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There was a notebook and a felt-tip marker hovering in mid-air inside the office of the Headmistress of the Xavier School. Behind it, Julia stood, invisible, inside her new hard light exoskeleton. She would have sat down, but she was still having trouble moving and manipulating the shell.
She was a little nervous, still unsure about interacting with people again, even though Mrs. Grey-Ramsey had been filled in that Julia wasn't just a mass hallucination brought on by mid-term exam jitters. It had been a while since anyone had noticed her, and just as long since she'd sat in a classroom.
The pen vibrated slightly against the notebook. Julia was trying hard to keep her nervousness in check. They didn't need any more bleeding walls or fly infestation incidents.
She was a little nervous, still unsure about interacting with people again, even though Mrs. Grey-Ramsey had been filled in that Julia wasn't just a mass hallucination brought on by mid-term exam jitters. It had been a while since anyone had noticed her, and just as long since she'd sat in a classroom.
The pen vibrated slightly against the notebook. Julia was trying hard to keep her nervousness in check. They didn't need any more bleeding walls or fly infestation incidents.
It had been several weeks since Julia had found her way to the Xavier Mansion. Several long frustrating weeks, interspersed with a few explosions and moments of sheer terror. She'd thought of giving up and moving on to somewhere else, but she had a gut feeling that this was the best place for her. They were certainly used to unusual happenings, after all.
If she could only get someone to notice her.
Sure, they'd noticed her presence, but every time she'd tried to communicate, all she'd done was scare someone. So, she'd stopped trying to interact directly, and started practicing another method. She'd started with small objects, working on them until she could control their movements. From there, large objects weren't too hard. Now, she was ready to try something more complex.
She drifted into one of the empty classrooms and made her way to a computer station. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on what she wanted to do.
Can't mess it up this time.
She ran her fingers into the box and thought, hard. A phrase popped up on every monitor connected to the school network.
Help Me
If she could only get someone to notice her.
Sure, they'd noticed her presence, but every time she'd tried to communicate, all she'd done was scare someone. So, she'd stopped trying to interact directly, and started practicing another method. She'd started with small objects, working on them until she could control their movements. From there, large objects weren't too hard. Now, she was ready to try something more complex.
She drifted into one of the empty classrooms and made her way to a computer station. She closed her eyes, and concentrated on what she wanted to do.
Can't mess it up this time.
She ran her fingers into the box and thought, hard. A phrase popped up on every monitor connected to the school network.
Help Me
Julia had tried to stay out of the way as much as possible in the aftermath of the attack on the school. She didn't want to traumatize the shaken up students any further by making them wander into her cold spots, or make the clean up more difficult by jamming the doors or blowing up one of those vacuum things that looked like a cross between a Roomba and an armored mecha unit... and how cool were those, anyways? But it was hard. And boring. Oh, God, was it boring.
It was early early in the morning, before dawn, when she drifted into the kitchen. It was dark, with nothing but the glowing clock display on the microwave, and quiet, just the hum of the refrigerators. Just the hum, and a...beep? Her attention was caught by a blinking light and another time display. It was a fancy coffee maker, the kind that could be programmed to start brewing at a specific time, and that also made cappuccino and espresso. Cappuccino... Julia missed that. She hadn't even gotten sick of it the summer she worked in the coffee house, making endless cups. She floated over to the machine. There was the lever on the side to pull to draw up an espresso. She brushed it with her finger, and the machine made a gurgling sound, just as if it was delivering dark, rich, caffeinated goodness. Julia smiled, and lightly touched the glass flask on the other side for steaming milk. The coffee maker hissed, and a little puff of steam came out. Oh, if she could only make herself a big mug right now. She leaned her head forward, as if she could smell the brewing liquid... and the machine came apart, sending a shower of coffee grounds, shattered glass, and pieces of tubing through her immaterial form.
Julia wailed in frustration. What she heard in her head was more of an "Auugh!". What echoed throughout the silent hallways, however, was more of an
"AhhhhhhhWOOOOOeeeeOOOOOeeeeOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
The microwave, and everything else with a digital or LCD display on the entire first floor was now blinking 12:00.
It was early early in the morning, before dawn, when she drifted into the kitchen. It was dark, with nothing but the glowing clock display on the microwave, and quiet, just the hum of the refrigerators. Just the hum, and a...beep? Her attention was caught by a blinking light and another time display. It was a fancy coffee maker, the kind that could be programmed to start brewing at a specific time, and that also made cappuccino and espresso. Cappuccino... Julia missed that. She hadn't even gotten sick of it the summer she worked in the coffee house, making endless cups. She floated over to the machine. There was the lever on the side to pull to draw up an espresso. She brushed it with her finger, and the machine made a gurgling sound, just as if it was delivering dark, rich, caffeinated goodness. Julia smiled, and lightly touched the glass flask on the other side for steaming milk. The coffee maker hissed, and a little puff of steam came out. Oh, if she could only make herself a big mug right now. She leaned her head forward, as if she could smell the brewing liquid... and the machine came apart, sending a shower of coffee grounds, shattered glass, and pieces of tubing through her immaterial form.
Julia wailed in frustration. What she heard in her head was more of an "Auugh!". What echoed throughout the silent hallways, however, was more of an
"AhhhhhhhWOOOOOeeeeOOOOOeeeeOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
The microwave, and everything else with a digital or LCD display on the entire first floor was now blinking 12:00.
Class had only been in session for a couple days at Xavier's. Labor Day had come and gone. There were more students on campus than in previous semesters. The buzz from first day jitters had settled down. Routines were starting to be picked up. It was currently the small span of time between the end of classes for the day and the beginning of after-school activities.
A mile from the main house, a very determined man wearing purple and dark blue was setting up. He took note of various things like the range to the target, wind direction, wind velocity, air density, elevation, and the Coriolis effect. As well as the effect the window he was going to shoot through would have on his very special bullet. He peered through his scope. This would be an extremely tricky shot, but the entire operation was waiting on him to start it. He needed to take out the biggest problem on that campus. The new construction getting into his way didn't help matters.
He eventually lined up a clear shot and waited. He caught a flash of red in the window. The target must have been sitting at her desk. The sniper grinned slightly to himself. He took in a breath, let it half out, and then squeezed the trigger.
The one-of-a-kind bullet made of non-magnetic material blasted out of the barrel of the sniper rifle. His aim was dead on. He quickly tapped the signal to have the first ones launch their attack.
The walls along Graymalkin Lane were breached explosively in multiple places. Most near security nodes to delay the time the security system roused. Men and women in black tabards with white crosses poured through the openings. They ran toward the buildings and any visible muties on the grounds. They all had been itching for some action since the debacle at Veridian Dynamics. Being underground for this long made the need for mutie blood strong among the Purifiers.
A mile from the main house, a very determined man wearing purple and dark blue was setting up. He took note of various things like the range to the target, wind direction, wind velocity, air density, elevation, and the Coriolis effect. As well as the effect the window he was going to shoot through would have on his very special bullet. He peered through his scope. This would be an extremely tricky shot, but the entire operation was waiting on him to start it. He needed to take out the biggest problem on that campus. The new construction getting into his way didn't help matters.
He eventually lined up a clear shot and waited. He caught a flash of red in the window. The target must have been sitting at her desk. The sniper grinned slightly to himself. He took in a breath, let it half out, and then squeezed the trigger.
The one-of-a-kind bullet made of non-magnetic material blasted out of the barrel of the sniper rifle. His aim was dead on. He quickly tapped the signal to have the first ones launch their attack.
The walls along Graymalkin Lane were breached explosively in multiple places. Most near security nodes to delay the time the security system roused. Men and women in black tabards with white crosses poured through the openings. They ran toward the buildings and any visible muties on the grounds. They all had been itching for some action since the debacle at Veridian Dynamics. Being underground for this long made the need for mutie blood strong among the Purifiers.
Tags:
- [character] bobbi angelus,
- [character] brooke wyngarde,
- [character] dolemeck night,
- [character] doug ramsey,
- [character] fred mccoy,
- [character] ilya gavrilov,
- [character] josephine blaire-bennet,
- [character] julia sheridan,
- [character] pete eastman,
- [character] rachel grey-ramsey,
- [character] richard brooks,
- [character] rose logan,
- [character] topher summers,
- [location] xavier's mansion
It had been a long journey, but finally, she was here. She wasn't tired, exactly, she wasn't sure she could get tired now, at least not in the same way as before. But, she was mentally weary and glad to have reached her destination.
She passed through the metal gates protecting the entrance and paused to admire the random and colorful pattern that appeared on the monitor embedded into one of the posts. She stuck an intangible finger through the screen and dragged it around, watching the pixels swirl and follow. It was pretty. Much prettier than the considerably lower tech ATM she was playing with... when was that? It was so easy to lose track of time, now. That ATM had bleeped and blooped and spat out a snowstorm of twenty dollar bills. Pity she couldn't use them now, or even touch them, but it was fun to watch the crowd of people scrambling for them.
She drifted away. The monitor flickered and flashed, then displayed a rebooting sequence. She moved further in to the mansion grounds, invisible and intangible. There were people here. Maybe she could make one of them see her.
She passed through the metal gates protecting the entrance and paused to admire the random and colorful pattern that appeared on the monitor embedded into one of the posts. She stuck an intangible finger through the screen and dragged it around, watching the pixels swirl and follow. It was pretty. Much prettier than the considerably lower tech ATM she was playing with... when was that? It was so easy to lose track of time, now. That ATM had bleeped and blooped and spat out a snowstorm of twenty dollar bills. Pity she couldn't use them now, or even touch them, but it was fun to watch the crowd of people scrambling for them.
She drifted away. The monitor flickered and flashed, then displayed a rebooting sequence. She moved further in to the mansion grounds, invisible and intangible. There were people here. Maybe she could make one of them see her.
.
