ic Sudden Exposure(IC)

[Ari]

GM

 

January 25th, 11.45 AM, Saturday, 2014, A.S.T.R.O. Labs, Reception Hall

 

The unveiling of the Nucleic Reorganization Field Emitter was a lot more enthusiastic than the name would have suggested. But then, just about any public revelation from the busy corner of super-science usually heralded something extraordinary, whether it was some miraculous way to purify polluted water, direct the growth of plant-life or just a simple fusion-powered jetpack, and a clear sign that the world was changing all around the world, starting right there in Freedom City. The reception hall of the austere modern-style building thronged with those who had asked or been asked to attend, mostly businessmen and businesswoman, entrepreneurs, news-anchors and reporters. Over the Labs' main doors a broad banner was unfurled, those in the know glancing up at its familiar sleek edging and art-deco typeface with a smile of recognition, and at the words "A Gift to Humanity...Revealed!". The stairs outside for several steps were packed as well, and those unfortunate enough to be caught out in the cold shivered in thick coats and sipped gratefully at hot drinks while several of the more news-hungry guests performed impromptu interviews. Those inside had something very different to think about.

 

"Yes, as you can see, ladies and gentlemen" said the trim, needle-like Prof. M. Cavesson, all crisp courtesy behind his thin glasses and snowy-white bread that matched his stark white suit, his soft, rolling voice reaching the entire front hall packed with unusually patient and calm reporters, cameraman and photographers, all of whom were relieved and a little smug that they didn't have to stand out in the cold waiting for  "the applications of the Emitter are as boundless as they are humanitarian. With this, we can clean up radiation leak from nuclear reactors, like the prototype used in the after-effects of the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011, making the land and, air and water safe for human life within weeks and months rather than milennia. It doesn't stop there, either," he added, real excitement straining against his professionally-level tone "we are, ladies and gentlemen, looking at a real chance of reversing the effects of zero-gravity sickness, the horrendous effects of prions in the brain, maybe even, once we've perfected the reorganization process on living material, recover flesh lost to leprosy before that disease's total eradication!"

 

The assembled newshounds and high-profile visitors clapped with polite enthusiasm, a few whistles ringing out from the back rows, but the eager grins on nearly every face showed that the sentiment was far from false. Swelling with pride, Cavesson stepped back and swung open the doors to the main floor, re-purposed especially for the day's revelation. Hanging from the ceiling's many arching steel beams were red, blue and gold banners celebrating the names of several patrons(including Daedalus) and companies(including Grant Conglomerate and the Rhoseus Corporation). Around the room were a series of blackboards crammed with equations and artistic depictions of molecules being recombined and reconfigured, while standing beside them were around a dozen nervous-looking lab technicians, many of whom stiffened in mild panic at the sudden invasion.

 

In contrast to the hubbub surrounding it, the Nucleic Reorganization Field Emitter was a very refined-looking instrument, a tall pedestal under the generous Main Hall skylight bearing the apparatus of three slender blue rods as long as a full-grown man attached at their summit to a curved dish like a satellite.

 

"This, I tell you," said Prof. Cavesson with a grin "heralds a brighter tomorrow! With it, why, we might even be able to permanently cure poor souls like Adam Ward, so-called Gamma 'the Atom-Smasher', or drain the poisonous radiation from Hiroshima Shadow..."

 

As he spoke a gaggle of students from universities a few miles away to across the Atlantic piled in, some excitedly hurrying off to interrogate a like mind in a freshly-ironed lab coat, others remaining in gaggles to commiserate over how much of a pain the trip was. There were, of course, exceptions. And a few unexpected eyes...

 

 

[Tiffany Korta]

When Daphne first started at the school she signed up for every group and social club she could get her hand on. Whilst some of them worked out better than others she still managed to turn up religiously to every meeting and gathering even if she was wanted or not. Though few could fault the enthusiasm with which she approached every task, even if she lacked the skills.

In places her enthusiasm has managed to wear people down, one such places was the school paper which finally gave in to assign her what they hoped was a rather mundane and boring story.

 

So Daphne sat at the back of the room dressed in the type of clothes that she expected a reporter to wear with a pad and pen in hand to scribble down notes, even though Mother Unit’s could easily transcribe notes for Daphne.

[Ari]

Meanwhile, her head resting against the ceiling, Red Moon looked down at the expo, wholly invisible to the visible light spectrum. She had snuck in much earlier, mainly to watch the scenery being set up('Manual labor, for all this...') and so she could get a closer look at the Reorganization Field Emitter before the crowds arrived. She hadn't dared try and get a really close look at the interior of the device, but the materials she could make out on the casing and exposed sections gave a definite clue for just how complex the thing's innards had to be to require that much solid titanium.

 

At the moment, Atraxia was busy enough listening for the most important parts of the conversations filtering through her terrasuit, with hardly a moment to spare for anything more leisurely. There was technological progress to be charted! Besides, the machine might hold a clue to reanimating her dead body more permanently than even Farsider science had managed...

[Tiffany Korta]

Daphne listen to the scientist speech taking in as much detail as she could as well as examining all the technical information provided. Whilst she has a fairly good general knowledge of, well just about everything, some of the technical detail still eluded her.

Okay I understood some of that, any chance of the cliff notes version?

It is a wonder that your race managed to build something as wonderfully complex as myself.  Alas my my Physics files were corrupted during the journey.

Oh well time plan B then.

As carefully as she could she weaved her way through the crowd, whilst she could have phased through them all it sort of seemed like cheating. When she got close to the front of the jostling crowd she called out to Professor Cavesson.

 

“Professor Cavesson I’m Daphne Celeste of the Burroughs Gazette.†she brandished her press pass to prove the point “Could I ask you a few questions about the science behind the device?â€

[Ari]

GM

 

Pausing in the middle of a fascinating story about how the Field Emitter had ended up being funded, the Lab study head turned from the reporters hanging on his every word(their wide, fixed smiles clearly indicating how intrigued they were) to the curious newcomer. "Of course, miss!" he declared happily, dark eyes lighting up at this chance, and the physicist hustled the group closer to one of the blackboards "See, the basic underpinning behind Nucleic Reorganization is the first law of thermodynamics, which is...?" his eyes danced over the faces of the nearby technicians who understood at once

 

"'Matter is neither created nor destroyed'" they chanted back.

 

"Just so! And thus it is 'reorganized', the pieces reshuffled after the expenditure of energy. Now, if you've ever tried to sweep every speck of dust back to where it was before you collected it into a pile, you'll understand the problem we face. How do we totally undo a physical effect? But!" he raised a triumphant pointer finger "Thanks to the gracious assistance of Tess Atom, we've hit upon the crucial point of the solution. In fact, that's what we call it: the 'Crux effect'. Partly because when Mr. Brandtford says it, it makes it sound like we're stealing from the universe. By the simple act of tracing an outline of ionized radiation, bouncing very small particles into a rough shell around the affected area, we discover the rough epicenter(we are at the stage where we can detect this point to within a few molecules) and then...the electrons!"

 

He slammed his fist against the blackboard with enough vigor to send a small cloud of chalk dust wafting from it, and it was a few seconds before he could continue.

 

"Yes, *kaff*, the electrons, ladies and gentlemen. And the protons. They are carried by carefully modulated waves to specific molecules where they bond, while the air is chilled to slow the rate of further ionizations while the rest are dealt with, thus healing the radioactive decay from the inside out! I'm skipping over a few details, of course" he added, winking at the press and Celeste as he brushed plaster dust off his shoulder that drifted from the ceiling "but rest assured, this is but the start of a new era, an age of won-"

 

A sudden crash of breaking glass and splintering wood cut him off, and as the guests screamed and started to dash frantically to cover from the hail, he stood frozen in place, staring up at the glowing man who landed next to the display case. From his bulk, blue skin, the sickening feeling of being near him, it was obviously non other than that notorious radioactive super-criminal Gamma, the Atom-Smasher! He was only slightly hidden by the cloud of dust that briefly followed his impact, as the ceiling debris landed and filled the air around him.

[Ari]

Red Moon had been so engrossed in the discussion(silently thanking the human girl below for her most fortuitous curiosity), that almost everything else around her had gone wholly unnoticed. That, sadly, included the warning thuds and faint creaks just before Gamma smashed his way through the roof into A.S.T.R.O. Labs. 'What...who is this? What's happening?!' she wondered as her baffled eyes stared at the blue invader 'Well, whomever they are, better get closer in case a fight gets under way!'.  Raising hurriedly to her feet for better mid-air maneuverability, she happened to glance at a sleeve of her terrasuit and almost bit her dry tongue with horror: she was invisible, alright, but the attack had made sure she was covered in fine dust. Anyone who happened to look up would see her outline!

 

Swiping the offending particles off as swiftly as she could still took precious seconds, and meanwhile the scene below had continued to unfold. Luckily, most of the visitors and the press were either too busy coughing dust from their lungs and running for their lives, getting to a safer distance to call the police or snap hurried photos, or staring frozen in terror at the metahuman menace mere meters from them to pay any attention to something near the roof. As quickly as she dared, Atraxia began her stealthy descent towards Gamma, hands clenched in fear and ready to bring forth the ethereal forces...

[Ari]

GM

After his destructive entrance, what happened when Gamma turned his glowing eyes to the display case was downright mundane. Shrugging his massive shoulders, he reached out, plucked the glass cover off the stand, placed it gently on the cracked and dented floor beside him, tucked the Nucleic Reorganization Field Emitter under his shoulder like an umbrella, and turned to leave the way he'd come.

"Stop right there!" bellowed Cavesson, striding through the dust like a scholarly colossus and coughing into a handkerchief in one hand, the other outstretched quiveringly and pointed right at the impassive-looking intruder "Gamma...Adam, please! Stop this madness, that thing's nigh- irreplaceable, we were going to try and help!"

"Help? Who, professor, me?" Gamma shifted like a muscled blue rock-slide, facing the startled man with a look of contempt "I don't need your help. And with this I can teach the world how wrong it was to treat me like a monster. Soon they'll know just what that feels like." For all the fact that Gamma spoke through gritted teeth, he at least seemed relatively cool.

The man waved his arms desperately "Look, Ward, if this is about what happened with you and the Psion girl, we've heard about it. It's okay, you don't-gah!" Cavesson was lifted clean off his feet by Gamma, whose eyes burned with anger "We parted on splendid terms, uncle. We're fine, Cavesson. Just fine. You can't even tell where she lost the arm. My skin is nice and whole again. And after I did everything that professor told me." Gamma spat onto the floor, the saliva hissing and sizzling as it struck the tiles "Thinks she can call me a 'worthless dead-end lunk' and get away with it, her and her family think I'll just GIVE UP after they hurt me, the Atoms think they can just FORGET all they've done to me, but I'll show them all what happens when this 'dead-end' gets pushed too far!"

Edited March 4, 2014 by Arichamus

[Tiffany Korta]

With the chaos of everything going on around her Daphne found herself completely ignored, which was quite helpful right about now. Unnoticed she phased through the floor her form whilst intangible took on it’s Grue persona. Having travelled a suitable distance she rose out of the ground just behind the ranting Gamma.

“I really don’t think you want to do this right now. And we don’t want any kind of trouble now do we.â€

You don’t actually expect that to work do you?

 

Well you never know! Doesn't hurt to try anyhow.

[Ari]

GM

 

"Yes! Yes!" cried Cavesson, flashing Miss Grue a thankful(if uncertain) smile "Listen to her, Ward. Is this really what you want?"

 

"Of course it is, why else would I do it?" demanded Gamma, looking between the new arrival to his captive with mounting annoyance "This is a long time coming and I've gotten over what was holding me back." His eyes suddenly blazed like torches, nuclear fire coalesced around his free hand, and tossing the professor aside he charged at Miss Grue like a blue/green bullet, the tiles melting under his feet.

 

"Words won't stop me, alien!" Gamma thundered, swinging a vicious left hook at the teenaged terra-tourist!

[Ari]

Red Moon jerked out of her train of thought, curiosity about what Gamma referred to replaced by an all-too familiar sense of self-recrimination. 'I waited too long!' she thought bitterly, swooping down at the enraged radioactive man's back, 'and that might ruin everything!' Even then however her mind was racing, and the second as he was in range of her long and spindly arms, the light warping around Red Moon twisted back into place, revealing the suited Farsider and a shimmer of psychic force coiled around each hand!

 

Swiping down with the ethereal claws, Atraxia felt a burst of triumph as it struck Gamma squarely at his soul's core...only to start back in shock, her chill blue eyes widening as he repelled the mental assault, the Atom-Smasher's fuming brain more than strong enough to withstand her deadliest blow!

 

An electronic hiss, and a thin, raspy voice spoke. "Stand down, Gamma! We don't...I mean, put the machine back! Stop fighting!" Red Moon demanded, the lunar vampire's harsh voice echoing even in the noisy hall, loud enough that she couldn't help but flinch at how weak and awkward it sounded. Still, nothing else for it now. She dropped into an aerial stance, ready to dodge aside or charge in at the first chance. It was important that he know there was another opponent, and where she was. She could vanish again if need be, but the time wasn't ripe. Still, there was that friendly Grue...a Grue? Well, who was she to judge? An ally was an ally, and she might as well give a name.

 

"I am Red Moon, the omen of your defeat, Gamma!"

[Tiffany Korta]

*Sigh* Why do they never listen to reason?

I do believe I did tell you so! Machine intelligences like Mother Unit shouldn't be allowed to sound so smug.

Whilst she was thinking to Mother Unit Daphne had solidified fully and begun to grow in size until was almost the full height of the building. She couldn't help but pause briefly to strike a pose, with hands on hips the works, before delivering her best quip.

"Big problems like this call for big solutions. So that would be me then." the whole thing might have been slightly ruined by the little wave at the end.

 

Then down to business. She reached down towards the pesky little Gamma in an attempt to grab him and hopefully get him away from being a danger to other people.

[Ari]

GM

 

"Gah, what the heck?!" Gamma blurted out, starting backwards as the Grue rose to a towering height above him. "Maximus, and now you? How many giants are th-!" he began, cut off as the adaptive alien's hand swooped down and curled around him, the radioactive man only barely managing to keep his arms from being pinned by the enormous fingers! For a second she felt a

 

Struggling furiously, the Atom-Smasher pried open a gap between Miss Grue's digits, launching out of her hand with enough desperate force to smash a dent into the floor. "Grah... you...inhuman thing!" Rolling and leaping to his feet, the transformed titan raised his own hand, glaring up at the alien girl as the atoms around it decayed, a harsh blue light announcing a sudden blast of radioactive energy!

[Ari]

GM

 

Skin blistered and momentarily stunned by the wave of sickly heat, Miss Grue was sent reeling back against the wall, making a sizable dent and only escaping worse damage thanks to the super-tough construction. Stepping back from and looking contemptuously at his former captor, Gamma gave a short bark of triumphant laughter, radiation swirling in his hand and casting an eerie blue glow across the daylit floor.

 

"The same every time. You're tough and strong, but never enough. Maximus learned that again and again. From me, the Meta-Grue, from that monster from the Moon...he'd be dead if it wasn't for that 'family' of human cowards and idiots, and you're not so lucky!"

 

Raising his arm to fire again, Gamma's eyes, burning violently, suddenly widened as he felt something trying to tear into his nerves, seizing on his very blood. Whirling around he saw Red Moon standing in the air behind him, surrounded by a hazy red corona, her blue eyes gleaming in the depths of her helmet "That is why such as you fail, you have none at your back!"

 

Gritting his teeth, the atomic atlas shut his eyes, body flaring and seething with radioactive energy, the world breaking down at the molecules as he fought against the telekinetic assault...and with a growl broke free! Darting back in shock, Red Moon flickered out of sight as she rasped "But...how? How do you fight off my power so easily?!" "I'm a superior being," Gamma shot back, snorting in disgust and picking up the toppled Nucleic Reorganizer, tucking it under one arm and glancing again at his foes "and in just a little while, everyone will be like me. See you in the future, aliens!" he added, launching into the air through the shattered skylight with a whoosh and flurry of dust, racing off at tremendous speed, feet smashing into roofs, and soon disappearing in the maze of Freedom City.

 

"...Well, I suppose we must go after him." Floating over to Miss Grue, the changed Farsider offered her a tentative hand "I am Red Moon. Who are you?" she demanded, trying to keep as far as possible from Daphne without being obviously rude, her skinny arm extended as far as possible from her body, fingers tight together.

[Tiffany Korta]

Shrinking back down to normal Daphne looked up at Red Moon still trying to workout how exactly she got her ass handed to her. Still she supposed that things could have been a lot, lot, worse. Accepting the hand she lifted herself back onto her feet.

A name she supposed she should really have a hero names but she had been having so much fun she’d never actually bothered to think of one herself.

 

“Well I’m Miss... well definitely a Miss at leasts, and erm.†trying to distract from her lack of name she added “And we should probably chase after him before he get’s too far.â€

[Ari]

GM

 

"Good. We agree. We cannot let him escape." Withdrawing her hand, Red Moon began to levitate towards the roof, a faint shimmer playing over her terrasuit. As she rose she went on, calling down to Miss Grue over the crackle and moan of her speakers "We must track Gamma's mind, it will be angry and in turmoil, even in such a vast city none will think like him."

 

She paused, suddenly thoughtful "Perhaps we should try to change him? He lashes out thanks to evil memories and is embittered every time he lashes out. Perhaps we should stop the cycle. My powers could let him-"

 

"NO! Wait, stop! Don't do that!"

 

Emerging from a pile of rubble, Prof. Cavesson stumbled under the lunar vampire, waving his arms frantically while tears streamed down his face "Please! You have to listen to me! That won't help at all!"

 

Her face was invisible, but from the tilt of her head it was clear that Red Moon was confused "How? As he is, he knows only pair, fear, rejection..."

 

"And if you change his mind, it will only get worse! Ward's not right in the head, no, but he is right on one thing: he's not human! He works differently, he thinks differently, if we could persuade him to drop this useless agenda of his, he could really help humanity thanks to those dissimilarities!" Retrieving his glasses from the floor, miraculously unscathed, and wiping them off hurriedly, Cavesson went on frantically "If you change his thinking, his memories and who he is...that would be it, he'd lose himself and just be a radioactive freak! Please, take me with you! I-I can talk to him!"

 

"He left with your prototype declaring he would 'show them all'. I doubt he will listen to a single word we say."

 

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try!"

 

"There is little profit even if we do."

 

Cavesson turned his streaked and desperate face to Miss Grue "Please, talk to him, it could really work. He doesn't have to feel like he does, he just doesn't know any other way." The words got a harsh snarl

from Red Moon, who set off out of the A.S.T.R.O. Labs building and soared off after the Atom-Smasher.

[Tiffany Korta]

Stepping through the door Daphne grew to her full possible height rushing to try and catch up with Red Moon. At this height she was, more or less, at the same height as Red Moon was moving at.

 

“I can understand your issues but to be honest the Doctors got a point. It’s not a good idea to try and alter anyones mind, in my experience it tends to end badly.†it might not be praticaly real world experience but she did believe this.

 

“But I do think we need to stop him from carry out his plan. Let’s say we stop him first and then we can work out what to do  with him.â€

[Ari]

GM

"Yes, yes! Exactly!" hollered Prof. Cavesson as the superheroines moved out of earshot, "Adam's just confused, he doesn't need fixing..."

For her part, Red Moon shrugged noncommittally. It wasn't her place anyway. As an outsider to the Freedom City colleagen-space, her wishes were subordinate to the other inhabitants'. And besides, like the massive Grue woman said, they could always decide what to do with Gamma once he was in their power. 'Maybe that machine will work on him, although that is a stretch' she thought idly, arcing over the buildings within view of Freedom City University as she pushed her mind to its limit, hunting for the tell-tale pulse of frustrated rage that the Nucleic Marauder. For a hulking blue man blazing with atomic breakdowns, Gamma was remarkably hard to spot in the busy cityscape that spread before her veiled corpse eyes.

Sliding to a halt Atraxia's synthesized voice thrummed and whistled through the air "One second, Miss. I will attempt to locate our quarry by mental scan" Raising her hands to her helmet, the lunar vampire closed her corpse eyes and knelt in mid-air like the old mentats of Farside City had, and cast her soul free from its corporeal shell. Or at least, that part that felt the realm of rushing blood and tingling skin all around her, the part of her hateful being that thirsted for the surrounding world of life.

This hunting piece instantly began to trace the thoughts and moods of those nearby, trying to capture amid the havoc of untrained and riotous brains a powerful strand of anger.