havenpeople

"What do you mean they're gone," John Sublime's voice boomed through the basement as he towered over the cowering surgeon.

The church had been left unmanned earlier in the evening while Sublime accompanied some of his followers to a pro-mutant demonstration downtown. In his absence, their donors had gotten out. More like broken out, given the evidence that force was used in their escape.

Then the surgeon started babbling on about the power nullifier being dismantled and Sublime lost it. He struck the surgeon hard, causing him to crash against the crude operating table. The surgeon's head struck the corner of the table, his body falling lifelessly to the floor.

Sublime seethed silently for a second, his fists clenching and unclenching as he stood over the surgeon's unmoving body. This was an unfortunate setback -- another setback. This was almost worse than the shut down in New York, because he had been so close. He had worked so hard to get to this -- gained willing members of his church to be the recipients of experiment, captured enough mutants to conduct trials, built this basement with his own money to see his science come to fruition.

John Sublime was pissed.

He stormed up the steps and back onto the main floor, intent on heading to his office to make some calls to his East Coast contacts. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw someone quietly standing in the middle of his sanctuary. His face changed suddenly, adopting a more calm and welcoming composure which appeared strained.

( Excuse me -- can I help you? )

havenpeople

Across the bottom of the screen, in bold white letters above the scrolling news labeled the segment 'MUTANT TERROR AT UCLA'. A brunette woman sat in the chair at a desk, looking up at the camera on her cue. "Now in California: It seems all anyone can talk about is the apparent mutant attack that occurred on UCLA campus on Thursday. Around 1pm, reports of a mutant "

As the broadcaster continued to speak, footage courtesy of YouTube is shown -- muted from any audio accompanying the footage. "What you are seeing is amateur footage of the incident -- a college-aged young woman, apparently on fire is ripping through a section of campus and the neighboring establishments. Now watch closely -- you will see presumably two mutants, a male and female, try to intercept the female. To discuss this incident further, I'd like to welcome our mutant correspondent. Now, Tim, you've been monitoring the situation in Los Angeles. Have there been any arrests?"

"As of yet, no. We're still looking into the identities and ability set of the mutants involved, but there have been no leads. Reports indicate they left the scene before police arrived."

"Mutants are a hot topic right now -- we've seen stories about heroic rescues and debates. How do you think this will affect mutant-relations dialogue?"

"I do think it's important to note that two of the mutants went against the other -- either they knew her or they simply wanted to stop her. I cannot say what effect this will have on mutant-human dialogue."

"Do you think these mutants are UCLA students?"

"That is a strong possibility -- as the attack occurred on campus, at approximately lunch time. However, it's a very popular area so we cannot know for sure. They may have just been locals."

The broadcaster nodded as a map displaying the UCLA campus is shown on the screen, highlighting the area that was destroyed. "While it's not a large portion of campus, it is a densely populated one. As I understand it, all injured are in stable condition at area hospitals?"

"That is correct."

"Commencement is in two weeks -- will this affect any of the ceremonies?"

"Somewhat -- the events scheduled to take place in or around the destroyed area will be relocated and the administration are working toward easing parents' fears about arriving on campus for the ceremonies. It's expected they will come out with a statement early next week."

"Thank you, Tim." The broadcaster forced a polite smile before turning to the camera. "We will get you more on the terror at UCLA as the situation develops."