ic Do students ever show up early? (OPEN)

[Exaccus]

"haha, i'd advise against the smoking thing...wanna hit up the breakfast club in the caffeteria?" he offered helpfully " its not good to go skipping meals in general classes here can get a bit...intensive now and again, important to keep topped up." he says in his Ernest way "that and if you got special dietry needs might be good to go and get acquainted."

 

"If ya tank's full we got a number of facilities on site that you can make use of in your free time during or after the school day, the gym as i've mentioned, big library with computer access, sports facilities and like." he offers, these are the places he had personally spent the most time in, though he was certain there were probably many more intresting things than that.

 

"Anything else you'd probably be better askin one of these fine folks about, they're my usual haunts when im not in class"  he says gesturing to the other students none committally "Or waiting to be given the official tour i guess!"

Edited November 30, 2017 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Wow, that sounds pretty awesome" said Rev, exciting building at the prospect of all the facilities.

 

"I should probably hit the gym. Still recovering from my little accident. I don't need to pump iron, though, hehe..." she said, lifting her heavy bags easily with each arm. "But a bit of cardio. I was lying in hospital beds for months. Lucky I didn't get bed sores. 

 

"Got this little devil though" she explained, lifting her t shirt up a bit to show a nice central scar up her abdomen from where they extracted her spleen. "Scars are though cool, right?" she asked the group. 

 

She thought they were cool anyway. 

 

"I'd probably be cheating if I played sports though. Now I think about it, I would be a great basketball player, huh!"

 

 

[BlazingCoconut]

Alexa blushed as Rev casually showed her scars and midriff, but started walking with the small group as they began to make their way across the campus.  While there was nothing overtly wrong about it, the sense of casualness in which she did embarrassed her in a way that she couldn't really put a finger on.  However, breakfast sounded like a fantastic idea, even if a part of her was itching to wait outside the dean's office.  She was going to really have to work hard to fit in here and remember that things were done differently.  At least, looking at Rev's arms, being reminded that things were different would not be all that hard.

 

"I was a runner in school back home," Alexa ventured.  "Although, I am not sure that I would compare with anyone who is here."  The last part she said looking at Mona and realizing that any mundane skills that she had were likely to be eclipsed by people who had fantastic powers.  "Still, if you don't really run too fast, I would be happy to run with you.  Why were you in a hospital?  If it is not too personal, what happened?"

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Hey, brains" laughed Rev. "I don't run any faster than you. Fly, now that's a different matter! Fully jet powered!" she explained. "But I always preferred driving to running. That's how I got the scar, and ended up in hospital. Got these steel arms and steel legs, too" she explained, walking slowly. 

 

"It was my own fault. I hung with a street gang. We boosted cars, raced them. Did all kinds of crazy. We had a good time, you know? But living like that, it's going to south sooner or later. And it went south big time" she explained, a trace of bitterness in her mouth. 

 

"I spent months in hospital. Thought I was going to die. When I found out how smashed up I was, I wanted to die. But I guess somebody was looking out for me, because whatever I was missing, I grew back. But steel, not bones or skin"

 

She hefted her bags easily. "I'm lucky, I guess. Jet powered cyborg girl. But I'm not going to win any beauty pageants. I would kind of like to look normal again..." she said, both happy and sad. 

[Exaccus]

Alexander felt his face flush with embaressment, he'd always been a little sensative about that kinda thing, he found it hard to socialize at the best of times, despite his upbeat and friendly demenor and was glad of the change of pace as they'd begun to walk, namely pointing out the facilities they'd passed as they went.

 

"haha, yeah i can see why you'd feel like that, having met mona but generally theres a "no powers" rule in effect most of the time without prior agreement between the competitors." he informs them "otherwise it'd be like turning up to the grand tour in random vehicles rather than bicycles."

 

he piped down when alexa posed the question of how Lexa had gotten her scars and listened intently "Thats rough..." he said gently, though he could never claim to understand what they must've been like for her he felt enough empathy to know that it must've sucked.

 

"You guys wanna hit up this nearby diner sometime? I love it, biggest greasiest burgers i've ever had....shakes so thick you can bend your spoon in em....my treat of course, once the week is done."

Edited December 1, 2017 by Exaccus

[BlazingCoconut]

Alexa smiled at Alexander, this was so perfectly typically American!  Giant burgers, diners and a crowd of teenagers, of course she wanted in on that!  If her hands hadn't been occupied, she would have clapped them as she enthusiastically said, "yes, very much please!  That would be wonderful!  Do I need to bring roller skates?"

 

Although what was more surprising was how she had not really noticed that Rev was half a machine.  Actually, she felt a little stupid right now.  That was not the sort of thing that you'd really think of missing, now that she was listening she could hear the gears and all.  This was something that she was going to have to work on, noticing things about people.  "A car crash, I'm very sorry... you must be... did you say that you wanted to look normal again?"

 

Even before Rev could reply Alexa was already thinking of materials that could certainly imitate the look and feel of skin.  Her eyes got a little far off look as she began skimming research from several materials companies on the latest polymer advances.

[Supercape]

Rev

 

A little surge of hope materialised in Rev. "Ah...yes...I mean sure?" she garbled. 

 

"I mean, the jets are great. And I kept being told how lucky I was, and how I should adjust. But honestly? you can get pretty bored of every body staring at you. I don't mind being the centre of attention, but this is too much!" she said, half forcing a little laugh. 

 

"It would be nice to walk down a mall without getting stared at. If you know what I mean. Just, be normal for a bit..." she explained, trudging a long feeling uncharacteristically self conscious. 

 

"But I guess I got to live with being all steel" she said, crushing her hope in a self reflexive defence. She had got good at that. 

[EternalPhoenix]

It was uncharacteristic of Mona (or her public persona/reputation, anyway) to listen for so long without chiming in at one point or another or running off somewhere. She worked on her banana flavored ice cream and said nothing and went nowhere. “I don’t run because I’m fast. I run because I like it. I can show you how to do it right, if you want.” She did informally coach some of the fellow running lovers at the school…not that she advertised doing so. She’d been running literally since she was old enough to do so, after all. It was the one thing (besides superheroics) she was oddly reliable about. She licked her ice cream idly. “I know where everything is better than anyone, too. So if you ever look lost enough, I’ll show up. S’my thing.”

 

Mickey, because they’d know each other literally all their lives, wasn’t surprised. Mona wasn’t a hero for kicks, after all. She did care about people. “I tease Alex, but I’m in the gym or weight room spotting people. Not every student comes here knowing how much superhuman strength they have. Or where their limits are. I’m pretty much the strongest one here, so I can help if anyone overdoes it.” He did not take off his shirt and show off how sculpted he actually was, not even in the weight room. He didn’t want to discourage people. His powers helped the growth of his natural abilities in addition to making him superhuman, after all.

 

Mona finished her ice cream at last. “One in Lincoln’s better.” The ice cream container seemed to simply vanish, but now resided in a nearby trash can. “Anyone can use grease, but they use spices to flavor the beef. It’s ten times better.” She looked, really looked, at Lexa. “Whoa, you do have metal arms.” She had an expression of sheer wonder on her face as she got all in the poor new girl’s physical space, examining said limbs closely. “I didn’t notice before…”

 

Mickey chuckled. “She really didn’t. My sister is charmingly oblivious to some things. Me…we’re all the Lord’s children, whatever we look like. I try to see a person’s heart, instead of whatever covers it.” He did have that boy scout style rep.

[BlazingCoconut]

As they walked, Alexa did pay attention to the people she was talking too, however, it was not uncommon for her eye to wander as she looked over the campus and its inhabitants.  Her damaged suitcase was towed behind making a hideous clicking whining noise as the abused wheels attempted to track with her.  "I do like to run, but distance running is better for me.  It helps me focus and stay in shape.  I also like to research while running, it's soothing," she replied to Mona.  "...and any tips would be good, even if I'll never be that fast."

As Mona began to fawn over Rev, she nodded to Mickey, "that is a very Buddhist philosophy.  You would fit in very well in China.  There is a saying, I think it translates like, 'flower and thorn are in the same stem'.  That's close to what you were saying, right?  Even if not, I like that thought very much."  She did smile at his casual mention of his strength.  That was certainly not something she would ever be contesting, and most certainly not with anyone here.  Her slim body did not have the muscles on it that anyone in the group seemed to take for granted.  "Although I do not think I will spend too much time in the gym.  I can barely lift myself some days."

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Metal legs, too" added Rev, pulling up her slacks to show her shins - such as they were. "And feet. Complete with jets" she explained. 

 

"I won't win any bikini competitions, that's for sure" she added, with a wink at Stalwart. "And not noticing them is nice. I mean, I don't know how you cam miss them. But its nice that someone missed them" she said, as if that was the most extraordinary thing in the world. 

 

It was certainly a first. 

 

"Well I doubt I will be in the gym, brains. And I can pretty much bet you have more muscles than me" she explained to Alexa. "Pretty much everyone's got more muscles than me..."

[Exaccus]

"not for this place no, more of a long and thin deal with booths, though a roller diner would be pretty fun too, Ill have to look into it." he answers after a moment of thought without breaking his stride.

 

"not much for it myself sadly, i'd be cheering you folks on from the side." he adds with a chuckle "much more into riding my beautiful bike." he adds with a soft sigh, the kind that usually follows thoughts of ones significant other, though not to that extent of affection. "Nothing quite like it you know?" he says over his shoulder to the new kids both.

 

he felt a deal of sympathy for Lexa though, for him, his powers were a source of triumph and moderate jealousy from his brother and others, whilst hers served as a constant reminder of a mistake. "hey now, don't get to thinking like that lexa,  the road to misery is a lot shorter than people think." he says softly "You've been given a second chance and the means to do good."  he wasn't very good at cowboy speeches but he did his best.. 

 

"yesterday is gone and never coming back, just gotta try and make the most of today, without worrying about tomorrow."

Edited December 2, 2017 by Exaccus

[TheAbsurdist]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"  Corinne held up her hands, as she frowned a little, trying to get a handle on this, as it spiraled out of control.  She was not a super genius, or a speedster.  She was still flushed from the dancing and earlier work out, and so she was trying to sort through things.  She blinked.

 

Then caught up.  Because didn't have home room, and today was, well her schedule in general  was weird.  Superpower ethics, and history, and... blah, blah.  Still she was a step behind, and being the people person she was, she tried to play catch up, even if she knew... literally none of them.

 

She caught back up with a little jog on her long legs.  "Uhm, yeah, Corinne Conrad.  Wait, did I say that already?  Junior, or close to it, playing catchup myself as last school year was... hectic."  She made a face as she walked along.  She didn't really talk about her powers, because they weren't the focus of her interaction with people.

[BlazingCoconut]

"Well..." Alexa ventured, "I mean, I know of a lot of polymers that would be wonderful skin substitutes.  Several of them are even self healing, well kind of to a certain extent.  Materials science has come a long way.  Well, I'm getting ahead of myself, but if you'd like we can start trying to get something made."

 

She still had that faraway look on her face, which for those that were in the know, meant she was browsing the internet in her head, skimming research and white papers as she considered the problem.  So she was a little caught unawares when Corine introduced herself, "hectic?  You had a lot of classes?"

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"You do?" spluttered Rev, almost falling over with excitement. "I mean, if you could check it out, that would be pretty awesome" she said, getting flustered with excitement. 

 

"I mean, I'm not saying I need anything fancy. Just to not look, you know, like a..." she hesitated. "A freak" she said, shamefully. 

 

"I shouldn't say that. I guess a lot of kids look strange here. And I'm not ashamed of what am I. But getting stared at all the time gets a bit thin after a while" she said, backtracking. 

 

"So whatever you could do would be pretty great!"

[Exaccus]

"haha, thats great!" facsimile felt himself beaming with delight at the good news that Alexa had given Lexa as his own thoughts spring to life.

 

"Lemme know if you need my help with anything yeah? Dunno how much help i can actually be but my powers are mimicry of substances and objects i touch, if this stuff is self replicating I'd only need a tiny bit to produce more." he offers simply as he stops to face the assembled students "Im sure i speak for all of us when i say we're only to happy to help when we can."

[BlazingCoconut]

Alexa beamed at Alexaner, "I think that would be good.  It will save me a lot of work and I am going to need to set up a lab anyway.  That's something that didn't happen at my last school.  Things were really competitive."

 

Then  looking back to Rev she shakes her head, "No.  You're not.  I think they look amazing... but I understand.  Sticking out can be difficult.  We'll work on something.  I am pretty sure I am getting a roommate, once I find out who that is going to be I can invite you over and we can work things out.  If that's okay that is.  I shouldn't assume things, but I get a little carried away.  If you're bothered now, I could maybe make it look more like normal temporarily.  Well at least as long as we're going to the same place."

 

 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Rev was stunned - was this possible? I mean, sure, she guessed, it was technically possible. 

 

"I..don't know what to say...they tried a few prosthesis in hospital but they either looked silly, like I was some kinda mannequin, or they melted, which made me look like some straight to DVD horror show monster" she said, eyes wide. 

 

"But if you think you can get some spray-on heat resistant plastic? I would kiss your sweet ass!" she finished, unable to contain her hope any longer. 

 

"I mean...you know, not actually kiss it. But you know what I mean..."

[BlazingCoconut]

Alexa flushed at the crude explanation although thankfully there was a clarification.  She had been pretty sure that was just a colloquialism, but since her frame of reference for American culture had been movies... well a lot was left to the imagination.  Besides, she wasn't really sure she had a 'sweet ass'.  Not like any of the other girls around here at least.  Her lean form didn't quite have the curves nor hourglass figure that others did, which did bother her.  Someday she would mature and grow, she was sure of it, it was just not soon enough.  Certainly sneaking into a bar early was not going to be an option any time soon.  Well... at least not without some kind of disguise.

 

"Yes, I mean, I am sure we can come up with something.  If not physical, then maybe something like this..."

 

With that she quickly wrote the code to create an holograph of Rev's arms and legs as if they were normal.  Sure, it wouldn't hold up to touch and needed to be near her, but for the moment, why not?  As she executed the code, Rev's metallic arms and legs vanished and were replaced with very normal looking appendages.  The code was responsive enough to move when she moved and unless someone was really looking very closely they were a very good surrogate for the real thing.

[Supercape]

Rev

 

Rev looked at the holographic display with a tingly feeling. It wasn't the limbs tingling, it was her heart. Sure it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn good. You would need a microscope to see the difference. 

 

"That's awesome! Wait..."

 

There was some fizzing, some spluttering, and sparking. 

 

The hologram glitched once. Then twice. Then spluttered out completely. 

 

"Aw! Sh....ooot"

 

"It's the limbs. Energy dispersal systems. Has to be" she said, feeling teary. "Stop the limbs from over heating when pumping fuel through them. Makes them fire resistance. I mean, they aren't normal steel, that's what they said" she said, dejectedly. She pressed her thumbs to her temples in vexation. 

 

"I guess its the spray on flesh. But, now you see the problem. Hard to get anything that won't get burnt off or rejected..."

 

 

[BlazingCoconut]

Instead of being discouraged, Alexa looked at her arms fascinated.  For a long moment, she alternated between looking at her appendagaes, then up to Rev's face, then back to her metal bits.  This cycle repeated itself multiple times before she finally stepped closer and without really asking started to poke at her arm speaking to herself in rapid Mandarin.  What Rev might not have known was that she had just presented a very perplexing problem and had caught the girls full attention.

 

[How long has it been like this?  Does every substance melt when it touches them?  Have you tried insulative linings?] she asked in Mandarin looking at Rev questioningly.

 

Then she blushed realizing what she had done, "I'm sorry... I was very forward there.  Please forgive me.  But... yes, I think we still can make something.  It might be temporary, you know, where you have to reaply it every few hours, but I have lots of ideas.  I mean, that is if you want me to work on it."

[TheAbsurdist]

"Uhm, no.  Like, my powers kind of erupted in the middle of kitchen back home, and things happened.  So they pulled me from classes and such... But I got in here, in May, to help do catch up and stuff.  And things."  She faded off, as the other concepts were a bit more important.  She viewed her woes as purely social constructs.  She had gotten control down, of course they wanted her to refine it, and to possible master that other thing...

 

It wasn't like she had limbs replaced.  So she was fine with not being the center of attention if that is what was required.  She folded her arms across her chest, and watched them.  Her stomach growling as she looked at them.  She wasn't sure she could help, especially with the stuff that just kind of dissipated away.  She also didn't want to be intrusive, so her attention drifted.

[Exaccus]

"Right so breakfast club?" he offered, not really much more to add to the conversation between Lexa and Alex but pretty sure they might enjoy it better with something to eat and a place to sit all the same.

 

"Right over....there! c'mon ill fill you in on what's good and what's not." he says as he back pedals away from the group towards the cafeteria "It'll Help settle the butterflies i promise." grinning broadly as he goes gesturing with his hands for them to follow "Not to mention, I'm Starving."

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"Anything is better than nothing" said Rev, full of encouragement to Alexa. "I mean, as long as I don't end up looking like Bride of Godzilla" she added, hastily. "I am so grateful for you even trying. I know I shouldn't complain. I got jet powered limbs after all. But doesn't stop me wishing all the same" she said, honesty and smiles. 

 

"And I guess here, I don't need to look normal. Guess I don't need to long normal at all, right? But what I mean is...here I don't stand out all that much!" she said with a big smile to all around her. 

 

"And on that note, I vote for a big breakfast! Although I can't pay for it!"

[BlazingCoconut]

Alexa nodded although she had already had a huge breakfast!  "I would love to come as well.  Although I already ate too much.  I had a piece of toast and an apple this morning."

 

As she followed, she grinned, getting local opinions was always better than relying on the internet.  Which, apparently even in a place like this, had forums and posts describing the problems with the cafeteria food.  The internet was kind of like that.  Few people without a complaint ever took the time to really say how good or bad things were.  She was pretty certain that there were bad reviews on even the famous Jin Xuan restaurant back home which had a Michelin star!  So she had learned to temper her expectations from complaints. 

 

"Oh, Rev, I believe that meals are also included in tuition.  At least if we are heading to the cafeteria.  It was on page four of the introductory packet.  I can show you it if you want..."

 

Even as she said it, she cringed internally.  I am going to be labeled as the Geek... 

[Supercape]

Rev

 

"They are? Awesome!" said Rev, a big grin on her face. This was luxury! 

 

She wasn't exactly born to poverty. Both her parents had jobs, although not well paid ones. But since her father died and she went of the rails, life had been pretty chaotic. And that included money. She had had a vague unspoken idea bubbling in the background of her brain; that this would a school of rich kids and she would be the loser. 

 

Hell, bullying happened everywhere. For any number of excuses. She had never had it happen to her. But she had seen it happening, and didn't want to be the hard end of it. 

 

"Well, sounds like double everything with a side portion of everything then!" she grinned. "And maybe a hundred sit ups afterwards to stop it settling where it shouldn't! you did say there was a gym here, right?"