Gavin found himself distracted by the banter between Daenus and Dr.MacKinnon. What an odd pair, speaking the same language, but in completely different worlds, hearing different things. "Dr. MacKinnon, I think the binary comment was more of a euphemism for being socially awkward, but I'm not picking that up, you seem completely normal to me." Looking to Daenus, "You don't even need liquid encouragement like your friend Daenus does."

A wry smile crossed Gavin's lips as he waited for the inevitable response from Daenus lamenting the robots were collaborating.

"Well, unless someone else notices something I missed, seems we have the standard options - front and back door. If anyone is watching comings and goings both are probably being watched, I say we just act casually and head in the front. What floor is your flat on Dr. MacKinnon?"

Gavin continued to take in the unique architecture of the space, the plants reminded him of the forest and a time not so long ago. He took in a deep breath as he turned off the Van engine.

Between the verbal barrage and being studied like the rare specimen he was, the level of discomfort Daenus was feeling in that van was becoming palpable. Opening and closing his mouth multiple times to respond or interject, and eventually giving up altogether, he cast a glance to the others in the van, a silent plead for help. No help had come. Is noone hearing this? And when she finally ended with the realisation that he hadn't answered her question, Daenus could only stare again. When his eyes finally left hers it was only to linger briefly on the crewler. Ohhh, I needed so much more.

After Gavin finally chimed in, especially with MacKinnon seeming normal to him, he nearly spit out his next sip, but refused to lose a drop which instead resulted in it trying to escape through his nose. His mirth immediately changed to pain, the can in his hand crushed in an effort not to yell. "Fffffff...nnnhhghh."

Recovering enough to speak again, he offered a suggestion, relieved to keep the discussion off of him. "You guys should probably just just speak in code. You really don't have to say it all in Common just for the rest of us." He sipped his fingers to clean them of the last vestiges of his drink and procured a new one as he added under his breath, "Beep beep clickity-beep bop."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:58, Mon 15 Apr.

Kat found surveillance oddly meditative.  She could tune out the noise of her immediate surroundings and allow her consciousness to expand, taking notice of the big picture and the minutiae at once.  Watching people enter and exit the buildings, everything seemed normal.  She hadn't clocked any classic, under-cover surveillance vehicles in the parking lot either.

Replying to Gavin she said, "If someone is watching, it's highly likely they'll be looking for MacKinnon and we don't have any way to disguise her.  Why don't you and I go inside first, and see if anything feels off.  We can even go as far as walking past her door to scan for spies or traps.  If all seems well, we can call and invite the rest of them up.  What do you think?"

"As usual, the voice of reason." Gavin nodded to Kat as he stepped outside the Van.

Vahl was intently focused on his laptop, trying to access internal camera footage, and stumbling just a bit. He realized that he hadn't been talking and that people were about to roll out when he felt the van shut off. "Hold one second, I'm trying to access camera footage. If I can access the peepshow into MacKinnon's apartment I might be able to give us some intel," Vahl quickly said as he was attempting to access the network.

Trying to multi-task, he looked up briefly at Gavin's comment "normal...huh" Well I'd sure like to get an idea of his normal parameters.

Hmm...this is a pretty sophisticated network, "Let's try seeing the hallways and lobby then..." Vahl said quietly as his voice mumbled to no one in particular.

"We don't have a way to disguise ourselves? I thought that was part and parcel of wet-works in the city Kat? You know, just thinking out of the box here," Vahl paused his work, looking up seriously, "There should be something we could do with your light Kat, and with my water manipulation. Maybe we could figure out some refraction trick to make ourselves invisible to the human eye?!?!"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:54, Mon 15 Apr.

"What happened to teleporting?"

Seeing an opportunity to escape the claustrophobic environment in the van, Rowan called to Kat and Gavin, "Wait for me." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, imagining an octopus clinging to a rock and changing their coloring and texture to blend in  with their background. Energy trickled over her skin, a not unpleasant tingle of power.

I'm no one important. No one of consequence. Look around me. Look through me... anywhere but AT me. When she opened her eyes she took a quick look in the rear view mirror to confirm the changes had held. Her vibrant red hair was now a dull dishwater brown. The same color replaced the, normally vibrant, yellow green of her eyes. New freckles peppered the bridge of her nose and cheeks. It was her and not her at the same time.

A black baseball cap was tucked into a pocket on the back of the seat in front of her. Rowan grabbed it and smoothed it over her head. She'd never tried this with the intent to disguise herself before. Here goes nothing!

"You'll be fine getting through the lobby" she said stepping out of the van. "But the elevator uses bio metrics unless you get an override from the security desk. The fewer eyes on us the better right?" She held up a hand and wiggled her fingers in the air.

Vahl had dabbled in computer-related endeavors of the clandestine nature but hadn't dedicated the kind of time he'd spent becoming a doctor and physicist.  Though able to determine the backchannels for spying on the complex by engaging with their security system, he found the firewall impenetrable.

Rowan looked notably different now that she'd significantly altered the coloring of her features.  The hat helped as well.  A casual glance would see a different woman.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:35, Mon 15 Apr.

Daenus frowned. "Oh that's it, DAMMIT! I'm gonna need a full dossier on everyone's capabilities!" He punctuated every word with a finger aiming downward. I'm sick of these surprises. Sick! "So sick of it."

Rowan turned to Daenus, "You're absolutely right! We should put together a battery of tests so we can pin down the extent of everyone's abilities and their rate of growth so we can maximize our potential."

She smiled. "I must admit. When I first encountered you, I thought you were a brusque blowhard with little more to add than a few witty quips. I am surprised." She nodded, more to herself than to him. "I look forward to seeing this more scientific side of you."

Daenus blinked. "Ya. Well. When I met you I was trying to decide on how to dispose you. So. Touché I guess. But now...now we know. Next time, don't assume, cuz it makes an ass out of you. Yup. I'm like a cake."

Daenus smiled inwardly. Damn right I got some witty quips. Whatever that means.

Vahl closed the laptop with reverence and annoyance all rolled into one little head nod. I can build nano-technology, and perform heart surgery but not breach a firewall. I'm useless. He chuckled to himself as he slid the laptop back in its case and leaned forward towards Kat. "Hey, I think we should try something here, let's hop behind the van and see if we can make Daenus disappear. I'd like to try to see if our powers might work in conjunction. If it does then we have a wonderful way of getting around without being seen," Vahl said talking into Kat's ear.

"Oh I'll disappear alright. Probably not in the way you're thinking." Vahl probably didn't know he was talking so loud, and Daenus doubted it worked both ways. Blondie only heard what he wanted to hear.

"I would love to make Daenus disappear," Kat said, leaning back away from Vahl's close talking.  "In all seriousness, I've been a soldier and a burglar a lot longer than I've been a mutant.  It honestly didn't occur to me, but that's an interesting idea.  I'm willing to give it a go."    She moved to get out of the van, musing to herself about the powers she'd exhibited so far.  There was a little nudge way in the back of her brain that suggested there may be something even more useful lurking in her new abilities.  It was hard to describe logically, but she seemed to sense that if she just concentrated in the right way, like flexing a specific muscle, she might be able to go invisible.

.]

"If that doesn't work, I might be able to do something with the shadows around us so others can't make out our features. Whatever we land on, let's hope its' reversible."

Gavin was fairly certain it would be, but he wanted to see if that would elicit another response from Daenus, as he moved to the rear of the van with the rest of the group.

Just to stiffen the jab he added, "Go ahead Kat and Vahl, see what you can cook up, Daenus seems like a good test subject. He's already partially anesthetized from the beers probably."

Daenus threw glances at each face in turn, searching for evidence of jest, fear and horror sobering up his focus.

He waved a finger at each of them, unsure of where to turn for an ally. "Not that being invisible wouldn't be great, but I'm nobody's lab rat!" Then his features softened with a new thought. "Besides, there's no telling what kind of mischief I could get up to if I was. Yes," he said, narrowing his eyes at Kat as if reading her mind, "even that." He finished with a crooked grin to land that point home.

The group found itself behind the van in a space between it and a fair amount of hedgerows and other shrubbery.  Nobody was entirely removed from lines of sight held by others in the expansive parking lot, but neither were they any particular point of attention.  The bright, late July day promised to envelop them with heat in the not too distant future, it was already hotter than strictly comfortable creeping up on mid-morning.  A light, off-bay breeze teased with the possibility of keeping things from sweltering.

"Ok, Kat this is what I'm thinking. I'm going to manipulate the Water molecules to create a sheen around us like a barrier. You focus your light and see if you can adjust it to refract light through the barrier so that all light will bend through the water and come out the other side. It would be like making a mirror-like mirage. I'm not sure how thick I'll need to make the water density so we'll both need to play with it, adjusting until we get the right blend," Vahl said taking out a water bottle and beckoning the water out like a snake. "I don't think using Daenus as a guinea pig is the best idea, he has a habit of um...adding a wild card to the mix. I'll try just myself first, if it works expanding the cone shouldn't be too hard to fit the rest of us to follow behind Doctor MacKinnon as she walks into the building. We'd basically be able to be hidden back up as she walks to her apartment."

Vahl closed his eyes as he spread the water out around him breaking the water apart into a fine mist that circled himself as he began to spin the molecules, "Alright Kat, go ahead, remember you aren't trying to blast me, just get the light to join the water and circle around it."

Kat shrugged noncommittally at Vahl.  "I'll give it a try.  I have no real idea what I'm doing here and I hope I don't melt or explode you." 

She went war-zone quiet in her head, deeply tuning into her surroundings.  She thought about the ambient light, she thought about Vahl's instruction to get the light to join the water, and she thought about a PRESS somewhere in her brain.  That PRESS felt something like using a pressure point or flexing a muscle, but not exactly like either one.  It was impossible for her to explain but she felt instinctively this was the way to execute her intentions.  Mentally she crossed her fingers and PRESSED.

.
.]
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Sun 12 May.

The mist cloud drifted around Vahl and took on the appearance of a very light fog, mysteriously contained around a single person.  The shape went from amorphous to that of an ovular shell, greater than needed to cover the large doctor.  Kat's visage went sharp and dangerous, focused, causing Vahl to second-think this effort for just a moment as she aimed those mocha colored weapons at him.  For a stretch of many seconds, the mist shell simply breathed, wavering slightly as it mostly kept this shape.

Then it began to dazzle.  The water shimmered like a sequin dress, light playing off each drop and spinning flashes into all the nearby eyeballs.  For a brief moment, Vahl looked captured inside a life-size faberge egg.  And then he was gone.

The group continued to stare at where they knew Vahl to be last, and while there was some very slight distortion around the area as though scanning across a pane of glass and witnessing a small imperfection, he had more than comfortably disappeared from general view.  For Vahl, the view out was largely the same.  He could no longer see the water around him and he would catch an occasional warble in his otherwise clear view, the group seemed to no longer be able to pinpoint his location except for Kat, whose steady gaze remained unbroken.

Kat's view of Vahl changed significantly.  She knew he was now invisible, much like she knew when the view of them in the hall was blocked from Hudson back in S.T.A.D.S., but in that instance she hadn't been able to see her handiwork from the other side.  Kat's eyes instinctively adjusted to a different spectrum of light, and inside the bubble she could now see Vahl as though peering through a set of goggles that picked up only that spectrum.  This was new territory in and of itself.

Rowan walked a wide circle where Vahl had been. holding her breath in excitement. She clenched her fists, resisting the urge to applaud.

She squinted her eyes searching for anything that would give him away. If she stared long enough she could see a slight rainbow shimmer in the air. He must have moved or shifted his weight. Certainly nothing that could be seen unless they were extremely lucky or looking for that exact indicator.

Her eyes still focused on the spot where she, logically, surmised Vahl was still standing, but directed her words to Kat. They came out in a breathy whisper, "It's so beautiful"

Feigning disinterest, Daenus had remained in his seat, watching from the mirrors. Upon success of the disappearing act, his eyes went wide. Half ejecting himself from the open window, he focussed hard on the point where Vahl once was, and probably still is. Can't believe that shit actually worked.

"Whhooo! Knew you could do it. Is it permanent?" A little too much excitement came with the question.

"Impressive, at night we'll have to try it with my stuff. I'm guessing this is a trick for one only, at the moment?" Gavin also continued to stare at the seeming space that Vahl presumably was still occupying.

Internally, Kat cheered.  I didn't melt him!!!  Externally, she played it cool.  She didn't want the team to know how deeply unsure she was of this working.  She gave the group a small smile in response to all of the various exclamations.

She found herself distracted by the change in her vision.  As soon as Vahl was enveloped, everything went the psychedelic colors of infrared thermal vision.  She'd used plenty of thermal scopes in the army so she knew what she was looking at but the abrupt switch from ordinary to thermal vision took her by surprise.  Kat was starting to put together some of the basic attributes that made up the constituent parts of her powers, but that's not to say that it didn't still take some getting used to.

She clocked Rowan's comment, "it's so beautiful," and filed it away for future questions.  If Rowan could see something where Vahl used to be, that might mean her scope of vision was larger than regular humans' as well, and that might come in handy for future adventures.

"Vahl, I think we can get everyone in the building but it's going to cost us.  I can feel the..." Kat trailed off, searching for the right word to describe this odd sensation.  "Exertion, I guess.  I don't think we can keep it up forever, but we can definitely get everyone in the invisibility bubble for a short duration."  She paused for a moment, calculating.  "How about this?  Let's scrap the bubble for now, walk balls out into the building, get into the elevator and then strike it up again?  We could push several buttons so the elevator stops on multiple floors, we're invisible the whole time, so anyone who might be watching will be more concerned about where we disappeared to than watching Rowan's door.  All this assuming her apartment is being watched in the first place."  Kat clammed up self-consciously, unaccustomed to taking a leadership position, but fighting the excitement of testing this power and getting the good doctor her own clothes and whatever personal effects she could liberate quickly.

Daenus settled back into his seat and cracked another can open. Sticking his hand out of the window in a 'peace' sign, he yelled out, "Good luck, Godspeed. I'll watch the van."