[IC] X-Men: The New Era - Avalon Rising

[Pilatus]

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GM Post

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“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you sorrowful.” Finvarra said. Behind him the portal curled and distorted unevenly amidst the derelict remains of Club Avalon. The air was dark and black with only the ambient light of the moon coming through the collapsed roof and the glow of the city illuminating their figures.

“I’m not.” Sena replied. She kept her glance downward. The portal rippled in energy scattering the broken furniture and shattered glass like an invisible wave. The air crackled with a growing hum of white noise.

“You are,” Finvarra said with a smile. He lifted her chin, but she turned her head sharply. He chuckled.

“This world has softened you.” He said.

Sena’s eyes shot back up at his dark figure with a glare. Her lips drew a thin line.

“That’s better.”

“I would walk back through with you today.” She said. “I’m just…” She shook her head letting a deep breath escape.

“You’re torn,” Finvarra said calmly. “You like it here.”

“I remember what we came from.” She gripped his shirt, looking up into his eyes, but her glance fell. “It’s just like we never got to... win,” Letting her head fall on his chest, her shoulders sunk slightly. “All we’ve ever done is fight… and now we have this too.”

A gold band crept around his arm like a snake covered in ancient markings as he ran his fingers through her black hair. It pulled at him, tightening against his bicep, A second appeared around his other arm pulling him towards the edge of the portal. “Only two more,” He said firmly, stepping back and looking at her as the tear in reality became more and more unstable around him snapping in electrical charges and bursts of energy that further wrecked the remains of the building. “On the farplane…” He had to raise his voice to speak over the maelstrom of distortion around him. “I’ll listen for you…”

Sena watched as the portal collapsed around him trying to stand straighter and face him as he was pulled away. His eyes kept hers, but shifted slightly away from her just as the portal closed and the air was left starkly quiet. Debris fell to the floor and settled in what was left of the club. She closed her eyes and exhaled tilting her head up and letting the breath out slowly as her eyes viewed the empty air in front of her. A fist clenched slowly at her side. Her eyes narrowed and she looked back over her shoulder. “You really are a true believer.” She growled. Her disgust was palpable.

Stepping from a dark corridor to face her was Pierce. His image seemed to materialize from the shadows and though his face carried his normal stoicism, there was faintly, though minuscule at best, the hint of a smirk. He drew a small device from his pocket showing that it had been recording.

“I didn’t know invisibility was one of your abilities,” Sena said turning towards him.

“It’s not,” Pierce said.

“Then you found a way to copy other mutants’ powers.”

“In a way- Yes. Through technology.”

She watched him calmly type a few commands on the small device. What looked like a phone. The screen blinked and cascaded different colors with the movement of his fingers. The outline of his figure began to glow in a rusty, red aura. He tucked the small device back into his pocket and eased into a casual fighting stance. “I’ve waited a long time for this,” He said.

The air around her seemed to churn and roll slowly carrying what looked like small embers of neon pink and violet that bloomed and faded away. Her face was like stone as she regarded him, seeing that he fully believed he had the upper hand. “You should have run.”

[Pilatus]

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GM Post

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24 Hour Time Skip Warning

Prepare to skip to WEDNESDAY in game - Danger Room sims and various scheduled events - Any questions please let us know.

IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE NOT READY TO SKIP PLEASE SPEAK UP

[Almalthia]

Collaboration with @Almalthia, @Pilatus, @Silver Carrot & @Damo021

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Finally

“So yes,” Heidi continued. “Ayel. He talked in a bizarre, old-fashioned dramatic way, like a Shakespeare play or something similar. There was something very Quixote-esque about him. I wouldn’t call him harmless, but talking into people’s heads was all he had the ambition to do that night. Jason was there too.

Aya came back to her senses, and told us the name of the location where Uná was being taken; Nocturne. I happened to know where Nocturne was, because I’d seen it on google maps several days earlier, as one of many buildings in the area. So Ayel and I left Aya to Jason, and set off after Uná. Ayel could also....fly. Well, more like levitate. I’m not sure what other abilities he could have but once we got to Nocturne, we entered through the fire escape and split up. He searched up, I searched down. And I never saw him again.

He killed every henchman he came across. which was most of them, as he found Lex first. That was the name of the one who kidnapped Uná. I don’t know what they talked about. Uná herself might know. I was downstairs. I took down a few guards and rendered them unconscious but it soon became apparent that I was looking in the wrong place. So I went up. I found the bodies, and no Ayel. He’s still out there but I’m not sure if that’s something we need to worry about yet.

The sprinklers got set off shortly before I got to the room with Lex and Uná. Before I could find out too much, Uná turned invisible. I got closer, close enough to see the dance floor from the window.

There was a man on fire. And it wasn’t getting put out by the sprinklers. And they weren’t flailing. They were calm and deliberate. Just looking at them was the first time that crazy night I felt truly frightened.

Lex went to confront them. I picked up Uná and slowly started making my way to the entrance. Once we got there, we saw you two,” Heidi gestured to both Kaylee and Cleo. “And everyone else. And then we were stopped by what I’ve since deduced must have been an illusion of Lex. You probably know the rest. You were there.

So that was my perspective of the night’s events. Anything you need clarified or expanded upon?”

Cole rubbed both hands over his face slowly as they were scantly out of the car and it felt like she was calling a staff meeting. He did not like being called Mr. St John. Cleo had barely got a word in before Kaylee had turned on Heidi like a recording. He listened as she talked, stepping over to a concrete parking block and sitting down so he could watch the waves as the story was recounted. The rest of the evening was news to him. He hadn’t seen what happened in Avalon and only knew that it had basically been destroyed and that somehow Ashford managed to cover it up. He shook his head slowly as the story continued; his stoic expression hidden as he sat facing the beach in the dark.

“The man on fire, Heidi” He said finally, not turning his head. “Describe him, what did he look like?”

Heidi shuddered slightly as she recalled the memories. ”He was wearing leather, like a biker. He was dragging a large chain behind him on the floor. He wasn’t all burning. Just his hands and his head. He was wearing some kind of skull helmet, I think. I could have been a real skull. And...it wasn’t just him in fire. His footprints burned as did the trail of the chain, and the fire looked like it was spreading from them to the rest of the room.”

“How the hell do you remember what that guy even said?” Cleo interjected after Heidi had finished. “Oh… Forget I asked that.” Cleo paced a moment in thought, she couldn’t remember everything she was drunk. But some bits did begin to come back when she thought hard enough about it, she was fidgeting with her hands as the night was an uncomfortable one.

“Oh where to begin…. Okay so yeah I remember hearing a voice in my head just like Heidi amazingly remembered. Oh and Nik and Uná were dancing together. I think at some point I was on the dance floor before I saw Uná dancing with some really pale white guy, yeah he was pale white” She reassured herself.

“So yeah I was dancing the night away before there was this huge ass loud roar, all hell broke loose, to be honest I didn’t know what was going on, then there were gunshots, like lots of them, then... Then I saw it, this thing, a monster.” Cleo paused a moment in hesitation. She partially removed her leather jacket, gingerly pulling out her right arm from it’s sleeve, she then slight pulled down her arm sleeve and lifted up short sleeve of her shirt to reveal the small bandage covering where she got shot, she kept it secret from everyone while playing the lovely smile all day while still being in a bit of pain.

“I was shot when trying to save someone on the floor, I lost sight of Heidi, Uná and Aya..” A tear had begun to run down her face. “I saw a man die.” She cleared her throat before covering her arm back up. “Drake and Nik were still in the club and stood up to the monster, I grabbed a broken barstool leg and joined up with them to take it on. I know probably stupid thing to do. We attacked it and I managed to drive the barstool piece into its leg, I think I only made it angry, because all I can remember from the fight was being thrown by it and everything went black.”

“Next thing I remember, I woke up in a car, you were there, Miss Everose. We turned up at another club, it was darkened out if I remember correctly. Then that pale guy was there holding Uná, he wouldn’t let her go, I managed to sneak into a lit up side entrance using my abilities and ran from behind taking Uná out of his crasp, but I didn’t see Heidi and ended up crashing on the floor and failing to rescue them. I felt useless at that point, I couldn’t even save my friends”

Cleo Sighed. “After that I don’t know, It was all bloody confusing. After that, Uná started doing some weird things, Attacked Miss Everose and…I pleaded with her to stop, I couldn’t do anything.” A couple more tears ran down her face. “I am sorry miss, I couldn’t help you. So I just ran up to her and punched her as hard as I could in the face. It was the only thing I could think of doing. Everything seemed to stop, Uná was like standing in front of the place which was on fire and collapsed and not where I punched her, it’s all very confusing but she scares me, I have not felt right ever since”.

It was quite apparent that Heidi was taking this better than Cleo as Kaylee watched both girls go over the night. Heidi was detached and logical. Cleo was an emotional wreck. Sighing inwardly Kaylee came from around the car and put her arm around Cleo’s shoulder. "Hey hey. Shhh. We are here to help you all learn control. You and I both know that if Uná had been in control it wouldn't have happened. She looked terrified when the illusion broke last night. No one here, besides the staff, has full control of their powers."

Kaylee looked over at Cole. Heidi had just put everything out there that Cole said. She wasn't sure that he wanted it known what exactly he had done. At this point now the only reason she had to talk to Uná about the night in question was to take a pulse check on her mental health. Which brought her back around to Cleo. Looking back down at Cleo Kaylee went on. "Cleo we need to get you checked out by the nurse. I know things are difficult. I've been there. I was young at one point too. I'm here so you can hunt me down anytime. Now how do you think Uná feels, humm? Bet she's heartbroken and just scared if not more scared than you are." She looked back at Cole, worry and unsaid the weight of questions hung in the air.

Cole listened to Heidi’s recounting of the night, still just watching the waves as she spoke and listening to their rhythm over the sound of her voice. The sound of fear in her words prickled around a familiar feeling in his chest. He had never seen himself, but he had a sense for his appearance just in brief glimpses. When the time came, he was too focused to care. The sensation was far too overwhelming, like he was the final enactment of some law of nature, as natural as gravity. The wicked paid the price. There were no deals and no second chances. Judgment was final. He rubbed his chest uneasily as she described the man on fire.

He let a breath out slowly as Cleo gave her story, feeling his pulse calm a few beats per minute. The apparition the others encountered was not something he could explain, though he felt no remorse about not being there to help. His purpose was dictated firmly for that night and he had followed it through to completion. Everything else was an aside. He stood up and crossed his arms as Kaylee attempted to console Cleo. The ocean wind ruffled his hair as his thoughts churned. What he wanted to say, as the young girl sobbed, he wasn’t sure about. Once it was out there, he wouldn’t be able to take it back. Heidi was like a human recorder. Nothing would escape her memory and he wasn’t sure how they would react. He turned around and looked at them for a moment. “It was me that you saw, Heidi,” He said finally, knowing she could read lips. “I’m not a mutant, it’s... something else.” He paused for a moment and let a breath out slowly. “And neither is Una.”

Cleo leaned gently into Kaylee when she put her arm around her, her mind had been racing through so many thoughts that she really never stopped to take stock and assess. But it did feel relaxing at least when the teacher was consoling her. ”I know, it just sucks ya’ know. Maybe, but can you imagine me staying still for more than five minutes?, but thank you”. Cleo managed a faint smile to Kaylee for her caring efforts, Maybe she could spend some time with Aya.

Cleo began listening to Cole, he was still a man with few words and Cleo wondered why he was here with them, but from what Heidi said she saw it could be possible he was there, he seemed to confirm it and what he and apparently Uná was. “Wait what?” Was all she could come out with at the revelation, a concern and probably even more worry appeared on her features. Just what the hell was she? “I got a lot to think about.” She murmured quietly.

Heidi also had a lot to think about, but given her power, she had already processed this information by the time Cleo had stopped talking. Her brow was creased. It was hard to tell whether she was scared, angry or both, but whatever it was she was trying to restrain it. So, she wasn’t emotionless after all. She looked Cole in the eyes.

“I have a lot of questions, but...what happened to Lex? The guy with the white hair. What happened to him?”

Cole’s expression was unmoving at the mention of “Lex” by Heidi. There was something about the memory of any one of his marks that felt satisfying like he had fixed something that was wrong with the universe and in all honesty, just like he had decribed to Kaylee before, he wanted to tell them about a scorching inferno that erased the man from reality, but knew it would be better to spare them the grim details of Lex’s final moments. He could already tell that Kaylee was absolutely mortified that he had shared his opinion about Una in front of two students. “He didn’t survive the fire,” Cole said, answering Heidi. “When the building collapsed, he didn’t make it.”

[Pilatus]

GM POST

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Chapter 1: Academic Anomalies

-Morning to Evening Wednesday - Warm & Overcast - Dry Night Clearing-

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There is a strong sense of normalcy and organization about the Ashford Institute. Classes are in session and students are going about their day just like any other school. The campus is in an upbeat mood in spite of the events of the past weekend and the stigma of all those involved seems to have completely evaporated- almost as if it never happened. To those who were a party to the destruction of Club Avalon and likewise, Nocturne, the memories begin to feel distant, almost dreamlike as they have deteriorated in your memory. It's an odd sensation, particularly after such a vivid encounter, but one that seems to be reinforced by the general positivism of the other students and staff.

Oddly however, no one has seen or heard from Professor Pierce since Saturday and Dean Ashford has been away on a business trip as well leaving Kaylee Everose in charge of the facility in his stead. Most assume Pierce to be on a rare, though much-needed, vacation and Professor Tabitha North has been apportioned some of his duties in his absence. For those scheduled for the Danger Room simulations, Tabitha will be your proctor for the day's training. Though not as skilled in managing the DR as Professor Pierce, like all the staff, Tabby is qualified to operate all of the approved training scenarios.

The following students have Danger Room training @9am today:

Veronica Malcolm @Fallenreaper
Daniela Steele @Chev
Heidi Williams @Silver Carrot
Matthew Frakes @Brioko Jobe
Jasper Phoenix @ViolentViolet

The rest of you may have a busy class schedule ahead, a study day or are maybe skipping altogether?

Whatever the case for you as a player, please be clear when you post about what time of day your character(s) are using so we avoid conflicts in time and space with other players. Ex.: If you’re using the Danger Room at 9am, your characters won’t be interacting with others who are chatting at 5pm.

Let us know if you have questions.

Have fun!

[Almalthia]

Kaylee Everose

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<sub>Miss Everose

In my absence, I ask that you give the following exercise to Aya. This is an older technique and one with which I am sure you are familiar. I have consistently found it to be one of the most effective and trust you will administer it with the utmost diligence. Present these four sealed envelopes to Aya and ensure that she absolutely does not attempt to discover any of the information therein by withdrawing from her body to access the Astral Plane. It is critical that this step be followed exactly. To reinforce, please have her record her visions by hand. This will assist in keeping her grounded throughout the exercise. Allow her between 20-30 minutes for each envelope or until she feels that she no longer has anything more to record, then have her seal the results herself. To keep the integrity of the exercise, and as you know, it is imperative that you do not read the recorded contents of her vision or present yourself as anything other than a strictly impartial proctor for this work.

Leave the final contents in a sealed envelope on my desk at the completion of the exercise.

-Dr. Ashford</sub>

Kaylee sighed and read the flowing script admitting that it looked much more feminine than the man who wrote it. Once again Ashford had decided to leave her out of the loop. Kaylee had a vested interest in Aya’s development of her powers. She saw so much of herself in the girl. She wanted to help but not in a way that would hinder or inhibit Aya’s progress.

Checking on Aya so Kaylee could assure herself that Aya was alright. The young girl had seemed to heal well enough but Kaylee wanted to speak with her before the test. Kaylee stood and collected the black envelopes with silver lettering clearly marked one through four in Roman numerals. Fingerings the envelopes Kaylee sighed and walked out of her office.

Arrowing to the class that Aya was going to be in. Kaylee found herself wondering if Aya would be happy or worried that Kaylee was pulling her out of class to test her powers. She was hoping for the former rather than the latter.

Arriving at the class Kaylee knocked on the door.
_@c3p-0h

[c3p-0h]

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@almalthia — AP Calculus AB Class - 8:08 AM

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Aya didn’t know whose idea it was to schedule AP Calculus at 8 o’clock in the morning, but she was fairly certain that person deserved to be fired.

She sat in her assigned seat, rubbing at her eyes as she flipped open her notebook. She hadn’t been sleeping much this past week. Between worrying about Uná and the mysterious man, her school work, her nightmares... but at the same time, the whole ordeal seemed to be growing more and more distant, like a faded picture that Aya might be able to just tuck away in a shoebox and hide under her bed. It didn’t fit into her mundane life, and so was an outlier to be written off.

It was disorienting. Wasn’t she traumatized? Did she want to be? Was she supposed to throw it all to the side and move on, or was that just denial dressing itself up as maturity? A small part of her coaxed, put it away. Let it rest and be forgotten, and it won’t be your responsibility. Ashford is handling it. You can be normal, if you only keep your head down and your mutation in check.

Her power still whispered to her. It still made her skin prickle, like a finger trailing its way up her spine. Something was wrong, something between this world and her world (and the world after that, as she was slowly coming to terms with) was out of sync, overlapping, tearing, phasing in and out of existence. But as her fear and memories muted themselves, and the events of that night replayed in her mind, they became less reality and more a story Aya told herself. Now, she couldn’t tell if that uneasiness she felt was her power actually alerting her, or the result of her own frantic mind.

When she lay awake in her bed at night, looking up at the yellow glow of stars on the ceiling and listening to the slow rhythm of Uná’s breathing, she pulled out her phone and typed in foreign words that she didn’t want to know. Sluagh. Tuatha da Danaan. The things she learned didn’t help her sleep.

There was a knock on the classroom door. Aya jumped in her seat. The students all turned their attention away from Professor Santos (and were thankful for the excuse). With a sigh, he walked to the door and opened it. Aya’s eyebrows drew together, hair prickling at the back of her neck.

It was Professor Everose.

[Almalthia]

Kaylee Everose

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Kaylee nodded to Professor Santos. "Forgive the interruption Professor Santos but I will need Ms Germain for the remainder of your class. If you'll forgive me for the short notice. You're not doing a test today are you? She noticed out of the corner of her eye the class' interest, in a horrified fashion, zeroed in on Professor Santos.

"No. Nothing like that. I'll email you a copy of the lecture and any reading materials we go over so that Ms Germain doesn't miss anything."

"Brilliant. Ms Germain if you'd be so kind as to follow me." The bright white wide legged slacks swished as Kaylee turned as Aya joined her. Professionally Kaylee had a very Katherine Hepburn style. High waisted slacks, black button down short sleeved blouse, paired with honest to goodness black and white saddle Oxfords with just a bit of a heel. The click of her heel wasn't as jarring as if she had been wearing heels.

Kaylee led them back to her office. Turning back to Aya she smiled warmly. "Just so you know you haven't done anything wrong. You expressed an interest in working with your abilities. I’m going to give you four envelopes. These four envelopes contain something you may or may not be able to see. Hopefully you will but if not don't worry. I will be monitoring you so if something happens I can pull you back. However you must record everything you witness while you're using your ability on this test. There is no real wrong or right answer."

Kaylee handed over the four black envelopes and walked over to her desk. She picked up a 70 page college ruled journal and a ball point gel pen. "You can begin once ready. I have tea, coffee, fruit whatever you like."

Envelope I

Coleman Lee St. John - There is a date and a time below the name that corresponds to Ashford’s first sense of Cole’s arrival in the current timeline.

Envelope II

Adam Pierce - Likewise there is a date and a time below the name that corresponds with Pierce’s encounter with Sena on Saturday night.

Envelope III

Blank - This envelope is a control. There is nothing inside but a blank sheet of paper.

Envelope IV

Avalon - There is nothing else on the page other than this one word.

[KatKook]

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"Can we not?"

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_{7:53 - Her room}

Jett was still in her room, she went to bed a little later and her alarm that had snoozed multiple times was blaring like it was nothing but soon her eyes shot open and she pushed herself off the bed and onto her feet as soon as the nightmare hit her. She must have pushed herself with the wind before she was now quite the distance away from where she was sleeping in. She hated waking up to that, and with how frequent it happens she thought she would get used to it by now, she has not. She now started to control her breathing, her eyes darted across to room to see if she really was in no immediate danger. She sighed and went over to that cracked phone and tapped on it multiple times to snooze it. She took the phone and plugged it in the Frankenstein's monster looking stereo system she had made from dumpster diving. As soon as she plugged it in, she just let the shuffle button do its think and landed right on Frat Mouse - Grant Wasserstien. She brushed her hair back and looked at the mirror to see the zombie face that was slathered all over her face, that classic morning face from Cass that she really never grew out of.

It was just an average getting ready session where she was hurrying since getting scolded for being late was not exactly what she needed in the morning, though looking at the time, it looked to be inevitable. She dressed simple, black undershirt, dark blue hoodie, black pants, and white sneakers. She then grabbed her phone and shoved it in her pocket, as she was leaving her room, she made sure to get that one small, drooping braid on the side done before she made it to class. As soon as she was done braiding, she knew she did not exactly have a lot of time to dawdle so she pushed herself forward with her mutation, dashing towards down the halls. Upon missing the door, she slid across the floor and made her way back to the room. She looked at the sign and blinked to make sure this was the right place.

"About to get yelled at... Yay..." She said in an annoyed tone, as soon as she went to reach for the door, the door swung open to see professor Everose and some girl leave. Was she in trouble? Nice, Jett was a little glad to not be the only one getting yelled at today. She looked at Professor Santos and shrugged at him, "Yeah, late again, sorry." With that she went over to her seat, the centre row and by the door.

Time to start the day I guess.

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Interactions:

[ViolentViolet]

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Danger Room

9:00 AM

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The following days were fairly uneventful for the technopath. The morning after there had been some gathering she didn’t care to remember and a bunch of students whose faces she’d catalogued away in her list of ‘maybe find a use for this’. As far as she was concerned, she had no real reason to interact with any of them. Half were trouble and the other half were uncontrollable messes pretended to be functional. She at least was a fully functional technopath, even if she had no clear direction she wanted to go. As of yet her only ambition was growing stronger and remaining off the government's radar, along with mild amusements that fell within the traits she knew belonged previously to her personality.

On the second day since the incident, Jasper was alone again. Heidi was sleeping and the technopath needed fresh air. In the earliest hours of the morning she had stood in the middle of the field with her eyes on the stars. Her reach wasn’t yet far enough to find a satellite without connection to their monitor systems but one day she would get there. One day she would be able to hold that power and that influence to achieve whatever it was she wanted. There was something but she hadn’t a clue what it was. Purposeless programming. In the middle of her musings she’d met a girl from the incident. The blonde was also out and about for one reason or another - she never asked - and the conversation they shared was short. Much of their time was spent simply watching the stars. Something though, was vaguely familiar and had Jasper questioning just who Cleo looked like. It was an old memory, one from far before her awakening, and was more difficult to access. She spent the remainder of time before her Danger Room session combing through every face she’d ever seen with a fine-tooth comb to find where she knew her face.

Tuesday afternoon Jasper received a message calling her out to the Danger Room the following morning. It wasn’t an unexpected occurrence, though one that didn’t happen often. She was one of the kids no one expected to be a fighter, and rely almost entirely on her mutations. Petite; willowy with long legs. She was smaller than most of the fighters around, and her mutations were nearly entirely recon and support based. Her biggest combat applications were robots and electric shocks. Unfortunate.

Wednesday morning Jasper dressed in a pair of knee length shorts and an athletic long sleeve. The grey fabric was lighter than her typical black and band T’s. The sleeves that wrapped around her arms were loose enough for good movement but tight enough not to get in the way. She’d bought enough of them to last at least the semester if things got rough. She disliked having to show skin, which was likely the reason why she never participated in girlish activities. Her peers seemed to enjoy the normalcy of fashion, boys and makeup. Jasper would likely never understand but the science behind it made sense. Emotions were complicated, and often needed to be placated. The technopath left once she was dressed, short socks in sneakers and nothing apart from a cellphone on her. She even left her favourite leather jacket behind in her room. It wouldn’t be long before she arrived, just barely on time to see who else had been called down along with her.

[Fallenreaper]

ᴠᴇʀᴏɴɪᴄᴀ "ʀᴏɴɴɪᴇ" ᴍᴀʟᴄᴏʟᴍ

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_{7:45 am | Ronnie's Room}

Saturday came then went in the blink of an eye. A sourness from that day lingered on her mind, but she didn't dwell on it. It was best forgotten in her opinion.

Within the following days, Ronnie's life fell into a dull routine. One that focused on school work and socialization. She hated being the new kid as it made dominating the social structure difficult. At this point, all she could do was bide her time and research the key players. She kept her notes on her laptop which she hid in her room. Only Oriana had a clue about its location, but the girl wasn't stupid enough to steal it.

The thought of her roommate caused Ronnie's lips to curl up into a smile. Out of everyone she met in the danger room, she vibed with Oriana the best. The girl took her attitude with surprising ease. She respected that, but it didn't make them friends.

Not yet.

She rose from her bed then strolled to her dresser drawers. Her hand snatched a graphic tee and a pair of gray cameo shorts. With a loud thump, she snapped the drawer shut then began to put on her outfit. On the front of her tee, the words spelled out her mood clearly in black lettering. I'd like to confirm that I do not care.

A bold statement for the world without saying it out loud. She bunched the loose material's ends into her waistband. Ronnie paused at the table mirror. She used hair ties to band her curls together, wet them down then fluffed them out. For a moment, she considered the idea of letting her hair grow out but discarded it. A higher maintenance hair routine wasn't appealing to her. Not when she looked perfect without it.

Ronnie collected her schedule as she walked toward the door. She paused long enough to collect her purse and her tote, her eyes fixed to her classes today.

First up, AP Calculus. Whatever sadistic teacher scheduled this, appeared to enjoy their mornings a little too well.

Ronnie thanked her foresight as she beelined for the cafeteria for some caffeine. Her own personal aid for the mental tasks ahead.

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_{8:00-8:50 am | AP Calculus}

Ronnie softly thumped her pencil end against the paper in a dull, rhythmic pattern. She listened to Professor Santos with more attention than she appeared to have. Not to say it wasn't a challenge. While she excelled at mathematics, she caught on quickly and had to wait for others to get on the same page.

A knock at the door caused everything to cease. In the seat next to her, Aya jumped. Ronnie's eyes immediately bounced to her direction. Before she could mouth 'what's your problem?', she caught Professor Everose request Aya.

As the girl got up, Ronnie watched them leave. Any gossip faded when another student entered the classroom shortly after. All eyes shifted to the new student. Ronnie said nothing as Professor Santos handled the new arrival and class once more resumed. This time, she started to scribble the notes into her notebook. Most of the time there, she didn't say much. When class ended, she collected her things then walked out. She didn’t have time to waste for chit-chat at this point.

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_{8:57-9:00 am | Danger Room}

Ronnie impatient stomach caused her to pause at the first snack machine she spotted. She eyed the green tea drink's code then pressed it into the pad. After a short beep, the metal spiral swiveled and the bottle thumped into the bottom. Her hand reached into the take out port and snagged it. As she continued her walk to the Danger Room, she twisted the cap open for a quick gulp. It pacified her stomach for now.

She adjusted her tote across her shoulder before she headed into the room. It appeared empty. Her eyes shifted across the familiar and bizarre wall design. Ronnie immediately recalled the scene that happened and she pulled her phone out. A quick check told her that she was three minutes early.

This suited her fine.

Wasting no time, she strolled to the face the door and lowered to the floor. She curled her legs to the side while she got comfortable. Her eyes glued to her phone while she skimmed through her social media.

She spotted her clique's social pages had new pictures. Images of field trips, new achievements, and more. A mixture of pain and pride swelled in her, but she didn't let it show. She flipped off the phone then placed it in her purse when she heard someone enter.

Her eyes looked up to spot taser girl -the moniker stolen from crazy Cleo- come in. Ronnie thanked her luck it hadn't been the redhead witch or her friend. As long as neither of them showed up, the day would remain good.

[Brioko Jobe]

Mathew Frakes

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Location: Ashford Institute Grounds

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Interactions & Mentions: Self,Kayllee,Finn

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Sunday

Matt woke feeling unsure about the day. He had made a friend in Daniela the night before, although he was still unsure about others in the school and how they would receive him. He decided he would worry about that later. For now, he would explore the campus and get acquainted with where his classes will be. Grabbing the school map and his schedule hit set out for lunch.

After lunch, Matt went exploring and plotting out where his classes would be before adventuring outside to take in the grounds and other buildings. Stepping outside he walked around the outer edge; avoiding the cottage, he picked up a stick that seemed straight and began swinging it around imagining that he was fighting Orcs and Goblins from books. Many bushes died to his would be blade. His imagination temporarily sated, he continued on to the training center and tried his hand against some of the weights. Disappointed at his lack of physical prowess he decided to head back to his room and paint some of the miniatures he had brought with him.

Monday

Matt hurried from class to class arriving at each on early and realising he had a lot of catching up to do. In most of his classes he managed to borrow notes to copy later. Then he got to his last class of the day, History. As he walked in Professor Finn seemed preoccupied with something on his desk, but to Matt it was as if he had just walked into a world of forbidden treasures. Old texts line the walls and few items lay scattered about the room. The whole room smelled of history. Matt's eyes settled on what appeared to be an authentic Conquistador helmet displayed on the far side of the room. Matt allowed himself to get caught up in the helmet and didn’t even notice when the rest of the class came in or, more importantly, the old gentleman standing behind him.

“Young man class has started and while I appreciate your apparent enthusiasm it may be best for you to take your seat.” Professor Finn as he leaned in with a smile.

Matt jumped, startled and with murmured apologies scurried to his seat.

The Professor started to turn and stopped looking back at the morion. Obviously distracted from his planned course study. He then took the entirety of the class giving a mixed dissertation on the specific history of the helm and its significance to the Spaniards throughout history.

As the bell rang Professor Finn was back at his desk looking through papers while still lecturing the class. Picking up a folder he released the rest of the students and asked Matt to stay behind. He waited until the last student left and closed the door.

“Sorry for the ominous tone but what we need to discuss is none of their business.” The Professor stated picking up on Matt’s nervousness. “But first, you seem to really enjoy history?” A seemingly never ceasing yet disarming smile beamed across his face.

Matt had been nervous. He felt as though he was in trouble for holding up the class but Finn's smile put all that to rest. “History is a wonderful story always with two ways to tell it. At least that's what my dad always told me and I can’t say he was wrong. For example your Morion over there; I suspect you ran out of time or you would have gone into its significance with the American Tribes after the Spaniards. The faint remnants of paint along the edges say it’s history went on into the 17th century at least.” Matt’s voices got more and more excited as he spoke and he seemed proud to add the last part even if he was just showing off. In truth. Matt knew little of that time except that it had happened.

“Yes yes of course there was more to the stories very astute of you to pick up on that. Oh I think we will get along fine. Now for the part the other students didn’t need to hear. I have your file and although my time is limited I need to get an idea of where you are in your powers….”

“Abilities.” Matt interrupted and received a quizzical look from Finn. Matt went on “Calling them powers implies strength over others. Abilities is more honest in that it merely states I can do something. It’s how I was raised.” His words were direct yet apologetic at the same time.

“Don’t lose what respect you have gained but fine abilities then.” Finn said almost dismissively not caring one way or the other. “Your file states I should be able to see what you do so if you care to show me we won’t be disturbed.” The mustache seemed to droop giving Finn’s face an intensity as if he were studying Matt.

Matt removed a glove and touched the nameplate on Finn’s desk. The room filled with images as Matt stood rigid, his eyes could move and he could talk but he seemed as if frozen in one place. He stopped the images and let events play out. You could hear every word spoken. Finn recognized the moment as one of his earlier classes.

“Is that enough sir?” Matt asked

Finn’s face lit up in wonderment everything was in place and he could hear every word. “Audio as well? Show me your limits. Is that really how I sound.”

“I can only go back about a week and it takes some time to get there and yes that is how you sound.” Matt responded as once again the images flashed by in reverse.

“Do you have to...well let’s say rewind or can you go straight there?” Finn’s question was direct and utilitarian as he observed.

“It seems to work like an old VCR.” The images flashed faster.

“Ok well I have seen enough. Can you move around while doing this?” Finn asked, closing his eyes to the dizzying visions.

Matt let it drop and put his glove back on. “No, I seemed to be almost locked in place when I do this, but it is different with people. With people there is no control at least not on my part. It seems to be drawn to a moment of intense emotion of whoever I touch. Both of us are physically locked, so to say, but it’s hard to explain. It’s like I can imagine myself walking about; restricted by the confines of the image, yet that doesn’t appear in the projection.”

Finn went straight to the phone on his desk. “Hold on Matt I may know someone who can understand that better.” Without waiting for a response Finn called Professor Everose. “Sorry to bother you but I could use your assistance in my classroom if you have the time?”

Picking up the phone on the second ring Kaylee answered. "Professor Everose." Upon hearing Professor Finn’s voice she looked at the clock then down at her planner. She had some time actually. "Why hello Finn. Yes I do have some free time. May I have the reason, or am I looking at a non emergency?"

Kaylee prayed that it was a non emergency. She could handle an emergency but it would set her day back more than she was willing to admit. She paused so that Finn could update her.

Finn chuckled, his mustache seeming to bristle just the slightest. “No. No not an emergency. Seriously now would I have asked if you had the time if it were an emergency? No, I just need some advice on a new student I am working with. Seems he has some interesting issues.”

Kaylee smiled. "I don't suppose you remember that one incident, not too long ago, with Isaac Miller when you asked much the same question in the same tone. When I got there the boy was unconscious holding an artifact that was…" Kaylee paused to find the right word and also to jog Finn’s memory.

Finn interrupted Kaylee, “That was completely different, he was fine when I called. Want to keep interrogating me or help out before I mess up another one?”

Matt’s eyes grew big as saucers, “Uh sir….is this safe?”

“It’s fine. You’ll be fine.” Finn exclaimed. Then into the phone. “We are scaring the kid….you coming Kaylee?”

Kaylee pinched the bridge of her nose. She could feel a stress headache coming on. "No. I mean yes I'll be right there. Heaven forbid you 'mess up another one'. I don't think our insurance could handle that fiasco. We barely handled it the first time. Promise me you won't go all Merlin, from Sword in the Stone on this one."

“Yes. Yes no Merlin stuff here see you soon and thanks.” Finn hung up the phone “She should be here soon. So tell me what you can figure out about the morian while we wait.”

They talked more on obscure facts of the Spanish helmet while they waited.

To say that Kaylee was uncomfortable with the instant brush off by Finn was the understatement of the century. Attempting not to panic she quickly forwarded her office calls to her cell. She snatched her cellphone up and headed at a steady clip to Finn’s classroom. Her chocolate brown saddle Oxfords clicking out a sharp rhythm in time to the swish of her high waisted slacks that were a taupe color pinstriped with gold. Her blouse was a chocolate color with cream color cuffs and a Peter Pan collar.

She rounded the corner and opened the door to find them in discussion about a helmet. Of all things a helmet. She rolled her eyes and watched the duo covertly letting the door close quietly behind her.

As Kaylee came in the two were laughing and seemed to be in some debate over the significance of a helmet in tribal culture. After what seemed an eternity to anyone else, although it was only about 20 seconds Finn noticed Kaylee. “Ah, Professor Everose meet Mathew Frakes he has some rather unique “abilities’ which may be beyond my scope” There was an obvious emphasis on the word abilities as he spoke and Finn eyes rolled as he said it.

Matt stood as he was introduced. He appeared excited and nervous as if he wasn’t quite sure what was going on. He held out a gloved hand. “Nice to meet you. Professor Finn has told me nothing about you.” Matt put on one of his fake smiles he used when trying to hide his nerves. It never worked but it kind of made him feel better.

Kaylee released the hold she had on her abilities and looked from Matt to Finn. They both had an orange aura, which meant that their abilities were similar. Matt’s aura flickered like a candle. His was also more on the yellow end, whereas Finn’s was a deeper orange red. "So not entirely clairvoyant then? He seems more toward the psychic colors. But your powers seem to be more alike than either of you realize. Compatible. You are worried about something else Finn. Out with it. Matt has a right to know."

She didn't take Matt’s hand. Taking a clairvoyant's hand could potentially harm either you or the clairvoyant. Or in some cases both. "My apologies Matt, not to seem rude but I'm sure you'd like to keep contact to a minimum until you have a better hold on your powers." She smiled reassuringly at Matt.

Finn leaned back in his chair and smiled This should be fun. He thought though what said was, “Matt go ahead and tell her what happens when you touch someone.” Turning to Kaylee “He can explain it better than I can but I can tell you with objects he not only sees the stories he projects them somehow. It’s that he goes all rigid that bothers me.” There was only the slightest bit of amusement in his voice.

Matt took a deep breath. A look crossed his face as if not sure what or how to say what he wanted. He had taken on an uneasy look every time Kaylee had said powers but he had been raised to never interrupt a woman. He rubbed his gloved hands together nervously. “Well ma'am I explained this to Professor Finn here but here goes. If you don’t mind I prefer to call them abilities rather than powers. Power is about strength and abilities just seems more honest. As far as contact goes my abilities require direct skin contact, thus the gloves. I haven’t been around people other than my parents since this started. My Dad has similar abilities but he can’t project and he can turn his off." he went on to describe his abilities exactly as he had with Finn as well as what they had discussed when Finn was testing him.

Kaylee shot a glare at Finn when Matt mentioned that he had explained this all prior to her walking in. She then afforded Matt her full attention. She nodded as he explained his beliefs and powers or as he liked to call them abilities. "Fascinating. Now about the difference between the two words. Powers verses abilities. Matt, while I truly think your rational has merit, I hope you realize that while we all have the ability to change the world, few have the power to actually do it. So both are truly required to make the change. I prefer to think that we are an engine of that change allowing you to grow in both abilities and the power to use them correctly. Or if you'd rather, grow your powers and teach you the ability to use them correctly."

Kaylee looked over at Finn. "I said no Merlin stuff." She shook her head then looked back at Matt. "So Matt, why are you here? What do you wish to accomplish? Control? Growth? Both? You don't seem afraid of your pow-abilities much like other students here."

Finn gave a huff producing a flourish of his mustache but said nothing just looking at Matt.

Matt stood up a little straighter, if obviously forced, in an effort to seem more confident. “If you think I am not afraid of my abilities then you have misread me. I am terrified to touch anyone, but to answer your question regarding what I wish to accomplish. No more than anyone should, what I was raised to do. I wish to live my life to the best of my ability no matter what that means. No matter what I must learn. This I believe is how we gain control, discover new uses , and yes determine how we will respond to the world. So if that means asking for help then I am asking. I can’t go through life not touching other people and I sure can’t go around touching random people in an effort to learn control. I need a safe way to do this. Can you help me?”

Nodding Kaylee walked over to a desk and sat down in one of the chairs as Matt spoke. When he was finished she stood. "No no Matt. I have known many people afraid of their abilities, with good reason. However what you're describing is the fear of your loss of control. That we can help you with. Everyone fears the loss of control, or they should. Those who don't chase the feeling and don't last long. If you truly feared your abilities you wouldn't be here. But you knew that already didn't you? So control. Comes with time but like I said we can help there. Oh and you'll be taking Philosophy from here on out. You'd make a great addition to my class."

Just like that it was decided. Matt was already behind in most of his subjects and now he would have to add Philosophy. He had planned on taking eventually just not yet. The rest of the day was filled with note copying and homework.

Tuesday

Between class time and studying Matt barely had time for much else. The only thing of note was being notified that he was excused from class on Wednesday and that, instead, he should report to the Danger Room at 9am instead. No end time was given although he had heard this happened from time to time.

While taking a break from homework to settle his mind and paint some miniatures, Matt realised he was settling in. There was little to no mention of the drama he had initially witnessed when he arrived. Although, to be honest, other than talking with Daniela, that first night, everyone he initially met was older than him and at least grade ahead of him. He felt safe here and hoped that the promised lessons in control would start soon.

Wednesday Morning (A Real Test)

7:00 am - 8:58 am

Matt awoke early, showered, and got dressed. A hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants. He taped the cuffs of the sweatshirt to his gloves so they would not ride up on his arms and put on high topped sneakers. Whatever this Danger Room thing was about, he was prepared for a workout. A light breakfast followed a light jog once around the track before proceeding to the TC.

8:58 am - 9:00 am

He stood at the entrance to the danger looking in, before deciding to wait just outside until the last possible second. The frosty one and the loud one were already in there and he did not want to deal with them just yet. Despite telling himself that he wouldn’t let first impressions govern his opinions of others; in truth one he was afraid of and the other had seemed pouty. He did not quite remember what all that was about but personal impressions seemed to last longer than there reasons. He hoped those first impressions were wrong but he wasn’t going to chance it.

[c3p-0h]

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@almalthia — Professor Kaylee Everose's Office - 8:20 AM

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Part I

Aya stared at Professor Everose, confusion clear on her face, as the older woman explained the 'test'. She was supposed to... what? Her eyes flicked down to the small black envelopes, roman numerals drawn on them like calligraphy. She tried to wrap her mind around exactly what was being asked of her. After requesting a bit more clarification, Aya was even more lost than she was before.

She was supposed to just... sit with closed envelopes, not go to the Astral Plane, and what, have visions like some sort of oracle? Aya didn't fully understand her powers yet (and didn't think she wanted to) but she was fairly certain that wasn't how they worked. She only left her body to venture to other places, she didn't have visions, or...

But then that man's face flashed in her mind, smiling and surrounded by smoke. She'd dreamt of him. And then the next day he'd appeared on campus, standing with Dean Ashford, his eyes glued to Uná. A chill ran up Aya's spine at the memory.

She looked up to Professor Everose, still hesitant. She'd always been so kind to Aya - warm. Ever since that first day, when Aya had come stumbling into this very office, all apologies and hurried excuses, saying she wanted to withdraw from the school before even giving it a chance. Professor Everose was the reason she'd stayed. Aya didn't know if that had been a good or bad choice. Staying - belonging - felt dangerous.

But Aya hadn't felt like she belonged anywhere in a long time. She looked at Professor Everose's soft green eyes. She smelled the faint, sweet waft of her perfume. She thought of the small, carved butterfly on her bedside table, a gift given from Charles Xavier, to Professor Everose, and finally to her.

Aya wanted to belong.

She pressed her lips together and gave a small, meek nod. Aya didn't know why she was being given this test, or what the professor hoped to glean from it, but she would try. She reached forward to pick up the first envelope. It was heavier than expected - the black paper was thick, clearly of high quality. She looked at it, pinched between her fingers. With her other hand she grabbed the pen and clicked it open. Aya gave one last, uncertain look up at Professor Everose, before focusing again on the envelope. Then she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Aya grew more and more exasperated as the minutes ticked by. She didn't know what she was supposed to do or how she was supposed to do it, she didn't know what was being expected of her, and she didn't know if she was a massive failure yet, or if it would take another 20 minutes for that to be decided. Aya didn't know how long she'd been staring at the little envelope in her lap. The plush chair that should've been comfortable was starting to feel stiff and misshaped, and her fingers felt stiff from holding the pen. With a sigh she dropped it, and listened to the pen clatter softly against the paper of the notebook.

Holding the envelope in her lap, she stared down at it. The innocuous little thing was slowly turning into a source of frustration. Aya bit her lip. Then she let out a slow, steadying breath, and closed her eyes. Memories of her childhood flowed back to her of afternoons spent with her mother, incense thick in her lungs. The strands of a tatami mat would dig into the flesh of her shins as she fought to keep her eyes closed and her back straight. Aya's mother had been insistent on meditation - the need to clear the mind and still the body.

Something petty in Aya rose its head. Even if this somehow worked, she didn't want to give her mother the satisfaction.

Professor Everose was still sitting across from her, as patient as ever.

Aya's fingers tightened on the envelope. Then she closed her eyes, forcing her muscles to relax. She let in a slow breath, and pushed it out again through her mouth.

It was shocking how easy it was to slip back into meditation, even after all these years. Aya let the sensations of the world wash over her - the soft tick, tick, tick of the clock along the far wall, the smell of books and flowers and Professor Everose's perfume, the feel of the chair leather supporting her legs and back, the soft cotton of her top brushing against her skin, the weight of her hair falling against her shoulder blades, the stiff paper in her hands, with its rivets and folds.

Aya let go of worrying about the time. The second hand of the clock sounded its path around the center, each beat in time with her heart.

Another slow, deep breath in.

Then out.

The world around Aya stopped.

Part II

Her eyes shot open. Sensations snapped into focus again, sight and sound and touch all rushing back to her. Professor Everose was still sitting across from her, in full color. She was still on the Material Plane. She looked back down at the envelope again.

Had... had that been it? Whatever she was supposed to do or feel or see...

Excitement flowed through her, that maybe she was onto something. Eager to complete whatever task Professor Everose had set before her, Aya breathed in again and closed her eyes.

This time when she found that vast nothingness she stayed with it. It was like all of reality had been sucked out of the room with a vacuum. She could still feel and hear the world around her, she realized. But as Aya sat with the nothingness, it was like being met with a void - like suddenly being without a sensation that she didn't know she had.

The longer Aya sat with it, the more the nothingness felt solid. Like if she were to push against it, it would push back at her. Aya tilted her head in thought. The seconds ticked by into minutes.

She's not sure when it appeared, but then within the vast nothing, there was something. It was a tiny pinprick, like a black star in a white midnight sky, or the sound of a TV turned to the lowest possible volume. Aya focused on it. She pulled it closer (or moved herself towards it, she wasn't sure) and felt a building sense of triumph as it grew. Eyes still closed, Aya reached forward to blindly grab the pen, placing the point against the notebook.

Vast, solid whiteness, like thick mist.

The something grew more and more distinct. It was familiar, she realized. It was the feeling of walking into someone's bedroom, and realizing that you can recognize their smell. But Aya couldn't place where she knew this from. Her eyebrows pulled together as she concentrated more. A figure was taking shape in the mist. It was still hazy, the edges indistinct, but it was a person. That much at least Aya could tell. Her mind reached for it, trying to will it into clarity. Then the figure seemed to shift in size and shape, growing slightly smaller. The smell of cigarettes mixed with vanilla and mint came to her, filling her with warmth - love. But in the same breath, sadness bloomed in her chest like a flower.

Soft hands with long, delicate fingers, brushed against Aya's cheek, and suddenly she wanted to cry.

I miss you. The thought wasn't hers. She wrote again in the notebook below her previous words.

A woman. Love. Loss.

Children's laughter chimed like a bell, distant through the haze. That feeling of love increased. There was joy. Pride. But there was that same sense of loss, too. It intensified, mixing with shame, sharp as a knife. She'd left them.

A family. Young children left behind.

Why had she left? Her eyebrows pulled together as Aya tried to wade through the mist. Her family grew further and further away. Another sound started echoing through her mind: the low, quick thrum of a motorcycle. It sped at her, the engine rising in pitch, and Aya felt her adrenaline spike. Dread filled her in anticipation.

The inevitable crash seemed to rock Aya’s entire being, and all she knew was the screech of metal against asphalt. Pain exploded in Aya’s body – she gasped, her eyes snapping open. She couldn’t breathe. She felt raw flesh down her arm and the side of her body, nerves blistering in the open air. She heard the snap of bones as pain shot through her fingers, arm, torso, leg. Her vision spotted white as tears sprang to her eyes.

A motorcycle crash.

The letters were shaky, the pen tip digging too deep on the paper. The pain dulled, suddenly. Everything seemed far away again… misty. And then…

Fire.

Suddenly she wasn’t in Professor Everose’s office anymore – she was in the Astral Plane, held aloft by one arm, the Sluagh’s claw plunging deep into her soul.

It was like fire -- like poison consuming her from the inside out, ripping her apart, and stitching her together. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. Her very marrow was magma, splintering her bones apart and flash boiling her blood. It all came from the monster's claws in her body, the intrusion – the monster suddenly shifted, reforming itself.

It burned like fire spread through her in her body – she was fire, she was burning, she was rage, she was vengeful hate –

The pen dropped from Aya’s hand. Her whole body was shaking, lips parted, voice caught in her throat. Tears sprang to her eyes as emotions overwhelmed her. Pain and fear and an overwhelming, inhuman anger filled her to the brim. It was too much. She couldn't tell which emotions were hers, but she couldn't handle them. She needed to escape, to get away from the Sluagh and the fire.

Aya latched onto the first thought that came to her - the family. She retreated to the woman and children, their love like a soothing balm.

But it was different. Something had changed.

Aya was a young woman, planning a funeral. It had been just last year - the minutia of sending out invitations and choosing a casket and picking flowers overwhelmed her. Papa loved red ginger, she thought to herself. No casket. He wanted to be cremated.

But there wasn't even a body after the accident - there'd be no casket, no cremation, just an engraved headstone over an empty plot. How was she supposed to do this, keep her head above water, raise three children without him, be without him -

Papa is gone he's gone he's gone he's gone -

Aya was a child again and her mama was walking out the door, and she was so angry. What kind of parent left their family behind? How could she? How could her daddy just leave like that? Her brothers wouldn't stop crying, and Mommy had an empty, sad look in her eyes that never went away, and she had to be the man of the house because Daddy died and she hated him for it, she hated her, Mama left and Papa died, and Aya was alone -

The funeral was small. She looked up at the adults she'd never met before wearing black suits and uniforms. At the front of the chapel was a table with Daddy's picture, surrounded by bouquets of white roses. Aya was made to stand beside it, carrying her baby brother as Mommy stood beside her and thanked strangers for taking the time to come. Aya looked over shoulder to look at the photo: a young man in uniform, with blond hair and a dour expression. Familiar, mismatched eyes stared back at her.

Aya's hands clapped tight over her mouth as she held back a cry. Her eyes squeezed shut, tears trailing down her face. Sorrow was a violent thing that wracked her body. Aya shook her head as if she could deny it entry. It was too much grief for a single body, too many memories, and losses, and deaths, and Aya couldn’t tell which were hers anymore as they faded into each other.

"I can't, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I can't, I'm sorry -" The words repeated over and over again as Aya fought to control her weeping.

[Chev]

Daniela Steele
Wednesday 8:00am- 8:53am
Ashford Institute for the Gifted
Interactions: Self
Mentions: @Brioko Jobe

Daniela Steele was feeling better the she had in a very long time. A few consistent hot meals and a safe place to sleep without fear of being picked up by the police for something that had been beyond her control had done wonders for her mental state in the short term. Not to mention making a friend in Matt. He seemed like a good kid. The long term mental state would be a different story but that wasn't what she was focusing on today. The past few days she had been spending her time learning as much about the institute as possible, from the courses offered to the teachers to her fellow students. She had learned quite a bit about the courses offered but had learned very little about the majority of the teachers and the other students.

Today she was going to focus on the challenge ahead of her.

The Danger room

She had heard other students talk about it but she still wasn't exactly sure what going into it would entail. Something dangerous certainly, hence the name but she wished she knew exactly what she was getting into. Truth be told, she had been quite nervous since she had heard that she was going to be going in. She had already made the decision that before she would walk in, She would square her shoulders and do her best to gather her courage.

She still had about an hour to go. She had woken up earlier then usual in the morning and had taken a shower, gone downstairs around an hour earlier and grabbed a light breakfast before taking a little bit of time to try and center herself out on the grounds. She had found herself relaxing near the track with her eyes closed and taking slow consistent deep breaths. Over the past few days, she had found herself having slightly better control over her powers now that her mind wasn't in a constant state of fear and the idea of having a place where she might actually belong was also having a positive effect as well. She slowly took a final deep breath rose to her feet and checked her watch.

Son of a...the alarm didn't go off!

Daniela took off towards the danger room at a quick pace. She only had seven minutes to get to the danger room.

8:53am-9:00am

Daniela had pretty much dashed across the grounds and had arrived at the danger room exactly at 9:00am. Right on the dot.

She stopped to catch her breath and smiled as she saw Matt and two students she wasn't familiar with standing next to the entrance to the Danger Room. She thought she had seen then walking around a few times but she wasn't sure. She turned to look at Matt and flashed a cheerful smile at him.

"Morning Matt. How are you this morning?"

[Almalthia]

Kaylee Everose

---

Kayle watched and waited as Aya struggled with a remote viewing. It brought back memories of the first time she attempted hers. The same tense, anticipation thrumming through her. Watching Aya's understand dawn on the girl and the vison took hold. Her eyes went distant and the girl started writing. Japanese short hand flew across the page.

Then stopped.

Started again.

Standing Kaylee grabbed a bottle of water for when Aya came out of the vision. Sitting back down Kaylee waited. No long after Aya started crying Kaylee grabbed a box of tissues. Gritting her teeth at what Ashford was putting the poor girl through Kaylee didn't have to wait long.

Aya was practically sobbing and Kaylee called out to her softly. "Aya? Aya Germain? Aya pay attention! You're at the Institute. You're safe. You're not in that moment anymore. You're far from that moment. Now breathe in and hold it for four seconds then release slowly. Slow your heartbeat. Let the vision pass. And we'll take a break."

[c3p-0h]

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@almalthia — Professor Kaylee Everose's Office - 9:20 AM

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---

The professor’s voice was a distant light in a midnight harbor, too far to be reachable. But still, Aya tried to cling to it. Her hands gripped tight over her mouth, as if that would stop her crying. Her muscles tensed, her shoulders pulled up tight as they trembled.

She was so ashamed.

Aya didn’t know how long she cried for, but eventually her tears slowed. Her shaking breaths hiccuped into her lungs. She tried to follow the professor’s instructions, counting out the seconds. Sifting through the memories was an agonizing process, as Aya tried to remember which tragic reality was hers.

Papa was still dead. Mama had still left, run away back to Japan. She didn’t have any brothers. Papa had died of lung cancer. There’d been arrangements of flowers from his garden at the funeral, colorful bouquets of red ginger flowers, ferns, and birds of paradise. He had green eyes that Aya had inherited, before her mutation turned her irises black. There’d never been a motorcycle accident.

Eventually, Aya opened her eyes again. Her muscles were finally relaxed, energy depleted. She sat in the chair, feeling numb and hollowed. She was scraped raw, from the inside out. Aya sniffled.

Some part of her told her to apologize again. She opened her mouth.

”...What was that?” Her voice was small and fragile. She looked up to meet Professor Everose’s eyes. ”Why did I do that?”

[Brioko Jobe]

Charles Gannon

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Location: Ashford Institute

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Interactions & Mentions: Self, @Almalthia, @Damo021

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Arrival Sunday

As they drove up to the gate Charles turned to the driver. ”So what now? Who do I report to?” They had not said much since the diner.

“I don’t know kid...my job was to get you here and well...you're here. I don’t even know if they know you’re coming. There wasn’t much time.” The driver sounded as if he could have been reading off a grocery list. In truth, he had a job to do and it was done.

Charles exited the car and grabbed the case. Standing straight, he walked with purpose towards the security camera. Looking straight into, “My name is Charles Gannon. I am here to enroll at this school.”

There was a faint click as the gate swung inward, just as a voice came out of an intercom. “We have been expecting you. Proceed to the dorm on the right second floor room 21. I am told everything you need will be waiting for you.”

”Thank you.” A short response, no more than necessary. Charles quickly took in his surroundings and chose the quickest walking path. Then formally as if marching, with straight back and eyes forward, walked directly to the room without a further glance. He had been given instructions, and until he knew more of what to expect here, he planned to follow them exactly.

When Charles got to the room the door was open and a simple note reading “Welcome Mr. Gannon” was on the handle. He walked in, surprised at the size of the room. It had two beds and desks. Obviously it was designed with a roommate situation in mind. On one of the desks was a small stack of textbooks, an itinerary, a map, and a second note stating “You are free to roam the campus as you wish. Classes start tomorrow. For now, you have been assigned basic courses until a full assessment of your education can be determined.” Charles noticed there was no signature on either note. Also, there was no evidence of a roommate.

The rest of the day he acquainted himself with the school, walking purposefully but not talking to anyone as he witnessed the others doing. This is different, other than with the Doctor's you never talked outside of projects. This had been ingrained in him for as long as he could remember. The constant drone of the cafeteria had him unsettled. This whole place had him unsettled for that matter. It was chaos incarnate to his mind, but until he received new instructions he was going to have to make the best of it.

Monday

The sun was not yet up when Charles got out of bed, nor would it rise before he had showered, dressed, and eaten. He wore what he thought was right for studies; black jean slacks, a simple blue t-shirt, and a white lab coat all topped off the red Converse sneakers. He proceeded through the day as if it was not any different than he had always known. It was different of course, lawless chaos surrounded him at every turn. Most of the other students seemed to be distracted in class, talking or passing notes when they thought the teacher was not looking. For him classes were either beneath him or utterly boring; perhaps this was the case for them as well. The others students gave him odd looks which he attributed to be new and imagined himself looking at them the same way. That is until lunch time when he realised no one else wore lab coats. This, of course, he fixed by rolling up his sleeves.

After lunch, Charles spent most of his time watching the other students and how they interacted. As the other students freely talked between classes, making plans and seemingly deciding their own path, he realised he could not make any sense of it. He wanted to but he could not grasp the variables. Jealousy welled up in him. He had never had that. By the end of the day, he had decided to learn what that feels like.

Tuesday (The Prank)

May the sun never rise before you are ready to meet it.” That was the phrase Dr. Gourley used to condition him to develop a morning routine. Charles reminded himself of that as tedious boredom made it harder to get out of bed. He saw no progress or necessity in this course work, but he would trudge through it until this “evaluation” happened and he could progress to higher studies. He had decided to forgo the lab coat today picking out khaki slacks, a red t-shirt, and a white dress shirt left unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. He kept the red Converse mainly because it was not just his only pair of shoes but it reminded him of his favorite television character.

Trudging through the monotony of the day, he had a plan to spice things up a little. If the other students wanted to laugh he would make that happen. Besides he needed something to break up the boredom. The last class of the day would be perfect and if he timed it right the least disruptive. Professor Everose was going over noble gases and if you did not understand them in the first minute you never would.

Charles had to sense the molecules in order to manipulate. He could feel every microscopic square nanometer as he entered the classroom. He could feel the similarities and identify precisely where each atom was as long as he had studied it. He had never really studied biology or anatomy to be able to understand it though; still he felt something usually familiar enough to tell you who it was. This time, there was one person in the room that felt different. Curious he looked over at the short red head, she felt different in a way he may never understand. He went on to his seat. He could not figure it out right this moment and the class was only an hour long.

Searching throughout the classroom for every trace of Helium he could find. Slowly, he gathered the element together. He could hear Professor Everose talking and half listened so as not to arouse suspension. Was she watching me? He asked himself as he thought maybe the Professor's eyes had stopped on him a little longer, but she kept lecturing. By the time he had enough gathered there was little time left in the class. He had been holding it all at floor level. Once released the whole room should get a quick burst of Helium changing their voices for a brief yet hilarious moment. Professor Everose was going into her recap, it was now or never. Releasing the gas the Professor's voice hit that high pitched squeak that so often accompanies breathing Helium. A cacophony of high pitched chuckles, snort, and laughs mixed with expletives fill the room for a brief moment. The bell sounded as the sounds reached a normal register. As Charles quickly made his way to the door he noticed some of the students casting accusatory looks at a blonde with streaks of pink coloring in her hair.

Wednesday Morning classes

5:00am - 10:00am

The familiar morning routine was not as tedious today. Charles had released, at least, some of the tension of boredom and was anxious to see if he should do it again. Only time will tell at this point and there was no sense in denying it. He was going to get caught eventually.

[webboysurf]

---

GM Post

---

As the students gathered into the Danger Room, a bubbly British voice rang out over the intercom. "Alright students, good morning! I have the pleasure of running your danger room activities for today. Before we get started, it's important that we get a few things out of the way for safety. I would first like to recommend all of you to be sure to stretch before we get started. Based on the simulations Mr. Pierce left behind, today will most likely involve a bit of running and climbing. You won't want a cramp when things get a tad wonky."

As she paused while speaking, the room began to shift. Along the wall near the door, a 3-Dimensional object began to take shape. After a moment, a set of 5 lockers labelled for the five students took a more solid form. The room itself also seemed to take on a new image. The spacious room seemed to grow brighter and began to take the form of a desert landscape. It was morning, and while there was some sort of sun overhead along with some clouds, there was no abnormal heat or temperature change. The door to the room seemed to disappear, instead replaced by flat desert. In front of the students, a building began to take form: a simple, three story concrete structure with metal double front doors locked with a combination padlock and chain. The building had boarded up windows with bars over them on the ground floor, with upper floors seeming to simply be boarded up. On the roof, clearly visible from where the students were, was a flagpole with the school's flag waving in an imperceptible wind.

The voice spoke up again over the intercom. "Make sure to keep only items that might be associated with your powers. Your goal in this first assignment, as per Mr. Pierce's instructions, are to capture the flag... and that's all he wrote down. Does anyone have any questions?"

[Almalthia]

Kaylee Everose

---

Clearing her throat Kaylee nodded to the envelopes. "Congratulations it's commonly called a remote viewing or RV. Think of the world as fabric. Time woven by threads and all those threads are people's lives. They make a pattern that is solid and has a purpose. Now think about a memory as a color. So the thread is colored by people’s memories. But life is not just one color but many random chaotic and messy colors. Some colors are bolder than others, some more pastel and soft. Yet others a garish neon that everyone can see miles away.”

Kaylee placed the water bottle in front of Aya. She paused a moment so that Aya could let that sink in. “Did you ever do Tie Dye when you were younger? You took an old white shirt and randomly put rubber bands all over it or you made a design. A heart. A bullseye. What have you. And when you were done sometimes the dye would bleed into the lines. Well those lines are like the Astral Plane and the dye you used is like a memory. The memory bleeds over to the Astral Plane. Strong emotion manifests and you can remotely view a scene hours, days, weeks, years sometimes even centuries later.”

Reaching over for the coffee mug that was set among the other items Kaylee took a sip of the now cold coffee and mentally shrugged. Oh well this was more important anyway and it wasn’t the first time she had cold coffee. “You might not see colors, like I do. You might hear sounds, smell scents, taste something or even feel a touch or a breeze. You might even experience all five senses when you run across a pocket. Dates, times, places especially in conjunction with people who are powerful or have made a mark in history can even pull you into the memory reliving it.” She looked over at Aya and waited till the girl met her eyes. “I do not recommend Gettysburg, either of the World Wars, or anything to do with the 1918 Flu. No matter if you think it will get you a good grade or not in History. Too much trauma and death. Nor do I recommend anyone that is aware of the Astral Plane. You never know who is going to leave nasty surprises.”

Downing the rest of her coffee Kaylee rose and refilled it. “You really should rest before you attempt another RV. Eat and drink something. If you have questions I’d be happy to answer them.”

_@c3p-0h

[c3p-0h]

---

@almalthia Professor Kaylee Everose's Office - 9:36 AM

---

---

Aya's gaze fell to the little black envelope in her lap as Professor Everose spoke. Her mentor's words washed over her. Aya thought she understood. Or didn't. She wasn't sure she cared. Her head buzzed from all the air she'd taken in while crying, her breaths too quick and sporadic in her flurry of emotions.

The adrenaline was gone now, though.

She wasn't paying attention to the professor anymore. Whatever explanation she was giving didn't really matter. When Aya asked why she'd just gone through that experience, her question wasn't, 'How did it work?'

It was, 'Why did you ask me to do that?'

Whatever Aya had just seen... it wasn't meant for her. It was too intimate - too painful. She felt guilty, like a voyeur peering in and violating someone's privacy. And the cost of bearing witness had been to relive the worst moments of both of their lives. Aya felt shattered, grief like fresh blood staining her skin. And Professor Everose sat across from her, looking at her tear-stained face, drinking her coffee, and talking about 'attempting another.' Warm, patient, compassionate Professor Everose. The woman who'd taught her everything she knew about controlling her mutation. The reason she'd stayed.

Aya sniffled. She thought she might start crying again.

"Could I please -" The soft words stumbled in her throat, catching on Aya's raw edges. She closed her lips. Swallowed. "Could I finish the test in my room? I..."

I need to not be here.

And the professor gave Aya that understanding smile that she knew so well. Aya's eyes dropped to her lap again. The professor gave her permission, with a gentle reminder to bring the results in an envelope back to her. Without another word, Aya grabbed the envelopes and the notebook, scooped up her bag, and left Professor Everose's office.

Aya pressed her back against the wooden door once it closed. She looked up to the high ceiling, tears burning her eyes again. Aya tried to blink them away, taking in another shaking breath. A dam broke and the high breath of a sob escaped her, but Aya was quick to clap her hand back over her mouth, eyes squeezed shut. A hot tear ran down her cheek. Her shoulders trembled with the effort it took to not break down again in the hallway. Aya opened her eyes, wiping the tears from her face. She swallowed her grief again.

She needed to go.

She couldn't be here - in this hallway, in this school, on this campus. Not right now.

The impulse was too strong to question. With barely a thought, Aya was walking through the building, praying she didn't see any of her classmates and have to explain why she wasn't in class, or why she'd been crying. Soon enough she was across the courtyard, front gate stretching high above her.

[Fallenreaper]

ᴠᴇʀᴏɴɪᴄᴀ "ʀᴏɴɴɪᴇ" ᴍᴀʟᴄᴏʟᴍ

---

_{9 am | Danger Room}

Seeing the new arrivals ignore her, Ronnie shrugged it off and rolled her eyes. She had been about dive into her tote for something else when a voice came on. Instantly she paused then listened. The student frowned. She expected something more than a gym class and physical activity. Especially with the odd format of the room.

All her disappointment faded when the danger room scene began to melt away. Generic, public school lockers materialized near the door. Ronnie's head tilted, her jaw open and eyes widened in shock.

"This can't be real..." She muttered to herself as she rose onto her feet.

Her tote stayed fastened to her shoulder as she approached. Her hand reached out slowly then touched the smooth, real metal. It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie. For a small test, she smacked the surface to catch the hollow thump. Ronnie's surprise gradually faded as she hoisted her tote inside with her purse. She paused before she closed the door then glanced at her bag.

Something that associated to her powers.

Her eyes hardened as she reached into her bag and took out a notebook filled with about eighty pages. She shut the locker door then turned to observe the scenery. From the uploaded video, Ronnie knew her power did something with paper. What it was called, she didn't know or even how it worked. She could guess, aside from the new arrival yesterday, she held the disadvantage.

What point would questions be if you don't know the answers? Ronnie thought, but didn't utter them out loud.

Instead, she kept her expression neutral and asked a few.

"Does that mean there's no specific requirements we have to meet in order to capture the flag? And it doesn't have to be captured by only one person, but by one or more here?" She decided to make completely sure the new teacher wouldn't tack on new requirements.