Superheroes of the Trust Game Thread

[Blind Azathoth]

Salix plods over to the keypad and punches in Isaac Ridley's social security number.

When he appears inside the car, he swivels in place for a few moments, getting his bearings and taking in the others gathered, before making a brief bow; the plants on his body rustle as he does so, and a minty fragrance, apparently emanating from some of the aforementioned foliage, fills the van.

"Good evening, ladies," he says politely, in his quiet voice, to the assembled women. "I apologize for interrupting your conversation. I wished to introduce myself--my name is Salix--and to say that it is a pleasure to meet you all."

This said, he falls silent, and folds himself up into a meditative posture in his designated chair, but turned so that he may continue to survey the others.

 

[Shayuri]

"What's with the obsession with cost?" Viridian asks Spirit. "For one thing, we honestly have no idea how much any of this actually cost. If it was built using various superhuman abilities, it might be pretty cheap in terms of money. For another...who cares if it's expensive? That doesn't tell us anything except that this organization has money to burn. We'll find out if it's worthwhile when we actually meet them."

If she had more to say, it was interrupted by Salix's appearance, which leaves the witch at a loss for words.

"Uh...hi," she manages after a moment.

 

[Elric]

Nitro looks around. Is there a key in the ignition? Some other obvious way to turn the car on? If there is, he'll turn the car on and try to find some mood-lightening music to play- he's looking for "California" or something like it (at least something with the word California in the title!).

 

[James Heard]

"What's with the obsession with cost?" Viridian asks Spirit. "For one thing, we honestly have no idea how much any of this actually cost. If it was built using various superhuman abilities, it might be pretty cheap in terms of money. For another...who cares if it's expensive? That doesn't tell us anything except that this organization has money to burn. We'll find out if it's worthwhile when we actually meet them."

" How someone spends money tells you a lot about a person or an organization. What does a person consider necessities or the price of doing business? There was a mobster once...his name is unimportant, he had these kids hired to taste his food for him. Before he'd drink a drop of water, he'd have this little kid take a sip. The royal treatment. 'Price of doing business,' he'd say, and have a man gutted and floating in the river for taking an extra hour off to go see his kid's play - because he considered himself a frugal man."

Spirit smiles.

" It didn't stop the last kid from stabbing him in the eye one day, of course. Tough luck that, I suppose."

" It's hard to find good help sometimes."

 

[Raylis]

" How someone spends money tells you a lot about a person or an organization. [...]."

"And this organization, whatever it may be, has allocated its funds to bring criminals to justice" Nightweaver murmers, just loud enough to be heard, "Telling indeed."

 

[Shayuri]

"Not everyone who spends money is a mobster," Viridian points out. "And the guy in your story had way deeper problems than a fetish for conspicuous consumption. I'm not saying you're wrong...I'm just saying we should really wait and see before we jump to conclusions, alright?"

 

[James Heard]

"And this organization, whatever it may be, has allocated its funds to bring criminals to justice" Nightweaver murmurs, just loud enough to be heard, "Telling indeed."

" Right. Because they said so. That's so comforting. They've obviously got nothing to hide and the best of motives, since they were so upfront about contacting us and arranging a meeting. So far all we know they're allocating funds to is usurping the airwaves, finding out fairly confidential information about people as a prequel to a recruiting attempt, throwing a teleporter into a van, and some guy's flashy mask...These guys are like the pimps of recruiting, all flash and implicit force. It doesn't make them automatically bad people, but it's seriously tacky as all hell."

 

[Raylis]

" Right. Because they said so. That's so comforting. They've obviously got nothing to hide and the best of motives, since they were so upfront about contacting us and arranging a meeting. So far all we know they're allocating funds to is usurping the airwaves, finding out fairly confidential information about people as a prequel to a recruiting attempt, throwing a teleporter into a van, and some guy's flashy mask...These guys are like the pimps of recruiting, all flash and implicit force. It doesn't make them automatically bad people, but it's seriously tacky as all hell."

"And yet, we came."

 

[James Heard]

" Because they know where I live, and unless we exit onto the North Pole and meet Santa Claus that means at the very least they deserve one hell of a scolding for being nosy."

 

[Victim]

Under the mask, Thessaly nods at Star. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Thess lets that dangle a moment, then says, "I know that the word witch has a lot of baggage hanging on it. Even in an age of miracles, when men and women fly around shooting fire and whatnot at each other, it's still hard for people to accept. Accepting magic means you have to question everything you thought you knew, so it's okay if you're skeptical, or if you want to mock. It's nothing I haven't heard before."

"Just understand that if we do wind up working together, eventually you will have to work what I do into whatever system you believe in."

"I don't really have an issue with your religious beliefs; to be honest, they all seem kind of weird to me," Megan replies, glancing back at the winged guy. Probably a good idea to get to know people better before seriously discussing religion or the lack thereof. "Don't worry, I think my belief system is sufficiently robust," she says, smiling.

As Angel and Nitro start moving up front, Shooting Star stops tapping on the window - Everyone's coming inside anyway. "Please don't crowd." Then she gracefully slips back into the rear, taking care to keep her hands well out of the way.

"Hello, Salix."

"And this organization, whatever it may be, has allocated its funds to bring criminals to justice" Nightweaver murmers, just loud enough to be heard, "Telling indeed."

"That's an assumption. We can see that they've allocated funds to convince us that they want to bring criminals to justice. Not particularly telling at all. At this point, the assumptions that these backers are righteous crusaders or connected to the mob because they have money and like secrecy seem equally unwarranted. Instead of advancing pet theories based on scant evidence, consider how to get more information." Temper, temper.

"And we're still short one super."

Shooting Star then starts screwing around with 'her' computer terminal, taking deep breaths as she pokes at the keyboard with her pen.