Our story continues at Millennium Park, where Daydreamer05 and Metro01 are meeting in person for the first time...
This message was last updated by the GM at 20:34, Sat 01 Jan 2022.

Becca, in a pink nurse's costume, was a blonde force of positive waving action.  She waved towards Mr. Metro--or the figure she suspected was Mr. Metro--while still deep in thought about the genesis of owls, owl-men, man-owls, and other wise flappy things.

Seeing her wave, Lucas lowered his hand and begin to move towards her with more purpose and energy, removing his other glove so that his metallic hands could be more easily seen. He also tugged down his scarf to reveal his stylized face and faintly glowing eyes. His head moved from side to side keeping track of the people around. When the crowd became denser around Daydreamer, he slowed but didn't stop his forwards momentum.

There was a bubble about five feet in radius around Becca where the snow melted, a preternaturally warm zone around her.  She hopped her way towards Mr. Metro, and she noticed his lack of owl features.  This was more of a robot, cyborg, metal hands metal face sorta... metal aesthetic, which was pretty far from being an owl.  It wasn't wise to simply dismiss out of hand that he could still be some horrific fusion of owl and machine, but given his human-like stature and lack of generally-prevalent owl features, she decided to shelve that particular concern for now.

"Hi!" she called out, once she got a little closer.  "I'm Nurse Joy."  Biiig wink.

Lucas tilts his head to one side and considers the nurse outfit carefully for a few moments before speaking in a deadpan voice. "Did you dye your hair then? I like it. Contrasts more with your uniform this way. I am Metro."

Bex raised an eyebrow for a second and swept her hair over her shoulder, investigating it for a moment.  "Uhm.... no, I've always been blonde," she answered, tilting her head to the opposite side that Metro had.

"Anyways, hi!  It's nice to meet you, Metro!  I was expecting, like, the Italian restaurant guy or the teleporty walky guy or maybe the lil' shrinking lady or maybe the super healing guy.  Do you have super healing?  Is that what's underneath the metal?"

She skipped away from the group, thinking back to Karl's and Stephanie's suggestions for her vis a vis meeting people.  There weren't any tables around, so it was probably safe.  "That would be pretty cool.  But I didn't hear about any robots, is the thing, so I guess Jimmy the Fish didn't know about you?  Or maybe he did and you're the super healing guy.  Or maybe you're actually an owl, just as I suspected all along, and you used your wily owl ways to avoid cameras and stuff, which would be really cool because it'd be, like... unexpected.  But I guess if you're a robot maybe you can convince cameras not to see you, too.  That would make sense.  You said you met Karl, right?  Did you meet Stephanie, too?"

Lucas glances around at the crowd and nods his head as he listens to her speak. A slight crease furrows his brow at the mention of always being blonde before that thought is swept away by the flood of words, "Yes, I met them both and I am not a robot. Though she did ask me the same thing. She also asked me what was underneath my skin." Lucas holds up his hand to stare at it thought, "Is that truly the first thought most people jump to? What is under the skin? That is disturbing.

"Well, like, people usually come in two flavors.  So you've got your humans who are made outta metal, and those are like, people who have prosthetics and stuff or they're cyborgs, right, and then you've got people who wear metal like a suit, and those are more like, y'know, knights and deep sea divers.  So I just finished watching all of the Marvel movies 'cause a guy asked me if I wanted to see a movie with him, and so it's like-- you've got your Iron Man and you've got your Cyborg, but Cyborg was actually DC, but I read up on that because Karl got called Superman.  Anyways."  She shook her head and continued, looking for the big ol' friendship obelisks.

"Most people don't have metal skin that's like actually skin.  Except for Shivery Greg, but he's very cold because copper is really good at dispersing thermal energy as a heat sink."  Bex turned and smiled at Metro.  "So it's less about trying to be disturbing and asking what's in your muscles and bones and stuff, and more a lack of comprehension.  'cause we aren't thinking about situations in which asking what's under somebody's clothes is the same as asking what's beneath their flesh, you know?  It's like the crystals always say, Metro."

Lucas blinks rapidly, "The crystals always say, Metro? I didn't know I was that popular." He waits a beat before continuing on, "To answer the question though, mainly metal, hydraulic fluid, cable, gears, and wiring. All at least partly mimicking a normal humanoid form. Also, Cable, Bucky Barnes, and also Machine Man though he is a robot. But, I might have been a robot too. So, you don't get that weird cross Marvel/DC thing going on. Then you could call Karl, Hyperion instead of Superman and still keep it Marvel. Hyperion is also usually more of a tool then Superman so it kinda of even fits."

"I'll have to google those when I get home!" Bex confirmed with a smile.  "I don't really know much about the comics, but it sounds like you've got a lotta stuff under your skin that isn't skin-stuff.  But anyways, it's nice to meet you!  I'm not actually Nurse Joy."

Bex cast a furtive glance around before leaning over and whispering to Metro.  "I'm actually Becca.  But I'm in disguise 'cause the police got mad at me for riding Wooly Jumper on the sidewalk so I don't want to get in trouble again."

Lowering his voice as much as he could, "Then you do need to dye your hair pink to really sell it as Nurse Joy. Otherwise, you are just Becca in a nurse outfit. So, do you have anything you want to know about me besides what my insides look like?"

Bex considered that.  "But there are a lot of blondes, so isn't that okay?"  She shook her head.  "That's okay, I'll talk to Buccaneer Shoecannon later.  So!"  Turning to look at him, Bex held her hands out towards him, as if she had an invisible box between her palms.  "So, you aren't an owl and you don't do superhealing, so like... do you fly?  Do you... uh..."  Her brow furrowed.  "...drive really fast?"

Becca's phone buzzes to indicate that she received a text message. A few seconds later, Lucas's phone does the same.

"One sec, Metro, somebody texted me..."  Bex pulled her phone out and hmmed.  She typed out a response.

Lucas glances at his phone and types a short response before responding. "I am defnitely not an owl. I also can't heal people really fast. I can...run really fast? And let other people run really fast. If that helps you at all.

Bex nodded.  "That's super cool.  I can't do anything like that, and I wasn't turned into metal or anything, so like, you're definitely super cool.  That's awesome!  We're gonna be best friends!"

She moved towards the stone pillar to take a look at that.

Lucas falls silent at that and trails after her and to the side keeping an eye on her, "And yet what I believe you can do is most impressive in it's own right. Rather more impressive then simply running rather quickly."

"Oh.  I don't think so, though!  Yoga is good for the body, but I don't know that it would help much if your body is mostly made of metal.  Like, yoga is really awesome, but it's hard to stretch iron and stuff!  I guess you could do really, really hot yoga..."  Bex scrunched up her face and considered that.  "Your mat would catch on fire, though.  I guess you could use asbestos but that's dangerous, so probably don't.  I don't even know if yoga would help physically.  But it might help emotionally!  I really enjoy doing my sun salutations, even in the winter!"

There was a quiet whispering, and Bex nodded.  "And anything else is just the power of friendship!  And you know what?  Friendship is the most incredible gift in the whole world.  That's why I'm so happy we're gonna be best friends!"

Becca and Lucas receive additional text messages...

"Yes, I am sure we will be. I don't have to be metal, I can be many things. Though I think I would prefer tai chi to yoga as a form of exercise." Absently pulling out his phone, he glances at it and texts while still staring at Becca and the monolith. "Are you going to leave a message for the builder? Or maybe make a video of them?"

Bex texted back while from behind one of the pillars, a strange sight appeared.  A sheep with springs for legs bounced its way from the shadows.  Everything about it was vaguely reminiscent of bubblegum.  Like a mareep, but pink.  With springs.  Constantly in motion, constantly bouncing.  It made its way over to Metro and sniffed curiously at him, while Bex was on her phone.


Smiling, Becca looked back up at Metro.  "Ummmm... how do you think we should leave a message?  Like, I don't wanna graffiti it, but I guess the Crombiford Slatherer could, like... paint something nice.  Right?"

Coming from Grant Park, Karl spotted the pair...no, trio now with the addition of the bouncing sheep near the pillar at Millennium Park. Glints hinting at Metro from what Steph said about turning metal, and if he had any doubts that the blonde 'nurse' was Becca the arrival of the not-so-imaginary creature chased them away.

He strongly considered just 'nope'-ing the heck out of there and going elsewhere.

Come on Karl, it's Christmas Eve. Becca is weird but nice, and Steph said Metro wasn't that bad despite trouble with time and space. At least say hello.

After a moment's hesitation and a sigh, Karl arced through the air, slowing and landing near the group. He was wearing a pretty form-fitting short-sleeved athletic wear top, slightly looser shorts and sneakers, horribly underdressed for the weather but apparently not bothered by the cold.

"Hi Bex, Metro. Uh..." Karl searched his memory a second "...and Wooly Jumper, right? Or is this a different one? Merry Christmas."

At the sight of the pink springy sheep, Lucas sighs and shakes his head while singing softly, "The Wonderful thing about Tiggers, Is Tiggers are wonderful things, Tops are made out of rubber, Their bottoms are made out of springs, Their bouncey, trouncey, ouncey, pouncey." Even as he sang he moved slightly to get a few different angles on the bouncy creature. "You could...." He stops when Karl appears and his slightly smiling face smoothed over into a metal mask, "Karl. Merry Christmas. As I was saying you could just write a note and leave it next to it? Have a pen and some paper if you don't."

There was still a five foot circle of melted snow around Bex, and she waved up at Karl!  "Hi Karl!  Look!  I'm in disguise!"  Yes, loudly declare that fact.  Great idea.

"Y-har, and don't be fergettin' wot that we already met, Karl Brennan!  'Tis I, Buccaneer Shoecannon!"  That voice--similar to Captain Hector Barbossa, of Pirates of the Caribbean fame--came from Bex's clothing.

"Oh!  I don't have a pen and paper, Metro.  It'd be awesome if I could borrow some of yours!"

Wait, the outfit was Buccaneer Shoecannon? That wasn't just her alias at the moment?

She was wearing...somebody? Even if she conjured them up, that was pretty weird. Even odds she was just messing with him or changing her game as she went, but still.

"Uh, hi Buccanurse. I didn't recognize you...outside." Not sure of the proper protocol for addressing a fictional pirate captain composed of clothes, Karl offered an awkward salute.

"I left a note in another one. Figured I'm easy enough to find anyways, see what this might be about. Did you put anything in Metro, or can you, I don't know, 'feel' anything about them? Just boxes or does stuff put in just whoosh away or something?" Karl shrugged. They had seen weirder.

They were standing there with weirder and some of her creations/friends right now as a matter of fact.

Lucas absently unzipped his coat and put one hand into the inner pockets patting around absently while he stared at the talking Nurse Joy costume. The spring loaded sheep was surprising, but within the limits. That she would wear.....his frown deepened as he pulled out a small pad of yellow legal paper and a pen marked with the seal of Chicago. "Here you go." He zipped up his coat and shook himself. "We haven't done anything with the monolith yet. Nurse Joy was about to write them a note." He shrugged and nodded at Becca, "She's in disguise after all."

"'Tis a great mark o' me craft, that a man of yer caliber didn't surmise at the first peep that I, the great Buccaneer Shoecannon, was before ye, Karl Brennan.  Yahar."  Bex accepted the pen and paper and nodded, moving to the stone and writing on it.

Dear Stone Pillar Person, she began in her best cursive.  My name is Daydreamer and my social media is mostly Daydreamer05.  I do yoga and make silly videos with my friends.  I would like to be your friend, because I think friends are the most important gift the world can ever give you, and that you can ever give the world.  This is contested by the crystals, who think the best gift is more crystals, but I do not listen to them anymore.  You might like the crystals, because you made a bunch of big stone pillars. Anyways, I thought I was going to meet an owl today but I didn't.  But I did meet a friend instead, and that makes me very happy.  It would be really cool if we could be friends also.  If you would like to be my friend, please send me a DM or also you can just make another pillar that says something and I will probably see it.  Love you bunches.

With a nod, Becca offered the pen back to Metro and the pad as well, once she removed the sheets of paper that had her essay on it.  She folded it up nicely and put it either in or on the pillar, depending on whether there was a receptacle for letters.

Handled, Bex turned to look at Karl and Metro again!  Wooly Jumper nuzzled into Metro and then into Karl.  "Did you hear that Stephanie got grounded, Karl?  I asked if she wanted me to help her sneak out, but she's very honorable.  You have a really good girlfriend."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:48, Fri 07 Jan 2022.

Karl pat the springy sheep by the simple expedient of holding his hand out while it bounced up and down to meet it.

"Yeah...she's something else. I don't get the whole 'grounding' an adult thing, but different family dynamics, some cultural attitudes clashing."

He scratched the back of his head with his free hand, the one not currently playing paddle ball with a not-so-imaginary sheep. "So...Metro. We didn't get off to a great start the other night. Reset?" Karl asked, tilting his head a little.

Lucas waves his metal hand absently as he stares intently at Becca with a frown only barely paying attention to what was going on around him, "Sure, sure. It's fine. Fresh start and all of that." He shook his head with a grimace, "I am still working on her nurse uniform being a pirate. I thought my powers were odd." Glancing at the bouncing sheep, "You wouldn't happen to have a friend that is a very large bipedal salamander that is on fire, would you?"

"I can't count all of my friends," Becca answered with a smile.  "Buccaneer Shoecannon can turn into any set of clothes!" she explained.  From behind Karl came Roger Duckington.  Roger was a duck with a bow tie.  He was suspended in the air, but he didn't flap his wings fast enough to actually be flying.  He sort of... walked in the air.  "And that's Roger Duckington!  He's a duck!"

From behind one of the stone pillars emerged an anthropomorphic cow wearing a greaser outfit.  His belt had a large fish emblem for the belt buckle, and he had on a jetpack.  "And look!  Jimmy the Fish is here!"

"Yeah that was a new one on me too..."

"A salamander on fire? No, I...oh, you meant her. Of course." Having had some prior experience with Becca trotting out extra friends Karl wasn't as startled as he might otherwise have been by the new arrivals, but they were still distracting.

"Uh, hi again." Karl greeted the new arrivals with a little wave.

"My first thought hearing about these 'mailboxes' was that it was your doing Metro, with your connection to the city and trying to get people together. But apparently not. I haven't heard any announcements from the city itself or anything like that, no official labels like parks department or anything like that. Wonder if it's some group that had them made, or another one like us who could just make them themselves."

Lucas shrugs, "My powers....mmmmmm...." Lucas' eyes narrow in thought and he turns his head to stare outside of the park. "Construction sites. I might be able to do something similar after visiting enough construction sites. Currently, my abilities are mostly limited to altering my own form. My ability to share speed though leads me to the conclusion that I could eventually find a way to replicate this. Though I have never tried to find such a form."

Bex's eyes somehow got wider when Metro expanded on his ability.  "Ohmigosh.  You're, like... a chameleon!  With your skin, but instead of colors, it's... construction... sites?"  Her steam ran out as she got to thinking about it, but Bex nodded to herself.  Turning her back to Metro and Karl, Bex entered into a huddle with the assembled figments.

"So he could've been an owl before he touched a construction site.  That would make sense."

"Ahar, 'tis as Madame Guzman suggests.  Metro be an eidolon, a reflection o' the city itself."

"That cat's a classy chassis, dig.  Listen to his tale, nightingale: he learns new powers from visiting parts of the city.  That betty on the horn had it right."

"Quack."

With a nod, the huddle broke up and Bex turned back to Metro and Karl.  "That's super cool, Metro!  I have to coolest friends!  Karl can fly and save lives and stuff and Metro can turn into a crane!"  Jimmy the Fish raised a finger, but even Roger Duckington just shook his head.  You could bring a Bex to water, but she had to choose to drink.

"O...K" Karl responded to Metro's musings, not really following what he was talking about.

Becca's figments seeming to understand things more than she did made his head hurt. How could they understand what she couldn't? Ugh.

"OK. Well I kind of expected some more activity around these things to be honest. Let's keep each other in the loop if we hear back." Karl said with a shrug.

Lucas' smooth metallic face crinkled and his eyes narrowed in the suggestion of a pained frown, "I don't think I could become a crane......" His voice trails off into an uncertain pained question.

"That makes sense!  And maybe the people filming us will post and people will know that we hang out here!  That would be pretty cool!"

Bex turned and looked from Metro to Karl.  "Are either of you hungry?  I can get some snacks."

One part of the crowd surrounding the colorful collection of personalities was a short-haired woman in a double-breasted leather jacket, jeans, and heavy boots. While they spoke, she took a domino mask from her pocket, already tacky with spirit gum, and affixed it over her eyes.

A sharp whistling filled the air around Danielle as heat was expelled through repurposed cutting torch nozzles affixed on her jacket elbows, and then Dani was off the ground, propelled by gouts of blue-white flame from the soles of her shoes that sent her up and over the crowd of onlookers. They cut out just as quickly, and Dani dropped down loudly on her feet amidst the unusual bunch of critters, people, and... Robots? Cyborgs? Metal folks. The landing was a bit shaky, but she got her balance back quick enough. Clearly she had a little practice.

"Hi!" Dani greeted them cheerfully, and held up a folded note. "Can I give this to you directly, or does it have to go in the pillar? I figure, since I've caught whichever one of you made it while you're here..." The masked woman grinned. "Cut out the middle-rock, right?"

"I'm OK, I guess I could just -" Karl started to respond to Becca's question/invitation when the rocket-propelled woman landed amid their group.

"Uh, hey." Karl, standing in his gym-workout gear with no regard for the cold looked at the new arrival, then over to 'Jimmy the Fish', Becca's anthropomorphic bovine friend in the greaser outfit plus jetpack but decided against asking if they knew each other.

He shook his head. "No, none of us put them up. Just curious. She" indicating Becca "and I already added notes, though I dropped mine in elsewhere. I'm Karl, this is...Daydreamer" again indicating Becca, the blonde teen in the pink nurse's outfit "Metro" the man with the metal head "and Daydreamer's friends."

Lucas whirled at the sound of flames and for just a moment soft almost invisible purple-white electricity arced around his fingertips before dying out. Dropping his hands to his sides, he nods with a slight smile, "Hello. Nice to meet another unique person in the city."

"Kerblerble," came a response from behind the new woman.  Bex gasped, wide eyed and excited, and waved to the fiery femme while Chef Rumblesteak towered behind her.  His "kerblerble" was the "kerblerble" of Babel, packed with intense meaning and great nuance.  For it was not simply "kerblerble" that was understood by those who heard him--but instead, they realized:

A fine day to you, chilly though it may be!  Salutations and greetings of fortitude and peace.  As Mr. Brennan and Mr. Metro have said, fair stranger, it was not our design to have these pillars erected.  Oh ho, not at all!  For these are the work of some other soul, a spirit perhaps possessed of a unique flare and affinity for the earth.  Much as you seem to whistle as a tea kettle upon a gas stovetop, so too would this unknown sculptor be at ease with the earth.  Please, be merry!  And enjoy this, the gift I have brought at Miss Gershwin's request: fried kale chips.  A healthy snack.

Chef Rumblesteak was a felt puppet in the shape of a man, complete with a chef's had and oven mitts.  Set into his stomach was an oven.  Held between his hands, a tray of freshly fried kale chips.  He was tall, with a mustache and eyebrows sufficiently bushy to cover his eyes--assuming he had eyes.

"Chef Rumblesteak!  Aw yes, kale chips!  You gotta have some, Karl, they're so good!  And hi new friend!  These guys are all my friends!  You're gonna be my friend too!  Kale chip?"

Whistler rolled her note back into her palm, and looked just a little bit put-out. She kept a smile on, though, as Karl and Metro made their hellos. "Right, everyone knows the Chicago Superman by now, but it's nice to meet you, Mr. Brennan. Just as nice to meet you, Metro, and you, Daydreamer! I'm Whistler, on account of the," Danielle's high-pitched whine of heat began again and ended demonstratively. "I thought about the Amazing Missus Teapot, but that's such a mou--"

There wasn't a lot that could make Danielle Archer jump out of her skin, but a muppet colossus whispering linguistic tesseracts came close. The whistling sound perked up before Rumblesteak finished his one-word salutation, and then quieted again as understanding filled Dani's mind and she turned to face the Herculean chef. Daydreamer's cheerful greeting and offering of snackage only compounded the strangeness, but all of it was just making Dani's skin tingle in the best way.

"...I don't think I've ever had a kale chip. Thank you!" Dani nodded, bubbling right back up into a proper smile as she took one of the crispy greens from Rumblesteak's pan with her fingertips and cronched it in one bite. "Wow, that's actually really good. Compliments to you, Mr. Rumblesteak." Dani held out a finger towards the adorable duckie walking around to pet its widdle noggin, and turned her attention back to the group at-large.

"Nice jacket," She pointed to the cow-man, mentally comparing his greaser look to her uptown biker thing. "And I love your costume, Daydreamer! Do you have healing powers, as well as leading your..." Danielle considered the motley assemblage of famous plane-saver, the shy metal man who almost zapped her, the adorable critters, the jetpack-equipped cow-man with a fabulous pompadour, and now Chef Rumblesteak, who spoke the language of lost Eden. As Karl and then Becca had put it, they were, all of them, her friends. "Superhero team, I'm guessing? You guys put this together fast, I only met my first superperson who wasn't me a couple of days ago. I think Super Friends is copyrighted, but I'm sure you can get 'friends' in there somewhere. Daydreamer's Friends, Friends of Chicago, something like that.

"Could I have another chip, please?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 01:08, Wed 12 Jan 2022.

The part Karl had been worried about as soon as Becca mentioned snacks had arrived.

The part called Chef Rumblesteak.

The friendly yet mind-twisting felt gourmet, the kerblerbler of chaos with a light brain reduction.

He wanted to go, but also to meet the newcomer. So he'd stay a little and hope there wasn't too much more Rumblesteakese.

"Hi, ah, 'Whistler', pleased to meet you too. Everyone else has these fancy aliases, so I've been starting to get 'Atlas' going. But feel free to still call me Karl of course."

Karl gave a small shake of the head to the offer of a kale chip the puppet produced. With Becca around the snack might suddenly turn into Dr. Kaledare, DDS when someone tried to eat it. "Thank you, but I just ate, and then holiday meals coming up."

"I think we're still a bit off from a formal group. I have had a number of people with powers reach out to me over the past few days, but this here" Karl made a circle with his finger, indicating those immediately present "is most of them.

"I do want to get something together to help where I can, but it's only been a few days and I haven't really seen much yet, at least in time. I'm guessing from your...accessories you've been...'whistling' for a while now?"

Lucas shies away from eating anything that Daydreamer has had a hand in producing. "Metal, kale doesn't really go well with my internals." Holding up a hand to wave away any chips aimed his way. Wincing slightly at the name 'Atlas' he shrugs slightly. "We are just meeting and talking right now. I am personally working on securing and updating a possible meeting area." Lucas takes a side step to look at Whistler's equipment, "It is very impressive that you were able to put so much together so quickly though."

"Kerberble," came the Chef's response to Danielle.

But of course you may, new friend!  The kale chips are for all, an enjoyable snack that is healthful and pleasant!  But please, Mr. Rumblesteak was my father.  You can call me Chef.

Bex shook her head to the question.  "I'm incognito as Nurse Joy today," she explained, leaning in to stage whisper to Danielle.  "Honestly, the only power I have is the power of friendship.  I'm really lucky to have so many incredible friends!  And friendship comes in lots of colors and lots of costumes!  And I'm not a leader, so... I don't think they'd ever name something after me.  I think Karl's more likely to be the leader, 'cause he's handsome and he has a really pretty girlfriend."  She nodded for emphasis and leaned back.  Wooly Jumper moved over to wiggle into Bex.

Roger continued his sarcastic flapping of his wings to maintain a gentle arc.  He remained oriented the same way, but he started to do loop-de-loops around Danielle.  Once more, he stated: "quack."  It was the English word, spoken properly, from the bowtied duck.

Jimmy gave a quick "thanks, Jane, you're the cat's pajamas" while Rebecca considered Karl's comments and Metro's.  Whistler had a lot of cool gear!  "They're right!  You've got really cool stuff, Whistler!  Do you like tea?  I bet you like tea.  And if we ever need somewhere to meet, I totally know where we can go!"  Bex beamed at Metro, Karl, and Whistler in turn, happy to finally have something worthwhile to contribute.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:29, Fri 14 Jan 2022.

"Atlas, weight of the world on your shoulders? It fits, I can see it," Dani nodded, considering the name choice. It definitely had chutzpah, and it fit the Chicago Superman style. To the Chef, Danielle could only offer a thumbs-up as she monched another kale chip.

"A few months whistling, yeah! Jumped out of a plane and didn't need the parachute to survive, surprised me as much as anyone else. Been whistling ever since, although I haven't gotten to put it much to use yet. If you guys are making a super-team, I'm super-down; riding around on my bike looking for muggers really isn't working!" Her chuckle was warm as the rosy tone of her cheeks.

At Lucas and Becca's comments, Danielle held out her arms. "My equi-- Oh, the nozzles? Ah, they're nothing, really. Just a bit of metal I took off some cutting torches at my friend Moni's garage and secured on. The mask is from Amazon." If they had meant the way jets came out of her shoes for that flying leap before, Dani clearly didn't cotton on to that.

And then there was Daydreamer/Nurse Joy. Danielle was barely resisting the urge to grab the tiny blonde and give her a big hug. "Your Nurseliness, you may be the sweetest and most precious person I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Please, never change," Dani cooed, continuing to pet Roger's head when he deigned to allow it. Rebecca was too damn cute and clearly younger than Danielle had first guesstimated, so some level of protectiveness was already bubbling up inside her. "I do like tea. Coffee, too, but tea is so much more versatile. And hey, if you have a place you'd like to share, I'm happy to take this conversation way from the, um..."

Dani turned to the army of looky-loos. "The folks trying to enjoy their day in the park."

Several dozen people are gathered around the strange group, albeit at a distance, recording everything with their phones.

"That really shouldn't be the..." Karl started a little exasperated before remembering who he was talking to and proceeded more calmly responding to Beccca's compliment and suggestion "Thank you, but that's probably not the best way to choose a leader. Not that we really need one at this point anyway, not that there's any real formal 'we' yet in any case."

'Whistler' fell out of a plane? Was she...no, she said a few months. And jumped, not fell. Skydiving accident-that-wasn't?

"Wow, good timing with the, ah, whistling. I know what that feels like, and that seems to be fairly common, at least based on a small sample size. Danger, a sudden adrenaline surge triggering or waking up...something. Glad you're OK."

Muggers? "I don't know if a formal team is really needed. Not like we've been swamped individually. But maybe. At least a network of people in similar situations, who can understand better what's going on, help each other deal with it, share tips and info.

"I do want to get some kind of connection, arrangement with emergency services. Fires, accidents, that sort of thing. I think I could help in situations like that if I knew about them, where to go. Get to people on higher floors quickly, move rubble, get to people on a capsized boat fast, things like that. You could all do that sort of thing to. Metro with your sharing speed could evacuate an area fast, Whistler could do higher areas, Daydreamer and her friends have a lot of options." And Stephanie could find people trapped in a collapse, among other things.

Lucas glances around gathering crowd uneasily, "I do disagree on the team thing. At least in part, perhaps a collective or a formal arrangement might be a better term then team. As ever if we wish to continue this we can move somewhere more isolated? I can as stated grant a fairly nice boost if we relocate."

"It's decided then!"  Near some of the stone pillars, a door appeared.  It was a sliding glass door, like what you might expect attached to a Trader Joe's.  The glass was opaque, but there was a little rubber welcome back in front and a scanner at the top.  Bex gestured to it and beamed, before heading in.  The doors opened, and she hopped in.  The figments made their way in behind her, a little parade of happy dreamizens.  Despite there being nothing attached to the doors, Becca disappeared as she entered, leaving the doors open in case anyone decided to join her through the mysterious portal.

Anything Dani might have wanted to say in reply to Karl's thoughtful insights as to the mechanics of saving people, or Lucas's sensible desire to get out of sight - not that thoughtful or sensible had ever gotten close enough to Danielle Archer to ask her the time of day - was utterly quashed by the supermarket automatic doors. And then Nurse Joydreamer and her cadre of the odd and adorable vanished into it.

"We're sure she didn't make the pillars?" Whistler asked the other two super-people, a bewildered, delighted smile eking up her cheeks. We're sure she's not God? Dani's subconscious added, although she did not voice it. All that mattered to her in that moment was this: It was something new.

"Nothing ventured, eh boys?" Danielle shrugged to the pair, and gave the crowd a red carpet wave as she strolled to the doors and carried on through after the tiny blonde and her circus.

Oh geez. Karl thought, looking at the materialized doors, wondering what weirdness might lie through them.

Steph would never forgive me if I didn't see so I could tell her about it.

"Ok, here we go." Karl said mostly to himself, took a breath and walked through the doors to the unknown...or a local coffee shop.

But it might be a coffee shop he wasn't familiar with...yeah, still not scary.

Lucas watched the three go and sighed looking around at the crowd. "This is stupid and insane." Before he went forward and through the door, before politely closing it behind him.

What terrors could exist in the land beyond the doors?!

No cell service.  That was pretty much the greatest of all the terrors.

Beyond the doors was... what appeared to be an office building floor.  It may've been modeled off of The Office, come to think of it.  Everything was cheerful and mundane.  There were an abundance of bean bags, that was a little unusual, but otherwise it was just an office building.  There were a series of doors leading out from the main area, but Bex bounced her way over and settled into one of the bigger bean bags.  Her nurse's outfit was gone--now she was just in a tank top and yoga pants, and looked eminently comfortable.  As always, her friendship bracelet remained around her wrist.

There was a quiet "ding" and other stereotypical noises that came with being in an office, but the four of them were the only four apparently present.

"We can hang out here whenever!" Bex explained with a smile.

A web startup-style office space. Not what Dani had expected.

But then... What had she expected? What could one really expect when walking through sliding doors that led nowhere? More pink, she answered herself. I expected more pink. But even Daydreamer/Nurse Joy had become significantly less pink on the way through, somehow.

"Nice!" Whistler decided, smiling widely. she strolled towards the beanbags and unzipped her jacket, laying it down beside the beanbag and showing off her athletic, tattooed build and the tanktop she was wearing underneath. She plonked down comfortably onto an available smushchair and stuck her feet out, crossed at the ankles. If anyone was looking close, they might have noticed that the bottoms of her boots had metal-rings cutouts in the soles. They appeared to contain no machinery, just an empty cavity with bare feet on the other side.

"So... Where are we, exactly? And how did you make the door here?" She asked Daydreamer casually, utterly unperturbed.

Not what he expected, but nothing bad. Perhaps Becca's conception of a 'grownup' space, but a cool grownup space, hence the beanbags. He bet the breakroom had a gizmo that made cappucchino instead of an old stained drip coffeepot.

Karl noted the absence of Buccaneer Shoecannon/the nurse outfit and Becca's other friends seemed to have disappeared in the transition as well. He gave a beanbag what he hoped was a casual look checking for big googly eyes or something that might indicate it was a 'friend' and not just a regular retro-chic seat. Not finding anything suspicious Karl settled in to one as well.

"Yeah, thanks. A little more privacy can be nice." Though it did keep latecomers from joining the party. But today wouldn't be the last chance, and Karl knew he himself was easy to find if recent history was any guide.

At Whistler's question he opened a pouch to retrieve his phone while Becca answered. As expected no service, no GPS so he slid it back away.

Lucas inspected the office with interest before moving to a beanbag and touching it with a toe and then crouching down on his heels to feel it. Glancing at the now very different looking Becca and Whistler as he tested the bag, As As I am now I weight quite a bit more then a normal human. Not sure if this will work for me. Still....." Lucas settles down carefully into the bean bag chair - sinking for more deeply then a normal human of his build should.

"I didn't!" Bex explained with a smile.  "My friend made the door.  Really, I don't do anything.  I'm just, like... I guess I'm like, um, the camera in a Marvel film!  I don't do anything but I get to watch and make friends with everyone, and that makes me happy!"  She settled in and considered the other part of Danielle's question.

"Well, we're... in my imagination," she admitted, after a moment.  "This is where all my friends are from.  So I asked if we could have a clubhouse, and Plidinous Vogue suggested he could offer up the Office, so... we're here now!"  Her smile was bright, and she wiggled into her bean bag.

"You're all free to come in and out and stuff.  I don't know if Pliddy can open the portal while I'm asleep, though, so... I'll have to find out!"

Whistler pulled a little face when she saw how tense the boys looked coming in, as if to say, 'What could be sinister about bean bags?' Not that the mechanics of translocation were forefront in her mind at that moment, of course, nor the full implications of what Becca's had done.

That is, until Becca spelled it out. She got a slow-turn from Dani, her face painted with wide-eyed realization and absolute delight. "Thaaaat's what you meant, Karl," she finally struck on, and pointed between him and Becca. "Her imaginary friends. Well, in the loosest sense of the word; those kale chips weren't imagined, although they were garlicky and delicious. Nor was the Chef, that sweet little duck with the bowtie or– anyway, yes, quite real but hailing from your imagination." Danielle smiled like she'd just discovered chocolate. "That's got to be the neatest thing I've heard so far, and I say that knowing at least two of the people in this room can fly.

How exactly did your Pliddy friend conjure this place? Can we meet him, too?" She added at the end, sitting forward with her knees against her chest like an excited little kid.

Lucas's discomfort about his bulk got a sympathetic frown from Danielle. "Can't switch off the steely complexion, I take it?"

Karl shrugged. "I guess 'imagination friends' might be more accurate? If other people can see them, interact with them, eat their kale chips and so on I think 'imaginary doesn't quite fit."

"Pretty amazing whatever you call it."

Lucas shifts uncomfortably on what now might be Becca's actual neurons. "I can switch it off or change it. Each change though changes my abilities. This one is most useful for getting around and for......other things." Holding up his hand he lets several sparks fly - lightning crackles between his fingers for several seconds before it flickers and dies.

Becca shook her head.  "See, you've already kind of met Pliddy," Bex explained, looking over at Karl with a slightly apologetic look.  "This building is inside of his tummy.  We can't go outside to meet him 'cause he flies too fast."  Still, the compliments made Becca blush, and she shook her head.  "You're all actual superheroes.  Like in the movies.  I'm just a yoga Tiktok person who wants to make the world a lil' more smiley, ya know?  Saving a plane and jumping out of a plane and not dying and being made of metal, that's the cool stuff.  That's why Karl's gotta be the leader of the Chicago Crime Patrol!"

"Terrible name, sprout, terrible."  From one of the rooms, a two foot tall cat wearing thick glasses, suspenders, a two-color collared shirt (with starched collar, of course), pleated pinstripe pants, and wingtips shimmied his way in to the group.  He had a cup of coffee with 'PURRFORMANCE REVIEWER' written on it.  "He's already calling himself Atlas, so let's workshop around that.  Metro spawns from the Greek for mother.  Ah... whistling isn't particularly Grecian, so that theme won't work.  Let's tug on this string a little.  The Titans of Chicago, perhaps?  Or-- no, titans were evil."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

Danielle shrugged off the specifics of Becca's friends, whatever they were. All she knew was that the duck had been the cutest thing ever, with the possible exception of Becca herself. "Pretty amazing is right," she agreed with a grin.

Metro's display reminded Danielle of a movie she'd desperately wanted to work on a couple of years prior - soft pseudo-reboot of a superhero franchise, major tonal shift that had gone really well, pretty significant haircut early on. Unfortunately, they hadn't had much for a stunt performer of her build, complexion and, at the time, limited experience. But boy, had she liked watching it. "Ha, Lord of Thunder," she grinned, pointing to Metro's hands. "I would show my own tricks off, but I don't want to burn the building down, especially if it's in Daydreamer's brain."

Ah, but it wasn't just in her brain, as Becca soon revealed! "Huh." Dani blurted quietly. "In his tummy. Wow. Thank him for making it so hospitable down here, then. Or thank you for imagining his insides this way? However it works, this is really nice." Dani squeezed the sides of the bean bag chair, quite satisfied with her lazy posture.

And then Becca went all sweet again, and all Danielle could do was blush. "That's the dream," came a relatively quiet answer when Becca called them superheroes.

Anything else she might have wanted to say was totally overwhelmed by the latest anthropomorphic critter, who had Dani gaping happily with his widdle glasses and his tiny coffee and, of course, the wingtips.

"Titans sounds badass but..." A great deal of excited, meaningless pointing and smiling at the cat replaced words. "Look at the kitty! And his little pants! Are you Plidinous Vogue? Are we in your fluffy tum-tum?!"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:34, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

Man, I really wish Steph were here. She'd be loving at least some of this.

OK, to be fair, I'm loving some of this too, especially the less I think about it.

"I think making the world happier is a pretty worthy goal, and I think you're off to a good start Daydreamer. However you manage this, it's all kind of secondary really. People need your positivity, your example. With the big problems, that can do a lot more than somebody flying, or something like that."

And then another friend came in, like...Steve Urkel as a cat or something.

"Uh, hi. Again, I don't know what we could really do as a team, so a name seems kind of premature anyway. But maybe as examples? Help where we can, how we can, maybe inspire others and you know, 'pay it forward' type of things, snowball good deeds. So if we do, maybe something like that, play off of example, inspiration, like 'Icons', 'Paragons', something like that."

After his mini-speech/digression Karl's attention was drawn to Metro, who sat just silently staring towards Tabbypedia Jones or whatever the cat's name would end up being.

"You OK Metro?"

Metro shook himself and nodded his head after a moment, "I am fine. I do object to calling the Titans evil, but having an argument about the morality of most likely mythological figures isn't really why we are here." Metro nods his head, "That depends on what we all can do. I can grant people increased speed, can move across the city far faster then a normal person myself, and that is just the beginning. Karl here can fly and has superhuman strength, Daydreamer has her friends who have quite a few capabilities. I am not sure what Whistler is exactly capable of, but if she is immune or resistant to fire damage we would have the makings of a great search and rescue team for fires. That is simply off the top of my head. Also, do you think we are the only people like us? I am fairly certain that I could if I truly wished to break into a bank vault and rip out safety deposit boxes and be gone before the police could arrive and even if they did get there, they would need something bigger then a pistol to stop me. So, how long before someone does exactly that? We live in the city of Holmes, Capone, Dillinger, and Gacy. Chicago is many things, but a city of peaceful citizens it is not. So, imagine the Latin Kings for example having two or three people like us. Then the Gangster Disciples have a couple. A nice little superhuman gang war happens next. So, if we are organized and ready we might be able to intervene before it goes completely out of control."

"I like your meowxy, Karl.  Paragons of Chicago.  You could franchise that, sprout.  I like it."  The cat saluted with his cup of coffee and looked to Metro.  "I'm just a meowketing executive, but Metro sounds like he's got the right idea.  Superpowered friends mean superpowered enemies.  Sprout, I know what you wanna say, but you can't just friend your way outta people having different priorities."

"Okay, but, consider, what if instead of that, we could?"

The cat shook his head.  "Preparing a sorta group together of mutual assistance just makes sense.  I don't leave the Neverwas, but I gotta ask you fine folks--do me a favor?  Keep her outta trouble, wouldya?"  Turning around to look at Dani, the cat gave another little salute.  "The name's Business Cat.  The only thing in my tummy is bourbon and tiny pieces of cat kibble vaguely in the shape of fishies.  Tuna flavored.  I ask Sprout here to deliver it."

"You are too stinking cute, and so are you," Dani informed Business Cat and Becca, pointing at the furry financier when he corrected her about his tum full of crunchies and quality booze but, allegedly, no pocket dimension office buildings, then at the teenager who dreamed him up. She really wanted to meet Pliddy at some point, though.

Whistler stood up from the bean bag and began pacing as thoughts bubbled. "And you also make a really good point. We should totally market ourselves! You know, get some word of mouth, make people excited that we're out there and build a popularity, ideally one that exempts us from property damage. I mean... Karl, your name is on TV. Anything you so much as hip-check on the way to save a cat from a tree - no offense, BC - is going to land you in small claims court.

"And that doesn't begin to cover the charges for vigilantism we could end up with, or police mistaking us for the criminals and freaking right out with guns in their hands. Fun as it is outrunning danger, it puts a lot of people in harm's way, you know? I can shrug off a .45, Atlas probably can, Metro's made of metal, but Daydreamer and normal folks?" Whistler waggled her hand in the air in the universal gesture of 'Ehhhhhhhhhh.'

"Oh, and as for what I can do? Kind of a long list, but think human space heater. And flamethrower. And jet engine." She glanced up at the ceiling evasively, and dropped into sotto voce. "And I can heat parts of my body up so much that it melts through anything I touch, but diamonds are too expensive just to make sure 'anything' is accurate..." Dani sneered, recalling the exorbitant costs she and her friend Monica had been faced with just for the tungsten test.

Then a lightbulb went off in her head.

"Funny you mention it, the gangs already have - branding - Paragons of their own. I met one who called himself Vague, seemed like a nice enough guy until he wanted my help 'dealing with' a whole house of people who ran opposite his group. I backed out when I realized he had permanent intentions and he left when told him I wouldn't let him hurt anyone, but..." She shrugged. "It's really just a matter of time until other Paragons start cropping up and don't want to go feet-first into the superhero life like we do."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 03:42, Thu 27 Jan 2022.

"Yeah" Karl sighed regretfully. "There are going to be people who decide to use the power to do bad things, or people who already do them who just get a boost. Like I guess that guy Whistler met.

"I don't want to end up as a cop, but I guess sometimes it'll take one of us to stop one of us. Or, I guess a handful of us to stop one of us would make it easier. Yeah, us able to call each other in at least makes sense." Karl went ahead and gave out his number to whoever there didn't have it already. Even if they didn't have service hopefully they could still enter contacts at least.

"I've been wanting to set up something official, like with the city for them to call me in when I could help, but haven't gotten far yet. Volunteer, not taking orders or holding down regular hours, just help out when needed under their umbrella. Liability umbrellas too. Maybe with more we can make that happen faster, or maybe Mr. Mailbox has something in the works with reaching out to everyone through the parks.

"For the record, I don't know about the whole bulletproof thing, and don't really want to experiment with getting shot to find out. I haven't really had a chance yet to really test the limits of what I do know about much less check for other things."

This might go on for a while.

"Hey...just to be sure Daydreamer, Business Cat...this isn't like someplace that runs on different time is it? I have plans later I don't want to miss from some dimensional anomaly."

Lucas nods his head at regardless of what else it is being called he has dubbed Catbergh, "Glad you agree?"</in a slightly questioning tone. Lifting his hand to stare at it for a few moments, <seagreen>"I think I could probably survive a gunshot. Maybe a single one. My skin is a fairly thin layer of what I believe to be stainless steel." His eyes brighten the glow within them growing stronger then fading back to it's resting state, "Perhaps you need to ask for some Good Samaritan laws to be passed. Otherwise, yes if you go rescue a cat form a tree you are going to be sued for so much and for so long your grandchildren are going to owe money."

"For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction," Bex confirmed with a nod.  "So it just makes sense that, if we're here, there'll be others!  So we gotta find 'em and hug 'em and that way we'll be hugged equally!"

"Not ending up as an arm of the police makes sense.  I'm no cattorney at paw or anything, but limiting the liability while pursuing vigilantism will be tough.  Certainly worth looking into agreements with local prosecutors to ensure that, should a suit be brought, it can be dismissed."

To Karl's question about time, Bex shook her head.  "Some of my friends wanted to play a prank on you but I think that's mean.  Time works just the same here as out there.  You won't be late, unless you spend too much time in here, but that's true of anywhere.  Like, if you spent too much time in the library!"

The question of bulletproofness went right over Bex's head, and so she contented herself with batting a ball of yarn over at Business Cat, who kicked it back at her without missing a beat.

"Best way to limit liability is not to be identified, eh?" Whistler tapped the domino mask over her eyes, which hid precious little about her appearance. "That ship has sailed for Karl, sounds like it's at least leaving port for Daydreamer, but at least two of us are keeping it under the proverbial hat."

Dani recorded Karl's number in a cheap little burner phone, and then slapped her forehead. "Crap, I forgot to leave my note. I'll swing back by the park before I head to my mom's, no big deal."

Daydreamer's pure wholesome energy and shared yarn batting with Business Cat made Danielle smile big at both of them. "Hugs are a great first option, kiddo. We'll just, you know, keep rocket punching them into a wall in the ol' back pocket...

"Wait, have you guys really not tested out your own durability? First thing I did once I stopped jet-boosting myself across rooms, although that was a test in and of itself. Made it up to shotgun slugs, those left a mean bruise and broke the skin sometimes." She was totally matter-of-fact about it, as if letting someone fire a shotgun at her  just to see if she'd survive it wasn't absolute lunacy.

"Ok, thanks." Karl nodded to Becca's answer.

He shook his head at Whistler's question. "It's only been a few days for me. I haven't had a chance to test much of anything yet, but I'm getting more comfortable with the flying at least, and navigating around town. I didn't really plan to get shot at" or stung by bees "or stabbed, or whatever so I hadn't even planned on testing for that. Huh."

After a second,

"Wait, you didn't start with guns, right?"

Lucas shrugs "I did test it, but I both don't have easy access to a gun and testing your durability seems like the kind it is fine until you find your limit. Then it is blood and bones, or possibly in my case hydraulic fluid and metallic shards. Shotguns would probably shred me in this form."

"I tested my flexibility!  Because it's important to know your limits in yoga, so you don't accidentally hurt yourself!"  Bex smiled brightly, while Business Cat continued playing with the ball of yarn.

"Plidinous Vogue can open the portal as needed, but he can't travel through time.  Still, Rebecca has made it clear that this shall be open to you.  Just--"  He looked over at the daydreamer.  "Let's keep the doors around the office closed."

"I think this is a pretty cool clubhouse, right?  And we can figure out how we wanna, like... team up and do stuff!  Maybe a telegram group or something?  I'll make sure there's food here, too.  Chef Rumblesteak loves to cook!  He's a four star Michelin chef and everything!"

"I started by hitting the ground at about sixty miles an hour, fire coming out of me like a rocket launch to slow the freefall, with a burning parachute coming down on top of me," Dani shrugged. "Once you walk that off, knives and pistols don't seem that extreme, you know? Anyway, I've broken probably half the bones in my body between hobbies and work, so you could say I'm tough to dissuade. If either of you want to test your limits, I've got a pal who helped me learn mine.

"I'll admit, I've been meaning to get back into yoga. What's your screen name, Dreamer? I'll add your TikToks to my wakeup routine. And hell yeah, this is an awesome clubhouse! We should start a group text as soon as we're back in a service area, and maybe you can teach us how to ask Pliddy to open the door?" She gave the bright, joyful teen a big smile, and then cast a glance at Business Cat.

"Closed? Why, do you have important con-fur-ence calls? Big merger coming up with Halibut-on?" The grin on Whistler's face went so far beyond shit-eating that it defied description.

"Ok, let's avoid you and shotguns. Let's try to avoid anyone and shotguns if we can help it." Karl agreed, a little bothered by what Metro was saying about himself, that his metal transformation went deeper. He didn't have time to think if it was more or less disturbing than turning into bees.

"Well it's private, that can be a plus definitely when we need that." he nodded about the office/clubhouse.

"Holy cra-!" Karl started at Whistler's explanation. "You...erupted or something in the middle of a jump? OK, fair enough, unplanned tests still count I guess. Geez." Similar to his own experience, but on fire and not able to control her fall nearly as much. But she seemed to take it well, at least now. He both grinned and rolled his eyes at her cat/fish jokes, then chuckled at how much she obviously looked like she was appreciating her own humor.

"OK, this was good. Good to see you two again, nice to meet you Whistler, BC. Anyone need anything else right now? If not I think I'll step back out, then maybe go ahead and get a head start on Christmas Eve."

"Not from me. Ms. Whistler, I have a card for you." Lucas pats down his jacket and then reaches into it to pull out a card with a hand written number on it and stands somewhat awkwardly to hand it to her. "It is my burner number if you need to contact me. Daydreamer already has the number and can use it at any time."

Business Cat clicked his tongue and shot a clawed finger over at Dani.  "Exactly, Whistler.  This was a great meeting, but let's wrap it up and get the meeting notes published to the company slack.  Look, great talk everyone, really love the energy we're bringing to this environmeownt.  Sprout, give my love to Luna."

Getting up and stretching, Bex gave Business Cat a thumbs up.  "Will do!  Nice seeing you again!"  Turning to Dani, Bex beamed.  "I'm Daydreamer05!" she explained.  "You can always private message me, same as everyone else!  I'm really happy to help however I can."  To the question of getting Plidinous Vogue to open the portal, Bex didn't answer.  Whether it was an accident or intentional was anyone's guess.

"Thanks again, everyone.  Have an awesome day!  I'm gonna catch an uber!"  Cheerfully, Bex headed for the doors to the outside world, still represented by a pair of off-brand Trader Joe's sliding glass doors.

"I love Business Cat," Dani confided to Karl, Becca and Lucas as they were shooed out of the office by the formal feline financier. She took Metro's card and grinned. "Great! I'll shoot you a text off my own burner when we're outside so you'll have my number, too. I'll send one to Atlas, as well, and one of you guys send me Daydreamer's? Easy-peasy, all linked up and ready for super shit."

Dani headed for the doors after Becca, tossing everyone a little two-fingered salute. "It was great to meet you all! Metro, Atlas, offer stands: If you ever want to find out how bulletproof or fireproof you are, I'm your girl! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!"

Outside the Trader Joe doors, as long as things hadn't taken an unexpected turn, Dani put her folded note into the strange pillar slot and then headed away from the crowd, sending the quick 'It's Whistler!' texts as she had promised while she walked. With her other, nicer cell phone, she also found Daydreamer05 on TikTok and hit 'follow.'

Stepping outside to the real world, Lucas became determined to never do that again. "Have a good Christmas and New Year. I am still not going to shoot myself with a shotgun. At least not in this form. I have a Chrsitmas meal of my own to eat. We can meet again soon. Maybe first week of the new year?" Glancing around, Lucas began to head out and away.

"Great. Good deal." Karl left the office-stomach with the others, re-emerging in the park.

"Definitely, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year to all." It sounded like everyone had somewhere to go, presumably others to be with tomorrow. He finished exchanging whatever info was needed.

"I'll probably take you up on that sometime Whistler, but starting a lot slower than you did. Another concept to wrap my head around. Nice meeting you, good seeing the rest of you again." He thought of offering Becca a ride but figured her 'uber' was probably the teleporting gnome.

He pulled out his phone to confirm Whistler's text and to see if he had any other messages coming through after the time in the Stomach Zone.

Hanging out for another minute while others departed, if no one else approached him Karl would take off, head home, text Steph and get ready for heading over to his Dad's for Christmas Eve.

The gathered crowd films the quartet from a healthy distance as they emerge from the strange doors and go their separate ways.

Move back to individual threads.