[Section M series premiere!] It was a day like any other at Olympus. Except today was Thursday and everyone had history class. Professor Rivers, who most of you know as a demi (He has a collar after all) is giving one of his usual lectures. Apparently, as he claims, the stuff before now is referred to as History. He rambles on about the state of the world after the Raymond White Incident where several million people died when a child’s powers suddenly manifested and wiped Washington DC off the map. Today's lecture revolves around the TechnoUnited group and how they claimed their independence. [Thursday, January 12, 2063] [Inside the lecture hall at Olympus Island] [Session start] * Crow is leaning back in his chair, legs propped up on the desk with his ankles crossed in red slacks over white shoes. His black wings are draped over his shoulders, mostly concealing his white belt and pink shirt. The little toy quiver fastened to a white sash with red hearts printed down it is leaning against his desk, on the floor, next to the toy bow that came with the suction-cup tipped arrows in said quiver. * Crow smiles absently as he gazes off into space, head tilted in a manner that is either distracted or listening intently. His collar clashes with the rest of his outfit, its metallic, mechanical nature more matching the darkness of his wings and hair than the garish colors of his clothing. * Scratch sits attentively listening in his seat. His books and notes are arranged neatly in front of him perpendicular to his position. Should the lead in his pencil break, alternate utensils are prepped to take their place. * Jess is busy scribbling notes. Today she's dressed in a simple skirt and tank top that some how shows off more then it should and covers more up at the same time. Jess's red hair bounces excitedly as she went from point to point in her notes, it followed her energetic hand writing and her haste to get everything down. * Cara is dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt promoting a basketball team that she doesn't even follow. She's currently twirling a longer strand of her brown hair around a finger as her eyes slowly glaze over from the lecture. Now not wanting to have to follow another countries laws, they instead claimed the land their companies held as their own. For a military the Shadow Corp was funded and formed as an independent defense force. With a military and a banding of some of the richest men on the planet, they were not some small uprising to be taken lightly. With the state of the world, and America left as it was, there was no one to stop them from forming their own nation. * Fallone is sitting in a desk near the back of the room, but not at the very back. Wearing black pants and a dark brown shirt, occasionally pushing up her glasses on her nose. She's taking sporadic notes with a black bic rollerball pen, paying some attention to the lecture, but not terribly interested. She has a simple black backpack and slim notebook. As they didn't seek to expand their territory and agreed to only control the land which, an agreement was made with the newly forming UoN-- * Fallone examines the others in the room slightly... she jots some notes in the margins of her book about how they're sitting and where. There's a knocking at the door. A girl from the school office comes in and hands the Professor a note. * Crow smiles warmly at the girl. * Fallone watches the Prof when he reads the note, if he does. * ProfessorRivers scans it briefly and a mumbled "Already...?" is heard by those who are paying attention. * Jess of course, writes already into her notes. The girl leaves as soon as the note is passed, she doesn't really make eye contact with anyone in the room as she hurries out. * Scratch takes the opportunity to rest his writing hand and gives it a good stretch before retrieving his pencil. * Crow tilts his head, and goes back to staring off into space with his absent grin. He pulls a feather out of his hair, and twirls it, blowing on it lightly. * Cara seems to be in her own happy, little world far away from class right now. * Fallone taps her pen a little on her notebook and stares at the professor a bit more directly * ProfessorRivers looks up at the clock, there's about 5 more minutes left in class. He sighs and turns back to the class. "After class I need to see Cara, Crow, Fallone, Jess and Scratch please." One of the kids in the back calls out "Oooh, somebody's in trouble..." Quiet Kyle. * Fallone hunches down a bit in her desk. * Cara startles out of her daze at the mention of her name. * Jess just smiled at Kyle a bit, batting her eyes and looking as innocent as she could. * Scratch raises and eyebrow briefly but says nothing as he quickly scans for the other's reactions to the announcement and returns his attention back to the front of the class. Kyle winks back at Jess. * Crow tips back farther in his chair, until he's holding himself up with his feet on the desk, and bends his head backwards until he's looking upside down in Kyle's direction. He winks, and blows the feather in Kyle's general direction before shifting his weight forward again. * Fallone gives Kyle a glare when he's not looking and goes back to staring at her notebook * Jess glances at the Prof and then at Crow. She shuffles her notebooks and then starts drawing crow like that waiting for the lecture to continue. Well... Okay. So we have so many world events that have been shaped by those with powers such as ours. And because of these abilities, people fear us. I would say they have every right to. It is our responsibility to show them we can be trusted. * Crow nods, agreeing. * Jess quickly changes the notebooks back again and starts scribbling notes quickly again, her hair bouncing along to her writing. * Scratch stops copying notes to look down at his desk thoughtfully and relieve an itch that'd crept up on his arm for a moment. Just because we have these abilities doesn't make us any better or worse than people. It just means we need to be more responsible on how we use our strengths. No, it isn't fair that we were born this way. * Fallone furrows her eyebrows just a little at the first line, but then nods at the second. * Cara rolls her eyes. * ProfessorRivers sighs again as the bell rings. "I'll see you guys next week." The Professor waits as the rest of the class files out, leaving the rest of you behind. * Fallone closes her notebook and stick her pen in her shirt pocket. * Cara jumps up out of her seat and then remembers that she has to stay afterwards. She quickly settles back into her chair. * Jess slowly packs up her stuff, leaving the sketch book and a pencil out. She stands up to move for the Professor's desk doing a little hair toss as she goes. * Crow lazily lets the front legs of his chair touch down, and shifts his feet off his desk and to the floor in as a unit, uncrossing his ankles only once his feet are down. He gathers his quiver and bow as he stands, and knocks an arrow, letting it fly at Kyle. "Good luck with Jess. She's a catch, I hear," he says, winking. * Scratch sighs quietly and gives his arms a good stretch before packing his books neatly into his bag. Then he waits in his seat for further instructions. * Fallone has a more surreptitious look at the others, but stays where she is. Kyle catches the arrow before it hits him and throws it in the trash. "Maybe next time, Crow." * Jess bounds up to the Profs desk and stands there smiling prettily. Looks like it's finally time for you all to put what you've learned to good use. In 20 minutes you're to report to the central tower where you'll be given a special assignment. Meet them at Gate 21. * Crow smiles and laughs a bit, the expression making him seem more the cherub and less the dark angel. Gate 21 as you know, is on the top level, and where the command center for the facility is located. None of you have ever seen the other side of it. * Fallone flips her notebook into her backpack and stands up. Guess we should get going then... * Scratch rises from his desk, not at all surprised. "Understood." * Crow finds a bit of room where he won't hit anyone and unfurls his wings to swing his quiver and bow over his shoulder, before folding them back over his shoulders to again get them out of the way. He's already sauntering out the door, picking up his trash-canned arrow and returning it to its place with its brothers on the way out. Will we need to bring anything Sir? * Fallone eyes the professor again, trying to catch a hint about whether this is good or bad. * Cara stands, stretches out, and then grabs her bag. "And here I thought this was going to be just another day." A girl many of you know as Tiffany, one of Jess's squad of friends, peeks her head in. "Jess? What are you doing? We gotta get a game in before next class..." * Fallone shoulders her backpack. It doesn't say to bring anything. I assume they just want to explain to you what is going on. They said this wasn't going to happen till at least the end of the semester... Oh dear gawd! I'm sorry Tiff! I gotta do a project. I'll make it up to you. I promise. I'll get you some of that perfume and... * Jess is soon lost in Girl Talk. * Fallone looks from the professor back to the girl, shoots the latter a Look and slightly grimaces at Jess Anyway, you guys should get going it's a long walk, even with the maglifts. * Crow steps in behind the girl, and drapes a wing over her shoulder, camaraderie-like. "Sorry, Tiff. We get to play with Jess today. See you tomorrow, though, maybe." He dances away from her, breaking contact, before she can really react. *looks around* Is something going on? Jess has prior obligations. * Fallone brushes past the girl and follows Crow. * Cara shoulders her bag as she begins to pull Jess away. "Come on. We don't want to keep them waiting." Unexpected meeting and all. I promise a girls night. We can give Fallone a make over! The girl blushes at the attention from the handsome bird man. She reaches up a finger and tickles the end of the nose causing him to sneeze. "Now now, not in front of everyone..." She giggles. * Scratch makes way to the front of the room, stopping in front of the Professor to formally state, 'thank you for today’s lecture' before heading to the exit only to wait for Crow, Jess and the girl to open the way. * Crow almost skips backwards down the hall, and smiles at Fallone before spinning around while still moving, and resuming his saunter towards the appropriate maglifts. * ProfessorRivers ushers everyone out of the room and closes the doors behind them. * Fallone mutters something inaudible under her breath, but smiles back at Crow. * Tiffany walks up to Jess and giggles. "He talked to me!" * Jess gives Tiff a hug. "I really have to go. And I know! I'm so happy for you!" With that Jess takes off running down the hallway full sprint to catch up. Okay! Um... Mail me! Have fun! * Cara continues to walk down the hall, taking her sweet time and glancing into windows as they pass. * Scratch watches the group part ways and follows Crow silently towards said maglifts, falling in line with the others. * Jess passes Cara first and then grabs her hand. "We should hurry." She tugs gently at Cara's arm. * Fallone doesn't look around very much until they get to sections she's not seen very often. Then she starts paying pretty close attention to things... looks like she's trying to mentally deconstruct the hallway The school being on the outer ring of the complex is a fair walk away from the central tower. Luckily, with the maglift system the distance can be crossed in a matter of minutes. It's a short walk down a couple halls till the group reaches the maglift system. * Crow taps the button on the lift, and steps on when it opens up. * Cara picks up her walking speed. "Wonder what the Prof was talking about back there." After a few moments the lift dings and the doors slide open without a sound. * Crow mimics Prof. Rivers' voice comedically, and only just well enough to recognize the parody. "History!" * Fallone flickers a smile on and off, and sort of does an "after you" gesture for Crow. Inside there's a keypad where you input the sector and the level of your destination. After you input that, you're required to slide your ID card to verify that you have the proper clearance. * Jess smiles as she pulls Cara into the lift. "It's SO nice to know you were paying attention crow, can I borrow your notes?" Of course, Jess. They're already in your backpack. * Scratch steps inside and crisply turns about-face before answering, "Today's lecture had mainly to do with the beginning of corporate extra-territoriality and ended with his own morals on Demi existence." * Fallone taps in the destination and slides her ID cards [I assume we've got those] * Jess gets this cute pout and gives scratch a BIG hug. "You shouldn't be such a grouchy puss..." Grouchy? *eyes Scratch* He doesn't seem grouchy to me. What did you think of Rivers’ take on the role of demis, anyway? Maybe we're going to get a mission up there. That could be fun. * Scratch gurks, surprised, "I'm sorry?" He wags out his right arm a bit to loosen it up. Could be fun... could be dangerous... * Fallone shrugs. Oooh and stop worrying. Everything will be fine! Of course everyone has their ID card! You wouldn't get anywhere without it. The doors slide closed. The lift is large enough to easily accommodate a group twice this size. It whizzes along on its tracks, you can barely even feel it moving. The display above counts the levels and the sections you pass as you zigzag through the complex towards Gate 21. Well, we'll find out what's up soon enough * Cara stares at the numbers, silently counting along with the display. Speculating now'll just lead to assumptions. * Scratch nods at Fallone. "I agree. It is doubtful that today will mark the end of our training. Though I am also anxious as to why we have been called." * Fallone raises one eyebrow and smiles slightly, "See? He's not grumpy at all." Oh I don't know I think they just like seeing us. Some of us more then others. Most likely so we can finally prove that we're worth the effort they've put into us. It's time for us to put our abilities to the service of mankind. *smiles at the prospect* * Jess gives Crow a slight smile with those words. * Fallone "mmms" noncommittally. * Crow looks a bit embarrassed, but smiles over it. * Fallone has somehow slipped to the very back of the maglift. * Jess smiles at Fallone and pulls her back into the group. "SO tell me everything Prof Rivers didn't." Oh come on. We just got out of history class. * Crow leans his back against the wall, crossing his arms under his folded wings. That looks uncomfortable, the way he's pressing his wing-bones into the paneling. Nnf... It's not the most... interesting subject matter, that's for sure. No one else seems to be getting on this particular lift, which is odd considering the number of people living in the facility and the length of the ride. Maybe today is just your lucky day. ... was the professor withholding information that could present itself on the exam? Oh? Really, what would you find interesting in that class? It's all about what happened... but not how. * Fallone shrugs again oh, so how did it happen? * Fallone smiles just a little bit. That's what would be interesting. * Scratch turns his attention away as it appears that Jess is being social and that Professor Rivers was in fact not withholding information pertinent to the exam. Interesting to find out, at least. Maybe Scratch would know? I'm sure if it was on the exam, he would. Dragons do live a long time. Maybe he remembers? At least we're doing something about the mistakes of the past, now. * Scratch 's head comes up at the mention of his name. "Yes?" Do you know why history happens, Scratch? * Fallone is pokerfaced... may actually be seriously asking. * Cara decides to go lean against a wall of the maglift. * Jess 's voice gets a strange undertone to it. "I'm sure there were no mistakes." The door finally dings as you reach Gate 21. There's not very much on the top level here. Mainly a long walkway stretching out from the doors leading into the inner area of the central tower. On either side of the walkway, varies plants and benches are scattered about. Oooh! Come on! * Scratch takes a breath to begin what would have been a long and dry explanation but is cut off by the opening of the doors. * Jess skips out of the lift heading down the walk way. * Crow steps lightly off the elevator, and waves his friends to follow as he walks backwards for a stretch before turning mid-stride to saunter ahead again. Well, except for Jess, who's faster than him. * Fallone makes the same "after you" gesture as she had to Crow before, intending to be the last one out of the lift. * Cara walks out of the lift quickly, grateful to dodge an extracurricular history lesson. * Fallone 's after you gesture unfortunately looks more like she's flicking her hands to shoo people away from her... * Guard stands with his partner on either side of the large doors with "21" written on them in big numbers. * Scratch exits at a brisk pace though unmotivated to compete with the faster movers in the group. * Guard scans the group. "Are you them?" Hi Sirs! We-were-told-to-come-here-for-some-super-duper-project-thingie- and-all-so-where-do-we-like-totally-go? * Fallone has a good long look around the hallway and actually winds up straggling a little bit. Hey, James, didn't know you pulled duty up here. *waves at the guard* We're them. *grins, flashing his ID* Okay yeah, you're them. Um, I'm supposed to activate your collars... * Scratch registers the guard's inquiry and takes a second survey of the area to induce that by the lack of the presence of anyone else, yes, we are them. * Guard fishes around in a pocket. "Gimme a sec..." * Fallone murmurs under her breath about "building trust" but not loud enough for the guards to hear. Uhh... *can't seem to find it* Gary, do you have yours? The other man who hasn't said anything or even moved since you arrived, produces a small controller from his pocket. He hits a button and the collars beep on. Oh no problem Mr. guard sir! *She holds out her deck of cards looking so cute.* * Cara absent-minded touches her collar. "I do dislike these things so." Okay you guys can go in. Go down the hall and there's a lift in the middle section. Scan your IDs and it knows where to go... And uh, try not to touch anything important. * Scratch sighs inwardly, apparently relieved when his collar activates. What's important? I suspect we'll find out when we get there. * Fallone smiles. Uh... Anything you can break. Don't. Break it, I mean. Understood. * Crow shrugs. "Will do. Oh, don't forget to buy flowers for Lisa tomorrow, James." He waves as he saunters on, as if nothing unusual at all had happened. * Fallone resists the urge to ask more pointed questions and follows. The second guard Gary hits a button behind him, and the doors slide open. He goes back to standing and looking straight ahead at nothing in particular. I'm sure Crow will know what all is important! I'm sure he'll know just the way to test it out, as well Oh damn, it's her birthday again isn't it? Thanks Crow. No prob. *grins over his shoulder, giving a thumbs up* * Scratch begins his way down the hall pausing to make sure the group is with him. * Cara presses on. Looks like a long journey still. Inside are glass walled rooms you can all look into and inside those are rows upon rows of computer servers. A handful of technicians are moving around checking various monitors and doing techniciany things. * Jess follows the people smiling at every one and thing. * Crow is likely getting ahead, since he -isn't- stopping to wait for anyone. He is looking around a bit with honest curiosity at this new (to him) part of the facility. * Fallone is distracted by the computer servers... doesn't really like computers, but is pretty interested in the facility. The hall from the door leads into another circular hallway, the construction seems to be based around the central pillar where the lift is located. * Scratch notes the layout and orientation of the servers and adjacent workstations, marking the efficient use of floor space. * Jess grabs Fallone's hand and shouts out. "To the middle one!" She then bounds off to find it. * Fallone is running her hand over the glass and all, looking for seams, checking how things are built. You can hear the hum of all the systems running together. The technicians stare but try to make it look like they're not doing so. They move about their work gossiping amongst themselves. AGHH! * Crow waves at the technicians in passing, as if they were all old friends. * Fallone keeps trying to slow down and look at the boxes. * Cara tries not to stare back at them. She's got places to be, after all. wait...! * Scratch follows Jess to the lift at his own pace. He isn't hesitant to meet the eyes of anyone looking his way but he does not stop. * Crow gets to the lift sometime in the middle of the pack, not having run like Jess nor even quick-marched like Scratch. * Fallone probably slowed Jess down enough that she arrives along with Crow. This lift is much cleaner than the public one. It obviously gets much less traffic. This one lacks a keypad, though it has the scanner for the ID cards. * Crow casually swipes his card. * Jess smiles at every one and swipes her card right after crow. * Fallone grabs one last look at the rows of computers before the doors shut. * Scratch removes his ID card from his pressed button-down shirt pocket in the ready should the lift require more than one scan. * Cara pulls her card out and swipes it once more. "I wonder how far in exactly we're going. "Welcome John." A woman’s voice responds. ... John? *Eyes at Cara* Maybe it's French? Are you surnamed 'd Arc, Cara? * Cara looks at her card. "Nope. I have no idea who this John guy is." * Crow grins, clearly joking good-naturedly. ... Jeanne? *Eyes at Crow, equally puzzled* * Fallone swipes her card and retires to the back of the lift I had a friend who named her pet John. *Seeing as nothings happening, Scratch also slides his own card through the reader* * Cara continues to search her card while boarding the lift, obviously boggled by the incorrect name. The lift immediately begins to move, going up towards the top of the tower. Up to Dr. Shepard's suite? No, not quite. It stops and open up into a room filled with people at work stations. There are several larger monitors along the walls displaying various maps of places as well as cameras feeds showing something. ooooooooooooooooooooh. Where to now? Think we'll meet Dr. Shepard? *sounds a bit excited* * Fallone steps off the lift and looks at one of the work stations... preferably one with someone working A smallish woman in a military suit with rank and insignia and all that fun stuff greets the group. * Jess drops into a military salute. "Ma'am!" Good morning, I'm Major Rose. * Crow waves. It might pass for a salute, if the observer wanted to say it did. "A pleasure, Major. I'm Crow, and...oh, you probably already know us." He smiles self-deprecatingly. * Scratch snaps to attention and salute. "Good Morning, Ma'am." You guys are here to meet with the Colonel. She should be arriving shortly. I'll show you to her office. * Fallone starts paying a bit more attention, presuming a major knows what's up... no salute though... * MajorRose smiles politely behind her small framed glasses. In her hands she has a clipboard she cradles to her chest as she leads you through various desks and stations. Thanks. *follows* Oh you guys don't have to salute me... *she blushes a little* * Cara weaves through the place expertly as she's lead through. "Must be important, right?" The camera feeds, upon closer inspection look like either hand-held or helmet cameras. You can tell a couple of them are looking at each other. Or at least exciting. Up here, it's almost like you're on top of the world... Sooooo can you tell us anything? Please? Maybe they've just brought us here to be the world's most power paper and accounting team... Indeed it is. And no, the Colonel is supposed to do that. I'm not very good at speeches and stuff anyway... * Fallone peers dubiously at the most powerful workstations. * MajorRose giggles at Fallone’s joke. I'm sure you'd do fine, Major, but we can wait on the Colonel's pleasure. * Jess pouts and digs out a compact from her backpack and starts doing makeup. * Fallone is somewhat poleaxed at hearing a major giggle. * MajorRose reaches an office along the edge of the area with a large window overlooking the main floor. Unfortunately the blinds are closed and you can't look in. Here we go. And uh try not to repeat anything you see here please. * Fallone slips to the back of the group again and has another look around the office. Understood. * MajorRose opens the door, gesturing for the group to enter. "I'm sure she'll be here shortly. She had some last minute business to take care of." * Fallone eyes Jess at Rose's remark about not repeating anything. * Cara steps into the office, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. * Crow smiles and nods before heading on in and finding a place to sit. * Jess enters not missing a beat wither her makeup. Inside the office is a large wooden desk, a plant that's probably fake, two chairs in front of the desk that look leather and rather comfortable, a large brown leather couch and a pair of folding chairs set up behind the other chairs. Behind the desk is the chair to end all chairs. Just looking at it makes you feel more comfortable. It's high backed and black leather. Please have a seat. * MajorRose closes the door after everyone enters. * Fallone walks around the room, looking at the plant, and looking at what's on the desk, not sitting. * Cara grabs a seat on the couch. * Crow eyes the high backed chair, but takes one of the leather ones in front of the desk. He slouches in it, resting his white shoes on the desk and propping his bow and quiver next to the chair, as in the classroom before. * Crow moved the chair just a bit closer after realizing his feet wouldn't quite reach. Now they do. * Jess finally puts that compact away and that sketch pad comes out and she starts working on finishing the crow sketch. * Scratch walks up to take a place standing at ease behind the two chairs that are opposite the desk, waiting. * Cara gets comfortable and straightens out her hair that she twirled into messiness in class. * Fallone looks at Scratch, then back at the desk, then leans against the desk, facing everyone else, but looking at the room. On the desk is a computer, currently off, a penholder full of various writing implements, a plaque with "Colonel Hall" etched into it's bronze face and other various desky things. As far as you can tell, there aren't any personal pictures on display anywhere in the room. All you see on one wall is a calendar. In the back the blinds are closed over another window. * Scratch notices Fallone's position at the desk and wonders if her presence would leave any noticeable mark on the desk's surface. * Jess is buried deeply in her drawing ignoring everything going on around her right now. * Scratch takes a breath in to say something, '..-' but decides against it. * Fallone taps her fingers against her collar, momentarily debating with herself over looking behind the desk... * Fallone stands up when she hears the door opening. * Jess closes the sketch book and looks up at the Major as she comes in. * Crow jumps, as if quite uncharacteristically startled. He's relaxing calmly again a moment later, but there was a definite flaking of his zen-like state for a moment there. * Scratch takes the commotion behind him as a cue to turn at attention, ready to salute. * ColonelHall swings open the door and strides into the room. She's in her 30s with long brown hair that falls neatly down to her middle back. The expression on her face is one that almost looks like a smile or a smirk but you're not quite sure exactly. Her uniform is clean and pressed and each of her steps are measured and exact as she reaches her chair and takes a seat. Please remove your feet from my desk. * Fallone slips back to the couch and takes a seat, pulling out her notebook. * Cara casually glances over at the notebook. * ColonelHall looks directly at Crow. * Scratch salutes the Colonel until she reaches her seat and remains at attention. * Fallone hasn't opened it yet... the cover is black, of course. She takes her pen out, but leaves the cap on. * Crow alters his smile to mirror hers for a moment before complying with a wider grin, and sitting up a bit so he's paying attention. "Pleased to meet you, Colonel Hall," he says as he crosses one ankle over the other knee, a touch of humor in his voice. * Cara sits up on the couch. She isn't at home, after all. * ColonelHall doesn't respond to the greeting yet, and instead presses a button on her desk. "Sarah? Could you bring my tea in now, please?" So, we're going to learn what this is all about then? "Yes ma'am" you hear Major Rose's voice pipe up from a speaker in the desk. * Jess just waits patiently and smiles at the Colonel. * ColonelHall pauses to consider for a moment. "Would any of you like anything to drink?" I'd love a warm cider, thank you. * Scratch answers quickly, keeping his gaze militaristically fixated in no spot in particular. "No, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." * Fallone raises her hand, "tea would be nice, too." * Cara makes a dismissing motion with her hand. "I'm fine." Do you have water Ma'am? Of course we do. *hits the button again* Can we also get a warm cider, a water and an extra tea cup, please? Thank you. * Fallone raises one of her eyebrows. "Uhh... Okay. I think we have cider... somewhere..." * ColonelHall opens a drawer on her desk, and pulls out a folder, setting it on the desk. She turns to the group and opens her mouth to talk, then looks over at Scratch. "Why aren't you sitting?" That's as relaxed as he gets, ma'am. * Crow chuckles, but doesn't say anything. Ma'am, I was not given permission to sit, ma'am. * Jess smiles and mouths "Grumpy puss". Tsk, tsk. The lovely Major Rose told us to have a seat when she ushered us in, my dear Scratch. * ColonelHall hits the intercom button again. "You told them they could sit didn't you, Sarah?" * Crow said that with a faint British accent. "Umm... Of course, ma'am." * ColonelHall looks back at Scratch. "There you go. Have a seat, please." She gestures at one of the many fine open chairs. * Fallone bets to herself that Scratch takes one of the metal chairs. * Scratch flusters a bit before sitting straight-backed in the nearest butt-receptacle available. "Thank you, ma'am. Pardon my rudeness." * ColonelHall opens the folder and takes out the stack of papers inside, tapping them on the desk to straighten them. She sets them back down on the desk, spacing them evenly. * Cara mutters something about too much starch in his jeans, or something to that effect, softly enough that only Fallone is likely to hear her. * Crow suppresses another chuckle, not wanting to further embarrass Scratch beyond what his stiff behavior causes. Good morning. I am Colonel Hall. I am your new commanding officer. Good morning. As I said, it's a pleasure, ma'am. * Fallone flicks a little smile at Cara's remarks and taps her pen on her notebook. * Scratch coughs softly into his fist in a way that says, 'I'm being polite and not telling you to stuff it." * Jess gives a great BIG smile at that. I'm sure it is. Now all of you have been specially selected to participate in a certain extra-curricular program. * Scratch nods decidedly, obviously amused. "Yes, ma'am." It has sounded like a fun club to join! * Fallone flips open her notebook to a blank page. Is this going to take much of our time? I have homework to do and tests to study for, after all. * Crow leans back, and gets his feet halfway up to put on her desk again before stopping and putting them down, listening with that absent smile again. It is assumed that while you're in this program, you'll keep up with the rest of your school work and pass your required courses. As originally designed, this program was not supposed begin until after your graduation. However certain events have forced us to accelerate matters slightly. Understood. * Crow doesn't react, focusing on a feather pulled from his hair, once again watching it twist as he blows on it. * Fallone frowns. How time consuming it will be is as yet undetermined. Ummm...Ma'am does that mean I'll be missing some of my other things? I... I've never left them down before. * MajorRose opens the door, carrying in a tray with a tea kettle and a glass of water and a glass of a yellowish type liquid as well as two tea cups. They uh... didn't have cider in the fridge. But I got you some apple juice and zapped it in the microwave. I hope that's okay. Oh! Thank you very much, Major. It smells delightful. *startled a bit, dropping his feather, at the door opening again* * Fallone taps her pen against her collar and looks at Crow's collar I'm sure if you manage your time effectively enough, you'll be more than able to continue with whatever it is you do with your free time. Yes, ma'am. Of course ma'am! * MajorRose sets the tea cups out and pours the tea for the Colonel. "Who else wanted tea?" She scans the group. Nice you trust us to manage our time. * Fallone waves at Rose * MajorRose hands Fallone a teacup and saucer. "It's Earl Grey, all the Colonel will drink. I hope that's okay with you." It's fine, thank you. * Fallone takes the cup. And who wanted the water? And I guess the cider was Mr. Bird here... * Fallone puts her hand against the side of it, then sets it down next to her and apparently ignores the tea I'd like the water please. * ColonelHall quietly waits for the Major to finish before continuing. * Crow laughs appreciatively at the avian appellation. "Yes, the cider's mine," he says, still grinning. * MajorRose hands Crow the glass. It's still a bit warm. Here you go. And your water... *hands the glass over to Jess* * Crow smiles warmly at Major Rose as he accepts it. "Thank you," he says quietly before sipping and savoring it appreciatively. * Jess smiles and takes a sip as she takes it. Anything else? No Sarah, that'll be all. Thank you. Alright. * Scratch waits attentively, back straight and knees bent at right angles with his fists in his lap. * MajorRose leaves, closing the door behind her. No, she didn't smile brighter after the 'thank you'. Stop looking at her. Anyway, where were we... You were expressing your confidence in us, ma'am. * Fallone is pretty straight faced. Ah yes, I've reviewed all your files and you all appear to have powers that would be useful in various... tactical situations. Thank you Ma'am. As I'm sure you're aware, not every awakened person has the luxury of being born and transferred to a facility such as ours when they're born. * Crow studies the surface of his apple juice, sipping it occasionally, and watching the ripples die down as he holds it as steadily as he can in two hands. * Scratch 's expression becomes slightly harder as his excitement to hear the mention of the word 'tactical' threatens to break his posture. * Cara continues to watch the Colonel. It's beginning to get interesting. * Fallone scribbles a note. Without proper control and instruction, they very often hurt those they come in contact with. We receive reports everyday of situations that could've been prevented had people contacted the proper authorities. And this is such a nice place. It's a shame they aren't here. * Jess smiles, her voice completely sincere. When such a situation arises where rogue metahumans are cause trouble for people, we send a team out to pacify and return them to our facility. Sometimes there's resistance. For this, we train teams to handle such situations. You are to be one of those teams. It was felt by the higher ups that a team of awakened would be better prepared to deal with those of their kind. * Cara shivers slightly, as if cold. * Fallone makes a note to ask someone how awakened get missed by hospitals. Why wouldn't they want to come here? * Crow sips his warm juice, and sighs. "At least we can be useful. Maybe those we bring in can learn how to put their powers to good use, too. We -can- be just as useful to everyone as humans." He looks up with a fervor he rarely exhibits. "Thank you for this opportunity to prove it." * Scratch unconsciously grips his pants legs with his fists, he almost can't believe what he's hearing. "Yes, ma'am! We won't let you down, ma'am!" * Fallone just murmurs quietly to herself, "well, I suppose it will be interesting to see we'd develop in a different environment." I'm glad all of you are eager to start. * Cara remains quiet on the issue. She doesn't really have anything to add. We have set up a three week rush program that should get you set up properly with the equipment you'll be using and people you'll be working with. * Crow nods, mm-hming once as he leans back and resumes his casual study of his apple juice, occasionally sipping it. Ma'am, what does that mean? Why wouldn't people want to come here? You'll have a squad commander assigned to you. I was hoping you'd get a chance to meet him today, however a more pressing matter arose that he had to take care of. He should be back by this evening. * Fallone writes in the margins "Squad Commander: Busy starching Hall's spare uniform." Sometimes people just don't understand the situation they're in. What situation is that? They're like animals, without the control humans have. That we've learned. Probably a bit frightened of what happens around them. That having the... abilities that you all share is a danger to those around you. Without proper training and education, they can very easily hurt people. * Fallone writes a note in her book that lists the exact exchange. * Fallone draws a line from the comment about the squad commander to Hall's reply and jots a "?" next to it. * Cara glances at Fallone's notebook again. She seems to be going at it over there. Anyway, we are rather busy today due to the mission. If there are no further questions, we'll take you down to your technical briefing. * Scratch nods, easily able to relate to such a situation. * ColonelHall scans the assembled group. * Fallone smiles wanly. * Jess looks a tad bit lost, still not sure why people wouldn't want to come here. "Ooookay." * Scratch offers no inquires. * Crow downs the rest of his juice, and gets up and dons his bow and quiver again in reply. Alright then. * Fallone picks up her tea and checks how much cooler it's become, sets it on the floor again. * ColonelHall stands up. "Thank you for your time. You'll be excused from your classes for today. I'm sure you'll enjoy the little presentation the boys have put together down at the tech lab. * Jess finishes the water and nods to Colonel Hall. Hey, Jess... we get to watch a movie! *feigns excitement* * ColonelHall smiles politely. YAY! *Hugs Fallone tightly* Gggghh! *regrets* * ColonelHall hits the com button. "Sarah? Could you escort the group down to the tech lab, please?" * Cara rises from her seat and stretches once more. *over the com* Yes, ma'am. * Fallone extracts herself from Jess, puts away her notebook and stands up. * Scratch stands, "Ma'am. Thank you, ma'am," and waits for the correct time to leave after saluting. * MajorRose opens the door once more, and gestures back towards the maglift. "This way please..." * ColonelHall salutes back, as is polite. * Jess hugs scratch. "Awww relax. We get to do special projects!" * Crow smiles and follows the Major. "Bye, Colonel. See you later." * Fallone lets the others leave the room first, tries to look surreptitiously at the files sitting on Hall's desk. * Scratch gurks again in Jess's hug, unable to retain composure. "Uh- I'm sorry?" * Cara walks out the door, lest it be her turn next to get hugged by Jess. * ColonelHall sits again as the group leaves, turning to her computer and sipping her tea. * Fallone quietly exeunts and leaves her cold tea sitting by the couch at the back of the room. * MajorRose leads the group back to the elevator, hitting the call button. * Jess smiles and kisses Scratch's cheek before following every one else. So did you guys all like the Colonel? * MajorRose can't help but sound a little proud as she refers to her. She was nice. Thank you so much for the water. She is a lovely lady. With our military so full of them, it's a wonder we don't have every demi in the world begging to come here. *smiles at the Major* Certainly... I think Scratch seems much more relaxed now. * MajorRose smiles. I'm glad. *steps into the lift as it arrives* The tech lab is just 3 levels down. * Scratch doesn't make it known that he was actually very not relaxed and trying to not to blush. * Crow steps in as well, and leans his back against one wall again. * Fallone slips to the back of the lift. * Cara stands near the front of the elevator. She'll be off the elevator pretty quickly anyway. * Jess smiles coming in next to Major Rose. "Oh! I hope we will have fun down there." The doors slide closed as the group enters. What further adventures await the team in the Tech Lab? Tune in next week to find out! [Session end]