A Curiously Lucky Girl

[Sammy Yoon]

The atrocious dry summer heat of Arizona was making Sammy sweat profusely, making her rather uncomfortable and very irritable. Her beaten up 99' Plymouth Neon, which unfortunately lost its far too critical air conditioning during her trip back from Las Vegas, was miraculously lugging on despite it being obviously overheated. Why does this place have to be so far? She thought, thoroughly annoyed by the uninhabitable weather and therefore forgetting that it was only 20 minutes away from her house.

"Ugh, I'm sweating like a pig." Sammy muttered as she wiped her brows with a towel, perspiration soaking it almost completely. She really couldn't wait till she could get out of here and move to Minnesota next year; though she decided to take a break so that she won't become mentally exhausted from studying all the time, the firestorm of a temperature that she never got used to despite being a native was slowly and convincingly persuading her to reconsider the decision. Then again...

The night before, Sammy saw for the first time in her life her parents angrily arguing with her grandparents. She didn't really know most of the stuff they were talking about, but her grandparents, who were visiting over the summer, were absolutely insistent that she go and seek the protection of these people called the Archivists. Her parents were angrily protesting it, calling it 'just another cult that will take advantage of this family.' It was strange; were they all part of some cult before? It didn't make sense at all. Her grandparents had a small farm up in Wisconsin and were devout atheists, and her astrophysicist dad and her music journalist mom didn't exactly fit the profile of a cult member.

Regardless, Sammy decided to go along with her grandparents in the end. Her usually serene grandfather and even quieter grandmother were yelling on top of their lungs yesterday, and their sudden change in demeanors made Sammy nervous about what would happen if she didn't get the protection from the Archivists. From what, they never told Sammy, but she figured it had to do something with her powers. She wondered if there was any job available there at the Archivist headquarters. There was nothing for her to do for at least another year (or two, depending on how much break she really needed), and it would be quite boring if all she was doing was just staying indoor at this place. Though indoor sounds pretty nice right about now...

As she followed the direction she got off the internet, she realized that this place was in a residential area (albeit a very fancy part of the Phoenix area). A private residence? she thought as doubts about this organization began to rise in her mind. As she arrived at the location given to her, she noticed that the place was slightly bigger than the other abnormally large houses around. Parking on the nearby street, Sammy got out of the car and walked towards the supposed headquarter of the Archivists. Holding down what she assumed was the intercom as she arrived at the front door, she spoke politely.

"Hi, I'm Sammy- I mean, Samantha Yoon and I have a 2 o'clock appointment with Mr. Dorsey Drayman? It's about the Archivist movement?"

[Corrigan Blaine]

///// Corrigan Blaine

^{drayman estate - phoenix, arizona}
_{chapter one: prophecy}

"Hi, I'm Sammy- I mean, Samantha Yoon and I have a 2 o'clock appointment with Mr. Dorsey Drayman? It's about the Archivist movement?"

There wasn't a lot of reaction as the intercom announced the mansion's latest visitor. Dorsey lowered the book he was very nearly lost in, nearly finished with the chapter, and assumed someone would bring her in as he resumed reading in a hurry to finish up before she was brought up.

Rosetta was enjoying a bubble bath, and rolled her eyes at what would have been an interruption if she could only be bothered. Three younger members surrounding a billiard table shrugged and resumed, and there was no motion from the two teenagers fixated on the TV.

"What the hell guys? New blood, come on..." came Corrigan's voice from the room's doorway as he made his way through it, armed with nothing more than a half-eaten nectarine, a teal bath robe, and a head of wet hair. One couldn't look much more residential than that.

A weird, excited laugh erupted from him as he made his way for the doorway, and he could have sworn he heard someone groan at him, "I'll get it..."

He wasn't stopping. He was going to answer the door.

Catching the floral scents of the potpourri bowls by the doorway, Cory clenched at the door's handle as he peered out of the hole at this Samantha Yoon. "Welcome to our little resort..." he grinned, and pulled the door open, leaning out to look her over. His grin was gone by the time he had opened the door, and his expression seemed fairly indifferent and unbothered.

"Samantha Yoon?" he asked, then turned a bit, pushing the same button on the com system, "Yo, Double D, you know you got a visitor, right?"

In his office, Dorsey couldn't help but roll his eyes at Cory's unprofessional approach, leaning in over his desk and pushing the button down to reply, "Thank you, Cory, could you bring her up to my office, please?" he requested a she dog-eared the page he was on in his book, and patiently set it down.

"You can just follow me," Corrigan grinned at Sammy, so broadly that it was a little eerie, and he swung the door open invitingly as he turned to lead the way, "So... what's your story?" he seemed curious.

[Sammy Yoon]

There were numerous things that Sammy could have anticipated when the door to the Archivist headquarters opened. A lanky teenager boy looking like he just got out of the shower was definitely not one of them. It took all of Sammy's momentary self-control to keep herself from raising her eyebrows in disbelief and condescension, and she smiled politely and nodded as the boy reconfirmed her name.

"Yo, Double D, you know you got a visitor, right?"

This time, her eyebrows went up before she could help herself, and she quickly changed her expression back to normal. 'Double D?' Sammy at this point was practically praying that this was not how Mr. Drayman liked to be addressed as. She was slowly beginning to question her grandparents faith in this organization, the way they so far seemed to carry themselves.

"Thank you, Cory, could you bring her up to my office, please?"

Cory, huh? Sammy noted the kid's name while feeling somewhat thankful for Mr. Drayman not calling Cory something as equally ridiculous. She wasn't sure how she would handle it if they insisted on calling her something like that.

"You can just follow me," She nodded while trying her best to ignore the kid's slightly creepy smile. Be understanding, he's in an awkward phase. Sammy thought haughtily as she answered with a friendly smile.

"So... what's your story?"

"I... am not quite sure, actually." Sammy said with a bit of laughter in her speech. "I'm taking a break for a year or two before going off to med school, but my grandparents freaked out for some reason and told me to go get protection from the Archivist." She stretched a little to prevent herself from shivering at the sudden drop in temperature, which was nevertheless very much appreciated.

"Really, I don't quite understand it, but they think I'm in danger because of my powers... I think. Which doesn't even make sense, really. The most I can do is perform a card trick without dealing from the bottom of the deck." She laughed. "People don't try to hurt you for something like that... unless you're in Vegas or something." She thought back to the trouble she got in Vegas for precisely that reason.

[Corrigan Blaine]

///// Corrigan Blaine

^{drayman estate - phoenix, arizona}
_{chapter one: prophecy}

As Sammy explained, Corrigan watched her, still and eerily attentive as if studying her closely. He began to smile, just subtly, as he started to lead the way. Looking to Sammy, he flicked his head back as if to gesture her to follow as he turned to make his way up along the left side of an elegant double staircase that led to the upper floor on both sides of the room just past the entrance.

"Not sure what you can do, but it doesn't matter. I mean, even dangerous abilities can be controlled... mastered..." he began to explain as he led the way, glancing back over his shoulder as he took casual steps toward the second floor. "I guess I don't need to give you the 'there are others like you out there' speech..." he shrugged, "...but the important thing you should know is that you're safe here..."

He stopped on the top of the stair, and turned back again to explain, "You should see some of the amazing things some of us can do, so if someone's looking for you, they better pray they don't figure out where you are." he boasted. It sounded like the typical cockiness of a male teenager his age, of course, but there were reasons to suspect there could be some truth to it.

"So your grandparents sent you here?" he asked, "D probably knows more, then..." he shrugged, sounding a bit, surprisingly afterall, indifferent.

[Sammy Yoon]

"No, really." Sammy laughed again. "I'm sure I'm not in any danger here. My grandparents are probably mistaken about the whole thing or are just overreacting to some minor issues." She really thought that the idea of someone trying to hurt her because she could pick out all the lemon jolly rancher out of the bag was ludicrous.

"But thanks for being concerned about my situation. It's really sweet." Eh, not really. Sammy thought nonchalantly, but nevertheless saying it with a bright smile. Saying something like that always seemed to work out for her, especially if the other person was as full of himself as this kid seemed to be.

"So your grandparents sent you here? D probably knows more, then..."

"Hmm... so, what kind of person is Mr. Drayman?" Sammy asked, curious about this unknown person who ran the entire operation. "Must be a nice person if he's running an organization that helps and protects people."

[Corrigan Blaine]

///// Corrigan Blaine

^{drayman estate - phoenix, arizona}
_{chapter one: prophecy}

Corrigan's expression grew briefly serious, "You'd be surprised what people will hurt, or even kill you over..." he looked down as he spoke, as if he knew something about it, but quickly shrugged it off, turning to lead the way again. "Drayman is a real cool guy," he offered casually, "He's all about helping the people who need it, and promoting peace between... you know, people with abilities, and people without."

He was quiet for a moment as he led the way to what had to be Drayman's office, but stopped in front of the wooden double doors, and faced Sammy, still having more to say. "To be honest with you, I don't think peace is possible... at least not through negotiation... that's just being lofty and unrealistic," he offered in a quieter voice, to keep the conversation private. "I mean... name an era where there wasn't war in our world..." his voice had become serious again.

He turned to face the door, and was so sure she couldn't do just that, he didn't give her time to answer before stepping in. The room stretched openly to the right, where a man stood from behind his desk, in gray slacks and a white dress shirt. "Samantha, welcome." he approached from around the desk, "I've been expecting you."

_{Dorsey Drayman}

He certainly seemed far more mature and professional than Corrigan, whom he regarded with a slight smile of amusement, "I trust Cory didn't give you the full tour just yet... he's particularly bad at it," he laughed a bit as he stood just in front of Sammy and Corrigan, and patiently clasped his hands together in front of him, "If you need me to fill you in on anything, just let me know. We're here to help."