HARVEY’S STORY (PART TWO) [Harvey Jones has survived a motorcycle accident on the highway, followed in rapid succession by no less than three attempts to kill him within two days! During which time, he has discovered that he can become “transparent” to bullets, and may possess other powers as well. Finally going to the police, he finds himself confronted with a mysterious federal agent, who claims to know something about what’s going on.] Harvey plans to play this close to the chest. "Well the only odd thing I've noticed since the accident is my ability to gain enemies without trying", he grins. Then he looks serious and admits "well, you know about the grenade in the library? Funny, but when I saw it I dove for cover but I really didn't think I was far enough away!" (He shudders, that's not acting). He shudders again as a thought flashes through his head: the DoD is questioning him now and the attack at the library was with military equipment; they couldn't have..... Harvey pushes the idea away as not useful to pursue. Harvey pauses. if 'Mendez' knows something, let him prove it, Harvey thinks. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "Harvey Jones, born September 9, 1964 [make up another date if you don't like that one ], graduated from Santa Clara High School, 1982, served in the US Army, active component, issued a Top Secret security clearance for intel work as a photo recon interpreter, '83 to '89, Staff Sergeant at time of honorable discharge. Now doing freelance consulting work, and some photography on the side. I could go into more detail, but I'm sure you know as much as I do." He offers you a cup of coffee, then continues. "In the last three days, you've survived a motorcycle accident on the freeway which should have killed you, followed by three attempts on your life, all of which also should have killed you. Especially since I have a pretty good idea who made them." You can't help reacting to that; you fix him with a tense stare as he goes on. "You're probably wondering why a federal agent called up your file and pulled rank on the local police just to talk to you. More importantly, you're wondering why some lunatic with military hardware is trying to kill you." He sits down, finally, and assumes what is probably meant to be a more kindly posture, although like most federal agents, he seems to have trouble appearing as anything other than arrogant and smug. "We don't have any way to test for metahuman abilities yet, though we're working on it. But I'm betting that you'd test positive. I'm also betting that you've already figured out that surviving all these attacks took more than luck." "Now," he says, leaning back, "I have no authority to place you under any kind of custody...oh sure, I could have a special order signed by the Attorney General faxed to me, which would give me that power, but first of all, since the entire Santa Clara Police Department is already involved, it would ruffle far too many feathers. No chance of keeping this nice and quiet. Second, if you have any clue how to use your abilities yet, I doubt I COULD take you against your will. Third, we don't work that way, contrary to Steven King novels and Oliver Stone movies. The government's 'Men In Black' may have to work covertly, and sometimes even break the law, but most of us do NOT like to casually violate the rights of the citizenry. Hopefully you know that too, since you were in a somewhat related field. And last and most importantly, we'd much rather have you working with us, or at least aware of us and willing to help when possible, than view us as the enemy." "So, now you can start talking, or I can get up and leave. And the next time your friend out there comes after you, he may succeed. He knows what you are. You may have noticed he's been using increasingly more dangerous hardware with each attempt. Even if he can't hurt you, the next building he blows up to get at you may not be empty." <><><><><> Harvey tries to put everything he's just been told into place. A few things standout: metahumans, the government knows something about metahumans and they know something about the the attacker(!). Harvey's willing to cooperate, since cooperate is mutual, but he isn't going to admit how little control he has or how much fading into the floor scares him. "Yeah, I did notice the equipment was escalating, although the big jump was the last attack. And having bullets go through you without going through you, or however you want to describe being transparent to bullets, isn't necessarily everything when the buildings burning down and the sprinklers are cut. now, since you know about who, and where he's getting his equipment, TELL ME ABOUT THE GUY WHO'S BEEN ATTACKING ME!!!" Harvey screams, standing and leaning over the table with his fist holding him up. Harvey is embarassed when he realizes he's screaming but figures it definitely got the point across; he wipes his forehead, and continues in a more conversational tone of voice. "And when your done telling me about him, do you think I could have a cup of tea? This coffee taste like it was served in a hospital, to keep people from getting well before their insurance runs out". Harvey is willing to lend a hand, especially if he's lending a hand catch the guy who's been attacking him. He doesn't mind doing other things either. On the other hand he doesn't trust the gonvernment in general or this guy in particular enough to let them control the environment entirely. (He is NOT letting them take him somewhere isolated). Hopefully, the government will let a few thing slip helping Harvey get better understanding of how this 'bullet transparency" works. Harvey is interested in any plan that has a good chance of catching the attacker. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Mendez looks surprised at your outburst. Not intimidated, but surprised. "Want to settle down now, Mr. Jones?" He pulls some more folders out and looks at them, making notes in one. "'Transparency to bullets', eh? Interesting." As you begin to get annoyed, he says, "All right. I won't tease you, but there's an awful lot of information, so let me summarize it for you with all the salient details. We've known that there are metahumans for about a year. Of course they've probably been around longer than that...naturally, some of the scientists are theorizing about gods and fairies and witches and all that through history, maybe being metahumans, but it's kind of irrelevant to here and now. We, that is, the U.S. government, noticed them very recently. Apparently they're becoming more common, though that's not saying much. Right now we have confirmed the existence of thirteen- now fourteen- in the United States, with rumors suggesting up to two dozen more. No telling how many there really are. They're showing up elsewhere too, probably all over the world. So far, there's no cooperation between various international agencies on this....a few of us have acknowledged to each other that we know these paranormals exist, but we haven't started coordinating research or intelligence gathering activities yet. We're hoping to start doing so, with the Canadians and the Brits soon." You shift in your chair, and he says "Don't worry, I'm getting to the guy who's trying to kill you, but you need some background. So we've got scientists trying to figure out the hows and whys and all the scientific wherewithals concerning how human beings can suddenly do things that should only be possible in comic books. But OUR job, that is, my agency, is damage control." "First of all, if any of these metahumans turn out to be criminally inclined- and we have reason to think that some are, already- we have NO way to stop them. No magical metal bars that will restrain someone with superhuman strength, no high-tech force fields that will stop a teleporter. The only chance, is maybe people like YOU- metahumans willing to help protect the normal population from the predatory supers. Second, we've been hard at work keeping this out of the news as long as possible. When it hits- and we've known all along that it's only a matter of time before someone flies, or throws lightning bolts, live on national TV- it's going to cause a panic, and rock the world. We're trying to delay that as long as possible, while we learn all we can." "As for the man trying to kill you...it's simple. We had to gather as many far-out scientists and geneticists as we could to get to work on this, fast. We did background checks, of course, and limited the information we released to anyone, but we needed eccentrics, ecclectic scientists with strange theories, because only strange theories could possibly explain someone becoming transparent to bullets, or flying at supersonic speeds. So some of the men that learned about this were....not the most reliable." "One turned out to be plain crazy. To make a long story short, he thinks metahumans are a threat to humanity. He killed two special agents and stole their gear. We've developed a few special weapons, hoping they'd be effective against superhumans. Obviously- fortunately- they didn't work on you. From the files he had access to, he learned what signs we look for, in the media and elsewhere, to spot a potential new meta. He killed one a few weeks ago. He also killed another person who probably was NOT a metahuman, just a spectacularly good athlete. Apparently he saw the story about you surviving that little spill on the freeway and deduced you might be one as well. As you found out, he tests these hypotheses by taking a shot at the potential meta. If they survive the first attack, obviously they're a meta, and he starts using the heavy artillery." "Sooner or later he'll take on someone that he can't kill and can't outrun, and we'll be rid of him. But we'd like to get him before that happens, because who knows how many innocent people he'll kill in the meantime." <><><><><> [Original message lost- Harvey asks what the man’s name is, what his field of science is, and how they can stop him...] <><><><><> [GM] "His name is Mark Kirov. He's a geneticist. We recruited him because he had some interesting ideas about racial characteristics and inheritability. Unfortunately, AFTER he went gonzo, we dug a little further and found out he's also a racial supremist. Believes in an odd variation on the Aryan "master race" theme...white Europeans will achieve their full genetic potential, as a race, after all "impurities" are bred out of them. That means, of course, no race mixing, and probably the elimination of everyone else. Then somehow the "pure" human race will evolve to something better than they are now. 'Course until this metahuman thing happened, it was all just theoretical. As far as we can tell, he never actually advocated killing anyone, nor was he involved in any kind of violent organizations. Apparently finding out about superhumans caused him to crack up completely. I don't know how killing metahumans fits in with his 'pure human race' theory, but I wouldn't look for too much internal consistency with a nutcase like this." "The most dangerous stuff he had is what you saw....a special rifle that fires armor-piercing explosive shells. The weapons labs came up with that as something that might affect 'bulletproof' skin. The military has had various prototypes for years, but they're so expensive, and unreliable, that they weren't practical for use on the battlefield. And of course, some standard military-issue stuff, like grenades and night scopes. Like I said, we don't have blasters or super-power neutralizers. We have to make do with available technology, and against metahumans, the best bet right now seems to be the heaviest artillery that's man-portable. He also has some devices that we hoped might detect superpowers, or at least the side effects from super powers, but our own field tests have been pretty unsuccessful." "Catching him could be tricky. He's crazy, but not stupid. He'll know that by now, we've caught up to you, so he'll be expecting you to be fully informed next time he comes after you. He might not even try it again...even he must realize that a normal person trying to take on a fully-prepared superhuman is probably suicidal. He may give up on you and go looking for the next victim." "We can make one attempt at luring him out. But I think that would work best if we first get some more information about you, and what you can do. That will make it easier to form a plan. And our whiz-kids in the lab coats are desperate for every bit of additional data they can get." Seeing the look that crosses your face, he says, "Oh, come on! You're not thinking we want to put you on ice and dissect you, are you? Even we were willing to do that, we need you too much. You may the only defense we have against bulletproof psychopaths, larcenous mind-readers, all kinds of scary prospects. At the risk of sounding REALLY corny...your country needs you. The whole world might need you. I know how that sounds, but think about what an evil Shazam or Superman could do to the normal populace, with no Legion of Superfriends or whatever to protect them." <><><><><> When Mendez says he's risking being corny and describing an evil shazam or superman without a league of superfriends to stop him, he really is being corny and Harvey gives him a disgusted 'that is so corny' look before getting back to being serious. "While I'm willing to trust you and the government to a fair degree, let's face it, this is the 20th century and I'm not going to trust anyone or anything completely. But I'll also admit I'm interested in hearing what your think tank has thought up about this. On the other hand I'm really reluctant if they want to run some test by shooting at me!" In spite of Harvey's words Mendez almost certainly saw a brief and quickly covered flash of interest when he mentioned being a defense against the undefendable, there's something nearly irresistable about making a difference to Harvey. While harvey is interested in talking to the think tank he'd also like to get a little time completely alone to see if he can get a little control of the ability to go through things. While Harvey is terrified about going through the floor and not too comfortably about going through walls, he'd like to try _reaching_ through things. He'd also like a little more control as a safety if he finds he shouldn't have trusted Mendez and the government. (He's been bluffing a little about how much control he has). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Mendez smiles thinly. "Hey, the God and Country speech works with some people....look, I'm not going to insult your intelligence and say that Uncle Sam always has clean hands. But we do what we have to do, and this is a situation that definitely isn't covered in the Bill of Rights." As for the corny look, he just laughs and shakes his head. "Last time I read comic books, I was 12. I understand the investigators are actually reading them now, as part of their research. Now you know where your tax dollars are going." "I doubt the scientists are going to try shooting you, at least until they're sure you'll survive it. First thing they'll want is blood and tissue samples. And for you to demonstrate what you can do. Why don't you tell me what you can about your abilities now, so maybe we can figure out a plan to nail Kirov?" <><><><><> Harvey is reluctant to admit his ignorance about his own abilities but with a direct question like that it's hard to sound more knowledgable without saying something that would turn out to be inaccurate later. "Mostly defensive, although I've got a couple of offensive ideas I haven't had the nerve to try out yet. Fortunately, the effects have been either automatic or reflexive, I can't tell which yet. I've only been at this a little while, rather than since birth, so there are details, like limitations, I haven't worked out yet. Also I can't figure out how matter transparency would help in the 'cycle accident so that may be seperate effect. Obviously testing something like this is a bit difficult, at one point I considered hitting myself over the head with a baseball bat to test something .... guess what, I decided against it". That's pretty much Harvey's surge of honesty. He's trying to sound more in control than he is but really does have an offense idea. Unfortunately the offense is making an object matter transparent, putting it in another object and turning off the transparency, which if the second object is a person is offensive (could be deadly) and could result in an explosion (Harvey is afraid to find out what happens when two objects occupy the same space). Harvey has also been considering the possibility that a bulletproof skin is matter opacity and transparency _might_ cancel each other out. <> Harvey would still like to get some time alone to practice, but he won't admit he needs the practice though. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Mendez says "Matter transparency....that could be pretty handy. Of course, just about any superpower could. The other thing, being able to survive the accident...have you had an experiences of resisting damage WITHOUT becoming 'transparent'? We've got some indications that a metahuman may have several powers, that aren't necessarily related in any obvious way. The boys at the labs have been working out a complete series of tests to run prospective metas through...find out if you've got telepathy, ESP, super strength, the whole bit." "The other important question is, how much of your powers has Kirov figured out? He knows about you people, and he's deliberately testing you, evaluating how you can be killed, so has he positively seen you become transparent? If so, unless he has some ideas we don't about affecting you, I'm not sure he'll try again for the moment." <><><><><> "Resisting damage by other than matter transparency? Not that I'm aware of; I don't have a life so hazardous that I'd get hurt daily, it may just never have come up. If I've got some meta-abilities other than defense I haven't shown signs I'd notice, so they'd have to be inactive or so subtle that they seem normal to me." "By the way could we refer to them as abilities, talents, meta-abilites or whatever? 'Powers' seems ... silly ... somehow." "Yes Kirov saw we use matter-transparency during the last attack. I don't know if he has alternate attacks in mind. Personally I don't think he's that smart or imaginative, he tried shooting me three times. I will give him high marks for persistance though. Personally, I'd have made the second attack a malatov cocktail (SP?) rather than a shot gun. He should have already figured a gun wouldn't work too well, unless he though he missed with the rifle." "Sigh, I guess we'll have to ease off on trapping him for now. But eventually I WANT him. So do you. Maybe when he goes after the next meta, assuming he has given up on me already, he seems pretty determined to me, I, ah we, can lend a hand. In fact, maybe we could 'manufacture' a meta for him to target?" "So how wierd are these test anyways?" -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "I don't really know; that's not my department. I'm sure one of the main concerns is figuring out if it's a genetic trait, especially if it's something that can be detected for." Mendez stuffs things back into his folder and says "We've set up shop back in Virginia. If you're willing, I'd like to get you on the next plane. You can go back to your apartment and grab what things you need...a couple changes of clothes should be fine. All expenses will be on the government, of course. I'll go with you, if you'll feel safer." You're not sure if the last comment was meant to be ironic or not. If Harvey agrees (if he doesn't, Mendez gives you a card with a number on it that he says you can call 24 hours a day to get him paged, and strongly suggests you think it over), Mendez clears it with the police for you to leave. (The police aren't happy- they never are, when the feds step in and pull jurisdiction on them.) Assuming Harvey reads the newspaper and watches TV fairly regularly, some of the stories I've been posting the past few weeks may suddenly spring to his mind. The destruction of Marseilles, of course, is a major news item, dominating most broadcasts. <><><><><> Harvey is willing to visit Virginia, but reluctant to go instantly. He considers several factors and the itch he developes in the back of his head when he considers that Kirov may be very persistant seems to strongly recommend a change of scenery. Against immediate departure are his desire to get a little time alone to practice and wanting to let his current employer know he'll be away for a while. Figuring that on a trip that far he can problably steal a little time to practice unobserved; and that his job and emplyers are flexible enough to afford some time away, he agrees to go. He'll call his employers and tell either that he's got a temporary job consulting for the government or that he's got an emergency medical problem (well, being shot and blown up are generally medical problems). He can recommend someone else etc. As Mendez is putting his folders away Harvey will ask to see a picture of Kirov since they didn't get to that. He'll compare it to the guy he saw with the shotgun, he'll also memorize the feastures. As far as going to his apartment: Harvey will suggest they just have someone grab a couple of things that he doesn't want left out while he's away and forward them to him (he doesn't want to be where Kirov could find him if he decides to make a last try, Harvey may be paranoid but he thinks someone is out to get him): A couple pieces of camera gear and a particular photograph (the photo is of his deceased girl friend) are the major things on the list. When Mendez mentions the government will cover expenses Harvey can't resist commenting "Looks like I'll finally find out how my tax money is spent" (fortunately, Harvey is a really cheap guy, but his clothing expenses have been up lately). "And Mendez, please do NOT get a direct flight to Virginia, I wouldn't put it past Kirov to try to take out a whole plane and I don't think I fly very well". <> Harvey suddenly developes a fascination with the news and will read any newspapers he can get his hands on. He spots some things with the revelations Mendez made that do nothing at all to relax him. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The picture of Kirov that Mendez shows you is a rather plump, middle-aged man with curly brown hair, a thick beard and mustache, and glasses. Not at all like the man who went after you with a shotgun. <><><><><> Harvey looks at the picture, then he stares at the picture, then he pulls the picture 5 inches from his face and looks at it some more. Mendez notices that Harvey is really interested in the picture. Harvey finally puts the picture down and stares in space for 15 seconds. Just before Mendez decides to ask what's wrong Harvey speaks, "Kirov has friends..... the unfriendly type. I got a look at the guy with the shotgun and this isn't him. Either Kirov set him on me or he's an independant threat". Harvey figures Kirov has people who agree with his views, face it, nuts flock together. The thought of Kirov with a group bothers Harvey, it makes Kirov more dangerous and less stoppable. Harvey considers changing his plans and trying to stop Kirov and his 'friends' now, but decides to stick to the current plan so he'll be a little more prepared. "Do you have a list of Kirov's known associates?", he ask Mendez. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "We're checking all his known associates, naturally," Mendez says. "So he already has some co-conspirators, hmm? Well, when we get to Virginia, we'll show you some pictures of possible suspects, and see if any of them looks like the man with the shotgun." Mendez makes some calls to have your clothes and camera brought to you, and arranges a flight for you to Virginia. "Sorry, I have to take care of some other business," he says. "But there will be another Special Agent there to meet you..Lyle Mabe. I wouldn't worry to much about Kirov and his friends blowing up your plane...it's highly unlikely they've got the resources to track you that fast and pull a stunt like that." <><><><><> Harvey: "I gave a description of the second attacker to the local police, they'll probably have it around if you want the description I gave them, might narrow the pictures that need looking at down, possibly to one." "What does this special agent Lyle Mabe look like? And where in Virginia am I going, it's a whole state after all?" "Sorry about being paranoid at the moment, I'll get over it soon I suspect but you know what they say: Just because your paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you" -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "Mabe is 5'9", brown hair, blue eyes...he'll have a badge, like mine. And he'll know what you look like. I can get a fax of his photo sent here, if you like." Mendez drives you to the airport. "I think the public is about to get their rude awakening," he says on the way. "I just got word from New York that there's been a battle, between a couple of superhumans. Apparently there were a bunch of celebrities there, including Paula Abdul. We probably won't be able to keep this one quiet." <><><><><> I finally realized something, Harvey has demonstrated two distinct defense modes, which I was attributing solely to matter transparency. He also has a surface effect (skin effect?) of being very 'hard' That explains the shot gun blast and the motorcycle accident as well as some of the effects with the machine gun. It still doesn't explain the razor blade. Oh well, I'm making progress. Now if I can figure out if there is an on/off switch to this. For the record, these abilities make Harvey very nervous (they'd make me very nervous), so if Harvey seems tentative you'll know why "I don't really need the FAX, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't met by the wrong guy, my paranoia is still showing." "A rude awakening hmmm? So, who won, the good guys or the bad guys? Or couldn't you tell without a score card?" -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "The bad guy got away, I don't know about the rest," Mendez says. "This particular bad guy is a girl, and a pretty psychotic one." He drives you to the airport, and sees you onto the plane. The flight across the country is uneventful and boring. You get a kindly old lady sitting next to you who WILL. NOT. SHUT. UP! She yammers about her grandkids, yammers about the weather, yammers about how things were in her day, yammers about all the other airplane trips she's been on. Ignoring her doesn't work, pretending to go to sleep doesn't work. By the time you finally land at the Dulles Airport in Washington, you feel you have just done your time in purgatory. A man meeting Special Agent Lyle Mabe's description greets you, showing you his badge. "Welcome to Virginia, Mr. Jones. My car is waiting, and so is everybody else...but we can get something to eat, first, and I suppose you'll want to a rest a little after your flight." <><><><><> Normally flying should be a restful way to spend time, Harvey thinks, your arms don't get tired and you can just sit there and sleep. But this wasn't restful and Harvey definitely wants to stretch his legs. "If that something to eat is edible, as opposed to what was on the plane, it sounds great. And I really need to stretch after that trip". He'll joke about the non- stop grandmother. He'll make small talk about the area and Virginia but won't mention metas, the government, etc. since it's presumably public. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You and Mabe get a bite to eat at a local coffee shop...the coffee does a little to perk you up, though you're still fatigued. Mabe doesn't talk a lot, though he tells you some more about the incident in New York...apparently a woman possessing superhuman strength FLEW into a hotel ballroom, where Paula Abdul and some other celebrities happened to be having a party. Apparently one of the guests was a superhuman herself, and the first woman wanted to kill her. Some other agents in his organization (which you still know very little about, you realize) happened to be nearby, looking for ANOTHER superhuman, but they tracked the 911 call and arrived on the scene. The woman flew away, they weren't able to stop her. "From what little data we've gathered so far," Mabe says, "it seems that a number of superhumans are able to sense the presence of others of their kind. Have you ever had any strange feelings, like you sensed something odd but didn't know what it was?" You can't think of any, aside from sensing the odd phenomenon of walking through a wall... Mabe drives you out into the countryside, finally pulling in to what looks like a farm, from the road. But an electronic gate opens to let your car through, and you notice some shacks nearby which are too neat and new for a farm. You realize that you're probably not that far from CIA headquarters. The "farmhouse" is comfortably outfitted with offices, living quarters and a medium-sized kitchen. Everyone wears a security badge...you are issued one before you enter. Mabe takes you to a nice conference room, has some more coffee and donuts brought in (GOOD coffee...you didn't think any government facility was capable of that! ) and introduces you to Dr. Kenneth Culbrand, a pleasant-looking man who seems to be in his early fifties. Culbrand says that he's a geneticist and a biochemist. "I'm in charge of our research efforts," he tells you. "We have other geneticists, biochemists, as well as physiologists, physicists, psychologists, and even some paranatural 'researchers'" (he says the last with disdain) "which have been brought in to study people like you, and what you can do. Special Agent Mabe here, is in charge of our field agents, who locate superhumans and attempt to recruit them...as well as neutralizing those who turn out to be a danger to the public." Mabe gives him a sharp look at that. "I'm sure you're brimming with questions," Culbrand says. "You, frankly, are a very important individual, because we need all the people like you we can get. So fire away, we'll tell you whatever we can. Much of what we've learned is classified, of course-" "Actually, ALL of it," Mabe interjects. Culbrand continues "-but I understand the paperwork is already underway to have your security clearance reinstated. The fact that you had one before makes it easier." <><><><><> When Mabe ask about sensing other metas, Harvey says no but points out that he isn't aware of ever meeting another meta. Any questions?: "Actually the only reason I don't have a ton of questions is because I have no idea what questions to ask." Harvey looks at Culbrand, "You must have the same problem in your work". "The first question that comes to mind is 'is there an on/off switch for this?' which sounds strange but I don't really know how I managed to do what I did when I did it. It wasn't conscious because there was no time to think, there may not even have been time for it to be reflexive since I didn't know I needed it until after I'd used it. That makes it automatic on my part, but how automatic?" "The second question is "are meta effects safe, sounds crazy considering that the effects saved my life several times, but I can't believe that meta effects wouldn't have side effects that should be fatal. A person with super strength should pull tendons and break their bones. When I turned matter transparent so bullets went through I could have seperated my molecules and died of evaporation. To be honest, the danger of side effects scares me!" -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "All good questions," says Dr. Culbrand, "and believe me, we've asked them ourselves. Unfortunately, we have few answers. The four superhumans working for us have provided what data they can, but so far, it's told us very little." Culbrand chuckles. "We're all still debating whether you should be called 'Superhumans', 'Metahumans', 'Paranormals', 'Psycho-physiologically Enhanced Humans'...one wag suggested 'Homo Superior', I have no idea where he got that." "At any rate...to take your questions in order; most metahumans- that's the term *I* prefer- seem to be able to turn their active powers on and off at will, but they do seem to activate of their own accord at times. Usually under stress. Some of our parapsychologists think that becoming metahuman also increases your....what they call 'sixth sense', or 'psychic awareness', whatever." Culbrand grimaces distastefully. "We HAVE found evidence suggesting that some metahumans have experienced a measurable increase in intelligence after their powers manifested, and if there really is such a thing as 'psychic awareness', which I'm really hard-put to categorically deny, now that there are clearly such things as flying men and men who can walk through walls..." he sighs, "well, perhaps an increase in these other perceptions might go along with that. "As for your powers being a threat to you...you're right, someone strong enough to lift a car should do serious damage to their body in the process, unless the rest of their body has been enhanced like their muscles. Yet we know of several metahumans with superhuman strength, and they HAVE lifted incredible weights without harm to themselves. One of our 'staff metahumans' can absorb incredible amounts of electricity and discharge it...I don't have to tell you what running several million volts through your system should do to you, but he isn't harmed by it. Of course, it's too early to be sure what the long term effects might be, but we don't know of anyone whose body has been injured simply by activating their own powers. It seems that somehow, your physiology automatically becomes capable of adapting to whatever your metahuman abilities do to your cells." "Now, I suppose you'll want to know what the limits of your powers are, and naturally so do we. The first thing I'd like from you is various specimen samples. Then perhaps we can run through some routine tests designed to measure your strength, stamina, reflexes, reaction time, perceptions, and the like. Nothing dangerous. That gives us a baseline for you, which we can compare to the human average." Mabe clears his throat and speaks. "Before you get too deeply involved in the doctor's scientific research, though, I'd like to speak to you about field work." Culbrand sighs. "Yes, Mr. Mabe and myself unfortunately find ourselves constantly competing for time with you special individuals. I want you in my labs as much as possible, naturally, to gather data. But the field agents, of course, are concerned with the depredations of hostile metahumans, and want you out there helping them." <><><><><> (Interesting, 4 other metas, have to remember that.) "I kind of like the term meta-humans myself, most of the other terms have bad connotations or sound silly. But instead of 'powers' how about 'meta-abilities", powers sounds corny AND conceited." "A 6th sense and added intelligence. Gee, if I got enough added intelligence I'd be able to figure out how this works, so far no go." "The test actually sound interesting, although I bet I won't be so fascinated when they leave me exhausted. While your at it you maybe you can check my blood pressure, it's usually normal but this has been a stressful week." <> Harvey looks uncomfortable, and maybe a little embarrassed. "I'd really like to help, I mean, it be nice to make a contribution that counts. There's just one little problem, I've been considering what I've shown I can do, and so far it's all defense, I don't know HOW I can help!" (He really sounds upset about not being able to do something). "I might be good at reconnaissance, since I'm hard to hurt but I don't see how to immobilize another meta". Suddenly Harvey brightens up, "I did have one idea", he turns to Culbright, "Maybe you can tell me if this makes any sense. I can become transparent to matter, maybe people with armor skin become opaque to matter, somehow making there matter hold together better. Then a transparent fist might be the counter to an opaque jaw. If I went transparent an slugged an opaque meta about 3 things could happen: 1) I just go through, which has a few nasty possibilities 2) I don't go through 3) the effects cancel out and it's like two regular people fighting." Harvey looks at Culbright just a little bit hopefully. ((Just for the record Harvey hasn't tried walking through a wall yet because he figured that would make him fall through the floor to the center of the earth. Now that Culbright has said meta-abilities are NORMALLY safe (abnormally safe???) Harvey will try that at the first opportunity, but VERY carefully, he still doesn't trust meta abilities.)) -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Culbrand scratches his chin. "Well, maybe," he says. "But you're assuming the two power- err, meta- abilities- you've demonstrated so far are the same, manifesting in different ways. They may well be, but they may also be two totally separate abilities. That's another thing we've learned, is that some meta- humans seem to possess multiple powers that aren't related in any way we've yet determined. Our electrical generator, for instance, also has superhuman strength, though not nearly on the level of this fellow in the news who's been flying around California, and now just appeared in Israel." "One theory we're working with is that these powers are psionic in nature. Psionics is a field of study which I've had only minimal contact with. Until now, most credible scientists considered it hogwash, frankly. But supposedly there are ways in which the mind can affect matter in ways that defy the known laws of physics, and various theories of psionics could explain some of what's been going on. Then again, calling your abilities 'psionic', 'magical', 'super-powers', 'meta-abilities'...it all amounts to the same thing, doesn't it?" "So, perhaps we could begin some of the tests now? I'm sure we'll learn at least a little bit more about your abilities in the process." <><><><><> "Sure, let's go for it. If nothing else they should be very interesting." A strange image of what a lab for testing metas might look like flashes through Harvey's mind, unfortunately it looks like the lab out of Frankenstein so he pushes it aside and follows Dr. Culbrite. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The first thing they do is nothing more than a routine (albeit VERY thorough) physical. They have no trouble inserting the needle to draw blood. Then they run you through some physical exercises, including running, jumping, swimming and weight- lifting. By the end of that, you're tired as hell. The routine reveals that you are in fairly good shape, but certainly not remarkable. Then there are vision and hearing and even olfactory tests. No superhuman senses are revealed. "We'll want you to take some IQ tests tomorrow," Dr. Culbrand says, "after you've had a chance to rest up. Also some reaction tests, see how quick your reflexes are." "We're trying to devise a standard routine that will reveal a number of meta-abilities, if they exist, but since right now we don't know what the most common ones are, nor the triggering mechanisms, we're just operating on trial and error. So far, it doesn't look like you've been physically enhanced in any way." "Now, can you consciously activate your 'transparency' ability? Have you ever tried?" <><><><><> Harvey acts just a little nervous when the mention of consciously turning on matter-transparency, "As far as consciously turning on/off matter- transparency, so far I've only tried to turn if OFF. I was afraid of going through the floor and being sucked to the center of the earth." He shudders at the thought. "I've been meaning to try some small experiments but haven't had an opportunity, until now. Could we try this someplace where there's another floor under the room? I'd like to have some open space under me in case I start going through the floor". Assuming they find someplace that has another room under it (I've sort of assumed that the building has one or more levels of basements, which the government may or may not want to admit the existence of). "Let's see what happens," says Harvey going over to a convenient wall and resting his fingers lightly on it in preparation to trying to go transparently through it (Just his arm at most!). He'll start by trying to make just his finger tips go through, if that works his hand and finally his forearm, then he'll withdraw. Harvey takes a deep breath and lets it out trying to relax. How did it feel when it happened at the library? No particular way so he'll just relax, feel the wall under his fingers, and push gently trying to make it happen while staying relaxed. Objectively he knows that the wall and his hand are both just empty space with scattered atoms inbetween, there's plenty of room for both, he just has to get them to cooperate and share. (If this doesn't work he'll try concentrating harder and give up on relaxing. If nothing seems to work he'll probably start getting frustrated with himself, but we'll see what developes if it comes to that). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You feel nothing different and figure it's not working....but your fingers go right through the wall as if it's only an illusion....or you are. Your hand, then forearm glides in, before you withdraw. "Fascinating," Dr. Culbrand says, sounding somewhat like Mr. Spock. "I can already think of a dozen tests to perform to study this....I need to talk to Dr. Williams in the physics section." "I see more possibilities than just defensive and recon", Mabe says. "Maybe your fist can't hurt someone who's bulletproof, but not all supers are. If you can walk right up to someone who can blow holes through anyone else, with some kind of energy blast or bursts of metal spikes or whatever, and then slam him on the back of the head....say, can you carry anything while doing that? It looks like your clothes went transparent when you did, at least your shirtsleeve did." <><><><><> Carry something while transparent? "I guess I could carry something if were transparaent too, wait a minute maybe not... I don't know, I've never tried this before." Harvey scratchs his head, "If all of me is transparent then how come the floor can hold me up ", he quickly glances at the floor, looking worried, " so part of me would need to be non-transparent, but if part of me is non- transparent how am holding onto my hand, which is transparent, so it's still attached?!" Harvey kicks the wall to see if his foot can go through. Then he'll find an object and try to make it go through the wall. For an object he'll probably borrow a pen or something. He won't try putting an object into the wall and letting go of it yet though. Does Culbright have an idea why Harvey isn't falling through the floor to the center of the earth? -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Dr. Culbrand says "We don't know you're turning only partially transparent. It may be your entire body becomes transparent, but you can alter your clothes to...undergo whatever process affects your body. It will take some tests to determine why you don't fall through the floor. I suspect that you don't become completely immaterial. After all, you haven't become transparent to light...if your molecules weren't still solid enough to reflect light, you'd be invisible. And the way you are moving suggests you are still affected by gravity. Perhaps you retain just enough solidity to avoid slipping through objects without effort on your part. Or only the soles of your feet are staying solid....can you FEEL the floor under you?" (When you think about it, you can...yet when you kick your foot through the wall, it goes through, and you feel no more resistance from the wall than you do from the air.) Picking up a pen is no problem, and you are able to push it through the wall, apparently as immaterial as your hand. <><><><><> Even Harvey is rather impressed how easily he goes through the wall. Other than seeing if a large weight will also go through the wall he can't think of any other things to try and will call it a night unless someone else suggest something to try. It sounds like the tests tomorrow are going to be tough so Harvey will try to get a good night's sleep. (There have to be other interesting things a person can do with this power, but other than putting a matter-transparent inside another object and letting go, which I Harvey isn't going to do, yet, I can't think of any). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The accomodations are fairly luxurious. It seems that their metahumans get VIP treatment. The next morning, as you and Dr. Culbrand have breakfast in the dining room/cafeteria, two more gentleman are introduced to you. One is Special Agent Kyle Wittman. The other is a tall, bearded man wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, and a Marlborough Brothers baseball cap. Culbrand introduces him as "Special Agent Jason Little", but the latter says, in a Kentucky accent so thick you could cut it with a knife, "Y'all kin jest call me Jason." "Jason is one of our four metahuman agents," Dr. Culbrand says. "I mentioned him briefly last night. He can absorb and discharge electricity, and also possesses enhanced strength." As you shake hands, Jason says "Don't worry, ah ain't charged up rat now." "We just returned from New York," the other man, Wittman, says. "Had a nasty dustup there with a psychopath that seems to be intent on killing other supers. Jason almost fried her, but she got away. We discovered another super in the process, but she didn't want to come back with us. We're keeping an eye on her." <><><><><> Harvey greets Jason warmly, he's half way through shaking hands before it hits him what this meta can do. He's very relieved when Jason mentions not being charged, and it shows. "Thanks for mentioning the no charge, and for not squeezing my hand." Harvey studies Jason briefly, (briefly since he doesn't want to be seen staring, but this is the first meta he's aware of meeting). Jason apparently looks perfectly normal and unexceptional. Culbright had mentioned that some metas can detect other metas, Harvey will consider quickly it he notices anything, but since he didn't detect anything in advance he won't expect much. "A psycho-meta trying to kill other metas? Looks like I was lucky, all I got was a psycho-scientist trying to kill me. Boy I hope this isn't a related attack, I'd hate to think there was a conspiracy going on." (then it occurs to him he's having breakfast with government secret agents and this might be less than diplomatic, but too late.) "How close did you come to stopping the 'psycho'? Someone who can fly sounds pretty hard to trap, must be a great way to commute though." Harvey would like to know how Jason discovered his abilities but can't quite figure out how to bring it up, although he will if an opening occurs in the conversion. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "Ah zapped her with all the juice ah haid, but she still flew 'way. She wuz purty burnt up, but ah figgered it shoulda kilt her!" "Indeed," adds Wittman. "Considering he had just absorbed several million volts from the main power grid, and discharged it all in about five seconds. This woman also shrugged off armor-piercing, explosive shells." (That parts sounds familiar, and you look at him sharply.) "We haid some help from a purty crystal lady," Jason continues. "She fahrd a beam a' lat inta the crazy lady's ahs an' blahnded her, but she still got away." As you get ready for your tests, Dr. Culbrand comments, while Jason is getting some coffee, "Mr. Little is one of those cases I told you about, of metahumans experiencing an increase in intelligence. Before his powers manifested, he was mentally retarded. Now he has an IQ of 95, just slightly below average." <><><><><> "Several million volts, armor piercing bullets, plus another meta and she just 'flew' away, sounds like a timex watch," Harvey jokes. "That is one _tough_ psycho", he adds more seriously. The thought of being hit with that kind of voltage (actually of course, it's the amperage that kills, but at that voltage the current must have been terrific, or terrifiing) makes Harvey wince, and doubly glad that Jason wasn't charged when they shook hands. A guy who shoots lightening bolts, a 'pretty crystal lady', a psycho who flies, and all the people on the news, suddenly the world seems almost crowded with metas. When told about Jason's increase in intelligence, Harvey doesn't see any thing to add so shrugs and bypasses it with "Seems like a pretty nice guy". "You mentioned some metas demonstrating increased 'intuition', has he shown any of that?" -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] "No, Mr. Little has shown no sign of extra-sensory abilities." They begin your series of tests. First they give you a series of IQ and aptitude tests. That takes all morning. You break for lunch, tired of brain work for a while, and find that next they are testing your senses. You quickly determine that no, you cannot see in the dark, and don't seem to have acquired telescopic, microscopic or X-ray vision. ("One of our other metahumans has night-vision better than a cat's", says Dr. Culbrand.) Likewise, your hearing is good, but not exceptional, and you can't hear subsonic or ultrasonic frequencies. Your sense of smell is no better than before, and your tactile sense seems perfectly normal. At one point they put you on the reflective side of a one-way mirror, and ask you to tell them if you sense anything at all. They do this for over an hour, during which time you get quite bored. Then they have a few tests that are only slightly more interesting. The first one is just like what you've seen in movies; holding up cards and seeing if you can predict what shape is on the other side. You bomb the ESP test. Then they try to get you to read the minds of various subjects. You concentrate as asked, but no mental voices become audible to you. They have you roll dice and play with a slot machine, of all things, and ask you to try to control the results. No luck. And you can't move a penny or bend a spoon, or heat up or cool water in cup. By the time all this nonsense is over, you'd be ready to say that the whole idea is silly....except you still remember watching your hands and feet go through that wall. You ask when they're going to test your REAL abilities, and Dr. Culbrand says, "Tomorrow we will start having you actually perform physical activities. We wanted to get the mental exercises out of the way first." He hands you a form and says, "We, um, aren't planning to do anything that will endanger you in any way. However, we will be asking you to perform some very rigorous exercises, and possibly pushing you to the point of exhaustion. There is always some risk, however minor, that you could hurt yourself. We've already determined that you have no physical conditions that require special consideration, as far as we can tell. But just to cover legal matters, could you please sign this release form?" It's a pretty standard release form, like the kind you sign whenever you are going to engage in some activity that could, theoretically, by some remote mishap, cause you harm. Absolving the United States Government, and agencies thereof, of any responsibility should you inadvertently suffer injury or death during the course of your "physiological examination and ability testing". With a space for you to fill in the name and address of your next of kin. <><><><><> A real hair-puller day, thinks Harvey. Harvey gives Culbrite a sharp look when he comes up with the 'release' form. It doesn't exactly make Harvey fee at ease to be asked to sign it; and he'll read it very carefully before signing it (he'd hate to later find out he just re-enlisted at the same time). Tomorrow, another day another test? (ut-oh, big test coming up!). -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] The next day, they start with some ordinary exercises. First some aerobics, during which they monitor your heart rate and pulse. Once you're warmed up, they have you run around a track. Dr. Culbrand follows in a go- cart, and urges you to run faster, and after you've run about two miles, has you sprint another quarter mile. You collapse at the end, panting and out of breath. When you were in the Army, this would have been no problem. You're getting a little out of shape, you realize. You cool off with a swim (this facility seems to have everything!). You do about ten laps, then Culbrand asks you to see how long you can hold your breath. You manage almost two minutes....good, but not remarkable. You're afraid he's going to ask you to try inhaling water, and plan to tell him you're pretty sure you haven't grown gills- but he doesn't. Next a weight room. They have you lift weights on a variety of nautilus-like machines, except they are connected to cables leading into the floors or walls, and you see they have dials that go up to 5000 lbs! A few reps on each machine demonstrates that you don't seem to have superhuman strength. Then they test your reflexes, first with simple hand- eye coordination tests, then they put you in a racquetball court, with a tennis ball serving machine. You get to dodge tennis balls for five minutes. Suddenly the machine begins firing the tennis balls at a much higher velocity. The first one hits you hard on the leg. You wince and dive out of the way of the next. They come in short bursts now, and three slam against your chest and shoulders, hard enough to leave bruises. You shout angrily, try to evade them....and suddenly they are passing right through you. Then the lights go out. You're in total darkness. You hear a noise, and feel a sudden breeze. As you start to call out, the lights turn back on. Dr. Culbrand is looking at you with surprise, from the door of the court. He doesn't enter, because the floor has dropped out from under you. You see a heavy net, like the kind that's stretched under highwire acts, fifteen feet below you, and a hardwood floor about ten feet below that. You are standing in midair. <><><><><> Harvey looks down at the floor, way down there, and blinks in surprise. Then ideas start percolating through is head; he looks at Culbrite and grins, "So _that's_ why I don't fall through the floor and get sucked to the center of the earth!" "Cool test, Culbrite." Harvey looks at the net for a couple of seconds, getting up his nerve and then takes a step (at least he tries to take a step, in midair) in the general direction of Culbrite. Assuming that he remains suspended in midair even after he leaves where he was standing, he'll try changing altitude, as though climbing an invisible 'flight' of stairs. If that works he'll try standing in one place and see if he can move by wanting to move, that's flying, rather than having to move his feet. For future record, Harvey's results during the endurance test will cause him to begin working out, trying to get back in shape. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You can walk through the air....you find that it seems to be almost viscuous around you. When you concentrate on trying to push through it faster, making yourself more dense, you immediately begin falling. You try to stop yourself, and the air becomes "thicker" again, slowing you down. You can't levitate yourself without movement on your part, though. <><><><><> "Walking on air can be easy, running may be a bit more difficult. But as they say ou have to walk before you can run", quotes (mis-quotes?) Harvey, pacing back and forth in mid-air. Harvey decides that it will take some practice to learn to move quickly while in the air, and resolves to practice some each day from now on trying to improve his speed. What else can you do in mid air wonders Harvey, but the only things that come to mind are walking on his hands and trying to swim, and neither of those seem particularly interesting so he just paces a little faster. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You can increase your speed, but not by much. Culbrand says "Can you try walking all the way through the wall now? After that, maybe we can test how much you can carry while you're transparent." <><><><><> Harvey decides that going faster than a walk is going to take practice, possibly a lot of practice. (So he plans to practice) "O.K. One wall coming up", and Harvey heads for the wall. Just before getting to the wall he stops and calls, "By the way, what's on the other side of this wall? I don't want to accidently walkthrough the wall of the ladies room or into a security area". Assuming Culbrite knows what is on the otherside Harvey will take a breath and confidently walk through the wall. In fact if there isn't any obvious reaction he'll be so pleased with himself he'll walk back and forth through the wall several times (just practicing, well he is getting rather confident and excited and may want to show off a _little_). After the full-wall walk he'll go on with seeing how much he can carry through AND how much he can carry while in mid-air! <><><> I'm not sure how breathing works while walking through a wall, I assume Harvey has to hold his breath which makes the 2 minutes limit of the swimming test significant. If there are any noticible effects, dizziness when the head meets the wall or something please let me know. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You walk through the wall, and see that there is a weight room on the other side. No one is there, fortunately, since they might be a bit startled to see someone stick his head through the wall! You can't breath while inside the wall...you try to suck air in, but it's like trying to breath through a plastic bag. Culbrand thinks this is very interesting. "Somehow you can breathe....so you aren't transparent to oxygen. We should test whether you are affected by air currents, or gaseous attacks, while transparent. I think 'transparent' isn't the best term. Let's call it "desolidification" for now. Pens and other small objects aren't a problem. Culbrand brings some weights in from the weight room, and you try "desolidifying" with successively larger ones. You go all the way up to your carrying capacity, straining to walk with a two-hundred pound barbell. Holding it, you walk through the wall again, and stand with it in midair. "See what happens when you let go," Culbrand suggests. Cautiously, but gratefully, you do so. The bar floats in the air for a moment as you release your grip. Then it begins falling, slowly at first, but with increasing velocity. It slams into the floor, thirty feet below, shattering the hardwood surface. <><><><><> As the barbell only gradually accelerates Harvey thinks "Gee, that's kind of cool, just like in a cartoon", until it hits the floor, whereupon Harvey realizes that he's just destroyed (or at least 'heavily' damaged) an expensive floor and his taxes are going to have to pay for it. Harvey looks very contritely at Culbrite and apologizes "Sorry about that" (somehow it sounds just like Max Smart). "It's kind of hard to describe, Dr. Culbrite, but when I'm matter-transparent, excuse me unsolid, air has a very strange feel, sort of 'viscous', it's very hard to describe but it feels sort of like water. Strong winds or air currents could be significant. I don't know about gaseous attacks but round up some tear gas grenades and we'll see what happens", Harvey says, but actually is thinking of when he did that in the army and isn't looking forward to it. "There's something I've been reluctant to try, putting an 'unsolid' object in another object and letting go. I'm not sure what would happen when the unsolid object tried to return to solid, but it could be messy. I'm not sure what will happen and anybody in the vicinity better stand back, personally I think I'll stand unsolid if we try it. Let me know if you want to try it." -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] Dr. Culbrand looks down at the shattered floor with raised eyebrows. "Ahem. Well, I did tell you to let go." "I suspect what you are actually doing is altering your density. And you must have involuntary, or unconscious, control over it, extending to parts of your body. So you can partially 'solidify' enough to inhale oxygen, and to generate enough friction with the air to move. Then again, that doesn't explain everything. But you also seem to be able to alter the density of other objects. The weight didn't fall instantly when you let go; it must have still been 'desolid' for a moment, then without contact with you, and your power, it began to regain its normal density." "Well, here's a new list of experiments to try;" he jots notes down on his clipboard as he speaks out loud; 1. Can you deliberately solidify parts of your body while the rest is desolified, such as solidifying just your hand to pick something up, then desolidifying the object? 2. How great a mass can you desolidify, and how long can it stay desolidified after you let go? 3. How desolidified can you become? Can you lower your density to the point where air will not affect you at all? 4. Why doesn't gravity affect you? If you still have substance, no matter how low the density, you should still be affected. Actually, it might be that you lower your density to the point that air resistance is greater than the force of gravity on your mass, hmmm, that still leaves a few holes in our theory...pardon the pun. 5. How long can you remain desolid? 6. What happens if you solidify an object inside something else? My own guess is that the two masses will merge. Unless they are both *extremely* dense, there shouldn't be an explosion....but you're right, we'd best be safe. On a more theoretical level, where is your mass going when you desolidify?" He snaps his fingers. "Another theory; I've been assuming that most of your mass goes somewhere, leaving large gaps between the molecules remaining. Large enough for most objects to pass through. But perhaps your molecules are becoming non-valenced, so they can actually move aside to let other masses pass through, letting molecules from the two masses pass each other, in effect, and yours are the ones that move aside and make room, then resume their prior configuration. How you could live, though, with your internal organs being disrupted as you pass through a wall....we should test whether you are transparent to certain forms of energy, and see how dense a mass you can pass through." "That gives me another idea! We still haven't explained how you survived the motorcycle accident, or being hit by those bullets. Perhaps you can alter your density in both directions, becoming super-dense as well as almost intangible! Though to become so dense that explosive armor-piercing shells fail to penetrate your skin, your mass would have to be into the multi- ton range! You wouldn't be able to move. But, it's still a possible avenue of exploration." "Perhaps you should, umm, get down from midair now." <><><><><> Harvey blinks several times as Culbrand raddles off his list of upcoming experiments at breakneck speed. "If I'm changing my density, then since my volume doesn't change my mass must; got a bathroom scale and we'll see what I weigh when I'm desolid. Of course right now I probably don't weigh anything since I'm in mid air." "Instead of making myself solid enough to inhale, could I be making the air unsolid enough for me to inhale? Or is that the same thing." "Solidify PART of my body? Let's try it, I'll stick my arm through something and then try to pick up a pen or something. Desolid through a really dense item? I don't know, do have a piece of lead, that's about the densest thing that's common, unless you have a piece of osmonium in the lab somewhere (I don't know why). As far as how much can I desolidify, that barbell was about the heaviest I can hold up, and if I desolidify it and can't hold it up, it will fall .... or did you mean how big a volume? Transparent to energy? Haven't become transparent to light and I can still hear (sound), got another form in mind?" <> "eh, Oops, I forgot I was just standing here. It's kind of fun but I probably look pretty wierd", says Harvey as he walks over to stand next to Culbrand, finishing up next to him but a few inches off the floor. "I'm just seeing if I can stay this way without getting tired, so far-no strain", he says shrugging. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You are able to reach through a wall, grab a pen, and pull it through the wall to you. "I wonder how the electrical impulses travel between solid and desolid parts of your body," Culbrand wonders. "All right, why don't we start small?" Culbrand hands you his clipboard (after tearing his notes off) and says "Try solidifying the pen inside the clipboard." He backs off several yards. You stay desolidified, lean the clipboard against the wall, put the pen through the clipboard, and let go. The first time it just falls through the clipboard. "It's remaining desolid for a moment after you let go", Culbrand says. "Though it became solid before it passed through the floor. We need to test whether you can do something like, desolidify an object and just drop it into the ground." Another on a long, long list of things you need to test, you think. The second time, you concentrate on trying to solidify the pen inside the clipboard. You let go. The pen sticks in the clipboard; from more than a few inches away, it looks like someone could have just driven it through the board by force. "I think we've found a possible offensive use of your powers," Culbrand says. <><><><><> Harvey thinks, "I'm still wondering how I go through the wall and he's worried about nerve impulse"?! When Culbrand suggests that putting a desolid object in another object gives Harvey's powers an offensive mode Harvey shudders, he doesn't say anything now but he finds the idea of this offense, well, offensive. He's definitely going to hold this for a LAST resort. Examining the pen in the clipboard Harvey wonders how solidly it is attached, so he holds it by the clipboard and bangs the pen sticking out of it against the wall a few times. The he decides to try to seperate the pen and the board again, so he grabs the pen, tries to make just it desolid and pull it out of the board. Then he'll decide to try to make half of the clipboard desolid and seperate the halves, in effect cutting it in two. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] When you bang the pen against the wall, the clipboard starts to splinter around the point of insertion and the pen comes loose. It still has bits of the clipboard firmly embedded in the plastic, though. You take another pen and merge it into the clipboard, then try to desolidify the pen and remove it cleanly. It comes out, but you see bits of wood in the body of the pen, and bits of plastic in the clipboard at the point where the pen intersected it. Apparently when two objects merge, you can unmerge them, but some molecular intermixing occurs that can't be 100% reversed. Trying to desolify half the clipboard doesn't work. You either desolidy the entire clipboard, or it stays solid and falls through your hands. "More and more interesting," Culbrand says. "You can only affect an entire object, not portions of it. But what constitutes an 'object', I wonder? Can you desolidify a portion of a wall?" You are getting used to his coming up with two more questions for every one you answer. <><><><><> Harvey looks at the hole the pen left when it came out of the board as he banged it against the wall, he wasn't expecting the board to be that weak. Seperating the second pen from the board board only partially seems only partially useful and he's quite surprised when he can't make half the board desolid (although at least he won't have to worry about dividing himself that way). Make a section of the wall desolid? "You mean make a patch desolid so a solid person or object can pass through? I don't know, guess we can try and see what happens", going over to the wall. Harvey also wonders if there is some use to the time it takes for a desolid object to resolidify but no obvious use occurs to him. -Harvey- <><><><><> [GM] You touch the wall and try to make it insubstantial. Of course, it's hard for you to test it yourself, since you could just be making yourself insubstantial. Dr, Culbrand cautiously steps to the wall and places his hand against it. It passes through. He yanks it back as if afraid he'll lose it. "I'd, ah, hate to be caught in there if your power suddenly...failed," he says. "But this is excellent; some more testing to explore the exact limits of your abilities, and I think there are all kinds of things you'll be able to do." "By the way, I understand we have another metahuman who was recently brought here who is also being tested now. Perhaps I should go meet him. We might be able to introduce the two of you." <><><><><> Harvey gives Culbrand a nervous look at that comment and swallows vigorously. "Gee, Thanks Culbrand, just when I was getting used to the idea of using this ability", the words say he's irritated about brining up a scary idea, but the tone is grinning and it sounds like he's not too concerned. "I'll have to see how long I can keep this power on, I'd hate to findout I get tired only when it suddenly fails on me." "Meet another meta? Sure. Maybe we can compare notes on funny ways of discovering meta-abilites" <><><><><> [GM] Dr. Culbrand takes you back to the conference room, where you are introduced to two more scientists; Dr. Kinnet and Dr. Penn, who's tall and thin and has thinning black hair, seems really eager and a little twitchy. There is a third man there, Walter Shindell. And I'll let his player describe him.