Flight 265 [IC] - Issue 1 - Awakenings

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel walked into the room rubbing at his eyes, hair all askew and wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a tank top. (A "wife-beater" - har har) He ran his hands slowly through his hair while his face contorted into a long, morning yawn, then smacked his mouth a few times at the taste of his morning breath. Heading for the kitchen, he started working out a kink in his neck and began searching the refrigerator for some juice or something if there was any. He'd given up coffee the year...err...four years before because it gave him digestive problems. He wondered briefly if coffee still affected him the same way as before Flight 265 but brushed it off. No need to tempt fate. Coffee could be his new kryptonite for all he knew.

Through another yawn, Daniel managed to get out, "Who's on the phone?" just before the speaker switched on.

[ChronicLunacy]

BUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[drawingfreak]

{{Oops, checked it but forgot to reply}}

Robert Harrison
Had it been any other night, Robert would have stayed in bed till 11. But this was no ordinary night. Dreams came to him. Terrible dreams. Dreams of falling, dreams of catching on fire, dreams of catching loved ones on fire.

In a terribly cliche manner, Robert sat up in bed with a scream. After realizing that he was once again in reality, whatever that may be, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and slowly got out of bed, heading for the kitchen.

[The_New_Guy]

The caller id, like the voice that follows it, easily identifies the caller as Arthur Andrews. "Hi Nathan..." he begins, recognizing the diplomats voice (or perhaps he's got cameras in the room to watch you - he is NSA after all) "...just your friendly, neighborhood NSA agent checking in. How was your night?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

"My first real bed in three years. Slept like a log!" Daniel called out from the kitchen as he poured himself a glass of orange juice. He wasn't being entirely truthful. He'd woken up several times on the verge of screaming, with half-remembered shades and cold feelings flitting through his consciousness before he realized he was awake. He didn't think anyone, save for maybe Anne and Lawrence, had spent the night completely asleep. Still, he got a solid-enough rest once he splashed his face with water and forced himself to believe they were only dreams. Thinking too much about what might be memories would just make him go crazy. "Any progress on bringing my family to see me, Agent Andrews?"

[Green Bean]

"Short, but sweet. Remind me never to try to catch up with three years of politics in one night." Nathan stifled a yawn.

[The_New_Guy]

You could almost hear the smile (the type of smile that comes from knowing exactly what someone is going to do) behind Arthur's voice as he answered Daniel's question. "She's been contacted Mr. Horton. Was in to our offices yesterday and has been given the news. Well, more or less. No mention of the incident yesterday, or your ability to stop bullets. We figured we'd save that for you. We'll know this morning what she intends to do, and we'll move from there."

"The rest of you are pretty much in the same boat. Contact has been made and meeting arranged with your families. Except Mr. Walsh and Ms. Reynolds - we're letting the Canadians handle that."

"Anyways - the reason for my call this morning is to relay some news to you. We've tracked down some affiliates of the men who stormed your room yesterday, and they have been sent for questioning. We've quieted the news media on your return - for the time being they won't mention Flight 265. Until we can get all the families contacted its agreed that its best not to stir the pot. As for your new...." he paused for a moment, struggling with the right words "...your new abilities. The news media has nothing on yesterdays event besides a few grainy, poor quality images, and that's the way it will stay for now. Besides - I don't think you guys want to draw too much attention to yourselves right now. It makes it easier for certain people to find you. However, our team of doctors wants to look you over, to see if they can figure out what's going on. You don't have to, of course, but I'm told that you six were among the ones that had the most powerful EMF readings during your coma, and they're wondering if it might be tied to your new condition."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel put down his juice and stared at it for a moment, getting that far away look he sometimes got. "Thanks, Andrews. I appreciate it." he said finally, picking up his glass and carrying it into the living room where everyone else had gathered around the phone. He was struck with a sudden bout of humor as he imagined Andrews answering their next call with "Hello, Angels!" while they all gathered around intent on every word. He couldn't help a soft chuckle escaping from his lips.

"I told you before. As long as you let me see my wife you can poke and prod me all you want. I kind of want to see about the limits of my new abilities anyway, and we can't exactly do any testing here without damaging the building or throwing some cars around. So you've got me." he said in response to the testing topic. "Do you want us to come down there today or what?"

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

"Thank you for moving so quickly with our families. Glad to hear I'll be seeing Ma and Pa again. But what sort of tests are you talking about?"

[The_New_Guy]

"Well, for starters we will probably not be testing the physical limits of your new talents Daniel..." replied the Agent, both to Daniel's statement and Nathan's question "...after all, while your inhuman strength may be simple enough to test, it would be insanely difficult to test your resistance to damage safely. Or Ann's power to heal - how do you test that without endangering someone else first. As far as I know the tests will be fairly mundane - DNA samples, x-rays, scanning for electro-magnetic fields and the like. There'll be much poking and prodding I'd imagine, but generally it'll be a boring affair."

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

"I could do with a bit of boring. I'm in."

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel waved it off, though realized a second later that Andrews couldn't see him waving. "Ah well. As long as I get to see Jess, then it's alright with me." He spared a glance at Nathan for a moment, then continued. "Anyway, I'd like to have a better knowledge of what exactly happened to us to make us this way. I think we all would."

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric nodded. I am curious what was done to us and, he blushed slightly, I admit the engineer in me is curious how it was done.

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison
"While knowing how would be cool, I'd rather train. I could be a real life Spider-Man...only with less sticky fingers and more wings of fiery doom." He waves his fingers mysteriously as he says 'fiery doom'.

[The_New_Guy]

Lawrence and Ann, for all their relative silence (after all, you guys haven't need directing from the GM in awhile) also mumble their acceptance of the testing procedures. Agent Andrews arrives a half-hour later in a van, and jokes as you load into it for transport to the research facility where you began this madness. "I've got the vans GPS set up to alert me of every major traffic accident in the area. You guys shouldn't have to play hero today."

True to his word, the trip is uneventful, and avoids anything resembling yesterdays traffic accident. Who knows, maybe people are driving safer today, now that they know there's some guy out there who can lift cars. Or maybe Arthur is really doing a good job of avoiding anything that might draw upon your collective heroic natures.

The clinic is much the same as you left it. Stark with mirrored windows, you realize when looking upon it that it is a far larger complex than you might have previously thought. You count five floors, but the it's the square footage that matters, and in this case its quite large.

As you leave the van you may notice Andrews is carrying his gun very prominently - not the usual for an NSA officer. But then again, mostNSA officers aren't left to guard super-humans. Given some of your powers, maybe he thinks its the only way he'll carry his load if there's a firefight.

Natasha Wexford, the Junior Researcher from yesterday morning greets you from behind the reception desk. She smiles politely at you, and closes her laptop as you enter. "Welcome back..." she says, in a pleasant tone "...Agent Andrews has made you all aware of our reason for dragging you back here and you're all fine with it? Of course he has - Arthur is quite good and handling these things. Not like some other agents who will go unnamed. In any case, let me review some things. When we 'organized' you into groups we took under consideration some of the odd readings we were getting from you during your coma. Your group is Alpha-Prime, because you had the most significant readings of all the people here. What this means - as of yet we don't know. Arthur has told me a little about your powers - Mr. Horton, who seems to be super-strong and resistant to damage; Mr. McMahon, who has some affinity for flame; Mr. Harrison, who has... well that's interesting... flaming wings, sword and shield in an angelic manner... rather specific, compared to everyone else; Mr. Walsh who can teleport; Ms. Reynold, who has significant healing powers; and Mr Ford and James, who have yet to display and type of power. I will say that you are not the only group to exhibit such powers, but few have displayed the amount of power you seem to wield, which would validate our grouping if nothing else. In the meantime, today we will not be testing the limits of your powers directly. Most of the tests will be mundane - a standard CT Scan, a blood test, an X-Ray, a DNA test and so on. Then, back into the EMF scanner to plot your own personal EMF field. Then, for those of you who have powers that 'activate' - that'd be Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Walsh, Mr. McMahon and Mr. Harrison - we will do further scans on the effect of your powers on the world around you. Is all this clear?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Daniel coughed politely into his hand and sort of half-raised it as he stepped forward out of the group. "Actually, I believe Mr. James has displayed some type of power recently. We uh...well, it's kind of complicated, but I'll tell you anything you need to know about what I felt from him." he corrected. It was a small sign, but to be able to slow one of Daniel's punches was actually quite intriguing. It may not have entirely worked, but against a normal person the results could have been different. "Anyway, I'm ready as I'll ever be." he said, looking over his shoulder at everyone else. "Alpha-Prime, eh? Not bad, guys. he grinned.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

"Yeah, there's something there, but we don't know what it is. Anyway, let's get started."

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison
"Aw crap, there's going to be needles aren't there?" He sighed deeply. "Make sure there is something I can throw up in. I'm...squeamish when it comes to needles."

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric smiled sympathetically at Robert. Just don't look at the needles and relax your body as much as possible. Easier said than done, I know, but it helps. He turned to Daniel. Alpha-Prime makes me feel like a Transformer! he said with a laugh.

[The_New_Guy]

"It actually comes from our classification system for the types of EMF we noted in your vicinity..." replied Dr. Wexford, rather drolly "Alpha is the type of wave - as opposed to beta, gamma, epsilon and delta waves - and prime designates the strength of these waves. But sure, Transformers works too."

"As for the blood tests, we have very refined techniques here Mr. Harrison. We only need a small amount of blood to run our tests, so we will only need to do a simple finger prick, as opposed to the usual syringe method. If that still causes problems for you, well - the only place better to have a medical problem would be a hospital. Or perhaps anywhere near Ms. Reynolds." She paused, and chuckled "It says here Arthur witnessed you healing a fatal bullet wound. Imagine what we could do if we could isolate what gives you that power. I mean its a long way off, but..." She trailed off, and paused for a second. "Well, we've got a busy day, so down to business. Who wants to go first?"

[[OOC: If anyone has anything else to say before the tests, now would be the time to say it, as I'm not actually going to force you to RP getting medical tests done. I want to get back to the action!]]

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

"Hell, why not?" Daniel said in response to the call for volunteers. "Let's get this over with." The sooner they finished, the sooner he could see Jessie. That was really all that was on his mind at that moment. Anything else was merely a distraction that had to be taken care of before he could see his ex-wife.

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan sat back as Daniel went first, wondering how exactly they were going to prick the patient's finger. The next time there was a request for volunteers, Nathan did so.

[Kesnit]

Eric McMahon

Eric followed the tech to the exam room, his heart racing. What are they going to find? With a sigh, he settled back to let them "do their worst."

[The_New_Guy]

Moving Forwards...
And so the tests proceed. There is little of interest, even for those who are fascinated by the medical sciences - after all, medical technology can only advance so much in two and a half years. Even if this facility is state of the art, it's still just a hospital.

The tests proceed in clockwork fashion, with Dr. Wexford orchestrating it all. The first step takes you into a small room, with a shower attached. You are asked to strip off and shower before being subjected to a brief physical examination. This is followed by a blood test (which consists of a small device that is pressed against your finger tip, whereupon it jabs a small, sharp needle into the finger causing blood to bubble to the surface) and a DNA collection (consisting of a brief swab of cotton in the mouth for epithelial cells). After that you are asked to get dressed again, and taken to a second room, where a CT scan is done, and then to a third room, where you are x-ray'd. The final stop is the EMF scan, where you are once again asked to strip down and step inside a large machine. This final test takes only a few moments, before you are given permission to redress and rejoin your comrades in the waiting room.

Daniel is the first to go through, and immediately causes problems. The physical examination goes smoothly, but when it comes time to take a blood sample, the pricker proves inadequate to pierce the man's skin. The doctors switch to syringes, but that fails as well. They give up quickly (obviously, they expected problems) and move on. The CT and X-Ray also fail to function effectively on Daniel - apparently electromagnetic energy has a problem penetrating his skin as well. Daniel was not asked to demonstrate his powers, as researchers believe his super strength would be detectable, even if he was just standing (nor did they want to test his invulnerability - shooting him in the head did not seem like a wise idea).

Nathan went next, and all went well, until he was asked to demonstrate his powers. Without a clear understanding of them, he was unable (or unwilling) to demonstrate it effectively for the researchers.

Next was Eric, who like Nathan, went smoothly until it came time to demonstrate his powers. The fiery explosion that accompanied his transformation scared some of the researchers, and while in "flame form" he accidentally caught some electrical equipment on fire. It wasn't major, but it slowed down the process a little bit.

Next was Laurence, who again, ran into trouble in the testing department. Popping in and out of reality, it seems, makes certain information hard to read. After "popping" for several minutes (occasionally at random to annoy the researchers), again the researchers gave up, and moved onto the next subject.

Following Laurence was Ann, who indeed was queasy at the sight of her own blood, even though it was just a small finger prick. However, the more she thought about it the quicker it seemed to heal, so her nausea passed quickly. Ann was not asked to demonstrate her powers for the tester as it was a bit to risky to ask someone to harm themselves.

Robert followed Ann, who like Ann was woozy at the sight of his own blood, but managed to hold it together. His wings, sword and shield were very popular with the researchers. They didn't have any major side-effects, and they were relatively easy to observe.

Jackson Ford was last. Early into his testing, however, things seemed to go wrong, and a flashing blue light came over the door where the physical examination, blood & DNA tests were done...

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison

"...is that normal?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Daniel Horton

Spoiler

Show

Sorry for the delay. Winter Break starts tomorrow for me, so I'll be better able to post for the next month while I'm out of college.

"Not sure." Daniel said, rubbing at the spots where they'd tried to prick him for blood. He was almost sure they were going to try power tools or a hydraulic press to pierce his skin next, but they just gave up. He figured if he ever did get injured he should save some of his blood and make it a present for the doctors there. Honestly, how often was he going to bleed from now on? If it happened and he wasn't dying, it was best to take advantage of it. It also made him wonder. If they ever had to give him drugs or perform surgery to save his life, would they even be able to? Was it even possible anymore? Maybe Anne was the only way he could be healed now.

"The last time we went charging into a situation we made ourselves into a spectacle. Unless we hear shouts or explosions or we have some other clear sign of trouble we might want to keep clear. If something's wrong with Jackson, Anne might be able to help, but the rest of us would just get in the way. If Jackson's causing the problem, I'm sure we'll know about it soon enough. Right, Nathan?" he said, shrugging. "Unless someone found out that they could see through walls in the last hour and a half, that is."

[Green Bean]

Nathan James

Nathan, still a little embarrassed from the power testing (he had tried fruitlessly to do something for nearly ten minutes), replied "Yeah, if it's some sort of medical emergency, they'd call you in, Ann, and if it's got something to do with his powers, they'd probably talk to us in any case."

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison

Robert sat there, uneasy. He tapped his fingers repeatedly on his legs. Finally, after debating it in his head, he got up and walked toward the door.

"I'm going to peek in really quick and see. Ann, if something goes loco, I want Healz Plz."

He turned the knob slowly to crack open the door.

[The_New_Guy]

Ann nodded quietly at Robert's request as the young man opened the door an inch to see what was inside.

[[OOC: See your PM's shortly for more detail drawingfreak]]

[drawingfreak]

Robert Harrison

His curiosity not satisfied, he stuck his whole head into the room to get a better view of the situation.