Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh..." she said quietly, looking down into her empty mug. How strange it would be to not know who gave birth to you, who your parents were, and where you were even born! But then, she wouldn't even know. She had had the pleasure of knowing all those things and not having to be on the streets. Not quick to judge, her opinion of Howie did not diminish.

"Hero?" Howie brushed his hair back behind his ears and gingerly shook his head in amusement. "Hardly, my good.... uh, man." He couldn't remember if they had been introduced.

He was rather surprised at the way Gallen suddenly switched modes, but his expression only faltered for a second before he switched to slouching comfortabley against the back of the couch, his legs crossed in front of him. "s**t, man. Street thugs like me vanish all the time, 's why I don't socialize much outside of business. Next day, your new best fried could show up face down in the nearest river."

He became thoughtful at the mention of Feral labs. Oh, he knew about them, of course - who didn't? It payed to be well-informed. "Most of the guys who vanish got on the wrong side of a gang or mafia, y'know? Some are just damned good at leaving town without leaving any records." That was his method. He'd gotten good at not letting people in on what he was planning, and he wasn't important enough to chase down, anyhow.

"But Feral..." He frowned briefly before forcing that nervous grin back onto his face. "They set up shelters, sometimes, y'know? Sponser programs and s**t. Sometimes... sometimes folk disappear. Or end up dead. I avoid charities, don't need no simpering, fake bastards pitying me..." He gave Dai an almost apologetic look. "But hell, that can happen no matter who the sponser is.

Of course, there were rumors about the Feral programs, but he wasn't green enough to believe everything some crazy street bum said.

Jessica pulled herself off the ground to sit cross-legged on the couch. There she sat for the whole time, listening in on the conversation.
She didn't know much about Feral Labs. Yes, she has heard of it from her work, but all she knew if that it had something to do with researching animals or something to that effect. At least, that was what she heard. She also knew that they were rather advanced in their technology, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
The conversation was interesting enough; she never heard of people vanishing in association with the labs. It made her think about how she stood on the whole subject.

Howie raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Well, there's rumors like that all over. If I listened to all of 'em, I wouldn't be able to blink without being afraid someone'd spirit me away in the meantime."

So this was a personal venture, huh? Well, that explained the third degree. "Bit risky fingering a company like Feral, if you ask me, but I have to applaude your devotion." He knew quite well that he didn't understand family bonds, and that he was better off just letting other people alone about them. Still, it was an awefully stupid plan. Still, media had power.

((Anyone know where [ .Jade Nymph. ] went? I was kinda waiting for her to respond...))

((Yeah, they are really hitting it off, eh? I relpy to sometihng but... Jess really has jnothing to say or do at the moment and it would be out of charcter to do anything else...))

((I is alive. Just don't know how to poke Howie into responding O_o. And I'm busy wit end-of-the-school-year stuff... sorry ^^; ))

((Me, too!))