(Response to events from Running from, running to. If someone wants to join me, you are welcome to do so. Max two others. If not, it's a solo!)

Katrina pulled back on her joystick. The nose of her F-18C Hornet lifted higher, higher. Yes! She was in the air.

There was a slight breeze, pushing her off course, so she adjusted the flaps to compensate. Now, she needed a bit more altitude to get over the mountains. Taking off in Salt Lake City was such a pain, but it was good practice.

She circled to get higher, and...

A jolt shot through her, her nerves screamed in a harmony of protest. It was as if she could feel everything, all at once. Every kind of pain, every kind of pleasure, every kind of taste and texture and sound, every bit of light and dark, inside and out. Her muscles tried to run, jump, eat, speak, hold, throw, punch, block, write, play an instrument, and a hundred other motions all at once. Even her memories flashed all at once, past, present, and dreams of the future. Her father's face, gold and red dragons, flying around the statue of liberty, a lobster with a knife, a pair of toxic green eyes. Every sense was overloaded with information for a fraction of a second that felt like an eternity. Then...

Nothingness.

There weren't even thoughts in this void.

A moment later she gasped for breath and her eyelids fluttered open. The first thing she saw was her computer screen.

“You have crashed. Would you like to try again?”

Her nerves buzzed like they were on fire, like they had all been asleep and were waking up all at the same time. Her arm twitched and the joystick fell off the desk. She closed her mouth. Her face was wet on the side.

Slowly pushed against the desk, getting herself to a seated position once more. Slowly she reached up to wipe off her face. She had been drooling. Luckily she hadn't hit anything sharp on the way down.

What was that? It was almost like her body had shut off for a few moments and restarted itself. Was that part of her mutation, someone else's, or something else all together?

She had been half way through her latest novel when it happened. Betty had just dumped roger, and roger- in a fit of self pity and loneliness- had turned back to his ex, Jennifer, for companionship. A fatal mistake seeing as she had just been let out of prison after being convicted for the murder of her new husband Tim... As she licked her thumb and moved to turn the page to see if Roger would survive his night with Jen, she felt a wave wash over her and dropped the book from her grasp. Her back tensed, fingers twitched, legs and toes flexed and danced without her permission. Behind her glasses, Orange eyes widened and fixated on the ceiling, they too were beyond her control- and rolled up and under her lids. Odd guttural noises left her lips, but she couldn't hear them... and then, as quickly as it had started- it was over. She slipped from her chair as darkness claimed her, and felt the muted thud of her skull meeting the floor before she lost consciousness entirely.

She dreamed of home; of her mother and father sitting at the dining room table, clinking glasses of red wine with dinner- chatting about how quiet it was with her gone.... how relaxing. She dreamed of Chester lounging on her old bed- in a room that was once her's- now painted white... with different furniture... And when she felt herself beginning to wake- she dreamed of herself. A thin, pitiful excuse for a woman, who before her eyes morphed into someone else. Something else.... Hair shifted into wriggling serpents... eyes became sunken and lifeless... Lips curved up in a wicked smile- revealing a frightening set of fangs... And then she woke up, with a soft echo of a menacing chuckle floating around at the back of her mind.

Andrea blinked, noticed she was staring at the floor, and removed her face from it- only to find that half of her body was still occupying her chair. A quiet groan escaped her, and she struggled to right herself for a few moments before succeeding. The Greek got to her feet and shuffled to the handrails by the stairs leading down to the first level of the library, one hand clutched to her temple while the other helped to guide her down the steps.

Katrina carefully sat up, and when she managed that without collapsing again, thought she might try standing. That also seemed to go well. She supported herself with the back of the chair and looked around the library. Her eyes seemed to be working fine, too. It was odd, feeling fine. It sort of seemed that after something like that, she should feel more like there was something wrong with her.

Movement stirred in the upper balcony of the library. Katrina hadn't even realized that someone had been up there.

She was green, but that wasn't something wrong with the little illusionist's eyes. She really was green. Katrina had seen the girl on several occasions, but never really had the chance to talk to her before now. She gave a little wave to the older girl who was clutching her head.

“Did you feel that too?” Katrina ventured that she had. “What do you think it was?”

Hark, a voice! The gorgon jumped, lost her footing and slipped backwards on the stairs. Her tailbone met first, and she effectively slid down the rest of steps on her tush, before coming to a rest near the bottom- thoroughly confused. She adjusted her glasses, pushing them up onto the bridge of her nose, and turned to find the owner of the voice. A blond girl she had yet to meet..

"Oh... hello. I didn't realize you were down here..."

A sheepish smile overtook her face and the Greek stood, dusting her sweatpants off carefully, least she pass out again. The girls words fully sank in after a moment, and Andrea blinked scratching at her cheek in surprise. "Wait, what?" She paused, blinking a few more times. She had figured the sudden and frightening episode had been somehow connected to the strange illness she had been suffering from for months now, not something that this girl would have felt as well. A hand rose to cover her lips, and she rested the other on the stairway handrails to stabilize herself.

"... you mean you felt it too?..." Had she passed out as well? Her thoughts briefly flitted back to the strange dream she'd had. She shuddered, and tried to shake herself of the thoughts. "How very odd... I do not know what it could have been..." Another short pause followed after, before she added.

"Perhaps there is a busted gas line... or a power surge maybe?" She had heard somewhere that if enough electricity were running through one location, it could cause headaches and acute cases of paranoia... and if there was a gas leak that would definitely be enough to make someone pass out. The only problem was you could usually smell the gas, and a power surge would have affected the library lights, wouldn't it have?

There were a few others in the library that she noticed now, like the new blonde librarian who was being helped by Shin after an avalanche of books fell on her and a student or two over in the science fiction section. Shin's question to the room made it pretty obvious that the same thing had happened to the two of them as well.

“If it was gas, we'd all still be passed out. If it was electricity the machines would have been affected.” Katrina frowned. No, it had felt more like her nervous system had been rebelling, and she knew a bit about her own nervous system. “It felt more like it was a biological thing. If it happened to several of us simultaneously... I suppose it could have been an attack on the mansion.”

Her eyebrows creased. If that was the preliminaries and some group had some even bigger guns ready and waiting, they should all be getting ready either to evacuate or take shelter or defend their home... or something.

“We should...” Sound the alarm? It was already pretty obvious. Go outside and check it out? That would be dumb if they were going to be attacked. “...do something,” she finished lamely. She wanted to be a hero, but she was completely lost on what to do at the moment.

Andrea frowned, and rubbed at her ankle with a foot. It did seem like a good idea to try and figure out what had happened... but between herself and the others recovering in the library she didn't feel all that comfortable with playing the hero part... Though, to be honest, it was probably just her own short comings that had her paranoid.

"Maybe we could track down someone in charge? I am sure they would know what is happening... hopefully..." Or, on a much easier note, perhaps they would all be told to go to their rooms until further notice...

Oh... if only. "Though... I can't really say that I am well acquainted with the majority of people here... I only know a handful." She grinned sheepishly and shifted on her feet, turning her eyes around and up to the floor she had been on before the odd... spasm...thing. "I wonder who else experienced whatever it was... I hope everyone is all right."

(( sorry it's so... sparse. >.> my mind is a bit... sleep deprived))

Katrina pointed to Shin, who was leaving the library with the new librarian.

“He's one of the leaders of the X-men. I'll bet he's going to go do something about it right now.” Shin was a good person, a hero even. He'd helped Koga and Ghost when they had been attacked, so probably he'd gather everyone together and see to the mansion defense and put together some strategic plan to figure out how far spread the phenomenon was. He'd be helping people in no time.

“Probably what we could do to help is get all the younger students rounded up and make sure they are okay. We can get them and Doc Prof down to the danger room, because it's the most secure in the case of an emergency.” She thought that there might be secret tunnels for evacuation, but she couldn't actually remember why she thought that. Maybe she'd just dreamed about it. Either way, it would be a good idea if something like that did exist.

“We should probably start with the infirmary and work our way through the downstairs. It's after dinner, so lots of kids watch movies or do homework at this time of night. Then we can do the upstairs to round up anybody that was up in their room.”

It was a plan. Perhaps not the best one, but Katrina felt better that they at least had one.

“C'mon!”

Andrea blinked, glancing over her shoulder to where Kat pointed and blinked. She hadn't known that shin was a leader... it made sense though.

Turning back to the girl, she nodded her head along. "Oh, I know where the infirmary is!" She knew where a few other places were as well, but, this danger room the girl spoke of was new. It didn't sound very pleasant either... Shifting on her feet, she glanced towards the door. Honestly, playing any form of Hero didn't usually work well in her favor, but she couldn't in all good conscience leave the whole task on the girls shoulders.

"Alright, Let us be off then. I should warn you, though, that I am still unfamiliar with a few places here... and," she scratched a cheek sheepishly. ".. I do not know very many people." Turning, she followed the girls lead, and instructions, and headed to the infirmary. She knew that place well, thankfully. That room, the library and outside.... Not exactly a very good search and rescue map, so she would reply on what she was told to do.

"What is the Danger room? I have never heard of it before..."

“The Danger Room is a training room, but instead of machines for lifting weights and things like that, they have holograms. A lot of people use it to practice their abilities and their teamwork or other things like that. It's also really sturdy, so in an emergency, it's a good safe place.” Unless the emergency included the building burning down... then it wasn't the best idea to hunker down in the basement.

“If you know where the infirmary is, you can go there and tell the Doc what happened. I'll start gathering people from the first floor and meet you back at the grand staircase so we don't waste any time! You know where that is, right?”

Katrina made sure the green girl knew where she was headed, and then gave her a quick thumbs up before scampering off towards the kitchen.

Claire Dumonde had been cleaning up after supper. When the attack had occurred, she had fallen and hit her head on the open door of the dishwasher. Nevertheless, when she came to, she had gotten up and immediately started checking on the students that had been sitting around the kitchen table. It looked like no one was critically injured.

“Mom! We're gathering students for their safety down in the danger room. Can you help get everyone down there?” Her mother nodded and Katrina made her way to the living room. The television blared news of the attack. It was all over the entire city, apparently. Still, heading for the safety of the basement seemed like a good idea.

By the time she got back to the grand staircase, she had gathered about a dozen students. Now they just had to sweep the upstairs to make sure those in their rooms knew to come down as well. Maybe there was an intercom in one of the greeter offices?

The Greek nodded. So it was like the room at the sanctuary then.... hopefully lacking in the murderous robot department. The plan unfolded before her, and she nodded again. They were to split up, she could do that, right? "Yes, I know where it is." A thumb was flashed her way, and Andrea turned and started up the staircase. Halfway up, her legs were on fire and she had to gasp for breath. Running up the first few steps, bad idea. She wobbled up the rest and pushed herself to the infirmary as fast as she could.

Upon arriving, she found the good Doctor already with a hand full of students. One had fallen and landed with all of his body weight on his wrist- the Doctor was splinting it in case of a break. "Doctor, We are all to head downstairs to the Danger room. The rest of the school will be there shortly." He nodded and shot something her way about having her escort the students with him down the stairs, while he finished with the boy and turned to pack up a bag. The Doctor would need supplies after all, if he was going to be of any use to injured students. As she turned to leave the office, the others followed. Each had his or her own injury- from bruised temples, to slight concussions, and of course the possibly broken wrist. Andrea waited by the door until everyone was out, then followed then back to the staircase.

The group seemed to be taking care of itself, a few held each other for support as they made their way carefully down the steps. Andrea, who was still standing at the top with her hand on the railing, felt a sudden pang of uselessness. Kat popped out into view at that moment, and she pulled herself from the top step before she sank into her thoughts. While she was rather useless at times, (even Kat, a child, seemed better equipped to handle emergencies and such), she refused to be the lump that tagged along and got in the way. The most she could do was follow orders and try to help. Her feet met the bottom step and she halted, watching as the group of students shuffled off out of view to where the danger room was- then turned to Kat.

"What next?"

Katrina assessed those that were assembled, so far they were all students. They actually needed an adult to get them into the Danger Room, but her mother and DocProf should be here shortly. The other adults would probably be spring into action in the defense of the school and the city by now, surely this was the kind of thing the X-men were supposed to be able to handle. Right? Katrina didn't see any springing into action, but they probably were all already out there, doing the kind of thing they trained for so often.

Katrina's mother came into view and the little illusionist stood a few steps up on the staircase so she could be seen, “Alright everyone, head down to the Danger Room for your safety. Please see DocProf down there if you have any injuries or other health concerns. We'll be doing a sweep of the boys' and girls' hallways to check that everyone made it down safely.” She pointed out Andrea and herself as the 'we'. Everyone else was started heading down.

She looked to the girl in sunglasses and then up the stairs, “Shall we?”

It felt a little strange to be ordering around older students and even adults like her mom and the professor, but at the same time someone had to take charge in a situation like this and both Sam and Slate had told her that she was a natural leader. Maybe this is what they meant she should be doing.

Watching someone much younger than her tossing about orders to frightened students and adults like she was quite used to it was inspiring to say the least... and more than a little disheartening at the same time. If she were in the girls shoes, she would not have had the courage to step forward and take charge. She resisted the urge to shuffle backwards, into the shadows and away from curious eyes... but resisted.

"shall we?"

"we shall." She confirmed, and followed the girl up the stairs. slowly this time.. so her thigh muscles wouldn't explode. The short trip up the stairs gave her a moment to think a little clearer without a small hoard of worried and frightened kids rushing around her, or a throbbing headache... or confusion for that matter. She realized a few things, one being that she had left her book behind in the library somewhere, and the other that she knew little to nothing of the girl in front of her.

"Would you mind me asking what your name is...?" she questioned, tilting her head a little as she came to a stop at the top of the stairs and waited for the girl to lead her off down the halls. "I am Andrea... Gordon." Her eyes turned this way and that, glancing almost nervously around as she tried to assume a more commanding posture. The posture of someone who could easily take command! All she really ended up with though were raised shoulders and a stiff, sore lower back. She dropped the posture quickly. "... I am still...uh... quite new here. How long is it that you have lived in the school?" Andrea blinked, and turned her attention back to the blonde, seeing as the passage thus far has been rather quite, and no students were in her immediate, shaded sight.

Katrina stopped short on the stairs, if only for a moment. In her rush to get things done she had completely forgotten about introductions.

“Of course. I'm Katrina Dumonde. I've been a student here for two years.” Kind of sort of. She had enrolled three years ago, but then the school had been closed and everyone had taken refuge at Mondragon Labs that entire school year.

“Sorry there's no time for an official tour, but that there's the boys' hall, there's the girls', and adults are in the middle.” She pointed. “I'm pretty sure the adults can handle themselves.” She hoped. The hallways looked mostly empty now. Word had spread quickly once they had started gathering people it seemed. It looked like most people had already made it downstairs.

“Let's check this way first.” Katrina turned down the boys' hall and started opening doors to peek inside. Where she found locked ones, she knocked loudly and listened. Nothing, nothing, and nothing. So far so good.

“Sorry you have to see the mansion in emergency mode,” Katrina looked over from her ear -pressed-to-door position. “I hope it doesn't give you a bad impression. There really are times when it's peaceful here,” though, they did have a couple of emergencies a year.

“I...” Katrina cut herself short. She thought she heard something from behind the oaken panels of the second to last door in the hall. “Did you hear that?”