Joining MSI

I was walking along in Halloween town when I spied shadow running down an alleyway. Curious at what she was doing I followed her, i waved my arm and created a cape of shadows that i then flung over myself, completely hiding my identity.
I was just in time to see her shoe disappearing into a portal and disappear, thinking quickly I dove in after her and tumbled end over end through a swirling vortex of energy.
The last thing I remembered was a doorway of light approaching me fast before there was a blinding flash of light and the feeling of my head striking something cold and hard and my world went black.


The next thing I knew I was on the ground with shadow’s machete at my still concealed throat
“Alright just who the hell are you and why did you follow me here?” she asked with the blade still upon my throat
“Wait a minute” I cried as I dispersed the darkness that covered me with a bright flash of light“it’s me Jonathan!”
“Jonathan! What are you doing here?”
“I followed you here from Halloween town; I saw you enter the portal and wondered where you were going!”
Shadow helped me up and we walked over to some chairs that sat along one of the walls.i looked around and saw I was in a room seemingly made out of black glass, three doors were on the other side, one was blue, one red, and one was green, and each door had an unusual symbol on it and seemed to glow with a strange energy.
“So where are we?” I asked
“We are in the main lobby of MSI headquarters” shadow replied after sheathing her machete
“MSI… What’s that?”
“MSI is short for mad science incorporated, it is an organization where mad scientists like me can get together and put our skills to good use, we also come up with innovations to make everyday life a bit easier in other worlds”
“So all these people are...”
“Yep, mad scientists”
I paused for a bit and let that set in, and then an idea came to me.
“How about if I join!” I said and stood up
“Hold on now” shadow said and stood up as well “you can’t just join, you have to take an interview first”
“What happens if I don’t pass the interview?” I wondered as I looked at other candidates that were walking into the strange doors
“Then you are sent home and forget that any of this ever happened”
“Oh…” I said, worried that I wouldn’t pass and would forget seeing this wondrous place
“first off” shadow said as we walked to the desk “you have to pick a field to work in” she indicated to the three doors she pointed at the blue door “there is, biology, which is what I work in” she pointed to the green door “chemistry” and finally she pointed to the red door “and physics”
I stopped and thought about what profession I should choose.
“Ill choose physics since I am far better with electronics and technology than organics and chemicals” I said as I remembered the last time I dabbled in chemistry, and the explosion that followed.
“Wonderful!” shadow said as we reached the desk “hello I would like to register a candidate for an interview” shadow said to one of the receptionists who appeared to be some form of crablike alien with bright purple eyes
“What field” the crab-lady asked
“Physics please” I replied, trying not to stare at her
“Okay, take a form and go through that red door over there” she replied after handing me a strange form written in a language I couldn’t understand

After walking through the strange door and into the darkness behind i made my way into a room unlike anything I had ever seen, there wasn’t a single bit of it that didn’t have some kind of mechanical or technological marvel in it
“Excuse me are you here for an interview?” a soft voice asked
I turned to find a girl who just had to be of the same race as Ranga, an umbra, she had black hair with grey tips and her right eye was an upside down purple star
“Yes I am, and may I ask what your name is?” I said in a quiet voice, I was rather nervous as I had never met an umbra other than Ranga and her relatives
“My alias is Rune” she replied “very few of us know each others true name, you will receive an alias if you pass your interview”
“Thank you” I replied, completely embarrassed that shadow hadn’t told me about the alias thing.
We passed a statue of a strange bug like person who had an eye similar to a camera lens and four arms
“That is professor zoltan he is one of the three founders of MSI” she explained after seeing me look at the statue “he is also the one you are going to see for your interview”

Rune led me into a huge blue and white room that was sleek and futuristic looking down do every last detail, people lounged around and either watched what I assumed were floating TV screens or played video games or used some of the sophisticated computers that were along one of the walls there was an electrical buzzing that filled the entire room and mixed inwith the soothing music that played from unseen speakers in the walls

I walked into a door that was in the side of the room and saw the figure the statue depicted sitting at his desk
“Do come in my boy” he asked and gestured towards me with one of his claws
I sat down in a round chair that felt like it was made of nothing but air and handed him the strange form
“So…” he asked casually “why are you here?”
“I saw my friend going through a portal and when I followed her here and she explained what this was, I decided to join and use my talents to help others”
He nodded and his mechanical eye clicked like a camera “if you could build something to save another’s life would you?” he asked as he wrote something down on the form
“You mean like a life restoration machine?” I asked “of course I would”
“What if the machine would require someone else to die for the other to be saved?” he asked
“Am I allowed to choose who is spared?”
“I suppose so”
“I would have to deal with my conscience about my actions so I cannot answer that now” I replied
“Hmm…, what do you believe physics is” he asked after taking a sip of a substance that strangely resembled oil
I thought about it and then replied “it’s the study of technology and how to find improved ways of doing complex tasks”
“If someone offered you all of your wildest desires would you sell out and accept?”
“Excuse me?”
“If some one offers you what you always wanted would you give anything up to get it? Even your family and friends?”
“Are you kidding, I would never forsake the lives of the ones I care about to get something I want!”
The professor smiled and asked “do you know what a mad scientist does my boy?”
“Actually no I don’t” I replied
“To be a mad scientist is to take knowledge and parts of the world around us and make something that will help everyone, creatures do this all the time to survive”
He walked around to where I sat and kneeled down to my eye level
“Even though some people don’t understand and just fear, accuse and torture those who try to help”
“Does that really happen to people?” I asked in total horror that such terrible things happened to those who were just trying to help
“Oh yes it does my boy” he said “welcome to MSI”
“Oh thank you so much professor!” I said and shook his claw
“Come with me and we will get you all set up”

After I had followed him down a hallway he told me i would need a body scan, he had me stand on a strange glowing circle and a small ring passed over me and information about my species appeared on the computer in the corner the procedure was slightly less complicated than i had thought and received my handbook, which was basically a handheld supercomputer, the professor said “your alias is twilight, good luck and I will see you soon”
“Thank you professor” I said and ran out of the room to tell shadow
“That boy has quite a future in this place” thought the professor to himself as he sat back at his desk

I ran back into the lobby and wrapped shadow into a hug
“You did it!” she cheered “I was so worried that you would have to be mind-wiped!” she confessed
“Now all we have to do is get my gear” I said and we made our way to the metropolis to get what I needed to start

LATER THAT DAY

How do I look? I asked as I spun around in my new mad scientist outfit, it was grey with a black and gold swirl pattern around the edges and a gold chocker with a black pentagram charm, I still wore my normal outfit underneath and I had a pair of goggles on top of my head.
“Not bad” shadow said from her seat on my worktable, I had rented a laboratory since it would be impossible to hide one at home in the real world, the lab was very large and already filled with various mechanical components, and diagrams of strange alien looking robots covered the walls.

Happy with my success in joining MSI I turned around and began work on my first project…