The airport shuttle stopped in front of the Atlas Park Excelsior ("the finest hotel in Paragon City!") and disgorged its load of laughing, chattering tourists. As they milled around, claiming their bags, the final rider stepped off the bus, moved off to the side, and looked around. The tall, redheaded young woman, self-contained and aloof, simply adjusted the satchel she carried over one shoulder and started walking toward the large statue she could see rising in the near distance.

While she walked through the bright spring sunshine, she looked around, taking in the city in which she found herself, apparently oblivious to the somewhat askance looks she received from the people she passed. Oblivious, that is, until a sharp cry rang out from the alley between two older apartment buildings. Even as the other people on the street scattered, she quickened her steps, following the sound.

"You ruffian! Let go! You have no right, no right at all!" A white haired, older woman was holding onto the strap of her handbag, tugging with all of her might, "If I were ten years younger, you would be heading for the Zig right now, you scoundrel!"

"Yeah, yeah, hand it over, granny." A young man in ragged leather was holding on to the other end of the purse, and obviously not impressed. "I got something to prove, and you ain't gonna stop me."

The redheaded newcomer took two steps forward, then, with a carefully aimed side-kick, sent a foot flying into the would-be mugger's knee. He yelled, released the purse, and rounded on the taller woman, lashing out with an inexpert, and badly aimed, punch. Casually, almost contemptuously, she easily stepped aside, and followed with her own punch, leaving the young man unconscious on the ground. Shaking her head, the victor turned away to face the old lady, and observed with some concern as the woman attempted to rise out of the ancient couch she had fallen into.

"Madam," the young woman offered a helping hand, "are you all right?"

"Don't mind me, girl! Tag that hooligan and get him off to the Zig before he wakes up and runs away!" Despite her words, the white haired woman took the offered hand and the help up, but her eyes narrowed as the young woman before her looked at her in confusion. "Well, girl? What kind of hero are you, then? Send him off!"

"Send him off to where, madam? What is 'the Zig'?" The redhead broke off, her eyes wide as she looked at the other in consternation. "I am not a hero! It is just not right for someone to attack a person who cannot fight back."

"Oh dear, oh my. What's the Zig? Not a hero?" The older woman dug through her purse, mumbling about arrest tags, then triumphantly pulled out what looked like a red plastic zip-tie. "Ah, there! I thought I still had a few of these in here. Put this on him, child, and the arrest transport system will pick him up. You'll come with me; we'll have a nice cup of tea and get you all straightened out, figure out what to do with you. Now, my name is Rose. Climbing Rose, I was, back in the day! Oh, I never got a very high security level, but I didn't mind. My dear husband and I, we took care of thugs like that one, and helped our neighbors in ways that the big fellows always seemed to overlook. Come along, dear, don't be shy. What did you say your name was?"

The young woman straightened up from fastening the tag to the mugger's wrist, settling her satchel more comfortably on her shoulder again as she listened to this torrent of words from Rose. As the older woman finally paused, apparently waiting for an answer, the redhead blinked once and quietly replied, "Sin's Day." A pause, then "Where did he just go?" The mugger had vanished from sight.

"I told you," came the somewhat impatient reply, "he was picked up by the arrest system. That's why you placed the arrest tag on his wrist, to activate the teleport beacon. Not that it will help much; he'll probably be out again tomorrow. Cindy, you said? Well, come along then, Cindy, my sister has a lovely little shop around here, it's where I was headed you know, when that hooligan came out of nowhere…."

Sin's Day followed Rose in some bemusement, wondering if the older lady ever actually stopped talking or if it simply took the place of breathing for her. The fact that Rose had gotten her name wrong didn't particularly disturb her, since the last time someone had asked for her name, they had tried to kill her directly afterwards. Simply getting it wrong had to be a step up from that.

For her own part, Rose was deeply concerned about the young woman following her, and her chatter was primarily designed to make her seem entirely harmless. These days, about all she could do was perk up the flowers she tended in her little courtyard garden and get a general sense about her potential tenants. Her sister, on the other hand, still worked regularly with heroes and was generally able to give a very good psychic read on people, even though she had never been a hero herself. Rose hoped Iris could tell something about this young woman with the distant look in her slate gray eyes, and they could decide together whether to turn her over to Freedom Corp, or Longbow.

"… and the roast beef is just delightful, you look as if you haven't had a good lunch yet today you know, so I insist on buying one for you in thanks. And you simply must have a dish of the double-chocolate ice cream afterwards, it's churned right here, Iris' own recipe…" Rose pulled the door to the corner restaurant open, then stopped short in the entry as Sin's voice quietly floated over her.

"What is 'chocolate'? And 'ice cream'?"

Rose turned to look up at Sin's Day. "Child, where have you been living that you don't know what chocolate and ice cream are? Under a rock?"

"No, Madam Rose. On top of one."

Iris, coming out to seat her guests, was just in time to hear this exchange between her sister and her sister's newest find. She graced Rose with a rather old-fashioned look, and then led the two to one of the enclosed tables at the back of the restaurant. While Sin's Day glanced around the mini-dining room that made Parker's Place one of the most comfortable places to dine for the elite and recognizable, Rose and Iris had a quick, quiet discussion, which only outwardly involved food.

You brought another stray in? Iris' mental voice felt dry as dust to Rose.

Actually, this time, she rescued me. I, ah, was mugged. A mental blush accompanied this confession. She came along and helped, and she doesn't even know what a registered hero is! And she said her name is Sin's Day, of all things.

I thought you said Cindy?

That's rather less disturbing, although she certainly didn't react at all. It's possible that's actually her name, and she's trying to be dangerous, although somehow I don't think so. Especially since… Iris, something about her accent bothers me.

I didn't notice an accent?

That's part of what bothers me.

Iris nodded to Rose, and stepped out of the room for a moment. When she returned, she had a tray with a pitcher of water, glasses, and three place settings. "If you two don't mind, I think I'll take my lunch with you. We have a large reservation this evening, and it's going to be quite busy; I won't have another chance to eat until afterwards." She smiled at Sin's Day "Besides, if Rose tries to explain everything, you'll be hopelessly confused for months. Now, Cindy, what did you mean about living on a rock?"

Sin's Day drew a breath. "I was raised in a temple on a mountain," she carefully answered, "It was a considerably different environment. And, I am sorry, Madam Iris, Madam Rose, but my name... it is Sin's Day, not Cindy. It was, it is, not my choice, but it is my name."

Rose fluttered a little, her hands making distressed motions. "But Sin's Day sounds so disquieting, so violent and unkind! Surely, you don't wish to keep it! Cindy is a much kinder name."

"It is meant to be violent, unkind, and disquieting, but I have no other name. Cindy is not…" the young redhead broke off as a discreet bell chimed in the room, followed shortly by a pair of waitresses bearing trays of food. When they had left, Iris took up the thread of conversation.

"I believe I have a compromise." She wrote a word on a napkin: CENDE. "Pronounce it SIN-DAY, all together. It maintains your identity, but without the violence of your... your temple name?" She looked intently at Sin's Day. "I can usually sense a great deal about people, but you, somehow, are mostly closed to me. However, I do get the impression that you are seeking your own way, your own path to understanding. Perhaps the first place to start is by leaving behind the labels that were placed on you by others, and choosing your own."

A startled expression crossed Sin's Day's face, and she abruptly became very interested in her plate. Rose and Iris exchanged glances and, by mutual agreement, switched subjects to explaining the hero registry system in Paragon City, complete with medical beacons, arrest tags, and citizen appreciation chits.

"For some reason, they've been called 'influence' or 'prestige' recently, because some folks think the more of them you have, the better a hero you are." Rose snorted. "Nonsense. It's just to help the heroes out a bit. Can't have a hero on welfare, after all. Heroes turn in the chits at the Town Hall for regular money, then they get to buy groceries. Heck, ever since town hall started publishing the exchange rate some merchants take them, just to help the heroes out a little. Everyone gets a few, twice yearly with the census. Some people buy more, either because they're prone to getting into more trouble, or because they like giving the heroes a bit more. It's a good system."

"But, Madam," Sin's Day began, when Iris gently interrupted her.

"I'm terribly sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but are you an android perhaps? Or a cyborg?" At the younger woman's look of complete confusion, Iris explained further, "It's your speech, you see. You're terribly formal, and you have the oddest way of speaking, almost as if a computer had taught you English."

In wordless reply, Sin's Day dug into her shoulder bag and came out with a slim, multi-CD case entitled Learn to Speak English in 31 Days (with Citadel).

"Oh! Oh my, oh dear! I guess a computer did teach you how to speak!" This from Rose, who could barely contain her giggles.

"I only got to day 24," came the quite serious reply. "I believe colloquialisms are today. I take it I should pay close attention?"

"May I see that?" requested Iris, who promptly relieved the girl of her learning materials. "Hm. Yes. Do pay attention. Also, go back to day 16 and repeat the part about contractions; I think you may have missed some. And re-do this section about addressing women on day 3, please. Madam is old-fashioned and has fallen out of use; it's ma'am, now, or Ms., and if someone gives you their first name but not their last, it's generally considered acceptable to call them by their given name. So, you may call me Iris and her Rose."

"Oh. Thank you… Iris." Reclaiming her CD case, Sin's Day put it back in her satchel, and looked up at the older women, "I am not a hero. I just need to learn what it means to be a human. I was given to understand that this place, this Paragon City, would be a good place to do that. But you both think that I should register as a hero, that I would learn of myself by doing so. Why?"

Rose smiled and gave the first, and simplest, answer that came into her head, "Because you think that it's just not right for someone to attack a person who can't fight back."

Iris gave a matching smile. "That sounds like a hero to me."

Sin's Day drew a deep, if still reluctant, breath. "All right then. Where do I go to become Cende?"