[Quinton Summers]

Dang these campuses were big.

At some point, someone had told Quinton that they were effectively mini cities and that many were home to more students than his hometown and the next surrounding fifty miles. He'd assumed that to be some form of exaggeration. Now that he found himself in Stanford however, well... He found himself to be ill-equipped for such a place. He'd been rather prepared for such an event and had taken the precaution of coming a good half hour earlier than he'd been advised. That time was fast evaporating however and he was no closer to finding just where the small gymnasium was. They were scheduled to begin work on the extension soon enough and given how rarely worked seemed to come by, he didn't want to be that one guy who was late. Not when there were at least a dozen others who would jump at the chance to take his place.

Initially, he had decided that he wouldn't embarrass himself by asking for assistance. With his accent, he feared that it would have signaled him out as being a country bumpkin. He was trying his best not to draw such attention to himself. As the minutes ticked on by however, he was forced to swallow his pride. 

He looked around, surely there was some kind soul here who might be able to point him in the right direction? It wasn't as if he was asking for all that much. "Hey, sorry Miss." He requested upon spotting someone passing by. They were as good as anyone. "Don't suppose you could help me for a second please?"

[Tanya Dawson]

It takes a moment for Tanya to realise that the southern accent intruding upon her thoughts is in fact directed at her. She removes her earphones as she swivels to identify the owner of the offending voice. She's slightly surprised by what she sees. He's dressed much like she is, in what looks like a collection of thrift-store finds and hand-me-downs, albeit with none of her flair. On the other hand, she can't believe that any student here would be wearing steel-toe capped boots unless they were making a serious point.

Probably not a student then.


Also he'd called her Miss, which just rubbed her up the wrong way for unaccountable reasons. She hiked her satchel back up onto her shoulder and sighed. She was only going to be late for breakfast. No early lessons this morning which meant she could take her time in the gym and then salivating over waffles, if there were any left. Still, her memory of the waffles she'd had last week would keep her going, while leaving this strangely innocent looking guy to fend for himself would bother her. The curse of eidetic memory.

"Sure. You lost or something?"

Her own accent makes the fact that she's from San Francisco obvious.

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

Quinton offered the stranger a smile, hopefully some assurance that he meant her no harm. He'd picked her at random, purely because she happened to be passing by and she was the first person he saw. He didn't know if there was an issue with people being pestered on campus but given how many banners and posters he'd seen around this place, he imagined it must have happened from time to time. He wasn't great with accents. He could identify those from around his Kansas home, then West and East coast but he would likely have struggled to say just where abouts on either they came from. She wasn't from his neck of the woods, that's all that he knew for sure. 

"Yeah. That's me." He confessed, awkward and with a noticeable blush. "I've got to get to the small gymnasium. I know where it is but I don't seem to know where I am." The man reached into his pocket, pulling out a small brochure he'd managed to pick up with a map of the campus. He pointed towards the building he was aiming to get to, assuming that she probably knew where it was but keen to make sure that he was being clear and precise. 

[Tanya Dawson]

Tanya hesitates, clearly he's not here to try and get her to join his society or anything like that. Her question had simply been a way of trying to deflect what she was sure was coming. Her smile loses it's hesitation and becomes more confident as she notices his blush however. Cute.

She fights the urge to laugh as he explains where he's trying to go, though a hint of that amusement is shown on her face. Oh boy.

"You aren't anywhere near it, it's like, at the opposite end of the campus."

Instinctively she reaches out to indicate the spot where they are stood, the central quad, which contrary to it's name, is towards the bottom of the map. The map is small, and she isn't thinking, which is why her fingers brush against his hand.

It seems trite to say, but the contact was electric. Tanya is still growing accustomed to her abilities, and has developed none of the ease that her sister's seem to already have mastered. She stiffens almost imperceptibly, hesitating just a moment too long as the memories rush through her brain and her mind's eye is flooded with unfamiliar visions, now familiar.

One disadvantage of suddenly absorbing most of a person's memories is that one has to relive them, Tanya has never experienced serious injury, but her mind is momentarily flooded with the memory of impact, breaking bone and agonising pain. Then, nothing, the bones knitting before her-his eyes, the blood flow staunched. She remembers the pain, even though it didn't happen to her.

It's impossible that Quinton hasn't noticed her reaction. She knows his name now, her power automatically providing that piece of information when she looks at his face again. Her jaw works for a moment, clenching and unclenching in indecision. He must realise now that something unnatural has happened.

Metahumans are still ultimately humans, so technically they can't be discriminated against, but equally there is no law or amendment that protects them. Already several high profile cases are proceeding involving professional sport's players that woke up one morning with super strength or inhuman reflexes. If the University finds out that she is a meta, or worse, exactly what her ability is, she could face anything from heavy exam scrutiny, to losing her scholarship, to worse. Tanya can't afford to sue if something like that happens.

She takes the map from his hands on the pretence of getting a closer look, then simply folds it up, speaking as brightly as she can considering the circumstances. "On second thoughts, I'll just show you where it is. This way!"

After all, there is no law explicitly allowing discrimination against metas, but it doesn't mean his life would get any easier if people realised what he could do.

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

He found himself to be relaxing a little more in the presence of another. He still wasn't used to the city, it's ways. That hampered him when dealing with others, made him more awkward than he had once been. Quinton wasn't too sure whether he would rather have found that he was close to the building or, as the case was, very much far away. "Well... Never claimed to be a navigator." He frowned peering at the map and wondering how and where he went wrong. He must have set off in completely the wrong direction and then remained somewhat consistent in that during his attempts to correct the mistake.

Quinton didn't want to come off as a clueless country boy but felt as if he might well have.

He extended his hand to make it easy for her to take the map should she chose to. It barely even registered with the man that Tanya's hand had touched his own. He wasn't all that sensitive to that sort of thing and likely wouldn't have noticed anything at all.

Her reaction however earned a raised eyebrow. He couldn't even begin to fathom what had happened. Some concern took over. His natural assumption was that something, somewhere was wrong. He raised his head, searching as he assumed that the source of her... Distress? He would probably have qualified it as such - must have had something to do with an external source that she had noticed. Unable to spot anything apparent, he would turn back to consider the stranger once more.

There was something about it which made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, a shiver run down his spine. He couldn't have said just what it was. There in that moment, he wasn't entirely sure just what it was that he was feeling. Somewhere along the line, he was aware that he was staring at the stranger, something he would typically have avoided given that it was generally considered to be rude but he found himself unable not to.

Something had just happened. He didn't know what but it was certainly something.

Maybe that was why he agreed so easily when she offered to take him there herself. It took him a short while to regain some sort of awareness of what was going on and reminding himself that such a thing as manners existed. As such, he would give her a smile. "That's real nice of you. Thanks." He would begin to follow her. He didn't question anything. Feeling that there was some reason for them go continue on like this. Not that he knew what said reason was.

Quinton would remain quiet, keeping his bag over his shoulder as he walked along. He forgot about the campus, instead focusing on the very strange stranger.

[Tanya Dawson]

It is an odd experience absorbing memories. Tanya had avoided experimenting with her abilities, too afraid of discovery. Perhaps there is some way that she can absorb memories and avoid the sudden and intense loss of identity. Whether or not she absorbs memories seems to be completely random at the moment, she should learn some way to control it, at least to help her hide it.

She smiles awkwardly at Quinton, "It's the other end of Campus, but it's really not that far to walk, so shouldn't take me long to get you there Quinton."

She immediately looks ahead as she says the name he hasn't told her. Sometimes the memories do this, automatically join the dots without her having to inspect them inside her head proper. She knows that when she looks at him his name is Quinton Summers. She knows that he is from Oklahoma and she knows that he is a metahuman. She's managed to acquire this information without going through the process of actually learning it, and it's a disquieting experience for a person like her.

They've only been walking for a couple of minutes when she spots an opportunity. At the point where two buildings almost touch there is an alleyway of sorts, shaded from the sun. Without hesitation Tanya turns into the alleyway, throwing an explanation over her shoulder. "This cuts like five minutes off the route, otherwise you have to walk like all the way round."

When they're far enough down the alleyway that they're mostly out of sight, she turns and pushes Quinton back against the wall. It's not particularly aggressive, but her face makes it clear that she's serious.

"If you tell anyone I'm a meta then your secret is out too!"

One hand in the centre of his chest, she can tell that if he really wants to fight back there's probably not a lot she can do physically. She's fit, but he's much taller than her, and it's clear that he's some sort of physical labourer. Quinton is obviously a lot stronger than her, and if his power is what he thinks it is, then he should have no problem overpowering her. Will it heal his brain though?

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

The man raised an eyebrow at the use of his name. He cast his mind back, trying to recall just when and where he'd given it to her. He couldn't recall actually introducing himself, only requesting her help for a few moments. He opened his mouth, ready to question just where she could possibly have obtained such information. He didn't walk around with it painted onto his forehead. Suddenly uneasy, the man glanced around. Everyone else just seemed to be going about their business, there were no suspicious men in black or other sinister types lurking around, at least not that he could see.

So... Could she be...?

He was still wondering when she continued to lead them along. Quinton turned his head to see the supposed shortcut that she'd found. He didn't question it. This was her campus. Not his. "Sure. Lead the way." He followed obligingly, perhaps treading a little bit more cautiously than he otherwise would have but still comparatively relaxed. When your body could fix itself as quickly and efficiently as his could, it took a fair bit to scare him. 

Getting pushed against the wall was one thing that he didn't quite expect. He didn't resist, although he could probably have turned it into quite a nasty fight had he wished to.

"I wouldn't dream of it..." The man raised a hand, he would attempt to carefully push back down the woman's so as to free himself as be able to step away from the wall. It didn't even cross his mind to attempt to use force. Quinton was very much of the sort who would never, ever, in a million years strike or even get physical with a woman. Such lessons had been hammered into his brain from his youngest years and with a couple of sisters, he couldn't imagine anything worse than using his size and strength to inflict pain on one. He wasn't too keen on being pinned against the wall like this however and would have appreciated it if she stopped. "I haven't even told anyone that I'm..." His voice trailed off for a moment, as he lowered his gaze, letting out a sigh. "Well, you're the first." 

He considered the woman in silence for a moment. His eyes would quickly flick up and down her. Nothing had changed. She looked as average - in the sense of unremarkable - as he had done when he had first approached her. "I've been searching for so long." In truth, it probably felt a lot longer than it actually had been: a few months. Still, away from his family and home, time had a funny way of stretching out. 

[Tanya Dawson]

She opens her mouth to threaten him. Then realises it's pointless. She doesn't feel any hostility from him, she may not have her sister's abilities, but she's not stupid. Besides, the ease with which he had pushed her hand down showed her that if he really wanted to hurt her then he probably would have done so already.

The wind is out of her sails now, and Tanya isn't sure what to do now, she hadn't planned much further than maybe threatening to melt his brain. In truth she's not even sure if she can do that, despite over a year of it, much of her ability is still a mystery to her.

"I'm sorry..."

She shakes her head, feeling like an idiot. "I really thought you'd realised when I... When I used my power on you."

She shrugs, if she hadn't reacted then maybe he wouldn't have known at all. Then they wouldn't be having this conversation. Her sister's are relatively open about their powers, as open as they can be, they don't have the worries about consequences that she is plagued with. "I'm sorry... By the way... It was an accident, like, I didn't mean to use it."

She returns the look up and down, she hadn't paid much attention to him before, but it's clear that he has, as he says, been searching. The boots are probably the most expensive thing he's wearing, heavy duty, the kind people only wear when it's required.

He's older than her, twenty-six, and good looking in a melancholy sort of way. She glances down the alleyway, out of the cool, damp shade of the narrow corridor people are passing in the sun. Nobody even glances in their direction, too much in a rush on their way to classes, tutorials, or just breakfast. There are definitely no waffles left now.

"I guess I should really show you where you're going huh?"

She starts walking down the alleyway again, it really is a shortcut, though it probably wouldn't have saved that much time anyway.

"So..." She shifts awkwardly as she walks, aware of the fact that she's invaded his brain, however accidental it may have been. "You heal and shit?"

[Quinton Summers]

The metahuman could breathe a little more easily. Despite the initial few moments of hostility, he got the feeling that things were relaxing a little bit more now. He wasn't a threat to her, so long as she wasn't going to put him in any danger and something told him that she wasn't, at least not right now. "You ever met another?" He couldn't help but ask, curious at just how relatively unperturbed she seemed to be by the fact that he was like her.

His breathing was a little faster than usual as he found himself excited. All this searching and now he didn't really know what to say. "It's fine." He dismissed the matter amicably with a single wave of his hand. "I can't control it either." Tanya would find Quinton to be extremely understanding and patient in that respect. Perhaps if he had better control over his ability, then he wouldn't have set out on this peculiar quest of his. 


Quinton nodded in agreement. Whilst meeting another metahuman was most certainly a huge development, he equally couldn't afford to lose his chance to earn some money. He still had some left but it was beginning to run a little low, especially when it came to feeding himself and his canine companion. He hadn't worked for this specific company before, but he knew bosses well-enough to be quite certain that if he was late, he would be fired or at the very least have his pay docked. The man followed her obligingly, not even questioning if he was safe with her. 

"Yeah..." He looked at his own hands for a few moments before quickly tucking them back into the pockets of his trousers. "Don't really understand it but no matter what happens, I get better. I've been cut, burned, broken bones... Sometimes it takes a little while but I get better. Then it's like I'm as good as new." 

He peered at the young woman for a moment. "What about you? You telepathic or something?" He reasoned that it must have been something along those lines given that she already seemed to know everything about him without him having provided any of the information or it being accessible. 

[Tanya Dawson]

Tanya shrugs, "My sister's are both metas, and I did meet Gravity Girl once."

That had been a strange encounter. Gravity Girl was a professional Hero. She was fairly well-known, though certainly had her most dedicated following amongst early teenage girls. The media portrayed her well, but she had come across as something of an airhead to Tanya, fitting the image of blonde bimbo she seemed determined to portray. On the other hand she also seemed to possess extraordinarily potent abilities. Tanya had quite literally seen bullets get squashed flat when they hit her, then watched the petite girl go through men like an actual wrecking ball.

Her powers seemed almost pedestrian by comparison.

Then the question about her power comes up. She knows in the case of her sisters many people find their ability to peer inside people's heads unnerving, and she's resigned to that when people eventually find out she's a meta. She plans on keeping it a secret as long as possible, but she's not so naïve as to think that will be possible for ever.

"Or something..."

She hesitates. He seems like a decent enough guy, and right now she has no one other than her sister's she can talk abilities with. That relationship is already strained. "I can't actually read your thoughts or anything like that, at least not really, I can read your memories."

Waving a hand airily, she continues to explain as best she can. "So, like, when I touched your hand earlier, I accidentally absorbed a load of your memories, which is why I knew you were a meta even though you weren't thinking about it. I guess."

It's awkward, because she has so little actual experience with her own abilities that she's really not sure about the extent of them. "My sisters think that I might be able to change them as well, but I haven't really tried that one. Seems kinda risky, messing around in someone's head."

Chuckling faintly, she glances sidelong at Quinton, "Still, at least you don't have to deal with reliving someone else's sex fantasy every time you make skin contact."

She lets him stew with that thought for a moment before dismissing it. "I didn't get any of yours though. It seems, like, pretty random what I pick up right now."

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

Quinton raised his eyebrows, smiling at the mention of a famous name. He'd done a fair amount of research on all things metahuman before leaving his home and more since so. He was impressed that his new acquaintance had met such a famous individual. Her words intrigued him as he found himself imagining what it must have been like to have siblings with powers. "Is it genetic then?" He assumed, probably naively that Tanya would know far more about this than he did. He would have struggled to explain his rational other than the fact that he was desperate to discover whatever he could about what had happened to him and others like him. Nobody else in his family had been affected, at least as far as he was aware. They could have been keeping it secret from him, just as he had from them but the man doubted it. 

He listened to her explain some of her powers to him. Yeesh... At some point in the past, Quinton had found himself regretting his abilities - although granted healing from injuries was inevitably better than succumbing to them. It separated him from others, made parts of his life more challenging. If he got so much as a paper cut, he was forced to conceal the injury out of fear of someone noticing it healing up. Ironically, for a man who at this point in time believed that he couldn't be killed, he was rather paranoid about getting hurt. 

"Well... There's nothing up here I'm particularly embarrassed about." He responded pointing to his right temple. All the same, it was something of a relief to know that she couldn't read all of his thoughts. It must have been unpleasant for her to be able to pick up on everything from a mere touch. Presumably she'd found some sort of a way to cope with her affliction. "Didn't get too bored, did you?" He joked, doing his best to try and make light of the current situation so as to lighten the atmosphere even just a little bit. 

He grimaced a little at the thought, not entirely accustomed to such open declarations such as the one she had expressed about certain fantasies. Oh, he could imagine just what exactly he meant, it was the fact that she'd mentioned it to begin with which surprised Quinton. He smiled, unsure how else to respond. "Do you think you'll be able to train yourself?" If she could, then maybe he could. If he could stop himself from healing up then maybe he could go back to something of a regular life and pretend that none of this had ever happened. 

[Tanya Dawson]

"Genetic? Maybe... Who knows? I'm not taking the risk to find out until I've graduated, I don't want them to find some sort of excuse to kick me out or cut off my scholarship just cause I'm a meta, it's not like I had these powers when... Well the Event happened."

That moment is strangely clear in her mind, she can remember exactly where she was and what she was doing when the great clouds mushroomed over the city. She imagines most people can, but probably not with quite the same clarity that her enhanced memory seems to grant her.

They come out of the other side of the alleyway, and after a few more steps, back into the warming sunshine. Tanya shivers unconsciously as the sun hits her bare arms. It had been unpleasantly cold and clammy between the buildings, and she hadn't realised how much until she was back out in the California sun.

She stretches her arms out a little, giving the impression of a cat, before responding to Quinton's next question. "Bored? No... You've had a pretty interesting life... At least after the Event farm boy."

Realising that she now sounds like a stalker, she sticks her tongue out to attempt to dispel the awkwardness she suddenly feels. She's pretty sure she had social skills before her ability, but once those memories settle into place it can become very hard to parse what she is actually supposed to know and what she has stolen from others.

"Sorry. I guess I could train somehow, but I'd need someone to practice on. Only my sister's know, and..." Shrugging, Tanya trails off, the look on her face making it clear that there are some unresolved issues there. "I guess yours just kind of happens? Must be handy?"

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

Quinton followed obligingly, his hands in his pockets and a rather relaxed demeanor as they walked along. He was grateful to find themselves back in the sunshine. It could get plenty cold back home but it didn't mean that he necessarily appreciated the chill of winter or autumn. He listened carefully to her concerns, unable to relate to some on account of the fact that he wasn't a student but others rung very much true to him.

"Yeah... Guess I figured that those clouds wouldn't reach us in old Okie." It seemed like a naive thought, he knew that now. "I wonder how many of us there are." 


He smiled at the use of the term "farm boy" but didn't object to it. He'd had far worse since leaving his rural home in order to travel through some of the cities. He was willing to admit that this wasn't where he was most comfortable, perhaps he would grow used to it but he was terribly homesick as he thought about the golden fields of wheat and his brothers and sisters he'd been forced to leave behind. "I'd like to go back to it one day..." He didn't know if she was aware of that simply through his memories. Did she pick up solely on the events, viewing them as a spectator or was her experience a good deal more immersive? That was enough to cause the man to pause, unwilling to go over things that she already knew.

"It does." He answered her question. "As far as I can tell it happens as soon as I get hurt. I mean... I'm grateful. I'd probably be dead or at least in hospital, without it but I'm scared of getting hurt in front of someone. I mean... I know that some people don't like metas..." He left it at that. He was afraid, fearing what might happen if someone got it in their heads that they would find a way to work out out to exploit his gift. He would rather steer clear of the media for that very reason.

[Tanya Dawson]

"Yeah?"

Tanya seems less wistful than Quinton as she thinks about her own childhood. She didn't absorb all of Quinton's memories, but enough to catch brief flashes of his childhood. It seems much more serene and less conflicted than her own childhood.

Nodding in agreement with his comment, she pulls a face. "It's not too bad in San Francisco really, probably the benefit of being, like, Paladin's home city, people love her here."

It was true, Americans all over loved the blue-haired Hero, but none more so than the denizens of San Francisco and California. That didn't mean everyone liked metas though. Liking a Hero was a very different thing to liking the guy down the street that could vapourise your dog. She knew what people could be like, jealous, resentful. There would be someone who questioned whether it was fair that she could take the same exams as everyone else when she had perfect recall.

They were approaching the small gymnasium now, and she can see several men moving around in hard hats and high-vis vests. Scaffolding is already in the process of being erected, but it's clear that the shift is just now at it's beginning. A heavy man is stood at what looks like the entrance to the site, checking off names as men enter and making sure everyone has the proper equipment.

Tanya slows to a halt as they come within a few feet of Quinton's destination. It's fairly obvious that she doesn't belong in this sort of an environment, but they have at least a few more minutes before the man checking names will actually require Quinton. "Is this kind of work not a bit risky for you then? Seems like the kind of thing that will definitely end up hurting you, like, at some point."

Tag: Quinton Summers

[Quinton Summers]

He could only take her word for it. "Makes sense I guess. If anywhere was going to be more open..." He didn't quite feel like opening up about some of his doubts he had regarding even those from his hometown. His family would have been able to cope with the revelation but he was quite sure that his new status would have been met with some raised eyebrows and cautiousness regarding his powers. "I suppose mine are pretty harmless though." That being said, his concerns were more directed towards just what might happen if someone decided that they wanted a peace of his regenerative powers.

"Yeah... Well-" His voice trailed off momentarily as his gaze ran over the campus which seemed so very alien to him. "-I went to an agricultural school and they don't have much use for a guy who can tell em' how best to plant wheat around here. I've still got to eat." It wasn't just him of course, he happened to have a canine companion who also required nourishment, then there was gas, clothes... Life was expensive, shockingly so in the city. "I'll take whatever comes my way. I've just got to be careful." For the time being, he'd only ever received an occasional nick here or there or a couple of bruises, here or there. Nothing which anyone had noticed, much less cared about. 

"It suits them well enough if I don't get hurt, so it's not like they're going to look for anything." If anything, he was more comfortable working in such an environment where injuries, minor and severe were common as opposed to an office, where it would almost have been noticed and people would have made a bigger deal of it. That and he knew in his heart of hearts that he would have gone insane if he found himself confined to four boring walls and a computer screen.