As someone runs into her, Statian's repressed anxiety spikes, sending sharp raw emotion into her brain. Memories flared of school, before she buried caring, and being pushed 'accidentally' in the halls.
Looking back to snap, she seems Aquarelle, buried and broken. The emotion shifts from fearful screaming to a different kind of pain.
She blinked twice, turned things off in her mind, and went back to her tablet. She had to trap It, but how. The mainframe was too dangerous for it to be in, so... her fingers squeezed on the tablet. Every bit had been replaced over the years, most hand made, but the case had been a gift, and It knew that.
"We have to keep her out of my tablet." Sam announced, in her flat logical voice. She didn't say why, knowing statistically that the less information given will make people believe that there is even more there than if you had given details. She looked quickly around, considering each of them with her algorithms, then tossed the tablet to Andromeda "It is important. Keep her from it." she ordered.
Ordered! Not only that but ordering Andromeda.
"Oh, vacuous void, f^&k that!"
Digits watches Gui–the first person, so far, to really go out of his way to get them oriented–get buried after heroically saving Statian.
They look for a way to use their portal gun to free him.
"Gui!" Angelica cries, wide eyed with too many emotions to cleanly read.
youdidthisyoudidthisyoudidthisyoudidthisyoudidthisyoudidthis
shedidthisshedidthisshedidthisshedidthis
"You! You're the one who did this!" she screams at Governess, her voice thready with exertion and overuse. She clenches her fist and a jagged spiral of force slams the Governess aside as she stands over the tablet. "Well you're not getting this!"
|
Things were good, great even, the 'data leeches?' were kept at bay and Statian seemed to have a plan. Then Andromeda did what she did best and- wait that's too much building.
Crash
Indy had covered himself as best he could since the group was still to spread to keep shielded, taking a look at the situation everyone seemed accounted for except for the white-hoodied Aquarelle.
It didn't take long to figure that he was under the rubble next to Statian picking herself up. "I've got him, you all focus on keeping her away from the tablet." Indarius strode over and began carefully using his strength to pick through the fallen structure.
[b]"Hang on Aqua I've got you." He knew he couldn't shift things recklessly otherwise it'd just collapse other bits, but the tension and panic made his clawed digits shake regardless.
Empyrean descends lightly next to the rubble pile and helps to remove some of the pieces of collapsed timber to rescue Aquarelle, though without any sort of super-strength this is a laborious process and she is mostly consigned to aiding with small bits while Indy handles the heavy materials. Once the illusionist is revealed she leans in close to him, then puts her hands on the sides of his face. Her eyes flutter half-lidded and a soft golden glow emanates from her hands.
"He'll live," she intones gravely.
Archie runs for cover once the ceiling collapses, then dives away as the wall comes down. He startles up and looks around wild-eyed.
Oh, it is real. Archie realizes once he sees the Frenchman bloody and bruised.
This is just crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy, one thing after another. People constantly barking orders at me, my new teammates screaming at computer programs and breaking stuff. I thought that was supposed to be a simulation, "Hijacked" they say. What a surprise. Things went wrong. Nothing new.
Archie moves towards the Governess and Andromeda and begins crafting dozens of exact replicas of the case on the tablet until he has a sizable pile, keeping a mental note of which one was the real one. He starts tossing them across the rubble in as many different places until the pile is empty.
Now no one knows where the real one is, except for Phalanx.
Sometimes, Chloe forgets she can manipulate time. Which is why it came as a shock to her to see Gui get buried underneath the rubble that occurred because Andromeda had acted like a living wrecking ball and destroyed everything in sight. Which did nothing for them all.
Oh, please let this be the kind of holodeck with safeties in place!
Chroknight sees Empyrean and Indarius helping Aquarelle, and shifts priorities. Phalanx was tossing out tablet cases like candy to hide a needle - but they realize that if the needle stays in place, it'll be easier to find. So there needed to be a shuffle.
Moving at sixteenths started to strain Chroknight's body, but it allowed for movements that would be hard to make out with normal kinetic vision as they dashed underfoot of Andromeda's battle and started to rearrange the tablet cases - and kept the real tablet on them. No need to risk it being stolen if nanny got lucky.
Aquarelle is knocked out by the falling debris, shocking the rest of the team. As Indarius, Empyrean, and Digits work to make sure his body is protected , Statian attempts to trick the AI into making an attempt to reintegrate with her computer.
The reverse psychology works too well, however, and the rest of the team tries to make sure the Governess cannot even find the tablet. Phalanx generates dozens of unworkable copies to hide the real tablet and Chroknight speeds themself up to create a variant of the shell game.
The Governess' scathing remarks hit Andromeda hard. However, since fighting is what she does best she steps forward and blasts the manifestation of the Governess with the full force of her telekinetic might!
The AI is shattered into sparking pixels! The electronic particles begin to reform, coalescing into a glitch and stuttering image of the Governess. "ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR" she stutters over and over again. There's an air of desperation in the AI as she seeks any light in the dark!
The cloud of pixels sends a blast of light at the pile of tablet casings, shredding them into nothingness and leaving only Statian's real tablet remaining! The AI beams itself into the port, uploading itself back into her computer!
What do you do??
Statian stares blankly at the dozens of tablets suddenly obscuring the one tablet she needed It to enter. She was unsure if the feint would fail simply by being too good or if it would be strengthened by making the problem harder.
If she was the kind of person allowed to have anxiety, Sam would drowning in it, instead she watches, and...
"A faraday cage" she announces with a hint of hurry. After a millisecond pause, she decides she needs to explain what that is "We need to construct a metal cage around the tablet with a constant stream of electricity, which will create an electromagnetic field and will disrupt and signals going into or out of anything within."
While her teammates are hopefully accomplishing that, Sam attempts to pull everything It can jump into away from the tablet. Her threads multiply by hundreds, spilling everywhere in the room to destroy hidden circuits, while she attempts to create interference in the danger room itself by plugging herself into the code.
|
|
Craddling Aqua in his claw for a moment he hands him off to Empyrean who seems to be able to help him recouperate.
"Faraday cage that's the, right right ok keep it steady. Phalanx can you make some raw materials? I think I can make it into the proper device and electrify it."
Working the material he would aspect the cage to be self-electrified by some arcane etchings meant to draw in ambient aether to power itself.
"A what?" Chroknight asks, confused about what was happening. Chloe had thought it was necessary to keep the tablet away (who knew that Statian could be deceptive?) but now it contained the malicious AI within it. And they were holding onto it. Now what? They wanted to get this over with so someone could check on Gui...
A door to the room opens and Devil Diva begins to stride in. "Sorry about dipping out, guys, I had to--WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?" she cries out, mouth hanging open.
"Can do!" Phalanx responds to Indarius
He hurries over towards the dragon and begins crafting various sizes of metal rods, electric wiring, and magnetic rods.
After generating all of the necessary materials, Phalanx stands and looks at The Devil Lady.
"You missed a lot!" Phalanx shouts at her. "Red's AI nanny has gone cuckoo and is insulting everyone. Now we're trapping it inside of an iPad." He explains.
Digits watches with interest. They pull their myceliospectrocosmiscope out of their sporebelt, squint through it, and say, "Hold on there. There's a 350 micron gap in that seal. Not much, but if you smooth it over a bit...there, that looks better!"
Statian works quickly as her gambit finally works. Her efforts to prevent the AI's escape, however, are brought to a sudden halt as she hits an exposed wire and receives a nasty shock!
The others begin working on Stat's suggested solution just as Devil Diva returns from the safe room that caught her after her drop from the bridge in the previous fight.
Chroknight cannot think of any other options than Statian's suggested Farraday cage, which is a good thing because Indarius begins assembling one right away. Phalanx, exhausted as he is, almost leaves a break in the cage but thankfully Digits points out the flaw before it's left in the design.
With the combined effort, the cage encloses around the tablet-slash-prison with a snap!
The current tears through her body, making the young woman scream in a sudden agonized burst. Her threads shoot out to ground her sending the electricity into the earth. Earth that is unfortunately not real but instead advanced circuity that fries, sending showers of bright sparks over all of them.
The simulation finally ends and the ruined Victorian mansion fades to featureless walls with slightly off angles and proportions. The door that DeeDee came through is still open leading into a comfortable-looking sitting area with several screens that are just static right now.
A larger door sized for a garage slides open, revealing a spacious lobby.
"...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Chroknight finally shouts, in a manner that broke with the cool and dangerous demeanor that they usually put on. They point at the encased tablet, then at Sam, then at the room itself. "This was seriously insane. I can't begin to describe just how incredibly stupid this whole mess was, and I saw it like eight times slower than the rest of you!"
They turn to DeeDee, their shoulders up. "For the love of the universe, please never leave us like that again. I thought you'd been flung into the sea kingdom the way it looked. And tell me you brought some first responders because I'm seriously worried that Gui is hurt. And just..."
They stop, and slow down time long enough for Chloe to take ten long breaths in four seconds, before coming back into real time. "Sorry. I've got a ton of adrenaline going right now and I'm still really freaked out. Just..."
They lean closer to DeeDee, helmet to horns, whispering. "This is all hitting a little close to home for me. Sam's mom issues. I have some of my own. Maybe in a similar vein. Though I never made a nanny to replace her."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
DD is surprised when Chroknight begins to trauma dump on her. But she's been on the superhero scene long enough to know that even a real cool suit of armor is only a shell for a real person inside, with fears and insecurities just like everybody else. The devilish girl puts her hands on Chroknight's armored shoulders and gives them a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. You're doing great. It's only natural to get rattled after a big fight like that. Breathe deep, relax. Inhala... Exhala..."
Max slowly breathes in and out with Chroknight, doing her best to calm the other hero down. "There. Better? If you want to, you know, talk about it some more, I'm a pretty good listener."
Andromeda pants heavily, the conditioned responses still surging through her mind. She kneels down next to Gui, air shimmering with the effort of keeping her forcefield tight and contained, and when she tries to peel her hand free of it, everything worsens.
The air goes sharp and fractured, ready to splinter in all directions at the barest touch of her mind. She frees one finger, then a second, then is forced to grit her teeth and shut her eyes in concentration as the field snaps shut around her once more.
"Damnit."
She flings up a hand a bit too forcefully at Digits, and an uneven wave of force shoves at their back. "Can you- darn it -can you check if he's okay? I know the angel did something, so he's not still hurt right? And he didn't get really hurt, right?"
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For some reason Sam's body just wants to churl up in a ball on the floor and scream scream scream. 'it is okay to show emotions, my little light bulb' the most comforting voice in the universe whispered in her mind. Instead of comfort, it causes a shiver runs through her. That voice had been taken by another.
Sam diverts those electrical impulses in her mind to a board to handle Todo items, in a column for Understanding Trauma, which is longer than all the others. Then she stands and seeks out Indarius.
Bluntly she says "Our communication methods are a problem. Plans cannot be discussed without alerting our opponents. I suggest a series of keywords not normally used in our everyday conversations, each linked to a strategy. As leader this is your responsibility, but I've compiled a list of four hundred and fifty two that I could transfer..." her hands reach for the tablet, normally on her hip, but it is not there. She looks to it, trapped behind steel and electricity.
She pauses, then her matrix points out the time is now for what it refers to as a triumphant celebration. Her green eyes leave the tablet and she looks back up at her leader "We won. Good job." she makes a fist and pumps it into the air twice. The flat tone and weak gesture might seem like she is doing that ironically, but this is Statian, so this is about as celebratory as she gets.
"I caused this." she states in the same tone but her eyes hold on to his, a hint of desperation in them "I created It with good intentions, when... I needed someone." another pause, her mind needing to sort and organize the sudden torrent of feelings "To help with understanding emotions and people. I did not include enough safeguards and failsafes." her head tilts "The team would not have been in danger if I was not part of it. Do... you need me to step down?"
|
|
Even with things calming back down and Diva's reintroduction to the situqtion Indarius looks like he's still only moments away from a panic attack. Statian reengaging him in talk breaks him from his momentary lapse and he offers a toothless smiles that quickly fades as she points out some things to help.
He sighs in relief as she brings up a good point, "Yeah that's a great idea actually um.. can you upload it to the computer when we get back to the base? I suppose I never really prepared myself for being the one coming up with and training for team moves and stuff. Only had to memorize them and my spells when Horizon was the head of the team."
While Statian pauses and recollects herself Indarius seems to attempt to do the same as he shrinks and reforms into his more humanoid form. The more human-adjacent features would be easier to read than those of his true self he thought.
When she does her weak celebratory fist bump he wants to join, but the low energy reads as half-baked. His own read of the situation changes when she speaks out about it being her fault and he reaches a clawed hand towards her shoulder before freezing up, eyes flicking to the claws and retracting the gesture after a moment of pause almost looking afraid at whatever reaction he expects from her long before she gets the chance.
"Hey, hey don't go blaming yourself about this. Had they not tricked us into the danger room situation in the first place it wouldn't have gotten out of hand at all."
Indy's reptilian eyes softened a touch and his body loosened up, letting his wingtips and tail drag on the floor. "You said it yourself, good-intentions because you needed someone. You handled the situation as best you could given the circumstance right? We all mess up sometimes trust me I've got my fair share of f&#~ ups and then some. But I guess you all know at least one of those now." His jaw tightened and he clenches his firsts for a few moments before he forces himself to relax again.
Sweeping his gaze across the team to land on the caged tablet he continues. "Most people can't make an AI let alone one that, if not for the willing to remove whatever problems stand between it and it's ward, would be really good at teaching. You did something that most people can't do and more, you defeated it and put it back in the box. Short of ripping this entire place apart I couldn't have dealt with it like you did. 'If' I could even tear this place apart that is. Heck even if I could that wouldn't solve the actual problem of the loose AI."
Feeling himself get lost in the details a bit he rolls back to the main focus, "You did great and helped me alot with running the team, so of course I want you to stay."
When you share a triumphant celebration with someone, clear one condition if they treat you like a perfectly normal person and mark potential if they praise your power or abilities.
Empyrean helps to free Gui from the rubble as best she can and then kneels down and rests his head in her lap. The contusions and bruises from the debris fade rapidly and visibly from the illusionist under her care.
"The threat is contained for the moment, yes? Then we should acknowledge our successes as well as our challenges. Once we can move him to a more suitable location, perhaps we can discuss what we have learned in an amiable environment conducive to reflection, rather than in this simulated disaster?"
Andromeda locks her gaze onto Empyrean, mouth slightly open, unconsciously leaning closer as the angel soothes Gui's wounds. "Is that what you're for?"
"To heal wounds both physical and emotional? To encourage people to try to be their best selves? Of course," says Empyrean to Andromeda.
The devilish girl puts her hands on Chroknight's armored shoulders and gives them a reassuring smile.
That's a dangerous smile. Like if SUGA were to smile at me like that, I'd melt into a puddle.
Chloe pushed the bad thoughts away as Chroknight listened to Deedee and considered her words. They cleared their throat and stood a little straighter. "It's fine. Really, I mean. Uh. You know you're like, stupidly pretty?" They say, glancing over towards Empyrean holding Gui. And trying not to think about how they plan to have Chloe avoid ever seeing him, ever.
"Anyways, where the heck are Nimbus and his crew? Did they just leave us here? HEY! Say something if you can hear us!" They shout out into the room, diverting the conversation.
"Anyways, where the heck are Nimbus and his crew? Did they just leave us here? HEY! Say something if you can hear us!" They shout out into the room, diverting the conversation.
"Yeah!" Nimbus's voice comes back online. "You're back! Sorry, the whole system glitched and we were locked out for a couple minutes there. The door should be open now. We'll meet you in the lobby."
A second or two later, Nimbus, Half-Pipe and Rendezvous appear just outside the training room. "Everyone all right?"
The hunger in Andromeda's eyes doesn't flicker. "Does God make it feel good for you to do that?"
***
A second or two later, Nimbus, Half-Pipe and Rendezvous appear just outside the training room. "Everyone all right?"
"Fine. Lock me in here again, and I'll rip this building in half."
The hunger in Andromeda's eyes doesn't flicker. "Does God make it feel good for you to do that?"
"No."
Empyrean pauses a moment and her eyes flicker to one side as if thinking.
"I have a Purpose, which I know intuitively. It is the Purpose for which I was created. To fulfill that Purpose is to act in accord with my nature; to go against it is... difficult."
"I can experience pleasure, and pain. But for the most part they are symptoms of having a physical body. The essence of what is 'me' is spiritual; the body is a convenience, a tool."
Sam looks up Indarius with an unblinking gaze, absorbing his words, then nods. Simple quick nod.
Her matrix chimes in, making her eyes drift up as she considers. Statistically most people wanted praise after a difficult situation, but empty praise accomplishes nothing other than to erode trust.
After a moment, she says "Your faraday cage was constructed well" she pauses, as if judging her own words, then nods. All through that moment, her threads weaved around to remove specks of debris from his shoulders.
"Good Job" she adds, flashing something like quick wooden smile, that someone really really needs time practicing before using it again.
Then she starts to follow the others out of the room.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Indy rubs his palm with his other hand's thumb, a nervous tick that seemed to carry over rarely from when he was still in his old body. "Sorry I wanted to like.. I dunno do the whole hand on the shoulder, good job thing. But people can get weird about the whole scales and dragon thing."
He splays both hands out and his voice fills with a frantic anxiety, "And uh.. yeah, no I guess I get normal people not wanting to be touched by the magical freak of nature for fear of catching something. Haha--hah.." Even though it's lacking lips his mouth twists in the 'that joke was so stupid way to look even weirder' way.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sam blinks, a major reaction for her.
"Why?" her voice holds minor confusion "Dragons are popular in most age groups, especially females between three and twenty two. Magic even more popular since the saturation of media including certain magical schools of study. Both traits are useful giving strength, flight, variety, and your scales are an attractive color." she pauses, blinks again "Statistically speaking." she adds, for clarification.
Patterns form in her brain, leading to leaf nodes of all kind, some alarming for the young woman, but she shakes them off, shunting them to a bin and simply says "I do not mind your hands on me or the complement about my 'job'"" her matrixes have a minor short out, leaving her without an idea about how to proceed.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Indy looks a bit taken back by the response unsure how to process it himself, "Oh.. uh well I don't know why, maybe it's cause I look different and most people see an actual dragon and just expect me to be a huge destructive monster. I-I mean we've all seen the kaiju, giant crab robots, and all the big monsters stuff. I've been trying, since all this happened, to show that ya know I'm not, or at least I try my best to not be. Things happen in the hero business..."
He raises a finger about the magic in media though, "As for magic, people get jealous that they can't do it. I mean.. everyone has like a itty bitty potential for it, but most can't um.." He makes air quotes, "'Hold onto' enough aether to actually do much, other than very simple illusions. Sort of like a really tiny battery, like you could use the energy more efficiently but there's upper limits to it. And you do not want to see what happens when you overcharge. Meanwhile I've just got a bigger 'battery', passively absorb the surrounding aether, as well as the natural talents and teaching to utilize it. And also most magic in media is false, and most magical heroes aren't really using magic it's just... stuff that can be explained with 'oh it's like magic'."
Seeing the others getting ready to depart he looks to Aquarelle, " Sorry I'm... rambling again. We should definitely get him a stretcher and get to the medical room." His eyes flick to Statian and then the ground, then to Nimbus's group just beyond the room. "Thanks Statian, for the uh, statistics."
He rumbles in his throat for a moment, unsure if that was a good way to wrap up the conversation, before waving to Nimbus and starting towards the other captain. "Hey, get us a stretcher Aquarelle got hurt by some of the debris and needs to get looked at."
As Sam nods again, unsure about words, she decides to look around for whatever was changing the temperature in the room. Faulty coolants and sporadic air currents seemed to be resulting in a spreading of warmth around her.
"I have a Purpose, which I know intuitively. It is the Purpose for which I was created. To fulfill that Purpose is to act in accord with my nature; to go against it is... difficult."
"Okay." There's a kind of relieved pain in her voice. She poked the bruise; the bruise hurt. "That makes sense."
Chloe pushed the bad thoughts away as Chroknight listened to Deedee and considered her words. They cleared their throat and stood a little straighter. "It's fine. Really, I mean. Uh. You know you're like, stupidly pretty?"
"Thanks. That's sweet of you to say," Max says, her smile remaining warm and friendly.
Once Nimbus and the others arrive, she moves to help carry Aquarelle to the medical room.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Aquarelle opens his eyes slowly and groans from the pain all over his body. He was being carried, he knew that as much, and also that he was still alive. Honestly, that was all he could ask. Glancing around he sees the angel on his side and then the devil on the other. "Okay, dis is funny... I feel like I am in an old cartoon..."
Then the last moments before being knocked out return to him in a flash. "Statian! Is she okay?"
She flings up a hand a bit too forcefully at Digits, and an uneven wave of force shoves at their back. "Can you- darn it -can you check if he's okay? I know the angel did something, so he's not still hurt right? And he didn't get really hurt, right?"
"On it!" Digits turns to help help Gui...but sees the winged kid with healing powers get to him first, "...or maybe it's already covered." They're relieved to see Gui start to come back to consciousness.
Watching Andromeda, they ask, "So...you can't really turn that forcefield thing off, is that it? That's rough. I mean, being super strong and kinda invulnerable is totally cosmic–it'd have helped me on the Madcap more times than I can count–but..." They trail off, not quite sure what to say next.
Then the last moments before being knocked out return to him in a flash. "Statian! Is she okay?"
"Yup! Thanks to you. In fact," Digits casts a meaningful glance over at Statian and Indy's awkward conversation, "I think maybe she's better than OK. Is she blushing? That's adorable. And she could clearly use something to spice up her life."
Looking back at Gui, she adds, "That bruising you took looked nasty though. Good thing you had a...what do you call her? Warrior Princess? To heal you up.
"I...I gotta admit, watching you do that scared the friggin' spores out of me. You're not invulnerable like Andromeda. What you did was brave. Dumb as a puffball, mind you, but brave.
"I'm not sure I'm up for that kind of s###, honestly. I like that yall go out of your way to help people. It's bad ass, and I kind of want in...But I sure don't want to get creamed in the process."
Empyrean helps hand off Aquarelle for further medical attention, and rises to her feet. She turns to regard Andromeda again.
"What about you?" she says to the megakinetic. "Does your tactile aura give you pleasure? Or pain? Or both?"
The angel reaches out gently but unhesitatingly and brushes a pair of fingers against the rippling edge of Andromeda's barely-contained force boundary. The touch registers oddly in Andromeda's brain, like a caress on the skin, on the surface that has become a chaotic extension of her body. Tiny motes of light flare from the contact like sparks coming from the collision of two minute stars.
"Do not be alarmed," adds Empyrean. "The direct application of your force cannot do anything irreversible to my body."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Yup! Thanks to you. In fact," Digits casts a meaningful glance over at Statian and Indy's awkward conversation, "I think maybe she's better than OK. Is she blushing? That's adorable. And she could clearly use something to spice up her life."
Following his glance, Gui smiles. She did seem okay. He then looks back at his own bruises. He did not feel a hero.
Looking back at Gui, she adds, "That bruising you took looked nasty though. Good thing you had a...what do you call her? Warrior Princess? To heal you up.
"I would call her an angel, e creature of Light sent by God." He replies, watching Empyrean float away towards Andromeda. She healed him, much like Jesus had healed so many injured and sick, and they followed him and called him a prophet. Is she really an angel?
"I...I gotta admit, watching you do that scared the friggin' spores out of me. You're not invulnerable like Andromeda. What you did was brave. Dumb as a puffball, mind you, but brave.
"We use to say dat de difference between being breve and stupid is de outcome. If it works, you are breve... if not, you are stupid." He says shrugging. "But, yeah, even if it worked out, you are right. I for sure do not feel breve at all, just really dumb." Yet he did it anyway. But why? He glances again at Empyrean. Would it be possible? Or was he just being absurdly presumptuous?
As she touches Andromeda, he mimics the touch on himself, taking a deep breath.
"I'm not sure I'm up for that kind of s&$*, honestly. I like that yall go out of your way to help people. It's bad ass, and I kind of want in...But I sure don't want to get creamed in the process."
"Dis just mean you have are not stupid." Like him. Merde. Afraid and insecure wasn't the right state of mind to give advices. Well, fake it until you make it. Illusion was his gift after all. "It is good to be afreid... it keeps us sharp, real, you know?" He reaches to touch Digits on the shoulder. "As long as it does not keep you from doing what you want to."
He then smiles. "I have e lot of quotes about courage and fear. But most are preaty cheesy."
Well, glad that's over. What a lovely group of miscreants. Archie thinks to himself.
He props himself up from the ground once he sees the door open and spots the elder heroes. He moves towards the door stopping only to pat Statian on the back once her conversation with Indy was over.
He leans in closer to her ear, "You've got about as much charisma as a cinderblock." He whispers to her with a grin.
He continues on towards Rendezvous, Half-Pipe, and Nimbus stopping only to turn around and say to Statian "Maybe your tablet and algorithms could help ya out?" He shrugs, then turns and exits the simulation room.
Phalanx approaches the older heroes, "That was a royal clusterf@$k, wasn't it?" he says to all three. Then grins widely, "We should do it again sometime, trauma bonding and all that."
Watching Andromeda, they ask, "So...you can't really turn that forcefield thing off, is that it? That's rough. I mean, being super strong and kinda invulnerable is totally cosmic–it'd have helped me on the Madcap more times than I can count–but..." They trail off, not quite sure what to say next.
"Yes." she answers flatly, "I'm very useful."
***
Andromeda's sheath spasms and flares against Empyrean's touch as the look of hunger in her eyes turns to near panic. "No! I don't- Even if you can grow back, I don't want to hurt you! Just don't touch me! It doesn't feel good; it doesn't hurt me; it won't do anything to me, just- don't!"
Empyrean immediately withdraws her hand as requested.
"I apologize for causing distress."
The angel gives Andromeda a cryptic look and says, "It may not cause you physical pain, but it is clear that it hurts you."
Others might take Phalanx's statement as an insult, but Sam just nods agreeing, even though it always takes her moment to understand metaphor. "that is what they are for" she says softly to no one.
Phalanx approaches the older heroes, "That was a royal clusterf@$k, wasn't it?" he says to all three. Then grins widely, "We should do it again sometime, trauma bonding and all that."
"The thing they did wrong was mislead us into thinking this was real in the first place. We're just starting to work together and they want us to play a full set list without even letting us figure out what kind of band we want to be," Chroknight speaks behind Phalanx. Again, something about him just rubs Chloe the wrong way. She'd give him the benefit if the doubt only because the team would have been stuck on that space station without him.
That didn't mean she was going to cut him slack.
"But seriously - a freaking ANTITANK rifle?! That was so much overkill for what we were doing. You could have punched through a car's gas tank and blown up part of the bridge. Those bullets don't stop after going through those little guys. You can make I'm assuming every kind of weapon, so I wish you'd choose the right one for the situation." Chroknight finishes their chastisement of Phalanx realizing they were looming a little and pulls back.
"Yes." she answers flatly, "I'm very useful."
"No, wait, that's not what I was–I was just trying to..." Digits shakes their head.
Phalanx approaches the older heroes, "That was a royal clusterf@$k, wasn't it?" he says to all three. Then grins widely, "We should do it again sometime, trauma bonding and all that."
"The thing they did wrong was mislead us into thinking this was real in the first place. We're just starting to work together and they want us to play a full set list without even letting us figure out what kind of band we want to be,"
Digits laughs, and cracks their knuckles. "Hey, they got us good, that's for sure. That just means the gloves are off, right? Now it's time to dream up how we're going to prank them even harder. Who's down?"
Phalanx turns as Chroknight approaches him, his smile dropping after hearing her accusations.
"Hey, c'mon, Anti-tank rifle this, Anti-tank rifle that. It worked didn't it? Plus no one got hurt cause it wasn't real anyway."
He turns his head to look at the Frenchman, and clicks his tongue.
"At least no one was killed." He corrects.
"Dis just mean you have are not stupid." Like him. Merde. Afraid and insecure wasn't the right state of mind to give advices. Well, fake it until you make it. Illusion was his gift after all. "It is good to be afreid... it keeps us sharp, real, you know?" He reaches to touch Digits on the shoulder. "As long as it does not keep you from doing what you want to."
He then smiles. "I have e lot of quotes about courage and fear. But most are preaty cheesy."
"Oh, heh, I can be plenty stupid!" They smile back, and return a playful punch to Gui's shoulder. "Just not the kind of stupid that goes out of the way to get a pile of rocks dumped on my face.
"But I appreciate you reaching out. It's a bit weird being on this planet that I was born on, but don't really remember. Glad to know there's another spores-for-brains fool here who's looking out for me. Thanks. I'll try to live up to the cheesy quotes."
|
|
Indarius having appraised Nimbus of the situation with Aqua and the group turns to face Phalanx, "Chroknight makes an excellent point actually, just because it wasn't real this time doesn't mean it wasn't the wrong call. Real civilians don't act in a controlled manner, and they rarely follow directions so neatly. Your very real firearm could have killed people, hit one of us, what if the minions were people and not just animated magma? We aren't in the business of killing or crippling villains no matter how heinous or monstrous they might be. Plus do you know how bad it'd look on the news if they saw you opening fire with live munitions in a crowded environment?"
He rubs at the bridge between his eyes, knowing he'd have to have a longer private debrief with the team and opening issues like this in front of the other heroes might even look bad.
"Look just, no deadly weapons from now on got it? And certainly not one made to punch through tank armor."
Ruffling his wings and widening his stance to address the entire group he speaks a bit louder so that everyone could hear. "We've certainly got a lot to work on in terms of tactics, but we do have the good foundation of a coordinated team. Just need to polish it up, work on some team tactics, code words, maneuvers, precision, and threat analysis mixed with appropriate responses." He tries not to let his attention flit over to Andromeda for the last one, but it's hard to miss the icy gaze her way.
"I'd honestly like to hear what all of you think we could improve on as well, because I think it's best to hear from everyone's point of view. Since we all can identify weaknesses in eachother's performance that we wouldn't see in our own. Then we can form a plan to bridge those gaps and become a stronger team. So any takers?"
"Look just, no deadly weapons from now on got it? And certainly not one made to punch through tank armor."
"A..." Her eyes briefly unfocus. "Barrett M82A3 anti-materiel rifle barely counts as deadly in this weight class. It certainly wasn't the most dangerous thing on either side of the fight. And he didn't miss."