Nora Marie Lauren Gwinn
Dec 27, 2013 2:35:12 GMT -5
Post by Nora Marie "Nory" Gwinn on Dec 27, 2013 2:35:12 GMT -5
The easy S T U F F . . .
Name: Nora Marie Lauren Gwinn
Nickname: Nory
Age: 17
Member Group: Student
Power(s): Manipulation of the rate of radioactive decay. Essentially, this means she can temporarily make a substance more or less radioactive than normal. She maxes out at about 16x stronger/weaker, but she cannot create radioactive material where there is none. This means that, since people don't tend to leave vials of plutonium lying around, her power is effectively useless.
When she does encounter something radioactive, she must be close to the substance to manipulate it. The primary side effect of her power is radiation sickness, such as nausea and hair loss. Her risk for cancer is also significantly higher than normal, and using her powers in a poorly controlled manner increases the risk for those around her as well.
Play By: Dakota Fanning
Let it F L O W . . .
The recruiter, we'll call him Mr. Jones, was beginning to regret his agreement to serve as Nora Marie's escort. It was hard to say no to her, all sunshine eyes and brimming enthusiasm. She was well-liked at the school and certainly never far from a group of friends. But the kid. Would not. Shut up.
The pair of them sat on a train rattling through the Massachusetts suburbs. Outside, fading April sunlight flickered between the houses and trees flashing past the windows. They were on their way to Boston, where Nora Marie would be spending the weekend with her older half-brother. Inside, the girl sat with her feet propped against the seat in front of her and her backpack in her lap. She was, as far as Mr. Jones could tell, about sixty percent of the way through what promised to be her life story.
“Adam said it would come out eventually if I used enough bleach,” Nora Marie continued as she tapped her toes lightly on the seat in front of her. “I asked dad if there was anything he could do about it, but he said to just throw it out before mom saw. You can call me Nory by the way, everyone does. Did you know my dad when he was at Hammel?”
Not bothering to wait for a reply, the young woman chatted on. “He spent most of his time training, since telekinesis is so hard to control. I don't think I would mind more time with the trainers, if only my power did something useful.” She sighed. “Manipulate radiation, except there's never anything radioactive around. Look guys, I can make the potassium in this banana as dangerous as the potassium in ten bananas! I mean, I guess if I went on vacation to Chernobyl, or there's a nuclear holocaust or something. But even then I don't think I'd be much good. I'd be a puking, hairless wreck by the end of a week. Besides, you know, nuclear holocaust, that would be pretty bad.”
She paused, her face deflated, and she sat apparently consumed in the contemplation of the horrors of war for a few moments. Then she bounced back up like a toy on a spring. “So hopefully I never get to use it! I really can't complain, it could be a lot worse. Like there was one time, Samantha, Colin and Rachel and me were all playing badminton...”
As the words danced by, Mr. Jones lost the thread of Nora Marie's story and fell to watching her instead. She was a scrappy, fidgety thing, short and thin, with patches of acne on her cheeks. She had a round, plain face, with a strangely shaped nose, wide mouth, and large eyes. Her thin, limp hair had probably been blonde when she was a toddler, and her clothes were the worn and faded uniform of the 'financially assisted' Hammel students. Her hands were raw, red and scaly-looking, thanks to a recent breakout of eczema. But even though Nory was scarred, and small, and plain, there was something intriguing in the animation of it all. She hardly ever stopped moving. And her eyes, though a very ordinary shade of blue, were so open and expressive that it only took ten minutes in her company to be able to read her like a book.
The rest of the train ride into Boston featured an expose of the drama in the girls dorms, an account of her favorite films (Twilight, The Grudge, and Up), and an explosive reaction to the passing of the snack trolley. By the time they reached the station, Mr. Jones was feeling the mix of mild irritation and affection that commonly came with prolonged exposure to the girl. As they stepped out of the train, he pulled Nora Marie's permission form out of his waistcoat pocket. “All right, it looks like your brother is going to meet us here, and I'll be back to pick you up Sunday night. You know the off-campus rules. Would you like me to call him, or...?”
Mr. Jones' sentence died as he looked up. Nora Marie was gone.
~~~
When you're friends with half the people at a high school for metas, it's amazing the kind of information you can get your hands on. Nora Marie dodged through the crowded street outside the train station, trying to move as quickly and non-nonchalantly as possible. Addresses, for one thing. Forging signatures and emails became child's play. It hadn't been completely a lie, she was coming to see her brother. It was just that she hadn't spoken to him in five years and he had no idea she was coming.
The taxi left her standing in front of a dark, shoddy apartment building. Nora Marie checked the address and started hesitantly up the staircase, looking for number 31. Her anxiety mounted with every step. What had she been thinking? Hadn't Adam made it clear enough that he never wanted to see any of them ever again? Why dig up the past, so painful for all of them? It wouldn't bring mom back.
31. Nory tried the bell, then the handle. He must not be back from work yet. Some muffled pounding music came from the floor above, but otherwise the hall appeared silent and deserted. Nora Marie sniffed around until she found a brick in front of the neighbor's door, apparently used as a doorstop. She hefted it onto one scrawny shoulder and squared herself up in front of 31's front window.
Five years ago, Nory's mother had died of liver cancer. She was 36 and had no family history of the disease. Mere weeks after the funeral, Hammel recruiters appeared at their doorstep and told them that Nora Marie had radiation powers. No matter how many times the recruiters explained that Nory had just manifested, that it was impossible that she had given her mother cancer, her brother wouldn't listen. Adam screamed that it was her fault, that she had killed their mom and he's kill her if he ever saw her again. He packed his bags and left that night.
Nory hurled the brick at the window.
The glass shattered with a crash, then another as the brick landed and knocked something over inside the apartment. Nora Marie seized the neighbor's doormat, threw it over the gaping sill, and scrambled inside as the last of the glass tinkled to the floor.
She was glad she'd come as soon as she turned the lights on. It was Adam all over, unanchored, miserable Adam. Hardly any furniture, numbers all over the walls, takeout standing on the counter. She dropped her backpack by the door, sat down in the single kitchen chair, and tried to think of what she'd say when he got back. “Hi Adam, remember me?” “Sorry about the window, I'll pay for it.” “I'm so sorry, I miss you so much it makes my teeth hurt.” “What the hell kind of shit-faced brother do you think you are, you fucking asshole?”
The minutes ticked unbearably by. She paced, rummaged through his bedroom, turned on all his appliances, turned them all off again, considered changing her clothes. She was just wondering whether drinking the bottle of wine in the fridge would make things better or worse when footsteps sounded in the hall outside.
Nora Marie ended up in tears, like she always did, but Adam was crying too. His tears dripped onto her head as they embraced, kneeling on the living room floor and rocking slowly from side to side. Nory pressed her face into his coat and let the sobs overwhelm her. He was back. Her big brother had finally come home.
~~~
“So that's why I've got detention, plus I can't go off-campus again for like a year.” Nory gave a lopsided grin to her friend Samantha as they packed up their bags after English class. “But what else was I supposed to do?”
Samantha laughed. “I dunno, maybe don't break into your brother's house? How did you give Mr. Jones the slip anyway?”
"It wasn't easy, he was watching me really closely. But just before we caught a taxi, a big trolley pulled up and I jumped on the back, then off again on the other side where he couldn't see me. He thought I'd got on the trolley, but I just ran across to the other side of the street and hid in a tattoo parlor until he left.”
“Yeah right. I bet you just ran off at the station.”
“No, seriously! Come on, how lame would that be?”
The pair continued to banter down the hall, and Nory waved hello to Ms. Rivera. “Oh, that reminds me! I think we might be getting another math teacher.”
Behind the M A S K . . .
Name: Elliiiieeee
Age: Early twenties
RP Experience: A while
How did you find us?: Lugiaaaaa
Show your S K I L L S . . .
Nory shot-putted her backpack through the open door and onto the lawn. "Hrmph--meet him." Her second backpack came shooting out next, and judging by the sound it made when it hit the grass, it was filled mostly with hair clips. Nora Marie came last, carrying the duct-taped suitcase. She gaped openly at the looming manor as she pulled all of her baggage onto herself. She didn't even care what Henry was like anymore, as long as she got a room in one of the towers.
Having finally balanced her luggage on herself, she turned and grinned at Embers. "This is awesome! Can we have lunch with him? Would you stay?" As excited as she was, she was still aware of her stomach's usual it's-been-two-hours-since-you-last-ate grumbling. Plus, she wanted to change. She had worn her Twilight T-shirt for good luck, but it was solid black and she was starting to get hot.
