Alpha'?"

That was the name of the project Arkeus had given her when she was derivig information from the masks. She looked back at Mathew and Leon, clearly disconcerted.

"He mentioned a kind of 'evolution' of mankind, or at least those infected. Taking them 'beyond' Qi, which he said was useless, and giving them a more physical transformation."

Blue eyes snapped back to Barker, "Is that one of the side-effects of the masks?"

[Mathew Amtrum]

When Delilah mentioned moving past Qi, which was useless Mathew despite all of his best efforts started to snort and snicker before covering up his mouth with his flesh hand. Holding up a single finger he got up and moved toward the kitchen and the living room. Snickering in the doorway.

He just needed a moment.

[Mr. Kaar]

Barker would watch Mathew walk out. Understanding his thoughts on the matter.

"No, the masks don't change the body to my knowledge. What he's talking about is 'Augmentation'. He takes latent strands of DNA within people and makes them so prominent through a catalyst that people take on new forms. Being as minuscule as some sort of bone like exo-skeleton, to such heightened forms as werewolf like features."

Barker would shrug.

"My research however does not show this transformation to be stronger than Qi. I suspect there is another reason for Strike's dislike of the ability."

"Project Alpha, yes I believe thats what the Scientists in charge of the project called it."