Heroes Rising - IC

[Archaeopteryx]

The New Dawn waiting room is the epitome of modern: sleek, clean, metallic, well lit and spacious. The white and soft blue colors of the company dominate the scheme of the room. Despite this, the room is mostly plain with a few rows of stylish chairs, a counter, the large glass entrance, and a nondescript door. On the walls are a few modern art paintings, on the side tables a variety of magazines, though most are science, technology and archaeology related. At the counter a mid-twenties brunette woman sits, checking in people that arrive. There are somewhere around forty others in the room, though new people trickle in from time to time. Every hour on the hour, an attractive blonde woman steps out of the door and calls six people seemingly at random, who follow her through the door. Even those not keeping track of the time could tell its moments from three o'clock from the others' tense feelings: hope, anxiety, and fear that they'll be called next.

[GFawkes]

Hanna sits in the far corner of the room, tinkering with an mp3 player. To normal eyes, the player would seem broken. To Hanna, she saw an opportunity to increase the output quality of the device and fix it at the same time.

[Raynn]

Warren Shepard scans the room for anyone that catches his eye as he absent mindedly flips through some random magazine 'I can't believe the government is just letting people go in for powers, there's got to be some catch. The average wage is the tens of thousands, I mean if this treatment really works we could be looking at a powered America in just a few years, a social upper class of super humans... A first world of Demi-Gods while the third world keeps living on a pittance a day,' Ares thinks to himself before pausing for a moment.

He glances across the room and his eyes stop on the name of the company 'New Dawn seems pretty appropriate,' he thinks as he glances back at the door hoping the blonde woman would once again enter the room 'If it works...'

[Ivellius]

There's no way this will work. Why am I even here? Leander taps his foot nervously on the ground. He'd been so sure that this was a new opportunity for him, a way to spice up his life. But now that he was here...well, what if it didn't work? Why should it?

He pats his pocket to make sure the check is still there. Of course it is. But what am I doing here? At least it must be safe. The city wouldn't be letting them do this if it wasn't safe. He fidgets nervously, running his fingers through his hair and fiddling with his phone.

[Tar Palantir]

Sarah thumbs through a couple of magazines while she waits, her calm demeanor belying her inner anxiety. I've got a lot riding on this. If it doesn't work.... She shook her head, causing her ponytail to flip back and forth. No use thinking about that now. Either it'll work or it won't. Only one way to find out. She pulled out her phone, glancing at the time. Almost three. She took a deep breath and returned her phone to her pocket. I'll find out soon enough, one way or the other.

[A4GraphPaper]

George was feeling less and less certain that this was a good idea, and getting more and more fidgety by the minute "What the hell am I doing here? I'm so out of my league. I may have had the money but that was every cent I saved since I started working. Everyone else here looks like they're all child prodigies or top end businessmen. $1800 is probably pocket change for most of them. Look at me in my shabby suit, I'm really just wasting my time...."

[Krursk]

Ronen has seated himself in one of the chairs closest to the door. A notebook is open on his lap, though anyone giving it a cursory glance will notice that it is covered in an insanely rapid Hebrew barely legible to anyone who can read the language. At the present moment, he is off in his own world, casually holding in turn his wrist, bicep, neck and foot to check his own pulse. After a short while, he returns to writing. Wonder why so many people are afraid to be here. We are chosen or we aren't. It's not like I was sitting at home last week, sad for want of powers

[Archaeopteryx]

The clock strikes three, and, predictably, the blonde woman reenters the waiting room holding a clipboard. She clears her throat quietly to get everyone's attention; incredibly unnecessary since the whole room's attention was on her since she entered.
"Hill, George; Sladen, Sarah; Carpenter, Leander; Mizrahi, Ronen; Shepard, Warren; Meknia, Hanna. If you six wouldn't mind following me. It's advised you bring everything with you, as you will not be returning here."

[Raynn]

Warren rises from his chair and grabs his courier back, slinging the strap over his shoulder 'Here goes nothing I guess.'

[Krursk]

Ronen stands, his notebook quickly disappearing into his pocket. He notes that the others who were called are dressed much more formally than he is, standing in a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt. Americans, really. This is no more than a doctor's appointment, and they're wearing suits. And would it kill them to pronounce my last name correctly?

[GFawkes]

Hanna stores her player in a plastic bag, then follows the woman. She didn't show it too blatantly, but she was quaking with excitement, or maybe fear.

[A4GraphPaper]

Straightening his tie and trying to smooth out the creases from his trousers, George stands picking up the cheap paper folder which contains his passport and hopefully all the relevant insurance documents (although he's sure he has left some out by mistake).

He wonders : "Does this mean my application was a success? Or is this to say that I'm not suitable? Oh I hope his goes well."

[Tar Palantir]

Sarah stands up, inhaling as she does so, then with a quick exhalation moves towards the door. Waiting's over, I guess.

[Ivellius]

Awesome. Okay. Guess this is it. Leander takes to his feet and falls in line behind the others. He fidgets while standing there, opening his plastic folder to make sure everything is still inside.

Why's he wearing a suit? he thinks to himself about the man in front. Well, if it weren't for that other guy, I guess I might feel underdressed. Leander looks down at his own khakis and polo. "Oh well."

[Archaeopteryx]

The door closes behind you seamlessly, soundlessly. The hallway you find yourselves in is similar to the room you just came from: clean, blueish and modern, except here the long hallways are lined with doors, which are labeled, however unhelpfully: 101ASC, 102ASC, 103TAM, etc. At the end, the hall turns left and right, making a large T, and at the end is an elevator. From the outside the building seemed to be one story, so presumably the lift goes down.

The woman turns to face you, and starts walking backwards as she smiles and speaks.
"Hello, my name's Rachael, and I'll be your guide here, for a time anyways. I hope you can excuse all the formalities, the CEO likes things very neat and orderly." Despite the fact that this must be some prepared speech, Rachael comes off as a generally likable person. In a more natural tone, she says, mostly to herself,
"Where is Thomas..? He should be around here somewhere. We're going down," she motions to the elevator. "and he'll accompany you to the deeper levels. In the mean time, perhaps you have some questions about what's ahead?"
By this time she's reached the elevator, and she turns back around long enough to hold her eye up to a scanner, punch in a short code into a keypad, and say, "I, Rachael Adams, intend to use this system of my own free will."
She turns back to the group and smiles. "Tone Tracking software. Measure's the emotion in my voice so I can't be forced to operate it."
There is a small whir as the elevator begins to rise to this floor.

[Ivellius]

"Wow," Leander whispers. A tone detector? These people were serious business. He had a lot of questions, but he wasn't sure if he really wanted to ask them. Better get over that. "Who's Thomas?" he asks aloud.

[GFawkes]

I've heard about that new tone tracker stuff, but I thought it was still in development. The basics seem to be rooted in pitch and frequency, but ability to accurately detect stress should still be years away." Hanna says, perking up at the excitement of technology.

[Raynn]

Warren smiles at the girl Hanna seeing her sudden interest in the tone technology humorous when they were about to be turned into a super "What sort of side effects should we be expecting?"

[A4GraphPaper]

George wonders, "What's with all this high end security? What needs to be kept so secure? Actually..."

then sayd
"So... Are we getting powers now? What does the actual proceedure to get them involve? Is it a pill or some radiation therapy thing?

[Archaeopteryx]

Rachael laughs at Hanna's comment. "I suppose a lot of things here 'should still be years away.' What a lot of people don't realize is even in less advanced companies like Apple or Sony, they have much more advanced products that they don't reveal for one reason or another. New Dawn is like that, I suppose except... more so."
There is a small chime signaling the elevator, and as the doors open you find yourself face to face with a robot: about three feet tall and made out of some dark metal, it is a triangular pyramid that hovers about three feet off the ground, somehow swaying there without any strings or supports. One side of the triangle is a glowing screen, showing the rising sun symbol of the company. Rachael jumps, clearly not expecting to find the machine right in front of her. It floats out of the elevator and around the group. "Hello," it says in a smooth robotic but definitely male voice.
"Haha, this is Thomas. New Dawn's proudest creation. He's in charge of the facility here, and nothing happens without him knowing. Thomas, I was just getting them up to speed."
The machine hovers around George's head as it answers. "I see. George, we try not to use the term 'powers' here, because of it's vagueness. What this procedure is is activation of your MhA's, or metahuman abilities: something that exceeds the normal human ability. Everyone has them, stored somewhere in their genome, though in most people they remain latent. Essentially the procedure as we understand it will rebuild your genetic code, leaving all the currently exhibited traits intact, while pronouncing the MhA traits." Thomas turns to Warren for the next part.
Because of this, recessive genes are sometimes mutated, though participants do not notice this change, as the recessive genes were never exhibited in the first place. There is also a slight Bonding process that happens during the procedure.

By now, Rachael has led you into the elevator. With eight of you in there, it is a bit cramped. Seemingly without any cue from Rachael, the doors close, and you begin to descend, a bit faster then most elevators you've been in.

[Ivellius]

"Er, bonding? What do you mean, 'bonding'?" Leander asks as the elevator doors close. He feels a bit claustrophobic as the group descends. "And when you talk about the recessive genes mutating...does that mean they do anything, or what?"

[GFawkes]

Trying to hide her excitement at all the technology she was experiencing, Hanna follows, trying to see if there were any external hints as to how Thomas worked.

[Raynn]

Warren stays silent in the elevator. He's getting anxious to begin the procedure and is finding it hard to keep calm with it so close.

[Tar Palantir]

Sarah leans back against the side of the elevator. She isn't much interested in the technical aspect of the procedure; she just hopes it'll work.

[Archaeopteryx]

The elevator slides to a stop, and the doors open revealing a similar long hallway. Rachael steps out of the elevator first, followed by Thomas.
"The bonding process is a psychological byproduct of the treatment which-"
Rachael interrupts him, saying, "Tomas, you explain it so horribly. It's..." she struggles to find the right words. "You know the phrase misery loves company? It's a bit like that. You six will be treated together, and as is normal, sometimes some memories get a bit... shuffled around. Modifying the brain is the tricky part." She sighs and shakes her head. "Jesus, I'm not explaining it much better. It's not as bad as I'm making it sound. Basically the result is you all will end up forming a mental, emotional connection with the other five. You all will be podmates, as we're calling them. Thomas here is grouping people based on personality comparability." By this time she has reached another door, which blinks twice and slides open as she approaches.

[A4GraphPaper]

Although not stupid, George can tell he's way out of his depths in trying to understand this...

"So, how long does this take? And it's not like, painful is it?"

[Ivellius]

"The brain?" That doesn't sound good. Leander follows Thomas and Rachael through the hallway. Well, here we go.

Leander looks around at his companions, wondering how they're taking this news.

[Raynn]

Warren follows and in reference to the bonding says "I suppose as side effects go that's getting off pretty easy."

[Krursk]

Ronen smiles slightly as he exits the elevator "So soon enough we'll be remembering five other people's memories, and possibly feeling their emotions. To think that this was going to be a normal day."

[Archaeopteryx]

Rachael smiles at Ronen. "What possibly made you think this would be a normal day?"

The room you enter is partitioned off so that is comprises six smaller, walled off areas and one larger one with a few chairs. In the larger section, six bundles sit on a table, each with a card with one of your names on it. Upon closer inspection, the bundles are a set of clothes. Or rather, one mostly form-fitting suit, grayish black with streaks of light blue.
"It is here I have to leave you with Thomas. I wish you the best of luck with the treatment, and perhaps we'll see each other again soon."
With that, Rachael steps out the same door you entered from, which closes behind her.
"In preparation for the treatment in the following room, you are each to required change into your provided New Dawn Excessive Energy Control Suit, and are recommended to do so in one of the adjoining rooms. Be advised, you are not to take anything into the treatment room. This includes, but is not limited to, Personal electronics, articles of clothing besides the provided outfit, and jewelry and facial and body piercings. These and any other items should be left on the table where your suit currently is, and will be returned to you after the treatment. When you are finished, exit through the far end of this room."
With that, Thomas hovers through the exit he pointed out to you, and you all find yourselves alone in the room.

Spoiler

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A4 GraphPaper: Though she played it off well, you get the feeling that Rachael pointed ignored your question.