Name:  Kevin Spencer
 
Description:
 
   African-American; 5'11"; medium build; 165 lbs; 29 years old; tightly
curled dark brown hair, cut very short; tends to dress conservatively
 
Background:
 
   Dr. Kevin Spencer grew up in the upper middle-class suburb of 
Glastonbury,
Connecticut, the son of Henry and Sarah Spencer.  He has two brothers, 
Gary
(35) and Thomas (27), and one sister, Lisa (31).  He had a very normal 
sort
of childhood, with parents who encouraged him in whatever he tried.
 
   After attending Boston College as an undergrad he went on to attend 
the
UConn School of Medicine, where he specialized in the field of 
pediatrics.
After he served his residency he joined his friend Dr. Brian Kitchner 
(who
he met in medical school) to open a practice in the fairly affluent suburb
of Simsbury, Connecticut.  In his spare time he likes to write children's
stories, though he has not yet been published.
 
Personality:
 
   Dr. Spencer is a happy, gentle, generous, easy-going guy.  He loves
his work and loves children, and his patients love him.  He's just one of
those people who can form an instant rapport with kids.  Kevin didn't 
become
a doctor to make money, he became a doctor to help people.
 
<><><><><>

[GM]

It's been a busy week... Brian was on vacation, leaving you to handle the
practice on your own. Only for one week, and your new secretary, Linda, 
has
proven to be enormously efficient, but still, you ended up working longer
hours than anytime since your internship, and you were very glad when 
Brian
finally got back from visiting his future in-laws with his fiancee, so you
could actually get a weekend to relax.

The last page of your first effort that you think might truly be worthy of
submission to a publisher is glowing on the screen in front of you. 
Brian's
fiancee, Janet, positively gushed over the rough draft, and when you 
read it
to a couple of your neighbor's kids, you got positive reviews from them, 
too.
The list of children's book publishers is sitting on your desk next to your
computer...now you just have to decide who to send it to first.

The peaceful, cheerful mood you were enjoying is shattered when 
someone begins
pounding on your door. REALLY pounding! James Sterling, a 13 year-
old who
lives across the street, is screaming frantically. "Doctor Spencer! 
DOCTOR
SPENCER!" He has that tone that people only get in life-and-death 
situations.

<><><><><>

[message lost]

<><><><><>

[GM]

James doesn't even wrinkle his nose at being called "Jimmy", a 
nickname which
everyone calls him and he hates, so you know it's serious.

"Ben's on fire!" he gasps. "He burnt Donald and Jesse 'cause they were 
pickin'
on him, and now he's screaming and he's on fire!"

Somehow, there's some logic missing in this recounting of events, but 
the
urgency is clear. Ben is Jimmy's younger brother. Donald and Jesse are 
a
couple of the older kids in the neighborhood, and while you wouldn't 
exactly
call them bad kids, they do tend to be somewhat bullying.

"C'mon!" James urges, jumping backwards off your porch, looking at you 
to
follow. "Lisa already ran inside an' called 911!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   For a moment Kevin considers going to grab his medical bag, but if 
Ben
is on fire there's no time for that.

   He follows Jimmy as quickly as he can.

<><><><><>

[GM]

You rush across the street, following James, and find Ben sitting on their
front lawn, crying but looking quite unharmed.

There are, however, scorch marks in the grass around him. A couple 
more adults
are emerging from the house next door. You see Donald and Jesse both 
running
away down the street, Donald noticeably limping.

"He was on fire!" James exclaims. "He WAS!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin moves quickly to Ben and checks him over to make sure he is 
really as
unharmed as he first appears.

   Then he looks around at the lawn.  "Jimmy, did Ben have something 
that
might burn?  Hairspray, bugspray or anything in a spraycan?"

   "And where are your parents?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

James shakes his head emphatically. "No, he was FLAMING, like the 
Human
Torch!"

Ben is so frightened by whatever happened that he can't answer your 
questions,
but he's fine...no signs of burns or other injuries anywhere on him.

"Our parents went to the furniture store...Jeanie [a teenager who lives 
around
the block] is babysittin' us." He wrinkles his nose, since obviously HE
doesn't need a babysitter... "She's probably talkin' on the phone to her
booooyfriend..." he drawls out the last word mockingly.

At this moment, Jeanie comes walking out onto the porch, puzzled by 
the
commotion in the yard, then disturbed when she sees you. "Doctor
Spencer...what's wrong?" She turns a little pale as she sees you're 
inspecting
Ben, and notices the burnt grass.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   For a moment Dr. Spencer is tempted to shout at the teenager about 
what
being a babysitter means... but when he sees how worried Jeanie looks 
he keeps
his temper in check.

   "Apparently Ben was on fire," he explains, "so Jimmy ran over to get 
me."
Kevin looks down at Ben.  "Ben seems to be fine now, but since there 
obviously
was some sort of fire," he gestures to the burnt lawn, "I'm trying to figure
out what happened.  Maybe Ben got some kind of flammable liquid on 
himself and
it somehow burned off without hurting him... or his clothes."

   He turns back to Jimmy.

   "Jimmy, is there anything you remember about Ben catching fire that 
you
Iaven't told me?  Was he playing with a lighter... or did Jesse and 
Donald do
something to him?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

Jeanie almost freaks out. "On FIRE?" She runs down and kneels next to 
Ben.
"How could he be on fire and not be burnt omigod!"

Jimmy shakes his head. "NO! No one was playing with fire. All Jesse 
and Donald
were doin' was teasing him and throwing his Power Ranger figures 
around."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "People don't just burst into flames and not get burned Jimmy," Kevin
tries to explain.  "That sort of thing only happens in comic books..."

   He thinks back over the headlines of the past few weeks.  Surely Ben
couldn't be one of *them*.  He's just a child!

   "Think carefully Jimmy... has anything gotten burned around your 
house
lately?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Wouldja stop callin' me Jimmy?" the boy pleads.

He shakes his head. "No, I don't think so." He looks at Ben. "Hey, you 
think
he's one of those superhumans, like Pulsar or Paladin?" He looks both 
excited
at the prospect, and a little jealous. "Hey Ben, if you can shoot fireballs,
you're gonna have to learn to be more careful!"

That doesn't exactly calm Ben much. He begins crying harder. "Don't be 
silly,
Jimmy!" Jeanie says indignantly, as she tries to comfort the younger 
boy. "I'm
sure there's a...a really simple explanation. Right, Dr. Spencer?"

You can hear the sirens of emergency vehicles approaching, a few 
blocks away.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "James," Kevin says calmly, "I doubt that your brother is a 
superhuman...
or metahuman... or whatever they call them.  Like Jeanie says, there's
probably a simple explanation for what happened... we just have to find 
out
what it is."

   Despite his words to Jimmy though, Kevin is beginning to wonder if 
maybe...
no.  Something must have happened that Jimmy didn't see, and that 
meant that
Donald and Jesse might know something.  If the older boys had gotten 
burned in
whatever happened their parents probably wouldn't object to having a 
doctor
stop by.

   First though he had to try to explain things to the firefighters.

<><><><><>

[GM]

By the time firefighters, an ambulance and a police car all show up, 
Jeanie
has already taken Ben and Jimmy inside, and hovers nervously near the 
front
door. The firefighters look at the scorch marks on the grass, unamused.
Paramedics come rushing to the porch.

"Where's the burn victim?" they ask.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin sighs.  "Hi, I'm Doctor Spencer... and there is no burn
victim.  As you can see by the scorch marks on the lawn there was some
sort of fire," he explains, gesturing toward the burned grass, "but I
checked the young boy involved over thoroughly and couldn't find even
minor burns anywhere on his body."

<><><><><>

[GM]

The emergency personnel speak to you, Jeanie, and the two boys, 
making sure
that it was indeed a false alarm. They give the boys and their thoroughly
mortified babysitter a stern lecture about playing with fire, limited city
resources, and how much it costs every time fire trucks and ambulances 
are
called out. By the time they're done, poor Jeanie looks like she feels 
about
six inches tall, and James can't take his eyes off his toes. Ben just keeps
sniffling.

"Glad everything is all right- at least no one was actually hurt," the police
officer on the scene says to you, before getting back in his car.

Other adults have come out of their houses, of course, and you have to 
spend
some more time explaining the situation to them. Finally, people start to
disperse, and you're able to make sure Jeanie and her charges are 
going to be
OK, before going to see Donald and Jesse's parents. Donald lives down 
the
street, but Jesse lives a few blocks away; you don't actually know his
address.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin says goodbye to Jeanie, James, and Ben, then starts walking 
down the
street toward Donald's house.  Since he was the one who limped away 
he's more
likely to need a doctor anyway.

   Once he reaches Donald's house Dr. Spencer walks up onto the front 
porch
and rings the doorbell.

<><><><><>

[GM]

Both boys are inside, as is Donald's older (21) brother, Harry, who 
answers
the door.

"He saw it, he was there!" says Donald eagerly, as he spots you over 
Harry's
shoulder. "Did you see that little freak turn into a human torch, Doctor
Spencer? He %#&@$ tried to kill us!"

Harry looks skeptical. "Is my punk brother trippin', doc? He's got a little
burn on his leg, and he's sayin' that little kid down the street lit up like a
flamethrower or somethin'."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin shrugs. "That's what I'm here to find out Harry.  I didn't get there
in time to actually see Ben on fire, but there were scorch marks on the 
grass.
Since Ben wasn't burned at all I'm trying to find out just what happened...
and I was hoping that Donald and Jesse could tell me what they saw."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"I TOLD you, Ben burst into flames and shot 'em at us!" Donald insists. 
Harry
opens the door to let you in. "Let the doc look at your leg, dude," he says 
to
his younger brother.

Donald obligingly sits on his couch and rolls up a singed pants leg to 
reveal
a mild burn, about what you might get from playing with an aerosal can 
and a
lighter. Jesse has sooty marks on his jeans as well, but despite the little
wisps of smoke rising from them, seems to be uninjured.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin examines Donald's leg carefully.  "This burn doesn't look too 
bad,"
he says, and then dispenses the appropriate medical advice about how 
to deal
with it.  [Because I'm not sure what is appropriate. :) ]

   "How about you Jesse?  Did you see Ben burst into flames too?" he 
asks.
"That's the story that Ben's brother told too, but I find it hard to believe
that Ben was really on fire... especially since he wasn't burned at all 
when I
checked him out."

   Actually Kevin is starting to believe that the idea of Ben being some 
sort
of metahuman might not be outside the realm of possibility.  Obviously 
Jimmy
and Donald didn't get together and come up with this story, and if Ben 
really
did burst into flames without getting hurt... well, there obviously are
metahumans in the world so it's *possible* Ben might be one.

   In any case, Kevin wasn't about to give validity to Donald's story by
appearing to believe him.

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Yeah, I saw it!" Jesse exclaims. "He &%$@! shot fireballs at us! That 
kid's
dangerous!"

Harry sips from his drink, and looks skeptical. "If you guys are makin' 
this
up, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you, Donald!" Donald looks at his big
brother with a 'yeah, right' expression. "We ain't making it up. That kid is 
a
freak, like those ones on TV. Did I make up this burn?" He points, and 
looks
at you for support.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Even though Kevin is starting to think that Donald might be right, he's
not about to admit that in front of Harry.  As long as it's just kids
telling stories most people aren't likely to believe that little Ben is
a metahuman, but if a local doctor starts supporting their story...

   "No," he says, "but that doesn't mean you didn't make up how you got 
it.
I think a can of hairspray and a match could get you a burn like that, and
that a story about Ben being smoe sort of metahuman would be a way to 
cover
up what really happened."

   Kevin stands up and moves toward the door.  "Nobody was seriously 
injured
*this* time, but next time you might not be so lucky," he says, looking 
from
Donald to Jesse.  "Think about it."

   He nods to Harry and heads outside, then walks back to Ben and 
Jimmy's
house.

<><><><><>

[GM]

Ben and Jimmy's parents have returned by the time you walk back to 
their
house. Mrs. Sterling lets you in immediately. "Doctor Spenser! Jeanie 
told us
what happened- thank you so much for coming over! I still haven't been 
able to
figure out what's going on. Jimmy is telling me a strange story about Ben
bursting into flames, and Jeanie didn't even see what happened, and 
Ben won't
talk about it." She looks extremely worried. "Are those two boys down 
the
street all right?"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "Don't worry Mrs. Sterling," Kevin begins in his best 'your son/daughter 
is
going to be fine' voice.  "Whatever happened, Ben is fine and the other 
two
boys only have some very minor burns."

   "Now that I've talked to everyone who saw the fire though... I think you
and I need to have a talk about Ben."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Oh....all right." She invites you inside. "I'm sure Ben didn't mean to burn
those two boys," she says nervously. "But believe me, I *will* have a 
very
strict talk with him and his brother!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin smiles.  "I'm sure you will Mrs. Sterling."  The smile goes away.
"That's not what I want to talk to you about though."

   He's quiet for a moment, struggling to find the right words.  "I've never
had to talk to a parent about something like this before, and to be honest 
I
don't really know how to ease into this topic.  Ummm... have you seen 
the
reports about metahumans that have been showing up in the news 
lately?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Yes," Mrs. Sterling answers. "Awful, all that carnage. I can't believe 
these
things are really happening. It's like some late night movie is becoming
reality." Her eyes narrow, in suspicion and alarm. "What does this have 
to do
with Ben?"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin decides to try to just say what he wants to say as quickly as
possible, since it's obvious that Mrs. Sterling isn't going to take his 
theory
very well.

   "Jimmy and the two other boys all said that Ben burst into flames and 
threw
balls of fire.  Since there wasn't any opportunity for Jimmy to have 
agreed on
the story with Donald and Jesse after the fire, and since I don't think 
there
is any way that Jimmy would have been part of planning something that 
involved
setting his brother on fire, they are all probably telling the truth.  Add to
that the fact that Ben wasn't burned at all, but there definitely was a fire,
and I think we have to consider the *possibility* that Ben might be...
special."

   He holds up his hands to forstall the expected protest and pushes on. 
"Mrs.
Sterling, I'm not saying that your son *is* a metahuman.  I'm just saying 
that
something strange happened to Ben today, and since it seems that there 
really
are metahumans in the world we should at least consider the possibility.
Since it involves fire and a young child I think you and your husband 
should
keep a careful eye on Ben, just to be safe."

   Kevin stops and braces himself for Mrs. Sterling's reaction.

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Why...why...that's the most outlandish...you can't be serious! You ARE
serious, aren't you?" She looks flustered and confused. "It can't be....it's
all adults on the news, turning into metahumans. It can't happen to 
children,
can it?"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   After putting his hands gently on Mrs. Sterling's shoulders, Kevin 
speaks
in his best 'calming down the parents' voice.

   "I don't know if it can happen to children.  Any medical research into
metahumans is being kept quiet so far, so I don't have any information to 
go
by beyond what's been on the news.  It's just that I don't think we should
completely ignore the possibility that Ben *might* be special just 
because the
odds of it being true are very small."

   Kevin sighs.  "I don't want you to overreact to this Mrs. Sterling.  It's
possible that Ben somehow got some sort of flammable liquid on his 
clothes
which somehow got ignited and quickly burned away without hurting him.  
I just
think that since you're Ben's mother it would be wrong for me to keep 
anything
from you, no matter how improbable, when there's a chance someone 
could get
hurt.  Ben's very young and if he does have some sort of... ability that
involves fire he's too young to realize that he might hurt people.  I think
today's incident has frightened him enough that he'll try to be careful, but
he is just a child."

   "Do you think I could talk to Ben?  Maybe he can help clear up exactly 
what
did happen."

<><><><><>

[GM]

Mrs. Sterling nods, looking distraught. "Yes...yes, let's talk to him. Oh, 
I'm
sure you're mistaken. He can't possibly....can't possibly be like one of 
these
beings tearing up cities and killing people. They must have been playing 
with
lighter fluid or something..."

You follow her inside, where Ben looks calmed down somewhat from 
immediately
after the incident. He looks up at you, then at his mother. "I don't need a
doctor," he says stubbornly. "I'm OK, Mommy. I didn't do anything bad!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "Ben," Kevin begins, getting down on one knee so he's nearer to the 
child's
level, "we aren't saying you did anything bad.  We want to find out what
Donald and Jesse did."

   "Did they try to hurt you?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

"They were pushing me and teasing me," Ben says. "And they wouldn't 
give me
back my Power Ranger figures. But I didn't mean to hurt them!"

"What do you mean you didn't mean to hurt them?" his mother asks. 
"What did
you do, Ben?"

"I didn't do ANYthing!" he wails.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "Ben," Kevin says in a calm tone, "Donald and Jesse aren't hurt.  I 
went to
see them and they're both fine.  All that they got were some burn marks 
on
their clothes, and a little bit of pain... like when you drink hot chocolate
that's too hot."

   He pauses for a moment.

   "We know there was a fire Ben, and Donald, Jesse and your brother 
all say
that it was you that was on fire.  We're not mad about the fire... we're just
worried about you.  I know you're a smart boy, so can you tell us 
*exactly*
what happened when the fire came?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

Ben's lip trembles, and he gets a most curious expression...a young 
child
struggling mightily to come up with a description of events that are 
beyond
his frame of reference.

"I don't know," he says finally, relapsing into the universal explanation of 
6
year-olds. "The fire was just there, 'cause I was getting mad. But I didn't
mean to do it. I thought it was gonna burn ME, but it didn't."

"Oh my God," Mrs. Sterling says weakly. She gets up and heads directly 
for
Jimmy. "They must have been playing with something flammable, like 
you
said....they *must* have been! JAMES WILLARD STERLING, come here 
right NOW
young man!"

But another interrogation of Ben's older brother doesn't shake their 
story-
they adamantly insist that they had nothing flammable, and that the fires 
just
appeared around Ben as he was struggling to get his toys back.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin is fairly sure from Ben's initial reaction to his question about the
details of the fire that there is something more than just flammable liquid
involved.  Somehow Ben started the fire.

   That conclusion doesn't do much good though, because it's obvious 
that Ben
can't explain what happened and Mrs. Sterling won't accept that Ben 
might be a
metahuman... whatever that means.  Kevin realizes that he has no idea 
what to
look for, or what questions to ask, or what to do even if he could 
somehow
prove that Ben is special.

   So what can he do?  Just ignoring the situation is no solution, because 
Ben
could really hurt someone next time.

   Frustrated, he makes his farewells, suggesting one last time that Mrs.
Sterling keep a careful eye on her youngest son, and heads home.

<><><><><>

[GM]

[Anything in mind to do the next day?]

<><><><><>

Kevin:

[If you're asking if I actually have some clever plan for delving further 
into
Ben's condition, the answer is no. :) ]

   Kevin gets up early the next morning after a mostly sleepless night.  A
night spent lying awake trying to figure out somewhere he could turn for 
help
with Ben.

   "Damn," he mutters to himself as he waits for the coffee to finish 
brewing.
After retrieving the paper from the porch he tries to sit down and stop
thinking about Ben while he reads through yesterday's news.  It doesn't 
seem
to work though, as he finds himself skimming through articles looking for
references to "superhumans" and "metahumans."

<><><><><>

[GM]

No new cities seem to have been destroyed by metahumans lately, 
though it
looks like Seattle may have narrowly avoided such a fate. The world 
goes on,
trying to adjust....but there's chaos in Europe, as anti-metahuman rallies
follow the devestation in Budapest and Germany and Marseilles.

Someone is inflicting massive damage to the Brazilian army in the 
hinterlands,
and there's talk of revolution in the streets.

And of course, your Internet traffic is WAY down...."Black Ice" may be 
just
one man, but he's pretty effectively put a freeze on a large part of the
global email network...everyone is terrified of someone who can reach 
through
a telephone line and kill people at random. The panic is irrational, as
experts have already predicted that this man could probably kill people 
just
as easily through a normal telephone connection, thus suggesting you're 
in
just as much danger answering the phone as collecting mail from the
Internet...but it hasn't saved CompuServe and America Online from 
being nearly
shut down.

200 members of Paladin's fan club held a wake for their hero in 
Washington,
D.C. this morning.

The rest of your day passes uneventfully, though somehow, you can't 
focus
enough to get much work done on your book.

At about 3 pm, you see the Sterling's car shoot down the street and 
screech to
a halt in their driveway. Which, besides the recklessness, is unusual 
because
Mrs. Sterling usually gets home precisely at 5:15.

She gets out of her car, looking frantic, carrying Ben and followed by 
James,
as she rushes into their house.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin's first thought is of course that something must have happened
involving Ben, so he runs out of his front door and hurries across the 
street
the the Sterling's house.  Once he's there he takes a deep breath and 
rings
the doorbell.

<><><><><>

[GM]

Mrs. Sterling cracks the door, looking panicked. She seems a little 
relieved
to see you, but not much. "You were right," she moans. "God help us, 
you were
right, Ben DOES burst into flames when he's upset. Oh God, I've got to 
take
him away from here, the government is going to come get him!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin isn't happy to hear that he was right about Ben.

   "What happened Mrs. Sterling?  Did Ben hurt someone?" he asks, 
concerned
that Ben may have seriously injured someone this time.  "You know... 
having
the goverment come for Ben might not be the worst thing that could 
happen.
They are probably the only ones who really know anything about 
metahumans
right now, and they may be able to help Ben control his powers so he 
doesn't
harm anyone by accident."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"My God, he nearly set the school on fire!" Mrs. Sterling exclaims, 
almost
hysterical. "I think he KILLED those kids! They...they were picking on 
him
again..." Ben cries hysterically himself, blubbering something like
"didntmeantooooo..."

"They said government agents were on their way...I don't want him 
locked in an
institution, or experimented on!" his mother says. "They're not taking my
baby!"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "Killed..." Kevin begins in a weak voice.

   "Mrs. Sterling, if there's a chance that Ben is able to *kill* people
without meaning to you need to get him help."  He lays his hand gently 
on her
shoulder,  "Right now there's no one I know about who can help him 
except
maybe the government.  I'm sure they'll let you stay with Ben," he says, 
and
then pauses for a moment, "and if you need me to I'll go along too and 
help
you make sure that whatever they do is in Ben's best interests."

   "Please Mrs. Sterling... running away won't help anything."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"I've seen X-files!" Mrs. Sterling shrieks. (It occurs to you belatedly that
Mrs. Sterling, while one of the nicest people you know, never has struck 
you
as being particularly...bright.) "They'll try to lock him up in a
laboratory...they'll say he's too dangerous to be allowed to run free...just
like...like Drew Barrymore! I mean the girl she played in that movie..."

Her hysterical ranting, of course, is doing nothing to calm Ben. As he 
cries
"Nomommyno don'twannago!", you see an unnatural glow beginning to 
shine from
his eyes.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   *RUN* a voice inside him screams, but Kevin pushes it down and does 
his
best not to let his fear show in his voice.  He does take his hand off of 
Mrs.
Sterling's shoulder though.

   "OK, Mrs. Sterling, OK," he says in what he hopes is a soothing tone, 
"if
you're that worried about it we'll keep Ben away from them.  You need to 
calm
down though so we can figure out a plan... I don't think that just jumping 
in
a car and driving away will be enough.  We won't get far if we panic.  For
Ben's sake we need to keep calm."

<><><><><>

[GM]

Mrs. Sterling takes a deep breath, and looks around frantically, 
obviously not
even sure what she's looking for. "My sister...my sister lives in upstate 
New
York. I'll take him there."

Ben sniffles, and repeats "didn't mean to, don't wanna..." the glow fades 
from
his eyes...but a bottle of pancake syrup on the counter suddenly bursts 
open,
spraying everyone with hot syrup.

"Benjamin, sweetie, you have to stop that," his mother says soothingly, 
with
just a slight edge of panic in her voice.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

"I called his father," Mrs. Sterling tells you. "I didn't tell him all the
details, but I said we'd be going to my sister's."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin ventures a tentative smile.  "That sounds like a good plan... or at
least the start of one," he says reassuringly, making an effort not to look 
at
the remains of the syrup bottle.

   "Tell you what, I'll keep an eye on Ben while you pack.  That way when 
your
husband gets home you'll be ready to go."  He moves one hand to his 
face and
wipes off some of the syrup.  "And would you mind if I used your sink?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

Mrs. Sterling nods, distractedly, and goes upstairs. While you wash the 
syrup off, Ben rocks back and forth.

"I didn't mean to start any fires" he says. "I couldn't help it. They just 
happened."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin grabs a dishtowel and dries his hands and face.

   "I know you didn't Ben," he says gently, crouching down in front of the
boy.  "I know that when you're mad or scared the fire just comes.  What 
you
need to do is try to make the fire go where you want it to go.  When you
feel it coming try to concentrate on a tree or a chair instead of a person,
so that no one will get hurt."

   *Not that I have any idea if that will work*, Kevin thinks to himself,
*But it's certainly better than just telling him not to get scared.*

<><><><><>

[GM]

Ben nods, though you're not sure if he really understood you. He seems 
in shock.

Mrs. Sterling comes down five minutes later, still flushed and frantic, with 
a packed suitcase. "Ok," she gasps. "We're going, now. We aren't 
waiting for my husband. He'll join us at my sister's."

You hear sirens, coming down the street.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   As is often the case with those who feel thay have reason to fear the 
law, Kevin is sure that the sirens must be on their way here.

   He is also fairly sure that given the mental states of both Ben and his 
mother there is good chance that any confrontation is likely to result in 
someone getting hurt... or even killed.

   Rather than try to deal with two people who he is sure aren't behaving 
rationally he quickly stands and rushes outside on to the porch.

   Surely whoever is coming for Ben will see reason.

<><><><><>

[GM]

It's quite a reception for one little boy. *One little boy who can set people 
on fire...* Police cars screech to a halt on each side of the street, and a 
SWAT van is coming around the corner. The clanging of a fire truck not 
far away indicates the fire department intends to send its own 
detachement as well, but the sudden manifestation of more guns than 
you'd ever wanted to see, all in your quiet, upper-class suburban 
neighborhood, and a police force arrayed before you as if closing in on 
John Doe #2, is the stuff of your nightmares. Your world is being rattled.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin just stands on the porch, too stunned for a few moments to do 
anything but gape at the army that has arrived because of Ben.

   Then he runs down the porch steps and onto the lawn, looking around 
frantically for someone who looks like they might be in charge of all this 
firepower.  If he spots someone who seems to fit that description he runs 
toward them, desperate for a chance to explain just how big a mistake 
they are making.

<><><><><>

[GM]

The first officer to cross the lawn is wearing a bulletproof vest, and a 
headset. Two men follow him. You hear a helicopter approaching.

The cop looks at you. "I'll have to ask you to clear the area, sir."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   "Officer," Kevin begins, "my name is Doctor Kevin Spencer, and I'm 
Ben's pediatrician.  I know why you're here, and I know what the boy can 
do.  I came out here to tell you that given the current mental state of 
Ben, and of his mother, there's a good chance that you're going to end 
up getting some of these men hurt... or even killed."

   "Ben is very scared already, and his mother is barely rational because 
she's afraid that the government is going to take her child away."  He 
glances around at the assembled forces, thinking that obviously Ben's 
mother is right.  "Ben doesn't seem to be able to control his ability to 
start fires... when he gets scared the power just releases itself. To make 
matters worse, the more scared his mother gets the more scared Ben 
will become."

   "Do you understand what I'm telling you?  As long as you have this 
army of men here you are never going to be able to get Ben's mother to 
calm down, and without her to calm Ben the boy won't be able to keep 
from hurting your men."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"That boy started a five-alarm blaze," says the officer. "At least eight 
people are confirmed dead, seven of them children. He's obviously 
incredibly dangerous. The Justice Department has a special task force 
on the way. Now if you're his pediatrician, can you give him a sedative or 
something?"

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin is silent for a moment, a horrified expression on his face.

   "I didn't know...," he begins, "I didn't realize he had... no wonder he's 
acting the way he is."

   "I could give Ben a sedative, but I doubt his mother is going to let me 
give him anything after seeing me talking to you," Kevin explains.  "I also 
don't tend to keep sedatives around the house."

   "Maybe if I go back in I can convince Mrs. Sterling to let you take 
Ben...," he says, trailing off as he considers the odds against him being 
able to do that.  "Or at least you could wait until the task force shows 
up... they're probably more experienced in dealing with metahumans 
than either of us."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"If you can help, do it," the cop says. "We don't want to move in, we'll 
wait for the feds to show up as long as everything stays calm. But, we 
can't let him leave. And we can't let him wipe out the neighborhood 
either."

Police officers are now, ominously, taking up positions behind cars, and 
between houses.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   As the assembled forces take up positions around the once quiet 
neighborhood Kevin turns and walks quickly back to the front door of the 
Sterling house.

   Then he takes a deep breath and goes in, trying to be as calm as he 
can under the circumstances.

<><><><><>

[GM]

Mrs. Sterling holds onto Ben anxiously, rocking with him on the living 
room couch.

"What's going on?" she asks. "Why do they have so many policemen out 
there? Ben's just a CHILD, for God's sakes! They're acting like those 
thugs in Waco! Oh my God, what are we going to do?"

Ben sniffles and watches the windows nervously.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Looking at the frightened child and his mother Dr. Spencer thinks up 
and then discards several stories that he could tell Mrs. Sterling about 
what's happening.  He realizes that he may as well tell the truth... or at 
least most of it.

   "Mrs. Sterling," Kevin says quietly, walking across the room and 
crouching on the floor in front of Ben's mother, "even though Ben didn't 
mean to do it he did set the school on fire... and some people got hurt.  
The local police and fire department are here to make sure that you and 
Ben don't leave before agents from some Federal task force get here."

   "They're all *scared* Mrs. Sterling.  They don't understand why Ben 
can start fires, and they're worried that if they let him go they he'll start 
more.  The police won't let you leave Mrs. Sterling, and if you try to go 
and Ben get's scared...," he trails off, hoping that Ben's mother will be 
able to fill in the rest of the scenario.

   "There's only one way out of this Mrs. Sterling.  When the Federal 
agents come you have to take Ben and go with them.  If you're 
cooperative I'm sure they'll let you stay with your son... and if you want 
me to I'll go along to so I can monitor whatever they do to Ben and make 
sure he's ok."

<><><><><>

[GM]

"And just what will the federal government do once I've turned my baby 
over to them?" Mrs. Sterling demands. "Study him in a 
laboratory....brainwash him so he can be some kind of 
superweapon...maybe *kill* him if they decide he's too dangerous?" Her 
voice is edging into hysteria again, and of course, doing nothing to calm 
Ben.

A helicopter circles overhead, adding more ominous background noise 
to the tense scene.

When the telephone rings, Mrs. Sterling jumps with a startled cry. The 
telephone explodes, sending burning fragments of plastic and metal 
flying about the room. One lands on a newspaper sitting on the coffee 
table, setting it on fire.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Luckily Dr. Spencer is saved the trouble of answering Mrs. Sterling's 
paranoid ravings (at least for now) by the new problem of the fire.

   Realizing that he has to act quickly, Kevin kicks the burning 
newspaper onto the floor and (assuming the fire isn't already beyond the 
point where this would be a good idea) tries to stomp the flames out 
before they spread.

<><><><><>

[GM]

The fire is quickly smothered. Mrs. Sterling's fears are not. Nor are those 
of the men surrounding this house.

The policeman outside yells "What's going on in there?" His megaphone 
blasts his voice into the house. "What are those flames? Do you need 
help?"

An inarticulate whining noise begins to emit from Ben, deep in his throat. 
And his eyes are glowing again.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Dr. Kevin Spencer is merely human, and being human he has his 
limits.

   He wants to stay.  He wants to save this child.  The problem is that at 
this moment Kevin is more scared than he has ever been in his life.

   Giving an inarticulate cry of fear and frustration, he turns and runs for 
the front door.

<><><><><>

[GM]

"Doctor Spencer! Wait!" Ben's mother calls pleadingly after you, as you 
burst through the front door.

Your panicked exit provokes two dozen ominous clicks and klacks from 
pistols and shotguns ringing the house, at and across the street. The 
police are tense and edgy, for a minute you fear you might be about to 
get blown off your feet.

"Dr. Spencer, what's happening?" demands the cop on the front 
sidewalk.

Next to you, the front window of the Sterling house blows outward, a 
column of fire turning the glass to liquid and the curtains and window 
frames to incendiary ash. Every cop on the street instinctively ducks as 
flaming bits rain down on the front lawn.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   [So is the house on fire now, or was there just that one explosion of 
flame?]

   Kevin rushes over to where the cop who addressed him is presumably 
ducked down, and ducks down beside him.

   He tries to speak, but has to take a couple of deep breathes before he 
can say anything intelligible.  Finally he says, "Ben's mother was just to 
scared to reason with... she seemed to think that if she let the 
government take her son they'd conduct all sorts of horrible experiments 
on him.  Then the phone rang and Ben made it explode.  Then... then he 
started making a whining sound
.. and his eyes started to glow... and I was just so scared... so scared."

   Tears begin to stream down his cheeks.

<><><><><>

[GM]

The front window of the house is now a smoking wreck, flames lick at the 
edges, but the house itself is not ablaze.

"We're all f***in' scared," the cop says, clenching his pistol. "No one 
here wants to take out a little kid, but f***, we've seen what these 
metahumans can do! I hear a little kid with superpowers just about 
levelled a hospital in Dallas! Christ, if only they can stay calm until the 
feds arrive-"

The engine of the circling helicopter suddenly changes in tempo, for a 
brief instant. Then it explodes in a spectacular fireball.

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Obviously things aren't going to stay calm until the feds arrive.

   Dr. Spencer watches as the pieces of wreckage fall to the ground, 
knowing that Ben has just killed at least one man... and probably more 
than one. For a brief moment a tiny part of him wishes that the police 
would open fire and just end this nightmare, but he pushes those 
thoughts aside in disgust.  Ben is just a little boy, he can't realize what 
he's doing.

   Kevin realizes though that the police aren't likely to watch any more of 
their colleagues die without taking action.  There's no one here who can 
calm this situation down except him (not that he's done a very good job 
so far).

   Rising unsteadily to his feet, Kevin shouts toward the house.  "Mrs. 
Spencer?  Are you and Ben all right in there?"

<><><><><>

[GM]

You hear no response, except dimly, hysterical sobbing. The police 
captain sharing the cover of the car with you immediately grabs you and 
jerks you back down. "You trying to get killed?" he demands.

Flaming wreckage rains down on the neighborhood, and several fires 
blossom, on roofs and on lawns, where remains of the helicopter land on 
flammable surfaces.

The firefighters look as if they desperately want to spring into action- but 
don't, mindful of what just happened to the helicopter.

"We can't just sit here," the police captain says. He keys his mike.

"Snipers....try to find a shot."

<><><><><>

Kevin:

   Kevin wants to say, `No, you can't, he's just a little boy,' but of course 
Ben isn't *just* a little boy.  He's a little boy who has killed several 
people today, and seems likely to kill a few more unless someone stops 
him. Pointing out to the police captain that he's just ordered the death of 
a child wouldn't accomplish anything.

   So Kevin just stays quiet, waiting for the shot.

<><><><><>

[GM]

Several of the cops DO argue with the captain, including at least one of 
the snipers, who can't bring himself to take aim on a child.

The roof of the Sterling household suddenly explodes upwards in a 
column of fire.

In the stunned silence marked only by a rain of yet more flaming debris, 
a sharp rifle crack sounds very loud, echoing up and down the street.

And a writhing column of fire snakes through the air from inside the 
house, retracing the bullet's path. The man who fired it, from behind Mr. 
Taylor's hedges, screams as fire wraps around him and sets his clothes 
ablaze.

Panic sweeps through the assembled policemen, replacing reason. Fear 
prevents them from thinking through the consequences- they've seen 
too much death and destruction, and New York, Tel Aviv, Paris and 
Budapest are in their minds. Gunfire erupts all around you. Even the 
captain next to you points his pistol at the house and just squeezes off 
shots. The Simsbury Police Department is losing it.

And they aren't taking Ben down. Scores of bullets are riddling the 
Sterling house- and more fire is exploding from inside. The house IS 
ablaze now.

Then cars on the street begin detonating, as Ben's pyrokinetic 
poltergeist ignites gas tanks. Metal and glass goes spinning across well 
manicured lawns and fireballs consume the hapless men who were 
hiding behind vehicles, which is enough to get you on your feet and 
sprinting away from the car before you have time to think about it, but 
not fast enough as it explodes too-

The concussion knocks you off your feet, heat singes the back of your 
neck, but you feel the oddest sensation as you slide into the asphalt, like 
something is rising from within YOU. You aren't aware of any pain...but 
the ground seems to shake as you hit it.