Avenger Assembled

Judy fell silent for a moment, watching the way they stared enraptured at her light. Oh My Lord, am I brainwashing them? She considered her responses, then said seriously, "Jesus said 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." She hesitated just a second, then went on, "Everybody's got a god, something bigger than themselves they believe in, and everybody's got a neighbor. Remember to treat each other the way you'd want to be treated, and to forgive those who've wronged you, and to stand up for what's right, and you'll do all right."

"Just that any time you want out, say something, and we're done," said Richard seriously. "This isn't a puff piece, but we're not here to hurt you or your team. You already saved the world before you were old enough to drink legally, you don't need some old guy with a TV show making your life harder." He looked at her, held the look, then grinned as the crew around them went into action. "We'll start with the softball stuff - you prefer Crimson Tiger for the show, right?"

Richard disappeared for an instant, then returned with a map of the world to stand behind her. "Botswana," he said seriously as he pointed to a spot in Africa. "Stable government, they speak English, no extradition treaty, and our money'll go a long way. We can buy another house, do some black ops jobs for the king, maybe try and break into Dakana again...no?" He winked, then disappeared long enough to make the map do the same thing. "As much as I'm tempted to do a Dirty Secrets of the Discovery Channel special," he said with a bitter laugh as he dropped down onto the bed, "we need something big. I think we may have missed the boat on Secrets of the Centurion," he confessed, "the only people who still care don't want them getting out."

Richard shot the awestruck Terry a look that could best be summed up as See? before getting down to business. "Hey there Miss A, how's the old red and white and blue these days?" He grinned and shook her hand, zipping over and coming back with a cup of coffee for the lady. That was just how it worked; and it saved the kids from making fools of themselves. "We're just glad you agreed to sign up," he said with a grin, "The show needs to have a heart as much as a brain, and you've got both to spare, am I right?" He sobered and added, "We take synthetic rights seriously on our show, and if we can make a statement that actually wins hearts and minds, we're going out with a little class."

Archetech February 2021 The meeting with Miss Americana's people had gone smoothly. They were professionals, she was a media icon; everybody knew how the game worked and how nobody was going to try and make her look stupid. She'd been the right person to call; a synthetic heroine who herself had been instrumental in defeating a robot invasion, and someone who had been on the show before and knew the ropes. And talking to her was certainly always very pleasant. "It's the damndest thing," Richard had warned his intern Terry, who was new to this particular heroine. "Paige swears it's not anything psychic, and it's not anything biochemical or magic either. Maybe it's just, you know, all that smartness being used to figure out how to talk to people, or...I don't know! Anyway, she's something else." They'd agreed to meet outside of Miss Americana's office, in a small gardened atrium on the Archetech campus that bore the name of a staffer killed in the Deep One attack a few years back. Richard had stopped to smell the flowers already though and was tossing a ball to himself, back and forth, as he kibitzed with the crew in between letting them get set up for the shoot. Miss A's intern was already there, but the grumpy-looking girl with the green and black hair was mostly observing.

"Hello there Crimson Tiger!" said Richard, popping up to shake the martial artist's hand and make introductions to the crew. David Kennedy, the bearded guy behind the camera, Kelsey Walsh with the boom mike and the tattoos, and Terry Hugh, the slim young guy with the tray of coffee and box of doughnuts. "Glad to see you again. Damn, have you gotten stronger?" He laughed and slapped her on the back. For his part, Richard very much enjoyed schmoozing. "All right, now you said you didn't want a lot of makeup for this, but Terry doubles as our makeup guy if you're interested. You'd be surprised what TV brings out in you." He moved back to his seat with a quick zip of motion, twirling his sunglasses in one hand. "How are you feeling?"

February 2021 DuTemps Building "She's a great kid, really," Richard was commenting to David Longfellow as they waited for the arrival of their interview subject. Richard was standing, leaning against the wall and occasionally tossing a tennis ball across the room to himself and back again, trusting the crew to do their jobs and do them well. "She and Will were in the same class back in high school. Which means...she must be, what, almost thirty now? Jeez." He zipped over when his intern Terry arrived with coffee and gave him a million-dollar grin. "Thanks Ter!" A quick sip and "Triple sugar, niiice. " He had learned, a long time ago, under very different circumstances, that you were always, always nice to the people who worked for you, because they were the ones who watched your ass. He zipped back to the windows, looking out from their thirty-story height, and said, "I remember when this place was under construction, back in the day. They tore down a whole block that was mostly these little TV repair shops, but the...jeez." He shook his head. "Damn, I sound like an old fart. Sure, sound check," he said as Kelsey approached with the boom mike. "Let's do this." He was dressed for work, hair slicked back with just a few streaks of grey showing, sunglasses in his hand, wearing a safari vest over a black dress shirt and jeans. "You're not that old," Kelsey commented with a cheeky smile once they were done, "not as long as you sign my paychecks anyway!" He laughed as a ripple of laughter ran through the crew, and watched as the crew finished setting up, trusting them to do their jobs - and sure enough, with the windows behind him shaded enough that he wouldn't be backlit, he waited for Mali's arrival.

Okay, are we waiting on a GM post here?

There is a valuable object in wealth towards the front; a valuable object in power towards the back. This place stinks of death and rot and wet and old suffering.

"Hah I don't think all the stuff," started Anna, before Richard's firm "Ma!", in that Jersey accent that meant he was emotional made her sigh a mother's long-suffering smile. "I'll think of something," Holly grumped, her cheeks still pink as she looked down at her dinner. "I liked the brain suit," Richard offered his son, "but it may not be the right look. And your mother's right. Whatever you think about this girl," he told Will with perfect sincerity, "if she's not somebody you can be honest with, she's not the right girl for you. But if you think she is right, bring her home to meet the family." He looked around the table and felt a sudden stab of emotion at the sight of his wife, son, daughter, mother, and...adopted son. "That's what really matters."

From her position behind a nearby car, Ashley watched the scene too, keeping her gaze fixed on the crowd near Judy for threats both foreign and domestic. It didn't really matter to her one way or another if Luke found whoever he was looking for, but she supposed the presence of a glowing goddess before them was probably making it easier to spot faces. - "Ah'm well, thank you," said Judy, folding her glowing hands in front of her for a moment. She could see them all, see the light that played over their skin, their hearts, the infinite song of the EM spectrum around them. "Ah'm here to tell you that you don't need to worry about me. You should worry about the world." She smiled at the man, her teeth dazzling white in more ways than one, and said more loudly, "There's a whole world out there that needs people willing to stand up for it!"

It proved easy enough to open the hatch of the submarine - though it was rusted enough that it nearly came off in Singularity's hands as she did so. The group exchanged looks as they peered down into the utter gloomy blackness within, the dark skies overhead providing them with hardly any illumination. After much concentration, Aquaria described what she could hear below for the benefit of those with the limited senses of Surfacemen. "There is no sound of machines at all. I hear movement inside, like the shuffling of feet. There is someone speaking that way, and someone singing spells the other way." She pointed to the front of the ship for the first, and the back for the last. "It does not smell clean," she commented. Crouched on all fours by the open hatch, trident laid across the rusted steel, she didn't look terribly clean herself. "It smells like the magic sounds. Like the dead. That is not dead which eternal can lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die..." The inside of the submarine was a nightmare for anyone claustrophobic, dark and close, so much that they practically had to move single-file if they were going to get anywhere. The bulkheads were wet and slimy over even more rusted metal, as if the interior had recently been completely flooded, and the smell was enough to make anyone gag.

Eira already seemed a little rattled, and so she gave Davyd a sharp glare instead of the joke she might have given him otherwise. "I am going to show this to Lulu. Thank you for your help." With that she put her hands in her labcoat pockets and headed off - though come to think of it, that was probably not the direction her room was in...

"vas...oh, yes..." The zombie's head seemed to be losing focus on the conversation. "die Hexe...promised to bring us to these shores...if we pledged all for the Fatherland. All..." The head began at this point to sing "...Wenn es stets zu Schutz und Trutze...Brüderlich zusammenhält....Von der Maas bis an die Memel...Von der Etsch bis an den Belt..." And it went on like that. Aquaria made a deep, disgusted noise at the back of her throat. Her eyes flicked around until she found a large plastic bucket that had been used in the fish processing earlier, which she then scooped up and placed directly over top of the abomination. As a precaution, she then hopped up onto it, driving the plastic further into the sand. "I can destroy that ship from here," she croaked, hefting her trident as she pointed out at where the U-Boat's ancient periscope still watched them. "It would be easy."

Richard looked very interested in this bit of news, folding his hands and looking across the table at his son. "A girlfriend, eh? How does she feel about-" "Dad!" said Holly, giving her father a scandalized look. "Dickie!" said Anna firmly, a look of unaccountable relief on her face for a half-second. "Hah-hah!" said Bryant, waving cheerfully with his finger, "Daddy in trouble!" Richard gave an elaborate, long-suffering sigh, beset at every turn. "You see what it's like with you gone! This is why we need you and your ladyfriend to come visit the East Coast some time." "I just think it's nice you're seeing someone," said Anna, "you know your father was already running around with your mother when he was your age, and they turned out pretty well!"

Eira stared at the reflection of herself, reaching up to tug at the collar of her labcoat in a gesture that spoke more to the unconscious reflections of a body in a stored consciousness than any impulses of a mechanical mind. "...that is very effective," she said after a noticeable pause, a faint quaver in her voice. "I have committed it to my internal memory. I am...very flattered." She shifted uncomfortably for another moment, then abruptly turned, hiding the blush spreading on her pale cheeks. "Thank you for your assistance, Davyd," she said quickly, "your work was invaluable to this experiment and to our team functions."

"I want to talk to them." Ashley looked in the rearview mirror, met Judy's eyes, and sighed softly. "Okay. Okay, give me a minute." She found a place to park the Dawg, neatly sliding it into a gas station's parking lot, and said, "Okay, here's the plan. Luke, you get out and try and find your friend." Watchdog was already getting dressed, putting her red helmet on and buttoning up her leather and denim outfit. "I'll hang back out of sight. Judy, come in under that awning if you can. Nobody can see us from above there. Everybody got it?" When they were ready, they let Luke out first, giving Ashley a moment alone with Judy. "Are you sure about this?" "They wanted to see me," said Judy softly, her skin beginning to glow with a rainbow light. "Ah'd better give them what they asked for." And so it was that while her Secret Service agent slipped out to take point while she waited for her backup team, Daystar appeared before the crowd in a flash of light just like the one they'd seen on television, her form the rainbow radiance that had been the subject of so many viral videos. "...Ah'm here!" she called as loudly she could in a voice that warbled from nearby phones. "You wanted to see me - and here Ah am!"

"He did not flip him," said Sadler, sounding genuinely incensed. "He is-" He pointed to Irons, caught a look from Bonham, and said, "This man is one of the greatest heroes in the world, and the greatest hero in the history of AEGIS. He wouldn't be turned because Keres pushed a few buttons in his head. It must have been something mechanical." "That's enough, Barry!" said Bonham firmly, making a cutting motion in the air. "We did exchange fire with an assassin droid carrying a heavy handcannon. As for your reconstruction work, Keres is a shapeshifter with more blood on his hands than I can measure. I hope you know what you're doing before you bring a thing like that back to life and start taking its word over law enforcement We'll wait outside," he said to Sadler and Gonzalez as much as the others, pulling them away from the scene and letting the heroes work. When the agents were out of the room, Eira finally spoke, her eyes having gone wide the moment she'd taken in the scene. "Did they shoot him?" she whispered, sounding disgusted - and a little afraid - in a way that went beyond her usual teen reserve. "They would not have shot an organic agent who they thought would turn his coat. They were trying to murder him."

Eira spoke with the intensity of a scientist relating her masterstroke - or a teenager with deep emotions as she looked Davyd in the eye. "Change yourself into your perception of me. Not this form standing before you but what you perceive as my identity. It will be useful in assessing my outward presentation." She folded her hands behind her back and watched him expectantly.

Once they were in the car, Ashley took the opportunity to make a few phone calls, reaching out to Judy's detail and making sure they were in position to move out to the protest site. They kept a close eye on Cahill-related stuff in Freedom City anyway, so odds were good they had eyes on it anyway. Once they were on the road, she took the usual indirect route to get out there, the better to make sure nobody could follow them one way or another from Claremont to their destination. "Thank you for being so nice," Judy had told Luke in the car. "Ah know we don't really know each other, but Ah really appreciate it. Ah'm sure we can help your friend if we just work together on it." The inside of the car was pretty nice, complete with sound system and snack holder, though the latter was mostly bottles of water and energy bars. "It's just for emergencies," said Judy with a little smile. "Since Ah don't eat anything." Once they reached the protest, Ashley circled the whole scene, keeping the Dawg in discreet mode while she studied what was going on and waited for the rest of Judy's detail to arrive in the area.

Watchdog and Daystar January 20, 2021 Inauguration Day Corinne's apartment New York City In stories, standing up to people who are hurting you always works. Maybe they turn out to be a big baby and run away crying, maybe you beat them up and that's the end of that chapter, or maybe you just win them over with your sweet words. But that's not always how it works in real life. And that's not how it worked when I told my parents I wasn't going to be their tool anymore. Judy wasn't entirely sure how it was Corinne was altering the nature of the pizza slice in her hand so that she could actually taste it and digest it, but it was working and that was all she cared about. The inauguration was on at her insistence and she was watching the crowd with a skeptical eye, pointing out the foibles of all the figures she recognized. "Oh he farts real bad when he thinks nobody is paying attention, but everyone is just too polite to say anything because he's on the Supreme Court. Oh Lord have mercy, how long is this poet going to go on?" And those were hard times. I wasn't alone, though. I had my family - my sisters, who chose to side with me over our mother and father until we could make them see some reason - and I had the family I helped make when I was in school. You already know some of them. It wasn't easy, but I found my way through it and became the woman I am today. And I had my God, even if sometimes His voice was very hard to hear. Leaning back against the far wall of the room, Ashley shot a glance out the window long enough to confirm that the street detail was still there. Watching the outgoing child of a soon-to-be former President wasn't exactly a high-prestige posting for the Secret Service, but she was confident in her own ability to handle anything that was going to happen. She watched Judy sit on the couch between Corinne and Danica and let herself, well, not relax, but let herself think that everything was going to be okay. Just one more semester, and everybody was free. She caught Judy looking at her; and Judy smiled. "There's always room for you here, Ashley." The lesson I finally had to learn was that the real power isn't the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, or set things on fire with a wave of your hand. And it isn't winning an election or having people call you "Madame President", either. The real power is what you connect what you do with who you are. If you're worth anything at all, you have to ask yourself what you're going to do. Are you going to live your life hiding your light? Because you think you have to, or because somebody told you you should? Or are you going to let it shine - and shame the Devil with your light? "Ah don't even know what they're gonna do with our rooms; maybe turn them into grandkid spaces? Look at all of them!" The new President's family was big and boisterous as only Freedom City Irish Catholics could be. O'Connor's gonna be the first great-grandpappy President if things keep going!" The girls watched the inauguration of the first female Vice-President, and maybe a few tears were shed then, and then watched as the sitting President took the opportunity to introduce his successor. Judy stared as her father spoke without saying anything, then said softly, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" She wiped her eyes, then watched the rest - and the Inaugural Address of President O'Connor without a tear. So I let it shine. Here, and out in the stars, in His name and in ours. And we have shamed the Devil, and every last person, place, or thing that's tried to hold us back. I know you'll keep shining your light into the darkness even after I'm gone. May all the gods you believe in be with you tonight - I know mine will be. From the retirement address of Judith Claudia Cahill -The Founding Mother of United Earth

Tou vs 30 https://orokos.com/roll/870575 = 16 well okay it's unconscious!

Eira made a dismissive noise that suggested a low opinion of that situation. "Micah is still in love with her, that poor fool," she opined. Moving to collect her tools, she said, "Pan says I am harsh but if someone will lie to you once, they will lie to you twice, and so on, and so on. She and that sister of hers made us look stupid." She put her hands on her hips and added, "Davyd, there is...one more thing you can do for me, yes? It will be difficult, but I will not be angry if you fail."

Pan should go see what's causing the trouble - it sounds like it's the hanger deck back where you came! Bring Danica with you! =D

It was, of course, a first-person perspective - Irons standing over Keres and pulling a cord out of his own arm which he then attached to the other robot's head. There was sounds of gunfire and small explosions not far away, but the dominant sound was the sound of a voice. Keres' voice. "Aren't you tired of this, Simmons? The same struggles year after year after year, and for what? A nation that thinks all cops are bastards, a greatest generation in its grave, superheroes who think you betrayed them, and an agency that put you in that decrepit old body because they fear what you could actually do." Irons hesitates just before fitting another cord to the other side of Keres' head, and it becomes clear his internal audio hasn't survived. What Keres says next is "Of course. I didn't send them, you know. It doesn't have to be like this. If you let me go, I can make the drones stand down and protect the AEGIS team - and we can leave here together, just as-." Suddenly an abrupt blam; the visual input gone crazy, a figure approaching, then darkness over the sound of multiple other gunshots, fast and close. "...was that really necessary?" asked Bonham, annoyed. "We don't even...know the provenance of that recording, given Keres' capacity to alter existing computer systems. To answer your question, Terrifica, Agent Irons had been tracking Keres personally; there was an old grudge between them, going back to the early 2000s. He wanted to handle the arrest personally, but I insisted on coming along as backup. Agents Gonzalez and Sadler were the only agents free for deployment on short notice." "It was...awful," admitted Sadler, not quite looking away. "I've seen some difficult things lately, but those damn machines, I..." He sighed. "Agent Irons is one of our top people. The idea of him being taken down by one of their assassin droids...it was awful. If Gonzalez hadn't been watching my back, I'd be the man down."