(Untitled)

[npcz]

At 3:00 in the afternoon, there's quite a crowd gathered at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park. Most of them look pretty much like any citizen of Chicago - all races, all ages from early teens up to the smattering of grey-haired but stalwart protestors, people from every apparent profession and walk of life. A few have shown up in their work

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[gotbottle]

Rachel is in the crowd, listening. And scowling, though she's doing her best to make it seem a thoughtful scowl, and not an I-oughtta-punch-somebody-in-the-testicles-for-this scowl. Even though that's really what she wants to do, hearing and seeing all this. It reminds her too much of what was going on at home, before she came through the Rift. She didn't like it there; she sure as hell doesn't like it here.

She sees one of the t-shirted volunteers roaming a bit away from where she's standing. Rachel murmurs a few polite words to get people to move and begins to cut through the crowd on an intercept course, intending to get a pamphlet, and some more information.

[buzz_me]

Daniel touches her shoulder. "Not today," he says, lowly, meant for her only. "Going up in front of an angry and murderous crowd is a good way to establish bravery, but it's a bad way to establish trust, and that's what any speaker for wanderers would have to have."

[gotbottle]

Rachel nods. She knows he's right; more than that, she knows it's those same self-destructive urges speaking through her right now. There's no point anyway, so might as well go for it, right?

Her hand goes up to touch his, where it rests on her shoulder. "I just hate seeing this happen all over again. I feel like I need to do something, if only to protect myself."

[buzz_me]

"They're not the only ones who are afraid," Daniel reminds her, quietly.

He considers this, for a moment. "Protecting yourself means eliminating the danger," he says, "and eliminating the danger doesn't mean eliminating the people who pose the danger."

[gotbottle]

"Okay," Rachel says, clearly interested. "How do I eliminate the danger, then, if I don't eliminate the people? How might they do it?"

[buzz_me]

Daniel shrugs. "There's no one way," he says. "Working from the inside, working from the bottom, working from the top. They can all work, it just depends on your abilities and your determination."

He's aware that now he sounds less like a businessman and more like a spy, but then, the business world can certainly be cutthroat.

[gotbottle]

"Oh, I'm determined," Rachel assures him.

She would've been anyway, but fighting off this... whatever it is that's settled over her as of late, well. She's needed something to cling to, to motivate herself to stick around, and this is hopefully going to fit the bill.

"I don't know about my skillset, but I'm a quick learner."

[buzz_me]

Daniel looks at her now, like he's seeing her in a new light.

"Then I'm sure we can think of something," he says. "Starting, importantly, with getting in these people's trust. Somehow."

[gotbottle]

Rachel nods gravely, surveying the crowd as another cheer goes up.

"I'm game if you are, Daniel," she declares. "I'll gladly figure something out with you."