"That's ok by me Alison.  Cassie is in... but what about you Dee Dee?"

For those who had come late to the meet & greet, Lois spoke to the Gorilla like it was a normal person.  Lois thought Dee Dee deserved a chance for input (even if Lois suspected she would decline the offer).  Otherwise, Lois was glad for the chance to call Daddy in a bit... and for the training explanation.  Future plans included getting some gear from home transferred to the base (clothes and life's little necessities).

"So what can you do, Cassie?  If you want to demonstrate, we could go find some space.  I can also make that phonecall... without talking over everyone else."

Lois didn't rule out anybody else tagging along either.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Spider-Man as he arrived. "I heard there were new people, I'm not too late am I?" He did notice individuals he hadn't seen before, but would wait before properly introducing himself.

Cassandra couldn’t but let her eyes be drawn to the both literal and metaphorical gorilla in the room. While she had no true frame of reference to prove that it was more than what it seemed, it was obvious from just how casually Lois spoke with the creature that some intelligence of note lay behind those eyes. After perhaps a moment too long she caught herself and dragged her attention back on target.

“I don’t have any unique abilities if that’s what you mean. Not like” - she ran her gaze across the group - “well … any of you really. I’m here for my training, not for who I am.”

If there was any arrogance, any sense of superiority, in that last statement it certainly didn’t find her tone.

“Tony Stark – Iron Man – is ahead of the world when it comes to power armour technology, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t got competition. I’ve been working with the RAF’s own prototype design for some time now and we’ve been making solid progress. Results have promising: promising enough to catch the eye of SHIELD and its sister agencies.”

A little pride couldn’t help but shine through. This was something that Cassandra was deeply invested in, and indeed something that she rarely got to speak about away from the same familiar faces.

“I don’t suppose it’ll be on site for at least a day or two after I officially sign on” - her eyes flicked to William, question implicit in her features, then flicked back - “but I’ll be joining you in the field in the Galahad armour when Task Force has to answer heavier threats. We’re quietly confident it’ll be up to task.”

---

Spider-Man's (un)timely entrance pulled Cassie's attention from Lois for but a moment. Subdued surprise turned to the quirk of a thin smile on her lips.

"Introductions and the virtual tour finished a few minutes ago, so I'd say you're right on time to be fashionably late." A slight nod of the head. "Cassandra Hunt."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:20, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Deedee calmed down and took a step back when people began talking. Everything in her posture  showed the relaxing of the beast, and she grunted a few times as questions were asked before she realized that she couldn't actually speak.

So she forced herself back into human form, and once more the blond teenager stood where the gorilla was.

"I...I don't mind sharing space. Um...as long as whoever remembers what I do when they wake up sharing a room with whatever I end up as in the morning." She gave a sheepish grin. "Some people wake up beasts, but not the way I do."

Her face fell, and she added quickly, "Not that I'm dangerous or anything, I mean, it's not attitude or anything. It's a literal thing. Really."

She stretched again, rolling her back in a feline manner. "I'll tag along with people, I don't mind."

Edited for color errors
This message was last edited by the player at 15:26, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

"Powered armor?  Wow!  Flying in that sounds like a unique ability to me... I'd probably crash it.  Or get a ticket.  Do you think Tony Stark would actually come here to check it out?  My Dad said he was a lady killer, among other things."

Lois then greeted Spiderman after Cassie did so.  After an internal debate on whether or not to initiate hand to hand contact, Lois settled for a nod as well.

"Hi, Lois London.  Pardon me for saying so... but you don't look as menacing as the newspapers say you are.  Is it really true that you wreck three cars a week?"

Daddy tended to be a bit old fashion when it came to reading material... a regular newspaper reader.  The Bugle was one of his papers of choice.  Lois (by association) was therefore a part time reader too.

"Maybe I'll go with Cassie then as a roommate.  But if you want to bunk next door and visit me whenever, I'd be fine with that Dee Dee.  Assuming its a night when I'm actually on site.  Oh, let me make a call real quick... then we could go somewhere.  Maybe the Rec Room?  Actually, whoever wants to come can meet me there."

Lois dashed outside with phone in hand.

>> Rec Room

William seemed satisfied as the group broke out into smaller groups. He listened about sharing rooms and bunk mates but once they saw the rooms they would realize there would be either no room for double bunking nor any need for it as each could have their own.

Seeing Spiderman arrive he shook his head,Way to make an entrance Spiderman, Cassandra do not sell yourself short, You may not have powers per say but your skill is something to be noted. he said with a smile.

Lois if you need any help with that call you let me know He advised her should her father try to try to "convince" he otherwise.

I am needed in the lab but if anyone needs me You can ask Jocasta to contact me.

<--- To just like clockwork thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:58, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Kevin waited until Lois finished her phone call and returned before continuing with, "Guys, just to be clear, if you want to live off-site, that's fine.  Just make sure to have your communicator on you and active so we can call you if we need to.  And also so you can call us if you need.  I don't have details, but everybody here has lives outside of this team.  But this is a team, which means you have options in terms of allies and backup you didn't have before."

"As far as living arrangements go, you guys can buddy up, especially offsite if you really want to," Kevin told them all.  "But there's twelve unoccupied living spots on-base.  All of which have their own bathrooms.  For the moment they're more "motel room" functional than homey, but they're rent-free and this is NYC."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

"Great point --  location is everything, as they say in real estate.  Well, far from everything, but I'm definitely not complaining."   

Alison was glad Lois found the company she was seeking (Lois and Cassie struck her as having a certain parity, in terms of poise and class), and that the others were getting a better handle on Deedee's changes of form.       Just to avoid any regrettable incidents...such as being snacked upon by a big, red, hungry dude.

The crimson and blue uniform of Spider-Man, did catch her eye, however.

Hot damn!  Is it...Spider-man?       

She thought about it briefly, then smiled faintly and approached the wall-crawling hero, who was a little shorter than she might have imagined:

"I've a young cousin who's a humongous fan of yours.   Collects your images and exploits on a blog called '#1 Spider-Fan.'  It may be crass of me to ask, but, if I could get an autographed picture, he'd go completely ape.     Not like Deedee goes ape, but, you know."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:37, Fri 09 Nov 2018.

Taking her new companion's arm she headed out of the base and into the city. "I can't wait to learn all about you cleric." she said with a friendly smile.


To: out and about

In reply to William Naslund (msg # 63):

"An entrance is an entrance, right?" He asked before his attention was diverted to one of the others. "An autograph?" He asked, a little bit surprised considering that he was still so early in his career. "Yeah, I can do that no problem."

"I'll leave you guys to talk,"

Deedee morphed again, not self conscious this time at all, and a large wolfhound loped out of the room with a happy little bark as she followed the scent toward the rec room.

"Super awesome,"  she enthused to Spider-man and his willingness.

"You'll completely make the weekend of a really great kid.  I'll catch you sometime when we're outside.  I'll get a picture, you can electronically sign it, on my phone. If I did it in here, I'd never be able to explain where it was taken."

She supposed that she needn't wait for a tour, since Mr. Naslund had said Jacosta, among others, could provide that at any time.    And, she did need to call Jason, before things really started to roll.

"Jacosta, can you tell me where my quarters are?    There's a phone call I really need to get to."   

That info provided, Alison thanked the system (its aspect was human like enough that it seemed appropriate), told the others she'd see them soonish, and headed off toward that area.

<------- Bedrooms      Now leaving this thread with none of the people it's named after.  ;) 
This message was last edited by the player at 23:33, Sun 11 Nov 2018.

"And then there were three," Kevin snarked as Aurora left.

"That was nice," he told Spider-man.  "Clearly fame hath its rewards.  Maybe I need to get into crime-fighting.  I think I'll start by fighting barratry.  So, the next anybody hear's anything about a captain or crew mishandling a ship to steal its cargo, you let me know and I'll be on it."

He turned to Cassandra.  "Well, I figure we've got a few minutes before we start getting reports about a riot at a New Jersey Medieval Times, so any particular question you want to ask or sights you want to see?  Granted this place isn't a helicarrier, which, Thank God, 'cause that's probably one of the sillier ideas for a mobile base ever.  Still, it's functional if not exactly homey."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:07, Mon 12 Nov 2018.

"Well, it outweighs the fact that every criminal in New York tries to kill me, and I'd appreciate the extra help." Spider-Man said to Darkstar.  "But it is enough to know that I'm helping the city get a little bit safer every day."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Tue 13 Nov 2018.

"Not every criminal in New York City has tried to kill you," Darkstar told Spider-man.  "I mean, I haven't tried to kill you and I'm a criminal.  That Starbucks run I made today?  Done with Crime Money.  Specifically for the not exactly glamorous crime of running cigarettes from a low-tax state to New York."

"The way I look at it, there's the Avengers, Defenders, that Punisher guy, you and, oh yeah, the well-trained, well-equipped NYPD.  Figure crime is being well and truly fought at this point," Darkstar said to Spider-man.  "I'm not a cop.  I'm not willing to pretend that a few fluke abilities make me equal to a cop.  Maybe you don't see that as what you're doing, but a lot of cops do.  It's why some of them try to arrest you."

"That said, if you want help with something specific, let me know," Darkstar concluded indicating his communicator.  "We are on the same time, after all."

Kevin stayed long enough to listen to and acknowledge their replies and then said, "I think I'll check on the other two in the Rec room."

<===== To the Rec Room
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Wed 14 Nov 2018.

In reply to Darkstar (msg # 72):

"Hey, cops don't try to arrest me... Anymore." The very first few weeks of him in his costume, that was true, so he had to resort being out of a situation as fast as he entered it. It took him a good while before he could earn the trust of the NYPD officers that actually saw him in action. "Hopefully I can get some patrolling in today..." He said to himself, once he found himself on his own.

Cassandra had found herself uncharacteristically quiet. That wasn’t to say that she had a tendency to be loud – she didn’t need to hear her own voice – yet as the group had dwindled so too had her presence. She supposed that part of that had to be a matter of just who she had been left with. It was difficult to want to engage with a shameless criminal, even if he seemed to hold some sort of standing within the organisation. It would be altogether easier to save her questions for someone more … professional.

She stirred in Darkstar’s absence.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Spider-Man, how much time do you normally spend on-site here?” Cassie put forward. “It sounds as though things might be fairly quiet around here some of the time.”
This message was last edited by the player at 05:20, Thu 15 Nov 2018.

Spider-Man blinked, thinking for a few moments before he says, "I can't speak for everyone else, but I stay here when I'm not out in the city." It was more convenient for him, since he didn't want to even think about having to beg for his former college dorm room back.

His answer earned a gentle nod that quickly tapered off. That was good to know. Reassuring.

“This is all a bit of a culture shock,” Cassie said by way of an explanation. “I only learned I would be coming here today, and while testing has been light enough of late, Pendragon has been one of my more intense postings. Once you get on-site it can be a bit like leaving the rest of the world behind.” An odd little smile. “Some of us didn’t get off-site aside from exercises between leave.”

It had been normal – that sort of crunch culture. Living between breakthroughs and breakdowns on scarcely more than adrenaline and blitz spirit. Unhealthy certainly, dangerous even, but such was the nature of working on the metaphorical frontlines. An answer had to be found, and the sooner the better. None of them could dispute that.

“New country, new schedule … it’s going to take some getting used to. It's just nice to know that I can expect to see someone else around the base off the clock.”

"I think that you might like it here, there's always something happening in New York," Spider-Man commented. And that's even if we don't count going on an assignment. Though, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's been my home even before this new group."

William and Ck exited the lab and noticed Spiderman and Galahad in discussion.
Ah Spiderman, Cassandra, perfect, may I introduce Clockwork Knight.

He went into a brief description of CK and Doc’s project and how Ck was interested in remaining with the team. So it looked like there was going to be a lot to do moving forward. William was happy everyone was remaining on board But now how to work out a few things to ensure he would have a team that would back each other and work with each other and not just people out to prove themselves.

Anyone with a comm unit who is in the base gets the following message:

"All right, listen up.  One of our newbies has just dropped some truly disturbing intel that you all need to hear," Kevin said.  "So I'd like everyone to drop anything not actively about to explode and haul butt to Tec/Comm room.  Doc, this means you, too.  It's sciency.  You'll love it."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Wed 21 Nov 2018.

From Just like Clockwork?

The metal being known as the Clockwork Knight entered the room slow and rhythmically. "Greetings, I look forward to serving along side you all. I hope my form is not too disturbing or unnatural for anyone". It said plainly.

After saying this and waiting a moment for responses CK started to move to the Tec Room.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:55, Wed 21 Nov 2018.

"Oh hey, good meeting you," Spider-Man said, then turning his attention to Darkstar. He then responded to the communicator, saying, "Really? Alright, I'll meet you there," as he made his way to join the others in the Tec/Comm room.

William heard the comms.

Ok let's get to the comms room and see what Darkstar has. He says not clear on what was so important.

He let Spiderman and Cass go first and lead Clockwork Knight....

=======> To Tec/Comm Room.