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

[Tengu_temp]

"Come on, just because Todd doesn't recognize he has problems doesn't mean he lacks any. On the contrary - you can count on one hand matters that are not a problem with him." Emi starts to feel grumpy. She doesn't like being made fun of. "Plus, he already called me. He wanted to play Candy Land."

[Cubey]

Todd's group discovers that movement on the island seems busier than usual. More vehicles ride around and security is tighter. You can see that not only as you go towards your special preplanned location, but even as you are already there. It's still hidden enough that you'll probably be able to do your thing unnoticed.

The rest of you (sans Ben, who is in a different place altogether - see this post) stumble upon the two girls of the Japanese team, as they were busy... hanging out, apparently.

Oh, it's you guys again! Hello! Akiho waves furiously as she notices you. Usagi only lowers her gaze and mutters something, but she's too quiet to make any words out.

[kamikasei]

Cat waves at the Japanese girls. "Hi! Been exploring?"

She let's the needling of Emi drop for now - maybe she'll pick up a little if called upon to translate.

[Tengu_temp]

"Yeah, it's us - the whole island is crawling with us so you were bound to run into us sooner or later. Hi." Emi doesn't seem excited - she wanted to spend time with her friends and is not in the mood for hanging out with strangers. Maybe her guitar will be a useful shield that'll keep Akiho from latching on, at least.

[Drascin]

"So what you're saying is, the person you need to talk to is someone with no problems who never worries." Cat pulls out her cellphone. "Does anyone have Todd's number?"

"Cat, you don't break out the threats until further in the interrogation!" Andy mock-admonishes her, grinning.

Then Emi speaks, and Andy is about to make another counterattack - my, but does it seem little Emi doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to herself. Will have to see about that - when the two newcomers appear. He waves at them friendly. Of course, he doesn't really understand what they're saying, but he can about hazard a guess.

And Emi doesn't sound too enthusiastic, either. She probably realizes she's going to have to translate and hates it.

[TooManySecrets]

Sara looks at Todd incredulously. "Am I up for breaking the rules? Why do you even bother asking?"

"Of course."

"That being said, your plan - as much as it is - needs a lot of work." Sara watches the flames intently, thinking. "Hijacking air waves to put your ugly mug up is probably going to get us all kicked out of SECT faster than a speeding bullet. There are three things we need to do: a) maintain personal secrecy, b) be believable, c) don't undermine any official statements, and d) do it all before the official report."

[Matar]

"I can handle B just fine. And for personal secrecy... how about a secret identity? It'd be exciting! Just so long as I keep my mask on, no one would be able to tell it's me. I can change my voice and everything. The other two you're going to have to help me with though. I think James is gonna have to handle hiding the costumes and everything though. To be perfectly honest, no one would expect him to be a part of this..."

Todd watches the flames as well.

"How would we go about getting a costume though?"

[ChronicLunacy]

By the time Ben reaches the hospital (assuming he doesn't change his destination), Laura's room is emptied already. Everyone else left to their own devices - your team, the Japanese team... but Laura herself is still there.

"Ahh!" Opening the door distracts her and makes her fall down to the floor, fortunately without harm. It seems she was busy with stretching and light physical exercises.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to come in so suddenly..." She tries to get up, already apologetic and somewhat embarrassed.
"I was thinking of practicing physically... it will be very troublesome if I get out of shape with Thoughts AND SEs on the loose at the same time."

Ben couldn't quite hide his smile at the girl's clumsy display as he moved from he door to help her back to her feet. "It's my fault. I should have knocked." he said, a hand reaching up to nervously scratch at his hair as soon as she looked stable.

"I thought you might be lonely or...I mean, it looks like you're going a little stir crazy in here." he chuckled. "If you want some exercise, how about we go for a swim down at the pool, or go play some racquetball or something? Uh, if you're up to it, that is." he said, looking back at the door. "And, you know, if we can sneak you out past the nurses." he grinned. "I just thought you might want to get out of here for awhile."

Ben stopped rambling and let Laura get a word in edgewise, forcing himself to shut up and quit acting like the nervous child he felt like whenever he was around his crush.

[Cubey]

"We're looking for a place to eat! Not just your standard boring SECT cafeteria but something special, like a local dish! Do you know anything like that around? Emi-chan, translate this for me, please! Translate, translate!"
Akiho's last sentence was directed at Emi, but other than that she was looking all over your group. At least she doesn't try to glomp anyone. Yet.

At roughly the same time, from Ben's perspective:
"Ah, uhm. Well, I do not have to sneak out of here." Laura gets up and sits on her bed. "I was just getting released anyway. I'm up for anything you want to do, but I don't know if competetive sports are a good idea. I probably won't be much of a challenge... talk about a veteran Shifter."

[kamikasei]

"I don't think there is much to the island besides the SECT base," Cat explains. "Although maybe there are some businesses left at the port from before they took over."

Cat considers what to say as she lets Emi translate. It might be rude, but they're strangers to Emi and mean she's stuck translating too, so it's probably best to avoid having them stick around.

"I think James has done the most wandering around the island - he might know where you should look. You know James? British guy, harmonica? He's back at the dorms so far as I know."

[Tengu_temp]

"Everything on the island belongs to them and there wasn't much around before they moved in, so Boring Sect Cafeteria is the local flavour. But let's ask the rest, maybe they'll know."
Emi did her share of exploring the island, but she was looking for secluded and inspiring spots, and obviously restaurants don't belong to this category. Once again she starts her task of a more or less literal translator whose patience is being tested. Well, lack of any longer monologues means that the test's results are positive so far.

[Cubey]

"Okay! I'll go look around then. Many thanks!" After Emi translates what Cat said, Akiho waves good-bye and quickly departs, dragging the reluctant other girl behind her. Apparently it's not a problem for her that James might not know Japanese. If she's going to find him.
And the notice check from the OOC thread didn't bring any results.

[Tengu_temp]

"That was fast..." Emi raises her hand in a small wave as she watches the Japanese girls leave. "I never thought such genki people exist in reality."

[Drascin]

Andy grins sardonically. "Heh. If I told you..." he answers Emi. It seems Andy has in fact met some people more hyper than that.

"Anyway, where were we before the typhoon?"

[kamikasei]

"We were heading over there," Cat shades her eyes and points to a trees-and-benches setup some distance away that they had not, in fact, been heading for, "since I imagine Emi would like a chance to do something with her guitar besides lug it around. And maybe we can think about what to say to, uh, Usagi? about the press conference. That's going to be weird. Does she even speak English?"

[Tengu_temp]

"I doubt it, unless she knows it but hides it. Which means only one of them speaks English, just like only one of us speaks Japanese. That's strangely fitting." Emi glances at the point Cat is showing. Looks good enough. "Well, if you really need to talk with her and I'm around, I can translate for you. I don't mind it as much as I seem to do."

[kamikasei]

"I'm just wondering how the conference will work. Well, we can ask that Akira guy about it at our next training. You're off the hook," she smiles at Emi.

On the way to the benches, she rubs her arms. "Brrr. I should have brought a jumper. I can't believe Dad was right, but I guess if you make someone pack warm clothes every time they go anywhere they'll eventually need them."

[Tengu_temp]

Emi, on the other hand, tends to dress a bit too warm for hot summer days, which means that she has the advantage during colder weather like now.
"Well, if you ask me, they'll probably tell you everything you should say during the conference, and your only job is to look good doing that and don't say anything else. Not a good idea to be creative - the PR experts already planned what you should do to make SECT looks good, and don't want you to mess it up." She doesn't mean to sound discouraging, but Emi can't help but show her disdain for the press conference. She knows it's needed, but would rather have as little in common with it as possible.

[Haven]

Emi, on the other hand, tends to dress a bit too warm for hot summer days, which means that she has the advantage during colder weather like now.
"Well, if you ask me, they'll probably tell you everything you should say during the conference, and your only job is to look good doing that and don't say anything else. Not a good idea to be creative - the PR experts already planned what you should do to make SECT looks good, and don't want you to mess it up." She doesn't mean to sound discouraging, but Emi can't help but show her disdain for the press conference. She knows it's needed, but would rather have as little in common with it as possible.

"Probably, but I suppose we have to protect our secrecy and...

"You know, looking over yesterday--I still cannot believe James just attacked in the middle of discussion, unprovoked. While a camera was watching him...and while you were unarmored, Andy...I cannot imagine what he was thinking!"

Lorne seems to realize he's abruptly changed topics, or rather left the rest of the group out of the links of thought connecting the two; he adds "That-that's probably what the conference is going to be dealing with, mostly."

Spoiler

Show

I think I might be a little confused about the timeline. Right now it's still the morning we were all rudely woken up, which is the morning after the mission right? Anyway, mentally replace "yesterday" with "the other day" or something if that's not the case.

[Tengu_temp]

"Mhm, that was impossibly stupid - all the lies the Thoughts are telling about us can be debunked, but the fact it was our side who attacked first is not a lie. I'm sure the pro-ToA faction will latch to it like Akiho and not let go, completely ignoring the fact that millions of people would die if not for us." Emi sighs, sits down on one of the benches and plays several notes on her guitar. "At least Andy didn't get hurt."

[kamikasei]

"Not yet he didn't," Cat answers ominously. "I'm still debating whether we should kick his ass for giving us all a heart attack out there."

She sighs, switching to serious mode. "But yeah... I don't know, maybe we need to have more strategies worked out in advance so people won't take crazy risks on their own initiative, but at the same time all our fights so far have been so different from one another... Maybe we just need more team training. And to talk to James. He might actually be amenable to reason." It's not hard to guess who the person she's contrasting James with might be.

[Cubey]

Haven - that's pretty much right, except that it's afternoon rather than morning. But the same day you're thinking about.

[Haven]

"Not yet he didn't," Cat answers ominously. "I'm still debating whether we should kick his ass for giving us all a heart attack out there."

Lorne stage-whispers "Run!" to Andy.

She sighs, switching to serious mode. "But yeah... I don't know, maybe we need to have more strategies worked out in advance so people won't take crazy risks on their own initiative, but at the same time all our fights so far have been so different from one another... Maybe we just need more team training. And to talk to James. He might actually be amenable to reason." It's not hard to guess who the person she's contrasting James with might be.

"I had been thinking the same thing...they seem to be letting us retain our amplifiers now, and apparently don't seem to have any problem with us using them freely, at least based on how Todd joined the meeting today. So maybe we should organize our own practice. We could start with something like the basketball game, except more interesting because--" Lorne pauses for half a second, sharply recalling what made that so dislikable, but goes on. "--we'd be able to use powers. So if Devon interrupted again, it'd at least be a little more level," he smiles.

"And practicing team maneuvers would be nice too, but not direct combat...I can't help thinking someday we're going to have a rather awful accident with that. Emi, maybe you could make us some 'training dummies' or something...if you think it's a good idea, that is.

"And James might be but...I can't help thinking that Todd isn't too far out of reach either. He hasn't done anything as bad as that, and aside from *sigh* trying to high-five an SE, he's been a reliable teammate on the battlefield. And he seems to have his own bizarre set of rules, if we just knew how to get them to work in our favor...he's calling me 'boss' now, which is a little strange, but it's a start. Though, Andy, you seem to get on with him pretty well, maybe you can get through to him."

Of course, if Lorne knew what James and Todd were getting up to at that very moment, he would have something else to say about the subject.

[Drascin]

"Not yet he didn't," Cat answers ominously. "I'm still debating whether we should kick his ass for giving us all a heart attack out there."

"Meep" Andy says, affecting a fake scared face. "Well, yeah, okay, that was stupidly risky, but hey, sometimes you just need to jump into the pool and hope it's full. And I'm pretty sure that move rather cramped their video. I mean, look at the extremely obvious splicing they had to do just to not get me in there, that's gonna help people doubt what the propaganda said" he smiles. "Besides, it's my job to worry about you lot getting hurt, not viceversa, dammit" he winks at Cat.

"Anyway" he goes slightly more serious "that is an important matter. We must remember that everything we do when fighting the ToA can and will be used against us. Somebody needs to whack James over the head with that fact before he completely screws up everything again. A pity I left my mallet at home".

Then Lorne speaks. Andy nods to the last part.

"Yeah. Todd is crazy - and I mean actually crazy, not as a derogative. I'm pretty sure he has a certain degree of psychopathy or something of the sort. But he can more or less be reasoned with. You just have to remember he's a guy trying to be Kamina, not going with what most of us would consider "reasonable". And I'm pretty sure there's a good bottom down there. I can work with that, personally"

He looks thoughtful. "James... might be actually not that much less crazy than Todd, actually. He seems to be as fanatical to kill Ascension as the ascenders are to kill everybody else, really. And he seems to think Devon is a well adjusted and likable human being with an understandable philosophy of life, which is also a strike against his sanity" he grins. "I dunno, I haven't talked much with him, because he don't talk with anybody much anyway, but he seems to be very obsessed with being strong and strong people. One gets a slightly shonen manga vibe from him, honestly"

He stretches. "So, it seems to me another bit of a get-together is going to be appropiate, to discuss all this with them. And maybe make arrangements for that training. Must be careful, though. There is much badassitude concentrated in the group and we don't want to sink the island whole" he winks.

[Tengu_temp]

Emi starts to wonder if Andy has a nervous tick. He really winks a lot. "The local crazies aside, I must say that I like Lorne's idea. Actually, I wonder why we don't have that already - what's the point of having PE every day and training with amplifiers only once per week, if the former has no use for us at all and the latter is crucial to increasing our chances in fighting the SEs? The timetable should be the other way around." Emi doesn't mention her ulterior motive - the way she feels inside Genesis - but even without that she believes what she just said. "So yes, I wouldn't mind that extra practice. Making target dummies is okay with me, too, as long as you don't expect them to move much."

[TooManySecrets]

Sara smiles. "Er, that's not really what I meant. I mean, really, if SECT saw somebody on TV in a crazy costume spouting off a speech, I don't think it would take too long for them to figure out who it was."

"I say we take a page from ToA on this. Voice-modulated voice-over and some pictures of operations around here. We say that we're afraid that the full story won't get out about SECT and that good people will be hurt by ToA's lies - which is true. Send copies to a number of TV stations, post it on the internet, stuff like that. Not everybody will believe it, but hopefully the people we don't convince will be convinced by the official press report."

"I can get us a cheap laptop, internet access, and a realistic sounding voice-changer. They'll never be able to trace it back to us."

[Matar]

"Done and done, Loli. I'll be honest when I say I don't see much point in a voice changer though, after all I can change my voice and all... but your call. Give me an idea about what to write up, I'll write it up, and then you can check and edit it for me 'n stuff. Together we shall be unstoppable!"

Todd nods and then looks at James.

"Rule One Chicken dood, always work together with your brothers in arms. Together we can do far more then just one!"

[Fri]

...brother in arms. That sounds really good. So far, this 'learning how to deal with people while screwing with ToA in the same time' is good.

"But first, you'll need this... brothers..." he throws his backup shades toward Todd and Sara.

"Now let's get dangerous."

(Because the only thing worse then breaking the law is looking bad when breaking the law)

[Matar]

Todd nods his head and slips the shades over his eyes. He makes a mentel note to go get some green sunglasses when he gets the chance.

[Drascin]

Emi starts to wonder if Andy has a nervous tick. He really winks a lot. "The local crazies aside, I must say that I like Lorne's idea. Actually, I wonder why we don't have that already - what's the point of having PE every day and training with amplifiers only once per week, if the former has no use for us at all and the latter is crucial to increasing our chances in fighting the SEs? The timetable should be the other way around." Emi doesn't mention her ulterior motive - the way she feels inside Genesis - but even without that she believes what she just said. "So, if you manage to convince them to lend us the amplifiers and let us practice on our own, I wouldn't mind that. Making target dummies is okay with me, too, as long as you don't expect them to move much."

"The point, I think, is likely to get us to work out without always being in armor. You need to have your own reflexes and physical ability, not just depend on the suit. Mens sana in corpore sano and all that, you know. All the powers in the world are worth little if you're too dulled out well, okay, not if you're like Charles Xavier powerful, duh, but you get my point. 'sides, you seriously look like a bit of exercise would do you good, Emi" He grins mischievously. "In fact, if they cancelled our PE, I'd make sure you two got enough exercise myself. I'm sure I can find something to act as the classic slavedriver's whip" this last part is obviously a joke, and obviously directed to Emi and Lorne. Cat is plenty athletic already - no, wait, bad train of thought, derail.

"That said, yeah, some extra armor training wouldn't hurt. I'm all for it. Not sure how long they'll let us keep our amplifiers, though" he takes his out and looks at it. "On the other hand, I bet it has a GPS or something like that and they can have us always located with them, so who knows, they might not be opposed to our keeping them"