2015.02.06 - Back to Knowhere, business as usual

It has been a few days since the Guardians (and some help) rescued Brainiac’s captive cities. Almost 800 planets, most of them advanced civilizations, got back lost cities, often very important cities. Suddenly the Guardians are pretty popular in Knowhere. Cosmo made sure everyone knew it was them and now they get invited to drinks in the canteen and everything. Technically it had been mostly Jack Hawsmoor fumbling with a broken Cosmic Cube. But some details are better not mentioned.

Adam has been missing for a week, though. That helps too. Because Adam is the ‘messenger with the bad news’ for most alien governments. They are actually relieved when he is reported missing or dead. And it would be nice if death would stick to him, in the opinion of most galactic leaders.

Another of the Guardians' numbers was missing since the events on Brainiac's ship. That would be Thara. The Kryptonian woman was unconscious when Supes offered to stash Kandor in his Fortress of Solitude. When she awakened, Jack gave her the city. Her first instinct was to get that city out of the Sol System. A hundred thousand supermen would definitely equate to wearing out their welcome on Earth. So she teleported the city and herself to Knowhere. Thara had been going strong for days. Without a yellow sun around (or any sun for that matter) the girl is starting to look like a rung out wash rag. A cup of coffee or whatever passes for it at the edge of the universe is cooling by a computer. Thara is sitting there going through planet after planet. There is a small list saved of suitable planets for the city of Kandor. That city has not left her side.

Even before Jade (Jennifer-Lynn Hayden) visited this strange old Celestial head, it was a nice change from Earth. Green didn't mean anything to these individuals, and in fact, tended to blend in better than simply being 'human'. So for Jenny, returning here was a fun experience, with or without the fame added in. An enormous bowl of strange purple food is in Jenny's hands as she quietly enters the area the Guardians have set aside for them on Knowhere. The contents is warm and damn good, at least in Jenny's opinion, as she draws towards Thara with a bright smile, and a quiet, "Hey, they gave me a couple bowls of this - and I seriously cannot eat two of them, would you like the extra?" It's a huge lie, Jenny purposely bought two, but this, she keeps to herself.

Suddenly, there is a flash of light and a gateway opens briefly, allowing Adam to walk into the room unannounced. He nods as greeting to Jade and Thara, but his attention moves to Kandor a second later.

"I assume you been able to contact the population of the city, Thara. How long would the life-support systems of the containing device hold?" Right, because Adam is never good with the small talk part. But at least he is alive, and looks uninjured.

Thara Nods. "Yes I got word to them. The life-support systems will hold for a few more weeks. I've been doing research to find a decent planet for them to stay at. I think I found a few options. Most will support life but aren't inhabited by any sentient life. I found one in the Gliese system. Red dwarf star, the planet has water and is stable."

She turns and smiles to Jade. "Hello and thank you. I don't think we officially met. I am Thara or Flamebird as I go by on Earth. Nice to meet you." She accepts the purple stuff and takes a bite. "Mmm This isn't that bad. I know better then to ask though!"

Adam's sudden appearance has Jenny stumbling ever so slightly with her precious cargo. She doesn't spill it, but comes darn near close. "Cripes!" The expression is made before Jenny can even think, as she starts and then calms again. Jumpy? Just a tad. Then again, this is all new and strange for the emerald skinned 'newly minted' Guardian.

Not knowing much about the conversation, but happy that Thara accepted the meal, Jenny's all smiles as she inclines her head to her. "No problem, names Jenny, or codename 'Jade', for obvious reasons." The twinkle to her green gems is bright and friendly as Jenny takes a step back allowing Adam and Thara to speak of the city in a bottle.

"Gliese is used as way station by Badoon radiers," notes Adam. "It is very close to space stations they have hidden among the dead brown dwarves of the Hadrii cluster." He calls an holo-terminal from his wrist-mounted Passport, checking more data. "Also, rather mineral poor. This might not be a problem, depending on the needs of the city and the plans they have."

He walks closer to Thara. "Hmm, you look tired. Unless I am mistaken, we don’t have any way to return the city to normal size. I’d suggest we work in a way to supply energy and resources to the bottled city and not assume we you can resettle the Kryptonians right away."

Thara gives a long sigh. Gently she rubs her eyes and tries to wake herself up. "The sooner we get Kandor a home, the sooner things can return to normal right?" There is a distinct problem showing with the Kryptonian. Obsession. Who knows how long it's been since she wound down, had fun, or did anything that didn't involve near death experiences. With a sigh she downs her coffee. Then she goes after the food ravenously. "Mmmm I really needed this. Thanks Jen... Err Jade... Which do you wanna be called?" Once again she turns to Adam. "We need a red solar lamp. That will kick off the generators in the bottle. It should keep everyone in there going."

Finding an appropriate item to sit on, Jenny settles down, hands planted in her lap, head slightly tilted to one side as she listens to the conversation. At the question of names? Jenny offers a quirked grin, "Jen, Jenny, Jade, it's all good. I suppose I'd probably be more apt to answer to Jen or Jenny, more than Jade. I'm still getting use to that one."

"Oh, and I'm glad you like it." Jenny inclines her head to the bowl, "Rachel showed me the wonders of Knowhere food, and lemme tell you - I've been craving that ever since that first visit!"

Both hands move from her lap, to plant on each side of Jenny as she gnaws a bit on her bottom lip, "If there is anything I can do to help -- just point me in the direction and I'll do so."

There's at least one more Guardian of the Galaxy in residence on Knowhere, but unlike the others Rachel Summers has been passing her time at Starlin's bar. There's only so long the redhead could look at someone paging through planetary survey data. After all, patience has never been her strong suit, particularly when she has so many questions swirling around in her mind. Questions about what the hell happened at the end of the mission, of course. Where Adam is, whether he's still alive, and if so does he need rescuing, definitely. But it's the fiery, bird-like entity that seems to be time-sharing Thara's body that has Rachel most interested... not to mention concerned. But Rachel also realised that she was unlikely to get a straight answer while Thara was still searching for a home for Kandor... and after pacing around the Guardian's little corner of Knowhere lost its appeal, Rachel decamped to the bar, letting Jade deal with the minor details like making sure Thara actually ate something.

Rachel's idly swirling around a small measure of something she's not actually sure she likes, her mind wandering - both literally and figuratively - when a familiar mental signature that she'd been keeping an 'ear' out for sudden pops back into existence. Rachel stiffens, sitting up straight, and reaches out with her telepathy to confirm that, yes, Adam is back. Suddenly grinning, Rachel knocks back her drink and nearly gags. "Gah. That's a taste I /don't/ want to acquire!" She grumbles to herself, negotiating her long legs out from under her table and striding quickly out of the bar. It's only a short time later that the Guardians' door hisses open and Rachel steps inside. Her eyes take in Jade and Thara, and then home in on the latest arrival. "Adam." She drawls, still a bit of a smirk on her face. "You're not dead after all, then?"

Using solar energy seems quite primitive for a Kryptonian city, but if that is all is needed, all the better. "I think we can do better. It should be simple to create a direct photonic stream if you have a map of the solar receptors they want to use." The 'bottle' is transparent, so that seems efficient enough.

Then, Rachel arrives and points out the obvious in a way that suggests he was assumed dead. "Dead? Not this time," he replies. Not a normal answer. In fact, even Adam realizes the answer was strange, so he clarifies. "No. But I had to make sure the tesseract was secured. It took some work."

Thara shrugs a little and backs away from the computer finally. Than she eats. her body definitely needs the sustanence without a sunny day on Earth. "Sorry I have been so wrapped up. This is just very important to me ya know. This is my home and I can't just leave it to be forgotten."

Rachel's arrival is met with Jenny's smile widening a bit more. "How was Starlinks, or.. aah.. Starbound, or Star Lord or whatever it was that you said." The question is offered innocently enough, as Jenny works out what she thought she heard, with what she knows. She has yet, sadly, to actually meet Peter or know of his other name. "Next time I'll have to join you, see what passes for beer there. And pretzels." A soft, ever so light giggle is Jenny's response afterwards, as she leans back in the chair, turning her attention back to the conversation of a city in a bottle.

Some people might have jumped on Adam's announcement that he's not dead 'this time', or at least done a double take, but Rachel seems to take it in her stride. "Good." She tells him, still smirking. "How about a bit of warning before you vanish, next time? You left Jenny and me with a bunch of half-dead Kryptonians and no idea what we were supposed to do next!" Rachel flashes a grin toward Thara. "Sorry." She apologises for her phrasing, but doesn't really sound that contrite. Between Adam being back and Thara having come up for air, Rachel's mood is improving! Walking further into the room, Rachel finds the edge of a table to perch herself on. "If anyone offers you something greenish-yellow that glows in the dark, say NO." Rachel advises Jade. "Otherwise, it was great, and since Adam's not dead and Thara's managed to look away from the screen, I say we go back there." From her tone she probably doesn't expect to be taken seriously, and she looks over at Thara to show there's no malice in her words. "Don't get me wrong, I know this is important... but you won. You are allowed to enjoy it."

The kryptonian girl looks a little offended by the half-dead kryptonians comment. She gives a look to Rachel and just sighs a little, Err... a bar? What would I do in a bar?" Could it be that Thara has never been to a Bar? She crosses her legs and finishes the food. "So umm... what happens at this place?"

The suggestion of going back to this place is given an approving bob of Jenny's head as Rachel suggests it. After all, relaxing is allowed for a small bit, after a victory. And really, Jenny does consider the events a victory, or -- it seems like it anyway. Rising upwards, initially, and Jenny's smile only widens at Thara's comments. "Oh, you relax, drink things you probably shouldn't, get drunk, hit on cute guys. Or in this case cute aliens, hopefully they're good looking at least. If you drink /too/ much, it's important to have friends with you to gently inform you the alien you're hitting on is not good looking, but a nerd with a pocket protector. NOT that I'm speaking from experience here.." Jenny's grin only widens as she talks, and gestures towards the door. "It's an experience of a lifetime, especially if you've never been to one before. I'm all for it, in case you couldn't tell." There is a slight pause as Jenny takes in Thara's age, ponders a moment then shrugs. "How old are you, anyway?" Another pause and Jenny hmms. "Well, drinking non-alcoholic stuff for you if you're under twenty-one, but hitting on cute aliens is still a must."

Rachel raises her hands at the look Thara sends her way, but her eyebrows rise just a bit, too. If the hands say 'no offence', the eyebrows say 'come on, you were all on the floor with Kryptonite poisoning. Still that little smirk never quite leaves Rachel's face, and it grows into a grin once more when it becomes painfully apparent that bars, and possibly having fun in general, are foreign concepts to Thara. Since it wasn't all /that/ long ago that Rachel had to be taught how to have fun in a strange world, can she do less for Thara? She opens her mouth to explain... and Jade beats her to it.

"Exactly!" Rachel enthusiastically agrees with Jenny's summary, then wrinkles her nose a bit when Thara's age is questioned. Rachel doesn't have the respect for the letter of the law that a Guardian of the Galaxy should probably have, but for now she doesn't argue the point. "Everything she said. And even better, for making me think he was dead, Adam gets to buy the first round." Rachel slides back off her table and looks expectantly at Thara, her devilish expression softening for a moment. "Come on. Bring your city. If you can't trust us to help you keep an eye on it, who CAN you trust? It'll be fun."

Adam won’t refute he left Rachel and Jade with a bunch of injured Kryptonians. However, he fails to acknowledge it as a real problem. Why... he is likely to do much worse in the future.

Then they start talking about bars and drinks. Now, he knows how that would end, they are not the first bar-crawling team-mates he has. And he is quite sure Rachel and Jade getting drunk would be much, much cheaper than Pip and Gamora getting drunk. "If you are sure... let me notify Cosmo, I don’t want to leave Kandor unguarded. Or carry the city to the bar, for that matter."

With a thoughtful expression at Thara's words, Jenny lets out a soft 'hmm', "Well, as long as there isn't going to be an annoyed family member coming after Rachel and I.." She begins, with a slight bit of truth to that thought, more than just amusement. "C'mon Adam, there is a time and place for stressing, and a time to just relax, and get to know your team-mates. I do not intend on actually drinking myself under the table... at least here." The idea of being in a drunken stupor on an alien head is pretty well out of the question. "However, relaxing a moment, getting something to drink, and getting to know each other? When we're not fighting to save our lives? Yeah. I'm so there." The petit figure smiles ever so chipper at those around, before she heads to the door. "And hitting on muscle bound men is just a suggestion, women is also just fine, depending upon your enjoyments. Me, personally, someone with shoulders out to there... maybe a full head of hair, though rocking the Bruce wouldn't be bad either..." And Jenny continues to talk as she heads out the door.

"Not to me, but then technically I haven't been born yet and I'm from another timeline anyway." Rachel says this utterly casually, with a bit of a shrug. Around this crowd, saying things like that isn't the big deal it might be on Earth. Rachel shakes her head with a bit of a chuckle. "Trust me, I don't think it's the bar staff Jenny's worried about." As Jenny proceeds to so neatly confirm. Rachel's grin widens a bit. It's good to have someone around who thinks the same way you do... although Jenny seems to have a pretty extensive shopping list already worked out. "Any other requirements? Maximum number of limbs?" Rachel teases her a bit as she follows her out of the door, apparently assuming the others will follow.

Thara quickly stands and gets ready to head out the door. "I am a little worried about my umm.... passenger in this body ya know. If I go hitting on anyone I'm liable to burst into flames. Wouldn't want that right?"

"Duly noted, Jade," replies Adam calmly. Yes, he will go. If only to try to prevent unwarranted incinerations of alien males. "And before you begin the mating rituals with unsuspecting, or perhaps eager individuals of suitable alien species," he is looking at you, Jenny. "Just comment you all were magnificent during the conflict in Brainiac’s ship. I am quite sure even Kal-El was impressed."