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A couple days before Graduation. Claremont Dorms. It was almost over this national nightma- ha ha ha ha, I'm funny! Corinne thought to herself, or as much as one could in this place. Someone was probably listening, or something. She let her hair grow to an even chin length, blonde with a hint of faded pink throughout, but tucked under a bowler hat. She always looked a little different each time, and today she was a little bit late 80s, given the Pat Benatar t-shirt she had on that was cropped just a little above the high waist acid wash jeans, and a pair of calculatedly battered white sneakers. She moved through the hallway dancing, as she tended to do. Heading towards Judy's room, to sweep up her friend with a bit of her joy. Well her own happiness, she knew that others might not feel that way. Rapping knuckles on the door, she settled back into a running man with vigorous swinging of her arms backwards, keeping elbows tucked near her torso.

October 12, 2019 Earth-B-Vacant-19 As they stepped through the portal into the other dimension, the first thing Daystar noticed was that it was quiet - with only the familiar background hum of her radio bracelets sounding in her ears, and the distant whisper of the radio transmitter in the nearby basecamp. The second thing was how everything looked. A lifetime in Oklahoma, then DC, had not prepared her for the fall splendor of Earth-Vacant-B ("not quite Sanctuary but with a lot more nature!"), a world frequently visited by Claremont students looking for their first taste of extra-dimensional adventure. This was a world where humans had never been evolved, one where whales filled the oceans, animals the vast forests of North America, and birds the skies. Fall here was chillier than back home, she supposed, though it wasn't really an issue for her - she slipped her hands in the pockets of her light windbreaker as she looked up at the vast forest of gold and red. "Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this," she quoted under her breath, smiling in awe as she looked all around. For her part, Watchdog wasn't nearly so blown away by all the scenery - maybe because she'd been here ten years ago and had gotten crapped on by a whole lot of birds. "Let's keep moving," she murmured from inside her mask as they headed out into the center of the small encampment, where Mr. Jorgensen was waiting for them. Jorgensen was the school's new biology teacher, a smiling, easy-going guy who students sometimes took too much advantage of. He wore a plaid flannel shirt and jeans to greet the students as they stepped through the gateway, his thick beard adding to the impression of "hipster outdoorsman." "Hello everyone!" he called with a wave. "Keep moving and drop your stuff in the designated areas." This wasn't quite the rugged outdoor life of survival training; Claremont's small basecamp had places for tents, firepits dug, and even a generator and radio transmitter installed by previous generations of students. They'd been careful, though - outside of the small encampment here by the edge of the South River, there was little sign any humans had ever been here. And indeed, hardly any had...

GM May 11th, 2019 1 PM ArcheTech West, Bridgepoint Nicole had been given a special opportunity, as part of her internship at ArcheTech. Come to ArcheTech West in Emerald City, shadow Doctor Rita Lang for the weekend. It was not so much a work weekend as a research weekend. The notes about the actual research had been kind of sparse. It had something to do with nanomachines, and a revolutionary use for them, but aside from that, the notes were rather short. They did note that Doctor Lang had specificially asked to have Nicole shadow her, so that was a plus, at least. Something about wanting an outsider's view of the project, which meant Nicole would have to write a report on it once it was done. Doctor Lang was standing outside the building as Nicole arrived. She was a Caucassian woman in the late 40'es. Slightly overweight, which she would attest was because of staying in laboratory all day. Her dark red hair seemed to have been dyed to hide beginning grey hair. She wore a white labcoat, which was open, revealing her jeans and a black t-shirt with the Nine Inch Nails logo. A pair of glasses was hidden in the pocket of the white labcoat. She patiently waited, looking up from her phone as Nicole arrived. "Hey, you must be Nicole. I'm Rita, nice to finally meet you. Been hearing great things about you, kid."

Claremont’s Tech Laboratories, After Classes New intern, and former student, Valeria Velásquez looked around on of the very tech labs that she studied in only a few years ago. Considering some of the stuff she got up to she was pretty surprised that Summers had given her chance to become a teacher here. With a deep breath she open the door to allowed any of the students who wanted to do after school studies, wondering if anyone would actually show up. Not looking just in case she called to anyone outside. “Everybody come in and find yourself a seat.”

Early November 2019 The Smith sisters didn't talk much about what had happened to them over Halloween. Judy had shown up for class on Friday looking a little the worse for wear; and Ashley hadn't appeared again until that Monday, sporting a smile, a few bruises, and bright pink bubblegum hair. But now it was November and it was time for some fun - and some important conversations. As usual, Ashley entered Leroy's room first, looking around to make sure Kam was out before gesturing for Judy to follow her in. "Hi honey!" she said cheerfully, standing on her toes to kiss Leroy on the cheek. "You already for our date in Mia and Danica's room?" Judy had certainly dressed up for the occasion, wearing a maxi-skirt and snug blouse whose dark colors went well with the bright cross around her neck and tan skin.

The day after A Changing World Daystar and Watchdog's room Well the secret was out and the world hadn't ended. Ashley and Judy were boarding a plane the next day for their flight back to DC, where the First Family would serve meals to carefully-vetted homeless families in the area. Maybe they'd come back and everything would be the same. Ashley closed her eyes and remembered the nightmare - the school in flames, children and soldiers dead, all because of her. She opened them, and saw Judy sitting on her bed, holding the family Bible she'd been reading the night before. She was back to a passage Ashley knew was important to her: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." "Do you really want to do this?" Ashley asked Judy quietly. Judy glanced her way. "We haven't known Mia that long, and Leroy...Leroy may want you to tell him on his own." He may go tell everyone. Oh well, that would be one way to handle the end of the relationship. "Ah need to tell them both. Ah know them the best of anybody who is still here...and Ah love Leroy. Ah'm..." She twisted the ring on her finger. "Ah'm gonna marry Leroy, and he deserves to know the truth. Ah have mistreated him." "It wasn't your fault," Ashley added softly from where she sat on the bed. "He's a very nice boy, and he's been very good to you. But what's going to happen when this place is done?" When there was a knock at the door, Ashley got up to answer it.

“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.” ― Bertrand Russell, New Hopes for a Changing World It was in mid-November of 2019, about the time that many Claremont students were about to go away for Thanksgiving break, that Judy Smith sent out a message to some of her best friends inviting them to a special meeting in her dorm room. This was quite unusual; as far as anyone knew, Judy and Ashley had never admitted anyone to their dorm room when they were actually living in it. There had been, to say the least, some discussion about who exactly to invite to the meeting. They'd settled on the most trustworthy of Judy's friends, the ones who were proven, reliable quantities. This meant Chelone, with her wisdom; and this meant Crystal-Gazer, who already knew some things. There'd been others on the table. But they didn't know Mia well enough yet, and Leroy was going to be told on his own. And Micah...well, it wouldn't really do to tell Micah before she told Leroy, now would it? So the woman and the girl sat together in their dorm room and waited, Judy on her bed and Ashley on hers, and Judy prayed. She prayed in her own prayer language that everything would work out okay, that her friends would understand and that telling the truth would save the day, and that taking pains to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord and the eyes of Man would save everything. Ashley had taken this opportunity to say a few words to Our Lady of Vietnam, because why the Hell not at this point, honestly, but was mostly thinking about operational security. She had a few extra gadgets on her belt if things really went south, but hallucinogenic gas and electric stunners were of dubious efficiacy against superheroes. If this went wrong, tricks of the trade weren't going to do it. _So why am I doing this?_ she reflected. She looked at the girl kneeling in prayer across the room, speaking in tongues the way she usually did when she prayed by herself. _Because Judy deserves it._ When there was a knock at the door, it was Ashley who answered it; Judy excusing herself for a moment to get dressed. "Be right there!" Ashley was in a punk rock T-shirt and jeans when she opened the door, a carefully composed look on her face. "Hey. Come in. She's just getting dressed." The Smith room was a bit larger than either Lulu or Danica's room, a private bathroom by what must be Judy's side of the room (with its Christian and Old West art on the walls), with vaguely punk rock decor on Ashley's side. It honestly looked like any other Claremont room, albeit with a few more books on the shelves, some extra electronics here and there, big pile of knitting projects on Judy's desk, and some tools and magnifiers for when Ashley worked on her gear.

Thanksgiving 2019 Lafayette, Louisiana The picture was of Ashley Tran with four other young women all of whom bore a striking resemblance to her - although none of them had her shade of pink-cotton hair. The five women were smiling and posing in front of a low-slung house surrounded by plants, one that looked rather different than the buildings Fa'Rua had seen on her trip to Terra (though really she'd spent most of her time inside buildings than outside of them). Guess who's home for the holidays! Laying on her mother's living room couch at about 1AM, Ashley judged that everybody was asleep, or at least asleep enough for her purposes. She'd wired herself up against jet lag, especially with what she knew was going to be a short visit.

City Hall, Vibora Bay. September 5th, 2019. Noon. In a conference room just down the hall from the mayor's office, seven very unique individuals were gathering around a long table in comfortable chairs. Coffee and bagels had been provided by the mayor's staff, but several of the heroes of Hurricane Dorian craved more substantial fare, so a take-out menu for the Mediterranean place next door led to the room now being full of the smell of seasoned lamb and other savory delicacies. While the food did indeed smell delicious to young Taye Sullivan. So while the others were splitting up the various meats, rice and breads, she poured herself a cup of hot water and took a seat. "It's indeed exciting to have the opportunity to work with you all again," she said in her clear, deep voice as she fished two clear Ziploc bags out of her coverall pockets; one appeared to hold a few pieces of rusted metal, the other several spark plugs. "Of course, last night's work largely took place in the heat of the moment, with little or no planning. it will be interesting to see how we work together when we have more time to talk about things like strategy or logistics." Taye gingerly took several pieces of rust out of the bag and carefully crumbled them into her hot water, which she then stirred with a plastic spoon. "Perhaps we should first take the time to talk about our abilities, strengths and weaknesses before we go any further? As of right now, I am primarily limited to assuming vehicular shapes, but I hope to move beyond that by testing myself further." She took a sparkplug out of her second bag, popped it in her mouth, and washed it down with a sip of rust tea, all the while looking at the others expectantly.

The evening of Tech Compliance Ben, Thank you very kindly for your letter today. I appreciate that you are thinking about my sister and I. I'm sorry about what happened at Tech Club today, and I hope you feel better soon. But you should know that it's not a secret that Ashley and I are from another dimension. We are comfortable with who we are. Speaking of which, I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining me at See You At The Pole this Saturday. It won't be as big as the one in September, but we have some big plans. I know it's getting a little chilly for outside times, but there's hot cocoa and good times, and there's some really good fellowship. Yours, Judy Smith Judy looked at the message, nodded, then pressed send.

St. Romuald’s, Hardwick Park 10:00am, Tuesday, 23rd July 2019 In an area known for the dominance of one gang it was rare to find a place that managed to remain neutral, though no one would dare speak out, and until recently St Romuald had been known as neutral ground. Padre Miguel was a bear of a man who few would dare tussle with. That was until recently when suddenly and without rhyme or reason he began to subtly, and not so subtly, change. With everyone concerned about the other problems going on around Hardwick Park very few were paying any attention, but there were a few that were paying attention...

Gilbert Ave, Hardwick Park 21:00 22nd July 2019 For the last few weeks Hardwick had been burning, and arsonist setting abandoned building of the area alight. Luck rather than skill had mean than no one's homes had been threatened. But as the weeks had gone by, and Bedlam police showed little interest in investigating, the person(s) involved had become bolder. Even the local gangs seemed to be unable to halt them. Apart from the locals no one seemed to be interested in investigating the fires, though perceptions can be deceiving. Bedlam might not have many heroes, but there were a few around and they tried their best to do there part.

Fall 2019 -- shortly after Aquaria's speech at Claremont Claremont Dorms -- Room 213 7-ish pm Despite how much his roommate had been amped about it, Davyd Palahniuk had elected not to attend Aquaria's speech. It's not that he wasn't interested in seeing her -- a Deep One, here, on campus! Not attacking or eating anyone! -- but he already had a lot of homework to catch up on, and was happy to be able to study alone in his room for a bit. He'd never done well in history, and while Claremont's version of U.S. History courses focused more on the impact of superheroes (and supervillains) on the country, and was thus much more interesting to the native Freedomian, he still had difficulty keeping all the names and dates and whatnot right in his mind. He was lying on his bed, with his textbook on his chest, eyes closed in concentration. "Okay, let's try this again. First there was The Ghost, then Johnny Danger, then Bluesman, then Centurion, then Eldrich... wait, no," he picked up the book, "no, Eldrich then Centurion. Then-" And that's when his roommate reappeared.

Lantern Hill, Freedom City October 31, 2019 8:00 PM Mia Mustafic-Markov looked especially spooky this Halloween night. She stood out front of a haunted house, her face marked with a false glasgow grin complemented by fake red blood, and her face was made even paler by white make-up, her eyes made dark and sunken looking by black makeup rimming them. Her neck had a similar false wound, and her denim jacket opened to reveal a white shirt marked by fake blood and three long slash marks over her belly. Yet, the effect was diminished some by the fact that she was dutifully staring at the screen of her phone. She had decided to invite out her Orange Squad team-mates (and Danica!) for the night, in order to get to know them better. And what better way to get to know them than scaring the bejeezus out of them with a Haunted House? Yet, unfortunately, it seemed she was the first to arrive. Which did make sense. She could teleport, and most of them… couldn’t. The choice of venue seemed cool. The Black House, they called it. Not the most creative name, but it was supposedly one of the scariest things ever. It traveled to different cities every year, almost always big ones, and was apparently so scary some people had to check into therapy after visiting. That probably wasn’t true, but it was a pretty great selling point and Mia wanted to check it out. But right now, she was here alone. She looked back at the great mansion behind her, watching as people stumbled out, pale-faced, while more brave looking souls headed on in. Her attention turned back to her phone. Opening up her group text, she hammered out a reply.

Claremont Academy. Sunday, September 8th, 2019. 1:03 am One of the realities of having a telepathic girlfriend is the fact that, as long as you're in range, she can basically reach you at anytime. In the case of Adam Lanchester and Lulu Beaumont's relationship, this meant thoughtful, silly or romantic 'chats' could take place at any hour, but in general the loquacious redhead left her man alone after 9pm most nights. Which made it extra surprising when she suddenly reached out to him the middle of the night, and at extra loud volume at that! - Adam! Adam, wake up! Something f###ing freaky is happening! -

Claremont Academy, Freedom City Early November 6:00PM Once again, Claremont had invited a guest to the lecture hall, and again it was going to be someone a bit controversial. Serena Mustafic, known to the hero community both as Corona and formerly as Revolt, had been asked to come to give a lecture on being an ex-supervillain and how crime didn’t pay. After a few questions, she had found out she hadn’t been their first pick, but the first had referred them to her. Which made her suspect who it was, but she couldn’t be sure because they weren’t telling. Attendance wasn’t mandatory, which meant that Corona’s daughter Mia was off hiding in her room, away from the potential embarrassment. Not that Serena knew that. Instead, she was more focused on the sudden crowd in front of her. She wondered, briefly, if she had gone insane agreeing to do this. She forced the thought back down and approached the podium. She was dressed in full costume, complete with grey tights, black trunks and leather jacket. She figured if she was talking as a superhero, she should look the part. Rubbing the back of her neck, she waited for the introduction to happen. “Alright, everyone, this is Corona. She is here to talk to you all today about what makes a supervillain, how bad it was to be one, and how you shouldn’t become one. If you want to ask a question, please wait in turn and try not to interrupt,” said the host. Corona sighed, and leaned up to the microphone. “Hi, everyone. I’m Corona. Some of you might know me as Mia’s mom, others might not know me at all. I’m a superhero now, but back in the early 90s I was a supervillain called Revolt,” she said. “I was a member of a team called the Delinquents. We were formed basically right after the Terminus Invasion in ‘93.” “Uhm, some background. Before I got my powers, I was in and out of the foster system and I was pretty poor as a kid. I drifted from home to home, and started committing crimes when I was… Jeez. I don’t know. 10? I was angry at the world. Everyone, really, and I ran away a lot. It made me pretty ideal fodder for being turned into a villain. I was kidnapped by a man named Will Wu when I was 15 years old, and I was given superpowers. In exchange, I was expected to commit crimes for him along with four other teenagers.” “Before you get the idea I was entirely the victim in this, I was pretty into it. For most of my life, I had felt powerless, and suddenly having powers and the ability to act on a lot of anger I was harbouring… It felt good. It let me be blind to the fact that I was causing a lot of people a lot of pain. I think there’s a very large subset of super-villains who are people who felt powerless and then when they did gain extraordinary abilities they just… Got drunk on it. That’s not… I don’t want it to sound like I am making excuses for myself. But I think it’s important to remember that a lot of these people out there are people who are hurting in some way, and there might be a chance for you to make a breakthrough to them.” “Uh, but getting back to my story here. I was a supervillain for around three years. I fought with groups like the Freedom League, there’s a very embarrassing photo of me fighting Lady Li…” she paused, and looked up at the projector screen behind her, and sighed as she saw a teenage version of her attacking the Lady Liberty of the 90s. It was a newspaper clipping, underneath a headline of ‘DELINQUENTS AND FREEDOM LEAGUE CLASH’. “Yeah. Not proud of that one. Anyway,” she said as the image switched off. “I was caught at the end of those three years and sentenced to several years in jail, which was kind of a wakeup call for me. Once I got out, I made the decision that I was going to go straight. Most of my compatriots went straight along with me… Some didn’t. I am still dealing with the fallout of that today. I never finished high school, so I was really limited in my job choices, which meant after I had my daughter, money was tight as ever, and a few members of the super community paid me a few unwanted visits to let me know that I was being watched, which was a little spooky, not going to lie. Recently, I made the decision to return to the super world, but as a superhero. It’s been difficult at times, but it’s a lot more rewarding.” She paused. “Well, that’s the short version of my life story. One thing I really feel the need to say is that I know a lot of you are probably in a similarly crummy point in your life, and you might want to lash out. Your powers might make it easy to lash out. And for a time, it might even feel good. But consequences always catch up to you, and more than that, you’re not just hurting the people you think you’re lashing out at. Your actions tend to ring outwards. Which is why I think if you are angry at injustice, or the way you’ve been treated, what you should be doing is using your abilities to make the world better. Yes, I understand a lot of you are angry at the world and you probably have a lot of right to be. But the world does not need another super-powered jerk bullying people because they’ve been abused, or hurt… or whatever has happened to you. What it does need is more people doing good. That doesn’t necessarily mean going out and punching bad guys, either. There are a lot of really good organizations out there that can benefit from people who are super strong or can fly. Disaster relief really benefits from metahuman help. Like, unimaginably so. So… Just try to use that outrage for good, I guess.” She looked over at the host. “How was that? Was that good? Should I start taking questions?” She nodded at the answer. “Alright, if anyone has any questions, I can answer a few.”

GM Bayview, Freedom City, USA July 27th, 10:00am Rachel Morgan would be a star employee at almost any other organization, but at ASTRO Labs, she was surrounded by all sorts of super-geniuses and was thus just one of many scientists. She had no personal workshop there, so when she wanted to tinker, she had to work at the one in her home. Which worked fine for her, she had many ideas she had no intention of monetizing. She had been kicked out of a few places thanks to problems with Home Owners Associations and late-night noise, so she had finally given up on attached homes and splurged on a solitary property in Bayview, where she could work in peace. She had the home specially built with sound-proofing in the basement so that she wouldn’t be bothered by any further noise complaints. Now, the most the Home Owners Associations mostly just bothered her about neglecting her lawn, which she promised herself she would fix the robot that mowed it for her soon. The house itself was unassuming, a fairly standard one-story building, built wide with a green tiled roof and with a cherry red electric car sitting out front. On a flag pole sat an American flag, and beneath it a pride flag. There was a porch, painted white, its front partially obscured by grass growing ever higher in front of it. The front door was protected by a screen in front of it, and a charming little welcome mat declared “I can see your underwear”. Yet in the place of a doorbell, there was a strange, HAL-looking piece of machinery. As the group approached, it chirped. “Hello there, I’m Garvey. Welcome to Ms. Morgan’s home. What’s your names, and what’s your reason for visiting?” Those with pop-culture affinities might have noticed it sounded quite a lot like Michael Caine. @Heritage @Electra @Tiffany Korta @Exaccus

November 28th, Thanksgiving Day, 2019, 8.45AM, The woods of Bayview, overlooking the lake "Felix, they are...they are dead." Leroy whispered, as if he was afraid to awaken the two men under the leaves. Both were stiff, face-down and swollen, wearing soaked and muddy winter coats, hats and scarves to ward off the approaching chill of another polar vortex. Standing over them in his loving recreation of a Puritan's costume, hat crushed between two slender fists, the chatty Dragon Prince of Earth-2 was at a loss for words for the first time all morning. Felix and Leroy had set out on a mission of mercy. With his power to conjure the mysterious black diamonds growing, Leroy had decided to set up a shelter in the woods at a homeless community he'd heard about on the Bayview Slack. "Think of it, Felix!" he had told the other boy over lunch the other day, "Heat, food, water, cleaning supplies, building materials, clothing, medicine, in any amounts and at any time! That is what being a hero should be about, changing lives for the better!" So the two had set out into the woods with samples of all those things after a trip to Bayview Mall. At Leroy's passionate insistence, they had dressed up like Puritans. Now they were standing over two ice-cold corpses, the chill wind off the Atlantic Ocean rattling in the skeletal trees above. Finding his voice, Leroy murmured "Felix...their heads...twisted around. Someone killed them." On a closer look, that suddenly became very apparent. The faces were turned to the hard earth, but their bodies faced the flat grey sky.

October 31, 2019 Lantern Hill "This seems awfully high-profile," said Judy uncertainly as she looked out the window of the historic mansion rented out on behalf of the federal government. "Tell me again why we're meeting the space people in the middle of town, on a night when the streets are crowded with people?" Judy had dressed for the occasion so she could 'pass' if spotted. Dressed in denim and a jacket, she looked vaguely like an outlaw with her domino mask, black cowboy hat, and the bandanna she was not leaving tied over her face unless absolutely necessary. "It's the easiest way to do something covert in Freedom City," said Ashley with an easy shrug, looking downright unrecognizable to her Claremont 'friends' in a black jacket and white dress shirt, a look that matched the other agents who were along for the ride today. "That is, do it in plain sight. The average person who spots their ship coming in, if they spot it at all, will think it's a superhero thing, and superheroes are too busy dealing with the usual Halloween magic BS to dwell on a ship they know is friendly. And if anybody does spot the Lor, well, they're just partygoers on their way to a party." As she spoke, she and the rest of Judy's team were heading down the corridor and towards the central atrium of the mansion - the better to be there when their contact arrives. "Ah guess that's why Ah don't do the planning," said Judy philosophically. A part of her rather wished they'd gone on to the haunted house Mia had been talking about, but of course going to an unvetted spookhouse wasn't something she was gonna be able to do in Freedom City - or ever, for that matter. Oh well, she thought, probably nothing scarier there than at the Hell House at the church back in Oklahoma City! She took another look at Ashley, narrowed her eyes, and said, "Agent George, are you wearing makeup?" Ashley smiled thinly, glad Judy was remembering to stick to protocol. "Ms. Cahill," she said with a smile, "I am officially off-duty once our guests are finished with their work and you're on your way back to school, which means there's a Halloween party out there with my name on it." Ashley was, in fact, wearing makeup - a striking red lipstick and a smoky eyeshadow, and she'd even freshly dyed the tips of her hair pink before coming out again. If she slept in on Friday, she could probably stay out as late as she wanted. Or...whatever. "Nice," said Judy, smiling back. She had never really liked Halloween, so she wasn't put out at the idea of missing Claremont's Halloween party - it wasn't like she could eat candy anymore. "Well Ah hope you get yourself a good treat." She distinctly detected a blush on her guardian's cheeks, and smiled even more broadly. Maybe she'll loosen up a little bit if she gets a boyfriend! It must be hard for her to find a date...

Fall 2019 Claremont Academy Gay-Straight Alliance First Meeting of the Year The tables were set with neatly baked rainbow cupcakes that Judy felt no more than the slightest temptation to eat, the walls hung with rainbow flag images and pictures from LGBT history, and the Recording Secretary of the Claremont Academy GSA (the only member of the club who hadn't graduated last year) was ready to greet the new arrivals as they headed into the converted classroom. She'd been a little nervous her first meetings as her sister's 'ally', sitting in a room full of people she'd been taught to believe were wrong, but Ashley's refusal to take an active role in the club had forced her to take an active role herself, and within a few months she'd found herself fitting right in. We gotta get some new members this year, she thought with a glance at Ashley, I can't be above secretary, because I'm an ally! With a smile, she flung open the door, gold cross gleaming around her neck, and said, "Howdy, y'all! Welcome to the GSA!"

Freedom City Exposition Center October 19, 2019 12:00 PM "Compass Rose International Tech Expo: Tickets $25, students and heroes enter free. Open Saturday, October19 12 PM to 4 PM, Sunday 2 to 6 PM." Compass Rose International. One of the few companies on the bleeding edge of space tech, attempting to fill a gap that had begun to form in the early days of the new millenium and had only grown over two decades. Spurred on by renewed interest in the ideas of space colonization and exploration, the company had carved out a healthy niche for itself in a fairly short amount of time. It had come to Freedom City for a few reasons. The first was the fact that, not so secretly, the company had been seeking to expand its operations to Freedom City and was hoping to make a good impression. There was also the fact that Freedom City had a fairly sizable meta-human population, and hiring one of those would be a real boon if they had the right power set. The convention centre floor was bedecked in multiple exhibits, ranging from rocketry dioramas to model Mars habitats. There were also little recruiting stations proclaiming "work for Compass Rose!", complete with contact details and resume drop-off zones. At the front of the hall was a stage, a lone podium sitting in the centre and flanked by chairs on either side. Raya wells sighed, dressed in a black pants-suit with a white halter top underneath. It was a far cry from her usual style, but she had been told to tone it down. The only real personal flourish she had was a purple cap with a flat brim and a pair of ray bans. Next to her was Compass Rose's communications director, Sam Rio, an older man dressed in a simple blue button down and grey slacks, with his widows peaked black hair slicked back. "I can't believe you made me come to this," Raya said glumly. She had been hoping to visit a world where Hannibal had crushed Rome, but she had been strongarmed by Rio's charm. "You're the CEO," Sam said, side-eyeing Raya. "It would be weird if you weren't here." "I am not the public type of CEO," she said. "You know that." "Look, just smile and shake some hands, make a a speech, you'll be fine. Hey, look, we got our first arrivals," he said, gesturing to the entrance. Raya grimaced. "Greaaaat."

Claremont Academy 10:30 am, August 28th, 2019 Weather: Sunny, 77 F, Wind E 15-20 mph The visitor's parking lot was packed. A sea of people bustled amidst vehicles and toward open, shining gates. Belongings, often with grunts of effort, were loaded onto carts. Laughter echoed from caravans trickling through the main entrance and the Quad. Hand-drawn signs pointed the way, each adorned with student messages. In time, the shadows of the twin dormitories provided respite to travelers. Staff and peer counselors dotted the trail, assisting overwhelmed students on their journey. Vice-Principal Dugan was the first new face to arrivals. Her table near the gates kicked off the journey. Mr. Marquez wheeled the circuit and kept visitors on course. Mr Kuzkin and Ms. Harcourt paced about the Kord and Carter dorms, respectively. Their task, to organize the move-in, appeared to have some success. At the very least, weary travelers could partake of cold refreshments and treats outside the main doors. While outside was organized chaos, the dorm halls were like herding cats. A din permeated the air. Dozens of students, parents, and guardians wandered in search of rooms. Boxes and bags transformed the hallways into obstacle courses. The excitement of new memories and old friends contrasted with worried hugs and goodbyes. If nothing else, the dorms were places of beginnings and endings. What are you doing this beautiful day? Moving into the dorm? Helping new students?

Claremont Fall 2019 Noon Mia sighed as she exited the counselor’s office, rubbing her temples. She had just received what she was pretty sure was a tongue-lashing, except not much like the ones she had back at public school. There was less anger, more ‘we’re disappointed in you’, which strangely enough, felt worse. She grimaced, and pulled her phone out from the pocket of her faded black jeans. She looked down at the screen as she unlocked it, weighing her options. She decided to settle on her dad. He was always the softer one with her. Letting her mom know she’d already gotten in trouble was going to give her a conniption and Mia didn’t need that. Her mom didn’t either, probably. Too much stress going on, lately. But her dad. He could take it, right? She opened up a new text window. Mia grimaced. That was fast. He must have been taking his lunch. Mia glared at her screen, and hastily tapped a reply, then deleted it, then wrote another reply. Mia’s eyes went wide. Tell her mom? No! She was telling him specifically to avoid letting her mom know! Mia pumped her fist. She assumed the acceptance of a peace offering meant that she was safe from him telling her mom. For now. He was definitely not getting that cola if he told her mom. No one would get any cola then. Her attention turned back to the counselor’s office, and she narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t believe she actually got in trouble for this. It was such a non-issue. But of course, people had to blow everything out of proportion all the time. Couldn’t just be cool about things. Ugh. And man, now she had to write an apology letter to Aquaria, too. What was even the point of an apology if someone made you write it? She rolled her eyes, then turned around, only to find she was staring at the reason she had teleported out of the presentation in the first place. “Oh, hey,” she said flatly. “Didn’t… See you there.”

Interviews. The teacher had elected to have the students interview each other. Mia didn’t really have any interviewing skills at the best of times, and her chosen partner didn’t make things any easier. There was an air of mystery around Judy, even despite her general warmth and openness. What made things worse was that the class was uneven, so Mia had been also assigned to interview the other Smith sister, Ashley. That was perhaps a bigger challenge, given the general… Reservedness with which Ashley seemed to approach the world. What was worse was that this interview constituted a fairly large portion of their grade, enough that skipping it wasn’t really a consideration. In order to make things easier, Mia had offered up some information about herself first, in the hopes that it might help create a bridge between the two of them. However, she didn’t really have an idea of where to start beyond the basics. “Alright,” she said, clearly unsure of herself. “I’m Mia Mustafic-Markov. I was named after Mia Zapata, from a punk band called the Gits. A big secret about me is that I have a middle name, Nadezhda, from Lenin’s wife, which my dad’s parents gave to me. I don’t use them because that’s super embarrassing. They were descended from Trotskyists who fled the Soviet Union during the 1930s,” she said. Her tone was robotic, as if reciting things from rote. “My birthday is September 1st, 2003.” She paused. “Now you guys go, I guess.”

GM Royal Hill August 20th 2019, 4:30 PM Sirens, shots being fired. The roar of motor cycles tore through the streets of Royal Hill, as three figures escaped the scene of their crime, weaving in and out of traffic on full speed on their bikes, quickly leaving the police cruisers behind. They were all dressed in black, as were their bikes, with heavy bags full of money strapped to their sides. Each seemed to have fire arms of some kind in their hand, occassionally turning to shoot back at the cops in case they got too close. Far behind, they had left behind an armored truck, doors blown open with explosives. A diamond transport, the driver and guard had been left alive, but hurting. New wares for some other upscale jewelry shop or another in Royal Hill, the robbers were sure to get away, unless someone intervened.