[b][i][u][h3][color=gold]The Ashford Institute for the Gifted: Day 1[/color][/h3][/u][/i][/b]

Perhaps you’ve truly never had a home to begin with or maybe you were fortunate enough to have loving parents, friends, a lover, a [i][b]life[/b][/i] before you became one of the “Gifted”. Whatever came before is the past and now you are part of the future; the next step in human evolution. Mutant. That is what they call you, and the [i]Ashford Institute for the Gifted[/i] is a place where your kind can live without fear of the world rejecting you. It is a place where you will be protected and taught ways to control your gift, or curse depending on personal preference. You have been accepted into this academy, which you have learned to be the sister school to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters; the home of the X-Men. By you having been selected to come to this institute to train your powers, learn what it means to be a mutant, and to be accepted by others like you, your old life is over and a new one has begun; potentially the life of a future among the X-Men yourself. Are you ready?

You’ve been at the institute now for a couple of weeks. Mostly you’re time has been taken up by medical exams, physicals, tours, introductions, and the Institute’s two week long orientation. Now that all of those things have wrapped up it’s time for your journey here to truly begin. Today is a big day; it’s the first day of the Academy and last night after the final day of orientation you returned to your room to find an envelope on your pillow adorned with an old fashioned, beautiful wax seal bearing the Ashford crest. Inside was a letter typed on fine paper explaining that you had been hand selected by Malcolm Ashford himself for a special project that would begin with a meeting bright and early in the morning at 7:00 am. The meeting was being held in the faculty conference room but no other instructions or details were given. What does the future hold here at your new home? Will you fit in? Will you truly become one of the X-Men? Only you can write that story...but that story begins today. 

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Nathan's hand hovered over the power switch of his alarm clock for a moment before switching it off. As far as he could tell he had gotten less than three hours of sleep and had awoken long before his 6:30 am alarm. He had simply stared into the pitch black of his room, listening to breaths and occasional movements of his roommate. His tenure here marked the first time that he had ever had to share a room with anyone and that alone would take some getting used to. Justin seemed like a decent human being; enthusiastic and hopeful in ways Nathan had never known, but like an alright guy at the least and that was a good enough start. The first couple weeks here at the Academy had flown by, and Nathan was very much out of his comfort zone. Meeting new people...new “mutants”, and all of the activities and nuances that came with being in a place like this had been more than a little overwhelming for him but he was doing his best to adapt...though he feared even his best might not be good enough.

As he got out of bed and prepared for what was in store for him today he thought of his time here so far. He hadn’t made any friends, hadn’t really talked to anyone other than when he had to, and other than his roommate, who he’s only seen for maybe a few minutes a day other than at orientation or when they’re sleeping, he doesn’t really even know anyone's names or anything about them. He knew that this would have to change, that [i][b]he[/b][/i] would have to change; that he couldn’t fall back on old habits and the isolation of his life before this that though lonely was a comfortable place to be. It was a new start; a fresh start, and hopefully it would be the beginning of good things to come.

The outside air was brisk and almost winter like as he walked towards the massive mansion that was the Academy building. The sun hadn't even truly begun to rise and he saw no one else wandering around at this time. His was early by more than a half an hour, not due to vigilance or excitement even but rather simply because he had grown tired of staring at the dark ceiling above his bed and waiting for the inevitable beeping of his alarm clock. So, early was fine, and even though he had killed some time by relaxing in the hot shower it hadn't been enough to change just how early he was walking into this building. He didn't even know if it was going to be unlocked as he reached his hand up to place his palm on the door scanner. “Good morning Nathaniel”. A robotic voice spoke out to him from the small speaker box at the bottom of the scanner as he heard the clicking of the door unlocking and watched as it began to open for him. He walked inside and towards where he remembered the conference room to be. It took him awhile but after finding it he stepped inside to find that he was alone in a room with a single, long table in the middle with very comfortable looking chairs. The walls that surrounded him him were covered in large mirror panels that immediately made him uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath he stepped over to take a seat in one of the dozen or so chairs around this massive table and waited for a bit before pulling out his phone to kill the time.