1/13 Issue: Shiny, Fizzy, Awesome, and Metal

[Svartfreja]

Timelined sometime after [Issue]Alternative Resources.


<Carol> Carol wondered why she let Jess talk her into things as she landed on the lawn with the case she'd been given. This was either going to go really well or it was going to be a disaster. It was basically a coin flip. She sighed and headed inside, pressing the button on the intercom to talk to anyone that might be in the building, "Hey can everyone home please come down to the rec room?"

<Beth> Beth lifted her head from her pillow and looked around at the voice speaking to her from places unknown that weren't her brain. Was she home? Maybe. Yo bitch! Are we home or too high?

<Jean> Jess had talked Jean into something too, but it had to do with sharing her feelings and talking about Arcade. That lead to crying, which also later led to self medicating in the best way Jean knew how - getting wasted with her buddy! They were both so wasted that they'd had a giggle fit on her bed and then a surprise nap. There was a voice and a brain and a voice in her brain. We're so high, she observed.

<Beth> Yes. She nodded. Definitely high. But too high? She navigated her way through some brains. There's a mystery box....

<Tandy> Not high or napping, Tandy decided to have a quick shower and change before she made her way over from the gym. Nicer for everyone's noses.

<Jean> You're a mystery box, was her snappy response, but she was curious enough to crack one eye open. It didn't focus, but it was open while she did some brain checking of her own. Oh, Carol's got a mystery box. I bet Redd likes it. She giggled.

<Beth> Beth snorted out loud then burst into giggles. You made me snort!

<Carol> Carol took the case with her while she went to get coffee from the kitchen because she didn't trust anyone not to jump the gun and open it without supervision.

<Jean> Success! Jean flailed an arm in what was supposed to be a fist pump.

<Beth> Beth giggled again then managed to roll herself off the bed. She groaned into the carpet. Owwwww... But now she was off the squishy she was less likely to go back to nap land. She wanted to know what was in the box. Just like a brain. It was an irresistable mystery.

<Jean> Jean eeped when Beth vanished over the edge of the bed and wriggled her way over there to look down at her. Her hair fell in her face and she loudly tried to blow it away. That sounded like an ow... Gaining enough motor function to run a hand through her hair she slowly sat up. Ooo, spinny.

<Beth> I wanna know what's in the box, Jeannie.... she managed to roll onto her back after a few false starts and spluttered her way through her own purple hair.

<Jean> Is it a head? Because I could do without that. Jean unfolded one leg then decided she needed both. Her feet found the floor and she held out a hand to Beth to help her sit up.

<Beth> Why would there be a head in there? Unless it was Norman Osborn's head. I don't want to get deported! She did accept the offered hand and levered herself to a sitting position.

<Jean> I don't know! Isn't that a thing? What's in the box?! And it's a head?! I swear that's a thing! She wasn't sure what the head had to do with being deported, but she rolled with it. They can't deport me. Once Beth was sitting, she floated them both to their feet.

<Beth> Wheeeeee! Beth hugged Jean once they were both standing, That's a movie! It's more fun when it's a movie and not my life! But just like in the movie she had to knooooooow. Tandy's going to look in the box! Shiny brain was easier to read than fizzy brain.

<Jean> Jean returned the hug and wasn't sure who was holding who up. A movie! I knew it was a real thing! She worked to float them in the right direction to face the door and started toward it. Well we don't wanna miss seeing the head then!

<Beth> What do we do if it's a talking head?

<Carol> Coffee in hand, Carol headed back to the rec room. She put the box on the coffee table and sat down on the sofa to wait for whoever might show up.

<Jean> Take pictures! She patted her ass for her phone and nodded when she located both ass and phone. Lessgo!

<Beth> Beth was grateful for her teke buffer that stopped her bumping walls. Verily. She tracked the shiny brain as it passed underneath them on the way to the rec room.

<Jean> Linking arms with her brain twin, Jean was better at control while floating while extremely high so she took them down the stairs and into the rec room.

<Beth> Beth was happy to be a purple haired balloon dragged along by Jean. Jean was much better at teke than she was... probably because a lot of their lessons ended like this. She giggled.

<Carol> Carol gave Tandy a smile when she appeared in the rec room, "Hey, just gonna wait to see if anyone else shows up so... make yourself comfortable."

<Tandy> Tandy flopped into a chair, "Don't expect Ty. Pretty sure he's unconscious."

<Jean> "That's no excuse! We were unconscious too!" Jean and Beth floated into the room and she cut her teke as they hovered over the sofa, letting them flop into the the cushy (and new, since Beth's last adventure) seats.

<Carol> "It's fine... pretty sure Ty would try and steal the contents of the case anyway.... and that probably wouldn't end well," she wrinkled her nose.

<Jean> "So! What's in the box!?" Jean emoted as much as her highness would allow, complete with flailing arms and hair.

<Carol> "It's something that was given to Jess and Sebastian to take care of when Viper left on her suicide mission.... It's not a good fit for them so I said we'd look after it because there's not really anywhere else..." She got to her feet to unclip the locks on the case, lifting the lid to reveal a pool of silver. "Valeria, aufstehen." The puddle shifted then flowed out of the case and formed into a very large cat.

<Tandy> "Holy shit! What is that?!"

<Jean> "It's like Sharky! Eeeeee! How pretty!" Jean lunged for the creature, then stopped herself at the last moment. "Wait, is it friendly like Sharky?"

<Beth> Beth didn't like it. It didn't have an organic brain to poke. She pulled her feet up onto the sofa in case it tried to eat them.

<Carol> "Friendly... I mean, she's not going to attack you," Carol gave the cat a scratch between its ears, "She used to be Viper's favourite - kind of a personal bodyguard the way Jess explained it. She's extremely well trained... but all her commands are in german so..."

<Jean> "So I need to learn to speak German?!" She reached for the silver cat thing and started petting.

<Carol> "You're a telepath it'll be easy for you," Carol pointed out, "But there's also a list I can give you. I've already taught her your faces so she knows you're supposed to be here... I figure a security guard made of shiny silly putty could be a good idea for this place."

<Tandy> Tandy watched Jean and Carol petting the shiny cat and cocked her head on one side, "You know some weird people."

<Jean> "Awwww, come pet! I'm deciding it's a she right now since that's totes less awkward and she looks like a she, right?"

<Carol> "Well, she does have a girl's name so I guess Viper decided she was a she too. Her name is Valeria and I guess this is her prefered shape."

<Tandy> Tandy slid forward in the chair a little before she got to her feet to go poke the silver kitty.

<Beth> Beth was happy to sit where she was, "Does Cess know she's here?"

<Jean> "Valeria is a pretty, pretty girl!" She didn't care that the creature didn't respond the same way Sharky did. Oh well! She was enjoying the pets! She paused and wrinkled her nose at Beth. "Yeaaaaah, Cess won't be happy."

<Carol> "Well, let me worry about that... Valeria doesn't have anywhere else to go right now and we can give her something to do... plus, I think if we have to go anywhere potentially hazardous she'd be a good fit for Tandy because Ty is not reliable."

<Jean> Jean's head swiveled to Tandy at that. "You get a fun silver cat thing bodyguard? Jealous."

<Tandy> "Um... I mean... you have teke so..." she gave Jean a grin, "I can't defend myself without blinding everyone..."

<Carol> "And Valeria can be worn like a second skin," Carol gave the cat some more scritches for being cool.

<Jean> "I have teke and the birb," she said with a nod. "But it sounds like Valeria is a fashion accessory!"

<Carol> "Kinda... Jess taught Sharky something similar but she only taught him passive defence. Valeria's training was a little more thorough..."

<Jean> "Yeah she told me about her Sharky suit, which tbh sounds a little claustrophobic, but effective." She sat down on the floor beside the big silver kitty and gave her some more love. "Thorough, huh? Sounds dangerous."

<Carol> "Yeah she has an attack mode... It's just a matter of giving her the right instructions. Right now she's just gotta learn her way around the building so I'm just gonna let her roam around for a few days before working on anything else. No guard duty or anything just doing giant cat stuff..."

<Jean> "Sleeping in boxes then," Jean agreed with a nod and another scritch to the big perked ears.

<Carol> Carol eyed the case and reached to sloooowly close the lid. No sleeping in that box. "So I guess... get to know her. She understands about the same stuff as Sharky just all her working commands are in german so I'll get you guys some lists printed out after I talk to Cess about not absorbing her..."


<Jean> "If she absorbs the giant kitty, we can't pet her, can we? Noooo. That would suck! Yes! Yes, it would!" Jean was in full on crazy cat lady mode now, fussing over the silver danger kitty.

<Carol> "Right, it would..." Carol hoped she never ended up talking like that to her not-cat. She would hope someone would be kind enough to put her out of her misery first. "But Cess is not really fond of the whole Predator project so... I don't want her to suddenly run into Valeria in the hall or something... I mean, it still might not go well... and then I guess I'll need to put her somewhere else..." Obi probably wouldn't let her bring the kitty to New York.

<Jean> "Aww, she can't help how she was made." Jean got comfy with the cat. "I know Cess doesn't like Sharky either. I get it, but still... it's Viper's or Hydra's fault, not the creatures they created." She nodded and grinned in delight when the cat headbutted her. "I'd offer, but Jamie would wig."

<Beth> "Jamie doesn't like anything cool...." Beth complained, deciding her feet were safe and unfolding herself in her seat.

<Carol> "Hydra weren't the first people to work with Predators so... technically they weren't involved with Cess's stuff... they just perfected the process those people started. But they're still part of Cess in a way... and she doesn't like those parts of her wandering around unsupervised... unlike Jamie."

<Jean> "Yeah, each Jamie is more than a by-product of a part. It's a whole other person... who just happens to also be Jamie." She shook her head and gestured for Beth to join her. "If you're implying I'm not cool I'm gonna be hella offended, betch."

<Carol> "Right that's what I'm saying. These critters have a whole other thing going on. Cess can't tell them what to do, they do their own thing, have different personalities... Valeria here is not a bigger Sharky... She's a warrior."

<Beth> Beth poked her tongue out at Jean, You are awesome, and amazing. Way better than cool.

<Jean> Jean fluffed her hair at the praise and batted her lashes at Beth, pleased when warrior kitty decided to stretch out across her lap. "A warrior, but still a cat."

<Carol> Carol laughed, "I don't know if she's ever had so much affection her whole life so I guess be careful you don't overload her liquid metal brain."

<Jean> "It is weird that I can't feel her. She's got a mind in there, but it's something so different I get nothing off her." She shrugged and kept petting.

<Carol> Carol nodded, "Yeah... intel suggests that's what made them so popular... plus all those shape changing possibilities and they're super hard to kill. I get why Viper kept one for herself..." She didn't get why Viper didn't bring her to Greece with her but the woman was a mystery wrapped up in an enigma. Whatever the reason, Valeria needed a home. "Anyway... She needs a job and keeping her in her case all the time doesn't seem fair so..."

<Tandy> "So... when can I play with her?" Tandy had been thinking hard about the possibilities of a guard cat that could change shapes and now it was very awesome. Ty was gonna be so jealous!

<Jean> "...how long was she in there?!" Jean petted Valeria again, already concerned on the creature's behalf.

<Carol> "Uh..." Carol did some quick mental math, "Three months or so....?" She winced. "Jess didn't want her eating the guinea pigs and Sharky's scared of her...."

<Jean> Her mouth dropped open and she made an offended squeaking noise. "Sharky is scared of his own shadow," she scoffed and turned to the cat. "I'm sorry, pretty girl."

<Jean> Jean looked at Tandy with a grin. "Start now!"

<Tandy> Tandy blinked at Jean, "But I don't speak German... well, I know how to ask for beer..."

<Carol> "There's plenty of time for learning how to talk to Valeria... Just let her settle in first..." Carol sighed, "She needs to learn her way around here... and I still need to talk to Cess."

<Jean> "I don't speak German either, but pets are universal!" She gave Valeria another stroke. "She obviously doesn't mind affection, so that's a good place to start, right?"

<Carol> "She's not-" Carol cut herself off. There was just no arguing with some people. "Never mind... just... don't break her."

<Tandy> "Promise!" Tandy grinned and snuggled the metallic fur on the kitty. "She's way too pretty."

<Beth> Beth was still not sold on the no-brain-metal-brain thing, giving it a prod with her teke instead. Valeria's head turned toward her and her lip lifted on one side in a warning, revealing a metal fang. "Oooookay, she didn't like that."

<Jean> "How are we going to break her? With love?" Jean stuck her tongue out at Carol, then felt Beth stirring. "Well no wonder! You poked her! You should totes apologize."

<Carol> "Yeah, exactly how Jess broke Sharky..." Carol ran a hand through her hair, "I totally get it now..."

<Beth> Beth giggled at Carol's comment, "I'm not apologising. She doesn't have a real brain in there and it's weird. She can deal with the experimental poke."

<Jean> "That's like saying Cess doesn't have a brain! It's just not organic like ours, but obviously there's consciousness here," she gave the big ears another soothing pet. "Oh, if she's trained to be all killer grr it'll do her good to get a little love for once."

<Beth> "Yeah I don't like Cess' weird brain either," Beth nodded, "You know spelunking is my happy place."

<Carol> Carol reminded herself to check her mental shields because she had enough people knowing her business lately. "Just don't do it when she's in work mode... it'll confuse her and we don't know what that'll do..."

<Jean> Jean felt Carol's shields tightening around her weird fizzy alien brain and gave her a grin. "I like Cess, so I have to like her brain too," she said with a decisive nod.

<Beth> "I like Cess fine... I just don't like it when I don't know what's happening in a brain." She gave Carol a pointed look, "I don't always look far in... not unless I'm feeling nosey..." or really bored. Or paranoid... or asleep.

<Carol> "I like Cess' brain too," Carol gave Jean a small smile before she looked at Beth, "You don't want to be any depth into my brain. It's a hot mess."

<Jean> "It's plenty staticky, that's for sure. Like my hair without enough conditioner in the winter." She gave Carol's short hair a glance. Maybe that's why it stood up? "I don't look in at all, but I can't help it if I pick up some stray thoughts floating around outside the shields."

<Carol> "I'm super lazy about my shields because I trust you guys... I gotta stop doing that." Carol wrinkled her nose, "Anyway... the point of this whole thing was to introduce you to Valeria and I've done that... so she's gonna be roaming. I need to talk to Cess... and I'll be here 'til the end of the day. After that, assuming Cess is okay with the giant metal kitty, she'll be here and you can call me if there's a problem."

<Jean> "You won't be a problem, will you?" She cooed at Valeria and the cat gave her a slow blink and looked away.

<Carol> "Well, you hold that thought... wait 'til I put her on actual guard duty," Carol warned, "Then we'll see how much trouble she is for real."