It took some time but, in the afternoon, Anathema, Phoenix Psyche and Fathom were all meeting in a seclude stop on the Promenade. Shadow declined the invitation, saying he would soon depart from the city for work for the foreseeable future.

Anathema wanted to track down the meteor who impacted Earth just before the apparition of Asyncs. The timing of the events had numerous peoples, many with reputation for pseudo-sciences and conspiracy theories, saying that the meteor was somehow responsible (or was not a meteor to begin with). A few peoples with more credible reputation acknowledged the possibility of a link between meteor and Asyncs and were pushing for some research in that direction. In all most of the planet was more preoccupied with Async and gave the meteor only distant thoughts.

A little research let the group localize the impact point on the eastern side of the Emperor Seamounts, an underwater mountains East of Japan.

[OCC: Please, one post by character with propositions for what you think will needed for the adventure.]

Star Phoenix was glad he had not waited for Anethema to come back as over the next two days she never looked back at him from a reflection to continue their search for the Impact Stone.  It was just as well as he was VERY busy.

His fiery Phoenix trail across the skies of the world became a familiar... and in many cases, though not all, a most welcome sight! He had gone to work at his father’s computer firm doing the same ole day in and out monotonous materials testing for IC chips resistant to radiation for NASA.  Yeah it was work for NASA but it was far less interesting then when he left work and donned his costumed id as Star Phoenix and really did something directly helpful for mankind.

True to his word he had gone to Ethiopia on a parabolic orbital flight the whole trip taking 2 hours with his sub-luminal light flight in space it took more time to get to orbit than the actual travel across the globe.  Arriving in Ethiopia he was expected as his flight was far too visible for the media coverage not to track him with Satellites and early warning radar most nations had.  He was met as he landing came down at the airport by reporters and...Military customs agents that apparently wanted to arrest him for entering their nation without a proper passport or permission.  But the crowds nearly tore the men apart for their efforts to prevent him from healing the Ebola outbreak.  It was also really hectic as Justy did not speak the native language ...but weapons were useless against him and he spent the initial half hour creating solid plasma construct to keep the enraged soldiers from hurting the civilians or pressing media.  But eventually he got lucky and Red Cross representative met him and directed him to follow to the outbreak area.  The military soldiers who still tried to ‘apprehend him could not follow him in flight.  Justy guessed leveler heads came to their senses when it was realized he could not be stopped as attack choppers that attacked him in the air had no real effect either and they just followed him wherever he went.  But after 2 hours of blatant political posturing non-sense he came to the Red Cross camp and got to work.  It was far easier than he expected at that point and soon he was following the ‘Doctors without Boarders’ from village to village ending the viral outbreak with a touch of his hand.  The reaction from the crowds of grateful Ethiopians was nothing less than religious reverence.  It frankly embarrassed him terribly, but he was glad his efforts were saving lives and ending a pandemic spread to the deadly Ebola virus.

Everywhere he went was pretty much like this.  There were always some who tried to stop him but many more who welcomed him.  He was glade after Ethiopia he’d downloaded a language voice translator to his Cell phone and paid for a premium Goggle maps app as well!   The media was awash with the talking heads’ of pro and con-Star Phoenix pundits discussing the meaning of such a godlike being and other warning of conspiracy theories claiming him the greatest threat to humanity ever to hit the public eye.

Justy ~ just sighed and continued to do what he felt he needed to do to help those in need.

Weather he was saving people from a mudslides in India, or putting out fires in the US west coast by coating whole trees with solid air-tight plasma sheaths, or sealing a ruptured oil tanker in the Strait of Hourmuz with a solid plasma plug then sweeping up the spilled oil with a large plasma construct to gather the oil and pour it back into the tanker preventing an ecological disaster he was met with adoring crowds... but also protestors.  He even visited Cape Canaveral to discuss with NASA just how many and where they would like him to lift the 20 ton packages into space all over the solar system.  There were skeptics there as well calling him a fraud or accusing him of having some ulterior motive to helping freely.  He agreed for their scientific curiosity to lift an astronaut with him into space with sensory gear to get readings on his super-luminal flight speeds taking him to the moon, mars and back just to prove his faster than light speeds.

Star Phoenix had been VERY busy!

But eventually he got the call from the crew and ship he had hired that all preparations were ready.

So with no other way to contact her that he knew he took to the skies over Penmore City, and with his plasma constructs sky writ in glowing letters ~ ‘ANETH, BOAT READY ~ REFLECT TO ME STAR’

And he found a central building somewhere with nice shiny window panes and waited.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:01, Wed 18 May 2022.

Even with a dozen of her selves committed to monitoring the news Anathema still had a hard time keeping up to date with the exploits of the Star Phoenix. Even with the amazing power of a world-wide instantaneous communication network it still took time for things to filter in from overseas and Anathema's sphere of influence remained fairly firmly locked at about two miles. Traversing the oceans with her power was difficult due to the poor quality of the reflections.

It was just as well. Anathema had her own agenda to carry out and a mission to plan. She did not want to lean entirely on the others.

The first thing she did was acquire a bunch of mirrors of various sizes and shapes; small ones could allow communication with Fathom as she dove for the meteorite, in case Psyche's communication failed. A jar of chrome ball bearings could be thrown scattershot into the ocean to give 360-degree vision. She acquired a couple pairs of night vision and infrared goggles although she remained unsure how useful they would be in the depths of the oceans and definitely untrusting the electronic nonsenses. Although she could duplicate them infinitely within mirrorspace she found that realspace frowned on matter duplication, so three sets of each type -- one apiece for her, Fathom, and Justy -- ought to be sufficient. Most importantly, however, she needed a way to keep the meteorite safe once it was secured. She had ascertained the location of several large mirrors that she could use as gateways into mirrorspace; the largest such mirrors were in use by the world's grandest space telescopes, so gaining access to them might be difficult... without Justy's help.

Acquiring all these good was fairly easy, although she had encountered a small difficulty early on...

---

"Pay?" Anna had asked innocently.

"Yeah. With money," the man had explained, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. "You know, money?"

"Oh yeah! Capitalist value tokens used to exchange for goods and services! I don't have any of that."

"If you can't pay I'll have to ask you to put all this back."

"Awwww, okaaaay..."

She had returned later that night and simply taken the items she wanted. She left a little note in their place that simply read 'sorry!' with a crying emoji face. She would pay them back! Someday!

---

Just a small difficulty!

Anathema also tried to figure out more about their mystery attackers. She hadn't thought about them very much at the time -- after all, money was apparently very important to have in this weird backwards society -- but after speaking with Fathom she had started questioning their motivations. If she didn't know better, it would seem that between the four of them they formed a perfect team for the meteor retrieval. A water specialist, a cosmic specialist, a communications officer, and an ideas person. Could it be that they had been specifically brought together for a purpose? It seemed a little too neat. Anathema likes things orderly, but the universe is chaotic and messy and when things look too orderly on their own she gets suspicious.

---

Two days pass, and the Star Phoenix makes his presence known as only he can. Anathema quickly concludes her current order of business and then mirror-bounces her way to the plasma lights.

"Hello Justy!" Anna's voice booms from the entire side of a skyscraper, her fifty-meter-tall image waving at him. "You have been very busy! Like a hypothetical monster composed of beaver and bee parts! A beever!"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:15, Fri 20 May 2022.

Star Phoenix, was not expecting a 50'ft tall image of a NAKED blue circuitry woman to appear on the side of the entire skyscraper... and he started in surprise his phoenix aura flaring largely.  His reaction treating the entire city to a display of 50 foot tall Anathema image in all her ... bareness ~ with a flared burning phoenix expanded to some 30'ft in wingspan hovering next to the downtown glass and steel tower refracting fiery light city wide!  Quite a display to say the least.

Star Phoenix recovered his composure drawing the power back in to reduce his phoenix aura back down to its 15'ft wingspan and smiled 'brightly' as only he could, for Anathema thinking, {Yep..should have expected THAT, she has no personal propriety or filter 'chuckle'}...

Star Phoenix snapped his fingers dismissing his solid plasma sky writing and spoke his voice crackling with power, "Oh, Hi Anathema!  I hoped you were ok, you never came back or ..er Reflected to me what your search for Fathom, I eventually saw her on the news with the press conference and the 'Mind Powers Girl' ~  Saturn Girl?"

"Anyways is the boat and crew are ready with recovery and scanning equipment, I've made inquiries with the national meteorological society and have fairly narrowed down the area of where off the coast to start our search for the meteor impact.  Have you make any preparations that need to be stowed on the ship, and have Fathom or 'Saturn Girl' agreed to help?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:15, Fri 20 May 2022.

Life for Psyche has been surprisingly peaceful of late. Seeing Justy do his hero thing on the news is... well, it's heartening that he's trying to show that he's helpful and not hostile. Since he can take care of himself and he hasn't really tried to contact her since then, she decides not to worry about him too much (not to mention he was on a pay phone anyway, so it's not like she knows which number to call).

However, she hasn't had much contact with the others either, which is mildly disappointing, since they were some of the people in the same boat as her.

That is, until she is walking through the city one day when she sees 'ANETH, BOAT READY ~ REFLECT TO ME STAR’ in the sky.

"What the-?" she begins, before musing that the "Star" might be "Star Phoenix".

"Wonder what he's up to now?" she mutters while walking in front of a three meter tall facade mirror...

Star Phoenix was waiting for Anathema to come through her reflection portal when it occurred to him he at least had a way to contact the 'Saturn Girl' Telepath... she had mentally gave everyone her number or at least a number to contact her.

He created a small disc of solid plasma for him and eventually Anathema to stand on and talk in midair... but it also gave him the opportunity to land and shut off his burning flight aura.  Doing so allowed him to pull out his plasma encased cell phone and make a call.  Considering all the public charity work he'd been doing over the past few days.. eventually he figured he'd be identified and his life would change..again... it was inevitable.  So making a call to her from his burner phone was of little risk.  It also occurred to him he still didn't know her - 'Saturn Girl-Telepaths' name?

'shrug' Thinking, {She probably wouldn't pick up a unknown number anyways but its worth a shot.}

Justy dialed...

Psyche picks up the phone, though she doesn't recognize the number this time.

"Hello?" she asks, and they moment she says that she regrets it; there's a pervert who somehow managed to get her number and he's been pestering her to go out on a date with him. Hopefully this isn't him...

In reply to Psyche (msg # 7):

"Oh! Hi... er 'Saturn-Girl', its Justy.  Y'know.. it would be nice to have a even 'fake' name to call you by.  This is a burner phone by the way... but you can leave messages with me here.  Its off most of the time but I turn it on every 4 hours for 5 minutes. You might want to invest in one yourself. Sorry, I've aheh.. been busy. Thanks for the advice... I hadn't planned to be as confrontational as you seemed to take it.. but my gifts are kind of flashy.  Don't know if you saw the sky writing before it... vanished but I'd like to meet up with you. Anna wants to investigate the impact and I thought it would be a good idea to gather ... people we trust to help.  Have you had any contact with Fathom?"

It is clearly he is trying to avoid directly mentioning powers or events directly... unsure how secure the call is...  but even still some things can't be avoided mentioning.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:09, Wed 01 June 2022.

Saturn-Girl?

Psyche raises her eyebrow but then thinks Eh, whatever, and replies.

"I introduced myself as Psyche when we first met, didn't we? Anyway, I'm glad you're doing good out there. I saw all that space stuff you were doing on the news; congrats on actually pushing the frontiers of humanity forward. As for the sky writing, I'm actually in town right now and I just saw it. It seemed flashy enough to be you, but I wasn't sure how to contact you. Who's Anna, by the way? And yeah, I spoke a bit to Fathom, but I think she might be busy with stuff on her end."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:22, Thu 02 June 2022.

In reply to Psyche (msg # 9):

He pauses and thinks back, "Oh wow... you're right you did! So Sorry, that totally slipped my mind! Been calling you 'Saturn Girl' after the comic character from 'The Legion of Superheroes'.. she's a telepath.  Ok Psyche.  'Anna' is Anathema... you remember the naked turquoise-skinned circuitry girl?  Well we are down town... check to the west... there's a six story tall ~ again, naked, image of Anathema in the side of a skyscraper; not sure how your missing THAT, or my glowing phoenix aura shining across the cityscape!  We are trying to gather a group to go find possibly the source of our powers a meteor impact off-shore.  I already have a ship and salvage crew assembled.  Do you think You and Fathom might be interested in joining our search?"

{OOC: Gah! My bad..been too long between posts lost track of the fact you gave us a name.}
This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Thu 02 June 2022.

Psyche leans out around a corner where people are starting to point and raises an eyebrow - she was five seconds away from noticing the whole time!

"I was probably paying too much attention to my phone or something. Anyway, I see you guys now, give me a while to get there..."

Saying so, Psyche looks around for something she can use as a platform. But it's the middle of town and it's not as though... oh. Ohhhh.

Shortly afterwards, she spots the big image of Anathema and the familair form of Star Phoenix nearby. That said, she has no idea how they'll react when she comes in for a landing while standing on a manhole cover that's flying through the air... Out of courtesy, she lands and immediately levitates it far away from the others.

"Now, where were we... You want to go offshore and look for the meteor? That's not a bad idea . Any idea where you'll be looking?

Star Phoenix turns and waves at Psyche's arrival.

Star Phoenix has formed a floating solid plasma disc some 20'ft wide suspended upon nothing it solidly holds its position relative to the skyscraper next to it.  A 6 story tall image of Anathema peers out of the glass reflective surface of the building... of course as usual not wearing a stitch of clothing!

"Hey glad you could make it Psyche! Yep an off-shore 'expedition'.  Yes, generally, the American Meteorological Society tracks all sorts of phenomenon like meteor showers, storms ~ things such as that.  It took a little computer searching but I found info on the meteor strike off the shore of Pennmore City ~ freedom of information an all that.  Got it narrowed down to a general area.  The ship and crew have all the needed gear for underwater search and salvage...but I'm more counting on our powers to truly locate the meteorite.  The ship and crew are just a good place to rest our feet from our searches..even though they too will be looking.  Can't hurt to have more eyes on the task."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:21, Tue 07 June 2022.

Psyche ought to be rolling her eyes at Anna-thema's nudity but meh, she's met her fair share of weirdoes in her life and Anna doesn't seem like the nasty kind.

Well, so long as she doesn't start grabbing my ass, she shrugs, and then ponders Star Phoenix's words.

"Sounds like you've got everything covered, though if it's water-related... Maybe Fathom would be helpful? She's a champion swimmer, among other things, and I'm not sure if a constant steam explosion going into the water would be a good thing.

She glances at Star Phoenix for that.

Star Phoenix nods in agreement, "Certainly, Fathom would be Very helpful!"

He shrugs, "I have flown into water before... my aura is clearly not not 'just' fire as I can fly through space and still be on fire.  Its fiery solar plasma.. hydrogen and Helium in fusion.. I create that effect.  Usually.. my aura is just a light effect when my powers are active.  It 'seems' when I'm manipulating energy the aura appears but if I'm not I can sometimes not project it.  I can't seem to make it go away all the time.  Specifically when I'm flying OR activate my protective field those powers Always create the 'Phoenix' aura.  I apparently do not fly through some graviton manipulation.. no.. I'm a fusion rocket my flight is because I'm like a rocket engine my aura providing thrust.  So its fiery and burns.  My protective field is the same way.. its a sheath of burning plasma so yeah it burns.  In water I've noticed when flying.. the fusion reaction does turn the water to a seething aura of searing water.  The aura is normally 10 to 15 feet 'wing-tip to wing-tip', but in underwater it's almost double that size 20 to 30'ft.  So if Fathom keeps her distance all she should notice is the water being general much warmer near me.  I think the water actually provides more hydrogen fuel for the plasma effect, but I've conjectured the higher the pressure.. perhaps the smaller the aura of scalding water becomes.  Plus this is only an issue if I have my flight or protective field are active while underwater, I can just turn them off.  Yes, the pressure might cause me issues especially if I raise or submerge too fast... but I regenerate VERY fast!"

He gestures around him as currently he is using no energy powers at all.. just standing upon the solid energy disc construct he created as a platform... apparently these constructs are not sustained by his powers but have an independent existence outside his active maintaining them.

"Long story short... I should be just fine under water regardless of the depth.. I'll heal any pressure damage quickly, and I can easily avoid harming Fathom should she come along by just turning off my flight and protective plasma field.  My contribution being I'm like crazy strong and can dead lift over 12 tons without even trying! When we find the rock.. I'll have no trouble recovering it."

He pauses and blushes slightly, "...eh sorry? I know I perhaps talk too much.. I'm a physicist intern.. the whole science side of my powers is fascinating.  I guess I should have had a more efficient dream of super powers cause sometimes mine as inconvenient how they work and their limitations? A lot of my powers require my being exposed to sunlight... which I can spontaneously emit... but doing so severely limits any other energy power use."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:17, Wed 08 June 2022.

Psyche decides to place a call to Fathom and then sets it to speaker mode and puts it aside so she can continue talking to Phoenix and Anna-thema without having to focus exclusively on the dial tone.

Fortunately, her time with David has prepared her for the technobabble that Phoenix regales her with. In fact she actually finds it quite informative. At least he enjoys them, she muses.

"Well, it's good to know that working underwater shouldn't be a problem. I'd probably want a dive suit and an O2 tank. Better yet, I could stay on the boat and keep a lookout for things. Would certainly involve much less changing of clothes. ANyway, you mentioned being exposed to sunlight... which might be a bit troublesome if it's too deep. Have you considered that other people might be going after the meteorite too?"

In reply to Psyche (msg # 15):

Star Phoenix smiles, "Aha! You were listening Psyche, excellent! Very observant.. yes, sunlight IS a source of power for a number of my abilities.  But I have figured out a trick..."

He snaps his fingers and begins shedding from his very body a warm intense golden glow... briefly before he lets it fade to normal again.

"I can generate environmental effects like a star... I can create sunlight.  The problem is when I'm doing that... its all I can do. All my energy powers have to be dedicated to that environmental change.  No other energy projection powers are available when I'm focused on generating sunlight.  But it is sufficient for powers that require sunlight to work to function while I'm consciously creating sunlight.  Render me unconscious and that benefit fails and the powers that need sunlight stop again."

"As for other's seeking the stone... is a possibility.  But I'll not let fear of possible opposition reduce me to inaction... one way or another we will have to deal with it.  But we did act fairly quickly.. we'll see.."

"Anyway, our boat and crew await.. let's get to it... the sooner we get moving the quicker we can resolve this."

Fathom and her lawyers had been in conference for much of the day working out the details of the government Asynch program involvement.  They'd been particularly caught up on merchandising rights, of all things.  But Sarah's team knew what they were doing and they were convinced that this was going to be the next big trend in popular culture.

When Fathom answered, Psyche gave her the basic run-down, and Fathom made her arrangements.  She'd already been good to go as Anathema had advised that Star Phoenix had arranged some sort of vessel.  At least she wouldn't be in any trouble of drowning, she thought...

A week later.

The four Async found managed to find a ship captain willing to help their little expedition. Max Henderson was fifty-year-old but looked older from a lifetime at sea. He looked like the perfect stereotype of old sailor, something that he took pride in. Which was probably the reason he accepted to help the group: adventures were part of a sailor soul.

His ship, the Medusa, was a bit old (build during the golden age of Penmore City) but was clearly in good shape. It was a medium sized cargo ship, something who was disappearing in favour of the enormous cargo used today.
The trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that the four async were in the same cabin. But in the end, they were just above the impact site, and everyone was ready to go.

[OOC: @Fathom, I have something in mind for that, Muahahahahaha]
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:30, Fri 17 June 2022.

"I can scout the area, lay down some LED beacons with mirrors along the way." Fathom said to Anathema.  "They're going to attract all sorts of aquatic interest, so your vision might not be so hot, but it's got to be better than nothing."

"if this meteorite is associated with our powers and if there's actually anything big enough to have an appreciable impact, I'm betting it should have had an effect on the the local environment, too. I mean, we don't have any solid reason to think that it affected only humans, do we?"

Psyche briefly imagines the movie Deep Rising and her face scrunches up in fear and disgust.

"...I think I'll stay up here where it's nice and safe and there are no superpowered lamprey worms trying to eat me. But I can go down there if you think I'd be more useful with the meteorite."

Anathema had donned the trench coat again for their trip on the seas. This was driven more by matters of practicality than modesty; her highly reflective skin in the unbroken midday sun was something of a sight hazard which she wanted to minimize for her peers. Plus, the salty sea spray was making her metallic flesh feel blotchy and gross, just uuuugh~!

"I admit that the notion of superpowered giant squids had not escaped my notice," Anathema says. "I have not heard any obvious reports of eldritch monsters appearing on the news but it is best to be prepared for anything. I cannot say I relish the thought of fighting but if it comes down to it I think you will find I am tastier in a scrap than you would expect."

While they she plays with a bag full of highly polished ball bearings, making a somewhat obnoxious clacking noise as she rolls the heavy chrome balls in her hands. As they approach the target sight she dons a pair of low-light vision goggles and begins hurling the ball bearings overboard as hard as she can at semi-regular intervals. As hard as she can is not all that hard.

Psyche watches as Anathema does her imitation of a demented pachinko machine, and eventually her curiosity drives her to ask:

"Ah... May I know what you're doing that for, besides doinking the wildlife?"

OOC: I have an idea but conversation is good!

"Hehehehe, doinking~!" Anathema singsongs happily. She tosses out a ball bearing with a girly, dainty flick of the wrist with each repetition. "Doink, doink, doink. That is a fun word!" She wiggles and giggles a bit longer before turning serious with such abruptness that it's like flicking a switch.

"The ball bearings give me three hundred and sixty degrees of vision, which combined with these goggle thingies-" she taps the device on her head, "should give me a rough idea of the local topography."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:48, Sat 18 June 2022.

Psyche pauses to try and puzzle out the potential mechanism of this vision. Apparently she can see through reflective surfaces, or something? But wouldn't that be kind of useless if they were underwater, where everything was dark...

Then she notices the NVGs Anna-thema is wearing. Clever clever!

"That's a brilliant idea! I wish I could do that, it would be like having miniature camera drones and such."

Star Phoenix had not considered how long it would take to get to the location of the underwater mountain where the meteorite went down.  It was infuriating waiting for the snail's speed, compared to his usual Mach speed flight travel, sea vessel to lumber across the seas to the location.  He pondered leaving the ship and coming back in a week... but did not want to leave the women in the company of strange sailors without him there to make it clear they were not entertainment.  It was probably unnecessary concern... but he felt responsible since he hired the crew and ship.

He did make one foray from the ship... going trans-orbital and a quick light speed jaunt to Paris to purchase a chic stylish woman's black leather duster. After spending a few hours healing and doing deeds of heroics in France. Wrapping the longcoat in solid plasma for the return flight to the ship.

The evening he knocked on Anathema cabin door {or entered and knocked on the bathroom mirror to get her attention} and presented it too her, "Hey, I was in France earlier today... helping out.. healing y'know..my thing... when I saw this duster in a fashion window.. and it fit your ..er proportions perfectly.  Uhm, so I thought it would go particularly well with your metallic skin-tone.. and protect you from the elements, better than that hobo's ratty trench coat you wear.  Perhaps, when this is done.. I could take you to get some nice clothing you like... if you're like into that...?"

Regardless how she accepts or rejects his 'gift' he leaves the duster with her...

Star Phoenix stays around the ship mostly watching the crew and trying to learn a little about sailing and the salvaging equipment and underwater sensor equipment they brought...

When finally the ship arrives he watches as the crew get ready to start doing the sea floor sonar and radar sweeps.  Consulting with Captain Max Henderson to coordinate the crew's efforts with the Supers searches so no effort is wasted.

He was on deck waiting for Anathema to do her remote sensing thing enjoying how she made everything a game.

He explained to the uncomprehending Psyche, "You see Anathema can sense perceive out of any reflective surface.. within about a 2 mile area I think... so the ball bearings have a 360^degree spherical reflective surface; giving her a Very wide angle to remote view through!"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:02, Sat 18 June 2022.

Fathom looked on with a confused expression.  "How does your seeing through the ball-bearing thingies get filtered by the goggles?" The dynamics of it hurt her brain.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:30, Sat 18 June 2022.

"I'm reflecting in that polehole thingus over there," she gestures at one of the ship's windows, "which propagates the fact that I am wearing goggles to all of my reflections. My instance in this reality can't see anything, but my reflected selves can tell me what they see!"

Star Phoenix smiles brightly at Anathema, "You are a Quantum Entanglement Marvel..Anathema!"

Anathema giggles. "Entangly~!"

The ball launched by Anathema made contact with the water before sinking rapidly. As it descended, Anathema could see fish swimming and the occasional human trash.

A crewmember of the Medusa who had experience in diving had explained that you could see mostly normally until 30m, after that light condition began to drop until 500m, after that you only had eternal darkness. Lucky, the ship had a reserve of underwater flashlight and aquatic torches.

Everyone was watching Anathema as she followed the descent of the ball. The oceanic floor at their point was between 400m and 450m and it took some time before the ball reached it.

At first, she didn’t see anything that could have been the meteor, but after a minute, she caught the glimpse of a light near the position of the ball.

[OOC: Here we go. Anathema, I made a Perception roll difficulty 20 for you, you failed (rolled a 9 so a total of 19). No more information than just a light at the bottom of the ocean.]

Anathema had been tossing out many ball bearings; she still has a half-full jar of the things at her feet. She makes idle and oftentimes asinine conversation as the vessel goes about doing its business.

Suddenly she stops and cocks her head. "Huh, that's odd. Ummm, here, let me try this..." She turns her back to everyone, kneels, and slips her shiny new trench coat (courtesy of the Star Phoenix!) off her shoulders so that it rests in a bundle around her hips. The silvery-blue flesh on her back ripples and shimmers before an image of what Anathema is seeing appears in her reflective skin. The image has a horrifying fishbowl perspective due to the curvature of the ball-bearing. "Is it working? Do you see it?"

Star Phoenix smiles appreciatively to see Anathema wearing the stylish black leather woman's duster; it does indeed look fabulous on her slender frame.  He must catch himself and come back to reality regarding the mission.

Stepping forward to peer at her naked back... trying to ignore the slender lines and shoulder blades of her hour-glass figure he swallows and comments, "Yeah a light of some sort that should not be at that depth.  Could you point in the direction of the Ball bearing were viewing here?"

He relays her indicated direction to Captain Henderson to begin their underwater terrain radar scans and reconnaissance salvage drone deployment in the indicated direction.

Regarding Psyche, "Keep us mentally in contact ok?"

Then looking over to Fathom, "Ok no time like the present. Shall we dive?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:05, Tue 21 June 2022.

It wasn't lost on Fathom that Anathema had ignored her offer of underwater LEDs with mirrors.
 Fathom had made the mistake of getting the LEDs and mirror setup without actually talking to Anathema about it.

But you know better! the little voice in her head said.  Anahita had been mostly quiet through the journey. Communicate!

This was, after all, the first test of how the four of them might work together.  Everything they did was going to be them figuring out what the pecking order was and how they were going to interact.  And the success of this might suggest whether there was even a chance of doing something in the future.  If Fathom could convince Star phoenix of her plan, it might not matter.  But she still had to hedge her bets.

By the time Anathema's little ball-bearing made it to the lower-reaches, Fathom was getting jittery-impatient. It was time to actually do something.

Hopefully Star Phoenix wasn't going to boil away half of the ocean.   Fathom wondered what impact his fiery presence was going to have on the creatures of the deep.

"About bloody time."  she muttered to herself, and let her robe and floppy-hat fall to the deck.   Her skin was iridescent blue all over, counter-contoured with shades of purple and cyan.  She wore a simple black one-piece racer out of respect for history and propriety.  She'd opted for a a simple black high-cut lycra racer, something she was familiar with.

Fathom nodded then  without waiting, dove overboard, executing a graceful arc into an dive with minimal splash.  Almost like she'd trained for that kind of thing.

Psyche raises an eyebrow as Anna-thema does her impromptu strip show. Was it really wise to take off her clothes in public, in front of a bunch of sailors? Still, Justy said he trusted them, so... good for them, then. Anna certainly didn't seem to care, and Fathom... well, she sounded like she'd make her opinion clear if she didn't like it.

"Uhhhh... It looks... kind of glowy? Maybe we could throw a flashlight over the side to try and shed more light, but that might not work as well as expected. Anyway, for light I think we could have Justy's firebirds try swimming over to them to light things up; assuming they can survive in the water."

In response to Justy's comment abotu mental communication...

"I can try to keep everyone in mental contact, but I should warn you that there might be a range limit to this; I haven't been exhaustively testing what I can do, but more than a few city blocks might not be doable."

PM  Private to Psyche.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Fri 24 June 2022.

Justy nods, "Right let's do this!"

He begins emitting sunlight, golden and warm... then steps to the ship's side and steps off the gunwales no graceful dive or leap and just plunges into the water feet first... sinking about 20'ft before igniting his phoenix aura for flight thrust...

The effect is .... substantial as the water around him volatilizes with a dulled muffled Explosion into steam!  The water ambient temperature absorbs most of the volitalization... but creates a substantial shockwave of expanding gases and steam that does rock the ship slightly and causes an area some 20'ft wide of steaming boiling water to rise to the surface.

Star Phoenix's fiery bird aura is hindered to an area of steaming bubbles that brightly emits light in addition to the sunlight he is already creating... and heats the water around him to a boil in a radius of some 15'ft... but the phoenix Aura is still presents... its beaked now boiling scowl evident at some hidden perhaps sub-conscious discomfort 'Justy' is feeling at the watery environment... or maybe .. some hidden consciousness to the effect separate from Justy, cause he himself is laughing!

_{"Hahaha! Well I 'should' have expected that.. this feels weird... not breathing water its hard to make myself heard forcing the steam or perhaps boiling waters past my vocal cords ~ but I'm not touching the water mostly just very thick steam... it..kinda tickles and feels weird.  Can you hear me Fathom?  Don't get to close.. don't want to scald you!"}

His voice did come through though as if muffled.

_{"Well let's not dally.. let's get to that meteorite..."}

His 'Aqua-Flight' maneuvering does seem less agile but he continues to have full control over his flight path and direction...

He turns and heads in the direction of the meteorite leaving a trail of boiling steam in his wake that quickly begins to cool in the vastness of the ocean's ambient temperature his brightly glowing Phoenix Aura still majestically flapping slowly it's great boiling wings as he descends into the depths...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Fri 24 June 2022.

"He's going in already? ...I think I will follow you guys down there after all. Give me a bit..."

In the blink of an eye, Psyche has somehow managed to go from a sensible jeans and shirt combo to a flattering hot pink wetsuit and rebreather, and then she goes in after Fathom and Justy do.

The group began to slowly descend toward the mysterious light. Fathom was obviously in her element and was easily swimming around, the other was not that lucky has they were forced to swim like human or use powers who were not made for water.

But they were not pressed by time, and they finally arrived at the bottom of the ocean. The light could be see shining nearby.

[OOC: I remind that the Flight effect is reduced to rank 1 if you use it. Now I need a Perception check for everyone, DC20.]

Oh, yeah, dice. right.  Naturally, the dice rallied against me.

Goosebumps rise on Psyche's body as the chill waters of the Sea of Japan close over her. It's not painfully cold, but it's definitely a little unsettling. She can swim, but that's from her high school days. Though she has powers to help her out now, the sight of the infinite blue depths is a memento mori in its own right.

Ah, hello? Testing, testing...

OOC:
17:17, Today: Psyche rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  Perception.

Star Phoenix continued to mover smoothly through the water slow but steady leaving a wake of boiling water and steam.

He could almost make out the source but his own steaming aura of boiling water and emitted sunlight tended to drown out detailed visuals...

21:17, Yesterday: Star Phoenix rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Star Phoenix - Perception [+4]. – 17

[OOC: Not to put too fine a point on this but the 'Aquatic Flight' extra on flight is a flat 1pt and allows flight in water with only a -2rks to the flight speed ranks.  I 'could' theoretically get that with the expenditure of a Hero point.]

The group was near the source of light but is was difficult to see anything underwater, especially this deep. But while Phoenix and Fathom were focused on their objective, Psyche paying more attention to her surrounding. Which was lucky has she was the only one to see three large shadows who were sneaking behind the group. One of them was close enough to be partially in illuminated by the aura of Phoenix and Psyche could see many teeths.

[OOC: I assume you will try to warm the group so everyone initiative test please.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:25, Tue 28 June 2022.

Star Phoenix, given warning turns to see the approaching shadows and maneuvers between their approach and the two women, activating his Plasma Shield... which again adds more heat to the water causing another more powerful steam explosion and pressure wave for the rapidly boiling water in his energetic surroundings as both flight and his 'force field' are nothing more than tightly controlled fusion plasma effects that create solar plasma for thrust and as a field of annihilating energy to protect him from damage.

Hopefully, whatever is approaching will be frightened into withdrawing if not by the huge 500'ft radius sunbright zone of light directed at them {something unheard of at these depths} or by the rapidly expanding explosive wave of boiling water produced by his dual plasma flight and force field powers!

The effects underwater are... quite explosive.

He directs his area of created sunlight to illuminate and totally eliminate any shadows concealing the approaching shapes...

15:00, Today: Star Phoenix rolled 23 using 1d20+7.  Star Phoenix - Initiative [+7]. – 23

Actions -
No Action: Turn on Protection - "PHOENIX Plasma Sheath" {Force Field} Protection: 8 (Cosmic, Elemental, Good, Fire, Heat, Light, Radiant; +8 Toughness; Impervious [+1rk/Rk], Sustained [+0rk], Noticeable: “Burning Phoenix Aura” [-1rk], Side Effect 2: Always – Contact Sets Surroundings on Fire [-2rk/lvl])
Free Action:  Direct Active Environmental power: Light {Bright} - ”Control Fire/Plasma {Environment}”: {Environment} 6 (Alternate; Cosmic, Elemental, Fire, Heat, Light, Radiant; Heat{Extreme}, Light{Bright}, 500’ft radius)
Move Action:  Move to position himself between the approaching creatures and Fathom and Psyche - Making certain to keep them far enough away so as not to scald them with his boiling plasma aura
Standard Action: Total Defense {+4 Defense} w/Defensive Attack {+5Defense/-5Attack} = Defense Dodge/Parry 29
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Mon 04 July 2022.

Naomi is too busy trying to avoid the steaming wake Phoenix is leaving behind himself to notice the environment around her, but when she reaches out with her mind on her usual "is everyone connected" sanity check and picks up more intelligences in the water...

...Well, it's a good thing she was mentally prepared for this. Otherwise she might have had an accident.

Looks like giant evil sharks in the water! Get ready, everyone! She thinks over the group's mind link as she calms herself down and considers what she can do in the water.

That would be Fathom's territory, she muses.

OOC:
Ack! Got a sudden burst of work last week and forgot to check! So sorry.

19:11, Today: Psyche rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  initiative.

She will Mind Scan the nearest thing in the deep, a Perception range standard action effect check.

19:19, Today: Psyche rolled 15 using 1d20+10.  Mind Reading Effect Check.

Hopefully that yielded something. For reference...

SUCCESS DEGREE OF CONTACT
1 Surface thoughts: You can read what the target is presently thinking. Mind Reading transcends language; you comprehend the target’s thoughts whether or not you share a common language.

2 Personal thoughts: You can probe deeper into the target’s mind for information. You can essentially ask any one question and receive the answer from the target’s mind. If the target doesn’t know the answer, then you know that as well.

3 Memory: You can read the subject’s memories and recollections. This allows you to perceive them exactly as the target recalls them, one memory per round.

4 Subconscious: You can read memories from the target’s subconscious, things even the target does not consciously know. This might mean repressed or hidden memories, deep-seated psychological traumas, or even other personalities.