2013.05.28 - They Make Those Games?

"Excuse me, I have a package for Doug Ramsey here," the poor delivery man says, looking nervous about confronting a bird-beaked mutant at the doorway.

It didn't take long before Doug, summoned by the intercom, comes dashing up the stairs breathlessly. Thanking both the mutant student, Doug signs off for the package, flashing a grin at the delivery man.

"Hey, uh, what're these critters doing running about?" the delivery man asks, taking the form back.

"They're students," Doug says, his smile fading slightly.

"Oh, uh, no offense, buddy, but doesn't it seem like a zoo in there?"

"Only sometimes," Doug replies. "Have a good day." And the door closes, and Doug turns about, clutching his parcel.

Glancing at the parcel, Doug grins, as he starts back towards the stairs...

It's a wild Jocelyn sighting! Jocelyn, having completed her usual morning routine, has actually decided to come out of her room and make her way downstairs for breakfast today. The girl is making her way down the stairs just as Doug is starting to make his way back towards them.

"Oh, hi there Doug," Jocelyn responds. She's probably seen him around, but she really hasn't made any time to chat with the guy lately. She'd been busy with GED Hell lately, but now those exams are over, and it's back to life as sort-of normal for the teenager. "New electronic...thing?" she asks, eyeballing the package. It was probably some computer or video game console thingie that she had no idea about, she was guessing.

Breakfast time! And it's somewhat a mystery where Pixie gets jello for breakfast, or why she'd want to eat it, but there's no mistaking the wobbling bowlful she's carrying as she bobs along the hallway on her way back to her room. Perhaps the previous evening's leftovers and Pixie doesn't like to see sugary, wobbly, fruity goodness go to waste. She's not really paying attention as she flies, so it's small wonder that there's almost a collision on the stairs with Joce and Doug. "Whoop!" she exclaims, juggling the bowl and thankfully saving its contents. "Whoops! Sorry!"

"Oh hey, Jo! How did the exams go?" Doug greets, clutching the box closer to his chest. "It's... yeah, it's for a project I'm working on. I'm just, well... tinkering with the VR system. Scott approved it, so I'm going to give it a shot and see how it works. So, uh... whoa, hey, look out...!"

Ducking behind Jocelyn so that his precious, precious box won't get damage, Doug peers around the tall redheaded mutant. "Oh... Megan. Good morning...!" He pauses, eyeing the breakfast, canting his head to the side. "Good breakfast?" he asks, a skeptical tone in his voice.

Jello? For breakfast? The more health conscious Jocelyn just shakes her head, though a bit more in amusement than anything else. She could see, from her limited interaction with Megan, her having jello this early. "Morning Megan, how's it going" Jocelyn asks easily.

A nod is give to Doug. "Well, I think so. I should get results in a week or two, then I get to figure out stuff like the future and all that sort of thing. We'll see how that goes," she tells the man. "I don't know much about VR myself. That's virutal reality, right?" Hey, she got that part of it down. That's improvement, isn't it?

Pixie beams and nods and Doug, bobbing slightly above the stair level. Even in flight she can't keep still and her wings beat the air furiously. "Yep!" she replies cheerfully. "Had breakfast, this is elevenses!" she confirms. "Got to save something for later, in case I get peckish." It's probably no surprise that Megan's always hungry, given the energy she must burn off being... well... Megan. She dips closer, peering curiously at the package and half paying attention to the conversation. "Oooh, VR, can we play games on it?" she asks enthusiastically. She has certain priorities.

"The future... heh. One day at a time, Joce, one day at a time," Doug replies. He would pat her on the shoulder if he hadn't had his arms full, but Doug offers her a comforting smile. "Oh, VR... yeah, virtual reality. I'm trying to set it up so that we can immerse ourselves -into- VR. Maybe this way, I can stay behind and still get stuff done with the rest of you without trouble. Just... I don't know yet. It'll be worth trying..."

Pixie gets an enthusatic nod. "Yep! I already tried it on a MMORG. If I can keep improving it, I should be able to get it to work on a broader Internet. Course, it'll only work on upgraded areas, but I tihnk I can also get it to work on mobile units. We'll see..."

"Interesting idea, though I have to admit I have no idea how that would work," Jocelyn says with an easy shrug to Doug. Computers were not her thing, and VR was rather beyond her knowledge. But she could at least boot a computer up now without breaking it. That was some serious improvement. "Speaking of computers, I don't suppose you know of any good phone applications to sort contacts a little more effectively than the standard on a phone, do you?" she asks. She didn't like the standard contact manager on her phone.

A shake of her head is given to Pixie, and then a smile. "Well, as long as it isn't breakfast itself, that isn't bad," she conceeds. Pixie probably burned off so much energy that the jello wasn't a problem, Jocelyn figured. "What've you been up to, anyway, Megan?"

Pixie ooohs enthusiastically and balances her jello in one hand to reach out with sticky fingers to prod the box. Prod prod. "How does it work? What kind of games? Does this mean we can train in VR instead of the Danger Room without teachers actually shooting stuff at us? Oh! You should totally install some dance games. Everyone loves dance games!" she questions... comments and states in a quick rush. No chance for Doug to actually answer anything before she's onto the next topic.

She turns her attention to Joce and thinks about the question. "Up to? Ummm, breakfast!" she announces contentedly. "And... um... stuff." Yesterday was yesterday. Live in the now!

"On an iPhone? What's wrong with the Sort Order setting? Oh well, if you don't like that, you can always try Smartr Contacts. Or Contact+ on the android... which -phone- do you even have now anyway? You're going through these things fast... you might want to, I don't know, find a safer place to put your phone if you're going to keep throwing your body into explosive situations." Pause. "You know what, I don't even want to think about where you can store the phone."

The box is pulled back slightly from the sticky fingers. "Well, -maybe- we can train in VR. I don't know. It'd require a -lot- more fancy equipment to set up a VR room, and I don't want to commit to it till things get a lot cheaper. A -lot- cheaper."

After a moment, Doug grins sheepishly. "... well, I -could-. I kinda wanted to set up a Rock Band, though..."

"Oh, come on now, the last situation I was in only involved a giant leviathan stomping through the city and spider-ish parasites that spawned from it's back due to an insane Atlantean". Pause. "No explosives there". Had Jocelyn mentioned that to Doug? Probably not. But that was reasonably recent news. She does make mental note of the applications Doug mentions. "I've got an Android phone, btw. With a durable case". A very durable case.

She shrugs at the mention of VR for training. They've got the Danger Room, and they've got a gym. What more do they need, really? Jocelyn didn't really see it as necessary. "I know that sort of thing is really pricey though. I've seen some of it in shops for more money than I generally see in a year," Jocelyn admits.

Pixie withdraws her hand and wrinkles her nose, blinking rapidly at Jocelyn's description of her last night on the town. And then, as normal when confronted with something she doesn't entirely follow, she changes focus and responds to Doug. "Well, like, the Professor's rich, isn't he? You should totally get him to buy all the stuff! It can't cost /that/ much to run the school can it? It doesn't get blown up /that/ often!" Megan Gwynn - International Financier. "And, like, would it cost more than all the things in the Danger Room?" Megan muses, mostly to herself, plotting. "I want total immersion dance games! You should totally speak to the Professor. Put it on your To Do list!" she suggests, firmly.

"... so, Thursdays?" Doug cracks, grinning at Jocelyn's comment, before sighing. "See, you can do that. I can't. So... got to stick with what I -can- do it." He shrugs his shoulders just enough to lift his box up to accentuate his point.

Glancing at Pixie, Doug grins. "I'm trying to justify it as an expansion of the Danger Room. You know, maybe instead of spending all that money fixing stuff every time something breaks, we can just break virtual light holograms or something, and it'd be cheaper in the long run. I don't know. I need to do a limited test first to see if I can get it to work the way I want it to..."

Pausing to regard Jocelyn and Pixie, Doug grins. "Come to think of it, I could probably rig something up and let you try it out." He regards Jocelyn, as though trying to figure out whether she'd -trigger her powers- through the wires when immersed in the system. "... after I test a few other things."

There's a roll of her eyes at Doug's crack before she continues listening to the conversation. "Well, that might not be a bad idea," Jocelyn agrees. She's not quite sure how her powers will interact with that sort of thing, to be totally honest. The Danger Room is sometimes a little odd for her, but usually she can compensate for it. She does notice Doug pause and look at her before bringing up the testing, and a shrug is given. "I'll try not to break it like I tend to do with most computers," she offers.

A glance is given to Pixie. "They actually make dancing games? Really?" Jocelyn asks. That...was just weird.

"Oh, oh! I volunteer! I volunteer!" Pixie responds, hand shooting straight up. Luckily not the one with the bowl of jello in it. What Pixie lacks in enthusiasm for school work she gains in enthusiasm for anything that's off the curriculum. "I totally promise not to break it," she says, making puppy dog eyes. Not an entirely believable promise perhaps. She glances at Jocelyn and grins, nodding. "Oh, yeah, the Abbi dancing game on the Wii is awesome. I'll totally have to challenge you!" There's a moment's pause and then, "If you can play without making it go weird?"

"Right," Doug says, shaking his head. Nudging Jocelyn with a shoulder, as he couldn't do too much with a box in his hands... Doug pauses, as realization sinks in that he might be here a while, and so he puts the box on the ground, and then runs a hand through his hair. "I don't know. I'll have to let you know when I'm ready to put it through a stress test."

And ho boy, Jocelyn was going to -really- make it a stress test.

And so would Pixie, albeit probably in terms of -how fast- the system could keep up with -her-.

"All right, Megan, Joce. I'll give it a try." Nudging Pixie, more for the amusing sensation of pushing a flying body through the air that wasn't -rooted- to the ground, Doug grins. "Get her to try it. It might actually improve her reflexes."

"I have enough control of my powers to avoid that. If I didn't, I couldn't shake someone's hand without shocking them, or Doug would have just gotten a few volts and dropped his package," Jocelyn explains to Pixie. "It's just when someone catches me offguard that they might get a bit shocked". It wasn't something she liked to do for extended periods of time, but she could do it.

"I'm not a bad dancer. I did grow up in Detroit, which is the musical soul of America," Jocelyn points out with a small grin as she uses that awful tagline from some Detroit vacation commercial she saw back home. "I'm no professional, but I'm decent enough to not humiliate myself". She shrugs a little bit at that. "I don't see how a dance game would work though. Would it track you or something, or is there a mat?"

Pixie oofs and there's a dangerous moment with the jello as she slides backwards after the nudge, before dipping forwards again. She skims lower and trails her toes on the stairs, not quite touching down. "Ummm, you hold the control in your hand," she says, gesturing, "And then follow the movements on screen, so it tracks what you're doing. It's cool! I'm really good at it!" she announces, proudly. Megan's sense of accomplishment is lower than others, apparently. "There's loads we could try. Umm... Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance 3..."

"Oh, I know that," Doug grins. "It's more... I don't know what will happen if you react -too- well to a VR scenario and start blasting things..."

Running his hand through his hair, the blonde mutant glances towards Pixie, nodding. "One thing at a time, yes. Just, uh... let's give Joce a bit of time to get used to it, okay? One Dance at a time." Pausing, Doug reaches out to grab ahold of the jello plate and puts it down on top of the box, where it'd be likely -stable-.

Besides, it was distracting watching the jello shake while Pixie was hovering in the air.

Thinking that over, Jocelyn considers. "Might require me to just choose not to use blasts and only use physical attacks, like I did in the Thunderdome scenario you put me through," Jocelyn suggests. Because she can, in fact, choose not to shoot everything in sight if she wants to. She's reasonably picky about if and when she starts blasting things. If it was easiest that she didn't used energy blasts, then she wouldn't use energy blasts.

"I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get the hang of it after a bit of practice. How much like actual dancing is it though?" Jocelyn asks. She's curious now. "Is it horribly blocky, or is it actually smooth?"

Pixie blinks at Doug, looking blankly at him. As if anyone could think she'd rush things or get over-enthusiastic! She opens her mouth to respond, when the jello is grabbed from her hand and safely put aside. "Hey!" she protests, but then is distracted by Joce, averting any further argument. "ummm, it's like routines. On the screen. So you watch the dancers and follow them. It's really fun," she announces firmly. "You have to try and do the routine exactly like they do. Some are harder than others though," she concedes. "What kind of music do you like?" Yep, Megan's priorities have quickly shifted from serious training exercises to dance games.

Clapping his hands, Doug finger-points at Jocelyn. "That was VR. Though not as awesome as I'm gonna make it, when I get it done. I wanna see if I can get to carry VR into areas that doesn't -have it-. And it's got limitations, like no using powers."

Pixie is met with a smile, as Doug reaches down to pick up the box. "Why don't we take Jocelyn over to the rec room and let her try it?"

He dearly hoped it wouldn't become a WRECK room...

"Sure, why not?" Jocelyn suggests. Now she needs to prove Doug wrong about it becoming a wreck center. Or rather that she'd have to take it slow and things like that. It wasn't like she was incapable of these sorts of things. Hrmph. Nor was it like she had to worry about classes all that much now either, given she'd finished her GED exams.

Pixie bobs over and snatches the bowl of jello off the top of the box, hiding it behind her back before Doug can reclaim it again. Which puts it perilously close to rapidly beating wings, but she won't lose it again! She grins widely and nods. "Good idea!" she says cheerfully. "I haven't got any classes yet today." She bobs closer to Jocelyn, smiling. "I'll let you pick the first song. There's loads to choose from!"

Right, jello rescued by Pixie, and Doug grins at the winged mutant, before turning towards Jocelyn. "After you, Joce. I'm going to drop this off in my room first and meet you in the wreck room... I mean, rec room."

Inclining his head towards the young mutants, Doug starts towards his room, pausing to comment, "By the way, Jocelyn... what -is- the story with the leviathan all about? You've got to tell me this one after your dance dance revolution."

A nod is given to Doug. "Sure," Jocelyn tells Doug as she steps out of Doug's way and starts towards the rec room, allowing Doug to finally get his precious electronic stuff up to his room and away from the dangerous students. "I'll have to see the list when we get to the room". And once they get there, Jocelyn will let Pixie actually go first to see how it works.

Luckily for Jocelyn, Megan's happy enough to demonstrate before the game begins and while it's loading and she's safely deposited her jello out of arm's reach, she babbles away, trying to remember a complete list of songs to choose from and interrogating Joce about her musical tastes. For Pixie it's bubblegum pop all the way, so it's probably no surprise that a few minutes later the strains of Call Me Maybe start to play within the rec room and Pixie finally touches down, controller in hand, ready to dance her heart out.