15061/Of Mutants and Robots

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Of Mutants and Robots
Date of Scene: 08 May 2023
Location: Fred's Diner - Mutant Town
Synopsis: Nikki meets Sinister again and a man named Nick. Life is certainly getting interesting for the gamer.
Cast of Characters: Nikki Hawkins, Sinister, Phantasm (Drago)




Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Mutant town is a part of New York. Ergo, when there is a wandering Nikki out looking for scrap parts - she often comes to mutant town where there are plenty of places where she can find all the shiny things. It's when she's done finding the shiny things that she has to figure out what to do next. This afternoon, she's lugging a pretty good haul all within a cardboard box and this is brought into Fred's Diner. She's shown to a likely 'usual' seat, placing her box beside her in the booth and very quickly followed by a robot companion who settles very close to her and gives a series of beeps and boops. (Think R2D2 speak) "Nikki is hungry. She's going to eat and then we'll go home..." She answers...the robot? But then looks over the menu for a moment to see what she might be in the mood for.
Sinister has posed:
Sinister has occasional business in Mutant Town. Given that he is a landlord on several buildings here, including apartment blocks. He is not a slum lord, but some of them -are- tenements. Well looked after tenements, where the landlord actually makes repairs and keeps things in order. Even if he's never seen.

He doesn't exactly need the rent, there's always a different kind of purpose in his property ownerships. Reasons. Motives.

But, it does leave him sometimes requiring the background white noise of a diner, where people are often single minded and not letting their headspace occupy several city blocks with the activities of life. He enters, glances around and makes for a booth nearby Nikki, pausing on the way to regard her, then the robot. Yes, they're familiar. Nope, going to park himself first and look over the menu for a moment before aknowledging, which he does and with a nod.
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nicky is hungry too. Which is why not long after Nikki has found her spot, the door opens again, letting in the rock star. Not really in the mood to be drawing much attention, he is dressed down yet again in the finest Goodwill has to offer. His signature locks are tied back, with the excess of the hair tucked into the shirt collar to give the illusion of being shorter than it really is.

Hearing Beeps and Boops, Nick glances over to the source of the sound, freezing for a moment in consideration. There's a momentary bit of tenseness before his brain activates again, inwardly chiding himself for such concern.

No, that may be a robot, but it's definitely not a Terminator.

Getting the sense of being looked at over at the counter, he catches glimpse of the server who too is looking over to the robot and then Nick. The pair give a slight, awkward smile.

Oh right. She was there for that attack as well.
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki feels eyes on her afer a moment, looking up and over to the nodding Sinister. "Oh hey! Nikki knows you! Squishy, look, it's our friend!" Nikki would assume anyone she knows is a friend. Having never really had a bad experience except for those two stalkers - but we don't talk about those stalkers now do we?

"It has been a while.. Nikki's been busy tho. Has Nathaniel been busy? Oh! Did you finally get all those shoes?!" A question which gains a laugh from her and more noises from her robot. Likely some sort of greeting as Nikki 'translates'. "Squishy says hi too..."

It is still up for grand debate if Nikki can understand Squishy or not.
Sinister has posed:
Ai has come a long way. But inspiration for robotic language does make one wonder.

"The shoes... oh! Yes, the shoes. I did. I have a lot of them in a wardrobe all categorized," nevermind that that particular wardrobe should have been auditioning for the Chronicles of Narnia, we'll just not go into how plain wood is bigger on the inside.

Nick too, is a familiar face. Or rather, a familiar posture and gait, rather than face, as he has his ways of disguising himself. "The artichoke dip and loaded potato skins, please... and a coffee."

The in-the-same-boat Server nods to him, though the solidarity remains with the rock star. He looks back at Nikki.

"Have you managed your robotic upgrades, yet?"
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Hearing the familiar voice, Nick glances over towards Sinister. Giving a slight smile, he lifts up his hand to give a wave of greeting. He doesn't approach yet, lingering over near the register as the server puts in Sinister's order with the line cook. Once it's his turn, he pulls out a list and hands it over.

While the server starts putting in his order, Nick strolls a bit further into the diner to seek out a seat while he waits. The mostly empty diner presents him several options but he finds himself gravitating towards the familiar face. "Evening."
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
"Oh. Nikki isn't going to be upgrading Squishy. She's been hired by Wayne Enterprises to make a new-new robot. With the backing from them and everything!" Even still, Nikki has the box of random bits. "Nikki's even going to..." Then she pauses and thinks. "She may not be able to talk much about it. Tim said something about non-disclosure agreements.. and.. proprietary information." Which, Nikki isn't *dumb* despite what some may think. She just talks fast, has a slightly higher pitch than most women her age, and the mental maturity of a seventeen year old in some degree.

"But Nikki is working hard, as she wants to impress them...but they still let her play in her tournaments and everything." She beams a little then looks at the server. "Chicken strips with mashed potatoes and seasonal fruit. And a chocolate shake and a soda." Smiling then as her eyes turn when Nick approaches and greets Sinister. "Hello! Nikki is Nikki. Who are you?"
Sinister has posed:
"Nikki, this is... Nick. Nick, Nikki. This in no way could get confusing," Sinister at least proffers the introductions as his coffee is delivered first, as that's already brewed. Just served with cream and sugar it yersel, kind of dealio.

"I encountered her at random on the streets during a rather... erm... suffice to say it was bizarre and there were shoes involved. Lots of shoes. Mens and womens." He slurps the coffee after adding a dollop of cream.

Yes, we'll just let that hang. Eyes slide over to Nikki though. "Congratulations. I'm sure that there's a great deal of innovative tech at Wayne enterprises that will prove to be very handy to a robotics whizz like yourself."
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Hearing what seems to be a diner patron refer to themselves in the third person, the musician blinks over to the one with the robot. His eyes set upon the robot once more before he is addressed by Nikki. Before he can supply is own name, Sinister does it for him. "...Would it be easier if I went by my first name for the time being?" Nick offers.

The explanation of the shoes being present doesn't help in the slightest. "You met her at a bazaar?"
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki notices Nick looking at her robot and grins. "This is Squishy. Squishy is Nikki's robot companion. Nikki built him herself." She says this with a burst of pride even. "Uhm...it was outside a shoe shop...and a magic shop...Nikki thinks there was a magic shop..." She seems to consider this before giving a shrug.

"Nikki thinks it will be fun! She's almost done with the first prototype...and then she can likely move on to other projects while Tim and his people look over her work." Then she flushes. "Nikki also went on a...a date...with Tim.."
Sinister has posed:
"Wait, what? No. Bizarre. Not Bazaar. I'll tell you about it later, if you're interested." Sinister replies to Nick's inquiry, eyeing the short-order cook as things are being plated up. It doesn't take long for loaded skins and dip after all, right? "There was Dracula and a slight case of having been ahhh... intoxicated by urge. I was being played with at the time, I think in a testing of boundaries." Yes, just talk about it in the diner, why not? Would anyone BELIEVE you? They might.

"How did it go? The date? And was that a little odd, considering he's sort of your boss?" This toward Nikki of course. The food waits to cool off a little bit before being delivered, because hot potatos are hot potatos.
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As there are no takers to the offer, it looks like Nick will remain named Nick for the duration of the evening. As the reasoned version of why Sinister and Nikki would be surrounded by shoes is ruled out, the musician does seem curious.

The mention of a notable vampire name gets a notable frown. "...Who was the one intoxicated? You or him?" Sure some vampires may have compulsion but, how would that work with the doctor? Isn't he on another level as well? This would indeed be an odd conversation to have in a diner, but being the discussion shifts over to the robot designer apparently dating her boss after stating she's working with Wayne enterprises-

Well it's a good thing there aren't that many people in the diner isn't it?
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki blinks and then shakes her head. "There were also mud men! They popped outta the mud and tried to scare Nikki and Squishy but Nikki was busy talking to Nathaniel.." She adds in her own quirky recollection of the day and then beams a bit when her food is delivered a short time later. "So what does Nick do and how does Nick know Nathaniel?"

The robot makes a few noises and gets a look from Nikki. "No. Eating and talking. We'll get home soon, I promise..." Another few sounds, almost like the robot is talking back but damned if anyone but Nikki knows what the 'bot is saying.
Sinister has posed:
"Me. It was..." there's a sigh from Sinister. "I got bit. I got a taster of something else, but it wore off quite quickly because I am who I am, but for a while, I was burning up in a random cloud of whimsy and desire. Luci had an influence there..." And the mud men, yes, those. "Oh, and there was that Koldhunic sorcery, as far as I know, but I did feel like I was having a Genosha moment, exceptionally trippy. And that was that, there were shoes involved. Men's and women's because I was having... a planning moment and sometimes crafting new shoes out of yourself requires inspiration." Wait, /what/? Blaaaah!

Looking to Nick, Sin lets him handle that one, taking up a potato skin. It's very hard to eat those delicately, but he manages somehow, using knife and fork.
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As Sinister explains, Nick ends up with more questions. In particularly the last portion. "Crafting new shoes, out of yourself" Nick repeats, the tone being the only thing that converts the statement from explanation to question. "...Were you shapeshifting into shoes?"

Nikki's question promises some form of normalcy for the conversation and being that Sinister's seemingly interested in the food being presented to him, normalcy might be what's in order.

"I'm- in between gigs." Nick states, "But I'm an entertainer. As for how we met.. mutual friend and acquaintance. They needed help with something and they called the both of us up."
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki has no idea about all the things Sinister could do. If she were a certain someone else, there could be more explaining and clarifying done. Never the less, she's drawn by Nick's answer to her question as she scoops up some mashed potatoes, blows on them and consumes. "Entertainer? Like...does Nick play music? Tell jokes? Perform magic?" Cause those are all the things an entertainer should be able to do, right?

"Nikki builds robots and plays in video game tournaments. She's really good...not the best...but she wins a lot." A little more ego boosting on her part as she seems to beam a smile. "Also, what does Nick mean...between gigs? Gigs are memory storage figures in computers. Nick isn't between computers..."
Sinister has posed:
Sinister has to laugh at Nikki's reaction to 'gigs' and shakes his head, selecting the second potato skin. There's only three, that's the standard snack-at-bar-or-diner portion size when you don't supersize yourself. It's swifly and neatly consumed, dabbing his mouth with the napkin as if it were a perfectly presented Mayfair silver service and NOT like it's a paper towel in a cheerful americana eatery in mutieville.

"No, don't be silly. I could, but that would only serve a purpose if there was a bizarre moment that occured in a cobblery. No, that's ridiculous. But crafting shoes takes a little finesse, as the style has to reflect the image. So I study things."

More coffee.
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick eyes Sinister, shaking his head slightly. No. Even that explanation doesn't make things at all normal.

But then again they're eating in a diner where for the longest time the cook heated up the grill with his fire breath. Fortunately the grill is fixed now.

Nick looks over to Nikki, "Gig as in a live performance. I perform music. Sometimes acting."

There was also that time he had to stand in for a circus magician while Clint and Skye tried to track down a saboteur, but that's not exactly something he'd list in a resume.

"...What type of video games?"
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki scoops up a little more potato with one of her chicken strips, eating that in one bite and washing it down with soda. "Oh. Nikki has never heard of gig being used like that. So gig is also a word for like, a concert?" She'll commit that to memory if Nick answers in the positive. Word association is not one of Nikki's strong suits - as people tend to be able to tell.

Speaking of, she looks to Sinister. "Sorry. You asked Nikki a question. Tim is kinda Nikki's...not boss? Like, he's the contact for Wayne Tech, but...Nikki...she means..." And then Nikki loses the plot, or the thought. Whichever.

Her attention goes back to Nick, easily distracted by questions she can safely answer. "Nikki plays Smite and Heroes of the Storm professionally...she's mostly been doing Heroes tournaments lately but there's a Smite one coming up soon for eSports International..."
Sinister has posed:
Sinister is going to make things interesting, as he finishes his coffee and questions are asked and answered. "Aah, the not-boss scenario. So there's no work place fraternation and association clauses to waddle through," -- he extends a foot to where it can be seen, flexes the toes in his stylish boot, then it just... morphs. Becomes more puffy, then ends up after some rearrangement, as a designer sneaker. Like, the absolute top of the range, moment of moments, this is what EVERY person with too much money and not enough brains is wearing in supersneakerville. He smiles at it, then puts his foot down and it returns to a matching pair of what he's wearing with some care.

The might not have just happened, unless you were looking at it. "Technically," he says conversationally "...I'm naked right now." Pause "I imagine you were quite a showman as a stage magician, if you've ever taken that role up." He glances to Nikki. "It does amaze me that that is an actual event, but it /is/ quite entertaining watching a game being played sometimes."
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick nods in response to the question, smiling. "Yes. A concert is a type of gig. The shift of movement to the side of his vision causes for him to look over to the foot on display as it shifts.

As the server comes by to check on refills at the nearby table, she pauses, looking over to Sinister for a moment when he mentions being technically naked. There is a pause before she quietly turns around to go...look for something.

Nick bites his lip, glancing to the floor for a moment. "I might have done it once." Nick admits, "The magician bit. But, that was a one time thing."

Nick looks back over to Nikki, "What is Smite and Heroes of the Storm about?" That's a really long game name isn't it?
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki blinks. "No. They're two different games. Though they're both the same game types. We call them MOBAs...or Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas. In Smite, you play as different gods. Like Loki, Ra, Aphrodite, Odin...to name a few. You obviously have their known powers, but you can also unlock other skills as you play through the round. And you're basically killing people on the other team while also trying to reach a goal before the other team does. Heroes of the Storm is the same, but the characters you can play are based off strictly Blizzard games. So like you could play Arthas or Sylvanus from WoW, you can play a few people like Raynor or Tychus from StarCraft...there's some from Diablo too..." Nikki explains this. Focused so much on explaining her craft that the weird third person quirk she has seems to....go away? "I usually main ranged characters, as I'm pretty good in that department. But I'm part of a team here in the US, though I sometimes join random teams in smaller tournaments if I feel like playing them. This international one is going to be big...and I think the final for it is over in Italy...maybe Germany. I'm not sure yet...but there's only two US teams in the final runs and mine is one of them. Obviously." She smiles then and pops a couple grapes to chew on once finished talking.
Sinister has posed:
Oohh, if only brain bleach was a real thing. Except that it is, in certain Mutant circles. Nathaniel smiles his crooked smile at the magician bit, focusing on finishing his meal promptly and with extra care spent in making sure Cleanliness <tm> is observed in the grand dipping of the artichoke dip. These things can sometimes be complicated, when you're mildly OCD.
Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As Nikki explains Smite he nods following along as he recognizes the names. And in Loki's case can recall what he looks like from the time they fought the possessed demonic people in the coffee shop.. But once Heroes of the Storm starts to be described, the nodding slows to a stop. "...Starcraft?"

"Nick!"

Hearing his name, he looks over to the register where the server has a bag holding what looks to contain more than one meal in it. "Looks like my order is ready."

Nick looks over to Sinister, "Good seeing you again." Pale eyes look over to the games enthusiast, "And nice meeting you, Nikki."
Nikki Hawkins has posed:
Nikki is about halfway through her meal, but easily finishes the fruit and her soda. The milkshake she might have to re-purpose to go. She is, however, determined to finish her chicken and potatoes. Though as Nick says farewell she glances up and nods. "Nikki's happy to have met Nick! Hope to see him again!"

A moment taken to look at Nathaniel once more, but in rare form she decides to focus more on her food in the moment. Squishy has been getting impatient and wanting to go home for a while now after all.