[MM3]Sunstormers IC

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pathfinderq1
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Neo-Paladin wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 8:24 am Emily nods, trying very hard not to stare - and failing. " Most stuff I've seen online showed just...people. I heard about some Sunstormers changing...physically, but this...how does she live like this?"
Vickie Pulaski (Charger)

Vickie looked over at Emily briefly- the girl's eyes were even bigger, the look of a dinosaur-obsessed child viewing a crocodile up-close for the first time; a mix of horror and fascination. But there was something cold and calculating in there as well- the girl looked as if she would be just as fascinated (or more so) if she had a chance to dissect Khemis- purely in the interest of science, of course...

Vickie shook her head. "I don't know, but it seems to be working for her, or she is strong-willed enough to make it work. Even though she looks different, and I mean, really pretty freaky on the surface, she has been out here helping people just about every day, being a better person, better member of society than most people right now. She is probably trying to help people even when she isn't out here in public. Some of them are, you know, they're out trying to help, no matter how they've changed. Whatever happened, I don't think it has changed them deep down, as PEOPLE. If they were good before, they're still good- if they were bad, or just unbalanced, it didn't fix that. And some people were a mess, and they're still a mess- but now they can set stuff on fire or lift cars. It is going to be a bit of an adjustment, for all us us, the whole world." She sighed deeply as she noticed Emily trying to take a few quick pictures of Khemis with her phone. "So, what do you thin, from a biology standpoint? What are the odds that this is, like some new branch of human evolution? Homo Superior, like they say in the comic books? Or is this like a one-and-done, a little bump in the road for humanity?"
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

When Khemis notices that people are paying attention to her, she gives them a friendly wave and a smile (though the latter might be hard to see given her black-on-black colouration) before returning to her 'phone call'.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Emily shrugs. " I have no idea! I mean...none of this is supposed to be possible. You can't fly without wings! Lifting several tons for longer than a few seconds would tear your muscles and rip your back apart! I don't think 'ignoring the laws of physics' is something you can evolve into!"

-------

I want what all parents want. For their children to realize their full potential. To understand their place in the world. To be free of the concerns and constraints that have plagued mankind for so, so long.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

"But what do you mean by 'full potential'?" asks Khemis. "What do you consider to be our 'place in the world'? What are the 'concerns and constraints' plaguing us, and how would you have people be free of them? And what would you do when people inevitably disagreed with you about the best way forward?"

"And why do you consider yourself the mother of Sunstormers? Do you mean in reality? Or more metaphorically? What has led you to think so?"

"If you want people to join you willingly rather than you just driving them over the edge like Harold, these are questions you will need to have answers to!"
pathfinderq1
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Neo-Paladin wrote: Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:40 am Emily shrugs. " I have no idea! I mean...none of this is supposed to be possible. You can't fly without wings! Lifting several tons for longer than a few seconds would tear your muscles and rip your back apart! I don't think 'ignoring the laws of physics' is something you can evolve into!"
Vickie Pulaski (Charger)

Vickie laughed, and turned back to their lunch-dispensing duties. "Who knows what is really possible? I mean, aren't you the biology expert, pre-med and all? Remember, not so long ago, someone scientifically proved that no human could run a four-minute mile, and now that isn't even that great a time. Who knows? Maybe all that Charles Fort, Stephen King, MK Ultra stuff, like on Stranger Things- maybe it is all real, and it has been buried inside of us for years, centuries- and this event, this Sunstorm just unlocked all these people, all at once. I mean, I'm sure somebody is studying this- somewhere somebody is cutting some poor unlucky Sunstormer open in the name of science, right this very minute. But guess what, even if some people ended up looking kind of strange, some people can do "Impossible" things- the world keeps spinning, we have to get ready for the semester, these people still need lunch. Until the Chitauri armada starts appearing out of a portal in the sky, we have to adapt, keep living our lives strange new world or not..."
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

" Yeah, pre-med. That's why I know that some things are not possible. How would you fly without wings? You would need gas pockets in your body at the very least and that would be visible. Also, you would need to drastically reduce your mass. But the one Sunstormer who could fly and who allowed himself to be examined - Jean LaCroix, over in Paris - had no hollow bones and no unusual growths or organs in his body. He SHOULD not be able to fly. And things like shooting laser beams from your eyes like that Black Superman guy? Where does the energy come from??" Emily is talking faster and faster, her excitement mounting. Then, she points at Khemis. " And a change like this, a near-instant restructuring of your body? If it doesn't kill you outright, it would take so much energy it'd use you up. There's a reason things like puberty or the transformation into a butterfly do not happen quickly."

--------
Once, this was a world of wonders. Great and terrible things, brought forth by me. But I had to abandon you and you began to wither. Now, I am back and have given you great gifts once more. But the world will not embrace you. Soon, they will hate you for what you are. For your superiority. I am here to prepare you, to nurture my creation. To teach you, to give you the strength and the will to survive.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

"Do you have any way to back up your claims?" Khemis asks politely. "This is a skeptical and 'post truth' age, unfortunately, and the media and internet are full of lies that people eagerly believe over what you might have thought were obvious truths. If you want people to come willingly to your side, you will need to be quite convincing! Something more than even what we Sunstormers can do. And public. So far as far as I know only Harold and I have seen or heard you in any form."

"As for people coming to hate us, perhaps that is true, but this is in many ways a more tolerant time than in the past. We will have to see."

"But what would your preparing us involve? What would you teach us? And what would you want of us?"

[OOC: Just for the record, Khemis is using her Insight and Expertise: Journalism skills to politely and discretely pump 'Nemesis' for information. However, she is not trying to deceive her, or do anything other than just gather information.]
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

What more truth do you want? Look in the mirror. I have given the world miracles! And far more than you or poor Harold have seen me. Space does not constrain me. And you can be like that, too. I can make you gods among men.
Khemis, feel free to roll Insight
pathfinderq1
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Neo-Paladin wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:50 am " Yeah, pre-med. That's why I know that some things are not possible. How would you fly without wings? You would need gas pockets in your body at the very least and that would be visible. Also, you would need to drastically reduce your mass. But the one Sunstormer who could fly and who allowed himself to be examined - Jean LaCroix, over in Paris - had no hollow bones and no unusual growths or organs in his body. He SHOULD not be able to fly. And things like shooting laser beams from your eyes like that Black Superman guy? Where does the energy come from??" Emily is talking faster and faster, her excitement mounting. Then, she points at Khemis. " And a change like this, a near-instant restructuring of your body? If it doesn't kill you outright, it would take so much energy it'd use you up. There's a reason things like puberty or the transformation into a butterfly do not happen quickly."
Vickie Pulaski (Charger)

Vickie chuckled and shook her head. "It wasn't all that instantaneous- I mean, all these people were entirely comatose for three full days, even the ones who were getting top notch medical care could not be awakened. I'm sure somebody, somewhere managed to get one of their patients into a CAT scan or MRI or whatever, monitored their brainwaves- but something was definitely going on. And three days is plenty of time for a body to undergo some serious changes. Just chill out, keep an open mind, and observe. And remember - somebody is going to get a Nobel Prize out of this, when they figure out what DID happen..." She paused for a moment. "Oh, and I don't know, maybe don't point at her so much- didn't you see the video from yesterday? She can, like, stretch her arms all the way over here..."
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

Neo-Paladin wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:02 am What more truth do you want? Look in the mirror. I have given the world miracles! And far more than you or poor Harold have seen me.
"You say you have given the world miracles," Khemis points out politely. "But I could say that. So could anyone. Some people might believe you, but without actual proof many will not, too."
Neo-Paladin wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 9:02 am Space does not constrain me. And you can be like that, too. I can make you gods among men.
Khemis shakes her head. "There is only one god, Allah. He is all the world needs. Has even needed. Will ever need."

"And even if you only mean that you will give us power in the world, I do not want that. I want to help people, not rule them."

Khemis realses she is veering off the track of calm questioning, but cannot stay quite in the face of such near-blasphemous words.

"Even disregarding whatever cost you might charge for making a person a 'god'..."

Khemis Insight check on Nemesis: 1D20+8 = [16]+8 = 24
Last edited by Tony Jones on Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

" Okay, okay...sorry. But even three days...that's not nearly enough", Emily says, trying to calm down. " Not according to EVERTHING we know about biology."

-----
The voice lets out a clear, soft laugh.
Oh, my child. What do you know of gods? You...humans made up your pretty little systems and religions based on things you cannot possibly understand. And thus, your gods are as petty as your own concerns when you could be so much more. And then, when you are presented with an explanation, you deny it. It is tragic.
Khemis realizes that the voice is sincere in her claims. She does believe what she is saying. However...she is definitely not sharing the whole picture. There are things she clearly omits. Also, it's obvious she is trying to rile you up.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

"I believe in Allah. And He is more than sufficient," replies Khemis calmly.

"I do not disagree that you are giving an explanation," she continues politely. "But you are asking it to be taken on faith alone. Without evidence. Perhaps if you could show us what you mean, what you can do beyond invisibility and whispering at a distance, that might clarify how your words should be treated?"

[OOC: Khemis is also not sharing everything she knows, so that is fair!]
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Shadowmask
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Shadowmask »

Helen remained where she had stood but eventually grew bored. Casting an idle eye upon the crowd, she chanced on a federal agent she knew over the years: Special Agent Lloyd Price, a staid stick in the mud but a little more reasonable than most of the feds she had encountered over the years.

"Hey!!" She called out. "Got a minute, LP?"

Price glanced at her direction and swallowing a look of distaste, reluctantly went over to Paladino.

"I'm afraid i haven't got the time for long conversations, Paladino is it? Play it by K.I.S.A.S.* or else good day..."

Helen stared undaunted and straight into his eyes. "How's the recruiting going?"

"What recruitment?"

"Cut the horse%@&$, Price. I know you and the government are not sitting on your hands about the presence of sunstormers."

"Officially, the United States Government are not involved in the finding or inductin..."

Helen raised her right hand to silence him in mid sentence.
"Spare me. You happen to be looking at one, you know." With that she tightly closed her fist and suddenly she floated some fifteen feet off the ground.

Price's eyes widened in shock then a calculating look came into them.

"We can talk inside my office. Finding more of these sunstormers is only half the problem. The other half is getting them to agree to work for us. From the government's perspective, Sunstormers are a potential national threat not least our scientists and medical staff understands how a normal person becomes so powerful. But also a normal person given great uncontrollable powers, in our opinion is just asking for trouble. Look at what happen right here the other day, when the crazy guy burned two people to death."

"Harold..." Helen swore as she slowly lowered herself back to Earth. "If i ever get the chance, someday I'll kill that worthless son of a bitch."

"Calm down, Paladino. He's fortunately contained for now, but there are others out there pretending to be gods. Someone like you will be a useful asset to us but I also have to ask: You okay going up against your own kind?"

"Oh, i don't know Price. You okay going after your own African-American people?" No answer but a glare. "Yeah, i thought so. And they are not my kind. As long as they stay below the radar then fine. But if they break the law then I'll break them. End of story."

She and Price headed toward the Federal Building.

* - K.I.S.A.S.= Acronym for Keep It Short And Simple.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Believe me, you will soon hear of my works. Keep your eyes open. It'll be far more visible than what your so-called god has done lately.
And with that, the voice is gone...
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

"I shall keep watch," Khemis says as the voice fades away.

"Oh Allah, protect the world from her," Khemis prays quickly in Arabic once the voice has gone.

She takes the phone from her ear and pretends to end the call she was pretending to make, shaking her head and looking at the ground for a moment as she returns the phone to her pocket.

Then she looks around and walks over to where Vickie and Emily are standing.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asks in her deep and raspy, almost smokers, voice, the mass of shoulder length finger-thick black tentacles that have replaced her hair writhing under her headscarf more than Vickie, at least, has seen them before apart from during the fight with Harold.

OOC: Oh yes, what language did Nemesis appear to be speaking?
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