Still Not Safe #2 [M&M 2nd ed]

[Cubey]

Lorne:
"Alright." Takeshi responded. He grasped the basics of chess quite quickly, but made a rather easy opponent if you try to play seriously. It's no surprise, since he was unfamiliar with the rules until just now and all of that.

By analyzing the information, it seems that despite the visual appearance of tower-like structures emerging from the ground, the female knight does not actually use earth or any other substance. The objects are ephemeral and disappear when destroyed. And they leave no sight of their presence once they're gone.

[Matar]

Indeed, there is a small pile of wrapped gift boxes that she is carrying. Each box is presented to a person who is around - you all get one, although neither Laura nor the Commander receives a gift. Apparently she wants to give presents only to people roughly her age. And with each present given, she says the same thing (not that most of you can understand it):
"Thank you. I really learnt a lot."

Todd accepts the gift with great passion! When he opens it, he discovers a very styles green scarf. Once he gets to his room he shreds the ends of it a little it give it a neat "Battle Worn" look.

When not sending the rare email to Matilda, Todd spends most of his time either training with James or talking Laura into going shopping. He's eager for training to begin again as well, after all, it means he gets to hit things!

[Haven]

"No, it's nothing, everything is fine!" Emi's response is a bit too fast and embarassed to be true. She looks to the side for a second, but then her gaze returns - she smiles a bit and folds her hands behind her.
"Um, if you have some free time, would you like to watch it together? Most series are more enjoyable when you watch them with someone else."

"Sure! I'm, ah, not really doing anything else right now...if it's a good time for you, of course."

By analyzing the information, it seems that despite the visual appearance of tower-like structures emerging from the ground, the female knight does not actually use earth or any other substance. The objects are ephemeral and disappear when destroyed. And they leave no sight of their presence once they're gone.

Hmm...seems to be a dead end, until I can get more information.

The spontaneous creation of matter reminds him of another, more perennial problem he's been wondering about through his time on SECT but hasn't addressed recently: Where does the energy come from? When we use our powers, what precisely does the work?

He starts going through all available recorded data, as well as searching through the SECT database for whatever other inquiries into this question have been made. In another file, he writes down his current hypotheses (though they resemble wild mass guessing more than anything):

It's possible that Sophium somehow utilizes our metabolic processes--hence the sensation of fatigue that comes with sustained use, as energy is being drawn from our bodies. However, it would have to be an extremely efficient force multiplier for this to be the sole explanation--it seems more likely that there's another source of energy that is being drawn upon, somehow.

Attempting to make some headway on this probably takes up most of his time for the next week.

[Drascin]

At first, Lorne seems rather uncomfortable with the situation--but he gradually adjusts, even seeming a little more comfortable than usual, the exercising giving him an outlet for the nervous energy he seems to carry around all the time. In fact, when Andy gets to that particular remark, Lorne replies, "About the same as you and Cat, of course" without breaking his stride.

Andy laughs. "Hah! Well said. But that's where you're wrong. You at least have the advantage that the attraction's obviously mutual there, dude" he winks. He then scratches his head. "I didn't know that me being head over heels for Cat was THAT obvious, though. Oh, the embarrasment! Which other dark, terrible secrets have you gleaned from me, you evil thief? he jokes, hamming it up so as to make it obvious he's actually pretty happy Lorne's actually jabbing back.

As the Spanish saying goes, "At the blacksmith's home, wooden knives". For all his ability to read other people, when it comes to himself and his own relationships, Andy can still be fairly clueless - or rather, he's pretty sure that any signs of Cat's interest are mostly wishful thinking on his own end, and therefore not to be trusted.

---------------

"You reacted like a human being to a horrible situation. I think the rest of us were a little in shock. Don't beat yourself up for not doing the same." Cat's response comes quickly. If it wasn't reassuring Andy it'd almost sound defensive.

"Nah, don't worry, I'm not beating myself over it. That's just how I am - I've always been reckless and a bit of an idiot, after all" he grins, not as cheery as usual, but obviously a bit better than a second ago. "I was just saying, it disqualifies me from leadership. A good leader is the one who is affected by things, but can bite'em down and give smart orders. At that moment, I don't think I'd have been able to give orders much beyond FOR THE HORDE-style yelling and foaming" he chuckles.

She's quiet for a beat, then chuckles, a little forced. "Guess I'd better try hard to persuade Lorne, then, if the alternative is that I get stuck with the job. You mentioned a hammer?"

Andy chuckles, following the joke to try to get the ambience back to happy. "I was speaking metaphorically, dude! You know, duty and trust and how everyone is so counting on him and stuff - not actually hammering him! Though that would be one hell of a motivator..." he acts all mock-thoughtful for a second.

He doubts for a moment, then says, a bit embarrased. "...but I still honestly think you would also make a good boss. I at least would be plenty happy to follow you to hell and back, really" he says, looking a bit down in embarrasment (and yelling at himself mentally for saying something that stupid by the time he's about halfway that sentence). It's the problem with honesty as a policy - sometimes you blurt out things...

[kamikasei]

Andy chuckles, following the joke to try to get the ambience back to happy. "I was speaking metaphorically, dude! You know, duty and trust and how everyone is so counting on him and stuff - not actually hammering him! Though that would be one hell of a motivator..." he acts all mock-thoughtful for a second.

"Oh, I just thought you had blackmail material. Duty and trust are too general to make good gossip. Might work well, if it's not too much pressure for him." She considers. "You want to suggest it to him, or will I? Or a few of us together, but that really might be piling it on too much."

He doubts for a moment, then says, a bit embarrased. "...but I still honestly think you would also make a good boss. I at least would be plenty happy to follow you to hell and back, really" he says, looking a bit down in embarrasment (and yelling at himself mentally for saying something that stupid by the time he's about halfway that sentence). It's the problem with honesty as a policy - sometimes you blurt out things...

"I don't want to lead you to hell, Andy. You don't annoy me that much," Cat answers lightly. Now, is that missing the point, or avoiding the subject?

"Oof! Well, I suppose we can't guard against everything," Lorne says, punctuating this with a telekinetic jab in the back of her shoulder-armor.

Cat takes the jab good-naturedly - or maybe just stoically. It's looking like her ability to move water exceeds Lorne's, but she's learning interesting things about working against an unfamiliar kind of resistance, while raw power aside he's a baffling opponent who's far too good at finding her weak spots.

Spoiler

Show

((The below assumes Andy is okay with Cat broaching the subject to Lorne. If he says he'd rather do it himself, she'll let him, and this part doesn't happen. Is the Andy/Lorne exchange taking place before or after the Cat/Lorne exchange?))

"I was talking to some of the others, by the way," she varnishes the truth (Andy is too "some"!). "We were pretty... undirected in the fight after the conference. It'd be good if we could agree on one voice everyone trusted to make decisions in a pinch." She gives a small pause. "You're kind of the obvious choice for that. What do you think?"

This is actually a calculated risk. Cat hasn't actually discussed the idea with anyone except Andy yet. She could have tried to get a few of the others to agree in advance, but figures this way will put less pressure on Lorne and cause less overall stress if he shoots down the idea.

---

Depending on Lorne's answer, over the next few days Cat sounds out the others. Would they agree it'd be a good idea to an agreed decision-maker for when the team needed to coordinate better than they'd been doing so far? She takes their suggestions as to who might fill the role before she suggests that Lorne might fit - if he's seemed amenable. Of course, she's working on the assumption that most people will nominate him of their own accord.

That aside, she doesn't do much of note. With the news that training and classes will resume soon, she mostly focuses on her own self-improvement work. Having no interest in snooping, the rest of her time is spent relaxing - hanging around in her room or with Andy mostly, though she does make an effort to see who's around the common areas now and then and try and engage the others a bit beyond just politicking. In particular, she asks Laura her opinion of the importance of self training versus what SECT provides.

And she writes home. There's not much to say, so she mostly just asks - inquiries after friends and relatives. She writes to the school friends she named in the conference, and a couple of others too, as well as her father. Aside from assurances that she's well, she mostly focuses on trying to allay any worries they might have by writing as though nothing unusual were going on.

[Tengu_temp]

"Sure! I'm, ah, not really doing anything else right now...if it's a good time for you, of course."

"Mhm, it's fine." Emi nods. "Are we going to watch it in your room, or go look for some common area? Well..." Her cheeks redden a bit. "I'd prefer the first option, as long as there aren't any giant Tesla coils around that can zap me, or other unusual stuff like that. I don't know what you keep there, I have never been to your room, after all."

---

It appears that Emi has another occupation during the next several days - watching the anime with Lorne and talking about it with him, whenever they both have free time. She has plenty, at least. The message about the classes and PE continuing soon is something she barely bothers remembering.
We're still having vacations! I won't be attending some stupid summer school.
She's glad the PSA training returns, though. Her overall mood seems to improve around that time, and she returns to her less isolated behaviour.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Depending on Lorne's answer, over the next few days Cat sounds out the others. Would they agree it'd be a good idea to an agreed decision-maker for when the team needed to coordinate better than they'd been doing so far? She takes their suggestions as to who might fill the role before she suggests that Lorne might fit - if he's seemed amenable. Of course, she's working on the assumption that most people will nominate him of their own accord.

Ben was working out in the weight room wearing a pair of red jogging pants and a black tank top when Cat found him, using the lateral pull-down machine. He was keeping to his regimen of splitting the time between training his PSA and training his human body. With all that he'd seen Frank do, Ben figured it was time to be able to at least run away if he ever became separated from his amplifier. He'd actually asked Frank to give him lessons in boxing/mixed martial arts, but hadn't received an answer as of yet. He greeted Cat as she walked into the room and let the bar raise incrementally from his shoulders until a metal-on-metal sound announced that the weights were back in place and he could let go without dropping them. He windmilled his shoulders a little to work out the soreness as she went over her proposal.

Ben thought about it for a good minute and then frowned. "To tell you the truth, I couldn't follow orders from Lorne until he gets his phobias under control. Besides, he's a strategist and a scientist, but a battlefield leader? I haven't really seen any evidence to support that. Andy, maybe, since he's the calm collected type, but if I had to pick a leader...well, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I'd pick me. I've been here for years longer than many of you, longer than anyone except for Laura and Devon, actually. If Frank wasn't there, I'd really only feel comfortable giving the orders instead of receiving them. It's just how I work." Ben said.

[Drascin]

"Oh, I just thought you had blackmail material. Duty and trust are too general to make good gossip. Might work well, if it's not too much pressure for him." She considers. "You want to suggest it to him, or will I? Or a few of us together, but that really might be piling it on too much."

"As you wish, really. The first one to meet him tells him. I'm sure you'll know how to break it to him... diplomatically" he does a joking impression of a mafia boss, then grins.

"I don't want to lead you to hell, Andy. You don't annoy me that much," Cat answers lightly. Now, is that missing the point, or avoiding the subject?

"Heh" Andy chuckles, only the slightest bit forced. "Well, that's good to hear. I don't really fancy visiting Hell much, myself. I'm more for cold climates, y'know how it is" he winks.

---

As for Andy's time, other than spending a lot of time with Cat and a fair bit with Lorne, he spends most of the time until next week in his PSA, dealing with the troubling contradictions in his armor. Thinking about it rationally (or rather, Troperishly, which is more appropiate when dealing with Sophium Armors), just Earth powers shouldn't really allow him to make strangely empowered weapons (weapons, yes. But they had powers he couldn't actually use otherwise. He could just feel the heat of the metal easily, and weave it with his own power - but somehow, in that equation, something else had to enter, for the powers he could use afterwards) - but he was so certain he could, it made so much sense that man-made metal could adopt man-made legends, that he did. Yet it's being remarkably harder to hear it and do it again now, when in peace and quiet, despite also being using man-made metal in the same way. It's fairly strange, and Andy's always been the type to poke his fingers into a plug to see what happens. Perhaps his rage enhanced something in it? Perhaps it was something in the metal of the space station?

He will of course mention this to Lorne as well, given the other kid has always been interested in studying PSAs, and undoubtedly to Cat as they train, because Andy can't really keep things secret from Cat .

[Cubey]

Lorne:
Lorne finds archives of Shifters and SEs using both clear environment manipulation (stone/water walls, for example), and creating new objects altogether. The latter were always unstable and disappeared soon after. Everyone was stumped on how they could do that - the most likely theory (according to scientists who wrote the reports) is that they were temporary Sophium creations, just like PSAs.

Cat:
Cat can find Laura quite easily, so asking her about self-improvement is easy enough.
"Well, umm." But she doesn't seem particularly at ease with the topic.
"My powers are... quite special, so I didn't really train them. But maybe that was a mistake... and others did train, both in armor and out of it."
She looks quite embarassed about it.

Todd:
Speaking of Laura, Todd manages to successfully convince her to go out shopping - but there's no luck with persuading her (or the port security for that matter) to go to the mainland. It might be too dangerous with Ascenders' recent actions. The best you can hope for is the HQ's mall.
And it turns out that it's pretty well supplied, even when it gets to clothing and other accessories. Are so many SECT employees interested in such things?

Ben (possibly others):
"I can show you basics." The best time for Ben to ask Frank is during your daily physical exercises. Assuming Ben comes, that is - as some of his teammates do not.
"But not now. If you start training, you must not interrupt it. And the MSAS squad is moving to America soon. Testing new equipment. We can start when I return."

"It'd be bad if a SE attacked when you all were gone." Sara comments. During PE, she is having a special regimen - which mostly means she has to run a lot and do other stuff that builds her stamina. And it seems she has to stay later than all of you. And she's not all content about it.

Emi:
When you're holed up in your room, you hear a knock to the door.
"May I come in?" It's the psychologist.

[Fri]

James spent the whole week brooding as usual, beside his usual training with Todd. Maybe his previous outburst had taken his whole week supply of speech?

He trained harder after the previous incident. Being a Shifter is good, but after seeing what Frank can do without an armor, he felt ashamed as a martial artist. Maybe he can't defeat Devon outside of armor... yet, but Frank seems to be a more achiavable goal.

When asked by Cat about leadership, James answers. "Doesn't matter much to me. Lorne's fine, but to be honest, he don't really have the 'commanding presence'. I used to think of Ben as our field leader. I respect him. Too bad that he doesn't speak much in the field."

[Cubey]

James:
Just like Emi, you receive a visit from the psychologist - at a time when you're present in the room. Even if you were absent most of the time, she somehow finds a moment when you're in there.
"May I come in?" She asks.

[Fri]

"Huh?" The psychologist's visit surprises James. He's just going to end his training session with some brooding. He fixes his clothings and let the psychologist in. "Uh... sure. Are there something you need?"

[Cubey]

James:
"I'm entering then." Miss Darius opens the door and moves into your room.
"I do not really need anything. But I have a feeling you might need my help. Please tell me - how do you feel at the moment? The last few days must have been hard for you."
She looks around for a seat, and takes one if there is anything you offer to her.

[Tengu_temp]

Emi was busy drawing when the psychologist knocked on her door.
Sigh. What might she want from me now?
She puts the sketchbook away - she doesn't want some of the stuff that's in there to give Miss Darius any ideas about her psyche.
"Yes, come in. I'm not busy right now."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"I can show you basics." The best time for Ben to ask Frank is during your daily physical exercises. Assuming Ben comes, that is - as some of his teammates do not.
"But not now. If you start training, you must not interrupt it. And the MSAS squad is moving to America soon. Testing new equipment. We can start when I return."

"There has to be someone else you trust to start my training, Frank. Someone you know on the base who knows what they're doing and will show me the basics? You can leave me with them and then we'll pick up once you get back. I don't want to delay this since it may be a matter of life and death." Ben said. "I can fight, but outside of my PSA I'm an amateur. I know some boxing, but I've always trained the PSA instead of training to fight with my own body. I should have been learning this all along."

[Cubey]

Emi:
"I'm entering." The psychologist walks into the room.
"Actually, there is something we need to talk about." Like in James's case, she looks for a place to sit on.
"You are absent from almost all activities that SECT prepared for you. I'm afraid the teachers did not see you in class even once. Could you tell me why do you not attend classes nor physical exercises?" She tries to sound concerned rather than chastizing.
"I know it may look ignorable compared to missions, but it is actually very important. You must remain physically fit in case an unexpected event happens, and education is crucial for your future."

Ben:
"I do not know many people." Frank sounds stoic as always.
"Most are in the alloy suit squad, and they are leaving with me to the US."
That's all he has to say. Apparently it means he does not know any other good teachers who will remain on the base.

[Tengu_temp]

There is plenty of places to sit - the bed, and two chairs, one of them currently occupied by Emi.
I should have seen that coming...
She gives the psychologist a slightly tired look.
"Well... It's summer. We're working for SECT, but we're still on vacations. I will go to classes when it's school time. As for physical exercises, PSA training is enough. We're not going to fight out of armor anyway."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"I do not know many people." Frank sounds stoic as always.
"Most are in the alloy suit squad, and they are leaving with me to the US."
That's all he has to say. Apparently it means he does not know any other good teachers who will remain on the base.

"Damn...well I'll see if I can find someone to give me the rundown. Thanks anyway, Frank. I'll see you guys when you get back. Take care." Ben said in parting. Then he headed down toward the base's gym. There was a fighting ring down there for boxing and other martial arts, so if he was going to find anyone who might know what they're doing it would be there.

Ben called Andy, James, and even Todd and the others to see if they wanted to come along.

[kamikasei]

((Reposting this as, based on Drascin's latest, it did indeed happen.))

"Oof! Well, I suppose we can't guard against everything," Lorne says, punctuating this with a telekinetic jab in the back of her shoulder-armor.

"I was talking to some of the others, by the way," she varnishes the truth (Andy is too "some"!). "We were pretty... undirected in the fight after the conference. It'd be good if we could agree on one voice everyone trusted to make decisions in a pinch." She gives a small pause. "You're kind of the obvious choice for that. What do you think?"

This is actually a calculated risk. Cat hasn't actually discussed the idea with anyone except Andy yet. She could have tried to get a few of the others to agree in advance, but figures this way will put less pressure on Lorne and cause less overall stress if he shoots down the idea.

Ben thought about it for a good minute and then frowned. "To tell you the truth, I couldn't follow orders from Lorne until he gets his phobias under control..."

"That's fair. We have to figure out what everyone's comfortable with," Cat agrees, or sounds agreeable at least. "Lorne would be the one with the most information at any time, but maybe if we train as a group more we'll find a system comes naturally to us."

Cat can find Laura quite easily, so asking her about self-improvement is easy enough.
"Well, umm." But she doesn't seem particularly at ease with the topic.
"My powers are... quite special, so I didn't really train them. But maybe that was a mistake... and others did train, both in armor and out of it."
She looks quite embarassed about it.

"Did they train together, in tactics and that kind of thing? Did the SECT training cover it?" Cat pads her questions out with a reasonable amount of small talk to keep the pressure off Laura - it's clear enough that the old team can be a touchy subject for the older woman.

She's also started watching another show on Andy and Emi's recommendation - Cowboy Bebop. So if Ben includes her in the invitation to the ring, she accepts with a thoughtful look.

[Cubey]

Ben:
It's late morning, so the gym is almost empty. Will you really be able to find someone to train you here? Hopefully.
(Something may happen later, but making sure if some other people want to come too.)

Emi:
"Here - if you do not mind, I will explain." Miss Darius elaborates from her seat.
"In order not to burden you and your friends with exams or too much work, you have only few classes. That's not for summer only, this will continue in September or later. But because you have so few classes, you need to study all year to keep up with others, who have normal teaching programs. Otherwise, once you succeed with the task of defeating SEs and SECT won't be needed anymore, you'll find yourself in a position of disadvantage compared to what a young person of your age should know. I do not think having a harder time getting into a university or other place of higher learning is an appropriate reward for someone who tries as hard as you - don't you agree?"

"As for physical activities, the Commander concluded that physical stamina is as important as mental when it gets to prolonged PSA operation. So the more fit you are, the longer you can stay in your armor with no ill effects. His scientists gathered data that confirm this."

Cat:
"Well, I don't really know how it looked like at the start..." Laura fidgets a little.
"I was after all the last to join the team. But Adam was the team's tactician... of sorts, and everyone trained as a team, using the tactics he devised. Nobody disapproved of that, maybe they decided Shifters know best how Shifters fight..."

[Matar]

Todd:
Speaking of Laura, Todd manages to successfully convince her to go out shopping - but there's no luck with persuading her (or the port security for that matter) to go to the mainland. It might be too dangerous with Ascenders' recent actions. The best you can hope for is the HQ's mall.
And it turns out that it's pretty well supplied, even when it gets to clothing and other accessories. Are so many SECT employees interested in such things?

Todd, who had been totally unaware of the mall, was in happy land. He did more shopping for Laura then he did for himself, but he did get a lot stuff. A new pair of green shoes, some fancy green shirts, new pants, green socks... basically everything, just in a new style.

To James:

Also, during one training session with James Todd decides to ask him if they should invite Laura to join them. This training was sacred, and he dared not invite someone to join them without his brothers okay!

"Hey dude!" Todd leans forward, trying to catch his breath. But... it was easier now. He could bend it into shapes, and his PSA felt... closer to him. "Are you okay with having Laura join us for training? I don't think she has many friends to hang out with here, so I thought I'd ask you what you thought." Todd stands up straight again and begins to bend his armor in different ways. Right now his PSA covered almost his entire body, missing only the hands. "This place is sacred, ya know? It has our sweat, our tears, our determination. I don't want someone to tred on this ground and join us without your okay. It'd be... insulting. Ya know?

[Tengu_temp]

Miss Darius' words surprise Emi. And it's not the nice kind of surprise.
What?! Why didn't anyone tell me about this before?
She sighs and looks down. When she speaks, there is a slightly resentful note in her voice.
"Why couldn't we have normal classes instead? And isn't the PSA training enough to build up stamina?"

[Cubey]

Emi:
"With the way classes are set up now, homework and tests are minimized. You do not have to worry about them, unlike most people your age. But they do not have SEs and Thoughts of Ascension to take care of, so they can afford it. But you do not." The psychologist explains everything carefully. She sounds empathic and full of understanding.
"As for stamina... an hour or so of training each week might not be enough. Don't misinterpret me: I neither can nor want to force you to practice when you do not want to. But I'm trying to say, it may help."

[Tengu_temp]

"Why don't we have more PSA exercises, then?", Emi asks. She has nothing else to say about the classes part, and it's a difficult topic she'd prefer to avoid right now - it doesn't help that she's not sure how to feel about it.

[Cubey]

"That is a good question. Would you like me to envoy it to Richard?" Miss Darius's intentions seem genuine. Can you trust her on this? Probably.

[Tengu_temp]

Emi is reluctant. On one hand, this information could prove very useful and provide her and her friends with some insight on those aspects of SECT they didn't know about before... But, on the other, her dislike for authority kicks in. Even though she knows the Commander and Miss Darius are reasonable and understanding, she prefers to avoid interacting with them.
"No, it's alright.", Emi shakes her head.
We already do PSA training on our own anyway...

[Fri]

@Miss Darius.

James scratches his hair, looking embarassed. "To be honest... I simply forgot about them. I have a lot of things in my mind, and those things aren't really on my top priorities lately. "

@Todd

"Sure, why not? And... uh, your new scarf is kinda cool..."

@Ben

If he waits long enough, James will pops out in the gym. It seems that James had the same idea with Ben. Recently, instead of trying to create new tricks for his PSA (other than his training with Todd), he's more interested on training his own body.

[Cubey]

Emi:
The psychologist bids you a kind good-bye and leaves, not bothering you any further.

Ben (and others who want to come along):
At first, there is precious few people in the gym. The MSAS squad is busy, the guards are busy... well, guarding, and it seems that other personnel is not very interested in this. There are a few people around, but they do not participate in fighting sports.

This changes, as two men enter a boxing ring. Yes, the gym has a boxing ring.
"I always wanted to do this!" One of them sounds excited. With wild long hair and equally long brown beard, he looks like some kind of fantasyland barbarian - if barbarians came in a tall-but-lanky variety. His partner is more contemporary: he goes clean shaven, with short black, slicked back hair and sunglasses. He also looks a bit younger - in mid 20s, perhaps, rather than thirties.
"This is one of our last opportunities, after all." He notices calmly, and both pick up boxing gloves. Surprisingly, the younger of the men does not remove his sunglasses.

And when they start sparring, their moves are quick and look quite strong and precise. Are they really supposed to be amateurs?

[Tengu_temp]

"Bye." Emi sounds a bit despirited.
Why can't we live normal lives when we're not fighting evil space monsters? Sigh...
After the therapist's visit, she actually starts to attend the classes! Emi is an above average student, although not a very active one - she prefers to do what's required of her and nothing else instead of showing initiative on her own. And if, because of her previous non-attendance, any of the teachers show an even slightly condescending attitude or give her a harder time than anyone else, she again stops attending that teacher's class.

Emi still skips PE. Her own training regime consists of summoning Genesis at various times of the day, when she's alone, and doing her everyday activities in it, until she feels that fatigue starts kicking in. She uses it to move from place to place, too - not only is this much faster, but flight lets her reach various spots she can't go to on foot. Sometimes, when she's in the mood, she works on improving her control over the crystalline matter she creates, especially on changing its shape and making it move.

Ben called Andy, James, and even Todd and the others to see if they wanted to come along.

"Thanks, but I'm not interested." Emi makes a mental note about this meeting - she has no desire of participating herself, but if she has nothing better to do at that moment she might see how the others are doing.

[Matar]

"Sure, why not? And... uh, your new scarf is kinda cool..."

"Heh, that's exactly why I picked it!" Todd grins and resumes his training. "Now, let us continue!"

Ben called Andy, James, and even Todd and the others to see if they wanted to come along.

Todd is indeed there as well. Although he is too exhausted to exercise (His training with his PSA is quite more intense then James, seeing as how he doesn't understand his limits) he does watch the two people boxing, offer cheers of encouragement the entire time.

"Woohoo! Come on Beard, you can kick Glasses butt! Come on Glasses, you can hit Beard harder then that!"