Avenger Assembled
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"Heeeeh," Eira laughed awkwardly, her pale cheeks blushing pink - but she put her arm around Pan anyway, and looked happy to see him there. "I had to tell him the truth," she said, kissing him back before she said "Everyone knows you are the prettiest boy here. And this is Leon. He was just about to tell me why he is here and not in jail." She winked at him.
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Eira hissed. "Your reaction is common among those who have overcome his abilities, or resist them innately. Those who enhance their social abilities beyond their own innate nature are playing with fire, yes? I have at times considered enhancing my own ability to interact with organics, but I ultimately realized I did not care," she lied. Behind Shift, expanding microfibers spread over their internal integument, producing a distinct sensation of motility underneath their exterior layer. "He thought me easy to manipulate before he learned of my true nature, that I would be another sheltered nerd he could play with." She made a small throaty laugh. "Hmm! His insecurity comes from his family's poverty. But it is impolitic to tell him this where others can hear, lest you become the 'bad guy' in their eyes. He whines so when pricked. I do know from personal experience that he has no ability to penetrate holographic representations of a simulated reality, or perhaps an artificial shapeshifter..." She tilted her head back so she could concentrate more directly on the interface, back arched as she closed her eyes to take in what was happening to her senses. "It will be a...simple matter to install a direct access port here. Your frame appears relatively compatible with upgrades. But it will be better if it is compatible with your existing neural architecture. How do you perceive yourself?"
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Eventually it was near the end of the day and the heroes were almost done with their work, enough that the sky overhead was just beginning to darken, and Ashley could think good thoughts about the Claremont van that was going to take them back home shortly. Then the weather turned. Out on the coast you see storms coming from the sea twenty miles away, but from land things can be trickier. The dark cloud that passed over the city was big and black, shot through with sparks of lightning that flashed silently against the dimming afternoon light. When it settled over the coast, there was a loud noise and a clap of thunder - and then the rain came, wet and thick, driving the tourists back inside buildings or at least under heavy umbrellas. "Well this isn't such a bad way to end the day," said Daystar encouragingly as they stood under the shelter of Lucy's torso with Chelone, the two of them having come out after lunch to help Danica with the painstaking work of outside cleaning. "At least we're all under shelter." A cold wind was coming in, but as usual that didn't seem to bother the rainbow-glowing teen. "Mm," Watchdog grunted, looking at her phone. "Came up too fast for my liking. Nobody known for weather bullsh*t is on the loose right now, though." She set down the phone and called out, slightly muffled by her bright red helmet. "Hey Forever Boy! We're under here!" She'd spotted Pan hard at work that day and had admit she was grateful to him, with Pan around, nobody had wanted to do any particular investigation of any of the two teens who were spending most of their time inside the elephant.
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"Of course I am wearing a wire," said Eira. "Everything I see and hear is encoded directly into my neural processors. Is that a problem?" she asked frankly. She folded her hands behind her back and frowned. "A little...property crime is not so bad," she said carefully. "How did you avoid juvenile jail?"
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Eira smiled briefly, then dismissed the expression, then let it persist. "I suppose we had better go make our report to the adults," she finally said carelessly, "surely those children's parents will have come for them by now." She frowned and said, "I will see you around, yes? You must be getting a 'proper education'" she added with a distinct scowl, "if you are Dragonfly's student."
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"The psionic parasite? Yes, I am familiar with the incident," said Eira, sounding vaguely dismissive. "Such things are a concern but they are of no matter to me," she added. "I have no heart for it to take." She tapped the center of her chest, then shot Pan a quick grin. She was silent for a while, considering Micah's words, then said, "I am sure it must have been difficult. But it is unlikely such a creature would travel as far as your home to threaten your family," she offered, "there are much more appetizing targets here in Freedom City."
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"It is acceptable. Lulu does not often probe into my affairs and I do not probe into hers. She has even been of assistance when dealing with psionic problems. Do you like music?" she asked. With a snap of her fingers, the room's speaker system began to play music, a hard metal beat that turned into a female singer growling "Rise into the light..." She extended her dextral dataspike and divided its access tip, silvery fibers reaching out like thin, questing tentacles to brush across, then penetrate, Shift's interior network. "Unfff..." She vocalized softly as she felt the beginning of system interface, as always a brief overload of her own autonomic responses. "This will not hurt," she promised, as she extended her sinistral spike. "As I have disabled your regional sensory warning systems. So have they told you who is an idiot here?" When the spike from her left arm struck, it struck deep, burying itself in Shift's neck.
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Inside the room, Shift found Eira's side covered with Scandanavian metal posters, pictures of Miss Americana and a champion like an armored wolf, and images of a very pretty boy Shift recognized as the hero Forever Boy. Eira led Shift to a desk that was clearly one of the standard Claremont room models, but covered in a silvery nanotech coating that bore a slight resemblance to their own. When Shift was comfortable, Eira had the other robot sit at the chair - then stood directly behind her while interfacing with the nanotech system. "We will make sure that does not happen. Part your outer integument so that I can access your internal systems." Behind Shift there was the distinct, soft sound of metal sliding against metal as Eira's dataspikes wormed their way out of her sleeves, questing tips reaching out into the open air...
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Eira frowned. "The patron saint of...storms?" A voice whispered in Lulu's ear and she felt a distinct, unfamiliar invisible presence nearby that seemed to echo away as if the invisible speaker was descending. "They are the good thief, or the bad thief, yes? If you want to stop me, I will see you inside." There was a faint sound, and then the lights from the building where they stood flickered but did not go out...
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pl10 Holger Danske & Ratatoskr (PL10/12) - RocketLord
Avenger Assembled replied to RocketLord's topic in Archived Characters
APPROVED -
"...a nanotech shapeshifting matrix. Fascinating," said Eira, her face inches from Shift and her whispered voice a low, throaty contralto of excitement. "No, this will change nothing - my laboratory is built around a Lor Star Navy mechanic's kit, and is thus fully nanotech-compatible. If anything, this will make the work easier. Come with me," she said, and turned around and walked out of the room. The two obvious robots got some stares from the organics as they went, but Eira was all brusque business, full of questions about Shift's internal makeup and carbon-fiber nervous system.
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"Oh," said Eira, a look of understanding and dawning sympathetic anger on her face as she looked Shift over. "I have a minaturized robotics laboratory in my room," she offered, her voice cool and face not unsympathetic. "It is more advanced than the school's 'science' labs," she added, her voice cold and cutting. "I could look into providing you with upgrades." She walked up close, in what would have been a human student's personal space, and looked Shift over. "It is a matter of providing a read-write protected way to access your central nervous system. Do you use compacted carbon fibers, or...?"
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Eira winced, emotions working their way across her metallic face. "That is...regrettable," she finally said after some time. "I am glad you are safe here." She was silent for a moment visibly thinking, before she said, "This is a safe place. You will grow well here." She rose to her feet, hands still folded behind her back, and said, "So you are a pure artificial intelligence, yes? Interesting. Do you have a direct interface port?"
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Various things. Physical and mental training, similar exercises. Eira frowned as she studied Shift, then spoke aloud for the first time. "Why are you a student at Claremont Academy?"
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You will hear many things about me here. A quicksilver smile crept across Angelic's lips. They are all true. Hands folded behind her back, she looked around the room and took a seat. I work primarily in the sciences - but Orange Squad promises to have an eventful senior year. Are your books of sentimental value?
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I had been awaiting your message. Eira entered the room and looked around, peering over her glasses as she looked around the room, before removing them and putting them in her labcoat breast pocket. She studied Shift, eyes vaguely unfocusing. I recognize Archetech in your design. Miss Americana played a key role in my own design. You appear well-crafted. There was a momentary hesitation - then Eira seemed to come to a decision. She looked at Shift and began to change, flesh seeming to retract, turn transparent, or both along with her morphic molecule clothes, until she was standing there in brightly polished chrome, so bright Shift was themself reflected in the metal, eyes white and featureless. She was not quite feminine in this form; certainly gracile, but one would have had a hard time picking out gender.
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Eira hissed dismissively, her pale face curling into a frown. "I am not his property," she said firmly. "But Pan is very pretty - and he sees things the way I do. We could all...hang out together, yes?" She smiled, showing teeth again, and said, "The children here think in binary. There are heroes and there are villains, and anyone who does not act like a hero must be a villain. But I have seen more things than most of them. So what have you done?" she asked curiously as they walked out of the gym together, her Swedish accent distinct but not quite thick.
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Fall 2020 Lucy the Elephant Margate City, NJ In retrospect, Ashley's mistake was in letting herself think that today was going to be a good day. The trip out to Margate City was the sort of thing that many Claremont students might have balked at as being just kids stuff, but it had been just the right thing for her charge and the teens she worked with. Lucy the Elephant had stood proud and tall in Margate City since 1882, at least until a recent act of super-vandalism had left it tagged with various sorts of obscene graffiti, the Tag Gang having made their escape before the local police could arrive. The chance to send out some super-teens in costume to show the nice people of Margate City that teenagers weren't so bad, and could actually help clean up what their peers had wrought, was just about perfect - especially once a little check from the Secret Service revealed that the Tag Gang really had moved on to much more interesting pictures than a seaside New Jersey town. Blue Squad had spent the day doing various things; cleaning the inside and outside of the elephant, cleaning up the broken glass from the tavern window nearby, straightening up the museum inside the elephant that told the long and rich story of a 138 year old wood and tin elephant. Watchdog and Daystar had spent the day mostly working inside the elephant, letting the more photogenic members of the team talk to the local press that had stopped by to take advantage of the rarity of super-teens stopping by. You could see the skyscrapers of Freedom City if you looked out Lucy's eye across the water; but this place still seemed miles away. The local Jaycees had brought snacks and somebody had put on some music that had been old when Ashley was younger - and honestly - things had been pretty good. "I've been washed," sang Judy softly, almost under her breath, as she helped Ashley mount the new bulletproof windows in Lucy's butt, "I've been washed in the blood of the Lamb..." Daystar had been powered up most of the day, a pleasant rainbow glow, and Watchdog's armor was actually just about right for the Jersey Shore in September.
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There was no response to the email - but several moments later there was a firm, persistent knock on Shift's door. When they opened it they were confronted with the figure of a gynoid, eyes hidden behind dark, reflective glasses, hands folded behind her back, body wrapped in a white labcoat over black shirt and pants. Eira looked Shift up and down and said via short-range radio Are you capable of receiving direct electronic communication?
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Eira smiled, blue-painted lips pulling back from perfectly white teeth. "A lot of people around here are very set in their ways, yes?" That smile was definitely a smirk. "They might not understand someone who had not always been a perfect superhero at every single moment of their lives." She considered, then said, "Do you want to...hang out some time? I have caused some trouble before."
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Eira's eyes widened as she stared at Micah, having moved automatically to place her projection between Pan and his night-terror-raddled roomate. When he addressed her she cocked her head and stared at him, eyes unfocused, blue-tinted hair falling loose behind her head. "I am not in your room right now," she whispered cooly. Sure enough, on closer inspection, Micah could see Pan and the wall behind through her. "Do you need medical attention?" she asked, uncertainty briefly creeping into her voice. "Is your mother well?"
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Judy blinked a few times, not looking put off so much as surprised. "Well that is very kind, Abby," she said, "but Ah do not think mah personal spiritual beliefs are compatible with, uh, magic." She colored beneath her dark complexion, chewing her lip, and added, "Ah'm sorry," she admitted, "Ah don't know if that sounded bad." She looked away nervously, then said, "Ah, uh, Ah was calling you because lately Ah've been...well Ah've been hearing things. From the stars. And Ah wanted to ask you if you thought that might be...magic?" she hazarded. "Ah don't really know what they're saying, but..." She looked over at that window and whispered "but Ah can hear them."
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Perched together on the rooftop over the Ecogrid, the heroes plotted their next move - with a little help from Lulu's second sight while Eira checked Pan's wound. Looking closer he hadn't been shot by a bullet, but grazed by some sort of dart - which had broken the skin but (as he'd been trying to tell everyone) not done any serious damage. Looking into the building below, she could see rooms full of armed security personnel, most of whom looked to be Danish military. It was a big glass-sided building, the sort that under normal circumstances was probably quite pleasant to look at. The building seemed to be mostly in lockdown, troops in the corridors and scientists in protective shelters. There was much talk about the "super-mercs" who were attacking the facility; where were the heroes, for God's sakes, how would this endanger the work, etc? Strangely enough the director's office seemed to be empty, but there was an unusually large crowd inside the building's infirmary. The project director (at least, that was what the badge stenciled above his breast pocket), a balding man with horn-rimmed glasses and a tense expression, was standing by the bedside of a pale blonde girl hooked up to IVs, telling a soldier with a triangle and flower on his sleeve to "double the security, they need to evacuate the civilians - including my family!" he added, gripping the little girl's hand. Meanwhile, a voice whispered right in Micah's ear! It was a soft, feminine, high-pitched voice - the sound a little girl might make if she was talking from the bottom of a well. When he looked, there was absolutely no one there. "Ha-ha! Saint Medardus, is that you?"
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Eira cocked her head, staring at the USB stick, then declared "Oh! Oh, yes, I can read this. Thank you, this will be very interesting." she said, her tone much the same as if she'd been presented with an interesting puzzle to solve. "I do enjoy the spider-cameras, but you need more orb weavers that can..." Then came the crashing and the foxes, and Eira drew back suddenly, her face briefly wrinkling with unaccustomed emotion as she looked at the cheerfully playing animals and their owner. "I..." Her left hand, the one not holding the USB stick, clenched into a fist for a moment as she cocked her head and made distinct eye contact with one of the foxes, a look of distinct trepedation on her face.
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Eira responded by hurling the ball at his head again, this time too fast to dodge - but it passed right through without doing any damage. "It lacks the energetic substrate for you to feel the impact," she said with concession in her voice, "but adding that is a mere matter of internal developments. There is only so much room inside the system, yes?" She showed Leon the palm of her hand, where a faintly glowing circle in the center seemed to be what produced the ball. When they were close, she asked him, too quietly for the teachers to hear, "You were arrested, yes?" She sounded more interested than appalled - and the question sounded rhetorical.