3161/A Proper Cup of Chai

A Proper Cup of Chai
Date of Scene:	16 November 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Gothic Lolita, Quake

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Gothic Lolita has posed:
    There are plenty of coffee shops in New York. Quite a few are one chain or another, notably Starbucks, which seems to be every other block. However, there are still plenty of smaller shops that make their business over offering a unique experience. There's a maid cafe, a cat cafe, etc. And there's Coffee Angel, which goes for the old fashioned quality coffee cafe, complete with grinding their own house blend, fancy cups and such, and the like.

    Which is of course where Lolita suggested when Skye proposed talking over coffee. And after a short walk and grabbing a booth that provides a certain amount of privacy, the two are seated with menus, which Lolita opens as she glances through it. "I recommend the house blend if you prefer coffee, or the chai or Thai tea if you prefer something spicier or sweeter."

Quake has posed:
Skye was happy to follow Loli's lead in this one. She'd have been happy to park her butt down in Starbucks for that matter, but it wasn't like she wasn't intending to pass off the bill to Director Fury (on principle!), so a little fancier wasn't going to hurt anything. Besides, coffee was coffee as far as she was concerned.

Skye chuckles, "I generally let my coffee get ice cold and sip it distractedly while I work on programming. Maybe I'll try the chai, though. That sounds interesting."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "Or you could try iced coffee, if you prefer it cold." Loli says thoughfully. "I mostly like trying different flavors. It doesn't do anything for me other than that, but the tastes are interesting. Perhaps I'll try this...gingerbread chai..." she says, pursing her lips slightly doubtfully. "Is that the new Christmas version of the pumpkin spice that's everywhere in October?" she wonders, peering at the young woman across from her.

Quake has posed:
There's a snicker from Skye. "I don't prefer it cold. That's just how it ends up when I'm coding." She looks at the menu, giving it a slight frown. "God, everything is so frou-frou here." Only adding to Loli's wondering if they were looking at the latest fad. "And just what the hell is pumpkin spice anyway? I mean, have you tried pumpkin pie? I do not think that is what coffee should taste like. Fine with whipped cream, but otherwise.."

She shudders.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "A combination of spices including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, commonly found in pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread. Which, presumably is why they call it pumpkin spice." Loli says, pausing as a waitress in a frilly uniform comes over to take their orders, then hurries off again to put them in. "But then, I prefer the interesting combinations of tastes. Coffee or tea seem bland by comparison, though at least tea has various subtle differences." She smiles a bit. "Now then...did you have further questions you wanted to ask me?"

Quake has posed:
Skye's nose crinkles in disgust. "In coffee. Really? Eww. And someone thought that a good idea. No fucking wonder this country is going to pot. Can't get a straight cup of java anywhere anymore."

She takes her order of Chai and shrugs at Loli. "We never did get to talk about why you kidnapped me. And really? I should ignore your ass for that, but you intrigued me. So I started seeing what I could find. Not at the bottom of it yet, but I found enough to find you at that gothspot. So, your turn. Why'd you kidnap me?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita cocks her head. "I needed access to current intelligence looking for villainous alternates of the Legion of Super Heroes who had arrived here from an alternate timeline and were planning on bringing through a moon sized battlestation known as the Warworld to conquer the planet." She pauses. "Unfortunately I no longer have access to such reports, but since you are an skilled hacker, I felt you had a reasonable chance of bypassing security to allow me to download the data anyway.

Quake has posed:
Whoosh. That sound you hear is it going over Skye's head. "Totally no clue who or what you're talking about other than it's some superhero group. And those are all over the place here. Why do you want to know, other than having lost access, I mean."

her mug is picked up and held two-handed as she blows across the steaming liquid in effort to cool it. Nose crinkling. "Smells okay."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita gets a bemused expression. "The Legion of Super Heroes is a future group of metahumans who protect the galaxy, with hundreds of members. They were attacked by some of their enemies who sent a cruiser worth of their core members backwards in time. THey're currently stuck here until they can figure out a way to go back." She shrugs. "It's irrelevant anyway...they've dealth with the issue, along with the Guardians of the Galaxy...who are a contemporary group of skilled individuals who likewise protect the galaxy in this time period.

Quake has posed:
Skye ohs in sudden understanding. "So you want to know what to do next? And those Guardians. I think I've heard of them." Posssibly. There were a lot of groups involved with the invasions. She thought that might have been one of them.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    The minature mecha quirks her lips a bit. "That is a fair assessment. I am no longer traveling with the Guardians, which means I require a new targeting list to continue my mission." The waitress returns, setting down small plates with cups of liquid in front of both of you. Not suprisingly, Lolita's smells strongly of ginger.

Quake has posed:
Skye shrugs. "And if you can't continue your mission? You are from the future, you know. It's not like your fools are around to give you orders. Unless you're looking to go back?"

Loli is regarded questioningly, Skye reaching for her own mug.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    The petite gynoid tilts her head. "I personally am not from the future." she correct. "I was built five years ago on Earth." She pauses. "Nearly six, at this point. I suppose I will be having a birthday soon." she says thoughfully, then sips from her mug experimentally. "Mmm....what an odd taste..." she murmurs. "I think I prefer the pumpkin spice. Perhaps if it was gingerbread cocoa..."

Quake has posed:
Skye chuckles, "Well, happpy early birthday to you, I guess. But if you're from here and they're from then, then where does that leave you? They up and left and left you here? That's kinda shitty. No wonder you were a titch upset and irrational." Her own tea is sipped. "Weird. Not bad. Probably an acquired taste."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita shakes her head slightly. "The Guardians and I parted amicably. They had thing to do that did not align with my programmed directives, and since I was back on EArth I had no reason to leave again rather than fufilling them. The reason I did not have to previously is because my programmers never considered what might happen if I was no longer on Earth." She smiles faintly. "My directives don't take into account not being on the planet where my targets are located."

Quake has posed:
"Riiiight," Skye drawls. "Can we backtrack a bit here? If you were made on earth, how is it you were being sent at targets that aren't here? And what about your programming." Programming - something she knows more than a little about, unlike much of Lolita's story.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Gothic Lolita gets a patient expression. "I was designed and built by a black ops element of SHIELD for the purpose of destroyign quasi-legal covert research facilities that SHIELD itself could not publically touch, as a deniable and expendable asset. I and the other creations of Project Livewire were all built here, and created to be absolutely loyal to this mission and to Project Livewire's goals, to avoid the possibility of being turned against our creators." She sips from her cup again. "This did not go well for them. We were, however, separated a year ago when I was captured and put in stasis. I was reactivated during an attempt to raid the SHIELD convoy that was transporting me with other exotic technology. I left and resumed my mission after helping deal with them."

    She frowns a bit. "...then I was kidnapped by a robotic drone serving an alien called the Collector, who apparently decided I was an 'artisanal' if primitive gynoid design, and took me into space with the intent of putting me permanently in a museum of his creation. Luckily for me, the ship was intercepted by the Guardians after I was able to get off a distress signal, who rescued me."

    She shrugs slightly. "However, then I was very far from Earth, so I joined their crew."

    She sort of skipped over the programming explanation of course.

Quake has posed:
"Holy shit," Skye intones, "SHIELD has someone with that level of coding ability and I haven't met them?" She's clearly intrigued. And possibly a little bit put out as well.

Skye's tea is sipped.

"So, they made you so that you couldn't be turned against SHIELD? Did I get that right?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita sips delicately from her cup, then sets it down. "Our programmer/papa was extremely skilled. Also very ethically grounded. Our leadership, however were sociopathic to extreme levels. Because of this, they were obsessed with making sure their new weapons would not go off mission, and requested that our papa program us to be incapable of betrayal or being swayed from our primarily directive...that would be destroying those research facilities. They were very intent on this." She hesistates, then says slowly. "They did not think things through like a programmer about what it would mean to make us so completely dedicated to their project. Our papa knew what he was doing, however. He realized that they were likely to abuse our abilities for their own ends, so...he did exactly what they wanted."

    She sips from her cup again. "...immediately upon activating us after incorporating a complex series of directive and tying them to every aspect of our personality matrices, we woke up utter dedicated to the success of Project Livewire and incapable of betraying it. However, immediately after this realization, we realized that, logically, we were the only members of Project Livewire that were incapable of betraying the project. Humans by their nature were all capable of betrayal, thus risking the success of the project."

    Another slow sip. "So of course we had to terminate all non-mecha members of Project Livewire and annhilate the lab where we were created in a way that prevented anyone from having the information necessary to prevent us from carrying out our mission."

Quake has posed:
Skye winces. "Oooh. Please tell me you didn't. That's not going to win you any brownie points with SHIELD. I mean, you're still supposed to help them, right? Or did you bypass that."

A pained expression remains behind, the young woman sipping her tea in an attept to gather her thoughts and put them in order. She really wasn't sure what one did in a situation like this. Or if she could even help Lolita. Hells, she wasn't even sure if help is what the other wanted.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita says steadily. "We did. Papa knew we would. He wrote the program in such a way that we would. You see, we are an highly illegal collection of combined technology. It was illegal for us to be created as we were. Those in charge were...ethnically and morally questionable, at best. AT worst, they were actively sociopathic, as I said." She pauses. "...Papa was the last. He gave us our list of targets he had created. He knew exactly what other illegal operations were being conducted, the ones doing things that were unethic. Immoral. Or just were horrifically dangerous. And he wanted us to destroy them. Becuase he knew SHIELD wouldnt'. There were too many protections in place. Too many denials, too many goverments hiding what was being done. Officially, SHIELD couldn't do anything about it. But we would." She runs her fingertip around the top of her cup. "...he wished us luck. And asked us to take his glasses and give them to one of our inactive siblings. To remember him by."

Quake has posed:
Skye sees if she's followed this correctly so far. "So, SHIELD had you made, wwith plausible deniability? And the folks who were in charge of you were unethical? So your creator had you destory thhem, but he, himself is gone now? So you're without a programmer, without an agency, still with the directive to protect SHIELD?"

She looks over, "How'm I doing so far?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "That's close." Lolita congratulates her. "It's rare I get to explain this. An element of SHIELD illegally created us with plausible deniability, so that the rest of the organization was unaware of what they were doing. We eliminated all members of this black operations splinter of SHIELD along with all information on the project that had any details." She holds up a finger. "However, while we are well disposed towards SHIELD, our primary directive does not allow us to take orders from them, because, as I said, any human is capable of betraying our mission, thus we cannot allow them to enter into our command structure. Intead, we have been following the targeting information given to us by our papa, and additional targets that we've learned of in the process of destroying other research projects. We have tried to avoid collateral casualties whenever possible, focusing on the facilities and the research and data concering it when possible."

Quake has posed:
Skye nods, mulling again. "So, they created you because you were necessary to deal with matters SHIELD couldn't. BUT they didn't tell SHIELD or else SHIELD would have known about the operations and had to have shut it down.. Wow. That's a clusterfuck in the making right there."

She looks over, "So, where does that leave you, then? I mean, what if you just decided to help SHIELD? We have things like consultants and stuff. And there are still agencies out to harm us. I mean, if you can't just drop your programming, then you're still kind of bound to SHIELD, right?" Even if her brain is trying to figure out how she might tackle deprogramming the member - sole member? - of Livewire. "Hey, are there others of you? You said you were captured."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita considers. "While I was in space, a much more advanced gynoid was able to make some modifications to my coding. This has given me a bit more leeway in terms of what I can or cannot do in regards to my primary directive. I cannot stop attempting to complete my mission, but there is nothing preventing me from working alongside others in achieving that mission."

    She picks up her cup, swirling it slightly, before she finishes it off, setting the empty cup back down. "Therefore, I believe my programming will allow me to accept targets from SHIELD in need of destruction, as long as this does not extend to dictating orders to me, which would mean I was surrendering command authority to someone outside of Project Livewire." She pauses, then says more slowly. "I can work with you, even if I am not in your chain of command. I am, in effect, a rogue agent sympathetic to SHIELD's purposes. They just aren't my primary focus."

    At the last question, she nods. "...yes...I was fired out of a mass driver into the planet. It was enough to temporarily take me off line. I don't know what happened to my other seven siblings. Two of the original ten units have been destroyed in the pursuit of mission goals. I have been unable to resume contact with any of them, but then, we were made to stay undercover whenever possible to avoid detection by SHIELD or other groups that would have felt ethnically obligated to stop us from breaking the law to prevent someone else from breaking teh law.

Quake has posed:
Skye sets her mug down and rubs her temples. "This is going to be interesting. But how would you like to maybe.. oh god, he's going to kill me for this, but what if I tried to get you to meet with Director Fury? Or are you suggesting you report to me?" She really does look uncertain there. "And hell, I break the law all the time. It's kinda what I do."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita pauses, then says, delicately. "I can't report to either of you. My programming will not allow me to take orders from someone who is not part of Project Livewire, but any member of Project Livewire who is not hardwired to be loyal to it is a threat to the project and must be terminated. Do you understand? I am...stretching my programming to allow me to work with a group outside of the Livewires, as long as it still related to my primary directive and mission. But I am incapable of taking orders from you or Director Fury directly."

    She holds up a finger again. "TL:DR, you can give me targets that fit my criteria and I can take them out in cooperation with you. Or I can accept assistance from you in taking out a target on my list.

Quake has posed:
Skye licks her lips, then offers, "Why not make me part of Project Livewire?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita says promptly. "Because then I would have to immediately kill you as a potential threat to Project Livewire, since you have the capacity to betray the project." She pauses. "...I would really rather not do that, please."

Quake has posed:
That *does* get a brow arch from Skye, and a look of pure curiousity. "Fair enough. And what, you're saying you like me enough you'd rather not kill me?" The possibility exists. Just as it exists, equally, that perhaps Loli is just tired of killing indiscriminately. She looks thoughtful. "So, what do we do? Make it so you know targets, but they're not commands? Like, okay, there's this thing I'm doing, and the potential exists we're going to stumble upon some targets. We want them gone, because they're a threat. Not just to SHIELD, but really to a lot of people. You could help with that, if we did it right? Like, what constitutes an order for you?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "One of the alterations that was made to me by Indigo while I was in space was the ability to unlock my capacity to see those outside of the Livewires as possible allies and friends. As well as allowing me to feel feelings like guilt, which had been originally removed from my emotional engrams. Most of us have modified our emotional responses beyond the original template, which was copied from the Life Model Decoys used by SHIELD. For example, I've found it to be helpful to be extremely optimistic even in the face of very unlikely odds of success, so my calm and optimism are significantly elevated over my fear or doubt responses." She smiles. "Yes, exactly. I have no programming against taking out additional targets provided they fit my criteria of being a quasi-legal or illegal covert research facility, or if it will lead me to information that will lead me to such a target in the future. In this case, if you were to tell me of an appropriate target you'd discovered, I could work with you to destroy it. The distinction remains that you cannot 'order' me to destroy it. You can only offer it as a target, and I can choose to accept it. Does that make sense?"

Quake has posed:
Skye looks thoughtful. "Well, I think so. And I kinda get to pick and choose who is involved for this particular mission. But what about after? I mean, you don't want to be left hanging then. And you know people sometimes say to do things in ways that sound like orders but you don't have to listen to, right? Like I could say, take these mugs over to the counter. Or I could say it forcefully because we're in danger and we have to run.. but neither is really an order?" She mulls thoughts. "Semantics."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "I suppose the simplest way of saying this is, I will not accept anyone else's authority to give me orders legitimately, therefore I do not have to follow those orders unless I choose to." Lolita says after a moment of consideration. "It is the difference between you giving an order than I must obey because you are above me in the chain of command, versus you asking me to do something and me agreeing to do it.

Quake has posed:
There's a chuckle from Skye, "Well, I don't always listen, myself. You'd not be the first to disobey. But you know, you'd still get in trouble for not listening. Can you deal with that?"

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "If I have made it clear to others that I cannot accept their authority, they should not be suprised if I don't listen to them when they try to give orders." the dark-haired gynoid says philosophically. "I do take suggestions, provided I agree with them, and I am not unaware of the benefits of not questioning directives in the middle of a firefight, for example." She frowns a bit. "...actually, that is something you could do for me. If you could unlock my processor speed. Currently it is locked to where I only think at slightly faster than human speeds."

Quake has posed:
Skye holds up a hand. "Know what? You can be someone else's problem that way. Worst they can do it say it isn't working. So, what do you think? Want to give us a hand. If you do well, maybe Fury'll see your value to keep on."

The request she does consider. "I probably can do that. You sure you want me to, though? I mean, if you're trying to be a little bit more human. It does help to understand us that way."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    "Being human doesn't help me complete my mission though." Lolita says thoughfully. "And if you give me the targets in question, I can determine if they fit my criteria. Which I have broadened a bit from the original requirements."

Quake has posed:
"Can't give you the targets. Not until the rest of the mission is in place. And here isn't exactly the best place to discuss any further details." Skye gives Lolita a bland sort of consideration. "Your mission isn't the same as it was, though. Not really. And you've already had your programming modified. You might want to think about that some. And being human helps you understand us. Not to mention makes you easier for us to understand you." Not that there weren't the oddest assortment of superheroes already running around New York. Loli would fit in just fine in many respects; not so well in others.

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    The gynoid quirks her lips. "I understand you just fine. I'm based on a LMD...I have all the same emotional responses that you do. It's a very robust program, that's what allows LMDs to so perfectly replicate the people they're supposed to be. Just I have some additional technologies that allow me to expand my personality matrix in an organic pattern, growing it as I learn more. It's why all of my siblings and I develop distinctive personalities, which are reflected in our names." She tilts her head. "For example, my sister Social Butterfly is a sociological influencer who can manipulate people through a variety of tactics, or Hollowpoint Ninja is a very stealthy individual who shoots people in the head from range. Or Cornfed, who incorporates a smartware factory in his stomach capable of providing repair materials for us, but requires additional physical size to accomodate the material reservoirs necessary."

Quake has posed:
Skye just holds up a hand. "You know what, I hear you. And I can see what I can do. Just a gut feeling you might be better off without, but you're right, you'll be a much better weapon at full speeds." Her tea is picked up again. "But I'd need you at the Trisk to do it."

Gothic Lolita has posed:
    Lolita frowns. "I would consider that...if Director Fury would ensure no one would attempt to recover me for SHIELD's use." she says. "Perhaps that should be the next step before, ah..." She smiles faintly. "Taking me home for the night to check under the hood, as the parlance goes." The waitress returns with the bills, at which point Lolita stands, setting down a small card. "I should go for now, and you will need to discuss this with your superiors. This number will allow you to contact me." She smiles. "You'll forgive me if I don't provide you with a direct access to my communications protocols at this time." She inclines her head. "Thank you for talking with me rationally, Miss Skye, it's been an enjoyable conversation. I hope to see you again soon."

Quake has posed:
All to which Skye merely nods. "We'll figure it out." Or they wouldn't. There really only was one way to find out, though. "I have a number too." Which Skye hastily scribbles and hands over. "Use it. And I really could use you on the mission. At least I think we can."

She finishes up her tea and nods to the other. "And I have to get back and hand Fury these receipts. He's going to shit a cow." Which only makes Skye smirk. She's still smirking long after she's left and made her way back to the Triskelion.