So the flag game is over, then? Just checking!

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 176):

You do a quick calculation.

You can turn in flags until 4:01 PM.  You still have three and a half hours.

A quick check on the scanner shows 28 flags still outstanding.

You can still win this.

Well then! I'm still not in a hurry, because I have, quite literally, as much time as I need.

"Time to get serious, I suppose," I say, nonchalantly.

If Ahina wants to keep tagging along, I'll take her. I don't plan on doing anything superfluous, though.

Step 1: Go to nearest active flag.

Step 2: Pop into real time, steal flag, pop out of real time.

Step 3: Repeat 27 times.

Step 4: Win.

I have little doubt in my ability to win, as long as I keep on track. Focus and persistence. How many thousands of hours have I spent practicing, honing, and mastering my powers? Even then, there is more to learn and improve.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 178):

Things go well at first.  By flag 10 though, you notice the number of available flags is starting to dwindle more than your activity alone would explain.

Ahina frowns.  "Adam took two more flags.  I don't see how.  But that's okay!

"You got 37 right now.  He's got 36.  So as long as he doesn't take anymore, you got this!"

And he doesn't seem to.  You snag up the remaining 16 flags without any effort.

As you slap them down on the tag desk, the lady behind the counter nods.  "That puts you in the lead.  And we haven't had any new entries.  Looks like you'll be our winner."

Ahina claps while bouncing around on her heels.

I feel smug about winning. Of course, I knew I would. The Hammer's daughter never loses, and neither does Clockstopper's. What was the point, though, other than winning? I glance at Ahina. My expression is neutral, but I feel a little happier knowing I could share the activity with someone who might be called a friend.

I make sure to thank the desk lady and tell her to have a good day, then I wander off with Ahina.

"Well, we did what I wanted to do. Anything you're particularly interested in?"

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 180):

She glances at the clock on her phone.

"I'd kinda like to watch the chess match if you don't mind.  But that's not until later.  You hungry?  We could get something to eat.  Oh!  And didn't you want to see that exhibit?"

"I could eat," I reply, off-handed. That's true almost all the time, but I'm sure Ahina knows that.

"If you don't have any preference, let's go see what Louise wanted, then we'll get some lunch and check out the chess game. The museum will be open after that and, if not, eh, the Internet is a thing."

I start to head that-a-way, back towards Louise and the carnival games.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 182):

There are a number of food trucks.  Falafels.  Kebabs.  Fried Rice.  In fact, if something can be fried, one of the food trucks will fry it for you.

You find Louise near a Whack-A-Mole game.  She's gotten the high score.

"Oh!  There you are.  Was wondering if I might have scared you off."

She gives you a big grin.

Waving her hand at the row of booths, she says, "Let's play a game.  But it'd be boring if it was something we could both use our powers on.  So what about one of these."

She gives you two choices.

One game is a string pull.  There are a large mass of strings bundled together, each with one end tied to some kind of prize or booby prize. You can only pull one string.  One who gets the better prize wins.

The other game is skee ball.  It seems to be a fairly pedestrian version of the game.

Oooh, kebabs. I wasn't allowed to have street food at home, which made sense, I suppose, since we do have a chef. I get some falafel and kebab and offer to pay for Ahina's, if she wants some. I'm not even sure if I'll like the stuff, but it smells good.

"I didn't think you'd like carnival games," I say to her, as part of a response. "Good whomping."

I impassively munch on roast chicken when Louise jabs at me.

Deadpan, I reply, "Oh no. Oh dear. Louise has a hammer. Run away. Run awaaaaay." Then I playfully stick out my tongue at her.

"I'll go a few rounds, then we're gonna watch the human chess match and maybe check out the museum. Ahina, you wanna play?"

I've never played either of the carnival games Louise is interested in. The skee-ball game seems more fun overall, but the spontenaity of the string game also appeals. I opt for the skee-ball game because it involves a skill I can improve, even if luck is still the major factor.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 184):

I'm assuming you the player know how to play skee ball.  If not, let me know.

The skee ball game seems to be on the up and up.  You both use the same machine and, because Ahina has never played it, you each get a practice game in.

The section with the holes is netted off.  Tinkering with the balls after the are rolled up the ramp would require moving and replacing the net each time.  Not impossible for either you or Louise.  But problematic.

Of course, with your strength, it's more a matter of how soft you roll the ball as opposed to how hard you roll it.

If Sera wants to cheat, let me know how she does it.  If not, let's leave it to luck. Choose five numbers, each number one to ten.  We'll leave it to luck after that.

Let me know if there are questions.  Thanks.

I didn't know how to play skee-ball, but I looked it up.

My first few tosses are way past the mark, coming over the ball jump at 90 miles an hour and flying up way into the air. The third miss of that kind is on purpose; it makes me giggle. I use my time stopping powers to grab the runaway balls before they hit anybody.

Of course, I plan to play the game fairly and according to the rules. The rules of the game do not, in fact, exist to be broken; the rules are the game.

I pick 3,6,9,9,2.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 186):

Loved the line 'the rules are the game'. Nice touch

If the whole meta thing doesn't work out for you, you might have a career in skee ball.  You don't manage to score the 100 point goal.  But you get three 40 points, one 30 point goal, and one 50 point goal.

Ahina gives you the usual clap.  She manages to get one 100 point goal.  The rest of hers are 10s.

Louise gets four 40s and a 30.  She sighs.  "Close but no cigar huh?  Well.  That's the way the skee ball bounces."  She gives you one of her crocodile smiles.

"Good game.  Thanks for playing.  I hope you'll give me the chance for a rematch sometime."

Thanks! ^_^

I win! Yes!

Er, I mean, of course I win.

Seraphina Martel always wins.

And yet, I can't show emotion in front of Louise. That's how you reveal your weaknesses and get stabbed in the back. I wonder, as I have many times before, why my mother is so adamant about maintaining a cold exterior, a mask of perfect composure. Very few of the big-name powers do that; most affect or even actually have bombastic personalities.

I nod at Louise. "Apparently so."

i make a decision to try to make friends with her. Again.

"You wanna come with us to watch the chess match or see the museum?"

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 188):

"I saw the museum already.  Thanks.  But...you are going to the chess match?  I'd be interested in watching it.  You have my cell right?  Let me know where you sit and I'll join you."

Louise studies you a moment, that smile still on her lips.  "Were you thinking of joining the Dragons too?"

I nod at her. "Yeah, sure. That's the plan. I'll call you if it goes through."

To answer her question about joining the Magical Girl Justice Club, I make a complicated gesture with my right hand and say, deadpan, "The rooster crows at midnight."

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 190):

Ahina looks confused but Louise just laughs.  "Alright then.  Happy crowing."

After Louise moves off, Ahina pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  "Uhmm...you mind if I ask what you meant about the rooster?  I hope you'll join too!"

I check my phone to see if we have time to look at the museum exhibits before the cheese match. That is, of course, a rather silly thing for me to do, and I catch myself halfway through reading the time.

"Let's see if we can get some good seats for the game."

I pull Ahina outside time to go towards the "arena."

As we walk, I say, "With great power comes great perks. Anyway, the rooster thing, it's a line from a video game. Kind of a classic at this point: Overwatch. One of the characters says it. It sounded appropriately cryptic for a quote unquote secret club. And then, you know, hand signals."

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 192):

Ahina laughs.  "Oh!  Sorry! I never got much of a chance to play games."  She looks a little uncomfortable for a moment and then grins.  "But it's like a really cool line!  I'm gonna have to think of when I can use it."

The chess match is still far enough way that you can pretty much get seats wherever you want.  You can sit midboard, towards the black side of the board, and towards the white side.

There's still some time before the match starts.  So seeing the exhibits, even without going grayscale, is possible.

"I dunno about cool, but if you think so, then go for it."

After seeing that we have plenty of time to get good seats for the chess game, I head on over to the museum. Along the way, I say, "I've not played many video games either. I watched people stream them on my phone. I'm probably going to be a terrible student and play games all the time here. My parents were pretty strict. Are pretty strict."

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 194)

"Oh cool!  Lemme play too!  That'd be great!"  Ahina really seems hyped about it.

The museum building is small but appears to be just that:  a museum.  Marble lions are perched on the steps leading up to the front doors.

The rotunda inside has a smaller version of the statue on the square.  Saint George and the Dragon.  The princess is missing from this one though.

There are three exhibits.

Great Metas of WWII:  East Annex Floor 1

History of Genetic Mutation:  Upper Floor

One Hundred Years of Magic:  The Story of Rigney Entertainment  West Annex

"I only brought my laptop, but maybe there's a game lounge on campus somewhere..."

I trail off, thinking about that possibility.

"Why do you think this statue doesn't have the princess like the statue in the main plaza does?" I ask Ahina, as I head for the History of Genetic Mutation exhibit.

I prefer hard sciences to history and stuff like that. Or do I? Sometimes I wonder if that's not a lie I tell myself to feel less guilty for being part of the elite by birth.

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 196):

Ahina only glances at the statue and shrugs.  "Space maybe?  It does take up a lot of the room as it is. Besides.  Who really needs her?  It's a story about a guy killing a dragon right?"

The Mutation exhibit is laid out in a rectangle.  The first leg covers general level biology stuff.  What is a gene.  What is a mutation.  Ahina looks bored and you can probably agree.

The second leg is where things get interesting.  It starts with the infamous Nazi, Soviet, and US experiments of the 1940s and 50s.  The 'science' back then was more torture and less experiments.  There are short films about the 'Moth Man' experiments conducted in New Jersey by the CIA, the Russian Sleep Experiment, and of course all the atrocities done to the Jews and Gypsies by SS.

Ahina shakes her head.  "How wasteful.  They could have just grown clones and experimented on them you know.  They had the tech back then."

I fiddle with the end of one of my braids as we look around. "I think there's something more to it. The knight and the dragon fight over the princess; they're only present and using their powers because of the princess. I think the faculty wants metas to understand that true power is subtle and mostly held by baselines."

I am, in fact, bored by the basic exhibits. I also knew about the Moth Man and the German pogroms, as well as the associated horrors. The Soviet Sleep Experiment, though, is new to me. Sometimes I wonder what it was like for my parents' generation, growing up with a national enemy like the Soviets. Did it unify people or tear them apart? It seems like ancient history to me. So much has already been erased from the records of the time, whether by accident or on purpose.

"They did? You mean the Germans? I didn't know they had cloning technology. That does make more sense of the supposedly impossible escape of Hitler from Berlin and the South American Reich, though."

In reply to Seraphina Martel (msg # 198):

Ahina glances at you, blinking.  She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose.  "Whaddya mean?  You've never heard of Quarto Perfeito?"

It's Portugese for "Perfect Room".  But beyond that...

Ahina nods.  "They're a group based out of Rio de Janeiro. Blonde hair.  Blue eyes. Not a single unmodified gene among them.  Direct descendents of Nazi refugees.  Supposedly you can't be an officer in their organization without some Hitler DNA spliced in.  I'm kinda surprised you've never heard of them.  Every few years, they try to take over some country down in South America."

I will leave it up to you whether Seraphina has heard of them or not.

"No, I haven't heard of that."

I peer at the map of South America, circa 1955. The whole continent, except Chile and Argentina, are colored dark grey. Greater New Germany.

"Everybody knows about the Storm Soldiers and the Nazi genetic experimentation, but I didn't know about the cloning. Do you think people are still cloned? It's supposed to be illegal everywhere, but you know how humans are."

Selfish, fundamentally, and the worst people are willing to do anything to have more power. The Nazis never actually managed to form the Fourth Reich, as far as I know, but the map reflects their ambitions. It's from one of the Brazilian Nazi Party's clandestine meetings that was broken up during a brief period where being a Nazi was directly illegal in most places.

"Maybe you can tell me more about the cloning thing. Now or later. There's a lot I don't know," I say, as I look at the pictures of the Soviet experiments.