etcelsior | owning your okayness

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 someone else's thread, either!

And remember to have fun!

01. Your memory is still a haze and you might feel frustrated or anxious, or maybe the sight of an underground lab you've just been led from by an escorting soldier with dried blood splatters on the floor stirs something else in you. The soldier apologizes for everything you have to see; a recent attack has left the underground lab in Cape Canaveral in near shambles. Military personnel move past you, focused on the sorely needed reparations and clean-up. You're ushered out quickly and then suddenly, you're enveloped in a faint blue blue light before you find yourself under the bright Floridian sun. Another soldier steps toward you with a smile, directing your attention to a car near a large gate. She mentions she'll be debriefing you soon, handing out a brown folder. You don't see the digital tattoo on your wrist, but it's quickly explained on your way over to the car as you realize there are other confused faces nearby, all holding files of their own.

02. The city of Heropa is worse off than the base in Cape Canaveral. The streets looks as if either a hurricane passed through the city or a small recently made it their personal wrecking grounds. Asking anyone will reveal it's the latter... sort of. None of it was intended. The locals are nice, busy with cleaning up the streets and fixing their shop windows and doors. They normally would love to take pictures with you, Hero, though they are preoccupied with work. Every now and then, however, anyone who is so obviously an imPort will find a local backing away from them nervously, pulling their child back with them before closing a door.

03. De Chima, Virginia, hasn't had the same rotten luck as Heropa. Downtown has closed off some streets for repairs, with parts of the street torn out or shop windows shattered, however people in this big city carry on with their daily lives. Anyone who is quite clearly an imPort may find themselves the center of attention, particularly with young children who rush over to you on their hoverboards. Some of the adults passing through smile and wave at you. Thank you, they say, thank you for stopping that domestic terrorist group. The country owes you. They feel even safer with an elected imPort Ambassador watching over the city.

04. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, has, as always, avoided any major or minor damages. Ask about the Hornets or the recent fights between imPorts and the locals will shrug. Don't get them wrong; they're glad those damn Hornets have been dealt with, but they don't want to discuss politics. Try asking the local imPort Ambassador. What's his name? Ryan? Revan? They don't offer any more information. Naturally for a big city, the people are somewhat aloof in nature. You might even notice the police are just the same, turning their heads the other way when two shady figures exchange fat wads of cash at the street corner. Did the police just drive away in their hovervehicle without bothering to observe what those two were up to? They sure did.

05. Nonah, North Carolina, is the liveliest of all cities. It's loud, busy and there's some kind of energy in the air that gets everyone buzzing with excitement. Anyone who they come to determine an imPort is bombarded with all sorts of offers; job offers, advertising gigs, spokesperson for advocating children stay in school, etc. Anything and everything! You name it. Shops offer discounts for food and clothing, whatever they need. People flock in droves with questions, but they all say the same thing. Thank you for your service to this country, Hero. You saved a lot of lives. Wow, feels great to be a hero, doesn't it?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huh. Someone else who likes lollipops. He brightens visibly at the offer and trots over to meet her. "What are you used to then?" he says, reaching out to take one if she's offering. "I hope it's something cool." He's hoping for more spaceships, though the mental image that comes to mind is more Alliance than Serenity - kid grew up on Star Trek after all.

"Mid-bulk transport. Radion/accelerator core. Two endo/exo-atmospheric shuttles, maximum passengers: 18."

He can have his pick. River's holding them out like a bouquet of brightly-colored flowers, letting everyone choose what they want.

(They might spoil their dinners.

River doesn't care.)

Cherry. Definitely cherry for him. He slides it out of the wrapper and into his mouth in one practiced motion. Though he nearly loses it when his jaw drops back open.

"Shut up. Spaceships? That sounds like a spaceship to me."

"Yes," she says, cheerfully.

Aww, he's so cute! She wants to pinch his cheeks and show him the engine room. "Your lollipop is in danger."

You know. In case he didn't notice.

He would love that engine room. It just isn't fair how many people come from some kind of space age - he's already jealous. He shuts his mouth at her comment, sucking it into his cheek so that he can talk around it more easily. "So what's it like? Smaller so not military, right? What's the best part about it?" He rattles the questions off as fast as he can say them, his mind already going a million miles a minute.

"The flying," she says patiently, like it's obvious but she's humoring him anyway. "Got nothing on the ground that compares."

He sighs contentedly - yeah, he knows that feeling. "I'm with you on that. I've never been to space, but regular flying is amazing too."

She blinks at him.

"Don't have wings."

She may have spotted a design flaw for his flights.

It's a very important one to be sure. Hiro just grins, though.

"'Course I don't. That's why I built a robot that does."

That isn't quite the whole truth, but it's close enough to use for a stranger.

"It's a solution."

River thinks it might be cooler to invent wings you can wear, but whatever. To each his own. She still approves.

Hey, he's thought of that too. If he could have finished the math in time he might have attempted it.

"Worked out pretty well so far," he says. "Baymax is a great flier."

"Balloons are traditional," she agrees.

(Warm ones that hug are especially helpful.)

"He's not really a..." Wait, he kind of is. Did she figure that out somehow? He blinks for a moment, weirded out. "He's a robot. Uh, inflated, but not with helium or something."

River is either unaffected or unaware that she's said anything strange.

"It wouldn't be enough to achieve lift for the exoskeleton."

But he would look so cute on the end of a string!

Okay, something weird is definitely going on here. There's no way he's said anything about Baymax's outer shell just yet. "Nah, no way. That's what the rockets and the wings are for."

A pause. "How'd you know?"

Patiently: "Not enough square footage for helium, even for lightweight metals."

Duh, she does not add.

She might not have quite followed what he was asking.

He can mentally add that in himself. It is refreshing to see someone get the engineering side of it for once. "But you knew he had an exoskeleton. I didn't say anything about that." He's not real tense about it though, just confused. And wondering if she's a telepath. That would be pretty cool.

"People say all sorts of things without saying anything."

in other words, yes. Yes, she is a telepath.

Cool. Hiro brightens a bit - should he keep a running monologue? Is that rude or polite? Gosh, he's never met a telepath before. Superpowers are exciting. He settles for: "You get that from coming here or'd you have that back home too?"

"It's inherent to the design."

If she's listening to a running monologue or not, she's not showing it. Although there may be a touch of bright amusement in her eyes.

"So, you had it before," he says, brightening a bit himself. Would he have made more friends if he'd have known what they were thinking? Surely it wouldn't have hurt. "Does it give you headaches? Is it ever weird hearing that kind of stuff?"

Maybe, but he definitely would have had some A+ opportunities for big brother-trolling. Take it from the master.

Her expression abruptly shutters. "Things get... confused. What they say. What they don't say."

Those medical older brother types do need a good trolling from their bitty genius siblings, it's true.

His expression darkens a little as he grasps the implication. "They said things they didn't want you to hear."

River has very little control over her emotional affect. When she's unhappy, it shows. Her face falls, she picks at the skirt of her dress, she looks anywhere but at him.

Low: "It's the common accord."

Bad topic, huh? A flash of guilt shows on his face; he hadn't meant for it to get dark like this. "Well, I don't mind," he says, voice going quiet. "Kinda nice to have someone understand." Besides his brother, is the unspoken addendum.

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