The sickening smell of burned flesh filled the air.   Sauron’s minions were being burned alive, but the control he had over them was so strong that even though their minds were aware of the horrific reality, they had no other choice but to obey him.   They kept on advancing menacingly through the haze of smoke as their skin melted from their bodies, their eyes pleading to the heroes to end their anguish.

Ana and Zoey were faring only slightly better.  The were not touched directly by the flames, but those were hot enough to melt stone, and merely standing next to the conflagration was enough to suffer first degree burns.   The only one who was unaffected was Tank, standing in the middle of the inferno.  But with Sauron flying above his reach, what was he to do?

“DIE!!!”
Sauron chest heaved as he breathed in
“DIE!!!”  he exhaled scolding hot fire once more, before anyone had the chance to recover from the previous assault.

Kate and Frank suffer no stress, Zoey is at 1d10 (effect die stepped up twice), and Ana at 1d12 (effect die stepped up once).  Sauron would have gone first on the third round (spend doom pool die),if there would have been a third round
This message was last updated by the player at 15:16, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

"Stop the simulation!"

As if someone flicked off the lights, and right before the next cone of fire engulfed the heroes, the entire hellish scenery was instantly replaced with the cold expanse of the danger room, complete with a sudden (scientifically impossible?) drop in temperature and humidity.  The order was given by Cyclops, who closed the distance to the group of students with a swift stride.  He looked upon each of them with a blank face, his first concern being to make sure none of them have been physically hurt.  Only once he was satisfied, did he start with the debriefing:

“Tank” he said dryly ”do you remember what was your objective in this exercise?”

"Yes, sir." Frank wasn't sure why Cyclops had suddenly agreed to call him 'Tank' after all, but it didn't sound like he was using the name kindly. More like when Mom used his middle name. "Prepare five people for evac, by returning them to their camp. Are you saying the girl on the altar isn't one of them?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:23, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

Even through the extreme experience of being roasted alive Zoey was still aware of the world around her. She couldn't not be. She was about to finish off this sauroid dipshit so she could go home, no more playing around, when the ground become comfortingly cold and hard once more.

Seems the simulation has ended. Seeing no reason to do anything else Zoey elects to stay right where she is, sprawled out on the floor like a dead cat. She begins going through her cluttered mind and discarding everything she no longer needs though the haze of sensory hangover. When Scott tries to come over to check on her she reflexively yells at him to fuck off. It's not a conscious decision; she just needs time to recover from the ordeal before she can resume normal function.

"I counted five people at the campsite. Annika makes six"
Cyclops maintained the same flat tone of voice.  If he was upset, or disappointed, he didn't show it
"All of you missed that?"

"Um... wait." Frank ran through the image of the camp in his head. Perez was bleeding out. Two men were trying to help him. One guy was hiding under a tarp, and then there was Dr. Harper. They brought her back to the camp making five. The simulation could have ended right there and they'd have been successful.

But the simulation didn't end, and they'd gone haring off on a... side-quest?

"I fail to see your point, sir. If the objective was to get five people to camp, and we did that, then why didn't the simulation end? You wanted to see if we'd follow orders and sit on our butts when there was at least one more life on the line?

"I'm not ashamed to have failed that test."

"Had you talked with any of the five, you would have found out that they've set out from their base further up the river.  Perez could have been evacuated from there.   But instead you set off at once after the damsel in distress.  And once you were gone, Eduardo, acting under the influence of Sauron, shot and killed everyone in the camp, himself included"

Finally there was a hint of emotion.  Anger, perhaps?  Though it wasn't directed at Frank in particular.

"But you are right about one thing; had you stayed with the expedition and have not attempted to rescue Annika, I would have failed you too"

Barnell preferred to stay out of the conversation altogether.  His performance have been abysmal, and he didn't want to draw any attention to himself.   The last part from Cyclops, though, had him reeling:

"Wait.  So you would have failed us no matter what we did?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:01, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

Kate having rather ruined, lost, or otherwise misplaced her clothing settled for staying in her fuzzyily furry half human half fox kitsune form.  But that doesn't mean she was particularly happy about things either and jumped in right after Tank finished.  Or would have if Scott hadn't gone on to be even more unfair.  "So we have to split up all the time or fail?  Just cause this was a game where the lost girl wasn't going to be killed till we showed up doesn't make it fair to expect us to know that.  Cause next time he might just kill her while we're staying with the people who should be safe.  This was a stupid test because it isn't teaching anything but to think we're doing the wrong thing no matter what."  Her tone petulant despite coming from the muzzle of a fox-woman with a slight under-rumble to it.

So the camp wasn't the right camp? There was another camp?

That was the dumbest distinction to hinge the test on. And if Eduardo shot everyone, he must have started with Victor, whom they'd left to guard the camp. It certainly shouldn't be held against them if the one who was arguably their most powerful member couldn't handle a guy with a gun.

"I have nothing to say," Frank lied. He had plenty to say, just none of it helpful. "If you say we failed, we failed. End of discussion."

"Stupid?"

Cyclops repeated after Kate

"The point is this - things are going to happen out there, and you're not always going to be able to save everyone.  Even the wisest like Professor Xavier can't say whose life is more important, or if one life can be sacrificed for another, or many. So you certainly shouldn't be seeking MY validation.  At the end of the day, you're the one who'll have to live with the consequences of your actions"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:41, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

Even if just for a moment, the emotions behind feeling the pain of being burned that badly still left Ana Sofîa weak. The lack of immediacy in the situation also means there is no reason to keep moving her bruised torso. She lies where she crashed to the ground in her failed attempt to dodge the flame. But she is listening... Good thing Victor isn't truly dead... So just what the *!&# was the goal of this training? If anyone can see her eyes, there's definitely some animosity toward Scott at this moment.

Zoey sits up, head still fuzzy. There's so much talking going on here, but no one actually seems to be saying anything that actually matters. She had to admit she hadn't paid all that much attention to the briefing... bad habit from playing too many video games, maybe. To the extent that she knew what their objective had been, she did not believe they had made any mistakes. This seemed to be about something else, something Scott wasn't telling them... ah, there it is.

Tabby is right. This really is stupid. The worst thing is that Zoey understands (or thinks she understands) the point Scott is trying to make; It's just badly presented and incoherent. It was suddenly very clear that although Jean had been the GM the adventure module itself had been designed by Scott. Perhaps if he weren't in such a Goddamned hurry all the time maybe he could have had his work proofread first.

"Scott... you're a terrible teacher," Zoey says groggily, pushing herself to her feet. "Can we go now?"

"Okay, okay, everybody just hold it." Frank was starting to get it. And Scott wasn't entirely wrong. His presentation sucked, but his point was valid. So the others needed to rope it in before they turned the class into a minor riot. Scott wasn't a terrible teacher, he was... okay, he was terrible. But he was still the teacher, and Frank's best way into the X-Men.

"This was the Kobayashi Maru. A no-win situation. We were guaranteed to lose. Where Scott went wrong was saying we failed for reasons other than that. So let's give him a little respect as the guy in charge.

"We'll crab about him behind his back, later, like we're supposed to. "

Zoey cocked her head at Frank. "I didn't take you for a Star Trek fan," she says. "I cannot say you're wrong, though."

"I thought he was talking about a WWII battle or something," groans Ana Sofía as she slowly gets up. She heads toward Barnell first. "Are you OK? That looked painful."

"Alright, We're done here"
It was pointless to continue, he reasoned, after he lost their respect to him as a teacher:
"Class dismissed.  Show yourself out"

Barnell inspected his winged-arm.  Besides losing a few feathers, and his dignity, he was more or less alright. "Thank you Ana" his eyes softened as he looked upon her
"I'm fine.  And I'm sorry - I shouldn't have endangered you like that"

He was about to ask how she was doing, but seeing that Cyclops was rather touchy and pretty much just kicked them out of the danger room, he elected to keep his beak shut and pretend that he's invisible.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Sat 23 Jan 2021.

Zoey walks around Scott, but pauses before passing him completely. "For what it's worth, I understand the point you were trying to make. If you want to learn how to decide good scenarios that can teach important moral lessons without needing a dissertation written on them, sent me an email sometime."

The real world, unfortunately, is not designed to teach moral lessons efficiently nor give one side fair opportunities to learn about their opposition's plans or motivations. Game scenarios are infinitely better in that they can be constructed with messages and motifs that can speak directly to the human desire to make sense out of chaos. Scott seemed the sort who would decry games as being a 'waste of time' so Zoey tries her best not to fault him for not understanding the finer points of building a narrative.

Harsh lessons are best learned outside these walls of safety. At least, that's what Zoey thinks.

After letting her words and thoughts linger for a moment, Zoey steps out of the Danger Room. "Wait," she says, freezing in place. "How do we get out of here again?"

"Turn right, then take the second left.  The tubes to the ground floor will be straight ahead, some four hundred yards" his intonation was flat and lifeless "Your biometrics are in the system.  Press your hand against the panel next to the elevator to call it down"

In reply to Cyclops (msg # 186):

"Nuh uh.  We would all be dead, and then you would have to live with us having died on a mission you sent us on." Yes, the brat was currently strong with this one, but she left her retort to him lay at that not going any further even as the conversation shifted do kobie-ashy-marrow and stuff from before her time.

When dismissed she started plodding about to find her cloths, most in one pile but a few over nearer the door.  It would actually be something of a walk to get there.  This place really was huge.  As she went she did her best to brush her fur into smoother patterns.  She felt like one giant ball of static right now, her fur all twisty and matted, but not, from the water which wasn't even there.

Once mostly groomed and near the door Kate paused to pull on her cloths, it wasn't like she was exactly naked when just covered in fur, but it also probably wasn't entire decent either.  Once redressed, and starting to calm down her fur began to thin a little, her features shifting back from that of a giant kitsune woman, and more towards human, though it appeared to be a rather slow process and entirely unlike the speed in which she had been shifting earlier.

In the hall Kate refused to let things settle in the doldrums.  Turning to Zoey she asked, "Hey do you want to go catch me a fish together?"

After checking on Barnell Ana Sofía goes to check on Victor. Something happened to him, after all. He may be pretty far across the enormous room, but he should be easy to find now.

"Oh. Yes. The elevator of claustrophobia." At least this time she could go up alone?

Hearing Tabby speaking, Zoey half-turns to face her. Zoey's eyes are glassy, the emotional drain clear on her face. "Maybe... tonight?" she ventures. "I need to... rest... this has all been far more than I was prepared for waking up this morning."

In reply to Zoey Fujino (msg # 198):

"Okay, get better soon."  she answers, accepting the rejection without much argument or comment.  Which really probably just means that someone else is going to be pestered instead.  There are, after all more fish in the sea as it were.

It was unclear if Scott has been sacked after his very first lesson, or if quit.   What was certain, is their first training exercise with him was also their last.   While the Professor was busy looking for a replacement, he did choose to grant the young mutants access to the Danger Room, and allow them to train by themselves whenever they saw fit.

One had to question the wisdom behind the decision of allowing a group of mutants, barely in control of their own powers, to train unsupervised in a ‘Danger’ room.   The Professor must be mad.

Or desperate.