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The Dive, University Hill, Emerald City South Saturday, March 2, 2019 11:03 PM As far as first dates were concerned, this one was going pretty well so far. The Dive had been the right choice of location. Relatively small and cozy, the bar was nested away in an alley only a short walk away form the more active nightclubs that up most of University Hill's nightlife. It was one of the insider tips when it came to places to go in the area. After all, how many bars offered regular live music? The band, some local up-and-coming indie country rock act just started their next song as Hakim returned to the table, drinks in hand. "And I'm back, sorry that took so long, they're a lot busier than usual tonight." He set down both the glasses, and then took the seat across the table from his date. Hakim hadn't been sure about the whole online dating thing. He'd heard mixed things in general, and he knew the tech aspect enough to know just how transparent it made him. But his colleagues-slash-friends had pushed him to finally do something beyond work and whatever he spent his free time doing, so he did sign up. So far, he wasn't regretting it. This Ishmael guy was pretty cute, and interesting too. A bit young, but it wasn't really something that stood out. "So, anyways, as I was saying, we ended up having to pull a nightshift inside the hospital in order to deal with…" There was a loud rumbling, seemingly coming out of the walls and wooden beams inside the bar, and Hakim stopped talking. It was replaced by the sound of glass shattering almost immediately, as the bottles by the bar literally flew off the shelves, and slammed into the wall across the room, which immediately provoked quite a bit of screaming. The band stopped playing, especially once they – and everybody else in the room – saw that the liquids inside the bottles had not splashed to the ground. They were floating in the air, like one could see in those space videos, gathering up into what Hakim decided to dub a "Floating Long Island Iced Tea.". Hakim looked pretty shocked, like everybody else in the room, especially once the table he and Ishmael were sitting on started to rumble, much like all the others in the room, and their respective drinks suddenly looked very stirred. And to make matters worse, judging by the screaming, this was happening outside too….

Downtown Emerald City Though most of the development was done out at the MarsTech campus there was always a need to have a Downtown office, and Mars being Mars it was obviously the largest most dramatic building in the area. Three green crystals, each taller than the other, looking like they had grown from the ground to be bound in metal. Only from above was it apparent that the three together formed a giant M. It might be an architectural marvel, but it still needed the modern comforts that made working there bearable. Unlike most buildings it airconditioning was all on the roof but rather discretely scattered throughout the building, and concerned about a possible chemical attack it has some cutting-edge filtration equipment, that contained some rather nasty chemicals. Many service companies bid for the lucrative contract to maintain this system but only one company won, thanks to the planning and knowledge of one skilled young engineer...

GM The Bridges connecting North and South Emerald Mallory Bay, The Emerald Cities, Washington and Oregon Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 6:00 PM The Emergency Civil Defense Siren blared throughout the city. Atlantis had sent warning ahead of time of an attack through an encrypted military frequency. It wasn't long before local seismic activity changed drastically, with scientists able to predict the fact that a massive tsunami was coming for the cities. Coupled with rush hour traffic, this meant that the bridges connecting the sister cities were filled to the brim. Defenseless, as the waves could be seen in the distance. Nearing by the minute. The frantic sense of fear overwhelming the drivers did nothing to speed up the egress issue. In fact, people started getting into car accidents in a desperate bid to escape the bridges. Unintentionally trapping themselves and others and dooming them to their fate. That was unless aid happened to arrive in a timely manner.

City Hall, Emerald City, Oregon December 3rd, 10.17 AM, 2016 "...so we turn to the man with a plan: Maximilian Mars! Together with our beloved mayor and crusading D.A.! Shall we give them a warm welcome, fellow munchkins?" Fit and fashionable John Nakane needn't have bothered with the suggestion. A roar of applause and hollaring voices greeted a short, smiling and stocky red-haired man dressed in expensive blue simplicity, a care-worn and kindly-looking woman whose quick wave, predominantly green wardrobe and auburn hair marked her as Mayor Amanda Talbot and a thin and stern-looking brunet whose bespectacled officiousness pegged him as District Attorney Stanley Everett. The unlikely trio took to the podium mounted at the end of City Hall's broad front porch, a stubby granite cliff flanked by the slopes leading up to the aggressively modern metal and glass structure from which over 450,000 souls had their fates determined. With a flicker the holo-screens snapped to life, showing the three at gigantic size in crystal-clear resolution across the front of the building. Tilting down the microphones a little to better reach his bearded face, Max Mars grinned boyishly at the congregation. In almost every direction the manicured lawns and gardens held scattered collections, singles or parties of locals, while the geometrically exact white lanes were crowded to the bursting with them, the throng thickest in the broad square right before City Hall. The winter sun was unusually strong today, despite the clouded weather, which fit with today's agenda perfectly. "Hellooo my little people! It's great to see so many of you here today! The public notification did say this was just a sneak peak at the future, and you're the ones who make the future happen!" Waiting for the whoops of approval to die down with a fatherly "aw, shucks" expression, Mars quickly got down to business. "We all pay attention to the news, and we all know the problems facing our world. A lot of them seem too big for anyone, or even everyone to handle. But we didn't get where we are by giving up! You can't cross a thousand miles in one step...well, at least not until our teleporter watches are out in 2018, but until then we take this one step at a time, one day at a time, one problem at a time." Mars took a hard drive out of his pocket "For a start, our wasteful consumer culture. This is a two-terabyte drive, peanuts, right? But look at all the stuff that goes into it, just to make a disposable, near-obsolete pile of junk. Mr. Everett?" The District Attorney stepped forward, rummaging in his pocket and pulling out something that took a second for the sensors to focus properly on it: a tiny thumb drive, grey and russet with the MarsTech logo. "How much space is that again, Stan?" Mars asked with a grin at the audience. "Two hundred and fifty terabytes, Max. Consolidation of city records is already almost complete, and the security is, well..." Everett frowned at the piece of electronics in his hand "...well it's actually almost unbelievable. I have even been keeping personal files on this." "And this is just the first step, folks! Mayor Talbot, you've been looking for material to shore up Red River Dam, correct?" "We all know what happens if it collapses, Max, and frankly I would prefer our fair city not suffer Astoria's fate." The mayor's smile was a little more wry than usual "This the part where we dramatically reveal those slow-growth nanobots?" Mars clapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide with betrayal "Mandy! How could you? But yes!" At his nod Talbot held her hand up to the sensors, revealing a tiny pile of concrete visibly alive with activity "Self-repairing structures aren't just Freedom City's thing anymore, folks! And we don't need an Ancient Egyptian cosplayer to do it either! This is all us, Emerald City, we're making this happen together!" This time the cheers, whoops, screams and claps lasted for a good five minutes. Which was no problem. Selective sound-pitching tech meant that the questions from the press, civilians and short statements from the most powerful people in Emerald City carried through loud and clear. In the hustle and press of the crowd, a cheerful-looking young man with a ponytail and a very consistent red/green color scheme accidentally stumbled against a smaller woman. With a yelp of surprise he whirled around, fists half-raised until he saw who she was. "Sorry! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention! You okay? I'm Paris, Paris Redwater." He offered his hand with a chagrined twist on his mouth "I'm here for school, my Comms teacher wanted me to see professional public speakers in action. How about you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow "Here for the city spirit?"

OOC thread for this thread. Salmon and Kid Kamehameha foil a spot of horrible human experimentation. @Kolohehonu

GM March 18th, Saturday, 2017, 12.45AM The Teahouse, University Hill Music sizzled and pulsed in a steady, danceable beat, lights on the floor, walls and ceiling flashing and shifting in hues and frequencies calculated to avoid causing seizures in 98% of all epilepsy patients, casting the patrons dancing and relaxing in dizzying shades. Waiters and waitresses in mini versions of Edo period costumes skated through the blare, carrying trays and infectious smiles that had gone into overtime. Most of the patrons were students or faculty(or, in rare cases, both), forming and breaking cliques and clusters on the dizzying dance floor, laughing at each others' in-jokes as they sipped at the Teahouse's specialty teas. As usual in places like this, there were smiling men in button-up shirts that hid extensive tattoos. These were the only people allowed to serve alcohol in the Teahouse, which made their tables some of the most attractive spots in the club, the smiling men and their stock constantly ringed by happy, raucous crowds. Jun, Kimo's self-proclaimed best friend, was doing her darndest to get both of them into one of those crowds, pulling him along behind her by the hand. "Come on, Imo! They got the good stuff tonight! We gotta breeze if we want some!" Pausing so abruptly Kimo almost collided with her Jun looked earnestly into the junior's eyes "This is the koro of student life, Imo! If we miss out on this, we might as well be like the qikes waiting for Archetech to give 'em a handout! These nights are for living!" Meanwhile, a lanky Native kid slipped in through the back door, nodding and smiling at the bouncer before turning to nervously eye the floor. His backpack and tied-up long hair weren't exactly club standard, and Ishmael Redwater silently seethed at the need to physically change. But he kept resolutely calm, waving away one of the waiters who skated close with a menu and taking up an edge seat so he could watch more easily. It was happening tonight. Swallowing hard, Ishmael drummed his fingers on the table. Suddenly he wondered why he hadn't just waited outside and changed then. Gritting his teeth, Ishmael slumped into his chair, watching like a hawk, watching for his chance to be a hero...

OOC for this thread. Emerald City PCs only, but if you want yours in only say so. Everyone's day gets a little weirder with the city's first-ever local supervillain. And all the people who want her dead. (The title is ironic.)