Natalie sighed as her new "handler" concluded her introduction. She was neither excited nor daunted by the sudden relocation, but was certainly quite peeved. Not to say she held any fondness for her former residence; it had been largely the same. No, she was more irked by the fact that this place didn't boast a seaside location. Cute as it was that "Olympus" was positioned in the middle of a mountain range, the shoreline was still preferable. She was also put-off by the fact that someone had brought her belongings here, expected though it was. She wasn't quite comfortable with the thought of someone else handling her personal possessions, not to mention her unmentionables.

Unfortunately, it appeared she would have to grin and bear it for the time being. At least there was a pool. It was easy to imagine she'd be spending the majority of her free time on the roof. For now, though, she simply followed the rest of the group to their quarters to change, being sure to trail behind the others. Upon reaching her new chambers, the girl quickly changed into a simple tank top and shorts, then headed back for the first floor. There was still almost an hour left before the debriefing, so the time was ripe for a good kitchen-raiding. As it happened, the pantry was remarkably well-stocked. It didn't take her long to find everything she'd need to make shrimp scampi over linguini, a personal favorite of hers. Creepy, but convenient nonetheless. Natalie immediately began preparations, familiarizing herself with the layout of the kitchen as she went.

Almost immediately, Mike found his room decided to take off the rather uncomfortable body suit and swapped it with a white shirt with black jeans. The name "Olympus" was appropriately fitting. His last living place hadn't been exactly similar to Olympus. However the overall laundry list of rooms and things to do here certainly interested him, making Mike quite unsure on where he wanted to invade first, even with process of elimination with things such as the Infirmary.

He wasn't tired or surprisingly hungry yet, so staying in his room and storming the kitchen were out of the question for now. Eventually, he found that the Virtual Reality Simulator had sparked the most interest, but an hour might not be enough to explore all the possibilities, if it were similar as society had imagined it to be. Basically doing a coin flip, he set his sights on the Recreation Room.

OOC: Remember everyone, the year is 2054. We're not all flying cars and what not, but there have been some advancements, PM or post in the topic if you have any questions about current technology that I don't address in a post.

Abi, like the others, headed straight for her room. Like the rest of the bedrooms, the wall that faced outside was made completely of glass. She slid her finger on the window dimmer, darkening her room slightly as she changed out of the uncomfortable uniform that they had been provided, switching into sweat pants and a t-shirt. She looked around her room once, nodding to herself, before exiting her room, the door sliding closed behind her as she left. She made her way to the common area; no one was there. Shrugging to herself she curled up on couch and let herself unwind as she watched National Geographic on the giant, wall-length, plasma screen tv.

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The Virtual Reality Simulator was in fact quite a large room, the lights turned on as Austin approached the glass sliding doors. While there was not enough time for him to activate the room and run a simulation it was more or less clear how the room worked. The walls and floor were bleached white, identical squares covered every inch of the room like tiles. Closest to the door was a computer, inspecting it Austin would see that there were a list of various training exercises and scenarios already programmed into the computer. Beside the computer was a rack with an assortment of jet-black glasses, these were part of what made the simulation real.

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Bertók would find solace on the rooftop patio. He could hear the gentle rippling of the pool nearby. The multitude of greenery around him, especially in the greenhouse was calming. A cool breeze blew down from the mountains rustling the leaves of the potted shrubs, and yet the warm sun shone down on him brilliantly. It was probably going to be a hot summer this year.

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Soon the mesmerizing aroma of Natalie's shrimp scampi filled the kitchen. She shuffled from cupboard to cupboard and back to the stove as she cooked. Keeping a close eye on her pasta, not wanting it to become too limp, she definitely knew what she was doing. When she finished, she would have her fill, perhaps even leave enough for the others to enjoy as well; her new roommates and team members.

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The recreation room almost resembled a lounge. The lights turning on immediately and a jazzy tune beginning to play softly from hidden speakers as Mike entered the room. There was a bar on the back wall, a pool table, a pinball machine, an air hockey table, a foosball table, a ping pong table, and a series of dart boards hung on the wall. On another wall was a medium-sized plasma screen tv, with a few leather couches placed in front of it. The room was a decent size, the government really pulled all the stops for this Olympus place.

*****

Soon enough an hour had passed, and the five of them gradually entered the Mission Debrief Room. The room was in semi-circle shape with the back of the room curved, and an illustrious table following the curved shape of the room. Large high-backed leather chairs were placed behind the table, though there were more chairs than there were of them. Surprisingly, there was an unfamiliar girl already sitting in one of the chairs, while Delphi stood off to the side. Once they had sat down, the lights in the room dimmed as Delphi moved to stand in front of the group.

"Good afternoon, Pantheon" spoke Delphi in her usual business-like manner, "This is Taillin," she said indicating to the girl they had not yet met "She has also been found an acceptable candidate for Pantheon and will be a member of the team. Tailin, this is Abigail, Austin, Bertok, Mike and Natalie"

"Now," they heard a whirring sound of a projector as a 3D hologram appeared depicting the image of the man they had fought earlier, "We have decided to reinitiate Project: Pantheon through the progeny of the originals because of this incident, among others. As you may or may not know, Doctor Shizuma's research was lost in the wake of Titan's attack on the facility. However, apparently someone has discovered a similar method to create reactions in individuals granting them superhuman abilities. Clearly," she noted the sickly looking face of the man "The effect was not as successful as it was on your parents, resulting in Manhattan, and London in your case Tailin."

"We do not know who is behind this underground "super serum", though we do know that there has been an increase in criminal activity by these augmented individuals. Which is why Pantheon is direly needed by the global community. Which leads us to your next mission," she pulled up an image of an Arabic man approximately 23 years old and quite handsome, if not wealthy by the look of his clothes.

"This is prince Mohammad Abdul of the Saudi Kingdom. He has been kidnapped by mercenaries and is now presently being held hostage. Fortunately, we have located the bunker where he is being kept in the desert. We will drop you in on the location and your mission will be to rescue the prince and to detain any superhuman individuals on the premises."

“Weeeeeeeeee…”

Of all the chairs that Tailin had found in the building thus far, these big black ones were by far the best spinners. They were made with that comfy kind of leather that makes one feel relaxed and important at the same time, perfect for silliness. Most importantly, the rotation was flawless. Not a squeak could be heard as she spun in endless circles, giddy as could be, oblivious to the looks given her by the red-haired woman standing at the other end of the table. Fantastic. Decidedly, she would have to return to this room to spin again.

After the 256th counterclockwise spin, Tailin was on the verge of getting bored. Much to her relief, and indeed to her great excitement, this was the exact moment at which the “others” that she had been told about began to enter the room, one after the other. The energetic young woman could barely contain herself, and had it not been for an especially stern look from Delphi, she would immediately have been in their faces, launching a thousand questions a minute. Instead, under great duress, she managed to sit still long enough for the five of them to take their seats and for their handler to complete the brief introductions and begin detailing the next mission.

It was Tailin’s sincere hope that this assignment would be more interesting than the last one. Laser-eyed assassins were cool and all, but the woman in question had been kind of a wimp. It had taken a single, barely-augmented punch to knock her out cold. Laaaaaaame. Sure, dodging the onslaught of deadly beams and getting to participate in the destruction of the King of England’s palace without any negative repercussions had been fun, but… it hadn’t been that much of a challenge. She was mid-yawn when the image of the dashing prince came up on the screen. “Ooooh…” she exclaimed, suddenly interested in what Delphi was saying. “What a hottie. Dibs!”

Bertók rolled his eyes as he listened to the briefing, visibly annoyed that they had to deal with a hostage rescue operation on foreign soil. Though he had agreed reluctantly to working with the government, he was expecting to deal with domestic issues. He was annoyed further when the new girl, Tailin, made her obnoxious comment.

"Let the Saudis deal with their own problems. We shouldn't be the world peacekeepers."

"Nice to meet you, Tailin," Austin said after Delphi finished speaking. Tailin proved to be a bit eccentric, but he didn't hold it against her, rather he chuckled at her comment. "Just how much oil are we getting out of this?" He asked rhetorically. "This prince had better have a lot of pull or we're risking our lives for no reason. When do we depart?"

Natalie tried, with moderate success, to stifle a snicker at Tailin's quip. The new edition to the team seemed to have quite an overwhelming personality. With any luck, she would be drawing plenty of attention to herself. In the meantime, though, the others were busily giving their opinions. Loath as she was to do so, the girl felt the need to chime in.

"The sooner, the better. I, for one, don't feel like waiting around for another attack on American soil." Natalie said, giving Bertók a sideways glance. "That said, doesn't this kind of operation seem a bit... delicate for us?"

"Hi Tailin, welcome to the team." Mike said through a series of friendly and social laughs as he flashed a huge grin. At least someone else could lighten up the mood. As his smile faded, the s**** still defiantly danced across his face, making no attempt to keep it straight. He agreed with Bertók to a certain extent, but after the encounter with the mutant thing he was reluctant to just let it pass. "I'm up for this. There's no telling what other superhumans could be out there."

Delphi observed the group patiently until they quieted down once again, she sighed inwardly, they were definitely not their parents.

"As members of Pantheon, you are world peacekeepers," she replied plainly "While you are all, at the very least, American citizens, the Pantheon was deemed a legal military task force by the United Nations. Thus, you have jurisdiction to act within all United Nation member nations, this includes Saudi Arabia."

The image of the hologram changed to that of a transparent rotating square with a stylized "P" on the front of it, with various flashing lights and images on its face.

"While each of your suits are equipped with a communication device, you will all each be equipped with an Iris communiqué device, commonly referred to as an Iris or an ICD. At its most basic it is a more advanced version of the communicator on your suits, allowing you to send video feed to each other, but it is also a powerful microcomputer. It can scan and subsequently determine the molecular components of organic and inorganic substances. It is equipped with powerful hacking and system overloading software as well as a frequency disruptor. While it is in the belt buckle slot of your suit, you can activate a holo-visor allowing you to see in night vision and infrared frequency. It has extensive GPS and mapping software allowing it to create holographic maps at the push of a button. Additionally, you also have high-level security clearance of military confidential files, as well as high speed internet access all over the world, among various other expected applications attributed to cellular devices today. What is important to remember however, is that each communicator has been designed solely for you, and will only work for you"

Delphi then walked to the side of the room, picked up a few items from the side table and then came back to the main table where the group sat. She handed each of them one of these transparent squares.

"All you need to do is attach the communicator to your suit, and it will wirelessly link up to the internal system of your suit in order to run the functions that I have previously detailed. The screen is of course, touch screen, though it will not shatter or even scratch, having been constructed from military grade material"

Once again the holographic image in the centre of the room changed to that of a map, it depicted an image of a desert.

"Pantheon, you will land here" a glowing circle appeared in the northeast corner of the map "There you will meet with a potential final member of Pantheon named Ramon who shall go by the alias Richter. After you convene, you shall make your way to a hidden bunker, Iris will direct you as to its location. The prince is located somewhere within this bunker. It will be your mission to ensure that he stays alive, and that any superhumans found are neutralized."

The lights in the room turned on and the holoprojection fizzled away, Delphi looked at the group with an unreadable gaze, "One final thing, you must refer to each other solely by your aliases while on missions. This is for your protection, as well as that of your families" and with that final thing said she left the room, the door sliding open and then shut behind her.



Another day and a night had passed since their last meeting with Delphi, and once again the team found themselves in those unbearable suits, though at least it came with a cool toy now. Each of them having their own Iris made them feel all the more like a team, perhaps not as great as their parents, but a team nonetheless. The stylized "P" on the face of the device, that disappeared when activated was quite clever. The technology they were using would probably not be released to the public for another ten years. It was awesome, or at least, that is what Abi thought.

The flight was incredibly more pleasant than their initial experience in Manhattan. They were in a military class jet, so the amenities were not the finest, but anything was better than that tiny steel ball that they had been confined in from before. Eventually the pilot's voice crackled in the room where they all sat. They had reached the designated target, and even better, they were still undetected. If they could continue this, breaking into the bunker would be easy enough.

A G.I. got up from beside them and slid open the door. Immediately the compartment was filled with the stifling heat and light of the Saudi Arabian sun. Sand and wind whipped about violently, as those without the ability to withstand a fall from the height they were at presently were given parachutes. Eventually they were given the signal to disembark from the jet to land onto the desert sand below.

Abi was the first to leap from the plane, immediately catching herself in the air as she levitated with the forces of magnetism and floated gently towards the ground. Immediately she spotted someone in the distance, just as Delphi had stated, a young man stood waiting for them, Richter.

“Bleh, it’s so hot”, whined Tailin as she struggled with the buckles that kept the parachute strapped to her back. The girl dealt poorly with enclosed spaces; the long hours spent onboard the plane had made her quite cranky. Thankfully, the freeing descent following their flight had served to lighten her mood somewhat, though she was still far from her usual self. Suddenly, as if to reprimand her for her attitude, a particularly strong gust of wind caught her parachute, pulling her onto her back none too gently. Exasperated, Tailin struck the harness with an augmented two-finger jab, making quick work of the previously impervious restraint. Standing up to brush herself off, she stated - quite loudly - that whoever had thought that it was a good idea for the team to wear black suits in a desert should have their head examined.

After a brief look at her surroundings, she spotted the figure of who she assumed to be the seventh member of Pantheon, some three hundred meters distant. She was looking forward to meeting this “Richter”. The girl loved calling her teammates by their aliases. It was as though they were secret agents… which they were, she realized with glee. Already the fresh air and the wide open plain were taking effect, as thoughts of cramped airplanes left her mind. With a deep breath and a look at the clear blue sky, grumpiness fading, Tailin took off as fast as she could in the direction of their new friend, smiling as she ran.

Ramon hated the feeling of not solid ground beneath his feet. The fact that some of it was floating about in the wind didn't make it any better for the young man. He saw the team parachuting down and decided it was best if he introduced himself instead of running ahead. He started to walk toward the group without looking intimidated or overly-positive about everything. I'm thinking into this way too much, just say hi. He walked over and waved his arm, "Hello everyone."

Bertók continually cursed his luck throughout the flight over. It was rough and he felt uncomfortable in the suit, but that wasn't what bothered him. He was annoyed by their intervention in Saudi matters, annoyed that they were brought in to deal with children of rulers because they put the UN up to it. As the door opened and he felt the warm heat of the desert, he woke up and pulled himself back into reality. It was a bit too soon to judge his comrades, but he could tell that it would be a long mission judging from the new girl.
Jumping from the plane, he held his massive mirror carefully, once again heavily swaddled to protect it.

The time in the air was brief and they landed softly on the dunes. He didn't unwrap the mirror to prevent it from reflecting sunlight and possibly giving away their location. Just as he removed the parachute he noticed a man walk up to them and say hello, which he ignored and immediately said, "Where next?"

Natalie was incredibly uncomfortable. Was it the restricting outfit she was wearing? No. She had plenty of experience with wetsuits. Perhaps it was the fact that she was stuck in a confined space with five people she hardly knew. That was definitely part of it. Most likely, though, it was because she was about to embark on a search and rescue mission in a foreign territory with next to no training. Yes, that was probably the reason, and Delphi's failure to address Natalie's concerns during the briefing did little to put the girl at ease. At the very least, she could take comfort in the fact that they would be conducting this operation under the cover of broad daylight. She was trying not to think about it when the signal was given to disembark.

As Natalie plummeted toward the ground, she gradually began to exert her powers until her descent slowed to a crawl, allowing her to touch down gently. Those who had been given parachutes, having miraculously avoided being carried off course by the wind, arrived presently. Their newest prospective teammate was right where Delphi had said he'd be. Just standing there. By himself.
...
That raised several questions, most of which would probably never be answered as the group rushed ahead to greet their new teammate. Natalie hung back and gave an obligatory wave, not at all thrilled with the circumstances.

"Where next?" interjected Bertók, promptly ending the introductions.

Though Natalie appreciated the excuse not to introduce herself, she couldn't say she cared for the young man's attitude. Still, he had a point. Natalie activated her ICD to locate their destination. Despite being a bit overwhelming, the interface was remarkably intuitive, and she could tell almost immediately where they were headed.

"Turn on your Irises." She instructed brusquely.

Running on sand proved more difficult than the impulsive Tailin had anticipated. The ground was not stable enough for her powers to be of much use, as attempting to propel herself in the usual fashion had served only to rearrange the landscape. So it was that the energetic girl arrived last among her peers, having drifted farther away from the target than her fellow parachuters. Much to her displeasure, it seemed as though the introductions were over. Mirror-man was, as far as she could tell, being the same kind of stick-in-the-mud that he had been during the debriefing session a few days prior. The brown-haired girl appeared just as grumpy.

“Ok guys, calm yourselves,” Tailin interjected. The air was tense, a far cry from what she had dreamed of for her first group mission. “I think everyone is forgetting something very important here,” she continued with as straight a face as she could manage. “We’re… SUPERHEROES!”, she shouted, utterly failing at containing her excitement. “Isn’t this awesome?”

Silence.

“So cut it out with all the mopey serious stuff,” Tailin went on, hoping to lighten the mood. “Instead…” The girl spun around, pointing skywards, as though she had had a brilliant idea. “Let’s show each other our powers!”

Catching the disapproving look given her by some of her less enthusiastic peers, she added quickly in a faux-serious voice: “I believe it would be most… uhm, better for each of us to know exactly what the others can do before continuing with our very important mission.”

OOC: AHHHHH writers block and no internet and distractions oh my
Austin touched down on the ground in front of the new guy and introduced himself. "Nice to meet you," he said. He too was curious about this mysterious person's abilities. "What sort of powers do you have? I'm sure we'll make a great team."