Aberrant Pt. 01

Author's Note: Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. So glad you can attend, come inside, come inside! Yes, it's back! The Friday extra-story. For those who don't recall, this is a transcript of a weekly roleplaying session (played on the lovely Roll20 web service) played with my friends with me as the Game Master and storyteller. Last time, it was Starfinder! Unfortunately, Starfinder is a garbage fire of terrible design and the game slowly became less and less fun as we realized how shitty Starfinder is.

So now, we're back with a new system, a new story, new characters, but the same sizzling sexiness and assurance that yes, everyone is 18.

And now...

Aberrant

Starring

Lucithana as Vanessa Stacks

Kitty as Gillian Haynes

Nathan Ravenwood as Alexa Fairchild

Jason as Sean Toulman

Websters Dictionary - Aberrant (/əˈberənt/)

Adjective

1) Different from the usual or natural type; unusual or abnormal

2) Derogatory term for Nova (see, Nova)

Nova (\ˈnō-(ˌ)vē, -ˌvī\ )

Noun

1) A star that suddenly increases its light output and then fades to its former obscurity in a few months or a year.

2) Slang term for Homo Sapiens Novus - a select mutation that exhibits a Marzin-Rashound Node and has demonstrable quantum based superhuman or paranormal abilities.

The day was brilliant white - not a cloud in the sky and that kind of perfect, annoyingly clean climate that could only be found in California. It was neither too hot nor too cold, and without a single hint of rain. Not that people would mind rain in some places, but the initial warnings of a drought had been handily headed off at the pass by Project Utopia. Not that many people were talking about Splash and Thunderclap - who had rerouted water in the atmosphere and the aquifers alike to better suit the humans and the ecosystems of California. Yes, they were novas, and yes, they had used their superhuman powers to reshape the very world around them...

But by June 2nd, 2008, most people reacted to that kind of mundane, day to day use of powers by the novas who walked and soared and teleported from place to place among the masses in the same way they would react to their handheld getting a call, or a flying car skidding through the sky. Some might feel a momentary spark of wonder, a thought that they lived in a time of miracles.

Most would hurry to school.

For Vanessa, Sean, Gillian, Octavia and Alexa, it was hard to remember that there were novas at all. Not that they didn't think about them - Alexa, for one, was endlessly trying to calculate her future by comparing herself to novas. The career she wanted, in a different time, might have led her to being taking up national fame. But the nation didn't want to watch a baseline athlete - why would you when you could watch someone who could shoot lasers out of their freaking eyes?

That didn't mean she had nowhere to go - it just meant she was considering low key, local venues, not national ones. But while each of the juniors might have had similar reasons to be concerned about their future in a world with superhuman , they all had something far more immediate to focus on.

Vanessa had to silently reach up and gently tug her girlfriend Octavia to the side, to prevent her from walking face first into a streetlamp, while Octavia held up her thick textbook, flipping the pages with her thumbs. "Ugh..." Octavia groaned, her voice somewhat elegant - a slightly British accent, a holdover from before her parents moved from London to San Francisco, then from San Francisco to Sunnyvale. "I'm going to fail my math test, I'm sure of it..."

Each of them had their own finals to worry about - for June 2nd was tantalizingly close to the end of the school year, to the end of another year of high school. A whole expansive summer vacation stretched before them, as tantalizing and as close as an oasis in a desert.

They came to the corner of Hollenbeck and Fremont and saw that a huge mass of other teenagers were waiting for their shot to head across the street. Cars buzzed by, the high pitched, almost subconscious whine of hypercombusion engines filling the air. The air smelled clean and fresh - the only scent from the cars being the faint whiff of ozone that came from the complex interactions between the engines and their fuels. A gas/charge station sat near the corner, with a humped hill of grass separating it from the sidewalk, and a few kids were seated there as they waited for the light to change - their handheld computers in their hands as they tapped away. The faint, tantalizing smell of slowly cooking Thai food wafted past the charging/fueling station - Thai Pepper Cuisine had its own special door for students to buy food from them.

And every lunch, the diverse culture of Fremont invariably proved how monocultural they could be. Thai food was always better than cafeteria food, and those who could afford it went there, by simple dint that it was way freaking closer than the other eateries near the school.

Octavia closed the textbook, breathing in and out, trying to calm herself. "It will be all right..." she said, nodding, then looking at her girlfriend, smiling at Vanessa. "Right?"

Vanessa grinned, giving her a thumb's up and signing something in ASL to her to try and cheer her up. The girl had wild dyed blue hair, long socks, small shorts, and an unbuttoned dress shirt over her white t-shirt, a pair of fingerless gloves on her hands a pair of massive purple shades and a large, old school set of head phones around her neck, quietly playing music.

Gillian walked backwards with the rest, facing the majority of the group as she listening to music on a single, blocky headphone ear. The tape-wire wound it's way down to what was probably the old, beaten MP3 player she usually had with her. A small duffel acted as her backpack with all of her school supplied stuffed inside and slung over one shoulder. She wore her old clothes well on her short, dusky skinned frame while tucking a few strands of her messy hazel hair behind one ear, "Ehheh, it's not one of those special N.P. class tests so it's going to be fine."

Octavia chuckled, her cheeks darkening slightly as she read her lover's finger gestures like a woman born to it. "Oh you..." she said, shaking her head, then smiled slightly at Gillian. "Thank you for your encouragement..." She sighed. "I'm afraid I'm just...entirely too nervous. And the summer concert is coming up this weekend too..." She shook her head slightly.

Alexa wore a workout top and sweats, holding her backpack over one shoulder like a championship belt. Her hair was drawn up in it's usual ponytail - the occasions that she let it down were few and far between. "You all are way too nervous about this," she said, rolling her toned shoulders. "Just wing it. School's overrated anyway."

Octavia pursed her lips, looking at Alexa with a very serious expression.

Sean gave a soft smirk at Octavia's admission. "Don't worry about it, you've been studying hard enough." He interjected, though most of his confidence came from the annoying fact he just breezed through tests. "If you like we can quiz you as we walk." He said, ignoring the clacking of the small digital lab he carried about with him. Between a handheld on his hip, a laptop bag hanging from his shoulder and a backpack full of books he had no less than three different computers on him, for different purposes entirely and all next to top of the line.

Vanessa pulled out her Viatablet and tapped into it, showing it Alex and the others "School is cool, homes!" She snickered slightly, smiling as she signed to Octavia privately.

The light, at that moment, changed to green and white - the man flashing. Students started to stream forward, chatting and laughing as they headed for the school proper.

"I need decent grades if I want an academy to take me," Gillian replied, giving Alexa a friendly raspberry. "Sean has a good point though; we could quiz you real quick Octave."

"School is boring," Alexa drawled. "The only reason I still give a crap is because my old man at least wants me to graduate before I go pro full time. If I wanted to I totally could just drop out now. I'm 18. I'm allowed."

Vanessa typed on her tablet again "You could jump out in front of a bus too. Wouldn't suggest it."

"You'll want something to fall back on, you cannot bank on your body forever- it is a well that will run dry." Sean noted quite seriously, being a downer for the current discussion as he followed the crowd.

"I'm not sure going pro as a wrestler is a good idea..." Octavia said, then smiled at Gillian, her eyes twinkling at the subtle pun on her name. Then, looking back at Alexia, Octavia said. "Not that I don't think you're a marvelous wrestler, Alexa, but...well...I doubt the common Opnet viewer would switch away from Cole Meltdown to watch you..."

"Please," Alexa said. "Meltdown's shit. He's a nova but he's sloppy as hell in the ring." She flexed her arms, showing off her well-defined biceps, peaks and valleys popping out of her freckled shoulders. "And this shit's never gonna run dry, Poindexter."

"I'm fine watching those abs any time," Gillian said with a snort out load, "She's got that down over him anyways."

Vanessa smiled, typing on her Viatablet, "Being a nova means never having to learn what you're doing." She smiled brightly at the others. "And to be fair, everyone's body runs down except, you know, novas."

Sean shrugged. "Well, I guess immortality could be invented soon." He noted and just idly glanced up at the annoyingly blue sky- a touch distracted.

Octavia laughed - but as she laughed and they came to the other side of road, a voice from behind them said: "Hey, you don't talk smack about Meltdown!"

Turning, they saw Brian Jones and his crony, Trevor Brunt, both of them swaggering as they walked forward. Brian was one of those kids who...well, he didn't say he was better than non-white kids because he was white, but he definitely acted that way. He was also decked out in a shit ton of kitsch - he had a Lance Styker shirt on, the snarling, bald Elite glaring out off his chest with his catchphrase of 'Your ass is living on borrowed time and that's a damn fact' spreading above and below his head in red text. He was also wearing Kikjack nikes and his backpack had a few dozen Totentanz pins along the straps. He also looked belligerent and like he was looking for a reason to fight.

Possibly a way to get out of finals.

Alexa held up a fist and wound the other one in circles in a cranking motion. Slowly, her middle finger popped up our of her fist. "Meltdown. Is. Shit," she said slowly, smirking.

Every kid who wasn't walking by oblivious let out a slow, quiet 'ooohhhhh!' as they watched the growing altercation. Vanessa let out a deep breath and signed to Octavia, pointing to Alexa and Brian. Gillian had started to open her mouth until Alex spoke up. She blew out a slow breath and moved to calmly stuff her busted headphone away. "C'est la vie."

Sean just clammed up as his posture shifted as attention came their way. Not that he was scared of the brawn, just that he really didn't feel comfortable around most people. Brian's face purpled as the middle finger was lifted up. He scowled. "W-What? You think I won't punch a chick!?" He asked, shrugging his backpack off - Trevor grabbing it before it hit the ground. Brian shifted from foot to foot, scowling at Alexa - clearly ready for Alexa to make the first move.

Vanessa frowned, then walked over to Brian and raised her hands, signing at the other young man. Her friends, seeing the gestures, read the movements of her fingers as: I don't think you understand sign language and am trying to confuse and distract you.

Brian blinked, a bit nonplussed by the sudden arrival of a third party - Octavia gasped quietly to see her girlfriend stepping into the ring - so to speak.

"Bitch, I want you to hit me," Alexa said, cracking her knuckles. Her body had been hardened from two years of physical training and bump taking. Any punch from Brian would feel like a light tap.

"Punch a mute girl and you'll get to repeat the next two years I best," Gillian mumbled aloud, ruffling her hair. "I'd just go, man."

Sean visibly bristled at the situation before finding himself able or willing to speak. "Look, can we not do this today?" He asked, his voice a touch pleading, more directed at Brian than anyone else.

Brian looked from Gillian to Sean to Vanessa to Alexa - to Alexa's biceps. Then, scowling, he said: "Cole Meltdown would totally kick your ass, bitch..." He walked backwards, Trevor more eager to hurry away than him. Brian spread his arms, as if to indicate he was the intimidating one. But then he turned and fled. The rest of the students dispersed, clearly a bit sad that they didn't get to see a fight.

Alexa rubbed her foot against the concrete, like a bull about to charge. "I wanna kick his ass so goddamn bad."

"Get fuckin tol't, son." Gillian mumbled under her breath, sighing aloud.

Vanessa snickered, signing "Yes, I AM willing to bet a nova trained in fighting with super powers based around fighting WOULD beat up a baseline high schooler."

Sean gave a deep sigh of relief, the stress melting from is body as attention turned away from him. "He isn't worth it, if you want to later he likely isn't going to get out of this town." He said rather scathingly

Octavia breathed out a slow sigh of relief, shaking her head. "I can't believe we almost had a punch up like a bunch of...middle schoolers." She made a face.

"You got a point," Alexa conceded to Sean, adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Meanwhile, you'll be seeing this face on every TV coast to coast when I main event Pay-per-Views."

Vanessa smiled, signing "Tavi, just because you were a hardcore streetfighter in middle school doesn't mean we all went home every day with bloody knuckles."

"Hearing someone like me diss his favorite middle-of-the-night jerk star probably didn't help much." Gillian shrugged.

Octavia chuckled, quietly. "Though...I do think we're being unfair to poor Cole Meltdown. He's not like, say...Totentanz. At least he's not a...murderer." She shuddered slightly as they walked along the front steps of the school, heading into the main building. Here, they would need to split - each had their own classes, spread across the campus. Octavia did glance around to make sure that none of the teachers were nearby, before leaning forward to kiss Vanessa on the cheek.

Vanessa signed, "Little harsh on Core there... He's not a bad dude from what I understand." She looked to Octavia and snickered at her girlfriend. Then she turned her head, meeting Octavia's lips to kiss her on the lips and winking at her.

Octavia blushed, jerking her lips back with a huge blush. "V-Vanny..." she whispered, quietly. "I don't want to get detention!"

"No, keep doing that," Alexa said. "I was enjoying the show."

Gillian simply shrugged after a moment, going back for her sole headphone.

Vanessa sighed, signing "Sorry, babe..."

"Boo-hoo for him, I fear what will happen when someone dismisses his favorite color." Sean replied and shrugged his shoulders as if to wash himself of the situation and comments about Brian. Though as always he was giving a sideways glance to Vanessa and Octave for that kiss, peeking in on that moment. The two likely wouldn't mind him watching that, but it's more that he felt he shouldn't- yet couldn't help himself.

"Best wishes for your math test, just don't stress out about it and you'll do well." He offered before turning to head to his own final. Advanced English Literacy. Ugh.

Vanessa frowned at Alexa, "Yes, please rile up my girlfriend."

Alexa waggled her blond eyebrows, then turned and headed off to her History final.

Octavia blushed - but then the bell rang, indicating they each had five minutes to get to class. She stuck out her tongue at Alexa, then waved and turned and hurried off. As she hurried off, each of them had to get to their own classes...Sean had English, while Gillian and Vanessa had math, and Alexa had history.

Alexa managed to sit and pay attention as her boring teacher droned through the test that they were taking today. She had remembered more than she expected, and made a few fairly good guesses. But as she filled out answers that proved correct, Sean sat and sweated as he looked at the request for an essay. Write an essay? About The House of the Red Scorpian. He forced himself, clenching his jaw, and managed to at last belt out an essay he hoped would do well on the final.

Gillian, too, was focusing harder than she wanted too. By the time she and Vanessa were done doing math, Vanessa was smiling slightly - clearly happy with her test, but Gillian had a pounding headache and walked away with a nervous gnawing in her gut.

The five friends met again a few minutes later in the scurry of brunch - a short break between classes. The day had warmed, and something promising was ahead for all of them...the one class they shared.

Comp-Sci. Computer. Science. It was one of those lucky chances, similar to the nearly identical birthdays that they shared, that had made them friends in the first place, despite their wild variations in backgrounds and goals.

Octavia, meanwhile, looked as if she was miserably contemplating the ruination of her whole life. "I'm sure I flubbed it, sure..." she muttered.

Vanessa shook her head, signing again "Babe, you're gonna be fine I'm sure! You're super smart and it's just a high school test. You'll be fine!"

Octavia blushed and smiled slightly. "Thanks..." She leaned forward, kissing Vanessa on the cheek.

Gillian wore the hood of her hoodie up, despite the lack of any reason. The brim was pulled low over her eyes and the girl often twitched or fiddled with something to distract herself.

Alexa leaned back in her chair, making eye contact with all the other boys in the room until they looked away. Most of them were intimidated by her, she knew. "I did just fine, thanks for asking," she said.

Vanessa smirked slightly, signing "You look like you're feeling good about your grades. Seriously, we're all hella smart, don't worry."

"Besides, Alexa was partly right." Sean noted as he tried not to think of his own exam. It was harder on him than normal mostly due to the fact that he couldn't stand the actually read that book- it's pacing was god awful and made the whole thing a chore. "It's the Junior Year finals, you should have enough to get the picks for the classes you want next year. No one is going to pay any attention to this year's marks." He admitted, trying to relax.

Alexa winked at him. "Of course I'm right!"

Vanessa snickered slightly. She signed, "We should all just focus on how sad it is we can't commit crimes and have them brushed under the rug anymore."

Sean perked up, his expression looking a bit like a cat at that comment. "So what have you been up to young lady?"

"Oh...the beauteous rose of my eye, the most adorable cat in the pile of kittens...my sweet, my pearl, the light of my liiiife!" A male voice sang out from the other side of the cafeteria.

Octavia put her hands over her face. "Oh god..." She muttered as Leon Galliop walked up behind Gillian, bowing low to the taciturn, hoody wearing girl.

"Your most ardent admirer and stalwart defender comes, in hopes that you have not been too ill used by your vile teachers and tests today..."

Leon was...um...odd. He was in theater, and acted the part to a T, right down to his flamboyant style that was somewhere between modern chic and something older and more venerable. He also seemed to be madly in love (or at least liked to act as if he was madly in love) with Gillian.