Digging the worldbuilding, MoG. Thanks, re: California details. I think it would be neat if the Innocent grew up in territory that’d been claimed (at one point) by Steel Caudillo, maybe at the time the Innocent and their team of superheroes were initially getting into trouble there was an old, defunct giant robot head from one of Steel Caudillo’s incursions that had been gutted of all useful tech and left derelict in the Hollywood hills or something, but that’s where they hung out sometimes. This is a totally irrelevant potential detail.

I like the idea of their team having been just a group made up of young superheroes who butt heads w/ the American government as they try to stay independent because it would effectively underscore the “Wait, I become YOU? No way!” theme w/ the Innocent playbook even more.

Perhaps “in the past,” The Innocent was essentially the Nova (I like the telepathic/telekinetic suite for the Innocent; it’s classic, the emphasis can be skewed more toward the telepathy/mind stuff, but this way also >.> maybe can grab the McGuffin or operate the Teleporty thing or manage to *seem* to fly for short periods of time or to jump really high or whathaveyou) blended with the Janus with a lot of Good Normal Kid responsibilities as child of a judge. And the rest of the team of kids included—well. Ideally, I think it’d be fun to work out some echoes w/ other players, like, if somebody is an experiment, maybe one of the Innocents’ teammates was The Brain and involved in that.

But barring brainstorming with somebody else, I think the playbooks represented by the team coooould be Delinquent, Protegé or Legacy, Outsider, annnnd—the Bull. Thinking in playbooks helps. Names, powers, personalities, etc., to come. Perhaps later today, when I post up my Doomed concept.

Glad that faulty teleportation works for the time travel! I’m a fan of unintended consequences for desperate actions. And yes! Present day self as liaison between American superheroes and New Atlantis: exactly what I want. Lots of scope for ties with present day mystery and I love a Cold War plot.

As far as the Big Question goes, why are there two of them now? My thoughts so far. I want the Innocent to be kept in the dark by their Future Self as to whether or not Future Self starts getting updated memories or has always known about this little foray into the future. I don’t think the Innocent is determined to go back to the past: gotta keep the McGuffin away from the past, after all. But seeing their Future Self, and such a Not What I Wanted version, would assail them with uncertainty. I imagine when Future Self and Innocent meet, Future Self would seem surprised—perhaps—but also be utterly impenetrable re: what happened. Maybe Future Self would imply to the Innocent that they’re just an anomaly from a doomed AU. Whether AU has anything to do with it at all? I think that would be up to the story, what feels most interesting/right for the other plot threads. Maybe Future Self believes it, too. But the incident with the faulty teleporter—maybe the Future Self has a different memory of what happened there, or no memory at all…

More thoughts on the old team, this character's actual name, and another concept to come...

I love the head-base, even if it has little chance of showing up in the game. Hell, you never know...

Can always leave the old team vague for now and flesh it out further once we have a (new) team for this character. Then again, wouldn't hurt to have some ideas in advance.

Nova is... interesting. I suppose the implication is that the Future Self gained more control while likely growing even more powerful, but what about the Innocent? Were they weakened? Or are they just a lot more careful, and better at it, following the incident?

Also, so you are suggesting the Future Self is actually a version of the Innocent from another timeline? Or thinks the Innocent escaped from there?

I think that being a very accomplished superhero might inure one to surprises a bit, though maybe not to that one.

It occurs to me that both of them having telepathic abilities also creates a tempting possibility - for either of them - to try and plumb the other's memories... Tempting, but very risky for the same reason.

Thanks! It captured my fancy, so I had to share, even though it’s not really relevant to the present. I would be gung-ho for an adventure to the Mainland and the head-base one day, though. :grin:


Right. Can always had more old team members, too, if it seems useful to the story. Okay, lessee, some ideas. The old team, defending independence, hanging out in a leftover scrap of a supervillain’s weapon—just a bunch of local kids...

...Mateo García, the unofficial leader. The protégé. Orphan of war, raised his uncle the owner of the oldest theater (still standing) in Los Angeles. This uncle gets put on trial for Unamerican thinking / treachery a few times but is never arrested and that’s how Mateo and the Innocent first met, kids playing at the courthouse. Some tension at school which eventually became friendship.

The Delinquent: all about the witty banter, maybe named the team. Lucy? Low Road or Last Chance or Ace; can’t decide on a darned name. Free advice dispenser. Underground ZINE creatrix. Redistributor-of-resources. Older sibling had been conscripted into a child army, returned after the end of the war, no attention for Lucy, so - Lucy started acting out. Maybe fused with some sort of supertech at some point? but either way: gadgets and mayybe power negation were how they operated. And that's it for my 'old team' ideas right now.



Ah! No, I was suggesting that the Future Self (perhaps Future Self's name is Paragon? I like the idea of autocratic morally gray-trending-black superhero liaison's name being something that underscores the idea of perfection and mastery) thinks the Innocent came from another timeline. I'm not quite sure I think what would make the more interesting story: that Paragon remembers everything the Innocent is about to go through and do and is just keeping quiet about it, implying that the Innocent totally finds a way "back," or that Paragon doesn't remember and so thinks that the Innocent's arrival heralds bad news / the branching out of another timeline / some timey wimey stuff.



Oh yeah, part of the reason telepathy seems like it would be cool for the Innocent, you know? A lot of scope for hiding and revealing and testing oneself (past and future). Would Future Self/Paragon refrain because the thought of feeling the way they used to is too painful? Because they want this version of themself, however it got here, to have a shot at an easier/happier teenhood? At least, to begin with... And would the Innocent just assume they (she? I am leaning more towards a she, but still unsure) could predict what their future self was going to do? Be way too recoil-y from what they've become? Or have actually tried to read their future self and found that their more powerful self effortlessly blocked them? So much fuel for thought.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:00, Sun 25 July 2021.

Lucy may have stumbled upon some Cylien tech. Some of it has been known to "convert" people.

My own idea for the Future Self's name was Vigilance (as in "the price of liberty"; obviously, they know where liberty ends and the necessary sacrifices begin, and no one else does; also goes well with the mind-reading and the current role). Up to you, though.

I also think that quite what they think the Innocent is may change over time. After all, at first, it's just someone who looks like you did when you were younger, and claims to be the same person. Maybe it's a temporal clone... but absent a strong reason to think otherwise, an experienced superhero in this world might as well assume it is a clone or a robot or... Well, obviously it merits further investigation to make sure.

Or maybe they do know and won't tell, because it's better that way. They know best.

Cool, re: Lucy and Cylien tech. More vague ideas for the "old team," an Outsider or Transformed who couldn't easily blend into daily life. Sure, all the heroes were in danger of having their independence taken, but for the Outsider or Transformed, a harder time blending in/flying under the radar... which could have led to some interesting challenges down the road. The Outsider could have initially been placed on Earth to monitor the post-WWIII Dark situation, then been stranded following a wave of paranoid purges of certain kinds of heroes/aliens. If going with the Outsider, maybe their name was Glam Rock and they could alter their appearance using alien tech or natural shapeshifting to mostly fit in, but something can't quite be changed. I think I saw another potential player considering a cool-sounding Nomad w/ a connection an alien race? Might be neat IF that PC exists for this old teammate to have had a connection to that alien race too (if not actually being part of them).

(Admittedly, this concept kind of sounds like a fun PC too...!)



Ha! Funnily enough, the two other names I was kicking around for Future Self were Vigilance or Verdict... so I do actually really like Vigilance, so I'm happy to go with that. I hadn't connected it to that quote,

For the Innocent's current-self name, I'm kicking around: Insight, The Minervan, Zener, Know-It-All, Steel Trap (as in "Mind like a"), Puzzlebox, Kid Enigma... Maybe their birth name is, hrm. Purely-just-typing-names-out-to-see-how-they-feel: Natalie? ("Nat") Eleanor? ("Elin" or "Nora" or "Nell")  Alexandra ("Alex")? Regina ("Reggie")? Think I'm going 'she.'



Yesssssssssss. How fun! Yesyes. More thoughts: The Innocent knows one step of Future Self's dark path to start out with and I think the playbook is implying this is something they found out since coming to the future, maybe via sleuthing, though I suppose Future Self could've dropped the knowledge in their first meeting or so. (Ooh, Wondersleuth, Marvelsleuth, Sleuth Marvelous... the name brainstorming never stops.) But for this Innocent, maybe the step they found out about is Future Self betraying the Outsider/Transformed, or losing Manuel (even publicly battling Manuel's Mentor, since Manny was the protege? Or some other established hero that the Innocent really looked up to?). Or maybe the Innocent finds out that they wiped the minds of some true innocents, something representative of the scarier / more ominous aspects of who Vigilance is now, something that's really hard for the Innocent to believe.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:59, Sun 25 July 2021.

That alien race relied on the representatives of many alien races for its protection... so that makes it even more likely that there is some connection.

It seems entirely likely that space aliens, except certain known quantities, would be rounded up (on both sides of the Iron Curtain, really). For everyone's safety including their own, of course, as well as for study to make sure that they would be safe to release. Eventually. And why not look at what makes them tick and whether we can artificially replicate their natural abilities while we're at it...

Shapeshifters in particular are absolutely going to set off alarm bells, and not just for the authorities. On the other hand, in a Cold War environment, they would be prime candidates for ability imitation research. So if you ever meet a shapeshifter with the same tell...

Anyway, how do you think she'll find those things out? I suppose those could have been fairly high-profile events (the superhero confrontation at least), in which case she might as well read about them or see them mentioned on TV at some point. The mindwipe seems like something she might notice by accident when peeking into someone's head for reasons before spotting some give-away sign of her own ability. Not sure if that is what I'd start with, though - it might be more interesting to find any of the more drastic present-day steps during play.

Are you still planning to suggest other characters, or have you decided to focus on this one?

I'm still planning on suggesting another, although probably only one more, because I rather like the Innocent/all the history/all the potential for exploration and angst. That said, I also still like the idea of digging into the setting of New Altantis w/ a character who's a hardcore local/has a lot of local "New Atlantis" pride, very "I'll show you guys around" or "Yeah, I think it's time to shake things up here," so stay tuned.

Will reply to the rest later!

Yes, with all that said about the rounding up, I really like the idea of an Outsider on the old team. The Outsider's plight might have been one of the rallying points for the old team, kids determined to be independent and do 'what's right,' so that could be a point of contention later on for the Innocent.

I do agree it's probably more interesting to learn the more drastic steps of her growing up to be Vigilance IC. Right now, I'm sort of playing around with the idea that when she finds herself on New Atlantis, one of the first things she does is try a communicator one of the others had made for the team (perhaps Manuel, as the protege). Maybe it doesn't work at first, so she has to figure out how to power it, meets someone who's all 'Oh this is an antique' and whips it into working condition. Maybe when it turns on, an old ally of the old team answers, maybe someone whose contact with Future Self is totally severed because they don't want to be arrested/put on any lists, and that interaction reveals one of the steps to a dark future. Or maybe when it turns on, Vigilance herself is notified somebody's using the old coms, and how convenient, on New Atlantis, and so she comes looking...

Now I'm thinking I might want to focus on the Innocent after all. I really like the Cold War stuff, and the contrast between now and then. I've narrowed her names down from my list to Insight or The Minervan (although I think another player wants the first name for an NPC, so I'm flex since I'm still indecisive), w/ Penny as the civilian name (short for Penelope) (maybe based on the phrase Penny for your thoughts >.>). I'll work on gathering answers to all the questions we've worked through + answering the playbook questions over the next day or so.

--

BUT the other idea I've been thinking a little about over the last couple days: Child of a VP or PR head for one of the corporations in New Atlantis. Maybe even Storm Petrel Adaptations if a PR person? This character would be born and raised on New Atlantis, maybe the Beacon. They really, really don't have to do any heroing, and their natural talent is minimal, but they're living in a place of wonder and connected to all this wonder, so... Why not, right?

That said, first gut-instinct is Delinquent with a sort-of New Yorker/reformer attitude about New Atlantis. Full of local pride and love it, but they think that people are getting complacent, so they secretly publish super-related underground zines try to show the world what it means to be a REAL New Atlantean hero. They'd be a total smartass, maybe rebelling against their family. Very much a mischief and mayhem type. I like the idea of the Delinquent having the ability to call up illusions - not yet sure what the source of the power would be, but I'm thinking something more sorcery-orientated than techno - along with a power negation ability (stolen from the corporation one of their parents works for? Perhaps their parents are divorced, and they live with the one whose chosen to open a penny arcade near the 'slums'?).

Thoughts? Feedback?
This message was last edited by the player at 23:49, Tue 27 July 2021.

Don't forget to define the McGuffin!

Also don't forget that when the team came together, the Innocent and the rest of the team worked against the future self's plans in some way. Obviously it's too early to do that stage now, but food for thought as far as pre-game encounters with Vigilance go.

---

A character with connections to New Atlantis' wealthy elites would certainly be interesting to have, as would one that is somewhat opposed to them.

I am curious about the power source. I doubt that most corporations have made much headway on mastering magic - it's pretty elusive by nature, which makes it hard to use consistently enough for market needs. That said, if anyone has had any success there, Storm Petrel Adaptations are likely to be it. They or their rivals may have stashed away artefacts that they have tried and failed to understand, as well. So perhaps the Delinquent stole one or two of those. Or maybe they just touched one - and it unlocked... something. Plenty of options there, including (off the top of my head) the partial reawakening of a long-forgotten and weakened trickster god (whether earthly, alien, or cosmically transcendent).

On a sidenote, being a PR person for SPA would be a... special experience. The boss is seemingly allergic to trying to whitewash his image - granted, that might be a pragmatic decision since doing so would be likely to backfire. On the other hand, he is keen to 1) promote his genuinely very useful inventions and 2) seek out any opportunities to embarrass the authorities and superheroes by helping them. The more people know, the better. It's unclear whether it's a strategy or just a game to him, but either way it places a lot of constraints on PR, as does his unpredictable meddling in it. Some people might, in theory, thrive in this sort of pressure, but the strain is undeniable and would presumably spread to the entire family.

Also, Ignatiev would absolutely keep an eye out for any of the usual signs of superpeople among his employees or their families. Being law-abiding these days limits his ability to spy on them explicitly, and besides, he mostly isn't a bad boss (as far as most employees know, and unless you're in PR). Even so, he has his ways.

Oh yes. I have some vague thoughts of cool secret anti-Vigilance stuff for the team, but of course it depends on what the team looks like.

Though that brings up a question. Are there proper embassies on New Atlantis? And are they 'governed' by different laws than the rest of New Atlantis? Like, is diplomatic immunity a thing?

In working on the questions, first thing that's springing to mind for How is your future self the embodiment of a future you never wanted? is "Oh, my future self? The hero Sellout? Wait, she calls herself 'Vigilance'? Clearly doesn't live up to her name because you'd think she could see the GIGANTIC error of her manipulative-sneaky-amoral-doesn't-care-about-people ways! Or ...I could? See the error I mean. It's a little hard to take. I don't think there's any way that I'd grow up so broody and cold and wrong. I'm usually so RIGHT about things! And working for the Man? Here in this super rad utopia, she's working for Them?! The ones who want to keep superheroes under control and oh well for individual rights and independence and privacy which yes I know I'm a telepath who can control people's minds so privacy is hard but there's still a line you don't cross and we always knew that and it's like we don't stand for--I mean, she doesn't--uh, I don't stand for--...BAH! It's like she doesn't believe people can be good?? I just don't understand what happened. Good hair though. I can never get mine so straight. It's probably weighed down with all the betraying she does... She seems sort of sad too. I don't want to grow up to be someone who's sad and scary and a sellout."

The McGuffin will be defined! as much as Mysterious McGuffins ever are.

--

I figured that somebody working PR for SPA would have a high stress/difficult job, since they'd be dealing with previous reputation + trying to ... yes, everything you said. Feels like the family situation would occasionally motivate the PC to jump one way or another, just so they don't get their parent in trouble. This here "seek out any opportunities to embarrass the authorities and superheroes by helping them. The more people know, the better" sounds like it would actually fall somewhat in line with the Delinquent's motivations, which might be interesting story down the line. I rather like the idea of partially awakening or being 'chosen by' some cosmically transcendant spirit of mischief/trickery.

What sort of school system does New Atlantis have? Is it modelled after the American or British or Other system? Is there more than one university?

More thoughts later, just darting in and out.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:20, Wed 28 July 2021.

Embassies, diplomatic immunity, etc. exist. I suspect Vigilance is almost certainly attached to one, officially. So are various spies to embassies from both sides of the Iron Curtain. So is her opposite number.

Re: education, I think "American school system" may work as a base, though there are differences, both local and borrowed from other systems. I'm not sure on what all of them are right off the bat, though. There are certainly private schools with peculiar emphases of their own as well. One thing that comes to mind is that there is a higher emphasis on languages. I imagine most schools make at least a token effort at teaching Spanish, French and English, and others may offer more. History is more likely to be world history, if only because there isn't much in the way of a national one yet. As a general rule, there are fewer disciplinarian tendencies and more encouragement of individual creativity... though that is a very general rule - schools will vary, especially private ones.

There is at least one university I know of now, the Salamon House (named partly after this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon%27s_House and partly after Professor Salamon, a very accomplished scholar of the Super Age and known associate of the Guiding Lights). It is a public university, but very independent in spirit and governance, as well as heterodox and varied in its interests. In addition to the Guiding Lights, it works closely with ATLAS and with various big-picture supers. There are surely others as well, probably geared towards some more specific goals. Feel free to make one.

EDIT: And yes, Ignatiev does have a somewhat delinquent-like mentality at times. I can see him being somewhat favourably disposed towards someone like that, or at least being on the same wavelength. Then again: cold-blooded supervillain turned businessman with inscrutable agenda. His approval might be troubling.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:03, Wed 28 July 2021.

Just caught it, but Manuel and Mateo are the same character, right?

Also yeah, best not to use Insight since another prospective player already has dibs on that for a mentor. The Minervan, then? I wonder if the name is reflected in her costume in any way. I somehow doubt she'd go full classical or owl-themed, but still.

Whoops, yes. Mateo/Manny = same character. I can only blame my indecision with naming, which goes until something suddenly feels right. I think I'm sticking with Mateo.

And yes, probably the Minervan! Something a little out of another time and "classic" feels like a good fit for the Innocent. I imagine her costume would be an obvious throw-back, something just a little dissonant. Different color palate, perhaps.

--

Here are some further thoughts on the Delinquent. “Audacity,” as in, the sheer audacity of that kid, or "Disruption," for personality + power reasons. Aka Lilou Achard. A rabble-rouser and dare-devil, maybe a bit of a speed freak, very jealous of superspeedy supers. In a trying to straddle both worlds move I'm thinking she has some connections to both the muckity mucks and the living just above the poverty line (as far as that goes in New Atlantis, anyway), which makes her feel like an outsider in both social circles. She used to go to private school, but she got kicked out, or as her mother has decided to spin it "after much research and thought it became evident that more engaging opportunities were to be had in a less rarefied environment" and goes to a perfectly good public school.

Her parents are: Sylvie Achard. PR Director for Storm Petrel Adaptations. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, quick-witted and ambitious, work before family but she loves them but work first. Izsak Makovecz. Former architect, current disappointment to his social class er eccentric wreck but okay father. There might be a sibling. Parents came to New Atlantis; Makovecz, invited by Dame Illustrious to help build it up. Achard, to take advantage of new opportunities. When Lilou was still relatively young, they split. The rather unique pressures of Sylvie’s work were bleeding into family life, same ol’ story. Big blow up resulted in Makovecz basically stomping out of their marriage, giving all his wealth to charity and heading to the slums, where he’d formerly poured philanthropic efforts. I'm thinking the couple publically divied up custody in a harmonious arrangement, but actually the kids (perhaps Lilou has a sibling) were split up and mostly stayed with Iszak.

I like the idea of her stealing some artefact from SPA or one of their rivals. I'm envisioning this happening at some sort of world fair but New Atlantis party, or even less obvious just some corporate espionage-laden social gathering which her mother decided to bring her to, both because it was advantageous to show off her maternal side such as it is and because she thought Lilou would get something out of it. Maybe socializing with the New Atlantis equivalent of "the cool kids" (aka the rich kids). Lilou ditched out and wound up finding a secret room behind a mirror. Perhaps she had a friend in tow, someone who kept saying they shouldn't be doing this. But that's the way to get Lilou to 'do this.' More thoughts on artefact, what it did to her (or seemed to do to her), and how she handled that later.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:41, Sat 31 July 2021.

I like it so far. Would want to see more before I comment at length. The "both worlds" thing is a great angle for a Delinquent, though, and having a sibling would work great as well.

Don't forget to do the backstory questions! For either character.

Thanks for the reminder! I've been working on both, just really quite slammed by work. But today I had a chunk of time, so here's the Innocent's stuff. Comment away. A lot of the details, names, etc., I tried to leave open for potential hooks and/or messing with, the biggest question mark of these being the Eidolon Abstraction.

I will still try and get more stuff up about Lilou!

--

Playbook: The Innocent
Name: Natalie Penisor, "Penny"
Super Name: Reverie (I decided this matched 'Vigilance' better than The Minervan, as much as I like the latter, and I wanted more connection/inheritance between the names)
Original Time Period: very end of and post-WWIII, late 1970s, early 1980s, The Second Cold War
Powers: Telepathy, Mind Control, Telekinesis

Who or what brought you to the present? Note: this answer is the only one in second person, just because!

You’d found out about the underground re-education and detention center. Powered individuals who didn’t want to become assets were disappearing from the area and you were pretty sure you’d found where they were being taken. It wasn’t completely clear whether the center was villain- or government-run but a rescue’s a rescue. Your team of independent-minded, idealistic do-gooders jumped at the chance for some liberation.

Turns out a facility literally meant for the containment of supers with a variety of superpowers has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. You guys were starting to think you were in way over your head. One of the supers you rescued actually led your team into a trap and the fortress closed around you like a fist, metaphorically-speaking. Luckily, afterwards you found the secret room with the teleporters. Lucky Break figured out how to make one work just as the bad guys’ minions started busting in the door.

You’ve thought about the next moments so often they’re beginning to lose their shape.

As the Quick’s molten aura kindled around his feet and he prepared to use his speedspeed to do improbable things—
As Glam Rock carefully put their aviators away, revealing the tattletale shimmer of their alien eyes, and shifted into their Terrorform—
As Lucky Break flipped switches and said, “Gate’s operational but don’t know for how long we’ve gotta move it people. Somebody’s going to have to go first.”

Of course it was you. From a logistical stand-point, if you kept your mental link up you should be able to immediately let them know if the machine worked or not no need to rely on the WhisperLine tech. You’ve been accused of jumping too quickly into danger even though you’re technically the least invulnerable. The Quick once joked that if he hadn’t been Doc Mercury’s protégé he’d’ve had to develop superspeed anyway just to make sure enough pillows were there in time to break your fall.

“Me me me,” you sang.
“Coordinates set to Ozymandias. Prepare a cheese plate for everybody, why don’t you? We wanna be fuckin' hospitable.”
“There's already a cheese plate in the fridge,” you said.
“Thatta girl.” Lucky Break smiled.

As you stepped through—

But first Asha stopped you. Back when the team found Asha's cell it wasn’t clear she was going to make it. She sure didn’t think she was going to but you knew she was desperate not to die in her cage. You were determined to make sure that didn't happen. You remember sharing a look with the other telepath, another rescue. You like being around other psychics. The rest of the team is great, but there's something about telepathy that makes it hard to talk about with those who don't have it. Even though Asha looked like the living person equivalent of a ransacked house, Asha refused to let Glam Rock try to heal her, specifically scorning the techniques of Glam’s race. Asha and Glam Rock had a moment. Seemed to know one another. “Don’t ask,” Glam said, sadly.

But now Asha was pressing something into your hand and whispering its name and why it was important and to keep it away from here. You told her she'd see it again soon. She begged you not to open it and said she trusted you and then you stepped through the gate.

The world went on pause. The scene in the lab went slow motion: your friends, their enemies, the rescues--one second stretched out over many, the Quick looked like he was moving at a normal pace, and it was eerie. You gave him a jaunty salute. The thing you were clutching in your fist which you still hadn’t looked at made a small sound. You swear it made a sound, even if it’s never made another since. Light bloomed outward from the edges of the gate like ice crystals writ large. You remember thinking 'This might have been a bad idea' and then worrying that maybe you projected that thought along the link.

You wonder sometimes if the teleporter exploded and that’s what you were seeing: the explosion, crawling across the ‘window.’ Then there was a crack; the world shoved you sideways.

The next thing you know, you’re in New Atlantis picking yourself out of a pile of boxes you've knocked over. You don’t know you’re in New Atlantis yet, but it doesn’t take too long for you to figure out that you’re way off course


When did you first meet your future self?

Just so you know, once I realized I was in 2001 the first thing I decided was to NOT look myself up just in case that messed everything up. Also, um. I didn’t want to find out that I didn’t exist and nobody’d heard of me because that would have been way demoralizing. But in the process of trying to get help, I kinda tried to raise the old team on the WhisperLine. The WhisperLine is a com link Mat’s mentor set us up with so we wouldn’t always have to rely on, um, well, me for long-distance communication. Lucky Break improved the WhisperLink coms and made them impervious to hackers and they’ll basically be operational until the end of time as long as they’ve got juice. I did have to find a compatible battery source which was pretty exciting, I wound up in a technologies shop in Bottom Barrel, and—

Sorry. I’m getting off course. It just isn’t my favourite story. Felix Woo answered. He wasn’t part of the team so much as associated with the team? He knew who we were and kept our secret and occasionally provided alibis. He thought that I was me. Um, that I was Vigilance which I totally went along with and then he was all 'Uh, yes of course you're on New Atlantis and yes I'm aware it's 2001 and I am surprised to hear from you but that's mostly because of that horrible thing you did to me and I just answered this because I was surprised I still had it and please don't ask me for any favors because you know I'd have to do them or more horrible things would happen but I don't want to do you any favors.' Our conversation didn't go on too much longer after that.

How wild, that we were both on New Atlantis? Me and... the Future Version of Me. There just has to be something significant about that, right? I mean, I could've landed anywhere. It actually kind of makes me wig out to think about how many places are included in 'anywhere.' Elena--oh, I haven't really told you about Elena! I was really lucky to fall in with Elena Bernhardt almost immediately. She thinks I'm a runaway from the Mainland so she basically treats me like a stray cat who needed to be re-homed and has helped me out a lot. All things considered, I'm actually pretty glad I have this chance to enjoy the future as a kid.

Anyway, when I way casually expressed an interest in this hero called Vigilance she, to my relief, didn't immediately say 'Hey you look a lot like her.' She just explained that I, um, that is, Vigilance was the American liaison between the Guiding Lights and New Atlantis's superheroes and the Americans. She thought I was interested in Vigilance because she was a psychic who made good and told me if I wanted to meet her I just had to go to some ribbon-cutting ceremony at the New Atlantis Downtown Athenaeum where some of Lightbringer's papers would be put on display for the youth of New Atlantis.

Do you have any idea how weird it is to plan to stalk yourself? I was super nervous. But I kept thinking that if it was me, and it was me, and like, little six-year-old Penny appeared in the present all scared and confused, I'd've helped her no question. Not that I was planning on asking for help. Oh god, I don't know. I just wanted to see her, especially after what Felix said.

So I did see her. Inside. Standing in the middle of a conversation with superheroes I hadn't heard of and it was just so strange. I felt small. At first I thought that was just because of the whole 'This is who I'm meant to become, this is my destiny standing there before me, oh my god, time travel, crazy right?' thing, but now I think it might just be something about ... her. I don't know. I think our eyes met for a moment but before I found the nerve to wave she'd turned back to her group. I covered my face from sheer embarrassment, and when I looked up again she was gone.

I couldn't find her. I was about to try and read this one superhero's mind, an older man in a shimmery black suit, wings, a heavy utility belt, the general look of a golden boy athlete. I'd been, I mean Vigilance had been talking to him just before I lost track of her.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you. Storm Seraph won't respond well, and he will respond. You must be a new addition to New Atlantis,' she said, coming from who knows where. 'Who do you belong to?'

Now I think she thought, or thinks, I was-am a piece in a game being played against her, but in the moment I was just flustered. She seemed so cool, but not unfriendly? Like just so utterly self-assured, it was nice to get advice from her. I bet I am rich in the future from winning all the poker games ever in the world.

I was starting to worry that I was messing up the timeline because I couldn't tell if she remembered being on my side of this conversation or not. So I said, "Myself."

"Very New Atlantean," she said.

"You know who I am, right?"

"Why don't you tell me who you think you are?" she said.

I told her that her hair looked good and asked what conditioner she used. My curls frizz, but hers were silky. She smiled at me, which is, for the record, literally the only time I have ever seen Vigilance smile.

Uh, and that's how and when I first met my future self. No more story. Done. ...Okay, obviously yes a lot more happened after that. I even stayed with her for about a week before I stumbled onto some of my, um, her secrets. There was even the tiniest briefest smallest moment where it seemed like she wasn't so bad even if she did give off big power scary vibes.

But... um, well. I know better now.

How is your future self the embodiment of a future you never wanted?

"I don't want the kind of authority Vigilance wields. I don't want people to be terrified of me or to use my name as a warning. I don't want to grow up so untrusting and sharp and always so perfect. I mean, she's not perfect, but the way she handles herself, how am I supposed to do that? Be so... I don't want to grow up and play with people's lives, treating them like game pieces. I can't believe I sell out so totally. Am I really working for the American Government by using my powers against people who have questions? Am I really the American super liaison keeping an eye on this super-cool experiment rather than just supporting it? Am I really, truly engaging in shit-stirring on this perfect super Utopia? I guess I don't understand who I've become. I don't understand why I'd give up on people. Supposedly, Vigilance is one of the greatest American heroes of all-time, which is why she got this position. But I don't know. I don't look at her and see the kind of hero I want to be. Maybe she's done great things, but at what cost? One I don't want to pay. It can't be worth it. Can it?"

What is your favorite part of life in the future? Your least favorite part?

"Oh gosh. That's a tough question. My new friends absolutely. But New Atlantis is hella radical and I love, love, love how hopeful it all is. It's fun to explore and, hey, I've got time. I mean, this place defies all sorts of expectations. Maybe it shouldn't even exist? But if somebody finds out you have telepathy, they don't immediately report you to the government so the government can take you away and make you into a Thing. It seems like you can just kind of be a person here? And omigawd the food. The SuperTriathalon! I really like that there hasn't been another World War. Way to go, World Team!"

"...My least favorite part is really petty. You know those maximum efficiency sippy lids for coffees that everybody's so into right now? The cup scans your face and then pop! builds a sippy lid to match your 'drinking style' and the shape of your mouth? What. Weird. Weird and obviously a trap. I've been told I'm being silly and it's just a cute way to get a customized drink lid, but I don't know, I still think it's totally unnecessary and not cute. I like straws. And god, the lid makes that annoying little theme song once it's attained 'maximum efficiency' and then transforms into a 'keepsake ring, collect them all'? Sustainability is great, but spysake is more like it. Don't look at me like that, you'll see. They aren't cute."

Why are you determined to stay in the present with this team?

Mostly TBD once there’s a team to build story on. But part of Penny’s answer would certainly include something along the lines of:

“…And then there’s the whole 'I don’t actually know how to go back' thing. I guess I eventually figure it out or maybe one of these guys does? It’s really going to suck going through all those bad times to become her. That’s another reason I want to stay here with these guys. Please don't tell, but I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to me. So… I think I need to fix her. That way when I get back to my time… even if something happens to make me forget everything from New Atlantis… even if becoming her is inevitable… at least it won’t be forever. And I have no idea how to do that. Besides, the Eidolon's safe for now in this time. I don't think anybody's looking for it, not that I'm going to start asking around. No need to stir anything up.”

People, Places, & Things of Note

Present Day:

Bottom Barrel: the slummiest slum, a family neighborhood, a place where things are fenced -- and where Penny was able to find a battery supply for her WhisperLine. WhisperLine has since gone dead, no matter how juiced it is.

The Eidolon Abstraction: This is what Asha gave Penny to keep safe. It's looks like a twelve-sided die, set in a little circle, and Penny wears it like a charm. She has no idea what it does, but thinks that it's given her more control over her powers, and that it occasionally pulses if it thinks danger is around.

Elena Bernhardt: Heart of gold

Felix Woo: An American businessman with interests on New Atlantis, and beyond. He has his fingers in all sorts of pies. Used to be Vigilance's friend, but isn't anymore. May be her reluctant ally.

New Atlantis Downtown Athenaeum: A library, houses a collection of some of Lightbringer's papers

Storm Seraph: Another hero

Vigilance: Bigshot American Hero (TM). Penny's terrifying future.

Past:

Asha: Alien, previous keeper of the Eidolon Abstraction, nabbed by Mysterious Nefarious People operating in the United States in the 1980s.

Doc Mercury: WWIII Hero, fought most often against Steel Caudillo. Supporter of autonomy for supers, mentor of The Quick.

Felix Woo: Frequent provider-of-alibis, Lucky Break's former babysitter, debate club president, law major.

Glam Rock: An androgynous alien shapeshifter who hides the tattletale shimmer of iridescence they can't quite get out of their eyes behind a pair of aviators. They were sent by their people to Earth in order to monitor the situation post-WWIII and post-The Dark, but during a series of anti-alien and anti-foreign purges was separated from their people and stranded. The team helps them hide from the authorities.

The Golden Palace: It got its start during the vaudeville-circuit of the 1900-10s but became a cinema as soon as the talkies appeared. Survived a particularly violent incursion of Steel Caudillo’s forces, and the famous WWIII-era super, Flash Point, commandeered it briefly.

Lucy Kushner: Hero name: Lucky Break, named for her ability to get away with some incredible sh*t just in the nick of time and her penchant for getting into any old piece of tech and turning it inside out. Of course first there'd been the accident that fused her with some Cylien tech, so that helped too. Her older sister got snatched as a child soldier during the war, returned with some issues. Comparatively speaking, Lucy's generally sidelines.

Mateo García: Mateo is an orphan of war, raised by his uncle Sal. Sal owns the oldest cinema still standing in Los Angeles, The Golden Palace. He made friends with Pen at one of his uncle’s trials. Hero name: The Quick. The Quick had super speed and super regenerative abilities. He sidekicked for Doc Mercury and he's the unofficial leader of the team, partly because he's the most focused and organized.

Salvator García-Burton: Owner of The Golden Palace Theatre & Cinema, uncle of Mateo García, and outspoken critic of censorship and state control of the arts post-WWIII.  He’s put on trial for Unamerican thinking more than once, but they never quite manage to get the charges to stick. Little does he know his nephew and his nephew’s friends are taking matters into their own hands.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:42, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

For internal reference, how is her surname pronounced?

That aside... very nice. Definitely gives me lots of ideas.

For now, I am curious about the extent of Reverie's mind control powers. I imagine she has some reservations regarding their use, regardless of her objective ability?

Also, was Storm Seraph supposed to be some local hero or an American one? I realise that he is basically a throwaway detail for now, but you never know.

Is Reverie currently staying with Elena?

Surname: PEN-ih-shore.

My thoughts on mind control: Absolutely Reverie has major reservations about using any sort of mind control. The more-so for having seen her future self, I think. I imagine it’s her least-explored power — and perhaps one of the “flashiest” (telekinesis aside) or most potentially dramatic when things get really dire/she "unleashes" — so she doesn't have any idea how much she can do, and what she has done has a lot of telepathy overlap, i.e., just suggestions. Like... suggesting that a goon leave a door unlocked at a certain time or drop their weapons or spend their weapons on a harmless bit of scenery rather than a living breathing target. I think some sort of sense-based contact is needed (or she believes it's needed/has never tried without), whether that's eye contact, to say the thing aloud, or to touch the person. So if she wanted to make a policeman leave an area so team could shenanigan, she'd have to stroll out and brush against them or make eye contact or say in their hearing "Aren't you supposed to be X?" If she wanted to try and unleash and cause an army of sentient androids to de-activate their weapons, she'd have to be visible and say the command aloud/project obviously into their minds. At least, that's how I'm envisioning it. Open to suggestions/thoughts.

Storm Seraph was supposed to be a local hero, but he could as easily be an American one. Ha! You're right, he was basically a throwaway detail for now.

Reverie is currently staying with Elena if there isn't a cooler/more interesting option to work out with the other players, since it looks like a lot of the other potential characters also don't have the traditional 'here are my parents I live with them' situation. I feel like Reverie might not want to bring any potential heat down on Elena, so might choose instead to figure out a squat, and then just eat dinner at Elena's all the time.

That said, it sounds to me like New Atlantis probably has programs in place to assist people from the Mainland, especially superpowered individuals, who are coming to New Atlantis for a new life. Maybe minors need a sponsor? In which case, Elena is definitely Reverie's sponsor.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:34, Thu 05 Aug 2021.

Re: mind control, that does sound like classic "unleash" material. I suppose we would flesh it out as we go along. So far what you have sounds right, though as you say, she probably just doesn't know her limits.

Curious choice of example, though - perhaps this just speaks to my own expectations, but I tend to think of mind control as affecting organic minds, while synthetic ones are too different to be manipulated in such way (yet open to manipulation by technological means). I guess it may depend on those androids and how they are programmed, though. If they are meant to be "human-like in every way" or "psychic-compatible", that might open them up to such effects.

New Atlantis definitely has accommodation programs of that sort. I'm just not fully sure how they work yet. :P We'll figure it out, though if you get any more ideas for her situation, it couldn't hurt. I don't think they'd turn away a kid who is already there even sans sponsor, but having an adult who can vouch for her would surely help anyway. Something like a legal guardian status, maybe.

One other thing... what kind of things would Reverie have told Vigilance about herself, if anything? Granted, Vigilance might not believe any of it (even a psychic scan might run afoul of an implanted false memory), but it would still help to have some starting point. Like, would she have just told her future self everything during their time together? Or would she try to hold some things back - like the Eidolon, for a start?

Re: Mind control example. Ha, funny that you ask. When I was writing Reverie’s answers to her questions there was a moment where my train of thought was basically:

Telepathic link-up for team during raid! Oh, Glam Rock isn’t human. I wonder what that’s like for a telepath? Hmm. What is the mind, anyway? She couldn’t ‘read’ a machine, that’s a different power. But what if the machine is fully sentient? What about aliens who aren’t made out of organic matter but still have minds? What is sentience anyway?! Would an AI count if it’s gained independent consciousness? What IS independent consciousness?! so I threw out ‘sentient androids’ in the example.

I don’t really have a strong feeling either way, although it's kind of fun to think about. If you're a telepath faced with a machine-based alien race, and they don't seem to have "minds" to you, are you going to think they're "real people"? If you're a telepath faced with androids which can think for themselves, manifest emotion, etc., all the things we associate with people 'real people,' and you can read thoughts but not understand them, what do you make of them? If you can read the thoughts/feelings of some non-organic based 'life' and not others, how's it going to influence the way you deal with them? Are you going to find it relaxing to be around people whose secrets you can never know? Perhaps some android-types are psychic-combatible, as you say, and some aren't. Perhaps the ability to read sentient AI is a matter of psychic sensitivity? I do think the 'sentient' part is really important.

...And there's my dose of philosophical telepath questions, I guess. >.> Like I said though: No strong feeling either way, re: mind control/telepathy affecting only organic minds (and maybe "beings of pure mind/spirit") or whether non-organic minds are sort've a case by case basis situation.



Cool. I'll post more ideas if they occur to me in the next bit.



I think Reverie would have definitely kept the Eidolon to herself, reasoning that her Future Self will either remember at the right time and therefore Reverie doesn't need to tell her or it might be bad if she drops important information like that. Reverie is relatively trusting and I imagine she'd've had a hard time not trusting herself/spilling the beans about 'I'M FROM THE PAST, DO YOU REMEMBER THAT TIME? Don't tell me things, I wanna be surprised, BUT DOES X EVER HAPPEN?' etc. At first she'd've tried to feel Vigilance out and get her talking more about herself, in keeping with Reverie's uncertainty about the right thing to do in the time travel situation.

But she did have that chat with Felix who gave her a hint that Future Self might do things Reverie doesn't think she'd be okay with, so I think that had her proceeding with more caution than otherwise.

Hopefully that answer makes sense! I'll try to give you more specifics about what she would've said later.

A further thought - how many people would know that Reverie is Vigilance? Is it something Reverie actively tries to hide (say, by changing her name), or does she just hope that no one will make the connection? Or does she flat out admit it to people like teammates and their connected NPCs?

Funnily enough, I've been mulling over this/what would make the best story. I think it's probably a bit of a mixed bag, influenced a little by her desire to fix Vigilance/get her future self back on the right track before she bamfs back to the past. I don't think she goes too far out of her way to hide there's some kind of connection. They look alike and she came to the future in what would be recognizable to some people as Vigilance's old costume from her 80s teen super phase, which she still wears, though possibly with a small New Atlantis update (gotta sell those comic covers :P).

But I do think with most people she'd be a little cagey about what exactly that connection is. Most NPCs, she's not going to come right out and tell them she's Vigilance from the past. I don't think she's told Elena or, say, Harold. She might've told somebody who mans that tech shop she got her WhisperLine battery juiced up at when she first appeared in New Atlantis. Very case-by-case basis. She absolutely told Vigilance while she was staying with her.

The team... well, the Innocent playbook's team moves have to do with asking about the future self, so I think the cat's probably out of the bag there. It's likely that it wasn't IMMEDIATELY let out of the bag, but by now, she's told them. Then again, if a revelation later seems like the better story, maybe she's only told a couple. After all, she can probably wistfully say, "Do you think I could ever be like Vigilance?" after using her powers without all teammates knowing why exactly she's so concerned, since their powers will seem similar and all. They 100% know she's an accidental time traveler from the past.

If asked directly, she probably tells the truth.

Oh, by the way, have you decided what's the one step from Vigilance's path that you already know?

(Or did I overlook it somehow? Sorry, had a busy few days.)

Oop. I forgot I hadn't made a decision on this already. (And no worries about being busy, take your time! There's no rush!)

Really torn between: They betrayed a close friend or ally | They publicly battled another hero | They injured an innocent

...Mostly because I just can't quite decide what would be more fun to learn IG. Opinions are welcome! Either way I think Reverie probably learns of the step or has the step hinted to her when she has that first conversation with Felix, and then later it's confirmed while she's staying with Vigilance.

For injuring an innocent, I'm thinking it might be a case of telepathy/mind control going very wrong or being used in a particularly callous way. She thinks somebody's a villain so does a thing, but turns out the person was never a villain. Something.

For publicly battled another hero, tough call. The most effective choice of hero seems like it would probably be another of her teammates, but then she'd already know for sure at least one of them survived the incident she time traveled away from. Which isn't bad, just decisions I'm not sure about yet. Though it could also be Doc Mercury, the Quick's mentor, Californian hero, and that'd definitely shock Penny. Doesn't quite have the same ring, though.

Betraying a close friend or ally seems like something that would be bad enough to shock Reverie/really upset Reverie, but potentially justifiable enough to not quite be TOO overwhelming as a first-step-known, depending on the betrayal. Is it using her powers to force a close friend to do something they don't want to do in the interest of victory? Is it making a deal which necessitates not showing up for an ally, who then get trounced? Is it turning them in to authorities? Is it...

...And so my brain spins. :P I'll try to narrow down and make a choice, but I really am super open to suggestions.

It's a tough one to be sure. I think publicly battling another hero would be the easiest thing for Reverie to have found out early, since it's... public. And yeah, not necessarily a bad thing to reveal one of her teammates. Note that it might be a very limited revelation. Perhaps Vigilance publicly took down the teammate years ago - maybe even somewhat closer to when she was Reverie's age. The teammate has apparently been in custody ever since, with charges that might seem to warrant such treatment in the abstract but do not sound like something they'd do at all... Or else they simply disappeared, which can mean any number of things.

Or something like that. Up to you though. I do think building on one of the previously suggested teammates would be a good idea if you go with this option.