There are monitors at the far end of the room, and sliding double doors to one side of the structure. Two figures can be vaguely seen in the shadows near the bank of monitors, and another on is near some of the monitoring equipment.
For Scout:
Your hearing can pick you exactly where the three of them are. Your low light vision can see that, even though they are in shadow, the woman wears a business suit with a skirt, the man near her wears what appear to be robes, and the man at the terminals on the other side of the room wears a lab coat.
Based on a taking 10 on a perception check, DC 23 achieved in this environment.
A woman walks out of the shadows towards the group, noticing Scout moving around on his bed.
"Looks like you are all starting to come around. Good. This whole situation has been going on too long for this project not to get moving, and soon."
The woman speaking to you is a short, heavy set African-American woman that appears to be in her fourties. While she is not exceptionally tall, she is very broad, and has a very aggressive posture.
Next to her is an older man, perhaps in his late fifties, with pale skin and a long, drawn face. He wears grey robes, and has long, dexterous fingers, which are currently translating the woman's comments into American sign language.
"I've been told the flash learning we put you through may have scrambled your recent memories, maybe even back to the beginning of the procedure, so I'll give you the pertinent information, as quickly as I can."
"All of you sign a contract with the US government last year, under a special division of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. You underwent power augmentation procedures as well as flash training regimens in order to qualify you for our Project Fallback program."
"All of your family members have been put into witness protection. Until this project is off the ground, all of you have been listed as dead, and you should avoid all contact with anyone from your former lives. Your asses are ours until your contracts are up, and if you don't remember it, I've got your signatures right here to prove it."
She looks across all of you, and stops at Scout.
"All except you. DMA got full rights to you when Cadmus wanted to put you in cold sleep until they could figure out a use for you."
She squares her shoulders, takes in everyone on the medical beds, and tells you, "I'm Director Amanda Waller, the Justice League has been missing for almost six months, and you are going to replace them . . . under my command. Do you have any questions?"
For everyone:
Kevin looks around at everyone, and then the room and all the equipment everywhere. His eyes widen when he sees the human-cat hybrid, but looks away quickly, not wanting to stare.
Finally, unsure if anyone else is speaking, he says, "I've got a bunch of them. Are you kidding? Replace the Justice League? You know I don't have any powers, right? And my family in protection? I'm dead? Government contracts? Replace the Justice League!?!?"
As Allen open his eyes he see only darkness. After blinking a couple of times and looking around his voice with anger bellow.
"I thought you would fix me but I guess that was a damned lie!"
At that moment he grab the hand rail and he could sense the whole room.
He let go of it and there was darkness.
"Oh" he said with a mixed of bewilderment and wonder.
"So how long does it take for the powers to stabilize?"
Kevin looks around at everyone, and then the room and all the equipment everywhere. His eyes widen when he sees the human-cat hybrid, but looks away quickly, not wanting to stare.
Finally, unsure if anyone else is speaking, he says, "I've got a bunch of them. Are you kidding? Replace the Justice League? You know I don't have any powers, right? And my family in protection? I'm dead? Government contracts? Replace the Justice League!?!?"
Waller looks at the man that just addressed her, and the man next to her makes sure he is within Kevin's view.
"Did I stutter? These are trying times, and we do what we have to do. And we do what you signed up to do. You were a lot more positive about this before the flash training.
You were identified positive for the meta-gene and signed up to have that analyzed. Things proceeded from that point, and now . . . "
Waller pushes a button on her watch. Everyone else hears a loud, strange sound, but its especially painful to Bert and to a lesser extent Allen.
Kevin feels himself swell, and then burst, and suddenly there are nine other versions of himself.
"Don't worry, out in the field it would be nearly impossible to duplicate that frequency, but its the optimal one to trigger your powers involuntarily. If you take a moment to relax, you should remember your flash training to control those powers."
She stops for a moment and considers.
"And if you don't, we just wasted a lot of time and money on you."
The man beside her fails to sign the last part of her comments, but its plain to read them from her lips.
As Allen open his eyes he see only darkness. After blinking a couple of times and looking around his voice with anger bellow.
"I thought you would fix me but I guess that was a damned lie!"
At that moment he grab the hand rail and he could sense the whole room.
He let go of it and there was darkness."Oh" he said with a mixed of bewilderment and wonder.
"So how long does it take for the powers to stabilize?"
Waller looks at Anderson.
"Good, at least you remember the promises that Cadmus started to make you. Cadmus referred you to Project Fallback, and here we are. I trust you are getting a good view of things now that you see what you can do? That demontration with Mister Hamilton must have blinded you for a moment, from what I understand."
"Everything should be quite stable at this point. Its just a matter of feeling out your flash training with your abilities."
Scout looks up, "Ouch, that hurt you b!tch. If you own me, you better make with the tuna, because I'm starving. I got a lot of questions:
Who won...
American Idol?
Dancing with the stars?
The Great Race?
The Super Bowl?
The World Series?
Did they do a world cup this year...who won?
Who is the guy with the creepy fingers making weird hand gestures?
Is curling still an Olympic sport?
Is Jared still thin?
Does American still have talent?
You don't expect us to wear spandex do you?...cause I am not playing Aquaman.You got your own white coat...they always have the internet."
If Scout is able, he will leap / run towards the guy on the terminal, "fire up the internet egghead, I need to check my email."
Before Bert can make it to the terminals, Director Waller interposes her considerable form between him and the computer stations.
"You don't want to know how much of a b%~*+ I can be. As to your questions, the only one that matters is 'what state is the country in,' and I'm sad to say, not good. While the League and the Titans and whatever other cape groups may have disappeared, their enemies didn't, and its been open season on several major cities since the realization of our predicament set in."
"By the way, while your powers may have matured a bit under Project Fallback, you should know, I wasn't planning on keeping you, but the public relations people felt you would have the perfect look for the team mascot. Look cute and stay out of the way. Preferably with your mouth shut."
Kevin looks at himself (and himself, and himself, etc.), mouth agape, then realizes the dumbfounded look mirrored in his duplicates, so they all close their mouths simultaneously. Then he tilts his head and concentrates, as if listening to something. "I'm... all of them. They're me. I can..." Tentatively, he gives one a high five. Then repeats it with a bit more confidence with another.
He looks up again at the others in the room and realizes he has an audience. A grin slowly spreads on his face, mirrored by the other nine that recently burst into existence. "Well, this is just... neat."
Hearing the voice of a very terse woman, Nathan slowly begins to wake up. Opening his eyes and looking over to the rest of the room, he sees ten copies of a single man and he immediately closes his eyes again with a quick groan.
He begins to roll off of the bed and onto his feat before he opens his eyes again to see what awaits him. Once again he sees an entire group of a single man, now high-fiving one another, he mutters, "Well, I guess I'm not seeing... What's the word for "times ten"? I dunno."
Rising all the way to his feet he sees a cat-person currently being stopped by a very severe-looking woman and suddenly he realizes what the woman's voice had said while he was still asleep, and suddenly he is wide awake.
"Wait, what!?! The Justice League is gone?!? Where did they go? No, nevermind, I'm sure you don't know and that's why we are awake. Wait, what was the about superpowers? You're saying that have superpowers? Neat..."
Stretching as he leaves his bed, he takes the sight of the room and all of the people within it, letting all see his dark red eyes that seem to have little or no pupil. "I don't suppose you have something to drink, I'm quite parched," he asks of the three people that are clearly in charge.
Hearing the voice of a very terse woman, Nathan slowly begins to wake up. Opening his eyes and looking over to the rest of the room, he sees ten copies of a single man and he immediately closes his eyes again with a quick groan.
He begins to roll off of the bed and onto his feat before he opens his eyes again to see what awaits him. Once again he sees an entire group of a single man, now high-fiving one another, he mutters, "Well, I guess I'm not seeing... What's the word for "times ten"? I dunno."
Rising all the way to his feet he sees a cat-person currently being stopped by a very severe-looking woman and suddenly he realizes what the woman's voice had said while he was still asleep, and suddenly he is wide awake.
"Wait, what!?! The Justice League is gone?!? Where did they go? No, nevermind, I'm sure you don't know and that's why we are awake. Wait, what was the about superpowers? You're saying that have superpowers? Neat..."
Stretching as he leaves his bed, he takes the sight of the room and all of the people within it, letting all see his dark red eyes that seem to have little or no pupil. "I don't suppose you have something to drink, I'm quite parched," he asks of the three people that are clearly in charge.
"You, Mister Powell, are . . . special."
"Most scientists don't talk about it, but among some of the higher end genetics theories, there exists the concept of Homo Magi . . . you don't have the meta-gene, but something else that makes you . . . somewhat unique."
"We aren't sure what scientific manipulation of the Homo Magi genome will produce. But we've gotten some idea with the powers you have manifested."
Kevin looks at himself (and himself, and himself, etc.), mouth agape, then realizes the dumbfounded look mirrored in his duplicates, so they all close their mouths simultaneously. Then he tilts his head and concentrates, as if listening to something. "I'm... all of them. They're me. I can..." Tentatively, he gives one a high five. Then repeats it with a bit more confidence with another.
He looks up again at the others in the room and realizes he has an audience. A grin slowly spreads on his face, mirrored by the other nine that recently burst into existence. "Well, this is just... neat."
Waller shakes her head. "If you're finished patting yourself on the back, maybe can get back on track?"
"By the way, while your powers may have matured a bit under Project Fallback, you should know, I wasn't planning on keeping you, but the public relations people felt you would have the perfect look for the team mascot. Look cute and stay out of the way. Preferably with your mouth shut."
Scout's hair extends and he growls. He stands on the balls of his feet to look taller. Instinctively his claws extend, "You take that back lady. You can't talk to me like Simon."
The effect of his hair extending makes him look fluffier and his awkward stance is anything but threatening. Even his twitching tail fails to generate sense other than annoyance. His claws do look sharp, being the only thing about him that looks threatening. He gets ready to pounce and stops, "Hey I did get bigger. Why would you wake me up with fur looking like this? It looks like you had a pig farmer tending to my hair... oh yeah.” Hhe looks back at Amanda, "You take that back..or...or else."
OOC:
Scout aka Bert is a felionoid. Other than the fact he is bipedal, he is all cat. His fur is black and white. His face looks like a cat, and he has a tail which is black. The coloration of the fur on his face makes it look like he has a moustache similar to the type worn by Groucho Marx and Adolph Hitler.
Waller rolls her eyes.
"Why couldn't Cadmus have sent me a dog experiment. That would have been more obedient at least."
"Special? So I'm not even Human, I'm this 'Homo Magi'? Alrighty then..."
Seeing the cat person getting into some sort of "threatening" posture, Nathan walks over and casually drapes his arm over Bert's shoulders and pats him on his back before turning to Ms. Waller and a slightly mischievous grin crosses his face. "I don't suppose you have any catnip for our feline friend, do you? Surely that'll help calm him down some."
Waller shakes her head. "If you're finished patting yourself on the back, maybe can get back on track?"
Kevin swallows and nods his head, which prompts a bunch of nodding from the figures surrounding him. "Okay. On track. You guys did this. The government. You're collecting a bunch of --" he glances at the others around the room -- "in case something bad happens. Giving us powers."
He takes a deep breath, afraid to ask because he's sure he won't like the answer. "You wouldn't do this without a plan. We're weapons, and you need to use us, right? How's this supposed to work?"
As all of this commotion is going on Allen step on to the floor. He senes all these pepole.
"I thought there were only a few of us." "Any way so we're here to replace the JA. What resources besides our "powers" do we have?"
"One more thing how is a blind guy is going to help out?"
|
"Scout removes Nathaniel's hand, "CATNIP...do I look like a junkie to you...Mr. Homo magi. Listen up Mr. Rainbow Bright, that woman smells as mean as she looks and sounds. Clearly she has no style
...
Scout looks over to Blackfist, "Hey why are all you hairless apes picking on me?"
OOC: Scout will try to pick up any interesting scents from the other subjects.
1d20 + 13
"Alright, alright, take it easy, it was just a joke. My name's Nathan. Nathan Powell. And now that you mention it... ?Will?, I don't seem to remember much of anything recently. I certainly don't remember the League vanishing. What is the date anyways?"
He looks at the man with creepy fingers, "would you mind stopping that, you look an overgrown, inept house-elf trying to cast a spell."
Kevin turns to the talkative cat. "He's using sign language. I think that's for me, unless there's someone else here who's deaf. I can't usually keep up reading lips when there's so many people talking at once, but," he glances at his duplicates who are looking around the room, "I've got some more eyes."
Will looks at the many Kevins wandering around the room.
"Those are all you? How do I know who the you is? Should I find a sharpie and number you? Do you know who the real you is? You say you're deaf, you are serious?"
Will uncrosses his legs and gets off the bed and wanders over to a Kevin and looks at one and then strolls over to another checking him over.
"Unreal, I could of used this (motions at the Kevins), dating would of been way more fun. Doesn't look like I'll be doing much of that in the future. Man, I really could use a burrito."
"Um, yeah, they're me. I mean, I'm me, but they're also me. I just know. I can't really explain it. It must be this flash training, since I can deal with all that I'm seeing.
"I'm Kevin. Kevin Hamilton. And yes, I'm deaf for the moment. It usually goes away after a while." He turns to the government lady. "Any chance you can fix that? You certainly knew about it, to have him here." He gestures to the robed man.
"Of course I know your strengths and weaknesses, your physical limitations, and your psychological quirks. Its part of the point of the flash training and our special . . . monitoring.
You don't need to know anything about my associate, here, but if you need a name, you can call him the Hermit. He has a knack for languages and communications, and has proven quite valuable to our operations."
Waller glowers across the group, as if to try and put them all in line.
"Ms. Leisure, you may not remember it, but we have a piece of your handiwork you may want to look over. Maybe it will have some nice stories to tell you. I know that the way you designed it, it doesn't seem to allow any other users to access its controls."
"As to replacing the League . . . that's exactly what you are going to do. The League's assets are administered by a trust established in concert by Lord Industries, the Wayne Foundation, Queen Industries, and Kord Industries. The board of directors is the final arbiter on who constitutes the League, but in the past it hasn't taken an active hand in determining who the League might be, due to the fact that there have always been surviving members or reserve members for the board's deference."
"This time . . . no one can be found. If we can provide a viable League, the rights to everything controlled by the JLA can be placed under the direct control of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. The Watchtower, the Hall of Justice, the bank accounts, the classified information, the confiscated artifacts, all of it back home and safely controlled by us."
"What I need you to do is to show up, stop some villains, visibly, competently, and in publicly acceptable way, and Project Fallback becomes a major budget item with full access to government resources and clearances. We become the superhero standard."
"Vice Director Waller, Director Trevor wishes to have a word with the Project Fallback members."
For Everyone:
Scout
1d20 + 5
For Scout:
1d20 + 2
For Tenfold:
1d20 + 2 = 17
For Backfist:
1d20 + 18
For Allen:
You think that Waller might resent this person, and resent that they are apparently positioned more highly than she is herself.
1d20+2
For Nathaniel:
1d20+2
For Larkin:
Bert turns towards one of the Kevins, cupping his hands around his mouth, making a make-shift megaphone and yelling (think Garret Morris doing his bit for the hard of hearing), "Dude look, Mrs. Mean has the hots for the voice."
This seems exactly like something Scout would assume. ;)
The rest of you that misread this situation can come up with your reasons for misreading and/or what you inferred from the situation at this point.
Something tugs at Kevin's thoughts, a half-finished notion that Waller let slip something important, but Scout's inane interruption scattered those thoughts.
Then, hearing Dirge claim her name, excitement blossoms on all his faces.
"That's right! We need super hero names!" He turns to his duplicates. "All right, people, lte's hear some ideas."
"What about Many Man?"
"Naah, makes me sound tiny."
"Ten Man?"
"Too Wizard of Oz."
"Mr. Multiple?"
"Nice alliteration, but I'm not feeling it."
"Dr. Duplicate?"
"I don't have my doctorate yet. It would be dishonest."
"The Horde?"
"Too sinister."
"The Mob?"
"I didn't like Horde, what makes you think I'd like Mob?"
"I know! Super Majority!"
"X!"
"Deca-Man!"
"Captain Clone!"
"All right, stop! I think I've got it..."