INTROS + MONTHLIES

[trainmasters]

Who: Everyone
When: Day 51, evening
Where: the Aurora

[It's evening, and as the stars come out you get that text again:]

WELCOME NEW HEROES

[This round's newbies are waking up in their rooms, in the usual nondescript undies or team pyjamas.

Outside, the fog is gone. In its place is a pleasant evening, its beauty enhanced by tiny, softly-glowing flowers along the jungle paths. Unfortunately, should you peer closer toy may notice these flowers have blackened, curled leaves -- and the scent that wafts up when you step on them will either heighten or dull one of your senses.

But hey, why go in the jungle when you could eat questionable snacks in the lounge again? This time there are towers of round chocolates in varying colours, and sparkle blue and white snowflake decor on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. In typical Star Prince and Knights fashion there is a lot of glitter, and the chocolates definitely have a magical side-effect: in this case, transformation.

☆ Blue-wrapped chocolates cause your character to shift in age. They may get older or younger, and this transformation may be purely physical or may include mental shifting as well.

☆ Silver-wrapped chocolates cause your character to gain animal features -- anything from cat ears to fully becoming a cat is acceptable, and any animal real or mythical is game. It won't change you to a size that doesn't fit in the train, though.

☆ White-wrapped chocolates cause a transformation to a different physical sex.

☆ Black-wrapped chocolates cause you to take on the form of another person -- someone on the train or someone you remember from elsewhere. It won't turn you into anyone you don't personally know, however.

These effects wear off within a few hours, and you can combine more than one. Enjoy your icebreaker and make that fresh meat feel welcome!]

[[OOC NOTES: As the monthly prompt, the flowers will continue until next month's placements. If you have any questions, please ping the mods via the q&a. Thank you!]]

Comments

[voreaciously]

[as she's adjusted and they start to walk away, the little girl starts to pet the little kitten more and more, seemingly growing more comfortable.

Ahh...she's so soft and warm and little. She's read somewhere that they like to be touched behind their ears so she tries that.]

...Are you really strong, sir?

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Oh, ears!]

[Purrpurrpurrpurr]

I am. And I'm Dusk.

[voreaciously]

[she can't bow or curtsy right now and shes frowns momentarily before settling for a nod.]

I am Kawanokami Amane. It is a pleasu9re to meet you, Mister Dusk.

[but oh, happy purrs? those seem happy, she will continue to pet! this is nice]

How strong are you?

[she sounds cautiously interested.]

[schrodingerscockroach]

It's nice to meet you, Kawanokami Amane. [DID SHE LIE ABOUT HER NAME?]

[I mean]

[She would.]

[These are the most happy purrs.]

I can lift several hundred pounds.

[voreaciously]

[this child would never lie about anything gosh!]

Oh, that is respectable, but um, Mister Dusk? I was wondering...what are you Bound to? I can't sense it.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[I LITERALLY FIGURED OUT YOU WERE IN MY BODY BECAUSE YOU WERE A GOOD ENOUGH LIAR TO PULL IT OFF.]

Bound to?

...oh, an elemental magic thing, right?

[voreaciously]

[wow!]

Yes? What else would it be?

[schrodingerscockroach]

That is a very complicated answer.

I'm not bound to anything. Short answer, I have technology in my body.

[voreaciously]

Yeah, but what does that have to do with magic? It can be both.

[ah wait, now she gets it]

Oh, but that's how you're so strong, you mean? Augmentations?

[schrodingerscockroach]

That's correct. I'm very augmented.

[voreaciously]

I wish I could take you apart and see!

[that



is certainly something that left a child's mouth.]

[schrodingerscockroach]

....

I mean, I know at least a little bit of the tech if you want me to draw schematics?

[voreaciously]

Well, I'd want to see those, but it's not the same! A scientist has to make her own observations, really understand how things work. It is the difference between knowledge and understanding.

[she still wants the schematics tho]

[schrodingerscockroach]

Sadly, I'm not exactly for cutting myself up without a really good reason and scientific study isn't quite that.

[Just, you know, to buy a shitty mansion.]

[voreaciously]

Well, if you do not want to, that's fine, but also kind of silly? Scientific study is always a good reason for anything.

[continues to pet sunset.]

[schrodingerscockroach]

Not when it's my own body being cut open. I've already been a science experiment enough.

[Purrpurrpurr, lightly nibble at fingers.]

[voreaciously]

[she looks at him in confusion




she...doesn't understand that statement whatsoever. she frowns thoughtfully, trying to puzzle it, but nope. it eludes her.]

...I do not understand that at all. [she frowns some more but this time she feels bad, like she got an answer wrong on a test.] Science grows and changes with the knowledge people get, so constant testing is required? But you say you've had enough, and I don't really get it.

I'm sorry.

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Gonna take a seat in the lounge now. Might as well settle somewhere.]

Science is good. It is. And constant testing is required, but there is also a bit of a balance required when that science involves people.

Like...

You like your hand, right? Because that hand let's you do things. You can pet kitties for one.

[voreaciously]

[when he sets her down she starts to swing her feet idly, but still very clearly paying attention. Mister Dusk is an adult, of course she's going to listen to him

but she also cannot get enough of petting Sunset. SO SOF]

I can pet kitties. [she nods enthusiastically and demonstrably pets the GOOD KITTY]

[schrodingerscockroach]

[Aww yeah, pets. Gonna curl up in this weird ice lady lap.]

Exactly. So your hand is something you want to keep.

But the thing about having experiments done with your body is there's risk. The reason you need constant studying is it takes a while to perfect and improve things and where there's room to improve, there's also room to mess up, and no process is ever perfect.

So if someone agrees to be a human experiment, they're agreeing for a mess up to happen to their body.

Like if you agreed to something like getting a bionic hand, you could lose your hand if they mess up and you'd be sad because you couldn't pet kitties. You see?

So if you're agreeing to be a human experiment, you usually need to be getting something out of it that's worth at least the same if not more of what you could lose.

[voreaciously]

[she sits and listens and ponders. she stops swinging her legs.]

Mother never makes mistakes.

[her hand pauses in petting sunset. she says this factually with a bit of...detachment? almost. but she comes back to herself.]

I guess that makes sense...I will keep practising on cadavers and stuff until I get it right. I am still learning, after all. I wouldn't want to make mistakes on a live person.

[she's a bit disappointed that he won't let her see his insides, but he made an excellent point.]

...But you will still give me schematics, right?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Everyone makes mistakes. People just don't like admitting when they do, so a lot will pretend they don't. But everyone does.

After all, if perfection was possible, what's the point of science?

[Gentle, but also firm. Because fuck her mother, honestly.]

I'm sure given time you'll be excellent at that sort of thing. The kind where the mistakes are rare and fixable, but it's important to always know things worth doing usually involve some risk.

I knew what I agreed to had risks, there was a good chance I'd die, but the risk was worth it to me. Not so worth it just to be studied. Though maybe if I ever need surgery, I'll let someone film whatever is in there.

Of course. [Will ruffle her hair gently.]

[voreaciously]

Mother tests a lot but all her tests are really good, even the results she doesn't like. I don't always understand, but she is so very great and just gets better. She really is the smartest person in the whole wide world.

[Well.

There is one failure she doesn't like, but she can never call her sister that. she isn't one.

but sorry dusk, there's a fair amount of child worship there.

but he says she will be good one day too and she looks up at him. she starts to smile before something about what he says doesn't quite settle with her. oh, she figures it out.]

...You got to choose?

[schrodingerscockroach]

Even if there's good tests, ninety-nine percents still means something is wrong.

There's nothing wrong with making mistakes. Mistakes is how we learn to get better. It's how we learn new things. Do you know how many things are made using a good kind of bacteria? Not like our first instinct is something moldly might actually be good for us.

Sometimes it takes someone to mess up really badly to figure out something far more amazing.

It's good to get things right too. But you should never underestimate what good can come out of a mistake.

....well, yeah? I did. It was stuff that could kill a person. I mean, some people did get experimented on illegally, but when the job description is 'do this to be a better soldier and save lives,' having bitter people you kidnapped and experimented on is real likely to come back and bite you.

[voreaciously]

I do not have an exact figure, but I know it's a lot, yes?

[she says this like it's obvious and like she's confused because doesn't everyone know that you can use bacteria for good things?

but she listens to the rest of that.]

I dunno, in that case, can't you use behavioural modification or conditioning? If the people that do that get hurt because of their own mistakes or improper methods that is their own fault. It's sloppy and dumb.

[she's just being pragmatic and doesn't really...realise that this might be bad? maybe. who knows.]