Sylvan Institute

1999
17/6
1999
18/6

Four girls have gone missing, all connected to this school which Professor Gironde suspects of being a front for a neo-Nazi radical organization. The school takes only mutants, teaches them to suppress their powers, teaches them that mutants are lesser than "true humans". All four girls were taken from their own homes, from their bedrooms, at night; no sign of forced entry. Two bodies have been found.

Wyldfire investigates.


After this event, the Sylvan Institute undergoes very rigorous investigation by government authorities of several sorts, including the IRS and the ATF. Red Skull's Fourth Reich thought they could not hate Wyldfire more than they already did, but discover new depths beyond what they had previously imagined possible. They begin to look for other villain organizations which also might be inclined to devote their resources to harming either Wyldfire or Phoenix Industries, without necessarily exposing the connection between these two.

 

Other boarding schools in the USA also experience an intense round of investigation and inspection by government certification agencies as well as the media, in the wake of this event. Some get through their inspections without too much difficulty. Others close their doors, or suspend operations while they radically revamp their current practices.

 

Dr. Gironde advises his students that he is going to terminate his "satellite university campus" program, remodel his mansion and associated buildings on the grounds to become a boarding school mostly for minors, and specialize in "Gifted and Special Needs" students who would fall through the gaps in current schools. He wants to attract metahuman students, yes, but also non-metahuman students who are likely to be future shapers of the United States as a whole: STEM kids, children of politically powerful families, people who will determine public policy in the year 2020. He would like to employ any of his current and retired Wyldfire agents who are interested in becoming teachers. Remaining in the "Special Projects" set (that being Wyldfire) will not be mandatory.

 

It is obvious that he has been researching this option for a while, because everything (including the certification process) is ready to be fast-tracked into place.

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