Log:Unpowered

Unpowered 2021/04/08 Artemis Bree Charm Joseph Magda Kid Tengu Wade 1

Institute for the Unpowered.
This institutional establishment is unmistakably clinical in nature, although some efforts have been made to give it a more residential look. Each individual room is decorated to the resident's choice. The constant pervasive presence of nursing staff, doctors, and obvious guards belie those efforts though.

Log
It's early morning. The sun is just peeking over the horizon as nursing staff sweep through the residential areas waking any sleepyheads, advising that there's 30 minutes to get washed and dressed before breakfast. You're each in a separate room.

The residential rooms each have an en-suite bathroom and toilet. With your favourite brands of soap, shampoo, and toothpaste. etc..

Magdala yawns and stretches, trying to blink away the fog of sleep -- for when she is awake, she never feels as sharp as she does while in her dreams.

Meleryniel wakes, confused by the feel of the bed and the institutional smell. She lies still for a moment trying to think where she is and how she got here.

Bree wakes with a start in an unfamiliar place. The work "breakfast" motivates her to get up and moving. She'll figure things out once she has some food.

Wade gets dressed for his morning run, and realizes...that this isn't his home. . o O (What the heck happened? This is odd.) He investigates the room briefly before stepping out of his room to see if he can find some details about where hs is.

Joseph blinks at the pyjamas he's wearing. Since he hasn't worn any for a very long time. He starts to ask a question, then with a slight smile, rises and changes into the casual clothing he finds in the closet. Well, after a nice shower, he does.

He then wanders out into the hallway to see what he can find.

Meleryniel, finding she has no idea how she got here, jerks wide awake with a start. She sits bolt upright and looks about.

Tybrion Vax of Etbthrol VIII is a sound sleeper- especially when they fall asleep in their own bed and get all that repressed energy out busting heads in the streets.

When KT hears someone waking people, he begins to stir- long lanky appendages bunching up the sheets that suddenly feel unfamiliar.

He begins opening his eyes and much to his confusion he doesn't recognize where he is.

His large eyes narrow and he begins listening to voices in the hallways since the waker is clearly not Chalmers or any of the other teens frm #CodeDark.

The rooms in your section of the building are off a 6ft wide corridor that runs in a square around an open plan nursing station.

The nurse waking KT asks sympathetically, "Do you require assistance?"

KT does look concerned. With a cocked head the alien teenager asks, "Where am I? Am I still dreaming?"

Bree wanders out into the hall, looking for the aforementioned breakfast.

The nurse with KT says pityingly, "In the institute. Don't you remember. I'll get the doctor if you are having memory problems."

Bree finds her Hotfoot costume hanging in the closet. . o O (What the...?) Nevertheless, she puts it on, before wandering out into the hall looking for the aforementioned breakfast.

One of the nurses smiles at Bree. "Good morning Hotfoot. Feeling well I hope?"

Hotfoot says, "Hungry mostly. Which way to...?"

Joseph wanders out into the hallway, a bemused expression on his face. He looks around then heads towards the nurse's station.

Those words illicit a pang of fear in KT. Outworld Teen Traveler Rule #87: 'Generic institutes are always cover for something sinister.' Added tip: If you have special powers and abilities beware!

He looks at the nurse and clenches his jaw.

"Oh I remember now. Still just groggy." He says pitifully as he moves to get up. He causes his knees to wobble and then staggers a bit before falling back into bed.

"Maybe you can help me get to the bathroom though- so I can take a bath before breakfast?" KT asks the nurse, looking up towards the bathroom as if that were where he was planning on going next.

The nurse points Hotfoot to the door labeled Canteen down the corridor and around one of the turns in the corridor.

Meleryniel frowns as she gets up. Something is badly wrong. This uncomfortable bed should have alerted her straight off. And everything is so blurry, the sounds muffled. Maybe she's been drugged? Or is this a dream? Perhaps it's growing up around political intrigue, but her first instinct is that something is badly wrong. She searches the room for clues...

His nurse nods and carefully helps KT into the bathroom. The bathroom facilities are clearly customized for him.

Joseph is dressed in casual clothing rather than a costume as he approached the canteen area, following the signs. He observes the staff and surroundings

Wade makes his way down the hall toward the canteen as well. "Kinda looks like Starguard, only...well, not."

Magda looks at herself in the mirror, yawns, and gets to making herself presentable. She carefully doesn't wash her waist-length hair (it takes forever to dry), but eventually exits in her usual brown skirt, white button-down shirt, and lively jacket. "Morning," she sighs to the nurse as she goes past.

"Good morning." the nurse replies to Magda.

Meleryniel frowns disapprovingly at the inferior clothing. Shoddy workmanship. Which suggests, one hopes, that this isn't a fae plot of some type. But human plots aren't much better.

As each of you emerge from your rooms you'll see the others also doing so.

Artemis wakes up not where she expects to be, and not with whom she expects. There's a bit of a kerfuffle as Artemis demands to know who the strange man is waking her up. "Whom dares kidnap the Godflora in their slumber like cowards!?" she roars. When she tries to manhandle the orderly, she finds herself getting manhandled and told to calm down.

Meleryniel decides in any case she had better shower, at the least, before leaving the room. So she heads to the bathroom to do so.

Magda sighs as she goes past the usual morning 'Artemis scuffle'. "Morning, Clarence, Artemis."

KT moves gingerly and then once they are in the bathroom he erupts in a mass of 10m long tentacles!

He expands quickly- his cells going through a dynamic hypertrophic response to a chemical trigger- hoping to fill the room quick enough to grab the nurse before she can alert anyone else.

Joseph stops, goes back to where he hears Artemis' voice, pops his head around the door frame and says, "Calm down, Althea, I'm certain we can figure this all out. Just calm down."

Wade gets to the canteen area and looks around slowly, looking for one of the staff. When he finds someone, he says, "Umm...excuse me, by my memory seems to be a bit...faulty. Can you tell me where I am right now?"

In Kid Tengs' bathroom the nurse doesn't resist the grab. She does try to speak, but it's no scream. Instead she's trying to speak at a normal volume.

Its one of the canteen staff that Wade speaks to. He nods to Wade, "This is the Institute for the Unpowered. Would you like me to call a doctor if your memory is faulty?

Artemis frowns at being manhandled, then decides to stop being gentle. She reaches for the front of the waker's shirt and lifts them up off the ground. Surprisingly, she still has her superstrength. "Take me to thy leader so I might challenge him for this offense."

Meleryniel goes through her morning ablutions and dresses in the inferior dress. All very unsatisfactory, but she's hardly going to be seen by someone else without making herself at least marginally presentable.

The canteen is currently set up with a breakfast buffet. Serve yourself. Trays and a line up of breakfast foods.

KT notices the distinct lack of screaming and or struggling. "Scream and I'll eat you. Tricks and I'll eat you... slowly. Lie and I'll crush you." KT says threateningly before slowly moving to unmuffle the Nurse's mouth by removing the tentacle from over her mouth.

He continues to grow to plug the door to keep their conversation private- and holds on tight to keep her from hitting any hidden panic buttons.

His teeth lengthen and grow into long needle-like forms and his tongue lengthens. "Now... why am I here? How did I get here and what is this place?" he asks demandingly.

Wade smiles and waves off the canteen staff he's talking to. "No, thank you. I'll be fine." He looks around slowly, seeing who is here that he recognizes. Unpowered? As things go, he didn't have much in the way of powers to begin with. But...he did have some. He has to be honest with himself.

The nurse Artenis grabbed with super strength - calls out, "Dr Horwich! Patient Artemis has empowered!" Then in a more normal volume to Artemis, "Congratulations. We're all so pleased for you."

Magda enters the canteen and gets in line. She selects a light breakfast as always, fruit and cereal and milk, heading towards her usual table by the window.

Joseph claps at the nurse's announcement to Artemis then looks around to see who/where Dr Horwich comes from.

Kid Tengu's nurse answers his questions. "Don't you remember? You're in the Institute for the Unpowered. You were committed here when you failed to express Harrison powers during your early teens. But now you have. Unusually late but you have. I'm so pleased for you."

"Of course! I was created wtih them. Be this Dr. Horwich thy leader and responsible for taking me?" Artemis asks.

Dr Horwich was seated in the nursing station looking through the patient records written by the night staff. He stands, and teleports over to Artemis. "You appear to have finally expressed Harrison powers. We'll do a check-up, and then you can be discharged."

The nurse held by Artemis politely asks, "Can you put me down, please."

KT looks at the woman strangely.

She seems so confident. So unshaken by his sudden transformation. He was dead certain the teeth would do it. The teeth always do it with the humans.

"So... I'm a 'late bloomer' because everyone gets Harrison powers?" KT asks, using the human vernacular he's become so fluent in.

He memorizes her scent anyway as he considers knocking her out & making certain everything she says is true without her direct assistance.

He doesn't do anything specifically- besides asking this question to buy time and hopefully garner more offhand information.

Meleryniel ventures out into the corridor once she's washed and dressed.

Artemis sets down the person who woke her as she looks to Dr. Horwich. "Mine divine powers come not from some Harrison," she frowns and looks about. "Where be this place?" she demands. Wanting to see for herself, she steps out of her room to observe. "Be this still Urth? You are hooman."

Kid's nurse says, "You are a very late bloomer. Usually if someone doesn't express Harrisom powers by the age of eleven or twelve, they never do. When that happens they are brought here, because the world is a dangerous place for the unpowered."

Dr Horwish looks at Artemis with concern. "Yes. We are on Earth. None of the colonized worlds have their own institutes."

Joseph looks at Althea. "Congratulations on expressing your powers, Althea. Shall we have some breakfast and talk before your exam?" He glances at Dr Horwich. "If that is acceptable, doctor?"

Dr Horwich nods to Joseph.

"That much we can agree on." KT says in response as his tentacles begins slithering this way and that- but all back towards their source.

KT deflates as well- assuming a less assuming human form that is not Tyson, but still fits his punkish personal flair.

"So how long have I been here? I'm still feeling fuzzy." He asks as he sweeps his hair out of his eyes.

"Colonized worlds? Urth hath barely colonized Mars from what I hath heard." Artemis blinks and looks to Joseph. "Friend Joseph...so this truly be Urth? What are thee doing in such a place?" she asks as she calms down. Especially at the mention of food. "I have a warriors hunter. Hath thou witnessed Wayne in this strange place?"

Meleryniel goes to sit with those she recognises.

Kid's nurse gives him a smile, "You can change shape. That's quite a rare power. Dr Horwich will need to check you medically but after that you'll be free to join the outside world. There's another patient expressed this morning. Two in a single day. That's unheard of. So it will be some time before Dr Horwich is ready. You should go get some breakfast."

Joseph sits down with Althea sitting near some familiar faces. They both have heaping plates of food. Joseph seems to be greatly enjoying the taste of eveythihng. He nods to those he immediately recognizes.

Dr Horwish continues to look concerned by Artemis' lack of memory, "Most of the system worlds are colonized, along with several of the larger moons."

KT nods and smiles at the nurse, leaning into his acting skills. "Lucky me." He says before stepping aside so the nurse can leave and he can follow out of the room & on to the canteen.

"Sorry about the whole ... grabby business. I'm cranky in the mornings and slow to wake up- didn't even know I expressed in my sleep." He tries to sound more excited.

The nurse with Kid Tengs smiles, "I completely understand. Expression is often a shock."

Meleryniel stays quiet and listens as she eats her breakfast, trying to determine the exact situation through observation.

Joseph looks over at Dr HOrwich. "I can explain it all to her, Doctor Horwich. You know how sometimes expression can confuse people. I'm certain Althea'll be right as rain in a bit."

The older gentleman then pops a bit of bacon into his mouth. "Hmmm, delicious. It's like it's been years since I last ate."

Wade takes a seat at the table with Joseph and Althea, "Umm...hey there." He has grabbed a light breakfast for himself.

Dr Horwich nods. The staff on this ward know that except for being unpowered, Joseph is one of the most stable patients in their care.

Magda sits quietly at the end of the table closest to the window, looking out at the world she can never enjoy, save in her dreams. What vivid dreams ... despite her twenty-mid-late-years age, she looks weary with the weight of years.

Artemis nods to the doctor and follows Joseph, her plate piled high. She says to Joseph, "Strange, this must be some other reality. More advanced than thine." She looks over to Wade and smiles. "Friend Wade! Or...be thee not the version of the friend who is so dear to me?"

Wade smiles, "No, Artemis, it's me. I think...I'm as confused as you are. This doesn't feel right. But I have no idea what might have caused us to be here."

Hotfoot fills a plate with different foods and pours herself a cup of coffee before grabbing a table in the corner where she can watch the whole room.

KT starts thinking that maybe he's in an alternate dimension or a psychic trap of some sort. Either way, to move things along he needs to figure out which it is and to do that, he needs familiar faces. So besides following his nose for some grub, he scans for familiar scents & once the others are in sight he looks for familiar faces among them.

He doesn't move to join them- instead using his acute sense of hearing to listen in while he piles his plate high.

Joseph murmurs gently, "Yes, I am quite myself as well. A bit bemused today waking up feeling alive for the first time in decades. Quite a shock to my system. I do miss my Seal though."

A senior nurse brings a student nurse into the ward. "This is one of the Unpowered wards, Shelia," the senior nurse says...

"It seems unfair somehow, keeping them locked up in here." the student says.

The senior nurse, "It would be even more unfair letting them roam in the outside world. They would be defenceless against almost every hazard. They have no Harrison powers."

Unpowered? Really? If Hotfoot didn't have any powers, why was she still so hungry? She decides to experiment, sticking her finger into her coffee.

"Prof Harrison really changed the world, didn't he?" the student says emphatically.

Wade blinks and says to the people at hte table, "Anyone here know who Professor Harrison is?"

Meleryniel is trying in particular, in her silent observation, to determine if the staff seem earnest in their reactions or if there is something sinister going on here.

The senior nurse nods, "His discovery of the Harrison meta-virus in 1824 revolutionized the entire world. And he could have because wealthy beyond measure. But he released his discovery free to every country on Earth. He was a great man."

The nurses move away on the student's familiarization tour.

Artemis shakes her head. "Dr. Horwich and the nurse did mention a Harrison powers and congratulated me. They wish to check me up and discharge me."

Joseph listens to the nurses then points at them then to Wade. "And thus, our question is answered. This is /not/ our world. And any metavirus wouldn't have given me my powers in any case. Or brought me back."

He sips his coffee and adds some more sugar. "This /is/ really excellent."

Meleryniel sees the pleasure of the staff is obviously sincere. There seems to be great excitement and joy that two of their patients have expressed, and on the same day.

Meleryniel nods to Joseph. "It seems you're right. But how are we in this world?"

Wade nods slowly. "It's more than just changing dimensions, though. Because if it was that...we'd still have powers, right?"

Magda sighs softly, and pops a chunk of apple into her mouth and chews. "Same conversation every morning," she murmurs to herself.

Meleryniel says, "I can only guess we are in the bodies of our counterparts on this world, and have their abilities, or lack thereof. I wonder..."

Artemis looks surprised. "Ye have not thy powers?" she asks. "Mayhaps this be a dream, then," she supposes as she spears a sausage with her fork and takes a bite. She chews and swallows. "Hmm. Mediocre. This certainly be not my dream with food so plain, and a lack of merriment all around."

Joseph smiles slightly. "Is it? How curious then, Magda, that I can recall your recent lecture series on metahumans and their social responsibilities to others so clearly. I truly must have vivid imagination."

KT slides in with the others, not seeming to skip a beat.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who's 'out of place'." He says as be begins eating. From the intake its clear he's not so disturbed as to loose his appetite.

Meleryniel tries humming a uplifting tune - magic is, after all, as much a skill as a power...

Hotfoot tries again. She holds her hands up before her, and concentrates on igniting them.

After breakfast Dr Horwich examines Artemis and Kid Tengs. He's astonished to discover neither have the Harrison virus. But they possess meta powers, so are discharged from the institute to make their own way in the worlds. There is a support organisation to give advice and help while establishing a place in the worlds. They are welcome to return to visit friends. The unpowered remain confined in the institute, and every effort is made to make them content.

A few months pass by.

Hotfoot has started sitting with the others at meals. She still doesn't trust the staff, though.

The institute does not censor news. At first the rumours of metas suddenly dying, already dead before they hit the ground, are dismissed as conspiracy theories.

Joseph speculates over a game of checkers with Wade that KT and Artemsi retained their powers as they are not human. Well, he assumed the young man was an alien, but he know Althea was.

Then a system government announcement admits that it is happening but the greatest and brightest meta clinicians are working on a cure. There's no need for concern.

Then stringent quarantine measures are imposed on Mars, Deimos, and Luna.

KT spends the months learning all he can & helping out where he's able.

Meleryniel comments to the others, "It makes no sense. If this is another world, and one without the fae in it, how is it that I have fae shampoo? How is that my clothes are in fae styles - if not made by fae?"

Joseph hmms. "Well, it is tragic that this is affecting the powered. I wonder if we're immune to SMDS. Sudden Metahuman Death Syndrome."

The system government co-opts all broadcasting to issue a update. The cause of the deaths has been linked to a section of the Harrison virus' DNA. A team of the system's most powerful metas is going to travel back in time to 1824 and fix the problem at the source.

Wade nods in agreement with Joseph, "Maybe? Hard to say...wait. Time travel?"

Hotfoot says, "1824?"

Artemis is reluctant to leave her friends behind, and those she knows. She spenr much of her time trying to figure out a way to the Urth reality she knows by seeing other metahuman she is familiar with, protecting this Urth as needed, and to adopt the hoomans out to be under her protection so they can leave with her. Neither seems to have gone successfully.

Magda sits, listens, and waits; her sister is one of the top Scientists, but not a top super. Probably the source of the commentary Joseph remembers.

"In a world of billions of metas, time travel would certainly pop up as a power. The ubiquitous nature of metas does seem to have edged out magick though."

This is another opinion that Joseph expresses.

Two days later the system government makes another broadcast. This one sober and lacking the reassurance of the previous one. They announce that the time travel attempt has failed. It seems the Harrison virus is unstable under time travel and every attempt to travel back in time has failed with 100% fatalities among the travellers. There is nothing more that can be done. The government will maintain order as long as possible, and is sure that death will be meet with dignity.

How ironic that announcement comes on the same day that Kid Tengs is accepted as a trainee nurse at the institute.

Hotfoot says, "If the metas die when they try to time travel, maybe they should send us?"

Joseph says to the other non-powered individuals at the institute, "We need to be ready for when last metahuman dies off. We'll be on our own then so we need to be ready to fend for ourselves." He nods to Hotfoot. "A good idea. Maybe mention it to Dr Horwich?"

Meleryniel says, "Clearly. If they can send us back, of course."

Hotfoot goes to speak to Dr. Horwich.

Artemis returns to the institute after the failings of the time travel mission. If anyone can survive and is virus free, it's her companions. She won't take no for an answer!

KT begins working on freeing the others in a less direct way than Artemis. Instead, he focuses on infiltrating & using his new education to try to prove the 1-A Humans should be freed immediately.

Artemis can be very aggressively convincing when she needs to be. She knows not what is meant by the disparaging words, but they would be more effective than the most powerful dead metahuman, and can be allowed to volunteer. They would be no forcing.

Dr Horwish is convinced, and asks Benefactor Roberts (Benefactor being the title given to the guards at the institute) to teleport him and all those without the Harrison virus - which is just your group - to address the system government.

Artemis is used to cutting red tape, not navigating around it. She at least has the wisdom to let others speak before she resorts to strong arming the situation.

As a group you bully your way past the levels of obstructive red tape and get an audience with the system government.

'''"Ministers, judges, and senators, we are unpowered individuals or those in whom the Harrision metavirus cannot be found. We have often been regarded as a drain on society as we need to be protected in a world of the powered. This is our opportunity to give back to society, to help our powered brethren who have protected us in the past. We lack the metavirus so can travel back to the past safely. And even though we won't be able to return, we can ensure that the future remains bright for you all! Give us this chance to save you, to show that the unpowered have a use other than as objects of pity." --- Joseph'''

The entire system government rises to their feet as the chairman gratefully accepts your offer.

After a day of preparation your group is taken to the time machine. A stationary device as large as a MagLev train station. You are warned it's experimental, and on recall you realize despite all the metas this society does not have dimensional travel.

Preparation includes a detailed record of what is know of Prof Harrison. His lab is in New York.

Artemis accompanies the fellow heroes and regards the machine. She mentions aside to Kid Tengu, Wade, and Joseph, "Ye know, it may be that it be not the virus, but powers in general that may not survive the journey. And we know not its effects on the divine or aliens. There is a chance some of us may perish." She smiles. "I trust ye all to succeed even so."

And then you pass through the time machine (think the Time Tunnel) and emerge in the Colonial Bay of 1824. With all your powers and abilities restored.

Time Destination: 1824
Magda immediately stops and assembles her alloy/suit.

Meleryniel brightens up immediately as her senses are full for the first time in months.

Hotfoot says, "Does anyone know the way to New York?"

Joseph raises a hand to his neck and touches his throat. His skin is deeply tanned now as if he spends a lot of time outside, not the paleness of a man who lives indoors in an institute. After a moment, he nods as he says, "I'll miss the taste of food again."

The gentleman then puts hand over his heart and murmurs, "But it is good to have you back, old friend," he murmurs. Then he glows for a moment as if a sun rises within him and transforms into Lightray.

Meleryniel says, "That's interesting - why do we have our powers? Were they suppressed somehow by that world, that timeline? Perhaps by the very presence of the virus?"

Artemis smiles apologetically to Joseph. "I hope thee had thy fill then, between the pale fare of the institute and the treats I did sneak in for thee."

Meleryniel says, "Hm, or are we not in that world at all but in a different timeline? I understand little about time travel."

Wade looks around. "So...do we need to stop the discovery of this virus?"

"I am not certain at all, Mistress Meleryniel," Lightray says in a voice that is now a resonant basso profundo rather than Joseph's rich baritone. "Magick and the gifts of gods are returned to us at the very least." He looks to Wade and Artemis.

Hotfoot says, "Aren't we here to make sure it's stable?"

Artemis rubs her chin. "There is a strange fact ye all should know. I searched for thy alternate selves, assuming this be another dimension, and found none."

Artemis shakes her head to Hotfoot. "I know not of any of us who hath such a skill. 'twould be better to prevent its spread entirely. If this Harrison be such a great man as the tales that were told, explaining the dangers should cause him to cease his pursuit."

Meleryniel says, "Could we be dealing with altered timelines? What if the whole 1824 virus thing was caused by a time traveller in the first place?"

Joseph smiles slightly. "I would assume not in my case. I would be long dead in a world where magick did not exist, Althea. I think this is another dimension as Magda and myself would be long dust otherwise. "

Meleryniel says, "Hm, and again, how can I even exist in a world where the fae are unknown And yet have fae products? None of this makes sense to me."

Artemis nods slowly at Joseph's explanation. "Strange...mayhaps so. But none of thee exist in this dimension. Mayhaps that be part of why we all were drawn here."

Meleryniel says, "I wish we understood this better! It would help in knowing how to deal with the problem."

Artemis rubs her chin and frowns faintly. "The solution can present itself once we find this Professor Harrison," she opines as she looks around to orient herself.

"If none of us exist here, in this timeline and dimension, then one could assume we were drawn here to make a change. Reality likes to sustain itself after all." He looks at the others. "So, we need to get to Dr Harrison and make certain his work succeeds /and/ is more stable than in was in the future of this Earth. Or so I would think."

Meleryniel nods. "How do we find Dr Harrison? Would there be such a thing as a street directory in this time and place?"

Magda finally finishes creating her suit, and with its silvery-blackness about her, float into the air. "We fly, of course. Land outside of the city, catch a coach. Disguise ourselves, and ask at the universities."

"Hmmm. We are to dress as the locals?" Artemis asks. "I would rely on the rest of thee to show me what passes as the fashion of the time," she smiles.

"And I can regale you all with tales of how the world is in 1824," says Lightray with a smile. "I should put my years of history instruction to some use."

Meleryniel says, "this is very strange. However we came to be in that - this? - world and however we lost our powers, I don't see why time travel should have restored them."

Artemis checks her bracer as she feels some weight to it. She smiles and clenches her fist, and her shield is summoned. "At last! Whatever strange mire had hold of us be gone!" She unclenches her hand and the shield is shunted back into its dimensional hold. "I still have concerns of this endeavour. I read through the records of this Professor Harrison several times in search of clues to the reality we found ourselves in, and there be no record of us, or those whom sound akin to us, proposing a correction to his work."

After several long minutes of painstaking work, a sphere grows in front of Magda. Limned in an aura of lightning cyan, elements are winnowed from places near and far, minute fractions of iron stolen from nails and horse tack, iridium leached from the KT boundary, slowly and carefully made to work together in an unlikely alloy. Back in the 'true' Colonial Bay, Magda keeps the alloy on her almost constantly, removing it for showers and sleeping and the like; it's normally held in a bucket otherwise, capable of existing for twenty-four to forty-eight hours off her person and the magnetic fields she subconsciously runs through it. Now, the time-displaced heroes are witness to her having to create it anew -- Magda had never once worn any sort of 'superhero outfit' at the Institute.

"I can think of several reasons, but I can't prove any of them," Magda says as she finishes. "I don't know the science -- or the math -- well enough to theorize at that level."

Artemis shrugs at Meleryniel's concerns. "I still am under the impression this be some dream, or a simulation we all be connected to. But for now, I shall treat this all as true and real. Now...shall we fly off to the residence of this Professor Harrison?"

Antares had plenty of time to research their new adopted homeworld and this one seems to follow some of the same logic up until the dispersal of metahuman abilities, so its not a huge leap for KT to assume a form that, at least from a distance doesn't look too far off the mark.

A shame that trick won't work for the others.

"Fly?" He sucks his teeth at that. "How long would it take for a horse-bound carriage to get from old Colonial Bay to New York?" KT asks, looking around at the various 'nups specifically. They're that old right?

All he can say for certain is, it seems too far for him to fly there solo- much less carrying one of these non-fliers, though he's certain Artemis would be up to try.

Victory checks his bracer to see that it's working. "So odd. I guess...we need to make this this Professor Harrison doesn't uncover what he's supposedly going to. I did some reading on the professor while we were...detained. But...keep in mind, I think we're dealing with something more complicated than it appears." He waits a moment to collect his thoughts. "I think a time traveler came back in time to make the alteration that created the world that we experienced. Which means, that person whomever it is, is still here."

Meleryniel says, "I could take us along the fae paths, assuming there exist such here as they do on our Earth. It's not likely to take more than a few hours."

Artemis thinks on that. "Hmm...how be we sure they have not already come? Or maybe we have months to wait, living in this...time," she says as she looks around at the backwater world. And she thought the Urth she knew was primitive!

Magda mmmms. "Know where he lives, Artemis?" asks the magnetokinetic, gesturing herself into the air as the two-foot-across black-with-silver-glints sphere seperates into miniscule portions, streaming into long fragmented filaments to surround and, in mere moments, encase her. "I would tend to agree, Victory. I can get us all there, but I believe we're going to need to take this somewhat carefully so as not to muck things up even more. Blend into society, find out where he is, go from there." She frowns. "We're going to need funds."

Artemis chuckles. "A few hours? I can fly there in thy Urth seconds. However...it would be noticeable. Thy way may be more subtle."

Victory looks at his costume, "Hmm. Yes...blend in."

Meleryniel says, "My fae attire is not exactly inconspicuous, either."

Artemis looks to Victory and chuckles. "Ye look very hooman to mine eyes." She looks about. "Mayhaps we should dress in local garb. I can see if there be any places near to procure local goods," she offers, already beginning to float a few feet off the ground in eagerness.

"I would suggest, as criminal as it may be, a high speed raid of clotheslines to gather appropriate clothing?" murmurs Lightray. The man who replaced Joseph in a blaze of sunlight looks nothing like the man you all knew.

Joseph never wore a costume at the Institute either. He was always dressed in semi-casual clothes, not the toga, chiton kilt thing he wears now.

Magda grins at Victory. "I can change the appearance of my suit, but I always work off an actual article of clothing. Fashion in this particular 'now' is not something of which I'm aware." She laughs softly at Lightray's suggestion. "Let's do it quietly, mmm? Meleryniel, are you able to create an illusion, maybe? I can do that for myself, and full invisibility for all of us if we need it -- but I haven't bothered to calculate a multi-person illusion."

Victory shrugs, and says to Magda, "If you want to look kind of noble-ish go with something Napoleonic. He was imprisoned...what..9 years ago?"

KT is a natural chameleon. He just needs a more accurate sample to blend in better than he's done so far.

Artemis nods to Lightray. "I shall search for these lines with clothing," she offers, and takes off to scout. Not quite at top super speed, but she can travel far and wide.

Magda looks at Victory for a long moment. "I have /no/ useful idea of what Napoleonic attire looks like." She smiles a little, and looks around. "I don't suppose -- where'd Artemis go?"

Lightray smiles gently as he rumbles in his basso profundo, "A bit longer than that, but close enough. We are between wars in America right now. The War of 1812 is over and the Mexican-American War is a few decades off. Other than intermittent war on the Native Americans, America is focussed on expansion and a burgeoning industrial revolution in the North. Here in the South, well, we're still trapped in the quagmire of slavery and repression."

Artemis returns within a minute, carrying a large woven laundry basket and a whole line with clothes still pinned on it. "I hath returned!" She drops the basket and the clothesline atop the basket. There's plenty of clothing to be chosen from. "I know not how this hooman garb is worn, and may require assistance in dressing," she says as her feet drift down to the ground.

Magda mmmms softly, then blinks at Artemis's return. "Oh ... bother. I think ... actually," she eyes the basket, "we need funds here, do we not?"

Meleryniel has no great fear of the corset, having a narrow waist to start with - her build is much more faelike than her mother's. But she shudders as she looks at the weave of the cloth. "Human fabrics are so coarse! And while I've had to endure them for 6 months, at least my sense of touch was dulled at the same time..."

Victory shrugs, "If we're quick enough, funds won't matter much. Perhaps we just be...kind of direct about this?"

Hotfoot says, "Yeah, slavery, dammit. Someone's gonna have to be 'in charge' of me."

Magda tilts her head. "Maybe, maybe not. Having a source wouldn't hurt." She throws her mind back into the distant past -- as a girl in the 1930's she wore a corset -- and helps get clothing onto people of the female persuasion as best as possible; random line raiding is good for the moment. "To be honest," she opinions, "it might almost be best for most everyone to show up in men's clothing, and get something made, with a bonus for quick completion. Mmmm ..." She glances at Hotfoot. "We're going to New York; my American history is not as good as my European, but I believe that's a free state at this time?"

Hotfoot picks from the cheaper end of the available spectrum of clothing: a simple blouse and skirt

Kid Tengu has heard enough to shift a bit in skin tone, towards a decidedly much lighter shade and his punkish hair becomes shoulder-length and blonde. He's not trying to deal with repression while stuck in the past.

He watches as the others pull out articles of clothing and his shift to match in style, though not necessarily in color or texture to maintain variety. He puts together a good blend of what is presented.

"Direct is good." KT agrees, muscling up a bit so his status to the local humans cannot be in question. "Slavery is bad." The alien says simply, recognizing the burden Hotfoot must endure for the time being.

"Ooh- we could have some fun with that at least." KT says in a tone that might sound like he's had a change of heart about that business- since, all problems with her would come through him and he could smash some bigot faces in. A slow smile spreads across his face.

"I bet if I saw some papers for free men, I'd be able to duplicate some for you too- if it comes down to it." He offers Hotfoot.

Lightray looks over at Hotfoot. "I have studied a lot of documents. I can probably forge up a very convincing birth certificate for you stating your free birth if necessary, ma'am."

Lightray looks up at the sun directly then, with a sigh, shifts back into Joseph. He selects from the clothing as he details various aspects of society of the time from a historian's POV.

Artemis starts to remove her cape and her armor to prepare to get changed. She hasn't picked out something yet, but she may as well get ready!

Victory looks through the clothing as well. "I feel a little bad about taking someone's clothing, but hopefully we can return it later."

Magda collects the basket after it's mostly empty. "You are not going to move much from here in fifteen minutes, are you? I'm going to go acquire us some funds from certain beaches in Alaska."

Victory says to Artemis, "You...probably don't need to undress entirely. Just put a top on over that, or something."

Lightray nods to Magda. "Sounds like a plan. And we can go over various forms of address while you're gone. It's a bit more formal in some ways, byt more relaxed in others from our time. Well, in our world and time in any case."

Artemis had reached down to grab the bottom of her top, and has it half-peeled up when Victory informs her of that. "Hmm...would it not be noticed underneath? These dresses seem to be lower cut." And her sleeveless undershirt has a high collar on it. Mayhap mine pants would cause no notice." She's still paused as she waits for an answer, her toned midriff bare. For this time period, such would be scandalous!

Meleryniel adopts female clothing but with her own undergarments underneath, to keep the coarse cloth from her skin.

Victory's costume is fairly form fitting. A simple shirt and belt will likely obscure most of it. Sure, he has boots and gloves, but that's not that strange for this time period.

The idea of dressing as a man appeals to Hotfoot, so she pokes through the pile for a appropriate garb.

Artemis finally changes into an earthy green colored dress, having removed her top anyway and tucked it under her belt beneath the dress. It may be even more conspicuous. With her divine beauty, she looks like the upper class disguised beneath her station.

Kid Tengu seems content to watch the humans humaning under strange and unusual circumstances- all the better for him.

KT looks to Joseph and asks, "What else can you tell us about this time?"

Magda gives the various heros a smile, and says as she and the basket vanish, "Be back soon." The hair-raising electrical 'aura' of her flight fades quickly.

Lightray murmurs, "Well, despite what history generally says, women did have a place in society other than just as wives and mothers. Not all women were tied to men. Most were, simply as a result of economics. But not all. Women were not expected, save at the highest or lowest levels of society, to conform to what we'd consider Victorian attitudes. Those are for the future. But, most women are not land or business owners on any large scale. Politics and business are still the domain of men. Although various temperance and abolition movements are giving some women a voice."

Artemis looks confused at the very concept. "Women tied to men?" she scoffs in amusement.

"I think I'll stay like this, nevertheless, since we're trying to avoid being noticed." KT replies with a nod.

Victory shrugs. "This was...well, quite some time ago, Artemis. Time travel."

"Gendered species." KT says a bit smugly, offering Artemis a knowing shrug.

Artemis nods slowly, smiling a bit at KT's response before looking bck to Victory. "Aye, 'tis a different time with strange ways. This be a situation I be accustomed to." Though she's still not good at fitting in or navigating such things. "Once the Worldkiller returns, we should make haste to New York, one way or another. I will go by thy counsel and take transport appropriate for this time, if it comes to that."

In fifteen or twenty minutes, Magda returns; for those able to see through invisibility, it's clear she (unwisely) didn't get a good look of the area before she departed, and has to take her time to locate the group. Once she does, though, she descends, dropping the invisibility once she reaches cover in the tree-line. "This should be quite sufficiently enough," she says as she lands, putting the basket on the ground. There's perhaps thirty kilos of gold nuggets in the wicker.

Kid Tengu 's arm snake s out and he grasps one of the larger nuggets in the basket. He whistles. "This is an impressive haul, Magda." He says, as his mind reels with what they could do with this kind of turnaround of resources.

Magda looks down at the gold, then reaches down to fish out a couple of the thumb-sized nuggets and tosses them to Artemis one at a time. "Go put those by the house you got these clothes from, please? On a bench or something."

Artemis catches the nuggets. Once she has it all, she nods. "I shall make it so!" she offers, and off she goes, flying at speed. Look, up in the sky! It's a bird. It's...it's a witch! She returns to the place and searches for a place to leave the nuggets so they can be found.

Magda shrugs at Kid Tengu. "I extracted roughly this value -- for 1950 -- in platinum to start out my college education. The problem isn't acquiring it, especially when it's strewn on a beach and the sea bottom like it was; the problem is turning it into actual, usable money."

Magda looks around at the others, then frowns a little; lifting up her hand, she touches thumb, forefinger, and little finger to the suit right below her throat, and her armor/suit morphs into something passable. The skirt and the jacket are somewhat familiar, and the needlework on the latter is very familiar to her; it's one of her favorites back home, and thus rather familiar. "Well." She looks around, then eyes first Artemis, then Meleryniel. "Hmm."

"Hmmm- I bet that won't be a problem in this time." KT says in reply as he begins trying to work the metal- with his inhuman strength & bulked up muscles, it begins giving way, and like clay gets easier as time progresses.

"I wonder what the going rate in this time is? I bet I can get 5% on whatever it is." He says after giving it a few moments thought.

"Around nineteen US dollars per ounce," says Magda promptly.

Magda adds, "I was thinking back on my investment studies lo these many years ago. Gold used to be extremely stable, price-wise; the coins in this day and age are made mostly of the actual material, gold and silver. And the twenty-dollar gold coin is mostly gold, and about an ounce. So ..."

Victory raises a brow, "So...are we on a mission to make money? Or save a timeline?"

Artemis lands nearby. "Save a timeline. Which we should be doing now, yes?" she asks with her usual desire for action. She looks to Magda. "The metal has been left for the mortals to find."

"I can work with that. This isn't my first rodeo." KT says- not mentioning whether or not he means in time or alternate dimension. "Just need to find someone to cut a deal with. Or one of these $20 coins, then we can mint 'em. Buy a cart. Supplies." Its times like this he misses Blinky. They could already be in New York by now.

KT looks at Victory. "Well, you wanted to travel incognito. So unless we're flying there at night, money is kind of required. So- its both?" KT clicks in the Jerin manner to punctuate his sentence- those who know Dialydd will recognize a 'shrug' when they hear it.

Magda smiles tightly at Victory. "Save a timeline -- theirs or ours, if not both, though I suspect both will be impossible. But to do so discreetly, without messing it up further, requires being able to both blend in /and/ gain access, and I have discovered that money gets you access far more quickly than other methods. And one of the best ways to blend in is to be able to afford to do whatever you want."

Magda opens her mouth to disagree with Kid Tengu, then closes her mouth again. She looks somewhat dumbfounded, of the 'why did I not think of that?' variety. "Of course. Find one, then just ... make them so. You, young sir, are a felonious genius."

Victory points to Magda's use of words. "Therein lies my problem right there."

Hotfoot says, "Don't jewelers buy gold?"

Magda smiles. "Felonious? They do, Hotfoot, but not usually in such bulk. Technically, Victory, yes, minting the coins ourselves is forgery, but ours are actually likely to be of /higher/ real gold content, not lower. The argument against it tends to be that the false coins are considerably lower in gold content."

Victory sighs. Not to mention that the gold that was taken...would have been found by someone else. Perhaps impoverishing another family in this timeline. He shakes his head, "We're wasting time. Literally. Let's head to New York and speak to the professor."

KT blushes. "Well, like I said- this isn't my first trip to a random backwater alternate dimension. This is.... number... gee. 7? Eight. Well then we went back and down a different path-" He falls quiet when the humans seem to be concerned with soemthing he hadn't even considered, though for altogether different reasons than Magda points out as he's a practical survivor first and foremost. He's got a whole pack of freerange teenage humans to keep alive.

Magda shrugs. "If we wish, though, we might merely trade for value. I expect that even European society is not so orderly that raw gold would not be taken as payment." The gold that's been taken might, in fact, have been washed into the sea, and some of it was /taken/ from the bottom itself; she was also certain to take from scattered locations. Nevertheless ...

"Indeed," agrees Magda. "By air to somewhere on Long Island, perhaps?"

Artemis hasn't been able to follow this conversation of wealth. "However way in which we can make haste."

Magda nods, and -- for ease of manipulation -- gestures her clothing back into the suit form. "All aboard," she says, gesturing the life-support bubble into place first, then the light-bending, then lifting everyone into the air and, with increasing speed, heading in a high arc to track along the coast and come down where-ever seems best. Even on the docks in New York itself is possible ...

KT looses the added muscle to make room in the bubble for others.

Artemis steps into the bubble and awaits their arrival, taking time to study the lands below.

New York is much smaller than it will be by 2071. While you have an address for the lab, navigation of an unknown city is not really possible from on high. However there are fortunately numerous places to alight without being seen.

Magda lands the group in such a place that is, so far as she can tell, closest to a university. People in mortarboard hats and long black scholar's robes are some pretty good telltale signs ...

KT sneaks about to get a good look at the new local population and adjusts his muscular appearance accordingly so he'll blend in seamlessly.

Artemis orients herself and takes a few steps after they disembark the bubble. "Now am I meant to be attached to a male according to my dress while in this place? Or shall we move separately to speed our search?"

Footsteps echoing off the tiled ground give advance warning before a elderly man turns a corner and comes into view. He's wearing a scholar's robe, a mortar board with a green tassel and has a thick volume under one arm. His other hand holds a flask with a bubbling green liquid in it.

Magda changes her clothing before the person comes around the corner; the bubbling green liquid earns the approaching professor a pair of raised eyebrows from her. "Pardon me, Herr Professor," she says, leaning heavily on the German element of her accent, "but would you happen to know where we might find Professor Harrison?" Might as well seize the opportunity while you have it.

The scholar answers Magda in fluent German, "Harrison? Harrison. I pray you, good lady, to have nothing to do with that fake. He calls himself professor but I've seen no evidence he in fact holds that respected status."

Magda lifts her chin, as if used to a higher social standing and clothing. << In fact, >> she replies, also in German, << it is because of that very issue I come. I and my associates, >> and here she gestures at those other heroes around her, << are in dire straits due to his actions, and seek to extract justice of whatever sort we might manage -- the sooner we know his location, >> she adds, with some grim tones (for which German is truly wonderful), << the sooner justice might be extracted. >>

The scholar nods, "Then I wish for you the best of luck. He had rooms here until his abrasive manner forced the Dean to ask him to leave. He took rooms at ." He stops for a moment to gather his thoughts, and then gives meticulous directions to the address.

Magda focuses intently on the professor as he gives his directions, then gives him a courtesy at the end of it. << May your research bear fruit, Professor ... ? >>

The scholar nodsm, "Dranken." He holds the flask up, "Would you like to try my newly invented drink? I call it, 'squeezed lime juice and water with bubbles of air.'"

Magda can't help but mentally translate that to a possible 'lime soda', but she is utterly positive that a) it'll be unsweetened, and therefore b) it will most likely be vile. "Not today, Herr Professor, danke schoen." She curtsies again and moves onwards, gesturing for the others to follow. "Professor Dranken has kindly given us directions to the location of our quarry!!" she says ... while she's in ear-shot of the professor.

"Then let us make haste!" Artemis says eagerly. "Lead us onwards."

KT offers a kind nod to the Professor before turning to follow the others to the location.

Hotfoot says, "Can we get something to eat?"

Magda looks back towards the professor, then repeats -- translates -- the directions for her companions. "He called Professor Harrison a fake, and warned us against doing anything with him; I told him we had already, and implied we were poorer for the association, and wanted, mmm, justice. With implications of beating the hell out of him, I'll admit. He was quite eager to send us on our way." The directions are easy to follow, and lead to a small commercial building. Once, obviously a shop, but now boarded up with just the front door accessible.

"A fake? Hmmm. The historical records said nothing of this," Artemis comments on the way. "This leads to the theory that another interfered."

Hotfoot says, "Or that whoever this Harrison is, he did not possess the proper credentials to be accepted at the University."

Victory furrows his brow. "Hmm." He tries to recall what he read about the discovery itself in the history books he kept busy with in the institute.

Kid Tengu offers Hotfoot a sliver of the gold he took from the basket earlier. "Probably good to have back up coming up behind." He says before turning back to the building ahead of them to regard it and look for likely secondary entrances. r. KT finds a rear door and a fire escape leading from the second floor.

Magda glances aside, then nods to Hotfoot. "I think we might be able to help you out there." As the seven of them go along, keeping out of the way of horses and carriages, she keeps an eye out for a jeweller. The gold /did/ get distributed amongst them to some extent, everyone getting two or three thumb-sized nuggets, though Magda has distributed the bulk of the rest between herself, Artemis, and Professor Newhouse (Joseph, aka Lightray) -- Artemis won't notice the weight, and she and Joseph might best be able to blend in at first glance.

Magda says thoughtfully, "It's possible he didn't possess the proper credentials -- or poorly falsified ones -- because he /is/ a time-traveller. And time is kind to heroes."

"I'm going to find another way in. Just in case things go off track." KT says, turning to look where he's going - which is the long way around to the fire escape entrance and sneak in that way.

Artemis steps over to the front door as they arrive and gives it a knock as KT goes off to the back or a hidden entrance. "'tis possible indeed."

Magda nods to KT, then looks sideways at Victory as Artemis knocks. "So how do you want to approach this?"

Hotfoot zips to the building's roof.

Victory shrugs, "Speak to him, I guess. Directly. What I remember of what I read was that it was said to be the result of years of work. There wasn't a photo or any other type of image of Harrison. On discovering the virus Harrison announced it, displayed super strength and quickness, and released samples of the virus to anyone who asked. Despite attempts by the US government to stop him from doing so.

Kid Tengu gets into the upstairs room from the fire escape, picking the locked window. The room is a bedroom but clearly unused. Dusty sheets on the furniture.

In answer to the knock on the door, the door opens an inch or so and a sharp featured face peeks out. "What do you want?" the man asks in a hostile tone.

Magda sighs, rubbing the back of her neck. "Do we convince him to stop looking? Because from what it appears, his discovery means the overwriting of our timeline." She looks up as the door opens, then glances at Victory again.

Inside KT looks around, but doesn't look enthused by what he finds at first glance in the oft-unused room.

Still, KT knows it took some time to make Harrison's discovery- so he is thorough anyway, listening for the others arrival- or worse, someone coming his way.

Victory smiles to Magda, "We play it by ear. There must be a cause for the discovery, right?"

Harrison's gaze is as hostile as the tone of his voice.

Since KT can only hear an annoying bubbling sound, he moves to exit the bedroom and sneak about to back up the others from the shadows- leaping up into the shadowed darkness of the ceiling above.

Artemis smiles charmingly at the hostile toned man. "Greetings! I am search of a special man. Professor Harrison. Might ye know him?"

Exiting the bedroom Kid Tengu comes into an upstairs hallway. There's a second bedroom, a toilet and bathroom, and a kitchen. All obviously unused, with dust sheets on furniture. An addition to the original structure, a thick wooden door where the top of the internal stairs should logically be.'

The man says, "Never heard of him," and attempts to stop the door in your faces.

Artemis moves to put her hand to the door to stop it from closing, applying only as much strength as needed.

KT pauses to listen to make sure no one is going up the internal stairs- if indeed that's what he's found.

Once he does, he opens it slowly, and peers beyond the threshold for a clear passage to creep through unseen.

"Artemis --" warns Magda, and smiles as the Godflora moves even before she gets to say her name. "Professor Harrison," she says, "allow us to speak to you about your current research. It is ... vitally important. Millions of lives may be affected, for good or ill."

The man intentionally slams the door on Artemis' hand. Although with moderate human strength it probably doesn't do anything.

Magda sighs, and gives Victory a /look/, along with a gesture of her hand to the effect of, 'this is apparently what we have to work with, will you /do/ something please?'

After picking the lock, Kid Tengu finds, just past the locked door presumably at the top of the stairs, not stairs but an opaque dimensional portal.

Victory clears his throat, "You either must have heard of Professor Harrison, sir. Or you are him and are lying to us now. At the very least, you could give us a few minutes of your time. It is in your best interest."

Artemis isn't bothered by having her hand slammed on. Her smile never leaves. She doesn't yet force the door open or off her hand.

'Well- /that/ is not what I was expecting.' KT thinks to himself before he hops into the dimensional aperture with all the fearlessness a teenager with not only attitude but inhuman durability can muster. He doesn't even think about it- despite the number of instances where teleporting into danger has been a very bad idea.

Harrison tries again to push the door shut, and naturally fails. "What do you want?" He repeats his initial question.

Having found no entrance via the rooftop, Hotfoot uses the same entrance that KT did.

Victory smiles. "We want to speak to Professor Harrison about his research. It's that simple."

Magda mutters a little waspishly under her breath, "To save ten billion lives, you pillock. Let us in to talk, and we'll give you four ounces of gold." A man in his position is probably in serious need of funds, and money doesn't solve everything but it can help a hell of a lot. Fortunately -- or unfortunately -- her mutter probably doesn't get past Artemis.

Kid Tengu passes through the portal and finds himself in a icy winter garden. Bitterly cold, well below freezing. About twenty feet away is another portal. Fifty feet in the opposite direction is a substantial Ice Palace of a style similar to but not quite the same as the Fae Embassy in Colonial Bay.'

Hotfoot finds the window at the top of the fire escape is now open. The can see KT's footprints in the dust on the floor. The bedroom is clearly unused. Dust sheets on everything.

KT grows a winter coat for the occasion and presses on through the icy winter garden despite the cold. Still, he isn't made for these climes so he hopes for relief once he finds the next portal.

"What about?" Harrison says in the same hostile manner.

Artemis is starting to learn her patience. She's t-minus 3 seconds from busting the door open, for those who know how to read her.

Hotfoot follows KT's path as well as she can, as quiet as she can.

Kid Tengu passes through the second portal, and find himself at a doorway in front of the portal, like the one that was in front of the first portal. It's no longer icy cold. And he can hear muffled sound of conversation.'

Victory raises a brow, "It's about the future, professor. And how you're going to change it. Or...have changed it."

Following KT's tracks takes Hotfoot to a dimensional portal. KT's tracks lead into it.'

KT follows the path of least resistance and most warmth. He grins as he finds himself somewhere much warmer /and/ populated.

KT begins to sneak towards the voices so he can determine what to do next.

The door opens a little wider. Not enough for a normal person to get through but enough Harrison's face is now seen fully. "Speak on."

Magda glances at Victory again before returning her gaze to Harrison. "Do you really want to speak about such a sensitive subject out in the street, where anyone might hear about your research and take it over?"

KT moves to open the door and peep through before sneaking through- hoping to get a glance of someone so he can assume a similar enough form to avoid immediate detection.

Artemis keeps her hand in place so the door can't be slammed shut on them.

Hotfoot starts gathering dust sheets and knotting them together into a 'rope'. When she's done, she'll tie one end to a heavy piece of furniture.

On opening the door Kid Tengu finds himself looking at the back of a person holding a door slightly open. On the other side of the door, out in the street, you csn see your friendly fellow time travellers.

"I'm not opening the door so you can talk where we are or go away." This 'great' Harrison seems a real jerk.

KT lets a silent sigh of relief out and moves to disappear into the shadows after all the world walking done. There he'll listen in and move to assist the others as needed.

While the person is dealing with his fellow time travellers, KT takes the opportunity t look around and take the scene in. This seems wise when Harrison says he won't be opening the door for his allies.

Magda gives Victory another /look/, then glances around to try to determine how private the situation is.

What Kid Tengu sees, on both sides of the lower floor, which is one large room that used to be a shop, there are chemical and biological set ups. Positioned to be out of view of anyone on the other side of the street door.

Victory takes a deep breath. "We're not going anywhere. Your actions here kill millions in the future, Professor Harrison. We need to stop that from happening. And we'd like to do so without anyone getting hurt."

Once she has her 'rope' tied off, Hotfoot will follow KT through the portal (bringing the rest of the 'rope' with her and paying it out as she goes).

This area is pretty deserted. A row of empty shops on one side of the street and rubble on the other side. Looks like a district undergoing rebuilding.

KT decides to begin memorizing everything he sees- his ears growing inhumanly shaped to account for the requirements to track the subtle movements Harrison might make.

He knows he may need to reproduce as much of this as he can for the others- so he doesn't take the task lightly.

Artemis narrows her eyes at the rude Harrison. "We hath made a one way journey here to prevent such disaster. So I suggest ye take heed."

Harrison says, "From the future?"

Victory nods to Harrison. "Indeed."

KT slides down on a tentacle line and waves to Hotfoot, covering his mouth to indicate they should still be quiet.

Harrison asks, "What year?"

Magda decides that there are few enough eyes, but the conversation between Harrison and Victory is unusual in that she didn't expect Harrison to ask which year. "Twenty-seventy-one," she replies, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Harrison relaxes a little, "So they're started dying. And sent some of the very few with no virus back in time. Which also means you have no powers. As you said, a one way trip. Enjoy your stay here in this barbaric human culture. Do not bother me again." He tries again to close the door, using beyond human strength.

Harrison looks utterly shocked as Artemis resists and the door doesn't close.

KT holds- knowing Artemis can deal with just about anything, having spent months in the world before (after?) with her.

Magda's eyebrows go up as Harrison crushes the door closed -- or he would, if he were faced by anyone but the mighty Godflora. "Oh. Intentional. Well, that was possibility number five."

Victory notes his use of words. 'Barbaric human culture'. Is Harrison not human?