Pool's Open

[soundsinsilence]

Who: Engineers and merpires and anyone curious
When: Day 126, afternoon
Where: 4th floor, east side—the abandoned swimming pool
What: The marvelous marvels of technology

[With the solar panels fully up and running, and the building's functions picking up (looks guys we have elevators!! don't get stuck) there's finally enough power flowing through the walls to siphon just a little off for a side project.

Those on the fourth floor might hear the definite put put put put vrrroooOOOOM of a motor starting up.

More surprising, though comparatively softer, is the hisssssss of moving water, the splash of it hitting dry, cleaned concrete. The smell of salted water, ever so faint, fills the empty pool room.]


Heeeeh . . . there really is enough pressure to get it all the way from outside.

I wonder what they'll think . . .

Comments

[tothedepths]

[There's a very, very long pause with no visible or audible response.

Then, without preamble, he stoops down and sends a small tidal wave over her--almost improbably so, given the depth of the water. Chalk it up to merpire magic.]

[soundsinsilence]

Ahhhh!!

[ker-SPLASH.]

[soundsinsilence]

[As the water subsides, a few things are readily apparent.

One, that white shirts don't keep much in the way of opacity when soaked.

Two, that there's something dark crawling over her skin, banding over her arms and down her sides like layered, latticed feathers.

Three, that she's finally managed to get underwear of her own. It's touched with lace and surprisingly feminine given her normal attire.

And four, that details one through three might not be nearly as interesting to him as the way the sodden fabric slips down, revealing the top portion of some very curious scars over her heart.]

Why . . . ?

[tothedepths]

[Flatly] You were irritating me.

[His eyes go to the scars first, perhaps on instinct, before simply passing them over in favor of the marks on her arms.]

I see you're hiding quite the odd tattoos.

[soundsinsilence]

[Squeezes the water out of the corner of her shirt.]

The water's too cool to see my tattoos.

[tothedepths]

[For his part, he simply takes a seat in the water, apparently no longer interested in maintaining the height difference.]

Then?

[soundsinsilence]

[Looks down at herself, then back up at him.]

Metal.

Right now, it's armour.

[tothedepths]

[He actually stares at it with renewed interest.]

I've never seen armor designed in such a way.

[soundsinsilence]

You probably never would. Most metals don't have enough flexibility for a design like this, and this design usually wouldn't have enough support to stay on unless it was a complete exosuit.

[tothedepths]

[Exosuit??]

... And what is it you plan to do, that would require such things?

[soundsinsilence]

Go outside, sometimes. Or even just leave my room at all.

[tothedepths]

[That... just makes it more perplexing.]

Though this place is certainly rife with danger, that seems a rather extreme precaution.

[soundsinsilence]

The wave, before . . . you can use magic, can't you? And you know how to fight . . .

I don't have any of those things. Just this.

[tothedepths]

[He huffs, and for a moment... it's almost reminiscent of a long-suffering parent chastising a troublesome child.]

Don't go looking for trouble, and your fighting prowess--or lack thereof--will be irrelevant.

[soundsinsilence]

You don't have to look for trouble for it to find you. Everything outside is trying to live the best way it knows how, and we made enemies of all of it just by coming here. Inside, there's people with old grudges, or those who just need to lose themselves a minute . . .

I lived too long with my safety being the only thing holding my team together to ignore the dangers here. Whether or not I'm looking for them.

[tothedepths]

And who is it that holds a grudge against someone like you?

[soundsinsilence]

[Rubs her shoulder.]

The people Mirror hurt. One or two, especially . . .

It should be okay, but it's a little hard to forget how quickly people can change, when they're not all themselves.

[tothedepths]

... Assuming I knew who Mirror is... [An edge enters his voice, just slightly] I do not see why the actions or reputation of another should have any bearing on yourself.

[soundsinsilence]

You wouldn't. She was a judge, and Surgeon's creation . . . a little like a daughter. Someone he made after they were underground.

She found the truth of her life and it drove her mad. Surgeon broke her to save her, but it just made it worse . . . she tried to put herself back together, then she'd remember, and beg him to break her again. Over and over, until our days.

She was my friend. Sometimes I was hers, too.

[tothedepths]

[Actually...

Actually, for a minute, he seems entirely at a loss for what to do with this information.]

[soundsinsilence]

But she did a lot of terrible things. She broke people. And I ruined everyone's one chance at vengeance to save her.

That's why someone would hold a grudge against someone like me.

[tothedepths]

. . .

Perhaps, at the least, you should learn the use of a knife.

[soundsinsilence]

Knives . . .

I'm not . . . so good with those. I'm a little bit better with blunt things?

[The metal shifts, flowing down her arm like a stream of water over sand, gathering between her fingers and solidifying to a handful of tools.]

[tothedepths]

[Wwwwhat the balls]

... That seems unlikely to help in battle.

[soundsinsilence]

[Hefts a wrench.]

Mm, they're not really designed for that. I did knock someone out before though . . .