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

[Tengu_temp]

Emi crosses her arms. "Maybe those of you who punch, kick and jump around need more physical exercise, but everything useful Genesis does isn't physical anyway - I only need enough exercise to stay healthy, and the PSA training is more than enough for that. And I don't see how canceling PE would change anything for me, I don't attend it anyway. I don't like sports." The last statement is pretty much reduntant - it's written all over her face already.

[Haven]

"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."

"Well...our enemies don't tend to move much either. But we haven't had much trouble with moving targets really...I think the main things we need to work on are coordinating our attacks and tactics and, really, just fine-tuning use of our powers. We seem to have a great amount of control instinctively...I wonder how much more we could have with some practice."

"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"

"Excuse me," Lorne says with mock offense, "just because I have a little modesty about it doesn't mean I can't outjump you any day of the week."

[kamikasei]

"I dunno. I figure they're not just worried about fitness. They've probably got ideas about team building and monitoring how we work together, that kind of thing, and they prefer to do it when we're in tracksuits than in superpowered mystical battle armor or whatever you want to call the PSAs." Cats eyes are closed - she seems to be simply enjoying the air. She opens them and looks at Emi. "Maybe you should talk to the commander, tell him you think we'd be better off with more direct training - even if they prefer not to push us too hard in the PSAs for safety reasons, they could maybe format the other stuff so it's clearer how it applies, and you might find it more worthwhile that way."

She closes her eyes again and leans back so that her head is resting against the tree. Since she's sitting cross-legged on the bench, this creates a rather odd Buddha-like effect. "I know I'll enjoy more access to my amplifier, anyway. I wonder if they'd let me train at the shore."

[Tengu_temp]

"Maybe you should talk to the commander, tell him you think we'd be better off with more direct training - even if they prefer not to push us too hard in the PSAs for safety reasons, they could maybe format the other stuff so it's clearer how it applies, and you might find it more worthwhile that way."

"I don't know..." Emi looks away to the side, her enthusiasm dwindling, not that there was that much of it in the first place. "It sounds as if a lot of talking would be needed, and in the end nothing would come from it anyway, so it'd just be a waste of time for everyone's involved, and the commander is already very busy..." Actually, Emi's reasons are different - on a subconscious level, she simply doesn't want to talk with Clayton. She has a hard time communicating even with all authority figures, even the reasonable ones.
"Um, but I'm not trying to shoot your idea down. If you think that it can work regardless, feel free to go for it."

[kamikasei]

"Well, we'd probably need to clear Lorne's ideas with the commander if we want to do proper PSA training anyway. We could all talk to him together and include changes to out-of-armor exercises in that."

[Tengu_temp]

"That's acceptable, I guess..." Emi still doesn't sound too thrilled, but it's better to talk with the commander in a group than alone. And if they succeed, it will be worth it.

[Drascin]

Emi crosses her arms. "Maybe those of you who punch, kick and jump around need more physical exercise, but everything useful Genesis does isn't physical anyway - I only need enough exercise to stay healthy, and the PSA training is more than enough for that. And I don't see how canceling PE would change anything for me, I don't attend it anyway. I don't like sports." The last statement is pretty much reduntant - it's written all over her face already.

"Oh, really? But you yourself said everything Genesis does isn't physical, so one would logically imagine that PSA exercises wouldn't be enough to keep you healthy enough?" Andy grins. It's obvious he's just messing with her, though. "Nah, just messin' with ya. Your choice. I hate maths, myself, everyone has something they hate". The comparison loses a bit, though, since Andy always goes to every class, including math, while Emi rarely attends any classes at all, but Andy certainly doesn't seem to have said it in that sense or even so much as thought of it like that.

"Excuse me," Lorne says with mock offense, "just because I have a little modesty about it doesn't mean I can't outjump you any day of the week."

Andy laughs. "Well said! It seems I should be more careful about who I'm picking a fight with" he adds. "I'll take you up on that one of these days, probably. Never really tried longjumping as an actual activity, but it'd probably be fun anyway to hang out and embarrass myself a bit trying to beat you"

"Anyway" he goes a bit more serious as the conversation progresses, but still with that nonchalance of his "I don't see much problem. Clayton isn't an ogre - he seems a pretty decent guy for someone in the military. If you'd prefer to not go, Emi, us three should be more than enough to pester him until he agrees" He grins. "I'm sure you've noticed, but we're pretty good at relentless pestering"

[Tengu_temp]

"Well, even with the fact that just staying in your armor for a longer time is tiring and requires some effort, there is also flying - it might just look as if I'm hovering around, but it's much more demanding than that. And I'm sure you know that when I'm not using Genesis, my opportunities for flying are somewhat limited. As for the commander, I can come with you to talk with him if you really need me. I don't dislike him, it's just that..."
Emi hesitates. She's not completely sure how to explain her feelings in that regard, and doing so would probably require opening up further - something she has trouble doing.
"No, nevermind."

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"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 competitive sports are a good idea. I probably won't be much of a challenge... talk about a veteran Shifter."

Ben let a smile spread upon his face. "Alright, then. If you're feeling up to it, how about we just get out for awhile." he said, raising his arm in front of him. "Infernal Requiem...sing for the dead." he said, setting the device on his wrist alight.

A moment later he was encased in his magnificent, red and black armor. Steam hissed from the vents over his cheeks before the helmet shifted and then retracted into his shoulders to show his face. "Come on, let's get in some PSA practice down by the beach, then hang out for awhile once we get tired. I promise I'll go easy on you." he grinned.

[Cubey]

After a few seconds of hesitation, Laura nods. "Okay. Let me... get my amplifier, alright?"
She leaves the room, but it doesn't take long for her to come back. Both of you can go to the beach without interruptions, although maybe with surprised gases from the staff, if you're in your PSA all the way there.

(You can assume you're at the beach now. Although because Todd, James and Sara are at some beach as well, and they made a fire which may draw attention, then you might have found them rather than going to an empty place. Your decision.)

[kamikasei]

"Maybe we can bring it up with the others around dinner time, assuming most of them want to eat around the same time - probably our best chance to nab them." Cat nods in Emi's direction. "So what sort of stuff do you play?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Mostly rock classics and themes from video games and anime. I don't really write my own songs... I'm not good enough yet, even a typical garage band is probably above me. But then, I'm still just a high school student, right?" Emi smiles slightly.

[Drascin]

"Nah, as you want, Emi, really. You seem to dislike talking with the higher ups, and we three should manage pretty well - and if we do as Cat says and wait for dinner, we can enlist others too. Wouldn't want you to get all stressed, everyone has stuff they don't like havin' to do.

Besides, if nothing else works, we can always threaten the comander with mailing Todd to his house" he laughs. "Hell, that'd sure enough convince me!"

The conversation progresses to Emi's music. "Videogame and anime music is totally fine by me. But then, of course, I am a total nerd" Andy grins, and sits down as well - completely coincidentally, honest - pretty near Cat. "C'mon, play us something!"

[Tengu_temp]

"Alright - if you're really such a total nerd, then you should be able to identify a song from an anime that's older than you and was never released in the US." Emi's cheating here - it's much more popular in Japan, even despite its age. She prepares her guitar, plays a short practice chord, and starts with the actual theme.

Listen to her song!
It's only played on one ordinary guitar and hummed along, but the melody is still there.

(In case anyone wants to judge the artistic quality of Emi's performance, taking 10 for 16 total.)

[Drascin]

((I'm going to assume having twelve ranks in Knowledge: Geek popculture, in a kid obsessed with old Sentai and Mecha shows, is going to be enough to know a song from Macross of all series ))

Andy listens to the first notes with a scrunched up face, trying very hard to rise up to the challenge and recognize it. However, when the chorus comes by, his face illuminates, and he grins. For a second he wonders whether he should sing along - but Cat's presence makes him a bit more self-conscious than usual, and so he doesn't. Still, when Emi finishes, he gives a soft clap.

"Macross, no? C'mon, give me something harder!" he laughs. "Pretty damn good playing, though. You got some talent. I'm envious - I have sausages instead of fingers, never managed to play any instrument!"

When Emi is looking elsewhere, he winks at Cat - it seems "Operation: Cheer Emi Up" is progressing nicely, no? Indeed, the fact she chose a relatively cheerful song is telling already.

[Haven]

"Wow, Emi, that was brilliant." Lorne says sincerely.

((Incidentally, I'm pretty sure "brilliant" isn't quite as effusive in British English as it is in American English. But hey.))

[Tengu_temp]

"Um, thanks." Emi blushes slightly, feeling a bit embarassed from all the praise. "I don't hear such words very often. My mother thinks it's a waste of time, and that I should fine myself some more useful hobbies." She doesn't hide her disgust, but it passes quickly - Emi started to feel good playing her music and she doesn't want that feeling to disappear.

"Okay, if you want something harder, then how about this?"
She starts to play a different song. It's from a newer show, but maybe Andy only watches ones filled with explosions, not mystery and inter-personal drama, and is not familiar with this one.

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

After a few seconds of hesitation, Laura nods. "Okay. Let me... get my amplifier, alright?"
She leaves the room, but it doesn't take long for her to come back. Both of you can go to the beach without interruptions, although maybe with surprised gases from the staff, if you're in your PSA all the way there.

After Laura had shifted into her Pure Sophium Armor, Ben's helmet appeared once again and he led the way outside. They didn't head down, but instead went up to the roof at a jog. (The windows were reinforced and Ben didn't want to explain having blasted it open to get outside.) They passed a few medical workers, who gasped and got out of the way, but otherwise made it to the roof without incident. When they came out onto the roof, Ben sprinted to the edge and leaped off with his arms out wide like a swan dive. He disappeared below the lip, but only a few seconds later soared back up on a trail of fire, climbing toward the sky.

He spun around and waved to Laura, then either raced her to the beach or carried her there if she couldn't fly on her own. When the water came into view he came down like a comet, skidding to a halt in an explosion of sand, spray, and then steam right by the edge of the surf. Ben's helmet shifted back into his shoulders again and he turned around.

"Hey, I've got an idea on how we can train those reality-shaping powers of yours." Ben said. "Let's build a sand castle."

He waited a beat for the look of confusion to cross Laura's face, then his helmet shifted back over to cover his grin. "Actually, I guess it would be more accurate to say a glass castle, wouldn't it? Just follow my lead. I'll give you the glass, you shape it to your heart's content." he said as his hands glowed and burst into flame from the elbows down. "Let's build something they'll see from across the island!"

Ben clenched his fists and then pointed his arms down at the sand. Opening them, he blasted the beach in a wide cone with white-hot flame, melting and fusing the millions of tiny particles into solid sheets of glass. They began erupting out of the ground as he moved his arms, ready for Laura to shape them.

[Cubey]

(So, I guess this means Todd, Sara and James are in a different place than Ben is. Just making sure.)

Laura's PSA possesses the ability to fly, so she gently floats down from the rooftop. During your way down you notice what others might have already - the island's bustling with activity today. It seems the security gets fortified, although nobody interrupts you.

"Well... shaping reality is very exhausting... but this makes it a better exercise, right?" Thanks to her helmet covering only the upper half of her face, you can see that Laura looks mildly embarassed. But also rather happy.
"Here I go." She looks focused, although there is no movement from her as she simply levitates peacefully several inches above the ground. But the PSA-generated mist starts to crawl towards the glass. Rather than changing shape slowly, the change is abrupt and nigh instant - the rough glass surface changes into a glass structure, with walls and towers. Unfortunately, it's rather rough and simple, and cracks at its base, shattering down with lots of noise.

"I'm sorry about the castle... I didn't focus enough." Laura sounds apologetic, once the ruckus of her construction falling down goes quiet.

[kamikasei]

Cat smiles back at Andy and gives him a thumbs up. Well done! She's not entirely sure exactly what he was trying to convey, but this seems like a safe enough response. It'll cover both "hey, Emi seems livelier now" and "you guessed right!", and it's not as if Andy would be trying to say anything else to her, is it?

She bobs her head along a little to the next tune, but spends most of it watching Lorne as subtly as she can, curious as to whether he knows this music too. It may be that she has a lot of work ahead of her to keep up with the group's microculture.

[Haven]

Lorne pretty clearly doesn't recognize it (or the previous tune), but he does seem to be enjoying it.

[Fri]

"Wait, we need to conceal our identity?" James said after he heard todd's plan.

"I thought... nevermind. In that case we'll need more than sunglasses. And we have too little personal clothings to disguise ourselves properly. Especially you, todd, since all of your clothings are in shades of green. We might need to... raid other's wardrobe."

[Matar]

Todd nods his head. "I think Loli has all that covered, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. So, we better call this meeting finished for now. Hey, loli. Be sure to contact when you write up an out-line, alright? I'll handle it from there."

Todd begins to walk back, motioning both the Loli and James to join.

"Also! Chicken Man, we have an ultra secret training mission tomorrow. Meet me here in the morning. When the sun is half way up from the water, we shall we begin training!"

Todd punches his open palm as a grin covers his face.

"I have a [i]great[i/] idea. But I'm really going to need your help. So get your rest, and eat your veggies! For glory awaits at us dawn!"

With that Todd heads back to the base. He remains mostly silent on the way back, keeping his plan secret and working out as many details as he can.

[Drascin]

Andy remains thoughtful for the whole song, snapping his fingers in thought. "Ah, c'mon, I know I heard that one once, I'm sure it's from a series Edu watched once, c'mon, what was the name..." He eventually sighs, surrendering.

"Sorry, I know which show it's from, but I can't for the life of me remember its name. It was about a dude without memory, but with like a bazillion in money, and a woman who was trying to help him. One of my classmates downloaded it once, I saw bits of it over his shoulder" He grins, and does a mocking evil fist-clench at Emi. "You win this round, Gadget, but I'll get you next time!"

[ChronicLunacy]

Ben Brooks

"I'm sorry about the castle... I didn't focus enough." Laura sounds apologetic, once the ruckus of her construction falling down goes quiet.

Ben's helmet shifted back so that his face could be seen again and he laughed. "Don't worry about it. Half the fun of castle-building is knocking it down afterward." he said as he plopped himself down into a pile of glass shards as if it was a patch of sand. The glass crunched under him as he turned to look up at Laura. "Want to try again, or do you need a rest?" he asked as he leaned back on his hands.

[Tengu_temp]

"That's Eden of the East. It's a very fun show - you should watch it, even if it doesn't have giant robots or guys with pointy swords and even pointier hairstyles duking it out." Emi smiles with satisfaction.
"Alright, let's lower the bar a bit. I'm sure everyone can tell where this is from."

The song she starts to play now is, let's say, quite relevant to the situation they are all in.

[Drascin]

Andy acts all mockingly offended "Hey, I take offense to that! I like plenty of shows without explosions! Just the fact that mechs make everything better doesn't mean it's necessary to have mechs to be good!"

Emi isn't even fifteen seconds into the song before Andy chuckles. When she finishes, he goes "Oh, c'mon! Just because I missed one you don't have to go back to elementary stuff!" he laughs. "Gimme a little credit!"

He seems to think for a moment. "Though that series did have an important lesson for everyone" He winks. "Never try to write anything worth it while heavily depressed"

[Haven]

"Alright, let's lower the bar a bit. I'm sure everyone can tell where this is from."

The song she starts to play now is, let's say, quite relevant to the situation they are all in.

Lorne claps a little, and then sheepishly admits "Very nice...though I have no idea where it's from."

[Tengu_temp]

"Elementary or not, I just wanted to play that song. It's one of my favorites."
The fact that she was mistaken and not everyone was able to recognize it is quite a surprise for Emi.
"Really, Lorne? But... it's Evangelion! Not only is it a complete classic, but with the job we're having... It's as if a detective has never seen a single film noir. Um... I have it on DVDs, so I can lend it to you, if you want?" Her offer is carried in a bit embarassed tone.

[Cubey]

Ben:
"No, I'm still okay. I was just unfocused, that's all." Laura tries again. Although there are no visible gestures, you can feel that her concentration is immense.
And the result is much better as well. The castle is taller than a human, and its shape is not only definitely castle-like, but you can see smaller details like windows or balconies.
"I did it..." Laura floats down in relief. "I just had to imagine all the details, and the Great Pretender did the rest." She looks tired, although still with her PSA on and levitating above the ground.
"It's beautiful... ah! That sounds like I'm boasting. I really shouldn't - I used this power to do selfish things in the past. Well... nevermind about that." She adds quickly, as if she wanted you to ignore the last few words. "I should talk with the Commander. Thank you for this!"
Before you had a chance to propose doing anything, Laura waves and flies away.

Everyone, next day:
The next morning, everyone finds a piece of paper that was slipped under the door into their rooms. The same thing is written (or rather, printed) for everyone:
Meet us in the PSA training room at 14:00 today. This is a challenge.

Anyone who decides to follow the instructions will find the Japanese Shifters in that location. Surprised? You really shouldn't be. But there's only four of them - the quiet girl, Usagi, is missing.

"I see you got the message. Sorry about the drama, we just want to train. See how strong you are." Takeshi says, leaning against the wall. All four present from the Japan team wear their amplifiers. Other than them, there is no one else here.