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"If having your soul bound to a demon for the rest of your life is your idea of a gift, then I know not to invite you over for the holidays," said Randolph sourly.

Her eyes widening in fear of impending gunfire, Guo Jian began sidling towards the wall, away from both Tobias and Ellie. "I'm not...They don't speak for me, of course..."

"Beats being beaten up for a darn squirrel." Elisa remarked and did not care about her soul being bound to a demon. "And it sure as hell beats going back to the dumps empty handed. I mean, the doc didn't pay us up front right? so we are slightly better off due to us being these so called mages and we may be able to improve our lives. Just imagine what we could do with fire. From keeping us warm to cooking to becomg those stage performers. We could actually work our way out of the dumps!" Elisa told everyone. "We're also not in the habit of having a cosy life. I mean, just how many of us live in shelters that can barely withstand the wind on a bad day? Sure, it's doable but do you really want to continue being a nobody that is wasting away? I sure as hell don't and maybe, this is a signal for us to take back our lives."

"No, not being controlled by an inhuman monster is what makes me better than you." Lisa retorted bitterly. After Ellie started talking how great having all this power was they looked at Howard and disapprovingly shook their head.
--
"I'll give you two cars and 200 silver each for expenses. If you need to buy something before heading over you can. Meanwhile I'll look into finding someone who knows more about magic. For now just go to Weiss and see what he knows. If he has the cube take it off him, just make sure not to touch it directly. Once you've done that, come back here." said Howard. "Here's Weiss's home address and the phone number for my office." Howard added holding out the paper he had been writing on. "But before you go, I'm going to take all your names, fingerprint you and photograph your faces."

Tobias screwed up his face at the mention of the fingerprints and photos.
“Hmm. Just like they do in jail, eh! You want all that to show to someone else? Do background checks? Start some files on the freaks?”
He considered giving a fake name but he had already mentioned it to the others.
Might get away with 'Toby Munzel'.
His thoughts of deception made his eyes twitch, and he suddenly felt like something had changed.

Flipping open her makeup kit, Guo began to reapply her eyeshadow, and the rest of her makeup. "We will see it done, Mr. Howard."

"Fair enough." Elisa commented and looked forward to eating something that she didn't have to chase after for once. Or get beaten up for getting it.

Everyone got all of their belongings back with the exception of Ellie who found some of their belongings missing, namely the items Tobias had stolen.
---
Howard had all of the mages photographs taken, fingerprinted and took note of their names. After that they were taken outside and each of them was given $200 in expenses. There were two cars in the driveway, one dark red and one dark blue. "The cars are unlocked, the keys for the ignition are on the driver's seats." said Howard.

Ellie tried not to look panicked that their notebook was missing. At the same time they would hate to reveal it to be theirs if someone had already looked inside. They decided to keep quiet about it and see what happened. There wasn't anything like a name in it that could link them to it anyway.

They moved toward the dark red vehicle. "So who's driving?" they asked calmly, a warm grin on their face.

A rare enough smile crossed Guo's face. "Thank you, Mr. Howard. I appreciate the chance you are giving us." She got into the backseat of the dark red car and waited to head to Weiss' home.

Tobias gave the cars a once over and then got in the back of the dark blue vehicle, waiting for someone to chauffeur.

"I'll drive." Elisa told those who had gotten into the dark red car as she got into the driver's seat. "So, what did you do before ending up in the dumps?" She inquired as she ignited the engine and would drive them to wiess's home. Granted, she would yell at anyone who cut her off but still, they would get there in one piece.

Guo gave her toolbox two light shakes, the various wrenches and screwdrivers clinking around. "Engineer. Mechanics. I -was- focused in industrial machinery, but with so many plants closing down, ...Well, now I have a broader knowledge of engineering, at least. And yourselves?"

"Used to be a trader in the stock market until the crash." Elisa informed Guo. "Ah yes, those where the times where real money could be made and lost multiple times one day, then the following, nothing but pure profit." She sighed as she waited for those who had yet to get into a car and had picked the red one. "Used to shoot in my spare time and repair machines. Tried to use those skills to get another job, failed and ended up in the dumps. Turns out people love beating up stock traders over who has a squirrel for supper whilst the stock trader gets a sweet nothing again. But hey, now I get to have my soul possessed in return for a useful. Isn't life dandy?" She had a small amount of sarcasm towards the end of her sentence.

Randolph went towards the dark blue car. Seeing no one else occupying the front, he got in the driver's seat and picked up the keys. He hoped he wasn't too out-of-practice; it had been some months now since he'd had to sell his car, and he hadn't driven since.

"Hey," he said to Tobias, giving a nod of greeting to the man in the backseat. "What's goin' on?"

Meanwhile, he turned on the ignition and waited in case anyone else was about to get in the car.

"Hello." Tobias replied to Randolph. "You know how to get to the address?"

Nodding as Elisa spoke, Gigi brushed a bit of dirt off her top. "'Stock market' and 'profit' sound so foreign, given the state of the world. But I have some faith that we will get back to such things again." She uttered a sigh at the mention of possession. "We should be careful not to speak of such things openly, after we leave. Having some small idea of what we are capable of, I am...a bit worried. Not all of us here have the best judgment. But I believe you are different. Comforting."

Randall went over the address again in his head for verification, and nodded. "Yep, I know the area, at least," he said. "I can get us there. And, heh, if all else fails, I'll just follow the others."

Dr. Moritz Koehler - On the move.

Moritz followed the others out and maintained his nondescript posture, getting into the red car. He paid some amount of attention to Elisa and Gigi's exchange.

"I was engaged quantitative research at Tollan university." He spoke up and for the first time since waking up left the depths of his thoughts.

I don't think it's to wise to advertise our.. eh.. condition either. It might have just been my Baumberg-upbringing but I'm not too keen on the marking. It's just trouble"

"Hard to believe that just a while ago, i was living in my own penthouse with a wonderful view and making a profit. But faith? Well, it helps, i suppose but i can't say that i have much faith in life or the world." Elisa replied as she keep an eye out for anyone else that wanted to get in the red car. "Yeah but hopefully, once we have paid the doc a visit, Mr Howard will help us with our abilities and maybe, find a way to help those who wish to have their gifts removed without harming them. However, i do feel that they are useful and whilst the whole being bound to a demon bit is a bit of a downer, i've pretty much resigned myself to dying alone in the dumps. For me, it could be something i could put to good use. I could set up a charity and use my gifts to turn the dumps into a decent home for those who are down on their luck or if my gifts are more destructive, I may just do something about those jerks who ruin our shelters or steal our food as some sick joke. But hopefully, once this is all over, we will all have some form of idea of what our futures will entail. Heck, just being warm in the winter would be an improvement."

She listened to the Doc in the car and didn't really understand what he was saying. "You lost me at Quantiative." She informed him.

"'DO'...something?" Guo asked, with a concerned tone. "Just what would you do? We don't want to use our condition any more than we absolutely have to, if at all...and even then, with great care. Such as that particular use of...what was it, they did? Inflicting forgetfulness on someone, it seemed. I do not know if you or the others have more overt skills, but it is something we must be cautious with. I don't relish the thought of an angry mob burning us at the stake."

Dr. Moritz Koehler - On the move.

Dr. Moritz Koehler seriously couldn't understand how someone could work in finance without coming across the word quantitative but he let it pass. However either of the pair might have spotted the look of plain bewilderment on his features. "I was a statistician." He tried again. Statistician was a big word too though. He then glanced to Guo - nodding along with her concerns. "I can remember the Order being quite explicit about merciful execution." He grimaced.

"That may not be the case if a lynch mob gets their hands on us, after some of us...'do something'." Guo replied gravely.