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Character Name: Gene Wayne Alternate Identities: Rook, Aldarien Fireoak Player Name: NPC |
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| APPEARANCE | |||||
| Hair Color: | Black | ||||
| Eye Color: | Green | ||||
| Height: | 5' 7" | ||||
| Weight: | 135 lbs | ||||
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Nicky held his breath as Thistle and Gene entered the ComSim. He’d set it up giving them no warning about what to expect. Aaron glared at his brother’s barely suppressed anticipation. Nicky had a mean streak in him but not the traditional type of mean, like pulling off the wings of flies and stuff. His was more ‘let’s see how you do against my newest trap’ type thing. Nicky took it as a personal challenge to outwit his targets. “Did you set it up as I told you,” Luthien said breaking the silence in the control room. Nicky sneered. “Like I need you to tell ME how to set a trap!” “You NEED me to tell you what type of trap to use,” their sister replied unaffected by Nicky’s tone. “They aren’t going to get hurt, are they?” Aaron was pensive. He’d see the trap that awaited their two younger siblings and it had looked plenty dangerous to him. Nicky shrugged. “I dunno,” he said. “But Thistle’s got her power and can heal herself so she’s safe.” “Gene can’t,” Aaron said with a warning note. “If he gets hurt, I’ll have to pound you.” A few years ago those words would have been unthinkable but Aaron had begun to assert himself and now Nicky was pretty sure his brother would do just that if Gene got hurt. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling for him, after all he was going to be a dragon one day. “There is nothing to worry about,” Luthien assured them both. “You’ll see.” Thistle and Gene moved as they’d been taught by their father, silently, warily. Nicky had built them a forested playing field reminiscent of the ruins of Mexico with a great Mayan pyramid as the center piece. Birds sang in the humid air and the loamy scent of the decaying vegetation added to the reality of the setting. An overgrown trail of cut stone arrowed between the trees to the base of structure ahead, beaconing, but both were leery of their brother’s traps. Years of experience with a myriad of booby traps, snares, tripwires and pits had them on high alert. Single file, with Gene in the lead, they followed the road keeping to one side. Though Thistle had every confidence in Gene’s ability to spot any triggers, she none the less backstopped her twin, ready to haul him back should she note something he missed. Nothing presented and in a surprisingly short time, they reached the base of the pyramid. “That was too easy,” Gene said, his heart thundering in his chest. Both knew the chances of serious injury was minimal but still the reality of the scene brought to life by the computer could not be denied. The two jumped as a howler monkey gave voice to his displeasure at the intruders. Nervous chuckles passed between them. “Nice touch, that,” Thistle grinned. “Almost peed my pants,” Gene agreed. Like the rest of their siblings, the two had been using the ‘ComSim’ for just about everything from movies to interactive games to serious training sessions with their father and one would think with all that experience in such situations that small things like a howler monkey would go unremarked. Such was the reality of that vast space in the midst of the great manor house. No matter what the sudden incident, the shock factor never diminished. “Just to the top, huh?” Gene eyed the tall the pyramid over grown on at least two sides by trees. The face was clear of vegetation, a pale grey against the dark greens of the forest with a broad flight of steps running up the center. “Looks too easy,” Thistle said. “Prolly is,” Gene agreed. “Left or right?” his sister offered him the choice. “You know what dad says,” he replied. “Left,” they said in unison. “Yeah, but Nicky knows that, let’s go right,” Gene suggested. “HEY!” Nicky almost whined. “They’re supposed to go left!” “Of course they are,” Luthien smiled slightly. “Father also always says ‘expect the unexpected’,” Aaron grinned at his brother’s scowl. The twins started up the side of the pyramid keeping off the easy path of low steps. Instead, taking turned boosting each other up, they climbed up the much taller tiers that formed the primary shape of the building. Humidity rapidly soaked them to the skin but cause no discomfort other than an occasional need to wipe their hands dry before the next lift. Halfway up, they paused to take in the expanse of forest surrounding the temple. Nicky’s fingers flew over the computer’s keyboard as he ignored the normal path for programming of actually speaking directly to the computer. “Cheater,” Aaron hissed. Luthien said nothing as her brother changed the parameters of the test. “Come on,” Thistle said. “Your turn to boost me!” Without complaint Gene laces his fingers and stooped, accepting Thistle’s small foot. With little effort he hoisted her up to the next level then offered his hands to her. She turned, bent as the waist and grasped her brother’s hands. Using her legs she began to pull him up. The theretofore rock-steady stones of the pyramid shifted, folding in toward the heart of the structure. Caught off guard, Thistle stumbled back, hauling Gene up the last few inches then together they tumbled into the newly opened hole. The fall was not very long and, coupled with a 45 degree slope, their landing in a heap at the bottom did little more than illicit a few bruises. With the combined weight of their bodies off the slope, the interior of the pyramid grated back into the original position, shutting out the light. “Crap,” Gene said with resignation. “How does he always manage to trap us no matter what we do?” “I thought you knew,” Thistle said in the dark. “He cheats.” “What do you mean cheats? He’s not supposed to cheat!” “Like that EVER stopped Nicky!” Thistle laughed. Gene snorted. “Now what?” he asked to the dark. They froze as a faint sound of stone grating on stone caught their ear. In the dark something heavy hit the sandy floor. Stone chipped and a fragment struck Gene on the cheek. Another heavy something hit the floor. “Crap,” Gene snarled. “Ceiling’s caving in!” Reaching out he grabbed his sister by the hair and pulled her toward him as he moved to cover her body with his. Pushing her into a ball he tried to spread himself to cover as much of her as possible. A third piece of stone hit and landed on his foot. “Shit!” he cried pulling his foot in. There was a deep rumble overhead. “Here it comes!” Hundreds of tons of stone buried the two in the wink of an eye. “OH MY GOD!” Aaron reached across the console for the Emergency Abort button only to have his hand intercepted by his sister. “Wait,” Luthien said. Thistle coughed and tried to wipe the dust from her mouth. “Eerie?” Gene said in the dark. “You okay?” “What happened?” she replied. “I dunno,” he said. “I think I am holding the rocks up somehow.” Light flooded the area and found Gene still hunched over his sister protectively. The space was filled with dust but it WAS a space, a fairly large space. Thistle peered around in wonder. “It’s like the inside of a rock igloo,” she said. Hesitantly she moved out from under her brother and stood. Extending a hand she touched the underside of the piled rocks. “I don’t feel the rocks,” she said running her hand down the arc of the ceiling. “You feel anything?” Gene stood beside her and looked around then smiled. “It’s like I can feel the pressure of all that rock but . . . I know it is not going to fall until I tell it too.” “Guess you can manifest too,” his sister said, kissing his cheek. She wiped her lips. “Blood.” There was a slice in Gene’s cheek about two inches long. It wasn’t deep but it was still flowing. “Oh,” she said then placed a fingertip on the wound. The familiar green glow of their father’s healing power flashed for an instance and the wound was gone. Thistle grinned. “Now how do we get out of here?” she said. Luthien touched the Emergency Abort button and the scene in the ComSim vanished. An hour later in their father’s library the five children sat waiting as their parents watched the computer’s record of the events in hologram at the center of the room. As the ceiling caved in, Raven gasped and squeezed her mate’s hand. “And you stopped every piece?” Archer regarded Gene. “Yes, father,” the boy replied. “And can you do it again, here and now?” “Yes, father,” Gene nodded. Turning to Thistle he said “And how long did it take you to heal his cheek?” Thistle lifted a shoulder, “Like a second, like a flash.” Their father nodded then turned a baleful gaze on Nicky. “You altered the program while it was in process,” he said. “Yeah but they missed my trap!” Nicky offered. “And Aaron tried to stop you but Luthien stopped him.” Aaron’s eyes grew wide, Nicky’s eyes narrowed to slits in suspicion while Luthien ignored the remark. “The computer has been reprogrammed to lock out any further attempts to alter programming during a mission, understood?” “Yes, father,” the three said in unison. Father relaxed and stretched out his long legs, a sign that it was over and that he was satisfied. Their mother curled up into his lap, her head resting on his shoulder. It was a familiar scene with them. “I can see the potential in this,” their father said. “You can heal people, Thistle, while Gene protects you and your patients.” The twins exchanged looks and identical half smiles. They always worked best as a team. “That just leaves Nathaniel,” Raven said with a sigh. |
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Created: Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:17:41
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