IC: Clan House

[charli]

~Sara~

Okay, two was company, but three was a crowd. Sara decided to use Evan's arrival to give herself some space. "That looks painful, man," she said, standing. Her vision blackened around the edges for a moment because she had stood too quickly, but she had learned years ago to push that back. Stepping around the couch to perch on the arm, she motioned to the now vacant spot on the floor. "You wanna sit down?"

Worriedly, she cast a glance towards Leyla. She was sort of awake, but she looked like she needed quiet for a while. "Or we could move this into the kitchen?" Sara suggested.

[tomaszavenger]

Tom

"There's a small probability that it may, but I'm going to risk it..." Tom said, before he punched Nav-E with a quick motion.

As expected, a robot unstealthed itself and looked at Tom.

"ORDER! Repeat punching and you shall be punished..." the robot said.

Tom laughed and pointed his scanner, before the information was quickly transferred to his suit. As soon as the process was done, the robot shrugged from confusion and recloaked itself.

"Right... I've got a copy of the programming and schematics of the robot. As long as we can feed enough mass to my suit, it should be able to make an EXACT copy of the robot. Problem is, we'll need to gather loads of metal undetected." Tom said.

"And this will only be for some of the functions. I'm sure some materials required will be unaccessable, such as shielding technology. If the Media Center gets through, it may involve stealing some equipment, else it will be extremely difficult and risky." Tom said, watching the space around him. He hoped the robots would not relay the information to the directors.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Nav-E

“Right, but did you really have to punch me like that?” muttered Nav-E as he rubbed the side of his face. “Geez, it’s a good thing that you’re not wearing brass knuckles or anything.”

Nav-E then glanced at the area where the robot had re-cloaked itself before glancing back at Tom.

“And what if the Media Center doesn’t go through? Are we still going to be able to steal all of the equipment that we’ll need?”

[tomaszavenger]

"No... we'll need to steal enough silicon, and other metals we need. These are most common in computers. So, any computers will do, but if we have a media centre, maybe nobody will notice a computer go missing.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Nav-E

Nav-E nodded at Tom.

“That sounds like a good plan; there’s only one minor flaw that I can see though. If the Media Center does go through, what is the guarantee that there will be enough computers present so that if one does ‘mysteriously disappear’, it will go unnoticed?”

[tomaszavenger]

"Hmm... we'll just have to wait and find out then..." Tom said. Nav-E was right, unfortunately.

Tom nodded and looked through some data in the suit's wrist-watch. He looked through objects he had scanned.

"Hmm... this'll be nice... maybe, if I get some nitrogen, it'll make a nice gift, I doubt anybody would be impressed with a holographic plant." Tom thought.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Nav-E

Nav-E blinked.

“Nitrogen? Where are we going to find any nitrogen around here? Wait a minute, holographic plant? What, are you going to grow a couple of legumes for everyone?”

Nav-E then grinned at Tom.

“Or maybe you’re thinking about creating a holographic plant in order to impress that brunette-haired girl who was attacked. Something tells me that you fancy her.”

[echoes]

-Dan-

Dan laughed at Evans pain.
"Yes, it was cheap, but you said I'd have to do better, and I DID."
he said, still cracking up.
He turned back to Sara. "You need anything Sara?"

[charli]

~Sara~

Well, it seemed the guys weren't going to move themselves. "Hot chocolate," Sara answered Dan. "One must never underestimate the medicinal powers of chocolate." As she spoke, she stood and headed towards the kitchen. Etiquette should pull the guys along, and sure enough, they followed. Once in the kitchen, though, Sara saw a clock. "Jeez. Ten o'clock. Really? I guess it has been a long day." As she began to heat up some milk, she felt the weight of exhaustion begin to settle on her. "You think this place has set lights out time?" she asked the guys, perching on a stool at the island and sipping at her warm milk.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Evan

“Yes, it is very painful, and no, I’m fine…but thanks for the offer though,” Evan muttered, wincing slightly.

He then glared up at Dan who was laughing his ass off.

“Well, I guess now I know not to ask for such challenges around you. They’ll cost me my manhood if it’s not already gone…” ><

Evan watched from his position on the floor as Sara went into the kitchen and started to heat up some milk for hot chocolate. The rest of the guys followed her in and started to talk amongst themselves.

“Damn, this is five times worse than that one time when I climbed out of that cement swimming pool a little too close to the overhanging ledge and scrapped my nuts on the side of it…” ><

[charli]

-Eric-

"You think this place has a set lights out time?" Sara asked.

Eric rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe like midnight or some shit like that. Hey, I thought you were going to make yourself hot chocolate."

"Are you kidding?" Sara asked incredulously. "At this hour? I get the trippiest nightmares evar when I have chocolate this late, and after what just happened, I don't know if I'd be able to tell the difference between a dream and reality."

She had a point there. "Well, why don't you just go to bed if it's so late for you?"

[tomaszavenger]

Tom

"Flowers aren't exactly the most impressive things Nav-E. They're pretty common, they have some roots in mathematics and science, but that's irrelevant, unless you specially arrange them or do something special, it is JUST a plant. No... these flowers are for comfort. She needs comfort, I mean, after the massive shock which she appears to have had. The symptoms are all there, and possibly the additional one of repressed memory of the event. You know, it's just like aromatherapy. By choosing a good combination of flowers, they would be able to supress any negativity in the brain and soothe it. Of course, the science is trial-and-error, but with some secondary research, it should be easy to find a common but helpful plant. If I really wanted to romance her, I'd probably be more likely to choose one of greater cultural significance, like a rose, or an expensive or rare variety. Speaking of cultural significance, that may be how they work on the brain. According to a recent article in Focus magazine, sometimes repeated memories are passed on to offspring indirectly over a period of time, and not influenced by behaviour but rather genetics. Wonder what is the cause of the high commoness of arachnophobia? According to the same article, it seems to have occured during the many times plague spread throughout Europe, where many people descend from. And what the hell has the plague got to do with spiders? Well... spiders became a symbol of plague, after houses where plague victims died or became 'stored in' (if I may use the euphamism) usually became infested in them, thus they seemed to be linked to the plague. This 'memory' has passed down even to the modern era. The plagues actually occured multiple times, although most people only hear of the Black Death." Tom said, before realising the time.

"Well... sorry for going off on a tangent like that, but I guess we'll have to find out the results of the competition tommorow. I bid thee goodbye, and I will take some nitrogen from outside, as per the requirement of creating flowers." Tom said, before waving his hand and then pacing along the corridor, before turning out a doorway into the gardens.

Clan House Bot

I can confirm there is absolutely NO curfew.

[charli]

~Sara~

"Go to bed?" Sara asked Eric. "Again, are you kidding? At the risk of sounding like an eight-year-old, I never get to stay up. I'm not letting this opportunity slip... through my... fingers..."

Well, at least she managed to set down her glass and not spill the milk as she slipped into unconsciousness.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Evan and Nav-E

During the time before and after Tom left the hallway and made his way out into the gardens, Nav-E stayed behind with his mouth hanging nearly to the floor and a rather dumb expression plastered on his face.

“Uh……”

He then turned to a wall and started banging his head rhythmically on it.

“Too…much…information…at…once…”

After Nav-E had finished with his head-banging, he entered the living room and was about to enter the kitchen to get something to eat when he nearly tripped over something on the floor.

“What the…?”

Looking down, he saw that Evan was hunched over on the floor and he looked like he was in pain.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Evan looked up at his brother, this time not wincing as the pain was nearly gone.

“Dan punched me in the balls.”

At that statement, Nav-E immediately burst out laughing.

“What drove him to do a thing like that? You muss up his hair or something?”

“I challenged him to a contest that turned out to be a big, fuckin’ mistake,” replied Evan.

Nav-E then looked at the floor by Evan’s feet. “I see you were doing something with orange slices. Juggling them in midair with your mind again?”

“Yep.”

“And then Dan tried to make you drop them?”

“Yep.”

“But you didn’t, and you challenged him to do better and then he did do better?”

“Yep.”

“I see. Yeah, that was a big, fuckin’ mistake on your part. So, how are you feeling?”

“Better, but it still hurts like hell.”

“I’ll bet. Anything I can get you?”

Evan was about to shake his head ‘no’ when he reconsidered.

“A glass of milk and orange juice.”

“One glass of milk and orange juice coming right up.”

Nav-E then entered the kitchen and went to the refrigerator to retrieve a carton of each. As he poured the liquids into two glasses each for Evan and himself, he noticed Sara unconscious on the counter sitting on her stool with a mug of warm milk next to her.

“Heh, the old warm milk trick. Can put anyone to sleep in no time flat.”

Nav-E put the two cartons back in the fridge and then brought the glasses back into the living room. He found Evan propped up against an armchair and handed him a glass.

“Thanks, dude,” said Evan after he had taken a gulp of the whitish-orange mixture. He then dropped the fallen orange slices into his glass and swirled the mixture.

“Anytime,” replied Nav-E as he sat down next to his brother. “So, what do you want to do now?”

“Hey, wait a minute. What happened with Tom and Zach?”

“Well, after punching me in the face, scanning a robot for any possible signs of using reverse psychology on it, and diving into a fairly lengthy discussion about flowers and the plague, Tom went out to the gardens to collect some nitrogen so that he can create some holographic flowers. Zach, on the other hand, didn’t talk much the entire time and I left him standing in the hallway before I found you hunched over on the floor.”

“What? Holographic flowers? Wait, Tom punched you?” Evan said, shocked.

“Yeah, but it was only to draw out one of the robots. The stupid thing refused to help us figure out what happened to Leyla, so Tom had to take some drastic measures so that he could scan its databanks for any video evidence of her attack or whatever.”

“Heh, he didn’t give you a warning, huh?”

“Nope, not at all; just socked me right in the face. The attack was effective enough though, because Tom got what he wanted.”

“Geez, I hope Leyla’s going to be alright.”

“Yeah. I hate to say it, but there certainly is some weird shit going on around here. We still haven’t figured out why we’ve all been brought here yet, have we?”

“Nope. It’s still a mystery.”

[echoes]

-Dan-

Dan watched as Sara fell into unconsciousness.
"Didn't she say she wanted to stay up?"
he said laughing a little.

[tomaszavenger]

Tom

Tom ripped grass from the ground, processing it in his suit, until finally he had gathered enough material, quickly began converting it. He figured he'd let his suit do the work, but he really needed to get back to where Leyla was.

Only, he realised that the suit wasn't going to do him any favours.

"Heck, I guess I can wait till the morning, when the flowers will be done. I look like a real joke in this, but at least I have the protection, and the powers. It feels like I've worn this forever already" Tom said to himself quitely, as he walked back into the warm indoors.

[charli]

-Eric-

"Yeah, she did," Eric chuckled, taking the mug and pouring the excess milk down the sink. "Still, she's had a long day, and I guess if you're used to crashing early, there's not a lot you can do when it's past your bedtime. Still, someone should do something about her..."

Gently, Eric lifted Sara and carried her into the living room where he laid her on a couch across from the one Leyla and Kat had claimed. She shivered a bit, and Eric pressed his palms together, drawing a deep purple blanket from them as he pulled them apart and laying it over her.

He had just turned to go, when Sara's icy hand snapped out and grabbed his in a grip surprisingly solid. But her breathing was slow and even; she was still asleep. And after a few moments, her hand went limp, releasing Eric before she drew it under the blanket and turned over. Hunh, Eric though. Wonder what that was about...

[echoes]

-Dan-

Dan followed Eric out to the living and slipped the warmer from earlier into Sara's hands.
He turned to Eric.
"So, do Incubi get any special powers, or anything like that?" he asked

[charli]

-Eric-

"Full incubi are pretty much irresistible sex gods and have incredible strength and magical powers," Eric answered Dan. "At least, that's what legends say. My friends and I have never actually met a full incubus. The closest we've come is Aiden's girl Anna. Her father was an incubus, but she never knew him. And I only know magic because I worked at a legit magic shop back home and had a good teacher."

Needing caffeine, he went into the kitchen and got himself another Coke. He talked as he walked. "People who're part incubus, though, even just a drop of blood like me and my friends... We see other people as being different from us, but not really in a good or bad way. The other people, however, are generally repulsed by us. I guess when you dilute seduction enough, the effect reverses."

Popping off the bottle cap, Eric took a long chug of the soda and then glanced towards the living room. Towards Sara. Sara who didn't immediately hate him. Sara who seemed to see him as a normal person. What was it Leyla had said earlier, that Sara had terrible taste in guys in general? Hunh, perhaps she had some inhuman blood somewhere in her as well.

[Yetisarge]

Zerb and Aaron both looked around. "So it is just us still up? Eh guess that is to be expected with the day that has gone on." Aaron said. "Oh by the way Zerb sorry your idea lost, it was pretty close though."

"Ah its alright, I'm amazed that my idea even got as far as it really did." Zerb said flopping into a seat as he flipped to the History channel and he found that Lee Ermy was still playing.

[TheTimeSweeper]

Evan and Nav-E

Nav-E made a face as Zerb flipped to the History Channel and stopped on a show he didn’t recognize.

“Bleh, I hate history… Hey, you want to go exploring and see what else is in this crazy house?”

Evan shrugged. “Eh, might as well. It would do me some good anyway to move around after my recent experience…”

Nav-E laughed and got up before draining his glass and walking towards the kitchen. “I hope that they little guys can still swim around in there.”

Evan got up carefully and drained his glass before joining Nav-E. “They’ll manage. This is by far the worst that I’ve ever experienced and hopefully the last, but with Dan around, you never know.”

“Heh, hopefully you’ll be able to keep your big mouth shut this time, right?”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

After the two brothers placed their glasses in the sink, Evan then went to the staircase and motioned up the carpeted stairs with his hands. “After you, Nav-E.”

“Heh, no thanks. I fell for that old gag last time at Cousin Bob’s house, and I’m not going to fall for it again, literally.”

Evan shrugged and then walked up the stairs, smirking to himself. “Suit yourself then. I wasn’t going to do anything.”

“Yeah, suuuure you weren’t. Just like the time you said you weren’t going to do anything when you put pickle juice in my soda at the family reunion last summer.”

Evan laughed. “That was pretty funny.”

“It tasted nasty! Like someone had taken a leak in it!”

“Heh, you’ll get used to it like I have. It’s an acquired taste.”

“Aw, hell no. I’ll eat horse manure before I taste that mixture ever again.”

Evan nearly fell down the stairs in laughter. “And what makes you so sure that horse manure will taste better than pickle juice and Coca-Cola?”

“I have no idea, but it’s gotta taste better than that nasty piss you gave me. Gawd, I think that mixture gave me tongue warts or something.”

Evan had to stop on the stairs because he was laughing so hard.

“Cut it out, dammit! It wasn’t that funny!”

“I-it was for m-me! Y-you just brought back all of the great memories from that day. Gawd, I wish I could relive it again!”

Nav-E stalked past Evan up the stairs, glaring back at his brother. “Ass…”

Evan laughed some more before following his brother up the stairs to the landing.

[charli]

~Sara~

Sara was in tears. A profound feeling of loss twisted her heart. Her vision slightly blurred, she stumbled into a familiar bakery. This is where Aaron Carr works... she thought dimly even as she saw him kneading dough behind the counter. He was one of her seniors, and oh, she missed their faces.

Aaron took one look at her and grabbed a towel to wipe the flour off of his hands. "Mike's in the back," he said gently. As Sara made her way around the counter, he clapped her reassuringly on the shoulder, and she felt her spirits lift a bit. Chris Fulton and Dan Maynard were there as well but looked straight past her. It didn't help, but Sara didn't expect anything else from them, though their friend Anthony paused to tell her it would be alright.

And then in the back, at the desk Sara's dad had used to occupy as assistant manager, sat Mike Todd. Sara couldn't help herself. She threw herself at him and clung, sobbing, to his huge frame as he reassured her again and again.

I've had this dream before, Sara realized. It was years ago. I was so homesick... Does this mean I will be going home eventually? I'm going to believe yes. And gradually, the dream got brighter.

[echoes]

-Dan-

Dan shook his head at Eric.
"I wouldn't think so, it's probably just something in human DNA that fucks with the incubi DNA that makes people want to avoid you." he said.

[tomaszavenger]

Tom

Tom came into his bedroom, and quickly ejected all his suit clamps, letting the arm and leg pieces fall onto the floor, hardly taking a dent. The suit had a load of mass in his backpack however, so he took extensive in taking that off and putting it onto the ground. He tossed the helmet onto one of the bedposts and breathed in quickly a few times to accumulate some oxygen. His normal clothes were covered with patches of sweat from the heat.

"I am so going to install coolers into this..." Tom thought, believing the artificers or armourers who had constructed the suit to have not accounted for bodily needs so much. The suit was heavy as well, although they did say that was normal, but Tom felt that a little bit of lightweighting could have gone a long way. He also found suprisingly the pain in his ribs wasn't as big.

"Well... it seems to be getting dark..." Tom noticed, as the sun began to set. He slowly shut the blinds, peering through the windows carefully, expecting something. But nothing came. Tom always expected a sign to appear, one that would guide him. He always hoped that if a clear sign came, he would immediately find his calling, his purpose. So far, he'd have to try to invent a purpose. Otherwise, he felt miserable. Now it was no longer the case. Usually, he was quite happy... the Clan had brought him his happiness, and being within close proximity to most of its members amplified that. Especially to the one he felt the most for.

He was unable to take much more of the craziness of the day, and fell onto his bed, in his usual reflective stance. Normally, he allocated this time to reading and thinking. He knew it wasn't late, and he wouldn't get sleepy, but the bed brought him comfort, a place to escape. A place to ignore the effects of gravity and the laws of physics and maths, and use imagination to create an atmosphere where he would be at peace.

Memoirs today... it's what I feel like... it's the best story of all...

Tom often repeated this sentance in his head when he thought it. It was one that he had analysed so much, he felt he had dedicated a section of his brain for it. The sentance reminded him of the times his mother read stories, and he would pleaded in Polish: "Jeszcze jedn¹, jeszcze jedn¹!" which translated literally means "Yet another... yet another..." better translated as "One more... one more..." His mom always chose the same story as the second one, assuming she had time. It was the one about the flower of forgetfullness. It only bloomed once a year, and legend said that a person who found the flower and picked it would be able to get the one true love he seeked, but that he would forget about everything else. A young prince had sought the flower, in the attempts to win over the affections of a princess who ignored him. He had to cross a few obstacles. The first was a large talking tree. The tree was well known by his village. It was said that it killed anybody who disobeyed it. It said that it wanted nobody to got around it. So the prince climbed onto it and jumped across to another tree once he reached the top branch, and then got down. The second obstacle was a river, where there was no way across. The clever prince however found a log, and threw it into the river until it grabbed a secure hold on the two banks. He then crossed it with ease. The last obstacle was a signpost. It had very odd labels. On its four spokes were written: "Go here to get to the forgetful flower...", "Do not go here to get to the forgetful flower." "Go here to get the forgetful flower and all the other signposts lie" and finally "Do not go here to get the forgetful flower and all the other signposts lie." The clever prince deduced that the correct signpost was "Do not go here to get the forgetful flower and all the other signposts lie" and went the way that said "Do not go here to get to the forgetful flower". He kept walking until finally, the black flower that looked wilted but really was not was discovered. He picked it, and as soon as he did, found he could not remember the way back home. He found he could not remember who he was, or where he was. He could only remember the face of his dearly beloved, and he lay on the ground, motionless, thinking about his princess. And so, the clever prince, really wasn't so clever after all...

Tom smiled at the end of that. He had loved that story very much as a young boy. It reminded him to never give up when achieving his goals, but also to never be decieved by a great prize. It told him that great prizes weren't the most important thing, but in fact it was his heart.

Tom skipped a few years. His memory had erased everything before 4 years old. He had little recollection of his early school years too, only that they were peaceful. It was primary year 3 when things became a problem. He went to a school, named Whittingham Community Primary School. Tom always felt that the Community part emphasised how bad the whole area was. But being mostly at school, he was more concerned about that. The classes were reorganized, as it turned out many voilent kids and peaceful kids where skewed to the different classrooms. The school attempted to balance this out, hoping for some order to be restored. A very dangerous mistake. The voilence only spread, causing chaos amongst the school. It had spread from older generations. It was one of the poorest areas, one of the poorest schools. Many parents had little time to care for the children, and those children lived mostly in the streets, playing games like Knockdown Ginger and Dump-territory. The kids which were cared for immensely immediately became icons of hatred by the kids. Namely, Tom was one of the most flashing to them. Tom was well-educated, raised by books rather than TV, and he became a great target, seeing as he was small, and his strength was minimal compared to theirs.

Tom grimaced. He remembered the pain he suffered at his hands. The constant pleading with the teachers for sanctions against them. But the teachers did not react. Their methods were very substandard, such as "seperation" or "red area". Political correctness from the new child rights policies Labour had instilled had frightened the teachers to use any more powerful methods. Detention never occured. Tom also complained about the education. He learned more from reading books and an afterschool program he had enrolled in (OOC: Kumon... still exists... look it up!). He excelled in classes, and he often made a yawning expression, experiencing severe boredom from the low level work he was made to do. Tom had no idea this would last all the way to year six. Education was terrible. Times tables was only made a "curricular" requirement in year 5, and year 6 was all about Standard Assessment Tests which the school cared so much about, and those Tom had in the bag.

But the education wasn't the main reason Tom hated the school. It was the menacing children. He remembered the thefts, the constant battering and torture by his peers, the fact all his books were ripped when he attempted to read them. Hiding indoors was what he had to do. He attempted a few times to get a spoon from the kitchen, and then get to a secluded spot and dig. Once, he managed to dig a whole two metres within a term. But everytime Tom thought he'd get out next term, the hole was gone. As a child, he was unaware of the strict health and safety that required holes to be filled. This was always done on grounds inspection, which often was at the beginning of a new term.

At roughly year 5, soccer(OOC: known as football here) became increasingly popular, and the bullies expected every boy to come, or they would punish them with intensive melee. It was the main cause of my immense hatred of sport. It was every excuse for constant kicking, punching and any tackle people could throw at you. And the school were too poor to afford a grass pitch. That would require too much cleaning after pitch mud was kicked up, and too much mowing.

No, they played on concrete. Tom remembered the friction burns he had recieved. He angrily recalled every foul. The referee was an appointed kid. He however was a bully. He often made people 'play games' with the injured. "Get up" was his favourite. The referee would say there was no injury and ask the floored person to get up. If a person attempted, they would kick him down, and keep doing it. If a person tried to stay still, they would jump on him, far more painful. The trick was to escape, and Tom eventually perfected a technique that caused a spinning arc kick with his legs that clung onto any head in its radius and threw it. If he managed to get enough bullies to be at least stunned by the kick, he could fling himself onto two feet, and make a run for it. He eventually became really fast, and highly enduring, from all the times he was made to run by the bloodthirsty bullies that chased after him regularly. Teachers never supervised the playground kids, so the only escape was by hiding. Tom found multiple spots in his entire lifetime, but his favourite was the rather unused library. He knew that place well. He often reordered shelves so that he could squeeze in certain gaps, and then hide behind books. They never caught him this way. Even if they saw him enter the library, they never found him, assuming he had run across it instead. Even when using cut-off techniques, they thought he had used magic to get away.

The worst time he could recall was when he was cornered on the pitch, surrounded by a mob of the bullies.

One of them approached him, a rather short guy, called Cameron. But he was not to be messed with, under his small body was a true iron giant. A menace, with muscles that could probably take down ten kids of his own size.

He asked Tom: "Hey... wanna know what an F4 is... I saw it on Wrestlemania." That was one thing Tom also hated... fake wrestling... which is what the WWF (back then it was called that... now it's WWE) stood for, and it fuelled the kid's appetites for destruction.

Tom pleaded not to want to know, but Cameron lifted him by the legs, spun him around and launched him head first onto the concrete ground. Blood spurt all over him, but Cameron dived on a few times onto him, adding punches, trying to squish more blood out. Tom was paralyzed, completely defeated by the initial attack. Cameron pounded him more before he finally realised a nurse had been called and immediately ran, being as fast as he was, easily escaped.

Tom was taken to the nursing office, nursed. But despite the mutliple injuries, nothing was done. The nurses said that it was an occassionally occurence, and they believed the horrendous lie I had fallen over at quite a fast speed and got hit by ball hard, causing multiple marks.

Tom remembered his friends, there were only two. One was a guy called Ezra, smart, but he was tough too, and nobody dared to face him. Ezra would keep him safe when he could, and he was also a good intake of knowledge. And then there was Ben, another docile boy. He loved physics, and Tom and him would discuss global matters and such, since there was nobody else to converse about such things with.

But they weren't always around. He remembered much more the bullies, they left quite an impression on him. He remember the various incidents, and how the fact that one of them, a person called Damian, died from a drug overdose at the age of twelve.

He remembered the long exam preparations for the four schools he was entered in. They were selective, and Tom hoped people like him would enrol, and he'd never have to suffer the bullying again. The false hope was quite reinforced within him. He remembered the first headmaster, the people in the interviews, telling him bullying would not be an issue. He smiled from that day on, knowing he'd leave Whittingham School soon, and be able to obtain freedom from the plagues and chaos of the demonry that resided there.

He was so happy in fact, on the last day, he stood on one of the tallest tables in the school outdoor sitting area, and shouted:

"I'll come back... I'LL COME BACK! AND WHEN I DO... I SHALL WREAK HAVOC ON YOUR CHILDREN. I SHALL IMMOLATE AND CLEANSE THIS SCHOOL OF YOUR OFFSPRING, AND I'LL GO DOWN IN HISTORY FOR DESTROYING YOU ALL!" Tom was ignored, but he scampered out of the school gates, returning only once for a reunion, to talk to his friends Ben and Ezra. He felt unwelcome in its hallowed halls. Even now, the slightly renovated and changed school retained the bleak environment he remembered.

First year at Forest School was alright. None of the taint had yet developed, and everybody worked hard, afraid of their parents if they got thrown out in the first year. A few bad apples here and there, but the first year was an outside group. One event he recalled was the first time he fell into close contact with his soon to be arch-nemesis, a boy called William Brown. Funnily enough, the grudge actually began when William cheated on a chess match, but claimed he hadn't and got away with it. Tom was unhappy with his undeserved 5th place, believing that he should have gone to 3rd, just like William did. William always laughed at him after the event. He was popular, and therefore, everyone believed his side of the story. Tom figured that eventually let the event go, but he'd mock him with it until even 5th year. Tom wasn't too annoyed. He still liked school all the same, but as soon as second year began, things began to change yet again.

And it was a new problem. Puberty hit some of the boys, and unable to take the rising levels of testoserone, had begun to misbehave to greater extents, in order to attain the affections of girls. Tom wasn't interested at all at the time, and he was thrown away, discarded as a "wierdo" for his inability to do anything but study. Isolated from the people wasn't too much of a problem. Tom survived, albeit occassionally fell out with a few classmate, with great emphasis on Fuhrer Brown (William's new nickname bestowed by Tom). He was called that by Tom after praising Hitler's name and telling him:

"You're swine... you shouldn't be born, Hitler was right to get rid of all the Poles like you!"

William and his friends who joined him yet again deny saying that, but Tom remembered it, and never let it slip.

Third year was when the bullying hit an all-time high, but Tom often omitted this year of the memoirs. The only pleasant thing about the year was the chemistry lesson. The people in chemistry were monsters... he remembered the constant lab fires, the magnesium stolen and burned on 'smoking splints' and of course the mass dumping of random chemicals into the sink, and the occassional explosion which nearly killed somebody.

Fourth year was when everyone quietened down again. Most people had left Tom alone, and Tom really never understood why. But that year was specifically signifcant: the very beginnings of the clan. Set up a week after the original meeting of the three RRB, it was a time to gather a few friends and have fun. Plans were never imagined to reach to the future heights of a personal website with dedicated members.

Here, Tom's mind forgot about school... and just progressed through clan history. The original RPing, the constant fall out between the self-tagged l33ts and moderators. The clan had been the most successful revolt against SNAFU in ages. No single entity had ever caused such chaos as it, although that was not the intention of the clan. The intention was to give freedom to the avid SNAFU fans which were kicked around by the older members, whose superiority complexes felt they had supreme control over the rest. The clan had brought him so much happiness.

It was the one part of his life where he felt he had the victory he had always hoped for.

And that also meant happiness would come for a long time...

With this thought, Tom fell asleep.

[charli]

-Eric-

Finishing up his soda, Eric shrugged off Dan's comment about DNA - Eric had always believed in the supernatural more than science - and moved into the living room where he perched on the arm of Sara's couch. "What's on?" he asked Aaron.

Then the show cut to a commercial break. After an ad for a steak house, a preview for an hour long special came on. It was about... the rise of hotshot admiral Sara Pekel? Eric glanced from the woman on the screen to the sleeping girl on the couch, and there was no doubt. They were the same person. Eric was stunned. This meant so much. A.) Sara was going to go home. B.) Sara was going to become a famous naval officer?! And a popular one from the sound of the commercial's upbeat music. "No one tell her anything," Eric command, half-afraid of how the Time Patrol or whatever would react if Sara knew about this.

[Yetisarge]

"Well it would appear that we do eventually get to go back to our own home planet or time period." Aaron said looking at the channel and chuckling.

"Well it would seem that that little joke we talked about here trying to sue me over her hair." Aaron said noting the fact that a court case that was made was throw out by the judge for lack of any evidence.

"Hmm it would seem that she passed it off for a disease she recieved while deployed over seas to see the troops." Zerb said quickly scanning over the documents that were being shown on the television show.

[echoes]

-Dan-

Dan's jaw dropped at the commercial. It meant he'd get to go home.
But it gave him an idea, something to look up...

He accessed the internet through his mind and had the search results display on his eyes.

He had called it, he was the current Mandalore, though quite a bit older, chronologically anyway.

He smiled and said to himself "I'll just keep that bit of info to myself..."

[Yetisarge]

"I hear you win by a fairly large margin. If you are looking up what I think you might be looking up." Zerb said chuckling to himself about just overhearing Dan's comment.

"HOLY..." Aaron said as a new bit from the program popped up. "How the hell? Well I guess when the president authorizes something, he means that it will happen."

"Wait.. you mean two high ranking officials wouldn't be able to do such a thing?" Zerb asked him confused as to why that wasn't legal.

"Normally no." Aaron said as the new info passed as the program ended and went off to another program. "We will keep that to between just you and me Zerb. Sara doesn't need to know that for some bizzare reason the president authorizes the marriage between her and the Marine General."

"I agree.. I don't think she needs to know any of this which we just learned." Zerb said nodding his head in agreement.

[charli]

-Eric-

Oh, no. Eric would not believe that. Eric would not believe that Sara - the only girl he'd ever met that he actually stood a chance with - was already destined to... Aaron?! The hell?! "Dude," Eric chuckled to Aaron and Zerb, his tone deceptively casual. "The future's never set in stone."

[Yetisarge]

"That I know, however I don't think you want to know what happens to those who tamper with the time line. This show it self with this error is probably pushing the envelope. From what I have heard about such things about time travel, I would imagine that this show is having a lot of questions to answer." Zerb said cooling

"True it isn't.." Aaron said drawing back into his own world. He really didn't need to know such things. Even he didn't understand how the hell that was possible. They had been such good friends. He didn't understand how such a thing could actually happen.