Evo Academy IC

[Rhyvurg]

"So, if this is the center of all this, should we start just tipping over rocks and see if we can disturb the effect?"

[Ridai]

Maze tells the others what she deciphered. "Perun, Slavic deity of thunder and lightning, leader of his pantheon. The incantation not using cyrillic letters is unusual, but Norse and Slavic mythologies share some similarities. Nevertheless, it seems we are dealing with magic, or a mutation or science-based effect disguised as magic. Perhaps triggered by lightning strikes." In response to Hybrid, she says "The rules the effect operates under are unknown to me, but in Norse mythology, certain runes are associated with power. Try crushing one of the rocks."

Meanwhile, Maze accesses her visual memory of the records in the researchers' hut for indications what sort of weather there was when the IR readings were recorded.

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island - Southern Stone Outcropping

Two thoughts among many travel across Maze's busy mind. 1. It was a stormy night when the strange IR readings took place, based on the time stamp and a cross reference of weather patterns she had read over. 2. If the apparent magical stones gathered here were in fact powered by lightning strikes, perhaps having a man covered in electricity standing in the center of the stones may not be ideal....

[Rhyvurg]

"Alright, breakin' stuff! Hybrid picks up one of the rocks and smashes it into another.

[Ridai]

The thought about lightning should have been more obvious. Then again, with Hybrid already holding a rock and nothing happening, she assumed her phrasing would have led him to smashing the rock in his possession. When he walked over to the pile to pick a new one up to smash another, a pistol shot is heard, the bullet hitting the stone in his hand, flinging it away. "I said one. And on another thought, drop any rocks and get away from the pile, given your electricity powers."

(Also, to be fair, a lightning strike is much, much more severe than Hybrid's damage aura)

[Rhyvurg]

Hybrid looks at the rock, then at Maze. "I'm getting mixed messages here."

[Ridai]

"Sorry, ongoing analysis. There was a storm when the IR readings happened, unsure whether you being in contact with the pile would be enough to set them off. Unsure how arbitrary magic is, so I have to assume 'very'." Maze doesn't sound very pleased about the runes either, locking her arms for a moment. "Well, if someone screws up, it better be me." She places the rock she is holding on the ground in a specific way, takes another rock (a normal one, without script on it), examines it, turns it, holds it in her hand, and smashes it down on the runed rock on the specific spot where its structure is the weakest.

Spoiler: OOC

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Maze using her attack power to crush the runed rock.

Also, how many runed rocks are there exactly? Does it happen to match the number of mutant birds?

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island - Southern Stone Outcropping

As Hybrid stands in the circle of rune marked rocks, a purple haze begins to set in. At first it is slight, barely noticeable, but as the rocks start to get destroyed, the mists begin to grow, before they disperse as more of the runes are destroyed. Maze may not know all the ins and outs magic, but it seems that if you mess with enough of it's prescribed manner, it stops working.

[Ridai]

Maze gathers the pieces of one of the rocks, stuffs it in a ziplock bag from her utility bag, and stashes it away for later examination. "Let's check the hut, maybe the creatures have turned back, then grab some shelter." As they head back, Maze once again tries to radio home.

[Rhyvurg]

"Works for me." He leads the way back through the jungle.

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island

As the trio march back to the research hut, a stuttered message from Ms. Amori is received. Sounds like she will be arriving within the hour via speedboat for pickup. Rendezvous at the northern shore.

When the team arrives at the research hut, they find it just as they left it, the weaker tied up creatures still maintaining their strangely human shadows.

[Ridai]

Maze confirms having received the message.

"Hmm, too bad." Maze looks to Sin. "Can you create something to carry the creatures to the rendezvous point? Might be the fastest way, giving us enough time to look for the creature. Should maybe start at the lighthouse."

[Yabex]

"Sure, no problem." Sin gestures at the bound creature and envelops it in a translucent purple sphere of energy with an opening on top. The orb rises from the ground and follows Sin as she moves outside. "We can load up anything we want in here and then I'll seal the top. It will be safe for transport."

[Ridai]

"Just the living creatures. We'll need to organize cleanup later." Maze heads to the rendezvous point with the others to put the creatures there, keeping an eye out for the remaining creature along the way, then heading to the lighthouse to look for the last creature.

[Rhyvurg]

"So is it magic, or science hiding as magic?"

[Ridai]

"Looks like magic right now. Hopefully there is a way to dispel curses and revert these transformations."

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island Lighthouse

Carrying the restrained creature, the team is able to make their way back to the lighthouse. Having seen the bizarre creatures, it's now clear that they had been using this tower as a nest of sorts. There is some fresh blood on the stones, but the final creature appears to have fled. With the magical stones destroyed, the dark weather over the island seems to be dissipating.

[Ridai]

"Sadly, one of my assumptions came true. When we're reporting to Ms. Amori, this is on me," Maze says, then continuing to the north beach with the others.

Spoiler: OOC

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Can Maze alt one of her powers for some means of tracking, basically to deduce where the creature might have fled to?

[Rhyvurg]

"We were unprepared and had no idea what was waiting for us, that you two got through it without getting hurt is pretty amazing." He seems completely assured that being unhurt himself was a given.

[Yabex]

Sin stares out at the sky, thinking about recent events as the clouds begin to clear. She was paying more attention to her thoughts than what was being said, responding to Malcom's statement halfheartedly. "Yeah..." She took a breath before turning her attention back to her team and continuing. "I don't get it though. You said the weather was caused by magic? Who, um, made that magic? It doesn't seem like this thing did it." Lucy gestured to the captive creature. She wasn't quite sure how magic worked, but she also wasn't sure if that was the point. "I mean, this was a nature research facility right? Why target this place? These people?" There were a lot of questions bouncing around in Lucy's head and it felt good to ask them out loud.

[Ridai]

Maze looks to Hybrid, who gets the impression that she is giving him a smile (it is surprising how much she can convey through just some small hints through the mask covering her whole head). "That is sweet of you to say, but I still am taking responsibility for the last creature fleeing. And if I can, tracking it down."

To Sin: "An as of yet unknown third party. May be a cult worshipping the Norse or Slavic panthei, but there is too little data and too many possibilities to narrow anything down further. As for why here, my guess would be that this is a remote place that would make a good test site, or staging platform. They could be trying out this sort of magic in the first place, on wildlife and humans. They could have been in the process of building up forces. Another question is whether they were aware of the ties to the Academy and whether they assumed someone would be sent. Again, too little data, and wild speculation carries the danger of wanting to find a certain outcome instead of going where the facts point."

While they are on the way to free up Sin's powers by delivering the unconscious beings to the beach, Maze's mind is examining everything she knows and has seen about the creatures. She has managed to predict their patterns enough to evade harm in close combat, she must try to see whether she gleaned enough information to get a bead on where the remaining creature may be headed now.

Spoiler: OOC

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Akemi is trying to alt a tracking super-sense out of her Efficient Mind Patterns, using Extra Effort and using a Hero Point to eliminate the fatigue (2 HP remaining, I think; updated the tracker)

Notice (1d20+12)[14]

[Rhyvurg]

Hybrid perks up. "Hey, what about the rock itself? I mean, all rocks aren't found everywhere, right? What I mean is, did the rock come from the island, or somewhere else? If the rocks were already here when they were inscribed, that means whoever did it spent a lot of time here, maybe left evidence. And if they're from somewhere else, maybe we can figure out where."

[Ridai]

Maze nods. "Hence why I took one with me for further analysis."

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island Northern Coast

Finding themselves on the Northern Coast of the Island, and without excessive difficulty the team can make their way down to the shore. As Maze studies the sky, it appears that the wind is blowing rather strongly to the southeast. If there has a creature aloft, she would expect it would have little difficulty catching the jet and riding on it a great distance.

Ms. Amori lands a speedboat on the beach, beckoning each of the teens to get aboard.

[Ridai]

Maze gives her report as she climbs aboard. "We found no survivors, in the traditional sense. Current hypothesis is that a third party used some form of magic to transform birds as well as humans into these violent creatures. These are the creatures that possess a human shadow and thus we assume are transformed humans. We disabled the source of the effect." Maze holds up the zip lock bag with the stone fragments. "One creature got away and is most likely a good ways towards the southeast by now. The other creatures were killed. Unknown whether there are more creatures."

[Rhyvurg]

"To be fair, we didn't search most of the island, there could be survivors who just ran into the forest."

[Ridai]

Maze nods, adding "We went to the lighthouse, then the hut, where we fought the creatures. After that, I prioritized finding and ending the effect over chasing the remaining creature or searching the island, and we had been on the way here since. A thorough search and clean-up of the island will be necessary."

[Tegu8788]

All - Triangle Island Northern Coast

Ms. Amori nods as the teens give their field report. "It is unfortunate that this was not a prank. They were good people here. I would instruct you to do more research when we return to the Academy, but I know you would do so anyway Maze. As for stopping this, that was the right call. Containment is easier to do once the source has been cut off. I will ask that you allow me to break the news to the Headmaster, once we return." Once all three are onboard, Ms. Amori asks Sin to make a ramp and slide the ship back into the waves.

Several hours later, the sun is down, and the cold has fully set in as the speedboat docks near Fort Rupert. An airport nearby has a private hangar set up, and Ms. Amori guides you through to a small plane, similar to the one you jumped from earlier. Another hour in flight, and you are home again at the Academy at the base of Grouse Mountain.

[Ridai]

"Of course," Maze says. "I will send my mission and research reports to you to be distributed at your discretion."

Maze sits in the speedboat with the others, not taking off her mask yet, as that isn't personal proper procedure until they are sitting in the plane. She turns to Sin and Hybrid, both getting the feeling of her smiling to them. "You both did a great job and I am glad neither of you were injured," she says, then adds after a beat "if you'll forgive that bout of 'proud Team Mom', that is." Maze being fully aware that she is the youngest member of the team. She pats down her legs with routine speed. "Ah good, no swelling."

Maze chats with the others on the way if they want to, all the while applying her analysis patterns to what she witnessed, learned, and gathered.

Back at the Academy, Akemi goes through the usual cooldown routine of checking and cleaning her equipment, examining her suit, washing it, checking her own body for injuries, and taking a shower. The next day, she can be seen in the library, legs crossed on the chair, speedreading dozens of books on the topics of magic, myths, and cults in an hour or two, neatly putting the books away again. Proper organization optimizes the research process, with the side effect of being on good terms with the resident librarian and knowing the entire inventory. She has only read a quarter of it yet. Akemi is trying to keep the library a place she has a reason to come back to.

She then retreats to the common room, since her rapidfire typing won't disturb people too much there, writing up her mission report, specifically praising Lucy's decisive action in combat and creative use of her powers for transporting the creatures, as well as making special mentions about Malcolm actively protecting the team, being careful about his powers around Lucy and herself, and having been easy to work with. Her own performance is reflected on as objectively as she can. Akemi is used to it, self-observation and evaluation is an important skill to have for her.

Next stop: the laboratory, analyzing the shattered rock, searching for clues and residues, filing the rock away appropiately after she is done. Same with small samples from the creatures.

Quick break at the gym. Push-ups, planks, squats, lunges, splits, stretching for flexibility and tendon strength, also making note of who is ogling her, especially during the last bit, filing the information away for future use and considerations.

Write up of her research report (with proper sourcing, of course) in the common room, help classmates with some of their assignments.

A nice evening walk.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Akemi pretty much takes 20 on her research, given her mental quickness.

[Tegu8788]

All - Evo Academy

Akemi can search through much of the library fruitlessly, before find a book by Jorge Luis Borges entitled "Book of Imaginary Beings." Inside, she is able to find a description of a creature that supposedly lived in Atlantis, these creatures were said to have the shadow of a man, until they had killed and eaten one, at which point it's shadow would appear normal. If what she fought was indeed one of these Peryton's, it would seem that the ones she knocked out were simply hungry ones.

The stones do not appear to have been from Triangle Island, though there exact origin is hard to pin down. They appear to be a generic type of gravel, sold to use in many public parks throughout Canada. Looking at the engravings, Akemi can tell that whomever carved them appeared to not be particularly skilled, the depth and angles used to etch the runes are uneven.