[video][mingle post] Show Me Your Moves: Redux

[whyarewehere]

[ Grif is in one of Legion World's lounges. There's a space future pool table behind him, set up for a game. ]

Hey Legion, how's it going?

[ Wait. No. He holds up a hand. ]

Rhetorical question, don't answer that, it's not what I'm here for. What I'm here to talk to you about today is superpowers.

[ He's found his stride, and taken an almost public-service-announcement tone. ]

Do you have strange new abilities since coming to space? Were you just extra cool before the rest of us and nothing changed? Cause I definitely want to know what you guys got in the Time Trapper lottery and please make it look as awesome as possible.

[ He grins a little. Superpowers are the best. ]

For those of you who are new, which is most of who I'm talking to here? I'm Grif. Doubletime if you want to go all codename on me but... Grif. Really. Sometimes I look like this:

[ He scoops a space-age looking helmet painted bright orange off the floor, presumably, then drops it again with a thunk. It's armor, he's not gonna break it, right? ]

And me? I got this.

[ Grif disappears in an orange blur and suddenly, the pool table clears itself in a flurry of indistinct motion. He comes back down from super speed and casually leans the cue against it. If anyone bothers to slow that down, it was an absolutely disgraceful display and he cheated at least six times. Grif is super smug. ]

So yeah. I kind of got the best power already? Sorry.

[ Oh right, there was something else he wanted. ]

And everybody else? Uh. Anything new that's cool? ...Or just tell me how the last mission went for you. I got to go into the past and wrestle Batman and stuff. He's kind of a dick, honestly.

((( This is a free for all mingle post! Grif will reply to everyone who responds, but this also an invitation to threadjack. If you want to have a character jump into a thread somewhere with anyone else you are absolutely welcome and, in fact, encouraged. This is set after Gods Among Us / To Have And To Hold / The Other Mother and before Time Ripples, so it is slightly backdated to give characters a chance to meet the regular versions of each other before the nonsense begins.
If there's anything I can do to improve your dumb Grif-assisted minglepost experience, feel free to ping me at zitasaurusrex.)))

Comments

[nofortunateson]

[North gives a low whistle, clapping his hands a few times in appreciation on the display. Maybe not the flashiest, but it's definitely a new one.]

Nice. Does the trident form have any special features?

[Not that 'heavy as anything' and 'pointy ends to stick in the other guy' aren't already damn good features, but if he has one trick up his sleeve he might well have a few more.]

[taumangaria]

[Oh. Well. That certainly puts him on the spot. Huh. He transforms back just to give himself the extra few moments to think.]

I can provide a small power boost.

[It's the baseline of his powers, which means it's not a complete lie, right?]

[nofortunateson]

[North wasn't expecting anything too much fancier than an electric shock, so hearing that earns an impressed lift of his eyebrows.]

Well, you're definitely not going to have trouble finding a partner if that's the case.

[He lifts a hand in greeting, realizing he's been grilling a teammate without so much as introducing himself.]

I'm North, by the way. Hardball if we're using Legion handles. Nice to meet you.

[taumangaria]

[And that's why he's trying not to tell anyone about it. He wants his new team to see him as a teammate, a sentient being, and not a tool to gain power. From what he's seen of them so far, the latter doesn't seem likely, but a lifetime of conditioning can't be overturned in the blink of an eye.]

I'd prefer to get to know everyone first - I want to trust someone if I'm going to be putting myself in their hands.

[Literally.]

[Then again, if things go south, he can always just take over said partner...which is also not something he wants to advertise as of yet.]

It's nice to meet you too.

[nofortunateson]

[Get to know people. Right. As soon as Sawtooth says it, that fact seems self-evidently obvious, but with his point of comparison being AI that are more or less implanted . . .

Well. The issue of 'choice' doesn't immediately occur.]

Oh- right. Of course. [He does have the good grace to look somewhat abashed, lifting his hand in a wordless 'my bad.'] I guess I'm not used to having teammates that can actually be weapons. The closest thing we have back in my world is AI, and even then . . . ah. The way they were handled wasn't the best.

[The confession turns more candid than he'd expected, and he's not even sure what does it, except for the itchy awareness that's all over him like a heat rash with the weight of that epiphany. Theta's just there with him because they were assigned that way. Neither of them had a choice in putting their existence in the other's hands, and with the comparison made he can't quite smooth that back down to the level of steady acceptance he eases every other military order down to.]

[taumangaria]

[By the Primes, that wasn't supposed to be an indictment, especially of a person he barely knows and a world he's never seen. But here they are anyway.]

For what it's worth, most Cybertronians don't handle Minicons very well either.

[He shrugs, like it's no big deal. North's world is terrible and Sawtooth's experiences aren't too great either and they're bonding over it, right? Progress?]

[nofortunateson]

[Sawtooth gives the kind of blunt response North can appreciate, and he gives a hint of a smile, glad that even on unfamiliar footing he hasn't flopped right onto his face.]

Minicons. That's what you are?

[taumangaria]

[For being modeled after a shark, Sawtooth really doesn't like making waves, at least not in a new place with new people. If bonding over terrible life experiences defuses an awkward situation, he'll go for it.]

Yes. Most Minicons are built for a purpose, usually to perform a task or augment another Cybertronian. I'm a Weaponizer Minicon, so you've already seen mine.

[The problem is, when it comes to Minicons, most Cybertronians can't see past the purpose, or don't bother trying. Humans are different, right?]

[nofortunateson]

[The verbiage is unfamiliar, but the context comes across loud and clear, and North's eyebrows lift at the similarity of the entire system. There's a hint of a smile, too, with Theta tickling interest and recognition at the back of his head, nervy with the urge to engage but uncertainty if it's wise.]

Wow. That . . . is a lot like my partner's situation,actually. [He glances sidelong and up, like he's taking to someone just out of frame - or just at the top of his head.] Do you want to say hi, Theta?

[A blue-and-purple light flickers at his shoulder, then resolves into the form of a small armored figure, shuffling uncertainly now that he's out in the open.] Um- hello. I can't turn into a weapon or anything, but I help run armor systems and analyze combat scenarios.

He's one of the AI I told you about.

[taumangaria]

[That's.]

[New.]

[Um.]

[He understands the context, at least, and that's something.]

Oh, you're support!

[And then, because manners are a thing and he tries:]

It's nice to meet you.

[nofortunateson]

[Theta's never had anyone put a term to what he does that easily, like it's something natural, something that just makes sense. He and his siblings had all been experimental, set to a task with no precedent and graded immediately, without any clear endpoint that marked success. Though he doesn't have a visible face to smile with, his voice brightens immediately.]

Yeah, support! North's a marksman so I do a lot of ballistics and trajectories, my brother is with an infiltration specialist so he's better at other stuff.

[That has to be more words than Theta's ever strung together for a near-stranger, and North can't help giving a surprised blink, then a slip of a grin.]

It sounds like you're more of an all-rounder. Do you do some fighting when you're on two legs, too?

[taumangaria]

[Theta has a brother, and they have different specializations? It's news to Sawtooth - he and his brothers all have different weapon forms, but they essentially serve the same purpose - and he's every bit as intrigued as Theta is.]

Were you and your brother built for your specifications, or did you choose them?

[Quite a few bots are able to do the latter, and Sawtooth has no idea how the specifications for Theta and his ilk work. As for North's question:]

A little, but I do work better with a partner.

[nofortunateson]

We all kinda came out different.
I dunno if it was on purpose or not. But I think it definitely makes us better at different things and then we worked on those things a lot.

As far as I can tell, they paired up AIs and human partners based on a combination of personality and technical skills. I don't know if making AI with different specializations was on purpose or not, but it worked out all right, seeing as we had a team with a pretty broad range of skills.