Superpowers in Space Freeform IC

[drack]

OOC thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?623884-Superpowers-in-Space-Freeform-OOC&p=24843080#post24843080)

Whether out of ill or favorable fortune, or out of aspirations for something more, you've boarded a transport ship and traveled across galaxies, all to reach a small established colonial planet at which you hope to start your new life. The ship was still about a week out from arriving at the destination, but only the stubborn few had chosen to stay in their hibernation pods at this point an miss the building excitement in the ship. Billions of soon-to-be colonists flooded the decks, eating, playing cards, excitedly murmuring about what they'd do upon arrival.

The spaceship tilted. The gravity seemed to point the wrong way, a prismatic gas filled the air, and then there was agony. Screams of unbearable pain filled the air as tears and blood mixed along the floor. It seemed like a lifetime, the pain, the anguish, the ever building pressure that seemed to be ripping you apart, but it also seemed like it was over in an instant. Standing shakily to your feet you notice the lingering neon bright fumes slowly dissipating over a figurative sea of corpses. It's a mess everywhere you look, some clawed their skin off, others began to mutate, growing spikes which impaled themselves to death instantly along with others around them. Some dissolved into dust or corrosive acid whilst others lost all sanity smashing their heads repeatedly into the hard metallic walls until their brains flowed free. You can still spy a few poor souls twitching painfully with a life they probably wish would end... most of them probably will soon... most...

The crackle of static interrupts your thoughts as the intercom sounds throughout the ship as a prelude to the excited cackle of a crazed voice that drowns out the remaining moans and cries for help. "Congratulations my brothers, sisters, fellow chosen! You have been freed of your mortal shackles. Join us, join us! Lets meet in the mess hall where we can discuss this properly." With a sudden click the transmission cuts back out leaving you with the inhumane sight before you and the terrifying reality of the situation to slowly wrap your mind around.

[xanxosttheslaad]

It only took a few moments for the fungus that had previously been dormant in the digestive tract to spread throughout the body, infiltrate the brain, and assimilate the remainder of the pitiful man's dying brain. On the surface level of his thoughts it discovered a glimmer of hope and ambition that he had experienced as he gazed out the massive window in Communal Lounge #156, toward the planet that would be his new home. While the concealed crystal in his person betrayed a different set of aspirations, perhaps that moment, when boundless opportunity was staring him in the face, was a portent of a change in heart. Perhaps Mike Dolezal could have ended up as a good person, or at least a contributing member of society on the new planet, had he not died violently after being exposed to Xenophyline Gas No. 7.

The gas had a different effect on the fungus. While it remained in its system, it developed rapidly, using the existing human cells as blueprints for its growth. By the time the body hit the ground, novel neuron-like hyphae filled in the wrinkles of the brain, and muscular, skeletal, and binding hyphae were intertwined with other existing tissues. A new consciousness emerged, with built-in human thinking patterns. In the next few seconds, growth slowed, but soon enough the body's eyes began to dart around. A message is then heard in the lounge.

"Congratulations my brothers, sisters, fellow chosen! You have been freed of your mortal shackles. Join us, join us! Lets meet in the mess hall where we can discuss this properly."

Given context by what Mike knew, a decision was made. The body began writhing on the floor, as various muscular hyphae were contracted experimentally. After a few minutes, it acquired sufficient coordination to stand. Clinging to the wall, it stumbled out of the lounge, and down the hallway, growing more confident and stable with each step, although still rather twitchy and disconcerting. The jaw dropped, and muscles around the diaphragm began cyclically contracting, resulting in a steady groan that echoed down the hall, and soon contorted into varying vocalizations as articulations were attempted.

The purpose of life is to persist, grow, and propagate. This is what all of us have previously done mindlessly, and what we shall continue to do, with improved outcomes, in human guise. If these humans are as dangerous as memory suggests, we shall best persist hidden as an Imposter, Among Them.

[cactiguy3]

Amidst the hubbub of the colony ship, Julian decided to take a break from the high-stakes poker game he had been engaged in to gaze out of an observation window. The final destination of the behemoth that had borne the expectant civilization was barely visible through the wide expanse of clear acrylic, just a small dot. As Julian stared at it, he noticed the planet had an odd twinkle to it, as though its true color was slowly shifting through every color of the spectrum. He heard a voice back from the table, calling him to quit his stalling and finish the game. He turned back to face the galaxy’s most prolific archaic games champion: Johnny Bigfeet. He grinned menacingly with his cards folding slightly in his hands against the table. “You lookin’ a bit low on oxygen, man. You doin’ aight?”. Julian, slightly confused, said “I’m feeling fine”. “You sure? It’s a-lookin’ like you’re in a low oxygen environment. Please evacuate”.

Julian slowly forced his eyes open to the blaring sirens and flashing red lights. Over the intercom was an oddly calm female voice saying, “Low oxygen environment. Please evacuate”. Although for Julian, the voice swam with the world in front of his eyes. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a hissing sound that was the most likely culprit of the current state of things. With great difficulty, he was able to twist his head to face the nearest exit, a plain white corridor tinged with the red of the siren and an odd sparkle. “Brain...need air”, he thought sluggishly. With a startling amount of determination that only arises when one’s life hangs in the balance, Julian willed himself towards the hallway, but he quickly found that his will couldn’t overcome the fact that he physically could not move his limbs. In a drunken panic, he began to cry as his consciousness once more started to fade as the world spun around him. “Not..now”.

Julian sat up with a start at the sound of hissing, many times louder than what he thought he heard before. As the vertigo quickly came to retake its place in lieu of the relative peace of his unconsciousness, he realized he had sat up, and he half realized that his hands hadn’t been resting on the floor before he had sat up. With the limited strength he had left, he dragged himself towards the corridor. As he rounded the corridor with painfully slow pace, he caught sight of the bright yellow automatic airlock that had activated to contain the remaining pressure, and as he continued his crawl towards it, it opened with the most satisfying hiss he had ever experienced. Triumphantly, he dragged his way through the bulkhead, each breath getting easier as he did so until he was finally through the airlock, which promptly closed behind him. As he turned over onto his back, breathing heavily, his last waking thought as the adrenaline wore off was that the sparkle in the air hadn’t gone when the world stopped spinning.

After Julian regained consciousness in the housing sector, he could finally think in complete sentences, and for the first time, he noticed the bodies. In every direction, he saw the broken, contorted forms of the people he had traveled with and what had once been people. Upon realizing what he had blocked out in his hypoxic brain, Julian promptly vomited. Upon realizing he had vomited directly onto a corpse, with a face twisted in agony and riddled with bony protrusions, he turned 90 degrees to the right and vomited on the empty floor. Shakily, he rose to attempt to survey the scene while ignoring the carnage, and he recognized that this was where his room was located. Carefully, he made his way up the stairs and within a couple minutes he had reached the clear door to his room. At this point, it dawned on him that he had lost his access card at some point, rendering him inches from the last place he could go on this ship without the carnage. Frustrated, he slammed his hand on the door and screamed in rage. However, his cry was cut short by surprise when he realized his hand had moved. Looking up, a hand-shaped hole had formed in the door where his hand had been pressed. “What the f-”

[BelGareth]

Zack was working out, he had awoken earlier than the others, but not for wanting, but due to the incessant Marshal that had awoken him. He had wanted a smaller awakened populace to wake up the wanted fugitive , just in case.

Even though he was non-violent, and the model prisoner, Jake, the AE Marshal, was nothing but thorough, and watched from the sidelines as Zack slammed down his weights to drop down into the push up position, ugh, burpees, you would have thought they had died off, but no, they were still around and very viable.

He put his face into the mat, and began to push up when the whole world turned inside out, he rolled over to one side as the ship tilted, and then the prismatic gas started filling the rooms, Jake lept from his seat running towards his ward, but he passed through the gas, unaware, or ambivalent towards it, which was an error in judgement, as his body transformed into some kind of pudding mid stride, and he splattered onto the floor.

Others began to convulse, and transform, glass, smoke, fire, some grew taller, which grass for hands, and birds for eyes, others grew smaller, turning into mushroom caps, another a small car, complete with honking horn, Zack lay there amazed, entranced, transfixed to the macabre nightmare scene become reality before him.

For him, it lasted a couple of minutes, his mouth was hanging open as he watched ever changing people as they fled (to who knows where, it's a ship), legs turning into spiked boney protrusions, others into blobs, viscous enough to stay together, their human features remaining in the shape of enlarged cellular organs, another turned into a pile of spaghetti, where their dog immediately began to eat, who in turn transformed into a crow with 3 wings, and 2 vestigial legs flew off, smacking into a wall, and then being scooped up by anothers now, massive tongue, like a chameleon.

for Zack, nothing had happened, he thought he had knocked himself unconscious, and was waking through a delirium, but then the vice cut through the insanity, and everything remained. He shook himself, eyes wide with abject horror, almost incapable of processing what in the hell's was going on, he slowly moved, grabbed his towel, and dried off, he had just began his workout, so he wasn't sweaty, but...old habits die hard, and it bought him some comfort that the wold, hadn't actually been turned inside out.

Stepping through, around, and sometimes over other people, who know resembled nothing he had ever imagined, he had to close his eyes against the worst of it, and even seal the bulkhead, and go around to some scenes, he wasn't ready to smell the coppery viscera of his crew mates, or stair into entrails, as they pleaded for help....what could he do?

Nothing, nothing except go to the mess hall, he needed answers.....

[drack]

Mike Dolezal
The slippery gore splattered about provides unsteady handholds, and a voice begins to emerge as the moaning shrieks fade into the background. "Help... help me... please..." At a glance the lady'd upper torso has become four multi-jointed sharp prong-like legs leaving only a spine, a head, and about which the new appendages and her human legs join. You estimate she was lucky to even live this long, and has no future. Desperately she waves her bladed appendages as if to attract attention, slicing through several other bodies including the only other surviving being within eyesight. A plump old man who looks unnaturally gaunt. Some kind of glow was beginning to emanate from beneath his skin, but it seems to have cut own as he's disemboweled.

Julian Barrera
As the screaming moans fade a strangely hollow silence seems to fill the hall, with a vague squelching sound from beyond the end of the hall to your left. Nobody seems to be left to view your feat, or at least, nobody living.

Zack Walton
In the mess hall you see a man sitting on a table, his feet on the bench, as if he could only find a clean spot to sit by getting to higher ground. He has a thick sea blue mohawk, leather jacket, and shoulder pads, with a blaster resting casually in his hands. He seems to be the first to notice you, and you recolonize the voice "Seems we have another brother, rejoice!" Aside from him there's a handful of others in the room, a seven year old boy who's lower half seems to have become a blob of flesh that's actively seeking out and absorbing all the organic matter on the floor. He must have been at it for a while since half the mess hall's already gore-free. Perhaps the most eye-catching are a four meter tall woman who seems to cause gusts and shockwaves when she moves, and the man beside her who seems to be wearing several bundles of colored flames, each bearing resemblance to a different animal. For now there's a lion, snake, and an elephant, but you're pretty sure there was a dolphin when you walked in. Of the people present about half seem to have some obvious abnormality, glowing eyes, a changed limb, ect, and the other half appear more normal. Most of them however seem frightened and uneasy.

[xanxosttheslaad]

As Mike stumbles down the hall, now clumsily reciting a corpus consisting of the human's extensive video game dialogue, they come across a number of corpses, a view that is taken in coldly, as nothing more than an indication of what is in store. Upon coming across a still-moving human, pitifully flailing about her bladed appendages and pleading,

Help... help me... please...
Mike stops, remaining mostly out of her reach. They direct lifeless eyes toward the undulating form, as the mouth continuously pours out an incomprehensible stream of attempted speech. For a few minutes, they watch as life drains from the human. Eventually, she lays on the floor motionless, and Mike attempts to continue down the hallway. After a few steps, a new sensation is experienced. Looking down, a thick fluid is seen seeping out of deep gashes in the body's abdomen and thighs. The mouth becomes quiet as figurative gears whir within the skull, and the body slowly convulses, like a child trying to figure out what muscle to flex to make their rear light up like a firefly. There is a glow coming from inside the body, just below the navel, and thin white fibers bridge and patch the bloody gaps. Having finished repairs, the glow dies down, and Mike steps over the pointy corpse. Speech trials resume (various color words come up frequently, although no one is around listening) as the fungus probes into the memory, attempting to locate the mess hall.
After several hours of wandering the halls of the gargantuan ship, Mike Dolezal enters the mess hall, now with a more conventional gait, and having self-assessed their speech capability to be on par with the humans of memory. They call out to the diverse group of humans in the room, not wanting to seem reclusive or secretive, "Greetings, fellow chosen!" Their speech sounds not unlike that associated with the hearing impaired, a bit nasal, and lacking in inflection and voicing.

[cactiguy3]

Horrified by the echoing, tortured moans and the many other recent developments, Julian quit gawking at the hole that had suddenly formed in his door and used it to open it from the inside. After firmly securing the door behind him and using an entire roll of adhesive tape to close the hole, Julian laid down on the bed, pressed his face into his hands, and desperately tried to make sense of what he had witnessed: waking up gasping for breath, the shimmering atmosphere, the many, many bodies, and the hole in his door. After raking his mind for about half an hour, he came to the realization that he had nothing. In all his life, he had never heard of or seen anything like this, and he laughed half-heartedly as he wished he had a pair of ruby slippers. Obviously, he couldn’t just sit in his room, hoping that tape would separate him from the horrors outside. He didn’t have enough food for that. He needed more information, and there wasn’t anything new in this minimalistic cupboard that could scarcely be called an apartment. The only real lead he had was a weird noise down the hall, so that’s what he needed to look into. He was going to need some preparation to face the outdoors, so he grabbed the most threatening object he could find, a fire suppression device. While not particularly threatening at first glance, Julian knew from dealing with antimatter containment issues that it worked by launching a pearl that undergoes a violent endothermic reaction with oxygen, starving the fire of the gas and energy it requires to sustain itself. The pearl isn’t pleasant to be around without a fire either. With the device held tentatively out in front of him, he opened the door again to check out the weird noise in the metaphorical poorly lit kitchen.

[drack]

Mike Dolezal & Zack Walton
Turning to the new arrival the man with the mohawk exclaims "Now this man, he gets it!" Visibly several members wince slightly in fear, hearing this excited exclamation. "You see, there's no reason to morn the sacrifice of the unworthy, no reason to still consider yourselves lesser, we are chosen by the vary forces of creation themselves, we were *meant* for this."

Almost hesitantly a man in a business suit asks "W-what are you planning to do with us?"

"Why that's an easy question." Pointing at the man who asked, he grins a slightly psychotic grin as he adds "I like you, asking the questions that need to be asked, not afraid to go right to the point."

The man shrinks back slightly, clearly afraid that he just angered a madman with a gun. "It's quite simple, this is a recruitment drive for The Rebels of Man. There are a couple million still in their pods, and we're not murderers, just liberators, we'll be leaving them in stasis. As for the ship, well, anywhere that transcendence occurs on such a massive scale is gonna be twisted worse then a failed pretzel and only half as intact, probably a bit burnt, and not the crispy kind. There's been a catastrophic system failure and there's no way this ship's reaching that colony. In about a week someone will arrive to investigate and pick up survivors. I'll be taking any new Rebels of Man with me on one of these emergency escape boats, a bit smaller then the main craft, but there's still a few intact. As for the rest of you, while it saddens me that you're not too keen on our cause, I understand..."

A frown crosses his face and he corrects himself. "Actually, I don't understand, but that's ok, whether you join us or not, you are now one of us, and purely by existing you're helping our cause. Since the rig is toast I salvaged the remaining power, you've got about half a power crystal here."

He drops five crystals on the table from the hand that wasn't holding the gun, one of which is glowing bright enough to give him a second shadow. "These are for you, and I welcome you to either take the other escape boat, or await rescue."

Seeing how people were eying the crystals he adds "The one thing I will not tolerate is infighting over useless things like petty beggars, the strongest among those that choose not to join will be left to choose what to do with these." Slowly his gaze makes its way around the room, locking eyes with several others as well as yourselves.

By now the room has become almost crowded, but his gaze only locks with eight individuals.

Julian Barrera
The murdering seems to have died off some time ago leaving the hallway silent. Rather strangely the mangled corpses seem to have disappeared too, leaving only a few scattered pieces of metal and rock instead.

[xanxosttheslaad]

Mike searches the memory for information about the Rebels of Man. The human knew them as a group associated with much killing; to associate with them might draw unwanted attention. Perhaps it is best to see how the majority, as well as any newcomers, behave, before deciding whether to board the new ship.

Why did the human look at us, out of the whole room? Was our greeting suspicious? What is the significance of the others designated by its gaze? It seemed there were only a few. It spoke of 'the strongest', perhaps we shall ally with them, to better our chances.

Mike remains silent, and attempts to identify the other seven individuals, to see how they react to the situation.

[cactiguy3]

“Par for the course, I suppose”, he thought. At this point, it seemed only fitting that things kept getting weirder. With the loss of his main leads, he wasn’t really sure what to do, but he was sure that doing nothing wasn’t an option. He decided to start jogging without a real destination in mind, but it would help him to cover more ground as he searched for something, anything to get him out of this now-silent nightmare. As though the universe decided to remedy the silent part, the deafening roar of twisting metal filled the hallway. Picking up speed and rounding the corner, Julian was met with the source of the sound: a small child curled up in the hallway crying and clearly terrified as the ship’s metal supports dug through the walls and closed around them. Without a thought, Julian sprinted toward the child, shouting “Hold on!”, but with the deafening level of ambient noise, Julian could barely tell he had spoken, let alone the child. Reaching the child, he picked them up and got up to continue down the hallway, but as he did so, a sickening crack echoed through the hall as an I-beam tore through the wall and hurtled towards both of them. Instinctively, Julian raised a free hand to protect his face and witnessed something incredible: the beam and some of the surrounding wall appeared to spaghettify, transitioning from solid to liquid, liquid to gas, and eventually it disappeared into his palm. As it did, he felt as if the beam had been placed on his shoulders, and he carefully allowed the child to stand on the ground as his knees buckled. Thankfully, the hallways had fallen silent, and the child seemed to have calmed down. “It’ll be ok”, he assured the child as he dropped into a kneeling position. “Obviously this isn’t normal”, he thought, “maybe I just need to focus and the answer will become clear”. Julian closed his eyes and attempted to cleared his head despite the enormous pressure he felt, and he focused on what had happened just a few moments ago, how it felt as it had entered his palm. His eyes shot open as he heard a sudden hiss, and they drifted to the floor, which now appeared to be covered with a thick layer of white powder sizzling against the paint. Realizing that he now felt significantly lighter, he smiled and turned to the child, “Do you know what’s going on?”. The child, who had been returning his smile, suddenly became very serious and said “We have to go to the mess hall”. “The mess hall? Why?”, he said. “Because that’s what the voice said. We’re ‘the chosen.’” The child’s conviction was astonishing, so Julian agreed without really thinking. “Alright, we’ll go to the mess hall and get to the bottom of this, and don’t worry, I won’t let that happen to you again, no matter what”, he replied, unsure of where his own conviction had come from. The child smiled and gave Julian a hug, and after a few moments, they both walked down to the mess hall.

[BelGareth]

Zack frowned, he was taking in the scene as another came into the room, prompting the crazed man to start a diatribe, he had met a lot of people like him during his life on earth, demagogues, or wanna be dictators, but too often they had nothing to 'dictate' so the nearest, easiest leadership role would usually do, power had a strange thing upon people like that....and this seemed to be something akin to that, but with...supe powers.

He knew a very little about the Rebels of Man, like most people, news clippings, tubes, and vrlogs, but he never really paid attention, thinking the larger universe wouldn't need him to have such knowledge, well, he was proven wrong....again.

"You're not murderers?" he sputtered out incredulously, "wait...did you cause this?" gesturing to everything "this is INSANE...YOU'RE INSANE!" he screamed...."Who do you think you are??"


I'm planning on his abilities to manifest soon, when he needs to move fast...and does...at the speed of light.

[drack]

The mess hall

Making a placating gesture with that same crazed smile on his face, the man with the mohawk attempts to reassure you. "No need to get upset. We've helped liberate both them and you from that husk-like existence you once had. To those of us chosen that means we can finally live the life we were born to lead. As for them, well, it's the same as how not everyone is born human, some are chickens and goats that exist to feed man. Truly, there is no nobler death then one that helps the chosen shine with their genuine luster."

[cactiguy3]

As he entered the mess hall, he suddenly had an overwhelming feeling that he shouldn’t be there. “Wait outside, kid”, he whispered to the child beside him,“Are you saying you caused this...this...massacre?!”. He started to focus on his palms as his face filled with rage.

[drack]

Sensing the mounting tensions, the man with the mohawk and shoulder pads continues to attempt to placate those gathered. "I'm saying I helped unlock that vary potential you're in contact with now. I have helped you discover a new and greater life, one in which you may choose mediocrity but are no longer forced into it."

[cactiguy3]

For whatever reason, this made Julian calm down for the moment, at least enough to delay the outburst that was coming on. Calmly, he asked,“So what exactly are our choices here? What am I supposed to do now that I can do this?” At this point, he turned all his focus to his outstretched palm, seeming to reach for a nearby lightweight metal chair. The somewhat familiar yet still greatly alien scene unfolded as it had before. The chair spaghettified towards his palm, and as it traveled, it steadily went through phase changes from solid to liquid to gas until it finally reached and disappeared into his palm. He turned expectantly back to man with the mohawk. The man was momentarily dumbfounded until his face slowly erupted in a wide smile. This put Julian over the edge, and suddenly everything clicked: him waking up unconscious, the shimmering air, the countless disfigured bodies, and his strange new ability. He started to walk towards the mohawked man. “Am I just supposed to live a normal life? Am I supposed to join your band of lunatics?! You’ve killed a planet’s worth of people just to take everything from me!” At this point, he was within a couple feet of the man. He turned his focus towards his palm, and his palm towards the man. The man, clearly surprised by the outburst given Julian’s previous question, had not moved, so he was within point-blank range as a torrent of unoxidized metal showered him, spontaneously combusting upon contact with the air and sizzling sickenly against his body.

[BelGareth]

Zack shook his head in incredulity, this man, this....deranged monster had killed....everyone.

The shock of that hadn't truly sunk in yet for Zack, he was still living in the moment, true, he didn't care for anyone on this ship, least of all the Marshal...He needed those crystals, he wasn't wanting to stick around, or join this madman's happy crew.

He moved to reach for the crystals, and his vision blurred, as if he was moving incredibly fast. The only thing anyone saw, was a flash of light, like the old fluorescent lights that flickered, and then he suddenly was standing with the crystals in his hand.

What in the hell's just happened! He thought to himself.

He looked around at the others, and then at the other one who just misted the chair....where these powers....the result of this...thing? this thing this man did?

[drack]

The man seems genuinely surprised when a gust of sand flies into his face. Leaning heavily backwards he falls off the other side of the table, whether through luck or skill, landing on his feet as he takes a few cautious steps backwards, wiping the sand from his eyes, the blaster steadily trained on the ground beneath the table. Thus distracted, he doesn't even register the disappearance of the crystals as he chuckles a few more times. "You misunderstand, I've taken nothing from you, if anything, it's you who've taken from me. Still, I don't begrudge this, it was willingly offered after all."

Clearing his eyes he opens them again, meeting Julian's gaze. "I understand, you feel confused, lost even. Perhaps you don't agree with my ideals, I don't begrudge you that. Most of the great conflicts of history are philosophical disagreements after all. People fight over anything they can think to fight over, but I hope there'll be no fighting here today. Believe this though, you will get through this. Whatever confusion you feel is just your mind trying to adjust too meet a quickly adjusting situation. If you don't agree with me you're more then free to take..."

He waves towards where the crystals were, but as his gaze flicks to them he pauses slightly, hesitating.

"Well we'll find a way for you to get to where you need to go. Perhaps I may be many things, but nobody's called spry Terry a lier, at least, not for a good while."

[xanxosttheslaad]

Mike Dolezal has been standing off to the side of the room, away from the action. Their eyes trace steady circles in the air, attempting to take in the scene. A handful of individuals seem to be doing especially impressive things; these were likely the 'strongest' mentioned. After one human emits a bright flash of light, momentarily blinding them (as they have not yet mastered use of the iris) before coming back into sight holding the (familiar?) crystals that had been on the table across the room, Mike Dolezal decides that those humans which had been expressing negative sentiment toward the 'spry Terry' must be the aforementioned 'strongest'.
Like a natural bandwagoner, and with more humanoid intonation than previous (after listening to some speech by actual humans), Mike Dolezal blurts out an attempted echo of the anger filling the room, "Spry Terry is a big bad evil guy!" As they utter this childish insult drawn in part from the human's gaming vocabulary, their face contorts, an attempt to mimic the 'angry' look worn by the others, and they lob a nearby chair toward the man, missing quite badly.

[BelGareth]

Still bewildered at what he had done, Zack turns incredulously to the new speaker...”what?” He sputters mouth agape.

[cactiguy3]

Paying little attention to the other outbursts around the room, Julian continues to walk forward. As a man who obviously didn’t speak English well threw a chair in his general direction, he briefly looked back and reached out, absorbing the chair. He then traced a path with his other hand from the intaking arm, through his body, and finally out his other arm. His palm continued to direct burning metal powder onto “Spry Terry”.

[NineOfSpades]

With a friendly sounding musical chime, the ships PA system buzzed to life. "Attention - All passengers and crew" The voice was passive and composed, a simple computerized response that was probably designed to pacify the listener "Automated Fire Suppression Systems have engaged in this sector. At this time, Non-essential personnel are advised to calmly proceed to the nearest transportation elevator and evacuate to a distance of 3 sectors. We thank you for your cooperation". The machine, contented that it had performed its duty, even if there were very few people left alive who were interested in hearing it, then signed off with the same friendly string of inoffensive musical notes.

Approximately ten seconds passed before the PA system turned on again. This time, there was no cheerful diddy, but a wailing claxon, and then a second, much more authoritative voice came on "WARNING: Thermal spike detected. Mandatory Evacuation is required. Fire Suppression systems will engage in 10 ... 9 ... 8 ..." The speaker didn't get any further than that before the mess hall doorway on the far side of the room opened, or rather, tried to open.

A lot of things then happened very, quickly. Firstly, as soon as the doors began to move, a blast of scorching hot air rushed in. The decorative plants that had been placed near the entrance burst into flames, as did several of the unfortunate passenger's bodies who had not survived their rapid mutation. The doors only managed to open about 6 inches before some internal mechanism failed. Electrical sparks crackled out of the machinery, and with a protesting groan, the doors locked in position. Light spilled in through the opening, an incandescent yellow that bordered on painful to look directly at. The heat only continued to rise from there. Smoke started to billow in, and there was a whirring noise from the vents as they attempted to purify the air.

From somewhere in the hallway, there came an almost inhuman shriek of frustration and anger. Something moved through the smoke. Through the gap in the metal door, a human arm erupted through, flailing and clawing. It was coated in flames, rapidly turning the metal frame into glowing red molten slag, which began to run in trickling streams down to the floor, while the heat in the room jumped up another few dozen degrees. Through the smoke and flames and scorching metal, a figure beyond the doorway could be seen, eyes wide and burning. "You... You Bastards" Growled the voice, rage turning the worlds into a feral snarl "I'll Kill You for what you did. I'll Kill ALL OF YOU"

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

Saryu felt the light touch of lips on her neck, gently calling her back to the waking world. "Stop, Jack" She cooed softly, playfully opening one eye "You know that isn't fair". Beside her bed was a fit-looking gentleman, a few years older than she was. He leaned over and gave her another kiss, this one planted on her lips, to which Saryu happily returned the gesture, before grabbing a pillow and smacking him upside the head. "I'm still mad at you for last night" she scolded, though there wasn't any real malice in her voice "If I don't finish the biosphere report soon, then the project is going to fall another month behind - " Jack cut her off, pressing a finger to his lips and gently shushing

"Sweetie, you needed a break, and you needed to relax. I'm not apologizing for dragging you out of your lair" He lowered himself onto the bed, and ran a hand down her cheek. Almost reflexively, Saryu rose her own hand to grap it, intertwining fingers as she nuzzled against him. Jack smiled, kissing Saryu's forehead "You've got this, babe.". Saryu smiled at him, nodding

"Well, obviously" she said with a cocky smirk "I am a super-genius".

Jack laughed, and kissed Saryu again, the two embracing eachother for a long moment. When they seperated, Jack shot a glance to the clock "Well, Miss Super-Genius, my shift doesn't start for another half hour. We could probably squeeze in a little more relaxation before I have to jet." He raised a knowing eyebrow, tugging at the bedsheet and pulling it away from Saryu's grip "If you're interested".

Saryu didn't bother to answer. She was ontop of Jack before he even knew what hit him.

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

Saryu was screaming. She hadn't seen the gas before it was too late. It blotted out the world, leaving only the pain. Her skin was tearing itself off, slopping free in sheets that dropped to the ground. She wanted to say something, call for help, but the words wouldn't come. She was coughing, gagging, as her body quivered and heaved. Blood and bits of her own entrails were coming up with each gulp of air she tried to suck down, vomited out onto the floor. Jack was nearby, she thought. She could hear his screams, even if she couldn't see. She wanted him to find her in this agony, pull it away while there was still someting left to save. The rational part of her mind told her she was dying. Nothing could survive pain like this. She could claw and scream and cry, but it wouldn't make any difference. This was how she was going to die. That thought provided a small bit of clarity, at least. Saryu didn't want to die alone.

Moving even her head took such an immense effort that she briefly lost conciousness. Her eyes couldn't focus, everything was a swirl of colors lost in fog. Jack wasn't too far away, a few feet at most. She didn't recognize him, he looked wrong. But there wasn't any doubt either. Whatever he was going through, he still had his voice. "Jack..." she chocked out, a gaggled moan of agony and paniced fear. She didn't have strength enough to lift her arm, so she had to grip with her fingertips, crawling the immesurably 10 inches till she grabbed hold of Jack. His skin was wrong, it was wet and swollen. She didn't care. They were together, she didn't have to die alone.

Another choaked cough. No visera this time, but a belching cloud of inky black smoke. Saryu couldn't describe the sensation, the sudden eruption of heat inside her. It hurt. It was wonderful. It was unbearable. She spasmed, a jolting seizure that rocked through her body. Something was wrong. She felt her strength returning, even as a numbing cold spread over her. Light began to play across her naked body, embers growing into jets of fire that burst out of her. It was beautiful and horrifing. More heat, more light. It was covering her now. The cold was falling away.

Jack began trying to pull away. He was barely concious, but his body's instincts still had enough hold to recoil from the heat. Not that there was anywhere to go. The door was perhaps ten steps away, but in their current condition, it might as well have been on the moon. "No" Saryu stammered, not wanting to lose the connection she had to the man she loved, not now. She reached for him again, even as the fire that burned from her grew stronger still. Jack tried to move, a wimpering groan of pain escaping his broken mouth. The rational part of Saryu's mind, the one detached from all this, noted that Jack's hand was burnt black, charred. Realization hit. The fire's were still rising. The room was on fire. "I can't..." Panic was taking over "It won't stop". She tried to move, but her body still reufused to respond. More heat, more flames. Jack was burning. "Stop it! Someone Stop it!" She was screaming. Jack was screaming. "I'm Sorry! I don't know what to do, it won't stop! I'm sorry!" Pressure was building inside her. She couldn't control it. The rational part of her was running at breakneck speed, but no answers arrived. Jack wasn't screaming anymore. The fire's engulfed everything, reducing Saryu's world to ash and smoke.

A message came over the announcement system. A voice, one she'd never heard before, cut through. The voice was happy with what it had done, it invited her to join them. The rational part of Saryu had a lot to say about that, but she wasn't listening to that part of herself anymore. What good had it done her, when she needed it most? There was another part that spoke up, something deep in the base of her mind, born a thousand generations ago when her ancestors lived in mud huts. It called for blood, for rage, for vengeance. It told her to forget the pain, let it all disappear, all the memories and horror could be swallowed up.

Right now, with molten tears on her face and the ashes of the man she had dreamed of marrying now scorched into the floor, being erased sounded pretty good. It occurred to her, for a brief moment, that killing the people who had broken her wasn't going to make the hurting stop. But the moment passed, and she realized she didn't care right now.

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

The last bits of molten slag that used to be the mess hall access door sloshed to the ground, joining the pool of crimson metal that was already there. It had never been designed to withstand this kind of temperature and had only lasted a handful of seconds at most. Saryu stepped into the room. She had the twitchy, violent energy of a rabid animal. Jets of flame a half-dozen meters long lashed out wildly around her, flailing through the air with the spasmatic motions of some great infernal beast. Her eyes only dimly resembled those of a human, but their wild expression was unmistakable, even through the tears.

Without concern for who was innocent and who was guilty, Saryu charged forward into the mass of people, terrorists and victim alike, accompanied by a roar of immeasurable loss transformed into rage. Her hands rose, great colums of fire blasted forth, swinging in arcs about the chamber.

[BelGareth]

Zack had no time to react, as he was looking at the person who had declared Spry Terry a bad man like a 6 year old, a flaming inferno shot into the room, he instinctively reacted, he blinked, and suddenly he was floating in the air, he had no arms or body...but he did, they were still there, and moved to his thoughts, but....they weren't substantive, and the heat no longer hurt him, just...passed through.

He raised one hand, and saw it was translucent, as if he were a ghost, he looked down in a not-so-panic-but-close state, his whole body was translucent. Completely ignored the room, and the contents therein, it all seemed so little, and the fire no longer hurt him, nothing....hurt him, he couldn't feel anything anymore, not even his own body. He floated, a foot off the ground, and marveled at himself, looking at each hand in turn, arms, patting his body, it looked as if he had just woken up in a human body and was trying it out for the first time...but in something that was specifically not a human body, only in shape did it resemble his old self.

He seemed to constantly float, as if he needed to move, it was slow, and he could will himself still, but the tug to move was strong, he looked at a corner, and willed himself there, zapping there in a flash of light, his new translucent eyes widened, as he realized he moved faster than he could have.

Brain moving at the speed of light, he thought how, and why, and what, getting back to the scene, he regarded this new intruder with his head sideways, as if he were looking at something interesting, floating slowly closer.

He reaches out tentatively and speaks "Why are you so angry?" he says, almost in a whisper.

[cactiguy3]

As a human-shaped fireball blasted itself into the mess hall and started wildly firing, Julian knew it was time to get out of there, regardless of who’s side the fireball was on. Without easy access to a door, he decided he was going to make one. Turning his palm to the floor, he made a hole large enough to pass through to the level below. Peering through, the floor below thankfully wasn’t very far down. By hanging from the edge of the hole, he was able to drop down the next couple of feet without issue. Just in time too, as a jet of flame shot over the hole. Now wondering what to do next, he suddenly remembered the child. Panicked, he attempted to retrace the steps he took on the floor above, tunneling through the walls of the hallway he landed in. When he reached the place where he thought he left the child, he continued tunneling upwards by incrementally absorbing material and then ejecting it behind him when it got too heavy. Eventually, light streamed through from the floor above. “Kid! Kid! Jump down!”, he yelled desperately upwards.

[xanxosttheslaad]

For a few moments after the continuous eruption of flame enters the mess, Mike does not move, as they assess the situation. After seeing one of the humans that the flaming human moved near fall to the ground, blackened and motionless, Mike begins running toward a hole in the floor that another human just jumped into. Their primary goal is to persist, and remaining in the room now seems antithetical to that goal. They move with a stumbling gait, almost like that of the drunken warrior, whose unpredictable, intermittent movements conceal their intentions in a fight. Mike, however, has no such higher plans than motion in a general direction. The entirety of the network of neuron-like hyphae that fill in the wrinkles of the rotting brain are dedicated toward locomotion, and as they reach the hole in the ground, they are engulfed in a blast of flame. While the skin darkens a shade due to light scorching, the hyphae running throughout the body transfer the brunt of the heat flux into the crystal in the rectum, which begins to emit a glow that shines through the body.
Disoriented by the flames, Mike plunges unceremoniously into the hole. As they fall, they pivot about a foot placed just on the edge, catching the other side of the hole with their face. The body buckles slightly, barely slowing its descent as some cracking noises come from the neck and back. Mike hits the floor with a heavy thud, and lies motionless with numerous broken bones. That feeling that was felt earlier after deep cuts were made into the body's abdomen and thighs now returns at a greater magnitude, and the signal seems to be coming from all over the body. Again, the fungus begins to siphon energy from the glowing rectal crystal, expanding the various hyphae present in the body. New muscular strands spring up, pulling parts of the body in unnatural ways to reduce the distances that need to be bridged by new skeletal hyphae. As this happens, the body of the late Mike Dolezal remains on the floor below the hole, twitching and glowing.

[AvatarVecna]

Penelope came too quite quickly abruptly suddenly, jolting to a kneeling position. She staggered over and leaned on her platform work station desk for support, hands folded over her head as she moaned. It was throbbing pounding aching something awful, but before she'd had too long to get settled, it crumbled beneath her hands and she went off balance. As she pulled herself up off the ground floor once again, she couldn't see any wrecked furniture, only a pile of papers she didn't recognize. She leafed through the desk des DUES and realized they were bills addressed to random people from random companies, few of which she recognized.

As the fog in her brain consciousness mind cleared, she recalled the gas, and the screaming. Her feet more steady beneath her now, she made her way out and started sweeping the ship vehicle immediate vicinity, looking for anybody who might still be alive. When she found an area that seemed low on background noice, she stopped to listen harder. After a few moments, she heard voices conversation words people talking elsewhere in the ship, through the walls, but it was quiet and muffled - probably not too distant, but with something in the way. Maybe if she could figure out where it was loudest, she could figure out determine where it was in relation to the security office.

Penelope walked up and down a couple hallways corridors until she could almost make out what was being said. She found a patch of wall where it seemed the loudest and pressed her ear against the cold panel metal barrier wall and strained her ears once more. And then something strange happened: the wall wallr watlr WATER fell all around her, just about soaking her from crown head to toe. As she stood there, dripping and freezing, she realized that whatever had happened meant she was now able to walk directly into the mess hall.

No, maybe nothing had happened. Maybe a hole crater opening had been blown in the wall, and she was just experiencing visual hallucinations. She needed to see a doctor, and soon...

[cactiguy3]

Instead of the child, the strange man who had insulted Terry with the eloquence of a toddler fell through the original hole he had made, trailing smoke behind him as his singed corpse descended. For a moment, he laid still, but after that brief moment, Julian thought he saw the man...glowing. He even thought he saw him moving slightly, but before he could think too much about it, he heard motion from above. Looking hopefully upward, his eyes were met by an unfamiliar pair...

[BelGareth]

Things started to get really crazy, and not seeing anything coming forthwith from the fiery inferno striding into the room, Zack shrugged, sending his ethereal form in the opposite direction, as if the action was enough to blast him into space.

He stopped his motion, and flew down the new hole, saw a few of the others down there, and quickly changed back into his human form half way down, prompting him to flail all limbs at once attempting to fly, instead he was met with a loud *THUD*, as his body hit the floor beneath him. But this human was able to get back up, albeit slowly, he turned to the other body...which was glowing.

"What in the hells is going on!" he exclaims to the others.

[BelGareth]

Things were going...strangely, and no one was reacting to him, he couldn't figure out why, and shaking his head as he got up, scanned the room quickly. Am I moving to fast or something? he thought to himself.

Shaking himself, he decided to leave this lot to themselves, he had....a certain amount of things to figure out, maybe he could find a place to...practice?

He still wasn't quite sure what was going on, but wanted to understand, he wasn't a metaphysical expert on trans-humanism, but he had heard stories, and he figured the basics of what was going on, what was that gas called in the history books? did they still even use that? Thought that stuff was banned? he mused as he walked out of the room, and down the hallway, getting away from the others, where could he 'figure' this out?

Ah, yes, there were some large hangar bays in the aft section, they would be devoid of people to, so he wouldn't have to....yeah. As he went, he tried to will himself to go faster, but nothing worked, by the time he made his way through several corridors of 'people', or what was left of them, he was in a storming mood, and felt deflated.

Maybe I should have stayed with the others? he thought, and slammed his hand down, sending a burst of light out, nearly blinding himself.

Wait...is it connected to my emotional state? He ran faster to the hanger, and started experimenting, getting angry or sad or whatever, and seeing what happened.

[Sønderjye]

To any observers, Charles was frowning at the wall on the other end of the hallway. However, in fact he was using his cybernetic left eye to observe the simulated results of his last attempt at biotinkering. And it was yet again a resounding failure. He pondered a little and then said to himself: "What if I used rdeCe2 instead?" He wonders as his hands reaches the virtuel keyboard in his minds eye, and he started typing. Until he was suddenly thrown sideways when gravity decided to have a field day.

He got to his feet disoriented and at first when he saw the gas he thought he must have hit. It couldn't be. Every biotech student knew that gas. X3N8HCH8. But as the gas spread and the screaming began he couldn't not believe it. This wasn't happening. He looked around desperately in search for somewhere insulated but he found nothing. The hibernation pods was insulated so if he could just make it there he might be safe.

He had his computer map out a route and started sprinting but upon turning a corner he realized that he was blocked on all sides with gas. Knowing that if he just stayed in the place he would succum to the gas at any rate he took a gamle. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes and barreled down the corridor. He didn't make many steps however before his muscles started spasming and he collapsed.

Searing pain filled his entire existance. It felt as if every nerve in his body was on fire. He screamed and screamed for what felt like eternity until the finally the pain started lessoning. His vision was blurry when he opened his eyes and he found himself alone in the corridor.

He sat perplexes for a long just realizing that he had somehow beaten the impossible odds. He remembers in the early days how they had joked that the chance of surviving X3N8HCH8 was lower than getting decent food for three consecutive days. And yet here he was. But he still wasn't out of the frying pan. In many cases people would be killed by volatile powered either because these didn't fully understood their powers or because the event was traumatic enough to cause them to lash out.

He would need to quickly figure out what he now could do if he wanted to improve his odds of surviving. He could sense a ball of energy inside of him but he had no clue what it could do. He tried to moving it down to his feed hoping that he could use it to move but nothing. He tried pushing the wall to see if his strength had improved but nothing. He yelled loudly and tried to will the energy into existance but nothing.


"Congratulations my brothers, sisters, fellow chosen! You have been freed of your mortal shackles. Join us, join us! Lets meet in the mess hall where we can discuss this properly."

The voice over the speakers startled him. The phrasing was confusing but the gist was that they were gathering all the volatile elements in one location and so soon after the transformation? There were bound to be blood. Still, if whoever had done this had access to both the coms and the ventilation system, there was a good chance they could just shut the entire ship down. He needed more information. Cautiously he moved towards the mess hall, trying to stay clear of any other powered he might encounter.

He was almost at the mess door when he heard the calamity approaching. He ran back the way he came and waited, until the calamity had passed him. He then followed the trail of destruction back to the mess hall and peeked into the hall through the now. He is ready to bolt if there was indication that danger would be approaching, but for now content observing partly hidden behind what remains of the entrance doorway.

[Sønderjye]

Charles notice that a small group made their way into a small hole in the ground. The instinct to get out of the room that was about to turn bloody suggested to Charles that they at least had some sense and right now he could really use powered allies. At the very least until he figured out what his powers were.

Gazing around he found a tap that had broken and were spilling water on the ground. He ducked under the stream of water to soak himself before ran into the inferno and dives for the hole.

He landed on the ground with a thud and groaned. The water trick had seemed to work and while he might end up being a little cold later, at least he wasn't on fire.

"Hey, I'm Charles," he introduces himself to the group. That probably could have gone better but people usually liked it if you introduced yourself. "I got here late, do you people have any idea about what's happening?"

[drack]

"Crap." Spry Terry mutters, as his eyes slip from Julian to the ball of flaming death hurtling towards his charges. Without a second thought he drops his blaster and tries to shove Julien to the side with minimal real effect, nevertheless he slips past him shouting to everyone "Get back, clear a path!" before, still moving forward, his gaze locks on the new arrival. "Calm, calm, breath, it's ok, it's ok" his skin turns red and welted then black as his flesh dries and sizzles "Just breath." He tries to catch Saryu, to make her stop as his flesh melts off leaving only bones which crack and split under the intense waves of heat. The floor seems to groan like an oven warming up too fast, the water that was once a wall sizzles quickly into a light misting of steam.

[BelGareth]

Zack got to the hangar bay without having to go through too many of the 'people' that were still around, if you could call them that, he sure didn't, they were like something out of nightmare, not his, but some avant-garde artist who smoked too much peyote. No, that wasn't his scene at all, especially when it was directly in front of him, threatening to suck the marrow out of his bones because theirs melted through their pores not moments ago.

No no no no no.

Reaching the Hangar bay, he sighed, very few people down here, and none of the ethereal abominations to boot. He found himself leaning against a railing looking down at a gigantic hangar bay, it was one of the bays that housed the nexus for all the passenger liners to come and go, so it was rather immense.

Perfect he thought, thinking this would be a good place to practice his new found talents.

And so he began, trying his best to muster up the emotional anger to trigger his abilities, or trick them at least, if he could figure out how, then he could use that and refine it, like training a muscle, and he knew how to do that.

[Sønderjye]

Hearing the screaming and odd fizzling sounds Charles can't help but need to know what's happening up there. He attempts to jump up so he can drag himself up to watch. The first two tries have embarrasing results which we're not going to talk about but on the third try he manages to grap hold and drag himself up. He immediately lets go again and kneels over, his breakfast leaving his stomach. He closes his eyes but the horrible image of a man literally being melted refuses to leave his minds eye.

[NineOfSpades]

Saryu wasn't really sure what she expected to feel, watching a man disintegrate in front of her for the second time that day. She'd hoped it would come with some kind of relief. Or maybe at least satisfaction. But Saryu didn't feel much of anything. The anger was still there, still roaring, but having gotten a chance to wet its teeth on someone who deserved it, all she was left was feeling...nothing.

"Backup Fire Supression System: Online" Came the ships computer. Saryu didn't really have time to process what that meant before automated turrents emerged from the walls of the mess hall. They aimed their nozzles at her with computerized efficiency, and then blasted out a torrent of chemical foam.

For a second or two, the ship and Saryu seemed to be at a standstill. The foam was designed to repel normal fires, not a walking inferno, and the heat that the scientist gave off was vastly more powerful. The chemical agent couldn't even get within a few feet of her before it fizzled. However, what the system lacked in power, it was rapidly making up for with volume. More hoses switched on, doubling and doubling again the rate.

When the foam reached her skin, Saryu screamed. Unlike the previous ones, it was a shocked and pained gasp. A cold beyond measure, ice stabbing against her. The heat from her body plummetted, the light radiating dulled to a deep red. She flinched away from the hoses, but the therma system locked onto her moments and began tracking her. Another spray caught her across the back, causing her to stumble and fall.

Anger can drive you to a lot of things, but pain pushes your brain towards survival. And that meant thinking. The unwanted ice-bath she was experiencing had, for the moment at least, shocked Saryu back to her senses enough to change strategies. There was a torn hole in the floor a dozen or so feet away. She tried moving towards it, but her limbs didn't seem to be moving properly. She was numb all over. Saryu made it a few steps before stumbling. A few more, and she had fallen over. Unable to make much forward progress, the thermal-reacting foam began to accumulate, sapping her heat and energy. A few more seconds, and she was barely crawling towards the opening, and hopefully, out of range of the fire-system.

[drack]

Space seem s to ripple as Spry Terry emerges, seemingly surprised. He seems to think has his gaze wanders across the room, first to the hole in the ground, second to any stragglers backed against the corners of the room, then to the gun he'd left, and lastly to saryu herself. With a small sigh he says "Don't be too hard on yourself. This is a stressful time for everyone, and it's practically suicidal to awaken people, you never know what powers they'll have, how it will effect you. I've naturally taken precautions, but already died fifty... I guess this makes it fifty eight times today. Naturally no death is free, I pay for them in age. It's a marvelous ability, one I wouldn't have believed could exist when I was a mortal, but now... You must remember, you are all now something more. Sometimes it's hard to control yourselves. Sometimes powers are controlled by thoughts, other times emotions, sometimes they come naturally like moving an arm, the key part is to remain in control. It's your mind, you're not just along for a ride, one way or another you can find control." Pausing he continues. "It's been a trying time and some adapt faster then others, some... have it harder then others. would you like to talk about it?" He leaves the question hanging, a tinge of remorse in his tone.

[xanxosttheslaad]

The body lying face-down at the bottom of the hole gradually stops twitching, and the bright glow coming from its bottom slowly fades. The energy absorbed from the flames shooting around the room empowers the fungus, causing it to undergo a spurt of growth. Since its awakening, it had acquired a mass of data from observations of locomotion and interaction. As it pieced itself back together, the body of Mike Dolezal become host to new masses of muscular, skeletal, and neural hyphae, placed deliberately to compensate for its initial failings.

Over the few minutes that passed, as humans moved about and reacted to stimuli, it lied motionless. Eventually, the commotion seemed to die down, as Saryu, the inferno, is doused in chemicals, and Spry Terry demonstrates his powerful ability. Mike Dolezal opens their eyes once more and jumps to their feet. While they had suffered severe burns, the fungus was able to patch up most of the damage, so the skin appears unharmed, although close inspection reveals slight discoloration and difference in texture.

They turn around to see Charles behind them, retching. They stare for a moment, processing their recent memory. He had . . . spoken earlier? Just a few moments ago, it seems. They should answer.

What is happening? Mike searches the memory of their deceased human host, matching up their knowledge with observations and what the humans have been saying.

They take a step toward the stranger kneeling on the ground, offering a hand to help him up, and speaking softly so as not to be heard by those above.
"The man with the mohawk, Spry Terry, is a terrorist; he killed everyone else on board with the gas. We recommend finding a way out of this dangerous place."

[Sønderjye]

Charles scrambles to his feet startled, completely ignoring the extended hand. As the speaker calmly explains the situation his momentary panic at being caught flatfooted is replaced with awkwardness.

"Eh, hi fellow human" he says, poorly attempting to use humour to distract from his fo paux.

"So he's responsible for all of this?" He responds to mike: "that doesn't make any sense! If they were so benevolent as he say they could have done so much to mitigate the damage." His tone was rising with indignation and he probably said the last part too loudly.

[xanxosttheslaad]

Mike stares blankly for a moment, unsure whether the comment on their humanity was genuine. They decide it is. Success! They are passing as a human. Now, to continue the act.

"It would seem that one would be better served observing the terrorist's actions than their words. Now, to leave."

The energy absorbed from the burst of flame had fueled a substantive spurt of growth in various areas. Exercising their new neural, muscular, and skeletal hyphae, Mike leaps out of the hole and looks around, at the potential allies and enemies. The flaming character had expressed anger against Terrence; perhaps that made them aligned. With newly found strength, they pick up the smoldering, weakened body, steam rising from their hand as its moisture boils off and it begins to crisp. They remember that the man who had left, who was also angry (and thus a potential ally), had taken a handful of crystalline power. With more power, perhaps Mike could grow even stronger and better survive the threat posed by the terrorist. Looking around for other potential allies, their gaze falls upon Penelope, standing in a hole in the wall, soaking wet. A good complement to the human currently blackening their hand, perhaps? "Come."

Mike then drops back into the hole, making sure not to injure the humans in the hole or the one they carry in one hand. They glance at Julian, Charles, Penelope, and Saryu, before beginning to walk swiftly through the holes and hallways in the direction Zack had seemed to go.

"This way; here isn't safe."