thelegion | Team Bonding, AMA

[ Tadashi is reclining in a bed in medical, wearing the beatific smile of the enlightened and the well and truly stoned. ]

I love biology. Well, no, I'm enthusiastic about biology, I don't love it. I love programming and engineering and my family and helping people. Not in that order. Maybe in that order in regards to science. Except programming and engineering are the tools I use to help people, but I do love them too.

[ He stares off into space for a moment, then shakes himself and focuses back on the camera again. ]

But, you know, the thing about biology that's so cool is that we don't understand it all the way. Sometimes biological interactions happen unexpectedly. Like, these painkillers. I don't have an example of them to show you; they're already in my system and the medical staff won't give me more of them because they make me really loopy. Which is cool, because it's not an allergic reaction or a result of a miscalculated dose, it's just a reaction that happens sometimes to some people. Which is cool! Even almost a thousand years in the future of an alternate universe -- which has seriously weird rules, oh my god you guys I wish I loved biology and philosophy and physics more so I could study how weird this place is, I could write so many papers -- people still don't really know how our bodies work and why they react to certain things the way they do. Reality is amazing and I am so happy it exists!

[ He beams at the camera, but his smile eventually fades into confusion. Then he gasps in apparent surprise. ]

Oh yeah! Anyway, I'm super bored right now and I can't concentrate enough to read anything longer than a few sentences. And I've kind of been focused on dealing with my own stuff and not lighting things on fire when I shouldn't to get to know people, so I was thinking I should get off my ass and do that. Metaphorically, not literally, because the medical staff has confined to this bed until I metabolize the painkillers.

I was thinking we could do a...thingy. That thing people sometimes-- AMA! Ask Me Anything, that thing! We could do that, but just for Legionnaires. Not that I don't love the staffers here, I do, but I was thinking it could be a team bonding thing and some people here are more private than others. But I'd need one of the scary computer ladies to lock it down for me, because I can't figure out how to do that right now.

[ His eyes widen suddenly. ]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that like "scary computers who are women", that would be rude, I meant it like "scary women who are good with computers". Computer programming has a long history of ignoring the contributions of the women who are it's backbone, and we have a lot of women here who area really good at what they do and they deserve to be afforded all the respect due to them as people and as badasses. The patriarchy sucks like the vacuum abhorred by nature.

...I think this got away from me. What was I talking about?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Rico shakes his head and taps the side of his helmet.]

That's not what I'm talking about, Inertia. I'm talking feelings, motivations. It's not good to let on too much to other people about how you think. Never be sincere. [Reconsidering how that sounds, he then adds;] Unless the line's secure, of course.

[It's something Rico tries to take to heart. Psychological profiles are no joke. But having to explain how he wasn't a threat? That sounds interesting. He folds his arms and shifts in his chair, leaning forward to catch Thad's voice better, talking with a hint of false incredulity in his voice.]

You had to prove you weren't a threat? What kind of mission were you even made for?

[A pause.]

...Who was your genetic original?

[The warning was not so much a lesson in something he didn't already know, as it was a sharp reminder that just because he had common ground with Rico, that didn't mean he could trust him.

He was generally tight-lipped and mistrusting by nature, but the prospect of speaking with someone like him had been enticing. It still was. But this was a good reminder to be more careful of exactly what he let slip to this man.]

His name is Bartholomew Henry Allen the second, code name Impulse. Grandson of the Flash. Though not quite the one currently working with the Legion.

My mission was to kill him, his remaining family, and possibly his friends if they got in the way.

[Rico laughs at that, but he doesn't mean it unkindly. It almost seems to come across as sympathetic, instead. He knew there was a reason he'd liked him. And with his chuckles dying off, he's left with a small, upturned smile instead.]

Bartholomew's a dumb drokking name.

[Sorry Inertia. He just had to get that out of the way first. And this is coming from somebody whose last name is Dredd.]

But I see what you mean by wanting to be more than just an extension of will. That's quite the mission. [he says, thoughtfully. An understatement, perhaps, but at least he takes Thad's admission in stride and doesn't make a huge fuss about it.] Bred as a tool meant to be wielded by others. [Rico runs an idle finger over the sharp edge of his badge.] Can't say that I don't know that feeling.

[He pauses, and then remembers himself. He glances at the omnicon, intrigued. Seems like there was a lot more to this juve than he'd first thought.]

Did you succeed?

[Unable to decipher what that laugh meant, it took him aback for a moment. But that crack at Bart's name actually earns Rico a slight smile, not that he can see it, though he might catch a slightly startled snicker.

The smile doesn't stay for long though anyway, as he watches the older man with renewed interest, not missing the way his fingers trace that badge. He honestly wasn't sure what kind of reaction he should expect from him, still finding him a bit hard to predict. The understanding was not entirely unexpected but definitely appreciated.]

I would have, if I went through with it. I almost did. But I let them go when I started to realize most of what I knew about the mission and the reasons for it were false.

[That was a bit of a fib. Not much of one, more of an omission of truth. The fact that he'd been lied to definitely factored into things, in the end. It just wasn't exactly the catalyst he was making it out to be. But Rico didn't need to know about the details of what happened in the speedforce.]

I didn't appreciate being lied to, to put it mildly.

No, I don't think anybody does.

[So Inertia saw through it. He saw through the same kind of lie behind his creation Rico did, but he was also skilled enough that he could have carried it out, and it was his own spiteful choice to let them go. Drokk, he's so proud of the little twerp.]

I do hope you went back and showed your creators just how bad of a mistake they'd made. [He sounds like he's hoping indeed.] What did they lie about?

[He's eager to hear more. Eager to hear what happened, if only to live vicariously through it.]

Edited 2017-10-19 01:01 (UTC)

Team Bonding, AMA

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