Infinite IC

[Julian84]

It's a warm, sunny Monday in Bluesky City. Summer vacation has ended, and all the kids and teenagers are back in school, back to the tedium of their daily lives.

Hajime Gordon , an athletic young man who enjoys some popularity, walks into the old worn down halls of Nicholas Little High School, an urban school located quite close to the Holcomb river, rushing on it's way to join the Ohio. Nicholas Little is a busy school, full of teens mostly from the lower middle class.

As he enters the school, his friend Marcus beams from across the hall, quickly joining in step with him. "Packed today, huh? Isn't your little brother starting today?"

Across the Holcomb river in the sleepy suburban village of Ottenstad is Montgomery Hughes Private School, where Melvin Groden is busily reconnecting a circuit board inside of an old laptop. Alone in the computer science room, he is hard at work honing his technological skills.

His computer science teacher, Mr. DeVries quietly comes through the door. "Hard at work already?" He sits down opposite Melvin. "This wouldn't have anything to do with your mother being hospitalized again, would it?"

[stanleyindraven]

"It keeps my mind busy. It should be just as powerful as today's most current laptops now," Melvin responds without looking up. He finishes connecting the last of the wires and starts clipping in the keyboard.

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven: Mr. DeVries stares at you for a few seconds. "I see. Well, your father called the office earlier, he wants you to visit your mother when you get out of school." He leaves the classroom. "And the bell rang, so you're already late for your first class!"

[stanleyindraven]

"Seriously, I don't know why I put up with this place," Melvin says as he closes the laptop and grabs his backpack and rushes out of the room to first period.

[bladesmith]

Hajime(or simply "Haj", for those who didn't have a crazy Japanese mother) gave Marcus a smile and an offer for a fist bump, which seemed to be all the effort he put into greeting anyone.
"That's the idea." He said as he noted that the place was indeed packed. Kinda kicked the idea of fashionably skipping the first day of class out the window.
"We'll see if the kid can drag himself out of the house, though. He got pretty used to sleeping in over the summer."

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven: The day passes dully and monotonously. The idea of Melvin having friends is rather laughable at this point in his life, so he passes through the school like a ghost, unseen and uncared for.

As the final bell rings, his cell phone buzzes with a text from his father.

"Don't forget to visit your mom."

Bladesmith: Things go smoothly on Hajime's first day. Vanessa, the pretty new cheerleader said hi to him on the way to class, there were tacos for lunch, and the trig class was canceled because the teacher apparently had a nervous breakdown in his office.

As he walks through the halls, he sees Mr. Johnson, coach of the basketball team, talking animatedly to Karasu, his younger brother.

-And that's why you should think about joining the team!"

Karasu nervously clutches his bag. "I'll... have to run it by my parents. They can be pretty strict."

Johnson shakes his head ruefully and walks off, patting the boy on the shoulder.

"Hey, bro." Karasu says, his eyes downcast.

Karasu was roped into working for their grandparents at the family shop after school, so there is no way he could do basketball.

[stanleyindraven]

Melvin looks at the message with a sigh. He hated having to go to the hospital. The doctors never could give a good answer or solution. He knew there had to be a way to help his mother and was intent on making sure he did so. He headed over to the hospital as quickly as he could and managed a smile when he entered his mother's room.

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven: As he enters the room, he sees his mother, frail and sickly, hooked up to a few machines, tubes running in and out of her arms.

"M-Melvin?... Is that you sweetie?"

[bladesmith]

"Hey, kiddo."

Hajime gave Karasu a friendly push to get him moving down the hallway at the same speed as Haj. With things going this well, the older boy was in a great mood, and even his little brother's current predicament wasn't going to bring him down. After all, he had dealt with the same thing the year before.

"You know, dude, Coach only really goes after the kids that he thinks will be really good. You might wanna reconsider at least trying out. You just gotta be smarter then the problem."

A small smile formed on Hajime's face as he looked over at his younger brother. Maybe he wasn't some kinda brainiac, but he'd seen and heard a few good tricks that had gotten him out of the shop for long enough to keep up at the dojo. It'd be harder with Karasu, but the kid wasn't dumb. They could figure something out.

[stanleyindraven]

"Its me mom, how are you feeling."

[Julian84]

Strainseir: She struggles vainly to pull herself into a sitting position. "I'm... I'm well... Tired all the time though." She smiles weakly. "How's school going?"

Bladesmith: Karasu smiles ruefully while rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah... I guess. Just don't like having this pressure, y'know?" He looks down. "It's hard to have all the attention on you."

[stanleyindraven]

"Oh you know, I should be teaching but instead I am entertaining them. I wish there was more I could do for you. For us."

[bladesmith]

"Your loss, dude." Haj shrugged, then added with a facetious smile,
"But you really should consider sneaking out a bit. Maybe just hit the court in the park while everyone's there, show off a bit. Then you can be wicked awesome, but without the pressure of being on the team. Right?"

[Julian84]

Hey guys, just a quick update, the campaign isn't dead, I've just been really busy. I promise I'll update by tomorrow.

One small matter of housekeeping for the rest of the campaign: If I type information or dialogue in a spoiler box under your name, you must reply in your own spoiler box. Please refrain from reading each other's replies.

Bladesmith: Karasu smiles tentatively. "M-maybe. Anyhow, I gotta run, or Gramps will be mad at me all afternoon. Bye!"

He runs off. School is over, so you can go home.

Stanleyindraven: Your mother smiles weakly. "My... little genius. Everything will be alright... Melvin... Everything will be... fine..." Her head lolls to the side. She's lost consciousness.

[stanleyindraven]

Melvin calls for a nurse to make sure that she is okay.

[Julian84]

Quickly, a doctor rushes in and checks her vitals.

"She's still fairly weak... She isn't yet ready to be active."

The doctor walks over and closes the door. "We should talk, Melvin."

[stanleyindraven]

"What's wrong?"

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven:

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"Your mother's cancer is progressing quickly. Before long, she...will not be here, any longer. Most would say that she is already beyond saving." The doctor will look up at Melvin, taking a few steps closer. "But she is not, Melvin. There is something, something that can be done to save her."

[stanleyindraven]

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"What is it? Anything that can be done should be, I don't know where I will be without her."

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven:

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"Good. That is what I wanted to hear." With that, the doctor will turn and walk to your mother's bedside, reaching out and laying a hand on her forehead. Suddenly, the monitors attached to her all switch to showing perfectly normal vitals, her skin gains a healthy glow. The doctor stays like that long enough for you to see and then removes her hand, looking back over. "I will heal her, Melvin, but I need something from you in return."

[stanleyindraven]

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"Anything, just tell me." Melvin looks astonished.

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven:

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"There is darkness in your city. A darkness wrought by a powerful evil. Left unchecked, it will bring about great destruction of unmatched severity. However, alone I cannot stand against it. I require your aid."

Everyone else:

The afternoon sun blazes hot as the final bell rings, signaling the end of school for the first day. “Crypt” Jackson Walker strolls out onto the blacktop, backpack slung over his shoulder, cracking his knuckles as he surveys the hustle and bustle of kids leaving the over-crowded halls of Nicholas Little High school.

He hated that place, full of dead beats and numb skulls that wouldn’t know two plus two from what the Gettysburg Address was. It was a small consolation that he was graduating in two years. Everyone knew that the idiots only get dumber in college, and everyone in Bluesky City went to Holcomb River University. This city was a trap that no one could get out of.

Walking home, he casually yawned and peered over his shoulder. Sure enough, the moronic gang of pug-faced twits was following him, looking for a fight. Lead by Big Jimmy, the gang wasn’t exactly known for their fearsomeness, rather more for their inexplicable ability to get into trouble.

Well, they had found trouble all right.

Crypt takes a hard left, ducking into an alley.

---

-And that finishes out first foray into Socratic teaching. Be sure to read chapter 2, everyone, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!”

Adam Wentworth stretches and groans, rising from his chair. First day of college, and he was pretty sure his brain was going to melt from sheer boredom. He gathers his textbooks and notes under one arm and quietly trots out of the classroom, heading back to his dorm to deposit the heavy load, all the while questioning how he has forgotten to buy a backpack. He quickly descends through the empty stairwell, abandoned by most other students in favor of the elevators, numbly thinking of a warm dinner, a warm shower, and a warm bed.

Lost in his thoughts, he fails to notice the short blonde girl dashing up the stairs, who runs straight into him with an almighty crash.

“Oh!” She yelps, as they tumble to the floor, her landing on top of him.

“Er… Sorry…” She mumbles.

---

Meanwhile, in the large dusty stacks of the University Library, junior-year student Gary Jesmond is quietly solving his new V-Cube 7, a simple mechanical puzzle that his little sisters, Dana and Darian, bought for him to herald the new school year. It wasn’t really hard, just a 7x7x7 rubik’s cube.

As he methodically solves the puzzle, across the aisle to either side of him from him sits Wendy Springer and Theo Silbern, his two best friends at Holcomb. Wendy sits cross-legged, all attention focused on the laptop sitting on her legs, hurriedly pecking at the keyboard, while Theo idly reads German poetry. Wendy grumbles in frustration. “I’ll never get this program finished by tomorrow! Dr. Adkins is so strict with his prerequisites…”

Theo licks his thumb and turns a page. “Perhaps you should have thought of that and started earlier. Like yesterday, that would have been a good time to start.”

Wendy pauses for a split second to glare at him, and continues rapidly typing. “What about you, Gary? Any prerequisites you have to do for Professor Ferdon’s class?”

[EdroGrimshell]

After ducking into the alley, Crypt decides to just get out of there, "sometimes I'm glad I learned how to do this," he says as he slings his pack on and starts climbing the wall, jumping from one wall to the other as he ran out of handholds, and gets onto the roof, then starts heading home again, over the rooves until he has to scale down into an alley and walk along again, "those idiots never learn, I'm not interested in fighting them."

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Take 10 on Climb and Acrobatics. PARKOUR!

[Julian84]

EdroGrimshell:

"That's too bad." A woman's voice calls.

A tall brunette steps around the corner, the gang in tow. "Because they're just dying to get a hold of you."

She is Verda, a vicious street fighter possessing no concept of mercy. Rumor has it she dabbles in the local competitive underground fighting scene, as well as the occult.

[Anecronwashere]

Meanwhile, in the large dusty stacks of the University Library, junior-year student Gary Jenson is quietly solving his new V-Cube 7, a simple mechanical puzzle that his older brother, Dave, bought for him to herald the new school year. It wasn’t really hard, just a 7x7x7 rubik’s cube.

As he methodically solves the puzzle, across the aisle to either side of him from him sits Wendy Springer and Theo Silbern, his two best friends at Holcomb. Wendy sits cross-legged, all attention focused on the laptop sitting on her legs, hurriedly pecking at the keyboard, while Theo idly reads German poetry. Wendy grumbles in frustration. “I’ll never get this program finished by tomorrow! Dr. Adkins is so strict with his prerequisites…”

Theo licks his thumb and turns a page. “Perhaps you should have thought of that and started earlier. Like yesterday, that would have been a good time to start.”

Wendy pauses for a split second to glare at him, and continues rapidly typing. “What about you, Gary? Any prerequisites you have to do for Professor Ferdon’s class?”

(OOC: In my backstory Gary's dad abandons his mum the same time she got pregnant. No Older Bro)

"I have too, hmm, translate a Base 13 code into a Reverse Morse. So basically nothing."
Gary finishes the cube and puts it down, eyeing up his two friends calculatingly
"Soo, I earned 4 tickets to The Flamers. Taking into account me taking Frosty Danielle that leaves two extras."
Gary leans forward in his seat, smirking knowing that neither would pass up the tickets. add in a few choice sentences, emphasizing certain words and the two would be dating by the end of the night.

[EdroGrimshell]

"...You know, it's because of people like you that I can't have any peace in my life," Crypt says, shaking his head, "I don't have time for this today," he mutters, and does the little trick that makes him look more intimidating, a change in demeanor, really, but little more, "I don't intend to fight, join a gang, or anything of the like, I'd prefer you just shove off."

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Using Fearsome Presence

Readied Action to run and climb up onto a roof again. If I need a check, let me know and I'll roll it. If i can, though, assume i take 10.

[stanleyindraven]

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"Whatever it takes. I am sure I can find a solution."

[Julian84]

Stanleyindraven:

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"Take this gift that I bestow upon you, and with it fight the evil that plagues your town."

The doctor reaches out and places her hand upon Melvin's brow. A glowing light emanates from her palm, filling the whole room, until all is white.

Melvin awakens on the floor, his Mom sitting up, humming to herself, and reading a book. "Oh, you woke up! That was really an odd place to take a nap, Melvin, but whatever you like."

The doctor has disappeared.

An instinctive force tells you that you can now do more than that of a normal man.

Your new powers:

Magnetic Control 8 ranks
Alt. Power
Nullify Electronics (Electromagnetic pulse)

Electrical Control 6 ranks
Alt. Power
Stun

EdroGrimshell:

Verda grins nastily as the rest of the gang shrinks back in fear. "Ooh, widdle Walker thinks he's so special, so above the rest of us." She tosses her hair over her shoulder. "I don't think so, Walker. I think you're just a widdle boy. And I'm going to break you."

Anecronwashere:

OOC:Duly noted, and changes made. I assume the flamers are a band?

Theo looks up, mildly surprised. "How did you manage that?"

Wendy whacks him upside the head. "Forget that, you're giving them to us right?!"

[EdroGrimshell]

"I don't think I'm special, I have a deadbeat dad that can't keep a job, a sick mother that has trouble with her job, and I have a part time job just to keep the family afloat," he says, little hesitation, "honestly, I think I'm pretty run-of-the-mill compared to most of you guys, I just don't want trouble, already have a record with the cops even if it was self defense, don't need to go to Juvie just yet. You want to talk to someone that thinks they're special? Look for the jocks, they all think they're the kings," he bounds off a nearby wall onto a raised fire escape and climbs up, "See ya!"

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Take 10 on an Acrobatics check. Obviously assumes that we're in or near an alley where I can do that, if not, spend a hero point to make it so.

[Julian84]

EdroGrimshell: You start climbing up the escape, but Verda is hot on your heels, a knife in her hand. She flips the blade between her fingers and throws it at you, hitting you in the shoulder.

"A little going-away present, Walker! We're not finished here!"