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TEST DRIVE MEME #0

A TIME VORTEX has opened in downtown LA! Some magic folks have been contacted to close it, but they haven't gotten here fast enough for the vortex not to spill out a HECK TON OF DINOSAURS – all kinds of dinosaurs of all kinds of sizes. There are theoretically gentle herbivores among the fierce predators, but they are all pretty pissed off about their sudden, startling relocation, and a lot of them have spikes.

(The vortex is both temporally and spatially unstable, which is why the dinosaurs emerging onto the streets of LA are constrained neither by specific prehistorical era nor geographical location.)

What you do is up to you. Here are some suggestions, though:

Fight some dinosaurs. You might be trying to herd them back to the vortex, or just trying to stop them by any means possible.

Flee or hide. If you're lucky the dinosaurs won't work out how to open doors and you can spend your entire thread hiding behind the bar in a Starbucks with some other hapless civilians without having to confront any of them.

Try to capture the dinosaurs on camera. If you can get some really good photos you might be able to sell them to the local paper in order to supplement your elderly aunt's meagre income. Or just use them to get a bunch of notes on Tumblr, either way.

Take advantage of the chaos to do crime. The forces of law enforcement are preoccupied with all these prehistoric reptiles.

Or pretty much anything else you think your character might be doing. Any location in LA is game, although there's no real need to meticulously look them up – you can just assume a generic street, rooftop, store, etc. (You don't have to look up the dinosaurs, either.)

If you have a character who you'd like to assume is part of a team, but that team hasn't been named or brainstormed OOC yet or anything, feel free to indicate in your opening post that you're assuming your character is operating alongside others and encourage others to tag in as if they are part of the same team! Or just handwave it and assume they got caught without their usual teammates or separated from them. Whatever way works best for you.

Events from this test drive are not automatically assumed game canon, but individual threads can be if you and the people who you thread with end up mutually wanting to keep them.

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[She pauses momentarily; she hadn't actually been expecting questions, and wow this woman uses a lot of unnecessarily big words. She does do her best to answer, though.]

Er, that was magic. I'm told I'm quite good at it... Lightning isn't the only thing I can do, [she performs a small swish of her hand and for a short while flames surround it to illustrate the point,] I just prefer it.

[Another pause as Spectrum taps her chin thoughtfully.]

I can't say I really have a pinpoint on my upper limits, since... well, I try not to push myself to that point.

Edited 2014-01-30 04:55 (UTC)

[A nod.]

Out of the line of fire, at least. We might not be able to stop a t-rex, but we may be able to help someone who's encountered one.

[He takes off away from the portal, intending to scout the area in a spiral.]

Right.

[Aragorn is being polite, to use "we". Clinging to his hoodie, Julien feels certain that he'll just be carried around for the rest of this venture. Like the pet or Animal Companion he always fears he's becoming. He's not thinking that another pair of hands arriving at the same time could help.]

I can cover more ground. I'm better now, I won't fly into anything. [There is a pterosaur the size and general shape of a large giraffe about...] And those guys are way too slow.

Fascinating... [Now that the chase is over, she goes ahead with what she would have liked to do earlier: summon a magical notepad and pen. She jots down a couple of notes, then looks at her fellow magic user again.]

What of increasingly intricate incantations? Are you learned in the field of runes? You are unable to identify your magical limitations, yet surely you are aware of your capabilities? [Gnosis seems unaware of the possibility that Spectrum may not want to be her research subject, especially when there are more dinosaurs roaming around. She can't help but keep asking questions; magic is just so interesting.]

[Tron, known more commonly as the Alpha Force member Lightline, had just arrived from the base via lightjet, and had been circling the area, using the light trail from his jet to cut off some of the escaping aerial dinosaurs.

Catching sight of the kid on the hoverboard from the corner of his eye, he swerved his jet around, coming up alongside the kid and reaching back to grab his disk.]

Need a hand, kid?

Edited 2014-01-31 03:11 (UTC)

[Dirk turns to the newcomer and raises an eyebrow. He looks a little familiar, though Dirk can't place him, and in any case he doesn't take too kindly to strangers calling him "kid" and offering him help.]

Uh, no. I got this.

[Tron wasn't unfamiliar with stubborn teens, but he wasn't going to clear out completely without making sure he could handle himself.]

Don't spend too much time on any one creature, we need to contain the stragglers.

[He accelerated the jet toward the dinosaur and turning up and away right before collision. The lighttriail however, was right in the way of the pterodactyl's wing, startling it enough to cause it to lose balance in the air.]

[Dirk glares at the flashy superdude, who is apparently trying to one-up him.]

I can contain stuff just fine.

[He kicks his board towards the fumbling pterodactyl and brings his katana through its neck in a movement almost too fast to be visible. All the while he's berating himself for that line. "I can contain stuff just fine"? Really, Dirk?]

Baelheit's eyebrows rise just a hair. He looks over the holo-matter avatar with a scrutinizing gaze, considering Starscream's words. He could be simply delusional, but in this world, it's a fairly safe bet that he's telling the truth. But Baelheit has work to do, and his hand does not quite leave the security panel.

"I am a busy man, Commander Starscream," he says, his voice astringent with impatience. "I am willing to take your claims at face value for the time being. However, unless you have some intent to meander your way over to the point of your unauthorized attempt to access my laboratory any time today...I am afraid I'm going to have to insist that you leave. I have no time for frivolous interruptions."

[Tron circled overhead. Guess this kid had some decent moves. He found himself waiting for the dinosaur to derezz, before remembering that organics don't do that and the corpse crashed onto an empty roof top.]

Nice job. Make sure the corpses don't fall on any civilians.

[He veered off to start corralling some of the other flying reptiles back toward the portal site.]

Dirk winced as he watched the corpse hit the rooftop, and felt his ears grow hot when the other superhero told him to watch where he killed stuff. The compliment was lost on him.

Yeah, yeah.

[He scanned his surroundings for another acceptable target and barely noticed the man flying off.]

[Tron glanced back, catching the kid's last retort. Maybe he'd been too harsh? He was still getting used to the fact that pretty much anyone here was free to put themselves in harms way, even if they didn't have the proper training.

He spotted another of the pterodactyls nearby, and started cutting off it's escape, herding it back toward the kid's hoverboard. Once he was within earshot he shouted out.]

If we work as a team, we can take these creatures out in a fraction of the time. I'll cut them off, you finish them. Think you can handle that?

The avatar's features quirk slightly, Starscream himself being slightly disgruntled by the terse, authoritative sounding tone he's being addressed with. Being a professional suck up however, he manages to keep his expression simpering.

"Straight to the point I see. Very well..." No use in trying to give the human the work around, in this particular instance at least. He continues on, tone just polite enough that it just manages to disguise the level of irritation he's actually feeling.

"In my time here I have done some research on this planet.... about the state of technology here.... and of the rather weak, fragile forms of your smaller, more fleshy species," he explain with a slight growl in his voice. "In particular, doctor, I have heard of your research into cybernetic implants. Truly fascinating, if I do say so myself... and ironic how the very features you seek to imbue humanity with, we Cybertronians already possess naturally."

He pauses for a moment, mulling his next words over carefully, eyes shifty, arms crossed and ridiculously manicured fingers drumming on his sleeve. "I believe we may be in a position to help each other... you see, I find myself in the unfortunate position of needing medical assistance, but being thoroughly unable to provide myself with it. Luckily, here you are, looking for just the sort of scientific breakthrough that I can provide." He directs his attention back to Baelheit. "I humbly suggest an alliance, or an exchange of favors."

Edited 2014-02-02 06:54 (UTC)

[On one hand, Dirk doesn't like working with others, unless he's clearly the one in charge. But on the other, maybe hanging around this guy will give him a chance to prove he can handle himself. Plus, he does look pretty cool. A guy could do worse for a dinosaur-slaying partner.]

Of course.

[He steadies himself on his board and waits for the pterodactyl to get near him, planning to act at the last second because he thinks that looks cool.]

[Tron wasn't much for teamwork either, but he hated leaving young heroes to do things themselves. Plus he was a little curious about who the kid was. It'd be good to keep an eye on him moving forward, and he wasn't really familiar as one of the Trailblazers.

He started moving the dinosaur closer to the kid, weaving for all intends and purposes a lightnet to keep it from breaking off.]

[ Chrom is doing what he does best: shepherding. Not the kind with sheep-- unfortunately, perhaps-- but more with people, and getting them away from danger. Currently, that danger is dinosaurs, and he's doing his best to herd his flock of understandably alarmed citizens into the building behind him. It isn't exactly easy to urge the crowd inward, considering how most people react to states of panic, but Chrom's got a lot of experience when it comes to this sort of thing; it's what he does, after all, and once they're in, he can start on a solid plan for defending them, as such a lordly, heroic fellow is prone to doing.

His work is mostly done with the crowd he's collected here by now, save for a few stragglers still making their way in. He waves them in urgently, gaze shifting rapidly between the people he's tending to and the streets behind them. They're still for now, but any second now, danger could round that corner... Until at last, there's only one person remaining outside with him, who he focuses his attention on. ]

Hey, are you alright? We're going to be fine, so don't worry, alright?

[ A+ emotional reassurance and care. ]

Baelheit doesn't respond right away, turning over the proposal in his mind. It is true that he is always on the lookout for new data that might assist his research... But he's never heard of Cybertron. If what Starscream is saying is true -- and Baelheit doesn't need Daimon to tell him to take everything he says with a generous serving of salt -- then it sounds like Cybertronian life forms are some kind of cybernetic organisms. There is no doubt in his mind that studying such a species would reap much in the way of reward, but he cannot afford to trust Starscream so blindly. The man reeks of unfulfilled promises and undisclosed agendas. Tread carefully with this one, Daimon advises. Baelheit is inclined to agree.

"Your proposal merits consideration," he says finally, "although I cannot make any guarantees as to the efficacy of any of my medical personnel on a life form such as yourself. And at any rate, I believe more information is in order before I can make a decision. Why don't we arrange a meeting to discuss the terms of this agreement? Sometime when you aren't trying to break into my laboratory, of course."

"You're very hung up on that, aren't you?" Starscream chimes back, expression unflatteringly sulky. The truth of the matter was that without the ability to transform he was at a far greater disadvantage than he'd ever care to admit, and above all else there was a fear festering in his spark that he could end up captured in addition to being mode locked. It was a measure of how incredibly desperate he actually was to be risking coming to another person for assistance. As always, Starscream vowed to tread carefully. Whether or not someone was truly trustworthy at heart was irrelevant to him; fear and suspicion ruled above all else in his processor, and the only way to keep those fears from becoming reality was to maintain a strong upper-hand in all personal dealings. He made a mental note to be particularly mindful of that with this one.

After pausing for that brief moment, he continues: "It is only natural that you'd want proof of my claim. If you took everything I said at face value I would already be reconsidering coming forward to you with this offer for fear that you were actually an utter moron." He sincerely meant that as a compliment, in some way, and flashed a winning smile. "As I said before however, a meeting may be quite difficult due to the nature of injury. If you wish to discuss things further in person, you we will have to settle on a location with ample space."

[Dirk glances below him to make sure there was no one for the pterodactyl to fall on. Looks clear. Reassured, he crouches slightly in preparation for his attack.

He waits until the pterodactyl is almost on him before flash-jumping above it, turning around, and plunging his sword in its back. It lets out a short, loud shriek as it begins to fall.

It smacks into Dirk's board as it does so, but the board, seemingly on its own, steadies and moves under Dirk to catch him. Dirk lands on his feet and tries to rein in his huge grin as he watches the dinosaur crash into the ground.]

[That was...actually pretty impressive. He hadn't seen any programs who could move like that even. Tron swung around on his jet, slowing down to come alongside the kid.]

Those are some moves. Mind tell ing me who trained you?

[With Operation Show-Flashy-Dude-What's-Up being 100% successful, Dirk's chances of keeping a straight face are completely quashed. He tries to just smirk.]

I trained myself.

[Well that's a bit of a surprise, considering most of the teen heroes he'd met so far.]

Really? You wouldn't happen to be registered with CONDOR are you?

[There is a not-insignificant amount of smugness in his voice as he speaks.]

Nope. I got a friend I team up with sometimes but for the most part I work alone.

[While officially Tron was supposed to be pushing young superheroes to register, he was kind of glad to hear that this kid wasn't. It was good to know there were competent vigilantes in case CONDOR took a turn for the worst.]

Unless you need the extra support, I wouldn't prioritize registering. What's your name, kid?

[He was definitely going to be keeping an eye on this him moving forward.]

[Dirk almost gives his real name, but then he remembers his promise to Jake to stick to the whole secret identity gig.]

Timaeus.

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