Light the Signal New IC

[Mekboy]

Willow took a hurried step back. "Ach! You're some kinda computer-man?"

Regular computers were creepy enough for Willow. Nasty little super-smart thinking boxes. And here was one with arms and legs and stuff, walking around. How did that even happen? Though, the thought occurred to her, this one at least didn't seem particularly smart. Still damn weird. She'd have to keep an eye on it.

[hairy-joe]

Isaac nods

"I am an artificial intelligence, designed to assist in the research of my creators."

he quickly replaces and fastens his faceplate.

"You are returning data that falls outside the standard deviation for humans. you are not human. what are you?"

[Mekboy]

Willow narrowed her eyes. "Returning data? What's that meant to mean? You doing some sort of weird of computer-sense at me? If you must know I'm a fairy. Did the ears not tip you off?"

She flicked at the tip of her pointed ear to emphasize the point.

[hairy-joe]

"Full electromagnetic spectrum wavelength analysis. The ears did not give you away, there are several cosmetic procedures that will point the tip's of a humans ears. you are exhibiting signs of distress, am i causing you discomfort?

Isaac wrings his hands together in an uncany valley replica of a nervous habit.

[Mekboy]

Willow shrugged and gave a friendly smile. "What? No. Nothing's wrong. Just a finding it a bit weird."

Of course I'm finding it weird! You're a computer standing there talking to me! You're wringing your hands! It's weird! This is weird!

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie thought to himself as he rolled along the wide path that leads to the meta-ball pitch to meet up for the new weekly practice that the team seemed to arrange around their other commitments and schedules. It all seemed to magically fall into place, like fate or some unseen and powerful chessmasters were at play.

He walked away from the pitch last week white with worry. There's no way that he wasn't in a whole heap of trouble because of the damages and organising the shenagains that went on last week. Albatross was right, it was an absolute scandal. Charlie skulked around school keeping his head down, but all he recieved was a metaphorical slap on the wrists. It was difficult to understand, but Charlie didn't mind, he just hoped the news hadn't reached beyond the school.

As the next few days and the next few lessons, Charlie was approached by a handful of other students about Meta-ball and the team. If the team was a secret, it wasn't now.
The other students that joined the practice today were people who had sought him and other players of the team out to volunteer. One player seemed enthused about the havoc and destruction caused at the pitch and that it seemed fun. Another knew a person, who knew a person, who had a major crush on one of the players. Another was a player from Albatross'es former team and said they'd make no further comment at this time. Regardless for their motives of wanting to play, Charlie was very glad they decided to join - from what he could gather from the pool party and from their time on the pitch, this was the right team. The kind of caring, social team that you knew that you'd want to hang out with, to achieve great things with, to support one another in the difficult times.

... Romancing over, he rolled onto the pitch and flared his headlights at the small group that had amassed on the field. He heard everything that Indira and the team were saying, thanks to the various radios and ear-pieces the team had.

"Evening ladies and gentlemen!" He said with a chipper inflexion. He looked upon the bouncy, active team. "Thanks coach, let's hit the grass for now and work our way up from there. Feel free to change it if you think it'll be good for us." He paused for a moment, before speaking to Indira on a private frequency, "Your telepathic communication, are you going to use that for coaching us? What did you have planned? Can we use it to warm up, to get in the zone?"

In a moment, the tank dissolved and floated away in so many polygons. Charlie emerged wearing a pair of brightly colored shorts (in signal colors), a pristine white-t shirt and more sweatbands that what could be considered reasonable. He walked to the seats and put down a piece of paper for everyone to read. It was a piece of slightly crumpled lined paper with OFFENSE and DEFENSE written hastily on it with a number of names written down, possibly with correct spelling.

"This is the positions list. This is where you've siad to someone where you'd like to play, but don't worry it's not fixed - I've got a pencil! It is a good place to start though, don't you think? Give it a quick scan and let's hit the field."

He stepped away and within a blink, the engines and tracks hummed once again. He turned his turret and hull to face everyone. If you're a tank, does it count as polite to face the people you're speaking to?

"Don't forget, please warm up - it avoids injury. Also, it gives you the chance to have a bit of a jibber-jabber, so get it all out now, we'll need to focus out there." He said with a smile as he anticipated the amusing conversation of the little-robot-that-could and Willow, the irritated sprite.

"Oh, on second thought, don't warm up Issac. I don't want you to activate melt-down or anything like that."

[Rhyvurg]

Herald looks at his shirt. "Huh. And all this time people have been telling me I'm offensive. Go figure." He changes shirts.

[Anyr]

Being put on the offensive line came as no surprise to Rebecca. Art student or not, she was basically a bruiser. She specialised in hitting things very hard, and then staying up if said things hit back. Well, now was a chance for that rather brutal side of herself to actually be useful. She bounced over to her assigned position with glee. Everyone she met along the way received at least a passing nod of greeting.

"Hey Michelle...Ellen, good to see you...Bryn! You made it! Where'd they stick you?"

[hairy-joe]

Isaac approaches Charlie"I have compiled as much data from the paper as i can, given that you do not require me to warm up would you like to hear the results of my scan?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn gave Wren a hug-- they were roommates, after all-- before trotting out onto the field and standing on the offensive side, near Rebecca. "Charlie made me a running back. Not that I really know what that entails."

Ellen gives Rebecca a toothy grin, as only a werewolf can. Given that they were both stereotypical "monsters", Ellen had always enjoyed hanging out with the vampire, even if movies usually had them being natural enemies. "You too, Beccers. Ready to lay some hurt down on the defense?"

[Anyr]

Rebecca returned the Werewolf's grin with just as much enthusiasm (though less teeth). Of all her friends, Ellen was the one closest to her own wavelength. The two of them just 'got' each other.

"You know it! Be sure to save a few for me."

Bryn was different. She and Rebecca didn't have much in common, and didn't think much alike. They'd only met because of the whole 'blood buddies' thing. But these nights, Rebecca found herself spending more and more time with the Welsh girl. Maybe a genuine bond was forming between them; Or maybe drinking from someone over and over had some side effects. Now there was a scary thought...

[Space Lawyer]

"Thanks coach, let's hit the grass for now and work our way up from there. Feel free to change it if you think it'll be good for us."

Indira nods, and leaves the field set for grass. She does remember to turn down the threat rating though; whoever had been using it before had it set at maximum. On the grass field, that could cause things like sudden storms (complete with unerringly accurate lightning strikes), earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. The worst this team would face would be sun in their eyes.

"Your telepathic communication, are you going to use that for coaching us? What did you have planned? Can we use it to warm up, to get in the zone?"

"To some degree. I'll need to observe you before it can be really useful. I've watched a lot of metaball matches the past few days, and taken a peak at the memories of a few good players I could get near. I can put those memories into your heads, and you'll be able to call on them, but they won't do any good unless your physical abilities, powers, and playstyle match up with the memories. For instance, if I put the memories of Yvette Quinn, that senior with super-senses and hyper-adapted physiology into your head, you wouldn't know what to do with them. Unless you can just simply ignore things like having your legs broken and keep running like her, trying to play like her would just get you hurt."

Sh purposefully ignored the question about using her telepathy to "get in the zone". She had actually been broadcasting feelings of action, achievement, and competitiveness since she arrived. Nothing major, just a subtle nudge. It would give the players a bit of an edge in their training. It was better that they didn't know that though. Allowing them to incorporate that feeling into their own engrams, and really make it their own, would ensure that they would be able to call on that feeling in a real match.

[hairy-joe]

after one final high speed runthrough of the several hundred hours of metaball footage that he has downloaded Isaac heads over to the statisticaly most useful start point for his number.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie nods to Indira's wisdom, she'll no doubt be an absolute asset to the team. Charlie silently hoped that her attendance here isn't just out of a sense of duty or obligation because of her misdemenors or detention. Hopefully there'll be people around here who she likes and has fun with, he hopes that this will all be fun and not a matter of business.

He rolls onto the field near the center of the pitch, wheeling close to Bryn - "Yeah, running back. I think you'll make a fantastic half-back, you're the rushing superstar. With your slim frame, your athletic background, and your ability to heal after some punishment: you're the perfect choice, but of-course it's your call."
He turns to the turret towards the group approaching the field.
"Hey everyone, let's line up. We've got some plays to make."
Speaking quieter now: "Let's start with a half-back dive. After the snap from our center, Alfred, try and dive through the space made by Rebecca. You don't need to go far, unless you can."

He scans the group, identifying the nice students who were very quickly going to be all up in their grill. Meta-ball is a great invention, it's a way for the students to use their powers to wrestle and tustle, without the threat of defeat or mortal combat. Let's see how this goes.

"Ready."

[Mekboy]

Willow raised a hand.

"Could you explain that again for those of us without a background in chasing a ball around a muddy field? Also, what's a safety do?"

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Vera pulls Willow aside and walks with her down the field a ways to their positions while explaining the rules. "The offense will try to run or throw the ball down the field-- there's usually a bunch of play variations that the offensive team will use depending on where they are on the field, and what the powers of the defense are like. We want to keep them from getting the ball anywhere. If, after 4 attempts in a row they fail to get the ball at least 10 yards, then the other team gets to play offense. We're not allowed to kill anyone, but we can use our powers any way we see fit. The safeties-- that's us-- are the last line of defense. Usually it's a spot reserved for people whose powers take a little time to activate. It takes me a few seconds to cast any sort of spell, for instance, and being the back line of defense gives me time to get something useful cast. That help?"

Bryn meanwhile, lines up where she's told, waiting for the snap of the ball.

Spoiler: OOC

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Anyone else want to do any interaction before I start up a play or two? I don't plan to go into a lot of detail after the first couple, but I want to give folks a chance to be creative in the use of their powers if they want to.

[Wiz0rd]

"Vera, with explanations like that, you're starting to sound like a good candidate for captain! She's exactly right. Saftey stop people who get free on the run, you are like the goal-keeper. You are the last line of defense, if they get past the line, then the players are yours to take down. You want to look out for the offense wide reciever who will be looking for a pass, OR the running carries who get past the wall of defense. So when we play, wait, look about you, and then take them down. Saftey is a cool job."

Hmm, a witch with a sports and meta-ball brain? One to look out for, for sure.

Charlie enjoyed setting up for Bryn on the first play, she already proved herself last week with that horrifying car incident, and it took some of the pressure off his shoulders as he calibrated his shells for passes between plays.
He quietly began to steam Nirvana's album through his tank speakers; to help get everyone in the mood. Grunge rock, seems fitting.

"Alfred, snap when you're ready. Hopefully the start of play might get people lining up!" He says clearly over the top of the music. "What are your sprites anyway?" He says quietly to the dude.

Spoiler: Music

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[Mekboy]

"'Kay then, stop ball getting past, preferably without murder. Gotcha."

[Anyr]

"Let's do this!"

Rebecca entered the fray with a scary amount of vigour. Woe betide those who got in her way. Though admittedly, it was pretty easy to get out of her way. Despite her insane strength and stamina, Rebecca wasn't much faster than an ordinary human. And since she had no training, her movements were pretty clumsy. Right now, she was all force and no finesse.

[hairy-joe]

Isaac tweaks a few screws in his knees, and has a look at the other team to try and figure out the different weights of their most promising runners. after a few seconds he walks over to Wren and Richard to discuss the feasability of throwing them during the plays.

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Alfred waited until Isaac walked away from the line to approach Wren and Richard to snap the ball. Instead of snapping it directly to Charlie, he instead lobs it upwards, above the tank's cannon. A impish-looking creature with leathery wings materializes in front of the path of the ball, snatching it out of mid-air and stuffs it into the cannon's barrel.

Meanwhile another winged critter appears just behind Rebecca's head and starts pulling faces, distracting Garrett, who had lined up opposite Rebecca, from using his powers before the vampire can act, giving her the jump on him.

Vera starts to cast some sort of spell, although it will take her some time to get it finished. Bryn starts to run down the field, around behind Rebecca, while Jeff takes flight directly above the line. Jeff runs afoul of Thomas's ability however, as he suddenly finds 'down' to be towards the offensive goal, and he stalls out over the linebackers, attempting to keep to the air with the sudden change of direction.

OOC: Feel free to use any of the NPCs not already mentioned in any action you wish to take, while posting your own reactions to the play. =)

[Rhyvurg]

Taking a cue from the use of Charlie-Tank, Herald runs downfield, keeping an eye out for the cannon to fire.

[Mekboy]

Still somewhat mystified as to the exact aim of the game and her purpose within it, Willow shrugged. Best just go with the flow. The magic-girl seemed just to be trying to be a pain in the ass to the others. That worked. Willow was good at that.

Willow cracked her neck and made a couple of complex hand gestures, and two copies of her seemed to step out of herself. They weren't real of course, but hopefully by the time people realized they weren't they'd have done their job.

[hairy-joe]

As charlie's first shot rings out Isaac races back to his position in the line beibg sure to keep careful track of where the ball is flying.

[Space Lawyer]

Indira takes a seat on the tennis-style referee's chair that had materialized for her and releases her consciousness. Her viewpoint shifts to an entirely different angle. It was hard to explain to those without her sort of abilities; she perceived the battlefield from all angles simultaneously, on both a physical, mental, and astral level, unlimited by the tether of her meat.

She felt herself stepping out a bit too much, and pulled herself back in. Farseer always got so pissed when she displayed a hint of her real power in public. He was always going on about "mind-shattering force" and "potential for catastrophic destruction". He had even made her erect psychic blocks around any hint of telekinetic powers years ago, saying "You've seen what you can do just by thinking too hard. Now picture what that could do if translated into physical force." Of course, the imagining of that had, well, the exact sort of effect that Farseer was hoping to avoid, thus necessitating another psychic block.

Back to the game at hand, she watched the action developing. Seemed like this team was already coming together nicely.

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie was impressed with the talented snap of Alfred, who by all purpouses was considered an unusual choice for center, a positon usually reserved for the biggest and strongest brawlers. But his normal lithe frame and his ability to summon sprites: these imp like creatures, proved invaluable - giving him the ability to be effective in multiple places at once. Charlie dwelled only momentarily on his ability to summon before -

-THWACK- The ball was loaded and secure in the muzzle as planned, that striking sound however was not the typical metal clunking one would expect, that was the sound of Richard bouncing off the metal after fumbling with the sprite who was blocking for Charloe while he lined up the pass.

Charlie hardly had to look and think - a quick glace saw Bryn sprinting downfield just behind Rebecca who was already engaged in some rough looking blocking. In a moment the short-pass shell was loaded and the heavy mechanisms of the cannon rocked to the sound of a dull thud. The pass was made, and was being delivered to Bryn, just as planned. Or so Charlie had hoped. He watched to see the reaction of the defensive team.

It seemed as if all the linesman were preoccupied with their roles, both offensive and defensive brawlers negating one another from play - with Rebecca gaining an advantage of suprise on her mark, thanks to the work of Alfred.
Issac looked if he had a free moment to scan and predict the trajectory of the ball to Bryn before he was set upon ferociously by Ellen, the team Werewolf - with flashing claws and ravaging movements, hopefully buying time for Bryn to get further downfield.
It appeared that Herald predicted the quick shotgun pass to the Halfback and ran slightly downfield in preparation for this, only having to readjust slightly to begin the chase.

It also seemed that the only poor choice for a pass was our vertical flyer, Jeff, who had been hard countered by the Gravity manipulator and sent spiralling away.

The ball was Bryn's now. Good luck Red Welshman!

[DarkLadyOfTheSith]

Bryn catches the ball, and Vera finishes her spell. As the witch's incantation ends, Bryn suddenly takes a sharp right turn, then another, running back up the field a few yards before turning left and heading towards the sidelines-- as if she's running a maze. This gives the defense time to try to close with her-- and the offensive line opportunity to try to block the defense from reaching Bryn, who, apparently, is unaware she's changing directions randomly.

[Rhyvurg]

Herald keeps pace with Bryn, always watching her but always dodging or leaping over other players or obstacles. "You can't fake me out Bryn, I can see faster than you!" And just as she makes a turn, he uses all his mental oomph to pin her pivot foot to the ground.

[Anyr]

Rebecca did a double take when she saw Bryn's rather unconventional route. Unfortunately, she couldn't exactly devote much attention to it. Grappling an irate gravity manipulator took a look of concentration.

"Hey, Bryn! What are you doi-UMF! Get your elbow out of my...Augh...EYE!"

[Wiz0rd]

Charlie couldn't help but giggle to Rebecca's call to Bryn, though painful looking, her exclamation carried a certain sense of comedy to it. Rebecca did her role well, Bryn is clear - but running ... oddly. Hm, that wasn't the play, exactly, but give creative freedom where it is due - she's still up and that counts for a lot. Charlie in this moment, hadn't a lot to do, he'd finished his pass and he was to big to chase through the line, so he waited and watched with bated breathe. He'd talk to Indira after the play about his options.

"Bryn! Snap out of it!" Charlie bellowed loudly through the megaphone of his ride, trying to encourage disbelief in Bryn who appeared lost.

Bryn was quickly being approached by the defense, the key players being Herald, Willow and Vera.
Herald looked as if he was taking a direct approach, using his physique and powers to chase and pin the courageous ball-carrier, while Willow and Vera looked as if they were revving up some new spells or moves further down-field. If our offensive brawler's don't support her soon somehow, this play looks like it's over.

Suddenly, as if responding to Charlie's concerns, two summoned imps appear either side to pester any non-serious tackle that comes Bryn's way.