H.e.r.o.i.c.s. (ic)

[John Cribati]

It's times like this that you wonder exactly how much taxpayer money goes into heroics training.

Hologram generators tend to run on the expensive side.

Still, even if you know it's little more than a VR environment, it's still a perfect replica of the Fifth National Bank. It's decidedly empty, though, save for you students, your teacher, and the three dummies tied up on the ground.

Your instructor today is the self-titled Magnetic Paladin, Mag-Knight. Like his name would suggest, he wears an approximation of medieval plate armor, including the helmet with a visor and a purple plume. The two main differences are the lack of armor on his brawny, muscular arms, and the fact that he's currently standing atop his shield as it floats a few feet above the ground.

Alright squires, his low tenor voice echoes within his helmet your quest today is an extraction scenario, focusing on civilian safety and avoiding needless property destruction. I had something of a bad rap in my younger days for chucking cars when I had little metal to use, and my does that do wonders for your ratings! I'm any case, we will be split into teams. Team A, you have been called in to deal with a hostage situation at a botched robbery. Though most of the civilians have escaped, the robbers- Team B- managed to snag three hostages for use as leverage. Your job is to extract them and take them to the zone marked in red.

He points down the fake street to an intersection a few blocks away that is pained crimson.

Team B- you have just successfully detained a trio of bank robbers, and they remained out cold while you dealt with injured and frightened civilians. However, the villains had accomplices- Team A- who in a surprising show of loyalty, want to retrieve their comrades and escape. Your job is, instead, to fend off the attackers and bring your charges to the police cordon- He points down the block, to a blue intersection- while of course making sure that the three criminals are not needlessly hurt any more than they already are.

Teams will be decided... Randomly!

He steps down from his shield/platform and it raises up to his hand rather than going to any recognizable position, though, it splits into six, each piece turning into a rectangle.

He spins them around as three of the panels become inscribed with the letter "A" and the other three gain a letter "B."

Then, he turns them again so the backs are facing you and shuffles the cards, placing them face down on the floor.

Come on, don't be shy! Everybody pick one!

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d6)[1]

Rolling bones.

Nirvana shrugs. Alright, she says, and reaches up for one of the rectangles. Faerie-damned humans and their stupid height, she grumbles to herself as she has to stand on her tiptoes to reach it, almost dropping her guitar as she does.

[bc56]

Ward's armor snaps into being around him, silver metal linked by neon green lightning. He reaches out and grabs one of the cards quickly, turning it over in his hands excitedly to see what he got. This should be a fun training match, even if he has to play one of the bad guys.

Spoiler: Roll

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(1d5)[5]

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus was still standing near the window and peering down into the training room, her mind going over several stratagems while listening to Mag-Knight talk about their directives.

"Come on, don't be shy! Everybody pick one!"

Lauren did not turn around. Instead, one of the snake-like tentacles protruding from the back of her harness slithered through the air to pluck a card from Mag-Knights hand with unnerving dexterity.

ooc:

Spoiler

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Roll: (1d4)[4]

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 6 | PARRY: 6 | TOU: 6 | FORT: 6 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -2 (~ 6') | MASS RANK: 1 (~ 200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: None. Conditions: None. Bradley listened to Mag-Knight as he described the upcoming exercise, arms folded across his broad chest, watching with a disaffected attitude. The cost of the Holoroom training thing still kind of irked him, there were kids living under cardboard boxes, panhandling just so they could put some food in their stomachs and here they were playing %$#*(!^& tag in a room that probably cost enough to get them all off the streets and into some housing for a year. He shook his head, what a waste of %$#*(!^& time, playing cops & robbers, where both teams were pretending they were the cops. Lame. Maybe they should be teaching them that heroes lie, people get hurt, some people die. He watched as the little green skinned girl jumped up, almost dropping her guitar, and snapped up a card. Clarkson, the try hard hero reached out, powering up his armor because he expected an attack? No, because the kid wanted to look cool, probably to make daddy proud. Lauren was playing aloof, her armored tentacle extending out and deftly taking her pick from their teacher's hand. "Whatever dude," Impact grumbled off handedly, "A beats on B until they can take them into custody, B beats on A until they can get the civilians to the police cordon. Full contact football, with the dummies as the ball. I can deal."

Spoiler: Out of Character Actions

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OOC: Card pull is as follows: (1d3)[3]

[Phobia]

Gillian Maple, not her real name, was still nervous dropping her human disguise around, well, humans. She let her gaze linger on Nirvana. Mostly humans. But her family had told her that she could trust the Mag-Knight so she dealt with it. The girl did look human except with a pinkish hue to her skin, and of course there were her large fuzzy antenna, delicate wings, giant eyes, and four arms.

Mothgirl remained mostly quiet, although her late father always told her that shyness did not befit a princess. While Earth school was a little odd for her, combat training was a common practice for a princess back on her home-planet. So they could protect themselves when separated from her knights. Which, it turned out, she was now. She touched the cards last.

Spoiler

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(1d2)[1]

[John Cribati]

The final teammate in the exercise walks up for his card. It's Cyrus.

He's tall, and brawny. Not as big in as Impact either way, but still notable.

He nudges Impact with an elbow as he passes by. You should pay more attention, Keene. Both teams are after the dummies.

His voice is a melodic baritone, even warped slightly by his helmet, and though his words sound harsh, something about the way he speaks gets you to understand that he's trying to be playful, not mean.

It's one of those qualities that mark him as Odd, with a capital O, and at timea considered more of a cryptid than the three literal aliens in the program.

One of the his other eccentricities is that he never shows his face. In school, he wears what looks like an oni mask from traditional Japanese theater, with a hoodie to cover up his hair.

For exercises, he wears a simple black motorcycle helmet with crimson accents, which at least matches the "biker" aesthetic he brings to the table. Leather jacket (with a demon not unlike his mask printed on the back), heavy boots, thick black cargos.

Aside from his general presentation, nobody really knows what his powers are supposed to be. At times he can take a hit or two from Impact's smaller giant form. At others he's stealthy enough to sneak up on Mothgirl, even in the dark. And Lady Octopus- one of the only people to see him without the mask- can't for the life of her remember what his face even looks like.

He hets the remaining card from Mag-Knight, and seems to be focusing on it intently, even as he announces.
Looks like I'm on Team A, then.

Once you split off into your groups, Mag-Knight calls his cards back, but the one in Cyrus's hand falter for the barest second before he lets it go.

Even with his helmet, you can tell he's looking at Mag-Knight with an odd sense of scrutiny.

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus

The clawed, agile tentacle withdrew once it had made its selection, bringing the chance of fate back to Lauren and depositing it into her waiting, outstretched palm.

Team A.

Her job was to liberate the hostages and extract them, neutralise Team B, or both. Laurens aggressive streak favoured one of those options higher than the other two.

"Whatever dude, A beats on B until they can take them into custody, B beats on A until they can get the civilians to the police cordon. Full contact football, with the dummies as the ball. I can deal."

Lauren looked over her shoulder at Impact as he incorrectly surmised the rules, his error soon remedied by the inclusion of...Cyrus?

"You should pay more attention, Keene. Both teams are after the dummies. Looks like I'm on Team A, then."

A genuine Wild Card.

What could Cyrus do exactly? No one knew. Not even Lauren herself...and she's seen his face. She knew it. But for the life of her she couldn't recall its image, like an item that was just centimeters from her grip and which she could only touch with the tips of her fingers.

And Lauren never forgot anything.

With the team announced, two of Laurens tentacles flattened their claws and planted themselves onto the ground and pushed Lauren into the air as if she were riding an invisible altar, her actual arms hanging eerily by her side. The four remaining arms slowly circled about her like four writhing snakes, constantly on the look-out for any threat to Laurens survival, even in a room of friends. Having risen 8-10 feet into the air, enough to tower over everything upon her skeletal, mechanical "legs", Lady Octopus turned to face the room.

"Let us begin."

[bc56]

Ward is ready to go! He takes up a wide stance over one of the hostage dummies, armor plates sliding into place, orbiting shields deploying, shoulder mounted cannon twisting into place. "Let's get this started!"

Spoiler: Actions

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Shift to Guardian Configuration. Prepare to grab a hostage and get out.

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: Alternate Form (Big Damn Hero); Array: Affliction (Staggering Blow). Conditions: None. Bradley shrugged at Cyrus, studying the enigmatic student, he'd seen him around the school, oviously, but never bothered to get to know him. "Never seen a team when all their players have been benched." As Ward moved towards the dummies and stood wide, braced above one of them, Bradley focused a second, and suddenly his perspective changed as towered over his fellow students his head brushing the ceiling. Reaching down with massive hands, he scooped up the remaining two dummies. "We gonna do this?"

Spoiler: Out of Character Actions

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OOC: Free Action to use Well Informed on Cyrus, using Intimidation as per Criminal Contacts. (1d20+12)[28]. Free Action to assume my Alternate Form, and activate my additional 4 levels of Growth to get *really* big and grab the other two dummies. Initiative: 7, as rolled in the OOC thread.

[JNAProductions]

So! Nirvana says, looking at her comrades. What's the plan?

And you, big boy, what can you do? I've got the power of rock on my side, though since we're SUPPOSED to rescue hostages, I probably shouldn't actually break too much.

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: Alternate Form (Big Damn Hero); Array: Affliction (Staggering Blow). Conditions: None. Keene looked at his companions, Mothgirl, appropriately named, winged, multiarmed, and antenna, then there was Ward, the try-hard hero. Still, he figured they'd be able to take the opposing team. "Cyrus is a sneaky sonuffa, able to get in and outta places he shouldn't be able to, invisibility, teleport, or a goddamn ninja? Dunno, but watch out for him. Octo-Girl is gonna come straight for us, probably try to squeeze the livin' $^!% outta whoever she grabs, then Nirv is going to come in rocking out and hit us with some power chords." He looked to Mothgirl, "If those things," he pointed to her antennae, "aren't just for show, you'll prolly find Cyrus before he can do real damage, so shout if you do manage to spot him. So do we neutralize the threat, or just rush the D and go for the endzone?"

[bc56]

"Beating them up isn't the mission. We should get out with the dummies. Better to win than to go out in a blaze of glory." Ward gestures to the wall nearest the goal. "They'll make a hole when they come in, but it would be better for us if you could make another. Harder for them to guard both at once." He addresses that suggestion to Impact, as the biggest, strongest member of the team.

[Phobia]

"Mothgirl" accepted her fate as Team B with grace and moved to join her companions. She'd gotten some rather nasty comments before when she wasn't in disguise so she didn't want to get too close and spook them. It was still relatively new exposing her true form like this to a group of Earthlings and she didn't want it to be a sour experience. Gillian stood by on alert, wondering when the attack would come. She was very adept in many martial arts of her planet but some of these odd abilities startled her and gave the young alien pause. But then, many things she could do were probably unusual to these earthlings.

Her eyes widened, if possible, when Bradley, she remembered from class, grew in size- it was amazing how big he could get! She often forgot just how big the difference was. "Wow," She said in a soft voice under her breath, when she'd given Ward's power only a passing glance. Gillian had seen alien battle-suits before and that they weren't that magical, honestly.

"Cyrus?" Gillian questioned, "Oh yes, the enigma.." She recalled the lad only occasionally and only because he was sneaky, even to her. Mothgirl could taste someone coming from a mile away and know exactly what it was, who it was, and how salty they are. But she couldn't even see Cyrus in the dark. That was quite disconcerting for someone that was trained from a young age to always be on alert for assassins or kidnappers. "I will try, but he is very slippery for an earthli.. well, he is very slippery. I do not like being surprised."

Well, at least they seemed okay with it for the moment. Maybe they've had time to adjust. Some of the humans who helped settled her family hadn't been so kind.

"I agree. We should prioritize getting the basketball to the score-goal." Mothgirl added, supporting Ward as well as trying and failing to pick up on Impact's sports lingo. "Once we are outside I will be able to have a much clearer view of the area from above." She paused for a moment, "Those powers chords taste prickly and bizarre. My antenna are tingling in anticipation. I do not like those, either."

Spoiler

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Mothgirl on high alert.

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus

Lauren looked over her team-mates as the scenery around them changed so that they were now "outside" of the bank in preparation for a breach.

The goblin-girl, apparently, could manipulate sound using her guitar. Cyrus, meanwhile...was an enigma. A wild card, as she had thought before.

That was an unstable element, in Laurens eyes. Unknown variables were nuisances in her world of engineering, nuisances to be solved and flattened out so that the system worked smoothly. Unfortunately, she'd be heading into a training exercise with a team-mate with unknown abilities, and who also seemed like the sort that played his cards close to his chest. This would be quite the test of adaption and improvisation.

When the practice session started, Team B stayed in the bank with the "hostages", while Team A had to move outside in preparation for a breach. Already they were at a disadvantage, unless she could think of an unconventional way of entering the bank and acquiring the hostages.

An idea formed in Laurens head when her and her team departed "the bank", heading outside and preparing to breach.

Lady Octopus' figure moved with a serpentine grace as two of her metallic tentacles held her aloft approximately 8 to 10 feet off the ground, ducking her low enough to move through doors and then correcting her position once outside.

"I have an idea..." she said to her compatriots.

[John Cribati]

What's the plan?

And you, big boy, what can you do? I've got the power of rock on my side, though since we're SUPPOSED to rescue hostages, I probably shouldn't actually break too much.

Cyrus seems zoned out for a bit, but then suddenly jumps to attention.

Sorry! I- I heard you, I was just... cataloguing. I can do a lot, but to sum it up, I'll do best at stealth or distraction. All eyes on me, or none at all.

[JNAProductions]

Spoiler: Team A

Show

I can take attention, trust me, Nirvana says with a devilish grin. But since the dummies represent people, I can't just blast indiscriminately. Can one of you get them out, then let me go hogwild?

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus

- Initiative Order 14

Lauren peered at the bank from Team A's external position, her mind coming to a conclusion before turning to address her team-mates.

"They've got the defensive advantage," she started, her gentle and educated accent suggesting she was born somewhere near Louisiana.

"That vault door will bottle-neck us into a turkey shoot. We try going through the walls then we're up against a foot of reinforced steel, concrete, copper insulation and cobalt plating. These are impressive," she gestured with both her real hands to her tentacles, "but they ain't that impressive. The weak point is the vault door though. Both of you should take up positions in the lobby; Nirvana to catch'em, an Cyrus to get in and nab those hostages."

Lauren nodded once, then winked at her comrades, "you'll know the signal."

And with that, Lady Octopus was turned around by her tentacles and accelerated towards the bank. Her 8 limbs worked in a freakish concert of locomotion that swiftly carried her to the walls of the bank and the right up it. She was quickly on the roof, where she peered about for, and located, the alarm and power box.

One of Octopus' tentacles reached forward, latched a claw onto the metal box door and tore it off he hinges, allowing Lady Octopus herself to extend her hands into it to begin fiddling around...

ooc:

Spoiler

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Lady Octopus is Power Stunting a Mind Control (Affects Objects Only) against the bank vault via the security system. She is then activating all the locking mechanisms and sealing the vault shut

I don't have the book in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that unattended objects don't get a will save.

[John Cribati]

Mag-Knight leaves at some point after Team A has exited to the simulated street, and the next you hear from him is his voice over a loudspeaker.

I'll give you a bit more time to strategize; the exercise officially begins at the bell.
Also, be reminded that since these dummies represent persons who need to be protected, they've been outfitted with... pressure sensors. As if on cue, a muted grin light shines under the dummies' artificial skin. A few of you groan at this, even if you see the point. Many an exercise had seemingly gone smoothly, until it was revealed that you'd accidentally "killed" someone. And while you aren't graded per se, such things have affected advancement in the program.

The sudden sound of a gong snaps you out of your thoughts. Some faster than others.

Spoiler: OOC

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Map

Initiative Order:
Mothgirl
Cyrus
Ward
Lady Octopus
Impact
Nirvana

Team A starts out outside the door. Team B and the dummies are inside the lime green boundary.

Include your starting position and where you moved to, please.

[John Cribati]

The sound of the gong is a shock to some of you, it seems, but Cyrus rushes through the door. His presence seems to fade somehow as he finds a large table to duck behind.

[bc56]

Ward jumps at the gong and sees Cyrus enter and vanish. That could be worrying. He has his suspicions about Cyrus's power set though, and now is the perfect time to test them. His armor changes shape, forked prongs extending from his back, visor snapping into place over his eyes, a swirling portal appearing at the end of his weapon. He hoists one of the dummies onto his shoulder opposite the Eldritch Repeater and scans the room to see if he can find where Cyrus has gone.

Spoiler: Actions

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(1d20+7)[16]: Will save DC 18

Switch to Thaumaturge Configuration. Magic awareness means that if Cyrus is using magic to conceal himself, Ward should detect him. Otherwise, maybe Ultra-Hearing or Rapid Vision might help.
(1d20+5)[9]Perception to find Cyrus if necessary

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: Alternate Form (Big Damn Hero); Array: Power Stunt (Catch & Release). Conditions: None. Impact moved forward, easily hefting the two 'captives' in the crook of his arm, cushioned against his chest, a massive arm then wrapped around his companion Ward, as he spoke, "Just trust me, we got this won." And then, carrying his companion and the three crash test dummies, his legs folded under him, and he suddenly exploded, hurling himself across the lobby, sailing over Cyrus' concealed position. Before he impacted with the bank front he spun in the air, taking the impact across his massive shoulders, then, landing on the street out front, he looked to his right, seeing his objective, and, once again, extended his legs propelling himself down the roadway, until he landed on his back in the end zone. "BOO-YAH! TOUCHDOWN!" He opened his arms, revealing Ward and the undamaged dummies. He stood up, dusting himself off, taking a deep breath, moving his massive bulk that quickly was tiring, but hey, no pain, no gain. He shrunk back down to his normal size, high fiving Ward, "Team B for the mutha fracking win!" He looked up to the control booth, speaking to Mag-Knight, "Got another scenario for us, where we can all play?"

Spoiler: Out of Character Actions

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OOC: Will check, as required, (1d20+4)[18] vs DC18. Assuming the Will Check result doesn't preclude me from taking an action, Impact, holding the two dummies, will move to Ward, put a hand on him and Power Stunt the following:

^{Teleport 4 (Catch & Release; 500 ft in single Move Action; Extras: Accurate (+1/r), Increased Mass 5, 800 lbs. (+1); Flaws: Distracting (-1/r), Limited: Must travel through the intervening space (-1/r)) 9 pts.}

Then use his Standard Action to make a 2nd move action, and teleport Ward, the dummies and himself to the police cordon, ending the exercise.

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus

And just like that, the Danger Room Scenario was over in a few seconds.

Her tentacles drawing her down onto the ground next to Nirvana, as Cyrus had headed forward deep into the bank, Octopus spoke out of the corner of her mouth to her little, green friend.

"I learned a lot. Did you?" she half smiled in a joke.

Craning her neck backwards and looking down the street to look at Impact strutting about in victory, Lauren turned her attention up to the windows of the observation boxes and drew her right hand up to form a semi-circle around her mouth to amplify her voice.

"What's next?"

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: None. Conditions: Fatigued. Bradley walked up to Octavia, still winded from his little stunt. "Nice hack on the vault door, can you do stuff like that with security cams and stuff? That'd help out if we had a hostage situation."

[JNAProductions]

Nirvana looks disappointed. That was... Lame. Anticlimactic. Bad, she says as she walks over to the others. Guess you win, Bradley-but next time, Imma rock your socks off.

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: None. Conditions: Fatigued. "Ha!" He laughed at the energentic, green skinned girl's enthusiasm, "this whole thing is lame! You seen the course load, Ethics, heroism and you, Protection against Psychic Influence, Super-science 101? Now that's lame!" He snorted. "Why you gotta rock them off in this lame ass holo-room, we could sneak off campus and hit a bar." He pointed to her odd looking guitar, "Bring your six-string, we'll do some shots and have a real blast." His smile and laughter were genuine as he thought about ditching classes and hitting a bar with friends.

[John Cribati]

As if the system itself is just catching up to events, the buzzer goes off. With Team B's zone lighting up in celebration. Mag-Knight's voice comes over the intercom as Cyrus and Mothgirl exit the bank.

So this is both a new record, and video evidence for my case that we need to update the curriculum, or at least allow for deviations. I guess I'll have to set up something more advanced to keep your attention. Sit tight for a bit.

The holograms blink out of existence, but the featureless blue room only exists for a minute before it takes the form of a meeting room, with six "chairs" around a "table."

Maybe get to know each other a little better. These are supposed to be teamwork exercises.


Cyrus approaches the group (or maybe he was always there?), a curious air about him.
So are we actually ditching, or...

[Zero Prime]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 6 | PARRY: 6 | TOU: 6 | FORT: 6 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -2 (~ 6') | MASS RANK: 1 (~ 200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: None. Conditions: None. Bradley threw a smirk towards Cyrus, maybe he could get along with this kid. "I mean," he scratched his head, weighing the odds, "we could, I mean I've already got my fake I.D., but my guy might have a problem making one for 'vana." He nodded back to the bank, "Way you slipped into the lobby though, and what I heard 'bout you, we could prolly sneak her in." He looked to the others, "What about the rest o'ya'll, wanna ditch after class?" He looked to where Mag-Knight was working through scenarios, "Consider it a team-building exercise."

[JNAProductions]

Impact, aka, Bradley Keene DODGE: 4 | PARRY: 4 | TOU: 10 | FORT: 10 | WILL: 4 HERO POINTS: 1 | SIZE RANK: -1 (~ 15') | MASS RANK: 6 (~ 3200 lbs) Passive Perception: 14 | Passive Insight: 12 Active Effects: None. Conditions: Fatigued. "Ha!" He laughed at the energentic, green skinned girl's enthusiasm, "this whole thing is lame! You seen the course load, Ethics, heroism and you, Protection against Psychic Influence, Super-science 101? Now that's lame!" He snorted. "Why you gotta rock them off in this lame ass holo-room, we could sneak off campus and hit a bar." He pointed to her odd looking guitar, "Bring your six-string, we'll do some shots and have a real blast." His smile and laughter were genuine as he thought about ditching classes and hitting a bar with friends.

A wide grin stretches across Nirvana's face. I like you! she says.

When the talk of IDs gets mentioned, Nirvana says I can get my way in, I'm sure. A little sweet talk, maybe, she adds with a roll of her hips, or a little scary! she emphasizes with a fanged grin.

[BananaPhone]

Lady Octopus

"Nice hack on the vault door, can you do stuff like that with security cams and stuff? That'd help out if we had a hostage situation."

Octa just offered a polite smile and rose her eyebrows, giving a curt nod in reply. The topic wasn't something she wanted to talk about, as she was not too keen on exploring a subject in which her whole contribution had been for nothing anyway, as they hadn't even been in the vault to begin with. She had, effectively, wasted her time and contributed nothing and lost a match in 5 seconds.

"Yeah, for all the good it did," was her terse reply.

The environment then shifted to one of a board-room, complete with central conference table and an assortment of plush chairs within which to sit and chatter away. This was not her element.

Ever the introvert, Lauren wasn't particularly interested in yapping...that wasn't in her nature. Nor was 'ditching', which seemed to be the mood of her compatriots as they now conspired to simply leave the training exercises they'd been assigned to. In other words, breaking the schedule to go drinking at a bar. The seventeen year old wasn't eve old enough to drink, let alone even enter such a seedy, sordid, putrid hive of scum and villainy.

"Knock yourselves out in the revelry of inebriated singing. I will find somewhere else nearby."

It was clear she would follow where the three of them went, but she'd be nearby rather than join them at a watering hole.