Growing Up Titan [IC | Superhuman | Sci-Fi]

[Auphelia]

Penelope sighed, her breathe forming a green mist that condensed into a smattering of flower petals. She didn't like the plan but she trusted Cyrus more than Brandon. She should lend her support if they were going to do this.

"Perhaps those of us who could leave if things get to dicey should stay behind to keep an eye on the inside and provide some information to those who choose to escape. I know that I am going to stay here. I can try to keep you updated so you can stay a few steps ahead." She shook her head. If they are really going to be this stupid, I hope they get out. "And what if you lock the doors to the rooms of the staff in the first place? Then you would only have to deal with the guards on patrol, and even then the barrier girl can leave them in some strategic places to hold them back. That way Brandon can start to get you all out of Arkansas sooner."

She looked at Brandon's outstretched hand. "And put your hand down. This isn't some cheesy B-movie or your football team. This is real life. Act like it. You have to be serious if you are going to survive."

[Gryphonian Alliance]

Sean Tierney

Penelope sighed, her breathe forming a green mist that condensed into a smattering of flower petals. She didn't like the plan but she trusted Cyrus more than Brandon. She should lend her support if they were going to do this.

"Perhaps those of us who could leave if things get to dicey should stay behind to keep an eye on the inside and provide some information to those who choose to escape. I know that I am going to stay here. I can try to keep you updated so you can stay a few steps ahead." She shook her head. If they are really going to be this stupid, I hope they get out. "And what if you lock the doors to the rooms of the staff in the first place? Then you would only have to deal with the guards on patrol, and even then the barrier girl can leave them in some strategic places to hold them back. That way Brandon can start to get you all out of Arkansas sooner."

She looked at Brandon's outstretched hand. "And put your hand down. This isn't some cheesy B-movie or your football team. This is real life. Act like it. You have to be serious if you are going to survive."

Sean looked around. The faces around him seemed difficult to read. Perhaps conflicted?

"I think we've already attracted their attention, but they're not ready to act yet, for some reason. There is no way they prepared the security system the way they did when they were well aware of Cyrus' electronics manipulation powers. I'd suspect this is either a test of some kind or simply a trap.
And even if the system has been hacked successfully, I'm sure they've already gotten a notification pop up that their systems have been access by an unauthorized user. I'm not sure of the extent of the damage to the security system, but won't it look extremely suspicious when all of their security camera feeds go down? All at once? If we're going for stealth, I'm not sure if we should be locking up the staff rooms. That would be an immediate warning to the staff and guards that something's gone awry. I wouldn't be surprised if they have weapons designed to counter our individual abilities.
I'm not saying we should not attempt an escape, but that we might need to be unpredictable in order to do so successfully. And I'd suggest that we come up with some contingency plans before actually proceeding."

[Segral]

Clifford Brown

The situation was escalating quicker than Clifford thought. Soon, Penelope somehow became a plant...thing, and then Elise, who Clifford knew as Claudia's roommate, shoved Clifford out of the way, pinned Penny against the wall, and yelled at Christopher too before Cyrus calmed everyone down. Clifford hadn't realized how much he had roused everyone. All he had meant to do was tell Penelope off. It seems like he had just resolved their will.

Soon, the call for arms was here. Clifford still didn't trust Brandon, but he was desperate enough. "Alright, I'm in. I can't do much, but I'll help in any way I can. And Elise, marry me." he said jokingly.

"As for Claudia...she's not in, but, I guess...I could try convincing her." He then reached out to Claudia through mental link.

"Claudia?"

Long pause "Y-yes?"

"Look, if you're not gonna try to escape, fine. But can you help us?"

"What do you need?"

"We need you to help block off the guards on patrol while we escape, keep them to one corner."

"...I don't know, Clifford. My shields aren't powerful enough to block a lot of bullets."

"Please? C'mon, I know you don't want to risk escaping, but at least try to help us. Do it for me."

"Sigh. Fine."

"Seriously?....Thank you, thank you, you're the greatest."


The conversation ended there. Clifford grinned. "Alright, Claudia's in. She'll help us." He cracked his knuckles. "Now, let's shit fury on them."

[Strala]

Elise Lloyd | The Meeting
She turned to Christopher. Her voice grew louder and louder with every word. Stress, the pain and fear, squeezed her heart, and sent blood churning through her arteries. She felt like she was on fire. Her skin darkened, and little spines popped up along her arm. It seemed that she was falling into another state.

"And you shut your mouth, little boy. I'm getting out of here, one way or another. Brandon's just offered to die to get us out, and the first thing you do is start spouting patronizing garbage? We're not waiting around so that the government can work out what they want with us. I can tell you damn well that they aren't going to treat the biggest scientific leap in decades like humans. If you're with us, then act like it. Otherwise, get out of my damn sight."

Christopher murmured "Little boy, my ass. I'm older than you by 4 years. If you really thought that I think I'm superior to all of you then your wrong. I don't have a huge ego and I'm not a hero." he then turned to Cyrus and said "We don't need heroes in this world. What we do need is people to work together. I don't care if I live long enough to become a villain I just don't want to be a hero. They all eventually die, and I would rather not die early. I will help you guys because I want to escape, and I can help cause a distraction. If you guys can get me some dead bodies I can work my magic on them."

He then turned to Brandon "Okay Brandon, while I don't trust you if you have a plan that will let us get out of here I will help. But seriously you need to chill out. I mean please don't point a knife at your sister. You should cherish what you still have, also I think we should have a vanguard and rearguard. The Vanguard should be the fastest, while the rearguard should be decently fast and they should be able to hold off against several guards.

[Jaladristan]

James Garrett

James didn't even have to be close to the door of the bathroom to hear the people inside shouting at each other. “Lets wait a little and see if they come to terms with each other.” He said to answer Ray's question. After a few more heated words the door opened slightly and James could clearly hear what was said inside the bathroom. It sounded like the were actually about to start their prison break. “I mean it's not like we have much to loose anyway. Regardless of whether or not these guys actually make it out, it will make life for everyone else significantly worse. So I guess we might as well join them.” James said to Ray using his telepathic ability before opening the door and stepping into the room.

The scene he saw inside looked like it was ripped straight out of a movie. It even had someone with his hand stretched out to do the weird team scream thing. So James decided that his own introduction should sound like it came from a movie as well. “Now I don't know exactly what you guys are planing, but if one of you can get me out of my personal prison here.” James said and knocked with his hand against his suits torso to produce a hollow, metallic sound. “Then count me in.”

[Mundeo]

. . .

The sound of music...

The reverberation of plucked strings across the grass. The hills were alive with their sound. It was a melancholic tune, tought to him by his grandfather just days before old age took him. Each note wept with the sorrows of a thousand souls, crying out for salvation; and each chord rung with the hope that may be waiting beyond. After his grandfather's passing, he only had the guitar and his song to remember him by; now, all he has is the memory of that song...

He sat on top of a verdant crest, looking out over the rolling fields that were behnd his house. Far away from the lights and clamor of the city, all that laid before him was his kingdom of untouched nature. His only light was that of the moon and the countless stars, and the only sound he heard was that of the wind, carrying away each note as they escaped their wooden fibrous confines. But a second moon was in the sky that night, one cloaked in brimstone that drew closer with each passing second. It was a scene of terrifying beauty.

Soon, all that would remain would be hellfire and ash. The souls could no longer weep, for they had been damned to an eternity of immolation. The music no longer sang through the grass, leaving fear and despair in their departure. The world was nothing but white light and white noise.

Leon would give up everything just so he could hear that music again...

. . .

As the group began to finalize their plans of escape, another figure shadowed the entrance to the bathroom.

"As much as think this plan is going to fail, and probably end up with all of us dying..."

Leon held up his mutated arm in front of his, his hand clenched in a fist. "You're going to need someone who can take a bullet"

He looked over to Cyrus and Brandon. "And don't think anything you've said has changed my mind. Let's just say... I've hade a change of heart on my own accord. And you are in desperate use of someone who won't just run in guns blazing"

[The Land of Golden Blobfish]

Alex Foil

While the whole drama was going on, Alex leaned back against one of the stall's doors and popped open the bag of chips. While he didn't have to actually open them anymore due to his sudden good ol' superpowers, it was hard to break the habit he had grown so used to. So while people shouted, swore and fought amongst themselves, he enjoyed the scene with a refreshing beverage in one hand and potato chips in the other. It wasn't until things died down a bit that he decided to speak out.

"Y'all know this is an all or none thing, right?" He said, in-between mouthfuls of food, "what do you think is going to happen to those of us that stay once the others break out? Things will escalate and they'll take extreme measures with the ones that remain. Not to mention..." He held up his finger and took a huge sip of the pop before continuing, "none of you have bothered to find out what they're doing right now. They might not know what's going on in this washroom but it's the same for us, isn't it?" Alex shoved another mouthful of chips into his mouth, "you guys are just a bunch of emotional and over-reacting kids, now with superhuman powers mind you. I'd think they would take into account that the lot of you wouldn't sit still and behave."

He pointed to Brandon.

"Especially when they've already seen such things in action, thanks to edgelord here."

Alex consciously activated his intangibility ahead of time. While he never really needed to do such before as it only ever took less than half a second, he was in a room with the one person who could possibly beat that speed. Best to take precautions in case the fast dude tried something.

He turned to Cyrus, "the seventh floor storage rooms, you say? Huh, I've been there before I believe."

[Auphelia]

Alex Foil

"Y'all know this is an all or none thing, right?" He said, in-between mouthfuls of food, "what do you think is going to happen to those of us that stay once the others break out? Things will escalate and they'll take extreme measures with the ones that remain. Not to mention..." He held up his finger and took a huge sip of the pop before continuing, "none of you have bothered to find out what they're doing right now. They might not know what's going on in this washroom but it's the same for us, isn't it?" Alex shoved another mouthful of chips into his mouth, "you guys are just a bunch of emotional and over-reacting kids, now with superhuman powers mind you. I'd think they would take into account that the lot of you wouldn't sit still and behave. Especially when they've already seen such things in action, thanks to edgelord here."

Alex consciously activated his intangibility ahead of time.

He turned to Cyrus, "the seventh floor storage rooms, you say? Huh, I've been there before I believe."

"You're right. If you go, no one can stay. And seeing as you are obviously too hot-headed to be willing to stay here, we all have to go. But how about we take more than an hour in a boys washroom to plan our escape? Then we - - oh . . ."

The song had changed again. "Crazy In Love". Penelope's bark skin fell off as she became like a vapour, a skeleton image of herself cast over a ghostly version of herself, floating 50 cm off of the floor. The air around her became ten degrees colder and frost formed on the floor below her.

"Anyway, he's also right about what the adults know. We might need to gather a little intelligence so we know where their defences are weakest. And Brandon, cool it with the whole 'I act violently, but really I am a gentle and a born leader'. It's one or the other."

[Donifrium]

Ray Bennet

Entering the crowded bathroom after James. While had some doubts about their chances of escaping, it was either dying in the attempt or succeeding, while he did think of staying behind for a moment, that would be the worst outcome of the three given that any liberties they had would be eliminated regardless if the ones who tried to escape succeeded or not. "I'm in too. If we want to escape we need as many people as possible to increase our chances. With my power I could make many copies of the bomb, sure it will probably only last less than ten minutes, but as long as it doesn't take too long to explode we could have many bombs in one place. It was kind of an important task to sign himself too, but at the same time, it wasn't that dangerous.

Johnny Walker

"I agree with Alex and Sean. I'm all for escaping this place, however, we only have one chance so underestimating our enemy and acting rashly can make this plan go down to the drain as soon as we begin step one. Like Penelope said we need to gather intelligence on the facilities and figure out how to factor our own powers into the escape plan.

[IOTA Corp]

Nate

"I'm on board. They may have thought we would eventually get antsy, but there is no way they would have prepared for a coordinated attack. We would need to pull it off fast." He looked at Cyrus. "What if we did it at night? That way, most of the staff would be gone, so we wouldn't have to worry about accidentally hurting any of them. I can teleport too, but I don't think I can take anyone with me. I can take the bombs and help Brandon set them up in key areas."

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus

"You're right about them anticipating our powers, especially mine. They have some of the lower levels insulated with some kind of rubber material that doesn't let my powers through. We will need a heavy hitter or someone who can get to the other side and open the door to let us down to the first floor. Other than that, I can do the rest. Multiple bombs spread out across the top floor would work best to draw the guards away. Brandon, Nate, and Alex, You will be the best choices to get the materials for the bomb, which we can have Ray duplicate."

He quickly scribbled some things down on three pieces of paper towels. It was a list of some chemicals that, when properly mixed, could make a charge large enough to set off the alarms but not likely to physically hurt anyone that wasn't right on top of it. He gave the pieces of paper to the speedster, ghost, and teleporter. "Once you all get these from the storerooms, we can make the next step of the plan. For now, we need to get back to our rooms before they notice we're gone. I'll send you a metal message when I have the bombs built. Until then, only talk about this in your minds, even if you think you're alone: they have audio sensors everywhere."

Cyrus headed for the door, but stopped and looked back. "Guys, this won't be easy. The whole damn world is our cage now, and we are all we have. Try not to kill each other."

---

Genesis

"Sir, we are detecting a massive energy spike!"

Director Orso rushed over to the computer screen the scientists was gawking at. He had stayed late that night along with several other executives to observe and monitor the strange creature that had performed bizarre manipulations of reality. It was inexplicably tied to the children upstairs, but it didn't appear to be exactly the same. "Genesis" was the only title it referred to itself as; it had been adopted by many of the researchers, but Orso didn't tolerate giving the trans-dimensional entity cute pet names. He simply referred to it as "The subject".

It had been slowly increasing its ambient power output but had yet to show any signs of aggression or malcontent. Orso looked inside the hermetically sealed room and saw strange ripples crawling through the air. "What's happening?"

"It looks like...Gravitons?"

A second later, and a black sphere appeared in the middle of the room, roughly the size of a basketball. "Is that a...?" before Orso could finish, They entire room started falling towards the wall separating them from the room. Orso stood up sideways on the wall and looked at the other scientists. "Did it just make a black hole?"

"I think so, Sir. But it isn't a normal black hole; its gravity is much, much less."

"Someone call security and tell them to get a ladder down here."

---

Genesis reached out with its mind and searched for the children. Finding them in the bathroom, Genesis space-folded himself in their midst. He didn't appear with a flash or bang, or even a whisper. He was just suddenly there, looking at them.

His skin looked like a distant galaxy, with small points of light giving off a gentle glow in the darkness. Its eyes burned with an effervescent white flame. Its appearance didn't feel surprising, or unexpected; they all felt a strange connection to the being. All animosity faded, and they felt comforted. It didn't have a visible mouth, but it reached out with its mind. "Children of Titan County, I am Genesis."

Suddenly, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the bathroom flew off into oblivion and they were standing in an endless void of white. There was no distinguishable floor, but they felt something hard under their feet. They looked around, and they were ALL there, even the ones that were sleeping and had refused to attend the meeting were standing there with any fatigue brushed away.

"You are right to feel the desire to flee this terrible place. I have been trying to get you all to sense the danger, but I have not been entirely successful. Gencore wishes to exploit you, to turn you into weapons, to use you to achieve their apocalyptic desires."

A ripple appeared in the air and grew to about the size of a car. An image appeared in the center: it looked at one of the poor subjects in the sublevel. Large portions of its limbs were missing. Tubes and metal screws snaked through and pierced its motionless body. It wasn't clear if it was dead or alive. Then more of the images started to appear in rapid succession. One after another, horrendous images of the atrocities the sub level patients were subjected to filled the limitless sky of the void.

"Your brothers and sisters were in so much pain, but they are beyond saving. Gencore has robbed them of their lives, and I was not strong enough to save them. I am not strong enough to save them."

Genesis' large burning eyes locked onto the subjects' seemingly all at once.

"I will not let this same fate befall you. Those who have worries about leaving, know that only death waits for you here."

With that, Genesis, the strange images, and the void vanished all at once and they were standing in their rooms. Cyrus reeled from what he just saw, and yelled with his mind at the others. "What the hell was that?"

[Auphelia]

Genesis' large burning eyes locked onto the subjects' seemingly all at once.

"I will not let this same fate befall you. Those who have worries about leaving, know that only death waits for you here."

With that, Genesis, the strange images, and the void vanished all at once and they were standing in their rooms. Cyrus reeled from what he just saw, and yelled with his mind at the others. "What the hell was that?"

"I think that was the thing that made us like this. I think we have to leave." Penelope was in too much shock to say more than simple observations. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did, that that thing was connected to all of them. It had been like they were feeding off of it almost as much as it was feeding off of them. And the horrible images it had shown; hundreds of kids like them, several Penelope though she recognised, all too disfigured to move or speak. "That must have been what happened to those who couldn't handle the power."

"I think we need to leave. Now. That thing might be creating a distraction. And I might be able to get to the other side of the door using the ventilation system. Just head to the door as quickly as you can, okay?"

Penelope scrolled through the music in her mind and her ghostly body burst into a thousand butterflies, all shades of black, grey, and silver. They quickly flew into the vents and went to get to the first floor.

[Andsed]

Elizabeth had been ready to her room after the meeting ready to escape. When all of sudden she saw something then she was in a white void that thing standing there talking to them. She did not really hear what it said because she was in so much shock at what was happening. She did manage to figure out that it was saying something about how they needed to escape. It also showed them awful pictures of what happened to the other subjects. Then she was back in her room. Then Cyrus shouted telepathically

"What the hell was that?"

Then Penelope said


"I think we need to leave. Now. That thing might be creating a distraction. And I might be able to get to the other side of the door using the ventilation system. Just head to the door as quickly as you can, okay?"

Elizabeth responded with

"okay I am heading out now the door may be locked"

She found that it was not locked and she managed to sneak into the hallway and began sneaking towards the door.

[Mundeo]

Subject #0009
Class C Mutant
Location: ———

What...

What was that?

Even if the answer seemed obvious, Leon couldn’t initially comprehend what he saw. In a matter of moments, a cosmic figure appeared before them, then the whole bathroom melted away into a surreal void. Then, horrific scenes of subjects in the lower levels played before them. Only then did it all become clear: this being - Genesis - was the cause. He gifted them with their abilities, and even wished for them to escape. But Leon didn’t hear his words.

The sound of music had filled his ears.

All sense of reason had vanished from Leon; all that remained was anger. He didn’t see their galactic savior in front of him, here to lead them to salvation. What he saw was the demon that caused the death of thousands and the damnation of countless others. With a cry of rage, Leon ran forward. He brought his mutated arm behind him, and as he neared Genesis, swung the crystalline fist forward...

But all his fist made contact with was the wall of his dorm. A loud thud resonated throughout the room. Leon roared in fury, bringing his fist back and smashing it against the wall again before stumbling back and falling onto his bed. Now there was a sizeable dent in the wall, right next to the door.

’What the hell was that?’

“That was the motherfucker that caused all of this!” Leon shouted, but in thought and in voice. “That thing’s the reason why the meteor hit - why we’re all stuck here being tested on like fucking rats!”

He then called out to Penelope and Elizabeth: “You two better get the fuck back to your rooms! You’re not going to fuck this over for the rest of us!”

[Gryphonian Alliance]

Cyrus

"You're right about them anticipating our powers, especially mine. They have some of the lower levels insulated with some kind of rubber material that doesn't let my powers through. We will need a heavy hitter or someone who can get to the other side and open the door to let us down to the first floor. Other than that, I can do the rest. Multiple bombs spread out across the top floor would work best to draw the guards away. Brandon, Nate, and Alex, You will be the best choices to get the materials for the bomb, which we can have Ray duplicate."

He quickly scribbled some things down on three pieces of paper towels. It was a list of some chemicals that, when properly mixed, could make a charge large enough to set off the alarms but not likely to physically hurt anyone that wasn't right on top of it. He gave the pieces of paper to the speedster, ghost, and teleporter. "Once you all get these from the storerooms, we can make the next step of the plan. For now, we need to get back to our rooms before they notice we're gone. I'll send you a metal message when I have the bombs built. Until then, only talk about this in your minds, even if you think you're alone: they have audio sensors everywhere."

Cyrus headed for the door, but stopped and looked back. "Guys, this won't be easy. The whole damn world is our cage now, and we are all we have. Try not to kill each other."

---

Genesis

"Sir, we are detecting a massive energy spike!"

Director Orso rushed over to the computer screen the scientists was gawking at. He had stayed late that night along with several other executives to observe and monitor the strange creature that had performed bizarre manipulations of reality. It was inexplicably tied to the children upstairs, but it didn't appear to be exactly the same. "Genesis" was the only title it referred to itself as; it had been adopted by many of the researchers, but Orso didn't tolerate giving the trans-dimensional entity cute pet names. He simply referred to it as "The subject".

It had been slowly increasing its ambient power output but had yet to show any signs of aggression or malcontent. Orso looked inside the hermetically sealed room and saw strange ripples crawling through the air. "What's happening?"

"It looks like...Gravitons?"

A second later, and a black sphere appeared in the middle of the room, roughly the size of a basketball. "Is that a...?" before Orso could finish, They entire room started falling towards the wall separating them from the room. Orso stood up sideways on the wall and looked at the other scientists. "Did it just make a black hole?"

"I think so, Sir. But it isn't a normal black hole; its gravity is much, much less."

"Someone call security and tell them to get a ladder down here."

---

Genesis reached out with its mind and searched for the children. Finding them in the bathroom, Genesis space-folded himself in their midst. He didn't appear with a flash or bang, or even a whisper. He was just suddenly there, looking at them.

His skin looked like a distant galaxy, with small points of light giving off a gentle glow in the darkness. Its eyes burned with an effervescent white flame. Its appearance didn't feel surprising, or unexpected; they all felt a strange connection to the being. All animosity faded, and they felt comforted. It didn't have a visible mouth, but it reached out with its mind. "Children of Titan County, I am Genesis."

Suddenly, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the bathroom flew off into oblivion and they were standing in an endless void of white. There was no distinguishable floor, but they felt something hard under their feet. They looked around, and they were ALL there, even the ones that were sleeping and had refused to attend the meeting were standing there with any fatigue brushed away.

"You are right to feel the desire to flee this terrible place. I have been trying to get you all to sense the danger, but I have not been entirely successful. Gencore wishes to exploit you, to turn you into weapons, to use you to achieve their apocalyptic desires."

A ripple appeared in the air and grew to about the size of a car. An image appeared in the center: it looked at one of the poor subjects in the sublevel. Large portions of its limbs were missing. Tubes and metal screws snaked through and pierced its motionless body. It wasn't clear if it was dead or alive. Then more of the images started to appear in rapid succession. One after another, horrendous images of the atrocities the sub level patients were subjected to filled the limitless sky of the void.

"Your brothers and sisters were in so much pain, but they are beyond saving. Gencore has robbed them of their lives, and I was not strong enough to save them. I am not strong enough to save them."

Genesis' large burning eyes locked onto the subjects' seemingly all at once.

"I will not let this same fate befall you. Those who have worries about leaving, know that only death waits for you here."

With that, Genesis, the strange images, and the void vanished all at once and they were standing in their rooms. Cyrus reeled from what he just saw, and yelled with his mind at the others. "What the hell was that?"

Sean Tierney

He was back in his room. What happened? He remembered Genesis. Well, if he needed any motivation to escape, he had it now. What could he do? Maybe he could go up to the first floor and destroy the ceiling to create an escape route. The problem was that the first floor was off-limits, and the whole place was probably being swarmed with guards right now. Hadn't he heard some of the other kids talking about making bombs? Well, he would wait in his room, and listen for the sound of blasts.
Then he remembered something else about the visit with Genesis. Didn't one of the kids attack the glowing entity? No wonder Genesis put everyone back in their rooms so soon.

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus heard the conversations erupting around him, and tried to maintain some semblance of reason and control. "We don't know what's going on. Escaping now might be a mistake. Just don't do anything stupid."

Genesis

The celestial beings heart broke when he saw Leon's fury. The worst part was, he wasn't entirely wrong. Genesis knew it was a bad idea, but hit appeared back in Leon's room. Its skin was a much darker, matte color now; fewer stars danced across it, and the eyes that had just previously been raging infernos were now just embers.

It stood there with no defense and didn't say anything at first. "I... I'm sorry, Leon, I didn't... I couldn't stop it. I couldn't save them all. But I tried."

[Auphelia]

Cyrus heard the conversations erupting around him, and tried to maintain some semblance of reason and control. "We don't know what's going on. Escaping now might be a mistake. Just don't do anything stupid."

Penelope's mind was scattered into a thousand shards, each their own autonomous system yet connected by her overarching consciousness. At first it had been disorienting, but Penelope grew to love swarming and the oddly good feeling that came with it. As the butterflies swirled through the ventilation systems she heard Cyrus' voice telling everyone not to escape yet. Darn it, you're right. Penelope thought it was unfair. First she tried to be a voice of reason, arguing to stay. Then when the mysterious creature that made them like this told them to leave, they wanted to stay. But can you make up your minds? If we leave now while that thing is active, it might be the perfect distraction! If we stay, who is to say that we won't end up like those things?

Showing her split, a few hundred butterflies landed inside of the ventilation shaft, about half began to fly back to her room, and a few dozen fluttered on, intent on freedom. Obviously we have to leave, and if not now, then when? This thing probably is going to put them on high alert!

The few butterflies that continued on found the exit right outside of the first floor exit, the only thing between them and freedom. It was a giant metal monstrosity, almost 50 cm thick and made of what seemed to be pure metal. It had a rubber seal all around the outside and no windows. This place must either have been quickly built or just not well designed. What's the point of an airtight door if all of the vents are connected to the outer compound? A black butterfly swooped down and gently landed on a button that read "Press To Open". Guys, I am outside of the main area. The door appears to only need a button to open. This place isn't built to protect us, it is built to trap us. Should I open it?

[Mundeo]

Subject #0009
Class C Mutant
Location: Dormitory

Leon's head snapped in Genesis' direction. He looked as if he were about to throw another punch, but he just stood there, his shoulders rising and falling with each weighted breath. His own eyes reflected the cinders of the ruined Titan county.

"You think that this is what it's about?" He hissed, his voice soft but venomous. "Just those that you weren't able to save? Have you ever stopped to think that it's because of you that they ended up there? Disected? Mutilated?"

His voice momentarily grew into a enraged cry, and he took a step forward, his mutated fist clenched in front of him. But his temper retreated, and he lowered his arm. There was so much that he wanted to say, so much that he wanted to ask, but all of the words muddled themselves in his mind, so he only asked one question:

"Why did you come here?

[Jaladristan]

James Garrett

To say that what just happened was intense would be an understatement. One moment they were all just standing in that bathroom. The next they were in this giant void with this creature called Genesis speaking to them, showing them their future in this forsaken place. Then it seemed like this Genesis creature looked James directly in his eyes. One pair of burning eyes staring into the other.

And as quickly as this weird experience had started it had ended, with James standing bewildered in his room. He didn't really know what just happened but he knew that he would need to get out of this vile facility right now. And looking into Genesis brightly burning eyes had given him an idea how he would accomplish that.

Once again having all night to think about and built stuff would prove useful when James pushed the metal frame of his bed against the wall and inserted the steel bars, he had removed a few days ago, into the positions he had designated. The result was a shaky construction that had steel bars that lined up nearly perfectly with the fans on James suit. His plan was to throw himself against these bars to jam the ventilators and thus prevent them from sealing of his suit when he attempted to melt his way out of it. “If this doesn’t work I’m done for.” James said to himself while taking a step forwards. “Freedom here I come.” He shouted while jumping backwards into the metal bars.

The fans of his suit made a terrible sound as the metal rods blocked their path, but it appeared as if the steel bars held. “Ok the easy part is done. Now comes the hard part.” James thought while he concentrated all of his willpower on his right hand. He felt it rising in temperature rapidly. He also felt how the small amount of air in his suit was draining away quickly. James stared intensively at his right hand, remembering the burning fire in Genesis eyes. Suddenly a stream of fire shot out of James eyes and hit the metal of his glove. This second source of heat proved to be too much for the suit to handle and the metal started to flow from James hand. Before his hand was completely free James had already pressed his insanely hot fingers against the suits torso. The heat quickly melted the metal where his finger touched it and James began to cut diagonally through the suits torso. With each centimetre he cut he could feel more and more air on his body and before long he had five long cuts in the armours chest. Now everything was way easier. He heated up his left hand as well and soon he was fanatically digging his way out of his suit with both hands.

After just a few seconds the upper half of the armour was ripped to pieces. With a liberating shout James pierced his helmet with his fingers and ripped it apart. The steel was like butter in his hands at this point. He decided that it was probably for the best if he left the bottom half mostly intact to avoid burning his tracks into the ground. So he mearly cut a few pieces out of the legs to allow more air to reach his legs. This time, upon seeing his burning body, James was not scared. He was even happy about it. Probably because having a literally untouchable body could come in quite handy when trying to escape from a prison. He made his way towards the door while sending a mental message to everyone he could reach. “I don't know about you guys but I'm on my way out. I'll try to cause a bit of havoc on my way so hopefully the staff will be busy. So if anyone wants to get out as well, now would be the time.”

[The Cyberiad Council]

Cyrus

"If We're going to do this, we need to do it together." Cyrus reached out to the facility with his mind and tried to cause as much chaos as he could. He focused on locking the doors to the sublevels, turning on the lights so they could see where they were going properly, and blasting static over the guard's comms. This could really be it. He unlocked the doors to their rooms for the second time that night and ran out into the hallway, directly into the line of sight of a pissed guard.

"What are doing out of your room? Stand down and get back inside." Acting more on reflex than conscious thought, Cyrus used his powers on the gun which caused it to disassemble into a shower of parts, and then reassemble out of the man's grip. Levitating the gun, Cyrus slammed it into the guard's temple, causing him to crumple to the ground.

Dropping the rifle, Cyrus used his powers to pull the man's pistol from its holster and fly into his hand. "Great. At least I'm armed."

"Come on, Everyone! We need to go while they're distracted. Meet up at the entrance to the first floor."

---

Genesis

"I didn't come here. I was born here just like you. I didn't come with the meteor, I was created by it. It was an accident. I tried to save them... I tried to save them all... I saved some, but then they were taken here!" In an act of rage and distraughtness, The door to the room was violently ripped off its hinges by an unseen force and slammed against the opposite side of the hall.

"There is so much to explain, but no time. You can save yourself, but you have to go."

[Chewion]

Brandon Kiser

Brandon ran from his cell and almost leveled a guard standing outside. Pausing for a moment he quickly knocked him out before turning to three more that had appeared. In a flash all three lay unconscious on the ground and Brandon stood possessing two pistols and an auto rifle. Going back into the cell he three Clifford one of the pistols and said “I’ll go ahead and clear them out. You need to get your sister out. This is a one time deal my friend.” As he said this his mind drifted to Kar. Running off he stooped in front of her room where a guard was standing. Quickly he smacked the back of his head with the butt of the gun before opening the door and grabbing Kar without a question.

Racing off towards the first floor he set Kar down as they got closer to the first floor door. Seeing Elizabeth and Penelope by the door he ran Kar over to them and handed Elizabeth his other pistol saying “If they come kill them. I’ll be right back.” He had to make sure everyone was out.

Using the psychic connection he found his destination. Within seconds he neared Leon’s room and saw two guards with their guns drawn getting ready to enter. Without hesitation he slammed the butt of the gun into each of their heads. Now standing in the doorway of Leon’s room he said to Leon “This is a breakout. We’re going.” Then looking at Genesis he calmly said “Help us. Prove you care for us. Help us escape. Tell us what to do when we’re out.”

[Jaladristan]

James Garrett

Stepping out of his room James had his suspicion confirmed when he saw a group of four guards making their way towards his room. They barely had time lift their rifles before being engulfed by a wall of fire fired from James left hand. It was unlikely to kill them but it gave James time to get out of the hallway. Without the weight of his suit to slow him down he was able to quickly make his way towards the cafeteria where he and the others were thrown out not to long ago. Time to fulfil his promise of causing havoc. James stepped into the room and started firing in random directions hoping to ignite something explosive. Sadly the explosion he had hoped for didn’t happen, but the room was burning nonetheless. The rooms sprinklers activated and started to douse the fire. “Not my best idea…” James said as water evaporated on him. But insanely satisfying nonetheless. Ok enough fun. Time to get back on track.

Just as James left the cafeteria a guard managed to ambush him and aimed the barrel of his gun at his head. “Ok hotshot your little escape is over.” The guard said while inching closer towards James. Until he got a little to close and James was able to quickly grab his gun. The stench of burning plastic filled the air as James hand burned through the gun. The startled guard let go of his weapon and ran away. For a moment James contemplated setting the guard on fire for what he had tried. But then a voice sounded through his head telling him to meet with the others at the first level entrance and so James let the guard go and made his way towards the exit on the first floor. When he arrived at the huge door he noticed that he was not the first to reach it. Two of the girls were already standing there. “Nice day for a prison break isn't it?” He said while looking at the door. If this way just the first of many obstacles than this escape would be harder than James had hoped.

[Auphelia]

Penelope, still in butterfly form, heard the song begin to end. Acting quickly, she summoned all of the butterflies into an intense cyclone of black and white, swirling together faster and faster until it was only Penelope standing there, or rather, sitting down from dizziness. A new song began and she immediately began to grow fur and gain the mass of a small car. Her skeleton rearranged itself, growing longer and denser, her muscles grew to fit this. A thick layer of blubber formed and teeth emerged from her gums, sharpened to points. Her hands melded together into paws as her fingernails thickened and lengthened into claws. She caught sight of her new form in the mirror and saw that she was a polar bear.

Well, I suppose this isn't a stealth mission anymore. Penelope stood up to her full height and pressed the button, causing the door's hydraulic locks to undo and the door itself to swing inward. She saw one of the girls with a gun standing there and several other kids zipping around. Girl, should we go now? Penelope's mind was getting simpler, more primal, to her dismay. She had less room for advanced thought to make way for natural instincts. She still had some human aspects, but could feel that if she tried to do even simple addition . . . wait, what addition? Escape. Yes. Girl, we go now? Yes? Her body was still growing, but slowing down, now just expanding by a few millimetres every few seconds. She expanded her message to all. Door open. Now go? She roared, though she hadn't willed it. Dumb powers. Bad.

[Mundeo]

Subject #0009
Class C Mutant
Location: Dormitory

Leon gave one last hatefull glare at Genesis before turning his attention to Brandon, who had just knocked out a couple of guards and informed him it was a breakout.

"A breakout, huh? I never got the idea we were going to escape" Leon remarked, the sarcasm in his voice obvious. "I hope you're not here to rub some more toast in my face"

The teen exited through the door to his dorm - or what was left of the hinges - and nonchalantly stepped over the unconscious guards. He started to make his way down the corridor, but he heardly made a couple of steps before he stumbled forward, collapsing onto his knees with his mutated arm as his only balance.

"Ugh... dammit" He grunted, rising back up to his feet. That was going to be a major problem if he doesn't do anything about it; then he remembered Dr. Kerry's advice.

'I only want to help you, Leon'

Leon focused on his right arm, and the alien substance that had taken over it. Much like he did during his evaluation, he imagined the individual molecules of the crystal rearranding themselves, making the whole structure lighter and more compact...

"There. That should make things easier" Leon lifted up his reformed arm. Now it was almost identical to his unaffected arm in size and shape, minus the blue, polygonal appearance. He held his hand in front of him, wiggling narrow, prismatic fingers.

"Stop where you are!"

Several more guards had appeared on the scene, all armed, and some armored. They all had their weapons trained on the two mutants.

"It looks like the welcoming party's arrived" Leon said to Brandon. "Come on, Barry. Don't dissapoint me"

The teen then charged holding his arm in front of him. The crystal strcture suddenly widened, forming a crude shield just in time to recieve the first volley of gunfire. Some sparks on the arm were the only indication that any bullets were fired at all. In the next moment, Leon shoulder tackled the first guard, knocking his gun out of his hand. With his free hand, Leon caught the gun out of the air, and made a pinpoint turn to face the guards. Holding the pistol over his arm like a natural riot shield, Leon now had the guards stuck between two mutants, one on each side.

[The Land of Golden Blobfish]

Alex Foil

Oh boy...

As interesting as things got, the situation escalated far too quickly for Alex. Before he knew it, the whole place was in full-on panic mode. Mutants were rushing every which way with guards hot on their tail. Sirens went off. It was incredibly irritable, even more so that now he actually had to do something. He technically could just lay back in bed and take a load off like he had originally planned but, in all honesty, it was too late for that now. Now he had to put in some real effort if he wanted to catch up with everyone, however, there were some things he had to do first.

Eh, while all the others are causing havoc in their little escape plan I might as well take advantage of it.

Alex walked out of his bedroom and directly into the wall in front of his doorway. The hallway on the other side was just as empty, as if everyone had already rushed through it a long time ago, but it wasn't like that mattered anyway. Upon the next wall he imagined that it was like one of those walls at a rock climbing gym, that there were holes within it. And just like that there was. He began to climb up the wall itself, allowing his feet and arms to go through it and then materialize the small areas underneath them to give him support, like rails of a ladder. I didn't take long for him to scale several floors using this method. Finally he arrived at the destined floor, standing before the storage room.

"There's one! Take aim!"

Across the hallway stood a group of guards, assault rifles drawn.

"Oh hey, nice day we're having right fellas-"

"FIRE!"

The room was lit up by the spray of bullets, machine guns flared as hundreds of cartridges fell to the ground. Within an instant it was over.

"Well, that wasn't nice," Alex stood there perfectly fine. "But in all honesty I got a sort of mission I gotta do. See ya!" And as soon as he appeared, the boy quickly dissapeared through the locked door to the storage room. Once there, he took his time to collect what he needed. It wasn't like any of them were going to get in anytime soon anyway...
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alex strolled down a flight of stairs with a duffle bag full of food, not what Cyrus had asked for but he couldn't care less about what the others had planned. They do what they wanted, he would probably just tag along for the ride. That is, if they actually got out. Turning around a corner, he met face to face with another guard. Reacting immediately, the man raised his baton and tried to hit Alex, only for it to pass right through him.

"Tsk tsk," Alex sighed as he grabbed the weapon, making it suddenly pass right out of the guard's grip, "get a grip, moron." He threw the baton to the side and kept going.

"None of you got a chance with me, go find edgelord or someone."

And just with such luck, after turning around another corner he found Brandon and Leon beating up some guards.

"Wow, speak of the devil much."