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Making her way to the Danger Room after completing a long series of pre-workout stretches, Heidi was mulling of the fact that had continue to gnaw at her mind for several days. She didn't remember what happened a few nights ago. She think a club may have been involved, and she'd considered the possibility of alcohol giving her a normal memory just for one night. But there were two things that went against this. One was that she could remember every second of her life pre-mutation when she would have had an ordinary mind. Even her infancy. The second was that the night directly after, she remembered remembering, in perfect detail the events of the night that was so hazy now. And she couldn't even recall the memories from the memories of her remembering them, which defied all other explaination.

At some time between the night at the beach and the day after, somebody was tampering with her memories. And it wasn't just her. Heidi had talked to people about it and nobody could remember the night. Nobody else thought this strange, and it could just still be coincidence, but Heidi was sure now. Somebody wanted everyone who was at that Club to forget about that night. She couldn't even remember which club anymore. And no google searches for Clubs in this city on that night yielded any results. Heidi wondered if it could be connected in some way to Professor Pierce's absence or Ashford's business trip, but that was getting into the realm of conjecture and paranoia. There was no proof to give credence to any of the many, many possibilities Heidi could imagine.

Due to her stretches, Heidi was last to the Danger Room entrance. Ronnie was among the other students there. Heidi wondered if she should have told her more, now that she can no longer remember herself. But would Ronnie's memories then also be affected? Heidi could never know now, and there was no point in regretting her secrecy, or her reasons for it, which as a result of being a product of the night's events, Heidi also found hazy. Her roommate Jasper was also there. Heidi gave her a silent nod from the back of the group where she stood, until they were let into the Danger Room.

There was a long period of silence once they were inside, until Heidi caught some of the students appear to be concentrating. Then she realised it wasn't silence at all. Had...had they forgot? It was possible. She scanned the roof until she spied a camera, then looked directly at it and gestured to her ears with an apologetic look on her face.

Then again, maybe she didn't need it. The Danger Room turned into a desert landscape, five lockers appeared, and in the distance a building appeared, with a flag at the top of it. This didn't take a detective to figure out. They were to put their bags in the lockers, and head to the building. It was capture the flag. The only question now was whether they were working as a team, or working against each other. She saw Ronnie ask a question, and realised that at some point, the tannoy must have asked if there were any questions. Heidi spoke up as she put her bag in the locker marked with her name.

"Is this a group exercise where we fight drones or another obstacle? Or are we competing with each other?" she asked and hoped they had a non-audio answer for her this time.

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Matt looked at the lockers. How real is this? Then quickly ignored them as he hadn’t thought to bring anything. Watching the others for guidance something sparked in his mind when Ronnie pulled the notebook out. Something about YouTube he thought but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He realised quickly that he was at a major disadvantage if this was a competitive exercise.
Next, The building appeared out of nowhere and again he pondered the reality of it. Did the exercise account for his abilities. Did these things have memories or were they something else?
The voice welcoming everyone and explaining the scenario just left more questions most of which were asked by the other kids. He hoped that one of them would take the lead. They were all older than him by two to three years.

Focusing on the building before them his eyes fixated on the padlock. If that is real and has been used or set in that last week. I should be able to find the combination but how long do we have and how far back do I rewind?

He waited patiently for the others' questions to be answered and kept his questions to himself. This is like a puzzle in one of those escape rooms he had heard about. This should be fun.

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There was a slight pause after the students asked their questions, with the voice returning along with a new sight: a large screen in the imaginary sky providing a voice to text transcript of Tabitha's voice. "Your objective is for at least one of ya to get to the flag by getting through the building. It is a collaborative exercise, so I would recommend relying on your mates."

The text remained in the sky for a moment, the words hovering in mid-air before slowly dissipating. The voice and a new line of text replaced the old quickly. "If there are no other questions... the flag awaits!" Tabitha's bubbly voice practically shouted that last line in glee, and it was accompanied by a fanfare of trumpets... her personal touch on the exercise, one might guess. The building, and it's rather simple entrance, waited for the students' approach.

Daniela Steele
Danger Room

Daniela could only watch in amazement as the room around them seemed to shift into a desert landscape with a three story building with a metal door with a padlock and chain. Daniela studied the obstacles in front of her. She wasn't sure what the point of the locker was for her. She hadn't brought a single thing with her. She had been assuming they were going to be relying solely on their powers and minds for this.

Padlock...Chain...I don't think I can do anything with that. I could blast those for hours and nothing would happen for a very long time.

She turned to look at Matt to ask him what he thought and couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be focusing on the padlock. She had no idea what awaited them in the building itself but she already knew that she was going to be keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't get hurt. She wasn't that familiar with the other students but she would be keeping an eye on all of them as well in case something was waiting for them in the building. If she had to take a beating to make sure everyone stayed safe then so be it.

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Heidi smiled at her roomie who'd come in with the assist via phone screen, seconds before the wall displayed the same thing in more words. Heidi uncharacteristically let out a very tiny and brief chuckle."Thanks," she replied to Jasper, before looking at the building as Jasper asked her what she thought.

"Three stories. Square. Smooth brickwork. No pipes. Windows boarded up. First floor windows barred. They want the front door to be the only way in, so our first obstacle's the padlock. However, once we open that door, I get the feeling we'll be instantly put to the test, and the 'Danger' part of this room will become apparent. Considering the group they chose, I presume there will be a kind of electrical 'theme' to this exercise.

I know everyone's powers except Matthew's, but I bet you know it. Do you think it could help us in direct combat?"

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Ronnie's peripheral vision caught movement.

Her attention tracked it as she turned her head to the source. She spotted 'Tazer-girl' displaying her phone to another student, the brown-haired troublemaker. Ronnie found that odd, but she only made a note of it. The girl must’ve had an issue hearing or a mental condition. Thankfully, at least one student had the ability to relay information. Else it would’ve slowed them down much more than Ronnie liked. It took the teacher long enough to realize the issue as subtitles then appeared in thin air.

She found herself more unnerved by each new rule of reality the room broke. It was like they were in a cheap netflix movie with lame subtitles. Fiction only belonged in the imagination, not in the real world. Her fingers tightened about the spiral edge of her notebook. It rested against her hips as she debated on if she should ask more questions or let the matter rest. Upon the teacher’s bubbly voice, she held her tongue. She doubted she would get useful information.

When Ronnie watched the others converse, pain stabbed into her heart. It just reminded her of what she missed. Her allies, routine, and normalcy to the point her whole future was planned out. It all cracked when her mutant ability happened. She couldn’t salvage anything from her old life.

It is my fault for being a mutant.

Ronnie caught the run down of what Heidi gave, but didn’t take the lead. She found it suspicious how Heidi knew everyone’s ability when she just arrived a few days ago and never demonstrated it. For now, she just pushed past the discomfort. She didn’t know enough about everyone to trust them. Trust given freely just lead to disappointment. It meant she had to take things into her own hands. It was hard to wait around and do nothing when their issue stood before them.

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Taking off one glove, Matt moved toward the door, where the padlock hung. Reaching out his hand he stopped; thinking of what Heidi had said. Looking back at the group.

"I can show you the combination. This can go one of two ways. Either, the chain is electrified or it is not. Whichever, the case if... Heidi is it?" He asked quizzically before moveing on. "If she is right, then any of you with combative abilities should ready yourselves. I am not much of a fighter myself but once you pick a target keep your eyes one it and I may be able to provide a disttaction for you."

Matt thought about his discusion with Professor Finn. The Professor had asked if if he had to "rewind" and seemed to think he should be able to go directly to a desired moment. He had no idea of how to do that but drawing off every book he ever read and a couple Sciencw Fiction TV shows he figured it had something to do with concentration. He pictured the lock open in his head and focused on that image as he grabbed it with his ungloved hand, making sure the others could see the lock as well.

A wave of dizziness hit Matt and he had a sudden sensation of falling. He gripped tighter. Soon the images jumped out sharp and crisp. Matt felt like he was going to vomit and swallowed hard to stave it off. Professor Tabitha North stood in front of him clicking the lock shut. Matt realised she had just tested the lock and quickly rewound the memory. Images blurred again but only for a second. Then he let the memomry play out. Not only was she working the lock but saying the combination aloud. Matt hoped that was enough as he let go of the padlock the room returning to normal. His projected image gone.

"Tell me someone got that. I really don't wanna do that again for a bit."

He still felt dizzy but the sensation was fading fast.

Matt clumsily put his glove back on then; without realising what he was doing, perfectly copied what Professor North had just done unlocking the chain. His head lurched from the vertigo. He grabbed forward with both hands one grabbing the center chain the other the handle of the door. The room spun and he lost his balance pulling as he stumbled back, both removing the chain and opening the door.

Aya thanked the Lyft driver as she climbed out of the blue sedan. It'd been a quiet ride - after taking a look at her red, tear-stained face, the middle-aged driver had seen fit to leave her to her thoughts. He barely looked back at her as she closed the door, no doubt eager to run from a stranger's problems.

Pulling her bag strap over her shoulder, Aya made her way into the mall. It was wide and open, more of an enclosed street than a single building. Shops lined the path, doors open, wafting their perfumes or music or flashing screens, beckoning potetial customers. Aya couldn't focus on any of them. She felt the phantom weight of the envelopes in her bag, making each step heavy.

Aya spent the next hour or so wandering the mall, trying to distract herself. At one point she meandered into a shop stuffed to the brim with bath products - candles and lotions, colorful loofas hanging along a wall, glittery soaps, and body creams in wide, pastel jars. Aya had never liked these kinds of stores. The warring scents were too overwhelming, giving her a headache. But today, Aya found herself wandering through bright aisles, fingers trailing along the glossy labels. She paused on a bottle of lotion labeled Vanilla Dream, with the word tester written beneath it in thick Sharpie. Aya looked down at it. She picked it up, popping open the lid and squeezing a small dollop onto her hand. She rubbed the lotion into her hands, continuing her walk down the lotion aisle, eyes scanning the labels again.

Minty Morning.

Aya put a small squirt into her hand and then rubbed that into her skin, too. She brought her hands to her nose and gave a small sniff.

Immediately Aya's nose wrinkled, and she pulled her hands away. It was an odd combination, the mint smell overpowering the sweetness of the vanilla. Embarrassment flooded her. Aya left the store, hurrying to the bathroom to wash the lotion off her hands. The scent lingered.

She eventually found herself in a small, empty cafe, soft indie music playing over the speakers. She stared down at the stack of black envelopes on the table. They seemed to stare back at her. Aya felt her anxiety building in her stomach, up her chest, clogging her throat, coating her tongue. She took another sip of her half empty mocha. The paper bag that had once held her breakfast sandwich sat in a ruined ball in her other hand. Aya tried to swallow, tasting the chocolate of her drink, suddenly too sweet.

She pulled Professor Everose's notebook from her bag, flipping it open. The messy words of her last, chaotic session gave her pause - she hadn't realized she'd written in Japanese. Aya stared at them a moment longer before flipping to a new page. She gripped her pen too tightly in her hand, tip hovering just over the paper. Aya bit her lip. Then she picked up the second envelope and closed her eyes.

The tires crept over crackling gravel as she eased through the front gate while the iron bars slowly opened. A darkly tinted window covered a view from the side, but her profile was faintly visible behind the glare of the windshield and the shape of exquisitely expensive sunglasses. Her fingers drummed slowly on the steering wheel as she followed the car path towards the center courtyard and Ashford’s cottage. She would have liked something more exotic, however the little Porsche didn’t draw too much attention and was exceptionally comfortable, not that she knew a lot about cars. The Terran fascination with transportation was slightly bemusing at first, but their role as status symbols was undeniable. She loved the feel of the leather under her dress and the controls felt firm and well made. Craftsmanship was something she could appreciate in any reality and the simplistic elegance of the shape ticked the boxes.

The stereo beat a low and steady rhythm as she made her way watching the movements of students and faculty about the school. Her lips moved occasionally with the words of songs she heard before though the lyrics could sometimes be puzzling. She discovered early on that in Terran language, particularly American English, words could mean literally anything. Still, the decade of the 1990s seemed to represent the epoch of recent music for the culture. Rap and R&B from the period were her favorites, often those from Los Angeles. She detested rock and roll, grunge and even worse country music. Her strapped heel clicked down softly and she reached back inside for an equally posh matching bag that seemed to be as barely used as the rest of her ensemble before starting down the pathway towards Ashford’s cottage.

Knowing that the Dean would be out of the city for a few days, she hadn’t been back on the campus since early Sunday morning...



Her rage had boiled over at the realization of being outplayed and her head shook lightly at the thought of it as she walked in a powerful stride down the pathway. There was still another play she could make and her thoughts wandered for a moment, fingertips tapping lightly on the side of her bag reaffirming the presence of a solid metal object inside. Among the numerous glances she got, the fortuitous glimpse of a young redhead was the only one to return the attention of her eyes from behind her sunglasses. Nearly to Ashford’s doorstep, a rare smile spread over her lips and she gave the girl a small wave with her fingers as she passed.

@Almalthia

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As the doors flew open, the dark interior of the building was revealed in part. The entrance to this building appeared rather simple. Peering inside, the students gathered would see the artifical sunlight cast shadows over a simple lobby area with a tile floor. A large, empty reception desk stood in front of a wall that was flanked by two long hallways. To the left and right of the entrance was a waiting area with simple chairs and coffee tables littered with magazines. A few TVs hung silent and lifeless on the walls, and the rather simple green striped wallpaper felt awfully tacky. Despite the blandness of the exterior, the interior of this danger room simulation was complex and eerie. It seemed a bit too real.

With one exception, that is. Two small red lights illuminated from the rightmost hallway. They were rather close together, but mostly obscured in shadow. They started to grow larger, matched by a series of rhythmic thumping. As the sound and lights grew, the figure they were attached to came into view. It was a rather large, mechanical beast. It had no fur or flesh, but instead appeared to be made entirely of gray metal. It had a long snout with sharp metal teeth, walked on four legs, and seemed to be standing a couple feet high. Its red eyes appeared to be locked on Matt.

Almost as soon as it came into view in the darkness did the wolf-like creature begin dashing through the lobby towards the open door. It seemed to be charging straight for a dazed and confused Matt, making significant bounds with its metal legs. It seemed to have hostile intent, and would most likely close the gap in a matter of seconds. If someone was going to do something... they'd best do it fast.

Daniela Steele
Danger Room
Interactions:@Brioko Jobe

Daniela couldn't help but watch with pride as Matt managed to get the lock open. "Great job, Matt." She said with a large smile. The smile faded a moment later as a large, metal wolf like creature emerged from the shadows and seemingly locked onto Matt with it's glowing red eyes. She had to give whoever designed this thing credit. It did look intimidating.

Intimidating. But not terrifying.

Nope. Not today.

Daniela stepped in front of the dazed and seemingly weakened Matt and held her hands out in front of her and faced the Metal wolf machine and narrowed her eyes as crackling arcs of electricity formed around her hands. "Down snoopy." She growled as she launched a barrage of electrical blasts at the metal wolf's head.

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Heidi watched Matthew speak, taking a break from silently listening only to say "It won't be electrified. They're trying to test us, not kill us." She continued to watch as his ability created what seemed to be projections of the past. Now that was interesting. Was it related to the space in front of the lock, or the memory of the lock itself? Not the biggest difference but she'd have to take into account that it could be either before she issued any commands to Matthew.

But she saw (after taking note of the combination) that opening it had drained Matthew, and the door was opening. If Heidi was right, and there were threats inside the room, he was in danger. She was already running towards him when the door started to open. Seeing the robotic enemy inside so close to the door only added to her haste. When she reached Matthew, Daniela was already engaging the robot, so Heidi grabbed Matthew, and started pulling him back from the door. If Daniela hadn't stepped in front of them, she'd have pulled to the side to evade the beast's attacks. But right now, pulling him backwards was the best course of action.

There were already a myriad of ways Heidi could think t co-ordinate their team but there wasn't time to explain complex commands, and Heidi giving orders right now might make things more confused and chaotic. She would put trust in her companions that they could take down one robot between them.

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Watching the beautiful dark haired woman smile and wave at Uná was just enough to distract her from her current predicament. Giving up on the idea of meditation Uná looked around. Nope no one's looking. Even if they were she's already on campus and near Dean Ashford's house so she probably belongs here. Is she a family member? I can't see her as a girlfriend. She's not old enough for him. And far to pretty.

Moving over to the dark haired woman Uná smiled brightly at the woman. She vaguely remembered that the Dean had a Doctor that was female and Uná had seen her around on and off. Just the other day as a matter of fact...now that I think of it. 

Uná held out her hand. "Hello I'm Uná O’Brian. We haven't been formally introduced but I've seen you about a few times."

Uná noticed the similarities between the woman in front of her and her mother. Well adopted mom. But her hair was that rich loam color, same as Ginger O'Brian's, and she was chic in the red and navy dress. The stripes were bold and the belt just the right shade to match the blooming roses that took the outfit from severe to fiercely feminine. It was something her mother would wear, and it comforted her instantly putting her at ease.

Uná inwardly grimaced as she recalled her undignified outfit of a lime green sports bra, black yoga pants with a matching lime green stripe and charcoal sneakers with her ankle socks peeking out in a lime green rebellion. She had felt like the color this afternoon, all energy and light, now it just felt childish next to the stunning woman. Far away were the thoughts of Ginger swearing that Uná could make even the most unappetizing green color beautiful. 

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The next few moments were tense within the Danger Room as the students began to react simultaneously. Bolts of electricity launched from Daniela's fingers as she attacked the metal beast, which had still had its eyes locked on Matt's form as Heidi rushed in to pull him from harm's way. When the electricity made contact, the beast was launched backwards slightly, as if hit by a surge of force. The mechanical form rolled over itself for a moment, before slowly rising back to its feet. The red eyes appeared slightly brighter as its charred head turned towards Daniella. The eyes themselves seemed to lock on to the girl who attacked it, before the light behind them grew dim for a moment.

As Jasper reached out into the code, doing her best to take control of the beast from within the simulation, she could sense the code itself changing on the fly as a result of her probing. And she could tell, for the briefest of moments, that her plan had worked. She could see, for a split second, through the eyes of the mechanical wolf as it stared with hostile intent towards her classmates. But as she probed even farther than that, bypassing the room's security measures to take control of the beast itself, that the code began changing to fight her. While Jasper was quick, whatever code was creating the world within the Danger Room seemed to be just as quick. And it was not eager on giving up control to the technopath. The mechanical wolf seemed to "glitch" slightly as Jasper vied for control over the beast, the projection seeming to stutter and repeat the small movements of the beast getting ready to pounce. While she wasn't yet successful in taking over the beast, it was left vulnerable.