Evo Academy Common Room [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Ridai

2016-11-10, 09:09 AM

Sitting cross-legged in her armchair, dressed in a simple yet sleek dark-blue thin long-sleeved shirt and black sweatpants, the only thing that can be heard from Akemi is the rapidfire quiet clicking of her laptop's keyboard. The Japanese girl is technically busy writing reports about the last mission (shouldering most of the duties in terms of post-operation documentation and procedures), drafting in her everchanging shorthand that looks utterly incomprehensible, as if someone decided that talking in code using all languages and various numeric systems wasn't even trying. Yet she is sitting in the common room, which means she is generally available to be talked to. Quite many come to her for one reason or another, most often seeking help with homework/various topics from class, or needing someone to look at what's up with their PC/phone, or wanting to hang out.

Those who look closely may realize that she is talking right now, though without making any sounds. Her roommate Rina is sitting beside her, writing up the last bits of her project, occasionally bouncing a few things off Akemi for feedback or asking a question about a tricky topic or bit of language. Of course, she can't be heard either. Only few people know the extend of Rina's vibration control, the Russian girl directly stimulating Akemi's eardrum to talk to her, and feeling the motions of Akemi's mouth to "hear" what the girl is replying. One reason is to not disturb others nearby (some being rather allergic to school stuff in their free time), another is to help Rina practice her abilities and not having to rely on synesthesia to understand Akemi. After a few minutes, Rina triumphantly closes her notebook with a smile, then retrieves a muffin, presenting it to Akemi on a napkin.

"Oh, thank you," Akemi says as she takes the muffin, Rina shaking her head. "That is my line," she responds with a chuckle, her soft speech colored by her Russian accent. "Let me know when you are practicing again." Rina smiles sheepishly, answering "Will do."

Just then, the new arrivals enter the room, Akemi scanning all of them, knowing a few from the last mission. She does not need to stare long, a few seconds are enough to finish with the initial collection of information. Noticably tougher crowd, less fortunate pasts. It will be interesting to see how they change the local dynamics. As the counselor passes, Akemi greets her ("Hello Ms. Amori"). They are well acquainted, given Akemi's regular meetings with her to make sure her ongoing mental development is coming along nicely.

To the new crowd, she calls over "Hey everyone. Grab a muffin and a seat. Make yourselves at home," adding a smile before she turns back to her laptop (not as if she stopped typing while any of this happened).

Rhyvurg

2016-11-10, 09:09 PM

Malcolm stands away from the group, both because he didn't want to actually hurt someone, but also because he's just better than they are. But muffins though... He waits for people to move away from the table before getting one. Seeing the cute Asian girl, he walks over, leaning against a wall so he can cross his arms and look all buff and hot, which of course he was. "Heyyy, what's your name?"

Ridai

2016-11-11, 04:30 AM

Zen Gypsy

2016-11-11, 05:45 AM

Alex walked into the room wearing loose fitting tracks, and a tight fitted tee underneath his hoodie. His hair was still wet, and he was drying it with a towel from the gym. His head was turned, talking to Vie behind him, "Yeah, you need to be careful with the side vault, you want to place your hands first, then swing your legs through. Release the hand nearest your legs, but make sure your opposite hand is rooted enough to support the weight. Then you kick off and run through." He paused, "Muffin?"

As he turned eyes forward, he almost walked into Malcolm sitting there crackling against the wall, "Whoa! New-guy!" He deftly stepped around him, "May want to watch it dude, there's an outlet behind you and you're packing what? 200? 300 Volts? You'll piss off the Headmaster if he has to call in the contractors to re-wire the dorms every time you decide to strike a pose."

He sat on a stool close to the breakfast bar, looked at the plate, looked to Vie, and tossed her a muffin. He'd been training with her often enough to know her metabolism kicked up a notch when she used her powers. He looked back to Malcolm, "Name's Alek by the way, I'd shake your hand and all, but I'd like to keep my iPod & phone from exploding."

He clicked on the TV on the opposite wall, and switched the channel over to CNN, and turned the volume down so as not to distract Akemi, or the other students doing work, and settled in watching the scrolling headlines along the bottom of the screen. As he looked at the election polls he mumbled to himself, "Ugggh, this election is gonna be ugly. And the topic of Evo's didn't even come up in the first presidential debate, that can't be good for any of us."

Ridai

2016-11-11, 07:06 AM

Akemi waves to Vie and Alek, calling over "Hey Vie, how are the energy bars working out for you?" Calculating Viessa's ideal nutrition wasn't hard, so Akemi tried making a few bars packed with everything a high level athlete with a ludicrous caloric needs requires to stay healthy and help develop one's body. Basically a snack for when she extensively uses her powers, though for most people, one bar would be closer to a complete meal, nutrition-wise. They came out nicely, predominantly tasting like peanut butter with a hint of honey so far, having a nice mouth feel, but if Viessa doesn't feel good after eating them or doesn't like the taste, feel etc. then the recipe will need some work.

Hearing about the election, Akemi doesn't seem too bothered. "With the current precedents, I doubt there is enough to base anti-Evo legislation upon. Currently, there isn't even a surefire way to identify Evos if they don't have obvious abilities. There will always be hate groups, but it takes more to initiate a witch hunt, even with hyperbolic election drama involved."

Rhyvurg

2016-11-11, 07:12 AM

As expected, the most likely outcome did occur. It's not like she isn't used to it to some extend, as it validates a long-observed pattern. Never ceasing her rapid typing, she glances up to the newcomer, her gaze moving straight towards eye contact with no sign of wanting to wander to other body parts. "Akemi, nice to meet you. Yours?" the girl asks, switching to one-handed typing as she takes a bite out of her muffin. She knows the answer already, but that would make for poor conversation and only serve the purpose of showing off.

"Malcolm Reyes. Yeah, THAT Malcolm. So, you're smart huh? I can dig it, nerd girls are hot. What's your thing? Everyone here has one."

As he turned eyes forward, he almost walked into Malcolm sitting there crackling against the wall, "Whoa! New-guy!" He deftly stepped around him, "May want to watch it dude, there's an outlet behind you and you're packing what? 200? 300 Volts? You'll piss off the Headmaster if he has to call in the contractors to re-wire the dorms every time you decide to strike a pose."

He sat on a stool close to the breakfast bar, looked at the plate, looked to Vie, and tossed her a muffin. He'd been training with her often enough to know her metabolism kicked up a notch when she used her powers. He looked back to Malcolm, "Name's Alek by the way, I'd shake your hand and all, but I'd like to keep my iPod & phone from exploding."

Malcolm turns to look at the other guy. "Might as well get started. I'm the new top dog around here. Everywhere has a pecking order, and I'm going to be at the top of this one. You should do the smart thing and get used to it fast." He moves slightly closer, using his sheer bulk and dangerous touch to slowly invade Alex's personal space.

He clicked on the TV on the opposite wall, and switched the channel over to CNN, and turned the volume down so as not to distract Akemi, or the other students doing work, and settled in watching the scrolling headlines along the bottom of the screen. As he looked at the election polls he mumbled to himself, "Ugggh, this election is gonna be ugly. And the topic of Evo's didn't even come up in the first presidential debate, that can't be good for any of us."

[color=red]"Election? What are you, old?"

Yabex

2016-11-11, 07:50 AM

Lucy was perched on a window ledge toward the back of the room. She was wearing grey pants and a black zip up sweater with multiple buckles down the sleeves. Her hood was pulled up, her headphones were on, and she was shopping for clothes on her phone.

Lucy looked over at the group of students as they arrived then returned to what she had been doing. As Malcom walked over to Akemi and posed, Lucy rolled her eyes. It didnt take someone with psychic intuition to tell what was on his mind, and she was sure Akemi was well aware. Lucy turned down her music so she could hear what was going on but left her headphones on to deter others from talking to her.

Lucy cringed internally as she observed Malcolm's rapidly offensive interaction with her classmates. This isnt going to end well.

Ridai

2016-11-11, 08:01 AM

Malcolm's boast is met with a pleasant, faint smile. One can almost see the words just glide off of the girl's serene exterior. "It comes down to me having a weird brain, so nothing flashy. I learn fast, know a lot, and I'm good at figuring things out. I'm guessing your power is that you collect powers, given how many different abilities you have?"

Watching Malcolm going full macho, Akemi stays her usual serene self. "Fascinating. Do tell what being top dog means here."

Zen Gypsy

2016-11-11, 08:16 AM

Alek smiled, held back a laugh. Then he looked at Malcolm, his face straightened. "Wow, seriously? Is your ability testosterone or something?"

He locked eyes with Malcolm dealt serious, "Am I old? No, but I try to be educated, informed. It's because I try to be informed that I read your file new-guy. Captured, put in a cage, collared like a dog. Made to fight, sure they threw you a few bones but you were treated like a caged animal. Made to fight, not for anything other than profit for your owners. You were a slave man, and that's f^&king sad. I feel for you man, I really do, but look around you new guy," without stepping back he swept his arm around indicating the entire academy.

"This ain't a cage, we aren't your enemies. We want to be your friends, your allies, your team mates, help you move from caged and collared to free. Let's not start out with a pissing contest, let's start out as equals."

"So I'll give you a pass man, so again my name is Alek, and if you ever want to blow off steam in the exercise room, I'm down." He smiled, keeping his eyes locked with the larger man, "but as friends, kay? Not enemies."

Rhyvurg

2016-11-11, 07:59 PM

Malcolm sneers. "I was a champion, and it took someone like me to finally bring me down. But if you think anything's changed, you're mistaken. The strong will dominate, rise to the top. And that's me."

Recherché

2016-11-11, 08:38 PM

A blonde punky looking girl wanders in a little late. On one hand Kerri is not a morning person unlike some speedsters. On the other hand what teenager can resist the siren call of muffins?

Please tell me there are chocolate ones left somewhere in here? I mean statistically shouldn't there be at least one?

Still digging through the pile of baked goods in search of the least healthy option possible she calls out to the new people.

Hi, I'm Kerri AKA Mesmer, that's Viessa over there. She points to a redheaded woman who's face looks very similar. Yes we are related, but its honestly in a way that makes no sense outside of comic books. According to the official paperwork we're cousins though. We've been here almost since the beginning if you have any questions for us.

Oh and fair warning, I only have partial control over my abilities so please don't touch me. I mean it won't be dangerous or anything but it'll be embarrassing to both of us. That said it's not likely to happen by accident. Kerri gestures at the simple cloth gloves she wears most of the time.

No need to tell them exactly what I can do and get them freaked out already. Who knows maybe one of them will even stay friend after they find out what I can mind rape them.

<Hey you guys mind keeping my abilities on a need to know basis for a while? I'm not going to invade the new people's heads I . . . I just don't want them to start out suspicious and hating me.> The broadcast going out to all the old hands in the room sounds resigned and tired.

Hearing about the election, Akemi doesn't seem too bothered. "With the current precedents, I doubt there is enough to base anti-Evo legislation upon. Currently, there isn't even a surefire way to identify Evos if they don't have obvious abilities. There will always be hate groups, but it takes more to initiate a witch hunt, even with hyperbolic election drama involved."

They may not be able to identify the real Evos but I don't think that will stop the witch hunt if it gets started. I mean have you looked at the history of the original witch hunts? The object of persecution don't even need to really exist, much less be identifiable for hysteria and persecution to set in. Kerri frowns and rubs at her eyes. I'm more worried for the kids who aren't actually Evos but who are just a little too fast, a little too strong, or a little too smart and end up getting lynched for abilities they don't even have.

And don't I know about people being suspicious of you for something you haven't even done with no evidence. Why do people keep thinking that I want to pry into their heads and listen to every possible secret? It's not like there's anything in it for me.

Drawing her attention back to the topic at hand. I mean I really doubt there will be explicitly anti-evo legislation coming up soon but that doesn't mean that the authorities won't turn a blind eye.

"Malcolm Reyes. Yeah, THAT Malcolm. So, you're smart huh? I can dig it, nerd girls are hot. What's your thing? Everyone here has one."

Malcolm turns to look at the other guy. "Might as well get started. I'm the new top dog around here. Everywhere has a pecking order, and I'm going to be at the top of this one. You should do the smart thing and get used to it fast." He moves slightly closer, using his sheer bulk and dangerous touch to slowly invade Alex's personal space.

Kerri sends the mental equivalent of a giggle over to Akemi at first but as Malcom continues she grows less amused. <What do you think should we bring down his delusions of grandeur hard or try to ease him down? I suppose he hasn't done anything threatening yet and we can always bring him down hard later . . .> The mental voice quiets down to a conspiratorial whisper <But it would be so funny/But it would make me a bully> she sends simultaneously

Why do you think there's hierarchy among the students here? Why not let us help you and help us in return? We're more together than we could ever be separately. Kerri forces her body posture to remain open and welcoming. Besides by declaring a pecking order and putting yourself at the top of it, you are creating the social structure that will oppose you. You're aggressiveness forms the alliance against you. Or to put it another way, you just declared yourself a bully and a whole lot of people here don't like bullies and will make life harder for you if you keep trying to act like one.

Zen Gypsy

2016-11-11, 08:43 PM

Alek just sighed and shook his head. "Whatever, new guy. This ain't a sport, our actions have reactions, implications. If you wanna play bull in a china shop, that's your call. But watch yourself, we got strict rules on using powers outside of the practice room." He paused, "so step back before you end up pulling demerits."

He walked past Malcolm back towards Akemi, Lucy and Vie. "As I was sayin' before new-guy interrupted, the thing is these hate groups attract radicals. Hell, some of them claim to have Evo-detectors. There've been a couple missing persons cases I've been following out on the West coast ... could be related."

What he didn't tell anyone was that he was concerned that the missing person cases involved children around the age of twelve or thirteen. Right around the time when his own powers had begun to develop, and he was worried that his mother's organization was the one tracking these developing Evo's, identifying them, and abducting them.

Ridai

2016-11-12, 08:53 AM

Naturally, Akemi supports Kerri's desire to not reveal her powers right away. The media really hasn't helped matters and people like to jump to conclusions.

In response to Kerri's psychic message, Akemi's words emerge from the complex cascade of information and thoughts that is the natural state of the girl's mind. "<He only knows one type of environment, or at least his mind has been locked into it. Such things are hard to undo. Most likely, we will have to wait for him to reach the moment of insight that allows him to accept the way of life around here. Ignoring or ostracizing him might very well slow that process or even prevent it. Try to engage him, but also don't be afraid to show him that, no, things don't work around here like he thinks they do. I don't think we need an intervention yet, that would be rather premature and achieve very little. He can't start caring if nothing has been presented to possibly care about.>"

Responding to Kerri and Alek about the witch hunts: "Oh, I know that people can do a lot of things if they are afraid or angry, but we are not there yet. It would need either need a demagogue able to incite people akin to the more infamous ones in history, a catastrophic or highly compromising Evo-related event, or the government starting to persecute Evos in general. Currently, none of those are present. We need to watch out and there will always be cases of hate crimes, yes, but until things actually get worse, we cannot give in to blanket suspicion and fear, because that can just as well lead to the equivalent of what we are concerned about from our side against non-Evos. In the meantime, we should focus on being the best we can be, set positive precedents, and work against those hate groups." Akemi keeps typing, looking at her now finished draft she is starting to revise and edit. Even with the subjects discussed, she sounds calm, the topic being nothing new for her.

Hearing about missing people cases, Akemi glances to Alek. "Do you want me to look into them?" After all, finding patterns is what Akemi does.

Yabex

2016-11-12, 02:51 PM

Lucy continues to listen in on the conversations happening in the room, pretending not to be. Here goes Alek again. Alek was just trying to help, Lucy knew that, but the way he says he "understands" how others feel, especially when he has never lived in a cage, always rubbed her the wrong way. She assumed the same would be true for Malcom. In fact, she expected Malcom to explode at the comments like she might, but his response was rather tame. Maybe he wasn't quite as ferocious as she'd assumed. Still, she was going to keep an eye on him.

When the conversation moved into politics and anti Evo groups, Lucy began to turn her music up a bit so she couldn't hear it. She didn't concern herself with that sort of thing. As she started to tune it all out, she heard Alek mention the missing persons. Lucy felt a shiver run down her spine. The Collective? No, probably not. You're fine. Lucy finished cranking up the volume on her phone and started blankly at the screen, receding into her own thoughts.

Rhyvurg

2016-11-12, 07:23 PM

Why do you think there's hierarchy among the students here? Why not let us help you and help us in return? We're more together than we could ever be separately. Kerri forces her body posture to remain open and welcoming.

"Because there always is. Humanity is bred to fight for dominance, and different circles have different basis for hierarchy. Social, intellectual, physical, weapons change but the contest is the same."

Besides by declaring a pecking order and putting yourself at the top of it, you are creating the social structure that will oppose you. You're aggressiveness forms the alliance against you. Or to put it another way, you just declared yourself a bully and a whole lot of people here don't like bullies and will make life harder for you if you keep trying to act like one.

He laughs, smirking. "Good. Winning doesn't mean anything unless you have to fight for it. How long before the school realizes training exercises will have to be me, alone, against entire groups? How many does it take to match Malcolm "Hybrid" Reyes?"

Ridai

2016-11-12, 08:17 PM

Zen Gypsy

2016-11-13, 08:25 AM

Hearing about missing people cases, Akemi glances to Alek. "Do you want me to look into them?" After all, finding patterns is what Akemi does.

Alek walked over to Akemi, running a hand through his hair, looking decidedly more nervous than when Malcolm was threatening him. "Yeah, uhh, that'd be cool, maybe we can review my notes later?" There was a look in his eyes, awkward, curious, but to those who were paying attention, something about the thought of the missing persons case was making him uncomfortable.

He dropped down on the floor, leaning against Akemi's chair and pulled out a copy J.J. Colado's book, 'Behind the Mask: Ethics of a Hero', from the coffee table and began to peruse the forward. "What's the deal with Colado? He was a B-list mastermind type villain in the 90's, served his time in the Ultra-Max and now he's here? Teaching ethics?"

Hey Tegu, any chance we can get a list of the Academy's staff & faculty? As well as some other students?

Ridai

2016-11-13, 12:02 PM

Akemi smiles reassuringly. "Sure. Let me know when it is most convenient for you."

Hearing about the book, Akemi uploads the finished report and notifies the Headmaster, taking the time to stretch and have a little break. "He has a unique perspective on the matter that adds some valuable insights. In addition to that, studying him reveals a lot about what makes so-called villains tick as well as motivations and circumstances leading down that road and, in rare cases like him, back off it."

Recherché

2016-11-15, 02:58 AM

It is starting to get a little repetitive, Akemi must admit. A very small and simple pattern already overexposed, yet underexplained in one way. As Akemi finishes her revisions, she begins to translate the text into English, not looking up from her laptop as she speaks. "So, what do you expect to get out of being top dog here?" she asks openly, neither mocking nor accusatory. Those rarely help with gathering data, unless one is actually observing behavior instead of making a real inquiry.

Kerri almost has a blistering lecture about chimps, bonobos, Hobbs, Rousseau and the nature of humanity ready but then Akemi asks her question cutting to the chase. So she instead just sends the other girl a mental high five and readies herself for the answer.

He dropped down on the floor, leaning against Akemi's chair and pulled out a copy J.J. Colado's book, 'Behind the Mask: Ethics of a Hero', from the coffee table and began to peruse the forward. "What's the deal with Colado? He was a B-list mastermind type villain in the 90's, served his time in the Ultra-Max and now he's here? Teaching ethics?"

I heard that he's taking over Dr. Nanami's class next semester. Kind of not looking forwards to it myself. reformed or not he kind of gives me the creeps sometimes. It almost feels like he didn't really change his opinions that much just his methods if that makes sense to anyone else.

Finally having given up on finding chocolate muffins left, the blonde settles down in one of the chairs with a mug of tea, a second rate blueberry muffin and her own laptop to start typing up homework.

Think the headmaster would be offended if I asked if I could transfer classes? I mean if my gpa were a little better I'd ask about seeing if I could go for the private tutoring option, but I don't think he'd spring for that and for the advanced psych classes as is.

Akemi smiles reassuringly. "Sure. Let me know when it is most convenient for you."

Keep me up to date as well? Sounds like it could be our next project. Or worse it could be our next mission and I don't want to go in as unprepared as last time.

Rhyvurg

2016-11-15, 04:39 AM

Ridai

2016-11-15, 05:34 AM

The grin becomes even more smug. "Anything I want."
"Fascinating, please do give a few examples," Akemi continues in her curious tone, taking another bite out of her muffin.

I heard that he's taking over Dr. Nanami's class next semester. Kind of not looking forwards to it myself. reformed or not he kind of gives me the creeps sometimes. It almost feels like he didn't really change his opinions that much just his methods if that makes sense to anyone else.
"Admittedly, the mentioned insights are more observations about him than what he actually says or puts to paper. He has trouble not being a quote unquote mastermind in some capacity. On the upside, it is only for the duration of Dr. Nanami's sabbatical and the headmaster did not make the decision lightly."

Think the headmaster would be offended if I asked if I could transfer classes? I mean if my gpa were a little better I'd ask about seeing if I could go for the private tutoring option, but I don't think he'd spring for that and for the advanced psych classes as is.
Kerri feels Akemi's patterns briefly move in a way she could equate to multi-layered mandalas somehow unfolding and moving within one another. Fascinating to experience, and strangely calming (when Akemi controls her patterns enough to not overwhelm). "<Too many people or the wrong people?>" she asks mentally, Kerri knowing Akemi won't force an answer, but she also would prefer her friend to tell her instead of deducing the answer.

Keep me up to date as well? Sounds like it could be our next project. Or worse it could be our next mission and I don't want to go in as unprepared as last time.
"Will do."

Zen Gypsy

2016-11-15, 05:55 AM

Akemi smiles reassuringly. "Sure. Let me know when it is most convenient for you."

While Alek had been content to let the issue drop, and speak with Akemi privately, Kerri brought it up again. As much as the young woman unnerved him, the similarities between his sister and Kerri were remarkable, and he just needed to remind himself that she only wanted to help. When he responded, he did so, as he didn't want new guy overhearing.

"Yeah, it's just, the m.o. reminds me of the Salvation squad that tried to stop ...," he paused, steeled himself, "that killed my dad, and my sister, and I'd prefer not to let them tear any other families apart."

He went back to flipping through his Ethics book, half listening to the conversation, until new-guy spoke again. Wow, he was just shocked. He looked up from where he was sitting, laughed, "Hey! New-guy. Maybe you should read Colado's book. Sounds like you're halfway to megalomaniac yourself."

Ridai

2016-11-15, 06:32 AM

"Yeah, it's just, the m.o. reminds me of the Salvation squad that tried to stop ...," he paused, steeled himself, "that killed my dad, and my sister, and I'd prefer not to let them tear any other families apart."
Akemi gives a subtle nod, not wanting to provide hooks that might continue this branch of conversation further. In preparation of the meeting, she begins to recall related knowledge.

Koryander

2016-11-19, 03:31 PM

She pouts somewhat, she was about to talk, but she let the exchange finish. "So! Um. Right! Those... those energy bars have been great!" She eagerly says, trying to hearken back to older, nicer discussion. "Yeah. Sure is great."

The mood in the air was like as if mommy and daddy just took swings at eachother at the dinner table.

"So! About that Colado guy! I'm not taking ethics. So."

Another awkward silence. Having failed to rebound the conversation, she stuffs a muffin into her mouth and gives a thumbs up.

Ridai

2016-11-19, 07:54 PM

The by now tense and dark mood is fairly standard to be in for Akemi, but she does prefer a friendlier atmosphere in the company of others. With Malcolm present, it might be very hard to get to that, but there is no harm in trying by taking the opportunity offered by Viessa.

"That is good to hear. Would you like another batch, with your input and choice of flavor, or are you good for now?" she asks (at the same time giving Vie a pain-free way to let Akemi know she didn't like the bars all that much). At the same time while Alek is distracted, the girl reaches down and jabs the remote with pinpoint accuracy, switching to a Last Airbender re-run, which pretty much says "enough doom and gloom for today".

Recherché

2016-11-19, 08:26 PM

Vie tries to continue to talk through the muffin she’s devouring but talks through muffin, nothing is understood

<You know you can just talk to me with your thoughts instead of trying to use your vocal cords while eating.> Kerri reminds her.

<But then I can't flake out of the situation! Which I'm clearly doing.>

<The horrors of having a telepath for a cousin.> Kerri forces her mental voice as deadpan as she can make it while Vie finally finishes the muffins she grabbed

“Shhh, I am one with the muffin.”

"I'll let you try to ascend to bakery nirvana on your own then.” After second’s pause she considers the possibility and tries not to laugh "Hmm, it could be the next big thing in meditation."

"I'll get there! I have lofty yet obtainable goals." Somehow another muffin has already appeared in Vie’s hand. "Muffin Nirvana is a very loosely defined thing! I may already be halfway there!"

"Let me know when you achieve Buddha-hood and I can auction off your stuff as sacred artifacts." The blonde tries to return to the chapter on power classification but finds herself unable to concentrate in the face of this much Vie-ness

"I'm going to need the whole bowl for that. And probably another. You know." Now the speedster has almost an entire bowl’s worth of wrappers in front of her. "You know how it is!"

"I hate your metabolism so very much sometimes. You won't even gain a pound."

Vie sneaks in a wide grin, winking, before making shifty eyes towards Malcom, frowning, "So, what do you think he means by 'Anything I want?', that's kind of broad, transparent, non-palpable goals."

Kerri can’t let the opportunity to tease Vie fly by "Wait does this mean you were actually listening in ethics?Or did-"

"Yeah! I did my remedial courses. That's it though, no more of that."

“But yes the question for you then is "What do you want?” <Mr. Beat PunchBeef> she adds on for Vie along with a condescended summary of Babylon 5 and Mystery Science Theater

Rhyvurg

2016-11-20, 02:30 AM

"Fascinating, please do give a few examples," Akemi continues in her curious tone, taking another bite out of her muffin.

He leans in a little, lowering his voice slightly. "You, if I wanted to."

He went back to flipping through his Ethics book, half listening to the conversation, until new-guy spoke again. Wow, he was just shocked. He looked up from where he was sitting, laughed, "Hey! New-guy. Maybe you should read Colado's book. Sounds like you're halfway to megalomaniac yourself."

"Who is Colado and why should I care?"

Recherché

2016-11-20, 03:46 AM

He leans in a little, lowering his voice slightly. "You, if I wanted to."

<I would offer you a hand but I think you have Smoke ManMuscle firmly in control for right now.> The mental voice comes across with equal parts tittering amusement and concern should he try to make things physical.

"Who is Colado and why should I care?"

Simultaneously Kerri relaxes her voice as she speaks to Malcom. No need to let him know how she actually feels about him right now. As we said, former B-list supervillain. He did a whole bunch of stuff involving genetic engineering and kidnapping in the pursuit of creating his perfect utopia back when we were toddlers. Then had a "revelation" in prison, decided to go straight, published a tell-all book and is now one of the teachers at this school. As for why you should care, I dunno maybe you shouldn't. But maybe you'll end up in his class.

Ridai

2016-11-20, 07:36 AM

He leans in a little, lowering his voice slightly. "You, if I wanted to."
"Ah, the effects of a pretty face and large breasts," Akemi notes, as it gives plain evidence to what she has known to be true the moment Malcolm entered the room. "So given the desired outcome for you is me in slutty clothes as well as making me scream your name in your bed, the two most interesting questions are how you intend to bring that about as well as how you feel about not having steel skin in the company of someone with in-depth knowledge of human anatomy," Akemi muses, considering the optons of the various scenarios, taking another bite out of her muffin and sucking a crumb off her fingertip. "Given that you already said you are at the top, yet you still feel threatened enough to have all your powers activated, I feel there is a certain clash of priorities and-" Another thought occurs to the girl. "Ah, quick question about your top dog status: is that limited to the student body or does that include the academy staff?"

Rhyvurg

2016-11-20, 06:41 PM

"Ah, the effects of a pretty face and large breasts," Akemi notes, as it gives plain evidence to what she has known to be true the moment Malcolm entered the room. "So given the desired outcome for you is me in slutty clothes as well as making me scream your name in your bed, the two most interesting questions are how you intend to bring that about as well as how you feel about not having steel skin in the company of someone with in-depth knowledge of human anatomy," Akemi muses, considering the optons of the various scenarios, taking another bite out of her muffin and sucking a crumb off her fingertip. "Given that you already said you are at the top, yet you still feel threatened enough to have all your powers activated, I feel there is a certain clash of priorities and-" Another thought occurs to the girl. "Ah, quick question about your top dog status: is that limited to the student body or does that include the academy staff?"

Malcolm looks at her silently for a moment, head cocked. "Are you genuinely this socially inexperienced, or is this calculated to get some kind of rise out of me? And if I were to touch you, the screaming you'd do would be the kind of thing that makes people call an ambulance." He snaps his fingers, causing a spark. "Some parts of life I don't get to enjoy, so I take my fun where I can get it."

Recherché

2016-11-20, 06:58 PM

Malcolm looks at her silently for a moment, head cocked. "Are you genuinely this socially inexperienced, or is this calculated to get some kind of rise out of me? And if I were to touch you, the screaming you'd do would be the kind of thing that makes people call an ambulance." He snaps his fingers, causing a spark. "Some parts of life I don't get to enjoy, so I take my fun where I can get it."

Akemi's just really blunt unless she has a reason to not speak her mind directly. Also wow, your ability is horrible if you can't turn that off. And this is coming from someone with some bad side effects herself. Kerri tugs briefly at the cheap cotton gloves she wears. And if you can turn it off what's your trauma that a life spent celibate and electrocuting people is worth the few seconds it takes to reactivate that. Do you feel so in danger that you can never let your guard down even around those you trust most? Did someone betray you that intimately? Or is it that you could never trust anyone because you already made everyone hate you in the process of getting to the top of your imaginary ladder already and you know they'd stab you if they could? Or maybe it started out as one and is becoming the other?

Rhyvurg

2016-11-21, 01:02 AM

Malcolm turns to face Kerri. "Let me tell you something about trust. Trust is a tool used to manipulate the weak. You trust people, when you can't trust yourself. When you can't take care of yourself, defend yourself, alone. Trusting others just leaves you open to be betrayed. I was betrayed once. Never again."

Ridai

2016-11-21, 06:48 AM

Good progress. "All that is important to know for us. Thing is, no, you don't need to trust us right away, or immediately believe that this is a safe place for everyone here based on cooperation. That is seeing things for yourself and a healthy trait to have. But at the same time, you are bringing the arena here and believe things work here as they worked there. The vast majority of the students here come from all walks of life and have been through a lot of crap in one way or another, and the last thing they want is someone coming here to poison one of the few places where people like us are welcome. You've been through a lot of crap as well, but the world outside the arena is at the same time better and worse than what you are used to. Things are not as simple as you might think. So here's an offer: ease back on the pecking order thing and try life how it is here at the academy for a while. If you're willing to meet us halfway, we are too. If you want someone to assist with that process who doesn't beat around the bush with how things are and who can take a rougher personality, feel free to ask me. Ideally, you can be at home here as much as everyone else. If you end up feeling this is not the right place for you, you can always talk to the headmaster about it."

Akemi stands up, one hand on her hip as she makes eye contact with Malcolm, with perhaps a shocking degree of openness. "Either way, you lose nothing and you don't even need to fight to gain anything. So, interested?"

Rhyvurg

2016-12-03, 12:57 PM

Malcolm stares at her for several seconds. "Maybe you're smarter than I gave you credit for."

Ridai

2016-12-03, 02:55 PM

Akemi slightly bows her head, smiling. "Thank you," she answers, before making a sweeping motion to the general room. "and welcome to Evo Academy. If you have questions, issues, or want to talk, feel free to come by."

Tegu8788

2016-12-12, 12:23 PM

All - Common Room

Having set a time to meet later, anyone that is interested in a shopping trip knows to meet here now. The standard warning has been given by Ms. Amori to the collected students. "No powers unless absolutely needed to protect yourself. Don't go looking for trouble, but if you find it, well, we know you've got a desire to do good. Be good role models, so if you are ever exposed as an Evo, you'll have a record you can stand by. And be home before 6. You don't want to miss dinner."

Yabex

2016-12-12, 07:50 PM

Lucy had a shower after the training session and got ready to go to the mall. She hadn't been out in a while and was looking forward to going out. "I know Akemi said no food court, but I can't go out and not get bubble tea." Lucy spoke to herself as she got dressed. "I'll have to sneak off and get some while she is busy trying stuff on..." Then she considered what Akemi had said earlier and realized that it might be harder than she thought for her food court addiction to go unnoticed.

She made her way to the garage, staring down at her phone as she went. Casually, she unlocked her car with a press of her fob, and climbed into the driver seat. She had agreed to meet in front of the school and bring anyone who wanted to go to the mall with her. Lucy had hoped for a quieter outing, maybe with just Akemi and Alek, but things had quickly spun out of her control. Before she knew it, it was a team activity! Well, it was best to not make a fuss and try and enjoy it anyway. It's not as if she had any specific issues with anyone else at the school, she just preferred to socialize in smaller groups.

Lucy's Hummer pulled up in front of the school. It was jet black and had dark tinted windows with faint purple light accents along the bottom of the vehicle, marking the steps on the side and leaving a glow on the pavement. The head lights, while they weren't on during the day, still emanated a faint purple glow and matched the additional flood lights mounted on the roof. The car was rather large, it could fit three people up front, including the driver, and eight in the back.

As Lucy stopped the car, she rolled down her window. She was wearing a high collared sweater, a beret, and large sunglasses, all in dark tones of blacks and grays. Lucy had to hide her eyes to avoid attracting attention in public, but she could look fashionable while doing it. She addressed the others from behind her glasses. "Alright, anyone who wants to come to the mall, get in. This ride is leaving in five minutes. Please wipe off your shoes before entering and no eating either."

Ridai

2016-12-13, 04:39 AM

"Yes, ma'am," Akemi confirms Ms. Amori's usual reminder in her usual way. Besides, it is understood that Akemi is the de facto Team Mom and thus is expected to herd the litter of sugar rushed cats eager to spend all their money. At least a little.

Akemi emerges from the Academy wearing her hair openly, dressed in a grey pullover reaching past her abdomen (loose enough to be comfy, fitting enough to still cut a sharp silhouette, with a collar somewhere between a turtleneck and a scarf), sleek black pants, matching boots, and a dark blue coat (currently open, because she'll take it off be in the warm car soon anyway). A bag (big enough to fit her 12.5" laptop, small and sleek enough to also pass as a fashion accessory) hangs off her shoulder. Greeting the others with a smile during the brief wait for their ride, Akemi passes out little folded notes to the others, saying its a surprise and that they shouldn't be opened until she says so.

Once Lucy and her hummer arrive, she responds with a smile and a salute. "Understood, chefe." Akemi also tells the others to look at their notes. They all unfold the white piece of paper and find written there, in the most beautiful of calligraphy:

Shotgun

The sound of a closing door later, Akemi is sitting in front.

Zen Gypsy

2016-12-13, 06:27 AM

Alek walked through the hall towards Malcolm's room, and knocked tentatively on the door. "Hey man we're rollin' out in five, figured I mighta been a bit of an @$$ to you with the whole New Guy thing in the common area." He waited, didn't hear any movement behind the door, so pushed it open with his toe, "Listen Mal, I was reading your file, Headmaster says you can mimic an Evo's abilities right? Why don't you snag mine? Ditch the heavy metal angel look, and come out with us today?"

He smirked at the thought, "Fair warning, food will suck, but maybe you'll feel it's worth it by hanging out with the gang?"

He eased the door open and peeked around the edge.

Rhyvurg

2016-12-13, 05:35 PM

Malcolm's rubber-lined room is cleaner than one might expect. The evo himself is sitting on the bed, typing on a specially made laptop. He glances up when Alek walks in. "You really want me to come along?"

Zen Gypsy

2016-12-14, 06:49 AM

Alek shrugged, "Sure man, why not?" He paused, this is normally where he'd punch the guy in the arm, but he didn't want to a) provoke Malcolm, and b) he liked his iPhone when it wasn't exploding, so he just opened the door wider to the hallway making an 'After you' type motion.

The next bit would be the tricky part, "I mean, we have to figure something out so you don't run the risk of electrocuting the populace, but other than that. I mean Kerri was able to cloak Akemi during the training session, so we could try that." He paused, considered, "Though you still run the risk of some little guy running through empty space and brushing against you. Headmaster says you mimic powers, didn't mention you were born metal and electro-charged, do you know how you do it?"

Rhyvurg

2016-12-14, 07:08 AM

Malcolm sets his laptop aside, getting to his feet. "Yeah, I know. I was twelve years old and living on the street, and someone tried to electrocute me and my sister for sleeping in the wrong place. Turns out, we took that power. So they threw us in a pit with a madman with knives coming out of his hands, and we had to kill him to survive. So they kept adding more, seeing how much we could take, until I got so good at killing people started betting on me, and not the other guy I'd take power from. Do you know how many evos I've murdered? I don't. The faces start to blend after a while. Everything I am, everything I've become, is what's been keeping me alive. So I don't think I'll be changing any of this any time soon. I'll come if you want me to, but the one thing I won't do, is the one thing I can't do. Hide."

Zen Gypsy

2016-12-14, 08:52 PM

Alek shrugged, "F^&k it. Maybe we can pass it off as a Comic-Con cosplay or some $h!t." He indicated the door, "Ready to go big guy?"

He followed Malcom down the hall, and whispered quietly, "Not sure what your electro field's gonna do to Luce's hummer though. Luce might kick your @$$ if you ruin her baby."

Rhyvurg

2016-12-14, 10:05 PM

Malcolm rolls is eyes. "Electricity needs to conduct in order to move, so long as I don't touch metal nothing would even happen." He shuts down his laptop and makes sure the door is locked.

Tegu8788

2016-12-17, 03:07 PM

All - Vancouver Mall

Everyone that decided to join in the mall trip having gotten in the car, and Akemi's joke getting some laughs, the students arrive. Given's the hummer's considerable size, and Lucy's desire to keep it undamaged, it gets parked a distance from the mall proper. A sizable mall, full of shops, with lots of options. Everyone is dressed in street cloths, many fashionable for teens of their age. However, there are strict protocols in place for anyone with an obvious physical mutation. Malcom, being somewhat of a give away, has been given a jacket to wear anytime that he is in public...

The mall is open, full of customers, and will not be closing for several hours.

http://16749-presscdn-0-94.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/1219_met_mall-1024x681.jpghttp://www.vancwa.com/vancouver_mall/Vancouver%20Mall%201st%20floor.gifhttp://www.vancwa.com/vancouver_mall/Vancouver%20Mall%202nd%20Floor.gif

And what Malcom is wearing.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3d/16/8e/3d168eab01925d492214c45f51c539e5.jpg

Ridai

2016-12-17, 09:20 PM

When Malcolm comes along for the ride, Akemi greets him like she did the others. On the way to the mall, she chats with Lucy and the others, also mentally doing some inventory, going over what she needs and what shops come into question (based on past experiences and some research). Once there, Akemi heads inside with the others, now properly mantle-clad.

"My first stop will be Forever21, anyone who wants to come along, feel free to do so. Otherwise, have fun, we'll gather here once it's time to go, as discussed." Akemi smiles to the group and soon heads off to her first destination. Entering the shop, she only needs a glance to see where she can find what she is looking for. Once there, it becomes clear that there are people who consider what to buy for a long time, and Akemi isn't one of them. Mercilessly narrowing down her choices according to her parameters, and what is left is judged in a few seconds, able to estimate the fit based on material, dimensions, manufacturer, and design, along with knowledge of trends of current fashion. As subjective as fashion is, being able to tell if she can comfortably wear something is an easily solved equation for the girl. Still, her systematic approach is drawing a helpful employee.

"Can I help you?"
Akemi briefly turns to her, answering "Oh no, thank you, I am in the process of finding already," smiling the appropiate smile that usually makes people still feel good about themselves as the girl lifts a black top up to examine it.
"I'm sure that would look great on you," the woman adds. Akemi makes a mental note to tweak her nice no thank you smile, as instead of ending the interaction it left the employee feeling a bit too well and overly helpful.
"It would have if I was six centimeters shorter and still a C. Shame, that. Still, good eye." She puts the top back, looks for a second. "Ah, there's what I was looking for!" The girl grabs a top she had already identified as a buy, but hadn't gotten around to adding to the small collection yet.
"I guess you were my lucky charm today," Akemi adds as she walks around the woman, leading her eye to come to rest on the 24 years old man in blue jeans, non-descript sweatshirt, off-brand sneakers; currently with stable income and and functioning work-life balance, no girlfriend, stopped smoking three months ago. Akemi saw the woman glance at him seven times while she was walking into and through the shop, interested, hesitant but decent at hiding it, probably is now close and enthusiastic enough to transfer her attention to him. While Akemi is pretending to reorder what she has gathered thus far, the employee drifts away, soon followed by the "Can I help you?" from the desired direction.

Onwards to trying things on, then, which, as usual, is also a short process, reinforcing her recognition and estimation patterns.

Rhyvurg

2016-12-17, 11:16 PM

Malcolm heads for the Foot Locker, shirts were lost on him, with the wings and all, but the need to be insulated has made him appreciate good shoes.

Recherché

2016-12-18, 05:47 AM

Kerri steels herself before exiting the van

It'll be okay. Maybe there won't be too many people shopping today. And if it is too overwhelming you can head back to the van. I'm sure Lucy won't mind. Heck some of the people here might even help you get back. Despite trying to think reassuring thoughts she can't quite keep herself from remembering

Six years old and in her first day of school and it was too much far too much. Teachers students janitors everyone pressing in on her on all sides inescapable and so very loud. Trying to block it all out but that only made it stronger . . . Kerri deliberately blocks the memories of what came after that and instead focuses on the task ahead. Unlike some telepaths she's never been able to block people out completely, best she can usually do is consign them to background noise and try to ignore it. So instead Kerri goes for method 2: preparing to be assaulted by hundreds of thoughts.

Focus in on your own thoughts only. Listen to yourself.

Listen to yourself echoes back to her

Just keep breathing and remember that they are not you. You are Kerris Silver telepath and evo. You are not any of the other thoughts you're hearing. Keep your mind on your own thoughts

Just keep breathing and remember that they are not you. You are Kerris Silver telepath and evo. You are not any of the other thoughts you're hearing. Keep your mind on your own thoughts

Kerri pushes the minds of the others as far back as she can while simultaneously trying not to play any attention to them. It leaves the wold strange and the people in the Hummer as flat and robotic as actors on TV.

Hey Lucy mind if I stick near you? I might need to retreat back tot he car quickly if things get bad in my head? I mostly just want to hit the beauty supply place and Hot Topic myself, other than that I'm good with just following you around.

Zen Gypsy

2016-12-18, 07:43 AM

He watched Kerri steel herself before leaving the van, he sighed. As much as the young woman reminded him of his sister, and that brought up all sorts of guilt in him, he understood what she was going through because he had helped Natty through it.

He took a deep breath, "Hey K. Listen, I'm not down with the makeup," he smirked, "'natch. But I was gonna hit West 49 for some new shoes, skater shops tend to have what I'm looking for, but I could find some tees in Hot Topic." He shrugged, fought down the memories of his sister, looked at Kerri, and put on what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Natty always found focusing on her breathing helped, and surrounding herself with familiar thoughts, like me and Luce."

This is probably the only time he has mentioned his sister, either to, or around Kerri. Something she may take note of.

Yabex

2016-12-20, 06:05 PM

After making sure everyone was out of the car, Lucy remotely locked it. She zipped up her coat and began to make her way inside. She turns and looks at Alek and Kerri. "I wouldn't exactly say my thoughts are familiar to Kerri, but I get what your saying." Focusing more on Kerri, Lucy seemed rather sympathetic at the idea that Kerri might need to leave the crowded mall rather quickly. "Of course your free to come with me. I'm going to those places anyway, but I might drag you to a few more." Lucy turned back to face the mall, still speaking over her shoulder. "If things get overwhelming, you just say the word and we can head right back here. Sound good?"

Lucy hadn't spend much time with Kerri, but they have both been at the school for a decent amount of time. Lucy thought it was interesting that they shared similar powers. Even though the effects each of them could create were quite different, the theory was that they used the same "energy" to accomplish them. Or that's how Lucy understood it. Lucy knew it was no fun to be in an unfamiliar place when your power's were going a bit crazy, so if there was anything she could do to help, she would.

Tegu8788

2016-12-22, 08:44 AM

As our young heroes brave the halls of a holiday mall, they see many bright displays, smell lots of delicious food, and hear the piped music trying to be heard over the din of the public. A number of children can be heard laughing and playing, with a few pointing, and being reprimanded for pointing by their parents, at certain members of the party.

Voices, voices everywhere. The majority of which are relatively mundane, bland, and easy to block out. Wishlists, thoughts of the food court, an unsurprisingly high number with songs stuck in their heads. Many younger minds are focused on chasing, play, and what toys they want.

But one small voice, somewhere in the mall cries. <help me>

Ridai

2016-12-22, 11:35 AM

Akemi is quickly done with her shopping for clothes and the total cost is also within limits. Thankfully, her taste in clothes is not deemed the pinnacle of being en vogue or extravagant, meaning they aren't sold with hefty markups. The girl spots a change in the employee's smile, for the better that is, as she goes to pay. Seems like a date is in the near future.

Leaving the shop, it is clear that Akemi is entirely on her own in terms of where her classmates are. Not surprising, though. None of them were in need of new changes of clothes, at least not for a few more months (the amount of time varying based on age of current clothes, self-consciousness, vanity, money, emotional state, weight gain, current fascinations, and a whole lot of other things). Perhaps this is for the better. As Akemi walks through the mall (and is one of the few who have absolutely no trouble navigating the crowds, anticipating openings and the flow of people), while she isn't prone to reading the surface thoughts of everyone around her like Kerri (though she can often make quite accurate guesses), she sees far more than most do, especially where the patterns of their minds and bodies come apart.

That man will be stuck in debt for most of his life.
That woman will be spending Christmas with bottles of cheap wine and her TV.
That girl will never be happy with her own body.
The couple over there is defined by an abusive relationship and the cycle will repeat.

Akemi sometimes needs to remind herself that knowing these things with some certainty should be depressing. The girl files all this away as information, observations, data. It is a logistic impossibility to help all these people, and still trying is an easy way to ruin one own's life by way of exhaustion, disappointment, and eventual loss of sanity. However, Akemi can still help a subset, in small ways. Thus, like several holidays before, Akemi engages in Secret Probability Santa-ing. Buying a woman suffering from depression a warm drink as a little pick me up, delaying an oblivious shopper enough to not spill his overpriced steaming hot coffee onto a young mother-to-be, just happening to bump into a man (and accidentally nudging his solarplexus with her elbow enough to cause him to stop) in time for another man to realize the former stole his wallet, and playing the part of a sympathetic young woman who just so happens to manage to open up a man in his late twenties about his relationship problems and nudging him in a direction to do something productive about it, finding the lost toy of a little child by reconstructing its erratic behavior.

At some point, the others can see her with a small ice cream cone in hand, having made an educated guess about a man and a woman and having figured they reunite somewhere around there. Also, rewarding herself. It's not like anyone else is going to say thank you when they don't know that good fortune happened to be called Akemi Estrada in that moment.

Rhyvurg

2016-12-22, 01:07 PM

Malcolm leaves the store with a half dozen bags, trying to juggle them around so he could get his phone and check the time, completely not paying attention to how close he is to people like he really should be.

Recherché

2016-12-23, 01:40 AM

Familiar thoughts have never helped me that much. Kerri shakes her head slightly It's just the overall volume that hurts.

For a moment she wants to follow up with more questions about this Natty. She's never met anyone exactly like her before; most psychics are much better at blocking people out when they don't want to listen. But something in his voice says this is going to be a sensitive subject and perhaps one best left for another time.

Reason I mentioned Lucy in particular is first of all she has the keys and second of all is the least likely person to be affected if something goes really wrong with me.

Its not long into the trip, just after picking up extra bleach and an experimental purple hair dye from beauty supply that Kerri sends out a quick message to everyone.

<Something kind of weird here guys. There's a person who's thinking "help me" pretty clearly and their mental voice sounds weirdly like Alek but younger and smaller. I'm going to try and triangulate their position but maybe keep an eyes out?>

The girl threads her way through the mall trying to feel out the source of the distress call while looking as casual as possible. Its not impossible that the entire thing is a honey trap trying to look for telepaths. It's not likely either but that's no reason not be safe.

Ridai

2016-12-23, 05:47 AM

Akemi sends non-verbal confirmation back. As she goes about her manipulation of events, another part of Akemi's mind recalls the mall's floor plan, feeds it the observed flow patterns of shoppers, and identifies out of the way corners to check as she goes, routinely sending reports of areas checked. At the same time, she begins to analyze the people around her for heightened signs of acute misery, outside of whatever normal level their lives may have.

Koryander

2016-12-27, 05:04 PM

"Zzzzzgggg... ggaaaaahhhgggg..."

The red headed speedster shuffles in her sleep, the blissful silence of laziness and solidarity keeping Vie in a closed, comforting, yet EVIL embrace. But something stirred besides her, something that would rattle the redhead out of her slumber.

"Zzzzrrrzzzz... gggg... zzzz..."

BZZZZT. BZZZZZT. BZZZZZT.

"Zzzzrrrzzzz... gggg... zzzz..."

BZZZZT. BZZZZZT. BZZZZZT.

"W-... Mineral water! Wha?!"

She shuffled and stirred, then fell off the couch.

"Gwah! No wait I got it!! Put down the Wii-mote an.. huh?"

Her eyes blearly shuffles to her vibrating phone, and with all of her teenaged willpower and fortitude, shook off the drowsiness long enough to grab it.

"Hnnngh."

Everything was a mess, it was just a sea of blur and pastel grey. As her eyes focused, she yawned. "... sixty four notifications?"

There it was, the horrifying site. The alarm. The one she set for the shopping trip. The one that had just attempted to wake her sixty four times in a row before she finally woke up.

"Oh crap! We were supposed to go out!"

Vie sprang to action! Shoulder checking the door open, she ran to Kerri's room in a blur!

"Kerri! I overslept! Are we...?"

Gone. They were all gone.

"Oh no! My quite frankly bizarre and mutant filled social life!"

A sudden buzz on her phone. A late text from an hour and a half ago. "Vie, you coming?"

------------------------

"AHHHHHHH--"

Into the bathroom!

"HHHHHHH--"

Into the Shower!

"HHHHHHH--"

A burst of speed out to her wardrobe!

"HHHHHHH--"

Out into the hallway!

"HHHHHHH--"

Not wanting to get caught using her super speed, out the hallway window!

"HHHHHHH--"

Blitzing down the side streets!

"HHHHHHH--"

And then directly into the mall! The blazing blur fades as she stands before her Cousin.

"HHHHHHHHHhhhhh... ahahhhh... ah."

Face to face with Kerri.

"Ah. Hi..."

the redheaded hyper maniac coughs, then blushes. "I may have overreacted."

----------------------

Vie furrows her brow, maybe... I mean, that sounded okay! She would need a second opinion. Out comes the phone, as she begins to text Kerri.

'Kerri. Gonna run over to you super fast. Busses suck. Y/N/Maybe? I am fast like so fast nobody'll know I promise plz plz plz plz.'

There. Full-proof. Now she just needed to wait for the highfive from her cousin.

Tegu8788

2016-12-28, 03:14 AM

With some teamwork, and Kerri finding a few people that it is not, Akemi finds a young child, heavily wrapped in jackets and a scarf, hiding behind a trash can. The child appears to be rocking back and forth, not responding to anyone nearby. Thick mittens and earmuffs adorn the child, despite it being rather warm in this restaurant.

Recherché

2016-12-28, 04:02 AM

http://i.imgur.com/vcmwGhF.png

http://i.imgur.com/BZzUYTu.png

Sometimes its hard to believe she's the younger one even if it is only by 3 months

Kerri stops fiddling with her phone once they find the kid and crouches down so she's on a level with them.

Hi my name's Kerri. What's your name?

She quickly debates peering a tiny crack into the child's mind but decides against it for the moment. No need to open herself up to the entirety of the chaose that is the mall or to violate someone's mental privacy until all other options have been exhausted.

Ridai

2016-12-28, 04:26 AM

Akemi relates her location to Kerri, and that she found a young child, distressed (multiple possible reasons for dressing like that in this place and state, too little data for a likely hypothesis). Akemi squats next to the child, keeping enough distance to not make it feel backed into a corner, also careful to leave an escape route out of a similar reason. She smiles to the child, saying "Hello, I am here to help you." After a brief pause to check whether she has the child's attention, she adds "My name is Akemi, what's yours?" She adjusts her voice for warmth and the tone of a big sister, her arms resting folded on her mantle-clad knees. Answer the desire for help. Remove fear of unknown. Establish a connection. Then move on to diagnosis and administering aid. Akemi's mind is analyzing everything: behavior, mental state, physical well-being, ambient factors (like something near the child being different or if there is an apparent source of fear, if the child isn't simply lost), and where the child's patterns come apart.

Akemi spends a Hero Points on Beginner's Luck to boost Diplomacy by 5. Also hoping that Attractive comes into effect here, in a "that nice lady" way (bonus not included in the check)

Diplomacy [roll0]
Knowledge (behavioral sciences) [roll1]
Medicine [roll2]
Notice [roll3]
Sense Motive [roll4]

Notice check for Sense Weakness [roll5]

Current HP: 3

Ridai

2016-12-29, 05:08 AM

"<Likely severely autistic, currently unresponsive. Will try to look for apparent relatives.>" Akemi relates to Kerri. Pushing down the discomfort she feels around autistic people in this state, Akemi picks up the trash can and places it nearby to not block the view anymore, and when a waitress comes by and looks at her funny, she says in a low voice "This child is lost and is having an autistic episode. With the trash can in the way, the child was impossible to see from outside. Please don't make a fuss about all this, that will only make it worse for the little one."

Trying to move the child will either cause it to freak out more, move it further away from being possibly found by any relatives or caretakers, or move it closer to even more stimuli and gawking folk (which Akemi is expecting to happen within the restaurant as well any moment now, because people can't help it). The girl takes a look around the restaurant and what she sees walking by outside of it in hopes of identifying blood relatives based on appearance, and/or worried looking people in the process of searching for something. If no one is found, she will need to ask the manager about moving the child behind the scenes to somewhere more quiet for a short time while either looking for relatives or having someone make an announcement via the mall's PA system.

Notice [roll0]

Yabex

2017-01-02, 04:54 PM

Lucy found the outfit she had planned to buy and decided to try it on. To her delight, the sizes they had fit her perfectly. She was quite pleased, not that she showed any sign of it. She casually changed back into the clothes she has been wearing earlier and brought her new outfit, and another couple of tops, to the cash register. The lady gave her a weird look for wearing such dark sunglasses indoors, but Lucy just ignored it and nodded politely as she exited the store.

She looked around for Kerri, but could not see her. It seemed Lucy hadn't noticed the others trail off while she had been in the changing room. She wasn't worried though. The team was good about communication when things are important and Lucy had her cell phone with her. If anyone needed her, they would let her know. Besides, the mall isn't a very big place. Lucy actually liked having a bit of time alone to walk through the mall. She enjoyed the architecture of malls and other large public buildings. They were generally very open and spacious, yet offered the protection of walls and a ceiling. Something about it just made Lucy feel comfortable.

Lucy decided this was the perfect time to sneak her way into the food court and get some bubble tea. The evidence she had gone would be obvious, but there could be no objections about not doing something she had already done. As she waited in line to order, Lucy imagined what Akemi would, or wouldn't, say about her bubble tea. Had Akemi voiced her objections about the food court knowing that Lucy would sneak her way there anyway? Lucy suddenly began to suspiciously scan the crowd that occupied the area. Perhaps Akemi has gone so far as to wait for her, knowing she would come to this shop to purchase bubble tea. Lucy could imagine a smug Akemi, leaning against a wall and looking in her direction. Perhaps even sarcastically drinking a tea of her own. Then suddenly....

"Hello? Miss? Can I help you?" The attendant at the booth was trying to get Lucy's attention. Apparently she had gotten lost in her thoughts while looking around and didn't realize it was her turn in the queue. Surely, if Akemi was out there watching, this would only serve to embarrass Lucy more.

Lucy quickly, and rather awkwardly, made her way to the counter. She looked at her hands and avoided looking at the clerk "Can I get a large Watermelon Bubble Tea please?" She tapped her card on the debit machine then swiftly left with her drink in the direction of the car.

Due to Lucy's powers, she did not get the psychic communication Kerri sent out and is pleasantly oblivious to the lost child.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-03, 12:32 AM

Elsewhere in the food court, Malcolm is ordering pizza, a burger, two burritos and a sushi platter.

Tegu8788

2017-01-03, 05:57 PM

Cinnabon - The small child continues to sit unresponsive, rocking back and forth ever so slightly. At this range, even without trying, Kerri can be certain that this is the child she "heard" earlier. When approached, the store manager responds, "Sorry girls, but we can't let any customers into the employee areas. But I think I remember the woman the kid was with. Had a service dog with her, she had long dark hair, a couple of other young kids. They couldn't have gotten to far, it's only been, oh, well, time flies. I think they were here about an hour ago. Sorry we can't be of more help. I'll call for mall security, but this time of year they are overwhelmed with kids trying to steal stuff and parents fighting over toys."

Food Pavilion - The food pavilion is full of people, all eating their own food in varying degrees of hurry. Some are racing through the fast food, others are enjoying every moment they have sitting and not shopping. A college age couple is practically sitting in each other's lap, sharing an order of fries dipped in a chocolate milkshake. A middle aged man is slouched beside a potted plant, scrolling through his phone, smirking, then scrolling some more between bites of pizza. A woman with sunglasses and long dark hair is walking through the pavilion, a bag of food on one arm, a pair of small child hands held in each of hers. A grandmother is sitting across from a stroller with 6 babies, each looking around in wonder at all the lights and sounds and smells as she wolves down a sandwich from her bag. A young man sits nervously, watching the crowds move as a service dog sits obediently next to him. A whole plethora of humanity is in view.

Ridai

2017-01-03, 06:35 PM

Akemi holds up a finger (wordless "one moment"). She takes out her phone, does a few lightning-quick taps on it, then speaks "Everyone, there is a lost autistic child at Cinnabon, restaurant, ground floor, right next to Sears, and we need their caretaker. Look around the mall for a woman, long dark hair, has a service dog with her, may be in the company of young children. Bring her to Cinnabon ASAP. Call immediately if you find her." Two more taps and the phones of everyone who came with Akemi and Kerri to the mall rings like a regular call and once they pick up, the message is played. After the message is completed, they also receive it via messenger so it can be repeated if needed. If the call is ignored, not taken, or ended prematurely, the phone will ring until it is taken. One of the features Akemi put into her phone.

"In that case, we will need to occupy the space around that bin for a little while longer," Akemi informs the manager as she keeps an eye on the child.

Telepathically to Kerri
"<Start searching for the woman, route your impressions to me for processing, if needed, so we can search faster.>"

Rhyvurg

2017-01-03, 07:56 PM

Malcolm tries not to stare at the couple eating fries, focusing on his own food. When his phone speaks up, he looks around, checks the phone, looks again, then quickly taps a response. Got a young woman with dark hair and kids and a guy with a service dog in the food court, they don't look like they're together. Guy looks nervous.

Koryander

2017-01-03, 10:19 PM

It was so. Friggin. Slow.

Vie gingerly made her way to the front of the bus, peeking over the bus driver.

"Um... I. Hi! My name is Vie. Nice to meet you!"

No response.

"So. Uh. I have... what us young folk like to call a 'Social emergency of the gravest importance.'" She nodded soundly, as if that was clearly the most logical thing in the world. "So... if... if you could somehow go a little bit HIGHER than twenty miles an hour that wou-..."

"Please stand behind the line at all times, ma'am."

Vie could only pout. "Well, yeah but..." she inches forward yet again. "I have friends. Yeah? And they have deep, dark, specific expectations! And..."

"Please stand behind the line at all times, ma'am."

She grumped and sat down. Social standing was being obliterated every second.

---------------------

The doors of the bust borderline violently burst open as Vie stumbled out.

"I could run faster! RUN. Faster!" The red head says in a huff, getting her bearings straight.

Out with the phone Vie whipped, pouting.

http://i.imgur.com/NIUfsRJ.jpg

Ridai

2017-01-04, 05:39 AM

Almost instantly, Akemi writes back to Malcolm, including Lucy as well. Ask the man with the service dog if he is looking for a lost autistic child. If he is and it doesn't reek of BS, lead him to Cinnabon. Otherwise, ask the woman.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-04, 11:12 PM

Malcolm, all seven feet or him wrapped in black, approaches the man with the dog. "Hey, you missing a kid?"

Recherché

2017-01-05, 12:44 AM

Telepathically to Kerri
"<Start searching for the woman, route your impressions to me for processing, if needed, so we can search faster.>"

Kerri briefly considers protesting that this crowd will be too much with her shields down. But this is important and maybe it won't be too bad. There's another person to help take it and so far it hasn't been debilitating. So she slides her gloves off and reaches over to take Akemi's hand. It isn't strictly necessary but its helps to set up a secure connection as she opens up the tenuous shields she had erected against the chaos mall. The pain is immediate and overwhelming.

"You came back!" "Midnight, on the bridge. Come alone." "You were always the quiet one." "If we both stick to the story, they can't prove anything." "Does he know about the schedule change?" "Thanks the bags were just really heavy." "That red is really not my color" "We can't invite her. Mother hates her."
"You have his eyes." "Remember to call mom!" "You've only heard his point of view. You never asked mine." "Quick, hide behind the display!" "Did she forget to change the kid's diaper?" "Whatever you're going to ask, the answer is No!" "Where did I put those pills?" "I just want a nice, easy life. What's wrong with that?" "Ugh even with the sale that's too much" "Just give me the job already" "Okay according to the schedule the bus should be here any minute" "Where the hell is Sabrina? If she doesn't answer her phone soon I'm leaving without her."

Even with offloading some of the data to Akemi, Kerri nearly loses herself in the torrent. Somewhere in the background her phone buzzes but she can't pay attention to it.

"But Mom!" "It looks like you're in trouble there. Can I help?" "I've been waiting a long time for you." "Imagine was you removal raising gravity." "Unsatiable understood or expression dissimilar so sufficient." "Its party every heard and event gay." "Advice he indeed things adieus in number so uneasy." "To many four fact in he fail." "My hung it quit next do of." "It fifteen charmed by private savings it mr." "Favourable cultivated alteration entreaties yet met sympathize." "Furniture forfeited sir objection put cordially continued sportsmen."

The torrent loses consistency and Kerri's hand falls away.

Ridai

2017-01-05, 05:13 AM

Akemi takes Kerri's hand and welcomes the flood of impressions. She can feel Kerri's pain as well. When the text from Malcolm arrives and Akemi can no longer reach Kerri, she knows she made a big mistake. As Kerri's hand threatens to slip her own, Akemi grasps it, her free arm going around Kerri's back, lowering her down into a sitting position as gently as possible. Having felt Kerri's powers frequently in the past, Akemi exploits the permanent connection through touch to reverse it, her mind patterns imposing themselves on the telepathic receptors, occupying them, shutting everything else out. Towards the inside of Kerri's mind, the patterns flow so sweetly, a voiceless whisper telling her she is safe, that she did good, that she will be alright, gently repeating.

Out in the physical world, the arm around Kerri's back holds her phone, tapping an answer to Vie.
Kerri and me are at Cinnabon. Keep calm. We are looking for the caretaker of an autistic child. Kerri tried to scan the crowds for them.

Spending Hero Point for creating an alt of Predictive Application of Violence Patterns designed to impose her mind patterns over the receptors of Kerri's telepathy, effectively shutting the powers down.

Nullify 8 (the telepathy array) (base 2/rank)
Extras: No Saving Throw (+2), Duration (sustained) (+1)
Feats: Subtle x2 (2), Feature (soothes mental pain) (2)
Flaws: Touch range (-1), limited (Kerri's Telepathy powers) (-2), distracting (-1)

Tegu8788

2017-01-05, 11:52 AM

Food Pavilion

The skittish man tries avoid eye contact until Malcom is standing directly before him. Sitting, he is significantly shorter than the giant metal man.
"Hey, you missing a kid?" Squeaking, the man falls out of his chair, and moves quickly away with the service dog at his side. He looks back, to see if Malcom tries to follow him.

Most of the chatter pauses, as the spectacle draws the attention of most of the people eating for a few moments, before they return to their own lives.

Cinnabon

Sitting beside the rocking child, the two teenage girls also drop to the floor. If the intention was to draw less attention to the child's plight, well, that's certainly not the case now.

Koryander

2017-01-05, 01:41 PM

Vie blinks, trying to follow the chatter on her cellphone, seemed like everyone was off and about. Frowning, she finally looks up... oh, the food court!

"Man. I don't know if I could EVER find Malcom in this crowd." she says sarcastically to herself, before moving over to the easy-to-spot giant. She watches the skittish man walk off in a... well... continuously skittish way.

"Geeze. Some people just don't know how to react to hugeness." she says to Malcom, slightly bemused, but mostly incredulous over how this guy just reacted. "Oh! Hi, by the way. I'm awake now."

Rhyvurg

2017-01-05, 03:31 PM

Malcolm double-takes. "Uh, yeah. Can you try to get this guy to talk? I'm going to see if this chick lost a kid somewhere."

Yabex

2017-01-05, 07:08 PM

As Lucy rushed away from the food court, her phone rang. A message from Akemi, and a missed text from Vie. Lucy felt a bit of relief that Akemi hadn't been watching her, but know she had to look around for this seeing eye dog and woman. She hoped she didn't find them, the last thing Lucy wanted to do was talk to people. Unfortunately, Lucy spotted both parties she had been looking for without much effort. And I was almost out of the food court.....

Just then, she spotted Malcom. He made his way over to the man with the dog but seemed to scare him off. The man's reaction seemed odd, but Malcom did look a bit ridiculous in his disguise. Lucy tailed the man with the dog as Malcom when to speak with the lady and the gaggle of children. She tried to asses if his nervousness was due to Malcom's imposing appearance or something more suspicious. It seemed odd that he had a service dog and no apparent need for it, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. Mustering all of her will, and after taking an uncomfortably large gulp of her bubble tea, Lucy smiled and approached the man. "Hey there!" She said, her voice uncharacteristically cheerful. "That's a real cute dog! How long have you had him?" Lucy cringed as she spoke, but it was easier to assess if the dog was his indirectly rather than ask him flat out.

Thanks for updating the sheet link Tegu!

Lucy is going to use Sense Motive to try and tell if the dog belongs to the man and if he is hiding something relevant. She will also use Bluff to seem interested in the dog and not appear to be sizing him up. Lucy had Skill Focus in both of those skills so I will take 10 on the rolls bringing me to a 22 for both skills.

Tegu8788

2017-01-07, 12:14 AM

Outside the Food Pavilion - Lucy

Half stumbling, the young man turns to Lucy. "Eh, the, my, my dog? I um, just got him. I'm, I'm sorry miss, I gotta go. I got a place I need to be." He tries to turn again to run away.

He pretty clearly isn't used to having the dog, isn't reaching for the dog like someone trained should, and the dog is not responding to his distress as a trained dog should. As far as you can tell, he is honest about wanting to not be here now.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-07, 04:14 AM

With someone else handling the dog guy, Malcolm walks after the woman. "Excuse me miss? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Recherché

2017-01-07, 04:25 AM

Slowly the pressure relents enough for Kerri to think think again instead of losing herself to the crowd. Separating herself from Akemi is more of a problem though.

Nope we don't want to be a permanent gestalt consciousness. As much fun as that could be.

It takes less time than she would expect to filter out which thoughts are probably her own and which belonged to the other girl or someone else entirely. Trying to bring up shields, well the less said the better but it is eventually doable. At least enough to collect herself and send a few texts.

Sorry tried to push myself a little too far right now and things went bad. Akemi pulled me out of it though and doing better. Vie, you mind collecting me, then we can try and track down the dude and the mom again? Something feels weird here and I'd prefer to be close enough to scan them personally if things keep feeling this creepy. Also I may need a graceful exit from the manager watching me nearly BSOD myself.

Turning to the manager Kerri gives her best wan smile.

Sorry I'm feeling kind of faint here myself. Probably just dehydration. I just texted my cousin though and she should be by here in a minute to help get me home.

It's even mostly true.

[roll0]

Ridai

2017-01-07, 05:11 AM

Akemi withdraws herself from Kerri's telepathy, but still looks after her until Vie arrives (only a small part of that actually being there to play the fitting role for their "audience"). Once they are separated, a small message from Akemi arrives in Kerri's mind. "<I'm sorry.>"

Eventually, Akemi will be alone with the child, stuck watching it and coordinating the others, which is equal parts unsettling and frustrating to the girl.

Recherché

2017-01-07, 05:33 AM

<Really its just as much if not more my fault. I should have been more aware of my limitations and told you "no".>

Kerris sends back sounding guilty

<Lesson learned I guess? I'll try to send one of the others here to back you up as soon as its feasible.>

Ridai

2017-01-07, 06:04 AM

Akemi smiles back, both physically and mentally. "<Thank you, Kerri. I guess I know who my first batch of cookies will go to.>"

Koryander

2017-01-09, 08:29 AM

Vie frowns, kinda peering off at Malcom as he goes about asking the family what the heck is wrong. "Alright! We'll... talk..." He was already out of earshot. "Later. I guess."

One of these days, she's going to figure out a way to make that guy smile.

'You know, smile without some sort of lewd comment.'

She sighs softly. Moving back over to the skittish man, she pushes out a text to Kerri on approach. <<"I mean, I was just gonna... oh okay okay, I'll be right there..">>

Sending her message, Vie gingerly half frowns. She didn't understand why she needed to go back. It was just some weirdo doing the shakes, right? Regardless, Vie swiftly turned heel for the Cinnabon. She shuffled... a little quicker then average. The texts were cryptic and to the point, but the phrase 'I may need a graceful exit from the manager watching me nearly BSOD myself' finally clicked in her head. Keeping her super speed in check, Vie quickly pushed into the Cinnabon and immediately spotted her cousin. Not a moment was wasted in helping her to her feet.

"I turn my back for one second..." Vie says jokingly, taking her hand.

<Anyone suspicious, you think?> she mentally thinks to herself, knowing that Kerri would easily be able to read her thoughts on contact. She helps her up and provides a shoulder to lean on, should she need it.

Yabex

2017-01-09, 03:48 PM

Lucy could tell that something was off about this guy. He didn't seem comfortable with the dog, nor the dog with him. Still, the man's nervousness didn't prove it wasn't his. The last thing Lucy wanted to do was cause a scene, but she imagined the man felt the same. Lucy made an attempt to pet the dog and encourage it to want to stick around. As she did, she spoke more to the nervous man. "I notice this little guy is a service dog. I normally see them with the visually impaired. Why do you have one?" Still wearing her forced smile and feeling like an idiot, Lucy reached for her phone and pointed it at the man and his dog. She quickly snapped a few pictures of the suspicious man while insisting the dog was "...just the cutest thing ever..." and "...a big ball of cuddles...", trying to be discrete about the true subject of her photography.. Lucy certainly was overacting a little bit, but not too obviously, not that it really seemed to matter. The man was clearly trying to leave and was paying Lucy little attention. That made it a bit easier to send the pictures to Akemi without being too obvious.

Lucy will continue taking 10 on Sense Motive and Bluff for this social encounter, if need be.

She is also sending the pictures of the man to everyone on the group text Akemi sent out earlier.

Ridai

2017-01-09, 04:20 PM

Akemi's text arrives shortly after the pictures are sent. Was he asked to look after the dog for a moment? Can't come over, stuck watching the child.

Recherché

2017-01-12, 11:03 AM

Kerri grabs Vie's offered hand and hobbies away towards the food court leaning on her cousin far more than is strictly necessary.

<You can point the guy out to me right? I might have an idea> Her mental voice sounds tired but determined.

Once they get within sight of the man Kerri surreptitiously steers the two of them close and then let's herself stumble into him.

She's not willing to open up her mind entirely again but with physical contact she doesn't have to. Just a few seconds to make a link up close and personal before pulling away with a mumbled Sorry

Spending a hero point to ignore the drawback

Sleight of hand: [roll0]
Bluff: [roll1]
Attempting to mind read vs will [roll2]

Tegu8788

2017-01-12, 02:23 PM

Outside the Food Pavilion - Lucy, Kerri, Vie

When Kerri brushes up against the stranger, she receives nothing but the sounds of animals. Barking, meowing, hissing, cawing, mooing, howling. It sounds like an entire zoo inside his head. Mumbling ""Is ok." he skitters off, having had enough random encounters for the day.

Yabex

2017-01-13, 04:14 PM

Lucy let the others take over the situation as soon as they arrived. Her forced smile and friendly demeanor vanished, and in it's place there was now a furrowed brow. She stood back, drinking her bubble tea and watching the man and his dog walk away. After he had traveled a good distance, Lucy turned to the others gathered nearby.

"Soooooo, not the dog your looking for?" Lucy was happy to be finished interacting with strangers, but she was a bit annoyed and embarassed that her efforts bore no fruit. "I think I'm done here. I'll be in the car, whenever everyone is ready."

Lucy turned and briskly walked away. She was no longer in the mood to be surrounded by people, especially ones she didn't know. As she walked, Lucy replayed the interaction with the man over and over. Each time making herself feel more embarrassed about it. I should have kept to myself. It would have been better than acting like an idiot. Why is it my job to find a lost child's parents anyway?

Tegu8788

2017-01-14, 12:22 AM

Food Pavilion - Malcom

With someone else handling the dog guy, Malcolm walks after the woman. "Excuse me miss? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Looking to the left of Malcom, the woman tilted her ear. Her dark glasses sit tightly on her face, the young child wiggle around to stare at the large man. Faces half full of fries drop agog as the kiddies take in the full height of the leather clad man. Still looking to the left, she responds "I'm sorry sir, what do you need?" She is clearly overwhelmed, managing the two young children, food, and shopping bags.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-14, 06:49 AM

This is going to be a very awkward question if this is the wrong person... "I'm sorry ma'am, but a child was found and someone matching your description was last seen with her. Are you, ah...missing a kid?"

Tegu8788

2017-01-14, 10:15 AM

Food Pavilion - Malcom

Tilting her head in the other direction, she looks between the two children at her table."Roll call. Nathan?" "Here Mommy!" "Laura?" "I'm here mom!" "Is Ryan here?" "Um, no Mom..." "I don't see Rex either." "We're sorry mommy, we didn't mean to lose them!"

The two child start to apologize frantically, and shift the blame away from themselves while looking horribly guilty, like only young children can. It is obvious that the mother is very upset at this point.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-14, 07:13 PM

Oh crap she's blind... "Just, um, just hold on a second." He quickly texts Akemi. see if the kid responds to the name ryan or rex

Recherché

2017-01-14, 09:38 PM

Kerri collapses onto a chair in the food court and begins texting rapidly.

Tried to read the creeper dude but all I got were a bunch of animal noises. Not sure if that's really his surface thoughts or I just couldn't get anything from such a short contact. Malcom, Luce, Vie, Akemi you guys have all done awesome.I'll come back to relieve you in a minute Akemi. You're the only one left that creepy guy hasn't encountered yet and I don't think we want to have him run into the rest of us more than is necessary. Malcom, can you also ask the woman if she has a service animal and if so where it is? Wondering if that dog was hers . . .

Ridai

2017-01-15, 04:33 AM

Akemi tries to adress the child with the names Ryan and Rex. With every passing moment, the slow flow of information makes Akemi wish more that she could start to investigate instead of her mind mulling over the concept of autism in minute detail, over and over.

Rex probably the dog. Man might have watched the dog. Akemi texts back. If the child responds to either name, she texts her findings back immediately. If not, she asks Malcolm to call Akemi and hand the phone to the mother.

Tegu8788

2017-01-16, 11:17 AM

Cinnabon - Akemi

The child continues to rock, until the name Ryan is spoken. At that, the rocking stops. Beyond that though, there is no further response.

Ridai

2017-01-17, 08:27 AM

Reacts to Ryan, but remains unresponsive. Guide the mother to Cinnabon. Get the dog, too.

(Posting just in case.)

Rhyvurg

2017-01-17, 06:56 PM

Malcolm addresses the blind woman again. "Ma'am I think one of my friends found your missing kid, and maybe the dog."

Tegu8788

2017-01-18, 11:05 AM

Food Pavilion - Malcom

The panic lessens for a moment, and is replaced with fierce determination. "You found Ryan? Please, take us to my child." She extends her hands, and the two little ones with her place their hands in hers, a clearly practiced behavior.

Koryander

2017-01-18, 03:02 PM

Vie continues to sit beside Kerri, smiling. "Actually, you did just as much work as us. I just kinda slept in and showed up late." She does smirk, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"Wonder if we're making a mountain out of a molehill with this guy." She frowns somewhat, then makes a face. "...butIreallyreallyreallywanttoknow."

Recherché

2017-01-18, 05:23 PM

Want to completely abuse our abilities and stalk people while invisible? Kerri smirks then abruptly facepalms

Shoot I forgot, I said I'd spell Akemi with the kid. You mind keeping an eye on creepy guy alone? We don't want to make him any more suspicious but I don't think we want to let him get out of sight either.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-18, 09:55 PM

"Okay, um, follow me." He turns and looks around for the Cinnabun and leads the woman in that direction.

Tegu8788

2017-01-19, 04:02 PM

Food Pavilion - Malcom

The family follows Malcom, the young children guiding their mother along. And like all children, when being lead or walking with an adult, they reach out to hold hands. And Nathan reaches out for Malcom's hand...

Rhyvurg

2017-01-21, 11:54 PM

Looking over the heads of the crowd trying to spot Akemi, Malcolm is completely unaware of the child about to touch his gloves hand.

Ridai

2017-01-24, 06:08 PM

Malcolm spots Akemi, who happens to be right next to him and bending down a little, smiling to the child reaching for the big guy and very gently intercepting its hand with her own. "Hey there. My friend is very shy, please don't just touch him." She straightens up. "Thank you, Malcolm." And she means it.

She quickly introduces herself as the one who found Ryan and leads the family to the child (who is being watched by an employee Akemi talked into it, since she would only be gone for a minute or so).

Akemi's friends notice that she looks pale and tired.

Rhyvurg

2017-01-25, 01:54 PM

Akemi can see a fleeting moment of panic on Malcolm's face as he looks down and realizes how close the child was, and quickly moves away from the group. Turning away, he leans against the wall and takes a moment to breathe. "Jesus..."

Tegu8788

2017-01-28, 10:17 AM

All - Vancouver Mall

The mother tightly grips the child, tears running down from beneath her glasses. The whole family just sits on the floor for a minute, hugging, before thanking the teenagers for being so kind and helpful. The family, together agin, departs quickly. With not much time left before they have to be home themselves, the Evos take their shoppings and return to the hummer.

The drive back is uneventful, but it gives each Evo time to reflect on what happened, and how they were able to contribute. It may not be a super villain, or a dramatic rescue from an avalanche, but they made a difference in the life of a family, and that, well, that's often enough.

Ridai

2017-01-28, 01:27 PM

To Malcolm, Akemi says "You can't be see everything. But that's something your friends can help you with. Thank you for getting involved."

Akemi smiles as she sees the family reunited, and once they are gone, Akemi is gone as well, a text informing the others that she is feeling a little tired and is heading back to the hummer.

Lucy hears the opposite door open, Akemi seating herself next to the shy girl, looking tired and pale. "Hey," Akemi greets her, with an added smile. "Thanks for helping out. I know how difficult dealing with strangers can be for you, and I appreciate it a lot." Perhaps Lucy is looking away as Akemi says this, and thus doesn't see the hug coming. When Akemi draws away again, Lucy finds that there is a small bag in her lap. A note sticking to the outside says "Sorry for making you so uncomfortable. I'd never deny you what makes you happy.", along with an adorable little Japanese-style doodle of Akemi prostrating herself in apology. Inside the bag is a cup of bubble tea. Glancing over, Akemi avoids Lucy's gaze, no sign of the Japanese girl making fun of her, instead looking a little bashful.

Akemi is quiet on the way back, seemingly resting and dozing. Later that day, at dinner, she still looks tired and pale, but chats with her friends, one hand writing as she eats. Slowly, she removes herself from the conversations, at one point wiping her nose with a napkin, then getting up and calmly leaving the room, presumably to head to the bathroom. When she hasn't returned after a few minutes, one of her friends glances over to where she was sitting, seeing small block she was writing on filled with hastily scrawled words and numbers in all sorts of languages and notations with no apparent, though the word "locked" appears a few times. Perhaps then, the folded napkin is noticed as well, red stains having soaked through it.

In her room, strangled noises of agony in between strained breaths are heard from Akemi as she has curled up on her bed, a nosebleed dripping and tears flowing, her mind chaos, her horizon expanding violently, barrages of coherent thoughts amidst screaming storms of mental fragments, patterns reforming, growing, tearing down what was inefficient. No healer has been able to help her when a mind shift happens. Nothing is broken, her brain reforming (or, some might say, evolving). Her mind is a death trap for psychics in this moment. Hopefully Rina will be there soon.

--------

Later, Akemi starts the recording in her room, alone, the girl looking like hell, but mostly calm, speaking in her mother tongue. She recites the current date, the estimated magnitude of the mind shift (7), as well as estimated starting time, duration (seven hours), possible cause (extended contact with and focus on autistic child, contemplation of mental condition in relation to her own). She recites her own name (the one she was born with and the one she has now), her birthday, place of birth, biological parents, current guardian, family ties, important events of her life, friends, the events of the recent days. She announces that the memory phase is concluded, moving on to motor skills phase, involving simple and complicated motions and physical processes. When that is concluded, she announces the beginning of the behavior test phase. She shows herself pictures of her family and friends, of good things, of pleasant things, of beautiful things, to see if she still feels good about them. She shows herself pictures of sad things, tragic things, violent things, horrifying things, to see if they still make her feel awful. In both tests, it is also important that there is a reaction.

Once the recording is concluded, the video is properly encoded, archived along with the relevant notes, secured, a legible copy uploaded to Ms. Amori's drive, into the folder named after Akemi, along with her student number, for evaluation and preparation of future sessions, as usual. Akemi shuts her laptop down afterwards, puts on sweatpants and slippers, and leaves her room to go and make cookies using the current revisions of recipes favored by her friends (revised not because of failure, but because of refinement). It will distract, and will not require intense applications of patterns. The first cookie gift case will be for Kerri, as promised. The following ones will be for Remi, Lucy, Alex, Viessa, Amina, Daniel, Malcolm, Ms. Amori, then for people in general, continuing until she is feeling better, taking notes for revision purposes as she goes.

Yabex

2017-01-30, 07:21 PM

Lucy was sitting in the car, waiting for the others to return and absently flipping through pictures on her phone. She stopped for a second on the picture of the man and his dog. Immediately she felt her embarrassment return and deleted the picture in retaliation. She pocketed her phone and stared down at her empty lap, reliving the experience over again in her head. It was at that moment that she heard the passenger side door open.

It startled Lucy, whose eyes darted towards the noise. It was Akemi, arriving much sooner than Lucy had expected. Lucy returned Akemi's greeting. "Hey."

As Akemi continued, Lucy turned her head to the side. She was still embarrassed, but it was nice to feel like she helped. "Yeah, whate-" Lucy began to respond, but was cut off by an unexpected hug from Akemi, followed by an equally unexpected discovery of a small bag on lap. Lucy read the note and looked inside. She smiled and looked at Akemi, who was now the one averting her gaze. "Thanks." The friendly gesture made Lucy feel good, but she wasn't really sure what else to say. Before she could think of something, the other doors opened and the rest of the gang poured in.

Lucy didn't bother to say anything else on the way back, and surprisingly neither did Akemi. She seemed tired. Lucy turned up the music just enough to drown out most of any conversation happening in the backseats and took the long way home. I was only 10 minutes longer, but she found the country side roads to be a more relaxing drive.

Yabex

2017-08-09, 05:47 PM

Post Final Mid Term Testing

As the final flash of light from Slim washed over Lucy's barrier, she could see the look of disappointment on the 8th graders face. He'd probably not expected her to hold out. Lucy began to walk over to the young Evo, still wearing her smirk from earlier. "Not half bad. I didn't have that much control of my abilities at your age." She grabbed the boy suddenly by the collar with one hand and playfully messed up his hair with the other. Then she let him go, took a step back, looked him once over, and laughed. "Keep practicing kid. I'll let you try again sometime." Lucy walked away, giving Slim and Ms.Irving a casual wave as she went.

Just as she was out of earshot, Lucy noticed Malcom walk over and talk to Slim as well. She could only guess at what he said, but she assumed it was either a congratulations on having a power Malcom envied, or some sort of Alpha Male territory dispute. She decided to slow her walking pace and allow Malcom to catch up to her.

"So, what was that all about? You're not trying to look out for me, are you?" Lucy didn't look at Malcom as she spoke and didn't make it clear what she was referring to. She was hoping that he would clue in on his own.

Common Space, Dinner With Akemi

Lucy was excited to receive Akemi's invitation after mid-terms and eagerly awaited the meet up. She decided to dress up for the occasion, seeing as she would assuredly be receiving a well earned surprise. After some deliberation, Lucy ended up wearing black pants, black boots, a charcoal sweater with a high collar, and her signature hair clip. Just as she was happy with her outfit and ready to head out the door, a sense on dread came over her.

Wait. What if I didn't win the wager? I completely botched the science test after all, what if it's a surprise study session? I'll look like a fool showing up in this! Oh no!

Lucy convinced herself she was over thinking things, and if she did fail to meet Akemi's criteria, she still didn't want to be late. She scooped up her bag and rushed off towards the common areas.

As Lucy arrived and saw what was going on, she offered to help. Akemi was having none of it though and insisted that she take a seat. Lucy wasn't going to protest, she was still sore from earlier and just having a seat and talking sounded great. As Lucy talked to Akemi and watched her at work, she began to feel like if she had helped, she would have only gotten in Akemi's way. Everything seemed so perfectly timed. Impressive. After what must have been at least an hour, seemingly gone by in an instant, Lucy found herself at a table filled with food. And not just any food, but an assortment of some of her favorite dishes cooked to perfection. She hadn't realized just how many different items Akemi was cooking until this moment. She stared at the food and then at Akemi, her jaw slightly ajar in awe.

"Wow. I. I don't know what to say." After closing her mouth and clearing her airways of rapidly accumulating saliva, she continued. "I mean, this looks AMAZING! 10 out of 10! I wasn't expecting this! Thank you so much!" Lucy can't help herself and crams a piece of sushi into her mouth. "The way to a girls heart is through her stomach. Or at least it is for me!" She adds jokingly as she begins her decent into a food induced coma.

Rhyvurg

2017-08-09, 09:20 PM

"So, what was that all about? You're not trying to look out for me, are you?" Lucy didn't look at Malcom as she spoke and didn't make it clear what she was referring to. She was hoping that he would clue in on his own.

Malcolm looks confused. He'd done what he was supposed to, why didn't she get that? "What? We're a team, I got your back, you got mine. Doesn't matter if it's here in on a mission. I...I kind of thought we were getting to be friends, and friends don't wait to be asked for help. Right? I mean, I don't...have a lot of experience having friends, but isn't that what you're supposed to do?"

Ridai

2017-08-10, 03:31 AM

Dinner with Lucy

"Hey, thanks for coming," Akemi greets Lucy, followed by a quick glance at her outfit, causing a smile. "You're looking particularly lovely today. I'm liking it. I'm liking it a lot." Just barely got around dropping words like hot and alluring. Good thing she has her cooking to focus on, otherwise the acclimatization period would be awfully distracting with Lucy showing how sleek she can look when she wants to.

Once the food is on the table, Lucy's reactions are all the thanks and reward Akemi could want and more, making the girl smile happily and blush a little at the same time. "You earned it, Lucy. I used to cook dinner often for my mom and Deena before coming to the Academy, but I never really got to do that here until now."

She chuckles at Lucy's joke about the way to her heart, but also fails to keep her blush from deepening, her smile taking a slight detour towards the bashful. "I will keep that in mind..."

As they eat, chatting is probably coming a bit more from Akemi's side, along with appreciative chuckles at Lucy's continued amazement, especially when Akemi nudges her friend towards little ways to enjoy the various dishes even more with what she put on the table. The girl does internally sigh in relief, her educated guess about the dishes having proven correct. It also helps that she likes her own cooking.

Once all the dishes are finished (including the mousse au chocolat she retrieves from the fridge as dessert), there's a nice feeling of satiety, not too little, not too much (at least for Akemi). Beginning to clear the table a bit, as it is looking a little cluttered in the aftermath, Akemi stops at the sink for a moment, growing quiet.

"Hey, Lucy..." she begins, sounding down. "do I make you feel inferior?" Akemi doesn't look at Lucy, rather at the plates of a dinner that normally would have required months of advance reservations at one of the finest restaurants of the world, for truly horrendous sums. "It... happened to every close friend, boyfriend, and girlfriend I had outside of the Academy, sooner or later. They didn't say it most of the time, but I could see and feel that eventually, they felt small, stupid, and insignificant beside me, especially if I was dating them. Sure, there's some teenage insecurity and angst in there, but my last relationship crumbled when my then girlfriend descended into depression because she ended up feeling worthless, ugly, and undeserving, no matter what I tried to do or say." Her voice sounds even, but straining to remain as such, but her face speaks volumes of the memories lurking beneath the surface, however much she tries to keep them inside. Akemi has fallen silent, dreading Lucy's answer.

El'the Ellie

2017-08-10, 10:49 AM

Clara gives Keola a sheepish grin, the poor girl quite wet from the projected water rings. "My fault for being cocky I guess..." She shakes some of the water from her wings. "I've never really had to practice actually manuvering like that before. I mean, most birds can make do with straightish lines afterall. Add in waterlogged wings and as soon as I made a mistake more would come."

Keola grins as well, then notices how soaked she had gotten. "Oh shoot, let me," and in a way of finishing his sentence he raises his hands, causing most of the water to levitate off of her wings and clothes. He wasn't good enough to precisely pull out the water like the way he had seen some of his masters do, but at least her feathers wouldn't be heavy.

"Ha, that makes sense," He says nonchalantly "But most birds aren't also pretty ladies learning how to fight crime, so I'm confident you'll get it eventually." He starts returning the water to the barrels as the whole event starts wrapping up. "Anyway, I'm just glad mid terms are through. I've never been to a school that has classes and tests like our history test, I feel like I need a stress relief day."

userpay

2017-08-11, 02:02 AM

As the water is pulled out Clara can't help but giggle, wings quivering, as the droplets seep through her feathers. "Oh oh! That's strangely ticklish!" Once Keola finishes she gives an experimental flap of her wings. Not completely dry but much better than before. "Oh thank you! If I tried to do that I might get some off but spray others." The complement however catches Clara off-guard and she instinctively hides behind her wings. Clearly she isn't used to that sort of thing where she came from. "Ah... The t-tests. I don't know how I squeaked by... I just happened to remember a translated song of that period that helped me along..."

El'the Ellie

2017-08-11, 06:35 PM

"Huh, I wish I had known that song. How Akemi can digest books the way she does I'll never understand, but it's good to know there's more than one way to learn things."

He puts the barrels on his shoulders (thanks to being able to manipulate their contents) and carries them the short distance to their spot near the arena.

"Are you headed back up to the school too?" he says, waiting for her answer to walk back over.

userpay

2017-08-12, 12:32 PM

"Well... Sometimes it's a matter of association. Like chewing a particular flavor of gum while studying then chewing it during the test to job your memory. For me music works much the same way along with the songs sometimes having information themselves." Clara looks down at her still slightly dampened clothing. "Yea I think I'll be heading back. Be nice to rest after all that."

El'the Ellie

2017-08-12, 01:20 PM

Keola ponders it for a moment, then lightly shakes his head. "Huh, maybe I'll have to try that because I'm really not seeing how chewing gum helps your memory..."

As they walk back up to the school together, Keola's curiosity gets the better of him. He wants to ask about her powers, but figures it might be a little rude, especially if it isn't a happy story. Instead he settles on a more innocent thing he;s curious about. "So you said before you can speak to birds? What is that like? Do they have like... interesting things to talk about?"

Yabex

2017-08-15, 04:36 PM

Outside

Lucy smiled at Malcolm's response, the confused look on his face was priceless. It was nice to see him lightening up on the tough guy act a bit. The Malcom she saw today was nothing like the boy they rescued from the fighting pit. Lucy turned to look at Malcom, but kept her pace. "No, it's perfectly fine. You're exactly right, and I've got your back too. But I must say, it's a little unexpected. Aren't you worried that word will get out that you're getting soft? That the king of the ring is showing weakness?" Lucy is laughing at this point, trying to make the mood a happy one with jokes and comradery, perhaps a bit unsure if Malcolm appreciates the humor. She tones down the laughter and takes a step closer to Malcom. "Don't worry, I don't have many friends myself. I won't tell anyone." She punctuates her sentence with a wink, and with her barrier still up, gives Malcom a friendly punch on his shoulder. Lucy had expected an arc of lighting or two for her trouble, but was surprised to find her hand still felt a jolt of power. Note to self, don't do that again. Especially without your barrier up.

Dinner with Akemi

As the girls stuff their faces with food of the highest quality, Lucy couldn't help but think about the last time she had enjoyed herself so much. In fact, she doubted that she ever had. Great company and great food made for the best kinds of evenings. She devoured dishes left and right. Her eyes were bigger than her stomach to be sure, but so far it was keeping pace. She didn't let the conversation lull though and found herself talking when ever she didn't have food in her mouth, and sometimes when she did. When Akemi brought the mousse out of the fridge, Lucy involuntarily gasped. She hadn't had chocolate mousse since before everything changed and she hadn't realized how much she missed it until now. "Is that chocolate mousse?" She asked already knowing the answer. Her gaze remained locked onto the dessert until a portion had made its way within arms reach of her. She plunged a spoon into it and crammed it into her mouth before melting into her seat. "I think that's it. That's all I can fit. I throw in the towel." Lucy was now holding her hands on her belly. "I can't express how good that was! Thank you again Akemi. I'd gladly take midterms more often if this is how you celebrate, but maybe next time you can teach me a few dishes? I think it's fun to learn new recipes and cooking reminds me of home too. Maybe we can do something like make a new dish we've never tried every week when we get together to study?"

When Akemi paused at the sink and asked Lucy if she felt inferior, silence suddenly filled the room. Clearly this was something that had been on Akemi's mind, and Lucy's answer was important. She had to take a moment to think before answering, not about her feelings about the question, but to figure out what to say. It wasn't often in Lucy's life that another person had looked to her for comfort or reassurance. When she began to speak, she did so softly. Lucy was a bit afraid of giving the wrong response, but refused to let her friend down by not even trying. "Inferior? I guess it depends on what you mean. You're better at school than I am, you learn so fast that its impossible to keep up with you, I've seen you shoot nothing but bull's eyes in the target range, and you can cook like a Michelin star chef. You are the smartest person I've ever met and I don't believe there is anything you can't do if you put your mind to it." Lucy found herself standing from the table and making her way over to stand beside Akemi. "But none of that makes me feel inferior. I know that if I needed help with homework, target practice, cooking, or whatever, that you'll be right beside me to lend me a hand and teach me how to do it myself. That makes me feel empowered and lucky to know you. I've got the smartest girl in the world in my corner, so everyone else better watch out! Besides, if you're trying to say that you think you're better than me at everything, I've got a rude awakening in store for you. No one has beat me yet in the new street fighter and I dare you to try." Lucy tried to remain serious, but ended up trying to bring Akemi's usual self back with a smirk and a direct challenge.

Rhyvurg

2017-08-15, 08:01 PM

Ridai

2017-08-16, 06:34 AM

Though maintaining a serene exterior, showing a lovely smile and a light blush, Lucy's praise makes Akemi feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "You are most welcome. And I'd love to add a bit of culinary exploration to our study sessions. I promise I won't practice beforehand."

The silence between her question and Lucy's answer fills Akemi with more and more dread, changing into a sinking feeling when she hears the first part of the answer, her shoulders noticably drooping. Only to be visibly stunned by the rest of the answer. After a moment or two, Akemi begins to laugh, even hiding her face in her hands, muffling the sound. The thought of this being another mindgame by Akemi (or that weird Mind-Akemi Lucy has in her head) crosses Lucy's mind, but she can read people enough to recognize that, no, that is not the case. "Oh, now you've done it." When Akemi shows her face again and wipes the corners of her eyes, she sees the look of absolute elation and happiness, swiftly transitioning into a tight hug.

"That's not what I meant, but I'd love to play a few rounds anyway," she says, though there is a lot more in those words than just accepting a challenge. Skipping right past hesitation, Akemi kisses Lucy on the cheek and lets her out of her hug. "Thank you, Lucy." And Akemi hopes that she has given Lucy something new to consider, something that has been on her friend's mind for a while now. And hopefully, it is something she finds to be as wonderful as it is new.

"But before that, I think we still need to take care of the dishes. And I'll need to switch into something more casual." It'll give both sides some time to think and cool down. Sure, how Lucy might ultimately react is a bit of a risk... but it's one Akemi is willing to take.

Speeddemon87

2018-02-22, 05:08 PM

Benjamin Goodson is bored. Not an unusual state for him to be in, but his last game, a sort of detective story type game was getting pretty boring towards the end as he had figured out the conclusion. it had a few good twists in the beginning and middle, but nothing new at the finish. Yup, finished just like I thought.

Ben exhales loudly before turning of his portable system and dragging himself over to the desk to get his homework done. It's annoying, and there are parts he doesn't fully get, but after a few hours he calls it complete (even if there are a few suspected errors he thinks he'll scrape by with a bare pass) and sets it aside. He could probably get Akemi's help, but she'd actually have him do the work and study even harder, and why do that when he can likely pass with this anyways?

He heads over to NASA in a second to see if they have any work for him there. Nothing major like sending out probes to the edges of the universe like he's done a couple times in the past, but they're always glad to have him there and have some work for him to help out with. Teleportation allows for them to get supplies up to the stations in an instant and not cost millions of dollars. Any plans on colonization are still a far ways off, but with the potential of Ben's help they're putting some serious thought into it for very far off planets that have environs capable of sustaining human life.

After doing that for a bit he goes back and watches some shows for a bit. Right now he's watching his way through a popular fantasy story, which is alright, but he doesn't get what makes some people rave about it so. No Evo's in this story, though given the setting it makes sense. Some shows in more modern, standard settings don't include Evos either, which always makes Ben wonder about them. Are they just focusing on average everyday people more, or are they trying to avoid any mention or thought of Evo kind? And then there are the ones that have improbably high numbers of Evos given their circumstances, often found in comedies that use their 'powers' as gags and to set up contrived situations. Are they helping bridge the gap by showing common ground, or subtly making fun of them? Ben idly wonders about that before dropping the thought and focusing back on the show, which does have decent acting at least.

Ben also causally notes the going ons around the school with his spatial sense. He can't always tell who someone is exactly based on his sense verse and tell who they look like, but he's managed to get the teachers and everyone on the active team down, though for some like Stormwing it's easier than others, given the wings and how she's often flying about. Malcolm too, for that mater, even if he doesn't use them as much. The presences they have and how people react around them can also be a clue, but trying to pinpoint it with his spatial sense is... difficult. He knows he could train it more, get better at using that sense, but that smacks of effort. it might help on missions, but Ben's not certain he wants to do that, that much. He wants this team thing to look good on his resume, but he'd like to get off of it at some point soon if the missions keep on being this dangerous and confrontational. The difficulty is in doing that in such a way where he isn't seen as giving up (quitting the team) or volatile (kicked off the team), yet he still is asked to leave, so he can keep it as a nice mark on his resume and avoid the deadly battles.

After he's watched a few more episodes before yawning and deciding to volunteer a bit before he goes to bed. He volunteers by sending some relief packages around the world. Given how quickly and easily he can help the people, the government will use evos that can teleport or move extremely fast to deliver aid around the world. Ben even gets a pass that acts as a mini passport of sorts. For many countries connected to the UN, he can freely travel to them and ignore any boarders or issues like that to quickly deliver aid. Benjamin also uses it to go around and check out some of the sights around the world, go to different clubs and restaurants, etc. He's pretty sure that it isn't intended for that, but figures so long as he doesn't go poking around in countries like North Korea or sneak into government embassies or the like, it'll be fine (he tries to stick away from cameras anyways when he's out and about, and it's not like anyone can do much to physically stop him from travelling around). Mostly Ben sticks to Canada or America with his dual citizenship there, but he's still built up quite the photo collection from amazing sights and places around the world. Tonight he's feeling pretty tired, so after he sends the last of the packages he agreed to deal with today he just pops over to see the aurora borealis (he's seen it many times before but that doesn't stop it from being beautiful) for a minute before going to bed.

This was just going through an average day in the life of Benjamin Goodson. Not sure if certain elements need to be altered or don't fit with worldbuilding/world status, but this is the rough outline of what it's like for him on a regular day