Scene #7747: Curve Up

Owner	Pose
Kale Hearthward	A QUIET CORNER OF FALL There's a little, American-esque country here. There's a couple cities, countryside, etc. The aesthetics lag more than a few years behind modern times - late 80's, early 90's. There's a little town here named Podunkan, possibly named such as a joike, but it fits. The town's on the outskirts of one of the big cities, and seems to be made mostly of suburban architecture - again, more than a few years out of date. The eternal fall doesn't help with the feeling that one has stepped into an early-TV-era suburban sitcom. Zeroing in on the situation at hand, though - there's a silent alarm going off at the town's bank, at what in local time is nearly midnight. This would normally be a task for the town's police force, if not for the magic detectors - installed solely in order to lower insurance premiums, and expected to never see any use - going off, and specifically going off with an elite level threat rating. And not having a elite-level response unit of their own, the call for help goes out (with a reasonable reward attached, if that matters to you). --- The bank's quiet. It's a small branch - lobby, back offices, safety deposit boxes - and that's about it. There's not even one of those fancy new automatic ATM machines. The night's lit up by enough pale moonlight that navigating the interior without a flashlight is possible - and indeed, there's no signs of lighting. The alarm indicated that the intruder went through the front door - there's no sign of forced entry, at least that can be seen from a distance. There's no cars parked in the parking lot that they could have arrived in, but there's enough businesses within walking distance (and line of sight) including a drive-through fast food and, a bit further away, the entrance to a drive-in movie theater (not currently showing anything). Start your investigation.
Cantio	At first, the idea of responding to some bank's silent alarm in the middle of nowhere doesn't really strike Cantio as something worth pulling herself away from her research for. There's probably someone else that can handle it, right? Right. It's not until she hears that there actually isn't anyone local on the scene (and also realizing she's been cooped in her lab for a couple of days now) that she finally tears herself away from that sterile laboratory to venture outside once more. Arriving in her usual white and purple sailor dress, Cantio approaches the front door casually and starts tapping on it. "Doesn't feel like it was forced open... A teleporter, maybe? Or..." She comments idly while continuing to check the door for a little longer, eventually finding her gaze wandering towards the fast food drive-through. Her stomach rumbles. She closes her eyes, the air around her shimmers with pixelated light, and a second Cantio appears dressed like some kind of Halloween-themed maid. While the second Cantio goes on a trip to acquire some burgers, the first Cantio turns her attention back to the door and takes a deep breath before moving right through it. No forced entry or other weird gimmicks. Just walking right on through it as if the door wasn't there. She flickers briefly as she does so, glancing at herself for a second before clearing her throat once she's inside. "That was easy! Guess grabbing everything inside'll be easier than I thought!" She says aloud, almost as if she's trying to provoke a response. If there's one thing Cantio knows about bank robberies, it's that the reason for it is usually to steal the money inside. Even with no signs of a forced entry or any real signs at all of the intruder that tripped the alarm, that one clue is enough for her to try and draw them out of hiding.
Staren	See, this is what happens when you install your alarm as an afterthought and don't bother to change the default settings from "Just have the Syndicate call everyone" to "Paladins only, please" You get the Concord. Specifically, you get the Mad Scientists With Unusual Ethical Views Girl Squad (MSWUEWVG? Wow that sounds terrible. Someone workshop it later,) Staren and Cantio! Staren sends camera drones to surround the bank and canvas the area, and strides up to the front door in what she hopes is an Impressive Outfit: Her labcoat is on, unbuttoned this time over her a fitted red shirt and black pants and boots. The coat's sleeves are fitted too, with ornamental black belts and silver buckles built in, two on the left upper arm, and one on the right, entirely for looks, with a fourth belt hanging open at about thigh-level. There's a Concord Orange stripe around the waist, and black leathery gloves on her hands. The ends of the sleeves/gloves are concealed by bulky metal-looking vambraces that must contain some kind of gizmos, although just what is unclear besides some Ominous Panels and holes that could be missile launch ports, or cooling vents, or just Looking Cool. Her hair has bangs in front with the rest tied in a ponytail as a sort of lazy-woman's-braid at the back of her head with ties every few inches. She's switched from Round Geeky Glasses to squarish, rectangular-framed ones that hopefully look a bit more Serious. (They also have embedded sensors that tell her exactly what angle to adjust them to to reflect light at someone) Finally, a Concord Orange Hero Scarf completes the ensemble, large enough to loosely drape around her neck and tied such that it poofs out and then tapers to twin points behind her waist. Staren places a hand on the door and pushes it open. "Hey!" she calls out. "Mister, miss, or other bank robber! I want to talk! You've clearly got something you care about very much, if you want all this money and yet you take it from people who won't miss it instead of easier marks who don't have the resources to call us! I think that makes you interesting so I'd like to hear what your deal is! Come on, aren't you curious too, about someone showing up who's not just a brain-dead status-quo-enforcing hero?" And then she looks at Cantio. "Wait, you're gonna rob whatever the bank has left?" Staren rubs her chin. "I guess we COULD do that. It seems a bit against the spirit of the thing, but I can't really think of a good reason NOT to, since it IS insured... But if we do we should probably give it to the locals or something, instead of taking it for ourselves."
Lory Thumper	Silent and unexpectedly magical alarms are however right up Lory Thumper's alley, and so the police officer and Paladin made her way here quickly. And she arrives just in time to see two Concordians apparently taking advantage of the situation just to make a quick buck? The bunny lowers her ears, foot tapping and arms crossed, as she stands just behind the other two. "You're kidding right?" she says to Staren. Cantio at least seems to be trying to trap someone. "Insurance isn't just a free thing. People pay for that, and usually through some roundabout means it's the people who think their money is safe in a bank." With the door already open she makes her own way inside. Her ears lift up again, listening for any movement or talking or other response to Cantio's ploy.
Staren	Staren turns to look at Lory, who is after all Obviously Dressed As A Cop, and puts a hand on her hip. "Yeah, that's why I say we give it to the locals! They've already taken a little of everyone's tax money or fees or whatever. If you already know that the bank is going to avoid harm to itself by using innocent people as a shield, then why would you take its side though?" She's watching Lory closely, expecting a fight to begin... but when Lory just... walks in and looks around, Staren relaxes again. "Ah, so you DO understand better than to fight us over it. Good."
Kale Hearthward	There's a bit of sudden movement in the bank's offices - akin to someone realizing that they've got company and taking cover. "Spark One! I think there's people!" says someone in what's supposed to be a whisper, but comes out a bit too loud. "<Yes, I saw them, just stay cool, okay? Delete the file, then I'll get you out of there, Cody.>" The voice comes in a bit quieter - on a walkie-talkie. "It's Spark Two! Use codenames!" As Other Cantio goes to get some food, they'd see a few cars parked near the drive-through - including a van, with its back open, and a young adult girl sitting on the edge with one hand on the keyboard of a bulky laptop, and the other managing to simultaneously hold a walkie-talkie and a pair of binoculars - which are pointed right at the bank. "Look - ask them what they want," says the girl into the walkie-talkie, and in the bank, Original Recipe Cantio gets to hear it in stereo. "<Look, ask them what they want.>" "What do you want? I've got a gun! It's a real gun, I promise!" <"Great, and while you talk to them, keep trying to find the file, okay? I'm going to get you curved down just in case."> The walkie-talkie her voice is coming from probably isn't meant to be overheard, Cody just hasn't realized he has it set too loud.
Staren	There is a brief discussion about ordering food on the radio. Staren's ears perk up as people talk in the building, rotating reflexively towards the sound. Staren holds a hand beside her mouth and calls out, "I told you what I want! For you to come out and tell me about why you're robbing a bank! If I think it's a good reason, maybe I'll help! If it was just a trap to get an elite to show up for you to fight, I can oblige that too, I guess!" It's a real gun, they promise! "Oh, don't worry! I've got real magic and armor and stuff myself! If it's a gunfight you want, I've got lots of real guns too!" Beat. Something occurs to Staren. "...Hey, we're having someone pick us up some <name of fast food joint Halloween Witch Edition Cantio strode off towards>, do you want anything? If you'd rather talk over dinner."
Cantio	Just opening the door like a normal person would have made more sense in retrospect. Ah well. Turning to Staren, Cantio takes a moment to process that before shaking her head and hands quickly. "What? Oh, no, no! That was just to get the person to show themselves! Because a bank robber isn't going to like someone else robbing the bank out from under them, right?" She's saying all of this out loud, of course. She's not particularly good at acting. The discussion of insurance and what to do with the money between Lory and Staren, meanwhile, has her staring at the two blankly, not quite following or just missing some context herself. The fact that the second Cantio is relaying info back to the first at the same time probably doesn't help. The first Cantio notices movement in the offices, and she furrows her brow at that kind-of-threat. "I... Um. I think we all do." She glances over at Staren and Lory to see if they pull their's out, then turns back towards the office while approaching it slowly. "What are you doing in here, anyway? How did you get in?" She sounds more curious than threatening, at least, although it might be a little unnerving when she puts her head through the wall of the office instead of coming through the door. "And.. Er. Y-yeah, wouldn't you rather resolve this without having to use that gun? I mean, I'm-er. They might take a bit to get back with the food, but they're close by." The second Cantio, meanwhile, is distracted from her food hunt by seeing and hearing the girl on the van. Peering at Spark One(?), she moves sideways slowly outside of the binoculars' field of vision, inching towards her carefully. Once she's close enough (like a yard or something), she jumps into frame, complete with her hands held near her face. "Boo!"
Lory Thumper	Lory raises an eyebrow at Staren. "...am I going to have to fight you to keep you from stealing? Because it isn't that 'I understand better' than to do it as you rather arrogantly put it. It's that there's no reason to fight if you don't just break the law for no good reason. And 'it probably won't hurt anyone' or 'I can get away with it' are not good reasons. They are bad reasons. Ones that I've had to lock up plenty of people for." With Staren just going more and more down the path of join the robbers, Lory tries to nonchallantly put a bit of distance between herself and the cat scientist while she unholsters one of her pistols. "Yes, plenty of real guns over here, too." she adds for Cody's benefit. "So just leave whatever you might have taken and come out with your hands raised. No one has to get hurt or even go to jail if you just calmly walk out right now." Cantio's rather relaxed attitude makes Lory stare blankly in turn. "...well, I guess that's one way to approach a suspect..." she says quietly to herself. "...did she just...stick her head through that wall?" she says, this time more directly to Staren.
Staren	Cantio explains the reason for suggesting robbing the bank and before she can stop herself, Staren has responded "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh." She's just self-aware enough to realize she's come out looking foolish and blush afterward, though.
Kale Hearthward	"Um - real guns? Magic? Armor? Actually robbing the bank? Are you elites? Why are there elites here? Shit..." "<Cody, we're elites,>" says the walkie-talkie, and then Cantio jumps out and surprises the girl on the other end of the line. "EEK!" She drops everything, grabs the laptop, and scrambles into the van - quickly starting it and getting it into motion, peeling out of the restaurant parking lot. "<Spark One? Spark One? ... Tracy?>" In the bank office, Cody also panicks - seeing Cantio coming through the wall doesn't help. He turns out to be human, with the build of an athlete, about the same age as his co-conspirator out in the restaurant parking lot - and he's holding what is clearly a nerf pistol. Not a real gun painted to look like a toy, a straight off-the-shelf foam dart pistol. In either case - he ignores further talking, electing to just straight book it out of the offices, and trying to get through the lobby - stopping him, at this point, will require some effort.
Cantio	Something isn't adding up right here. As Bank-Cantio sees Cody, she takes a moment to look him over and just frowns as he starts barreling his way out of the office. She takes her sweet time in moving the rest of herself through that wall, not even giving chase when he heads through the lobby. Instead, she's leaving that to Staren and Lory while checking out the office itself. Namely... She's going to try figuring out what it was he was actually doing inside here. She's looking for disturbed papers, computers that might still be on, or even stuff he might have left behind in his haste to escape. Burger place Cantio, meanwhile, just looks flustered when Tracy bails right out of that parking lot. <<"Wait! Ah... Crap. Um. One of them left.">> She relays over the radio, chattering over a private line with herself Forma Bank before breaking into a run. She's running pretty fast, too, as she starts chasing after that van on foot. "H-hey! I'm sorry! Hold up, I just want to talk!" She shouts towards Tracy, possibly looking rather insane chasing after a car on foot and actually building speed all the while.
Lory Thumper	Lory blinks at Staren before facepalming and laughing just a bit. "Wow. That's almost endearing. If not for the overt threat." she says, shaking her head a bit. Her ears perk at the sounds of the van speeding off. "No honor among thieves as they say." When Cody books it, Lory is off like a shot. The sight of the toy gun causes her to holster her own, but she does pull out one of her bolas. "Hold it right there, kid!" she exclaims (despite probably being somewhere between 1 and 2 feet shorter than him) before she tosses the bola. It flies quickly through the air, seeking to wrap up his legs and trip him long enough for her to catch up. Assuming it works she tries to leap atop him and apply a Jiu Jitsu leg lock to keep him from getting back up.
Staren	Staren tilts her head at Lory. "I don't really feel like fighting you over that today." She turns towards the bunny cop and curtseys as if her labcoat were a dress. "The power of deterrence keeps money from the people for another day. Well done." And then Lory pulls a gun, and Staren circles around to interpose herself between Lory and the direction she THINKS the 'robber' will come running from. "Woah, woah! Nobody needs to get shot here!" When drones pick up the sound of peeling out she directs some to go that way and investigate, but who knows if upcoming distractions might interfere. Staren raises her head slightly and shouts, "If you're not here to rob the bank, why ARE you here??", trying to project since she's currently facing Lory instead of the 'robber'. As the robber comes into view, Staren doesn't discount the threat of the dart gun based on looks (or even scans! He could be some kind of caster that uses it as a focus) but does immediately draw her matter manipulator in one hand and start trying to put a barrier of concrete in front of the doors... while warping a pneumatic cannon into her other hand and firing some kind of net of sticky, glowing magic at him! Although, her one-handed aim isn't the best and she's less focused on optimally positioning the barrier than she otherwise would be. Coming up with two plans at once may or may not be a great idea!
Kale Hearthward	Tracy looks spooked. She doesn't look at all interested in stopping to talk - but then again, the van isn't heading out away towards the highway, it's taking sharp corners, heading across the road and back towards the bank. Cantio can easily keep pace with it, either way - it's just a van. Inside, Cody is booking it - and traveling on a straight line towards the door, is an easy target for Lory's bolas and Staren's net... ... Both of which fail to entangle him. Their aim was spot-on, that was a direct hit, but the bolas just don't catch and the net just happens to land in a way that lets him brush it off before the stickiness can take hold. "Hah!" calls Cody. "I'm curved down, you can't so much as touch me!" And with that, he brings up the foam dart pistol, and fires two shots... both of which just bounce off of whatever they hit harmlessly, regardless of whether or not Lory and Staren try dodging them. "... Oh, right. Curved down." He looks at the concrete barrier blocking his exit with concern, slowing to a halt. "Um-" "CODY!" yells Tracy, as the van skids to a halt in the bank's parking lot. "Curving up!" She slams in a few keystrokes on the bulky olde-tech laptop, currently sitting on the passenger seat of the van. "Alright! Feeling curved up!" calls Cody, reloading the dart gun, and firing it - and this time the foam darts, looking no different, blast apart the concrete barrier - and the door behind it. "We're here to save my parents' house by the way!" calls Cody as he takes aim, trying to ward the trio off. "Don't tell them that!"
Lory Thumper	Lory also just slides off of Cody with a surprised yelp and lands on her feet, blinking in disbelief. "What the-?!" She turns around just in time to see a Nerf dart headed her way, and in Matrix style sye leaps forward and spirals through the air to avoid the incoming shots. The momentum from her dodge carries her into Cody's shadow enough that she is shielded from the explosion of the darts, and then into Cody himself. She comes out of the spiral in a spinning kick aimed at his chest, then bounces back and lands in a three point stance. "Did...did those darts just explode?! What the heck are you two?!" she asks, staring at the destroyed wall and door. "Why are you willing to blow people up to save your parents' home?! There's really much better ways to save homes!"
Cantio	"Curved down? Up?" Cantio's not quite sure what to make of that as she comes back out of the bank office. With things starting to get more violent between the bolas and the sticky stuff and an exploding concrete barrier, she lets out an intrigued noise instead of seeming worried in the slightest. She actually looks more intrigued than anything else, and Cody stating their goal outright has her outright halting in midstep. She glances back at the office, then back at Cody, and then she gets shot right in the chest by that weirdly powerful dart. It actually has her staggering for a moment, even, but not so long that she doesn't catch that dart afterwards to look it over. ".. Huh. Interesting. Mm.. Other me, see what's going on. I've got some work to do." With that, Classic Cantio heads right back into that office while Halloween Maid Cantio rounds the corner and leaps onto the van once it stops. Spotting Cody, she brings out a pumpkin-orange version of her usual two-handed sword, then leaps forward with the weapon held high! Instead of trying to slice him apart, however, she instead starts swinging the flat side of it at him like a club repeatedly. Some swings come from the sides for his arms, others are aimed lower at his legs, and then she tops it all off by just shoving it forward at center mass, as if challenging whatever his 'curved up' thing might be. Classic Cantio, meanwhile, has her eyes on the bank's computers. "They're not even adults... What would make them resort to this?" She murmurs to herself as she starts trying to hack right into their systems, albeit in a fairly amateurish manner to see if she can't dig up anything on debts owned by the bank against people in this area.
Staren	'Curved down'? What does that mean? It's obviously a descriptor applying to some kind of powered individual, or perhaps a particular state one can be in, but what doees it mean beyond that? In any case, Staren dodges the nerf darts completely seriously. It helps that in their unpowered state, they fly much slower than bullets! She steps towards Cody, holding out a hand in a 'cool down' gesture. "We just want to talk..." She was expecting the darts to have power, but not THAT much power! The catgirl's eyes go wide as the concrete is blasted apart that quickly! And they're off! A half-second later, Staren sets a much smaller barrier behind her, then lifts her feet and kicks off it, leaping out the door at a bit above normal running speed. "You heard 'em! They're curved down! And curved up!" Hmm. While the boy was curved down, attacks that seemed about to hit missed. While curved up, he supercharged the nerf gun. Perhaps the 'curved down' state interferes with the use of supernatural powers against them, while curved up means they can use their own powers? But Lory's bola wasn't supernatural, was it? Well, that's all the time Staren has to think before she's chasing after the van, skating along on hovershoes as if she were on rollerblades -- but to her surprise she sees they're NOT driving away yet?! "That sounds great!" Staren calls. "How can we help? Nobody deserves to be homeless!" She's still trying not to HURT anyone, but now she's barreling towards the van at high speed! She stuffs the manipulator in her pocket, fires the net gun, and then tries to grab Cody with her off hand (possibly shoving him against the van from momentum! ...or not, on account of being a 4'11" catgirl) "I just wanna talk!"
Kale Hearthward	"Well we were going to just have me sneak in and delete the mortgage documents, and that'd keep the bank from foreclosing, and it was all going to be simple!" yells Cody. "Damnit, Cody! Stop telling them the plan!" calls Tracy from the van in the parking lot. In the office, the computer Cody had been next to is logged in, with password entered. It's easy enough to cross reference and find that, yes, there's a house that they're foreclosing on tomorrow, debts owed by a set of middle-aged adults - with a note attached that one of them had lost their job at the steel mill, and had been missing payments because of that. Lory comes in with the spinning kick, landing a solid blow, and Cody goes flying across the room, slamming into the bank's counter and causing the pens to rattle on their chains. Cantio Derivative comes in with the club - and lands some very solid hits, with Staren coming in right after for a grab that's executed suspiciously flawlessly, given that Cody has the build of a footballer and Staren is smallcatte. "Tracy, could you be a bit faster with the curve changes?" he calls, trying to break free. "Getting hit in Curve Up hurts!" "Well, sorrrrry, I can't exactly focus on three combatants at once!" In the van, she's typing furiously on the keyboard. "Keep holding onto that one, though, I think I've got her curve pattern!" "She's the one holding onto me, though..." "Whatever - got it!" She slams her finger down triumphantly. "Patterning complete - Inventor Curve set!" "Inventor Curve? What's-" He glances down, at the pens chained to the counter he's next to. "Ah-" And with that, he grabs a double-fistful of the chained pens, yanking them off, and doing some rapid configuration - "Yeah! Ink Chain Knuckles!" he says, holding up the contraption of broken pens and chains, and using them to throw punches and blinding ink at everyone around.
Lory Thumper	Lory sighs heavily as she hears the plan. "Things like that never work, kid. There's always back-up copies, other bank records...I mean I guess it might delay things for a bit if you were lucky, but...it isn't going to save your parents'..." Lory trails off as Cody grabs a bunch of pens and...they become some sort of weapon. "...that's different..." is all she manages before she leaps to the side. She doesn't avoid the blow though and gets thrown across the floor and covered in ink. That really isn't so bad all things considered, but the ink is apparently quite sticky or something and slows her down quite a bit. The bunny fights against the stuff for a few moments, then huffs. "Alright, that's enough! It doesn't matter if you were trying to help your parents! Breaking into a bank and destroying records is just going to make things worse for them and you're making it worse for yourself every second by fighting against law enforcement! I'm putting a stop to this!" And instead of going toward Cody again, Lory struggles her way out toward the van. She pulls a flashbang from her belt and calls out, "I don't know what you are doing, but it is obviously helping him somehow! Sorry about this!" she calls out, then tosses the flashbang into the van and covers her ears. Once it goes off she moves in, intending to subdue the girl in the van with a few quick karate chops.
Cantio	"So that's what they were here for... How sad. Being that desperate just to save his parents' home..." Cantio Primo comments to herself as she digs through the office computer, finding those records after a while. She strokes her chin lightly whiel skimming through the other records, taking note of other foreclosures, then cracking her knuckles and getting to work. Deleting one record would be too easy to detect. Editing hundreds, thousands of them at random, removing a couple of digits, and adding decimal points, however, might just obfuscate who even broke inside in the first place. She even switches some of their records on who owns what properties to really muddle things up, although she still stops short of actually deleting anything. Satisfied with her work, she turns in the office chair she totally hijacked to scooch over to the door, then... Watches. She won't spoil the fight just yet. Besides, Cody is still putting up a fight against three Elites (well, two and a copy), and Cantioween doesn't let up even as he grabs those pens and chains. She brings up her sword to block against the first blow as she moves in close, taking a glancing blow to the head and shutting her eyes as the ink blinds one of them. It's still close enough to fight, however, and she flips her sword to an underhanded grip as she thrusts the hilt into Cody's gut. It's clear she's still not trying to actively kill the football player, but she's also not holding back with that enhanced strength as she keeps bashing away at his arms and kidneys.
Staren	"Y'know, I could just buy it! Giving three elites this much trouble, I'm sure you could help out the Concord!" Staren points out. "....Actually, deleting it sounds good too! Let's delete ALL the mortgage documents! But what if they have offsite backups?" She idly taps her chin with the netgun... And then realizes just how big the guy she's holding is compared to her... and that despite that, he's struggling in her grip? Now THAT'S interesting, how could that be working? "Oh! Sorry." She relaxes the grip slightly when he says he's being hurt, although she isn't trying to let go... Until she hears a woman's voice say "I think I've got her curve pattern! Patterning complete - Inventor Curve set!' Staren's ears perk up. A memory flashes through her mind of long ago. A talking blue crystal and the adventures it led Staren to in understanding and manipulating the physics of the world, a memory recalled when she went to check out Arthur's latest project and encountered Mr. Welcomes there. This could be very, very bad. It was so long ago, but the part of Staren that jumps to make connections and plans and prepare for absurd contingencies, the part she believed was keeping her alive for so many years, suddenly stirs. Staren looks like she very much does NOT want to touch anything that might do something to her 'curve'. Eyes wide, she shoves off of Cody, lands on all fours, changes to her cat form, and scampers this way and that trying to avoid the attacks, sometimes briefly taking human form to do another one of those boost-jumps off a wall. She avoids every attack like her life depends on it, then kicks off a wall, stays in human form, and skates for the doorway, grabbing the edge as she passes to spin around and do another jump towards the van! Staren skates up to the door and grabs the handle. If it doesn't open when she pulls, she draws her beam sword and cuts the bolt and THEN tries to open the door. Either way, Trish suddenly has a very serious-looking catgirl leaning into the van, brandishing an energy sword threateningly with one hand while grabbing at the laptop with the other! "WHAT are you doing?! What are you trying to do to my pattern?!"
Kale Hearthward	"It would have worked!" calls Cody. "It - if they don't have the paperwork, they can't do the thing!" he says. "Right?" He gets cut off from further talk as Cantio slams the sword into his gut - he's apparently still stanced up, given the way he doubles over from that. Lory tosses the flashbang into the van, with predictable results - in the front seat, Tracy is bent over, trying to cover her ears and her face at the same time, and not even noticing at first when Staren pulls open the unlocked door and grabs the laptop from its perch in the front passenger seat. "... H-hey, I..." "... I didn't touch it! I just - copied bits of it..." That seems to be the ball game - Tracy looking helplessly at Staren in the front seat, shrinking back in fear, still rubbing her eyes, while Cody's trying to pull himself back up to his feet inside the bank proper. They're probably a bit more receptive to actual questions, now. And definitely in no position to try running off again.
Cantio	Cantio Primo's stomach rumbles again. She peers at the fighting outside as it finally settles down, then turns the other way to exit the bank from the opposite wall. She might be overusing this walking-through-walls thing, but it's really convenient to just do things without getting caught up in the crossfire. Besides... Now she can go get those burgers. Cantio Secundo, meanwhile, inhales sharply as Cody explains that plan further. "Um... N-not really? I mean, places like these do usually have backups, so unless you have a way of dealing with those as well... Erm." She rubs the back of her neck lightly, looking him over a few times to make sure he's not going to just try punching her in the face again before shouldering her weapon. "Did you have anyone taking care of any cameras, at least? Heading in like this without mask might be a little... Risky?" She chuckles awkwardly at that, then holds a finger to the side of her head. She doesn't actually need to, but it feels cooler that way. <<"Are you two okay out there? What's the status of the driver?">>
Lory Thumper	They might be more receptive to questions, but Lory is more concerned about whether Staren is going to remove Tracy's ability to answer questions. "Woah woah!" she exclaims. She leaps into the van through the back door to place herself between Staren and the frightened human girl, the irony of Staren doing almost this exact thing earlier not lost on her. "They're just kids." she says in a calm tone. "You wanted to help them, remember? Not skewer them?" She holds up her paw-hands in the usual 'take it easy' gesture. "Whatever she did, it doesn't seem like it was permanent or even really affected you at all." Lory's long ears are lowered. The bunny is keenly aware that compared to the rest of these people she is just a normal bunny in tactical gear. But she'd never forgive herself if two dumb kids got seriously hurt in some misguided attempt to help their parents.
Staren	Trish is blinded and shrinking in fear. The laptop (of unknown necessity or lack thereof to Trish's powers) is in Staren's hand. Immediate threat level is tentatively lowered, but potential near future threat level is still unknown. Staren pulls the laptop out of the van and stands on the pavement outside the ruined door. She listens to the words. Didn't touch it. Just copied bits of it. Uncertain if that means more is possible, but they didn't intend the harm Staren feared. Considering this a moment, Staren eventually realizes how scared the words are. Freed from calculating how to stay alive, Staren mentally tries to re-contextualize the situation. Two kids with some kind of magic. It can copy people. They had the idea to use it to save his parents' house. Probably didn't expect the magic alarm. Did not know what to do when caught - how can they be SURE the elites won't send them to Hyper Paladin Ultra Scary Death Jail or something, not like they know about that shit. And the elites were holding back, until something someone said made one FLIP OUT AND THREATEN HER WITH A BEAM SABER. Staren sighs, relaxing, shoulders slumping slightly. She deactivates and holsters the sword so it doesn't show how her hands are still shaking slightly, her heart pounding from an adrenaline rush she no longer needs -- or didn't need in the first place. The catgirl takes another deep breath, glances at Lory, then back to Trish. "I'm sorry. I thought... well if you understood that much, you can see why I'd be afraid of you interfering with my 'pattern', yes?" She starts to set the laptop down on the seat, though she hesitates just long enough to glance at the screen. "Sorry." Staren takes another deep breath, and closes her eyes. And... The sea of stars, it feels so close. Just on the edge of her awareness. Curiousity pushes her to lean into it. In her mind, Staren stands at the bottom of an ocean of stars. In the distance, each star is a human, or at least moderately intelligent animal, going about its day, living its life, with no idea that someone can sense it like this. Does Persephone have thoughts like that? She must. Even this small taste... A power, new to me, that I can touch others with and they can't touch back, and aren't even aware of it... And she can do so much more. People must feel so fragile to her... And, closer than the distant stars, are four others: In front of her, the girl, near her, Lory, and two more a little further away which must be Cantio and the boy. Staren focuses on the star in front of her. Trying to 'look' at its detail as gently as possible, although she's not sure there IS a metaphorical dimmer switch on this thing... She feels Tracy's emotions -- probably fear, but perhaps more nuanced -- surface thoughts, and personality... and, not being in a hurry to return focus to the physical world yet, gives in to curiousity and tries to feel Tracy's heart. There there, little star. It'll be alright. But I'm just so curious to know... Why are you the way that you are?
Kale Hearthward	"They... I mean, they'd be at least a little bit delayed, right? Then we could... find a way to get the money together?" "... Cameras?" Cody looks up at the security cameras in the bank, blinking. "... Oh, um..." "... I think we forgot a few things... I just, had to do something..." He comes to a bit of a realization. "... Um, are we going to jail?" Tracy still looks a bit scared... and still looks very flashbanged. The laptop is showing an old DOS-style command prompt, but the input and output text in the buffer is dense and full of jargon. It's possibly parseable, if Staren had more than a glance at it. And as for Tracy's inner workings... The surface level thoughts are, uniformly, hoping that Staren doesn't find out that yes, they could have done more than that to her 'pattern'. Debilitative effects - but only ones that are directly temporary. They'd go back to baseline within a few hours. ... The more gripping question. Why is Tracy the way she is? There's a lot of this situation she didn't choose. She didn't choose to stumble across the mysterious program on her dad's old computer. She didn't choose a random stranger she'd never met as the target for it - at least not if she'd known the choice would be permanent. She didn't want to do anything with it, at first, once she'd understood it - much like choosing to leave a gun where you found it instead of deciding to wield it, and in any case that wasn't for her to decide. She did choose to investigate it a bit further. She did decide to share what she found with Cody - and that convinced him and her that they needed to act. And then while they were out... ... Cody's parents' fate took a turn. They wanted to help them - nothing really illegal, was the thought. Slip in, delete a few files, delay the proceedings, find a legal way to raise the money... She owed it to Cody for, in her mind, being the one to drag him into this mess.
Lory Thumper	Lory takes a few deep breaths herself as Staren backs off and places one of her paws on her chest. Adrenaline all around. After she's calmed down a bit she turns to Tracy. "Hey, are you alright? Sorry about the flashbang, but you guys were really getting out of hand." she says. While the girl is still disoriented Lory moves to cuff Tracy's hands behind Tracy's back. "Sit tight. Don't do anything silly, okay? I'll help you out as best I can with whatever comes next." she says, then exits the van. She approaches Staren next. "And what about you? Are you alright? I'm guessing you have some kind of fear about losing pieces of yourself?" Her ears perk as she hears the conversation inside and she calls out. "Going to jail? Probably for a few days. Going to prison? I doubt it. No one was really hurt and the property damage isn't that bad all things considered. I'm sure you will just get some fines and community service if the laws here are anything like those where I come from. And if the things about your parents are true I think there might be another answer. The Paladins or Concord both pay pretty well. You should look into joining. I suggest the Paladins of course, but I might be biased."
Staren	Staren can check the screenshot in her cybernetics' recording later, but that's not what she's going to focus on right now. It's a bit weird, feeling the thoughts and memories at the same time as her OWN thoughts about the implications. By the time she's done, Staren's already half-forming a plan to make sure that laptop doesn't end up in factional hands other than the Concord's, although she doesn't want to take it away from Tracy. Staren takes another deep breath and opens her eyes, feeling much calmer now. "I see. There was potential for a lot of misunderstandings... It really is convenient, to be able to avoid that." She taps her chin thoughtfully. "It's alright. I see that you didn't mean harm. And that you feel guilty for unintended consequences and are trying to make it right." Take the laptop. Staren glances at Lory, "Don't you? But... more like I can imagine the implications..." and back to Tracy. "You are not going to jail. You... could be great assets to the Concord, if you want to be..." You've got to take the laptop! Staren holds a hand to her head. "Sorry, I'm... that came out wrong. I don't... I just... The option's there on the table. The Concord's great. We take care of eachother like family, we don't use eachother or anything. If you want a life of adventure and you want help you can count on." TAKE THE No. We resolved to give Lilian a chance, and this girl deserves it far more. But... the potential! What's on that computer could have Multiverse-altering potential! And if I can't give people the chance just because I might be able to get some great power, then it doesn't really mean anything at all, does it? Only doing it when it's convenient. Besides, when has world-altering power actually ended up saving the Multiverse and creating Utopia? ...I'm not sure about this. I hope I don't regret it. I know. Staren clenches her hands into fists as she struggles to resist the urge to take the laptop and secure power. "...I'm not letting you go to jail, whether you join us or not. We'll sort this mess out. Because it's the right thing to do." Staren blinks. All this time, and she never introduced herself. She smiles, "I'm Staren Wiremu, of the Concord. What do you want? What do you /really/ want, what's your dream? Maybe I can help." Another thought crosses her mind. "...And whatever they say... However they try to make it about laws, and money, and crime..." She leans over and reaches out to pat Tracy's shoulder and look into her eyes. "You're a good person. Without curiousity about the world, the Multiverse can never get better. And you chose to try to make it right, when no one else had any hold over you or could force you to do anything. Don't let anyone tell you that was a bad thing. That's... something only a good person would do."
Cantio	"That's... Er. I guess it depends on how advanced the technology is in this area." Cantio #2 replies to Cody, crossing her arms over her chest and furrowing her brow. "Depending on their records, any network-based solutions they have, or if it's actually just a single machine..." She sighs lightly, following his gaze up to the cameras before gesturing towards the outside of the bank. She doesn't wait to see if he follows, though, as she just heads right on outside of the bank before turning back to face Cody again. "As for jail... Um. That depends! You see-" Before Cantio #2 can finish, Cantio #1 abruptly appears where #2 was and vice versa as if swapping positions with the other, holding a sack full of burgers and fries. No drinks, sadly. She takes a seat on the back of the van, picking out a box of fries for herself to munch on while gesturing at the everyone else to gather round to stuff their faces. "If they have backups or detailed records, then tonight might have been a bust anyway. If they don't, though, then your parents should be okay! I already took care of it." She explains without going into any further detail of what records were messed with by what amounts or which names, although she sounds rather convinced that whatever she did actually worked. "I don't really know much about either of your circumstances, but I think... It sounds like you two have potential. So!" Cantio looks right at Lory, staring at her for several long moments before getting up to hand Cody and Tracy some business cards bearing the Concord's contact information (along with Cantio's name for good measure). "Once things settle down or if there's still problems tomorrow, think of this as plan B." She steps back, then gets back to munching on more fries. "The rest... I guess that depends on what... Um." She looks right at Lory, furrowing her brow and concentrating for a few moments before snapping her fingers. "Lory! That.. Was your name, right? What Miss Lory plans to do."
Kale Hearthward	Tracy looks like she's not about to go anywhere right now. (Mostly because she's still a bit flashbanged.) "... My dream? Well, I was... going to go to college. Start... doing something with computers. Maybe a business. You know?" She manages a smile, maybe relaxing a bit. Only a bit, though. "... But there was..." She reaches over and taps a few keys on the laptop. The syntax is a bit unfamiliar, but that's very obviously a search and filter command run against a database. "The program here - it detects other usages. Sort of. I set it up to record data while we were testing it, and I kept the recording running accidentally, and it picked up on... what I think are other people that have this same program. Using it. Causing disturbances similar to what I've been able to do with Cody." "And..." She points at part of the readout, which is a simple column of datetimes. "There. Those match up to... events. Disasters, deaths. I think someone - probably multiple someones, also has something like this... and they're using it to do evil things." "And so we went on a trip to try to find them, and... while we were gone..." She trails off - because food's here. Food improves both of the kids' moods. Greasy hometown burgers.
Staren	Go to college? Start doing 'something with computers, maybe a business'? Hmm. How vague. But whether that means anything deeper should probably be left up to a more qualified... mind expert? Anyway, there's more pressing business now. Staren makes note of the listed timestamps. She listens attentively to Tracy, ears focused... And then the story is interrupted by food! ...The adrenaline rush made her forget her hunger, but now, the smell of food draws her attention like a magnet. She eagerly takes her double cheeseburger and bites and chews. "Mm! I coulh--" She starts to speak, then thinks better of it and waits until she's chewed and swallowed that bite. "I could cook a better burger, but right now, This's'not bad." Bite, chew, chew, chew, chew. "If you feel up to talking about it more... what kinda stuff can you do? Are there any of the disasters or deaths that... how do I phrase this... you would know how they could have been caused, specifically, by this power? ...And what about your living situation, is that all alright?" Bite. Chew.
Kale Hearthward	"Living situation is... alright," says Tracy. There were sleeping bags and well-worn camping gear in the back of the van. "The mayor had a heart attack," says Cody. "That was one of them. The dam breaking." "Alright, so there's 'curve up', which makes me hit harder and do stuff like guessing a computer password on the first try, or picking a lock in a couple of seconds," says Cody. "And Curve Down, which keeps me from getting hit, and I can sorta push both of those out to stuff I touch." "... It's more complicated than that," says Tracy, giving him a look. "It's... hard to explain. It's affecting his causality, how much he's able to affect and be affected by the world? The actual functions are unlabeled in the program - it all just looks like random strings of characters till I aliased some commands - so I came up with some terminology for it based on some stuff one of my old math teachers told me about spacetime and Hilbert Curves."
Lory Thumper	Lory listens to all of this, and when there is an opening she introduces herself as well. "Lory Thumper, MPD and one of the Paladins." she says. She listens a bit more, then blinks as Cantio swaps places with herself and introduces food. Food does usually help, and Lory uncuffs Tracy so the young woman can eat. She feels a bit double-teamed though. She's trying to advocate for law and order while two powerful people are talking about freedom and apparently finished the crime in progress. She hesitates a moment. All the points on the radio and in person...how can she explain it so the other elites and more importantly the kids see that this is wrong? Lory takes a deep breath. "Staren's right. You're good kids. Which is why I want to make sure you know what you did today is bad. Breaking in was bad enough, but fighting the people that responded to the alarm? What if you two had gotten hurt? Or just as bad, what if you had seriously hurt someone? Would you be okay with that? Would your parents be okay with that, Cody? You knew this was wrong but you did it because you thought you would get away with it. Well, you didn't. And if you do something like this again it could go much worse next time." The bunny scratches at the back of her neck uncertainly. "Look, I don't know if you understand what I'm trying to say, but...I've been a police officer for a while and I know what happens when good kids start doing bad things for good reasons. It just builds on itself until you are doing bigger and badder things for bad reasons. Do yourselves a favor and just...stay good kids, alright?" She smiles softly after that. "You were trying to help someone. That's what we at the Paladins try to do, too. But the right way, by finding solutions that are good for everyone and bad for those who are hurting people. And you guys would be great assets, especially with those big hearts." She follows suit and gives them one of her cards, then just stands by and listens.
Kale Hearthward	"That's what we're trying to do, ma'am," says Cody, irregardless of the fact that they had just broken into (and then broke apart) a bank. Mostly he looks relieved that he's not going to Paladins Ultra Space Baby Jail, though.