If madness overtakes us both [Open]

[levelshift]

Who: Accelerator levelshift and OPEN.
What: Event and July/August prompts.
When: Throughout July and August.
Where: Arcadia, Excelsior, Central City.
Content Warnings: Specific warnings will be in the prompts.


((Prompts in comments. If you'd like a specific starter please hit me up on plurk or discord!))

Comments

[purplexing]

[Of course ol' Does-What-He-Wants-Donnie thinks that. He nods confidently, walking off to the kitchen, the sound of the fridge opening and closing before he returns with one of the esper's prized canned coffees.]

I know it. People like that who think they can treat people like lab rats are just asking for it. Confronting them directly might make them think a little harder about their life choices. And if it doesn't, well, it'd at least make me feel better for not holding back in giving them a piece of my mind.

[levelshift]

[This Accelerator, being a bit too young for his older self's coffee addiction, thinks nothing of that.

(Accelerator is going to kill Donnie when he is back to normal.)]

Wow, you're either really fucking brave or really stupid. [Maybe both????]

[purplexing]

[Donnie cracks the can open, taking a sip. Considering that his coffee excursion had been derailed by a miniature esper, he feels completely justified in helping himself to a drink from Accelerator's own stores.

Come at him, bro.

Commentary from the esper-squirt has him arch a brow over the coffee can.]

Well hey, if you want to handle things yourself, you just have to say so.

[levelshift]

[Accelerator hugs his knees a little tighter.]

I'll get in trouble if I do. It's better to just go along with what they want.

[purplexing]

...and you're okay with that?

[He leans against the doorway of the kitchen, sipping his coffee as he looks at the kid.]

[levelshift]

Yeah. I gotta be.

[The looks on his face says that he isn't, though. No reasonable person would be.]

[purplexing]

That doesn't mean it's what you want. Anyway, I don't believe you.

[He sighs.]

You know, when big-you first told me about Academy City I thought it was cool because of it being a scientific hotspot. But the more I've heard about the things they do, the less great it sounds. I wish I could help do something about it but neither of us are there.

...but maybe that's a good thing. This world may not be either of our homes, but that also means you don't have to live up to someone else's expectations.

[levelshift]

.....

[Accelerator glares a little. He does have a choice, but when your options are 'go with what the researchers say' or 'nuclear missile bombardment' it's pretty clear which one he needs to go with.]

Not really. Even if I'm not there I still gotta be careful. That stays the same no matter where I am, it's part of being the strongest.

[purplexing]

[Donnie hmms, lowering his goggles as he continues to sip his coffee.]

Well, that much goes without saying. I'm not saying go and be reckless.

[levelshift]

[Reckless is the last thing he wants to be.]

Then what? Do what I want, within reason?

[purplexing]

[He doesn't answer immediately, distracted by his readouts.]

Huh? Oh, well...more or less. I mean, there's rules, of course. What the heck is going on there...

-er, I guess the question would be, what would you like to do if you don't have to worry about any scientists and Academy City?

[levelshift]

[Accelerator watches Donnie, noting the goggles and, feeling a little uncomfortable, shifts away from him.]

I don't know. What the fuck are you doing?

[purplexing]

Trying to find some kind of explanation for this.

[But he notices the kid's movement, so he shoves his goggles back up.]

Something happened with your older self not too long ago, but when I had a look at him I thought maybe his PR field was just readjusting or something. But it appears that there is some sort of energy fluctuation going on...

[levelshift]

[He relaxes a little when Donnie pushes his goggles back up. He isn't going to tell him off, but he's glad he's backed off.]

Isn't that just my AIM diffusion field? Every esper has one of those.

[purplexing]

I considered that, but then I realized that the warping isn't merely some reaction with your field.

There's...an absence of energy, like the levels that should be there have decreased. It's unstable and I'm not quite sure what that means.

Here. Let me see if I can graph out the readouts. Um, don't freak out.

[He holds his left arm out, the holodisplay activating without him having to even wave his hand over it. That much is normal until his eyes blank out, that familiar purple glow replacing them as the display starts flickering, windows opening and closing with inputs too quick to read.

Eventually a broader projection goes out from his computer with a graph plotted with three instances marked Rator-A, B and C.

Donnie blinks, shaking out his head.]

Hoo, that shift is always disorienting.

[levelshift]

......

[He's pretty good at not freaking out for his age, so he nods quietly and watches Donnie, wanting to know what's going on. And to his credit, he doesn't freak out! He watches the holo display, not totally surprised at seeing that kind of technology. It's something you'd see in Academy City, after all.

... Less normal is the weird glow to Donnie's eyes. That's unsettling, though he keeps quiet the entire time.

When the full projection shows up he looks over at it, frowning.]

Are you a cyborg?

[purplexing]

Cyborg? Hahaha- no.

It's that other ability I was talking about. I can interface with computers and similar sorts of systems just by touching them, which isn't always convenient.

Ahem. Anyway.

This would be a readout from a couple months ago. And then this is a few days ago. There's already a huge difference in whatever this first reading is. And this is what I just picked up from you today. It's almost similar to the second one, but far less consistent in the level. I'm just not sure what this energy is originating from in the first place.

[levelshift]

... Oh. Okay. [That honestly makes sense to him, mainly because that's the kind of ability an esper could have.]

Well, I don't feel any different than normal. And I don't think it's messing with my reflection, either.

[purplexing]

At least that's good. Might be concerning if it was interacting with your reflection, although at the same time, it's kind of weird that it isn't.

That suggests it's not quite on the same level, or it's considered a neutral extension of you somehow.

[levelshift]

If it was it'd be bad for a lot of people.

[Something interacting with his reflection could potentially be hugely destructive....]

..... That couldn't change, right? It couldn't suddenly start messing with my reflection?

[purplexing]

I don't think so? Has anything else interacted with it since you found yourself here?

[There's a way to test that but Donnie remembers too well how unpleasant it was to be on the receiving end the last time. He strokes his chin.]

Actually, I wonder...

[He pulls down his goggles again, pointedly turned away from Accelerator so the kid won't get paranoid about it, but this time Donnie has a look at his own hands.]

[levelshift]

No. [He's pretty sure if something did he'd know.] But I've been careful about not touching anything. Or people.

[.............. He knows what happens if people interact with his reflection.

He blinks and watches Donnie turn away, growing a little unsure.]

What is it?

[purplexing]

Been careful about... Huh. Can't you just turn it off- oh wait. You're...doing it automatically, aren't you...

[That had been one of the first things he'd ever learned about Accelerator, even if it took a while before he'd seen it actually in action. That conversation in Excelsior seems like a lifetime ago.

He frowns behind his goggles, not answering the kid's question immediately as he studie his own readouts.]

...I need more data.

[Reluctantly he pushes them up again, taking another swig of coffee before he glances back at Accelerator.]

It's hard to tell because like the readings I get with your AIM diffusion field, there's my inherent mystic ...aura, I guess we'll call it, so it makes it difficult to get a clear reading on any other signatures. That and it's kind of hard getting my own readouts from this perspective.

[levelshift]

[He nods at that. Yup! Automatic.] That's why I'm looking for that shithead.

[Kihara. Kihara the shithead.

Accelerator looks pretty interested at this. The mystic stuff still sounds fake, but it's easy enough to wrap his head around his AIM field causing problems.]

Maybe you need better equipment. [He shrugs.] The scientists that work with me have whole buildings of the stuff.

[purplexing]

That sounds like a pain.

[But at least Donnie knows to be careful around the kid. It's probably a good thing he is not a touchy-feely person like Leo.]

Uh, your scientists unfortunately have stupid amounts of government funding and probably have someone else making their equipment. I have to do everything from the ground up.