The large feline was abit unsettling to Nicole, though was hardly anything to worry about for her own sake. Should it turn out to be a vicious blood thirsty killer it would have a hard time touching her due to her power. Though that isn't to say she wasn't relieved to find out it was actually a big cuddly pussycat. She kept her eyes on that and didn't pay attention to the building tension, sexual or not, between army boy and smokey, she just wanted to go over there and stroke the big kitty! But the red eyes of the girl nearby still put the hibbi-gibbi's into her, she would rather not find out what her power was and not stroke the cat.  It would seem not stroking the cat had been the right idea as she morphed into a body that looked like it had been designed by a japanese manga artist, she hoped she didn't attracted tentacles like the women in those comics did. Infact the reaction from the punk girl made her burst into laughter, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth to avoid sniggling anymore, but it was hard.<br/><br/>The door swung open and in strode a smartly dressed man, somewhere around his late fifties or early sixties judging by his grey hair, fashioned into a utilitarian buzz cut. He calmly walked to the double doors and turned to face the room along with its collection of occupants, his stance wide and hands held behind the small of his back. He sported a tailored grey suit, the detailing as exact as military precision. No button unequal, no cufflink not straightened, even his boot laces appeared to be symmetrical, you could probably check with a ruler. His face bore the rugged look of a man grizzled in warfare, the steel like features so uncaring and undiscerning that they could probably withstand small arms fire. His eyes inspected each person in turn and swiftly, probably sizing them up incase they all attacked him at once, formulating a plan of escape in less than five seconds.<br/><br/>“Ladies and gentlemen, I am ex-general Pat Gammond formerly of the United States air force, I will be the one overseeing this little operation. For the last fifteen years I was involved in America’s investigations of all things weird, alien and paranormal which makes me just perfect for this job, that and I get paid a buck ton of green to do nothing!” He let out a short bark of a laugh, looking around to see if anyone else found it funny before coughing slightly at his most likely failed attempt to break the ice with a joke.<br/>“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you are here…” He began to pace back and forth infront of the double doors, his speech pre worked out ofcourse. “And if you have not yet discerned that reason it is because you all possess a powerful ability, far beyond what the rest of mankind can do outside of their wildest dreams.”<br/><br/>“Times are changing, technology is making it difficult for foot-soldiers to be deployed effectively unless they themselves are weighed down by sixty kilos of computing equipment and manuals to boot. Extraterrestrial contacts are becoming more and more frequent, I can even see a few in here blessed by some such contact.” His eyes fixed on Jennifer and Nathaniel for a moment before he continued pacing and speaking. “And mankind has reached the point where some individuals are simply born or develop amazing genetic mutations that have only been theorized until now. Fire manipulation, geological manipulation to name but a few.” Once again he stopped and looked at Helga and then Mathew.<br/><br/>“The reason for getting you all together is to prototype a new defensive force for mankind, we believe that while we cannot replicate your powers we may be able to persuade you into using them in the way we would have applied them, law enforcement, peace keeping and whatever  ya-di-da bullcrap you like. That is why you are all being given the opportunity to use your powers to their full capacity in a controlled and monitored environment. In return we offer you support, a home, a clean criminal record and finally a salary of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars annually should you meet the conditions of the arrangement.”<br/><br/>“If you do not like the idea, then by all means you are free to walk out that door and I wish you a safe journey home and a happy life, but if you do choose that then just remember,” he stopped pacing and gave the group a look like a shark did when it wanted to say ‘do not fuck with me’, “we are not affiliated to any organization. We are not down in any government records. We do not exist. The only way you could have half a hope of exposing this is to reveal your freakish powers on national television and then I’d assume someone somewhere will find you and attempt to put probes in very tender places.”<br/><br/>“However,” he clapped his hands together, grinning in a way that suggested he was trying to smile but had forgotten how, “should you want to join our little…prototype then grab a stack of papers and sign every last one of them. In those piles you will find five UN liability wavers,  a paysheet and fifty two versions of the official secrets act for fifty two separate countries or their standing equivalent. This is because while you may have driven here on U.S. soil, you currently stand in a house built on ground dug up and shipped from more than fifty different UN member states ranging from Egypt to France to China. That gives no one government even a shred of precedence over what goes on here. It was simply chosen to be placed in America due to our large funding of this project, should this work out well then other countries intend on looking into their own squad of…” he gestured his hands at the room, “all this.”<br/><br/>“Now,” he glanced down at his watch, an impressive piece that was probably a genuine Rolex or Patek Phillipe, “I have eighteen holes to get to, I’ll hand you over to your controller, I’ll only check in if any of you royally screw up…or do something amazing. Just be average  and I won’t have to come back.” And with that he simply left, not another glance or word. The next word however came from nowhere, a computerised female voice that was almost lyrical in its mimicry of human vocal patterns.<br/><br/>“Greetings everyone, I am ISIS. The Innovative  Synthetic Intelligence System. A bleeding edge computer type located underneath this facility. I function largely in the same way your brains do, I adapt and learn about new experiences by forming new electrical pathways in a bank of more than eight hundred quintillion individual data units, that is a larger number than all of the combined chemical processes currently going on in any one human’s entire cellular system. It is unlikely that within the next one hundred years I would ever use up every data unit, but even then my data units rearrange themselves to provide the more efficient arrangement. It is not necessary for you to know this but I thought you would find it interesting.”<br/><br/>“I have been programmed to mimic human wants and needs, for instance, I enjoy things beneficial to my well being and to your well being, whereas I dislike the opposite. This is just a sample of the many human traits I have been installed with. Note, a list will not be given for sake of time. You individuals are nine of some one hundred and eighty six organisms currently labelled as ‘meta-humans’ and to facilitate you needs this housing was designed especially for you and with no cost limit.”<br/><br/>“The lounge area contains a sixty two inch plasma screen T.V. capable of picking up broadcasts in any country around the world, should you feel the need to watch Korean news or Russian soap operas, this is the reason for the ability. There are also a number of gaming consoles attached to the television. One thousand, one hundred and eighteen discs are held in a wall compartment and categorised, a menu on the television will allow you to select game by name, genre or year of release.”<br/><br/>“The kitchen is fully equipped with a variety of food to cater to as many tastes as possible, all once again are set in cupboards as library type arrangements. Note, no automated system is present for selection or cooking of food, you can do it yourself and not rely on me to do everything for you. I suggest Miss Brooks spends some time in here, her body weight is well below the healthy average for a girl of her height and age.”<br/><br/>“The garage is equipped with a Range Rover sport, the modified engine able to produce six hundred and eight horsepower along with nine hundred Newton metres of torque. A Maserati Quattroporte  modified to produce seven hundred and eighty eight horse power,  a top speed of two hundred and seventeen miles per hour is possible. A Volkswagen golf GTI modified to produce three hundred and ninty two horsepower, a top speed of one hundred and eighty miles per hour is possible. Two Ducati Desmosedici RR racing bikes modified to produce two hundred and eleven horsepower, a top speed of two hundred miles an hour is possible. Warning, all top speeds given are theorized, we do not suggest you attempt to reach these. These vehicles are designed to give you the ability to visit the nearby towns or cities without supervision; one such job may be to maintain the stocks of food in the kitchen. The nearest town is Levenvale, approximately four miles from where the dirt track meets the main road. Note, anyone not possessing a valid driving license will not be able to start the vehicles, redundancies in the system allow me to control who goes where, when and how.”<br/><br/>“The training room is designed to allow those with more violent abilities an area to practice and avoid harming themselves or others accidentally. This was primarily thought of for mr. Awkrem’s and miss…name not found…abilities as they are seen as being the most dangerous in terms of physical harm. Others are still able to use the room, it has a wide variety of training mechanisms designed to test both your powers and physical ability.”<br/><br/>“Upstairs each bedroom can be customized in whichever way you deem necessary, clothes have been provided for all house members, your sizes were measured and clothes picked out to suit your styles, I would like to point out very few of you conform to the standard clothing model of your age and gender types, this may be something you wish to rectify. The computers provided are there for your use, I ask you however to avoid downloading too much pornographic material, I would rather not have to use my state of the art software to remove viruses on ‘slutty pool girls five’, if I could remove the viruses that most of the women in the movie physically have, then that would be a different matter. Each room has had several design features installed to help. Subject Mimi’s shower unit has been replaced with a newly designed ‘air shower’, using jets of air to clean rather than water along with rubber cloth rollers more commonly found in automated car washes, catering to your aversion of being covered in water. Miss…name not found…has a powerful fire suppression system installed in her room, incase of any spontaneous combustion during sleep. Support railings have been installed inside Mr. Lloyd’s room, to help with his disability and aid mobility.”<br/><br/>“I would like to point out that any attempts to damage the house would result in the use of a five tier reaction system. Tier one example, verbal warning. Tier two example, high pitched, high decibel noise emitted to deter. Note, may be very effective against Subject Mimi. Tier three example, use of inbuilt TAZER system to deter, minimal health risk. Tier four example, use of carbon dioxide fire suppression system intended for fires, moderate health risk. Tier five example, authorized lethal force, including thirty millimeter wall installed gatling guns or release of high concentration of chloroform gas, severe health risk.”<br/><br/>“To avoid any unintentional damage or outside attack this building has been built using the best possible building materials. The brickwork is comprised of a magnesium oxide and beryllium oxide mixture used in blast furnaces. This has a heat resistance of more than four thousand degrees Kelvin and a compressive strength of one hundred and twenty mega-Pascals. The structural supports of the building are made from depleted uranium, seventy percent denser than lead, coated in a thin layer of lead to avoid any residual radiation. The windows are not made of glass, but of a complex polycarbonate capable of withstanding over two thousand degrees Kelvin and an impact force of eight thousand newtons on one millmetre square. With shutters installed over doors and windows this building is able to withstand a fifteen-megaton nuclear blast at nine hundred metres. Government personnel in the nearby area are advised to seek refuge here should a nuclear launch be detected. All electrical components of the house and all cabling are studded with capacitor banks at five-meter intervals, allowing for a resistance to electro magnetic pulses. It is advised that Mr. Awkrem refrains from attempting to disrupt any electrical device in the house, I have been instructed to employ tier three of my reaction system should he try.”<br/><br/>“I possess micro stuff cameras and listening devices in every room of this house, with the exception of cameras within the bedrooms and bathrooms for privacy reasons. You may talk to me in any area of the house, if you have any questions or queries at anytime. To remain within this house you are expected to attend atleast twenty five percent of all missions, but you still have the free will to choose when you want to go on one. For this reason a notice board is present in the kitchen, on which will be placed a sign up sheet for any upcoming missions. A sign up sheet is already in place, a mission briefing of the first will be held at one P.M. tomorrow in the conference room. Those missions taking place at a distance greater than one hundred miles will be traveled to in a modified SR-71B Blackbird. The plane has had its computing and engine systems hollowed out and replaced with more compact units, allowing for ten passengers now. We are not at liberty to discuss where exactly this plane is housed. I have full control of this aircraft, no pilot is necessary.”<br/><br/>“When on missions no offensive armaments will be provided, it is intended for you to tackle each problem with use of your powers and not simply through gunfire or explosives. Note, explosives may be provided if necessary for a mission. Specialized combat utility suits will be provided for however, containing various enhancements to help and other specialized adaptations for each individuals. Note, each suit costs approximately five hundred thousand dollars, please avoid any unnecessary damage. They are also machine washable. These suits will be issued after the first mission briefing.”<br/><br/>The double doors opened automatically, exposing the belly of the house to the group. “All those who have finished signing the needed forms may enter. I look forward to working with you.”<br/><br/>The proposition was...daunting to say the least. Wait...did they mention aliens? She looked at the group, well that would explain the cat...woman...thing. With a shrug she hopped off of the table and turned, locating a pen so she could begin signing the oddles of forms in the closest pile. It was now that clothes physics took effect. Bent forward to write her shirt moved up, her jeans moved down and the waistband of her frilly blue undies was put on display.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>