Legacy Super-Zero Quest

Stretching her arms and yawning, Corinne slowly lifted herself up by her arms to tumble off the mattress that right now passed for her bed. Embarrassingly, despite her being the only one around, she looked down to see that she had fallen asleep in her makeshift hero costume.

The sight of that at least helped jolt her awake, getting her on her feet. She opened the curtains to see that the sun apparently hadn't risen all that much, but one look at her phone showed otherwise- that it was nearly nine o'clock. Arachne Computers opened its doors at 9:30! The Noxville fog really would sieve out the sun, she thought.

After a short shower, which would've been even shorter if the temperature hadn't kept going all over the place, Corinne dried herself and then knelt down to rummage through her luggage for a proper enough outfit to wear, had to make a good impression on the first day, of the job I moved miles above the ground for.

[ ] This lab-coat will do. I'd assume they'd hand them out to their workers, but just in case.
[ ] Business suit with skirt, I want to let them I know I'm a professional.
[ ] Business suit with trousers, I have to be taken seriously.
[ ] Maybe something casual could work, help me loosen up around my co-workers? Clothes I wore yesterday are still clean.
[ ] Hell, I could even go in my superhero costume. They'd be used to those up here, and it's not like I'm gonna keep this identity around, right?
[ ] Write-in.

Work outfit chosen, Corinne to do her makeup, having little more than a hand-mirror, lipstick and foundation on her right now, and the rushed down the apartment stairs and out the door. The Noxville streets were no less shrouded in the day, but at least more of the surrounding architecture's ornate intricacies were visible, reminding her almost of pictures she'd of Prague or Paris, well, this'd have to be Paris in a bad mood.

She'd had thoughts about taking the city's monorail, which might be more properly called a 'Zero-Rail' or 'Lumino-Rail' due to it running on no physical rail but a 'strand of light'. Don't have time now to take the scenic route though, maybe once I get off work, she thought, so she then chose to head for the nearest teleporter service, Definitely not taking another taxi anytime soon, yeesh.

Corinne thought to at least put on some music to get her in a good mood this morning, since the thought of being later on her first day had so far done otherwise, and she didn't want to arrive all stressed out and nigh-exhausted. Quickly scrolling through some saved songs, she settled on-
(Optional Vote)
[ ] Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me
[ ] Jay and the Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer
[ ] David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
[ ] The Spinners - Rubberband Man
[ ] Oingo Boingo - Weird Science
[ ] L7 - Pretend We're Dead
[ ] Malice Mizer - Au Revoir
[ ] The Killers - Spaceman
[ ] Carly Rae Jepsen - I Really Like You
[ ] Write-in

The route to said teleporter, sticking to the streets this time, took her right towards the square she'd seen the night before. The sight of that café she'd briefly spotted back then made her remember that she'd forgotten to have breakfast, I mean, I was banking on my workplace having some sort of food dispenser, thought that'd make sense for such a hi-tech city, she thought. But she soon decided to head into the café anyway, Cafes aren't really designed for speedy service, but this place is the closest to me, and I'll just get a takeaway coffee, that'd barely break the bank.

This local cafe, Arabica Nights, was fittingly enough decorated with Arabic calligraphy framed on its walls, and while reasonably sized, had several sofas with large, tasselled cushions presumably to give the place a cosier vibe. Several customers were already here, a couple of them looking like heroes still in their costumes after being up all night. Luckily for Corinne none of them were currently queuing.
"Just a black coffee to go, please" was all Corinne said upon approaching the man at the counter, who was middle aged and of Middle Eastern complexion.

"Ah, in a rush already? Hmm so I see, well no problem" he said before he took off at lightning-speed, transforming into a blur in Corinne's eyes as he raced around his machinery. Corinne had hardly time to react when he'd already returned with her coffee ready to go.

"Um, thanks" was all she could mutter, holding her credit card.

"Ah, anything for one who doesn't take milk or sugar, now that I can respect, friend" he said and smiled "Hard to believe, but I rarely get a chance to use my superspeed on the job. Understandable, given most come here for a slower, more relaxed experience. While I'm far from the only speedster around, the only other coffee-powered superhuman I've met in all my years was a Cuban-American calling himself 'The Caffeine Crusader'. Hmm, haven't heard from him in a while, actually..." he kept talking, and him at least being a motor-moth didn't take up too much of Corinne's time "Used to call myself 'The Boiling Bean' but I had to change it, my daughter just bursts out laughing every time she hears that name".

"Great thanks, but gotta go," Corinne nodded "I may be running late, is all".

Down the street and two turns left, she reached the local teleporter station which... was nothing much, just three grey, cone-shaped pods gathered in a circle. Corinne inserted a few coins into one of them and pressed the button marked 'Sciencity'.
Still a little nervous around teleporters, especially in this end of town. Like as bad as flying accidents can be, they've got nothing on warp accidents, she thought. Thankfully, her small leap through Netherspace turned out just fine, the only interruption being when an ad flashed up inside the pod, about a superhero she and many others were more than familiar with.

"Super Spotlight Special! Today's classic cape is none other than The Live Death! The classic cape as a matter of fact, as while debates on the exact definition of a 'superhero' have long raged, the 'living death' Martin Leon is widely considered the very first! A corpse uncovered in Louisiana, almost nothing known about him in life, his body was brought to Baltimore by the fiendish Sorcerer Locrian, and one of the first ever supervillains. However, Martin's will overcame Locrian's attempts at controlling him, as he would fight back not just against this Warped Wizard, but even greater threats still. His powerset has varied over time, having possessed command of shadows, the ice-powered chill of death and made use of the toxins within his rotted body. He may be a decrepit zombie sporting a jagged raven mask, but don't let that put you off, for while... not the most personable type, his is the heart of a true hero! Being undead, he's still active today-" And then Corinne arrived in Sciencity.



Sciencity was... something else entirely. From where Corinne stood, the entire borough looked like it could've almost been made out of glass. Skyscrapers not only soared straight up, but tilted at weird angles to look like the sails of galleons, and striking silver intermingled with brilliant blues and lush greens. Every building was curved or slender, with barely any sharp lines. Flying cars, hoverbikes, hoverboards, jetpacks, all sped overhead. The entire place looked like the living image of the phrase The Future is Now!

A real shock coming straight from Noxville, and even glamorous Goldenguise seemed subdued compared to this.

Oh that's right, Corinne had work to get to. Arachne Computers was luckily about a block away, though the building itself... matched with what she had seen in her job interview online, but was something else entirely in person.
Four long arches looking like spider-legs erupted from out of the roof, the other four she assumed being around the back. Said roof was covered by eight domes in four sets of two. Would that make the large doors the mouth of the spider?

Not thinking about it, Corinne headed inside, where at least the interior was a little more normal by computer lab standards. From what she saw from the entrance, her co-workers appeared to be... quite a colourful bunch, with the likes of levitating robots and four-legged, green-skinned insect-people among them.

"Why, you must be Corinne Cohn, am I correct?" came the beeping voice, with a faint Icelandic tinge, of a woman on a platform floating down from the floor above. That was the voice Corinne had heard in her job interview, and while she'd been expecting a robot voice, who she saw quite what she had.
"Let me introduce myself, I've named myself Millennium Model, but most around here just call me Director" her smooth, synthetic voice whirred, despite her having no visible mouth. Coated in silvery steel, she was entirely robotic, having a womanly figure but without any hair, and only white lights for eyes.

"Ah yes, Corinne Cohn, that's me," Corinne nodded, bowing slightly at her new Boss "S-sorry I was almost late".

"Haha, nervous I see? Well, to err is human, and sometimes robot too I'm ashamed to admit. But come right in, I'm certain you'll fit in around here," Millennium seemed like she would've smiled has she the mouth to do so with. "One last thing, workers here are assigned an AI assistant. I'll just place this headphone in your ear, and...".

Corinne flinched a little, but soon enough electronic sounds came to life in her ear, as an AI hologram materialised in front of her face.
"Hi there, so Corinne right? Wow, been looking forward to working with you!" the excitable, British-accented voice of a blue-haired, blue-skinned hologram girl burst to life in front of Corinne. "Call me Josephine. I've been filled in all about you, and right I know you'll prolly be wantin' to get started, but oh I'm betting you've got all these questions, right?".

Corinne gulped, having to take a step back "Er, well I-".
(Multiple votes allowed)
[ ] "What are my co-workers like?"
[ ] "Er, so am I your first assigned worker, Josephine?"
[ ] "This is my first time in Sciencity. I've looked the place up online, but is there anything I should be told?"
[ ] "What big projects are we currently working on right now?"
[ ] "This place does come with a food dispenser, right?"
[ ] "Um, any significance to the company name? Beyond a 'web' pun, anyway?"
[ ] (To Millennium Model) "Your name sounds like a superheroine's, am I right?"
[ ] (To Millennium Model) "Is there any way I can turn her off?"
[ ] "No thanks, think I've got everything down"
[ ] Write-in.

"This is my first time in Sciencity. I've looked the place up online, but is there anything I should be told?" Corinne asked "Thought I should get the locals' opinions after all".

"Ooh ooh, there's Dreamtower Gardens, Sciencity's latest and greatest amusement park!" Josephine immediately chirped up "And over in Nihonmura you've got the statue of XR Herastag, one of the earliest mechs ever built, just outside the Robosseum Arena and the Robo-Mountain Raceway. Ah, goin' on about arenas, there's the Everguards right, a new wrestling promotion that's just set up shop here, ooh and also the Starbite Lounge & Grill next to the Metroplex Cinema, right now they're showing-".

"Might I also recommend visiting the Superstring Collider sometime?" Millennium had to cut Josephine off "They may be the leading particle physics laboratory in Skyline Moderne. As you can imagine, our two institutes have crossed paths numerous times for the interests of the city. One as highly educated as yourself may feel right at home there".

That's weird for a boss to say, 'Hey go check out this other organisation', Corinne decided it'd be wiser against to keep that thought in her head, Then again, Arachne Computers is meant to be a government-funded laboratory, not a private company, so I'd suppose they've got stuff other than competition on their minds.

"Thank you. Is there anything else I should know before I start work, like if we've got any big projects coming up?" Corinne nodded and asked.

"Hmm, we are currently in the process of programming the pilot AI of a new-model airship. Melissa's mostly taken charge of that task right now, and having done some calculations on your profiles, I am... uncertain how well your two personalities would interact. Melissa has some, hmm, unorthodox ideas, but oh well, what is 'orthodox' in a city like ours, my dear?" Millennium chuckled as she went over.

"So we here thought you'd be great at helping us program in the GPS navigation on a prototype laser-bike!" Josephine chimed in "Whaddya say Cory, sound up your alley?".

"Hmm, reasonable enough" Corinne muttered.

"Thing was, we also a a load of Virtual Reality stuff we needed sorted" Josephine then brought up "Though all that's a bunch to throw on someone on their first day on the job, so right, better we just stick ta laserbikes right now".

"Indeed," came Millennium's voice "Everything said, welcome aboard, Miss Cohn".


Hours later, Corinne was now slumped down in the break room couch, said room being perhaps a slightly cramped enough place with a checkered floor, neon-glowing vending machines quietly vibrating, potted plants and windows overlooking a leafy patch of green.
It was a little odd how the levitating laser-cycle she'd been working on had matched her own colour scheme as Libraria, but eh it wasn't like black and grey (more silver in the bike's case) was that uncommon a colour scheme. Besides, it could also glow red, blue or green as customised by the rider, so she was probably reading too much into things.

At first, she highly suspected that assigning AI assistants was just this lab's of monitoring their workers to ensure they weren't slacking off, but at least she didn't have to worry about that from Josephine, who'd just spent most of her time goofing around as a hologram atop the bike pretending to be some stunt driver. Corinne had even managed to sneak in a game of the free trial of Spider Swing when the AI wasn't looking.

Speaking of Josephine, she'd collapsed down on that couch and spread her arms out and let her long blue-green hair down, in some imitation of how humans relaxed, still in that sleeved leotard she'd materialised for herself atop the lasercycle. "Hey Cory," Josephine then turned her head and asked "Er, might be an odd question to ya, but... what's eating and drinking like?".

Corinne, at the time munching down a croissant from a vending machine, paused as she had to consider that question.

"Like, us AI can copy the taste experience and stuff using sense-simulating programs, but I still kinda wonder how authentic that experience is" Josephine kept talking.

"...Guess it depends on the food," Corinne finally said "I'm guessing you'd likely have it better as an AI, as I'd assume you could just reprogram your tastes to be whatever you want. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about weight or allergies or anything".

"Yeah, sounds like ya've got a point" Josephine sighed as she admitted "Grass is always greener, innit?".

It was at that point two of Corinne's co-workers, having finished deciding what vendor foods they wanted, came over to the couch, having chosen a doner kebab and some salad respectively. "So, how're you taking to Arachne Computers so far?" said a smiling Latino, his wavy hair died pink and his tweed clothes looking almost a century old "Ah manners my girl, we ought to introduce ourselves now we've got time to sit and talk. The name's Cristobal Albeniz".

[ ] "Can't lie, I'm pretty excited to be working at Arachne!"
[ ] "Things seem to have been going decently."
[ ] "...Been a bit awkward so far, to be honest."
[ ] "Too soon to say, really."
[ ] Write-in.

"Ross Situma, pleased to meetcha," said the smiling face of the other co-worker, a chubby Kenyan man with black-rimmed square glasses, dressed in a more everyday blue office suit "Er, guess you'd be wondering about Cris's clothes choice here?".

"What? Oh no, not really" Corinne simply shrugged "I'd just assume he was part of some vintage sub-culture, something along those lines".

This mild statement made Cristobal burst out laughing "On the contrary, Miss Corinne, there's nothing 'retro' about me. You may not think it, but I'm actually 90 years old," he said while smirking. She did have to admit, Cristobal only looked about a third that age. "I mainly use de-aging gas to keep myself young, one of the many perks of life up here".

"...Ah, I see," a startled Corinne slowly said "No offence, but you're pretty cavalier about coming out and saying that. I just assume if that was the case for me, I could see myself being a bit more sensitive about that issue".

"Why yes, this'd indeed be an issue that can vary from one to other," Cristobal had to admit "For me, it's always been something I've liked to make clear first thing, and besides you have to admit, my dear, it's one hell of a conversation starter".

"Never really got why human girls are so sensitive about age," Josephine had to pipe up "Well, robots can rust and AI can slow down, but we don't technically age, so guess I oughta keep my gob shut on the subject".

"Oh, you'd be Josephine's new partner," Ross's eyes widened "Hadn't seen her around for like, weeks I think. Er, if you're wondering, I'm 'bout as old as I look, by the way. Speaking of dress sense, you sure know style, Corinne".

"I concur, you're undoubtedly the most professionally dressed out of all of us" Cristobal followed with "And my oh my, AI have certainly come a long way, haven't they?" he grinned, picking up the new topic "I can remember the early days, when AI assistants would interrupt you every second, suggest help when you didn't need it, and correct things that were barely problems. Ah, they were typically riddled with ads too".

'Interrupt you every second', well I guess some things never change, Corinne thought coldly.

"Man, you think you had it rough then?" Ross laughed "I've got the Council app installed on my phone, and lemme tell ya you don't know the meaning of 'headache' until you've been in a chatroom for you and your alternate universe selves".

"Ooh, think I've heard of that app Ross!" Josephine piped up "It sounds cool, can't wait to try it".

"Really, Joey? Well okay, just be warned what you're gettin' yourself into," Ross had to wince a little "Not to mention connecting over parallel worlds, oh boy is that unreliable".

"A chatroom for your alternate selves?" Corinne murmured.
[ ] "I'm aware of the risks, but nevertheless, I'm incredibly intrigued by such an invention."
[ ] "I could be tempted to give it a whirl, sounds like something I should try, if only once."
[ ] "Heh, I see your point Ross, that does sound more hassle than it's worth. Who knows what one's other selves could be like?"
[ ] Write-in.

The conversation was abruptly end when a blaring siren and flashing lights came on overhead. Corinne was shaken by the out-of-nowhere noise, but Josephine swiftly said to her "Just our Supervillain Drill, Cory! Come on, just gotta head to the nearest lift underground".

Luckily an elevator was positioned conveniently close to the breakroom. As the four lab workers got in, the circular platform closed its doors and promptly took off deep underground. Though just how much 'underground' would this floating city even have? Corinne wondered.
"I'd suppose the reason we're not using a teleporter is that the typical supervillain move would be to try and short-circuit those first thing, right?" Corinne queried.

"Yep, basically it" came Ross's reply.

The underground area of Arachne was mostly just a grey dome with white lights, a spiderweb pattern running across its ceiling probably its most striking feature. The rest of the supervillain drill passed by otherwise uneventfully, with computer cameras tallying up the gathered workers, with anyone missing eventually arriving.

"So, er, how common are these drills?" Corinne had to ask, as everyone stood in line.

"Once a month, give or take" Cristobal shrugged "Little bit funny that Arachne Computers of all workplaces would have them".

"Huh- What, why?" Corinne was taken aback.

"Nevermind, forget I said anything" Cristobal sighed and muttered.


Rest of the workday would pass unremarkably enough, with Corinne heading out of those spider leg-framed doorways into the warm afternoon glow. "Sorry Cory, but it's policy that new workers can't take their AI assistants outside the workplace, right. I mean you're pretty cool, so I don't think you're gonna steal me away or anything, but rules are rules y'know," Josephine said by the door "Hey, been fun working with ya so far, looking forward to seeing ya tomorrow!".

"...Likewise" Corinne simply said back.

She hadn't gone far when already she'd received a text from Jamie. What it essentially read as was 'Dude, you're off work now right? Awesome, didn't get to show off Sciencity to ya yesterday, anywhere there you wanna go? hector says he's busy right now'.

[ ] "I've heard about Dreamtower Gardens. No idea if I could afford it, but an amusement park might be fun to check out."
[ ] "There's that giant robot monument I've heard about in Nihonmura, near a Robot Arena and Racetrack."
[ ] "You're a wrestling fan, aren't you? I've heard talk about the Everguards"
[ ] "Haven't had much to eat today, so I thought we could check out the Starbite Lounge, near the Metroplex"
[ ] "There wouldn't be a museum around town, would there? For either Science or Supers, possibly both?"
[ ] "I'm curious about this place's computer stores, what with work and all"
[ ] "A lot of tourist guides say just strolling through the streets without a plan is the best way to get to know somewhere"
[ ] "Sorry, Jamie, but it's been a long day, and I still need to get my apartment sorted"
[ ] Write-in