4473/Cats and mice

Cats and mice
Date of Scene:	17 May 2018
Location:	Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Breath, Amarok, and Stardust meet in the Danger Room. Bladed words are exchanged.
Cast of Characters:	Breath, Amarok, Stardust

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Breath has posed:
The Danger Room is set with one of Breath's sims. Colette hasn't seen these, apparently...

The sky is monoichrome blue with a yellow circle in the sky. The ground is a flat expanse of green, with a large square of eight bit Windows 3.1 default grey brick pattern, on which a blocky building of 8 bit red brick pattern sits. Milling around the building is a group of black stick figures, with red and yellow flaming eyes. Each one carries a purple L at its side. Several simplistic identical trees are planted in the green here and there. Around the edge of the room perimeter is a small indentation with an 8 bit lava pattern forming a moat.

Breath is sitting next to the Start block, fiddling with settings.

Amarok has posed:
The Danger Room door opens with a 'ka-SHUNK' and Amarok steps through, stopping barely a foot inside as he glances around, ".....It's......Better?" He says in an almost questioning manner before stepping in and leveraging his cold LED gaze on Breath, "....Need privacy?"

Stardust has posed:
The door opens, and Colette slips inside. Careful at first to avoid the active area, she sticks to the wall until it becomes clear the simulation isn't in full 'go' just yet, then walks over to the control console with a wave. "Breathy. Moon Moon. You two running some simulations?" She takes a theatrical look at the setting, then turns back to Breath. "Or did you think my idea for wiring up the Playstation needed more retro, and you're connecting it to an Atari? Or I know, you're preparing in case Raven sends us all to 8-bit hell. That's a good thought, shows initiative."

She stands over the console, peering at the settings, but not touching anything. This is Breath's show, after all. "You know there's like a whole library of pre-rendered stuff you can drop in? You don't have to draw it all yourself."

Breath has posed:
Breath huhs? "No, I was just tweaking. I'm still deciding what else to put around here. I might just turn it into a map of part of New Lots and make it a seige scenario. I remember a couple of seiges there that I might want to try recreating at the shelter." She turns and waves, "Yeah, but I *like* the retro graphics. And it eats up less processor speed when I max out physics and rag doll."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok snaps his gaze over to Colette, "....I was going to work on a program I've been pondering.....And I prefer the Super Nintendo, myself."

Stardust has posed:
"Super Nintendo. Well, that's something. For the first time since I've met him, the Wolf has admitted to actually liking something." Colette flashes Dan a smirk. "No, be fair, you mentioned liking pizza before one time. Though we have only your word for it that you've ever actually eaten any. I'm still only about 90% sure you're not a robot.

Colette reads over some of the basic scenario paramaters: number of enemies, attack patterns and so on. "Hmm. Practical. Unless you train yourself so well to fight 8-bit baddies that your instincts are off when they look more real. You should try yourself out with one of Moon Moon's ninja enemies. He's done a pretty good job of sharpening them up. And you know, train for what you might need. Red X will probably target you at some point soon, Breathy." She looks up from the console and over to Lyssa, one eyebrow arched. "How many letters in your name? Not Lyssa. I mean your last name. Seven by any chance?"

Breath has posed:
Breath blinks. "Seven. I hardly use it, though. I mean, it's not that hard to find I guess. Why? That seems like a pretty long shot.." She frowns some and thinks, "I don't know what else I can do if I do get targeted. I'm still figuring out how to deal with some of my issues.. hopefully without blowing everything up. The last one went kind of southish here and there." She glares momentarily at Amarok.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok looks at Colette for several long silent seconds after she rambles about him. And then looks away, neither commenting on nor disputing anything she had to say, "Fair warning, dont turn on any of my programs without checking their settings over a few times. I've tweaked them a bit to make them more dangerous, including setting them to automaticly disable safety functions, and setting all weapons created in them to be able to cut through anything within the room's boundaries. If you're not prepared, you're going to die. Dont say I didn't warn you." Breath's glare is met with a blank stare, ".....What?"

Stardust has posed:
"Why's it a long shot?" Colette asks. "I mean the last time he sent a cipher, the key was the name of the person he was targeting next. Why not this time too? I'd go put your last name into that cryptex thingy and see what happens if I was you, Breathy. Don't want to keep him waiting, he might get mad at you."

Amarok's stare is replied with a shrug, and Colette jerks her thumb in his direction. "See what I mean, Breathy? Robot. Now I've put the idea into your head, you can't be sure, can you?"

Breath has posed:
Breath sighs, "Right, do not touch Amarok's sims. Anyways. Fine fine fine. Did you try your name yet?" She tilts her head at Colette. "Because like.. they might be gunning for you. I mean, why would they be aiming at me? Do you know something I don't?" She hmmmms, thinking back. "Unless you think it's ROBIN." She eyes Colette a bit, considering. "Talk."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok looks from Colette, to Breath, back to Colette, back again. Then casually walks over to the control panel and begins to tinker(dont. no. bad. I'm lookin at you, Colette!) at it, apparently content to let them have their paranoid finger pointing without his input.

Stardust has posed:
"Talk? Me?" Colette says with a mixture of an over-dramatic innocent expression and a barely supressed grin. "Why Breathy, when have you known me not to talk? Of course if you mean revealing /secrets/, well that's another matter altogether, isn't it Moon Moon?" She turns to look at Amorak as she continues speaking. "But don't worry Breathy, if I knew I'd tell you. I mean I wasn't a part of the Titans last time Red X was around causing trouble. Those are the guys you need to be telling to talk."

Colette breaks away and looks over Amarok's shoulder at the tinkering he's doing. "I'm interested in why you say that about Robin though, Breath. Did you have the impression he's aiming at you? I was beginning to think it was more the other way around." Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

Breath has posed:
Breath sighs and blushes a bit. "I don't have any contact with this X person so far, they haven't ever even noticed me and WHAT are you tinkering with, young possibly robotic man?" She swivels and points at Amarok. "My sim. Mine! WHAT are you planning now? Do you have any ideas or anything? Better than Starry wanting random names?" She huffs, a bit stirred up.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok is busy sifting through seemingly random folders, apparently looking for something. At Colette's question of why Breath is diverting blame onto Robin, "Judging by her reaction to him when the box was brought in, she seems to be afraid of him. I can think of a few possible scenerios that would cause such a response." He says boredly as he opens another random folder, looks around, and then closes it. Breath's sudden outburst at him is met by a bored glance back, "....I'm looking for my digitization files. I'm considering further upgrades to my suit and wanted a model I could use without risking damage to the real one." He then turns back, and resumes looking.

Stardust has posed:
"They aren't random," Colette explains patiently. "Seven letters. Brick too, Marsten. It makes perfect sense, Blush. I mean Breath." She corrects her slip so quickly you can't be sure it wasn't really a slip of the tongue, but let's face it, it probably wasn't. "I'm glad someone else is coming around to the whole 'possible robot' scenario. The question is, who made him? Do you think if we turn him upside down there will be maker's mark on the bottom? Though on second thoughts, do the League even allow robots in?"

Amarok's observation only makes Colette's smirk widen. "Afraid of Robin, Breath? Well, well. You probably should be of course, I mean the kid is a total psycho. Lucky he's our psycho, eh?"

Breath has posed:
Breath nods at Stars, then just.. sort've... blinks at that attempted summary of her? reaction? to Robin? And tilts her head. What. "Afraid? How do you figure? What reaction?" She clasps her fingers behind her back, watching Amarok curiously. Because he is apparently reading things differently than she is, and she's curious what he was seeing that she wasn't. Then she sighs at Stardust's assessment of Robin, frustratedly, and bows her head in complete failure to have a counterargument to that unflattering description.

Amarok has posed:
Colette's League comment draws a sudden double smack at the keyboard and a twist of the head from Amarok to fix his cold gaze on her. He holds it for several seconds before slowly turning back away, his stance now visibly guarded.

Stardust has posed:
Colette, of course, goes on apparently oblivious of the reactions of both Breath and Amarok, which could mean that she's oblivious to their reactions or not. "Oh that's a bit unfair really, I suppose. He's had a hard upbringing, he can't exactly be expected to be the most stable and serene of people, but psycho is going a bit too far. I mean he's adjusting. To a whole different world. That can't exactly be easy. But he's got time. I'm sure when he's A FEW YEARS OLDER he'll have things together much better. I mean anyone who's as fond of that kitten and that bat as he is obviously has a heart beneath the stony exterior." She didn't actually shout the A FEW YEARS OLDER bit, but her projection was noticeably more forceful when she said it.

Breath has posed:
Breath sighs loudly. "You say that like you think I approve of my own taste in guys." She winces hard at Amarok's reaction and looks at him worriedly. "Hey, are you okay there?" She debates on going over to check on him, but.. well.. he's such an oddball to her that it's hard to know WHAT he would appreciate.

Stardust has posed:
Colette side-eyes Breath for a few moments. "He's got enough to deal with right now, okay? Anyway. Your last name. Don't forget to try it out. "

Investingating what Amarok's doing on the console further, Colette peers at the controls, looking at it from both sides. Which of course involves walking behind him a few times. "So you're using the holo-thingy as a prototyping device?" she asks. "That's pretty smart I guess."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok's response to having his shoulder's peeked over, is a sudden hard backhand to the face, ".....Sorry. Reflex." He says dull-ly aftwards, "The holo emitters aren't perfect, but they work for what I need them for." He talks as if he didn't just at least attempt to bash Colette's nose in.

Breath has posed:
Breath puts her face in her hands. "Oh. My. God. What do you even think I planned on DOING? It's not like he would even be interested. And like, if he WAS interested, he'd probably be TOO interested. I mean, there's stuff I just don't.. you know.. DO." She more or less ignores the bit of battle sibling in front of her, since they're both more or less indestructible.

Stardust has posed:
Colette makes no effort to dodge Amarok's backhand. It's an odd thing, hitting Colette. It somehow feels like you didn't hit her as hard as you thought you had. "Yeah, there are going to be limitations. I mean it doesn't really simulate the differences between materials very well. Just one setting for toughness and another for rigidity. And I'm pretty sure it won't accurately model stress points. Still I can see that it's useful for getting the basic design down." She also talks as if he didn't just attempt to bash her nose in.

"Hmm? What's that Breathy?" Colette asks. "Oh... I think you planned on not putting your name into the cryptex. But then I didn't notice anyone coming up with any other suggestions, so you know, why not?"

Breath has posed:
Breath sighs. "Did YOU put YOUR name in?" She crosses her arms a bit. "I mean, fine, I will put my name in. So like, yay me. I just like, wanted to know why you thought it was me in particular. And I totally didn't hear you saying what else you've tried."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok turns and looks back at Breath, ".....You're talking as if you actually stand a chance with him.....Hmph. I suppose everyone needs a delusion now and then." Wow. What a dick. And then as if he hadn't just preverbally spit in Breath's face, he just turns back around and goes right back to what he was doing, "...Hmm, some kind of adhesive shell, maybe?.....How would that even work?" He muses quietly to himself.

Stardust has posed:
Colette keeps circling the console, running a finger along the top of it as she goes, as if she was inspecting it for dust. "Oh, not you in particular Breathy. But you ARE a Titan, you know. That means you're on his list. You're as likely to be next as anyone else is."

When her circling takes her in the direction of the exit, Colette finally steps away from the console. "A sticky wolf. I'm pretty sure the world doesn't need a sticky wolf, Anorak. But who knows, maybe it'll be your turn next and you can get stuck to his fists. Good way of tracking someone down I suppose."

Colette walks to the doorway, stopping on her way through to say "No Breathy, I haven't put my name in. Or tried anything else, for that matter. Have fun training you two, try not to accidentally turn the entire tower 8-bit."

Breath has posed:
Breath just sort of stares at Amarok blankly. What. was. THAT? "....I assume you think you have a better chance?" She turns and follows after Colette. "I think I am going to let him tinker. I don't really feel like dealing with a jealous wannabe boyfriend competitor in a suit of armor right now." She whacks the save-and-exit-sim button on the way out. "Let's go put stuff in then."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok ignores the girls as they leave, and lets Breath's retort hang in the air, apparently having no interest in debating her. The only thing answering their comments being the quiet clickity-clack of the keyboard and the occasional grunt of curiousity.