So here it comes, the sound of drums (open)

[themaster]

Ipods were, in The Master's opinion, one of the best things humanity had ever contributed in their sad and sorry existence on one of the best planets in the universe. Portable music, made the Master quite happy to stroll around to the sounds of the Rogue Traders and Scissor Sisters. He was tapping out a rhythm on his thigh, but not one that managed to fit with the song, just the one that ran over any other sounds or thoughts in his head. The constant rhythm, four beats, never changing, only ever going through crescendo and decrescendo.

The Master loved playing with fire. And right now he was in the furnace. But a bit of danger never stopped him. Cardiff, Earth, 21st Century. He was hoping Rani would never dream of coming here, because it was too dangerous. That assured his own personal safety, which was really why he was here, but stirring up some trouble whilst he was wandering the city couldn't hurt.

The biggest problem for Master was the own of the big blue box that sat in the Roald Dahl Plass, mocking him. The Master knew he couldn't be caught by The Doctor, lest he end up becoming his pet. He screwed up his face in disgust at the mere thought of becoming a pet for the man that he had reduced to his own pet in The Year That Never Was. Now that was a good year.

Which then rolled The Master onto his next biggest concern. Cardiff was the home of Torchwood 3, aka Jack and his little 'gang'. BIG problem. Firstly, it was Jack who no doubt had a vendetta against him, secondly, Torchwood was, by nature, a secretive group. Even the prime minister didn't know exactly where this group was. This made The Master quite paranoid. And comforted by the feeling of his laser screwdriver in his jacket pocket.

[quinnmcghann]

The little flecks of gold traveled after one another in loose formation, looking almost like a swarm of bees. Well, they would have if they were moving slow enough for the human eye to see. Quinn had sped all the way to Cardiff from Stoke-on-Trent, and even though she had reached her destination it was hard to slow down without becoming visible to the crowd. On top of that the city was much more complicated than the countryside she had flown through, and the winding streets and tall building were confusing to her. It was getting harder to sense what she was looking for now that she was so close, and every street she chose seemed to pull her further away from the lingering remnants of the trail.

Finally she found a shadowed alley that hooked away from the streets and gave her enough privacy so that she could go about materialization in peace. That way she wouldn't have to move so fast, and though it was a slight hindrance to have to slow down it meant she could take more time deciding which direction to go. Better to slow than race all over this maze of a city and never find the place.

She could have materialized a little closer to the public and probably would have gone unnoticed, but she had a tendency to get the nose on upside-down or only remember one ear when she was flustered. When she thought she had gotten most of her disguise organized, she did a quick look over.
Two eyes? Check.
One mouth? Check.
Two arms? Check?
Two legs? Complete with feet? Check.
Two ears?

Quinn made a frustrated noise that was more complex than a curse word would have allowed, bringing her hand up towards where there should have been a second ear on the left. There was nothing there but more hair. Well, hopefully the curls would hide it. She was in too much of a hurry to be too picky.

Like any creature on the Earth that was more sensitive than a human, Quinn had picked up on the rise and sudden drop of energy. The resulting waves had caused some disturbances. Quinn had been relatively unaffected herself, as more water added to a cup already containing might rise the level but never contaminate what was already there. She had recognized the energy signature as incredibly close to her own.

Her people weren't exactly easy to come by. They didn't just pop over for dinner Tuesday nights. In fact Quinn had never actually met another of her kind face to face. That's why she was trying to track down this energy signature if there were any remnants. Though more than one sort of being contained vortex energy the number was still relatively small, and there was a possibility it might just be one of her own kind.

[themaster]

As The Master strolled casually through the crowds, he couldn't help but catch the glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. He scowled. It looked like tiny flecks of light, but when he looked around, he couldn't see them. Assuming it was juts the paranoia and stress of being hunted in this town, he turned his ipod onto his favourite song and moved along like he hadn't actually seen anything. As he walked along past an alleyway he felt a sudden spike in energy. It was most likely the rift acting up again, it was common for it to do that in this town. Such a novelty it was that humanity was drawn to this place when they were so primitive and stupid, so naive and ignorant. Yet still many claimed to be drawn to this place, by forces well beyond their understanding.

But The Master did notice something, well more someone, appear out of the shadows. He hadn't noticed her before, so her appearance not only confused the Master, but also put him on an even higher alert. Yet, at the same time, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. She could be alien. A perfect person to manipulate. Someone he could get to run messages and keep an eye out for anyone...undesirable. He approached her, acting like nothing was up. But his cold eyes didn't miss the lack of a left ear underneath her curls.

He wouldn't say she was plain, in fact she had quite a cute look to her. She was no supermodel, well not according to The Master's gauge, but she had a certain charm to her, a bit like the charm Lucy had on her face. Ah, Lucy. The perfect sidekick. A woman who didn't ask any questions and obeyed him without question. Except, he had heard her think The Doctor's name in The Year, but not to worry, every human had flaws. He'd get revenge on her for that.

Dragging himself back to reality, The Master removed his ipod headphones from his ears and stuffed the wires into his pocket with his ipod. Naturally he'd updated the item, but he still enjoyed the look it had. He flashed her his charming smile and raised his voice to her, standing a safe distance away. He wasn't stupid, he wouldn't fall for a trap that easily. 'Hello there! Lovely day isn't it?' He grinned, trying to catch her eye. His twisted mind was already plotting on how to use this girl against Freak and his gang, and maybe his arch-rival, The Doctor.

[quinnmcghann]

"Hello there! Lovely day, isn't it?"

Quinn looked over her shoulder at the sound of a voice addressing her. He was a wiry man, with tufty blondish hair and small eyes. A human girl might have blushed at the flicker of his eyes over her frame, but Quinn returned the glance with the same mild curiosity. He seemed too... balanced, for a human. The way he stood in his shoes was much like the gazelles she had seen at the zoo; lightly, as if he could bound off and disappear without anyone knowing the difference.

But whatever he might be, she didn't have the time to figure out. The spike she felt had been several hours ago; the trail was getting colder and colder.

She hesitated, trying to think of a reply that would allow her to leave quickly.

"Yes, quite lovely. I do hope you enjoy it. If you'll excuse me, I need to be going..."

[themaster]

The Master raised his eyebrow at the girl, who seemed so desperate to get away. It seemed, almost unusual, perhaps she was frightened of him. Now wouldn't he love for someone to be scared of him again. A fond memory of Harold Saxon danced through his mind. Ruling the world by fear was a good way to rule. He had had class then, better than Harriet Jones and her lot.

But memories would not assist this situation. With his overly clever tone of voice, his temptation and mystery were the two cards he was playing in this game. "Alright alien girl, run along then. But they'll catch you, and you'll wish they hadn't"

It was simple enough. Alien, she clearly was from her magic appearance and the missing ear, most humans were so vain as to have a prosthetic. And the second part? Oh that was just twisting what Torchwood does to create fear. She'd at least be watching her back from now on.

[quinnmcghann]

Quinn had turned to leave, but stopped as his words reverberated around the alley walls.

"Alright alien girl, run along then. But they'll catch you, and you'll wish they hadn't."

"Who are you calling alien, then?" she asked him, arms crossed in defiance. Those were fighting words. Alien was a word used by humans to describe anything that wasn't theirs. It was a strongly disrespectful term in its own right and on top of that generally referred to the stereotypical little green men; mortal beings of other places in the universe that were usually considered barbaric to human minds.
Sarcenets were beings of the vortex. If anything Quinn's kind were more comparable to those made-up beings of human philosophy: spirits, ghosts, angels and demons. She was not an alien by any definition of the word.

Besides feeling offended, Quinn was put off that this particular fellow was the one calling her out. He could hardly call himself human with the way he stood, the way he spoke. Humans were more fumbling in Quinn's experience, and even the most confident ones would crumble into uncertainty at a moments notice.

[themaster]

She spun around, arms folded. The Master smirked. He'd definitely pushed one of her buttons. "Oh I see that you don't like being called alien. Perhaps," He walked up to her, still as confident and arrogant as ever. "you could give me a name, or even a species if you don't like being personally identified. Or," He grinned, smugly. "I could just keep calling you alien.....alien." He was gleeful in the way he said it, because he knew it would tick her off. That's what he did, between plotting and doing evil, went around figure out people's button pushers and then pushing their buttons as he pleased.

His brown eyes stared at her. "You one of the weak ones, frightened of Torchwood?" He purred, raising an eyebrow questioningly. "or perhaps you're more like me. You don't care about that thuggish group, you're better than them. You're above the bald apes that totter about this planet like they own the universe."

His mind raced. He could do with a "companion". He needed muse for his evil plots. Wandering around doing nothing was boring, but he had no master plan (no pun intended) to speak of. If he had someone to help, well maybe that would prove helpful. His fingers drummed on his thigh as he watched this girl, trying to figure her out.

[quinnmcghann]

She wasn't about to give a name; technically she didn't have one. She was borrowing someone else's. And he hadn't given his own yet. That was supposed to be impolite, wasn't it?

Quinn didn't move as the fellow came closer, but gave a little frown.
"I don't know a Torchwood. And if anyone's an alien, it's you." Quinn turned her head to sniff the air, then gave an annoyed whine. "It's getting colder; would you look at that! I need to go." she muttered in frustration, mostly to herself. He was interesting, and she wondered what he was. But there were more important things at hand. Aliens could keep their own counsel: she was busy and didn't have time for this plain little fellow, no matter the mystery. She had business of her own to attend to.

"Well, goodbye, alien man. Good luck with.." she looked him up and down, but couldn't remember if he had really given a purpose "...well, Whatever."

She walked backwards a few steps as she spoke, then turned around and made her way out of the alley onto the sidewalk, trying to refocus herself on the dying energy spike. When she was finished with that, she might search the fellow out just to satisfy her own curiosity of what he was. A living being was to hard to trace. But that was only if what she was chasing after was not what she expected.