| Homeless Girls n Central Park | |||||
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| What: Regina's chess game is interrupted | |||||
Mid evening, halfway through dusk. It's already gotten darker, and the chessboards in the park are abandoned, except for one girl. Hunched over slightly she appears to be playing herself, her hair falling forward, the empty white globes that form her eyes more reflective of the waxing moon than they really ought to be. There's an unusually high concentration of insects around her, including several that crawl over her skin, clothes and hair. Somewhat further away from her, a small group of rough looking youths can be seen muttering something about freaks stinking up the park.
Cir-El has been exploring. This city, it is like her home, and not like her home. there are things here that are old, but were never built in her universe...and things that seem displaced. She thinks they have somehow merged New York City with Metropolis, they are distinct cities where she remembers being from...and in that other world she visited. She lands on a tower in the park and enjoys the sun.
A curious fly lands on Cir-El's shoulder, a harmless little bug. At the same time, the ruffians start walking towards Regina. She doesn't appear to see them coming, engrossed in her little chess game with herself. The youths don't quite act yet, but somehow things seem to be getting tense. More bugs crawling over her skin, and flying in the air. Not just that, the bugs that should be elsewhere in the park seem to have gone over there.
Flies do not bother Cir-El, she has yet to meet the bug that can bite or sting her. It occurs to her that the term "Homeless freaks" applies to her, perhaps she should politely correct those youths.
She jumps down from the tower and lands lightly in front of the youths, "You know, the phrase is, 'I resemble that remark". While it may be true I am homeless, and different from others, it is not my fault. It seems wrong to blame people for situations that may have been thrust upon them by circumstance, don't you think?" Jane Roe enters from: Upper Metropolis. Jane Roe has arrived.
It's at this point that Regina actually acknowledges something is going on. "Just ignore them, they're upset that they're in a rough spot in life, and need to blame others to feel better." She's still not looking at them, moving the white queen to attack the black king. "Checkmate."
One of the rough-looking youth that's standing nearby, the one nearest to Regina, reacts quickly. "Fuck off, both of you." As he throws a punch towards the back of Regina's head. The response is near instant, her right arm moves back and catches his hand, throwing him to the ground and locking the arm behind his back, a practiced movement. Several of Regina's bugs rush for the boy, and he gets a few mostly harmless bites, while others sit on him, ready to sting. "Now leave me alone, go do something better with your time than harass people who have done nothing wrong."
Cir-El says, "You really do not want to make me mad." as she picks up a youth in each hand and tosses them into the air, then tosses up two more and starts juggling them all.
Jane had lost the trail of that dropping girl at the mountains thanks to Dyson. Then she had lost the trail again when she had tried to pick it up on the interview. However, the footage she had, a few blurry photos of the drop and the news photograph, was enough to allow her to create a face recognition. And using that, the internet had burped up that she was seen at the entry of Central park not too long ago. Taking that backpack of hers, she closed in upon the park, but it took her twenty, maybe forty minutes on the subway to get there, and by the time she arrived, Cir-El had obviously already entered it. Panting a moment to catch breath, she looked around for people who might have been there longer already, and only Regina with her chess looked like that. So the slender brunette closed in upon her...
The youths not yet flying or pushed to the ground quickly start to run, "We're sorry." They say, almost in unison. The ones in temporary captivity echo the sentiment, and Regina lets go of the one she held, sitting back down as the boy runs off. "And what do you want?" She asks the brunette, pointing her thumb behind her back towards Jane. Clearly knowing the direction even though she hasn't looked in that direction once.
Instead of attacking or something, Jane just closes in silently, picking up a smartphone dropped by the youths. A moment later, she had moved a file from the Laptop in her backpack to it, and presented it to the woman. "Seen her?" she asked, the phone showing a rotating render of Cir-El's face.
Cir-El lets the youths down gently, at which point most of them go running off though one drops to the ground and kisses it. She steps over by Jane, "Kind of oblivious, aren't you. I am just over here. Still, I do need to thank you, if it had not been for you, we might not have succeeded in eliminating the YES! virus."
Regina Bush doesn't even look at the image. "Over there apparently." She points at Cir-El, and the teenage girl turns towards Jane, the empty white globes not showing any direct sign of focusing. Then again, she seems quite aware of her surroundings. "You guys heroes or something?"
Jane shakes the head "Nope, just a space watcher." With that she twirls to face Cir, the cellphone getting tucked into the pocket. She could use one anyway. "So here we have our Seven of Nine, freshly without the last implant and nanoprobe. Or is it Caprica Six and you plan to eradicate Humankind with your cylon brothers and sister?" Of course, Jane's snarky as always, referencing Pop culture and all... what would you do if you had no past?
She says, "It is Cir-El, and if we had not removed the virus from me, it may well have been the end of Mankind. I did not catch your name, and I fear your references are not something I really understand, I am from another universe, as well as from about eight years into the future."
To Regina, "Well I try to be a hero, you might say it is my heritage. I am not sure what SHE is, except that she is very good with computers."
Regina Bush nods. Those empty eyes turning towards Cir-El, "I'm Regina." The girl keeps her surname to herself, "Thanks for helping out. I'm not sure everything would've turned out alright if you hadn't come by." She starts re-arranging the chess pieces, the bugs that came to her aid slowly settling around her. At least one wasp just digs into her skin, leaving a hole that closes quickly afterward.
"Star Trek Voyager and Battlestar Galactica? Come on, you should learn your pop culture if you want to infiltrate Humankind. And I did noting but try to shut down something I wanted to have a test of. But some Vacuum Cleaner did not think about preserving a single one." Jane smirks, her hand stretching out to point at Cir while not looking too much into Regina's direction. "So, you wanna be a hero? I think the Avengers have an application box at their entryway. But I for my, just do what I can in this inhospitable world. Anyway, can I interest you in a small company stock, that is almost guaranteed to raise soon? They do in microprocessors, and I would hate to see them bought up by some bigger company before their idea flourishes."
Cir-el reflects that it is a bit more complicated than that she is just from the future, and tries to explain it, "The future I came from, at the time it was twenty years in the future, so anything that might have been new in the last twelve years or so, might not have happened. While I have heard of Star Trek, the one I am most familiar with is not out yet, and may never be in this world. The did a remake of Battlestar Galactica here? I am barely familiar with the name from like forty years before my time. As for Infiltrating mankind, I happen to have been born in this city, or one almost like it, and lived most of my life here. Who are the Avengers? Also, I have been on this planet about 5 days, where would I get money for an investment?"
She gets the feeling that children are generally not allowed in an adult hero team, as she suspects these Avengers to be.
Regina Bush puts the chess pieces away, "I'm sorry, but everything I know says any investment offer that's 'almost guaranteed to raise soon' is almost guaranteed to be a scam." She doesn't sound aggressive or anything, just like she's echoing the advice of someone whose opinion on the matter she trusts. "And not everyone is crazy about those stupid sci fi shows. You can get by just fine without having seen them."
"You could offer to make some advertizement for them and take stocks instead of cash. It worked for Facebook, it might go well for them too." Jane told back to Cir, a smirk on her face "True girl, but then you either are the sitcom type, read books or with love films. And when I say that a company has a good tech product, I usually know. But of course, your choice."
Cir-El says, "I would believe that you know tech, but you still have not told me your name. Actually, I did have other things than popular culture to study, and the thing is, all my memories are fake...well there was a real girl my memories came from, but my memories are altered, so there is a lot I do not know whether it is real, or was created by Brainiac for his purposes. I think I might want to try getting a good agent before signing an endorsement contract."
Regina Bush gets up and starts to walk away, "Just a piece of advice. Don't give suspicious sounding investment advice to people who don't know you very well. Some of them might decide to report you to the police." Again, it doesn't sound angry, just some friendly words. "Cir-El, it was nice meeting you."
The mentioning of police makes Jane not only snicker, but break into laughter "So, tell them that this Jane Roe tried to tell you about something... The info about them is all out on the internet, they are just..." A moment later the laughter stops and is replaced by a sigh. "They were just bought by Lexcorp. See, I said to be quick."
"Jane Roe is it? Like what they call a woman whose name they do not know," Inquires Cir-El?
"That's what they call people who have no name, yes. Or who can't remember theirs. So Either I am that or a random file number."
If that was self irony was not quite clear, but it was honest of Jane. Cir-El replies sympathetically, "Well, if it is any consolation to you, I do not know my real name either, and the world I am from is no longer an accessible future. Cir-El is just what Brainiac taught me to think my name was."
"Hey, you got at least some fake memory." Jane remarked, her eyes picking up another lost phone. Picking it up, she ran a lock-remover from her backpack before tossing it at Cir. "You might need that to call help once in a while. Avengers, 911, whoever. Those should be free numbers. Or you trace the owner for a bit pocket money. Welcome to Earth." Yup, Independence Day ref...
Cir-El supposes it might be a good idea to get a phone, she will need to put it on her to-do list. Fortunately, she has not needed pocket money yet, it is useful not to need to eat often. She waves goodbye and jumps off into the distance.