Super Hero High: Prometheus Rising (IC, Open)

[Terintania]

For the most part, Jay just remained quite throughout what was going on, listening and being alarmed. He followed Sarah when she started leading the way up the hill, toward Tyler and Tara. He hummed to himself as they went, stumbling occasionally, but doing his best to keep up with the group. He noticed that some debris came flying their way, but only barely because Raymond stopped them before his echolocation could really pick it up.

He continued to follow the group, twitching every time he heard the leaves of the branches rustling. "I think you should leave the pigs alone, you're only making them more scared, and they weren't attacking us, they were running. I think you should focus on whatever's shaking the trees," He said, sounding like he felt bad for the poor little piggies, even if they were just simulated.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Reporting for duty," Sakura said in a panic as she quickly took attention. She stood at attention for several minutes before she was at-ease and remembered why she woke up. The cocktail party phenomenom had caused her to take-attention, as she heard her name. Sakura woke-up in the confusion that comes from waking-up in R.E.M. sleep, which was not pleasent. After several minutes of Makoto just watching Sakura with a confused look, Sakura was at-ease. She had managed to remember enough of the words from the P.A. announcement that she used top-down processing to figure out that Ichihara Ryota was the probable cause for it. Confusion set-in due to confusion over where Ryota's room even was, something symptomatic of a larger problem. After checking several room numbers, she finally found the one that was Ryota's room.

"Hopefully this will be short," Sakura said after she sighed, leaving a timer with a note on it that had instructions for what to do if it rang without Sakura's presence. "Good night. Wait; is it night here? Nevermind, why do I have to rely upon that damn circadian rhythym," Sakura said in a tired and confused tone. She did not think through the full implications of Ryota being the one that called for her. As she walked to Ryota's room, she did not think of much. "お待たせしました良太先生 (Omataseshimashita Ryōta-Sensei)," Sakura said in an oddly natural, if somewhat slow, manner as she tried to show respect to Mister Ryota not different from that she would give to other teachers if in a different language. Her eyes were becoming blood-shot, though she was unaware of it.

"At this point, I must agree with Jay. The benefit of hindsight is making me think that funneling them away would have been a better idea," Bramwell said back in the simulation as continued with the group, paying attention to his left while using his telepathy to keep an eye out for any information. "Wild boars are smart, emotional animals. This is going down on my list of my mistakes, and it is luckily a simulation error, so I may learn from that experience with no harm done," Bramwell said in a disappointed manner.

[Corrian]

Cassie
Cassie's only real response to most of what was said was "Guys, can we please get moving?", because she just wanted to get moving before it arrived, and not listen to a big conversation while whatever the hell it was was slowly getting closer and closer. It was better to just get moving then discuss which was the best route to run....because then if they kept that up, none of the routes would be the best, because they would all be killed by then.

Now, seeing all the trees suddenly fall down that made a sort of path made her gasp and jump in surprise, because she had no clue where exactly that came from. Or what caused it. But it didn't seem like it could be the creature, because it was too....perfectly straight, even if it wasn't exactly clean. Being her, she didn't exactly like the destruction of forests, but didn't think much of it since they were in a simulation.

Then, seeing the pigs all freaked out by everything made her frown. While she was watching the pigs, she felt watched, and it made her shiver and feel uncomfortable. When some of the students started trying to keep the pigs away from them, to avoid them 'hurting' them, she had a flash of anger, and frowned even more, because she didn't like hearing scared, squealing pigs, and the students that were trying to keep them from hurting the students were making them squeal even more. She said a quiet "Poor pigs...." before following the group hurriedly down the path, hoping the pigs would be alright. The way she was acting, you'd think she was more worried about the pigs. Which, to an extent, might be true with some of the students. There was some students here that she'd much prefer hanging out with pigs all day then the student. Hearing that she wasn't the only one worried for the pigs, she did smile a little bit, before going back to being completely serious.

She noticed some stuff flying through the air as they walked, but everything managed to avoid her. Her following them at a run wasn't exactly going the greatest, and she had quickly started breathing heavily. Also because she wasn't the most agile, she was having difficulties running through the cleared forest, even if it was now relatively flat. She also heard rustling behind her in the trees nearby, and that kept her running. So far, she was beginning to think this was the most challenging, scary simulation they've done to date, and she didn't really like it. Though, she knew it would be good training for the mission she ended up getting herself to sign up for.

Caitlin
Caitlin had pretty much stopped talking after some of the people told them to move. She also thought it was a rather good idea to get moving anyway, and not continue talking. For her, she didn't really react to the pigs that much, and had pretty much followed Sarah pretty quickly. There wasn't much she could do to help. About all she could do was phase if something came flying at her, and that would just endanger someone else. Luckily, nothing really came at her. Unlike Cassie, she didn't really have any issues going through the cleared area, because she had ran enough to get used to it, and she was having a less issues with running through the forest then Cassie too. Because of it, she was keeping up with Sarah well, while Cassie was falling somewhat behind, though not a ton. Cassie was still one of the slowest people in the group, just because she wasn't the best runner and got worn out quickly. At least, the destination wasn't massively far away, though they would probably have to continue pretty quickly after they got to their destination, before the...thing caught up with them and attacked them.

[Ranbo]

"Hopefully this will be short," Sakura said after she sighed, leaving a timer with a note on it that had instructions for what to do if it rang without Sakura's presence. "Good night. Wait; is it night here? Nevermind, why do I have to rely upon that damn circadian rhythym," Sakura said in a tired and confused tone. She did not think through the full implications of Ryota being the one that called for her. As she walked to Ryota's room, she did not think of much. "お待たせしました良太先生 (Omataseshimashita Ryōta-Sensei)," Sakura said in an oddly natural, if somewhat slow, manner as she tried to show respect to Mister Ryota not different from that she would give to other teachers. Her eyes were becoming blood-shot, though she was unaware of it.

Ichihara only nodded at Sakura's manners, cutting right to the chase. "We really don't have tine for honorifics," He said in English, "I understand I'm taking up your learning time, so I really don't want to infringe on that for some reasons that will become obvious in a moment." Pointing to a chair, he gestured for his student to sit down.

When Sakura was settled, Ichihara began with a sigh. "Ms. Sakura," He said, "I'd like to present two documents to you—two, I might add, that tell very different stories. Please, have a look." Picking up both sheets, one in each hand, he held them up for Sakura to see. "Exhibit One," Ichihara said, gesturing to his right hand. "This is a list of the grades for your other classes. Note when I average them out, you tend to have a decent deal going for you. "

Putting that one down, he gestured now to his left hand. "This, as you probably have already figured out, is an entire list of assignments, tests, quizzes, and participation points for mine. Quite a difference, isn't there? In fact, if you add this travesty into your other grades, your GPA drops by about one whole level." Putting it down, he interlocked his hands into a ball and rested his elbows on his desk.

"Bottom line—I'm getting worried about you, Sakura. I give the assignments, and more often than not I don't receive them back. The fact that 30% of your grade is classroom participation really doesn't help your case either."

Ichihara looked Sakura straight in the eye. "I want to help you salvage what's left of your grade here before this degrades to the point of no return. Though this is still early on, we need to break a bad habit that's could fester into something worse. Sakura, I'm going to ask this to you, and I want only honesty from you—what's going on? Do you not understand the material, or is there something more? What can I do to make sure you don't tank here once and for all?"

[Altruistic Paladins]

Sakura surveyed the grade letters intently. Her eyes darted from one paper to the next, looking for some sign that she had done something right. She had, at best, a D grade in the class as she averaged the number based upon her already bad expectations. This was unlikely, as she had failed to learn the grading rubric yet. After sighing, Sakura spoke in a quiet tone.

"I have not been able to obtain notes. Due to the non-traditional nature of this class, I have been in special need of notes. In other classes, I have been able to pass on the subjects being things I understood beforehand or were based on information capable of being found outside the class. Within the class I am currently assigned to, I was not able to find anyone willing to provide copies of the notes. Within the class I am currently assigned to, I was not able to find anyone willing to provide copies of the notes. I am sorry for my failure to maintain proper notes for the class and the various causalities in failures that it has caused 'Ryot, Mister Ryota," Sakura said in a disheartened and embarrased manner as she tried to prevent herself from stretching or yawning. The issues of getting copies of the notes was a legitemate issue, as Sakura was socially ostracized from the rest of the students in that class. There was a high number of people in the class who considered her unusual and weak, which was not a good combination whenever teachers did not watch in a majority villain class where she could take the brunt of the attention from said villains bullying vigilantes. The problem had gone largely unrecorded due to Sakura not wanting to gain a reputation as a snitch to avoid isolating herself to the point of being incapable of work in a group-environment. However, the explanation did not explain the blood-shot eyes or why she was missing class in the first place.

[AETEN II]

It was done.
He had made the decision, it was irreversible, and he regretted the choice he had made. It was a spontaneous move, a stark contrast to every other detail in his life that was carefully planned and perfectly executed. He had already spat out a whole cup of blood before boarding the shuttle, and he knew worse horrors awaited on the horizon. He hadn't been thinking clearly when he injected the nanites- obviously. He didn't want his work to go to waste, but was it worth the suffering that would likely result from them assimilating him? He could have just dumped a few of them in a plastic container and stuffed it in a backpack. Hopefully they wouldn't assimilate him.
No, that was a foolish hope, and Robert shook it from his mind. Investing any thought in an impossible chance was a waste of his mind- the nanites would consume him. Everything but his mind would be destroyed in the process. It'd be better to look at the positive results from assimilation by the nanites. He'd be a cyborg after all. Yes, he'd focus on that. It would distract him from the gloom in his future.

Robert stepped out of the shuttle and onto the hangar bay of Super Hero High, quickly shedding his dreary look with one of fake happiness. It would be impossible to remove the nanites without killing him, and it would be preferable that he could keep the staff in the dark about the assimilation until it was in the later stages. So long as his brain wasn't consumed first and he was turned into an artificial intelligence. That would be harder to conceal. But it didn't matter, he would enjoy these last months, if not days, as a true human.

[Mighty Asgard]

It was done.
He had made the decision, it was irreversible, and he regretted the choice he had made. It was a spontaneous move, a stark contrast to every other detail in his life that was carefully planned and perfectly executed. He had already spat out a whole cup of blood before boarding the shuttle, and he knew worse horrors awaited on the horizon. He hadn't been thinking clearly when he injected the nanites- obviously. He didn't want his work to go to waste, but was it worth the suffering that would likely result from them assimilating him? He could have just dumped a few of them in a plastic container and stuffed it in a backpack. Hopefully they wouldn't assimilate him.
No, that was a foolish hope, and Robert shook it from his mind. Investing any thought in an impossible chance was a waste of his mind- the nanites would consume him. Everything but his mind would be destroyed in the process. It'd be better to look at the positive results from assimilation by the nanites. He'd be a cyborg after all. Yes, he'd focus on that. It would distract him from the gloom in his future.

Robert stepped out of the shuttle and onto the hangar bay of Super Hero High, quickly shedding his dreary look with one of fake happiness. It would be impossible to remove the nanites without killing him, and it would be preferable that he could keep the staff in the dark about the assimilation until it was in the later stages. So long as his brain wasn't consumed first and he was turned into an artificial intelligence. That would be harder to conceal. But it didn't matter, he would enjoy these last months, if not days, as a true human.

A guard walked into the room soon after Robert had exited the shuttle, approaching the new arrival to welcome him to the station.

"Robert Sherman?" he said, more like a statement than a question, "welcome to the Academy for the Empowered." He pulled a small device from his pocket, somewhat similar to a smartphone, and tapped a few times on it. "Your luggage will be carried up to your quarters once it has passed through security, if you'll follow me..." the guard stopped, looking quite puzzled by what his small device showed. "Pardon me," the guard turned away from Robert.

He touched the screen of the device again, then pressed a finger to his ear. "Headmaster Anderson," he said, "I'm processing that new student, Sherman, but I'm getting some strange readings..." he trailed off while listening to the reply. "I understand sir, thank you." When he had finished speaking to the headmaster he lowered his arm again and turned back to Robert.

"Sorry about that. As I was saying, your luggage will have to pass through security before it's brought to your room, but if you'll follow me I'll show you there now."

Tyler
Tyler was glad to see the others start to make their way toward them, because that meant he hadn't accidentally crushed them when clearing a path. As long as nothing bad happened it shouldn't take them more than a couple of minutes to reach the top of the hill, though with something apparently hunting them there was no guarantee that they would be left alone that long.

"Should we go meet them," he asked Tara, "safety in numbers and all that?"

[Camicon]

"Should we go meet them," he asked Tara, "safety in numbers and all that?"

"No. If you're up for it, start clearing a path, same width, in that direction." I pointed in the direction of the small village, but also slightly enough to the side so that if Tyler 'overshot', he wouldn't level the place. Once he had cleared a little bit of the back side of the hill we had climbed, he'd be able to see the village well enough for himself. "If everyone else gets taken down by whatever is spooking the wildlife, we won't make any difference. They should be able to handle themselves. Besides, it would be best if we had a clear path right to the end point."

I started walking around a little, trying to identify what it was that was spooking the animals, with absolutely no success at all.

[Ularn]

All of Scott's grandstanding and explanations resulted in Burton folding his arms and half-frowning while cocking his head slightly to one side, all while keeping Declan in the corner of his eyes lest something happen.

Before anything he let the whole issue of telling Burton in any amount of time go. Hard decisions were hard decisions, regardless of the motive behind them.

Everything else however...

"Going off with an entire rifle squad to find a non-asset with no real discernible intelligence value during an urban combat operation where teenagers with zero operational experience have no business being is nothing to crow about.
Especially if every other operator had a hand in finding one the primary targets and taking down two fortified emplacements at the cost of several minor to severe line of duty injuries, destruction of approximately 100 grand's worth of bleeding-edge combat gear, and oh yes one KIA."

Burton intentionally waited half a second for Scott to draw a breath to object before continuing.

"Which is secondary to the main point anyway, being a good example to the students. Yeah, the headmaster is a capricious asshole with absolutely no give, but so what?

You didn't get your way or get the ticker-tape parade you think you deserve, boo hoo.
Like it or not you're still teaching the students by your actions, and what you're teaching them is to give up when things don't go exactly your way. So what if Anderson gave you a chewing out you didn't agree with, or that he's not exactly fond of your little bedmate? You can't handle a little criticism and decide to shove off? Then every student that sees this and decides to do the same will be your legacy, not all of the blood sweat and tears you poured into this place. And after they leave, if they get land in some kind of prison or get themselves killed, that will be on your head too.

Can you honestly say you're willing to bear that cross from this point forward? Because I guarantee you it will happen."

"Burt, one day I can sit down with you and explain how my actions in Kildare were justified. Today's not it, and honestly it's kind of weird being chewed out for going off mission by the guy who abandoned said teenagers when he heard I was wounded," Scott snarled, "I had a whole section around me; the medevac was on its way, and a gunship took care of the sniper; there was no need for you to go charging off on my behalf, leaving Dom to attempt that clusterfuck of a building sweep. If we're gonna play the blame game for Kildare then there's plenty of fuck-ups to go around, Burt. At least the CO signed off on mine beforehand.
"And please," he continued in the same acidic tone, "Let's not pretend I came here because I wanted to be a role model. Teaching at this school was the best of a few bad options for me. Turns out there's better things I can do with my time, that'll help these kids a hell of a lot more than my being here. And trust me Burt, when I'm done you're gonna apologise to me for ever suggesting I tried to run and take the easy way out."
Scott had not moved throughout his vitriolic speech, and was still leaning against one of the weapon racks, arms folded and watching Burton with the hint of a glare as he waited to see if his friend wanted to continue this skirmish. Scott had been sure at least Burton would have been on his side, and his stern face was now a mask hiding the bitter disappointment as he realised there was no-one in the station he could now rely on.

[AETEN II]

"Thanks. It's great to escape the bureaucracy of the world below, I don't really want to get dragged into DARPA by the Feds and end up with a phobia of windows. Guess that's how Einstein and Von Braun felt though. Also, I assume the school can supply me with a fair amount of tungsten, copper, and other precious metals so I can continue my work? I won't build any self replicating nanites since they could raze the station, just instead focus and getting the size of the nanites down to the smallest possible size." Robert said as he conversed with the security guard while they walked to the hero dorm. When he finished, Robert winced slightly and coughed, quickly clamping his mouth shut to ensure that blood didn't fly out. He then licked the inside of his lips with his tongue, washing it away before he swallowed it.

"I've had the cough for a few days now. 'Think it might be onset of a cold." Robert said to the guard in a rather distant tone as he wondered what was going on inside him. Then again, he probably didn't want to know, that would only increase the stress.

[Orinon]

Abigale and Markus were making what passed as small talk for them (mainly Abigale relaying what she had learned about the Earth and Markus making smartass comments) when they were approached by a member of the station's staff. The man handed them maps of the station and keycards, and told them that the Headmaster would contact them the next day regarding their new positions. Both thanked the man, although Abigale did so in a rather cold manner, before departing for their quarters. Markus quickly introduced himself to his bed, his body finally giving into the effects of cyrosleep. Abigale, meanwhile, stood in her bathroom, staring into the mirror, into the mismatched eyes that stared back. After a moment, she grunted and started running the shower's water. As she showered, the water running off her was tinted red.

Josh, meanwhile, was also found by the same member of staff. He too received a keycard and a map, as well as a rough mockup of his timetable. Josh thanked him quietly, his mind evidently elsewhere, before going to leave the hanger. He was stopped, however, by Kara. She asked that he take her with him. "Until such time as I'm integrated with the station's systems, I am not going to be without my family," were her exact words.

Once he arrived at his assigned room, Josh carefully placed Kara's mainframe on the desk, then threw himself onto his bed. He stayed silent for a while, while Kara waited.
"It's so quiet. No... Noise. The reactor feels wrong. I feel like half of me is missing... I can't feel her anymore, Kara. I can't feel Goltia," he finally said. He rolled over onto his side and looked at Kara's image. "Do you respect me, Kara?"
"Of course I do," she said without a second thought. "You've been through stuff that might break lesser people."
"Good. Cause I'm going to completely fucking lose it now," he said. He then screamed and broke down crying, finally letting out the pent up frustration, anger, sorrow and loneliness that had plagued him since arriving. Kara said nothing, simply letting him vent. She understood why he was like this. She felt the same.


Once Josh had calmed down enough to fall into something passing for sleep, Kara set about completing a small task. She opened a messaging subroutine and set about creating a message for Headmaster Anderson.

Code: Select all

Sir,

Sorry if this too formal, but not all of my shackle codes broke when I gained true free will. I'm forced to use formal wording and structure when sending messages. If you wish, I can provide you a short summery of my nation's history. Markus isn't very knowledgeable on the subject and Mother is... Well, Mother is mother. She's manipulating you, by the way. You will not be able to create AIs even with the knowledge she's planning on giving you. The process will be incomplete.

Oh, and I would advise that you book Joshua in to see a shrink. Poor kid spent the last 3 hours screaming into a pillow.

[Northern Dominus]

"Burt, one day I can sit down with you and explain how my actions in Kildare were justified. Today's not it, and honestly it's kind of weird being chewed out for going off mission by the guy who abandoned said teenagers when he heard I was wounded," Scott snarled, "I had a whole section around me; the medevac was on its way, and a gunship took care of the sniper; there was no need for you to go charging off on my behalf, leaving Dom to attempt that clusterfuck of a building sweep. If we're gonna play the blame game for Kildare then there's plenty of fuck-ups to go around, Burt. At least the CO signed off on mine beforehand.
"And please," he continued in the same acidic tone, "Let's not pretend I came here because I wanted to be a role model. Teaching at this school was the best of a few bad options for me. Turns out there's better things I can do with my time, that'll help these kids a hell of a lot more than my being here. And trust me Burt, when I'm done you're gonna apologise to me for ever suggesting I tried to run and take the easy way out."
Scott had not moved throughout his vitriolic speech, and was still leaning against one of the weapon racks, arms folded and watching Burton with the hint of a glare as he waited to see if his friend wanted to continue this skirmish. Scott had been sure at least Burton would have been on his side, and his stern face was now a mask hiding the bitter disappointment as he realised there was no-one in the station he could now rely on.

Nothing....

Burton displayed nothing in his body language or face. Completely unmoved and unreacting despite Scott's vitriol or malignment of the facts.

Considering that for a moment Burton wanted to kick Scott in the chest and send him flying across the armory for being an immature and selfish little prick the level of self-control he needed to exercise might have given people of lesser constitutions instant ulcers.

One of the reasons he didn't give into the the temptation to give Scott a physical lesson regarding mature was that despite the vitriol and the bluster, Burton understood the undercurrent from which Scott's feelings welled up. He may not have agreed with it, but he understood it.

Finally after an uncomfortable amount of silence Burton shrugged and turned to the work table they were next to, grabbing what looked like a plastic case.

"Well if you insist, at the very least....put it this way, certain tribes in the US insist that warriors that set out on their own quests be armed with the best weapon available. In more modern times this has translated to knowledge or electronics of some kind.
Given this day and age however..."

Burton flipped both tabs on the case and lifted one side, revealing a large and sturdy-looking revolver. Above the revolver there was an additional barrel, below it a cylinder with 5 chambers, and in the corner what looked like a small key. To either side there were six total speed-loaders, holding shiny brass bullets of varying lengths and calibers.

Etched along the back side of the grip was the phrase 'Enim coronam et regionem', but other than that there was nothing fanciful or decorative about the weapon, making it rather unique in a place where fanciful implements like colichemards and other victorian-era weapons seemed to be increasingly popular with instructors and students alike.

"Webley Mk. X. Sort of a British nationalistic swell in firearms production right before the Vampire War broke out, albeit one that's well engineered to say the least."

Burton picked up the revolver and held it up to Scott, breaking the action open in the process.

"Top-break just like the other more famous Webley revolver, solid build with integral optics rail. Fires .38 special and .357 Magnum out of the six-round chamber and barrel currently installed, or you can use the key in the case to convert the barrel and cylinder to five-shot .44 magnum with the cylinder and barrel. Not the fanciest handgun in the world but it's solid enough to be used as a pretty good bludgeon when the ammo runs dry. All in all think of it as traditional British heavy industry, brought into the 21st century."

Burton snapped the action closed with a flick of the wrist before replacing it in the box and snapping the lid back down. He then paused for a moment, as if to gather some semblance of thoughts, and when he did speak again the words were somehow softer, more distant, belying some degree of pain.

"This was the weapon of SAS Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Dixon. I don't expect you to know that name because it's associated with things far above your pay grade and security clearance, but what you should know is that this weapon saved his life on more than one occasion, which means that there are potentially hundreds of people that are alive today because of it."

He slid the box over towards Scott.

"It's yours now. As you can see I have plenty of weapons of my own, all this is doing is collecting dust at the bottom of a locker somewhere."

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael had been okay at following Tara and Tyler at first, but for some reason she felt tired fast, like all the energy had been sucked out of her. The only exercise she'd done recently was hurrying around the school, though, so that probably explained it. She'd have to head down the gym some time, though that would mean being in there with the people like Ruby who were serious about sport and weren't just in there to try to lose weight. So maybe not. However, she'd need to work on her weight if she was getting this tired just from jogging in a simulation. As Tara and Tyler continued, Rachael returned to the beach. She walked slowly, every few steps making her muscles feel weird. She could see Will standing on the water from where she had reached, and she instantly felt jealous. She was the one with water powers, and there someone was using it anyway.
She reached the beach not long after the pigs had gone crazy. One had ran into her leg and it felt like it had reopened a cut. She didn't want to wait to find out though. Instead she just watched the animals go crazy and try to fly or run away. Hopefully they were escaping from something lethal, something that if she just walked in that direction would kill her instantly and let her out of this place.
There was a blast and half of the forest was blown away. Rachael watched as the trees were destroyed, then walked in the opposite directio of the animals.

[Ularn]

Scott nodded and accepted the case in silence. "Thanks Burt," he said after setting it down by his feet, looking visibly cowed. Even if pistols were not his preferred weapon - his accuracy with rifles was less than stellar and only got worse when you removed the stock and most of the barrel - he could appreciate the gesture. Even if Burton did not believe him, he was still a friend. "I wish I could tell you more, mate. I really do but it's better this way - trust me on that.
"Now we should probably check on Declan," he added a little more brightly, picking up the case and carrying it back through to the firing range. It clattered to the ground when he saw Declan sprawled on the floor screaming. "Jesus fucking Chris, Dec! What did you do?" he gasped, turning him over frantically and searching for the bullet wound to no avail.

[Procastitania]

Declan's screams quickly turned to hysterical laughter as he sat up. After he took a few moments to recover, he wiped a few fake tears from his eyes and sighed contently. "Man, that was hilarious. You should have seen the look on your face!" He shook his head, still chuckling to himself between words. "The best part was, I was like that for like five minutes, screaming my head off."

[Mighty Asgard]

"No. If you're up for it, start clearing a path, same width, in that direction." I pointed in the direction of the small village, but also slightly enough to the side so that if Tyler 'overshot', he wouldn't level the place. Once he had cleared a little bit of the back side of the hill we had climbed, he'd be able to see the village well enough for himself. "If everyone else gets taken down by whatever is spooking the wildlife, we won't make any difference. They should be able to handle themselves. Besides, it would be best if we had a clear path right to the end point."

I started walking around a little, trying to identify what it was that was spooking the animals, with absolutely no success at all.

Tyler nodded, "sure, I can do that." He didn't exactly agree with her assessment that they wouldn't make any difference, since she was the best fighter in the class and he could smash stuff with his mind, but felt no urge to argue about it. While she wandered about, keeping watch by the looks of it, he got in position to overlook the opposite side of the hill. Once he had positioned himself so he could clear a path in the proper direction he repeated the same procedure as before, getting to work on moving and flattening the forest that stood in their way.

Something moved in the trees above Tara and him, almost invisible in the shadows as it watched them, but Tyler didn't notice.


Rachael was being stalked by something, the leaves rustling softly above her. The hunter waited, patiently observing her to see if she was alone.

Guard
"The headmaster told me to inform you that we can indeed supply you with materials for your work, within reason of course. As long as you have an escort you will be allowed to access Engineering, they have all the tools you'll need down there." He didn't reveal that the station had defenses in place to deal with a nanite attack, telling the student that building dangerous things would be safer than he thought would only encourage dangerous behavior.

The guard ushered Robert into an elevator and pressed a button to take them up towards the hero dorm. "You might want to visit the infirmary, that cough sounds bad."

Anderson
Anderson was preparing a report when a message arrived on his office computer, prompting him to put down his data pad to see if it was anything urgent. As it turned out it was a message from the recently arrived alien computer, Kara, who revealed some interesting things. He had already figured out that Abigale, or 'Mother' as the computer called her, wasn't being entirely honest, but getting confirmation from an inside source was welcome. Of course, he himself had omitted a few things when speaking with them, which is why he wasn't particularly bothered to find out that their knowledge of AI technology wouldn't be shared in full. He decided that he should reply to the message before going back to work.

Code: Select all

Miss Moyle

Thank you for the information, it will spare our scientists a lot of headaches. Any knowledge you wish to share about your culture would be very welcome, part of this Academy's purpose is to educate the students about foreign cultures, and I hardly think we will find one more foreign than yours.

I will also make sure that Josh receives help. The well-being of our students is our first concern.

Sincerely, Headmaster Fredric Anderson

When the message was sent he returned to writing his report, making sure to include a requisition order for a properly trained psychiatrist.

[Nakarisaune]

Rachael noticed a rustling in the trees above her and stopped to listen and try to identify the sound. It seemed to have been present for at least the last few minutes, but she wasn't entirely sure if it was just wind or if it was the creature the pigs had been going crazy about. She really hoped it was the creature - the wind didn't seem too good at killing people, and if she was going to get out of this she'd need to die. After a while walking - she couldn't tell if the time was the same here as in real life, so looking at the sun's position wouldn't do any good in measuring - she stopped and looked around. Hopefully whatever it was was still there and wouldn't mind killing her. "Hello?" she shouted to try and draw attention to herself.

[Northern Dominus]

Declan's screams quickly turned to hysterical laughter as he sat up. After he took a few moments to recover, he wiped a few fake tears from his eyes and sighed contently. "Man, that was hilarious. You should have seen the look on your face!" He shook his head, still chuckling to himself between words. "The best part was, I was like that for like five minutes, screaming my head off."

Having run in right behind Scott, Burton's hand was about to slap the ranges' coms panel and signal a general emergency. The thought that a student had used one of his weapons to hurt themselves in some fashion twisted painfully in his gut...

And then he heard the laughter and realized that this was one of Declan's gags. Even though the uneasy notion of what could have been was foremost in his brain his hand was frozen before hitting the comms panel and was eventually lowered.

Still, if Burton was amused to any degree he didn't even crack a smirk at the corners of his mouth. Instead he folded his arms and slightly frowned at Declan.

"Well Declan, since you like to laugh in the face of potential danger you'll have no problems running the gauntlet in the simulator, especially during your lunch break or after classes yes?"

[Altruistic Paladins]

"Hello again!" Bramwell shouted from a distance away. Bramwell did not think through the implications of Rachael saying such a thing while there were no presences there when there was a threat that had been known to be invisible to his telepathy, and was more focused on the fact he heard her say it. For now, Bramwell focused on regrouping alongside Tara and Tyler. Bramwell was more focused on finding anything with visuals on the monster. It just so happened that he heard Rachael's greeting while he tried to find a carnivourous bat for assistance.

[Ularn]

Rolling his eyes, Scott pulled Declan to his feet as Burton voiced his punishment. To it he only added in a relatively light tone, "Seriously mate, not fucking cool. I trusted you not to arse around up here and this is a bit of a shitty way of repaying me. Better just get back to your class now, okay?"
Scott was not really angry at Declan. His penchant for practical jokes was part of the reason they got on. The only problem was that sometimes Dec had trouble drawing the line between pranks which were genuinely funny and the ones which were just inappropriate. That this one had fallen on the wrong side of the line did not call for any more than the slap on the wrist Burton was giving him and Scott just wanted to make clear his disappointment with Dec's lack of tact. Hopefully he would not take the remark too harshly.

[Procastitania]

Declan, having settled down from his laughter, smiled widely. "A gauntlet? That sounds delightful. I've never been a lunch person anyway." Before Burton could respond with a worse punishment, Declan sat up and walked towards the exit of the armory. "Well, Scott, you're right, I really should get to class. I'm already late, and I miss enough classes anyway. I'll try and see you again before you leave."

With that, Declan got into the elevator and headed down to the sim room. He should really stop missing classes, but there always seemed to be something else going on. It's not like it really matters. This whole school is just a superhuman daycare, with the laws preventing the existence of free-roaming heroes and vigilantes. And for the villains, it's still the same old Juvie in space.

He eventually reached the classroom. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Can I still participate in the sim?"

[Camicon]

Something moved in the trees above Tara and him, almost invisible in the shadows as it watched them, but Tyler didn't notice.

It was frustrating, knowing that there might be something stalking you, but not being able to pinpoint it's location. The downside, I supposed, of having Tyler destroy small swaths of the forest was that it chased all the animals from the vicinity, and it was incredibly noisy. No animals meant no early warning system, and lots of noise made the already difficult task of trying to hear a stalking predator almost impossible. I gave it up as a lost cause, instead scanning the trees that still stood around us. Still, I found nothing. When the others came into sight I waved them over hurriedly.

"Hurry up!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

[Mighty Asgard]

He eventually reached the classroom. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Can I still participate in the sim?"

The guard that had opened the door for Declan nodded at him, "sure, just jump into one of the pods." He closed and locked the door when Declan had entered.

Tyler
Tyler was busy clearing away the forest that stood between them and the village, putting his ability of smashing stuff to good use, and didn't pay attention to his surroundings. It was this lack of attention that allowed a black shape to sneak into position into the trees above him, and pounce. A sharp pain shot up through his back as claws dug into his flesh, the impact throwing him forward and sending him tumbling down the hill with the attacker clamping onto his back. He was too busy trying to fend it off to really tell what it was, just that it had really big claws. A claw sunk deeper into his back as they came to a stop against a tree, and he quickly focused as much power as he could into getting the thing away from him.

Fueled by adrenaline and fear, the blow was powerful enough to send the attacker flying with force into a nearby tree. He didn't bother waiting around to see if it was permanently down, instead quickly struggling back to his feet and clambering back towards the top of the hill. He wasn't sure if the others had been attacked as well, but his own problems were a bit more immediate. His left arm was all but useless, he could barely move it at all, and blood was flowing out of several deep gashes across his back. The attack hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, and it had nearly killed him. This was clearly not an enemy to be underestimated.


After making sure that she was far enough from the others that they couldn't help, the creature stalking Rachael attacked. With great force it pounced on her, its long claws seeking her neck.

[Altruistic Paladins]

"A hostile was spotted by Tyler before attacking. Tyler is wounded. I am moving to assist," Bramwell said in a monotonous tone as he charged in Tyler's direction, moving to avoid any remaining treeline. At this point, he had determined that there was going to be no reconassaince from the animals. Due to this, he changed his strategy from trying to find animals for assitance to using the senses of every member in the simulation to see what was happening. Bramwell hoped to use the perceptions' data to pinpoint the hostile's location. Whether he responded to the attack before or after relied upon whether Rachael noticed the attack or did not notice it.

[Procastitania]

Declan happily hopped into a pod, and quickly entered the simulation. When he appeared with the others, he looked around to see Tyler leaned against a tree in pain, while a strange creature recovered further down the hill the were on. Declan bent down for a quick examination of Tyler, and winced when he saw the injuries. Tyler was a powerful superhuman, and anything that could take him down was a force to be reckoned with.

"Ty, are you all right?" He considered for a moment. "Wait, this is a sim, you'll be fine. Can you still fight? I'm not sure I can take this thing on my own, and none of the others are here yet." He turned around, seeing the creature slowly moving back towards them. Declan shifted quickly into a bear, standing imposingly and letting out an impressive growl to alert any other students in the area.