<strong>Hero Points:</strong>2 (everyone);<strong>Conditions:</strong>None<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=335731.msg15975149#msg15975149">Quote from: Raku on 08-09-2021, 00:26:36</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">The seriousness returned once her keen eyes caught a businessman glaring at Hua. One of which she returned back with ill intension. <em>’You ain’t slick, asshole.’</em>[/color] A dangerous glint in her crimson eyes. What was this guy’s deal anyways. <br/><br/>Insight 13 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=155642)<br/><br/>Intimidation: 15 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=155640)</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>The man who earned Yuko’s ire didn’t seem to register her contempt. Or perhaps he noticed but didn’t seem to pay her much attention.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Yuko is unable to pick up on the source of the gentleman’s anger at Hua.<br/><br/>Resist Intimidation 25, success (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=155741)</div></div><br/><hr/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">”While we are waiting to be called, I need to ask a important question. Finally getting some? Or are you still tied up in the chains of virginity? I can help you out with that.” Yuko got a little closer with a smile of many intensions. <br/><br/>Their unclear purpose here was bothering her, but that didn’t mean they can’t occupy themselves with innocent fun. Messing with her friend, to be clear.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>“I would have lost it long ago,” Hua explained, “but the pickings in the Academy aren’t my type. And it isn’t the best country for casual flings.<em>And</em>even if I found a cute guy, I’d have to make sure they aren’t the type to get too attached. People say that us girls are the clingy ones, but even guys can think they found their ‘true love.’”<br/><br/>She took out a piece of wrapped red candy to eat. “There was this one student, from somewhere in Africa I think, who lost his virginity to one of my dorm-mates. Never even kissed a girl before that. He ended up obsessed with her and summoned a Battleborn, seeking to bind it into service for her.”<br/><br/>Hua laughed. “It ended up challenging her to trial by combat. Don’t worry, she’s okay, it was sent back to its home realm really quickly! So I guess if you want some of me, you’ll have to do better than he did.”<br/><br/>Another text came in group chat, 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. ”Ms. Kawasaki, Ms. Chiou, please report to Room 5.”<br/><br/>Hua blinked in surprise. “Talk about timing. Well, at least we can text her where we’ll be.”<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/bqvrupX.jpg)<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Project Prometheus</strong></span></span></div><br/>Scene Music (Deus Ex Mankind Divided: TF29) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMwpfR-ELnc)<br/><br/>After going down a long bright hallway and down several floors via an elevator, the pair found themselves in Room 5. It was less a typical room and more a large interconnected series of labs separated by doors and glass panels. The place seemed dedicated to some type of biology or perhaps agricultural project, as many areas were filled with hydroponic gardens. Many plants were of kinds Yuko had never seen before, as well as some familiar ones but with distinctly altered traits: oak trees with purple bark, bushes with strawberries the size of bowling balls, and a self-sealed desert with tumbleweeds that launched themselves high into the air with every bounce. The place had a sweet pine-scented smell, akin to that of an air freshener, and the distant humming of machinery and the flickering of lights could be heard throughout the area. Uniformed members of Tomorrow Technologies walked to and from the various enclosures, taking notes, making adjustments on control panels, and being far too busy to interact with Yuko or Hua.<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/LI8UCuE.jpg)</div>Harmonia, Zofia, and Amalia were present, admiring a mushroom that was gradually growing size from exposure to a scientist’s flamethrower. Standing behind the girls was Eskander Glezos, Harmonia’s father.<br/><br/>“Yuko, Hua!” Zofia exclaimed. “This is so cool, I would’ve told you about it, but…”<br/><br/>“You got distracted,” Harmonia said. “Don’t feel bad, our parents have been less than direct about this whole thing.”<br/><br/>“Forgive us for that,” Eskander replied. “We figured it best to get as many of you here as soon as possible in whatever ways deemed necessary, while also being discrete.”<br/><br/>Eventually the mushroom popped, splattering a deluge of fungal spores against the reinforced glass and ceiling. Zofia reflexively leaped backwards, although Harmonia caught her in time before she could fall.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Perception DC 20</div><div class="spoiler_body">Yuko noticed that Zofia’s body hovered slightly before falling backwards, giving Harmonia more than enough time to catch her.</div></div><br/>“So, what’s this whole thing about?” Amalia asked. “Some kind of farming project?”<br/><br/>“I’m happy to say that it’s something much cooler,” Eskander said, adjusting his glasses. “But first you must all promise not to share or record what I’m about to show you all. Trade secrets and all that.”<br/><br/>Yuko’s friends all nodded enthusiastically.<br/><br/>“Lips are zipped!” Zofia exclaimed.<br/><br/>“Very well. Follow me.”<br/><br/>Eskander took the girls on a tour of the complex, passing by various rooms dedicated to more than just botanical breakthroughs. One of the first rooms they passed had a liquid-filled cylinder containing what looked to be an alien life form. (https://i.imgur.com/IvOxs2o.jpeg)<br/><br/>“This is Project Prometheus,” Eskander explained with a hint of pride in his voice. “A multi-company effort dedicated to metahuman research for the purposes of empowering baseline humanity. In spite of decades of work, this field is still in its relative infancy, in some cases touching on subjects which are more an art than science. Prior attempts by other organizations have met with failure, or focused on highly specific power sets. As for Project Prometheus, we seek to be more...diverse.”<br/><br/>Amalia and Zofia were entranced by the various displays, although Hua seemed nonplussed. Harmonia was more middle of the road, looking around with interest but being otherwise quiet.<br/><br/>Zofia raised her hand.<br/><br/>“This isn’t a classroom,” Eskander said, “so feel free to ask directly.”<br/><br/>“You mentioned earlier failures. I think I heard something like that, the Icarus Effect?”<br/><br/>Eskander nodded. “Yes, where the majority of previous attempts at manipulating events to grant baselines, or ‘normal people,’ superpowers at a wide-scale level hit some kind of dead end. Some believe it to be from sabotage, others believe that certain metahumans in and of themselves are unique to the point that their powers cannot be developed in controlled environments beyond the very time and place in which they gained such powers. And even if there is some conspiratorial collection of saboteurs...we put safeguards in place based on prior incidents of which we know.”<br/><br/>Another room the group passed had an assembly line whose robotic arms acted in tandem with the motions of a six-armed woman, who looked over the scene from a platform with railings.<br/><br/>“But what about the successful projects?” Amalia asked. “In the 1960s SHADOW deployed a clone army to take over various cities, and several of them had superpowers. Or that Zoom drug once sold in Freedom City.”<br/><br/>“True,” Eskander answered, “but in those cases the powers were temporary, and oftentimes came at great cost to the subjects. And on top of this, many of their operations have been shut down and destroyed from the actions of national governments to superheroes to rival syndicates. Small-scale street gangs and terrorist cells don’t have legitimate backing from global institutions, and their scientists are often from disgraced backgrounds or hampered by anti-intellectual ideologies and authoritarian strongmen who ask too much of them.”<br/><br/>Eskander stopped walking, placing the group in front of a large circular sealed doorway. “But we’ve talked long enough about the failures of our short-sighted peers. Here is what we summoned you here for: the opportunity to gain metahuman abilities! Yuko, you shall be the first.”<br/><br/>With a distinctive click the doorway opened, not in a horizontal sliding motion as to be expected, but rather opening like the spiral shutter of a camera lens.<br/><br/>“One at a time, please. Everyone else, stay back.”<br/>