Amber was the most excited since she had been since she had been adopted by Abyss and taken out of the awful orphanage she had grown up in. After nearly 2 weeks of pestering, she had finally gotten him to agree to allow her to go on an expedition to an archeological site in New Jersy. Of course, she had to bring a guardian along with her and of course she had to promise to be careful and not get into too much trouble, but that was ok because this was an opportunity not only to learn something new but also maybe, just maybe, to get herself a new form to shift into. That had been what had convinced her adopted father, the fact that this trip would help develop her mutant powers further.

A fairly recent Sanctuary resident by the name of Karen had agreed to accompany her. Karen was only a few years older than Amber herself and possessed the ability to control dust particles and turn them into elementals, of sorts. A dusty and secluded archeological dig site was pretty much the ideal opportunity for her to practice her own power and was the reason she agreed to the trip.

The day before leaving mainly involved a great deal of packing and excitement ans Amber tried to make sure that everything that was needed for the trip was packed away. This was basically her first big trip in her entire life. Sure it was educational and she wasn't leaving the country, but that didn't invalidate it in her mind. Learning was fun, at least when the topic was interesting, so why shouldn't a vacation be educational?

The trip to the dig site was fairly uneventful. Abyss had booked the two of them on a flight and while the flight was boring, Amber could deal with boring. Then there was the fairly lengthy taxi ride form the airport over to the dig site. Abyss had even arranged for the two of them to stay in a hotel and spoken to the scientists in charge of the place so that they knew the two of them were coming. It certainly paid to have well connected and wealthy family members and the fact that Amber and Karen happened to get along was also beneficial to the whole thing. The scientist that was Abyss' contact was also a mutant, although what, exactly, his power was Amber had no idea. The others were aware of the fact that a pair of mutants would be around for a few weeks, to varying levels of acceptance. It was hard to hide the fact when her eyes were so obviously unnatural and when her skin prevented her from being outside during the daylight. In fact, it was only because the two of them promised to only be on site at night that they were even able to make the arrangement. Unfortunately even men and women of science were sometimes prone to discrimination against mutants. Still, everything was in place for it to be a wonderful trip and experience and to perhaps even gain another form or two while there.

The trip started out wonderfully. It was supposed to total 4 weeks in all, plenty of time for both her and Kendra to practice their powers as well as learn whatever there was to learn about archeology first hand. As long as they did most of their exploring at night, didn't get in the way and didn't cause any problems, they were pretty much permitted to go wherever they wished. Not that a restriction on movement would have stopped Amber much anyway, after all it was difficult to stop something the size of a chicken from going wherever it wanted to go outside during the middle of the night.

Kendra also proved to be a good companion for the trip. Amber had spent the time to get to know the dust elemental before going on the trip, of course, to make sure that they were compatible. After all, it wouldn't' make for a very pleasant trip if all they did the whole time was fight. Kendra happened to have an engaging and active mind and a personality that was, in many ways, the opposite of Amber's own. She was nearly impossible to get down, in stark contrast to Amber's own dark and depressive nature. The differences, however, complimented each other rather than causing undue stress.

For the first week, everything went wonderfully. On the first evening after arriving, the two mutants went to meet Darrin, the mutant scientist who had worked with Abyss to arrange the whole thing. As it turned out, he had the mutant ability to telekinetically control marbles and while the ability had nothing directly to do with his career choice, the fact of him being a mutant had spurred him into getting a respected career in order to one day show to the world that mutants could be respected members of society. That day, however, had not yet come and he currently kept his being a mutant mostly secret. A couple of years ago, while not being as careful with his visible displays of power as he should have been, he had gotten into some trouble with a couple of mutant hating humans and Abyss had saved him from a horrible beating thus forming the connection with him.

The daylight hours were mostly filled with sleep and, in the evenings, Amber would shift into Compsognathus form, because it was the smallest and most easily hidden, and explore the area. At night she and Kendra, armed with flashlights, would explore the actual dig site in more detail, keeping up their end of the bargain and restricting their visits to nocturnal hours. What Kendra did while Amber slept or was in Compsognathus form, Amber didn't know for certain, though she suspected the other girl of practicing her own abilities. After all, that was the whole point of her coming on the trip. It wasn't until a week into the field trip that things took a decidedly negative turn for the worst.