Evening at the restaurant

[Oldedog]

Grant had been making his own wrap, letting Remy and Luc's conversation play out. He glanced up as he felt Remy's eyes on him.

 

"Since I got the last question, let's end on a lighter note. Where are you hoping we get sent and why, I doubt we'll get sent to any fun tourist destinations but there's always something to do when we aren't cracking giant monster skulls."

 

"For me, I'm hoping Alaska. Love the cold and the snow, would like a chance to get in some ice fishing. It's some of the last, mostly, undamaged wilderness left in the western hemisphere and I kind of want to see it before that changes. Plus, got a buddy that said if I was ever around Anchorage, he'd teach me the basics of running a dog sled."

Edited October 31, 2022 by Oldedog (see edit history)

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track changed back to normal]

 

Remy Concorde

Remy left the wrap alone to answer. "Hmm. I haven't really though much about specific places. Cities with tall buildings and accessible roofs are nice, offshore platforms are nice, but both in a superficial kind of way, since very little time is spent sightseeing.

 

But for an actual place of living, to the point of influencing lifestyles 24/7? I think I'd like to be stationed at some of the arcologies. I appreciate the combination of efficiency and elegance, the ease of getting to places by walk or tube, and of course the view from the open areas is still pretty impressive.

 

I'm disappointed that Terminus looks less like an arcology and more like some New World suburbia despite the scarcity of space. Still has a nice view from above though."

 

[hakootoko]

"That's, uh..." Amuthini begins and pauses to think of a good way of putting it. "Can I interpret that as 'Where would you like to go on vacation while on Earth?', because wanting to be deployed somewhere in particular is like wanting that place to get destroyed by Kaiju..."

 

"I'd like to go to Greece for vacation, on a little island where there's sun and swimming and boating. With pristine air and water, and fresh food. And I'd learn scuba diving."

 

Amuthini finishes putting together a lettuce wrap that she would eat herself. Though maybe it's too spicy for the others. She hasn't learned which of her teammates are spice-wimps yet. She holds it out vaguely in the direction of Amelia and Neli, but if neither of them reach out their hand to take it, she'll turn to Grant.

 

[Brian Skies]

Neli continues to eat unnoticed as Remy and No. 17 engage in a rather complex and ambiguous exchange of words. She doesn't really understand what is going on, except that the two may or may not be engaging in some extracurricular activities outside of OMDST. Noticing Amuthini hold out a lettuce wrap in her general direction, Neli gently takes it from her hand. "Thank you," she says to Amuthini. She hesitates for but a moment before putting it in her mouth and chewing. After tasting the contents, she begins to smile. "It was very delicious." Neli quickly makes a wrap of her own made of rice, beansprouts, pork belly, gochujang, kimchi, and jalapeno. It was something she herself would eat, and she was hoping Amuthini would enjoy it too. "Here, come try mine. Say ahhh..." she says as she attempts to feed it to Amuthini.

 

"As far as where I'd like to go..." Neli paused to think for a few seconds before decisively settling on an answer. "My grandfather's ranch used to be in Nevada before it was destroyed by Kaiju. It's supposedly very dangerous there now, but I'd like to be deployed there at least once. You could call it a sort of revenge tour."

[hakootoko]

Amuthini looks at Neli out of the corner of her eye while smiling, not exactly suspicious, but not knowing the other woman well enough to say Ahh. She takes hold of the wrap and takes a sizable bite out of it, chews, and swallows "Mmm. See, a team trust-building exercise, just like I said."

 

"I also like your answer to Rockwell's question. What can be the harm in asking for a place that's already been destroyed to be visited again by Kaiju? And it's a chance to 'go home again'."

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track]

 

Remy Concorde

"Before anyone assumes that I'm so eager to spend time at the listed places that I'm fine with seeing them destroyed, I'd like to point out that I interpreted the question as being about time not spent bashing skulls. I was thinking more in terms of being stationed there, not rushing there for a short encounter only to be called off once done."

 

[Lcythas]

 

 .

 

Character Stats

No.17 AkA Vicel Luc:
Aspects: Deniable Operative, Living Weapon, [Redacted] Training, An Intrinsic Relationship with a certain Ms. Concorde.
Skills: Mecha Weaponry +4, Mecha Pilot/Stealth +3, Investigation/Athleics/Burglary +2, Resources/Contacts/Will+1,
⌬STRESS⌬
Physical Stress: OOO
Mental Stress: OOO
⌬STUNTS⌬ X3
Blade Dervish:
If you share a sector with more than one enemy, No. 17 gains a +2 to mecha weaponry attacks.
Wraith of the Battlefield:
You get a free additional invocation on successful stealth checks. 
Blitzkrieg:
Subject able to move, attack, and then abandon his current opponent to intercept another.

Mecha Stats

Lie Vante(Hassassin Series Mk II)

⌬STRESS⌬
Physical Stress: OOO
Mental Stress: OOO

⌬Systems⌬ (5 CP Worth)
Camouflage:
Able to use Stealth to hide.
Flight:
Able to fly. 
Greytalon D.I.R.K.:
Charger(+2 WV after moving)
Penetrating(Conditional Free Invoke)
Weapon Aspect: Gaebulg(Free Invoke)

Action Mechanics

Totally normal here.

No.17

 

No.17 appeared to be contemplating Grant's question, looking mildly puzzled. Finally, he simply shrugged lightly. "I would like to be deployed to Eastern Europe. There is......Unfinished business in that region. Besides, thus far, only about thirty-nine percent of the arable land has been considered as being unsustainably reduced. The scenery is still, for the most part, mostly retained. If it is a point of long-term deployment, I would be amenable to most locales, provided they are not located at either extreme. China would be an interesting deployment area, although I doubt they would extend a diplomatic mission or request aid at this point, given their lack of contact." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track]

 

Remy Concorde

Once there was silence, Remy spoke up again.

 

"If no more answers are to be had for this round, here's the next question: What was either the last or the most significant or most gut-wrenchingly memorable thing you did to get someone's attention, approval, or the like, that you subsequently decided you would never ever do again, at least for such a purpose?"

 

Remy looked around the team, then leaned back a bit.

 

"In my case, a long while ago, another pilot and I were involved in running pre-release flight testing of yet another weapons platform. It was a long day and our quality overseer seemed really tired and miserable and really wanted to be done already. So the other pilot decided to cut some corners on the pre-flight check and some other steps in order to complete the tasks faster. And subtly implying that his willingness to do so was evidence of his relative experience and bottle.

 

Well, against my better judgement, I decided that I too would like to be seen as a hot pilot who gets stuff done fast. So I followed suit.

 

Things didn't exactly work out. Oh, nothing bad happened on a technical level. But neither of us won the overseer's approval. We still did win a lot of attention though. Of the bad kind. Complete with reporting a deliberate bypass of the regimented pre-flight steps to the brass.

 

But luckily for me, there was enough evidence that it was not my idea, and that I was merely following his lead. Between that and the fact that he was the only natural entity between the two of us, the brass decided that he's the only culpable one in the event. Though the outcome wasn't entirely without loss for me: since then, the overseer never talked to either of us outside professional matters."

 

Remy sighed.

 

"It was probably one of the more pointlessly stupid risks I took in life, and also one driven by one of the more embarrassing mispredictions of others' reactions to it. So I committed to learning the event's lessons well."

 

[hakootoko]

Amuthini is genuinely shocked at this admission of compromising safety in the interests of speed. She quickly puts her hand in front of her nose and mouth, hoping no one else notices her expression. She doesn't really hear the second half of Remy's tale as she tries to come up with a milder topic to take her mind elsewhere.

 

"Okay. Less dramatic I know, but. Last year I was at the flower show in the conference center with some friends, and we were in this long line for the women's room while there was no line for the men's room. Someone brought up this 'potty parity' stuff and said it was okay to use the men's room when no one else was. So I said 'Here we go!' and stepped out of line. But none of them followed. I didn't want them to see me back down, so I went in alone. There was only one guy in there, washing his hands, and he tried to pick me up! In a restroom! No way could I stay in there a second longer. As I ran back to where my friends were waiting in line, they all laughed at me for chickening out."

 

"So what I'd never do again is give in to the social pressure of going alone while others stay behind. The next time, I literally dragged a friend along with me, and we both came through fine."

 

 

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track]

 

Remy Concorde

Remy stared at Amuthini for a while. "Your story is difficult to understand. I must be missing some unspoken assumptions.

 

Did you just waste an opportunity to reach an empty cabin just because the surprise admirer you encountered was a guy and not someone from the queue? Or because of the inconvenient place and time? Or because of being not your type? Each of those could be resolved less awkwardly by a concise reply than by hurrying out.

 

I also don't get how he didn't know that it's stupid to try hooking up on the way in instead of out. That was something me and everyone in my cohort figured out way back during teen years. Is there an explanation how one can grow up and not learn that?"

 

[hakootoko]

" 'Inconvenient place and time' is an understatement. I was nervous already and there was no one else in the restroom. Don't you ever worry about a guy getting pushy or angry when turned down, especially after he already does something creepy?"

 

"Definitely not a situation where I'd be comfortable getting half-naked, with just a flimsy wall between us that he could climb over or under if he had a mind to do so."

 

"You've been hit on before while washing up in a restroom? Or just after you'd stepped out of one?"

 

She pauses to think if that had ever happened to her, and remembers something "Okay, I did that once. He and I each stepped out of a restroom at the same time into a very narrow hallway and bumped into each other. He had a nice face and wet hands. Wet hands leaving a restroom is a good sign, I think. So I leaned in and asked if he'd like to dance out on the floor, too."

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track]

 

Remy Concorde

"Hmm . . . " Remy pondered.

 

"I . . . I guess hypothetically? But that was more of an adolescent anxiety. But even that only applied to the Pinkies, the, uh, the more empathically-driven kids. There was one boy in our cohort who was a target of unrequited attraction from one of them, and when he turned down the offer things got complicated in a not-good way. That incident caused some hard feelings between the cohorts when he told us. But I'm assuming that the any random person met in a city didn't have its neurochemistry meddled with like that, and so can react to disinterest normally. Statistically speaking."

 

Remy thought some more. "Now that you ask, I'm having trouble remembering anything involving me and the washroom specifically. Now, in showers yes, that was a common chat-up place, because that's when y'all are reminded of how each other's bodies look like.

 

But I do remember that one of ours got hit on by a social interface on the - hasty - way to the loo. And she turned her down and rushed past into the cabin, and all cohorts laughed a lot at that incident for a long time. Even the Spocks did, though you had to be more attentive to notice that."

 

She shrugged. "Anyway, what's your idea of how to properly chat up a stranger? Like that guy at the loo - would you think it would be better if one of you followed the other for a while afterwards across the conference centre before tapping on a shoulder and making a proposal?"

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by vicky_molokh (see edit history)

[Lcythas]

 

 .

 

Character Stats

No.17 AkA Vicel Luc:
Aspects: Deniable Operative, Living Weapon, [Redacted] Training, An Intrinsic Relationship with a certain Ms. Concorde.
Skills: Mecha Weaponry +4, Mecha Pilot/Stealth +3, Investigation/Athleics/Burglary +2, Resources/Contacts/Will+1,
⌬STRESS⌬
Physical Stress: OOO
Mental Stress: OOO
⌬STUNTS⌬ X3
Blade Dervish:
If you share a sector with more than one enemy, No. 17 gains a +2 to mecha weaponry attacks.
Wraith of the Battlefield:
You get a free additional invocation on successful stealth checks. 
Blitzkrieg:
Subject able to move, attack, and then abandon his current opponent to intercept another.

Mecha Stats

Lie Vante(Hassassin Series Mk II)

⌬STRESS⌬
Physical Stress: OOO
Mental Stress: OOO

⌬Systems⌬ (5 CP Worth)
Camouflage:
Able to use Stealth to hide.
Flight:
Able to fly. 
Greytalon D.I.R.K.:
Charger(+2 WV after moving)
Penetrating(Conditional Free Invoke)
Weapon Aspect: Gaebulg(Free Invoke)

Action Mechanics

Totally normal here.

No.17

 

Silence seemed to be the order of the day for No.17, as he appeared to be debating what kind of terribly undignified secret to share with the group. He did cock his head towards Amuthini with a slightly curious raised eyebrow, however. "A short knee to the groin is usually adequate to incapacitate most males, and a stunt which does not require much training, along with a fairly generous margin for error, for future references. Although I would wonder why a restroom would be considered by any to be an appropriate spot to propose romantic ingress. Restrooms are statistically unsanitary, although the level of possible infection does vary depending upon region and status of aforementioned places."

No.17 perked up just a bit more when Remy asked what would be the optimal way to talk to strangers, leaning in just a millimeter or so more. As a seeming afterthought he almost whispered his answer to Remy's question underneath his breath, slipping it in in hopes of not being noticed. "And in response to Ms. Concorde....I may have composed a certain......Piece of literature.......Addressed to someone....Which in hindsight would have had.....unfortunate results for myself, predictively, had it been sent out. I do not plan to ever replicate any of the contents of the hypothetical piece of literature." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vicky_molokh]

Remy Concorde - Stats

Aspects: Lab-Grown Ace, "That's the World's First Clone Citizen!", Surprisingly Savvy Bookworm, Friendly Rivalry Motivates Self-Improvement.

Skills: 

+4: Mecha Piloting.
+3: Rapport, Lore.
+2: Empathy, Athletics, Shoot.
+1: Engineering, Will, Resources, Computers.

Stunts: Mecha Gunner, Advanced ACM Mastery, I've Read About That.

Pools:

Stress: Physical [ ] [ ], Mental [ ] [ ] [ ].

Consequences: [ ] [ ] [ ]

FP: 3/3.

[Background track]

 

Remy Concorde

Remy turned her head to Luc. "To answer your question, I think it's mostly because people don't expect the proposition to be enacted in the same place and the same time as it's made, so the state of sanitation of the place where the discussion happens is of relatively little impact. People initiating romance don't expect to light candles and spray around flower petals right there on the restroom's floor.

 

Just like how when I offered engage in some shooting practice, I didn't expect we'd be doing it right there in the library where I asked about it. And when I affirmed our friendship, I likewise did not expect this table to be the place of pursuing our shared interests." 

 

Remy leaned closer when listening to the quiet answer, albeit did it in a more effortless and relaxed manner than Luc. "Oh, as for literature composition dedicated to specific people, that, as far as I understand, can be a worthwhile skill, cherished among connoisseurs of romantic ingresses."

 

[hakootoko]

Skipping right over the topic of things going on in restrooms, hoping she can bury it forever.

 

"I, for one, would like to see this love letter you wrote. I showed you my sketches, Luc. Fair is fair."

 

"The proper way to chat up a stranger. Not in the shower, I'm sure!" she laughs, "It sounds like those were your 'cohorts' who knew each other well already, but still, I would feel very vulnerable if it happened to me while I was naked, even from someone I knew well."

 

"So let's see. What should that guy have done instead? Step one: make eye contact in the bathroom mirror and smile appreciatively. Step two: leave the restroom so you don't make the other person uncomfortable. Step three: wait outside where you can make eye contact again when they come out. Then you can tell if your attentions are welcome and can walk up and deliver your line."

 

"I know. Not at all like what I did in that narrow hallway. But guys and girls are different, and girls hitting on guys is way different than guys hitting on girls."