Issue 1 Downtime

The Danger Room is set up to show a large courtyard along with a couple buildings that look like warehouses. In the middle of the open area the entrance to the DR is hanging in mid-air and ASHLIE is standing next to the door inside the simulation, waiting for the high-school students who signed up for the X-Team program.


((open, obviously))

Miranda shows up a little early, dressed in her training uniform. "Hello, ASHLIE."

"Good afternoon, Miranda." ASHLIE smiles politely.

As he was eager to prove himself, Graham, too, showed up early.

"Huh... figured I'd be first."

"I might just be a little desynched," Miranda said, phasing out as she looked for a clock.

Haley showed up bright-eyed and rather early as well. Amazingly she seemed to be entirely without her phone.

And they were followed by Barbara, making the first time anyone had seen her in an actual training uniform.

Jennifer, being her usual uncheerful self followed, staring daggers at Barbara.

"Excellent. I believe that is everybody." ASHLIE announces to the assembled group.

"I have been tasked with evaluating your abilities in the field and set up this program to test your performance in various areas such as teamwork, perceptiveness, adaptability, planning and of course combat capability. The objective is to investigate an abandoned factory for suspicious activity and disable any enemy combatants without harming any civilians, should any be present. Please proceed at your own discretion." she says and steps out of the room.


((as usual, retroactive attendance applies))

"Ah, detailed instructions," Barbara said, ignoring Jennifer. "Just fantastic."

"Well, let's see what we're up against," Miranda said, stepping forward towards the warehouses before looking for windows to throw her sight to.

Haley closed her eyes, trying to get a sense of how many minds were inside.

"And I'll look for possible ways in."

Graham walked around, looking for alternative points of entry.

Miranda can see at least two people inside in a big factory hall filled with bits of machinery here and there. One man is kind of crouched on one of the pieces of machinery while the other is standing nearby. The second one is humongous, both in height and, to put it delicately, circumference. To put it less delicately, the man is ridiculously fat.

Haley can vaguely sense a handful of minds, at least three or four, but something is actively working against her, it seems.

Graham can see one main entrance as well as a side-door around the corner as well as a fire-ladder that leads up to the second floor as well as the roof.

"I see two guys," Miranda said quietly. "One of them is huge."

They might have a telepath, or psi shielding or something...there's like three or four people in there but it's hard to get a decent read on anything.

"Any on the second floor or the roof?"

"Wanna lift to see if you can tell?"

"Thanks, but in that case I might as well just climb," he said before silently creeping up the fire ladder for a stealthy look.

The people inside don't seem to hear Graham despite the occasional creak of the metal staircase. The top of the roof seems empty, though a couple of structures like AC units and vents could be providing cover to someone lieing in wait.

"Shouldn't we just knock the wall in?" Barbara yawned.

"....we're supposed to investigate, not smash. Besides, blasting the wall might hurt the civilians or make the hostiles hurt them."

Graham checked the nearest vent for viability as an entrance.

The vents look like the covers could be removed without too much hassle and are, like any proper ventilation shaft, inexplicably wide enough to crawl into.

"Found us a stealthy way in. Ventilation duct on the roof," he thought loudly.

Haley shared the thought more widely with the team.

"Anyone need a lift up to the roof?"

"We'll have to see if I fit," Miranda thought, fluttering her wings slightly, "But I'll certainly take a life if you can handle me."