The photographer sits up, bewildered at the experience. "Is it ze after-shoot party already?"
Taylor International staff eventually find the floor where the battle ended up on and come in to assist. The photographer is sent to the hospital for monitoring, while cleanup crews begin their tasks.
Harper, the assistant to Angel Taylor, notes the somber mood. "We'll um, send you all the proofs later."
The officer hands Chloe a business card after writing out a string of numbers on the back. "That's the incident report number. Give that to your insurance company."
She nods to Andromeda before leaving. "I'll be in touch with the store, if we find anything out. Good luck."
==============================
At the end of every session, choose one:
• Grow closer to the team. Explain
who made you feel welcome; give
Influence to that character and clear
a condition or mark potential.
• Grow into your own image of yourself.
Explain how you see yourself and why;
shift one Label up and another down.
• Grow away from the team. Explain why
you feel detached. Take Influence over
you away from another character.
Listening Diva saying she wants to clear her head, Gui knows he wants to do the same. He turns around to leave and his hand finds Kassity's card. Down and guilty as he was, yeah, her offer was a pretty straightforward way of cooling his head.
A glance at Diva. Nah, it would be impossible for her to be interested in her offer, so he begins to walk away. Then he stops. Well, he did not know her. Perhaps this was the sort of thing she'd also be interested, so he turns around and quickly reaches for Diva.
"Hey..." He starts, unsure about how to transfer the invitation without looking like an ass or worse. "You have said you wanted to clear your head." He takes Kassity's card and hands it to her. "So dat cute mekeup girl geve me her card. She wants to have some fun... she has e boyfriend and asked me to invite you as well. Dey are open, she said." Better to say all at once. He shrugs, trying to downplay the absurd offer. "I am not meking any assumpcions, ok? I know you very little, so I do not know if you would be up for dis sort of ting. No strings attached, just some way to take our minds from... all of dis."
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Statian raises an eyebrow as if to say 'You sure about that?' but stays silent and stops communicating in any meaningful way. Shutting down as she works on her tablet one handed.
---------------------
In the group chat, everyone gets a statistical review of each member. Statian's way of becoming closer to the team. Or at least making the team a more streamlined process (in her mind) while in reality giving them all something to complain about. There are video captures with analysis of various moves and how they could be improved. Timing on response times, lists of injuries that could have been avoiding given this or that.
If one could get past the fact of each of them (Statian included) is the subject of the report, it is presented well and has decent information.
The greatest amount of information is on Andromedia, including various theories on output reduction. Theories only, but some sound promising. A footnote buried in the mass of text explains if Andromedia wishes to explore any of them to contact Samantha Murphy.
|
Indarius doesn't seem to have any qualms about his decision, not yet at least, but no one is responding and he has his theories as to why. But he feels he's best needed here to keep Sam company after her outburst and is thankful that Gui was able to cover for him at the photoshoot.
He even takes the time to read over Statian's report while he's relaxing at the hospital so that he can talk with her about his own performance.
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Insurance. Yay. Not looking forward to that.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," They tell the officer as they leave. Chloe keeps the smile on until she's in the store again.
"......F!&@!"
She screams once, before settling herself down, turning to Andromeda.
"...domino masks are classic, but they do nothing up close when you're with a person who already recognizes you. Also, you need more than just yellow in your costume if you don't want to look like a flying banana." She tells Andromeda.
"It's cool to know someone who has superpowers. Just don't tell my dad, he's not the biggest fan. Can you really help? Because I'm so angry at myself for getting the store into so much trouble I want to punch something. Or maybe run away, become a street kid and get a stick and poke tattoo while fending off a@+~&+!s who want to 'protect' me. That's an insane impulse, right? I think I'm panicking a bit."
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Andromeda can't help but instinctively flinch at the profanity, but she doesn't raise the issue beyond a large sigh that's mostly about the costume.
"I was hoping it looked better from the outside. Blame the dragon; I don't have a costume yet, but I thought if I just showed up in normal clothes then it might make people think it was a friend thing instead of a super hero thing. I didn't want to drag you into my stuff when I was trying to help."
She pauses, and thinks through her best options. "I can't scan the city with my mind or anything, but if you show me the footage I can cross reference whatever details it caught." Andromeda cracks a small smile "That way you won't have to get tattoos you don't want."
***
The footage isn't great, and without her contacts it's worse, but when the cultist turns his face to the camera, she gives a quick double blink and then he and his wand are suddenly in sharply focused amber, and an optional cross reference scrolls in the corner of her vision waiting for a directed glance.
Criminal record? So much for a detailed dossier. This is all just stupid misdemeanor stuff. Nothing about cult activity unless it's hidden behind legalese. There is an address though.
"Okay, I've got... something." Before getting lost in the unremarkable details of Roden, David K. she looks back at Chloe. "I have his name and an address. I'll still stay until you're done tonight though."
***
Andromeda rewound the clip again and saw her sheath bubble and flare against Statian's unprotected skin. I didn't even feel it...
Superior Up / Savior Down
"You have his name? And address?" Chloe looks shocked, not expecting this. "Okay, first alert the police, then maybe go ahead and get him? I have to call my dad anyways and he's already going to be worried enough without a superhero in the middle of the shop. If we can get that figure back maybe we can salvage this. I have to make this sale, but it was stupid of me to just put it out on display. I should have known better - wait."
It suddenly occurs to her, how did he know? He didn't just wander in. "I'll bet he must have seen that post with DeeDee. I never thought it would attract the crazies, but dad will get all 'told you so if he figures that out. Ugh! And Beebee got nearly hurt again..."
Chloe thinks. And thinks. Pacing the store. Finally, she turns to Andromeda. "Do you think I could come with you to their place?"
David Roden's address is in a run-down apartment building in Old Town flush up against a rickety elevated rail that shakes the foundations every time the train goes by. Old sputtering neon signs throw colorful lights onto streets barely illuminated by the flickering orange street lights. Old Town's streets seem perpetually wet and sirens are always heard in the distance.
Andromeda's bright yellow costume is a strange blob of paint dropped on an otherwise dingy and drab painting as she identifies the specific building amongst dozens of almost identical ones. Once inside, the hallways are dimly lit by pale flickering bulbs and smell of must and mold.
When she reaches Roden's apartment, the door is shut and no one answers.
Name (choose one or both):
Given _ Digits____
Alias __x___
Powers: __x___
Personal Contact: ____
Do you require lodging? Y
If yes, do you have a roommate preference? N
If yes, who? ____
Do you have any dietary needs: N
If yes, please explain ____
Classes
Please select:
[]High school curriculum
[]College curriculum
[x]Genius curriculum
Advanced classes:
[]Flight
[]Mystic arts
[]Psionics
[]Cybernetics/robotics
[x]Advanced Technology
[x]Particle physics
[x]Combat - Beginner
[x]Combat - Advanced
[]Combat - Hard Knocks*
Scribbled into the margins: "Do you have any teachers who specialize in xenobiology, quantopological folding, and/or n-dimensional-mycology?"
Listening Diva saying she wants to clear her head, Gui knows he wants to do the same. He turns around to leave and his hand finds Kassity's card. Down and guilty as he was, yeah, her offer was a pretty straightforward way of cooling his head.
A glance at Diva. Nah, it would be impossible for her to be interested in her offer, so he begins to walk away. Then he stops. Well, he did not know her. Perhaps this was the sort of thing she'd also be interested, so he turns around and quickly reaches for Diva.
"Hey..." He starts, unsure about how to transfer the invitation without looking like an ass or worse. "You have said you wanted to clear your head." He takes Kassity's card and hands it to her. "So dat cute mekeup girl geve me her card. She wants to have some fun... she has e boyfriend and asked me to invite you as well. Dey are open, she said." Better to say all at once. He shrugs, trying to downplay the absurd offer. "I am not meking any assumpcions, ok? I know you very little, so I do not know if you would be up for dis sort of ting. No strings attached, just some way to take our minds from... all of dis."
Max raises an eyebrow at Gui's offer. "It's tempting, but... not right now. There's too much going on," she says, her eyes glancing over to the ruined computer where Violet vanished.
***
"Chloe... This is an old address. I don't know that he'll even be there, and if he is, it would be stupid to bring you."
***
This is so stupid.
Andromeda turned and walked away for a second, knocking again without much hope.
Should've just left this for the cops.
She puts her hand on the knob and closes her eyes. Flares of light and prickles of heat pour off her as she tries to bleed the strength of her grasp into anything else nearby. Then, before the whole thing falls apart, she vibrates the door till the lock clicks open.
**Crack**
Or until she couldn't keep from breaking the door open.
As the door sags off its hinges, Andromeda can see a dingy, cluttered apartment with 1980s-style furniture. David K. Roden clearly is not a neat freak, and in fact a borderline hoarder. Stacks of old magazines and newspapers are piled up everywhere. The small kitchen is similarly cluttered, though thankfully not with food left out to rot.
The bedroom is different. It consists of a single bed -- more a cot, really -- and a small chest of drawers, and is devoid of the same clutter as the rest of the apartment. Scrawled on every wall are vaguely Egyptian iconography surrounding an image of the same figure that was missing from Chloe's diorama.
Growing closer to Andromeda as she directly asked him to also join the school. Making Potential and getting an Advance!
"Fine. I'll close up, head home - text me if you find him, okay?"
Chloe did not in fact head home after she closed up. Instead, she followed Andromeda (Cleanup was easy when you could do it all in the blink of an eye) and once she was sure that she was at the right place, transformed.
Behind Andromeda, Chroknight peers over her shoulder, not having been there a moment ago. "So this is where that jerk lives. Also, hi. Why are you dressed like you're advertising for the butter council?" They ask while looking around the bedroom, stopping as they look at the strange pharaoh depicted on the wall. "Huh. This is magical mystic crap it looks like. Should we try to get our dear leader to come take a look?"
|
|
Percy rings up Connie attempting to get in contact with her.
"Hi you've reached Connie's phone. I'm not in this reality right now, but there's a currently resonant frequency encoded in the bell hanging from the top of my favorite burger place."
Picking himself up from where he sat in the field where they had all spent their last moments as a team together, Percy sighs and takes flight back towards Halcyon again. Heading to the one place he could think of that'd be Connie's 'favorite' burger place landing as softly as he could on the roof and searching for a bell of some sorts.
C
The roof is a flat plane of rubber; metal vents and the like of various sizes poke through to break the monotony and occasionally suggest tasty smells. Tied to one of the larger, surprisingly well polished metal vents is a small bell with a muffled clapper.
P
Percy heads over to the clapper and unmuffles it and gives it a claw'd prod to cause it to jingle, "She'd probably give me all sorts of hell for tapping something like this without digging deep first.. What if it's a trap, what if you got tricked by my piece of s@~% family again..." "Honestly think I might prefer that to the last few days. Least then I wouldn't feel bad about hitting someone."
C
There's a pulse of dormant magic, sudden movement within one of the vents, and then it resolves into Connie's face inside the reflection, tilting to the side to see who's there.
"I think I know you," she smiles.
P
"Good.. f&##ing lord Connie.." He practically shouts at the head in the vent. "Where.. you know what probably a stupid question. You got time to talk? Or am I interrupting something on the other side of that vent."
C
"Oh I've got all the time in the world. Clarification though, I am of Connie, but I am not her."
P
"oh.." His wings and whole body sort of sag at that fact. "Right..course will this at least reach her?"
C
"I think you understand that if I'm of Connie then idioms aside, I'm not likely to make definite statements about the future. I am, however, her plan to be reached. No need to pout."
P
Percy throws up a hand of exasperation more at his situation than the floating head. "Well if you'd been in my... s%~@ I can't even use that anymore since I don't wear shoes.. look it's been a bad week, but if you're here for me to talk to and hopefully get in contact with her then I guess I'll just vent to you and see if you've got any sagely if not cryptic advice."
He rubs his eyes for a moment to try and clear his thoughts, "So, I met Abe and Tim earlier. Abe is the magic teacher and Tim is a student at this new school for exclusively powered people called Daedelus. Hal prep shuttered it's doors to folks like us, even those with minor powers, after a recent incident involving one of my new teammates and an assassin to be. By the way the tour guide for the school waltz'd right through my base wards, again, and works or worked for Lovelace so huge red flags before any of the other ones were raised."
C
"Lovelace mostly acts rationally, and seems to mostly enjoy leveraged catspaws. Understand what's being offered or threatened, and you've got a good first step. Quick aside, I'm not supposed to comment on your wards without a higher degree of certainty in your identity."
P
"How many other dragons do we collectively know, that that's an issue? I don't know who or where Connie's been that it might become an issue suddenly but. What she didn't give you the ability to like.. read my unique arcane signature or something?"
C
The reflected face of Connie blinks then suddenly rolls her eyes to the sky with an annoyed scowl. "I f*$$ing knew you'd ask this. Puff - I still cannot read arcane signatures by looking at them without specialized equipment," she enunciates with insulting clarity. "Seriously, I create a virtual intelligence as an answering machine for while I'm off REDACTEDand you're complaining about not having enough extra bells and f~+!ing whistles?! Miss you too, f&!!o. Apparently more since I recorded this -seventeen weeks- before you triggered it."
P
Scrunching his own face he sighs, "Well at least that should be enough to prove who I am. The fact that I'm so predictable that you thought of exactly what I'd say seventeen weeks in advance." He moves over to sit down on the uncomfortable rooftop in front of the vent where he just sits quietly for a bit.
C
"It's more of a Bayesian analysis. It felt rude to lock frank discussion of your ward designs behind an insufficiently rigorous level of security."
P
"Like I said it's been a week and it's got me all riled up, sorry." He leans his head down and presses his palms into his eyes letting out a frustrated huff, "The new team is driving me up the wall amongst all the other b$!!$### happening."
C
The disembodied head nods. "Tell me/her about them."
P
"Well Dee's back, when she can get away from the spotlight stuff so one saving grace. Statian's nice I think you'd both like her, real analytics person a little stiff but, hey that's what you get with a computer in your brain or something by far the easiest person on the team to deal with so far. We've got a maybe maybe not angelic being in Empyrean still trying to get a read on that situation, tried reaching out to Caio about it, but apparently he and Matariel are having a bit of a falling out or.. something. Phalanx is an ex-con that's trying to go straight, but he's brash, uses live firearms in civilian engagements, and keeps calling me a lizard. I want him to do better and I hope that the team is a good influence, but as always I never feel like I'm capable of doing the 'right' thing by em."
Picking up a roof pebble he tosses it to the side, "Not that I can with both Andromeda and Aquarelle circumventing my leadership with disobedience or just trying to dig for contrivances in my logic at every f&#%ing turn. 'Oh you can't say it's a good job after saying do better' Like hell I can't you tore down half the f&%+ing cafeteria because you thought the best way to deal with the assassin at the school yard was pushing her into more student dense areas?"
Resting his arm back over his knee he continues on the not so mini-rant, "Not to mention that Andromeda doesn't get why I've got beef with so many of the villains attending or working at Daedelus. Some kidnapped me and my team, others are well, your brothers and deserve their due suspicion, Scythe is there and seems to be doing fine. Eliana got fae dealed into being an elf and thinks I'm some kind of oathbreaker, because she couldn't have waited the f&!%ing two months it would have taken for me and you to concoct a brand new LIFE ALTERING magical ritual to do what she wanted."
"Oh and let's not get me started on how absolutely useless and b~$#!#!+ Shin's advice for team leadership was." He plants his lower jaw into the fist of his left arm, as he simmers on what he's shared so far, which to be fair is mostly everything.
C
"Help Eliana when it goes wrong. She's got very little practice making good decisions, so... Look, I know you hate it when people are unfair, but suck it up and help her when things go t@@# up. I mean, help everyone, but with her it's pretty obvious to see the vector that trouble's gonna come through.
"What'd Shin tell you anyways?"
P
"Of course. Just have to keep anyone else from falling into any traps or deals as well. Abram is still trying to figure out, how fae she is. If she's got any residual deal making powers."
He leans back slightly recalling his conversation with Shin.
"Well Empyrean tried to assure me that even if one day goes bad we can always try again tomorrow, Shin apparently never had that mindset?
He asked me why I'm doing the hero stuff while also trying to focus on a like normal career.
I mean obviously I can't only hero forever, like if I want to be able to afford living in Halcyon or anywhere. But I've got the power to protect people so it'd be wrong if I didn't use it to do exactly that.
Clearly a lot of things were dropped on me by Dr. Infinity, and I feel like I've done almost nothing but bungle it up ever since the whole thing with Mathers Senior. And with the veil shredding itself apart and magical creatures slowly leaking into our world, who's a better bridge between the two peoples than someone who is a magical creature themselves but lived in the modern mortal world? Like noone else is in the position to do these things."
He sighed once again and began bouncing his leg, "He disapproved said I'm trying to live up to someone elses standards and they aren't even around to see or care. That I should set my own goals, well what are these if not my goals?"
C
The image of Connie pauses a moment to think, eyes lifting to the skies in a familiar portrait, before she replies again, though the careful, deliberate wording that used to follow such a gesture is nowhere to be seen. "Honestly, it sounds like I'm getting fragments, so take this for what it's worth. Not sure why Empyrean's banalities crept their way in here, but that's fairly transparently feel-good tripe. Always getting another chance is true till it isn't; I know you know that too.
"If you're just trying to find a career or whatever for the necessities of life, there just are other avenues, so don't sweat that. If you want to find your Thing that's not dragon-caping around, then that's a much more important idea. 'Cause while there's certainly something to be said for being able to explain that you're another Outsider to any other folk and critters who sneak past the leakguard, it's not like you've actually made like a big peace yet, right? Though I am a bit out of date here. Your degree of expertise probably is replaceable, so uh, don't burn yourself out and go all One Winged Indarkius-mode, k? My whole don't let you be alone plan get's incredibly more difficult the bigger you make your throne of skulls."
The crook of her smile suggests that once again Indy's found something prerecorded. but it's gone pretty quickly.
[b]"Hey, are you mad at us? Shin and Caio and me?" Her expression resets to an amiable neutrality. "She thought you might be."
P
"It's one of the things that I went to him to talk about. If that was the sort of mentality he went about things with. Ya know try better... at least with simple mistakes and issues. But yeah you are getting fragments, I don't have an eidetic memory after all, and I'm not so unreasonable to say there might be pieces that are being skimmed for my own headspace."
He shakes his head in regard to her question about some grandiose peace deal between other beings and the normal world. "No, not enough coming through yet to make any big thing about it." Giving a small chuff at the joke title he adds, "You know I could fly with no wings before, but also don't wanna get sued for stepping on anyone's toes. So no need to worry about me going all death and darkness kill kill."
Percy takes a bit to think about the last question though, his face contorting in various forms of thought to sort out exactly what it is he felt about the situation. And he seemed to subconsciously shuffle and curl inward, taking up a surprisingly small amount of space, coiled tightly, considering just how much room he takes up at any given moment.
"I... that's hard to. I dunno, yes? But not like because I hate you or anything. Just, I guess it sucks and I'm a bit lost and hurt maybe? With all of you having left at basically the same time. So, hmmm not Angry at you guys but, the situation I guess? I don't know that's probably stupid and doesn't make any sense and I'm too on my head about things right now because of everything going on and..." He breaths shortly, "Yeah. All that."
C
"Cool. Well, unless something shorted out, here's one of those faces you can yell at. If you want to vent at something that looks like me, but without hurting my feelings, just start and end the rant with flibbertigibbet."
P
"No it's... it's fine, neither you nor her deserve it. You all had your reasons for going. Shin wanted to get out and get his life straightened up. Caio had to deal with the whole sky situation. Connie and well a lot."
Dropping his forehead onto his knee he sighs, "So why should I get pissy when it all makes sense. I had and still have the chance to step away, but I won't."
C
A hand appears in front of Connie's mouth and it emits a loud raspberry sound before the hand disappears again. "Disappointingly mature (She couldn't quite get the raspberry motion to look right)."
P
"What you think she'd rather me get bent out of shape and rant and rave?" He asks earnestly at the not quite right raspberry.
C
"Remember, I don't think. I have a blend of specifically prepared responses and general heuristics for assumed topics. However, it does not require a great deal of thought or forethought to surmise that you might either indulge or not indulge in a proffered option."
P
"Alright so you can't think, but you've got a good idea of how Connie thinks since she's the one that programmed you right? Enough to take a guess or at least deliver a likely response that she'd put in you on a subject. Such as, 'could I trust Abram if he were a teacher within a questionable institution?'"
C
Connie's face stares into the middle distance for a moment, giving the appearance of choosing her words. "The only reply I have to that question is tautological and likely unhelpful, no offense."
P
Percy frowns, "I see."
He sits quietly for a bit, "Did she leave any mention of when she might be back?"
C
Connie's face tilts to the side with a sad smile "Back in Halcyon? Or back with you? The answers are probably different, but there are too many moving pieces to make either one a helpful guess. Can you get in touch with Deedee? You'll need her or at least a sample for the next iteration. Once the iteration's live, it'll make tracking spells on her cute little tuchus a little unreliable, sorry about that, but it'll only be live for an hour before sunrises or after sunsets. Connie won't bother to set up the next iteration until after she hears from me though."
P
Percy makes another unsatisfied grumble, "Guess that makes sense. And yeah I can get Dee to come next time, I'm guessing this is like a she'll need to be present sort of thing?"
C
"Or a sample."
P
"And I just call to find out where again?"
C
"Sigh. I was hoping the tracking interference would be enough of a clue. Still, at least it's more data.. If direct lines were a good idea, they'd be a lot simpler than this, right? Use one of my trackers on Deedee, okay? Safety engaged, you'll have to show some finesse if the safety's off."
P
He hadn't realized that had been the clue. "Oh I'm.. not sure I have any of her trackers back at the base still. I'll have to dig around and find out."
C
"Still some on the black market too. You'll have time."
P
"Yeah black market might be a bit above my pay. But I'm sure a little smash and grab followed by a long explanation would be a great story to tell."
"Geez!"
Andromeda's sheath flares up in a crack against Chroknight's armor before she recognizes them.
"I didn't pick the cost- Look, the dragon can take a look later if he wants, but first we need to see if we can find Chloe's missing toy." At least he's actually here and I didn't break into someone else's place.
"We can take pictures as we go," she allows.
She's not particularly efficient at it. Her past operations were covert in their planning and operational details, not in anything expected of her. The pictures of the wall overlap a lot as she tries to make sure she captures everything.
What the hell?
She lowers the phone and starts paging through one of the magazines, an issue of The Astrophysical Journal with SALVATION'S EYE scrawled across the cover.
"Churyumov-Gerasimenko - What's so important about my comet?"
"Doubtful we'll find him here. But figuring out where he's gone next is possible." Chroknight seems to blur briefly before sitting down on the cot in the room. "Nothing but crazy in here from what I can tell. I'm annoyed. Not just by him getting away, but also doing the coolest thing I've ever done and no one was around to see me beat the Alliance single-handedly (Even if they were just shades).
"And then I had to book it to deal with..." They pause. "...no, you showed up to actually help clean up, so you deserve the truth. Moth ninjas are real, but I dealt with that situation like two days ago. I had to go back to work. I have a strict boss who's currently got pressure on me and doesn't know about the superhero thing. Retail sucks. Hard for me to be in two places at once despite time being on my side."
They fidget with the middle finger of their glove. "...How was Chloe, by the way? Was she okay? In your opinion."
"Testing. Hello? Good morning, Daedalites!" sounds Professor Mathers' voice across the PA system. "Let me tell you, it's so good to see all your smiling faces here in the world's greatest academy for the gifted and enhanced! Let me give a special shout-out to Daedalus's newest students joining our fantastic student body! You know who you are! Everyone, if you see an unfamiliar face or mask, be sure to give them a great Daedalus welcome, all right?
"As for today's announcements, we also want to extend a warm welcome to Dr. Omar Igwe who joins us from South Africa to teach both basic and particle physics. Welcome, Dr. I. Also, I'm definitely looking forward to today's lunch specials, including duck à l'orange, and mushroom and leek pot pie for those vegans among us. Mmmm-hmmm. As a reminder and something for our new students to consider, there's still time to submit ideas for Daedalus's school mascot. Just put your idea in the drop box outside of the school offices in the main building. Looking forward to seeing your submissions, but remember, Daedy McDaedeface is not going to win. Saying it right now. Sorry."
As our heroes arrive either on their own power or through the portal directly from Halcyon City, they get settled in to their new dorm rooms and begin their first rounds of classes as they've requested.
You are shown your room, a double that is already occupied with your new roommate. One half of the room is immaculate and ready for your occupancy. The other is decked out with cobwebs of all manner, laden with what are clearly living spiders.
The girl occupying the room hops up from her own bed excitedly, her short bob of hair bouncing as she smooths her knee-length skirt then plucks several plump spiders off her fuzzy sweater and sets them into nearby webs. "Hi, roomie! I'm Jessie! Jessie Donlevy." She sticks out a hand for a shake. "I hope my, uh, power doesn't freak you out too much. I control them. Spiders, that is. Well, arachnids, but my scorpions are sleeping. And they're all respectful of your space! See?" She gestures to the spider-less side of the room, her smile forced and a look of worry in her eyes.
You are shown to your room, a single-occupancy room with simple furnishings. The boy's wing has several other rooms that you're pretty sure have double or maybe even triple-occupancy given the noise that echoes out of the rooms. Several of the guys have set up a putt-putt challenge in the hallway outside your room with golf balls and plastic cups, along with various obstacles that they've added to make the game more challenging.
You are shown to your room, a double that you're not entirely sure if there is another student assigned, considering how spartan it is. The entire room and all the furnishings within, however, are reinforced structurally. Certainly a concerted effort would crush the beds, desks, and closets as well as the walls and ceilings, but Andromeda realizes that it's all tough enough that she could actually relax her tight control. Someone could swing a sledgehammer around recklessly and barely chip the paint.
A few hours after settling in, Andromeda's roommate finally shows up. The short Chinese girl with the metal wings enters carrying a bowl of ice cream. She pauses in the threshold, staring at Andromeda with a look of uncertainty. "Hi?"
You are shown to your room, a tidy double that has numerous posters of ripped male superheroes all across on side of the walls. You are introduced to your roommate, a girl with feathery white hair and a black band across her eyes. She sits up from where she was laying in her bed reading a paperback book. "Oh, hi!" she starts, throwing the book into her corner of the room. "You must be my new roommate! I'm uh, Gwen, but I don't mind if you use my, like, code name. Cygnus." She holds her hand out for a handshake. "Um, welcome to, like, Daedalus."
|
|
Name (choose one or both):
Given: __________
Alias Indarius
Powers: Manipulation of Ley energy(Aether), Unusual biology(Draconic in nature)
Personal Contact: ____
Do you require lodging? N
If yes, do you have a roommate preference? ___
If yes, who? ____
Do you have any dietary needs: N
If yes, please explain ____
Classes
Please select:
[]High school curriculum
[X]College curriculum
[]Genius curriculum
Advanced classes:
[X]Flight
[X]Mystic arts
[]Psionics
[]Cybernetics/robotics
[]Advanced Technology
[]Particle physics
[x]Combat - Beginner
[x]Combat - Advanced
[x]Combat - Hard Knocks*
Against probably his better judgement Indarius had followed the advice of several people and decided that joining Daedelus. If not for the reason to look into it's deeper reasons for being to keep Halcyon safe from any strangeness involving the super community, than to get more info on Professor Abram Mathers, or even just to be close to keep his team safe. But it seems his reputation in the school had already turned sour after their first tour, but he wasn't the main focus of everyone's attention, for which he was thankful.
So he kept his head down and tried to listen for any dirt on Tim Mathers, if anything to get back at the little scamp for his BS during the tour.
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Sam lowers her gray hood to look at her new roommate, looking around the other side of the room, taking in every detail "Arachnids help greatly reduce to insect populations, statistically reducing outbreaks of infectious diseases by perceivable margins." she says without inflection, watching one descend on a gossamer thread. A tilt of her head then she clarifies"I am not 'freaked out' by them"
Her matrix says she showed you hers, so...
Sam nods, dislodging her red braid where it was caught in her hood "I do not possess any powers, just significant cognition in a multitude of fields, including robotics and algorithmic artificial intelligence."
A slight pause, then her dull black threads slide out of the back of the gray hem, dozens of them spreading out around her to look at the spiders. "They are designed to help order the area around me but I will place 'arachnids of acceptable size' in their whitelisting which should prevent your companions from being harmed."
Her matrix suggests smiling, but Sam is dumbfounded by that, having a hard enough time interacting on her own rudimentary level.
She does listen to the prompt that says Ask Questions! "Have you been at Daedalites long?"
Max raises an eyebrow at Gui's offer. "It's tempting, but... not right now. There's too much going on," she says, her eyes glancing over to the ruined computer where Violet vanished.
Gui can't help but give her a very large smile. "Ha, dat is de second best answer for sure." She did not get angry, did not slapped him and actually considered it? Win. "Not right now is much better dan 'no'." With that, still smiling, he turns and leaves, texting Kassity.
***
The putt putt seemed cool, so Gui tries his best to avoid messing with it as he reaches for his door. Before closing it, he concentrates a bit and then the floor turns green. There are blinking lights on the walls, flags, stones, plants and even some silly monsters here and there. "Hi guys, I am Guillaume." He points to the illusions. "Oh, just remembered about de not showing off ting. Should I get rid of it?"
"And then I had to book it to deal with..." They pause. "...no, you showed up to actually help clean up, so you deserve the truth. Moth ninjas are real, but I dealt with that situation like two days ago. I had to go back to work. I have a strict boss who's currently got pressure on me and doesn't know about the superhero thing. Retail sucks. Hard for me to be in two places at once despite time being on my side."
They fidget with the middle finger of their glove. "...How was Chloe, by the way? Was she okay? In your opinion."
"She was scared, but she's tough. You should be more careful though; she's not stupid; she'll figure out who you are; she'll get involved if you don't stop her."
***
A few hours after settling in, Andromeda's roommate finally shows up. The short Chinese girl with the metal wings enters carrying a bowl of ice cream. She pauses in the threshold, staring at Andromeda with a look of uncertainty. "Hi?"
"Andromeda. I'm a weapon too." After a pause, she half extends a hand to shake. "Do I call you Scythe? I have a file on you; I know you heal, but what did they tell you before putting you in a room with me? "
"Do you honestly think that anyone could stop her from doing something she wants to do?" Chroknight asks. "There's a lot of headstrong people in this city - how else could you live in the disaster capital of the planet?"
They stand up and take one more look at the insane mural on the wall. "There's no finding him here. Hopefully the cops investigating can provide some other leads. I should go do a patrol and turn in. Catch you later, Crater."
Chroknight had only applied for a single class, since everything else was being done back at Halprep for now. They showed up for Hard Knocks Combat after doing a round of the school, checking for anything that might raise a red flag. It helped that they were able to shift their Halprep schedule so that this was their free period.
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Those attending the high school curriculum quickly find that they are fast-paced classes formulated via modern teaching techniques that whenever possible employs hands-on learning. Though lowest on the comparative scale due to the college-level and genius-level courses available, the instructors do not coddle or expect mediocracy.
The college-level courses are the basics of a liberal-arts major, ensuring that its students can transfer their credits to other institutes of higher learning. Those advanced students who haven't yet received their high school diploma yet can rest assured that the pace and difficulty of the classes will definitely earn them advanced placement credits that will translate to college credit.
The genius-level courses allow for the students to formulate their own curriculum with the guidance of true leaders in various fields. The underground levels of Daedalus contain advanced technology to allow the students to explore the farthest reaches of computers, robotics, physics, and STEM.
Beyond the standard curricula, the specialized classes bring about challenges that go beyond the ordinary academia.
Ballista, aka Ms. Yamada, extends a welcome to the newest additions to her class. Johnny, Xaiara, and Liam are quickly recognized by Indarius -- Johnny from his first visit to Daedalus, Xaiara and Liam as Scythe and Valence from other encounters.
"Before we get started, I do want to acknowledge that we've got two winged flyers now, so Indarius, why don't you team up with Xaiara there? Andromeda, your source of flight I assume is innate, something you can accomplish with your telekinesis? Why don't you pair up with Valence? He derives his flight from his power as well. You might have pointers that you could give each other."
Once the students are paired off, Ms. Yamada gives one final instruction. "This is nothing new to my old students. Flight is more instinctual than anything. Unless you have the exact same power as mine, I cannot tell you how to fly. Because you've signed up to my class, I assume you can defy Earth's gravity in some form or fashion. What my class is designed to do is to give you practice. Practice, practice, practice. I want to push you to your limits, and then beyond. In my opinion, there's no power as liberating and as exhilarating as flying. Flight can give you distinct tactical advantages if you must fight. But remember Daedalus's golden rule?"
The other students all state in unison, "No matter how powerful you are, there's always someone more powerful."
Ms. Yamada smiles. "Let's fly, shall we?" Her violet energy sheath appears all around her and she lifts off into the air.
Indy's attendance increases the size of the Mystic Arts class by a significant margin, since the class was not very large to begin with. The smattering of students (some of whom were clearly trying too hard with their heavy black eyeliner and dark clothing) seem very impressed with the dragon in their midst. The two exceptions, of course, are Tim Mathers and Eliana.
Abram turns out to be a very genial instructor, laying out some of the basic rules of magic -- because magic does have rules; they just tend to run counter to most of the laws of physics. One thing Professor Mathers breaks down is the varying types of magic. The powers of beings like fey, demons and angels are all quantified as magic, but they operate so differently than what a basic mage or practitioner can manipulate. Generally, that's called "pure" magic, or "source" magic.
Indarius is a natural at manipulating source magic, Mathers explains, because his draconic nature is infused with it.
Indy's attempts to gain some insight into Tim Mathers does require him to do a little bad-mouthing of the rest of his team, but eventually he hears a rumor that the reason Tim is so good at magic is that his dad ("You may have heard of him? William Westcott Mathers? He fought the Alliance and everything.") and him swapped bodies. Tim often times talks like an old guy.
The class for psionics offers a variety of methods for students to fully immerse themselves into the mindscapes, including sensory dep tanks. Professor Ascher is a hard woman to read, because her entire body is covered in swathes of cloth and her face obscured by a shroud. She almost always communicates through telepathy that rasps in the mind, and the few times she does say something out loud it's in a rough, hoarse voice.
Scythe stares at the hand for a moment before finally taking hold of it and allowing Andromeda to give it a shake. "Just that I'm not likely going to hurt you by accident, and that I'll heal in case you accidentally hurt me."
Asking around, Andromeda hears gossip that Scythe supposedly fought the Alliance, and that she was the subject of some sort of top-secret experimentation on metahumans. They expect that any time now, some sort of shadow-government agency is going to grab her and turn her into an assassin.
Jessie smiles brightly when Sam doesn't run from the room screaming. "Yes! Great! That's really good. They sometimes crawl away from where they're supposed to be when I sleep. But I'll make sure they stay clear of your areas."
She calms down while Sam busies herself with unpacking. "I've been here from the start, but it's not really long, you know? I mean, I like it. So far, anyway. Had some roommate... issues..., but I'm happy to be yours! Really!"
By the time Samantha has fully unpacked her belongings and set up her side of the room to a suitable arrangement, there is a large web over Jessie's side of the bed that has the words, "WELCOME! written in spider silk.
The boys in the hallway seem to appreciate the illusory obstacles. "It's cool, man," one of them says, and the game continues with whatever illusions Gui decides to contribute. The "no showing off your powers" rule, Gui learns, was set up by Johnny, Tim, and Liam, who are generally regarded as the most powerful students in the school.
Digits drops their bag on the unoccupied bed. "Hi Gwen, good to meet you. And hey, I didn't chat with you on the tour but I saw you trying to get folks to chill when Indy unknowingly used his powers, and a couple folks started acting like total Trynxusi. Thanks for that.
"I'm Digits, by the way. No code name; I'm not sure I really get them...but I maybe don't get a lot about Earth so far. Cygnus is a sweet one though. Have you ever been? I personally think the Wolf-Rayet star in Cygnus X-3 is one of the most beautiful sites within twenty kiloparsecs, easy!"
Slowing down (and putting their portal gun on their nightstand) they add, "So, uh, tell me about yourself!"
"Hum, thought is was e school rule. So de trio get to show off deir powers over de rest of us by meking rules of deir own?" Interesting. This was looking more and more like a regular school and he was apparently already finding about the bullies.
He takes a look at his room. It wasn't particularly big, so he leaves his stuff and looks around the hall, trying to figure out which rooms were closer to his. "Who are my room neighbors?"
Ms. Trask goes over the Daedalus curriculum and application closely, then turns it back over to Empyrean. "Quite a list of options," she observes, "but the option of not going at all is still available. Hypocritical as it is, you still have a standing invitation to resume classes at Halcyon Prep."
She flips through her threat analysis of the Daedalus Academy, shaking her head slowly. "I can think of a hundred reasons why you shouldn't go within ten miles of that school, but I'll ask you:
"Do you want to go?
Cygnus' eyes go wide at Digits' unusual expressions. "You mean like have I been to Cygnus the constellation? No! You're really from space?"
She looks away, muttering, "One month in Halcyon and my roommate's an alien."
At being asked to talk about herself, she clears her throat. "Well, my family always told the story of the swan maiden as if, like, it actually happened to my ancestor. Then, well, some stuff happened that's a pretty long story, and I ended up like this. So I got invited to come here, to figure out these powers. I can sense things.
"So, uh, Digits, what about you?"
"No, it's not a school rule," the teen whose name is Darren tells Gui. "Johnny basically said it's cringe to go on about your powers and show them off. Tim and Liam ended up agreeing, but I think it was because both of them were worried that the other one would be more powerful."
Darren gets an almost dreamy smile. "Johnny's like, the real deal. Popular but not full of himself. It's like, take Captain Stalwart and turn him into a high schooler. He hates it, but people are even calling him Kid Stalwart."
Gui realizes that his next room neighbor is Archie, who is set up to room with Ryan. Across the hall is a double with two other students named Vanderbilt and Cullen.
"Your illusions look like they're a lot of fun. All I can do is levitate. I've figured out some tricks with it, but it's nothing like what some of the students can do here."
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Indarius raises a finger in question before they all take off. "Ah Ms. Yamada, would you prefer me to fly in this form or my natural form?" He motions to his currently humanoid body type, "It lines up better with the idea of flying with a similar partner. But worth the ask I believe."
Regardless of the answer Indarius looks over to Xaiara-Scythe and nods, "It'll be a pleasure to fly alongside you, see you in the air?" He would take off with a running start before bringing himself airborne, about and slowly rising until he matched up with Xaiara's pace.
"I've got plenty of time flying out in Halcyon, but not so much in a class setting, what should I expect? Obstacles, aerobatics?"
"Professor, if I may ask why exactly do we call ley-line drawn magic, source magic? In all my studies I've never actually found an answer calling back to the definable differences between the various magical types. And in my experience I haven't seen much of a notable difference between my own 'source' magic and that of say a demon or fae, despite the actual implementations of their magic being different. Such as Fae preferring twisting word deals much like a complex legal contract, and demons bartering for portions of souls or other valuable to them resources. Those just seem more like preferences for implementation or application of their magical talents unless I'm mistaken."
He hopes not to cause too many waves during his time here, but might as well stick with learning a different angle of the basics if he wanted to get anything out of this class. The rumor about Tim having body swapped at one point with Mather's Senior, that'd be a good topic to bring up with not-Connie.
"Oh, well, the constellation is made of a bunch of stars. Some aren't really that near the others, but there are a few interesting ones in it."
Dropping into a more confiding tone, they continue, "A lot of people would tell you Cygnus X-3 isn't that interesting as a place, but I think it's gorgeous. The Wolf-Rayet star–that's what my translator says it's called here, anyway–is pretty unique.
"Cygnus X-1 is a more common destination, because the Gurblu thrive in high X-Ray environments, and use the black hole as an anchor for one of the most popular networks of artificial wormholes...but to me it lacks the wow factor of Cygnus X-3."
When Cygnus explains a bit about herself, Digits nods with interest. [b]"So you have a family of people with...magic swan powers? I don't know the story, but that's pretty sick! I don't know anything about magic, really. I think it's way more common on Earth than most places.
"Speaking of which, I guess I'm not technically an alien. I was born on Earth, but kinda accidentally hitched a ride into the stars on a dimension-shifting mushroom that can traverse the transgalactic mycorrhizal network without needing to worry about overly-patrolled wormholes. I guess it was a weird childhood, but I had fun, mostly. The Madcap is pretty good at staying a step ahead of trouble. Now I'm back on Earth though, for the first time since I was teeny.
"I don't exactly have powers, but I'm pretty handy with tech, especially mycorrhizatech...and I managed to swipe this hear portal gun from a Trynxus lab, and have even managed to improve on it a bit.
"What's the inside scoop on Daedalus? How long've you been here? Who did I need to watch out for?"
Sam did not bring much. Some clothes, a few computers, toiletries, a pillow. The room looks nearly as empty as when she entered in truth.
Turning around to see the sign, she considers seven hundred and twenty three responses, then settled on. "Thank you." then let her eyes travel her multitude of multilegged minions "All of you."
After an awkward moment, she tells the other girl flatly "I am socially deficient, in the norms of society. But endeavor to try."
---------
Samantha enters the genius level course for the first day, sees Andromeda there as well, so goes to stand next to her. Off hand, and forgetting a Hello, she says as she looks around the room "Do you think they have a practical accelerator? I couldn't find one listed in their online inventories, but if they do, we might be able to reverse the..." she outlines one of the theories she has been working on to help regulate the chaotic one's power output.
Angel Taylor reads the report, her frown deepening as she goes. She finally reaches the end and tosses the tablet aside with an uneasy sigh. "So 'Violet' is still around, and maybe lurking in the Tower's computer systems?" She's been touchy about her behavior when Scarlett and Cyan nearly took over the company and sold it to Infini-Corp. The two demonesses had sunk their claws deeply into her until she was freed from their manipulations by a combined effort of DD, the Alliance, and Shane Taylor.
"This is... well, 'not good' is clearly the understatement of the year. I thought you were Violet? At least, you were supposed to be?" She shakes her head in exasperation as she looks at Max. "Well, she wants you, certainly. Which doesn't bode well. At least you were able to fight her off. It makes me wonder if you going to that Daedalus school is a good idea."
She gestures to another computer screen where a police report is displayed. "In other news, that toy you were looking at buying? It was almost stolen in a smash-and-grab by some guy that supposedly used a magic staff in the theft. Sounds like that storeowner decided to go for the insurance. You need to be careful who you share your image and endorsement."
Ms. Yamada shrugs at Indy's questions. "Whichever. The goal is the same, so you do what you gotta do."
Scythe is in the air and watching him impatiently as Indy gets his body into the air with his wings. Her metal wings are a blur behind her, making her flight look almost as effortless as Johnny and Liam, who rise into the air through unseen forces.
"Yes. Both," Scythe says simply about what to expect. Once all the class is in the air, a number of drones join them and holographic projections of obstacles appear.
"Begin!" Ballista shouts as a claxon sounds. A holographic flight path appears before each student, guiding an increasingly difficult course through the images and past aggressive drones that give chase.
Abram hops up to sit on the corner of his desk while considering Indy's question about the differences of magic. "You pretty much answered your own question. Magic's not as easily delineated as maybe what I made out at first. Yeah, it's magic because that's what we call it, since it certainly is not science." He chuckles at his own joke.
"But there's clear differences between the powers that fey exhibit and what a demon can pull off." He takes a look at Eliana who is dutifully listening to the lecture. "And the kind of magic that a gifted human can use is, from what we can tell, the same sort of ley line-enhanced magic that dragons manipulate. Except that dragons have a much deeper well of power in themselves to draw upon, while humans have to source that magic from someplace else to pull off more than the most basic of tricks -- hence, source magic."
Jessie nods at the admission. "Well, I think you're doing all right. My power pretty much creeps out probably eighty percent of the population, so the fact that you're not running away screaming means a lot to me."
She holds out a hand for a shake. "Would you like to be friends?"
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As Indy brings his bulk about he is no slouch to show that even as large as he is he's got plenty of aerial maneuverability to spare, gliding and cutting through the air like a flying roiling mass of quicksilver. Dipping in and around the gates, quick wing-break stops, turns that seem impossible for a being his size, utilizing his reach he manages to disable drones with cracking tail slaps or heavy wing beats to disrupt them and grant him extra time to slip by.
Indarius nods along, "So simply put, it mostly boils down to the how it's utilized and obtained." He falls silent after that, honestly in all his study he'd never found a proper explanation for the terminology, but that seems fairly correct all things considered.
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There is a twitch in Sam's lips, just briefly, and rather unexpectedly, at the use of STATISTICS in Jessie's sentence. She does wonder at the accuracy of the percentage since there are not decimal points used.
Her green eyes look down at the offered hand, then back up to the acron-controller. "Yes, that arrangement would be educational and..." her matrix tells her to STOP, and simply say "I... would like that, yes." Sam reaches up and shakes her new friend's hand.
True to Beebee's word, she had a fundraiser going in record time. She has plates of the Badawi's famous halva for sale, while the rest of the band has contributed an assortment of cookies and brownies to the effort.
Beebee gives Chloe a thumbs up as she passes by her to her first class of the day. The small box showing signs of being full of cash gives Chloe a little bit of hope that her family's store might survive the current crisis.
After getting some clues to the strange man who tried to steal the whole diorama but only make off with the prize villain figure, she had to return to her home where her father once more had harsh words. Not only was the store attacked, but that reckless hero Chroknight involved somehow. In his eyes, it was a miracle that Chloe wasn't hurt.
By the end of the day, Beebee presented Chloe with a wad of cash that was unfortunately still far short of what the store needed. "I'll keep going. You won't be homeless on my watch," she says as if the more confident it's voiced the more likely it'll be true.
Chroknight shows up early for the Hard Knocks class, the only class the Janus manages to make. They also around about Chicle, and hear rumors that the school administrator has been both a hero and villain before joining the school administration. Some would call Chicle a sellout, while others say she's a pragmatist.
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The class for psionics offers a variety of methods for students to fully immerse themselves into the mindscapes, including sensory dep tanks. Professor Ascher is a hard woman to read, because her entire body is covered in swathes of cloth and her face obscured by a shroud. She almost always communicates through telepathy that rasps in the mind, and the few times she does say something out loud it's in a rough, hoarse voice.
Andromeda lowers herself into the sensory deprivation tank with a spike, and then a steady increase of stress. This is stupid. Is psionics just for the telepaths?
Scythe stares at the hand for a moment before finally taking hold of it and allowing Andromeda to give it a shake. "Just that I'm not likely going to hurt you by accident, and that I'll heal in case you accidentally hurt me."
"So they don't know what would happen if one of us really tried." A slight smile spreads across Andromeda's face. "Let's avoid that. Have you had a roommate before? I was always too much younger in my program, so I don't know for sure what annoys me yet."
"Begin!" Ballista shouts as a claxon sounds. A holographic flight path appears before each student, guiding an increasingly difficult course through the images and past aggressive drones that give chase.
PFWOOM
Andromeda rockets up into the sky. Her flight isn't truly innate in the way of most telekines. She doesn't control her flight internally; every flight is more like yanking herself off the ground by her bootstraps, and then smashing herself in the right direction.
PFWOOM
She hurtles through the first image.
PFWOOM, PF-PF-PF-PF PFWOOM
Then the second, then a series of rapid course adjustments as she hits each of the images in sequence, completely ignoring the aggressive drones as she lets loose with more, even more speed and a scream of wild joy as she feels some of the tug of the many, many G-forces her sheath cushions her against.
Samantha enters the genius level course for the first day, sees Andromeda there as well, so goes to stand next to her. Off hand, and forgetting a Hello, she says as she looks around the room "Do you think they have a practical accelerator? I couldn't find one listed in their online inventories, but if they do, we might be able to reverse the..." she outlines one of the theories she has been working on to help regulate the chaotic one's power output.
"How many billions of dollars worth of equipment are you willing to wreck testing your theory?" Andromeda snaps, unwanted heat making her voice too loud, too sharp, "They stopped trying and shoved me in a box once they were counting in GDPs"
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While he should not be judging someone he had yet to meet, his gut was telling him this Johnny wasn't really bothered about being compared to Captain Stalwart.
"Illusions can be fun, specially when I get to control dem de way I want to." He says, shrugging. "I will talk to my neighbors leter and explein dis, but sometimes when I sleep, my illusions get a bit out of control, so you might see some of dem leaking into de hall."
"And levitacion seems cool as well and even if you tink it is not much, dere are some advantages of having oders to underestimate us. But you get to be smart and creative. Anyway, nice to meet you Darren. I'll unpack and rest e bit. See you later!"
---
The next day, Gui goes over his classes, just the normal ones since he has not joined any of the advanced ones. True to his word, he was only looking towards a standard education. He finds some of the teachers pretty good actually, even if he keeps to his own in his first day, testing the waters.
In truth, that wasn't the only thing worrying him. He woke up this morning with an illusory image of Sam sleeping by his side. By itself, it wasn't really troubling, because his mind was pretty wild in terns of dreams. What really startled him was that when he was about to dismiss her image, she woke up, covered herself with the blanked and said "Good Morning, Sweetie."
So Gui was sitting on the garden, troubled, with a striking northern cardinal perched on his finger. Chirping.
Archie spent some time getting his dorm room up to his standards with posters galore and his favored decorations that would need to be permanent, his closet remains empty since he doesn't own clothes. He tries his best to get to know Ryan and his preferences for bedtimes and loud music, which is currently blaring through a hefty speaker.
His classes are pretty standard and he often excels in the ones with more hand-on aspects such as any engineering classes. In the morning after he rolls into the courtyard on his skateboard and spies Gui.
"Hey, cute bird. Penny for your thoughts?" He asks as he kicks his skateboard up and catches it. He sits next to Gui and unwraps a granola bar, takes a bite then flicks Gui a penny.
Those joining the basic fighting class are first given an assessment of their physical strength and overall health, and whether any of their powers or abilities are affecting them. Those with outstanding physical gifts but lack experience are still advanced to the next level.
Janice Foster, aka Terrier, is a terrifying instructor at first. Her lupine eyes seem to spot weaknesses as she pads around them like a predatory animal. With a sniff of the air, she identifies anyone feeling trepidation.
"Welcome to the basics of self-defense," she growls. "In this class, you will learn to rely on your bodies. I don't care if you can read minds, shoot fireworks, or design cold fusion. Your powers won't stop a fist, or a knife, or a gun. So you need to learn how to move, to react, and to strike. This is a dangerous world, and your abilities will not let you live quietly."
You're given pads at the start, but at the end of the class you are tired and bruised.
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"How many billions of dollars worth of equipment are you willing to wreck testing your theory?" Andromeda snaps, unwanted heat making her voice too loud, too sharp, "They stopped trying and shoved me in a box once they were counting in GDPs"
Sam does not flinch at the snapping, she doesn't even seem to register it. Her eyes are on her tablet, her lip doing a bit of a quirking thing, meaning her mind is really rolling over something. "One billion five hundred and twenty three million, four hundred and two... currently." she finally looks up and says, not explaining to the other woman what she is talking about, and where she got the number.
Sam tilts her head slightly and then offers "Alternate theories exist, I've... just never had the opportunity to use a particle accelerator before." There is a slight, ever so slight dipping of Sam's voice, the closest thing to a whine the emotionally detached red head is capable of when her systems are functioning. "Resonant frequencies" she moves on "Energy and frequency are directly proportional, if we could calibrate an alternative frequency..." science follows, though this time Sam's eyes stays on Andromeda's.
---
Basic combat class
Sam is support, she know this. If she gets into hand to hand combat with anyone then the world is probably about to be destroyed. But knowledge is useful.
The poor nerd girl decides she should not rely on her threads, so keeps those sheathed inside her. Two fist ball in front of her, taking what she thinks is a Stance. She moves where the instructor seems to be throwing a punch, expecting what she has determined to be a Feint.
Sam is horrible at reading people.
Terrier was telegraphing her punch to make it as obvious as possible, and did not expect anyone to Step into it.
There is something to be said for surprising your opponent, though her nose would not agree. Blood Spurted, Sam fell like a sack of potatoes.
Archie's penny falls on Gui's lap and suspecting it to be fake, he doesn't bother to pick it up. Well, if it was real, it was also still a penny. The completely out of place cardinal takes flight from Gui's hand and starts to circle Archie's head, chirping happily, but creating no air movement.
"Dey have sound now, Archie." He points out the obvious.
---
Gui tries to focus as much as he can on the basic combat class. That Terrier lady seems pretty tough and terrifying, even if she is not using her claws. He was never a fighter and usually was proud of resolving his conflicts without violence, but that wasn't a reasonable reality in his new life.
He watches the other students, trying to learn from them. His father was always saying that one can learn things two ways: from their own mistakes or from others' mistakes and that the second option was much better. He agreed, so when he feels he is ready, he gives it a try.
He puts on a brave face and shows confidence. At least the image of it he had no problem with, since faking feelings was something he learned a while ago. It was trickery 101. Then the punches and kicks begin. He dodges when he can and blocks when he can't, but he only risks attacking when there is no risk of him getting hit, so they are pathetic.
As her teammate tries his best to fight on, Sam sits on the sidelines, a ice filled cloth on her nose, and pumps her fist in the air "Woo. Woo." she gives a muffled deflated cheer
Archie smiles at the bird then looks back at Gui. "You know that's not what I meant, at least you should, you're not Statian." He laughs. "I mean your gloomy brooding look. You're exuding angst, that supposed to my thing." He says sarcastically with a grin.
"How many billions of dollars worth of equipment are you willing to wreck testing your theory?" Andromeda snaps, unwanted heat making her voice too loud, too sharp, "They stopped trying and shoved me in a box once they were counting in GDPs"Sam does not flinch at the snapping, she doesn't even seem to register it. Her eyes are on her tablet, her lip doing a bit of a quirking thing, meaning her mind is really rolling over something. "One billion five hundred and twenty three million, four hundred and two... currently." she finally looks up and says, not explaining to the other woman what she is talking about, and where she got the number.
Sam tilts her head slightly and then offers "Alternate theories exist, I've... just never had the opportunity to use a particle accelerator before." There is a slight, ever so slight dipping of Sam's voice, the closest thing to a whine the emotionally detached red head is capable of when her systems are functioning. "Resonant frequencies" she moves on "Energy and frequency are directly proportional, if we could calibrate an alternative frequency..." science follows, though this time Sam's eyes stays on Andromeda's.
Andromeda can't hold Sam's gaze for long. "I'm sure they'll find you one to borrow. I'm also sure that if they tell whoever owns it about me that they won't want me anywhere near it." Doesn't she get it? Even it it weren't a lost cause, there's better things to spend her time on.
She puts on a smile that could only fool Sam, and has no chance with her matrix. "Let's find a better reason to get you to a particle accelerator."
She puts on a smile that could only fool Sam, and has no chance with her matrix. "Let's find a better reason to get you to a particle accelerator."
Sam's eye widen just a touch, having never been smiled at by Andromeda before, her own lips curving virtually imperceptivity. She hears her matrix say something about 'manipulation' but misses it as a odd warmth starts to-
MANIPULATION! her matrix screams, ON REPEAT.
The red head realized she was already vulnerable to a stray bit of kindness before her emotional trephination, and would be even worse after, so she built in fail safes.
The curve of her lips becomes perceptible, but in the opposite direction. "Why are you lying?"
"What's the inside scoop on Daedalus? How long've you been here? Who did I need to watch out for?"
Gwen listens with fascination to Digits' experiences in space. "That's so wild. Even Halcyon City could be boring to you," she comments. She scrunches her face when asked about Daedalus. "I've only been here a couple weeks, but that's about what it's like for everyone. It's brand new. Not the campus, of course, but the classes and all. And watching out for people? I don't know. There are a few cliques forming. I'm accepted in the Hybrids, 'cause we're all, you know, partly animal. The Finals were a team before they came to Daedalus so they're pretty tight. There's also the Young Mad Scientists (named ironically), and the Mindscapers. Oh, and the Future Alliance."
Terrier doesn't begin with a lot of caution or warnings. All the students taking Advanced Combat and Fighting either have experience or abilities that make training with the beginners dangerous for them. The new students are folded immediately into the lessons without coddling. She starts off with the class practicing how to take hits, employing a variety of robots (some developed by Daedalus students). Students have to learn blocks, dodging, or employing their powers to absorb the hits.
After dealing with that punishment for half the class, Terrier then allows the students to fight back,
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Indarius took well to the advanced combat class of getting hit a bunch, he decided to show up in his humanoid form for this class since his true form would likely be a bit much for any of the other students to deal with. Which is where his mind had thought things would go, but straight into combat robots was not where he thought this'd go. He blocked, dodged, barriered, and even tried to learn how to take the brunt of the attack with his new armor and things were going very well. He looked over to watch as Digits and a few other people he knew were in the class as well to see how they were doing. He immediately regretted that as the robot he was facing against took the opportunity to sock him with a gloved, but still very hard punch into his eye.
He staggered back and let loose a curse and a growl before lashing back at the robot with his claws gouging out a significant portion of the robot's chest in his flash of anger. He stared at the sparking heap gently covering the eye that'd been hit, luckily it wouldn't bruise, but the scales around it would be tender for a while as the ones that were damaged grew back.
"Joke is on you, Archie." The bird answers and starts to laugh, before exploding in red glitter that soon disappears.
"I did get your meaning. My problem is dat my illusions now have sound." He says, worried. "I know it sounds like e good ting, like, yeah, dey are much more useful now."
"But de ting is... I still do not know how to control dem all de time. Sometimes dey eskepe and even I get fooled by dem, and now dat dey have sound, dey talk and... and I am much closer to getting crezy." He sighs, looking up, remembering Sam talking to him.
"You won't be homeless on my watch."
Beebee, love you, but this isn't a screw up that can be fixed with a bake sale. That's what Chloe had wanted to say to her. But she smiled and took the money gratefully, adding it to the store's register as a donation before heading to Chroknight's first Daedalus class.
Chroknight shows up at the tail end of the advanced class, which gives them a few minutes to connect with their teammates. They take a seat next to Sam, glancing briefly at Gui and watching Indarius put it out on the field.
That seems fairly hard. Hard Knocks shouldn't be too much harder, right?
"So, have you two made any friends yet?" Chroknight asks Sam and Gui. "Any budding crushes? Spring romances in the air? I literally don't get much time to come and listen to the gossip so spill."
Before being approved for the Hard Knocks class, every student is tested for their strength and resistance to injury. While being super strong or invulnerable is not a prerequisite for enrollment, the program is designed to be punishing and potentially lethal for normal people.
The other students in Hard Knocks are Scythe, Johnny, Carlos, Ne'veah, and Chitin.
Terrier has the Rumpus Room set up like four rooftops with the gaps between the "buildings" as no-go zones. "Welcome to Hard Knocks," she growls to the new students, "Hope you survive. You're here because you want to. I assume that means you want to be a superhero or some kind of defender. In the real world, the enemies aren't going to pull their punches. So we won't here."
The wolf woman hits a button and a giant floating robot bristling with weapons drops out of a panel in the ceiling. "Would our new students like to take on the murderbot?"
"Oh, wow, what does the school spend on murder bots? That's probably why we don't have an arts program." Chroknight quips as they limber up. "Let's make history, team."
"I'll keep it distracted, you both set up a hammer and anvil!" Chroknight shouts as they rush forward, slowing time to get between its deadly appendages and strike at the weak points they think they can punch through.