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Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: Doring's Office

Lots to unpack. Team is OK aside from Sylphid, should be Seraphim instead. Room assignments are terrible, I should be with Avatar to increase the chances I have to observe how the Myriad nanotech operates. Archivist blowing up would be funny if it didn't hurt Avatar. Scioromancer escaping and us going after him gives me another chance to try and steal tech from him. We get access to some cool rooms right next to where we're having our rooms moved to - moving all of my stuff is going to be a massive pain, now that I think about it. I still need a lab.

Jewels starts up first, indignant about not being the leader, which kinda makes me lose respect for her. Who fights to be in charge of things? That's completely petty, and being the leader is lame anyways. I mean, she's making some good points overall, but like gently caress I'm stepping up to help argue them. I've got a way more important thing to argue for.

Raising my hand like an eager student, only super sarcastically, I stare Doring down and start to voice my stipulations now that Jewel's done with her bitching. "I'm fine with all of this - IF you finally give me my own lab."

Looking suspiciously from one teammate to the next, all of them overtly superpowerful, I then both glance and gesture down at my own skinny and pale frame to emphasize this next point. "My inventions are why I'm even here to begin with, and I can't work on them crammed into a tiny dormroom with Ms. Goody Two Shoes." Yeah rooming with her is going to suck, I can already tell. "If you don't give me a lab or space to work in, then you're intentionally holding me back - and you're not doing that to anyone else on the team."

<Rauri> Provoke Ms. Doring into giving me my own lab
<Rauri> !r 2d6+3
<Krysmbot> Rauri, 7+3 = 10

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Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty | Location: Ms. Doring's office

"Ms. Doring, I must admit I at least partly agree with Jewels here... albeit for different reasons. On top of the issue of distrust, Red Strike Force would be lacking in firepower compared to Blue Strike Force. Swapping Jewels or me out with Bravura or Seraphim would be a good start.

thejoshie
May 3, 2013
Blue Strike Force

Ms. Doring considers all of your comments, then falls into a silence before opening her eyes again.

"...Shodan. I'm going to grant your request, provided that you take 'full' responsibility for it. No explosions. No unauthorized hackings. And no building anything, _anything_, without my approval. I mean that. People, staff and student, are already considering you a menace when it comes to your little experiments and constructs."

She pushes a button on her desk. "Cheryl, when I'm through with this meeting, Shodan is going to want to look at the Techlabs down in sub-basement B. Have it prepped and ready."

"No problem, Ms. Doring. Anything else?"

"None at the moment."

"...okay. A heads up, Ma'm. Lisa had another tantrum today, and I hear collateral damage was involved... a couple of Valkeries were at the scene."

Doring sighs at this. "I'll have a talk with Lisa myself. Relay anymore incidents AFTER this meeting is over."

"Are you sure? Something else happened that you might want..."

"After. The. Meeting. This is important, Cheryl."

"...as you wish. Ma'm."

Ms. Doring leaned back. "...where was I... yes, lab. I think your punishment has lasted long enough for you to grasp that you need a more subtle touch when dealing with civilian battlegrounds. Coach convinced me of that, he really feels you've learned your lesson there."

She leaned forward on her desk, elbows propped so that her head rested on her fists. "...and I should also apologize. I went overboard with my punishment. I just wanted to emphasis to you that you are smart enough to do better than what you did out there. Shodan, you are smart. You could teach half the teachers here a thing or two... you can be so great... but you have to learn tact. You have to learn that there is a certain... image... that needs to be maintained."

((Shodan, if you don't reject this, +1 Savior, -1 Superior.))

"...but enough from me... Sylphid, that is a splendid Idea! I can swap Jewels with Seraphim, which would provide better parity and balance amongst the two teams. Jewels has the proper experience that would help the Red Strike Force nicely. Considering your evaluations you gave me... that would work splendidly."

((So, Jewels... or should I call you chopped liver? You rose up and Sylphid took the glory for it. Such a burn... I'm sure your ego has skid marks. Take the Angry condition.))

Doring continues. "So this would mean that Seraphim will have Avatar as a roommate... Yes Shodan, you WILL stay as Sylphid's roommate. You two will learn to get along, even if it kills you."

She pauses at that. "...which reminds me. Ladies, this is a team. You may not like each other. That's fine. I'm not asking you all to hold hands and sing disney songs while prancing around a campfire. But the one thing you will do is respect one another. When you are out there in the field, the world is watching... including fifty grumpy men and women in suits who are just waiting to pass the Metahuman Registration Act. Just waiting to put you all in camps where you will not have a choice as to how you use your powers. Jewels, you of all people can understand why this is important! We can ill afford to give the Government a reason to restart the GEMM initiative... or worse. How you all work together will show that, no, Metahumans are not animals that requires a cage... we are people too."

She waits a beat, before looking at you, Jewels. "You're going to the Red Strike Force... but be rest assured, you need to change your mindset. Gone are the days where you took matters into your own hands. That was GEMM programming. Now, you're part of a team. Now, you are a Valkyrie. A warrior maiden who delivers justice on the wings of angels. This isn't you vs. the Government. This isn't you vs. the past. It's us vs. the world. _US_. Please keep that in mind.

((And to add on to the weight, that will be -1 Superior, +1 Savior if you do not reject.))

thejoshie fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Mar 13, 2016

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: Doring's Office

Goddamn, I think Ms. Doring has Super Monologuing as a power too. That took /forever/, and I couldn't be more tired of hearing her voice if I tried.

Still, she said a couple things to me specifically. Mostly stuff about maintaining a certain image, which is total bullshit. I don't care what anyone else wants, thinks, needs, whatever - I am going to be me, come Hell or high water. Even if that means detonating main street, I'm not compromising who I am for anyone. I don't give a poo poo if she punched Hitler or not, she's not the boss of me.

"Either you want me on the team or you don't." I argue, my mutated brain having seized on the weakness she's presented me with. "I don't have to get your permission to work on things in MY lab, nor do I need to change who I am." Raising a hand to stave off her next argument preemptively, I press on. "If I'm as smart as you say I am, you're going to have to trust me sometimes, and now's one of those times."

I look from teammate to teammate real quick, irritated that Jewels has gotten herself transferred out of the squad with me but more than smart enough to not betray any sign of it to her. "Besides, you're unable to stick to your own team assignments - I can't trust you to make wise decisions about what I do and don't work on." You doddering old grandma, you. Besides, I'm working on a ship and it's not like she'd ever approve of the design I have in mind...

Got a 9 to reject influence, choosing to Cancel their influence and take +1 forward against them.

Rauri fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Mar 13, 2016

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M


Freak: 1| Danger: -1| Savior: +1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: 0
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: | Location: Infrimary

This couldn't have worked out better if I'd planned it. While Gwen's in for whatever the doctors want with her I'm left to cool my heels in the swanky new medical wing. The place is so shiny and new it doesn't even have the institutional smell of bleach yet. The security seems pretty tight but even in a place as new as this you can bet there'll be holes in it. And It's not like I'd be after the controlled substances or anything so the security should be correspondingly lower right? I just need to find those holes and then I can get my hands on Avatar's blood and no one need be any the wiser right.

I ambled around pretending to look at the various medical doohickeys. What do they even use that thing with a laser on for anyway? I idly wondered but really casing the joint for any obvious security there had to be cameras at least or something right.


[12:29] Ferrosol assessing the situation
[12:29] Ferrosol !r 2d6+2
[12:29] Krysmbot Ferrosol, 4+2 = 6
marking potential at least and using be mindful of my surroundings to ask what here is the greatest danger?

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008


Freak -1 | Danger -1 | Savior +2 | Superior +1 | Mundane +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: | Location: Medical Center

Mrs. Louis....maybe isn't that good at her job, because that's a pretty transparent attempt to make me feel guilty, or say something....what, psychopathic? "It's not like I aimed for his throat," I answer. "And the cops probably would have just shot him dead, so you know..."I shrug faintly, shifting on the couch, crossing my ankles. "I did what I had to to protect my team and community. Not like I have some eye shooting fetish." I prop myself up on my arms and lean towards Mrs. Louis, trying to peek at the file. "What, what does Doring think, I'm crazy? I'm like the most well-adjusted one on the team," I say. "Me and Gabi."

It's been one of those weeks. Hi everybody!

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.

Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 1/5 | Conditions: Afraid

Again, I stay silent - both because Ms. Doring clearly isn't in any mood to listen instead of lecture, and because The Archivist is dead, and he was, according to the Myriad, the key to stopping Singularity. If there's a Plan B, they'd better hurry up and tell me what it is, because right now I'm not seeing it! The panic from that far outweighs Ms. Doring's stupid strike force idea, makes it seem trivial and meaningless in comparism - and frankly it is a horrendous idea in the best of times, let alone right now. This is going to go horrendously wrong on so many levels, but so long as Sylphid gets to call herself 'leader', Jewels gets an out and Shodan gets her lab, nobody else seems to care!

Myriad, please say something, tell me what to do, I don't know what to do next!

Are they waiting for me to say something? Or are they fine with me remaining silent? What would Singularity do? (I can't believe I'm asking that, but she's not... scared like I am)

GodFish
Oct 10, 2012

We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Freak +1 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Angry

Rejecting Influence
<godfish> !r 2d6
<Krysmbot> godfish, 7 = 7
Doring Spent her Influence to make that a 5, Labels shift + potential


I glare at Ms. Doring. Not only did she completely ignore that it was my idea in favor of Sylphid, she also COMPLETELY IGNORED THE ACTUAL CONTENT of the idea! I try not to even listen to the bullshit she’s spouting about teamwork because if she isn’t going to listen to me I don’t see why I should listen to her, but… she has a point, sort of. NOT THAT I DID TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS, mind you. Or attacked the government rear end in a top hat supervillains even when one of them attacked my teammate. So this is all POINTLESS but yeah, its us vs the enemy, not me. Yeah. Got it.

Doesn’t stop me complaining at her again as soon as she’s finished though. “Hold on! You just completely ignored the actual reasoning behind everything we just said, and the point you made a few minutes ago! Keeping Bravura with Vermillion is dangerous for her, and you’re still leaving two of the three people least satisfied with how Sylphid runs things on her team, that’s setting her up to fail. AND you said yourself that you wanted one of each of the powerhouses,” that’d be me and Vermillion for those not keeping track, “on different teams.”

“If you’d actually bothered to listen to anyone besides Sylphid, you’d have done like I suggested and swapped her for Bravura. Avatar and Shodan,” I point at each of them, “have worked fine with the team so far, its just Sylphid they’ve been butting up against, but Vermillion actively attacked the team, so if you want to give Sylphid a leadership challenge you should put her there to try and nip that problem in the bud, while still keeping Bravura safe and the rest of us would be in a functional team.”

<godfish> provoking doring again +1 from rejected influence
<godfish> !r 2d6+3
<Krysmbot> godfish, 9+3 = 12
<godfish> .... pfff
<godfish> forgot the +1 from protecting love also
Due to unrejected Influence, roll goes to 11, then because of the shifted labels, 10, then back up to 11 from Protecting Bravura

GodFish fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Mar 13, 2016

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty | Location: Ms. Doring's office

Sylphid stays unusually silent, more in thought than anything. Jewels is somehow making sense despite all the wrong selfish reasons, it's somewhat confusing.

But, somewhat more worryingly, she agreed with Jewel's assessment of Ms. Doring's choices. It's... somewhat flaky.

Assess the Situation: 2d6 10 (-2 from guilty, whoops!) Picking: What here can I use to get "Ms. Doring to end this somewhat childish discussion?" and "Who here is the most vulnerable to me (or my words, I guess?)"

Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Mar 13, 2016

thejoshie
May 3, 2013
Avatar

So here you are, sitting. Listening. Getting angry. Hearing snoring.

...wait, what?

Maybe you blinked. Maybe your attention drifted. Or maybe you've been seeing it, but now you are paying attention and notice it... Singularity on top of Doring's desk, under a blanket and snoring like a buzzsaw. Her eyes open and she stretches along the desk, scattering papers and junk onto the floor before swinging her legs towards you and tossing her blanket ontop of Ms. Doring.

Everything has paused now. No movement (besides sungularity), no sound (besides singularity), and you have a suspiscion that even time has stopped. Are you going crazy?

"...my goodness, does she ever stop talking!" Singularity walks over to you. "But regardless, you need guidance... and my bretheren, those sheep, they don't know the first thing about taking the inititive. I do. That's why I'm needed."

She walks past you, and now she's behind you. "You don't need Archivist. You don't need his technology. He wanted to kill m-us. He wanted to kill us. Remember the pain of the grenade. You weren't Avatar no more. You were Amy. Amy the bed-ridden. And if you want to go back to that deathbed of affliction, then yeah, go ahead and research Archivist."

...wait a second! You're back on the jet! The final approach towards Sciromancer as he stopped the jet's advance! Time was still at a standstill. You're sitting in the same seat that you were last night... in fact everyone is. Dragon is sleeping, Shodan is flying. Bravura is holding Jewels' hand...

...holdon, Bravura is...

"Yeah, cute, isn't it?" Singularity leans out from an empty seat. "And Jewels dosn't object to it. And now... she is trying to convince Ms. Boring into allowing the little archer to get in the same team as her."

Singularity scoffs. "This is how it starts, Amy. Jewels defends her from Dragon. Bravura begins to admire her. The two become bestest friends. Then comes the 'with benefits' tag... and you can use your imagination from there."

Back to the office, the light from the window becoming quite blinding thanks to your eyes beginning to adjust to the night time setting of the... what? Hullucination? Just what was this?

"You need guidance? Fine. You may want to stop this little... relationship. We both know how impressionable Ms. Doring is. Your friend Shodan exposed that. Sylphid is a teacher's pet. Shodan is her pet project (and if you ask me, she enjoys the attention)... that leaves you the odd woman out, doesn't it? Bravura is going to replace you from being at Jewels' side. In battle. As a friend. As a lover."

Singularity, revealing herself behind you, places her hands on your shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "I know it's hard, caring about other people. But what you need to realize, is that people and the Myriad... they are the same. They are sheep. And sheep, whether they admit it or not, wants to be lead. Jewels is not going to fall in your lap! You need to pull her onto your lap."

Stand up for yourself Amy. If Ms. Doring is going to allow Bravura onto this team... what will you do to ensure that you stay on? What will you do to stay inbetween her and Jewels? You need action. Even if it does involve a little subtlety...

As singularity's voice drown out, noise return. The chirping of birds from outside, Shodan trying to convince Ms. Bor- 'ahem', DORING into giving her full autonomy on her creations, and as predicted, Jewels trying to get Bravura onto the team.

What do you do, Avatar? You could try to do something here or later. Maybe convince Ms. Doring that isn't necessary? Or perhaps agree with Jewels, but also insist that you stay, but if that is so, who would go?

Or you cold stay silent. This could mean that you're the one replaced. Split away from Jewels. Or that you're merely biding your time and waiting for a more presentable angle to strike... after all, you and Jewels are roomies now.

Avatar, what do you plan to do? How do you prep for it now?

Jewels

Ms. Doring looks at you oddly. It was almost as if what you said punched her square in the gut. It's a painful expression that nearly cause you to turn away.

And as you ponder, it hits you:

If you'd bothered to listen to anyone besides Sylphid...

Honestly, it makes since that you were angry. You 'were' ignored. Sylphid was given most of the credit. But that rightious anger clouded a key fact: Doring does listen to you. She does care about your opinion. She's one of the few that believes GEMM exists inspite of the horrible government cover-up. And even now, she has been looking for your sister...

And now? A wall has seemingly erected. An invisible one. One that prevents you from being in the center of her protection from the government. One that prevents her from being the shoulder you leaned on during these trying times.

Jewels, mark Guilty. The success of your Provoke will be applied when fictionally appropriate.

Sylphid, Shodan, Avatar and Jewels

Shodan, you may have hit the nail on the head here, especially based on how Jewels practically knocked the wind out of her sails.

...which reminds me, you did a lot of hacking in the past. Would you know about GEMM? Was there anything on Foster's, Archivist's, Cell phone mentioning GEMM? Or the 'Misfits', for that matter? Just a curious question.

Anyway, the three of you feel a shift in the air. Things changed. The mood changed. "...right. I'll take all your comments and suggestions under advisement. For now, you all have the afternoon off. Shodan, you will be shown the Lab you will be working out of. Sylphid, you may want to go with her as this will be your first time being down there as well."

She shuffle some papers on her desk. "Avatar, Jewels. I suggest you two begin moving your things into your new room. I have some aides waiting to assit the two of you, so it shouldn't take too long. Good afternoon ladies, I'm sorry to take up your time."

And... silence. Right. Meeting's over.

Doesn't mean none of you can't have the last word or chance to twist the knife or mend fences or what have you.

Gwen Anderson

Your 'peak' at the file on her desk reveals something... interesting.

While most of the paper is covered by another clipboard, you notice the uncovered part:

Leadership Evaluation

Subject: Gwen Ander-

And the rest is covered.

Mrs. Louis doesn't notice your peeking as she was looking at someone who just entered the room. "Ah! Ms. Phillips! Just have a seat in the Medical Room near Gabrielle. I'll be done with Ms. Anderson in about Fifteen minutes.

She returns to jotting something down on her note book. When her glance returns to you, your eyes are on her. She doesn't show signs that you saw what you saw.

"Yes, you are well adjusted. Adjusted enough, that you seem not to care what others think. Add to the fact that you are not a goddess, but a human in the midst of Goddesses, Ms. Doring doesn't think you're crazy. Far from it. That's why you're here."

She flips to another page, preparing to write something. "...so, hypothetical scenario. Instead of Sylphid, 'you' were leading the team against Sciromancer. Knowing what you know now, about Castle and all, what would you do differently? How could Sylphid's plan of attack have been improved upon? And how ould you had executed it?"

...oh my goodness, it's true. Leadership! Not Seriphim. Not Jewels. YOU!

Being an equal to Sylphid would make it easier to be like her, to impress her. But... are you ready for this? You have no powers... and you're sure others would want this spotlight as well. Do you think it's fair to have this pressure?

Seraphim

Cameras in just the right spots, doors that were shycrhonized to close as others opened (so no sneaking in unawares), and there is at least one person in the room at all times since you got here, so no isolation.

And the worst thing? File Cabinets, computers, storage closets and lockers, they all use a lock that you have heard about, but you now see for the very first time: Voice Print, Eye Scan, and Fingerprint sensor. On the same lock, at the same time. At the moment, there is no way you could beat that!

"...what are you doing?"

That question belonged to Mary Phillips. A classmate and newer student to the school. If she was down here, that would mean she was being considered to be a Valkyrie.

You do know her, right? What about her stands out to you?

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008


Freak -1 | Danger -1 | Savior +2 | Superior +1 | Mundane +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: | Location: Medical Center

I nudge forward and steal my look, taking any distraction I can get a look. That's definitely my name, and....Leadership? I'm tempted to move that clipboard, but Mrs. Louis finishes her business just before I can do that.

Combined with her question, though? Yes, definitely I know what's going on.

I'm taking over! I try not to betray too much surprise. I'm supposed to be...human? Normal? But any human would be excited by that. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, thinking back.

"I'd have kept the team together, first," I say. "I have no idea why Vermilion was running behind. That should have been addressed first. Hell, we should have swung around and done some recon, before letting Sciromancer grab us like that." I pause, "Sorry about the plane," I say, although it's more Miss Doring's problem. "We were like...kids, in soccer," I say, "everybody rushing the ball, nobody playing their position. Even *I* was doing that," I say. "We weren't playing to our strengths, really." I crinkle my nose. "Or talking. We need better communications equipment, maybe some kind of position trackers. If we don't know what's going on...well, once parts of the team meet back up, assumptions just go nuts."

"Really, though?" I says. "More training. Everybody was pretty undisciplined. Weather we think Sylphid was right or not, she was in charge, and if we don't follow her lead...look, if everybody's half a beat off, that's not great, but it's better than everybody being a *different* half a beat off." I take a breath and put my hands in my lap. "We rushed in," I say. "We went out before we were ready because we had something to prove. More rehear...training," I say. "We need to build that trust. Without that..." I put my arms up and shrug.

"By the time we were out there, scattered, not sure what we could have done," I say. "It's not as if all the yelling helped. I didn't know Foster was some kind of double agent...nobody should have rushed on that, but I'm not sure Avatar would have cared."I make a face. "I feel bad for Sylphid. Sure she was unprepared, that's what I fault her for. After that...it was just chaos."

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: Doring's Office

Hooray - I got my Lab, and that's what matters. I mean some other drama happened with the other girls, part of me wants to feel bad for all of them for different reasons, but I'm going to idle that emotional subroutine. Being nice to them is a trap and I'm not falling for it again. Doring sending Sylphid down to my lab sucks though, gonna complain about that.

"She can come as long as she doesn't touch anything - it's MY lab, and none of you are qualified to use my inventions," I declare, trying to establish that boundary early. Everyone seems kinda down except for me, so I'm playing up how cheerful I am.

And I definitely am - new lab, a better outlook on my part on teamwork, and there's always the data I pulled off of Foster's phone. I'm not an idiot, far from it - I was uploading the data I'd decrypted off his phone to an external HD the entire time. Won't have whatever I wasn't able to access already on it, but it does have a ton of interesting-looking data about a lot of secret government projects. Dude had tons of emails on his phone about something called GEMMS, which isn't ringing any bells, meaning I have a fun mystery-puzzle to ponder!

Rising up out of my seat, I put my hands back into the exterior pockets of my trenchcoat - not to grab anything, I just like keeping my hands in my pockets. "Well, I'm heading there now - might as well start setting things up." Beaming annoyingly at everyone, I add an exaggerated wave in for good measure. "Have a great day everybody."

Rauri fucked around with this message at 04:59 on Mar 15, 2016

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty | Location: Ms. Doring's office

She looks to Shodan beaming at everyone. Well, at least one of us is in a good mood, I guess...

Sylphid gets up from her seat as well, making extra sure to place it in the position it has been beforehand.

"Understood, Shodan. And, very well. I'll take my leave as well, then." she says, before turning around to follow Shodan.

Suddenly, only really visible to Shodan, her expression changed to one of dawning terror. Truth to be told, she was this close to asking Shodan for a cloaking device.

Mom's right infront of the door, after all.

Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Mar 15, 2016

GodFish
Oct 10, 2012

We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Freak +1 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Angry, Guilty

Frankly, that just makes me angrier. Because my anger was entirely justified, and now Doring is acting like my accurate words hurt her! She doesn't have any business being hurt by what I have to say, isn't she supposed to be the teacher?! But no, and now I have to feel bad for hurting her, and still justifiably angry! I sit in sullen, irritated and uncomfortable silence as she dismisses us, and I guess I'm back rooming with Avatar. Whatever, clearly I'm not getting this solved today.

Once dismissed, I stand up and head for the door immediately. At the door, I turn back to look at Ms. Doring, giving her a look of confused frustration before I leave, moving past the former Sylphid and anyone else in the office.

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.

Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 1/5 | Conditions: Afraid

Why... is she speaking to me again? I called on the Myriad, not her! But good advice is good advice, regardless of the source; and hers rings true again, much as I hate to admit it.

Speaking up to try and stop Jewels' Bravura plan now would be a disaster, she'd only resent me for that. But what I heard is true; I have to stand up for myself, have to be proactive if I want to actually achieve anything. Not just with Jewels, but with this team.

Well... if we're ending this meeting, I will say one thing to Ms. Doring, whether the others are leaving or not. "Having had time to think on all this, I'd like to present my suggestions about the strikeforce later today - if that's not a problem?" There, it's nice and neutral, which Ms. Doring will appreciate after Jewels' outburst, and it undermines Sylphid's authority, shows I'm not going to just accept her as leader. I've been silent through most of this meeting, so she'll probably want to hear my thoughts, too.

I could rant and rave right now about why there's no reason for her to be leader, she hasn't shown any capacity or capability for it, and nobody has any reason to respect or trust her to lead... but it would be a mistake, again, to do that right here and right now. Better to be proactive, set things up, but set them up for the right moment.

Once I have her answer, whether that's spoken or just a nod or shake of the head, I'll leave. I have a lot more to do now. Plan for what to do now the Archivist's gone, plan for Jewels, plan for the team, plan for how to get rid of Singularity, despite her 'helpfulness'...

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M


Freak: 1| Danger: -1| Savior: +1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: 0
Potential: 1/5 | Conditions: | Location: Infrimary

My respect for whoever thought up the security of this place goes up a notch. I can't even be mad at them. They seem to have thought up everything. I can't believe they even lock everything up with voiceprint locks of all things. Still there has to be a way in somehow.... "What are you doing?" A voice pops up. Mary why did it have to be Mary? I can't remember what her super hero name was supposed to be but it's hard to forget her powers. She's got Super-Hair. It's got incredible tensile strength and she can do things with the fine control of it that make it quite a threat. She should have been a shoe-in for the team if it wasn't for some people. *cough* Shodan *cough* making a constant stream of terrible jokes about her powers. Saying she's gonna need to be in peak conditioner to be part of the team, that she might be hair today gone tomorrow, that she might have to Dye another day. It was pretty funny. But she got pretty thin-skinned about all the insults and took a swing at her and I think that was why she was cut. Ugh see even I can't help it.

Of course the other reason she got cut is she can't keep a secret to save her life. She'll blab anything she knows to anyone you ask. "Just waiting for Gwen" I said pleasantly. "She shouldn't be long, I thought I'd just get to know what the facilities are like I've always been fascinated by medical stuff like this" I lied. "I don't think I've ever seen an infirmary like this before. Hell some of this stuff probably isn't even in hospitals yet." I smiled. "So what are you doing here? Got hurt doing something stupid or is it just a check up?" I asked.

[19:10] Ferrosol piercing maries mask
[19:10] Ferrosol !r 2d6
[19:10] Krysmbot Ferrosol, 5 = 5

thejoshie
May 3, 2013
===20 minutes later===

Avatar & Jewels

That was... fast. With each other's help, you've managed to move your things from your old rooms to here. Super strength definitely helped.

So, Jewels, you have a new roommate in Avatar... btw, how much do you know about her? What's your opinion of her?

Any idea why she's always so quiet around you?

OH! And Gwen! Did you have plans with her later today? Something to help calm you down after earlier?

Avatar, what is step one of Operation: Get to know Jewels?

Edit: And describe your new room. How do each of you setup your half. What stands out?

Sylphid (w/ Mommy) & Shodan

Shodan...

What. A. Dump.

There are wires everywhere, and the structure is obviously incomplete. The power sockets are in inconvenient places, the tables are dusty and old, some of the piping is exposed. The room smells. The lighting is inconsistent. And there are other things that I missed that I'm sure you're going to tell me.

Honestly, If it wasn't for one very, super, awesome, incredible thing, you would've had half a mind to spin on your heels, march back to Ms. Doring's office and tell her to take that lab, turn it sideways, and...

Yeah.

...but nope. Nope, nope, nope. There is something here... something spectacular, that you would give an arm and a leg for. If someone offered this to you in exchange of you french kissing Ms. Doring, you'd do it. French kiss a dog? Sure. French Kiss a toad... okay, that's the line. Still awesome.

By the way... what is that 'something'?

Sylphid, mark insecure, because the entire trip down here and even the few minutes in this lab, your mom has been in your ear.

One statement in particular was devastating. What was it?

Anywho, there is something else in this 'lab' that caught your fancy. Something that caused you to immediately break Shodan's 'no touching' rule. It's very out of place because you sense magic coming from it. What is it?

Gwen Anderson

You can't help but notice how... fluid, Mrs. Louis is in her writing. She must be using cursive.

Regardless, she 'hmms' and 'hahs' around your answers as she makes notes. Then she does something that nearly causes your heart to leap in your throat.

She grabs the clipboard, the one with the evaluation, and she begin to make marks on it. "This is a Leadership evaluation form. See, Ms. Doring agrees with you... it was complete chaos. Everyone doing there own thing, with Sylphid having too much on her plate. Thus, Ms. Doring is splitting the team. A blue strike force and a red strike force. Sylphid leads one, you lead the other."

Mrs. Louis' writing hand begins to flow and you notice shes writing something near the bottom. Her signature?

It had to be, cause she folds the forn in three and hands it to you. "You 'can' refuse, if you so choose. But then you can't leave this room alive."

Pause.

"...From Russia with Love. Love that movie. Even if I did butcher that quote." She smiled brightly. "You seem the type who kick the tires before driving. You think, then you act. It's natural, since you don't have powers to use as a crutch. I don't agree with most of Doring's picks... but you were spot on. You'll do fine."

She hands you the paper. "Be sure yo give this to Ms. Doring. And congratulations."

This... this is awesome! This calls for a celebration! Maybe you and Jewels, night on the town? You have her cell number, right?

Or maybe you'll keep it professional and call Sylphid? Her advise might be helpful and since both of you are leaders now, you need to put your heads together to get this team in shape!

...where did Gabi go, anyway?

Seraphim

When Mary sees that it's 'you', her face frowns slightly. It's jealousy, really. Sometimes it's easier to make-up the truth than to admit it. She feels that she didn't make the cu- urhm... 'roster', due to favoritism. And she haven't gotten over the name calling or the rejection. It's apparent by the look on her face.

"...yeah, well... appointment, you know. Then I'm free for the rest of the day! going to hit the town!" Mary shrugs excitedly, as her hair stretches out to slide a chair over. She sits in it while evadining your question with a general answer. Can you blame her? She doesn't have good memories of you all, with the name calling and such.

She leans back onto her chair, crossing her legs as her hair slid another chair underneath them to rest on. "...OH! Have you heard? Our gym teacher is on his way down here. Frozen solid... by Shodon! After Lisa made him wet himself by pulling up the sidewalk! I heard they had to call the National Guard!"

Smile. "I can't wait! That heartless witch is going to get expelled! And then, as a souvenir... I get to keep this!"

She takes out a phone from her pocket. "...oh, she going to regret pissing me off. 'Dye another day'? 'Peak Conditioner'? Hah! I'll just turn this on and I'm..."

*riiiiiiiing*

The phone rings. With a uge smile, she presses a button and put it on loud speaker. "Hello?"

"...agent Foster... not much time... you were right abouGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"

Nothing. Mary looks up at you worried. "...uh... this isn't Foster..."

"...then who the hell are yo-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArgh! ...listen... it calls itself the Darkness... It broke out the Misfits and had Sciromanc...AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"

Nothing. And it stays nothing. That is... until heavy breathing is heard...

"...whomever this is, just know that you can't stop nature. Chaos is life... everything burns. Everything."

Line cut.

Well, Seriphim, that was interesting. What do you do?

Dragon

You've been in your room for a while now, Dragon. Feel better?

Anyway, you hear a knock on your door. "...Lisa? Lisa, it's me, Ms. Doring! It's okay, I just want to talk! What happened?"

What do you do? Let her in? Talk through the door?

By the way, you nearly hurt Doring when you had a chat like this before... What happened the last time you and Doring talked about that temper of yours? What caused you to lash out?

thejoshie fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Mar 15, 2016

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Insecure | Location: Shodan's lovely lab

To be frank - I tuned out about 30 seconds after it was clear Mom was going to repeat the same bullshit again. On no real basis other than two fights. In which I had to lead twice the number of heroes Mom did. And she expects me to be as good as her with years of experience and gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Seriously, though. all of this would have been fine. What's not fine, however, is her reaction to my apparent 'complete failure', as she calls it. She told me to deliver a perfect result next battle or she'll try to get Clara to pick my sister instead. I know Clara will never listen to that, but... it just shows how loving little confidence in me she has. It... It really hurts. I was on the verge of crying, in the presence of the worst team member to do it next to, and/or just punching Mom. Because holy poo poo, you deserved it right now. Thankfully, she's gone already.

But, thankfully, I did notice something interesting. No, not just interesting. Something amazing. A freaking Spellweaver! These things are rare as gently caress. They allow you to 'build' spells and fire them off later, without all of the hassle of actual spellcasting. Like, you don't need the insane concentration making longer rituals a pain, the margin for error is a lot smaller as you can fix the spell on the go and ----

I got to have this.

I pick it up, presenting it to Shodan. "Hey, can I have this? It's a thing for us magical folk. I'm fairly sure it won't be of use to you, anyway."

Oh, right. No touching. Whoops.

Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Mar 15, 2016

KittyEmpress
Dec 30, 2012

Jam Buddies


Freak: +3 | Danger: +1| Savior: +1| Superior: -1 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: The Cage

Ms. Doring is calling at the door, and I just... I just don't want to. I think I fell asleep while I was crying, because my eyes hurt. Not that I could even rub them when they did, my skin's pretty resistant to my claws, but I mean... does it extend to my eyes? Do I want to risk poking one out, to test it? I just stared at my claws for a few moments, as I blinked my eyes rapidly, hoping to clear it off my face. I wanted this time at least to go better, last time... Well, it's a long story, but last time wasn't good...

Excerpt From Valkyrie Origins: Vermillion Dragon

I can't believe what I just did, I mean I know what I did, and I know I was right for doing it, but I just struck a normal, human being. And I didn't strike him as hard as I could, or as hard as I wanted, but I struck him, and he was a teacher, and I struck him, and I probably hurt him bad. That was it, I was going to be out of school, I was probably going to be given back to the police, and they'd be right to do it. It was so so stupid, but I just got so mad, I just... ever since the Change I've gotten so angry, whenever something made me mad it was like... it was like something exploded in me, like I had just this heat that had to be pushed out of me, or it would overcome me. I hated it, I hated it so much. I hated how good it felt, to embrace it, to let myself be that anger.

By the time Ms. Doring called me into her office, I'd already ensured my knees would be getting some new scales soon, with how my claws were digging into my knees. And some new clothes. These uniforms did not work. Would need to figure out an alternative... but for now...

To The Present

Okay, so this time not only was a little worse, and probably caused a massive panic, but I also caused massive property damage. And made a teacher piss themselves in fear. And then made Ms. Doring take the time to come down to see me, instead of even calling me into her office. Okay, okay, just take deep breaths, "J-just a moment. I-I uh, I'm not decent." A totally quality excuse, I'm proud of myself for coming up with it so quickly, it'd buy me a minute or two at least, to figure out what to say to her. I mean, she knows how hard it is for me to get... well, you can't call my normal outfit 'decent' but it's decent-er. I knew I couldn't react how I did last time..

And the Past once More

I could feel the desk crack as my fist slammed against it and I stood up, "You think you know me? Because what, because people stare at you, because you stick out a little? People look at you and they're sad! They want to help you! They stare at me because I'm a freak, because they're terrified! You're nothing like me!" I could feel that crack growing, and in an instant, the desk shattered, splinters of wood falling down as I quite literally split the desk in half with a punch, "I.. There was nothing more to say, I just... I had to go.

And The Present

I finally opened the door, to where Ms Doring was, taking a deep breath, "Come... in." I couldn't tell how mad she was, but... I would just have to not get mad myself.



20:07 KittyEmpress Assessesess Teacher
20:07 KittyEmpress !r 2d6-1
20:07 Krysmbot KittyEmpress, 6-1 = 5

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: My Lab

This lab is somehow even worse than the firehouse from Ghostbusters was at the start of the film. It's barely even setup to be a lab, it's cluttered as hell with old and broken crap, there are computers here that look like they're from the Apollo Program era, the whole place smells like old and plastic and damp - it's an absolute loving disaster.

EXCEPT for the Molecular Rearranger!!! that someone left down here on one of the tables, as if it belonged with the rest of this garbage. Know how everyone was going nuts for 3-D printers a few years ago? Yeah, that was kid's stuff. The real tech wizards and super-science-types like me were agog over these at the same time. This unit doesn't exactly look like it's portable, but - if I can get it wired and powered correctly, which'll be easy since Intuitive Analysis will literally figure it out for me - I'll have a fully functional, high-powered, more or less Replicator at my disposal. It's going to make it a lot easier to furnish difficult materials for my inventions and explosives, make repairing and refilling my consumable devices less of a chore too. Plus, willing to bet I could use it to radically improve the batteries I've been working on for that ship I have in mind...

I'm so busy reviewing the Molecular Rearranger and all the possibilities it represents that I don't notice Sylphid's broken the one rule I have for being in here until she says something. Spinning around, my eyes narrow instantly, and I'm halfway to reminding her how stupid she has to be to forget such a simple rule when she mentions it's magical, and won't be of use to me. Which is wrong, I could totally analyze it even if I can't use it - magic is clearly real, I'm not arbitrarily skeptical about it, my power even figures out the basics of how to counter it for me - but I dunno, she's super loving obviously upset, I think her mom's even still hanging around. Bet I can get her to do something for me by not being a total dick.

So instead of bitching her out, I facepalm while informing her of the deal. "Yeah it's yours, on two conditions. One, you remember to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING." Deep breath, and in a calmer voice, "and two, you help me move some of this crap around - you're stronger than me, and I'm not draining the batteries on any of my Zero-G emitters. Meanwhile I'll be making a list of what's useful, what I can scavenge for parts, and what I need you to get rid of." Semi-sarcastically, I sum up "Complete those quest conditions, and the Magic Thingy is yours."

<Rauri> Assess the Lab
<Rauri> !r 2d6+3
<Krysmbot> Rauri, 7+3 = 10
<KittyEmpress> i'll assess ur lab
Choosing "What here can I use to rebuild the lab," and "what here is useful or valuable to me?"

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Insecure | Location: Shodan's lovely lab

"Oh, awesome! But wait, how am I supposed to move your stuff without - ah, nevermind. Sure, I'll help out." Sylphid replies, putting down the Spellweaver on a nearby table.

"You know, Shodan, you're not that bad. You could have easily made Team Leader if you'd just listen to Doring every once in a while and weren't so hellbent on ignoring rules. You've certainly got the brains for the job. You'd really just need to work on the attitude."

Comforting/Supporting Shodan: 2d6+2 9 (+1 from having Influence over Shodan)

Giving Shodan the choice of clearing a condition, marking potential, or shifting labels (Mundane +1, Danger -1) If the roll isn't lowered, I'll also clear Insecure.

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: My Lab

Yes, she's accepted my offer! I have a temporary lackey ready to rearrange the room for me!

Unfortunately she gets the urge to try and talk to me while I work too, and ughhhh. She's trying to make me feel better or something - aside from telling me I have an attitude problem that is, though from her I'll take it as a huge compliment. All about how smart I am, me being not as terrible as everyone thinks, that I should obviously be a team leader, what a cool renegade I am - it's obvious flattery, but whatever, I'll accept it if she'll stay busy helping me.

Responding to her over my shoulder while I survey some damaged-looking servers, I'm going to set things straight. "Being a 'team leader' officially marks someone as totally lame - no offense." Yeah some offense obviously meant, but kinda in only a teasing way? "The only thing I need to work on is this lab - speaking of, need those terminals ripped out, they're worthless."

Unless... "Actually wait, save the paneling." Getting more and more ideas here.

Taking +1 Potential.

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Insecure | Location: Shodan's lovely lab

"I don't get you sometimes. How does being team leader equal to being lame? Isn't it an honor? Everyone looks up to you and anything. I mean, sometimes the pressure is a bit crushing, and if your teammates don't... oh."

Moving on without further comment,Sylphid was already next to the paneling thanks to her ridiculous soeed before Shodan rescinded that order.

"Huh? Oh, okay. What do you want me to do then?"

Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 14:13 on Mar 16, 2016

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: My Lab

I've brought out my tablet to start taking inventory, simultaneously using it to make a map and color-linking the inventory it displays based on if they need thrown away, re-purposed, are good to go already, etc. Meanwhile, Sylphid's managed to not figure out what "aside from the paneling on those, they're worthless" indicates in the same amount of time - and she's the one with super-speed, it's pathetic. Plus she thinks people actually look up to the Team Leads, which... I couldn't help but make a scoffing noise after that comment.

Still, lab first, correcting her second. As if I'm explaining what I want done to a total idiot, I inform Sylphid what needs done with those giant old vacuum-tube terminals. "Those computers are from like, the sixties. The insides of them are garbage, not even worth trying to scavenge stuff - aside from the exterior paneling, which is both extremely resistant to temperature extremes and is already designed to work with electrical wiring running along them without problems. Basically, you've got-" Stopping myself mid-sentence, I look at her almost accusatorially. poo poo, I was starting to nerd out.

Shaking my head, I take a second crack at instructing Sylphid. "I don't have time to explain all this to you. Just carefully remove the casing slash paneling for those machines, maybe stack them in a nice pile for me, and get rid of all the rest of their internal crap without making a huge loving mess, OK?"

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Angry | Location: Shodan's lovely lab

"Okay, gotcha." Sylphid retorts, turning back to the job at hand.

'I know! I'll show her how awesome teamwork is. If I help her work through all of this stuff really quickly, she'll realize her loner attitude is completely inefficient! Alright, lets do this!' Sylphid thinks to herself.

Unleashing your Powers: 2d6+0 9 Marking Angry to stop the effect from being temporary or unstable.

And within, oh, twenty seconds, the job's done. Unfortunately, she may have worked herself up quite a bit of anger, as Sylphid couldn't stop thinking back to the horrible lecture.

"Done. Ugh... fucks sake, I'm so pissed at my mother right now..." Sylphid notes, driving herself in a ranting mood.

Ferrosol
Nov 8, 2010

Notorious J.A.M


Freak: 1| Danger: -1| Savior: +1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: | Location: Infrimary

I looked at Marie at she looked at me. We must have had identical looks of horror. "What the hell was that?" I gasped out. "Go find Mrs Doring now and tell her what we just heard. She needs to know about this before anyone else." I turned back towards the door Gwen was in a private room but this was an emergency.
I looked at the door drat it was locked. I hurried over and knocked as loudly as I could scraping my knuckles off the door as I did so. Something I barely even noticed. When the door finally opened "Gwen we have a problem. Looks like Sciomancer's escaped or been broken out by something or someone. We've got a major situation on our hands. I've let Mrs Doring know but you might want to drop your medical or what have you and get ready to move." I spoke urgently.

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.

Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 1+1/5 | Conditions: Afraid

My side of the room with Jewels is pretty... colourful. I may have overcompensated a bit, but when you've spent most of your life in a sterile environment, you get to make up for it a bit, right? The bed has an outer space-themed blanket and sheets - a jumble of all kinds of colourful planets and rocketships. If I was sharing a room with anyone except Jewels, it would probably get me teased - not that I care about that, anyway!

My wardrobe is similarly colourful - even if its clothing is limited; I mean most of the time I just wear a vest and sweatpants and let the Myriad fill in the rest, nanomachines so thick under my skin it's basically clothing. Besides, in a fight I'm not going to weep over having generic vest+sweatpants combo get torn up, they're nice and cheap and expendable. But for more relaxed situations, I'll totally rock some bright warm long-sleeved clothes!

Aside from the bed and wardrobe there's a bright orange plastic 'boomerang' desk - with a games console at it, and a small bookshelf appended to the side. No computer - if I do need that, I know where the Myriad ship is, and frankly after using the computer there, there's nothing on the market that doesn't feel... off by comparism. Maybe Shodan could make something better, I dunno, but for the time being I'm fine just going to the ship if I really need to use a computer, and just chilling out in my room otherwise. I will need to head to the ship soon, if only to try and figure out a Plan B with the Archivist's technology now that the man himself is gone, though...

Finally, from that, I have a little minifridge, stocked full of snacks - one sorta-downside of being the host to the Myriad is what they've done to my metabolism; I need to eat a lot more to account for their needs too... but that, again, isn't really a downside; it just means I eat a bunch more calorie content than I normally would, and that's something I'm totally fine with.

So yeah, that's my side. As I take out a chocolate bar and start crunching on it, I glance over to Jewels, staring at her thoughtfully. What does she see in Bravura anyway? What does she think of me? Those are the kind of things I'm thinking about as I stare probably a bit too obviously.

[4:45pm] Nown: Pierce Jewels’ Mask
[4:45pm] Nown: !roll 2d6-1
[4:45pm] Krysmbot: Nown, 6-1 = 5
Marking Potential

GodFish
Oct 10, 2012

We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Freak +1 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty

I don’t know a lot about Avatar, but she’s got some kind of alien cyborg stuff going on, I think. Anyway, she attacked Foster so she’s pretty much cool in my book. As for why she’s quiet around me, isn’t she just… quiet all the time? I mean its not like I know how she acts when I’m not around, because I’m not around. Well one thing is for certain, her sense of decoration isn’t quiet! Which is a good thing, because mine is.

The decorations I had in my old room was… a framed photo of me and Juliet. I have it on the little nightstand at the head of my bed. Elsewise in the room I have a dresser full of clothes, a yoga mat on my side of the floor, an incredibly dense punching bag hanging from the ceiling that still bursts if I punch it very hard at all, and four pairs of fluffy slippers because your feet can never be too comfortable. The only other real bit of personality on my side is that my bed is covered in about a foot of pillows and cushions.

When I saw how much stuff Avatar had, I told her to put as much on my side as she wanted, and I finally got around to breaking out the couple packages of christmas lights I’d bought ages ago and never used, and strung those up across the ceiling for nicer lighting. I should do something with Bravura, yeah… I’d like to. But I’m having a hard time working up the willpower to do it. Currently, I’m laying in my bed of cushions staring up the lights strung across the ceiling.

Eventually, I type up a text and send it.

@Bravura posted:

Want to go into town tonight?
Celebrate ‘successful’ first mission?

Getting out of the base would help me stop dwelling on Doring’s stupid, injured expression at our last meeting. Rolling over in the pillows, I see Avatar staring at me. Bit awkward. Maybe she was just spacing out as well? I cast around for a subject, “so… odds on the Archivist actually being dead?”

Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008


Freak -1 | Danger -1 | Savior +2 | Superior +1 | Mundane +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: | Location: Medical Center

I have to sit there for a tense minute, looking as Mrs. Louis shuffles her papers and drops the freaking bomb on me. I stare at her and I don't quite believe it.

"I...." I sputter. "Really?" I ask, but then realize a moment later that's absolutely not the right thing to say. "Thank you!" I says, perhaps too loud, jumping up from my seat on the couch. "I won't let you down," I say, taking the paper. "The team," I add, because I'm not sure Mrs. Louis really would care much one way or the other. "OR....anybody," I says, feeling nervous. Opening night jitters. Ugh.

I head for the door, at once elated and terrified. This is a huge step for me. A step up, a step out. It's like my first solo, except without the years and years of training. Can I actually do this? Can I? Miss Doring thinks so but she might be wrong. She was wrong about Sylphid. I can feel the cold sweat forming on my brow. I push the thoughts aside forcibly, temporarily soothed if not banished by a conviction that Miss Doring and Mrs. Louis can't both be horribly wrong.

My phone dings as I get towards the door.

@Jewels posted:

Want to go into town tonight?
Celebrate ‘successful’ first mission?

Huh. Not much to celebrate, but....well, we survived, and we did nab the bad guy in the end. I did also just give Mrs. Louis a song and dance about trust and teamwork and knowing each other. Soooo..

@Jewels posted:

Sure! Be fun! Invite all the Valks!

This'll be fun! That feeling lasts maybe six seconds after I get through the door.

"Gabi?" I ask, confused, baffled, lost. I stare at her listening "I...what, really?" I sputter. If this is some kind of leadership tests. "A...alright. Let's go check on him."

thejoshie
May 3, 2013
Shodan

Well, some of the wiring could be re-spliced into new power sources. And there are a bunch of old machinery with servos that could be broken down and rebuilt as something else. Some of the computers can be taken apart and upgraded, and those that can't could be used as spare parts to build other things in the lab.

((This was explained in the irc, but aking it official here))

Seraphim

Mary charges out of the room, her hair shooting out so that she is now swinging down the hallway towards the elevator!

So as you await Gwen's response, Mrs. Louis looks up from her desk. "...how did you know about Sciromancer?**"

**Earlier this issue, Ms. Doring explained the Sciromancer escape to Sylphid, Avatar, Jewels and Shodan.

-Josh


Avatar

As you look at Jewels, the Myriad does something... unexpected.

As soon as you look at the cell phone she takes out, a mini hud shows up infront of you with a transcript:

Jewels' Text Transcript posted:

Want to go into town tonight?
Celebrate ‘successful’ first mission?

That was sent to... her. HER Damnit! You were too slow!

(mark Angry, Avatar. Bravura seems to always come inbetween you two.)

Dragon

Ms. Doring rolls on in and settles into the room, setting her wheels on lock. "...I've heard about what... excuse me."

She pauses, reaches into her side for a second, then readjusts. "... just turning my phone off. Anyway, I've heard about what happened outside."

She looks up at you, into your eyes. "I know you were provoked somehow by coach. He doesn't like you... and disciplinary action is coming his way... but it's like my desk... you lash out because you forget who you are."

She places a gentle hand on your stomach... since it's where she could reach. She probably wanted to stroke your face. "...you carry so much anger. I try to divert it, yet more remains. And I remember your words the last time we spoke... and you're right. My problem is not your problem. I spoke out of ignorance. However... you have something I wish I still have: Youth and the ability to move. To fly. To be a hero."

Her hand slides up so that it's now over your heart. "You still have a heart, yes? It still beats, yes? And you still bleed the same red blood, yes? Lisa, you are human. You will always be human. Humans makes mistakes... and humans grow stronger from them."

She retracts her hand. "Your codename maybe the Vermillion Dragon, and righfully so, but you will always be Lisa Ren to me. I will always be here for you."

-1 Freak, +1 Mundane if this goes unchallenged.

Sylphid & Shodan

Sylphid, as you finish your task, you see Mary Philips swing into the lab and land infront of you, her hair knocking over the pile, making a mess that scatters across the lab floor!

"HAVEYOUSEENMS.DORINGSOMEONEISDEADSCIROMANCERESCAPEDANDITHAPPENEDBECAUSEISTOLESHODANCELLPHONEANDNOWNOONEKNOWSWHERESHEIS!!!!"

Gah! Someone needs to turn her volume down several notches! She's speaking loud and in jumbles.

Anywho... what do you do to calm her down? And prevent Shodan from making anymore hairpuns at her?

thejoshie fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Mar 17, 2016

Rauri
Jan 13, 2008





Fre: +1 | Dan: 0 | Sav: -1 | Sup: +3 | Mun: 0
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: Insecure
Location: My Lab

At least this place isn't totally useless. It'll take some time and entirely more work than I wish it would, but I should have a truly miracul- er, revolutionary lab by the time I'm done with it. Splice some wires, build a few good machines into a cluster out of all the bad ones here, utilize the rest for the ship I've pretty much figured out, make room in here for a workshop area and a hammock... it'll be badass.

It seems that in the twenty seconds it took me to finish surveying the lab, Sylphid's apparently finished a task that probably would've taken me the better part of an hour without utilizing my inventions, so there's that. There's also her being pissed at her mom, which I totally sympathize with. She was even getting on my nerves, and I'd initially found her hounding Sylphid about stupid crap hilarious. So yeah, she gets the whatever it was she wants, and I'll even be slightly encouraging - but only because she did the job so quickly, mind you.

"Parents suck, sorry yours likes to helicopter." I can't help but snicker a little at that, given the wind associations, but even still I'm not trying to be a jerk to her. "Listen, the Thingy's yours - though you gotta let me analyze it at some point - but you can keep helping me setup my lab if you want." I say all that over my shoulder while I'm fiddling with the holodisplays my tablet's projecting, already having sorted the majority of the room and its components into categories. It's the best she's going to get - but coming from me, I bet it means a lot, since I'm awesome.

<Rauri> Support Sylphid
<TheJoshie> KittyEmpress: If you never blew up your own soldiers while playing Xcom due to a paniced soldier... than you never played xcom.
<Rauri> !r 2d6
<Krysmbot> Rauri, 10 = 10
<Axe-man> wow
removing insecure


But then Mary loving sprints in and knocks over all the panels my minion just carefully stacked, and I'm glaring at her instantly. Plus she fills us in on a bunch of things we already know while practically screaming, up until the part about her stealing a phone from me. What the gently caress - that was her?! Is she still not over me ragging on her the other day? C'mon, that'd been hilarious, not my fault she can't take a joke.

Withdrawing a laser pointer from my pocket, I shine it in her face, both to let her know I'm here too and to be annoying. "Yeah, we knew all that stuff already - since we're actual Valkyries." Pocketing the laser pointer and my tablet in case she decides to try and punch me again, I push my luck a little further. "Listen, I'm not Super-Blonde like you and I get that you have a Hair trigger temper, but give me that loving phone back since it's Valkyrie business, right this second."

Smirk. "Comb on, no brushing me off about this."

<Rauri> and Provoke Mary
<Rauri> !r 2d6+3
<Krysmbot> Rauri, 3+3 = 6
<Rauri> oh come on
<godfish> hahahaha
<TheJoshie> Bwahahahaha!

Rauri fucked around with this message at 08:52 on Mar 17, 2016

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.

Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Afraid, Angry

It's fine... I try to tell myself as I feel my blood pressure rise. It's going to be fine. I delayed for a reason, to find the perfect opportunity. Getting angry isn't going to help with that... but that cold logic isn't enough to douse the fire rising inside me. I have to stop this date. Now. While this portion of the Myriad's powers are active, I look at Jewels, look through Jewels.

[11:17pm] Nown: Assessing the Situation
[11:17pm] Nown: !roll 2d6+1
[11:17pm] Krysmbot: Nown, 11+1 = 12

What here can I use to stop Jewels from going out? What here is the biggest threat (to convincing Jewels to not go out) I take +1 to acting on those answers

Wait... wait, she said something to me. She said something and I completely missed it. I blink, and try to think of something neutral-sounding.

"Mm? ...sure." That'll work, right?

GodFish
Oct 10, 2012

We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Freak +1 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty

Avatar is just... staring more, sort of blankly, I guess she is spaced out. I don't push her for a response yet because I get a text back and its... Not exactly what I was looking for. A team night out. Oh. Joy. I'd really rather spend time with just Bravura, but I guess if we're going to be an effective team, or even half of one, we need to get to know each other, and we won't if we don't hang out at all. Grimacing, and letting out a sigh, I valiantly sacrifice my date night and type out a text to everyone except Bravura and Avatar.

@Shodan, Sylphid, Seraphim, Fission, Vermillion posted:

Heading into town to relax after our first mission
inviting the whole team
want to come?

Then I push myself up right and look at Avatar, who only just is responding with a vague non-connected reply, she must have been seriously out of it. "Hey Avatar," I start with that to get her attention first, "you want to head into town? Doing a hang out thing with everyone for some team building or something."

@Bravura posted:

Meet at the school entrance?

GodFish fucked around with this message at 07:17 on Mar 17, 2016

Yami Fenrir
Jan 25, 2015

Is it I that is insane... or the rest of the world?

Freak: 0 | Danger: -1| Savior: +2 | Superior: 0 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Angry | Location: Shodan's lovely lab

"Oh, this is a Sp-" Sylphid starts to explain before she rudely gets interrupted by an explosion of hair. Which promptly explains that Sciromancer escaped again (Ughhhh we're going to have to listen to him again...), and that she stole Shodans phone.

"... Really? You stole Shodan's phone? What kind of bloody hero are you? No wonder you didn't get picked for the actual team, if you do something as petty as this..."

Provoking Mary: 2d6-2 0 Well, uh... I guess it's a level up. Taking Suck it, Domitian as my off-skin move. Also picking potential from Shodans Support for the advance.

Yami Fenrir fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Mar 17, 2016

AdjectiveNoun
Oct 11, 2012

Everything. Is. Fine.

Freak +2 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Afraid, Angry

Head into town? With the whole team? There's no way that can go wrong... But really, it's a simple decision. I go, I get to be part of 'the team' and get in between Jewels and Bravura. I don't go, I'm on the sidelines again, alone and forgotten.

"Of course. When and where exactly are we going?" I get up from my chair, to select a bright yellow sunflower-motif long sleeved shirt to fit over my vest. Since this is a social occasion and all...

KittyEmpress
Dec 30, 2012

Jam Buddies


Freak: +2 | Danger: +1| Savior: +1| Superior: -1 | Mundane: 0
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Insecure | Location: The Cage

Ms. Doring isn't mean, she's a nice person, she's caring, she's everything that a teacher should be, that an educator should be, that a Hero should be. I really, really, really wanted to be like her, I did, I wanted to make everyone feel better, to be able to live up to what she wanted from us. "I want to be a hero, so I can like... inspire people, and make them feel safer, like you did... but it's just so hard sometimes. Everyone staring, even when I'm saving them they're terrified of me, half of them think I'm the villain I think..." I couldn't even touch her back, as she tried to comfort me, I just sat like I was made out of stone.

"It's just... it's easier to make the mistakes sometimes. I try so, so, so so hard, I make sure everyone gets out with minimum injuries, I try to ensure that innocents walk away feeling better than before, but then people always are mad at me - I'm too bossy, I don't help enough in the fights, I am too stuck up, it just feels like no matter what I try to do to be a good hero, I just am bad at it! But then... I-I when I just want to break something, when I want to scare someone, it's so easy. Just letting loose a little bit, and letting myself be terrifying feels so good... and then I realize why everyone's afraid of me. I just... I just hate it so much."

Crying is one of the worst parts of the claws, I can't even wipe my tears away, "I want people to see me, but they just see.... this." I clenched my hand best I could. It was a good thing nothing was in it, or... well, it would be destroyed. Everything was so easy to destroy, "And I don't know how to fix it."

not rejecting the influence

Axe-man
Apr 16, 2005

The product of hundreds of hours of scientific investigation and research.

The perfect meatball.
Clapping Larry

Freak -1 | Danger +1 | Savior +3 | Superior 0 | Mundane 0 Masked
Potential 3/5 | Conditions: | The Perilous Outside

I look at Harold Ramos and listen to him talk, but I don't pay attention because he gave me that look. The look you give a machine, or a dog, or some other tool and instrument. He ceased to exist for me, instead I just felt myself drop down and into the ground. Cohesion lost, fighting effectiveness nullified, and that was the only reason I existed. There was none other. I didn't really exist anything other than a faceless masked thing. Inhuman to a fault, a nothing, a copy of a copy, a facsimile. As Doring pointed out. It was obvious to me as I fell through the ground and then reappeared in a drainage pipe far underground.

gently caress, I had done it again. I just lost too much of a sense of self to keep molecular cohesion. Not that any would notice, as Shodan and The dragon lady had pointed out, I wasn't exactly missed. Instead I decided to walk through the water over flow toward the outside of the pipe, with no cell service, I figured that it was simply a matter of walking out. Why continue to keep going? Because If I didn't I would disappear, there was only goal only one objective, take out the monster. It was going to come for me, or perhaps, I would come for it, it was hard to tell.

Once, that was done then I could disappear. The scales balanced, maybe, just maybe, but that was all I had to look forward too. I figured the others felt that way, since they didn't objectively care if I was there or not nor really want me there. I was the freak in the mask, the weirdo, the ugly one. It was obvious that this was guiding their actions. I ducked as the pipe started to get smaller, and I searched for a way outside. I doubted that anyone had traveled this way since before it was built. I suppose that was still the case, after all, I was nothing, not a person.

I shouldn't be at work, I shouldn't have a job, I shouldn't be doing anything but searching all of this time wasted when it should be focused toward a singular solitary objective. It wasn't like anyone else would notice, I wasn't enough of a person to be a hero and that was the secret solution to the problem.

Just have to work, undauntingly, alone even though I was surrounded by people. The Mask a wall greater than anyone else could ever breech.

After all, who can love a mask?

Unleash Power
2d6-1: 4 [2d6=2, 3]
+1 potential

GodFish
Oct 10, 2012

We're your first, last, and only line of defense. We live in secret. We exist in shadow.

And we dress in black.

Freak +1 | Danger +2 | Savior 0 | Superior +1 | Mundane -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: Guilty

"Dunno really. Just town in general I guess. Hit a pizza place, watch a movie or something? Figure we go once I hear back from anyone else." I tap the screen of my phone a couple times impatiently, then slowly pull myself out of my tomb of cushions, stand up. I don't really have anything I feel like changing into, my usual outfit is good for hanging out and for fighting. So with nothing else to be doing, I end up watching Avatar pull on her shirt, and thinking. She'd gotten her share of complaints from Sylphid I expect, and its weighing on my mind a bit that my arguments about the team balance regarding her could have come off as more of the same. "Hey Avatar...." I turn to face my bed, adjusting the pillow pile and plumping up some that I'd been laying on, feeling distinctly awkward. "For what it's worth, I think you did the right thing, attacking the Archivist. I don't believe that 'reform' crap, the guy was clearly in charge of the other people and he had a weapon specifically made for you. If The Sciromancer didn't fake his death so the two of them could run off I'll be shocked."

<godfish> comfort/support Avatar
<godfish> !r 2d6-1
<Krysmbot> godfish, 8-1 = 7

thejoshie
May 3, 2013
Shodan & Sylphid

Mary looks at the two of you, hands to her sides, fists clenched, hair covering her face which is probably purpleish red with rage. Her blond hair curls into _huge_ hairballs shaped like fists.

"...gently caress off. I'm not Valkyrie material? Oh excuse me if I'm not cool like Shodan! Excuse me if I'm not famous like Sylphid. All I am is Mary Phillips. Gandalf the Greyhair. Rapunzel. Hey Mary, can you spin that hair to gold? You can be a milionaire overnight! Hey, be careful when you lift that weight, the last thing you want is a hairline fracture!"

She is starting to hyperventilate. "...all I wanted was to belong, to be with people who understood me, people who were accepting, peoplewholikedmebutyou'renodifferentfromthemyou'renothingbutkidsI'mthematureonehereIdon'tneedyouIdon'tneedanyoneIhateyouIhopeyouallsplitopenandDIE!!!!"

Boom!

It was a second. A split second. The fist flies straight for you Shodan... and you have flash backs... memories of the training simulator sessions where this woman cracked steel walls. The terror of the thought of what that fist could do to your squishy body, in combination to your preparedness, leads to a smooth lunge, tuck and roll away from the fist/hairball that streaks past where you were, knocking over tables, brushing past Sylphid, which leads to the Spell weaver flying into the air, before ultimately slamming into... no... NO!

Not the Molecular Rearranger! That machine can't take a high impact blow like that!

But too late, as it sends out an enerygy back lash... a backlash that the Spell weaver falls into. The energy travels along Mary's hair, turning it blue in the process before bathing her in a large quantity of unknown energy, causing a very dangerous loop! She screams, though it's impossible to tell if it's out of pain, fright or both!

Then...

EVERYONE

The lights to the entire school, sublevel and all, blacks out as a mini 'boom' is heard! The building shakes violently as well, causing books in the library to fall off, people who were sleeping to fall off their beds, causing desks to leap and crash into each other inside classrooms, and all other manner of destruction. Then... stillness.

The energy backlash behind this, is detectable by you, Fission, as well as you Avatar thanks to your respective abilities.

So, everyone, what do you do?

Back to Sylphid and Shodan

...no lights. The Rearranger is smoking... but it still seems to be humming, that's a good sign. The spell weaver is on the floor. Also smoking. The re-arranger hums off, turning off the last source of light.

Both of you hear breathing. Ragged breathing. Coming from Mary's direction.

...

...

...

...I hate you all...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...die...

...and as sudeen as that both of your throats are gripped by a thick, bluish, inky like substance! It's strength is amazing and each of you slowly begin to feel your windpipe slowly constricting in on itself...

((Take afraid. Both of you.))

So... what do each of you do!?

EDIT:

AVATAR

What here can I use to stop Jewels from going out? The explosion and blackout!

What here is the biggest threat (to convincing Jewels to not go out), Jewels cell phone (or alternatively, staying in contact with Bravera).

EDIT 2: END OF ISSUE ONE!

thejoshie fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Mar 20, 2016

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Platonicsolid
Nov 17, 2008


Freak -1 | Danger -1 | Savior +2 | Superior +1 | Mundane +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: | Location: Medical Center

I never get the chance to check on Sciromancer.

My arms lash out, and then finding nothing to support myself on, I drop to the floor, arms behind my head to protect myself. When it's over, I peek up. "Gabi, you okay?" I ask. I reach for my phone and text Jewels.

[quote="@Jewels"]
WTF!? OK?
[/jewels]

"We need to get back to our room, get our gear," I say. I squint in the glow of the emergency lights. "Unless...." I look around, trying to find something else I can use as a weapon.

<Platonicsolid> Assessing the situation.
<Platonicsolid> !r 2d6+1
<Krysmbot> Platonicsolid, 11+1 = 12
What can I use as a weapon?

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