1190/Bladerunner 2025

Bladerunner 2025
Date of Scene:	28 June 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Drunk idiots, tea, and Chinese food.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Millions, Scarlet Witch

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Molly Millions has posed:
    24hour Cantonese?! Molly is /so/ there. She's found a spot, leaning up against Wo Hop City, in which to chow down out of a box while people watching on the street. This hour of the night, most good people are asleep and dreaming, and it's probably best not to ask the stakes of the card game tucked in the nearby alley, but the pale figure in the dark clothing making the faux pas of wearing her sunglasses at night doesn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned that it's not exactly the safest spot for a midnight snack.

Molly Millions has posed:
    24hour Cantonese?! Molly is /so/ there. She's found a spot, leaning up against Wo Hop City, in which to chow down out of a box while people watching on the street. This hour of the night, most good people are asleep and dreaming, and it's probably best not to ask the stakes of the card game tucked in the nearby alley, but the pale figure in the dark clothing making the faux pas of wearing her sunglasses at night doesn't seem to be the slightest bit concerned that it's not exactly the safest spot for a midnight snack.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda, with her sun-kissed skin, definitely doesn't fit the usual Chinatown milieu. Her choice of red attire, on the other hand, really does blend in pretty well with vermilion gates and auspicious signs. She emerges from one of the alleyways serving actual apartment buildings rather than the refuse and waste storage needs of questionable businesses. The difference is important when wearing perfectly nice boots. Though it may be late, she has the air of someone used to walking such streets with only minimal concern. Some people radiate foolish confidence or deadly intent lacking a smile; she has the cosmopolitan wits to rely on. Avoiding a suspicious puddle - don't ask what's in there - she veers onto the mainline avenue. Lights and neon glitz, dark windows, an hour to blend restlessly into the mix. The witch is angling in for Wo Hop. They're the only choice right now, and one of the few places that accommodates her preferred meals at this hours. Bring on them noodles, baby.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Hey lady... the sun went down hours ago." one of the guys stumbling from the alley next to Wo Hop's slurs at Molly as he lurches away from the table.
    "Really? Hadn't noticed." three words; the accent is sort of East Coast... but it could be Brooklyn, 'cept maybe it's got a hint of Atlanta, and just a tinge of something not quite else. The deadpan drawl uttered with barely a pause in her eating without any attempt to actually remove her lenses at all. Drunk guy likely hasn't noticed in his state, but there's no bridge, no arms, the silver lenses that drift from the drunk with disinterested assessment settle on the woman in red at least briefly with a brief curiousity.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
A fool and his life are swiftly parted. Old World statement, usually accompanied by someone giving a rictus grin. Wanda sticks out on her part for a few seconds. The bearing, for one. Glittering gemmed clips and her headband, for another, they're elaborate. And perchance that pause at the growly spill of syllables sloshing up against one another with no real distinction. Trouble usually comes shuffling in a coat, and she slants a discreet look askance just in case. Counting a few numbers to assess the details, just in case. Passing into the light near the Cantonese restaurant finds her turning and assessing the menus papering the lower half of the windows in place of any sort of blinds. "This city never changes, does it?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    There's a snatch, towards Molly's lenses, and the woman's just a little /too/ quick about pulling her head back, for all that she pushes off the wall enough to let the guy assume her spot... face first. Expression smooth and unconcerned as she steps sideways, coincidentally towards where Wanda stopped, to avoid the flailing.
    "Wouldn't know." she's assuming the words are for her,"Only been here a week. The beef chow fun is good. Not so sold on their dumplings though."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
How unfortunate for the bum. As long as she's not hearing the crack of the bridge of his nose or seeing an explosion of blood, Wanda doesn't interfere. Her narrowed eyes settle upon the distinctive silhouettes emerging from the gloom, forsaking the decision to sup on drunken noodles or try something more exotic. Those mild eyes and composed features offer no more judgment than the billboards of pretty Asian women found on select buildings. "Dumplings aren't good? Pity, I was hoping they might be worth it."

Can't win everything. She gives a slight shrug and eases away from the menus. "He didn't bother you, did he?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly spreads her hands, noodles in one, the other empty, no harm here,"I didn't like them." she offers to Wanda, her positioning coincidentally between the woman in red and the drunk and his friends,"Not a fan of pork really." gets added on to after a moment. There's the one, two back, that elects to flick open a knife as his drunken friend checks his nose and tries to get his bearings,"No bother. No bother, right joes?" it galls her, and maybe something of that shows in the tension of her shoulders, but she's playing nice, for now at least.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda smudges her fingers together, thumb pressed to the pad of the middle. She rolls them lightly together, a casual gesture drawing no attention away from the conversation with the woman and her outstanding mirrored glasses. "Pork generally isn't to my taste, either." A smile crests from neutrality, even as the inebriated men are considering their courage and the course of action.

"Not a good idea, gentlemen. The sun's been down for hours." Their own argument is thrown back at them, gently. "Go home."

Molly Millions has posed:
    For as casual as the motion is, there's no accident that the way Molly lowers her hands makes the butt of the fletchette pistol under her left arm visible to the three, for all that she keeps her hands where they can see them until the third nudges his knifey friend and they collect the drunk guy to drag him away, leaving Molly to shake her head just slightly,"So yeh... pork. The sour dumplings looked pretty good, but I didn't want to get greedy." she grunts for Wanda, collecting her chopsticks again with a glance to add,"Nice outfit."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Mr. Stabby-stabby and the drunken duo are watched long after they shuffle off, preferably leading lives elsewhere on the mortal coil. The Maximoff woman draws a circle several more times and then drops her hand to her side. Anyone sensitive might feel the faint ripples in the fates around her, but otherwise nothing strange. "Thanks. Probably a bit too nice for out here." Her tone warms. "But sometimes getting dressed up is worth it regardless. I like the glasses."

Molly Millions has posed:
    It'd be easy to think that Molly forgot about them as soon as they started to back off, certainly she doesn't bother peering after them, and from the lack of reaction to the circle casting, she's probably blind as a bat magically,"Only person who gets to decide that is you in the end." there's a brief pause before she offers,"Thanks." and in the next breath,"Molly." maybe by way of introduction.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The subtle effects turning blessings on the women dissipate back into the ether, but Molly might not trip or stumble in the immediate future, either. Wanda doesn't need to seize on much there. "True. Nonetheless, I wonder why not sandals. Summertime in the city. I should know better." Shaking her head at her own choice, she smiles for a moment of rue. Then she tosses the weight of her hair off her shoulder. "Molly. Wanda." It's a rare enough name in this day in age to thank some parents for picking really, really out of date nomenclature. "Care for a cup of tea?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    "'s not so bad. Manhattan dome in August is the worst." Molly offers,"And sandals are bad for anything except keeping your feet cool while standing still." there's a flicker of a smile in response,"Sounds good." if she notices the oddity of the name there's no reflection in her tone,"Not sure if they have Pu-Erh here... but I'd be surprised if they didn't. You from these parts, Wanda?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Me? No, definitely not." What parts she is from are confounding to anyone trying to follow the accent. English probably learned from actual Jolly Olde England, but the accent underneath resists the tarnish of New York, pegged somewhere far more musical and on a first name basis with embracing the joys of hard consonants. Its music has more in common with certain fusions along the Mediterranean. "Pu-erh should be easy, beyond the usual green options. Something dark would work well." The prospect has her smiling, reflective to a fault. "This noodle place might, but there should be some kind of illicit teahouse for people like us. Night owls." Her gaze travels down the street, mentally ticking off the options that don't work. Jaunting up to a rooftop, sadly, right out.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Didn't think so." Molly offers with a vague smile,"Green's alright, but I prefer the blacks, myself. Stronger taste. Last longer. And somewhere... probably is one. At least, I'd like to think so, even if my invitiation seems to have gone missing." she nods in the direction of Wo Hop's to say,"Please don't let me get between a woman and her food... sacrilege, that would be. We might want to relocate before the joes come back with something sharper than a butter knife, though."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda tips her head slightly to the side, thought painting a different expression across her features. "You think the tongs have any ties to those? They might, I suppose." The concern starts and ends there, and she rubs the back of her neck. "Chinatown is a big place. But Wo Hop is fine. I doubt they'd be foolish enough to try that." She slides her arm along the door and pushes it open, allowing a cloud of spices out.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "No, switchblade likes to talk big but if he was nearly as important as he was trying to claim they'd have already slit his throat." is Molly's estimation, like she'd heard and followed more than when the guy had first stumbled on to her. There's a shrug from her as she lets Wanda lead, keeping her food in one hand,"So not from around here... somewhere European, English, but not. What brings you to this place, Wanda?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"I've traveled a bit. City has good prospects for food, jobs, housing." She doesn't have to wait long inside for them to find a table, nodding to the hostess and selecting something away from the front windows, about halfway into the place. "You? Seems like people have either lived here forever or fell in, somehow."

Molly Millions has posed:
Molly Millions's not terribly concerned about location, and though the typical thing might be to select the position against the wall for security, it seems that the woman in black has no qualms about sitting on the opposite side of the table when they reach it,"I fell into it." there's the faintest sort of smile there, a private amusement,"Did a bit of travelling myself, of late. But I think I'm going to stick it out here for a while. So what do you do, Wanda?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The brunette squeezes into a booth, and she doesn't give much consideration to the menu. When a waiter comes by, it'll be a simple order for her: two pots of tea, mixed vegetable lo mein. Easier than the chow fun or anything else with an abundance of meat in it. Good food is to be prized at this hour, anyways. Chopsticks selected from their wrapper, Wanda toys with them, getting a feel for the cheap pressed wood. "That's one way to come here. I hope you've found it manageable. The place is enormous. So easy to be turned around." She clicks her chopsticks together. "I'm a private teacher, at the moment." Even she sounds amused by this. "It pays the bills. I complain little enough for that."

Molly Millions has posed:
    "No, it's good. I just ran into a friend." Molly explains to the hostess with regards to her own food, content to leave it be while Wanda's is being prepared with a tap of obviously fake burgundy nails on the top of the container to make sure they don't try to take it away,"It's been an adjustment. But compared to home the streets are wide and clean." there's a slight shrug of her shoulders,"Driving, however... seems to be more trouble than it's worth, here." pause,"What do you teach?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Anything passing for tea will be welcome, the steeped and darker the better. Anything to elevate the flavour to the realm of deeply pleasurable. Something about the mouth feel of a dark tea is well worth it. "Wide and clean? Here?" Her voice catches on a laugh. "Yes, it is. Compared to some places I've seen, it's amazing to have two cars passing. Though I'd always imagined more garbage around." She shakes her head. "Driving isn't worth it. Use the subways." It's not fair talking to a teleporter, though, for whom distances are nil. She grins at Molly all the same on the question of subjects. "Yoga." The confession almost has a tidbit of regret around it. "It pays astonishingly well. You would be quite amazed, people pay for the strangest things. I also teach privately for statistics." That's true and not true.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Yeh." Molly says without defensiveness,"And well, sure, it's not perfect, but I saw these signs? Talking about fines? For littering." from the way she shakes her head, that one still weirds her out a little,"I thought those were restaurants? And what's yoga?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
The Witch takes it all in stride. Pouring herself a small cup of tea, she offers to do the same for Molly as desired. "Yoga is a practice of stretches, breath control, and meditation performed to relax and enhance health." Her explanation given, she laughs softly. "I know what you mean about the fines. Be careful, too. Police will give you a ticket that you have to pay if they catch you throwing anything away. Or smoking; that gets them too. It's so very different from Europe. Half the continent doesn't care, and the other half wants to preserve every inch of concrete."

Molly Millions has posed:
There's a dip of Molly's head,"Please." is asked, of the tea, though there's a slight furrow of her brows over her lenses regarding yoga,"I... see." offered without the suggestion that she actually does. There's the flick of those nails in a dismissive fashion,"From what I've heard law enforcement here has some odd priorities overall. But, well, it is as it is. And yes, I recall London was quite obsessed with gomi, last time I was there."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Every city is different. Here, it's as much nanotechnology as the best music or the best pizza. Never fight on that one, either." Wanda's advice carries a mischievous smile. "They will have their opinions and any disagreement amounts to insulting their firstborn child." Thin hands lift the cup to her mouth and she sips the tea, regardless of its heat. The heat is welcome; it tastes good, in a way.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "True. Though I'm curious as to where you've found nanotechnology here." Molly murmurs,"As you say... some things are universal, I suppose." there's a wry smile from her side,"Just takes a little getting used to. So this yoga... is it a martial art? Or is that... it? A kind of exercise?"

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Listened to someone lecturing about it at Columbia," says Wanda, refilling her teacup. It only has three sips in there, all said and done. She replenishes the same for Molly on a one to one basis, otherwise. "They have surprising numbers of people who end up talking about the most unbelievable things. Amazing what some people can do with a computer or engineering, though that's not my skill set. And yeah, yoga is exercise. You could modify it for a martial art, but a better example of that is t'ai-chi."

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Columbia?" Molly enquires, falling silent for a minute or so before she says 'ah', toying with the last swallow in get cup and distracted for a while before she finally murmurs,"Nanotechnology isn't unbelievable. Perhaps a difficult... ask... at present, but not impossible. Not like mutants and some of the other stuff I've heard slung around." she doesn't have that filter. The one that suggests that the 'm' word is something that might just need to be uttered with caution,"But considering the spider-girl with the six arms I saw near the pier... I suppose anything must be considered possible."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"A spider girl with six arms." Wanda doesn't sound disbelieving, more making sure she heard correctly. "Goodness. Anything is possible, just about. That's the marvel of the age we live in. Nanotechnology exists, just not always in the form that universities and library lectures suggest. Some of those ideas are fairly far out." Her noodles are delivered promptly and she pauses to allow the waiter to put down everything, including a few crispy bowties that could be nearly anything. Taking one, she bites and chews the end quietly before speaking. "What is it that you do in the city? Work or study?"

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Yes." the statement from Molly is simple and direct, though there's the barest wrinkle of her nose afterwards,"I suppose you're right. The unknown can be... alarming, though. And I don't know... what sort of ideas are they proposing?" she finishes off her tea and collects her food again at last,"Work." she opts for,"For now, at least. Trying to help someone out who helped me out."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
Wanda shakes her head again and musters the visual images, poking at her noodles with her chopsticks. "How tremendously exciting. Spider people and then the actual Spider-Man somewhere. He's a hero, swings around on cobwebs." The smile shows a bit of amusement further at that. "The ideas I heard about? Nanobots to repair injuries, mostly. They talked about sending them into closed systems, oil rigs and whatnot, to measure and monitor rates to avoid problems. Personally it's not my cup of tea. Not that I mind technology. I simply see no need for the drilling for an obsolete energy form. People get quite creative in their applications." And sometimes they send swarms of bots out to change things how they want them.

Molly Millions has posed:
    "I was reading about him. Does he really exist?" Molly asks,"And what makes someone a hero, anyways?" there's a wriggle of her fingers,"Nanites can be used for repairs. Though I don't know about oil rigs. It's not... my field of expertise, either. They're more than just theoretical, then? Or is it simply... the way they imagine things will become?" she enquires as she delicately pinches together her chopsticks, falling silent again to munch on her at least half cold food.

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"They're more than theoretical, yes. Some people are building them, testing them. It's a rather small industry by the sounds of it. Something that Tony Stark would be into, I imagine. He's the major financier of such things." Shaking her chopsticks to free up a carrot, she takes a pretty small bite of the veggies. Those won't be long in the chewing. "The myth and the machine. Spiderman versus nanobots."

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Really?" there's surprise in Molly's tone,"Nanites. Or is that what they call them here... nanobots? So this Spiderman, then... he looks like a spider? Or he just shoots webs? I could look it up, of course... but there seems to be a lot of misinformation and falsehoods on the matrix here. Is there any way to recognize a mutant? I saw a man... red from head to foot... hoof. Tail. Horns, and another one almost three meters tall... I would have thought it was cosmetic work, until I started reading about these mutants... but some of the stuff has to be garbage. Flying and turning into ice... and then they started talking about /magic/ and... well, yes. It seems a little... ridiculous."

Scarlet Witch has posed:
"Nanites, nanobots, nanotech, microtech; there are a fair number of names, honestly." Tucking her chestnut hair back behind her ears, Wanda sighs. "He is a real person, Spider-Man. Young, human, as far as anyone knows. He shoots webs, rescues people, and yells at criminals in a nice way. Good person to have about, if he's entirely true. Your networks are going to be clotted with misinformation, yes. Half of what you read is generally garbage. Seek the sourced materials." Good knowledge to have perhaps. The arch of her eyebrows isn't cruel, but inquisitive, at the latter queries. "You saw someone turning into ice, or the article you read covered it? Mutants are... some look human and are nearly human in every way but one or two. They might have sharp hearing, for example. Others look very different, though they /are/ still human."

Molly Millions has posed:
    Molly settles back in her seat with an amused smile on her lips,"Yells at criminals in a nice way? What's a nice way to yell at criminals?" she enquires,"No, there was an article about a man who can turn to ice. And if they are mutants... how are they human?" it's a genuine question, there's no sneer on her face or emphasis in the words to suggest that she finds it offensive to have them classed as human, for all the blunt insensitivity of the question itself,"This... place... is like a simstim run on on a pile of wiz and whatever thought crossed the mind of the creators that day. Continuity would have a meltdown. And that you're not looking at me like I'm the one on half a tab of derms suggests to me that you've seen some of it too. Yes?"