etcelsior | leave it to the professionals

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping into MASK OR MENACE? Want to dip your toes into the setting and get a feel of whether your character will fit into it? Or maybe you're just cruising and want to play around? Then you've come to the right place!

Pick any of the following scenarios below or feel free to make up your own, but don't be afraid to throw yourself at anyone's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is hazy and you might feel increasingly frustrated or anxious, or maybe you're excited as soldiers march past, barely glimpsing you. One second you're somewhere underground, the next you're enveloped in blue light, and suddenly you find yourself directly under Flordia sun's bright and burning glare. A female soldier steps toward you with a wide smile on her face and directs you to a car, ready to debrief you. You realize you are not the only one, surrounded by equally confused or eager faces... and you're all sporting a digital tattoo on your wrist.

02. Welcome to Cape Canaveral, where the smell of the ocean is in the air and locals are more than pleased to see new imPorts roaming their streets. They wave, they cheer, they ask for pictures as politely as they can. The more inhuman you look, or if you're wearing a costume, the more likely locals are to approach. Hey, enjoy the moment! The popular malt shop is offering you a free drink if you need it.

03. The technology in this world is certainly something. The cars are clearly modeled after popular 50s cars, but they hover several feet above the ground as they drive down the street. There are digital jukeboxes in restaurants, motorcycles also hover through traffic, advertisements can be seen on a digital projector on the taller buildings. Even kids on skateboards appear to drift a safe ten feet off the ground while playing!

04. Wherever you are, you can hear the loud revving of an engine, distance at first before you finally see it: a hovercar bursting around the corner, going beyond the maximum speed limit and just barely making its sharp turn. It doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon, not with two police cars trailing it... and uh oh. Those skateboarding kids don't have much time to get out of the way as the car comes speeding down the road. You've been brought here for a reason Hero — so you better act fast.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Winry pauses, her eyes wide at being addressed.]

Ah...no? But I don't know everyone in the city. And there are two more cities, too...not all of the ImPorts -

[She hesitates.]

- You are an ImPort, aren't you?

[Marty realizes that his sudden questions might cause a lot of people to give him odd look (seems to be the trend thus far, with most uttering something akin to a "no" and merely walking off on their way), so the teen is a tiny bit more relieved once someone stops to give him a slightly more informative answer. Slightly.

As for her own question, however, Marty doesn't even know how to answer that.]

Yes? I guess? [He holds out his arm, wrist-up, fresh tattoo visible.] Do all... "imPorts" get free ink upon arrival or something? [Or is this a weird, alternate 2014 thing?]

[Winry holds up her own hand to show him her wrist.]

Yes. Welcome to Heropa?

[He nearly laughs at the sight of her own tattoo, but it isn't a funny ha ha kind of laugh. It's a dry, disbelieving, almost-scoff sort of laugh. Marty drops his hand, holding in a sigh.]

You too, then? What a welcome this is turning out to be.

We're alive.

[That's important to her.]

[Marty just looks questioning, not exactly sure what to make of that.]

I'd hope so; is there any reason for us not to be?

I was dying back home. When I was pulled here...

[Winry shrugs slightly.]

I'm Winry Rockbell. I work for Tony Stark.

...and go to high school. [Her voice takes on a dry tone at the last bit, since she stopped going to school seven years ago, when she was ten.]

[Well that gives him pause for sure. He feels almost like a little bit of a jerk to have made her mention the subject of dying. It's pretty heavy stuff he's not sure he's quite ready to digest, being freshly arrived and whatnot. He can fill in the blanks.

Medicine's gone a very long way, it would appear. Not that he should be surprised, given his surroundings.]

Right. I'm Marty. [Pause.] McFly. I also go to high school -- or I went to high school back home, I mean.

And sorry, did you just say you work for... Tony Stark?

[She's a very long way from home, too, Marty. Like...a century?]

It's nice to meet you, Marty! [A genuine smile.]

I dropped out of school when I was ten. I needed to help take care of my...

[Another hesitation. What should she call them?]

Friends. Family. I guess my apprenticeship started then.

[Huh?]

You know Tony?

Apprenticeship? [Though lacking the details, he really can't fault her, given a reason like that. Family and friends should always be on the top of everyone's priority list at the end of the day.

As for her own question, however:] I... know of a Tony Stark. [In comic books. He may not read them religiously, or even all that occasionally, but Marty isn't ignorant of the name.

Likely a coincidence.]

Mm! I build automail, it's a type of specialized prosthetic originally designed for soldiers. It connects directly into the nervous system, so it can be manipulated almost as well as a flesh arm. Tony's interested in it, so he wants me to work on them here, too.

Is there more than one Tony Stark?

[Uuum. Marty would rather err on the side of caution than risk messing up any sort of timeline by saying something along the lines of "Well the one I'm thinking of is a fictional comic book character". That might just make him sound crazy to boot, and this girl was being helpful enough that he didn't want to scare her off by saying things like that.]

Well, there are a lot of Tony's. And probably a lot of Stark's. Mash them all together and I'm sure you'll get a Tony Stark every once in awhile?

[Smooth.]

Anyway, it sounds like you know your way around machinery. [With an impressive description like that, at least.]

I suppose. [Winry isn't sure she believes Marty, but that's all right for the moment.]

Mm! It's very important. [It used to keep her friend on his feet, and now, he's still has both arms to use.]

[He figures he may as well ask:] So... does that knowledge extend to automobiles?

My first job here was working for an automobile mechanic. I can figure out a lot of different mechanical things, given time.

[She purses her lips.]

Except for microwaves.

[He can't not ask.] What's the deal with microwaves?

I don't understand how they work!

[Frustrated, so frustrated!]

I mean, I understand the communicators, they're like hand-held radios. But how does a microwave heat and cook foods? There's no fire!

[He tries not to look too amused by the obvious frustration on her part.]

Well... microwaves, I imagine. I'm no expert though and couldn't really explain it to you. If Doc were here, I'm sure he could go on and on about it forever.

[A sigh. She'll just have to ask Tony.]

Thank you, anyway.

No problem. I was asking mostly because I might come across a car of mine here [he hopes] and if there's... something wrong with it, maybe you can take a look?

[If the DeLorean is busted and Doc's not here, he may be up a creek without a paddle if he can't find any other help.]

Oh, I'd be happy to, Marty! Just let me know if you do find it.

Thanks, I'd really appreciate it. Now the problem will just be actually finding it if it's here.

You could probably ask through the communicator if anyone's seen it.

[Practical, every once in a while?]

You mean this thing they gave us?

[He shuffles around in a pocket before pulling out said communicator.]

Mm! You can connect with every ImPort. Most of them are happy to help.

leave it to the professionals

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