etcelsior | The power is in your hands

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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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Luck for her that Ronan doesn't need the sound of honest concern to mock someone for it.] Oh, suddenly you care if you give me rabies?

Ugh. I just don't want to deal with how much weirder your lumpy head will look with only one ear.

[Ronan scoffs in humored disdain.] Bet you say that to all the guys you bite.

You're actually completely correct. I've now said that to every boy I've bitten. [ But that bit of glibness comes perhaps a bit too quickly; she reconsiders, thinks... ] Or - well - to fifty percent of the boys I've bitten. No, hold on, thirty-three point three repeating percent. Anyway -

[ She shakes her head and then turns to point down the block. ]

There's a coffee shop that way. I want a bee sting latte. Come on.

[He follows her slowly, skill and always glowering. Chainsaw flaps her wings and lands on Ronan's suddenly outstretched arm.] Is that your power? Being really fucking annoying? It didn't give you sharp teeth. [Yes, he's insulting her biting prowess, now.]

I'm sorry, are you complaining?

[ She arches her eyebrow. ]

Because I can give it another go if you'd like. Anyway, what my power is isn't your business, actually. Not until you tell me what yours is.

I don't know, I just fucking got here. [Chainsaw hops from his arm to his shoulder.] Why're you so fucking cagey about it? You drink blood or something?

I'm cagy about it because if I tell you what I can do, and you continue to be a bit of a bastard, I'd like to be able to take you by surprise.

[ Still. Curiously, she points at the bird. ]

So - your powers haven't got anything to do with your raven?

[Ronan rolls his eyes, as though her rough pragmatism is a serious irritant.]

[Really, he's irritated because she asked a direct question. That's one of the problems of being Ronan Lynch; as far as he's concerned, he never lies. Sure, he may obscure, omit and mislead, but he doesn't outright lie.]

Yeah, kind of. She's mine. [Never said he had to be clear, though, just honest. Chainsaw croaks in agreement.] Is this twenty questions, now? Do your powers got to do with fighting, or is it something dumb like invisibility?

If you think invisibility is dumb, you've clearly never had occasion to rob a place.

[ She says that dryly enough, like it's a joke. ]

Anyway, my power is, as far as some people are concerned, completely useless, and as far as others are concerned it's the deadliest one here. So how is your raven kind of your power? Can you speak with her?

[One cannot begin to express the extent to which Ronan has never had occasion to rob a place. So he just kind of shrugs, which means Chainsaw flaps her wings and caws ominously.] Oh, I get it, your power is stupid fucking riddles.

[He doesn't even know why he cares, except she started it and he intends to put it to bed.] She doesn't talk any more than normal ravens do. She isn't my power. She just... has to do with it. Like you said.

Yeah, you're one to talk about others speaking in riddles.

[ She turns her head to consider the bird. ]

Is she intelligent? I mean - more intelligent than the average raven. Since they're terribly clever birds to begin with.

[Ronan looks at Chainsaw. Chainsaw looks at Ronan.] I think she's smart for a raven, but that's it.

[They near the coffeeshop.] You order whatever. I don't give a shit.

[ Hm. So...The bird's a normal bird, but part of his powers? But not the power itself. She cares relatively little for the coffee; she's rather more taken with this mystery. ]

Well - how did you tame her?

Uh. Fuck. [Ronan fishes a rumpled twenty out of his jacket pocket-- this is a boy who has never had to care for money. He tosses it at Kitty without much of a second thought.] I raised her.

[ Seriously? Kitty holds that bill up to him and warns him: ]

I'm keeping the change from this.

Whatever. [Ronan shrugs, and Chainsaw squawks again. He finds a place to sit, even going so far as to get Chainsaw a cup of water to drink from. He really should get out of here, and he intends to, but Chainsaw is probably thirsty and he needs to sit down after wrestling with Kitty. And then he'll probably sneak out while the girl isn't looking, right?]

[ Good luck, though. Being some sort of angry lumbering giant menacing the townsfolk, or having a raven clinging to his shoulder - that's one thing. She can accept that. Having no problem with her just...keeping sixteen dollars? She looks at him as though he's the greatest freak of nature she's ever encountered, and keeps turning around to look at him, a what the fuck are you really for real sort of look. Evidently...he is, and so finally she just - sort of - pays for her drink and comes over to him.

And immediately starts in again. ]

Did you hatch her? From the egg?

[Ronan is mostly concerned with making sure his bird gets properly watered, but he has time to groan and lean back in his chair when Kitty returns with all her incessant questions.]

No, I don't... [He considers it. No, probably not.] She never had an egg.

[Chainsaw lifts her beak to caw in agreement.]

[ Never had an egg? Kitty opens her mouth to protest the impossibility of that, then pauses to think instead. Okay. She doesn't think he's having a laugh, given how he's answered questions so far, and that'd be a pretty hard thing to be mistaken about. So, instead of pointing out how weird that is: ]

Okay. Where'd she come from, then?

[God dammit.]

My head.

[ I thought you said she didn't come from an egg is a quip Kitty considers but does not say. Kind of miraculously, given how dumb she gets when she's a bit flummoxed. Instead, she stares at him a beat, two, three, then finally says: ]

Okay. Well - How does that work?

[Ronan glares at her. His power-- his gift, his curse, his pain in the ass-- is his private thing, alone. She asked a direct question, so he won't lie, but he doesn't have to answer. He's told her too much already.]

Tell me your power first.

[ She considers that a few moments, picking at her fingernail. It doesn't seem like a good idea, but...Well, it's not as though she hides it from other people, does she? Or on the network. He can find out without too much trouble.

So: ]

I suppress others' powers. I touch them, and they're just a normal human. Like any other.

[Ronan sneers and grabs Chainsaw, who squawks in protest. He moves the bird farther away from Kitty on the table, bringing the cup of water along with so Chainsaw doesn't just hop back to where she was.]

That's fucking weird. Don't touch me.

[But, obviously, if her powers could fuck up Chainsaw, they would have already. He peers at his raven to make sure she's alright, but her head is stuck in a cup of water like it's the best thing in the world.]

[This is stupid.] Were you always a freak?

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