trans_9 | To the Toilets! [open]

"Pfft," Paco said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. 'Captain Biceps' indeed!

"Right, so, this is the Hub. You've all been here before, it's how you got up out of the Pod Caverns. Those are on level one, as far as we can tell; and we're on level five, which seems to be as high up as we can go. The City's on level four, and it's where Stacy keeps the building's she's kidnapped. Mostly churches and stuff. And it's big. The entire Vatican City's down there, and there are tons of other things just like it. I'm understating it when I say that Stacy is huge.

"Now," he continued, "Stacy's got things mostly organized so that we can wander around to our hearts' content. Except she's kind of broken, so she can't really watch the City the same way as she can watch us up here. If you take a swing at someone up here, Stacy will grab you and slam you into the wall and yell at you. In the City, she has trouble seeing you do that. This also means that she doesn't know what's down there. Since I've gotten here -- and I was in one of the first groups -- we've been attacked by six-foot, acid-spitting cockroaches, and slugs that crawl inside people's heads and take over their brains. So try not to go exploring alone. And now that that's done with--" he turned and stepped into the Hub. "We go to the Public Bathrooms!"

"..." Pixie flitted behind Paco. "I'm glad to have missed the roaches," she says, "giant bugs creep me out." This from the girl with insectoid wings on her back. She blinks and looks around at the ragtag group she's got there. And then she looks back at Paco. Really nice biceps. Blink blink. "So, what are the chances of there being toilet paper made out of paper and not leaves?"

"Try living nearly two decades literally underground, and then we'll talk about who is crying." Mia might mean well but a) John doesn't know her and b) the boy has a weirdly-possessive streak a mile wide so she just gets glared at.

Acid-spitting cockroaches and brain slugs get a slightly disgusted expression and not much else, from John. He's learning, which requires eyes and ears open, mouth closed.

Except, apparently, to Mia's comment.

The look that Allison gives Mia? Is far beyond angry and annoyed. But John already said something, so she doesn't plan to. Yet. Yet.

"Acid-spitting bugs. Great. Got it." Now? She's really glad to have a gun.

"Ah." Mia pauses at that reply. "Touche. My bad." She nods her head in apology, then turns as the group gets moving.

She catches the winged girl admiring Paco and smiles a catlike smirk. "I know; but sorry Tinkerbell, he's taken. As for the other stuff, toilet paper's not as bad a situation as you might expect.

Paco overheard Mia's "he's taken" and winced. Yeeeeeeeeah not so much anymore, but he doesn't want to talk about that either.

The Hub spat them out down on the level of the City. And, just like Paco said, the place is ridiculously huge. It's hard to say if Stacy's walls are even visible from where they're standing.

"Welcome to the City!" he announced in his Wrestling Commentator voice. "Bathrooms are this way. And yes, they do have toilet paper, and running water. We're not sure how it gets restocked or if Stacy just got the "infinite" toilet paper brand, but we've been using it for awhile now and the amount of toilet paper on the rolls has yet to shrink at all."

He began leading the group down the path, pointing out the important landmarks for locating the bathrooms.

Pixie raises an eyebrow at Mia as she flits around the group. "I was just looking, Alpha Dog. No harm, no foul." She grins at Mia and flits over to the other side of the small group, putting some distance between her and the blonde. All the better to control impulses of dusting people in the face. "This is...actually way cooler than the Sensoriums, in a way," she says. It's clear that, despite whatever's happened on the ship, Pixie hasn't really spent much time down here, if at all.

The Hub had to be one of the strangest ways to get around in John's opinion, but they were out of it and on their feet in a moment so he gets to follow the others and wish he had pockets to shove his hands in while he takes in this here city.

It is MASSIVE, which is the first thing that occurs to him; none of the inherent claustrophobia that comes on the level they'd 'popped' on. Granted with more space comes the lack of ability to keep track of everything, and that isn't lost on John at all.

"...Sensoriums?" He queried, now that Pixie was closer to him and Allison than Paco and Mia. "What are those?"

She had done her best to ignore the strangeness of it, was finding that doing that helped out a lot. If she ignored it, no one would bother her about her freaking out. Right? Sure.

Still. There were things she was curious about. The lack of claustrophobia on this level being one of them.

And she really wished they had beds. "Maybe it's like a movie theatre." Which she also hasn't seen since she was three.

Mia laughed. "Alpha dog? Are you kidding? Totally not me. And totally not taken by me either."

She turned to the others. "You ever hear of a holo-deck?" She grins from ear to ear.

"The Sensoriums are awesome," Paco said. "Also, here's a big hint: eat there, not in the Mess Hall. It's technically the same glop, but Stacy can make you think it's not."

The churches and other very important-looking buildings were becoming more sparse, and slowly being replaced by plain, boxy structures. They looked like really unimaginative warehouses.

"We're getting close!"

"Okay, clearly, I need to hang with you more," she says. "I didn't even know the Sensorium could do that! And I've been here for awhile!" She could have real food again! And she could use a real bathroom! Eeee! "What did Stacy do, kidnap a business complex?"

Unlike nearly everyone else in the group, John's not sure he's too keen on the description of the Sensoriums so far. "Yeah, I know what a holo-deck is," he says, glancing at Allison with an expression he hopes conveys that he'll explain, later.

As the son of a madwoman he is none too interested in having his brain messed with up to and including the point of a false reality. Better tasting food or no.

Allison? Has no idea what a holo-deck is, but she'll hold John to that explaining later. "I don't want people making me think something is something else. Does it have to do that?"

"Well... how much you do with it is totally up to you." Mia replies, shrugging. "If you just want a nice pretty place to sit, it can do that, but you can ask it not to simulate textures, or give you anything to eat. Way I see it, though? If we're here to save the universe, we may as well get some deserved creature comforts when possible."

"I am really, really looking forward to getting clothing that doesn't have a pulse," Paco said. "Also, showers."

He looked up at Megan and grinned. "Nahh, just a bathroom. Speaking of, here we are!"

This particular boxy structure had a door with a very familiar "unisex bathroom" symbol on it. Paco pushed the door open and flicked on the light switch.

Inside, it could have been any public bathroom ever. Sinks, mirrors, air dryers, toilets in their stalls -- the only exception was the graffiti scrawled on every surface (which wasn't that unusual), and the very last stall on the end being shut tight with a holographic bio-hazard sticker on the door.

"Welcome to the Public Bathrooms!" Paco announced grandly.

"Wait, you mean we'll be getting our normal clothes some time soon?" Pixie tugs on her plantsuit. "I mean, at least with the X-Men, we could design our own uniforms." She flits in, twirling around a couple of times, taking in the public bathroomy scent of it all. It's a gross scent, but goshdarnit, it takes her back home! She stops in front of the one with the bio-hazard sticker and stops. "Uh. Did the Man-Thing die in there or something?"

Huh, it is, in fact, a public bathroom. Straight out of NYC or LA. John nods and glances around before looking at Mia for a moment.

"I think," John says after a moment. "You're missing the point that Allison was trying to make. You seem to keep doing that. Neither of us are too keen on altered reality in any way, shape, or form. That includes your so-called 'creature comforts' and while I really hope you were just saying that in order to make her more comfortable or...something, you more or less failed. You're diminishing everything she says by making assumptions. I'd be careful."

Now that John has gotten that off his chest he will poke about this bathroom, yeah?

That? Gets a small half-smile, half-smirk out of Allison when she goes to investigate a bit of this bathroom. Read the grafitti. Peer at the biohazard sticker and take about twelve steps back. "Man-thing?"

Man, and Ollie complained about Hawkman being a jerk?

Mia took a breath, held back a scowl, and apologized. "Sorry for missing the point." She briefly shot Paco a look of Can you believe this prick?

"Not that I know about, chica," Paco answered Megan. "I just really, really hope we do. I've been wearing this for a lot longer than you have, and it doesn't exactly get less creepy."

He ambled over to the sealed stall and tapped on the door again. Still locked. "We're not sure what's in here, but it hasn't bothered anyone so far, so it's probably not a giant cockroach lying in wait or anything. Buuuuut we also suggest not going to the bathroom by yourself. Then again, I've noticed most girls do that even without potential toilet-flavored doom."

Wincing a little at the exchange going on between Mia and John and Allison, Paco gestured for them to break it up. "All of you, chill. Mia's just trying to help. Mia, they've been dealing with a crazy AI in the sky kind of thing, sans super heroes. Give 'em a bit of space.

"The Man-Thing!" Pixie said, flitting about Allison. "He's this giant swampy, slimy guy. I've never seen him, but I've read stuff in the X-Men's files," she supplied. "And seriously guys, chill. As much as I hate to unintentionally quote High School Musical - and I swear, this phrase is now as unusable as 'Who you gonna call?!' - but we're all in this together, and we should, you know, try and get along. And stuff. So...yes. What Paco said."

John gives a sharp nod and continues looking around. He said his peace; he intends to mostly ignore Mia from this point onward. "If it was a swampy guy I'm willing to bet we'd smell him. Or notice the mosquitoes."

What? Logic is always applicable.

Allison will follow his lead with the ignoring her. "I probably wouldn't notice. Or care. High School what?" Oh God, Allison. No.

Mia cringes bodily. "They've got that garbage in more than one universe? Ewwwwww."

She processes the plant person discussion bits. "Wait... don't you mean Swamp Thing?"

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