Transcendence Now - Issue #1

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Lukas Clausewitz:

"I've thought about it good amount," Felicia admits, "but each idea that comes to mind seems just about as likely as the next." The woman momentarily rested her head upon her arms, thinking in response to Lukas' idea. She wasn't on the same intellectual level as the other transcendent, but she made for a good sounding board, accepting of strange conversations and offering her own sort of insight.

"As to your hypothesis, I imagine this program would have cost a lot of money, otherwise, why wouldn't other groups or governments have created programs similar to this one? And when you start talking about wealth similar to the level of governments, very few individuals have that much money. Then again, your proposition does make sense, on some level. Taking a look at our little group, there appears to be very few similarities between everyone."

Not bothering to look at a clock, Felicia declares, "MaKenzie's last treatment is almost done. Maybe we should ask her what she thinks?" she asks, showing off her uncanny sense of time.


MaKenzie Wolf:

"Well, you're done." Angel announces, more for show than anything else, as the technicians had already begun to unstrap MaKenzie from the table.

"In a few more months I'll be out of here as well, if its alright, I'd like to get in contact with you and see what you're up to. If you don't know where you're going to be, I'll find a way, and if you don't have a place to stay by then I have a few friends who can offer us somewhere. Just leaving the offer out there." Angel says, her voice sincere.

"Until then, enjoy the outside." As always, MaKenzie can almost feel an empathic smile on Angel's face, even through the speakers. The metal entrance to the room she was in opens, as the technicians go about their business cleaning up the equipment.

Soon after she steps out, MaKenzie is greeted by Grace Carmichael, "How are you feeling?" the other girl asks, her voice curious more than concerned. Behind the woman, MaKenzie can see Felicia and Lukas sitting together, talking over lunch, as well as Alex in the corner, his face passive as he plays a first person shooter on his Playstation 5.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Joshua Lucas Trevin:

"Of course we'll keep in touch." Will responds, reassuringly, "Besides, part of the reason I want to join a military so early is that, whenever everything turns chaotic, I would have garnered enough trust and goodwill to make some decisions on my own. And it wouldn't be polite of me to let a friend get hurt, Josh." The teen smirked, moving his bishop, "But it would be fair enough for me to trounce you one last time for old time's sake. Check." Taking a moment to assess the pieces on the board, it was obvious that there was little left to do but conclude the game, each move left your own king in more and more jeapordy.

"As to each of our values, I guess it would depend on how we developed. Right now, your telekinetic abilities are very impressive compared to the standard human being. What you can accomplish by yourself is much more versatile than any other individual, but not out of reach of more technologically advanced groups. Offensively, your powers could probably achieve the same amount of damage as a top of the line gun, which isn't honestly that expensive to a powerful organization. Your precision should count for something, but until you develope your powers more, you won't have much of an advantage over any competition you might face."

"If I were you, I'd probably lay low and practice using my powers until they grew, if they grew...then again, you're more the showing off type, right?"


Joe Vaughn:

"I wouldn't mind having the King on my side, but I'd only trust him as long as he stayed within arm's reach. People like him care more about their own hides than anyone else's." Leo remarked in response to Joe's statement.

Although not a booksmart person, Leo generally had insight into other people's characters. At least, he seemed fairly spot on when asking more pointed questions about everyone's past, on the occasion he got to talking to them. After realizing how much of an influence Susan was on Joe's life though, he hardly brought her up again out of a sense of respect. It was just one of his strange ways of showing friendship.

Perhaps sensing Joe's unease, or just accepting the change of topic, Leo spoke, "Yeah, traveling's on my list, too. I'm looking forward to going to the east coast again sometime soon. Where are you lookin' at?"

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Miss Maleck Blackwell:

The sun was shining, perfectly luminescent yet comfortably warm. There were animal-shaped clouds in the sky which floated about in a sort of parade. Occasionally, a cool breeze came about, although it would never ruffle hair nor dresses. One of the kinks about her power Theresa had yet to fix.

Speaking of the illusionist, she sat opposite of Miss Maleck, across a picnic basket and over a quilted blanket both girls sat on. "This party was definately worth going through all that hassle petitioning the facility to let me use my powers like this, don't you think?" Theresa says, smiling as she takes a sip of sparkling apple cider.

About once a week since gaining her powers, Theresa would be allowed to create one of these simulated realities in her room for leisure. At first, Mal noted that these environments were very rough, and that the other transcendent struggled to find definition with her illusions. She had progressed a good amount in the month and a half since she gained her powers, though, and now they were very realistic.

Mal heard a strange noise behind her, attracting her attention. Looking back, she notices a sapling start to sprout and then start growing at a rapidly accelerated rate, reaching full maturity in half a minute. The now fully grown oak stood behind her, offering copious amounts of shade. "I figured you'd feel more comfortable with some shadows to this place, and I've been watching some more nature-themed videos lately so I've been wanting to try that out. Convincing?"

 

[Shalimar]

"Yea I guess so, no more of this poking and proding anymore." Makenzie says with a crooked half-smile, "Don't know if I'm glad, or if I'll miss it, its nice having so many doctors paying attention to me when I'm not sick." the acrobat said as she hopped up off the table. "Thanks Angel, it was nice having someone to talk to while they were doing whatever it is that they actually do, it made the time go faster for me."

Listening to Angel's plan to get in touch with her after she got out of the program, Makenzie smiled and nodded, though it did make her wonder if the other woman was going to make the offer to everyone, or if she was special to Angel. The girl hoped it was the second one. "Yea, I think I'd like that, I think I'd like it a lot. I can't wait to see you again on the outside." she told the other woman sincerely before heading back towards the suite of rooms being shared by the 5 participants, smiling.

"I'm good, it didn't hurt or anything, it was just the same as always. I'm glad to be done, but it wasn't that bad." the purple haired acrobat told Grace. She continued on over to the table where Lukas and Felicia were eating lunch, and made up a plate for herself. "Hi guys."

 

[RobotRobotI]

Maleck's sitting cross-leggedly on this little blanket, leaning back and resting her weight on her hands, wearing a happy smile and crazy hair. Ever since Theresa got the okay to throw up her virtual realities, Mal's been looking forward to them all week, every week. And they've definitely gotten more ... well, better. It's a shame, Mal thinks, that they're going to have to part ways soon.

Speaking of the illusionist, she sat opposite of Miss Maleck, across a picnic basket and over a quilted blanket both girls sat on. "This party was definately worth going through all that hassle petitioning the facility to let me use my powers like this, don't you think?" Theresa says, smiling as she takes a sip of sparkling apple cider.

"Oh yes. Most definitely. Quite." Mal's smile broke into a grin for a moment, and she laughed so slightly. "It's such a nice getaway, even if we're never actually outside, y'no?" She propped herself up, off her hands, and went ahead rummaging through their picnic basket. Had to be a peantbutter sandwich in there somewhere.

Mal heard a strange noise behind her, attracting her attention. Looking back, she notices a sapling start to sprout and then start growing at a rapidly accelerated rate, reaching full maturity in half a minute. The now fully grown oak stood behind her, offering copious amounts of shade. "I figured you'd feel more comfortable with some shadows to this place, and I've been watching some more nature-themed videos lately so I've been wanting to try that out. Convincing?"

Just a moment after withdrawing a baggied PB&J sandwich from the basket, Mal heard an odd sort of noise and, half-started, turned to see what it was. The completely unnatural sort of growth fascinated her for the brief duration of it's growth, and for longer than that Maleck just enjoyed the detail of the thing. Theresa's brand of art was one Mal had really grown to love - and what's more, she was the first, and only, artist of her kind. Mal thought that uniqueness was amazing.

Turning back to Theresa after a long moment admiring the tree, Mal's smile would break into a full, unwavering grin. "Convincing is an understatement, I think! It's amazing. You're quite the artist."

Maleck is now retrieving her PB&J sandwich from the baggie. "Kinda a bummer that we're leaving so soon. I'm going to miss these picnics."

 

[Samnell]

"Of course we'll keep in touch." Will responds, reassuringly, "Besides, part of the reason I want to join a military so early is that, whenever everything turns chaotic, I would have garnered enough trust and goodwill to make some decisions on my own. And it wouldn't be polite of me to let a friend get hurt, Josh."

"Kind of you," Josh smirked back, good naturedly. "Suppose it makes good strategic sense." Doubt I'd end up dead in France at least.

he teen smirked, moving his bishop, "But it would be fair enough for me to trounce you one last time for old time's sake. Check." Taking a moment to assess the pieces on the board, it was obvious that there was little left to do but conclude the game, each move left your own king in more and more jeapordy.

"Bested again," Josh shrugged and tipped over his king with a lazy gesture. "Didn't see that variation from your trap six games ago until you had me."

Your precision should count for something, but until you develope your powers more, you won't have much of an advantage over any competition you might face."

"If I were you, I'd probably lay low and practice using my powers until they grew, if they grew...then again, you're more the showing off type, right?"

"I am. Suppose the precision and the range counts for something, though. Powers or no, I'd die if I ruined my hands in basic training." Josh flexed his well-trained fingers. He's right, I guess. Later I'll be quite the asset but right now I'm a novelty. Hang it all.

"So aside the Americans, what candidates are you considering for your services? Russia? France? The UK?"

 

[Rybaer]

Perhaps sensing Joe's unease, or just accepting the change of topic, Leo spoke, "Yeah, traveling's on my list, too. I'm looking forward to going to the east coast again sometime soon. Where are you lookin' at?"

Joe has to really think about his answer. It's something he's been struggling with lately.

"I think I'll go visit my family back in St. Louis, first," he says. "You know, just to let them know I'm okay. I think they were pretty worried about me when I joined the project, and I really can't blame them.

"After that...not really sure yet. I might head out to the West coast for a bit. Maybe check out the San Fransisco Bay area. I've always meant to go out there, but never quite made it aside from a layover in the airport once."

He doesn't mention anything about his intentions to try to hook up with a governmental agency, in some capacity, as a rescue worker. He's not sure which agency, but figures that California and their earthquake response infrastructure might be a good starting place.

"Where out East are you thinking of going to? You have family or friends out there?"

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Miss Maleck Blackwell:

Theresa blushes vividly at Mal's compliments before gently laughing a burst of pride away. "You kid too much, Mal, I'm sure both of us would appreciate a breath of fresh air." As she says this, she brow furrows in a look of concentration as the smell of morning dew drifts towards Mal's senses. "That's what I think of when I think of the outside, kind of corny I guess."

She takes a moment to bend and raid the picnic basket for her own PB&J sandwich, talking again as she opens the zip-loc baggy, "Virtual reality is cool and all, and I'm sure I'll get better at everything, but right now I feel like I have to experience some more of the outside before I get any better at replicating it."

"If you like, maybe we could meet up again a few weeks after we get out. I have some stuff to do back at home, mostly getting my affairs in order, assuring my former colleagues I haven't died or anything of that sort. After that though, we could go on vacation somewhere, New York City perhaps? I mean, money could be a hassle but I figure I could do some sort of stage act for a while to make some change. And then, we could..." Theresa stopped, mid-sentence, "Well, there I go rambling again, I mean, you haven't even mentioned if you were interested or not. We really don't have to, but I think it'd be fun..." She said trailing off and looking moderately embarrassed.


Joshua Lucas Trevin:

"To be honest I think in a half-dozen more games or so we'd be getting stalemates each game, I think I've worn out a lot of my tricks on you. I mean, my enhanced intellect allows me to calculate and see several steps into the game, but there's only so much you can do in chess..." Will chuckled slightly, "Now that's something I didn't think I'd say. Yeah, I think calculating the myriad probabilities of actual, real time situations will be a welcome change. I'm sort of leaning towards either the US, Russia, or Germany, I've already studied up and made myself fluent in Russian and German, as well as some Chinese. I've been considering taking my talents somewhere more eastern bound, but I'm not sure if they'd be able to get over my age and my lack of any meaningful heritage."

"But enough about my plans, how about yourself? Have you decided to be the one man symphony? I know I've been worrying you with talk about war, but I wouldn't be too worried..." Suddenly Will's appearance becomes conspiratory, and he leans in towards Josh, over the chessboard, "I've been chatting up with Bastien some and as I hear it, you were the second person in this whole program of 25 to develope your powers, and at a rate faster than the previous five. If the speed of which you first acquired your powers has anything to do with how strong they are, I imagine you'll do quite well out there."

Will gives Josh a moment to take that in, then sets himself back down, turning over the chess board and arranging the pieces in their slots on the insides of the board.

 

[Sollir Furryfoot]

Joe Vaughn:

"I'll probably hit up Florida and then make my way up, it'd just be more..." Leo stops and then turns his head a little bit, as if trying to make out some sort of noise he just heard. His manner remains cool but as he turns to Joe, a weird look gets in his eyes, "I forgot to pack something, I'll be back in a moment." Leo says before making his way to his room, his pace slightly more hurried than usual.

A minute later, Miranda enters the room and makes her way to the miniature kitchen. She opens the now silent fridge, staring into the darkness, trying to make out shapes. A minute later she pulls out a carton of milk and then fills herself a glass. After she returns the carton back and closes the door, the machine starts humming again. The light above her dims and then gives out, though the old woman doesn't seem to notice it, instead enjoying the cold milk.

 

[Samnell]

"I've been chatting up with Bastien some and as I hear it, you were the second person in this whole program of 25 to develope your powers, and at a rate faster than the previous five. If the speed of which you first acquired your powers has anything to do with how strong they are, I imagine you'll do quite well out there."

"Really?" Josh smiled at the thought. "That's more than tolerable, I'll say. I'm hoping I can get two violins aloft and playing at a time soon."

"Suppose I'll take a few engagements to help the bank account while thinking about possibilities."