Ryan dropped the jacket and turned back around to face him when Cassie stood in front of him. "Yeah he's right. So far he's been helping us, as has Gradma over there-" She pointed at a teen girl. Though before Ryan could even but in a response other alarms could be heard, metallic footsteps began thudding nearby. Someone was closing in on them. Cassie grabbed onto Ryan, and Edith looking at the scientist she shouted. "Grab on to someone."

When he did she concentrated as hard as possible Park, the Park. Park, Park, Park.... In a blinding flash of light, and a larger air vortex than usual the group disappeared. Appearing at the opening of an alley near the park. Cassie appeared in the middle of the flash however as the displaced air rushed out from the centre, the three others were thrown through the air. Ryan himself hit an X3 that was apparently guarding a kid. Stumblin to his feet he picked the other up and threw it at it's companion before they could respond. There was a moment of calm as Cassie fell to the ground and Ryan completely forgot about the kid on the ground in stun cuffs.
"Cassie? Cass? You all right?" He picked her head up off the ground, shaking her slightly. "Cass, wake up Cassie."

Zap! Renat was fuming at the Stun Cuffs. He wanted to shout at the X3s, but tried to keep his voice level when he asked, "Can you please at least turn off the shocks from these cuffs? I'm not some devious interplanetary criminal. These things are getting ridiculous!"

Before any response could come, if it would have come, there was a bright flash of light behind him; followed closely by a blast of wind that knocked Renat over. He stopped himself from from face-planting with his hands. Another pulse from the Stun Cuffs caused him to drop, landing on his right shoulder. He could hear the sounds of a fight, metal being torn and crushed, from the direction the flash had originated. He lay still, as if he could become invisible, and hoped that whoever was there would either not notice him or not want him dead. The scuffle then ended as quickly as it had started.

"Cassie? Cass? You all right?" Whoever it was was not paying Renat any attention. He lifted his head and opened his eyes to see two people - a white-haired teen girl with a gun and an expressionless man with glasses - looking somewhat disoriented. There was a thing - it seemed to be a person made of stone - crouched over someone else. All that Renat saw from behind the red-stone person was some red-brown hair. "Cass, wake up Cassie."

Another shock was released from the stun cuffs, however this one did not feel as painful to Renat. Puzzled, he looked at his wrists and - with a shock (thankfully, not from the cuffs this time) - realised that the ground had 'grown' a few centimetres onto his skin. Most of the right side of his body had some of the ground crawling a couple centimetres up.

Ah! Get off! Get off! Get off! Renat panicked. He felt the grip of the Earth loosen and, as soon as he could move his right side again, he pushed himself up - his heart rate and breathing both rapid. A sparking sound on the ground caused him to jump again. The cuffs had fallen off him, bent with lips at the ends, as if they had instantly molten, fallen off his wrists, then solidified again. Or been repelled by his skin. Where he had been lying was now a slight indent into the ground, again with a ridge on the edge. Fortunately his unwanted, but for once useful, power had the common sense to leave his clothes on.

Renat turned to the four people, his heart still pounding. He recognised the woman as soon as he had looked around the rock-man's broad shoulders. He should have realised from the flash and blast of wind. That was the woman who had teleported in front of the net. She must have teleported again. "Is she alright?" he asked, not sure what else to say.

When his vision cleared, the labcoat (now labcoat-less) realized his internal gyroscope was screaming for help. He made an instinctive movement with his feet, landed on one of them, and after a moment of precarious balance rolled backwards over his shoulder and rose to his feet.

After a few seconds of surveying his surroundings he became aware of an internal struggle - namely his stomach trying to get rid of his lunch. He focused, fighting for control, and won (The lunch was, against all odds, quite good at the time). He then took a moment to see if his limbs, and then his organs, were all accounted for. Teleportation made no sense, but it somehow left him healthy. He must run some test on that woman! Where was she, anyway?

The cargo pants walked around Ryan to find him holding the limp body of his sister in his hands. Chris rubbed his hands.

"Give her some room. I'm a doctor." He said while kneeling in front of Cassie. He hoped Edith would react to it slowly enough for him to get a check-up done. His hand reached out gingerly and touched the girl's forehead.

Scanning for superficial neurosignals...

The trip was not the most pleasant, but not the worst experience she'd ever had. One minute they were in some bunker thing and the next they were outside in an alley or the like. It made about as much sense as her apparent ability to slow things down in a pinch. Whatever was going on here was crazy. But that thought could wait as she leaned over and tried not to lose her senses. Having the wind knocked out of her was enough to keep her from heaving though. The others scrambled to the aid of the woman that enabled their escape after dispatching three X3s.

Getting her wits about her she glanced up to see Renat scrambling around on the ground. The floor looking to have melted to him for a moment. Perhaps she'd hit her head harder than she thought. But nothing else for the last few weeks made sense so probably best to just roll with it. Save the headache for another day. Catching movement from the corner of her eye she saw the last of the four X3 units that were left to guard the boy. No time to stay and talk. Not on her feet the best thing she could do was aim and fire were its sensor control unit was. Hopefully the thing hadn't had the chance to identify them. "We can't stay here people. Someone has to have been alerted to these VIs going down. Plus the gunfire." Ditching the gun there was no way to move around with it out in the open. "Grab her and let's move. Where are we?"

In the zone again she pushed herself up and ran out to see what road they were near. Hopefully they didn't change such things often. Still it had been some time so there were several structures and new developments that she did not recognize. They needed to get to her place, assuming it was still there. Glamorous it was not, but for a place to hide it did it's job well.

"Well whose fault is it for shooting a gun then?" He stood up letting the doctor look after his sister. If she died it would give him someone to punch later. Looking around he looked for any distinguishable land marks. "Well, I'd reckon we're near that new park development. We're in the mid-ring of the city somewhere. Though I spent most my time in the industrial district so-" he shrugged. He looked out around the corner, there wasn't a hell of a commotion yet so the U.S.F hadn't quite sent out an alert party... yet. When he was scanning the area he saw a screen change to static then the same silhouette that he saw on TV earlier appeared. He pointed the young/old lady towards it, as she was in the prison with him and the one he had (briefly) seen to be in the cell beside him he presumed she had seen him before. "There."

And as such a map on it appeared, with a nicely labelled you are here. Before it flickered back to the newscast of the teleporting girl saving a kid. That was Cassie, always the moral compass. Shaking himself out of his reverie he turned to the others. "Anyone know anywhere safe? From where we are? That we can get a statue, a prisoner, a doctor and an unconscious lady too easily?"

Elsewhere


"They're coming together, for now anyway. Though everything hinges on whether or not they can keep it up when they're not in mortal danger."

Scanning for external neurosignals... detected. No indication of pain. Performing cardiovascular scan... breathing, pulse and blood pressure indicate low-power mode. Searching for active brain control... none detected. System is in passive mode. Neural systems status - depleted. Body energy levels normal. Interesting...

"She is asleep." Chris said calmly while rising to his feet. In this case, he would not be able to receive a complete physical status, so he looked Cassie over, trying not to wake her up. Without undressing her, she looked fine - but while Chris remembered internal bleeding was a common cause of death in case of trauma, he naturally chose his own health over Cassie's, since it seemed a bad idea to give her a full physical with her brother being within punching distance from him.

He turned his head and suddenly stopped, staring at the face of a worried teenager. He roughly remembered him being in the middle of a pile of wrecked X3s a moment ago. He looked at the kid in silence for a few moments, then took a step forward with the palms of his hands outstretched in a sign of peace. There weren't many reasons to be caught by the USF's automated forces and then not running away at the sight of the huge rock guy.

"Are you an anomaly." The nerd-looking man said. It might've meant to be a question, but his monotonous voice did not allow for easy pronounciation.

Renat received no answer, so he quietly watched, hoping to figure out what the four people were doing - having just appeared out of thin air. The rock man and the teleporting lady, Cassie, were clearly not ordinary people. Though he could only guess whether the other two were normal or powered, he had to assume they were friendly. Cassie had saved him from an electric net, for whatever reason. Seeing as she had teleported along with the other three and they were not leaving her lying in the street, she was probably willingly with them. Even if this Cassie had ulterior motives, Renat couldn't just go back home. Sticking with her was probably the best thing to do. For now at least.

After a resting his palm on Cassie's forehead for a moment, the glass-wearing man announced, "She is asleep." He then continued to briefly look over Cassie. He then stood up, turned to Renat and stared at him in silence. Did I do something wrong?

"Are you an anomaly." Wow, this guy speaks with less expression than that X4. That must have been a question, judging from the sentence structure. Or maybe English is his second language? He does have a slight accent hidden under that monotone.

"If by anomaly you mean someone who has discovered that they appear to have a 'power', yes - I guess so... I don't exactly want anything to do with it, though I haven't heard of any way I can get rid of it. Nor does it seem I can hide it from the U.S.F. even though next to no one knows about it." He paused, glancing at the stone man and teen girl who were looking at a screen flickering with a map. "So, um, what are you guys doing? I'd like somewhere to hide from the U.S.F. too. For a bit. I-if it's not too much trouble. It probably wouldn't be best for me to go back home just yet."

"If that thing saw us we'd be more screwed. They would know we're all loose and together." Children, always missing the big picture. Her attention was directed to the screen by Ryan and she made a mental note. Whoever this was giving them messages was watching. Kind of creepy actually. But for now he seemed to be on their side.

Even if just for a moment the map told her enough to get her bearings. "I've got a place we can go in the industrial district South of here. All the heavy equipment there makes good sheilding from sensors." Looking back Renat was asking to tag along. It had been a long time since she'd seen a teenage. It was almost more refreshing than being outside because it meant she was around normal people. "The U.S.F is after you and you have an ability. That makes you okay in my book. Are we ready to go?" She pulled out the device she'd constructed earlier and prepared to connect the wire.

The four-eyes looked away from the teenager. He seemed lost in thought. If one takes the whole possible spectrum of anomalous people, one is bound to meet someone who does not want this new potential. But there was also the other end of the spectrum. He could finally understand the USF, or rather how terrified they were. It was less about finding a mutant who can't be gunned down, and more about what happens if the mutants integrate fully into society. Would normal people become class 2 citizens? Would someone with mind control or just a scary enough ability take over the authorities? Given this, should they really take in any abnormal they run across?

He looked at the group. Eh, it wasn't likely to find something worse than Edith anyway. Or Ryan.

But yes, home. This was a problem for all of them, wasn't it? In a few hours, tonorrow at best, the USF staff may notice he's gone. He absentmindedly put a hand in his pocket and removed a company mobile phone they've given him, looked at it for a moment, then handed it to Ryan. "Here. Smash this please."

Ryan shrugged as he took the phone and stood on it. "So we're taking kids now?" He sighed, but it would be what Cassie would want to do. He picked up his sister before turning to Edith. "Our handy little helper giving us a map is all good and everything but how do you intend to get across the city. I mean we have a doctor, a kid and an unconscious girl. You're in prison outfits and I'm a statue. We're not exactly discreet in any meaning of the word. You got a secret path to this secret base of yours?" IT was a serious question, the second they stepped out of this alley (Which X3s were probably already heading too) they would be flagged up by dozens of cameras and then be swarmed before he could even swear at anyone for being an idiot.

Though as much as he hated to admit it, Edith seemed to be someone with a plan and someone who could fulfill it. She knew somewhere to go and she already had a little dohickey that at least looked complicated and useful. Though that would be the mystery, and he'd find out sooner or later if it was going to work.

If not, he wasn't going back to prison. Not without a reason anyway, and if they sent people after him he'd be damn sure to give them a reason.

Edith rolled her eyes a bit. Must she do everything? Taking a moment to run the map through her head she tried to remember where things were. "Secret path? Not exactly, but it is out of sight. Most of the buildings in various areas are connected by access tunnels to move things around. It may not be empty per se but there would be a lot less people. Set off a fire or chemical alarm and people will clear out. Two blocks above ground and we can get to one." While she herself had not made much use of the access tunnels before capture, she made sure to know all about them as an avenue of escape. Right now she might appear to be a trouble making teenager with some nasty plans. Why else know all this stuff?

Holding up the device a bit she waved everyone over. "This is our distraction. When I plug it in we have 30 seconds before it goes off. It should make a mess more than anything once I tweak it. Got it?" Since they were no longer trying to get out of a bunker there wasn't the same need to a large explosion. However the chemicals inside the cells were quite caustic and would prompt authorities to evacuate the area. So in this case a simple rupturing of the casing would do. "Alright, be ready to run." It was quick work and she plugged in the loose wire from earlier. Tossing it back into the alley she took off with the random bunch in tow.

As expected it wasn't long before the makeshift chem grenade blew. It was followed by a couple other small explosions as the left X3s were melted and burned. It was a little work to keep everyone on task. Gawking seemed to be human nature. People had begun to scatter as planned which made their dash less conspicuous. They probably would be spotted, but not before being long gone. Getting down into the access tunnels alarms were already going off as a calm voice directed personnel to evacuate to the nearest exit. For Edith this was almost like old times. Blowing things up, on the run from the Shockers (a term used as getting electrically shocked was a common practice to pacify a suspect), heading back to her hideout. This was her element, the smile on her face was proof enough of that. Glancing back the others didn't seem to be having as much fun. They would need a rest soon, but the edge of the industrial district wasn't that far off. "Just a little further guys and then we can take a break."

Ryan sighed as the man with whom he was just talking looked away, the near expressionless face seeming distracted instead of giving a reply. Now he knew how his friends must feel when he occasionally zones out. Thinking briefly of his friends, he again hoped that they were ok - uninjured and uncaptured.

The teen girl seemed to be pretty quick to define someone as 'ok in her books'. But he wasn't going to complain about that in the moment. The thing - rock man - seemed to have a minor objection, but he shrugged and accepted the girl's decision. Renat settled for silently watching and listening. It would be a bit of trouble to get to the safe house unnoticed, but this group seemed determined.

The teen then motioned for them to come closer. She brandished a form of hotchpotch device. "This is our distraction. When I plug it in we have 30 seconds before it goes off. It should make a mess more than anything once I tweak it. Got it?"

A bomb?! Maybe this was not the best idea. But I guess it is probably better than getting captured by the U.S.F. As soon as the girl ran, throwing the armed bomb behind her, he was right behind her - his heart pumping. Soon enough, there was an explosion. He briefly glanced back, but did not stop. Despite knowing that they were out of range, he still felt a sense of fear not familiar to him. The explosion was quickly followed by a few smaller ones and the alarm being sounded.

"Just a little further guys and then we can take a break."

I'm now fleeing with what, in the eyes of the U.S.F. is a bunch of criminals... And I don't even know their names... I guess I'll ask when we take a break. Renat followed the girl, who seemed far more confident in herself, praying they'd get to the hideout soon and that he'd eventually be able to safely return home.

Despite his frail appearance, the four-eyes had no trouble keeping up. But he seemed unfocused, looking to his sides and behind him as if he didn't know where he was. This was true in more than one way - He never explored this part of the settlement before, and also never was a fugitive. He threw the kid a glance - he looked harmless enough, but he also looked like a metaphor for all mutants, lost and wishing to belong. Did they just found a mutant runaway club? How many of those already existed? What do the people caught in the crossfire do? He suddenly remembered his old job, and what he thought was his new job...

The physicist reached a decision. He stopped dead in his tracks when the group stopped behind a corner to check if the coast is clear.

"Okay. I have decided to dedicate myself to this struggle." He said, wondering how many of his new companions were asking themselves why would a normal human follow them.

Ryan was the one that struggled to keep up. Not due to carrying his sister, no the issue was the actual running. Turns out when you're a giant stone monster running isn't the easiest of activities. Though when he thought about it it did make a bit of sense. Last one to climb into the tunnel he ignored the alarms and the call to evacuate. The distraction worked as advertised, he had to give her that. When they came round a corner the scientist guy stopped, and slowed. Saying one of the wierdest things he had probably ever heard in his entire life. It sounded like something out of a bad Sci Fi TV show. It seemed like a weird time to say something like that, especially with the fact they were being hunted by the most powerful organisation known to man kind and turning into freaks.

"What do you mean this struggle?" He then paused thinking back to everything the man had done, though he couldn't think of anything currently of note. "In fact, who are all you people anyway? Now that we got a moment to think. I don't know why I should be trusting any of you with my sister let alone myself."

---

Watcher

"Make or break time."

Since the group was safe for the moment Edith leaned against a wall to catch her breath. Young though she may be she could stand to work out a little more. Wiping some sweat from her brow she looked up at the group. Well, everyone but Renat. They were pretty close it height. The change in perspective was still an odd one. It surely wouldn't be the last surprise of being a teenager again. Chris announced his decision to join their cause. That was good because if he hadn't then they would have to decide what to do with him. But like Ryan she had her misgivings.

The loosely associated group looked about ready to come apart at the seams. While she probably didn't need help surviving on her own it didn't sound all that appealing. Edith had her fill of solitude for one lifetime. Pushing off from the wall she sighed and stepped into the middle of the group. "Well I have a pretty good reason. I just saved your asses. All of you would be halfway to that bunker of a prison by now thank you very much." SHe placed one hand on her hip and pointed a finger at Chris. "This one may not be the swiftest when it comes to action but he was ordered to take me apart. He refused. He also helped us out finding you back at the prison." She tried to jab Ryan with a finger but it ended up hurting her more than anything.

Huffing she turned away and ran her hands through her hair with frustration. Children, she was leading a bunch of children. Oddly enough the one that might most closely be categorized as a child had yet to complain about anything. He looked scared. He was on the run with a bunch of strangers, one of which made and detonated a bomb. Looking up at the ceiling for a moment the white haired girl eventually stepped forward to talk to Renat. "You doing alright there? Sorry if I scared you with all the commotion. But I had to get us out of there. The name is Edith by the way, if you were wondering."

"In fact, who are all you people anyway? Now that we got a moment to think. I don't know why I should be trusting any of you with my sister let alone myself."

Glad I'm not the only one holding this concern, Renat thought. He then listened and watched in his usual silence, trying to figure out at least something about these people before he would introduce himself and ask who they are. So, they escaped some sort of bunker prison? Does or did Mr. Expressionless work for the USF? He isn't in prison uniform like the girl or rock man. And the girl said he was ordered to do something - take her apart, probably a dissection... but she's still alive... Why would he join them? This is a bit scary, probably not best to stay with criminals too long. Hopefully they are not criminals, merely people with abilities that were arrested by the U.S.F. like me.

"You doing alright there? Sorry if I scared you with all the commotion. But I had to get us out of there. The name is Edith by the way, if you were wondering."

For the first time since these people had appeared out of thin air behind him and destroyed his captors, one directly addressed him with more than one sentence. "Yeah, I'm ok. Just nothing I've participated in before. Thanks for the help, Edith." He paused, "I'm Renat. I just want to avoid detection or capture by the U.S.F. for now; I'll stay out of your guys way if you are planning anything big." He glanced towards the two other conscious people present, "So, uh, what are your guys' names?"

Chris put his hands in his pockets while looking the group over. He was glad he shared his thoughts, because the group relations they were setting up now would be crucial in case of emergency. He was glad Ryan was ready to listen, without brushing off the group (or worse - treating them like a threat). Edith would do a good job being the leader, since her crankiness seemed to just add to her feeling of responsibility. And Renat was an untapped potential - taking the world and this situation with innocent eyes. He was now a model system of mutant existence itself.

"Call me Chris" he said to Renat, then looked at the group in general. "Since last week, I was in the USF anomaly testing division, particularly in charge of experimenting upon and cataloguing of all anomalous residents of the holding facility we just teleported out of." His monotonous voice had an air of professional authority about it. "Once instructions came to make the measurements destructive, a step I expected but hoped would happen later, I have unofficially sided with the subjects of the experiments and USF's directive in general. That is to say, you. I have now made this official."

He took his hands out of his pockets and combined their fingers in front of him. "I thus choose to be useful to you. The reason I was so eager to join the USF is because I too am one of their targets. And also, ironically, am perfect for this job." He spread his fingers. "Since roughly a month ago, my body is an open book to me. Since a week ago, so is anyone else's. Well, except you, maybe." He gestured at Ryan, "We will check later. Know that I can see anything that's broken within your bodies. I also enjoy long walks on the beach and talking extensively about myself."

Ryan Shrugged. "Fine, we'll see where this goes. I suppose sticking together is better than splitting up." He looked at Chris, still not overly convinced on his loyalties, and was glad that his body was not a open book for him. "The real question is what the hell is going on with us? Giant Stone Monster sure as hell isn't in my families... whatchu' call it? Pants Pool? Or something like that." He shrugged. "The important thing is this isn't normal. What any of us can do isn't normal. So how do we fix it?" He looked at Chris. "Before the U.S.F tear us apart preferably."

During this Cassie began to stir, she wasn't quite near waken yet however she started to move again. Then she woke with a start. "Ryan!" Ryan turned to her, before hugging her.

"Cass, what's going on?""You ought to tell me that!" Then she recoiled at where they were, and those with them."Alright, where are we? And who is the Kid?""We're in a service tunnel, the kids name is Renan or something like that and he's a freak like us.""Like us?""Yeah, teenage girl there can do weird stuff, glasses can read peoples bodies and the boy I don't know yet."

"Where's my phone?" Ryan gave her a quizical look, or the best he could in his state. "I need my phone Ryan, I need to contact him.""Contact who?""The Watcher of course!"

"Fix it." The physicist was in an odd mood, ignoring the teleport girl completely. "There is as much to fix here as a shark's ability to swim. No, this is evolution."

He looked at his hands, then closed them into fists with slow determination. "I doubt this is just biology. The world has a new dimension now, a new variable. And once we find a way to measure it, we will master it, as we did with the rest of them."

He was elated. His body felt as if some huge untapped energy was flowing through it. "The USF has money and manpower on their side. And we, we have the element of surprise."

Edith smiled slightly and patted Renat on the shoulder briefly. "Well I don't have anything big planned. I'd rather lay low, restart my life." Taking point she watched for anyone coming while the others talked. Apparently Ryan was freaking out. She couldn't really blame him. Of them all he had a physical abnormality that couldn't be hidden as easily. At least with her own white hair she just looks like a delinquent searching for individuality or some such crap. "It doesn't matter if we are ever normal again. We've already been tagged and they'll do whatever it takes to either study us or sweep us under the rug. Our best bet..." Edith caught herself. What was with her? On one hand she wanted to just live a normal life, and yet right now she was falling right into a leadership position like it was another day.

Something was markedly different from the AAIM days though. Edith really wanted those brain scans. But maybe Chris could clear her from memory alone. Here was not the time though. These tunnels would be crawling with troops soon. "We can talk about what to do later. We're not that far from my place. We'll be safe there and THEN we can discuss what to do." She slapped the wall to draw their attention and close out the matter. The old woman was not going to have them running around in circles.

"Help Cassie walk now that she's up. Someone will be along before you know it and we do not want to be here for the welcome party." Not doubting Ryan would be irritated that she was moving them again so soon. But they really didn't have time for this. Grumbling aside once everyone was on their feet she continued leading on. The access tunnel ended and they had to go topside briefly to cross over into some older tunnels. In the Industrial District they were not as well maintained beyond the needed infrastructure. Their path from here was more winding with several lefts and rights. Edith clearly knew this part of the dome much better. Eventually she stopped in front of an unassuming steel panel. Grabbing its side she pulled to move it but it didn't budge. Her young body, while healthy and trim, didn't have the mass or strength her 40 something self did last time she was there. Sighing with a little defeat she stepped back for someone stronger to do the job. "This is the place but I don't have the strength to move it. It's probably extra stiff from sitting for almost 50 years."