Bay 12 Games Forum

OOC:


Stat increases by the system I'm going by for rough guidelines and boundries are fairly potent - you're the equal of two people a point lower in many cases and they range from 1 (feeble) to 10 (divine)

The boost to regeneration would lead up to instantaneous healing with a much lower level of stress on Alysa's body in terms of energy.
The phoenix upgrade on the other hand would lead later to being "reborn" in physically healthy and rested state as required.
Neither's more powerful than the other, but they both lend a different vibe to what Alyssa becomes.

I'll do an update after I've slept, to give people time to change their mind if they wish.

"This is a mess," came a voice, filtering through the veil of darkness that had been your bodies attempt to shut down and recover.
You were fairly certain at this point that this was how it was working, that it was utilising the same biological mechanisms that were normally associated with recovery from serious injury to go into the same state where it could more rapidly repair itself.
Or as was the case, recover from the strain of your powers.
You felt as if you had perfect clarity in this moment, and then there was this voice, piercing the inky blackness.

"You're telling me, we have to rouse her though, we don't have long to question her before one of those two assholes out there goes ape-shit and throws their weight about," came a second voice as you steeled yourself, noting that you were lucid despite how your body was curently still not responding.
You weren't concerned though, you knew that you were okay, that you were laying down and that you were warm.
Why couldn't you have been dreaming though, why couldn't you have some scenario playing out where you were being pampered by grateful people, fanned with palm leaves.
A little dream of how you'd saved the people of a lost civilisation from extinction and they were worshipping you as their god, while you made reasonable requests of them.
Fan me, show me the sights of your wonderful tropical paradise, teach me all about your wonderful culture.

You'd never have that outside of dreams.

"Miss Smith, it's time for you to wake up," came the first voice as you felt a hand against your shoulder, the steady rocking of your form telling you that they were trying their best to rouse you, gently.
"I'm glad we're dealing with her instead of that... Thing she came in with," came the second voice as you slowly felt the haze lifting.
"You're telling me, apparently it's registered and all that's why we didn't just shoot it on sight."
"Even its boss seems terrified of it."
"You dare shoot Millicent," you mumbled as your eyes opened, the back of your hand moving to rub at your eyes as you sat upright.

You were laying across a few chairs in a break room by the look of it, atop and under a pair of blankets.
It was as you snapped back to full awareness that you could feel that state of perfect clarity fade away, as if it was both just a dream and that your senses had overwhelmed it and taken away from it.
Distractions, too many distractions to maintain that state of being.
You were certain that in that moment you could have quantified anything, reduced things to their interconnected links and classifications, peeled back the facade of the world and seen the workings underneath.

And now it was gone leaving you feeling a vague sense of regret.

"Ah, you're awake Miss Smith, are you fit to answer a few questions?" came the first voice, the officer it was attached to a soft spoken man with brown hair and eyes and slightly tanned skin.
"I, um," you rubbed at your eyes as you glanced at the second officer, a man whom appeared to be of indian decent. "Am I under arrest?"
"No Miss Smith, we simply want to have a statement on record from you over a few details related to the incident, if that is okay with you?"
"Okay... I," you paused as you swung your legs down. The blood that had soaked your new jeans had dried and ruined them. Not that they would have been salvagable given you'd been shot in the manner you had.

Still, it was enough to get a look of concern from the officers.
"Are you hurt, Miss Smith?"
"Not anymore, I don't think," you paused you glance between yourself. You could see the holes in your jeans, you could see dried blood over flawless skin telling you that your injuries had healed.
"Okay, if you'll... If you'll follow us, we'll bring you to speak with-"

The mans efforts to direct the conversation were disrupted as your stomach growled noisily, leaving you glancing to the side to avoid eye contact as you awkwardly shifted your weight from one foot to the other.
Of course, your body didn't like the fact that you were doing something other than feeding it after this.
"Um, sorry, I don't know when I last ate," you mumbled as you turned your attention back towards the officers.
"Ah, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for us to bring you a sandwich or something while you're being spoken with about the incident."
"Cake."
"Huh?"
"I was going to eat cake and then we were hit by a car and... Can I have cake?"
"If that's what you want, we'll see what we can get," then second one responed this time, before the pair of them started you along the corridors towards yet another room.

The room you were ushered into was enclosed and intimidating.
The ceiling was covered in polystyrene tiles by the look of it, with square lights framed by grimy white plastic breaking up the uniform pattern to bathe the room in their baleful glow.
The walls where clinical white - or had once been, and the carpet was a tan colour that looked as if it had seen better days.
On the far wall there was a cork board with various papers pinned to it and in the middle of the room there was an old office table with several chairs tucked under it.
It was like every grim drama's portrayal of an interrogation room and you were being ushered into it alone.

"Someone on the case'll be along to question you soon, we'll get your cake in the meantime, make yourself comfortable," came one of the two's voices.
Comfortable, yes.
You could see yourself being comfortable here.

Making the most of this moment's silence you shifted to settle down at one of the chairs facing the door.
Hands clasped before you, a stern expression.
You were the interrogator now.

Or at least you were until the officer who had been sent to question you arrived.

The woman that arrived to speak with you lacked height, but she carried herself with confidence that made you mentally falter.
She was a woman whom looked to be older, a woman with deep set frown lines and grey streaked hair, yet her skin contrasted the apparent age by appearing flawless apart from seeming to be lightly weathered.
Bar the scales.
You could just about catch the sight of scales against her neck, making you wonder if she was another of the-

"Alyssa Smith?" came her voice, with the same tone devoid of emotion that the Guardian had used with you.
"That's me," you confirmed as the woman made her way towards the table with papers beneath her arm. A woman thats eyes seemed older still than her hair suggested she was.
She stood for a moment.
Hands gripping the back of a chair as impossibly strong fingers made the frame creak in protest.
Those eyes, those ancient eyes reflecting the faintest hint of confusion.

"Is there something wrong?" you asked as this moment drew onward, prompting the woman to shake her head slowly.
"You remind me of somebody I once knew. Regardless, I am Joy. Comments about the irony of my name will not endear you to me," came her words as she pulled the chair out to settle down opposite you. "Now, as we understand you were involved in an incident earlier today. While the majority of the details were cleared up while you were unconscious, there are a few remaining details that concern us," Joy paused as she set the papers she had brought with her down.

You knew where this was going.

"There are reports that you spoke with a-"
"Is that the transcription?"
"Yes."
"If you pass it here I can verify it's accuracy," there was a pause before the woman pushed the paper across the table towards you, a paper that you merely had to glance at before you slid it back. "That's correct, yes."
"Then the problem we have has become all the more complex. Your companion stated that you were presented with a revolver cylinder that we recovered at the scene. Can you confirm this?"
"I was, but I don't-"
"Please do not interrupt me," came Joy's words, prompting you to draw your arms about yourself. "That was part of one of the weapons carried by an individual during the victorian war. It was considered lost, likely destroyed, until today."

Joy fell silent for a moment as she shuffled the papers about.
This woman, it clicked, was the one you'd read about in the library.
She was THAT Joy, she was-
"Joy?"
"Yes Miss Smith?"
"Was this one of the weapons belonging to the thousand-"
"Eurochkoles. That was his name."
"I've seen a little about him in books, and-"
"Miss Smith, I believe you were presented with that component mistakenly."
"But you said I remind you of-"
"A reminder, yes. A sorry echo of what once was. You were presented this component mistakenly, I see this now. I am sorry to have wasted your time," came Joy's impassive words as she went to stand.

A sorry echo?
You'd show her a sorry Echo.

"An echo?" you snapped "A sorry echo?" you responded as you pressed your hands to the table, rising as you tensed your shoulders. "What gives you the right to so disdainfully cast me aside after you use me to sate your curiosity?"
"Miss Smith, please calm down," came her words as she tucked her chair back under the table.
"No, you used me. You wanted to know if I could be something you lost, you wanted to see if it could be true that I am him and then you callously cast me aside once you'd sated that curiosity."
"Miss Smith-" Joy stepped backwards as you stepped forward. You could feel a chill in your legs as your heart raced, the edges of your vision blurring as they went black, as purple and red sparks crept into that blackness and faded.
"I've been asking myself questions since I was brought to this damn city, who am I, what am I, why is there a connection between me and that man?" you hissed as you prodded your chest with one finger to punctuate each of those questions. "And you... Your fixation with him, you don't care about me, you just... You just... You want to wash your hands of the guilt you feel for running away when you lost him."
"His death almost cost us the war, he was the only thing I could trust in this world at the time-"
"SILENCE!" you roared as you felt pain lance through your head. You could feel the room tremble as the lights flickered, as one hissed and went dark. "I am not to be used," you whispered as you trembled with conviction, another step taken forward as Joy stepped away from you.
You could see fear in this womans eyes now, a woman who had no doubt seen horrors you could only dream of and she was-

She was afraid of you.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I..." you reached out with one hand as you took another step forward, feeling the chill receed as you became dimly aware you'd just walked clean through the table. Joy continued to back away, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she pressed her back to the wall of the room.
"No, you're not him, he was... He was warm. I hated him, but he never stopped trying... And then he was gone before I could tell him I forgave him for all he had done. She took him from me, she took the only friend I had from me and I... I walked into the oceans holding him as I tried to wash the sorrow I felt from me."
"Joy, I'm sorry," you whispered as you watched the woman sink down to the floor as your vision slowly cleared. The pain in your head remained, along with a dull ache in your chest that reminded you that you'd just exercised your powers again - this time without intending to. Even as you knelt beside the woman she brought her legs up to her chest and buried her face against her knees.
"You're not him... Even at his worst he wasn't a monster like you," she sobbed as you recoiled away from her as if you'd been burned.

You weren't a monster, were you?

"I'm not... I'm..." you started to protest as Joy looked up from her knees, the redness about her eyes telling you how she was crying in earnest. Oh, how that hurt you to see.
"Scarecrow child, leave me," she hissed with bared teeth as she pointed to the door.

You felt it was in your best interests to do so at this point, that stepping outside the room and waiting for the officers who had gone for cake to lead you out was wise.
You struggled to your feet as you felt your stomach turn.
You could feel your anxiety getting the better of you now, making you wonder if her choice to call you a monster could be correct after all.
Had she called you such out of digust and anger, or did she see something about you that you yourself didn't see yet?
It didn't matter, you had to leave this room.

With that you opened the door, stepped into the hallway and inwardly cursed as you saw a number of armed police rushing down the corridor towards you.
Of course!
Every time you used their power they were all over it.

"Put your hands on your head and get on the floor!" came one's voice as the armed and armoured police fanned out about you, assault rifles pointed at you as slowly sank down to one knee, then the other.
You wanted to do your best to appear unthreatening, you didn't want to end up shot again.
That was an experience you were in no way keen to repeat.
Especially as you could feel your anxiety giving way to fear in this situation.
"Ignore them. Stand down officers," came another voice as a slender, balding, suited man pushed through the group towards you. "So, you're the one tripping our warning systems. I was expecting someone more... Impressive."
"Uh, Director-"
"Dismissed."
"But-"
"Unless you wish to be placed under review, you are dismissed."
"Yes sir," came the mumbled response of the group as they awkwardly backed away.
"Ah, but you-" the man paused as he levelled a finger with the man who had spoken. "Can escort her down to the front desk."
"Uh... Yes Director Ego, Sir," the man mumbled as he offered you a hand to help you back to your feet.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Officer Joy," came the mans words once more as he stepped into the room you'd just left, leaving you with the confused first response group.
"Well... Uh. This way, Miss." came the mans mumbled words as he lead you towards the end of the hall.
It wasn't far from there to the front desk - just a walk down a hall, down the stairwell and down a further hall to the reception area where you could see two people engaged in a shouting match.

You recognised the boss, a man you made a note never to learn the name of given it was the same level of respect he held for you.
He was a tool.
Not the kind you wished to use, the kind kind you had no respect for.
The other figure was yet another suited man, one that made a point of jabbing at the boss of the agency that had picked you up with one finger every time he shouted at him.

It was your arrival that had a break in that shouting match, doubled with the fact you'd arrived with an armed escort.
That silence didn't last long.
"Alyssa, do you know how much trouble you are in now?" came his words as he shifted his anger towards you - you had the feeling that his anger was being directed towards you as you were the easier target, the weaker in his eyes. He was a small minded bully, looking for an easy means of venting when he couldn't possibly hope to win the argument he was having with the other person.
"Is he from H-M-S-O?" you asked as you ignored the initial outburst, prompting a smirk from the other man.
"I am a representative from-"
"You assholes attacked and shot me," you gestured towards your legs, knowing full well that the blood stains were visible even from the front. "And you," you snorted as you turned towards Millicent's boss, "sent chavs to trail us, you slack jawed classless fuck."

There was silence from pair of them that was finally broken as Millicent's boss raised his voice once more.
"When we get back you are going to be punished accordingly-"
"Yes, punish the person that doesn't work for you, I mean, I'm pretty sure the guy right beside you is hiring."
"I am authorised to offer you-" the other man started, only for you to hold a finger up.
"You assholes shot me, these assholes want to punish me for you assholes shooting me. Why should I care about either of you?"
"Alyssa, we can talk about this-" the boss started, only for you to laugh.
"Wi-kan-terk-ehlerseh!" you mocked as you wiggled your head from side to side with each syllable. "Fine, lets talk. Why are they trying to forcefully poach me from-"
"That was a mistake."
"You're damn right it was a mistake, you lost four people because your agents went gun crazy and-"
"We only sent three, this is a further complication," came the mans response, his expression souring as he reached into his pocket for his phone. Even as that man stepped away the boss was once more attempting to smooth things over.

"Alyssa, why don't you come back and-"
"Shut up. The LPD offered me cake, I'm not moving without it or answers. Are you going to offer me answers?" you tilted your head. "No?"
"Very well," he sighed as he moved to settle down on one of the nearby chairs. "What do I have to tell you to get you to co-operate with me again?"

You pursed your lips, folded your arms over your chest and frowned. You hadn't actually expected him to fold in such a manner.
He really was desperate, wasn't he?
It did mean that you had a chance to get answers or dismissively brush him off.
Or anything else really. Everything was a mess, but you were sure you were going to come out on top regardless.
What remained was for you to decide your next course of action.

"Alyssa, are you okay?" came Millicent's voice as she struggled against the airbag that had her pinned to her seat.
It was mere seconds before she was able to scoot her seat back to get breathing room, mere seconds that you squandered staring at the advancing men.
With her range of motion restored Millicent reached to push the airbag against your chest down, a hiss of disgust escaping her lips as she saw the group responsible for this.
They were nobody that you recognised, yet there was something about Millicent's reaction that made it clear that she knew exactly who they were.

"I'm... I'm okay. Can we... Can we go?"
"This car has a stupid safety feature, if the airbags deploy it immobilises it. Keep your head down, I'll... I'll go talk with our... Our friends."
"Who are they?"
"Nobody you need to worry about. Keep your head down."
"That doesn't fill me with confidence."

It was with those words that Millicent struggled out of the driver side door, visibly holding her ribs as she stumbled about the bonnet of her car towards the group that'd hit you both.
She was hurt, she was without the benefit of powers such as your own and she was going to deal with those men without you?
They'd already made it clear by hitting you both that they had no particular regard for your safety, so why were you meekly accepting this insanity on her part?

"What the hell do you idiots think you're doing?" Millicent yelled at the group as they impassively fanned out before her.
Four men, one of her.
One of them, a larger man than the others stepped forwards as he stared down at Millicent - or so you assumed, his sunglasses made it hard for you to tell.

"Agent Cross, you are incapable of assuring the safety of the subject, you shall relinquish them into our custody," came an equally impassive voice.
"Who do you work for, who are you people?" Millicent spat in response, the vitriol in her voice evident as she allowed her hand to move down from her injured ribs.
"That is of no concern. You shall-"
"Without proper authorisation your request is to be treated as an act of deception. The subject has a name and she isn't going with you unless you can present me with the correct forms and identification to warrant such a transfer of custody."

There was a moments silence as the lead figure maintained their position with unwavering calm.
Yet not one of the group moved a muscle.
They had no intent of presenting whatever credentials they possessed.

"This is your final chance to transfer custody of the subject to us peacefully, Agent Cross, failure to comply with be met by escalating this situation to the use of deadly force."
"Is this really how we're going to do things, you're going to threaten me?" Millicent huffed as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "You know I'm a government agent, but you haven't presented any form of identification or authorisation of your own. How about you identify yourselves, then I'll decide based upon that."
"That was your final warning," came the mans impassive response as his hand darted forward, the impact of his palm against Millicent's forehead sending the woman tumbling to the ground.

You could only watch in horror as the foremost man reached into his jacket to draw a firearm, a handgun that he levelled with Millicent before pulling the trigger several times.
The crack of each discharged round was met by Millicent's form shuddering as red patches seeped into the white of her blouse.
Then silence.
Silence as the man stood over her twitching form before he levelled his gaze with you.

"Alyssa Smith, you will exit the vehicle and offer your unconditional co-operation," came the mans words as he stepped over Millicent's body, as he advanced upon the car with his weapon still drawn.
He'd just executed the nearest you had to a friend in this place in cold blood and... And...
He expected you to simply co-operate when all Millicent had done to oppose him was question who he was?
No, you didn't know who these people were, you couldn't simply go with them peacefully if this was the way they operated.
They could be anyone from government agents to spies and...
And...
Oh god, this was actually happening, they'd murdered her and...

You had to get away from them, you had to remain in control, you had to avoid using any power if you could help it.
Your power was too exaustive and unpredictable, it'd simply make you an easy target for these people if you couldn't fight back against them.

You had to...
You had to run, you had to get away.

It was with that you flung the door open, slid from the seat you were in and started to sprint away from these people - you knew that if they shot you, that you would recover.
Probably.
You weren't certain, but you were going to put your faith in yourself right now to recover if they were crazy enough to simply-

Crack.
The sound of the gun discharging followed once more as you felt a burning warmth in the back of your thigh, a burning warmth that blossomed into pain as you stumbled.
Your leg had been hit, but adrenaline was telling you that you could keep moving.
Fight or flight.
You'd chosen flight, as you couldn't fight.

Crack.
Another bullet struck you as you stumbled once more - this time falling as the pain in your leg became unbearable. You'd been shot twice in the back of the same leg as you attempted to run and...
You could see the fabric turning dark as blood rapidly soaked into it, you could see blood trailing over the paving as you dragged your now useless leg as you made a futile effort to crawl away.

Crack.
A third shot had you finally scream as you felt your other leg get hit, the agonising pain telling you that there was no escape, that these people didn't care in the slightest for bringing you in to whomever was in charge unmaimed.

"S-so m-m-mu-much for... Ssssafety," came a hiss from behind the group, prompting them to turn towards the prome form of Millicent as she... Laughed.
That choking laughter was followed by her form struggling to its feet as it finally became apparent just how horrific her injuries had been.
No, she couldn't have survived that, she'd been shot in the chest multiple times and twice in the head, and yet...
"I g-gave y-y-y-you a ch-chance to identf-f-fy yoursel-self," she gurgled as she lurched forwards. "M-man, why-why'd you ha-have to sh-shoo-shoot me. N-now I n-need a new b-body," she continued as several more rounds struck her, causing her to recoil more from the impact than anything else.

As the groups attention turned towards the... The cadavar that had once been what you could almost have called your friend, you turned to sit upright, to crawl backwards until your back was pressed against the first wall you came across.
Blood painted the paving where you passed over it, blood, that shone where the sun caught it in a manner that was almost beautiful.
You were getting light headed, but at least the pain was fading.
You weren't certain this was a good thing.

The steady percussive crack of the mens weapons discharing gave way to screams as Millicent's advance halted - she hadn't been subdued, no, what happened next was the unveiling of something far worse than some body that had risen from the dead.
Her skin peeled away as something else, something slender, vaguely human in appearance and faceless stepped from within her.
The woman you knew simply collapsed in a pile of discarded flesh and clothes while this faceless thing leapt forwards.

The first of the four men fell as the thing vaulted towards it, each bullet that struck it seemingly doing nothing to hinder it as it leapt atop the prone man and with a sickening slurp, pushed its spindly fingers between the mans ribs.
His screams ceased as abruptly as they started as his form convulsed, as the thing lifted him to his feet and turned him to face the other three.
Three, who now stood there with their guns levelled with this thing, uncertain over just what they were to do.

Crack, crack, crack.

The ensnared man's fire arm went off three times in quick succession.
Three bodies hit the floor.

The thing that held the man shifted to embrace him from behind as it seemed to sink into him, leaving the man stood there convulsing for a few moments before he took a deep breath, took hold of his head and cracked his neck audiably. "Ah... Aly... Alyssa. Are you... Oh, you're hurt."
The words that came from this man seemed clumbsy at first as he struggled for a moment to take a few graceless steps towards you.
"I know you... You will want to-" the man paused to breathe. "Sorry, you'll want answers, but right now we need to stop you bleeding out," came the mans words as he knelt beside you, no evidence over what had happened bar several small puncture wounds visible where the thing had plunged its fingers between this mans ribs.
"Am... Am I dreaming?" you responded in a dull manner, pinching at your face as you did so. Your face felt numb, but you still hurt a lot. It couldn't be a dream, could it?
"I wish. Unfasten your clothes and roll over."
"Not until-"
"Do you want to bleed out?"
"Who are you?"
"Millicent, I know it's a lot to take in, but I need you to trust me," came the mans words as he nudged you over, pausing as he tore the sleeves from his shirt. "I'll bind your legs, stop the flow of blood as best I can. If the body doesn't deal with the bullets then they can be removed later, but right now-"
"What are you?"
"Agent Millicent Cross of-"
"No, what. What are you."
"That's unimportant. You're losing colour fast Alyssa," came the mans response as he started to bind your legs tightly - several strips wound above your legs while several more were used to pad over the wounds you had taken.
"No, tell me, or god help me I'll scream. Then i'll lash out at you with my powers and tell the Guardians when they come looking what I saw."
"Do you always have to be so awkward, Alyssa?" came the mans voice as he sighed, one bloodied hand placed against his face as he shook his head. "I'm a skin walker, now stop struggling and let me apply pressure until your regenerative ability kicks in."
"You're a..." that term was familiar, it was something that Millicent had said had been spotted at the supermarket when you first arrived. "Wait... If they sent a Guardian for them, why don't-"
"I'm actually registered and accounted for, can we talk about this later?"
"No, it ca-"
"Alyssa, my head is spinning, it's hard enough for me to focus on the task at hand."

You fell silent, this entire situation was weird.
Millicent was suddenly in the body of one of the people that'd attacked you and you were laying here with her... him?
With them trying to slow your bleeding.

"So, um," you started after a few minutes silence, as you found focusing on anything but the pain in your legs to become impossible. "What happens now?"
"Well, I have to re-register myself with people, get all my stuff updated, we need to get back to the agency... Ugh, I don't want to be stuck in a male body, but they'll keep me in it until they're sure I've learned everything I can from their memories."
"You can... You can do that?"
"I don't really want to talk about it,"
"But-"
"Hey, how about we talk about your reproductive habits instead, wouldn't that make for a great and totally non-personal topic?"
"Okay, I get it. It's personal."
"Thank you."
"Just don't perv."
"Alyssa, you have no ass, if I swung that way you still wouldn't be my type."
"Ouch."
"This is going to be so weird," Millicent mumbled as the pressure on your legs was slowly reduced. "Okay, it looks like you're healing, so we'll give it a minute more, then we'll... Steal their car I guess and... And... Shit, I don't know. Do you know how to drive?"
"No, I haven't learned how yet."
"Great. Okay, we'll be here until we can be picked up. You can't drive and I'm not fit to drive."

Millicent slumped down beside you as those strips of cloth were removed from your legs, pausing only briefly to ensure you were no longer bleeding.
"Okay, you can pull your jeans back up, the wounds have closed now," came his... her? words.
You complied, pulling the now ruined garment back up as you glanced down at the amount of blood that had soaked into it.
"Still tender. Thanks though. I..." you paused to rub the back of your legs. "I think... I think I'll be fine. It's hard to tell, i've never been shot before so I don't know if I'll be stuck with bullets in my legs."
"It'll be checked out later. You just... Sit there a moment. I'll call people and get things seen to."

Sitting here was good, it meant you wouldn't get into trouble.

As you sat there wallowing in self pity you figured it was better to reflect over what you'd learned about yourself recently.
You'd seen that you were able to overcome some of your more cowardly timid nature - this was good.
But you were allowing this, as much fun as it was, to go a little more to your head than you should - this was bad.
You'd strike a balance though, you'd find a comfortable groove and you'd ride it until you could reach out without endangering others.

Was there anything else you needed to remain mindful of or do, though?


Air Speciality (Choose one)
...Upon reflection you've realised you'd be a persuasive talker as you've come to understand the way your bodylanguage and your words interact better.
...You're certain you can apply an educated insight into more situations, you've a whole load of skills learned from all over the place that you can translate better to the real world.
...You're a fast learner, plain and simple. While others of equal intellect are still taking things in, you're already two steps ahead.
...You've seen a lot of deception the past few days and you yourself know that a skilled deceiver just needs apply the right body language to hide their motives better.
...Something Else?

Earth Speciality (Choose one)
...You may not be tough, but you're better at resisting toxinsthan most - alcohol, pollution, you name it, you weather it as well as a more robust person.
...You may not be one for the outdoors, but you handle  resisting the elements better than some. Where others become miserable or even sick, you're still singing, singing in the rain.
...You've always been thick skinned, tougher than you look. It's a mixture of pain tolerance and being physically stubborn that lets you take a little more punishment.
...While you may not be capable of taking particularly much more punishment than most, you're much more adapt at resisting pain - where others would pass out, you're still gritting your teeth.
...Something Else?


---

I'd started this after flipping a coin to decide what direction to lean more in, sorry!

The thing that rose from the waters of the Thames was huge, standing at what you estimated to be ten feet tall despite it still being partially submerged in the river's murky depths.
With a disproportionate upper body that tapered away to a more slender, though no less heavy muscled lower body, the thing had an appearance vaguely akin to that of an ape.
If an ape had been a scale covered aquatic creature with gills and a lizard like head.
The things eyes, beady as they were shone with a firece intelligence as it seemed to recognise the manner in what you were fearfully backing up and assume a more passive, almost submissive postured, though its one arm extended.
One finger pointed straight at you.
Then itself.

And then that hand simply fell away as it allowed its powerful shoulders to slouch.
"Leehr... Sehrn," the thing uttered in a low grumble as it took a careful, testing step towards you. Your instinctual response was to step back, prompting it to adopt an even more submissive gesture as it stooped and half turned its body away.
For all its attempts to be unthreatening, this thing was still a massive muscular creature that looked like it could snap a man in two.
"Mehr... Huhrn-grr. Hull-din. Leehrsern. Ehyr spey-keh."
"Alyssa, get in the car!" came Millicent's yelled words, though you couldn't tear yourself away from this terrifying spectacle of an entity attempting to communicate with you as the water of the river poured from its mouth.

Behind you, you were vaguely aware of the screams of people fleeting, running for their cars and pulling away, yet you continued to maintain eye contact with this beady eyed beast.
"I don't... I don't understand you," you offered, as you shuffled backwards.
"Ehy spyke... War-ds. Yehr lehrsyn. Steh. Nuu-mehve, muhs ruh-tun. Steh," it uttered as it held up a finger, before backing away into the river, glancing back at you several times to ensure that you were... Not running?
And then it ducked under the surface of the waters.

"Alyssa, what are you-" Millicent started as she ran towards you, a hand grabbing for your own as she started to pull you over towards the car. "That's a fucking Jötunn, are you stupid, or didn't the size of the fucking thing tell you how dangerous it is?"
"Why was it trying to speak to me?"
"They're not stupid. They're predators that eat flesh, it could have learned to immitate behaviours that would lull you into a false sense of-"

The waters parted with a rush as the Jötunn once more emerged, though this time it took one look at Millicent, roared and started to rush towards the bank of the river, vaulting from it as the metal pipe fence lining the road that ran alongside buckled and broke.
The thing was much too powerful and heavy for a fence that could stop a car to support, but it was enough for it to cover the distance between the river and you, landing a tiny distance from you as it held one fist clenched to its chest.
The other thrust towards Millicent, bowling her over as it let out another roar, this one filled with a snarling undertone as the pair of you were bowled over and seperated.

"Lher-syn," the thing once more started as it looked down at you, though this time all you could do was scream in terror.
How could you not?
This thing was a vast entity covered in scars scales, an entity that stunk of the river water with an oily undertone that was more than just the pollution that had been pumped into the Thames.
And there it was, looming over you as it reached out with one hand towards you, a hand that you attempted to roll away from only to find it had pinned you against the road and-
You were going to die, it was going to-
"Shhh-rrr..." came the things rumbling tone as it... Stroked your back?

Your screaming stopped more out of confusion than confidence.

"Eyh R-tun whr-t yuh haaaav luhs. Muhs gev," it grunted as it almost gingerly seemed to try to flip you back over, its vast, clawed hand manuevered in a manner that suggested it was attempting to avoid harming you.
But all you could do was tremble as this thing gazed down at you with its beady eyes.
From a distance, you were braver.
"Liyt fehl owl eh-buhrv. Rrruhm-buhls owl eh-buhv. Grrrow-und rrruhm-buhl. Yew luuhs th-ehs. Eye r-tuhrrrrn," came the things attempts at vocalising, yet you didn't have a clue what it was trying to tell you as it attempted to settle down before you in as unthreatening a manner as it could. It was like a ten foot tall monster assuming the kind of posture a dog would when it knew it was in trouble.
The clenched hand reached forwards, opening above your lap as it dropped something hard and heavy, something that was coated in river weeds and mud.

"Eye hrrv r-tuhrn. Muh-sss goh. Sssys-teh curhm. Wyll kihl eye. Eye noh whnt kihl. Ur-verrs curhm. Wyll kihl yew. Noh whrnt yew kihl. Yew leahf. Yehs?"
You nodded, agreeing with whatever this thing was trying to convey as it reached down to pat your head - a gesture that bumped you down as this things immense strength, restrained as it was, brought into play.

With that the thing turned away from you, slinking through the broken fence and into the rivers.
The rivers, where it sank once more without trace into the muddy hued Thames.

"Alyssa," wheezed Millicent as she struggled to her feet, holding her chest as she grabbed your arm. "We're getting out of here, NOW. Leave whatever that... That is," she continued as she gestured to the lump left atop your lap.
"No, it... It might be..."
"Fine, just... Just get in the car, and you... Ugh, my ribs, that's going to bruise," she paused as she stumbled up against the side of her car for support. "You can... Can listen to the recording while we get somewhere away from water and you can find a reason for me not to take your ass back to the agency. Do you even know how reckless what you did was?"
You could feel her use of her ability to warp others perception in her favour washing over you, as she attempted - or subconsciously, you couldn't tell - to use it to drive her point home, to bring you under her thumb.
To bring this entire situation under her control.
You weren't having it, you weren't allowing her to manipulate you in that way, even if you were going to co-operate with whatever she said.
You were no pawn, you were free willed and you would not be controlled in that way.
No, you had choice and you were going to exercise it.

"Give me the recording then," you muttered as you clambered into the car, belting yourself in as Millicent pulled out of the café's grounds and onto the road. "I'll listen to it again and..."
Millicent fumbled with something in one of her inner pockets for a moment as she pulled out a small device, a device that looked like it'd been cracked by the manner she'd been shoved.
Though, you rationalised, it could also have been damaged at any other point.
She tapped at its screen for a moment before bringing up the recording she'd made of the things attempts to vocalise at you.
"If you try and access any other recording on there, I will punch you in the throat and take it back, just so we're clear."

Oh, she was serious.
You could feel that she meant that.

"I understand," you mumbled as you started the recording to listen to what the thing had said again, before pausing it as you glanced at Millicent. "Do you have any tissues, so I can clean this off and find what it is?" you asked as you gestured to the wet mass you held just above your lap.
"You should have left it, whatever it is, it's trouble," came her response, though she shifted to retrieve a box of tissues from under her seat.
"How is it trouble?"
"Ever hear of a monster giving someone a gift?"
"A few times, yeah."
"What was the outcome of it?"
"It varies wildly depending on the story. Sometimes it gives a gift to trick someone, others to aide them. Often, the monster still suffers even when the gift was benevolent."
"I was trying to get at it being a trick."
"Covered in mud and-"
"Yes. Now shut up and give me reason not to take you back."

You huffed at the other woman as you used tissues to pry away vegetation, to wipe away mud, all while listening to the recording as you made an effort to discover what lay beneath.

Even as you did, you could see the sleek forms of two things accompanied by the roar of jet engines - two guardians, they had to be - rush overhead leaving vapour trails in their wake.
From here, you could make out that these things bore humanoid shapes, that they were blue and silver against the grey skies, though from here you couldn't make out fine details beyond that.

You glanced back down at the object you were cleaning, you could see... Well, it looked like a dark, possibly metal item was starting to appear in the midst of the filth.
An item that was composed of six honeycomb shaped cylinders, an item that you found yourself gazing at in confusion as the words, if they could be called such, of the creature continued to play back at you on repeat.

It'd given you... This and... Said things.

Millicent was waiting for you to give her reason not to turn back, for you to tell her what this all meant.
Did you even have the slightest clue, though?

You had a plan, or at least something that resembled one.
You'd get out of this place, make a call from a pay phone just as soon as you were a comfortable distance into the city.
After calling your family, you'd go sight seeing.

That was what you needed - a chance to talk with your family.

You could find out what work your father had managed to get, what your mother was doing to stay busy while she looked for work, see if they'd given your room to your sister yet.
If that brat had your room, you wouldn't be happy.
No, they wouldn't do that, they'd just tease about it and-

"Come on, lets get out of here before you-" you shot Millicent a glance as she paused to brush a thumb over your cheek. "Okay, that's a bruise, we'll pick up some makeup while we're out too, foundation and such, you can disguise the worst of it."
"Before I what?" you asked, as you turned your attention towards the lobby beyond the lift. "You were going to accuse me of being accident prone again, weren't you."
"No, you were zoning out. You're clearly far from your best, so, perhaps... Yeah, lets pick up coffee on the way too, we can get something strong to perk you up. That's assuming though..."
"Assuming what?"
"Hell if I know, but what if your body purges that kind of stuff now?"
"Then we'll find out?"
"Sure, we'll get you a strong coffee and..." Millicent paused as a frown came to her features.
"And...?" you asked, waiting for a answer that would never come.
"Lets just go," she responded as she forced a smile, leaving you wondering once more just what... No, you didn't care at this point, she could be as secretive and mysterious as she liked, your concerns were calling your family and sight seeing.

Not the petty interpersonal drama of a bunch of agents with dwindling power, or their fears that you'd be snatched up by people who actually had funding.
You didn't care for their drama, their goals, dreams, whatever.
What you did with your power would be to serve your own goals once you had them.
You alone would ultimately decide if what they requested of you was an acceptable use of your powers.

In time, at least.
You just had to remember you, Alyssa, had what they desired.
They would come to you, they would pay you tribute.
You would never again have to feel as if you were second rate, the girl that would get passed over.
A little ego would carry you through these times.

Millicent marched you out to her car after a few hushed words with the person behind the desk, taking you through doors that you had seen a few days ago last.
A few days ago enshrouded in fog, all you could see was the looming facade of this building with lights bleeding through into the darkness of night.
Now, you could see the dull facade as you glanced backwards, the steady rise of the building a counterpoint to your fall as you descended the steps away from it and to freedom. Freedom that had never tasted so sweet as it did now, for this freedom was one in what you could finally get a taste for something you yearned for.
Oh, did you yearn for that connection with your family.

Step, after step away from this oppresive and dreary symbol of what could be, into the freedom - however brief - that the city itself represented at this time.
The buildings about this one were as dreary, with the road that weaved past them leading to a shared parking lot. One of them was converted housing, the other office buildings, the other businesses and residences... Well, you didn't know.
You didn't care either.

And there was Millicent's car, just visible in the distance.
That tatty old thing that made you question what someone with her apparent job prospects was doing with these people.
Just what kept her from leaving them to pursue a career that would pay her what you could only assume was substantially better with, well, anyone?

"Phone call first. Coffee second. Sightseeing after that," you stated as you approached the car, prompting Millicent to glance your way. "That's my priorities, I really, really need to talk with my family. But..." you patted your pockets.
"We forgot to claim replacement funding for you. Don't worry, I'll cover it and get it covered as an expense."
"Thank you," you responded, figuring that as small a gesture as that brief mention of gratitude was, that it would be appreciated none the less.

You clambered into her car, belting yourself in as it roared to life and lurched from the parking lot.
Here you were, back where you had started with her - inside a vehicle going places unknown.
This time though, it was away from this place that sought to oppress you, a place in what the man atop the pile sought to throw his weight around to hold onto power he had never had. He was a literal fish out of water, yet he had betrayed that he himself had a power to you when he had addressed you after you had...
Could you really call that a moment in what you were dead, given you had quite literally gotten better?
You'd been out of comission and he had addressed a projected form.

Several miles went by in a blur as you idly started to draw shapes in the growing condensation on the windows, adding your mark to a landscape that would never persist.
The windows would be cleaned, the shapes you left would be lost.
It was like the world about you, if your mark was just footprints in the sands of time, you'd never leave a persisting mark.

That meant whatever you did, it had to be substantial.
The mark that this thousand soul had left was one that persisted, he had created what had become the modern day LPD Guardian division.

The car pulled to a halt in a parking area in a run down and frankly seedy looking neighbourhood. It was one that's very appearance made you feel uncomfortable, the dillapidated fencing, pockmarked road and boarded up windows told you that this was a bad place, yet it was clear why Millicent had picked this location.
There was a phone here that was just a few feet past the end of the community parking bay, yet...
"I don't feel safe here, Millicent, can't we use a phone-"
"You'll be fine, I'll be out there with you," came her response as she unfastened her seatbelt.
"What if-"
"Shush, here's some change for the phone-" she paused as she passed you several large, silver coins. Three pounds in fifty pence pieces. "The worst you'll catch here's a case of poverty."
"I'm from an area like this," you mumbled indignantly as you clambered from the car. "Tories ruined abso-fucking-lutely everything everywhere north of London," you added as you stomped your way over to the phone.
They were still doing so, too.
More austerity, kill the common man - workers didn't need to eat, they needed to obey.
That was the theme they were giving with their recent political drive.
Not that you'd actually looked into it too much, no, that'd require more effort than just grumbling in an ill informed manner, and hey, grumbling like that had its place.
"Could be worse, the UKEP could have won," Millicent called after you.
"The United Kingdom Eurozone Party's a bunch of lunatics, that farage-day cage guy's a nutjob."
"Rather them than the BNP," she retorted, while moving to sit on the bonnet of her car.
"Lesser of evils, the lot of it. Why'd you even bring the British Nazi Party into-" you huffed as Millicent gave you a dirty look.
"That isn't what it stands for."
"It isn't?"
"Nope."
"Fuck it, it is now," you responded as you brought the phone receiver to your ear. It had a tone, meaning it would work.

A coin was fed into the slot as your fingers danced over the keys, tapping in a less familiar area code, followed by the much more familiar number of your home phone.

Ring, ring.
Ring, ring.
Ring-
"This is the Smith household, nobody-" came the answer phone, your heart sinking at first until the click of a phone being lifted was followed by a familiar voice. "Hello?"
"Mom!" your face lightened up as you heard one of the voices you'd longed to hear since you left home in the first place.
"Oh, Alyssa, we've been hoping you'd get in touch soon, how are you, how is-"
"I'm sorry I didn't earlier, things have been complicated. They did tests, told me I'm all special and stuff, so I guess they're going to want to find me a job down here. If all goes well, I can send some money to you guys to help out. How's dad? How's she-who-cannot-be-named?"
"Your father's at work, he got a job with the local council that gets him up at the crack of dawn-"
"A bin man?"
"Yeah, don't you put him down for it, he-"
"I know, he's doing an awful job because he cares and... I miss him. I miss you. I miss Jennifer less."
Another coin was fed into the slot as a small warning came up on the LCD display.
"Your sister asked if she can have your room if you die, then she asked if she could have it anyway."
"Why does she want my room so badly?" you paused. "Hers is bigger."
"Honestly, it's probably because yours is better kept than hers."

This back and forth conversation went on until the money you had dwindled, leaving you with regret in your voice to tell your mother that you had to go - to tell her to give your love to your father and maybe, just maybe your sister.
And then you turned to Millicent, pausing as you looked up at the sunglasses she had donned in the meantime as a look of clear confusion crossed your features.
"What are you..." you started, glancing at the sky briefly as you did so. "It's overcast, why are you..."
"If we're going into the city, I need to look the part. Most people don't question a flashed badge and an agency with a name like ours, if you won't question the abuse of power, I'll get you ice cream."
"It's too cold for ice cream, though."
"Cake?"
"Make it fudge and you have a deal."
"How about we get whatever catches our attention and don't limit ourselves to-"
"What do you have against fudge?"
"Nothing, it's just the best fudge doesn't come from tourist stands in London."
"Okay, okay," you gave a sigh of mock exasperation before turning to make your way towards Millicent's car, only to pause as a group in hoodies started walking up the street towards you. "Oh great, chavs. They're probably going to-"
"Stop your worrying."
"But-"
"They're a bunch of teenage boys, if they-" A wolf whistle came from the group as they approached, you could almost see Millicent's eyes rolling behind her sunglasses. "See, boys, not a bunch of thugs."
"Uh-huh, I feel all the more uncomfortable now."
"Stop being a baby. Oh fine, I'll handle this." Millicent paused as she glanced back at the group as she rolled her shoulders. "Could you not do that, please?"
"You gonna make us?"
"Whom shall impose this decree," Millicent responded.
"What?"
"I shall impose such a decree."
"The fuck?"
"Let me put this in terms you understand then. Cut that shit and tell my charge here you're sorry, or I will fuck your scrawny ass up."
"I'd like to see you... Try..." The guys response came as Millicent paced towards him. Even as she did he was balling his fist to throw a clumbsy punch - one that Millicent caught with seemingly little effort before she started to apply pressure down on his hand.
You could hear him whimpering as she forced him down to one knee, begging her now to release his hand as his shocked friends looked on.
"They're not going to help you. Nobody will help you," Millicent's words tickled your senses in a way that told you she was using her talents to hold them off. "Now, you're going to tell her you're sorry, or-"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, please let go!" came the guys immediate response as Millicent shoved him backwards.
"Good. Remember to respect others, as not everyone'll meekly tolerate your shit," Millicent responded as she moved back to the car, leaving the shocked group awkwardly shuffling away.
"You didn't need to escalate it in that manner, we could have just... Got in the car and left," you mumbled as Millicent unlocked the doors.
"They don't smell right."
"What?"
"They smell of designer aftershave and their clothes are new. Should be tatty, smell of cheap cider. Not clean shaven and..."
"What are you saying?"
"We're being followed."
"So, we should... Do what about it?" you asked as your stomach turned. The concept of others sending people to follow you made you uncomfortable to say the least.
"We should go sight seeing, they're likely a bunch of goons working for people the boss is friendly with. I'd know if it was some of ours tailing us."
"Why would-"
"Alyssa, if you were in charge and you were keeping it quiet about having done the equivilent of winning the lottery, wouldn't you send people to keep an eye on things?"
"I guess, I don't... I don't like it though."
"Get used to it, we'll see them again later - Just you watch. Now!" she brightened up as she clambered into her car. "Where'd you like to go?"

There were various options - the museums, the bridges, the dome, the various tourists traps.
You could see whatever you wanted, eat junk, spend time relaxing - Millicent was simply waiting for you to give her some direction over what took your fancy now.

"How come you can see me?" you asked as you felt a slight twinge in your chest. That was odd, it felt like a stirring sensation, as if the manner in what you were interlinked with your physical form was permitting you to feel some power building within you.
Or you were about to fade away.
You weren't about to fade away, were you?
No, this was... This was more of a building power than a diminishing sense of self.

"Ah, I uh... It is what is special about me, I suppose you could say," came the bosses response, though a voice in the back ofyour mind screamed that this was a lie. His body language was all wrong, it was a deception intended to throw you off what he truly was.
These people all seemed to favour lying about what they could do, so you were hardly surprised by this - you were hurt though, here you were laying dead in the middle of a library and they still had the nerve to lie to you.
A sensation within your chest fluttered, followed by shocked murmers from the medics that where in the midst of trying to set a stretcher up to move you.

"Is something wrong?" you asked, watching as the boss awkwardly turned to the group to relay your question.
"She wants to know if something is wrong."
"She... We have a pulse again, it's weak, but... That's impossible, her... Her body is repairing itself," came the medic's shocked response.
"Why is this impossible?" you asked, waiting for the boss to awkwardly relay this question, too.
"Is there some reason this shouldn't happen?"
"Well... I don't know, to be honest."

Was he enlightened?
Deathless?
Simply gifted with more power than he let on?

"Now, Alyssa, we need to talk about how this irresponsible display, had it not been for how you are fortunate to be blessed with these talents, could have resulted in us sending home the sad news to your family that you-"
"Shut the fuck up you wretched asshole, if she is able to hear you, reprimanding her at a time like this is the last thing she needs!" came Millicent's yelling from nearby. "It's always the same with you, bark bark bark, you must be in control of any situation regardless of if it needs your meddling or not. She has enough on her plate right now."

Actually...
This was kinda awesome now you thought about it.
It was like what happened after your character died on some games, only this was the real thing - you were here, you were about to revive and continue your battle against...
Yourself, mainly.
You were your biggest challenge right now.

"Yeah, shut up," you gasped as your arms flopped leadenly to cover your chest - you'd been expecting something more than to suddenly find yourself in your body again. You could feel bones shifting within you, repositioning themselves so that they could fuse.
It was like your innards had been turned into a bag of meat full of shards of broken glass, glass, that wanted to repair itself to reform the supporting structure that was supposed to keep that meat in place.
"Why'd you cut my top open?" you asked as you patted the ground beside you, awkwardly, as you sought your hoodie out.
"Uh, protocol says that in the event of a serious injury we're to cut all clothing away to avoid agitating an injury further while assessing it and that your..."
"Okay, I get- Oh god, that shouldn't move like that," you wheezed as you rolled onto your side. You'd felt a rib pull, or at least that was what you assumed, against everything in its path to re-set itself properly. "As for irresponsible, all I tried to do was create a tiny gust of wind out of curiosity."

You paused to assess what this 'tiny' gust had done. There were books all over the floor, one of the shelves had been wrecked by you slamming into it. The gash to your side it had dealt seemed to be gone, but considering the amount of blood over the case, splattering the floor between it and where you lay...
For that matter, there was a fair amount of blood about you, and you could feel your prior fatigue slowly asserting itself again as the pain faded and your adrenaline settled back to more normal levels.
Books had been blown all over the room from everywhere in the room.

"I needa nuu tohp," was all you could manage to utter as your slurred words reflecting the onrushing sense of exaustion that was overtaking you.
And then after expressing your distaste over your current lack of decency, all was black.

You welcomed it in this case, you were dealing with exaustion that went beyond that what you should have been capable of feeling.
You had burned impossible amounts of energy today to put your hand through a wall, to make a 'little' gust of wind.

Everything was black, and then it wasn't as you stirred, bleary eyes opening to...
...The clinical white of a medical ward's ceiling.
Beep, beep, beep.
The steady sound of some machine you'd never learned the name of monitored your heart rate, while various things stuck out of you and on you were the next thing to catch your attention.
They were monitoring your heart rate, had drip feeds in your veins, tubes up your nose.
Ugh, that last detail was uncomfortable.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," came a familiar voice as you turned your head to see Millicent sat beside you. "You've been out for two days since that scene you caused."
"Where's arse face?"
"Arse face. You... You were seriously injured and... Who?"
"Your boss."
"Oh, right. Why do you want to speak with him?"
"You were right, he was completely out of line. He was more interested in power games than my well being in the middle of a..." you paused, you'd also seen Millicent's reaction when she'd discovered you. "Oh, am I properly healed?" you asked, you were leading somewhere with this.
"Yeah, we took x-rays after we got you here, then more later. Within two hours it looked like everything had repaired itself, but lets-"
"One moment," you paused.
Hospital gown.
Good enough, you told yourself as you sat up, before leaning over to the woman sat beside you to embrace her - awkwardly, given your positioning.
"I'm sorry I scared you like I did, I was pretty much aware of everything and..."
"Wait, everything?" Millicent's shock was evident.
"Yeah, I saw how horrified you were, I feel bad about that."
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"That you're human?" you laughed weakly. "No, I'll let them continue to believe that all government agents are reptilian spies. What are you doing here, anyway?"
"I've been assigned to you full time as you're a danger to yourself and others. Plus the boss is furious with me."
"Fuhrerous."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. Two days though?"
"Yeah, you went into a coma, they think that you did so because your body needed a chance to rest after being pushed so hard. Hey, promise me something Alyssa?"
"What's that?"
"Be more careful."
"I can't promise that, I was trying to be careful and..." you shifted to pat at your body. You felt tender in some places still. "I thought you said I fully healed?"
"Bruising apparently doesn't qualify as something your body cares about fixing."
"...I look terrible, don't I?"
"It's not that bad, the black eyes are fading."
"Oh, so I look like a panda. Awesome."
"No, it's really not that bad."

You took a deep breath as you stretched out, as you felt your body protest these movements simply because it had been able to spend so much time relaxing.
Two days, that meant...
"Did anyone call my family?"
"Yeah, we told them that you're with us still, that you'd call as soon as you could. Your sister's fine, she wants you to know you're still a stupid nerd. She went quiet and handed the phone back to your parents after was told you'd been really worried about her."
"What about my parents?"
"Your father managed to get a new job, mother's still looking. They send their love."
"Did you... Did you tell them anything?"
"Nope, it isn't my place to talk about that kind of stuff."
"Right. So... Clothes," you mumbled as you started plucking the various things attached to you off.
"Alyssa, you should wait until-"
Beeeeeeeeee-
Within fifteen seconds of this a medic rushed into the room.
"Hey," you started as the medic ground to a halt upon seeing you sat upright like this. "Can you give me a hand removing the rest of these?" you asked, gesturing to the various IV lines. You weren't certain if there was a certain way to remove these or not.
While it was potentially a non-issue, you didn't want to take chances with something sticking out your veins right now.
You'd seen enough of your own blood recently.
"I do have replacement clothes, right?" you asked Millicent as the medic, with a sigh, moved to your side to start removing the rest of the tubes from you.
"Yeah, top drawer of the beside cabinet, it's all new."
"All of it?"
"All of it. Do you have any idea how much blood you got over everything?"
"Vaguely. Even my shoes were ruined?"
"Everything."
"Damn. I loved my hoodie, too."

For a moment you sullenly slouched forwards, you had many good memories of that hoodie, like... The time you... Stood at the buss stop for half an hour and it kept you warm.
Okay, maybe not, but it had been a favourite garment of yours to wear for the comfort and sense of security it gave you.
You were antsy though, you'd been asleep for two days and you just wanted to do... Something, anything!
Maybe you could visit those people mentioned before, or you could explore London or...
Something. Anything?




---

Just a note; I'll leave it open for delayed regeneration as it won out here to evolve - later - either way as interest was shown in a phoenix-eque power. It could be the flawed start of that, or it could turn into full fledged regeneration. It'll be up to everyone else later.
Though she didn't quite walk it off, as I do try to take some flavour from all over, too, where I can.

This was such a bad idea, such a terrible idea and yet here you were pushing your already exausted body beyond the limits of what should have been possible.
While this certainly wasn't the most impressive display of power when you compared it to say, a game character or movie effects, it was you whom had accomplished this and you whom had called it into being.
This was no game, this was better.
This was the real thing and you were going to hone this ability to bend reality over and make it do as you pleased. You would surpass the most badass fictional characters, you would shine beyond the most badass real life person who had ever been.

They would write stories about how you, Alyssa, had been the most spectacular figure to ever grace this planet.

And all you had to do was believe, as it took the edge off the creeping sense of exaustion as fatigued turned into pain.
Oh, that pain was bearable now, but if it continued to blossom at the rate it was setting in at, it would become agonising before long.
You could feel the heat of that pain in your chest as it burst into a sensation of warmth, spreading through your torso as you took deep breaths.

You were calm, you were in control.
The pain was managable.

The pages of the books about you stirred as your ever increasing focus pushed to move the air faster, to get moving in a nice steady vortex about you.
Nothing too special, just a circuit of air pressure manipulated by you that could turn the pages of the open books.
Only... You could feel the pain in your chest blossom once more  as you found yourself out of breath.
Okay, now was a good time to stop, you were thoroughly exausted and you had pain blossoming from the inside out, that was now starting to spread out to your shoulders and hips. Now WAS a good time to stop.
So why wasn't it stopping?
Why did the current of air seem to be picking up speed still?

It was starting to reach the point it was noisily flipping the pages of the books about you and whipping your hair about your face, but you couldn't allow it to get out of your control.
Okay, you just had to figure how to stop this, take a moment to breathe and relieve some of the fatigue and pain you felt, then push to make it cease sooner, rather than later.
It was no different in a sense than the incident with your tea earlier this day, where you had lost control, though that had been when you'd completely relaxed control and gone into a hysterical state of mind. Such a point of view wouldn't help you here, but it did suggest that you were going to have to be guarded in future.
If you could accidentally do this, there would be no end of trouble.

Perhaps a push in the opposite direction - a counter current to oppose the flow that you had going now, would help dissipate the force in play a little faster.
After all, for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction.
Or something.
You should have paid more attention in physics classes.
But it told you the gist of what you needed to visualise, a counter-force to slow the accelerating current of air, to push against the force you'd put into play so that energy would counter energy and it'd dissipate.

It almost took your breath away pushing against the force of the current, but you had to do so despite the way that you could feel pain spreading out like fire to your extremities.
No pain, no gain.
But seriously, fuck this pain, this was horrible, you could feel muscles cramping as if they were oxygen deprived, your joints aching as if they had been punished.
And your skin felt as if you were aflame as you reached a feverish temperature.

It seemed to be working though, it seemed that the swirling current of air was slowing, that you could finally breathe easily, and...
And...
Oh...

Oh no.

It was starting to move in the other direction.
Why, why was it starting to move in the other direction?
Why was it accelerating at such a pace, for that matter?
Had you simply fed more energy into it and told it to turn around or something?
You didn't know how this worked or how you were supposed to stop it!

You were being buffed by a miniature tornado now as the air about you quickly kicked up to gale force, howling as it cast the books about you about the library - as the shelves bolted to the floor rattled and the books upon them were knocked off one by one.
And here you were, in the eye of the storm, wide eyed in horror as your powers went completely out of your control despite your best efforts to handle them.
You were too exausted to do anything about it now as you'd burned all the energy you could muster to try and counter it already, and there was the librarian, rushing out of their corner to yell at you.
Only you couldn't hear a thing they were saying over the howl of the storm that raged about you, you could only tell that they seemed angry - at least until they realised you were staring back at them in wide eyed terror.

And the storm raged all the more fiecely.

You didn't know what you had unleashed here, yet you knew as the librarian attempted to get closer - only to be buffted back by the screaming winds that howled about you - that you would either have to get out of the eye of the storm now and accept that you'd be flung into the shelves, or you'd be trapped here until it subsided.
But here you were, pinned back against the chair, your body feeling like jelly now as your leaden limbs refused to respond.
No, you had to stand up and fight, find reserves that ran deeper than you'd ever found before, push until your body screamed for forgiveness.
The flesh was weak but the mind was stronger.

Your breathing was ragged from a combination of being stolen away by the storm and your exaustion, yet you pushed onward, you forced yourself to start to rise.
The arms of the chair creaked as your weight was placed upon them, as you rose slowly.
Oh, that pain you felt was an exquisite burning sensation that shone brighter than the sun in your mind, yet it was primal fear that had you struggle onward and upward.
You had to do this, you had to escape, you had to survive.
You had to-

...Shit.

Your hoarse screaming was dampened by the winds as you were torn from your precarious position and hauled into the air by the winds that trapped you - briefly - within them as you rose several feet above the ground.
Then, with an almost callous disregard for whom had brought them into being, they cast your form aside.
You twirled through the air as you slammed into the skeletal structure of the now bare metal shelves, tortured metal screaming as the first shelf buckled under the force of your impact and you flipped over it, over the next one.
And clipped the  third row of shelves, as you felt the sensation of heat and warmth blossom inside you in a new manner.
Something was wrong though, you couldn't move, you were simply left laying on your stomach over the shelves, legs over one side, arms over the other as the raging winds continued to buffet you.
You were... Hurt too much, or stunned, you didn't know, you couldn't do much more than-
Why weren't your arms responding to your efforts to move, why were your legs just hanging there, why was-
Everything was going dark and you could see blood - your blood - running freely from... You didn't know if you'd bashed your nose, gashed your face or it was coming from your mouth, you had no sensation apart from that fuzzy wamrth that blossomed within you.
You felt tired, oh so tired, but at least you didn't hurt.
You'd just... Close your eyes...
And when you'd slept this off, you'd get up.

That sounded good right now.

And so you found yourself face to face with... Yourself, with your body as it lay motionless atop the shelves it had landed upon.
From this angle you could see red seeping through the chest of that powder blue hoodie you wore, you could see a gash in it where it'd been torn open by the jagged metal of the shelf you'd slammed into and...
Were you...
Dead?
No, that was impossible, wasn't it?
This had to be an out of body experience, or a delusional dream from the combination of... Everything.

But your efforts to interact with your body were met with no response.
Worse still, as you leaned to look at your face, you could see lifeless eyes staring blankly at the floor beneath you.
"Oh god, my head," echoed the voice of the librarian as they struggled to their feet, clambering upwards as they used the shelves near them as a support. Only for them to freeze as they looked dirtectly at you. Well, not so much as you, as you, as you lay over the shelf. "Hey, are you-" they started as they reached for your wrist, as they braced themselves against the dying winds that still buffeted the room.
"No pulse... Shit. What do I do?" came their fearful words as they brought one hand up to their face, covering their mouth as they took half a step backwards.
"Hey, I'm right here, can you hear me?" you started, only for the woman to take another step back, turn, then-
She stepped right through you.
She couldn't hear you?

Maybe if you focused, maybe if-

"The boss said the LPD c-" came a familiar voice from the halls as the door to the library opened, only for it to be cut short as Millicent's form arrived. "Alyssa!" she screamed, as she rushed over to shelves, repeating the same efforts to find your pulse as the other had, only this time you could see the horror in her expression change to one of denial.
You watched with a detatched fascination as she slapped your cheeks, as she shook you, as she begged and pleaded with you to wake up, telling you that this wasn't a good time to go to sleep.
Maybe you were wrong about her in a few ways.
You couldn't trust her too much given her employment in this agency, but she actually did care about you as a person.

...Though this wasn't the best time be concerning yourself with this.
You had the issue that you were sort of...
"I'm dead... How the fuck do I fix this?" you whispered to yourself as you watched Millicent's efforts to rouse you continue for some moments more before she turned to the horrified librarian.
"Call the fucking medics you slack jawed moron!" she yelled as her anger had the librarian snap to attention, rush over to the phone on the other side of the room and hurriedly start babbling into it.

Millicent on the other hand slumped down with her back against the shelves you lay atop, burying her head in her hands as she suddenly seemed very small.
You didn't know if she could see, feel or hear you, but you figured that if there was anywhere you wanted to be here, it was beside her.

And so you sank down beside her, allowing your growing sense of detachment to calm you as you placed a hand upon her shoulder - reassuringly.
You didn't care if she knew or not, it felt like this was what you were supposed to do right now.

Of course, you couldn't tell her everything'd be fine.
Even if she could hear you, telling her that everything'd be fine would be far from reassuring given you were-
"Millicent, can you hear me?" you asked, wondering if you could indeed  make yourself heard.
Only it was met with silence.
"Millicent, please, it's very important that I know if you can hear me or not."
Further silence.
"Damnit, answer me!" You growled as you reached to pinch her side, only there was no response to this either.

The doors burst open as a team of medics rushed in, as the boss made his way in pale as a ghost behind them.
The librarian, hysterical now over the entire incident babbled their side of the story almost incomprehensibly to the boss, only his attention was drawn away from their sobbing to you.
As in, you.
Not your body.
"Alyssa, your irresponsibility has-" he started in the tone of one trying to assert their authority so that they could command a situation they had no bearing over.
"What the FUCK, she's dead, yelling at her like a fucking idiot isn't going to fucking help anyone you momental fucking moron!" snarled Millicent as she rose to her feet, her one hand snapping up to point at where you lay, as the medics busied themselves about her.
Even as you watched them starting to take your body down from atop the shelves, you could see the mans attention snapping back and forth between you and your body.
"That's... She's stood right..." he mumbled as he pointed right at you. "You can see her, can't you?"
"I don't see anyone there." Millicent's voice came in a measured pace.
It was the calm before the storm once more, though this time a woman was about to explode and a man was about to die.
Or so it seemed, anyway.
"Alyssa, can you hear me?" he uttered aloud, slowly, in the kind of tone someone'd use when trying to talk down to someone with a disability.
"I'm dead, apparently. That doesn't mean I've suddenly become stupid."
"I... Okay, can one of you tell my secretary to inform the LPD there's no issue so we don't need them," he started, before turning his attention back towards you fully " Alyssa, We're going to do everything we can to-"
"Uh, Sir, this is... There's not much we can do here, her ribs have been broken and..."
"And what?" you asked, half turning your head to look at the group huddled about your form. Your hoodie was visible to the side, ruined now with the way it was torn and bloodied, though angling yourself as you could, you couldn't see around them clearly enough to see just how seriously hurt you'd been.
You could see glimpses of your form, bone visible through your chest, a gash on your side, but they were-
"She wants to know what."
"Uh... Okay. Her ribs look like they punctured her heart."
"Okay... Can you prepare her for surgery?"
"Sir, she's not..."
"Historic documents of immortals - such as herself - have told us that they can recover from injuries such as these. Repair as much as the damage as you can to expediate her recovery."
"Uh... Yes sir."

Wait, was that...
Bastards, they'd cut your top off to check you like this.
Oh, this wasn't on.

This was what it took to rouse your ire once more, to snap you back from that detatched and blissful sense of disconnection you felt. It was time to...
...Make your anger known, punch one of them, topple a book case, anything! (Spark power revealed as Dream Walker)
...Tell them to pull those ribs out your heart and punch one of them yourself! (Spark power revealed as Unkillable + Seven Fold Healing Rate.)
...Get up, walk it off and complain that they'd ruined your clothing. (Spark Power revealed as Delayed Regeneration.)
...Take command of the situation through the boss, he could see you, hear you... (Spark power revealed as Divine Voice.)
...Approach this in another manner. (Players choose Alyssa's other thematic upgradable power.)