Fate/In Glory Of (Worm)
- Thread starter Jefardi
- Start date
- Crossover Modern Superhero
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] ...'Expedition to Earth Zeta', a sci-fi epic. Taylor has been meaning to see this since she read the book and is more excited for the film than the date itself.
Aporia 03.20
[X] ...'Expedition to Earth Zeta', a sci-fi epic. Taylor has been meaning to see this since she read the book and is more excited for the film.
"Have you read the book for Expedition to Earth Zeta?" Taylor asked after a moment.
Nikki blinked, looking at Taylor silently for a long moment. "Yes. I presume you wish to see that?"
"Yeah, I read the book. Been wanting to see if the movie is faithful." Taylor looked at Nikki. She didn't seem displeased. "What do you think?"
"It will be good for discussion over dinner, and since we have both read the book, why not? Would you like a drink?" Nikki asked as they stopped at a traffic light.
"No. I'm good. Thanks." She glanced at Nikki who was still driving. "I didn't know you liked science fiction?" Not that she knew much about Nikki, if she was being completely truthful.
Nikki hummed "It was more the interest in another Earth that drew me to the book. It has only been twenty four years, but I remain fascinated that we have contacted another Earth. How many more are out there? What differences are between us? What technology of their's could we use?"
Taylor hummed in acknowledgment, "it sucks that Professor Haywire died. We could have a highway between worlds by now. Having Aleph imports is nice, though." She gave Nikki another glance. "Like Star Trek tech?"
"Agreed. No, I doubt any society advanced like that of Star Trek would involve themselves with us, Prime Directive, but I think those that have advanced in different areas would be nice. Think of a world that focused more on medical technology than ours. What knowledge would we be able to gather from them? How much better would our home be off for that knowledge?" Nikki said as she took a left turn, honking her horn at someone not paying attention to the road.
"Counter-point; we don't have to deal with another world that focused on military invading with a parahuman army." Taylor frowned as she ran a hand down her jeans, smoothing them out. "I wonder if the Endbringers would scare them off."
Nikki clicked her tongue "Counter-Counter-point; we have Eidolon." She noted "If Russia has not used it's army to invade other nations, I do not see why another world would risk a bottleneck fight like that."
"That's fair… the Cold War kinda went cold." That was an awful pun and Taylor felt ashamed by it. Also awkward, given where Nikki was from. Change the topic, don't let the pun stay in the air! Her eyes darted across the car's interior trying to find something to say – completely missing Nikki's smile at the pun. It was a nice car interior, but mostly barren. A hoodie folded up in the back, with a backpack. Nothing. Talking about other worlds. Yes. "What about the opposite? We find a world that's two hundred years ahead of us and wants to give us a hundred years of advancement. Would that really be so good?"
Then she frowned as she turned right. "Perhaps? Depends on what is advanced I suppose."
"Let's say…" Taylor thought for a moment, one of her hands fiddling with the cuff of her sleeves. "Cloning. We get advanced tech and knowledge on how to do cloning."
A soft breath escaped her. "Well. Aside from the ethics debate on it. A lot of issues with the human body get fixed. Disfigurement isn't an issue anymore, limbs can be replaced, organs are easily procured, the illegal organ trade collapses, and Limbsmaster goes out of business." The car slowed to a stop as a red light.
"That's the problem. The ethical debate. There might be a debate, sure. But it'll happen regardless. Probably immediately. People don't care. There would be no way for it to normalize." Her hand twitched, gripping onto her other arm's wrist. "Or villains will somehow cause it to be made illegal."
Nikki was quiet for a minute. "I cannot find fault in that. Humans are generally not fans of rapid change... We are simply not built for sudden changes in society."
The many parahuman warlords sprung to mind. "We really aren't." Aaaaand now Taylor had bummed out her date. Great. Just great. She was doing really good right now. Just perfect.
"But, we make do with what we can." Nikki replied. "And we keep pushing forwards anyway." She stopped at a red light, the theater in sight. "That, and we enjoy the small things in life."
"Yeah…" Taylor agreed weakly. Not that Nikki seemed to notice as she pulled into the parking lot. Nikki found a spot to park and quickly exited the car. Quick enough that Taylor had barely unbuckled herself. Curiously, instead of going towards the theater, she hurried along the vehicle, opening the door for Taylor and offering a hand to the shorter girl.
The proffered hand was clasped and with a firm yank, Taylor was pulled from the car.
It was a Saturday evening- the parking lot wasn't full but neither was it unbusy; Nikki had parked them near the middle of the lot. A few minutes of a walk to the actual building itself.
"When'd you read the book?" Taylor asked as they trudged through the slush. "It's been a while for me."
"Shortly before I met you actually." Nikki informed Taylor as she took a step ahead of the pair and opened the door for Taylor.
There was a large atrium; several ticket stands stood in the front with a large concession stand like an island in the middle before the entrances to the screens were cordoned off. Taylor glanced at the show times. She could already see Nikki was going to jump ahead of her and order the tickets.
Taylor had no idea what the proper way to do it was with non-straight dynamics; usually the guy would be the one paying for stuff. Traditionally. If books and TV were to be believed. But, this was a thing for Nikki. Nikki doing everything felt very much as if she was coasting and doing minimal effort.
It made her feel guilty.
She preempted Nikki, and started to pull out her wallet before she could speak up. "Can we have two tickets for Expedition to Earth Zeta, please?"
The only slightly older teenager on the other side of the cash register nodded, "7:15 showing?"
"Yeah."
"Students?"
"Yeah."
"$15.50"
Taylor pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her wallet and got back a bunch of coins and two tickets. She turned to Nikki to hand her one.
Nikki accepted the ticket and then offered Taylor her free hand.
With a sense of heat creeping up the back of her neck, Taylor's hand fit into Nikki's.
Nikki began to walk, her hand warm as she lead Taylor to the theater, moving into the pair of seats they had paid for. Never once did Nikki let go.
It was playing hell with Taylor's sanity. She didn't know how Nikki wasn't freaking out at least visually.
Thoughts rushed through her head; was this how you are supposed to do? What if someone saw this? What if it was the empire? Would she have to kill someone with the giant? Was Nikki even enjoying this? She had no idea, ostensibly, this for Nikki. To not crush her feelings.
...and because it was downright intoxicating to have someone be that interested in her.
As they settled into their seats, Nikki smiled warmly at Taylor. "Do you think the movie will be a good adaptation of the books?" She asked.
"Maybe." Taylor really hadn't looked too much into it. She was trying to go in blind. "I mostly just hope they don't cut stuff to streamline it. I don't think the stuff going on in Evelyn's head would translate well to the screen."
"I think the movie will suffer there. It is difficult to translate thoughts to actions. Especially at a visual medium." Nikki gave a tiny shrug. "We will find out."
That was about all they had time to say before the room darkened and the commercials began to play.
During the movie Taylor will…
[] ...observe proper movie etiquette and not do anything besides watch the movie.
[] ...will talk to Nikki during the movie a like heretic.
[] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[] Handholding
-[] Go for maximum; put an arm across her shoulders.
Author's note: Here have an update. Happy Holidays.
Does this vote mean much? Maybe. Maybe not.
Apologies for long times between updates; I've been busy the whole month >_<
"Have you read the book for Expedition to Earth Zeta?" Taylor asked after a moment.
Nikki blinked, looking at Taylor silently for a long moment. "Yes. I presume you wish to see that?"
"Yeah, I read the book. Been wanting to see if the movie is faithful." Taylor looked at Nikki. She didn't seem displeased. "What do you think?"
"It will be good for discussion over dinner, and since we have both read the book, why not? Would you like a drink?" Nikki asked as they stopped at a traffic light.
"No. I'm good. Thanks." She glanced at Nikki who was still driving. "I didn't know you liked science fiction?" Not that she knew much about Nikki, if she was being completely truthful.
Nikki hummed "It was more the interest in another Earth that drew me to the book. It has only been twenty four years, but I remain fascinated that we have contacted another Earth. How many more are out there? What differences are between us? What technology of their's could we use?"
Taylor hummed in acknowledgment, "it sucks that Professor Haywire died. We could have a highway between worlds by now. Having Aleph imports is nice, though." She gave Nikki another glance. "Like Star Trek tech?"
"Agreed. No, I doubt any society advanced like that of Star Trek would involve themselves with us, Prime Directive, but I think those that have advanced in different areas would be nice. Think of a world that focused more on medical technology than ours. What knowledge would we be able to gather from them? How much better would our home be off for that knowledge?" Nikki said as she took a left turn, honking her horn at someone not paying attention to the road.
"Counter-point; we don't have to deal with another world that focused on military invading with a parahuman army." Taylor frowned as she ran a hand down her jeans, smoothing them out. "I wonder if the Endbringers would scare them off."
Nikki clicked her tongue "Counter-Counter-point; we have Eidolon." She noted "If Russia has not used it's army to invade other nations, I do not see why another world would risk a bottleneck fight like that."
"That's fair… the Cold War kinda went cold." That was an awful pun and Taylor felt ashamed by it. Also awkward, given where Nikki was from. Change the topic, don't let the pun stay in the air! Her eyes darted across the car's interior trying to find something to say – completely missing Nikki's smile at the pun. It was a nice car interior, but mostly barren. A hoodie folded up in the back, with a backpack. Nothing. Talking about other worlds. Yes. "What about the opposite? We find a world that's two hundred years ahead of us and wants to give us a hundred years of advancement. Would that really be so good?"
Then she frowned as she turned right. "Perhaps? Depends on what is advanced I suppose."
"Let's say…" Taylor thought for a moment, one of her hands fiddling with the cuff of her sleeves. "Cloning. We get advanced tech and knowledge on how to do cloning."
A soft breath escaped her. "Well. Aside from the ethics debate on it. A lot of issues with the human body get fixed. Disfigurement isn't an issue anymore, limbs can be replaced, organs are easily procured, the illegal organ trade collapses, and Limbsmaster goes out of business." The car slowed to a stop as a red light.
"That's the problem. The ethical debate. There might be a debate, sure. But it'll happen regardless. Probably immediately. People don't care. There would be no way for it to normalize." Her hand twitched, gripping onto her other arm's wrist. "Or villains will somehow cause it to be made illegal."
Nikki was quiet for a minute. "I cannot find fault in that. Humans are generally not fans of rapid change... We are simply not built for sudden changes in society."
The many parahuman warlords sprung to mind. "We really aren't." Aaaaand now Taylor had bummed out her date. Great. Just great. She was doing really good right now. Just perfect.
"But, we make do with what we can." Nikki replied. "And we keep pushing forwards anyway." She stopped at a red light, the theater in sight. "That, and we enjoy the small things in life."
"Yeah…" Taylor agreed weakly. Not that Nikki seemed to notice as she pulled into the parking lot. Nikki found a spot to park and quickly exited the car. Quick enough that Taylor had barely unbuckled herself. Curiously, instead of going towards the theater, she hurried along the vehicle, opening the door for Taylor and offering a hand to the shorter girl.
The proffered hand was clasped and with a firm yank, Taylor was pulled from the car.
It was a Saturday evening- the parking lot wasn't full but neither was it unbusy; Nikki had parked them near the middle of the lot. A few minutes of a walk to the actual building itself.
"When'd you read the book?" Taylor asked as they trudged through the slush. "It's been a while for me."
"Shortly before I met you actually." Nikki informed Taylor as she took a step ahead of the pair and opened the door for Taylor.
There was a large atrium; several ticket stands stood in the front with a large concession stand like an island in the middle before the entrances to the screens were cordoned off. Taylor glanced at the show times. She could already see Nikki was going to jump ahead of her and order the tickets.
Taylor had no idea what the proper way to do it was with non-straight dynamics; usually the guy would be the one paying for stuff. Traditionally. If books and TV were to be believed. But, this was a thing for Nikki. Nikki doing everything felt very much as if she was coasting and doing minimal effort.
It made her feel guilty.
She preempted Nikki, and started to pull out her wallet before she could speak up. "Can we have two tickets for Expedition to Earth Zeta, please?"
The only slightly older teenager on the other side of the cash register nodded, "7:15 showing?"
"Yeah."
"Students?"
"Yeah."
"$15.50"
Taylor pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her wallet and got back a bunch of coins and two tickets. She turned to Nikki to hand her one.
Nikki accepted the ticket and then offered Taylor her free hand.
With a sense of heat creeping up the back of her neck, Taylor's hand fit into Nikki's.
Nikki began to walk, her hand warm as she lead Taylor to the theater, moving into the pair of seats they had paid for. Never once did Nikki let go.
It was playing hell with Taylor's sanity. She didn't know how Nikki wasn't freaking out at least visually.
Thoughts rushed through her head; was this how you are supposed to do? What if someone saw this? What if it was the empire? Would she have to kill someone with the giant? Was Nikki even enjoying this? She had no idea, ostensibly, this for Nikki. To not crush her feelings.
...and because it was downright intoxicating to have someone be that interested in her.
As they settled into their seats, Nikki smiled warmly at Taylor. "Do you think the movie will be a good adaptation of the books?" She asked.
"Maybe." Taylor really hadn't looked too much into it. She was trying to go in blind. "I mostly just hope they don't cut stuff to streamline it. I don't think the stuff going on in Evelyn's head would translate well to the screen."
"I think the movie will suffer there. It is difficult to translate thoughts to actions. Especially at a visual medium." Nikki gave a tiny shrug. "We will find out."
That was about all they had time to say before the room darkened and the commercials began to play.
During the movie Taylor will…
[] ...observe proper movie etiquette and not do anything besides watch the movie.
[] ...will talk to Nikki during the movie a like heretic.
[] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[] Handholding
-[] Go for maximum; put an arm across her shoulders.
Author's note: Here have an update. Happy Holidays.
Does this vote mean much? Maybe. Maybe not.
Apologies for long times between updates; I've been busy the whole month >_<
Deadweight Hero
I can't beat the demon lord help-
[X] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[X] Handholding
I think handholding is lewd enough. Going even further will overheat the USS Taylor.
-[X] Handholding
I think handholding is lewd enough. Going even further will overheat the USS Taylor.
- Location
- Oklahoma
[X] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[X] Handholding
-[X] Handholding
Taylor's depravity knows no bounds.
[X] ...will talk to Nikki during the movie a like heretic.
It is cutting into the dinner conversation a bit, but I figure Taylor'd do many things to keep from thinking about the myriad ways she might fuck this up.
It is cutting into the dinner conversation a bit, but I figure Taylor'd do many things to keep from thinking about the myriad ways she might fuck this up.
...HERESY
Iris-Iven-Ibis
Interested-Idiot-Immortal
- Location
- You know
I'm going to be honest I talked during movies all the time I can't help myself
[X] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[X] Handholding
[x] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[x] Handholding
-[x] Handholding
Aporia 03.21
[X] ...try and do something smooth. She won't be paying much attention to the film.
-[X] Handholding
The shadow watched over the girl and the birdgirl as they stared at a colour screen, images moving fast enough to create the facsimile of motion. Colours swirled and shifted from a projected light to add depth and detail.
If the shadow had more of itself, it might even find it fascinating.
The girl was stressed.
Not in distress. Just stressed.
It was a distinction, a small one, but an important one nonetheless.
The shadow knew the cause of said distress but was unable to act upon it. Merely watching on.
It stared destruction at the birdgirl.
The shadow watched as the stress, anxiety, fear and hope warred across it's master before the girl took the birdgirl's hand into her own in a tentative, shaky manner. The girl was tense enough that she looked like she would snap from the strain.
The birdgirl merely smiled, her thumb rubbing against the back of the girl's hand.
The girl relaxed to some degree. At the very least she didn't look like her heart was going to explode out of her…
...she did look like she was a single step away from standing next to a rabid lion with every slightest motion she made.
The shadow merely watched on, biding its time until it was needed once more.
Nikki's hand was warm within her's.
It was a small detail, something that anyone would expect, but it still surprised Taylor how warm another person's hand was when you were holding it for close to two hours. How the way there were lines across her palm or how smooth the back of her hand was or the hundred of other tiny details that were currently ingrained into her head.
The film came to an end and about a third of the film was a blur to Taylor as she had been pulled out of her viewing of said film by every jolt or twitch her hand made or the comfortable way Nikki's thumb rubbed against the back of her hand. She knew it was silly, she could admit it, but each time Nikki's hand moved the slightest, it felt like her heart was jumping into her throat and she had done something wrong.
Not that there was a right way, but, well, Nikki had been nothing but nice to her. She wanted to make sure the date went well for her friend. She was the one that really wanted to go on a date with Taylor for reasons that completely escaped her.
That was what she was viewing as her metric for success for the evening.
"I found it enjoyable." Nikki noted as she turned her phone and checked the time, all with one hand as the other was still in Taylor's. Personally, Taylor had found the film to be… a bit above average, honestly. "Ah, we must go now if we want to make our reservations."
"Right. Yeah. Dinner." Truthfully, the fact that they had reservations had escaped Taylor's thoughts. "How much time until we're expected?"
Nikki hummed. "About the time it will take us to get there, and a few minutes to allow for traffic." Which was kind of nuts; the timing on the film had been pretty spot on then – Taylor was certain they'd either be rushing or stuck around waiting. Nikki, heedless of Taylor's thoughts stood and with a gentle strength pulled Taylor to her feet.
Taylor let herself be pulled up. It was kinda impressive that she did it with little visible effort. She could see the muscles flex for a moment. They were… impressive. Grey eyes stared at her with immense focus. Right, she hadn't said anything for nearly half a minute. "What did you think of the film?"
"A good choice, even if they weren't entirely faithful to the books." Nikki responded as she led Taylor out of the room, blinking at the harsh-brightness of the lobby. Taylor had to blink the lights out of her eyes for a couple of seconds.
"Really? I thought it was pretty close." It wasn't a good thing in Taylor's mind, for once.
"I mostly speak of aesthetic differences in characters and a lack of inner monologue. It was harder to get into the main character's head without it." Nikki noted as they maneuvered around the crowded lobby.
"Yeah." It was a good point as Taylor dodged out of the way of a particularly thick knot of people entering the theater. "But getting to see what a double helix blaster looked like was cool."
"The special effects were quite nice. I wonder if they hired any capes to help with the creation of the movie." Nikki said as she started to lead Taylor in a beeline to the rustbucket of a car.
"Maybe? I doubt it. Professional animators are a thing. I think that would violate that law that meant capes can't replace normal jobs." Taylor had looked into said law quite a bit since she got powers, but discretion was probably good.
"Such a silly rule. Or a corrupt one. I can't see how barring people from monetary gain with their powers helped create societal stability."
"Because a bunch of people don't want to lose their jobs?"
"Yet it created the Elite practically overnight. It narrowed down how people use their powers and that's never a good thing. Panacea can't charge to heal people because she's a cape and that would be taking jobs from the medical industry, do you think its okay for her and her family to struggle financially because she's a cape?" Nikki asked as she glanced to their left and right before guiding Taylor across a row of parking.
"But they don't struggle, they live in a nice couple of houses and go to the best school in this half of the state… but you made your point. So which would you rather have, a bunch of people go unemployed and can't provide for their family or the people with special powers being able to afford fifteen corvettes?"
"They have donations and one of them works as a lawyer more than a cape." Nikki noted. "I'd prefer somewhere in the middle. Aegis would make a construction site go along quicker, but he's not going to replace entire teams of workers is he?"
Taylor gave her a quizzical look, "how would Aegis make construction go faster?"
"He can fly and has enhanced strength. Both could speed up the process of construction with ease, and help with safety." Nikki noted as they reached the car, to which Nikki opened the door for Taylor to enter.
Taylor stopped for a moment, as she processed, that yes, was still on a date before getting in. Which had turned into discussing parahuman employment hypotheticals. At least Nikki seemed interested in it?
A moment later Nikki was back in the car in the driver's side.
"Okay, but if you do that, I think people would exploit regardless."
"People already do. Every system is exploitable because they are not perfect." Nikki started up the car. "But is that Aegis's fault?
"Then what would you rather do?"
"Regulate at higher levels of the economy rather than the micro of it." Nikki shrugged. "I am not someone voted in to handle these issues. Just dissatisfied in how a knee jerk reason created hundreds of criminal parahumans overnight."
Taylor shrugged back. It's not like she was in a position of power… she just really didn't see Nikki's side. Anything where capes ended up doing more work than non-capes would mean more people would lose their jobs because it'd be cheaper for a cape to do it.
Nikki didn't say anything merely starting the car up and carefully pulling out of the theater's parking lot and onto the road.
The silence was a mixture of awkward and jittery to her.
The restaurant Nikki had mentioned was definitely more upscale. It had been a long time since she had eaten at a place like that and never on a date. She also didn't want to start talking about something that might distract her date from driving. Which really didn't make sense given that she had never had an issue with Nikki talking while she drove before. Or was it just an excuse to herself?
So, silence.
When they get to the restaurant, how is Taylor going open after they are seated?
[] Discuss the film they just saw; seems like a safe thing to discuss.
[] Nikki seems to have a lot of opinions on cape laws. Maybe keep talking about it? Or that might not be a good idea? She's passionate about it regardless.
[] Flirt. This is a date. Try. This will end in tears.
[] Follow Nikki's lead.
[] Be miserable and sit in silence. Be a miserable loser.
Author's note: Hi, hello, I live!
Sorry for taking a month to do a chapter, real life has been busy and was dealing with some headaches that were really distracting. Also social chapters like this I can't just bang out willy-nilly.
...also I did a lot of gaming. Did you know that Jak II is actually just a really hard video game?
Happy new years, even if its late by a month, hopefully we get back to a week or multiple per week update schedule again!
Please vote and discuss!
-[X] Handholding
The shadow watched over the girl and the birdgirl as they stared at a colour screen, images moving fast enough to create the facsimile of motion. Colours swirled and shifted from a projected light to add depth and detail.
If the shadow had more of itself, it might even find it fascinating.
The girl was stressed.
Not in distress. Just stressed.
It was a distinction, a small one, but an important one nonetheless.
The shadow knew the cause of said distress but was unable to act upon it. Merely watching on.
It stared destruction at the birdgirl.
The shadow watched as the stress, anxiety, fear and hope warred across it's master before the girl took the birdgirl's hand into her own in a tentative, shaky manner. The girl was tense enough that she looked like she would snap from the strain.
The birdgirl merely smiled, her thumb rubbing against the back of the girl's hand.
The girl relaxed to some degree. At the very least she didn't look like her heart was going to explode out of her…
...she did look like she was a single step away from standing next to a rabid lion with every slightest motion she made.
The shadow merely watched on, biding its time until it was needed once more.
Nikki's hand was warm within her's.
It was a small detail, something that anyone would expect, but it still surprised Taylor how warm another person's hand was when you were holding it for close to two hours. How the way there were lines across her palm or how smooth the back of her hand was or the hundred of other tiny details that were currently ingrained into her head.
The film came to an end and about a third of the film was a blur to Taylor as she had been pulled out of her viewing of said film by every jolt or twitch her hand made or the comfortable way Nikki's thumb rubbed against the back of her hand. She knew it was silly, she could admit it, but each time Nikki's hand moved the slightest, it felt like her heart was jumping into her throat and she had done something wrong.
Not that there was a right way, but, well, Nikki had been nothing but nice to her. She wanted to make sure the date went well for her friend. She was the one that really wanted to go on a date with Taylor for reasons that completely escaped her.
That was what she was viewing as her metric for success for the evening.
"I found it enjoyable." Nikki noted as she turned her phone and checked the time, all with one hand as the other was still in Taylor's. Personally, Taylor had found the film to be… a bit above average, honestly. "Ah, we must go now if we want to make our reservations."
"Right. Yeah. Dinner." Truthfully, the fact that they had reservations had escaped Taylor's thoughts. "How much time until we're expected?"
Nikki hummed. "About the time it will take us to get there, and a few minutes to allow for traffic." Which was kind of nuts; the timing on the film had been pretty spot on then – Taylor was certain they'd either be rushing or stuck around waiting. Nikki, heedless of Taylor's thoughts stood and with a gentle strength pulled Taylor to her feet.
Taylor let herself be pulled up. It was kinda impressive that she did it with little visible effort. She could see the muscles flex for a moment. They were… impressive. Grey eyes stared at her with immense focus. Right, she hadn't said anything for nearly half a minute. "What did you think of the film?"
"A good choice, even if they weren't entirely faithful to the books." Nikki responded as she led Taylor out of the room, blinking at the harsh-brightness of the lobby. Taylor had to blink the lights out of her eyes for a couple of seconds.
"Really? I thought it was pretty close." It wasn't a good thing in Taylor's mind, for once.
"I mostly speak of aesthetic differences in characters and a lack of inner monologue. It was harder to get into the main character's head without it." Nikki noted as they maneuvered around the crowded lobby.
"Yeah." It was a good point as Taylor dodged out of the way of a particularly thick knot of people entering the theater. "But getting to see what a double helix blaster looked like was cool."
"The special effects were quite nice. I wonder if they hired any capes to help with the creation of the movie." Nikki said as she started to lead Taylor in a beeline to the rustbucket of a car.
"Maybe? I doubt it. Professional animators are a thing. I think that would violate that law that meant capes can't replace normal jobs." Taylor had looked into said law quite a bit since she got powers, but discretion was probably good.
"Such a silly rule. Or a corrupt one. I can't see how barring people from monetary gain with their powers helped create societal stability."
"Because a bunch of people don't want to lose their jobs?"
"Yet it created the Elite practically overnight. It narrowed down how people use their powers and that's never a good thing. Panacea can't charge to heal people because she's a cape and that would be taking jobs from the medical industry, do you think its okay for her and her family to struggle financially because she's a cape?" Nikki asked as she glanced to their left and right before guiding Taylor across a row of parking.
"But they don't struggle, they live in a nice couple of houses and go to the best school in this half of the state… but you made your point. So which would you rather have, a bunch of people go unemployed and can't provide for their family or the people with special powers being able to afford fifteen corvettes?"
"They have donations and one of them works as a lawyer more than a cape." Nikki noted. "I'd prefer somewhere in the middle. Aegis would make a construction site go along quicker, but he's not going to replace entire teams of workers is he?"
Taylor gave her a quizzical look, "how would Aegis make construction go faster?"
"He can fly and has enhanced strength. Both could speed up the process of construction with ease, and help with safety." Nikki noted as they reached the car, to which Nikki opened the door for Taylor to enter.
Taylor stopped for a moment, as she processed, that yes, was still on a date before getting in. Which had turned into discussing parahuman employment hypotheticals. At least Nikki seemed interested in it?
A moment later Nikki was back in the car in the driver's side.
"Okay, but if you do that, I think people would exploit regardless."
"People already do. Every system is exploitable because they are not perfect." Nikki started up the car. "But is that Aegis's fault?
"Then what would you rather do?"
"Regulate at higher levels of the economy rather than the micro of it." Nikki shrugged. "I am not someone voted in to handle these issues. Just dissatisfied in how a knee jerk reason created hundreds of criminal parahumans overnight."
Taylor shrugged back. It's not like she was in a position of power… she just really didn't see Nikki's side. Anything where capes ended up doing more work than non-capes would mean more people would lose their jobs because it'd be cheaper for a cape to do it.
Nikki didn't say anything merely starting the car up and carefully pulling out of the theater's parking lot and onto the road.
The silence was a mixture of awkward and jittery to her.
The restaurant Nikki had mentioned was definitely more upscale. It had been a long time since she had eaten at a place like that and never on a date. She also didn't want to start talking about something that might distract her date from driving. Which really didn't make sense given that she had never had an issue with Nikki talking while she drove before. Or was it just an excuse to herself?
So, silence.
When they get to the restaurant, how is Taylor going open after they are seated?
[] Discuss the film they just saw; seems like a safe thing to discuss.
[] Nikki seems to have a lot of opinions on cape laws. Maybe keep talking about it? Or that might not be a good idea? She's passionate about it regardless.
[] Flirt. This is a date. Try. This will end in tears.
[] Follow Nikki's lead.
[] Be miserable and sit in silence. Be a miserable loser.
Author's note: Hi, hello, I live!
Sorry for taking a month to do a chapter, real life has been busy and was dealing with some headaches that were really distracting. Also social chapters like this I can't just bang out willy-nilly.
...also I did a lot of gaming. Did you know that Jak II is actually just a really hard video game?
Happy new years, even if its late by a month, hopefully we get back to a week or multiple per week update schedule again!
Please vote and discuss!
[lol] Be miserable and sit in silence. Be a miserable loser.
[X] Nikki seems to have a lot of opinions on cape laws. Maybe keep talking about it? Or that might not be a good idea? She's passionate about it regardless.
Linking Taylor's (mostly nonexistent) cape career and her normal day-to-day could be interesting.
[X] Nikki seems to have a lot of opinions on cape laws. Maybe keep talking about it? Or that might not be a good idea? She's passionate about it regardless.
Linking Taylor's (mostly nonexistent) cape career and her normal day-to-day could be interesting.