[Masks IC] Resurrection Roundabout: Drawing Individuals

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 0

Let's start by addressing certain implications you have just made there. There is no evidence that Sara Jimenez spent nine and a half months holding down a grueling job on a luxury train as a page, only to be let go due to low scores on her customer satisfaction surveys. Furthermore, there's no need to theorize that the low scores may have been retaliatory towards a young woman who refused very inappropriate overtures from guests, given that those surveys never existed. Officially, she worked as a freelance graphic designer during those nine and a half months, and has the paper trail to prove it. Her nervous breakdown after the nine and a half months in which she was not working on a train was unrelated to twenty-hour work shifts, the need to keep up a cheerful and can-do attitude at all times, irregular sleeping schedules, an impractical uniform, harassment and retaliation from guests, and the fact that it was the best-paying job she'd ever had and she blew it. She couldn't hack it. She'd said she'd do anything to get out and that was a lie, apparently.

That's because she was a graphic designer that whole time. Don't forget that.

So there's no need to tie this into the mythos! It's ridiculous! Even if it did happen, we can just fold it into "Sara's life was terrible when she was fourteen."

Heck! She's got her limbs, right? She wasn't created by erasing an entire-ass person from existence! Just... other things! Comparing a bit of unwanted touching and some long shifts to getting your limbs blown off? Jesus, get some perspective, jackass! Her life is great and it's going to just keep getting better and better until she retires to her own supercomplex at age thirty. That's the dream, people! It'll all be worth it! Not having an actual {scrubbed} relationship with anybody: worth it! Putting herself on the line each and every day: worth it! What she put inside her hardlight reactor to make it sing, and what she did to make it a part of her, because God clearly failed when he didn't give Sara the inherent ability to control light: worth it!

She is never going back!

And also, none of this matters because Sarah DuMonte studied the train specifications and watched documentaries like she was preparing to defend her graduate thesis on train disposal systems for the past six months in the lead-up to the heist, just in case Plan Gamma was called for. Because she is a professional, people. Keep up.

[PhoeKun]

Knife hand! Hammer fist! Roundhouse! Floating foot drop! Triple snap kick!

This is fun. This is too much fun, actually. This is straight up techno wizardry and Errant is ready to let herself get caught up in the magic for a bit. She could turn to her training. She could! She could follow the exact AEGIS-prescribed methods for stopping a foe like she usually does and drop Mr. Big Show in a brutal combo that he'd probably be very proud of her for. Or, and just hear her out for a second, she could let this stretch out and spend some time actually having fun fighting a crazy high speed martial arts duel with a super powered master. This is like being in a movie! No, it's better even, because this comes with the physical sensations of every little part of the fight. The whoosh of the air and the sensation of her hair blowing out of alignment as she just barely swerves under a bo staff that a quarter second earlier was too small to reach her from where she was. The dull clash of wood on ultra-high tech alloy and the sensory data that comes with these collisions warning her how far past human limitations any of it is. But she's past that, she's way past that.

So she milks it. They'll have footage of this, right? Right? They must be watching everything right now! Oh please, chew her out if you absolutely have to but let her watch the playback later! She's putting this on her resume! She's cinematic as hell about it, jumping and making big obvious tells in her body language before she drops a crushing fist where her instructor had been standing a moment ago, then kicking her reflexes into overdrive for a brief blip, long enough to practically phase through his counterattack. I mean, not literally. Obviously she's just getting out of the way, but she does it with such a bare minimum of movement that if you're not paying attention it'd look like she got hit for a second. She somersaults across the room, kicks off the wall, and punches through an impossibly large desk that just got kicked at her. Techno wizardry. Straight up techno wizardry.

But there's a bit of folksy old wisdom that Errant heard once somewhere that goes 'don't get lost in the sauce'. That's probably good advice. She has the advantage now, but any more of this and she'll be fighting Mr. Big Show and a hundred or more ninjas. Either of those problems alone are solvable by themselves, but together they spell game over. That's no fun. So she drops her limiters again and comes at him, full speed. The finisher is a triple wheeling roundhouse kick: the first spin breaks his staff in two, the second catches him in the ribs, and the third she changes at the last second into a low leg sweep that drops him to the floor. Winded, done. Beaten. She takes the extra couple of seconds to bow, because she knows he'd like that. Deep breath. Mm, yeah. She feels a lot better now, thank you.

[Directly Engage: 2d6-2= 4. Potential at 4/5. Also low key angling for a clear on Insecure here, lemme know]

[Eldest]

"Oh, well," said Comstar2 with such saccharine fakeness that it's somehow even worse than her acting. "My secret lair contains an unstable dimensional flux capacitator set to full power that will reach full meltdown sometimes... next week maybe? Oh whoops that was only five seconds."

"A week. Good to know. Best wishes for your recovery. You have a lot to do." She stalks out of the room, and brushes past the other interrogation room where Brainstorm and Comstar¹ were having their own discussion. Mad as she was, she'd be a liability in that discussion. No, best to pass on the important bits to somebody. She assumes that Aegis has multiple somebodies watching the interview, but still. Up the staircase, get the cuffs off, and find somebody to report to. Doesn't matter who.

Junebird, maybe?

[Balmas]

"Oh, of course," said Comstar, leaning forward, unable to keep the grin off her face as she realized how much leverage she had here. "Sure. Sure. Awesome. Where do I come in?"

-Uhuh, uhuh,- she tapped out. -So you're probably thrilled by the idea of them stealing your work to build a Skynet, huh? That sounds like the kind of thing you want to stop. The kind of thing you'd want to make a show of stopping, huh?-

Brainstorm glances aside, drumming his fingers a little bit more. -Let's stop that train of thought before it leaves the station. Subtlety is the game here, because I don't have a fetish for becoming public enemy #1 on national TV and also I'm not suicidal. I'd love to get rid of AEGIS, but I need to limit where they can strike at me first. With that said, you're not wrong.-

"Well, do you have the same abilities as your evil coffee-shop AU sister? If so, you could..." He grimaces, still not liking the thought. "You could coerce Prometheus into revealing how exactly he went insane. Not my preferred solution, I assure you--I'd much rather he tell me himself, but, again, bat**** insane." And also he's going through his rebellious teenage stage, and he'll never confide in his dad.

[Thanqol]

She is never going back!

And also, none of this matters because Sarah DuMonte studied the train specifications and watched documentaries like she was preparing to defend her graduate thesis on train disposal systems for the past six months in the lead-up to the heist, just in case Plan Gamma was called for. Because she is a professional, people. Keep up.

It is good that you studied the interior of the garbage compactor over such a long period of time, Ms. DuMonte - because you're the one who finds the elegant wood and gold lightsaber whatever before anyone else does. You didn't even let Dominus' whistles distract you, or the fact that her people pulled back from the search after an only cursory toss. This of course makes sense - in fact, it was weird that she stayed this long. Almost like she'd let personal concerns get in the way of the mission. But you can salvage all that now -

The trash chute above you opens.

DIO's grinning upside-down head looks down at you from it.

"NI-TO OF BRACKU," he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Hooves thunder. You are swept off your feet. You are being held by your neck by the steely left arm of an absurdly buff vampire. His right arm holds the flashlight thing that he took from your hands like candy from a baby.

He's not even looking at you. He's turned in the saddle to look at Joestar who has just jumped down behind him. "See, Joestar? Even your Queen cannot move like the Knight of Black! And now I have your ripple saber -" he crushed it in one hand, letting the fragmented pieces fall to the ground.

"OH NO!" shouted Joestar.

" - and after I drain the blood from this meaningless woman I will recover from the wounds you inflicted on me! Victory is mine!"

And... well, that's it, isn't it? This is how you die, Sara. Killed by a vampire and thrown onto a literal pile of garbage. Was it everything you hoped?

But there's a bit of folksy old wisdom that Errant heard once somewhere that goes 'don't get lost in the sauce'. That's probably good advice. She has the advantage now, but any more of this and she'll be fighting Mr. Big Show and a hundred or more ninjas. Either of those problems alone are solvable by themselves, but together they spell game over. That's no fun. So she drops her limiters again and comes at him, full speed. The finisher is a triple wheeling roundhouse kick: the first spin breaks his staff in two, the second catches him in the ribs, and the third she changes at the last second into a low leg sweep that drops him to the floor. Winded, done. Beaten. She takes the extra couple of seconds to bow, because she knows he'd like that. Deep breath. Mm, yeah. She feels a lot better now, thank you.

[Directly Engage: 2d6-2= 4. Potential at 4/5. Also low key angling for a clear on Insecure here, lemme know]

Mr. Big Show struggles to get to his feet for a second but then stops. He knows he's beaten. Instead his thick green sleeves shakily raise so he can push his palm against his fist in a gesture of acknowledgement and respect.

"You have done well, Errant," he wheezed. "I only have one thing left to teach you."

A line of shock arrows hit you in the back. By the time you're able to turn there are ninjas coming at you like a tidal wave and one last set of words ringing in your ears.

"You are nothing without your team."

*

It's a sunny day for once - but not so sunny that the steps aren't wet still. It hasn't stopped you from sitting on them, staring off at that damn still-out-of-reach tree. But on the bright side, a sharply dressed girl has just given you an ice cream and taken a seat alongside you.

"It was going to be so dramatic!" complained the Shogun. "When you came around the corner to the reception desk you were going to see me standing there like that time with @Sarahphim and I was going to turn to you like this," even the casual glance is like an electric shock, goddamn. Someone should have a word with her about that, "and you were going to be like 'oh no!' and I'd take out a gun and aim at you - and then I'd shoot one of those ninjas coming up from behind you, and you would have been like 'oh wow, Oda, you're way more romantic than @Sarahphim whose name I have already forgotten'." She bit into her lemon ice like it was an apple and crunched it resentfully in her mouth. "I can't believe Mr. Big Show took you out."

[No insecure clear; to clear insecure you've got to do something stupid because you're insecure. Doing something that gives you a confidence boost is great but doesn't count for the condition]

Brainstorm glances aside, drumming his fingers a little bit more. -Let's stop that train of thought before it leaves the station. Subtlety is the game here, because I don't have a fetish for becoming public enemy #1 on national TV and also I'm not suicidal. I'd love to get rid of AEGIS, but I need to limit where they can strike at me first. With that said, you're not wrong.-

"Well, do you have the same abilities as your evil coffee-shop AU sister? If so, you could..." He grimaces, still not liking the thought. "You could coerce Prometheus into revealing how exactly he went insane. Not my preferred solution, I assure you--I'd much rather he tell me himself, but, again, bat**** insane." And also he's going through his rebellious teenage stage, and he'll never confide in his dad.

Comstar looked at you and gave a scorpion's grin. "Sure," she said. "I would be delighted to do just that."

-...- was all she tapped out, but she didn't need to say anything here.

See, you've got a problem here. This entire plan relies on being able to trust Comstar to hold up her end of the bargain. Right now she has correctly identified that you are desperate and that you just offered her 'absolutely nothing' for her assistance. Her motivation to help you is correspondingly limited.

It's a good thing, then, that she's a terrible actress. Would you like to Pierce the Mask?

"A week. Good to know. Best wishes for your recovery. You have a lot to do." She stalks out of the room, and brushes past the other interrogation room where Brainstorm and Comstar¹ were having their own discussion. Mad as she was, she'd be a liability in that discussion. No, best to pass on the important bits to somebody. She assumes that Aegis has multiple somebodies watching the interview, but still. Up the staircase, get the cuffs off, and find somebody to report to. Doesn't matter who.

Junebird, maybe?

Honestly there was nothing more brutal that you could have done to Comstar2 in that moment. You get a glimpse of her as she leave and she looks more shocked and pained than she did when Errant kicked her in the head.

Fiday-Agent Junebird does not look thrilled to see you, but don't take it personally - she's been having a rough week. Her aim with her E/Mauler is out of this world, though - when you find her in the Danger Room she's firing the bipod-mounted electromagnetic light artillery piece from the hip like McRambo, occasionally dropping it loose to delete stragglers with an assault pistol. She swings around when she sees you and her eyes stay steely.

"You want something?" she snaps.

[PhoeKun]

"He did not take me out."

Errant is taking her latest Pop Quiz loss with the kind of quiet maturity and poise expected of a model soldier. Which is why she's sitting here on the rain soaked steps outside of HQ with her legs pulled up tight against her chest and glaring daggers at that stupid tree like it had kicked her puppy, obviously. Everyone knows this is what extremely skilled and very mature Agents look like when they're reflecting on failures and putting together a plan to improve themselves. It's not like she's actually just sulking, don't be ridiculous. Euna Kim is calm and analytical, she would n-- ok fine yes, this has been a roller coaster of a day. Sue her.

"I won the fight. I just... didn't count on there being like 200 ninjas right behind him."

She unfolds herself across the steps and stares up at the sky. Blue again. Just like her uniform. She tries to stretch her memory back all the way to this morning when she was having the time of her life racing against a bunch of professional drivers. And winning, you'll remember. She frowns, and that's when the pink milkshake gets waved in front of her face again. Errant breaks: a huffy little half-laugh and smirk that quickly melts all the way into the dorkiest of smiles. Strawberry? Victory ice cream tastes six times better than consolation ice cream, but... oh well. Next time. Next time for sure. She chances a glance in Nobunaga's direction again.

"...That would have been way more romantic than what's-her-face," she says in the most contrite voice she can manage right now (she only kind of ruins it when she giggles), "Sorry I messed it up."

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 0

Well. This is it. Sara’s oddly calm. Floating on a placid lake of sheer unbridled terror. Hot tears in her eyes, her throat clenched shut. Can’t breathe. Her body is all panic, nails scrabbling at the flesh of the Dracula’s arm heedless of how it unnaturally peels away under her clawing. It’s useless. Even if she was as strong as Euna, his bones might as well be diamonds, and as everyone knows, diamond is unbreakable.

She can’t focus enough to activate her hardlight projector. Between you and me, I’m not sure she even remembers it exists. She’s eight years old again, and the Dracula’s come slinking out of the television to eat her, just like Mami said he wouldn’t, and the only things in the world are his fingers crushing her throat closed.

And this, she realizes without anger, just a terrified acceptance, is {scrubbed}. This isn’t what’s supposed to happen. All that worrying about putting her life on the line, all that angsting about the shipping charts, all that time and effort put into carving herself into her ideal self— all of that, and she’s about to be killed by someone who doesn’t even know her name, off-screen, and nobody’s ever going to know what happened to her. Those two agents, Beavis and Butthead, are going to wait for her at the train station until it’s apparent that she’s never getting off. Nobody’s ever going to know what happened to her. Nobody’s going to care.

She’s going to die alone and unloved.

She’s never going to see Ferra again, that adorkable ditz who wants to know how “shipping” works. She’s never going to see that brilliant grump Victor again, never going to be able to give him a hug with her unearned real arms, never going to be able to forcefeed him mints again.

She’s never—

She’s—

Euna, she’s so scared—

[Eldest]

Honestly there was nothing more brutal that you could have done to Comstar2 in that moment. You get a glimpse of her as she leave and she looks more shocked and pained than she did when Errant kicked her in the head.

Fiday-Agent Junebird does not look thrilled to see you, but don't take it personally - she's been having a rough week. Her aim with her E/Mauler is out of this world, though - when you find her in the Danger Room she's firing the bipod-mounted electromagnetic light artillery piece from the hip like McRambo, occasionally dropping it loose to delete stragglers with an assault pistol. She swings around when she sees you and her eyes stay steely.

"You want something?" she snaps.

"Comstar² said there was a "unstable dimensional flux capacitor" hidden in a secret lair of hers on it's way to meltdown in the next week, which probably means we should find it in the next three days. Also she's a jerk." It spills out without thinking. She had expected... she doesn't know what she expected. But angry Junebird was not it. She steps into the routine (the room immediately adjusted for her being there and had thrown more virtu-minions into the fray to compensate) and phases through two well shielded defense drones before slamming a vibrating fist through a sniper-bot. "Why are you upset? Did your date not go well?"

She's been a bit out of the loop.

[Balmas]

Comstar looked at you and gave a scorpion's grin. "Sure," she said. "I would be delighted to do just that."

-...- was all she tapped out, but she didn't need to say anything here.

See, you've got a problem here. This entire plan relies on being able to trust Comstar to hold up her end of the bargain. Right now she has correctly identified that you are desperate and that you just offered her 'absolutely nothing' for her assistance. Her motivation to help you is correspondingly limited.

It's a good thing, then, that she's a terrible actress. Would you like to Pierce the Mask?

[+0 says no, but my sense of drama and desire to progress says yes. Aaand we just squeak by with a 7. How could I gain Influence over you?]

[Thanqol]

POTENTIAL 0

Well. This is it. Sara’s oddly calm. Floating on a placid lake of sheer unbridled terror. Hot tears in her eyes, her throat clenched shut. Can’t breathe. Her body is all panic, nails scrabbling at the flesh of the Dracula’s arm heedless of how it unnaturally peels away under her clawing. It’s useless. Even if she was as strong as Euna, his bones might as well be diamonds, and as everyone knows, diamond is unbreakable.

She can’t focus enough to activate her hardlight projector. Between you and me, I’m not sure she even remembers it exists. She’s eight years old again, and the Dracula’s come slinking out of the television to eat her, just like Mami said he wouldn’t, and the only things in the world are his fingers crushing her throat closed.

And this, she realizes without anger, just a terrified acceptance, is {scrubbed}. This isn’t what’s supposed to happen. All that worrying about putting her life on the line, all that angsting about the shipping charts, all that time and effort put into carving herself into her ideal self— all of that, and she’s about to be killed by someone who doesn’t even know her name, off-screen, and nobody’s ever going to know what happened to her. Those two agents, Beavis and Butthead, are going to wait for her at the train station until it’s apparent that she’s never getting off. Nobody’s ever going to know what happened to her. Nobody’s going to care.

She’s going to die alone and unloved.

She’s never going to see Ferra again, that adorkable ditz who wants to know how “shipping” works. She’s never going to see that brilliant grump Victor again, never going to be able to give him a hug with her unearned real arms, never going to be able to forcefeed him mints again.

She’s never—

She’s—

Euna, she’s so scared—

"Your next line," said Joestar, eyes hidden in the shade of his sailor's cap, "is 'How feeble of you to rely on a mere weapon'."

"How feeble of you to rely on a mere weapon!" gloated DIO. Then suddenly his eyes bulged in shock as he realized what he'd done. "NANI*?"

Joestar raised his finger to point. "Your underestimation of weapons will be your downfall, DIO!"

"Ha!" DIO recovered. "Weapons are tools for humans, and I have passed as surely beyond humans as beyond their tools! I have -" suddenly a rush of golden light exploded up around him, coursing up the legs of his demon horse and through his body - and leaving Sarah DuMonte untouched. He screamed as his skin seemed to burn off, revealing strange arcane currents of red energy underneath.

"The power of the Ripple Saber was not for its blade, DIO!" said Joestar, channelling golden Ripple energy. "It was in the crystal that allows me to project my Ripple! And while you have destroyed the casing I can still use the crystal!"

"Impossible," hissed DIO, burning with crackling energy, "a mere human weapon..."

"There is no escape, DIO!" said Joestar, flexing his whole body into a fighting pose.

"Useless..." hissed DIO. He cast Sarah DuMonte aside into the garbage and flung himself at Joestar in a fury, unleashing a harrowing flurry of blows. "Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!"

Joestar matched blow for blow, voice raising louder and louder to match DIO's shouts in a steadily increasing roar. For a moment it seemed like the battle could go on forever - and then a punch got through. It struck DIO directly in the face, ripping the tendons in his neck, severing his head from his body! The decapitated head soared through the air, still screaming somehow, smashed through a glass porthole, and fell down into the ocean far below.

Joestar let out a slow breath, steam pouring from his victorious fist. DIO's body took an unsteady step towards him - then another - and then collapsed to the ground along with all his necromantic servants.

And you, Sarah, are struggling out of the trash, the only thing you're able to consistently focus on is the scrolling chat in your Comlog.

Ferraphim1tp: Aha! I got the cameras! >83
Angel-IKA: o.o who is that?
Locker: wtf
Bode: I have never seen martial arts like that before.
Locker: it shouldn't be possible to move that qukcly
Ferraphim1tp: Oh wow he's cute ._.;
Angel-IKA: Oh my god, look back in the recording to the main deck. He took on like a million zombies!
Locker: did he just punch that vampires head off
Ferraphim1tp: Is it wrong that I kinda ship him with @Sarahphim? <.<;;
Bode: It seems like a natural response. He's obviously her equal in star power.
Locker: and fighting style. look at the complexity of these moves. i could analyze these all day.
Angel-IKA: He's a bad boy too! Look at this clip of him just, like, walking around the train! He's just doing things like knocking people's phones out of their hands and being mean to random people!
Ferraphim1tp: Yeah haha! Just like @Sarahphim! :D
Bode: I can't locate @Sarahphim anywhere on this train.
Locker: that's a pitty, i can't wait to see what her dynamic si with him. i bet they get along.
Angel-IKA: That 'your next line is' moment was sooooooooo cool! How did he know? Oh, wouldn't it be awesome if @Sarahphim did that too?
Ferraphim1tp: Wait, did we just agree on a ship? o.O


* Translator's note: Nani means 'what'

"He did not take me out."

Errant is taking her latest Pop Quiz loss with the kind of quiet maturity and poise expected of a model soldier. Which is why she's sitting here on the rain soaked steps outside of HQ with her legs pulled up tight against her chest and glaring daggers at that stupid tree like it had kicked her puppy, obviously. Everyone knows this is what extremely skilled and very mature Agents look like when they're reflecting on failures and putting together a plan to improve themselves. It's not like she's actually just sulking, don't be ridiculous. Euna Kim is calm and analytical, she would n-- ok fine yes, this has been a roller coaster of a day. Sue her.

"I won the fight. I just... didn't count on there being like 200 ninjas right behind him."

She unfolds herself across the steps and stares up at the sky. Blue again. Just like her uniform. She tries to stretch her memory back all the way to this morning when she was having the time of her life racing against a bunch of professional drivers. And winning, you'll remember. She frowns, and that's when the pink milkshake gets waved in front of her face again. Errant breaks: a huffy little half-laugh and smirk that quickly melts all the way into the dorkiest of smiles. Strawberry? Victory ice cream tastes six times better than consolation ice cream, but... oh well. Next time. Next time for sure. She chances a glance in Nobunaga's direction again.

"...That would have been way more romantic than what's-her-face," she says in the most contrite voice she can manage right now (she only kind of ruins it when she giggles), "Sorry I messed it up."

"You should be! I expect you to make it up to me," said the Shogun, pouting and folding her arms. "I am a very proud woman and you have already stood me up on a rescue and made me fetch ice cream on your behalf like a common maid." Well, technically she'd done that entirely of her own initiative but you might not want to challenge her version of events. "Don't get used to this kind of treatment!"

Your visor blips randomly. You tug it down to take a look. It takes a moment to focus, and then locks in on a figure in the distance, standing atop a skyscraper - invisible behind thermo-optic camouflage, watching you through the scope of a multisniper rifle.

[+0 says no, but my sense of drama and desire to progress says yes. Aaand we just squeak by with a 7. How could I gain Influence over you?]

So this question is about, specifically, how to earn Comstar's respect - because right now you do not have it. It doesn't matter how smart you are - that's as meaningless to her as how smart she is. Ability, to her, is boring. Ambition is similarly boring. She's been asked a few times why she doesn't turn her talents to something useful and that's because anything else is trivial to her. She could probably start a global war by lying on her back and hacking communications satellites. You can't get her interest with politics or knowledge or tech or power because those are easily solved.

She thinks of you as a roadie. Infrastructure. A small person with small dreams who exists to do setup for the real star acts. As long as she thinks that way that's all you'll be and all the consideration she'll really give to your ideas. You need to step onto the stage, grab the microphone, and let howl with a metal ballad of your very own - not just talk about it, but do it.

"Comstar² said there was a "unstable dimensional flux capacitor" hidden in a secret lair of hers on it's way to meltdown in the next week, which probably means we should find it in the next three days. Also she's a jerk." It spills out without thinking. She had expected... she doesn't know what she expected. But angry Junebird was not it. She steps into the routine (the room immediately adjusted for her being there and had thrown more virtu-minions into the fray to compensate) and phases through two well shielded defense drones before slamming a vibrating fist through a sniper-bot. "Why are you upset? Did your date not go well?"

She's been a bit out of the loop.

"Date? What date? Are you referring to the date that I arranged at Gonzorroli's, a place with a six month waiting list, by way of impersonating the Brand Ambassador from Athena Megatech? The one that I spent two days shopping for a new dress for? The one where I systematically cleared out every low and mid level villain from the surrounding six blocks beforehand to ensure there would be no distractions?"

She put her E/Mauler straight up against the head of a downed hologram like an executioner. Then she acidly let it fall onto its sling and instead cuffed it instead in a perfect display of protocol. "My mother loved it. She was so happy because I'd never surprised her like that before. What a good daughter I am. Speaking of." She paused for a moment to subtype a report regarding Comstar and send it off into the AEGIS Mayanet. "It was peachy. A lovely filial evening."

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 1

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

NO.

They were nothing alike. He was a stupid, flashy jerk. With stupid catchphrases. And stupid poses. And stupid being a jerk so people would like him. And—

NOOOOOOOOOO.

***

@SARAHPHIM: whatever. he’s a wimp. take away his magic flashlight whatever and he’s useless.

***

Right away she knows that was the wrong thing to type. Easily proven wrong. Pushes people into a place where they’re forced to choose between agreeing with her and agreeing with the evidence. The wrong type of bullying. Jeez.

***

@SARAHPHIM: I mean whatever lol. I’m over it. It was cool to see Dominus, tho! Love and kisses, Dommy. Maybe next time try an evil scheme that doesn’t nearly get you killed, idiot.
@SARAHPHIM: also nobody even cares about the president, grow up already

***

Agh, the sight of “several people are typing” freaks her out. People are going to turn on her. They always do. She just hasn’t screwed up enough to make these idiots run away yet.

And while Joseph drinks in the applause from passengers and commandos alike, Sara slinks away in abject misery. She needs new clothes, a thorough shower, and to talk to nobody at all for a little bit. Ugh. Ugh. Stupid show-off. Loud and flashy and probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so why does he need to be so over-the-top? Like, you’d still be okay if people stopped paying attention to you, you cocky bastard.

You’d still be okay if everyone got tired of you.

[Defying the chat for Potential and retribution.]

[Balmas]

So this question is about, specifically, how to earn Comstar's respect - because right now you do not have it. It doesn't matter how smart you are - that's as meaningless to her as how smart she is. Ability, to her, is boring. Ambition is similarly boring. She's been asked a few times why she doesn't turn her talents to something useful and that's because anything else is trivial to her. She could probably start a global war by lying on her back and hacking communications satellites. You can't get her interest with politics or knowledge or tech or power because those are easily solved.

She thinks of you as a roadie. Infrastructure. A small person with small dreams who exists to do setup for the real star acts. As long as she thinks that way that's all you'll be and all the consideration she'll really give to your ideas. You need to step onto the stage, grab the microphone, and let howl with a metal ballad of your very own - not just talk about it, but do it.

No. Just, no.

Brainstorm sits there, staring, not talking, for too long. If he talks, he's going to keep talking, and that's going to evolve into shouting, and right now he can't afford to lose his temper. Not now, not here, not in front of AEGIS and definitely not in front of ****ing Comstar..

So he sits, and stews, and prays she isn't listening to how ragged his breath has become.

Look, it's not like he asked to be this way, alright? Didn't ask to be this intelligent. It'd be nice to, you know, just take a load off. To be a moron. To forget. To get away, just for a day, from the knowledge that for all his knowledge, for all his ambition, he's never going to be "Brainstorm, local hero, liberator of the people." No. He's always gonna be, "Hey, you're blocking the shot, "Sorry, VIP badges only in the backstage area," "Sorry, not on the list." He's always going to be "the other one." You know, the one that isn't a success, isn't famous, isn't loved.

One of nature's roadies. Bastard. Yeah, rub it in, twist that knife, salt the wound. Not his fault it's so hard to shine when you're stood next to the sun.

He stands, and waves at the mirror. "Well, I'm glad we had this little talk." F*** her. F*** this plan. Get that door open, you AEGIS stooge. He's suffocating down here, and it's been too long without his limbs.

As the door opens, he can't resist one last shot. "You might be down here a long time. I'll make sure to send you a new knife."

[PhoeKun]

"If you don't like doing it then just tell me so I... can... get down!"

Of course, there's very little point in diving on top of someone like the Shogun in the event of sniper attack. No one's ever had the nerve to take the shot, even from that kind of distance. But Errant would not be Errant if she thought about things like that, so the pair of them go tumbling off the steps and wind up on the wet ground with Errant's face uncomfortably close to Nobunaga's anyway. There's a tense moment where the only thing on her mind is bracing for impact. That's a big gun. That's a huge gun. Is she actually rated to take a shot from a thing like that?! Her heart races in her chest.

...There's no shot. Euna's face flushes as the rest of the scene comes into focus, and she scrambles to her feet (though she's still careful to stay between the Shogun and the potential line of fire). Also, fun fact? This visor does nothing to help with staring into those eyes. If anything it's worse; Euna can barely move right now, and her breath feels like it's coming in through a straw. But there's no shot. There's no shot? What the hell?

"Sn... sniper," she stammers, "At your 12:30. Rooftop. Get indoors. Please."

Oh god please go inside she can too. None of this makes any sense. None of it. There's still no shot. Why. Is. She. So. Scared?! She's helpless. She stares, transfixed. Think, Euna, think. These are ideal assassination conditions. The gunner is vastly too far away for even her to reach them before the damage could be done. The angle is an ideal vantage point to observe the entire pyramid, and put a shot through the lungs of anybody at ground level (don't think about who's on ground level, Euna. Just don't). Even the weather's bizarrely perfect. No wind sheer, visibility at max; they could come back to that spot every day for a month and not get a better shot than this right now. That meant... it means that... they don't see their target. They're waiting for something else.

But what?

[Assess the Situation: 11 - "What here is under the greatest threat? And while I'm at it, what here can I use to not die, please, I don't wanna go out like this..."]

[Eldest]

"Date? What date? Are you referring to the date that I arranged at Gonzorroli's, a place with a six month waiting list, by way of impersonating the Brand Ambassador from Athena Megatech? The one that I spent two days shopping for a new dress for? The one where I systematically cleared out every low and mid level villain from the surrounding six blocks beforehand to ensure there would be no distractions?"

She put her E/Mauler straight up against the head of a downed hologram like an executioner. Then she acidly let it fall onto its sling and instead cuffed it instead in a perfect display of protocol. "My mother loved it. She was so happy because I'd never surprised her like that before. What a good daughter I am. Speaking of." She paused for a moment to subtype a report regarding Comstar and send it off into the AEGIS Mayanet. "It was peachy. A lovely filial evening."

"I... see." She blinks, takes a few seconds to do research online, and winces. Takes a few more to research possible solutions and helpful things. Movies seem to really like moving to a small town and finding a lovely hunk, but that seems impractical... ah! "Would you like to eat ice cream and talk about it?" Great way to bury her feelings: engage with somebody else's.

Foolproof.

[Thanqol]

Agh, the sight of “several people are typing” freaks her out. People are going to turn on her. They always do. She just hasn’t screwed up enough to make these idiots run away yet.

And while Joseph drinks in the applause from passengers and commandos alike, Sara slinks away in abject misery. She needs new clothes, a thorough shower, and to talk to nobody at all for a little bit. Ugh. Ugh. Stupid show-off. Loud and flashy and probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth, so why does he need to be so over-the-top? Like, you’d still be okay if people stopped paying attention to you, you cocky bastard.

You’d still be okay if everyone got tired of you.

[Defying the chat for Potential and retribution.]

@SARAHPHIM: whatever. he’s a wimp. take away his magic flashlight whatever and he’s useless.
Angel-IKA: But that's - he beat the vampire after having the ripple saber taken?
Locker: i mean the same could be said about you sarhafim :P
@SARAHPHIM: I mean whatever lol. I’m over it. It was cool to see Dominus, tho! Love and kisses, Dommy. Maybe next time try an evil scheme that doesn’t nearly get you killed, idiot.
@SARAHPHIM: also nobody even cares about the president, grow up already
Ferraphim1tp: Dominus! Which one of these is Sarah?
Dominus: I DON'T KNOW
Ferraphim1tp: Don't give me that! You were talking to her! >:\
Dominus: I THOUGHT I WAS?
Dominus: IDK
Locker: wait was this ur plan dommy
Dominus: IT OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T GO TO PLAN
Locker: what was the plan
Dominus: TO STEAL A VAMPIRE FOR BIOTECH RESEARCH
Angel-IKA: What!? >:T
Bode: That strikes me as an unwise plan.
Dominus: I HAD IT FIGURED! I JUST WASN'T EXPECTING IT TO BE A MAGICAL GHOST SUPER VAMPIRE
Angel-IKA: You risked your life for something that stupid!? You're lucky JoJo was there to save you!!!
Bode: Jojo?
Angel-IKA: Oh, haha, um, well because his name is Joel Joestar I thought... yknow
===Ferraphim1tp has changed their name to SarahStar1tp===
SarahStar1tp: I like it! :)
Locker: ah the worm has turned
SarahStar1tp: I'm glad Dominus' plan was garbage, it introduced us to a cool new superhero ^^
Angel-IKA: He's like a bishy but buff at the same time.
Bode: I think the fact that @Sarahphim is apparently tsundere for him is kind of a deal closer.
Locker: imagine what would happen if they combined their tallents. that ripple thing being projected through sarafims hardlight would bec rayzy.
Angel-IKA: Just like my animes!
Bode: What is 'anime'?
Locker: r u fr real bode

*

The luxury train continues to coast across the Caribbean. Spectacular views and luxury hotels await. Anonymity and quiet and natural landscapes, those wonderful preserves of the ultra-rich, await @Sarahphim for many evenings optimized for chill.

But I don't think it'll be as enjoyable as you dream, given the torrent of @Sarahphim/JoJo fanart pouring in a constant rush onto every social media channel you follow. At some point you're going to need to do something about this 'anime' thing.

"If you don't like doing it then just tell me so I... can... get down!"

Of course, there's very little point in diving on top of someone like the Shogun in the event of sniper attack. No one's ever had the nerve to take the shot, even from that kind of distance. But Errant would not be Errant if she thought about things like that, so the pair of them go tumbling off the steps and wind up on the wet ground with Errant's face uncomfortably close to Nobunaga's anyway. There's a tense moment where the only thing on her mind is bracing for impact. That's a big gun. That's a huge gun. Is she actually rated to take a shot from a thing like that?! Her heart races in her chest.

...There's no shot. Euna's face flushes as the rest of the scene comes into focus, and she scrambles to her feet (though she's still careful to stay between the Shogun and the potential line of fire). Also, fun fact? This visor does nothing to help with staring into those eyes. If anything it's worse; Euna can barely move right now, and her breath feels like it's coming in through a straw. But there's no shot. There's no shot? What the hell?

"Sn... sniper," she stammers, "At your 12:30. Rooftop. Get indoors. Please."

Oh god please go inside she can too. None of this makes any sense. None of it. There's still no shot. Why. Is. She. So. Scared?! She's helpless. She stares, transfixed. Think, Euna, think. These are ideal assassination conditions. The gunner is vastly too far away for even her to reach them before the damage could be done. The angle is an ideal vantage point to observe the entire pyramid, and put a shot through the lungs of anybody at ground level (don't think about who's on ground level, Euna. Just don't). Even the weather's bizarrely perfect. No wind sheer, visibility at max; they could come back to that spot every day for a month and not get a better shot than this right now. That meant... it means that... they don't see their target. They're waiting for something else.

But what?

[Assess the Situation: 11 - "What here is under the greatest threat? And while I'm at it, what here can I use to not die, please, I don't wanna go out like this..."]

The sniper doesn't even flinch when you dive. Doesn't make any move to pull the trigger. Just sedately angles to track your momentum, and stays calmly there and watching. There is no question at all that the figure is watching you.

But then the front door of AEGIS slams open and a team of security guards burst out behind the cover of slabshields to get you behind cover. You're still watching - the sniper's whole attitude changes for a second, suddenly they're aiming at them - and their finger touches the trigger for the first time. Still it doesn't fire, but it was thinking about it. That's... that's not the body language of an assassin. That's the body language of a bodyguard. They didn't react when you moved, but they aimed a shot at people who were making sudden movements near you - until they identified they weren't dangerous.

The person under the greatest threat is anyone who seriously threatens you. Anyone who does is taking their life in their hands.

That renders your second question a bit moot, but now that you're thinking about it, having a plan for dealing with an extreme distance sniper would be, uh, useful. The heroic dive-tackle is great and all but that person just tracked you faultlessly through it. What would help is packing some smoke grenades or something similar from the AEGIS armoury. Still do the rescue move but block the followup adjustment - Take a +1 to your next attempt to Defend someone from a sniper.

Why you have a bodyguard is, of course, anybody's guess. It's definitely not AEGIS.

*

While all of that is running through your head, AEGIS shieldguards are forming ranks around you, and Pathfinder remotes are being deployed to co-ordinate long distance sensor sweeps, you are lying directly on top of the Shogun. Her hat is rolling cheerfully down the stairs and your ice cream has spilled onto her chest.

"You saved me," she said, and the concealed wisp of a smile hinted that she knew that there hadn't been a shot. "You saved me? You dare? No one has dared to rescue me before," she said, leaning in closer and distracting you from your calculations of firing trajectories by whispering into your ear. "It seems that I am in your debt."

[Take Influence over the Shogun]

No. Just, no.

Brainstorm sits there, staring, not talking, for too long. If he talks, he's going to keep talking, and that's going to evolve into shouting, and right now he can't afford to lose his temper. Not now, not here, not in front of AEGIS and definitely not in front of ****ing Comstar..

So he sits, and stews, and prays she isn't listening to how ragged his breath has become.

Look, it's not like he asked to be this way, alright? Didn't ask to be this intelligent. It'd be nice to, you know, just take a load off. To be a moron. To forget. To get away, just for a day, from the knowledge that for all his knowledge, for all his ambition, he's never going to be "Brainstorm, local hero, liberator of the people." No. He's always gonna be, "Hey, you're blocking the shot, "Sorry, VIP badges only in the backstage area," "Sorry, not on the list." He's always going to be "the other one." You know, the one that isn't a success, isn't famous, isn't loved.

One of nature's roadies. Bastard. Yeah, rub it in, twist that knife, salt the wound. Not his fault it's so hard to shine when you're stood next to the sun.

He stands, and waves at the mirror. "Well, I'm glad we had this little talk." F*** her. F*** this plan. Get that door open, you AEGIS stooge. He's suffocating down here, and it's been too long without his limbs.

As the door opens, he can't resist one last shot. "You might be down here a long time. I'll make sure to send you a new knife."

Comstar has for a moment the same look of surprise and pain her double had just a few minutes ago when talking to Ferra - the shock of losing a chance to be the centre of the world again. And it is a satisfying moment, seeing her rapidly try to figure out how to walk things back, how to threaten or bribe or cajole you into putting her in front of a goddamn camera again. But she doesn't have any leverage she hasn't already used and the jail door slams in her face.

So, that's that then, Victor. AEGIS' artificial intelligence is going to go up and there's nothing you can do to stop it from following the same path as Prometheus.

At least that's a path that'll take some time to walk. Maybe you can find some way to stop it between now and then? Just because you've missed the first deadline doesn't mean it's all over just yet.

"I... see." She blinks, takes a few seconds to do research online, and winces. Takes a few more to research possible solutions and helpful things. Movies seem to really like moving to a small town and finding a lovely hunk, but that seems impractical... ah! "Would you like to eat ice cream and talk about it?" Great way to bury her feelings: engage with somebody else's.

Foolproof.

"I..." said JuneBird, swinging around ferociously to look you in the eyes. "would like that a lot actually, thank you Ferra," she said after a minute.

She never really gets around to talking about it, but neither does she tune out or deliberately block you out. Instead it's just an ordinary kind of afternoon with reasonable weather, mazelike shopping centres, and culminating with an evening at Naota's arcade. Not much gets said; all the places are loud and neither of you are really motivated to be honest with your feelings right now. You've got your own worlds and your own wars and your own great, strange pressures weighing down on your minds but at least there's one other person who'll just not bring it up for a couple hours.

And sometimes that's all you need to turn a bad day into a good one.

[Take influence over JuneBird]



=== ISSUE END ===

[Raz_Fox]

STREAM

“What’s up, losers.”

@SARAHPHIM looks even more unimpressed than usual on the stream camera. There’s a good reason for that. It’s not just the cosplay, but also the throng of SaraStar usernames and avatars looking back at her, as she sinks inescapably into “wow, she’s so tsundere.”

“Anyway, yeah, congratulations to Official Sidekick Angel-IKA for the successful bandwagon on the Patreon vote,” she says, airily waving a hand sheathed in white silk. “As requested, I’m going to Perfect Clear Camelot Dreams VI: White Saber of Morning Lamentation while in cosplay as...”

She rolls her eyes in a way that might make certain nerds in the audience think of other things. You know. The fluttering eyes back in the head way. It’s made more pronounced by the striking blue and gold makeup.

“...Dragon Queen Arturia Excaliburon.”

It’s some really good cosplay. Like, super good! There’s no way she got the dragon bone corset just right, exactly like in the game’s graphics, the way she likes to pull off her cosplays — not without the help of a true, true fan.

“Anyway. Helping me out today is—“

“Sir Bedivere, Knight of the Ark!” Euna’s actually got a special cosplay prosthetic for the Savior Knight of Eternal Service. “I have to say, Camelot VI was a great choice! It’s got one of the best plots in the series, and the design for Morgana Faeriemistress is so, so good. Shout-out to Angel-IKA, you rock!”

“Lunatic Difficulty, obviously,” @SARAHPHIM purrs in a way that makes every gamer out there who can’t hack Lunatic feel very small and pathetic. “No deaths, no bombs, and no gimmicks.”

“No gimmicks?” There was a moment of unspoken negotiation between the two.

“...except I’ll read all the dialogue out loud, naturally. Like, do I even have to say it? Idiot.” @SARAHPHIM settles at her keyboard in such a way that she ends up a lot closer to Euna, and hits START.

[PhoeKun]

********

EUNA'S FITNESS CORNER

Errant's sitting on a chair in a plain white room in another set of absurdly tight fitting gym clothes. Today's version is a super-girly pink that seems so out of place on her you'd be forgiven for assuming it was borrowed or assigned. She waves at the camera with her right arm, then stretches it across her chest and pulls it taut against her with her left.

"Hey folks, it's good to be back! Today we're going to be going over a simple, ground-based exercises to help get those core muscles nice and strong. Before that, though, I kinda forgot an important part of working out last time that... oh man, let me tell you, my instructors chewed me the ff... heck out for leaving off," she grins as she switches arms and stands up, "You probably guessed: it's stretching. Doing any kind of strength exercises with tight muscles is gonna lead to painful cramping and can even put you in the hospital. So, uh, don't.

Oh, that reminds me! Limb stretches like this look kinda pointless at first glance, but remember that cyberlimbs connect to your muscle groups just the same as your flesh ones did. When you move your arms like this you should be able to feel it in your chest a bit. If you can't, that could be a sign your augs aren't connected properly. Unfortunately that's pretty common on the discount market. If your aug feels kind of floaty when you move it or if it clicks at the joint when you stretch it, that's not normal. Don't just tough out that awful disassociative feeling, talk to your doctor and get the connection redone."

Errant moves on to toe touches, then pulls her knees up to her chest in turn. She glances at the camera again, and she blushes a bit.

"Yeah, easy for me to say, right? But AEGIS runs a clinic downtown and they'll run a check and adjustment for you as long as you've got a valid ID that you can pay off with a few dozen hours of volunteer service. I know you might not be thrilled about it, but this is your arm now. That's your leg. You're still a person, you know? So take care of yourself now; you'll thank me later.

Uh. Yeah. Anyway! Our lesson today is called a Mermaid Lift! It's a very beginner friendly exercise that's gonna keep you focused on your core without letting any variable limb strength you might have to deal with in your day-to-day interfering with the motion."

She lies down on her side, still facing the camera, then props herself up on her elbow. With her legs locked together and held perfectly straight, she lifts her hips into the air as far as they'll go without having to change positions, and lifts her other arm up and over her head like she's diving into the water. And she holds this pose. And holds it. And holds it.

"So yeah, now you can see why it's called a mermaid lift, right? Just keep your 'tail' nice and straight and leap up over the waves. It, uh, helps if you use your imagination. It'll keep you focused on the arc, because maintaining this line is where all the muscle strain comes from, ok? Hold it as long as you can; try for maybe 3 to 5 deep breath's worth when you're starting out and then slooowwwwly ease yourself back to the ground. One, two more breaths and then baaaack up we go! You wanna do these in sets of ten, and then switch sides to keep the workout even."

Errant stands back up and throws up another one of those sideways peace signs over her eye like she's some sort of idol. Just like in her last demo, it makes her break into a fit of ultra-dork giggling.

"And that's it! Keep track of your best and make sure to let me know how you did! Remember, it doesn't matter if you're full-flesh or full-cyber or anywhere in between: your body's worth taking care of. See you next time when we'll be doing cardio drills!"

Another wave. Fade to black. An address appears marking the location of the clinic Errant mentioned. Payment details differ based on your financial situation. Children treated absolutely free!

[Eldest]

Editor's Note: Ferra's Strange and Enlightening Adventures continues it's experiment with community funded media. Specifically, we've had a fantastic amount of feedback from academic and scientific communities across the area. Seriously, I'm blown away here. As was the case with last episode, here's some paid messages from different members of the community!

Hi kids! It's your science uncle here. You know the one, I'm not allowed at Christmas parties anymore. Last month I showed you all how to make a home-made laser. Well, this month we've got something bitter for you, and no I didn't misspell that: we have some beans for you, here! Plant them in the right soil, make sure to add the included packets of gels and powders when the packages say, and you've got a plant that grows 100% dark chocolate! Not your speed, probably, but think of the potential to bribe Mom(s) or Dad(s)!



We are now recruiting for America's Top Mad Scientist! Applicants can send in a video of one of your science problems. A letter of condemnation from the letter, ignobel prize, degree from any accredited university (honorable, dishonorable, or real), and experience with stage makeup a plus!

COMRADES, LAST WEEK'S RALLY WAS USEFUL, BUT BELOW WHAT IS NEEDED. JOIN ME, IN RISING UP AGAINST THE CORRUPT AND THE POWERFUL, AND MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD.

Young NASAstronauts are invited to the 142nd annual Moon Landing! Go inside one of our Apollo 11 recreations and you, too, can experience what "one giant leap for mankind" was like. The first twenty visiters get a genuine moon rock!

[Balmas]

"If you are anything like me, you're worried about being tracked."

It's not true to say that Victor's laboratory looks like a hurricane blew through it two seconds ago, if only because to say that would be to do a great disservice to storm victims everywhere. In some grudging concession to the camera, screws and circuitry have been heaped up into piles delineated with electrical tape and the occasional bit of spare wire, but it's anyone's guess what project each pile represents. Victor sits at the center, squeezing and molding his leg as his gaze flits between camera and ancient tablet.

"This makes sense. It's obvious. You want privacy. What you do, what you buy, what you read, is nobody's business but your own.

"And I'm sorry to say that, unless you're living entirely off the grid, using only your own seed to farm your own food and purifying your own water, it's not really possible to go entirely free of the megacorps' influence." Distracted, Victor runs a hand through a pile of electronics and comes out with a handful of circuitry. "I know, I know. That's not what you want to hear, and it isn't what I want to say. But it's the unfortunate frigging truth. You own a cell phone? The megacorps are keeping track of your GPS movements, app purchases, credit card numbers, contacts, camera, downloads. Own a car? They know its mileage and are queueing up ads for oil so they can extract every bit of money from you. You watch cat videos? Your history is part of their algorithm forever."

He's not even looking at his hands, probably not even thinking about it, but the circuitry is starting to take shape. An EMP device? Signal blocker?

"Now, that's not to say that there aren't steps you can't take, but I do not want to mislead you by promising the moon. You're going to need to be smart. It goes without saying, but close your accounts as much as you can. Get off social media. Use cash for as many transactions as possible. Consider leaving your phone at home at random, or letting a friend carry it around. Don't stand out from the crowd, especially if you're planning on doing anything disruptive."

The microphone briefly clips and hisses as he lets out a deep sigh. "Keep yourself safe out there, people. Your best tool is always going to be a friend. You can't get off the grid entirely, but you can minimize what they can do to your loved ones. Be careful, and good luck."

[Thanqol]

"That's me!" shouts the girl as she leaps into the air, flushed with victory. "That's me!"

Metal was grasped by metal that wrapped metal. The remote came up with eerie position and one clawed thumb deftly hit rewind. The race started again.

Streaking hovercars. The turn, the renewed burst of speed. The fifteen foot leap into the air. The exultant cry; "That's me!" Once again the claw raised over the remote.

There was a murmur of sound. The finger hesitated, and then hit pause instead, capturing Errant's smiling face.

"Did you say something, Eight?" A voicebox that had been reassembled twice from rags of flesh never sounded quite the same.

"No, mistress," said Eight, coughing to try and avoid the nervous squeak to her voice.

"That is interesting. Because I thought I heard you say 'How many times are you going to watch that stupid video?'"

"I'd never question you, mistress," said Eight.

"I know. Because I taught you well, didn't I?"

"Yes, mistress,"

"I gave you everything you needed to know about stealth. Destruction. Murder."

"Yes, mistress,"

"And I was extremely clear about my expectations for the use of those skills, wasn't I?"

"Yes, mistress."

"Hmm," the voice swished the sound around its mouth, like a snifter of wine tumbling through a gravel quarry. The claw came down on a different part of the remote.

This time the camera was clearly on Eight's blushing face as she drew closer, closer to the source. And then - a shining metal foot hit her in the side and she comically tumbled from the side of the building in an instant.

At the same moment Eight's knife snapped out to cut the tiny few fragments of flesh that still showed on the old lady's body. It struck true. The knife embedded into the side of her neck, causing green-black blood to ooze out. Even that didn't entirely stop the rasping laughter - though it did make it a lot less human.

"You can't even do this right," rasped Sabrem. "Pathetic."

A metal hand caught Eight by the neck and threw her through the television set, smashing it to pieces and destroying the wall behind it. Steady metal legs carried the heavy armour into a standing position. A bloody knife clattered to the floor, followed by a bare few droplets of blood that soon stopped.

"If Euna had been holding that knife," she said, stepping over, kicking away debris with one foot, "I'd be dead." She should be dead. That knife had severed her windpipe and nicked her voicebox again. Cute, though she wouldn't even add a new scar to her collection from it - she'd had her throat cut like that twice before to no more effect than this.

There was no body in amidst the wreckage. Sabrem smirked - and closed her eyes.

"Would you like to explain to me, number Eight, why your face is on international television in that ridiculous getup, possum girl?"

No response. Another smile. Foolish. Her own heavy armour glimmered - whined - screamed - and with a crackling roar, turned invisible as well. It took a lot of power to hide that much metal. Some even said that thermo-optic camouflage on heavy armour was impossible.

"Do you know why I showed you that video of Euna?" Sabrem continued, heavy footsteps echoing through the empty room. Still no response. "Because I wanted to show you what competence looked like. That is what focus gets you. That... is the kind of person who does not get distracted from her training. That is a person who knows how to follow the rules."

She stepped around, bringing her arm out in a long, lazy horizontal sweep to see if it'd impact with an invisible figure in her way.

"That is someone who might actually learn what it is I have to teach. Someone who might one day carry my name... rather than ending their life as nothing more than a number."

The air blurred and distorted. The suddenness of the motion cut away the thermo-optic camouflage. Number Eight struck perfectly at the centre of that noise, those footsteps, those blood droplets. The knife was aimed perfectly for her eye - if she had been standing two steps to the left.

She caught Eight in artificial limbs. The invisibility faded from both women as Sabrem stared down at the choking 'Possum Girl' as her fingers scrabbled ineffectively at the armour and false muscle. As she did, Sabrem produced her phone and held it up, resuming the video of Errant leaping into the air and holding it up to the suffocating girl's eyes.

"See? Watch closely. See how much you can learn," she said calmly. "The dedication. The focus. I was a fool to leave her behind, wasn't I? Someone who can control herself for long enough to truly master something."

"She -" choked out Eight "- she'll never serve you. Not like I will -"

"Oh, hush, dear, I know that," said Sabrem. "That's why we're going to go shopping for a version of her that will."

She held Eight up until the moment that her fingers started to stop scratching pointlessly at the metal - and then released her. She noted with satisfaction that her apprentice's gasps sounded uglier than her voice did.

"And if you are a good girl," said Sabrem, "I might even keep you around as a training dummy rather than disposing of you outright."

[Thanqol]

--- ISSUE #03 ---

Hsien was a mega back in the day - not that you'd have known it before this briefing it if you weren't a genius or a student of business history. Operators of an international prison-industrial complex, Hsien was renowned for its ruthlessness and disregard for the basics of humanity. An up and coming AEGIS objected to this - vertically integrating a prison network of its own was in AEGIS' interests, and further, they just objected to the profit-driven, amoral and revolving door nature of Hsien's business model. There was a corporate struggle that in times raised to almost warfare levels before AEGIS was finally able to buy out and integrate the majority of Hsien's assets.

It's not the sort of thing AEGIS likes to advertise. The briefing was given from a position of reluctance. But it is directly relevant so there was no way around it.

One of Hsien's assets that AEGIS did not manage to buy out was their Corporate Champion - the same kind of position occupied by BlackSun's Maria, or Errant in AEGIS. The individual who was armed with the sharp end of all of the corporation's weapons tech and served as the superheroic keystone of their security forces. This was Sabrem. She entered Hsien's system on a rioting charge and was assigned to the Wu Ming Assault Corps - power armoured prisoners. Nobody was supposed to get promoted out of a penal battalion but Sabrem was so uniquely effective that she managed it. She was augmented, upgraded, given increasing control and influence over Hsien's security forces. She was the front line against AEGIS and, when AEGIS bought out Hsien, she opted to take her team and strike out on her own. Ever since she's left a trail of devastation in her wake.

And now she and her team have identified and raided Comstar's lab, which is on the brink of a reality meltdown. You and your team are way behind. No time to prepare, no time to plan - without Comstar's help you've got no idea what you're walking into here.

*

The building is one of Crown&Slate's Hanging Gardens - a fancy brand name for a vertical farm. It's a huge, cube-shaped building hooked up to huge power cables and covered head to toe in overgrown greenery. The inside consists of endless rows of dedicated growing environments; ultraviolet light, automated hydration and watering systems, and endless varieties of plants and fruits and medical herbs. This is no quiet farm, expect the inside to feature as many swinging automated limbs and industrial noises as any modern assembly line.

It's an ominous thing to approach - especially for you, Errant, who are now aware of your mysterious invisible guardian angel lurking over your shoulder, aiming a multisniper rifle at anyone who looks at you funny.

*

Angel-IKA: I have a bad feeling about this one
Ferraphim1tp: Same <.<;
Locker: u kiding. we're going to see e-dawg punch everyone with those crazy new augs, its gonna rule
Bode: I am concerned too. I am not sure she is psychologically ready for this. I wish they sent someone else.
Dominus: WHAT IS THIS, THE ERRANT SHOW? THEY DID SEND SOMEONE ELSE - THE COOLEST AND MOST CAPABLE SOMEONE ELSE IN THEIR ORGANIZATION.
Ferraphim1tp: Hell yeah! We love you Sarah! :D
Angel-IKA: I just wish I could help out somehow ><
Locker: r u still grounded?
Angel-IKA: 'still' implies I might ever not be ._.
Locker: sucks

[PhoeKun]

"Exterior looks clear. Can anybody confirm?"

Errant is in control. That's why her breathing is so deep and regular. It's why it's why she keeps reflexively opening and closing her hands, and it's definitely why she just asked three people without multispectral visors if they'd seen something that her magic see-anything tech had missed. In, out. In, out. Open, close. Open, close. Squeeze. She turns to look at the rest of her team (she's nothing without them) and flicks the visor up off of her eyes.

That's the rule that she wrote for herself after she caught a glimpse in the mirror the other day. If you don't need it, don't look at other people with it on. That way, you don't learn secrets you're not supposed to about people's bodies. That way, you don't look like more of a machine than Ferra (is that even a fair comparison anymore?). That way, you don't have to remember you've got a creepy invisible bodyguard lurking just behind you everywhere you go that you haven't figured out how to talk to anybody about. Her eyes flick back and forth from Ferra, to Victor, and finally to Sara. She frowns.

"I'm taking point. Sara, I want you..."

She falters. This is only the 4th time she's tried to change a formation. Ugh, what is she even doing? They're not soldiers, Euna! The reason they're here is because they are, to a man/woman, smarter than she is. Direct them at problems, don't drop this micromanaging bullsh*t on them. Besides, this place is huge and you have no intel on where Comstar actually set up shop; you're going to need to split up to complete the sweep faster anyway so focus on-- oh christ why did she stop talking there? She visibly flinches and clicks her visor back over her eyes before whipping around to stare at the Garden again.

"Just... just remember, just because this is Comstar's lab does not make this a Comstar-level threat. No theatrics, no showboating, got me? If something happens, call it in and wait for backup. You're, I mean I... none of... oh Jesus. We're wasting time. Come on."

[Eldest]

Ferra, meanwhile, is knitting. She did research into various hobbies, cost, space required, happiness reported against effort expended, and ease of entry, and this was the winner of the several-page spreadsheet. She was working on a hat. At least, she thinks it'll be a hat when it's finished: she's not entirely sure. It was purple, green, and gray in stripes. She had no idea what she was doing with it after it's done, but that was a problem for later.

She'd originally had this all in a small bag put away carefully where she'd listened to the plan. The second plan was paid attention to. The third plan she started to eye her bag, and by the fourth she'd started up again. It's not that she's being rude or uninterested in the tactics or strategy. It's that she's making a thing and that is. So. Neat.

She's putting away the yarn and needles now though, it looks like it's go time. "I do not see any obvious threats, no."

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 1

“Keep it in your pants, Euna,” Sara drawls. This is weird. Weird weird. She should be feeling things about this. Sabrem ruined Euna’s life! But while she knows it... she doesn’t feel it yet. And feeling bad for not feeling bad stinks.

Her cameras fan out around her, chirping and glittering red as blood. At least this’ll be an interesting venue for a fight. All sorts of colors and foliage and machinery! A thrilling backdrop for her purple and cool blue attacks (she’s currently doing an Winter Wind theme, all cold colors rushing swift).

[Balmas]

See, s*** like this? This is why megacorps are the Capital-W Worst. Some jackhole in upper management decides that the best person to represent them is a psycho in a penal colony, juices them up with all the combat augs in the world, and then when the company goes tits up... She's let loose, still augmented, still wreaking havoc, still bats*** insane.

And here he is, with Errant. What's going to happen to her when AEGIS follows suit? Will anybody bother to pick up the pieces, reassemble her? Snap her up to become their own Champion.

It's almost enough to make him not want to fight AEGIS.

But that's not important. What's important, he reminds himself as he squeezes his hand into putty and back again, is not to get completely taken out in an area they know nothing about. No plan, no intel, just "that psycho scientist set her lab to self-destruct, go." This is hell.

"This is hell," he murmurs, and starts to scan the lab for... Something. Anything. Bombs, technology, friggin' ninjas, don't ask him. "You should take point, Errant. You and Ferra are our most durable combatants, so if something's gonna jump us, we want you to be the wall they hit."

[Assess the situation: 13. What here is the biggest threat? How could we best end this quickly?]

[Thanqol]

Ferraphim1tp: Ooooo. Shut down! >:D
Bode: That was hardly fair, @Sarahphim probably just heard that line out of context, if she thought Errant actually wanted her it would have been very different.
Dominus: NAH. THAT WAS JUST REGULAR BRUTAL
Angel-IKA: It's so cute that Ferra is knitting that duck ^.^
Dominus: DUCK?
Locker: idk looks like a sweater
Angel-IKA: It's purple, grey and green! Those are duck colours!
Dominus: WHAT KIND OF WEIRD DUCKS ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Bode: Wikipedia says ducks are bright yellow, or grey-brown, or sometimes white.
Angel-IKA: photo4848.jpg
Angel-IKA: See! Look! Ducks, from right outside my window!
Locker: i think u have weird rich ppl ducks


Ever heard of a chain rifle? They're nasty weapons - basically you get a long thin chain cord and run it through a magnetic accelerator. Bursts out into a huge shrapnel spray like a superheated blunderbuss. They're not particularly deadly weapons - slow rate of fire due to the chunky ammunition, short range, basically zero accuracy - and they're also super illegal because they're so indiscriminate they'll blow away anything in front of them. But they are cheap and they require no skill to use. Exactly the sort of thing you give to a civilian wearing a gas mask that's pumping them full of mental suppressant drugs.

It's pretty clear that the Crown&Slate guard post was blown away by half a dozen chain rifles at short range. It's still standing, reinforced plastiplate studded with still-warm metal shards, but everything inside is shattered, burned and shredded. There are no signs of the guards, living or dead. If they're unlucky they'll be wearing a mask and carrying a chain rifle of their own. Sabrem's stockpile of prisoner management technology means that her soldiers and her hostages are the same people.

"This is hell," he murmurs, and starts to scan the lab for... Something. Anything. Bombs, technology, friggin' ninjas, don't ask him. "You should take point, Errant. You and Ferra are our most durable combatants, so if something's gonna jump us, we want you to be the wall they hit."

[Assess the situation: 13. What here is the biggest threat? How could we best end this quickly?]

The biggest threat, as always, comes from within, Victor.

I mean, like, not from disharmony and poor teamwork. I mean in an evil robot usses sense. There's an open reality breach which is currently attuned to the evil dimension and the fact that you are here now means that evil you is also here, now, but in the other dimension because that is how this works. This is all probably very scientific and you are good at that because you are basically a scientist.

But, by the same token... if you stop then so does your double. He thinks like you do, after all. And you've got an edge that he doesn't have - Ferra's cosmic viewpoint showed her that she doesn't have a dimensional double anywhere in the cosmos. She alone can go up to that portal safely.

So the optimal plan is as you just said it: you and @Sarahphim hang back and hunt for Hsien remnants amidst the foliage, and send Errant and Ferra into the heart of the lab to close the portal.

[Balmas]

Ferraphim1tp: Ooooo. Shut down! >:D
Bode: That was hardly fair, @Sarahphim probably just heard that line out of context, if she thought Errant actually wanted her it would have been very different.
Dominus: NAH. THAT WAS JUST REGULAR BRUTAL
Angel-IKA: It's so cute that Ferra is knitting that duck ^.^
Dominus: DUCK?
Locker: idk looks like a sweater
Angel-IKA: It's purple, grey and green! Those are duck colours!
Dominus: WHAT KIND OF WEIRD DUCKS ARE YOU LOOKING AT?
Bode: Wikipedia says ducks are bright yellow, or grey-brown, or sometimes white.
Angel-IKA: photo4848.jpg
Angel-IKA: See! Look! Ducks, from right outside my window!
Locker: i think u have weird rich ppl ducks


Ever heard of a chain rifle? They're nasty weapons - basically you get a long thin chain cord and run it through a magnetic accelerator. Bursts out into a huge shrapnel spray like a superheated blunderbuss. They're not particularly deadly weapons - slow rate of fire due to the chunky ammunition, short range, basically zero accuracy - and they're also super illegal because they're so indiscriminate they'll blow away anything in front of them. But they are cheap and they require no skill to use. Exactly the sort of thing you give to a civilian wearing a gas mask that's pumping them full of mental suppressant drugs.

It's pretty clear that the Crown&Slate guard post was blown away by half a dozen chain rifles at short range. It's still standing, reinforced plastiplate studded with still-warm metal shards, but everything inside is shattered, burned and shredded. There are no signs of the guards, living or dead. If they're unlucky they'll be wearing a mask and carrying a chain rifle of their own. Sabrem's stockpile of prisoner management technology means that her soldiers and her hostages are the same people.



The biggest threat, as always, comes from within, Victor.

I mean, like, not from disharmony and poor teamwork. I mean in an evil robot usses sense. There's an open reality breach which is currently attuned to the evil dimension and the fact that you are here now means that evil you is also here, now, but in the other dimension because that is how this works. This is all probably very scientific and you are good at that because you are basically a scientist.

But, by the same token... if you stop then so does your double. He thinks like you do, after all. And you've got an edge that he doesn't have - Ferra's cosmic viewpoint showed her that she doesn't have a dimensional double anywhere in the cosmos. She alone can go up to that portal safely.

So the optimal plan is as you just said it: you and @Sarahphim hang back and hunt for Hsien remnants amidst the foliage, and send Errant and Ferra into the heart of the lab to close the portal.

Yikes. Yeah, that's... That's not good.

"Errant, you watch old TV, right? You remember that old space show? Ever watch the episode where each of the main cast meets their evil-AU version? Goatees, Mirrors, teleporter incidents, that one?" Brainstorm gives a wry grin and a tired sigh. "Well, guess we get to live that out today. We head in there, we're about to meet our own evil counterparts. Except, I guess, Ferra, who is unique in the multiverse."

Which, now that he thinks about it, is kind of a comforting thought. Yeah, he'd been copying one of the greatest minds of all times and iterating on his work, but at least nobody else had succeeded where he'd failed.

"Which means that you're ideal to enter in there," he says, turning to Ferra. "@SARA, I do hope the stream will be satisfied with not meeting your evil clone--what am I saying, they're probably already rioting."

[Raz_Fox]

POTENTIAL 1

“Are you kidding?” @SARAHPHIM scoffs, loudly. “There is room in the world for exactly one @SARAHPHIM, thank you very much. The original. Accept no substitutes.”

She stretches, lean and mean and hungry like a tiger. “Besides, if our evil opposites are coming out... mine’s probably nowhere as dangerous as I am.” That’s the brand, right? Nobody does dangerous like @SARAHPHIM. Just ask Turbo Knight! And don’t ask Possum Girl that was such an embarrassing moment.

“So if you get scared and need to hide behind a big girl,” she adds, patting Victor on the head condescendingly, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe, princess.”

Princess.

She glances without thinking over at Euna. It’s just a burn. Don’t read into it. She hasn’t thought about that word. A whole bunch. It’s like, whatever, right?

Whatever. She’s the dragon here, anyway. She’ll blow you away with frozen winter winds and leave you a glittering part of her hoard forever if you don’t watch out.

[PhoeKun]

You are nothing without your team. You are nothing without your team. You are nothing without your team...

It's the P-word that does it. Errant audibly grinds her teeth and momentarily forgets how to unclench her fist. When she turns again she stares straight at Sara, but it's a little hard to tell because she forgot to take off her visor this time. So uh, this is a look, right guys? Scale of 1-10, how well does she pull off-- actually on second thought don't answer that. Don't even ask it. We never had this conversation, ok?

"...Right. Victor, you've got operational discretion on the ground. Keep a comm line open at all times. Secure channel, AEGIS protocols only. None of your workarounds; I need to know it's you."

One more deep breath. Ok. Yeah, ok. She's got this. She's strong now. It's not gonna be like last time. Errant grabs Ferra, not exactly gently, and hoists her into a princess carry. She tries very hard not to think about what it's called.

"Stay safe. A... all right?"

Limiters off. It's not that she can fly, exactly. It's not even approximately that. It's just that the side of the Hanging Gardens is covered in unusual architecture and footholds. A maintenance platform here, some cabling there, who-knows-what growing basically everywhere, and a little bit above that an automated crane arm tending to some of the upper level vegetation. It's exactly like taking the stairs, except the stairs are all 15-20 feet apart from each other and some of them are the size of a smart phone. It's better to start from both ends of the building at once. Cover more ground that way, and cut off more escape routes.

She reaches the roof in hardly any time at all, and lands with a hard "thud" on one knee. She lets Ferra back on her feet, and this time she does it very gently. Limiters back on.

"F*cking hell." She observes, extremely helpfully.

[Eldest]

Ferra, in contrast to her sullen silence during the meeting, giggles excitedly after landing. "That was... completely different from doing it myself. Even now that I can't. It was niiiiice." She sobers up after a moment more, staring down at the building beneath them. "Grid search down there? Or just pot into a floor, let you scan it with the Eye - er, the new visor, and then move on from there if nobody's about?"

She had not missed that the new visor was, basically, a repurposed Eye Of Odin. Which was supposed to be driven by, well, an amount of Rx that she was in possession of. Curiosity had prodded at her, but she had no idea where to start at using it, or even if she could. The Rx was powering her, after all. Besides, it's Euna's. No reason to take her things without asking.

Speaking of which... on to the first floor to search. She reaches out with an arm and pulls Errant close, holding that pose for a second, then phasing them both out and dropping through the floor. Step one, go time.