[MM3]Sunstormers IC

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jmucchiello
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by jmucchiello »

Deborah's morning is relatively normal. She films her morning workout, single camera, and posts it to her OnlyFans, as usual. Her team generally arrives around noon as she takes mornings for "me time." But "me time" today is sending out emails to her researcher to do some unusual research into Sunstormers. Her team is fully aware that she was in a coma but they think she did not gain any powers as she has not told them she has.

She sees the text from Khemis and says whatever time is good for her. She also says if Khemis has any ideas for questions she should text them to her ahead of time. It's after 10am when Khemis receives the text. Of course, she has plans to film a couple review videos later but squeezing Khemis in should be no problem.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

What kind of unusual research should her researcher do?
jmucchiello
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by jmucchiello »

It's unusual only in that it doesn't involve fashion and fitness. It is the same research Khemis seems to be doing. Research of the reactions to the presence of Sunstormers. What is the nation's vibe on Sunstormers?
kenmadragon
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by kenmadragon »

There's something abnormally normal about waking up in bed after a long, mentally exhausting day followed by a long, mentally exhausting night. Sunny found that happened fairly often in his life after the more stress-filled days. One would hope that a solid few hours of sleep would be enough to relieve the aches and pains, but Sunny found that his solar-enhanced stamina didn't help as much with recovering from mental fatigue - the stresses of the previous day yet lingered in his memory. They would weigh on his mind for a few hours more without sufficient distraction. Especially since Sunny could still feel the phantom sensation of pressing on Albert Jun's body to stem the flow of blood when he rubbed the grits of sand from his eyes.

The quick shower he took helped.

Today... today he would stay at home for a bit. Meeting with the other Sunstormers in Millennium Park had resulted in unforseen events beyond Sunny's estimations. Not quite his wildest guesses for how that night could have gone down (that was "one of the other Sunstormers turns out to be an alien-squid-bird-monster in disguise that chucks us into another dimension"), but still... everything after the gunshot had been utterly unexpected.

And, if Sunny was being honest, he wasn't sure that was a bad thing. Especially with what happened after the paramedics showed up... The experience of flying Deborah home had been... he wasn't sure what the right word here was. Interesting? Exhilarating? Liberating? It was certainly different, carrying her through the sky. Questioning her about plucking his name from his head had been a bit tense, but... everything after landing on her terrace had been nerve-wracking. Sunny could keenly remember how awkward he must have been, unsure of what to do, or what to say. Granted, Sunny wasn't sure why that bothered him so much while he looked back on the night's events over a bowl of cereal, skimming through internet forum updates and notices for new chapters to fanfictions he read. Just that he wished he'd been more... something.

For a long minute, he pondered looking Deborah up before he started work. Part of him wanted to know what kinds of posts she wrote and videos she made. Another part of him wondered why he would bother, considering she mostly discussed exercise (something he needed little of after the Sunstorm transfigured his body), beauty, fashion, make-up and other things that never seemed interesting to Sunny before. A third part reminded him that they'd swapped numbers before Khemis showed up.

The thought of texting Deborah right then filled Sunny with inexplicable apprehension.

Instead, he decided to put Deborah, Khemis, Charger, Sweaty-Jun, Officer Paladino, Thermal-Man, those bodies on the road... all of them out of his head. Sliding into his desk chair and booting up his laptop and monitors, Sunny stretched lithely, flexed his fingers, and opened up his emails. As per the usual, plenty of stuff had been happening while he was offline, only some of which were actually relevant to him. Best he focus and get to work, finishing up what he could as quickly as he could. Maybe if he finished his planed tasks for the day early, he'd be able to slip out and fly some more, or check in on Albert in the hospital for a bit. And Deborah.

Whoever had shot Albert had likely gone after him because he was a Sunstormer. Could you blame Sunny for being a little worried?
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Shadowmask
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Shadowmask »

The tow trucks finally came at the same time as Park calmed the two drivers who called for separate taxi cabs.

Helen, in the meantime cleared the street of the traffic equipment and carefully extinguished the road flares.

Fortunately the area wasn't as cold and windy as many other parts of Chicago around this time of year and the snow hadn't built up into unmanageable piles. Still it is a cold enough morning to make one stay home in a warm bed.

She placed the detour signs in the trunk of the police vehicle and was about to enter on the driver's side when a sudden whim overcame her. Helen went around the car and touched the corner of the nearest building. For several minutes, she strained and concentrated hard. Sweat began to appear on her face as she gritted her teeth and mentally pushed herself even harder. Helen can somehow feel her power flowing outward.....

.....and nothing happened. Bummer. Helen had hoped she can make the building tear off its foundations and float in the air. The customers in the boutique that the building was located on gazed at her from the shop windows with a mixture of idle curiosity and dismissive disgust.

Nothing new there. Cops are never trusted nor respected by the populace unless they want something for nothing from Chicago PD such as personal favors or information especially if they weren't victims of a crime. Then it would be all like: "Thanks, Officer, now go away." Helen refrained from giving them the finger and wiped the sweat off her brow as she went back to the car.

She really wished she can lift the building full of those smug bastards and hurl it straight into Lake Michigan.

She found Park looking at her curiously. "You alright, Hel? What were you doing?"

"Frisking the wall for hidden contraband. What the hell did you think it looks like?" Helen snapped, climbing behind the steering wheel. "Now can we just get out of here before the weather changes and we become snowmen? I could really go for a hot cup of joe."
pathfinderq1
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by pathfinderq1 »

Vickie Pulaski (Charger)
HP: 1; LP: 1; Condition: Normal

Morning came early- which was no surprise as she had been in the air for hours last night. Her initial departure from the shooting scene had carried her all the way to the eastern end of the Great Lakes, somewhere north of Syracuse- she could navigate well enough by following the lights on the ground; power in some of the rural areas was still spotty, but there were enough cities or large towns to give her some bearing.

She had looped around for a bit, enjoying the sheer freedom of flight- and after some debate, she had not tried to visit her parents directly. She would have to work up to that- this was a BIG issue...

The flight back to Chicagoland was less direct, and had involved a brief round of Tag with a pair of Air Force interceptors, probably trying to investigate a signal that must have been driving air traffic controllers absolutely crazy. They were fast and maneuverable, but they couldn't really match her capabilities- and since she wasn't actively hostile, they hadn't tried to shoot her down. She was really glad she had left her phone back in the dorm thought- anyone tracking that would have gotten some very interesting data...

By the time she made it back to her room, she was actually tired- it had, after all, been a long and harrowing day. After one last check for messages, and a long hot shower, she had tumbled into bed and slept.

She woke, mostly refreshed and somewhat more clearheaded- the natural human defense mechanisms had started to dull the sharp edges of SOME of the trauma she had witnessed yesterday. She turned on her computer first thing, starting to try to plan her day- at least the university seemed to be doing a pretty good job keeping the lights on and that sweet sweet internet flowing. Sitting at her dorm room desk, she started sorting through things.

There was a late night message from Rashida- her roommate was still tied up in her bout of family drama, which apparently involved the sudden passing of a relative. Vickie fired off a response, offering to stop by for support, or at least make some time for an in-person call. Nothing new from her own parents- she would reach out to them later, just to keep communications open. A few messages here and there from some of her other friends, from both here at UChicago and from last year's high school class- nothing serious or drastic; Vickie sent out a few responses, flagged a few other messages for a more serious reply later. There were a few more formal messages from the university itself- the mechanisms of academia were beginning to turn in a more serious fashion; there were updated schedules for Add/Drop, course registration, and (still theoretical) actual start of classes for spring semester. Vickie read through those and put them in a dedicated folder for later- nothing needed to be dealt with Right Now (though she did jot herself a note to see if she could get into a basic physics class, since it was MUCH more relevant than it had been). And there were, finally, a few messages from the track team captain and coaching staff- still no formal practices scheduled, but a team meeting tomorrow, and some reminders (couched in various degrees of subtlety) that the gymnasium and indoor track were open for them to make use of, including the current hours. Vickie responded to those as she was expected to, and made herself a few notes- she would have to practice, but she wanted to take times that were less-crowded. She needed to figure out how to deal with her new abilities BEFORE somebody noticed that she was a supersonic aircraft disguised as a college student...

With the first framework of her day attended to, she dragged herself downstairs and ate a positively enormous breakfast. She stopped by the University's sign-up booth for community service assignments- and noted, with no surprise at all, that there were a lot fewer people signed up for the city Plaza duties today... She signed up for a slot herself, noting what time the bus pick-up was scheduled. Then she climbed back up to her room and started looking through the news- looking for whatever serious science sites had to say about "Sunstormers". She also looked closer to home, looking into reports of Sunstorm activities around Chicago- yesterday's disaster was front and center of course, and she scanned those articles carefully, lingering just a little at the photos and video that included her, however briefly... The shooting from late last night merited only a brief item or two- shootings were far too common in Chicago, and the Sunstorm angle hadn't made it to the major media yet.

After an hour or so, she dressed, just as carefully and practically as yesterday, and headed downstairs to meet the bus. She wondered if Khemis or any of the others would be back at the Plaza today...

>OOC: Just a morning of the basic bookkeeping of life, with a bit of casual Sunstorm-related research on the side. (ie. just checking in)
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

From what Vickie can gather, science is still stumped. If she got a penny for every time she read how the things they did were " impossible by our current understanding of the laws of physics", she could probably take a couple of months off. There are a very few serious scientists tentatively suggesting that these powers could be the result of incredibly advanced technology and thus hint at...maybe...just possibly...eventually...extraterrestrial involvement....
But they are not really taken seriously, even though they happen to be otherwise respected in their fields.

In regards to the general opinion on Sunstormers...there is a clear divide between three camps. There are those who enthusiastically embrace them, either because they think they're sent by god (whichever one you choose) or because they think they're the beginning of a new age of superheros.
There are those who immediately started considering them a threat to the nation or even the entire world and yes, there are those who - at least on Telegram - openly muse about taking them out before they come into their powers. There is talk from the QAnon bubble about Sunstormers being the result of secret governmental testing on innocent Americans to establish a New World Order.
Others think they're the vanguard of an alien invasion and must be stamped out immediately.

The largest group is either uncertain or has enough on their plate to worry about a small portion of the population gaining superpowers...though, in general, distrust outweighs optimism even in that group.
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Tony Jones
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Tony Jones »

When Vickie gets to the Plaza she will see that Khemis is indeed there in light clothes under a hi-vis vest, shifting supplies around in much the same way as she was yesterday...
kenmadragon
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by kenmadragon »

As the day passed, work proceeded as it had been in the week since the Sunstorm. Even if the whole "remote work" aspect of Sunny's job hadn't changed as of late, the additional challenges to global communications infrastructure certainly had affected his usual routine and workflow. Mostly due to the fact that there were plenty of problems that needed to be addressed, far more than there usually were. On the upside, Sunny could operate an incredible speeds, limited only by the computer he used. Considering his manager was canny enough to assign him tasks he was already an expert in handling, work went by fairly quickly.

By the time lunch rolled around, Sunny had gotten through most of what he planned to do for the day, save for a few minor tasks and a meeting with team-members for discussing their current project(s) that would be later in the afternoon. He had a few hours to go until then, so Sunny decided to take a bit longer than usual for his lunch-break: after all, when you can move at super-speeds, dropping by a hospital for a few minutes was a piece of cake.

Before he left, though, Sunny did (finally) decide to text Deborah, telling her:
>>"Hi Deborah. I'm heading over to check up on Albert Jun. Will keep you posted."
>>"Stay safe."

After a quick bite, Sunny quickly got his things together and blitzed out as he had gotten used to doing this last week. Checking his text-history from Khemis let him know the hospital name, and a quick Google Maps check gave him directions.

A minute later, Sunny was walking through the hospital doors like a normal person. A brief glance at the directory was all he needed to start heading to the right ward so he could check on Albert Jun.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Sunny gets quite far but when he arrives at where Jun has been placed, he sees two police officers standing by the door, talking...
kenmadragon
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by kenmadragon »

Noticing the police officers standing by the door to the ward, Sunny slows his walk, thinking quickly. If police are guarding the entrance to the ward, then there might be someone in the room with Albert as well, so he couldn't just slip by them. Then again, Sunny didn't need to be in the room with Albert, did he?

Taking a seat on one of the waiting benches in the ward (close enough to the officers guarding the door without being too obvious about it), Sunny kept his phone out, idly flicking through various online-forum posts and science-blogs. At least, that was what he was doing outwardly - in truth, he was focusing on his ears and flipping that mental switch that threw his senses into overdrive.

If Sunny couldn't enter Albert's room, he could at least listen to what the police officers guarding it were saying. And if he was lucky, his ears would also be keen enough to hear what might be said around Albert. He'd remember everything everyone said, after all, and any jargon he didn't already understand (he'd flipped through a medical textbook for a lark back in college, and remembered a quarter of it), he could Google later.
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Shadowmask
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Shadowmask »

Image

Helen and Park stopped by a street vendor named Herrera in Austin for three reasons.

One, they had the munchies. Two, he had his eyes and eyes on the latest goings-on. And three and most importantly to Helen, he had a tarot deck which makes him much more reliable than the usual fortune tellers she often ran across.

The other cops on the force didn't buy into such nonsense of course and often teased Helen about it. But she had seen enough weirdness in her job to merely discount the supernatural.

Besides she had time to kill.

"Hola dama guapa." Herrera blurted out pleasantly despite the cold weather. "¿Tienes hambre? Prueba mis nuevos plátanos fritos ahora con salsa de jalapeños."

"Claro que si." Helen replied in almost perfect Spanish. "Tambien como van las cosas en la pandemia?"

Herrera shrugged noncommittally as he prepared the plantains. He laid the jalapeno sauce triple thick.

"Aparte del mandato de máscara, nada más ha cambiado realmente, Oficial Paladino. ¿Quieres una lectura mientras tanto?"

"Sure. Shuffle the deck."

Herrera finished and handed the two policemen their snacks wrapped in brown paper along with some Pepsi sodas. Then taking out an old stack of tarot cards, he laid them out on a clear surface.

The resulting card showed Knight of Cups

Herrera frowned at this reading. He quickly began to close up shop, casting worried looks around him.

"Esto no tiene ningún sentido ni siquiera para mí y lo he hecho muchas veces.

El Caballero de Copas es una persona que trae ideas, oportunidades y ofertas. ¿Pero ves esta tarjeta? Significa cambio... uno malo. Ten cuidado. Y cuidado con el negro."

"Wait...what black?" Helen asked but she knew that the subject was closed and she wouldn't get any answers from him. Even under torture.

"What is he talking about, Hel?" Park said.

"Nothing. According to our patrol routes, we have to go to the goddamn Plaza again and watch the well to do 'volunteers' feed the homeless like it was a children's petting zoo in an attempt to ease their guilty consciences so they can go home and brag on live internet chat rooms about how they are such good and decent people."

"You're okay with that after what happened?"

"No, I'm not okay. But I'm going there anyway."
Neo-Paladin
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by Neo-Paladin »

There is a nurse inside the room with Albert, checking on his vitals and adjusting something on whatever devices keep him alive. She is humming some tune.

The cops outside try their best to keep their voices low, but for Sunny's superhuman senses, listening in is no problem.
" ...heard someone upstairs wants to register it as a hatecrime..."
" Really? Come on, we don't need that hassle. Someone got shot and he happened to be part-asian. So?"
" Not because of that. He's...one of them!"
" Oh sh...really? Damn...guess he didn't wake up with immunity to bullets. But a hatecrime?"
" Enough weirdoes out there. You know how it is. Still, I don't like it either. Brings the wrong kind of attention. Next thing you know the net is going to be all over us about how we're not doing enough to protect the super-abled or some bullshit."
" I f...ing hate Twitter."
kenmadragon
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by kenmadragon »

Huh. That was interesting to learn. So, Albert was still alive, but Sunny wasn't going to learn anything more about his condition just from eavesdropping like this. On the upside, he could hear the cops talking and the fact that they knew Albert Jun was a Sunstormer was news to Sunny. He hadn't been aware others even knew Albert had powers. That he had been in a coma was out there on the web, sure, but being explicitly known as a Sunstormer? Sunny thought it would have taken longer for the police to make that connection. A day or two, maybe.

That little tidbit did give him some ideas, though.

Still listening in to the cops' conversation and the inside of Albert's room, Sunny switched from browsing the web to the messaging app, sending a text to Deborah, a smile on his face:
>>"Cops are guarding Albert's room. They know he's a Sunstormer."
>>"Police high-ups are considering calling the shooting a hate-crime..."
>>"...It might be good to encourage that?"
>>"Any idea if we can nudge them in that direction?"
jmucchiello
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Re: [MM3]Sunstormers IC

Post by jmucchiello »

Deborah texts Khemis that she's available between 2pm and 4pm this afternoon or after 8pm tonight for that interview. She spends lunch time with Tommi, her researcher, and Becca, her main confidant (who suspects Deborah has powers because of the coma but it has turned into a guessing game. Becca hasn't guessed mind reading yet). But the guessing game doesn't happen while Tommi is there. Tommi is new to her crew, hired at the end of last year, they have an eye for finding craft makeup, haircare, and skincare products that seem to deserve the kind of boost DSG can provide. Tommi usually presents as male, but not always, preferring they/them pronouns.

Her request for research on which way the wind blows on Sunstormers is unusual but he is glad for the variety the task provides. They are clacking at their keyboard as Deborah is describing what she is looking for.

Becca asks, "Why the change in direction?

"Know your audience, Bec. It might matter if anyone finds out about my lost three days. Want to know what's coming at me."

"Makes sense." Becca gets a gleam in her eyes and Deborah just nods. "Invisibility, but like only your head."

"What?" Tommi says.

"Becca thinks just because I was in a coma I must have superpowers."

"That's crazy," they say. "Odds of her having superpowers that are visible and useful are probably low. Even before being asked to do this research I've been curious about Sunstomers. Some of them have silly and useless powers like can grow or shrink an inch taller. Or their hands glow in the dark. And similar stuff. Ms Gold could have gained resistance to bubonic plague as her powers and we would probably never find that out."

"There you go, Becca. I'm immune to bubonic plague. That's my superpower. Tommi got it in one." Deborah said with a laugh.

"That was just an example."

"And a silly example. Superpowers should be fun," Becca said with a pout.

Later, Deborah received the texts from Sunny. She texts back:
>>"I would talk about it publicly but I don't think the public knows about Albert. Maybe if rumors about his start to circulate I could do something."
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