17422/A Quick Swim on a Warm Day

A Quick Swim on a Warm Day
Date of Scene:	14 March 2024
Location:	Long Island
Synopsis:	Caleb, His sister, and Monet meet Lorena after a nice swim in the ocean.
Cast of Characters:	Lorena Marquez, Monet St. Croix, Caleb Dykstra

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Lorena Marquez has posed:
It is unseasonably warm on this late winter/early spring day. Warm enough to make one want to go out and go for a swim really. Well that is at least the thought of a new resident to New York City's Long Island. That resident is Lorena Marquez. She had a busy day at school and on her way home, it just felt like the ocean was calling to her. She had lived on the west coast up until a few months ago so this is a whole new ocean for her. She left school, dropped her bags off at home and took off running to the shore.

Once on the shore line, she kicked off her shoes and rushed into the sea. The water rushed over her and her gills filled with water. She breathed deep the sea water as she swam around. It felt good to just enjoy the water even if it was a little cold. She swam for a few hours. But as the sky started to grow darker, she figured it was time to go home. So she swam back to shore. Thankfully her shoes are still there as she gets them back on and looks around and takes in the sights of the city.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The weather is about as normal as can be appreciated for this time of year. Well, less appreciated and more tolerated. Monet has come to find this among many, many tasteless things within the city. The weather cannot settpe within an acceptable range, and must seem to spike about more out of spite than anything else. Well, the girl has plenty of spite so what's one more thing to carry the torch?

As she goes out, she sees the woman racing over out of the water. Well that's a brave one.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Well, sometimes, you just got to use the things you buy. Enjoying some downtime after a pop quiz at Happy Harbor, Caleb took his time to get himself his wetsuit and take it for some use. How? Well, gotta appreciate stand-up paddle, which he brings down, fully inflated, from a jeep. Beside him, his kid sister came as well, she too using a wetsuit, and equally a paddle board for her smaller size. They reach the water's edge, and they tighten their leashes to their feet. The girl's observant eye of her big brother is clear indication she's learning the tools of the trade.

He looks at the girl coming out of the water, Lorena, and looks at the sky. "We won't have much time for this. Half an hour... An hour at the most."

Sheila looks at him, annoyed, "You took a while on the phone..."

"I did. And if we don't get it right today, we'll be back in the weekend."

Lorena Marquez has posed:
Lorena smiles to the people present. First to the brother and sister in dive suits. She herself wasn't in a dive suit. She had jumped in wearing her street clothes! So needless to say she is totally soaked and the temperature outside is just starting to drop. Is she nuts? "Hiya! Careful the water is cold!" She exclaims to the two.

Her attention then goes to the other girl present. She gives a wave showing some friendliness to them. The Mexican American girl smiles to them. "Hola!" She calls out as she gets her shoes on. "I was just doing some swimming. It is a good day for it!" She smiles.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Caleb and his companion. Oh, the two of them again. They seemed to have nearly as much bad luck as Spider-Man when it came to things in her experiences. She would glance over at them and give a low nover and then glance at Lorena, "MOst of us would likely wait a few more months for that. Much less wanting to go in the /Hudson/." She had standards. There were reasons she would not set foot in the Sienne no matter how picturesque it was.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Hey!", Caleb greets. "It is? Our wetsuits would swear otherwise." He looks at Lorena, who is fashionably underdressed for water at 55 F, "...Aren't you cold?"

He notices Monet approaching, and offers her a wave.

Lorena Marquez has posed:
Lorena smiles and shrugs. "The cold doesn't bother me so much anymore. I enjoyed the swim though. I was in there for a few hours. It felt good to just swim you know? Plus getting to swim in this ocean was nice. I'm used to swimming in the Pacific." She smiles. "I'm from San Diego originally." She smiles. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lorena." She smiles to him and his kid sister.

Then she turns her attention to Monet. Confused she points in the opposite direction of the the ocean towards the Hudson. And then points at the Atlantic. "I umm I was swimming in the Atlantic. Not the Hudson." She shudders. "I'd be afraid to breathe in the Hudson. So much junk in it. Yuck!" She shakes her head. "Maybe I should make it my life's purpose to clean the Hudson." Of course, it would take much more than one lifetime to actually make a dent in that particular river.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance at Lorena, "This is still Hudson Bay." SHe was quibbling. Geographically speaking, it -was- the Atlantic Ocean. But it still had runoff from both New YOrk and from New Jersey. So that made it the same to her. "I see. I hope that you enjoyed.." She would shake her head over.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
The math rings out in Caleb's head as Lorena speaks. "So, you have the ability to breathe underwater and survive in the ocean?" He wonders. "Like, an Atlantean?"

Sheila shakes her head. "Better life purpose is to slow down pollution", she says to Loerna. "No ecossystem remains intact from humanity's interference. Mitigation is the best course..."

This earns the little ecologist a look from Caleb.

"Well, I doubt Atlantis would be very happy with our stewardship of the seas", he corrects. "Taking measures to correcting a problem is only good form, here."

He looks at Monet, wondering if she'll provide something to his opinion.

Lorena Marquez has posed:
Lorena nods, "Yep! Am I like an Atlantean? I've not met any of them so I don't really know. I hope I can meet them someday. I can breathe under water though and I can survive the ocean. I don't know how deep I can swim but I can swim pretty fast too." She smiles a little before turning her attention to Sheila. "You are right. If you saw how much is in the water though you would agree it really needs cleaned up too. I think your friend here is right. I'm pretty sure the Atlanteans would be annoyed. Especially once they saw the Hudson!" She shudders a little and smiles.

She looks back at Monet and smiles at her. "I thought the bay was further away. Anyway it doesn't matter. Swimming was fun and I was having some fun! I mean its a lot of fun to dive down deep into the ocean and just see what is there. Its an adventure!" She smiles brightly.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Lorena thoughtfully. "Have you always been this way? ANd primarily lived on land if not entirely?" Musing. "If so while it's possible you could be an Atlantean, it is unlikely. It is.. Rare for those of thier culture to spend their lives on the surface world, detatched from their own kind." What's a very, very polite way of calling them xenophobic?
    "It's likelier an adaptation of your body." Mutant or mutate, or something else along those ways.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
"Well, I can't really subscribe to what adventures would be at the bottom of the hudson. I mean...", he shrugs. "From rusted oil cans to plastic to latex objects best unnamed..."

He finds himself shuddering. Maybe it's the cold - or the thought of all diseases could be down there.

He looks at Lorena. "You could be a mutant..." He raises his hand immediately, "Which is fine by me, really. People are what they are."

Lorena Marquez has posed:
Lorena looks down. Her smile drops as she takes a deep breath. "I'm not a mutant. About two years ago I was kidnapped. The kidnappers had a purpose in mind. They wanted to experiment on someone. On me. That's what they did too. I was poked and prodded with needles and God knows what else. They injected me with stuff. It went on for months. I guess they got tired of me because they put me in the back of car. I had a hood on my head. Was bound and gagged so I couldn't see. I couldn't talk or anything. They dropped me off out front of a diner and drove off. Some people helped me and called the police who called my parents."

She sighs. "I found out that I had physically changed shortly after. They kept me mostly unconscious for my stay with them." She tears up a bit. "I changed a lot. I'm a lot more dense then I used to be. A lot stronger too. I just I hate that I had my body manipulated like I was some sort of guinea pig."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod thoughtfully over. Her head would cock as her expression would shift to an unspoken 'interesting'. Unspoken in the fact that stating so was rather morbid. Nodding in agreement at 'not a mutant'. Not peppering the girl iwth more questions on the matter. "You seem to have.. Adjusted well in spite of it." Though the girl was still going about and swimming in the Atlantic adjunct to New Jersey.

Still, the girl was taken and then dropped off for a reason rather than kept as a subject. SHe resists the urge to pry into the girl's mind more.

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb listens to the hispanic girl's reply, a scowl forming on his face. "Unauthorized genetic tampering." He almost spits, "Obscene."

His eyes drift towards Sheila, wondering if this is not one of the evils of the world he has to protect her from, now. Sheila remains very silent, actually knowing what Caleb is thinking.

He looks back to Lorena, "Were the guys who pulled that stunt that ever caught?"

Lorena Marquez has posed:
"No." Lorena shakes her head. "Never caught. Never heard anything from them. It was all done and they just got away with it." She sighs. "There are no clues. No nothing. They covered their tracks too well." She shakes her head.

Then to Monet she responds, "What choice did I have. I couldn't let that time ruin my life. I had to adjust. I still have a fear of needles from it. I also have nightmares about it." She shakes her head. "Imagine my surprise though when I went swimming and could suddenly dive really deep and right when I started gasping for air, water filled my gills and I was able to breathe without surfacing. Not to mention being able to swim a whole lot faster than I ever swam before. I'd try out for the Olympics but that would be cheating."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod thoughtfully, agreeing over with Caleb in the matter. Glancing over at Sheila subtly - this seemed a bit beyond what a girl this age should have to hear about and listen to. Was this what the world was becoming? Or rather, had long since been?
    "Everything is cheating. Look at it as taking advantage of your innate abilities."

Caleb Dykstra has posed:
Caleb changes the subject, trying to put it aside. "Sorry. I never introduced myself. I'm Caleb Dykstra, and this is my kid sister, Sheila."

"Hi!", she greets. "And your powers are pretty cool!"

Caleb smiles, "Sheila actually likes the water. Not so long ago, our school planned a field trip to the national aquarium. She kept talking about wanting to see - and swim - with the sharks."

"It would've been a fun experience, Caleb..."

He shakes his head, "No. Dolphins are fun. Sharks see you as a seal."

She sulks, looking at her bungee cord.

Lorena Marquez has posed:
"I have gills. I can swim faster than a Miata!" Lorena laughs. "I would totally be cheating if I went for the Olympics."

She turns her attention to Caleb and smiles. "A pleasure to meet you Caleb. You too Sheila." She smiles. "Swimming with sharks may not be the best thing to swim with unless you are in a shark cage." She shrugs. "I mean I swim with them but I can also punch them in the nose a lot harder than most people if they think I look like a seal. Dolphins are fun. They are silly swimmers. They like to play with puffer fish!" She smiles.

"I should probably get going. My parents are going to wonder where I am." She gets out her phone which is in a plastic bag. "Good It didn't break. I didn't go deep enough for that to happen... again." She winces and quickly calls her parents and lets them know she will be right home. "Have a good swim and see you around!"