You remember some more details from last night. After jogging a couple blocks over and exiting the storm drains, you managed to call your best friend Johnny, and see if he was okay. Johnny and his friend Peter managed to make it out of the back of the club okay, though Johnny took some shrapnel from a stray bullet to his leg, and was hurt. Ted wasn't with them, but he had gone off to the bar, so they don't know if he got out or not.

At this point the ambulances showed up and Johnny told you to go back to your dorm and to call him in the morning, and was taken off to a hospital.

Now it is slightly after 8 AM on a Saturday morning, and you're now a metahuman. You may want to do something in regards to that, or maybe the attack on the club last night, or Dr. Eve Moreau, your mad scientist patron, but now, you have priorities.

>Coffee. NOW.
>Shower first
>I should call Johnny, see if he's still in hospital

>>17792332
>I should call Johnny, see if he's still in hospital

dat loyalty

See if you can somehow contain the psibolt, like juggle it around or something without giving it momentum, while calling up Johnny to see how he's doing

>>17792332
1: I'm really glad Charm and Mind were fixed.
2: Call ON THE WAY TO the hospital. If he's not there, just turn around and go to where he is, but if he's there it's a lot more urgent to get to him than if he's somewhere else. Distinct survivor's guilt, especially since I expect it was Dr. Moreau's manipulations which led those gunmen there, making him getting in large part our fault.

>>17792368
>>17792393
(Following your Loyalty has granted you 2 more Willpower!)

You check to make sure your door is locked, then go rooting around for your phone, wherever you chucked it last night when you got in. You find it, and notice your battery is running low, you should keep the call short so you can charge it up.

You have the phone dial while concentrating, doing the now instinctive action of calling up a bolt, only without imparting any momentum to it. To your surprise, you manage to conjure up a little blue ball of light in your hand, and discover that you can kind of palm it a little, gently tossing it up and down.

The call connects after an unusually long time, and Johnny answers. "Hey man! You're up early for a Saturday." You two share some friendly gibes before you get serious, and ask him how he is.

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just a flesh wound, they say. They're gonna let me out in a couple of hours, I think, once they run some tests and get me hooked up with a walking stick. Let's just say I won't be running anywhere for a few weeks."

>>17792577
You ask Johnny if he needs a ride, but he says, "Nah, the hospital called my Mom this morning. She's coming to pick me up and is probably gonna make me stay home all weekend." Johnny's mother is a nice, gentle lady, but a bit of a worrywart. She'll probably hurt him more with her hugs and her "family medicinal recipes" than the bits of shrapnel did. "But if you could swing by my mom's for lunch or dinner? Maybe get me away from the monotony for a bit?" You agree, and try to tell Johnny you'll see him at the hospital, but like a good bro, he insists you go about your morning normally. You end the call, deciding you may go to the hospital anyway, just to spite him (you're tight like that).

As you break concentration to press the hang-up button, you throw up the bolt a little to hard, and it smacks against the ceiling in a white flash and a whip-crack sound, causing some dust to drift down from the ceiling. Oops.

Well, now maybe you should see about that shower. But the siren allure of the coffee-maker in the dorm's kitchenette calls you name...

>>17792597
Fuck coffee, shower is important. We don't want to smell like a stanky sandnigger on a hot summer afternoon

>>17792597

Quick shower, then coffee.

Be careful not to electrocute ourselves in the shower, I guess.

>>17792597

Shower, pays to be squeaky clean.

>>17792632
Realizing you slept in the clothes from last night (which smell of cordite, ozone and iron) you decide to shower first, and good thing, because you've got smudges of dirt and ash all over you.

While in the shower, you check yourself for injuries. While you feel a little beat up you aren't showing any bruises, and where the cuts should be on your arms from the glass, you see only a handful of faint scars and some diminishing scabs. Likewise, no burn marks from the bits of molten metal flying around. Looks like you'll heal most minor injuries overnight.

You dress, and head out to the kitchenette to find Our Blessed Lady of Caffination (Really. Your roommate Dave is also an Anthro major, and put a little virgin mary on the coffee-maker) in use by Dave's current girlfriend, who continues her frustrating habit of walking around during the morning wearing nothing but one of Dave's shirts and her underwear. You obtain coffee, and drink it.

Now its time to get on with your day.

>Some suggestions:
>You can head over to the science buildings attached to campus, and try and figure out what it up with you now
>You could find somewhere isolated in the city to practice your new superpowers
>You could try and find Ms Africa, and ask her what was up last night, though you doubt she's hanging around in the ruins of her nightclub and you did cause a decent amount of that property damage
>You could head to the campus library, and do some research on Dr. Eve Moreau, who is apparently experimenting on you.

>>17792750

It's going to be difficult to walk into the science lab and run tests on ourselves, given that we're not really that much of a scientist.

On the other hand, we should have access to a lot of resources as a history/anthro major that we can use to research Dr. Moreau, so I suggest spending our morning doing that.

We can visit our bro in the hospital later today.

>>17792750
Charge our phone. Head to the science building while we wait.
Once it's charged for an hour or two, pick it up and practice superpowuhs.
Listen to genetic training material in library or something

>>17792801
This.

>>17792801
Charging... your phone?
What?
Why on earth would you charge the phone? What'd happen to the drama! The sweet, sweet drama!
Playing with people who think ahead sucks dicks.

>>17792837
Heh. Welcome to quest threads, where protagonists subvert tropes constantly by being as protagonist as a real person.

>>17792801
You remember to plug your phone in to charge, then decide to head out to the labs. In the lobby of your dorm building, for the first time in a couple years, you have to utilize the campus map. Luckily last year they transitioned to some interactive touch screen ones, so you can find the building you need, which contains (among other, stranger things) the Genetics Lab.

On the way there, you ponder your new Genetic Memories. They're quite eerie, actually, because you remember facts like someone had trained you in them, but remember no training. You can operate most Cyrean military hardware and use their personal weapons. You even know the basics of their hand-to-hand fighting style.

You get to the appropriate building, and calmly enter through the main entrance, like you belong there. The building has stark white hallways, which reminds you of a hospital. Since its the Saturday after Finals week, the place is silent like the grave. You find the Genetics Lab is locked with one of those key card locks to prevent random visitors from getting in.

Luckily, you got a student ID. You insert the card, and then a red light comes on, and the door doesn't unlock. There is a cough behind you, and you about jump out of your skin, and whirl around, barely managing to stop yourself from disintegrating a nice-looking redhead in a lab coat with a student ID around her neck who is standing a couple paces behind you.

"What are you doing?"

>>17792936
"Trying to find out who this beautiful young woman who just appeared out of the blue is."
Then smile and offer a handshake, introducing ourselves and informing her how we're trying to get access to the labs

>>17792936

"Er, one of my friends left his backpack here in the lab, and I said I'd run by and pick it up for him."

>>17792936
"Getting into the lab. My card doesn't seem to work though, could I borrow yours?"
Seconding
>>17792975
For the excuse.

>>17792962

Second this. Turn the suave up to eleven.

>>17793000

"Getting into the lab. My card doesn't seem to work though, could I borrow yours?" You say, quickly, trying not to show that your heart is beating a million miles a minute. You throw in a cheery smile for good measure. "Now why do you need to do that?" She asks, with a tone more of curiousity than hostility.

>>17793000
(No matches on the Lie check)

"Er, one of my friends left his backpack here in the lab, and I said I'd run by and pick it up for him." You attempt to sell your BS line. Sadly you don't have much call to lie, very few people ever resist your natural boyish charms.

Her eyebrow raise is so good that you think she'd give Spock a run for his money. "Uh-huuuuuuh." The way she drags out the sound makes you pretty sure she's not buying it.

Why even fucking lie, guys? We're students here, we should be allowed access to the genetics labs.

>>17793075

They don't let just anyone handle fancy genetics machinery, especially someone who's not specifically doing research and has no experience with them.

We need this girl's help. Just come clean with her.

>>17793087

Some clarification before I go with this.

Come clean with her about wanting to use the equipment, or come clean with her about being a metahuman, hence why you need to use the equipment?

It's an important distinction

>>17793104
She would probably be much more willing to help us if she got to look at a real Cyrean Hybrid.

>>17793104
About being a metahuman. The whole idea of trying to hide being a metahuman is all well and good in comics but stupid in real life. Tell her you want some tests done because you just manifested powers last night. You want to have an idea of what all you have before you go tell the police about it.

And yes, we should tell the police. Last night was a bad time, but today would be a good one. Only after we have tests done, though. Ask her not to spread the information around, though - we're not trying to keep it some huge secret, but we don't want to fuck over our social life either.

We'll tell our friends next chance we get too - but face-to-face online. Telling your friends you got superpowers over a text is like breaking up over a text. Douchey.

>>17793158
Hahahahaha no.>>17793164
Are you guys for srs?
Revealing the fact that we are NOT HUMAN seems like a terrible idea.

>>17793164
>face to face online
I meant face to face only.

>>17793104

come clean on wanting to use the equipment. If she want's to know why don't bluntly tell her we are transhuman but discrete.

>>17793172
....Why? Theres plenty of other metahumans, it's not like we're some BRAND NEW GENETIC FREAK OF NATURE, CLARA GET THE PROBE!

>>17793172
Whoa, we don't know that we're not human. Just say, honestly, that these powers just manifested last night. If it turns out we're a hybrid, don't tell the cops. Either way, be honest with this girl and tell her not to spread it around. While we're at it, let's bring out the swag and hit on her.

>>17793158
>>17793164

You decide to come clean. The police will find you anyway using the security camera footage from the club eventually. "Well..." you start, "Last night I kind of became superhuman and wanted to use the equipment to test myself for mutations, and uh, things."

She stands still for a second, then says "Well, why didn't you say so!" Pushes you out of the way, and presses her card into the door lock, opens it, and walks in. "C'mon, I want to try our new Gene Sequencer. It's make from reverse engineered Grey tech we captured in the 50s." As she pulls her card back, you see her name is Roxane Murdock, and there is a tiny gold 'M' on her ID card, next to her name.

Well, that explains it. She's a metahuman like you.

>>17793278

Make small-talk on the way to the gene sequencer.

"So uh, can't help but notice you're a little more woman than most women. What do you do?" Gesture to her ID card after a pause, smiling.

OP, I just want to tell you I've finished reading the last thread and once I catch up I'll begin contribooting. Very interesting quest so far.

>>17793337
Yeah, but less creepy.

>>17793337
Way less creepy. In fact, don't use the metahuman thing as a point of attraction. Hit on her but... not about that.

She takes you inside to a lab full of lots of equipment you have no idea what it does. But it looks expensive. You're reminded of a Monty Python sketch.

>>17793337
"Me?" she responds, almost a little surprised. "Oh, I'm a benign." You wish you had something to drink so you can spit take. Benign Science Related Memetic Disorder is the much rarer counterpart to Malign Science Related Memetic Disorder (MSRMD) or Mastermind disease. They both have the same expanded capacity for logic and intuition and accelerated learning, but Roxane's version doesn't come with the sociopathic apathy toward human beings, or the compulsive desire to take over and/or destroy the world.

You close your mouth before it gapes to much, which she responds to with "Was diagnosed when I was 2. I combined the day-care's TV and a pile of blocks into a remote controlled robot to fetch snacks."

Roxane takes you over to a counter which has a literal black box on it, with a LCD touchscreen on a swivel mount bolted onto it, and some apertures for needles in the side. She starts tooling up and asks you to get your arm out and sit on the counter.

Now equipped with needle and gloves, she starts drawing blood and asks, "So, what kind of powers have you manifested?"

>>17793427
Which Monty Python sketch?
The one about the beep machine?

>>17793427
"Oh, I'm a malign"
Look at her for a second, put on the biggest trollface we can muster, then gently pat her on the shoulder and tell her we're just yanking her chain, proverbially speaking.

>>17793427

"Gene splicing"

>>17793427
"I can speak alien and shoot lasers from my hands. On a serious note, I didn't really manifest any powers. I was drugged, kidnapped, and experimented upon and/or tortured."

>>17793502
>"I can speak alien and shoot lasers from my hands."

Yes.

>"On a serious note, I didn't really manifest any powers. I was drugged, kidnapped, and experimented upon and/or tortured."

No. At least, not yet.

>>17793518

>>17793518
Well, first we should do a knowledge check--do Cyrean Hybrids usually "manifest" powers, or is it just something they're born with? Are they even born!?

basically, call up all knowledge on Cyrean Hybrids.

>>17793518

Let's follow that up with a "It was a weird night at the bars, trust me."

>>17793557

yeah, this would be a good idea.

"I assimilated memories and abilities from a Cyrean memory thing. Aside from that, I've been stronger, faster, healing better, and even more charming than usual."

Give her a grin after you mention being charming.

>>17793502
>>17793518
>>17793526

"I can speak alien and shoot lasers from my hands." She blinks a couple times to process this information. Then taps your palm. "Guess that would explain this then, huh?" Oh, right, the tiny glowing symbols scribed under your skin, right.

She sticks the needle in and draws the required amount of blood. "Hope you didn't steal that from a hidden cache or buy it from a back-alley transhumanist. Buying and selling those Cyrean modules is against a couple of UN treaties."

You shake your head as she sticks your blood in the machine, hits some buttons on the touchscreen, checks her watch, then says "10 minutes".

>>17793584
Tell her honestly how it happened. She seems friendly, helpful, AND knowledgeable, and we're more about history than science or current events. She could offer invaluable advice. And everyone needs friends.

>>17793596

Yeah, something like

"Well, I didn't go to one of those back-alley transhumanists. They came to me."

Then explain what happened.

>>17793584

"If it makes it you feel any better, I didn't exactly choose this. I'm not a guy who pals around with black-market arms salesmen. I'm a history major, for Christ's sake."

Ask her if we could be in trouble even if we were "uplifted" without our consent.

>>17793584
"...How many UN treaties, and is it still applicable if It was given to me?"

>>17793557
(2x5 and 2x9 to remember)

Cyreans did utilize power modules on human conscripts or turncoats during the war, and some people after have used their caches from the war to alter themselves.

Because its basically a disposable nanotech injection that rearranges you DNA and some of your neurology, abilities manifest pretty rapidly once a person has been augmented. You don't know if children of any augmented people show any signs of abilities, but you're too old for that excuse anyway.

It is possible, through Cyrean genetic finagling, to have a half-human, half-cyrean child, because Dr. Amazement, renown hero of the war has a daughter with one of the former Imperial Princesses (The one who led the rebellion against her own people to create a less centralized tyrannical government). You're probably not that modded, just the modules have re-organized your nervous system a bit, hence powers. The glowing runes are unique to humans who have been augmented, though. Apparently differences in the skin pigments for Cyreans (who have skin color along a blue-indigo-violet range) means that their tron lines down show up in the visual range.

>>17793651
ALright, this info pretty much means that most first impressions will be black market or "Stupid kid got into something he shouldn't have"

>>17793688

Right, so it'd be a good idea to keep this under wraps as much as possible, I don't want Interpol knocking on our door curious as to where we found black-market tech.

>>17793651
We'll need to get registered, I assume, with some kind of metahuman database. Get some kind of special card. Probably get put into the police database.

>>17793688
Let's tell her, specifically saying that we think doctor Moreau did it to us. She seems like someone who can help. We were violated by a malignant, so we may as well seek help from a benign. That and she is really cute and we are a horny uni student.

>>17793596
>>17793610
>>17793618
>>17793620

"The augmentations may have been stolen, but it wasn't by me. I didn't go to one of those back-alley transhumanists. They came to me." She masterfully raises an eyebrow again.

You explain how last night you met a beautiful young woman who talked to you about metahuman enhancements, and turned out to be a mad scientist looking for a guinea pig, and it turns out to have been you.

Her eloquent response is "OMGYOUMETDRMOREAU, I'VEREADSOMANYOFHERPAPERS." She dashes forward and grabs you by the shoulders while she speaks, with a look in her eye that reminds you that while she may be benign, she's probably not 100% stable.

She then gets a hold of herself. "Hem. Sorry." She lets go of your shoulders. "I believe Article IV of the Metahuman Protection act covers persons illegally uplifted to metahuman status. You can either get your powers reversed on the government dime, or choose to keep your powers, though with Cyrean augmentations you might need a registry card. Also, if you want to keep them they wont pay for any specialized medical treatment, that's yours to pay."

>>17793714
>>17793707
>>17793688
I would rather get registered and have everything sorted out with law enforcement - and, just as importantly, let them Moreau is out and active - than to be in a situation where we're brought before the police and we're an unregistered metahuman who's been active for months.

>>17793730
Well, there we go. Let's go get registered - and let's keep them, too. Carrying around a special card is not a big deal at all. After all, people who want to carry around handguns need concealed carry permits. We're not some violent anarchist, we're a reasonable and sexy member of society.

"Do they charge a fee for registration?"

>>17793736
Yah but that's so reasonable and not-edgy...

>>17793730

Guess we should get registered then. Because I've grown rather fond of shooting lasers from our hands.

Shit, I hope this doesn't actually end up being hazardous to our health at all, because I don't think we could afford the hospital bills on our college student budget.

>>17793759

We're a college student.

We can't afford the kind of trouble that not registering would bring down on our newly-transhumanized ears.

>>17793762
I don't even care that much about shooting the friction-balls. What I care about is being a human paragon. One of our powers, though (which we don't know now, but which I think this test will show) is that we have a 0% rejection rate for cybernetic, nano, and other genemods. So we shouldn't require any medical treatment unless we get shot or something.

>>17793793
Don't forget the stress and emotional pain that getting in trouble with the cops would cause our friends and family. We can't - we WON'T - risk doing that to them. And Johnny is the first one to know about our powers, when we see him later.

(Huh, nobody cares that your new superfriend is apparently a giant fangirl for the woman you drugged you then injected you with glowing blue stuff)

"Guess I'll get registered, then, before the police catch up with me." Roxane nods. "You should wait for the results, first. That'll let them know anything they need to put in on your database entry, without them having to run the tests themselves. They just send the work here or to DC anyway. I don't think even ULC's teaching hospital has this kind of tech."

>Got about five minutes left before its done. Any thing you feel like doing with that time?

>>17793884
Ask for her Number?

>>17793884

*who. Who drugged you. Curse you people and your not going the directions I expect forcing me to type new things rapidly.

>>17793884
Ask for her number; if she says yes, ask her if she wants to get coffee later today. If she says no, ask her why she had that reaction about Dr. M to distract from the fact that you just hit on her.

>>17793884
Ask her if she could tell us a little more about Dr. French Mad Scientist.

>>17793884
Well, it's not surprising shes a fan--she may be an insane criminal, but shes apparently pretty fucking brilliant.

also, ask if she knows any way to -legally- get a hold of more modules.

>>17793899
(2x2 on Persuasion, which is a skill you now have)

"Hey, can I get your phone number?" You say, casually, in the tried and true way you have for the past 5 or 6 years. "Oh, in case you need to call me about the results?" She takes the question the way you intended. "Sure." she says. Then you realize you don't have your phone, so she takes out a pen and scribbles it down on your arm.

(You have gained a new Relationship. The way Relationships work, you may call on a relationship for an appropriate test (Staying alive to see it again counts) to add to that test equal to the value of the relationship. But if you fail the test, the relationship takes damage and you'll need to spend time with the subject of the relationship in order to repair it. If your relationship drops to 0, it enters a crisis and you HAVE to set aside some time to heal it, or you'll end up breaking that relationship)

>>17793957
>>17793958

You ask her about her response to mention of Dr. Moreau. She points a slightly accusing finger at you. "Hey, you're a History major. You should remember she had late-onset, and didn't develop Mastermind disease until she was at medical school in the states. Even after she started showing symptoms, she remained functional for another 6 months until she cracked and built her own suit of Gen III Power Armor before Gen III power armor existed and tried to steal all those confiscated Hiveling corpses." You remember watching some stock footage of that. It was hillarious. Moreau had made her curling iron into a short-range heat ray.

"During her time before, and her functional period after, she wrote a number of very interesting papers which weren't published until after she dove off the deep end. And even after that, she keeps getting papers published every now and then, sometimes under pseudonyms."

>>17794059
>she remained functional for another 6 months until she cracked and built her own suit of Gen III Power Armor before Gen III power armor existed and tried to steal all those confiscated Hiveling corpses." You remember watching some stock footage of that. It was hillarious. Moreau had made her curling iron into a short-range heat ray.

Oh god what? We have to meet up with this crazy bitch again.

>>17794059
Ask her if she is in possession of these papers, and if any of the papers have to do with Cyrean implants, genetics, cores, training, or powers.

If she is, ask her if she could copy those and send them to us for our own reading.

Also ask if there are any ways we could legally get more cyrean tech. Explain that we would be very interested in intelligence-boosting implants for school purposes. Also ask if that's legal.

>>17794059
"Would you like to grab some coffee after this?"

Power practice can wait if it means getting a casual date with a pretty girl in. After all, we probably won't even bring the results to the cops until tomorrow - we'll want to come first thing in the morning because we don't know how long the registration will take. And hey, smart girls are hot. It's why we went for Moreau's science chic look, after all.

>>17794050
(2x9 to remember that on your own)

According to what Roxane just told you, and your own recollection of the results of the Cyrean War, you remember that the way most of the laws are phrased, buying and selling modules is illegal, same with most Cyrean tech.

Likewise, should you discover some illegally obtained Cyrean tech, it's evidence which needs to go to the authorities. However, there is some historical precedent for ownership of artifacts/objects "discovered", such as if you found a cache from the war. Most people cant use modules, so they turn those over to their local government for a finder's fee.

However, your nervous system having been recently rewired to accept the Power Modules, you probably have an out in that its not like you can't NOT gain the powers in the modules if you come in skin contact with them.

>>17794088
>>17794105
Oh god. I think we might be quickly developing a mild science-chick fetish. And not without reason.
>>17794101
Yeah, it may be hard to get ahold of Cyrean tech, but if it's legal, we should go for it. Think of it like a gun-fan spending some of their hard-earned money every now and then getting a new, especially badass gun.

>>17794116
Hmmm. So, we could actually make a career out of finding Cyrean power modules, gaining the power, and then turning them over to the cops for the finder's fee? Or is it a finder's fee of a size making it more a hobby that we can earn a bit of money doing?

>>17794148
I think gaining the power would use up the module in some way, and reduce its value. Probably can't sell it and use it.

Welp, we're gonna need to find a Cyrean cache, or a black-market dealer to beat up and rob and report to the police.

Can we roll to remember areas of intense Cyrean activity? I assume that's where most of the caches would've been. We might just need to find where the military keeps them.

>>17794168
Even if it's used up, it's still probably useful as evidence. Also, I have a feeling that we can't be affected by the same type of module twice. So, for example, psibolts would be safe to handle now. Actually, that's a great question to ask, whether or not handling a power we already have would still trigger it.

>>17794148
>>17794168

Most modules are one-use only. However, a full cache could be stocked with upwards of a dozen copies of one type of module, so finding a complete unraided cache would net you additional powers, and probably enough left over to turn in for a sizable chunk of capital.

>>17794171
No need to roll, that information is younger than you and not obscure. At the time of the conclusion, Cyreans were occupying major cities in New England, and attempting to siege important cities farther down the coast like Norfolk and DC. Their center of operations for NA was in the middle of nowhere Vermont. That was run over with some nukes at the end of the war, but maybe could have some caches still buried up there.

>>17794101
>>17794105

You ask Roxane if she is in possession of these papers. "Not on me, but I have copies on my computer. I can email you them after we're done, if you'd like." You respond in the affirmative, saying you'd like papers on stuff related to Cyreans. "Hrm. In the past decade she did circulate a couple of papers, one on the Cyrean Genetic Memory process, and the other on how the power modules work. They're probably a little technical for you, though"

You ask if maybe you could meet up later, and discuss the papers over coffee. Perhaps she could explain them to you better. She agrees. Then the sequencer goes "ding" in a very un-alien way.

>>17794311
What town/city are we in and, if it's a college town, which city are we close to? What was the presence there like?

>>17794311
Looks like after our coffee date we'll be going to Vermont.

>>17794311
Let's check out what the reading from the machine is. Find out what kind of genetic fuckery the Doctor did to us.

>>17794311

Roxane goes over to examine the screen. "Interesting...interesting" she says, as she checks the readout at a speed even your optimized brain couldn't. "Looks like the good doctor gave you a tailored retrovirus to modify your existing genes. She must have a sequencer even faster than this one. Or is one." She smiles at her own joke. "Basically, you've gotten a second chance to win the genetic lottery. You probably wont get taller or anything like that, but she seems to have refreshed your genetics. Not a whole lot of instant improvement, but your capacity for growth in the areas of musculature, reflexes, memory, cognition are about as high as they can be without borrowing from someone with even better genes. She also seems to have healed any damage your code might have taken and reset your cell regeneration. You'll heal faster now, and you've probably added 20 years to your expected lifespan. You're also not showing any rejection markers, which means you probably have a near 0% chance of rejection risk for cyber, bio or nanoware. It's like she opened the doors you to plot your own evolution."

She pauses, and scrolls down on the screen some, while you process this information. "Now the alien stuff," she continues. "The Cyrean HALO implant seems to have altered the way your nerve cells grow, and probably altered your existing nervous system. You'll now automatically make alterations if you touch those power modules. Luckily, its done this by using up some of the junk DNA you have which doesn't really do anything, so shouldn't have any long-term health implications. For you, anyway. I'd love to see what your chromosomes do to any children you have after this point." That's a pleasant thought.

>>17794362

You are in fabulous LIBERTY CITY which is somewhere in [State] on the [East Coast], relatively close to all those major metropolitan centers. Cyrean presence here was 0, however, since this entire city was build after the war, as part of the reconstruction effort aided by the new "Galactic Confederacy" government. Part of the reason why Liberty City is so high tech.

(OOC: If Liberty City was an actual place, it'd probably be in Maryland or Delaware.)

>>17794490
Haha! Our dick will grow.

Anyway, ask her if that means we'll be infertile, have down syndrome babies, or have super genius half Cyreans.

Then proceed to excuse ourselves, say there is much that needs to be done, and that we look forward to our next meeting with her. Start heading towards the police station to get the registration out of the way.

"Are my genetics robust enough that walking into Vermont would be a good idea, or am I still at normal risk of cancer and other bad mutations?"

>>17794599
>>17794581

"Vermont? Why would you- oh, right. That was fifteen years ago. Just don't drink any ground water or stand naked in the middle of the actual craters, and you'll probably be alright. No more radiation than a long day at the beach. To answer your actual question, while you'll probably heal the radiation poisoning faster that most people, but long term exposure could still have negative side-effects, like death." She pauses, then says more to herself than to you "Though by the time you actually start developing the cancer we'll probably have a 100% certain cure and if you actually find a cache you'll be rich enough to afford it."

You get off the bench, and say you need to be going, and she gives you a goodbye, a warm handshake, and a several dozen page-long printout from the Gene Sequencer she ran off the printer while you were talking.

>>17794739
So Vermont trip soon?
But first we should visit the hospital. Or johnny's house, if hes home.

Let's head back to our dorm for now and (before we forget) put Roxane's number in our phone. Then let's call/text Johnny, ask if he's good to meet face to face now or in the next hour or so, to talk about what went down last night. Let's also throw Roxane a call/text asking when she wants to go get that coffee.

>>17794739
We seem to have a thing for handshakes, and for scientists.

>>17794739
Welp, let's go back to the dorm, grab our phone, go stop by Jonny's place to get the loyalty boost, then go to the police station, then haul ass to Vermont. Maybe our arm-device will point us in the direction of caches?

>>17794853
Actually, I was thinking we would actually prepare with things like a Geiger counter, researching some solid details about the Cyreans, asking Johnny if he would like to tag along for a solid 50% of the finder's fee, trying to access the genetic memory's tactics to figure out where likely places to hide caches would be, get maps of what the places looked like before the war and during occupation, and so on. You know, prepare.

>>17794826
(Fist bumping Dr. Moreau in the club might have been a bad idea. She was wearing nanotech multitool gloves. Might have accidentally got a scalpel through our hand, or something)

>>17794812

You return to your dorm room to find both Dave (Your roommate) and Dave's Girlfriend (She of the frustrating morning wear) have left for the day. You guess.

You check your phone, discover it to be of a sastisfactory power level, and put Roxane's number in. You shoot Johnny a text while you boot up your computer, to check your email. Roxane has already posted a link to an up-to-date torrent of all of Dr. Moreau's papers, dating back to the 70s. It is surprisingly well seeded, and you start the process while you check to see if Johnny texted you back.

He has, and says that he's on his way back home now, and that his dad bought him a bitchin' cane with silver skull on top. You shoot him back you'll meet him in an hour or two. He says you two can go out for an early lunch/late breakfast, since he didn't eat much at the hospital. You then remember all you've had this morning is a cup of coffee.

>You've a little over an hour of free time. Wat do?

>>17795006

Practice a little more with our abilities (without blowing holes in the wall of our apartment) and maybe take a quick look at some of those papers.

>>17795006
Time to read the entire wikipedia article on Cyreans. We'll branch off into more specialized areas later. Let's also get some juice or something, keep our blood sugar up. Aside from that, finally a moment of peace after last night.

>>17795006
Research time.
General info about Cyreans first, ie Wikipedia, then try to read through some papers.

>>17794916
>>17794853
There is actually a marked Exclusion Zone around the former Vermont forward base, which is maintained by the National Guard. The worst they'll do is throw you out for your own stupidity, but it might be a bad idea to cross Uncle Sam (or state lines) while having not gotten your registration card.

On another note, if you actually have some equipment, you might be able to just drive in the front gate as another scavenger, as opposed to just hiking over some of the area that isn't guarded well.

>>17795099
Exactly. We don't be going scavenging this week, that's for sure. We'll be getting registered, prepared, stocked up, and so on first. Plus, we're going to give Johnny a chance to heal so he can go if he wants. And we're going to try to romance Roxane a bit. Our life isn't going to revolve around our powers, our powers are going to revolve around our life.

>>17795090
>>17795066

While waiting for the torrent to finish, you pull up the Wikipedia article on Cyreans (Species) and open up a can of your preferred brand of soft drink. Was this article always this long?

To summarize, Cyreans are a bipedal, humanoid species (which is weird, because out of the dozen or so ETs encounter, only two are roughly humanoid, the others being the Greys) . They aren't technically mammals, as they lack mammary glands, but they are placental creatures. Also, if the xenocreationists are right, some Post-Singularity ET should be thanked, because Cyrean females have natural nutrient stores at chest level, which resemble nipple-less breasts. They also have some much more extreme sexual dimorphism than humans, as their females are on average about 6.5' and their males are 5.5' feet. Because of this, they are usually a female dominant society, especially since they cracked their own genome and grow all their own young in exowombs.

They are a naturally psychic species, something they share with the Greys, but are natively limited to short-range telepathy and ESP. They have expounded upon this via psitech augmentation, which gives them a greater depth of powers in the psychic bandwidth, as well as allowing their members to further specialize. A combination of their genetic and psionic advancements also grant them Genetic Memory, allowing them to imprint skills or knowledge into people along with powers.

>Anything specific you're looking for?

>>17795345
You know, looking for a..I dunno, Hybrid support group, or something, would probably be handy, what with the genetic memory and all.

I would also be interested in a hybrid support group. Mainly to see if we could score some hot, half-alien tail. Also check and see if they have any great weaknesses, and if they have a predisposition to any types of diseases, or if they have any tendency for Alzheimer's or some similar late-onset genetic disorder.

Then to the police station! Since we have plenty of time. We can read after lunch. We need to get registered.

>>17795395

You tab over to Google and do a couple quick internet searches. You find some internet support forums. Actual meat-space meeting seem to be rare, though, due it having been 17 years since the war, and a large number of willing Cyrean hybrids immigrated to the GC to continue the fight.

>>17795395

We're not a Hybrid though, what happened to us was explained up here.

>>17794490
>>17793651

We don't need a support group or anything, we can figure out how to deal with this on our own now, it hasn't given us anything really crazy that we're incapable of handling yet.

>>17795511
(If you want half-alien tail, you're going to need to leave Terra Firma. For one thing, the oldest they would be is about 17-16, and your local laws don't account for non-human maturation rates.)

After spending 15 minutes speed reading Wikipedia, you decide to get the registration business over with. You grab your phone, leave your computer running, and head out to catch the Monorail to City Center, and the the Police HQ.

After that short trip, you find yourself standing in front of the facade of the City Central Police HQ for Liberty City, also main operating base for the Metahuman Crimes unit and the Metahuman Response Team, who's members you saw Friday afternoon guarding Study Hall.

>Last chance to chicken out and avoid registration

>>17795654
No chance, go on in and register. Wait, do we have any information about the registration process? We aren't gonna get stabbed and poked and prodded and pissed on and dissected, are we?

>>17795654

I don't think that would be a good idea, I don't want the MIB knocking down our door if we get found out later on. Go through the registration.

>>17795654
Let's register. Also, the short-range ESP. Do caches/power modules have any sort of psychic RFID tags on them, so to speak? The sort of thing that would allow us to sense them if we got close enough? It seems like the sort of thing our baseline genomods would let us do.

>>17795767
I thought about this earlier. Our implant should sort of let us sweep for them, like a metal detector for psychic signals. Maybe that's a different power though?

>>17795517
the way I see it, having other hybrids around us can help a lot--help us learn new things about our body, and, most importantly, our mind.

>>17795690
>>17795686
(Your Command has increased)

You calmly stride through the big open doors, and up to the security checkpoint, nobody else going in so your stroll on through the various screening equipment when waved in. Then something makes a bad noise, and two men in Generation V (Or is it Gen VI?) Power Armor are pointing automatic shotguns at your chest and you're reaching for the sky.

"Uh... I'd like to talk to the Metahuman Registration desk?"

"Stand down." Says an authoritative voice. You look over and see what looks like the Police Commissioner standing in an office on the second floor over looking the lobby, talking through a PA. A woman with an eyepatch and a cybernetic arm is standing next to him. You recognize her from the news as Police Captain Skinner, commander of the Metahuman response unit. She lost the eye and the arm in the war, and replaced them with cybernetics.

The two ceramic-booted thugs stand down, and the Captain leaves the Commissioner's office and stands at the top of a set of stairs/escalators, and points at you with her scary bionic arm and says "You. Follow me."

>>17795826
What is the max for attributes? 10?

>>17795790
>>17795767

That is a thing. Psycho-reactive materials are capable of being sensed by people with psychic perceptions. However, you do not have such senses, since those would be native to Cyreans. They did make modules for that, because often times they would communicate with conscripts from their slave races via telepathy, so they needed some way to grant those species their own natural psychic powers.

Or you might be able to get a detector on E-Bay. Or steal it from the Parapsychology Department of the University.

>>17795838

Five for normal humans, same with skills. Dan's Peak Performer ability allows for some progression, even if you cap at 5 (Wild Talents players will know these as Hard and Wiggle dice). Later enhancements may also allow higher stats or skills.

>>17795826
"awww geez, is this about the night club?"

>>17795863
E-Bay takes too long, any kind of hobby shop or outdoors man's store that might sell them? If worse comes to worse let's steal one.

>>17795884
Let's not mention that.
Just wait for her to say whats going on.
She's not a scientist so we're not going to flirt with her anyway.

>>17795883
Oh, then we're one charming, intelligent, and charismatic bastard then!

>>17795896
We are not stealing one! Ebay may be our worst case scenario, but thievery isn't even going to be included in the list. Once you have powers, even if you don't use them, crimes you commit suddenly count as super-crimes. Especially if we have combat powers, and we have a doozy of one.

>>17795926
We were charming, intelligent, and charismatic to begin with. Since then, though, we've had a system-wide tuneup. Now we're fucking amazing.

>>17795896
(Funnily enough, the idea of a store for Fringe stuff will be introduced and resolved soon)

>>17795898
You remain stoic as you march up the stairs (because escalators are for non super-humans) and follow behind Captain Skinner as she starts leading you deeper into police HQ. After about a minute of walking, wading your way through the bullpen of detectives and clerks, she bluntly asks, after shooting you a sizing glance "Where were you last night between the hours of 8 and 11 PM?"

Your brain manages to recall your conversations with your last girlfriend, who was a Law student. "I don't have to answer that. You haven't brought me in for questioning. I'm here to fill out some registry papers." You wave the print-out Roxane gave you of your shiny new genome. "I've been checked on by an expert and everything."

The Captain harumphs impressively for a 30-something woman without a mustache, and opens a door into what is clearly an interrogation room. "Have a seat." She says, simply. "I'll get somebody to bring you the forms, and we can have a nice, friendly chat." Her tone makes you suspect it wont be as friendly as you like.

>>17796028
Okay, fellow participants in this thread, let's think about the pros and cons of spilling the beans.

Pros:
Get it out of the way.
Maybe get a reward for killing those thugs.
Maybe get some kind of special hero pass? Hell if I know.

Cons:
Possibly get wrapped up in long legal shenanigans.
Possibly arrested for illegal augmentations.
Possibly arrested for property damage.

>>17796082
I think we should clam the fuck up about that. We don't need the hassle right now. If they don't have any evidence there's no need to give them any.

>>17796082

Friendly neighborhood Quest-Author here, to fill in some OOC gaps in IC Knowledge.


>Maybe get some kind of special hero pass? Hell if I know.
Only thing like that is Government Sponsorship. There
are four sponsored heroes operating in the US at the moment. You get lots of legal and government support, but officially work for them, meaning you don't get a lot of free time.

>Possibly get wrapped up in long legal shenanigans.
While possible, Liberty City's version of the Good Samaritan laws which protect metahumans from persecution if their use their powers to defend theirs or others life and limb is pretty lenient. If you come clean and aren't a dick about it, the Captain may not press any charges which would require the law to be brought up.

>Possibly arrested for illegal augmentations.
See >>17793730

>Possibly arrested for property damage.
See above note about Good Samaritan laws.

>>17796162
Oh, okay. Thanks OP. In that case I say come clean about it. Explain absolutely everything calmly and politely.

>>17796185
Second

>>17796185
Sounds like the smart thing to do.

Oh and great work with this quest Omega!

Let's come clean as long as it doesn't look like they're too eager to charge us or anything. We'll do that only after filling out the paperwork, though. That will give us time to get a read on their intentions.

>>17796185
>>17796234

You sit down, take a deep breath, and say "Alright. I'll tell you everything I know. But I'm invoking my Article III rights under the Metahuman Protection Act." She closes the door and quirks an eyebrow at you. "You retain your right to reproduce without government consent or interference?" You test your superhuman cranium against this puny metal interrogation desk.

"I mean Article IV." The faintest traces of a smile reach her eyes. "That's more like it." You then proceed to tell the captain the whole story, leaving out zero details, and answering her questions politely when she asks. After you conclude, she nods. "Well, can't say as you're the first person to ever have a story like that. Well, maybe not exactly like that."

She gives you another analyzing look. You can feel her cybernetic eye probing you underneath its eyepatch. "You'll be happy to know only four criminals died in the club. The two who took a tumble down the stairs, and the Thermite Lancer crew. Any of the others were only injured. Now... about this 'Javelin' business." Her train of thought is interrupted as there is a knock at the door. "Excuse me." She gets up and opens the door.

"Hello Captain. I'm Special Agent Johnson and this is Agent Johnson, no relation. We're from the FBI Department of Metahuman Affairs. We'd like to speak to Mr. Fortesque about the events which transpired last night." You shoot a glance over at the door, and see two men in suits and shades standing there brandishing ID badges.

>>17796359
Shitshitshitshitshitshit if they're all Agent Johnson that means they're doing something stealthy and underhanded.

Actually I bet they're just here about the Cyrean implant, but be very, very cautious.

>>17796408
Actually, they're probably just trying to gather information on Doctor Moreau. Let's ask if we can have a police officer/lawyer remain in here with us, though, so that no funny business is tried. 'Cause, I mean, come on. We watch TV.

>>17796359
"Concerning what?" Says the Captain, not unheatedly. "We need to talk to him regarding contact he may or may not had with one Doctor Eve Jeanne Moreau last night, at about 10:00 PM". Huh, you didn't know her middle name before. The Captain's only response is to stand aside and say "You boys work fast."

The special agent sits, but the regular one stands. Special Agent Johnson says "I'm going to ask you some questions about Dr. Moreau. Answer them as truthfully as you are able." He raises a hand before you can speak. "No need to repeat your whole story. We heard it outside just now." Captain Skinner begins to grimace.

The standing agent presses a hand to his temple, and you think you see a faint radium green glow from under his shades. You feel a slight tingle in the back of your brain. "Jesus, careful or you might violate his civil rights." growls Skinner. Special Agent Johnson reaches into his suit pocket, produces a folded piece of paper, and hands it to the captain. "We have all the proper warrants." She scans the paper, and her grimace deepens, but she hands it back and remains silent.

For the next 5-10 minutes, S Agent Johnson asks you questions about Dr. Moreau, like her appearance, her attitude, what powers she displayed. After each question, he looks at Agent Johnson who nods. After its over, Special Agent Johnson stands, and says "You've been a great help, kid. My card," He produces a small, plain, white business card that has a phone-number printed on one side, and the word "Johnson" on the other. "Call me if Dr. Moreau contacts you again." He Nods to the captain, and both agents leave the room. Before the door closes, Regular Agent Johnson speaks, "Captain. Please make sure Mr. Fortesque gets his Article IV protection, and his registration is filed promptly." Then they close the door, and both leave. You wonder what the fuck just happened.

>>17796515
Guess we should add that number to our phone. Coss that's how we roll.

>>17796515
Shout out after them. "Hey! I better not get brain cancer from this!" Then huff and cross our arms over our chest.

Then look at the Captain and ask. "Anymore questions, or is there something I need to do before I get my papers filled out?"

Let's be smooth about it. We want to make friends with the police, after all. "They give you the creeps too?"

Then let's enter the phone number. We want to be able to speed-dial that baby if there's a next time.

>>17796564

You add the number to your phone, while you wait the remaining couple of minutes for the paperwork to come, then fill out the forms. Your registration is surprisingly speedy, thanks to being able to hand in your gene readout. In a little under half an hour, you have a shiny new Metahuman Registration card, with your real name, age, and a description of your powers.

You spend a second admiring it, as the Captain begins in a monotone "Please remember your metahuman registry card is not a license. Under no circumstances does it allow you to use lethal force except in extenuating circumstances to protect life or limb. You are not entitled to any legal immunities, nor are you allowed to trade or perform metahuman enhancements without proper licenses, as per Article VII of the Metahuman Protection Act. When asked by a Law Enforcement Officer you are legally bound to produce this card. Certain organizations, such as sports teams, may disallow your participation or membership if you possess one of these cards, and not producing this card if asked may have legal ramifications. If you obtain new powers, you are required by law to update your registry information. " She has some incredible lung capacity, that Captain.

>>17796747

She sits across the table from you. "Now that the legalese is out of the way, I'll be straight with you. I hope you put that card in your wallet, go home, and forget this ever happened. But you don't seem the type. You were chosen as a guinea pig for a reason. So lemme tell you this. I don't tolerate amateurs in MY city, understand me?" She bangs her non-cyborg fist into the table for effect. "If you're going to be a part of the metahuman community, you're not doing it half-assed. I don't want to have to throw you out of the city for being a nuisance. Or worse, scrape you off the pavement when you fuck up."

She also produces a business card, this one glossy, with big words. It says 'Royal Vault: Exotiquarian'. She pushes it across the table toward you. "This is where my buddy Regis works. He's had a business since before there was a city. He deals in esoteric items, military and law surplus, and he has one of those licenses from the 60s that lets him deal in 'alien' technology for 'exotic medical conditions' legally. Before you go galavanting off doing whatever you think you should be doing with your new powers, maybe you should see him first."

>>17796741
>>17796597

You inquire about how you were very definitely mind-probed. "Yeah, those fuckers. They've got jurisdiction, at least state-side, for criminals like Moreau. But I wish they'd send somebody nicer, like The Major or Miss Mystery."

>>17796777
YES! Stand and give the Captain a firm, confident handshake. "Well Captain I think I'll take your advice. I'll be heading to see your friend. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of each other." And with that take our leave to head to this vault.

>>17796811

You shake (real) hands with the Captain, take the card and head out of police HQ whistling. You are confronted by non-special agent Johnson on the steps. He says shortly "Mr. Fortesque," and takes off his sunglasses, revealing his electric green eyes. They are mildly creepy, and you don't want to stare into them to long. "I understand you wish to gather supplies, so you may continue to better yourself."

"That a problem, federales?" You say, in order to divert attention away from the fact that you're a little bit disturbed. "Not at all. Your continued quest for auto-evolution is part of the experiment. It is one of the expected parameters." His voice is calm, quiet, and slightly unsettling. Very uncanny. "What you do with the powers you grant yourself will change the results of the Doctor's experiment." He puts his shades back on, and reaches into a pocket. "I simply want you to put in a good word for metahumans, and the greater body of humanity." He produces a credit chit, and places it in your hand. "Here is approximately 10,000 US dollars, from the case budget for the capture of Dr. Moreau. I suspect whatever you do with it will pan out more effectively than what we would do with it. Spend it wisely, and have a nice day." He walks off down the steps and away while you're staring at the most money you've ever had free and clear at once in your hands before. You upgrade from having the weirdest goddamn night, to having the weirdest goddamn day. If it persists, it may become the weirdest goddamn weekend.

>>17796985
"This is exactly what I asked for."

Fist of, we have a brunch with Johnny right?

Hmm, maybe we should procure a back-up weapon in case we run up against some thing that's immune to our friction-balls? (magical perhaps, or do we need license for that?)

Did the Cyrean hand-to-hand training include any weapons and if so would be be able to lay our mites on some?

We may be targeted even if we don't do any more heroics. We are after all

>>17796985
May as well check on Regis..some good tech may come in handy.

>>17796985
What time is it? Do we have time to go see Regis before we need to go meet Johnny?

Let's go meet Johnny. We have no idea how long a meeting with Regis may take and after what Johnny went through, we sure as FUCK are not going to leave him hanging. As a side note, if Regis lets us purchase power modules, our first module has to be a detector module. This is absolutely mandatory.

Do we have any student loans/credit card debt?

>>17797040
>>17797052

You've got like 20 minutes before you said you would be at Johnny's house, and his family lives on the Outskirts of town, in one of the areas that used to be a smaller community before it was incorporated into the larger Liberty City metropolis. You might not have enough time to stop in the Shopping District.

Your brand-spanking new alien combat training does handle melee weapons. In addition to psi blades (which are made from psychic energy and you lack the implant and/or modules for) they did also have more conventional knives and sword, the term for which translates roughly into English as 'ghostblade'. They are called such because they are made from light-weight diamond-like crystals of organized carbon, with a monomolecular edge. They're expensive and rare as hell, given that the larger ones were ceremonial weapons, but if Regis actually has one of those licenses to deal in alien tech (Due to poorly worded laws made in the 60s) he might have one, or know where to find one.

>>17797107
Not outstanding. Your parents cover any costs the scholarships don't. This does, however, mean that under normal circumstances you don't have a lot of disposable income.

>>17797128
Well, that's good, I was afraid that it might be more prudent to put the money towards our student loans. Let's head to Johnny's. Better to be on time than early, but better to be early than late.

>>17797107
Your right about Johnny but let's not go module-crazy here, crashing our private economy just won't do. Guess we need to work out a budget for how much we can spend on auto-evolving each month.

(And go work OP, keeping me awake until 05:30 am with your awesome quest)

>>17797088

Little after 10 in the morning.

>>17797128
I assume the training with ghostblades would also translate quite well to, say, a rapier or a dagger.

>>17797187

Well wouldn't the wight be quite diffrent?

Oh a question about ghostblades, do they have one or two edges?

>>17797220
The weight would be different, but the balance should be the same. For light blades like fencing blades and knifes, that's all that matters.

>>17797175
>>17797176

You decide to head out to Johnny's house, what with the walk time to and from the monorail stations.

You arrive just about on time, because it has been thoroughly established that that is how you roll, and before you can even knock on the suburban home's front door, Johnny's mother, Mrs. Massey. She greets you with a rib-creaking hug, as usual, and begins spouting about how its so good to see you and she's so glad you're alright and weren't hurt and its so good of you to come see her Johnny even though its a weekend.

You can see Johnny standing in the background, leaning on his new, totally pimp, cane with his shin still swathed in bandages, giving you a 'See what I had to put up with all morning?' look. Mrs. Massey releases you, you exchange a manly brofist with Johnny, and he turns to his mother and says "Right ma, we're going to go down the road to the diner and see which meal they're serving." This is a lie. Tarantino's Burgers serves one meal, all day, and that is food. They will make fresh pancakes at midnight, and get you a double cheesburger at 5 AM.

His mother opens her mouth to protest, but Johnny cuts her off. "It's alright. The doctors said I should do some walking now and then today, make sure everything it healing alright. And I've been sitting on your couch watching the news for the past hour and a half."

>>17797220
Single-edged.

>>17797187
They would translate better to modern combat knives, or single-edged chopping blades like a machete. Katanas might also be analogous, if not for the fact that ghostblades aren't quite curved.

Your training is basic enough you could probably apply the principles, poorly, to just about any kind of melee weapon. They even have ghostblade polearms.

>>17797285
>Tarantino's Burgers serves one meal, all day, and that is food. They will make fresh pancakes at midnight, and get you a double cheesburger at 5 AM.

This is the best restaurant and I am hungry now.

Don't know if we want to be discussing our new powers with him in such a public place. If we do, keep it quiet.

>>17797285
Let's grab us a bigass - and I mean BIGASS - stack of waffles and a few hotdogs. After all of that exertion last night and almost no food today, I bet we are as hungry as a motherfucker. We'll also lay down what happened on Johnny when it seems like there's a reasonable gap of time when neither of us have food in our mouths.

>>17797387

You get to the diner, get a booth in the corner, where nobody is, and order your usual. A stack of waffles and a side of hot dogs. Johnny has sausage biscuits w/ gravy. You split a plate of bacon.

You then relate to Johnny the actual story of last night, producing the cards (including your new registry) and your glowy palm as evidence. His expression only continues to grow more 'are you shitting me?' as you catch him up on your morning. Eventually, you come to a stop, and begin eating some bacon.

He puts down is knife and fork. "Lemme get this straight. While I was busy getting twice my daily does of copper and lead, you were being seduced by a mad scientist, given superpowers, got a coffee date with ANOTHER mad scientist while breaking into the Genetics Lab, are now a carded metahuman, and the FBI gave you 10,000 bucks?" You nod, swallow, and say "That about sums up the last 12 hours or so."

>>17797493
"I also nearly died a few times, including to a thermal lance and shortly thereafter to an exploding thermal lance. I really think that being a metahuman attracts crazy shit your way - crazy awesome and crazy terrible. I hope I don't get brain cancer from having my mind read like that or something..."

>>17797493
Well after we finish up this meal I think we should try and drag Johnny with us to that alien artifacts shop and buy him something for catching the slightly shittier end of the stick last night, not a weapon or anything like that, but something like a pair of "xray" glasses or some such that a college kid would get a huge fucking kick out of.

>>17797582
Sounds like a good idea, but no more than 500-1000 dollars. Don't wanna spend all of our cash just yet.

>>17797582
>>17797595
No. No. Fuck that. He's feeling seriously left out. This is when we tell him that we want to try to get ahold of a module-sensor module. That if we get it, we want to go try to find a module cache to hand in to the cops for cash. And that, as our bro, we want him to be our partner in that venture for a solid, even, 50% of the gross. We aren't better than him and we aren't going to buy him a toy like a child, we are making him our motherfucking partner because he is our equal.

>>17797595
>>17797582

You finish your meal, and pay for it on the Federal Government's dime, just because. It was only like 25 bucks.

You then invite Johnny to come down with you to the 'Royal Vault and Exotiquary'. He nods, but then jabs a finger at you. "Alright, I'll come. But let's make this clear right now, I'm not your goddamn sidekick. Johnny is nobody's sidekick." You not your head placatingly. "Never meant you to be. We can be partners." You shake on it.

You head back into town via monorail, and get off in the shopping district. You use a combination of the business card and your smartphone to find the address. It leads you to one of the strangest storefronts you've ever seen. Which makes you wonder why, after living in this city for over 15 years, you've never seen it.

It announces "Royal Vault" in gaudy golden letters, but the windows into the shop are blacked out. A simple hand lettered sign hangs in one and says 'Come and see'. There is also an 'Open' sign on the door. You open the door with the requisite tinkling of the bell, and...

>>17797704

"Hello?"

"Is anyone in here?"

>>17797704

...enter the strangest shop you have ever seen in your entire life. The lights are dim, but you can see a lot of strange things. In one corner, there is a shelf of moldy looking old tomes, including a big, black leather bound book which is chained to a writing desk. Hanging on one of the walls is a suit of Mark I Power Armor from the Korean War, the USAF markings all poorly chiseled off. Off to your right a bit is a glass case which contains exotic several stuffed animals like a raccoon dog and a platypus. There is an umbrella stand made from an elephant's leg right by the door, filled with beat up looking swords, from epees to cavalry sabers. In the background, a lighted display case is filled with a much better collection of blades, including a german zweihander, and a daisho pair of japanese swords. You think you see a water-cooled Maxim machine gun on a tripod in another corner. Another display case is filled with random Cyrean brikabrak including their equivalent of a smartphone (Which is about as powerful as your desktop computer at home).

Standing behind the counter in the very back of the store is a tall, bald black man, wearing very dark glasses, like he was blind. The instant you look at him, he smiles, stark white in contrast to the rest of his face. "Welcome!" he booms. "I will be your host for this fine day. I am Regis Mortis, Exotiquarian." You're pretty sure that isn't a word. "Please, look around my store." He points at a section of it in turn as he says; "Browse my wears Mundane, Mystical, Anachronistic and Extraterrestrial."

>Damn son. Where do you start?

>>17797806
Ghostblade if we can.
Some sort of sensing device to find caches.
Rad shielding of any kind.
Mark I suit.

>>17797806

"I'm interested in the 'extraterrestrial' part, actually. Got any Cyrean power modules I can take a look at?"

>>17797806
"Uh. I have something in mind that I want to buy if you have it. But first, I am going to browse. Your store looks amazing."

After intensive browsing, bring him your shiny new ID card and say, "Do you have the permits to sell Cyrean power modules here? I'm hoping to find one that lets me detect Cyrean technology."

Also, because it's never been explicitly stated, I'm going to assume that our character is blasian.

>>17797838
I assumed he was a ginger kid, for some reason. With short hair and blue eyes.

>>17797838
I've been assuming really clean-cut black kid, actually. Like, sweater vest with tie, but casual enough that he has the sleeves rolled up past the elbows.

I assumed he was just purple.

I've been imagining a young Nat King Cole.

>>17797919
I assumed he was an Ork

I assumed he was albino.

>>17797838
>>17797820

You signal for Johnny to browse, and approach the smiling man at the counter. "Do you have the permits to sell Cyrean power modules here?" You ask. "Of course I do, son. I can sell all manner of things here. You are interested in Cyrean?" You nod, and while doing so notice some things hanging behind the counter.

First is a long, roman-esque spear, wrapped in bits of parchment, with half a dozen rusty nails through the shaft, near the blade. You swear it rattles a little in its holder as you look at it. Below it is a finely crafted elephant gun, with ivory inlaid in the stock. Below it is an even stranger contraption. Some kind of shoulder-mounted device, with a dark wooden casing, with a copper tesla coil sticking out the front, surrounded by a hexagonal brass cage. Brass is inlaid randomly along the thing, which has a trigger like a gun, and seems to have a glass jar full of iron filings loaded into the back.

You direct your attention back down to the counter to find Regis shuffling three cups back and forth, like he's running a shell game. "You are interested in Cyrean technology?" He asks. Then he lifts up the center cup, revealing a Power Module sitting underneath it. "You have an interesting destiny, young man. Come. The first is always free." He smiles.

>Dare ye take it?

(Also, Behind the Surname lists Fortesque as related to Fortescue, which is apparently french, though it sounds similar to a portugese surname. So I've been assuming he is of European descent. Feel free to assume whatever race you'd like, though)

>>17797965
Yes, take it!

>>17797965
Grab it.

>>17797965
Well, we've already had the choice of power modules taken away from us in the past 24 hours. Do we accept his kindness or be wary of what it might be?

>>17798016
ACCEPT IT!

>>17797965
>First is a long, roman-esque spear, wrapped in bits of parchment, with half a dozen rusty nails through the shaft, near the blade. You swear it rattles a little in its holder as you look at it.

Yeah, sure take the module, then wonder exactly why this shop has the fucking Lance of Longinus sitting around.

Ask to examine the spear!

>>17797987
>>17797992

You did not come all this way to not grab free super powers. You grasp the module firmly in your right hand. Again, an electric tingling shoots up your arm, followed by the blue lines tracing up to your chest again. Some Cyrean writing dances across your eyeballs before being erased by a blue light. 'HALO Sensory Module uploaded'. You stare into the glass counter, and notice some handy new Cyrean runes in your irises. Regis places some blue tinted sunglasses which are extremely funky (in the good way) and a pair of black gloves on the counter. "Also on the house. Now, what else did you want?"

(Your Sense has increased)
(You have now gained Psychic Senses. You can roll to turn on your senses detect things going on in the psychosphere, but your range is limited. If you concentrate, you can also aura-read. Oh, and you can see in the dark, like all the time, like a Cyrean)

>>17798112
"Amazing..got any more in stock?"

>>17798112
"Advice, I guess? I just had all of this power stuff happen to me last night. I don't know whether or not I want to do the whole masked vigilante thing, but I definitely don't want to do the supercrime thing. Should I hunt down Cyrean caches, join the police, join the army, something else? I don't think I was sent here to 'level up,' I think I was sent here because the Captain thought I needed some direction. So, um. Help?"

>>17798112
Take the gloves and put them on, also check out the shades. I assume they're just to conceal our physical signs of meta-human-ness. "Thank you, really. Not to sound greedy but do you have anymore? What's with that spear?" Then remember he mentioned our fate. "You said my destiny was interesting, why do you think that?

>>17798159

"Not today," he says, shaking his head. "Not today."

>>17798057
>>17798088

You ask about the spear. "Oh that? I do not think you are ready for that my young friend. Not yet. You may feel the spear is your symbol, but you cannot handle a Daemon Pike." You arch an eyebrow at him. "The spear has a demon in it." He says, matter-of-factly. You try to be surprised. You really do. But you're having a hard time sizing up demonically possessed spears with all the other weird shit in your day. "It is good that you ask about it, though. Most people your age prefer to ask about the Teslator (Pronounced Tesla-ator)." He raps the back of his hand against the brass cage of the Teslator.

>>17798191

"Don't know where to go in life now, huh? Regis cannot get you foresight, or guidance, those are out of your price range, but he can offer you some friendly advice." He nods, sagely. "Do not let the power change you. The power is part of you. You control it, it does not control you. Just the same with little miss Eve. She may have set you on this path, but you need to walk down it of your own free will. Eliza Skinner was right to send you here. She knows you will not stop short of greatness, even without your power." He nods sagely again. "If you decide you path lies in protecting those not as... fortunate as yourself from those who are, come see me again. I will give you my friendly discount. For now, you should continue on the path you have chosen."

>>17798238
That is indeed the purpose of the gloves and shades. Plus, you can see in the dark so you can wear your sunglasses at night now.

>>17798276
"My friend. Johnny. He got hurt and I feel like it was my fault. I see him as my equal, but I think he feels like he got the shit end of the stick, so to speak. I want him to be my partner - to have no doubts that he's my peer. How much does that cost?"

>>17798317

Whoa whoa whoa, shouldn't we talk with him first before making that kind of decision for him?

>>17798340
We should definitely talk to him first.

>>17798340
>>17798362
Let's see whether or not Regis has anything and whether or not we can afford it. Getting up Johnny's hopes for something and then dashing them would be the ultimate in douche-factor. I'm hoping Regis has and Johnny goes for a poetic power, though: a badass healing factor.

I wonder if we can eventually get our buddy fitted with Cyrean implants...

And then see him turn to a life of villain...ry.

>>17798384
Actually your right, let's check first.

>>17798340
>>17798317

You stick your thumb over your shoulder in Johnny's general direction, over in the Anachronism section, and say in a low voice "What about him?". Regis shakes his head. "He must walk his own path. Self-Respect nor friendship, is something even I cannot sell. Just continue to treat him as you have, and you shall drive no wedge between you." You see Regis has somehow replaced his cups with a deck of cards, and is shuffling them.

Before you can ask what that is on about, Johnny gently plops an unusual contraption on the counter. It has a long, pistol like grip, leading up to a small glass-fronted wooden box with a brass needle balanced in it. A brass box is attached to the front, just out of the way of the grip, with copper tubes attached to the needle box and a conical contraption that looks like an old telephone piece. "This was labelled 'Parapsychometer' on the shelf." Johnny says. The needle clicks at regular intervals, like a geiger counter. He waves it at you and it ticks much more frequently. "Ah," says Regis, not looking up from his cards. "That is from the 30s. Uses vacuum tubes. Very fragile, very finicky, but was the first of its kind. 500."

>>17798432
"Does it detect psychic phenomena or something? 500 what, dollars? Thousands of dollars?"

>>17798432

We can front the money for that if Johnny wants it.

Wonder what he wants to use it for though...

We seem to have a serious case of survivor's guilt, despite the fact that Jimmy's leg only got winged by a bit of shrapnel.

Something tells me buying it for him will make him feel slightly more side-kicky.

>>17798498

"Does it detect psychic phenomena or something? 500 what, dollars? Thousands of dollars?" Johnny looks at you like you've said the wrong thing at a fancy party. "Bro, you need to learn how to say this things right. You'll never be a good hero asking dumb obvious questions like that." Right, you're in a magical mystery shop filled with cosmic gewgaws, and he's questioning your language skills.

"That is pretty much what it does. Your new senses might be able to pick up things close to you, the strong effect of a Cyrean war materiel cache will show up the detector quite a bit farther off. However, up close, it it about as useful as a GPS which gives you directions by saying 'hot' and 'cold'. Also bad along the z-axis." Still, might come in handy, though. Buying the Psychometer wont deplete your reserves of Wealth any.

"Now young man," Regis says to you. You ask about your destiny? Would you like to take a peek?" Regis gestures to the deck of cards resting on the counter.

>Have Regis read the cards?

>>17798546
(And the fact that he was only gentlemanly ribbing on you in the diner. Hence his emphasis on you making it with mad science ladies. The guilt seems totally in character, though)

>>17798589
"I think that learning my destiny in advance would be like looking at the other players' cards. I would rather make my destiny than be concerned with what it's supposed to be."

>>17798589
Let's look rightfully abashed from Johnny's castigations, then agree to have our destiny foretold. I'm curious.

SCREW THE CARDS.

"No thanks."

>>17798589
Decline. Either there is no real destiny, or there is destiny and we can't alter it. Either way, this might influence how we act, so politely decline.

>>17798680
>>17798662

"Wise young man. But the fates are not set. Regis will offer you this last piece of advice, before he leaves you to shop in peace." He lays out three cards, while saying "Past", "Present" and "Future".

He turns over the first card, labelled 'The Star'. "Your past was very bright, my son. You saw the glimmer of hope for your future ahead of you." He flips over the next card, labelled 'Death'. "But that came to a sudden end in your Present. Now all is changed for you, and cannot quite be the same." He turns over the last card, which is labeled 'Judgement'. "Trials await in your future, young man. There will be a reckoning, and at the end, all your deeds will be totaled up." You give Johnny a look that says 'Cliche enough for you?' He puts his hands up and takes a step back. Before he turns around to examine some genuine Victorian era hats.

>You are now free to move about the cabin. Johnny insists you buy the Parapsychometer for the scavenger operation, but any other exotic or esoteric supplies you want should be bought now.

>>17798772
"You know how to use a gun or a knife, Johnny?"

What do we know of Johnny's skills?

>>17798791

Johnny has all the amazing powers of a JOURNALISM MAJOR. The only thing he's ever shot before is a camera. The issue of arming Johnny is solved however, since in about five minutes, Regis Mortis will sell him a kick-ass Victorian electroshock cane (The details of which you will have to wait to discover).

Would psibolts be handy to slap someone with in melee, or would the PURE FRICTION grind our hands off?

This quest has piqued my interest.

I say we go look for thing that will increase our ability to find other upgrades, think, capital my good friend, capital.

>>17798825
Wow, history and journalism broing it up. We care about the past and the present; all we need is to get Roxane to tag along and we have the future as well.

>>17798840
Heh, we just got that, but good call. Stick around and read up.

>>17798838

You don't know, you haven't tried. You had opportunity to practice powers earlier in the day, but ditched that to HIT ON HOT SCIENCE LADIES and go on a MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR.

>>17798853
I meant, more than just the psychometer thing, like other things, like portable breach charges, that aren't exactly damaging to the possible occupants of a bunker, some special stealth gear, to sneak past possible detection systems still running, also, we need a survivability upgrade. Also, I agree with >>17798848 , this person makes a good and insightful suggestion

>>17798879

If only you hadn't blown up that Thermite Lancer in the first thread.

>that aren't exactly damaging to the possible occupants of a bunker

Oh, wait. That would be the opposite of that.

>to sneak past possible detection systems still running, also, we need a survivability upgrade.

Anything operating actively would probably have been found by sensor sweeps in the 17 year period since they threw up the Exclusion Zone. You could test Knowledge (Cyrean Tech) to see if anything hostile couple operate passively. As for survivability, well, there's that Mark I Power Armor in the corner. And Regis does sell armored vests.

>>17798921
Hmmm, ask Regis if he has any item here that he thinks will be very helpful for an up and coming meta, one that will be invaluable through our evolution till the end. Also, if he has any friends that deal with more...... mundane, albeit practical, tools of the metahuman trade.

>>17798921
Let's ask Regis if we should sell power modules we find here, or turn them in to the police - we're not sure if it's legal for us to sell them to him or if we would need a permit for that. The Mark I power armor - what all does that provide? I have a feeling we might be better off with a pair of armored vests, but if Johnny really digs the power armor and we can afford it, we could get that for him and a vest for us.

>>17798963

"Yes. This." He points over into the "Mundane" section, at a bulletproof vest. "Save more lives, meta or not, than I care to count." He pauses for a second, then opens a drawer behind the counter, and pulls out a Cyrean crystalweave chest-plate. "This might be more your theme, though".

>>17799020

"I'm authorized to pay out finder's fees for the Cyrean tech, since I can sell the stuff. You can take your money in cash or store credit." He grins.

(Time to make things mechanical. In Wild Talents, Light Armor (LAR) reduces all Shock damage to 1, and turns a number of killing damage into shock equal to its Rating. Hard Armor (HAR) reduces all damage by an amount equal to its rating)

>The bulletproof vests are worth LAR 3 on your chest. They will cost petty cash, IE, wont deplete your Wealth pool any.
>The Cyrean chest-plate is worth HAR 3 on your chest. It'll cost 2 Wealth points, and only you can wear it.
>The Mark I Power Armor is powered by an ICE and hydrolics, which it still has. It also has weapon modules in the arms, which are empty, and a sensor suite, which has also been ripped out. It lacks manual dexterity, but provides HAR 5 to all locations. It'll cost 2 Wealth points to buy, and then either another wealth point, or some kind of plan to get Roxane parts to repair it and make it fully functional again.
>Getting a full Cyrean Ghostblade sword or polearm is 1 Wealth. Getting just a knife is petty cash, again, no Wealth spent.
>Mundane melee weapons are petty cash.
>The Parapsychometer is petty cash.
>You have 4 points of wealth remaining.

Also, will probably end this thread after purchasing is made, and an appropriately epic, LIKE A SIR, exit is made.

Get Johnny a bulletproof vest, and us one of them fancy Cyrean breastplates and ghostblade.

Get the Parapsychometer too.

>>17799210

Ghostblade sword, rather.

I'm thinking chestplate for us, bulletproof vest and the sensor box for Johnny, a ghostblade knife (because seriously, a sword is too big to carry around in public) for us, and ask Johnny if he wants anything else because, shit, we have never had this kind of money before and are honestly having a hard time spending it. And if he says he wants the power armor, we are buying it and doing whatever it takes to fix it up as a team, because he would look retro and baller in it, which I think are both totally his thing.

Guy who suggested ghostblade sword here. On second thought, take the knife instead, and buy Johnny that power armor.

Let Johnny have his pick of equipment. Let's get the ghostblade if doesn't want the PA, otherwise get a knife

>>17799337
A sword is way too unwieldy to go around carrying day to day, and we're not trying to be crazy-ostentatious. A knife should work fine - especially since we don't even know whether or not a psibolt might be a more effective melee weapon than a sword. Then would would have burned that wealth for something wasteful.

I was under the impression the knife is also of the ghostblade flavor.

>>17799368
Yeah, but we don't know if we have a limit on those psibolts and we actually know how to use a ghostblade

>>17799387
It is, it's just less expensive than the sword/polearm.

>>17799293
>>17799267
>>17799210

You acquire the chest plate, which is thin enough to wear under your shirt, and only make to look slightly off. The cool crystaline material has a softer lining which fits snug against your skin. Then a ghost-blade knife. Four inches of razor thin indigo crystal, slightly translucent. The sheath is made so the blade doesn't cut it. You give it a few practice swings, feeling very comfortable with the weapon, thanks to genetic memory.

You get Johnny a vest, which is is eager to take, before putting it on and asking "Wait, why do I need a vest?" You suggest people may try and steal a truck-load of scavenged alien goods, and that's enough for him. You then also tell Regis you'll take the Mark I power armor, and he arranges to ship it to Johnny's house this afternoon. You also get the Parapsychometer (which goes in a bag) and Johnny gets a new cane. This one has a ruby head, and when you twist it just so, another six-inches of steel juts out of the bottom of the cane, and delivers an electric shock to anyone it contacts with. You proceed out of the store, loot in hand.

>>17799417
"That is one baller pimp of a cane. You going to use it or the skull one most of the time?"

>>17799417
You two exit the store, with some of your gear in tow. Johnny then produces two victorian hats, hands you his old cane. He then produces his own, red-tinted glasses, and puts them on.

You bump gloved fists and saunter off into the afternoon. Today will be a good day.

METAHUMAN RENAISSANCE PART 2 END

Oh and get some bags, and some rope. If were gonna scavenge, we gotta do it proper.

>>17799417

BTW, error in that sheet. Forgot to wipe out Wealth back to 0 points. Has been fixed for the next version.

Feel free to ask OOC questions and discuss stuff in the thread. Probably do another one tomorrow, but might cut it short because I don't know if I can run this and follow Strike Witches Quest too.

>>17799447
OH GOD YES.

Well, that settles it. When we fix that power armor up, we're springing for a paint job in candy red. Red oni and blue oni, bros and dapper bosses.

>>17799481
When you started the first thread, was this the direction you expected us to take it?

>>17799496

No, but my I've kept my major plans vague because I had no idea where you were going to go anyway. I mean, I didn't even know what superpowers you'd have when I started. You guys do manage to bite at some hooks though. Like Roxane. And I guess I made the Vermont Exclusion Zone a hook when I invented it five or six hours ago.

Probably should have expected /tg/ to go for a dungeon crawl off the bat, rather than investigate crimes, am I right?

>>17799518
Hey, investigating crimes is what the police are for. But as far as I can tell, nobody had taken it upon themselves to hunt down delicious artifacts with their special magical Geiger counters in Pripya- I mean Vermont.

We have to wait for Johnny to heal up first before that dungeon crawl, right? We can investigate in the mean time.

When's the next thread?

>>17799555
Whoa, investigating in the mean time? I think you mean hitting on Roxane, letting her fix the power armor (oh god it sounds so manipulative when I say it like that), palling around with Johnny, and practicing. Oh, and hitting the clubs. The powers revolve around the life, not the other way around. Our powers are going to facilitate us doing things we wished we could have done before, not fulfilling a vigilante fantasy. We'll join the police if we ever get the desire to stop crimes.

>>17799550

>special magical Geiger counters

Parapsychometer. Measures Psi. Completely different from an Occultometer, Arcanector or Archanophone. Similar to a PKE Meter and an Aurascope.

>>17799555

After 4 EST tomorrow. Err. Today. As for Johnny healing, you'll be spending part of that time repairing the Mark I Power Armor. And some of that time drinking coffee and discussing metahuman genetic with Roxane.

>>17799604

In Capitalist America, crimes come to you! Also, remember Roxane is technically a mad-scientist, and she build a remote robot out of blocks and an 80s television set when she was 2. There will be no manipulation going on.

>>17799618
Right, right, just saying it sounds manipulative. It's really something like saying "I'll let that fa/tg/uy homebrew something" or "I'll let that nerd build something in minecraft." Sounds manipulative but is actually fucking candy for their brains.

>>17799618
What's the Mark I armor actually look like? Spess Marine armor? Iron Man armor? HALO armor?

>>17799680

You're closer than you think. Leading psychological theory is that the difference between Benign and Malign Science Related Memetic Disorder depends on if the person with the disorder has a positive creative output for their massively boosted brainpower. Those who are frustrated or intellectually stunted tend to snap and become destructive.

>>17799709
So... as long as we keep giving her shit to play with and don't let her get bored... she won't start killing people. Honestly, yeah. That sounds like nerds to me.

>>17799703

First Generation power armor is basically a 12 ft tall bipedal tank with a cockpit you have to stand in with foot-pedals and two joysticks for the arms. Legs and arms lack digits, and the only way to see out is a sensor package on the "head" or opening a panel in the front of the armor (like a tank driver). Powered by an internal combustion engine mounted on the back, inside an armored box. Basically heavy infantry. Slow as shit, but can operate heavy mounted weapons and take hits like a light tank. These were fielded in Korea.

>>17799736
So it's a small mech. This sounds fantastic for industrial work. Like, say, digging and moving around rubble while searching for well-hidden caches of alien artifacts. I wonder if we could get the parapsychometer integrated with the currently-missing sensor suite. And whether we can get spinners for the MK I armor.

>>17799717
Poor Eve must be so bored if she's willing to just randomly give powers to someone like us.

When we get a chance, let's look up psibolts on our smartphone. I know that they're a blob of pure friction, but I'm hoping we can get some better, extremely specific understanding about them. Practical things like "If I try to slap a person with a handful of psibolt, will I burn my hand off from the friction?"

Did we get any additional military training from that power module?

>>17799758

You know a mad scientist. Also, it's been 50 years since these things were first built, you can probably convert the weapon pods to load-lifter or manipulator arms and add wheels by yourself with the right tools and some internet research. Of course, Roxane will probably do it quicker and more efficiently. And might come up with something even better. (I will actually roll a skill check for her when the time comes, see how amazing she makes it)

>>17799812

Well, she's officially dead as of three years ago, so I'd say this clone/mind-backup is just getting her feet back under her deciding to run some experiments. Apparently checking to see what normal people do if handed superhuman abilities is a hobby of hers. (Remember, evil, insane, posthumanist)

>>17799822

Nope. Here's why. Cyrean modules and implants are organized into three levels, which are translated into English as HALO, SERAPH and METATRON. Both power modules Dan has utilized, and the implant that allows him to read and absorb modules are HALO, which are the lowest level. If you find a SERAPH or METATRON level module, which are made for higher ranking officers, you might have your genetic memory enhanced. Or you might find a Cyrean device to just write more genetic memories, if you feel like trying that. Daniel can operate their tech pretty good at this point.

>>17799819
Actually, I probably should have given this to you earlier. Since the psibolts are HALO level modules, they were pretty common for the average Cyrean foot soldier. And also you were able to safely throw one up and catch it in your hand earlier. It's probably safe to say the force of the blast wont blow your hand off. Required secondary powers and all that. (What exactly happens when you try this will have to wait for in story, because it actually has mechanical effects)

>>17799875
What would the general power level of a metatron be?
Also is there a limit to how many of these we can have?

>>17799875
Is there a SERAPH/METATRON version of our Psibolt that refines it?
>>17799823
I think it would actually be really baller to add a pair of inline wheels to either foot of the Mk I armor and a tow hitch to the back so that we could tow around some kind of trailer. That and stick some industrial equipment in the weapon slots.

Honestly, I kind of just want to tell Roxane that we want it fixed up and refitted for industrial purposes that that we're okay with her getting creative with it. I think she would get a huge kick out of that and that her getting a huge kick out of something will result in awesome tech. That and brownie points for us.

Right, back this morn-afternoon to answer some questions. Will start new thread in a few hours, assuming I'm not to absorbed in Skyrim to remember.

>>17802106
METATRON modules were reserved for their highest ranking generals, so you would only know of four or so. One was a giant command/control module that allowed the Cyrean general to psychically and instantly coordinate troop movements over a large area from their own brain (You're probably not interested in that), another was a METATRON level of their Psi Blade, which was a giant 10ft long blade of psychic energy that cuts through tanks like butter and may be able to level buildings, a third was basically a huge exoskeleton of psychic energy, and the fourth would be something like a METATRON level to the Psibolt implant, which allowed the user to basically create a hail of psibolts and launch them all at the same time (Which would turn your ability into an area or spray attack)

>>17802164

See above. Also, those modifications are both totes legal (since you're not sticking actual weapons one it) and plausible. However, since you depleted all your Wealth buying it and the Cyrean chestplate, you'll have to come up with a scheme or borrow the money from somewhere to make those repairs.

>>17803228
Any limit to the number of modules an individual can know?

>>17803275
I assume we would just get more and more modified, so we might get their blue skin colour if we changed our DNA too much. We already have marks on our hands.

>>17803275

There are only a few dozen different modules, but as >>17803314 each new one so far has added some new glowing blue symbols and lines to your body. Presumably you want to still be able to go out in public not lit up like an alien christmas tree.

>>17803387
Nah, if we're powerful enough from the modules it really won't matter will it.

>>17803387
So did the sensory module sprout lines somewhere?

>>17803228

are we still able to learn other things like, magic?

>>17803387
If we get to the point where we're lit up from the modules, we'll already be rich enough that we'll be too much of a celebrity to lead a truly private life. At that point, we would almost certainly be doing publicity stunts (because we're the fucking Javelin), and maybe even freelance work for the cops/feds/other.

Let's hold off on necessarily upgrading the Mk I armor until after we get our first solid haul of loot. After that, we'll be able to provide the necessary supplies for Roxane to really go wild. We'll just get it up and functional for now - I imagine that having a non-weaponized suit of Mk I armor is roughly the equivalent to seeing someone use an old jeep for farm work or something. That also means that the spinners, underfoot tank treads, and candy red paint will have to wait in favor of just getting it up and functional.

What's the effective strength score of Mk I armor again?

>>17803713
Har 5?

>>17803497
Our iris now has blue, glowing concentric rings and tiny symbols. The psibolts, of course, added lines and symbols glowing faintly to the palms of our hands and, I think, our finger tips?

How much does a melee psibolt do to a person relative to our ghostblade knife? I know that an actual weapon has a number of advantages like leverage and reach and such, but I'm thinking the psibolts might pack a bigger punch.

Is it common for metahuman vigilantes and metahuman criminals to end up killing each other, or is it more like comic books where deaths are usually limited to bystanders?

Woo, posting in class. Can't wait for this to start.

>>17803719
That's the armor rating. But this is power armor, so I assume you can use it to be super-strong too. I'm assuming we can use it like a small bulldozer/forklift combo in a humanoid package or something. So it would need to have a pretty hefty strength score.

>>17803741
Yeah, I would love if it started early, but I wouldn't want to rush Omega. Everyone deserves some Skyrim every now and then.

>>17803746
god I can't wait for the construction kit.

>>17803759
The mod quality should be amazing. There will be no excuse for them not to be.

>>17803776
apparently the last kit sucked ass but this one is looking to be even better than morrowind's. Gonna kick so much ass.

>>17803578

Possibly. But from what you know, in that specific case, you either have to be born magical, acquire some magical artifact of power, or study for a long number of years.

>>17803713

As mentioned, the armor has HAR 5 to all locations, but also what was not discussed, is that it has its own "Body" stat, which is 8. Remember that normal human stat caps are 5.

You'll probably want to at least to the two-hitch idea, and maybe weld some lifters off a forklift onto the arms, since, as noted, the Mark I doesn't have digits, so it'll be hard to move stuff with just stubs. You could probably scrounge that stuff from a junkyard though.

>>17803732
Again, mechanically speaking (which is actually how I do damage. It's why you guys only killed a few guys in the Club when you shot half of them) the way the punch-bolt works would mean your fist does width in Shock damage. The knife does width in Killing damage. But, if you punch you'd drop the penetration of the psi bolt, while the knife keeps Penetration 2. However, you have more dice to roll for the punch.

tl;dr: Knife is more lethal and penetrates armor, but punch is more likely to hit and do more total damage.

Now back to Skyrim, woo!

>>17803958
So, arm prongs, a tow hitch, and generally just getting it up and running. Would we be able to afford a winch?

It's too bad this is starting at 4:00. I have work at six and have to leave about a half hour early to make sure I get there on time with ice on the roads. Oh well, an hour and a half is better than nothing.

Omega! Please being leaving Skyrim now.

>>17805147

New thread