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The Atom Family is expanding! Welcome to the brand new Atom Academy, a think tank and place of generally awesome super science and exploration into the unknown for anyone interested! Spurred by a brief discussion of the Atom Family last week and how one would go about creating someone for the family, the best options given current ages were either alternate universe Atoms, future Atoms or something inspired by Marvel Comics' Future Foundation. So, enter, the Atom Academy! Pretty much nothing is set in stone yet (not even the name, though I really like the alliteration), so anyone that's interested, let's have some brainstorming. Throw your ideas in, and we'll figure things out! Some of my thoughts, to get things started: - The Atom Academy is not supposed to be an alternative to Claremont. You can attend Claremont and still be a member of the Atom Academy, and the Atom Academy is not just for teens, but for heroes of all ages. - The Atom Academy should have a super science base somewhere in Freedom City, with access to wonders created by the Atom Family and members of the Academy. I'm thinking something in a mix of the Baxter Building and the post-Schism Jean Grey School of Higher Learning. - While nominally a think tank, the Atom Academy is not just for super geniuses. The main purpose of the Atom Academy is strange science adventures and exploration into the unknown! - Family matters. If the Atom Family was a family by blood, the Atom Academy is destined to become a family by choice.

Fourth of March, 2016, The Gateway, Goodman Building, Freedom City On its dais in the middle of the stark, open room, the circular Gate pulsed and rippled from the distortion of energy from an open channel to another world. For once, the Gateway was crowded, both with people and luggage, crates and moving equipment, Tesla and Maximus at their control stations the only people with much room to maneuver. Chase and Victoria were mingling with the swell of twenty-odd chatting, nervous scientists wearing A.S.T.R.O. Labs insignia on their jackets and hats, while Cosmo was darting about the room in excitement. The Moon Monkey had to get his hands on anything and everything new or strange, which with a crowd of strangers really was anything. His gleeful shrieking and intrusively curious hands sometimes got him a stern psychic warning, and by now he was much less hyperactive than a quarter of an hour ago. After the media circus outside, it was a pleasant and calming change of pace. The news that the famously secretive Atom Family and endlessly innovative Lab were making a joint ventire into a mysterious new universe had hardly been enough for the news agents and shouting reporters, but the fact that three superheroes were joining them, along with Freedom Cross biologist Tristan Delacroix and journalist Daphne Celeste, had packed the street outside the Goodman Building as fans and well-wishers screamed over each other to their idols. More cynical heads had shouted accusingly that the list of supers was blatantly calculated for news-worthiness rather than "true" value to the expedition. Where, for example, was Daedalus? Dragonfly? Miss Americana or any of the other technically-able or routine dimensional travelers? That had been the point. "People are easily frightened by the unknown, by choosing you" Chase had gestured simply to Terrifica, Velocity and Valerie Cain "we disassociate this expedition with the ideas people have that everywhere we go, there are our enemies." The Gateway glared with red light. It would soon be ready for passage into the Infraverse. For the moment, there was little to do.

Out of character thread for this, where some people go to another world to learn more about it

Summary: A.S.T.R.O. Labs has embarked on an ambitious(especially at their budget) expedition into the mysterious, sub-atomically-accessed parallel universe known as the Infraverse. There an energy suffuses the space between eccentrically-shaped planets in a dim red void, called the "lifeglow". Its attributes are many, including sustaining life all but indefinitely. With the help of the Atom Family, whose members are well-acquainted with this bizarre world, and some independent volunteers from among the super-powered and super-skilled, they hope to establish a beachhead and begin work on unraveling the lifeglow. The medical and humanitarian fruits alone are a tempting prize, but unfortunately the Infraverse is not without life and dangers all its own. Not to mention that A.S.T.R.O. Labs hasn't gotten there first. Who: 3-4, as always, is the optimum number. Preferably they would have something to do with super-science or controlling energy, but it's not exclusive to those. This is a long-planned trip, so feel free to have built something tailored to this mission if your PC has the Inventor Feat. Suggest back doors in case you end up having to drop the game part-way through, and of course talk about how your PCs might help or hinder each other over the journey. Special relationships with the Atoms or the Lab are also handy, whether positive or negative. What: Like a Star Trek episode, lots of talking and technical skills at the forefront, with sporadic and hard-hitting fights interspersed. This is primarily exploration of a strange new world. If you want more information, feel free to ask here or via PM.

GM The Gateway, the Nucleus, Goodman Building, 1961 40th. Avenue, Midtown, Freedom City, United States of America, North America, Earth, the Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Prime. 10.47 AM, March 17th, Monday, 2014. The silence had grown almost unbearable as Maximus and Tesla Atom prepared the circular arch placed on raised steps in the center of the starkly-lit room. Hands tapped out short commands on the aged yet ruthlessly advanced control panels on either side as power thrummed through the portal, a kaleidoscopic miasma of shifting colors and shapes revolving in the center as dimensional energies were harnessed for a journey to the uttermost depth of the omniverse. While the the older siblings did their work, Victoria and Chase watched the bulky readout monitors beside them, once or twice calling out a word that touched faintly the edges of the visiting teen's scientific knowledge. Cosmo had a job as well, the blue primate flashing from shoulder to shoulder as he searched carefully for errant insects suck in unwieldy human hair. The destination for the four young superheroines was felt long before it was seen. A prickling across the skin, a sense of rawness in the air and a growing sense of something horrible drawing nearer had gone on for agonizing minutes before- "Got it," Tesla Atom's voice rang out suddenly, a hint of satisfaction behind the steely words as she swept her hand across a quartet of buttons, green energy flowing from her fingers to keep the triggers down, "incoming door locked." she looked up, ponytail bouncing against her neck as she quickly checked on her brother "Max?" "Everything's fine, Tess. Outgoing door just locked, no problems." The older Atom answered with a momentary glance to her. Maximus briefly flickered and passed wraith-like through the panel, solidified enough to check an errant power cable, give it a cautious nudge, and then drifted back to his station with a a relieved smile. It soon vanished though, replaced by a deep frown. "Stand by, Terminus Tunnel opening...now!" And with that, the mouth opened. Air rushed through the Gateway, a deep howling that had begun as the last word fell rose to a deep thunder, and the room trembled as a roiling whirlpool of red and white gaped before the four heroines and four Atoms. Cosmo screamed and vanished in a flash of light to reappear trembling on a rafter, and for a moment nobody said anything more, until Chase stepped over to the visitors. Regarding them with his earnest, penetrating eyes, he said in a quiet voice that cut through the howling wind "We'll shut the outgoing door the moment we know you're through, but like we said earlier, just trigger the Passport," a small metal box sheathed in a faint yellow aura slid out of his pocket and floated over to Blue Jay, "and Max and Tess will reposition the passage to Sanctuary. We will transport you and anyone you can save out of the Terminus. I guess you'll want a 'good luck'. I wish you success." he gave a stiff nod and retreated to Tesla's station. Victoria gave the foursome an encouraging grin "Don't worry, Chase, it's not like they're racing in to beat up Shady Ironpants or anything, just a quick and quiet trip there, Tona grabs her people, they get back, yadda yadda, everything's gonna be fine." Reaching up to the ceiling with an elastic arm, she gently scratched the family Moon Monkey behind his ears "Sucks we're not coming with, I want to meet this 'Steam General' jerk and show him my new Atom Punch! But this is your gig, we'll stay put unless you need us." Miming a boxing motion she turned her legs into a stool and sat with Cosmo on her lap, stroking him gently from long practice. Tesla smiled a little "What Vicky said. Keep in touch, and good luck. I'm sorry we can't go with you. Could be there's someone we know trapped in there too." The maw of the Terminus Tunnel never ceased its seething, its flickering blood-bone colors giving the sere room an ugly feel.