ᴠ.ᴏ.ʟ.ᴋ.ᴇ. ᴄᴏʀᴘᴏʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴ [ᴀɴ ᴀᴅᴠᴀɴᴄᴇᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏ] discussion

This store is on the edge of the Berlin Ghetto, it is a family owned store that has been around for a very long time. Currently it is owned by Eli Jameson.

Mason Aaron Graham squinted as he opened his eyes, the sun was pouring through the open window in his upper apartment window. The night before he had been looking out at the stars and apparently he had forgotten to close the window and curtains, lovely. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes to try and rub away the sleepiness that was still trying to take over his body. He needed to be up anyway, he had to get to work below, you see Mason lives above a store, in an apartment that's a part of his package deal he has with Eli Jameson. So Mason closed the window, knocking off some of the chill, and closed the curtains so that he could get dressed. At the time he was in a pair of thermal pants, and that was it, not something a guy really wanted the whole city seeing, especially not the Ghetto of Berlin. Mason had enough problems with women flocking to him and trying to manipulate him into marrying them. Mason shoved the disturbing thoughts of women to the back of his mind as he fumbled around with the clothes in his dresser, he eventually dragged out a black, V-neck shirt, jeans, socks, and grabbed his shoes off the floor before going to the tiny bathroom. It was the only other room in the apartment, his boss, Eli, liked to say that it was much like a studio, or something. Mason was just thankful for his own place, with a real roof, and that he never starved since coming to work for Eli at 12 years old. Being 19 now, well that was a long time, and a lot of commitment for one so young. Mason took a quick shower, dressed, grabbed an apple, then headed downstairs to the shop. Eli met him at the bottom, a smile on his weathered face.

"Good morning Mason, I trust that you slept well?" Eli asked, this was a morning tradition, Eli would ask how he slept, Mason would grunt an answer, Eli would laugh and hand him the list for the day. Mason grunted in reply as he always did and took the slip of paper from the old man, he would have plenty on his plate for the day. Mason grabbed the keys to the shop off a hook in the store room, then opened the wooden door that connected the store room to the shop and made his way up front, so that he could open the doors and then get to stocking the shelves. He rarely ever used the cash register, Mason was more the muscle of the store, literally. The young man took a box from near the back full of candles and carried it with ease to the second aisle, he climbed a ladder that Eli had set up for him, and started placing the candles on the very top shelf. They were overstock, so he didn't have anywhere else to put them until the others sold, of course with the winter months approaching quickly, they would surely sale in no time.

Calypso Dreama sat in the back of a yellow and black taxi cab, gripping the seat with her fingers. The cab driver was driving in a very jerky manner, and much too fast. Of course she never usually took cabs, she'd rather walk to work, but this morning she'd been so late that she didn't have another option. He was wearing a black button down shirt with a grey colored pencil skirt, along with black tights and heels. It was pretty cold out, but she'd skipped the jacket this morning since she was rushing. Callie heard a pop coming from somewhere very close, and her eyes widened. She glanced out the window and cursed under her breath. They were in the ghetto, and Callie was only mildly terrified of the ghettos. She'd never spent very long in any of them, and it wasn't exactly her kind of hang out. The cab driver was pulling over to the side of the road and she rubbed a delicate hand across her face "What is it?" She asked the driver, who responded with a shrug and got out of the car, presumably to fix something. Callie groaned to herself in frustration before flinging open the cab door and standing on the sidewalk with her purse slung over her shoulder. She didn't even think about the fact that she was wearing her VOLKE employee ID clipped to her shirt, it was just natural for her. She started to walk in an angry manner away from the cab, but then she realized something dreadful. She didn't recognize any of the streets names or the businesses around her. She bit down on her lip and stopped walking, turning in a small circle to try and figure it out; but nothing clicked. She spotted a general store, though, and figured she might be able to grab some kind of caffeinated drink or something while she tried to figure it out. She would be there for a while, right?? Calypso tried to ignore the blatant stares she felt on her back from all the Subhumans around her as she pushed open the door to the general store. She nodded politely to the man behind the counter, her heels clicking all the way back to the area of the shop where there were refrigerators.

The box was empty, Mason looked at it with a blank stare, he hadn't even realized that he'd emptied it because he had been lost in his own thoughts. Well at least he could multi-task, Mason climbed down from the ladder and headed to the storage room once again. He broke the box down and threw it toward the back door, then he grabbed another box, this one full of cold coffee's in glass bottles. He walked to the refrigerator that was against the back wall of the shop, opened the door and started piling the coffee's in the fridge. He knew this task would take a little longer because the customers got pretty grumpy when there wasn't any coffee's in the fridge. He'd had more than one of them yell his ear off about it, he didn't plan on that happening again any time soon. As he was sliding the glass bottles in a woman walked up. Mason barely glanced at her before backing away to let her in the space. When he looked at her a little more closely he noticed the badge attached to her shirt, his face immediately went from friendly to downright hostile, he had no love for V.O.L.K.E.

Calypso saw a boy around her age filling up the freezers, and didn't have any plan to quarrel with him about the one he was in front of. She wasn't going to bother a subhuman. She felt way out of her element. The only time she'd been around Subhumans was in the lab. She had no clue what they expected or what they were like. Of course, she didn't exactly take time to think that they were just people. Callie was walking towards the coolers, her shoulders strung tight and tense, when the guy moved out of the way. "Oh, thanks." She said softly, her eyes on the ground. She noticed the change in his face though. He looked like he was going o fly at her any second. When she looked down at her chest she realized it was because of the badge, and she immediately fumbled to take it off and shove it into her purse "Sorry. I just want a drink, no harm." She mumbled, opening up the door to the cooler and grabbing out the first iced coffee her hand touched. She honestly didn't give a shit what flavor it was or even if it was any good. She just wanted to be a little less afraid, to do what se came there for. She needed directions, too, but the man at the counter seemed much kinder than the boy.

Her words made Mason's attitude go up a notch, "No harm? Like that's even possible. All of you are harmful, you shouldn't even exist in my opinion. You make our lives living hell, why because were different? Because you don't understand us? And don't for one second think I'm afraid of you, because I sure as hell am not. I may have to report for my annual medical check up but that doesn't mean I have to bow to the ground for any of you." Mason's jaw clenched shut as he realized that he was yelling, Eli would probably run back there if he didn't simmer down some, and he didn't need his boss yelling at him to be nice. Also he was yelling at a girl, that was worse, he shouldn't be so disrespectful to a woman, but dammit he didn't like these people, no matter the gender or rank. His chest rose up and down as he tried to calm himself, there was no reason to draw more attention to himself than necessary, wasn't that what Eli was always preaching to him? Of course Mason was a stubborn ass and didn't take heed of the advice of his mentor/friend/boss. "Sorry," He muttered to her, not knowing what else to say, hell he didn't even really mean it. But it was the best the girl was going to get from him.

Calypso was about to turn away when she heard the guys voice coming at her full force. He was starting to get louder and she backed up some. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She was in a strange place with people that hated her instantly, and now she was being yelled at?? Oh yes, her morning was just lovely. Her jaw clenched as she listened to this guy go off on her, and frowned deeply at him. Her brow quirked, she couldn't handle it. Not after waking up late, taking a cold shower and the fucking can breaking down. She wasn't going to take it. And as crazy as it was, her cheeks flamed pink in anger "Oh, and did I ask you to? Christ I'm a biologist, I don't dissect people for gods sake. I study freaking genomes. I haven't hurt a hair on anyone's head in my entire career, so excuse me if I'm not really interested in hearing about your violent hate for me." She said. Her brown eyes were glaring at him, and she didn't even care about his apology. She could easily tell that he wasn't sorry.

The girl wasn't backing away, nor was she leaving, she stared at him with a not so nice expression on her face. Then she had her turn at ranting and raving, Mason settled his shoulder against one of the fridges and crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to her spiel. When she seemed done, looking up at him in a defiant manner, he barely held a smile back. She was definitely a spit fire, and he hadn't been expecting that if he was being honest. Mason rubbed a hand over his face, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," He commented, hiding a wry grin behind his hand for a moment, he only said that to raise her ire just a bit more. Why not poke fun at the grizzly bear? She was fun, and a bit interesting when she was all fire dup, so there was no way that Mason was going to stop talking to her yet. He finally let his hand fall to his side and tried his best to keep the amusement out of his expression as he looked on at her in a calm, relaxed manner. Sometimes Mason needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut, he knew that, but hell what fun would that be?

Calypso flared up at him through slightly squinted eyes. She wanted to see him get upset, but instead all he did was smile. The guy freakin smiled. And she frowned deeply, crossing her arms and still clutching onto the iced coffee that was encased in her right hand. She shook her head once she spoke "The wrong side of the bed? I've been waking up on the wrong side of the bed ever since I was forced to move to this stupid city. And I'm not even allowed to work in a lab here! I have to sit in a stupid little office wih my name on the door and go over other people's results on the work that I should be doing. And apparently the taxi drivers in Berlin are completely incompetent because they throw me out in a ghetto that I have no clue how to navigate or get out of, and I'm already..." She glanced down at her watch "Twenty five minutes late for work. So, have you had your fun yet? Have entertained you enough on this lovely morning?? Or do you want me to tell you about my family issues, too?" She snapped at him, breathing heavily. She had a tendency to do this; as soon as one person set her off she would jump at them and scream her whole life frustrations. She still blames the fact that no one ever listens to her. It's always other people's faults, not Callie's.

He rose a brow and smirked as the girl continued to rant on, her eyes were full of fire, and her words were like embers being tossed at him. His eyes stayed trained on her blue ones, making sure that she knew he was paying attention. She didn't sound happy at all with Berlin, a quip was on the edge of his tongue, but he held it back since she didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Better to let the spitfire get done than to interrupt her and take the risk of being clobbered with the glass bottle in her hand. By the time the girl was done with her yelling and raving her chest was falling up and down with heavy breaths, it was almost like she'd just finished running. Really got herself worked up, this one. Mason clucked his tongue and shook his head, a wry grin on his face, "Well lets not keep the lady waiting then. Come, we'll get you taken care of right away. V.O.L.K.E. waits for no one, and their employees must be treated like the royalty they are," Mason had a tone of being professional and completely serious, but honestly he was just making fun. He led the way, nonetheless, to the front and slipped behind the counter. He rang up the coffee and waited for the dark haired girl to hand over some money, of course she would probably give him more of an earful before she was done. Apparently he was her person to take it all out on that morning, he'd really put his foot in his mouth this time. Not that he really minded, he wasn't sure what to expect from her mouth next, and she intrigued him. Not that he would ever admit that out loud, and he made sure to tell himself that he was just amused with her, he still hated V.O.L.K.E. employees with a passion. No matter how pretty they may be...

Callie watched as the boy just got even more amused by her ranting. He was like some awful little fox, looking all tricky and sarcastic without even trying to. No, not really a fox, more like some kind of fucked up Cheshire Cat. She rolled her eyes dramatically at him, reluctantly following him up to the front. "Just for the record, I would never want to be the royalty. The royalty always screws things up." She commented, taking a few bills out of her purse and handing them to the guy behind the small counter. She uncapped the drink and took a small sip, looking up him very frustrated. "I know I'm a bitch and I hate asking you, since I think you're kind of a jerk, but I really need directions out of here." She told him. She really wished she could find someone else to help her. But she didn't want to take her chances. It was hard to find anyone in the ghettos that didn't hate VOLKE employees. And at least this guy didn't seem to want to rip her throat out.

Mason took the money without a word, then gave the girl her change. He was planning on being done with her after that and turned to leave. But her voice reached his ears once more and Mason turned back to look at her with a hint of surprise crossing his features. Honestly he never expected her to ask him for anything considering the conversation that had just occurred between the two of them, but hey everyone needed something now and again. He crossed his arms over his chest once more and looked at her smugly, he was the one with all the power in this situation, because he knew these streets like the back of his hand, since he grew up on them. "Follow me," He told her and gave a wave to Eli to let him know he was leaving the shop. The older man gave Mason a look that said he was not happy about the young man going somewhere without him, but Mason did a lot of things Uncle Eli didn't appreciate, so this was nothing new for either of them. Mason walked out of the door and didn't look back, he just expected her to follow him, because honestly, what other choice did she have? He turned once out on the street and asked her, "Did you have anything back in the cab? That you could have dumbly left in there?" Because if she had, well there was more of a chance of it being gone than still there. But they could go check to see if anything was still in the cab. "I'll just lead you out, because that cabby is an idiot if he thought this was the best route to get you to work, I'll lead you out and we'll find you someone else to take you to work."

Callie didn't much enjoy the smug look on his face, but really there wasn't anything she could do about it. She would've been just like him if someone she didn't like much asked her for help. She let out a loud and drawn-out sigh, pushing her purse back up on her shoulder and following Mason, she'd just read his name tag, out. He started to ask her questions and such, but really Callie was just trying to keep up. He walked pretty quickly for her liking, and her heeled shoes weren't perfectly compatible with that. Callie shook her head though, sending her black hair moving some "No I didn't leave anything there. And once we're to the other part of the city I can find my way." She said, going quiet for just about a moment. Her brown eyes slid to the corners of her eyes and she looked at him some, curiously wondering what his abilities were. She pursed her lips and looked at him, finally deciding to open her mouth "What are yours? I mean like, your abilities?" She asked him in a soft tone of voice. She knew he wouldn't like the question, but she asked anyway, since the guy had to like her a little bit if he was helping her out of the ghetto.

Mason was relieved to hear that she wasn't naïve enough to leave anything behind in the car. He rose a brow, yeah well she could think she was finding her own way, but she would be accompanied. She just wouldn't know it, because he would be sneaky about it. He wouldn't let her just wonder off on her own after he accepted the responsibility of her. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and glanced doubtfully toward the ground, she would be mighty uncomfortable in those heels. But what could he do? It wasn't like he had a pair of girls boots up in his apartment, damn. He kind of wished he did now, because more than likely she would end up with blisters by the end of their little journey together. Oh well, nothing to be done. He started walking again and then glanced at her sharply, she asked what his ability was, like he was going to share that with her. His expression turned neutral and he turned to stare straight ahead once again as they walked down the grimy sidewalk, homeless elderly, begging children, women selling wares, they all lined the street. Mason skillfully dodged each one, and sometimes even had to step over people as he kept silent for a few minutes. "Look, I know you don't know how things work down here and all, so I'll cut you some slack. You don't ask things like that, honestly. Not unless you know the person very well, releasing that kind of information to just anyone could get you killed. So please, forgive me if I'm not willing to share that personal information with you just yet. But if you decide to visit me more maybe I'll be willing to tell you more than just my name, which is Mason by the way. And no, before you ask, I will not give you my last name, because that too is personal, and we're not at that stage yet." Mason made sure his badge was flipped so that she wouldn't get that tidbit of info about his name either. It was none of her business yet, they weren't friends, and had barely just met.

Mason turned a corner and headed down a darker street than most. The buildings rose kind of high, but they weren't of a sturdy structure, most of them were rotting away, or were built of odds and ends, and looked like they might fall at any moment. They also blocked out a lot of the sun, making the street seem darker than it was, Mason knew that lots of people lived down here. And that the living conditions were not the best, none of these buildings kept out the cold or the heat, not unless they were blocked from the conditions from the inside. It might have looked dangerous but Mason knew all of these families well, and they were in no danger where they were, well this girl wasn't as long as she stuck beside him.

Callie rose broth brows when Mason started to talk. He said that telling his ability could get him killed. She wondered why, why would a subhuman kill another subhuman because of their ability??? She'd certainly never heard of it "Oh, well, sorry. I didn't think it was a life and death kind of thing." She muttered, obviously she didn't fully believe him. She thought he was just trying to scare the stupid VOLKE girl. "Well my name is Calypso. Calypso Dreama. I don't mind telling you my last name. But I don't know why you would want me to visit you, you seem to right hate me." She told him. Callie would've kept with that train of thought, but she was distracted by the area that Mason brought her into. She'd only been into the New York ghetto once, and that was probably when she was 16. She'd never been in the Berlin one before, and what she saw was shocking her beyond belief. The streets ere covered in crumbling buildings, structures that didn't look like they should be standing. Judging by the kids and adults she saw in the street, she was guessing that families lived there. "Oh my god.." She whispered to herself, feeling s clog in her throat. Even as an orphan on the human side, she'd had a better environment that that.

Mason ignored Callie's sarcastic like tone when she spoke about his name and ability, this girl obviously didn't live in the real world. She was in some sort of fantasy world that she kept herself happy in, because she was ignorant of the real world going on around her. Otherwise she would definitely not be working in a VOLKE lab, and would burn her uniform asap. He rose a brow when he heard her words, he glanced at her, she was kind of pale and her eyes were very wide with surprise, and they held some sympathy and what looked like pity. Yeah she just further convicted him that she lived in some little bubble where nothing bad happened. Mason watched her, "What's wrong? Is this too real for you Callie? Does this not meet the story that they give you in that safe little lab you work in?" He had a sarcastic tone himself, and it was laced with pity for her and her naivety. Some people really needed to have their eyes opened, and Mason had no sympathy for the girl. Rip off the band aid, at least that was his belief. Now she knew, and he thought she would be better off because of it.

Callie couldn't help but pause where she stood. The scene around her was a lot for her to handle, and she needed a minute. She never knew that people lived like this, she never could've guessed that VOLKE and the government made people live like that. She knew that the Subhumans lived in ghettos, to separate them from the humans, but she had no idea that the ghettos were that bad. The windows were shattered, walls were crumbling. Children were dressed in dirty, old clothes that didn't belong on any body, and they looked so small, smaller than she thought they should be. Callie shot a glare at Mason, her brown eyes blinking rapidly "I thought I understood. I was in an orphanage growing up, I thought it was just like that. Not as clean, outdated things. I had no idea it was this bad." She said, swallowing hard and starting to walk again.

Mason kind of bit back on a retort this time, he saw how much the scene around them really was affecting her. She looked like she might faint, or throwup, or throw something, maybe all three. He shrugged, "It's how things are in the ghetto. Its always been this bad, at least since I was born, we've always lived in shanty's and such. The only reason I don't is because I have a good job, and an excellent employer, he provides housing for me as well as pay. Honestly I'm really lucky," Mason ducked under a low hanging laundry line that was hung between two odd shaped buildings, as well as side stepped a few kids crouching in the street. They were playing some sort of game together, and didn't even glance his and Callie's way. "Of course things could be better if the government gave a damn about Subhumans...." Mason's voice was full of disgust and hatred for the ruling government that seemed to take joy in making the subhumans hang in poverty no matter how hard they tried to better themselves.