OPEN | Disasters Mean Rethinking Decisions

[atypical_echo]

Who: Mark Bryant atypical_echo, Tommy Shepherd slowmotionbuscrash, Open
What: A Bank Robbery Gone Bad, Photography Outside of Guild Headquarters, Awkwardness of confused coffee orders
When: Robbery: 10/14, Photography: 10/15, Coffee: Mid October
Where: First Bank of Central City, Outside Alliance Headquarters, Moondoe Coffee Shop
Content Warnings: Bank robbery might involve violence toward civilians, and will involve explosions.

I. Robberies Make For Bad Days | First Bank of Central City | Closed to Tommy Shepherd

From now on he was going to live his life only through drive through and online banking. With those sorts of things you didn't end up like Mark did, sitting curled up on the floor of the bank with a cluster of other civilians, shaking. The others shook from fear, whimpered whenever the masked robbers looked at them and gestured with either guns or what looked like energy pistols, and didn't talk about their hope that some hero would come and save them.

Mark? Mark sat there quaking not because he cared that he was being menaced with a gun, or that there was a robbery going on, or even that a bad twitch would get him shot. No, he was shaking because these robbers were Metas, and Mark was accutely aware of that in a way no other civilian there was. Sure, they hadn't made use of their powers yet, but Mark could feel them, pressing in on his mind. One was clearly a telepath of some sort, and that Mark knew how to keep control of, how to keep his mind to himself, how to hide from other telepaths. But there was also someone who, best Mark could tell, cause metal to melt, and another one whose power Mark couldn't pin down but made his skin itch.

It was too much. It was a hard enough to keep control of his powers around some Metas, but it was worse when there were more than a few around. With no familiar powers to ground them in it was enough to leave him off balance, and with the fear... Mark was growing terrified that people were going to get hurt if this didn't end soon, and it wouldn't be by the thieves.

"Someone help," he whispered under his breath. That was their only hope, and for reasons no one else knew.

II. Is Heroics Really A Shelter? | Outside of Alliance Headquarters | Open

What do you do with an unsigned Meta? It was a question running through Mark's head, to the tune of some old shanty about drunken sailors. The song had been running circles around his head for days now, and the only way Mark knew to work through shit like this was distraction. So he did his best for distraction. Today his distractions were coming in the form of photography. So Mark stood across the street from the Alliance Headquarters and turned his camera upon the structure, his lens always focused up at large structure, never dipping down toward the doors without Mark first turning it away.

It was important not to piss off people with supernatural powers by making them think that you are taking pictures of them. Which Mark totally wasn't going to do. He doesn't need his ass kicked and himself accidentally stealing someone's powers in the process.

Still, he has to sigh before taking another picture of the building, trying to capture the way shadows fell across it at this late time of day, as if to make a picture to call into mind the idea that the Alliance was come upon dark times.

"This was never what comics prepared me to think superheroes would be like," he sighed as he snapped another shot. "Feel more like sports and movie stars than heroes."

Which was probably a rude thing to say because someone overhearing it could assume weird things. Like that Mark himself is a Meta. Which wasn't wrong at all.

III. Coffee Mix-Up Meeting | Moondoe Coffee Shop | Open

Coffee, the magical brew by which many an artist runs. Or so Mark always thought. He stood near the wall of his local Moondoe Coffee, waiting for his name to be called. Or, well, the poor approximation of his name that places like this seemed to manage.

"Brian!" a voice called, and Mark looked around. No one was making clear motion for the drink, so he walked toward it. Okay, one more way to check. He lifts the cup and, instead of sipping, checks the writing on the side indicating what the drink should be. And there was the familiar shorthand for a dark chocolate machiatto.

Alright, resolved that this was most definitely his drink, Mark lifted it to sip. And immediately cringed when it hit his tongue.

"The fuck?" he sputtered as he winced at the taste. "Is that... apple? Holy shit, what?"

"Maybe it's not your drink," the barista behind the counter said with that look that said 'you picked up someone else's order'.

"It's literally labeled with my name and marked as a dark chocolate machiatto. Soooooo, um, I'm sorry but I think the order might be wrong."

Though he was definitely wincing at the attention this was drawing him. Maybe he should just take this and go? Oh man, would that be more or less embarrassing? He wasn't sure.

[OOC: Mark Bryant's main Meta ability is copying the powers of those near him. This is entirely opt-in, and you can go to opt in over here if you'd like to play with Mark echoing powers.]

Comments

[atypical_echo]

Oh Otto, of course they aren't.

"Not saying I would hire you for it, but I get where they are coming from a little. I mean, I hate to play to the stereotype, but my parents sorely disapproved of me going into the arts rather than even a 'soft' science like Joanie did with psych. And more than once I have been asked if some... rather traumatic experiences 'fixed' the parts of me they didn't like or approve of."

The last time has been bad enough that Mark had abandoned his work and fled back to his sister. Had made him seek a way to be 'fixed'. Which, by sheer luck, had meant he accidentally helped save a lot of lives including his sisters, but damn, he had also almost fallen back into the bottle.

"Sometimes all people want is an approving parent, and 'dad bod' works in more than one way. Add in that apparently some of them are wowed because you're a scientist and a hero? Extra credit."

[doctopoda]

Otto scoffs, several claws snapping in irritation. "Ridiculous. You close yourself off to so much of the human experience by denigrating the arts. They're vital." The love of his life was a poet - and it's possible that before meeting her, Otto could be a little bit of a science snob himself. The most irritating things in the world are the cringe things you did when you were a snot-nosed kid!

Anyway. It's almost a little flattering when laid out like that. Flattering and sad, maybe? But Otto's still not entirely comfortable with that much attention. It is, at least partially, for personal reasons; he can own that.

"I'm hardly a hero," he demurs. "Just an old man with more arms than is good for him."

[atypical_echo]

Okay, Mark may have just known the guy from online gossip before, but congrats Otto, you've been elevated to actual hero now. Because that passion and insistence is exactly what the world, and artists, need more of. He grins.

"You may have more arms than is good for you, but your arms are sure good for others," Mark pints out. And shouldn't that matter too?

"Thank you, by the way. For sticking up for the arts. Hard science people don't always do that."

[doctopoda]

Otto shrugs. "On occasion." He's pitched in a lot lately, what with all the large-scale disasters, but he's not one of those who spends his nights fighting crime on the streets. Maybe he should...it's what Peter or Doreen would do, any of those kids he's going grey over. But he's old and tired, and far from invincible. One thing gets past those arms, one day, and he's toast.

It's what he tells himself. Maybe it's wrong. Wouldn't be the worst thing he's ever done.

At the thanks, he gives Mark a tight smile. "My wife was a poet. She was smarter than I've ever been."

[atypical_echo]

Yeah, but sometimes heroes aren't he ones that patrol the streets. They're the ones that act when they have to and protect others. Or sometimes they just give hugs. Which those arms are probably good at, if they're nice.

"That you think that way of her just shows you have a lot of heart, sir. Makes me sad you get more known because of that gossip instead of as who you are."

Which, you know, is what PR is for.

[doctopoda]

That is what PR is for, isn't it?

"Well, that's kind of you to say." Maybe slightly overblown, but Otto's no fan of the gossip rags either. "Maybe I'll have to make a Tiktok video about it sometime."

He's joking about doing that. He's not joking at all about thinking they're called "Tiktok videos".

[atypical_echo]

That's literally what PR is for, yes. Though when Ottos says 'a Tiktok video' Mark has to fight not to wince. Man, don't do that. Please.

"Don't TikTok, man, they will eat you alive."

[doctopoda]

Otto laughs. "Don't worry, I'm not going to. I've seen a few, I'm not interested." Peter's shown him a couple. They can be funny, but he's not going to get online to do some kind of...stupid one-minute dance, or whatever it is people get up to.

[atypical_echo]

Well, there's that, and Mark smiles. At last he fishes out the lens cap of his camera. Now that he's talked so much to Otto, he doesn't want to cause problems for the guy, so he's going to abandon trying to get the picture. There are other buildings, other edifices, other places he could hope to find something new.

"I don't know. You're a scientist, so you could always use it for science outreach, to inspire kids into the STEM field. A whole 'stay in school' thing."

[doctopoda]

"Ah, did you get it?" For all he knows, one of those last shots was the one! Otto's never been much of a photographer. Not artistically, anyway; imagine how many random shots of Rosie he'd have on his phone, if he'd had a smartphone back then.

The suggestion makes him chuckle. "Is that where people do those things, these days? I thought it was for funny dances, or something like that."

[atypical_echo]

"Nope," Mark says with a shrug. He didn't think he had. But hey, he's not going to make trouble. And he's not going to make the man sit here for hours. "But it's okay. Better that I go through PR and not get arrested by one of the stiff necks here just because I want to capture a good image."

Still, he smiles because he made the guy chuckle, and he's not going to shake a stick at that.

"So Tiktok became a thing while I was in a coma for a while, so I'm not fully up on it, but I've looked into it, curiously. And yeah, there are things like that. And pets. Make-up tutorials. All sorts of things. But there are also scientists and science teachers and other educators doing cool things or showing off cool places. Maybe there are only little bursts of knowledge, but it can encourage people to look for more. Though, well, I hope none of those history buffs who make insanely detailed scale models of battles get into it."

He had enough of that from his father and it was so dull.

[doctopoda]

"...I guess so."

Geez, now he feels a little bad for messing up the guy's shoot! It probably is for the best, though. Otto wouldn't have interfered that much at all if he didn't think it might turn into a problem.

"That is interesting. I hadn't realized it was so varied." He can show off some neat science things, if nothing else. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, if it were on his own terms?

[atypical_echo]

Don't feel bad. Probably saved him an arrest under suspicion because he's an unaffiliated.

"That's the wonder of the internet. So many different things out there. I even found a website that specializes in people's custom lego builds. Pretty cool stuff."

[doctopoda]

"That is interesting." Otto can appreciate the amount of effort that goes into that sort of thing, even if he isn't particularly into Lego himself. "I've been using it to catch up on scientific and tech developments. My world was behind this one, time-wise - we didn't have anything on these levels."

[atypical_echo]

"Really? Your arms sorta look pretty impressive compared to anything we have here in Central," Mark points out with a smile.

He doesn't bother to say that this time isn't even that far from his own, because hiding a Meta state.

[doctopoda]

Otto waves a hand dismissively. "Doesn't count. They're one of a kind. If I'd had the time, I would have shared the tech more widely, but...well, you know how it is." He doesn't know that Mark is also an off-world meta, of course, but it's pretty widely known that Otto himself is. Everybody knows that they were all taken away in the middle of things.

Of course, that isn't the real reason at all. It's just easier, most of the time, to let people assume so.

[atypical_echo]

Are they? Well, they look four of a kind, but he thought he understand what Otto meant.

"I really don't, but I am sorry you got hauled here when you shouldn't have been."

Because surely the guy woudl rather be home.

[doctopoda]

"It's fine." Otto shrugs, and considers for a second before adding, "I wasn't in the best place, when I was taken away. I think, with the time and space to consider everything, I'll be able to handle it all better when I get back."

It's true literally and metaphorically! Mostly, he’s now hoping he won't die!

[atypical_echo]

Oh but how Mark wanted to say 'me too'. But he didn't. He didn't dare to.

"I hope you can. Get back that is. And be happy with it."

[doctopoda]

It's all more complicated than he's letting on. Otto doesn't even plan to stay in his own world. What would he do there - rot in prison? A part of him does wish he could do more. Before, he hadn't realized how different things could be. Now that he's seen what it's like to have teams of metas patrolling, keeping the city safe, it casts Peter's situation in an even more dire light. If he only had someone else around to help him...

But Doc Ock isn't that person. Can never be.

All he says is, "I hope so, too. It's been looking more likely, lately." There's no reason to get into all of it here.

[atypical_echo]

Mark hadn't bothered to feel hope about that just yet. So he just offered a smile.

"I really do hope so. No one should be here who does not wish to be."

[doctopoda]

"Quite so. Maybe things here will calm down once there's fewer of us around."

Otto doesn't really expect it'll help. They didn't cause any of what's happened; it could just as easily go on once the majority of them are gone. People are gonna have to find someone brand new to blame - and lucky him, Otto's gonna be around to see it! Oh, well.

[atypical_echo]

"I mean, it's always been a bit of a mess. Though I'm worried that when the new Metas leave, that Fantastic jerk will be in charge of the Alliance. And who does that help?"

Damn fucking bully. Yes, Mark has opinions. Strong ones too.

[doctopoda]

"I don't know that we're helping very much with that. If anything, you could blame us for all the upheaval that's causing it."

Stupid thing to do, of course, but people blame them for lots of things. Anyway, you don't exactly see any off-worlders with the pull to stop stuff like Fantastic ending up in charge, do you?

[atypical_echo]

"I don't," Mark said with a sigh. He really didn't feel responsible for all of this.

This world kidnapped them. They didn't choose this.