HQ: The 'Ready Lounge'

[raynbow]

"I'm a monkey, and even I know that was a bad line."

 

[VioletSamurai]

Monkey Wrench turns carefully to look at the newcomer and shrugs. "I wouldn't know what the tropics are like. I've never been there. My brothers and sisters and I, seven actually, we're from the Bronx."

"Holy ****ing ****balls, you can talk?!"

Monkey Wrench ooks a few commands into her headset and taps a button. A new browser window flips open on Quasar's laptop, flashing briefly on the main site for the Bronx Zoo followed by what looks like a password protected, employees only section of the site.

Quasar rapidly glances back and forth between Monkey-Wrench and her laptop. "**** me backwards up a rope, you can use a computer?!"

"Hrm, no mention of a missing monkey. I guess they must have come up with some kind of cover story. Oh, there it is..... Temporary transfer to New Jersey for attempts at breeding in captivity? Yuck, is that the best they could come up with? Oh, sorry, anyway, there they are."

Monkey Wrench gestures at the screen which now shows an intermittently updating camera view of a family group of Squirrel Monkeys at the Bronx Zoo.

"Awfully nice of them to finally get the zookeeper cameras online. Of course it might also something to do with those journal articles I left lying around about the benefits of the keepers being able to monitor the animals 24 hours a day, even from home."

The monkey pauses and looks around the room again. "So, did that answer everybody's questions?"

Quasar blinks. "Just two - First, are they all this ****ing smart, or just you? Gimme the inside scoop - is Evolution auditioning understudies for the part of Humanity? I wouldn't blame it - we're not very reliable, and we tend to trash the hotel rooms when we're on tour.

Second, why would you want some repressed fur-fetishist ogling you on closed-circuit TV while you're trying to" she counts off on her fingers "eat, ****, ****, or sleep?"

Simon smiles, and pulls out a little baton, which he begins to juggle idly. "I've got a great deal of stick as well, and believe me, Ms. Quasar, I'll happily toss both your way, whenever you ask."

"I'm a monkey, and even I know that was a bad line."

Quasar rolls her eyes as Juggler nods and begins to mix up the drink. "The name is Doctor Ishikawa. My friends call me Masako. And most nights, my friendship has no cover charge and a 3-drink minimum."

"Maybe a pina colada then? I have to admit, that was what I was my next bet." He hands Quasar her drink. "Your vodka-&-Red Bull, ma'am."

Quasar raises the glass to her lips, tosses her head back, chugs the drink down in four gulps, and slams it back down on the bar. "Mmm...yummy." Then she slides the glass back towards Juggler.

"And something else." He suddenly produces a red ball, and tosses it nimbly at her It lands on the bar before her, and bounces several times before stopping. The Juggler bows. "My heart." And indeed, the ball is actually a rubber replica heart. Complete with aortas.

Quasar picks the rubber heart up with two fingers and raises an eyebrow as she considers it. "Sorry, but I don't have a lot of use for these." She casually tosses it into the nearest wastebasket. "They're not very sturdy - I'd just break it when I finally got bored with you and moved on to the next superhero with pretty eyes and visible abs."

She lifts up her hand, and another steel ball-bearing emerges from her satchel and flies across the room to rest in her palm. It ripples like a stone skipping across water, then settles into the form of a miniature human brain.

"Besides, I'm more interested in these." She tosses the metal brain in his general direction. "There - I just saved you a trip down the Yellow-Brick Road. You can show your appreciation with another drink. Something hard and sweet."

 

[Rhialto]

Simon grabs the brain and begins juggling. "Ahh. You fancy long talks about Kant and Hegel, and that sort of thing? Chat about art works? I robbed the Louvre once, and so I've picked up all sorts of handy tidbits."

 

[raynbow]

Monkey Wrench shakes her head, uncertain how to react to all of this.

"Yes? I mean, you can obviously do things your species can't normally do. You're here, I assume, because you're special, why wouldn't I be the same?"

"Also, I'm not sure what a 'fur-fetishist' is, but that website isn't open to the general public. It's on the zoo's secure network for access by the zookeepers only. "

 

[VioletSamurai]

Monkey Wrench shakes her head, uncertain how to react to all of this.

"Yes? I mean, you can obviously do things your species can't normally do. You're here, I assume, because you're special, why wouldn't I be the same?"

"It just didn't occur to me that the comet would have produced mutants among other species."

"Also, I'm not sure what a 'fur-fetishist' is, but that website isn't open to the general public. It's on the zoo's secure network for access by the zookeepers only. "

"I was talking about the zookeepers. I spend a lot of time online, the clearing house for weirdos around the world. Half the people I know who like to dress up and act like animals while mating, or who prefer "interspecies relations," are vets or work in zoos (or both). It makes sense, if you think about it.

Anyway, I was mainly wondering how you dealt with the lack of privacy."

Simon grabs the brain and begins juggling. "Ahh. You fancy long talks about Kant and Hegel, and that sort of thing? Chat about art works? I robbed the Louvre once, and so I've picked up all sorts of handy tidbits."

"Less Kant and Hegel, more Hawking and Tesla. But it's rare that I meet a man whom I find both physically and intellectualy appealing."

 

[Rhialto]

"Less Kant and Hegel, more Hawking and Tesla. But it's rare that I meet a man whom I find both physically and intellectualy appealing."

Simon begins to mix her a drink, twirling bottles around artfully as he does so. "Well then, Masako, if that is your problem, I recommend you broaden your horizons. It's amazing how enjoyable things you wouldn't imagine you'd like can be when you give them a chance..." He hands her a drink. "One White Russian."

 

[raynbow]

"It just didn't occur to me that the comet would have produced mutants among other species."

"I don't really know what caused it, but something did, and here I am."



"Anyway, I was mainly wondering how you dealt with the lack of privacy."

"Well with '10 brothers and sisters', privacy isn't really a concept I'm familiar with. Besides that, in a cage with everyone staring or at the zoo with everyone staring, there's not much difference."

"Less Kant and Hegel, more Hawking and Tesla. But it's rare that I meet a man whom I find both physically and intellectualy appealing."

"On the other hand, privacy can be a good thing. If you two are going to mate, I can wait somewhere else...."

 

[Raylis]

"De'ron Conrad" sounds over the intercom with a heavy carrribean accent as the doors open. A young man with dark skin and short dreadlocks in a dark green and yellow Resolutes uniform (green main/yellow middle stripe).

"Good afternoon" he greets to those gathered in the lounge.

 

[VioletSamurai]

"Less Kant and Hegel, more Hawking and Tesla. But it's rare that I meet a man whom I find both physically and intellectualy appealing."

Simon begins to mix her a drink, twirling bottles around artfully as he does so. "Well then, Masako, if that is your problem, I recommend you broaden your horizons. It's amazing how enjoyable things you wouldn't imagine you'd like can be when you give them a chance..." He hands her a drink. "One White Russian."

"HEY! We're still at least one drink away from first-name basis, buddy. Watch it.". She grins as she accepts the drink and takes a swig. "Not bad. And be careful how you phrase all that - I might misinterpret you and go home with Ivan the Terminator over there. For all you know, I might like the strong-&-silent type."

"On the other hand, privacy can be a good thing. If you two are going to mate, I can wait somewhere else...."

Quasar hops up on top of the bar, dangling her legs back and forth off the edge as she sips her drink. "I'm pretty sure the higher-ups here frown on 'mating' in the middle of the Ready-Room. Which, I'll admit, makes it tempting. But I didn't join this outfit only to be fired before they finished processing my paperwork. 'Saving the world' seems a lot easier when you have government and corporate backing. So any 'mating' will be done behind closed doors, I promise. Besides," she smirks, "it's a waste to do that sort of thing in public when you could charge admission."

"De'ron Conrad" sounds over the intercom with a heavy carrribean accent as the doors open. A young man with dark skin and short dreadlocks in a dark green and yellow Resolutes uniform (green main/yellow middle stripe).

Quasar turns toward Echo, then back at Juggler. "Or maybe I like 'em young, Old Man."

"Good afternoon" he greets to those gathered in the lounge.

One of the metal chrysanthemums wilts, its petals falling to the counter top in rapid succession. The shards melt into a pool of liquid steel, then flatten into a wafer-thin sheet. That sheet then begins a series of intricate folds, eventually taking the shape of a dragonfly, complete with segmented body and articulated wings. The steel origami dragonfly then kicks off the bar and flies over to Echo, where it buzzes around his head a couple of times before coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Welcome to the clubhouse, Rasta-Boy. Pull up a stool. Drinks are on the house and you have catching-up to do." Quasar raises an eyebrow. "If you're even old enough to drink. On second thought, don't answer that - it's always easier to obtain forgiveness than permission."

 

[Raylis]

"De'ron, Ron if you prafer, I am far from being a rastafarian as one could hope." He moves into the room but not up to the bar, giving it and those gathered a dubious look.

"In dis country you are correct; I am not legal to drink. However, back home is a differen story."