[IC] Wᴇ Aʀᴇ Tʜᴇ Cʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ

[Silent Whispers]

---

---

---

---

_{Abandon House
Interacting With:}

---

She woke up with a jolt as beads of sweat scrolled down her forehead. She hasn't been able to sleep since they have escaped from the university and governed people that changed them. With a breath, she removed the blanket from her body then threw her legs over the bed so her feet touched the ground. She stood upright now and walked over towards the semi-shattered window to see that a light drizzle of rain had formed outside. Jess sighed as she had second thoughts the moment they escaped. She also wondered if the governed people were even looking for them but of course, they were, why wouldn't they.

With that thought in her mind and other things swirling around in her mind, Jess went around the abandoned home to check on the other five changed people, two had rooms while others slept on the couches. She was sort of the leader, or self-proclaimed leader and hasn't heard any complaints since she took the position for herself. At least, she did not think people were complaining. After she checked on the other five, Jess went and grabbed her journal then went back over to her bed. She opened the book up and started jotting down some things.

More importantly, she jotted down how she felt about every single person around her. If they were going to be working together, she needed to know a few things about them and who could she really work with.

First on her list was Anges, a girl that she found very unique and could really work with. She liked Anges but haven't really had the chance to chat with her, or anyone for that matter quite yet. She automatically knew that she could work with Khall because he was naturally quiet but blunt whenever he needed to be. Ellie was one of the ones that she was unsure about but wondered how well they will work together.

Jess had stopped writing for a moment after hearing a bump. She gasped and closed her journal then started to breathe a little heavy because she was a little scared. Nothing happened after a few minutes of silence so she went back to writing about the last two people. Michael was a little difficult for her to figure out because he was awkward to her but Eli was really friendly and she could definitely work with him.

She closed her journal again then knew that they needed to hone their abilities if they were going to go up against the government. There is really no telling what the government had planned for whenever they found them, or something. Jess decided that today was going to be a sort of training day for them so they can better control their newfound and amplified abilities.

Here goes nothing She thought to herself as she banged on the other two doors then walked down the stairs to wake up the other three teenagers. Jess waited before speaking as they stirred and she stood upright, ready to tell them what she was thinking about today.

[Bartimaeus]

Khall

Khall woke at the sound of movement, but did not open his eyes. He'd learned not to and it was instinct by now, for if he did open them he was usually met with blindness anyways and, depending on the light, pain. He sat up, putting his legs over the side of the couch he'd taken to, then cupping his hands around his face as he slowly opened his eyes one at a time. Luckily for him, the abandoned home was not very bright. It wasn't dark either- enough to see where you were going and what you were writing, mostly due to the light coming in through the blocked windows.

He looked around. It had seemed as if Jessica was the only one awake before him. He took out his Ipod. It almost sickened him to look at the device. Those people had given it to him. But, when he used it and played quiet music through his earbuds, it softened the louder noises of the urban environment- and that was a lifesaver. He doubt he could go without it. They'd given him the charger too, which he took with him as they escaped the facility, but this home likely didn't have electricity. They had no money and were on their own for now. They couldn't go to their families, those homes were likely being watched. It'd been a spot of luck that they found this abandoned building to stay in, and even luckier they each had something to sleep on. He clicked the device on. It read 24%.

He tucked it back in his pocket and stood to stretch, feeling his muscles contort as he did so. His power had never required him much physical movement, so during training he didn't run much. He did exercises and other various small things, but he didn't run. Until after they escaped- and he hadn't run so hard in his entire life. Now his legs were complaining. He plopped himself back down on the couch, surveying his surroundings with a million thoughts racing through his head.

What are we going to do next? Where are we going to go? Who can we trust? Will we ever live normal lives again?

But he wouldn't let these thoughts show on his face.

Jess would see him sitting upright as she returned downstairs. And he didn't have to look to know she was indeed up there. Her footsteps and the knocking was more than enough confirmation. Hopefully she could answer some of his questions. It seems silly when you think about it; she was in the same exact predicament the rest of them were. However she did seem to take well to being a leader. He surely had no objections, as he wasn't going to do it himself.

He stared at the floor and listened as she woke the other escapees, then taking her place in the room as she waited to speak to them about something. Hopefully she could lessen his worries. Doubtful, but there was hope.

[Hey Im Jordan]

---

---

Michael had discovered that one of the many downsides to being ‘Changed’ and having the powers that he did now. When you’re just a casual browser the phrase ‘the internet never sleeps’ is simple; it just means you’re staying up until the wee hours of the night, browsing and looking at pictures and memes. When you can see the internet, and access information 24/7? It means you don’t sleep. Not that Michael really felt like he did anymore. In fact, he found that he acted more like a battery than anything. Time on ‘the grid’ led to him feeling well rested and lively. Conversely, time spent away from the grid led to him feeling dead inside, and tired. Luckily, even in the abandoned house they were hiding out in, Seattle was well wired, and he was able to reach the internet and ‘the grid’ from there.

‘The grid’ is what Michael began referring to the internet and the data he saw after his Change. What? He’s a science fiction fan, and it felt fitting. He was the one who could connect to the grid, and that made him special. That was how he looked at being Changed; it was different for him vs the others. Yes, he was against what the government wanted from them, but all in all…

It was not a bad gig for him.

Instead of sleeping while Jessica was waking the others, Michael was relaxing. He’d spent the night doing research — which mostly consisted of trying and failing to find information regarding the project they’d been a part of. After a while, though, he’d elected to chill out.

It was different for him when compared to the others. Michael liked that they were in a secluded, abandoned house. He liked that there was no one to tell them what to do but themselves. He liked that. He didn’t like people, he didn’t like school, he didn’t like talking. The people who’d raised him, his godparents, they were okay. All he really liked was comic books, and he could get those whenever he wanted with his new powers.

The next step was staying five steps ahead of the government that was surely going to chasing them down. With how smart he was now, and what he could be capable of, given enough time and the proper supplies… Michael wasn’t afraid of the coming conflict. Some part of him was even looking forward to it: it would be a test of their abilities.

He was part of a ‘team’ of sorts, and though it was taking him time to warm up them, it was happening, and where he may have originally been awkward and difficult to talk to, he knew that would change with time. Even so, when Jess came to wake them up, Michael went so far as to pretend to be asleep. He certainly didn’t want to speak to them if he didn’t have to; he was much happier laying there with his eyes closed.

Truth be told, Michael had plenty of ideas for ways they could improve their situation, but he didn’t speak up about them. Besides, some of them might be ‘controversial,’ such as ‘rob a bank with our awesome super powers.’ No, seriously. If Michael got close enough to an ATM, he could just make it spit out all the cash it had in it, and given enough time, he could probably wire them endless cash.

But he didn’t intend to say a word. He was perfectly content in their little abandoned home where they all had cots and there was a 3G connection. If the connection hadn’t been there? Maybe he’d be more vocal. For now, he was happy to sit back, listen to what the others had to say and what they planned to do, and then act accordingly.

For now though? Michael had to ‘wake up’ as Jessica was going around rousing them from their slumber. When it came time for her to wake him, Michael responded first by raising his arms and giving a solemn thumbs up; his eyes still closed. This was followed up by a verbal response.

“I’m up.”

[Fabricant451]

---

---

If there was one takeaway from all of this it was that sleep had a way of sneaking up on people. When all they had before them was the uncertainty and the looming fear, Ellie Duke had assumed the worst: That they would be taken back, punished rather horrifically for their crime of wanting out, and that the world wouldn't care to remember their names or notice they were gone. It was some sort of small miracle or bitter twist of fate that they came upon the abandoned house. At the time Ellie wanted to voice her opinion, how they should keep moving, how it was possible that this place was under watch. But the only thing louder than her silence was the anguish of her feet having been running all day.

Ellie had little choice but to go with the group decision. While she had so desperately wanted to say something, even just a reassurance, she didn't. She couldn't. The last time she opened her mouth she shattered glass so hard it tore through an adult with a clipboard like he was butter being poked by a hot knife. If anything was likely to give away their position, it was someone who had been turned into some kind of megaphone.

Without speaking, Ellie claimed one of the empty rooms and sank into the bed. She had no plan on sleeping. The adrenaline was too high, she and everyone were obviously on edge and how could anyone sleep at a time like that? Listening to the increased patterns of her heart pumping its blood, her thoughts turned to her would-be stepfather and how he didn't share in the mourning when Ellie was turned over to the supposed authorities. It only added anger to the emotions that were bubbling under the surface.

And in spite of her belief, sleep found its way to Ellie's system. That was why she awoke with a start when the banging on the door started. Her last night's thoughts being on her parents had her almost call out for her mom and ask what was for breakfast before the realization that this room, the bed, and the scratchy pillows weren't familiar sank in. Was this going to be her life now? Running with people who didn't know her from Adam? Too afraid of whatever the hell it was to ever speak again? She was too afraid to even hum or whistle for fear of blowing the door off the hinges.

There was little else to do other than wonder why anyone would choose this for someone. While she didn't exactly know the others, she wasn't going to stay here on her own. For now it was safer with them than without, and that meant dragging her ass down the stairs. Maybe if she closed her eyes and pictured it she would be able to smell pancakes on the griddle.

[Congee]

---

---

Agnes stayed on the ground floor and insisting to sleep on the couch since the spare rooms were occupied. No way she was gonna share the bed with either of these dweebs. Well, not now at least. Slumped on the bumpy comforts of the old dusty leather couch, sleep was barely coming her way. So she spent most of the night reevaluating her plans once they get to a bus bound to San Fransisco. She does not plan on staying another second in close proximity of the university. And she did spoke her mind on it with the group, yet for now everyone seem to have their own personal issues to worry. Agnes including.

It was a weird, trippy feeling the first time her 'powers' became apparent. The fact that she frickin glows like lsd, they had the option to choose any color from the rainbow but it had to be all of them at once. It was on the verge of her peril, when her seemingly jolly gay powers turned dark in an instant. She charred three human beings at once, the guards who were holding her down at the time of the escape. Her usual innocent brightness grew more intense, the heat radiating much more stronger than ever, like a forest fire but a hundred times hotter. Next thing she knew the three were almost burned to a crisp and she couldve swore one of them was still breathing. The whole revelation fumed with the nasty smell of burning flesh made her threw up her lunch that day. A truly scarring experience, she declares, would help keeping her up the whole night today.

Agnes watched the brightness reflecting from her hand languidly shift from spectrum to the other, subtly trying to figure out and wonder what more she could do with it. She hadnt had a full sleep yet, though she wasnt feeling any tiredness at the moment. She caught a wiff of smoke and whiskey from the jacket she was wearing, the one she stole from the janitor's closet plus a wooly beanie at her attempt to be low key during the escape and the moment she met up with the group.

While in the mids of her musings, her hand cop a feel on her breast pocket, "Score." she fished out a box of smokes and a lightning which probably was the only great thing that happened all throughout this horror show. She freely lit stick one and took a blissful sip. Just a few moments she caught sight of Jess, was it? Who looked like she has finally has something to say. Agnes sat up listlessly on the sofa, one hand stretcher over the back pillows, the other a cigarette between her fingers.

[Helo]

---

---

Eli had spent the night on one of the old busted up couches in the abandoned house. It had been his first night of freedom since being chosen, and although exhausted from the escape his sleep was restless. He mumbled in his sleep, tossed and turned, whimpered, and occasionally woke up throughout the night from the nightmares. Every time he closed his eyes he was back at the facility, reliving the experiments done to him and experiencing new ones that his haunted mind dreamed up while he slept.

Before falling asleep the night before, Eli had explored the abandoned house for a bit. It was clear from the piles of trash, occasionally used needles, and the graffiti on the walls that they were not the first people to squat here. The only semi useful thing he had found was an old pack of playing cards which he kept in the pocket of his jeans. There was no food in the house, he had gone to bed hungry which wasn’t exactly new to him but he needed to eat something soon. As he sat up and stretched some his stomach growled; Eli had also tried to eat as little as possible while they were kept in the facility, after finding out their true intentions were to make them all fight to the death he didn’t trust anything that they offered him.

Yesterday had been hard; waking up basically a prisoner held captive by his own government, the escape, and the constant fear of being caught before find a place to rest. Today was better though, today he was free, he had decided he would not allow himself to be taken back, and he was confident that with his new abilities and those of the people he had escaped with they stood a chance staying free. He breathed in the stale musty air of the house as his eyes adjusted to the faint light that snuck through the boarded-up windows. Jess, the girl who had stepped into the role of their leader, was walking through the house waking the others.

Eli wanted to go out to try and get some water and something to eat, he hoped the rest of the group felt the same way. It would be difficult to try and steal enough for six people, he didn’t know if any of the others had any skill at theft and as far as he knew they didn’t have any money between them. He also felt they should keep moving, find a new shelter, and not to stay in one place for too long. He caught a familiar sent in the house, someone was smoking, and he left the room he was in and followed the smell to the other room on the ground floor.

“Hey where’d ya get smokes?” He asked as he took a seat on the opposite end on the couch Agnes was sitting on. “Got any to share?” He asked. The first smoke of the morning was always the best one.

[Silent Whispers]

---

---

---

---

_{Abandon House
Interacting With: Everyone}

---

While she stood there with many thoughts running through her mind, Jess walked over to the window and peered her eyes out of it. She sighed softly to herself then placed her hands on her hips. Jess' ears twitched as she turned her head a little, just to see Khall sitting there and offered him a half smile before her gaze went back to paying attention to the outside. She had hoped that everyone would go along smoothly with her idea or plan but feels like someone is going to gripe about it. If she was going to be their supposed leader, she had to act like it somewhat.

Jess then turned her head again and seen Anges was about to smoke then looked at Elias as he asked for one. She walked over there and stood before them, another half smile formed at the corner of her lips. "Might need to save those because I feel like we all are going to need them sometime soon." She joked. She tried to lighten the mood that was swirling in the air around them right about now or maybe, it was just her. Jess walked back so that she could talk to everyone directly and to stand in the middle

Once everyone had gathered and was in place, Jess settled her hands into her jeans pants pocket. It was clearly obvious that she was nervous but she still spoke with a little bit of confidence towards everyone before her anyway.

"How's everyone doing today?" Again, she was trying to lighten the mood just a little bit. "Well, I wanted to gather everyone here because I am sure we all want revenge against the governed people that changed us. I sure do." She mentioned towards them then took a breath before continuing. "I just feel that we need to practice our abilities and hone them so that when we're ready for our revenge, we will really be ready." Jess stopped talking and stared at everyone just to get their reactions so far. She shrugged her shoulders before she went back to talking again.

"Those are my thoughts and what I think. I am eager to hear what you guys think, too." That was Jess' way of opening up the floor and just to see what everyone else was thinking. Of course, to work as a team, they had to be on the same page. At least, that's what Jess was thinking right about now.

[Helo]

---

---

Eli shrugged at Jessica’s suggestion at rationing the cigarettes. “I could always steal us some more.” He offered and flashed a mischievous grin. Then with the rest of the group all gathered in one room, and Jess standing in the midst of all of them she took her place as de facto leader. He was fine with that, it was a burden he would never want for himself, and although he didn’t know her all that well he thought she seemed like good people, he got a good vibe from her at least. She had nervous energy, he could tell she wanted to do right by them, and he decided he trusted her. Not that he had much of a choice whether or not to trust his fellow “chosen” anyway, they were all kind of stuck in the same boat and he had to make the best of it.

She mentioned wanting vengeance on the people who did this to him, and training for that eventual goal. He truly hadn’t thought about that, first his focus was survival, then escaping the facility, then focused on survival again. Before now vengeance was never really his way but no one had ever basically kidnapped him, used him as an experiment, and planning to force him to fight other teenagers to the death before either. Then he thought about how if they had done it to them they would either try and recapture them to continue their plan, start a new batch of experiments, or maybe even both. They had to train to make sure they weren’t taken back, they had to stop the people who did this from doing it to anyone else and as for vengeance, well, hadn’t they kind of earned that through their suffering?

She opened up the floor for any suggestions, and Eli, personally felt that gathering some supplies should be high on their list of things to do today. “Well, if everyone else is down for some vengeance I am too, and I agree we need to train. We need to make sure we’re strong enough to take on a shadowy government agency if, or when, I guess, they come after us. Right now, though, we need food and water, maybe some other supplies and definitely more cigarettes. We’re gonna have to steal, either the supplies or some money. I’ve got some experience with both but I’m open to suggestions if someone has a plan for it.” Eli said, offering his assessment of the situation.

[Bartimaeus]

Khall

---

---

Khall sat and watched from under his hood as the others came from their rooms and gathered around the center of the room. While they were all gathering, a pungent odor reached his nose and he glanced over to see Agnes smoking. Her name was easy to remember because of her personality. At least to Khall.

He nonchalantly covered his nose with his hand, as the smell was really bothering his heightened sense. But Elias' suggestion distracted him from it for the time being. It was a very good suggested, supplies were what they needed. You couldn't declare a war without making sure your soldiers were fed. He nodded as the other boy finished his words.

"I've never stolen before...but I bet I'm pretty good at it considering my...abilities." he said as he looked at Elias. He wasn't for stealing out of greed. But this was stealing for survival. If they didn't do this, he had no doubt in his mind that they would be killed. They would not get the food they needed, and they'd be too weak to escape the people who were assuredly hunting them down.

Maybe one of the others had a different way of getting the things they needed to survive. Maybe a relative who the government wouldn't think to spy on? They may be difficult to make contact with, but it was possible.