(2) - Dawn of the Metahumans

Game Master mdt

Known Metas | Tutorial | Former Masonic Temple | Teletran III

Jungle Encounter 001


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Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Donation and Assistance hotlines are always open in cases of national emergency, and I'm pretty sure this counts as one, so that's the route I was suggesting the people back at Sinclair start taking.


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

Ah, ok, I thought you were trying to get through to someone who could get you past the blockades. If you're just doing the hotline calls....

Violet's people are informed that the closest relief center that's accepting donations is the Barstow High School Relief Center on the Barstow High School campus.


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Past The Blockades is the ultimate goal, yes, but we can start there. Once we get to the "you can donate at the High School," we can move up to getting clearance for the regional center, and on up the chain, etc etc... Basically delegate it as far as we can and then use my mind tricks when necessary.


Male Energy Projector (fire)

As the news reports come in, Barry busies himself on his laptop, looking for the latest updates, information from folks in the area bulletin boards, even seeing what extra stuff he can get from folks who might've filmed all this material on their smartphones. He'll check the usual public resources, before checking the darknet. He'll update folks as he gets more information.

As time wears on, and reports of some sort of disease running rampant gets reported, Barry grows rather quiet, and his face darkens. He fires off a slew of emails to friends and family, checks Facebook, as his thoughts center around one thing…

Mom…are you okay?


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

Barry finds a few videos that look like they were shot by people in the stadium, all shakey and grainy. They pop up and go back down quickly as the government orders them taken down or the companies owning the sites do so, which is which is hard to tell at this point.

One video shows a woman in red long coat and armor with a giant scythe going toe to toe with the black skull figure, who's guitar has morphed into a scythe as well, the two scythes whirling like blades on a plane, flashing in the sunlight and eldritch energy crackling into the grass, leaving it brown and dead.

Another image shows a man in a bomber jacket and jeans with a tan mask on his face floating in mid air, pointing at the horribly disfigured man that was eating people, and the disfigured man is writhing on the ground screaming in pain.

Another clip shows a woman in combat fatigues with red camo pattern firing a rocket launcher at a man with stone for skin, and the stone skinned man flying backwards, bits of blood and stone flying away from the blast.

The most important one he finds, which also vanishes almost as fast as it appears, is a clip of a blonde man in a long leather jacket and shades walking onto the field. He then begins moving around the field in flashes, sometimes driving a fist into someone, sometimes pulling his shades down to send red or blue or green beams into people. He attacks indiscriminately, hitting the four horsemen, or the ones fighting them, with no regard. Within 30 seconds, all of them are down and unconscious. A second man, a younger man with dark hair and a top hat appears in the video, doffs his top hat to the man, and then waves a wand over the top hat, and he and the four horsemen all vanish in a pulse of black energy. The man with the shades looks directly at the camera, then vanishes in a puff of black smoke. As the phone swings back and forth, a woman with wild hair and a leather jacket and a do-rag over her face appears and vanishes next to each of the remaining combatants, each time she vanishes another combatant vanishes.


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

Computer Programming: 13 - 3d6 ⇒ 13 - (2, 2, 2) = 7
Things on the Internet: 14 - 3d6 ⇒ 14 - (2, 1, 6) = 5

Meanwhile, Pulse focuses her attention on finding any of the collateral damage, quickly working through building a program to help her filter through the news sites and corrrelate data to get the most 'real' responses, all while storing everything she can on her personal hard drive.

Primarily, she focuses on what information is available on the plague, but doesn't limit herself to just that... and watches as the program continues to gather information and give her an RSS-style feed of information. She'll forward bits of data to Blaze's PC to share with the others as she goes.


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

Pulse:

Pulse manages to get some video of some of the sick people from the stands, and cross-referencing the visible symptoms she comes up with several illnesses she thinks may be involved. Several people were bleeding from eyes and noses and throwing up blood, which looks like advanced Ebola or Hemorragic Fever. Others had obvious gangrene setting in, as if they had advanced cases of Bubonic Plague. She also identifies several people with what looks horrifically like Smallpox in advanced stages. The rest are just a blur of vomiting, coughing, jaundice, and other displays. Many have symptoms of multiple diseases simultaneously.


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Violet, who has been sneaking peeks over Barry's shoulder, cringes.

"Please tell me that wasn't The Magician. Was that The Magician? That son of a..."


Mighty Morpher Martial Artist
Basic Stats:
DCV/OCV/ECV 9/9/5 DC 4d6 | END 40 STUN 45 BODY 18 | SPD 4 PER 14-
Variable Stats:
Veils PD/rPD 11/3 ED/rED 11/3 MD 20 | Ivy P 23/15 E 17/9 M 10 DC+4d6 Manuever | Wind P 19/11 E 15/7 M 10 DC+4d6 | Thorns P 30/19 E 22/11 M 10 DC+3d6+1d6 DEX | Leaves 11/3 11/3 10 | Lotus P 18/10 E 16/8 M 20

Not sure how likely it is that the fight would still be going when we get there...


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Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

"Alright, so... Occam's Razor says one of two things. Either Cesspool reduces the body's resistance to infection with her beams, or she somehow fires infection beams. From the looks of it, they've been hit with both viruses and bacterial infections. Usually multiple. And with the really infectious stuff, I think you only have to get past herd immunity to screw everything up. Worse, it's all really advanced. Which usually takes days."

"We still don't know what Meep the Geek does, other than sharp teeth... or at least I haven't seen much. Deathblossom, though, seems to be decent in melee and seems to have an anti-life aura? Not sure. He also had the telekinesis thing. Does anyone recognize scythe lady? Or Tribeam lady? That leaves Kamikaze with the ability to either teleport in, or form weapons of mass destruction. Johnny Cage is kind of a badass, too. Guessing he's a merc, from the way he and The Magician interacted there at the end. Speaking of... guy's got a knack for hellish things. Betting Shadowcat was originally 'Hellcat' in his head. Cerberus, four horsemen... let's just hope he doesn't learn about the king in yellow or something."


Female Density Control Brick
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 05/05/05 | PD/rPD 5(28)/0(15) | ED/rED 5(28)/0(15) | MD 00 | End 50 | Stun 50 | SPD 03 | PER 13-

Aegis sits in the drivers seat annoyed an angry at them being useless yet again while the others gathered what information they could. "Could we try to call in again? Surely things have settled down by now so we might be able to get some guidance." Aegis was clearly looking for -something- to do to fend off the helplessness.


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

"Since the Magician and Shimmer evacuated everyone, those guys could be anywhere in the world, probably except San Francisco. While I'm fairly certain that illness won't affect me, so I could help them without containment. Are we doing the right thing now? The government response is ramping up here." Mud suggests.


Mutant Speedster
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 10/10/5 | PD/rPD 6(14)/0(8) | ED/rED 6(14)/0(8) | MD 0 | End 56 | Stun 38 | SPD 6 | PER 12-(15- vision)

As traffic slows to a halt, Rocket does a bit of math with Google Maps, and then slams his phone down on his lap with frustration.

Shaking his head he says, "I could be there in 20 minutes...and could carry someone on my back without slowing myself down too much, I think...but it would be a lot of round trips...and each trip would dramatically increase the chance of a running freak being spotted and targeted.

"There's no point in sitting in gridlock. Let's go find a diner, eat something cooked...and try the hotline again.

"Pulse, I know you said you keep trying them...but when was the last time you tried?"


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

FYI - So Pulse doesn't have to ask repeatedly, it'll be 36 hours after the incident before the network comes back on line again. However, 6 hours after the event, which means in about an hour game time, Pulse will receive a call from Replikate indicating all teams are to keep their heads down and bunker in, no using powers openly, etc. She won't be able to answer many questions, and will basically say 'The big wigs are in full WTF mode right now, we'll let you know as soon as something is hammered out'.


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

The group spends another 2 hours on the road, and finally pulls off after talking to a state trooper who directs them over the shoulder carefully and onto the access road. They go through a couple of minor check points designed to keep a road open for emergency access, and then end up at the high school.

There are several big rigs already pulled up with donations, blankets, water, all from nearby community shelters that had them ready to go in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster.

The principle of the high school, who's the designated Disaster Relief Coordinator for the high school directs the group to unload the water and food they brought and stack it up in the gymnasium with the other supplies being brought.

Then they are asked to please move the bus. The roads are busy, but moving slowly, around the area. There are several truck stops and family restaurants around if the group wanted food.


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

"Let's find a place to park the bus and get a shower," Violet suggests. "I love you all, but I think we could all use some quiet time, and I'm not going to lie, I need to be away from a television screen for a while before I start scratching all this stress into my arms."

After a brief moment of thought, she adds: "Maybe we could come back to the high school later and check to see if there's something we can do to help?"

She absently fingers the sparkly mouse ears she'd been making during the trip. Clearly, there's no Disneyland in the immediate future.


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

Not requiring food, water, sleep or a toilet, he lacks any pressing needs, besides an eventual shower. Mud currently stays silent and goes along for the ride. No sense offering any suggestions and asking more questions than will be ignored. He is on the literal and proverbial bus and is fine with where ever the driver takes him. He passes the time studying courses on MIT On-line.


Female Density Control Brick
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 05/05/05 | PD/rPD 5(28)/0(15) | ED/rED 5(28)/0(15) | MD 00 | End 50 | Stun 50 | SPD 03 | PER 13-
"Mud" Adam Storn wrote:
" Are we doing the right thing now? The government response is ramping up here." Mud suggests.

"It's our only real option, if you want to sit on the sidelines again feel free." Aegis is annoyed by Violet and Rocket's surrender "We've been here for hours and you want to just give up and get a burger?"


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

"I said no such thing," Violet retorts. "Or did you miss the part where I literally just said we could come back later and try to help out? Just because I need to get my eyes off of a computer screen full of horror and tragedy for a while... before the anxiety causes me to melt down into a useless heap... doesn't mean I'm giving up. We need to do something. I already said that. C'mon, now."

Violet glances back down at her phone, then points off up the road. "That place has everything we need to get cleaned up before we head back in to town to help."


Mutant Speedster
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 10/10/5 | PD/rPD 6(14)/0(8) | ED/rED 6(14)/0(8) | MD 0 | End 56 | Stun 38 | SPD 6 | PER 12-(15- vision)

When Violet talks about her anxiety, Rocket scooches over next to her and (if she doesn't resist) starts to kneed her shoulders in an effort to help her relax.

If I can't help save the world right now...well, at least maybe I can help Vi...


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

Surprised the owner-driver finally says something, Mud looks up from his studies. "Sit on the sidelines AGAIN? What's THAT supposed to mean?

"The only reason that I'm not at ground zero right now is because I choose to be on this bus. Because as I've been trained, there is safety in numbers for people like us. Otherwise, I would've just jogged there bypassing this gridlock traffic. I don't need to stop for food, water or toilets. Plus, the plague crap probably won't affect me either.

"But we've been instructed to lay low. While we may try to lay low at ground zero, there's always a chance that a witness sees something unnatural. Perhaps, I have to move a car to save a life. And since the cause of ground zero was unnatural, everyone will be understandably hyper-sensitive. Plus, we can expect the government to be there for immediate response and detention. So, ground zero is the worst place on the planet at the moment to attempt to lay low.

"So, you want to try that again, Aegis? Because going to ground zero is the exact opposite of laying low. But if you want to go, I'll go with you."


Mutant Speedster
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 10/10/5 | PD/rPD 6(14)/0(8) | ED/rED 6(14)/0(8) | MD 0 | End 56 | Stun 38 | SPD 6 | PER 12-(15- vision)

Rocket smirks. "Maybe it's her way of saying she regrets turning down being with a man with a private jet. Bill could've gotten us there quickly, if we'd let him.

"At any rate, I wanted badly to get there in time to help. We tried--as a team--to do it, and there was no way, at least not all of us together. We could still eventually get there...but not until after the trail of those villains will have been combed over by 100s of others, meta and not. All we get if we go to Ground Zero now is exposing ourselves to the Feds. Frankly, if that's what you want, Aegis, go it alone.

"And lastly, I don't just want to 'get a burger'. Maybe you've never had an In-N-Out Burger but I've been away for too long and I just Googled it and there's one a few miles from here. So what I want is to get a whole lot of In-N-Out burgers, thank you very much.

"And maybe after that some lasagna."


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

Pulse frowns, "You guys know that you can help people without being super, right? Like, sure, Aegis could probably move a bus off of an orphanage or something, but that's not really likely to come up. I'm more worried about the more detectable stuff we do. Rocket might clean something up a bit too fast. Blaze might sneeze." she shrugs slightly.

"Or he could have had us in New York, or Disney World, or in a Meta Detention facility. No offense Vi... just..." she glares at Rocket.

Violet:
'It's not really fair to bring something like that up. For either of us. Sorry.

"I'll go with you if you want to go somewhere specific, Aegis... but if you don't have anywhere in mind right now, I don't mind the idea of food. All the good guys are gonna be really busy right now, trying to handle things. That means we're mostly on our own for figuring out how to help beyond what we already have. The big bads are already gone, thanks to Hat-trick. Beyond that.. we're just an extra pair of hands in the relief effort, if they'll have us. And I'm more than happy to help there... but I'm pretty sure there's nothing we could do more than just any pair of hands. Still a pair of hands, though. Maybe try to figure out who to talk to to get more hands-on?"


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Pulse:
"I didn't bring anything up. I already apologized to you for blowing up, earlier. I thought we were good. If we're not, you need to tell me we're not. But right now? We're all stressed and tired. And we're behaving like we're stressed and tired. It's okay. But you really need to trust me about my uncle, like, yesterday. Before this becomes a running gag."

Violet again points at the truck stop on the map.

"Private showers, power outlets, a disposal for the bus' restroom, food, and a mini-mart," she says. "We can get cleaned up then head back to town and heft a few hundred emergency rations. Plan?"


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

With the ability to sleep, in shifts, on the bus, the group can basically hang out in any parking lot and donate time to the relief efforts.

The local relief coordinator (the high school principle) welcomes the aid, and promptly puts Blaze to work with a group of volunteers setting up a dedicated WIFI and relief computer network in and around the high-school for the duration of the relief effort.

Violet & Mud, having Paramedic training, are asked to go to the local hospitals to assist with relief efforts. When a quarantine area is set up outside town, calls go out for volunteers with medical training to volunteer in the quarantine zone.

Pulse & Aegis, when they admit to some ability to work on vehicles, are asked to assist the emergency repair crews that are being set up to do emergency repairs around the area as needed, everything from trying to keep the school buses and emergency vehicles working to helping with piping and minor electrical work.

Janice, without having access to ID she can use that proves she's a trained forensic scientist, is relegated to grunt work with Rocket, both ending up doing things like filing, sorting, running errands, driving pickups loaded with supplies, etc.

Over the next week, the area within 50 miles of Santa Clara is closed off completely by the military and local police and National Guard. Choppers fly patrols around the quarantine zone, searching for those trying to violate the quarantine. People who do so are arrested and placed in portable jails set up in various places. Those who obey the quarantine are helped as much as possible. Food and water are flown in, masks, sanitizer, and other things to help people avoid infection are flown in.

As those with illnesses are identified, more and more medical centers are set up around the edge of the relief zone, such as near Barstow. Military tents, much like the old MASH units are set up and military doctors and civilian volunteers are sent in to care for ill patients, administering massive amounts of antibiotics, blood, liquids, and general care.

By the end of the week, the death toll from the game rises to over 3,875 people, with another 2,347 people confirmed exposed to biological warfare agents.

All major sports groups cancel all games, throughout the US, until more is known about what happened.

The US Government announces that they are investigating, and ask people to please be patient while they deal with the immediate aftermath. A state of emergency is voted on by Congress and the Senate, and the president signs it, establishing temporary suspension of certain protections. National guard units are mobilized and begin guarding airports and naval ports.

Concerts and amusement parks are closed by presidential order, for the duration.

The presidential nominee race becomes extremely heated, and Trump and Sanders surge in the polls, as they begin questioning how the establishment could have allowed something like this to happen with no warning.

Experts in biology begin to list the outbreaks in Santa Clara. Bubonic Plague, Syphillus, Hemorhargic Fever, Smallpox, Ebola, and SARS have been identified as having been released in a weapons grade version, all of them altered to be communicable by flesh to flesh contact. Everyone is warned within the quarantine area, and nearby areas, to refrain from flesh to flesh contact, and rubber gloves are flown in en-masse and distributed to the population.

Biology experts begin to comment online about possible explanations for the 'superhuman' abilities seen on the TV. Nobody can deny they were real, the videos were generated by thousands of people, and there are too many for it to have been a hoax. A close analysis of the high-def picture of 'Death' as he's being called shows that the man does have skin, but the skin is so translucent that it's all but invisible, only his bones really showing through his skin and blood.

Debates rage, but on the fifth day, CNN runs an exclusive interview with someone who claims to be a 'Metahuman'.

More to follow


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

On the screen, Wolf Blitzer looks out and speaks to the audience. "With breaking news, and our apologies for the last minute notice, but we were contacted approximately an hour ago by an individual who identifies himself as the man seen in this video." The video of a blonde man in glasses knocking people out left and right appears on the screen. "He has agreed to give us an exclusive interview, and our own Anderson Cooper has agreed to meet with this individual and interview him for the further edification of our viewers. We must warn you that this is a live broadcast, and CNN has been unable to verify that this individual is actually the man in the film. However, he has demonstrated abilities to our staff that would seem to verify that he is, if not the man in the video, someone with abilities similar to that man."

The video changes to show Anderson Cooper, sitting in what looks like a hotel room, an upper class one, with a view of downtown Atlanta. "Hello, I'm Anderson Cooper, and I'm here with what has been promised to be an exclusive interview with the Man in Shades as the internet has been calling him since the incident at the Superbowl Saturday. I'm not sure exactly when he'll be showing..."

And then as he's speaking, black smoke swirls around the chair next to him, and the man in shades with the black coat appears. "Good afternoon, Mr. Cooper. You, and the breathless masses on the internet, may call me Omega." The man says, his voice cultured and even, with little or no trace of accent.

Anderson Cooper seems taken aback by the sudden appearance, but he recovers. "Ah, yes, thank you Mr. Omega. You do indeed appear to be the man from the video at the Superbowl Sunday. Your method of appearance leaves little doubt as to that. I assume Omega is an alias."

The man shrugs. "It is what I am called. We may need to move the location of this interview, the government will be showing up within the next 10 minutes to attempt to kill or capture me. I'll try to ensure you aren't killed in the cross-fire."

Anderson again seems taken aback. "Is it your position then that the government already knows about you, and this meeting, with enough lead time to have a team in position to arrest you? I'm sure they would like to talk to you, this was a terrorist attack after all. But even we did not know we would be having this interview until an hour ago. I doubt they have someone waiting for you yet. Although I'm sure they are scrambling to find us as fast as possible."

The man pulls his glasses down and looks at the reporter. "The NSA knew about our interview within seconds of my calling your offices. They have had full access to CNN, FOX, and MSNBC computers for years. They scan all your phone calls. I realize you won't believe me, but it's true. You'll have proof shortly. Now then, yes, it was a Terrorist Attack, put on by a handful of what the Government calls Metahumans. Yes, they have known about them, since at least 1990. The first confirmed metahuman was recorded in November, 1990, when a United States Soldier was exposed to Saren gas... and survived. Not just survived, but changed. His body was no longer affected by such things as biological weapons, nor even bullets, which simply bounced off. The Department of Defense classified this information, and has been hiding it ever since."

Cooper shakes his head. "You're claiming that the US government has known about Metahumans for over 25 years, and has done nothing about it, and not warned anyone?"

Omega snorts. "Oh, no, they've done things about it. They've killed, kidnapped, imprisoned, and experimented on Metahumans for 25 years now. They've warned their ally countries about this 'danger' as they call us, and world wide we have been hunted and persecuted in the shadows, used for medical experimentation, mutilated, murdered."

Cooper takes a sip of water. "I have a hard time believing that three governments in the US, and several other world wide, would have hidden something like this, or been able to. Are you claiming that the attack on the Superbowl was retribution by your people for this... persecution?"

Omega again lowers his glasses, and his eyes are hard. "Mr. Cooper. These were not 'My people'. I do not condone the senseless slaughter of people who have no idea why they are being slaughtered. I do not condone it when those doing the killing are human, and I do not condone it when those doing it are Metahuman. The ones who attacked the Superbowl were a small but growing radicalized movement, led by a handful of mad individuals, who espouse the eradication of non-Metahumans. Those who fought them are a group of well intentioned, but ultimately misguided, fools who think that Humans and Metahumans can co-exist peacefully."

Cooper nods. "I see, so you're saying that you are unaligned with either the terrorists, or those.. Metahumans... video taped fighting with them?"

Omega nods. "Correct." He glances over his shoulder. "One moment please, Mr. Cooper. We are about to be interrupted." Even as he speaks, red dots appear on the window, and then things get confusing. Shattered glass, the camera falls over, noises occur, and then everything goes black.

More to follow, tomorrow


Female Density Control Brick
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 05/05/05 | PD/rPD 5(28)/0(15) | ED/rED 5(28)/0(15) | MD 00 | End 50 | Stun 50 | SPD 03 | PER 13-

"So take a nap while we head to the real problem instead of passing out bottled waters at a center."

"Mud" Adam Storn wrote:

Surprised the owner-driver finally says something, Mud looks up from his studies. "Sit on the sidelines AGAIN? What's THAT supposed to mean?

"So, you want to try that again, Aegis? Because going to ground zero is the exact opposite of laying low. But if you want to go, I'll go with you."

"It means exactly what I said that's how words work, we've done nothing since we've been together and now you're talking about running away again."

Rocket's comment forces Aegis to take a breath before she hurts him. "Or he could have killed us all in a place half of us are worthless go ahead flip that coin no one stoped you from leaving then or now. Do you realise how easily it would be for me to get one that had fuel even?"


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

Continuing to address Aegis...

"Done nothing? We've done at least two good things, since I've been in St-Louis. One, we saved a potential sexual predator from being eaten by a Meta. And two, we've not be arrested by the government. Those are two good things in my book.

"I've been arrested by the government before, and it's not fun. That's why I can't contact my family. And as for running, we were instructed to lay low by the people who have trained and protected us. And I clearly voted to stay at ground zero to help, even though it's the exact opposite of laying low. So evidently, words don't always mean what you think they mean."

During the week...

When a quarantine area is set up outside town, Mud responds to the call for volunteers with medical training to volunteer in the quarantine zone. He religiously follows all of the training to wear the requisite personal protective equipment, even though he probably won't be affected. He casually stays as far away from obvious government officials but eavesdrops on the people telling him where to work. He avoids personal conversations and learns to say stuff that other people say to him, in order to avoid uncomfortable topics.


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

Sorry, Vi. That was meant as a 'sorry, that was a low blow... both from rocket and myself.'


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-
Hotaru Hoshiko wrote:
Sorry, Vi. That was meant as a 'sorry, that was a low blow... both from rocket and myself.'

Oh! Whoops. Yeah, I'll retcon that here, because it's too late for me to do so on my original post.

Pulse, Retcon:

Violet's mental tone is nervous, but reassuring. ::It's okay. We're all stressed and tired and frustrated, and we're all acting like it. No apology necessary, but... thanks. I mean that.::

If there could be a smile at the end of her thought-stream, there would be.


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

"Oh. That Omega. The one they basically said 'if you see this man, run.' Riiight." Pulse says as she watches the video, then tilts her head.

"Okay, so he thinks it's dumb to try to kill the humans. And he thinks it's dumb to coexist peacefully with the humans. That really only leaves two options: One, is to hide or be submissive. The other... is to enslave. So... at least he isn't our 'Apocalypse'? Also, if he's Omega, who's Alpha?"

As an aside, Omega was mentioned twice before - Pulse was KO'd during one of the two, so doesn't know an important context clue to work off of. Someone who didn't nearly burn to death - and was awake - might make the connection. :) Here and Here.


Mutant Speedster
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 10/10/5 | PD/rPD 6(14)/0(8) | ED/rED 6(14)/0(8) | MD 0 | End 56 | Stun 38 | SPD 6 | PER 12-(15- vision)

Pulse, thanks for the sleuthing!

Rocket watches, eyes glued to the set. "Yes, and the Magician mentioned him too...when he first showed himself to us he was thinking aloud about who we were with--guessing we were with Sanction--and he said something like 'You're not ruthless of enough to be one of Omega's minions'.

"I didn't get the impression from him or from Shimmer and Shadowcat that magic man and Omega are aligned together, but that video Blaze found raises a bunch of questions.

"It seems like the horsemen attacked. Some of Sanction's crew tried to stop them. Then Omega KO'd everyone...and then the Magician showed up, gave him a friendly nod, and took off with the horsemen."

Pausing for a handful of chips, Rocket continues, "If Omega's to be believed, he's not aligned with the horsemen. Could the horsemen have been tools of the Magician? He's certainly cruel enough, though I'm not sure this looks like his style...and at any rate, it seems Omega let him walk off with the horsemen--likely capturing them for his own purpose, which presumably includes copying their powers for himself!--and Omega at least didn't mind...so either they're working together or Omega at least trusts the Magician.

"...and either Omega's telling the truth and they don't support the crazy horsemen, or he's bullsh!#%ing the nation right now. Clearly he's got some agenda for this appearance. Does that make sense to you guys?

"My hunch is that he's recruiting metas right now. Heck, if I were watching from home, before I'd encountered Sanction's crew, I'd be compelled. Let's see what happens next?"

________________________

Earlier

"OK, sorry I brought the jet back up. You had understandable fears. I'm just saying, we're all trying to help here. And we're all frustrated. And I hope it's clear to everyone that there's no obvious, right next step to take here--though I wish there was! So instead we're trying to figure out how to do the most good in a weird, f%%+ed up situation. Let's try to figure it out together instead of pointing fingers. I'll try, I mean, and I hope you do too."


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

Ok, so not tomorrow

The screen goes blank for almost 5 minutes, then the video cuts back on. The scenery has changed. The camera is back upright, and Anderson Cooper is standing in a room that looks like a bunker, concrete walls, cyrillic letters in very faded paint on the walls, metal shelves with cases of water and modern MREs on them. Omega moves two comfortable looking end chairs into position, and then takes a seat, offering the other to Anderson Cooper. "Ah, we are back on. My apologies, Mr. Cooper. I hope you were uninjured."

Anderson Cooper's hair is mussed up some, and his clothes have some blood stains on them, but they don't appear to be his blood stains. He sits, and runs his fingers through his hair to straighten it. "No, no, I'm fine. We're back on?" He seems to be looking to the cameraman, and then he nods. "My apologies viewers, we were assaulted in place. I cannot confirm they were government agents though, they did not identify themselves as the police, nor did they wear uniforms. I want to be very clear on that."

Omega nods. "Of course not, plausible deniability. In any event, we can continue now. That was a Detainment And Response Team, or DART team. Their job is to capture or kill. If you'd been killed in the cross-fire, it would have been a very sad day for the country but interviewing terrorists has it's dangers, would have been the spin provided."

Anderson nods. "So, to continue then. You claim you are not a part of the attack, you just stopped it, in Santa Clara. But there is, and I wish we still had the video player to show it, but there is a video of you and a man in a top hat, who took the initial attackers away with him. Who was that? Why did he take the attackers? There's also video of a girl who took the other Metahumans away. Who was she? Why didn't you stop either of them, if you didn't approve?"

Omega shrugs. "While I don't approve of either group, I do not have a jail, or judges, or juries. Short of killing them, there wasn't much I could do other than stop the immediate fallout. The man in the Top Hat goes by the name of Merlinius, he likes to think of himself as the new Merlin. He's quite unhinged, most people I know of that have met him call him The Magician, and it's not a compliment. He is quite dangerous, and wanted for murder on at least 3 continents. The girl who took the others is an ally of theirs. Their group has been working to try to keep Metahumans from using their powers publicly, and to help Metahumans who are being pursued by the government. They wish to hide what they are and pretend to be what they are not. Foolish, but their choice."

Cooper nods. "So they are something of a self aid society?"

Omega shakes his head. "Think of them more as the Underground Railroad in modern times."

Cooper looks thoughtful. "And yourself, what is your part in all this?"

Omega looks at the screen. "I know humans and Metahumans can't live peacefully. No new species can exist peacefully with an existing species. This has been proven throughout history. Native Americans were hunted and persecuted and pushed on to small reservations by European Settlers. The same with Aboriginals in Australia, Hawaiians, African Tribes... I put it forth that until our Government, which is currently spitting on our Constitution, is forced to follow that constitution or is replaced, there can be no peace and no freedom. I am at war, not with humans, not with the average person on the street, they had no idea we even existed. This is rogue actors in the government undermining our Constitution."

Anderson Cooper looks surprised. "Are you saying you are at war with the Government then?"

Omega nods. "Well, selected portions of it. I do not, and never will, approve of attacking civilians. I was in the military, I worked for the people who are rogue at first, until I realized they were violating the very foundation of our Constitution. I swore an oath, to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Those very enemies now riddle our government. The 9/11 attacks were a god send to them, letting them broadly increase their powers to act in secret, with secret laws. Why do you think the fear mongering has continued to this day? They knew this day would come, that some metahuman would be pushed to far, or some insane power mad Metahuman would make a public attack. Make no mistake Mr. Cooper, there is legislation already written and ready to be put forth later this month, written years ago, to suspend the constitution, to deny US Citizens their constitutional rights in the name of 'safety' and 'security', when really it's just a power grab."

Cooper tilts his head. "Do you really believe that? Do you have any proof at all?"

Omega gives a bark of laughter. "I don't believe it, I know it for a fact." He nods, and a green arm comes into camera view, handing him a folder. It's a very thick folder, two inches thick it appears. "Here you go Mr. Cooper, a physical copy of the legislation, as of 8 months ago. You can see on top it is stamped Top Secret, Classified, and various other warnings." Another folder is handed to him, and he again passes it over to Cooper. "Here are some files on the people that the government has murdered, including autopsy, and even vivisection, photos. Names, dates, everything you need. Electronic copies will be placed on servers world wide in 24 hours, this gives your organization a 24 hour window of exclusivity."

Cooper looks pale as he looks through the second file. "My god... some of these are children..."

Omega nods, and then turns toward the camera. "My fellow Metahumans. Do not trust the government, they do not care for your rights, their internal 'memorandum of understanding' and Presidential Order 12,745, signed by George Herbert Walker Bush and kept alive by every president after him, classifies Metahumans as a new species, and not human. And as non-humans, they are not US Citizens, and have no rights. Nor are they a 'protected species' under the endangered species act, as they are not animals. That gives the government cart blanch to hunt and kill us however and whenever they want. We will not allow this to continue. I will not allow this to continue. Every citizen of this country, be they African American, Caucasian, Jewish-American, Japanese-American, Native-American, Latin-American, or any other type of American, you need to decide if you want this type of government, one that kills and murders in secret, or if you want a government that upholds the rights of all it's citizens, regardless of race, or religion, gender, or metahumanity. For those who identify as Mormon, or Jewish, or Islamic, or Catholic, or any other religion, do you want to live in a country that doesn't judge you on what you believe or what you can do, or one that persecutes people based on biology?" He stands up, and his glasses come down, so his eyes bore into the screen as the camera tightens on his face. "To my fellow military, you swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the Government. You are soon going to have to answer the question, are you ok rounding up citizens wholescale based on their biology, are you ok shredding the constitution because you received orders to? Illegal orders are illegal to follow, and you will be judged, just as those at Nuremberg were, remember that... We all gave an oath, and that oath was to the Constitution, not any one man or woman."

The screen goes blank, and then the screen switches to CNN's set, where men in black suits and police officers are standing around on set, questioning Wolf Blitzer and other staffers about how the broadcast is still going out if they cut it off. Anderson Cooper and Omega suddenly appear in the middle of them, and within 60 seconds all the agents and officers are down, many groaning in pain from broken bones. Omega moved as fast if not faster than Rocket... he also left a blue haze in the air as he did... "So much for the first amendment and freedom of the press..." He comments to the camera before he flashes and vanishes in smoke.

The screen goes blank, and 'Technical Difficulties' comes on the screen.


Male Energy Projector (fire)

"If we want to get closer, we might want to think about one of the areas just outside of Santa Clara," Blaze said, as he was putting his tiny kit of tools back into his pack (he had to screw with his laptop somehow). "Maybe San Jose, or Milpitas…or maybe Fremont? Just…throwing ideas out."


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Before the Interview.

Violet does everything she can to be in place - and get the team in place - for emergency relief, including coordinating efforts with the main Sinclair office (where Aegis approves, of course) to get in with the Red Cross and other relief agencies where possible.

If the group is stuck in Barstow, she's at the High School daily, helping out where she can until they tell her to go home. If they're not stuck in Barstow, she's at whatever passes for the shelter/hospital in their area. About a week in to all of this, she confesses to the team that she's running out of her anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication - she's been sneaking them to some of the sick and injured where she can.

She swears she has enough to keep her going until her replacement scripts arrive, "any day now."

Rocket will notice, about the second day after the Superbowl, that Violet is waking up in the middle of the night and standing at the window (or what passes for it in whatever location they're sleeping), and staring at nothing. She does this for about five to ten minutes, then returns to bed without a word.

If questioned, she says she remembers nothing about it, but dutifully writes it down in her journal, mentioning that sleepwalking can be a sign of sublimated stress.

The women on the team will notice that at about the same time, Violet's makeup routine starts to slip, and on the fourth day after the Superbowl, she stops wearing it altogether. Which, considering it's the only thing covering her purple freckles, lips, and nail-beds, is possibly not the smartest thing.

If asked about it, she is genuinely surprised, and "must have just forgotten."

After the Interview

Violet watches the ongoing "interview" and, when it finally finishes, turns to the rest of the group, and shakes her head.

"There's no going back, now, is there?" She shakes one of the last of her anxiety pills out of the Tic-Tac box, swallowing it dry. Her knee bounces rapidly and she rubs it a few times until it stops. "What do we do now? Stay off the radar? Go public? Something in the middle?"


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

CompPro: 13 - 3d6 ⇒ 13 - (3, 4, 4) = 2

Pulse wouldn't really bring up the lack of make-up, instead simply trying to keep Violet and the others entertained when she wasn't fixing things with Aegis. After a few days she winds up hosting a make-over night, which is completely out of character for Pulse, who very rarely even bothers with the stuff (It's pretty easy to read that the goal is to help Violet stay hidden without pointing out that she's slipping).

During whatever downtime she has, she continues to work on her computer program, trying to siphon as much 'Meta' data as she can, to better keep up with the situation as it progresses.

As Violet slowly begins to run out of medicine, Pulse brings up the elephant in the room. "You know... Vi... haven't you said you were really resistant to drugs and stuff? If so... why is it that antidepressants and the like work on you?"

* * *

"We really can't. And now there's a lot of mixed messages out there. 'We can't peacefully coexist, but you should remember that we're people to and help us.' isn't really a good place to speak from.

As she finishes taking her meds, Pulse shrugs. [b]"I haven't really thought about it. I don't think it's a good idea to go public. Way too many bad things happen to the families of superheroes that go public that aren't omniscient... in other words, all of them." she pauses. "It's one thing to go public when the situation demands it. This isn't really a situation that does. Going public would more be a political thing, I think. It draws a line. Says 'I am this.' when... up until now, we've just been normal people who could do a few extra things. Don't really see any reason to change our stance just because people know about us, now. Plus... certain power sets might just go missing entirely, as soon as they show up."


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Pulse 1:

Violet looks at Pulse silently for a moment, then answers. "I'm functionally immune to natural toxins. Snake venom, black widow spiders, bad shrimp, you name it. MAOI's and SSRI's are a completely different issue. My brain chemistry is... not normal."

Over the mindlink, and only to Pulse, she adds:

::Sodium Pentathol kicks me in the face just like everyone else, too. Found that out the hard way.::

After the make-over night, Violet seems "normal" again for at least another few days.

Pulse2:

"So either option one - stay off the radar," Violet sighs. "Or option 3, something in the middle."

She flips through the pages of her sketchbook a few times, and holds up a page with roughly drawn representations of the entire team in Rob Liefeld-esque poses, with costumes that have shoulder pads bordering on the obscene dreams of a 1980's fashion student.

"Costume time? Fight evil in domino masks and neon day-glo pleather?"

The sketch representing Pulse apparently comes with a jacket covered in disco-ball mirrors.


Female Density Control Brick
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 05/05/05 | PD/rPD 5(28)/0(15) | ED/rED 5(28)/0(15) | MD 00 | End 50 | Stun 50 | SPD 03 | PER 13-

So are we ok with skipping the IC fight? I'd prefer it but if someone wants to RP It out i will. If we skip:

After being talked down enough to not be at risk of punching her way to the football stadium looking for any signs of the riders that causes all of this Aegis would lower herself to mindless grunt work as a mechanic while avoiding the other most of the time as she still needed time to cool down before she could stand being around them for any prolong amounts of time including Pulses party.

after the interview

Well he's certainly less of a problem than they made him out to be, no interest in killing anyone but the people trying to kill us it seems." She claims in reference to Omega. "It doesn't really matter what we do now, since everyone knows about metas they will be popping up like mad now doing the super hero and super villain thing we did. The only difference now is they don't have to hide it."


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

As I mentioned in the Discussion thread, not one of the PC's ever suggested giving up in any manner, so it's not like there's really any reason for us to have an IC fight - if you really want to do it, we could. In character, Violet just sees it as Aegis being frustrated and doing what people do when they're frustrated: not really seeing things as they are. It's not worth getting upset about, to her. Not when all the rest of it is going on.


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

after the interview

"We lay low. We need to wait for HQ to contact us, as they instructed. Any other action puts us on the Government's radar, or Omega's, or the Magician's.

"We can stay here. They still need help, but if someone starts asking too many questions about any of us. We need a code word and a couple of meeting points, in case it all goes sideways." Mud offers clearly not entertaining any other options like superheroing.


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

"My vote is for Sunstone to be our safe word." Pulse offers with a grin.


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-
Hotaru Hoshiko wrote:
"My vote is for Sunstone to be our safe word." Pulse offers with a grin.

"I got that reference," Violet smirks. "It's a good comic. "

Pulse:
::I didn't think you'd be in to something that kinky and without superheroes...:: There's an amused lilt to Violet's mental voice. ::Learn something new every day.::

Violet passes her sketchbook around the group. "If we go for the overt heroics, we'll need costumes. I don't have a lot of good ideas, here. I'm not that good at fashion design... I wear it, not make it... But maybe there's some good stuff in there?"

She twirls a lock of hair around her finger repeatedly. "Maybe ignore the stuff in the back? It's... very 1970's kung-fu disco stuff."


Male
Latest Message:
Just to let you all know, I was travelling heavily 10/27 to 10/29, I'll be catching up on 10/30
Human GM

The interview is like dropping a firecracker into peace talks between hated enemies... with their armies outside.

There are public demonstrations, on both sides of the argument. There are protestors marching on DC over human rights violations, demanding that legislation be passed to confirm Metas are human.

There are also demonstrations wanting Metas rounded up until they are confirmed non-dangerous.

Hate groups begin to form, wanting all Metas eliminated as dangerous.

The government denies all the information released by Omega, however, rumors continue to abound in DC that legislation, extremely similar to what Omega released, was being passed around for contemplation, within a day of the attack.

--------------------

The team finally gets contacted by Sanction's HQ, by one of the Replikates. She tells the group to keep low, and make sure they have some way to use their abilities in public without being identified. But to be very careful and not to use them until told to do so. All teams are asked to not use their abilities, even in private, until the plan can be enacted. There's no time limit on it, when they are ready, everyone will be contacted, and it will be short emergency notice.


37/37 Stun | 46/46 End | 8/23 Body | Unfired Brick

"Alright, Violet. Now is the time for masks. Let's make some identity-hiding costumes. And remember the Incredibles, no capes." Mud reacts to the news from HQ.

Mud continues his studies to avoid the aggravation from the news.


Mutant Speedster
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 10/10/5 | PD/rPD 6(14)/0(8) | ED/rED 6(14)/0(8) | MD 0 | End 56 | Stun 38 | SPD 6 | PER 12-(15- vision)

Rocket, upon hearing that he'd missed a comic reference says "huh?", pulls out his phone...and then moments later glances away and blushes.

"Ummm, sure." he says to Pulse, not quite meeting her eye.

He then shifts his focus to Violet's drawings. "I like this one here. And this." he says, choosing some that lean more toward a classic Marvel/DC comics look.

When they finally hear from Replikate, Rocket asks Pulse to relay a bunch of questions back to home base: Do they know anything about these horsemen? Were they just trying to cause carnage, or something more? What about the magician's motives? And Omega's? Do they believe what he'd said about his own motives?

As they talk afterward about the command to hang tight, Rocket shakes his head. "So..." He sighs. "I mean, I get it. It doesn't make sense for us to go running around showing off right now...but what do we do?

"I know it helps a bit, carrying sacks of supplies here on the edge of the crisis. I really want to do more though. And if we can't...well, let's make those costumes. And I know Disneyland is out now but once things are under control here, maybe we go have some more fun in Vegas? And then maybe check out the Grand Canyon?

"I mean, if we're on the bench, we might as well have some fun."


Mighty Morpher Martial Artist
Basic Stats:
DCV/OCV/ECV 9/9/5 DC 4d6 | END 40 STUN 45 BODY 18 | SPD 4 PER 14-
Variable Stats:
Veils PD/rPD 11/3 ED/rED 11/3 MD 20 | Ivy P 23/15 E 17/9 M 10 DC+4d6 Manuever | Wind P 19/11 E 15/7 M 10 DC+4d6 | Thorns P 30/19 E 22/11 M 10 DC+3d6+1d6 DEX | Leaves 11/3 11/3 10 | Lotus P 18/10 E 16/8 M 20

Well! Paperwork? What a boring vacation.

Janice's response to the interview is... rather different than any of the others. If anything, she sounds extremely annoyed for the next few days. "X-men bulls***!" she shouts at the screen, "Homo superior is the conceit of a dozen lazy sci-fi authors taken on by a secret agency instead of consulting some real biologists, which would make sense, because not a whole lot of us are into murder..." and, to anyone who's willing to listen, she points out that there's no way a single gene could cause a "variety of superpowers," that under the technical definition Omega claims the government uses, each new meta would qualify as a unique species, and be protected by (among other things) the Endangered Species Act until an order of exception was passed for each individual case, and then generally fuming until accepting that it's probably just a bunch of guys in suits making up justifications after the fact.

* * *

"Costumes, I can do. But one thing we should watch for is local government response to 'Metahuman rights.' This could go the way of legalizing marijuana—if we can find a state whose government tolerates powers, that could be a decent place to set up next, just because of the red tape any feds would be reluctant to deal with."


Magnetic Projector
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/5 | PD/rPD 5(20)/0(15) | ED/rED 6(21)/0(15) | MD 0 | End 100 | Stun 50 | SPD 4 | Per 13-
Headputer

Pulse had gone quiet, cheeks turning slightly pink as Violet acknowledged what she had thought was a cheeky reference that no one would get.

Vi:
'It was... for science.'

"Uh... yeah. Costumes. Needs less sparkles and more leather." she says in response to the picture.

Vi:
'Not like that!'

"And definitely capes. At least for me. Capes are cool and billowy and stuff. You just have to be not-dumb."


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Violet nods a lot at Janice's outburst.

"I know! It makes me so angry. My brother Uly and I are genetic twins, except for our gender. Our genes are identical. But I'm a Telepath and he's Hyperkinetic. My skin goes purple in the sun and his goes blue. I'm ridiculously smart and he..."

She goes quiet for a moment, then shakes her head. "It's lazy science."

Pulse:
::You don't have to explain anything to me. I have a vanilla boyfriend and I need to figure out how to fix that. Maybe I should make him read it.::

"Leather can be a problem in some environments," she says in response to Pulse's suggestion. "Maybe wet-look spandex? Do you know any cosplayers? Maybe we can scour their brains."

Pulse:
::Hey, some of us like "like that." Bwahaha.::

To Mud: "Hey, it's tradition - vast mental powers, plus boobs, means I either have to go psychotic and try to eat the world, or I wear a cape and spend a fortune on fetish gear. Take your pick."

She pauses and smirks. "Okay, so I've been catching up on comics a lot to know what half of you are talking about."

To Aegis: "I still don't think it's a good idea to get too close to Ground Zero, but Snappie's got a point - maybe we need to start flexing some corporate power to get Ole Miss to go the Medical MJ route, only, you know... Medical Metahuman or something... It's too hard to move the entire corporation, but why not flex some money muscle to make a safe harbor?"

Rocket:
When Violet notices Rocket blushing at the Sunstone comic, she glances at him and wrinkles her nose.

::See anything you like?::

Would Blaze and Mud even need costumes?


Mighty Morpher Martial Artist
Basic Stats:
DCV/OCV/ECV 9/9/5 DC 4d6 | END 40 STUN 45 BODY 18 | SPD 4 PER 14-
Variable Stats:
Veils PD/rPD 11/3 ED/rED 11/3 MD 20 | Ivy P 23/15 E 17/9 M 10 DC+4d6 Manuever | Wind P 19/11 E 15/7 M 10 DC+4d6 | Thorns P 30/19 E 22/11 M 10 DC+3d6+1d6 DEX | Leaves 11/3 11/3 10 | Lotus P 18/10 E 16/8 M 20

Violet:
Janet continues her thoughts on meta-genomics at a... quicker pace. ::What? Identical? IDENTICAL? That's not how twins work, let alone... do you happen to have the data dumps on that? Who sequenced your genes? Sounds like a sloppy cover-up, but if not... that means we're looking at an epigenetic cascade on an unprecedented scale, maybe a gene that tinkers with perception of dimensionality or energy perception itself, and then quantum or space-folding effects start interacting unpredictably... but no, this is all too wacky. Wonder how long it's going to take before CERN starts hiring metahumans—I'm guessing someone's already calling for it behind the scenes—because what we've got now is a way to rapidly advance nearly every discipline of science in completely f***ing orthogonal directions.::

"I... I'm not planning on going legal," she corrects Violet out loud. "But what me might well see, if we're lucky, is a few states or cities refusing to enforce laws against metahumans for "officer safety" while working behind the scenes to throw up paperwork and contaminate lab samples out of general civic pride in their local superheroes. With everyone looking out for suits, black-ops kill squads won't be moving quite as easily. Which means if we go with costumes, public perception is going to be important."

"Also, Aegis, how rich are you? Because we could probably buy the entire nation of Nauru for under 200 million, though a quarter of that would probably be enough to employ half the island's population and put us on great terms with the government. We'd need a teleporter to make any use of it, though, and a lot would depend on Australia's tolerance of metas... hmm..."


Female Mentalist
Stats:
OCV/DCV/ECV 6/6/8 | Levels +0 | PD/rPD 4(24)/0(20) | ED/rED 5(25)/0(20) | MD 15 | End 50 | Stun 35 | SPD 4 | PER 13-

Violet holds her hands up and shrugs, answering Janice verbally instead of via the mindlink.

"I wish I knew. I only know what they said, and what I learned later. Single fertilized egg resulted in two embryos, one male, one female. Identical growth patterns, identical genetic markers. He got the Y chromosome and I got double-X's."

Then, mentally:

Snapdragon:
::If it's any consolation, my father was a genetics super genius and he never figured it out, either. Not the gender-mix, and definitely not why the same genes that trigger telepathic abilities in me triggered physio-kinetic abilities in Uly...::

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