etcelsior | safety first

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safety first

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 might be a haze still and you might even feel frustrated or anxious by the sudden news that you are no longer in your own world and that the Porter scientists and military cannot send you back. You don't get a chance to linger long in the underground Porter lab, but something is clearly amiss; light patches on the floor indicate something else used to sit in that spot in the room. Parts of the wall, floor and the tables look as if they have been refurbished in the past few months -- something happened in here some time ago. Something big.

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 and a pamphlet. 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 what one might expect from a small, bright and cheery place. The locals are friendly enough and local shop owners might offer a free drink to help cool you down in this awfully nauseating heat. Some of the locals might thank you for always lending your service to the nation and others might not say anything. In fact, some people might back away from any imPort who quite obviously looks like they aren't from around the neighborhood. Once in a while there's a look of disdain on someone's face and hushed voices. Something about "the outbreak" and "the government's gotta crack down on their medical files". "Some of them can't be right in the head" says another.

03. De Chima, Virginia, is a large city with a healthy economy, and though it's quieter, there are just as many citizens awed at your presence. Heavy winds have people grasping at their newspapers and constantly brushing hair out of their faces, but that doesn't distract them from crowding you in excitement if you're obviously from a different time or world, or just let it slip that you're a newcomer. Children and young teenagers are especially likely to ask for an autograph and a photo.

Some locals seem less enthused to see you. They never make an approach, but they can be overheard scoffing and muttering something about cameras. "Who do they think they are?" or "I don't like it... it reminds me of the government corruption back in the eighties." What could they be talking about?

04. Maurtia Falls, Pennsylvania, is normally known for being a little more on the apathetic side, but there's been tension in the atmosphere lately. Nobody will outright state what it is that's rustled their jimmies, though you might find a newsstand with articles on recent and aggressive vigilante behavior within the city. "ImPorts: loyal to the cause of their own?" reads one newspaper article.

People are not as friendly in this city and go out of their way to avoid walking down the same sidewalk as the more obvious looking imPorts pass through. Local cops say nothing, but they scowl at those imPorts and utter something about "no badges" and "acting like authority figures".

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?

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[ Wasabi doesn't even register the bell at the door chiming again, and it's only on another nerve-wracked scan of the shop around him that he sees Gogo. He almost passes her over, too, but then the realization snaps into the correct place and he double-takes. He's honestly not sure for a moment if it's her, because her stance is too casual for the situation. Maybe it's just another girl who looks kind of like her.

Maybe it's Parallel Gogo.

But then... Maybe it's just Gogo. Not that it'd be just anything, because a familiar face would be the best thing right now. He plays it carefully, though. He's gotten a couple of weird looks, and he doesn't want to stand up and make a scene. Instead, he decides to stage whisper in her general direction. ]

Gogo! Please tell me you're the real you.

[It is fortunate her name is so distinctive.

But also his voice. Absolutely no one in this world stage whispers quite like Wasabi can and it cuts right through the background chatter of the cafe to her ears. She pauses, blinking, halfway through a text. A part of her imagines for a moment that she was hallucinating; a product of overworking herself this week and with everything that was happening all at once. But then she looks up and around the cafe.

Wasabi is impossible to miss, and the look on her face upon seeing him is almost vulnerable in her surprise, but then the barista calls her name and she pulls herself together.

Grabbing her drink, Gogo casually strolls over to him as if she hadn't gone two months missing him every day.]

So, it finally grabbed you, too? [No, Gogo. Just tell him you miss his face. You haven't been here long enough to be this casual.]

Yes? [ He's obviously not sure about that answer at all, because there's a whole pile of implications that comes along with it. The doubt shows on his face, a wince that shifts quickly to an open look of concern. Togo's already been here for an unknown amount of time, which seems impossible, but-- Well, so is all of this.

There's also the bruising. ]

Gogo, what's-- What is all of this? Is this real?

Are you okay?

It's hard to believe, but yeah. It's real. You've been kidnapped to another dimension.

[She slides into the chair across from him, reaching across to grab a napkin from the tray ~~nudging it out of place~~, and wipes the condensation off her cup.]

And of course I'm okay. [She's not. She can't sleep, and can't get her brain to calm down long enough to figure out what's bothering her. She's uneasy.] Took a bit of getting used to, but I've been here a couple months. It gets easier.

[She learned about Tadashi right away. Everything after that was a breeze.

...oh god. He didn't know about Tadashi yet.]

[ He really tries to just let the napkins stay like that, tapping his fingers on the edge of the table to give them something to do before he gives up and wordlessly reaches over to tuck things back where they're supposed to be. ]

You can't-- [ There. Perfect. ] You can't have been here a couple months. I just saw you, and... And, okay, maybe I can give you other dimensions, but we can't reach them. And they can't reach us!

[ Except, you know, it's happening. And Gogo's a true taker of unnecessary risks who very often doesn't respect his systems, but she's not a liar. She's more the blunt honesty type. He gives up the argument, then, taking in a deep breath and letting it out heavily. ]

It better get easier. I am freaking out.

[She gives him a smile when he reaches out to fix them, the familiar habit doing wonders on her psyche.]

We can't, but apparently they have technology we've never heard of. [Have you seen the hover cars?]

I won't tell you to relax, it's pretty crazy, but the things I've seen? Suddenly finding yourself in a new dimension is small change.

What's the last thing you remember?

[ This is a small change compared to everything else? That can't be right, because this is obviously a big change, and-- And now they're basically lower than square one, knowledge and technology-wise. (Maybe that part isn't completely true, but it sure feels that way right now.)

He's getting into nitpicking at what's not immediately important again, though. At least the question's easy to answer, even if it's a weird one. ]

We were winding down from the whole Krei-Callaghan-Portal thing.

[ He'd had to get out of his armor and gauntlets before hitting the town, and he'd left them at a house that he's unsure about going back to. Great move, really. ]

[Be glad you missed the dreams.

She nods thoughtfully and starts tearing her napkin into little pieces. She never really had nervous tics back home, never had any reason to be nervous, but these last few weeks...

For someone with the attention to detail that Wasabi has, she probably doesn't look nearly as chill as she's trying to express.]

You're a little ahead of me. Last thing I remember we were losing.

Oh. [ Right, so that makes things potentially more confusing. It's just another inconvenience in a growing list, though. It's somehow getting easier to absorb the apparent facts without plummeting further into supreme uncomfortableness.

And, yeah, that napkin-ripping isn't going unnoticed, but he doesn't comment directly on it. ]

We didn't lose, if you're worried. [ Which isn't entirely true, he realizes. They're all alive, but they'd lost Baymax, and it's officially hard to consider the robot a mere thing. ] I mean, we didn't get away completely clean, but... We did what we set out to do.

Yeah, Hiro said as much. [She scoops the pieces into a neat pile and begins tearing those up into smaller pieces.]

Hiro and Honey are here. They're both from after the fight. I think Aunt Cass is from after? So are Krei and Callaghan.

[She pauses. Tadashi...Tadashi is the Big One.]

[ Okay, so Hiro's here, and Ms. Cass, and that's fine. Krei and Callaghan might be more of an issue, and he's about to question it when Gogo doesn't say anything else, just... She's really going to town on those napkin bits.

He half-reaches for her hands with one of his, just to get her to stop the nervous gesture because it's weird on Gogo, and it makes him more nerve-wracked in turn. He stops short of grabbing, though, and spreads his fingers, attempting a steadying gesture. ]

Gogo, it's... It's okay. Whatever's going on here, we're going to work through it. All right?

[She would have welcomed the touch, but the gesture does just as well and she stops tearing up the paper, looking both frustrated at herself and guilty in turns before she inhales slowly.

Holds it.

Then exhales, calmer.]

I'm alright. Been really busy, haven't gotten a lot of sleep.

It's weird, just Fred now and we'll have the whole gang together again.

You say that like-- [ He stops himself before he finishes the statement. She already said she'd been here for two months, and she hadn't said how long the others had been here. So, okay, to her, they've been separated long enough to note it.

You know what? He's going to try a joke. Maybe it'll help ease the tension, both of his situation and hers. ] Well, you know Fred. He'll come barging in whenever it's the least convenient, asking for fake science smelling at least a little questionable.

[She groans dramatically, for her, and drops her head onto her arms.]

Just our luck the porter will actually allow him to shapeshift into a fire breathing lizard.

[Jokes are good. Jokes are very good. You're the best, Wasabi.]

Seems legit.

[ He says it airily enough, even though it's not legit at all, because he's not out of the woods of skepticism yet. Superpowers can't be a really real for real thing, and Fred being an actual Fredzilla would be terrible. Just awful. The worst. ]

Let's hope the machine has mercy on us, huh?

[Ahaha. Hahahahaha. Haha. Ha. Never ask her about her powers. She will lie. And Wasabi will probably be able to tell. And it would be bad. Superpower? What superpower? The only thing the porter gave her was the g-force thing. Nothing else. Ever.]

The machine has a sense of humor.

... Well, that sounds fun.

[ Totally non-genuine statement. 99.9% of the time, when the term 'has a sense of humor' is passed around, the sense of humor in question is a bad one. If it's really the machine acting on its own (not impossible, in a sense or two), it's already proven itself to be one of the new things that Wasabi likes least.

So... Move over, stubborn soap scum. ]

How hilarious are we talking?

[She can control magnets and bring down buildings on the heads of her friends.]

Professor Callaghan can borrow ImPort powers. Mr Krei can summon portals. Hiro has super intelligence.

[Tadashi can control fire, but she doesn't actually know that one yet.]

... Didn't Hiro already have super intelligence?

[ Not even touching that other stuff, but the appropriateness and/or irony isn't lost on him. ]

Yes, but here it is officially counted as a "superpower". He's had it taken once. I wasn't here but it didn't sound fun.

[It probably wouldn't take Wasabi long to put that together. It may have been an accident, but it was just another notch against Callaghan during the Incident.]

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