THE SLORG!
Lunch, Little Haven, cafeteria - Alex Palencia the werewolf saying nah, screw that.
"Why are you lumping me and her in the same category when she's the only one actually threatening to fight?!" Alex retorted at Coralie, with a scowl on his face, as he just pointed at Mindy with her recently-ablaze hand. His patience was already at its limit and he was in a really, really bad mood. Were the aptly named canine teeth in his mouth starting to stick out a little more prominently, or was that just imagination at work? "How about you focus on the person actually causing trouble, and leave me the hell alone!"
You are reading this.
Cafeteria
Ms—Aur—The girl reacted very quickly to the idea of the device being used on someone else. She abruptly turned back around and glared at Coralie. "Do not point that thing at anyone else or—" Then she trailed off, because, you know, she was the principal. Sort of.
Val, meanwhile, responded by silently pointing at Blake. Given their track record of being noticed when not speaking, it wasn't guaranteed that Coralie would notice this, but then again there was probably a decent chance that she would have picked Blake anyway.
As Alex and Mindy's fight escalated, the girl, who used to be a principal and maybe sorta technically still was, felt like she should step in. Unfortunately she was also not Ms. Sims and so she was not nearly as good at conflict resolution as Ms. Sims (who used to be a school counselor, remember?) was, so she...well, she said this.
"Look, both of you are calling each other names, even if you're doing it in some weird language, so as far as I'm concerned both of you started it. Now shut up or get out."
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
Toa of Anarchy
"Ohhh, buddy, now that is a toughie," Coralie paced about, stroking her chin in contemplation. "I mean to begin with, the answer is 'Yes', obviously. In an infinite sprawling time-space continuum, there's gonna be at least one of you with superpowers. It's just a matter of figuring out how to replicate that with the tools available. I could maybe soup up your musculature, and give you the best capacity for strength, speed and durability around, but that's basal-bitch level stuff, barely counts as superpowers. I could try going deeper, mucking around with possible branches of human evolution, but if I accidentally turn you into a giant scorpion thing, that could mess you up emotionally. The REALLY risky move would be trying to replicate superpowers from the other worlds I've been to, 'cos those worldlines have totally different environmental conditions. I wouldn't completely know what I was doing, at least without properly analysing superhuman genetic structure from...this reality."
At this, Coralie sidled over to Mindy and looked her up and down, like a customer perusing a restaurant meal. Then abruptly she whipped around to address Blake again as if nothing had happened.
"I guess the real question is, what powers did you have in mind?... Make that two real questions- the other being, are you sure you don't want a different change to tide you over just for today? Gender, Age, Fitness, that kind of thing?"
Coralie gasped rapturously as she unfurled the blueprints. "C'es incroíable! Such mechanical artistry on display! It almost seems a shame to meddle with such craft, but with a few more seconds of studying this, and a couple of adjustments to the device, I should be able to generate a robo-sister for all seasons!" She laid the blueprints down on a desk and checked the display screen of her transmogrifier. "Speaking of a few seconds: three, two, one..."
Suddenly, the girl who'd so artlessly attempted to defuse the conflict just now flashed with energy and plasma light again. There was less than a second of blurring features and rapid growth, then with an almost audible pop, Ms Sims was back in the room. For her, it would have been like waking up from a dream, though instead of an alarm clock she'd been in a bullet-train elevator with the aircon on full blast. As the tingling feeling in her muscles slowly went away, she'd remember everything of being in that strange body, though feeling a little dissociated from everything she'd done and said in it.
For the Horde!
Gill looked between Mindy and Alex, looking frustrated as the two hurled insults at each other. The girl who was once Ms. Sims didn't seem to be helping the situation.
"Hey!" Gill exclaimed. "It doesn't matter to me who started it. Alex, you were the one who decided to be rude when all I did was think out loud, and make an innocent statement... and Mindy, I know you want to protect me but biting his head off over it isn't right either!" said Gill, with a frown on his face. "I don't know what you guys are saying, but can we please stop fighting and actually get along? I don't want you guys to rip each other apart like blood-crazed sharks!" he insisted.
The room flooded with light again and Gill winced back, seeing Ms. Sims had returned to her original form.
"So, uh... I'm done with my lunch, are there any other things that I have to do regarding controlling my... powers? I dunno if there's anything I can do about mine to be honest. Tempers have been running high and I think it's probably best that people got some rest. It's been a long day."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
What, me worry?
"Hey, excuse me, Gill. But it ain't just what he said to you. This guy's been all over the place. Acts like a friend one minute, but then throws you under the bus the next. Learned that yesterday. And all I did was try to help the guy out. We both got some abilities that can possibly kill someone. All I did was make a breakthrough, but he didn't appreciate that at all. He doesn't appreciate anybody! I know I ain't no sweet angel, but at least I try to look after my friends and try to help 'em out when they need me. But all he does is throw you away when he don't need you and just act like he's some bad rebel. Well, I ain't impressed! And maybe I won't go after him if he gets over himself! Just choose to be one person and stick with it. He's just been all over the place!" Mindy just ranted over Alex. And yes, it really stung her. Hoping that she found someone like her who understood the struggles. But alas, she was disappointed.
She then gives Gill a more straighter look. "And you.... you're a nice guy. You better be careful because there are sharks out there. Human sharks who will just eat you up. Trust me, I've been chewed up and spit out several times by 'em," she says all this in a very personal manner before looking away and sighing.
Addressing Sims, she asks "Do we have to do power control, or can we go now?", she says, now feeling extremely spent over her ranting.
THE SLORG!
Lunch, Little Haven, cafeteria - Alex Palencia the werewolf now fed up with this.
Sure, what Ms. Sims said was offensive, but it was also just dumb enough to make Alex's reaction to it more bafflement than anger. "'Some weird language'? It's Spanish. You know? Español?" he responded, then shook his head. Gill made a point that Alex was being rude, but the thing about irrational and emotional teenagers (or anyone without a full mental maturity, really) is that presenting them with a valid point while they're pissed off usually won't do a thing about them being pissed off, so Alex ignored Gill entirely.
Then, Mindy was talking to Gill and going on and on painting Alex as the bad guy, again. He was already pissed off and exasperated, so he couldn't hold back an eye roll, and then a retort. "Oh yeah, you totally know what it's like to be scared you'll kill somebody on accident; clearly, that's why you threatened to burn my balls off just a minute ago!" he said loudly in a sarcastic tone. He then stood and grabbed his bag as he looked at the once-again-herself Ms. Sims. "Well since I didn't shut up, that means I gotta get out now, right?" the young werewolf remarked, and turned to head for the exit. "Not like I was gonna get any help today anyways," he muttered to himself as he started to leave.
Edited by FirockFinion on May 19th 2022 at 2:37:26 AM
You are reading this.
For the Horde!
Gill looked between Alex and Mindy, furrowing his brow and sighing.
"To be honest, Mindy, you've been kinda all over the place too," he pointed out. "He's right, you did threaten him with your fire hands. You've been just as aggressive with him as he has with you, maybe even more so. But that still doesn't make what Alex said right, and it doesn't make what you've said right." He frowned at Mindy and shook his head. "I can tell... You two have problems that you need to work on. I know you two aren't bad people. I know there's good in you. But I think you two need to work a little harder in showing it."
He got up as well, grabbing his empty bag. "When you've thought about what I said, come by the beach. I need to go home and think about this myself."
Without even figuring out whether or not Gill was supposed to leave from power control, he started to walk away from Mindy, heading for the door, though whether or not Ms. Sims would stop him was another matter entirely.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
What, me worry?
Mindy just looked at Gill after he told her that she was also just as wrong as what Alex did, especially when she threatened to roast his balls with her hands. "It's not like I was actually gonna do it..." she says, still feeling spent. And she wasn't actually going to do it either. She was afraid of hurting someone with the hands. It was just one of those heat of the moment things for her. While she more than likely would have beaten him up with her fists, she definitely wouldn't have her hands ablaze. She just stood there, watching him as he turned around.
For the first time here, Mindy started to feel weird about herself. She was a girl from Brooklyn who had to act tough and be tough because it's the only life she's even known at that point. She had gotten into a lot of fights back in NY. The way she saw it, it's either be tough or you'll be eaten alive. But now for the first time someone had actually told her that what she was doing was wrong. She didn't know what to make of it. Mindy just chooses to ignore Alex's sarcastic reply as she slumped down in her chair to think. If Sims would release the class, then great. But until that happened, she was planning to stay seated. Left to wonder how she was challenged over her way of thinking; the same way of thinking that's helped her survived the rough-and-tough streets of New York for the past seven years, back when she was just a mere 2nd grader.
Cafeteria
After getting over the initial shock, Ms. Sims seemed disappointed that the transformation was over, which said something about her personality. "Aww. Didn't you say it would last for a day? I probably misheard you. Well, that was fun while it lasted."
She then noticed her students leaving unexcused. That was a problem. "Uh, guys, class isn—" She was interrupted by the sound of the "bell". "...oh. Nevermind. Class dismissed!"
Meanwhile, Val spent the time between Alex leaving and the "bell" ringing nervously looking between the door Alex left from and Ms. Sims. A few seconds after class was dismissed, they, apparently coming to some sort of decision, got up and half-walked, half-ran after him.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
For the Horde!
Gill glanced up when Ms. Sims was about to ask the class to sit back down, but then the 'bell' rang.
"Hm," Gill murmured, before glancing back and heading towards the door as well. He opened the door, walking down the hall and starting to make his way outside the school.
Heading down the hall, he had some time for some thought. He had only known these people for two days, and he had given humans the benefit of the doubt. He knew they had to be better than the monsters that his parents had made them out to be. No one was that evil, that willfully destructive. And indeed, the majority of the humans he had met so far had been pleasant to him.
Then there were the outliers— Alex, for starters. He knew that Alex was pained, hoping to maintain himself so he didn't hurt anyone with his powers. And yet why did he have to be so rude to everyone? He had simply made an observation, a wistful wish, and Alex had coldly shot it down. His words echoed in Gill's mind:
"You were never gonna be just like any other human when you hardly know anything about us."
Gill furrowed his brow— of course he wasn't like other humans, of course he didn't know anything about them. That's why he was at school to begin with, right? He was there to learn. That was the purpose of a school— for learning. And yet why did Alex's words cut him so deep?
He just hoped that what he said to Mindy would sink in. He knew that she was better than Alex, that she did care, but that they both needed to learn a little about how to treat others.
He was so deep in thought, that he opened the door to the outside and walked outside of the school without much mind, not paying much attention to his surroundings.
Edited by AllHailThrall on May 21st 2022 at 12:39:01 PM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
THE SLORG!
After school, Little Haven, Just outside Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf that cannot smell nothing.
Since nobody directly stopped him, Alex made his way out of the school and onto the sidewalk. He moved a little away, not wanting to seem like he was trying to stop anyone else from leaving, and paused there. He was still desperate to do something about his lycanthropy, and Coralie's gizmo was basically the only lead he had at the moment, but he wasn't sure if asking for her help after the blowup in the cafeteria was going to go very well. So, he figured he'd wait outside and watch and make a decision after she came out.
Given what Val was, or perhaps more accurately what they were not, Alex didn't really notice that the person of questionable existence was following him.
You are reading this.
What, me worry?
All Mindy does once the bell rings is watch Alex and Gill clear out. She sits there for an extra few minutes before she gets her backpack and leaves the building. She gets on her bike and just rides around town, thinking things over. Thinking about what Gill said. But it's hard for her to come to terms with this as her aggressive nature has been the one thing that's helped her survive back in the rough streets of Brooklyn. Something that she can't just shake off, or so she thinks. But still, Gill does seem to be worried over her. She thinks he's a real nice guy. Seeing his nature actually made Mindy think of herself years ago, before she got hardened by her life there. After a while, she stops nearby an abandoned building to rest and catch her breath.
She starts to wonder that maybe she should go see Gill at the beach. She had never been to the beach in Little Haven before. The last time she did go to a beach was last year, back in Coney Island. Just walking around the sand and the water was quite the relaxing experience for her. So maybe it would be nice to go over there. And maybe explain to Gill how she is, to maybe help him understand why she is the way she is. But regardless, she decides she'll just rest for the moment for the time being before she makes her way there.
Edited by MatthewLMayfield on May 22nd 2022 at 2:09:58 PM
Toa of Anarchy
Cafeteria and Beyond
From the looks of things, no lasting terror or trauma from the changes. Coralie smiled to herself at another satisfied customer.
"Did I say that?" Coralie 'scanned' her own memories for a moment. "...Ah! I get the confusion. What I said was 'up to a day'. My Transmogrifications are programmable for seconds, minutes and hours on end, up to a grand total of 24 hours a day. I just gave you the five-minute taster treatment- otherwise, you'd have a heck of a hard time drivin' home tonight, amiright?"
Coralie scooted up closer to Ms Sims. "But hey, if at any point you're feeling up to a change for, say, a whole school day...well, y'know where to find me!" She winked mischievously. After all, another officially-sanctioned opportunity to monkey with nature AND erode the societal hierarchy of the school system? Coralie, for one, would be up for that any time.
In any case, school was ending, and now all the students were heading their separate ways. Coralie gathered her stuff together, hefting jetpack and backpack onto her back, and looking over her surroundings with a melancholy expression. She'd be back to her old world soon...back to what passed for the family home and garage, to a grimy existence stuck to the heel of the Great Papal Imperium. There was a good reason why Coralie hopped worlds every chance she got- away from a world that constantly judged you based on where you and your family came up from, that refused to separate learning and society from ancient scripture, that gave you just enough leeway to choose your own damn sex and then tried its damndest to make you feel unnatural for that.
Well, now Coralie could take the pick of her own kind of natural, and better still, she had the excuse of getting an education while doing it. Sure, she'd seized upon the first two-bit school shack in the first Worldline Attractor Field she'd found in the cosmic buttcrack of nowhere. But out of all the schools in all the known worlds she could've picked...she was glad it was this one. World-31 seemed fun, but a little creepy at first blush, and the curriculum was a little too magic-based. World-32 was bugnuts awesome, but far too dangerous with the current sino-anglican conflict. Besides, the magic and science and talking animals were all right out in the open there. But here, in World-33, all the weirdness was hidden under the surface. More boring to the outside observer, but the fact that it was all compacted into one school, the very school Coralie was attending, made it seem more...personal, somehow.
Speaking of personal, there was the matter of her fellows. She'd drag the teachers down to her level one way or another if Ms Sims was any indicator. But out of her fellow classmates, who could she really call a 'friend' just yet? Mindy and Alex, well, they'd brush her away as soon as look at her. Blake seemed okay but desperate to fit in by being something more than normal. Until she'd figured out the baseline for normal in this reality, Coral feared anything she tried would be setting him up for disappointment. Gill was nice, maybe even too nice sometimes, and keeping on his good side would make you a friend for life. But for a really true friend, the kind that would give Coral a reason to stay in this world for as long as she could...she felt she needed someone who shared her skills and passions. Someone who had the potential to...really understand her.
"Hey Nastya, wait up!"
CG for short
Cafeteria, Nastya
Hearing the school bell ring, Nastya packed her things and headed for the door. Then, she heard Coralie call out to her."Yeah?" She turned around.
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
Fwomph
School Day's End
"Well, something like what everyone he—"
Blake couldn't finish the statement before the ranting and outbursts of others in the room drowned him out. By the time things had quietened down again people had left the room and the bell had rung out. He sat there for a few moments, trying to regain his bearings and realizing that the opportunity had passed.
"Well uh... Guess I'll head home."
With that Blake sheepishly got up and started on the long walk home...
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Toa of Anarchy
End of School
Coralie passed by Blake and gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Next time, fella. I'll do some reading up on the human genome, and in the morning, you can give me your special request, okay? But what it's worth, I think you fit in just fine." Giving a friendly wink, she pranced away again.
Hoisting her backpacks, she came to walk level with Nastya. "You got some free time and a place to hang out? I'd love to pick your brain about them robo-sisters. Heck, maybe even that reincarnation bizniz. If you're comfortable with that bit, of course."
Wherever Gill Is
Eventually, Gill would come to a stop. It was hard to say how much of this was intentional on his part, or even how much he realized it was happening, but he came to a stop nonetheless.
Were Gill to look up after stopping, he'd see someone leaning against a pole in a way that suggested he wanted to look casual while doing it, and put a lot of effort into appearing casual, which meant he didn't actually look casual at all, because that's not how that works. "Hey," he said, which would probably trigger Gill to look up if he didn't already.
Wherever Mindy Is
Mindy wouldn't find anything of note on her walk for a little bit. However, she wasn't that far from where Gill was, where Alex was, where Coralie, Nastya, and Blake were, or the library, and could easily end up in any of those places if she kept going.
Wherever Alex Is
It wouldn't take long for Alex to run into someo—oh, great, it's Camera Kid again. And he's recording again...at a position and angle that has a rather good view through one of the windows of Oddity High's makeshift cafeteria. Great.
He was still recording, or at least wrapping up the recording, so he didn't notice Alex this time.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
For the Horde!
Gill walked, looking down as he did so, determined to walk towards the beach. He stopped to ruminate for a moment, then the voice of the gentleman caught his attention.
He glanced up, seeing the man leaning against the pole. He nodded absent-mindedly, blinking a few times.
"Hi... hi there," Gill greeted, a slight smile on his face. "Nice day, hm?"
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
What, me worry?
Mindy just stands near her bike for a few minutes and inspects the new chain she put on there and it looks as good as ever. After a moment, she gets back on the bike and heads toward the beach.
CG for short
Nastya
Nastya grinned widely upon hearing Coralie's request."Hell yeah!" She excitedly.
"Oh no..." Tatiana complained, hearing what Coralie was talking about. "At least call Father first."
"Alrighty," Nastya pulled out her phone and called her father.
"Yes, Nastya?" Her father said. "Is anything alright?"
"Yup, I want hang out with a new friend I made at school. Her name is Coralie and she's really cool. Can I do so, pretty please?"
"Sure," Nastya's father responded. "Just come home by 6."
"Gotcha, love ya!" Nastya hung up the phone with a wink towards Coralie. "So, where are we heading to do your experiment, eh?"
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
THE SLORG!
After school, Little Haven, Just outside Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf finding a peeper.
After a sniff of his nose, Alex looked over and noticed that kid with the camera again. Alex looked at how the camera was aimed, then looked up at the window in question with a raised eyebrow.
"If you're trying to film the freakshow, shouldn't you have a better angle?" Alex pointed out, to announce his presence as he looked back at the kid. Under the present circumstances of how Alex felt about his classmates, he didn't feel too bothered about someone else spying on them; he just felt confused about the illogical method on display.
You are reading this.
Fwomph
The Long Walk Ho— Oh Hey
"Uh... Cool, thanks" Blake fumbled out as the scientist girl passed him by. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't even know what he wanted out of this timeline shuffle power whateveritwas; he just wanted to be something more than just some schlub from Queens...
With a sigh, he got going again. It was going to be a fair walk home and he'd have more time to think... If he hadn't managed to catch up to the bike-riding fellow New Yorker (how he managed to catch up to someone on a bike while Blake is walking is an exercise left to the reader).
"Yo! Mindy! How's it going?"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
What, me worry?
Upon seeing Blake talk to her, Mindy put the brakes on her bike and comes to a stop.
"How ya doin', Queens?" she says, still feeling a bit down. "Just goin' to the beach. Haven't been to once since last year back in Coney Island. What's goin' on with you?"
It was clear Mindy still had what she was thinking about on her mind. But she didn't mind stopping to talk to her fellow New Yorker.
Toa of Anarchy
"Well hey, you tell me!" said Coralie with a shrug. "I've barely got to know this version of town outside of the food-place. Oh! Should probably send a message to my own folks too. Lemme see here..."
Coralie set down her bag, and after a whole lot of rummaging, she pulled out something that looked like a mid 00's portable video player cobbled out of junk. After holding down what might have been an on-button until the massive central screen lit up, Coralie began furiously typing out a message.
"Hanging...out...with...a new friend...from school...Be...home...by...Six! Aaand send." Coralie dramatically pushed another button, and the device rumbled for a few seconds before giving a splutter and a ping. "Heh, interdimensional text messages. Whatever next?" Setting the device on the top of the inside of the bag, she turned back to Nastya. "So, do you know any hanging-out spots around town yourself?"
Lunchroom, Nastya
"Hmmm, admittedly I never thought about how the Sisters functioned multiversal wise," Nastya responded to Coralie. "I can explain what their bodies are made off and stuff like that."
She then proceeds to rampage through her bag and found the blueprints of the Robo-Sisters. She hands it over to Coralie.
"Hopely their blueprints will help. They're mostly made of steel, with some carbon fiber and plexiglass thrown in. Inside their bodies are polyurethane cables and a heavily modified Mint-ITX motherboard that grants them sentience."
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."