Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #16
Seattle [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling idly, he walked the streets which were semi deserted since it was much later in the night and in the commercial district he was in, was closing down for the night, with only a few stores open at this late hour. Checking his watch, it was 10.30 right now and the Wakandan spies, as they could only be WarDogs to hide their traces so efficiently, have been following him for about half an hour now.
He had not done anything but walk around the commercial zone, listening to music in one ear and keeping a close watch on the movement all around him. He really hoped that they were not here to kidnap him or something. That would end really badly for them.
The dark deeds of Wakanda were not forgotten by him as he seemed to recall a program of Wakanda that dealt with foreign scientists and engineers who came too close to advancing the outside world. Wakanda maintained its lead over the rest of the world not just through advancements using the Vibranium and enjoying peace for basically all of its existence because of Black Panther but also because they deployed specialised teams to identify and kill the people who might end up posing a threat to their so-called advancement.
That made him so mad that he had half a mind to let himself get captured and go all the way back to Wakanda, just so he could tear down this facade, destroy a few buildings, assert dominance, and then force their king to end this policy and step down from his post to let kinder heads prevail.
Alas, that was just his youth speaking, if he were to borrow the words of Jin'Ya. The chibi dragon was useful in more ways than one, even when he was not making active use of the vast psionic expertise that the Dragon had. Even being someone with whom he could bounce ideas with was more than valuable enough.
He remembered debating this same thing with Jin'Ya, to use force and shocking secrets to essentially push T'Challa onto the throne early and let him guide Wakanda into becoming a force for good, something that was immediately shot down by Jin'Ya as the intricacies of their royal court was not known to him, neither was T'Challa's current behaviour.
If T'Challa took it the wrong way and chose to pursue revenge against him, then it would just be their efforts down the drain. In the end, after discussing with Jin'Ya, he had decided that letting them be was the best course of action for the moment, right up until the Wakandan people actually began spying on him.
Sighing as it was getting far too late for it to be reasonable, he turned directions and headed to the exit. He might not get reliable transportation after 11 PM, not that it would matter to him since he was not exactly worried for his safety.
Flagging a taxi, he told them the address to his apartment and closed his eyes, leaning back on the backseat. His enhanced senses picked up on them speaking in their native language for a while before that too was filtered out.
He cycled CHI in his body, as if on autopilot since it was something he did before sleeping since it helped destroy any toxins in his body that would then be flushed afterward. This new development was interesting.
Since they were not taking any overt actions, he could not do anything. Not like he could disappear from highly advanced surveillance they must be conducting on him, without any explanation, just to get to Ta-Lo. Even if it was very tantalising, just to think about the heavenly barbecue from Ta-Lo's meat supply. Hell, he couldn't even fathom why all of the people living in Ta-Lo were vegetarian. They literally used to waste all of that heavenly meat because most of their dietary requirements, and yes, even protein was taken care of by the plants that grew around the lake where their Water Dragon lived.
It was a vegan or a vegetarian bodybuilders paradise, as the plants in that place had more protein per unit weight than even the densest of protein sources available in the outside world.
"Keep the change," He paid the taxi and took in a breath of cold air as he waved at the doorman before entering his building. He has to go through three different security checks before he can reach his apartment door, which also has another lock. Overkill security, yes, but the area was filled with well to do people, and they appreciated the extra security that the building provided.
He stilled for a second as he heard Xhosa once more but this time, from the apartment next door. They were three people, one girl, and two older male, all of them speaking over each other furiously. He pretended that everything was normal and Wakandans had not just infiltrated the building where he lived, just so they could spy on him.
Opening the door and closing it, he sighed and went to the bedroom, not in the mood to do anything else. He was not hungry and while the enchantments told him that nobody had entered his apartment, he was not really looking forward to this.
Or maybe….
His lips curled into a sinister grin as he thought of what this could lead to.
'This could be the prime opportunity to troll people. MUAHAHAHA~'
Smiling like a loon, he entered his bedroom and laid down on it, pretending to sleep but focusing on his senses, entering a state he called sensory overdrive, where he focused on all his other senses and used CHI to supercharge them, allowing him to perform feats that he would normally be unable to.
He didn't normally use this because it left him vulnerable because he was pretty much out of it. It was like his body was focusing on the area far away from him but not close to him. In this state, unless something physically touched his body, he would not realise that something or someone was near him.
In this state, sense of time left him as well so it was not suitable for quick recon as well, only suitable for time periods where he was staying still for longer periods of time, like sleeping, for example.
CHI cycling removed the need for it so he could be extremely productive for over a week before the deliberating effects of sleep were felt by him, and even they were reduced month after month, to the point he theorised that he would be able to forego sleep for months, maybe years before he lost optimum performance.
Jin'Ya told him that even after all of that exhaustion, it might take less than eight hours of sleep for him to recover completely. That level of extreme experimentation wherein he pushed his body to the extreme was not something he was keen on doing, especially since he got by just fine as he was now.
His senses picked up on the movement right across the hall, with 5 people in the apartment, two more than he had picked up on before. Something was flying right outside his apartment window, very tiny but flying independently, and with the way it was moving, it was most definitely artificial.
A drone then.
He could pick up on sounds but not being fluent in Xhosa meant that he was unable to understand what they were speaking. Something was not right, this was not what a surveillance operation would be, even a long term ones.
Since it was not a smash and grab operation and they were establishing some sort of long term operation, they did not need so many people in a small apartment, all cramped up because that would just raise suspicion, on both his part and the people in the building.
Exiting his sensory state, he realised that he would not be able to keep things hidden from them while being in his apartment.
He cursed internally, keeping his eyes closed as he thought of something that could help him evade them when his ears picked up on some noise. It was the same girl's voice as before but it was very much more heated with all the other voices sounding deferential to the girl?
If he was right, his apartment was probably heat-mapped, as well as sound mapped completely. They didn't breach his apartment for some reason but it was probably only a matter of time before they did that as well.
"Damn," He had to figure out ways to bypass them but first of all, he had to meet them. After all, he still had about 15 days for his Stark Internship and he had nothing much to do before then, so might as well spend it trolling these people.
Or more realistically, finding out their goal since it did not seem as simple as assassinating a promising young Computer scientist who was poised to advance global computer standards.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username