Malkavian Madness Network
New World of Darkness => World of Darkness => Psi-Ops => Topic started by: MrParaduo on March 11, 2023, 08:00:26 PM
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April 21st 2041. It was the end of Spring Break in the small city of Castleton. A Sunday with overcast skies with a promise of rain, according to yesterday's news. For all the mundanity of Wade's life up till now, none of it could cushion the impact of waking up to see half of the stuff in his bedroom floating above the floor. Clothes, school supplies, even furniture, he found them unmoored by gravity as he woke up in bed. Only for all of it drop back to earth as he held his breath.
[Alright, describe yourself, what do you look like?]
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It took Wade a moment to realize he wasn't still having the pleasant if odd dream of swimming when he woke. He then proceeded throw a range of emotions, fear, confusion, and settled on denial as he ran is hands through his shaggy brown hair. Obviously he didn't just see that, Obviously his stuff couldn't just float on it's own. He was still half asleep all his stuff just... earthquake maybe? Or he was sleepwalking and knocked it all down? Something like that. Definitely something like that. Carefully standing up two things took priority first was the sudden headache that tore at his skull. Next and rather urgent was his need to pee. Rushing through his now junk stroon room he paused for a moment looking into the mirror attached to his closet door.
Funny he didn't remember going to bed in his clothes. But is oversized graphic tee-shirt and cargo shorts both now wrinkled said different. Come to think of it he bearly remembered last night at all.
Hus urge to piss pulled him from his daydream and he went inserch of a toilet. Hopefully mom wasn't camped out in there again.
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[Take a beat]
The house was quiet but for the familiar sound of the kitchen TV downstairs, Wade's parents likely. Early birds that they were. As the teen entered the bathroom, he relieved himself only to find the family cat watching from inside the bathtub, alongside something else. A keychain with a miniature rubrics cube on it, covered in mud. Wait... the cat's paws were covered in mud, too. Looking over and into the tub, Wade found the base of it covered in the tiny track-marks of one very rude feline.
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Wade abandoned his next task of finding Tylenol to investigate this.
"What do you have their? And how'd you get outside?"
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The cat known as Mo rolled onto her side, pawing at Wade as he reached down to take the bauble from her. The keychain was small, about the size expected for car keys. The only key to be had was made of yellow-tinted metal, but the rubrics cube -- its only other feature -- had a series of bumps in each of the nine squares that made up every side. There weren't any colored stickers to be had, instead the entirety of the cube was made of color-tinted metal.
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Wade pet Mo and sat on the toilet turning the bubble over in his hands. "Weird"
Before long he started turning it in his hands.
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[Hmm... roll Intelligence + Investigation with a -2 from headache.]
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(Rolled a damn 10 on a chance die!)
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[Nice! xD]
At first, Wade struggled to even get the sides to move, as if it were all magnetized together. A last minute stroke of genius came when he pushed on the center face on one of the sides, causing said-side to loosen and move like one'd expect from a rubrics cube! But before he could act on his new discovery, a knock came at the door.
"Wade?" he heard his mother's voice call. "Are you in there?"
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Startled "ya mom. Almost done. Mo got outside by the way."
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"Ugh, darn cat. Did he make a mess in there?"
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"Mostly in the tub"
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Wade mom groaned out a sigh. "Alright, well, when you're done in there -- and had breakfast -- you mind delivering a package for me to Mr. Sandifer? I've got stuff going on in the kitchen, and your father's gonna hit the grocery store in 'fifteen."
Mo let out a tiny meow.
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"Sure. Just do we have any Tylenol?"
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"In the medicine cabinet, where your sister can't reach!"
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"Thanks" Wade called back retrieving the bottle from the cabinet. He dumped a few into his hand and dry swallowed them. "What am I dropping off?"
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"His mail," said Wade's mom. "The mailman got our addresses mixed up again. I'll leave them on the table in the entry hall!"
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"All right" Wade said scooping the cat up and doing his best to clean it's paws without injury. That done he headed out to the kitchen.
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Though the cat fidgeted, struggled, and fought, Wade proved victorious in his feline quest for better hygiene. Mo sprinted out of the bathroom the moment the door opened, leaving Wade to climb down the stairs towards the kitchen. Inside, he found two people already there. One was a woman standing beside the kitchen stove, watching the news on the wall-mounted TV. The other was a man sitting at the table, working on a crossword puzzle with a half-eaten apple and a cup of coffee.
[Alright, describe your parents. What're their names? Do they share characteristics with Wade?]
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Mom was as always far too focused on the news. Wade could judge her mood by it. Always going on about politicians or city council members. The latest shooting or what famous actor did what now and to who. It was clear to him that mom was just so very bored, so she focused on whatever she could. Dad for his part had learned to insulate himself quite effectively from well most everything. Where mom was hyper-engaged he was placid and unconcerned, closed off represed even. Wade was amazed that such opposites ever got together. He knew that this was a topic they offen "debated" when they thought he and his sister where sleeping or out of earshot. They "debated" quite offen as it was but never openly.
This dichotomy in personality extended to their physicality Bad was a large intimidating man hewn from hard work in his factory job. Mom was tall but thin for the most part liked to dress up in whatever fashion was making the round at her office.
Wade orbited the two as he entered the kitchen unconsciously avoiding crossing between them on his way to the fridge. While he still fidget with tye little cube He'd found.
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[Take a beat]
"Morning, sweetie," said Wade's mom, pulling her eyes away from the screen as she heard the teen walk in.
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"Morning." He said opening the fridge in search of food.
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"What'ch you got there?" she asked, noticing the cube in Wade's hand. "Is that a Rubik cube?"
[I can't believe I've been misspelling Rubik's cube this whole time. >|'3 ]
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"Umm... ya. I think MO brought it in. Found it in the tub."
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Curious, Wade's mother approached her son, inspecting the bauble with her hands.
"Ohh," she said. "Someone must've dropped them nearby. Can't say they're mine. Frank, do you recognize these?"
Wade's father glanced up as he took a bite of his apple. A flat grunt was all she got as the man shook his head, returning to his puzzle.
"Let me hold onto them," she said, turning back to Wade. "We can always report them to the police if nobody checks in."
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Wade shrugged "sure" and continued his search for food. "Are we out of soda?"
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His mother answered, but Wade's attention was drawn to a can of cola on the top-shelf as it began shaking in place.
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"Umm..." Wade tenetevly reached for the can.
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Gone. In an instant. The moment Wade touched the can, it ceased to shake, tremble, or twitch.
"Wade?" he heard his mother bid. "Something wrong?"
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"Aaa. No, I aaa found a can."
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[Hmm... roll Manipulate + Subterfuge]
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(Not a one)
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The woman furrowed her brow, peeking over the edge of the fridge door to see what Wade was staring at.
"Yeah," she said, almost to herself. "Putting me a little on edge. Sounded like you'd seen a ghost or something."
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"Sorry just... the can... I thought it was shaking for a sec. Must have bumped the fridge"
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Wade's mom opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the phone began ringing.
"Ugh," she sighed. "That's probably Ms. Calloway again. I swear she needs a hobby."
As she got to answering the machine, Wade turned to see that the can hadn't moved again, sitting there as if nothing had happened. Whether its contents would explode on opening it, however, remained the true mystery...
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Wade shrugged and grabbed the can. He'd take his chances.
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*Coin Flips*
*PWFSSSS!* went the can as Wade popped it open, foam flooding up to the surface in a race to freedom! But Wade was fast enough to sink his lips onto the opening, keeping precious drops of caffeine from hitting the floor!
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Wade chugged the soda and let out a loud burp. That done he closed the fridge and and started searching for poptarts.
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[Ahhh, memories xD ]
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Some time later, it was an overcast sky that greeted Wade. After filling his stomach and getting much needed caffeine, he found the package he needed to deliver. It was roughly the size of a typical shoebox, though whatever was inside was heavier than a pair of shoes. It was wrapped in brown paper packaging and had more tape than any one package ever could need.
[Aight, tell me what kind of neighborhood Wade lives in as he walks down the street.]
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Wade rook his time walking the street. He didn't quite live in a suburb, the houses lacked that copy past quality of a true suburb but it was close. Close enough most parents thought little of letting there kids run and play mostly unsupervised.
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A moment came where Wade caught a glint of something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he found nothing save for more of the same old, same old. Yet when he turned back towards the front, he found a teenaged girl standing mere inches from his face.
"Watcha doin'?"
The girl was like a slap to the face. Neon-pink hair, a white tank top and torn jeans. Leaning forward, she had her arms behind her back as she stared back at Wade, smiling. Terry Hendriks. The neighborhood oddball and a childhood friend.
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Wade started taking half a step back before realizing who it was.
"Jesus. You scared the shit out of me. I'm just delivering this."
He said holding up the package.
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"Oooh~" said Terry. "What's in it?"
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Wade looked the package over. "No clue"
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The girl smirked. "Cool. Anyone I know, or you taking up porch pirating?"
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"No. I'm taking it to Sandifer's."
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"Pfft, Sandifer's?" scoffed Terry. "Since when does he trust anyone with his mail? Guy's a total paranoiac."
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Wade shrugged. "Ask my mom. It was probably delivered to us by accident. "
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The two went on to chat about recent nothings and such, passing the time as they walked towards Sandifer's. On reaching the man's one-story home, however, they stopped dead in their tracks. Terry exchanged looks with Wade.
Sandifer's front door was wide open...