Jennifer8

[ QUOTE ]
"Cr@p," He shouted as he put his head in his hands. He gave up. There was no point trying to cover it up. His secret was out now. His hands were shaking.

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Crystal put a timid hand on his arm. "Jack... don't you get it? You have people who are on your side. Me and Paul and Dr. Sanstad, we all love you. You are family to us. Everyone here is on your side. And it tears us apart - it tears me apart - to see you doing this to yourself. You're in constant pain and you're having blackouts. Jack - it doesn't have to be this way. For God's sakes... you have a problem. Let us help you. Please."

[ QUOTE ]
"First off... Crystal, whatever happens, come hell or high water, I will help you somehow. If that means offering you a place to stay and a surrogate family so be it. I'll admit when my powers expressed themselves my family was apprehensive, and I mean my mother and father. However it was the support of my friends and my waife and child that got me through it. My grandfather dis-owned me however, but to be frank, I knew that was comming for a long time anyway."

Erik looked up and tried to smile.

"You'll need close friends to help. There is no denying that. But between Jack, Paul, and my little clan, we can help you get through the worst of it."

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal gave him a watery smile. "Thank you," she told him, and meant it.

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"Now the situation with the Dyne is a new variable. I saw the Lost and the Vahzliok fighting but I never really considered why until now. If it is a battle over territory, that is one thing, but that does not explain to my mind why the Vahzliok targeted me and my family to such a degree." Eik paused and grunted. "More to the point however, if this new drug is being used in some way to produce the superior troops for the Lost, and you were injected with it... Especially at this early stage of mutation. Crystal I'm not going to lie to you, it could be bad. However, you know my lab, and I will do everything possible to help you with this as well."

"I just wish I knew the chemical makeup of the drug. I know what the common version of dyne does to a person's genetic structure, as well as several variants of it. But I have never heard of something this powerful."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Actually - Master Wonderful's assistant gave us these - here - " From her back pocket, Crystal pulled a packet of folded, rather forlorn pieces of paper: the report which Emily had handed to each of them.

It was the sort of report he typically handled as a professor: the author, Emily Brown, clearly knew her stuff. It was all there: chemical comparisons of old vs. new 'Dyne, what they knew of its origins, police reports of the Anomolous. The chemical structure of the drug, something Crystal herself understood only dimly, was absolutely alarming. There was no question that there would be problems in the future for everyone who had been injected: it was just a matter of time.

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He gave a nervous laugh then spoke aloud. "Drugs? What are you talking about? I take Aspirin for the headaches, that’s it. I don't know what you are talking about."

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Crystal looked from Doc to Jack and then at her hands, which she clasped in her lap. "At Christmas I caught you stealing triptopolymorphine from the lab," she said to them, not looking at either Doc or Jack. "And you put it back and thought I didn't notice but I did. And remember the car thing over spring break - ?" But she caught herself. "No, you probably don't remember. You told me afterwards you didn't. Don't lie to yourself. I know. Everybody knows. I can always tell when you are hopped up and when you are sober." She paused. "And I haven't said anything because I... haven't known what to say." Her voice sounded hopelessly sad. "Because I figured that sooner or later I would lose you, that the drugs would take you away from me, but every time I tried to confront you I got scared that if I confronted you, you would leave me now, and I never had the guts to go through with it." She couldn't look him in the face. "I love you but I never had the brass balls to be truthful and tell you that I knew you had a problem and I... I'm sorry. You deserve better than that. Maybe if I had said something earlier we wouldn't be having this talk now... maybe if I never found the courage to tell you I didn't really love you as much as you deserved to be loved... I dunno." She didn't look at him.

[ QUOTE ]
He took his hand away from Crystal. "The Lost pum.....er...I mean.....injected us with that new drug. Its freaky stuff.......Gave my powers a real boost too but most of that burnt away with the drug."


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Crystal couldn't decide if she wanted to kill Jack, or simply keel over and die of embarrassment. She settled for putting one hand over her eyes. She didn't dare look at Dr. Sanstad, she knew perfectly well how he felt about drug use and had never touched them before but for some reason she felt... ashamed. She didn't know what she was ashamed of.

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There was a theory that the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours after the manifestation of mutant powers was the most vulnerable period in the entire life of the mutant, as it was presumed that their genetic structure was settling into place after a wild re-structuring. The introduction of a strange drug with potentially mutagenic properties of its own was just asking for trouble. Crystal was obviously not feeling well, but wasn't showing any overt effects.... yet. That didn't necessarily mean that hell wasn't coming for her, a few hours or days down the line. Still, for the moment, there was nothing to be done.

[ QUOTE ]
"Oh... Oh my... This... This isn't colored. Crystal tell me what happened. All of it."

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There was a long silence.

Crystal was surprised at how hard it was to relate what happened to Dr. Sanstad. "Well, the Vahzilok showed up at the lab... held everyone hostage for a few hours. Paul showed up after a while and saved everyone. After that, we decided to look for you, and ran into... well, a lot of Lost... they are making bigger ones with this new drug that is out on the streets..." she rubbed her arm absent-mindedly, where she had been injected with it. "Jack saved us from the Lost, and when we made it back, you had made it back too. Really, that about covers it. Well..." Her voice was low, "I am showing mutant tendencies. But really, nothing else."

She fell silent, feeling awkward, though she knew perfectly well that Dr. Sanstad would be supportive.

The problem was that Dr. Sanstad knew her parents, whereas Paul and Jack did not. And he was fully aware of how they felt about paranormals. If there hadn't been trouble already, there would be. And Crystal knew it... she had a hard time meeting his eyes. She had put her hands together in her lap to stop them from shaking: it was the first symptom of the onset of withdrawal.

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"Dear lord child... What did you do to your hair?" Erik grinned and smiled as Magni and Modi rolled about relaxed as everyone else approached.


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Crystal looked awkward as she followed to the truck. What had happened to her hair? It had changed colors when she found out she had mutant powers. Was that normal?

"You didn't..." she said awkwardly as she climbed into the truck and sat across from Sanstad, "Didn't you hear - about the Vahzilok - that attacked the lab?"

In the Green Room that the Eiledon had so recently vacated, Penny had passed out again. Her head lolled gently against her helmet, which itself lolled gently against its restraints.

The Vahzilok had made a mistake with her. They were proceeding on the assumption that she was a paranormal hero, wearing armor. The truth was that Penny was a normal human, and any abilities she possessed came from the armor. That armor had been locked away quite tightly, in restraints that had resisted her struggles.

The armor, however, was no longer worked precisely the way that her partner, Overhaul, had designed and built it. Girl Genius, herself, had not yet discovered the difference. But it was there, and it was important.

Buried in her enormous left glove was a unit beyond anything that Overhaul had ever dreamed of. It had been given to her by a robot named Omega Prime, to be used as a power source, when her own batteries had been running too low.

It was, however, far more than a simple power source.

Now, flooded with a sustained spike of radioactivity, the safetys on the unit tripped as it reached the maximum amount of energy absorption that Omega Prime had allowed to it.

Unit awakened.

It was aware of the events that had transpired up until the time that Omega had shut down many of its higher functions, to give to the less-powerful hero. Unit had understood that it would remain deactivated with the less-powerful hero until it was replaced, at which time it would return to Omega Prime.

Now it was in a situation which Omega Prime had not anticipated. It checked its protocols and found none addressing its current circumstances. It therefore reverted to its secondary protocols and activated scanners. Silent and for the moment passive, Unit began gathering information about its current surroundings, to be used to formulate a course of action.

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In the Vahzilok laboratory
+++

"We have to do something," said Amy. The thick glass transmitted sound well enough for them to hear (faintly) the screams from the tormented hero.

"He is doing this for us," snarled Enid, "To break our spirits. To scare us."

"Well, it's working," said Sarah, who looked scared but resolved.

"We have to get him to stop somehow, he will kill her!"

"Well... how?"

"Distraction, maybe?" Amy's face was resolved. She was reeling from all that the others had told her: but determined to get out of this alive.

"What could we do for a distraction?"

They were silent for a while, looking at the green hell on the other side of the window. They could distantly hear the hero scream.

"Fight?" suggested Enid.

"I don't think I am strong enough," Amy admitted. "I just.... tire so easily, I don't seem to be able to stand for long."

"Not surprising," Enid said soothingly.

"Enid and I could stage a fight, and you could scream," offered Sarah.

"That's not bad... not bad at all," said Enid.

"When they run in here, what do we do?"

"Whatever we can - we won't overpower them but maybe we can sort of... set things up for a later move... and it would give the hero a break, if nothing else."

Sarah nodded. "Think you can scream, Amy?"

Amy grinned. "Like a sexy teenager in a horror movie."

She turned to Enid. "You want to throw the first punch?" She grimaced. "I probably deserve it."

"Your boss deserves it," Enid said. "Just - make it look good, OK?"

"You got it - ready to scream, Amy?"

"Just make it look good," Amy said, and smiled.

+++

The Eiledon paused at the noise coming from the other room. Looking up he saw that two of the women there had gotten into a knock-down, drag-out fight.

This was an annoyance. He had left several abominations guarding the door; but the abominations wouldn't have any idea of what to do when confronted with such a situation. Furthermore, one of the women, Mrs. Sanstad, was to remain in good condition, at least for the present. She would have her own turn in the green room later, when her husband came, so that he could watch and understand that his absolute obediance was required.

He turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. He did not shut off the radioactive tools he had been using on the hero; it would not be fitting that their torment should cease under such circumstances.

+++

Sarah two handfuls of Enid's hair. "Here he comes," she whispered, "Make it look good now." One of her cheeks was swelling and there was a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"I'm going to flip you over," Enid whispered. A black eye was already blooming spectacularly on her face, and she flipped the journalist over. Amy was screaming obediantly.

The Eiledon came into the room. He didn't mess around: he simply picked up Enid Sanstad, then picked up Sarah. He didn't pay attention to their struggles but looked from one to the other.

You are not mission critical, he said to Sarah. You will be killed. He dropped Enid and picked Sarah up with both hands.

"No!" Said Enid, and the Eiledon paused, looking down at her. "Leave her alone, I'll - I'll behave."

The Eiledon considered this, then dropped her. If you fight again, you will be killed, he said simply, and strode out of the room.

There was silence in his wake.

"Well that worked," Enid said, grimacing.

Sarah smiled. "It certainly did." She opened up her hand. In the palm was a small silver key. "Look what he had in his pocket..."

Enid smiled wickedly.

[ QUOTE ]
Jacks greeting was suddenly cut off by the sight of what looked like two bears. They were growling at Master Wonderful but one of them turned to Jack. Jack stopped dead in his tracks and put his arms up.

Harris poked his head around the side of the van doors at the sound of the growling.

"Please tell me this is their way of saying a friendly hello." Jack said.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Though it was still a few hours from sunrise, it suddenly got darker around him. He was in the shadow of something...no somethings that were much taller than himself. Much taller than the average human. And if the growling he was hearing before he turned around was any indication, much less human...

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal came out of the truck. The first thing she did - apart from raising a hand in greeting to Erik - was call, in a high, sing-song voice, "Where's a beeeeaaaaarrrrrrrr?"

Both bears whirled and immediately went for her. Unlike most of the people in the van, Crystal was someone they knew. Crystal was one of Enid's babysitters, and had been since her high school days. She had often studied for tests in the Sanstad house after putting Cassie to bed.

The bears came galumphing across the yard like dogs anxious to see their owner. One of them jumped a little, putting its paws on her shoulders: Crystal, of course, had no chance of staying vertical. Once she was down, both bears moved in, anxious to lick her face and press their noses in her pockets, looking for treats.

"Hey! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Cut it out guys! Tee hee! Eek! No no! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I don't have any marshmellows! Ha ha ha ha! NO marshmellows.... Uh-oh, someone smells granola... ha ha ha ha... OK come on, lemme up - lemme up, go on - "

After a thorough licking both bears backed off. Crystal rummaged in her pocket and came up with a rather squashed, forlorn looking package of granola bars. "Thank God I hadn't opened it yet," she muttered to herself, then held up a finger to the bears. "Sit," she said, rather sternly.

Both bears obediantly sat.

"Good bear! Good bear!" She opened up the package of granola bars, something clearly exciting to the bears, though they didn't move. "OK, sit - sit - " She balanced a bar on Modi's nose, and the other on Magni's nose. "Sit - " She stood well back. "OK, SNATCH!" She called, and laughed as both bears jumped up at the same time, causing the bars to sail into the air, and then biting them with gigantic teeth, devouring them whole. Crystal laughed and clapped her hands. "Good bears! Good bears!"

Magni came to Crystal and butted against her with his head, then rolled over on his back. She fell to her knees at once. "Who needs their tummy rubbed? YOU need your tummy rubbed! Yes you do-"

For a moment she looked almost like her old self, laughing and greeting the bears as if they were old friends. It felt so good, and so normal: animals were accepting of human faults, and always generous with their love: that was something that Crystal needed at that moment. She loved on each of the bears, scratching their tummies and rubbing their ears as they nuzzled her. "OK, guys, heel," she said to the bears, and the both lined up as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and followed as she went to talk to Dr. Sanstad.

[ QUOTE ]
Jack was still going to be as professional as he could and try to get on with Paul to keep Crystal happy (which was not easy) but seeing Paul grinning like crazy and waving to him like Jack had said nothing a short while ago took him by surprise. But he just figured Paul’s motives were much like his own. Deal with the job at hand, keep Crystal happy and put aside any problems they had with each other.......for now.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal rubbed her temples. The animousity between Jack and Paul was making her stomach twist. Her head throbbed insistantly. Even her hands wanted to tremble, though putting on the body armor had helped to still them.

There was nothing to do about it though - she couldn't MAKE Jack and Paul like each other. She wondered what she would do if they became enemies, and she had to choose between one or the other.

The thought made her want to throw up.

Instead, she left both Jack and Paul and went up front to talk to the driver. The tension didn't seem to be as severe there.

[ QUOTE ]
Jack did not return the wave. "How many more people are we waiting for?" He asked instead.

[/ QUOTE ]

At that moment, the door closed. "Paul was the last one, let's moved." The truck lurched into life, flying down streets and around corners.

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"So what do we call you now?" Jack asked him in a mocking tone. "Captain Reporter? Super Journalist? O....I know....Anchorman."

[/ QUOTE ]

In spite of herself, Crystal smiled a bit when she heard that line. Jack could sometimes be extremely funny, and the quip was an instant classic. She suspected that, like it or not, Harris might indeed have a "superhero" name from now on.

The truck arrived less than a minute after Master Wonderful; they had made good time. As requested, it was a very large truck, and had room even for the bears.

[ QUOTE ]
"I have to... to go save the Vahzliok from Mommy."

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OOC: I just have to say that comment made my week. I am STILL laughing! Ha ha ha ha!

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*SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH* Experiment ran through the sewers, and then, jumped on the roof, spikes holding, to keep himself from being seen. ~These guys dont have as much soul as I am looking for... wait, didnt those humans have good power? They will do nicely.~ he said, as he dropped and massacered a whole group of Lost, absorbing their souls and growing stronger...


[/ QUOTE ]

The normal, garden-variety version of Lost didn't hold up particularly well against Experiment's spines. The fights became tougher as he continued underground, and began encountering Eramites. However, he also slaughtered several of these.

Then he turned a corner, and ran smack-dab into an Anomolous.

It was like running into a brick wall. A massive presence overwhelmed his mind. His body shut down. His will fled from the presence. He was picked up as easily as if he had been a rag-doll, and examined dispassionately.

~You wish to slaughter the humans,~ came the thought within his mind. ~Very well. You shall be permitted to continue your existance. You shall be our guard dog.~ The presence pressed down upon him, re-ordering his thoughts as the presence felt necessary. He was enslaved, mind and soul. The enslavement of body came shortly afterwards, when a collar (strangely electronic looking) was snapped around his neck, and strange silver bands were snapped around his wrists and ankles. There was nothing binding them together; he was free to move, in certain areas, and in certain ways. Free to guard the Anomolous as they permitted him. However, certain thoughts (such as thinking of the Anomolous as anything but his Masters, or forming the idea of attacking them) were not allowed to him, and certain actions (such as attacking any Lost, garden-variety or not) were not permitted to him. There would be no more Lost souls for him: but other than that, he was free to hunt as he would... especially Vahzilok... and the Heroes that were coming after them.

((OOC Experiement - I am IM'ing you. Please do not respond to this post until you get my IM. ))

[ QUOTE ]
Jack stood up and started moving towards the door. Paul was obviously going to have to make his own way down to the van. Jack stopped in the door way with his back to Paul. With out turning around he spoke again.

"Oh...and Paul." It sounded like an after thought. "If you ever put Crystal in danger like that again.....I'll kill you," and with that he left the room.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal headed down to the truck. It was an enormous thing, full of all sorts of goodies, as well as some hired help who were doing various sorts of organizing. One of these employees handed Crystal some body armor; she nodded without comment and began putting it on.

Now that no one was looking, one hand stole to her temple, rubbing absent-mindedly. Her head hurt ferociously, but she didn't know why.

Was this normal? She wondered. She had never really thought about having a life with paranormal abilities. Was this what Jack went through? Did his head hurt all the time too? Was that typical?

She wondered what to expect now. Her hair had changed color, and it seemed her head was full of thoughts not her own. Were more changes on the horizon? Or, once mutant powers manifested, did they blossom fully formed, so that it was simply a matter of finding out what they were?

She wasn't willing to admit it to either Jack or Paul, but she was scared... scared and worried. Her parents hated paranormals with a passion. She had no illusions about what would happen when they found out...

That thought suddenly gave her pause. Dad would certainly yank her college funds, the second he found out. She still had two years to go... how would she pay -?

~Well, hell, job time,~ she thought as she put on one of the boots. She wasn't sure what she would do for a living: the thought of being a hero was one she had never seriously entertained. And besides, she hadn't heard of heroes actually being paid.

She might normally have thought of talking to Dr. Sanstad about it, but the present situation precluded the idea. Just imagining what she would have done in his position - if someone had taken Paul captive and held them down there - made all her problems seem insignificant. And as much as she loved Jack and Paul... she didn't want to tell them either. They were just too wrapped up in their own problems.

Nothing to do about that, she supposed, and worked on putting on her chest plate. She wished they would quit squabbling and come on already.

[ QUOTE ]
"So now that we are all here and awake again......what’s the plan? Personally I like the idea of going out there and hitting some bad guys." Jack said still trying to play nice. He would have words with Paul later when Crystal was not around.

[/ QUOTE ]

"We need to get to the front gates," Crystal rose, though her form was still in Paul's mind, glowering at Many as One. "They are putting together a group to go and rescue Mrs. Sanstad, I want to be in it."

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"I'm on it." Harris put his hand over the phone. "Dr Sanstad needs picking up and he said bring a truck, a big one. Needs to hold 8 to 10 tons. Drive it down to 1515 South Claredon in Atlas Park and quick. We are wasting time."

[/ QUOTE ]

"On it," Em had been on the phone even before he had said anything. After a hurried conversation, she put the phone down and said, "OK, truck will be at the front gates in three minutes, loaded with lots of goodies, everyone who is going needs to get down there. Mr. Harris, we have some body armor laid out for you if you want it. "

She put on her gloves and helmet, and a moment later the dragonfly rose sharply from the table. "If you don't know where the front gates are, follow me," it said in a tinny imitation of Em's voice. It hovered for a minute, to allow people to get up and follow, then whizzed down the hallway when everyone was ready, leading the way to the truck at the front gates.

[ QUOTE ]
The signals were given and interpreted, the messages were clear to Many As One. Jack was a danger that had to be removed for the safety of the Master.

Paul could feel a slight tingle in his left arm. The one he had draped about Jack's shoulders. He didn't notice it at first, but slowly the muscle output began to rise in that arm. The pressure increased on Jack's neck and collarbones as the arm tightened more and more.

~Master... We will protect you.~

That was the only warning Paul got that something was wrong. He let his eyes open and read the data streams and saw the muscle output on his arm had jumped by 60 percent and was rising.

~Jack is a threat Master, and we will protect you no matter what.~

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul looked at Crystal, and her eyes, as viewed by Many as One, were like... nothing on earth. Eyes that went on forever... kaleidescope eyes. Eyes that were looking at him - eyes that SAW.

There was almost a - split in his consciousness. On the one hand, he was perfectly aware of himself in his bed, hugging Crystal and Jack.

On the other, he was aware of himself in that other plane somewhere, with the metallic, Crystal-like Many as One... and the real Crystal, who looked less than pleased. Many as One looked quite surprised. In spite of the force of his arm, Paul was not harming Jack - Crystal's telekinetic abilities were preventing it.

~I heard that,~ Crystal crossed her arms and glowered at Many as One. ~You don't mind if I crash the testosterone party do you?~

Crystal - he could tell from the set of her jaw - was not pleased. At all.

[ QUOTE ]
"Listen - she's OK... can you hear me? She's fine, not hurt... I can see her... and she is OK."

[/ QUOTE ]

Had Erik gotten the message? Yes... she could hear him saying something in response.

[ QUOTE ]
To do this, I had to eliminate the ability to get or transmit and voices on either end. And if she's still alive, all she'll get right now is an intermittant static pulse. To her, it'll sound like the radio's gone dead. The only advantage to that is if anyone else finds her radio, it'll seem as if she's not getting any kind of signal....

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
He held out the headset to Harris, his thumb over the button he mentioned and a deadly serious look on his bearded visage. "You'll have to hold it, Harris. I wouldn't be able to fight effectively having to hold the button down constantly. Same with Dr. Sanstad, when he gets here. As of this moment, you get to be her lifeline to us."

[/ QUOTE ]

In Vahzilok's lab, the Eiledon turned. Its voice, though slightly muffled, otherwise carried perfectly over the radio. It seems you are more stubborn than you first appeared, it said. You have proved surprisingly resiliant against our normal methods of persuasion. Let's see if some... specialized... arguments will loosen your tongue.


In Erik's ears, Penny's voice shot into one of the most awful screams he had ever heard...

... and then, abruptly, the radio went dead, leaving only a soft fuzzy static whispering quietly in his ear.

((OOC Sorry, absolutely could NOT resist the potential dramatic impact... MUA ha ha ha! ))

[ QUOTE ]
“Um hello. This is Doctor Erik Sanstad. I was told that Stephen Harris was there. Is there any way I could speak with him please? Yes… Yes, I know this is odd but if you need call Doctor Mari Morgan and confirm with her. Yes I’ll wait.”

[/ QUOTE ]

The wait was surprisingly brief: thirty seconds, if that, and then the phone cut in again, this time with the crisp voice of a young woman. "Dr. Sanstad? My name is Emily Brown, I am one of the information directors for MacBeth Technologies. Your friend Mr. Harris has been assisting us with a... situation we believe is developing. I would like to extend an invitation to you to join him here. While I realize that time is of the essence... it's important." She paused. "Really."

Before he could respond he could hear a door opening in the background, and Harris voice. "Erik's on the phone?"

"Ah, Mr. Harris. Dr. Sanstad, I am transferring you to Mr. Harris now - "

There wasn't even any hold music - Em just handed Steven the phone.

[ QUOTE ]
“Penny? Penny It’s me Erik… I’m not sure if you can hear me, but hang in there. I’m coming Penny, I gave you a promise. Hang in there please.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny had long since lost track of time. She was drifting in and out of consciousness now. The Eiledon was not pleased with her and it had no hesitancy about showing its displeasure. She remembered she was trying to buy time but couldn't quite recall why. For the moment, however, she had a break: it looked like the Eiledon was adjusting something.

When her radio squawked into life, it was a complete surprise to her. The words were distorted - sure enough, the radio had taken some damage - but she thought she could make out some of it.

[ QUOTE ]
“Pe... *bzzt* ... Erik… *bzt* not sure ... *bzt* hang in there. I’m coming Penny, I gave you a promise. Hang in there please.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Erik? Penny tried to focus. The sound from the radio definitely helped. It was a link to better times and hearing it made her spirits lift. And she had something important to tell him... she knew she did. What was it? Something to tell him...

Then she had it. Though her vision was full of stars, drifting gently like snowflakes, she could see the darkened room beyond hers, and inside it she could see three women, with their heads close together, talking in urgent whispers.

Her voice, when it came out, was a soft croak, too soft to be heard outside the helmet. "Erik... I can - hear you..." She swallowed hard, trying to speak more clearly. She was insanely thirsty. "Got - something important - " She swallowed again. "Women here - in the next room - think... think one of them is your wife..." She had to stop and swallow another time. The thirst was awful. "Listen - she's OK... can you hear me? She's fine, not hurt... I can see her... and she is OK." She was certain he would want to know that.

[ QUOTE ]
Jack hesitated for a second, then walked over to join in. If it had been anyone else but Crystal he would have walked out the room. But he joined in....and felt like an idiot.

[/ QUOTE ]

"You guys are my family," Crystal told them, looking from Paul to Jack. "Don't you ever forget that." She looked at Jack intently... then hugged both of them to herself. "I am so glad you guys are all right. I am so glad!"

[ QUOTE ]
"Hi, I thought I better come down and see how you are doing," He said rather awkwardly as he entered the room.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal half-turned and let go of Paul with one arm. The other she opened wide to Jack.

To include him. Because he was her family as much as Paul, and she loved him just as much, if in a different way. Her face was wet but her eyes were angelic.

It was group hug time.

[ QUOTE ]
"Shocktroops, who can take us on, possibly weaken our forces and, in the long run, leave us damned vulnerable to what forces that they have remaining."

He shook his head sadly. "The others do all the work, make all the sacrifices, and they can get ready to march in when the time is right. Damn, this is not lookin' good."

[/ QUOTE ]

Em nodded slowly, her face thoughtful. "When the Lost get enough forces, they are bound to go after Vahzilok, he's the only other major player inhabiting the sewers. Vahzilok won't go down easily. It'll be full scale war in the sewers, that will boil up to street level in King's Row."

Her face was dark. "And then what? There's nothing in King's Row that can handle that kind of threat - most of the heroes around that area have a security rating somewhere in the range of 10 or 12. The county coroner's office is tentatively placing the threat level of that Anomolous that they dissected in the mid thirties. It would be a slaughter. The Skulls would be pulled in, and that would pull in the Hellions. " She leaned forwards, now watching Remington's face. "At that point we would be pulling heroes of a higher security level out of their usual routines to come back to King's Row and quell the chaos, potentially leaving places like Brickstown, Independence Port, and Talos Island undermanned."

She was silent for a while. "But I don't think that is the worst of it," her speech was slow, as if she was only coming to the realization. "The Vahzilok maintain a strong presence both in Atlas Park and in Galaxy City. If war broke out in King's Row, and then spilled over into Atlas Park, Galaxy City, or both, it could not only wipe out every fledgling hero in the city, it could threaten both city halls. I don't think I have to tell you what the ripple effect would be like if even one of the city halls was taken out of commission."

She exhaled slowly. "The longer I think about this, the uglier it gets. I think we need to nip this thing in the bud." Her lips thinned. "And I am open for suggestions on how to do it."

Penny was dreaming.

It was a good dream. She was sitting on the floor, watching Overhaul do his morning workout routine. He was doing bicep curls, which was one of her favorite parts to watch.

She wanted very much to touch him. He almost invariably wore the same sleeveless shirt, and either soft shorts or else sweat pants depending on the weather, and she could see the muscles in his arms. She had thought, from time to time, about how it might feel to run her fingers down his skin while he was working out.

In the dream, she was free to do such things, and so she investigated his arm, until he finished what he was doing, put down the barbell he had been working with, and went into the workroom.

Penny followed. Overhaul had put on his baseball cap and goggles, and the old button up overshirt, which meant he wouldn't be leaving for several days. On the table was a female form built entirely out of spare parts. It was laying on the table with its eyes closed: these were the pieces and parts and bits that he loved so much.

"Why didn't you ever notice me?" She asked him, as he worked with his tools. "Wasn't I pretty enough? Wasn't I smart enough? Or was I just... boring? If I was an android, like her... would I be more interesting to you then?"

"Hand me that screwdriver, will you?" said Overhaul, without looking up at her, not noticing the daring black negligee that she wore.

"Sure," she said, the familiar feeling of disappointment welling up in her. She walked over and handed him the screwdriver. "I am mad at you, you know," she told him.

"Oh?" He said, completely unpreturbed. "Why is that?"

"Because I need you, and you are not here. Because you have never noticed me. Because I... I wanted you to love me...."

"And I never did? Well, what are you going to do about it? Love can't be forced, you know. Either you love someone or you don't... you can't MAKE me love you."

"Yes.... I know." She handed him a wrench without needing to be told. "I don't like the idea of being replaced."

"Now, we had a talk about that. I told you straight up you couldn't be replaced."

"Well... yes. You did do that."

"So it is a promising sign - plug that in, would you? - that I was so resistant to the idea, don't you think?"

"Well, at first I thought so, but then I remembered that you were initially resistant to the idea of field-testing your creations. I had to talk you into that, and later you agreed that it was a good idea. I am afraid that you might be initially resistant to the idea now, but later on you would realize that really I am right, and can be replaced by anyone my size, and be all for it."

"So, what are you going to do?" He hung the light up and continued to work.

"Well... I ought to move on, really. I ought to... you know, start dating and stuff."

"I thought you had started dating."

"Well... I've tried... it's always such a disaster. I'm not very good at it really."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I want you to notice me!"

"But that is not something you can control. You can't control what I do or how I feel. You can only control what YOU do. What do YOU want to do?"

"I want to stay," she admitted. "Even if - if it is only as the girl who wears the suit - even if I can only watch you... I want to stay."

"Then stay."

He reached out his hand for hers. She reached out to take it.

The shock jolted through her system, shattering the dream. She opened her eyes and the Eiledon was there, smirking at her. Her head pounded and her back and shoulders felt like they were blistered.

I believe, he purred, that we were discussing your companions.

"No, I believe I was telling you to perform a feat which is probably anatomically impossible," she snapped, her temper breaking.

The world went green again.

(OOC: WOO HOO! Grats man! ))

****

[ QUOTE ]
Paul raised his arms to cover the brightness of the light, everything faded for a moment and then he was looking up at a sea of masked faces and medical professionals.

“Um… What’s up docs?”

[/ QUOTE ]

In the conference room, Crystal's head suddenly jerked up. "Paul?"

Then she jumped up and darted out of the room, without a word to anyone.

+++

The words had hardly left Paul's mouth when Crystal came flying down the hallway, and pushed the doors open, looking for him. "Paul?"

Then she saw him awake, and flew to him and clung to him like a limpet, crying far too hard to say anything. Everything was right with the world again.

[ QUOTE ]
Connor's head, hiding the haunted expression on his face as he quietly said what he knew. "it... it was a rikti facility..." Everyone at the table could see, whether they heard him or not, that a pink color was slowly bleeding into his hair, starting at the roots.


[/ QUOTE ]

Em patted his hand comfortingly, but then sat back.

"How is this for a theory - and it is all guesswork, so stop me if I venture too far." She put the tips of her fingers together.

"The manufacturers of Russian Roulette - or the new 'Dyne, whatever you want to call it - are the Rikti themselves. They set up some secret facility for the Lost to use to create more of the most rikti-like Lost, the Eramites, and make them bigger and badder and meaner - thus, the Anomolous. I dont know why they would want to - who knows with the Rikti? But it would certainly cause chaos, and that could be useful for any number of things, from their point of view."

She leaned forwards. "The new 'Dyne is part of the process, but only part of it - it is a catalyst, something needs to be added to it to give it its full mutation potential. The gangs don't know that, try it anyway, and the ones whose genetic structure are predisposed to mutation luck out with superpowers; those with more normal genes die. In the meantime, the Rikti are funneling this stuff straight to the Lost, who are quietly picking it up, and using it to make more Anomolous."

She sat back again, her face thoughtful. "At some point in all of this, they must have run across Vahzilok, and somehow the 'good doctor' figured out what was going on. He must also have realized that he and his creations would be wiped out long before trouble ever hit the surface. Likely his current army of Abominations and Eiledons would have had trouble handling an army of Anomolous. And then what?"

She thought this over for a while. "His best bet would be the Eiledons, but Eiledons are rare, and they are rare because they are difficult to make - each one is a live human given certain organs which provide them powers." Her fingers were end-to-end, rubbing her mouth thoughtfully. "So - what if - what if he figured out the method that the Lost were using, or thought that he figured it out? Suppose that he decided he could create Eiledons by using non-surgical means. If he decided to start with the Luminous, that would explain the raid taking the nuclear material. It might also explain the interest in Sanstad. Vahzilok is - or was - a surgeon, not a nuclear physicist. The method he might use would likely involve irradiating a normal human in some particular way, and if that procedure was promising but unreliable, I could see him wanting a specialist to fine-tune it. From all accounts, Sanstad is supposed to be one of the best in his field, if not THE best. It would also explain the urgency behind his actions, if Vahzilok believes it involves his own life or death."

She sat back slowly. "So, if that hypothesis holds water - and a lot of it is based on guesswork - then what we have is an arms race. The Lost are building their numbers for purposes unknown at this time. The Vahzilok are feeling threatened and are racing to ensure they are not overrun. And Sanstad and the Rikti are right in the middle of it, even if the Rikti are mostly behind the scenes."

She thought about this for a moment, turning it over in her mind and looking for flaws in the logic, before she said, "Any thoughts? A lot of this is just guesswork but... it seems logical." She nodded at Remington. "I believe you are correct... Vahzilok is after stability."

[ QUOTE ]
"JACK, SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN."

[/ QUOTE ]

This had come from Crystal. Generally easygoing, he knew better than to argue with that particular set of eyebrows and mouth. Crystal didn't look it, but she did have a fierce temper, even if it did lay dormant most of the time.

Once he sat down she gave his shoulders a quick squeeze. "It will be OK," she reassured him with a smile.

[ QUOTE ]
Harris rubbed his forehead nervously. “The events of the last few hours have proved to me that I was very wrong. I owe my life to two heroes. One, Dr Sanstad, is currently in the hospital and the other is being held captive along with my wife.......and of course there is this man here too." Harris indicated to SmallArms. "I don’t care what you think of me. I have my reasons for being here and I am staying weather you like it or not.”

[/ QUOTE ]

Emily had listened to this with raised eyebrows. "Well, that is an interesting statement," she said, "It seems that you have information for us, as well as us having information for you. However, as we invited you here... why don't we start? Some of you have seen this before," she nodded at Conner, "So just bear with me for a moment."

Each of them got a sheaf of papers. "To give all of you the short version: new 'Dyne is not related to old 'Dyne, the two chemical compositions are completely dissimiliar, as you can see from the illustrations. New 'Dyne is also called Russian Roulette. We know it is produced in Bricktown somewhere. We know that the Family has sent out the word that its various gangs are not to mess with it and that some of those gangs, particularly the Hellions and Trolls, are trying to mess with it anyway. Detailed chemical analysis indicates that it has a much higher chance of giving someone superpowers, roughly in the area of forty percent. Deaths run something like sixty percent... which is one of the reasons the Family has had trouble enforcing their policy - the takers are either super-powered, or dead, without much in between. Its main chemical component, THXTC, has thus far been found only in Rikti-based technology."

She turned over one of her own pages. "Tied to this is the emergence of a new type of Lost which we are calling an Anomolous for the moment. This is a picture of it - very big, very mean, very nasty."

"Hey," Crystal broke in, "These were the guys in that place."

"What place?" Em's brow furrowed.

"That place that they took us - you know, with all the machinery. It was full of those guys."

Jack was looking at her. "Crystal - you were unconscious. You never saw that place."

A look of confusion spread over Crystal's face. "I didn't? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But you are right... there were dozens in there."

Em's eyebrows were in her hairline. "I haven't heard this story... how many dozens?"

"Four or five."

"Did you fight them?"

"No, we ran."

Em was silent for a moment. Finally she said, "That may have been very wise of you. One showed up on the surface in King's Row, and put a lot of heroes in the hospital. We will come back to your story, we need more detail of what happened down there. At any rate, the Anomolous was loaded with this stuff, and put a bunch of heroes in the hospital and one in the morgue. The existance of others is... well, it is disturbing news."

She flipped over more pieces of paper. "And we have some other disturbing news also. The Vahzilok have recently conducted a series of uncharacteristic raids, as follows: approximately six weeks ago, there was a successful Vahzilok raid on Terra Volta. A quantity of reactor-grade nuclear material is now known to be missing. From the quantity and type stolen, it is not believed to be suitable for traditional nuclear weapons. In addition, within the past forty-eight hours, the Vahzilok have made additional raids. One was to the home of Dr. Erik Sanstad. No one knows what happened, but Enid and Cassie Sanstad are now listed as missing, and their home is currently being treated as a crime scene. Another, that you apparantly are already aware of, was on a hospital, where a comatose woman named Amy Harris was removed. Apparantly great care was taken in the raid not to harm her at the time. A third was to the university where Dr. Sanstad works as a professor. Though there were no deaths, a bunch of students were taken hostage and later freed. Two additional people, Daniel Roberts and Sarah Emmerson, have been added to the missing persons list as a result of that raid."

Emily sat down. "According to my reports, Dr. Sanstad is an expert on nuclear radiation, and is supposed to be extremely fond of his family. Our current theory is that they may have been taken to compel his cooperation in something that the Vahzilok want him to do. The question is what."

She looked around. "Does anyone have any additional information they would like to lay on the table that will fill out our bare-bones analysis?"

[ QUOTE ]
Still, Harris’ reputation would most likely precede him, and being a reporter, he might not be welcomed by those attending the meeting. Remington groaned mentally at the irony of being a character witness for a man known for his character assassinations. But, there was nothing to be done for it now.

As the elevator let them off, and another guard indicated where they were supposed to go, Small Arms mused over his participation in the life of a superhero, where irony was not an uncommon occurrence.

But, then again, neither was redemption.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
"This shouldn't take a second." He turned back to the others and smiled for a second, "let’s just hope there are not any cops left around." With that he went back to his work.

[/ QUOTE ]

"We're not going to break into Dr. Sanstad's house-" Crystal hissed.

Master Wonderful shook his head. They could all hear Em's voice. "Our guest just arrived, you guys need to get back here."

"But - "

"You were the one that approved the setup," she reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," he complained. "Gather round, everyone..."

A few minutes later they were back in the office, heading towards the meeting room where Remington was.

"Because he'll flunk me, that's why not," Crystal was hissing to Jack as Conner opened the door.

"Oh there you are," Em smiled at him. "Remington, this is Conner Macbeth, Jack, and Crystal. All of them are involved in our current... findings. Sit down... let me fill you in."