The Pursuit of Knowledge (Open)

[Allen Daughtry]

Epistemology: The philosophical pursuit of knowledge.

In many ways, this single ambition acted as the driving force of the young, intelligent, at times brash man known in society as Allen Tyler Daughtry, the junior grade student that had arrived at Public High School #381 - a sect of the Mugen Hall Collective - and through his own circumstances, ended up arriving at a new school and environment on the other side of the country, at a place known as Hircine High. So naturally, having just spent the last six months coming to understand the workings of his old stomping grounds, to which he gained sufficient power and social relations. Now that he was attending a new school, however, the process had to begin again, and Allen Daughtry was pursuing the facts of the world around him once more.

Finding out information about a high school could be surprisingly simple, however.

"Man, fuck you!"

"What'd you say to me punk?!"

"I said FU--"

And there he went, crashing to the ground with a crooked nose and a small blood stain on his cheek...

Allen Daughtry sighed, having watched the verbal clash between the two rival students before violence dealt with their disagreement. For the past few days, the junior had spent his time around school hoping to pick up little snippets of back-story on the place here and there, hoping for the mouths of his fellow Hircinians to be generously loose with words, and after a few hours of chit chat, he was beginning to collect a small, simple picture of the school. Still, what little he knew was easily outweighed by the tremendous amount he still needed to gain, such as the facts of the former Captain Darren Blayne and his Pillars Shen, Branigan and Barzhad, or the tale behind the "Revelation" guys and their supposed uprising, or the rumors behind Principal MacMillan's death, or even who the local "good guys" were and who to look out for.

To say the least, Allen still had a lot of work ahead of him.

Watching silently as the aggressor in the fight in front of him started wailing his fist down on his opponent's gut, the crimson spit flying through the air, Allen decided that, after two days of subtle conversation, it was time to get the attention of someone that had some understanding of the school, and in the System, there was no better way than through domination in violence.

"How 'bout you move on with your life, chump." A plain and stony command spilled past the front lines of the crowd onto the ears of the attacker. His punching stopped instantly as his head picked up and starting glaring around him, searching for the guy daring enough to insult him. His victim lay dormant on the floor, out of energy and in need of a good fix from the nurse's office.

"Oh really? You think you can stop me, push me, shove me? Grow some balls and show your face!" The fighter was common at best, five-foot-eleven and looking to be more than one-hundred-seventy-five pounds, with dirty blond hair that was cut close to his scalp and dull brown eyes that had little character, with a rounded face and snarling lips, "Huh? You gonna show your face, or are you gonna be a pussy?!"

Allen smirked as he listened to the fool, his eyes brightening behind the dark shades that covered his cerulean eyes, and soon enough, his arms casually filtered forward to insert his body inside of the circle, a nonchalant stance holding up his worn leather jacket with a dark brown button up, German cross, stonewashed jeans and mahogany shoes. Glancing over to the thug with a widening grin, Allen shrugged and tossed his arms up to his sides.

"You see me now, plain as day; what are you gonna do about it? You gonna be a pushover, or are you gonna try your luck with me?"

Everyone knew what was going to happen: the guy would growl and jump forward trying to beat down Allen, and of course, another fight would ensue. And of course, the attacker complied with his end of the cliche.

'No surprise there.'

But Daughtry had no intention to have a prolonged fist match with some punk that wanted to beat down another student; so as the aggressor jumped forward with his lips pressed tightly, right fist flying towards Allen's body, the former Pillar prepared to break the student down with a series of rapid strikes.

First, Allen evaded the right punch by stepping back and grabbing the wrist with his own left hand, giving a slight twist to redirect his opponent's momentum and momentarily freeze him with a spike of pain. Second, and quite rapidly after the grab, Allen stepped inward to his opponent and sent a low jab to his gut with his right fist, forcing his head forward for a moment, which Daughtry responded to by sending his forehead into the attacker's nose, kicking his body backward. But Allen wasn't finished yet, as he planted his left left at the rear of his opponent's right foot, tugged his body to the right using the grip on his right arm, and shoved his torso with his left arm, causing the attacker to tumble forward into the lineup of lockers, his face thudding against the cheap metal. The damage nearly complete, Daughtry grabbed for his opponent's shoulders by placing his left palm against his right shoulder and lapping his left forearm across the top of his back, pressing him against the wall and holding his legs forward with his own left leg.

"Sorry that you had to be made an example of," Allen whispered into his ear as the boy grimaced in both pain and resistance, "But you know how first impressions can be, don't you?"

"You son of a... ugh, bitch...!"

Allen grinned to himself, and replied with a word and an action: "I thought you did," before placing his left hand onto the back of the boy's head and shoving it against the metal of the lockers three consecutive times, not enough to give him severe harm, but certainly enough to knock him out and break his nose in several places, before tugging him away from the wall and tossing him to the ground, his limp body sprawling across the tiled floor.

Watching the crowd around him for a moment and glancing at the small patter of red blood dripping across the locker near him, Allen checked the status of the attacker's victim from afar. He noted that, while the boy was clearly hurting, he was certainly conscious and able to care for himself, though likely not enough energy left in him to bring further pain to the attacker. Giving the crowd one more look-over, Allen pressed his shades over his eyes with his left hand and smirked widely, before making his way to the edge of the circle, intent on taking his leave from the scene, and hoping the word would get someone's attention.

Whether that attention was good or bad didn't matter. Allen just wanted his face to become known. It was, after all, for the sake of epistemology, of knowledge.

[chad]

Very ballsy.

Chase one of the faces in the crowd, looking on with the others at the spectacle. He was chewing gum, eyes looking dead ahead with the same lazy expression, hands in his pocket. A warm day, and he dressed accordingly; jean shorts that were actually quite long, a T-Shirt, and his Jordan 1’s. Oh yeah. High tops + shorts = sex. But enough about the man’s sex appeal; there’s a fight, remember? Chase grimaced as the newcomer thoroughly beat the boy inside and out. Shit, beaten and raped like a two buck hooker, Chase commented mentally without much emotion. Such scenes weren’t uncommon, per se, but this was especially brutal. And the assailant didn’t seem very pissed or anything. Playful, if anything.

Then, as suddenly as he had come, he began to make his leave, leaving the half-dead teenager just lying there. Chase felt what seemed to be a moment of sympathy for the boy, before it dissipated with curiosity; Chase wanted to know more about the boy. Besides, it was the kid’s fault for accepting the challenge. He could have followed in the steps of good men, and backed off. But his pride kept him going, and led to his downfall. Swiftly and surely, Chase broke away from the crowd, after Allen, while not appearing to go after him; more like their next destination required the same direction and route. His Jordan’s carrying him forward easily with a slight squeak each time, he easily fell in step with the boy, walking parallel with him. An easy way to get the person’s attention, and possibly have them talk to you, without doing anything yourself. And if they were a dick, and you fire it right back. So what? I’m going the same way, at the same speed.

Chase waited for a reaction of some sort, and if he didn’t, Chase would say something first. “Nice moves.”

[Allen Daughtry]

'All too easy.'

Allen had to spend quite a bit of effort to stop himself from grinning widely at his accurate prediction. As he had thought, brutally taking down a violent student would become a flare of curiosity and entertainment to the passing and onlooking students and bystanders, instantly dragging along at least one person with a source of information that they either wanted to spill for the sake of asking questions in return, or out of respect.

Or Allen would have to beat it out of a new aggressor, in any case, it gave the same end.

In any case, as he continued his casual march forward, another student began to follow him on a parallel vector, making his own attempts to act subtly uninterested in Allen, and for a few moments Daughtry believed it, but as the parallel stroll became too clear, the boy knew that the strange wanted something, and when he commented on Allen's combative skill, he simply grinned.

"Whose saying?" Daughtry replied coyly, interested in finding out his new companion's name before moving on at all.

[chad]

"Whose saying?"

"......."

For a second, Chase wasn't quit sure what to say. What did this kid mean, exactly. He was asking something along the lines of "Who said that," that's for sure, but wasn't it obvious? The kid right next to him? No. He probably wants a name. "Chase," he said. And if that wasn't what Allen was asking, he could always play it off like it slipped out or something.

Still keeping pace with the student, he stared straight ahead, not looking at who he was talking to. Very rude, of course, but Chase was never a polite one. "They're a dime a dozen," Chase commented, referring to the thug he'd just laid the smackdown on. "Are you here to sweep 'em out?" he asked, jokingly, but of course, there were always people who felt it was their duty to do such things.

[Allen Daughtry]

'Chase...'

Allen absorbed the eventual name spoken out, almost in a casual, natural manner from the boy strolling next to him, and made a personal note to place the name on the face of his companion for future reference. Depending on how the following situation followed, Daughtry may be lucky enough to pass the name and face through short term memory and into the permanent etching of his mind.

He continued to walk onward, acting as if his interest was the path ahead of him instead of the man beside him or the crowd flanking them in the distance. His hands were slipped into his jacket pockets, eyes lazily gazing forward behind his opaque ebony shades, and his face was falling back onto its natural frown, considering there were no emotions running through his body to command otherwise. Yet, while his physical form was ridiculously laid-back, his mind was sharp, focused, aware. He was searching for something.

He just wasn't sure what that 'something' was yet. That's why he broke the nose of the aggressor in the first place; to get the attention of students like Chase so that he could find out what the deal was with Hircine High, and find that 'something' that would give him motive, purpose, initiative. Even though he had some already, considering a particular girl and a particular employer.

Furthermore, Allen listened to Chase's added comment, and grinned when he decided on his reaction. The sudden change in his facial expression was consistent, but with his ivory teeth brightly shown, it was clear that he found the idea amusing. Following this was a verbal response.

"Depends Chase; if this school needs someone to sweep through and deal with the violent students, and if the school likes me enough and I like it in return, than perhaps I can be that someone that collects the dimes and buy something nice in return. But I don't really know enough about the school to take that role for the sake of charity, and even then, I get the gist that the violent students around here are the least of everyone's worries. Savvy?"

Allen then, rather abruptly, stopped walking forward, ending his step with a quiet tap and turning his torso and head towards his companion, placing his entire focus on Chase.

"I'll be blunt with you man; I need information on everything you know on this place and the place next door. The folks that run around and claim they've go the power, the kids with the heaviest fists or the largest heads, maybe even the guy that everyone thinks is insane or ought to be put down. I'm looking to get myself acquainted with the good 'Hircine High' so we can have a nice, leisurely relationship. So, if you could be that source of facts, then you'd have my gratitude... or my pay, whichever you want or like, got me?"

[chad]

“Right.”

What Chase really wanted to say was, “You’re full of shit,” but he knew, after seeing the display of this kid’s impressive firepower, that it was prudent to hold his tongue. Besides, he might reveal something beneficial. And to be honest, Chase didn’t really like putting his opinions out there. In a world as opinionated as this one, someone, somewhere, was going to go after you. You sound like a fucking saint. Even after you just prepared a funeral for that guy. But Chase could see where he was coming from. Thugs like the guy from before didn’t learn unless someone was made an example of. And even then; they’d still go ahead with their shenanigans.

“Good. I don’t like pussyfooting,” Chase said with a smile, when Allen decided to be blunt.

After hearing Allen’s proposal, Chase stopped and thought about it. This could definitely benefit both of us. Well, more me than him. Hrm. Chase rubbed his chin as he thought, looking out the window. “Well. I don’t know how much use I can be. But if Benjamin’s are involved, then so am I.” He chuckled. “And I’m not exactly the strongest guy on the block. So a bit of your gratitude works in my favor as well, I suppose.”

[Allen Daughtry]

"Pussyfooting... heh, that's a new one." Allen grinned with a bit of a laugh at Chase's comment, but kept quiet for a moment as the man briefly explained his own position in the situation. Essentially, Allen wasn't surprised; most people would expect payment via currency in return for information, and felt dark amusement at the high bar of cost.

'Fuck, with how the economy is now, I can't afford to pay this guy more than fifty bucks... he's gonna have to lower his hopes.'

Considering Chase was far from the most reliable source at the moment and appeared to be without combative advantage, Allen decided he'd barter with the man before continuing on the discussion of information.

"Ben and I haven't seen each other in a long time, especially since I just moved here..." Allen retorted with a glance away, before turning back, "The best I can do is a few Jacksons... and a promise that if you're ever in need of a guardian angel, I'll be the arm that pulls you out of the fire. You happy with that? I'll expect all you know on the school in return, obviously."

[chad]

“Well, I didn’t know any other way to put it.”

Not exactly. Chase did in fact know plenty of alternatives, but sometimes, it simply felt right to say one thing. Not a very safe thing to do, of course, but Chase couldn’t see the danger in this. He listened to Allen’s words; he was an honest guy, sure, but Chase wasn’t about to rob the man. Was information valuable? Yes, it’s the most valuable thing. But for a cause like this, Chase wasn’t expecting much. Maybe twenty bucks at most. Hell, he’d have done it for free if Allen didn’t offer him.

Well, the source of forbidden information Chase was thinking of wasn’t exactly the safest, and it was good a fighter like Allen was going to be around. Hmm, this brings back old memories…., Chase recalled, months, earlier. Or was it years? Chase tried hard to forget about that incident. But eventually, he’d given up. You couldn’t escape that.

“I’m not an encyclopedia. But I know how to get information,” Chase said, resuming walking again. “And I know where.”

[Allen Daughtry]

OOC: Shit, this is gonna be pretty short, but at least we're moving forward.

IC: 'I'll take that as a yes then.'

Allen allowed a smirk to rise over his lips as Chase began to walk forward once again, and after catching up by taking a few steps of his own to remain parallel with his companion, Daughtry nodded to himself.

'A particular place? What's that all about? Sure, obviously he's not the local archive on Hircine itself, but I'm guessing he'll do just fine for me to get the basics are start moving forward.'

Allen side glanced Chase a few moments later, confirming his own commitment to the deal, "That's fine; just take me to this 'where' you're talking about, and we'll see what can be bought and discussed, all right?"

[chad]

((Yeah, this’ll be brief.))

“Hrm. Best not to talk about it here.”

Chase was acutely aware of the curious glances and whispers following them. After all, wasn’t it a strange sight? A dope dealer and brawler conversing peacefully. One for the books. “And it’s not ‘This where,’ it’s ‘These where’s.’ And of course, we can barter.” Chase stopped by his locker and motioned for Allen to wait a second. Damn, I feel like a friggin’ queer. He unlatched his lock and took out a piece of paper and pen. “Give me a ring when you’re ready.”

Hopefully, he's not ready now...

[Allen Daughtry]

'These where's? What the hell is he talking about? Is he referring to people?'

Allen had to privately admit that Chase was confusing him a good deal. It made sense that they could not speak so openly in the hallway, and for that reason Allen was ready to follow Chase into a less populated section of the school building to deal with his information. But Chase appeared to suggest that they weren't looking for a search of information per se, but a number of different individuals; did Chase have contacts, or was he planning to interrogate random students?

In any case, when Chase reached his locker, Allen stood quietly at his right side, staring at him, surprised by the suggestion that Allen planned on waiting any period of time for the information. He nodded at the man, before placing his arms over his chest and spoke back, "Chase, I'm ready to find these facts now. I'd like to get this done so I can move on. So, can you take me to these places you're talking about, or do I need to find someone else?"

[chad]

((Sorry for the wait. Compy broke down.))

"...."

Chase sighed. It seemed he didn't get it yet. Well, Chase was being rather ambiguous, but he liked to have some degree of finesse with his words. He didn't want to put it too bluntly, but it seemed Allen wouldn't get it otherwise. Plus, money was at stake. Always about the Benjamin's. He shut his locker and turned to face Allen. "We have to wait for school to get out, and the rats to retreat into their holes first," he said softly. "Before we can.... freely talk with them." Of course, he and Allen could simply break into classrooms and start beating people up for information, but it'd look dumb, and above all else, the Pillars were going to have their asses on a grille.

"If you're in a hurry, wait until after school."

[Allen Daughtry]

'Wait a minute, we're not even speaking with a single informant, but just interrogating people? I was looking for someone to fill me in from a single source, not a multiple number of rumors and unreliable people. And he expects me to pay him for that?'

Allen wasn't happy with the answer. He had been hoping that Chase would be the singular source of information from the start, one that would tell him the facts upfront and would receive payment for it. Then the boy told him that they needed to speak discreetly at another location, possibly with a single informant - something Allen hadn't planned, but he could deal with. But now Chase was telling him that they were not only going to pursue random shadowy students and collect information from them, and worse, Allen would have to wait for an entire school day to get it.

'Christ, I could have done that myself! It would have taken me some time to find out who the guys in particular are, but I don't need to pay Chase to do something I can...'

A frown of gritted teeth passed over Allen's face, and he glanced away as his nostrils flared in frustration, before he turned back and spoke, "I'm going to pay you for something I could have done myself? Are you kidding me? Just tell me where and --"

But Allen stopped his words, glancing down to the floor and exhaling deeply, before tossing up his left hand into the air to swipe away the thought, "Never mind, whatever. I'll meet you here after last period. But Chase: this better be good, or we're gonna have problems, because as you saw with the asshole from down the hall," Allen thumbed to the area behind him, "I'm damn good at talking with the dirty, all right?"

Allen held his frown as he turned on his heel and began to stroll down the hall, glancing at his watch to check the time, seeing that he was a minute late for class, before sending another comment back to Chase before his leave, "And I'm retracting the offer for help around school until I'm satisfied with the results."

Turning his attention back to the hallway ahead, face scrunched in annoyance, Allen kept his pace square ahead of him, intent on attending his classes as usual. But once the final class was through, he'd be making his way back to the meeting place, to wait for Chase.

OOC: Hey, go ahead and lead the two to the first guy when you post, okay? Just go ahead and meet Allen at the alloted time and do as you well, it'll save us time.