maskormods: (⒊)
Mask or Menace | MODERATORS ([personal profile] maskormods) wrote in [community profile] etcelsior2015-08-22 08:10 pm

The power is in your hands


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?
timeshares: (Sounds like a challenge)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-23 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh? So what's the real deal?
microbrobotics: (oh you)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-23 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
You really wanna see?
timeshares: (I'm sure it'll be fiiiinnnneee)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-23 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Are you kidding? I wouldn't pass it up.
microbrobotics: (don't you wish you were smart like me)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-23 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Alright, brace yourself.

[ He turns off the hologram function on his little test bot and draws it back with his technokinesis. It slips back into his backpack smoothly.

And then ... something else begins to come out of it. It looks like some kind of liquid, except it's made out of a whole bunch of smaller metallic points: a swarm of microbots, crawling up out of the pack and down Hiro's arms. More slid out and along the floor. They spiral up the table legs and towards the two of them. Still maintaining a careful distance from Luke, not threatening ... but surely the applications are immediately obvious. Fighting, among other things. He could do a lot of damage in the right situation.

Also, that backpack is awful small for the volume of bots that just came out. Plus the fact that he had other tools out earlier ... something definitely going on there as well. ]


These are microbots.
timeshares: (Aw yissss)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 12:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Okay so, there is some part of him that is automatically gauging that. The simple idea of something that flexible and remote, that could attack like a swarm or as a whole is incredible and hideously useful, notes the pack, even watches the patterns and distance. It's times like this that the ADD is useful, opening up and taking in all of the details...



Which is good because the rest is preoccupied with how awesome a swarm of tiny telekinetically controlled robots is.]


... And you can control all of them? Without going crazy?
microbrobotics: (finishing touches)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 12:27 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. I mean, I'm really smart.

[ But he'd originally built them for most people to be able to use with practice, after all. ]

They've got some pre-programmed functions too. Algorithms, that kind of thing.

[ To prove his point, he makes them form a column on top of the table. They immediately snap to a geometric pattern way too quickly for Hiro to be doing it all manually. ]
timeshares: (I've made better choices)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Careful of the way they're moving as to not get a pinched finger, pokes at the matrix as it settles.]

Are they fragile?
microbrobotics: (aliens)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ They click together pretty smoothly; the joints are too small to do too much damage, other than a bit of discomfort. Mostly they produce a relatively seamless shape when they're all together. ]

Nah, they're metal - and designed to be tough to crush. The circuits inside'll break before the outside does. And they're all interchangeable so you really gotta destroy a lot to deal with them properly.

[ He knows, having had to do just that. ]
timeshares: (You have my attention)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
... Basically, a game changer. [Luke's more than a little impressed. Who'd need a weapon with powers like that?]
microbrobotics: (@baymax pls)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 01:51 am (UTC)(link)
... Pretty much. They were back home and they still are here. I'm experimenting with making them out of that same hologram stuff the bot uses.

[ So, potentially invisible shapeshifting botswarms. As if this weren't bad enough already. ]
timeshares: (The same thing we do every day)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 02:58 am (UTC)(link)
[The world literally wouldn't know what hit it.]


... You'll need to work on stabilizing the hologram with movement.

Really, you could make it look like ... well, anything, convincingly.
microbrobotics: (skepticism)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Yeah, I think so.

[ He was mostly thinking in terms of having compact bots that he could flesh out into having as much space and mass as needed ... but Luke's right. That ... could be amazing. Or incredibly dangerous. ]
timeshares: (How about NO ONE kills me again)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
You can't say it wouldn't be fun to mess around with, anyway.
microbrobotics: (not bad)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 10:22 am (UTC)(link)
Giant godzilla battles downtown?
timeshares: (I'm sure it'll be fiiiinnnneee)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
[EXACTLY.]

Too dragony. King Kong?
microbrobotics: (candy)

[personal profile] microbrobotics 2015-08-24 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
... Also cool.
timeshares: Not that that ever got me out of trouble (True fact: God of dick graffiti too)

[personal profile] timeshares 2015-08-24 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll look forward to it.