Day 12

After being among the trees for so long, it's strange to be out by the lake, with it so open and exposed. Very chilly too with the constant wind.

~L

Remember when I mentioned that the taste of the food had changed? Well, it wasn't my taste buds going wonky on me. No, the actual taste of food had changed. I had become so used to things going weird, that I didn't notice when things went wrongly weird. And this weird, was deadly.
Howard had one goal in mind this whole time. To take me out permanently. Only, me and my companions were not complying with the 'get sick and die' part. We'd get sick, but we always recovered. Until now.

My companions' bodies lay still, cold, and stiff all around me. The last of them, had died sometime during the night. though by this point I was too delirious to keep track of when he'd taken his last breath. I just had too....I didn't know...I had to do something, but it was so hard to get air into my lungs, the pain in my sides caused my muscles to spasm. I curled in tighter into myself, seeking warmth, seeking comfort, relief. Something to stop the pain, but almost immediately my muscles rebelled against me. I had very little control of my movements. I couldn't even bring myself to whimper. I had no energy. None. The ability to run endlessly on the wheel had escaped me days earlier. Frankly, I didn't know how I was still breathing. Apparently stubbornness resides in the core of my being as I was stubborn even when I didn't know I needed to be stubborn. This was worse then the venom that the creature kept trying to inject me with. If only one fang made it in, this had to feel like a whole mouthful had sunk into my body. Sucking away my life a little at a time. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd eaten. And that was a bit deal to me. Eating meant survival. Not being able to eat, meant not surviving. Yet, trying to move only brought another wave of pain through me. Again, my main relief was trying to curl tighter, curl the pain into a ball. But that only worked when my muscles would respond to my wants.  To say I felt awful was an understatement. I've been told that we had a severe case of 'Wet Tail.' If you don't know what it is you can go Google it, as I'd rather not explain here. It's sufficient to say that my insides were rebelling against me to an extreme measure. Poison will do that to you.  

"....Look! The whole litter dead! I don't even know why they keep sending these Robo Russians to us. We can barely keep them alive for a week! They're worse then useless. How are we ever supposed to get any real results if we can't keep our test subjects alive. We haven't even tested this lot yet and look, all dead."

The sudden voice emanating from the opening above me, barely registered. I recognized the angry voice as something that I should fear. If the smell of decay had come closer, I'm sure I would have reacted in some way. But my body chose that moment to not respond to my vague reflex to try and flee. It didn't register at all that the odd sounds I heard, I was understanding.

I think being near death triggered a tiny piece of my human brain that had been locked away in the simple hamster brain. That tiny piece, the ability to understand English again. I guess having a near death experience helped in some way.

"What do you want me to do?" A soft voice asked. Those words held very little meaning to me. They were different, soothing. Lulling. Different from the sounds the other creature had made.

"What do you think? You have a brain! Use it! They need to be tossed out, we can't really do tests on dead creatures now can we? Be sure to use the outside garbage, they're already beginning to stink, I don't want the odor permeating my work space. We're just in luck that that order of winter whites I decided to get came in today. I've heard that they make better test subjects. Well, what are you doing still standing there? Get to work! And be sure to sterilize this cage twice. I don't want whatever disease these mongrels brought in to spread to the winters."

"yes sir." the other voice meekly replied. "I'll get rid of all the dead, sir."

But...I wasn't dead. They had to know I wasn't dead. I hadn't gone cold like the rest of my companions. Not yet. Couldn't they see me breathing? I was still breathing, right? I had to be. I was still alive.
Did it matter though? Did it matter when I felt like every breath could be my last?

Martin Elek 

Day 11

I took a side trail and discovered this little inlet. If this wasn't a national park, I'd want to build my dream home here. It's nice and sheltered, with a beautiful view. I could picture myself fishing off the rock on sunny afternoons.

~L

A New Class

Oh man. The tower just got cool again!
With the tower being so big, they have nearly every subject under the sun squirreled away somewhere in this place. With almost as many classes for those interested in whatever subject they stumbled upon.
Well, with the recent mishap in the tower. Every means available is being used to figure out how to fix the council, and most of all, how to stop Surge from doing it again.
So guess what! There is a class on Surge!

This is totally down my alley! I mean, I've read all the comic books on his adventures, followed every battle that has been mentioned publicly, Plus! I just happen to have a collar made by him around my neck for study.

I really hope that they don't study the collar much, I really just want to hear all the stories that haven't been made public. Get first hand accounts from Steel himself on Surge's words, actions, deeds, crimes, etc.

Seriously. How cool is it to have Steel coming into the class and telling us more about his battles with Surge? It's Seriously Epically ICING COOL!
 
And maybe, just maybe I'll be able to see something that the others haven't. Find a clue that the supers miss because I haven't grown up in the tower. That's the point of this whole class, to let others look at Surge and see if they can figure out what the motive or motives are. What is overall plan is, if he has one.

This could be so much fun! I mean, I've already learned so much for the first day! And Surge isn't just a run of the mill villain. Oh no. There's so much!

Like, did you know that Steel wasn't Surge's first hero nemesis?

No, the head of the council, himself fought Surge in the very beginning!

Did you know that? Captain fought Surge!
Oh wow.
I didn't icing  know that.
Did you know that?

I mean, it's been Steel and Surge for so long. There isn't even any mention of any other super fighting him in the comic books! What villain switches what hero they fight? Surely it's always just one on one, until the bad guy is put way permanently right?

Wrong, apparently.

I'm even more iced over with interest, knowing that Surge finally got the upper hand on the Captain. Since the Captain is currently screaming his way around the council room with mashed potatoes all over his face....

Layters!

--> Issac

Day 10

I could stare at a view like this all day. Unfortunately, growing up in Kansas, my views have consisted of rolling wheat and corn fields. Yellow everywhere.

~L

They weren't fine. My crew.
I wasn't the only one to get a rude awakening the morning after the heist.
 
They were all stuck like me...in the Pet shop we'd robbed.
Who knew that Madam Shan's place had 'magic' as a security system?
I didn't. Nobody does.
Well, besides the thieves that have robbed the place in the past.
That's why I was warned away.
To prevent what happened to them, from happening to me and my crew.
 
Well obviously I didn't listen.
As I was now a fish.
A stinking goldfish!
 
~ WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? TO THEM!~ I demanded again.
 
I saw her shrug, the girl staring at me through the glass. ~You robbed us. This is the consequence. You didn't believe that there wouldn't be one did you?~
 
I obviously did, otherwise I wouldn't have robbed the place. ~Where are the others?~ I demanded wiggling up to the glass.
 
~They're here.~ She replied ~Not as a fish, banding you all together would be rather foolish wouldn't it? Luckily you made it easy for us, splitting your group up the way you did. Rather ingenious that.~
 
That didn't sound good at all. While I appreciated the compliment of my genius, I didn't like that I had actually helped them out in their madness.
 
~Let them go.~
 
She shook her head. ~In due time. For some, it will take longer then others. For now, Relax. You're going to be here for a while, you might as well enjoy it shouldn't you?~
 
Ha. Yah right. Enjoying being a fish? Never. Relax while I didn't know what had happened to my crew? Never.
 
#Henry
 

I was surviving.

I would struggle, bite, fight as much as possible when that creature smelling of death came after me. It always resulted in pain for me, with a fang jabbing into my small body. But, it also always resulted in me burrowing into the wood shavings, alive.
The creature couldn't eat me. That's all I cared about. Not being eaten. And food. I couldn't possibly forget that.
Getting the creature to not eat me was only part of my survival though. I also had to fight off the venom that had entered my body.

We were in a test lab after all. I have no idea how many different concoctions Howard injected into me to see what the effects would be. That's saying a lot for me. If I can't remember how many times he stuck me with a needle...

The side effects of the venom were varied. The only constant feeling I could get, would be that it wouldn't make me feel well. But where I didn't feel well, depended on which time the monster tried to eat me. 

I spent forever (about two weeks) seeing double. Do you know how hard it is to run on a wheel when you can't tell which wheel you need to run on? I fell off that thing more often then I ran on it. Finding shelter also became difficult for the same reason. Which home held my companions and which one wasn't actually there?

My companions wouldn't always have the same reactions to the needle that I did, which leads me to believe that Howard singled me out sometimes for different doses, or he tried multiple things at once. That, by the way, is strictly not allowed. We can only test one thing on one set of creatures at a time. That way our results on the symptoms shown is accurate.
Though, I don't think Howard kept track of what was happening to us. Personally I think he had a vendetta and wanted to make my death as slow and painful as possible.

Seeing double also made it difficult to gauge the distance from an object. I hit that clear air thing multiple times, and missed climbing into the food hold just as many times.

I must have looked drunk.

It seemed like whenever I would fight off the venom (the side effects of the needle), that's when the creature would strike again.

Sensitive hearing, a swollen tongue, aching teeth, feet that wouldn't respond to me, my stubby tail turning bright red, being sent into a hibernative sleep, unable to stop squeaking when I moved, the desire to just use my back legs for walking, or just my front legs, lights getting too bright, the taste of the food suddenly changing...

These are just a few of the various symptoms I experienced. Most of the time the problem was temporary, but others still stuck with me and I adapted to them. Like the sensitivity to sound. That didn't fade and actually came in handy as I could hear when Howard approached. Due to the hibernation incident, I'm not sure how long I was tested for. Effects would last for a couple of hours to nearly a month, or longer. I don't know how long I hibernated for, only that I was super skinny and ravenous when I woke back up. A year hadn't passed, but it wouldn't surprise me if I got close to that mark.

Martin Elek

How Am I Adjusting?

I just got back from an Interview with Steel.
Not the type of Q&A that I would love to have with him,
No, he did all the question asking.
Mostly checking in on me to see how I'm adjusting to life at the Tower.
Mostly. He wanted to hear I thought progress on getting the collar off my neck was going as well.

Can we just say...Not well? In all aspects of my life currently?
School is kicking me into the crevice right now. A nice deep slippery ice covered crevice.

I can now see why Supers don't go to normal high school with all us normal kids. It's just too depressing. Even the geeky supers can run faster then me it seems like. They answer questions sooner, know more history. It's ugh. I feel like I'm in Jr. High all over again. Not good years for me. I hadn't reached my growth spurt yet. I had braces. And basically had "Come shove me in a locker" written all over me.
It hasn't gotten to that point yet. Getting shoved into a locker. I can manage that tripping over my feet in P.E. quite nicely by myself without any of the others feeling the need to do it for me.

I just wish that I had something to show for all this effort. I mean, this is a dream come true for me. I'm in the tower! But unfortunately I'm not meeting my own dream expectations. I mean, in my dreams I'm the cool guy, the one who saves the day. With awesome powers! And in reality, I'm the one spilling ecknogoo in science, and melting a hole through three levels of the building. Definitely not cool.  

That doesn't even include all the odd and crazy things I have to go through on the side without all the schooling. It seems like I can't even step outside of my room without there being a Super there waiting to try out a new idea on how to get the collar off, or how to get me to show my powers.

Apparently, once I bridge that gap, and manage to use my powers once, the glaciers will melt and the powers will come flooding into me and I'll be able to use them much easier. I just have to drill deep enough into the glacier to find my power.

That obviously hasn't happened yet, or I would be way more excited.
So can we just say that I'm Not adjusting Well?
I can here.
To Steel though,
I don't want to disappoint him. I mean, he's my Hero! I don't want to tell him that I'm not happy here. That I'm disappointed in myself that I haven't shown any ability for anything yet. I feel so useless so far! I'm just a sitting time bomb for when Surge finds me. The only comfort I can take is that, if I don't have any powers, he can't use me against all the heroes.
It would just be, really really lame. Look, here's Issac! The 'hero' who doesn't do anything! But because he can't do anything, Surge can't do anything!

Ugh. Please. Please before I go stir crazy. Let me have my powers show up! It's been nearly a month now! Surely I don't have to wait the full 8 months. Right?

I hope to the Iced over Crevice that I don't.

Layters!

--> Issac

Day 9

First glimpse of the lake!

~L

Too Much Energy For My Own Good

I'm a rather hyperactive guy. Not ADHD hyperactive. I just tend to have more energy then hours in a day. The only time I've been able to sit through a movie would be when I was sicker then a dog. Luckily, those days are far and few inbetween as it's pure torture to be confined to a bed. I want to be out and doing.
Unfortunately, as a kid, with boundless energy. I had a hard time sitting through school. Recess was my sanctuary and the teachers quickly learned to use that as a reward for me. If I didn't sit still, I wouldn't get recess. The longer I sat still, the longer recess I had. Sometimes if I was really good, I would get to stay out for two recesses -most of my schools were big enough that recess was divided into two sections.- Frankly, I think the teachers were hoping to wear me out by letting me stay out longer. Unfortunately for them, I don't really have a 'worn out' setting.
High School has been a bigger trial. I mean, now my grades count for something. For my future. And I don't get recess to distract myself. Obviously P.E. every other day does not help me out at all. Not when I have to be in school for 8 hours in a day. I mean, I can sit still and not be distracting to others, but five minutes between classes isn't enough time to lower my energy levels enough to be able to sit through the next class.
Unfortunately, this new high school I'm going to, isn't as flexible as others have been in the past. Again, it's the 'old fashionedness' of the place. You get one P.E. Class, that's it. It totally stinks.
But I think I've found a 'reward system' that will help.
It's called Track and Field.
All those hours of running laps around the field in elementary school are paying off now. They don't say anything about after school sports. And in Track and Field...I'm excelling. There is no limit in this area on how many events I can participate in, so I'm in heaven every day after school. That's my reward. Sit through class, be able to run for a few hours after school. Plus, It's much nicer to run down here in the better weather. Alaska was nice, but with the constant storms and coldness, running isn't as relaxing as it is now in Red Rock country. We're far enough south to have mostly sunny days, but far enough north that it doesn't get in the 100s that often.
Totally, perfect conditions for running! I love this!

...I just need to be careful to not over do it.
Because apparently, this town isn't fond of overachievers. it's not a good thing to be good at too many things.
Still, as long as I can run. I think I'll make it through the school day.

Catcha on the Flip side!

Danny

Day 8

I have a habit of looking at trees like they're clouds. I try and pick out familiar shapes, things, places, etc. In this image, I saw a giant praying mantis.

~L

I've always been on the tall side of the spectrum. Not inhumanly tall like basketball players. But tall enough that it surprises me when I have to look up to someone, in order to meet their eyes, in a conversation.

Size didn't matter to me as I ran about my home (a cage). As long as I could climb up into the wheel and get it to move, I was exactly the right size.

And then the thing came in.
The first time I saw it, it reminded me of a snake. It was hairless, scaly. But had too many moving parts to be a head. I couldn't tell were the eyes were. All I knew was that it's grasping jaw wanted to eat me. Me and my companions scattered. Running every which way as fast as we could, getting anything, any object between us and the predator. It struck again and again, until with a squeak of pain, the snake but not snake creature struck one of my companions and lifted them into the air. The rest of us congregated into our colored home. Shivering. We were down a member.  

We'd lost one of our own.

The snake not snake was insatiable. Just as we'd begun to relax (forget about the incident) the creature returned, hunting us as we ran and scurried until it managed to grab another one of us.

I was the fourth one to be grabbed. I got trapped in a corner, as the home had moved to block my way. I cowered. Yes, I was afraid. Animal instinct rules emotions, I couldn't control them like I could as a human. and tried to dodge under the creature. It didn't work. Quick as I was, it was quicker. It's multiple moving parts closed in around me, cutting off any chance of escape. I got shaken like it was trying to swallow me. I fought. Fear would only hold me motionless for so long and bit down hard, my teeth digging into the creature's skin.
A cry came from a distance. Elsewhere. Desperately I bit down again and for my efforts, fell through the sky to land among the wood shavings. As more sounds were made.
"AH! BLASTED THING! IT BIT ME!"
"Are you sure you don't want me to try?"
"No, I can do this, you just don't expect these guys to bite that's all."
Trying to hide didn't save me. Once again I was picked up, Between two of the moving limbs. I struggled, trying to twist to bite back, but it had me by the scruff of my neck. Helpless. Something jabbed into my side.
Teeth. I thought. Venom. It was going to freeze me and then swallow me hole! 
I could feel something pumping into my body. And I gave a chattering squeak in pain.

But then, it stopped.
In a dizzying decent, I was placed back into the cage. Uneaten. If not unharmed. I ached from where I'd been jabbed. (by a needle)
I couldn't stop shaking until after darkness fell and my companions had all fallen silent.

I'd never been exposed to something that large before.

Of course it was a hand. And with the scaly skin, ragged fingernails like teeth from a saw, and general grimy dirt smell from them not being washed enough...It was Howard's unpleasant hand that I had faced. You could smell death from that hand. Oddly enough, I hadn't noticed how dirty they were as a human. His oily hair must have distracted me. For I'm sure we could have taken a nice chunk of it from his balding head and kept a fire lit for three days. Note to self, never shake this guy's hand ever again. Who knows what undiscovered bacteria lurk among the dried skin cells and forgotten dirt.

The thing that had attacked me had smelt of death. Like a poisoned plant and rotting frog mixed into one.
I also experienced for the first time how small I'd actually become.
His entire hand could make a fist around me, and his hands are almost girly in size.
As a comparison you could hold out your own hand. See your pinky? If I was lucky I would be as long as your pinky finger. If I wasn't, I would be a bit smaller then it in length.

Talk about getting a hit to my ego.

Whatever that thing was, I resolved to fight it every time it came for me. Biting had brought a response. So perhaps biting would prevent me from getting eaten.

Martin Elek

My Birthday Beginning

Thinking about it. I should probably talk about my birth....on my birthday. But then, that's the expected thing to do.

In any case. A brief run down on background.

My parents had been trying for years to have a child.
Nothing was working.
They'd tried it all, well everything that didn't cost a ton of money.
When I say they tried it all, I mean every home grown remedy that even hinted at them being able to have children.

I don't know how many diets, concoctions, and odd rituals my mom, and sometimes my dad tried out.
I'm sure that if they told me one for everyday of the year, they wouldn't have covered half of what they tried.

Yet. It happened.
My mom was able to conceive me.
She doesn't talk about it though. How it happened.
I have my own ideas, but I haven't had the heart to confirm it. She gets so pale whenever my dad and I touch on the subject. All my dad would say, was that my mom had gone out into the woods by herself in the middle of the night. And came back injured, crying, and desperate to be in my father's arms.

Yes...I have my own ideas on what happened.
After all, I have my own secrets I have to keep from her.

The night was rather clear the night I was born. If early in the morning. 4:25 am. June 21st. The summer solstice. With the addition of a full moon that night. Very mystical in some cultures. Full moons and solstices. That's part of my idea of what happened. I've researched different cultures, trying to find out answers. To why...why I have the secrets I do.

June 21st. My birthday. At least it was a clear night. Most stories seem to begin with "it was a dark and stormy night."

Catcha on the Flip side!

Danny

That moment right before your alarm clock jars you awake is one of the most precious moments one can behold. You're totally relaxed. Drifting, maybe even dreaming. Content with life. No worries. No problems.
And then the next instant, the blaring of the alarm brings back all your worries, problems, troubles, stresses and life goes on.

I was at that stage. Just drifting. Relaxed. Vaguely aware that I'd found relief from my itching skin.

Then the chaos started.
Not an alarm.
Well. A clock. It was sounds of alarm though.
Barking, Screeching, Meowing, who knows what other animals.
Then.
Thunk Thunk Thunk.

It startled me into motion. 
I didn't blink.
I didn't even open my eyes. They were already open. I'd been staring without seeing. Lost in sleep.
They focused as I wiggled, trying to sit up out of the tub, when I realized. It felt more like I was on my stomach, But my arms and legs weren't cramped at all. In fact...I couldn't really feel them. I wiggled. Yes. Something moved. My mouth opened and closed as I twisted further trying to see behind me as I couldn't move my neck.
That's when I saw it. Something long, orange, and flowy. A tail. That's where my legs should have been from what I felt, but that...that wasn't legs!
I tried to blink to dissuaded myself from what I was seeing. But, I couldn't. My eyes could move, but I couldn't close my lids.
My mouth opened wide and I tried to scream.
No sound came out. Not even bubbles. No vocal cords. I had no vocal cords!
I twisted and turned in mindless panic until I hit hard against...nothing.
Wait. That was glass. I'd hit my head against glass!

I drifted back, my hit against the glass temporary stunning me.

Thunk. Thunk Thunk.
Banging. I shook my head -well wiggled my body...A fish body! What WAS HAPPENING TO ME! This had to be a dream. Right?
No. Something was making noise nearby, tapping on the glass.  I' hurt myself on that glass, it was basically like pinching myself right? Well, it better work because I didn't have fingers anymore to pinch myself with.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Wait, I wasn't hearing the tapping, I was feeling the vibrations through the water.

~I wouldn't do that too often if I were you. You're too pretty to bloody yourself up over a little panic attack.~

The voice resounded in my head, soft. soothing. Obviously trying to comfort me. But hearing a voice when I didn't really have ears to hear! Definitely not comforting. I twisted trying to find the sound, my stubby little arm fin things moving uselessly trying to do a doggy paddle.

~Don't fight the instincts. You'll swim much better if you relax.~

Relax. Ha! I forced myself to just tense up. to hold still, every muscle quivering. Not relaxing, but it helped me to clear my mind. A voice. In my head. Tapping on the glass of the tank I was in. The source had to be on the other side of the glass.
I saw it then. The giant smile. The big brown eyes. A human face inches away from me, only separated by a thin pane of glass. She was huge! Which meant that I was small. Probably the size of a baseball. I twisted, the arm fins spreading to help me turn like I was pretending to be an airplane. I swam away from her before turning, gathering my emotions. Cool. I had to be cool, calm, collected.
~WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!~ Okay, I wasn't in control at all, but let's pretend I was to help me feel better about this whole thing.

The face grinned at me. ~Well, aren't you quick at adapting. Much better then your friends.~

I mouthed at her before I remembered I couldn't speak. I couldn't even glare. The fin along my back flared upwards. I was overcome with fury. My crew. What had happened to my crew!

#Henry

Happy Birthday

I guess it's only appropriate that I do something crazy on my birthday. That's when I can get away with anything. After all, it is my birthday.

Hey there. The name's Danny. It's short for Daniel. (I guess it can't really be short for anything else....) Though, if you call me Daniel, I'll tell you straight up that I will flat out ignore you. Danny's my name. Use it. And Dan would be my father. So don't use that either. Danny. Danny is my name.

You could call me a military brat. I grew up on half the bases in the country, I've moved twice as often as I am old if that gives you any indication. Yah, every six months or so we move.
We being my mom, dad and me. I've gotten rather used to the transient life style, and moving so much, I'm able to get away with most anything...like starting a blog.

And guess what?
Yep, I've just moved again.

Anyways, down and out with the dark and gloomy feelings that the topic of moving brings up to the surface.

We just moved from a Alaska to red rock country. Talk about a change of scenery! And total culture shock as well. In many ways the small town we've moved to is rather anti superstitious. I've never met people who were so down to earth and wanting to keep their heads buried in the dirt. "Nothing happens here." oh wait. "Nothing happens here." They don't have any unusual holidays, traditions, celebrations. I'm sure being in New Orleans at Mardi Gras would give them all a heart attack. After coming from super superstitious Alaska. This place is weirdness unto itself. You don't believe me? People here call a 'sandwich' two pieces of bread with some meat between it. That's it. Bread and meat. No lettuce. No tomato. No Mayo, Mustard, Ketchup, Nothing! They're such a plain folk.

...with their own hidden secrets.
But I'll get to that later.

I have my own secrets I gotta hide here.
It's not usually that difficult, I've had a lifetime to practice hiding them.

And it starts with a simple pair of sunglasses.

Happy Birthday to me. A new town. Just what I've always wanted.

Catcha on the Flip side!

Danny

Warm.
Content.
I pressed closer to my companions.
There were five of them with me, all of us piled in together. I didn't have a concept of counting then. The specific number, therefore, is for your benefit. Not mine. It didn't matter to me at that point how many of us there were. Just that they were there.
 
I stirred, opening my eyes. My stomach giving me the clear signs that I needed to eat. Food. My number one priority. I straightened my legs, sending one of my companions rolling off me, causing  domino affect among them all. There was a colored hut above my head, providing shelter from predators, but I couldn't smell any food in there. I had to venture outside of the shelter. Cautiously I stuck my head out of the hole, my ears swiveling constantly, checking in with my companions, on the alert for any sound out of the ordinary. 
 
There were sounds, I didn't recognize any of them then. Which meant they couldn't be bad sounds. So I ventured out towards the source of food.
 
For your benefit. They were the sounds of the lab. Beeps, sizzles, bubbling, snaps, the usual laboratory sounds one would find in a lab that did tests on animals. Yes I was still in the lab. Did I know it? No. Did I care? Then? No I did not. Like I said. Food was my number one priority. Survival. Eating meant survival. Therefore I wanted food.
 
I found it, by a clear thing that wouldn't let me go beyond it. I did try to get beyond that clear thing (glass) my little paws scrapping against it. I couldn't understand how air could be hard. But then I realized that the food smell wasn't beyond the hard air, but next to it, in a shiny grey thing. (metal bowl) I crawled into it, and there was our hoard. tons of food. Seeds, fruits, veggies, and delicious blocks of stuff that had it's own unique flavor. I grabbed one of the round ones (looked like cheerios but green brown in color) in my paws and set to eating that, a red fruit (apple), and stuffing my cheeks with seeds and more cheerios for later before scurrying back to my companions.
 
Time didn't matter to me. Where I was didn't matter to me. I ate. I slept. I ran around chasing my companions or on a wheel. I burrowed into the wood shavings, sometimes I tried to get past the clear air to no avail.
 
I'd always wondered what the 'simple' life would be like. Without noticing every little detail. Having little care in the world.
 
I don't like it. It's so boring and the same. Who wants to live a life of seeing without observing? I would be lying to myself to say it wasn't nice at times. But then again, it was only at times.
 
Of course, my keen skills didn't disappear in that gas chamber.
They were just funneled into other senses. Hearing. Smell.
All normal to me.
Like I said. My mind had disconnected from my consciousness.
Martin didn't exist.
Just me, in an animalistic form.
Whittled down to the basic survival instincts.
 
Martin Elek 

Day 7

So many different shades of green here. I love it! Green is my favorite color after all.

~L

How Did He Do It?

Many of you are probably expecting me to refute Iris's claims that Boom is better then Steel. But frankly I can't get my thoughts together on proving her wrong on her claim yet. Why? Because I've just been informed on a horrible act that Surge has committed, that the rest of the city doesn't know about yet.

You know that big battle he and Steel that caused the building to crash down on me? Well, that wasn't the beginning of their fight that day.
I may have made it sound like that most of the supers are locked up in this tower avoiding the normal human beings like me -Still no powers yet. That's not strictly true. It's more like they have a network that funnels the right problem to the right super to solve. Steel has the job of going after Surge, hence why he's the only super hero visibly seen in the city. Because Surge is visible and the tower needs a visible symbol showing that they do protect the citizens. But for less pressing matters that don't involve Surge, the Tower has a council of supers, that meets everyday to go through petitions, emails, people, and decide what hero can best meet that need before sending them off to help out with the situation. It's a pretty iced cool system! It saves the heroes from just roaming willy-nilly through the city looking for trouble that may or may not happen.
Only, the system has come to a complete halt.
Why?
Surge. SURGE SNUCK INTO THE TOWER! I thought an evil bad guy wouldn't dare to go into the strong hold of supers and strike. But he did! He came, disguised as a petitioner to council. How they couldn't recognize him, I have no idea. I mean, he actually has grey colored skin! Not a thing you can miss in a crowd. Yet, they gave him audience and somehow, he brought the tower to it's knees. No, he didn't kill the council, but in a way this is much worse.
They're all toddlers.
Grown men and women all toddlers. And I thought that only happened in Sky High! Though those were babies. These guys are in the 'terrible twos' which means, they just cause chaos and refuse to see reason. It's horrible. No one knows how to switch them back. -And like with my collar, many a super has tried and failed.
Steel went after Surge to get the answer, and caught up to him at the building I happened to wander into. Oh man, this guy is devious, Surge. He changed all but one member of council into a toddler. The one remaining guy? Steel. Surge had made a collar that would go around Steels neck, and never come off. The controlling collar around my neck. In a nutshell. Surge would control Steel, Steel would be the council, Steel would tell all the supers what to do. Basically! Surge would control the tower and all the supers in it through Steel! It's icing crazy! Who knows what the villain would do with all that power!
Luckily for Steel, and unluckily for me. Things didn't go to Surge's plan and now I'm stuck with the collar and Steel is free to continue running the council as best as he can. -They can't elect a new council because Technically the old council is all alive and healthy. New members can only be elected when a member dies. Somehow, once this fiasco is straightened out, I think that rule is going to change.
In the mean time, all the supers still in school have been given an added responsibility. Yep. Baby Sitting. Home Ec in High School has nothing compared to this 'class.' We're all getting a crash course in dealing with super powered tots. Can I tell you it's exhausting? Because it's icing exhausting! You have to stay mentally on top of everything or else you're liable to get hurt when one of the tots decides to 'use his powers' to get their way. Ugh. Totally not looking forward to going back to that room again. I mean...I don't have powers yet, soo I'm kinda a sitting duck there.
I seriously hope that Steel gets the counter-cure from Surge soon. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time before the city discovers what he did.

Layters!

--> Issac

It started out like a normal enough day. I was only a few days away from the three month mark. Perhaps this time I would stay in the same job long enough to get a pay raise. After all, most of the time I get fired within a month of starting a job. My record is three and a half hours.-Fast food, not the best place to have an observant guy around I suppose. There were so many health violations in that fast food place, they'd already lost a half of their customers because of me pointing out things that were wrong within hearing of them, to my boss, by the time he told me to leave.
Well, I was in the middle of once again, observing the different animals to see what changes had happened over night. It was just me and Howard in at that point, I'd been given an early morning shift and no one else was due to come in for a couple of hours. Considering that I'd worked a night shift six hours before, I was a bit sleep deprived.
I'd just finished my rounds, when Howard called me over to one of the testing chambers in a panic.
"MARTIN! GET OVER HERE QUICK!"
Howard never yells. He's a cool one. Or was a cool one. Not one for dramatics even though the corner of his eye would twitch whenever I opened my mouth. He kept quiet. Like a spider waiting for a fly to strike the web.
I struck the web. I actually believed his panic.
In retrospect, it was incredibly fake sounding.
But like a lemming, I ran over to the chamber and at his panicked direction went inside to look for a leak.
There was no leak.
The door slammed shut behind me, and locked.
Not good.
I didn't even make it back to the door to bang on the glass before some odd gas poured into the chamber and choked me.
I'd never seen this chamber in use before. The gas was unfamiliar to me. Though I found out later it effects you by both inhaling it and by skin exposure.
Well, I did both.
And that exposure wasn't good.
My muscles seized up, sending me to the ground.
Then, for the first time in a long time...I lost focus.
My mind literally disconnected itself from my consciousness, and I drifted, no longer aware of the world around me.

~Martin Elek

The cops hadn't even left the station, that's how quick our heist was.
Two minutes, maybe three tops. We were in and out.
It's easy to be quick when you have a plan on what to take and what to leave behind.

Our spoils totally buried the kitchen table. Thousands of dollars of stuff. It was one of our most successful heists in the amount of stuff, even if we had stolen more valuable items in the past.

Yes. The heist had gone off without any major problems.
I was so foolish.
I should have known there must have been some grain of truth to that note.
Do Not Rob.
The place was a gold mine of lax security, items easily taken.
I should have seen that all wasn't what it seemed.

The first hint of our problems began with Sue complaining she wasn't feeling well and heading to bed early. Soon after, I noticed that everyone else wasn't doing well either.
Frankly, I thought that it might have been food poisoning. I mean we totally stuffed ourselves with pizza, Chinese, Mexican, candy, tons of soda...you know the usual celebratory foods.

I went to bed feeling well enough. Tired, but that was normal for me. All the planning, stress, and now I could relax and let Jess proceed with selling our goods.

I remember waking up in the middle of the night,
Having a hard time breathing.
My chest felt tight.
I was too hot -even though I could feel the AC going.
And my skin...just felt dry.

Frankly, I thought I was having an allergic reaction. I mean there were animals all over that pet store, and having never spent time around pets, I would have no idea if I was allergic to anything before our crime...

After tossing and turning, I finally decided that maybe a soak in the tub would help cool me down and relieve my itching skin.
The water did help.
A bit too much in some ways.
The last thing I really remember is closing my eyes and letting my head slip under the water to give my itching face some relief as well.....

#Henry

Success!

Ha. Ha. Very funny Iris, we're all laughing now. NOT. Well guess what? I finally figured out your password, (I do not have that thick of a skull!) and I've now changed it to "IrishasacrushonSonic" You know, with a few random numbers thrown in here and there. If you can bring yourself to type that in, then I suppose you have the right to hack my blog again.

Layters!

--> Issac

Day 6

River below the Lake. I like the trees around the edge of the picture. It frames it nicely.

~L

Daylight robberies are more fun to do.
Just thought I'd let you know that.
It's more challenging to rob a place when the sun is shining bright and people are milling about.
Can you get away with taking items underneath people's noses?
The answer to that would be, yes.
Thanks to the amazing work of my crew.
We can appear to be anything we need to be to make no one suspicious of why we're there in the first place.

This...wasn't anything like that.
While we could have struck in the day time, Billy noted that the employees were, a bit too good at checking in on people in the store to make sure they were okay.
I don't like to rob the place unless we can make the heist big.
Taking only two or three items, is not a big heist.

So in order to increase our income.
We struck soon after the last employee left for the night.

If I had had it my way, I would have robbed the place a couple of hours before the place would open,
Luckily I had Billy there, otherwise this robbery would have been screwed from the start.
How am I supposed to know that stockers come in to work when normal people would be sleeping? I've never had a retail job in my life.

So, we had to rob the place earlier then I liked, but I could make it work.

My Scout made sure the last employee actually was gone. -She followed him for a couple of miles to make sure he wouldn't turn around.
My Muscle broke the door open. -Not difficult when the door is flimsy, but he likes to show off, and I let him.

We divided and conquered.
Each person was assigned a section in the store. With a memorized list of items to grab.
Dog. Cat. Bird. Rodent. Fish. Reptile.
Simple right. Six of us. Six sections. Easy Peasy.

So easy that I actually joined in on the fun and took a section myself.

Billy: "You were an idiot to come yourself. You should have left the job to us."
Me: And let you have all the fun Billy?
Billy: "Yes. What if we had been caught."
Me: "We weren't going to be. I know my plans."
Billy: "Still should have left the job to us."

Perhaps. I can be fool hardy, and Billy I can see you nodding your head in the reflection of the screen. Do you need something?
OH...well...I'll have to continue this later. *shakes head* Business never seems to rest does it?

#Henry

Day 5

Trees grow in such weird directions. This one is big enough to fit two people on. I don't know how comfortable it would be.

~L

Vengence By Iris Clearwater

I thought that, for those of you--like Issac--who aren't quite up to date on Sonic Boom, I'd give some basic info about him so that you can properly understand how incredible he is--regardless of hunkiness.

Oh, and Issac, next time you disrespect Sonic, make sure your blog isn't so easy to hack. I mean, "STEELROCKS" as a password was completely predictable. I took the liberty of changing it for you.

Anyway, judging by his name, Sonic's super power is exactly what you might expect: He can fly so fast he creates SONIC BOOMS.

His speed is his greatest strength--I hear he can fly across the country in just under an hour, but that hasn't been confirmed. It's definitely faster than SOME super heroes, who fly at the speed of, what would you say Issac, a rampaging snail?

Anyway, if I ever get the chance to meet Sonic, I'll have to ask him.

While his speed is his main dish, Sonic's sonic booms carry their own sort of power. With them, he can, not only break the sound barrier, but get out of traps and that sort of thing. (What does Steel use, Issac? His fists? Incredibly cliche.)

If you are not up to par on how a sonic boom works, or are stuck in a tower that looks like a math symbol, here's a quick demo, using pictures I stole off of Google. (Hey, I'm a hacker, not an artist!)

In this image what you're seeing is a jet (since, a jet is the best comparison the world has to Sonic). As you can see in the first panel, the motionless jet has no effect on sound (no duh). Once the jet starts moving, the air compresses, as do the sound waves. This creates a little bit of a distortion--the reason a jet flies by, and you hear it a moment later.

As you can see here, once a jet (or Sonic) really gets going, it passes through what's called the "sound barrier" (displayed in the image above as the thin wall). It's passing through this sound barrier that creates the giant BOOM that shatters glass and pops ear drums. Though, to note, the strength and tone of the sound depends on where the individual is standing. 

To move right along, it takes anywhere from a couple seconds to a full minute for the sound to reach the observer after flyover, and the boom is loudest directly under the flight path. Unless you are Issac, then it doesn't matter because hardly anything can get through that thick skull of his.

Wondering what a sonic boom sounds like? Wikipidia says it pretty well: A sonic boom is the sound associated with the shock waves created by an object traveling through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding much like an explosion. ... A sonic boom is usually heard as a deep double "boom" as the aircraft is usually some distance away. However, as those who have witnessed landings of space shuttles have heard, when the aircraft is nearby the sonic boom is a sharper "bang" or "crack".

After the jet (or Sonic) has broken through the sound barrier, they move faster than sound.
This is great because, up to an extent, Sonic can sneak up on his enemy if he's traveling fast enough. Before the sound of his flight catches up to him, I mean.

Fun fact: Did you know that when on board an aircraft that breaks the sound barrier, you won't actually hear the sonic boom? That's because, like the waves created by a ship, the sound waves are already behind you. That means Sonic never actually hears his own booms.

Beyond his excellent powers, Sonic's also a great human being. And yes, Issac, I mean that in the admiration sort of way--not the way we argued about earlier. Please.

If you still have doubts about who's better between Steel and Sonic Boom, Issac, please, insult Sonic again. I'd love for another chance to prove you wrong.

~Iris Clearwater 
(www.irisclearwater.blogspot.com)

I tolerate most human beings. In most cases, they don't mean to be utterly frustrating. Howard. Howard, is a different problem all together.
He was my...boss, at the lab.
I don't like the guy.
It takes a lot for me to dislike someone. I've grown tolerant of most people. Him though, he just gave me the creeps.
That must mean a lot if everyone else thinks I'm the creepy one.
Me, I don't do it on purpose, my 'creepiness' as some call it, is learned. It took effort to see everything, know everything.
Howard is like the ugly man with a black tinted mini van convincing kids to come get candy with him. And smart. Not a good combination. He lead everyone else around the lab by the nose with all his 'high and mighty speak.' i.e. Scientific terminology and random gobbily gook he threw in to sound impressive. Didn't like it when I called him on it. At least I was considerate enough to put him in his place when no one else was around. He could have given the same courtesy to the rest of us, especially in the hygiene department.
He only washed his hair every fourth day. Maybe fifth depending on if I saw him after a weekend. He always tried to cover it up with a cologne that smelt like a cross between wet dirt, and rotting bananas, with his hair pulled back in a pony tail. Totally not a good look for him. He should have shaved it all off for said hair grew to his shoulders. What hair grew. The guy has a shiny bald track with the hair stopping suddenly an inch above his ears like trees at the timber line. That's just his hair. His eyes, too close together reminded me of a rat. He had three missing teeth, the rest were either crooked or growing over one another. And he was too skinny. Guy obviously sits around at home all day after work, eating Cheetos by the bagful judging by the crumbs around his mouth, and the orange tinge to his fingers while exercising his thumbs on the TV remote and video games. And if you turned him sideways he disappeared. He could obviously slither through a crack in the door. Or a mouse hole. Plus his voice. Deep, like gravel in a blender. Hard on the ears.
Overall an unpleasant fellow.
And the disdain he had for me was pretty obvious from the first day. Curl of the lip, snide remarks, wouldn't talk directly at me,
Basically, I eclipsed his rising star.
You know in time that wouldn't bode well. I knew it too, I've eclipsed many a rising star in my other jobs.
Personally, I thought I was just going to get fired again, nothing more.

Martin Elek

Pain. Everywhere.

Ow. Just ow. Can I just say I had no idea how hard it was to be a hero? It's like these guys train night and day, and poor little me -the uncoordinated with a ball, and prefers to read comic books- is totally sucking it up. It really doesn't help that I haven't had any abilities show up yet. At least then I could fit in a category and work on strengthening my power. Right now, I'm just hopping from place to place getting a well rounded and painful education. There are muscles hurting that I didn't even know could hurt! Like the one behind my ear. Or the one on the inside of my big toe. Everything is sore, and I've been so exhausted. Yikes. Just Yikes! Even the Technoside is a workout! Seriously, don't these guys have any 'fun time?' it's always about the competition for them. Who's the best at what. And me...not having powers...well I'm not the best at much.
Beyond getting experimented on. These past few days haven't been about failing spectacularly at the physical stuff. It's been the collar as well. I've been shocked and zapped, and poked and prodded more times then a cactus has thorns. All in the name of figuring out how to get this stupid collar off, oh and finding out my abilities. Which...I don't have yet.
It's more then that too. I didn't realize how...normal everything is. I mean, everyone has a power, but me. But it's a lot like my own high school I went to before this whole mess started up. There are clicks. Populars, sports guys, cheerleaders, brainaics, technopaths. Everyone has their 'spot.' It's so normal, that I'm a bit disappointed. Shouldn't the super kids be better then the rest of humanity? No wonder they have to go to school. They need to learn to be super. And here, I thought they were born with the superness already in them. Weird.

Layters!

--> Issac 

Day 4

Ever since I was young, I've always loved natural staircases. There's just something cool about them.

~L

The East Tower

I am so glad that the Technopath's live in the other leg of the tower. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been discovered my first post in my room. Whew. Hopefully I can continue to not worry about them visiting, as all their techno gizmos are with them on their side.

Oh. I keep saying 'their side, or leg.' And you probably have no idea what The Tower looks like do you? You know, unless you read the comic books. The tower,well the best way to describe it, is that it looks like Pie.
Not the food.
The math symbol.
Two gigantic skyscrapers with a horizontal connection at the top. This place is HUGE! I mean, you have to fit a ton of people in this place, it just needs to have moving rooms and talking statues and this place could totally be Hogwarts. It's so maze like.
The main thing to remember is that the West Tower -the tower I'm in, has all the athletic stuff going on. Race tracks, bowling alleys, rock walls, laser tag. It's a teenager's paradise! And as long as the activities have nothing to do with a ball (the ball has a bad habit of finding my face.) this place Rules! I especially like their version of laser tag, though the supers are a bit boring. They play with the lights on. What fun is that?
And I've discovered I've lied about the Internet. The tower does have it....in the East building. That's where all the superheroes with technology based abilities live, work, study, and experiment. So, the Internet is all located over there. Weird right? Why only have Internet on one side of the tower?
I actually asked that question once I discovered it as, Today was my first day in the East side. I hadn't made it over there yet because everyone wanted to test my physical endurance first. In any case, they said that the wireless connection messes with the scoring gizmos of the different score boards they have there. Apparently they don't want people to hack into the system and cheat.
I guess if your more mentally gifted then physically gifted, you'd want to feel better by hacking into the system and giving yourself more points. By having limited tech in the west building they have better protection against cheaters. Whatever guys. Whatever. I'm going to keep my laptop in my room with its Internet connection. I doubt it would help anyone cheat. But if it does, that person would be awesome!
And speaking of which, the connecting tower bit, That's where the council lives. -The guys who 'rule' over the supers. I haven't seen anyone yet though. They're in the center over the gulf, and that section has been closed off. I'm sure I'll see them at some point. Everyone wants to see me. You know, because of this collar stuck around my neck.
Yah. That's still there.

Layters!

--> Issac

Speedy Even On The Ground

Okay, I think I have this whole internet jerry rigged so it won't cut on me. I've tried to post like six times already, and I keep losing connection and losing what I wrote. Not cool.
But you know what is cool? The TOWER! Okay, my last post wasn't that flattering on the place. That's because they didn't have internet. Now I have internet. Now the place is nearly perfect! Having no homework would make it perfect. Knowing what power I have would make it perfect. No dice on that.
But, let's back track a bit. I actually was released the same day from the hospital that they said I might be released. And guess who picked me up? Steel! In a car. I didn't even know he owned a car. I thought the guy flew everywhere. Now I know better. It makes him even more cool. He can fly, yet doesn't mind driving super fast down the highway. Whew! He has a lead foot.

Layters!

--> Issac