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May 27, 2023 7:13:40 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 27, 2023 7:13:40 GMT -5
Avery considered herself a calm person and she even considered herself someone who had an amazing business sense but apparently things were starting to spin out of control as she walked around the slums. She had made sure to split herself in two, in case anyone tried to do anything to her because this part of town was trash and the only thing that hung around here was indeed once again trash. Still she had heard that some kids were hanging out around here and she had even heard that there was trouble around here too so her in all her richness and glory had to come see it for herself. As the second her walked around she seen a few dead bodies, some passed out hookers and the signs of gun violence were seen everywhere as she hung up a few posters. "Kids wanted to help ARI research new toys and stem games." It was a lie but still Sophie Chang[any other kid can jump in too]
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May 27, 2023 7:39:22 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 27, 2023 7:39:22 GMT -5
Sophie was not in a good place mentally she still called this place home. As the only survivor of the general store blood bath she lost her aunt but still going to stay in her apartment on her own; at least until social services figured out what to do with her. So on crutches as she could barely walk properly until she fully healed up. Her lack of full mobility didn't stop her carrying a small knife and a throwing dagger; both well hidden till she needed them to defend herself. It was easier to make a white hot fire blade on the spot but that ran out quickly. A pretty looking lady was putting up posters amidst this rough part of town. Bodies wouldn't stay lying there for too long as they were generally moved to where they could be found by the police and then buried after an investigation; not usually a long one as they were unidentified or it an obvious case with no leads. She felt sad and hollow inside but she had that determination to carry on with only a few people to count on; Sawyer, Carmen and Jack came to mind. She had played computer games in LA but hadn't done that here. She might look down but she wasn't out and was still dangerous. "What kind of games?" she questioned to the woman. One who also looked like she was asking for trouble as others would be trying to pick her pocket even if she wasn't. That was the least that could go wrong here as she found out herself. Leaving the backpack of the things that belonged to a presumed dead vistor from Texas into the precinct office balanced out some of the wrong she'd done. Avery Ashford
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May 27, 2023 17:48:01 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 27, 2023 17:48:01 GMT -5
"We base it on your personality. Right now one of my personal favorites that a few of my workers are working on requires you to step into a virtual world and fight some really bad people off. It is a defense tactic and it is very needed." Good grief look at this place. "I mean it's just like standing here but we teach them how to kick ass which is what is needed around here." Children seemed innocent but she knew that more were not innocent. "I'm not saying that you are not safe here but even a woman such as myself knows that protection is needed. What do you think? You see we ask the kids questions after because their feedback is important and keeps the project alive." Sophie Chang
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May 27, 2023 18:08:58 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 27, 2023 18:08:58 GMT -5
Sophie listened carefully soaking up every word and weighing them up. She looked focused while doing this but did have to shift her crutches slightly to stay semi-comfortable. Meanwhile the passed out hookers would be waking up soon enough to get ready for the evening shift and the deceased would be found by first light. They did have to be disposed of before the large rats got to them; just like the rest of the bagged trash that built up until it got moved to a collection point. The moving was done by the people here. The garbage trucks didn't reach this neighbourhood. What she heard did sound sensible and probally true. "So there's different kind of games? My aunt carried a pepper spray but it didn't do her any good when the robbers came. That wasn't here though. Feedback does sound easy to give too" she replied but her voice was flat. Even so it was obvious Sophie was smart and being careful with obvious underlying problems and unresolved trauma. What her father had taught her about dirty fighting and knives worked best when she was fully fit and not having to handle crutches. She was also expecting a visit from the island's social services the next morning bright and early. The name 'Orphan Out Reach' had been mentioned. Avery Ashford
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May 28, 2023 8:37:19 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 28, 2023 8:37:19 GMT -5
"Activities," she said. "There are different activities. Some of them are games but some of them are things like exercise and some of them simulate the real world that you are standing in now. You see most people look at me and see this shrewed business woman but I am just trying to do my part. I am a woman who loves to give back to the community." Take them humans and make them oddities and those that did not survive kill off but that was neither here or there. "We don't get broken bones there either. Now I know as I am an adult and you are a kid you automatically think that I am bullshitting you and that is your right but not all adults are bad just like not all kids are good." She hated kids. She would never do anything one hundred percent good for them but she did know business and tourists liked children having fun and playing in the sun. "I'm the woman responsible for the orphanage that is being built. You see they tell people that Ashford Isle is a place to come and enjoy life but what they leave out is that it is a place for children and adults to thrive. We welcome everyone and we give them life skills and you know what else? We don't turn humans down either. One world for us all is really the motto." Sophie Chang
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May 28, 2023 12:41:06 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 28, 2023 12:41:06 GMT -5
The faces of the Ashford's were known on the isle. So Sophie was surprised to see that Avery herself was doing this. She still wasn't hearing anything that sounded like lies but at least could give this a go once her aunt's affairs were sorted out and her place in the orphanage was confirmed. Social services still had work to do about that but it shouldn't be long once the wheels started turning. The comment about BS and not all adults being bad and not all kids being good was one of those generalisations you could count on but Sophie certainly wasn't good. Nor bad. Then came the motto as she kept listening. One world for us all. It sounded good but what was the actual reality? "I suppose it can't hurt to give it a try once I'm recovered" she flatly replied looking up at Avery. Then asked her for a poster she could hand onto. She might well be chasing this up later. Right now she was holding together but when she broke it would be complete and messy. Avery Ashford
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May 29, 2023 7:36:50 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 29, 2023 7:36:50 GMT -5
"Now young lady do not let me talk you into something that you are not one hundred percent certain of. For that is how we work on the island. I know that not all parts of the island are glitz and glamour but it does not mean that we do not care. I mean you see me out here doing the work? That is because I want to be close and get to know the people as opposed to just sending mindless people out here and not letting people see someone who is an Ashford doing the work themselves." "Here's you a poster but tell me how did you get hurt? Are people being reckless around the children here on the island?" Sophie Chang
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May 29, 2023 7:55:09 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 29, 2023 7:55:09 GMT -5
Sophie heard more explanations and that gave her more to think through. Social services did seem pretty faceless given she’d been told at the hospital what would happen next by a doctor and not them. She’d made progress in going through her aunts things and called into a thrift shop so arrange their collection. Except for her few pieces of jewellery which might come in handy later on. This busy work along with trying to figure out her aunts emails and the contacting of the triads via a fairly anonymous email address based in the USA was coming to an end and she’d all the information she needed. Oh what to tell Avery Ashford now she was in front of you? She’d only to ask any Ashford PD officer what happened here and now she was asking this broken little girl. “Shot by a shotgun, I was the only survivor. Auntie died too”. Then the second part which was the easy answer to give. “Of course it’s dangerous and not just for adults. I’ve even seen a gang member die. Nearly even had to take a life too”. This was the life she had now. On occasion it was kill or be killed. Sometimes there was fun in the poverty afflicted part of the city. Avery Ashford
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May 29, 2023 12:03:01 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 29, 2023 12:03:01 GMT -5
"That must be hell on your mental state." She showed next to no emotion because she was a realist. People die and it did not make the people that they left behind life any easier. "Losing a family member is never easy but try having your father in law get at you. You know being married to Ethan is not an easy task and if given the chance I could see myself popping a bullet in my father in law but you are too young for that conversation even if death has seen your face and left you to live with the guilt. At least you know what the world is like and most other people would tell you that it is bad to know it but it is good." Shrewd was perhaps the only word to describe the real Avery. That business woman that most people seen was only an upfront to keep these losers coming so that she could experiment on them in the end. "That is the life that you want for yourself?" Avery shook her head. "That is sad if so. You know what I see when I look at you?" Opportunity. Brain washing to a point but that is not what she said. "A survivor and survivors make diamonds out of dust while the rest of the world sits back and watches. You're a different breed, you need not to waste that." Injuries heal. People change and the world turns things like death do not change this. That reminded Avery she would need to see if she could find anything else about this little girl. "Want to go with me? I have a meeting, one that speaks of change for children specifically. You can be my plus one if you would like." Sophie Chang
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May 29, 2023 13:06:12 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 29, 2023 13:06:12 GMT -5
"That really happened Avery?" Sophie posed back. She knew her father has died on a mission and he hadn't ever brought trouble home. Then her other honeyed words got to work on Sophie. There was still that little adventurer there that was being buried by the grief she was feeling and she still needed to make sure the apartment was tidy though she'd left it spotless; she worried too much about this visit in the morning. Sophie knew what she could do and what her mother had done and was probally still doing. She clearly wanted more than a slum life now this was in her hands; her actions in the next two years would set her future up. "I want more than I have now. So did my father and he did great things. So did my birth mother before OSE kept her out of my life" she added being capable of things even her mother hadn't even been thinking of when she was ten. Or even twelve when her powers showed. Information she'd gotten from her dad after she told him it. "I have to meet with social services tomorrow morning so as I'm back in my apartment by nightfall that should be fine". There was still plenty of steel in her even if she was unable to fight much right now. Also this time with Avery might well be informative. Avery Ashford
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May 30, 2023 8:12:53 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 30, 2023 8:12:53 GMT -5
"OSE really are the bad guys here," she said. "I mean people give them a blind eye but they catch our kind and torture them. They do not let us live our life and do you know what the worse thing is? They are oddities like us. Talk about putting your back up against the wall with your own kind." She was not innocent but she was definately no OSE. "As a matter of fact I have seen more ose workers coming to this island that is trouble not for me, not for you but our whole kind. It's sad." Social Services? Oh yes. "My first time hearing about social services I hope that they do it justice." She could not be secretly behind it if she did not play her part. "I will make sure that you are back in time. Let's go." Sophie Chang
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May 30, 2023 8:53:29 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 30, 2023 8:53:29 GMT -5
Sophie wasn't one to take things at face value; not even what she was told and certainly not when she was out in slums. Truth and lies got mixed up in the same dice and it was entirely down to the person themselves what they believed to be true. OSE would certainly tell her something different again but the fact they'd made her an orphan even with her mother being being round somewhere. That was enough reason to hate them when it came this little girls thinking. Sophie also wasn't going to give Avery easy answers even with them agreeing about OSE. She hoped the social services could do their jobs right so she could build for a future. "So since the Ashford family is the government here why do you let them in?" she posed talking about the OSE. The bit of anger that had been stirred up drove out the flatness in her voice making her sound more childlike and normal. Then she added "I think my mother is still alive somewhere. My father certainly believed it". A kind of answer to an unposed question that wouldn't give away what she'd found out for herself. Then they walked off Sophie needing a bit more time to get there. Avery Ashford
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May 31, 2023 7:41:15 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on May 31, 2023 7:41:15 GMT -5
"Good question but the answer is simple. They are oddities like us Sophie and we need not to turn our back on our own kind. That would be not only rude but they would start to feel hurt and revolt. Just because our views are different does not mean that we give up on those who are like us." She partially belevied that. "Oh?" Avery had offed her parents when she was fourteen and not looked back. Her father was a piece of shit that had tried to sell her off like she was propertly and her weak mother did nothing about it. "How does that make you feel, if she is and you find out? One should never abandon their child." Simply not have any that was always her plan as she opened the door and waited for Sophie. Sophie Chang
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May 31, 2023 8:02:29 GMT -5
Post by Sophie Chang on May 31, 2023 8:02:29 GMT -5
"So you want to see if you can bring them round to your way of thinking?" Sophie posed. It sounded sensible as she seen the car at last. She wouldn't know Avery's story but other people had killed her father and her aunt. She knew she could probally kill too if it came to it. And she had back at the general store taking out one of the robbers. "If she is able to be in my life I'd like that but from what my father said she wasn't going to put me through the 'lone wolf and cub' thing. If you've read the manga its about a Samurai and his son who are assassins for hire. She knew her life was hard enough without putting me through it too. She did want to give me a chance at life." It was love at work even if it wasn't obvious. A mother giving up a chunk of her life to give her child a chance was still a noble sacrifice. Sophie looked round cautiously not just at the car but also inside the open door and round it. Seeing no threat round them she wriggled into the back seat with the crutches beside her. Avery Ashford
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Jun 1, 2023 13:59:27 GMT -5
Post by Avery Ashford on Jun 1, 2023 13:59:27 GMT -5
Once they were inside of the limo she allowed Sophie to take her time getting comfortable as she took a few minutes to adjust her make up. "You know that you have no reason to be scared of me if you are. We are a lot alike Sophie it just takes a good person to admit that they have a lot in common with a kid because most people would not." "Minus the not knowing who my relatives were you do remind me a lot of me. That is a good thing because I have a lot of drive and I got every damn thing that I wanted and more. You see Sophie that could be you too." Sophie Chang
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