Aberrant: 2011 - Toril Hazelton media-releases

[Tesla]

(from Associated Press) November 20th, 2008 - The Gifted & Talented class of Vashon High School, in St. Louis, Missouri, was treated to rare scientific phenomena in class today. Class instructor, twenty-eight year old Toril Hazelton, erupted as a nova after a dangerous prank threatened one of her students. According to a statement released by the school, the G&T class had opted to construct a working Tesla Coil as their project for this term as a surprise for Mrs. Hazelton, who majored in electrical engineering before switching to education. For reasons unknown, assumedly a prank, an as-of-yet unknown student injected a sizeable quantity of hydrochloric acid into one of the school lab's electrical sockets, causing a shower of sparks and fire to erupt from the socket. Eyewitnesses state that one student was caught in the discharge, and Hazelton threw herself between the damaged socket and her student. She suffered second-degree burns, but electricity from the class's Tesla Coil then leapt across the room and surrounded Hazelton for approximately three more minutes. Hazelton is described as having stood up, watching the electricity surround her in a semi-conscious state, then warning her students to stay away from her, and finally collapsing. "I've never seen anything like it," Jenni Sybert, the student caught in the path of the damaged socket said. "I mean, sure, I've seen all kinds of footage on the 'Net. But this was amazing. It was the brightest thing I've ever seen." Sybert suffered first-degree burns on her forearms. Hazelton was taken to the Chicago Rashoud Facility after school officials alerted Project Utopia to Hazelton's eruption. An investigation into the alleged prank is currently underway.

[Tesla]

(From KSDK 5 in St. Louis, Missouri) November 21st, 2008 - St. Louis native Toril Hazelton erupted as a nova yesterday when an electrical outlet shot sparks and fire towards one of her students. Hazelton, a teacher at Vashon High School, put her own body between the outlet and her student, resulting in the eruption. Project Utopia officials arrived on the scene after school authorities notified them. After local EMT's had treated both Hazelton and her student for first and second degree burns, Project Utopia escorted Hazelton to the Chicago Rashoud Facility to undergo observation and evaluation.

KSDK 5 went to Vashon High School to interview some of her students and colleagues.

Frederick Williams (Principal) - We are investigating the matter thoroughly. It's hard not to be excited by this, obviously, especially for Mrs. Hazelton and her class, but everyone needs to remember this wasn't expected. You know, had she not erupted, things might have been worse. Two people did get burned and we still don't know if this was a prank someone accidently got caught up in or an attack on young Ms. Sybert or maybe one intended for another student.

Kishawn Clark (student) - We were all really scared at first. There was this horrible sound coming from the wall, this NEERRR NEERRR NEERRRRRR NEERRRRRRRR, and then we turned and this orange and white and blue light is spraying out everywhere. Mrs. Hazelton grabbed Jenni and pulled her out of the way but you could tell that they both were right in the middle of it. And then everything went quiet and we didn't know what to do, and right then our project just started shooting blue bolts or sparks or something across the room and hitting Mrs. Hazelton, but it was different this time. I think we all knew what was happening then.

Doug Curran (student) - Oh man, it was awesome! I feel bad that Jenni got hurt, you know, but watching the electricity fly across the room like that and seeing a real eruption happen, it was like being at the Superbowl and watching a 60-yard field goal! Damn, it was great! Oh, sorry..! Yeah, but we love Mrs. Hazelton! If one of our teachers had to erupt, I'm glad it was her!

Toril Hazelton is still at the Chicago Rashoud Facility, where Project Utopia officials say she's recovering quickly from her injuries and is in good spirits. She's expected to make a statement sometime tomorrow. KSDK 5 will of course keep you updated with any new turns in this remarkable hometown story.

[Tesla]

(from St. Louis Post-Dispatch) November 22nd, 2008 - Saint Louis native Toril Hazelton, who erupted as a nova two days ago, has spent the last two days in a Project Utopia Rashoud facility located in Chicago, Illinois. With the upcoming holiday break from school, many of the students of her Gifted & Talented class and their parents made the journey across the state to visit the Vashon High School teacher as she undergoes evaluation and testing.

"It's crazy," Hazelton said, "to think that this happened the way it did and that I'm the person it happened to. The one-in-a-million shot and I happened to get it. I don't think I'll be trying to win the Powerball any time soon. Don't think I'm ever gonna have that kind of good fortune with the odds again!"

Always a teacher, Hazelton spent most of her day with her visitors describing in detail what happens to a new nova after they erupt and start discovering their abilities.

"There's a really odd duality to this," she said. "On one hand, you're terribly excited about it all, because this is all new territory. Feeling the quantum, sensing what you can do with it, the voracious appetite, everything! It's a journey into a whole new life and you can't wait to find out what happens next. At the same time, so much of it is like being back in a sports practice. I'm doing the same thing over and over and over again just trying to learn how not to mess up! It was an absolute joy to have a break from that today. Tomorrow, it's back to the gym!"

Students were given iron blocks by the Facility staff, which Hazelton magnetized on the spot for them. With everyone safely behind protective glass, Hazelton then demonstrated a second quantum gift with an impressive electrical display reminiscent of her class's Telsa coil.

"Electromagnetism," she said excitedly. "I can influence both electricity and magnetism. If it's not already taken by somebody, I'll have to use Tesla as my nova handle. If nothing else, I should do it to honor Nikola Tesla. I might never have erupted if it wasn't for the coil we built."

After a tour of the Rashoud Facility, Project Utopia sponsored a lunch out for Hazelton's visitors at Giordano's Pizza, where students got to see upfront how much their teacher has to eat after erupting.

"How embarrassing," she admitted later. "I'm half-way through my fifth pie and most of them haven't finished the few slices they have. Reading about it really doesn't prepare you for how hungry you get."

When asked if she enjoyed Chicago-style pizza more than Saint Louis-style, Hazelton laughed. "Oh, nothing against the fine people at Giordano's. They make a fabulous pie. But I'm a thin-crust girl. Give me Imo's Pizza and I'm happy!"

[Ashnod]

(from St. Louis Post-Dispatch) December 11, 2008 - After an extended stay at Project Utopia's Rashoud Facility, St. Louis native Toril Hazelton returned to home to a warm welcome by her students and local residents. Hazelton, the first native St. Louisian to erupt as a nova, had stayed in Chicago longer than expected learning to control her quantum powers and rumors about her joining Project Utopia and/or Team Tomorrow had begun to surface.

"They definitely made her a good offer," O'Neal Hazelton, Toril's husband, told the Post-Dispatch. "We're still talking about it, so I can't really give you any more details than that. It's one of many proposals Toril's considering right now."

The length of Hazelton's extended stay was due more towards the difficulty in learning how to control her new abilities: control of electromagnetism.

"It's not easy," she admitted yesterday in a quick phone interview. "You don't think about the different ways electromagnetism can actually be used. I was flying around Chicago last Sunday, alternating between riding electrical currents and using magnetic fields as a means of propulsion. You'd think they are the same to do but it's actually really difficult to do one and quite simple to do the other. Manipulating magnetic fields to mimic telekinesis, creating raw electricity...all these things and more I've had to learn from scratch and there aren't too many people who can demonstrate it or tell you how to do it. The people at Utopia helped where they could, but a lot of it was just me figuring out how to do it. I didn't want to come back home until I was certain I could control this."

Asked if she had come up with a nova handle, Hazelton was enthusiastic. "Yeah, I'm going to use Tesla. I called up the Tesla Foundation and spoke with them, and the Tesla family, and worked out an arrangement where I can use the name without infringing on any copyrights or offending those related to Nikola Telsa. Some of it involves assisting in the promotion and public education of Nikola Tesla's work. Agreements along those lines."

Much to the disappointment of her students and fellow faculty at Vashon High School, Hazelton officially announced her resignation from her position as the Gifted & Talented instructor.

"I'm going to finish out the year," she said. "I owe it to my current class to see this year until the end, but I have to face facts. It will difficult to survive on a teacher's salary with a nova appetite, so I will need to find employement with a higher income. Also, I've been given the opportunity to become a teacher on a much larger stage, and I need to consider what I can now that this is in front of me."

,,