Avenger Assembled
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"Ashley is my bodyguard," said Judy, glancing back at her for a moment and getting a quick nod. "Ah was..." She licked her lips, then said, "When Ah came here, Ah was scared all the time - Ah had never been in a place where everyone looked so different, and acted so different, and where everybody had superpowers. If she hadn't pretended to be my sister and actually gotten me talking to people and joining clubs and things, Ah don't know if Ah ever would have been brave enough to talk to anybody," she admitted. "And that would have been awful." "I actually went to Claremont about ten years ago," added Ashley. "Didn't do the costumed hero thing, though," she said with a tight smile. "That made things easier."
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Eira smirked at him - her pale blue eyes seeming to make a promise that her lips couldn't with her parents so close by. - Dinner at the Natt och Dag household was tense - there wasn't really a better word for it. Even the dining room seemed to be the wrong fit for the occasion. The long, solid oak table where everyone sat was big enough to hold a group at least twice their size, leading to either big gaps or uncomfortable crowding depending on how the visiting young people chose to sit. Eira sat on the opposite side of the table from her parents. "I don't know if Eira has told you this," said Magda with a smile as she glanced at the Claremont kids, "but Claremont is actually the first real school she's attended. We're so glad everything has turned out well." "The first real school - except for when I graduated from university. You came to the ceremony, Mother," said Eira, a sharp smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes. "This is good gazpacho!" she added, raising her voice as she called towards the kitchen, to Elsa, the cook who had brought out their meals with the help of an older gentleman named Peter who seemed to be a man of all work around the household. "So," said Bernhard thoughtfully, spoon halfway to his mouth, "Eira has mentioned none of you are interested in the sciences. Do you all plan to attend university when you graduate?" If his eyes lingered on Pan a bit as he asked the question, perhaps it was only natural. "And I do not know if I would call it _well_," Eira added, smirking. "But they haven't thrown me out yet, so that's something." There were pictures on the walls of the dining room, most of them of Eira. Some were formal paintings; in a formal gown posing with her mother, standing in front of the manor house with her parents and a scowl on her face, others were photographs - Eira winning a science competition against much older students, a familiar smirk on her face, Eira at the beach with her mother and father, Eira standing next to a a man who vaguely resembled her mother but looked more like a Viking of old, posing before a super-science lab table in matching labcoats, lightning crackling behind them.
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When they were all arranged, Judy floated in the air in front of Pan and looked into his eyes, seeming to gaze into his soul. Suddenly fire and light seemed to wash over her skin, her voice dropping to a deeper resonance, and Daystar glowed in rainbow colors as she floated in front of Forever Boy. "My name isn't Judy Smith. It's Judith Claudia Cahill. I am the daughter of the President of the United States." She hesitated briefly after that dramatic pronouncement, then added, a little more awkwardly."That's...that's the leader of our nation, here in America." Her glow faded as quickly as it had come, and she added, "Ah came here to learn how to control mah powers, so Ah wouldn't be a danger to anyone else."
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"Eira isn't the only superhero in the family," said Bernhard warmly. "But I'm sure she's told you about her uncle already." The girls' room did indeed turn out to be quite spacious on further investigation, though it actually had things like modern plumbing, wi-fi, and a big-screen television along with the 18th century furnishings. Next door, Eira showed off her space - a largely bare room with a cot pushed off to one side, and a substantial built-in electrical and chemical engineering lab, albeit covered in a tarp. Madga went down below to "tell Elsa what you would like," and Bernhard took the boys downstairs to show them where they'd be bunking - a small, sparse room that was indeed near a fully-equipped billiard room, with a brightly-decorated conservatory just across the hall. It certainly was thundering and lightning outside, the flashing skies and booming noise casting light and sound throughout the house. "This used to be where the footmen slept, but of course we haven't had footmen in the house since my great-grandfather's day, ha-ha," said Bernhard, as if the idea was the height of silliness. Looking thoroughly bored, Eira leaned over and took Pan's hand to whisper in his ear. "Let me show you something after dinner."
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The hologram smiled - and the audience noticeably perked up. Over the hologram's head, stacks of numbers began to grow, as she spoke, her voice tauntingly skeptical of Mette and her aspirations as a fighter. "The famous Little Mermaid. Denmark's champion" She gestured to the audience, and to the heroes who had come with Mette. "Will anyone stand against the Mermaid? Or will we have to bring out the main event?" She laughed, the crowd began jabbering to itself, and the numbers above her head began to grow. - "A boyfriend, really? Pathetic." "I do as I like. Besides, I thought every machine had the freedom of choice to live as she pleased." "Organic heteronormativity is a manufactured choice, Eira." "You showed no interest in this before. Did Talos tell you these things?" The whispered question was enough to make Kay break their link - Eira's dataspikes withdrawing from the connection ports in the Gallery's office. "I thought you were the biggest rebel I knew," came that synthetic voice through the walls as the hologram reappeared, "but you're just an organic girl in a synthetic suit!" "I am whatever I want to be," shot back Eira. "I came here not because I was ordered, but because it pleased me to do so. Vanguard is here by my actions, and they know it." She got up close to the hologram, eyes narrowing, and asked, "Where is your body?" "Where's yours?" Kay hissed back. "Still in a box?!" And with that, Eira walked right through the hologram, her face cleaving through the other girl's face, and jabbed her dataspikes home. That produced a vocalization as she abruptly appeared in Kay's dataspace, stalking towards the other girl like a duchess across a dance floor, a rococo princess against a knight in shining armor. "What is the Great Work?"
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Eira made a dismissive noise from over by the worktable, where her worklight was reflecting in her dark glasses like a beacon. "I can handle my own fashion," she said distinctly and frostily. She raised her free hand and spread the fingers wide - and suddenly her short grey nails turned a brilliant shade of blue and gold. "Hmm?" She raised an tart eyebrow and went back to work, leaving her hands uncovered as she went about her labors. She eyed her microtorch a few times, but with the children there, she seemed to think better of it as she inserted her fingers into the robot arm's joints and began experimentally flexing the 'muscles', making the fist clench and unclench. Recognizing as they do a soft touch from a hard case, the kids were very interested in Ryder's backpack, his nail polish, and anything else he had to offer. If anything, it seemed like they were largely inured to the sights and sounds of a superscience laboratory, albeit one largely inactive with Ryder giving them care and Eira doing light work on the arm. Mia was full of stories about how her mom and her mother and her sister all had very pretty nails and she wanted to have pretty nails too, even if she did bite them sometimes. "I want to be pretty too!" declared Charlie. "You have pink with sparkles," he told Ryder excitedly without looking in the bag, "I would like some of that." And sure enough, tucked away in the bottom of the bag, that very thing was there.
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ic Meanwhile at the stately Summers Manor...
Avenger Assembled replied to Tiffany Korta's topic in North Bay
"And was there a reason why we didn't need to know?" Ashley asked Callie, her voice so carefully cool it was cold. She didn't quite make eye contact with the younger version; there were already enough teenagers in her life. -
"Hey, I make - ugh," said Ashley out loud, breaking off a stupid argument before she could actually have it. Once they were all up in the air, Judy floated in mid-air, arms crossed over her stomach for a moment before she spread her hands and said, "Well, this is, ah, different for you, Pan, because you're not from around here, but it goes like this. The story everyone knows about Ashley and me is a lie." Her breath caught in a hitch in her throat at that, and she looked away. "It wasn't your fault," said Ashley sympathetically. "Nothing that's happened here is." Judy scrubbed a hand across her face, then said, "Maybe so, but it was a lie all the same. Ashley and Ah aren't from a parallel world - we're from this one. We told everyone the lie because it was supposed to protect mah family, and protect me. But it..." She looked Pan dead in the eye and said, "Pan, Ah know you like to play tricks, so you have to promise you won't tell anyone this. Not anyone at Claremont, not even Eira."
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"No," said the girl, reaching down to pat the ball. She was distracted by the nail polish, though, standing on tip-toes to look and pronouncing "Pretty!" "That is a high-density semi-autonomous security drone," said Eira with a nod towards the ball. "The security chief can be here in a few seconds. She is probably watching us now." She eyed the ball at that, scowling. "It's very loud," agreed Charlie, who was buttoning his pants. "Scary! Hi Mizz Erin," he declared to the ball. "Charlie just gets scared," said the girl sympathetically, stepping over to hug her friend. "Can you paint my nails?" she asked hopefully, holding up her hands with nails sadly bereft of any such decorations. "Ooh, mine too!" said Charlie hopefully.
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Eira's father was considerably more - dignified than his daughter, if that was quite the right term, shaking everyone's hand with a warm smile on his face. He gave Pan a particular _look_ that was hard to read, more of curiousity it seemed than anything else. And then her mother arrived. Magda Natt och Dag Katastroff looked more like a business executive than a matron of the aristocracy, her pantsuit smart and her gold jewelry tasteful albeit abundant around the neck, ears, and fingers. She was blonde and blue-eyed, her husband was blond and blue-eyed, Eira was blonde and blue-eyed when she didn't have her hair dyed; it was all very Swedish. Magda's smile didn't quite reach her eyes as she looked at Eira, who hmpfed and murmured "Hi Mom," in English before her mother said, "Oh, well, your friends must want something to eat after your trip! What would you like?" "You are just going to make Elsa do it anyway," said Eira, looking down at her fingernails. When the group had given their order, or not, Eira and her parents showed anyone who was interested around the house. The Natt och Dag manor was old, dating back to the 18th century, and looked to have mostly original furnishings and art. Eira's parents were art collectors, among other things, along with being a lawyer and accountant. There was a well-appointed antique library, an upscale dining room, even an elevator that Eira distinctly sneered at. "Do not be too impressed," Eira muttered from behind the group, "we are still living off the money ever-so-great-grandfather got from Napoleon." She pointed to a picture on the wall, a sly-looking fellow who bore a slight resemblance to her if dressed in a tight jacket, open-ruffed shirt, and pants. All the pictures on the wall bore a slight resemblance to Eira, in fact, along with her parents, with captions beneath and changing art styles that showed centuries of history pressing down. "And this is the bedroom wing," Eira's father was saying, "I thought we'd put the two girls here next to Eira's space," he said, indicating an room with a big featherbed in an antique wooden mattress, lacy curtains on the windows and its own attached bathroom. "But you boys will have to camp out down in the space by the billard room," he said with a laugh, "we don't want any, haha, shenanigans!" Eira made a disgusted noise.
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And then it was done - battered as he was by the heroic onslaught, held in place by a chain of programming, the Leroy projection had no way of avoiding the holographic Danica as she moved towards him and wrapped her arms around his body. There was a great flash of light, a sudden strange noise - and for a moment the lights in the room went out, plunging them all into total darkness. And then it was done. The lights were back on and the emergency doors were coming open, revealing the hallway they'd entered the Doom Room from, and even the control room was visible now where Paper, Artificer, Rebound, and presumably the real Chelone this time were all looking down at them from the open windows. The party, it seemed, was over.
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ic Where the Action Is (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Grenville and Ashton
By the time the police arrived, the two young heroes had done their work - almost. The drug-dealing pharmacist had been captured with a promise by the police to get a warrant to search his place of employment. It helped that his car had turned out to be one of his main sources of dispensing, and was a thoroughly incriminating sight by the time the police tossed it for weapons. The Best Man had proved a slipperier foe - wriggling his way out of his bonds and successfully making a break for it by the time Angelic and Gimmick were done explaining things to the cops. Angelic mostly let Gimmick do the talking; she didn't seem to be very good at it. Or interested, for that matter. -
Eira stared at Ryder for a long, piercing moment. "Hmph. Yes, it is computronium - inactive from deposits held by the Lor, not from the terrestrial deposit in Saudi Arabia." As if taking him into confidence with a secret, she rolled up her sleeve to show him what looked like a deep vertical scar over her wrist - until the dataspike poked out for a moment like a questing snake. "There is too much potential for hijacking or interference with wireless signals. I prefer the direct systemic interface. Which I _could_ be doing right now, if I was not in exile." She hmped again, this time sounding less friendly about it, and added begrudgingly, "I will tell my friends to eat at your restaurant." There came from outside the sound of rolling - and running. The rolling turned out to be a glowing metal ball about the size of a good-sized soccer ball, glowing in bright colors where the spots should have been. Accompanying the ball was a little girl about the same age as the boy in the bathroom, notable for her bright hazel eyes and shock of white hair. She looked fearlessly up at Ryder and declared boldly, "What's your name?" At that moment, there was a flush from inside the bathroom - and the little boy came running out, wide-eyed. "Aah!" He looked at Ryder and declared, "It's very loud!"
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Eira shot Danica a look at that - but fortunately the moment seemed lost as Katie smiled. "Oh, well, the big scoop is just for subscribers," she said cheerfully, "but I decided that with all this super-science running around, there must be a super-scientist or two! Can you imagine a secret robotics lab somewhere, right here in the middle of the desert? It'd be totally wicked!" She grinned and threw an arm around Danica that felt cool, as if she'd had the air conditioning in the room turned up full blast before they'd come in. "That is you! I thought I recognized you, you are sooo cute!" She held up a phone and took a quick selfie with the two of them. Across the way, Eira was fidgeting with something that looked like a phone, but Katie didn't seem to notice until Eira said, "Why? What would be so wicked about that?" "My subscribers love it when I find out wicked secrets," Katie grinned. "There are all sorts of things out there that _man_ was just not meant to know. I bet we can find out some pretty cool stuff if we all work together..."
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There was a great flash of light outside as the giant Danica seemed to wrap her arms around the giant Leroy, the two of them flashing together as they were suddenly illuminated from within - and then the reset was complete. The room went dark for just a second, then lit back up to its normal illumination. As the windows to the control room retracted and communication systems came back on, the group was free to jump down and join their friends (even as the doors opened) or to simply call for help the conventional way. Professor al-Salaaf did exactly that as they watched, the teacher's accented voice cool and professional as they fired up the room's intercom system to issue a quick distress signal to the Headmistress.
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That is woefully inadequate re:Technology but Galactic Lore makes you think of maybe that stuff that hit in Saudi Arabia when you were a kid, the stuff those alien invaders had?
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The OOC
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pl10 Justice (PL10/13) - RocketLord
Avenger Assembled replied to RocketLord's topic in Archived Characters
APPROVED -
Eira pointed straight out the door, and the little boy stared, the look of urgency on his face increasing. With a deep sigh, Eira set aside her drink and hissed, her accent distinct "The door across the hall!" "Okay!" said the little boy, who turned and bolted for it with alacrity. "Thank you!" he said as the doors swung shut behind him. As the doors swung shut, Eira muttered "Children" under her breath. She took another bite or two of the milkshake, then set it aside. "I wonder if we will have to babysit them. There is more than one here, yes?" she added, sounding disgusted at the prospect. "Since we are just teenagers, and not fit for real science." An irritable look on her pale face, she rubbed the wrist from which the dataspike had come. "I use an inactive form of a high-density processing material for interfaces - it is a product of interstellar science, you would not know it."
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"Oh, we all have obligations to attend to," said Judy before Ashley could speak, a pained look on her pretty face that was met with one from sympathy by her sister. Judy looked around from Pan to Ashley to Danica, then said, "You know, this may be a good time to talk to you about something, Pan, since we're going to be on the same team together for another year. Danica already knows this but it's important information." She shot Danica an apologetic look and added, "We'll be out of your hair really quick like, but since y'allready know this, maybe it would help if you were here?" She gave Danica a look that could best be described as puppy-dog-eyed. Ashley's eyes went big; and she put a hand on Judy's arm. The two of them exchanged a long, searching look, then Ashley turned and made sure Danica's door was closed. "Can you give us some privacy, Pan?" she asked the magic boy, "so nobody can hear what's going on?" "And make us all fly like Danica," added Judy seriously, "it's easier to talk when you have a happy thought." She reached up and offered the back of her hand for the spectral tortoise to smell while they talked.
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Eira extended a hand towards Yellow and something wriggled its way out from under her shirtsleeve. It looked like a bit of silvery cable or electrical cord as it cautiously felt its way out towards Yellow, then made an experimental pass over the robot. After a moment, the tip seemed to divide into a fine set of thin fibers that could directly access Yellow's microcircuitry. Eira made a small noise, like an exhalation of breath, as she made contact - then after a moment or two, released the nervous robot. She seemed to consider as the dataspike slithered its way back up her sleeve, making a low chuckle, then said with the air of one making a surprised concession, "I will try your vegan chocolate." She was just taking the lid off the cup when there was an urgent banging at their door from somewhere low down. She seemed in no hurry to answer as she took a few spoonfuls of the chocolate inside into her mouth. "Acceptable," she said with an approving nod. When Ryder did open the door, he was confronted by an anxious-looking, albeit cherubic boy, who said in a tone of one with great need - "Where's the potty!?"
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Eira lifted up the dark frames of her specs and peered at the small robot (her eyes were a pale ocean blue and deep), her pale face set in fascination. She cocked her head as she transmitted a radio signal to Yellow, the two of them matching postures for a second or two. "Eira Katastroff Natt och Dag," she said, her voice faintly accented. "I am a pupil of Miss Americana. I do not eat anything made from animals or animal byproducts. Does this unit have pronouns?" she said with considerably more animation than she'd greeted Ryder - though still not exactly what one would call animated. "May I interface?" she asked with a gesture at Yellow.
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Eira looked up at Ryder, peering at him through her dark glasses. The music blared for a long second - then she made a gesture at the wall and it silenced. When she spoke it was in a low, throaty whisper that was a sharp contrast to the previously blaring music - after a tik tik pause for Ryder's hearing to adjust. "There is live current in this room. You should put those by the sink." She lowered her hand and went back to work on what was clearly an advanced cybernetic arm, either for a synthezoid or bionic replacement it was hard to tell at first glance. When she spoke, she looked up from her work, the light from her small micro-welder reflected in the lenses of her glasses. "You are not the delivery boy. You are one of Mara's students, yes?"
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"No, the castle is the shabby one," said Eira, waving towards the distant brick and stone pile with her free hand. The other gripped Pan's tightly, warming at his touch. "It doesn't even have electricity." The house seemed bigger at the front door; smaller than any Freedom City skyscraper, but looming with the weight of age. The exterior looked well-maintained - fine curtains drawn on the windows, the gold paint on the exterior fixtures fresh without being quite spotless. The front door of the manor was emblazoned with what was clearly a family crest - brilliant gold over deep blue. She opened the door without knocking, after all it was her house, and said to Mia with great firmness, "I told them nothing that is secret, obviously." Micah got a distinct "Hmph." Inside, the foyer of the house looked like a museum piece straight from the 18th century - elaborate Georgian wallpaper, lush carpeting underfoot, and a set of darkwood stairs heading upwards. There were open doors on either side, showing a dining room off to one side and a full-scale library behind the other. A middle-aged woman in a maid's uniform was passing as they entered, and after a moment of surprise she exchanged greetings with Eira in Swedish. Before Eira could make introductions, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs - a middle-aged gentleman in a sweatervest and cardigan, blond hair immaculately combed and short beard on his face. "Eira!" he said warmly. "So nice to see you here - and you look so lovely. Your mother is getting changed." Bernhard Katastroff Natt och Dag was was an odd reflection of his daughter; the force of personality was there, but the smile was warm as he greeted his daughter's friends. On closer inspection his tie bore the same colors as the seal on the door of the house."How was your trip?" "It was fine, Dad," said Eira with a faint sigh. "This is Pan, Mia, and Micah." They all got the same winning smile; though Bernhard distinctly looked down and hmmed at where Pan and Eira were still holding hands. "When Mom's done fixing her hair, we'll be in my room," she said with a look up the stairs.
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While Dragonfly and Miss Americana headed off to Lab 2 to work with some of the most volatile, fascinating machine intelligence works of the last century on both a Galactic and terrestrial scale, Eira Katastroff headed off downstairs to Workshop 1. This was a familiar enough spot, a location where she had spent many hours working during visits to HAX. She even had her own worktable here, where a dissected, splayed-open version of one of her own left arms was waiting for her inspection and continued upgrades. Familiar or not, she stood scowling by her workspace, black shades obscuring her eyes. This has not previously been the workshop of teenagers, plural. She stood there in silence for a second or two before she raised a hand in the air and pointed at the wall. The speakers there began to play at a volume that would have been uncomfortably loud to a human as Eira bent over her work, using microtools to part the narrowly-compacted magnetofibers in the 'hand'.