Realistic or Modern Ascendant

[Verse Zero]

"Tremors coming in across the Atlantic. Something's going on..."-BBC


"We've got gravity fluctuations across the central Atlantic between Europe and North America that started roughly Noon today..."-Anderson Cooper


"Scientists are baffled by the lack of severe weather."-Spiegel


"Is it the end times! Repent now! God will strike down the unclean!"-Fox News


"This is a sign that we all need to have Earth day everyday, and walk everywhere. Milk is bad."-Some Blogger





'Atlantis'


Island


Atlantic Ocean


"ATCOM this is Falcon-3 coming in South-West, grid 2300-1234, request permission to land." The whine of helicopter blades filtered in through the helicopter's cabin as it swooped over verdant forests, snow capped mountains, and flowing rivers. It was beautiful. Eden on Earth. Every day new discoveries of plants and flowers found no where else on Earth came in. More and more of the Island was being cataloged and mapped every hour. But there was something...off. Surface vessels made to the Island and away just fine. But every time a submersible would dive to a depth greater than 600 meters would vanish without a trace. Radio contact lost, static across all frequencies, no resurfacing, nothing. Like it had never existed. Just...gone.


The city itself could be seen in the distance. To the West and North the sky was darkened by the light of active volcanoes. Somehow. To the East was dense forest and rolling plains cut by rivers. To the South was dense jungle interspersed with Desert. Atlantis itself was located in the Eastern portion of the island adjacent to the Ocean. Two large statues on top of two tiny islands dominated the Easterly vista if one looked from the city terraces. Each statue was hunched with a globe on their back. One male, the other female, perhaps these where the fabled Pillars of Hercules? Not exactly what someone might imagine.


The helicopter swooped down towards a large clearing next to a growing camp now featuring more than a hundred personnel. Large A/C tents, test areas, and increasing amenities popped up like a miniature twin to the vast cityscape not a click to their East.


A spray painted 'H' emblazoned in yellow was where the helicopter was angling towards. Swooping down level to hover as a man with earphones, waving two batons, and a reflective vest waved them down. The jolt of contact with the ground was surprisingly soft. A testament to the pilot's skill.


The door shuttered open and bright sunny sky poured in. Black boots hitting the dirt Ekaterina stepped onto a fabled land. She had gone on an aerial recon mission to the South for the past four hours.


Walking into the camp she spotted scientists, armed guards, support personnel, and the gifted. 'Gifted' to some maybe. Others it was a curse. Others a death sentence. But those who would die had long since been buried back in Wyoming.


Walking on Kat maid for a green tent. The 'briefing room' so to speak. The gifted where instructed to gather there along with a security detail. They would make an expedition into the city itself. Using her left arm she opened the flap and walked in. A large map mounted on a collapsible stand dominated the Eastern side of the tent. Standing next to it, and mentally going through her notes, she turned to face the array of chairs laid out. Alyxa was already seated in the front row. Staring at the ground.





"Sleep well." asked Kat. Alyxa looked up and smile, "Okay I guess. Kept thinking I was hearing sounds in the distance." Kat smiled in return, but frowned inwardly, sounds outside the camp? Well, security regularly patrolled outside the camp with guards stationed near and next to the children's tents. Probably just hearing people walking around in the distance perhaps.

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis quickly pushed aside the flap that Kat had just come through before turning and almost running to the corner. His eyes were constantly scanning the room as he took in all of the chairs the map and the people in it. Once he reached the corner he quickly sat down and wrapped his long black cloak over his knees before pulling out a small notebook. On a new page he began writing a Fibonacci triangle but randomly half way through writing numbers he suddenly stopped to write small notes such as: Atlantis was supposed to be a technologically advanced city. The coefficient of performance of a heat pump is Qin/Qout. He also was wearing a small pair of Bluetooth earbuds which were playing very loud often very "basey" songs.


Once Artemis had settled down into the corner then he focused temporarily on Kat and Alyxa giving both a small mental "Hi". His eyes still continued to scan the room even while making his sequence and his muscles remained tense and ready.

 

[Johannes]

Benjamin Artz

Benjamin was in his medical tent organizing medicine when his watch alarm went off. He glanced down and remembered that the meeting for the upcoming expedition was soon. Hurriedly, Benjamin briskly walked out of the medical tent and to the tent where the meeting would be held. As he walked in, Benjamin noticed that the Captain of Security, Ekaterina was here already. In the corner was Artemis. A man with the gift of telepathy. Benjamin gave a warm smile to the recluse. Unfortunately, Artemis' mind has taken a toll from the genetic mutation and he is quite shy. Artemis and many of the other Gifted suffer from illnesses that accompany their powers. This was the reason Benjamin was here. He wanted to be the one that would at least, hopefully, make some advances in the research of these Gifted.


"Ah, hello Ekaterina." Benjamin said smiling as he walked over to the Captain of Security who was with another Gifted.. Hopefully she wouldn't mind his tardiness. "And how are you doing today Alyxa?" Alyxa was a gifted with the ability to quickly learn and understand languages. Potentially useful for decrypting any Atlantian language on the upcoming expedition. Benjamin noticed that Alyxa had the look as if something was on her mind. "Anything bothering you?" Benjamin asked.

 

[Verse Zero]

Ekaterina





Kat was about to reply when Artemis walked into the room. His neutral hell was unsettling to any who did not spend a lot of time with youth such as these. The term children only really applied to those that are still in fact--adolescent. The earliest groups where adults in their mid to early twenties by now. Kat returned the neutral greeting with a friendly not in Artemis direction. Next, a moment later came Benjamin Artz. A very intelligent and caring individual who the Agency had picked up a while back for his skill with regards to personal health. Kat also found him attractive, though she kept that facet hidden, and remained a professional relationship with the Doctor.


"Hallo Doktor." Kat's accent slipped in every now and then despite a firm mastery for the English language. But, she was not like Alyxa here who could master and mimic the verbal expressions of any language she came in contact with, something truly any linguist would envy. Checking her watch she noted the time, the Doctor was late, but excusable. It had been a long day previously and with the rate of findings some of the staff where running over ten hour rotations to keep pace. Even then---it was a snails crawl.


Kat resumed to examine the map waiting for others to come into the tent. It was meant to be a small expedition. A small group of gifted and supporting personnel guarded by a squad of soldiers.


Alyxa


Alyxa looked up at the Doctor, having facially acknowledged Artemis, and replied, "Trouble sleeping. Otherwise I'm fine." She looked back at Artemis as the music, not entirely muffled by his earbuds, resonated in her eardrums. She had had few words with Artemis. He came off as one of the introverts among her peers. Not that she was much different. Maybe fitting in as an ambivert on the spectrum. Not entirely introverted or extroverted. Then there was the note taking. Possible OCD? Alyxa wasn't the Doctor here so she kept her mouth shut. Kat had drilled in the concept of respect into each one of the gifted to varying degrees of success. Alyxa, was successful in the application of respect, and kept her thoughts from becoming verbal.

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis continued to make notes in the notebook, if someone was to read it they would see a page covered in messy scrawl with seemingly random, unconnected thoughts surrounding a Fibonacci triangle and a couple of small sums. As the front flap of the tent opened he began to shift as if to run, however once he saw the doctor he relaxed back into his original position. After a moment noting the conversation between those at the front he focused on all three people in the room before mentally saying "Who are we waiting for, I need to get back to the workshop".


As soon as he broke the connection he felt a sharp pain through his head, he was getting better but more than two people at once still put a strain on his mind. He brought his hands up to cover his face and moved his thumbs in small circles over his temples. He also cringed internally at how that comment came out, he didn't mean it to be rude but he needed to get out of there soon, he could only ignore the voices for so long.

 

[Johannes]

Benjamin Artz

Benjamin grinned as Ekaterina went back to the table with maps sprawled out over it. He knew that she was from Russia and that an accent came out from time to time. It was certainly amusing to hear all the different accents from all the different people that make up Agency 51. Benjamin was also glad that Ekaterina didn't mention his tardiness. He saw her look down at her watch which made him tense, but did not make any comment.


"Oh, problems sleeping huh? Well you are in an unfamiliar setting, maybe you'll just need some more time getting used to here." Benjamin proposed. "If it keeps bothering you, I have some herbs in the medical tent that help with sleep. Just drop by if you would like to try it." Benjamin said. There were drugs that aided with sleep, but knowing the fragility of the Gifted, it would be best to keep natural when possible.


Benjamin heard Artemis' voice in his head. The experience was always weird to Benjamin. It would take time getting used to hearing another voice in one's head. He looked over to Artemis who was now rubbing his temples. Benjamin made his way over to Artemis and sat down tenderly next to him. He knew that Artemis was rather shy and fragile when it came to his mind. The Gift allowed Artemis to communicate telepathically, but it opened his mind up to headaches as well as hearing other voices. Borderline schizophrenia.


"Are you okay Artemis?" Benjamin asked with concern. "I know you would like to go back to your workshop, but we have to sit through this first." the doctor said encouragingly. Benjamin reached into his pocket and pulled out a snack he had from earlier, almonds. "Would you like some almonds? They are good for headaches, high in magnesium." Benjamin stated as he held the bag open to Artemis.

 

[Axell]

Angel


The noisy blades of the chopper flying over head woke Angel from his nap. He was currently resting peacefully in a tree, his long legs dangling over the branch he was slouched on, while one of his hands rested on his bare abdomen while the other absentmindedly played in the fur of a curious little creature he had befriended early that day. A twig snapped down below, alerting his attention.


"Angel! Don't you have somewhere to be?" It was Raphael. Raph and Angel had known each other for quite a while now, or at least since Angel arrived on the island. He was one of Angels first friends and they went almost everywhere together which tended to freak many people out considering Raphael was a full grown tiger. Angel scowled and yowled groggily, stretching out on his branch. If he remembered correctly, there was a meeting of some sorts today in one of the tents; the very thought of having to sit through a meeting while in that clausterphobic piece of suspended plastic made him shiver. He much rather stay here and nap and play and make new friends. "Angel!" Raphael grumbled. He was always so responsible, making Angel do the right thing and what not.


"Fine, fine!" Angel hissed, hopping down from the tree, landing almost silently on the balls of his bare feet. He wore only a pair of torn black jeans and if it was up to him he wouldn't even be wearing that, but the staff would always murmur something about 'public indecency'. He huffed indignantly and began jogging back towards camp. The jog soon became a face paced sprint for the camp between him and Raphael. As his feet flew across the rough forest floor he noticed Raph pulling ahead; growling in frustration he rammed into the tigers lean body and successfully knocked him off balance and took the lead. Angel yipped proudly, the camp was in sight! Would this mark the first time in ever that he won a race between him and Raph? Excitement bubbled in his stomach as his lungs began to burn from all the work he was making them do.


Suddenly an angry roar sounded behind him and he was tackled by 500lbs of muscle. He twisted around so his back would take most of the damage and so that he could face Raph head on. Angels back skidded along the rough ground as he struggled to push the huge animal off as Raph playfully nipped at his shoulders.


"You win! You win! I give!"Angel roared. Anyone onlooking might think that he was getting mauled by the beast, but anyone listening would think that two tigers were butting heads, since nothing that escaped Angels lips was remotely human. Raphael moved off of Angel, allowing him to get into a low crouch in which he smirked playfully at the tiger, a low and excited rumble building up in his chest as he launched himself at his friend. Raph had reared up on his hind legs, making him a good three feet taller than Angel(Angel is 6'3) but this allowed Angels lunge to knock him backwards. The man and the beast tumbled and rolled for a few moments, eventually somehow bringing their playful fight into the very tent Angel was supposed to be in, by accident of course. Angel looked up and saw the Doctor, Kat and the others from his place under Raphaels huge paws which pinned him to the ground. A few tense seconds passed by where Angel stayed silent and simply stared like a deer in headlights. Raphael licked his face with his rough tongue and growled softly.


"Say something."He urged. Angel jumped slightly and cleared his throat.


"Uh...Hi."He said gruffly. The pressure on his chest disappeared as Raphael moved away to pace triumphantly in the back of the tent. Angel huffed as he stood up, slightly confused by the blood on the floor where he had just been. He peered over his shoulder at his back to see that he had tiny gashes in his back with bits of gravel in it from when he had gotten tackled. He struggled to brush the dirt out of the wounds but soon gave up, deciding that the dull pain meant that it wasn't anything serious and proceeded to sit down in one of the chairs, his leg bouncing anxiously.

 

[Joan the Rebel]

Joan Ardent

Joan walked swiftly towards the tent, mumbling to herself as she flipped through her notepad.


"How the hell has Atlantis sustained itself under the sea for all this time? The island even has deserts! How are there--" She heard what sounded like two large animals growling at each other and glanced up. "Holy--" She threw herself forward, narrowly avoiding the tiger and man wrestling with each other.


Joan lay silently on the ground while the duo tumbled into the tent, then slowly stood up and tucked the notebook into her pocket.


That kid needs to learn to watch where he's going. For that matter, so do I. Shaking her head slightly, she ducked into the tent and stopped. The tiger was occupying the place where she had planned to be. Shrugging, she sat down on the floor along one of the sides, where she could see everybody. She winced slightly as she sat. She had had to boost herself slightly with Hiren to get out of the way in time, and a headache was already kicking in.

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis reached forward and took one of the almonds from the small bag turning it over in front of his face as he examined it, however just as he was about to eat it a boy and a tiger came barreling through the tent flap causing him to drop the almond and sprint to the other corner of the room before crouching down ready to run again muscles quivering and his eyes are darting around the room. This did not get rid of his headache especially as he watch the tiger come towards the back of the room. Mentally he shouted at Angel. "Stupid. Irresponsible. Some one could have gotten hurt. Please tell the tiger to stay away."





Once Joan arrived in the tent Artemis decided that stuff was likely to start happening so he took a deep breath and pulled the earbuds out of his ears, pausing the music as he does so, and storing them in his pocket alongside the music player. Immediately he starts to get bombarded with thoughts from everyone without the music to distract him and drown them out. He takes another deep breath and begins to stare at the map on the wall, focusing as his eyes scan over it, frantically trying to memorize the details and to distract him from all of the voices.

 

[Johannes]

Benjamin Artz

Benjamin jumped slightly when Angel and Raphael had trampled into the tent. Artemis quickly had scurried away in panic and Joan had nearly walked into the rabble. Benjamin rose from where he sat with a sigh of frustration and pocketed his almonds. Raphael and Angel were both Gifted with more primal powers and that often led to them having playful fights. While it was impressive that Angel could put up such a fight with Raphael in tiger form, it still was disruptive and potentially dangerous. Danger was something that the Doctor did not like to mix with the Gifted.


"Well I guess it is good to see that you are staying fit, Angel." Benjamin said trying to hide annoyance in his voice and he walked to the medicine kit on the side of the tent. Benjamin took out some bandaging and alcohol wipes. "Thank you for bringing him here Raphael." Benjamin said with a smirk as he walked past the tiger. "May I see your back?" Benjamin asked Angel as he put on some gloves and began opening the alcohol wipes. "We wouldn't want those to get infected."

 

[Axell]

Angel

Angel huffed in response to the dirty looks people gave him. He looked up at the doctor, tilting his head to the side in mild confusion and curiosity. "It'll heal."He said, but showed him his back either way. He really wasn't one for doctors ir hospitals or other people for that matter, but he also knew that alot of the things he didn't like were for his own good. Angel whined nervously, sounding like a scared pup, and if he would have had a tail it would have been flicking back and forth nervously as he eyed the alcohol wipes. The smell made his head hurt and his nose tingle, causing him to sneeze. A warm heavy weight pressed against his legs as Raph, sensing his friends discomfort, brushed against him.


"I'm alright."He chuffed, making a sort of airy ch-ch-ch sound in the back of his throat in which Raphael reciprocated.

 

[Verse Zero]

Ekaterina





The Gifted where as ever---a motley crew. Angel's ability was tolerated, though in the past the Agency had no problem putting down his animal friends should they cause problems. Under normal circumstances Raphael would have been shot dead long before reaching the camp by sentries. However, certain considerations had to be made when dealing with the Gifted. Something that irked Ekaterina about half the time. They where here charges and her superiors would be very displeased if Angel was suddenly, inexplicably, mauled under her watch.


Several more soldiers entered the room and gave their nods. Ekaterina cleared her throat, "Ehem!"





The soldiers looked on intently, Alyxa did as well, it was time to begin the briefing. Clearing her throat, more quietly this time, Ekaterina turned sideways so that she could observe the large map standing on her side of the room. "Alright people listen up, surveillance has penetrated airspace within a half kilometer of the city itself with plenty of aerial photographs from craft flying high above the city itself. So far we've seen no signs of life but for all we know they are in the lower levels terribly spooked by our presence. Our job is to be the first expedition into the city itself. We'll be moving in a relatively straight path." Ekaterina traced a finger from the camp directly East. "We will have to move through several wooded areas and to keep it simple and so that aerial detachment's can keep track of us with ease. The outer sections of the city seem to encompass a hilly area ringing the city with small valleys crisscrossed with advanced water systems. We will be moving in to establish a forward outpost and study any artifacts we come across. Very simple. We move out in five. Dismissed."





At that Ekaterina walked out. Grabbing a P90 offered by another soldier as she left the tent Ekaterina moved to a clearing East of the camp. She would wait for everyone to assemble and they would move out. All of the security detail where ready. Backpacks with water and food where ready for the gifted. Along with survival kits in case of separation, worst case scenario, and medical supplies. The Agency wasn't taking any chances it seemed and had given Ekaterina stringent orders on this regard.


It was to be a simple hike East and into the city itself. Plain and simple.


Alyxa





Alyxa listened intently as Ekaterina spoke. Trying desperately to remember as much as she could. It seemed that the security troops had planned the simplest incursion into the city possible. Almost too literal but hey less work for the Gifted.


Standing up and stretching Alyxa let out a yawn as she moved to the tent flap. A guard held out a back pack for her and she held out her arms. He placed it on her gently. oof. It was heavier than expected. Well---better than nothing at all.


Moving outside the sunny atmosphere of the rising Sun washed her flesh in warmth. Damn it was beautiful here. The air was so fresh, untarnished, the water so crystal and clear. She could not imagine Eden being anywhere else. A place largely untouched by mankind. Unblemished. It was almost too serene.





"This way Alyxa." said a guard, his name tag stitched onto his combat gear was, Ereusee, possibly a Frenchman? Nah, definitely from North-Western Italy in the vicinity of Turin. The though came into her mind like a lightning bolt. Alyxa obliged and she followed as more guards began to shepherd the group along.

 

[Joan the Rebel]

Joan Ardent

While Ekaterina briefed them, Joan quickly copied the map into her notebook, writing the plan in the margins.


Nice and simple. That's what I always liked about that girl. When the briefing ended, Joan tucked the notebook into one of her vest pockets and stood up. She followed Ekaterina to the clearing and smiled slightly when she saw the backpacks. She already had one that she considered better than what the Agency would offer, but she took one anyway and went through it to see if it held anything of worth. She was pleasantly surprised to find a couple things, like the survival straw and the meal kits, that were a step up from what she had.


"Huh. Looks like somebody knows their stuff," she mumbled to herself. She shifted the stuff to her backpack and set the other one slightly apart from the others.


Don't want anybody missing out because of me, do I?

 

[Johannes]

Benjamin Artz

Benjamin began gently rubbing the open wounds with the alcohol wipes, tenderly brushing away any dirt and grime that got in.


"I'm sure it will heal, but this makes it easier for it to do that." Benjamin said reassuringly as he continued wiping and cleaning the scrapes. Ekaterina began on the mission debriefing and Benjamin's skilled hands went on auto-pilot while he paid attention. To establish another forward base huh? Looking for artifacts would be cool and all, but Benjamin was more interested in looking at plants. They could have potentially helpful effects. They would be especially useful if they could mitigate Gifted side effects. Benjamin placed bandages over particularly open or big gashes while he left shallow scrapes alone. As Ekaterina finished debriefing, Benjamin patted Angel's shoulder before standing up. The debriefing was quick and a lot to take in but the thought didn't bother Benjamin too much. He was here to be a doctor, medicine was all he really needed to know.


"Let those scrapes breathe every once in a while." Benjamin said to Angel. "And make sure they stay clean." he added before walking out of the tent to the medical tent. There he packed his own personal bag. Sure, there was medical supplies being brought but Benjamin liked having his own set of tool as well. In the bag was a scalpel, for emergency make-shift surgeries, stitches, personally made remedies, a few powerful prescription drugs and a tablet for taking down notes of potentially helpful fauna that may come along the way.


Benjamin stepped out of the medical tent with his bag slung over his shoulder. The island was certainly stunning. But Benjamin did not focus on its beauty; he focused on its potential. The doctor saw some of the others heading towards the clearing towards the east. Benjamin walked towards the rendezvous point and saw Joan there already.


"Ah hello there Mrs. Ardent. How are you today?"

 

[Refusedstone]

Marcus Taggert

​

The air in the tent was quite musky and warm. Marcus had been one of the first few there when the group of gifted were given orders to report for briefing. He watched and listened intently as Kat went over the details of the mission. Part of him wanted to explore this place fully. Another part of him wanted to run and another part was less than enthusiastic about trending on foreign land with no knowledge.


History has shown that invading people's land always turns out bad. What could they be looking for here really? He thought to himself as he stood a solid sentinel with his arms crossed.


When the briefing was finished, he stepped outside and inhaled the fresh air. In his mind, no matter what was here and no matter what awaited them, this would be his one chance to get away. At the rendezvous point, a table was aligned with backpacks for each of them. Marcus moved over to the one on the end and threw it over his shoulder, eager to start the expedition.


His eyes glanced over at Dr. Artz as he slid his tactical gloves on each hand, "What's this? You headed out with us Doc? It's been a while since I've seen you in the field."

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis


As soon as he heard that there were only 5 minutes till they were to leave Artemis got up and sprinted out the tent flap. He ran through the camp to a mid sized tent that he had been using as a workshop for the duration of his time here. Quickly he grabbed a satchel off one of the work benches and filled it with a selection of small pieces of circuit boards, aerials and two large tablets. He then ran back to the main meeting area to see most people ready to go so he swiftly moved to one of the rucksacks on the table and opened it.


He saw that it was filled with medical accessories food and survival instruments, one of the other packs was leaning up against the table open and contained a very similar load out. So he reched in and began chucking out all of the medical supplies and some of the non critical survival stuff like a tinder box. Then, with a huff of effort he squeezed the satchel down one side before picking up the bag, looping it over his shoulders and groaning under the weight.

 

[Joan the Rebel]

Joan Ardent

Joan glanced up and smiled at the doctor. "It's Joan, Benjamin, and I'm not a Mrs. yet." Her smile widened. "Anyway, I'm doing mostly okay. I have a bit of a headache, but it's mostly gone."


She looked both somewhat concerned and amused when she saw Artemis struggling under the weight of his backpack. She stood there for a moment, unsure what to do. Then Marcus came up and started talking with the doctor. She smiled with relief at Marcus and hurried over to help Artemis.


"Want some help with that?" She purposely kept her voice gentle to avoid scaring the boy.

 

[Axell]

Zahara

"Oh, fuuuuu-"Zahara was cut off mid curse as she crashed straight into someone. "Ow~"She said, rubbing her forehead. She was late......again. But this time it really wasn't her fault! She had gotten caught up in a project in which would possibly allow there to be A/C in the tents and possibly personal robots for everyone, though that last part was strictly her own creativity getting the best of her. Zahara had been so focused on tinkering with old cooling ventilation systems that she'd missed the briefing completely. She sighed, looking up at a familiar face. "Ah, Marcus, right? I'm sorry for crashing into ya."She said with an apologetic grin as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Say, you wouldn't mind telling me what the meeting was about? I was busy and missed it..."She said, eyes hopeful.


@Refusedstone


Angel

Angel nodded his thanks to Dr. Artz and blankly stared off into the corner of the tent throughout the short debriefing. Hiking, huh? He scowled softly and huffed; he hated hiking because he had to wear those uncomfortable boots. The last time he'd tried anything of the sort with out shoes, his feet were in too bad of a shape for him to walk on the forest floor or even play with Raphael. He sighed and made his way out of the tent and headed towards the supply station, unsure of how to acquire any form of boots.

 

[ApfelSeine]

Qiang hefted the heavy bag onto his shoulders along with the others. He wondered what on earth they were making them all carry that made their bags so heavy. Surely they didn't need that many things just to walk to the city. Or perhaps they did. Qiang wasn't going to question any of the people in charge since he would likely get an insincere answer. If they were to answer honestly, Qiang wouldn't trust them anyways, so there was no sense wasting the energy on it. Particularly not when there were more enjoyable ways of wasting energy.


Although he had sat through the briefing he did not particularly care what he was asked to do. They could have asked them to swim back across the ocean and Qiang still wouldn't have cared. It did not particularly matter to anyone else whether or not it would be something he wanted to do after all, so there was no need to invest any feelings into it one way or another. He would be led onward into whatever the people in charge had planned for the expedition. Still, despite being resigned to following the lead of the person in charge, it did still occur to Qiang to wonder whether all of his fellow 'gifted' were being sent to this island. Surely this wasn't some sort of specialized task force. After all, what use could such a force have for an illusionist? Did researchers think that being 'gifted' equated to being useful? It would be amusing if that was the case. A well trained normal person could probably be just as useful as Qiang, if not more so. In fact, Qiang would see to it that that was the case.


Smiling to himself, Qiang followed behind the first person that he spotted. He matched pace with them, mimicking their stride length, posture, and general demeanor to the best of his ability. Mimicking others was one of Qiang's preferred pastimes. It intrigued him to see how long it took before the person he was mimicking noticed him and reacted. He would always play it off as a coincidence, but anyone who knew even a little bit about him would likely know better than to believe him.

 

[Johannes]

Benjamin Artz

Benjamin chuckled as Joan shared her amusing anecdote. She went off to help Artemis with his bag and Marcus had shown up.


"Ah hello Marcus. Yes, it is good to have a doctor on expeditions." Benjamin stated as he adjusted the shoulder strap of his bag. "I guess they are being extra careful if things go awry. Sudden earthquake, rockfalls. People could get hurt." Benjamin said as he looked at the current Gifted present. "They are pretty valuable, not just as Gifted, but as people. Wouldn't want them getting mangled." Benjamin stated before a girl ran into Marcus. Benjamin chuckled as Zahara apologized to Marcus. Another bright Gifted. Really adept with technology. Zahara typically was late as she would become preoccupied with her projects. "Hello to you too Zahara. What project were you wrapped up in this time?"

 

[Axell]

Zahara

Izzy twirled a loose curl that had escaped from her messy bun,"Oh, the usual- air conditioning and humanoid electro-mechanical machines equipped with an electronic circuitry that allows it to recieve and obey an assortment of commands and possibly breath fire........ ."She said, trailing off slightly. "Unfortunately, its still only an idea - the robots, not the A/C, I'll have that up and going in all the tents when we get back- the guys in charge of the aircrafts wouldn't let me tear down one of their planes. Can you believe that? "Izzy said indignantly, crossing her arms.

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis turned to look at Joan as she spoke up "No, I'm fine thank you don't worry" he replied giving a nervous thumbs up. He then quickly scuttled away from her gaze. As he was moving to the outside of the clearing he overheard Zahara talking to Benjamin. He quickly walked up to them, the idea of humanoid robots already circulating through his mind as he began to work on designs and how that might work, he was also focusing on it because it offered a great distraction from all of the voices.


Once he reached them he spoke up in a quiet almost timid voice,"Electro-mechanical humanoids you say, have you considered trying to use pneumatics for the joint you would get a much better strength to size ratio than trying to rig up a pulley system with servos. Also if you needed parts of a plane I have a broken High-bypass ratio Turbofan in my workshop if you wanted to tear it down". Once he finished he quickly pulled out a notebook and began drawing the designs for lots of different mechanical joints and some portable power core designs.


@Joan the Rebel @Z Greatest001

 

[Joan the Rebel]

Joan Ardent


Joan watched Artemis scurry off, then shook her head slightly. She would probably never be able to understand that kid. Maybe someday, maybe not...Well, she had something slightly more pressing to attend to at the moment. At least, that's what she told herself.


Joan unslung her backpack fron her back and went through the contents again, keeping half an ear tuned to the mechanics' conversation nearby. She recognized most of the terms, but she knew she would never be able to talk on that level with people like Artemis and Izzy.


Well, that's perfectly fine, isn't it? If we were all the same, we'd get bored pretty quickly. Nevertheless, it still bothered her as she zipped the backpack up again and walked over to them so she could listen better.


Partway there, she paused rather abruptly, trying to keep from smiling but failing. Without looking behind her, she said calmly "Do you need something, Qiang?"


Joan liked Qiang. Him, she could understand...well, mostly. They seemed to share a healthy mistrust of the Agency, but while she kept hers a careful secret, she felt his mistrust was, well, a little obvious.


@ApfelSeine

 

[Axell]

Zahara

Izzys eyes lit up at the sketches."Really!!? Ooh! I was thinking of using a hydraulic system as an actuator, but now that I think about it a psuneumantic system might be better. But I do want to keep these robots relatively close to the size of the average human and psuneumantics re used in larger scale robotics. I guess it depends on the duty I want to program into it."She said, taking a closer look at his designs. "These are goood...."She exclaimed, honestly impressed. She had yet to meet any one who could match her enthusiasm and knowledge of robots and machinery.


@Scaver

 

[Scavenger]

Artemis looked up from the book and nodded. “ That would make sense using a hydraulic system if you wanted to keep it life size, although you could use a large centralised pneumatics if you needed extra strength. What were you thinking of using as a processing core, you would need a high thread count on the processor to be able to manage all of the different movements in real time, on top of having to run a logic program so that it can figure out what it needs to do.” He rambles talking at high speed and occasionally making enough of a mental connection that he was speaking both telepathically and verbally.


@Z Greatest001