FEI: The Enhanced - Roleplay Thread

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FEI Tower - Lobby

The entrance lobby was packed, people of all ages excitedly conversing among themselves.

In the centre of the lobby sat a middle-aged woman at the reception desk, looking as if she was already regretting her choice of work.

"Alright, next please" she said tiredly, critically eyeing the long queue.

Some of them seemed a bit eager to get in, and had activated their Enhancements. Which usually wouldn't be that much of an issue, except this one's particular Enhancement was explosion generation.

-BANG-

The sudden smoke from the thankfully small explosion filled the entire room, causing many coughing fits in the people there.

"No powers in the lobby unless absolutely necessary!" she shouted when the dust finally cleared, annoyed at the interruption.

"Sorry!" came the non-apologetic reply.

"Sorry about that. Please give your name, preferred codename, and basic summary of your Enhancement, and I'll give you your Level of Power" she stated unenthusiastically, clearly sick of having to repeat this to each and every person in the line.

edited 26th Oct '17 2:31:00 PM by Enirboreh

That Is Eternal yadda yadda yadda

The blonde, pale girl in a simple shirt and cotton pants seemed completely out of place in this setting full of outrageous powers, flashy costumes and bright, heroic faces eager to put their powers to a good use.

Sometimes it is best to steer clear of something that appears mundane, yet very much isn't. The unnaturally smooth skin and the strange politely condescending smile were first signs that this girl was something else, not in the best sense of those words. She stood before the middle-aged woman, nodding hello. "Good morning, morning." The blonde droned, the smile seemingly the same as before. "My name is Karen Mercanthy, aged 21. Nickname would be Shoggoth shoggoth. Reflects my Enhancement best."

"Can demonstrate if need need to." This time Karen's smile seemed to have grown a little.

FEI Tower - Lobby

After typing the given information in (and nearly slipping up on the repeat of her name) the receptionist turned to her.

"Go ahead, as long as it isn't too destructive. I'd hate to call in the cleanup crew again, they been in six times already."

She gave a pointed look at the guy who had set off the explosion, who had the decency to look sheepish.

edited 26th Oct '17 12:58:29 PM by Enirboreh

A Deal, Not Ideal

"And remember, 56.99 by next week, and I'll make sure the other container makes it to you." Not like this idiot needs it. Today was a different kind of day for one Takami Inagawa, heir to the Shin Kaisaraki. His father had approached him this morning during breakfast about going to the local college to "drop off a gift" for one of their repeat customers. It turned out to be steroids, going to a prominent local young athlete - and of course the man had mouthed off to Takami several times.

Making fun of his mask, inferring he was of a homosexual inclination...he could just see so prominent a case of narcissistic personality disorder, it almost hurt to not point it out. But alas, father was quite stringent about that. 'Don't do anything to alienate a repeat customer...don't be too much of a pushover, but don't be the pushy drug dealer...and of course, don't kill him.'

Much as he'd been tempted to when the jock shoved Takami's shoulder. I hate being touched by such sick wastrels like that.

He had simply adjusted his mask and went through things as normal. When the deal was done and the 'roids were delivered, Takami simply left, walking through town and wondering when it was the fearsome Shin Kaisaraki Yakuza was left delivering performance enhancing drugs to college athletes.

We have fallen and far. Yet my brother seems to not see anything wrong with this. We still make some good money and we live well...yet I cannot be pleased with this lack of dignity.

Takami looked up during his walk back to the house, and saw the FEI tower in the distance, being immediately reminded of why it was they along with such other "luminaries" like the mob and the Mafiya were in a stark decline. Heroes. Superheroes to be precise.

I'm just kind of amazed they haven't bulldozed our steroid business yet. Are we just below their notice now? Or do they not even mind it?

Takami returned home to his father promptly. This could not go on - there was only so far you could push a humiliated man before something happened. Some of the goons were talking about the supervillains, but in Takami's eyes, they were almost as bad.

Riddled with illness, saddled with decay - their existence was inextricably tied to the superheroes that caused so many problems, as far as he was concerned.

FEI Tower - Lobby

Rebecca was relieved when she finally reached the front of her queue. Due to her aura, she was more than a little self-conscious about being in crowds.

“Rebecca Raleigh. For codename... let’s go with Pollutrix.”

Okay, it wasn’t the best codename in the world, but even after an all day brainstorming session, it was the best Rebecca could come up with.

“I... create and control pollution and filth.”

It wasn’t the most glamorous enhancement by a long shot, and it certainly hadn’t earned her many friends. Rebecca had long since accepted her enhancement for what it was, but it was still kind of embarrassing to say out loud.

“Oh, uh, and that smell is my powers, not me. I shower. Regularly. Promise.”

... Well, that sounded suspicious. Rebecca sighed internally. It probably would have been better if she hadn’t said anything. She’d just been called out on her “poor hygiene” enough that it had become reflex.

FEI Tower - Lobby

Thankfully, the receptionist, a man this time, seemed fairly accepting of her explanation.

Or at least, was too polite to call her out on it.

"Alright... Your file estimates an L3 powerset. Not half bad. Please step off to the side to the benches, please, we'll inform you when the introduction meeting starts."

FEI Lobby

"Neuhhh, no powers in the lobby..." A chubby black kid entering from within the facility said to himself before pulling out a tiny, tiny phone and immediately growing it to normal size. Jacques Leveau had, today, chosen to go simple with a black raglan under a white tee with dark blue slacks, no big costume or anything just yet; no sense wearing one of those things outside a serious operation. He had to admit, he was a little proud of the precision his own Enhancement had, if only because the scale of an L4 or L5 Enhanced was a recipe for disaster. Nobody could have that much power without a swollen head, and nobody could be around that much power without some serious badness happening. Now, he'd gotten registered earlier today, but he was under the impression there was a meeting soon, somewhere near the entrance, so he decided to hole up here for now. He eyed the other Enhanced in the room cautiously and stepped towards a side wall, a little nervous or perhaps giddy that someone was probably going to start some shit here—more a matter of when, not if.

FEI Tower - Lobby

Sitting on the benches next to the reception desks was a young man in overalls, tapping his fingers on some kind of tablet. He was typing lightning-fast on the virtual keyboard. Occasionally he glanced up and took note of something, only to duck his head back down back to the glowing screen. As he worked he murmured quickly to himself.

"Rebecca Raleigh, Pollutrix, files say L3, pollution control and aura, need to clarify precise range and what constitutes 'pollution', perpetual odor - actual odor or mental manipulation from 'pollution aura'? Potential threat level, minimal. Karen Mercanthy, Shoggoth Shoggoth, redundant name. Related to powers? Possibly just speech quirk, possible minor stutterer. Name suggests inhuman nature, transformation? Yes, monstrous alternate form. 'Otherworldly' connotations, possible knowledge of power origins, possibly just affectation. Further data needed."

And so on and so forth. Anyone who looked over Dexter's shoulder would see text files filled with information on all the Enhanced in the lobby, organized alphabetically by codename and fairly comprehensive for information gained solely by listening and glancing about.

edited 26th Oct '17 3:47:08 PM by kagescorpionakki

And Even With Eons Even yadda yadda yadda

Karen only smiled in response before... her skin began peeling off, together with the muscle and the bone, as if she was a banana. In fact, it seemed like this banana had no bones at all.

A banana full of teeth, too. Teeth and eyes and tentacles. What was a pale blonde girl a moment ago was now a vaguely star-shaped madness the size of a small car, pooling over the floor, fluid and terrifying as it slowly rose itself up on its spindly appendages as its eyes opened and closed seemingly at random, regarding the middle-aged woman. Then it trilled like a bird of prey, the volume heightened by the toothy mouths joining in at various intervals, each making its own pitch and tone.

Then, the creature shuffled about into a vaguely humanoid form as its fleshy layers began folding back, closing itself like a particularly eldritch puzzle until Karen stood back in its place, the smile unchanged. "Will this do do?"

FEI Tower - Lobby

The desk woman was now sweating in fear, trying desperately to keep a professional appearance.

It didn't work.

"OK... Ahem. Right. Shoggoth. Your file states an... L2 rank?"

She blinked in disbelief, apparently surprised that the tentacle monster she just saw was only effective to large crowds.

Those things looked like it could cut through steel.

Clearing her throat again, she refocused on the eerie young woman.

"Alright. Please take a seat on the benches over there, a f-faculty member will inform you of when the meeting starts."

She inwardly hoped there weren't that many more... unconventional, powersets. Her heart simply couldn't take it.

FEI Lobby

The exterior doors opened and in jogged a short, boyish figure, arms and face both glistening with sweat. Darian managed to appear both out of breath and bursting with energy as she surveyed the crowd before her, eyebrows arching in surprise. "Ah shit, that was today?"

She paused a moment to slip an unlit cigarette between her lips and then she dove into the crowd, bobbing and weaving through the newcomers until she'd made her way up to one of the receptionist's desks. "My man!" She parked herself on the desk's corner, clapping the shoulder of the receptionist that, after all her time spent here, she'd still not bothered to learn the name of. He'd feel a sharp shock at the impact point as a few sparks of electricity leapt from her body to his. "Quite the gaggle this year, ain't it?"

Darian pulled the cigarette back out of her mouth, rolling it between her fingers as she surveyed the scene- people young and old, male and female, human and unholy toothy abomination... She paused on that last one for a moment, though her interest was quick to wane again. "How many sardines we planning on packing into this tin can anyway?"

edited 26th Oct '17 4:45:03 PM by whizzerd

FEI Tower - Lobby

The male receptionist barely had time to blink before the shock from Darian's "friendly pat" went up his arm.

"Yes, a pleasure as always, Darian" he grinned, before wincing and rolling his shoulders. "That kinda hurt..."

He quickly shook it off, however, searching on his computer at her query.

"As for how many... 35 odd have arrived, and less than half them were accepted in. Apparently a lot of normals are trying to trick the system. Any excuse to get in, eh?"

edited 26th Oct '17 5:03:29 PM by Enirboreh

So as Jacques was surveying the scene he saw someone taking notes. Huh. He slid his phone back in his pocket and stood up, trying to get a little closer. He knew he wasn't that stealthy a guy, though, and this jerk couldn't try anything. Instead Jacques just approached and cleared his throat.

"Codename is Downsize, not Shrinkage." Jacques finally clarified, stepping in front of the snitch. No name he knew for now, so just as with Shrinkage the guy would be the snitch. "Or Jacques if you want to think of me as a human being, man. You mind telling me what you're doing there?"

Dexter's eyes instantly flicked up to Jacques the moment he cleared his throat. Nodding at the correction, he changed the codename on his file without looking down, then smiled politely at Jacques.

"I'm collecting data on all the entrants. Apologies for not catching your actual codename. I myself registered about a week ago, but felt it prudent to catalog the Enhancements of the arriving members. And to think up possible counter-strategies, though I doubt anyone here would become a major threat to society." Dexter offered his hand. "Dexter Donovan, also known as Prodigy. Pleasure to meet you, Jacques."

Jacques was torn between the man being a snitch and the man being the only one smart enough not to trust anyone here. Fuck it, he'd need friends, and see, if the guy didn't initially agree then he could probably be brought around too. He shook back.

"Dexter Donovan, alright. I beg to differ on whether or not these people could be threats, but, you know, whatever." He said, and smiled. "What are you here for anyway? Protection, education...?"

FEI Lobby

All of Lea's fingers wrapped tightly around the granola bar, covering each inch of its contents as she ate it at a snail's pace, often taking several minutes just to chow down on a bite-sized chomp. The frail-looking woman watched the situation in the lobby from a safe distance as established by her: close enough so that she could see them and they could see her, but far enough that any attempts at physically interacting with her would be seen coming from a mile away.

Shivering underneath her bland looking long-sleeved shirt and pajama pants combo, Lea focused her attention on two things: eating the granola bar and staring intently at the newcomers, her carefully manicured fingers wrapping more and more tightly around the bar whenever one of them took even one step in her direction. Yet, despite her creepy demeanor and her disturbing tendency to widen her eyes so much that they seemed to struggle against the constraints of her eye sockets, Lea tried her best to smile, hoping that would cast a reassuring tone over her posture.

"I'm... finished." She muttered to herself, holding out the plastic package as if it was covered in ants, before gently dropping it on top of a trash bag. Slogging closer to the group, Lea once more stopped a safe distance away, placing her hands in front of her chest as she clearly tried to look as comfortable and friendly as possible... which might have made the dissonant nature of her appearance even weirder for some.

FEI Tower - Lobby

Rebecca walked over to the bench as instructed, but as she went to sit down, she noticed a girl standing alone, practically strangling a granola bar. Said girl seemed better dressed for sleep than for applying to the FEI, if she was an applicant at all.

The once the girl finished her snack and threw away the wrapper, she stood there, obviously trying to look friendly, even if the overall effect was more unsettling than anything. Still, the girl seemed lonely, and that was all the impetus Rebecca needed to approach her. She knew the pain of loneliness all too well.

Rebecca walked towards the girl and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Rebecca. Are you an applicant too?”

edited 27th Oct '17 2:33:30 PM by PossiblyQuiteInsane

FEI Tower - Lobby

"Resources, actually. My Enhancement is essentially greatly heightened intelligence. Continued education is largely irrelevant for me, but my parents were hesitant to let me drop out of school. So, I concluded the FEI would allow me to do the greatest good with my gift." Dexter absentmindedly flicked his wrist, and in one motion his tablet folded into a smaller rectangle the size of a phone, which Dexter slipped into his pocket.

"And you? Training to use your ability, or were you guided by a strong sense of justice, hm?"

Shoggy

"Thank you for your your time." Nodding, Karen went away from the middle-aged woman, shuffling idly towards the seats. Of course, just sitting around was boring and unproductive, plus she was eager to meet new people.

Like the two girls over there - one looking like despite a friendly smile she would rather be anywhere else than here and another approaching her; the one Karen heard smelled. "Hello. New around here here too?" She droned, trying her best to put on an inviting tone of voice. It was no easy feat, after all.

FEI Tower - Lobby

After a short bit, a smallish Caucasian girl bursts through the front doors, running through to reception.

"I'MSORRYFORBEINGLATE,IT'LLNEVERHAPPENAGAIN,IPROMISE!!" She quickly shouts out. The girl looks around at the other applicants. All of them looked rather friendly. She'll be sure to talk with them all, maybe even befriend some of them.

This girl, clearly rushing, was named Maddie Franklyn. 23. She slows down, trying to catch her breath.

"Where... do I apply...?"

FEI Tower - Lobby

The now nervous female receptionist nearly jumped out of her skin when Maddie rushed in, but seeing that she was lost, was quick to beckon her over.

"This line if you will, miss. Just give me your name, codename, and Enhancement, and I'll give you your Level of Power."

The nearby male receptionist had mouthed the last sentence mockingly, before turning his attention back to the computer.

Most of the current faculty are accounted for. Thank goodness for Kaylee, she'd literally drag Alex out by the feet if she had to. Wait...

He frowned, looking closer at the list of members on screen, before shaking his head.

Must be one of Daniel's jokes again.

edited 27th Oct '17 12:21:38 PM by Enirboreh

Maddie beams with joy, running over to the female receptionist.

"My name..." She takes a bizarre superhero pose, with her palms placed squarely on her hips.

"IS MADELYN FRANKLYN! But you can call me Maddie!... Or Lynlyn... I prefer Maddie though." She falters at the last sentence, but starts again.

"And my codename and Enhancement would be..." She seems like she's about to do another pose, but just gives up halfway through and puts her palms on the table, looking the receptionist dead-on.

"The Incredible Bullseye! I can shoot anything whenever and wherever! Considering it's in proper range for the gun. But the goodie is it's almost a guarantee I'll hit my target, no matter what."

She stops, breathing again.

"... I'll take that L1 now."

FEI Tower - Lobby

The receptionist just stared at her blankly, before tearing her eyes away to the computer.

"Uh... right... The Incredible Bullseye... let me just confirm... yes, your file says L1. Please wait by the benches for further instruction."

Points for enthusiasm, definitely.

The male receptionist was clearly trying desperately not to break into peals of laughter at the older woman's face, whom she promptly glared at in response.

He quickly sobered, before shifting his gaze back to his queue.

edited 27th Oct '17 1:38:52 PM by Enirboreh

Jeffrey almost slunk in then put on his "show face", striding up to the male receptionist with a confidence he didn't really feel.

"Jeffrey Vine, Code Name, Clawmark." Inwardly he winced. He had taken that codename as a reminder to himself of what could happen when he lost control and of what had happened to his sister, Ellen.

FEI Lobby

Darian chuckled at the receptionist's report, and replied cheerfully, "Well, it makes sense, y'know? It is in human nature to be dirty, jealous liars."

The cigarette found home in her mouth once more, but this time she snapped her fingers at its tip. A tiny shower of sparks ignited the tobacco, and she took an appreciative drag as a younger man sidled up to the desk. His presence may have gone unnoticed, if not for how brief his introduction was.

She tilted her head back, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and then spoke up before the receptionist could. "Sorry mate, gonna have to be a little more descriptive than that." She gestured towards him, a thin line of smoke trailing from her hand. "What does 'Clawmark' do? Name like that, makes me think we need to worry about the upholstery. Now, granted, this place is like 95% tech, but still."