Stage 4: Arrivals & Departures Arc 5.2

  Monday, March 1st, 2010

  A nurse quickly leads me back to the changing room while the OR team scrambles. I hear one of them say her pulse is weak before the door shuts.

  "Remove your scrubs and put them in this bin. Waiting room is past this door, left down the hallway, third door on the right."

  I silently nod, and she goes back into the OR. Instead of throwing them into the bin I just stow them in my inventory, and swipe a whole box of rubber gloves too. They had dozens of boxes in there, they won't miss one. I go into the hallway and Agent Piper is standing there waiting for me.

  "Stasis?" He asks, but I walk past him, making my way to the waiting room.

  He follows me inside. There are a few other plainclothes PRT agents milling about as well. The same ones that rushed in following Agent Piper from outside just moments ago. Why? What is the point? This isn't helping anything.

  There are several regular people in here as well, one kid even points at me from across the room and tugs at his mother's skirt. I touch the mask on my face, and find a secluded corner to hide in. I try to activate stealth, but with the PRT obviously watching, it outright fails.

  Still no notifications yet. My hand is starting to throb again, so I pull the pill bottle the prior hospital prescribed me out of my inventory and walk to the vending machine, only to realize I have no money.

  I look back over at Piper, who's still followed me. "You mind?" I ask him and he pulls out his wallet. "Aquafina and a Honeybun, thanks."

  Piper drops some dollar coins in, and I retrieve the junk food from the bottom.

  "You mind opening these? Bit difficult one handed." I say as I gesture to the items and my pill bottle.

  "We have a fully staffed cafeteria at headquarters, we can make whatever you like." Piper says as he indulges my request.

  I glance at the clock on the wall. It is 10:42 am. "Sounds great. How about some of those Chesapeake Blue Crabs I saw signs for driving into the city, with a loaded baked potato. You can bring it here to the hospital for lunch later, while I wait here to find out about the fate of my friend."

  "That wasn't quite what I meant."

  "Uh-huh," I shrug. "Where's Ms. Clark? You did call her back right?" I ask as I pop a couple pain pills into my mouth and wash them down with water. Twice as many as I'm supposed to have and too soon to boot. Which was probably stupid, since supposedly tonight or tomorrow a nullifier will try and do shit so I can get my hand operated on. Them knocking down my Drug Resist skill level could be bad, if that's how this shit works.

  Having succeeded in annoying Piper, who grumbles and walks off, I return to my secluded corner to sit and wait. There are still no new notifications. As the minutes tick by I succumb to my curiosity, switch to free camera mode, and move to the operating room. From a vantage point near the ceiling I watch the team come into view.

  I see Chela from overhead, regret my decision, and switch back to normal view. She's still alive at least, connected to tubes, lying on her stomach, breathing mask on her face, stripped of clothing, and has part of her back cut open. I no longer want to finish my Honeybun, so I inventory it. I can't look at that again, couldn't even bring myself to observe her when I did, afraid of what it might tell me.

  I feel helpless, sitting out here doing nothing, just spamming Observe while waiting. I know what I should be doing. Collecting my thoughts on the Nine, and figuring out what to reveal and what not to, or at least anticipating what might be asked. Clearly they really want the info based on what I overheard from Sara's phone call. I can at least leverage that to get things I want in return. Who the hell is watchdog though? Why would whomever they assigned to 'this', which I guess is my report case, have two thirds consider it high priority and one third be confused? That is what was said right? Fuck. FRAPS wasn't on, I have no recording of what I overheard to double check. I turn it back on.

  I open some windows on my interface and stare at the files representing my fraps videos of the entire encounter with the nine.

  Giving them these directly, would create so many questions. I don't know if I should.

  I don't actually know much about the nine at all, beyond what I read from all the Observe records, and my Cape Database entries, which again is mostly entirely off the Observe records. I know they are a major group of notorious villain boogeymen, but that's about it. PHO had a whole sub-forum dedicated to them which I never read. I didn't know half their cape names until I saw them in their overhead tags. I should read it, I need to know everything there is about them, given that damn Wanted flaw. As soon as I get a chance to do so when I get to Brockton I will.

  "Stasis?" I look up from my introspection, Sara has seated herself across from me. "How are you holding up?" she asks.

  I glance at my HUD, still no new notifications. "Not that well. Tired of waiting. You came back quickly."

  "I was in the parking lot, like you suggested."

  "I didn't pull you away from work or study did I?" I ask her.

  "These are my work hours, but this is part of my job. My classes are in the evening."

  "And what about yourself? Wouldn't you be in school right now, if all this hadn't happened?" Agent Piper asks me as he sits down a couple of seats over from Sara.

  "Huh." I lean back and look agent Piper over again. He had been on the phone earlier, I should've tried to listen in like I did with Sara earlier. "I'm curious, what was your first name again?"

  He contemplates me a moment before answering. "Mark"

  I made sure my speech skill is still on. "Okay, Mark, how old do you think I look?" My stealth thingy could tell me when I was being watched, by people or cameras, but it didn't tell me if I was being recorded by a microphone. Just assume I am, and that it will be reviewed later. After all, Sara was doing so in the car.

  "Clearly a teenager, seventeen at most."

  Well, that's older than what I thought he'd say. Must be the new muscles. "What's your opinion Sara?"

  "Appearance, sixteen. Based on maturity and prior interaction, possibly older. You make it hard to tell, you school your emotions well, and don't use any teenage slang."

  "Well you're both wrong. You already know my power has a temporal element to it. Temporal effects can fuck with people's aging."

  "So you're saying you wouldn't be eligible for the Wards. Then how old are you?"

  "That's an identity related question I'm not going to answer. I have things to do, places to go, and goals to achieve. Joining a government organization is unlikely to help with that. So let's save each other's time by not putting that pitch out there."

  "Alright, I think we understand each other on that point, Stasis." Sara interjects before Mark can speak up again.

  "Right, what we're hoping for is the report you promised. You said you'd give it to Ms. Clark, well here she is, though we would have much preferred that such an interview could be done at the PRT headquarters. This is a rather public place after all." Mark interjects anyway.

  "I'll concede that keeping it private is a valid concern. But as I said before, I'm staying here until I can speak with my…friend." Draw out 'friend', make them think you were going to say something else. "Though I don't know how long that will take, or if I can sleep at the hospital. I may need a hotel room."

  "We'll see what we can do. Given how late Leech is supposed to arrive tonight, he and the doctors won't want to schedule anything for your hand until tomorrow at the earliest." Sara helpfully adds.

  "The hospital does have private conference rooms we can make use of," agent Piper adds again. Damn, I'm just trying to delay it.

  Two notifications fire off, a purple circle pulsing in the corner of my HUD. The thought of opening it to see bad news scares me. If it's news about Chela, a doctor will come out and find me. Checking now might give off more info about my powers.

  "Stasis, are you alright?" Sara asks me.

  "Yes, just… go find a conference room if you want, for later. I'm still going to stay here until the doctor gives me news first so they don't have to chase me down."

  "Is there anything else you need then?" Sara asks again.

  "Yeah, a lot, pen and notebook, and thanks for buying the clothes, but they're an imperfect fit. At some point I'll probably need to get something else to wear, but I don't have money. So money is another thing."

  "I'm sure we can go to a store at some point." Sara says

  "You'd buy him clothes again?" Agent Piper asks.

  "Wait, I know they made you use your own car, but did you spend your own money to get me clothes and food yesterday?" I ask Sara.

  "Well, you were in need…"

  "Okay, so I'll also want the PRT to compensate Ms. Clark for gas and anything else she's spent on me. You are going to do that right?" I ask agent Piper.

  "I would assume the PRT will, but that's not up to me, and it's a bit off topic..."

  "Not, what?---"

  "He merely means he's not in charge of that, and isn't my supervisor." Sara interrupts me.

  "I am the Senior analyst though"

  "Thank you for your concern about my financial well-being, Stasis, but it's misplaced. Your concerns are what we need to be more worried about."

  "I guess, I'll also need transportation to a city of my choice when this is all over with too."

  "A flight, then?" Sara asks.

  "Well yes, but a flight is problematic because… Well, I'd prefer to keep my destination private anyway"

  One of the Doctors from the OR appears in the waiting room saving me from the next set of awkward questions. I stand up and he begins walking over as soon as he sees me. I resist the urge to observe him and get any advanced clues.

  "Stasis?" I nod at the doc. "Juanita is stable, for now, and sedated. The immediate danger is over but she is still being operated on. Once that is complete she will be moved to the ICU for monitoring." The doc glances over to the PRT agents.

  "We'll give you some privacy." Sara says as she stands up and they both move away, though agent Piper looks annoyed.

  "It was a close call, she had lost a lot of blood, and it's going to be a long recovery process. The puncture wound through her chest was the most severe. The object put a graze on the edge of her right lung large enough for it to start slowly filling with blood and fluid, which required draining. Expect some persistent breathing difficulty for some time while it heals. Her scapula, the bone in her shoulder, was also pierced, which caused radiating fractures as well. Pins and plates will be needed to help it heal."

  "Bonesaw's---" The doc clears his throat loudly as I'm about to ask about the tracker parasite. I get the hint.

  "The foreign object was successfully removed, neutralized and contained. It has been turned over to the PRT. Though, regulations require there to be a minimum of a 24 hour quarantine period, to make sure nothing else manifests that we might have missed. Longer if there are any signs or we are advised to do so by any governmental agency."

  I immediately get suspicious, but it's hard to fault them for that either.

  "When can you tell me more about her condition?"

  "We'll tell you when she is out of the OR and has been moved to the ICU, that could be some hours from now. After that, check in this evening around 5pm, and 10am the next morning."

  "How long will everything take to heal?"

  "Six to nine weeks, though I'm leaning toward the latter. That won't be all hospital stay time though. There will need to be several follow-ups, and after they have done their job. The pins and plates in her shoulder will need to be removed. This needs to be followed up with physical therapy, and given the source of the trauma, significant psychological therapy."

  "Yeah, yeah…" I sigh. She won't get any of that from hanging around a teenage runaway.

  "Now I have to ask. Is Juanita Cierva her real name? Because nurse Martinez had a bit to say about that."

  I frown. "Clearly not, but it's the name you have."

  "Clever, basically Spanish for Jane Doe, but she's a minor. You said she is fourteen, and you don't look old enough to be a guardian, despite saying you're a relation, we would need legitimate ID, and I realize the mask complicates that. I need to know if the hospital has to contact social services."

  Fuck, fuck. I know what is best for her, but she still needs to have a say in it. "Her parents… didn't survive the encounter, and I don't know who else to contact. She'll have to wake up and decide how to proceed, when she is able to. We both will. I do want to speak with her at that time."

  "She may remain under sedation for the next 24 hours, and coherency after that may be limited for a day or so more. You were right about the infections, and hypothermia, and everything else. It's a lot to recover from, and that's just the physical problems."

  "Thank you, and everyone else for taking care of her."

  "You're welcome. That's our job, I'll pass your thanks along."

  As the doc left I read my pending notifications.

  Saved: 1, Dead: 43, Pending: 0

  +2200 XP, Bonus Condition 'This random encounter is OP!' completed

  ****?

  They actually brought me lunch with blue crabs and a baked potato. So they're going with the carrot for now. Would they use a stick? Could they? I don't want to not tell them anything that might help them defeat Jack and his merry band of psychopathic murder-hobos. I just have to carefully do so, and draw it out, without revealing too much about myself or any of Chela's abilities, at least until I can talk to her.

  I'm eating slowly, on purpose, in the conference room agent Piper obtained for us. It's just to give myself more time to think, but he's having a harder time disguising his annoyance, especially when I use Observe on him, as the minutes tick by. Sara is playing with her phone, I spy what she is doing with my free camera, but she is just tapping at a casual game. The pen and notebook sit on the table next to my now empty take-out containers but I haven't touched them yet. I need to get started, before the vein of agent Piper's head ruptures.

  "Did your search teams find a burned out RV at the campsite next to Lake Moomaw?"

  "Good, you're finally ready to begin then," agent Piper says as he pulls out a digital recorder.

  "Wait," I say before he pushes any buttons. "Can we not start with that yet? I wanted the notebook because I plan on writing in it, not speaking into a recorder." Plus I wanted to minimize whatever voice samples of mine they'd end up having on file. I was probably just being paranoid though.

  Piper objected. "That would take longer and we're supposed to do an interview."

  Fuck. "I said I'd give a report not… Look I have to relive that fucking event to do this! When I start writing I do not want to be disturbed, in fact, I'd rather not have anyone in the room."

  "Yes, search teams found a burned out RV at the campsite." Sara interjected.

  "That wasn't clear---" Piper began to say something.

  "And obviously, I already know about it because I saw it happen. The Nine were living in that RV. At least some of them were, I can't see how all of them could have comfortably fit though. Especially with someone the size of Crawler."

  "Then how did it burn?" Sara asked.

  "I'll get to that later, that's at the end of the story not the beginning."

  "There is also a greyhound bus, with shattered out windows and possibly corpses on it killed by glass, unless Bonesaw recycled them for some of her monsters. There's a house that got burned down, where the Nine were performing their sick experiments on captives. There was another house they were making use of as a base, one with windows and stuff still intact that Shatterbird didn't destroy, but I was never inside that one to my knowledge. There's some wooden contraption next to a potable water truck, and the remains of a large bon-fire. There may be a body near there, a woman…" I stopped and cleared my throat a few times. "A woman with her throat cut and subsequently burned, entirely. Unless the Nine moved her or the structures."

  I pause again, Piper has turned the recorder on anyway. I realize that right now, I don't care. I take a few deep breaths before continuing. "There is, was, a flat roofed building that collapsed near that. It was wrecked by Crawler and the Siberian, there may be the body of a man, in the rubble. He'll show signs of having been cut repeatedly all over his body. Glass shard storm, Shatterbird's work. Again if the nine didn't move them. Just… find the bodies of those two. They're important."

  I close my eyes and put my head in my hands, fighting off the flashes of images that Gamer's Mind seems to not be entirely putting a stop to. Why? What's changed that is making it harder to ignore and put aside the horrible trauma? At least I'm not outright having a panic-attack or a breakdown, even if my hands are shaking. A moment of concentration and I stop them. They need to find Chela's parents. It's right to at least put a priority on getting someone to find them. Even if I haven't explained why yet.

  Sara lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I realize she has pulled a chair up next to mine. "It's alright Stasis, take your time."

  I lean into her shoulder, and she gives me a partial hug. I spot an unread notification hovering in the corner of my HUD. How long has that been there?

  Your Empathy skill has increased by 1

  Is that what is causing it? Is Gamer's Mind going to start losing effectiveness as that goes up?

  I pull away from Sara, and spend a few more moments to settle myself. "The Greyhound was en-route from Roanoke to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We had to detour down a state road because of something wrong with the main highway, and passed through Fallen Springs. It left the station late last Thursday morning. One Driver, and forty-five passengers aboard. Only myself and…my friend survived. I can't tell you much about the residents of the town. The Nine had already had their way with it when our bus rolled through."

  "Thank you Stasis, this is helpful. We'll get our search teams on the lookout for the individuals you mentioned."

  "I'd like to be alone for a while now. I'm going to start writing, from the beginning, after the bus arrives in town. It's…" I wave my injured hand, "going to take a while."

  I watch as both of them leave. Sara at least picks up my lunch trash for me as they head out the door. I follow them with my free camera, and Piper calls up his superiors, but I can't manage to get into a position to hear the other end of the phone call.

  "Yes Sir, some progress. I'm going to send a brief recording in a moment. Have the teams double check the burned out house and the RV they found. Kid claims the Nine lived in the RV, I'd up the bio-tinker protocols. Also claims a house with none, or less glass damage was used as a base of operations by the Nine…" Piper pauses speaking as he paces. Likely listening to the other participant. "Also something about a water truck, a wooden structure and a bonfire… Oh, they found that too? He put priority on the body of a burned woman near that, and the body of a man, possibly under the rubble of a collapsed building near that location… Uh-huh, you found the building too."

  God damn it would you fucking stay still? Piper paces again and walks out of my camera spot. He's talking to a male on the other end who sounds annoyed. It might be the same person Sara was speaking with, but I can't hear enough to know for sure.

  "Yes… No Sir… Actually, they could be parents or relatives. He might be related to the girl in the OR. He constantly pauses when calling her 'my friend' instead of something else. It makes sense he'd be evasive. The girl's identity might lead to his identity. The name he gave for the girl to the hospital was fake. Any hits on his power-set description? "

  "…villain…database. Girl is only 14, there's trigger potential in what she went through. More if there is a relation. Any power evidence? Has CPS been contacted?" I managed to catch only a moment of the other side's conversation. Yeah, it's probably the same person as Sara's boss.

  "Nothing witnessed so far, that might change when she wakes up. They're holding off on CPS for now, but legally they can't for long. We can force the issue if we have to. It's leverage if they're related.

  "If she's parahuman and orphaned, that's an automatic ward. For once, one of Youth Guard's policies might work in our favor. Let's not push that until we know for sure. I'm sending Lightshow over as backup just in case. She'll be visiting the kids wing doing her thing as cover, but she'll be in the building if you need her."

  "Might need her tomorrow too. The Doctors think she may not be awake until then, and well, there's enough history of new parahumans waking up in the hospital and making a mess. Any changes on Watchdog's assessments?"

  "Nothing changed since their last update. I'll have them review again once you send the files over. How goes the interview?"

  "It's not, he's a stubborn ass. Kid insists on writing a report instead. He's doing that now. "

  "Better than nothing. If she's powered and they're related, I want to get two Wards out of this."

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Stasis claims he's not wards age."

  "Do you believe him?"

  "No"

  "Alright, keep trying and let me know."

  "Certainly Sir. I'll keep at it." Piper hangs up his phone and then plugs the digital recorder into it, then sends off a file.

  Well fuck you. I don't like getting 'leveraged'. Again who the fuck is Watchdog? I need the damn internet, and it's not fair that she'd be forced without choice. Actually, who the fuck is the Youth Guard? And what do I do now?

  No new quests? Nothing prompting me to save Chela from the PRT, or get her to join, instead or whether or not I should ask her to follow me instead? Nothing? It's because I don't know. I don't know what to do, and it has to be her choice still. The only thing I'm sure about is that I want to make sure she gets the physical and emotional treatment that she needs.

  What the.. I'm going to try to do that anyway, but how am I going to do that in seven days? What happens in seven days? Fuck you again. What the fuck do I do now?

  Write the damn report that's what. I pull the surgical glove box out of my inventory, pull one out and put it on with a stretchy snap. I pick up the pen with it and move the notebook so my arm doesn't touch it except for the glove. The pen I'll just keep. God I'm being paranoid. Fucking thinkers.

  ****?

  Well that's it. I've written as far as I can, before I start getting into reports of uncomfortable power questions. Everything, well almost everything. There's lying by omission here and there. No mention of Gamer powers, and I definitely did not admit to being the one to push Melinda into the electrical trap. But every single written statement I made is technically correct, which is the best kind of correct. Everything is cross checked by watching and fast forwarding through my damn FRAPS recording, which was harrowing to re-watch. From the moment the bus pulled into Fallen Springs, until the moment Burnscar surrounded us by a firewall to cut off our retreat after we escaped the house, and Crawler ate Greg.

  All of it is extremely detailed, and the escape is explainable by aid from shit I had stored in my inventory the Nine didn't know about. Even so, they'll probably figure out I have a thinker rating if they haven't already, which they probably have, and this might up it. By the time this is all over, it'll get upped even more. There may not be a way to avoid that.

  I listed all the names of everyone on the bus that I knew. Which is a lot, explained away as simply having previously been introduced or heard in conversation. All except for Ruben, Carmen, Chela and myself of course. Actually, fuck. I already told them what bus it was. They'll find the bus in town too. They can just find out names from Greyhound, if they have records of who purchased stuff. Mine was under an assumed name, but was Ruben's?

  Writing more after this point, means telling them I ran through fire, but maybe I can leave that part out. I look up as there is a knock on the door. I glance at the clock on the wall. Have I really been writing for more than four hours? Fuck it, I'm done for the day. I inventory the pen and the glove, and scoot my chair back away from the table and the notebook. There are only a few pages left anyway.

  "Come in."

  The door opens and Sara's face peeks around it. "How's it going?" she asks.

  "I'm going to need another notebook, or two. It's not complete, but I'm done for the day. I can't do any more; not until I've slept, and gotten my head back into a better place."

  "Alright, can you meet with Dr. Frasier? He's scheduled to work on your hand tomorrow if Leech works out. He'd like a preliminary inspection and a set of X-Rays taken. If we go now, we may catch him. He's about to leave for the day. If not, we can tomorrow morning."

  "Yeah sure." I gesture to the notebook inviting her to get it. She does so, and we leave the room; heading for the nearest nurses' station.

  "Can you call Dr. Frasier's office at this extension, and let him know we can be on our way?" Sara asks.

  "Alright…" the nurse responds, picking up the phone. She tells someone on the other end our message and waits a bit before looking back up at us. "There we go, he'll be waiting for your arrival."

  His office is halfway on the other side of the hospital. I pop some more pain pills and walk in silence, my thoughts being elsewhere. "Any update on my friend's recovery?" I finally ask as we get to the door.

  "They moved her to the ICU just under an hour before I knocked on the door."

  "And you didn't want to tell me then?"

  "Mark didn't want you disturbed."

  You're not earning any relationship points here Mark.

  Sara sat in the waiting room while I saw Dr. Frasier. A nurse takes off my bandages and takes an X-Ray. I presume they X-Rayed me at Bath Hospital as well, so I'm hoping I see a 'Damage Resistance: Radiation' notification, but nothing happens. Damn, probably not a high enough dose to do a point of damage, and I'd need 50 points of them. But, why do X-Rays work, and needles don't? That makes no god-damn sense.

  The doc enters and asks me to test my range of motion in all my present fingers. However, the persistent overarching pain in my whole hand limits my ability to accurately answer all his 'can you feel this?' questions as he prods me for what, nerve damage?

  "So how'd this happen?" He finally asks me.

  "A wild animal bit them off." I deadpan him in monotone. He didn't ask me any more questions after that, but told me about all the plates, pins and screws I'd need installed, under surgery, tomorrow, if the thing with Leech works.

  By the time all that is over, another hour has gone by. I come out. Sara is gone but Agent Piper is waiting for me.

  "Where's Sara?"

  "She delivered your report, then she had to go to class."

  "Is Leech still coming?"

  "His plane will land in a couple hours. You'll meet him tomorrow. Can you--"

  "All I want to do right now, is veg out in front of a TV and then go to sleep." My fatigue meter is a bit out of sync. Oh, hey, I got some stress points back. "Actually, some dinner would be nice."

  "Can you maybe keep it reasonable this time? I know you did the blue crab thing just to poke at me and my bosses," Piper retorts.

  "Huh, so no fancy steak and lobster?" He shakes his head no. "Fine, I'll save that for tomorrow." Piper sighs. "Pizza will do, in my hotel room. I get a room at least, right?"

  "Yes, if you're willing to let me drop you off, I'll order it in."

  "Okay. Extra-large, sausage, mushroom and pineapple, with extra cheese," I said, smiling. Piper didn't smile back.

  "Just follow me. We have to go out the side entrance. The press is parked out front."

  "What, when did that happen?"

  ****?

  This is a cheap hotel room, one where the room door leads directly outside. Okay, not ratty cheap, but only functional. No frills. No mini-fridge, just the basics. At least I finally have some time to myself. Even though Larry, Mo and Curly, totally not plainclothes PRT agents, are staking out my room from the parking lot. Larry and Mo do the watching, Curly fetches coffee.

  I'm lying on my bed. The TV is on in the background, but I'm ignoring it. I wait for the pizza to arrive, while my free camera is parked in the middle seat of the stooges car. Rarely do they actually talk about me. Mo rants about his ex-wife for a bit, then Larry starts talking about a football game, then they both chat about some female co-workers comparing their bodies, then about Javelin, who's apparently a local DC protectorate heroine. That's totally not cool guys. Even if she does have raisins on watermelons. Then Mo rants about his ex-wife again. Curly, when he isn't fetching coffee, plays with his phone.

  These three stooges are boring. I'm annoyed that they are keeping an eye on me at all, and only slightly appreciative that they're all here to make sure I don't get harassed. Given that I'm checked into a hotel room under my cape identity and it seems the local press are out following leads on the Nine story, that might prove useful. I see the pizza guy walking up to my door, so I switch cameras, put my mask on, then get up to unlatch it.

  "Thanks" I say as I take the pizza from the teenager. He can't be much older than me. He's still standing there with his hand out. "The PRT did pay for this right?"

  "The PRT? I mean, it's paid for but…"

  "Fuck, they stiffed you on the tip didn't they? That sucks but I don't have any money."

  "Aw man, don't scrod me bro. Hey, what's your cape name? I know you're not, like all decked, so you new?"

  "Goodbye… I'm shutting the door now." I go back to my free camera.

  Pizza kid takes his phone out as he wanders off. "Deuce! I just delivered a pie to a cape! Guy, not decked, domino face. Bad tipper too, I got scrod," he says into it as he gets into his car. Uh, was that local teenage slang?

  Whatever, I go back to normal camera mode and open my pizza. Did they drug it? I'm being paranoid again, this is stupid. There weren't any cameras in the room, and no bugs were found after observing everything either. I observe the pizza anyway, and it's fine. I eat my fill, then inventory the rest to keep it warm.

  I contemplate spying on the stooges as they spy on me again, but I need to do this more efficiently. I haven't had any skill training chances in a while, so don't squander the chance now. Once again, my fucked up hand limits a lot of what I can do. I'm damn close to another CON point but I can't train physical resist, anything I use to do enough damage will break something in the room. I don't have a lighter, or acid, and I'm not putting a finger in an electrical socket. How would I even train sonic and concussive anyway? Oh hmm, I know. I do have an ice bucket.

  ****?

  You are suffering from the status effect 'Chilled'

  -10 HP [Cold Damage] (6 Resisted) x2

  The status effect 'Chilled' has been upgraded to 'Very Chilled'

  For testing the limits of your endurance and vitality, you have gained 1 CON

  -10 HP [Cold Damage] (6 Resisted) x33

  Your Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold) skill has increased by 1

  The status effect 'Very Chilled' has been upgraded to 'Freezing'

  -7 HP [Cold Damage] (8 Resisted) x25

  Dirt Golem 3 has been destroyed

  I'm… so… fucking… stupid.. to… sit… in… a… bathtub… filled… with… ice… to.. train… cold… resist… but.. if… it… works… it's… not… stupid… Dirt.. Golem… 4… attack… self…

  -7 HP [Cold Damage] (8 Resisted) x3

  -6 HP [Cold Damage] (8 Resisted) x2

  Dirt Golem 4 has been destroyed

  -6 HP [Cold Damage] (8 Resisted) x13

  -5 HP [Cold Damage] (8 Resisted) x16

  Your Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold) skill has increased by 1

  You have unlocked the Water Affinity feature for Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold)

  What? I haul my naked self out of the tub, wrap myself in a towel and crawl to the bed. After my teeth stop chattering, I look at my notifications again. Water affinity feature for an ice and cold damage resistance skill? Does that mean I'll get one at level five for fire damage resistance too? It's level four right now.

  Something to think about later. I disable all my chill status effect notifications so they won't spam me. Ice water is warming up anyway. For now, Power Dash until my stamina is zero.

  Your Power Dash skill has increased by 1 x3

  You have unlocked the 'Multi-Movement Mode' feature for Power Dash

  What's Multi-Movement Mode? I can apply Power Dash to other movement forms, swim, climb etc. Well this isn't going to keep working. I keep hitting furniture and the walls too much., I don't want to wreck the room, it's too small. I'll need a treadmill to grind this, and I haven't even slept yet.

  After an hour of sleep, it's 10pm, and I'm back at max HP. The water in the bathtub still has a lot of ice, but it's half melted. It's still cold but not as cold as fresh from the freezer. I get dressed and clean up the dirt from my Golems that I let fight each other to death earlier, and flush it down the toilet in phases. Now I don't have to risk having them in my inventory when Leech does his thing tomorrow, or leaving them in the room.

  I'm probably just being paranoid again though. My inventoried things didn't fall out when Hatchet Face turned my powers off, so I doubt it will happen with Leech either. Though I might as well toss what I don't need, like the bad can of food and the cracker tin. All I have in there now is Julia's gun, Bonesaw's Brainwave Scanner, the neutered Spider-Bot, OR Scrubs, a box of surgical gloves, a pen, and three-quarters of a pizza, still in the box. I need to go shopping again, but not while I'm being watched by the three amigos outside. Are they still out there? I switch to my free camera to check. Yep.

  I go and get more ice from the machine on my floor. It's already low because of me, and now it's empty. Well fine, I'll go downstairs to the ground floor and empty that one too.

  -6 HP [Cold Damage] (10 Resisted) x55

  For testing the limits of your endurance and vitality, you have gained 1 CON

  -6 HP [Cold Damage] (10 Resisted) x37

  Your Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold) skill has increased by 1

  -4 HP [Cold Damage] (12 Resisted) x162

  Your Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold) skill has increased by 1

  -2 HP [Cold Damage] (14 Resisted) x128

  For testing the limits of your endurance and vitality, you have gained 1 CON

  -2 HP [Cold Damage] (14 Resisted) x247

  Your Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold) skill has increased by 1

  -0 HP [Cold Damage] (16 Resisted) x5

  And… that's… as… far… as… I… can… go… with… this… method…

  Damn it's 3am now. I wrap myself up in my blankets, and sit in bed. I still need to blow all my mana before sleeping though. I swap to free camera, roam the entire hotel, the neighboring buildings and parking lot, and blow Observe on everything for another hour or two.

  Your Observe skill has increased by 1

  I probably wasted half of it though. I guess I should sleep again now.

  Simon's Character Sheet:

  Name: Simon Clarence Anderson

  Gender: Male

  Age: 15

  Race: Human (Parahuman)

  Class: Teenage Runaway / Rogue

  Faction: None

  Money: $0.00

  Title: Gentleman Thief

  Level: 26 (44.06%)

  XP: 64747

  Primary Attributes

  STR: 17 (-2.00) 15.00 (0.00%)

  AGI: 23 (-2.50) 20.50 (0.00%)

  CON: 58 (-4.03) 53.97 (34.46%)

  INT: 30 (-2.00) 28.00 (0.00%)

  PER: 12 (-2.00) 10.00 (51.09%)

  WIS: 22 (-2.00) 20.00 (35.42%)

  CHA: 14 (-1.50) 12.50 (1.92%)

  LUC: 15 (+0.00) 15.00 (78.75%)

  Unspent Points: 9

  Secondary Attributes

  Health Pool: 1912/3012

  Stamina Pool: 1863/1863

  Mana Pool: 0/9750

  Stress Pool: 471/520

  Attack: 20.25

  Speed: 3.18

  Dodge: 19.93

  Armor: 0.40

  Carry: 150.00

  Allure: 4 (-1.25) 2.75

  Status Effects

  Teenage Acne: ALU -0.50

  Alluring Charm*: ALU +1.00

  Fractured Ribs: STR -0.50 AGI -0.75 CON -1.50

  Bruised Organs x4: AGI -0.50 CON -1.00

  Minor Concussion: INT -0.50 PER -0.50 WIS -0.50

  Severed finger: STR -0.15 CON -0.02 ALU -0.13

  Partially-severed finger: STR -0.10 CON -0.01 ALU -0.13

  Broken Hand: STR -0.25 AGI -0.25

  Infected Wound: STR -1.00 AGI -1.00 CON -1.50 INT -1.50 PER -1.50 WIS -1.50 CHA -1.50 ALU -0.50

  Visage of a Wuss: ALU -1.00

  Skills

  Max Slots: 66

  Free Skill Slots: 20

  Artistry: 10 (85.89%)

  Athletics: 13 (8.30%)

  Basic Academics: 9 (0.00%)

  Computers: 10 (11.23%)

  Crafting (Cooking & Brewing): 1 (0.00%)

  Crafting (Stone & Pottery): 10 (5.67%)

  Create Mana Golem: 12 (45.64%)

  Damage Resistance (Corrosive): 2 (43.31%)

  Damage Resistance (Electrical): 3 (24.35%)

  Damage Resistance (Fire & Heat): 4 (0.75%)

  Damage Resistance (Ice & Cold): 8 (0.00%)

  Damage Resistance (Physical): 12 (37.90%)

  Damage Resistance (Sonic & Concussive): 1 (0.00%)

  Disable Device: 12 (7.45%)

  Disease Resistance: 13 (91.55%)

  Disguise: 4 (25.98%)

  Drug & Poison Resistance: 21 (52.65%)

  Empathy: 14 (2.35%)

  Firearms: 1 (0.00%)

  Gamer's Body: MAX (0.00%)

  Gamer's Interface: MAX (0.00%)

  Gamer's Mind: MAX (0.00%)

  Language-English: MAX (0.00%)

  Language-Spanish: MAX (0.00%)

  Mathematics: 4 (0.00%)

  Medicine: 3 (25.67%)

  Meditation: 13 (32.88%)

  Melee Weapons: 4 (31.96%)

  Null Resistance: 12 (29.76%)

  Observe: 27 (32.87%)

  Parahuman Lore: 12 (0.76%)

  Power Dash: 5 (0.00%)

  Power Strike: 10 (8.74%)

  Programming: 10 (0.54%)

  Psychology: 5 (12.61%)

  Science (Biology): 1 (53.22%)

  Science (Chemistry): 1 (0.00%)

  Science (Earth): 1 (0.00%)

  Speech: 11 (6.64%)

  Stealth: 13 (5.14%)

  Strategy: 6 (10.35%)

  Survival: 2 (67.65%)

  Thievery: 11 (22.25%)

  Unarmed Combat: 5 (11.10%)

  Vehicle Operations: 3 (0.00%)

  Video Games: 26 (16.74%)

  Unspent Skill Points: 0

  Perks

  Free Perk Slots: 1

  Gaia's Blessing: Mana Pool and Mana Skill access

  Gaia's Attunement: Elemental Affinity access

  Light Sleeper: Need only 5 hours to get fully rested

  Mana Reserve: Bonus MP per level increased by 25%

  XP Whore: +10% Level XP

  Fast Recovery: x4 HP, Stamina and healing regeneration speed (Free at 50 CON)

  Toughness: Bonus HP per level increased by 50%

  Quick Items: Retrieve and place items in inventory instantly w/out using the window

  Flaws

  Selective Amnesia: We had to make room for stuff in your head

  A Bit of a Troll: Sometimes you just can't help yourself

  Unnatural Curiosity: Can't always resist the urge to find stuff out

  You still look like a Wuss: Even with a few extra muscles, you still look like a wuss.

  Wanted by the S9: You think they'd forget? Git gud, skrub

  Affinities

  Earth: 8

  Water: 2

  Plant: 2

  Lightning: 3

  Fire: 3

  Air: 1