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Sylvia flashes Sammy a flat but eager smile, the kind of smile that says, 'Oh, this is terrible, everything that's happening--but I like it, I like it!'  With a series of text messages they navigate their way toward Alicia and Hamilton, and Sylvia does her best to provide visual cover for Sammy and herself as they get close enough for Sylvia to put the whammy on Hammy.

Sammy goes along for the ride, concentrating on protecting Sylvia.

Hamilton remains in the lounge, chatting with other teachers.  After a few minutes Mr. Landis comes in and explains about the two incidents.  There is a lot of murmured "Oh my" and some questions about if anyone was hurt.  Mr. Landis satisfies those questions with general answers and then tells everyone to go about their usual business for a short day.

The teachers begin to filter out of the lounge, and Mr. Hamilton heads back to his classroom.

Alicia glides into step next to Sylvia as she heads down the hall. She acknowledges Sammy with a business-like nod.

"He's goin' back to his room. If we're lucky, he'll be there all by hisself," she reports as she stalks, her fists clenching and unclenching. The Hispanic accent is stronger in her voice, betraying her tense anticipation for action.

"So, how do you want to play this, Syl?" Alicia asks. "Easy or hard?" It's obvious from the tone of her voice what her preference is.

"I don't have an arrest record.  I'd prefer to keep it that way," Sylvia says.  "But we do have to keep him from making a sudden break for Acapulco or something like that."

She frowns.  "We should call the PCD."  And thinking is as good as doing it.  She brings her phone to her ear and gives those good gentlemen a call.

It's not hard for her to reach Kiernan, "I just got word something odd happened out there at Oak Park High.  You okay?"

"We're fine," she tells Kiernan.  "It was amateur hour at the Justice League, is all.

"We have data from our suspect's machine.  We can't confirm it's the formula for the mutagen until we can find someone to analyze it, but does this change things?  What do you want us to do?"

"If we come into possession of evidence obtained illegally and know it, then that's a problem.  If you can confirm it's what you think it is then you need to get the press involved, and then the police can.  Once you have the confirmed proof, give it to the Oak Park PD and the news agencies, and I'll try to pretend we never spoke about it.  And, for the record what I want is for teenagers to never have to do this sort of crap.  I don't live in that world though, I live in this one.  so be careful and watch yourselves."

"Wait.  If I can get someone to tell you that he saw the files for this thing on Hamilton's laptop, doesn't that give you the right to investigate?"  Sylvia is sure the answer is no, again, but she has to ask, or she'll feel really dumb when they're hauling Alicia to juvie.

Sammy tugs on Sylvia's sleeve and hisses.  "Wait!  Syl!  Does the PCD still need cause to investigate?  'Cause if you need to put on a show in front of Hamilton to get him to 'fess up, I can help you fake it by moving things you pretend to toss.  You just need to make it so he doesn't see me or Alicia since we'll be your witnesses.  Start crying or something like that where he can hear you -- Ohmigod, I know!  I don't have to breathe -- get in a fight with me outside his door, and attack me.  Pretend to throw me down the hall.  I'll hit some lockers and quit breathing if it looks like I have to fake a death.  Maybe that'll get him talking."

Sylvia blinks in confusion and draws breath to whisper back when she remembers that--oh, yeah--she's a telepath.  She replies to both Sammy and Alicia.  That might work.  I'm just trying to figure out if we can't just have Donnie tell them he saw the files on Hamilton's computer.  Like, can't they just call it an anonymous tip or something?

OOC: For purposes of synchronicity, I'm assuming the incidents occurred after lunch, so that Ailicia would've seen the papers on Hamilton.

Alicia looks at Sammy like a cow looks at an oncoming diesel train.

"Sam," she explains evenly. "This isn' the first time the maricón has done this. I don' think he rilly gives a s**t if someone gets hurt, 'cept mebbe hisself."

"The thing we need to find out is if he has an antee-dote and if it's in dose notes that Donnie took. Thass it.

"As for him tryin' to run, not in his car he isn'..." Alicia bares a feral grin.


Alicia gives the small start mental communication always causes in her, then thinks back, As long as they don't know it was obtained illegally, it's fair game. I'd steal his laptop and drop it in the fuzz'z lap, if it was me. That way there'd be no doubt they were his files.

Her thoughts have the sharp mental tang of a knife's edge.

"We can investigate, but a witness statement that they saw files on a computer means the question of when did the witness see them, did the witness put the files there, did the witness understand the contents of the files.  I'm guessing they weren't Word files named Evil chemical formula?  Then comes the other thing, how do you know something was there to find?  Are the people that were effected getting seen by a doctor? Maybe if something shows up in the tests we can look into it more.  Then the witness statement might have more traction.  If the police get incriminating information anonymously, it can be acted upon, but you called me to talk about it.  Which means I have to remove myself from the case completely.  If you think you have enough to get him nailed, call the locals."

OOC: And if we have to deal with continuity, then this actually happens before lunch.  so I will have to say that the notes were passed before class, which is fine.

Alicia, who can hear Kiernan's side of the conversation quite well, grumbles in disgust. "Same ol'. Same ol'. Cops follow the rules, criminals get to walk."

"Fuck," is what Sylvia says, flatly, completely forgetting herself.  It takes her a few seconds to get over the failures of the system.  "So you're telling me that, if I hadn't called you, we could have--"  She stops herself.  "Okay.  Look.  Never mind.  We'll handle this.  Thanks."

She hangs up in a fit of pique and gives Alicia and Sammy the pinch-lipped look of someone who's trying not to rattle off a chain of profanity.  When she has herself under control, she says, "We're pretty much on our own.  My bad.

"The only problem with stealing Hamilton's laptop is that it introduces the possibility that we planted the evidence on it."  She steeples her fingers in front of her face, Xavierishly.  "Okay.  I propose we find out where his data is, all of it.  Every single scrap.  We take it.  We hide it.  We have leverage on him.  It's important to him, right?  His work?  Maybe we can get him to turn himself in."

"No, you're not hearing me.  He did this to them for a reason.  If Syl breaks down in front of him, it gives him an excuse to move in to 'take care' of her. (Sammy actually makes the finger quote motions.)  To push along his experiment, see where it goes.  If he says something, offers to help in a way that isn't strictly above board, we have him.  We can't just beat it out of him.  I know you want to, but we can't.  It wouldn't hold up.  He could claim that he said anything just to get the pain to stop."


"Blackmail?  That could fly."

Sylvia waits to hear what Alicia thinks, if only because consensus means they weren't able to think of anything better.

Alicia is unhappy but acquiescent. "Problem is, he's been playin' the quiet observer. I don't think he'll want to get his han's dirty by dealin' with one of the girls directly."


Alicia nods with an evil smile. "Yeah, that'd do nicely."

Her head moves down and tilts attentively. "S**t, he's too close to the room for me to get in ahead of him. Sylvia? Could choo make him want to go pee or somethin'? I could sneak in and steal his laptop. That'll make him worry and mebbe think to where the rest of his notes would be. He ain't goin' nowhere in his car, so we could run ahead and take those. Then we'd have him by the short 'n' curlies."

Sylvia nods and gets to it, burrowing deep into Hamilton's head (and looking for any stray, useful bits of information) and then tickling the pelvic nerves that innervate his bladder.  Think of rain.  Think of a waterfall.  Think of that godawful coffee in the teacher's lounge.

Something doesn't seem to be lining up right, but Sammy can't put her finger on it.  Never mind.  Those girls will all see doctors soon.  Somebody smart will figure out what was done to them, and fix it.  We could fix it with what we find on the laptop, if its there, so I guess that's all right.  But Hamilton gets away because we can't prove anything; there are too many holes he can duck through.  I don't want that to happen.

She pulls out her phone and puts it in silent mode -- no button beeps, no rings, no dial sounds , no nothing, and turns the speaker volume all the way down.  Then she makes sure she knows exactly where the '9' key is without having to look -- speed dial for 911.  If Syl gets him talking, Sammy wants somebody to be listening, so she'll speed dial the 911 center.  At the very least, all 911 calls are recorded and time stamped, so they will have their proof.

She waggles the phone at Syl and Alicia.  "In case he starts bragging or threatening, I want to be sure 911 hears it.  Its the next best thing to us being wire tapped."

Hamilton takes a minor detour on his way back to his classroom to go to the mens room.

The moment Alicia hears the change in steps, she's off like a shot. She makes sure the coast is clear before moving in.

Getting through the locked door is a cinch for her; hours of training from a cruel taskmaster guarantees that. Once she's in, it's a snap to grab the laptop from its place.

As she turns to leave, she has a sudden inspiration. Grabbing a sheet of paper and a pencil, she scribbles in big words to hide her handwriting, "WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO THOSE GIRLS" and leaves the incriminating note right on his desk.

Checking again that all is clear outside, she heads out, locking the door behind her. She arrives where her two partners are, showing off her prize.

"I left a lil' surprise for him, Syl. Make sure to check his brain when he comes back," she says, a wicked grin splitting her face. "Sam, we better get ready to move once we have a location to go to."

Sylvia nods and stays hidden, ready to try to find out where else Hamilton has stored his formula.

Hamilton returns to his office.  Sylvia senses his annoyance at the missing laptop, and the note.  He's sure the backups are safe in the fireproof box at home, and he decides to go see someone about this problem.  He exits his classroom intent on talking to the person he feels would have been behind this.  Logan Darklighter.

The pit of Sylvia's stomach drops out.  Logan.  She digs around in her pocket for that phone he gave her and tries to reach him, still tailling Hamilton.

Sammy watches Sylvia's face and sees trouble.  "What?" she urgently whispers.  "What's happening?"

Sylvia's telepathic voice has a star-like quality--distant, clear, and cold--when adrenaline floods her brain.

He's going to talk to Logan.

Hamilton has copies of the files in a fireproof box at his home.  You and Alicia should see if you can find it.  I'll make sure Logan is all right.

She won't be good for much else as long as she's worried about Logan's welfare.  He's her friend, and unlike her other friends, he's only human.

But WHO is going to make sure YOU are all right?  You still need backup, dammit!  Alicia, stick with her for a minute.  I'm calling in support.

She whips out her phone and sends out an all points to the US

File backups in fireproof box @Ham's home.  Hez going after Darklighter now!  Syl needs muscle to protect her.  We b @ 2nd Fl N Corr near W intersection.  SHIT!  We haven't touched the box.  If the cops go in to his home and bust it open, it'll be untainted evidence, yes?  We should let them do the breaking and entering.

Rhys hurries to this location, hoping to run into Sylvia or Alicia on the way - he can certainly be of use, even if it's only as a decoy.

Alicia's mind registers confusion.

Logan? Who the f**k is that?

She shakes her head. Priorities. Did you get a location of the box in his house? That will speed things up.


Alicia's mental response is non-verbal. Annoyance, impatience, confusion. What the hell is going on?


Alicia's opinion on this comes loud and clear as a razzberry. Right. We're gonna trust the fuzz to do the right thing. They've done such a great job so far.

Hamilton goes to the library, where he finds Logan at one of the back study desks reading.  He tosses the note down and glares at Logan.  "I take it this is your handy work?"

***
Text from Dave - I know a guy that might be willing to take a Juvenile B&E wrap if Sammy can hook him up with that cute brunette that plays the sax in band
***

Logan looks at the noted.  "It says we.  I am not a we, nor do I generally write notes indicating such."  He looks up at Hamilton.  "I assume you're here for some reason?"

"My laptop is missing.  And I think you know who took it."

"One, if I did it would violate my strict policy on neutrality to tell you.  And two, as much as I hate to say I don't know something, I don't know who took your laptop."

***
Text from Greg - Email the files from his laptop to the police?
***

"Don't trifle with me young man.  I'm not someone you want as an enemy."

Logan takes his phone from his pocket, setting it on the table.  "Someone stole your laptop, perhaps you should call the police."  He pauses "Unless, there are things on said laptop that might not be good for the police to find there."  He waits for dramatic effect.  "I hear that a couple of cheerleaders might have developed super powers.  You've been helping out the gym coaches lately right?  Helping set up the drink dispenser at practice haven't you?  Leaving a trail of involvement a mile wide is not a good way to act when committing human rights violations."

"Is it blackmail?  I don't have anything, but I could see my way clear to taking you on as a financial partner.  I know the formula works now, I can sell it to the highest bidder.  I could cut you in, say five percent?"

"That's generous, I would expect you'd be looking at billions if you played it right.  but, you're not really that smart, are you.  Nothing makes a man more stupid than a fist full of cash.  You'd let yourself get in with some Ultra-Terrorist group, get wrapped up in the work and end up not getting paid.  More likely they'd shoot you and dump you in a river somewhere once they had the formula.  Whoever took your laptop has one of two things in mind.  Try for a payoff, or get you arrested.  Neither of those really matters to me.  Now, if you'll excuse me, Pooh is stuck in the tree and Rabbit is having a nervous breakdown."  and Logan goes back to reading.

Hamilton goes from angry, to furious, to panic, then to terrified.  He turns and runs from the library to the parking lot, where he discovers his car has been sabotaged.  His panic intensifies, and he races back to the office to call a cab.

Sylvia runs to keep up, and when Hamilton picks up his phone, she's there.  She hears the terror in his voice, and she pushes him closer to the edge of a panic attack, just to incapacitate him and buy the others some time.  Everything's falling apart, she observes, speaking directly to his subconscious mind.  The police are coming, and they don't take kindly to people who poison little girls.  You're going to wind up in a tiny little cell with a very big man--who has no appreciation for science.

Hamilton had to go to the office to use the phone.  He was in the process of calling a cab, but stopped.  It's no use.  He thinks, then heads back to his classroom.  They're going to find out everything, and this time the company wont cover it up.  He seems to be satisfied that it works though, he's done what he set out to do.  I'm sure when word gets out someone will want to formula.  They'll arrange for my release.  Even if it's one of those ultra-terrorist groups like Logan said.  I could work for them, yeah.

Sylvia digs to find out if Hamilton remembers enough of the formula to reconstruct it.

Not that he can remember enough to reconstruct, but he started from where he left off before.  Next time it will be the same.  He's a methodical man, very meticulous.

OOC: Need a Notice check from Sylvia. And I need to wait to see who is still with you and who has gone where.

{If Rhys was able to find her, he'll be where she is.}

My mind to your mind. (1d20=17) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053123/)

OOC: Following the directions given you would have had no trouble finding them.

Darklighter...Logan?  Why?  What the hell did they do??

It takes Laney's trembling fingers longer than they should to reply:
he knows?? need reason 2 call pd 2 search house. dont touch him. he will go free




For the third time, Laney finds herself trying to persuade the US to use a decoy to bait Hamilton.
he knows. syl confess 2 files. be u. be victim.

The third time...why three?  If she were superstitious, Laney would seek answers there.  Instead, she integrates the number into a series of numbers, with one in particular, that keep manifesting whenever she thinks of Hamilton.  Only vaguely aware of her surroundings, the girl begins wandering up random halls with her head bowed, musing.  

Dave:  I'll go out with B&E if she won't.  Send him to Hamz house and tell him to WAIT. I'll meet him there in case we have to stall Hamilton.

Sammy spins and tells Rhys "WATCH SYLVIA'S BACK.  Alicia, keep that laptop safe.  One of you send the files to the cops and tell them the backups are at Hamilton's place in a safe.  I'll go there now to stop him if he gets away from here."  She takes to the air to get to Hamilton's house.

Rhys rips off a smart salute. "Yes, ma'am!" He doesn't let Sylvia out of his sight.

Alicia is left holding a laptop and looking utterly confused. "But I wanted to break into his house," she whines to Rhys. "I had the route all worked out already..." She shuts up when she realizes she's talking out loud.

Looking crestfallen, she pulls out her phone and starts typing a text to Donnie.


dragon dood, samy sez sned copy of files to fuzz, tell em backups r in safe @ Ham's house


She looks to Syl. "I'm gonna go stash the hot stuff. Anything else you want me to do?"

[Waiting on result of Notice Check.]

Plans are made, and people are talking.  Hamilton is moving about the room, getting things set up for class the next tomorrow.  Then Sylvia realizes he's not getting things set up for class.  He's about to blow himself to kingdom come.

OOC: Need Sylvia to make a Will Save DC 12

No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! (1d20+2=5) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053180/)

Spending a hero point.

Really, no-o-o-o-o-o! (1d20+2=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053184/)

I believe that's a 19+2, so 21.

{Where are we? Just outside his classroom, or on the other side of the building? If Sylvia tells us his plan, we may still be able to stop him in time...}

OOC: Tell me about it. If Alicia knew half of what's going on, she could actually do something. ???

[Sylvia's still waiting to hear what she's allowed to do.  :P  ]

OOC: Cass, just have Sylvia do one of those data dumps right into Alicia's and Rhys's heads, and anyone else she can/wants to. This way, Alicia can have her epiphany and describe the cunning plan that is forming in her mind.

Donnie heads into the Library, waving at the old librarian behind the desk as he slides into a chair in front of the bank of computers there for research. A little 'computermancy' and it's singing hosannas in Donnie's name. He lines up an info-squirt behind Hamilton's recent IP addy and plugs in the flashdrive, sending the majority (but not all) of the data to the inbox of ***.

No one man should have the entire formula, methinks. Plus, there is a high probablility that the school email service may not be sancrosact, considering how many brainiacs and info-dealers we have in this school. Science Club, Logan, and Dave's Merry Men amongst that.

Dear Mr. Police Officer,
Attached to this file is most of a scientific formula utilized by Mr. * Hamilton, a science teacher at our school. We have reason to believe that duplicates of the formula are in hard copy or as digital back-ups in some sort of fire-safe or lockbox in Hamilton's home. Mr. Hamilton has performed experiments, utilizing this formula to genetically alter students without their knowledge, specifically the cheerleading squad. I am sure you have heard of the recent incidents at our school where the cheerleading squad has suddenly started tossing fat rude seniors and heavy metal doors around like toys. He seems to have had a history of this sort of thing, if you check up on his past records and deeds. I think his actions speak for themselves.

Signed,
a concerned student

OOC: Okay, now I'm confused.

[You asked for a Will Save.  I thought there'd be some stunning conclusion.  If not. . . . ]

Sylvia flashes information to whichever brains seem ready for it and sprints toward Hamilton, trusting that the other Suspects are reacting to it in their own time.  Does Hamilton have a gun in his hand?  Does he have his hand resting oh-so-lightly on a TNT plunger?

Rhys follows close behind.

Alicia absorbs Sylvia's info-dump and runs along, her mind racing furiously along with her feet.

Suddenly she screeches to a halt. "Stop!"

She looks to Sylvia. "I may have a way to fix part of this." Then to Rhys. "Ree-is, turn yourself into Sylvia and buff yourself up enough to break down the door to his classroom. Go in and accuse him of turning you into a monster, ruining your life, all that stuff, then fall apart in the middle of the rant. Literally. Like mutate inside out, or melt into a puddle, or something. HE HAS TO BELIEVE THE FORMULA DOESN'T WORK!

"I'll come in at that point, confront him, and convince him the only way he has to get out of this alive is to give himself in, provide an antidote and 'cure' the other girls.

"Sylvia, keep track of his state of mind. If he needs a nudge, go for it. If he doesn't buy it, or decides to buy the farm anyway, warn me.

"OK?"

Sammy spins around and heads back to the school, not sure she'll get there in time.

She hits the 911 button on her phone.

There's a lot happening in a few seconds.  Sylvia hears Alicia, but she's moving as they talk.  She has one meaningful, independent chance of stopping this, and that's to put Hamilton in a kind of mental lockdown, to shove him into his own subjective reality so he can't hurt himself.

[This doesn't preclude the Rhys plan.  It just seems kind of weird for Sylvia to come to a screeching halt while Alicia delivers her monologue.]

Over the course of the last few steps to the classroom, Rhys morphs into a larger version of Sylvia, with bulging muscles and tearing clothes. He rips the door open and storms into the room, wailing as he does in Sylvia's voice.

"What's happening to me?"

Even as he stops in front of Hamilton's desk, he continues to slowly change, becoming more grotesque...

Hamilton is sitting at his desk.  He looks up, his brow furrows slightly.  "Hmm, aberrant.  He opens the lighter in his hand.

OOC: Notice checks from whoever entered the room.

Rhys notices nothing. He's too busy putting on a show...

1d20=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053690/)

Alicia senses something wrong and comes in a bit early in the script, hoping to salvage the scene.

"Sylvia! No!"

What's all this then? (1d20 10=13) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053847/)

OOC: Crap. Lousy rolls. Time to go boom.

Hamilton strokes the lighter.

OOC: Need a Fate Roll from Alicia and Rhys and Laney and Colin.

I think Invisible Castle is trying to tell me something...

Rhys Fate:  1d20=1 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2053893/)

OOC: I need a Search Roll and Fate Roll from Sylvia, duh.  Sorry.

Fate's a b**ch and we're all her puppies  (1d20=11) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054000/)

Oh, sure, now you roll the average.

Notice: Who? What? Huh? (1d20=4) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054018/)

Search: Where'd I leave that--? (1d20+2=10) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054020/)

Fate: Exactly how screwed am I? (1d20=18) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054021/)

Yeah, well...
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054043/
1d20+? → [10] = (10+?)  

I have no idea where I am, but I'll roll my fate anyway. (1d20=16) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054088/)

OOC: This is a few minutes after the dismissal bell.  You were with Laney in the hall, so you might have walked out with her.

For Sammy:  Fate (1d20=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2054193/)

Laney seems to be struggling with the occurrence of the number four-one-seven.  It's been happening all day.  The last straw is near the bike racks, where Colin is getting his bike.  The buses are lined up and students are trying to get on.  She's off to the side, and the sports jerseys in every line have a person with a four, then a one, then a seven standing together.  And in most of the lines it's more than one group.  There is some delay at loading since the first bus seems to have broken down.  Bus # 4.  Buss # 1 is behind it.  And then bus # 7.

As they chat Colin can sense her distraction, and his tattoo begins to itch.

Walked off with her, more like. 
She was completely confused by the text messages and had no idea where she was wandering. (Eventually, when she accepts her own limitations and can overcome her shame, she'll talk to the US about her disabilities like she's been advised to do, and they'll learn how to interact with her better.  For now, they're on their own figuring things out.)  Assume either by speech or contact, Colin does retain Laney's attention, enough that her wandering isn't random.  She's been guided without realizing it.  Guided outside to:



"It's not the time...the date...not that many...no, not that many...it's not that many...room number...it...he isn't..." Murmuring frustrated nonsense, Laney opens her cell phone and scrolls through the last few text messages.  She's sure this has to do with Hamilton, as he's been foremost on her mind all morning.  Missing data...   Then Laney drifts away from the world, or the world parts from her.  Anyone's guess.  She follows the patterns wherever they lead.

Edit:
I should add to be a liiittle more specific:
She follows the patterns wherever they lead.  This includes, in spite of her denial, an internalized tally - a guess, if you will, of how many students are likely to be in which buildings at this time.  Simultaneously, she murmurs, "Which building is that room in?" to no one in particular, while her fingers play those three numbers out on her phone's keypad.

Colin reaches towards his shoulder and moans loudly.

"No no no no, it shouldn't go this way."

He tries to get out his phone, but his shoulder refuses, and he cries in pain again.

"John!" he shouts, hoping he could hear him anyway. "Get them out of Hamilton's office! Now!" His voice is different, and it goes further than it should, as if he asked the air to carry it on. Then it suddenly drops, and he starts murmuring in an unknown language.

Laney suddenly feels a wave surging from Colin. It something only someone with her sensitivity can notice, but it's almost like he's pulling on the strings of time, trying to stretch it, to send a bubble of it in John's direction. She's never experienced anything like this, as some patterns are normally far too deep to be affected. It's like Colin took a dive through them to reach the layer of time, and what he did is really strange, but, in a sort of way, beautiful.

Three symbols on his arms become white hot. Colin's shirt takes fire.

Laney had already dropped her phone at Colin's first shout.  Her backpack follows, sliding down her shoulder and sinking into a grimy pile of plowed snow.  Weaving slightly, her face draining of color as she focuses on something no around them can see, Laney appears about ready to faint.

Colin's urgency meshes with her frantic calculations, the pressure in her head rapidly building with such intensity that she must release it.  There are only two options: flee or -

Laney tenses and turns towards the school buildings, her eyes wild with fear; she is surely about to run back inside to find the others.


But ignoring a flaming boy is challenging, even for one as easily distracted as Laney.

Meaning to help, she screams and reaches for Colin's arm.

For some people time can seem to crawl by.  John is one of those people.  His perception of moments can sometimes be murderous if he's trying to seem normal.  He buses were loading, and there were people milling about.  Conversations in a crowd can be painful for him, entirely too much data all at once.  Then he hears Colin's voice, cutting through the noise of the world.  It's a conscious thought, overdrive.  His temperature soars, and the world becomes populated with mannequins.  John has had his super speed since he was a little boy.  For him there were lessons learned that most people never think of.  Never hop over something, the second you do you become a slave to the speed of gravity.  When seconds are all you have, gravity can seem very slow.  He weaves through the crowd, up the steps and through the door. Four floors, and the hall.  He's already looking through the wall into the room.  And he passes Sylvia in the hall.  There wont be time to get them out and then get back to her and protect all of them.

The doors open outward, but those are seconds John doesn't have, and when it's all done no one will know.  He plows through the door, shifts left and pushes Rhys and Alicia, yelling "Go up." as he does.  They fly out the windows.  He just hopes Rhys can change in time and catch her.  Sammy is flying this way, fast. She'll see them, and the glass falling, her instincts will do the rest.

John stops, and then starts back the opposite direction.  The spark from the lighter has caught the gas and a slowly expanding bubble of red fury moves outward from Hamilton.  The wall gives no resistance to John, none he registers anyway.  He stops at Sylvia and pushes her into a crouch, shielding her with his body.

Rhys and Alicia are hurled out the windows, and the instruction was clear, Go up.  Rhys' form glides easily into his winged angel, and he swoops left, Alicia's hand is there, waiting for his like a trapeze partner.  Grabbing her hand he pulls up with a powerful beat of his wings, clearing the roof.

Sammy sees them, and then sees the expanding fireball.  There must be four hundred kids out there waiting for the buses.  As the world above them shatters she pushes herself and raises a malestrom wall of air to shield them.

The sound happens last, the kaboom, and the shattering of glass, cement, and steel.  Screams of shock and terror, people duck instinctively.  Colin  stands still, feeling the threads of the universe vibrate.  Laney too stands still, almost as though she knew there was going to be an explosion and had braced for it.

Sylvia was entranced in the thought.  Hamilton had resigned himself to a firey end.  Then the world began to crumble, and that protective wall was there.  Hot fragments of the world flew by, but none struck her.  The world was warm, almost uncomfortably so, and very loud.

Then there was a silence.  It wasn't silence, you could hear the sound of people breathing, and the gentle rain as the last fragments of the debris fell harmlessly in a wide ring around the four hundred and seventeen students who were waiting for the buses.

Then the world snapped back to normal, like the stroking of a guitar string.  A single strange note that put everything back into motion.

Rhys, hovering in the air and holding Alicia, lets out a long string of Welsh curses.

"Well, that didn't go as planned, did it? What the cnych did that twll tin do, anyway?"

"No one... dies... on my watch" Colin murmurs, his voice back to normal, and faints.

The symbols on his arms stop glowing and vanish altogether in his arms, like he never had any tattoo. His shirt is still ablaze though, and it's beginning to give him serious burns.

Laney was busy trying to put out said fire.   Then the explosion occurred.  When Colin hits the ground, so does Laney, as she tries to smother the flames with her body...her coat...whatever she has, unaware she's crying.

Sammy blinks, and starts yammering frantically and at full speed to the 911 operator who has answered.  "Explosion, Oak Park High School, top... 4th floor, a bunch... hundreds... of people outside, I don't know how many are still in there, I don't know how many are hurt, it blew out part of a wall I think... my friends might be in there oh god they were trying to stop Mr Hamilton, he's the one who did it, the explosion I mean, he hurt those cheerleaders and then he knew he was caught and oh god... I'm going in there, I have to find them... I won't hang up, no, I'm GOING IN THERE, no, YOU don't understand, it'll be okay, I don't have to breathe and I'll try really hard not to burn either..."

She envelops herself in a thick layer of air and crashes through a nearby window, going in after whoever might be left inside.

Outside, time proceeds.  Inside, time distends.

Hamilton stands behind his desk with his hand on a lighter, the expression on his face not bleak, but resigned.  A touch of fear pinches the framework of his eyes, and Sylvia takes a leap toward him, trying to squeeze down on what he's about to do, trying to make him stop.  She doesn't want him to die.  She doesn't want anyone to die.  And she's right there with him, seeing through his eyes, feeling his thumb on the trigger, feeling the crush of adrenaline around his heart and lungs as he resolves not to outlive his work.  She's going to turn him.  That's what she's going to do.  She's going to turn him and--

Stop, says a voice, cool and gentle like a star in the sky.  It sounds at first like Smith.  Then she realizes:  it sounds like her.  It's too late.  Go back.  You don't want to see this.

Then time accelerates.  The explosion is sudden and fiery.  Shreds of paper incinerate like dissolving fireworks as they spray into the air.  Shreds of--

--something worse--

--wood and wall and acoustic tile and blackening organic matter fly in a fast, high arc, and it's not so much that her whole life passes before her eyes as she thinks, This is my life.  This is the end of my life.  I wish I had gotten more done.

Then John is there, and she finds herself hidden in the curve of his body, limbs weak with panic so she hangs like a ragdoll in his arms.

Outside, time proceeds.  Inside, time stops.

Alicia walks into the room, sensing in Hamilton's voice that something's wrong. So wrapped into maintaining the facade they've concocted, she doesn't realize the significance of the lighter and the tang in the air until much too late.

She screwed up. She's totally misread the situation and now they're going to die for her mistake. Hamilton Sylvia, her... Rhys.

She doesn't even have to time to draw her breath ioto a scream before she feels the rush of air and a familiar scent - John - and suddenly she's airborne, glass spreading from their point of impact through the windows.

Her kinesthetic sense immediately reorients her. She instinctively reaches for Rhys and he grabs her hand as his wings spring forth and hold them up and lift them out of the blast.

She clambers up and holds Rhys tight, reaction making her tremble. He's alive, I'm alive. The thought that follows takes her breath away as her throat closes tight. Sylvia!

She scans out. Her vaunted enhanced senses fail her, as the screams and shouts of the crowd below and the stench of flame and fear (and blood) overwhelm her. She begins to scramble, trying to pull herself out of Rhys's embrace, heedless of the height.

"Sylvia! I can't hear her! Oh God, Ree-is! She's still in there!"

Rhys holds on to her, tight as he can; although he does make for the ground.

"John was there - we have to hope that he got her, too. There's nothing we can do until the fire dies down - you're not fireproof."

Alicia struggles a few seconds more before the truth in Rhys's words sink in. She then collapses in his arms and clings to him, sobbing loudly.

Between sobs, she gasps disconsolately, "It's my fault. I'm sorry. Please, don't let her be dead." It's not clear who she's addressing.

Sammy finds the floor of the room and the back wall gone.  The roof has held.  The inside wall has come apart save for the reinforced beams.  Debris is scattered all down the halls, and there, kneeling down is John.  He pushes a chunk of the ceiling off off and stands, lifting Sylvia into his arms.  He turns and sees her.  "Did Alicia and Rhys make it okay?"  This is where the sometimes stammering, sometimes silent John is at home.  The middle of chaos. 

The staff begin to get the students away from the building, and the buses move.  The sound of sirens can be heard getting closer.

Laney manages to put Colin's fire out without setting herself ablaze.

The explosion rocked the building and set off a panic.  Donnie helped clear the library, and then helped get people out of the building.  He's slightly surprised at how paralyzed some people become in pressure situations, and then it dawns on him that a few months ago he might have been one of those types of people.

OOC: Sammy can make the rounds and finds that there was no one else in this part of the building.

Once upon a time, Laney was strong enough to have dragged Colin over to an undamaged building, to shelter him from the cold.  Things changed.
Seeking out her miniscule tube of burn cream would be a joke at this point.  So Laney remains kneeling beside Colin, who she's covered with her own heavy coat.  She's in as much shock as any of the other four hundred sixteen people nearby; and anyone who speaks to her is greeted with an uncomprehending stare.

"Yeah, they're all right.  Ambulances are on the way.  Get her out.  I'm going to check for others."


Sammy comes back out and finds Sylvia and John.  "Is she going to be okay?"

John has walked Sylvia down the stairs, and out the back doors.  He's set her down and gently looked her over for injuries.  "I don't see anything wrong physically."  he says, "But she's not responsive.  It might be shock.  It might be more."  he looks back at the ring of debris and the mostly unharmed students.  "Nice work by the way.  You kept a lot of people from getting hurt."

Donnie helps Mrs. Westerly over a fallen beam, keeping an eye out for any more falling debris. He had lifted (flung, really) a fallen bookshelf off of a screaming junior and got a couple basketball players to carry her out, likely with a broken wrist from the look of it. It was strange, how calm he was, telling people to do this, help that person, follow me this way. Calm under fire, he shook his head in rueful amusement at how he might have been screaming and panicky six months ago.

He waits until the last person from his little library group makes it out of the building, handing Mrs Westerly over to an EMT. He pulls out his cellphone and texts an all points message:

Everyon chck in! Was that Ham? Any1 hurt?

Sylvia looks up then, her face doll-like in its impassive sweetness, her voice slow, calm, and uninflected.  "I'm fine.  Go help the others."

John doesn't answer.  He nods, then looks to Sammy silently asking her to stay with Sylvia before he goes.  He's in his element, disaster, and he goes to work treating injured students. 

Fire trucks, ambulances, and police arrive.  "Room four-seventeen."  they're told, and the fire fighters head up to ensure there is no further risk of fire.

"It was a gas explosion."  they hear.  

"We think one of your teachers might have killed himself."  The police confide to Mr. Landis within earshot of Alicia and a few of the others.

The fire department secures the building and gives the all clear, no further risk.

Parents begin to arrive, and the news.  The police keep everyone back, and try to get statements.  One by one the students get checked out and sent across the line to their parents.  Mobile phones are out, text messages and calls sent.  

Sammy hugs Sylvia tightly against her.  "I was so scared for you guys.  There was so little time..."  Since the crisis is now over, the enormity of the situation can be acknowledged.  She starts to cry a little.  "I thought you were all going to die.  I was so scared."

You're alive, you're alive, you're alive, you're all alive...

Once Rhys has set down, Alicia is out of his arms, dashing around the crowd, her senses on full alert. She stops by briefly where Laney and Colin are, long enough to make sure that Colin is in stable condition. But her goal is further on.

She arrives where John, Sammy and Sylvia are a bit after Sylvia answers John.

"Syl!" Alicia falls to her knees by the prone Sylvia. "Are you all right? I'm sorry! I screwed up! Please be all right!" she babbles, gasping back sobs. Her sunglasses are long gone, thrown off by the explosion. Her golden eyes are raw with emotion: fear, guilt, anxiety.

Sylvia puts her hand to Sammy's shoulder.  "It's okay.  No one was hurt but Hamilton."


"I'm fine," Sylvia repeats.  "It's all right."

Sammy frees up one of her arms and uses it to hug Alicia too.  "I never saw anything more beautiful than Rhys lifting you out of there," she cries.  "Except maybe John pushing off parts of the roof and standing up so I could see he and Sylvia were alive."  She hugs both girls, then kisses them both on the foreheads.  "You're okay," she repeats through her tears.

Donie clutches his phone and starts to wander, worry increasing as no one answers his text message. He shakes off the attentions of an EMT, surprised to find he had a cut along his shoulder, shirt spotty with blood.

Come on guys, tell me you're alright..

He feels the worry and fear start to slowly build.

Rhys responds to Donnie's text.

Alicia Sammy Sylvia John n me all right I dont know about Colin

She refuses to draw parallels to the other explosion she witnessed not long ago. That door she vows to keep sealed until she dares open it at home, where it’s safe.  Where no one will hear.

Like a ghost unseen, Laney slips silently through the chaos, released from the anchor that was her concern for Colin after the EMTs removed him.  Enthralled, she watches the patterns disintegrate before her eyes, as people scurry frantically like ants to dismantle and rebuild.  The campus landscape had changed, and it was thrilling to interpose her memories of how it was with now.

It is beautiful and terrible, and she wants so very much to go back in time and see its genesis and watch its entropic descent once more.




Numbly, Laney steps up a curb, being guided by her aunt’s firm hand back to the car.  She acknowledges the older women’s relieved chatter with meek “yes, ma’ams” and “no, ma’ams.”  Something about the boys staying with the neighbors after school, Mike’s night to work late, Laney being dropped off at home so her aunt can return to her job - not unexpected, since Jean works at the hospital. 

A small, metallic glint captures the girl’s attention by her foot: a candy wrapper.  Squinting at the foil for a second, Laney can make out a design in its wrinkled surface: a row of five tiny, red hearts.

"Over five on the scale.”  

How far does that reach? 

“You are…connected to everything around you.  That’s how you affect the world.”

“Strings…If this is true, I’m like a spider trapped in my own web…How do I escape?”

“Just as they would deal with a venomous snake or spider, were one to be found in a household.  It must be destroyed. There can be no coexistence.”
“What’s that mean?”
“They burned her, of course, and buried her ashes in unhallowed ground.  Then they slew her mother.”
“No!  Nan, why?  Did they kill her father, too?”

“You imposed a pattern… even when it’s, well, impossible.”

“One tenth of one percent.”

Too many.  Against the odds.  Why all of them here and now?   Like the hearts…the ones I gave John…Manufacturer’s rejects, all contained in the same box…  Impossible.

“Like rocks that make up the rapids in a river.  We are part of the equation, part of what makes random work.”

They weren’t looking for Hamilton; they were trying to solve yet another strange occurrence.  Four hundred seventeen…Would he have been here if I weren’t?  He’s an accident.  Like Whitney’s box...fifteen…Chances.  What else?  Since I moved here in August…since I came to this city…What else have I done?

“Concentrate on a number, one of those hard to get. Say, eleven.”

“You are only eleven.  You will not understand.  She could not stop what she was.  They could not stop what she was.  The father?  Stupid question.  Listen, you have made your brother cry.”


It is beautiful and terrible, and she wants so very much to scream. 

All she can manage is a whisper so faint the wind swallows her fragile words, “Please…I need it to stop.”






Edit:
Yes, that's "curb" not "curve."
Nothing to see here.  Move along.

Alicia clings to Sammy, tears running down her cheeks, then sits back, hugging herself to control her trembling. "I'm sorry," she keeps repeating, an unconscious mantra.

Rhys, now in his normal form once more, comes up and sits behind her. He holds her and rests his head on her shoulder and says nothing.

Alicia tries to sit back and does, a little, but Sammy doesn't want to lose physical contact.  When Rhys arrives, Sammy's arm moves from Alicia's arm to wrap around his shoulders, and her side is pressed against Alicia.  She still holds on tight to Sylvia, and she is still crying tears of shock and relief.  Distantly, she notices how far away the debris field was deflected.  I did that.

The comforting presence of both Rhys and Sammy succeed in bringing Alicia back from her fugue. The tension and trembling subside and she's left, still half-sitting, half-sprawled on the debris-littered parking lot.

Her mind is still a wild maelstrom of swirling emotions and her eyes are filled with the gruesome image of Hamilton's calm remote face as he calmly ignites his own destruction. It's a sight that will haunt her for a long time to come.

Finally she manages to push words past her numb lips. "C-C-Colin. He's hurt. S-someone should check on him."

Sylvia seems to raise her gaze to the sky as if listening, and then with the mildest crease of worry between her eyebrows, she leaves the knot of hugs and tears and heads toward the police.  Even amid the chaos she manages to get an officer's undivided attention, and they head off in search of Colin Crow.

OOC: This is just before Cassie's post

A hand comes to rest on Sammy's shoulder.  It's Elrod.  He lowers himself and wraps his arms around her.

***

Jean is about to pull out and suddenly John is there.  She starts, slamming on the breaks.  "What the?"  John comes to the passenger side and opens the door.

"I needed to make sure you were okay."  he says, and then he leans in and hugs her.  He looks up at Jean, "Sorry if I startled you.  I need to get back."  He lets Laney go and closes the door.  Jean looks at Laney, then back up and John is no where to be seen.

"Wha...?  I need to get my eyes checked."  she says, carefully pulling away.

***

Mr. Landis comes over to where the small gathering of Usual Suspects is.  He kneels down, "It would seem that the police are concerned Mr. Hamilton took his own life.  Something about files they got emailed to them and the cheer leading squad.  I've asked the fire department to go through the entire school and ensure there are no other gas leaks."  he puts a hand on Sylvia's shoulder, "If there is a lab, it's going to get found."  He looks around the group.  "Make sure to contact your parents.  They're sure to be worried."  He gets up and goes to other groups to chat with them, probably continuing to give the advice about contacting parents.

***

OOC: within an hour or so everyone is checked out and either taken to the hospital or sent home.  Everyone's mom or dad arrives and finds them once they can get inside the police barrier or you go to find them.

Unless there is anything else you need to do in this thread I'm closing it.

Obviously lunch will need to be amended, which I will do shortly.  School is closed Wednesday and Thursday but back in session Friday.

The cheerleaders all go to the hospital or see their family doctor for tests.  A rep from the department of health tells the parents (after the police tell them the details) that the girls have all been subjected to some sort of mutagen, but there is a counter agent for it.  They are all given a quantity of the counter agent (it mixes will with gatoraide :P) and are told to get retested in a week.  All of them will be completely recovered by then.

Anything else pressing we need a thread for we can work out.

OOC:  I'm ready to be done with it.

Alicia is quiet and withdrawn, staying close to Rhys until Consuelo arrives to take her home. She tries to avoid attention from the police and generally do her best to Not Be Seen.

The trip home is quiet, at least on Alicia's side, and once at home she retreats to her room and stays there most of the time afterwards.

OOC: Unless grdell wants a Rhys/Alicia heart-to-heart, I'm good to go.

The acute fear Laney felt for her friends’ lives evaporated in the aftermath of the explosion, like it was never there.  They were safe, she knew, and there was nothing she could provide them.  The vacuum was filled: she was saturated with the far-reaching pattern, at first abstractly resplendent, now too nightmarish to accept.



Laney turned her head; her arm shifted.  Perhaps she meant to return John's embrace - or warn him.  Then he was gone; and she remained seated quietly, looking forward, her dark eyes dull, empty.

She felt twisted and used, like tungsten in a light bulb. Spent.  She knew there should be something - relief, remorse…something – and there was a clinical section of her mind which logically attributed her absence of emotion as shock.





This numb feeling doesn’t fade, for which Laney is grateful.  She drifts listlessly through the days, ceases her struggle to focus on things that should matter, for something was waiting for her.  Something horrible.   This behavior is different from the hysterics her family members are prepared for.  The sedatives help her sleep, and appointments are scheduled...

There had been so few injured people in the explosion that the EMTs give Colin the priority and carry him to the hospital almost immediately. Once there they medicate his burns and treat his dislocated shoulders, then they give him an MRI, because, despite being physically all right, he doesn't wake up. The MRI finds nothing, though, so they keep him under observation, wondering what to do. It's like there is no one home.

Colin stays 'away' for precisely a day. If anyone wants to visit him, we can play it out. Same thing if someone would like to be there when he wakes up. Otherwise, we can just skip to whenever we get together next.

ooc: Donnie will be there for as much as possible.

Laney stays away for various reasons.  Colin acquired her coat, however.

John will stop in, at least once.  He will probably return Laney's coat, but leave it with Jean.  Otherwise John will be scarce the rest of the week.

Rhys will visit Wednesday morning, after his dad goes to work.

Alicia will come along, acting very quiet and timid.