etcelsior | QUIT RUNNING IN THE HOUSE

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QUIT RUNNING IN THE HOUSE

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

Oh, well. He had to be sure. Being part of a dishonest industry does things to you,after all.

"Acquisitions." It's punctuated by the sound of him drumming his knuckles on the tabletop. "Can't imagine it's much of a career option here in Disneyland, but if the bad guys ever get their hands on anything they shouldn't have..."

Maybe eventually, Harry will get used to not having to lie his ass off constantly around everyone he encounters. Maybe.

"Theft then," Inumuta corrects with a small smile behind his high collar. "I'm sure there will be some use of you here. Not all heroic acts are clearly black and white."

"Acquisitions." Harry reiterates, lips thinning out into something vaguely resembling a scowl for the first time during their conversation so far. He's not ashamed of his career, but the last thing he wants is for his pristine new reputation with the locals to get tarnished via a few lackluster words.

"I know it's a big word but I'm sure you can manage it."

"Ah, did I strike a chord there?" Inumuta continues to grin, although it's slightly less polite looking than the one he gave earlier. He still hasn't put his phone away, although he's notably giving Harry his full attention now as well. "You know, that kind of information is only as valuable as the people who know it... and the people who don't want it known."

"I don't believe it. Blackmailed in my own bloody hallucination." He's scrubbing at his chin as he says it, jaw muscles twitching as if trying to decide whether feigning amusement's all that worth it. "All right, hero, aside from filing away your own personal dictionary, what exactly are you after?"

"Hallucination?"

That earns a confused blink, and then a tilt of the head. "You're not hallucinating here, you know. To further prove the point, you don't seem like the type with the creative capabilities of imagining this much detail with so many different aspects." Once insult after another from this guy now, and he was so polite before!! It was all a ruse. A terrible ruse.

"Also, you can breathe a little easier! I'm not actually blackmailing you, yet."

"Yet being the key word there and we both know it." It's an easier focal point than the idea that this isn't all some dying dream; he's not entirely certain whether he ought to be cheering for it or not. "And you still didn't answer my question, chum."

Of course yet is the key word. But, he also doesn't have any use for a thief right now, so why would he bother taking advantage of someone like this when he doesn't have a further use for them? He'll use people, sure, but only if it's at an appropriate time. Very efficient at this, yes?

"I'm only after information. That said, if I really did have some big, orchestrated plan in the works, I wouldn't actually tell you, would I?" Inumuta replies, lacing his fingers together and leaning his chin on the bridge that he makes with his hands.

"I could ask the same of you, really. What are you after, if so concerned about your reputation with the locals, but still convinced this isn't real life?"

"Not entirely convinced." He lifts a hand, motioning towards the livid red marks and scrapes marring the angles of his face. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not in the best condition. Makes it easy to start thinking the worst."

"Is being here really the worst?" Because sure, they were kidnapped from another dimension but he's from a world where aliens were only about a week away from complete subjugation of the whole planet. He's also not dead where he's from, so that might put a new spin on it.

"Nah." It's not being here that worries him, but what it means instead. "I mean thinking I'm at the end of my proverbial rope, mate."

You try getting the red pill blue pill speech when you're fairly certain you're well on your way to taking one of your last breaths.

"...Ah." He understands what that means. Maybe he should be a little more sensitive.

"Well, you aren't dying here."

He tried.

The epitome of sensitivity, that.

Harry huffs out a chuckle in response, though it's hard to tell if it's appreciative or dismissive or something that settles awkwardly between the two. Probably a safe bet he doesn't have a clue, either. "Yeah, all right, you got me there." He's already scooting back against the cushions of his seat again, swiping at his nose as he goes about it. "So we are we done playing twenty questions? Or..."

"Do you want me to leave you to your lady friends?" He wouldn't blame him, if that were the case.

Yes. But that's an easy chase and Harry's not desperate, is he? Chloe isn't here. Neither is Lazarevic or Nate; it leaves him with options to explore and adoration to exploit and none of that is going anywhere any time soon.

"They'll be all right for a while longer. Just thought we might want to move past the bluffs and checks and get on with talking about what your take is on all of this."

"My take?" You mean, you want him to talk? Oh no. Look what you've done.

"I suppose I should be coming up with a plan to find a way to leave here, sooner or later... Anyway. I've already run through the likeliness of this being anything but legitimate. Despite things being... different than the sort of timeline you and I expect Earth's human history to have taken, this is still very much Earth. An alternate timeline of Earth. But then there's another strangeness factor- differences in individuals from the same location but different timelines. Even if we're all consistently from the same Earth, that doesn't guarantee we're from the same time. My teammate tells me that he's about a month ahead of me. The only beauty of this situation is that I'm collecting enough data to rewrite the known wormhole theory of time travel."

Don't you wish you never asked this, Harry?

The look on Harry's face trying to take all that in says just about everything for him. Still, half a minute later he makes an attempt at shaking it all off, picking at a few chips hanging out on the edge of his plate.

"Riiiiight. Don't suppose there's a bottom line in there anywhere."

Did you even listen to what he said, man...

"A bottom line. 'Get comfy, because this is your new home.'"

No, not really.

"Right, so when you're done getting comfy and working on all those holes or whatever it is you think is going to fix all of this, just don't forget who's capable of getting you what you need."

A pause, paired with an arched brow. And then- yep, that's some laughter. The kind of laughter that's usually quickly followed by something sassy.

"Are you implying there would be anything I'd need from you?"

There you are, Inumuta, have a genuine scowl for the first time this evening-- his body language still remarkably casual as anything. "I'm implying you won't find anyone better suited for the job of lending your royal paleness a hand."

"I think I'm almost flattered," Inumuta continues, leaning forward on the table to cup his chin in his hand. "Don't you know not to strike deals with strangers? I could really do something awful to you if you trust me this much already!"

"Now now, nobody said anything about trust." Harry drops his chin; it has the added effect of making his expression look all the more severe even as his features smooth themselves out again. "Come on, mate. What's the verdict?"

Harry looks rather serious about this, and well... Inumuta isn't one to turn down someone who seems so intent on proving himself. Not when it could result in something fascinating. Besides... Sanageyama would bail him out if he really fell into trouble here, wouldn't he?

"Alright, alright, fine. You seem interesting enough that I'm intrigued. There may be something I'm curious to look at first-hand here. And then we'll both see if Mister Acquisitions is really as talented as he says he is."

Edited 2014-04-02 09:37 (UTC)

"You, my friend, have just found yourself a deal." And with that, he holds out one rust-stained palm to seal their business partnership.

Here's hoping you're not the sort for regrets.

QUIT RUNNING IN THE HOUSE

HAHA you fell for my clever ruse

backpedal is a great username tho seriously wow how did you get that

points down at Melissa she is my hero and offered it as a generous donation to the needy

what a great... acquisition.

you are so fired

you can't fire me, you dont even pay me

pays you so I can fire you

an unforseen loop hole...!!

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