Eyes Open (Worm Quest)

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The snap of the phone closing threatens to collapse the scaffolding keeping you together but a deep breath keeps things fine. You stuff the phone and your hands into your pocket and try to plan how to handle this meeting. You don't want to be antagonistic but you can't discount the possibility that they won't just lock you away for study. The police trust them though, so even if Velocity and Battery turn out to be evil then who would you go to? You're planning doesn't even have a chance to get going before you hear steady footsteps approaching, you feel yourself tense up without any muscle feedback which is weird.

It isn't long before a man in a red skintight costume with a large 'V' on the chest, the tips stretching over his shoulders. He is taller than you by over a foot and the top half of his face is covered, leaving his mouth and eyes unobscured. Any more details are too hard to make out in the fading light.

"Are you the one that made the call?" A kind and slightly out-of-breath voice asks.

"Yeah. You're Velocity right?" You're reasonably sure he is but you want to make sure.

"Yep, that's me!" He says with a big smile while pointing his thumb at his chest.

"Okay… What happens now?" You ask, trying to watch his face for any sort of giveaway of malicious intent.

"Now. We wait for the squad car to get here and then we take you back to base and start figuring things out somewhere that isn't a random street in the trainyard."

"What happens when we get to base?"

"Well, depending on you we might wait to do anything until tomorrow if you just want to go to sleep. Otherwise, we'll probably have a meeting to give you a basic rundown of the world and the options you have available to you."

"What sort of options?" You press. If it is just 'join or be locked away' then you are going to have to fight again.

"Like if you want to join up, or just want your government documents… Say, how old are you?" You shrug because you have no idea. "Let's do this then, do you think you are above or below eighteen?" That one is an easy 'below' and you can see where the idea is going. You work through it in your head and narrow it down to eight to twelve.

"Eight is too young and twelve is too old so somewhere in there. I think." You say and watch as purses his lips and nods.

"In that case, it will probably include the matter of your guardianship." You don't know what that word means either but it is probably something legal.

You don't get the chance to think about what sort of legal thing before the sound of a truck, going faster than it probably should but not exactly tearing up the road, can be heard coming up the street. Velocity puts up his hand to them before turning back to you.

"Right. They're here, the police shouldn't be far behind. Do you want to step out of the alley so we can ask a few questions about your fight with those two." He says pointing towards the unconscious bodies.

"Okay."

"I'll follow you." Velocity steps back and motions for you to exit which you do and begin making your way back to where you made the call, seeing a truck with green and white lights coming up the road. "Hey." You look over your shoulder and the streetlights illuminate a slightly concerned expression. "Do you have a gun in your pants?"

You freeze, which is probably a giveaway in itself, and run through the options. Lying is out the window at this point but his tone and expression make saying yes feel like a bad choice. It is either that or lie though and since you can't do that you just nod.

"I'm going to take it out of your pants okay?" You nod and from one blink the the next he is right behind you, making the back of your mind writhe, and holding the gun.

He steps back and tosses it to the side and you step back, turning to face him fully. You can't decipher his expression as he starts speaking again.

"Why did you have that?" Just saying 'I don't know' isn't going to cut it here and you can't think of a lie fast enough so you just saddle on the truth.

"Well, the shirtless guy had it and I figured that it would be better if I had it and not to just leave it on the sidewalk."

"Alright. Let's keep walking. Give me a rundown of what led up to and then the fight itself." You turn around start talking and resume walking.

"I was looking for a phone but all the payphones in the area don't work. Then two girls and a guy came up to me and said that they wanted me to come with them to talk with someone." You reach the two and turn so you can see Velocity who stands on the other side of the man's sleeping form. "I tried to leave but they pulled out a gun, the girl did. It was the girl's gun, not the guy's. I punched her in the stomach and threw the gun at the guy because it didn't work and then somehow his chest got that," you say pointing at the line of dead tissue. "Somehow, and then passed out."

"Hmm. Alright."

The tuck pulls to a stop so the back doors open and a woman, in a white and dark grey suit with a helmet that is missing the lower half of the face, steps out followed by two lines of four… You can't tell if they're boys or girls because they all look the same. As you watch them though your mind squirms and you feel the start of a headache coming on.
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Don't mean to end it there but I am outta time for the night. The next chapter will have you getting to the base and going from there based on previous votes. With that in mind, I will have the vote be:
Once at the headquarters what do you want to do?
[X] Sleep
[X] Have the rundown that Velocity was talking about.
[X] Write-In: Action:

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The identical people start spreading out and who you assume is Battery steps forward.

"So you're the one that called the police?" Her voice is full and quick.

"Yeah."

"Well it's good to meet you, my name is Battery." You nod and glance at Velocity only to see him over by one of the armored men. "Once Velocity is done giving the agent a rundown of your fight we can get going and a second car will be back to pick them up." You just nod again.

The whole situation is starting to weigh heavier on you now and judging by Velocity's reaction, deciding to keep the gun was the wrong choice, making you wonder about the other items you looted. You realize that it might be a bit rude not to talk so you offer up another topic.

"How far away is your headquarters?"

"It's about a ten-minute drive around this time, later the roads get busy again. Once we get there you can go to sleep if you'd like or we can have a mini conference of sorts to give you a rundown of everything."

"I know. Velocity told me."

"Oh, good. Do you know which one you would like to do?" You take a moment to think about it. You're not really tired but you don't think you can handle a meeting right now.

"I think I'll sleep."

"Alright. The room is going to be barren but we can find you some different clothes to sleep in if you'd like?" That's nice of her. This whole thing is going better than you feared but you don't let your guard down since it could be a ruse to lull you.

"Okay. I get to keep these though right?"
"Of course." Battery says with a smile. You hear boots headed your way and turn to see Velocity jogging over to the both of you.

"So! Are we ready to shove off?" He asks.

"I believe so. You ready to get going?" She says looking down at you. You steady yourself as this feels like the start of something.
"Yes."

"Great!" He says with a clap before zipping into the back of the truck which causes you to wince as your headache pulses and ticks up a level.

Battery steps to the side and gestures for you to get in yourself. You manage to get in by using both the foot step and one of the seats. There are no windows in the back of the truck, just two rows of five seats facing each other. You sit on the opposite side of Velocity but where he is sitting all the way in the back you take the middle as Battery gets in after you. She pulls the doors shut and takes the same side as Velocity, sitting all the way at the end. The vehicle begins to move but you can't tell how fast. The ride is mostly silent Velocity tries to start up a conversation a few times but you don't really reciprocate as your headache has started to get worse as the pain from your forehead lessens.

The truck stops again but this time it is the destination apparently as Battery pops the doors open and hops out. You follow suit and jump to the cement floor. You look around and see that you are in some sort of parking garage where a line of other trucks identical to the one you rode in are lined up. You don't get a chance to look much more than that as Battery gestures for you to follow her and you hear Velocity hopping out of the truck behind you. She leads you to a door and presses some buttons on the keypad that you can hear but can't see with her body blocking it. The door opens and once the three of you step inside Velocity reaches into a cubby on the wall pulls out a domino mask and passes it to you.

"What is this for?" You ask taking it from him.

"It's to protect your identity." Something about that seems off but you don't care right now and just push it out of your mind. The band is elastic so you slip it on under your hood and adjust it until you are able to see fine.

They begin walking again, this time Velocity in front and Battery behind you. You look around but all the doors are closed and there are no people in the strangely white halls. You take a few turns and quickly lose track of where you've been.

"So. Just as an FYI we have to lock the door to your room as we cannot have you walking around the base unsupervised. Or would you prefer just having a guard posted outside the door?" The logic makes sense but you dislike both ideas. You don't like the idea of someone basically watching you in your sleep more though so you choose the locking option.

"Who would have the key?" You ask in case it changes your mind.

"Some of the higher ranked agents would be able to get them but their not just given out to anyone if that's your worry." Velocity assures you. That doesn't put your mind at total ease as you don't know who the 'higher ranked agents' are, but it is better than just anyone having them.

"I think the door being locked is okay."

"Great, we're here too." He opens a heavier door to a short hall with four more heavy doors that have large windows.

"Each of the rooms has a bathroom and is stocked with amenities. You're not the first person who's needed to stay the night but lacked the right clearances." Battery says.

"I'll let you two get things sorted and I'll grab you some stuff to sleep in." Velocity says before becoming a red blur that rapidly vanishes, sending a spike into your brain and making you hiss with pain.

"Are you okay?" Battery says, stepping closer and looking you over, her voice filled with concern.

"My headache is getting worse is all." You mutter.

"Well go ahead and choose a room and you can get to sleep."

You nod and choose the far left one as it's the furthest from the door and parking garage you came from. Battery pulls out a key ring and is just getting it open as Velocity returns in a significantly slower haze of red. The speed difference doesn't change the fact that seeing it seems to turn a dial and crank your headache another level up. You take the offered clothes and step into the dark room hearing them both talk you tune back in.

"Someone will be by about noon tomorrow to get you. The cupboards should have food, if there is an emergency you can hit the red button by the door and it will open and let us know to come down." Battery says in a near whisper. You wave at her and she slides the door shut with a loud Click.

You don't look around, your head pounding like your missing heartbeat. You glance at the door and see there is a curtain that has been pulled over the window but there is enough light leaking in that you can navigate. You turn the corner and spot a large fluffy fluffy-looking bed that calls to you. You aren't tired but the dark is easier on your brain and the hopefully cold blankets will be even better. You slip out of your clothes, ignoring the tearing sensation you feel in spots across your body as you do, and slide into the baggy clothes that were given to you. You jump on, and then sink into, the bed. The blankets and pillow are cold on your face and despite not feeling tired you decide that you may as well give it a try.

You close your eyes.

You open your eyes to a blurry and out-of-focus barren landscape. There are gorges being carved into the rock underfoot by a thick, black liquid. The source is pouring from above—

You wake up with a throbbing headache worse than any pain you can remember. It quickly starts to fade and before thirty seconds have passed the pain is gone.
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Alright! Now that you are in a more stable situation, probably, I am going to have you all vote on some traits for yourself. This is just so that I have something to reference and don't feel like I am completely puppeteering you between votes. To be clear these are not powers and are not set in stone, votes will cause you to develop over time and influence the options available at certain votes. (Note, if two votes are incompatible I will flip a coin for which to keep and take the next highest for the other one.)

Choose two positive traits:
[X] Emotional Intelligence. You are good at reading people and understanding what they are feeling.
[X] Naturally Gifted at Physical Combat. You are quick to understand how to perform hand-to-hand fighting.
[X] Naturally Gifted at Leading. You can see how people work together or don't, and are able to coordinate that instinctively.
[X] Moral. You have a strong sense of right and wrong and are able to use it.
[X] Creative. You are good at thinking outside the box or looking at a situation from other angles.
[X] Loyal. Your friends are yours, you won't be going anywhere not at their side.
[X] Write-In: Positive:

Choose four neutral traits:
[X] ADHD. You have trouble keeping on track, especially with boring or repetitive tasks, but you are able to notice when things are off easily.
[X] Gremlin. You are a kid and naturally, an agent of chaos, everyone's left shoelaces will be yours.
[X] Eagar. Superheroes? Superpowers? This is all so cool!
[X] Cute. You are cute in a sort of horrifying way, or maybe just the normal way.
[X] Intense. Doesn't matter what you're doing, you're doing it at 100% capacity.
[X] Follower. You are naturally a follower and feel uncomfortable giving orders.
[X] Confidant. You are not afraid to speak your mind or take a risk.
[X] Level Headed. You don't get overwhelmed easily or let others ruffle your feathers.
[X] Write-In: Neutral:

Choose two negative traits:
[] Naive (previous votes have prohibited this vote)
[X] Quick to Violence. When push comes to shove you are quick to push and shove.
[X] Insubordinate. You dislike people you don't like or respect telling you what to do and unless you can see a clear reason to listen, you won't.
[X] Worthless. You consider yourself less important than nearly anyone else, your life is so small compared to theirs anyway.
[X] Fickle. When the going gets tough you get going.
[X] Greedy. You are very money-oriented, gems, gold, and other shiny things all entice you greatly.
[X] Write-In: Negative:

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You lay in bed for a few minutes, recovering from waking up to massive pain. You then just enjoy the cool sheets on your back. You look up into the darkness above you and feel a lot better than you did yesterday. You don't know what made your head start to hurt so much but you hope it doesn't happen again.

You sit up and can only see a little bit of the room itself, mostly shapes but you can see enough to guess where the light switch would be. You hop out of bed and fumble around the wall for a few moments before coming to the conclusion that the switch isn't actually here. You do find a doorway through and stepping through you feel tile under your feet you guess it's a bathroom and are able to find a switch in here. The light comes on and you have to squint for a moment but your eyes adjust quickly.

The room is spotless and features a large tub and shower combo. You are too short to see any our your features in the mirror but you can see that you have brown hair. You suddenly realize that you don't have any idea what you even look like and have an overwhelming urge to find out. You leave the bathroom and look for a chair or something to stand on, flipping switches on as you go. You acquire a footrest from the small living room area and easily haul it back to the bathroom. Standing on it you can see yourself in the mirror.

You are thin but not so much to be unhealthy, your skin is pale like you saw on your hands, your hair comes down just past your shoulders and is a bit wavy. Those details quickly fade as your gaze settles on your eyes, or lack thereof. Instead of eyes, there are two pits that are as dark as your body under your skin and as your mouth falls open a bit you can see your teeth are devoid of color as well. You lean in close and pull on your cheek, with your hands whose skin has grown back, and see that your eyelid is missing its skin and is completely black as well, making it look like the darkness is stretching out from your eyeballs.

You lean back and just stare at yourself.

Did you look like that walking down the street? Maybe… Yeah, that's probably how those people found you. You stick out your tongue and see it's black too, and now that you are paying attention to your mouth you notice you don't have any spit in your mouth. You look at your hand and pick at it only to process the fact you don't have any nails either. You blink before pushing it out of your mind, you can deal with it once everything is settled down.

You hop off the footstool and start looking around the room you were loaned. It is set up sort of in the shape of a dumbbell with the bedroom and bathroom at the far end and the living room and kitchen area set up next to the door. You also find the clothes you woke up in scattered in the connecting hallway. You move to the kitchen and decide to eat something, you weren't tired last night but you had no trouble falling asleep so maybe food is like that too?

You pour yourself a bowl of cereal, something called popping rice, and take a bit of it. You don't taste it at all and the texture is kind of weird but when you try to swallow you run into an issue, it's not going anywhere. You quickly head to the sink and spit your mouthful in the drain. Why? What happened? You go back over to the bathroom and try to look down your throat but all you can see is darkness. You go and get the spoon and slowly try poking the back of your mouth, and hit something.

Does your mouth end? Or you don't have a throat. Wait how did you talk? Or breathe? Does it only let air in? You drop the spoon back into the now uninteresting cereal and take a deep breath. You feel your lungs filling with air and your chest does rise. You put your hand over your mouth and try again and get the same results. So it's just for show? Why? More questions.

You dump the rest of the cereal in the sink before hopping on the couch. You know that Battery, or maybe Velocity, told you when they would be back but you can't remember. You put your feet up on the coffee table and turn on the TV which is set to the news. Ick, you almost change the channel but stop as it could be a good way to gather some information.

It's all boring weather stuff or traffic reports about streets you don't know the location of or using landmarks you don't know. You do get the date though, August 2nd, 2010. You watch it drone on for a it longer before starting to click through channels. You cycle back to the first news channel twice before you connect the dots that all the channels are boring informational things. You should be gathering information, you know that, but you don't know enough to know what information is important. You toss the remote to the side and decide to take a bath.

You put your clothes from yesterday back on once you're all dried off and return to the living room. You immediately spot a blinking light next to the door. Getting close you see that it is reading 'Door Unlocked' and there is also a spot for a light labeled 'Door Opened' that is still off. You open the door and see one of the uniformed men from the night before standing at the end of the hall. The person turns to you and speaks up in a voice that is monotone to the point you can't tell if they're a guy or a girl.

"Hello, Miss. I have been ordered to take you to the meeting room once you are ready to go."

"Okay."

"Are you ready to go?"

"Let me check."

You close the door, gather all your stuff, put the domino mask from last night back on, and pull up your hood. You open the door and hold out the pile of clothes you were given.

"What do you want me to do with these?" You ask.

"You can go ahead and leave them, someone will be by to clean up the room anyway."

"Alright." You turn around and toss the clothes onto the couch, the shirt falling short, and step out of the room. "Lead the way please."
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Okay so I am not naturally adept at gremlin activities so I am open to ideas for things you might get up to, especially if they bounce off some of the other traits you voted for. Besides that, you are going to be choosing the direction of the story with these votes so have fun!

What is your name going to be?
[X] Olivia
[X] Emily
[X] Chloe
[X] Write-In: Name:

Do you want to have parental custody or be a ward of the state?
[X] Give me parents.
[X] Full orphan.

Do you want to join the Wards program?
[X] Yes.
[X] No.

Sorry for the late update, internet is out at home and I don't have the cash to get to the library right now. This and the next few will probably be done on my phone so excuse any minor mistakes please ^-^
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You follow the armored man through a number of identical halls that all are empty and blend together. You turn your attention to the person since they're the only interesting thing in the area.

"What is your name?" They grunt and glance back at you. They're silent for a moment before sighing.

"I'm Agent Bennett, and you are?"

"Oh, I don't have a name." You blink, you should probably come up with one.

You try to think but all the names you can come up with are for old ladies. You hum before putting it out of your mind. You get in an elevator and are a bit surprised when it opens since you didn't even feel it move.

The hallway you exit into is different from the others in one key way, there are people walking around. They look like just office workers and while a few look at you no one does a double take or stops what they are doing. You have an urge to ask every single person what they're doing and why but your escort keeps walking so you can't right now, but you probably will later. Bennett walks up to a door and knocks twice, you hear a muffled 'come in' from and he opens the door for you.

Inside are four people; a dark brown skinned and slim man wearing a suit, a short woman with a hot pink colored stripe in her hair, a stern looking woman with her blonde hair in a ponytail and bags under her eyes, lastly is the most interesting one by far. Sitting down and wearing a what looks like a golden lion's head and shoulder pads bearing the same motif is a boy that looks like a wall.

"Ink is here. There were no issues. Would you like me to stay?" Inky?

"Inky?" You ask a bit confused.

"A temporary name for the paperwork." The costumed boy says with a smile.

"No, that's fine. Have a good day." The man in the suit says to your agent at the same time.

"Bye regular Agent Bennett." You say waving as they shut the door.

"Regular agent?" The lion-man asks.

"Well they're not a secret agent and they said they were an agent so." You shrug and take a seat at the far end of the table facing the businessman.

"First things first," the pink hair lady says with a cheery voice that makes you immediately uncomfortable. "My name is Mrs. Higgins. I am a representative with the Youth Guard." Next to her is the costumed boy who speaks next.

"I'm Triumph, currently the leader of the Wards team." He says with a mock bow from his sitting position.

"I am Deputy Director Renick." The man sitting across from you says with a steady voice.

"I am Cora Gomez. I am the liason for your situation and if you join the Wards program then I will be your liason for that as well." Her voice is clipped with plesent accent and a serious tone.

"I woke up yesterday and found out I don't have eyes this morning." You say trying to immitate Cora. Both Triumph and Higgins pull a face while the other two remain unbothered.

"I actually planned for that." Cora say and pulls out a somewhat large folder and starts looking through it.

"You planned for me not to have eyes? Is that common?" You ask suprised, maybe thats why Bennett was wearing a helmet that covered the face? Her movements slow down and she glances at you.

"...No. Your lack of a name." She is unamused but Triumph is smiling and you can spot a small uptick of Director's lips. Mrs. Higgins still has her creepy smile so you avoid looking at her.

She finds what she was looking for and slides you a paper. On it you see a list of name after name. Jessica to Tiffany to Alex, you don't have any connection to a specific one so you just start looking at random. You settle on Olivia, it's the most interesting to look at with it's I's and a V.

"Olivia." You nod at your decision and slide the paper back.

"It's nice to meet you Olivia." Mrs Creepy says and your suddenly a notch less sure of the name.

"Alright. Now that that is out of the way." Deputy says pull the table's attention to him. "First on the agenda is a rundown of your situation." You nod, hopefully you'll get some answers now. "Parahumans, the name for people with abilities beyond what is naturally possible, have been around since 1982 nearly three decades ago. For nearly a decade now there have been cases of parahumans waking up without any memories, bearing physical abnormalities, and sporting a U shaped tattoo. We don't know why or how it is happening, our current theroy is an especially bad Trigger Event, that is the point where a human gains their Parahuman status. They are known as Case 53s, of which you are now one." He sits back as you process that.

So you're not the only one that this has happened to. And they don't know anything about it. So that just means you'll have to figure it out yourself… Do you actually care though? You feel a blanket of disappointment fall over your shoulders as you realize that you're still at square one. At least they believe you and don't think you're crazy. You sum up your feelings with a single.

"Fuck." Triumph coughs, Deputy's lip twiches and Cora raises a single eyebrow and you get a sense of disapprove from her but also understanding.

"Young lady! That us no way for a child to talk." The guard lady says, holding a hand over her chest and you dislike her immensely.

"Why?" You say turning to her. Looking at her you can't tell if she is putting on an act or not but her whole… everything looks fake.

"Because it is inappropriate language."

"Can adults say it?"

"Yes, though they should not."

"What other words shouldn't I say?" You ask politely, getting ready to remember new words.

"I will tell you no such things. The fact that you know the F-wprd is bad enough already." You close your mental notebook with a bit of anger.

"What does fuck even mean?" You ask looking at the other three. Triumph looks to be enjoying the back and fourth and you can't get a read on the other two before your attention is pulled back to a sputtering Higgins.

"Why I never! What a rude child!" And you can't tell if she is actually upset or acting upset and its making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

"Why are you so weird?" You demand pointing at her.

A loud clap echoes through the room and stops the building argument. You look and see Renick with his hand together giving the weirdo a stern look which makes you smirk, the smirk disappears when he turns his gaze on you. He looks between the two of your for a few minutes before dropping his hands and talking.

"Okay. Now. The next matter on the agenda is the mater of custody. We can have you become a ward of the state if you join the Wards program, or you can opt to be adopted. Due to your Case 53 status though the pool of candidates would be limited to either employed heroes or PRT staff." The idea of having parents with super powers is really cool so you go with that one.

"Adoption."

"Alright. The process may take a while as a warning. Last thing for this meeting is whether or not you want to join the Wards program."

"I just said I chose adoption?" You say a bit confused.

"An unfortunate naming collision." Cora says calmly. "Wards if the state are not a part of the Wards program. The Wards program, of which Triumph is the Bay's leader, is for underage parahumans."

"Oh." You nod your head a few times.

"The Wards," Triumph starts. "Is an excellent place for kids with powers to learn and train safely. We have five other members right now, all with powers like yourself. If you join you would get a paycheck and offical government training as well as forming friendships with people who get it." Part of his speech was definitely scripted but you can tell that other parts were all his own.

"Is it fun?" You ask seriously. You're not going to join a stuffy boot camp afterall.

"It is, my friends are good people and we are paid to help others. It's great." You can tell he is being truthful so you decide to join, you can always quit later. You turn to Renick and nod.

"I'll join but if it's stupid I'll quit." Stupid lady lets out a huff at that and you resolve to get at her somehow, maybe cutting out her colored hair?

"We just need a few more details and then you can go and meet the other Wards if you want."

Cora pulls a small scale from a bag by her feet that you only notice when you get out of the chair again. The measure and weight you for some paperwork apparently, getting fifty-two pounds and four foot one inch.
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Do you want to meet the Wards now or later?
[X] Now.
[X] Later.