Halcyon City Heroes [IC]

[JNAProductions]

OOC Thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?658235-Halcyon-City-Heroes-OOC&p=25836372)
The night is young. The rhythm of the city is bumping, from car alarms to slightly-too-loud boomboxes to someone setting off fireworks (in the middle of autumn, for some reason), the noise of a vibrant city is alive and well. The team has been together, more or less, for a year now, but is still lacking a name. Alex, at Mr. Rapp's urging and on his dime, has invited the team to an ice cream parlor to celebrate the anniversary. "It'll be good for morale," he told Alex, "and sometimes you need that little boost. 'Sides which, I want to know if that place is any good-I'd go myself, but you know how the old bones are."

So, here you are, sitting outside Frozen Bear's Creamy Treats, an ice cream parlor with some dang good creamy deliciousness. None of you are in costume (Ivy can pass it off as a spray-tan gone wrong, if need be) but all of you are enjoying your choice of frozen dessert. Frozen Bear's is in the process of closing, but you can sit outside for as long as you need to, according to Ms. Maple, the lady who served you. She finishes locking the door, and waves to you all. "Have a nice night, youngsters!" she says as she unlocks her car. You wave and give a small chorus of thank yous and goodbyes as she opens the door, gets in, and drives off.

All is well. Until you hear the screams from a block over.

[Lentrax]

Ivy is sitting on a planter near the table where the others are seated. One would almost swear that they can see the bush reaching for the young girl. And the girl leaned back into the bush, which to anyone paying close attention, supported her weight.

She is eating the treat the parlor is named for, the Frozen Bear. She has a large sketchbook on her lap, and as she eats she is flipping through the pages, examining her work. Occasionally she marks a page, and then turns to the next. She is absentmindedly brushing a lock of her purple hair over her ear when she hears the scream.

Was that…?

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge himself has been working on one of those ice cream cookie sandwich deals and had been trying to explain the exact details about why he needs a dollar worth of quarters from everyone. You see due to some quirks in the way stuff works the coins have to had belonged to the individual members and etc etc. Has he gotten to the point where he said it's for direct communicators for the team? unclear.

The scream focuses his attention just about the time he was going to take the last bite of his cookie sandwich. He perks up but does not this time engage the Icarus while still sitting down. This hasn't happened since before Forge moved to Halcyon but it is something that is best remembered.

"I guess we're working tonight."

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin sets down her mango sorbet.

"Maybe," she says. "Let's see what it is first."

Standing up, she takes her jacket off the back of her chair and turns it inside-out. The inside looks like another, different, outside, and in one of the pockets is a brown and green knitted balaclava. She pulls both on and zips the jacket up, so only her eyes and hands are exposed.

This is Su Yin's backup costume, because one doesn't bring a helmet and flight suit to ice cream with friends. It's a far cry from the usual Occasion outfit, but at least it keeps her identity under wraps.

For a moment she appears to pitch forward in a sudden faint, but then her power kicks in, sweeping her legs off the ground and suspending her in an oddly stiff, horizontal midair position. Occasion is not a bird, whose flying posture needs to make physical sense. She resembles nothing so much as a tin soldier falling in the wrong direction as she knifes off through the air toward the screams.

Occasion tries her best to keep to the buildings' shadows. She wants to get a look at what is causing the screams before it gets a look at her.

[Lentrax]

Occasion. Wait up, Ivy says from her seat in the bush. She pushes herself off the ground in a much more graceful manner than her companion. Im coming too.

She pauses in her flight after Occasion only to drop her school gear and sketch pads on the roof of the ice cream parlor.

[Obscurejones]

Alex fidgets with the change dispenser on his belt, trying to clear a small jam in the quarter slot.
"So, do they have to be quarters or any denomanation adding up to a doll-"
A scream. Sirens? No, not yet. First on the scene then. Depending on the situation, evac necessary for civilians. But if you go too fact Occaison and Ivy won't have time for oversight. So, if it's a block away, accounting for wind... Yeah, you've got time. You've always got time.

He grabs his mask from his pocket, fixing it neatly into place.
"Anyone need anything from their home base? I'm making a run. Should be... I can do fifteen if you're in the city on a main road. A minute if you're out of town or hidden."

[MCerberus]

Forge

Before getting up, Forge affixes his goggles to his head. After a small adjustment he appears to be wearing his costume, although without the plates. "Shouldn't need anything," he replies to Black Blur. Then addressing both Blur and Ivy, "After you." I mean it's just smart that to be behind those able to take/avoid a punch better than him.

Forge activates his backpack device, a series of white faintly-glowing wings deploy out of it.

[truemane]

WHIPSER

Avi didn't like ice cream very much. Her family didn't really eat it very often so she didn't have the same nostalgic attachment to it, and she generally other Indian deserts like rasmalai or gulab jamun. She did like kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream), but the Frozen Bear didn't have pistachio (which was her favourite flavour).

But she did very much like spending time with her Mask friends (My team, she thought, and smiled). So she was always up for a meet.

She was just finishing her mango-flavoured ice pop when she heard the scream.

In a moment she was up. A moment's concentration and her civilian clothing dissolved into the basic two-tone jumpsuit that was her Mask costume. The suit of unstable molecules, particularly easy to manipulate telekinetically, was gift from Dr. Rakhamanov.

Another moment of concentration and she rose into the air. The quickly moving air around her filled the area with a low hum.

"Let's go, team!"

And she raced off toward the scream.

[JNAProductions]

Moving quickly, you make it around the bend to find the source of the scream. A kid is running from an adult figure, screaming their head off. The adult, as you draw nearer, can be heard saying "Get back here!" and variations on the same. The kid has the energy and speed of youth, but the longer limbs on the adult are letting him gain ground.

[Lentrax]

Ivy lands just in front of the kid, and gestures at the kid.

Behind me, kid. What’s going on?

What can Ivy tell about the kid? Can she get an idea of age, gender,?

And what can she see about the adult? Aside from some random guy?

[JNAProductions]

Landing, you get a better look. The kid is a young girl, maybe eight? nine? in shorts and a t-shirt. She's got a white bracelet on.

The man looks like your father. Whoever is looking at him, he matches that description-though, for those with better family lives, his face is contorted in a rage you've never seen him like before. He shouts "Out of my way!" at Ivy, as the girl cowers.

[Obscurejones]

As Icarus and Whisper take off Alex shakes his head.
"I gotta get... Like winged boots or something... Actually, that's feels like something Icarus could make. Note to self for later."With a shrug he blurs home to change, returning in a matter of seconds.
------
Blur screeches to a halt, leaving a trail of burnt rubber in his wake, now in his full uniform of black jeans and jacket, although with the change dispenser still on his hip.
"Sir, respectfully, what part of a group of obvious parahumans standing between you and a cowering child tells you that yelling is going to resolve things in your favor?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

With Ivy standing directly between the kid and what is presumably the attacker, Forge lands on the road. He's making a 90 degree angle between him, the figure, and Ivy. With his feet on the ground he takes a few steps forward. "Maybe we should have a little talk. Calm down a-"

The image of his dad takes him by surprise ending his momentum temporarily.

[JNAProductions]

"No no no not again no!" the girl stammers out, crying.

The man tries shoving past Ivy-he's strong, but not superhumanly so. "I said, out of my way! She's mine!"

[Lentrax]

Wait, Dad?

But that’s all she gets to think as she has to put her hands out and grab ahold of him to stop him from getting past her.

What do you mean, she’s yours? I don’t think so.

[Obscurejones]

Blur leans down to the small girl, turning his back to the approaching man to shield her from his advance. He speaks quietly, and as calmly as he can, trying to pull the girl's focus off the oncoming conflict.
"Good evening. I'm the Black Blur. Are you okay with me moving you if he gets closer?"

[JNAProductions]

"No-don't touch me!" the girl shrieks at Black Blur. She staggers back, almost tripping over herself, and tries to run.

The man snarls and growls something entirely incoherent, and takes a swing at Ivy.

The man is not a real threat-not in any shape to hurt anyone on the team, not even strong enough to make subduing him without injury an issue.

In other words, feel free to narrate the pieces of this conflict. :)

[Lentrax]

Ivy can tell he is pushing with everything he has. She knows because if he could, he would be able to move her, even with her body strengthened like the mighty and implacable oak.

He starts hitting her. Not with any skill or real strength. But that is when she decides that enough is enough.

And it is with her much greater strength that the much shorter Ivy lifts him up off his feet. Holding him parallel to the ground, she lowers him down just above her face, her pupilless green eyes gathering something close to menace.

Why don't you calm down and explain yourself to us.

She looks over to the girl.

And you. You wanna tell us why he was after you?

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin watches her teammates manage to make it to the scene slightly ahead of her. Is that... Father? She hasn't seen him in years. He hasn't changed a bit. Still grasping after some girl. This one looks a bit too old to be his actual daughter, but so what? Maybe he just took up with some woman who already had a kid.

The girl needs help, and maybe that will come best from a regular person.

Before emerging from behind the building, she lands and strips off her balaclava, and then runs after the girl, trying to pass the grapplers quickly enough that her father doesn't notice who she is. She's no Blur, but she can do an all-out sprint for longer than any normal athlete and still have breath to spare.

"Hey!" she calls out, just loud enough to be heard over the shouting. "No one's going to touch you! We just want to help!"

[JNAProductions]

The man refuses to calm down. He's sputtering in impotent rage.

The girl runs to Tan Su Yin, seeing her as an ordinary person. She stumbles, but makes it to the "ordinary" woman. When she reaches Su Yin, she doesn't appear to have the same concerns about physical contact that she had with Black Blur, and hugs her leg.

The man vanishes entirely from Ivy's hands, simply... Gone. And everyone feels a bit lighter, like gravity's hold is weakening on them.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin kneels down and hugs the girl in return, then pulls away slightly, hands still on her shoulders.

"Hi," she says, trying to smile a bit. "You don't need to be scared now, okay? My friends dress a bit weird, but they're good people."

She looks the girl up and down. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

[JNAProductions]

The girl does not appear injured. Though now that a closer look is being had, her white bracelet is not a style choice-it's a medical bracelet.

[Obscurejones]

Blur takes a step back from the child, gives a little wave as Su Yin indicates his harmlessness. Glances to the other team members.
"So... Meta kid, right? That feels like a lay up. Stress related projections... Some sort of parental trauma?"
He blurs away for a moment and returns with a notepad and pen in hand, starts taking notes.

[NontheistCleric]

"I'm Su," says Su Yin. "What's your name? Do you have a home we can take you to?"

She shifts her hands down to hold the girl's own. "Can I see your bracelet?"

[JNAProductions]

"I'm... I'm Ash," she says, timidly. She moves to hide the bracelet. "It's nothing! It's nothing."

[Lentrax]

Maybe, Ivy says to Blur, her hand now holding onto nothing but air.

But the real question is, why did it look like my dad? If it’s her trauma, shouldn’t it be her dad?

[NontheistCleric]

"Okay," Su Yin says to Ash. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to, but is there somewhere you'd like us to take you? It's not safe being out here like this. If not, we could take you to one of my friends' houses."

She hugs the girl again as an excuse to shoot Whisper a meaningful look, one that says Read my mind! and taps the side of her head for good measure. Then she projects the actual thought for her teammate to hear.

Sorry for volunteering you guys, but I know you and Blur in particular have people who can help with this kind of thing. Also, can you read her mind without her knowing or getting hurt?

[MCerberus]

Forge

With the others questioning the kid, Forge backs off a bit. Ash seems in a vulnerable state and having too many people crowd around won't help. Besides, there's something he can be doing to check about the source of that illusion. While he's got a gut feeling that this is more in Whisper's wheelhouse, Forge checks the ground and surroundings for any hint of magic that would be left.

He can't exactly see magic in itself, for now (working on it), he thinks he should be able to feel the pulse of any enchantment left on material. That is, assuming it didn't all just poof away with the illusion.

[JNAProductions]

Forge examines the area the man was in-it's definitely not the same kind of magic he knows, and with the man gone, it's faint, but there's something there.

Looking for anything in particular, or just trying to get vibes?

[truemane]

When Whisper arrived on the scene, all ready to get down to some grade-A Mask work (and, not entirely secondarily, justify to her parents why she she ducked her chemistry tutor tonight), but the sight of her father, chasing a child in a rage, completely unsettled her (her father was an implacable man, but a calm one: she'd only heard him raise his voice a handful times her whole life, and never at a child).

Even when a couple of her team members muttered Dad or Father and it was clear this was some kind of trick, she found her confidence and equanimity slipping and her control over her powers with it.

The low hum that accompanied her TK abilities rose in pitch and volume and became a low squeal. And with it came a low psychic 'grumble' that acted on most minds in the same way as seeing move quickly in their peripheral vision (this effect could cause terror with sufficient intensity and was where she got her Mask name).

So she let herself drop to the ground (a little sharply, she turned her ankle and little and almost fell) and run toward the scene, and then walk when it was clear her teammates had it all well in hand.

She saw her father (or, rather, "father") vanish and Su Yin gather up the child and point to her temple. She read what she had to say and nodded. She (Whisper) was already thinking the same thing.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and thought back (projected to all her teammates, and did her best to not project to the child): In a pinch, we can take her to one of my family's Air BnB's. She can be safe there for a night or two. Or perhaps Dr. Rakhamanov. My parents will flip out if I get them involved.

She got a little closer and tried to gently (gently!) touch the child's mind. Just the briefest brush against her surface thoughts. If this child was, herself, psi-active, then it made this part much more complicated. And more dangerous.

Gentle mind reading. If the child seems aware of the contact, I'll think something soothing at her Everything is fine, I'm like you, I'm here to help, don't be afraid. But this is mostly exploratory. Avi's emotions are calming, but she's still quite rattled by the projection of her father, so her fine, precise control over her powers is not at its best.

[JNAProductions]

Whisper's mental look gently touches Ash's mind. She can feel that the young girl has some level of psionic power to her, but it's raw, uncontrolled. But Whisper is able to avoid causing any problems-and is able to get a brief feeling for what Ash is thinking.

Don't take me back-they're going to take me back don't take me back.

As well as trying to find an avenue of escape.

[NontheistCleric]

"Ash?" Su Yin says. She tries to get her attention by squeezing her hands slightly, then repeats her name with a hint more firmness. "Ash, listen to me. No one here is going to hurt you. No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do. We just want you to be safe."

She tries to keep eye contact with her through the panic. "Do you want to come with us? My friend"–she gestures at Whisper–"has an empty place we can stay in. You don't have to come, but I'd really like it if you did. It's not safe out here at night on your own."

We probably shouldn't bring her to the Doctor right now, Su Yin thinks at Whisper. She might react badly to a strange man. Call him, though. We might need his expertise–maybe Mr. Rapp's too.

[JNAProductions]

Her breathing has gotten a bit quicker, close to hyperventilating, but Su Yin's words seem to get through. "Promise? I'll be safe?" she asks.

[NontheistCleric]

"I promise," says Su Yin. "See, all my friends have these special powers. They'll keep you safe."

She stands up, keeping hold of one of Ash's hands. "And I will too, of course."

[JNAProductions]

Ash nods. "Okay."
Whisper leads the way, on foot, to the nearest Air BnB her family has. Su Yin stays near Ash, and is the only one she seems willing to let touch her. It takes much longer to get there than some of you would like, given your movements at the speed of young girl, but you don't mind so much. It's part of being a hero, dealing with the inconveniences of the world. When you arrive, Whisper does a quick check to make sure no one's using it, which luckily there is not. And, with the check completed, she puts in the code on the lock and opens the door.

Inside is about what you'd expect from an Air BnB-it's well appointed, if a bit plain. There's a kitchen (with only canned food and other stuff that keeps really well), two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room... Nothing crazy.

[Lentrax]

Go on ahead, Ivy says when they decide on where to go. I have to go back for my stuff.

While apart from the others, Ivy pulls out her phone and texts her dad.

Hey, just letting you know some stuff came up. I’m safe, but I’m probably going too late coming home.

Love you, dad.

She rejoins the others soon after.

[JNAProductions]

One of you offers to make something while Ash gets clean. Su Yin stays just outside the bathroom, making sure the young girl stays safe, while whoever offered to cook finds some canned chili and warms it in the microwave.

Unfortunately, there's no clothes here that would fit Ash, so she's stuck in what she was already wearing, but she's a bit cleaner, at least. She sits at the table, staring at the chili for a bit before tucking into the meal.

[NontheistCleric]

While Ash is in the bathroom, Su Yin takes the opportunity to call her grandmother, whom she lives with and is one of the only two normal people in her life who know she is Occasion (the other is her old schoolfriend Joyce).

"Grandmother, I'm going to be out tonight. I'm with my friends. With my friends! Yes, those friends! Okay. Okay. Sleep early, Grandmother!"

Grandmother is a little hard of hearing over the telephone, and a chronic insomniac.

Su Yin waits until Ash is finished eating. "Are you ready to sleep?" she asks her gently.

[JNAProductions]

Looking to Su Yin, Ash asks "You're... Different, right? You're a superhero, right? When you touched me, he..." she draws in a deep, ragged breath, trying not to cry or run or anything like that. "What do you do?" she finishes with, kinda lamely.

[NontheistCleric]

"I am a little Different," Su Yin says. "I... well, I'm not a superhero all the time. Mostly I'm just a sort of taxi service, really. But sometimes, yeah, I do go do stuff with my hero friends. Fight crime and save people and all that. But that's a secret, okay? Only the people in this room get to know."

Then she realizes Ash might have been asking about her powers. "Oh, but if you mean 'how am I Different', then, basically, it's hard to hurt me. If someone hits me, my body gets tougher. When I run, my legs can go longer without stopping. And if I fall, I can fly. Does that have something to do with the man disappearing? You don't have to tell me yet if you don't want to."

[MCerberus]

Forge

Being on his own for the most part, Forge doesn't really need to do a call-in to anyone. If they're out too long he may need some extra caffeine the next day. With the conversation getting quiet he excuses himself to the background a bit. If anyone needs hot water for cocoa or cup noodles though, it really better to get it pre-boiled instead of microwaving it and he's be available to help cooking. Still wanting to keep things quiet just in case he pulls Ivy and Black Blur aside out of immediate hearing range and keeps his voice low.

"There was paracausal residue. Not primal, I don't think but there could be more surprises"

[Lentrax]

Ivy, watching everyone try and take care of the girl, sits at the table, and opens one of her smaller sketch pads. She finds a page not used completely, and begins doing quick sketches of the others. No detail, just figures.

And then she draws the eyes she never thought she’d see. Her fathers eyes. With anger in them.

Then Forge speaks to her. Well. So far it hasn’t been anything too crazy.

She draws in the eyebrows.

We will just have to keep an eye on her and see.

[Obscurejones]

“I was thinking I’d do a sweep where she was found. Has a secret government base feel to it. Stranger Things vibes. Either of you want to do an air sweep?” Blur speaks softly, not bothering with his put upon hero voice.

[JNAProductions]

Alex gets a text message. It's from Mr. Rapp.

No need to reply if your busy having fun. Just checking in. Enjoy the iced cream!

Despite all his endeavors and heroism, Richard is still an old man and not the best at texting.

Over in the kitchen with Ash, she nods. "I... I kinda, reflect powers? I don't really know," she says, taking a spoonful of chili. "When I touch someone else who has powers, their power becomes mine, or at least, affects me. But I can't do much on my own. I'm... Not worth much."

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin frowns.

"Who told you that?" she asks. "Even without powers, there's tons of stuff you can do. But even if there wasn't, people don't exist to be worth anything. You're important no matter what you do, okay?"

She tries not to think too hard about what she thought her own life was worth before her powers appeared. Hypocrite, Su Yin!

"How exactly does it affect you?" she asks. "Does that mean you could do what I do now?"

[truemane]

WHISPER

As the others started getting into their own routines, Ave lurked nearby and listned to Su Yin talk to Ash.

As they entered, she had already 'booked' the Air BnB using her own personal account. That would prevent some last-minute late-comer from showing up (her parents loved last-minute late-comers). She would have some questions to answer later, but fewer than if she'd shown up at the house with everyone in tow.

At the same time she texted Aleksadyr and filled him in. Especially the Don't take me back there part. Peripherally or not, he was the closest thing to an official source on metahumans as she had. Maybe he might have an inkling of what there was.

She responds to Blur: "I don't want to leave Ash or the apartment. But once she's settled I'd be happy to take a look around from the air."

She projected to Su Yin.

I don't want to scare her or get in your way, but ask Ash if maybe I could take a look in her memories to see if I can scare up any details.

Avi was not good with kids, generally. There was a certain kind of laser-focused over-achiever that took to her immediately. But to the rest of them she seemed to give off Grumpy Parent vibes. She was working on it, but it was slow going.

[NontheistCleric]

I'm really not sure that's a good idea, Su Yin thinks back at Whisper. I mean, asking for consent is great, but we just met this girl and she barely trusts one of us. I feel like that might go away if I start talking about memory probes right now.

Maybe you could see what you can pick up without her noticing, if that's possible. She's talking about her powers now and that might put her mind to more informative things. Only if you think that's safe, of course.

[JNAProductions]

Ash stares at her chili for a few moments when told she matters. She lifts another spoonful and eats it. With the followup question, she answers, saying "I don't have a lot of control over it. And I don't really know how long it lasts."

Whisper's texts go through, no problem, but stay on sent. Aleksander might be asleep, or away from his phone, or any number of other things, but he's not answering at this exact moment.

[NontheistCleric]

"Well, thanks for telling me," Su Yin says to Ash. "Try not to worry about it. My power doesn't have much to control, and we're going to make sure you won't need to use it while you're with us."

She stares down at the table for a bit, agonizing over her next words. It's a bad idea, right? She just said it was a bad idea. Or not a good one, at any rate. But maybe Whisper is right. They have no idea what's going on here, and maybe they'll need to know before Dr. Rakhamanov or Mr. Rapp have a chance to help them.

"Ash," she says, looking back up to her, "Whisper wanted me to ask you something. I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but Whisper wants to look at your memories to see what happened to you. She'll only do it if you let her, and you don't have to."

[JNAProductions]

"N-no!" she says, dropping her spoon. She curls her knees up against her chest, holding herself tightly inwards, and rocking back and forth a bit.

[NontheistCleric]

"Okay!" Su Yin stammers out frantically. She hurries around the table and tries to give Ash a soothing hug. "Then we are not doing it. Not doing it, okay? We would never do anything you didn't want us to."

God, I'm such a liar, she thinks to Whisper. At least we know that's not going to fly anytime soon.

[Lentrax]

Ivy looks up from her sketchbook at the outburst.

I wonder if any of us are actually good with kids.

Hi, Ash, Ivy starts. No one is going to go into your mind if you don’t want them to. I wouldn’t want people to either. I have things up there that are just mine, and I bet you’re the same right? And if you’re like me that way, I bet you like to color too.

Ivy reaches into her bag and pulls out a case filled with colored pencils and paints.

Wanna color with me? Take your mind off of the scary stuff for a while?

[MCerberus]

Forge

"We do need to figure out if anyone's been involved," Forge replies to Blur before taking a break and a small sigh. "If it's the government though, it means little help as they are usually we can't speak of this to anyone with ties to AEGIS. So we better hope not."

When Forge looks up from the conversation due to the outburst it brings his mind back out of speculation and into the real situation. The kid needs help. You promised to watch over my children
Ivy might have the right idea. A distraction would at least give the kid time before worrying again, a good thought. However his mind wanders to how due to circumstance a real heart-to-heart from Forge may really show that they understand but... he doesn't know if he can really do that.

[JNAProductions]

Ash shakes her head when asked about coloring.

[NontheistCleric]

"Do you want to just go to sleep?" Su Yin asks her. "I'd be really tired if I were you."

I'd be really tired if I were me, too, she thinks. At least her power means she can go without sleep, even if she does feel the fatigue. She'll probably have to guard Ash all night.

[JNAProductions]

Rocking back and forth slightly, Ash does not respond. She starts tugging at her medical bracelet, trying to get it off, but it's too close to her wrist to pull over hand.

[Lentrax]

Do you need help getting that off? Give me your hand, and I can help.

If Ash does let Ivy help, she will try to read the bracelet before she determines if she should remove it.

[JNAProductions]

Ivy has to move carefully, to not spook and not touch Ash. She reads the bracelet. It says...

Name: Ashley Smith
Gender: F / Ward: Psychiatric
Halcyon City Memorial Hospital
Doctor: Bryant Williams, MD

As well as a barcode and some numbers, presumably for hospital use.

[Lentrax]

Okay, Ash. Su is going to take the bracelet off. You’re doing a good job being brave, okay? Here she comes with some scissors. Keep being brave, okay?

She goes over to Whisper and whispers.

Dr. Bryant. Know anything him? He’s in the psych ward of the City Hospital.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin quickly retrieves the kitchen scissors from where they sit in the knife block. She holds them closed, by the blades, so only the handles show, and crouches down beside Ash, taking the hand with the bracelet in her empty one.

"Ash? Ash, listen to me, please. I'm sorry I asked you that question. I'm really sorry, but I need you to calm down, okay? Look, I have some scissors here, but I need you to hold still so I can cut your bracelet off without hurting you. Can you do that for me?"

Su Yin cuts the bracelet off if Ash holds safely still, then holds it out for someone to take.

[JNAProductions]

She holds her arm out, keeping the other held close. As soon as the bracelet is off, she goes back to her former position.

Some quick Googling reveals the following on the doctor:

He's worked at Halcyon City Memorial Hospital for over a decade.
He's an expert in psychiatric care, with a specialty of helping children, though he also works with adults.
He was nominated to the board of directors for the hospital, but turned them down to focus on patient care.

There's also some reviews of experiences with Doctor Williams, with the majority being four or five stars.

Most reviews say that he actually listened to the needs of the patient, and was a good advocate in getting them the help they needed.
The handful of lower reviews seem to be people who've been his patient for a long while, with one three star review saying "Started off great, but recently he's been more perfunctory and less of an advocate."

The Googling also has the address of the hospital-absolutely nowhere near where Ash was found.

[Lentrax]

Ash? I don’t know what’s going on. But I want you to know, I want to help you. And Su Yin has been helping you. Is there anything you want to tell us? Anything that can help you?

[truemane]

Avi watched from the doorway. She frowned when Ash did not consent to having her memories rifled through. Reasonable, maybe, but frustrating. Avi didn't have any real ethical qualms about just doing it anyway, but she wasn't confident that she could get in and get out unnoticed. And she still didn't know how Ash would react to being 'touched' by powers in that way.

However, projecting emotion was easier than reading thoughts. A little easier anyway.

She closed her eyes and sent calming, soothing thoughts in Ash's direction. It wasn't so much mind control (she was still nervous about doing anything too direct), but more like gently convincing the lizard parts of the brain that there was nothing to be afraid of.

[JNAProductions]

When Avi starts settling things a bit, Ash seems receptive. She makes a writing motion, and after a moment of realizing what she's asking for, Su Yin supplies a notebook and a blue pencil. Ash writes Can't talk. Can't. But thank you.

[Obscurejones]

Blur shrugs his shoulders at the non committal responses to a search of the area, then winces when Ash panics a second time. Without waiting for a further response he zips out, texting Mr Rapp back on the run.
[Ice cream was good. Possibly caught a case while out. Meta kid spooked by… Something. Will update when we know more.]
He slows a little as he returns to the neighborhood where they found Ash, doing his best to move quickly but deliberately, not letting himself slip into the flow state that comes with moving at all out. He looks for signs of a breakout or someone cleaning up the incident.

[JNAProductions]

There's flashing police lights and sirens as you near the area. You slow down, wanting to observe before making your presence known, and have time to read Mr. Rapp's text.

Keep me up-to-dtae.

dat

date

There's two officers looking around the area, an ambulance just idling with a paramedic and a stretcher, and a third officer talking to someone, presumably from the apartment buildings nearby. "And when did you call?" the officer asks.

"Not too long after I saw the man chasing her," the woman says. "It seemed like something was seriously wrong, so I called. I tried to keep an eye on what was happening, but Mr. Mittens needed some help, and-"

"Mr. Mittens?" the officer interjects.

The woman sighs. "My cat. He's real old, and he sometimes needs help. When I was done with him, they were all gone."

The officer scritches some notes down, and then asks "How long did you spend helping your cat?"

"A few minutes."

[NontheistCleric]

"Oh," says Su Yin when she sees what Ash has written. "Well, thank you for the... thank you. No problem, you know? We're all just... trying."

She lets out a sigh of relief. "What do you want to do now? Eat a little more? Drink some water? Just sit and be calm for a while? Or try to sleep, maybe?"

[JNAProductions]

Ash nods at the mention of sleep. She writes a little more. You'll be here when I wake up?

[NontheistCleric]

"Of course!" Su Yin says. "I can even stay awake to watch you all night, if you'd like. Uh, that came out a little wrong. I meant in, like, a guarding kind of way. The good kind of guarding. Like a bodyguard, not a prison guard."

[MCerberus]

Forge

With Ash having calmed down and Blur already having left, Forge sees himself out in order to not be too far behind. He's not going to make it back to the scene anywhere as fast so he's got to not doddle. He does remember to shoot off a text to the group chat.

-going back 2 scene with BB
-might take a couple
-will b in street when I get there

Once he gets close, Forge will deactivate the costume illusion and go back to Khakis, backpack, shirt and jacket to attract less attention.

[JNAProductions]

The officer asks the woman "Anyone else who might've noticed anything?"

"Knock on some doors, I guess," she replies.


Ash stands up, taking the notebook and pencil with her, and finds a bedroom. Su Yin stays watchful, and while Ash does spend a while just looking at the ceiling, eventually she nods off.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Not wanting to get involved yet, Forge keeps a distance without looking like he's keeping a distance. You know, walk casual. He's still got his phone out but at this point is just pretending to answer to messages. He does look up every once in a while to see if Black Blur is nearby and where.

[truemane]

WHISPER

All of this was deeply distressing to Avi. And it was getting late. And she had math to study (and she'd already promised her parents her grades wouldn't slip anymore!).

When Su Yin followed Ash to put her to bed, Ash texted Dr. Rakhamanov again. Aleksandyr. She was hoping he might be able to shed some light on all this.

[JNAProductions]

You say the girl calls herself Ash? Whisper gets a response. The name sounds familiar. I cannot place it for the moment, but I will look into it.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin watches Ash fall asleep, then goes over to the window. She opens it and looks out, making a perfunctory scan for anything untoward, but after a few moments she closes her eyes and just feels the cold night air against her face. She imagines herself above the stratocumuli, another speck lost in the wind, and the stress of the last few hours seems to drain away.

After about a minute, she closes the window, locks it securely, and checks that Ash is still sleeping soundly. Then she goes back into the living room.

"I see the boys are still out on patrol," she observes. "Anyone need to get home? I can probably hold things down here for the night."

[truemane]

Whisper checks her phone, frowns, and puts it away. She folds her arms, still frowning. She sighs.

"I should get home. My parents are going to absolutely freak out. But I don't want to leave Ash just in case. So I'll stay if you want to head out."

She looks around the room. "I guess I could study here. If I wanted."

She looks back at Su Yin. "You like to play cards? I think there's a cribbage board here somewhere."

[NontheistCleric]

"No, you should get home if your parents are waiting," Su Yin says when Whisper offers to stay. "Besides, I already promised Ash I'd be here when she wakes up. If anything happens, I'll just scream into my communicator."

Halfway back into the bedroom, she pauses. "Oh, but if you're going home anyway, see if you have any old clothes that fit Ash. Come back in the morning and you can teach us both some card games. Who knows how long we'll have to hide her here?"

Returning to Ash, she pulls a chair up next to the bed and settles in to wait.

[MCerberus]

Forge

So it turns out that there doesn't seem to be a bunch of swarming g-men or anything. It's almost disappointing but at least it means if there's some big conspiracy about Ash it can't be too catastrophic, right? Forge hasn't met up with Black Blur yet but it seems like things just may be too quiet for a stakeout. Just normal disturbance reported to the cops stuff.

-Seems quiet here
-going 2 peace out soon. kid doing ok?
-try 1 more thing first. dunno if it works :smallcool:

That last thing, Forge is going to try and find if there are new traces of magic. Not being a spell-slinger per se he's more limited but has been trying. A small, smallest he can make light in his right hand to feel the curves in the nature of thing. Left hand free to feel things as they are. Breathe, try and feel if something has left its wake on the world.

[JNAProductions]

Forge does not pick up any magic from the area Ash was found. But as he examines, he finds himself about a dozen paces further along than he was a moment ago. He'd dismiss it, if it wasn't for the fact that something is niggling the back of his mind. He turns and steps back, and feels his eyes sliding past the area, almost of their own accord. He recognizes it-something he's picked up on, though not something he's managed to get going for himself yet.

SEP stands for Someone Else's Problem.

It's not invisibility. That's HARD to do, for most people. The people, places, and things under a SEP Field are perfectly visible. But... The mind just ignores them. It glides right past the affected area, because, hey, someone else has it. Weaponized bystander effect. (Well, not exactly WEAPONIZED.)

[Obscurejones]

Blur combs the streets, keeping an eye out for either signs of… Well anything not on the up and up, or his teammates.
Not sure if he spots Forge, leave it up to y’all. Apologies for the delay, had to go to a wedding in the boondocks, no service.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Pretty much out in the open, Forge wouldn't be difficult to find. He's pondering something and then gets out his phone.

To himself, Forge feels some of the good vibes. While not having the right kind of talent pool to get rid of the anomaly, this sort of thing is actually in his wheelhouse. People that can do this kind of stuff think what they can defend against in terms of magic and technology, but it's rarer that they think to defend against magic AND technology. A small wave of enchantment goes through the circuits of his phone, just a small negation property.

Defended against magical interference, he pans the camera over the area giving off the weird vibes. A rune of negation shows up on his screen overlaying the image due to how it's manifest and he makes it a point to not look straight at what he's recording.

[JNAProductions]

The picture is rather blurry, even with Forge's augment on it. But he can see something moving towards him, out of the corner of his eye on the screen.

You have two main options-keep recording and accept that you're gonna be obvious to whoever or whatever is behind the SEP Field.
Or, take what you got and go, and hope they don't realize you saw through it. You can pour over the footage more later, a safe distance away.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Oh look, problems happening because he never made those truesight goggles again. While he can't tell who or what is coming at him, he did certainly break the quiet. At this point Forge could run or try and play a trump card: backup. Black Blur, to his mind, isn't the kind that would just disappear on him so he has to be around right?

"Merlin"

That's the code phrase for hostile magic, to his memory. Hopefully they just drew out the actual threat and can deal with it. Otherwise Forge gets the feeling he's about to eat some pavement. Hopefully not too many of his assumptions are wrong. Pavement is not tasty.

[Lentrax]

Whisper checks her phone, frowns, and puts it away. She folds her arms, still frowning. She sighs.

"I should get home. My parents are going to absolutely freak out. But I don't want to leave Ash just in case. So I'll stay if you want to head out."

She looks around the room. "I guess I could study here. If I wanted."

She looks back at Su Yin. "You like to play cards? I think there's a cribbage board here somewhere."

No school tomorrow, so I can stay out a bit later, but I will still have to go home eventually, Ivy says, having switched from her smaller sketchpad to a larger one where she seems to be drawing a view of the city from out the sliding door to the balcony.

[truemane]

Avi frowns. She wasn't sure what to do next. This was all a little outside her experience.

"What do you think she meant by don't take me back? Where do you think she was?"

[Lentrax]

With the bracelet still on her wrist? I’d say the hospital itself.

[truemane]

"You think she was at, like, the regular hospital? Like, Halcyon General?"

Avi had been thinking of something much more sinister and clandestine.

"Maybe we should pay the hospital a visit? See if we can find anything out?"

She wasn't sure how serious she was. But she wasn't not-serious.

[Obscurejones]

Forge

Oh look, problems happening because he never made those truesight goggles again. While he can't tell who or what is coming at him, he did certainly break the quiet. At this point Forge could run or try and play a trump card: backup. Black Blur, to his mind, isn't the kind that would just disappear on him so he has to be around right?

"Merlin"

That's the code phrase for hostile magic, to his memory. Hopefully they just drew out the actual threat and can deal with it. Otherwise Forge gets the feeling he's about to eat some pavement. Hopefully not too many of his assumptions are wrong. Pavement is not tasty.

There’s Forge! I hat’s he saying? Merlin… Merlin… Crap. Hostile magic. Should have gone with Mordred. Actually isn’t that the name of a villain out of Wales? The super goth looking one with the funny accent. Sort of looks like an evil Martin Sheen. Michael Sheen! Martin Sheen is Charlie’s dad. Isn’t there tiger blood in-

Merlin. Focus up, Alex. We don’t know the source and we don’t see anything… Stutter step. Gives us time to adjust, Forge time to fill us in.

Thankfully Blur’s crisis of focus takes less then a second of our objective time. Doing his best to keep his momentum as he makes the grab he pulls Forge ten feet to the left, pauses a second and then begins darting the two of them around the space, hoping to keep whatever might be on the attack from hitting his ally, or in a perfect world, realizing Blur is on the scene.

[JNAProductions]

Blur catches up to Forge without an issue, and starts moving him around. It does attract some attention from the cops, who look at the suddenly-fast Forge with an exquisite expression of "What in the-" on their faces.

Before either of you can appreciate it, though, inky purple tendrils slam out from behind the SEP Field and try to latch on. Blur can dodge without any difficulty-but Forge's reactions aren't quite up to snuff. He gets grabbed by the wrists and ankles, and can feel the slight tingle of acidic imprints on his limbs. That's gonna hurt a lot in the coming days, but with the burst of adrenaline he's working with, Forge can manage for now.

The cops draw their sidearms, but keep them pointed low. They are not sure at all how to handle the situation, and are at least responsible enough to not fire and potentially make it worse.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge breaks free with the help of Black Blur dragging him out but... hopefully this burn feels better than road burn. He's at this point he's thinking of a way to mitigate the field itself if they still can't find out who's attacking. That being said he's still in street clothes starting a fight, so he pulls his goggles down and is back to being recognizably Forge.

Are transformation sequences free actions? He may need to skip the usual.

"Mind field in the empty space," he declares out to Blur. He can say 'thanks' later. For now... what can counter that kind of magic...

His attempt to clear out the magic is to counter what it's trying to do, to that extent he sends in a fragile, thin ball of flame. It can't hurt anything and will collapse on contact, but the important part is to put light in there, something that can't be ignored!

[JNAProductions]

The light draws the eye. It's a mental battle, Forge's illumination attracting, the SEP Field repelling. Whatever is inside makes a decision-it can't risk being caught.

The light draws the eye, but all that can be seen is fleeting shadows, vanishing down an alley. The cops take a look at the suddenly revealed area, along with you two. You see a few trails on the ground, slimy or acidic residue. And the cops raise their guns, pointing them at you both. "On the ground, now!" one shouts.

[Lentrax]

"You think she was at, like, the regular hospital? Like, Halcyon General?"

Avi had been thinking of something much more sinister and clandestine.

"Maybe we should pay the hospital a visit? See if we can find anything out?"

She wasn't sure how serious she was. But she wasn't not-serious.

Sure. How do we wanna go? I'll stand out no matter how we show up.

[Obscurejones]

The light draws the eye. It's a mental battle, Forge's illumination attracting, the SEP Field repelling. Whatever is inside makes a decision-it can't risk being caught.

The light draws the eye, but all that can be seen is fleeting shadows, vanishing down an alley. The cops take a look at the suddenly revealed area, along with you two. You see a few trails on the ground, slimy or acidic residue. And the cops raise their guns, pointing them at you both. "On the ground, now!" one shouts.

Blur sets Forge down as carefully as he can and lifts both his hands, palms towards the officers, but makes no move towards the ground.
“The Black Blur. Fully licensed and registered to deal with para, super, and meta-human incidents. I commend your vigilance, but whatever attacked a young girl in this neighborhood is going to escape if you don’t lower your weapons and let us do the work. Respectfully, sirs.”
Forge can tell that Blur’s throwing on his full on hero voice, doing his best to baritone their way out of this one.

[JNAProductions]

Rolling for Black Blur.
With Advantage, because that was a good, succinct speech.

[roll0]

Edit: The cops could not care less.

One of the cops-the youngest of the three-hesitates, his gun wavering. But the oldest just orders again, shouting "On the ground! We can check your licensing when the area is safe."

[Obscurejones]

Could he outrun a trigger pull? That's one of the fun ones. A real rite of passage for any up and coming speedster. He's almost positive he can. Almost certain he has the speed. But... Forge is already on thin ice. And picking a fight with the cops while on the team up brings the whole team down a notch. So we do the thing all speedsters hate to do. We slow roll it.

Blur takes a knee, then down to a kneeling position, putting his hands behind his head, fingers interlaced. Keeps his eyes on the cops, but tries to keep the slime trail in his periphery.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge follows Blur's lead somewhat and is not immediately running after the creeper or flash-blinding the cops, or rendering the blasting caps on their bullets inert. It's so easy for those to corrode. He isn't, however, immediately fully compliant. The scared cop is shaky and they're dealing with some kind of mind messing. There still may be hope for talking.

"You know whoever that was attacked me, and invisible. We have one chance to catch them officer."

[JNAProductions]

"Sarge, they're complying. We didn't really see what happened, but they're not-" the young one says.

Sarge, apparently, is having none of it. "Alright, show me the licensing," he orders in a loud voice, cutting off his comrade.

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Maybe you can look over my friend's ID while he handles this?"


Forge's ID may be a mixed bag of suspicion for the cops. There's an AEGIS shield, but it's also still from the midwest division and the 'class C' part of it is written in red.

[Obscurejones]

"I am reaching for it now. Please don't be alarmed if the motion seems sudden."
Is it wise to grab the license at full speed? Probably not. Is he doing it to scare them just a little bit? Yes. If need be he'll apologize to Mr. Rapp later for provoking them.

Blur produces his license, his arm disappearing and reappearing with a crisp snap. He keeps it in tidy black leather case, letting the fold fall open to show an image of his masked face alongside his credentials. He stays kneeling as he holds up the card to the officers.

[JNAProductions]

Sarge moves forward after a jolt, shocked at the speed, and pointing his gun low now. He looks at the licensing. "Alright... And your buddy?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge hands over his identification but keeps in mind the ticking clock. When the officer collects it he looks at blur and tilts his head over to where the foe is going

[Obscurejones]

“Not to be rude, because again, I respect your diligence but would you be alright if we go deal with the child hunting monster while you double check paperwork?”
There is a quiet hum that builds as Blur does his best to hold still, fidgeting and shifting, just the edges of his body going slightly hazy from the motion.

[JNAProductions]

The sergeant takes an agonizingly long time examining the licenses. "Sir," the young one says, "they're more equipped than we are to handle this."

"Alright, fine," the sergeant says, handing back the licensees. "You can-" and Blur is already on his feet, ready to move.

[Obscurejones]

“You can-“
Oh, can I? Oh, thank you most benevolent overlord, oh, most on high, glory be your name, Sergeant Slow, Sultan of Sloth… Third alliterative thing!

Blur is in motion before the third word can leave the Sergeant’s lips. The licenses are grabbed, stowed, then Forge as well. The trail is visible for now, but he’ll need some sort of trick if whatever it is went dark again.

He leaves a scorch of black rubber on the street in their wake.

[MCerberus]

Forge

And they're off! Forge had expected to be left behind to catch up having to awkwardly show the cops evidence but this works too. He knows from experience to not try and talk at this speed. There's also the matter of the acid burns invisibly gnawing at his arms. Although it doesn't show it, this form of his costume is just an illusion so in terms of protection, the goggles, they do nothing.

[JNAProductions]

You zoom down the streets, scouring the alleys and roads for any sign of the tentacled foe. As you search, you run across some people walking down the sidewalk, a street musician with a saxophone, and numerous cars. You do not find any sign of your target, though.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Score one for the argument of going rogue, Forge thinks. There may have been fallout but being nice with the cops has a habit of getting in the way of big threats. Then again there are... different lessons he's been promising to apply from his experience back then, so it's still time to play nice.

"Do we head back to the others? I might have video to look at"

[Obscurejones]

... Deep breath. We don't panic. We don't flip out. This is good. We obeyed the law, we cultivated the right relationship with law enforcement, we don't need to hit anyone, or take apart their patrol car, or hit them with their own nightstick again and again and-

Focus. Forge asked you a question. Dial it in. Think about the mantle. What does the Black Blur do?

"... Yeah. I think we circle back up. Can you grab some of that goo? It's not a lot but it might be useful for... Are sympathetic energies a real thing, or is that just white people with dreadlocks who own too much quartz?"

Blur looks tense for a moment, and that restrained hum starts to build. But then Alex sighs, and he just looks tired.

[truemane]

Sure. How do we wanna go? I'll stand out no matter how we show up.

Avi frowns in thought. "Hm. Well. We can do a couple of things. I actually have a couple of formal badges from the institute where Dr. Rakhamanov works. They're badges for, like, Assistant Social Workers. They don't mean a lot, but sometimes they keep the curious at bay. If we go in Mask-gear, that might be enough. Then you can stand out as much as you like."

She thinks a moment.

"Or we could dress up like orderlies and anyone who takes too much notice I can try to bamboozle with my mind powers."

She smiles.

"Or both. I say let's head out and we can work it out when we get there!"

[MCerberus]

Forge

"I mean it's complicated, but it can't hurt if you have something glass on you. Or sand. If you have any sand I can make a container," Forge replies. He can't really give a straight-forward answer because that kind of stuff is more actual magecraft and he personally, despite looks has powers more in common with druids or incarnate beings, and he never went to magic school.

He's more calm than Blur appears to be right now. Despite everything he's had to climb up with just another fresh team in the past, so minor failures are something he's dealt with. He would recommend if they take a sample that they head back to either the rental or what passes for his hideout.

[Obscurejones]

Good. Something to do. Not a lot though.

Blur speeds off, and is back in a flash, holding several beakers, mason jars, and a single Tupperware with a lid that isn't quite the right size.
"Take your pick. Once you've got it, want a ride to... Whatta ya think the safe house?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Probably for the better. If the video is clear at all we may need the kid to identify who mister hide-y is."
That isn't quite the best prospect for Ash considering but to his knowledge it's their only lead. Oh, and he gets a sample with the mason jar, seeming the best option.

[Lentrax]

I… don’t have Mask Gear. Not a lot of point to it, is there. I mean, I’m recognizable everywhere I go. “Hey look, it’s that orange girl with the glory eyes!”

Ivy takes a breath, tries to calm herself.

But the badges are still probably the best way. Should keep enough people from asking.

She puts the rest of her stuff away and sets it on the table. Then she steps back onto the balcony.

Whenever you’re ready.

[JNAProductions]

Whisper and Ivy leave for Halycon City Memorial Hospital before Black Blur and Forge return. Su Yin notes the coincidence, with the other two heroes leaving mere minutes before the next arrive.

Over at the hospital, the main entrance is closed for construction. The ER is open, though, as is a side entrance to replace the main entrance for the moment. Whisper and Ivy put on their badges, and ask for the location of Doctor Williams. The person behind the desk, a young man dressed in scrubs and playing on his phone when you enter, hastily puts the device away and says "Oh! Uh, Doctor Williams... Which Williams?"

You tell him Bryant Williams. "Right, right... He's in the psych ward, I think-officially he's gone by now, but he always stays late, you know. Puts in the work. Do you want me to page him?"

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin comes out to the living room when she hears Black Blur and Forge return.

"Hey," she says. "Give me a minute..."

She looks frantically around for something to write on. The best the kitchen drawers produce is a pad of sticky notes, and she borrows one of Ivy's pencils to write a short message.

Ash, if you wake up and I'm not here, I'm just outside in the living room. That or I had to use the toilet. Don't panic. Come out and find me.

–Su

Going back into the bedroom, she takes the clock from the bedside table, sticks the note onto it, and puts it on the chair she was sitting on, turning it so Ash will see it if she wakes. Then she goes back out, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"The others just left to check out that Doctor Williams," she explains to Blur and Forge. "You guys find anything?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

A little bit relieved that Ash wasn't still up, Forge lifts up his goggles to rest on his head and dispels the illusion. He's got acid burns he didn't want the kid to see on his arms and it feels like his khakis have absorbed some and are probably now laundry day pants. Still, what's important is if they have a lead or not.

"Doctor what now?" he asks finding a seat. If the answer isn't too shocking he'll get his phone out in order to share. He keeps his voice down so that their charge isn't woken up and unlocks the screen. Still on the camera app at least.

"We're dealing with mental powers, possibly a summoner. I may have video," Forge explains while starting the recording.

[JNAProductions]

The video plays. It's off-center, which should come as no surprise given the awkwardness of the recording set-up. You see two beings in the footage-one human, one not so much.

The human is tall, and due to the off-center recording, you cannot see their face. You're pretty sure they're a guy, at least, given his body type. He's white, though with a nice tan. He's fiddling with a handheld orb, presumably projecting the SEP Field.
The nonhuman is much less tall, about four feet if you had to guess. It's a mass of shiny, slick, purple tentacles. It pulsates and twitches seemingly at random, and occasionally drips some kind of fluid. It doesn't look pleasant.

The recording keeps going, up until Forge is attacked by the tentacled monster. It seems to be under the control of the man, as it didn't start moving aggressively until the man tapped its... Head? Body? Center of mass, and directed it towards Forge.

While the video is useful, the audio is basically useless.

[NontheistCleric]

"This Doctor Williams," Su Yin says, holding up Ash's cut bracelet for Forge to read. Then she sees his wounds. "Are those acid burns? Go wash your arms!"

She gets the first-aid kit from where she saw it on her earlier search and looks up 'How to treat acid burns' using her smartphone.

"You should really be going to the hospital too, but let's just bandage that for now."

She tries to help dry Forge's arms as quickly and gently as she can, dabbing lightly with some tissues, then bandages the affected area loosely.

Finally, she gives the video a look.

"Oh, lord. Is that what burned you? How horrid. Doesn't seem to be hurting whoever that is, though..."

I assumed Forge would be okay with washing and bandaging his burns, but I can edit that part out if he isn't.

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Thanks," Forge replies before a small wince at getting wrapped up. It really is a nice gesture especially since wrapping your own burns usually involves things getting slapped on at awkward angles.

"I wouldn't worry about me getting burned by whatever that was, he continues on after the others have seen the image... It's that whoever they are are probably the ones coming for Ash."

[truemane]

I… don’t have Mask Gear. Not a lot of point to it, is there. I mean, I’m recognizable everywhere I go. “Hey look, it’s that orange girl with the glory eyes!”

Ivy takes a breath, tries to calm herself.

But the badges are still probably the best way. Should keep enough people from asking.

She puts the rest of her stuff away and sets it on the table. Then she steps back onto the balcony.

Whenever you’re ready.
Whisper nods. "Fair enough. Hopefully the badges will get us where we need to go. And if not, well, we'll improvise."

Avi hadn't really considered the difficulty of never being able to stop being a Mask. It was bad enough never really being able to stop being a Narayan. That was sometimes as hard as being a Mask. But at least there were lots of other Narayans.

"Do you find it hard?" she asked, as they travelled to the hospital, "What do you do, when you're not... working?"


Whisper and Ivy leave for Halycon City Memorial Hospital before Black Blur and Forge return. Su Yin notes the coincidence, with the other two heroes leaving mere minutes before the next arrive.

Over at the hospital, the main entrance is closed for construction. The ER is open, though, as is a side entrance to replace the main entrance for the moment. Whisper and Ivy put on their badges, and ask for the location of Doctor Williams. The person behind the desk, a young man dressed in scrubs and playing on his phone when you enter, hastily puts the device away and says "Oh! Uh, Doctor Williams... Which Williams?"

You tell him Bryant Williams. "Right, right... He's in the psych ward, I think-officially he's gone by now, but he always stays late, you know. Puts in the work. Do you want me to page him?"

Avi put on her best, politest, charmingest, most innocent and disarming we're good kids doing good smile. She'd been practicing it for years and had gotten very good at it.

"Please do not trouble yourself," she said, letting her voice carry a little more of the Malayali lilt than it usually did. As much as she hated the bland, oppressive weight of prejudice, it was rare for people to think that Indian people (especially women) to be up to no good. "We know the way. We can pop down quick and be out without bothering anyone."

And with that, she set off with confidence. She didn't know where the psych ward was, but she'd been here often enough with her mother to have a vague idea.

That was when a terrifying thought struck her.

"My mother works here," she said to Ivy as they started walking, "And I can't remember if she has a shift tonight."

[JNAProductions]

"Alright," the man says. His eyes follow you as you go, but once you're past the door, they're already sliding back to his phone.

The electronic locks of the hospital don't present much challenge to the pair-Whisper's powers are easily able to jimmy the bits and get the doors open as needed. After all, they're not designed to keep dedicated teams or parahumans out, just to stop erstwhile patients from getting into trouble. Avi tries to steer clear of anywhere near the ER and trauma wing, which is where her mother would be if she's working tonight.

You move past some empty rooms, some rooms with patients and nurses or doctors, a central desked area with a few staffers at computers, and don't find anything of note for the first ten minutes of searching. But Avi gets a feeling-just a gut hunch-that something's about to go south.

She hears a voice from behind. "Avidhayya Narayan... What are you doing here?" Her mother's voice. Avi and Ivy turn to face her, and see that she's tired. She's worked a long shift, but it looks like she has more ahead of her to do in the mothering department.

[NontheistCleric]

"I wouldn't worry about me getting burned by whatever that was, he continues on after the others have seen the image... It's that whoever they are are probably the ones coming for Ash."

"I've been thinking about that," Su Yin says to Forge. "Ash is a power mimic, to some extent. Touch range. If we can teach her how to use our powers, she might be able to protect herself more effectively, or at least escape more easily if necessary. She doesn't seem to want to touch anyone but me for now, but my powers are mostly reactive defense, so that might be the best place to start anyway. Super-strength and speed"–she nods to Blur–"might be a bit much to handle at first, and I think magic and Avi's mind powers are probably way too volatile without a lot of experience–correct me if I'm wrong."

She looks back at the video. "So what we know for now is: There's some man with mental abilities or tech, who may or may not also be the person with the power to project images of our fathers–and probably other things too–who got mimicked by Ash, and he controls this tentacled acid beast."

Then she rolls up the right sleeve of her turtleneck to expose her forearm. "On that note–try the acid on me. Just a bit, to see if I can resist it."

[Lentrax]

Whisper nods. "Fair enough. Hopefully the badges will get us where we need to go. And if not, well, we'll improvise."

Avi hadn't really considered the difficulty of never being able to stop being a Mask. It was bad enough never really being able to stop being a Narayan. That was sometimes as hard as being a Mask. But at least there were lots of other Narayans.

"Do you find it hard?" she asked, as they travelled to the hospital, "What do you do, when you're not... working?"



Avi put on her best, politest, charmingest, most innocent and disarming we're good kids doing good smile. She'd been practicing it for years and had gotten very good at it.

"Please do not trouble yourself," she said, letting her voice carry a little more of the Malayali lilt than it usually did. As much as she hated the bland, oppressive weight of prejudice, it was rare for people to think that Indian people (especially women) to be up to no good. "We know the way. We can pop down quick and be out without bothering anyone."

And with that, she set off with confidence. She didn't know where the psych ward was, but she'd been here often enough with her mother to have a vague idea.

That was when a terrifying thought struck her.

"My mother works here," she said to Ivy as they started walking, "And I can't remember if she has a shift tonight."

I don’t really do anything. Used to try. Used to put up with the pointing and the laughing. These days, it’s hard enough to get through the day at school. Takes a lot of spoons to get through each day without punching someone through the walls. Counselor tried to get a special wall put into her office so I could punch at it without knocking the building down. Most days I don’t have the spoons left after that for much besides my art.

If Avi goes into Ivy’s mind, she can see a lot of jumbled imagery of kids laughing, pointing and whispering.

***

Ivy lets Whisper do the talking at the desk. She is afraid of coming across as just a scared kid trying to get somewhere she doesn’t belong. Which she is. But she is also a Heroine trying to get somewhere she doesn’t belong to help an even more scared little girl. Which makes her a little less scared.

Would it be bad to run into her?


"Alright," the man says. His eyes follow you as you go, but once you're past the door, they're already sliding back to his phone.

The electronic locks of the hospital don't present much challenge to the pair-Whisper's powers are easily able to jimmy the bits and get the doors open as needed. After all, they're not designed to keep dedicated teams or parahumans out, just to stop erstwhile patients from getting into trouble. Avi tries to steer clear of anywhere near the ER and trauma wing, which is where her mother would be if she's working tonight.

You move past some empty rooms, some rooms with patients and nurses or doctors, a central desked area with a few staffers at computers, and don't find anything of note for the first ten minutes of searching. But Avi gets a feeling-just a gut hunch-that something's about to go south.

She hears a voice from behind. "Avidhayya Narayan... What are you doing here?" Her mother's voice. Avi and Ivy turn to face her, and see that she's tired. She's worked a long shift, but it looks like she has more ahead of her to do in the mothering department.

And that makes it my turn to try and come up with something.

That’s my fault, ma’am. I know Avi from school, and so I remembered she knows the hospital better than anyone I know, so when I needed to find Dr. Williams, I asked her for some help.

[JNAProductions]

"Which Williams?" she asks, relieved to hear a sensible explanation and NOT something related to parahuman work. Ivy lets her know that it's Bryant Williams. "Okay. Avi, you know the good vending machine? If you get there from here, then head for the end of the hall, they'll be a righthand turn. Eventually, you'll hit an elevator section, take one of them to floor three. That's Psychiatrics. As for you, young lady," she turns a little to face Ivy, "I want you to know that with Avi you're in good hands. Whatever you're going through that you need to see Dr. Williams about, it'll be okay. You can make it through."

She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot.

[MCerberus]

Forge

No
Forge seems to rankle a bit at the first mention of teaching Ash to use absorbed powers then calms down a bit when the plan is further elaborated upon. He's kind of tired so his brain doesn't dwell much on thinking about any sort of downsides to the plan.

When the subject of the mystery man comes up he adds, "Worse than that, we can't be sure we can see him coming." Forge hands over the mason jar of goo. This idea is probably the best use for the stuff.

[NontheistCleric]

"But you can counter his mind field, right?" Su Yin asks, rummaging in the drawers for a spoon. "Using the same magic you used on the phone? Maybe we could set some kind of camera system up."

Returning to the table, she unscrews the jar of acid and scoops out a small portion.

"Wish me luck."

Then she lets it fall onto her exposed flesh.

[JNAProductions]

The acid drips from the spoon, and lands on the fleshy part of Su Yin's arm. It burns immediately, but the sharpness of the pain drops off pretty quickly. Su Yin can feel her body changing, if only slightly, hardening itself to this specific pain and damage. Once she feels herself settle into her new occasion, she gingerly scoops a little more acid, and puts it near the initial drop point. It doesn't burn.

Occasion can be pretty safe from the mild hazard of the acidic burning. She certainly wouldn't want to experience a full-on hug from the tentacled beast, but incidental damage she'll be able to handle with aplomb and tankiness!

Do note, however, that those tentacles are also quite strong. So even with its acid rendered impotent, it's still capable of doing some damage!

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin breathes out slowly, then goes to rinse the acid off her arm and the spoon. Just using her powers is one thing, but every time she tests them deliberately, she's reminded that this might be the time they don't work.

"Well," she says, flopping back into her chair, "now we know I can handle that thing, if it comes to it. We should probably keep the spoon, just in case. Imagine if one of Avi's parents' guests used it and turned into another tentacle monster."

It takes her a moment to realize what she's saying. "Okay, if that actually happens, I guess that means Smith and I are going to turn into tentacle monsters too. Still, you never know, right?"

[Lentrax]

"Which Williams?" she asks, relieved to hear a sensible explanation and NOT something related to parahuman work. Ivy lets her know that it's Bryant Williams. "Okay. Avi, you know the good vending machine? If you get there from here, then head for the end of the hall, they'll be a righthand turn. Eventually, you'll hit an elevator section, take one of them to floor three. That's Psychiatrics. As for you, young lady," she turns a little to face Ivy, "I want you to know that with Avi you're in good hands. Whatever you're going through that you need to see Dr. Williams about, it'll be okay. You can make it through."

She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot.

Wow, Ivy says, once she is sure she won’t be overheard.

Not kidding about the mom, were you?

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge is taken just slightly aback by using his real name while still 'working'. Luckily the day and the sudden stress at night has worn him about a bit too much to have one of those tedious 'am I just my powers' mental circles. Instead he just reclines, fights off a yawn and jokingly responds, "C'thulu p'taghn"

[truemane]

I don’t really do anything. Used to try. Used to put up with the pointing and the laughing. These days, it’s hard enough to get through the day at school. Takes a lot of spoons to get through each day without punching someone through the walls. Counselor tried to get a special wall put into her office so I could punch at it without knocking the building down. Most days I don’t have the spoons left after that for much besides my art.
Avi frowned. "That sounds terrible. I'm so sorry. Are you still with the counselor?"

She was already wondering if there was some way she could help. Her powers didn't lend themselves well to shapechaning or colourchanging. But maybe she could think of something...


She smiles with a hint of pride at Avi, before turning to talk to the person she originally came for, one of the desk people. "Anyway, Sheila, you wanted to know about the cookie recipe I brought last time? Well, it's..." is the last you hear before you get out of earshot.
"Thank you, Mother!" Avi called out as her mother (miraculously!) wandered off without any more pointed questions or harsh blanket judgements about her future.


Wow, Ivy says, once she is sure she won’t be overheard.

Not kidding about the mom, were you?
"I never kid about my mother. As they say, she is always serious business." Avi watched to make sure her mother wasn't tricking them by hiding and jumping back out again. And then she smiled and jumped up and clapped excitedly.

"That was amazing, Ivy! So quick. So convincing. I'm so happy you did that. I can never lie to her effectively. I get all tongue-tied."

"Shall we go see this Dr.Williams?" She starts down the way her mother had pointed.

[Lentrax]

"I never kid about my mother. As they say, she is always serious business." Avi watched to make sure her mother wasn't tricking them by hiding and jumping back out again. And then she smiled and jumped up and clapped excitedly.

Ivy whistled a low note. Guess I'll have to make sure you get home on time then. Can't have you out too late.


"That was amazing, Ivy! So quick. So convincing. I'm so happy you did that. I can never lie to her effectively. I get all tongue-tied."

Wasn't entirely a lie. You do know the hospital better than anyone I know.


"Shall we go see this Dr.Williams?" She starts down the way her mother had pointed.

And quickly too. Need to get you home for bedtime. Too bad. I enjoy moonlit strolls.

[JNAProductions]

Good vending machine-the one that's always filled, and sometimes dispenses an extra snack.
Down the hall. Elevators. There are four-two on each side of the hallway.

You wait for the ding of a ground floor lift, and when it opens, you see a tall man inside. Broad shoulders, a dimpled chin, dressed in an MD's outfit, with greying hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. "Evening," he offers, his voice a pleasant bass. He exits, and you're about to get on, until you read his nametag. Doctor Bryant Williams.

[NontheistCleric]

Forge is taken just slightly aback by using his real name while still 'working'. Luckily the day and the sudden stress at night has worn him about a bit too much to have one of those tedious 'am I just my powers' mental circles. Instead he just reclines, fights off a yawn and jokingly responds, "C'thulu p'taghn"

"You two should probably get some rest," Su Yin says. She stands up and stretches. "One of you can take the other bedroom, or both if you don't mind sharing. I'll just be watching Ash."

She goes back into Ash's bedroom and moves her chair so she can sit with her back right up against the locked window. She can't see through SEP fields like Forge, but she'll surely feel it if something comes crashing in. Every now and then she flicks her eyes to the door lying open just a crack, in case it moves unbidden.

[truemane]

Ivy whistled a low note. Guess I'll have to make sure you get home on time then. Can't have you out too late.
And quickly too. Need to get you home for bedtime. Too bad. I enjoy moonlit strolls.
The corner of Avi's mouth twitches up in a small smile. "It's some hours until my bedtime, yet. And you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been on a moonlit stroll.:

She blushes a little.


Good vending machine-the one that's always filled, and sometimes dispenses an extra snack.
Down the hall. Elevators. There are four-two on each side of the hallway.

You wait for the ding of a ground floor lift, and when it opens, you see a tall man inside. Broad shoulders, a dimpled chin, dressed in an MD's outfit, with greying hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. "Evening," he offers, his voice a pleasant bass. He exits, and you're about to get on, until you read his nametag. Doctor Bryant Williams.
Avi had to think quickly. A stream of half-formed thoughts flooded through her brain.

That was him!

We need to talk to him!

He's not going to want to talk about Ash!

We can't do this in public!

We need to talk to him in private!

He's getting away!

Quick! Do something!

Whisper didn't like messing with people's minds. Especially not civilians. But maybe this was special circumstances? Even so, she tried to be as non-invasive as possible.

"Hold the door," Whisper whispered to Ivy.

She closed her eyes and sent Dr. Williams the thought that he forgot something back in his office. Did he log off and secure his computer so no one could have access to confidential information? Was he sure? Was he really, really sure?

She let the psychic 'grumble' that accompanied her mental powers cloud the thought. Just for extra tension.

[JNAProductions]

"Ah nuts," Doctor Williams says, turning around. "Hold the elevator, please!" he calls over. "Sorry-I forgot something, and I really need to be getting home sooner rather than later."

You get in the elevator, and he says "Third floor, please."

[Lentrax]

The corner of Avi's mouth twitches up in a small smile. "It's some hours until my bedtime, yet. And you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever been on a moonlit stroll.

She blushes a little.

Ivy’s cheeks flush a slightly darker shade of orange.

Did I just…?

But there’s no time for that.

Avi whispers to Ivy, and Ivy waits a moment, so it looks like she is trying to stop the door at his request, rather than because Avi told her.

Here.

She sticks her hand up to catch the door, and trigger the pressure sensor to open it back up.

What do we do, Avi? she thinks frantically.

[truemane]

Whisper generally tried to keep out of other people's heads. Like controlling minds (even a little), it was a slope that was perilously steep and slippery. But sometimes she picked up stray thoughts. Especially strong ones. And especially especially strong, complicated ones, laced with emotion.

So it was actually Ivy's Did I just... that she caught like a song in the wind. And it made her blush even more. She was about to say... something (she had no idea what) when her gambit for Dr. Williams worked and he was in the elevator with them.

And then she caught Ivy's question. By accident. It's not like she was looking. Not much anyway.

Let's just follow him up, she thoughts back, We know where he's headed.

"That's okay, Doctor," she said out loud, in her most pleasant tone, "Happens to the best of us. And the third floor is where we're headed as well."

She winked at Ivy and smiled. Not sure why. But it felt right.

[JNAProductions]

"Who are you here to see?" he asks. "I can't think of anyone on staff right now besides the night shift folk."

The elevator doors close, and it rises. There's a small ding as you reach the third floor, and the doors reopen.

[Lentrax]

Let’s see how well I can lie to a doctor… It worked for Avi’s mom. Maybe it will… did she just wink at me?

No. Stop, Ivy. Work first. Ash need help. Not for you to develop a social life.

Actually, my team sent me here to find help for a little girl. We don’t know her name, because she wouldn’t tell us. All we had to go off of was part of a hospital bracelet that I was able to see. There was a man chasing her and by the time I had him restrained, the girl was gone. So all we have to go off of is the part of the bracelet I was able to see. Just the words “Hospital” and “Psychiatric.” So, here I am. Trying to find whatever help I can find for a scared girl running from something.

Ivy gives a quick description of Ash.

[JNAProductions]

Doctor Williams frowns as you all step out of the elevator and start walking towards his office. "I'm afraid I don't know of anyone matching that description. The only thing I can think of is that we were supposed to have someone in that age range transferred here, but that was delayed. They didn't tell me why. Wait outside, a moment-I need to check for... Dammit, I can't even remember what I forgot."

He ducks into his office, closing the door behind him. A minute passes before he returns. "Must've not been anything that important. Now, while I appreciate your dedication to helping others, I'm afraid I don't really have anything more for you. Even if I did know more, I'm not the kind of doctor who tells about his patients without their permission. If you need to reach me, dial the hospital, and use extension 344, then 600. But, that said, let us leave."

I'm afraid I don't know of anyone matching that description.
Yup, being honest.

The only thing I can think of is that we were supposed to have someone in that age range transferred here, but that was delayed.
You get a name from here-Ashley Smith, same as was on Ash's bracelet.

They didn't tell me why.
More truthiness!

Now, while I appreciate your dedication to helping others, I'm afraid I don't really have anything more for you. Even if I did know more, I'm not the kind of doctor who tells about his patients without their permission.
He's starting to wonder how you got into the hospital, at least this area.

If you need to reach me, dial the hospital, and use extension 344, then 600. But, that said, let us leave.
He's honest about offering help, but has a suspicion you're going to try sneaking around. As such, he's gonna walk out with you, making sure you don't stick around.

[Lentrax]

Oh, Ivy says, sounding a bit dejected.

Okay. Sorry to have wasted your time then.

[JNAProductions]

Saturday Morning, The Day After
Su Yin stayed at the Air BnB, looking after Ash. At least one of you offered to take a shift so she could grab at least a few hours of shut eye, so everyone on the team is feeling okay in the morning.

When Ash wakes up, she bolts upright, head snapping back and forth. Su Yin, who's just aside, hears the commotion and comes in. "You... You really stayed," Ash says. She starts crying a bit.

Alex
Alex stops by Mr. Rapp's house, just to infodump and get some advice before heading to get rest. Mr. Rapp is, while perfectly willing to help, unfortunately not able to do much. "You already know more about this situation than I do," he says. "If you need advice on how to best proceed, I can give that. But I think you already know what's best."

Ivy
Feeling a little down after the events of the hospital, she takes some time to try to piece together everything she and her team have learned. There's one bit of info that hasn't yet been explored, to her knowledge-where was "Ashley Smith" coming from? What other institution was sending her to Halcyon Memorial?

Smith
He spends most of the night, when not sleeping, tinkering to try to find ways to better handle whatever comes their way.

Avi
Avi lingers a little longer than the others at the Air BnB, giving Su Yin some time to rest. But eventually, she has to go home, and when she arrived home, her parents were waiting. "Why exactly was the northside Air BnB rented out, Avidhayya?" her dad asked.
"And care to explain what exactly you were doing at the hospital, hm?" her mother added on.
It'll be a long night.

Su Yin
Other than a snack around 1 AM, Su Yin's night is quiet.

[NontheistCleric]

"Yes!" says Su Yin. She smiles and comes over to sit on the bed. "And look, nothing bad at all happened while you were asleep!"

She spreads her arms a little to emphasise that she definitely wasn't eaten by any terrible acidic tentacle monsters in the night.

"Or nothing bad here, anyway. Tissue?"

She offers Ash two pieces from the packet she keeps in her pocket for emergencies.

"Want to go out for breakfast?" she asks once Ash has calmed down a little. "Not that Whisper's canned food isn't absolutely top-shelf, but a bit of fresh air wouldn't hurt us either."

Cerberus, did Forge also stay the night? It seemed from the OOC like he might just have slept at the AirBnB, and from what I can tell he doesn't have a family to get back to in Halcyon.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Despite being tired Forge still has one thing he needs to do in order to get ready for what may come. It's easy. Etching a rather common symbol onto melted silicate. Wrap it in metal. Lens of magic detection. He hasn't done exactly this before but if the prototype works this is going to be useful. After getting honestly not enough sleep he pops into group chat.

New toy
Occ you know if that guy has more of the damascus steel filament ink?
Anyway think the kid would like some pancake
There a cast Iran there?

Smith's auto-complete being eclectic aside, a side-effect of his powers is that he can make breakfast really good. He's god an alternate motive here though, wanting to make sure Ash is happy so they can have a talk without viewing the team, or especially him as being scary.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin gets Forge's message as she is talking to Ash.

"Oh, give me a second... this might be important."

She takes out her phone and checks the group chat.

Actually, I was right in the middle of asking her if she wanted to get breakfast outside. With a bit of disguise, of course. I'll ask her about the pancakes.

"Forge just said he wants to come make pancakes for us–so that's an option too," she tells Ash, then goes back to the rest of the message.

There's a pan but you'll have to bring your own mix. Only canned things here.
The ink was a one-time thing. The ink place doesn't generally make it that way. I could ask them again for you, but who knows if they'll say yes? Probably if you pay them enough. We'll have to check with the blacksmith too.

"Sorry," she says to Ash, putting her phone away. "Superhero business. Sort of. Nothing to worry about."

[JNAProductions]

"No crowds," Ash says. "Just... Pancakes sound nice."

[NontheistCleric]

She says okay to the pancakes, Su Yin sends. Also, if anyone has old clothes that could fit Ash, bring them over.

"Alright," she says to Ash. "People are coming with pancake ingredients. I asked them to get you some clothes, too. Someone must have something you can wear. I'd give you my old things, but my sisters already have them."

And I don't really want to go to my mother's house right now.

She stands up.

"Okay, so, I had an idea last night. You want to try learning how to fly? As long as we're up against... whatever's after you, and you have my powers... it might come in useful. Just in the living room for now, of course."

[JNAProductions]

She tentatively approaches Su Yin. Ash puts her hand out, and says "Um... I think skin-to-skin contact works best. So just... Grab my hand?"

Gently, Su Yin does so. Now that she's paying attention to what's going on, she can feel a slight tingle where their hands meet-not like the acid, much more pleasant. She doesn't feel drained or anything, so it's not like whatever Ash does steals the powers away. "How do you fly?" she asks.

[NontheistCleric]

"Interesting feeling," Su Yin comments on the sensation, momentarily contemplating her hand. "Come on, let's set up a safe testing area."

She leads Ash into the living room and takes all the cushions off the furniture, laying them out on the floor.

"Okay," she says, standing right at the edge of the cushioned area. "What you need to understand about this power is that fundamentally, what it does is keep you safe. If someone is hitting you, your body will become harder and tougher. If you fall into a fire, you won't burn. You'll still feel it at first. I think it's because it takes the brain a while to catch up to the fact that it's not actually getting hurt, but I'm not a doctor. Of course, there's a limit. I'd probably still die if I stood in front of a machine gun or underneath a launching rocket. Or at least get pretty badly hurt."

She pauses.

"I'm not going to teach you how to use that part of the power, mostly because I don't know exactly to what degree you have my power, and it would be insane to start whacking you with stuff to test it. Hopefully, it will work anyway if someone really does try to hurt you, but for now, we're going straight to the flying."

She turns to face the cushions and holds her hands up.

"As far as I can tell, the flying is just another part of the protection. I first got this power when I was falling from a very high place, and it stopped me from hitting the ground. Since then, whenever I fall, the flying activates–unless I tell it not to. That's a thing too. You can stop it whenever you want, which is how you come back down. What I want you to do now is try falling onto the cushions. Keep your hands in front of you in case it doesn't work and you need to catch yourself. Like this."

She lets herself tip forward, and before her hands make contact with the cushions, that mysterious force lifts her entire body into the air. She rotates herself lengthwise, so she's now looking at Ash sideways.

"See?"

[JNAProductions]

[roll0]

Higher is better for using the power.

Ash puts her hands out, takes a deep breath, and...

Falls directly onto the pillows. "Oof," she lets out. She sits back up, and rubs her arms a little.

[NontheistCleric]

"Hm."

Su Yin pulls herself into an upright cross-legged position midair and floats as low as she can.

"Okay, that didn't quite work. Did you feel anything changing at all?"

[JNAProductions]

"Sorta?" Ash replies. "I felt... Something, but I can't really control it. And then I hit the ground."

[NontheistCleric]

"Well," says Su Yin, "that sounds about right. It took me a while too before I could control the activation perfectly–although for me, I only needed to control it if I wanted to stop it from happening. I never had trouble getting off the ground. So maybe you don't have the full scope of what I can do."

She deactivates her power and falls onto the cushions.

"Or maybe the first time needs to be more extreme, like it was for me. But we aren't going to try anything like that. Anyway, if you felt something, that's something. We shouldn't rely on it, but you might be just a bit safer. You want to try again, just in case, or shall we just lie here and wait for Forge to come with the pancakes?"

[Lentrax]

Ivy awakens to the sound of her phone alerting her to group chat messages.

She doesn’t check it right away, instead taking a moment to open her window and stand in the sunlight. She still doesn’t know why it makes her feel much more energized.

Not true… a voice whispers in the back of her head. But she pushes the voice aside and goes about getting ready for the day.

Not packing her art supplies today, she instead takes a couple of shirts and some pants and puts them in the bag. She’s pretty sure they’re too big, but she does it anyway. Then she hesitates. The girl was clearly terrified of her last night.

So she dumps the bag out, and instead puts a small sketch pad, and a notebook inside.

Then she grabs her phone and sends a message to the group chat.

Going back to where we found Ash. See if I can find anything about where she was running from.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge packs the untested lens in a jewelry case and starts planning out a route in that gets the necessary groceries. His 'workshop' is a basement rented out nearby where he's living so there's nothing more than soda, chips, and similar.

Got something that may be useful. Are you going by 17th?

[Lentrax]

I can. Where you at?

[MCerberus]

Forge

After a few seconds, there is a link to a small ShopMart along the way that can be opened to the maps app. Unless something out of ordinary happens forge will be there in street clothes getting pancake supplies.

[Lentrax]

Ivy gets to the store and starts heading inside, looking for Forge.

When she finds him, she has a bottle of water in hand.

Hey. So. What did you have?

[MCerberus]

Forge

By the time he's found, Forge has a basked that he needs to put to get at an awkwardly placed pocket. He takes out a small case that has a glass lens in it. There's nothing by appearance that makes it look like anything special.

"Hasn't been tested but I'm trying to get ways to detect paranormal stuff. Just look through."

Not very confident but at least Forge doesn't have a history of making things that catch fire when they don't work.

[Lentrax]

Ivy holds it up and starts looking through it. And what am I supposed to be looking for?

She turns to look back at Forge.

Or is it one of those, “I’ll know it when I see it,” kinda things?

[MCerberus]

Forge

"If it works I don't know exactly what you'll see when it detects magic," Forge replies. He thinks a second before trying to figure out a good test. For all he knew he himself would show up or... he gets out his goggles.

"Do these show up as anything?"

[Lentrax]

Yes. You do, Ivy says, jerking the lens away from her eyes.

That also answers the question of what I’d be looking for.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Well it works, for however much that means. It should help the group answer some questions or at least not get messed up by the SEP fields.

"Are you sure you don't want some breakfast? Hoping to calm things down for Ash," he says, making sure he has syrup before making his way to the checkout.

[Lentrax]

Think I’ve scared her enough. If she’s feeling better, that’s great. I’m not going to ruin it.

[JNAProductions]

The cashier, an acne-ridden teenager, swipes the purchases through without any issue. You head out, and split up, Ivy for investigating, Smith for PANCAKES!

[Lentrax]

Ivy paid for her water, said her goodbyes to Forge, and then started walking in the direction of where they had found Ashley, just the night before. As she walks she puts on her headphones, and turns on some music as she walks through the city, holding her sketchpad. When she stops at crosswalks, she picks a random person and sketches a quick gesture drawing. No details, just quick things for keeping skills sharp.

When she gets there, she starts by taking a good look around regularly, before trying the lens.

[JNAProductions]

It's morning, so the street is busier. A bit of traffic, someone walking their dog, another person putting up some laundry on a wire, and a school bus stopping by the intersection.

Nothing sticks out as strange, so you don the glasses. And nothing seems to change-a traffic goer rudely honks their horn at the bus, the dog barks at the car, the school bus doesn't react, and the laundry person draws your eyes upward. Which is where the glasses pick something up. You have to crane your neck fully up to see, but it looks sorta like a web. There are nodes where the lines of the web intersect, little pulsating blobs that seem aware of what's going on. The web doesn't register as being particularly active-it's more just observing.

[Lentrax]

Ivy considers her options. She could try and touch where these were, whatever they are. But considering that she can’t see them without the glass, she doesn’t think touching them would do anything.

She could call Forge. He might have a better idea. After all he at the very least uses magic. She doesn’t really understand it herself, but considering she doesn’t do the same things as him, that doesn’t shock her.

So what do I bring? What can I do to show them? I can’t just take a picture. And I don’t know if it would show up if I used my phone. So what can I do?

And then it comes to her. Her sketchbook. She turns to a blank page and draws the scene in rough blocks and shapes. Then she draws the web and the nodes.

Once she is done, she goes down a nearby alley so she can safely leap into the air and fly up to the roof of the building to see if she can see more of the web.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge ended up with... well almost anyway... two sets of ingredients sort of. He didn't really ask if the kid was vegetarian or vegan or anything so he's got traditional milk and eggs and then bananas and oat milk. Is overthinking a super power?

Regardless, he's soon at the hideout apartment with breakfast stuff and knocks politely instead of seeing his way in.

[truemane]

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Avi winced and slowly turned to face her. Deep in the pit of her heart, she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. The casual pride and praise she heard in the hospital was nice, but Dr. Aruna Narayan was an educated, accomplished, fiercely intelligent woman, and she was more than capable of holding both scorn and pride in her heart at the same time.

"The Air BnB wasn't rented or reserved. I checked first. And we were only at the hospital for a couple of minutes. I swear I'll be ready for my Bio Chem midterm!"

THE NEXT DAY
By the time Avi extricated herself from the sticky webs of chores, homework, family small talk and unspoken obligations, it was much later than she'd hoped.

The moment she got a moment alone, out came her phone and she texted the group..

Where is everyone? How's Ash? Anyone make any progress? We need to vacate the Air BnB as soon as we can. What's everyone doing? Where should I meet up?

[JNAProductions]

Avi's Home, Night Before
"That's good to know," her mother says. "Now why were you there, and why did you rent the Bed and Breakfast? You clearly didn't need a place to stay."

Air BnB, Daytime
Su Yin lets Forge in, and the two go about making pancakes. Ash doesn't have any special dietary needs (that she knows of, at least) so the baking process is simple-and delicious!

[Lentrax]

Where is everyone? How's Ash? Anyone make any progress? We need to vacate the Air BnB as soon as we can. What's everyone doing? Where should I meet up?

Don't know if its going to work, but I'm trying to get a picture on my phone through Forge's glass thingy. Hang on.

And then Ivy does just that, taking a picture through the lens, hoping the web shows up on the photo.

[JNAProductions]

It's hard to juggle the frames and the phone, but the photo is... Passable. Not great, but with her sketch, it should get the point across.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin checks her phone and replies to Avi's message.

Everything is okay with Ash. Eating pancakes and less scared, so a kind of progress.

We need somewhere else to take her. Forge and Blur fought some kind of monster at the place we found her last night. It needs to be safe and with someone who can watch her when we can't.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Between cooking and making sure Ash is looked after during breakfast, Forge lets the messages go while others respond. Since there's a group present he can let it slide and keep attention elsewhere. To wit, giving a child sugar so they're in a better mood. This is because he's been hoping to get at something more complicated to talk about.

"Hey Ash, can we talk about something a little more serious. Do you find me and the others scary when using our powers?"

[JNAProductions]

Ash swallows a mouthful of pancake, and shakes her head. "It's not really scary to have other people use powers. But I don't know what I get when someone who has powers touches me, so that part is kinda scary."

[NontheistCleric]

"Ash," Su Yin says, "when you said before you couldn't control the powers you got very well, do you mean only when you try to use them? Or is it possible for them to activate even if you don't want them to?"

It might shed some light on the incident last night, but it would also inform which of the team could watch her alone, she thinks.

[JNAProductions]

"I don't have full control-not really. Your power feels safe, since it's kinda just defensive? But other powers... Not so much," she replies.

[NontheistCleric]

"Okay," Su Yin says. "Okay."

She tries not to let her concern show on her face. She can probably take charge of Ash during the weekend, but with the week comes school and other obligations. Who can they find to look after her who won't be in danger of giving her a volatile power?

Do Mr. Rapp and Doctor Rakhamanov still have their powers? She realizes she's never asked Blur or Whisper those particular questions, and fires off another message to the group chat.

By the way, any power that could be harmful if out of control is definitely no-go around Ash, at least if the powered person is alone. Just one more thing to account for.

Even if they don't have powers and were willing to take Ash in, putting old men in danger is not exactly the best solution. Still, what's the alternative? At least they signed up for the hero deal. She definitely can't put her grandmother or kid sisters at risk, and she couldn't explain the situation to her mother and stepfather anyway. The others no doubt feel similarly about their families.

Whisper, does Doctor Rakhamanov have non-powered staff who could take care of her? Specifically, people who would be okay with the risk of acidic tentacle monster assault?

[Lentrax]

With no response to her pictures or messages, Ivy starts flying along, trying to figure out where the web is coming from.

[truemane]

Avi's Home, Night Before
"That's good to know," her mother says. "Now why were you there, and why did you rent the Bed and Breakfast? You clearly didn't need a place to stay."

Avi sighs. Her mother was not going to be distracted. "We, I mean I, I mean... there was a child. A girl. Named Ash. And she was in trouble. Trouble like we were worried the police couldn't handle. Mask-type trouble. And everything was moving really fast and it was all I could think of to give everyone, I mean me, I mean give us, me and Ash, some time to think. I'm sorry if I worried you. I was trying to do the right thing."

Next Day, Today
Avi was happy that Ash was safe and feeling okay. She couldn't make heads or tales out of the picture, though.

Where are you? she texted Ivy, assuming she was too far away for telepathy. I want to come and see if I can find out anything.

[Lentrax]

Ivy responds to Avi after figuring out where she is herself.

Northside of the lake. The one with the swan paddle boats, not the ducks.

[JNAProductions]

Ivy's flight reveals the web to be limited in scope-it's above maybe a city block, centered where Ash was found yesterday.


Avi's, The Night Before
"Avidhayya Narayan-what have we told you about your caped crusading?" her mother asks rhetorically. "We've given you plenty of opportunities to volunteer, to donate, to help people the safe and proper ways! There are better ways to go about doing what you're trying to do-did you even try to contact the girl's parents? Or a police station, or anyone?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge had been expecting to need to go into a big huge conversation trying to convince Ash that they were here to help, but it looks like the kid is generally more understanding than imagined. It could be that all the hero had seen of Ash was directly after the attack, or just that Forge had been running through explaining away his own insecurities in his head. Dipping the last piece of sausage patty in overflowed syrup can help bury that thought though.

Unaware at their pending eviction, he takes it slow collecting dishes. "So Ash, what do you want to do? There anybody you really trust that you want to let know where you are? Things that can help you take your mind off of things; cartoons to watch?"

[Obscurejones]

Blur tosses and turns through the night, finally waking up an hour before his alarm. Slams coffee and an energy bar before going for a run. A proper run. Out of town, back roads, as close to upper limits as he thinks he can get without his wake or a sonic boom calling in attention. When he's had a chance to try to leave all his frustration and bad vibes out on the road he finally checks his phone and curses at the pile of missed notifications. Fires back a response to the group.
[I can check if Mr. Rapp is willing to babysit if we need it. Although kid plus speed is probably a bad idea. Do we have any new leads on who the kid was fleeing?]

[JNAProductions]

Forge

Forge had been expecting to need to go into a big huge conversation trying to convince Ash that they were here to help, but it looks like the kid is generally more understanding than imagined. It could be that all the hero had seen of Ash was directly after the attack, or just that Forge had been running through explaining away his own insecurities in his head. Dipping the last piece of sausage patty in overflowed syrup can help bury that thought though.

Unaware at their pending eviction, he takes it slow collecting dishes. "So Ash, what do you want to do? There anybody you really trust that you want to let know where you are? Things that can help you take your mind off of things; cartoons to watch?"

"Um... Maybe some cartoons?" she says, uncertain. "And I don't really know anybody else. I have some vague memories of a parent, but after that it's just... Cold. And dark. Sterile. They... They..." she takes a ragged breath, and tries to focus elsewhere. "Um, cartoons!"

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Well let's see what's on," Forge replies. He would then see about turning the TV on. He hasn't had cable or anything similar for a while so it takes him a bit to find the kids channels and what they could be showing. This does give him some time in order to check his phone to see why it keeps popping off.

He doesn't have anything useful to contribute, especially since his workshop would be the worst place, so he continues paying attention to Ash.

[truemane]

LAST NIGHT

"Avidhayya Narayan-what have we told you about your caped crusading?" her mother asks rhetorically. "We've given you plenty of opportunities to volunteer, to donate, to help people the safe and proper ways! There are better ways to go about doing what you're trying to do-did you even try to contact the girl's parents? Or a police station, or anyone?"
Avi paused, momentarily uncertain. In the moment, it seemed obvious that the police or anyone was the wrong play. But now, facing down her very logical (and angry) mother, she couldn't quite figure out why.

"We didn't think... we didn't want... she was in a place of some kind."

She winced. That wasn't going to do it.

"She's a... you know... parahuman," Avi made a face. She hated that word. "She's like me. Not like me, but you know. She said she escaped from some kind of facility and was terrified of going back. We were afraid the police would take her and she'd wind up... somewhere worse."

Tears were gathering in her eyes.

"Can we please use the Air BnB? Just for a couple of days? I'll pay the fee myself if I have to. Please?"

TODAY

Ivy responds to Avi after figuring out where she is herself.

Northside of the lake. The one with the swan paddle boats, not the ducks.
Avi texted that she got it, put her phone away, She closed her eyes for a moment and the room filled with the low hum of her powers operating and her clothing transformed into her Mask jumpsuit.

She looked over at the window and it slammed open (not hard enough to break, but close - she was pretty excited). She took a breath to get hold of herself, stepped out of the window, and (with the hum rising in pitch) she took to the air.

She soared over the city, fast and true, until she got to the lake. And then she spiraled down and down in low circles, looking for Ivy. When she found her she set down.

"What's happening? Where's everyone else?"

She cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"What's with the goggles?"

[JNAProductions]

Ash doesn't recognize any of the shows either. Eventually, you end up with My Little Pony on the air, and your ward seems content with it.

This does last for at least two minutes, before Ash asks "What's... You know, what's happening next?"


Night Before
Avi's mother opens her mouth, but her father cuts his wife off. "You will pay for it yourself. You will not let your grades slip even one iota. You will volunteer your time in a more healthy pursuit. But... You can use it for now. One week."

Her mother looks at her husband, but sees that she might be being a little harsh. She frowns and crosses her arms, but only says "One week. And it better be spotless when the week is up!"

[Lentrax]

The Night Before

"She's like me. Not like me, but you know. She said she escaped from some kind of facility and was terrified of going back. We were afraid the police would take her and she'd wind up... somewhere worse."

Hey. Just got home. Hope you're doing good.

"Can we please use the Air BnB? Just for a couple of days? I'll pay the fee myself if I have to. Please?"

Sorry there wasn't time for that stroll. ;) Hopefully your mom isn't too hard on you.

"One week. And it better be spotless when the week is up!"

Seriously though. We should talk about.. you know...

Now

Ivy had been spending the time waiting for Avi cleaning up the drawing of the web, and adding in details she could see through the glasses. She smiles when she hears Avi.

You know, for someone who calls herself Whisper, you talk pretty loud. And the glasses are from Forge. Something about seeing magic.

She stops her drawing for a moment and looks at her work.

It still looks like a comic book...

She holds the glasses up for Whisper. Here. Take a look and see if I am missing something.

[NontheistCleric]

This does last for at least two minutes, before Ash asks "What's... You know, what's happening next?"

"For now?" Su Yin says. "Nothing."

She walks to the television and mutes it, then comes to sit in front of Ash.

"Look, Ash, this is the situation. We're protecting you, and we're going to continue protecting you as best as we can. But the truth is that we have no actual idea what's going on, and we are not on sure ground here. We don't have this apartment for very long, and once the week starts I won't be able to be with you all the time. What we're doing right now probably isn't even legal. We're trying to figure it out–where you can be safe, who's after you... all of that, but for now we just need to stay calm and be ready to move fast if we have to. Okay?"

[JNAProductions]

She nods. "Okay. Thank you."

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin gives Ash a little smile in response.

"Alright," she says, getting up. "You two enjoy the ponies. I need to make a phone call–and maybe get some sleep."

Her power prevents exhaustion as well as anything, but she assumes there's still some critical mass of sleep deprivation where she will simply drop dead. In some ways, having an internal tally of how much you would be messing yourself up if not for some inexplicable magic makes you more health-conscious.

"Wake me up when you go, Forge. Or if there's anything important."

She goes into the second bedroom, turning the sound back on as she does. Closing the door, she dials her grandmother's number.

"Hello, Grandmother. Yes, I can hear you! No, not yet. I'll be back before Monday, okay?"

A pause.

"I can't tell you. It's not safe. I mean it's not safe for you! I'm indestructible. You know what I mean. Tell her you don't know. Well, you don't. Okay, bye, Grandmother."

Su Yin shuts the phone off and sighs. Grandmothers and mothers. Always asking where you are.

She climbs onto the bed and dismisses the fatigue resistance that built up over the night, and in an instant she's out.

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Oh we will, and we'll keep things quiet," Forge replies, reassuring the comrade that she doesn't have anything to worry about.

When it's just him and Ash, Forge keeps quiet watching the show but not getting out his phone or looking around. To his thinking, Ash probably needs reassurance and the ability to do stuff without having anyone direct her. If Ash has any questions or needs/wants anything he'll be there though.

[JNAProductions]

A mannerism Smith notices is Ash scratching at her wrists, right where medical facilities usually put in IVs and such. She doesn't have any scars there, or even blemishes-if she's had IVs, the marks have fully healed.


Whisper's phone goes off while she's looking over the pictures and drawings. It's Aleksandyr.

You said you were investigating a girl named Ash and a Dr. Williams?

Found a potential lead.

Attached to the message is a link to a news article, headline of "Doctor Williams To Open New Pharmaceuticals Testing Clinic In Halcyon City Memorial Hospital".

The article is a little light on details-it talks a little on Doctor Ryan Williams' history, his notable achievement of being part of the team that synthesized the vaccine and eventually the cure for The Madman's Plague (the Madman being a parahuman), a few notes about who else is working with him, a little on the mission statements of the Clinic, and ends with an abbreviated interview with Doctor Ryan Williams.

[truemane]

LAST NIGHT


Avi's mother opens her mouth, but her father cuts his wife off. "You will pay for it yourself. You will not let your grades slip even one iota. You will volunteer your time in a more healthy pursuit. But... You can use it for now. One week."

Her mother looks at her husband, but sees that she might be being a little harsh. She frowns and crosses her arms, but only says "One week. And it better be spotless when the week is up!"
Avi's mouth hung a tiny but before she got hold of herself and shut it quick, adopted a neutral expression, and nodded. She aimed for a controlled, sagacious nod but it looked more cartoon-character vigorous.

She hadn't been expecting that kind of support from her father. Not because he was henpecked or afraid of her mother or anything, just that he tended to lean more toward civil obedience than her mother did (Avi knew that her mother sometimes 'bent' the rules at the hospital to work around people's inability to pay for medical care).

They were both deeply moral people, but of the two her father tended to be more by the book.

Could he be lightening up on my Mask stuff?

She opened her mouth to say thank you when her phone went off. Three sharp, polite little noises.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

The last thing she wanted to do was talk about whatever that was. So she just said, very quickly. "Thank you, thank you, of course, spotless! Spotless! I promise. And my grades will be fine and I'll find a place to volunteer IpromiseIsweatthankyouthankyou."

And she fled to her room and opened the texts. And instantly her already hard-beating heart sped up a little more.

Hey. Just got home. Hope you're doing good.
Sorry there wasn't time for that stroll. ;) Hopefully your mom isn't too hard on you.Seriously though. We should talk about.. you know...

Smiling despite herself she typed back.

I'm home. I'm good. I hope you made it back okay too. I just got permission to use the Air BnB for a week (!!!!). So we have some time to figure out what's next. My mom was mad! So mad! But my dad came to my rescue #hero

She paused. Typed. "Moonlit stroll.... rain check?"

She paused. Paused a long, long few moments.

Pressed send.

She barely got her clothes off before collapsing into bed.

TODAY
Avi made a mock-insulted face at Ivy's comment on her voice. It was a fair hit. She did talk loud. Anyone who wanted to say anything at a table with her family needed one.

"Well, for someone named Ivy I don't see you... climbing a lot of brick walls."

An East Indian nerd she might be, but not the techy kind. So she was more wary than excited about the googles. She put them up to her eyes, not sure what to expect.

"What am I looking for?"

[Lentrax]

Last Night

”Moonlit stroll.... rain check?"

Ivy’s mouth went dry reading the words. When she first said the words, she had thought it was a joke. But when Avi responded with what Ivy could only describe as interest, she realized that she too was seriously asking.

And she had no idea how to say it.

Now

I… might be able to do that. Someday… Ivy said, in response to the comment about crawling up walls.

As Avi takes the goggles, Ivy answers her question. Well, I don’t know, exactly. This is what I saw, she says, gesturing to her drawing.

But I don’t know if these goggles that Forge made work different from person to person. I don’t really know how his magic works. So I guess you’re…

Her voice trails off as she struggles for the right term.

[MCerberus]

Forge

After a while of things being calm Forge does take a moment to catch up on texts. It looks like for the most part people are out and about with him on solo Ash watching duty. While it's not a normal Saturday he guesses there are worse things than animated quadrupeds. Still he does check in.

Still quiet here, watching the tube
Blur you may have missed bfest but there's plenty of ponies

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin opens her eyes. She can still hear the sound of the television blaring from outside, so it hasn't been long. Sleep is difficult when she's worrying. Despite the nature of her powers, she doesn't actually like passively waiting for answers or solutions.

Seek and you shall find.

Never mind sleep, then. She does feel a little refreshed, even if it's only the illusion of a power nap. Maybe getting clean would do her better. She lays her clothes neatly out on the bed, since she doesn't have a change here, then steps into the shower.

Frigid water runs over Su Yin as she thinks. Saving on heating bills is another side benefit of her powers. Mother and Father Narayan can thank her later–although they'd probably prefer if she didn't use their water at all. Ivy is out investigating magic webs. Hopefully Forge can interpret that later, but what can they do here?

The obvious answer is that they have Ash. The whole situation revolves around her. She must be able to tell them something–but equally so, she clearly isn't up to it. Even if she was, there's no guarantee a juvenile test subject actually knows anything useful about her captors.

Then it hits her. Clearly the nap did do some good. Su Yin shuts off the water and towels off quickly, then dresses again. Opening the bedroom door, she strides back into the living area where Forge is.

"I just had an idea. You know that magic-seeing thing you gave to Ivy? Can you conjure up anything like it here? We should see what we see when we look at Ash with it–and this thing too."

She holds up the cut bracelet.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Forge blinks for a moment after being surprised and it takes a second for him to collect his senses. It takes a bit longer for him to think through the request. He needed some exotic materials and a space where there wasn't anything nearby flammable to the amount of heat it takes to melt glass. On top of that he can't really do detect magic spell and had to use a sigil in the first place... but that may do something.

"The lens was kind of a prototype that needed some rare stuff. If we want to try we can't do something exactly like it. I can improvise but we'll need something conductive, something to draw with, and a base made of something that won't crack when exposed to magic and then it'll be a maybe."

Oh yes. Improvising rune magic with household supplies. This will surely go well and also work.

[JNAProductions]

For something to draw with, there's some paper in a printer and plenty of pens about.
For something conductive, a brief search reveals a loose copper pipe in a closet, unattached from any plumbing.
For something to work as a base, Su Yin could quite possibly work.

[NontheistCleric]

"Okay," says Su Yin, looking at the gathered items. "I feel like the list of things we're going to need to reimburse Whisper's people for is growing... but at least we're not ripping up the appliances."

"What exactly do you need me to do as a base?" she asks. "Are you going to work on my back, or something like that?"

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Well if we draw this on paper or something the energy put into it is going to rip it up. The closest thing to what I'm trying usually gets done on stones or the ground."

He takes a quick look around, most things big enough to draw the symbol on won't really work or they're just wasting Whisper's parent's money.

"That and I don't know if or how it would work."

[NontheistCleric]

"Well, we're in the same boat, then," says Su Yin. "Anyway, if I die in magic fire, you can explain to my grandmother."

She pulls off her turtleneck, already not wearing underwear since she didn't want to re-wear dirty underwear after bathing. Clasping the garment in a bundle in front of herself, she turns her bare back to Forge.

"But I have faith in you."

[MCerberus]

Forge

"Alright, if we want to do this if it didn't send a regular person to the hospital what's going on would leave a permanent brand."

If she wants to go through with this, the plan is kind of simple. He's got the proper sigil in an image that he can access through his phone. Trace the sigil, turn it into a rune through... heated and shaped copper. Once it's in place, apply magic energy if the act of shaping it isn't enough.

"I can see four things happening. First, it doesn't work. Second, you can detect magic. Third, it reacts to magic. Finally, it reacts to magic and that includes itself."

[NontheistCleric]

"So, the worst case scenario is I end up with you pressing some kind of self-reacting magic thing against my back? I guess that isn't so bad. I mean, you can just take it away if that happens, right? If it's even enough to hurt me. Let's try it."

[MCerberus]

Forge

While still having some reservations, Forge will go through with the plan. Despite all this it would answer what are some potentially interesting questions about this specific application. While he gets to work he talks both explaining what's going on and to keep that part of his brain distracted while working.

"This is actually not like wizards with spellbooks. I have to feel out the magic and what I can do and access and try to make it fit into what I'm trying. It's not engineering, not quite painting. It's more mixing the pigments to get the array of colors you want. When I get the palette everything just clicks."

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin breathes in deeply and bends forward so Forge has a flatter surface to work on. The last thing they need is the heated rune falling off and setting the apartment of fire.

She listens to him talking himself through the process, not responding or letting herself exhale. Keep the body as steady as possible. Already she can feel herself beginning to change, her cells somehow drawing the same amount of energy from an increasingly thin reservoir of oxygen in her lungs.

Not like wizards with spellbooks, indeed.

[truemane]

Whisper's phone goes off while she's looking over the pictures and drawings. It's Aleksandyr.

You said you were investigating a girl named Ash and a Dr. Williams?

Found a potential lead.

Attached to the message is a link to a news article, headline of "Doctor Williams To Open New Pharmaceuticals Testing Clinic In Halcyon City Memorial Hospital".

The article is a little light on details-it talks a little on Doctor Ryan Williams' history, his notable achievement of being part of the team that synthesized the vaccine and eventually the cure for The Madman's Plague (the Madman being a parahuman), a few notes about who else is working with him, a little on the mission statements of the Clinic, and ends with an abbreviated interview with Doctor Ryan Williams.
Whisper scanned the article and smiled. That was a lead. Thank you Aleksandyr. We'll follow up. I can keep Ash safe for about a week. Is there any way you can help after that?

After she looked through the goggles, she showed Ivy the article. While she (Ivy) looked, Whisper took a moment to look at her face. Her eyes. Her body language. Last night it seemed they were maybe headed toward a moonlit stroll (and her heart skipped a beat at the thought). But today it was all business.

Was she just kidding? Regretting the offer? Just doing Mask stuff now?

Avi, for all her strange experiences, had lived a pretty sheltered life until recently. Navigating this situation (if it even was a situation!) was a little beyond her.

She didn't want to make it weird.

"What do you think?" she said, about the article, "Should we gather the troops?"

[Obscurejones]

Forge

After a while of things being calm Forge does take a moment to catch up on texts. It looks like for the most part people are out and about with him on solo Ash watching duty. While it's not a normal Saturday he guesses there are worse things than animated quadrupeds. Still he does check in.

Still quiet here, watching the tube
Blur you may have missed bfest but there's plenty of ponies
Alex stares at his phone for a moment, trying to decide if these might be literal ponies. Probably a cartoon, but... I mean, it's been a weird two days. Shrugging, he breaks into a run-

"Well, we're in the same boat, then," says Su Yin. "Anyway, if I die in magic fire, you can explain to my grandmother."

She pulls off her turtleneck, already not wearing underwear since she didn't want to re-wear dirty underwear after bathing. Clasping the garment in a bundle in front of herself, she turns her bare back to Forge.

"But I have faith in you."
- and skids to a stop in the AirBNB, quickly covering his eyes with a gloved hand.
"Forge, that is not a pony. That is our teammate without a shirt. I feel deceived. And slightly uncomfortable. Why are we... What are we?"

[Lentrax]

“Should we gather the troops?”

Forge made pancakes for Ash, Ivy says.

She stands up and starts putting her things away.

Wanna... I mean... well...

Why is this so hard?

Wannagetsomethingtoeat?

[truemane]

Whisper was peering through the goggles, alternately amazed and scared of the weird invisible web she could see through them. Her brain could lift things all by itself and sometimes know what other brains were doing. But in all other ways it was just standard A-Type-Overacheiver-Unremarkable. She had no truck with magic or high-tech. So whatever this was, it was beyond her.

But then...

She took the google off, her dusky skin darkening slightly in a blush. Her mouth twitched up in a delighted smile.

"You mean right now?" Almost a whisper. Looking around as though afraid the rest of the group might pop up and accuse her of shirking responsibilities.

"Should? I mean can we?" Pause. Something that was almost a giggle.

Because she really wanted to say yes.

[Lentrax]

Ivy swallows back the lump in her throat. Yes. I mean right now.

We can do research on this other Dr. Williams and figure out our next move at the same time. And then we decide if we want to call the others along.

[truemane]

Her mouth-corner-touched smile broadened into a delighted grin. She clasped her hands under her chin and took a couple of quick breaths.

"Okay!" she said, with the tone of a good student agreeing to skip class, "Where do you want to go? What do you like to eat? I don't usually have much for breakfast and I almost never eat out so I don't know what's close by. But it doesn't matter what's close, does it? Because we can fly, can't we..."

She closed her mouth. She was babbling. She was a little out of her element here.

[Lentrax]

We can figure that out. The better question right now is, do you want to go as Whisper?

[truemane]

Whisper's lips pressed together and her brow furrowed. She looked down at the ground and shifted back and forth a little. It wasn't quite a little-kid-foot-shuffle, but it was close.

"Who," she paused, "Who... ummm..." she looked up at Ivy, face serious, "Which one do you want to da... I mean, which one are you asking?"

[Lentrax]

"Which one do you want to da... I mean, which one are you asking?"

”Wow, and we thought she was a freak before.”
“Oh my god! It’s like a spray tan gone wrong!”
“Hey, Tangerine! What, you fall off the truck on the way to the orange juice factory?”

Ivy’s been the object of stigma and shame. Still is, though they are a lot less loud about it after they saw her strength and power in action on social media when she and her team kinda went viral during the overpass incident. She still gets notes in her locker. Still gets messages on her social accounts from locked, private accounts.

And it still hurts. It’s been over a year, and the outcast still feels that hurt.

You. Just you. Ivy says. I know you. Both sides. And it doesn’t matter to me. But it might to you. You get me. I don’t wear a mask. Don’t have the luxury of an identity. But you do. There’s two of you.

”Oh my god!” “Could you imagine?” “Who could love a freak?” “As if!”
“I think she touched me! Check me for contamination.”

And I know how important it is for all of you to protect those identities.

[MCerberus]

Forge

Blur's entrance is a shock and a surprise, but it's too late to stop anything. The magic, ritual might be the word, has fired. Oops, hopefully that last bit doesn't cause anything weird to happen.

[JNAProductions]

The ritual starts. Su Yin's back has a momentary sear of pain, but it quickly vanishes as her body orientates to handle it.

For Su Yin, everything goes somewhat dark, like a gauzy white curtain is pulled over her eyes. She can make out outlines and vague shapes, but she'd hate to travel anywhere new while this is active. While she tries to see if anything good is actually happening, she hears Ash's footsteps coming towards the room the three heroes are in.

For Forge and Blur, they see Su Yin react with a brief bit of pain, and then just settle in. Their eyes glance over to Ash coming into the room, hearing her footsteps approaching, and see her stand for a moment in shock looking at the scene before her. She rushes towards Forge, shouting "Get away from her!"

Ash is a child, and not a trained or experienced combatant. Blur can trivially stop her. Forge would have slightly more trouble, but still basically none. Su Yin would have trouble right now because she's semi-blind, but that's about the only reason why.

[Obscurejones]

Magic... Kid that copies powers... Unpredictable elements... Right, we'll bullet time it.

Blur throughs himself into speed, if not necessarily full motion. Takes it step by step. First priority is to not touch or damage the kid. So heavy leather jacket gets shrugged off, flipped around so he's holding it out to envelope someone. Then, short steps. Controlled motion. We're not trying to tackle, we're trying to wrap up carefully, getting the jacket around Ash without hurting her, snug but not tight if possible. Then distance from the magic. Pick up the kid and move her into the next room. Speak slowly, trying to counteract his own speed by lowering his voice and spacing out his words. And as much as he hates to admit it, this is a job for Alex more than Blur. So we use the civvie voice.

"Forge is trying to help her. If you jump in she might get hurt. We need you to chill out for a moment, kiddo. Take a deep breath, calm down. Let him do his work, then she can explain it to you herself, alright?"

... He really hopes he read the room right. If this is actually Forge doing something messed up this is going to... Well it's going to be an whole bouquet of oopsie daisies.

[JNAProductions]

Ash struggles against the jacket with the mighty fury of a newborn kitten. She's bundled off into the room with the TV, where there are ponies on-screen talking about friendship and magic.

In the room with the ritual, Forge manages to keep his cool, and hurries to wrap it up to Su Yin can get Ash to relax. Su Yin's eyes stay kinda fuzzy, but they clear up a little bit. She can see a faint aura around herself-something light lilac in color. Looking at Forge, she sees a small kaleidoscope from his various gadgets he has on him.

[Obscurejones]

"Kid, I know you don't like me. But you like her, right? And if you do something that gets her hurt you're going to have to reckon with that and you're really going to hate it. So take it from someone who hates to do things slowly. Take a breath. Relax. Wait out the moment."

He lets go of the jacket, darting over to close the door, and putting himself and a couch cushion between Ash and the magic room.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin straightens up and pulls her turtleneck back on. She takes a few moments to get a handle on her changed senses, looking down at her hands, then at Forge, then back at herself.

"Vision slightly impaired," she murmurs, "but you know. It'll pass."

I hope.

"I am seeing something... new. Looks like hypothesis two was right on it. Check if the rune does anything. I'll handle Ash."

She opens the door, fails to register the cushion with her impoverished eyesight, and confidently trips over it.

"Okay, no one panic," she calls out, floating back into the living room, hands held in a 'calm' sign in front of her. She sets down on the rug. "That was just some superhero stuff. Magic detective work. Everyone just sit still for a moment. Ash, don't touch me yet. I think this needs a few moments to... stabilize."

She mutes the television again and casts her gaze around the whole room, focusing particularly on Ash, Blur, Ash's bracelet, and the television–the last one as a presumably non-magical object, for comparison.

[JNAProductions]

Ash is suffused with faint coloration, twisting and changing as the moments pass.
Blur is a vibrant red.
Ash's bracelet is entirely mundane, as best you can tell, along with the TV.

She gets out of Blur's jacket, and steps nearer to Su Yin. Ash doesn't touch her, but she does ask "What was happening? What's going on? Are you okay?"

[NontheistCleric]

"I'm fine," Su Yin says. "I'm seeing a little blurry at the moment, but it's already better than it was."

She looks at Ash and around her, trying to see if her aura leaves any kind of trail–and for that matter if any of theirs do.

"You see," she says, "Forge made a thing that detects magic. Or just anything out of the ordinary, maybe. Ivy is using the first one right now, so I thought he could make another one to see if it could lead us to the people who are trying to find you. I thought you might still be carrying some kind of signature."

She shrugs. "Well, these things often go a bit left when you wanted them right. I think I'm seeing the magic now instead. You and Forge are all kinds of colors, Blur is red, and I'm sort of pale purple."

How bad is the unclear vision, and is it continuing to improve? Are we talking 'needs glasses' or 'legally blind'?

[JNAProductions]

Legally blind. And it's stabilized-not getting any better or worse.

That being said, Forge knows that active magic can have effects that wear off shortly when the magic is no longer active.

[truemane]

”Wow, and we thought she was a freak before.”
“Oh my god! It’s like a spray tan gone wrong!”
“Hey, Tangerine! What, you fall off the truck on the way to the orange juice factory?”

”Oh my god!” “Could you imagine?” “Who could love a freak?” “As if!”
“I think she touched me! Check me for contamination.”
Whisper did not randomly or capriciously read people's minds, as a rule. Aside from finding it unethical, it was often an unnerving experience. People's minds were such tumultuous places and 'reading' them and understanding what was there meant assuming part of that person's identity. Sometimes a little. Sometimes a lot.

But some thoughts, and feelings, were so strong, so deep, so complicated, so conflicted and fraught, that they leaped out into the air and Whisper couldn't help but catch them.

All the shame and fear and anger and loneliness that spilled out of Ivy stabbed Whisper in her mind and heart. And, as was the case, in interpreting and understanding the flow of extremely individual feelings and images meant that, just a little, she had to become Ivy. To be where she was. Know what she knew. Be who she was. Feel what she felt.

Tears sprang to Whisper's eyes and she emitted a series of low, pained, hurt moans, as though someone were forcing her to sit through a flipbook of atrocities.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Low and sad and hurt.

As she absorbed that pain, her heart rate increased and her breathing quickened. And as her powers leaked out of her careful control, the area around them filled with the low psychic 'grumble' that accompanied her powers when she didn't suppress it, like a barely perceptible susurrance. Like whispering at the very edge of hearing.

She looked up at Ivy and smiled a pained smile as she tried to get herself under control. "It's not the same, I know, but sometimes I'm a freak too."

"I'll go as Whisper." Her eyes opened wide and she waved her hands in front of her. "Not because I'm embarrassed! I'm not! But that way they'll be staring at us both. And not you alone. And we can stare back together."

A pause. She was afraid that maybe she picked the wrong option. And she was still trying to quiet the distresing whisper of her powers. To pull it back into herself.

Hopefully she hadn't completely killed the mood...

[NontheistCleric]

"Okay, let's try to make use of this while it lasts," Su Yin says. "Or, more accurately, I hope 'while it lasts' is a thing, because I'm pretty sure I'm legally blind right now."

Really can't go back to Grandmother like this.

Moving over to where she left her jacket thrown over the back of the armchair, she feels for it and puts it on.

"I'm just going to step out for a minute," she says to Ash and Blur. "I need to get a look at the whole city. Blur, you know what to do if anything comes up."

"Forge?" she calls for him. "Can you help me walk up to the roof? I don't think I can make it on my own right now."

[Lentrax]

"And we can stare back together."

I wouldn't be able to care about their stares. I'd be too busy focusing on you. That's why it's your choice.

[JNAProductions]

The rooftop is clean of magic. Looking out at the city, Su Yin can make out a few of the faintest little dollops of magic. There's what she's pretty sure is AEGIS HQ-makes sense, and is reasonably clear. There's another spot floating somewhere in the middle of the city, unmoored from any buildings, and far fainter than HQ. Outside that, there's nothing visible from this distance.

[MCerberus]

Forge

it takes a moment for Forge to snap back to reality. Trying to enchant a living being is different than just a thing and it was a bit on the draining side as well as giving some feedback as a result.
To fly a chick must spread its wings
So for a moment he's thirsty, disoriented, and leaning up against the wall. When things calm down a bit, he immediately considers trying to fix things by immediately nullifying the effect. That would be another hasty move though, and Occasion seems calm enough. There are so many questions about the minutiae of what she's seeing but those thoughts flutter out of mind quickly as he catches his breath.

"Yah," he replies standing up straight. "I wouldn't want to pass up this chance either."

Forge would help her up to the roof while trying his best to not show any shock or exhaustion.

[NontheistCleric]

"This will wear off eventually, right?" Su Yin asks Forge as he guides her up the stairs. As they mount the steps, she takes her mask out of her pocket and pulls it over her head. "Or is it dispellable?"

"Okay," she says once they reach the top. "You stay right right here. I think I need to move around a bit to get a proper look, but since I can't see normal stuff too well, you're my beacon."

She looks out at the city. She can't see it too well at the moment, but she flies above it every day. She has dropped out of the sky to a hundred different points on its streets, sometimes ferrying people, sometimes just hunting for Forge's latest esoteric request. With the reference of AEGIS HQ and the mental model of the route they took last night, she can judge where she needs to go to get a more central bird's-eye view.

Occasion jumps a foot into the air, feeling her power kick in just as she begins to fall.

"Tell me when my way up is clear," she says to Forge. She breathes in deeply, filling her lungs in anticipation.

When the signal comes, she hurtles upwards. She needs as few people as possible to see her taking off from their makeshift safehouse wearing her makeshift disguise, and so she accelerates herself until she can feel what would be her organs screaming displeasure at their supersonic jostling. Even if someone sees her, hopefully she will be nothing more than a flicker in their vision, gone too fast to identify.

Like Occasion has thought to herself before, she's no Black Blur–but in a straight line, with nothing but empty air ahead... she can be a blur.

In a moment, the familiar vapor of the cloud layer envelops her. She keeps going, and as she climbs, the air thins and ice begins to creep over her.

Only then does she fly to the position where she could see the whole of the city if she were lower. She descends more cautiously, looking out for telltale shapes of aircraft as she passes the stratosphere, until the supernatural glow of AEGIS and the other spot are once again visible. She superimposes her mental map of the city over the blurry image her retinas are actually supplying, and scans for any other magic, looking out especially for anything that looks similar to Ash's aura.

She hangs there for a few moments, noting positions and any movement she can see in the magic auras, then she returns the way she came, retracing her path until she's roughly where she came up before. She flies back down, looking out for Forge's particular glow to guide her.

[MCerberus]

Forge

"I didn't check but if the metal is still there you should be able to just peel it off, or if it was eaten up in the process just a matter of time. If your back is still glowing we may have a problem..." Forge trails off before finding the words about dispelling. "I'm not sure if nullifying the effect will have any side-effects, considering everything."

He especially doesn't want to try as Occasion is going for a flight. He doesn't know as much about her powers' source than his own and even that's sort of fuzzy. So while she's away, Forge is left to stew in a sense of guilt over potentially messing up a teammate. This is mixed with a curiosity though. He himself hasn't done much looking through this kind of spell, and was actually looking forward to testing the lens much less having senses replace.

What is Occasion seeing? Does she feel the sights? Does the magic look different to different people?

"So what's it look like?" he asks when Occasion returns.

[Obscurejones]

"I'm just going to step out for a minute," she says to Ash and Blur. "I need to get a look at the whole city. Blur, you know what to do if anything comes up."

"Forge?" she calls for him. "Can you help me walk up to the roof? I don't think I can make it on my own right now."

Blur glares at the child for a moment. It’s not that he expects a thanks for stopping her from keeping her from screwing up. But… It would be nice. Finally he sighs and moves the cushion back to the couch.

“… You know how to play cribbage? And if not are you willing to learn?” He does a quick run, returning with a board and a deck of cards in an instant.

[JNAProductions]

In The Air BnB
"No," Ash says. She seems a little on edge.
In The Air
Su Yin manages to find what's probably the air above the initial encounter point. There's some kind of web-like structure, clear as day while everything else is blurry. It's in an array of sickly greens and blues, with the connection points between strands glowing brightly. Much lower than it, probably too low to risk, there's two more points of magic-one a calmer green, the other a fuzzy gray.

[Obscurejones]

Blur shrugs and sits down, placing the hoard in front of him on the floor, starts shuffling the cards. Tilts his head in thought for a moment. Reaches up to peel off his domino mask. Offers up a gloved hand to shake.
“I’m Alex. Or the Black Blur. And if you can count to thirty one and fifteen you can learn cribbage.”
He shrugs again.
“Meet me in the middle a little, kid. We’re all doing our best.”

[JNAProductions]

"Don't call me kid!" Ash says. "I'm just... I've seen things like that before... People stripped down, and, and... tubes and wires and needles and..."

[Obscurejones]

"... You are way too young for all the advice I would have on that, Ash. I can dial my advice in to about teenage and older, but I got nothing for preteen. At your age? I got cards and a general wariness borne of an uncertainty about whether you know not to eat glass."
He deals out a hand of cards on either side of the board.
"I'll work on not calling you kid, though. And I'll tell you as plainly as I can, that we're trying to help. Help you, and help each other. So I need you to trust that when we tell you we're doing something for a reason, we mean it."
He frowns as a thought occurs to him.
"That only goes for things between the team though. Anyone tries to to justify something they're doing to you? Question it. Make sure you're getting a story you can verify. People lie to ki- To young people all the time. And it never works out. Just teaches them to not trust... Sorry. I ramble. Side effect. So! Revision to previous idea. I need you to try to ask questions without possibly stopping us from helping you.
So if you see something you don't like the look of, like you saw this morning, question it. But don't dive in until you're sure you know what you're looking at. That feel fair to you?

... Face cards are all worth ten, for what it's worth."

[truemane]

I wouldn't be able to care about their stares. I'd be too busy focusing on you. That's why it's your choice.
Whisper smiled and reached out and put her hand on Ivy's shoulder. "Whether or not you feel the burden, I would still like to share it with you. I'll be Whisper."

And then she looked around a little and did a couple of happy steps, as though anxious to get moving.

"Where should we go? There's not even a moon yet."

[NontheistCleric]

Occasion returns to the rooftop at high speed, making a jarring stop several inches above the concrete. She reaches for Forge to steady herself before touching down.


"So what's it look like?" he asks when Occasion returns.

"Damp," she mutters. "Let's get inside."

Back in the stairwell, she takes off her mask and jacket and shakes ice crystals off them. They're still wet, but will dry–the jacket quicker than the mask.

Su Yin keeps a steady hold on Forge's hand as they go down to the apartment. Falling isn't really a problem, but it would be hard to explain to any neighbours why he is towing a floating girl.

Once they're safely behind closed doors, she hangs her mask and jacket on chairs in the kitchen to dry, then floats her way cross-legged into the living room, not wanting to soak Avi's parents' fabric furniture with her trousers.

"Nothing blown up?" she asks Ash and Blur. "Anyway, listen, this is what I saw up there. The place we were at last night has a web over it. It's blue and green and glows brightly. Probably the same thing Ivy sent us. AEGIS HQ is all sorts of colors, like Ash and Forge. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, since AEGIS gets up to all manner of things in there, but all the same..."

She trails off for a moment, then continues.

"I also saw a smaller green thing and a gray thing, which might be Ivy and Whisper. Can someone with functioning eyes message them and confirm their location? Actually, while we're on that, maybe this would be a good time to see if you can turn the magic-seeing off, Forge."

She rises a little, rotating slightly as she ponders what she saw.

"This is what I'm thinking. If the green and gray things really are Ivy and Whisper, then all of us–by which I mean the team and Ash–have some kind of magic aura. Now, I was thinking for a second back there that maybe all parahuman stuff counts as magic, but now I'm not so sure. There are something like a dozen parahuman groups out there. Not to say they would all have been within city limits right this moment, but if I'm just seeing any kind of powers, there should have been at least a few others."

She stops moving, facing the center of the room.

"So–and this is just a possibility; tell me if any of this is impossible, Forge–I think there might be something about that place with the web that marked us somehow. Something that makes us show up in the magic sight like this. I don't know. What do we all think about that?"

[Lentrax]

Okay, Ivy says. Getting up, she takes Whisper by the hand.

We don’t need a moon to take a stroll. And there’s a diner not too far from here.

[truemane]

Okay, Ivy says. Getting up, she takes Whisper by the hand.

We don’t need a moon to take a stroll. And there’s a diner not too far from here.
Whisper's heart jumped another beat or two. She took a couple of deep breaths to calm down. Her powers had a habit of getting out of hand when she was too worked up.

She let her hand close on Ivy's. It felt strange. Just, you know, holding a team-mate's hand like they were anyone.

But good strange.

She looked up at Ivy, a little shy now that they'd crossed that line.

"Okay. I'm all yours. Lead on."

[Obscurejones]

"Nothing blown up?" she asks Ash and Blur. "Anyway, listen, this is what I saw up there. The place we were at last night has a web over it. It's blue and green and glows brightly. Probably the same thing Ivy sent us. AEGIS HQ is all sorts of colors, like Ash and Forge. That doesn't necessarily mean anything, since AEGIS gets up to all manner of things in there, but all the same..."

She trails off for a moment, then continues.

"I also saw a smaller green thing and a gray thing, which might be Ivy and Whisper. Can someone with functioning eyes message them and confirm their location? Actually, while we're on that, maybe this would be a good time to see if you can turn the magic-seeing off, Forge."

She rises a little, rotating slightly as she ponders what she saw.

"This is what I'm thinking. If the green and gray things really are Ivy and Whisper, then all of us–by which I mean the team and Ash–have some kind of magic aura. Now, I was thinking for a second back there that maybe all parahuman stuff counts as magic, but now I'm not so sure. There are something like a dozen parahuman groups out there. Not to say they would all have been within city limits right this moment, but if I'm just seeing any kind of powers, there should have been at least a few others."

She stops moving, facing the center of the room.

"So–and this is just a possibility; tell me if any of this is impossible, Forge–I think there might be something about that place with the web that marked us somehow. Something that makes us show up in the magic sight like this. I don't know. What do we all think about that?"

"... I think if you're seeing that we're marked that sounds like a tracking device. Magical, but basically like we might be lo-jacked." Alex blurs over to grab his coat, and puts the domino mask back on.
"Which means there's a chance they know where we are."

[MCerberus]

Forge

"I think the two of you have the best of it," Forge responds. There's nothing that he can know for sure but the fact that everyone is marked and detectable may be a coincidence, but then Occasion didn't say anything about any other metas showing. "And the fact that you were seeing AEGIS as well..."

[JNAProductions]

While the conversation goes on, the copper piping on Su Yin's back starts to slough off. Her vision quickly returns to normal as she sheds the metallic runes.
The pipes are worn through, like someone ran a powerful current through them for days-that ritual should not be repeated with someone less durable than Occasion.

There's a little click from the door out front, as it unlocks.

[NontheistCleric]

Su Yin curses internally as she hears the lock click. Costume in the kitchen, too far to reach quickly. Well, she'd only look like a damp robber wearing it anyway. At least Blur can be passed off as a cosplayer in the event it's not an enemy coming in.

Maybe it's Avi? Avi's parents? That would be mercifully benign.

Just in case, she flies over to the door, slides the door chain into place, and lands, putting a neutral expression on her face.

[Lentrax]

Let’s go then.

Ivy starts walking, and as she walks, her mind goes back to why they were out here to begin with.

Ivy isn’t the smartest girl, but even she is able to put some things together.

Do you think this other doctor has anything to do with Ash?

[JNAProductions]

The door opens an inch or two, blocked by the chain. "God dammit," a male voice comes from outside. There's a moment or two of quiet, and then the phone of the man outside starts to ring. "Yeah, hi," he says when the other side picks up. "The place I rented-it's got the chain locking it. Yes, I unlocked the door. No, I can't get in."

[NontheistCleric]

"Call Miss N," Su Yin hisses at Blur and Forge, trying not to say anything that might give any identities away. 'Miss N' should be totally ambiguous, right?

Of course, the danger then is that they won't understand what she means. Oh well.

"It's rented already," she calls to the person outside, standing ready to close the door if the need arises.

Location: Right in front of or behind the door, depending on perspective.