etcelsior | throws thumbtack confetti everywhere

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

[Jean looks at him somewhat impatiently, focusing on the cane. He idly wonders why he ended up requiring one of those, but he can't guess by looking at him. There's nothing about his physicality that gives it away, at least immediately. He's not favoring a particular leg, for instance. He's seen enough injured that he's used to people requiring additional assistance—though his world's technology is still limited when it comes to the arena of helping people after they take those injuries.

(No, half the time they're ridiculed for not stopping the titans fast enough. Or something as ridiculous as that. Not that Jean can blame them for such thoughts.)

Self-consciously, he takes a step away from the car he already tried to examine.]

Come on ... do you really think I'd try that again to get the same result? I learn from my mistakes.

But apparently you don't learn from the effect of additional variables. Or are you assuming those unfortunate noises stopped all on their own?

[Every imPort got the rundown on newly enforced (or freshly received) powers -- though Chilton found that the information concerning such was far more thorough in Heropa than the City. For better or worse.]

Speaking frankly -- did you not read the dossier given to you, upon arrival?

[Did he look like the type of guy who'd walk into a situation like this without reading that? Jean pauses and thinks he probably does, at least given what he got caught doing. People think very little of thieves, even if he's proved himself to be anything but.]

I read it. [This time he's quick enough to figure out why he's being asked—or to assume as much.] But if someone doesn't have these—[he quirks his thumb at the car]—who's to say those noises don't stop the moment you get out? No one would assume that it's because of those powers.

[It was less the concept of theft -- hardly something that registered as deeply immoral on Chilton's scale, given the quality of psychopaths he's used to working with -- and more how the individual tried to deflect, which a man like Chilton would always read into. But not necessarily with immediate judgement; after all, Chilton was giving him the opportunity to defend himself, which was as close to beneficial doubt as the psychiatrist would allow himself.

It was definitely one of the more polite platforms Chilton could have taken.]

I waved my hand in the air, and the noises ceased.

[Now that was a tone that merited more judgement.]

Surely you'd agree many would find the causal connection. Or are you adamant about coincidences?

[Jean thinks back to just a couple minutes ago. He hadn't exactly been adamant about anything with regards this man, but now, he's starting to dislike him.]

Heh ... you just expect everyone to pay attention to every motion you make? What kind of man are you? [That's the best defense he can muster, but truthfully, it's a pretty good one in his mind.] Why don't you just let it drop now? [There's a bit of aggravation that seeps into that last bit as his eyebrows furrow and his entire stance tenses.

He's getting riled up. He doesn't want to get riled up over something as stupid as this.]

Edited (emphasis needed somewhere) 2014-05-06 23:46 (UTC)

[He frowns, eying Jean over -- the disappointment is evident, of course, and already he regrets engagement with this younger fellow.]

Apparently the sort of man who thought you were more observant than you actually are.

[Therein falls that beneficial doubt; had Jean not connected the dots, Chilton would have willingly revealed what he meant (what he could do). His newer ability allowed him to made any vehicle functional on command, and that was certainly convenient when exhibiting the fine world of cars.]

It's no matter, however. This was not an act of aggression, I assure you, simply an offering of aid. [However unclear that may have been, but Chilton is out of practice when aid is concerning.] If you're inclined to explore this technology more, and without the danger of police involvement, might I recommend a car dealership? They're usually keen to let you test drive those.

[That, he figured, was as fine a cue as any to take leave.]

You didn't strike me as someone I needed to pay attention to. [Even if he's beginning to take leave, Jean is keen to pay attention to him, even trot after him. Comparatively, movement is far easier for him. Somehow, after all the fights with titans that he's been in, he hasn't faced any grave danger.

Truthfully, he doesn't fully understand why.]

But I've figured out what you're like. You've got a heightened sense of importance. Guys like you don't last long where I come from, so don't hold what you know over some stranger's head.

[The gall of this kid, following him like that. Thinking he could analyze a doctor of psychiatry! Chilton rolled his eyes upwards, beseeching nothing in the clouds above.]

And spectacularly rude, imprudent young men don't last long where I come from.

[Chilton exhaled through his teeth, leaning against his cane. He brought his gaze towards Jean, shooting an indignant look.]

I was helping you. No good deed goes unpunished, apparently.

[The sizzle in his tone snapped back.]

You have not figured me out, considering you didn't even know that.

What's your world like then? [The question itself is even, as he watches him. Where Jean comes from, the titans don't care if someone is good or bad; they'll kill anyone who's in their way to eliminating humanity. Jean hasn't ever experienced anything differently before arriving here, but he can see how a world can shape someone, how a perspective can shape someone.

That's why the inner walls saw the battle at Trost as nothing more than a scare tactic. They could hide themselves away from that.

But he's curious now, eyes focused on the older man now. He doesn't care about him exactly, but Jean figures he can learn something useful from this encounter. And if he can do that, he can apply it elsewhere.

Like a good soldier.]

My world is rather intimate with death. Or murder, at least. [Such was what Chilton was more familiar with, as an observer and nearly-victim.] It's a very personal engagement.

[Chilton cocks his chin out, eying his company with the remnants of a sneer.]

Are you keen to hold me captive? I daresay you'd easily outrun me, so escape doesn't seem so optimal.

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