Project Alpha (2)

[Dark Soul]

OOC: Reviving this goody Rp. This is a Rp between me, Reynald, Dwayna, Brendan Savem and Tunduli. I am keeping the sixth slot open; anyone interested? Just PM me.
BIC:

‘Hey! You! Get back here!’

Charlotte ran as fast as she could. She had stolen a bottle of liquor from the alcohol store; she hadn’t had alcohol for, like, two days! She definitely needed some.

The store owner came closer, but this wasn’t Charlotte’s day to be captured and she knew the streets of Las Vegas well; she ran into a side street and kicked at some barrels that were stacked against one of the walls. They fell down, blocking the path. And while the owner could do little more than curse, Charlotte had made her way to her hideout.

Her ‘hideout’ was actually an old, unused storage room in the alley. She had picked the lock and tried to make it a little comfortable with rags of textile she found, but without much luck.

The trouble of living on the streets was the main reason she drunk. It was better than constantly being hit by her abusive parents, though. School was another thing she didn’t exactly miss. But she knew she couldn’t live on the streets forever. Someday she would have to do something. Until then, she had a bottle of liquor!

She removed her sunglasses, sat down and opened the bottle.

The next morning, she woke up with a devasting headache. The liquor bottle was next to the bunch of rags that she used as a mattress. She groaned and her hand went out to the pack of aspirins she had stolen from the pharmacy. She felt terrible, but at least the alcohol had been good. She had felt great when she had fallen asleep.

Suddenly, she heard something at the door and shot upright. The door opened and sunlight streamed in, blinding Charlotte. A male voice said: ‘Who are you and why are you here?’ Charlotte answered ‘Who are you, then?’ ‘Officer Lopez.’ Charlotte groaned again. ‘Police? Shit.’ The cop sighed. ‘I assume you ran away from your parents? I don’t see any other reason for you to be all alone.’ ‘Can’t you just leave me alone?’ Charlotte said. Lopez sighed. ‘I’m sorry, I’m going to have to take you to the police station. But don’t worry, we’ll give you clean clothes and a warm meal.’

‘Yeah, and then give me back to my parent who will beat the crap out of me.’ Charlotte said miserably, but she stood up and put her sunglasses in place. It was no use. Maybe she would be sent to foster parents or something.

-Area 51-

Colonel Brown looked up as he heard someone knock on his door. ‘Come in.’ He said, already able to guess who it was going to be. Sure enough, Prof. Smith entered the room.

While Colonel Brown was still quite young, Prof. Smith was an elderly man with white hair, a face covered in wrinkles. He reminded Colonel Brown of that old guy from Knight Rider somehow, but more likely to get angry.
Prof. Smith’s blue eyes flashed through the room. It was quite boring, frankly; White walls, white ceiling and the floor was covered in equally white tiles. There was a potted plant in one of the corners and in the direct middle was a wooden desk, littered with papers and scraps.

Colonel Brown raised his eyebrows. ‘I assume you’ve got the current status reports on Project Alpha, Smith?’ Prof. Smith nodded and cleared his throat. ‘The tests on the mice are still positive. Strength, agility and longevity multiplied by several times.’ He sighed. ‘But still no proton energy. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it; We need sentience.’ Colonel Brown said nothing. ‘This project is able of altering the entire human race into a super species. The only thing it will do animals is make them stronger. Have you considered the possibilities? Alpha warriors would be able to destroy entire cities in days. They’re the ultimate weapon! Kinesis, for God’s sake! Fire out of nothing! Control of water atoms! ‘ Suddenly, Brown had enough. ‘Smith, shut your mouth!’ He said while he stood up. ‘I’ve been hearing your speeches for months now. I know Project Alpha’s important and why, but getting humans to test it is hard and you know why.’

‘I do.’ Smith replied. ‘But I have been thinking about that.’ He took a map out of his pocket and gave it to Brown. Brown scanned it quickly; it was a map of Nevada. Both Area 51 and Las Vegas were circled with red marker.
Brown looked up. ‘Vegas? Really, professor?’ He said sarcastically. ‘Not just Vegas.’ Smith said. ‘There are lots of people who live on the streets there. A lot of teenagers, too.’ ‘You want to test Project Alpha on children? Are you nuts?’ Brown said angrily. ‘No, I’m not. And using teenagers instead of adults has its advantages. Their bodies are almost full-grown, but still young and probably undamaged. Their genes and hormones are already working on top speed so the experiment would have more effect.’ He paused for a moment, then continued. ‘It’s also better for them. If you were a teenager living on the streets, probably being a criminal too, and someone offered you a chance for a better life, would you take it?’ Brown let that sink in.

‘We know the experiment is pain-free. They become famous, important, they get well-paid. What’s wrong with that?’ There was a silence. ‘Do you have children, Smith?’ Brown asked. Smith looked puzzled. ‘No. Why?’ Brown sighed. ‘Fame and money is something adults want, Smith. Teenagers aren’t adults. They’re part children. They also need love and caring.’ Smith blinked. ‘Ah… I-i forgot about that… We could give them foster parents, I guess? And they might grow close as a group, too.’

‘Your idea isn’t all that bad, Smith. I have to say that. What are your plans for finding the teenagers?’ ‘Las Vegas police stations may have found some. They have to be healthy and normal enough, at least.’

-Las Vegas, Nevada-

It felt nice to have a warm meal again. The last few months her meals had mostly been leftovers from restaurants, which was pretty gross sometimes. A nice girl around her age had given her a box with fries once when her boss wasn’t looking. That had been really nice of her; Charlotte tried to remember her name. Anne? Angie?

The cops had put some Sloppy Joe’s in a microwave for her; It was greasy, it was salty, it was utterly delicious. She really needed to put on some weight if she ever wanted to be healthy again; so this was excellent.
Officer Lopez sat down at the opposite side of the table. ‘Enjoying your dinner?’ He asked friendly. Charlotte nodded enthiousastically. ‘Good.’ He shuffled on his seat. ‘You do realize we will have to take some action, right?’ Charlotte nodded again, less enthiousastic. ‘I have your files here.’ He opened a map filled with a lot of papers. ‘Charlotte Robinson. 14 years old. Abused by parents, reported missing as result of running away.’ Charlotte swallowed. ‘That’s me.’ ‘I reported that I found you. We will do anything to stop your parents from taking you again. Have you considered a foster family?’ ‘I have.’ Charlotte said. ‘I don’t think I would fit in. I’m not really a smart or normal kid.’ ‘Hey, don’t worry. A lot of foster family’s have experience with ADHD.’ Charlotte raised her eyebrows? ‘Really? It seems quite rare.’ She took another bite of Sloppy Joe’s.
‘We can pick a foster family that does have experience anytime.’ Charlotte sighed. ‘I guess it’s the only choice I have.’

‘Not the only one, actually.’ Lopez said. ‘What else?’ Charlotte said, quickly. ‘There’s a new government project for teenagers. It’s called Project Alpha. Basically, you will receive a special crime fighter training. You will have everything you need and you will go to school in the weekends, have enough free time, and, it’s really well paid.’ Charlotte thought about it. Becoming a soldier wasn’t exactly her idea of a regular job, but the well-paid part sounded good… Too good. ‘What’s the catch?’ Charlotte said.

‘The training sessions include a special experiment. Your reflexes, strength and durability will be improved, painlessly of course.’ Charlotte raised her eyebrows. ‘Surgically?’ ‘Not exactly.’ There was a short silence. ‘You’re not just a cop, are you?’ ‘I can’t believe you think you aren’t smart.’ Charlotte smiled. ‘But no, you’re right. I’m a government officer-‘ He looked around to see if anyone was near them, then showed Charlotte a FBI badge. ‘- Put undercover as a regular cop. Finding teenagers for this project is one of my objectives. I was sent here to look for you.’

‘Why does the government want teenagers from the streets for a top experiment?’ Lopez shrugged. ‘I don’t know why they want teens, I just know they do. So, what’s it going to be?’ Charlotte thought about it while chewing. She had to confess, becoming a superhuman soldier sounded more exciting then foster parents. Only two days of school per week, free time, a lot of money… Yeah, definitely better then foster parents.

‘Count me in. Where is the training centre?’ ‘Two words ought to do the trick. Nevada and government.’ Charlotte let that sink in. Her lips curled into a smile. ‘No way.’

Thirty minutes later, Charlotte was sitting in Lopez’ car with a MacDonald’s chocolate milkshake. Charlotte was a big fan of milkshakes and chocolate milkshakes in particular. Lopez had offered her the milkshake, seeing as he was going to buy one himself. ‘I’m glad I’m not the only one addicted to chocolate.’ He had said, laughing. Lopez seemed such a nice man; not a secret officer at all. Then again, that could be just a role. ‘Why am I the right person for this project, anyway?’ Lopez looked at her via the mirror. ‘Our researchers have looked up some student files. You were a good fit.’ ‘What makes you good fit for this project?’ Charlotte asked.

‘You have to be between the age of fourteen to fifteen. That’s the perfect age for the experiment. You have to be clever and physically fit enough. And you need to have a certain physical flaw.’ That surprised Charlotte. ‘Why? And what’s my flaw?’ ‘We’re not sure why. The first group of mice we tested all died during the process, except one, who was blind. We also tested groups with one deaf mice, and the result was the same. Even minor sense flaws work, like not being able to smell or taste.’ Lopez said. ‘And your flaw is the reason you wear sunglasses.’ Charlotte understood. ‘Hypersensitive eyes. I’m not able to cope with too much light.’ Lopez nodded. ‘Well, that’s one thing you’ll keep even after the experiment. But don’t worry, we have a nice budget. Do you like Ray-Ban?’
After quite a while of driving, they arrived at Area 51. The security guards checked Lopez’ card and they parked. Charlotte stepped out of the car and looked around. Being inside Area 51 was a quiet dream a lot of people had; but it didn’t seem like much. There were some white, plain buildings, airplane hangars and satellite dishes. She followed Lopez into one of the buildings. It looked quite unused and old. It was quite shady; the only light came from some old windows.

Then Charlotte saw a woman, standing next to a table with a variety of strange stuff: A bell, a package of gums, a ball of drained textile and a flashlight. The woman was holding a clipboard and wrote something down on it when she saw Charlotte. Then she looked up and smiled. ‘Charlotte Robinson, right?’ She said. Charlotte nodded. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to do some tests first. Nothing special. Alright?’ Charlotte nodded again. The woman gave her a piece of gum. Charlotte put it in her mouth, a little anxious. But it was just regular gum. Not exactly Sportlife.

‘Can you taste that?’ The woman asked her. Charlotte nodded. ‘Alright.’ She wrote something down. Then she picked up the bell and rung it next to Charlotte ears. ‘Can you hear that?’ The woman said. ‘Of course I can!’ Charlotte said, a little annoyed.

Next, Charlotte was made to smell the textile. It had a strong scent, unmistakably lavender. For the final test, the woman picked up the flashlight and before Charlotte could do anything , she shone the light into her eyes. ‘Ouch!’ Charlotte exclaimed. Even through her sunglasses, the light was harsh. ‘Sorry for that.’ The woman said, although her voice was a little too neutral. ‘You’re ready to go.’
Charlotte was led to a large room with several glass tubes, about ten feet high and six feet wide, with glass doors and a lot of tubes and doohickeys attached to them. All of them were empty, except one, where all colors of the rainbow were swirling around the vague image of a young female body. ‘Who’s in there?’ Charlotte said. A white-haired man with a lab coat materialized next to her, scaring the crap out of her.

‘You’ll meet her later on. You’re not the only one doing this experiment.’ The white-haired guy said. ‘My name is Smith. Nice to meet you, Miss Robinson.’ Charlotte tried to say the same, but failed. He didn’t look like a very sympathetic man.

Smith walked over to the glass tube next to the occupied one. ‘Could you please step inside the tube?’ He said, opening the door. Charlotte hesitated, glanced at Lopez, who gave her an encouraging smile. ‘Don’t worry, it’s safe and painless.’ He said. Charlotte swallowed and stepped inside the tube. Smith closed and locked the door; no turning back now.

Charlotte heard Smith’s voice. ‘I’m going to release the sleeping gas. See you later, Miss Robinson.’ Charlotte wanted to react, but she suddenly noticed an odd smell. Before she knew it, she was out.

-Brown’s Office-

Brown was toying with a tennis ball, looking thoughtful, when Smith entered. Brown looked up. ‘Status report, Smith?’ He said. ‘We’ve got two teenagers undergoing the experiment right now. No abnormalities at all. We’ve three rooms free at the hospital building, we’re placing them both in the first room.’ Smith said, seemingly happy. ‘Good, very good.’ Brown said. Smith raised his eyebrows. ‘You don’t seem very happy.’ Brown nodded. ‘I’m still a little doubtful about the whole thing, Smith.’ He sighed. ‘But I gave my permission, I guess. All I can do is hope everything goes right from now on.’ ‘Don’t worry, Colonel. It will.’ Smith said.

-Hospital Room, Area 51-

Charlotte woke up feeling the same as she had been feeling last morning. Her head felt heavy and her headache was unbearable. It took quite an effort to open her eyes; and, immediately she closed them again. She wasn’t wearing her sunglasses, plus, she was facing a freaking LED, which she hated because they hurted like hell.
She decided to rely on her other senses; She felt that she was laying in soft bed, she could hear soft breathing that was not hers, which kind of alarmed her until she realized the other person was probably asleep. It smelled like hospital in this room.

She felt the space around her. She felt something to her right; a nightstand. And on that nightstand she found, to her relief, a pair of glasses. Charlotte hoped they were sunglasses. They seemed to be, anyway.
She put the glasses on her head, which made her arm sore even though it took little movement. Experimentally, she opened her eyes. Luckily, they were sunglasses after all. They provided enough protection for Charlotte to look around. She lifted herself up.

To her left was another bed, and it was also occupied. A girl around her age was sound asleep; Charlotte realized, with a shock, that it was the girl who had given her a free meal once, back in Las Vegas. But there was a distinct difference; her hair had turned a silvery gray with purple stripes; it seemed an unusual color combination for a young girl.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of bright pink above the teenage girl and she looked up, alarmed. To her utter amazement, her hair had turned bright pink with marine blue stripes. Apart from that, instead of the usual curls it had was now sleek and shiny, although it was still the same length. Charlotte didn’t have the slightest idea how it had happened; Lopez had told her nothing about this.

Starting to feel better, she removed her blanket and stepped out of the hospital bed. She was still a little wobbly on her feet, but she managed to make it to the mirror. Staring at her image intensely, she also found out that her irises had turned into discs of the deepest, sparkly emerald. Strangely, she didn’t feel very bad about the sudden change. The pink with blue was unusual, but it didn’t look that bad on her.
She turned around as she heard groaning, and saw the other girl opening her eyes.

OOC: Background info: Room 1: Me, Tunduli. Room 2: Reynald, Brendan. Room 3: Dwayna. Just in case you forgot.

 

[Tunolipede]

Life working in a cafe was boring. More boring than Angela could have imagined. It was just the same thing over and over again, standing behind a counter. Waiting for someone to come. Writing down a bunch of letters and numbers. Waiting for someone she hardly talked to, yet lived with, to bring her a plate. Walking over to a table and putting the plate down, and forcing a fake smile. Over and over again. It was even worst when Angela didn't even have a sense of taste, - having to watch all of these people eating and enjoying their food. To Angela, everything tasted like cardboard.

"Good morning, what would you like to order?" Angie asked, pretending to be cheerful. She looked up at the person - a woman in her eighties, grey hair, old fashioned dress, glasses.

What a weirdo, she thought to herself, forcing yet another false smile.

"C-could I have, hum ... a-a Chicken soup with ... with, a lamb stew and ... a latte, please." The woman stuttered, staring up at Angie with a clueless expression.
"Yeah," Angela muttered back, sure, whatever, she thought.

Oh, yes, this was the most horrible, boring job that anyone could ever have, in Angie's books. Even the people were all boring. Especially Julia, the woman who ran the cafe. She was the most boring, annoying person without the littlest amount of personality that one person could ever contain. That was basically every thought of Angie's put together as she walked glumly through to the kitchen. The three boys that worked there would always make fun of and tease Angie - everytime she had to come through, she dreaded it.

"Oh lookie there, here's Whitey," one of them grinned as he noticed Angie stepping through the door.

"Albino-girl, hey!" another one shouted.

"Ooooh, red eyes!" the third one chanted.

"Shut up," Angie muttered. "Having no colour is better than having no brain ..." she said quietly, but clear enough for the three boys to hear.

"Oooh, watch out, she's got an attitude!" one of the boys hissed. "Hurry up and give us the order, lady."

"Chicken soup, lamb stew and a latte." Angela called as she left the room, craning her neck behind her. "And do it quick!"

"Excuse me?" A man's voice called, coming from in front of Angie.

Angie turned her head back forwards. A tall man wearing a suit and short, sleek brown hair was stood in front of the counter, looking serious. He looked like the kind of man that would be emotionless even if someone he knew died. He also didn't look like the person who would come to such a cheap restaraunt, especially this one. Many thoughts streamed through Angie's mind as she stared the man up and down.

"And ... what would you like to order?" she asked, not even trying to fake a smile.

"I'd like to order a miss Angela Cookson," the man muttered, as he looked down at a pad he had in his hands. He took out a badge from his jacket and showed it to Angie. "I come from the Government, and we need Ms.Cookson."

Angela looked quite amazed. She muttered, "well, um, what's Ms.Cookson done, can I ask?"

"Nothing - well, she's shown to be ... special, in our studies." The tall man answered, staring back at Angela. His face remained emotionless. "Where is Ms.Cookson?"

"Em, I'm Ms.Cookson," Angie muttered.

***​

"Um, where are we going?" Angie asked, sounding agitated.

"No where special." The cop answered, as Angela, dressed in her waitress clothes, followed him steadily. "We're just going into our test room. And by test, it's not anything big." He stated, suspiciously coughing at the end.

For about 10 minutes straight, Angela followed him. It felt like it had lasted much longer, constantly walking and walking ... and walking.

Suddenly, the Government man stopped by a sleek, new, black sports car. He put the keys into the hole in the side of the door for the back seat and opened it, looking at Angela through his sunglass-covered eyes. "If you'd please, in the car." He muttered seriously.

Angie just stared at him. For a moment, she felt unsure if he was actually from the Government. He might be trying to kidnap her - or worst. Maybe he was a murderer, and his target was lone orphans - after all, they had no family, nobody would care if they got killed, and nobody would notice and get him arrested. Angela's heartbeat sped up a few seconds and she started to fidgit with her hands.

"Are you alright, Ms. Cookson?" the "Government man" asked Angela.

"D-don't ..." Angie muttered. "Don't kidnap me ..."

The man in the suit laughed. "What do you mean? I've taken you from your work because you're on the Alpha list. We're basically a scheme to help orphaned children find a new ...er ..." he coughed, "life."

Eventually, Angela decided to step into the car, right foot first. She sat at the seat nearest the end that the man didn't sit on, which happened to be the left. As he drove onwards, Angela was thinking of many questions that she was bursting to ask. She stared out of the window, although not really paying attention to anything that was in her sight outside. Finally, she pushed herself to ask a question.

"Why me?" Angie asked.

The man laughed, before peering up to the mirror to look at her reflection. "What do you mean?"

"Well, um, I mean why me?" Angela asked, starting to sound agitated.

"You seem ... interesting," the man answered, turning his focus back to the road in front of him. They swerved around two turns to the right, and one to the left, before the man decided to say something else. "We wanted orphans, mainly, for our test. And you seemed to stick out. Are you ... em ..."

"Albino?" Angela butted in, looking in the mirror at the man. "Yes. So is my mum. But she's ... dead."

There was a long, awkward silence as the man continued to drive on.

After about 10-15 minutes, they stopped at a large building. It looked old and unused - Angela was (again) unsure if this man was truelly an official. The building looked as if no one had used it in a number of years, if it had been used at all, and there was an old sign hanging on the side with "Area 51" printed in bold, black letters. The building didn't look old but it looked more dirty and rusted. It was like a huge garage.

Angela and the man stepped in - the whole building was one room. Angie was quickly whisked off and sat down beside a large bed - it looked a lot like a suntan booth.

"You are ... Ms. Cookson, am I right?" A woman dressed in white asked her, jotting down some notes on her peice of paper.

"Um. Correct?" Angie answered.

"Let me do some tests," the woman said, handing Angela a peice of gum. "Go on, - chew." she urged. Angela put it in to her mouth. There was the slightest hint of mint in the back of her mouth.

"I can hardly taste this ..." Angie muttered.

"Is it not strong enough?"

"It must be pretty strong - but my sense of taste isn't too good."

"Ah, I see - on to the next test," the woman said, holding up a bell and putting it up to Angela's ear. "Can you hear that?"

"Loud and clear!" Angie shouted over the loud chiming bell.

"Ah, I see - and the next ..." the woman held up a white board, with blotches of black, arranged in a near-circle. "What shape and colour do you see?"

"They're in a circle and they're black ..." Angie blinked slowly. She didn't understand what was going on, and the woman seemed scarily rushed.

"Okay, last test!" The woman clapped her hands once. She held a small ball of tissue underneath Angela's nose. "What does it smell of?"

"Lavender." Angela muttered.

"Okay, we'll keep your test results." The woman said, rushing over to a tall man in a lab coat. They conferred for a quick five minutes with each other, every now and again peering over to Angela. Bored and confused, Angela fumbled with her hands. She noticed that she was shaking a little bit, and she coughed quietly - a small signal that was meant to say "Um, I'm still here".

"Ah, yes, Angela Cookson," The man smiled as he walked over to Angela, shaking her hand. "My name is Mr Smith. If you would just follow me, ma'am."

Doing so, Angie looked around as they walked through the long, unusually clean building. There were glass tubes and studying boards, trays of what looked like potions and peices of ragged clothes. Without noticing, Angela stepped on Mr Smith's heels, slowly stepping backwards again and apoligising under her breath.

"Step inside this tube, if you will." Mr Smith smiled at Angie.

Her body tensed up. Step inside the tube? What? "Why?"

Mr Smith laughed; Angela was at first taken aback. Why was he laughing? She didn't notice that she had spoken aloud. Taking Mr Smith's, at first, polite smile as an urging to enter the tube, Angie did so, whiping her clothes as she stepped inside. Mr Smith closed the tube door and smiled, almost disturbingly.

"Thank you, Angela." said Mr Smith. "We will now start the sleeping gas, and you will fall asleep soon enough. Chances are, you will awake in a few hours. We hope to see you then."

Mr Smith walked over to a metal panel, full of switches and levers. Alarmed, confused and scared, Angela started pushing against the glass. What was going to happen? Would they do ... anything ... to ... her ... ?

Confused still, Angela slouched against the back of the glass tube and fell unconcious.

 

[I love Eevee!]

Click, click, click.

Luna hated the noise of the computer's keyboard. She wanted to be out of the stupid office. Just because I'm special, doesn't mean I have to sit in here until I'm twenty, Luna thought. What was a fourteen year old girl supposed to do in an office like this?

Luna felt strangled in the tiny space of the mail room. Her cot sat in there. She had nowhere to move it. “At least I'm going to school tomorrow.” She said, and fell asleep.

When Luna woke up, the office was busy. “School?” She asked the nearest worker, who responded that the office was busy. Luna sighed, and left the office anyway. She was met with the shock of her life. A police officer, standing right there. “Excuse me, but are you Luna Wolfram?” He asked her, and she nodded slightly. “Alright,” He said, “Will you come with me? I've heard you don't like your workplace, and the government has a better place for you. All we need to do is conduct some experiments...” Luna was silent for a minute. Thoughts swirled through her head. “Where is it?” she asked. “I can't tell you Unless you want to go,” the officer said, obviously annoyed. Luna narrowed her eyes. “Come back tomorrow, and I'll give you an answer, Okay?” The man frowned and said, “ You may contact me at the station. Ask for officer Donan. Come tomorrow at 10 o' clock, sharp!” Then he turned around, stepped into his car, and drove away.

At school, Luna fake smiled at all the kids and teachers in the hall. She wondered if they knew. If they knew she couldn't smell anything. She felt scared that people would tease her, hurt her if she said so. Luna's school was slightly violent, so kids worried about getting hurt there. Then the thought of officer Donan entered her head. Was he nice? Was he a kidnapper? A murderer? Luna had no clue what to think. When a teacher asked what Luna smelled, 2 hours later, as a senses project, she lied and said it smelled rich and nice. They believed her. When she was given another thing to smell, she said it smelled nice, but not as good as the other one. They believed. Lying was part of her everyday life, so why was her mind telling her to let it go?

Luna returned to work with nobody missing her. “Good,” she said, and smiled slightly. She left to the beach. The California beaches were beautiful. Especially to Luna.

Luna sat on the beach, laughing to herself. “What was I worried about again?” She asked herself. The answer came straight to her. The officer, the government, tests... Luna frowned and left, she didn't want to be upset at her favorite place.

When she got up in the morning, Luna felt sick and went outside. It was claustrophobic inside, and smelly, and horrible, and the people were mean, and... She made up her mind. Luna caught a taxi to the police station.

“Good,” Officer Donan said, when Luna stepped in the room. Okay, she told herself, I can do this. “I would like to go wherever it is we are going. I am done with this city.” Luna announced. “Alright good.” Mr. Donan said. “We will leave now.

During the ride, Mr. Donan's mood lightened considerably. Luna and he joked as if they were old friends. Eventually though, Both ran out of things to say, and the car silently passed through a large desert that Luna thought was Nevada. Just when Luna was going to fall asleep, they arrived at their destination. She yawned and got out of the car. “Are we at Area 51?” Luna asked sleepily. Please say no, she thought. “Yes we are!” Officer Donan said, and he lead Luna up to a woman, who had many objects spread out in front of her. “Alright, Mr. Donan, You may leave.” The woman said. The guard didn't leave though. He stood by, watching the woman. The woman then picked up a piece of gum and gave it to Luna. She shrugged and said, “I'm not allowed,” pointing to her braces. “Fine,” The woman said, then she rang a bell in Luna's ears, and Luna stared at the woman, annoyed. Then, she shone a flashlight into Luna's eyes. Luna yelped and said, “Don't scare me like that!” The woman didn't respond, but held up a cloth and asked, “What do you smell?” Luna sniffed, then said, “Nothing. I smell nothing.” The woman smiled, and Mr. Donan escorted her inside.

Luna was taken into a room with many tubes in it, if she had to guess, probably ten feet tall. A scientist supposedly “appeared” next to her, and she jumped, this place freaked her out. “Hello, My name is Smith,” he said, and Luna attempted to smile. “Could you please step in here?” Smith asked her, opening a test tube door. What? She thought, but said, “Okay...” and stepped inside. “We will turn on sleeping gas now, good night Luna.” Smith said and Luna blacked out.

“Ugh...” Luna muttered. Where am I? She thought. Luna sat up in the bed she was in and opened her eyes. “A hospital room?” she said, then she stood on her shaky legs. She sat back almost immediately, as a bright red light shone above her head. Luna shook violently, then stood to look in the mirror. “Wow!” She said, as she realized her straight, black hair had turned bouncy and red. Her eyes had turned dark blue as well. Luna sat again, and for the first time, noticed that she was alone, and it scared her , but she was too tired so Luna lay back down and fell asleep.

 

[Brendan Savem]

(I know Reynald´s supposed to post first, but I´ll probably never get the chance to do so later)

The doors opened and Derek stepped inside. The first things he noticed were the six glass tubes that lined each side of the room. Men and women in white coats tapped away at keyboards and control panels that operated the bleached white machinery that worked silently apart from the slight whirr and buzz of movement. The entire room smelt sanitized like a hospital. In three of the tubes, he could see bodies of some sort, he couldn’t see their faces due to the reinforced glass blurring all their details from the outside. When Derek first entered the room, one of the tubes hissed and opened up. The inside of the tube was like an operating table, where the patient would lay as doctors cut their client open to investigate their organs. As soon as the tube finished opening the tube, one of the scientists stepped over to Derek with a clipboard in his arm. The man studied the papers on the clipboard for a few moments, as if unaware to the blonde-haired teenager in front of him. Finally, the man looked up and smiled into Derek’s hazel eyes, as if he was looking at a long-time friend.

“Derek Alexston, I presume, I am Mr. Smith. I suppose you’re new to Las Vegas, you’re parents have been trying very hard to find you in Ohio.” He introduced,

“They just like the publicity.” Derek said, in a half-hushed tone, only realizing what he was saying after he spoke, “I mean, just call me Derek, I don’t want to think about them right now.”

“Well Derek, I hope you’re ready for this. This project will have several impacts on your appearance-“

"What's the worse that could happen? Hair falling out? Acne? No skin?" Derek questioned impatiently, chuckling a bit at his last words.

"You seem enthusiastic to be part of the project-"

"Well I always wanted to be a superhero, sounds better than what my parents had in mind."

"Rearing to go then? Okay, just sit in the tube there, and we will get started." Mr. Smith said, pointing towards the open tube. Derek almost ran towards the contraption and laid down. The tube buzzed and slowly, the glass closed over the table, sealing Derek inside. He could see Mr. Smith's body, blurred behind the glass, as he dialed some last minute commands. "Just relax now," the scientist's voice echoed, Derek could barely hear him from inside the tube. "This gas we are about to fill in your tube should put you to sleep for a while, we should see you again in a few hours." He finished, no sooner did he speak that a hiss and a green colored gas filled the capsule. As Derek's eyelids dropped and sent him into his dreams, he reflected on the previous two hours, that have whirled him from a first jewel robbery, to a government project.


Sunday, 10:04AM

Working in a jewelry store is a powerful but taunting experience: an entire fortune at your fingertips, and yet it is not for you, neither is the money from selling it. What you get out of it is a basic store clerk wage, if it wasn’t for the detectors at the doors and the camera that his manager used to spy on the clerk at his counter and any customer that came into the shop, he might as well have been working at a flower shop or convenience store. Today was just another day; three customers have already come and gone since the store opened in the mall an hour ago. A tramp sat just in front of the store, almost right next to the door, he couldn’t care less. The mall cops would move him along soon enough. Suddenly, the doors opened and a young teenager came in, wearing a dirty green shirt, a sports bag, beige shorts, a Buff multi-functional headwear worn as a headband, and a pair of sandals; unlikely clothes to be found on a normal teenager in Las Vegas.

“Must be on his way to the beach or something.” The clerk mumbled to himself, before perking up to sound more friendly than he felt.

“Hello young man, what might you be looking for?” he asked,

“I’m looking for something really high quality. My dad wants to propose to his girlfriend see, and he thought I should browse the store for a good ring.” The teenager explained in a friendly manner, but the clerk couldn’t help but notice the slight nervousness in his voice.

“Ah, the grand question. Only the finest rings can show just what a man means by those four simple yet magical words. I actually have quite a selection here.” The clerk reached under the glass counter and pulled out a shelf on which eight rows of rings sat embedded in Styrofoam, each ring was almost completely different to the ones around it, a small sapphire silver ring, an enormous ruby planted in gold, a silver ring with fine-designed diamond butterflies encircling it. "Take your time choosing, if you don't have the money for one now, we can reserve it for when you return with your-" the clerk stopped, just outside the window, there was some sort of commotion going on. Two men apparently started fighting in the middle of the mall, a crowd quickly flocked around them, forming a barrier that kept the mall security from interfering. "Hang on kid, I just have to see what this is all about." The clerk then ran outside to find out what the fight was all about, three seconds later, a door behind the counter burst open and a stout man with a knuckle full of rings and a gold necklace stormed out completely furious.

"Parker! You better come back in here right now! You do NOT leave a customer waiting, especially a juvenile!" he shouted, then stormed outside after his employee. Now, alone in the jewelry store, Derek set to work. He was instructed carefully to only take things that didn't stand out amongst others, so that they will not be missed so easily. A handful of rings, some of the necklaces hanging on the wall, and an anklet on a plastic mannequin foot. Derek opened up his sports bag and dropped the goods in amongst layers of sports clothing. Derek then walked over to the door and placed the bag near the door, just before the detectors that would sound off if he tried to take the jewels without paying. The tramp near the door turned around and nodded to Derek with a toothy grin. Derek leaned forward and began to whisper to the tramp, or more as his 'employer'.

"So how are we supposed to get these past the metal detectors? You never really ran that through me beforehand."

"Just slow down kiddo, I'll deal with the detectors, you're just about done now. Make sure to keep your manners and say bye like a good little kid before you go." He said. Derek looked up to see the fight outside had ended; a planned distraction to get the staff out of the store. Derek made it back to the table and acted as if nothing happened. The manager went back into his office and slammed the door, the clerk went back to the counter and talked with Derek again.

"Sorry about that, did you find anything interesting yet?" he asked,

"Um… yeah, I think this one here should be nice." Derek said, pointing to the one with the diamond butterfly pattern.

"A fine choice, shall I put it on reserve until you return?" Derek began to get nervous, he wanted to get out of here before the clerk realized some of the jewelry was missing.
"Um, y-yeah, I'll be back with my d-dad later to-tonight" Derek stammered, backing towards the door. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping that made Derek jump.

"What the!" the clerk shouted, Derek realized that it was the alarm, somehow, the siren went off as soon as he passed the sensors. "What did you-" the clerk demanded, but Derek had already done the most stupidest thing ever; he ran. Suddenly, the back door burst open and the manager stormed out again, his face a deep red with fury.

"I told you not to leave the store for a reason Parker! That brat probably stole a damn fortune!" he shouted, then ran off in pursuit of the thief, the poor clerk was left there, terrified for the dire fate of the boy, and his job. Just outside, the tramp picked up the sports bag he slid past the sensors as soon as Derek stepped through.

"Sorry kid, but you're on your own now. Should teach you a thing or two about running away from home." He grinned, hiding the sports bag in his coat and then left the scene, perfectly blending as an innocent bystander.

Derek dashed through the mall, dodging people, cops, and scenery. As soon as Derek got through the doors, he took a right and began running towards the road. Suddenly, a sleek black car pulled up on the road in front of him, Derek saw the car and saw it so close he was about to crash into it, Derek turned right again, and instead tripped over a short wall and fell face-first into a bed of flowers. Derek groaned: it happened again. He misjudged the distance and was actually two feet away from the car, it always seemed to happen in a situation like this, and always ended in disaster. Before Derek could get up again, he felt something press against his head, a gun or something like that,

"Freeze!" A voice ordered, two other men with guns then circled him with their firearms pointing at Derek.

"No need." A different voice called, the three mall cops looked up to see the man from the black car step walking towards them.

"Stand aside civilian, we can handle this shoplifter." The cop ordered,

"That won't be necessary" the man took out a badge, "FBI here, now lower the guns and let me take this kid in for questioning." The officer sighed,

"Just when we get some action, a guy like you shows up to take the credit. Alright, the punk's yours" the cops then retreated to their mall. The FBI agent handcuffed Derek and pulled him onto his feet.

"Misjudged the distance and thought you were going to slam my car, didn't you?" he whispered, Derek raised an eyebrow,

"Something like that, not everyday that a thief gets caught by daisies."

"Then you must be Derek without a doubt." Derek's heart sank, this guy was here to take him back to his parents, he could feel how angry they would be when they found out their son was all the way in Las Vegas.

"I believe you're trying to get away from your family, for a time at least. There are much easier ways than robbing from a mall for some petty thieves, such as accepting our little proposal." Derek turned his head around,

"What proposal?" he asked, ears perked.

"Get in the car quietly, and we can discuss this with my boss." He walked Derek over to the car and opened the back door, Derek got in and heard the door close and lock behind him. The FBI agent got in the front behind the steering wheel and turned on the engine.

Sunday, 5:36AM

"I don't recommend this one." a man said in a stressed tone, he was on the edge of getting angry. Mr. Smith sat in his chair behind the desk, the desk was covered in profiles of the children approved for the Alpha program, Derek's profile sat in the middle, and was the topic of the discussion.

"I must digress, but Derek is a resourceful youngster, he fills all the necessary characteristics for the program perfectly." Mr. Smith explained, it didn't help much in the argument.

"But Derek isn't homeless. He's a runaway, he should be returned to his family." The scientist insisted,

"Please, runaways usually run away to get away from the families, not so people like us could send them back. Derek will be more than willing to go through with this, I can assure you."

"This isn't a joke sir! Don't you realize how much buzz his escapade is causing in Ohio? Derek's mother is going to begin her campaign for senator in a matter of months. The last thing she needs right now is wasting time handing out flyers when we have her son in our program. And think about what would happen if the public finds out that we used a missing person for the program, there will be an uproar that will make us look like kidnappers. There are plenty of other teenagers in the Las Vegas streets, I highly suggest you find someone else."

"Plenty of others, I can admit. But not enough that fit the necessary criteria for the program, Derek fits perfectly, and we would be doing him a favor. He wasn't too happy with the plans for president that his parents had for him. Derek will do much better in the program than meddling with world politics. Trust me, these kids, and these kids alone, are the only ones that would be able to master the changes in the Alpha program." The scientist, feeling beaten, let out a small sigh.

"I pray for your good judgment. You are running on high ground now."

"So be it. Have agent Edward head for the Center Mall as soon as he's dropped Elizabeth off. And don't mention this discussion to Mr. Brown just yet. At least until I've talked to him." Mr. Smith dismissed his subordinate and continued filling out paperwork and notes for the final launch.

Sunday, 12: 10PM

"So let me get this straight," Derek said, sitting on a chair similar to the ones psychologists had their patients lie on. Derek was talking to the same agent that brought him here, while a person with a variety of tools looked through Derek's whole body, examining his ears, eyes, and other senses while taking notes.

"You want me to go ahead with this governmental program that will make me some sort of mutant superhero?"

"That's the basic idea Derek." the agent replied, "We need teenagers like yourself to make the program work, they need to fulfill the necessary criteria to make the program work, such as being in growth development-"

"Puberty, I get it. There's no need to bore me with the details- lavender." Derek interrupted, now juggling his voice between the agent's conversation and the scientist's examination.

"Our concern however is how willing you are with this. You're an unusual one for us to be working with, being a runaway from Ohio and all. So the question is, do you agree?"

"Spearmint... Yes, I believe I made up my mind a while ago. This is a childhood dream I'm getting the chance to live out. Anyone with a sense of decency would do the same."

"And you don't mind about your parents?"

"My parents should be happy that their son is going to make a giant leap for mankind. They can talk about making me a politician when I'm old and dead." Derek vowed, annoyed that his parents were being brought into the conversation.

"As long as you're willing." The agent said, he then looked over to the scientist, who replied with a small nod, indicating that the physical exam was complete, and that Derek was ready. "Come along with me then, we should get started right away."

Sunday, 3:12PM

Derek had an odd way of waking up, a habit that developed in earlier years that stuck on to him, giving his awakening a sense of order. First, his hearing would reactivate, resuming to send sounds to his brain, then his eyes would open, blurry at first due to his half-consciousness, and then finally, the rest of his senses and his muscles would spring to life. A whole wakeup could take as long as twenty minutes. Derek awoke in what appeared to be a hospital room, with a desk and drawers marked with labels marking where to find each of the different life-support equipment. There no windows, two doors, and two beds in the room, one of which Derek was laid in. One of the doors was large, and obviously led to the rest of the building. The other one was smaller and probably led to a bathroom or something like that. Derek sat up and rubbed his eyes awake, nearly jumping out of his skin when he saw his hands. Instead of their regular color, his hands were now a fair brown color, like chocolate.

"Several impacts on my appearance, guess he wasn't kidding." Derek muttered, repeating what Mr. Smith told him just before he got in the tube. Groggily, Derek managed to lift his head so he could turn the rest of his body off the bed. Derek took one look at his current garments and instantly felt disgusted. It was one of those paper-like hospital robes that usually come a couple sizes too small. When Derek broke his leg once while his parents were on business trips, the night in that hospital was the worst. Thankfully, his own clothes were easy to find, the same ones he had earlier today, just cleaned and ironed, and stitched where needed. Derek grabbed his clothes and made headway to the bathroom, he did not even notice the other teenager in the bed next to him. It should have been an easy job, but not for Derek and his bad eye coordination, it was next to impossible for him to get his legs into the garments properly, he might as well have been trying to do it blind. The cold wind just made it worse, blowing past his legs like feathers. Derek froze, wind?! There was not even a window in the bathroom! Suddenly, it stopped, as if it was part of his imagination. But he was sure that it happened, a net-sponge on a hook on the wall was swinging back and forth like a pendulum. After finally getting his clothing on, Derek took a look at himself in the mirror.

“Nope, he wasn´t kidding at all.” Derek said again as he saw the rest of the changes on him. His blonde hair was now jet black and much thicker and wavier than before. And his eyes were now a deep violet color, as purple as the lavender he was forced to smell before the experiment. The lack of pupils was even scarier; his eyes were now cauldrons of witch brew stirring gently in the dim light. “I don´t even know whether to say this is creepy or cool,” Derek said, “but I´ll settle with cool for now.” Satisfied with his survey, Derek escaped the bathroom and back to the bedroom. Derek finally noticed that he had a roommate, a teenager around his age with black hair that turned into silver tips, making Derek´s hair change look perfectly natural. Derek should not have said anything, but his tongue just seemed to have a life of its own.

“You awake now then? Didn´t expect to have a roommate, how´s it going by the way, you should check yourself out in a mirror. I doubt you looked like that before.”

 

[Reynald]

OOC: Sorry for the delay haven’t had much time to get anything done and had little inspiration to write. I don’t have the original of my first couple posts so I had to re do the whole thing. Which I’m ok with because I am slightly adjusting some things to make it a bit easier for all of us to role play together. Don’t worry; Vincent is still himself and will probably still have words about what is going on.

IC:

Saturday, 2:00 A.M.

‘Crap…Today is just not my day…’

Black sedans pulled into the school parking lot, surrounding a lone 16 year old boy. The kid raised a hand to quickly cover his deep, dark blue eyes from the searing lights of the black vehicles. His black hair fell down to around his shoulders, feathering out around his chin and his bangs fell in front of his eyes. He heard one of the car doors open and someone stepped out. The boy raised his free hand in the air as if surrendering.

“That’s quite enough running Vincent Avery.” A male voice said casually.

“Alright. You got me. But I’m not going to one of your foster homes.” Vincent said defiantly. This was ridiculous; usually child services gave up if they couldn’t find the kid they were looking for at the guardian’s house. Why were they suddenly so pushy? Someone must have caught on that Vincent couldn’t see because the car lights shut off. The pain that had been building up faded away, allowing Vincent to actually get a good look at his captors. The man before him was a bit taller than Vincent and looked like he was from Men in Black.

“We are not from child services, Mr. Avery.” The man said calmly, “My name is Detective Ramirez, FBI.”

Vincent laughed, “Right! FBI of course! Now why on earth would the Federal Bureau of Investigation be chasing a sixteen year old kid all over Las Vegas? I’ll need to see your badge there Detective” He made sure to pronounce the last word mockingly. Ramirez sighed. Vincent’s sharp ears picked out him muttering, “Why do we have to deal with this…” before walking up to Vincent and flashing his badge. Vincent gave it a once over. It looked correct, still, it didn’t make him any more comfortable. Why would they chase him around like that? He didn’t do anything wrong.

Ramirez put his badge away and crossed his arms, “There. Now that you believe where I’m from? Let’s get down to business. You’ve been drafted and we need for you to come with us.”

“Drafted for what?”

“Someone will explain when we get there. Just get in the damn car. You’ve wasted enough of our time as it is.” Ramirez made a grab for Vince’s arm, which he jerked away reflexively and followed the agent to the open door of the black sedan. Ramirez slammed the door on Vincent and climbed in the front seat. His partner joined in Ramirez’s complaints, “Just because his dad was…Christ they don’t pay us for this crap.” He then reached for his radio and began talking to what Vincent could only guess as was other agents. Vincent sighed and closed his eyes to protect them from the glaring lights of the city.

‘How did this all happen…?’

Saturday, 2:00 P.M.

“Vincent! Wake up!”

Vincent jerked awake and looked around the classroom. A couple of the kids around him snickered and shook their heads. The teacher, Mr. Malcolm, was glaring at him. Immediately, the terrible lighting of the cramped classroom began its torture on Vincent’s eyes. He closed his eyes tightly to shut out the light, “Yes Professor?”

Professor Malcolm sighed and turned to the problem on the board, “Well since no one else has been listening maybe you can give us the answer to the problem on the board?”

Vincent opened his right eye long enough to get an extremely blurry look at the whiteboard. ‘Damn lights…’ he cursed in his head as he rubbed his eyes furiously to get a better look, which didn’t help that much. The school lighting was hellish. He looked one more time and it didn’t take him long to get an answer, “18.4 meters per second, Professor. Though that is only if the Vi is assumed to be 0. Any other number in there would either result in a completely wrong answer or be impossible to solve.” And with that he went back to sleep for the remainder of class. No, Vincent wasn’t in summer school or anything like that. He was just taking college courses and the only free time he had was on his weekends. Not that Vincent really cared, it got him time away from his lovable step dad and it wasn’t like Vincent had many friends anyways.

Fortunately, the bell saved the day and marked the end of another boring physics class. The teacher yelled the homework assignment as the kids practically ran out of the room. Vincent was the last one out, the homework would be easy like always. Plus he had a whole week to do it. A few kids waved to him as he made his way out of the school, which Vincent returned with a friendly smile. A few others tried to hide their joking remarks, though they failed miserably. A good plus to Vincent’s genetic defect was his other senses worked overtime to compensate when his eyes weren’t working right. It didn’t help that Vincent had a “Goth” look about his attire. He wore fitting black t-shirts, baggy black cargo pants, combat boots and cut off gloves. Not the typical dress for a genius wouldn’t you say?

Genius came naturally to Vincent, thanks to his dad. So naturally that he tried to hide it. Of course, it always bled out in the end. Vincent left the school and started down the road when he noticed something. A black sedan parked across the school, with some men looking through the windows. Vincent didn’t pay any mind, until a few blocks down when he saw the black sedan was following him. It was fortunate he lived in Vegas; he knew all the back alleys to his crappy apartment. It didn’t take long for Vincent to lose the sedan and reach his “house”.

“Hey boy! Grab me a beer!”

First thing he hears when he enters the door is his step dad. Vincent’s real dad was a popular scientist known for his work with bio chemistry and mechanical engineering. Unfortunately he died a few years ago leaving Vincent with only his mother and now a step dad. To make matters worse was then his mother abandoned Vince and left him with his step dad. Life couldn’t get any better could it?

“Don’t ignore me kid! You’re in my house!”

A beer can flew inches from Vincent’s face and collided with the door frame. ‘Just a few more years and I can get out of here with the money dad left. Just a few more years.’ Vincent repeated the mantra in his head as he bolted for his bedroom, ducking a few more flying cans, insults, and curses. He slammed the door and barricaded it. He would have locked it but his guardian didn’t believe in locks, or cell phones, computers, or any other form of communication that would allow Vincent to have a life. The only reason his step dad didn’t straight up leave as well was because of the checks that came in from mom occasionally, which was always spent on more beer and gambling. Though, if Vincent left before he was eighteen, all that money that was left for Vince would go to him. Vincent collapsed on his bed and stared at the ceiling, waiting for the day to just end.

A knock on the front door woke Vincent up. He had slept for a few hours and the sun was going down. His stepdad answered, “Yea who is it?”

“Is your son, Vincent, here?”

Step dad laughed, “Ain’t my boy but what’s it to you if he is here?”

“We need to speak with him is all. Is he in?”

Vincent heard his step dad scratch his chin, “You boys from child services or something? Come to take him away and say I’m a bad guardian. Well take him. Boy’s nothing but trouble and don’t listen to a damn thing I tell him. You can have him.” He sounded victorious. Vincent’s step dad was about to inherit a boat load of money.

‘Not if I can help it.’ Vincent thought miserably. Child services came by every now and then to try and take Vincent, always with his step dad's approval. Vincent had learned how to deal with them. He slipped out his bedroom window and out into the alleyway. Hopefully, they would give up looking for him and he could go back to his normal, if somewhat miserable life.

Sunday, 12:00 P.M. – Brown’s Office –

“They ABDUCTED him!?” Colonel Brown shouted and threw the tennis ball he had been fiddling with against a bookshelf, “Christ! Does anyone from the Bureau know how to handle children!? Why did you even pick that one?”

Smith sighed and waited for the colonel’s anger to subside, “His father was one of the main scientists working on this project. He insisted that his son be allowed in. His son matches the criteria perfectly, and he is very intelligent.”

Brown stared at Smith, “That is all good and dandy but WHY didn’t the bureau explain anything or at least TRY to be polite? The kid is going to HATE us and refuse to cooperate!”

Smith nodded and walked to the bookshelf. He picked up the tennis ball and admired the various books on the shelf, “They have been trying to track him down for quite some time. His step-father has been moving from place to place avoiding us completely. And as I said, the boy is smart and has been avoiding us as well.” He walked back to the colonel and handed him the tennis ball, “They had to improvise and were impatient. I will try to smooth this over. Don’t worry, I doubt he will remain that angry with us after everything is said and done.”

Brown sighed and rubbed his eyes, “You better Smith. I would hate to have one of those kids upset with us after we have given them powers…”

Sunday, 1:00 P.M.

“Taste this.”

Vincent put the piece of gum into his mouth and chewed impatiently. When were they going to explain what was going on? He had been dragged here under the guise that they were going to TELL him what was up and now they are making him chew gum! The building’s lighting was starting to irritate Vincent’s eyes. He could feel the burn starting at the back of his head and making his eyes water.

“It’s Juicy Fruit. What is the point of –“

“Smell this.” The woman interrupted, holding up a bit of cloth while she scratched down some notes on her notepad. Vincent inhaled a strong sent of lavender. It was a bit too strong for Vincent’s taste.

“Lavender of course. Now will you –“

A sharp, loud ringing assaulted Vincent’s ears. He clapped his hands around his ears and swore loudly, “What was the deal with that!? Look lady I’m getting tired of –“

“So you could hear that?” She said calmly as she scratched down more notes. The burn that had started a while ago was now so bad that Vincent could barely see and everything was mildly blurry. Vincent clamped his mouth shut and merely nodded angrily. The nurse grabbed a flashlight and shone it directly into Vincent’s eyes, instantly curing the pain that was building up. The nurse gave him a curious look as he stared directly through the light at her.

“That doesn’t bother you?”

Vincent huffed, “No. You not answering any questions and this buildings lighting bother me. Now why OW! CRAP!” He grabbed at his eyes as the lady shut off the flashlight, forcing his eyes to try and adjust. Which of course they didn’t causing a lance of pain. The lady looked at him before turning on the light and once again shining it into Vincent’s eyes.

“It’s a mutation of hypersensitive eyes lady. My pupils’ muscles don’t work so they can’t adjust do the lighting when it changes. It hurts like hell when they try by the way. Bright lights or no light my eyes can work perfectly, better than that actually. In crappy lighting like dawn, dusk, or this room my eyes hurt constantly because of the constant need to adjust to the light. Now what is going on!? What is with all these tests?”

Before the lady could answer an elderly man walked in smiling, “Definitely your father’s son, Vincent. You’ve grown up quite a bit, last time I saw you was about five years ago at your father’s funeral.” The lady finished up her notes before nodding to the man and leaving the room, clicking off the lights as she went. Vincent sighed in relief as his eyes relaxed. He blinked a few times before looking at the man closer.

“You’re Smith. Dad’s old friend right? Maybe you can explain what is going on.” Vincent said guardedly. Smith and Dad worked on many projects together but Smith rarely visited. So Vincent didn’t know what to expect of this man.

Smith merely smiled, “Of course, I’ll explain while we go to another room. Will you follow me?”

Vincent reluctantly agreed and got up to follow Smith throughout the building’s hallways. Smith kept his eyes on Vincent as they walked, “Your father and I were working on a large project before he died. Did he ever tell you about it?”

“No he usually kept work to himself and in the basement. Something to do with the human body, I remember him staying up late working on it.”

“Correct. More specifically, we were trying to make essentially a ‘super human’. We have been working to perfect it, but with little success. Animals have only shown increases in physical abilities but nothing psychological. We need actual human test subjects for the project to work completely.”

Vincent tensed and stopped walking, “You mean teenagers.”

Smith nodded, “Correct. Being in puberty the results –“

“- Would be drastically better than using an adult. Plus an adult’s body may not handle the rapid changes that would happen.” Vincent finished quickly, “That’s too dangerous though. Teenager’s minds aren’t completely developed. You would have no idea what the effects could do to it. Plus the idea of controlling the elements…Who’s to say that we will be able to control these abilities if they can even be created?”

Smith smiled and put his hand on Vincent’s back, making him start to move through the hallways again, “Just like your dad. He worried about the same things and strove to fix them. That’s why he was up late every night. You are correct; there are a lot of unknowns. But the only way to learn and fix what is needed is to test them. This is why we need you. Your dad asked that you be a part of this. He figured you would make the perfect subject.”

Vincent sat quietly, thinking. Finally they reached the room Smith was looking for. The room was large with several glass tubes, about ten feet high and six feet wide, with glass doors and a lot of tubes and gauging meters attached to them. Vincent sighed, “What about the money my dad left. I doubt you are allowed to kidnap teenagers off the streets without some way to take care of them. And I don’t want a foster parent if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Smith chuckled, “Yes, well. You will still receive your father’s money, don’t worry I will personally see to that. And the project comes with a plan to school all of you on the weekends, free time to actually have a life if you wish, payment for doing the jobs we ask, and of course training during the week. What do you say, Vincent.”

Vincent stared at the open tube. It was a bit scary to be honest. The positives were immense; he would have powers and be just like in the comic books. But life really didn’t work that way, there was always another side to the story. And that was assuming the project worked at all. This could very well kill him or any manner of things. It was a toss up, “Yea. I guess I’m in. Though I don’t like it all that much. This could go all kinds of wrong. I just hope you can control everyone else…” And with that he entered the tube and tried to relax. Soon an odd scent filled the air, Vincent barely had time to register that it was medical sleeping gas before he drifted off to sleep.

Sunday, 3:12 P.M. – Hospital Room –

Vincent awoke to a body wide throb of pain. It started in his head and worked its way down to his toes. He groaned to himself and tried to sit up. The first thing he noticed was that his mind felt unnaturally open. The second thing he noticed was a strange sense of…force floating around everything. He pushed the feeling out of his head and got himself into a full sitting position. The lights were off, fortunately, giving Vincent a good look at the room. It was a typical hospital room, two beds, two doors, no windows. He closed his eyes and tried to push down the waves of pains that were emanating from his muscles. He felt somewhat clumsy. His body was reacting faster to his brains commands than normal.

‘Guess it was a success…though what actually changed I’m not sure…’ Vincent thought as he tried to clear his head.

“You awake now then? Didn´t expect to have a roommate, how´s it going by the way, you should check yourself out in a mirror. I doubt you looked like that before.”

Vincent’s eyes snapped open and he looked at the source of the voice. It was a guy. He looked a bit younger than Vincent. He had wavy black hair, and dark skin. That wasn’t the unsettling part. The unsettling part was the boy’s violet eyes with absolutely no pupils. His face was somewhat familiar, but Vincent must be mistaken because the boy he was thinking of was white. He slipped out of bed and stood wobbly on his feet. “Yea... My name’s Vincent. Guess you’re part of this too…” He said politely before moving to the bathroom. The kid had left the lights on, which cause pain to rush through his eyes.

Vincent about yelled out loud once his eyes managed to decipher what he was seeing. His jet black hair now gradually changed to pure, metallic silver at the tips. But that wasn’t the creepy part. His blue eyes were now a swirling mercury color. And by swirling I mean they were literally swirling, as if his irises were made out of liquid. The other creepy part was when the light hit his pupils. Every time the light hit his pupils they seemed to fill with crimson, glowing energy. It was disturbing, “Wow…” Vincent muttered as he turned off the lights. He gave himself one last look and noticed that even when it was dark, the silver color of his eyes and hair still seemed to shine, as if they were literally made out of metal.

Vincent shook his head to clear it and looked at the kid, “What’s your name? And I assume you know what’s going on here right?”

 

[Dwayna DragonFire]

((OOC: I am also late because I didn't archive my posts so I had to rewrite this post from whatever popped into my mind.))

BIC:

The blonde girl with glasses waited outside at the bus stop, holding herself in good posture despite her miserable disposition. Her attire was comprised of a blue shirt and some ripped up jeans, a hat and some sunglasses. They barely covered up the bruises she had all over her skin, which were more apparent when she had to go to work and put on her waitress uniform. She always explained that she was quite clumsy even though she showed herself to be nothing but graceful, and no one believed her explanations. They all seemed to know the truth of the situation, or so it seemed from the two women who were whispering conversation to one another. Little did they know that Elizabeth Aelo could hear their every word due to her having super sensitive hearing.

"I hear her father beats her," said one of them to the other. "He went ballistic after the girl's mom died." The other women gasped softly and looked at Elizabeth with sympathy, who pretended that she couldn't hear a thing. The women only really assumed the truth about what her father really did to her every night she came home from work. Flashes of her memories came back to her of the unpleasantness, a shiver running down her spine.

Flashback

"You're late," said the gruff voice of her father as it always did whenever she got home. She heard the jingling and cracking of his belt, the telltale sign of a repeat of the previous day. Elizabeth endured it as best as she could, and when it was over she had to make dinner for him. Those were the only times where he seemed pleased with her work, but sadly she would have no solace from his wicked ways just yet.

He always told Elizabeth to go to his bedroom to wait for him, and she did in exactly the way he liked, even if she didn't. She would brace herself every night for the onslaught of pain that he would give her a different way, his lies of love making their way through her ears whenever he was finished. She would then go back to her own bedroom and cry herself to sleep, the next morning to wake up and race out the door to go to work, only for the same situation to repeat itself whenever she got home.

End Flashback

A sigh escaped her lips as she knew she would be getting the same treatment tonight, except worse. It was a Friday night, which meant she didn't have work tomorrow and had no hope of escaping until it was Monday again. Elizabeth didn't have a lot of friends as she preferred to keep away from people as much as possible, for fear of them getting her father in trouble. Whenever the cops came to visit, she would get her punishment a whole lot worse than usual, sometimes to the point of bleeding.

This thought is what scared her the most when the bus dropped her off near to her house. She saw the police cars along with a nondescript black car waiting outside, the yells of denial heard from inside of the house as they cuffed her father. they stepped outside to meet her, the two burly police men holding her struggling father while another man in black wearing sunglasses trailed behind them. As soon as her father noticed her he calmed and gave a wicked smile, at which she flinched at knowing her duty.

"Go on then, girl," he said to her as he always did. "Tell them that I don't beat you." She looked towards the men and buried her emotions deep, an emptiness clouding her expression as she prepared the lie. However the man in black stepped forward, a gentle smile on his face before he opened his suitcase to reveal a laptop. He touched his fingers to his lips to signal that Elizabeth be quiet, and she obeyed, more so out of curiosity than anything else. He opened the laptop, and it seemed to turn on instantly, and he typed in a complex code to bring up a video which covered the full screen.

Elizabeth soon found herself looking away as what her father did to her every night was displayed on the screen in full detail. The video seemed to cover several weeks as more instances happened. Finally it was to the point where the last time the police came, and she covered her ears as the man in black turned up the volume to hear her own screams as the belt cut into her skin, skipping dinner to have a rough session of his other wicked ways. She was brought to tears again, but the FBI agent closed the laptop after that, speaking for the first time.

"Mister Aelo," he began, "You have been found guilty of abuse on several accounts towards your own daughter. As such you will not only be sent to jail, but it will be in a high security area where you have no hope of escaping or getting out. You will never be able to hurt your daughter or another human being again for as long as you still live. Take him away, boys." At that command, the two burly men threw her father into the limo, afterwards returning to their cars after the limo door was locked. They went off in succession, the sirens disappearing into the distance, leaving her alone with the man in black.

"Elizabeth," he said in a gentle whisper, as if he knew her sensitivity to sound very well. "I know it's hard for you to trust men because of what your father has done to you all these months since your mother died in that car crash. However I'd like you to know that I'm from the FBI, and I want to take you somewhere safe where you don't have to worry about anyone hurting you." He held out his FBI badge in his wallet towards her, causing her to believe him even further. she wanted to trust him, but when the FBI people came for someone there was usually more of a catch.

"I can tell what you're thinking," he said to her, causing her to look at him in a frightened manner. "You're right that I'm here for a reason. there's a special government program for teenagers going on right now called Project Alpha. It's a project where we give test subject heightened reflexes and senses as well as special abilities that can be akin to super powers. Even for all of those interesting developments, we found that there is a catch to it. We need people who are flawed in some way, and you seem the perfect subject because of your bad eyesight and super sensitive hearing. After it's all finished we can set you up with new parents or whatever you like, you don't even have to stay with us. However if you do stay with us, you will be paid for doing jobs that we ask of you. It's your choice."

Elizabeth took in all of this information, her curiosity about it all becoming overwhelming. She would gain super powers, a chance for a new life, and the possibility of a new family if she wanted it. The kind FBI agent looked at her with a warm smile, and offered his hand out in a friendly manner. She knew that if she accepted his hand, her whole world would change from now on, and no matter what happened she would never have to see her father again. She timidly reached her hand out and took his hand in hers, which he seemed to grip gently and carefully, the first time she knew anything gentle since her mother had died.

Another limo drove up and the FBI agent opened the door for her, nodding at her reassuringly. Elizabeth sat down on the seat with him sitting in next to her, folding his hands in her lap and respecting her personal space. The limo pulled away from the driveway and started going wherever they were taking her to do this experiment, and he didn't try to advance on her in any way. Something gripped her heart in a strange way, and she gently reached out to tap his shoulder. He turned his head towards her and popped an eyebrow, at which she lent towards him and plopped her head into his chest. He seemed startled by this at first, but soon after warm arms gently wrapped around her in a hug, another experience she had sorely missed these months passed.

With all of the weight and paranoia of her father finally lifted off of her shoulders, she finally let go of all of the stress built up inside of her by crying onto the agents shoulder as they drove, and he never moved from his place in silent acceptance of this.

---

They came to Area 51, and she was lead down into a laboratory type place. A woman was there in a lab coat waiting with a clipboard and pen, and when asked Elizabeth sat down in a chair. She was quite nervous, but she knew that this was only going to be the beginning of her new life.

First the woman had her chew some gum, which was a gift in and of itself. Elizabeth rarely got the pleasure of having gum, so when the minty freshness hit her mouth it was a pleasure to tell the woman she enjoyed it. Next was smelling a lavender textile, which reminded her of the diner she was working at before she had come here. After that the woman shone a light in her eyes, merely reminding her of when she went to the optometrist to get her eyes checked.

When the bell came up to her ear, as soon as the lady started ringing it a headache exploded into her mind. Elizabeth desperately covered her ears, at which the woman stopped, but the ringing was still repeating itself awfully in her mind like a bad dream. She took some time to regain her composure, hearing the scribbling of the woman's pen before she was left to get back up off of the chair.

The FBI agent led her down another hallway, this one filled with windows to what seemed to be test chambers. Some seemed to be glowing with an ethereal light, and Elizabeth stood to wonder if there was another person in there. Her question was answered when she was motioned to step into a similar room, this one also with two chambers. Nervously she stepped into one, only to have the door close behind her when she turned back around, causing her to tremble in fear.

“W-wait,” she yelled, speaking for the first time to the agent in her smooth, childish voice. “You're the first man who's ever been nice to me. Please... tell me... your name.” She was beginning to feel quite drowsy, no doubt meaning the agent had turned on the sleeping gas. Before she lost consciousness, she saw his smile as he mouthed one word, which she committed to memory straight away.

Edward.

---

Elizabeth woke to find herself on a hospital type room in a gown, strangely quiet and alone. A mirror was placed nearby, and she could scarcely believe what she saw there. Her blond hair had turned a pink color, and if she looked close enough she could see her previously blue eyes swirl with silvery energy, like pools of magic dust. Edward had not mentioned that she would change in appearance as well, but she supposed he didn't have the time and that it was warranted now that she had powers.

She still had her old thoughts swimming around her head and found her appearance to be that of a monster. The price I had to pay to be free from my father, she thought sadly.

 

[Brendan Savem]

(back home and active at full throttle!)

Derek stepped aside to let Vincent into the bathroom, then sat down on his own bed and began imagining what other changes he had other than his face. Maybe he had super-strength or a healing factor. Or maybe he could teleport anywhere he wanted to. Or maybe transform into different aliens, or even set things on fire with his mind. What really perked him however what role his eyes played in them. Were they really liquid now? If he stuck his finger in his eye, would parts of it stick to his finger like water. Derek didn’t really want to try it though; no need to lose an eye so soon.

“And what’s your name? And do you know what’s going on?” Vincent asked, Derek was nudged back to reality.

“Name’s Derek. Derek-“ he stopped. This was one of few occasions he was able to stop himself talking. He had to breathe in before he finished what he said. “Just… Derek.” It would have been better if nobody knew his last name, for obvious reasons.

“And yeah, I followed on the whole bioengineering thing going on here. We sign up, get mutated, and wake up with super powers. They said there would be side-effects; we’re looking at them. Never mentioned comes next though.” Derek paused, “Why? You think they’re hiding something? I wouldn’t blame you; governments are famous for that sort of thing. Can’t be that bad though, what’s the worse that could happen?”