Date: Monday, 11 November, 2019
Time: 0700
Weather: Temperature 40 degrees warmer for season (unseasonably warm); no wind; light rain
Location: Helios Academy/Hanger
Scene Modifiers
- Light: Bright
- Visibility: Clear
Round 0
"My parents...I was out in my work shed when I was taken, but can you tell me if they are all right, and is it possible to let them know I am too so they don't worry or think I ran away or something?" Sam asked.
“We have sent persons to your parents to explain the situation,” Dr. Helios told Sam.
“You will all be allowed to call them soon. And we will meet with them to discuss your education here at the academy. Nexus was trying to be as discreet as possible with your capture. I am sorry they were not as discrete with Mr. Blythe,” he said sadly.
"It's good we'll have a place to lay low, but it seems to me that we shouldn't just hide. There has to be a way to put all this out there. We need to let people know what's going on. Sooner or later it's going to come out, and I know we have to be careful about it, but if we're the ones that control the story then we have the advantage."
"Otherwise we're letting people like...like these companies...control the narrative, and they can get away with literally anything," Constance insisted.
“It is a subtle game, Ms. Abels,” Dr. Helios agreed.
“However, at the moment, Nexus has the upper hand in public opinion after the Elkins incident. We need to begin changing public opinion. In the meantime, you and your new class need to learn to control these powers you have to avoid hurting anyone. And in the future, maybe put them to good use doing just what you suggest. We all have a role to play in the fight.”
Caelian added some more thoughts on the idea, and Dr. Helios smiled.
“This sounds like it could be an excellent extracurricular activity for you and Miss Abels to work on,” he said.
“Let’s get them the tour, Doctor,” Tamar said with a smile. She and Caleb had moved to a set of double metal doors that led out of the hanger. On another wall was a heavy garage door that looked to head south.
The double doors led into a tunnel that was about a hundred yards long. It was well let, and ended in another set of strong metal doors. As they walked, they passed a door marked Generator.
Tamar pressed her hand to a palm reader beside the double doors and put her eye to an eye reader. There was a beep, and the doors unlocked.
Caleb pulled the doors open and ushered the teenagers into something that looked like it came out of some comic book. There was a large screen and some kind of control panel, and in the center of the room was a large table.
“This is our command center, as it were,” Caleb said.
“We assess threats, and we can monitor the campus above us. I must stress that what we show you today, and you have seen so far, must be kept strictly confidential. It is for your own safety, as well as the safety of your fellow students who do not have special abilities. We rely mostly on the fact that no one knows we are here, and we are hard to detect. As they used to say, loose lips sink ships.”
“We have prepared rooms for you down here for you to occupy until we get you officially enrolled in the academy next semester,” Dr. Helios said.
“Then you will move into the dorms. But you will still have access to this facility. We will be training you here as well.”
And then the tour began. Everything the new students were shown was high end luxury or next level technology. The hidden headquarters had a large kitchen, everything in burnished steel, with plenty of space, and walk in pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. It was clearly stocked for long term living, should it be needed.
Tamar rushed over to the oven.
“Oh, the brownies!”
The rest of the tour was conducted with delicious, freshly hot, melt in your mouth, triple chocolate brownies and a glass of ice cold milk in hand as they went through the large dining room in rich, dark woods with a massive table. On the walls were pictures of various people in costumes, recognizable as famous superheroes of the past, from Robin Hood in medieval England, to Zorro of colonial California, and even the Phantom and the Shadow from radio plays, on through the heroes of World War 2, the Liberty League. There was the United Nations Peace Force, and then the original Guardians. There were even photographs of the Soviet Red Sickles and Chinese Red Dragons. A few other national superheroes were also represented, and then finally there were group photographs of the three current Guardian teams, the original franchise in New York, the Windy City Guardians based in Chicago, and the West Coast Guardians. There was even smaller pictures of the new international Guardians franchises based in Buenos Aires, London, Mumbai, and Sydney. In all of them multi-billionaire tech industrialist Peter Venta stood smiling with the teams his company Force Majeure funded and sponsored.
The living room/rec room area was more conventionally decorated. Someone (*cough*Tamar*cough*) had put up motivational posters, including the cute kitten hanging desperately onto a branch with the words “Just Hang In There” on it. The big draw, of course, was the massive entertainment cabinet hooked up to a ginormous state of the art LED flatscreen on the wall. It had every gaming console one could imagine. There were even some classic pinball machines and a MAME cabinet, as well as pool and foosball tables. A couple of bookshelves held a library of board games and tabletop RPG books, as well as a small library for reading.
There was a state of the art computer center and a fully stocked infirmary. And the training room was like something straight out of Star Trek.
“This is a fully immersible three dimensional holo-simulator,” Caleb explained the blank room.
“We can program anything we need into it. There are built in safeties, so you will like not get anything more than badly bruised, but you will feel it if you screw up,” he told them.
“But we’ll work our way up to that.”
Finally, Tamar showed them to their rooms. There was a hallway with eight single rooms and a bathroom at each end. They were generously sized for single occupancy, but could double up easily if needed. Each smelled of fresh linen with perfectly made beds and fresh flowers in a vase on the desk. They had the bed, bedside table, desk with chair, and a closet.
On each desk, beside the flowers, was a blue and gold folder.
“These are yer orientation packets,” Tamar told them, picking up one of the folders and opening it.
“Ya’ll will need ‘em when you move up to campus. They’ve got a campus map, yer dorm assignments, an’ class lists so ya’ll can pick your classes. There is some paperwork inside that we will need ya ta fill out before we meet with yer parents. It’ll allow us ta get yer high school transcripts so we can place ya appropriately.”
“During training, we will also give you some assessment tests to help us know where you are in your studies,” Dr. Helios added.
“If anyone has any questions, we can deal with those now. Otherwise feel free to settle in and get some rest.”
“Lunch is at noon,” Tamar announced.
“But don’t feel ya’ll need ta get up fer it. Ah’ll leave somethin’ in the kitchen for ya’ll whenever ya get hungry. Dinner is at six. Ya’ll’ve got the rest a the day to yerselves ta get ta know the place.”
“Training starts at six a.m. sharp tomorrow morning,” Caleb said.
***
Team:
Rob Marks/Volo
Cailean Blythe/Highlander
Jason Konig/????
Samuel Franklin/Probe
Katherine “Kat” Wilhelm/Hexx
Constance Abels/Chance
Shanice Walker/Winger
GM Bennies: 7/7