Projects One Through Seven

Aster and Emma talk projects and cabals.

Date: 10/17/2018	Downtown - International Riverfront
Cast: Aster Emma
Early evening, the sun getting low over the waterfront. Aster's had a good jog, a good conversation, and finished up her jog now. On the way back, she happens upon Belle Isle pizza once again. And you know, she's in the mood for some. So she gets a small one and comes back out to sit on a bench, rest her legs, and eat. She wears an autumnal jogging outfit: full jeans and light sweater under her usual coat, but with running shoes and her hair up in a ponytail. Emma is decidedly not jogging - or one hopes she's not, in the leather bomber jacket and with a bag on her shoulder. She is, however, walking like she's intent on heading somewhere, at an angle that would bring her nearby Aster's bench. She doesn't notice Aster at first, walking on towards her like Emma's head is stuck in the clouds. Aster has a mouth full of pizza at the time she notices Emma, but she still makes an effort to catch attention. Ah, shoe's on the other foot. Or maybe you'd say glove is on the other hand, given she's waving an arm up above her head. Hopefully such exaggerated motion will cut through the tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is a powerful thing, but Aster manages to subvert it in Emma's case, maybe just barely. Emma looks up from the pavement at the motion, looking on over towards the fellow Technomancer, long enough and with enough focus that she ceases being aware of where she's walking, and she stumbles against a trash can. Emma curses a bit, kicks the trash can, and diverts to head over towards Aster. "Heya." She greets, once she starts getting close enough. Aster snrks despite herself, and then flushes with guilt. To help make reparations, she hops up from her seat and meets her halfway, still carrying the box with you. "Are you okay? And, uh, want some pizza?" The box lid is closed for easier carrying, so Emma may not yet know just what she'd be getting her into. But surely Aster doesn't go for /weird/ pizza, right? Emma stops nearby to Aster, and looks a bit embarassed about the whole walking-into-the-scenery thing. "Uh, I'm fine." She says brushing it off. Then, like to change the topic, "Pizza pusher. Arthur's always trying to get me to eat pizza too. Nah, I'm good. I ate already; I got to watch to keep my doughy physique." "Total waste," Aster says, a sly grin on her face. "Not the pizza rejection. You could have said 'you KNEAD to watch your figure'." She beckons and leads Emma back to the bench. Why not sit while they talk? "You looked like you were on a mission. I'm not interrupting anything big, am I?" Emma groans at the pun, rolling her eyes, but a faint smirk suggests it's not pure punishment. Emma ambles over to the bench, sitting down with an energy-less thud; already her legs are a tripping hazard for anyone who walks near by, as sprawled as she is. "Nah, I was just thinking about stuff, heading to my car. I just wrapped a project and I'm already itching to start up something new. I've got more projects I'd like to do than I have brain space, and I keep thinking about new stuff I should be doing." Aster pops the box onto her lap and opens it up again... and it's chicken and pineapple with sweet chilli sauce. Bullet dodged, Emma, though Aster seems to enjoy herself as she takes a slice. "Ooh. What are the first three projects on your mind?" Because there's no way she's only thinking about one. Got to start sorting. Emma doesn't even need to think about it, before she fires off easily: "One: Setting up a lab, because I'm doing a ton of work in my livingroom and eh. Two: I've been working on substances that can, under the right circumstances, repel gravitons - do I go crazy with that? Three: Maya's been teaching me to shoot and I've been thinking about guns and bullets a lot; they seem pretty inefficient. Maybe I could do better? Three point five: Do I want to be a firearm owner? Three point seven five: If I do, do I get a Concealed Permit? Three point eight six five: Insert lots of thoughts about gun politics here." Aster grimaces to the last, slowly nodding her head. "As nice as it would be to live in a world -- or, well, a country -- where children don't have to worry about being shot to death, afraid I'll probably have to be part of the problem. The people trying to kill us will have guns, so it'll be better for me to get one of my own and learn how to use it so the playing field's even. But, I'd suggest work on that first one first. It's not a lab like you'd think of it, but I got a better workshop going back home, and things are /so much easier/ now. Having the lab will make all the rest easier." Emma nods slowly, like those were more-or-less where her thoughts were going. "It's kinda fun, though. Shooting. I can see the allure. It can be kinda zen-like, in a high-energy sort of way." Emma sits a little more upright on the bench, so she isn't so sprawled. "A lab would be nice, but then I'm back to the economics of a lab. Like, how do I afford to set one up? Where do I set one up? Do I go out into the hinterland where I can do some real... stellar cartography, so to say? Or something local and that I can get to easy? Thoughts thoughts thoughts." Aster smiles wanly. "And that's one of the justifications people have for keeping such dangerous things around. They're fun. I've been... hesitant to go and get started on that. But then, I like to keep away from the front lines anwyay." She shakes her head, sighing. "For me, I set things up at home, but I do all my stuff just with computers and electronics. Someone stellar like you needs something more suitable, right?" "After the pigs thing? I don't know if you heard about it. But... it drove home that I need to be able to do *something* to take care of myself, if only so I don't put my friends in danger." Emma draws quiet, tone quite serious. Her eyes drift down to a patch of concrete, where she gives a small shrug. "That's where the discussion about learning to shoot came from. But... Alexandra's right, though: I'm an Astronomer, not a Space Marine." Aster nods to Emma. "Right. Not everyone is meant to go on the front lines. Some of us work things for the people who /are/. We investigate to find what needs to be done; we build the things that they use. Like Arthur. He builds things he never intends to personally use." Emma gives a small shrug again, like she understands the point but doesn't really *believe* in it. "I guess." She adds, half-heartedly. Then, like it's a logical extension of what they've been talking about, "You ever play Mass Effect Andromeda?" Aster shakes her head. "Never even finished the original trilogy. Got spoiled on the, uh, ending, and just never got around to it." Emma snorts. "Honestly, the ending wasn't that bad. *I* thought it was fine..." She says, shaking her head. "But... okay, for all its faults, Andromeda isn't a bad game. The gameplay itself is fun, even if the writing kinda needed improvement. But. The Not-Commander-Shephard character? She's called Ryder. She's a demilitarized, younger version of Shephard, and she goes around, exploring stuff, scanning things for science, and occasionally solving problems with a gun. Okay, more than occasionally, because this is Mass Effect we're talking about. But the *spirit* of things is she's an explorer, not a soldier." Emma pauses a moment, to make sure Aster follows. "*That's* who I want to be when I grow up. Someone who swashes all the buckles. Drives science into the unknowns of space, or... you know, other places." Aster oohs. She puts a hand to her chin and considers Emma, while she munches her latest bite of pizza. Half of it's still left, but that's what the concept of 'leftovers' is for. "That sounds cool. Not just /looking/ at the stars, or into, uh, etheric space, but actually /going/ there. And you'd have to be ready for whatever you run into out there, so... you, at least, /do/ need to get ready to fight." Emma nods a bit in agreement, a bit of light taking to her eyes as she talks. "Could you imagine how cool that'd be? I mean... maybe I could visit the moons of Jupiter for realsies. That would be... holy shit, that'd be amazing. Who knows what's out there?" She draws off after that, before shrugging. "But all that's so far into the future that it seems unreachable. For now, I guess." She slouches a bit on the bench again. "That's where having a nice lab... outside the zone-of-weirdness... that'd be pretty good for looking around. But then you get into the logistics of having one, and the economics, and so on..." Aster nods slowly, thoughtfully. "It'd suit you. But... yeah. Things like that don't come cheap, especially if you're talking about getting out of the zone of weirdness so you have a safer time looking into the Umbra. Well, however safe that ever actually /is/." "It's not that bad." Emma says, optimistically. "How bad can it be?" She adds, maybe ironically, maybe not. She stuffs her heands into the bomber jacket's pockets, fingers digging into the lining as the evening cools off. "Anyhow, enough rambling from me. What's up with you? Just out on a pizza run or something?" Aster purses her lips. "Think about Cthulhu, and that's probably not as bad as things can get if you end up in the wrong parts of the Umbra." She shakes her head. "Out for a jog, met up with Arthur having pizza, got me in the mood to have some of my own on the way back." Though she doesn't seem athletically-dressed like she's jogging. How many people wear a full coat for that kind of exercise? Emma snorts mildly. "I swear, that guy's diet consists of 90 pizza, 10 coffee. It's a wonder he's in good of health as he is." Emma jokes, shaking her head. Emma does glance down at the Adept's jacket, but doesn't remark on her choice of jogging attire. Aster grins. "Is it a wonder? Or is it maaaagiiiic?" She draws it out that long, while her fingers exaggeratedly flutter in the air. "Ooooo. The magic of pizza." Emma snorts and rolls her eyes. "The magic of hardened arteries. Taste the cholesterol!" Emma replies, lifting her chin. "Delicious, delicious cholesterol." Aster laughs, but still has to wince, too. "Eww. And isn't it more than the cholesterol? Excess fat, sugar, salt..." Yes, there is sugar in pizza. There is sugar everywhere. You cannot escape the sugar. "I thought we were all still hating cholesterol. I didn't know we moved on to hating other things again. Are Eggs literally hitler or a super-food? I Can never keep track." Emma says, smirking. "But... forreals. Pizza aside, what you got going on? You said you had a... not-lab-type-thing? And your hair's back to normal." Aster laughs. "Oh, don't get me started on egg and salt-- ooh, but there's a comic I could show you, if you can survive the sheer density of puns." She smiles. "Yeah, I got my place worked out how I like it, though I haven't done anything crazy with it yet. I've put together the first server we'll use for Grimoire, but haven't been able to get enough time with my mentor to work out /all/ the protections. Pretty much a specialist in disappearing. Other'n that, hm. Helping Maya track down a murderer." Emma's head cocks to the side at the mention of the last. "Uh, is this that netflix show? Making of a Murderer? Or whatever it was." She asks. "Or... what's going on?" Aster shakes her head. "No, it's a for-real thing. A couple of ritual-murder victims have been found -- Warren Woods, Springwells. It's been in the news, but there's a lot of murder in the news, so not surprised this one slipped by. Alma got the name of the perp, and I've been working to track him down. My best lead is about ten years old though, so I'm thinking I'll bother Amane about it." Emma blinks owlishly. "A ten year old is ritually murdering people out in Warren?" Emma asks, incredulously. "Is that... for real?" Aster blinks and squints at Emma. "What? No. I mean that the latest information is from ten years ago. Not that he... what?" A few moments pass, before Emma's expression cracks, and she bursts out laughing. "Oh, oh god. I totally... I totally misunderstood you." She whipes a tear from her eye, adding. "Oh no, little Timmy is out on a murderous rampage. That rascal!" Aster continues to just stare, as straight-faced as she can. Which, in the end, isn't all that straight. She cracks up, giggling uncontrollably under her breath as she drops her face into her palm, shaking her head. "Rascal. What a menace." Emma wipes her eyes again, laugher drawing down. "Oooh I needed that." She says, finally breathing again. "Okay. So I won't suggest roughing up the local middleschool for suspects." Aster takes a few breaths to calm herself down. And with one more brush of her eyes and a little fix of her ponytail, she's calm again. "Mm. No. Current lead is that the subject lived in Fort Peck ten years ago, so now we have to trace that to the present." Emma grows more serious again, nodding slowly. "I'm majorly out of the loop on this one." She admits. "But if there's anything I can do to help... you know I'm pretty good at doing a bit of digging." Aster nods. "Thank you. I'll give you a shout if it happens, but for now, I just need to get the info back to Maya. And maybe bother Alma, like I said. I mean, bounty hunter? She /makes a living/ finding people, and did even before Awakening." "Truth." Emma nods in agreement. "That's sort of Amane's bread and butter. I'm just an enthusiastic amature. And one who needs to pace herself a bit." Aster nods firmly. "And learn how to use a gun. And get herself a lab, so she can look at /all/ the stars. Even the ones that don't exist in this plane of existence." "Don't forget the gravitons." Emma chimes in, sitting forward on the bench. "The graviton thing is pretty cool." She adds as she bundles her jacket a little tighter around her. Emma pauses a moment, before looking sidelong at Aster. She looks like she is about to ask her something, but after a few moments of hesitation, she doesn't. Aster closes up the box and brings it in closer to her lap. She's pizza-sated for now. "And you'll have an easier time experimenting on the graviton thing if you have a proper lab." She blinks at the sidelong look and watches and waits. When Emma doesn't say anything, Aster prods. "What's up?" Emma pauses a few moments, before asking, "Ever think about... I don't know. I've new enough to this game that I've never, right? But ever think about forming a... cabal?" She asks, hesitantly. Aster mms. "I was in one back in Cambridge. The Marks -- Semi Colin, Dot, a whole bunch of us. We worked well together, but we were all adepts. I don't think it'd be easy to work so closely with people who have different... /perspectives/." She smiles. "But I think it'd be worth it." Emma nods a few times, eyes momentarily focusing on a patch of concrete. She looks like she's got a fair amount to say about the topic, but is stopping herself, likely out of self consciousness. "I've never been in one. A cabal." Emma replies, with a bit of a shrug. "I... yeah. Too new to the game. But... it's good to work with people. So I been thinking about it. Call it number seven on my list." Aster scoots in to sit closer to Emma's side, a hand light on her shoulder. "I actually ended up with the Marks almost straight after Awakening. They sort of... caught me straight as I fell out of MIT. My mentor nudged us together. But the way Dot talked about it -- she'd been independent for a bit before joining up -- it's sort of like living with a roommate after you've been living on your own for a while. There's suddenly someone else /in your personal space/, both physically and conceptually. It takes time and growing pains to learn how you slot together. But work at it, and it makes something way better than you can do on your own. Mages are individualistic to an extreme, yeah, but we still come from humans, and humans are a social beast." Huh, and she managed to get through the whole thing without talking about multiplayer. Emma listens attentively to Aster, hesitating a few moments before nodding a few times. "I... huh. Yeah, I could get that." She says, in agreement. "Or, I mean, I guess I could see that." She glances up from the world's most interesting concrete back at Aster. "Just something I've been thinking about, is all." She says, like to minimize the topic. Aster keeps her eyes trained firmly on Emma's face. Supportive words are all well and good, but sheesh, maybe blink every once in a while too. "And like I said, /I think it'd be worth it/. Or in other words, if you'd want me in a cabal with you, I'd be happy to be a part of it." Emma cracks a small smile, before shrugging. "Let's talk more about this some time. Preferably in a warmer place." She suggests. "And who else would work, with a good attitude. Or the right bad attitude." She draws her jacket tighter to herself, like to ward off the autumnal chill, before adding, "But... I'm glad to hear it." Aster nods firmly as she takes her hand back. "Just wanted to make sure it was overtly on the table. I'm friends with Maya, remember. I could practically /hear/ the negative self-talk bouncing around in your head, and I have had exactly no affinity with mind stuff. You're smart and cool and you'd be kickass to work with, but yeah, it's not something to rush into. And..." She looks up into the sky. "Yeah, you're right. We should both be getting home." Emma cracks a wane smile at the compliments, and the mention of the negative self-talk. "Heh. Yeah, guilty." She admits. "Though, I don't know who this smart cool person you're talking about is. Anyhow... yeah, let's talk more about this some time." She says, sliding off the bench. "Have a good night, eh?" Aster hops up, carrying her pizza under her arm with her. "You too, Emma. Catch you again next time. And I'll let you know when mentor and I have a breakthrough on that infosec." Always refusing to share a name or, as long as she keeps her wits about her, gender. That mentor must be one private person.