Thurman Biological Sciences Building
CC State University, Coast City
Apr 17
23:17
On the first floor...
Granite and Mai burst out of the stairwell into the first floor lobby. Fate, just around the corner, recognizes Granite's distinct footfalls and hurries to join them. Not twenty feet away, the glass doors to the outside are nothing more than shards of glass sparkling across the floor. Large fungal stalks lean into the room, though they do not appear to be moving inward any further.
Granite makes quick introductions and explains that Mai is leading him to the office where they hope to find the intercom controls to warn the others scattered throughout the building. Fate likes the plan, figuring it'll be a lot quicker than searching floor by floor. He tells the janitor to head up to the roof. The janitor, for his part, is only too happy to comply.
"I'll take care of unlocking the roof access," he says and heads for the elevators.
Mai leads the two metahumans down another hall and to a locked and dark office. "I would imagine that the intercom is in here," she says.
Granite leans slightly against the door and effortlessly snaps it through the frame. He swings it wide and allows the others to enter. Mai and Fate find the intercom console half buried under a stack of old papers in the back of the office - apparently it sees little use these days. The controls are quite simple, however, especially the red button labeled "All Building Emergency."
"You're going to try to get us all out through the roof, right?" Mai says, looking to Fate and Granite for confirmation. When they nod, she hits the button and leans into the dusty microphone.
"Attention everyone," she says. Her tinny voice echoes through the halls of the building and back into the office. "The building seems to be blocked off by some unknown...thing. The roof may be the only way out of the building. There are a couple metahumans here who will try to get us out that way. Everyone please get to the roof access as quickly..."
Her broadcast is cut short when the power in the building goes out.
*****
Lawrence starts leading Dr. Linderman and Andrew up the stairs and toward the roof. Jorgi pauses for a moment to get the hard drive from each of the two computers. Using his powers, Jorgi "convinces" the machines to disconnect their own hard drives and almost eject them into his waiting hands.
"Machinesloveme," he says with a grin and races after the others.
Upon reaching the top (12th) floor, Dr. Linderman leads them down a hallway toward the isolated stairway to the restricted 13th floor. While en route, a woman's voice comes on through the intercom. (See above)
"It's through here," Dr. Linderman says, pointing at a door with a 'Roof Access' sign in the center.
The power in the building abruptly cuts out, plunging everything into darkness. A second or two later, emergency lights kick on in the hallway, though they are separated from one another by a healthy distance and provide only scant illumination.
