trans_9 | Leap of faith

Kyle's been having some trouble finding his way around. Back home, the buildings - and the entire city - are laid out with a grid system. It's neat, orderly, and easy to navigate. Looking for B-3-7-4? Basement three, seventh column, fourth row. Easy. This ship is an entirely different matter. But after some time wandering (he can see now, what the old man meant; it's easy to lose one's sense of time), he's finally stumbled across the Sensorium. It takes some more cautious poking and prodding to get it to work. Computers have never really been his strong point, but Stacy is helpful enough that he manages to get it to work.

Which is why he's standing at the edge of a twenty-story building, peering thoughtfully at the buildings fading into the distance. As far as he can see, it's an exact replica of Pelinor's rooftops, pulled straight from his memories. Truly amazing.

He stretches his leg muscles a bit, wondering if they've atrophied or weakened during the time he was 'asleep'. There's no better time to find out. Making sure his messenger back is securely fastened, slung across his back and with the straps pulled tight, he looked up at the ceiling (there's no better place), and requests Defenders to fight.

The first one appears with his back to him, halfway across the rooftop. Like the rest of his comrades, he wears black - black body armor, black shirt and pants and boots, black helmet. The word 'Defender' is undoubtedly emblazoned in white across his chest.

Time to find out what this place is capable of. He runs straight at the holographic guard, and then past him. On his way, he grabs the man's wrist, tears the pistol out of his hand, and twists him around, so he can drive his elbow into the back of the Defender's neck. His fighting isn't exactly graceful, but it's fast and it works.

The next Defenders appear as a pair, facing him, guns raised, and he goes straight for the disarm again. No matter how good the holograms are, though, he would love to have a spar with a real person, maybe one whose fighting style he doesn't know, and he wouldn't mind company in general. Feel free to step in, and maybe ask why he's beating up police officers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jean's eyebrows arch a little as she glances into one of the sensoriums and sees a young man beating up a bunch of police officers.

Part of her wants to keep moving on but then there's her nosy part... The part that wants to know what the heck is going on. Of course that part wins... Of course.

She steps inside, keeping a careful distance from the fighting and shakes her head. No powers and the young man is doing quite well.

She finally clears her throat - loud enough to be heard. "Might I ask why you're beating up helpless police officers?"

Kyle spots her out of the corner of his eye, but doesn't say anything. The armored Defender trying to hit him is taking most of his attention. At last, he sees an opening, ducks under a punch, and comes up, bending the last Defender's arm backwards. He's just about to use the leverage to throw the man when a voice interrupts him. "Stacy, please pause the simulation," he requests politely, and the room freezes.

Squirming out of the awkward position, he straightens, looking at the woman who's spoken. "They're not helpless, and it's good practice."

Jean sort of smiles and glances toward the paused holographic police officers. "Well I suppose it's a good thing that they're not real."

She takes a step toward Kyle. "I'm Jean, by the way. I'm taking it that you're pretty new here."

"Kyle. I am, actually. Being on a flying chunk of meat is - sort of strange." He glances at the frozen Defender. "I think this is the closest thing to home I'll see for a while." The rooftops of a gleaming city aren't most people's idea of home, but he's spent the most time on top of the city rather than in it.

Jean looks around, her eyes taking in the sights around them. "Are you from Earth?" She has to ask, mainly because... Some people didn't seem to be.

"No, I'm from the city of Pelinor - this place." What kind of a name for a place was Earth? They might as well call it dirt. Still, maybe in the city or planet she was talking about, they revered the earth. It was possible. "Is that where you're from? Earth?"

"Well yes, Earth's the planet I'm from...The city I live..lived in is called Salem Center." Jean explains before once more looking around.

Pelinor could have been any city's roof tops from Earth - not that she spent a lot of time on roof tops, but she imagined it looked basically the same.

"This looks like it could have been taken from any large Earth city..." She glances back to Kyle.

"Your city is also domed?" Kyle looks into the distance, at where the solar panel layers can be seen, then up, where the dome arches overhead. The dome is clear, and the primary sun is bright, so perhaps it's just hard to see. "I had understood that self-contained cities were relatively rare."

"No," Jean said as she looked up and for the first time noticed the dome. "Why is the city domed?"

"Official word is, to protect us from the dangers of the world outside. I can't say whether there really are any dangers, but you can see my opinion of official word." Kyle looks briefly to the unconscious Defenders, and the one frozen half on his way to being thrown. "The entire city is self-contained, so nobody really cares to look, anyways."

"So basically it's just a way to control the whole city?" Jean asks, her brow raising a bit. "Has anyone been outside the city? I mean has anyone been able to get out of the city?"

She just can't even comprehend what it must be like to be trapped in a city with no way out.

"I'm not sure how much of it is about control. There's no doors - none that we've been able to find, at least. As far as we know, nobody's left the city since it was established." That's not to say there aren't any ways out. He's heard too many stories about people like him being dumped outside to completely discount that. As far as actually seeing what's out there...Nobody knows.

"That must be very difficult for people...." Jean trails off for a moment, and shakes her head.

"What dangerous things do they say are outside the city?"

"I have to admit that nobody really notices. The city's large enough that people can move if they don't like where they are, and almost everyone loves the government for 'protecting' them." He glances again at the unconscious Defenders.

"Radiation. Monsters. Mutants. That last one may be true; there's stories of government officers using secret exits to dump genetic mutants outside the dome." Well, it's certainly easier to share information when he knows it can't be used against him.

She frowns slightly at the mention of mutants. It appeared mutants were un-welcomed in my different dimensions. "Mutants?" She finally repeats. "What sort of mutants?"

"Genetic mutants. The source of the mutation is unknown, but it affects a good five percent of the city's population. Mutant tends to be used as a general catchphrase for anyone who can do something that an 'ordinary' person can't." He looks curiously at her. "Are there mutants in your world?"

Jean didn't bother to reply. Instead, her gaze flickers to the forms of the police officers. Even though they're not real, they have substance enough for her to affect as long as they're in the Sensoriums.

Suddenly a gun begins to levitate and as Jean lifts her hand, it flies across the space between them. Dropping her hand back to her side, the gun falls to her feet. "There are many mutants where I come from."

Kyle has to admit that he's impressed. The only telekinetic he knows doesn't have control that fine; she tends to just destroy things. He supposes it's time to share, as it were. "I see. In government classification, I'm considered a...'quiet' mutant." He grins briefly. "My powers aren't so useful for setting things on fire, or the like - I'm a technopath."

Leap of faith

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