"Thanks," the young protege says, "so I responded to the area of the alarm, no one was there but Siphon. She told me that she was after these dudes and we worked together to track them down. We located them here attempting to gain access to the vault. We then engaged the Slipknots, during which Siphon sustained a wound to her abdomen/flank, I gave her medical attention and while securing the Slipknots she ghosted on me..." Rory tenses up slightly as he waits a response.
”Zay, she has a right to be defensive. For the record, telling a girl to calm down, it generally doesn’t end well,” Kayla interjects as her eyes narrow. The irises flare golden for just a split second, before fading to their normal hue. ”But, I think manual toggles and proof that they aren’t just dummy switches to make us THINK they work will be a good compromise. That way when we want, we can shut them off. Everybody agree?” she asks as she sits up, rolling Duke off her stomach and into her lap.
Ms.Quinn frowns, then immediately has her base's computer go through an inventory of everything she had stored in her vault. After a few minutes, it reports nothing missing. She sighs visibly. "That's a relief. You always have to be careful of the double-cross whenever a villain offers a team-up. I'll have to do a full scan to make sure she didn't leave any unpleasant surprises for us."
She looks uncertain after she thinks some more. "She just was after them? What does that mean? Any idea?"
"...One more thing, Isaiah. I need you to be perfectly honest about this." Shin looked at the drone's extension. "Have you told your superiors details about the team that weren't absolutely necessary for your Federation's security?"
That was perhaps the most worrying part of this whole mess. It was bad enough having a whole country hating Dusk. He would find it particularly awful if an alien society would condemn him for future transgressions.
"Yeah, they were employed by an unknown third party to hack the suit, something to do with some of Dread's tech. Then the Slipknots decided to take the it and go into business for themselves. Siphon was then hired to bring them back to the employer. I was cautious about the double cross, I tried to work so sort of assistance with Isaiah but never heard back from him. Did he contact you?"
Silver Shield shakes her head. "Not directly, no. Wait, Dread-tech?" She rushes over to the older suit and runs a scan. "No, no, no," she mutters as she reviews the diagnostics.
She reaches into the helmet and pulls out a small component. "Dammit," she says.
She storms over to where the Slipknots are being held for pickup by AEGIS personnel. She grabs Bazinga, who outside the suit is a rail-thin twenty-something with a patchy beard and thinning hair, and slaps him a few times to get him to wake up. He comes to, but barely. He's clearly woozy and lethargic. "Huh?"
"Who gave you the idea to install this component in my suit?"
Dreamily, Bazinga is not very focused. After a few additional prompts, he finally says, "Oh, lessee, it waz, um, big ssa... ssy... cyborg dude. Sssna... Sna..."
As he drifts off again, Quinn stands up and crushes the piece in her hands. "Snafu. Great. The Skullions."
"Well that certainly isn't good, and likely means the Skullions may now know where the workshop is..." looking around the workshop Frostbite shakes his head, "... should we prepare to start moving this?"
Silver Shield hits a command on her suit and the vault starts closing up. "I'll take care of that. You go ahead and rejoin your team, since if the Skullions are in town, we'll probably need you sooner rather than later. Get them ready, okay?"
Isaiah... seemed slightly sheepish.
"Sorry, Still a bit upset about the recent happenings, and while I'm mostly trying to isolate it, I think it's making me somewhat passive-aggressive. Anyway, yes, I can put together manual toggles fairly easily, though you might have to specify exactly how you want me to prove they work. Because I'm well aware that well-done espionage should look exactly like it isn't there. As for Shin's question... I'm not entirely sure if it all qualifies as being about security - some of what I'm doing is piecing together how all these powers work, where the energy is coming from, why they're showing up, and such, though you can easily argue that trying to sort out this bizzare concentration of anomalous events is security related. - you can rest assured I'm not sending out any personal details. Even not considering that I prefer to not spread around private information... interstellar communications bandwith is expensive. I'm not bothering transmitting anything that isn't either important, interesting enough to be worth the energy, or directly requested. A good chunk of it I'm not even remembering in much detail, because I don't have unlimited memory either."
"Isaiah." Shin looks exasperated. "That was a yes or no question. And you answered it like my kid brother trying not to lie about breaking my father's microscope without actually telling the truth. I want to be able to trust you. I want the team to be able to trust you. We can't do that if you're going to speak over our heads."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There's a saying my dad told my mom all the time. 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'. I've been trying to live by that since I ended up here in the future. Maybe you should try to adapt to that strategy too. The culture is different for both of us. So even if it seems right to us, it might just be that we're wrong and the people we care about who have lived here their whole lives are right. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
Shin steps up to Isaiah's humanoid appendage, and places his hand on his shoulder, giving it a supportive squeeze.
Kylie felt very guilty, but there was no way she was going to step in where she hadn't been asked. After all, avoiding unwanted monitoring was one of the reasons she preferred a telepathic network in the first place, and it wasn't as though many of her sensitive conversations could have been overheard...
...She couldn't quite avoid stepping in though. "I don't think we need to get too elaborate in testing these toggles. Isaiah hasn't exactly hidden what he's been doing; I think we can trust him to keep to his word."
”Well, I suppose then that’ll have to do,” Kayla says as she stands, setting Duke down on the ground. He immediately runs over and play-jumps on Bear. ”Are we ready, then? I dunno how long the car can remain inconspicuous a few blocks away in this part of town,” she asks.
Isaiah appreciated the support. "Sorry, but the thing is I don't really know whether the answer to that question is yes or no. I'd need to know exactly what was meant and implied by it... and I think that I'd get different answers from each of you on that. So, since I hate lying, evasive explanations are what I've got. I appreciate your understanding. I'll get to work on the tweaks as soon as possible. Now let's get to this shopping trip before we lose the mood to do so."
Isaiah will clear Angry, because the target of his anger isn't around anymore.
"I don't know how long the car can remain conspicuous."
"Quite a while."
Rory rejoins the team midway through the shopping trip.
”Where ya been?” Kayla asks as she slurps on a vanilla milkshake when Rory approaches.
Kylie happily waved at Rory's approach, though Psyche made sure to give him a gentle nudge around her invisible drone. Wriggling a small tendril into Kayla's mind she asked, "Do you mind if I taste your milkshake?"
Kayla gives the telepathic equivalent of a shrug as she takes a long, slow sip of the shake.
”Anyone got anything they wanna browse in particular?” Kayla asked, herself already carrying several outfits she’s bought for her return to school this fall. ”If not, I really would like everyone’s input on my new suit before Angel forced me into something of her own choosing.”
It’s clear she is ready to head on to Madame Marvelous’ studio, but doesn’t want to interfere with anyone’s leisure time.
"Long story short, tracked down some stuff I misplaced. Anyways we might be seeing some action again soon. The Skullions are in town," Rory replies,"So how is the outfit hunt going?"
"Long story short, tracked down some stuff I misplaced. Anyways we might be seeing some action again soon. The Skullions are in town," Rory replies. "So we should probably get your costume situation sorted out sooner rather than later."
Kayla raises an eyebrow at Rory’s revelation. ”You ran into the Skullions? By yourself?”
A faint happy hum built in Kayla's mind while Psyche sat in on her milkshake. "I'm easy. I'm groovy. I'm needless and heedless. I've never had to deal with sitting for a costumier before though, so I'm curious how that will feel. Is the experience any different than more traditional couture?"
"Wait- her voice dimmed in the broader link, but didn't quite cut out as she focused on Rory, "Who are the Skullions again?"
"Cyborg Mercs," he thought back to Psyche, "dangerous ones."
"Would you be impressed if I did," Rory asks with a smile and let's the question hang in the air a moment,"but in all seriousness no, I just ran into the Slipknots. They had Silver Shield's old suit with some sort of chip made by Snafu, I think." He sends a mental note to Psyche about who he is talking about.
Kayla smirks at Rory, but makes no reply as she takes another sip of her shake.
__________
As the limo approaches Madame Marvelous’, Kayla looks to the others and says ”Anyone who wants to keep up their secret identities may wanna go ahead and suit up before they get out of the car. She is a civilian, after all.”
The studio is on the next to highest level of Halcyon Heights, one of the premier business sky-rises in the city. The building has seen it’s fair share of wear and tear, especially given the nature of the unique city, and as such several sections of the building are quite clearly repair jobs.
On the inside, however, the building is pristine and immaculately decorated. The lavish security is tight, and the guards do not seem to balk at the presence of capes milling about alongside civilians. The Sentinels make their way to an elevator, complete with dedicated operator. ”Marvelous Designs,” Kayla tells the man with a smile, who in turn simply replies with a ”Yes ma’a’m,” and presses the button for the proper level. After a long ride up, the doors open to reveal a large, modern style office front with a team of secretaries working the desk. A stylized “MD” made of gold sits behind them on the wall, backlit with light that slowly changes colors.
”Welcome to Marvelous Designs, how may we help you?” one of the secretaries asks politely but somewhat disinterestedly to the group, despite some of their number being in their suits. She seems somewhat numb to the whole spectacle.
”Praetoria and the Sentinels,” Kayla says as the secretary begins typing on her keyboard without making eye contact to them.
”Have a seat and someone will be with you in a moment,” the secretary replies.
After about fifteen minutes, a young man in fine business attire approaches and says ”Miss Taylor! A pleasure to have you and your team here with us at MD! My name is Demitri, Madame Marvelous’ personal assistant. Please, follow me. Madame Marvelous will be with you personally,” as he gestures for your group to follow him back.
He leads you to a hallway with several side doors and adds ”This is the scanning room. This is where we will scan your body for Madame Marvelous to use for her digital design system to prepare the design for your suit. Miss Taylor, if you would please just step in here,” he gestures to one of the doors. Kayla nods with smile and steps inside.
”Anyone else having Madame Marvelous design suits for them today?” he asks as he turns to the rest of the Sentinels.
Isaiah shook his head.
"No thanks. Just here to provide support and watch."
Quietly, Isaiah examined the room and equipment, getting an idea of how advanced it was and what it might be capable of, though it didn't look like he was doing much. Being able to reposition sensory submodules quickly and inconspicuously was a boon on that end.
"Nah, I'm good thanks," cocking his head to the side slight and his eyes get really big as he continues on, "however, team uniforms would be pretty sweet... maybe some other time."
"I might need a redesign soon. I certainly wouldn't be wearing it out today, but I'd love to get a consult."
Anyone that steps into the scanning chamber is instructed by an automated system to change into a one-piece suit similar to a diving suit, colored like a green screen. Afterwards they step onto a platform, hands at their side with palms forward. Then a series of lights and lasers scan them from every angle.
After about five minutes, Kayla re-emerges in her regular attire and rejoins the others. Demitri leads them into a larger chamber beyond with multiple comfortable chairs and couches, all arranged to face a holographic projector. An extravagant desk sits in a far corner of the room, empty.
Standing by the window is an African-American woman in business attire, talking on a cell phone. ”Yes yes yes darling, I hear what you are requesting. Don’t you worry about a thing, it is all going to be taken care of. Let me do my job and you worry about doing yours, yes?” Excellent. Ta-ta darling!” she says as she hangs up the phone and nonchalantly tosses it to the side onto a nearby ottoman.
”Kayla! Darling! A pleasure to see you! I was wondering if you were EVER going to be dropping by! And these must be your teammates? Sentinels, yes? Come come!” she says as she gestures to the couches, sitting Kayla down in a chair set aside for her and the teen, letting the rest of the Sentinels choose seats at their leisure.
”So...what do you have in mind, darling? Cape? Skirt? Pants? One-piece? Two-Piece? Boots? Please tell me you’re done with that tacky armored look!” she asks, and as she mentions each feature, the holographic image of Kayla that is now being displayed shows examples of each possible look as it would appear on her, with Madame Marvelous controlling it with a tablet. ”I am obligated to tell you though, darling, that your Aunt has some very particular designs in mind...” she adds dejectedly, cycling through some very old-school looks that show Kayla in classical Praetorian colors and markings. ”But she is not the person to be seen in this! This is your suit, Kayla, darling. So let us do something that you want, yes?”
Kayla just looks from the projected image of herself to the team, muttering ”Ummm...I dunno...what do you guys think?”
_________
Isaiah didn't go through the scanner, but the observant would note that he seemed to have an interest in it.
"Well, I can match just about anything if we decide to match or something, but capes are really annoying for that, so might avoid them. Other than that... well, gold seems to be a good color on you. But I'm not sure if I necessarily have the same aesthetic preferences as you might. Planning on accounting for colors outside the human visual spectrum? It can get really glaring sometimes, the clashes people will wear when they can't see the color."
"I'd say nothing too risque," Shin pointed out. "A singlet with a skirt sounds about right. Boots and a chest insignia. Maybe a small cape that goes to mid waist," He suggested. "Kind of like Lady Liberty..."
"I never liked the regalia looks that seemed as though you were fighting crime in your lingerie. The armor so skin-tight you could see your navel also seemed a bit much to me... But really what's important is that your costume works for you. What kind of message do you want to send? I'm sure I'll like whatever you come up with."
She still felt... so uncomfortable, but that wasn't Shin's fault. So with all the playfulness she could muster, she reached into his mind's eye and gently recolored Lady Liberty's hair black, and gave her pink, glowing eyes and a teasing smile.
Lady Liberty said, "Is this a look you'd be interested in revisiting? It's not as though I've never worn a tiara before I suppose."
Madame Marvelous claps once and says ”I know just the thing!” she says before shooing the Sentinels out of the room.
About thirty minutes later, she opens the door and says ”You may come in now! It is magnificent!”
Once inside, she says dramatically ”May I present the new Praetoria!” A panel slides away from the floor, and rising up on an elevator is Praetoria in her new gold and white suit ensemble, complete with a short red cape.
Kayla floats up off the floor and over to the mirror and looks at it from different angles as she asks ”Well? What do you guys think?”
"Stunning, it suits you."
"I love it! It clearly keeps to your previous heritage, but doesn't tread too far to the traditional. It's excellent!
"So, I'm quite used to my webs. But if I needed a clean break, what sort of uniform would you suggest? The goal would be classic and non-threatening, but... how do I put this. Not too normal or safe. I don't want to draw too stark a contrast between my appearance and my reputation."
"...Uh. It, uh, looks good." Shin said, trying to focus on the real world and not be distracted.
The thought condensed into images of how he would go about doing that to her in vivid, crystallized details for Kylie.
Shin started to blush all of a sudden, clearing his throat and placing a hand over his mouth to try and cover it up. "Never seen shorts under a skirt before. I guess that's smart seeing how much flying you do."
For a second in the midst of Shin's fantasy, Liberty-Kylie face becomes a picture of anxiety and tension; the whole image wavers for a moment, before freezing in place for the barest instant. Then she began moving once more with a perfect fluidity, seeming more real than real, certainly more real than the rather flat backdrop she was set in front of.
"Honestly though, input would be welcome. Gothic isn't anyone's favorite hero, but maybe being so easily categorized makes it simpler for others to feel comfortable thinking about her?"
”The Goth style peaked a few years ago, and is slowly fading into obscurity, darling,” Madame Marvelous replies. ”But it is still enough of a mainstream niche that there is nothing wrong with embracing it. Nothing wrong with filling that style on the team. But, there is also nothing wrong with being proud of your power set and who you are and letting the world know it, darling!” she adds as she steps over to Psyche, circling her as she studies her build.
”If you lot have changed your minds, I’m still willing to let you all get a scan and show you what I can come up with for each of you in turn!”
"I guess that if we're going for Psyche...well, there was Miss Mystery," He suggested. The heroine of his age was actually a practitioner of mystic arts, but her iconic hooded cloak and slitted skirt showing off her legs was still a common image of art even today.
Shin's mental image of Kylie shifted her from Liberty's caped mini dress to the more mature gown of a mysteriously alluring heroine. His thoughts on Kylie still made him blush.
"...I guess I'll at least try," Shin acquiesces to Marvelous' offer, stepping into have himself scanned and let her at least make a suggestion.
By the time Horizon returns to the showroom, Madame Marvelous is already excitedly putting together something on her tablet, talking to both herself and the group as she works. ”Something heroic, to make you stand out from your counterpart. But yet still commands that same mystique and sense of awe. Yes. Yes. And, just to go along with the current color scheme...not that it is necessary, of course. The colors are a simple fix, but just toying with the idea of matching costumes...”
She taps a final button and an image appears of Horizon floating in the air confidently, arms crossed, with a golden, featureless helm on his head. An elegant golden cape billows in the wind behind him.
"Oh," a wave of surprised discomfort carried the short exclamation along, "I didn't mean that I wished to emulate Gothic's particular style, only that a similar easily identifiable archetype might have its benefits. I don't want anyone to mistake me for her daughter or something."
"Miss Mystery's look could work, though I'd add leggings, or perhaps replace the skirts entirely. I'd have to keep the hood back most of the time though. It's not an accident that I don't wear a mask."
"No."
Shin flat out rejected the concept as he looked at it. It was far, far too similar to Dusk for his liking. Even if it wasn't, everything about it felt wrong to him. He especially hated the helmet. No mouth, no visible eyes, a soulless piece made to intimidate, not to evoke heroic action.
"If we're going with a helmet, it needs to have an open mouth design, and visible eyes. The cloak is too much. I also want to make sure I'm well protected, and let others know I'm well protected," Shin said, finding a spare notepad and pencil and starting to sketch.
"So a flak vest to protect the chest, maybe some design to make it look unique and not like I'm some military or police official..." He muttered, before flipping the sketch pad over to show off the surprisingly well done rough draft. "What do you think about something like this?"
Psyche gestured between her temple and Madame Marvelous's. "Do you mind Ms. Marvelous? We could save a lot of time if you just show me the designs you've thought of."
"Hmm... I'm not certain... Armor can be cute I suppose, but I don't want people thinking I expect to need protection. Ugh, full body armor just screams super villain. No, let's filter out the armored ones. Doesn't work with my hair... I'd like to avoid any flame motifs... Oh, this? could be nice. White for purity and all that, matches slightly with Praetoria, but has different accents that still suggest I shouldn't be at the forefront... hood to suggest mental abilities, and give a nod to identity protection, but can be dropped without trouble. The webs are a nice touch to maintain continuity as well...
"Well, in any case, I certainly wouldn't make any changes until after any dust settles. I certainly hope that between the lawyers and the judge no one kicks up too much of it, but I should wait to roll out a brand new me until there's something to paper over, don't you think? Or... If there were going to be a moment where I looked particularly heroic, would it be better to have that associated with my classic appearance, or use it to launch something less threatening?"
Madame Marvelous goes into incredible detail with both of you in regards to pros and cons of your style choices, taking your preferences and adding just enough of her own personal touches to make them really shine.
As she does, Kayla steps over to the large windowed wall overlooking the city, her arms folded across her midriff as she looks down at the city below. There were...there were so many voices. On the street there, over a hundred feet down, she could hear a man doing a drug deal with a couple of college kids. As she picked them out of the crowd, her eyes focused on them and she could see, even at this distance, the money change hands. She could even make out the serial numbers on the cash. And that some of it was marked bills.
A horn blared through her head, causing her to wince a bit and her to raise a hand to her temple to deal with the sudden pain it caused. She opened her eyes and scanned across the city to spot a taxi driver leaning out of his window cursing at the pizza delivery girl who had cut him off. His choice of words curses and insults were quite creative and descriptive.
A baby’s cries drew her eyes up from the city streets and to the window of a flat on the thirtieth floor a good ways beneath them in the high rise across the street. A young mother was trying to sooth her baby boy while she talked with her own mother on the cell phone. Her mom was suggesting she put some rum on the babies gums. She was clearly not fond of the idea.
Kayla raised her other hand to her other temple as the tidal wave of senses from the city began washing over her like a tidal wave. She clenched her teeth and looked out the window for something to focus on and take her mind off the growing cacophony in her head. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the Sentinels behind her, her irises were starting to glow a bright gold.
"Hmm, interesting."
Isaiah watched the deliberations, having subtly changed his own outfit to a white-and-gold color scheme. Then he noticed that something was going on with Kayla, and went over to check on her.
"Hey, are you alright? Need any hep with anything? You look like you're in pain."
Kayla closes her eyes and clenches her teeth. [i]Focus, Kayla! Focus! You can beat this![/ooc]
After what felt like an eternity, but was in fact just a few short seconds, she relaxed and let out a breath. ”I’m fine. Just...just a lot going on,” she replies as she opened her eyes, now back to their normal hue.
Shin found himself wandering over next to Psyche and physically taking her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and running his thumb against the back of it. "What do you think about the costumes for me? Though it feels a little disingenuous to be thinking about how to brand ourselves instead of letting our actions dictate how people think of us."
Mattie had stayed quiet throughout the fitting session, doing her best to avoid making eye contact with either Kylie or Rory since their respective fights, though she couldn't help smiling at Kayla's obvious excitement as she modelled her new uniform - it wasn't what Mattie would've chosen for herself, but for Kayla it seemed just right.
When Kayla went to the window and Mattie felt her power levels rising, she frowned, glancing at Kylie before quickly standing and joining Isaiah. "Are you sure you're OK?" she asked. "It felt like,... maybe it was getting too much for you? Can I, can we help?"