The sun is shining bright as you entered the school gates. There was a small wooden billboard with a map of the school and several notes posted to it. There were several buildings ahead of you and a few other students milling about.

...a spaceship hovered overhead.  For the expert, there was no mistaking the sleek lines of the Belinda Mae XVII, and that said clearly who had arrived.  A beam of light shone down from the ship, and Kinexa Goddard floated down with it.

She was dressed casually, in shorts that revealed the vents along her legs and a short-sleeved shirt that was tight enough to reveal her form; the colors set off her blue-green skin well, and the numerous antennae that protruded from her head waved a short distance above her long indigo hair.  She had a bag over her shoulder, a suitcase in one hand, and a blaster pistol on her hip.  (That might be against school rules, she realized belatedly, but it was too late to worry about now.)

*No, I'm fine, Dad,* she sent telepathically.  *This whole thing is still ridiculous, but compared to everything we've faced, school is nothing.  Really.  Don't worry so much.*

She'd never actually been to an Earth school before, but that didn't actually worry her.  She knew full well that she'd be able to pick up social cues easily enough, largely from the minds of her fellow students and teachers.  She therefore picked up her things and went to the billboard to figure out where to go first.

You can feel several eyes on you now and a small buzzing of conversation. There was a list of dorm assignments on the board. It seems you were in room 303 of the girl's dorm along with someone named Taia and Terri. No last names listed for them.

Nitocris hummed to herself as she flew, using her magic to carry her bags as she went. Ramses had explained how this schooling would be good for her, and although a bit unsure of how useful it would be, she was glad that it was private. Only proper that someone as noble as she would get to be with the elite. Nearing the school she set down, pulling out her mirror to make sure she looked as incredible as she should. With a shake of her head she forgot that she should be in civilian clothes and a simple tap of her staff, she was in a simple V-neck shit and mini-skirt.

She strode into the school, unsure of what to do now.

Kinexa's tendrils wriggled in the air as they took in a light picture of all the minds around her.  Well, she didn't look like a normal human, and some of them recognized her.  As expected.  She went for her room, having no further instructions at the moment.  She'd pick up the rest from there.

There were a lot of students around, talking excitedly.  Overhead, the spaceship that Captain Goddard owned was departing, which probably accounted for it, and suggested that Kinexa was around somewhere.

There was also a bulletin board with various notes on it.

Her teammate would have to wait, Nitocris wanted to get settled in and see what this school had to offer her. She headed over to the billboard.

It appeared that she was in room 206, with Tarisha and Hermione, whoever they were.

Nitocris headed that way, still using her magic to carry her bags.

As you step outside again, there are many more people milling about. There are a wide variety of people out here, but it looks like the three of you are by far the most different from a baseline human.

Well, there were a lot of people around... Kinexa looked around for who might be interesting.  And figure out what she already knew about them.

There was a very large boy sitting on a bench with an angry look on his face and his thoughts sure reinforced that. Next to him was a much smaller boy with high quality noise cancelling headphones who is just grooving to the music, not having much in the way of thoughts at the moment.

Closer to the dorm, there was Shooting Star talking with another two girls, one with bright green skin and pink hair who seemed a bit nervous meeting someone as famous and intense as Amber. The other had cat ears, a tail and black stripes on her skin and was as excited as green girl was nervous.

Well, the boys were a washout-- no thoughts was pointless; Kinexa didn't want to deal with angry.  Saying hello to Shooting Star and her admirers... might be worthwhile, in the end, so that's the direction that she went.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:52, Thu 17 Mar 2022.

"Oh hey! Great to see ya, Kin!" Amber said, waving wildly as you approached. "These are my roomies, Rose and Melody!"

"Hi," Rose, the green girl said shyly.

"Oh, wow, nice to meet you," Melody said.

"Nice to meet you two, as well," said Kinexa.  "These are my roommates, Terri and Taia."

The other girls introduced themselves and they began chatting.

"How're you doing?" Amber asked you.

"Well, all right," said Kinexa.  "My roommates are pretty awesome, both cute, also a plus, but I don't like being confined like this.  I used to flit between planets..."

"I know what you mean," Amber said. "Well, kinda, you know? I can at least sneak out though. I doubt they have measures that could keep me in."

"Well, probably," said Kinexa.  "You never know, though.  They need good security here to keep criminals out..."

"I guess, but I really need to run and the field here is kinda small," Amber said.

"Tricky," said Kinexa.  "Hopefully they can work something out for you.  I hope we aren't too crowded.  Too many minds in one space can feel awkward."

"That's right! How are you holding up?" Amber asked.

"So far, I'm handling it," said Kinexa.  "So how are your roomies?"

"Pretty cool, they got some kinda hero worship going on right now," Star said. "A bit annoying, but I bet they'll get over it."

"Not a problem I have with mine," said Kinexa.  "They have no idea who I am.  I suppose that's a tad bit easier..."

"Is that bugging you or anything?" Amber asked.

"Not exactly?" said Kinexa.  "It's just new to me.  Most people recognize me from the news."

"But have you seen anyone cute yet?" Amber whispered to you.

"Too many," sighed Kinexa.  "I like my roomies, but dating them would be awkward.  Yours are definitely cute, but... many here are."

"You could always trying to date as many as you can," Amber said. "Like some kinda crazy TV plot."

"...Well, my father only did that serially," said Kinexa, thoughtfully.  "But it might be a lot of fun, if everyone was all right with it."

"I don't mean you should do it secretly like him or anything," Amber said.

"No, dad didn't do it secretly," said Kinexa.  "He only had parallel short-term flings.  All his serious relationships were sequential.  But yes, I'd definitely have to do that openly."

"I say go for it! I don't think I could handle dating well," Amber said.

"Why not?" Kinexa asked.  "Oh, time differences?"

"That and I'm still working some stuff out...," Amber said.

"Like the sort of people you might be attracted to?" Kinexa guessed.

"Yeah, you got it," Amber said.

"Well, that's something you can figure out as you go," said Kinexa.  "It's all complicated anyway-- people have individual exceptions, different kinds of drives or desires for different kinds of people, all of that.  You just have to figure out what works for you."

"Thanks," Amber said, giving you a hug.

Kinexa hugged her back.

"It's even fine if there isn't anyone you're attracted to," she added.  "There are all kinds of people in the world.  And your views may change over time."

"Thanks, you're a good friend," Amber said.

"Think nothing of it," said Kinexa.  "And believe me, telepaths like I have no problems learning a lot about the wide array of human attractions."

"Yeah, I guess you get a lot of people picturing you naked," Amber said.

"I don't probe that deeply," said Kinexa.  "I just pick up when people are feeling desire of various kinds; context usually tells me what they're reacting to.  But... that still happens sometimes when I do a deeper probe."

"You are really cute," Amber said. "...and humans are kinda simple lots of times."

"So are you saying that you're attracted to me?" Kinexa asked.  "Or was that just an aesthetic observation?"

"I'm not really sure," Amber said.

"That's an honest answer," said Kinexa.  "And one that doesn't bother me.  Would it bother you if I was dating other people?"

It was another way to test that, after all.  Sometimes.

"No way! You do you," Amber said.

"Good, good," said Kinexa.  "Oh, have you heard anything from the others?"

"Not a ton. I can only imagine what Notocris is going through. Her in a school's going to be something else!" Amber said and laughed.

"...I'll have some challenges, too," sighed Kinexa.  "But at least I can cheat my way through some of the social situations."

"Oh sure, but she can be more than a bit stuck up sometimes," Amber said.

"Granted," said Kinexa.  "...not unique to her, though.  I hope she doesn't isolate herself that way-- it'll do her good to be around average students."

"True, I mean, she's a lot better than the early days," Amber said.

"Also true," said Kinexa.  "Does the school have some kind of counselor you could go to for your dating questions?  That might be a good time to talk to one."

"They have a general consular from what I saw," Amber said.

"If you're going through some stuff, it might be good to talk to them," said Kinexa.  "Or you can talk to me, I guess, but I'm an amateur at that."

"Thanks, but I just need to think about things," Amber said.

"That's fine," said Kinexa.  "Let's see how the new girls are doing..."

She went to look in on their conversation.

As you arrived back, it seems Terri was the first to spot you two.

"Hello!" she said with a wave and a smile.

"Hello," said Kinexa.  "So what have the four of you been up to?"

"Just some general stuff about ourselves," Melody, the cat-girl said.

"That's always good," said Kinexa.  "So catch me up-- who are you two?"

"I'm Melody, Amber's roommate. Not had a chance to do the hero thing if that's what you mean," Melody said.

Rose stayed quiet, unsure of how to answer.

"Well, I'm Kinexa Goddard," said Kinexa.  "Half-Enceladan telepath.  What's your story?"

"This is a bit awkward," Melody said. "But I was a street kid that a bunch of goons rounded up to be Guinea pigs for some made scientist's experiments."

"I'm Rose and-and my mom was a wizard that fell in love with my dad, who was a plant elemental," Rose said quietly.

"Well," said Kinexa.  That was a contrast between the two, wasn't it?

"Rose, that sounds really cool!  You're another halfie, like me!" she said, with a warm smile.  "Melody... that has to have been hard.  I'm sorry.  I'm glad you came out okay, though."

"It's fine, everyone has an 'origin', right?" Melody said.

"Yeah, I am, I guess," Rose said.

"I'm glad for that," said Kinexa.  "I assume your powers are both pretty obvious?"

"Mine are, yeah," Melody said.

"I can control plants, which I guess is kinda limited, that's why I carry this pouch of seeds," Rose said, holding it out.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:07, Wed 23 Mar 2022.

"Good thinking, there," said Kinexa.  "Can you grow them in environments without soil?"

"I can if I have to. I don't like to as it causes them a lot of harm," Rose said.

"That's reasonable," said Kinexa.  "Have you considered taking, oh, a small hydroponics kit with you?  You could at least grow plants with those, and give you another option."

"Yes, but their use as a superhero wouldn't be really limited," Rose said.

"Perhaps, but you might be able to find some options," said Kinexa.  "It's just something to consider in the future; I'm sure you'll find your own answers to things, too."

"I can also make them grow really fast, even in things that aren't soil," Rose said.

"Very useful," said Kinexa.  "...sometimes, the fact of that growth might be better than what the plant is.  Trees break concrete often even without powers, don't they?"

"Yes, but then I worry about them once they're grown," Rose said.

"I wonder if you could transplant them later?" Kinexa pondered.

"Yes, but the city can be bad with allowing that," Rose said.

"Awkward, then," said Kinexa.  "I wonder if you could work with genetic engineering somewhere?  There could be some very useful options that way.  Or nonterrestrial plants; if your powers work on them, that would give you more options."

"I don't know, you do have to be careful about invasive species...," Rose said.

"A fair point... plants that you grow that way stay fully grown, I gather?" Kinexa asked.

"Yes, often ready to seed too," Rose said.

"Ironically, you're the one person I've met whose power has the greatest potential to change the world," said Kinexa.  "Keep that in mind."

"I know," Rose said. "I'm really unsure what I should do."

"You do have time to work it out," Kinexa pointed out.  "Decide what you think is best; we're all still growing up, so you should be able to take the time for that."

"So, what about you two?" Melody asked. "Why are two girls with actual heroing experience here?"

"I don't actually know for sure," Kinexa admitted.  "My father gave me a speech about socialization and the kind of education that he had when he was young, but I don't see what was wrong with what I already had.  It's even more confusing given that it's everyone else, too."

"Weird. Sounds like he's hiding something," Melody said.

"Most likely, yes," said Kinexa.  "Unfortunately, he's very good at keeping his thoughts hidden."

"I don't have any idea what's going on either," Amber added.

"Maybe we'll be able to figure it out," said Kinexa.  "They probably have information that we don't... yet."

"Yeah, well, I guess we just have to show them," Amber said. "...and become honours students? I guess?"

"I suppose," said Kinexa.  "It's hard for me to attach too much importance to these classes, but I ought to do my best.  I suppose I will, even if it seems like a strange, empty formality."

"It'd sure surprise my parents, that's for sure," Amber said.

"I don't think you've talked about them very much," said Kinexa.  "Around me, anyway."

Amber laughed a little awkwardly.

"With my powers developing, but unable to access them I had like ultimate ADHD."

"That must have been bad," said Kinexa.  "My dad's lucky that mom taught me telepathic ethics at a young age.  It would probably have been even more awkward otherwise."

"Ah, that must have been hard," Rose said.

"The ethics?  Not that bad," said Kinexa.  "There's some discipline involved, but it's really just being a decent person."

"Ah. I thought telepathy was a lot harder to control," Rose said.

"It's hard to control the passive aspects," said Kinexa.  "I don't even try to not pick up some really active thoughts in my environment, and I can always tell where all the minds around me are.  But actively probing a mind takes effort, and that's what's unethical."

"Ah. Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," Rose said.

"No, it's fine," said Kinexa, smiling.  "It's good to ask questions!  They don't bother me."

"O-okay," Rose said, smiling shyly.

"...was there something else you wanted to know?" Kinexa prompted.  Worth asking, definitely.

"I have one," Melody said. "How many planets have you visited?"

"That... depends on how you count, actually," said Kinexa.  "I've been on the surface of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars; I was born on Enceladus, and I've been to Luna, Titan and Triton, but those are moons.  I visited Pluto once, which is a dwarf planet, not a real one.  And I've been on a whole bunch of asteroids, too.  Oh, and short visits to some of the other moons of Venus and Jupiter, but I didn't even leave the ship on those."

"Wow," Melody said, clearly stunned.

"Eh, it's just what my dad does," said Kinexa.  "He wanted to show me everything.  Which got awkward once or twice-- some people weren't thrilled to be reminded that dad moved on after being widowed or whatever-- but the folks on Mercury and Mars were pretty chill about the whole thing.  Good thing, too, since I've got like thirty half-siblings on Mars."

Who were all about a meter taller than her, too... awkward in its own way.  But they were friendly, at least.

"What," Melody said. "That's insane!"

"Eh, it's just Martian physiology," said Kinexa.  "Martians lay lots of eggs; dad was a Line Founder there, so he was married for like a week to two different Martians."

"He sounds like a real player...," Melody said. "Ack! Sorry! I shouldn't have said that!"

Kinexa laughed.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first," she said.  "He falls in love easily, but he's never cheated on someone.  But, yes, he does... fall easily.  And, in turn, women fall for him right back."

"He's a human though? How'd he get out in space?" Rose asked.

"He and his best friend Marc built a ship together, and named it after a girl they both had a crush on in their younger lives," Kinexa explained.  "Marc didn't survive the first journey, but told dad to never stop travelling."

"Ah. That's a shame," Melody said.

Kinexa shrugged.

"It's a shame, I guess, but I might not exist otherwise.  Marc's death really spurred dad on to exploring the whole solar system."

And it was hard to be too upset over someone who had literally died many years before she was born, honestly.

"Have you been outside the solar system?" Melody asked.

"Not any significant distance," said Kinexa.  "Dad's been out to the Oort clouds, but nothing like interstellar travel.  Our drive can't handle that."

"Do any of the solar system aliens have interstellar engines?" Melody asked.

"We never found them if they ever existed," said Kinexa.  "The Tritonians claim they're from another star, but they came here without ships, somehow."

"What are the plants like?" Rose asked.

"Well, where?" Kinexa asked.  "Probably the most interesting ones are on Venus-- the native life forms are sentient plants; they blow on the high winds, and set down where they have enough resources to grow a garden-sphere for a while, and then move on after a while.  They've got so many different kinds, too-- strong ones, savage ones, fertile ones.  But aside from the plant-folk, the live short lives, depending on high amounts of resources."

"Oh, I guess I better not  travel there. I wouldn't want to control sapient beings," Rose said.

"You wouldn't have to," said Kinexa.  "Well... I suppose it depends on how you look at it.  But not all of their plants are self-aware.  Many just grow.  Some of them are, though."

"Meeting all these different alien species must be really cool," Melody said. "I guess we're aliens to you."

"No, it's the other way around," said Kinexa.  "You're all people to me.  'Alien' doesn't really mean anything to me, at least, not like this.  Something like the Devourer, well, that's pretty alien.  The creatures on Triton... are very alien.  But people like you, or Martians, Venusians, Titans, whatever, you're all people.  I can tell by the nature of your minds."

"Ah. Okay. Sorry," Melody said.

"No need to apologize," said Kinexa.  "We see things differently from each other.  There's nothing wrong with that.  In a way, I'm alien, in that I wasn't raised on Earth, and my mother is Enceladan.  But I was raised by my father in part, and that's a very humanizing thing, and also taught me some American values."

Melody chuckled at the last comment.

"Ah, American exceptionalism."

"...I don't think that it is, exactly," said Kinexa.  "He taught me his own cultural values to make it easier for me to get along with Americans; we're in America, so that makes sense.  If we were in, oh, Japan, I would want to learn Japanese cultural values."

"Ah, okay," Melody said. "How many languages do you speak?"

"...all of them," said Kinexa.  "I pick up spoken languages telepathically."

"That's cool," Melody said. "You could have taken a Spanish class for an easy A."

"It doesn't work nearly as well written, though," said Kinexa.  "As long as I'm here, I'd rather challenge myself a bit more, anyway."

"School's hard enough as it is," Melody said. "Or so I've heard."

"Well, we can always study together," said Hermione.  "None of my roommates are from here, either, so we all need to help each other out with classes and so on."

"I only have some middle school stuff, for reasons," Melody said.

"That makes sense," said Kinexa.  "Given what you said about your history..."

"I-I can help with subjects," Rose said.

"Thank you," said Kinexa.  "That would be extremely helpful."

"You are quite helpful," Terri said.

"Um, thank you," Rose said.

"In exchange, maybe I'll see if we can go to Venus over break," said Kinexa.

"That would be very good, thank you," Terri said.

"You want to see it too, Terri?" said Kinexa.  "I'm happy to bring others if I can do it, of course.  The floating gardens are beautiful, if temporary."

"I would like to see it as well," Taia said.

"I think everyone would," Amber added.

"Well, we can definitely try," said Kinexa.  "...Mars and Mercury are also well worth visiting, incidentally.  Mercury's plants are less interesting, but still might be worth looking at.  Mars has fewer, but some are impressively large."

"I'd like to see a lot of them," Rose said.

"Well, I wouldn't mind showing you," said Kinexa.  "...I can actually travel in the solar system with the gear that I have, but it takes me a very, very long time to get out of a planet's gravity well if I can at all, and it's just me.  We'd really need access to the Belinda Mae.  But maybe dad will do that for me."

"I'm sure you can convince him," Amber said.

"I hope so," said Kinexa.  "As long as I stay in school, I might have a chance of that."

"Then I guess we won't be breaking out then?" Amber asked.

"...well," said Kinexa, "breaking out in what sense?  Sneaking off campus might not be too bad to do now and then."

"Okay, good," Amber said. "I hear there's a good seafood restaurant on the east side."

"Ah, interesting," said Kinexa.  "I do like seafood... we should go."

"Right now?" Amber asked.

"It's a little early in the day," Kinexa pointed out.  "And if it's a nice place, we should make plans to dress up for it, or something like that."

"Right, I guess we wait," Amber said, with a laugh.

"Now, the question is, who's going later on?" Kinexa asked.  "...and is it some kind of date?"

Amber shrugged.

"If you want it to be."

"I'm not opposed at all," said Kinexa.  Many possibilities here...

"I'm fine either way," Amber said. "It's up to you."

"That sounds nice," said Kinexa.  "As a warning, though-- I'm not sure that I can commit to a one-person relationship right now, with my cultural upbringing and powers."

"I'm okay with it not being the most serious thing," Amber said.

"We can see where it goes," said Kinexa.  "It might just be difficult to be exclusive... and that goes both ways, of course.  I don't demand commitment."

"It's fine. I mentioned how I'm still figuring things out," Amber said.

"I am, too," Kinexa admitted.  "...being on just one planet for a while ought to make things like that easier, though."

Amber chuckled.

"It's all I've ever been on."

Kinexa couldn't help but glance at Rose, to see how she was taking this.

Rose was watching what was happening intensely.

"...Did you want a date, as well?" Kinexa asked her.  Why not?

"Eeep! I'm not sure!" Rose said.

"Well, we can talk about it," Kinexa offered.  "It's certainly up to you.  You don't have to date me to be my friend."

"I'll think about it!" Rose said, as she took off running.

"...she's a bit shy, isn't she?" Kinexa observed.

"Yep," Melody said.

"You got that right," AMber said.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:24, Mon 04 Apr 2022.

"We'll see how she handles it, then," said Kinexa.  She looked to see how Melody was handling this-- it was what Melody had suggested, however seriously or not, but how would she take the actual fact of Kinexa asking both of her roommates out?

Melody had a grin on her face.

Well, that was a good sign.

"Should we just let her go off somewhere like that?" she asked, though.  Granted, it wouldn't be too hard to track Rose down if needed with her powers, but...

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Melody said.

"True," said Kinexa.  "This is a school on Earth.  She's not in any danger... Well.  What do you feel like doing?"

"I'm fine with just chilling here," Amber said.

"I don't object," said Kinexa.  She took a seat next to Amber, and scanned the students going by, seeing who was around.

There weren't too many new students that passed by, a few teachers went by, but you had a hard time picking up anything from them. It seems they've had some advanced training or something.

Well, fair... she wasn't planning on probing deeply anyway.  But it wasn't bad, watching the school go by.  At least for the moment.  She did look to see where her roomies had gone.

They were currently not too far away...talking with a very large dog.

Unexpected, but not actually surprising.  Kinexa took a moment to determine if the dog was sapient or not.

It certainly was, you can tell as the dog has mental defenses like the other teachers.

Interesting.

"My roommates are talking to a teacher who appears to be a dog," she said.  "I'm going over to say hello."

And she did just that.

"Ah, hello!" Terri said as you approached, the dog turning to look at you.

"Hello!" he said in a chipper British accent.

"Good morning," Kinexa said to the dog.  "I'm Kinexa Goddard.  Pleased to meet you."

What else could she say, after all?

"Pleased to meet you. You may call me Mr. Ambrose," the dog said. "it's been nice to see there are so many polite students."

"Ah, thank you, sir," said Kinexa.  "I'm still adjusting to all of this."

The doge nodded.

"Certainly, take your time. I'm sure you'll get your feet under you soon enough."

"Thank you," Kinexa said.  "I'll try.  I'm still adjusting to some new concepts, but I'll figure them out, I hope."

"If you need more help, the door to my office is always open," Mr. Ambrose said.

"Thank you," said Kinexa.  "I appreciate that.  Do you have any advice for me, as a new student?"

"I see that you've already befriended your roommates and are exploring the campus. I'd say stay the course as you're doing well already," Mr. Ambrose said.

"We haven't explored that much, but it would be good to do more," Kinexa said, thoughtfully.  "What do you two want to do?" she added, to her roommates.

"Exploring would be good," Terri said.

"I'm up for that," Taia said.

"Let's look around, then," said Kinexa, picking a building or direction at random.

Hermione walked along the campus grounds, holding Nitocris's hand.

"How are you doing?" Nitocris asked.

"Very well," said Hermione.  "...I never thought someone would say, 'I'm taking a walk with my lover' and grab my hand."

Nitocris chuckled.

"Why? You are quite lovely."

"For most of my life, I certainly wasn't," said Hermione.  "Having a well-shaped face now is new to me."

"True, but I am speaking of more than that," Nitocris said.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, then," said Hermione.

"Your mind and spirit as well," Nitocris siad.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:05, Tue 18 Oct 2022.

"...Those aren't very apparent when you look the way that I did," said Hermione.

"That is everyone else's loss then," Nitocris said, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Thank you," said Hermione.

"...this must have been very different for you, back when you came from," she added after a few moments.

"I'm not certain as to what you mean," Nitocris siad.

"Do queens have time to date?" Hermione asked.  "And you wouldn't be alone with a lover, would you?  There would have to be guards, servants, all that..."

"I would have had an arranged marriage, but I wasn't Pharaoh long enough for that to happen," Nitocris said.

"But you would have had lovers anyway, right?" Nitocris asked.