So Not A Date (A Parents Day Incident)

Friday, November 11, 2016,
Boston Logan Airport.

Benjamin Keeling having to deal with an obvious bodyguard following him, hope they don't attract the wrong kind of attention. Courier case, what needs to be brought to Whateley that requires that? A power gem in place of an eye and chunk of his skull, how did that happen? What game is he playing, it sounds interesting.

Afternoon,
Whateley Academy, New Hampshire.

Benjamin, if you knew what Whateley Academy is like you would realize why Security has all those things and all those sensors are needed. Pruitt makes assumptions about Benjamin without getting all the details, lazy and foolish. Glad Yuki Takenaka set him straight. Body armor and knows where all the concealed cameras are, Benjamin is no ordinary teen.

Office of Artificial Intelligence sent him, just who is Benjamin they would have him deliver something to Whateley for them?

Approved for Fall 2016, entry pended to Winter 2017 for "medical reasons". He was sponsored in part by Guardian Resources and Trading Company, which meant nothing to Pruitt. Apparently, Keeling was also sponsored by someone who could reach out and slap down his records query like a misbehaving puppy. There was one of those in every batch, wasn't there?

And just like that Benjamin just got a lot more interesting even without the power stone.

The Quad.

What a minute! Benjamin is Yuki's former boss, just how old is he really? Ear piercing is a huge sign he doesn't have regeneration, never thought of that detail before.

"How does Max fit into that?"

"You have to ask? Like an eight-foot-tall sore thumb packed full of crazy." Yuki shook her head at some memory, then said to Benjamin, "You're actually planning on hiding in plain sight, aren't you?

"I get the impression that Jameson wants me to behave like a gentleman. It could happen! Besides, no one knows what I'm supposed to look like, so blending in should work."

"Let me tell you about the 'flag' system here before you try to pass yourself off as a human."

Oh boy, trying to hide in plain sight without knowing how Whateley works, Eldritch only pulled it off due to working there for years before her transformation.

The Workshop, Tunnels under Whateley Academy.

The Workshop and going to one of the secure access vaults, what is in the courier case? Something to install in the Whateley servers for Belvedere, this just keeps getting more interesting.

Thirty minutes later.

Yuki said, "You weren't ever going to tell him that I manage some of my own repairs, were you?"

"Why should I? It's not like having cyberware makes you the class project! Besides, if he didn't know, he didn't need to know."

Yuki has cyberware, dang. Yikes, serious trust issues for Benjamin, just who has hurt him that badly in the past? I just hope his deal to let some people in doesn't backfire.

Topside.

Melville, Max got assigned somewhere else since Benjamin wasn't there, good. Concierge sure knows how to restrain herself. Twain Cottage knows, that is a big shift, and codename of Belfry, now I want to know what his powers are including those from the power stone.

Twain Cottage.

8' tall orc, so this is Max. Reservation, saying Benjamin's client is on the invite list, oh no, they didn't tell him about Parents Day being while he is visiting.

Outside telephone line, Le Bistro.

Peter Raiford's parents making reservations and Maximillion Livingston aka Max has already done so.

Gray Hats Row, Code Rats Warren, The Workshop.

Peter Raiford gets a text message and knows who it is from, plus it reminds him about Parents Day coming up. Time to clean up and Benjamin tells Peter about where he is and the upcoming dinner, Peter wonders why all this happening to him.

Guest Cottage, Whateley Academy.

Poor Peter, gets his tie fixed by Benjamin and blushes in front of everyone, then teased by Yuki. Molly Raiford aka Peter's Mom is happy he is cleaned up and in a nice suit thanking Benjamin for this. Butch must be Peter's Father and Peter's parents went to Whateley, alumni, nice. Le Bistro is one of the good things that opened on campus.

Le Bistro, Whateley Academy.

Livingston, Party of Six.

Chef Yukihara, Osaka, yakuza, just what kind of things were this group up to before ending up at Whateley? 16th birthday party for Benjamin and it is definitely a surprise, I like Max. Ouch, Peter's mom ordered for him, no wonder he wasn't looking forward to this.

Roth, Party of Three.

Ugh, now I see where Jessica gets her racist attitude from.

Livingston, Party In Progress.

Max and Mr. Raiford both heard what was said, talking about them like that is sickening. Molly 'Vaporware' Raiford, Butch 'Illustrated Man' Raiford, now I wonder what Molly's powers are. Yuki is a former police officer and Benjamin was trained by her on police procedure, whoa.

Mr. Roth asking about what they are making Max just because of his size is rude.

Negiyaki, the description is making my mouth water. All that good food. And Peter has it bad for Benjamin, he needs some way to escape before it is too late.

Stimulus-adaptive shifting

Sounds like an impressive power, but also a pain to deal with too.

Between Emerson and Twain Cottages.

Max knows what is up between Benjamin and Peter, yet Benjamin is either dense or lying to himself about it.

He notices and plans for that, but not how Icejack acts around him? Maybe they both got dropped on their heads as babies? That would explain so much.

Peter's codename is Icejack, now what kind of creations does he make to use that codename? Max goes out running in the morning, aww, he would have looked cute in the wrestling outfit for the Mongolian wrestling club.

Twain Cottage.

Doesn't trust security with Yuki off-duty for the evening. and Benjamin is a cyborg too, huh. And either paranoid as hell or been turned on one too many times.

His memories replayed a familiar sentiment, "Why couldn't you be like a normal mutant brat and burn the fuck out?"

I hope whoever said that to him got what was coming to them.

Early Saturday morning, November 12, 2016,
Crystal Hall, Whateley Academy.

Max trying to convince Benjamin to do 'Combat Finals', oh boy. Good lord, Benjamin is morbid at such a young age.

Better yet, make the casings look like jewels. That way, your death ray projector looks like cheap street bling, not a weapon. It works for mages in the business. Or, how about: 'Oooh, look! He's throwing confetti! Ah, shit! It's nanites coated in neurotoxin."

Ack! Don't let Jade visit and give Benjamin ideas.

"Easy for you to say. You can pull just about anything out of your ass."

"It's only fast for the things I've practiced. You think the school would be okay with me playing with stuff I haven't been able to get a pattern off yet?"

"Pfft. When you take "Introduction to Superpowers", that's going to be your homework. Like, how long can you keep things stable?"

"One to five seconds? Eh. Much longer gives me a massive headache."

Okay, now I really want to know what his mutant power is.

"I dunno. Plastic explosive? Going poof would be the best failsafe ever."

And back to thinking his power is scary, at least in his hands without supervision.

*facepalms* Molly knows about Peter's crush on Benjamin, I guess she is saving the motherly teasing for when/if they actually start dating.

"How common is it for campus recruiters to try hitting people up at like ten or so-ish o'clock?"

"Not too common, but I hear the Russians will try anything once."

"Mom! Jeez!"

"I doubt Jesus had much to do with it." Aside to the non-family members, Molly said, "Peter never was big on Sunday School."

*hits head on desk* And his parents find other ways to embarrass him, no wonder Peter was dreading this visit.

Late morning.

Benjamin Keeling.

A Devisor Lab class and no BOOMs yet today, it's a miracle! Why did he spend so much time as a kid at the Detroit MCO offices? Syndicate's POC, Benjamin is working for the Syndicate, didn't see that coming.

Semiramis Chibany.

Sahar is pleased Avsal is coming out of her shell.

He was overdressed for the weather but looking far better than the last time Sahar had last seen him. That time he'd been laid up in a black clinic hidden under an office building in the South Pacific. Before that, she'd had dinner with him in Dar es Salaam. Both times, he'd paid. Back to the present, Semi. Hatred for the autumn chill aside, he wasn't exactly Dickinson or Whitman material.

There had been an interesting time they'd both questioned if he was Whateley material.

Sahar has had past dealings with Benjamin, just what is he, some kind of teenage superspy?

Friday evening, July 8, 2016,
The Waterfront, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Dinner and maybe dance with Sahar. Black blood, is that because of Benjamin's cybernetics or some other reason? Lukas Malual and his family moved to Australia and placed Lukas in Whateley, hhm. She suggests he become Security at Whateley, but he can't.

Benjamin held a scarlet passport out to her, open to the first page. The date of birth made no sense whatsoever.

"You—"

"... wouldn't likely pass the interview, would I?"

Younger than he first appears, so who did he get into such business in the first place and how long has he been in it?

So the Syndicate POC is someone at Whateley, I wonder who. Payback takes time, Benjamin is being sent to Whateley as bait, don't tell me whoever attacked him and nearly killed him so he had to become a cyborg to survive is still out there.

"The best bait is the bait you catch fresh, young, and full of charm."

"Too bad all they have is you."

"Way to stoke a poor guy's ego!"

Ouch, Sahar, I felt that burn here.

Elspeth Plimsoll.

I should have remembered her being a Syndicate POC. Ah, this is about the time Adolf arranged to have Saumer learn the truth about Erica. Mrs. Selkirk's office, that this is how Sahar ended up going to visit her.

Cutler, or Matthew Groenwald, per his original birth certificate, set his cup on the saucer.

I can't believe Benjamin is a Groenwald, that means he is related to Erica somehow. Please say he isn't directly related to her or the bad parts of her extended family.

"I would need to research the cast and crew for such shows before committing."

Why does the wording of this response make me very nervous? Just here for academic training and to take advantage of Doyle Medical Center's professionals, why do I get the feeling he is leaving a lot of things left unsaid here?

Adolf Stein.

Future meetings with Elspeth, eep, I don't think Adolf will like that. Cutler is one of Eugen's brood and Adolf thinks of him as a maniac, uh oh. Adolf knows Cutler, just how old is Benjamin really?

Semiramis Chibany.

Thanks to the illegal psychic surgery she'd been asked to perform on him, she knew exactly why Benjamin went by 'Matthew Groenwald' on Syndicate jobs. It wasn't for love of his birth family.

Now I have to know what happened to cause a falling out with his birth family.

When had friendship stopped being a lie? Sensei Chandler was likely to blame. A relentless extrovert, she'd enjoy shouldering it.

And he was taught by Toni, just how connected is he?

Ouch, called Erica's mother a psycho hose-beast, Benjamin just at the least annoyed Erica.

"I'd try to explain where he's going with that, but I gave up lost causes for Lent."

Oof, Benjamin seems to like the taste of his own feet with how often they end up in his mouth.

After a moment spent on revisions, Benjamin said, "The Crown recognizes that all God's children may need traveling shoes. Who am I not to help them those as best as I can?"

Vague with no real answer given, Benjamin is going to get on more than a few people's nerves at this rate.

Mdme. Prudhomme's office, Schuster Hall.

She is Benjamin's advisor. Ah, so that is why the Winter Term seems so different from the Spring and Fall Terms at Whateley.

"With sufficient work, all of us can develop psychic talents and study magic. Not all special abilities derive from mutation. For example, one might come into possession of an object that amplifies latent talents. Wouldn't it be best to know how such things work?"

From what she is saying it sounds like his power stone amplifies his latent talent for psychic abilities, intriguing.

Silat and he is excited to learn savate, here is an eager student.

"Mr. Keeling, I would take far too much joy in watching you drive a certain instructor insane. Aside from Chinese, are there other languages you need placement testing in?"

"Malay. I know some Swahili and Arabic, but less than I should."

Multilingual, he just gets more and more impressive.

Twain Cottage.

"Dude, someone asks about that in every Powers Theory class. If regen or healing isn't pulling protein and iron to bank against for your next injury, energy and physical powers are burning the rest to cee-oh-two and water."

So that is why the plumbing isn't as tricked out as I expected it to be, makes sense. Skinny with room to grow, get the staff to feed this boy so he can bulk up some.

Putter Inn, Boston, Massachusetts.

Gut feeling about the place Benjamin is going to stay, listen to it! Creepy desk clerk, listen to Yuki and find someplace else to stay.

Back at the van, Benjamin said, "I've got room 404. Don't laugh."

"Nope. Not laughing," Yuki lied. "Get a different room."

"Now you're just being superstitious."

Nope, get another room.

Woman shows up like that, offers that to Benjamin, and how she disappears after getting the money, ghost of a murder victim, eep. Crap, a pregnant woman too.

"I always keep some stray Hell's Bank banknotes in my wallet."

*eyes bug out* We need a full backstory on Benjamin, I want to know what he has dealt with in the past to always have those in his wallet. And no good deed goes unpunished, all that, and then he can't sleep on the plane ride because of a crying baby.

Benjamin is a mystery from start to finish of this story, we get some hints as to his past and the kind of work he has done, but it just adds to the mystery. The fact he has illegal psychic surgery by Sahar, knows her from previous work together, and calls Toni his Sensei, plus all the other things that came up says a lot.

A powerstone in place of an eye, cybernetics, and mutant powers, plus enough of his backstory so far that it makes sense. Now I want to know how he knows and met the rest of his friends like Max, Peter, and Yuki. How he came to work for the Syndicate at such a young age and seems to have been working for them for years by now. And most of all when will he stop toying with Peter and tell him if there is a chance or not.

This was a fun story from start to finish with a character whose backstory is still mostly a mystery. And I can't wait to learn more about him and see him interact with his friends, other students and staff at Whateley, and more in the future.