<strong>Hero Points:</strong>1 (everyone)<strong>Conditions:</strong>none<br/><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/3BmT6TO.jpg)</div><br/>Tomorrow Technologies was one of the newer buildings in town. The lobby echoed with footsteps besides Leslie’s own from multiple directions, even though it seemed that everyone was at the far end of the room. Holo-visual projectors turned on as people approached within close proximity, showcasing the company’s most renowned products and products-to-be. A short teenage girl of East Asian descent was admiring one such display.<br/><br/><em>“Portable artificial lungs, take back your life today! Our respiratory enhancements also come with sensory features scientifically proven to be compatible with 98% of human genetic structures. With this new technology, miners, firefighters, and rescue workers can sense carbon monoxide leaks and other harmful chemicals, while doctors can more easily detect traces of harmful drugs and poisons in patients. Now available in Costazul, the Maldives, Peru, and Qatar.”</em><br/><br/>By the time the advertisement ended, Leslie was close enough to spot a rather familiar black cap and gold star combo upon the woman's head.<br/><br/>“Hello Leslie, Mrs. Hawkins,” she said. “You’re the first ones here.”<br/><br/>“Good to see you too, Hua,” Mrs. Hawkins said as she extended a hand out in greeting. “I thought you were still studying at the Academy of Set?”<br/><br/>“I was sent here as a consultant, actually,” Hua answered with a hint of pride in her voice. “I’m eager to prove myself!”<br/><br/>As though on cue Mrs. Hawkins checked her smartphone a second before it pinged. “Right on time,” she said. “Follow me upstairs, girls. I promise you you won’t have to wait long.”<br/><br/>…<br/><br/>The waiting room was much less impressive than the virtual ads in the lobby. Fortunately there was a password-protected WiFi the receptionist was more than happy to tell them, although Hua had a few questions of her own.<br/><br/>“Have they told you anything? You know, about the visit?”<br/><br/><em>Below are some likely questions you may have in return for Hua.</em><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">No, why?</div><div class="spoiler_body">"Me neither. My parents are also in town, although if I had to guess there's some backroom deals going around. Over in the States this tech billionaire died and now every suit is scrambling for who will own what."</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">So, what’s it like in Volvakia/the Academy of Set?</div><div class="spoiler_body">”It’s a lot roomier than Singapore, I’ll tell you! We more or less have our own dorm rooms, but they’re arranged in a circular pattern with a common area in the center. They say it’s to ‘foster community spirit’ or whatever, although there’s a few students who complain that they can't get to class fast that way. Phhffft, as though crowded halls would be any better.”<br/><br/>“The rest of Volvakia is pretty quiet lately. Most people get inside by dinner time, even before the nationwide curfew that went down from that Crime League attack. Caused a major concert to close down, too. Pretty blah month, I was looking forward to some local music.”</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">What kind of consultant work are you doing?</div><div class="spoiler_body">”I can't really say much, but it involves cryptology, languages, decoding stuff.”</div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Did you see what Harmonia texted?!</div><div class="spoiler_body">”I did not. Phone was on vibrate because I was in the middle of my ‘concentrance.’ You know how I get when I’m absorbed in something. The last time I forgot to do that my aunt’s constant calls made me lose the Abyss Watchers boss fight. I was <em>so pissed</em> for a week after that, remember?”</div></div><br/>Another text came, this time an image: tan-skinned woman with dyed white hair in a beanie taking a selfie outside of Tomorrow Technology’s front doors.<br/><br/>“Oooh, Amalia’s here!” Hua exclaimed. “Maybe we can go out and-”<br/><br/>A voice on the intercom quickly interrupted.<em>”Ms. Hawkins, please report to Room 5.”</em><br/><br/>“You shouldn’t keep them waiting,” the man behind the waiting room desk said. “Mr. Hawkins has been looking forward to this.”<br/><br/>Hua shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry, I’ll text her where you’ll be.”<br/><br/>…<br/><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/S8oPFP2.jpg)</div><br/>The waiting desk man pointed Leslie through the door in back, but any further directions were unneeded as she received a text from her father.<br/><br/><em>Down the stairs, first door on your left sweetie.</em><br/><br/>A pair of magnetic double doors slid open to a featureless white hallway. It was impossible to make out the end of the hall due to a bright shining light.<br/><br/><em>You’re doing great. We’re in the next room.</em><br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/LI8UCuE.jpg)</div>Gradually the light subsided as Leslie walked down the corridor, until it was but a dim glow. At the end of the hallway was a featureless white room with but a single ancient-looking anvil in the center. The window to an observation room looked down upon the scene, and Mr. Hawkins stood behind the windowpane with a group of other figures in business suits by his side.<br/><br/>“Surprise honey!” he exclaimed over the intercom. “It may not look like it, but this anvil has been tested to improve the creation abilities of any metahuman who touches it. And I figured, who better to receive this than my own daughter?”<br/><br/>Leslie could hear one of the people up there go “awww.”<br/><br/>“I’m sorry for being so vague,” Mr. Hawkins continued. “But your mother and I had to keep this project under wraps lest someone else grab it up, and we didn’t want to give you false hope if it turned out to be a dud. Go ahead, touch it.”<br/><br/>The anvil vibrated ever so slightly as Leslie came closer, an almost melodic humming sound coming from it and filling the room.