"Innocence is a kind of insanity."
                                                    -Graham Greene

"See?  It is over there! And it's all kinda glowy!"

Levi is talking in the dark.  It is glowing...no glowy.  But you can correct Levi's diction later.  What's really weird is you know he's right.  It is glowing.  But how do you know that since it's so dark?  Wait.  Was it dark?

Then it's not dark.  That's because your eyes open up.  There's a soft peal of thunder and, from a window to your right, you can see rain falling outside.  Was it raining?  When did that start? And where are you?

You sit up.  It looks like a hospital room.  You aren't hooked up to anything that's making a beeping noise or a whooshing noise.  But there is an IV in your left arm.  Your head hurts too.

Two days ago, Mom had taken you up to Huntsville.  Your Grandma was coming to visit your Aunt Gilda, and Mom had figured she could tick off two relative's visits in one go.  She'd even taken a couple of days off from the store.

Levi had come along as well.  It was Levi.  Of course he came along.

You had gone by bus.  Mom didn't trust the old Toyota to last much longer.  She had a real dread of you guys getting stuck out on Highway 11.  So she'd come up with bus tickets, which probably cost more than any repair might have.  Certainly more than the gas would have.

"Not everything is about money Tyler," she'd said.  Mom always made it sound like money wasn't that big a concern.  But you can count quite well.

The trip was one worth looking forward to actually. Once summer was up, you would start to school at UTS.  Mom had insisted you take the entrance exam.  You not only passed, you got a scholarship.  If you hadn't...well.

Levi had taken the news with a shrug.  "Yeah yeah. You're smart.  You're a fuckin' genius.  Same dipstick, different day.  So when you gonna get rich?"  Levi had waggled his eyebrows and laughed.  But not at you.  He never laughs at you.

Auntie had a place just outside the city and the tourist parks.  She and Uncle Jim ran a business that took care of rental properties, of which there were a ton.  Huntsville backs on to Algonquin National Park.

You and Levi had stayed around to meet and greet everyone and have lunch before you'd jumped the back fence, and ran across the wood line that separated your Aunt's house from the Park.  It was like this every time you came up to visit.

Yesterday, you had suggested the two of you go to that place.

What place?

Your head starts to hurt.  That's all you can remember.

Touching your head confirms a bandage wrapped around it.  Poking it on the left side makes you feel a little nauseous.

The room is getting darker.  The lights are off and the rain outside is blotting out any light at all.  There's a cord by the bed with a button on it.  If you press it, something might happen.  Otherwise you could get out of bed or just lay there.

"Ow," is Tyler's first word as he sits up, touching his head.

After those first few moments of trying to remember how we got here, the situation he finds himself in starts to sink in. All alone, in a strange hospital room, with no idea where anybody is or how he got there. It's like something out of a nightmare, for Tyler.

He starts to scoot himself towards the edge of the bed, intending to get up, but he pauses as he sees that button. Though he'd never spent much time in hospitals, it was easy enough to figure out the purpose. Relieved that there might be someone he can talk to, he reaches for it, fishing up the cord and presses the button.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 3):

After a minute, the door swings open and a round, friendly looking Asian lady in scrubs walks in.

"Well look who's up!" She says in a suprisingly thick Ontario accent. "Lay back down sweetie.  Your Mom went to get some dinner.  We'll let her know you're up.  But you need to stay still for now.  You took a pretty nasty spill on your noggin."

The nurse is followed by another nurse and then a doctor.  The Doc is poking at you when Mom comes scuttling through the door.

"Give us just a minute please," the first nurse tells her.  "Doc is just finishing up the looksie over."

"Done and done actually," The Doc puts away her stethoscope.  "What's the last thing you remember?" she asks you.

After you answer, the Doc goes over to Mom and they talk.  First Nurse comes to you and tucks the blanket up to your chin.  "You hungry?  Thirsty?"

At last they all leave and you're alone with Mom.  She has that look she gets when you've pulled apart her cell phone to see what the insides looked like.  "Tyler. Thompson.  Don't you ever scare me like that again."

She surges towards the bed, taking up your hand and squeezing it as she sits on the side.  "I could just wring your neck. I-"  She clamps her lips together, shuts her eyes, and takes a deep breath.  She always does that before she lowers the boom.

"So you don't remember what happened?  Is that for real? Or you just trying to get outta trouble?"

So you know:  whenever I post in Orange, it's OOC.  You can answer all three sets of questions or none of them.  But you probably want to respond to Mom.  She looks super pissed.

Thanks.  Welcome to it.

Tyler seems relieved when the nurse that comes in is so friendly. He lays back obediently, and says, "I did?"

He doesn't get much chance to say more than that before the other nurse and doctor arrive, and the checkup begins. He looks relieved when his mother arrives, but then he looks back to the doctor and answers, "I remember going over the fence and into the park, with my friend Levi. And I wanted to go… Somewhere, I can't remember. My head starts hurting whenever I think about it."

He smiles to the nurse when she talks a man after that, and says, somewhat emphatically, "Both! Please," he adds quickly.

He'd been starting to get comfortable again, but that quickly fades when he sees his mother's face. "I'm sorry, mom! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!" Then he shakes his head, a bit too emphatically, "Ow. No, I don't remember anything! What happened? And where is Levi, is he okay? I… I think I had a dream about him saying something was glowing…"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 5):

"Glowing?"

Mom sounds surprised.  Like you just suddenly admitted to liking parsnips.  Which, as everyone knows, smell like crotch.

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and massages her forehead just above her nose.  This is her alright-Jessica-you-can-do-this pose.  She does it every morning she has an exam at school.

"Oooh-kay.  Let's just leave that be.  Levi's fine. He's recuperating. He's in another room." She makes a vague gesture.  "You don't remember what happened huh?  You're not fibbing right?  No.  You don't like you are.

"You didn't come back in after the storm started so we went looking for you.  There was a lot of unexpected lightning.  We found you by that creek that runs just inside the Park from behind your Aunt's place." Her hand is waved.  "Okay.  Maybe you fell or something.  We think lightning struck not far from where you were.

"Anyway, you're fine.  The doctor said it's not uncommon for someone who's had a head injury to have some temporary memory loss.  You must have slipped on some rocks and taken a tumble.  Knocked your noggin on the way down."  She looks you over.  The storm seems to have passed.  "I guess you didn't do anything wrong.  But be careful damnit!  Got me?"

First Nurse comes back.  A turkey sandwich, some chips, and a box of orange juice.  Normally they'd all taste bland, but you're so hungry it's like your Aunt's cheesy-chicken casserole.  Which is frickin' awesome.

Mom makes sure you eat everything and then she gets up to leave. She gives you a kiss on the  cheek.  "They won't let me stay overnight.  But you gotta.  I'll come back by in the morning to get you.  'kay?"

---

After Mom leaves, First Nurse gives you some more juice and a little bag of vanilla wafers.  Then she turns the lights off.  The rain outside is still falling, but it's gentler now.  You drift off.

"Poke poke."

The dream you were having is leaving you.  Something about Rosario Dawson trying to strangle you in a tub filled with warm cream cheese.  It's one of those dreams they talked about in last year's Human Sexuality class.

"Poke poke."

You feel your left cheek, the one Mom kissed earlier, being pushed back against your teeth.  Without even opening your eyes, you know Levi is standing there, poking your cheek with his finger, and saying that annoying thing.

"Poke poke."

Yeah.  That thing.

When you open your eyes, you can see him.  Kind of. The room is still dark.  He's leaning over the side of your bed.  Like you, he's wearing a hospital gown.  He's also got a bandage around his forehead.  Both his forearms are also wrapped up, with just the finger sticking out of holes at the ends.

"C'mon man," he whispers.  "I'm gonna be in way too much trouble if you're in a frickin' coma.  Poke poke."

Tyler's eyes widen as the story is told. Or, at least, what little she seems to know. In the end, it leaves him just more curious about what happened, though he gives a serious nod to try to reassure his mother, "I will."

---

That was weird, is all he has time to think about the dream before he gets another poke to his face.

"I'm up, I'm up," he says, grumbling, though he can't help but grin at the same time. He rolls onto his side facing Levi, eager to talk to his friend but pulling only his arm from under the blanket. Glancing at the casts, he says, speaking softly but quickly, "You got hurt, too? Are you okay? What happened? Mom said there was a storm or something, and lightning hit right near us? I don't remember anything after going over the fence."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 7):

"I dunno," Levi shrugs.  "Sounds like I remember a little bit more than you.  We went over the fence.  You said, 'hey let's go to the trout brook'."

There's a creek about a half kilometer out that your Uncle has taken the two of you fishing a couple of times.  There's a rock outcropping that juts out onto it.  It's a quiet place.

Levi frowns.  "I don't remember much after that.  You...said somethin' about something being all glowy.  Some'in like that.  You remember what it was?"

Tyler frowns a bit in confusion at what Levi says. Unable to lie still, he sits up now, as if setting up giving more energy to solve this puzzle. He says, "That's weird, I remember you saying that. I thought it was a dream."

Now he tries to focus on that, concentrating on that fragment of memory to try to remember more.

I don't usually post twice in one day, I sometimes struggle to do twice in one week, but I'm having a good day today. And anyway, I've already dictated enough today that it will probably be a few days before I can again, so thought I might as well get it in. :-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 9):

No worries.  I knew going in your posting rate would be on the slower side.  As long as the game is enjoyable for us both, it's all good.

The memory seems fuzzy.  It's like trying to listen in on someone else's conversation occuring on three rows up on a bus full of gossipy girls. You can see Levi pointing at you, saying it, like you were the glowy thing.  But something seems off.

As you sit up, your head swims.  Levi and the room get woozy.  There's the sensation of someone strong grabbing the back of your head.  But maybe that's just the injury throbbing.  Because that's what it feels like.

Outside, a flash of lightning turns everything the color of a nuclear blast.  It's followed by a huge BOOOOOOOM.

Levi whistles, going to the window and peering out it.  "That sounded like it hit nearby.  You gotta metal plate in your head?  If anyone had a metal plate in their head, I bet you would.  Cos you're thick headed." He looks back at you, grinning.  "Get it?"

He stuffs his hands into the pockets of the housecoat he's wearing and trudges back to stand beside you.  He looks you over.  "Don't overdo it now.  You look a little loopy.  You sure you're okay?"

Your memory coughs up another tid bit.  You remember what Levi was telling you.  You had wanted to go to the trout stream.  You were hoping to get a chance to lay on that rock.  It would be warm from the sunshine.  It was like a hot stone massage you had seen on You Tube.

But the storm had rolled in pretty quick...No.  You two had gotten to the rock first.  And there was a guy.  A blue guy?  A guy wearing blue?

Your head hurts again.

Levi shakes your shoulder.  "Quit it.  You look like you're given yourself a stroke.  If you stroke out, your Mom'll say I made you stroke out."

Levi always uses your Mom as an excuse when he's worried about you but doesn't want to admit it.  Your Mom'll freak if she finds out we snuck out to the roof top.  or Your Mom'll say I'm a bad influence if we sneak that beer

But Levi's always been a little worried about what your Mom thinks of him.  If she told him to vamoose, he'd have to go back home.  To his Dad.  And what a prick that guy is.

Levi waves a hand.  "Look.  We both took a knock on the head.  We'll get back to one hundred percent in a couple of days.  Don't push it."  He thinks about it a moment then adds, out of nowhere, "Hey.  Do you really wanna go to that new school?  You're gonna miss 8th grade, ya know?"

It's when Levi shakes his shoulder that Tyler finally gives up, slumping down on the bed to lie on his side again. "Sorry. I won't try that again until my brain's healed, promise! But I remember something. I think someone else was there."

To the other question, he says softly, "I don't know. It's a really cool school, and classes won't be as boring, but everything else… It's scary," he admits, finally. "But it means so much to mom. I can't let her down. Especially now, after this," he adds, indicating his bandages.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 11):

Levi smirks.  But it's not an asshole kinda smirk.  "Yeah.  I hear ya.  Alright.  You're alive.  I did my bit.  Gonna go lay back down before they catch me."

He starts towards the door, stopping just before it.  He looks back at you.  "Hey Ty?  's gonna be okay.  Everything is gonna work out okay."

The two of you go back to your Aunt's the following morning.  The doctor tells you to not do any running around for the next few days.  Mom pretty much sits on top of both of you to make sure you don't.  Your Aunt isn't much better.  Your Uncle just shrugs at you.  You and Levi play a lot of Liverpool Rummy and Risk.

You're back home a few days later.  The doctor had said you should start remembering things.  But you don't. At least not much.  You recall what Levi told you:  you wanted to go to the trout brook.  Why you can't quite recall.  But it's always been a favorite spot.  So maybe that was it.

The only other thing that pops up is a vague memory about cotton.  There was all this cotton like fiber.  It was all around you.  Maybe that was a dream though.  Or a nightmare.  You don't think you were all that happy about the fibers.

Levi spends a lot of nights sleeping at your place.  No surprise there.  His Dad's out of work again.  Which means a lot of drinking.  His Mom's usually too stoned to care.

Your Mom never says much about it.  Sometimes you think she's not Levi's biggest fan.  But she never makes him go home.  And she sets out a plate for him at dinner whenever he's there.  So she can't mind too much.

He sleeps over the night before the first day of school.  "Wow.  Don't you look all purrrrrr-ty."

You check yourself in the mirror again.  UTS has a dress code.  Blue button down shirt. Black khakis.  Tie and blazer.  The school provided the last two items.  Mom dragged you to every second hand store in Toronto to get three each of the first two items.

"You have to keep that coat and tie clean Ty," she told you this morning.  "Dry cleaning is a bitch.  You got me?"

Levi watches you practicing tying your tie.  "No.  I think the rabbit's gotta go around the burrow two times.  Not once.  So what classes are you gonna take anyway?"

You check your schedule...

That's a good question.  What is on your schedule?

You have to take five core classes:  English, History, PE, a math of your choosing, and a science of your choosing.  You also have two electives:  the school urges you to choose a language as one of them.  The other class is completely left up to you to decide.

So...seven classes.  The second elective and PE meet on alternate days.

Let me know what:

Science you choose
Math you choose
Elective 1
Elective 2

Thanks

Tyler laughs at Levi's reaction to his uniform, and says, "Maybe, but I feel like I'm going to… I don't know, funeral, or something. I wish I could just wear my Clone Wars shirt."

Then, after the correction to his method with the tie, he says, after a slightly frustrated sound, "Thanks. I'm glad this wasn't on the entrance exam." Pulling apart the tie, he tries again.

After the question, he looks down at his schedule again, and answers, giving commentary after each class name, "English. I hope they pick a good book. Oh, cool, history, that'll be fun. P.E., ugh. Applied Geometry, probably easy."

He looks back up to Levi, grinning with obvious excitement, "I actually got to pick a science class, too, which is awesome! I picked Introduction to Physics. I googled, that's a grade 11 class in any other school!" He's always been particularly fond of science—if only to satisfy his curiosity on how things work—but elementary and middle school science classes were always too easy for him.

He looks back down and then says, "They hinted I should pick a language, so I picked French. They've been making me take it since fourth grade, I might as well continue. And my last class is Dramatic Arts. Just 'cause it sounds really fun."

For easy reference, here's my list of choices again. :-)

Physics
Geometry
French
Drama

(I really had no idea what to pick for math. UTS is accelerated but even at the higher grades I never took anything but just generic Math classes that covered all the subjects, so I hope Geometry works as a class.)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 13):

You did tell me that. Sorry.  It's been a week

"You're excited about physics.  That's like happy dancing cos you're getting electroshock therapy."  Levi reaches over and picks up a tennis ball sitting on your desk, launching it up into the air and catching it one handed.

"Don't get too guffy when you get there.  You'll guff it all up. Ya guffer."  He nods at the closed bedroom door.  "Lemme ask.  Did you wanna go to this place?  Or did your Mom make you?  Not that it's bad.  Just curious."

Dinner that night is crispy fish and mac n cheese.  Mom talks about her upcoming class schedule.  She'll have night classes Tuesdays and Thursdays and one afternoon class on Saturday.  Levi has seconds.

Mom catches you in the hallway after you've brushed your teeth.  She puts a hand on your head and smiles.  You're not quite as tall as her yet.  But give it a year.

"I can't believe how big you're getting," she mutters.  Then she ruffles your hair. "You excited about UTS?  It's a good opportunity."

Sorry, what did I tell you before? Did I accidentally repeat something? (If you mean the choices, the 'again' referred to the same post, just listing the classes I talked about in dialogue so you can glance back later without reading through paragraphs.) :-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 15):

Sorry.  Things here have been a little chaotic and I lost my place when I posted before.  I thought we had talked about the class list before hand and I was making you reiterate.  I think I got myself confused.  Sorry again.  We are good.  Let's move on to your morning commute.  You can answer Levi if you wish or we'll just assume you did.  Thanks.

The next morning, you get up at 6.  Well.  6:18 AM.  And you don't get up as much as Mom shakes you awake.

You have to start getting up earlier now.  You can't just walk three blocks over to school anymore.  You have to take either the crosstown bus or hit the metro line.  Either way, you need to be out the door no later than 6:45 AM each morning.

This school better be worth it.

You shrug into your coat and chew on the egg sandwhich Mom whipped up.  She looks bleary eyed herself.  She normally would sleep in until 7.

"You're gonna take the rail, right?" she asks with a yawn.

She wants you to take the metro as, in her mind, 'it's safer'.  Mom's never liked the bus for some reason.  But the bus is cheaper.  Takes longer though.

For story purposes, let me know if Tyler usually try to take the bus or the metro rail to school each morning.  Thanks.

Tyler grows more serious at Levi's question, and he sits down beside his friend. "Yeah, I want to go. I think. I just wish you could come with me. But, not going to be living there, so we're still going to see each other every day anyway!" This last is said with some conviction. "And you gotta keep me updated on everything that happens in grade 8!"

This isn't just an attempt to reassure Levi. He is entirely earnest, as he ever is with his best friend.

---

Later, in the hall as he walks back to his bedroom in his Minecraft pyjamas, he answers his mother with a grin, "Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!" He particularly doesn't mention that he's also incredibly nervous.

---

In the end, he has quite a bit of trouble sleeping that night, both with excitement and anxiety competing to keep him awake. So, when he does get dragged awake he is sluggish, and a bit clumsy.

By the time he is getting his coat on, however, his anxiety has his adrenaline pumping again and he's wide awake. "Yep, I will. Promise." He knows it means a lot to his mother, and he doesn't want to be late for school.

He gives his mother a tighter-than-normal hug before going out the door, saying, "See you tonight!" If Levi got up early as well, he gets a grin and fist bump before he goes out the door too.

I think he'll take the Metro every day, barring other circumstances.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Thu 21 May 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 17):

One reason Mom likes the Metro is that there's always a cop around.  At least that's her theory.  A bored looking police officer is walking up and down the platform, nodding at people and generally keeping an eye on things.

You swipe the card at the kiosk and wander onto the platform, checking the schedule.  An old hispanic woman is playing a guitar in one corner, her guitar case open to collect a few coins and bills.  The cop ignores her, obviously deciding to be charitable.  Most everyone else on the platform does as well, though a couple passing by toss in a dollar. She nods at them, continuing what sounds like some Spanish serenade.

You'll need to take the Blue line to Kennedy, then the green line to St George, and then the yellow line for a few stops.  Seeing it on the map, you can kind of understand why Mom made you hustle.  You are going to have to get yourself across the city, to and fro, five days a week.  And the trip isn't just a fifteen minute bop either.  Adding it up, you might be looking at forty minutes one way.  The bus will probably take at least an hour.

First bell rings at 8:15...you should be fine.  As long as the train doesn't stall or break down.  But how often does that really happen?

As if God wants to let you know he's listening, there's a sudden sharp crackling sound.  A spark of electricity leaps off the rails and the air is filled with smell of ozone.  Everyone on the platform leaps back or gasps.  The cop rushes forward, looking around to make sure everyone is okay.

There's murmuring and muttering.  That isn't supposed to happen.

But whatever caused it, it doesn't look like it's going to be a problem.  The blue train rolls into the station a few minutes later.

Your cell buzzes as you get on the train.  Mom.  You make your connection ok? Text me when you get on each line.  And when you get to school

---

You huff and puff, coming to a stop right before the main doors of UTS.

The building is one of the old style European ones around the city.  At night, it'd probably look like a horror movie shoot.  But here in the cold light of day, it looks like some stuffy butler will scamper out to offer you tea and look at you disapprovingly.

You are a little later than you might have liked.  It's a little past 8 now.  You need to get to your homeroom.

Fortunately you memorized a map of the school.  And they showed you where to go at orientation.  Inside this door.  Up the stairs.  Turn left.  Third door on your left.  Room 314.

Almost no one pays you any attention.  Most of the kids are much taller than you. Of course, they are.  They're a year older.  Well.  Some more than one year.  But the kids in your grade.  The ninth graders.

You can tell cos you all wear a green tie.

Room 314 is pretty full.  A lot of the kids inside are talking to each other like they've known one another all their lives.  They probably have.  UTS apparently mostly takes kids from two or three middle schools.  You're the only one from your old school who is going here now.

This must be some kind of science room, because there aren't any desks.  There are tables with two chairs each.  So you'll have to share a table with someone.  THere are only three open seats.

One is next to a blonde girl.  She is staring at her cell phone, moving her mouth although not saying anything out loud.  She has a lot of piercings.  A nose stud.  Three earrings on each ear.  A ring through her right eyebrow.

Another is a guy with dusky colored skin.  He's chewing his cheeks and looking around, but trying to do so on the sly.  It's like he's looking for someone who isn't there yet, but doesn't want them to know he's looking for them.

The last is next to big, muscular looking guy.  His jacket seems a little small for him.  Like he took it off a younger, smaller kid.  His nose is a little twisted, like it's been broken once or twice.  And he's got a tattoo on his knuckle.  Looks like a skull.

You'll have to take a seat with one of them.  Choose your poison.

Covering a lot.  You don't have to react to any of it if you don't wish.  Just need to lay some groundwork.

I do need to know who you want to sit next to.  Decisions decisions

Tyler texts his mom back as he sits down, Just got on, and you should've seen the electric arc that just came off the tracks as the train pulled up! It was awesome!

He obediently texts after each of the stops, as well, though with more normal updates.

The excitement from the platform is starting to wear off by the time he gets to school, however, and the anxiety returns in full force as he looks around at everybody who is so much bigger than him.

The choice of who to sit with, in the end, turns out to be easy. The girl with all the piercings is scary enough, but the big guy with the tattoo is terrifying enough to make him quite literally gulp when he first looks to him. The remaining boy, however, seems normal enough, so he moves to sit down at his table.

"Hi, I'm Tyler," he introduces himself, giving a slightly nervous, shaky smile.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 19):

"Well Tyler.  I don't really give a shit." Normal Guy doesn't even crack a smile.  He stares at you like you just took the last grilled cheese.

"That seat's saved.  So go sit somewhere else."

He doesn't say this loudly, but he's not whispering it either.  The girls sitting at the table in front of this one overheard.  They glance back, first at you and then at him.

"Jeez..." one of them mutters to the other.

The other girl looks at Normal Guy. "You really need to get over it.  Casey won't sit with you."

Normal Guy blinks at her.  "Why don't you shut up Courtney?"  He looks back at you.  "Did you not hear me?"

Stand your ground?  Or take a chance on the cell phone girl or mean guy?

Like many gifted children, Tyler is the type to, as the cliché goes, wear his heart on his sleeve. So, his hurt at the instant rejection is obvious, not quite flinching back, even though he tries to play it off after a few seconds, "It's okay, there's other seats."

Standing back up, he looks between the other available seats, and cheers himself up a little bit on the few steps over to the girl with the phone by imagining a spark like the one at the platform zapping the normal guy and giving him the cartoonish hair-standing-on-end effect.

Getting over to the girl with the phone, he swallows again before asking, a bit more timidly now, "Can I sit here, please?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 21):

The girl glances at you, gives a half shrug, and looks back at her phone, giving you a small gesture to go ahead.

She studiously ignores you.

A woman wearing a khakis, a button down denim shirt, and a lab coat walks in just a moment before the bell rings.

"Okay.  Okay.  Settle down.  I'm Mrs. Hawthorne.  I usually teach Biology.  But this is homeroom.  Every Monday, you come here first.  That's only for this year.  Next year, you guys will be completely on your own.

"Alrightie then."  She picks up a pen and writes her name on the whiteboard.  "Few fun facts.  You should have all looked over the school map by now.  But if you aren't sure where to go for your next period, come up to my desk the last ten minutes of class and I'll give you directions.

"There's a monthly assembly for the entire grade.  Yours will be the second Monday of each month. So you go to the gym second Monday.  Not here. Got that?

"Dress code.  Lemme take a quick looksie..."  She wanders down the aisle, looking over each student in turn.  She says a few things before getting to your table.  She stops before you seat mate.  "Phone down.  Once the bell rings, the phone goes off.  Not just this class.  Every class.  Lose the brow ring.  Hey.  You knew the rules when you signed up for this school," she adds as your seatmate starts to object.

Mrs. Hawthorne doesn't even give her time to come up with a response.  She wanders down the aisle, stopping at the muscle guy.  She looks at his knuckles and sighs.  "Really?"

He sheepishly frowns and shrugs, muttering something you can't catch.  Hawthorne laughs.  "Just expect some flack."

She heads back to the front of the class.

She spends thirty minutes going over stuff from the brochure and welcome packet.  You have read it all, and there's nothing new.  Two semesters.  Each class has a midterm and final in each semester.  Expect one research project and two major writing projects.  There are two mandatory class trips in the year.  This year, one is a day trip to the zoo and an overnight camping trip in the spring to include a day at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

Mrs. Hawthorne wraps things up about fifteen minutes before the bell rings.  A few students wander to her desk for directions.

Your seatmate has been fuming the whole class.  She sat there, arms crossed, staring daggers in Hawthorne's direction.  Hawthorne pointedly ignored her.

Your seatmate glances your way, makes a small sign, and then turns, looking at the muscle head.

"Hey.  Did she give you crap about your tat?"  Most everyone is talking to their seatmate, so her speaking isn't inappropriate.  But she says it loud enough that a few heads turn her way.

Muscle guy blinks and shrugs.  "I kinda knew it'd be a problem.  I mean.  Says it in the school guide, right?  No tats.  No piercings other than the ears.  She didn' say anything about that nose stud you got, did she?"

Your seatmate frowns.  She obviously was expecting him to be a little more up in arms than he seems to be.  "I'm not wearing anything that's inappropriate."

Muscles shrugs.  "Talk to the principal.  I think she's just doing her job."

Your seatmate's eyes widen.  She really wasn't expecting this kind of attitude from him.

She turns to you.  "Am I just outta line?"

Tyler, too, looks surprised at the big guy's response, but in his case it's more about the stereotypes in his head that come crashing down. He heard the old saying, 'Never judge a book by its cover,' so many times through his childhood, but that's the moment it finally clicks.

When his seatmate speaks to him, he blinks and looks back, then looking thoughtful for a second before giving an honest answer, "Well, kinda, yeah. I mean, it's a silly, old-fashioned rule, but it's still a rule. And she didn't punish you or anything, I think she's just trying to make sure you know how far you can bend the rules, and what's too much."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 23):

Cellphone seems to chew on that.  She sighs, and brushes back her hair.  "Fine.  I guess you're right."

She glances at you.  "I'm Brenda.  You come from one of the private schools?"

She listens to your answer then turns around, speaking back to Muscles.  "Hey Thugly!  You damn sure didn't come in through the limo gate.  How'd you get in?"

Muscles cocks an eyebrow, but doesn't rise to the bait.  He nonchalantly shrugs.  "Took the entrance exam.  How'd you get in?  Half off coupon you found at Hot Topic?"

"Ha, frickin', ha."  She groans and slumps in her seat.  "Either of you guys know any place around here that makes a decent coffee?  I'm having to hoof it in from Etibocke."

"I'm not native either.  Comin' from Scarbrough."  He looks at you to see what you'll say.

"I'm Tyler," he says with a smile, and then shakes his head. "No, just a normal one. But they gave me a scholarship after I did the exam."

He looks between the two as they talk, and then grins to Muscles, "Me too, but guess we went to different schools." However, he is perceptive, and he adds, "But I saw a Timmies just across Spadina when I was crossing from the subway station."

Timmies is the nickname of Tim Hortons, a doughnut and coffee shop that is pretty much a Canadian staple, though less popular lately due to some controversies since being bought out by Burger King. And, I hope saying Tyler is from Scarborough is okay, that seemed to be where your list of subway lines seemed to originate. :-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 25):

I thought that's where we decided he was from.  My bad.  But yep.  Scarbrough it is.

"The one on College?  I pass the one on University and Dundas."  He shrugs.  "I can't stop at 'em though.  End up munching on a dozen honey dips if I do.  Name's Reggie."

Brenda looks at him like he's insane.  "How could you not get an apple fritter?  Madness."  She looks at you.  "Tyler's an Old Fashioned Glazed kind of guy I'm betting."

Reggie gives you the once over.  "Nah.  I think he's a maple dip."

Don't you love it when people talk like they just looked at a website?

Brenda giggles.  "I got math after this.  And then PE.  I guess I get all my cruddy classes out of the way first.  What about you guys?"

"Physics than Latin.  I don't have gym until last period.  So I get to go home smelling funky."

Tyler giggles, and says, "Crullers, or double chocolate. Mostly I just get Timbits, usually." Not that he's ever really ordered for himself, but he's not going to mention that.

At the question of classes, he answers, "I've got physics next, and gym last period too, Reggie. But, where you've got Latin I've got math."

He looks puzzled for just a moment, and then says, "I guess boys and girls do gym separate here? At my old school that was together, at least up to grade 7. Don't know what they do in grade 8."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 27):

They both give you a quick, curious glance.  Reggie starts to say something but he's cut short by the bell ringing.

Brenda whips our her cell.  "See you guys..." she says dreamily as she starts texting with the speed of a machine gun.

Reggie shrugs and grabs up his backpack and waits for you.  "Do you have Koma for Physics?"

You do.  Since you seem to know where you're going, he follows.

The halls fill up with students like water pouring out through flood gates of a swollen, straining dam.  Reggie is given a bit of a wide berth, so you are able to shelter in his moving harbor.

Maybe it's just him or him and everyone else, but you realize how short you are.  Even with your last growth spurt, it feels like everyone else in the hall has a good half meter on you.

"You here for the sciences?" Reggie glances down at you.  And it is just that.  A glance down.  He's like a freakin' redwood.

"They let me in cos they say I'm good at robotics.  Despite how I look.  Which science are you?"

Tyler looks around with wide eyes at all the people around them and sticks close to Reggie as if he's afraid he's going get swept away.

Still, he looks back up — way up — to Reggie with a grin, "You do robotics? Awesome! I've done some Arduino robot projects with my mom, but that's it. She's taught me a lot about electronics, though."

Then he nods quickly, and says, "Yeah, science is why I want to be here. All of it, I like finding out how things work. Well, I like reading about it, most of the classes I've had so far have been boring. I always knew everything we did in class before we did it. I hope it's different here! But why they wanted me? Kind of everything, I think. If it was just science and math, they probably would've made me wait until next year. But they wanted me right away."

His tone of voice here isn't bragging, but instead just a little sheepish.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 29):

Reggie frowns, more like he's puzzled about something than angry, but then shrugs.  "Well.  If this place wanted ya, there must be something to it.  The school got me outta juvie. Is this us?"

Your physics classroom is pretty spectacular.  The room is large, larger than you would expect.  The tables are set close together in the center of the room.  Beside the white board up front is a table with various water pistols, wind up cars, crystals, and a baseball bat. Around the walls of the room are a series of pipes. The kind from old movies.  Pneumatic pipes that they used to use to deliver messages in containers.

"Someone raided Bill Nye's house. What? I like Bill Nye. C'mon.  Let's grab a table."  Reggie heads over to a nearby table.  Most of the other kids stare at him. Then they look at you.

Someone behind your table mutters, "It's like big dog an' little dog." Someone else snickers at that.

"Quiet down."  A man in a labcoat wanders in, running a hand through his thinning hair.  "I'm Dr. Zhan.  Welcome to Physics 101.  We will be wrecking stuff and such.  But first, who can tell me what Hooke's Law is?"

Tyler looks up curiously to Reggie, at the mention of juvie, but is only a curious look. Still fresh from having his stereotypes shattered, the idea doesn't scare him like it would have a couple of hours earlier. Reggie is, after all, nice. That's what matters to him, in that moment.

He looks around with wide eyes at the stuff in the room, and he says, "This is so cool!" He grins up to Reggie again, and nods quickly, "Yeah, Bill Nye is cool."

Ignoring the stares as best he can, he turns his attention to the teacher as he comes in, and pretty much immediately raises his hand to the question.

If he's called on, he says, "It's the law of elasticity, that the force needed to stretch something is linearly proportional to the distance it's being stretched." He does mispronounce 'linearly' slightly, as more like lie-near-ly. He learned the word from a book, after all, rather than hearing it pronounced.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 31):

Everyone else, Reggie included, look at you.  Zhan nods.

"Good.  Now. If we wanted to test that law, how could we go about it?"

Everyone looks back at you.

Tyler thinks about that for just a second, biting at his lower lip, but then asks, "Maybe a spring, hook it up to different weights and see how far they stretch it?"

He is a bit less sure of his answer, this time.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 33):

Zhan nods, "That is a start.  Good work. Now then," he says, turning to address the whole class.  "This is a hands on class.  There will be some lectures, usually on Mondays.  Tuesday through Thursday, you will be in lab.  That is you will be designing and executing experiments surrounding the material we cover in the Monday lecture.  Sometimes you will be on your own.  Sometimes you will be working in a group.  You will show me your experiments starting on Thursday at the halfway point of class, finishing up on Friday.  By the end of Friday, you have to hand in a short summary of your experiment, what you learned from it, and why you think your experiment did or did not work.

"That is correct!  I do not expect all your experiments to work.  Failure is just as important as success in science.  Your grade will be determined mostly by the analysis of the experiment results you turn in on Friday.  You also get points for working on the experiments themselves.  Here is how your grade this year will be determined."

He writes up on the white board

50% Experiment Analysis

25% Participation in Experiments

25% Final Exam

Zhan caps his marker, which must be new as you can even smell the fumes from where you're sitting.  "Any questions?"

After he deals with a few questions he writes Hooke's Law up on the board.

"So let's start with good ol' Hooke."  He rips into a quick lecture on Hooke's Law, which apparently no one was ready to take notes on.  Pens and notepads and laptops quickly come out and there's frantic typing and skritch-skratching from pens.

"Alright.  For this first experiment, you will work in groups of four.  I'll let you decide amongst yourselves this go round.  Get together, bring me a paper with your group's name, and be prepared to start work tomorrow.  Oh...and..."

He puts a hand by the 25% Participation in Experiments on the white board.

"As long as you participate, you will get some points.  If you want full points, try to design an original experiment.  I've seen all the videos on You Tube as well.  You want to impress me.  Show me you are capable of independent thought."

As Zhan finishes, Reggie puts a meaty hook on your shoulder.  "You're in my group."

"Yeah. I want in on that too."

"You still need a fourth right?"

A few people suddenly pounce on you.  Reggie holds up a hand, which is large enough that everyone stops talking.  "We'll take you and you."

He points to a short Asian girl and a tubby guy who's almost as tall as Reggie is.

"Hi," says the Asian girl.  "I'm Bian."

"Aldo," says the stout guy.

Reggie looks at the clock on his cell phone.  "We don't have a lotta time until the bell.  Let's all think on it tonight and talk about it first thing tomorrow.  Sound good?"

I'll give you a chance to catch up with any reactions, questions for Zhan, etc.  Then we'll move on to next period

Like pretty much everybody else, Tyler didn't think to get his notebook or pen out until just about the time the lecture starts.

Later, when it's time to pick a group, he grins up to Reggie. But then, moments later he is looking startled and a bit overwhelmed at the number of people wanting to group up. Thankfully, Reggie is there to take control of the situation. "Thanks," he says softly to Reggie.

Then, he is smiling cheerfully at Bian and Aldo, and says, "Hi, I'm Tyler." He quickly nods in agreement with Reggie's suggestion, and says, "Sounds great, yeah."

As he is walking in the hall between classes, he pulls out his phone and sends a quick text message to Levi,

I think I'm the smallest person in the school. How's grade 8?

Quick edit, just added the last paragraph since I clicked post a bit too fast.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:06, Mon 08 June 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 35):

Levi doesn't respond until you've found a seat in your math class.

Meh.  Same turds, different toilet.  U always short.  Just no one told U.  Bessie Licksmith's pregnant.  Every1's gabbing about it.

Bess Locksmith was not exactly Ms. Congeniality.  She always referred to you as the Once and Future Virgin.  Her getting knocked up isn't really all that big a shocker.

Your math class is pretty sedate.  Most everyone is too busy talking to their friends to pay you any mind.

French is pretty much the same.  The teacher hits the door sounding like Pepe Lepew.  Most everyone is too busy playing on their phone or trying to keep up to pay you any mind.

Your lunch period starts now.  The swell of students pushing their way into the cafeteria moves with the force of the Mississippi meeting the Gulf of Mexico.  You get elbowed once, feet stepped on twice.  None of them are intentional.  There's a couple of muffled apologies, although that last guy doesn't seem to have realized you were there.  It's pretty hot amidst all those people.  It's like being surrounded by a prison made of human flesh and bone.

You find a seat at the end of a table mostly filled up with a large group who all seem to know each other.  They pointedly ignore you.

Levi's texted again.  Mrs. Wyman quit.  No 1 knows Y.  No 1 cares.  Her sub is hot.  LIke 23 years old and really really blonde.  Big tits.  Its magic.  How long is it going to take U 2 get home on train?

Going to give you a chance to catch up before we move to Drama and Gym.

Tyler gives a bit of a grin at the message from Levi, and texts back.

As if nobody saw that coming.

After the amazingness that was physics, math and French are a slight disappointment. The whole thing ends up seeming a bit more boring than they might normally be for him in comparison.

The rush to the cafeteria is something entirely new to him. Though, as Levi said, he was always shorter than most of his classmates, it was never by such a margin and he's starting to feel a bit claustrophobic by the time they reach the cafeteria.

He takes a few moments to catch his breath once he's in the cafeteria, before looking for a place to sit. Ignored by his tablemates, and feeling entirely lonely, he starts absently Googling variations of 'blue man' and 'cotton' and 'storm' while he eats.

He does immediately check the messages, however, when Levi answers him, and texts back again,

Lucky. And probably about an hour. Was almost late this morning.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 37):

Drama I meets in the Compton Annex.  It's not really an annex though.  It's just a large classroom across the hall from the school's auditorium.

The first thing you notice is that the class seems to be divded up into three groups.  Against one wall, seated on the tables as opposed to the chairs, are a number of people who all seem to be wearing eye shadow.  Male or female.  They all have eye shadow on.  Well.  Not all of them.  But as a group, besides the whole sitting on top of the tables instead of on the chairs scotched up under the tables, it seems to be their defining characteristic.

The second group sits on chairs.  They also seem to like eye shadow, but whereas group one has various colors and hues, group two prefers black.  Both black eye shadow and black clothes.

The two groups are distinctly separate. They sit with their backs to each other.  They do not make eye contact, with either each other or with you.  It's like you can feel the border line running down the middle of the class room.

You apparently fall into group three.  Luckily, they find you. A girl not much shorter than you with thick glasses and a hesitant smile walks up.  "Hi!  Are you here for Drama I?  Come over here.  My name is Tanya.  Nice to meet you."

She sort of pushes you/escorts you over to a small table at the opposite end of the classroom.  There are two guys and a girl sitting down there.  The guys are identical twins with mops of red hair and freckles like constellation maps etched over their skin.  The girl  has a large smile on her kind of large face.  She must weigh as much as Reggie does.  None of them have eye shadow.

"This is Tom and Tim.  That's Sasha.  We're the techies.  Do you like lighting design?  That's what we do."

Sasha cocks her head and looks at you.  "Please tell me your name doesn't start with a 'T' as well."  Then, after you answer, she sighs.  "Sonuvabitch."

"She's just upset that's she's the only 'S' in the group," says either Tom or Tim.

"She doesn't think your mom is a bitch.  She just says that a lot," either Tim or Tom informs you.

"Sasha!"

"Sorry."  Sasha looks you over and her smile creeps back on her face.  "So nobody warned you about the Drama Club, huh?"

"Well.  It's not like anyone needs to warn you.  Just..."  Tammy sort of fidgets, twisting back and forth while standing on her tip toes and pushing the tips of her fingers together.  "...be careful around the actors.  They're kind of..."

Sasha gives her a second to come up with a term and then supplies it.  "Royal fucking bastards."

She looks at the others.  "What?  They are."

The room goes quiet as a woman who must be the teacher walks in.  She's an older lady, with long gray hair tied up in a pony tail.  She sort of bounces instead of taking steps.

"Hidey Ho everybody!  Welcome to Drama I and Drama II.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ms. Baskins."  She stops in the middle of the room and spins on one foot, taking in everyone while twirling.  "Let's start with introductions.  When I point to you, stand up, and tell us your name and why you signed up for Drama!  Okay...how...'bout...YOU!"

Of course she's pointing at you.  Because why wouldn't she be?

Tyler smiles to each in his group, and says, "Hi. Never done lighting design, but it sounds cool! Don't worry, I learn fast."

He nods to Sasha with just a tiny grin, "Tyler. Sorry," he adds, though not really believing she was mad at him.

A few minutes later, he's standing up again to start nervously introducing himself. "I'm Tyler Thompson," he starts, glancing to Sasha before looking back and continuing, "I signed up for drama because… Well, because I've never done it before — unless you count a single sentence in a play in grade three. I wanted to try something new. And I like stories, so it seemed like it would be fun."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 39):

Baskins gives an excited little clap.  "Great!  I love enthusiasm!"

Eyeshadow Group and Eyeshadow Black Group just sort of stare at you.  If there were a cricket chirping at the moment, it would be perfect.

Then one of the Eyeshadow Group yawns, loudly and with exaggerated effort.  The sound of it seems to echo around the room.

"Well...everyone has to go through it once..." Sasha mutters.

Baskins coughs and twirls again, pointing at someone in the Black group.

Tanya smiles at you and leans over, whispering.  "The effects and costumes and stuff are more fun anyway.  We get to do monster make ups too!  You ever seen Face Off on SyFy?  Anyway, we have a lot of fun."  She glances at the other groups.  "Over here.  In our corner."

After the warning he was given about the eyeshadow groups, a yawn doesn't seem that bad. He shrugs, and sits back down, and looks back to Tanya. He grins, and whispers back, "Yeah, I used to watch it back when it was on Space — I'm always going to call it Space, renaming it CTV Sci-Fi is so boooring! Anyway, yeah, Face Off was really cool, you really do stuff like that?"

Canadianism time, so you're not totally confused by what Tyler just said. Though some people use illegal satellite dishes (or BitTorrent) to get American cable channels/shows, most of us don't have access to SyFy. We have our own channel, CTV Sci-Fi. Originally, up until about last year, as Tyler said in this post, it was called Space. Most of the people I know still call it that. :-) It has, in the past, had most of the shows from SyFy, but without the low-budget movies that I've heard people talking about. ;-)

None of this is really important at all, but just thought I should clarify and ended up rambling a bit. :-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 41):

No worries.  I'm actually glad you told me that.  Please give me all the Canuck flavor you can.  I mean to travel up that way sooner or later.

Tanya just about bounces up and down in her seat.  "Oh yeah!  Last year I...hold on."

The teacher has pointed at her. She stands and says.  "Tanya Simone.  Want to be a makeup artist."  She sits down without waiting for any kind of reaction.  You hear someone from somewhere laugh, but that's about it.

"Anyway, last year, I and Sasha made up two of the guys as characters who stepped out of a Pablo Picasso painting."

Sasha laughs.  "We were cutting cardboard out for days.  Ugh." She stands.  "Sasha Rutters.  You know me."

Someone makes a mooing sound.  Sasha shakes her head.  "Well you mooing does explain why you smell like cow shit."

"Sasha. We're not doing this again this year."

Sasha just frowns at Ms. Baskins and sits down.

Ms. Baskins looks back at the Just Eye Shadow group and starts saying something to them.  But Tanya is going on like nothing happened.

"Oh here.  Look at this..."  She shows you some pictures on her cell.  There's a guy decked up as the Mad Hatter.  Another picture with two girls tricked out as angels.  A last one with a guy wearing an ornate 16th century suit like he's royalty.

It's not like any of these work is movie good.  But each of the pictures has something that's kind of awesome about it.  The Mad Hatter's hat is like one of those Cat-In-The-Hat hats, but thicker around and detailed with all kinds of graffiti. The angels' wings look like they are lined with actual feathers.  And the 16th century guys costume is so good, even you can tell it's good.

Tim, or Tom, leans over.  "We do the lights and build the sets.  Hey Tanya.  You got the Christmas show set?"

Tanya thumbs through and shows you a picture of an elaborate stage set up.  It's like you're at the foot of a giant Christmas tree, with oversized presents and a teddy bear that must be 10' tall.

"We really go all out.  Hope we can count on you." says the other one.  Tom you think.  Maybe Tim.

Tyler frowns at the mooing sound, though it turns into a slight stifled giggle at the come back.

Then, he is looking back at Tanya's phone, smiling as he sees everything they've been doing. "That is awesome!" Then he nods emphatically to Tim/Tom, and says, "Yeah, you can count on me. I don't know how to do any of that stuff, but I'll learn! Hey, what about effects, do you guys do that stuff? You know, like smoke or… I don't know, I guess sound effects?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 43):

Tim, or Tom, shakes his head.  "Well...yeah.  But we're not terribly good at it.  If you got sound design skills, that would be somethin'."

The five of you start discussing various aspects of design, interrupted as those still not introduced to stand up and introduce themselves.

Ms. Baskins claps her hands. "Okay.  So we have a. Great! Year! Planned!"

She claps her hands, once and loudly.

"This year! We're going to put on three..." She holds up a hand with three fingers raised.  "...shows! For the Great North, we're going to put on The Room by Harold Pinter!  For the Spring Showcase, we're gonna do...are you ready for this?!"

She tucks her hands up under her chin and spins around, eager for someone to answer.

Sasha finally sighs.  "Please tell us.  We're all a twitter."

"American Idiot!"

She claps her hands, once and loudly.

The room is quiet.  She grins and then continues.

"And for Halloween, we're going to do Rocky Horror Show."

"Are you high?"

"Sasha!  We're not doing this this year!" Ms. Baskins hisses in the direction of your table and then waves a hand.  "It will be a very sanitized version, yes.  But it will be fun! Now aren't we excited?!?"

She looks around.

"Yes we are!" she says after no one answers.

Then she claps her hands, once and loudly.

Discussions start amongst the various groups.

Tanya sort of bounces in her seat.  "That means we'll get to do trannie make ups!"

"That means the principal's finally gonna fire this bitch." Sasha shakes her head.  "There is no way she got Rocky Horror okay'd before now."

Tanya waves a hand dismissively.  "That's her problem.  I wanna do a trannie make up."

"We should probably watch the movie a couple of times to see what we're getting into."

Tom, or Tim, nods at his brother's suggestion.  "Can you guys make it our house this weekend?"

"Cool, I can do that," he says with all confidence, trusting in his ability to learn when he's interested in something.

The first two plays mentioned, Tyler knows nothing about, so he just glances around for reactions but, finding none, he stays quiet. The third, however, he does recognize; and he smiles, more out of the fact that he recognizes it than any particular attachment to the show.

Once they all start talking again, he looks to Sasha, "I've only ever seen the Glee version, but it didn't seem that bad. What's wrong with it?"

He hesitates just a second answering Tim/Tom, and says, "Probably! Depending on what my mom says, but she's usually cool with homework groups. I live in Scarborough, where is your place?"

I hope it's coming across okay, I'm trying to set up Tyler as a somewhat sheltered kid, a bit skittish and not used to independence. All to set up the bigger character development when he realizes he has powers and starts to make the shift from protected to protector. :-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 45):

It's coming across great.  I love how cheerful he is.  Oh I can't wait to break him! I mean...I look forward to his development as a character.

Bwah ha ha. BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA!

You're pretty sure it's Tim that says, "Scarbrough?  Man.  You hoof it to get over here don'tcha?  You got your phone?  I'll give you our contact info."

He not only sends you his and his brother's info, but Tanya and Sasha's as well.

"I'm so happy you're here Tyler!  I know this is gonna be a great year!"

Sasha looks at you, shrugs, but grins.

Behind you, Ms. Baskins claps her hands, once and loudly.

The buzzer rings.

---

"Gentlemen!  Welcome to hell!"

Coach Eckers strolls down the line of you, sizing each of you up.  He comes to you, gives you the steely eye, and nods.  He then looks at Reggie.

"Funny seeing you here."

Reggie just grunts at him.

Eckers chuckles and walks back up the line.  "My job is to make men outta you.  Well.  We'll do the best with what we got.  I expect you to try Gentlemen.  You can fail all you want.  You just have to try.  Alright.  Let's go over your equipment requirements..."

The 'classroom' is the boys locker room.  You're given locker 141A.  Reggie is on the next row over.

A couple of guys, each one as big as Reggie, sandwich you on each side.  One of them looks down at you.  "Aren't you kinda tiny?"

"Bren..." the one on your left says.

"What?  I'm not givin' him grief.  I'm just sayin' he's kinda small.  Jeez Branford. Stand up for the little guy when he's actually down.  'kay?"

Bren looks back at you.  "Really.  Not tryin' to give you any grief.  But...uh..I saw you talkin' to Boxer Boy before."  He nods in what you think is Reggie's direction.

"You guys friends?"

Gym class was the one class Tyler was most nervous of, the class that made it the most obvious he was you younger than everybody else. Not to mention, of course, it was the one class that his brain didn't help much with. Physically, he's just a normal barely-13-year-old. He's quick, but not particularly athletically talented in any other way. And ending up between two huge strangers didn't help.

Thankfully, the teacher's comment that trying was all that was important reassures him a bit, and he relaxes a tiny bit by the time the boy next to him speaks.

"Yeah, kinda been noticing that," he answers to the comment that he's tiny, half-joking to hide his nervousness. But, the next question is more normal, surprising him, and he says, "Reggie? Yeah, we're partners in physics. He's cool."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 47):

They both glance in Reggie's direction.  The one named Branford looks back at you. "Sorry Dude.  Neither of us was trying to give you grief.  Be seein' you."

He reaches over your head and baps Bren on the shoulder.

"Yeah.  Yeah.  Sorry kid.  See ya around." Bren doesn't look down at you.  He keeps staring at Reggie until he turns away.

The two of them wander off.

Reggie walks over.  "Everything okay?  Those guys weren't givin' you trouble were they?"

Tyler stairs after the departing pair in total confusion for a moment, until Reggie comes over. "I… I don't think so. One of them called me tiny, but that's just stating the obvious. At first, I thought they were doing the whole 'pretend to be friendly' bullying routine, but I think they were more interested in you. Just wanted to know if we were friends. Then they just walked away."

He looks back to Reggie, and says, a little worried, "I don't know what's going on, but I don't think they like you."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 49):

Reggie chuckles.  "I don't know 'em.  If they got a problem with me, they'll let me know.  But it's probably my...uh...reputation."  He looks at you.  "You'll hear about it sooner or later, but I went to juvie.  I hurt a guy.  Pretty bad."

He frowns.  "I was in a boxing club.  And during a fight, I hit a guy too hard.  Well.  I hit him a couple of times too hard.  He landed funny. He can't walk anymore."  He wipes his mouth.  "I was...uh...I was on 'roids at the time.  My coach was givin'em to me.  I went to juvie for that."

You vaguely recall hearing something about this.  A year or two ago.  But it's not like you remember all the Toronto news reports.

Reggie is watching you.  "Well?  Everyone always has something to say about this point."

Tyler's eyes widen a little during the story, but not in fear. In actual fact, he's imagining, at that moment, how guilty Reggie must have felt after it happened.

So, moments later when he's asked for comment, instead of judging, he says, "That must've been awful for you!"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 51):

Reggie stares at you.  "Okay.  They don't usually say that."

He studies you a second and glances away, wiping his hand across his lips.  "Well.  It wasn't the high point of my life, that's for sure.  But Winston had a worse day than I did.  He still can't go to the bathroom by himself."

He takes a deep breath.  "Well.  Anyway.  Thanks."  He turns and points at the sign up sheets Coach had posted.  "What were you gonna sign up for first?"

PE is taught in blocks here it seems.  Mondays and Fridays are general work outs.  But Tuesdays to Thursdays you sign up for a sport of some kind and focus on that.  Every two months, you have to rotate out to a new sport.

Your choices this time are:

Basketball

Baseball

Hockey

Weight Training

Karate

Volley Ball

Tyler nods, and seems to consider saying more, but as Reggie changes the subject he keeps his mouth shut about that. All the things that popped into his mind seemed to be the wrong things to say, anyway.

So, instead, he looks to the list of sports. He had been thinking of karate, but after Reggie's story he is less sure about anything involving hitting or being hit. He doesn't say that, though. "Hadn't decided yet. Maybe baseball. I'm a good runner, and I like the Jays. I like watching hockey, too, but I'd just get squished. And I don't even know how to skate."

He looks up to Reggie, and says, "What are you picking?"

OOC: To keep things moving, if Reggie picks anything but hockey or weight training, Tyler will sign up for that same thing. Otherwise, he will pick karate after all, in the end for the same reason he picked drama. Because he's never tried it before. :-) Also, on an OOC level, it's very fitting for the future he doesn't know is coming yet. ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 05:38, Wed 24 June 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 53):

Reggie considers.  "I get enough weight training in.  Don't need to double up here.  I skate like a moose too.  I think...for the first time...I'm gonna do volley ball."

The two of you sign on.  Reggie looks at you.  "You surprised me.  No one's ever wondered if I had it hard."

He looks back at the sign up sheet. "The reason I started in robotics was...well.  I wanna create exoskeletons for people that got paralyzed.  Like Winston.  Turns out I gotta knack for it.

"What about you?  How'd you get here?  No one living in Scarbrough is gonna be here unless they're on scholarship."

Tyler smiles at the explanation about the robotics, and says, "That's really cool."

Then, he shrugs, and says, "All I know for sure is I applied, and they gave me a scholarship. It might have had something to do with my science fair project last year." He grins, and says, more excited as he describes his project, "I was reading my mom's engineering textbooks, and I came up with a way to generate power with just a planet's magnetic field. Well, and movement too. Doesn't generate much, here on earth, but I designed a microprobe that measures and broadcasts atmosphere conditions to show it off. Like those little things in Twister that they sent into the tornado. They won't last forever, but they last longer."

He turns a bit to Reggie as he adds, though, "But in Jupiter, they would never die! That's what I wanted, originally. My teacher asked us to ask a question and try to answer it for our projects, and I wanted to know why Jupiter's red spot is red. But I can't figure out how to make a strong enough to handle the temperature and pressure there. Yet!" He adds this last word with a grin.

"Anyway, that's when my science teacher suggested to my mom that I should apply here."

OOC: I hope this is okay! I was originally going to go with something tamer, more realistic, but I decided: this is a comic book style story, might as well go comic book style science project. :-)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Fri 26 June 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 55):

Reggie blinks.  Then he blinks some more.

"Ohhhh-kay."  He blinks again.

"You definitely belong here then.  Did you-"

The buzzer goes off.  Coach is standing at the door.  "Remember to bring your money for your PE uniform tomorrow Gentlemen!  If I don't have your funds by Wednesday, you're starting off with an F!"

Reggie grabs his back pack.  "C'mon.  I'm guessin' we're both going to the tube."

The two of you merge with the mass of humanity surging out the doors and gates of the school.

There's a line of SUVs waiting to pick most of the kids up.  You and Reggie join a smaller throng that make their way towards the station.

"So.  Are you gonna enter the science fair this year?  You know it's supposed ta be pretty cut throat at this school."

There's a rumbling in the sky. Thunder.  But it's clear blue as far as you can see.

That's an awesome sounding experiment to me.

Tyler grabs his own bag and follows after Reggie.

When they are past the crowd and heading towards the station, he nods quickly to the question, "Yep! I don't have a project idea yet, but I'll probably think of something soon."

After hearing the thunder, he looks around, practically spinning in a circle and even leaning to look past Reggie as if to check if he was blocking the view of some cloud. "Where'd that thunder come from?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 57):

Reggie eyeballs you.  "What thunder?  You sure you're just not hearin' the trains?"

It is true you're near the station now.  And you can hear the roar and thrum of the cars arriving and departing.  But this sounded a little different...

Your phone buzzes.  Then buzzes again.

Mom's texted.  Have to do some overtime.  Make a pot pie in the microwave.  One pie. And only 5 cookies.  How was 1st day?

Levi was the second text.  Man.  Just. Got. Out.  Whadda bag a suck.  Got Caruso for math.  Again.  How'd it kick Day 1?  Meet me at Bucky's for a prtz

Bucky's is a little stand at the end of your block that sells snacky kinds of foods.  Pretzels and nachos and stuff.

Reggie scratches his chin.  "I think I'm gonna try to build a  robotic arm.  Or maybe an eye.  Dunno."

Your train pulls up.  The two of you get on with a bunch of others.  Reggie and you make small talk until his stop, which is two before yours.

"You take this line in the morning?  The 7:15?  If so, maybe I'll see ya."

Tyler spends a few moments looking around again, but then nods, "I guess so. Or maybe a truck."

To his mom, he texts:

Thanks! And it was great! Does scholarship cover gym clothes?

Then, to Levi:

Mostly just school, but physics and drama classes were awesome. Be there ASAP.

He looks back up to Reggie and grins, "You should do an eye. Robot arms are everywhere."

He happily chats away during the ride, and then after the last question, he says, "Yep, probably see you then!"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 59):

Mom texts back

We aren't that poor Ty.  Just let me know what you need.

Reggie seems to consider the eye.  "Guess it's a little too soon to do a brain.  Eye, huh?"

He disembarks soon after.

You make it to Bucky's to find Levi standing outside, tapping on his phone.

Levi glances up.  " 's up?"

He taps on his phone some more.  "You suck, ya know that?"  He puts his phone into his pocket, giving you a grin.  "You suck onna duck. Ya dumb ol' fffffff...ingerlicker."  He seems over flowing with mirth.

"Go inside an' get me some nachos." He likes his nachos with extra jalapeno slices.  He can't go in himself because he got banned from Bucky's for that one time he did the thing inside.  The two of you usually get it to go and sit on the steps of the office building across the street.

Bucky hands you some money. Enough you can get your stuff too.

"Okay, you go first." he says once the two of you are settled in.  "How'd it go?"

Tyler giggles at Levi's jokes, but then nods quickly, taking the money and heading inside. He comes back out with nachos and milkshakes for both of them, though his nachos are with mild salsa.

He then starts to explain his day, talking fast and excitedly. He mostly focuses on physics and drama, less on the boring parts of his day. He does say things like, "The halls were like when we got lost at Fan Expo, where we couldn't see around us because everybody was so tall." And, "When I knew the answer to the teacher's question, people actually wanted to group with me! They weren't annoyed like at school last year."

For reference on what Fan Expo is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_Expo_Canada
This message was last edited by the player at 02:07, Sun 05 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 61):

Maybe that will give me the reason to finally visit Canada.  I've always wanted to take one of those window trains through the northwest.

The two of you sit on the stoop noshing nachos.  Levi sucks on his shake for a while.  "Too damn thick," he mutters.

He frowns at you.  "Well that's cos you're too damn smart.  People don't like show offs.  They probably won't at this new place either.  So watch your back."

His cell vibrates.  He looks at it, clicks his tongue, and puts it away.  It was probably his Dad.  His Dad's an asshole.

"Anyway.  You're gonna have to help me in algebra.  I looked through the book and all I see is a bunch of letters.  Why are there letters in math?  Whose dumb idea is that?"

There's a rumble of thunder again.  The sky to the west is starting to darken some.

Levi sighs and tosses is nachos into a nearby trash can.  "I gotta go home tonight.  My Dad says we gotta go visit grandma."

Levi's grandma is in the old age home.  She's an asshole too.

"You gonna be okay tonight all by your looooooooone-some?"

Tyler gives a little nod to the warning not to show off, though he can't really help it, most of the time. He gets frustrated by waiting for the rest of the class to get the right answer.

"Oh, yeah, algebra isn't too hard, it's like a puzzle. I'll help."

He grins when he hears the thunder and sees the cloud. "I knew I'd heard thunder." He looks back to Levi and sighs as well, but nods and says, "That sucks, but yeah, I'll be okay. Text later if you can, and I'll see you tomorrow!"

Now I can go change out of this itchy uniform, he thinks to himself as he quickly finishes his last few nachos and starts home.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 63):

Your apartment is probably older than Mom is.  It's an old house someone divided up into apartments.  You and Mom have the west side of the third floor.

It's pretty simple.  You walk in and you're in the living room/dining room/kitchen/almost everything else room.  Your Mom's room is off the kitchen.  Your room, which you think used to be a walk in closet, is on the other side of the front room.  You have your own half bath, but you have to use the shower in Mom's room to bathe.

Because it's old, it has massive windows.  There's a long one that runs along the southern wall of the front room, almost making up the entire wall.

There are two other apartments on the third floor. The Barkers are what your Mom calls a 'nice young couple' who live on the eastern side.  They're always friendly, but they don't seem to like to chat a lot.  They're always in a rush to go somewhere.

Between you and Barkers is another apartment which is empty.  It used to be Mrs. Nuson's place.  But she died about a year and a half ago.

Levi said it was lucky that she died on the first of the month.  That way, when she didn't come pay rent, the land lord went up to check on her.  "If they didn't find her...and it was June?  Ah man.  She woulda stunk up the place more than usual."

Mrs. Nuson did smell. It was her cats.  All eight of them.  None of them were the nice kind of cat either. They were all the hiss and scratch and piss-all-over-everything kind of cat.  One of them scratched you when you were six.  You ended up with a bad infection.  Mom and Mrs. Nuson had tied into it.  Mom told you to never talk to her again after that.

Mrs. Nuson was not a nice person.  Levi referred to her as Cat Piss and it wasn't really far from the truth.  She seemed to hate everybody and everything.

Since she died and they chased out her cats, the apartment had been rented twice.  Both times the tenants broke the lease early.

Levi told you it was because Nuson was still haunting it.  "And every night...at midnight...she rises up from the bathtub.  And she crawls across the floor...sayin'...here kitty kitty...heeeeeere kitty kitty...here kit...an'...if she can't find her kitty kitty kit...she slithers under her door...an' out into the hall...an' she comes down here...AND MAKES YOU SMELL LIKE CAT PEE!"  Levi had grabbed you and started shaking you.  "WHICH IS WHY YOU SMELL SO BAD!!"

You hear more thunder.  Sounds like the storm front is closing in.

Your phone buzzes.  Mom.  She's going to be later than she thought.  Do your homework and get to bed by 10.  Lights out mister.  Should be home before then. But just in case.Make sure you lock the door.

Speaking of door, you hear something rattle.  You glance towards the front door and...is the knob moving back and forth a little bit?  Like someone's testing it?

Outside, a loud peal of thunder echoes, shaking the glass in the window frame all along the southern wall of the apartment.

Being home alone was scary enough for Tyler, so *of course* his mind went to that story Levi told him. Sure, it was all a joke, but part of him did believe that that mean old lady would turn into an equally mean ghost.

He's unpacking his schoolbooks as he gets the message from his mother, and he starts to type a reply to it when he hears the click.

He stares at the door in terror for a second, even his breath frozen, but then he dashes over to the door as fast as he can to lock it.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 65):

The door stops turning before you arrive.  You slide the chain on and make sure the button is pressed.  It's as locked as that door ever gets.

The storm seems to be closer.  Two loud BOOOOOOOMMMs of thunder roll out, making the glass in the windows not only shake, but rattle and roll.

As the last peal slowly fades, you hear something.  On the other side of the door.  Pitter pat pitter pat.  Soft little steps on the hallway floor outside.  Slowly fading away, just like the rumbles of thunder.

After flinching at the sound of the thunder, Tyler stands there for a moment at the door, trembling, his mind racing. For the first second or two, ideas of cats and ghosts raced through his head, but he pushes those aside as he tries to make sense of it.

A cat couldn't have turned the door handle, and a ghost wouldn't need the door. That sounded really small. A little kid? Why would a kid be up here? But what else could it be?

That's when the idea hits. A theory that might just explain both this and his summer experience.

Just about as fast as he ran to the door in the first place, he runs over to the window that was rattling a moment ago, glancing down for a split second — just in case — before looking back up to the stormy sky above the apartment, searchingly. Looking for a UFO.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 67):

A giant glowing saucer is parked by the curb.

Not.

The streets are filled with people who are hurrying to get inside.  The storm is really bearing down.  You can see a solid line of black coming down the lane.  Seems to be a pretty bad blow coming through.

Your cell rings.  Only twice.  Your spam blocker pops up a message

Call Blocked.  Suspected Spam

Then your cell vibrates.  Levi texts you.

Hey Fart Knock.  It's like a friggin' tornado here.  Watch outside.  It's awesome.

You soon see what he means.  The wind picks up, driving old Subway wrappers and someone's Maples Leaf hat right by your window.  Then the rain starts.  Big fat plops that look like gobs of spit.  They fall making large splash craters.  Then the wind starts blowing sideways.

The blobs of rain spatter against your window, making it sound like a herd of marathon runners are sprinting across it.  You can't see anything.  Visibility goes from clear to shady to opaque in less time than it takes you to inhale and exhale.

Then there's a bright flash of lightning.  Almost like it's from right outside!  You hear a CHHHRCK! from somewhere outside, but can't see where the bolt struck.  But it must have been right close.  Because just as your eyes adjust to the flash, the boom starts.

In the dying light of the flash, your reflection shows up on the window and that of the room behind you.

There's someone standing there.  They're indistinct.  But you think it's a woman with a hunchback.  That's kind of how it looks.  Like Mrs. Nuson used to look.

But when you turn around, there's no one there.  Your ears still ringing from the lightning blast, you glance back out the window.

It's just a normal heavy rain now.

Your cell vibrates.

Hey Fart Knock!  Lightning just hit the street outside!  It was frickin' awesome!

Feeling silly for a moment, Tyler looks down to read the message and then back up to watch the storm.

The thunder and lightning make him jump, but it's the ghostly reflection that makes him yell in fright and spin around.

Back to the window and breathing very fast, he says in a trembling voice, "Mrs Nuson?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Sat 11 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 69):

There's no body there.

The lights go out.

Of course they do.  Why wouldn't they?

A glance out the window shows that it's not just you.  Everything on the block is dark.  Just the storm.  Right?

The rain continues to fall in a hard sheet.

There's a knock on the front door.

After a minute you hear someone outside say, "Hey!  Anyone home?"

It sounds like Mr. Barker.

Tyler jumps again as everything goes black. His imagination going wild about what might be in that darkness, he sits frozen for a few seconds until he calms enough to start thinking rationally again.

He's just starting to turn on his phone light when there's the knock at the door. Again, he freezes.

He laughs as he hears the voice, mostly at himself. The fears of seconds earlier suddenly seemed more childish with that dose of reality.

"Just a second!"

He runs over to the door to unlock and open it. His relief and the fact that he had been scared - and still was, if not as badly - is probably very obvious in his body language.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:31, Tue 14 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 71):

Mr. Barker is maybe in his early thirties.  He's a cop of some kind you know.  Not real tall but broad.  He's like a chest high brick wall.  His blondish brown hair is buzz cut.  A small scar runs from the corner of his jaw up across the bottom right of his lip.  When he grins, the scar looks like it's going to cause his lip to seperate along the line.

He's not a bad guy.  He and his wife come over sometimes and talk to Mom.  But he's got that cop kind of vibe going on.  Levi says he's the kind of guy who'd say 'do twenty more' after you did twenty laps.

He looks down at you, one eyebrow raised.  "You okay Tyler?  Your Mom home?

"I heard someone bangin' around in the hallway just now.  Was that you?"

Tyler shakes his head, once, and then again, to the questions, his eyes widening at the latter of the two. "My mom's out, working late, and no, wasn't me. I was kinda freaking out because someone tried my door just a minute ago. I got it locked in time, but I saw the door handle turning. I was too scared to even look into the hall until I heard you," he admits, just a touch sheepishly.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:32, Thu 16 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 73):

Mr. Barker looks at you like he's trying to decide if you actually pistol whipped a nun or not.  But he does that a lot.  Levi calls it his 'cop stare'.

He nods.  "Yeah.  Someone tried our door too.  That's why I was askin'.  Okay.  I'll take a look around.  Don't worry about anything.  If you need me, you should have my cell."

Both Mr. and Mrs. Barker's cell phones are on a list of emergency numbers Mom keeps on the fridge.

"Lock up tight.  I'll come back by in a bit.  'kay?"

Your cell phone buzzes.  Mom.  Heard the lights went out.  You OK?

Levi buzzes too.  Dude.  This is frickin' awesome!  Street is flooded!

Confident that he didn't do anything wrong this time - and trusting Mr. Barker - Tyler doesn't feel nervous under that stare like he might with any other cop or if he'd broken some rule.

"Thanks," he says before closing and locking the door again.

Now feeling safer, he texts back as he moves to look outside again.

To his mom:

I'm ok. Someone tried to open the door but Mr. Barker is checking it out.

To Levi:

I saw the flash but not the lightning, window is too wet to see much. :( But yeah, awesome storm!

Then a second to Levi:

Someone here in the hall turning doorknobs, Mr. Barker's looking for them.

This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Fri 17 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 75):

Mom takes less than a minute to call.

"Whaddya mean someone was trying the doorknob?!? What is going on?"

Levi texts at that moment.

Did you wet your pants?

"Are you okay?  Where are you right now?"

You totally wet your BVDs, didn't you?

"Is Ed-I mean Mr. Barker there now?"

Pants Wetter

"I'm gonna pack up now.  But...crap.  Looks like the storm's shut down the rail line..."

We'll have to get some pee sheets for your bed

"I'll get home soon as I can, 'kay?"

Tyler 'Pee Sheets' Thompson. Has a ring to it

I didn't mean to eat her eyes

The voice is breathy.  Soft.  There's a feeling of warm air tickling the back of your left ear.  There's a slight pressure on your shoulder, like someone's laid a very small hand on it from behind.

I was just so hungry

Outside there's a flash of lightning.  It must have struck real close, because the thunder blast feels like it shakes the whole room.

"I don't know, I just saw the doorknob turn and heard steps outside. Then after the power went out, Mr Barker knocked on the door and wanted to know if I'd been in the hall. Someone turned his, too. I'm fine, just watching the storm out of the window. Mr Barker said he'd be back after he looked around."

He still sounds relieved when she says she's coming home. "Okay, mom, thanks. Love you."

He hangs up the phone and is just starting to text Levi when he hears the voice and feels the warm breath... Wait, warm?

Somehow, the realization that this is some living being that somehow got into the apartment makes the whole thing scarier. Not to mention what the voice was saying. And, for the first time since he was cornered by a bully when he was seven, his fight or flight reflexes turns to fight.

He tries to spin around, pivoting on the point where the hand rests on his shoulder, lashing out instinctively with his arm.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:26, Sat 18 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 77):

At the moment you turn, lightning goes off outside.  It must have hit the street, because the noise is DEAFENING

In the flash, as you turn, you make out what looks like an old, thin woman with curlers in her hair.  But her face is missing. It's a hollow cave. There's nothing inside her skull except a Siamese cat, covered in gore, and licking something nasty off it's paws.

Then it's not there.

You can't hear anything.  The boom from the blast outside has your ears ringing.

The lights suddenly come back on.  The roar in your ears comes down a couple of notches.

It seems to be fine.  There's nothing there.  You're alone.

Note:  we won't be playing a horror game.  But I'm laying some ground work here.   Thanks

Tyler’s scream is drowned out by the thunder, and by the time the lights come back on, he’s cowering in the corner with his knees pulled tightly to his chest and his hands to his ears.

As it becomes apparent that nothing is there, he slowly uncurls to stand up again. He’s no less scared, this time, but a tiny spark of bravery was lit when he turned to face the ghost, and it lets him start to check around the apartment to be sure it’s gone.

No problem! A bit of horror never hurts, and gave me a bit to work with to nudge Tyler along his development. Just a nudge, but it’s a start. :)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 79):

As you look under the Brillo pads on the sink and under the sofa cushions, you realize it's probably gone.

There's a knock at the door.  It's Mr. Barker.

"I didn't find anything.  But someone was in the empty apartment.  The door was open.  No one's there now.

"You okay Tyler?  You look kinda shakey.

"Anyway, your Mom called me.  She's gotten stuck cos the storm has the trains fu-bunched up.  So if you need anything, we're both in tonight.  Come down and knock or give me a call.  'kay?"

Mom texts, pretty much saying the same thing and telling you she'll be home as soon as she can.

Levi is more straight forward.  did you pee yourself to death?

The storm settles into a normal rain.  Mom doesn't get home until 11.

It rains all night long.

---

Reggie steps on the train the next morning.  You happened to see him on the platform as the train was pulling in and moved up a car to meet him.

The morning commuters are cramming in space, but for once being short has an advantage.  You slip through until you're able to get to him.

"Hey." Reggie says, still yawning.  "How'd you like that storm last night?"

"I'm okay, that last lightning just really startled me, I thought a nuke went off for a second," Tyler lies, not wanting to admit what he saw.

He texts his mother that he's fine. Then he sends one to Levi.

No peeing involved, but I just saw a fracking ghost!

Yes, he types fracking, the closest thing to a swear word he feels comfortable using.

---

Tyler grins to Reggie and says, "The storm was awesome! A bit scary when lightning got close to my place, though. And I told you I heard thunder yesterday."

He'd already decided not to tell anybody about the ghost, except Levi. Even with his jokes he trusted his best friend, but he didn't expect anybody else to believe him.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Tue 21 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 81):

Levi seems weary about it.  But he's not dissing you when he texts back describe said ghost

---

The bell rings, and Zhan goes back over what he talked about yesterday, doing a short explanation of Hooke's Law.

"Alright Kiddos.  Get in your groups and design those experiments.  From prior experience, you want to hash it all out today.  Because you have to do the design work tomorrow and run the experiment no later than half way mark through class Thursday."

You, Reggie, Bian, and Aldo are seated around a lab table.  Reggie has written out F_S=KX on a sheet of paper between you all.

"Okay.  So it's the spring force equals the spring's constant times the spring's stretch.  I get it...sorta.  Anyone got a clearer way to explain it?"

You all start to discuss possible experiment designs to demonstrate or test Hooke's Law.

Let me know how Tyler describes the ghost to Levi.

If you want to give the experiment design a try, go ahead.  If not, we can fudge it.  Thanks

An old woman, with curlers in her hair, but her face wasn't there anymore! A cat had eaten its way into her head, and was sitting inside licking its paws. Way more real looking than any horror movie.

Not that he's ever seen many horror movies.

---

In physics, Tyler comes prepared with an idea, "If we use pulleys to split a  weight evenly, we can show how different materials will stretch different amounts, but adding extra weight bends each of them the same percentage on top of the original bend. We just need something that we can get in different materials that are about the same size and shape."

Grinning, he pulls out a plastic ruler from his bag. Then, he points around the room, to different tables, "We can get them in wood, plastic, and metal. I bet there's even some in steel and some in aluminum."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 83):

Are you sure you're not high?

Okay.  Let's say you didn't just get storm spooked.  You think it's that crazy cat lady who used to live next door come back from the dead?  Why would she be after you?

You do something to her?

---

The other three look at you and then at the tables.

You did mean the tables and not the rulers, right?

Reggie glances around at some of the hooks and cables suspended from the lab's ceiling.

"We should be able to rig it up...if the springs are sturdy enough..."

"So we're gonna weight different tables?"

Bian claps her hands and answers Aldo's question.  "Yes and no.  We're gonna determine how the different materials effects the springs.  Right?"

Her door was open when Mr. Barker looked. But I'm not sure she was after me. She didn't attack me, she just scared me.

Maybe she (or someone really good with holograms) was trying to scare me, or maybe she was just trying to say she forgave her cat.

This whole thing is weird. I think I need to research.

---

I… wrote that on a day where I was entirely sleep deprived. I really have no idea what I was getting at. Can we fudge the experiment after all?

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 85):

What's to research?

You may have just had a scare.  Maybe you were half asleep.

Not saying you didn't see it.  But don't rush into a Scooby mystery.

I'll come over tomorrow.  We'll make plans.

---

Do they/Did they have Carvel Ice Cream shops in Canada?  Because I'd love to make a Fudgie the Whale cake reference.  But if you're too young or they never had them in Canada, it would be a complete loss.

The four of you hash things out and decide using the tables might be too problematic.  But you find some kettleballs and work things out.  Tomorrow you'll have to put the experiment together and then on Thursday, perform it.

The rest of your school day goes alright.  No one really talks to you.  But it's not a hostile kind of quiet.  It's more ambivalent than that.  Mostly, people act like you aren't even there.

That changes when you get to Drama.  Tanya seems to be waiting at the door for you.  She quickly whisks you over to the Tech corner.  <Aqua>"Here he is!"

Tim and Tom have a sheet of lined legal paper spread out before them.  They've drawn a half circle on it and are making little marks on it.

"There you are," says Tim or Tom.

"Okay.  So what do you think?  Should we go with a table with wheels or a fixed table?" asks the other one.

"He has no idea what you're talking about guys."  Sasha plops down in the chair next to you.  "Somehow, Baskins talked the Principal into green lighting the Rocky Horror show.  Since it's for Halloween, it's first up.  Which means we don't have a lotta time.  The costumes will be a nightmare.  And since it's a musical, so will the lighting and sound.  But before we can do any of that, we need to decide on the set."

Tim, or Tom, nods his head.  "The set will decide a lot of things about blocking.  Lighting.  All that stuff."

His brother nods as well.  "We'll have to keep it kinda sparse.  Cos the stage ain't all that large.  Also, we've never figured out all the lights.  So we only know how to light certain areas of it."

Sasha chuckles.  "Before you ask Tyler, no.  Baskins can't help with that.  She knows jack and shit about the technical stuff.  How the hell she got this job I dunno.  Anyway.  You good with electronics?  Cos after role, we're gonna go over to the theater and figure stuff out."

She leans closer.  "Also.  The rest of the week will be auditions.  You don't wanna be here for auditions.  It's always a complete cluster fuck.

Good point, not thinking great right now. Too excited. And I need to do homework. But I AM gonna figure this out! See ya tomorrow!

---

Tyler nods with a smile to the question, "Yeah, I'm great with electronics. As long as I can get some time to play around with it, I'll figure out how to make the lights do whatever you need them to do!"

Posting will be a bit slower and shorter this week, my voice is shot so only able to post when my pain level is low enough that I can type on my phone.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Tue 28 July 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 87):

So noted.  I'll try to give you situations that won't require a novel length reply. But take your time.  Hope you get to feeling better.

Sasha nods.  "Okie dokie then.  We'll leave the lights to you."  She stands up.  "I already got the key to the theater from Baskins.  Let's head over there..."

The school has both an auditorium and a small theater.  It appears the Halloween show will be in the latter.

'Small' is relative though.  It would probably hold as many people as would a first run upscale movie theater.

Tom and Tim head for the stage while Tanya heads for back stage.  "Gonna take a look at the costumes," she says.

Sasha frowns but then looks at you.  "Alright.  Guess I'm tour guide.  Lemme show you the booth."

There's a door set in one side with a NO ADMITTANCE sign on it.  Sasha ignores the sign, using a key to unlock the door.  Inside is a stairwell.  Taking it up and going down a short hall leads to the 'booth'.

It's a suprprisingly cramped space, mostly because there are so many boards stuffed up into the room.

"Supposedly this stuff was all top of the line.  At least it was four years ago.  I dunno if it is.  But it's good, I'll give 'em that.  Which is kind of the problem.  There's so much shit and lights and stuff that we can't figure out what half of it does.  Now this..."

She waves a hand at the boards closest to the door.  "...is the sound system.  All the controls for the speakers and tape decks and sequencers and stuff is here.  The lights are..."

She points at the boards farthest from the door.  She taps the center section, which looks like it has docking for a lap top.  <Red>"Baskins usually sits here during production with her lap top.  Well.  She's the only one who's supposed to be able to plug into it.  Let's turn on the house lights..."

She fiddles with a switch and a knob and the house lights in the theater come up.  "For some bizzare ass reason, the only things we can't control from here are the curtains and a secondary set of lights that run behind the stage.  Though I guess I should say if we can, we don't know how.  Usually I have to sit backstage and run those at the board there.  We use our cell phones to queue each other.

"Now.  With Rocky bein' a musical...would you rather start off on sound or lights?"

Tyler looks awestruck as he looks around at all of the controls. "This is awesome!"

He hesitates at the question, conflicted. "Sound's probably important, and you said yesterday you don't have anybody to specialize in that yet. But I'll still help you figure out the light controls. I bet there's something here to even synchronize a light routine with music! Just gotta play with it until we figure it out."

Then he asks, "Is there a manual?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:38, Sat 01 Aug 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 89):

Sasha cocks an eyebrow.  "Did Baskins strike you as the type who'd keep track of the instructions?"

She leans against the doorway, arms crossed.  "I gotta say.  I'm a bit surprised.  You don't strike me as the drama type.  Even with the tech-y side of things.  Did you join drama because you wanted to do tech stuff?  If you wanna act...well. Don't let Tanya bully you into something you're not intrested in."

Tyler climbs onto the chair, kneeling so he has extra reach, and he starts to experiment with different buttons, switches, and levers.

Explaining himself, he talks more seriously, in a slightly quieter tone of voice than his normal, as if confiding, "I didn't even know the tech side was a thing! I've never done drama before, I didn't know what it would be like. But I wanted a class where I wouldn't be just the smart kid who got skipped a year. The kid who reads all the books before class starts and tries not to get upset when the rest of the class can't figure things out as quickly."

He looks up, and says, "I'm not actually as far ahead of everybody else here as at my old school, but I didn't know what the school would be like when I picked my classes. Anyway, I wanted a class where I couldn't read ahead and can just learn like a normal kid. Drama seemed the most fun of those; since I like stories."

If you haven't guessed from the post length, I have my voice back, though maybe not for long after this post. ;-)

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 91):

Sasha chortles.  "An idealist, huh?  Whatever floats your boat.  I'm just glad to have somebody sane around.  Lemme show you what I've figured out..."

She sits next to you and runs you through part of the board.  Within a half hour, you feel like you've figured out about 60% of it.  But some of the switches don't seem to do anything.  Like there's a fuse blown or something isn't plugged in somewhere.  The only way you can think to figure it out is to crawl around the lighting rig.  And while it doesn't look dangerous.  It is...high.

Tom, or Tim, pokes his head in after a while.  "Hey.  Bell's gonna ring soon.  We need to get back.  Sasha?  You still got the keys?"

Sasha frowns.  "I left 'em hangin' in the door."

You recall her opening the door and...yeah.  She left the keys inserted in the slot.  But they aren't there now.

"Oh shit.  Baskins is gonna have a cow."

"Okay," Tyler says, as he gets the hang of the board, "I think this isn't hooked up right. I think I gotta check out the lighting rig," he adds, with a bit of nervousness at the prospect.

But then, there's the issue of the missing keys. He frowns, and says, "Yeah, you left them there, I saw it."

What's the layout? Could someone have gotten up to the room to take the keys without the ones on the stage noticing?

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 93):

So I really suck at maps

Glancing down through the booth window, you see that it is possible someone came in and snuck upstairs to take the keys.

There is an alley that runs east west across the back of the auditorium.  The doors you all came in from are at the eastern end of that alley.  The stairs up to the booth are at the western end.

The stage is at the other end of the auditorium from the alley.  If Tim and Tom weren't paying attention, someone could have come in the eastern door, gone down the alley, come up the stairs on the western end, and taken the keys out of the lock while you and Sasha were busy messing with the controls.

Tanya is still backstage.  She couldn't see anything unless she had come out during that time.

Tyler steps quickly to look out the window, though not expecting anybody to actually be visible. Then he looks back at the equipment, in confusion. "Who would want to steal a key, and would even know it would be there in the lock? They can't expect to steal stuff, everything's so big in here. No way they can get it out without being on some security camera somewhere."

That's when an idea occurs to him, and he says, "The actors knew we were here. Could one of them be trying to get us into trouble?"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:51, Sat 08 Aug 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 95):

Tim, maybe Tom, frowns at the suggestion.  "I dunno.  I mean...yeah.  They're assholes.  But they're not really the kind to screw with us like that."

"Oh yeah?  I think they are." Sasha considers it a moment.  "I think I know who it might be.  I'll handle it.  But I'm gonna need you guys to distract Baskins for me.  Is she's there when I confront Scroggins, she'll try to get us to hug it out."

At the name 'Scroggins', Tom, perhaps Tim, rolls his eyes.  "Oh.  Yeah.  That turd.  How do we distract Baskins?"

Tyler thinks about that for a moment and then grins as an idea hits him, and he says, "I need to get under the lighting rig anyway, to check if everything's hooked up right." He looks to Tim/Tom, and says, "You can run to her, be all worried about me, like the little kid might fall or electrocute himself."

He looks to Sasha, and says, "That'll give you a couple of minutes, anyway. Maybe more, if she listens long enough for me to explain I know what I'm doing."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 97):

Sasha barks a laugh.  "Good luck with that.  But yeah.  That'll work.  Thanks."  She turns to go but then stops and looks back. "Do be careful, alright?"

The other brother (Tim or Tom> pokes his head into the booth as Sasha rushes down the hall to go get Baskins.

"What's up?" he asks.

Tom or Tim shakes his head.  "I'll explain later.  Let's help him get up into the lighting rig..."

There's a ladder backstage that climbs up into the rigging.  There are fairly easy to use hand holds and platforms to use, though they were obviously made for grown ups.  You have to be careful.

You're studying a juncture box, figuring out the wiring schematic, when the back door is thrown open loudly.

Baskins rushes in, her hands running through her hair.  Her eyes are wide Os which are visbile even from this distance.  She is staring up at the rigging.

"What are you doing?  Get down from there!"

Tyler looks back to Baskins with his best confused 'I thought I was doing a good thing' expression. He immediately starts to come down, but explains, as he does, "A bunch of the features of the light control board aren't working, I think there might be a blown fuse or something is not hooked up right. I was just checking to see if I can figure out what it is, I wasn't going to touch anything yet, not with the power turned on. I don't even have my multimeter here to check continuity."

It's all true, except that he knew he'd get in trouble.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 99):

Baskins looks blankly when you say 'multimeter'.  "Huh.  'kay.  Well.  I'll talk to maintenance.  But no.  You can not go into the rigging.  That's a no-siree-bob."

Tom...you have a good feeling it's not Tim...whispers, "We run around there all the time.  She never notices."

Sasha saunters in, looking a little smug.  "Oh!  Ms. Baskins. Sorry.  Forgot to give you this."  She hands over the keys, winking at you when Baskins isn't looking.  "Sorry Tyler.  I was just so worried."

She mouths Thank. You.

Baskins mumbles something and turns around, hurrying back to class.  Sasha grins and Tim/Tom punches you playfully on the shoulder.

Or he means to.  As soon as he does, there's a sizzling sound and he leaps away, yelping.  Apparently there was a big static discharge when he did it.  "Jeez Ty!  Don't you use dryer sheets?"

Tyler keeps up his chastened appearance until Baskins turns her back, when it turns into a cheerful grin.

He jumps a little at the sizzling sound and the yelp. He looks down at his shoulder in confusion, "I thought we did." He looks back up to the other boy, and says, "Sorry!"

This is getting weird, he thinks to himself.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 101):

"Ha ha! You got carpet burn!" Sasha giggles.  "C'mon.  We gotta get our stuff.  Bell's gonna ring soon."

---

Today's the first day you have to dress up for PE.  The coach has you run some laps and starts handing out the sign up sheets for your first electives.

Reggie jogs alongside, clicking his tongue every so often.  He sighs.  "You ever read Catcher in the Rye?"

He listens to your answer and then frowns.  "I got told I had to write a report on it for Lit class.  I'm not good with books and stories and stuff."

Tyler jogs along, not really struggling but very bored. Running in a circle isn't particularly stimulating.

Thankfully, Reggie starts talking. "No, I haven't read that one. It's a really old one, right?" Then, he smiles, and says, "I can't help much with the story, since I haven't read it, but if you need a proofreader, let me know. I'm good at that."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 103):

Reggie sighs.  "I get that they want us to read.  And that's good an' all.  But this book is like so dated.  It's just about this guy at this prep school who's a nut case.  I wish we could read stuff like The Count of Monte Cristo or like I Robot or somethin'.  Not about some guy whining about 'phonies'.  What the hell is a phony anyhow?"

Tyler answers, almost automatically, "A poser. I looked it up after hearing it in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It is a weird word, though. It sounds like you're saying someone is like a phone. But maybe phones didn't work too well back then and people thought they were a scam?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 105):

Reggie considers it and then shrugs.  "I suppose.  I can't even imagine what life was like back then.  It all seems so...weird.

"This may seem a little strange to ask, but do you know anything about power supplies?  I'm workin' on my science fair entry, but I'm havin' a bear of a time getting the battery rig up to work."

Tyler giggles and says, "Yeah, I'm pretty good with that, like my science project last year I told you about. I don't have my kit today, but tomorrow at lunch?"

Then, he asks, "When is the science fair? If you're starting already, I mean."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:32, Fri 21 Aug 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 107):

Reggie glances down at you.  He can't help but look down at you.  It's like jogging next to a redwood for you.

"Actually.  Can you come over this weekend?  I've got the arm laid out.  But I can't seem to figure out the outputs.  I can send you the schematics.  But I'd like a second set of eyes.  I'll treat you to lunch as a thanks.  Can you come by Saturday or Sunday?"

Tyler thanks for just a split second, long enough to remember any plans he might've had for the weekend. "On Saturday, drama class — the techies, anyway — are getting together. We're going to watch Rocky Horror so we know what to do for lights and sound and sets and costumes. But Sunday, yeah, I can do that!"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 109):

"Rocky Horror?  Isn't that a bunch of drag queens?"  Reggie shrugs.  "I guess this is a really liberal school.  Anyway, that's good.  I appreciate it.  I'll text ya the address."

The ride home is uneventful.  You and Reg talk robots and other junk until his stop.

No sparks today.  No weird storm clouds either.

Levi is waiting for you at the station.

"Dude!  You are not gonna believe this!  You remember Artie Oskins?  Well the cops came and arrested him during lunch period today!  There's all kinds of rumors!  Most are sayin' he offed his Mom and propped her up at the kitchen table.  One of the neighbors called the cops when she started stinkin'.  Can you believe the shit people come up with?

"Anyway, let's go over to his apartment complex.  I know which one is his.  I wanna see if we can see the crime scene tape an' shit."

Artie wasn't exactly the top of your list of people.  He picked on you some, though mostly he would just shove you aside when he cam near you.  It wasn't that he got off on picking on you.  He just always found you annoying and let you know he wanted you out of his way.

Tyler's eyes widen at this news, and nods quickly as he starts to follow Levi, "Yeah, let's go!"

Ghost hunting can wait, compared to this!
This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Wed 26 Aug 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 111):

Levi laughs joyfully and punches you playfully on the arm.  The two of you rush up the stairs and out into the sidewalk.

It's a beautiful day.  Not at all like yesterday.  Even though fall is coming in, the temperature isn't in heavy coat weather yet.  People seem to be in a good mood too.  No one yells at you to stop running around or warns you stop acting like a little heathen.  Levi seems to be in a good mood as well.  He's got his grin on like when his Dad is out of town or he scored a stuffed burrito for lunch.

He leads you over about eight blocks and the two of you stop outside a large old house.  Much like your building, it looks like an old home someone subdivided into apartments.  Levi waves you around to the side alley.  There's a fire escape leading up the side of the buidling.  Levi points at the second floor.  At the window right off the escape.

"That's it.  Lemme give you a boost up.  Grab the ladder and ride it down.  Let's go stare inside."

Tyler laughs as well, as he runs after Levi. There's just something about running free after a full day of being behaved at school.

Grinning, he looks up at the fire escape and says, "Yeah, that works!" using Levi to boost him, he jumps up to grab hold of the ladder and ride it back down. Only once it's down, does he start climbing, making sure Levi has hold of the ladder so it doesn't pop back up once he's on the fire escape.

Once up, he does his best to peek in the window without getting spotted if anybody is still inside.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 113):

Even with the boost you end up having to jump for it.  But you snag it.

Your weight isn't enough to make the ladder extend.  It's like it's caught on something.

Levi looks up and laughs, finally shrugging.  "You should eat more!  Go on an' shimmy up!  Take some snaps with your cell!"

Climbing upwards, you can see the problem:  the winch mechanism has been jammed shut with a thick bit of metal stuck into the wheels.  You can try to pry it loose, but it is wedged in there pretty tight.  Whoever stuck it in there must have used a hammer to force it.

The window is covered in a meshy kind of translucent curtain.  You can see into the room, but it's like looking through gauze.

No one seems to be inside.  You listen but can't hear anything.

You notice the window is raised just slightly.  Maybe a couple of centimeters up.  You might could raise the window.

Tyler may be among the smartest boys his age in the city, but he's still 13. The curiosity and excitement drowns out any common sense that might hold him back.

Covering his hand with his sleeve, he reaches to pull open the window just enough he can push his phone past the curtain to snap a picture. If nothing interrupts this process, he looks at the picture to see if there's any trace of police tape or those evidence tags you see in police procedurals.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 115):

The picture shows a small, cramped living room.  A sofa and coffee table take up most of the space.  A flat screen TV had been hanging on the wall, but it apparently fell.  Where it fell, you can see a tape outline of a body.  There are a few tented tags laying on a few places on the floor and one of the coffee table.

There's a large dried, brownish looking smear on the floor by the head of the taped outline.

There's something odd.  On the other side of the room is an electrical outlet.  A standing lamp is plugged into one of the sockets.  The other socket seems to have something hanging out of it.  Long strands of wire maybe.  But it's really weird looking wire.  It's too thin to be wire in fact.

The strands of whatever it is are long.  They drape down from the open socket and lay draped along the floor for about a meter.

Tyler gives Levi a thumbs up and uploads it to their private cloud server so Levi can see.

He then frowns a he looks at the picture. That's weird. Bringing the camera app back up, he zooms in and then reaches in the window to snap more pictures, hoping to catch a better image of those strands.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Thu 03 Sept 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 117):

The threads are definitely there.  Your first impression is they're human hair.  Like some woman's long black hair.  But how does that make sense?

That's about all you can tell from the photos.

There doesn't seem to be anyone inside the apartment.

Tyler pockets the phone, biting his lip. Usually, Levi would be the one who wanted to go that extra step, and convincing him. But that spark of bravery that ignited the night before is still there, and for once, it's all on Tyler.

Reaching out to the window, he opens it more and then tries to carefully crawl inside without leaving fingerprints.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 119):

You use the end of your shirt to avoid touching the window sill.  That should keep you from leaving prints, right?

Sure.

You step down into the room.  You hear Levi hiss at you from below, but you're inside before you can respond.  Your phone vibrates a second later.  It's Levi.

"You went in?!? You nutso?!" he blares into your ear.

It really looks like human hair.  Long strands of human hair coming out of the plug.

You blink.

Nope.  Still there.

How had the cops missed this?

"Yeah, probably. Did you see the picture? There is hair coming out of a plug, and the cops didn't even notice! I bet something weird happened, like Hood-level weird, and the cops just arrested Artie because he's a jerk and they just assumed."

Figuring Levi will likely yell loud enough to be heard anyway, he pulls the phone away from his ear to take a couple of close-ups of the hair, especially around the plug. Showing that it is coming from it, rather than just having been pushed into it.

He does his best not to touch the hair, though. He is starting to suspect he's got a special relationship with electricity, but testing that theory at 120 V AC seems particularly stupid.

Just in case it helps with your posts, Tyler's plan is simply to get those pictures, look around for any other weirdness for a second, before getting out of there. :-) He doesn't want to get into *too* much trouble.

You snap the shots and start to turn around.

It's not weird per se, but you see something that catches your eye.  It's a framed photo hanging on the wall out in the hallway.  You can see it as you turn.

Artie Oskins is a few years younger than he is now. He's standing by a canoe with two other kids.  One of them is a pale girl with hair so blond it's almost white.  She's just a shade away from being an albino.

The other kid is you.

The three of you are standing there, staring at the camera, grinning like you've never had this much fun in your lives.

Tyler stops, staring at the picture for a moment. He almost reaches out to touch it, before remembering he's in a crime scene. A bit freaked out at this picture of something he doesn't remember, he takes a couple of pictures of it as well (to make sure he's got one that's in focus), then turns to hurry for the window. This place is too weird!

He is freaked out, so if dramatically appropriate for him to step on the hair on the way by, feel free to go for it! I don't know what you might've had in mind. I was half expecting it to come to life and attack him when he was getting the picture. ;-) And, I just want to say this whole game is awesome!

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 123):

Thanks.  I'm enjoying Tyler very much.

You back peddle, snapping away and turning.

As you do, you step on the 'hair'.  It seems to catch, somehow sticking to the bottom of your shoe.

As you step, it yanks on the hair.

There's a feeling of tension.  And a loud

"OOOOOWWWWW!"

From out of the socket, appears a sort of squished up ball.  A hair ball.  You realize that it's the top of someone's head.  The 'hair' is acutally hair.  Attached to the top of someone's head.  Who seems to have somehow gotten stuffed into the electrical socket.

The yank from the hair stuck to the bottom of your shoe pulls the head out as far as the bridge of their nose.  The eyes are large and oddly yellow.  They roll your way and blink at you, perhaps surprised.

A muffled voice from inside the socket says,

"Whalll?  Ooo ghonna ghtt me oudda ere o wha?"

Tyler yells in surprise and falls back on the floor, staring at the head for a moment.

He's still young enough that he can accept the weirdness in front of him, however, when it becomes clear they need help.

He pockets his phone, which is still connected to Levi, and tries to pull the head further out of the socket.

"Aw man! You are a life saver! Ow! No, no! Keep going!"

The guy, and it seems to be a guy, starts taking to you once you get his mouth out from the socket.

"Okay. One more big pull and I think my arms'll come out.  I can't tell you how grateful I am man.  No idea how long I been stuck in there.

"Name's Quentin by the way.  Who you?"

"Tyler," he answers, after he's got Quentin sufficiently out, stepping back to give him room. Then his curiosity is released, "How'd you get in there? How'd you fit in there? And why aren't you electrocuted?"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Wed 16 Sept 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 127):

"Oh Bro.  That's like the million dollar question."

Quentin is a tall, lanky man.  Maybe in his early twenties.  He has long black hair and a paleness to his skin.  His eyes look like they have cataracts over them.  They're milky colored.  You can just barely see the blue behind them.  Quentin doesn't seem to notice them much.

He's wearing old jeans and a t-shirt.  THUNDER SEVEN! Triumph '85 with some one of those old vintage rock concert logos under it.

Quentin blinks.  "You smell somethin'?

"Anyway.  Last thing I remember, I was walkin' up the stairs to my place.  Was kinda buzzy."

He giggles.

"Maybe too buzzy.  Cos I was about two thirds the way up an' I fell backwards.  I remember thinkin' Oh man!  This is gonna suck!"

He scratches his cheek.  "Then I was in that...wherever that was.  Where was I anyway?  Anyhoo.  I'm out now.  Thanks little man.  I gotta get back to my place and catch some shut eye.  My boss told me I got extra shifts tomorrow."

He looks around.  "How come I'm not on the stairwell?"

Tyler sniffs a little, curiously, at the question, but listens curiously, grins, and says, "You must be a meta. Awesome! Never actually met one before. I bet your power saved you from the fall by… Teleporting you into a power outlet? I don't know."

Then, he starts to move towards the window, and says, "Anyway, the way out is this way. And be careful. We're in the middle of a crime scene, so you do not want to leave any finger prints."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 129):

Quentin blinks.  "Crime scene?"

He blinks again.  Than grins.  "Awesome!  It's like Night Heat!"

He stands.  His limbs seem all gangly, and he lurches forward.  As he does so, you realize something is wrong.  Well.  Wronger.

He's moving like he's got some kind of back injury.  Quentin seems to move almost sideways and seems to have no control over it.  He careens into the wall.

"Ouch!  Damnit!  I must still be buzzy..."

He finally manages to make it to the window, almost collapsing on the sill.

You can now see the back of his head.  It's split open.  You can see the skull.

Quentin blinks at you.  "Hey.  I meant to ask.  How come you're all hummy like?"

"Frak," Tyler says, as he sees the wound.

Heart racing, it takes him a few moments to come up with a plan. There's no way they're getting down the fire escape. He just needs to get them into the hall.

He pulls out his phone again, "Levi? Still there? Are there any cop cars out front?"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Tue 22 Sept 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 131):

"Huh?  No.  Why?  What's goin' on?"

"There is someone here who's hurt. We gotta go out the front door. At least into the hall, so I can call an ambulance. Wanted to make sure that wouldn't be anybody guarding the room. I have an idea if there is, anyway."

He moves then to help Quentin up, and tries to support him, "Come on, let's go out in the hall."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 133):

Quentin nods, though the motion seems hesitant.  He seems to be blinking quite a bit.

"...'kay..."

He shambles behind you down the hallway.

The police have taped up the doorway nice and thick.  You have no choice but to knock some of the tape aside to get into the hall.  Quentin stumbles through the tape, waving his hands around like he'd just stepped through a big mass of cobwebs.


At the end of the hall is a set of stairs leading to the upper floor and down to the lobby.  Your phone vibes.

Levi:  Old Dude just went inside.  Should be on the way up

As if on cue, you can hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairway.

Well, there was no denying that someone had gone into the room now, anyway. So, it was on to his backup plan.

"HELP!"

Whoever it was that came up the stairs, he says, "He's hurt his head, he's really confused. He thought he was in a stairwell..."

He has no need to fake his fear for the guy, and he isn't lying yet.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:56, Tue 29 Sept 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 135):

A tired looking older man is coming up the stairs.  He stops midstair and stares up at you, blinking.

At first his face says, "Huh?".

But he shakes his head as if to clear it, climbs the stairs, walks past Quentin and looks around.  The man looks at you.

"Where is this guy?"

Quentin blinks at you.  "Who you talkin' to kid?"

It seems neither the Stair Guy nor Quentin are aware of each other.  Even though they are standing next to each other.

For once, Tyler's ability to think on his feet fails him. He looks between the two in confusion.

"But... Um, never mind, sorry, guess he's gone," he adds to both, suddenly far more scared. Is he crazy?

He starts to move off towards the stairs, still guiding Quentin since he's not sure what is real.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Thu 01 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 137):

The old guy stares at you.  "Hey!  You high kid?"

Quentin blinks.  "You high man?"

But he trails after you as you head down the stairs.

Outside, Levi is dithering at the door to the apartment complex.

"Dude!  You high or somethin'? What were you thinkin'?!?"

He stares at Quentin.  "Who's he?"

Quentin makes a sort of mock salute.

"Name's Quentin little dude."

Levi slowly nods.  "Hi."

Levi looks at you.  "Hey...uh.  Wanna catch me up?"

Tyler laughs in relief as Levi sees Quentin, but then nods quickly. "That hair I saw? It was him. He was trapped. But he's hurt. Think we need an ambulance."

He pauses for a second before asking, "And did you text to say someone was going upstairs? Cause I saw someone but he and Quentin couldn't see each other. Maybe there was crazy forensic chemicals in that apartment, made me see things."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:38, Mon 05 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 139):

Levi looks confused.  "Who couldn't ya see?  The guy comin' up the stairs or Space Case here?"

"Hey Little Dude.  Don't talk about your elders like that."

"If I want to hear from you, I'll buy you a pot brownie, 'kay?"

"Oh that would really hit the spot.  Thanks man."

Levi blinks at him and then looks at you.

"Okay.  Let's walk through this.  You pulled him outta an electrical socket.  He's got a gash on the back of his head that they wouldn't show in PG rated movies cos it looks too gross.  And you wanna take him to a hospital. You sure you ain't high?"

Levi grabs your arm and starts to pull on you.  He looks back at Quentin.  "Hey.  I think there's a cop down the street.  Go ask him to call you an ambulance."

Quentin blinks.  "Wait...where's my brownie man?  Don't tell me you were ruffin' me abotu the brownie!"

Levi looks at you.  "You...you do get that he's dead.  Right?"

Tyler blinks as well and looks back to Quentin for a second. "Ohhh... Yeah, that makes way more sense. I was thinking he had a superpower to travel in power lines or something."

He looks back to Levi and adds defensively, "The only other ghost I've seen only appeared for like a few seconds, he seemed too solid! So, how can we see him but other people can't?"

No longer worried about Quentin, his thoughts return to other weirdness, and he pulls out his phone to show Levi the other picture, "I found this, too. I don't remember this at all!"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:47, Tue 06 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 141):

Quentin is standing there, blinking at you.  His eyes seem to lose focus the farther Levi drags you away.  You wonder if he even remembers you after about four meters.

Levi glances at the picture and then at you.  "Yeah?  That's when we went to camp back in...what was it?  Fifth grade?  You remember.  It was the time the counselors made us stay inside because a rabid beaver was rooting around the cafeteria's dumpster.  And you got that rash from your new swimsuit.  How can you not remember that?"

You have not the foggiest idea what he's talking about.

Tyler looks blankly at Levi for a moment and then shakes his head, "Nope, don't remember any of that."

"Let's talk about it on the way home, before cops come and see their tape broken. Man, I feel so stupid!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sat 10 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 143):

Levi glances sideways at you.  "Why?  Cos you didn' recognize a dead guy?  You run into many of them?"

He slaps you on the back.  Maybe a little too hard.  Then he does it again, mostly because it is kinda funny.

"Anyway.  Look like he isn't following us."

You lose sight of Quentin as you round a corner.

"You really don't remember Camp Adawaq?  It was like sooooo stupid but still kinda cool.  I mean...rabid beaver.  Right?"

He shrugs.  "It was just...camp.  I dunno what to tell ya.  You really don't remember it?"

Now that you think about it...you don't recall much about fifth grade at all.  Your teacher's name.  The way the classroom smelled.  Who picked on you and who didn't.  None of that is there.

Tyler glances back one last time before they round the corner. He feels a bit guilty about leaving Quentin behind, but he doesn't have any idea how to help him and the idea of his mom catching him talking to thin air convinces him.

"I don't remember it at all. I... Don't remember much of anything that year, though. It's kind of blank, just like whatever happened this summer that we ended up in the hospital."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Tue 13 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 145):

Levi blinks. "You don't remember the hospital?  That nurse with the really big tits?  I mean the BIIIIIIIIIIG bozoingas?  You would remember her."

He sighs contentedly.  "I do. I remember her."

The two of you walk in the direction of your apartment.  Mom texts you.  She has night class tonight.  There's some mac and cheese or a pot pie in the freezer.  Eat one of those for dinner and fruit only for desert.  No cookies.  She's counted the Nutter Butters in the pantry.

Levi giggles.  "Nuuuuuttttter Butter Par! Tee!  Nuuuuttter! Butter! Par! Tee!" he sings.

"Seriously.  's kinda creepy you don't remember that.  Well.  You didn't miss much.  Except a rabid beaver."

Levi is Levi all the way home.  He goofs on you and keeps trying to get into the pantry to steal the Nutter Butters.

Anything else with this you want to do or say?  If not, I will move us along to...

---

Reggie's place is an end row town house near the Kennedy metro stop.  It's not the greatest neighborhood.  Guys in patchy jeans are rubbing the meth sleepy out of their eyes while a woman with more make up on than a drag queen tries to convince them to let her do things to them for money.

Reggie answers the door.  Without his uniform on, he looks a little rougher around the edges.  Like maybe he should be rubbing the meth sleepy out of his eyes.

But he seems quite sober as he grins and waves you inside.  "Thanks for comin'.  This whole damn thing has me all kinds of screwed up.  You want somethin' to drink?  I think we got Mr. Pibb, Fresca, and some water.  Well.  That's about what we got."

The arm is laid out in an otherwise empty room upstairs.  Reggie has fashioned a work table by laying a few old two by fours across some milk crates.  His tools look like they've been salvaged from a junk pile somewhere.  Some of them are more rust than tool.

But the arm is suprisingly tight.  The material is rough.  You would guess he made the arm by melting down old cans and recasting it.  And the wiring is all salvaged.  But the set up is solid.

He activates the arm, controlling it by a patch to an old Nintendo 64 pad.  The fingers twitch.  The thumb and ring finger begin to rise.  The others look like they want to but don't have the gumption for it.

The palm tries to flap up, but it only shakes.

Reggie's correct.  The problem is the power isn't getting to the various parts in the required voltages.  The arm should work.  It just needs to be rewired.

"Whaddya think?"  Reggie asks, wiping a hand across his mouth.

"I remember a nice nurse when I woke up, just not before."

When they arrive back at the house containing his apartment, Tyler spends a few minutes trying to find where the lightning struck when he swung at the ghost that appeared behind him. "It was so close I couldn't hear for a few minutes!"

---

Tyler smiles as he sees the arm, "So cool! Um, I don't know those pops, but Mr. Pibb sounds like Dr. Pepper, so I'll try that."

He opens up the kit he brought with him, pulling out his multimeter and a few tools. "I think it's just some excess resistance in the circuit. Maybe a corroded wire, or a resistor of the wrong strength. Those colour codes can be hard to read sometimes. Should be easy to fix if we rewire it."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Thu 15 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 147):

You can't seem to locate the spot of the lighting strike.  But you are pretty sure you remember it correctly:  there was a big flash and boom.  Like one did strike nearby.

---

Reggie grins at your compliment.  Then the two of you get to work.

Mr. Pibb tastes like Dr. Pepper.  Maybe a little milder.  But it does seem to be a knock off.

Your theory on the wiring turns out to be both wrong and right.  Some of the wires are bad.  But he's got a problem with the flow.  There is just not enough juice flowing to where it needs to go.

The two of you discuss it, getting wrapped up in the conversation.

Reggie finally slaps you on the shoulder. "C'mon.  You probably need ta head home soon.  Lemme at least treat you to an enchilada."

You blink at the window.  It's starting to get dark.  The two of you just got engrossed and ended up talking and working on the arm for hours.  You realize you are starving.

Reggie grabs a jacket.  "You mind if I ask you somethin'?  Did you get picked on a lot in middle school?"

Tyler packs up his stuff and then pulls on his own jacket.

"Yeah, sometimes. Well, a lot I guess, but I always had Levi. He's been my best friend since we were, like, six. He always had my back."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:22, Sat 17 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 149):

"Good."  Reggie nods, apparently glad you had someone in your corner.

There's a little taco stand down the road.  Reggie is right about the enchiladas.  They are awesome on a stick.

He piles away five of them and belches.  The two of you chat a while, then you head out.  Reggie walks along to the station, glowering at some of the locals.  You head up to the platform alone.

As you are waiting for the train, your cell vibrates.  It's Tom.  You're sure it is because your cell phone doesn't say 'Tim'.

"Hey.  It's Tim."  Stupid cell phone.

"It's kinda late notice.  But can you come over tonight?  We were able to score a copy of Rocky Horror. One with like the audience participation stuff.  We were gonna watch through it.  You can just stay here tonight if you want."

Mom is going to be studying all night for an exam.  She shouldn't mind.

"Yeah, sure, I'll be there as soon as I can."

After hanging up, he texts his mom:

My group from drama class is meeting tonight at the twin's house, may go late. Can I stay the night?

He's quite talkative with his mom, when they get the chance to talk, so she's heard all about those from his class by now.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:03, Tue 20 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 151):

OK but text me the address when you get there.  Do you have clean underware?  And is your phone charged?  Text me the phone number there too just in case.

Back at home tomorrow by 10 AM.  No excuses.

Tim and Tom are about four stops west and two stops north.  It's the exact opposite kind of neighborhood from Reggie's.  Everyone lives in their own house.  There's a little yard around each one and every house is made of neat bricks.  There are nice cars and trucks parked in front and even the dogs look like they wear designer collars.

Tom, or Tim answers the door, waving you inside while sucking on a popsicle.  He points to a large front room.

Tanya is seated on a couch, legs crossed, looking at the back of a DVD.  Sasha is standing in one corner, her cell phone plunked on her ear.  She waves at you, then rolls her eyes at whoever is one the phone.

Tanya pats the sofa next to her, then points at Sasha.  "Her Dad's giving her the third degree.  Happens a lot.  How you?"

Tim/Tom walk in, carrying sodas, bowls of chips and popsicles.  They lay them out.

"Okay.  That's everything," one of them says.

"I'm not sure my parents were alive then this was made," Tanya says, still reading the back of the DVD.  "I still can't believe we're doing this as a play."

"I heard Baskins is tryin' to suck up."  Sasha is off the phone now.  She walks over, picking up an Oreo from one of the bowls before sitting down.  "There's a coupla trans kids in one of the upper grades. Lotta the teachers are getting on the 'let's be supportive' bandwagon.  I'm sure we'll have a 'we're all the same' assembly any day now."

Tom/Tim groans.  "Didn't we do that last year?  The one with the puppets?"

Sasha laughs, picking up another Oreo.  "Hey kids!  Remember all us puppets are the same!  Cos we got someone's hand shoved up our asshole!"

Tim/Tom rolls his eyes.  "I swear.  I think you're like a frat boy trapped in the body of fat eighth grader."

"I'm not fat.  I'm differently thin."

"Anyway,"  Tanya tosses the DVD aside.  "We gonna watch this or not?"

Sorry for the long post.  This story has some set up to do. Before we go on, quick question:  have you ever seen Rocky Horror?  I'm assuming Tyler hasn't.  But didn't want to assume you had knowledge of the movie/audience stuff

Nope, I haven't. I've heard some of the songs, though, in Glee and the Hillywood Doctor Who spoof. But as for the rest, no clue.

Tyler asks Tim/Tom on the way by, "What's the house phone number? My mom wants to know just in case my phone runs out of charge."

Once that's dealt with, he heads into the living room, waving back to Sasha as he moves to sit by Tanya.

Not having any clue about the movie, he asks, "So this is about being Trans, then?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:05, Sat 24 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 153):

"Kinda.  I asked my aunt about it.  She was surprised we were gonna do it for a show." Sasha shrugs.  "The basic gist is this couple's car breaks down so they go to a nearby castle to use a phone.  There's a bunch of weirdoss in the castle, like a transvestite mad scientist who's trying to create a blond muscle man to get down with and...Meat Loaf.  Which is apparently a guy and not like...dinner."

She points at the box.  "My aunt said the movie is awful and its the stuff the audience does during the movie that anyone goes for.  So we tracked down a copy of the movie being shown at a theater so we could see what the audience does."

So you all watch the movie.

'Stuff the audience does' is putting it mildly.

During the first scene, everyone in the audience throws rice during a wedding scene.

When Tim Curry comes on, they throw hot dogs.

But none of that is as bad as the lines.  The audience all yell the same line at times.

Tim and Tom's Dad pokes his head in and frowns when Susan Sarandon sings

...burning bright...

And the audience yells out

What's Up You Ass?

And Susan Sarandon sings

...there's a guiding star...

And the audience shouts back

Ouch!  That Must Hurt!

Tom and Tim's Mom comes in after the audience screams

FUCK! THAT! BIRD!

during the Time Warp musical number.

Tom, or Tim, goes out in to the hallway with her, explaining why they're watching this.  She doesn't seem too happy.

Tanya pauses the movie and leans over to you.  "You're not gonna get in trouble for watching this, are ya? I mean...your Mom won't mind, will she?"

Tyler can't help but giggle throughout the movie, at both the corniness of the movie and the antics of the audience.

At Tanya's question during the pause, he answers, "Probably, if she finds out what they're saying. Don't think she'd care much about the movie part of it."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:08, Thu 29 Oct 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 155):

Tanya groans.  "Yeah.  My Mom would not be happy.  My Dad'll blow his gasket.  I haven't told 'em we're doing this yet."

Sasha shakes her head. "Ya know.  There's a lot worse these days.  Hell. Game of Thrones had a lot more dick jokes than this does."

Tanya shakes her head. "Yeah. But I wasn't allowed to watch it either."

Tim, or Tom, comes back into the room.  "Okay.  I explained it to Mom.  She wants us to stop watching it.  She's also gonna call the school."

The others groan.  Tom, or Tim, mumbles, "This is just like Equus all over again."

Sasha looks at you.  "She wanted us to do Equus last year.  With the nude scene.  How the hell she's still employed by the school I dunno.

"Well.  Looks like we ain't doin' Rocky.  Can't say I give a crap.  Who's up for burritos?"

Tanya frowns.  "Don't be so glib.  I was kinda lookin' forward to it."

The five of you end up watching another movie and talking about not much at all.  Tanya checks her phone.  "My Dad's outside.  C'mon Sosh.  I'll give ya a ride."

Tim and Tom show you upstairs.  The top floor of their house is a big open game room.  The three of you will sleep up there.  They have a nice gaming set up.

While his brother gets the games set up, the one you feel is probably Tom hands you a controller and asks, "Hey.  Sorry if this is rude but...is it weird bein' so much younger than everyone else?  You seem to come off okay. But that whole grade skip thing an' comin' to a new school's gotta be tough."

"I wasn't allowed to watch that either. But I've read Ender's Game and it had a bunch too," Tyler adds, to the mention of dick jokes in Game of Thrones.

Later, to Tom's question, he nods emphatically, "It's the weirdest thing, ever! Feel like I'm surrounded by giants at school. And I didn't know anybody. First time I've ever gone to a different school than my best friend."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:41, Mon 02 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 157):

The Probably-Tim clicks his tongue.  "That's kinda rough."  He jerks his head in Most-Likely-Tom's direction as he starts a game up.

"I've always been in the same school as dumbass here.  It would be kinda weird not having him around."

"It'd be awesome not having someone who farts so damn much around..." quips Almost-Certainly-Tom.  "Seriously though.  Don't let anybody pick on ya.  And drink some milk.  You could use some centimeters."  He says it in a joking manner.

"Are we gonna all touchy feely?  Or are we gonna play?"

The three of you end up staying up until about three or so.  Their Dad comes up once to tell you to go to bed.  But he doesn't seem to put too much emphasis in it.  Tim and Tom don't pay him much heed.

"Unless his face gets red, we're okay."

You stumble to the train around 10 AM the next morning, having eaten pancakes and eggs to your heart's content at the twin's house.

Mom is seated on the couch when you get home.  She looks at you.  "If you were sixteen, I'd worry that you were drunk. You didn't get any sleep didja?"

She sighs.  "Didja have a good time?  Who were these kids you went out with yesterday?"

Tyler answers the first, "I got a little... Um, four hours?"

Then he gives an emphatic nod, "Yeah, it was great. Before I asked about staying over, I was helping Reggie - he's from my physics class - with his science fair project, and then it was the kids from drama class. Tom and Tim, Tanya, and Sasha. I think they're all a grade ahead of me, but they're cool."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Wed 04 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 159):

Mom studies your face.  You can tell what she's doing.  It's her 'Bully Scan'.  She always gives you that look whenever you come home from school and she's actually there.  It's a once over for visible bruises or cuts.  Checks to determine if you're lying about everything being okay.

She nods, but you aren't sure she completely believes you.  But she doesn't press the point.

"Okay.  Well.  I was thinkin' about ordering Thai for lunch.  You want some?  If not, go to bed.  I'll wake you up in a couple a' hours."

It's Sunday afternoon.  You may do what you like.

Tyler heads straight to bed, but once he wakes up again, he has plans of his own.

Turning on his computer, he loads up a passworded document and starts to make notes. He's already got a number listed.



Now, he starts to add some more.



Once that is typed out, he goes to dig through his electronic supplies for a 9-volt battery. When he finds one, he checks it with his multimeter to test the power level to ensure its charged.

Once he's sure it is full charge, he touches the connectors to his tongue.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Fri 06 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 161):

Okie doke

You feel the metal ends touch your tongue.

There's a sharp loud crack outside.  It sounds like something big just collided with something big.  The building shakes a little.

Standing at the foot of your bed, staring at you, is an old man with blue skin.  His eyes are kinda buggy looking.  Like someone in a cartoon just whacked his feet with an anvil.

He stares at you a moment and then turns, walking to the door of your bedroom.  He stops, looks back at you, turns back around, and walks out of the room.

Had you been waiting for me to do that? :) I'd meant to earlier, before the scene with Reggie, but I couldn't type or dictate enough that day and I wanted to channel some Young Sheldon into it with the scientific-esque approach. :)

There is a split second where Tyler is excited, as there is no sharp jolt to his tongue. Then the Crack makes him jump, dropping the battery.

And there's a blue man staring at him.

Shock and extreme curiosity - this may, after all, be the person from his missing memories - overwhelm any fear he might have normally felt at some strange man appearing in his room. "Um... Hi? Are you the one I saw..."

He doesn't finish the words before the man starts to apparently lead him somewhere. Far too curious to do anything else, he follows after the blue man.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:52, Sun 08 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 163):

I was hoping you would do something similar sooner or later.  But I never try to anticipate a player's moves.  Have found out the hard ways that players never, ever do what you expect them to.

The blue man walks through your living room, stopping every so often to see if you are still following.  Mom is in the kitchen, making Velveta Mac an' Cheese.  The brand with the fake bacon in it.  Mmmmmm.  Fake bacon.

The blue man opens your front door and steps out into the hall.  He walks down the stairs towards the lobby.

With it being Sunday, there's not a large amount of traffic outside, cars or pedestrians.  But there are a large number of people standing in an alley across the street.

Even from a distance, you can tell they are also dead.  Most of them have pale or blue skin.  A few have signs of obvious trauma.  One woman with black bruises from the hands that wrapped around her neck and strangled her.  A man with half his rib cage crushed in.

They are all staring your way.  The blue man walks out into the middle of the street, obviously heading in the alley's direction.  He stops and looks back, seeing if you will keep following.

Overhead, the sky is getting very dark.  Another big storm is rolling in.

Tyler's step falters as he sees that crowd of ghosts waiting for him, his eyes widening just a tiny bit. But, taking a deep breath to try to calm himself, he continues walking forward, though he does make sure to double check for traffic before crossing the road.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 165):

The blue man reaches the others first.  They all watch you cross the road.

There's a rumbling in the sky above.

They all look up.

The sound dies away.

They all look back at you.

As you reach the curb, the blue man holds up a hand, palm facing you.  Stop.

He points up at the clouds that are gathering overhead.

Then he points at you.

Then back at the cloud.

The cloud rumbles, this time loud enough that the glass in the windows of the buildings around shakes.

The crowd in the alley looks up at the cloud.

The sound dies away.

They look back at you.

I need to know Tyler's reaction, even if it's just standing there looking dumbfounded.  Thanks

Tyler looks up at the clouds, and then back to the blue man in confusion. "Do..." His voice cracks a little from his nervousness, and he tries again, "Do you want me to do something?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:42, Tue 10 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 167):

It starts to rain. Just a sprinkle.  The breeze picks up, on it's way to becoming a wind.

They are all still staring at you.

What feels like forever but is probably only thirty seconds or so passes.  The rain turns into a drizzle.  The wind is now a wind.

Behind you, a car horn suddenly blares. A Hyundai is honking at a woman who suddenly ran across the street in front of it.

Maybe you start.  Maybe you don't.  But it is a sudden start.

Then everything is bright light.  There's a sudden warmth that surrounds you, brushes over your skin, runs its fingers through your hair.

Someone is shaking you.  There's a man standing over you, grabbing you by the shoulders.  His mouth is moving but its like you are both underwater.  All you can hear from his mouth is Charlie Brown's parents or teacher.

The fact that the blue man and his friends are gone registers.  Where did they scamper off too?  You aren't sure.  The guy who was shaking you has picked you up.  You don't seem to be able to move.  All you can see is the sky and how angry it looks.

You close your eyes, because that sounds like a good idea.

You open them up and you are staring at a tile ceiling.  Mom is sitting beside the table you are laid out on, resting her head in her hands.  A man in surgical scrubs is standing on the other side of the bed.  He stares back at you.

"Hey there.  Don't try to move, okay?"

Mom raises her head and almost leaps at you.  She starts to babble, but the Doctor kind of shushes her.

"Hold on.  He's going to be disoriented probably.  Let's let him get up to speed."  The doctor smiles at you. "You got struck by lightning champ.  Sounds like it's kinda habit with you.  Do you feel funny?  Anything hurt?"

You feel a little sore all over.  But that's about it.

Tyler is definitely confused for those first few moments, but when the doctor says what happens he groans, "Again?!"

Still, he seems alright. Did I absorb most of it?

"I feel like I just got out of gym class, but that's it. I don't even have the headache I did last time, so I guess I landed softer?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:32, Thu 12 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 169):

"They said you weren't as close."  Mom leans over and kisses your forehead, wiping your cheek with one hand.  "The man that saw it said it hit like real close to you.  You got knocked off your feet."

"I think you're gonna be okay.  But..."

He scratches his chin.  "I do think we need to run a MORT on you."

Mom blinks.  "A what?"

"A Meta Onset Reliabilty Test.  It will help determine if your son is a meta."

Mom shakes her head.  "Oh hell no!  Tyler's not going through that kind of mess! Not-"

She pushes her lips together and shakes her head, wiping her eyes with the back of the hand not holding yours.

"No."

The Doctor shrugs.  "I'm sorry Ms. Thompson.  But the decision isn't yours."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Under Healthcode Act 1405, any indication of potential meta activity coming into an emergency room has to be documented.  If there is reason to suspect a new-"

"My! Son! Is! Not! A! Meta!"

The Doctor sighs.  Then continues.  "The right to test for meta onset rests with the patient.  As long as they are capable of making that decision."

"He's a child!"

"In my opinion, he is capable of making that call himself."  He looks away from Mom and at you.

Tyler hesitates for a moment, looking at his mom. Her reaction has him confused and a little scared.

Does she hate metas? Will she hate me?

Still, the thought of trying to figure this out by himself - and probably being struck by lightning again - is just as scary a prospect. In an incredibly timid voice, he says, "I want to do it."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:27, Fri 13 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 171):

Mom looks at you with an odd expression. Like you had just said you were converting to Catholicism or joining the army.

But she shakes her head, scrunches up her eyes, and mutters, "Fine.  Maybe it's for the best.  That way we can know for sure."

The Doctor nods his head.  "There's some paperwork to do.  The test is actually a series of tests.  We'll draw blood and get a urine sample.  But there will also be some interviews that have to be done."

Mom just glares at him and then says, "Fine.  Get it all done."

She takes a deep breath and looks at you.  She doesn't look pissed.  Just worried.  "You hungry or somethin'?  I can got get some nachos or stuff."

When his mother doesn't look mad at him, he lets out a breath of relief. But, he then nods emphatically, sitting up a bit, "That'd be awesome."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:07, Sat 14 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 173):

She brings you some Doritos and an egg salad sandwich from the clinic's cafeteria.

The doctor keeps you overnight, mostly to collect 'samples' for your testing.  You are dischargerd about 10 the next morning.  Mom keeps you home from school.  She talks normally, but doesn't say a lot.  She's upset obviously.  But when she doesn't want to talk about something, trying to talk to her about it is like speaking to a brick wall.

The hospital calls.  They set up your first round of interviews this coming Saturday.

Levi texts you.  "Someone said you got struck by lightning.  What gives man?"

"I thought it would be faster than that," Tyler comments, when his mom tells him about the appointment. Otherwise, he doesn't bother trying to talk to her about it. He knows that look.

I did! A ghost led me outside, a car horn made me jump and then it happened. The doctor thinks I might be a meta. Don't tell anybody! I think so too. Lots of weird electrical stuff has been happening around me lately, not even counting the ghosts.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 175):

Meta?  U?

There's a long pause.

U gonna get a cape and become Captain Turdburger?

There's another long pause.

Dude. You sure this isn't just all that stuff about

Your phone goes dead.  Just shorts out.

Tyler blinks, then sighs as he realizes what might have happened.

Still, it could be anything, and he knows how much trouble he'd be in if he took it apart to see. So, he takes it out to the living room, "Mom, my phone just died... Like totally, not just put off battery. Can you check it out please?"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:33, Wed 18 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 177):

Mom sighs and takes the phone, giving you the fish eye as she does.  Obviously there's some mistrust at the moment.

She stops after a while, frowning.  "This shorted out.  Were you recharging it or somethin'?  Maybe there was a power surge."

She sighs again.  "Okay.  Well good news is the insurance should cover it.  Bad news is you won't have a phone for a couple a' days."

She tosses the phone back to you.  "You were backing up to the cloud, right?"

Mom frowns harder and then pats the sofa cushion next to her.  "Okay.  Let's get this outta the way.  I'm not thrilled about you doing these tests.  But you do have the right to make the call yourself.  Fine.  But I don't want you telling anyone until we know one way or the other.  Either about getting hit by lightning a second time or the testing.  'kay?"

She studies you a moment.  "Is there anything else I should know?"

For a moment, Tyler looks almost as dejected at the death of his phone as he might a puppy — if he had one. That lightens a bit, at least, when he's reminded about the backups, "Oh, yeah, it's automatic."

Of course, that still leaves the frustration about why it happened.

He sits down beside his mother, then, but he's silent for a moment at the question. There are so many things he wants to tell her, to talk to her about. But, as soon as he thinks about saying any of it, the thought of her hating him rushes back in.

Finally, he says, "Why don't you want me to be tested?" He tries to ask the question calmly, as if he's just curious. He can't really keep the emotion out of his voice, however.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 179):

Mom studies you a long moment, and then reaches over, tousling your hair.

Her voice has a little bit of sadness to it.  "You..."

She shuts her mouth for a moment, takes a deep breath, and opens it again.  You can't hear her because there's a loud crash outside.  Glancing out the window, you see the sky is still kind of dark.  It sounded like thunder.  Another damn storm maybe?

She is staring at her hands when you look back.  Sensing you, she looks up, smiling sadly.

"Sorry.  Just got weepy there.

"I don't want you to feel like a freak is all honey.  You're so bright and funny and great.  But I know you've gotten picked on.  I'm always wonderin' if I should have skipped you a grade.  And now...

"I just don't want you to feel like you're different.  Ya know?  Like you don't belong.

"I'm a Mom.  Moms worry about that stuff."

Tyler is hit with so much relief that he just grabs his mother in a tight hug. (Not that hugs are all that unusual for him. Unlike many his age, he hasn't yet grown embarrassed about showing affection.)

He leans back after a moment, sniffling and wiping his own eyes, but says, as much trying to reassure her as he's looking for reassurance himself, "I'm different already, but it's okay. I do belong anyway, with Levi and Reggie and the everybody from drama. I... I was just scared you'd hate me if the test..." He trails off.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:15, Mon 30 Nov 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 181):

"Idjit..."  Mom returns the hug.  "I could never hate my beautiful boy."

She wipes tears from her eyes.  "Okay.  We're gettin' all weepy and girly.  Why don't we go get some ice cream?"

She goes and washes her face and the two of you head out.  She probably means for you to go down to Nasty Burgers.  Despite the name, they make good sloppy burgers and make great homemade ice cream.

"Who is this Reggie guy anyway?  You told me a little bit about him.  But not much."

And just like that, Tyler is happy again. Smiling brightly at the offer of ice cream, he says, "Yeah."

Totally forgetting that the storm in the sky might be an issue, Tyler happily starts to talk as they walk after the question, "He's my partner in physics, and in gym class. He's huge, when I first saw him I thought he'd be a bully, but I think he's the nicest kid in school. He builds robots, really cool. He isn't as good at designing circuits, I was helping him rewire a robotic arm the other day, but I learned from you and he had to teach himself."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 183):

Mom stops.  Her eyebrows knit together as she thinks a moment.  "Big guy who likes robots?  Wait..."

She stops just meters away from the Nasty Burger door and taps on her cell.  After a few moments she shows you a Google search.

There's a photo of Reggie.  He seems a little younger.  And meaner looking.  The caption under his photo reads

Boxer/Robotics Prodigy Cleared of Negligent Homicide Charges. Questions Linger

"Is this the guy you helped with the arm?"

Tyler frowns as he sees the picture, and says, "Yeah, but... Why would they think he killed someone? He hurt someone, he said, after his coach gave him some drug, but they're still alive and he's trying to invent something to help them. He won't even go near boxing anymore, scared he'll hurt someone else."

This is all said very fast and defensively, trying to get ahead of any objection his mom might put in.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:30, Sun 06 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 185):

Mom sighs and pats you on the head.  "All I'm saying is what was in the paper.

"Here.  You can read the article yourself."

She starts to hand it over but then stops.

"Just remember baby. Just because something is in the paper, doesn't mean it's true.  Or that it's the whole story.  I brought it up cos I was worried when you said the name.  But the way you reacted...well.  I'm guessing he's been nice to you.  So I probably shouldn't have.

"You should make up your own mind about people.  But. Sometimes people act nice and really aren't.  You know this kid better than I do.  Decide for yourself if you want to read about it or not."

Reading the story?

Tyler had been reaching for the phone, but at his mother's words, he pauses, considering it. It takes him a few moments, as he struggles with the right thing to do, but finally, he lowers his hand. "It's too much like listening to rumours. I know who he is." He still looks curious, but he seems convinced he made a good decision.

Though he forgot earlier, in his excitement, he does glance up towards the sky now. When he was upset, the storm started, but there's been no thunder or lightning since he cheered up, and he only now is noticing it.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:06, Thu 10 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 187):

The sky does look like it is clearing up.  Maybe today will be good weather after all.

Mom decides you guys will eat lunch there as well as ice cream.  The burger is a good, greasy mess.  The fries are still hot from the fryer.  And the ice cream is perfect.

---

Later that evening, Mom says she's taking a bath.  She'll take a long hot bath with Epsom salts and flower smelling stuff once a week.  It's her 'me time'.  Whatever that is.

There's a bunch of knocking on the front door.  A peep out the peep hole settles your mind.  It's Levi.

"What the fuck dude? Didja ghost me?"  He nudges past you and sighs.  He doesn't know about your cell phone. "Lemme bunk down here tonight man."

His Dad must be on a tear.

"So go back to what you were tellin' me."

"'Course not. My phone died on me, mom says it was a power surge. I didn't tell her it wasn't plugged in. And yeah, you can always stay."

He closes the door, locking again, then leads Levi to his room, so as not to disturb his mom. Then, he starts to talk, with some excitement, "Anyway, yeah, things like that phone were happening to me all week! A few days ago someone touched my shoulder and got a huge shock, and I didn't feel a thing, and I'd just been touching a metal ladder, so any charge should've grounded out! There's been other weird, electrical stuff lately too."

He sits down on his bed as he continues, pausing for breath for only a moment, "I decided to test it out and did the whole 9-volt to the tongue thing, and I didn't feel a thing! But then a ghost appeared, I think the blue guy that I remember seeing from that day in the summer, he led me outside all Lassie-like and there was a whole crowd of ghosts out there! They kept looking between me and the sky, and then a car horn honked and made me jump, and the next thing I know I was waking up in the hospital. Soon as the doctor that I wasn't hurt, he wanted to start the meta testing. They took some blood, and then I'll go in and answer a bunch of questions next weekend."

His story completed, he finally stops talking. For a moment, anyway.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 189):

Levi looks at you with a look he sometimes gives you.  Like you're an alien or some guy from Uzbekistan who's showed up and started speaking...whatever they speak there.  Uzbekian?  Uzbekieze?

Anyway.  He's looking at you strangely.  When you finish he shakes his head and peels off his coat.

"So you're seein' ghosts huh?"  He scratches his chin.  "I wonder if I am too."

He walks over to your window and looks out of it.  He points to a woman across the street.  She seems high or something.  She keeps walking into a light post like it isn't there.  She seems pretty banged up by it.  Her face is all purple.

"You see her?"  He waits for your answer.

"She followed me all the way over here. I stopped and asked a cop.  Cos she seemed kinda freaky.  He told me he didn't have time for jokes.  Cos he couldn't see her."

Levi is quiet.  He gets quiet like this when he's freaked out.  That usually happens when his Dad really smacks him around or when some of your classmates try to set him on fire.

Third grade was not a pleasant experience for either of you.

"Don't take this the wrong way.  But I hope this is all just cos we're high or somethin'."

Tyler stands up and moves to look out the window and then gives a serious nod. "Yeah, I see her. I think something happened to both of us this summer. The first time we got hit by lightning."

Seeing that Levi is freaking out, he grabs his hand to offer reassurance, like he has since they were small children, and says, "Yeah. Maybe we are, maybe someone poisoned the water supply or something."

After a moment, he continues, though keeps his grip on his friend's hand as long as he seems to need it, "But, that's what the testing is for, I guess. I didn't even tell them anything, yet, just the fact that I was hit by lightning twice and wasn't electrocuted was enough that they wanted to test. Mom freaked out, but I said yes. Getting struck by lightning is annoying. If it's true, maybe they can help me. And I really don't want to keep frying my phones," he adds, giving a tiny bit of a grin.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:07, Sat 12 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 191):

Levi studies you a moment and then looks out the window at the woman.  When he speaks, he sounds like he's somewhere far away.

"Well.  I don't wanna get poked at or stuff.  So don't mention me when you do these tests, 'kay?  I'd rather stay off the grid for as long as I can."

'Off the grid'.  It's something his Dad will rant about, even when he's not drunk.  How long has it been since you've been to Levi's house now?  Two years?

Levi turns away, punching you in the shoulder.  "Anyway.  I hope they don't find out about your secret power of making smelly farts.  Cos you can cut some mean ones ya know..."

I was going to move us on to the meta testing unless you had something you wanted to touch on first.  We will be skipping about four days in game world time.  Thanks

Tyler gives a quick nod and says, "Yeah, I wasn't going to mention you unless you wanted me to. Promise." He says this last word as if it had all the seriousness and weight of an oath to the court not to lie.

Then, at the joke, he laughs, and says, "I do not!"

I'm good to jump forward!

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 193):

Friday, Mom takes you downtown to a big building near where the government buildings are.  It's not a hospital, which may or may not surprise you.

The two of you ride up to the twenty third floor and take a left out of the elevators.  There's a glass door that reads

OFFICE OF META AFFAIRS.

There's some other stuff, but Mom is pushing the door open before you can read it.

The two of you settle into a waiting room after Mom checks in at a desk.  There's a man reading a magazine.  He has an eyepatch over his right eye.  From under the eyepatch a soft white and red light seems to glow.  Across the room, a heavy set woman frowns at the ceiling.  She mutters to herself as she waits with her arms crossed.  You can hear a few snatches of her ramblings.

"...oh. So they  powder the angel's wings and make tea with it to cure rheumatoid arthritis? I wouldn't have thought that would work..."

A young family sits by themselves.  Between the mom and dad, a girl maybe about five is sitting, watching her shoes as she kicks her legs back and forth. The girl's hair is on fire.  She doesn't seem to be in any pain and the fire emits no smoke.  Her parents take turns glancing down at her with worry spread all across their face.

Finally a woman with glasses hanging from a chain around her neck comes out with a clipboard.  "Tyler Thompson?"

She smiles at you as you come up.  She nods when Mom gives you her name and then replies, "Yes.  I'm Candice Kardell.  I'll be handling Tyler's test for today.  I will be testing him alone, but you can wait in the area I told you about over the phone."

Mom frowns but nods.  She touches your shoulder. "Okay.  Go with Candice honey.  I'll wait for you.  Be good."

Candice leads you down a hallway and into a small room.  There's a short table, two chairs, and some boxes set to one side.  Candice sits down in the chair furthest from the door and puts her glasses on her face.

"Okay Tyler.  Thanks for coming in.  Now.  What I'm going to be doing involves some psychological and risk factor testing.  I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions and ask you to look at some things.  It does take a little while, but hang in there.  'kay?

"But first," Candice sets down the clipboard and takes her glasses off, letting them hang off the chain.  She gives you a big, friendly smile. "Why don't you tell me what you think about all this?  Tell me what's been going on and what's been happening.  I've read the reports and talked to your mom.  But I want to hear what you have to say about it please."

Feel free to just give me a summary instead of a long dialouge block.  I just mostly need to know what you don't tell her.

Thanks

In the waiting room, Tyler tries but can't quite hide his curiosity at the girl with the fiery hair. Otherwise, he just fidget nervously while they wait.

He follows after Candice at a more slow pace than his normal, showing his nerves, but once in the room her explanation seems to relax him.

"I feel... Scared, I guess? Not for me, but what if it happens again and someone's standing beside me?"

Further relaxing with her cheerfulness, he tells her almost everything, as he's been psyching himself up to do all week. Starting with his memories of that day in summer, the blue guy and Levi - though not by name - saying he was glowing and the feeling of being wrapped in cotton, all the way to frying his phone and noticing the weather changing with his mood.

The only parts he leaves out are Levi seeing the ghosts too, and breaking into a crime scene. The former because of his promise, and the latter because he doesn't want to go to jail.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:49, Tue 15 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 195):

She makes a lot of notes as you talk. She then glances at a file sitting at her elbow.

"Your medical said there wasn't a history of epilepsy.  That sound right?  You ever have seizures?  Or black outs?  Or moments where you smell things that aren't there?"

She listens as you say no and then picks up one of the boxes.

"Okay.  Now, we need to do some testing."

It's mostly intelligence testing stuff.  Like you've had before.  Candice smiles and nods quite a bit.

"Well that's fine!  You are smart young man!"  She puts away the tangram puzzles she had you completing and picks up a different, smaller box.

"Okay. Now we're going to move to some tests that might seem a little strange.  But part of the tests are for...situations that we can't attribute to genetics.  Okay?"

She opens the smaller box and takes out a small ring.  It's just a band of what looks like bronze with a black stone set on it.

"Put this on please."

The ring is very cold to the touch.  It looks too big for your finger, but it slides on tight like it was a perfect fit all along.  You notice the black stone seems to be more a bluish color.

"Good. Now set that hand flat out on the table.  So I can see the stone on the ring.  Good.  Good."

She taps a finger beside your hand.  "This ring is kinda special.  The short version is:  if you lie about anything, the ring will suddenly glow red.  Go ahead.  Lie about something."

She smiles at you gently.  If you tell a lie, the ring glows a sudden red.

"See?  Now I need you to keep your hand on the table please."  She reaches back into the box and pulls out a pair of brass knuckles.

You are pretty sure that is what they are.  They are definitely made of brass and, as she slides them over her knuckles and makes a fist, you are positive that she has just put on a pair of real, honest to goodness, brass knuckles.

She smiles at you.  Though it seems a bit less...friendly...than it was when you started.

"Now. Answer my questions quickly and confidently.  Are you planning on killing anyone?"

Tyler answers the initial questions without hesitation, and doing his best at the intelligence testing even though he finds it somewhat boring since he's done then before and they're always so easy.

Then the ring comes out, and gets more interesting.

When asked to lie, he goes with something silly, "I was born on the planet Krypton."

His cheerfulness drops as he sees the brass knuckles, suddenly nervous. But he answers immediately, "No way, not ever."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Wed 16 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 197):

Candice's smile becomes flatter.  She knocks the table top with the brass knuckles.

"Have you ever considered the overthrow of the Canadian government?"

She continues along this line, asking you questions that make it sound like you're some kind of comic book super villain.

Her seventeenth weird question is

"Are you human?"

And suddenly the knuckles make sense. Though, it doesn't make it any less scary.

He answers every question quickly and honestly, which isn't hard. He continues to fidget, though. When asked if he's human, he answers quickly again, "Yeah." Nervousness keeping him concise, in case a joke might anger her.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:36, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 199):

The ring flares for just a moment.  But the color isn't red like she said it would be.  It's kind of a soft green.  Then the ring goes back to just being dull.

She stares at the ring for a moment, and then nods.  "Okay.  You can come out of it now."

You blink after she says that, your breath coming out of your mouth in ragged gasps.  Candice is seated across the table, hands folded in front of her, the warm smile back on her face.  There are no brass knuckles on her hand.  You can't see them anywhere on the table.

She leans forward slightly.  "You okay?  Need something to drink? Just try to breath slowly.  Let me know if you start feeling any pain.  Or if you think you might black out."

She waits until you have your breathing under control. If you want something to drink, she gives you a cold can of Fresca she comes up with from somewhere.

"Remember I told you the short story about that ring?  Well, here's the long version.  What that ring does is create an illusion.  It makes you think you're in a situation where you have to tell the truth.  I'm sure you never had an intention of not giving an honest answer to any of my questions. But there are some we have to ask and be sure we get a truthful response on.  We can't use telepathy on you without your consent.  And some people...well. Some people won't tell the truth no matter what.  So they make us use that test.  Whatever you saw, it wasn't real." She is quiet a moment, and then adds, "I'm sorry.  It's the only part of the testing that's like that.

"You okay?  You want to go on?  Want me to call your Mom in?"  She points at the ring.  "You can take that off if you like."

It takes Tyler a few moments to calm down and catch his breath, and he looks around a little in confusion. He had been very scared, but he didn't remember hyperventilating like that.

"Yes please," he answers, a bit shakily, when offered a drink. But the comfort of the sugary flavour calms him down more. Enough to listen to the explanation.

Even though it makes sense, and even feels like he's coming out of a bad dream, he has to take a peek under the table to make sure she hadn't simply hidden the brass knuckles before he's entirely sure. But, once he is, he says, "That's actually kinda a cool idea. And I understand, I know kids who probably would've answered yes to one of them. Just wasn't very fun," he adds.

He very much wants his mom, but he also doesn't want to look like a baby. So, instead, as he takes off the ring and slides it back across the table, he says, "I'm okay. It's like a bad dream, and anyway, it wasn't as scary as that first ghost I told you about, with the cat."

Before any further questions, he asks, "Why did it flash green when I said I was human? Was that the end of the illusion?"

Candice seems to hesitate just for a moment.

"Green usually indicates...well.  I guess you could call it an indicator that yes, that's the truth.  But there's more to the story."

She spreads her hands out on the table top, palms facing up.  "Now, don't get any funny ideas.  Your medicals show you to be a normal, healthy boy.  Though, you are a little short for your age.  But there is nothing that makes anyone think you're an alien or something else.

"But when we're dealing with Meta Onset Syndrome, it's usually brought about by three factors.

"First is puberty.  You certainly are at that age.  But there's nothing in your genetic makeup that leads us to think you are a mutant.

"Second is what's called 'Willful Artificial Onset'.  Basically it's guys like Borealis who build super powered armor or something like that."

She folds her hands up into a ball now.

"The last category is called 'Forced Onset'.  It's where some outside force causes the condition to occur.  It could be a chemical spill.  A meteorite.  Being struck by lightning.

"Can you tell me anything you remember about that first time the lightning struck you?  Anything odd at all?"

Please feel free to add any details or backstory on this you wish. Tyler already provided a written account of the incident.  So if you don't want to, Tyler can just say no.

Thanks

Tyler closes his eyes to think about that day again, putting all his effort into pulling out hidden memories. "I wanted to go to the brook because it's so nice to play there in summer. Comfortable rocks to lie on and relax and talk but water to cool off in if we got too hot. But there was a blue guy waiting for us on the rock. I don't think there was even a thunderstorm yet. But maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I think I wanted to talk to my friend about something important, and I was thinking about that, until I saw the guy. I don't remember what that thing was."

After another moment of thought, he says, "I remember going forward to talk to him. I don't usually do that, but I really wanted to know who he was. I don't think he answered. I don't remember much about after that. Le… My friend saying that I was glowing… Wait, no, he was pointing at me but he said 'it's' glowing! Maybe he was pointing behind me? I… think I was floating in the air, too, at some point. Like, I was above him, I think, but not by much. But maybe I was just standing on a rock or something."

Then, a moment later, he says, "That wrapped up feeling was scary. It didn't feel like a stretcher, but maybe it was. It felt like it was all around me, even my face. Like I was a mummy. I really, really didn't like it."

He makes a frustrated noise, slumping back as he opens his eyes again, and says, "I've been trying to remember it all for months, but it's all so fuzzy!"

I hope this is okay. I tried to add details without going too far. :-)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 09:27, Mon 21 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 203):

That works just fine.  Thanks.

Feel free to add in details about Tyler's life or the city or school.  It's Tyler's world after all.  We just dance in it.

She listens to you with a look of concentration and then makes some notes on her paper.

"Okay.  Thanks.  I think this tells us what we need to know."

She puts the paper into the folder she was holding and shuts the folder.  She then looks back at you.

"So here are the next steps.  I look at the test results from today and I write up a report.  And the doctors and specialists who looked at your medical tests write up some reports.  And then it goes to people a lot smarter than me."  She smiles again.

"I'll need to talk to your mom.  But I can say a few things to you now.

"You remember those three categories I mentioned before? Well there's nothing that has come up so far that makes us think it is puberty.  It's still too early to tell.  But there doesn't seem to be anything in your make up that would explain what's going on.

"You don't seem like you fall into the Willful Onset category either.  You would have had to build something or caused something.  And since you say you don't know how all this started, that seems to leave that out.

"So that leaves us with a Forced Onset.  And that's...it's tricky." Candice nods her head, as if she's agreeing with what she just said.

"The thing about Forced Onsets is that sometimes the person who's showing the power isn't really the meta.  They're more like a focus."

She seems to consider for a moment, like she's trying to figure out how to explain it.

"When I first started this job, I had to do an intake for a young girl who could suddenly start commanding spiders.  She was bitten by one and then a week later, she noticed spiders started popping up around her with more frequency.  And they would do what she said.

"Turns out, the bite was actually from a...we'll call it an alien.  The bite was actually where the alien had deposited an egg into the girl's skin.  The alien inside the egg was very intelligent. And telepathic.  It could pick up this girl's thoughts and transmit them.  But it only was able to do so to spiders.

"It took a few years for this egg to...hatch is I guess the best word for it.  Once it did, the new alien went off and the girl didn't have powers anymore."

Candice waves her hand.  "Of course, a lot of folks just get powers they can keep. But sometimes, it's only a temporary situation.  I do have to wonder if that is what we are dealing with in your case."
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 01:40, Tue 22 Dec 2020.

Tyler's eyes widen at this explanation. As frightened as he is of accidentally hurting someone with these powers, the idea of losing them seems, somehow, just as terrible.

Confused by his own emotions, it takes him a second to ask, "How do we know if it's like that?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 205):

Her smile softens.  After a moment, she shrugs slightly.  "I don't know.  But's it's something you may have to consider.  It doesn't sound like you're scared of everything that's been happening to you.  Is that a fair statement?

"The only way to know for sure is to try to figure out what's going on.  But at the same time, you need to be careful in how you approach learning about your powers.  If you can call lightning, what if you call it by accident when you're in the middle of a crowd?  You have to think about things like that."

She gives it a moment's more thought and then says, "We do have a program where you can work with someone who's a skilled meta.  Someone who went through the same kind of thing you're going through.  Your Mom would have to okay it.  But would you be interested in something like that?"

After a second of thought, he nods to the first question, then more emphatically to the next warning, "That's the part that scares me. Don't mind its happening to me, but I don't want to hurt anybody else."

Then he nods quickly again, not even hesitating, "Please! That would be awesome. Mom will probably be okay with it, if she knows about the lightning in a crowd thing."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 207):

"Okay.  I'll talk to her.  Let me walk you back to the waiting room."

Mom is fidgeting nervously when you come in.  She gives you a big hug, and then nods to Candice when asked to follow her for a quick discussion.  Mom tells you to stay put.  She'll be back in a few minutes.

The girl whose hair was on fire and her parents are gone.  So is Mr. Eyepatch.  The heavyset woman is still staring at the ceiling.  No one else is in the waiting room.

After Mom and Candice are gone, you figure out there are no interesting magazines around.  There's a long silent pause.

"You can see the lightning, can't you?"

The heavyset woman has rolled her head around and is looking at you.  She licks her lips, like they were very dry, and asks again.

"You can see the lightning.  Can't you?"

As his mom and Candace leave, Tyler flops into a chair after looking through the boring magazines and amuses himself by imagining what kind of practice he might be able to safely do. For one thing, though, he needs to measure the current between his fingers because going without a phone these last few days has been entirely annoying.

Lost in his thoughts, he practically jumps out of his chair when the woman speaks. He blinks at her for a second, then quickly glances over her for signs of mortal wounds. It's starting to become a habit when he meets someone that acts creepy. Still, he's polite, and he answers, "Sort of? I mostly see a bright flash as it hits me and then I wake up in the hospital. How did you know?"

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 209):

She raises a hand, pointer finger extended.  She aims the finger at you.  And then, after a breath, starts waving it around the area around your head in a haphazard wag.

"Your halo ain't right.  It's gotten..."

She peers closely at you.

"I dunno know what ta call it.  It just ain't how it's supposed to be."

She lowers her hand and then reaches for a purse on the seat beside her.  She snaps it open and rummages inside, returning with a candy.

"You wanna Tootsie Roll Pop?"  She blinks.  "You know they print all these pictures of kids doin' stuff like they did back in the old days on these wrappers right?  Well.  One of 'em is little boy in an Indian Chief headress, shootin' an arrow up at at star.  If you collect enough of these wrappers with that star, you can send them into the Tootsie Roll people, and they'll grant your wish.  I have 10,427 of them.  I don't know how many I need.  The Tootsie Roll people won't tell me."

She glances at the lollipop, then back at you, as if wondering why she's still holding it in her hand.

Tyler glances up over his head as if expecting to see something. But, then he looks back to the woman. He's confused, but not as creeped out as he was a moment earlier.

At least, that is, until she offers candy (the number one creepy adult act) and mentions having over 10,000 Tootsie Roll wrappers. Still, he tries to refuse politely, "No thank you. Mom probably won't let me get a Coffee Crisp on the way home if I have any other candy first." This is mainly a polite excuse, though it probably also happens to be true.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:16, Mon 28 Dec 2020.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 211):

She stares at you for a moment, then slowly nods.  She unwraps the lollipop, studies the wrapper, and then puts the pop in her mouth.

"10,428.  You should start collecting them.  You might need them someday.

"The play you're going to do.  Someone's gonna die."  She puts the pop back in her mouth and sucks on it, then nods at you.  "You'll see."

Mom walks back into the waiting room, chewing her lip.  She waves at you.  "C'mon.  Let's go."

She doesn't look happy.

Mom is quiet until the two of you get off the elevator.  She glances down at you as you walk towards the door.  "They gave me the name of a guy who could...'mentor' you.  Is that really what you want?  To be mentored?"

Tyler's eyes widen, and he can't quite find anything to say to that prediction. But then his mom is there, and he quickly moves to follow her out, not saying anything either as he processes those scary words.

The question distracts him, however, at least for the moment. "Yeah, definitely! I mean, if it is anything else I can figure it out for myself, but it's lightning! What if it happens when I'm standing next to you, or Levi again, or in the hundreds of people coming out of school at the end of the day? I don't want to hurt anybody."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 213):

She takes a deep breath and then slowly exhales.  Her trick for when she wants to calm herself down.

"Okay.  I'll give the guy a call.  But this.  Will. Not. Effect your school work.  Understand me young man?  All A's.  That's the deal."

The two of you pick up your phone on the way home.  Levi has lit it up with messages.

Well?  Did they figure out you're a super dumbass or not?

Most of them are in that vein.

Tyler nods quickly, and says, without any hesitation, "All A's, promise." Though, he pauses for a second and asks, "Wait, even gym class?" He's always struggled with getting any higher than a B in gym class, at least since he got old enough that they started judging more than just participation and effort. Of course, it didn't help that his middle school gym teacher had acted like he thought that it was intentional laziness that he was smaller than everybody else.

Of course, a B is still pretty good for most kids, but compared to the rest of the grades that Tyler gets on a regular basis, he always feels like it's a failure.

He checks his messages as soon as he gets his phone, and replies to Levi right away.

Super lightning rod, anyway. They didn't talk much about anything else, yet, except asking a bunch of questions to make sure I wasn't some supervillain. They told mom about someone who can help me learn to control the lightning without hurting anybody. Tell you everything later, you staying over?
This message was last edited by the player at 03:29, Sun 03 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 215):

Mom just smiles wickedly.  "All.  As."

Levi says he'll be over after 6.

You get a text from Sasha.  She wants to know if you can stay after school a couple of days this week.  The roles for Rocky Horror have been assigned out and rehearsals will start this week.  We have to start working out the lighting cues and go over the script for special effects.  Tim n Tom are all a quiver.

Tyler looks up and then asks as if continuing the conversation with his mom, "Then I can stay after school a couple of days to work on the play? There's a teacher there," he adds, though that's entirely assumption on his part. They wouldn't be allowed to stay if someone wasn't around, would they?
This message was last edited by the player at 04:56, Tue 05 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 217):

Mom sighs again.  "Yeah," she says, waving a hand.  "I figured that when you told me you'd signed up for drama.  Why'd you take that anyway?  Were you into that before?"

She glances at you, a skeptical look on your face.  "You never seemed to be."

Tyler shakes his head as he takes back a quick confirmation, and says, "I wasn't. And that was the point. New school, I wanted to try something completely new. And… Well, it seems like a cool way to make friends. It's the kind of class where I can't just memorize the textbook and pass all the exams. I have to work with people."

He looks up with a grin, and says, talking a mile a minute, "And it was just a total bonus that they have a techie group. And they really need me, they're pretty good at using the tech but they don't really know how it works like I do. The control board for the sound and lights was hooked up totally wrong, too, so I've been trying to sort that out. I'm on sound and special effects, so need the board to work. I also get to read all about how professionals make custom sound effects and special effects for stage, it's actually really cool stuff."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 219):

She smiles sheepishly but toussles your hair.  "At last.  A regular kinda answer.  C'mon.  Let's get brownies."

---

"Okay. So first things first, we make the prompt book."

Tanya hands you a razor blade.  You and the other techies are seated around a table with a copies of the script and musical score, two three ring binders, rubber cement, a hole punch, and lots and lots of copy paper set in front of you.

Tanya explains that you guys will need to prepare a specialized version of the script for both the control booth and backstage.  The books will have all the technical cues marked.  In order to make it, the five of you have to cut a rectangle out of the center of each sheet of copy paper, cement the page from the script or musical score into it so both sides of it show through the hole, and then put it in the binder.  In order.

"It's not all that bad once you get into it," says probably-Tom.

"Yeah.  It's just a matter of getting through it." says maybe-Tim.

"Just make sure you wash your hands before you go take a piss.  Right Tanya?"  Sasha giggles as she starts cutting up a sheet of paper.

Tanya rolls her eyes and then looks back at you.  "Any.Way.  Once we're done, we'll have to sit down with Alexa and run through the script-"

Sasha sets down her razor.  "Wait.  Alexa?"

Tanya looks anywhere but at Sasha.  "Uhhhh...yeah.  She's gonna be student director this time."

Sasha blinks a few times.  "Are you fuckin' with me?"

Tim and Tom are also both staring at Tanya.  Tanya shrugs.  "It's not a big deal.  At least it's not Anthony-"

"Un-fucking-believable."

Tanya sighs and stands up.  "I gotta go get some more cement."

She walks away, even though there are three full bottles in front of all of you.

Odds-are-good-it's-Tom leans over and whispers to you, "Tanya was supposed to be next in line for student directing.  But..."  He shrugs.  "We kinda get passed over for stuff like that."

Tyler grins at the mention of brownies. Even better than Coffee Crisp!

---

Looking skeptical at how this process will be useful, Tyler nonetheless starts to follow the instructions even as he listens to the initially confusing conversation.

After Tom's whisper, however, the usually calm boy is filled with sudden anger at the injustice, as white hot as only a young teen can feel it.

"But that's not fair! If it's her turn..." He says this loudly, not thinking to keep it a whisper.

This outburst is his only physical reaction, he doesn't do anything as dramatic as slamming his fist down, but his still uncontrolled meta abilities don't even enter his mind in that moment to try to control.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:02, Fri 08 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 221):

The room goes quiet.  Not just your table quiet.  The room goes quiet.

As you glance around, you see the others lining the walls looking your way.  The Goths and the  Artsie kids.  You've already picked up that the two groups don't get along.  But both sides look down on you techies.

Sasha snorts. "Damn straight!"

"Sasha!  Language!"  Baskins calls across the room.

All the Artsies start to laugh.

The-odds-are-good-its-Tim raises a hand at each of the two of you.  "Let's just calm down.  This isn't gonna do anyone any good.  It's Tanya's business.  If she doesn't wanna make a big deal outta it, we can't.  Even if it does suck."

The anger that filled Tyler drains away as quickly as it came, to be replaced by embarrassment as he realizes the whole class heard him. He slumps down into his seat in the silence, getting back to work.

Only once everybody starts talking again does he ask softly, "Why do they hate us so much? Our whole job is to make them look good. Without us they'd just be talking on a dark empty stage in their normal clothes."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 223):

Sasha glances at her fists.  She chuckles dryly.  "Everyone needs someone to look down on don't they?"

"Before we get too emo..."  Sure-as-shootin'-it's-Tim says.  "...let's just focus on what we gotta do."

His brother nods.  "The best revenge is a life well lived."

Sasha stares at him.  "What the hell does that even mean?"

More-than-likely-Tom scratches his cheek, turning a little red.  "Uhmm...it's better to just...keep your head held high? Hell.  I dunno.  But some old dead guy said it.  So it's gotta be right."

Sasha rolls her eyes.  "Okay.  Thanks for the philosophy.  By the way.  They made Socrates drink poison.  Now, what I'm thinkin' is..."  She glances around to see who might be listening in and then leans in a little closer.  "Maybe we should show 'em just how important we are after all."

Tyler sighs, "It means they are trying to make themselves happy by making us feel bad. So, if we don't let them get to us, they feel even worse. I'm not sure it actually works that way. The bullies usually just try harder. Or they pick on someone else instead."

He looks up to Sasha skeptically at her suggestion, and is quick to put in, "I can't do anything that'll mess up my grades. I need to get all A's."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:54, Mon 11 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 225):

Sasha sighs.  "Fine. If you're gonna get all rational about it, I'll be good.  But let's at least do the best damn job we can."

---

PE is just running laps.  By the time you get back to the locker room, it feels like your lungs are going to collapse.

Reggie puts his jacket on just as the final bell rings.  Time to go home.

"You ready?  Let's hit the train."

Tyler nods emphatically in agreement with that, and leans in to get back to work.

---

Tyler has to stop and catch his breath for a moment, so he's a little behind in changing by the time the bell goes. He pulls on his shirt and has to quickly tie his shoes before he's up and grabbing his own jacket. "Ready," he says finally.

As they walk towards the exit, he asks, "How do you get an A in that class? Is there some trick? I've been trying hard, but I almost fainted from lack of air back there." A bit of an exaggeration, though not a big one.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:17, Tue 12 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 227):

Reggie chuckles, glancing down at you.  "Well. I used ta box after all. So I'm used ta road work.  I think as long as you give it an effort, they'll pass ya.  But maybe think about taking up jogging.  Never hurts."

The two of you are on the platform waiting for the train.  Reggie looks back at you.  "Thanks again for the help on that arm.  You need any help on your project?"

Tyler blinks, and then says, shoulders slumping, "I forgot! This whole year is so weird I haven't even thought up anything really good for a project yet. I mean, the best idea I've had yet was trying to improve GPS accuracy with an algorithm to compensate for weather and geomagnetic activity... But you said the competition here is big, I don't know if that's impressive enough. On display, it's just a bunch of sheets and numbers. And I'm not even sure I could do better than they already do."

He thinks a moment and then says, "Doing something physics might be fun. Magnetic levitation maybe, but I gotta figure out something that hasn't been done before."

Then he asks, "Where do you get your electronic parts? I mostly get scrap stuff from my mom's work, but it's mostly the tiny components from phones, nothing big enough to breadboard with."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Fri 15 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 229):

Reggie twitches an eye.  "You might be sellin' your GPS idea short.  This isn't the typical school science fair ya know.  The judges are all professors from the university.

"Parts?  I go to the Scrap Heap.  You've never been there?"

He seems to read his answer from the expression on your face.  "Ha!  It's awesome.  When do you have time for a trip across town?  It'll blow your mind."

Tyler looks up at Reggie's reaction to his GPS idea. "Really? Yeah, maybe I'll do that then. And, even if it doesn't work, I'll have tons of data to present. And, I'll probably need to build my own device, I'll need my own phone for a control, so I'll need to build something with a GPS that I can program."

He looks up again, his face blank, and then says, "Is it a store? Or actual heap?" Either way, he smiles and opens his mouth to say something, but then pauses. "I don't know. But I'll let you know! My mom's setting up this thing for me, kinda like a mentorship. I don't know what days that's going to be yet, but soon as I know, I'll know when I have time."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 231):

"Scrap Heap is a store.  Kinda.  It's a couple that buys junk lots off labs an' universities.  Also a lot of the Hollywood film crews that work here sell effects stuff to 'em.  So there's always something interesting.  What kinda mentorship if you don't mind me asking?"

Tyler hesitates. Lying to Reggie does not seem right, but they still aren't quite that close yet for this secret. Not to mention they're in a crowded subway station.

So, he goes between, telling as much truth as he can, "It's to do with family stuff my mom doesn't want me to talk about. And I need to stay on her good side right now. Sorry."

Of course, this makes it sound like a psychologist or something, but whatever, he doesn't have to lie.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:20, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 233):

"Ah.  Sorry to pry.  I know how that goes."

Reggie gets kind of a funny look on his face for a second, like he's eaten a rancid Dorito, and then shrugs.  The two of you start talking about geek stuff like everything's normal.

---

"Hey!  How do ya leave a moron in suspense?"

You got off the train at your station and were walking home when Levi's voice suddenly pops into your ear.  He's come up behind you, leaned close, and spoke into your ear.

He grins, takes a step back, saunters around you, and starts sashying up the street, smirking at you like he's got a secret.

Tyler just about jumps out of his skin at the sudden words. After a moment of initial shock, he steps quickly to catch up. He gives Levi a light punch on the shoulder, saying softly so it doesn't carry too far, "I don't know, but you just showed me how a moron risks getting struck by lightning! Don't sneak up on me like that until I've gotten control."

That warning given, he's grinning again and asks, "What's going on?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:09, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 235):

"I can't answer without taking the moron outta suspense!  It's a little thing called 'humor' Dickweed."

The two of you tromp up to the apartment.  Mom has to make up a few hours at work, so she won't be home until late.

Levi flops on the sofa.  "What I wanna know is how come I can't call down the lightening?  I can see the dead people.  Or whatever the hell they are.  You think I got a different and much cooler superpower?"

He looks around the room, not making eye contact when he says, "So my Mom split again.  I don't think she's gonna come back this time.  You mind if I bunk down here tonight?"

When Levi's Mom does one of her 'I'm leaving this time for good', his Dad tends to be even worse.

Tyler plops down beside Levi, and answers his question about a cooler superpower, "Probably. Bet it's something really cool."

He nods emphatically to the next question, and says, "As far as I'm concerned, you can live here forever. Anytime you want to stay, stay."

An idea occurs to him then, and says, "You know, you might have the lightning thing too, maybe you just aren't as jumpy as me to find it yet." He jumps to his feet, going into his bedroom, coming back out with a 9 V battery and his multimeter. The former he gives to Levi, and says, "It's full charge, I just checked, touch it to your tongue and if you feel anything you're not like me."

Meanwhile, he hooks up a lead of his multimeter to the metal frame of the lamp on the end table to ground it, then takes the other lead in his hand. He's been doing this a lot, lately, trying to will the needle on the multimeter to move. Trying to find whatever thought or emotion, in particular, can cause the surge that fried his phone. And maybe get a tiny bit of control over his power.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 237):

Wow.  You really like pushing this story along, don'tcha?

Levi looks at the battery, then at you like you just farted-one of those really stinky burrito ones-, and then takes the battery.  After scowling at it a bit, he touches it to his tongue.

Levi then disappears.

Wasn't my particular intention that time! Neither player nor character expected that to do anything. :)

Tyler hadn't, in fact, believed Levi had the lightning powers. He figured Levi had a completely different power. But, the idea would distract his friend from his father, give Tyler a giggle at Levi zapping his tongue, and they can say they tried before going on to other experiments to find what it might be. Or, more likely just have fun goofing off with the general theme of experiments.

None of that happens, though. Levi vanishes in front of him instead. Tyler immediately drops his multimeter and asks in a very shaking voice, waving his hands through where his friend had been, "Levi?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:42, Fri 22 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 239):

"Ow!  You shitard!  That stung my tongue!"

His voice comes from the area he was sitting.  Just the voice though.

"Why do you look like you gotta crap out a brick?"

Tyler laughs a little in relief, "I look like this because you're gone!" He waves his hand again, and then says, switching from amazement to some excitement, "Invisible, and intangible! Like The Ghost and Phase in one body!" Referring to a rival pair of cape/hood from the Cold War era (or, possibly rival capes from different nations, in some stories) that have had books and comics written about them, "I guess we found your power!"

I was going to say Susan Storm and Kitty Pryde, but I then realized I'm in a world with actual superheroes and villains, I might as well make up a couple! Hope that's okay. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 23:53, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 241):

It's your world baby.  I just dance in it.

"I'm what?  Are you high?"

After a moment, you hear his voice coming from the bathroom.  "Shit!  I'm standing in front of the mirror and I can't see me!  I'm not there!"

You hear some thumping sounds.  Then you feel a smack against your gut.

"Huh.  Guess I'm not intangerine or whatever the hell you said.

"So what now?  How do I..."  He's silent for a moment.

"Hey.  Do you heart that?"

It sounds like there's a car crash outside.  A quick check at the window shows a car on the street ran into the back of a car that was pulling away from the curb.

Squatting on the hood of the lead car, like he was squatting on the ground to look at a pile of leaves or something, is a man wearing nothing but a top hat and a pair of boxers.  His skin is blue but then it's red but then it's gray.

As the drivers tumble out of the cars and start yelling at each other, Mr. Naked Top Hat Guy looks up, seeming to look around at all the windows of the buildings nearby.

"Ow, okay, guess I waved my hand in the wrong place. But, invisibility is still cooler than striking yourself with lightning!"

He blinks and moves over to the window. "Should've thought of that, a ghost found me after I did that experiment too. But you're harder to find."

In reply to Tyler Thompson (msg # 243):

The voice pops in at your shoulder.

"You sure he's lookin' for me?"

As if on cue, Mr. Top Hat hops off the hood of the car and cross to the side of your building.

He then starts to walk up the side of the wall just under your window.