[b][i]CHAPTER 2[/i][/b] *page_break "What are we doing here?" you ask your Uncle. "I…" —he swipes a card on the door and enters into the room— "…am going to be there," he points to a lab workstation. "While you…" —he points to a weird looking machine that has the silhouette of a human body— "are going to be in that." Your uncle fiddles with some devices while you look around the space. It's about the size of two 5 star restaurant kitchens with a lot of machines that you know nothing about. It seems interesting enough that you might consider learning about. "So what happened?" you Uncle asks. "I told you earlier," you say. "Me and my friends got kidnapped by a woman, I spoke to someone that looked like me in my head and I got covered in something like an armour, I fought some armed men, the woman got away before I could ask her what she knew about my parents—" Victor stops you before you can continue, "She knew your parents?" You nod your head and you notice your Uncle clench his fists. You don't bother to ask but instead ask about your reason for your visit. "Oh yeah. I am going to be scanning your body. Maybe find out what caused you to have those abilities you mentioned. Show me the armour." "Okay sure. Lemme see if I can try." *page_break [i]Visualize[/i] Nothing happens. You try again again but still no effect. "Okay… that was a bust," your Uncle says. "Just get in here." He props you into the silhouette and closes the lid. He walks over to the console and looks at you through the screen. "Don't worry, it's not gonna hurt," he assures you. A beeping sound starts to come out from the machine and the lights hovering over your face feel very warm. *line_break After a while the machine stops beeping and the lid pops open. You wipe the sweat from you forehead and walk over to your Uncle. You look at you Uncle's face as he looks at the console before asking, "What's it say?" "I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing but I found traces of nanobots in your system aaand…" he pulls up a schematic of your bloodstream. "…they're slowly replicating at an alarming rate. And as for how you got your powers, I can't say for sure other than the fact that you have them." Your Uncle rubs his stubble, "What powers did you exhibit yesterday?" "Um… Super strength, super speed and awesome endurance." You look at him inquisitively, "What about them?" "Good, let's go," your Uncle says before leaving you in the lab confused. *page_break The room or rather space you're in right now is thrice as big as the other one with a lot of heavy duty lab equipment one would wonder what they were used for. "Hey!" your Uncle calls. "See if you can lift this." What he's telling you to lift is what appears to be a rocket car. It doesn't look too heavy but you doubt you can lift it, you're prepared to give it a try nonetheless. "One, two, three… hmph," you lift the car with ease and raise it above your head. Your Uncle looks at the car with wide eyes and you laugh at his expression. You drop the car down and do some hops. "What's next?" you ask. *page_break "Now we're gonna test your speed," he says. "You're gonna run round the facility. I wanna see how fast you can go." You plant your feet on the ground and poise to run. Your uncle gives the signal for you and you immediately break into a sprint. *page_break *set found_flight true It feels amazing to be able to run at such an amazing speed. The wind relentlessly pushing against your face, forcing you to squint your eyes as you run. You regret not wearing any protective covering for your eyes. [i]Almost there,[/i] you tell yourself. You add some more speed and are determined to get there quicker. [i]"The finish line's below us,"[/i] you hear a familiar voice. [i]"And we're going further away from it."[/i] "What do you mean 'further'?" you retort. You look down and are alarmed to see that you are 40 feet above the ground and going higher. "Uncle Vic!" you yell, but he doesn't answer, he's nowhere in sight. "What do we do, uhm…" [i]"Hive. Call me Hive,"[/i] ${he} replies. "Okay then Hive. What do we do," you ask. [i]"You have two options. Either you let me handle this and minimize the risk of death or you handle it yourself. I suggest you pick the former because from this altitude any mistake could be fatal."[/i] *fake_choice #Let ${him} handle it. *set mind %-5 You can feel your body regaining balance as you decrease altitude. As you decrease altitude you begin to feel light in your head. [i]"What's wrong?"[/i] Hive asks. "Nothing serious. I'm just feeling a little nauseous." And with that ${his} voice isn't heard of again. You gracefully touch the ground and stare at your wide-eyed uncle who clutches his hair as he watches you land on the ground. "You look like you've seen a ghost," you say with a chuckle. Your Uncle grins, "I'd better get used to seeing it if I wanna avoid that." "Did you find what you we're looking for?" you ask. "No. I didn't," he says. "But we're a step closer to finding out, although I did discover some form of bioelectricity during the scan. The nanobots must be using it to survive." He puts a hand on your shoulder and his tone becomes serious, "Although I think continuous use of your powers could increase the levels of said bioelectricity. If it's too high or too low, chances are you might not survive, so try not to use your abilities until I figure out what to do about it okay." "Fine," you say. "I'll try not to." *page_break [b]TWO WEEKS LATER.[/b] #Handle it yourself. *set mind %+5 You decide against enlisting ${his} help and you don't hear ${his} voice anymore. You wrestle with the wind and your attempt to fly properly makes you look like a stunned bird caught in between conflicting air currents. You catch notice of you uncle who pulls out a gun from his back and stands directly under you and shoots. A net traps you and brings you back to the ground with a heavy crash leaving a small impact on the ground. "What was that for?" you groan, pain arching through every part of your body. "Sorry kiddo," your uncle says apologetically. "That was the only thing I could think of." You brush off dirt from your shirt, "Did you find what you we're looking for?" "No. I didn't," he says. "But we're a step closer to finding out, although I did discover some levels of bioelectricity during the scan. The nanobots must be using it to survive." He puts a hand on your shoulder and his tone becomes serious, "Although I think continuous use of your powers could decrease the levels of bioelectricity. If it's too low, chances are you might not survive, so try not to use your abilities until I figure out what to do about it okay." "Fine," you say. "I'll try not to." *page_break[b]TWO WEEKS LATER.[/b] "Thank you all for attending this event," she begins. "It saddens my heart that there are people out there who have lost their homes because of these so-called superheroes plaguing our city today. The destruction of the Glenn Murdock Bay Area has left a lot of people displaced without homes or any means of getting food or water. "We at Anvil Tech. and our partnership with Oxygen through the Summer's Foundation have decided that it would be in the best interest of the displaced to raise money so that they can quickly return to their homes and continue their way of life. Once again I thank you all for coming." She exits the stage following a round of applause from the people in attendance. She walks towards where you and your Uncle and shakes his hand. "I'm really glad you agreed to this Mr Fonseca, this'll go a long way in the city's efforts to rebuild the Bay area." "We're glad to be part of this too," your Uncle says This is my ${nephew}, $!{name}. The ${son} of the late Michael and Laura Summers." "I wasn't aware they had a child," she says with a look of surprise on her face. "I'm really sorry about your parents. They contributed a lot to our society and their presence will be missed. I sincerely hope you can continue their legacy." *line_break *line_break *fake_choice #Express your interest in running the company. *set intelligence %+6 "I hope I can," you say. "I'm really interested in knowing about what they worked on and how I can affect society just like they did during their time." She appears approving of your answer, "It appears the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. If you'll excuse me—," she goes on to welcome the other guests in attendance. #Express your non-interest in the company. "I'm not that interested in running the company," you say. "I want to forge my own path, instead of following one already made easy for me." She is amused by your answer. She smiles before excusing herself to greet the other guests in attendance. "What caused the destruction," you ask your uncle. "A ${gap} went amok last week and one of the masked ${gap}s engaged them in an attempt to diffuse the situation," he says. "They destroyed the whole bay area and the ${gap} left the scene, just disappeared. No one's seen him since." Your Uncle leaves you to ponder on the story while he goes to socialize. You exchange a few hello's here and there and find a nice place to hang around while you look at everyone. As you look around, your attention is drawn to an old man dressed in Middle Eastern attire. You find yourself staring a while although he doesn't see you because he is too far away. All of a sudden a few texts pop up in your vision making you startle. *page_break *set found_techno true [i][b]USMAN CLAY[/b][/i] *line_break [i][b]AGE:[/b][/i] 76 *line_break [b][i]SEX:[/i][/b] Male *stat_chart percent finance Financial Security *stat_chart percent health_usman Health You can see different messages of the same format hovering over people's heads and the constant vibrating of cellphones in your head begins to have an effect on your mind. You quickly run to the toilets and try to calm yourself down and rinse the sweat pouring from your face. "Are you alright?" you raise your head to look at the mirror and see a bald full bearded man speaking to you. "I'm fine thanks for asking," you reply appreciatively. "If it might be of any help," he says as he puts a hand on your shoulder. "It's usually better to focus on one sound and one sound only. Helps to maintain focus." You look at him with a puzzling look on your face. He notices your confusion and adds, "Being at a public function can be mentally demanding for a kid your age." "Um thanks," are the only words you can say before he takes his leave. *page_break *set meet_joel true After leaving the stalls you decide to head back to where you were before. You see someone and are happy that you know at least one person in the entire building. "Fancy meeting you here," Iris says all smiles. "I could ask you the same thing," you say. "My mum's a journalist," she explains. "She brought us along cause she thought it would be a good experience for us. Oh—" she elbows the boy standing beside her— "this is my brother Joel." *if gender = "male" He shakes your hand and goes for the bro hug which you reciprocate. "Nice to meet you man,"he says. "She just won't shut up about you." *goto conversation *else He greets you with a curt handshake. "Nice to meet you. My sister never shuts up about you." *goto conversation *page_break *label conversation You talk for a while about various things before Iris turns the subject to the fundraiser. "Did you guys hear about the fight," she asks. You and Joel reply in the affirmative. "Personally I don't welcome the idea of ${gap}s not being regulated. I mean… look at what happened last week. Too many lives were lost and people lost their homes. All because—" "It's all about the way you see it," Joel interjects. "If I were a ${gap} fighting another ${gap} there wouldn't be that much time to get away from the area. It's just unavoidable." "What do you think?" Iris asks looking at you. *fake_choice #Agree with Joel. #Agree with Iris. #Agree with neither of them. #Agree with both of them. "I think that—" A loud shriek erupts from the corner of the hall where a few people gather around a convulsing man clutching his chest in agony, he yells out a massive scream that threatens to tear your eardrums. The man stands on his feet not saying anything, still convulsing. A concerned woman walks up to him. "Are you o—" She isn't able to utter the complete sentence as she struggles to breath, trying to free herself from his grip. The venue is thrown into a panic as people run towards the exit. The woman's lifeless body is flung carelessly as the man jumps around maniacally still convulsing like a rabid dog. He spots you and your friends across the room and jumps towards your direction as you attempt to flee the building. But just then a boulder sized rock slams the man into the floor. You are transfixed to the spot, your heart threatening to burst out of your chest. You turn to see where the rock came from and watch as the famous elemental hero Geomancer slams down into the venue from the roof. Again you see some labels above his head showing info about the superhero. [b][i]GEOMANCER[/i][/b] *line_break [b][i]Alliance:[/i][/b] Hero *line_break [b][i]Height:[/i][/b] 5"11 *line_break [b][i]Weight:[/i][/b] 250lbs *stat_chart percent power_geomancer Power Levels percent health_geomancer Health *page_break "I suggest you leave," Geomancer says preparing for a fight. "I don't want anyone else getting hurt." You give him a curt nod as you bolt for the exit, Iris and Joel behind. The three of you reach the exit and you wait for them to exit before you do. The exit collapses almost immediately and you quickly retract your body, stumbling unto the floor. You haven't fully recovered when debris falls from the ceiling almost hitting you. For a moment you don't feel like yourself. Watching the debris, it shatters against an invisible barrier and splits into smaller pieces. You suddenly feel like yourself again. You stand up and clutch your head in agony feeling a throbbing headache building up. [i]"A headache is not a good sign,"[/i] Hive says. Ignoring ${his} statement, you clean blood from your nose. *line_break Geomancer is still battling with the deranged ${gap}. He seems to be having a hard time dealing with it. [i]"Look here,"[/i] Hive says guiding your sight over to the ${gap}. *page_break *stat_chart percent power_deranged Power percent health_deranged Health [i]"It might be a tedious task but we might be able to lend some assistance. Note that playing to your strengths is essential to any and every fight. So this might be a good time to work on those."[/i] [i][b]TAKE YOUR PICK[/b][/i] *choice #Do it stealthily. *goto stealthily #Do it the smart way. *goto smart_way #Act on instinct. *goto instinct #Distract the ${gap}. *goto distract *label stealthily *set stealth %+6 You opt to do this as fast and as quiet as possible. Opting to wait for the best time to strike. Geomancer notices your approach and distracts the ${gap} while you sneak up on him from behind. Hive does ${his} best to keep you coordinated while you advance further. Time to make your move. *fake_choice #Use your speed to your advantage. *set speed %+6 Your speed and fast reflexes might give you an edge over him if he decides to attack. So you race towards the ${gap} and aggravate them into attacking. He swings his arms wildly in his failed attempts to land a hit. Geomancer understands what you are doing and acts swiftly. *line_break He manipulates the earth under you to collapse. You hover a few feet while the ${gap} caves underneath the rubble. He doesn't get up this time. *goto continue #Opt for strength. *set strength %+6 You prepare a fist ready to hit him. Your punch lands and he arches his back in pain. He turns around to face you, but you are prepared to throw another punch when a huge ball of fire hits him. Geomancer storms at him in the air and sends a barrage of rocks flying at the ${gap}, he sends slab after slab, after slab of earth connecting with his head. You douse the flames from your ${suit} and stare in awe at the spectacle. The ${gap} is eventually worn out and slumps on the ground. *goto continue *label smart_way *set intelligence %+5 You wave your hands above your head to get Geomancer's attention. He receives a punch to the head while he was distracted. He still finds a way to come over to you. Taking cover behind a wall you explain your plan to him. "This better be worth it. I just took a nasty punch to the head," he says peering behind the wall at your adversary. "One perfectly timed blow to his head will leave him unconscious. You'll strike when it's time," you tell Geomancer. He nods his head and starts to manipulate a rod of earth to form as the ${gap} runs at him at full speed. The rod of earth closely follows the ${gap} from behind still getting bigger in size. You wait closely, waiting for the perfect time. "Now!" you yell. Geomancer lets loose the earth and sends it soaring towards the back of the ${gap}s head. It connects and the rod crumbles while the ${gap} continues to run. It reaches a fair distance to Geomancer before seizing up and falling on the floor. *line_break You meet Geomancer at the body of the ${gap}. He looks at it and then at you before walking towards the exit. *goto continue *label instinct *set impulsive %+6 Throwing all caution to the wind. You relish the prospect of a fight and run to the heat of action. You have half a mind to ask Hive for help in this. *fake_choice #Ask for help. *set mind %-4 *set hive %+6 [i]Hive get ready,[/i] you mind-communicate with ${him}. *line_break You reel your arms back to unleash a mighty punch on your foe. The ${gap} blocks your punch but it hits him nonetheless and although he is able to stand his ground, the impact reverbs over his body and he slumps to the ground. *goto pain #Don't. *set geomancer_gap_kill true You choose to rely on your own strength, sprinting towards the heat of battle. The rabid ${gap} looks away from his opponent and deciding you a worthier foe decides to meet you midway. You are suddenly gripped with fear at your mistake. You had grossly overestimated the level of your powers. [i]This is it,[/i] you think to yourself. The attack doesn't come. The rabid ${gap} is impaled by a sharp column of earth that goes through his heart. He falls down dead. "I've never killed a man before," Geomancer says. You can see regret behind his mask. He clenches his fist briefly before releasing his grip. He looks at you for a while before walking towards the entrance and clearing it of debris. He leads you into the open. "What's your name ${boy}?" ${name} is the reply. "Take care you don't let this happen again. It is obvious you have much to learn." He lets out jets of flame from his fists and disappears out of view. "$!{name}!" you turn to the direction of the voice and are pulled into a very tight hug. "I thought I lost you," your Uncle says wiping a tear from his eye. "Don't do that again. Please." You hug your Uncle for what seems like an eternity. *page_break *goto waitandsee *label distract *set cunning %+6 You calm your nerves and yell at the ${gap}. "Hey ugly!" you yell. "Over here!" The ${gap} seems to pay more attention to you now. He runs at you aggressively in his attempt to crush you. Your distraction must have worked because Geomancer already rested deals heavy blows on the ${gap}. Not able to continue further, the ${gap} sluggishly swings his arms wildly and gives up, falling on the ground. Geomancer doesn't waste no time and walks to the exits. *goto continue *label continue He instructs you to follow him. He crumbles the debris at the entrance into dust and guides you outside. "What's your name ${boy}?" Geomancer asks. $!{name} is your reply. "You show a lot of potential," Geomancer says. "If the gods allow, we shall meet again." He blasts into the air and is out of sight. "$!{name}!" you turn to the direction of the voice and are pulled into a very tight hug. "I thought I lost you," your Uncle says wiping a tear from his eye. "Don't do that again. Please." You hug your Uncle for what seems like an eternity. *page_break *goto waitandsee *label pain You wince as you clutch your arm. You limp towards a nearby wall and sit on the floor. "Hive, can you tell me what's wrong with my arm." [i]"It appears you've dislocated your femur. You're lucky the impact didn't destroy your entire arm."[/i] Geomancer lands near you. He kneels down beside you and draws water from a gourd on his waist and guides it to your forearm. The water glows white for sometime before losing it's light. "You should feel good as new," he says and helps you to your feet. You walk in silence towards the blocked entrance before he crumbles the earth into dust and you both walk out into the open. "What's your name ${boy}?" Geomancer asks. $!{name} is your reply. "You show a lot of potential," Geomancer says. "If the gods allow, we shall meet again." He blasts into the air and is out of sight. "$!{name}!" you turn to the direction of the voice and are pulled into a very tight hug. "I thought I lost you," your Uncle says wiping a tear from his eye. "Don't do that again. Please." You hug your Uncle for what seems like an eternity. *page_break *goto waitandsee *label waitandsee This encounter has giving you new light concerning what to do you with your abilities. You decide being a hero will be the best use of your abilities. *page_break But what kind? We'll just have to wait and see. *page_break The following week, school starts anew and you, quite like other kids your age have to go back to school. You haven't been able to get the recent events out of your mind and you're still surprised a rabid ${gap} appeared at the event. You step into the hallways of school and you bump into Iris and Blair walking to class. You three have gotten quite close over the weeks and some might even call you best friends. "Hey there," Iris says raising up her hand for a hi-five. "What's up," you reply as your palms connect. "What were you guys taking about?" "I was just telling her about what happened at the fundraiser," she says. "What happened to you? We looked for you everywhere." "Yeah… About that," —you rub the back of your head. "I got involved in a fight last night." "Wait you mean?" "So you fought with the rabid ${gap} then," Blair speaks up. "Yeah. I did," you say confused. "Wait," Iris asks. "How did you know about the—" "I saw it on the news," Blair replies with a hint of annoyance. The three of you just stand there. "I have to head to the newsroom. "See ya," Iris says as she leaves you and Blair alone. "So what exactly happened," Blair asks as you walk. "The venue got hijacked by another rabid ${gap}," you begin. "I and Geomancer held it back but it seemed like he was holding his punches. Like he wanted to save him." "And did he?" she asks with her usual blank expression. *if (geomancer_gap_kill = true) You're not sure what to say about your mistake but you admit the truth, "No he didn't. It was my fault." *goto blair_convo1 *else "I guess we did. I don't know what they'll do with the body," you say feeling quite proud of yourself. "But I'm guessing Anvil claimed it." *goto blair_convo2 *label blair_convo1 Blair sighs heavily before speaking, "Knowing when to stop is a good thing." She notices your shaking fist and holds your hand. *line_break She gives you a journal titled: A LOOK INTO THE VOID KNOWN AS [i]'[b]THE GAP[/b][/i]'. It might give you a clue as to how to better understand your abilities and coming from her, it's her own way of showing you that she cares. Together the both of you head on to class. *page_break *goto athome *label blair_convo2 Nodding in approval, she hands you a journal titled: A LOOK INTO THE VOID KNOWN AS [i]'[b]THE GAP[/b][/i]'. It might give you a clue as to how to better understand your abilities and coming from her, it's her own way of showing you that she cares. Together the both of you head on to class. *page_break *goto athome *label athome You slump down on your bed exhausted from school. You bolt up from bed to do your homework and remember the book that Blair gave you. Do you take a look at the book. *choice #Take a look. *goto readbook #Don't. *goto window *label readbook *set intelligence %+5 *set readbook true *set journal_entry1 true '[i]Over the course of study there has been tremendous breakthrough in the understanding of the human genome. Never before in our time has there been such astronomical growth in the field of genetics. [/i] '[i]I have come to understand that various abilities displayed by ${gap}s have different origins but majority of them come from one source, Exposure to radiation. Another in particular I found from this humanoid species. It would come as a surprise that he too might be a ${gap}, although I would hold my suspicions until my experiments yield results.[/i] You skip through a couple of lines before reading again. '[i]After careful observation, it would appear that the humanoid's life force largely depends on a form of bioelectricity. It might be worth noting to see if it has a connection with their powers but we shall have to wait and see.[/i]' *page_break *goto closejournal *label closejournal You close the journal. 'A form of bioelectricity'. Doesn't that sound similar to what your Uncle Vic said last week? *line_break Stifling a yawn, you tell Hive to analyze the contents of the journal (since your mind is sort of like a computer). *goto window *label window Staring outside your window, you feel the urge to test your newfound abilities. You open your cupboard to browse through your collection of hoodies. You decide to pick… *label hoodie_select *fake_choice #…the pink coloured sweater… *set hoodie_colour "pink" #…the black coloured sweater… *set hoodie_colour "black" #…the red coloured sweater… *set hoodie_colour "red" #…the blue coloured sweater… *set hoodie_colour "blue" #…the other one whose colour you can't see clearly. It's… *input_text hoodie_colour You look at yourself in the mirror wondering if you picked the right one. *choice #Yes I did, let's go! *goto nightout #Pick another hoodie. *goto hoodie_select *goto nightout You grab a mask on the dresser and open the window squeeze through closing it slightly so you won't trip the alarms in the house. You look at your watch which shows the time as 7:00. You reckon you can get back before Victor gets home. *line_break You let go of the window and hover awkwardly in the air before regaining control of yourself. You fly slowly getting higher and higher in the air and then flying straight towards the main part of the city. You fly through the city enjoying the atmosphere but then you stop. Hive points out a robbery going down below you. You descend slowly a few feet near the shop being careful not to alert the robbers. [i]You can enter at your convenience,[/i] Hive says. *goto_scene storerobbery *goto nightout *label nightout