The site of the recently restored Braddock Lighthouse. Aircraft hangars and other X-Men facilities, including a Cerebra unit and the Danger Room have been constructed around the foundations of the lighthouse.
"And here we have an example of how this place works." Nailah smiles as she walks over to stand near Kay and Kayla. "Your avatar belongs in the water, so naturally you act like you're in it. Trying to bring too much logic to this only makes you susceptible to the rules of your own imagination. Like a cartoon character standing in mid-air until they look down."
Kay seems to think for a moment, then closes her eyes and pretends she's in the ocean. The swaying grass almost sounds like waves even... And with that she lifts into the air again.
"Hey, check it out!" she grins at Miranda and holds her hands out to her. "I wanna see if I can lift you up!"
Emily is picking at the grass, when for a brief moment she becomes a mass of static in the vague shape of a girl. She changes back, but she doesn't look like the same girl. She's a few years older, taller, has a slimmer figure, and her hair is cut short.
Haley was much, much taller on the Astral, and looked older and more developed. She also looked like she belonged on the set of a country music video, complete with an elaborate hat, boots, and a plaid shirt tied up in a way to expose her midriff.
Alex was a walking metal statue. He was entirely faceless, which seemed to alarm the hell out of him, and lacked any real feature that might mark him as 'him.' Really the only way people would know it was him was that A) it was metal, and B) process of elimination.
Cal, in the meantime, was a robot. It looked vaguely like him in he face, enough to be recognized, but anyone looking closely wouldn't find a bit of flesh on him. Great. 'These upgrades will make your organic and bionic interface seemless. There's no downside.' Think I liked it better when I couldn't see anything in telepathy...
Kay sticks her tongue out at Kayla and zips out over the wide open field with another flick of her tail, pulling Miranda along with one hand, totally not doing the Superman/Lois Lane flying thing, shut up.
While everybody else was acclimating to the Astral Nailah takes Emily aside a bit and tries to see if she can find anything about the girl that would show she had indeed been dragged into the Astral by the shadows.
The first thing Nailah's investigation might turn up was that Emily lacked any sort of shadow. In fact, any shadows being cast by other things bent around her or otherwise avoided her.
Steve tried not to be nervous as he scanned the horizon for the gazebo or the unusual signs of movement that he noticed last time he was here. Just in case.
Nothing on the horizon seems to hint at anything being wrong. Of course, it could just be that he's looking in the wrong place. While Nailah and Emily are standing a little bit off to the side the amulet around Haley's neck begins to glow, partly obscured behind her shirt, but becoming more and more obvious.