Underwater adventures (Luke, double exp)

Alpha’s eyes scanned over the email, lips pursing as he considered every word typed to him in that professional seeming font. Obviously the whole thing was following a certain template to allow multiple of these things to be sent out, with the occasional thing changed just for him. It was an invitation to enjoy a luxury cruise in a [state of the line underwater sea faring vessel. Some people would call it a submarine, but Travis just thought what was presented sounded all the more interesting in that scientific fashion. While he should have just been learning more about his life before the sudden amnesia, this thing just sounded much more interesting. ”Chris, clear my schedule for like….three days I guess. I’m goin on an underwater cruise.” Travis said, pressing a single button on what looked to be some manner communicating system.

”I don’t remember being your secretary but okay.” The response came, but his attention was already elsewhere. Obviously he could invite someone else, except there was no one he could really think of that he could actually invite. Lucius was one of those serious types, so he would likely be busy running his country and things of that nature. His siblings, well they had their own lives which couldn’t be broken by sudden cruises as he likely assumed more than anything else.

Honestly from there was three days of tiresome waiting, until the underwater submarine ship thing actually was ready to set sail if that was the term that could be used. Apparently it was somewhere in the state of California, LA if he remembered the name correctly. Words were said about him avoiding someone named Danny, though he honestly didn’t care enough about that when there were underwater adventures to be had. If just doing whatever it was people did on cruises counted on an adventure anyway.

Robert decided to drive him there, so he sat in the back of their overly priced car, playing around with one of those vapid applications on his smart phone, tapping away at the touchscreen with a rather bored look on his face. Time stretched on it seemed until they stopped suddenly, Travis turning slightly as the harbor came into view with a small group of people gathering about. There were a few people dressed in tacky looking Hawaiian print shirts because some people had no sense of what looked good. Honestly, he went business casual as Aaron put it, which boiled down to a white polo shirt and a pair of black slacks.

”Alright big guy, i’m out.” He noted, leaning forward and patting him on the head, then just hopping out of the vehicle to join the small crowd that was gathering about. Most of them formed their own little cliques, talking amongst themselves while he chose to stand by himself because their thoughts were all vapid and annoying. ”I...should’ve brought that one cute employee i’m friends with….for some reason. Maybe I was just that shallow.” Travis spoke mostly to himself, wondering then if they were waiting to actually reveal the thing exactly when the little time section of the email read.

Sure punctuality was key, but he was just being impatient now.

Living in one of two underground fortresses at at any given time was fun and all, but when you were ambitious or easily bored it got old pretty darn quickly. It was either white everything or black everything—with a touch of red. Anyone could get stir crazy in that, even if they were beyond rich. How did Alpha and Lucius think everyone would just accept that? These were super intelligent, hormonal teenagers. Did they think locking them down in a basement most of the time would cause them to not get into trouble? In Lucas' eyes, the whole system was a bit flawed, which was why he was taking the opportunity he had from currently being in Alpha's Canadian facility to bust out.

Apparently Travis was going on some super advanced future ship, from what Lucas had overheard. It sounded pretty fun, ya know? What was cooler then an underwater ship? Very little. Only maybe pizza and beating up Godzilla could really top it. Even if it wasn't all THAT great though, it was still better then deteriorating in what was pretty much a prison while your parents did whatever it was they did. He quietly made his way into the garage, before jumping into the trunk of the car once he realized which one they were taking.

The ride was bumpy, and there was a chance he could have got locked in, but this was for fun! Anything was fine risking if it meant doing cool things. Besides, he held the trunk closed without latching it, so he could spring out when needed.

Eventually, the car stopped. He peaked out of his hiding hole and saw they were indeed there, and not stopping for KFC or something stupid that Alpha was doing now. Victory! Now he just had to get onto the ship.......

He crawled out of the trunk, knowing full well that Alpha might be able to see him with his weird telekinesis thing, but he was sort of gambling on the fact this Alpha was a little less calculated, and may not have been paying attention. After he got out, he ran over to the nearest hiding spot, which was a large mail box, and waited for the car to leave.

He assumed Alpha would let him come if he was already there. So, once the car left, he revealed himself as if he was invited.

"They better have coffee." Lucas said, totally casual.

Something stepped into the constant field around him, upsetting the minute levels of telekinetic pressure he constantly exuded. Travis didn’t really stir from standing around, yet he kept his attention partially on the person that was slowly approaching him. From what he could tell, they were small, child sized and overall likely no real threat to him unless they were one of those kid meta humans. For the moment all he did was play around with his phone, responding to texts sent his way until whoever was creeping up on him spoke up, the voice sounding slightly familiar.

Travis blinked, turning his attention to Lucas with a small smile. The shorter male was his son as far as given information would have him believe, granted he had a lot of sons running around in his hidden little villain base. (Even if Chris insisted they weren’t villains.) ”They probably have some of that high quality coffee those rich types drink.” He responded, just as casually, continuing to type on his phone despite the fact that he did not even appear to be looking at it. Sure, there weren’t any kids around, but he just did not care about that small fact.

”I wonder if they’ll have those fish eggs people eat too, cause that is actually really gross.” Another habit Travis developed appeared to be just saying things on his mind, usually the most unimportant seeming things, such as caviar. ”Oh look, someones saying things.” His attention snapped to someone standing behind a pedestal. A female dressed in a rather nice looking dress, black with what looked to be swirls of brilliant orange around the ends of the sleeves, matching vibrant gold eyeshadow. She appeared to be the one behind the whole cruise thing, looking to be in her late twenties but holding themselves as someone older.

Her name was Sharon Silver. She had quite the presence in the world when it came to anything mechanical, though the pleasure cruise was apparently more of a small side project to her than anything else. She was one of the few people that were even wealthier than he was, which wasn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world when he actually thought back to the large number shown to him. Her speech mostly consisted of greetings, thanking most of them for coming and a few more for donating to such an undertaking. Admittedly he would have loved to been one of those donors, if only because the idea itself was highly interesting.

Eventually all of the tiring talking was done, and the grand reveal came about. Everyone’s attention was drawn to something breaking through the surface, a large ornate looking metallic structure that towered easily over them. Drawing a comparison between it and a submarine would have been correct just based on design alone. Travis looked slightly surprised by how large it actually was, though considering how many people would be on the thing that should have not been a surprise.

”Looks like we’ll be staying in that for a few days. Wonder if they have any nice restaurants in there.” his mind was on food a lot lately, despite how little his body actually needed as far as food was concerned. ”Lucius will probably make a really displeased face at me if I bring you along, but that’s probably his default expression. So...I don’t care.” He shrugged, silently watching a sort of strange ramp thing slide out for people to pour into the thing so they could get a good look at the interior.

"Yay!" Lucas said with a laugh, jumping forward and giving Alpha a quick, but strong hug before running off to the ramp in a blaze. This thing was so awesome! Lucas had expected the ship to be large, it was a ship, but this truly went beyond his expectations. He could only think of all the fun things that were in there. Fancy restaurants, maybe an arcade, big windows to look out into the depths of the ocean with. Maybe he would see a shark or something, or find one of those mythical sea monsters he always read about. All in all, the boy was excited for all the things that could come of this trip.

"Come on! Hurry up!" Lucas hollered, waving for Alpha to hurry. As bold as he was about running off, he did think he should stick with Travis for at least the first hour of the trip, just so they could both figure out the lay out of the place and get comfortable.

He saw some lady in a nice dress, and judging by what she was saying to people she owned the thing. Not caring about formalities, Lucas yelled her way.

"How did you build it? It's so big...... Not even a big crane could do it, i bet." Lucas said. He was generally curious, but he was doing this mostly to judge if she was nice or not. Call it fishing, but he got his skills in analyzing people from Lucius.

Travis highly enjoyed Lucas’ enthusiasm, returning the quick hug as best he could before the younger male ran off to do their own thing. he followed along after Lucas, though not as quickly as they would run into the massive looking submarine ship thing. The opening that lead into it was massive, enough that likely they didn’t have to worry the crowd getting stuck unless they all decided they needed to rush out all at once. His mind was running over the many attractions that this ship would have, and many of them were just great. Honestly he was more interested in the food than anything else, though maybe some interaction with people was nice.

”I’m comin, i’m comin.” Travis chuckled, following along just enjoying their energy. However he ran towards what looked to be the woman responsible for the ship itself, a rather pretty woman just greeting guests.

”You’d be surprised.” She said with a soft smile, making a polite motion towards Travis. ”Crane technologies these days is rather impressive. It’s good to see you accepted my invitation Mr.Masters. She said, extending a hand to shake, which he did.

”What can I say? A luxury cruise in a giant submarine just sounds too good to pass up.” He responded in a slightly charismatic way that came almost natural to him. ”I’m sure we’ll see each other around, but i’m gonna go check my fancy room.” With that, he walked off motioning for Lucas to follow along with him. Honestly finding their room was a little annoying, but eventually they did find said room.

It was rather well decorated with two beds, a few nightstands and a window that let them peer out into the water beyond it. They sure liked to milk the whole underwater experience anyway. ”So I was thinking we eat and maybe see what this place has to offer. Hows that sound to you..um..Lucas?”

The explanation for how the ship was created was a little disappointing. Lucas thought it would be something cool, like alchemy or some giant machine that just built it in moments........ Well, he didn't know, he just thought it would be something more futuristic and interesting then a crane. Regardless of how it was built though, it was still cool. He shrugged before Alpha greeted the lady, and then they were both off to find their quote "fancy room."

It took a long time with how large this place was to find where they would be staying. They had to travel through long hallways full of elegant carpet and weird art that was a little depressing, but all around it was some nice decor. Once they finally reached their room, Lucas did what you would expect him to.

He jumped on the bed.

He listened to Alpha as he did, clearly having fun on the extra bouncy cushions, but making it a mess at the same time. Travis suggested they go eat and check the place out, which was fine with Lucas. After he jumped some more of course.

"Just one second." Lucas said, before running and jumping to the other bed nearby with a sort of cartwheel flip. It seemed he really didn't think Alpha would tell him to stop, that or he didn't care.

The room was quickly filled with the sounds of bed springs squeaking loudly along with the sounds of Lucas jumping on the bed. Obviously they would be making a mess of the thing, but  it was his own bed so Alpha didn’t really care. Honestly, he wouldn’t have even cared if they were jumping on his own bed. Messy beds weren’t something that would really give him any kind of OCD fit, so all Travis did was play around with his hair in the mirror while Lucas had their fun. ”We’re in no rush. We have plenty of time I guess.” His eyes slipped from the mirror to the thick window that peered out into the dark waters beyond it, moving ever so slowly.

Glimpses of fish could be seen if someone looked close enough, most of them small things but with the occasional flash of maybe what looked to be a shark or two. Without even realizing it, he had drifted over to the window and was staring out it as if someone in trance, mentally considering everything that could have been swimming out there beyond the norm. Ancient sea creatures that had survived the passing of time, perhaps even untouched from the days when great reptiles roamed the humid earth. All of it sounded so grand when his mind formed such images, but it was likely not that case at all.

Snapping himself from his thought, he turned to see that both beds for the most part were a commotion of blankets thrown off kilter, Travis only really smirking at it. This was followed by him quickly flopping onto his bed, joining in the fun that his son appeared to be having, though more to soothe the tension of boredom more than anything else. ”So, what got you interested in coming along with me? Didn’t feel like being cooped up underground, so you wanted to do the same underwater?” He asked,  slightly curious with the answer Lucas would give him.

Eventually Lucas got tired of jumping, as anyone would. You could only do that for so long before either getting tired or bored, though with how much energy Lucas showed it was safe to assume it was the latter rather then the former. He plopped from his standing position on the bed to a sitting position on it's edge, sighing as he did. Alpha had asked him why he wanted to come along, though he supposed he really didn't know. It wasn't much different from the facility, was it? He thought about it for a moment, why he wanted to do certain things, and eventually came to a conclusion.

"Even if it is the same thing, it's a different place, and i want to see different places.... So, that's why." Lucas said, a little uncertain about his answer but he thought it made sense.

"Plus i get to see what you do on your rich guy business trips." Lucas added with a laugh before scooting off the edge of the mattress. He grabbed the jacket that had fell off him while he jumped and slipped it on over his light blue shirt, then went to the door.

"Ready to eat? I heard in the crowd they have a bunch of different restaurants in here." Lucas said, going up to the mirror to fix his hair just as Travis had done.

”I just went on one of these things so I can get away from all those people looking over mys shoulder.” Alpha said, kicking his legs over the edge of the bed and letting them sway about while he thought og what food to eat. Food was always an experience for him, something that he just wanted to enjoy whenever he could, aside form the lame vegan stuff that had to be thrown out of his fridge. Lucas would make the suggestion that they get something to eat, and he was ready to go along with that idea before it was even suggested.

”Yeah, let’s do that.. What kinda food you feelin up for Lucas?” He asked, smoothing out a few wrinkles in his shirt while making his way out through the rooms door. ”I saw one or two of those restaurants on our way the room, looked like one of those fancy steak places i’ve read about.” he mentioned, moving around a few people walking through the respectably sized hallways. ”Everything’s probably overpriced, but I guess it doesn’t matter since I’m like a billionaire or whatever.”  He enjoyed talking, even if it was just to himself, though a few notes suggested he hadn’t always been that way.

”I’ll probably just order the most expensive thing on the menu, probably shouldn’t drink any of that wine stuff though. It kills the braincells and I don’t want to ruin my brain.” It took a few minutes of walking till they stepped through the entrance of what looked to be some kind of fine restaurant, from there they were taken to a table. Even the menus were laminated with all the flowery font that came along with them, giving about an air of sophistication that the whole place proliferated.

”Wow, they actually play pretentious classical music here too. I wonder what these rich types do for fun...I should probably know but ya know how it goes. Got shot in the head, don’t remember anything.” All it took was a look up to see the restaurant had a dome of glass above it. This place appeared to be the thing at the top of the ship, which likely meant this place was one of those types that paid a lot for the ships creation.

What to eat what to eat? Lucas didn't suppose they had pizza here, it being all fancy and stuff. No chicken place either, so he couldn't order his soul food...... Unless these rich people had a taste for mach and cheese, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Lucas doubted it, but decided the steak house was as good a place as any to see if what he wanted was on the menu. Once they passed it, he pointed.

"I don't really know what i want but...... That place seems good." Lucas said. He had already made his way to the lady that would seat them before Travis would have a chance to respond. She would then bring them to a small two person table, and give them both menus.

"Anything to drink?" She asked, kindness in her voice. It seemed a bit forced but then again it was better then the bored workers Lucas usually saw at restaurants.

"Um, Coke with lime please." Lucas said quietly, likely nearly unable to be heard. The waitress seemed to get it though, as she quickly scrawled something down on her notepad.

"And you sir?" The woman asked, looking to Travis. After he answered, she would leave to get the drinks and give them time to look through the menu.

Travis was lead to one of their tables by a smiling lady who actually did not want to be here, though apparently the pay was good enough. Money was always something that managed to get people to do things they would normally not want to do at all. ”I’ll have a root beer.” He responded concisely, letting the woman walk off to get their drinks while he busily scanned through the menu, licking his lips while just imagining which would actually taste good. Within that moment the overflowing thoughts of those around him became a din, a vaguely annoying sound that pitter pattered against the walls of his mind. They just were not as important as his quest to eat some good food, or even some okay food. So long as there was something he could fill his stomach with, then all would be well within the world.

”Starting to really regret the whole mind reading thing. people’s heads are really filled with just really weird stuff.” Travis noted just loud enough for Lucas to hear, having already decided on some kind of fancy steak with one of those potatoes people baked and crammed full of tasty extras. So he set his menu down, resting elbow onto the table and vaguely taking in the music that flowed through the room in a way that sounded as if it was meant not actually to be heard.  ”Wonder if cruises above water are as...stimulating though.” He then said, now taking in everyone around him. Mostly couples sitting around, likely going on some kind of thing because they just had so much money and here he was with a thirteen year old.

A soft rumble shook the vessel, causing a few glasses to shake and then fall over to spill. It was a brief shake really, but something that drew fear tinged thoughts from a large amount of the people sitting around them. It was something that was quickly deal with by the staff, bringing complimentary drinks and the like to their pampered, and paying customers. ”Wonder what that was.” Travis noted, looking to Lucas with a single raised brow. ”Wanna find out?”

So the lady would return after a few minutes of Alpha explaining the cons of mind reading, which would sound ridiculous to most people. Lucas could understand having thoughts in your head that weren't your own though, it sucked. He, however, didn't share his experience with his father....... Could he call him that? It seemed odd to call both Lucius and Travis that, especelly since none of the others of his birth type seemed to. Maybe he would think of something later, but as for right now, Lucas was focused on getting something to eat.

"I'll have the sirloin, and as my sides mac and cheese, annnnnd mashed potatoes and gravy." Lucas said, pausing briefly as he scanned the list of side dishes. They actually had what he wanted. Go figure.

After the waitress quickly wrote down Lucas' order, she would turn and take Travis' just as she had with the drinks. After that, she was off once again.

Lucas took the lime out of his drink, squeezing it until the last drop of juice was out and then he simply tossed it back into that sweet cola. He then unpackaged a straw and stuck it in the glass, sucking on it conservatively once he did.

And that's when the whole place seemed to shake, like an underwater earthquake. it wasn't too bad, and in fact Lucas had expected such things, but the rich people clearly had not. Some even complained and suckered some free drinks. As if the asshats didn't get enough stuff handed to them.

That's when Alpha asked if Lucas wanted to check it out. He didn't really, at least not yet.

"A mystery sounds fun...... But the fooooooood." Lucas cooed. They had just ordered, and unless the restaurant had super food making tech it was going to be awhile, but not long enough to go see what was going on. Really, Lucas wanted to fill his stomach before he went on any Underwater Adventures.

Travis unpackaged his straw, letting the transparent plastic tube sink into the drink as he silently sipped on the liquid. He knew the stuff was no good for him, but it tasted good enough to ignore the whole ruining his body portion when it managed to maintain itself rather well. His curiosity within what was causing the ship to shake was only something that came out of the desire to shake up their otherwise likely boring experience. Something told him Lucas would be more interested in doing a bit of detective work rather than lounging around, though they had gone out of their way to get food first.

”Okay, food first and then mystery.” He ceded rather quickly, stirring his straw around in the dark, carbonated liquid, mind continuing to roll over what that shaking actually could be. Likely nothing major, otherwise they would be rushing heir valuable clients to some kind of safety, despite how bad that would look on them. Imagining the thought of no more fun underwater cruises made Travis slightly disappointed but there was nothing that could be done about that now.

”Besides, I heard this place has some really high tech stuff, so I think it won’t take too long for the food to get done.” In fact it only took around a few minutes for everything to get done, something that actually managed to surprise him as minimally as possible. His was some kind of steak, along with his baked potato that had a bit fo steam rising into the air from it’s foil wrapping. ”Hard to eat when there’s mystery afoot, makes me want to find out what’s goin on.” He mentioned, playing around with the meat on his table and taking a few bites out of it before internally deciding.

Not really saying anything else, he stood up and walked off.

Well, the food came out rather quickly, which was nice. Getting it as fast as possible was essential, because after all there was some sort of investigation to do. Lucas wasn't quite sure why Alpha wanted to do it though, considering it seemed like something a kid would be dragging a parent through. Maybe it had something to do with that bullet to the brain, apparently that changed a lot in Travis. But there was no need to think of that now, it was eating time.

His mac and cheese was the first to go, and boy was it delicious. He honestly wanted to go get the recipe or something, because Lucas had never tasted cheese and pasta so good.

The sirloin itself though, which was the center of the meal, was pushed to the side. Lucas wasn't one for steak, or any meat really. He would eat it, he wasn't a vegetarian or something, he just much rather eat mashed potatoes and gravy or some other yummy side dish.

Anyway, before he could get to his gravy covered clouds of mashed root vegetables, Alpha just got up and walked away.

Well, just where the heck was he going?! Who just leaves their kid in a strange restaurant on a giant ship at the bottom of the ocean? Granted Lucas thought he could take care of himself, but it didn't seem very responsible of Travis none the less.

"Hey, where ya goin'? I thought you were all about eating now!" Lucas said, getting out of his chair and running after his parent. Apparently they were going on their adventure now.

Food could wait, honestly he could get the stuff whenever he wanted but adventure waited for no man. ”We can eat whenever, but we can’t always have an adventure.” He said, once Lucas caught up to him, not really lessening his stride as he thought over what could have caused such shaking. As far as leaving his child, well they could take care of themselves well enough as far as he knew. Unless they decided to sucker punch a shark or something along that line.

From what he could tell the staff had more interesting thoughts, though they weren’t anything really worth looking into. Nothing about giant squids attacking them or someone exploding the place, well that was until his massive sweep of the minds of the people here actually caught something. A mention of blowing up the engine, something that would cause the thing to sink to the bottom of the ocean and of course making sure that certain people were dead.

Well apparently someone wants to blow this place up, and me too. So that’s our adventure. He sent the psionic message to Lucas to avoid actually mentioning the situation out loud. As naive as he seemed, Travis tended to know how people worked just from the people around the company he supposedly owned. We should probably check out the engine room, since that sounds like an important place to blow up first. Just like that, the place shook against, and suddenly lights flickered off. Well, a few hours into the cruise was a good enough place to start if anything else.

They were out far enough to make rescue attempts annoying, though just blowing up the engine didn’t do anything when it came to killing people. ”Scratch that, you um….I know there are some kind of escape pod type things, so find one of those. I have something I wanna look into.” And like that he just ran off.