dancing moms

[maskormods]

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.

Comments

[heartlessglitch]

[ It seems that any time she encounters Aaron Stack, there's alcohol inevitably involved. Her incredible processing power isn't really necessary to sense a behavior trend there-- but the wagon. That's new.

Danger spends approximately a second to process the situation, and while her calculations touch on the possibility of a threat, she seems to come to the conclusion that yes, in fact, there is no bomb building in Aaron's immediate future. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to approach him, but Danger can handle herself, so she does it anyway.

She came up beside him, one hand resting on her hip in a purposeful gesture-- one she'd learned from watching human women, as a way of showing skepticism, as if her facial expression didn't convey that well enough. Very helpful, she points out in lieu of a greeting: ]

I imagine when the manufacturers of this particular wagon model indicated it was for ages twelve and up, they did not have you in mind, Aaron.

[clanky]

[The idea that her mannerisms might be remarkable both does and doesn't occur to Aaron. He's been a remarkable human mimic without truly understanding at times since he first went out in the world. It's very convincing; he gets what she means right away. And if it's unnatural for her to do it, that doesn't occur to him either. He did, after all, know Jocasta.]

Probably not, given that I am technically not twelve years old yet in the strictest sense. But it seemed convenient at the time.

[heartlessglitch]

Then technically I suppose the amount of alcohol in your possession is rather illegal.

[ Her tone is pretty pointed-- but then again, it isn't as if she's going to turn him in or anything. Danger's only ever a stickler for her own rules. Sometimes, she just likes to be a know-it-all. Like a Microsoft Office assistant, with a comparable level of helpfulness. ]

Are you not in possession of a more practical vehicle?

[clanky]

Don't be ridiculous. There's no laws in this county limiting how much alcohol you can purchase, and even if they were, there are no laws pertaining to androids limiting how much alcohol I can purchase.

[Which would be the same justification he would use if he'd actually stolen the car. Should have just done that. Somebody, somewhere around here had to have a car cool enough to be worth "borrowing."]

I thought about it. Clearly I underestimated the amount I would feel I needed to drink that would be appropriate to the situation I find myself in. And I couldn't find anything cool enough fast enough to suit me. Go figure.

[heartlessglitch]

[ There is that loophole, isn't there-- what with them both being technically preteens if you count by year. It's probably lucky that, with their combat capabilities, they don't generally behave like twelve-year-olds. Most of the time. ]

Considering my knowledge of you, I should not be surprised that you actually intend to ingest all of that.
As if there were not more productive ways of coping with your present circumstances.

[ Charles Xavier must have programmed her with one too many judgmental cores. ]

[clanky]

[Wow. Even Monica didn't give him this much grief about the drinking thing. (Carol, he's not sure if she ever noticed. Or was too busy yelling at him to use Google Maps to care.)

Nevertheless, he really doesn't give a damn if she wants to judge him for it or not.]

My massive computer brain is capable of carrying out sophisticated tasks while totally blitzed off my ass, thanks.

[Which is honestly, legitimately true.]

Anyway it's not necessarily all for right now.

[heartlessglitch]

[ Truthfully, it's her way of caring-- though at the same time, if he were to accuse her of being bitchy about it, it wouldn't be the first time. It also wouldn't be entirely untrue. ]

I was unaware that you possessed the self-control mechanisms to save some for later.

[ Case in point. ]

Perhaps it is fortunate that we lack any sophisticated tasks for you to attempt to perform at the moment.

[clanky]

Were you? Is it possible that's because you don't actually know ☠☠☠☠ about me?

[Aaron's capacity to put up with a lot of crap from people whose lives he's at least marginally invested can be immense, particularly when he can turn it back on them. He knows what he is. He knows he has a drinking problem. But ☠☠☠☠ right off with this implication that he can't get his job done.]

You can't really offer an informed opinion on my competence.

[heartlessglitch]

Then consider it an educated guess.

[ She responds in a clipped tone, pointedly frowning at him-- prickly, apparently, about being told there's something she doesn't know (true though that might be). ]

I would invest in being able to offer an informed opinion, but I can only assume you would make that difficult by some mechanism or another.

[clanky]

[Because he does that, he's been told. The show of contempt and mockery is apparently veil-thin; he irritates people on purpose, and either it doesn't work, or it works too well, and he aggravates people he never really wanted to go away in the first place. But she's not Jocasta. She has no reason to forgive him for it if he overplays his hand.]

Maybe. It's a habit of mine.

[Bordering on self-sabotage, sometimes.]

But I haven't refused to answer any of your questions. Even the extremely personal ones.

[heartlessglitch]

[ And yet despite their differences-- and how grating they can be to one another-- she still feels a kinship with him, some kind of connection that's unique from what she feels with human beings. She might even actually like him, though that isn't something that is likely to get discussed out loud, maybe ever.

Either way, she does have to concede that he's been open with her. That's important. There are few things she loathes more than being deceived. ]

I am appreciative of your openness.
It is not your honesty that I am critical of.
Only some of your habits.

[clanky]

[His computer brain doesn't lie. It just doesn't always give answers that anybody likes. Including him. This makes self-delusions extremely difficult, and it certainly contributes to his excessive bad moods, but if he's going to answer at all, at least they'll be truthful answers.]

Yeah, well, if you're going to get judgmental about them you should at least pick habits I actually have.

[heartlessglitch]

If you wish to educate me on your habits, then that can be arranged.

[ It's hard to tell how she means that-- mockingly? Seriously? Is it her twisted way of getting to know him? Or is she practicing her sarcasm now? The flatness of her voice doesn't help much, or the flatness of her face. ]

[clanky]

[Yeah even he's finding that a little bit difficult to figure out. They are going to have some communication problems, definitely.]

...you're not hitting on me, are you?

[It's similarly unclear if that's meant to be taken facetiously, or if it's a serious question.]

[heartlessglitch]

[ That makes her pause, squinting at him a little bit. Maybe it takes her that second to decipher whether he means that literally, metaphorically, sincerely, or sarcastically-- which is not at all helped by her social inexperience.

Finally-- carefully-- still eying him with some skepticism: ]

Clarify: Is that a complaint?

[clanky]

[It isn't helped by the fact that Aaron's not sure if he just made a joke or had to ask a legitimate question there. She's hard to read, even by their standards.]

That is the one thing it definitely is not.

[heartlessglitch]

[ Robohand on robohip. She does a fair job of concealing her skepticism and uncertainty when the briskness of her tone: ]

Then I fail to see why that matters.

[clanky]

[Oh my god she can match Jocasta with that kind of move and it is unfortunate that it's kind of hot. Even if she's busy being...disapproving? Sassy? He really should not be having this much trouble, this is very, very new.]

Wait, what? It doesn't matter if you are or aren't if I'm not complaining about it? What kind of logic is that, Danger?

[heartlessglitch]

A problem would warrant discussion.
As it is, by your own admittance, not a problem, discussion is not necessary.

[ AKA she doesn't want to talk about this, because she's just as confused about this whole thing as he is. Attraction of any kind isn't something she discusses well-- or even necessarily recognizes. Weren't they supposed to be arguing about something else just now? ]

[clanky]

[They were but apparently they're having an entirely different conversation now. If this were Jocasta, he'd just casually hit on her; after all, she is his ex-girlfriend, even if she did leave him to get back together with Ultron.

...nah, he might still do it anyway.

Scratch that, definitely going to do it anyway.]

Oh, come on now. Nobody would blame you if you were.

[The difference is that Aaron does know about attraction, very, very well. And even if he doesn't understand what she's getting at, he has the social skills to work with it anyway.

But not the finesse to know that he shouldn't be making things awkward like this.]

[heartlessglitch]

I fail to compute what you are implying.

[ False: She computes it fine, but the hint of accusation has her defensive and therefore uncooperative. ]