No Heroes, Part 5: Once Bitten by Null0trooper

Monday morning, January 16, 2017,
Crystal Hall Cafeteria, Whateley Academy.

Bloodhound.

Federal holidays get that bad at Whateley, and they need full staffing at Doyle, yikes. Billy Hastings aka Bloodhound watches as Belfry takes the same route as yesterday, but avoids the assault this time and warns the idiot who tried it again.

Except for the limp, the last time Billy'd seen a guy move like that was a motorcycle cop. His cousin, who'd been driving, had gone on to learn the hard way not to give no lip to a Kentucky State Highway Patrolman.

Belfry is one of those you don't want to mess with at Whateley.

"Puckwidget? Freshman exemplar, plus a combo platter of probability mangling, precog, and empathy. Doesn't get off on the idea of his own pain or embarrassment."

"Oh, no," Bloodhound almost whined, "Precog? He had to know whatever you said was a bluff!"

"Bluff? Me? Seriously, unless I have a hand of cards in front of me, I'm kind of crap at bluffing."

No wonder Puckwidget reacted to Belfry the way he did, he saw what he would do to him if he didn't play nice.

Rough day at Hawthorne, at least Mrs. Bardue made him leave, I don't know how the demons in that basement toilet would react to Benjamin. Good sedatives over at Doyle, no wonder Benjamin can't remember where he crashed out.

Benjamin shuddered, "Look. I don't care what stupid people say. Unicorns are freaking dangerous! You never know what they'll do. I'm lucky I didn't get skewered through my top ticker when they brought that girl Unique in to do her healing thing."

Benjamin is right, unicorns in the original tales were dangerous and untamed, and you don't want to make one angry or cross them.

Puckwidget.

Edward "Puck" Effingham, this idiot listens to hearsay and rumors just because it came from older dormmates and his brother. Trying to trip someone two days in a row because you think they are a criminal, plus because his little sister got knocked out by him. Idiot, not all mutants heal fast or can take a lot of magic healing to fix themselves up at Doyle after an incident like that.

Razor-wire, I knew Benjamin was good, but dang. Yikes, now we understand why Edward was freaking out, seeing all the ways Benjamin could tear him apart with the razor wire.

"So? Picking on an Underdog's bad enough, but one who's disabled, too?"

Huh, an Emerson freshman coming to his defense, nice to see. Derrick, I should have known that jerk was the one who called Benjamin a criminal. Seizures all week, Edward would have been dead if that happened while Benjamin manifested the razor wire on him.

Tabitha Turner's Office, Schuster Hall.

Oh boy, why would Robert be here to talk to Tabitha about this past weekend? No sympathy for Benjamin slipping on a patch of ice and landing on his knee bad, good grief.

"Robert, if you must know, Keeling copped an attitude about being under my direction for the duration of the trip. He even threatened legal action!"

Robert winced.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

"Guardian Resources and Trading Company's legal team in London has forwarded documents regarding Keeling's status as an emancipated minor under U.S. law. That includes directions for obtaining access, if necessary, to sealed court documents in Michigan. From what they would and wouldn't tell me, some of those materials are illegal to possess even in Karedonia."

Yikes! That doesn't excuse his attitude, you don't know him or his history.

"It was more like two or three years ago. Moreover, his employers had new identity documents and adoptive parents lined up before walking into that court room. Somehow, that leads to his activities in East Africa. You failed a saving throw when you saw those miniature medals."

"His employers? Robert, he's barely old enough to shave! And, if he's so unstable, why isn't Keeling in Hawthorne?"

"He's in dire need of socialization, possibly suicidal. He's also a manifestor. Locking him up in a single room under chemical restraints, because that's what it would take to prevent a suicide, serves no one's best interests. Debra's adding him to the Cottage Protocols as a 'do not leave unattended, ever' trustee."

Tabitha, you need to learn more compassion for the students under your care. Imp's special topics class, oh boy.

Mental Health Dept. Waiting Room, Doyle Medical Center.

Benjamin is left alone with his thoughts. All telepaths and empaths, run for the hills before you need a lot of therapy yourselves! Peter, if Benjamin thinks you need to unwind, take a break already! Contemplating the big, unknowable things, in the Whateley Universe that isn't always safe. Lemon drops, I'm with Benjamin on this, Colombine doesn't know what she is missing out on. Esper homework, please say those who are just receptive empaths don't have that homework.

Thulia walked up and Benjamin didn't notice her until she talked, now that is true stealth skills.

Thulia shook her head. "The process of physical elimination is no substitute for scientific enquiry."

Benjamin cracked an appraising smile and said, "How much you want to bet on that?"

From her office doorway, Dr. Delacroix said, "I'll admit a small wager would have me intrigued."

"Five dollars on Mr. Holmes. Once you eliminate the impossible, only the possible remains."

How is that not the right coin if it isn't made of manifested material? His sleight-of-hand skills are impressive.

"I'm beginning to see what Morgana and Laura see in you."

He is one of the most interesting students at Whateley. Before or after what test, what test is Thulia referring to?

Dr. M.B. Delacroix's Office.

Marie Brigid Delacroix, what a lovely full name. *hits head on desk* That is not all there is to social interaction, Benjamin. Jameson has some things to answer for, Benjamin's "supervisor" and didn't have him properly socialized. I could use a porpoise, ow, the pun.

"That other guy, the one they made me into. He's supposed to be dead, but he could have gotten loose. That could have been bad."

I wish Fubar was still at Whateley and could go into Benjamin's mind, maybe find a way to remove that other guy from his mind completely.

Crap! So many ways "his own words" could have been planted in his mind by someone else, they really need a powerful and experienced telepath who can handle going into Benjamin's mind to sort everything out.

"What about getting to know him and whatever he might be hiding?"

NO!

"Benjamin!"

When had he started hugging his knees? Benjamin stared down at the carpet. Funny how the non-patterns worked into it formed patterns. He needed to breathe. What was the question? How long had he been out?

I've had panic attacks before, but this is a true trauma-born reaction.

Help patch himself together, he needs more than counseling for that. Dr. Delacroix is right about Benjamin, they need every safety measure possible when he goes off-campus. Hhm, but would the people who are after him think any attempt to kidnap Benjamin is too costly?

"All I said was that a person could get hurt, sticking their leg out in traffic." Benjamin shrugged as if it had been a casual observation. "Imagine if Molten stepped on your ankle."

It was just a warning, not like he hurt the guy even though he deserved it. Benjamin, you don't know the Underdogs too well, if they consider you a friend they will do a lot to strike back at your tormentors.

Aww, Benjamin, just admit you don't want your friends getting hurt.

"Just as the Underdogs have the job of defending other kids who lack the power to defend themselves on their own?" Maire asked. "There isn't much difference between accepting money to provide for security and accepting the security services directly."

Plus the Underdogs may have that name because of their powers or other issues, but many of them are creative and dangerous with what powers they have. Bullies learn not to mess with them and their friends.

"I don't know about all the others, but Billy, Tabitha, some others, they're legitimately nice people. If there is a legit risk, why should they get hurt looking out for me?"

"Because they are genuinely nice people who might care about you? Maybe? Either way, what would you do if you saw one of them being bullied, walk away?"

Boy, Benjamin has thought of what to do in that situation well. I hope Benjamin remembers most of Saturday's events. Hehe, I like her, forcing Benjamin to be social in her own way.

Monday Evening,
Holographic Simulation Center, The Tunnels.

"Professional development", Dr. Delacroix, Belfry, and Samantha Everheart on hand, this will be an interesting use of the sims. They are using the neural bypass, a devise, eep.

Everheart continued, saying, "Under the circumstances, you'll both be seeing our 'Creating Your Profile' and 'Intro to the Holographic Sims' videos. The simulations afterward should be short enough to risk an anxiolytic about now. There's a water fountain in the hallway."

Everyone who uses the sims has to watch those videos, please don't be boring. Oh, Dr. Delacrois is coming along for a familiarization run for Belfry.

"Better sooner than later. Also, my colleagues have informed me that the simulations the school uses can be psychologically damaging. I need background and benchmarks. More importantly, I need the experience."

Don't even mention the "Dark Phoenix Scenario" sim around some students. Ack, sleeping aids, I knew the videos would be boring.

How much concealed and disguised gear is there between Dr. Delacroix and Belfry? Stuff carried just so it can be found and confiscated to distract from the real gear, huh.

Benjamin's left eye is heavily washed out, what is going on? No sense of smell or taste in the sims, that is a big limitation for some students. Test of hand-eye coordination for Benjamin, of all the things he swiped I want to know where the two bras came from. An interesting mix of students for the sim, Scarlyt, I hope Benjamin is one of those who figures out the truth about her and takes her down.

Early in her years at DeVille Academy, Maire Brigid had learned how to disappear in a crowd or to find the hidden esper working one. Benjamin was just gone. Assuming he was in the simulation, he had to be actively avoiding those who didn't know he was present. According to her briefing, the simulation team should be throwing all those persons known to crack invisibility at Benjamin.

This is one of Benjamin's scariest abilities, able to just disappear so completely in a crowd. Uh oh, Benjamin can see the room around him in the sim, but can't move. Belfry can see through his blind eye now, I hope this is a good thing.

Huh, why didn't Benjamin's disguise work on Maire? Benjamin is a mess to still have body armor worked into his school uniform in this situation. Benjamin changed more than he realized, more changes to expect, why doesn't he think he is supposed to change just like other mutant teens do?

"Because you can't change your starting point, only your path and destination. Being human works that way."

Hearing it said, believing it, and understanding it are 3 different things.

Colombine can't do the invisibility test, rats.

"You threw Benjamin for a loop the first three times you didn't recognize or notice him. He's been told before that it's an esper effect."

"One that could be blocked by someone of my training?"

"That was the intent."

So that is why the Esper effect didn't work on her.

"Psychology includes looking for patterns and explanations of how other people think. Food for thought."

Sam, with how much you deal with the students and staff learning those things would be a big help.

Tuesday morning, January 17, 2017,
Twain Cottage, Morning Tai Chi Chuan, Laird Hall.

Sifu Wong's tai chi chuan classes sound great for non-Exemplar students who want to get in shape and learn a martial art.

Boys' locker room.

Breakfast for Peter, admit you like him as more than a friend already. Billy tries to get Benjamin's attention and reminds him to get breakfast already. Saumer, not every guy who is distracted thinking is because of a girl. Supervised practice of martial arts is encouraged, I like his doctors already. Billy Hastings, now Benjamin knows his last name as well.

"Like a kata. I've been training in silat the last couple of years, when I've had the time. Totally worth it. Mom's approach is closer to Tai Chi Chuan, but very internal."

Just how many martial arts has Benjamin been trained in? Ouch, I forgot about Billy having to flee due to some of his cousins and that preacher. Groenwalds, so few of that family escape their Nazi heritage.

Just how big of an extended family does Billy have?

"Very early on, I found out that I wasn't the only one missing out. I learned to make the best of the good things I could find. If that doesn't work, getting a good head start on being somewhere else should."

"What about the bad things?"

"Still working on that. Ever hear the old song about 'changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes'? Dude knew what he was talking about."

Take that song to heart, Benjamin, and start changing your attitude more so you can make more friends. An invite to join the Underdogs, Benjamin, don't reject it.

Speaking of, Officer Yuki Takenaka caught the two freshmen yards short of the Crystal Hall doors.

"Depends? Sure. It depends on Keeling here having a legal vehicle, a valid driver's license, and a living will, among other things. Good luck with all that, by the way."

Yuki, why do you always have to be busting Benjamin's chops? Hehe, calling Billy puppy kid, cute.

< I think I've been adopted already. >

< That's even better. The way I see it, they can only blame themselves for that. >

Yuki, now you know that isn't true if they haven't been informed about all the dangers involved. Ash Bucket, a nice nickname for the Bukit Aseng district.

Wednesday afternoon, January 18, 2017,
Theory and Practice of the Escape.

Monofilament trip line linked to super fun balls, harmless, yet very annoying, trap.

"Have you considered anchoring the line closer to the latch side, top and bottom, and connecting the line to the hinged side of the jamb between the two? I doubt anyone would expect a diagonal trip."

"Why don't you demonstrate? We've got time."

Oh no, he is teaching her better ways to prank people. Imp is talking to Tabby Cat, I hope it isn't bad things about Benjamin. Boy, I would hate to be against Benjamin in a sim with him as the villain, and time for him to trap his base.

"You and Susan Moira have reasons to be motivated. Just about everyone else thinks they'll never get caught, or caught again."

"..."

"You'd be surprised how often supervillains think the same way," Tabby Cat added. "It's not just street-level criminals."

That kind of attitude is what gets superheroes killed in death traps. Morgana, Luna, and Abigail practiced, I knew I could count on Morgana. Wasting the time of a teacher by slacking off in a Special Topics class you chose to take, is beyond lazy.

The reason for Mrs. Turner's visit became clear when the lecture section of the class turned to the discussion of various apprehension techniques and procedures.

Different codes and bylaws, you would need an eidetic memory to remember them all.

"Actually," Benjamin drawled, letting some of his father's West Midlands accent through, "Most call-outs don't require a baton, incapacitant spray, or taser. However, if you plan on committing a crime with paranormal abilities in play, Armed Response Vehicles are likely to be dispatched. In those cases, you may find yourself looking down the barrel of a Glock 17, H&K G36, or a H&K MP5 variant. Different municipalities favor different suppliers, but firearms, stun grenades, supers, it's all fair play at that point."

Luna should have kept her mouth shut about British police forces.

Ack! Laura, I can't believe you forgot that detail about the trap, evaded is not disarmed. Maybe they should have the kids play some D&D with a group of thieves to drill this into them. Ouch, I don't think Morgana wants to be tazed. Kent Holloway opens his big mouth and gets volunteered for the first tester of being tazed.

Tabby goes to talk to Benjamin about last Saturday.

"You're still alive and kicking. If old tales are the best the bastards can throw at you, that's a success, ennit?"

Benjamin paused just long enough for effect before adding, "Or so my real father says."

He has a point. Heh, talks to Tabitha having more to talk to Imp about, so Benjamin gets to leave before finishing the cleanup.

Wednesday Evening,
Holographic Simulation Center, The Tunnels.

The student helper for the team is Belfry, I hope Icejack isn't still upset at him. They get to skip over one of the videos, less chance of them falling asleep before the sims. Correct gear that fits, pressure wounds are scary. Belfry has the prototype sims suit, an interesting design.

Don't tell me, Belfry's sim suit is skin-tight and Peter is having issues concentrating. Cricket's sim suit looks like that, good grief, whoever designed that for a kid with GSD needs talking to.

He still looked like a rubberized insectoid something-taur, but the suit fit.

Okay, that is better. Archeopterix, I hope the sim suit isn't too tight on her.

In the Whateley Academy's Quad inside the sims once more. Ah, some of the Simulator techs have worked here for a long time, they remember the 2006 Halloween incident. Entelecheia's powers are spirit-focused and she has to take time to contact the other side, now I'm curious what her power traits are. Derecha is on this team too, so many unusual codenames and no idea of the source or meaning.

An interesting sim to test their powers and gear out in. Oof, another student in the sim or what? That smell, don't tell me we have an undead somehow in the sim. Jacob Linden.

"I'm not going to lie to you." Some things you just don't lie about. "It can. Depending on what you have ahead of you. You have to face that or you can't reach whatever peace lies beyond."

"I meant," Jacob looked to Trina in confusion. "I guess I need to think about it. You all should go back to your own world now."

A ghost who hasn't moved on asks Benjamin something, how did he get stuck in the sim?

Trina is right, why did Jacob think Benjamin is the ghost? Did he really die and the artifact in place of his eye is keeping him alive or something?

Lunch, Early Thursday afternoon, January 19, 2017,
Lower Deck, Crystal Hall Cafeteria.

Peter has to listen to Benjamin rant about why his therapy homework is unreasonable, he is more patient than most. Benjamin is dense, Peter, you can't drop hints and expect him to get it, just tell him you can tutor him in those subjects. Ask Homely to drop by so Benjamin can interact with her and get some of his therapy homework done. These two need to tell each other how they feel already, it is torture to watch.

Tabitha 'Homely' Dieulafoy, seesh, thinks guys would only chat her up to get at her parents' money due to not being an 'Exemplar beauty'. No, Peter is right, this is how Benjamin is, it is a defense mechanism due to his life up until now. So nice for Peter not to have to explain things beyond "He worked for my parents the last two summers." Help from Belfry to do better in her next Combat Final, his methods will be strange to you, but they will work. Good incentive to get to know him.

Oh boy, Tabitha thinks she has met Benjamin before or maybe his cousin, if she figures out he was the guest at her family's hotel last April she might freak out. Research for Theory and Practice of the Escape, what are you up to, Benjamin? Benjamin was the TA of the class, and Tabbie hadn't been told anything about that by her gadgeteer bestie.

"I kinda/sorta set myself up for a full battery of placement tests when I showed up. Mr. Anderson and The Imp have the Survival track."

Tabitha barely got a C, she needs to get in better shape and work on the lessons. Benjamin might be able to take it next year, shoot, I wanted to know how good he was in that class now. Oh, she made a deal in her combat final and got double-crossed. Hard limit on Tabbie's psychokinesis, security systems went wonky when she manifested, how to duplicate that again on purpose?

Whitman Cottage.

Tabitha shooed out Stella so she could make a call. Tabbie Dieulafoy called up her father to find out details on Benjamin, crud. And she gives him details on Peter and his codename as well, this is bad.

Twain Cottage.

Colombine is keeping track of things, she knows about the attempt to find out more about Benjamin and Peter. Now she knows to keep an eye on Tabitha's father and who he is connected to.

Friday, January 20, 2017,
near Crystal Hall.

Puckwidget wants to patch things up with Belfry, you tripped him on purpose and think you can patch things up with him, oh brother. Tries to catch up to Max to figure out a way to patch things up with Belfry. Geez, just how many classes does Max take in one day? Ouch, Max knows what happened between Benjamin and Puckwidget. Max was around for the Devisor chocolate incident, oof.

"I don't think so. I do know he judges people on what they do. So, if you want to apologize, you gotta know he'll hold that as a promise you won't go taking another shot. Also, he doesn't accept gifts – or food – without knowing exactly what they are, exactly what's in them, and exactly what's expected of him in return. I'm surprised he's even eating in the cafeteria instead of living on MREs."

It seems paranoid, but if you knew even a fraction of his history you would understand why Benjamin is like this. And if Max can tell you aren't being sincere then Benjamin definitely can.

Emerson Cottage.

Puck, he isn't crazy, nor is he paranoid. Your sister clammed up about the matter, take that and just never pull a prank on Benjamin again, leave it at that. A talk with Mrs. Tolliver who thinks it is about someone he is attracted to. *facepalms* He held onto some of the devisor chocolate, that is just foolish at best.

The darkening look on Mrs. Tolliver's face spoke volumes. She had heard of people acting like that. And, the reasons were not good.

Whatever she says next, you had best listen to and listen well.

Great, now she knows it is Benjamin and that Derrick has a beef with him. Oh god, that incident with his father is on file, I would react that way reading about it as well. A solemn vow not to speak with anyone except licensed counselors at Doyle about what she is about to tell him, I hope Edward realizes how messed up even the early life of Benjamin was after this. That joke is no joke, it is sickening when you hear someone say it. I'm glad Edward got it so quickly.

"I'm only telling you this much because as an empath, you'll be encouraged to take courses in psychology. What you described is a common example of an avoidance strategy. The worst thing you could do is to walk out of class a year from now, wave a textbook in front of him, and ask why he never said anything while showing many of the signs of abuse. It's very difficult for people who've been in that position to learn to trust anyone or let them get close."

Yes, it is sickening and horrific that his father and so many of his father's 'friends' did such things to their own children and 'friends' children. Oh god, someone thought it was a good idea to confront someone who had been abused that way.

Saturday morning,
Living and Working with GSD, Conference Room B, Schuster Hall.

Benjamin, this is a good class for you to sit in on. Despite the fact you can hide it with your power, you have something akin to GSD. Max is in this class, I should have known. Ah, invited over by Imp. Pastel, Tidestriker, Red, Clover Rozic, how many familiar faces will be here? Tanya is there for Vic, Benjamin warned not to ask about her roommate.

She opened the class with, "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here today."

"Was it to distract us from taking over the world, or is it too late for flowers and an apology?"

"Good morning to you, too, Benjamin. Let's start with a hint: the course is named 'Living and Working with GSD'."

Her opening never gets old, and Benjamin sure rolled with it.

"Examples, good or yours. Everyone's familiar with how sanctioned heroes and designated villains are featured in the press. However, as I told last week's class, we're not limited to those roles by how we look. Today, I want to use examples that the class can identify with."

A good lesson for all students with GSD to learn.

Pastel, not all cops eat a ton of donuts, that is a stereotype. Pastel calls him just another pretty, oh boy. Clover and Max know what Benjamin looks like without his manifested makeup. You always forget how bad he looks with the makeup on most of the time, yikes.

Vic shook his head in frustration. "I meant all of it. You've got to know your skin tone's different from the norm. No matter how good you think you are, you can't hide that all the time!"

"I've looked like this all my life, thanks to prenatal tinkering the powers experts haven't sourced. I didn't learn how to 'manage my image' until I was old enough to call the MCO myself. Post-injury MATD when I lost my eye is all that changed."

And one of the major reasons I want to see whoever altered him like that given a fate worse than death. Shisa asks the important question and Benjamin has the right answer, though I wish Benjamin didn't have to keep so much of his work a secret.

Imp pulls Benjamin and Max aside after class to thank them.

"I want to thank you two for being good sports about this," she said. "Too many students get it in their heads that they're doomed to a life of crime or living on the streets."

Society needs to improve and the bigots need to be taught hate crimes have a price. Sit in on the rest of the course, you two, you will learn a lot.

Saturday afternoon,
Crystal Hall Cafeteria.

The Elemental Dance Club meetup-audition, ran to be on set half an hour early and Peter makes a lot of good points, they should have planned this out better. Peter, you are having Benjamin's AI film his performance for you to watch, ask him out already!

King Auditorium.

Great, the auditorium is dead. Yikes, with all those things happening in short order, it is no wonder Benjamin isn't trying to make friends more actively. Benjamin gets his makeup and other things ready with Colombine's help, and Miss Rogers is there and says she knows better than to rush a makeup artist.

Monday afternoon, January 23, 2017,
Dr. M.B. Delacroix's Office, Mental Health Dept.

Benjamin tells what he learned about Homely. Good grief, no wonder she thought Peter was hitting on her, those Workshoppers need to leave her alone. Net worth isn't the only deciding factor in housing assignments, so not all rich kids go to Melville. Benjamin let slip that he and Tabitha's paths have crossed before, time to open up to Dr. Delacroix some more.

"You know what they say. The best performances always leave the crowd wanting more?"

"This crowd is still awaiting the first of these memorable events."

Oof, she is the toughest critic that Benjamin has ever faced.

Tuesday morning, January 24, 2017,
Underdogs Table, Crystal Hall.

Billy is at the Underdogs table and Benjamin has Powers Testing today, oh boy, I hope the doctors have warned the testers to go easy on him for the physical stuff. Always have a light meal before Powers Testing, Billy speaks from experience it seems. Oof, low blood sugar, Benjamin has a very good point. Does Benjamin drink the Devisor coffee or can another blend at the school eat through a styrofoam cup?

Billy stared back, "How can you room with Super Dance Party and not know every freaking show tune from the last decade?"

"Earplugs and a white-knuckled chokehold on my sanity?"

Yeah, I would do the same in his situation.

Powers Testing, Check-in.

I don't like this intern, grinning like that about Benjamin's upcoming discomfort. Full-body sensor suit and nothing else can be worn with it on. Hair removal, they better not mean his head as well. Photographing underaged students in the buff is a felony, the intern better not be thinking about it. Benjamin got it all on his own, that intern needs investigating.

Lab E.

Lab Exemplar, who added the other letters in grease paint? They analyze his sweat, seesh. An inclined treadmill despite his doctor's objections, sensors to monitor electroencephalography readings, and Kodiak to catch him if needed, at least they are trying to make it safe for him. Imp owns a clown car, why have we never gotten to see her use it?

"It belongs to your work-study advisor. Both Hotrod and Brandywine are hunting it down with intent to maim."

Aww, what did that poor clown car do to them? Ouch, randomized level and speed increments on someone who is basically a baseline, that is cruel.

Oof, Benjamin seems to have crashed off the treadmill. Kodiak is in bear form asking him how many fingers he is holding up, how is he supposed to respond to that? Pain in his forearms, don't tell me he was talking to the Kodiak spirit and not Wyatt. Benjamin's favorite color is plaid, why doesn't that surprise me? A baseketball to the back of the head, oh boy, the power testers are going to get chewed out by Benjamin's doctors big time for this.

This caused him to hit his head on the treadmill controls, and bounce backward where Wyatt caught him.

"If I may say something in my defense," Dr. Cody asked. "It's much more difficult to catch and hold on to wet, lubed latex than you may realize. The general idea is to test for a danger sense, separate from precognition, empathy, cyberpathy, or some other esper talent."

The aloe vera messed up Wyatt trying to catch Benjamin.

"So they blind-sided my doctors. Let's skip the lawyers and go straight to a formal complaint through HR."

The Bear growled, "Get in line, kid."

Benjamin stiffened but said nothing.

The Doctor Bear stated, no question asked, "You heard that."

"Y-yeah." Straight from the mouth filled with long hungry teeth.

"And your mother is a daoshi?"

"Dào shī."

"Let's agree to disagree about pronunciations until I can get an expert in to referee. Now that the researchers have crocked their results by second-guessing the Tao, we might as well salvage what we can."

When you piss off the Kodiak spirit you have truly messed up. This confirms Benjamin can see and hear spirits beyond the incident with the unicorn spirit of Unique.

The next lab, a confidence course crossed with a shooting gallery using paintballs.

"Try not to get hit. Some hits will hurt more than others. The course ends when the allotted time runs out, the hits exceed some score, or you leave through the door on the other side of our little danger room."

Huh, this sounds like they replaced the old 'Dodge the balls' text with paintballs in place of actual dodgeballs. Lab D, don't get hit, Benjamin. Wait a minute, why would the arena be under negative pressure?

Lab D.

You have to maneuver around and over these obstacles, while being shot at, this is worse than the old test with the dodgeballs. And traps as well, whoever thought this up must really like to push kids to think on their feet. Okay, whoever designed this had too much fun, including the Dalek sound clip is a bit overkill. This part is insane, you would have to be an Exemplar 5 or higher to have a chance of getting through that without a lot of training to compensate for the physical ability needed.

Colonbine is rattled, crap. Hehe, calling out to the Dalek like that, priceless. 3 of those things and only one down, eep. All that to reach a locked door, they stared no expense for this arena. He made it outside and thinks he stunk on ice, there are a lot of students who don't get halfway through that course before taking too many hits, you did awesomely. Is that just a reference to Stabby the Space Roomba or did Benjamin build a real version of Stabby himself in the past?

Monitoring Station, Lab D.

"Are you telling me that this is what it takes to believe my report, Caduceus' report, Mystic Arts' complaint, HPARC's inquiry as to what the fuck happened here, and the work order for repairs filed by Facilities back on the tenth?"

"Try looking at it from our perspective! What moron would even consider handing power like that to a disturbed child? Whatever that thing in his head is, it should have fried every synapse in his brain the first time he used it!"

Disturbed child, okay, I wish Carson was still around, if she heard any of the power testers say that about a student at Whateley who didn't really deserve it, they would be fired and banned from Whateley Academy grounds.

"Run a few volumes of fresh air through the lab space. We needed to find out how Belfry's blood chemistry avoids hypoxia and excess carbon dioxide buildup if it does. If we could pin down the gene sequences activated to make it all possible, space travel and colonization would be that much more viable."

"The kid has a TBI, and you pumped out the oxygen without telling anyone?"

Okay, that does it, they have gone too far in their attempts to advance science at the risk of a child who has been used and abused, experimented on against his own will. Everyone involved needs to be replaced and never allowed near Whateley Academy again.

Lab E bullpen.

Dr. Hewley focusing on the session notes, Dr. Cody is there.

Dr. Shandy remarked, "I bet Bergamot will be happy to have one youngster who isn't likely to break down when the manifestors get The Talk in Powers Theory."

Dr. Cody asked, "Don't most students get that from their parents or sex-ed teachers?"

"Wrong Talk, and you wish. Let me start by saying that Belfry's homeostatic control is consistent with having manifested as a mutant well over a year ago. We weren't able to get skin scrapings or hair samples, and it took a couple of pints of sweat poured out of that sensor suit to get enough material to run labs on."

All this to run labs on him, that is scary.

Dr. Shandy said, "Having a student keel over from heatstroke doesn't help our research, but we were short of options. Did you notice that the minor laser burns healed up almost instantly, but the bruises didn't? Depending on the materials they manifest, internal and contact manifestors manifest a scaffold for new cells to grow into after an injury. Sometimes, that leads the body to adaptations against repeat injuries. For example, carapace manifestors may stop growing body hair that has to been pulled out too many times. Some replace it altogether with manifested matter. After a heat injury, they may subconsciously start manifesting extra sweat to avoid dehydration and salt loss. Given where he lives, that would have happened early on in Belfry's case."

Okay, that is scary to know about internal and contact manifestors, no wonder youngsters break down when they get The Talk in Powers Theory. Regen 1 or 2 because of this, dang.

"Right. Well, the same goes for other tissues. Absent a BIT, when the body has to resort to manifesting tissues in order to replace lost blood, there's a much greater risk that it may not know if it's made a mistake or know when to stop. In the long run, the mutant manifestor can manifest something inherently dangerous to themselves. If not, and MATD, burnout, or tissue rejection doesn't catch up to them, an autoimmune disorder or myeloproliferative disorder might finish the job. You do not want to see what a cytokine storm looks like in these people."

Okay, it went from scary to terrifying. I thought burnout and for Regens the chance of regen cancer was bad, but this. *shudders* They've found early signs of MATD in Belfry, shit. Mrs. Horton for the esper, gadgeteer, devisor, and wizard tests, with all she has to deal with in Poe she is experienced.

Monitoring Room 1, Lab E.

Oof, Horton barely tolerates males, but what about the boys in Poe? 3 rounds to test all those things and then a psi-marked Zener deck, Belfry is getting put through the wringer today.

No gadgeteer or devisor trait. Observing equipment from security footage, I wondered how they knew what to disqualify for the Combat Finals.

Lab E, Mystic Arts Station.

Pulling in no Essence worth taking notice of, so what is the deal with that jade eye? No wizard trait either. The disappearing act made Mrs. Horton forget that Belfry was even in the room with her, which is a very dangerous power. Nothing to flow of magical energy around him, yet it makes him not be noticed and makes those who knew he was in the area forget he was there, very strange. How could you say that about Taoist practitioners after knowing Chou, Mrs. Horton?

Advanced Materials Testing Lab

Now what are they doing down here that is so secret? Dr. Jean-Michel Aranis and Mrs. Metal, are an interesting pair to run this lab. Dr. Aranis is letting Belfry's escort to film, this seems like a rare occurrence. They have to test manifestors manifested material down here. That is a broad range of manifested materials and objects Belfry can create.

Certain threats to her lab's security have been understated, hhm. Belfry can manifest while wearing gloves. A proprietary project requiring extraordinary oversight, uh oh. *eyes bug out* With instructions and warnings like that I don't think I would want to open the box. A small sphere of matter that matches the material inside the box without removing the gloves, now I'm more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

The small, lead-gray disk inside was heavy as lead, but Benjamin wasn't stupid enough to think it was lead. For one thing, lead didn't tarnish black like that. For another, it didn't mentally feel like lead when he turned his full attention to it. Lead didn't have the same firey-airy character of something wanting to escape from an eternal metallic prison.

What have they done, who thought making this was a good idea? Not being able to pull this off on the fly is a very good thing, Belfry.

"Yes, I am. As are you. So are we all. Right. I should think that now is as good a time as any to dismiss what you've created. Carefully. There is no reason to rush, lest you find yourself tempted."

Please say that isn't some type of hell metal, please. The test had failed, I've never been so glad for a failure.

He maxed out at 3 pounds at a time, even though he could still manipulate 22 kilograms of it. Composites probably could be managed, but Benjamin figured that even fiberglass would take immense practice to pull off, to diminishing returns. Mrs. Metal laughed, then suggested taking some engineering courses before deciding he knows true complexity from mere repeating simplicity

Yes, engineering courses are a good idea with his form of manifestor ability.

I'm glad Puckwidget knows how badly he screwed up messing with Benjamin, that he knows some of the trauma he has been through, and might even look out for him in the future to prevent others from bullying him. I hope this is the first step on a path to him being a better person and getting away from his 'friends' who are a bad influence.

Benjamin opening up more even though he had to be pushed some is great to see. I hope Tabitha becomes a true friend to him and he continues to make more friends in the future. I wish he could just be a normal kid more often, and get back his childhood that was stolen from him.

I'm glad the situation with Tabitha has been resolved and I hope she and Benjamin can have more cordial interactions in the future.

The Underdogs are one group you want to have as friends, they won't judge you for appearance or what you can or can't do. Benjamin needs them in his life, to help him socialize, to help him learn to be a teen again, to just have friends he can count on outside of his job.

How long has Imp been doing the class for GSD students now? Is this the first year or did she start it up years ago?

The Powers Testing. Have the power testers gotten crazier over the years, ignoring doctor's requests, and sending a student into an oxygen-less environment without knowing if he would survive or not. They need to have some more of the regular Whateley staff monitoring them when students are being tested from now on, imo.

Mrs. Metal, what was the nature of the material she had Belfry test his manifestation power to try and duplicate? Because of the feeling he got from it and how Mrs. Metal was acting, it seems like something connected to another plane at least, or supernatural in nature.

A great story and I can't wait to read more of Belfry at Whateley in the future and all his friends.