"'What are we going to do?' Well first I would recommend not flying around or at least limit it to the outskirts of the city. Lay low as best we can and I think we should at least hear what Isaiah has to say, worst case scenario his idea is dumb and you turn him down," Rory says as he racks his brain trying to come up with a long term solution.
"Low profile. Check," Valerie says, nodding even though she still looks uneasy. "You want to talk with Isaiah now? Or just get back with me once you've talked with him?"
She studies his face a moment, then leans up to kiss him on the lips. "Thank you," she whispers.
Oh, no! Now this is going to get super complicated!
”Of course not,” she replied, ”Why would it be?”
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Andressa smiled lightly at Jaden, "I mean... it's not too weird is it? I mean just look how fantastical the people here are, you have heroes that can fly, manipulate the very elements, read minds, shapeshift, and all kinds of things like that. I wager compared to some species that is quite strange. I certainly think a bunch of aliens would see me as weird."
She peered over Jaden's shoulder attempting to see any of the other members of the group, as well as to look around the dance floor to see if it was still as tightly packed as before.
Isaiah is intrigued that there's someone else here capable of perceiving auras... or at least something similar to the way he perceives them. Figuring he might as well, he does a cursory aura scan back while engaging in social activity.
"Ah, hello. I'm Isaiah, and I suppose my aura probably does look rather alien. Not often I meet anyone around here who can actually tell, though."
Andressa notes that there are still a good number of students still dancing, but others went off to the pool thanks to Kayla's urging. Others still are mingling around the buffet table. The only one of the team still around the dance floor that she can see is Isaiah, who appears to be in a conversation with a girl with pink hair.
Jaden shakes his head and gives her an encouraging smile. "Well, yeah, when you put it like that. There's aliens, and super beings, and magical entities, and all kinds of stuff right here in Halcyon, and it still seems boring sometimes. I think it's cool wanting to see the universe."
==================
Skyler blinks in surprise. "Alien, huh? Are you being literal? I don't think I've ever met an alien before. And sensing auras is what I can do. Not much besides that, though. So I don't think I'll be getting any invitation from the Heralds anytime soon." She laughs lightly at her own joke.
"So, you going to school, or are you just a guest of Praetoria?"
==================
Tiv's hands pause in the middle of the massage. "I-- I mean, well, I was just asking. I know we were kind of set up on a blind date, and we've had a few more since then, so... just making sure I'm not crossing any lines or anything."
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Andressa turns during a step a bit out of time and accidentally taking the lead from Jaden for a moment. "It's a pretty neat place... the universe ya know." She smiled shyly, "Hmmm hypothetical but what would you say of you met someone from another planet? You know... your first contact sort of thing?"
Psyche was glad that Kayla hadn't asked to ride along as well. Whatever she was saying about risks and dangers, it was plain that that was only the barest part of what was swirling through her, and there was no way she could be concealed.
But Psyche was not so... compromised.
Splintering off a shard of her consciousness, she slid it into Val's mind with all of a surgeon's subtlety and care. It was a little inconvenient, since that shard wouldn't be able to relay anything to her until it rejoined her mind. So if there was anything actually untoward, then she would lose that link just as it became important. She could circumvent that by tying the shard to Kayla as well, letting her feel and see whatever was going on, and then skimming through her reactions to get a quicker picture.
Something nagged at her that this wasn't right, but she Couldn't see anything too terrible that would happen. If she and Rory start having sex or something I can always hide it from Kayla, as long as I'm watching.
Her shard began its work and she released it from her thoughts with a grateful exhalation.
...I'm going to guess refreshing if blunt honesty..."
Right. Deniable flirting.
Instinctively she pinched shut a nosebleed before it showed, and smiling she replied. "Oh God no. Not that I want lies, but give me a complicated truth over anything blunt-" her arms suddenly buckled beneath her weight, slapping her temple against the side of the pool in a dull thud of telekinetically muted impact.
For a moment the ripples of the water made her look... different. The flesh melted away from her beauty-pageant frame. Her skin thinned; her cheeks sank; her bones and joints seemed to protrude as everything else fell away; her scalp showed through her patches of suddenly thin, lusterless hair. And then she was back, looking more than a little dazed as she sank deeper and deeper.
How much did they see?
"S&#+!" Shin's slip up as Kylie suddenly smacked her head on the side of the pool was because he wasn't able to prevent her from hitting. It looked like she'd blunted the impact with her powers, but for a brief moment, he could see beyond her projected image to the girl underneath. Fear for her well-being was the first thing she would feel, before guilt and anger at himself for not paying enough attention.
"Are you okay? That looked serious," He said, reaching out to grab her and hold her upright. "Hey, focus on me. Tell me the color of my eyes," He directed Kylie as he used his sparse medical knowledge. That and copying the same EMTs that had looked him over during his own concussion.
I thought that the doctors had been helping you to recover? Was the party pushing you too much? He thought to her as he kept his gaze on her. Let's play it that you're feeling unwell. I can walk you out, or carry you if you want.
Isaiah grins mischievously. "Possibly. Praetoria did invite me... and don't underestimate the usefulness of aura-sensing. You can get a lot of mileage out of it, particularly if you train your ability to differentiate. After all, you could pick me out of a crowd now, which is a distinctly uncommon thing if I'm trying to be inconspicuous."
Even as he spoke, Isaiah's aura shifted slightly as he altered exhaust venting patterns. It was true that his aura was one of the few things he couldn't fundamentally alter due to the simple nature of his mana-powered construction.
Valerie shivers suddenly in Rory's arms, even though it's not a particularly cold evening. She coughs lightly as she reluctantly steps back from their embrace. "I should probably get going. Let you talk to the members of your team who don't want me arrested," she says with a forced smile.
Her smile becomes more genuine as she reaches up and touches his cheek. "Thanks for inviting me. And... if you call to meet up again... I'll trust you. Okay?"
========================
Jaden laughs as he considers Andressa's question. "Wow, let's see... what would I say? Probably something like, 'sorry about the mess we've made with our planet. We're not all that bad.'" He chuckles a bit more. "Seriously, though? Don't even know. I'd probably be all like, 'uuh, umm, duuh...'"
========================
Skyler's left eye squints while her right eyebrow arches. "Okay, now you went from gray-blue to a deep purple. That's cool. You can change your aura? Saaay, you're not some sort of start of an alien invasion, and I'm the only one who can tell a human from a replicant? That's a lot of pressure that I'm not sure I'm ready for."
Isaiah did his best to look nochalant while being obvious about doing so.
"Nah, nothing to worry about from me. I may be an infiltrator, but strictly a benevolent one. Still, there is a bit of a point there. Aura signatures are very hard to fake convincingly. Which means you could be very good at spotting infiltrators of all sorts with some practice. Especially since most forms of invisibility fail to conceal aura. Not every hero is a front liner; the current issues are as much caused by an inability to locate the villains as much as the general short-handedness in folks capable of tangling with a heavy."
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Andressa laughed for a moment, "I think you'd do quite well. So long as they were mostly humanoid. Though it'd probably come out as garbled nothingness if they didn't have any translation device." She laughed again low-key thankful for her own device basically implanted in her neural lace.
There is a brief moment when Psyche bashes her head where Andressa feels the severed connection, surprisingly similar to when her and Hux split. She instinctively looks towards the source to see a splunk of water near Shin and a distinct lack of Kylie being present. Her attention completely dragged away from the fancy footwork causes her to stumble awkwardly with Jaden almost dragging him down.
Kayla turned her head around and looked at Tiv, her eyes betraying her weary state. However, she tried to still keep up the act of being coy and said "No, no lines crossed...yet..." along with a wink.
She then turned slowly around and considered giving him a kiss, but her head was, ironically, swimming here in the pool. Siphon had really done a number to her, and her determination to hide it wasn't helping matters. She let out a breath and took care to maintain steady footing before adding "You know, I actually am kind of tired. I think I'm going to go on back up to my room and get ready for bed. You are welcome to stay and hang out as long as you want. Make some more friends with The Crew or whoever you want since you'll be in classes with us. I'll text you tomorrow, okay?" she says before turning and making her way out of the pool, taking care to keep a firm grip on the handrail at the stairs. She didn't even seem to notice the small crowd gathering around Kylie and Shin, her mind distant and her body too exhausted to focus on anything other than getting out of everyone's view.
She was so tired, she didn't even bother to recollect her clothes. She just grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her as she made her way for the elevators.
"I don't know that I need to **feign** having taken ill" Psyche's voice was very dry, but a little faint.
"Honestly though, you couldn't even dive in after me? Simplest meet-cute you can imagine.
"You also wouldn't have had to haul me out of the pool like a sack of wet potatoes." Her voice was still dry, but annoyance bubbled beneath it.
"I should go. I am tired."
I'm not hauling you out like potatoes. But I hope you don't mind looking like a damsel in distress.
Shin took the opportunity to scoop Kylie up into his arms in a princess carry. She was light - too light, that it worried him - so that was nothing for him to do. "Everyone clear a path," He spoke loudly to the surrounding rubberneckers. "I have to get her to the emergency room." It was clearly the kind of spectacle that he'd have preferred not to have for their public meeting, but there was no doubt there would be a lot of natural gossip about her being carried off by a dashing gentleman to get treatment.
"You," He called out to Trip when he spotted her. "Call us a cab so we can get there quickly." He carried Kylie to the elevators, crossing paths with the tired Kayla so that they got there at the same time. "Hey, you're the hostess, right? Do you have a first aid station somewhere?" He asked - knowing full well there was definitely such a place, yet he wanted there to be some deniability about him being familiar with her. "She hit her head hard on the edge of the pool and needs a proper doctor. Can you help?"
Kayla gets a flustered, almost panicked look, when Shin approaches her with an apparently injured Kylie. ”Uh, yeah, come on, follow me,” she says before calling out to everyone else ”Sorry everyone, parties over! Someone got hurt and needs attention. Thank you all for coming!” she said before turning to Shin and saying ”Let’s go. What happened?” before heading for the elevator to the Penthouse.
Once inside and away from prying eyes, Kayla relaxes and slumps against the wall, almost about to fall over herself!
Skyler flushes at the compliments from Isaiah. "That's nice of you to say. You wouldn't happen to be on a superhero team already, are you? If not, maybe we could team up. I'd find the bad infiltrators and you could take care of them with your alien hotness." She suddenly goes pale and fusses with her hair. "--I, I mean, your alien powers. Or mojo. Or... whatever.
"I'm going to go get some punch," she says in a rush, spinning around and beelining toward the drink table.
======================
Tiv nods encouragingly, though there's a tension in the spot between his eyebrows that shows he's not entirely sure there's nothing else going on. "Yeah. Sounds good."
Kylie's accident causes a shocked silence around the pool. Tiv moves closer, but sees that Shin has her well enough and gives them space.
There's a murmur of disappointment that the party is over. The students slowly get out of the pool and start drying off or putting on their clothes over their wet bodies. A slow and reluctant exodus commences.
======================
Valerie's head tilts as though she just heard something. "Huh. Sounds like the party's over," she tells Rory. "I should get going too. Thanks for inviting me."
She gives him one last kiss, then glances around. The shuttle buses are nearby, but the students haven't started pouring out of the Tower just yet. She winks, then blasts off into the sky with a whoop. In seconds, she's out of sight.
Rory smiles and shakes his head as Valerie blasts into the air, after giving the tower a glance he heads back to base.
The announcement that the party is over reaches the dance floor. Students reluctantly start heading downstairs or over to the food tables for one last bite before it's time to go.
Skyler finds Isaiah with a disappointed look on her face. "Looks like I won't get a chance to dance with an alien tonight. But hey, you can shoot me an email sometime?" She produces a ballpoint pen and writes on Isaiah's arm, "vanillapsychedilla@infini.com."
Then she joins the flow of students moving towards the exits.
..........
Jaden tries to catch Andressa as she stumbles, and nearly spills onto the floor himself. The best he can manage is to guide her to the ground slightly more gently than if she had fallen by herself. "Oh! Sorry!" he exclaims as he steps around to keep from stepping on any fingers or toes.
"Let me help you up. You okay?" He reaches down to get ahold of Andressa under her arms.
At that moment, the announcement is made that the party was ending. "Aww, that's too bad. But, well, hope you're okay."
=================
After lots of buildup, the return to school is met with little actual fanfare. The hallowed halls of Halcyon Preparatory Academy are still the same to those who had been in attendance in previous years, while those going for the first time find a classic example of academia. The venerable building is sturdily constructed of brick and stone, with worn marble steps and brass fixtures. Though the building has seen its share of superpowered phenomena, it has always withstood the strange forces that its students (and sometimes teachers) wield.
As soon as Shin was in the elevator and they were out of the public eye, he cut the pretense address the girls as teammates. "She hit her head, like I said. Seems like her body still needs time to recover and nourish itself," he tells Kayla, before noticing her fatigue. "Are you sick too? I thought they would have caught any bugs we might have picked up in quarantine. Anyways, Kylie, we should give your doctor a call, give you a proper checkup. What's his number?"
Shin was late for his first day, but not because of hero business. It had simply been because he had missed the bus, and not wanting to risk being seen flying to the school, he'd waited for the later one on the schedule. He was still awkward dealing with the new phone that he'd gotten, so he had trouble accessing the syllabus app for the school - and ended up in the wrong classroom for first period. Eventually he had to go to the front office and request a printout of his schedule to prevent further mix-ups.
Other than those road bumps, Shin was delighted to be back in school again. One that was far, far more diverse than the uptight prep school his father had begged to get him enrolled. There were also the girls, and while he still felt uncomfortable about some of their fashions, he figured that he could grow accustomed to them.
He did make an effort to stay connected with Andressa, seeing as they were both new, as well as Isaiah. Kylie was someone he was in constant contact, ever since the poolside incident. He was perhaps a little more of a nag to her about eating properly and getting equal amounts of rest and exercise to help her recovery.
It was the Mad Scientist Club that he'd heard about that Shin was interested in socially. He wanted to speak to those with the creativity and knowledge of physics and biology to get them to help him understand more about his powers, in a subtle backdoor way. Plus, it would be fun to talk to people who enjoyed science like he did.
”No, I’m not sick,” she meekly fumed, ”Rory’s new girlfriend is a supervillain that can steal powers. And she took mine when I confronted her.”
She gives Psyche a knowing look, as well as a concerned thought her way, and adds ”To be fair, I goaded her because I didn’t know what her powers were. I just knew he was hooking up with a villain in his spare time. But now, I know.”
__________
Kayla refused a car ride to school. After two days of being being berated by her aunt for letting herself be compromised like she had to Siphon, she was glad to at least be able to fly again. She convinced her aunt to let her fly to school, party using the public power display to conceal the fact she had recently lost her powers...again.
She arrived through the air in a pair of denim shorts and a blue and gold t-shirt, the schools colors, landing lightly at the bottom of the stairs heading up into the school itself. She politely greeted the other students as she made her way in, finally meeting up with The Crew inside.
She spent most of her day with the rest of her school clique, Tiv included. Though, it was clear the same girls that had given Mattie a hard time we’re going to be problems for just about everyone that wasn’t them. Stereotypical “Queen Bee Mean Girl Divas,” they were. So Kayla mostly just paid them little attention unless they were foolish enough to mess with her or her friends.
She had no issue making it to her classes on time, her excitement at being back to school likely frustrating to other students who had been dreading it. However, her classes put her into a lot of courses occupied mostly by the “nerds” of the school. Surprisingly, she wasn’t bothered by this, and even went out of her way to try and get to know some of them.
Isaiah wiggles his hand noncommittally. "I am already on a team, but I have a few tricks. Some of them make keeping in touch really easy, some make it so that I can take action in more than one place at a time. You wouldn't believe how far you can get with default passwords and a little creativity."
...
When Skyler returns, Isaiah once again has his usual jovial grin, though he did look just a bit different for a second there. His arm is a surprisingly good writing surface, though the ink vanishes soon after not being observed. [b]"Should be easy enough. You have a preferred time or anything? And maybe you'll see me around... though doing so might take some aura-spotting practice."
----
Isaiah does attend, not that any of the classes aside from history or current events actually interest him any, with how his database of knowledge goes far beyond college level in terms of mathematics, the sciences, and so forth. He has to intentionally fail some questions just to not stand out too much... though he does wonder if any of the teachers will ever notice that he only seems to fail the easiest questions, while having perfect answers on everything else (including one instance where he solved a high-level math problem with formulae that hadn't been taught yet). With the minor exception of creative writing. That actually still takes work.
Isaiah never takes a bus or anything else, but always shows up almost exactly on time regardless. The sharp-eyed or observant might notice that its never the same vehicle that drops him off twice, and at least some of the time its not a passenger vehicle at all, or he just appears out of an alley.
Isaiah mostly directs his attention the first day to surreptitiously scanning the rest of the students (and looking at student records), looking to see if there is anyone really interesting to check out. If the number of supers in the building is high enough, he also lays the groundwork for slipping a low-profile passive collector grid into the school, in the hopes of easing the oncoming fuel troubles he was likely heading for, though having Psyche back to her usual unshielded reactor self was helping a lot there.
He does also send an e-mail to Skyler, mostly to politely ask what she's actually doing these days and if she might want any help with it, but also to let her know his own e-mail address (or one of them, anyway).
And of course there are ongoing projects back at Blockbuster, and he rolls around the thought of talking with the adults and asking if maybe the local super-prisons could use some security upgrades. By all accounts, people escaped from them far too often.
"My head didn't hit anything, and I'm perfectly fine," Kylie explained patiently, floating out of Shin's arms. "I just had to follow through once I'd slipped. There's no need to make more of it than there is."
***
Psyche was actually enjoying school much more than she had since... ever! Outwardly she was the same smiling popular girl - it honestly would have taken more of an effort to assume a different persona, but inwardly she was truly happy. Being able to stay connected with her friends and with Shin all day was wonderful, and better still, she didn't have to stay locked down against the tidal waves of her classmates minds while she was able to brace herself against them.
And it was fascinating! She was long accustomed to trying to find someone to help during each major social gathering, but there were so many little needs and wants every day that could easily be filled. An answer to a quiz suddenly popping into someone's head, a surge of confidence to carry someone forwards in asking out someone who would be receptive - it was all so easy, and riding the swells of happiness that followed each of her good deeds was a fitting reward.
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Andressa let Jaden help her up though she didn't need it the gesture was endearing. "Sorry, I'm fine just a little distracted by what happened over there I guess. Looks like everyone is dispersing because of the injury." She was glad to have picked clothes she could easily move in and popped back to her feet with Jaden's assistance. "It was fun while it lasted.. maybe we will see each other again? At the academy I mean. I think I'd really like to dance with you again if we got the chance too, if it's not weird."
She would stay with Jaden as everyone left the tower but she didn't stray far, only going to the bus stop before letting the group disperse and returning to the tower where she was only too relieved to finally be reunited with La'Hux'Ti. Seems such a long time apart was quite draining on her emotionally, but much like an earthen service animal she quickly regains her composure when they are together.
"Kayla, that was really fun I'm glad you suggested I accept Jaden's attempt at courtship. I don't believe it will lead to anything, but it was a pleasant experience. Did your chosen partner also perform well?"
Andressa takes a similar approach from her party outfit when she goes to school, though she is informed before hand of the slightly more strict dress code. She has no issues arriving at the school on time though her methods are a bit haphazard. She begins the day quite excited to see how Terran academic life is. It takes until her third class, History, to realize how absolutely dull it all was and how out of place she was compared to others. She understood the almost barbaric approach to calculus, biology on the Terran form was something she had to study in depth even before coming to Terra just so she could survive for the most part in the deep void. History is where she showed she was truly lacking, as she had no knowledge of Earth's history of which to speak.
Her science classes were similar to calculus, an interesting albeit easy take on the subject. She had to refrain from correcting the professor on several occassions. It brought back memories of her time with the Krol-kraza and their teachings, as well as fickle memories of something before her time with them. When she met up with Shin for lunch it was clear the day had drained the normally happy and full of energy Andressa to a withered husk of herself the previous few days. Kylie likewise would pick up cloudy feelings of doubt and sadness but the cause was nebulous without deeper prying.
Her spirits were perked up slightly as she went to check out the astronomy and space club towards the end of the regular class schedule.
Rory arrived rather early in the morning, wanting to scope out the grounds and the layout of the school. What few conversations Rory had he made sure to keep them talking about themselves. Classes passed uneventfully.
Kayla's efforts at getting to know the quieter, brainier students is marginally successful. A lot of students are star-struck, and she gets some deer-in-headlights looks or some rather personal questions about her powers or lifestyle. Still, others are appreciative of the attention and the moderate rise in social standing.
One student, Wesley Andrews, is handsome yet withdrawn. He's clearly on the AP college track, and is always seen lugging around a heavy tome of some kind or another.
Shin finds the Future Mad Scientists club a little... underwhelming. He quickly learns it's named ironically, and it's mostly for kids to nerd-out over the technical world of superheroes. From debating about the theories behind an anti-gravity gun, to wondering how rocket boots don't cook their wearer's feet, the students don't seem particularly interested in world domination.
The space club is a collection of students excited about alien cultures. This being their first meeting of the semester, they welcome the new students and talk about how they hope to get one of the alien heroes to speak. They pop in an old VCR tape showing a grainy video of when the alien The Venusian spoke at an assembly numerous years ago.
===========
Isaiah gets a brief email back from Skyler. She says she doesn't have anything in particular going on, but she does go out to the Chi-Con social events on Saturdays if he'd be interested in going with her.
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Rory gets contacted by Silver Shadow about meeting with Siphon to bring her in. She asks him to message her, asking her to meet him at a place he thinks would draw her in. She's going to have Ordnance disguise himself as the Rhino and when she gets in, he'll shape-shift to lock her down within him. Shadow feels that he'll most likely be immune to her life-stealing powers.
===========
At some point, every member of the Sentinels is made aware of an attack on the facility that was storing the Androidians until it was decided what to do with them. A being of great strength ripped the containment unit from its moorings and flew off with it. The homing beacon found the emptied storage vessel on the side of the highway just outside of town. All the Androidians stored inside were gone.
Kayla's efforts at getting to know the quieter, brainier students is marginally successful. A lot of students are star-struck, and she gets some deer-in-headlights looks or some rather personal questions about her powers or lifestyle. Still, others are appreciative of the attention and the moderate rise in social standing.
One student, Wesley Andrews, is handsome yet withdrawn. He's clearly on the AP college track, and is always seen lugging around a heavy tome of some kind or another.
Kayla lets the awe-struck classmates gently wade through the initial awkwardness as best she can. It's not something she hadn't endured before.
Having been taught at home by some of the best private tutors money could buy, Kayla shared several classes with Wesley. Noticing his reserved nature, she didn't immediately attempt to initiate conversation, though she did make a mental note of him.
Kayla receives the news of the Androidians with a huff of frustration. She wasn't in much condition to try to investigate anything right off, and she was also not ready to ditch on her homework on the very first day. Unless she was forced, she instead put in her earbuds and retreated to her room to get a jump on her assignments.
Once she had finished that, she changed into some more comfortable clothes and had herself a seat in front of her computer. She fired up her rig and started browsing through the internet, pondering on her options for setting up a gaming stream for herself.
Hmm. Gingerly Psyche extended her thoughts towards the Androidians, but it seemed they were no longer on the same wavelength. I do hope they're alright...
At some point during or after school Rory seeks out Isaiah to follow up on his 'alternative energy source' for Valerie. "Hey man sorry about the party, I think you just caught her a bit off guard being super forward, but I got her to agree to hear you out if you are interested in helping her out."
Separately, Rory looked into the attack and the missing Androidians, greatly concerned about the powerset the perpetrator was described as having.
When Andressa makes their way to Kayla’s room and asks their question as they enter, they suddenly realize that Kayla is curled up in the fetal position in her bed and crying, her dog Duke whimpering while sitting on the floor beside her.
She lifts her head and turns to look at Trip, and her eyes are bloodshot from crying.
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Andressa, with Hux in tow stands awkwardly at Kayla's door for a moment processing how to best proceed. "M..may I come in Kayla? I believe companionship is often good in times of trouble. I won't say anything unless you want though, I could just sit or I can go."
Andressa seems pretty interested in the topic of alien cultures and has to try very hard to stop herself from speaking accurately about all the different places she's been. Instead she tosses out some, more or less culturally accurate 'theories' to the group hoping to make a good impression. During the VCR session she watches intently studying the people in the camera's focus. "Was this the first open contact?"
Andressa had been absent for the whole Androidian situation, so despite being notified she was out of the loop. She instead took some time to finish up the work that was sent home with her, having to ask the other sentinels plenty of questions in regards to this version of Earth's history. "So... what do you all do when you aren't superheroing or going to the academy?"
Isaiah/Inquiry is quite upset about the Androidians. Can't these people store anything securely? Yeesh it's like they didn't know full well that they had supervillains running around with a gamut of abilities... or just weren't willing to invest in proper security. Either way he was both unhappy and disappointed. If the locals didn't learn how to properly secure things against anomalous forms of attack soon, they weren't going to go very far in the wider universe.
Inquiry immediately starts tracing and tracking the missing Androidians, going through all the nearby cameras' memories, sniffing the residual auras, and starting to prep various forms of detection mechanisms to hopefully locate the Androidians. It did have one on board for a time, and could probably trace at least that specific individual via sympathtic tracking... and if there weren't any video records of something outright tearing a storage facility out of the ground he was going to have to have words with whoever was providing security for it.
Isaiah on the other hand continues acting as though nothing particularly unusual has happened, and internally debates whether to dedicate time to meeting Skyler when they might have to disappear to hunt androidians, eventually deciding to just say that he's not sure whether or not he'll make it, but will certainly consider it. He also considers visiting the Space Club and dropping cryptic hints until someone notices. Maybe another time.
---
"Well, I do some recycling, slowly remodel and expand the base, and am starting to debate going out and yelling at local security providers until they take their jobs more seriously. Or providing advice on how to do it better if they're serious but underskilled. I also perform general espionage, but it's polite not to talk too much about that."
Those looking into the heist discover that an electrical surge knocked out most of the cameras in the best position to catch an image of the perpetrator. Others further away caught video of a flying being, thin but otherwise human-shaped and dressed all in black. Some sort of heat or laser blast severed the container from its moorings, melting the industrial-grade metal to slag. Then it grasped the container and flew off with it -- exhibiting an estimated class-M strength rating or higher. By way of comparison, Captain Stalwart, Praetoria, and Cinderblock have strength ratings as high or higher than that rating.
On the highway, the drop-off/pickup site was in a location without nearby security video or highway cameras. The container also showed that it was opened via a high-heat beam.
===============
"No, the first open contact was back in the Forties. You never heard of the Alien? I know, real original name, but they all had real simple names back then. The Light. The Shadow. The Cat. Don't know why there wasn't a 'The Dog.' Heh."
The club member, whose name was Jaquan Riddle, gets on his tablet and types in a search. It calls up several grainy photos of a slender, black-eyed, being with a slightly enlarged cranium.
Triplight recognizes the species immediately. It's a Nuvoan.
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You can only connect to one of them: Ava, the Androidian that was made to look like you. She's the only one who was still active (and incidentally, not in the storage unit where the others were housed). She is in the Alliance HQ, where she had been since her capture.
Well at least Shin was more confident no one here was going to freeze the city with an ice cannon or mutate an elephant into a giant monster. It was still interesting to talk to others about the different superheroes. He was amazed to hear about some the stranger powers of past heroes and villains - like the Living Putty, a man who could stretch and reshape his body like clay. There was a healthy amount of debate on how his organs could work, if he had to hold his breath when his chest was flattened, or how it worked when he'd just eaten a meal.
After that debate, Shin considered the question that was really his main reason for coming here. "I've always been interested in energy based powers. Like Dusk. I mean, I know he's a bad guy and everything, but I don't get how he's able to do the things that he can do, like - is that black stuff physical or energy? It's pretty crazy."
Kylie, up to hang out after school? Someone mentioned a place that sold crepes. Never had any before, so that would be fun.
"Not great," Shin said as he looked over the report on the missing Androidians. "There's got to be a short list of villains who had the strength and flight ability to steal them."
They sit down to do some research looking over the files, when Triplight asks about their hobbies outside of school and heroing. "I like to watch and listen to baseball. It's a sport they play here where teams take turns hitting a thrown ball with a club and then try to run around bases they have to step on until they complete a lap. If any of the opponents are able to catch the ball before it hits the ground or tag them while holding the ball, that player is out and can't run anymore. Three times and the teams switch. Whichever team manages to run the full circuit the most after nine turns wins. There's a lot of other rules, but that's the basics."
”N-no. Please. I have no one else. Nobody on the team likes me anymore. Rory hates me. Mattie is...well...she isn’t able to be here and it’s my fault. Ness...Holly...I’ve driven them all away. I drive everyone away.”
She rolls over and clutches a pillow close to her. She then mumbles ”I just...I just don’t want to be alone right now. Please...please stay.”
As the investigation seems to point in Siphon's direction Frostbite has to ground himself a bit to keep from flipping out. While they sit down to research, he discreetly compares the footage from the Androidians to footage of him and Siphon's team ups.
When Triplight asks about what they do outside all this he smiles and quips "train for the next mission... and do dumb stuff that gets me in trouble."
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Andressa looks at Hux then moves into Kayla's room and stands there silently for a few moments before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"I don't know who Mattie is, nor Ness or Holly. But i'm sure Rory doesn't hate you. Listen I am no good with um well human emotions, being as I didn't really get to experience them as everyone else here. I'm sure if you just talked to them all they would perhaps be more amiable to open up you you as well. That is at least what the matron taught me."
There is another long pause as she hopes that provokes a good response, but then stubborn as she is she continues.
"Kayla, a moment." She whispered something to Hux that in her weakened state Kayla devoid of her super-hearing. And the two stand and head to the other side of the room where Hux leaps forward and into a small rift. Shortly after there is another distinct pop of the atmosphere ripping apart and Hux scuttles back up Andressa's torso. She turns holding something close to her chest, obscuring the object with her hands as well as Hux's tail as he moves to resituate himself on his perch.
"I do not know how much it means in your culture... but I would like to... to, introduce you to someone who helped me through a lot of hard times. Someone I believe I met here on Terra when I was just a child, before the Krol'kraza. Before I met Hux... He's strong, and wise, and brave, and won't ever lead you wrong. He'll even keep you safe when you sleep weather under unfamiliar stars, or bathing in a radiant nebula's light. And I think... you may need his help more than me right now."
The Nomad tentatively approaches Kayla's bedside again clutching at the object at her chest even more firmly, clearly not wanting to part with whatever it is she had even in this moment. With a deep shaky exhale and tears welling in her eyes she kneels next to Kayla's bed and let's her hands move forward. A small dirty, extremely worn action figure of The Praetorian sits in her hands in a near death grip. She nestles the figure next to Kayla
"I n-need you to help her now, like you did for me please."
"No I didn't know about.. The Alien." Andressa's eyes light up as she recognizes the species and she nearly swipes the Tablet from Jaquan. "Nuovans" She blurts.
When sitting with the others she nods and shakes her head a everyone's responses. "Shin that sounds an awful lot like Blurnz." She then smiles and elbows Rory knowingly.
"So you all do your own thing, that's pretty cool. I mean I do stuff that gets me into trouble even when i'm doing good guy stuff. I could probably check out this planet ya know, I think that'd be fun.. even though I've seen Terra in all kinds of different ways each one is a bit different. Anyone wanna join me for a short world trip? I know you all have probably seen it all before but it'd be neat to have tourguides for once, that aren't trying to arrest me."
"New what?" Jaquan asks, confused. The other students in the club all pay very close attention to Andressa.
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Frostbite, the black-clad figure in the Androidian heist appears the same size and shape as Siphon. The only difference is that this figure has her hair in a tight bun, where Siphon wore her hair loose when you teamed up.
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Inquiry's investigation into auras and energy signatures is not successful. The Androidians had been powered down, and the transfer site doesn't give any readings that they had been powered up. Likely they were loaded into a generic truck while still deactivated.
Kayla rolled back over as Trip gave her advice. She had tried talking to them. It was no use.
I’m starting to really get why dad and mom only did team ups with the family.
She was considering sending Trip away after all, but then she started to get up to something else. When she started talking again, Kayla rolled around and scooted up to a sitting position in her bed. Then she handed her the old action figure of her dad. Kayla took it gently and ran a finger over it. It had definitely seen better days, and was one of the older models. Wasn’t even that good of a likeness. But, it was clearly him.
She ran a finger across the plastic hair of the toy and started to say something when she noticed how attached Trip was to it. She patted the bed beside her for Trip to join her. ”Thanks. But, this clearly means a lot to you, I can’t take it, but I appreciate the gesture,” she says. Once Trip sits with her, Kayla leans her head on her shoulder after she returns the doll to them. ”I...I’ve tried talking to them. It never seems to work. I think that we’ve grown too far apart. I’m beginning to think they want me off the team. And I’m beginning to think that would be what’s best for all of us.”
Then a realization sets in on her. ”So, you are from Earth, then? How long have you been gone?”
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Trip rubbed at her eyes and took a seat next to Kayla, she is surprised by the sudden contact from Kayla's head on her shoulder but between Hux and Kayla it was oddly comforting. Especially when Kayla handed her back the Pratorian figure.
"M-maybe it just wasn't a good time for them, I'm sure they want you to stick with them." She stopped in silence for a long while as her brow furrowed in thought. "We'll yeah I'm from Terra, not exactly surprising. Terrans in my verse weren't even space faring yet. As for how long, it's hard to tell. See it's not easy because there isn't an... accurate solar calander for non-space faring species yet. And even then it takes a long time for most to adopt the galactic or system methods."
She looked down at the figure and chewed her lip, "I-I think it's been about nine Krolean-cycles which would be about, let's see... fourteen maybe fifteen Terran years? Between Verse hopping and no real need to keep track of time I haven't really made note of it. I honestly don't know for sure though, is that bad?"
Kayla shrugged. ”Only if it matters to you. And I can only imagine if that were the case that you must have been just a toddler or baby when you were taken into space. So you probably have no idea how old you even are. Or what your birthday is, do you?”
Kayla was so very tired. The draining and weakness she felt at the hands of Siphon, the talking down she endured in private from Angel over being so foolish to let that happen, the drama with Rory...it was all taxing her.
Before Trip can even muster up a reply to her question, she feels Kayla’s body grow limp and her breathing become even as Kayla had fallen asleep in the crook of Andressa’s arm.
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Andressa doesn't seem to notice Kayla passing out on her at first. "I never asked the Matron mother. But she did tell me when I would be of age for my species, before I left and went on my own.." She noticed the weight of Kayla's lax body. She turned her head to look at Hux as if the dragonling would know what to do better than her. He gave a simple grunt, causing her to roll her eyes.
"Don't be like that, she's tired after the party." Holding Kayla upright, Andressa turned and stood so that she could lower Kayla's head back down to her pillow. She then pulled her legs back up onto the bed and tossed her blanket over the resting Sentinel.
"Rest well Kayla." Andressa began to leave but then remembered that she had said she didn't want to be alone. So fetching things from the guest room she had used the night previous she returned and set up on the floor for the night. It wasn't the luxury of a star cruiser, but it was still better than nothing.
@Silver Shield: Hey I am looking into the missing androidian and I think the perp might be impersonating Siphon or might be her with an inexplicable change in hair style. Do we need to bring her in right away, she might be helpful with the androidian situation?
@Shin and Andressa: "So this might complicate things," Rory says as he turns a monitor with the pictures pulled up, "that might be the girl I have been seeing and that zapped Kayla...
Praetoria: Meet me on top of the Tower at 1 o’clock. Alone. Don’t use the elevator.
"Wait, seriously? I thought she could only drain a person's energy...oh. She drained Kayla. And Kayla's powers could definitely be used the way they were to steal the Androidians," Shin summarizes with a grimace. "I think this is a pretty damning look for her, Rory. Do you want to be the one to bring her in, or do you want us to help?"
Shin was feeling rather well so far. But despite the normalcy of going back to school, there were familial responsibilities to deal with now, as he called up Whippoorwill.
"Hey sensei. I was wondering if there is something I can do to help with searching for Shard. Maybe talk to Hoshiko, ask her if there are any hideouts he might still have in the city.If there's anything else you'd like my help with, please don't hesitate to ask."
Silver Shield's eyes bore into Rory when he suggests Siphon may have had something to do with the androidian heist. "The reports say that a real heavy-hitter pulled that off. Why do you think it was Siphon? Reports on her powers and capabilities indicate that she doesn't have that sort of power... unless she took it from someone..."
Rory's mentor swears underneath her breath. "What aren't you telling me? Because I'm not going to risk Ordnance if Siphon currently possesses super strength, flight, and eye beams. Something that someone on your team also has. Dammit. Did you try to bring her in without me knowing? Why would you put your team at risk like that?"
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"Hoshiko's in witness protection while we were trying to draw out Shard. But he didn't bite while you were gone, though we got a couple nibbles. Not sure if he was tipped off or not," Whippoorwill responds.
"It might be time to pull her out of hiding. I think that's a good relationship for you two, even though it's a strange one. I'll see what I can do on that end. Oh, and thanks for the offer. I'll keep that in mind."
Isaiah looked slightly sheepish. "Yeah, I understand I probably came on a bit strong. But I'm getting tired of all the beating around the bush. I'd much rather get an arrangement going where she can leave the pseudo-villain lifestyle behind before she gets in over her head, does something far worse than minor mercenary work, and we all have to do something highly awkward."
On the other end, Isaiah/Inquiry abandons the obviously cold lead (why didn't anyone bother to think to thoroughly secure the shipping container full of advanced androids? Or at least put some trackers in it for this exact situation... They'd have to do it themselves next time.), and instead started doing some investigation and inquiries into who in the region would be actually looking for the Androidians... hmm, they'd even anomonously go through the dark web postings for people hiring mercenaries for this kind of thing; sure they'd be using proxies, but I/I's ability to backtrace things was excellent (almost... magical one might say...), and security standards seemed rather poor... (though he couldn't really blame the locals for not having safeguards against hex-hacks that could physically jump between wires and systems).
Inquiry's foray into the dark web takes some time, and the alien scout likely wants a shower after they're done. There's some very skilled firewalls and security measures in place. As soon as Inquiry finds what appears to be a listing of various "jobs" of dubious legality, their signal is immediately detected and the listing is yanked from the forum before they're able to peruse them.
That leads to a cat-and-mouse game where Inquiry tries a number of guises and proxies to gain access to the listing. The system is good; Inquiry begins to realize that there is little chance that they'd be able to get unrestricted access to the full listing of jobs and tasks available for the superpowered mercenary. The best they can get are vague descriptions of the requirements for the jobs -- much of it written in some industry jargon or code.
Inquiry's persistence pays off, however, when they discover that the pending jobs are far more secure than the finished jobs. An exhaustive search finds the coded posting for the task of collecting and delivering the Mecklenheim androidians to the buyer. The payout isn't specified, but it appears to have been in the millions. The proxies are too numerous to identify the actual buyer(s), but Inquiry is able to find one of the go-betweens.
The Skullions.