Gizmo

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"On the other hand people don't take me seriously as an adult just because of my words and actions. So unfair," Erik chimed in as he returned a little behind Eira, tossing Talya a broad wink. Walking over to Benny he stopped only a pace or two from the teenager, folding his arms and giving him an analytical look up and down, the humour abruptly gone from his expression. The assessment went on a beat or two longer than it took for the discomfort to begin mounting but finally Erik met his eyes and asked, "Boxer, yeah?"

Chitin Power Level: 8 [14] (200/245PP) Unspent Power Points: 45PP Trade-Offs: Bush Cricket: +3 Attack / -3 Damage; +3 Defense, -3 Toughness Orchid Mantis: -2 Attack / +2 Damage; +3 Defense, -3 Toughness Yellowjacket: None Offensively; +3 Defense, -3 Toughness Kabuto Beetle: -2 Attack / +2 Damage; -2 Defense, +2 Toughness In Brief: Ingenious innovator with insect-inspired inventions! Catchphrase: “Chitin online!” Theme: Anything Goes by Maki Ohguro Alternate Identity: Ryder Fujioka (Secret) Birthplace: Freedom City, New Jersey Residence: Claremont Academy dormitory Base of Operations: Smoothie Shack Occupation: Student, juice bar server/delivery person Affiliations: Claremont Academy Family: Shotaro “Shawn” Fujioka (father), Jenny Fujioka (older sister) Description: Age: 16 (DoB: April 3, 2004) Gender: Male Ethnicity: Japanese-American Height: 5’9” Weight: 130 lbs Eyes: Brown Hair: Strawberry blonde (dyed from black) Ryder’s lean build is emphasized by his rapid, emphatic body language. His angular jawline is softened by the broad smile that typically dominates his face along with expressive brown eye, all framed by tousled hair that hangs past his ears and has been dyed a strawberry blond. He prefers to dress in loose clothing in neon colours, often splattered with oil or paint depending on the project that currently has his attention. He is rarely seen without a long, red scarf which belonged to his mother and a chunky belt with a novelty buckle made up to look like a colour printer’s ink cartridge. The base form of the Chitin armour is a black jumpsuit with white and silver armoured pieces including reinforced boots, chest plating and a full face helmet with large oval eye pieces reminiscent of an insect. The armour assumed each of its specialized forms by incorporating the associated Robug drone into the helmet’s faceplate and adding additional armour in a specific colour: cyan for the bush cricket mode, magenta for the orchid mantis mode, yellow for the yellowjacket mode and gunmetal grey for the kabuto beetle mode. Aesthetically, each form is patterned off of its namesake. History: A third-generation Japanese-American, Ryder was a precocious but easily distracted child, raised by a single father alongside an older sister. As he grew teachers complained about his doodling and apparent non-sequitur outburst when called upon while his test scores remained exemplary and the cheerful oddball proved equally popular with and ridiculed by his classmates. Advanced classes were in some ways a better fit but Ryder found he still had trouble focusing on anything outside his current particular interest or working with his more decorous peers. Outside of school he took joy in two things above all: building with his own hands and going fast. By the time he was thirteen his garish but effective modifications to his hand-me-down bicycle had given his family’s combination juice bar and ice cream parlour, the Smoothie Shack, a reputation for quick delivery and given his father some unwanted experience with first aid. The palm-sized insect-themed robots he built from spare parts over the summer his leg was in a cast only gave him new avenues to both help out and create unintended chaos. With his imagination captured by the fantastical vehicles that race through Freedom City’s streets and the high tech power suits that soared through her skyline, Ryder used his Robugs to chase after his heroes and see them in action for himself. He arrived on the scene too late to watch Dragonfly handily subdue a villain and rescue a number of bystanders but did stumble upon one of her drones which had been damaged in the course of directing the evacuation of a collapsing building. Curiosity outweighing discretion, Ryder took the drone’s remains home and studied it, reverse engineering some of the limited version of Dragonfly’s hallmark spatial manipulation technology with which it was equipped. Mind exploding with new possibilities the now hyper focused teenager set to work designing and building his own power suit: the Chitin armour. His first test run garnered mixed results and the attention of the drone’s owner... Personality & Motivation: Ryder exudes cheerful idealism nearly to the point of naivety. He believes deeply in the basic decency of people and that everyone deserves the opportunity to work toward their best, most genuine selves. As such he is willing to go above-and-beyond to help complete strangers with little provocation, which can lead him to unintentionally cross personal boundaries. Similarly his curiosity is both Ryder’s greatest asset and greatest liability. He draws connections and makes rapid intuitive leaps when presented with new information, sometimes outpacing his common sense. Still, he would much rather beg forgiveness than miss out on an opportunity to learn something new. Powers & Tactics: While he delights in friendly competition and putting his inventions to the test Ryder loathes true conflict. If words have failed and people are in danger, however he is a tenacious fighter who will oppose more powerful opponents without hesitation and continue so long as he can get to his feet. Outside of the Chitin armour Ryder is reasonably coordinated but untrained in any specific hand-to-hand discipline, relying heavily on the speed and strength granted by his inventions. If a particular tactic is proving ineffective he will swap to a different armour mode and press on. Power Descriptions: Activating the CMYK Driver belted around his waist allows Ryder to access the sub-space dimensional pocket where the Chitin power armour is stored. From the outside this spatial warping looks like ribbons of multicoloured light extending from the belt briefly before the armour’s base form is super imposed over his body. Pressing a Robug to the front of the armour’s helmet prompts it to rearrange itself and incorporate into the faceplate before specialized armour components are retrieved from sub-space and installed. The cyan bush cricket themed mode adds mechanized improvements to speed and leg strength, allowing for prodigious leaps. The magenta orchid mantis mode unfolds blades from the armour’s forearms which use the same spatial technology to slip through defences and a camouflage package for blending into surroundings. The yellow yellowjacket mode features additional targeting hardware and hexagon shaped recesses across the arms and chest plate which can launch a flurry of wasp-shaped ballistics. Finally, the gunmetal grey kabuto beetle form puts all resources toward additional durability and musculature enhancement with blunt implements curving over the fists to better utilize that crushing potential. Complications: Presented by HAX: The Chitin armour system is based heavily on technologies for which Mara Hallomen AKA Dragonfly holds the patents, which the armour’s insect theming does nothing to obfuscate. Rising Dreamer: Ryder’s optimism can cause him to ignore potential consequences to his actions or give the benefit of the doubt when that might be unwise. Snack Amigo: Ryder works part-time to support his family’s restaurant, the Smoothie Shack, placing demands on his time outside of school. Abilities: 2 + 4 + 6 + 12 + 2 + 6 = 32PP Strength: 12/20CMY/30K (+1/+5/+10) Dexterity: 14 (+2) Constitution: 16 (+3) Intelligence: 22 (+6) Wisdom: 12 (+1) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 8 + 6 = 14PP Initiative: +10 Attack: +4 Base, +6 MeleeMK, +11 MeleeC, +8 RangedY Defense: +11CMY/+6K (+3 Base, +3 Enhanced Defence, +5 Dodge FocusCMY), +3 Flat-Footed Grapple: +7/+11MY/+16C/+20K Knockback: -2CMY/-8K Saving Throws: 2 + 4 + 7 = 13PP Toughness: +5CMY/+10K (+3 Con, +2 Protection, +5 ProtectionK) Fortitude: +5 (+3 Con, +2) Reflex: +6 (+2 Dex, +4) Will: +8 (+1 Wis, +7) Skills: 112R = 28PP Acrobatics 8 (+10) Computers 9 (+15) Craft [Artistic] 4 (+10) Craft [Electronic] 9 (+15) Craft [Mechanical] 9 (+15/+19 Robugs) Diplomacy 12 (+15) Disable Device 4 (+10/+18 Robugs) Drive 8 (+10) Handle Animal 2 (+5) Knowledge [Life Sciences] 4 (+10) Knowledge [Physical Sciences] 4 (+10) Knowledge [Technology] 10 (+16) Languages 1 (English [Native], Japanese) Notice 9 (+10) Perform [Oratory] 7 (+10) Sense Motive 12 (+13) Feats: 24PP Acrobatic Bluff All-Out Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 2 Beginner’s Luck Challenge (Combat Diplomacy) Challenge (Fast Acrobatic Bluff) Eidetic Memory Equipment 1 Evasion 2 Improved Initiative 2 Improvised Tools Interpose Inventor Luck 2 Move-By Action Power Attack Second Chance (Emotion Control) Set-Up Takedown Attack 2 Equipment: 1PP = 5EP Electric Scooter (Vehicle) Size: Medium [0EP]; Strength: 10 [0EP]; Defence: 10 [0EP]; Toughness: +6 [1EP] Features: Alarm [1EP] Powers: Speed 3 (50MPH) [3EP] Powers: 63 + 29 = 92PP Device 15 (CMYK Driver Belt; 75PP Container; Flaws: Hard-to-Lose; Feats: Restricted 2 [Authorized Users], Subtle) [63PP] (technology, powersuit, spatial) When activated the driver uses spatial exchange technology to summon the Chitin power-suit armour. Each mode is accessed via the corresponding Robug. Communication 4 (Radio, 1 mile; Flaws: One-Way; Feats: Subtle) [3PP] Enhanced Defense 3 [6PP] Enhanced Strength 8 (to 20 [+5]) [8PP] Immunity 2 (Suffocation) [2PP] Protection 2 [2PP] Super-Senses 7 (Radio [Accurate (+2), Danger Sense] [4PP], Visual [Infravision, Tracking, Ultravision] [3PP]) [7PP] Chitin Armour Modal Array 22 (44PP Array; Feats: Alternate Power 3; Drawback: Action [Move Action to Switch]) [46PP] Base: Bush Cricket Instar - “Hop to it!” Concealment 6 (All Visual, All Radio; Flaws: Displacement) [6PP] Damage 0 (Extras: Autofire [5], Feats: Mighty) [6PP] (CMYKick) Enhanced Feats 10 (Attack Focus [Melee] 5, Dodge Focus 5) [10PP] Leaping 5 (x50, 750’ Running Long Jump, 187’ High Jump) [5PP] Quickness 3 (x25; 1 Minute to Standard Action) [3PP] Speed 4 (1000’ Move Action, 100MPH) [4PP] Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling, Water Walking; Flaws: Limited [While Moving]) [2PP] Super-Senses 8 (Auditory [Accurate (2), Extended 1, Ultra-Hearing], Visual [Analytical 2, Counters Obscure (Darkness)]) [8PP] AP: Orchid Mantis Instar - “Say your prayers!” Concealment 4 (All Visual; Flaws: Blending) [4PP] Concealment 10 (All Sense Types; Flaws: Limited to Machines) [10PP] Damage 5 (Extras: Linked [+0], Feats: Affects Insubstantial 2, Improved Critical, Mighty) [9PP] + Drain Toughness 10 (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked [+0]; Flaws: Limited [Objects Only]) [10PP] (CMYKutters; dimensional, electromagnetic) Enhanced Feats 5 (Dodge Focus 5) [5PP] Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling 2) [4PP] Super-Senses 2 (Visual [Counters Concealment]) [2PP] AP: Yellowjacket Instar - “Kick the nest!” Damage 8 (Extras: Area [Targeted, 80’ Cone], Selective; Feats: Homing 2) [26PP] (CMYKuarrels) Enhanced Feats 5 (Attack Focus [Ranged] 4, Dodge Focus 5) [9PP] Obscure 3 (Visual, 25' radius; Extras: Independent) [9PP] (CMYKover) AP: Kabuto Beetle Instar - “Can’t beat this!” Enhanced Feats 4 (Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Throw, Improved Trip) [4PP] Enhanced Strength 10 (to 30 [+10] Total) [10PP] Immovable 3 (Extras: Unstoppable) [6PP] Immunity 20 (Electrical Effects, Fire Effects; Flaws: Limited [Half Effect]) 10PP Protection 5 (to 7 Total) [5PP] Super-Strength 4 (Effective Str 50, 12.8 ton Heavy Load, Feats: Countering Punch) [9PP] (CMYKudgels; gravity) Device 8 (Robugs; 40PP Container; Flaws: Easy-to-Lose; Feats: Multiple Devices 3, Restricted 2 [Authorized Users]) [29PP] (technology, robotics) The Robugs are a quartet of semi-autonomous, palm-sized drones resembling a bush cricket, orchid mantis, yellowjacket and kabuto beetle respectively. Base: 6 + 4 + 3 + 16 + 10 + 1 = 40PP Communication 5 (Auditory, 5 mile range; Feats: Subtle) [6PP] Comprehend 2 (Speak to and Understand Animals) [4PP] Enhanced Skills 3 (Craft [Mechanical] 4, Disable Device 8) [3PP] ESP 5 (Auditory, Visual, 5 mile range; Extras: Simultaneous; Flaws: Limited [Reachable by Robugs]; Feats: Rapid 1 [10x search speed]) [16PP] Move Object 3 (Strength 15; Extras: Range [Perception]; Feats: Precise) [10PP] Alternate Power 1 [1PP] AP: Instar Swarm - "Four colour dream! Now WAKE UP!" Duplication 12 (180PP; Extras: Horde; Feats: Mental Link, Progression 2 [5 Duplicates]; Drawbacks: Limited [One of Each Instar Form]) [38PP] Drawbacks: -3PP Normal Identity (Major, Uncommon; Standard Action to activate CMYK Driver, Unable to access Chitin armour without belt) [-3PP] DC Block ATTACK RANGE SAVE EFFECT Unarmed Touch DC 16 Toughness Damage Unarmed (C) Touch DC 20 Toughness Damage Unarmed (K) Touch DC 25 Toughness Damage CMYKutters (M) Touch DC 20 Reflex Drain Toughness [Objects Only] Touch DC 25 Toughness Damage CMYKuarrels (Y) Area DC 22 Toughness Damage [General Area] Totals: Abilities (32) + Combat (14) + Saving Throws (13) + Skills (28) + Feats (24) + Powers (92) - Drawbacks (-3) = 200/245 Power Points

Erik gave Eira a shrug, palms upward, his expression one of rueful commiseration. "Why is computer stuff so easy for you? Or, like, speaking Swedish? Maybe you got some advantages going in but it's not stuff you were born with, yeah? Took time and work." He nodded back in the direction of the training floor. "You wanna talk this specifically, well. Making it look easy is the whole point. Hey, look at me." The swordsman indicated himself from foot to head. "I'm not smart like Mara or mi hermanita. I'm not tough like Steve. Compared to the wives I've got mediocre powers and basically zero experience. I've gotta work my ass off to keep up. But if the guy I'm fighting knows that it's game over. I need him to know that I know I can beat him." He crossed his arms, still leaning against the wall. "I spend probably more time training that you spend in class. Making something hard look easy is one of the hardest things there is. So hard I should open a school or something to show people how to do it. Oh wait." Erik gave the teenager a lopsided smirk and raised one eyebrow.

Erik silently stepped around the corner wall toward the restroom with the same ease and misdirection that they were attempting to teach to their students. He stood outside the bathroom door with his arms folder, waiting long enough that he could indistinctly hear one of the boys replaying to some question Tanya had asked before clearing his throat. “Hey, kid? I’m not the roboticist in the family but I feel like you probably didn’t just hit the frappuccinos a little too hard before class, yeah?” He waited again, looking up at the ceiling with a wince. “Do you want me to ask Min to come down? Or would you rather talk to Vince?”

"You do have that effect," Kimber agreed with the tongue-in-cheek amusement that came with knowing that if Tarva had been serious about doing anything more than lightly teasing the teenagers it would have looked far different. "Although I think it might have to do more with all of those kids pairing off like awkward super-powered rabbits," she added low enough not to be overheard by any of the aforementioned kids. Her expression turned a little more serious and she hesitated for a beat and unconsciously floated a littler closed to her partner before asking, "What's your read of Pan? So far as overly charming natives of magical storybook lands go?"

Erik looked over the group of teenagers and replied quietly, "Let's go with scarves to start with. I think we maybe work up to 'soft hands' with some of them." They were about to give the kids enough new things to keep track of as it was. Taking the trio of brightly coloured silk scarves Talya handed him from the cabinet he proceeded to hand them out to Benny, Leroy and Pan respectively. "Here's how this is going to work," he announced, gesturing for the three of them to space out across the floor of the space. "The three of you tie those to yourself somewhere then pair up. Talya and I are going to walk you through some basic steps; what we do, you do. At the same time, though, each of you is going to try to be the one who's holding the scarf at the end of the dance. Questions?"

Something thin and reflective flashed between Benny and Kam's faces before ricocheting off of the fire alarm bell mounted to the wall with a bracing CLANG. The stiletto dagger spun back through the air over the teens' heads until Erik snagged it between two fingers, offering it to Talya so she could secret it away on her person once again. "Going down the list!" the instructor called in a raised voice, jaw set. He pointed at Benny. "You want to fight mean? Fine. You want to fight sloppy, you can hit the bricks." His finger moved to Leroy. "Less talk, more watch, Ivanhoe." Dayvd was next. "Jokes are good, comedy's hard. You want a laugh, work for it." He encompassed Eira and Pan together. "You can flirt and play with your new toy in a minute. Focus." Finally he pointed to Kam. "You... actually asked a relevant question." The fencer folded his arms across his chest. "First objective is hiding what you're doing from any onlookers. Maybe you want to avoid a panic, maybe you need them watching you instead of a teammate. Second objective is pulling a fast one on your opponent at the same time. Anybody who doesn't think they can do that without talking over the music can dance with one of us." He moved to toss the slender remote to Kam only to realize that Talya had lifted it from his fingers while he'd been talking. He pursed his lips in amusement and gave her a theatrical bow of concession.

Luckily for Erik he rarely wasted much of his attention on what was coming out of his mouth. "On the other foot," he countered while tilting his head just out of the way of a spear-like heel and letting Talya's calve slide along the palm on his raised hand, "some of us find subtlety overrated." He used the leverage to toss her back away from him, using the moment's grace while she cartwheeled effortlessly to spin theatrically on his heel and adopt a chest-forward, shoulders-back stance. The pair circled around each other slowly, gradually pulling closer like magnets. "Any real fight is about misdirection. If your opponent can't take their eyes off of you, they can't get up to anything else... untoward." He stepped in suddenly on the downbeat with a hand around Talya's waist and a pivot that brought them back-to-back briefly before bringing them about again, close enough that he could feel her eyelashes across his face. It also gave his the opening to entwine the fingers of his other hand with hers so that they were both holding onto the remote.

The cheerful little tinkling of the bells above the door as they entered didn't do anything to persuade the teens of the potential excitement to be had within. That attitude quickly changed as they stepped around the reception area's partition and into the training area, where a pair of unconscionably good-looking adults waited for them in the middle of a hard laminate floor, the cushioned mats rolled up against the walls for once. The woman in the knee length black dress and matching halter top balanced atop prodigious heels with the coiled grace of a longing jungle cat, blonde hair tied back and eyebrow arched. The man next to her wore a white dress shirt with fewer buttons fastened than not, tucked into high-waisted black slacks, piercing blue eyes shining above a knowing, lopsided smirk. "Hey kid," the latter greeted Eira with a nod, looking over the group in open assessment. He paused on Dayvd with the look of someone unimpressed with a joke's delivery. "Alright, Carbon-Copy, drop it," he instructed with a snap of his fingers. "You're doing this with your own muscles. Or protoplasm or whatever you've got."

"You know how excited they get when we have people over, liquorice whip," Kimber reminded Tarva with a stifled giggle, floating over to her partner. She stretched out horizontally in the air so that her knees could bend loosely around one of the shadow priestess' hips while an arm draped over her muscular shoulders. "Some things make it hard for them to control themselves," she added sotto voce. She leaned in and met Tarva's black-painted lips in a kiss that was strictly speaking chaste but lasted a good moment longer than was arguably appropriate in front of company. "C'mon, I'll introduce you around and try to round them up."

“I’m telling Velkr you said that,” Kimber teased when Eira described ‘murderous’ giants. She reached out as if to muss the teenager’s hair but let her fingers pass immaterially through the metallic strands. “But enough about me! Your friends were just talking about you, Pan. Unprompted. Came up naturally in the flow of conversation. As it does.” She smiled, the very picture of blue, transparent innocence.

Jim laughed freely at the explosion of fairy dust and again at Klara’s anecdote, a rich and resonant sound from deep in his chest. “Or did your daughters just get better at keeping you from finding out, eh? Honed my edge hiding my tomfoolery from a masked detective dad. Plus the shenanigans, funny business, hijinks. Multidisciplinary, y’know.” Considering the woman towering more than a foot over him Coyote shrugged and spread his arms with a grin. “Sure, I’ll take a hug. Champion hugger, this guy. And I can tell Liz I met a lady taller than her.”

“Oh, no, thank you. Vegetarian,” Adhira explained with a vague wave at the shrimp but the bulk of her attention was on Joseph’s prodigious frame. “Do you know what sort of depths you reached? Surviving that many Pascals is one thing but generating forward momentum against that sort of fluid pressure is tremendous!” She looked back up to his face and winced. “Sorry, is that rude? It seems like it might be rude. Sorry, sorry! Kinetics are one of my specialities, you see.”

Unimpressed by the lack of juicer gossip, Kimber blew a soft raspberry that caused her visage to ripple and return to human proportions. “Fiiine. And don’t ask how a lady died, bucko, that’s rude.” She put a hand to the side of her mouth and stage-whispered to Ben, “Froze to death in the woods when I was your age.” Dropping the hand and addressing the group of teenagers normally she continued, “Sorry, I should have introduced myself then grilled you for info, eh? I’m Eira’s Aunt Kimber, formerly of Claremont’s Young Freedom.” She mimed a little curtsy while floating more than a foot off of the floor. “And Abby’s older sister, you probably know her, too?” She turned around in time to see Pan’s glittering explosion of fireworks shapes and aerial acrobatics. The poltergeist clapped her hands in delight. “Haha, never mind, I like this kid!” When Eira shouted across the pool she called back, “Eira, be nice to your friends!”

Adhira looked stricken by Leroy’s wounded pride and strained decorum, placing a hand to her cheek. “Oh, sweetie...!” She didn’t try to stop him from walking off with Bluebird’s projection, only sighing to herself. Taking a few steps closer to the buffet table she looked it over without moving to take any food. “I wasn’t very good at talking to teenagers even when I was one,” she admitted to Joseph as the imposing man loaded a plate with seafood.

“She’s been talking to Shuster,” Jim inferred at Bluebird’s introduction, having introduced himself to the Vanguard heroes by name on the way to the pool. He blew a kiss back at the projection who’d announced them with much less subtlety than the wink. Deciding to give the diving teenagers a moment he hung back from the pool to speak with Dee and Erick. “Wouldn’t have left my old boombox back on the rez if I’d known we were supposed bring our own entrance music. They do backyard trampoline wrestling in the UK?”

”I can’t imagine where she picked up that flair for the dramatic,” Kimber laughed as she floated over one corner of the pool and over to India and the teens she was speaking with. She smiled broadly at Ben and Mia until it was just a little wider than seemed natural and her eyes faded to sunken pits of shadow with little pricks of icy blue light in the centres. “So who wants to tell me all about Pan?”

On their way to the join the party Dee and Erick ran into a handsome man with a single long braid of straight black hair heading in the same direction. “So much for my cunning plan to be the last to arrive.” Form fitting athletic swim trunks topped by a borrowed cotton robe might have been a far cry from the uniform they’d seen him in earlier but the sly grin unmistakably belonged to Jim Pegahmagabow, the current Coyote. The lines of lean muscle on full display would have been a good hint as well. He looked Erick up and down in particular. “Well now I’m worried one of us is overdressed, bud.”

Kimber positively beamed at Eira, wrapping the girl in a big hug before she could protest and lifting her slightly off the ground for a moment. As ever the ghost’s physical manifestation was cool to the touch but the gesture was warmed by the intent. “Proud of you, Eira. No matter what. Also pretty sure you’re too bright to be anything stupid, amiright?” She released the teen and gestured toward the doorway. “Away we go. I need to grill this green eyed boy with a whole list of embarrassing questions.”

Adhira Zev laughed behind one hand at Ben’s antics, letting out an amused yelp as she was splashed by the water displaced by his cannonball. The water droplets that touched her skin turned immediately to flecks of ice with a soft crackle and fell to the tile floor. “They certainly do seem to keep things interesting,” she agreed with the projection of Bluebird speaking with her. The Canadian heroine wore loose white capris and a flowing navy blouse with a yellow rope pattern winding around it. Metal bands could be seen past the cuffs and collar, forming a sort of exoskeleton around her limbs and torso and continuing up the back of her neck before arching over the tops of her ears and around her forehead. The stripped-down version of her control suit didn’t afford her as much control over her kinetic energy siphoning powers as he uniform did but it was considerably better suited to a social event. Burnished metal bangle bracelets, rings and a nose stud helped make it look more like industrial fashion. She brushed the bangs of her own short, dark hair and gave Mia an approving wink while giving the energetic young man with the tentacles room to gush. Adhira shifted her attention to Leroy and asked Bluebird softly, “Is that one alright? He seems a bit too sparkly to be quite so glum.”

Kimber tilted her head and gave Eira a look that knowing but not unkind. “Beep-boop, you know the colour of his eyes and you can’t talk about him without smiling even when you’re trying to be mad at me.” She spread her hands palms upward as though to invite the girl to draw her own conclusions. The poltergeist unhooked her ankles and let her feet drop nearly to the floor so that she was standing upright next to Eira. ”I shouldn’t tease you. You’re allowed to have a crush, you know. Or to just have a friend you think is super great! I just don’t want you to miss out on what you really want because you’re trying to convince everyone you’re too grown up to have feelings.” She looked back down at the swimsuit appraisingly. “Also, have we thought about a two-piece?”

Eira caught Kimber’s expression in the mirror, her eyes wide and her lips parted into a nearly perfect circle of surprise and delight. She bobbed back and forth in the air and clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh. My Jams. You have a crush! You have a crush and he likes you ba~a~ack!” she singsonged. Her eyebrows shot up at a sudden thought. “Is he a bit evil? Did you come up with the goth one because he’s a bit evil? I promise I won’t judge.”

”Oh! Well I know which one Tarva would pick but this would certainly be the right audience for colour-coded patriotism what with True North and Vanguard and all of that,” Kimber mused while floating back an arm’s length to get a better look at Eira’s outfit change. She not-so-subtly focused more on the girl’s expression than her swimsuit however. She placed the tip of a slender finger to her chin. “You know it does seem like you usually would have said doing your hair and makeup before jumping in the pool would be, let me think, something like ‘an inefficient display of preening frivolity’ and then grumped about having to go socialize instead of working on a project in your room. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you worry somebody wouldn’t be impressed with you.” The phantom rotated in the air so she was in more of a seated position. “Which ‘people’ are we talking about impressing?”

”Ooh, summoned!” Kimber floated down into the guest room through the ceiling, reclining horizontally with her ankles crossed and her fingers laced under her chin and broad smile. “Give me a chance to have opinions and watch me appear!” The poltergeist had manifested a deep cerulean blazer over a pale robins egg dress shirt with the buttons undone down to the bottom of her sternum, showing where her fine chain and pendant hung between her breasts. Her matching slacks ended above the ankles to display a pair of dynamic heels, the height of which might have been impractical had she actually been required to walk upon them. “What’s up, bleep-bloop? Everybody good? Did you and your friends want any snacks?” Eira was as good as Sharl’s little sister but there had been plenty of times over the years when her ultra-rational friend might not have been the best source of advice for an adolescent girl. The Canadian ghost still had a little trouble remembering that Eira was a little girl any more.