Project Maelstrom - Interactive

Part Two: Cured

     "Worried," I mutter, somewhat frightened. The needle looked serious on the countertop. "Not excited."

     "Sorry," he mutters, finishing with the wipe. "It's gonna be just fine though. I promise. Remember what I told you?"

     "It looks worse than it is," I echo, and he smiles.

     "Bingo!" he smiles. "If you still don't like it, think about something else. Cute kittens or something."

     Some others were able to do that, but not me. I close my eyes, trying to desperately focus on something else. The run I went on yesterday in the park. Val subsequently winning it-

     The prick of the needle interupts the thought as I cringe a bit. I felt bad for Selina the most. Her phobia of needles must absolutely wreck her every time something like this happens. It takes multiple doctors to comfort her when these things happen.

     "Done," he exclaims, getting a bandaid and applying it over the injection point. "See, wasn't so bad?"

- valarie 'val' green -

     I had retreated to my room shortly after the test, with a weird feeling near the injection point. Shouldn't be worrying, I'd hope. These things always had some weird side effects. None were this bad, though.

     None were a cure for cancer, though.

...

     I wake up from a short nap to a knock on my dorm's door. Standing up, I mumble "Coming" as I regain my surroundings. I felt... really awake. I'd gone on a run this morning, before the whole test, because it was one place I could get away and get some peace.

     I stumble to the door and open it, and on the other side was Selina. Her face spelled worry and surprise, haphazardly mixed. It takes me off guard, and when she asks to come in, I snap out of the confusion. "Come in," I reply. She walks in, and I close the door behind her.

     "How long was I napping?" I ask, as Selina sits in a desk chair.

     "Three hours," she says. "Val, you feel weird by any chance?"

     "Uh, a little bit?" I state unsure. "Why. What's going on?"

     "Ok, everyone that got that test is gaining something really weird they can do. Look at my finger," she says. Naturally, I'm confused. "Red nail polish, right?"

     "Y-yeah?" I confirm, narrowing my eyes. "Why?"

     Her hand starts shaking a bit, and it slowly begins to.. shift. The size and shape of her entire hand was changing, seemingly at her will. She looked horrified that she could, while my jaw simply dropped. "I just copied your hand, Val," she says.

I freeze, scared to look down. I didn't even have to. That was unmistakably my hand. I muster the strength to lift my arm, and as soon as my hand comes into view, I throw it down. It made me nauseous, sick to my stomach. What the hell?

"What the," I mutter, speechless. "Selina, what the hell.."

"Everyone that got the test can do something weird," she says, morphing her hand back to her own. I shiver a bit, unsure if I was dreaming. "I talked with Lucas already. He stuck his hand into the wall, Val."

"Shit," I sigh, looking down. That's when I notice some a bit strange. Lifting my sleeves, my upper arms were.. more built than previous. I was athletic, but not a body builder. Now, my Bicep, Tricep, and Shoulder were all clearly distinguishable. "This is a weird dream," I say to myself.

"No dream," Selina says. "You got super strength or something?"

"No clue," I mutter. "I feel.. really energetic. Like I could do a 5k right now."

"Weird," Selina says. "Look, figure out what you've got and then meet me at the park path. I'm gathering our little group to see what's going on. The staff may be figuring out very soon."

"Will do," I say, as Selina leaves my dorm room. I fall back into bed, confused and bewildered. Whatever was happening, I had no clue. I'd figure out soon enough, I guess.

- steven 'veneno' miles -

     "The Captain must have loved seeing us again," I joke, sitting at a bar in San Diego with Mena. We were both exhausted, but that meant SEAL training was worth its salt.

"Yeah," Mena laughs. "The most polarizing group ever. Some were looking up to us and the others fucking hated us."

"We're on their hit list," I joke, and Mena rolls her eyes a bit. Taking a sip of the tequila, I look at her across the table. "I don't know, I enjoyed seeing familiar faces again."

"Those familiar faces didn't approve of me," she sighs, putting down her drink. "I get it. I brought controversy. But, man that was rough."

"Well, until we get them to pressure the FBI into closing that Maelstrom Case, Raleigh is keeping us here," I remind Mena.

"I guess I don't get why he's not doing this," Mena says. "He has the bargaining power."

"I think he is," I theorize. "But we're here as a show of force. I mean we outdid a lot of the SEALs. They can't like that one bit."

"True," I say. Then, a call comes into the phone. It was from Devin Anders, aka Operative Eagle. Mena slides in her earpiece as I follow suit, before answering the call. "Hey, Devin!"

"Hey, Steven. Mena's here too?" He asks, simply.

"Right here," she confirms into the call.

"Cool, cool," he says. "Oriole's assault was a success. Plant was secured."

     "Good stuff," Mena says, leaning back in her chair, letting out a sigh. "How's Alberta?"

"Oh," he says, a bit caught off guard. Devin wasn't known for his long, rambling phone calls. "Cold. How's the concurrent training thing going?"

"Oh, exhausting," I sigh, and Mena laughs a bit. "Oh, like you aren't tired from SEAL training, Mena."

"Ready as I'll ever be," she says with a smirk.

- INTERACTIVE -

     Next chapter will begin the traditional interactive questions. So, buckle up.

     I'll preface the next part with this message: Being active in RPs in the book is not mandatory. No one is going to force you to RP if you don't want to.

     That being said, this evening at the compound is one of the times when all the children are free to move inside and allowed to socialize. Enhanced, if you'd like to RP, go for it.

     PMD, you can RP right now if you'd like, but you're in different groups. Oriole, Exo, Aurum, and Rattlesnake are in one, while Veneno, Blaze, and Eagle are in another. The second group could continue the call, if you'd like. Chasseur is unavailable right now.