Still Not Safe #2 [M&M 2nd ed]

[Cubey]

"There was a thing we were working on. I mean me, James and Todd." Sara responds to Lorne.
"Could be outdated now with the change of situation. So we have to talk about it. It's secret, if you want to know about it you'll have to come with us."

[Haven]

"There was a thing we were working on. I mean me, James and Todd." Sara responds to Lorne.
"Could be outdated now with the change of situation. So we have to talk about it. It's secret, if you want to know about it you'll have to come with us."

Lorne looks skeptical and gives Emi a quick, worried look, before answering Sara.

"...Alright." He follows.

[Matar]

"To Candy Land, and glory!"

Todd follows everyone else.

[Haven]

((Wait, Todd is following everyone? I thought he was the one being followed...))

[Matar]

((Man, I don't even know anymore >_>. He was, at first. Now he's like... walking with everyone. I'm secretly confused with what's going on <_<))

[Haven]

((Todd's the one who invited Emi to play Candy Land to begin with, and then Lorne, James and Sara decided to come with. I figured since Todd was the one making the invitation, he was leading the rest to his room or something.))

[Matar]

((...Then let's go with that xD. Haven't been on the top of my game it seems. I blame Dragon Age >_>))

[Drascin]

Cat is in no hurry to leave - she leaves Emi's cry for help as a hook for Lorne, and catches Andy after the others have left, assuming people don't clump or dawdle in such a way as to make that impossible.

"Thanks," she tells him. "My bright idea there seemed to be falling apart, what you said to James was - well, it made me feel a little less useless, anyway." She smiles.

Andy tries to repress the little jump he feels in his stomach at this, instead simply smiling happily and doing a mock martial salute. "Well, I do have some experience in getting meandering people to the point, and the point to the meandering people, ma'am" he jokes.

Then he looks around pointedly. "Heh. Good luck with bucketful of crazies, Emi, Lorne. You're gonna need it. Though perhaps facing that together might be a good bonding experience for them?" he winks at Cat, as he sees that group already far away lead by the fast-moving Todd. "Well, seems everyone is going away. We probably should as well. You going anywhere right now or do we head for base already?" He's secrety kinda hoping for a walk with her, truth be told, but he has to ask.

((Matar, yes, I get what you say. Dragon Age is a fairly time-absorbing game. I'm starting to play it as well myself))

[kamikasei]

Cat shrugs. "Hadn't any plans. I was just out running when the call came. Did you have anything in mind?" She looks over at Ben, too. "What about you? Up to anything?" There's a note of mild concern in her voice - Laura's upset seems to be bothering him.

[Haven]

((...Then let's go with that xD. Haven't been on the top of my game it seems. I blame Dragon Age >_>))

((I think that'd make it your turn to post, then. Getting out the game, setting up the board, explaining the rules and whatnot. Unless something's going to happen on the way over.))

[Matar]

((I thought Cuby was gonna make a post about what happens when we get there. Given the whole "Sara joining us and discussing the plan" thing going on.))

[Haven]

((Oh. I might be a little lost too. XD ))

[Tengu_temp]

Emi was hoping Sara was only exaggerating - she and Todd are, in Emi's eyes, emotionally just old enough to get excited about playing Candy Land, after all - but it turns out they are really planning something.
Most likely something so reckless that hacking the database looks tame in comparison... Well, we'll see.
She follows Todd, but keeps a safe distance just in case he starts to get some crazy ideas again.

[Cubey]

Whomever comes with Todd, Sara and James:

"Alright. The secret meeting starts now!" Sara says from behind a board of Candy Land. You're in one of the base's rooms - the less visited ones. It's supposed to be a secret meeting after all.
"What're we going to do with the plan? The Commander changed his mind so we could scrap it now. But that'd be a waste..."

"Ah, right!" She adds if anyone uninitiated (that is, someone other than her, Todd and James) is here.
"Our plan was to make a message of our own. If Clayton didn't want to let us speak up in the conference, then we decided - screw this, we're making a speech of our own! But now maybe we won't really need to. What're everyone's opinions?"
It seems the youngest person of the group took leadership of the meeting.

(Did anyone decide to visit Laura at all? I'm not sure so I'm asking for confirmation.)

[Tengu_temp]

When Sara was saying that, it was Emi's turn, and she was just about to roll a die - but her hand has frozen the moment she heard what is the strategy meeting about, and so has her face for a second.
"Oookay... Before I voice my opinion I must ask, what exactly do you want to say in that message?"

Oh God. I was right - this is an even more reckless idea. Do they really want to accidentally spill some secrets to the public, or something like that?
Emi glances at Lorne to see his reaction to this revelation.

[Haven]

Lorne looks a little flabbergasted.

"Ah...yes, i-if we're all going to get a chance to speak, it's probably not necessary to have another speech. Where were you planning on having it?"

[Cubey]

"A counter to the Thought bad guys' lame attempt at a propaganda video." There's a note of pride in Sara's voice.
"But... we didn't go through the details yet. So far it was just technical preparations. What about you guys?"

The last question was to Todd and James.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Cat shrugs. "Hadn't any plans. I was just out running when the call came. Did you have anything in mind?" She looks over at Ben, too. "What about you? Up to anything?" There's a note of mild concern in her voice - Laura's upset seems to be bothering him.

"I was just showing the guys my PSA. You remember that MSAS kid that wanted to see all of ours that got injured our first mission? I kind of told him I'd get you guys to show him yours, too. So..." Ben gestured back toward where he left the MSAS party.

[Matar]

"I have it covered. I was going to go into detail about the sacrifices people have made protecting us. Showing some respect to the dead, ya know? I was also going to tell people what I know about the SE's. How they think. I mean, they have feelings. They know about sorrow, confusion, and stuff. But... they don't understand why we would resist, or why what they are doing hurts us. Something rather simple, but also something that needs to be done."

Todd nods his head a couple times.

[Haven]

Lorne is a little taken aback at the sudden show of earnestness from Todd.

"That...the world does need to hear about the sacrifices that have been made. About...Miss Heinrich..."

He quickly recovers.

"But, as for what you've learned through your contact from SE-02B...I don't think that's something we should share. Aside from the fact that the circumstances were so unusual, it would...the Thoughts of Ascension would co-opt and twist the idea that the SEs have emotions so fast, and I think it would be pretty convincing. I don't want to lie to people, but we can't just hand ToA another solid piece of positive PR again. I think we should wait until we've beaten them back before making this information public. Otherwise it would put us all in great danger, by giving them a foothold into legitimacy."

Spoiler

Show

Quick question: I remember we got a chance to look at all the information on previously encountered SEs, right? Is there any precedent for what Todd's talking about from previous SEs? For that matter, is there any indication that they might be sentient?

(I'm still waiting for that write up but I know it'll take a while.)

[Matar]

Todd nods a couple times.

"Well, I guess I can hold off talking about the SE's for now. No big issue there, I guess. Honestly, I want to try talking to one again before deciding anything about it."

((I have no idea honestly >_>. Todd thinks they communicate through emotions and are sentient... just different from us. Who knows if he's right or not >_>))

[kamikasei]

"I was just showing the guys my PSA. You remember that MSAS kid that wanted to see all of ours that got injured our first mission? I kind of told him I'd get you guys to show him yours, too. So..." Ben gestured back toward where he left the MSAS party.

"Oh, he's better? Yeah, we should come with you and say hi." Cat looks off after the rest of the group. "...I don't know should we try to call the others back..." It might cheer Emi up more than dealing with Todd would, but on the other hand she might clam up around the relative strangers of the MSAS squad, especially if they're oohing and aahing over their armours.

[Cubey]

(There are no past records of SEs trying to communicate with humans or otherwise acting sentient. Although some specimens acted in such a way that they should have had at least animal level intelligence, so sentience is not out of question - only that proof of it wasn't observed.)

[Haven]

Todd nods a couple times.

"Well, I guess I can hold off talking about the SE's for now. No big issue there, I guess. Honestly, I want to try talking to one again before deciding anything about it."

"I appreciate that. And I'll do whatever I can to help you in making that effort--it could tell us so much about what we're up against. As far as I know, no one's ever had the experience you had, and it would extremely valuable to repeat it."

Lorne hesitates. I wasn't going to tell him this...but I think he deserves to hear it.

"...Though, I have to be honest: this also means there is a possibility that what you felt was some sort of feedback from the SE's control. Your brain attempting to process unnatural input that it never evolved to deal with. In other words...it may just have been a hallucination."

[Drascin]

Andy grumbles mentally, but he can't very well leave Ben alone, given how down he looks. He probably needs the company. Come on, God, I don't think I'm asking for that much! Stop guilt-tripping me!

Ah well. He sighs slightly and does a dismissive gesture.

"Nah, they'll be fine. 'sides, neither Lorne nor Emi would take well to exhibiting themselves. And perhaps that way we'll find out about what harebrained scheme James and Todd have been about these last days, with all that secretiveness"

He gestures forward. "Well, let's go then. Where did you leave them, again?" he asks Ben.

[kamikasei]

Cat fidgets with her amplifier for a moment, then looks up. "Oh, I suppose he'd want to see the summoning, too. Better just walk." Of course, the prospect doesn't bother her at all. In fact, she hums quietly to herself as they walk along.

When they arrive at the beach, she waves to the MSAS squad. "Hi! Mike, right?" Though probably not noticeable to the troopers, Andy and Ben may perceive that her brightness is a little brittle - she's playing her part for Mike's benefit.

[Cubey]

As Cat and Andy follow Ben, they soon reach the troopers' camp. They're already sitting at the fire, roasting sausages or drinking.
"Hey!" "Brought friends?" "Are you feeling better now?"
They greet you friendlily. And in Chris's case, somewhat drunkenly already.

"That's me! Nice to meet you." Mike stands up, looking forward to what's probably going to happen in the future. "Great to see more of you coming so soon!"

[kamikasei]

"No worries," Cat tells Mike. "It's great that you're back on your feet!"

Beyond this, it doesn't seem like she's quite sure what one's supposed to say in such a situation.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

Ben finally banished his own armor after going through the whole meeting with it on, then slumped down onto the beach next to the rest of the MSAS pilots. He grabbed a water from their cooler and twisted the cap off. "Well, that's it for me. Time for Cat and Andy to show off." he announced as he leaned back. "Go on, you guys. You've got an audience." he grinned through his fatigue and through whatever was bothering him about Laura.

[kamikasei]

Cat mock-grimaces at Ben. "Oh, thanks. Way to jinx it, now we're pretty much guaranteed to screw up and look like idiots." Shaking her head, she steps a little apart from the others and holds out her arms.

"Oisin!" She manages not to let her voice squeak, but she still feels foolish doing the whole transformation ritual.

Still, to the extent she can control the pace of it, she draws out the summoning so that Mike can see as much of how it works as possible. At the end of it, she's floating just off the ground with a standing vortex of water swirling about her feet, the sea breeze gently steaming past her as condensation begins to form on the sand beneath.

"So, yeah. This is my armour." She rotates slowly, hoping she manages to come off as displaying a gadget rather than putting on a fashion show. "And this is what it does."

With a gesture she causes the wave rolling in to crest and peak at a point, becoming a free-standing spout that detaches from the rest of the water and arcs up to settle and orbit around her. If she does it just right, there's a confused-looking fish still held in the resulting globe.