Immortals in the Playground, Episode 1

[hobbitguy1420]

Bobby considered Dieter. Did the guy really wants keave, or was be just in one of his "Bobby doesn't really want to hang out with me" moods?

"All right, buddy, but if you feel like swinging by my booth, I'd like to hear more about how your work's going. What's #10 doing?"

Glancing over to his booth, he blinks. "Woah. I'd better go back over there and take control. You guys feel free to stick around and enjoy the music."

[Space Lawyer]

Miki & Kaylee
School grounds

"This has been a very...um...interesting night. Not bad. A good interesting. A really...really good kind."

"I'd say so."

Just to make her meaning from before clear, Miki takes Kaylee's hand in her own and leans on the taller girl's shoulder. They had always managed to communicate without talking during their runs; would more really be necessary now?

[ThreadOfFate]

Kaylee squeezed Miki's hand, leaning in as the shorter girl rested against her, and she found that she was exactly where she wanted to be.

The fountain made intricate patterns with the reflected light, and the noise was soothing to her slightly frazzled mind - a mind that was becoming more at peace with every second Miki was by her side.

Words weren't needed, but after a bit, Kaylee spoke up anyway. She didn't really want this to end as the convention did. "Miki, do you- erm, do...do you...wanna do something after this is done? Go walk or get something to eat or go back to my room and watch a...a movie or... you know, s-something? ". Anything. Anything at all, as long as she stayed by Kaylee.

[Held]

Dieter

Dieter considered giving an answer to Bobby's question, but Bobby already made the call to return to his booth. Yeah, that'd probably be better.

Come to think of it, Dieter had no idea what #10 was up to. The boy took out his phone, navigated through one of his apps, and saw... absolutely nothing.

"... #10, did you... did you forget recharging?" the boy asked incredulously.

No response. It wouldn't have been the first time one of his spherebots conveniently "forgot" what they were.

Dieter tapped the screen a few more times, bringing up various menus. Nothing seemed to be wrong... but #10 still didn't respond.

Maybe this was the error Dieter had been anticipating.

"Heehee~ did I surprise ya? Were you fooled?!" The childlike voice sang from the phone.

Dieter sighed, just as the screen lit up and the inside of Dieter's lab were revealed.

"When I close my eyes, you can't see what I see! Isn't it brilliant? Aren't I brilliant?!"

"... This is what you do when I leave you alone?"

"Nooo! That's not all I do! I invented something!"

Oh?

"Why did the bookmaker call the gambler 'chief'? Because he was his better!"

Dieter facepalmed.

[Argentum]

"I think I'll be taking a look at the rest of the booths myself," Alan replied, walking out of Bobby's exhibit and towards a random booth that he hadn't been to yet. That had certainly been interesting, Bobby and Dieter's projects were astounding and while Lee's was somewhat boring in comparison, it certainly required a large amount of skill.

Actually, he was pretty sure that if he went to Lee for help, he could probably manage to overcome that odd issue with the range and volume limitations of his particle rings. Of course he'd have to endure some badgering about wearing spandex, but that wasn't much in comparison to progress on his own work. Then again, did he really want help? It wasn't like he was on a time limit or anything, the particle rings had been a side project to see how far he could take his particle manipulation.

The boxes were the ones that were going to be commercialized and they were more or less ready.

Alan was brought out of his thoughts when he finally entered a booth, a curious project related to electromagnetism. Letting his inner scientist take over, he excitedly looked over the exhibition.

[Space Lawyer]

Miki & Kaylee
School grounds

Miki opens her mouth to suggest a movie and extensive cuddling, but her stomach intervenes with a loud growl. "It looks like food is the next stop. Feel like going to the noodle shop?"

Along the pair's usual running route, there was a soba noodle shop that advertised the best tempura soba in town. Having had it many times, Miki could safely say that wasn't an exaggeration. When combined with the all-you-can eat dumplings deal, the tiny, rough-hewn place was always jammed, but it was the perfect intimate place. There wasn't any space to not be intimate.

[ThreadOfFate]

"It looks like food is the next stop. Feel like going to the noodle shop?"

Miki's growling stomach made Kaylee giggle, and she called to mind the place. They passed it often enough, and if Miki vouched for it, it was good enough for her.

"Y-yeah, sure! Noodles sound good, we can... movie or whatever after. If you want, I mean. I don't wanna pressure you or whatever, if you're not... if you don't..."

She took a deep breath, then nodded. "Sounds good, Miki. After the final presentation, yeah? I gotta stay at least that long.

She smiled wide, then squeezed Miki's hand once more, bending down to kiss her newly confirmed girlfriend on the cheek. She could get used to this, and they had nowhere to be until the final presentation. No rush.

[hobbitguy1420]

Bobby hopped back into his booth and onto the mic.

"So, you guys having fun?"

He paused for the inevitable cheering and shouts of "woooooo!" that always followed that kind of question.

"Great! Not to bore you with *too* much science stuff, but I just wanted to remind you - look around the place. Don't see any massive speaker stacks, right? Not tripping over any cables? No, right?" He holds up his little disc. "Every sound you're hearing right now - and every sound the people outside the booth aren't hearing - are because of microspeakers like this. Wireless, capable of running for ten hours at full volume on a single battery charge, and easily tucked away wherever you need 'em."

He grinned, looking out over the crowd. "In fact, what I'm doing with 'em now is just child's play. Come by the main stage when I'm doing my presentation, and you'll see something really cool. For now, what do you say I let the beat drop, huh?"

Riding the crowd's enthusiasm, Bobby turned back to his board, but was distracted by seeing Lee across the room, bouncing around a tank of water in which a guy sat, pedaling a bicycle. Man, that girl was hot. Like, seriously weapons-grade cute. He started thinking about the pickup line he'd use the next time he -

be-deep

Wait. That's not what the "next song" button was supposed to sound like.

He looked down at his board to see that while his conscious mind was distracted, his hands had gone through the key sequence he'd been practicing for weeks - the sequence to activate the resonance demo for the big show. The resonance demo that was going to focus on something big and solid nearby, and then...

"Uh-oh."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Offering a self-compel on my "Easily distra-wait, what?" Aspect to hit the wrong buttons and activate my microspeakers in "break $#!+" mode. If you don't have a preference as to what's destroyed, I can say that the floor beneath Beat shatters, dropping him (ha!) into the storage room below. If you'd rather, though, you can have the blast break pretty much anything, especially if it's going to cause chaos and madness.

[Sasaisen]

Though doing their best to hide it, something is causing no small consternation to the police. The lieutenant speaks repeatedly into her radio, becoming agitated after no response is forthcoming. At her direction, a handful of officers join their fellows on the grounds, while the rest fan out, paying closer attention to the crowd inside.

Dieter
Your phone loses the signal at this point, as if you had suddenly set foot into a horror movie. Looking around, you're not the only one who no longer has reception.

Alan
Indeed, the display is a nifty one. While the grad student in charge chats with a couple of peers and keeps an idle eye on the equipment, passers-by are encouraged to draw images on a tablet. As they do so, thin filaments of electrical current flow from the machinery and are frozen in midair, shaped and suspended by complex arrangements of magnetic fields, in whatever patterns are drawn. It's not grandiose or anything, but the physics behind it are pretty damn impressive, and parallels can be drawn between this and Alan's work.

However, his browsing is interrupted by a portly older gentleman, fully a head shorter than Alan and dressed informally in navy. "Pardon me, are you Mr. Stone?" he inquires, offering a hand. "My name is Trey Ngo. I represent..." This is in turn interrupted when the beat drops.

Bobby
The music cuts out as the hardware selects a target, replaced a few seconds later with a heavy bass tone. It's not immediately clear what the oscillators have locked on to, until one of the nearby architectural columns starts to vibrate. Hopefully it's decorative.

Kaylee, Miki
There are a small number of cops walking the nearby campus attentively in twos and threes, and commotion will probably erupt from the convention center soon. Otherwise, carry on with your date!

Spoiler: OoC

Show

hobbitguy1420: Compel accepted.

Spoiler: Active Scene Aspects

Show

This Is the Cutting Edge
They'll Show the World
Here and Now
Tonight They Will Shine
Project a Positive Message
Nothing Will Happen on Their Watch
A Rockin' Soundtrack (2 free invocations)

[Argentum]

"Incredible.." Alan marveled at the creation before him, this was a field of science that his own focus was distantly related to and Alan could fully appreciate the insane physics needed to create a device such as this. He wondered just how precise the electrical currents could be, about to fiddle with the tablet and see if there was a zoom in function available.

Then he was tapped on his shoulder and brought out of his happy place. Alan turned around, repressing his annoyance at being interrupted from his experiments, it seemed that a rotund old man was the one who interrupted him.

Oh, the man knew his name and represented some organization as well, this was probably a business offer of some sort. Alan was rather grateful for the sudden onslaught of loud and heavy bass in the background, quirking an eyebrow at the vibrating column. Well, I don't think that's part of the show. The sight was amusing, if somewhat worrying.

He clasped Terry's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Alan Stone at your service, Mr. Ngo." He gave a polite smile, hoping that it didn't give away his annoyance at being interrupted. "Perhaps we should discuss this outside of the booth, it wouldn't be nice of us to deny others the chance to play with this magnificent invention."

[Held]

Dieter

Dieter examined his phone and concluded there was no malfunction. Either something was jamming the signal, or something had happened to the installation that provided the signal. Dieter guessed the first, particularly because the guards had begun moving around. Nervously, Dieter turned 'round to get back to Bobby's, but stopped in his tracks.

Was that a vibrating column?

[The_Admiral]

Lee continues wandering the hall, messing with various projects, the Gou following her as her phone cuts off, unnoticed.

Drawn to a mostly ignored booth that seemed to be about fluid dynamics, no fancy technology, just a plain slideshow, hereye widened as It seemed to be fluid dynamics. "ooooh, at these calculations for. Unified fluid dynamics model?"

[Space Lawyer]

Miki & Kaylee
School grounds

It would be nice to be able to walk back into there holding Kaylee's hand in front of everybody. Food could wait.

"Let's head back then. There should be some really good presentations later on. They always save the best for last, after all."

Miki and Kaylee walk back to the presentation hall through the dispersed swarm of cops. There really were a bunch of them here tonight. Whatever - the whole world was right as far as Miki was concerned.

[hobbitguy1420]

Bobby's hands skipped over his board for a moment. The resonance effect was already well underway. Even if he could shut off the speakers on his end...

"Hey!" He shouted, then leaped down from his booth and began running toward the pillar. "Everyone get away from that thing!" He started waving his arms. "Clear out! It's about to-"

Crack!

[ThreadOfFate]

Nervous, excited, and with brown-red cheeks, Kaylee and Miki walked back into the center, hand in hand. Was everyone staring? It felt like everyone was staring, even if no one was. One of the basketball team stars and a pint-sized genius - though there were plenty of the latter around campus - would undoubtedly make front page headlines of the paper in Kaylee's mind.

In reality, the interesting exhibits, increasingly distressed populace with their phones out, and cops buzzing about like flies were distracting people far, far more than two women holding hands would have - especially in San Fransokyo.

Kaylee's phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her pocket to check the new email or whatever, but instead was greeted with a NO SIGNAL message that had caused the alert vibration. Her wifi was still on, but she had no coverage for phone service. Strange, that - and a re-look at the others with their phones out proved she wasn't the only one. She had turned to ask Miki if her phone was also out when some guy's shouting got her - and everyone else's - attention.

He was waving his hands, running towards a pillar that was...pulsating? Vibrating? And...cracking? Uh oh. Eyes alert and pulse already pounding from holding Miki's hand, her embarrassment turned into adrenaline as she did her best to asses the situation - if it would fall, where it would fall, and who it might hit. Her hand tensed up, as did her entire body, as she prepared to jump into action.

Things had sure gone bad in a hurry.

[The_Admiral]

Lee sat at the impromptu Maths lecture, listening attentively and taking notes as the seemingly only student in the maths department explained formulas and mathematical models to her.

Crack!

Snapped out of her reverie, she got up apologizing and looks around, the source of the sound apparent as a collapsing pillar with Bobby running towards it, wait BOBBY!? She sends the Gou out after him, it bounds over people's heads, its speakers playing the sound of a dog barking.

[Sasaisen]

Despite the general commotion, Bobby manages to direct almost everyone out of harm's way before his oscillators can find the appropriate harmonics. The pillar tumbles and disintegrates, filling the area with stone shards and dust, but fortunately most of the injuries sustained are minor scratches and scrapes from flying fragments.

Far more dangerous is the significant section of ceiling now left unsupported; so caught up is Bobby in being heroic that a chunk of falling masonry very nearly catches him. Instead, in what is ultimately a much less fatal (though still quite painful) impact, Gou bounds past the rubble and knocks him sprawling, but safely out of the zone of danger.

After the debris has settled, officers and bystanders who still have their wits about them (including Mr. Ngo, who politely suggests that maybe he and Alan should talk later) move in to assist the wounded, though this is complicated somewhat by the telecommunications issue within the building. Over the P.A., voices urge everyone to stay calm, despite the fresh skylight in the middle of the building. The event has effectively halted, with many people opting to depart.

Spoiler: Active Scene Aspects

Show

This Is the Cutting Edge
They'll Show the World
Here and Now
Tonight They Will Shine
Project a Positive Message
Nothing Will Happen on Their Watch
A Rockin' Soundtrack (2 free invocations)

[Argentum]

Alan blinked In surprise as the vibrating column crumbled. Right, definitely not part of the show. He grabbed the phone in his pocket quickly, inputting the numbers for the emergency hotline only to blink and scowl in annoyance as he realized that he wasn't getting any reception for some reason.

He nodded absently to Mr. Ngo's suggestion, only half listening to the man as he walked briskly towards the fallen column and debris, tilting his head slightly when he realized that the man whom had been saved by Lee's Gou was none other than Bobby. Guess the music playing wasn't a coincidence.

Alan jogged towards Bobby, "What happened?" Then he paused and realized that it wasn't the time for details, there were injured to help and an accident to report."I'm not getting any reception, could you check your phone and see if we can get any help?"

[ThreadOfFate]

Kaylee instinctively moves in front of Miki when the rubble impacts, turning her back to the shards of plaster and rock and pulling Miki close to her chest and abdomen. She feels some of it impact her back, but it wasn't moving fast, nor was it large enough to really do any damage.

When the dust settles, she glances down, looking at the shorter girl and worried that she might have somehow sustained an injury. "Are you hurt? Everything okay?" The fact that they were now so close was secondary to her concern, or the blush would have returned with a vengeance.

When Kaylee gets confirmation her new love interest is all right, she dashes over and helps Bobby to his feet, adeptly moving around and over chunks of building to get to him. "You okay? Anything broken?" Small talk was difficult, but checking on her team was something she could do comfortably. Following that, she glances to the newcomer - she'd seen him around before, and he looks worried as well. "Lines are down inside the building. Or, outgoing signals are - I got reception just fine when I was outside a minute ago, so clearly something's wrong with the building or a project."

That makes her wonder - there weren't so many people here to overload the carrier towers, and she hadn't heard that someone would be testing some kind of signal blocker or Faraday cage replacement. It seems coincidental with the pillar breaking, but that was apparently nothing more than an accident.

She hopes there won't be any more 'accidents'.

[hobbitguy1420]

Bobby's momentarily stunned as the Gou knocks him away from the tumbling ceiling. He pulls himself back to awareness after a moment, then stirs and looks around. "Ow..." He groans, then blinks as a hand enters his field of vision.

"Are you hurt? Everything okay?"

Bobby takes the hand and pulls himself to his feet, coming face to face with one of the girls Legs had been chatting with earlier. "No - no, I think I'm fine." He starts rubbing a bruise on his arm, then stops when he sees the damage. The color drains from his face. "God... Everyone's all right, right? That ceiling looks pretty heavy-duty." He blanches even further as he realizes some more implications. "God, the professors gonna kill me!"

"What happened?"

Bobby looks over as Alan shows up. "My equipment had a..." stupid operator error that only happened because I'm too much of a damn spaz "...Malfunction. It activated my demo program before I was ready for it, and..." He gestures toward the big freakin' ceiling hole.

He frowns when the others say they aren't getting any reception. "Really? None at all?" He checks his own phone, then looks around at the others. "I can't claim credit on this one. My equipment works with sound, not radio."

[Argentum]

Someone else had already gotten to Bobby by the time he reached, the tall girl that Lee had been speaking to earlier, Alan recognized. She had already helped Bobby up and was talking to him, speaking of Bobby, it looked like he was beginning to realize just how much of the place had collapsed.

Alan whistled, "Some demo, I wonder how destructive the thing will be when its completed." Right, now really wasn't the time to be impressed with a work of science, Alan reminded himself, taking a look around the area. There weren't too many people injured, and it didn't look like anyone was buried underneath the rubble, "Looks like we got off lucky this time. You managed to get everyone away before the thing crumbled." He said, turning back to Bobby.

"Lines are down inside the building. Or, outgoing signals are - I got reception just fine when I was outside a minute ago, so clearly something's wrong with the building or a project."

"Right, I'll get out of the building and call for some help then." Apparently whatever was stopping them from getting reception only worked inside the building, that was just fine. Alan began jogging towards the exit.

[Space Lawyer]

Miki, for her part, blushed scarlet when Kaylee pulled her close. Her mind went a bit blank, with nothing than a slight Eeeeehhhnnnnggggg running through her head. When she regains control over her faculties, she mumbles out "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm nice and compact; not much of me to get hit."

She was about ask if Kaylee was ok, but of course Kaylee bounded off to see if she could help other people. Always such a leader, taking charge and fixing everything. Miki wished she was that strong and confident. Kaylee might protest at that characterization, but it was something Miki saw.

Miki couldn't be that, but maybe there was something she could do. She looks around, finding a bit of rubble to hide behind, then finds a bit of scrap fabric, a piece of a torn banner advertising a green energy project. A quick check confirms that the neural headband is still intact. She puts on the band, puts on her hoodie with the hood up, and ties the scrap of fabric around her face.

About half a kilometer away, in a darkened lab, a series of LEDs begin to glow. They turn from red to green in seconds as the systems checks clear. Small silver spheres, as smooth as the silicon sphere defining the kilogram, rise from PVC pipes (there wasn't that much funding left after the materials for the project itself). They rush towards the call of the neural headband.

[The_Admiral]

After a quick glance at Bobby, she sees him being helped up by Kaylee and alive, Lee rushes to the rubble, her project having been crushed under the rubble. She didn't have enough time to harden it properly, it could just about take a thousand newtons, this was probably much beyond its current tolerances.

Attempting to sift through the rubble, she finds the remains of one of the Gou's servos sighing in disappointment as she exclaims, "I JUST BUILT THIS!"

[Held]

Dieter

Dieter watched the pillar disintegrate─disintegrate!─rooted in place with shock. He was too late to assist, and too far away to be burdened with caution for the disintegrating pillar and everything that came down with it.

When the spectacle was over, Dieter approached carefully. He didn't quite know what to say, and so decided to say nothing at all. Being Bobby's friend, though, Dieter felt like he should be there. Probably. Friendship was that kind of thing, right? You stick by each other, through thick and thin. And this was one of those situations where Bobby'd probably be chewed out. A lot. Making mistakes happens, but not many mistakes disintegrate pillars and threaten the safety of the exhibition.

[hobbitguy1420]

Bobby grimaces at Lee's outburst. "Aw, crap. Sorry, Legs. Is he repairable?"

As Dieter approached, Bobby looked his way. "You okay, Dietz? Didn't get hit by anything?"

[Space Lawyer]

The silver spheres zip silently into the exhibition hall. Ok, real world test number one. Please don't malfunction and crush everyone into a hyperdense mass.

The goggles switch over to the gravitic interface mode. The planet's omnipresent gravity is there, of course, but it is soon to be replaced by artificial fields. The spheres find the largest bits of rubble that aren't keeping the rubble piles from collapsing and move under the piles. Lets see if I can do this with a bit of subtlety. The spheres activate at nearly their lowest power settings. They move back and forth, and ahift the gravity fields around themselves, slowly moving the rubble, making it seem as if it was sliding off by itself.

[Argentum]

Alan quirked an eyebrow, noticing several tiny objects flying towards the exhibition hall at high speeds. How in the world are those things flying? Alan wondered as they passed over his head, the flying objects were silver spheres, by the looks of it. Nanotechnology perhaps? He gave a mental shrug, now wasn't the time for that.

He stopped his jog a dozen or so meters out of the exhibition's exit, checking his phone for reception. Alan smirked in triumph and immediately called the authorities to report the incident. While the pillar collapsing was apparently an accident with Bobby's equipment, whatever was blocking reception seemed suspicious and it would help to have more authorities around the area.

Though if it's anything like the incident with Professor Callaghan, I doubt the authorities will be much help...

[ThreadOfFate]

"I JUST BUILT THIS!"

Alan headed out, Kaylee watching the newcomer go as Lee mourned her newly destroyed robot. Kaylee walked over to Lee, giving her friend a comforting pat on the back and a soft, "Hey, it's okay, you can build another one." She knew that feeling, when so much work was reduced to parts or nothing.

She then glanced to Bobby, leaning in close. "I'd keep it low that your equipment did this. I don't think you'll cause a panic, but better to just keep quiet until it's all cleared up. ...and...impressive work."

"Hey, Miki, did you s-" Kaylee turned, then cut herself off - Miki had vanished. Confused, she looked around, trying to catch sight of the bright purple hair. "Miki?" No sign of her. Kaylee wasn't very worried - she may have just ducked into the restroom, or out of this room, or something else - but there was slight consternation on her face as she took in the entire room.

[Held]

Dieter

"I- I'm fine, I was..." very far out of the way. Dieter swallowed, then rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Is, um, is there anything... I can do to help?" It was pretty much a gigantic mess that was slightly reminiscent of Dieter's lab ever since the Incident Of Nines, of which must never be spoken. Ever.

[The_Admiral]

Looking at Bobby, she shakes her head solemnly.

"thanks.... What's wrong?" she replied to Kaylee as she held on to the remaining limb of the Gou.