Conrad David Manne

[Conrad Manne]

The easy S T U F F . . .

Name: Conrad David Manne
Nickname: None
Age: Twenty
Member Group: Researcher
Power(s): Observational Calculation- All Conrad needs to do to know how heavy something is, how fast it's moving, how much power is moving it, or how loud of a sound it's making, he just has to see it/hear it. Once he has a reference point, he can make calculations to any measurement as well. For example, he is able to measure time in "RC's" which is the amount of seconds it takes his younger brother to snap out of a daydream and respond when their mother is calling. (Seven) And he sometimes measures volume in Jeans, which is the decibel level of his other brother's tantrums when he was six.

His side-effects are migraines and severe dysgraphia, the inability to write. He can read well and communicate his thoughts when speaking, but his writing ability is poor. However, he has mastered typing, though his spelling still leaves something to be desired. (Thank God for spellcheck.)
Play By: Elijah Kelley

Let it F L O W . . .

No more sunshine
It's followed you away
I'll cry birdie
till you're home to stay

"Meet your parents, Conrad."

The little boy didn't know that his name was Conrad, or what the nun meant by "parents". He clutched tightly to the woman's blue skirt, burying his face in the rough fabric.

With a small sigh, she pried his two-year-old fingers from her habit, and turned him towards the pale couple. He looked at them curiously, wondering what they wanted with him. There had been others like them before, but they'd always gone to the other children. Not him.

"What do you say?" The nun prompted, nudging him, urging him to greet the kind people who were going to give him a family. She was speaking in English, like all the nuns did when pale people came to visit.

"'scuse me." The toddler said, recognizing the prompt, but not the reason for it.

And the pale people laughed, and the woman reached out to wrap him in a gentle. He didn't try to pull away; she smelled good, and her hair was soft. "You are very polite, Conrad."

*****

"Conrad, sit down, your scale is working fine."

The boy sat back down at his lab station, looking crossly at the electric scale. He knew his sample of iron weighed seven grams, yet the stupid thing kept saying it weighed twelve, and that was a big enough of a difference that it could really screw up their experiment. "Mrs. Ellis, I really think this isn't right. My sample is half of what the scale says it is. Can I at least try it on someone else's scale first?" He didn't often argue in chemistry class. It was bad enough he used a typing machine to take his notes, he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself.

"Fine Conrad, use Jana's scale then, if you have to."

He was right. The scale was off by five grams.

*****

"Conrad, are you okay with this?"

The thin teenager sat quietly between his parents, as if being as still as humanly possible was enough to prevent them from sending him away, to this school for people who were different.

He was different enough already. Adopted, black, HIV positive, and now meta on top of all of that? Now all he had to do was find out he was gay and he could be the poster child for the ACLU, but that wasn't what he wanted. "No, I'm not. Forgive me, but I don't want to go to Hammel. I want to stay here, with my family. I don't belong at your school. I belong here."

Conrad had no choice though. At age fifteen, he was sent to Hammel.

*****

"Conrad, what's wrong?"

Hammel had been good to the boy. He'd been pretty popular, mostly because he'd always been "chill". Nothing rattled him, nothing made him lose his cool.

Until now.

"Listen, Amber, I know you had plans for Prom night, but..." He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, trying to find the right words to explain to his girlfriend that as much as he liked her, her plans weren't going to happen. "You know how I take meds every day? They're...they're for HIV. I didn't tell you because I wanted you to know me without knowing that, you know? I didn't tell you, but this is me telling you before we did anything that might be ...not safe."

Amber's eyes went wide, and she gasped audibly. "How'd you get it?"

Conrad finally breathed out, not noticing that he'd been holding his breath. If that was her first question, then maybe things were going to be okay. "I was born with it. You knew I was adopted. And, well, I've had it forever."

"So you didn't do anything to get it?"

He shook his head. "No. And my birth mom probably didn't either."

"Okay." Amber said, nodding, and obviously turning this over in her head. "Okay.....okay."

Okay.

*****

"So Conrad, you've completed a Bachelor of Science in three years? That's impressive."

Impressive, that was, for someone without a power like Dimitri, who was looking over Conrad's resume, and not looking at the young man who was trying really, really hard not to fidget.

"Yes. In physics. My power helped my lab work immensely, and I think I could really be of use to your department. I can measure energy levels in the students without and..."

Dimitri looked up and cut him off, smiling, "I know. You explained as much in your letter. This interview is more of a formality than anything. Mrs. Barnes had nothing but glowing recommendations. You're hired, Conrad."

With a grateful sigh and a grin, he replied, "Thank you."

Behind the M A S K . . .

Name: Tony
Age: Almost 21
RP Experience: More than half of my life.
How did you find us?: Well, about eight months ago, I went to my friend Mads and said, "Hey, let's give James and Chase superpowers, and build a site around them? Isn't that a great idea? And then Hammel happened.

Show your S K I L L S . . .

*points to James, Eli, Levi, Noor, Oberon....and the other one. Paulo!*

[Raena *]

Accepted!
But did you really expect anything else?

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