Session Start: Wed Sep 15 18:16:51 2010 <@Ked> [The Hunt] <@Ked> [Monday, June 28, 1490 - late afternoon, back on the Zone 4 beach training grounds] <@Ked> The peepswarm on Saturday drew a lot of colony-wide attention - there was some really marvelous EI footage of everyone fighting and/or getting beaten up, and the Hierarchy has decided to release the snowflakes titles, if nothing else. <@Ked> Fanclubs are ensuing - though it's early in those projects, and no one knows if they'll stick or not. Back on campus, the snowflakes didn't hear a thing from their mentors for the rest of the weekend, and even the first half of the Monday training session has been a dull target practice. But Lady Spoon is winding that down... <@Ked> [session start] * LadySpoon gestures, and one more holographic target appears. One last round, if you would, Lady Crystal? * LadyCrystal is transformed. The first thing she said was 'Ugh.' upon realizing the costume was legit. Nonetheless, she shakes her arms out... and poses in a slightly silly 'dramatic pointing' manner. "Flashing Pillar!" A thin, jagged lance of flakequartz leaps from the ground and spikes up at the target like a piston. * LadySpitterwing has been watching Crystal's attacks avidly. * LordCharybdis looked sympathetic at Lady Crystal's plight over her undesirable costume. * LadySpoon shakes her head. ... for some stupid reason, I have to pose. I know I have to, too. The hell. You are not going to be fun to spar with, Crystal. That's. SoOOO. Cool! Oh, all the jagged, stabby goodness? Yeah, sorry, not my choice there. * LadySwarm watches with interest. "Maybe you can train out of it, like people can train to change their costumes?" Maybe we'll give you to Hammer one of these weeks. Yes! Is that good, or bad? I think the proper term is 'interesting'. * LadySpoon claps her hands. "Okay, practical magic lessons for the day." Hm. Costumes are fun! But not always practical. * LadySwarm shoots Lady Crystal a sympathetic glance. * LadySpitterwing pats hers (green-and-light-yellow-themed today) down happily. * LordCharybdis glares at his black trident, concentrating for a moment. It vanishes, becoming the black folding fan again. "You wanna see if this'll help, Lady Crystal?" he asks, holding it out to her with a tentacle that reaches beyond his pillar of water. And once you get into the working world, it's not really a professional sort of image, if you know what I mean. ...yeeeeaaaaah. I'm gonna be in trouble there, aren't I. * LordCharybdis wiggles a few extremities. * LadySpoon is in one of her ubiquitous suits today again, though she's definitely transformed. Looks like. On the upside, you can hug more Ladies at once. * LordWind glances down at his suit. It's not too far out there. Well...the Ningyo have fish tails, and they manage to be professional. I'm sure you can, too. * LadySpoon blinks at Charybdis. "Hmm. Maybe you can get Corset to design something for you?" Maybe the cape. Isn't her tastes kind of no-undies and skintight, though? Well, I'm *naked* right now. She can do more than her own tastes, I'm sure. ...oddly, it doesn't feel as embarrassing as I would think it would. Lady Neko is naked every time she transforms. *shrug* Well, she's good all around, even if it's not couture. But she'd take it as a challenge. And I'm sure she'd love to work with you. Do you want to try to change your costume, Lady Crystal? *totally not changing the subject away from himself* She's *awesome*. I mean, she seems awesome, anyway. * LadySpoon coughs. "Anyway." * LadySwarm grins at Tasi. * LordWind snickers, looking away. "I'm sure she'd love to work with him." This isn't my real costume. Kinda not surprised. It's too normal-looking. I kinda guessed that. "Suit" doesn't look "spoony." * LadySwarm nods. * LadySpoon detransforms - it's subtle, as she's wearing the same thing, she just shrinks a little. Yeah. Everyone can do the suits except us. * LadyCrystal then turns to Chary and... hrms. "Well, yeah, shit. If it works." Something more classy, less pantyflash. * LordCharybdis hands her the black folding fan. "You saw Lord Wind and I playing with it, just...make it work. Helps if you gesture with it." * LadySpoon retransforms. This time with costume - a bodysuit, skintight and silver, though with a half-dozen spoons dangling and jangling from each sleeve and leg. * LadyCrystal can't help but chuckle into her hand. * LordWind winces. Wow, I thought I had it bad. I can see what you mean. I didn't win any fashion awards with this. Wow, neat. * LordCharybdis blinks. "...that's...different." I apparently lucked out big time. * LadySwarm blinks, but mostly manages to restrain herself. "Yeah, I guess that...wouldn't be very professional." * LadySpoon flips back to normal-human. So you just, like, changed out of it then? Your clothes are preserved during the transformation, obviously. Some very early MG's wished very very hard, and eventually found that they could control the transformation to stay with what they had. * LadySpoon transforms, stays in the suit. * LadySpitterwing gapes. ...huh. Neat. So, uh, how does it work? Unfortunately, there's no real trick to it. You just have to keep trying until you get it right. * LadyCrystal whistles. "So, are you just... re-making the suit with your mind?" I think...I'll stick with what I've got. Having pants on might be uncomfortable when I'm squiddy. You can always use your trident to give yourself a shirt or something, if you want. Maybe a shirt. Some Ladies have said that trying to hold onto something - a weapon, a toy, whatever - through the transformation helps. If you get the sense of preserving that, you can sort of expand the idea. Well, I actually tried earlier. It doesn't work if there're no clothes to begin with, I guess. Like our EIs. Ooh, or maybe like a tunic-front tabard thing, like what Jaimie has. Hantsuki's wristband persists already. *holds up his left wrist, where indeed, it's still there* * LadySwarm blinks a bit, then cocks her head to the side, looking at Sei. "That might actually work." I'll try to work that angle, Spoon. Might help. There are more-advanced applications of this - a few Ladies eventually get to where they can leave things on their transformed state. Some find they can eventually create clothes to suit as they transform. * LadySpitterwing nods eagerly. * LadyCrystal flips the fan along her fingers in the meantime, then gives her skirt a tap. Not terribly imaginative, but it's a start -- pants instead. Same pattern and color, though. "Hm." But... it usually takes two or three years to pick up that first step. So focus on that. And in the meantime be glad you're not spoon-girl. * LadySwarm chuckles quietly. * LadySpoon eyes the fan. "Or shortcuts are good too. Sei, dear, where did you get that fan?" * LordWind shifts back to himself; the wind breeze dies down a little. * LordWind is now known as John * LadySpitterwing looks at the fan, impressed... * LadySpitterwing then LOOKS at the fan. "...wow. That looks...that looks almost just like..." Dad gave it to me when I came to school. It's been in the family for years. *sounds like he's quoting his dad with that last line* * John kneels down, and picks up an errant seashell. "Here goes nothing." * LadySpitterwing stares at Charybdis, wide-eyed. "...*how* many years?" Noted. Uh... hey, I got a question. About recovery. How well does it work? Like, from clinical to good-as-new, or what? It's also my transformation ob--huh? * LadyCrystal looks over as well, a bit curious now. I don't know. Why? IS it important? *backing away instinctively from Spitterwing's intensity. * * LadySwarm is looking between Tasi and Sei, confused. It reminds me of... It looks JUST LIKE Lord Darkmoon's tessen from the Thin Pink Line! ...who from wha? ... so, he stole something from the Ningyo, and from a TV show? And HE uses--used it to change stuff ALL. THE. TIME. * LadySwarm looks more closely at the fan. "Wow, you're right." * LadySpitterwing rolls her eyes at John. "It's based on HISTORY, John. They went to great lengths to make it realistic." Well, same for his Riptide attack. I haven't ever seen Thin Pink Line. *quietly, embarrassed* And, uh, Ursula? That was it. But, but...do you think you could maybe be descended all the way back from *him*?? It's just a show, about the early days. * LadySwarm smiles reassuringly at Sei. * LordCharybdis holds up his hands defensively. "I'm adopted, so even if Dad is, I'm not..." * John looks over Chary a bit more. "Is there an original thing about you, or are you just a mixture of other things?" * LadySpitterwing subsides a bit. "...oh. Sorry about that, then." I kinda watch it? But I like reading the text histories more. A bit more accurate. * LordCharybdis suddenly looks guilty. "no need to be sorry." Well, of course it's not, like, a *hundred* percent accurate. But it's definitely a lot of fun. What's... well, if it's like Lord Darkmoon's, maybe that's why it makes me transform? * LadySpoon pulls up her EI and makes a lengthy note. Hell if we know. *quickly* Was Lord Darkmoon one of the good guys? Yeah, of course! * LadySpitterwing sighs a little. "*Really* good-l...er, good guys." whew * LadySwarm doesn't-quite-glare at John. "Hey, quit. If he has a fan from some Lord a long time ago, that's pretty cool. And it's not his fault he has an attack like one the Ningyo use." * LordCharybdis totally misses Spitterwing's stumble. * LadyCrystal finally gets around to handing the fan back. * LordCharybdis takes it. It flashes into its trident form once back in his grasp. * John transforms again, the wind picking up... and then when it's gone, it's Lord Wind, holding the shell. ... and, uh, nothing else, not even a watch. * John is now known as LordWind But really, even if it's the legit article, it is what it is. Which is neat, as I have pants. For now. .... Ooopsie. * LadySpitterwing NYEEPS! * LadyCrystal takes a moment to realize the transformation botches. "Huh. Not bad." * LadySpoon leers mildly. * LadySpitterwing looks away modestly. "Too bad John doesn't..." * LordCharybdis falls off of his water column, laughing. * LadySwarm 's eyes go wide and she quickly looks away. Well, that settles one question. * LordWind wide-eyes, and covers himself with a shell, blushing furiously. * LadySpitterwing can't stop a shower of giggles at Crystal's comment, though she keeps her eyes averted. Wh-what question would that be? Fan! Fan! * LordCharybdis asks in all innocence. * LadyCrystal cackles a bit. "I'll tell you when you're older, since I like you the way you are." It doesn't work without clothes to change! *said as he tosses it to the denuded Lord* Just detrans, John. * LordWind catches it with one hand, keeping himself covered with the other. Almost immediately he's got his Lordly garb back. Hmm. Wait, I thought it didn't work without clothes? Did he make the shell into his clothes? Lord Darkmoon used it to make all *kinds* of things. Well, maybe you guys don't need this lesson, with Chary over here to fix things. We might if he's not around, though. Well, I may as well try without the fan... True. I'll practice on my own, regardless. Need to be self-reliant and all that. * LordWind coughs, covered again. * LadySpitterwing nods. "Yeah, that's true too." Still. This is something you can practice in your rooms. Besides learning to control the clothing, you'll get faster at the transformation, too. I. Uh. Sorry. * LadySpitterwing peeks at the cough, sighs in relief as John appears to be covered, and turns to Spoon again. Neat! * LordCharybdis concentrates, and nothing happens. "...uh. Lord Wind? Can I have the fan back, please?" No problem, you made my day. * LordWind tosses the fan back to Charybdis. Yes, I think we can fit that into the calendar. * LordWind is STILL blushing, and staring down at the sand. But yeah, Spoon. About the healing. How strong is it? I mean, if we're clinically dead, does it work then, or does it stop? Now no one is going to want to- eh? Well... * LadySwarm listens, not really sure if this is something she wants to hear about. Just wanted to know, since... y'know, peep-seared flesh and all. Shit hurt, too. * LordCharybdis catches it. A flood of water rises up to envelop him, then recedes, leaving a soaked boy wearing ragged shreds of what used to be clothes. Flipping the fan open and over himself, the clothes repair themselves. * LordCharybdis is now known as SeiMurdon There are limits, but it's easier to think in terms of what would kill you instantly. * LadySpoon taps her head with The Spoon. ...not many things. Hey! I'm sorry, I forgot about this earlier, when we were showing our powers. Taking your head off, blowing your brains out, total disintegration, multiple dismemberments... Fair. Like... your heart exploding, or losing your brain or lungs. ...that sounds bad. Well, that makes me feel a little less worried. There have been a few cases where Ladies have been shot in the heart and survived. Blood loss can do it, but... if you get any sort of assistance in the first minute you'll make it. * LadySwarm is distracted from her distraction by the gory images. "Yuck. Hope I can avoid that..." Getting pulped flat by falling objects. Eep. And that. But if you're aware after you get hit, you'll make it. Like Lady Composocrete's attack? She didn't solidify those. But yes. * LadyCrystal calmly snaps her fingers, and her exterior, skin and all, crystallizes. It begins to flake and sublimate away with the sound of falling glass and wind chimes, leaving behind a slightly shorter Farah in her uniform. * LadyCrystal is now known as Farah * LordWind takes a deep breath, and the breeze flares briefly, but noticeably, and it's just John. * LordWind is now known as John Well anyway. I was going to have all of you try, but after John's little boo-boo I expect it's not worth trying to convince you. Normal, non-magical clothes. I suppose we can practice in our rooms, where we have privacy... I'm guessing the fan and my EI band aren't going to work, since they stay ANYWAY... I'll try later on. In private. I'm not transforming in my room if I can avoid it. Water damage would be terrible; it's so nice! Yes. Well. This isn't exactly homework. But I do want to see all of you able to do it by the time you graduate. You could come out here when it's empty and practice, Sei. Just let us know when, we'll leave the beach to you. * SeiMurdon shrugs, and finds a sand dollar to concentrate on. "Nah, I'll try it now. If I come out naked...well, that IS my costume, right?" * SeiMurdon grins. Pretty much. Good luck, Sei. * LadySwarm grins and watches to see if Sei can manage it. * SeiMurdon holds the sand dollar out flat on one palm in front of him, and the fan out, folded, with the other. Snapping the fan open, the familiar pillar of water with its eerie inner-illumination of his silhouette as he transforms appears! * SeiMurdon is now known as LordCharybdis * LordCharybdis floats in his water column; the sand dollar is gone. "...well, that didn't work." ...well, I dunno if I'd want to start trying with the clothes, but maybe the object-thing... * LadySpitterwing hops through nothingness and into normality! * LadySpitterwing is now known as Tasiya * Tasiya looks around, goes through her bag, and picks up a tube of lip balm. Ah well. Another time. * Tasiya stares at it for a bit, nods firmly, then hops back through hissing nothingness. Well, I'm not trying to mess with my clothes with people watching. *shrug* I'll practice later. * LadySpitterwing opens her hand to find nothing there, and shrugs. Anyway, that's the lesson for this afternoon. Did you kids have any questions before we break for the day? Hey, before we all go, I remembered something a second ago. It's not real important, but... Other, less morbid questions? ...what is it, Lady Swarm? *polite* Sorry, just had to know. Oh. I wanted to talk about what to do when we see another one of those peepmouse things, but what I was going to say was, when we were showing our powers, I forgot one. I have a really, really good sense of smell when I'm transformed. And, uh, scent glands. Oh, we're supposed to talk about that kind of stuff, too? Always handy, that. Well, we talked about Wind flying... "Scent glands?" What're those? Well yeah, it makes sense, I just didn't think of it. She can control her smell? Or maybe just turn a smell on or off? Uh...it's...I can't control my smell. I can make an oil that has a smell. Is it like pheromones for attracting other insects and animals and stuff? Huh. That's kinda weird. Any idea what it's for? Interesting, yeah. Not really. I can put it on stuff and it stays for about a day if it doesn't get washed off. But that's all. Well, that's probably good for tracking someone. * Farah shrugs, taking a moment to stretch. "Ngh." Yeah, that'd be cool for that. You okay, Farah? * LadySwarm nods, then shrugs. "Anyway. I just wanted to tell you, in case." And you had a question about the peepmice? * LadySwarm 's face scrunches unhappily. "Yeah..." Oh yeah, when it comes to that, I can make most sounds I can hear, too. Um, and I have kind of a sense for...kind of an infrared sense, too. I was just thinking, we need a plan for what to do when we find them. How are they, the ones we brought back? * LordCharybdis nods. "I think, next time, I should go in and try to grab them. That way, they'll all come for me." I was thinking about that. Spitterwing, can you make some recordings, and try them out with an EI, see if normal peeps will follow it? What if we don't want to make them mad, though? The ones you brought back all died. If it works, just send us the recordings, and we ... what? ...what? Oh no! Why! How!? * Farah frowns. "Cause?" * LordCharybdis looks horror-stricken. Was it because of the...whatever it was? * John eyes widen. * LadySpitterwing looks disappointed. * LadySpoon shrugs. "Neko dissected them, and said it looked like they were all full of ruptured cells - some of that might have been from the pounding you gave them, but she thinks they just couldn't contain the power well enough." * John then forces himself to close his eyes, and compose himself. "Okay. How long did it take?" Oh no... So the silverdarts overloaded them. Sheeeeeit. * LordCharybdis sinks down into his column of water. The one lasted three hours maybe? No more than that. They were all babies. Would Healing help? * LadySwarm looks like she's about to cry. "Oh no..." Does she think the, uh, mom would have fared better? * Farah frowns a bit more. "Although you gotta wonder now. If they can ride in peeps, can they ride other animals?" * LadySwarm takes a deep breath and tries to focus. "And would other animals live longer?" And...can they ride people, too? That's more a question for Lady Turbulence I think - it's not so much the physical size as the metaphysical. Neko thinks. Metaphysical size? * John blinks. "Uh?" And as for other animals... I bet we'll find out eventually if the silverdarts keep manifesting. ...so what are we supposed to *do*, next time? Do I look like I understand this scientific shit? I'm chasing them down next time. What do you mean, chasing them down? * LordCharybdis ventures, in answer to Spoon's rhetorical question, "...yes?" No, ma'am. But well... I will admit I'd rather not kill them. But what can we do? The official word from Michiko is that you should stop anything that's threatening humans. We can try to lure them away from people. I can at least catch them without killing them....we'll have to figure out a way to keep them alive after. * Farah paces a little. "There's no way to talk to them, so we have no clue why there's doing this. Even with what Acne said..." I can sense them all the time, because mine doesn't turn off. So... when they came the last two times, I sensed something moving fast. I can move pretty fast, too, so I might be able to run an intercept before it finds more... peeps, or something. * LadySwarm shakes her head. "If it's true they just can't hold the magic..." I don't wanna believe this is war, y'know? Me neither. Now, I do know something about the application of deadly force - if you're in a fight, don't get complicated, just shoot to kill. But they haven't started fights with us. We've started fights with them. * Farah nods. "Fair enough. I seem to be good at that, at least. God, Candy'll probably think I'm the most horrible person if I tell her about it." * LadySpitterwing purses her lips and rubs her nose a little. Depends on how you want to interpret empowering an automatically destructive force in a peaceful environment. It could be their way of warning us, showing us they have magic too... It could also be them indirectly throwing fiery rocks at us without us seeing them, Well, hell, we are the invaders. If there's more than silverdarts... * Farah shudders a little at the thought. Or it could have been trying to burn down the dorm, with all my students in it. Maybe not the dorm. Maybe us? * LadySwarm looks downcast at the idea that burning up peepmice is a show of force. "Yeah, I guess." It hit Rory first. Only because he was holding it, though. I'm not sure if it's coincidence that we were all there already, or it targeted us? And I never...I wouldn't've guessed that something natural to Snowflake would be so, so...burny. * LadySpoon shakes her Spoon. "Don't take chances." I know. I think we all know, but... well, they're cute, burning or no. It pokes at the don't-step-on-cute-things reaction we all have. I didn't really get that feeling from the silverdarts, either...could they be different things? No one's actually seen an initial magical manifestation before. We just don't know. * LadySwarm takes a deep breath. "We need to learn more about them. Lady Spoon...would Lady Neko be able to study one if she got to it before the magic left it?" * LordCharybdis looks despondent. "I wonder if they heal while they have magic in them." ... one more thing. It is okay for me to tell my parents I Became, right? I've been holding off on that for some official word. * LadySpoon hmms. Yes, but. I really have to insist you do it in person. I can do that, I guess. I could call them here for a conference about you! Oops. Well, next time, I'm going to try and intercept. And... the, uh, twins can try their healing rocks on any peeps left? * Farah nods. "That would be nice. I'd like to show them around a little." * LadySwarm grins weakly. "Only a week in and she already has to call your parents." Well, it's not for breaking someone's nose. I'll take it. Oh, yes. Lady Spoon, how are our fire prevention systems holding up? Do we need more? * LordCharybdis nods. "Yeah, I'm sure Shimatama would want to help other animals." Good question. I'll get with the building eng team on that. Even after we, uh, subdue said other animals? Subdue is better than slay. Hey, John - call Lady Spoon at least as soon as you sense them. Maybe Lady Neko, too. If she can get here fast enough to study them... No, you really need Lady Turbulence. She's the only one who really gets the deep theoretical shit on this planet. Oh. Her, then, I guess. I wish we had some kind of thing we could safely capture them in, though... Do you have her address? * John nods. "I'll call them, too. And, Lady Spoon, what about Lady Blade? Is she local? Hantsuki, can you look up Lady Turbulence? *looking at his wrist* If she's around, she might be able to help with short notice intercepts. * LadySwarm looks at Tasi unhappily. "I tried..." * Farah is just listening in, now, and looking at John as if pondering something. That should not be a problem, Lord Charybdis. Do you want me to, now? ...no, that's okay. Just was wondering. ...Blade? She gets all over, why? Because the first sources move really, really fast. * LadySpitterwing blinkblinks at Swarm. In fact, it almost looks like a set of second eyelids blinked there too for a moment. No, we'd have to keep her here. Safe for us and the environment too, Jaimie. I'm pretty fast, but if she's local, she can help with getting a visual on the first source. We just need one. That would take an Order from the Duchess, I suspect. ...ah, Orders! We can do those next time! ...huh? We have orders? * LadySwarm gives Lady Spoon an alarmed look. Uh-oh. * LadySpoon muahahahahas. Orders? ...what are you laughing for, Lady Spoon? You're worrying me... * Farah looks a little bothered as well. That's the really-not-fun part of this gig. You'll see. ... I don't like the sound of that. * LadySpitterwing bites her lip a bit. * LadySpoon claps her hands and bows. "Lesson over. Go get some supper, guys." Will do. Lady Spoon, can you let me know if any other Ladies are in the area, or get moved to on-call here? Alright. Thanks again, Spoon. Okay. Just to make sure...next time John senses this magic, he's going to try to intercept it. And if he doesn't, Sei's going to try to grab it so it focuses on him? Right. That's the plan. And if that doesn't work...*grimaces* we fight it. And rescue anybody that might be getting hurt because of it. And afterwards, try and keep the victims healed, until Miss Turbulence can take a look. * LadySwarm nods. "Right." And... I hate to put it like this, but don't hold back if you feel threatened. It's great if we get the upper hand, and can capture something, but I don't want to lose anyone because we're holding back. * LadySwarm nods reluctantly. We won't! I won't, really. I don't like burning. * LadySpitterwing wrinkles her nose at John. I'm not gonna let Lady Crystal or anybody else get hurt like that again. * LadySpoon ducks east towards the Zone 4 buildings. * LadySpitterwing shrugs. Really, it's okay. You didn't know. * Farah gives Chary a pat on the back. "Now c'mon, time to eat delicious things." Meeting adjourned. Let's grab some grub. * LadySwarm says quietly, "We might get hurt. We have to protect people. It's part of being Ladies." * John goes to do just that, heading for the security gate. * LadySpitterwing grabs her purse, Blends, and heads off to find a safe place to detransform. She may have picked up a habit from Saturday! ...I'll meet you back there. I want to try something. * Farah gets to walking as well, whistling a little to herself. "Alright. Don't take too long!" * LadySwarm just detransforms on the beach. She gives the others a little time to get ahead of her before starting to walk, though, so hopefully there won't be any more problems like there were with Lady Acne. * LadySwarm is now known as Jaimie * LadySpitterwing is now known as Tasiya * LordCharybdis heads for the water, rising up on his pillar. At the shore, he points his trident down. His voice echoes with otherworldly authority - a strange thing coming from him - as he declares, "[Charybdal Vortex]." The water starts to turn, swirling into a stately, magnificent whirlpool. He dives in; it's gone in moments. * LordCharybdis is now known as SeiMurdon <@Ked> As the various snowflakes trickle back into the dorm, they're all greeted by the sight of Alicia Waters giving an improv, nonstop stump speech in the lobby. * SeiMurdon stops to listen when he gets there. Oh boy, here we go. * Farah still stops to hear what she has to say. * Alicia has even drafted the Salvador twins into her effort - they're handing out pamphlets to everyone, regardless of whether they want one or not. Each pamphlet reads like a resume - probably because it is. Complete with references, notably including Lady Masamune. * Tasiya almost-grimaces as she passes by, on the far side from everyone else. * Jaimie is passing through the lobby when she hears the speechifying. She stops to listen, curious, but not really interested. * Mornay shoves the flier into Tasi's hands, then heads for Jaimie. Look, I can't promise you that everything will be perfect on this campus. We're a bunch of kids, and you know we're going to have some fun, and things will get screwed up! * John flips through the pamphlets, raising an eyebrow. * Jaimie blinks as she has a flier abruptly shoved into her hands and looks down to see what it is. * Tasiya takes it automatically and jams it into her bag before moving on. * John chuckles wryly. "Oh, great. The 'lets goof off' platform." But I will help you. I've had two years on a student council in a school like this one - two years learning how to talk to snooty administrators who are looking for reasons to expel, to clamp down, to make things less fun! And I've actually talked them around. You want me on your side. * Farah will accepts hers graciously and even look at it a bit. * SeiMurdon sighs, reading it. "Candidate Waters!" he calls, trying to draw attention. "Do you honestly think that Lady Spoon and the teachers here want to kick us *out?* Why make the administration an enemy?" It's hardly us versus them. Not even including me. * Alicia looks down her nose at Sei. "Ah, the frosh candidate." Yep! *grinning* * Tasiya winces when she hears Murdon and John speak up, and inconspicuously tries to continue forward. * Jaimie , realizing that the speechifying is political and the pamphlets are too, moves on, putting the pamphlet in a trash can when she finds one. It's not about making enemies, or picking fights. It's about acknowledging that they *are* the adults here, and that there *will* be conflicts. * Farah hasn't left, although she looks less than impressed. It should be noted that she's giving Sei a curious look as well. We know how schools work - we've been in them all our lives. And I know how to work within that system. Of course they're the adults here! But you make them sound like ogres! Why scare everybody into expecting there to be trouble? I thought it was about us being the adults. I don't know about you, but I think that we should be in charge of how we run ourselves, not gaming the system to goof off. Lady Just Wants To Party, eh? * Alicia shakes her head sorrowfully. It's a devastatingly elegant headshake, and Murdon begins to understand why she got so many votes in the first round. * SeiMurdon looks a bit worried, but tries not to show it. Hoi, Alicia. Just to be clear on something. Are you proposing, like, basically kissing up and begging for treats from the RAs and Spoon, or is this a legitimate give-and-take? Live in the real world, boys. I'm simply offering my services as an expert in communication. I'm not advocating anything, merely acknowledging reality. Sounds like you'd make a great assistant, but let someone else make the decisions. "Vote for me because I'm already their darling and will have the power anyway?" That sounds like a pretty awful reason to vote for ANYBODY! Do you have a stance beyond 'I can talk to the teachers and they'll like me'? It has to be a give and take. Kissing up to Ladies does nothing - they don't care. And an assistant is exactly right. If you think the student council is about making decisions, full stop, you've never been on one. Maybe it SHOULD be! You're doing a poor job of convincing me you're right for this sort of environment, but g'won. * SeiMurdon looks around, seeing if anybody agrees. Straight from Alicia. Vote for her, she doesn't care about making any decisions on behalf of her students, she'll just make the ride smoother. * Farah looks over the pamphlet again to try and figure out her family's income source, breaking out AIDrick if needed. <@Ked> The (small) crowd is actually edging away from Sei at the moment. My constituents - NOT my students - will vote for me because they know how the system works. And I doubt any of them want a freshman trying to make important decisions for them. * SeiMurdon sighs. He's not quite as eloquent as Alicia; all he's got going for him is enthusiasm and honest passion. "Let's not stoop to attacking people. We all have to be friends when this is over. But...please, everyone. Think about what you want to see. How you want your voice heard. Do you want to speak with your own voice, or in words some higher power wants to hear?" I want to speak words that make a difference. That help people. That aren't just about showing what a great leader I am by trying to take on more than is allotted to a student. You're squandering it if you go with the same mold as every other school. This school has more money in the pockets of one of it's dorms than some entire districts have. The Snowflakes are here. The cement's still wet, and we've got a chance to make something new. Well, this raises a good question. Considering how unique this school is, does the same 'system' really apply? Can you really corral all this money and ego and... yes, the Snowflakes, into the same old same old? * SeiMurdon nods. "Duchess Football said it herself. We don't have time to be normal. We have to BE better, not BECOME that way." And I'm sure you'll be a great talker and diplomatic aide. But face it, there's too much money, ego, and power here for the system to work the same way. And I know we can. .... *trails off, a bit dispirited by John's line* And a lot of jockeying. I mean, even now. You could well mean well and wanna do the right thing, but being T3M's first student council leader would look good on your resume. Only thing better would be having Become on top of that. There would be nothing worse than a school where the students are in charge. I think everyone here knows that but you two - fortunately if you win you'll learn the limits of power. It's not about money. It's about this being our home. We're going to be leaders. That's why we're here. The Hierarchy wouldn't send the Snowflakes here if they didn't feel that way. But we have a chance to make it not just about the Hierarchy, because we're here. It's about all of us. Not about maintaining the status quo, but about making things BETTER. Shoulder to shoulder, eh? Everybody doing their part, and having a say so they know their part is for the best. The Ladies will lead. I will follow, and build, and do my part. So should you. It's about starting a change. What happens here is going to be the seeds of the model of transitioning power from the Queen's Matriarchy to us, and I don't mean me. Us, the leaders all the students here are being groomed to be. If you want to start that by sucking up, you're setting a bad precedent. Thank you all. * Farah folds up her pamphlet and puts it into her pocket. "Man, who says the Ladies will lead, at this rate..." She shrugs it off, though. "Never did understand rich types...." * Alicia steps back off the step and heads into the Snowcone for something refreshing. * Mornay grabs her sister and follows. Well! Our daily dose of sound and fury. <@Ked> They walk by a large sign advertising the latest creation, the "Lady Crystal". It's two scoops of ice cream, stacked, with a thick, crunchy layer of crystalline sugar encrusting it. * SeiMurdon looks around, and offers smiles to those who are still there. "She speaks well, doesn't she. Still, I think she's wrong about how to do things." ...wow, they innovate fast. * Farah picks at her ear, then notices the sign. She doesn't really react, simply looking it over for a bit. That's a lot of sugar. * John smiles, wryly. He looks like he's holding back on discussing it further. He spots the crystal sign and chuckles. * Farah turns from the sigh and mentally notes to never try her namesake ice cream treat. * Tasiya has just bought one! * Farah DOES spot Tasiya, though, and heads on over. Half to have someone to talk to, and half to just... gawk at the sugary monstrosity. * John skips the sweets entirely, and grabs some chips. * SeiMurdon is also heading for Tasiya. He doesn't grab food. He's clutching his fan a little tightly in one hand. Alicia apparently rattled him a bit. * Tasiya cracks the shell with her spoon and dives in. She picked mixberry and raspberry lemonade for her ice cream flavors. Mmmm... * SeiMurdon notices Farah approaching Tasiya, too, and stops a bit away to avoid interrupting. Tasiya? I have to ask. How sweet *is* that thing? * John sits down .... somewhere, and checks his EI while he eats, and orders some pizza, too. * Tasiya blinks up. "...well, they say if you don't want it *too* sweet, you need to choose sourer flavors to balance. They're right, it's actually pretty good this way!" * Jaimie is looking for something more substantial than ice cream, though she smiles at the sign. She spots people she knows and heads over. * Farah makes a face. "I imagine I'll save it for before I graduate or something." * SeiMurdon ventures, "So... Alicia's a good speaker. What did you think of what she said?" He's not subtle, for all he's trying to be. * Tasiya shrugs, mumbling something about "white chocolate ribbon". * Jaimie is a little confused at the undercurrents, but she responds to what Sei's actually said. "I don't know, I went to put my stuff in my room." White... chocolate wha? Are any of you guys going to eat now? I'm hungry. * Tasiya swallows. "I think the mixed-berry flavor has a white chocolate ribbon in it...and it's AWESOME." * Farah takes another look at the Crystal, pondering how many situps it would take to burn it off. "I was actually going to go to my dorm and cook." * John mumbles something around pizza. ...I could eat, I guess. * Tasiya glances at Jaimie, and then back down at the ice cream. Whether purposely or not, she seems to have ignored Murdon's question. Huh. What do you cook? I... well. She has a *resume*. I'm going to have to figure out how to compete with that. * Jaimie clearly does not consider ice cream a meal, white chocolate ribbon or no. I have enough for stir-fry for a while, and some dough I wanted to see if I could get to bake right. Generally just wholesome meals. Gotta keep up the routine from home. * Tasiya clearly does not see the benefit of adding even more calories to those already in ice cream. * Jaimie asks a little hesitantly, "Mind if I join you? I'm getting tired of sitting by myself for meals." Oh, sure. You'll hafta forgive my room when we get there. Pretty sparse, didn't realize we had that much space. I'll have mom and pops send s'more things, and I guess I can decorate some. * Jaimie smiles crookedly. "Mine's empty, too. I asked my parents to send some things this weekend." Well, I have a few things. Keepsakes, mostly. Hahah... I brought like one suitcase, a duffel, and a backpack. * Jaimie nods. "I didn't really think about it. I've never really left home. I mostly just brought a duffel with clothes." * Tasiya dimples a little at the memory of that, spoonful of ice cream in her mouth, blinking a little abashedly. Well, neither have I. Escalator was home, was life. * John moves over to the table, leaving the intensely-studied resume behind. * Farah sits back. "I hide it, but this is all so... well, overwhelming. And really reminds me I'm a fish out of water, sometimes." Big fish. * Tasiya swallows. "Waitasec, you're from Escalator, too?" ...Farah, right? Farah, yeah. Pops is senior foreman for his mining co-op. Oh, neat, which one? Tantz. Some of the crazy-deep mines, although they weren't the ones who saw the darts first. Oooh, I think I've heard about that one. Had you seen them before you came here, too? * SeiMurdon shakes his head. * Farah smiles a little. "I try to keep 'em current on what's going on. I got a call from moms after our freetime, worried as all get-out about me. Told her I was fine, and that the Snowflakes handled matters." * SeiMurdon chuckles. * John makes a face. But yeah... Escalator. You don't really strike me as another mining family person, Tasi. * Tasiya dimples again. "Well, no...I'm not." What's your Dad do? It's just that we need more space than you could expect to have in the city, so we're more like midway between there and the mountains proper. It is kind of tightly-packed, yeah. What does your family need so much space for? * Jaimie opens her mouth to ask just that, then closes it again to wait for the answer. * Tasiya gives Murdon a slightly cool look. "*Both* my parents own and operate a research and development firm." Huh.... nice. Wow! What do you develop? What do they research? Well, we can do a little bit of everything, and have picked up the occasional contract, but we mostly work with studying spitterwings and their venom, and biochemical applications and stuff. ...wow. No wonder you're so good at science. What else is there besides drilling application? * Tasiya glances coolly at John. "Hey John, why don't you tell them what *your* parents do?" * Farah nods, slowly. "That's... oh, that's your company?" She seems a bit more interested. Which one? The Lady or the politician? The real question is who doesn't know already, though. * Tasiya turns her back on him and looks at Farah, smile back in place. "Yep! TuraLien Research Enterprises." * Tasiya sighs. "They were so disappointed when they heard there was already a Lady Spitterwing. I mean, you would think, right?" I only know a little. * Alicia is now known as Carter taaaaAAAASSSIIII! * Carter skids to a halt beside the table. Whoa! * Tasiya whirls and blinks. "Carter?" Hi! * SeiMurdon is startled by the sudden arrival. I think she broke the speed limit getting here. Hello! Uh... hi? * Farah looks up at the unexpected guest. Oh, you've got Windy here. Nice networking, girl. * Tasiya rolls her eyes. "Hey, like Takagi says, play the game, right?" There's a few of us who are going to go tunneling tonight. Are you in? * John chuckles. Tunneling? * Tasiya lowers her voice. "Ooooh! The ones under the school? Really?" What's tunneling? Yeah, we finally found the entrance. * Jaimie is still kind of astonished by Carter's arrival. Oh my gosh, TOTALLY! * SeiMurdon blinks. "Huh?" There are tunnels under the school? Well, one of the entrances. anyway. We'll find more once we're in! Tunnelin---oh. Sounds dull. That's weird. Wonder what they were built for. Sweet, what time? There are tunnels under any campus like this. It's a law of physics. How wide are they? Well... 2230, maybe? We don't want the RA's to totally freak. Sounds good to me! May I come? * Carter looks over at Tasi and shrugs. * Tasiya exchanges glances too. "Um...how many people are already going?" You make four. I guess we shouldn't make it too big, but it's up to you. * Jaimie shrugs. "Another group can always go some other time." Not interested. Well, I guess maybe just one more, then. And yeah, Jaimie's right, we can always take another group to go again once the first one's found all the cool stuff. Hey, if there're lots of tunnels, there might be cool stuff left for the second group to find. Great! * John looks just a tad uncomfortable, but he's covering it well. * SeiMurdon is looking from Tasiya to Carter, not sure if he's been told "no" or "okay." See you guys later, then! * Tasiya waves. "Later!" Bye! It was nice meeting you... * Jaimie waves. "Bye!" * Jaimie looks over at Farah inquiringly. "Too much time in tunnels already?" * John makes a face, and rubs his forehead now that Carter's gone. What's wrong, John? * Tasiya looks over at Murdon. "Oh, 2230 works for you, right?" Great. Tunnels. No, sounds boring. ...yeah! Thanks! *beaming* I'm going to have to go down there sometime during the year. * Farah shrugs. "Tunnels are for work, not fun." Whether I like it or not. * Jaimie shrugs and grins. "I don't see the attraction either. I'd rather be outside. Wait, why would you have to go down there?" Why? Yeah, what Jaimie said. * Tasiya rolls her eyes a little. Magic, tunnels, school? It's too obvious to pass up. But... eh, everyone has their thing. Some people would think I'm crazy, seeing me after a good match. Black eye, swelling, blood and everything. * John pauses, then adds, "Especially since I'm claustrophobic." But it's what feels right. So can't really judge. * Tasiya eats more ice cream. "Well, they're probably just steam tunnels. But it still feels cool." ...yeah, I don't see the attraction in that either. *grins* But like you say, everyone has their thing. Oh. Well, then don't go in? * SeiMurdon looks like he's happy to be included. Heh. The question is do I just do it anyways and get it over with, or put it off? Testing yourself? Just don't do it. Unless you and the other Snowflakes have to be down there for some reason, why bother? And if you do, why do it more than you have to? *Seriously*. * Jaimie nods, obviously in agreement with Sei. * John smiles half-heartedly. "Good enough for me. Have fun." * Tasiya finishes her ice cream and goes to toss it. "Besides, it's all in the company you keep." * Tasiya turns to Murdon. "Do you want to meet in the Bouyer lounge, around 2215?" <@Ked> [end session] Session Close: Wed Sep 15 22:06:26 2010