8658/Pacifist Birds and Violent Blondes

Pacifist Birds and Violent Blondes
Date of Scene:	05 August 2019
Location:	Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Colette finally finds a training program that doesn't make Kían want to scream, and Cassie drops in to meet the bird.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Kian t'Kaeh, Wonder Girl

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Stardust has posed:
    "C'mon Birdy Buddy, it'll be fine.  I promise!"  It's never fine.  Whatever Colette promises, her ideas of training are never fine.  Although she has conceded that Kian's pacifism must be respected, her idea of developing a tactical use for Kian's powers seems so far to have consisted of trying to find loopholes in the Akiar's pacifism.  Things he might be willing to kill.  Nevertheless, she's insistent.  Kian is new, and Colette has taken it upon herself to get the newbies trained up.  Which is also probably never fine, but nobody else seems to be doing it.
    Colette strides into the darkened danger room and marches over to the control console.  "Program kay-fourteen," she declares loudly.  Lights come up.  The appearance of an open sky glows into life in the overhead, and the floor takes on a slightly uneven, grassy form.  She sits at the console, and jabs a few controls.  A faint red glow marks the hidden position of the ceiling, a safety measure to let fliers know when they're going too high in the illusory sky and are about to bash their heads.  "C'mon Kian.  It won't bite.  And nobody's going to ask you to bite it, either.  This simulation is about saving lives and making decisions, not about fighting things.  It'll be fine.  Get on into the simulation area and be ready."  She leans back in the seat and puts her feet up on the console.  "It'll be fine.  I promise."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    For very good reasons, Kían is hesitant to take the field with Colette at the console.  Things happen that he doesn't know how to deal with.  "I am not good with making decisions about lives," he says, still on the safe side of the line.  "If I judge I can't handle it, I will land."  He looks totally serious.  "I recommend not making it overly realistic.  Even when I trained with Imperial Emergency Services, I was never asked to catch anything more dramatic than an obvious dummy.  And I was never asked to choose who to catch and who to allow to fall, and I think you would do that to me.  Don't.  Not if you want me to get anything out of this."
    He take a deep breath, and kicks into the air.  That part, at least, is easy.  "All right."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Cassie Sandsmark is recently back from an impromptu, extended visit to Olympus; when your father happens to be Zeus and decides he wants some 'family time', you don't have much choice in the matter.  But, Cassie is determined to get back to her life as both University student and Wonder Girl.  She's dressed in her normal costume, blonde hair tied back into a tail, and carrying her Amazon longsword.  When she sees that the Danger Room is currently occupied, she smiles a bit.  "Oh.  Hey guys.  I didn't see any scheduled training, so I thought I'd get in some sparring time."  But, unconcerned, she moves towards the control area.  "You guys go ahead, though.  I'll just hang out until you're done."

Stardust has posed:
    "Making decisions about lives is never going to be easy," Colette replies with the rapid confidence of someone who has planned the conversation in advance and is seeing it go to script so far.  "But if you really want to help people, it's something you're going to have to learn…" she pauses a beat, eyes fixed on Kian.  "…Eventually.  But not today."  She flicks a switch, and a dozen drones appear in the air, each one differently colored, and scattered randomly around the room, and a dozen bowling balls appear on the ground, equally scattered.  At the moment nothing is moving.  "And not in the Danger Room.  Because nothing here is real, and if you're not feeling it emotionally, you're not going to make the right decisions.  This simulation is about honing your reactions, speed, anticipation and planning.  The drones move at different speeds.  There is a complicated but predictable pattern to their movement.  They are going to pick up balls, carry them to the ceiling, and drop them again.  You're going to do your best to stop any of them hitting the ground.  Think about your positioning.  Watch the drones, figure out which you need to prioritize.  Think… about… the order… of… Cassie!"
    Colette trails of when Cassie enters, blinking at the Amazonian in surprise.  A grin spreads wide across her face.  "Cassie!  You're back!"  She turns back to Kian, laughs briefy and says "Not the order of Cassie.  Forget that bit.  Um.  I mean… Kian, meet Wonder Girl.  Wonder Girl, meet Kian."  She hops to her feet and bounces over to Cassie for a hug.  "It's been aaaaages!  How are you?  How was your father?  How was Themyscira?  Are you back for good, or just a visit?  You gotta tell me everything.  I've got to tell you everything too!  So much has happened…."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Obviously, Kían can't bow in greeting while he's airborne, but he does wave in greeting.  "We could postpone my training session so I could greet her properly?  …no, I didn't think so."  He didn't even need to wait for an answer, he knew what it would be.
    The drones got his attention immediately; he drops into an easy hover, judging their flight speeds and directions with quick glances between them.
    "And thank you, this is something I can deal with."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Smiling, Cassie omves up and gently hugs Colette.  "It's good to see you too," she remarks.  "I'll tell you all about it later," Cassie promises.  Turning towards the Danger Room, Cassie waves.  "Hello, Kian.  Nice to meet you.  We can do formal introductions later.  Just keep your eye on the balls for now."  Turning back to Colette, Cassie tilts her head slightly in question.  "So, a new recruit?"

Stardust has posed:
    Colette watches Kian for a moment as he studies the drone patterns.  There's the faintest smile of approval.  She gives him a nod of acknowledgement at his thanks.  She has been trying, she really has.  Then she turns back to Cassie, leaning casually against the console.
    "Yep," she replies to Cassie's question.  "One of several.  And for some deranged reason, I'm the one who seems to be training them up.  I know, right?  When you left, I was the noob."  She grins wide and shakes her head.  "Seems like just yesterday we were up against Darkseid, doesn't it?  But so much has happened, I don't even know where to start.  Oooh yes, I do.  We went to space!  Well, three of us.  It was so cool.  Clear across the galaxy in a proper space ship.  Visited this freaky space station place that is build inside the head of a giant dead alien.  Well, it'd have to be dead I guess.  Or probably he wouldn't let people build a space station out of his skull.  I got to punch all sorts of weird life forms, then we came home and saved the world.  What else.  Damian stabbed Vorpal in the stomach, and then we fought a Bandersnatch.  Raven briefly became like queen of the sorcerers, and then she left the team, but we got her back.  The Danger Room came alive, it's now a member of the team.  This is kind of a new danger room.  Um.  We have another new recruit who has the coolest code name of any super ever.  She's called Negasonic Teenage Warhead.  There's so much to tell!"
    About half way through all this, Colette flicked a switch on the console, triggering the simulation.  There was no warning, but suddenly the drones started swooping for balls and the tricky, speedy red one has already grabbed a ball, risen to the ceiling, and released.  Three more drones are in the process of picking up.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Back on Kían's homeworld, there's a game they play that's essentially three-dimensional flag tag.  It's one of the few things they use safety nets for, but when you have lots of birdfolk in a limited area all flying around each other, it's a sensible precaution.  And the rules are simple: all players have two long ribbons trailing from their belts, and the object is to take other players' ribbons and avoid having yours taken.
    Kían was very good at this game.
    He approaches the first ball with care only because he doesn't know how much mass it has, or how the Danger Room simulates mass.  In any case, he's pretty sure that it can't weigh more than the average birdman.  And once it's in hand, he looks for a spot on the ground that would be difficult for a drone to get to.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Cassie smiles wide and puts a hand on Colette's shoulder.  "You've certainly risen to the occasion, Colette.  That's the mark of a good leader."  She turns back to watch Kian dealing with the drones and balls.  "And somehow, I don't think Damian would be quite as gentle in training Kian."  She looks back to Colette and gives her a knowing smirk.  "I talked with Tim the other day, and he sort of filled me in on the current situation.  Who do we have on active roster now?  And yes, I'm back full time.  But I'm not looking to disturb the current order of things.  Just glad to be back with the team and family."

Stardust has posed:
    The area within the simulation zone is pretty much an open field; there are no spots that a drone can't get to as easily as any other.  While Kian considers his options, three more drones have picked up balls and are heading at different speeds towards the ceiling, while two more come in to pick up more.  "Don't let 'em get ahead of you," Colette warns Kian, though she doesn't appear to be watching for the moment.
    Colette gives a small frown at Cassie's comment on leadership, but she doesn't follow up on that for now.  "Red Robin has been out of things for a while too, there's only so much he knows to be honest," she tells Cassie.  The 'Red Robin' is spoken with a slight emphasis—a reminder that while Cassie and Colette are free with their first names, even around the tower you do have to be careful about names.  "The roster… I dunno if it was more fixed in the early days, but it's kinda fluid at the moment.  Let's see.  We have Stabby Robin but he's often in Gotham, Nerd Robin's been fairly active, and Prime Robin has been back to lend a hand a bit.  Gar too, from time to time.  Vorp is in and out as much as you'd expect from a cat, you can never pin him down.  Kori is…" there's a pause as she thinks how to put it.  "Kori.  Not so big on active duty lately, but she's around.  Daro, Nega and Kian here are the newbies du jour.  Urban Wolf got tired of people pointing out that his codename was a bit dumb because he's not even wolf-themed, and renamed himself Amarok, but he's not around that much lately.  Raven is always brooding about the place and refusing to make coffee for me.  Brick is…" she frowns a moment.  "You met Brick, right?  He turned up about the time you left.  Brick is Brick.  Useful to have around when we've got him, but he's got lots going on with Star Labs that keeps him busy.  So yeah, the newbies are a good thing.  We need some fresh blood."
    "That's an expression," Colette says over her shoulder in Kian's direction.  "It's got nothing to do with actually bleeding.  Don't worry."  She watches Kian's progress through the simulation for a few seconds before turning back to Cassie with a slightly exasperated expression.  "Kian here is a pacifist who can zap bad guys with powerful energy blasts, but won't.  He's a really good flier too.  The wings probably give that away.  We're figuring out what role he can play on the team."  She pauses a beat.  "It's all a bit of a mess, really."  Another comment over her shoulder: "Not you, Kian.  I meant the team in general."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían only barely hears; he's concentrating.  He just takes the ball away from the nearest drone and swiftly deposits it on the ground, then chases after the next two.  One is wrested away from its drone; the other he has to catch.  At least they're not so heavy he can't carry more than one at a time.
    Back to the ground.  Take stock of the situation.  Prioritize.  Interpose himself between the drones and their targets—make them have to think about what they're doing.
    It's unlikely that Colette has seen Kían flying with such precision and agility before; he really is totally at home in the air.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    "Well, I think you've got a good handle on how to fit Kian into the team," Cassie says as she watches the bird-person flying around.  "Recon Scout.  Evacuation.  Rescue.  Ease him into what we do as Titans.  We've got plenty of scrappers, so having someone dedicated to getting bystanders or innocents to safety is a good thing."  She watches Kian move towards rescuing another ball.  "Even if he won't use those energy blasts against an opponent, would he use them for dirstractions?  Blowing up machinery?  Can he turn it from destructive to simply a blinding flash?"

Stardust has posed:
    There is one time Colette has seen Kian flying at his best—during the Apokalyptian invasion, when believing he had the blessings of his goddess, he DID fight.  Maybe part of that was that the Parademons he was fighting are so dumb they probably don't count as sentient, but the arrival of a vast number of ravens to help out in the fight was clearly an inspiration to the bird man, and he'd been impressive in the air.  This knowledge is reflected in the gradual but very noticeable uptick in the difficulty of the simulation as Kian 'rescues' the first few balls.  Although the drones keep to their designated flight speed, they're starting to increase the frequency with which they dive for the balls. 
    "All that," Colette agrees with Cassie.  "And there are definitely possibilities with his powers, we just have to figure out what they are.  He channels electromagnetic radiation in some way that I don't think even he's that clear on, but that does suggest possibilities.  We had a little run-in with Doctor Light a few weeks back.  I went in on my own because I was trying to keep Kian from actually getting into a fight, but as he pointed out to me later, there's a good chance he could have neutralized Light's powers.  There's a lot of thinking and exploring to do with what he might be able to contribute."  Colettes eyes go slowly to Cassie's lasso, then back up to Cassie's eyes, with a slight smirk, then she gives the Amazonian a half-shrug.  She's not voicing the thoughts, but the implications should be obvious.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían 'rescues' two more balls, sees two more drones approaching the ceiling… and that blasted red one on the far side of the area diving to get a third.  No way to get there in time and still be able to get the two near ones, and he snaps something in his own language that has the sharpness of a swear word.
    Without any noticeable hesitation, he raises his hand and blasts at it, while making for the ceiling and the two nearer drones' cargo.
    While he clearly didn't hear Cassie's question, he definitely answered it.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Watching Kian's performance, Cassie shrugs a bit and smiles at Colette.  "Apparently so," she answers her own question.  Noticing the look that Colette is giving her, Cassie folds her arms and gives the French girl a questioning look.  "Okay.  What are you thinking?  I can tell you've got an idea, so out with it."

Stardust has posed:
    Colette doesn't turn to look at the sound of the red drone being blasted into fragments, but Cassie sure can see the grin on her face.  With a small flourish she flicks a finger at the screen on the console, and the remaining drones all start dropping towards balls at the same time. 
    "I wouldn't go as far as to call it an idea," Colette replies to Cassie with a dismissive wave of the hand.  "More like something to think about.  Your lasso channels energy.  Kian manipulates energy.  There's got to be something that can be done there.  Like maybe Kian can… I dunno… reconfigure the energies traveling down that lasso to get past a specific defense, or boost them or something.  Obviously not, you know… if there's a person on the end of it.  Because pacifist.  But I bet the pair of you could do interesting things to a Sentinel.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "That's CHEATING!" Kían yells, and commits himself to the only possible response: blasting as many of the drones as he can.
    He did once tell Colette he could act against machines.  He wasn't kidding.

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Cassie isn't sure of the idea Colette is proposing, but she nods.  "Maybe.  Something we'll see.  But first, I think it might be better to focus on Kian's training before we go to advanced stuff."  The blonde Amazon rubs her chin in thought.  "You know, there's several Martial Arts that focus on containing an opponent, instead of harming them.  Amazon wrestling.  Aikido.  Although…" she quietly giggles.  "Stabby Robin would be better to teach the second."  She turns her attention back to Kian.  "I'm helping out with training at the Themysciran 'shelters' Diana's set up for women, but I'm not sure how she, or the other Amazons, would feel about me teaching Amazon techniques to a male.  Even if it is an alien."  She looks back at Colette, defering to the other girl's position of leading the training.  "If you want, I can ask her, though."

Stardust has posed:
    Colette's grin grows wider.  She can't help herself.  Finally she turns to the training going on behind her and watches as Kian totals the remaining drones.  "That's not cheating, birdy buddy.  There are no rules when it comes to the kind of crap the world throws at you.  Put on the metaphorical cape and you're going to find that situations change all the time and you have to adjust quick, or someone will pay the price.  Cassie or me?  We'd have gone for the drones first thing, because I gave you a problem but never put any limits on how you're supposed to solve it."
    Colette pushes away from the console and paces into the simulation area.  "When I was were you are now, not long after I joined… Amarok dragged me in here for a training session.  Set up a war zone.  Bullets and grenades flying.  Desert village environment, bunch of huts scattered around.  Tasked me to find him.  My solution?  I set the graphics to wire frame.  Now maybe that really was cheating, but it worked.  Fast.  Always look for a less obvious solution.  Now… this program is in the system.  Kay-fourteen.  You can call it up any time.  You can set a difficulty level.  You can chose to zap, or you can practise without zapping to hone your flying skills.  Your call.  Use the program, get better at doing what you do, try it on maximum difficulty without zapping and see how long you last.  Experiment with it.  When you're bored, let me know and I'll introduce you to kay-fifteen."
    Colette snakes an arm out to point at Cassie, then follows it to turn and look at her.  "Stabby Robin would not be better at training Kian anything.  He's too stabby.  There's no way you can stab people in a pacifistic fashion."  She lowers her arm.  "Amazonian techniques… that's interesting though.  What do you think, Kian?  Would you prepared to learn some defensive combat techniques?  Ways to stop people attacking you, without having to hurt them?  Parrying blows?  We could hook you up with a blunt sword."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    With a soft rustling of feathers, Kían flits into the 'safe zone' for a landing.  He doesn't look too winded.  "It's still cheating when I expect one set of training parameters and get hit with another!"
    He bows to Cassie, formally greeting her at last.  "Kié, Kási."  He returns his attention to Colette again.  "Defensive techniques?  I suppose I should know them, but a sword, blunt or otherwise, wouldn't work.  Our traditional weapon is a crossbow, but I never had training on that, and it's not a lot of defensive use."

Wonder Girl has posed:
    Cassie returns the bow.  "Pleased to meet you.  I am Cassandra Sandsmark.  But my hero name is Wonder Girl, because Wonder Woman is my mentor.  And my friends call me Cassie."  She holds out her hand to Kian.  "And there's lots of options besides a crossbow.  Bolas, nets, and lassos can entagle and entrap an opponent; neutralizing them or setting them up for a strike by another teammate."  She smiles and pats Kian on the shoulder.  "You'll do fine.  Trust in yourself as your team trusts in you.  We will all work to find a way that you are able to contribute to the team in as great a way as possible without compromising your moral values."

Stardust has posed:
"Getting hit with things you didn't expect is pretty much the definition of what we do," Colette tells Kian with a shake of her head.  "You're out there in the field thinking you're dealing with a couple of low-life muggers and one of them turns out to be able to shoot snakes out of his eyes, who you going to complain to about the universe cheating?"  She kicks out at a bit of shattered drone, then looks up and speaks in a raised voice.  It's not a shout, but the lady can certainly project.  "COMMAND!  Purge scenario.  Initiate S-one-four-four static.  Go."
    The grassy field vanishes, and the lights dim.  The floor becomes a rocky surface, like the top of a mountain, with sections of ancient wall criss-crossing it.  At the far end of the room, there's a ruined building that looks vaguely eastern in style, with an open doorway leading into darkness beyond.  Four ninjas are standing in front of the door, and another two or three are visible in the gloom beyond.  They are unmoving.  "Here's one for you, Cass!" Colette calls out.  "Ninjas.  This was Damian's program originally, but I modified it a bit."  She looks over to the Amazonian with a gleeful grin.  "These ninjas can fly."

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "I… couldn't be party to an injury," Kían says a little hesitantly.  "Setting someone up to be hurt is no different from causing the harm myself."  He peels off his shirt—more of a tank top—and half-heartedly towels himself off with it.  "If you'll excuse me, I am going to get a shower and then take a flight around the bay."  He bows again, to both.  "Good to meet you, Kási… and thank you, Colette, that was a simulation I could understand."