VIRGINIA- THE METAHUMAN ASSEMBLY Part II: Gordon's Arrival [GM] The flight across country passes uneventfully. Agent Dicer fills you in on a few details about the metahuman research facility in Virginia. "We have several metahumans who also arrived recently, like you. One seems to be a psychic, with extraordinary mind-reading and precognitive abilities. Another one can turn into a dragon." He says this with a perfectly straight face. "Besides those new arrivals, we just had a mission return from Chicago. I don't have all the details on it myself, but it seems it went badly. There's a powerful and malevolent telepath who seems to be kidnapping other metahumans. You'll meet the metahumans and regular agents who were on that mission, probably." The plane comes in for a landing on a small airfield in the Virginia countryside, with only a modest ranchhouse nearby. There are a number of people waiting, male and female. <><><><><> Gordon: As the flight progresses, I make a habit of checking on T-R every so often. Just to make sure he shows no signs of recovering. I try to absorb the info that Dicer is feeding me as best I can. "A psychic, huh? And a *dragon-morph*? Way cool! That one should be interesting to meet. I'd *love* to watch, umm... him? her?... change. Of course, I've come across such things in comics, but never actually *seen* one in real life." "On the other hand, I'm not sure how I feel about being around someone who can go poking into my thoughts. Admittedly, I'm not the *purest* of people... Anyway, I *definitely* don't want them messing around in here. " "Oh, s***. Kidnapping metahumans?! An evil telepath?! Oh great. I *know* I don't like the sound of that. I'm sorry to hear the mission went poorly. Did anyone get hurt? Did we *lose* anyone?" As we come in towards the airfield, I start watching out the window. _This place seems kind of dinky. I hope Dicer got the right place. A lot of people out there, though I don't see any obvious metahumans. I wonder which ones they are..._ I glance over at Dicer. "This *it*, Dicer? Looks to me like ya'll are *seriously* underfunded." A grin spreads across my face as I turn back to the small window. "Looks like they came out in force to meet us. Can't help wondering if that's *good* or *bad*. Oh, well, find out soon enough." I make one more check on T-R, and then strap myself in for landing. Once we're down, I move over to T-R and toss him over my shoulder; none too gently. I head to the exit nearest Dicer and wait for him to open it. "After you, Dicer. Now's as good a time as any to see what kind of reception awaits us." <><><><><> [GM] "Looks can be deceiving," Dicer says with a slight smile. "The place is *meant* to look unimpressive from the outside. Believe me, we're one of the few government agencies right now whose budget *isn't* getting slashed." Terra-rizer is still strapped to his stretcher, with an IV drip implanted in his arm, so slinging him over your shoulder really isn't advisable. Instead, you are nudged aside as the unconscious villain is carted away by ground crew, towards a waiting electric shuttle. Clustered around the shuttle are a collection of men who are obviously more of Dicer and Rodnam's colleagues. There are also a few people who definitely don't fit the government agent mold. Dicer nods to Agent Gemann, as he and Rodnam approach the group, with Gordon trailing them. "I see we have a bunch of new 'special guests'" he says, looking at Lisa, Finn, Harvey and Walt. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Gordon Fancher, from Seattle, Washington. He's a metahuman who helped us capture that individual-" Dicer points at the long- haired young man with the nose ring, lying unconscious in a stretcher. "That is the self-styled 'Terra-rizer', who threatened to destroy Seattle and may well have done so if Gordon here hadn't helped us capture him." Agent Gemann smiles thinly, and shakes Gordon's hand. "Glad to have another... volunteer. We need all the metahuman help we can get." He turns to the group behind him, and says, "speaking of which...these people are, in order, Finn Colvin, Lisa Chang, Harvey Jones, and Walter Shindell." <><><><><> Gordon: [Oops! Forgot about the stretcher...] It isn't hard to pick out Dicer's peers, based on their similarity of dress. However, they are not the one's who are currently of interest. As I emerge from the plane, I look over the group of people in normal 'street' clothes, wondering if *all* of them could actually be paranormals like myself. I amuse myself by mentally speculating about which one might be the 'dragon- morph' Dicer had mentioned. Those watching see a man in his early 30's follow the agent out of the plane. He is 5'11" tall and 205 lb.s on a stocky, athletic frame. While fairly obviously out-of-shape, he has so far managed to avoid getting flabby. He is wearing stone-washed Levis 501's, a green knit shirt with a Microsoft logo, and tennis shoes. He has light, golden-brown hair worn short on the top and sides, but hanging well past his shoulders in back. Despite the length, the hair is healthy and well-cared-for. The other end of his head is adorned by a neatly-trimmed moustache/beard. Peeking out from his roughly-oval face are a pair of piercing blue-grey eyes, which look out past a wide nose above a pair of full lips set in a warm, friendly smile. I smile and give a small wave, "Hi!" as Agent Dicer introduces me to the group. "Before Agent Dicer here gives you the wrong impression, I must tell you that I am not the only metahuman who assisted in the apprehension of Terra-rizer. A young woman known only to me as 'Rosaline' was instrumental in our success. Unfortunately, she was unwilling to come with us." Something about the man introduced as Agent Gemann rubs me the wrong way, and I shake his hand half-heartedly, already turning to those standing next to him. As each of the other 'new recruits' is introduced, I step forward and shake their hand, "Hello {insert first name here}, pleased to meet you." As I give each a greeting, I allow my gaze to peer deep into their eyes for just a split-second, seeking some clue to their character. It is fairly apparent that I am struggling between my inherent shyness and my desire to make a friendly impression. I scupulously avoid letting my gaze wander chauvanistically over the women in the group. When the introductions are completed, I step back and address them all. "I look forward to getting to know you all. So far, the only other metahumans I have met are Rosaline and that madman over there . I suspect I have much to learn about myself and those like us." <><><><><> Lisa: Gordon sees before him a very beautiful young woman of chinese heritage who's 4' 11" tall and less than a hundred pounds. Her eyes are black as is her hair; which is cut short in a twentyish style. She's in excellent physical condition and clearly exercises frequently. Lisa is dressed in jeans, sweatshirt and sneakers. She seems a bit distracted. " Hello Gordon. I'm Lisa. " She replies with a matching warm smile. <><><><><> % Finn % **>> That one... <<** A voice suddenly entered Gordon's head as he pondered which one might be the "dragon-morph," and the tall brown-haired woman who stood with the agents cocked her head to the side, indicating the Oriental woman. **>> And so our intrepid hero was introduced into the wonderful world of telepaths. <<** Finn thought to herself wryly, then decided to share the concept with Gordon, and flicked the thought in his direction. The woman who must be mindspeaking to him might have been attractive, but the dark circles under her hazel eyes and lines of strain on her face, along with a mouth that at this point couldn't decide if it wanted to smirk or frown. Her clothing, blue jeans and a black Suzanne Vega t-shirt, along with a much- worn jean jacket, was rather rumpled, looking as if it had been slept in. **>> Don't worry, I try not to go poking around in people's heads, but some times it's just beyond my control to hear thoughts. I promise I'll play nice while I'm here with you. <<** Something in her mental tone indicated she was more displeased with herself and her inability to control her powers than she was with anything else around her, including the newest arrivals. She was studiously *avoiding* looking at the "Terra-riser" though, and therefore concentrating most of her energies on Gordon. **>> Gemann rubs me the wrong way too, it's nice to see someone else share that opinion <<** she chortled mentally back at Gordon has he shook the agent's hand, the smile/smirk settling itself on her face fully now. It nearly seemed as if she was going out of her way to provoke a reaction from Gordon, with all the talking she was doing to him in hi shead. "I'm Finn Colvin," she spoke aloud in a voice that might have been pretty, if it weren't gravelly from stress and not enough sleep. She did not take the proffered hand. "Sorry about all that, I'll stop now," she spoke aloud, leaving the others to wonder what had been said between the two of them. "And I'm sorry about not shaking your hand, but I've had an interesting experience today that I'd rather not go through just yet when I touched another person with ... powers. You might not want to shake his hand yet," she indicated Walt next to her with a grin, "as he's the one who gave me that experience." She looked around at the agents and the others, then sighed aloud and stepped back. "No time like the present," she muttered, and then went over to where the Terra-riser was, and began to concentrate on what she could perceive in his drugged state. <><><><><> Harvey: Harvey Jones is 5'10" with an average physique, brown eyes and brown hair. The hair is cut conservatively but seems a little shaggy and disheveled. He stands relaxed, but there's something noticably straight about his posture. When Gordon offers his hand Harvey immediately takes it and returns a hardy handshake. Releasing the hand he says, "Hello Gordon. This is usually the point where I find out if it was safe to shake hands or not. Relax, in my case it's safe, ...and I haven't even had a bad experience shaking hands with a meta yet. I just have nightmares about what could go wrong shaking hands" Harvey is cheerful and has an strong sense of humor, he's apparently trying to put Gordon at ease if isn't already; but it is also apparent that small talk is not one of his strong suits. "Welcome to Virginia, whereever in Virginia we are." <><><><><> Gordon: I jump back a step and my eyes go wide as a voice suddenly materializes in my mind. My gaze is drawn inexorably to the brunette standing next to the agent. I catch the look on her face as she nods her head toward the young woman next to her. _So, it's her... I wonder if she is as beautiful as a dragon as she is normally..._ Then the voice comes again, as I'm stepping closer to the group. I continue forward this time, thinking 'at' the voice, the tone betraying my irritation. _*Please*. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from doing that._ Finn can sense me struggling with my annoyance over this, obviously not wanting to alienate any of these new acquaintances. I continue in a somewhat calmer tone, _I understand that you have some trouble controlling what you 'hear'. However, I would prefer that you reply verbally. To do otherwise presumes a familiarity that doesn't yet exist. Perhaps some day in the future it will be different..._ Finally reaching her after greeting Gemann, I merely reply, "Thank you," to her brief appology. I step back, feeling a bit confused and ill-at-ease after the ducking of a handshake and the odd accompanying explanation. I hesitate for an instant trying to get my thoughts together before approaching the next apparent metahuman and reputed 'dragon-morph'. Stepping up, we exchange greetings. My smile brightens almost of it's own accord as she seems to fairly glow before me. As my eyes meet hers, I feel as though I am being sucked into those ebony pools. With a mental shake, I drag myself back from the abyss. _Careful, Gordon! *Holy S***! but she's *gor-geous*! And those *eyes*..._ I stammer a bit as I become aware of the momentary silence. "Ahh, Finn here tells me you're the one who can turn herself into a *dragon*. I really look forward to seeing that. I've always been a bit fascinated by dragons. It's a pleasure to have met you, and would enjoy hearing more later..." I move toward Harvey, feeling self-conscious and worrying that I just made a fool of myself. Taking a quick breath to clear my thoughts, I proceed to greet him. As he goes on about shaking hands, I begin to wonder if I should become paranoid about it. _This is getting a little *weird*..._ But Harvey's relaxed good nature begins to impress itself on my brain, and I find myself beginning to like this man. He seems an OK, down-to-Earth kind of guy. I chuckle at his parting comment and my smile begins to return as I turn to the last metahuman in line, the one introduced as 'Walter'. <><><><><> Lisa: " Yes. My life has turned into a tabloid headline. 'Teenage dragon from Boston and telepathic folk singer battle bird of fire at airport then sneak off with men in black to top secret government lab.' " She replies, in mock seriousness, trying to reassure Gordon. She shakes his hand still smiling. " Relax, I don't bite. " Her eyes sparkle with mischief. " At least, not yet. " " They're running me through the obstacle course after Terra-riser is secured. Then it'll be more tests in dragon form. You're welcome to watch if you want. " <><><><><> Gordon: Chuckling, I find that myself enjoying the beautiful young woman's sense of humor. Then her second comment sinks in, and the nervousness floods back. Fortunately, before I can stammer out anything else foolish, she continues on, inviting me to her testing. A bit of excitement is sufficient to erase the obvious anxiety in my tone as I reply, "Oh *cool*! It would be a pleasure to be there, *if* they're not to busy poking and prodding *me* at the time. Thanks, I will try to be there!" <><><><><> WALT: The quiet red-headed man in the back steps forward casually. "Howdy, Gordon; m'names Walt. Welcome to the 'funhouse', and I hope you all can stand a surprise or two; they tend to come in bunches hereabouts!". <><><><><> Gordon: I watch as the quiet man steps forward, his shock of red hair reminding me of my aunt Gerry. I grin as he greets me with his Southern drawl; I'm going to have to work at not slipping into my own Texas twang. "Thank you, Walt. 'A surprise or two' I can handle. 'Bunches' may prove to be a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I hope it does indeed prove to be 'fun'..." I turn back to Dicer. "Well, enough standing around. What say we go inside and see what's what? I've got a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Where do you think we should start?" <><><><><> Harvey: "Surprises? How can they be surprises when we keep expecting something surprising to happen?" "I look on the bright side right now. So far the airport is still here! Kind of an improvement, eh?" [ooc: in other words, Amadan's dislike for airports and tendancy to blow them up hasn't gotten to _our_ airport yet.] <><><><><> Gordon: Harvey's comment regarding airports draws a questioning look from me, but I decide not to ask at this point. Something about standing around out here in this wide open space with all these people I have just met leaves me feeling a little anxious. I look over at Dicer and gesture for him to lead the way to the 'headquarters' (such as they are, or at least appear to be ). <><><><><> [GM] Your probe of Terrarizer reveals his real name: Steve Lincoln. A scan of his personality reveals a 21 year old kid so shallow and self-centered, it would be pathetic if he weren't so dangerous. He's a true sociopath, devoid of any morals, or any concern for anyone but himself. The world exists to please him; anyone who gets between him and what he wants is an evil scumbag. On top of that, he's not too bright. He smoked and drank his way through high school, and until recently, scraped by working at a dingy club in Seattle, dreaming of being a big rock star. But he'd probably have remained just another vapid, amoral but mostly harmless punk without the manifestation of his powers....tremendous power, the ability to control the earth. When it came to him, he accepted it as his rightful due, and immediately embarked on the simplistic plan of threatening to destroy Seattle unless they paid him a ridiculous amount of money. He lacked enough insight to realize that the government probably *couldn't* come up with a billion dollars in cash even if they were willing to pay his extortion, and if they did, he undoubtedly hasn't a clue how he'd launder such an astronomical figure. But his power is quite sufficient to do what he threatened. You fear that if he learns what tectonic plates are, he could do far worse than merely shake up a city. <><><><><> % Finn % Finn shuddered as she touched Terra-riser's mind, but only after getting everything she thought they would need right away did she allow herself to pull out. All the cockiness of earlier is gone, and now her true tired state showed itself on her face, the dark circles somehow looking darker, and her cheeks sunken and hollow. "He's a sociopath," she spoke quietly to whatever agent happened to be nearby. "His name is Steve Lincoln, and he's 21. He's not too bright, otherwise he might have figured out the more dangerous applications of his powers. Don't let him learn of tectonics, okay?" she looked up with frightened eyes at the agent. "He has absolutely no morals, no guilt, there is nothing but himself, and now his powers." She turned back toward the building, and began walking very rapidly. "I think I'm going to be sick..." she half-cried as she began running away from everyone, heading to the nearest bathroom facilities, and losing what little she had managed to choke down of her breakfast. <><><><><> Harvey: Harvey is concerned when Finn starts to hurry away from the group. He's not sure if he should go after her so she won't be alone. Until he realizes she really is going to be sick, that's something she should be alone for. He hopes she's going to be ok, this seems to be putting a real strain on her. <><><><><> Lisa: Lisa looks worriedly at Finn as she describes what she saw in the mind of Terra-riser. Having seen what mere proximity to the crazy metas in the holding cells had done to Finn she wonders how reading the mind of a sociopath will affect her. Finn's departure quickly answers her. " I wonder if I should go after her or give her some time to herself. " She sighs; then: " If you gentlemen would excuse me I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help her. Would you stay with Terra-riser please. He should have an escort at least until he's secured in a holding cell. If you need my assistance just scream real loud. " She says then moves off following Finn into the building. <><><><><> Harvey: Harvey nods emphatically when Lisa offers to see how Finn is doing, it sooths his conscience quite a bit (He'd have gone himself but if Finn is heading for the ladies room it wouldn't be too appropriate). "We'll scream _real_ loud", Harvey agrees, with a bit of a grin showing, "Just try to stop us." <><><><><> Walt: [Walt rushes over toward Finn, moving to support her *without* making skin to skin contact!] "Easy, darlin'; y'all did just fine. Jes take it slow". Walt looks for all the world like he might *hurt* anybody who hassles her just now. <><><><><> % Finn % Without thinking, Finn brushed Walt's help away with an angry swipe of her hand. "Leave me alone!" she managed to get out before she couldn't speak anymore, not making it to the nearest bathroom before her stomach emptied itself. She fell to her knees retching, tears streaking down her face, the emotional outpouring coming from a variety of sources, not the least which was the embarrassment of her current situation. Only when her illness had relegated itself to dry heaves did she attempt to pull herself back together, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths to calm herself, trying hard to shut everyone and their concern for her out of her mind, even if accidentally touching Walt had temporarily turned off her ... powers. Wiping at her face and eyes with the back of her hand, and with nothing else nearby, her mouth wiped by a corner of her jacket, Finn once more steadied herself and got to her feet. "Sorry about that ... I think I need to lie down for a bit. If anyone needs me for anything, they can find me in my room." She waved off any and all attempts to help her, and proceeded to the room designated for her on her own. A bit shakily, but on her own. <><><><><> Gordon: I hear Finn's recitation of T-R's inner being. Somehow, it sounds about how I had him figured. As Finn staggers off in agony, I turn and look elsewhere, not wishing to add to her discomfort. First priority is to check on T-R. A glance tells me whether the people handling him are keeping him up off the ground or not. If not, I run over and tell them what we discovered regarding his recuperative abilities and urge them to prevent him from having any physical contact with the ground. Next I look around for the only other person here whom I have known for more than two minutes, and who is my only real connection to this entire organizaion, Agent Dicer. As far as I can tell, he seems to have disappeared into thin air. I stand in the middle of this airfield, trying to decide whether to ask a near-stranger to show me around, or to just head in and try to figure things out on my own. <><><><><> [GM] [I am now going to advance things a bit, so we can bring in another player who has been waiting a lot longer than you were, Gordon.] * * * * * Dicer leads Gordon inside, and he sees Terra-rizer carried off downstairs. Inside, the facility does indeed appear to be considerably larger than it appeared from the outside. There is at least one entire wing taken up by offices, and a spacious cafeteria joining the administrative section to the scientific wing, which is where they take Gordon. There seems to be a number of labs and computer rooms here. Gordon meets Dr. Culbrand, who seems to be in charge of the metahuman testing. He informs Gordon that the agency- which is currently a sort of collaboration between the Justice Department and the Department of Defense (a concept which is legally questionable, and is no doubt one of the reasons they're trying to be so secretive), currently has nearly a dozen metahumans cooperating with them in one capacity or another. "Jones, Shindell, Colvin and Chang you met," Culbrand says. "We also have Kelly Donovan, who is what we call a 'physiopath'. She can sense and analyze someone's physiology...metabolism, blood pressure, heart rate, neural activity, and so forth. She's untrained, but we think she'll be as effective as a telepath once she's better able to interpret the data her power provides her. Right now, she's primary of use as a metahuman detector. Unfortunately, she's also convalescing after a nasty incident in New York." "Also recovering here is Jason Little, who can store and discharge electricity." "Our other metahuman agents have powers that include super-speed, super- strength, invulnerability, animal transformations, turning into a shadow, and some that are yet undetermined. I can't give you their names because they're in the field, working on various covert missions, or they simply wish to have their names concealed, to protect their identity." "We are compiling a database on metahumans, which is growing all the time. We collect information on every suspected metahuman sighting in the world, and continue to obtain as much information as we can from all of you, who cooperate with us in providing data on your powers. Our agency is essentially divided into the research division and the field operations division. Both of us have a continual need for metahumans. We need to study you, to learn how your powers work, and how we might be able to protect society from malevolent individuals like Terrarizer and Deathstorm. We can't rely on benevolent metahumans always being there to stop them, after all. But the field agents try to do just that, and of course they want our 'staff' metahumans to go out on missions with them whenever possible." "It's up to you where you choose to lend your presence...assuming you decide to work with us on a continual basis, of course. Our initial tests will help you as much as us, since we often are able to provide precise parameters concerning your powers, as well as discovering new ones, or new applications of your existing abilities that you hadn't thought of." The first part is merely a physical, though as thorough a physical as any you've ever had. They want blood samples, of course, and anticipate difficulty, having been informed that you had displayed a certain amount of invulnerability earlier. But to your mild surprise, when they try taking blood the normal way first (i.e. with a normal needle), your glowing field does not activate...the needle slides into your skin with no difficulty. Culbrand, standing next to the doctor who extracted the blood, looks thoughtful. After they take the blood samples, they run you through a battery of tests... intelligence and education tests, tests for psychic abilities and ESP and other enhanced senses, all of which turn up negative. The one sense that has clearly been enhanced is your vision. With sophisticated, high-resolution computer screens, they test your visual acuity under a variety of circumstances. You discover an ability that hadn't become apparent before... low-light vision. Your eyes enhance ambient light better than a cat's, allowing you to see in what humans would consider complete darkness. You cannot, however, see in total darkness. It occurs to you that when your mysterious glowing aura activates, it would probably provide enough illumination to give you perfect vision in most situations. As for your distance vision, it's been enhanced by a factor of about 100...true telescopic vision. Your ability to spot gradiations in color, as well as sensing movement, is also greatly improved. It doesn't seem as if you'll ever have to wear glasses. Your eyes also adjust almost instantly to rapid changes in illumination; going from a dark room to a brightly lit one with the flick of a switch, you only need to blink once before your pupils adjust. You're eager to test your energy-projecting powers, but the scientists tell you that will wait until the next day. Mental and sensory tests are done the first day, physical tests the following day, and then everything is explored in greater detail. They do allow you to satisfy your own curiousity (and theirs) regarding your enhanced strength, and lead you to a well- equipped gym, with a massive bench press machine connected to hydraulic arms that lead down through the floor, connected to some massive apparatus beneath the bench, apparently. "It can generate a resisting force of up to ten tons," he says. "We know some metahumans, like Paladin, can- err, could, lift a lot more than that. But while enhanced strength seems to be fairly common among metahumans, very few have 'comic book' levels, able to toss cars around. Why don't you give it a try?" The hydraulic press hisses and the bench groans as you rapidly surpass your best effort ever achieved in a gym before. The 200 pounds that was once your goal is now ridiculously easy. You hit 700 pounds before it takes much effort. As your arms begin to tire, the resistance indicator passes 750...800...at just over a full ton, you reach muscle failure and you have to stop. Of course, this was after performing a number of high-weight reps...your maxmimum lift is probably even higher, if you start fresh. "Not bad," Agent Dicer says, coming in accompanied by Agent Gemann. Gemann adds "I hope your male ego isn't too fragile, though. Ms. Chang did FIVE tons- and that was without turning into a dragon." An image of the diminutive Chinese lass hoisting a car over her head comes to mind. (Which is probably one of the *cleaner* images of Lisa that's come to mind lately. ) "Now that the scientists have had a whole day to poke and prod you, guess what?" Gemann grins. "There's *another* metahuman coming in shortly." "As least she's not bringing a drugged psycho with her," Dicer adds. <><><><><> Gordon: I follow Dicer around the facility, marveling at how they managed to make such a large facility look so small from the outside. Along the way, I ask him several inane questions, being too amazed to think up good ones. I look the labs and computers over with special interest. Dr. Culbrand seems to be quite competant, something I generally don't expect from governmental employees. "Hello, Doctor. I look forward to learning more about myself and your operations here." _Nearly a *dozen* of us?! WOW!_ I listen to his descriptions of the others, fascinated especially by his description of Ms. Donovan's abilities. "I'm sorry to hear about Ms. Donovan and Mr. Little. I hope they'll be recovered soon..." "I can understand their need for anonymity. I will probably have to adopt a similar position." I listen to his recitation on the organization's structure without any comment. I suspect the information will form the basis of what I gather later. I perk up at the mention of testing; this is where things should really start to get interesting, and I'm not disappointed. First, it seems strange that they are able to pierce my skin with a normal needle, though I guess it shouldn't, since I actually *felt* Taylor jump into my lap the other day. "Guess I won't have to quit donating blood," I quip to the doctor standing over me. Over lunch I pull Dicer aside. "As you know, I had planned to return to Seattle today. However, since it is Friday, if your organiztion would agree to fly Lori and the kids out, I could stay until Sunday. That would give time for them to see the place, and me to gather the info I need to make a decision regarding your employment offer. Who do we need to talk to see if it can be arranged?" [Assuming we manage to arrange something, and I am able to make the necessary arrangements with Lori...] The afternoon proves as interesting as the morning. I had known that my vision had improved significantly, but they identify a far greater improvement than I had been aware of. The night vision seems especially useful; I start to form some ideas for trying some things with it. Doesn't sound like I'm likely to get blinded very easily, either. My experience lifting the weights in the gym dilutes my disappointment at not getting to use my flashier powers that day. _A *ton*?! Over *2000 pounds*?! Son of a *b****!*_ I turn and grin over at Dicer and 'that other agent'. "You like, huh Dicer? Not bad, if I do say so myself." "*Five* tons, huh? Guess I won't be arm-wrestling *her* anytime soon..." I reply to Gemann's taunt with a mock-pout. I realize that my mental image of Lisa hoisting the car actually includes *clothes*. How strange. I hope this doesn't get to be a habit. I suddenly remember that I am missing her testing that she was kind enough to invite me to watch. _Oh well, things just got too busy. Perhaps later..." "Another of us, huh? Well, I guess we better get out there and greet her..." <><><><><> [GM] "Umm, we can't do that, Mr. Fancher," Gemann says. "This IS a top secret facility...it's not exactly a place to have the wife and kids come to spend a weekend. The best we can do is fly them out to Washington, which is two hours away. You could go see them there, but we can't let unassigned civilians come here." <><><><><> Gordon: "I'm confused. Dicer here was telling me that your organization was interested in hiring me. How is a single parent like myself supposed to work here if my kids aren't allowed to know about or come to the facility? Are you saying that I would live off-site, and commute here like a regular 9-to-5er? How would we go about providing protection for them, as well as care if I am not able to return home in the evening for whatever reason?" <><><><><> [GM] "We ARE interested in hiring you," Gemann says. "But frankly, this facility wasn't constructed with an eye towards single parents, it was designed for remoteness and secrecy. Naturally, many of the people working here have kids, but they commute from Washington, or elsewhere in Virginia. Most work only a few days a week. We would be more than willing to help set you and your family up within reasonable commuting distance. It's not like you'd have to come here five days a week, 8 hours a day. We really can't allow uncleared personnel to come here, though." <><><><><> Gordon: "Hmmm. Well, it sounds like we might be able to work something out. Though there's still a lot to be figured out. By the way, who's the head honcho around here? Perhaps I should spend some time talking with them this evening. Of course, this still means that I need to get my family out here for the weekend. I could spend some time with them, and some time here while they play tourist in DC. Fair enough?" "Then again, continuing my life in Seattle - assuming I can find a job - is still also an option. I guess I still need to determine what direction I want to go with my life. It appears that there are some very nasty metahumans out there, and *something* needs to be done about them. Then again, this kind of work could become *very* dangerous. I don't cherish the idea of my kids losing their other parent, or them being placed in danger because of my actions. Something will have to be done to provide for their se curity when I'm not with them." <><><><><> [GM] "Dr. Culbrand is in charge of the research division. Agent Mabe is the chief of field operations- he's in Chicago right now. Above them both, of course, are administrative overseers. The chief of this entire facility is Peter Hydle, who's been in Washington for the past few days. He reports directly to the Attorney General, and frequently briefs the President personally. He will, I'm sure, want to meet all of you as soon as he gets back." "We'll do whatever we can to facilitate your taking care of your family. Umm, not to sound pessimistic or anything, but since you did bring it up, we'd naturally provide a substantial life insurance policy to cover you, if you perform hazardous missions for us. Or even if you just remain here to help with research, for that matter." [since the rest of this conversation will just be more details about future preparations, let's just say you talk about it some more, until...] "Well, our next recruit is landing as we speak. Shall we go meet her?"