In the Valley Of the Kings [Pharohs 1]

A low buzz coursed through the facility. A voice issued forth from an intercom.

"Sir, Pod- Titan is active, and about to recieve briefing. Advise on further actions."

"This is Meastro, contacting block C. Pod- Pharoh will be coming out of suspension."

"Understood. Situation normal?"

"Negative, we are detecting two lords in this pod."

"That should be managable should it not sir?"

"...And a bard."

"Oh...Understood sir. Shall i wake them up?"

"Yes...It's high time for us to have new subjects available."

"Yes sir, Waking now."

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Six individuals, in six beds suddenly found themselves jolted awake. The room around them was metallic, and as they began to awaken, it brightened. An orb in the center of the room spoke.

"Please stand by and remain in your beds. Failure to do so will lead to your forcefull restraint."

-------------------------------

Jazz's eyes shot open as he sat bolt upright he winced as he felt that his entire body throb with pain. He gritted his teeth for a moment, holding his breath against the odd tide of discomfort. "Holy shit, how drunk even was I...Did i jump off a roof? or-" He paused and looked around. "Oh, wonderfull." he said, and flopped back down onto the bed.

"Apparently i injured myself badly enough to get taken to a.....really clean metal hospital...fuck...this is so not normal."

The orb made its little speech.

"Oh, i take it back, this is obviously the most reasonable thing that has ever happened."

--------------------------------

Calvin's eyelids snapped open. His heart was racing as though from a five mile run. He didn't move. He looked up at the metalic ceiling, going through in his mind what had happened. He had been in class... English lit... and then, someone's head exploded. That he remembered rather vividly. He blinked a couple of times. He hoped he didn't still have brain on him.

A curosory brush of his shirt and hair with his hand confirmed he was clean. he sat slowly, looking around at the room, and the people around him. It was odd, but he felt good, great in fact. Despite his abrupt awakening, he wasn't tired, and even where he had accidentaly cut himself the other day had seemingly healed up. He glanced around suspiciously.

When the orb started talking, he looked towards it, wondering if it was some sort of speaker. When it was finished, his face was set in a look of confusion and aggrivation.

Staying in the bed, and threats of being forcibly made to, were not something that Calvin was inclined to go along with...but that being said. This was unfarmiliar territory.

For the timebeing he merely sat cross leged on the bed, waiting for a less tense moment to figure out what the hell was going on.

--------------------------------

Leon woke up with a small gasp, sitting up and scooching back against the wall, breathing hard. The last thing he could remember was someone grabbing his arm, and a darkened visor helmet, his father yelling, and then nothing.

He looked around, shoulders hunched, seeing the other people around him. He bit his lip. What was going on?... A deep sort of burning rippled through his body in waves. He huddled against it, hugging his knees... it hurt...but it was something mroe than that. It didn't scare him...it just made him feel... Angry.

He took deep breaths, calming himself down. He was shaking slightly, but by the time the orb spoke, he had managed to be still.

When it gave its direction, he looked around cautiously. "What is that thing?" Leon shout whispered to his fellow prisoners.

Candice woke with a start. She took a second to let herself stop shaking, and to let out an abnormally long breath, before sitting upright. Her face twisted into one of severe discomfort as she placed a hand on her chest and let out another breath. It felt like her lungs had far, far too much air. Slowly, she began to notice the room around her and the people in it.

Cold metal, hostile and impersonal. Startled teenagers, and one rather shaken Candice in the mix.

Oh...Ok. What...What happened? She struggled to remember what she had been doing. Driving. She had been driving to class. Then there was a flash of light, and she swerved. She must have hit something...must be in a hospital of some sort.

The orb startled her. Candice scolded herself for being so jumpy. She didn't know enough about where she was or why she was there to be truly afraid. For all she knew, she HAD hit something, and this was a very unusual treatment center.

Of course, forceful restraint didn't sound very treatment center-ish to her, but hey, you never know. Somehow she didn't think she'd have much trouble staying in bed, though.

------------

Ryan woke in such a violent and unceremonious way that the first word to escape his lips was simply "Ziggfft!" His heart was racing, his body was aching, and holy hell did his head hurt. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking around frantically for a few moments before letting himself fall back down with a half-shouted "Aw for fuck's sake!"

How did he get from a pizza joint to...to wherever THIS was? Since when did pepperoni and onion pizza give you warp-blackouts and surround you with confused children? He hadn't even opened the damn box! This was incredibly inconvenient.

The pure bright white of the metal made his eyes hurt. He was used to grungy, dimly lit rooms. Not expensive sci-fi sets. He rubbed his eyes with a tired moan, yawning and trying to ignore the heavy pounding in his chest.

The orb's words actually relieved him a little. He didn't have to get up. Good.

"So. Anyone want to inform me as to why I am in a metal box and pizza-less? 'Cause this ain't my idea of a good Friday night, and I have pretty low standards for what makes a good Friday night."

----------------------

Brandon's eyelids fluttered open. This was...this was not his car. This was shiny and irritating.

He sat upright, sitting cross-legged and assessing his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the orb and the way it seemed to be gradually lighting the room around him. Then he noticed, one by one, the cast of characters he had woken up to. A smug kid who was probably about his age, and probably a few inches shorter than himself, although it was harder to tell with the way he was positioned. He talked a lot. A blond kid who was a little younger, and who was apparently feeling himself up for an unknown reason. Brandon was ok with it continuing to be an unknown reason. And last but not least a very young kid, barely a teen he guessed, who was either terrified or in severe pain.

And then there was a girl, the only girl in the group, who was very tall and very mature looking. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were slightly askew, as if she'd been in a windstorm before she arrived. There was a younger, short, blond kid who was just as vocal as the green-eyed one. And of course, himself.

What a crowd.

Brandon sighed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The orb spoke just as his feet hit the floor and he swung his legs back up. "Well nevermind, then." He muttered. Although he was curious as to just how a floating metal orb in an empty metal room was going to restrain him, he figured it was best not to find out the hard way. Maybe somebody else would tempt the fates, but he'd just sit here and keep staring at people.

He cast an amused glance at the smug one. "Obviously." He said, making a mental note to get to know that one better.

As all of the room's inhabitants awoke, the orb whirred once again.

"Welcome Homosapians. You have been chosen to become the new Pharoh Project contestants." The orb began. "All questions will be held untill the end of this message."

The orb then began to talk for an extended period.

"Welcome to the arena, you are no longer normal humans, but augmented humans created through interaction with a dimentional "Medium Layer" You are designated as "Pharohs". You are the third group of this designation."

The orb seemed to pause again, and a laser grid suddenly swept the room. The orb whirred again.

"It has been determined that this group contains a number of powerfull types. We look foreward to your, undoubtedly interesting participation in the arena."

The orb whirred a third time.

"A selection of your clothes and personal effects have been transported in order to provide you with a constructive environment. You will be fed periodically throughout the day. You will be allowed to practice your abilaties in the periodic training blocks. You will be allowed to exercise and communicate, under supervision, in the free blocks. These times will be announced as they occur and are subject to unnanounced change. Please stand by."

The orb pulsed red.

"Questions are now open."

------------------

Jazz's Expression changed from smugly confident, to simply angry about halfway through the orb's speech. He seemed to be taking everything in, but there was something about the way he was looking at the orb that suggested he was less interested in what it was saying, than getting to whoever was behind it.

When it finished he bristled. "Oh well, thank fucking god questions are open, i would be simply devestated otherwise. Heres one for you, Who the fuck are you shitheads?"

-------------------

Calvin listened to the orb's monolog with calculated thoughtfullness. After Jazz had exploded at the orb, Calvin asked a secondary question.

"On another note, what have you altered us into...what does that actually mean?"

-------------------

Calvin Looked up at the orb after it was done talking, His words burned as he spoke them, as though something was trying to flow out of him, even as he kept it in.

"Can i go home?" he asked.

Nope, not a treatment center. Candice shifted uncomfortably, readjusting herself on the bed to be sitting cross-legged in the center. She gave a little nervous laugh as the one kid yelled at the orb. The second question was a fair one, and the third question was by far her favorite. That kid was so young...she wanted to go over and tell him he was going to be ok, but she didn't know if he would be ok. She didn't know if ANY of them were going to be ok.

"What exactly do you intend to do with us? Participation in what arena?"

------------------

"More importantly, participate HOW?" Ryan had become increasingly agitated and panicked as the orb spoke. "And furthermore GIVE ME MY SHIT."

No floating metal orb was going to keep his personal belongings from HIM! Although, he wondered what exactly they had of his. He had some clothes, some work tools, a laptop, a PS3 and a bunch of illegally pirated games, and that was about it.

-------------------

Brandon nodded slowly as the orb spoke. Even though he was in a foreign place with a handful of seemingly random people, and apparently expected to 'participate' in an arena, this was still probably closer to normal than another 3am shift at a Connecticut Wal-Mart. So far, nothing spectacularly terrible had happened, so he didn't see cause to freak out. He understood why everyone else was freaking out, but he himself didn't see the need for it.

He listened patiently to both the panicked and the reasonable questions, and then he spoke.

"A few questions. Where are we, why are we here, and when, if ever, can we leave?"

The orb whirred. "Questions will be anwered in the order of their vocalisation. Quesition one; answe is classified."

Jazz let out an aggrivated sound somewhere between a growl and a snort. "That's real helpfull." he muttered.

"Question two; You are augumented humans, who have been, unlocked, so to speak, in order to give you new abilaties, so as to be more effective for our uses."

Calvin still looked neutral, but his fists were clenched hard. "I see." he said quietly. "So we are entertainment."

"Question three; No." Leon looked somewhat distressed by the frank answer.

"Question four; You will be participating in our arena program along with four other groups of your current level. Those of you who manage to win your respective challenges, will be elevated to higher standing. The arena is currently a long way above you. This is all the information you currently require.

Qustion five; You will fight. Request denied untill questions have been concluded.

Question cluster six; Classified, Because we have chosen you, classified."

Leon looked pretty close to tears.

Candice had never wanted to hug someone more than she wanted to hug the younger child now. When the orb answered her question, she kind of wanted a hug in return. So they would be fighting? Candice had never been one for violence, and especially not for violence that she was expected to inflict.

The boy looked so upset. It broke her heart to see a little kid in distress, especially in this much distress.

"Hey," she whispered, hoping the boy would hear her. "we're going to be alright, ok?" She smiled at him warmly. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. We all will."

Truthfully, she didn't believe herself. But she didn't have time for pessimism! There were...things...to do! She wasn't sure what, but there were things and she would do them. Lying to herself was her way of being optimistic when there was nothing else to go off of.

--------

"Oh request denied my ass!" He swung his feet over the side of the bed, moving as though he were going to go sucker-punch the orb.

---------

Brandon frowned. Classified, just because, classified. That was helpful. He lay back with his hands folded behind his head, letting this new information sink in. What exactly is an 'augmented human'? What were his new abilities? Who were they fighting and why? All of these were things he probably could have asked the orb, but he had a feeling that he was only going to get more evasive responses.

"The request was only temporarily denied, calm dow-"

Leon looked up at candice, his eyes still a bit watery, but he nodded. "Okay." he said quietly. "Thank you."

The small child sat, still hugging his knees. Pressure was building somewhere behind his temples. A slight warmth slowly spread through the room, it wasn't pleasant...it wasnt particularly unpleasant...but it was laced with something, a primal knowledge that something very dangerous was around.

The burning sensation in Leon's body just got worse the more he thought about the orb's response. The anger...

-----------------

As ryan swung his legs over the side of the bed and took one step forewards. Then a tone sounded, and he would feel like he was being poked with a number of cattle prods, back towards his bed. This along with the odd fear that seemed to be suddenly present in the room would likely have its desired effect.

-----------------

Calvin Winced as he saw the other guy get shocked. That had to hurt, judging by the sparks. He went to get up before realising that was probably stupid, and simply sitting there... He idly wondered why he was as scared as he was...that didn't usually happen.

Ryan felt as if he'd just landed on a net of power lines. He stumbled backwards, his jaw too locked up to properly swear, and fell backwards on his bed. His breath came in short, desperate gasps. That had not, in any way, helped his racing heart. And on top of that he was terrified. Maybe it was just the electricity that was making him feel fear, but the whole room seemed to be dangerous.

"Too...much...electricity...not...enough...life." He coughed. Shakily propping himself up against the wall.

--------

Candice's expression quickly turned to one of horror as Ryan fell still. Well, not still. He was twitching and struggling to breathe. She gave a heavy sigh. What exactly did he expect? Cupcakes? She wanted to make some sort of comment about how being reckless was probably going to get him killed, but she felt very self conscious all of the sudden. Uneasy. Almost...afraid.

This struck her as incredibly unusual, seeing as she was almost always proud to simply be.

--------

Brandon smirked as Ryan got electrocuted. "How's that cockiness working out for you, bro? Shockingly ineffective, isn't it?"

--

Candice failed to suppress laughter, snorting slightly. This did not improve her self confidence at all.

Leon looked concerned as Ryan fell, but at his comment, he smiled wanely and let out a small laugh. Immediately, the horror in the room lifted to almost nothing.

Leon bit his lip. "sorry" he said. "I probably shouldn't be laughing...Are you allright?"

------------

Jazz was grinning. "Not to be a dick man, but in a place that seems to like electrical shit as much as this one, i can't find that shit suprising." He lay back on his bed, hands behind his head.

"Fuck i really hope that im dreaming or some bullshit, wouldn't that be great? why yes jazz it really would be, why? because this right here is some stupid bullfuck, straight from the can. Metalic fucking idiocracy from the pits of fuckin insanity. Still....nice touch the dimmers." he said, trailing off in volume towards the end.

------------

Calvin wondered mildly if getting electricaly shocked was really reasonable entertainment. He decided that it kind of was as long as there was a punchline.

"Oh I'm...I'm fucking peachy motherfucking keen kid. Peachy motherFUCKING keen." Ryan seemed to be slowly catching his breath, and the shaking was beginning to subside. He groaned, holding his head as he lay there dejectedly staring at the ceiling. He was tired. Really tired. And he didn't much appreciate this wise-ass in the bed next to him making puns. "Note to the mass public: Recently banned from public school districts is the new and short-lived game craze - The floor is lightning, don't fucking touch it you little twerp."

----

Candice's smile snapped back onto her face as the uneasy pressure left the room, almost as if by reflex. She cast a judgmental glance at Jazz, laughing quietly.

"Unless we're all having the same messed up dream, I think you're wide awake buddy."

----

Brandon sat upright. "So, anybody have any ideas as to what exactly we should be doing here? Are we just going to laugh at deserved pain for the rest of the day or-" His voice trailed off, and then he scrunched up his nose. "What time is it?"

Leon let out a little snicker again, and he let his hands drop to behind him, wincing slightly. Though the burning was fading a bit, he was far from used to the constant feeling of it. He felt like it would be so much eisier to just let it go...but somehow he knew that that wouldnt be a good idea.

"So..." leon began, looking around shyly."Do any of you know why we are here? Did we get hurt? Do we have a disease or something and that's why we were...uh....altered i guess?" He looked extremely nervous, but it seemed that the small bit of comedy had broken the ice a bit.

------------------

Jazz grinned. "Who knows? Maybe we have whogivesafuckitis, i'd rather know how the hell these bastards managed to just spirit us away in broad freaking daylight!"

This drew a mild look of concern from leon, and a shrug from calvin.

------------------

"Does it matter?" The calm looking boy asked quietly. "I mean, we're here, is it worth trying to figure out how? Obviously none of us know, so discussing it will hardly help."

"Oh yes, let's just sit here like complete failures and not even try to figure out what's going on." Jazz retorted.

"Glad you agree." Calvin said, putting his hands behind his head and crossing his legs.

Jazz grinned despite himself. "Damn, you're not easy to rile up, are you?"

"Not known to be."

"He's right. Exchanging banter isn't going to get us anywhere but aggravated." Brandon sighed. It occurred to him that if they were being used for entertainment, they wouldn't ever be allowed to leave. Not alive, anyway. T.V. doesn't drop the popular characters. He thought bitterly.

--

Candice turned to Leon. "Well, I'm not hurt. That guy's a little fried," here she jerked her thumb towards Ryan, smirking as he returned a one-finger salute. "And nobody is actively bleeding, so I don't think we're injured. Who knows? Maybe we've been altered for the better." She waved away the doubt that accompanied those words. After all, they were truthful words.

She shot Jazz a look of "You're scaring the kid, you dickhead" and then nodded at Brandon. "So what DO we talk about? Or are we just waiting for that thing to decide it has something to say?"

--

"That thing can take whatever it has to say, and it can shove it up it's ass." Ryan hissed, forcing himself to sit up.
"I don't think it has an ass." Brandon said flatly.
"It better fucking grow one! 'Cause I'm gonna fucking KICK it."
"Do you ever stop making empty threats?"
Ryan turned slowly to face Brandon and fixed him with an angry stare. He was NOT in the mood.
"You wanna fucking fight me?"
"No. I want you to stop igniting the tempers of everyone in the room."
"Tough luck!" Ryan moved to get up again, but Candice cleared her throat loudly to remind him of what he'd just experienced. He let himself fall back onto the bed and settled for an angry half-growl.

Leon nodded. "Yeah." he said with a small shrug. "I guess maybe they just brought us here cause we need to learn to use our new superpowers or something." He meant it as a joke, making mock superman motions, but it began to creep into his head that that might be semi accurate.

He fantasised briefly about what it would be like to be able to fly. "But then." he said. "What did they exactly do to us? What can we like....do?" his eyes lit up. "Wait a second... circle...uh...thing?"

The orb whirred.

Leon looked ready to sqeek in exitement. he didn't know whether he was a superhero, but if he was, that would make his day a lot better.

"Can i do new things?"

The orb seemed to think about it.

"Narrow queery peramiters."

Leon looked at the orb then at candice. "The what?" he whispered.

-----------------

Jazz put both hands up when candice glared at him, in a "Too hot in the kitchen" way, and casuly stuck his tounge out at her.

As leon began to ask the orb his question, Jazz looked over with interest. So the orb WOULD answer questions still...huh. A massive quantity of sarcastic things to ask came to mind.

------------------

Calvin listened, eyes closed, to the question. Well, this could be interesting, he thought.

Candice opened her mouth to respond to Leon but Brandon cut her off. This was a question that he too wanted answered. Up until now he'd been reluctant to even attempt to ask. He didn't like people or things that dodged questions. He had developed a new dislike for the word "classified".

"It means be more specific." He said. "Like this: What are his new abilities?"
"You do not have clearance for secondhand information."
"GOD DAMMIT."
Brandon inhaled so sharply that he actually began choking on his own spit. It only took persistence to truly enrage him.

----

Candice rolled her eyes. "I think it wants you to ask for yourself." She whispered to Leon, low enough that Brandon did not hear her.

---

Ryan snickered at Brandon's response. "Heh. Bitch." He muttered.

Leon nodded wide eyed. "Allright." he said "Um... Circle. Please tell me if i have powers....and if i do, what they are." He left it at that, looking at the orb critically, as though he wasn't sure if he was going to like what it told him.

"Aswer one, yes, so to speak." Leon looked significantly amazed. "Answer two, you are a bard of rage. You are able to utilise your aspect to unleash massive power, and destroy without reservation or exception."

Leon now looked happy but incredibly confused. "So....im like....the hulk...but musical?"

The orb whirred for an abnormal amount of time.

When it spoke it sounded, if anything, a bit disturbed. "Answer three. Debatable."

Leon grinned. "Cool!" Leon looked at candice. "Isn't that cool?! I mean...i cant play music...but...cool!"

------------------

Jazz's eyebrows coud not have gone much higher. "So hes an.....angry musician...." He couldn't think of anything sarcastic to say. He felt like that was almost sarcastic in and of itself, in the sense that it had to be asked.

------------------

Calvin sat up. He looked confused. "That is....well allright. I guess it isn't any more odd than the rest of this." He shrugged. "I guess we should all ask?"

Brandon made stuttering sounds of disbelief and anger, accompanied by the appropriate hand gestures, and then inhaled deeply again. He let his hands fall into his lap. Candice snickered and he fixed her with a cold glare. Loosing his temper wasn't very practical, however, so he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down a bit.

"That would be the idea." He said through clenched teeth. "Orb. Please inform me of what my powers are."
"You are the rouge of light. You are able to redistribute the fortune and functionality of all around you, though not to intrinsically alter it for yourself."
"What exactly does that mean?"
"Classified."
"Fucking CLASSIFIED." Brandon put his head in his hands. How the hell was he supposed to make heads or tails of the situation when the situation was always classified? He couldn't. If there was a way, he would have spilled blood to know it.

-----------

Candice did very little to suppress her amusement. "Ok, let's give it a shot: Orb, what are my new abilities?"
"You are the witch of breath, you manipulate your aspect to allow those around you and allow yourself the benefits your aspect can provide."
"Naw! I'm the wicked witch of the west! Minus the wicked!"
Ryan scoffed. "You're a witch all right."
"Don't make me drop a house on you." Candice knew she was being corny; this was confirmed by the depressed groan from Brandon and the tired sigh from Ryan. But hey, it was better than focusing on how unhelpful the orb was being.

-------------

Ryan shook his head slowly, still recovering from the stupidity of Candice's joke. "Yo, orb." He jerked his chin towards the metal circle hovering in the middle of the room. "What are my cool-ass abilities?"
The orb paused. "You are the lord of mind. You rule your aspect and all that it encompasses."
"Wait, what?" He sat bolt upright.

-
Brandon gave Ryan a suspicious look. That sounded...incredibly dangerous.

Leon was bouncing a little bit on his bed, seemignly lost in thought.

------------

Jazz blinked a few times. "Shit...sounds like im gonna have to watch my ass..." he said, only half sarcasticaly. "But fuck it, i'll play along. Orb, what are my powers?"

The orb whirred. "You are the Prince of doom, you destroy, and destroy with, your aspect.

Jazz looked nonplussed. "I....destroy....doom...the fuck even is doom? Like, as a thing?"

"Classified."

"Oh fuck you with a ten foot long chainsaw."

------------

Calvin's head was resting on his hands. "And my abilaties are?" he asked flatly.

"You are the lord of life. You rule your aspect and all that it encompases."

Calvin looked extremely dubious. "I....rule....life...somehow i doubt that, but fine."

"Agreed." For the first time, and perhaps the only time, Brandon wholeheartedly agreed with Jazz. "If I can conjure up a chainsaw, we'll have work to do."

Brandon shifted uncomfortably. "So I'm the Robin Hood of probability. Now whatever shall I do with this new found and incredibly helpful information?" The last part was spoken with stressed sarcasm.

He wished the orb would just get on with it. If the people (were they even actual people?) running this show thought he was going to sit in this room until the end of time, they were wrong. Brandon didn't care if he had to scoot the bed out WITH him to avoid electrocution, he'd find a fucking way to get out. "So now what?"

------

Stretching out her arms and legs on the bed, Candice looked over at Leon. She smiled. He was an energetic little kid...She felt bad for him. Everyone was obviously so much older than him, and she figured he must feel a little outcast. She leaned towards him a little.

"That IS pretty cool. You want to know a secret? The Hulk is my favorite superhero." She knew nothing of superheroes, but she liked Leon too much to be realistic with herself.

------

Ryan was still stuck on the fact that he could rule peoples' minds. Oh he was going to have so much fun with this. "Now we figure out how to make you people puppets." He said this only half-jokingly.

Leon smiled. "I like spiderman more, but the hulk is really cool..." He said with a shrug. "Though i really don't feel much stronger. Oh well, maybe im just not used to it yet." he said, casually rapping his knuckles on the metal wall and wincing as he decided he was definately NOT invulnerable.

------------

Jazz shrugged at brandon's question. "Fuck if I know, i mean, if we cant get up, and the orb is our only source of info, i guess we have to sit here like we are in freaking time out.

When he heard ryan he grinned. "Don't make me doom you, dickhead."

-------------

Calvin was still puzzling over what the orb had said. "What can one even do with 'life'? It isn't like we have any type of reasonable abstraction for that....can i just...make my own choises? I doubt it, since i certainly didn't chose to be here."

Brandon casually flipped Ryan off. Puppet. Pfft.

"Well." Scratching the back of his neck, he looked over at Calvin. "Realistically they probably mean life force. So, you can rule over life force. I guess you can give and take life? Which makes you God. Great." Robin Hood versus God, that would go over well.

---

"Oh no! Anything but DOOM!" Ryan made quite the show of mocking the very idea. "Listen motherfucker, you may be a Prince but I'm a fucking LORD."

---

"Don't worry, you'll get much stronger as time goes on. I bet if you train your powers, you'll be better than the Hulk himself! I bet Spidey would be pretty proud of you." If there had not been a 6 foot gap between her and the little boy, Candice would have ruffled his hair.

Calvin smiled slightly. "Yeah, somehow i doubt that i'd be a very good god. As for controling lifeforce...i dont know, that seems a little...uh...unlikely, but i guess we'll see."

------------

"Oh, well my god, my mistake milord" jazz said, saluting ryan with a middle finger. "Prince gonna shank your shit though."

------------

Leon smiled wide. "Thanks." he said happily., then, the orb began speaking again.

"Attention, pod members will step forewards one by one and be designated."

Leon glanced at the orb askance. "Uh....allright." he said, seemingly emboldened by the assertion that he could get up. He walked cautiously a couple of steps before walking up to the orb.

"Your designation is..." It whirred. "Apophis." Leon looked bemused. "Im a snake?" he ambled back into bed.

"The biggest, baddest snake around." Candice winked at Leon and then slid off of her bid calmly. She walked up to the orb, watching her own reflection, and stopped about a foot or so away.

"Your designation is..." Whirr "Isis."

"Oh that's cool! I have no idea what it means, but it's freaking awesome." She half-skipped back to her bed. Sitting down, she looked over at Brandon, who seemed to be sort of...stewing.

-

"Why don't you go get a name?" Candice said.
He glared up at her, but internally he asked himself the same question. He WAS kind of curious. Brandon stood up quickly, walking over to the orb with his head down.
"Your designation is..." That sound was starting to annoy him. "Khepri."
Brandon blinked a few times. "A solar god associated with dung beetles." He spun on his heel and walked back towards his bed. "Fuck you too, spherical bitch."

---

Ryan snickered at Brandon's frustration. "Fitting."
The look Brandon gave him could have brought a blizzard to the Sahara Desert.
He jumped down, "Well bitches, let's hear my new and improved name."
"Your designation is..." Ryan smirked at his own reflection. "Hu."
Ryan did not understand why Brandon had just fallen off of his bed with laughter.
"What?" He glared suspiciously.
"You...oh this is karma in a fucking NUTSHELL."
"WHAT?" Ryan was becoming increasingly aggravated.
"Hu is the first word, the word of creation. Do you know who said it? Atum. That's all fine and good. You know when he said it? Right after blowing his fucking load."
Ryan's eye twitched. Brandon was climbing back onto his bed.

--
Candice decided that this was the time to start singing loudly. Although he probably deserved it, she still felt the need to save Ryan's ego a tiny bit at the very least.
"WHOOOO ARE YOU, WHO WHO, WHO WHO?"
This was as good a time as any to start breaking out the classic rock songs.

Leon giggled a little at all the classifications, but finally looked at candice once she had stopped singing. "Isis is pretty awesome. She is a mother godess, she does a lot of interesting things in egyptian mythology. She's got a bunch of temples too, some are still active."

-------------

Jazz was laughing and pointing at ryan. "Well mister godly secretion." Jazz managed to get out between chuckles. "I guess i don't even need to make the joke here, it's already sitting there fuming!" He sighed happily. "Anyway, im gonna go get a name now i guess.

He stood up, casually walking to the orb.

The orb whirred. "Your designation is...Osiris."

Jazz looked nonplussed. "Uh...isn't that that sheep skin stuff they used to write on?

Leon shook his head. "That's papyrus." he called over.

Jazz shrugged. "Ok, well thats nice."

-------------

When jazz had gotten back in bed, Calvin slid off the bed and stood before the orb himself.

"Your designation is..." Whirring "Ra."

Calvin raised an eyebrow. He wasn't big on mythology, but even he knew that one. "I feel like everything in this room is trying to convince me im a deity....it's making me uncomfortable.

Brandon was still sort of recovering. His designation didn't seem all that bad, now that he thought about it.

"Ok, let's be serious for a second. I think we've all consistently failed to be serious." He was smiling now, and the laughter was still evident in the tone of his voice. His mood was truly boosted. It didn't take much to change his mood, but he could stretch an emotion right up until the point where it hit a wall and died. "We've got Khepri, Isis, Osiris, Apophis, Ra, and Hu. And we all have vague ideas of what we should be able to do. So now that introductions are out of the way, I guess we sort of...settle in?"

"They did say they had our stuff." Candice noted, having already finished her whispered discussion with Leon about how cool Isis was. "I guess just...Orb? Are we allowed to have our personal belongings yet?"

---

Ryan was fuming. His pride had just been chained to the back of a stock car and dragged around Daytona by the lead qualifier. He let the events around him continue playing out, having decided that the people in the room were much more skilled at being an asshole than he was.

The orb seemed to respond to the one question it found relevant.

"Please keep your limbs in the beds." It said. "Or they will be crushed."

A few seconds passed, and suddenly, large box-like contraptions slid out of the floor. They contained all sorts of the pod member's clothes and accesories, but with all metal and sharp items completely removed.

---------

Leon looked blankly at the box... Then he smiled. "Hey!" he said. "They found my jacket!"

---------

"Aw yeah, that's more like it." jazz said approvingly. "Now i can change out of these oil stained things and into some proper fucking threads."

He picked a pair of faded jeans and a large tee shirt out of the box, and unabashedly started changing. Apparently he did not give the smallest amount of shit about anyone elses comfort levels.

----------

When the box slid into place, Calvin hardly glanced at it. "Don't need clothes. I;ve got clothes."