Chapter 2 begins
A couple of hours
later I ‘see’ Justin coming out of the shower, he looks around,
sees no one else around, feels a chill, notices a large hole
in the wall, a large hand comes through the wall and grabs
him, he starts to scream, fade to black. ‘Bob…Justin just
woke up screaming’ “C” says ‘Thanks “C”, I just ‘saw’ it.’
‘Justin…do
you want me to come over?’ ‘YES…please’ he replies ‘Be right
there.’ I ‘pop’ over to his room.
<Justin and
J.C.’s room>
The lights are
on, Justin has a strangle hold on J.C., J.C. looks up with a
strange smile on his face. ‘ Yes I know Justin had a nightmare,
and it looks like he scared you when he screamed.’ I walk over
, kneel down put my hands on their shoulders , ‘Clam down, its
ok just take a deep breath and relax.’ I get pulled into the
middle of the hug.
<KNOCK…KNOCK>
‘Come in guys.’
Lance, Bill, Joey, and Chris come in and look at us strangely.
‘Justin had a nightmare, woke up screaming, and scared J.C..
When I ‘popped’ in they here huddled together like scared rabbits,
I put my hands on their shoulders and the next thing I knew
I was being strangled by both of them <laughs> Its ok
just calm down and relax. Chris would you get me a drink please,
thanks’ ‘I was so afraid when I thought I was alone, then a
large hand came through the wall and grabbed me, that’s when
I screamed and woke up. Sorry to scare you guys especially you
J.C.’ Justin said ‘No prob. that’s what families for .’ J.C.
replies. ‘Ok you three go back to bed, I will stay here for
a while till they can go to sleep. Thanks for coming over it
shows me that you can be depended on. See you in the morning.’
About five min. later Just. and Josh pull me down on the bed
and fall asleep.
<Noon>
I here a quit
voice both mentally and physical, ‘Bob its noon, time to
get up.’ ‘Thanks “C”, are the rest of N sync awake yet?’ ‘From
the vital signs they should be soon.’ ‘Ok please have the kitchen
make a large breakfast for us I hear the boys eat a lot.’ Ok
Bob will do.’ ‘Thanks “C”, now to get these two up. Ok guys
, may I have my arms back? I need them so I can clean up and
eat.’ Two sets of eyes open with a start, as they hear my voice,
they start to turn red as they realize they still have a strangle
hold on me.
‘That’s ok guys
, I’ve done this before , no need to be embarrassed , besides
I like to help people when they need it. Lets get up and get
ready for breakfast, the rest of the guys should be up soon,
when you are ready to go come to my room and I will join you.
See you in a bit.’ ‘pop’ to my room.
<My room>
Do the 3s’s,
get dressed, grab a cup of coffee, check my schedule, only a
couple of short meetings after breakfast, then the rest of the
day to show N SYNC around.
<1:00 pm>
<Knock…knock>
‘Come in guys.’
Joey opens the door and asks ‘How did you know it was us?’ ‘Well
lets see, it sounded like a mix of a heard of elephants and
a flock of parrots yakking and stomping down the hall. Glad
to see you guys smiling, you are getting back to normal. I have
a couple of meetings after we eat, you can join me for the meetings
or hang around your rooms till I get done then I will take you
on a tour of the complex being the all knowing tour guide <grin>,
and confidant if you need some one to talk to about all this,
in private or together if you want. Just to worn you guys, if
you are going to be around me get ready to get picked on, or
you will get the silent treatment if you piss me off, its my
persona , the way I am, just remember that. I try not to get
out of hand but if I do let me know and I will chill out. Now
lets go eat.’
<In the kitchen>
‘Ok guys help
your selves, the trays and utensils are over there. “C” how
much time till my first meeting?’ ‘Only 15 min. Bob.’ ‘Ok I’ll
head there as soon as I get my breakfast “C” let them know,
please. Would you guys like to join my for my meetings? Their
will only be a few people there, and it should only take a couple
of hours, if that long. Or would you just like to stay here
till get back?’ J.C. ‘well guys?’ The rest of the guys say
‘Lets go with Bob that way we can meet a few people at a time
for now.’ ‘Ok lets go.’
<The briefing
room>
As we walk in
I see Pat ,Randy, and Brent are there already, finishing eating,
and checking there reports. ‘Hey guys I would like you to meet
N sync and their tour manager Bill, guys this Pat - the head
of training and the Danger room, Randy - the head mech., and
Brent - the head of security.’ The 9 people introduce them selves,
than Jeff walked in, ‘Jeff aren’t you early? I thought your
meeting was after this one.’ ‘Yeah it is but I need to talk
to Pat, Randy, and Brent anyway I hope it’s ok.’ ‘ Guys this
is Jeff - head of design.’ they shake hands and introduce them
selves. ‘Ok lets get started, Pat is the danger room up and
running yet?’ ‘Almost, it should take about an hour yet.’ Pat
looks at the floor and starts to turn red. ‘Well next time don’t
hit the controls and you wouldn’t have to fix it. I know it
needed an upgrade, but that is an expensive way to get it. Ok
Randy your turn.’ ‘As far as I know the only things left to
repair are two sentinels and they are close to being done.’
‘Thanks Randy, are we having trouble getting parts from Trask?’
‘No…we took over the contract for all Mk.I parts so we now we
make them our self. And the way we have modified them we almost
have to make them anyway.’ ‘I knew we were looking at getting
the blue prints, this is great, now we don’t have to put up
with Trask. Ok Brent how is security doing?’ ‘Well we need to
do some testing of the systems, that’s why I came to this meeting,
I was hopping Randy and Jeff could be there if we have any trouble,
but we haven’t had any problems so far.’ ‘How are the maskers
the camo hoods coming along?’ ‘The maskers are done, the hoods
are made, testing is almost done with good results so far.’
‘Sounds good, try to get them up running asap. Ok Jeff now you.’
‘ Just a little behind, but almost there, that’s why I came
in early, so I could talk to the guys and get back on time.’
‘Ok we’ll get out your way. Grab your trays and we will let
them get to work.’
<Kitchen>
We put the trays
on the counter. ‘Well guys lets go to my rooms and I will give
you the computer tour before the live one so it will make more
sense.’
<My rooms>
‘Ok guys get
something to drink if you want, grab a seat, and I will be right
back.’
<Restroom>
‘ “C” lets have
some fun, low volume BSB’s chapter one please, in all of my
rooms.’ ‘That’s not nice.’ ‘I know but I told them that they
will get picked on, lets see how they handle it.’ I hear a loud
groan and laughter from the office.
<My rooms>
As I enter the
room I see 6 large smiles. ‘Well you got us that time.’ Lance
chuckles ‘Well you guys are closer to normal. Ok “C” cut the
music. How are you doing any way? And remember I can find out
if I need to.’ ‘Well…its still a little freaky being in a hollow
mountain , but every one we have meet so far have been nice
and friendly, trying to make us feel at home and stuff, but
the best part is no screaming fans.’ Joey says ‘Well you guys
have a lot of fans here, but we know what it is to be screamed
at, you out of love, us out of fear and hate. But let me tell
you that if you put on a concert here you would get screamed
at like every where else. Now depending on what your powers
are… you may get both.’ ‘When can we find out what our powers
are?’ ‘Any time you want to Chris, just let me know.’ ‘I ‘m
ready.’ ‘Well are the rest of you ready too?’ ‘Yeah lets do
it.’ the rest reply. ‘Ok…”C” let everyone know that I’m awaking
N sync, then put me thru to Pat.’ ‘Danger room here.’ ‘Pat are
you ready to go yet?’ ‘Just finishing up now, should start to
do the final testing in about 5 min.’ ‘Ok Pat, is any one scheduled
for this afternoon?’ ‘No, not so far.’ ‘Ok I need it for the
rest of the day, priority “Awakening the beast”.’ ‘Ok I will
let you know when it is done Bob.’ ‘Thanks Pat see you in a
few.’ ‘Ok guys relax and I will start. Chris here I come.’
I look around,
find his power, remove all the flotsam and jetsam from his power
so that he knows what it is and ask ‘Chris do you know what
your powers are?’ ‘Yes I can teleport, all I have to do is
think of where I want go and there I am.’ ‘Good job now relax
while I that care of the rest of the guys.’
‘
“C” this is strange. It feels like Chris’s blocks were put here
by someone, they are not like nature puts them in, they are
to neat and orderly.’
'Ok who’s next?’
Lance looks up sheepishly and raises his hand. I remove the
blocks around his power. ’Well Lance do you understand your
power?’ ‘Yes I can heal people.’ ‘Good… now on to the next one,
relax till I’m done.’
‘J.C. your turn’
I clean up his mind so he knows what he can do. ‘Ok J.C.
what can you do?’ ‘I can read minds.’ ‘Yeah, three down three
to go. Talk to you in a bit.’
‘Joey you ready?’
nods, and I’m in, and do my thing. ‘ Well Joey can you figure
out what you can do?’ ‘Yes I can control the elements.’ ‘ Good
job, four down two to go.’
‘Well Justin
last but not least.’ go in to his mind and release his power.
‘Well Just. What is your skill?’ ‘I can move objects with
my mind.’ ‘Good boy, I’m gone.’
‘Now for you
Bill, last but not least.’ enter his mind and clean it up. ‘Well
B. can you feel what you ca do?’ ‘Yes I have telepathy, telekinetic,
and some type of time control.’ ‘It seams like a time bubble…but
I’m not sure yet. Ok I’m gone.’
‘
“C” I think Bill put the barriers up in the N sync guys minds,
and it feels like Bill put his own up in his own mind…but his
mind would have had to have had a lot more power to do that.
Please relay to Roger and see if he has any ideas.’
‘Ok guys to recap
what you all can do, Chris can teleport, Lance is a healer,
J.C. is a telepath, Joey has elemental control, and Justin has
telekinetic abilities. And Bill has a combo of telekinetic,
telepathy and a type of time control, Any questions? No…ok now
to wait for pat to call.’ About five min. later, ’Bob…Pat’s
on the line.’ ‘Thanks “C”, Pat are you ready?’ ‘The last test
was passed, so it is up and running .’ ‘Thanks Pat, be there
in a few.’ ‘Well guys do you want to walk or ‘pop’ to the Danger
room?’ ‘Lets walk this time.’ ‘Ok follow me.’
<Danger room>
‘Ok guys here
we are, this is the keypad for the door, until you get your
personal code use ‘1122’,it’s the R & R training code, Just.
try to punch it in please.’ Justin closes his eyes and concentrates
slowly the code is entered. ‘Good job Curly.’ The door opens
, all you see is a large empty space where the light shines
in. ‘Computer lights on, confirm , this is Bob head of R &
R, priority “Awakening the beast” level 1please.’ ‘Confirmed
Bob come on in with the new recruits.’ ‘Thanks, come on in guys
and take a look around.’ The room is a ½ block square and three
stories tall with what looks like strange markings on the walls,
ceiling, and floor, this is where the traps, training weapons,
and all sorts of items can come out of. ‘This is the Danger
room, our main training area, it can change it’s shape and has
all sorts of weapons to test you. Pat…5 chairs and some ledges
please. Ok Chris lets play follow the leader, watch where I
go and teleport beside me.’ About 10 min. later, ‘Ok Chris go
rest, J.C. talk to me.’ ‘What do you want me to say?’ ‘Nothing
to deep for now, what am I thinking?’ ‘I don’t know if I should
answer that or not.’ ‘Why not? Its not preverted, or did you
read someone else’s mind?’ ‘Let me try it again, ok now I see
B., Just., Joe, and you flying around the room.’ ‘That’s good
for now. B. can you hear me?’ ’Yes I can, I also can hear J.C.’
‘Ok Bill Join me. Ok Just. And Joey meet me in the center
of the room.’ I kinetically fly to the center of the room and
wait. Bill joins me, Justin looks at us and figures out what
I mean and joins us. Joe looks at us and shakes his head. ‘Come
on Joey you can do it, just take a min. and figure it out.’
he close his eyes for a min. then a large smile appears on his
face, he raises his arms and a gust of wind propels him up in
the air and he heads over to us. ‘Good job you two now follow
me around the room. Pat a red light please.’ ‘where?’ Ceiling…over
the guys.’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yeah I have a force net over them
in case Justin and Bill don’t do it. I hope he is thinking ,
but if not then Lance can try out his healing powers.’ ‘Ok I
see your point .’ ‘I have the net on low so the large pieces
will bounce of but some small ones will get through .’ ‘Ok here
we go.’ ‘Joey attack the light.’ He looks around, sees it,
waves his hand and shoots a lighting bolt at it and the light
shatters, glass and plascrete fall down on Lance, Chris, and
J.C., Bill and Justin cry out and waves his hands trying to
catch the debris, gets most of it but, a few of the smaller
pieces get thru, J.C. and Chris get a few minor cuts and bruises,
‘Ok land.’ We fly to the guys ‘Ok Lance come here, We will
do this together, take my hand and touch J.C.’s arm, concentrate
on what’s wrong with him, now you can heal his wounds.’ Lance
does as I tell him, as we watch the cuts heal and the bruises
disappear . ‘Now do Chris.’ In a min. Chris is healed. ‘Sorry
about that guys, but I had to find a way to show Lance how to
use his power, so I let you get hurt so he could do it. I apologize
but I did what I had to.’ ‘ WHAT.’ Justin yells ‘I thought they
were going to die when that stuff started to fall on them. I
tried to save them but could not catch all of , and you tell
us it was a way to show Lance how to use his power?’ ‘Yes that’s
what I said, if you think about it, all of the large pieces
that you didn’t catch bounced off of my shield, yes I had a
shield over you so no big stuff got through, just the small
pieces so no one would get hurt badly, just minor cuts and bruises.’
The guys look at me like I had hit them with a 2 buy 4 in the
head. “Pat…please have Gary take them back to their rooms I
can tell they don’t want me around them. Later.’ ‘pop to my
room.
<My room>
I go over to
the computer, sit down and check my email, nothing, I write
to the head of A&A and reported the incident and request
to be relieved of duty till further notice. Go in to the bedroom
to think. ‘Lights off in all rooms “C”… I need to think and
to be alone for a while, please put up the ‘do not disturb sign’
thank you.’
An hour later.
‘Gary please pick out the trainers for N sync, You have the
con. Until further notice. Please have them get together at
dinner so they get to know each other. Later’
An hour later
‘ “C” any messages?’ ‘Oh yeah, call Roger now! Then Gary, then
N sync want to see you.’ ‘Thanks “C”. Put me thru to Roger please.’
‘He’s on the line’ ‘Yes Roger what can I do for you?’ ‘Bob as
to your request , Denied! I know you feel bad but I need you
in charge no matter what you think. Gary called after you talked
to him and told me that N sync talked to him all the way back
from the Danger room, they were afraid this is what you would
do, Gary set dinner up in an hour in the R&R conference
room, be there .’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yes I am, you will be surprised
when you talk to Gary, so call him next, I will talk to you
after dinner, bye’ ‘Ok “C” Gary please.’ ‘On line Bob.’ ‘Ok
Gary, you wanted to talk me?’ ‘Yeah… when you left, the guys
talked it over and decided that you did the right thing, you
had them surprised when you had the ‘do not disturb’ sign up
and “C” would not let them try to talk to you when we got back
here, what’s up ?’ ‘I requested to be relieved of duty, but
Roger won’t let me.’ ‘WHAT…your joking right?’ ‘No…when I got
back to the room, I almost packed up and left and put you in
charge.’ ‘You are going to show up for dinner aren’t you?’ ‘That
all depends on what N sync say when I have them come over in
a min.’ ‘Do you want me to come over?’ ‘No…but thanks for asking,
I got into this myself, so I have to get out of it myself.’
‘Don’t worry it will be ok.’ ‘Yeah…right. Talk to you later.’
‘ “C” tell N sync they can come over if they want to.’ ‘ They
are on the way Bob.’ ‘Thanks “C”.’ <sigh>
<Knock…knock>
‘Come in guys.
What can I do for you?’ ‘First…I am sorry for yelling at you,’
Justin says ‘You were right you needed to come up with a way
to train Scoop, I remember seeing some of the debris bounce
off of something, but I could not figure it out until after
you left and we talked about what had happened and talked to
Pat who told us that you had a mental discussion, so we know
you thought about what you did before you did it. Then when
we got back and we could not talk to you we were worried about
what you were doing.’ ‘Well are you sure you want to know?’
‘Yes we do.’ ‘Well I emailed my resignation to the head of A&A,
than I thought about packing up my stuff and just leaving.’
‘What about your safety, wouldn’t the sentinels have tried to
get you?’ ‘Yeah…so ?’ ‘What do you mean “Yeah…so?” don’t you
care about yourself? Or the people that like you?’ ‘Who do I
have in my life? Just the people I work with, the people I rescue,
the people I train and try to hurt, oh …yeah, I have a lot
to keep me here. I work, eat, and sleep, that’s all I do, I
don’t have a life.’ ‘But you must have friends.’ ‘The only reason
that I’m still here is that the head of A&A wouldn’t accept
my resignation.’ ‘What about Gary and Julie? It sounded like
you were tight, and the way Gary looked when he came to the
Danger room and we told him what had happened…then you would
not be disturbed…he was worried about you.’ ‘Well I would miss
them, but whatever, go get some rest till dinner, I’ll see
you then.’ when N sync leave ‘ “C” is Gary in the conference
room?’ ‘Yes he is Bob.’ ‘Thanks “C”.’ ‘pop’ to the conference
room.
<Conference
room>
‘Hi Gary, you
have you got for the trainers?’ ‘I was thinking of Sara, Marsha,
Rick, Pat R., and Kevin S..’ ‘good choice’s, but I think you
should include Mike he could and would be helpful as well. But
it’s up to you. How long till the meeting begins?’ ‘15 min.
or so.’ ‘Ok I’ll be back.’ ‘pop to Brent’s room.
<Brent’s room>
‘ Hey Brent…how’s
it going?’ ‘Not bad, you?’ ‘Don’t ask now, I’ll talk to you
about it later. But to the reason I came over…can I copy your
powers? I feel like trying something new.’ ‘Sure I was wondering
when you would.’ I touch his shoulder, now I have lightning
bolts and density control, ‘Cool…this will be interesting.
How are the camo hoods and maskers coming? I think we might
need them if we have to guard N sync at the concerts.’ ‘I plan
to test them tomorrow, you can help if you want.’ ‘Sure, give
me a call when you are ready and I will try to help. Well I
have to go.’ ‘pop’ back to the conference room.
<Conference
room>
The people are
starting to arrive for the meeting, as the last one comes in
I go to the front of the room. ‘Ok lets get this started, these
are your trainers, Sara is a teleport, Marsha is a telepath,
Rick is a healer, Pat R. is a telekinetic, and Kevin S. has
elemental control.’ The door opens and Mike comes in. ‘Sorry
for the short notice Mike, come on in and join the rest of the
crew, Mike has elemental control, telekinetic, and is a vary
fast self healer, and now N sync, J.C. is a telepath, Joey has
elemental control, Justin is a telekinetic Chris is a teleport,
Lance is the healer and Bill has a combo of telepathy, telekinetic,
and a hind of time control.’ They all shake hands. ‘Mike did
you have anything to eat yet?’ ‘No I’ll get something later.’
‘No have mine, I’m not hungry. Get to know each other, set up
your training times. Gary you have the con..’ ‘pop’ to my room.
<My room>
I change in to
a pear of sweats and tennis shoes. ‘ “C” is their any one in
the Danger room?’ ‘ No Bob, No one, not even Pat.’ ‘Thanks
“C”.’ ‘pop’ to the danger room.
<Danger room>
‘Computer…level
5...weapons, robots, and debris please. Voice control.’ ‘Confirmed
Bob.’ ‘Lock out till I finish, Authorization “M113“. Begin.’
I take to the air as the lasers start firing, the beams bounce
off my kinetic shield, I fire lightning bolts with one hand
and force beams with the other, scoring hits on all 5 turrets,
as they shut down a door opens and 3 robots come out. I grab
one kinetically, lift it to the ceiling and drop it to the floor,
then get hits on the other two, shutting them down. ‘Comp.
One min. break.’ Telepathically check on the meeting, seams
to going ok. As I land 5 machineguns start up firing, I change
density to solid rock, the shells just bounce off my body, two
robots rush me as the guns stop firing, as they try to grab
me I phase out to the density of a ghost, they grab each other,
so I make a portal under them, sending them to the storage area.
Check on the meeting, so far so good. Take off flying, shield
up, large knifes come down and start to swing as the lasers
start up also, I my hands to reflect the beams at the knifes
taking them out, then the lasers next.
<Conference
room>
Everyone has
finished eating, they finish setting up training times, they
all shake hands as the trainers leave, N sync talk to Gary ‘What
are we going to do about Bob? When we go back on tour we are
going to need him there with us. We all hurt him today and I
was the worst , but when we tried to apologize, he just shrugged
it off, what can we do?’ Justin asks ‘Well lets see how he is
tomorrow, since he wouldn’t eat anything tonight I know he has
a lot of stuff on his mind, or that he’s pissed , or both.’
The door opens and Roger walks in. ’Guys this is Roger, the
head of A&A’ Gary says ‘Good to meet you, Gary where’s Bob?
I told him to be here.’ ‘He was for the for beginning then he
left with out eating.’ ‘ “C” where’s Bob?’ ‘In the Danger room
alone, level 5 workout, and lock out.’ ‘WHAT…Chris may I meld
with you for a second please?’ ‘Sure.’ Roger checks how strong
Chris’s power is. ‘Chris…I know this will tax your power to
the limit, but you can do it, would you teleport Lance, J.C.,
and me to the Danger room, while Gary, Bill, Justin, and Joey
fly there?’ ‘You bet.’ ‘ You three take off, every one else
grab ahold of Chris and away we go.’ There is an inrush of air
and a small ‘pop’ as they disappear.
<Outside the
Danger room>
With a small
‘pop’ and a whoosh of air they appear, Roger says ‘Computer
this is Roger, let me in.’ ‘voiceprint confirmed, stand by for
retinal scan due to lock out order from Bob.’ ‘Ready, do it.’
‘Retinal scan confirmed, program still running, opening doors
now.’ Gary, Justin, and Joey arrive as the door opens. Roger
‘Just. We need a shield please.’ ‘Sure Roger.’ Justin goes to
the front of the group, raises his hands, and nods his head.
As they enter the room, they see the lasers firing at a ‘black
hole’ in the center of the room. ‘Bob what do you think you
are doing?’ ‘Well I needed a way to get back to normal, since
this usually does it, I came here to work out. Give me a sec.
And I will finish.’ the ‘black hole starts to strobe and
lightning bolts flash out scoring hitting the turrets, and the
lasers shut down. ‘Computer…I’m finished, stop program, results
please.’ ‘Only one robot damaged, all targets neutralized.’
‘Thanks computer.’ the ‘Black hole’ disappears and I fly to
the group. ‘Hi guys…how was the meeting?’ ‘If you would have
been there like I told you, you wouldn’t have to ask.’ ‘Yes
Roger…I did get it started, then I came here to get back to
normal, <grin> I think it worked.’ ‘I’ll let it go for
now. But…’ ‘Ok Roger…any thing else for now, or can I get a
shower and something to eat? Then we can talk some more in my
room.’ ‘Ok, I’ll have something sent over.’ ‘Thanks Roger’ ‘pop
to my room
<My room>
Strip down, shower,
while I finish dressing I sense a ‘pop’, ‘That you Chris?’ ‘Yeah…your
food is here, the rest of will be here in about 15 min. or so’
‘Ok grab a seat…be right there.’ walk in the office, grab a
cup of coffee and sit down. ‘Thanks Chris, I appreciate it.’
‘It’s the least I could do…after earlier.’ looks at the floor.
‘Chris…enuff of that, no more please, get something to drink.’
‘Ok, the rest of the guys are in the conference room waiting
till you get done. Are you sure you want me to stay here?’ ‘Yes
you can stay, just kick back and relax.’ 15 min. later, ‘Ok
Chris, I’m done , go get the rest of the guys.’ Chris ‘pops’
out and back. “Their on the way.’
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