Rockin' Around the ALISE (EVENT)

[KingJ]

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style all led to City Hall.

Well not actually, but that's what it felt like for all the people going to Aegis' annual Holiday Fundraising event. Every year they raise money for the Collateral Defense Fund, as well as several other charities and organizations that help powered people learn to control and use their powers in helpful ways. This year, they expanded to a toy drive as well, collecting gifts to give to underprivileged families in town. Every Aegis branch all over the world was having a similar event, but the one in Astaria was always the biggest.

Because of the recent attack on the Aegis headquarters by the villain Bakuhatsu, the event was moved to the City Hall Banquet Hall, but to make it just that much more special, Timothy Smith had put in the work to make a working prototype of a portable version of the Amplified Light Integrated Simulated Environment, or ALISE for short. Most would assume that they would have just cancelled after such a physically and emotionally devastating attack. But Aegis wanted to show that they were still going to protect the people, no matter what happened to them, and they were still going to operate like they always had.

There was a wide open space in the middle of the room, and tables with various refreshments along the walls. Colonel sat in a chair, still bruised and nursing several cracked ribs, watching as Tim put the finishing touches on the system. Timothy Smith himself was still very battered and bruised, and was working one-handed, one arm in a sling due to a shoulder fracture and strained muscles.

"Right. We should be ready to go now, I think. Alice, run the program."

"Okay. Here goes nothing."

The various holoprojectors spread throughout the room crackled to life, and section by section the relatively bare room was replaced by a rustic winter woodland. Old-timey gas lampposts lit the area, each of them decorated with a holly wreath. Snow gently flitted through the air, not enough to be oppressive, but enough to set the scene. The plain plastic tables were replaced with rustic wood ones, the same for the chairs. Entryways and exits were designated by arches made of branches, so people could still find the restrooms and leave when they were done. All in all, it was all the charm of a winter setting from a Dickens novel, but without the chill and lack of indoor plumbing.

"Timothy, I'm constantly impressed by what you and Alice are able to accomplish. Well done." Colonel slowly stood up from his chair and gave a rather sore clap.

"Thanks. I needed something to do after all that. It helps me.. process."

"Don't work too much. Take time to relax too. Do that tonight. I'm sure Alice can handle the ALISE. Have some punch, put your feet up. The guests should arrive shortly."

((Posting Order is as follows:

KingJ - Running Timothy Smith, Alice, Bradley Alans, and Colonel John Elsven
Exxie - Running @ben, @kirian, and @chance
@astraica
Ribbon Harmony
@cas
@silver

You will have a few rounds to arrive and mingle before we split you off into separate threads. There is no skip rule, but we would like to keep this event moving quickly, so that we don't end up still working on it in March As such, however many rounds we go depends on how quickly people post. Please remember to tag the next person in the posting order.

Exxie is up next))

[Exxie]

Bennett had heard all about the Christmas event.  And despite his allegiance to chaos, it sounded like fun.  He would have to be sure not to be around any of the nutmeg cookies if they were there.  He'd learned that lesson well enough.  But there might be free booze, and food, and that sounded like a good time.  Besides, it was held at city hall.  Couldn't have a wonderful gathering without the resident heir of a dukeship attending, right?  He walked in, looked around and saw the spread and then went right for the table of refreshments.  



Kirian heard food and booze, and that was enough.  Besides, it was for charity.  She'd had enough trouble in her past, bouncing from home to home and finally to a group home.  Now that she had some money, Kirian figured it was about time to give back to the same system that found her a home.  Even if her experiences weren't exactly great.  Besides, it was Aegis.  And while she'd had trouble with Aegis trying to recruit her in the past, Alice was part of Aegis.  They weren't all bad.  And heavens, after the attacks on Aegis...well Kirian wasn't stupid.  Alice was the only friend she really had, and certainly the only one who wouldn't die as a result of knowing Kirian.  And so Kirian had shown up, choosing to support her friend.  And she'd gone with a warm kind of sweater dress because it was winter after all.  She was sort of surprised at herself that she'd gone with a dress to be honest.  But she'd be safe with so many superheroes surrounding her surely, so this was probably the best time to wear a sweater dress and heels.  They weren't very HIGH heels, but hey what did you expect of her really.  There was only so much letting her hair down that she could do.  She looked around at the room and smiled slightly.  They'd overdone themselves really.  She walked over to the lamp-post and looked up at it, the snow drifting lazily downwards.  It was a nice touch.  The lamplight would surely make for some nice selfies too.  Which she would keep safely locked on her phone for her own uses.  No sense in broadcasting her location no matter how nice the simulation was.



Felicity generally didn't attend things like this.  She was 'busy', or she didn't know anyone, or a host of other excuses.  Gatherings meant people looking at her.  Judging her.  Which, realistically Felicity knew that that probably wasn't true anymore.  But it had been in high school, and it was difficult to grow out of the habit of avoiding people because they compared themselves.  Why they tried to compare themselves to her when everyone had their strengths Felicity had never been able to figure out.  She hadn't really put much time into it though, just preferring to hole up in the library.  But this event?  This event was for a good cause.  She had enough money to support it, and the party was a good excuse to get out of the house.  At least that's what her mother said as she pushed the leather skirt and jacket into Felicity's hands a few days ago.  She'd paired it with a black tank top underneath if it was too warm.  When she walked in and saw a winter wonderland, Felicity couldn't help but feel the charm of the environment though.  Ultimately though, old habits DID die hard, and Felicity ended up leaning up against the wall nearer to Surge and Colonel than anyone else yet.  It wasn't on purpose.  She was a vigilante so logically she should be furthest from a Pillar that she could get.  But the wall had been nearby and she was used to being a wallflower.


@astraica

[Deleted]

Christmas was Astra's favourite time of year. So many people bustled about happily, packages in hand, smiles upon their faces, the kids pointing and calling to each other and their parents about the newly falling snow and decorations set up about the city, the sounds, the smells of gingerbread cookies and coffees, it all created a wonderful atmosphere that set her heart alight. Not to mention the good feelings that came from these people, especially those buying gifts. Every now and then a scrooge would appear, or one who was actually not having fun buying gifts for others, but they rarely dampened Astra's spirits.

It was in this spirit that Astra decided to attend Aegis' Christmas event, even though she still felt they weren't all they said they were. She wanted to support the good they were doing with the event, as she knew the donations really would go to where they were supposed to, which the city sorely needed after Bakuhatsu's attack, and meet whomever else who came. Who knows, she may even make a friend!

She was dressed tonight in her favourite white lace long vest, white flowy shirt that had a tank top underneath and a see-through material on top, it was adorned with many glittering sparkles that were nicely spaced out, the sleeves were the see-through material only, which actually fell down, from the tank top, the top of them open, and falling down around the bottom of her short skirt, which was white and flowing, similar to her top with the two types of materials and sparkles, though both skirt and bottom of the top fell asymmetrically around her, with the top's right side being longer, and the back of the skirt being longer. Upon her feet were thigh-high white suede boots with low, 1 1/2" heels that took up the whole heel, (not the tiny ones), and sheer white tights under them. Her nails were white with silver snowflakes and a few rhinestones in the centre of each big flake, and her hair was done up in a rather unusual way. It still fell down her back, but it was made to look like many flowers with a few rhinestone clips throughout it. Her wrists held her silver bracelets and a single band of rhinestones, her ears, rhinestone earrings that fell in a line with white fathers dangling around them. Her lips were light pink, thanks to her chap stick, and a bit of glittery gloss over them. Her makeup was light, only black mascara and some white eye shadow around the eyes, just reaching her crease, the middle of both lower and upper eye shadow being a sparkly baby pink. Her fingers donned her typical silver and gold rings, 6 in total. One silver rose, one aquamarine small stoned gold ring, and other silver detailed rings. She secretly hoped she wasn't over-dressed.

With a smile and happy step, she walked into the City Hall Banquet Hall, and her eyes instantly widened! It was like a winter's dream for Christmas! Everything was old cottage style, trees and lampposts and wreaths! And even holographic snow - she had discovered once she put her hand out to catch a flake, but it went right through her hand! She loved the idea of the trees bordering the doors too! Everything around her lifted her spirits and she twirled about in a slow circle to take it all in once she reached far enough within the room. It was enough to almost make her forget about past events and want to join Aegis all over again... Almost.

It was then that she had spotted the woman she had met at the club so many nights ago! Kirian was her name. Astra smiled and bounced over to her, tapping her upon the shoulder as she waited patiently for her to turn around. She wondered if she would remember her... They had fought off that familiar group of supers that night. She felt bad she hadn't gotten around to messaging her... She just... After Tim and Nihilo... She hadn't felt like talking to anyone, and, her life had really picked up since then, with both Nihilo and Bakuhatsu's attack. She banished that thought from her mind. Now wasn't the time to reflect, and her smile appeared once more.

Ribbon Harmony

[Deleted]

This was too many people and it did not help that all she had on was a sweater. Granted it was long enough to look like a dress and it was festive as hell with red fleece and silver sequins sparkling here and there and so she looked the part right down to her red and silver boots that came up just past her knee but she could not really walk in so she had to slowly etch along the wall. "I don't know why people put themselves through pain in the name of beauty."

The only cool thing about this sweater dress like thing was the fact that it had came with pockets which made it easy for her to store her socks. As she pulled herself into a corner where no one was she took her boots off and pulled out the socks in her pocket. She carefully put them on and let out a sigh of relief as she was now able to move her toes around freely and though she was not a fan of how high they came up at least most of her leg was covered. She stood up and spoke softly. "Let's hope no one catches me red handed." The scales on her back began to work as the red ribbon appeared and she put a piece up on the bottom of her sweater and at the top of her sock and wrapped it around creating a little bow that held the tops of her socks to the bottom of her dress. She did the same with the other side, as the red color seemed to be fading thus leaving the ribbon out. "My phone must be going dead." She looped the colorless ribbon around her hair to keep it in place as it buried around the nodes in her hair and came up creating a colorless bow through her hair.

She felt her scales give one last twist as the colorless ribbon became infused with red here and there. "No, no anything but red, I'm allergic to peppermint!" That did remind her that she needed to see if there were any wrapped candy canes that she could take back to Micah as an ornament. As the last of the red landed in the bow she quietly began to sneeze as she looked around. "Are there mints on that refreshment table?" She sneezed quietly again as she looked around as she did the ribbon bow turned slightly and the smell of mint wafted heavily into her nostrils. She found herself a tad bit sleepy as the ribbon bow gave a slight tug into her scalp. "I'm awake!", she said as she felt her scales turning to keep the ribbon directly center on her head. Her headed nodded down a little and she felt another tug. "It's the mints, they are making me itch or sleepy or something." Good thing there were people going on about her business because she had no idea how she would explain talking to ribbon that was in her hair.

@cas

[Deleted]

It was days into the most magical, rushing, joyful, headache time of year and he had "All I want for Christmas is You" by Mariah Carey on loop in his ear as he made his way in. He did not have the music gene as much but if he did not listen to one the most hated Christmas songs he did not really feel like he was doing Christmas justice. He carefully watched for the people so that he would not bump into them and took a second to take it all in.

Having just officially got sorted enough to make it here he still had the smell of wheat on him a little bit but that was fine. He finally took the time to take his music out of his ear and look around. "Wow." He was amazed so much so that he stepped off into his own world as far as looking at everything. Normally he would never be at anything like this because he was one of those types that played the news in the background but this was being thrown by people who protected the city if he understood correctly so he had one hundred percent faith that nothing bad was going to happen.

"Alright" he said as he clapped his hands together. "Time to mingle with" the sentence did not even have proper time to finish itself as he realized just how new he was. "It's alright" he assured himself. This was THE TIME OF YEAR and nothing was going to dampen how he felt but he did need to find the bathroom first because he had drank a lot of water on his new health kick and right now it was running through him terribly.

@silver

[Deleted]

Reggie was a bit late joining the party but here he was in all his glory, Monstre had done a number on Reg during the Bakuhatsu attack. Reggie had suffered a few broken ribs, fractured collarbone, his left arm had been broken, and he had landed a lot of bruises and stitches but he was fine with that as casualties at city hall had been minimal compared to the rest of the city.

He was wearing a bright red suit, green dress shirt, a pattern of a christmas tree on the back of the suit jacket with functioning christmas lights blinked which caught the attention of guest's, and finally he ordained a sling for his left arm. His left eye wasn't swollen as bad as it had been a few days ago but it was still purple in color. Reg was hiding the pain very well, plus he had already had three glasses of wine on the limo ride over, smiling and laughing with guest's. He was in all reality trying to get to some food, he was starving as the food at Aegis headquarters wasn't....whatever the food here smelled like....

....he shook another hand and moved on. His debut as Silver during the Bakuhatsu attack had skyrocketed him into popularity, afterall he wasn't hiding his identity and was comfortable with being publicly known. The officers who had responded to the city hall attack were very lucky that Silver had shown up when he did, they were heavily unprepared for a villain like Monstre or the firepower Bakuhatsu had brought.

Reg had now took several pictures with the boys in blue, their wives had cried on his shoulder about how they were thankful, and Reggie just smiled. However he was vigilant, albeit drunk too. Why not? He thought, it is the damn holidays!

Plus Bakuhatsu had gone ghost, he usually did after a large attack of his. Making him unpredictable on when or where he will strike next but right now everyone was hoping he took the holidays off! Finally he found a familiar face who was free of the cameras for the moment and b lined toward him. The Colonel. That man had taken his own bumps with the gusto of a service man, Reggie saluted him with immense honor.

"Colonel you are looking twenty years younger lately," Reggie joked as he joined the Colonel.

KingJ

[KingJ]

Bradley arrived a little late. During the attacks, he had been one of the last to respond, and given the nature of his abilities, wasn't ever really in the thick of things, rather working from a distance. As such he hadn't ended up with the same amount of bumps, scrapes, and bruises that everyone else had. He'd been in this business long enough to know it wasn't a big deal, that's just how it went. Everyone had their own role to play, and some roles were more at risk for physical harm than others, but that still didn't stop him from feeling slightly guilty that everyone else had gotten hurt, whereas he had remained unscathed.

All that just served to compound the feelings he typically had this time of year. The Holidays were all about friends and family, loved ones. When it came to Krackshot, he had a family out there. He knew where they were. Who they were. But he couldn't spend any time with them. Not without putting them in danger. Every year, he thought about putting in his resignation, changing his name, and going to live a quiet life with them, but the Succession Document that still sat blank on his desk kept him from doing that. He hadn't found anyone yet to take his place. And he didn't feel like he was done. It felt like there was more he still needed to do.

At an event like this though, he put on a happy face and mingled. His MO was typically to try and find whoever looked like they didn't have anyone to talk to and strike up a conversation, bring them in, make them feel welcome. Besides the Aegis people, he did recognize one of the girls he had met at the museum a while back, but it looked like she was already talking to a friend. So he continued to look until he spotted a young man that seemed to be on his own (@cas).

"How are you liking the party so far?" he asked as he approached. "My name's Bradley. It's nice to meet you." His hand extended for a handshake.

-------------------------------------------------------

This was a unique opportunity for Alice. The ALISE had been designed for training Aegis agents, and as such it had the ability to make at least semi-solid light constructs. Anything Alice or anyone else could imagine could be programmed in and interacted with.

Including her chosen avatar.

Tim knew she was planning on doing this. He trusted that she would be careful, and one extra person at the party wouldn't be blinked at. In a corner of the room, where no one was looking, she materialized a form for her to actually go out and interact with the party guests like she was a person. She knew that someday, she'd be able to do this for "real," so to speak. Andi was figuring all that out, and she was helping as much as she could. But for now, this was the next best thing.

She kept the outfit simple, a red sheath dress and matching heels, and once in the physical space walked over to where she had seen one of her friends. "Kirian! Hi! It's nice to see you again! I didn't expect to see you here!"

Of course she hadn't told Kirian she was going to do this. She wanted to see how she would react. That was half the fun.

---------------------------------

Tim had been told to relax. To put his feet up. Enjoy the night.

Of course those were three things he felt physically incapable of doing.

This whole event was riding on his very untested invention. Making a portable version of the ALISE, something that took up an entire room back at Aegis headquarters, was definitely doable. he had done it, after all. But he hadn't had any chance to test it. As such, instead of relaxing, milling about, interacting with the guests, he was making a circuit of the room every few minutes, checking each holoprojector and making sure nothing was going wrong.

He wished Adara could have made it. She always helped him loosen up and relax. But he understood, people get busy, and this kind of fundraising party wasn't for everyone. Heck if he had his way he wouldn't even be here right now, he'd be continuing to work on his solution for Nihilo's condition.

He spotted Astraica across the room, and made a point to stay away from her. She was probably still mad at him, and he didn't want to jeopardize her secret identity by trying to get her to not be mad at him. Besides, she was already talking with someone, and-- oh look, Alice had made herself a representation and was heading over there. She did that in the ALISE back at HQ often, but seeing her going to interact with other guests made Tim wonder if he shouldn't start looking in to some way to let her do that outside of the ALISE. She looked really happy.

One of the guests was leaning against the wall near one of the projectors ( @chance ). Tim almost just bumped right into her. "Oh, sorry. I was kinda lost in my own thoughts, didn't see you there. Excuse me, I need to check something behind you. Are you enjoying the party?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm feeling twenty years older lately!" Colonel chuckled, as he reached out a hand to shake Reggie's, only to notice that he had he was reaching for was in a sling, so he switched hands.

Reggie had been thrown into the deep end, really, on his first big Aegis assignment. Colonel knew he had a military background, so he shouldn't be a stranger to combat, but what Aegis did was, at least right now, an entirely different experience.

"How are you holding up after all that? That was quite the mess for your first big assignment."

Colonel started moving toward the refreshments. He had to get him some of that eggnog. Someone at Aegis anonymously contributed it every year, and it was a mystery who exactly made it, but it was the best damn eggnog Colonel had ever tasted.

"You conducted yourself admirably, son."

Exxie

((phew))

[Exxie]

Kirian felt someone tap her shoulder and tensed up slightly.  She was always expecting attacks.  But she turned around and she was greeted by a friendly face.  The only other person who might be able to...survive being around Kirian.  Unbidden, a warm smile made its way onto Kirian's face.

"Astra.  Hey.  Didn't really expect to see anyone I knew here, but this is a welcome surprise."  The woman had seemed like she had a lot of tricks in her book.  Kirian felt bad for not distancing herself from the woman, but she couldn't help it.  Astra was just so full of warmth it was hard to push the woman away.  Kirian knew it would probably end up with her guilting herself something terrible, but for tonight she was just a guest at a Christmas party that she was going to try to enjoy.  That's when she heard the familiar voice and looked around a bit.  She didn't bother consulting her telepathy it wouldn't have done anything anyways.  Then she...she SAW Alice.  Kirian's smile turned into an outright grin and her eyes lit up.  Somehow her AI friend had figured out a way to show up completely!  

"Heeeeey lookin' GOOD!"  She gave Alice a thumbs up.  She realized she was being more familiar with Alice than with Astra, but she did know Alice a bit better so that was bound to happen right?  Kirian didn't know at this point.  Social cues were not exactly her strong suit.

---------------

Bennett looked around with a cup of punch in his hand.  He smiled, taking a gulp and debating who he should go to talk to.  There was Bradley Alans.  Colonel.  Tempting.  But then there was also the young woman who...was she fighting with her hair?  Oh hell to the yes that looked far more interesting.  He moved towards Ribbon Harmony and overheard her say she was allergic to peppermint.  

"If that's the case, perhaps a holiday party isn't the safest for you.  Have you packed an epi-pen?  If you don't have one I usually carry one as a habit."  He had had allergies as a kid and teen.  And he had kept up the habit because he had the money to buy epi-pens when not everyone could afford one.  He may have been a villain, but there was no need for someone to die to a mere allergy.  That was just...a perfectly good waste of a death honestly.  

"Are you talking to a hair ribbon?"  Ben smiled warmly, interested in the situation and how it might play out.

"Or, perhaps more importantly, does your hair ribbon talk to you?  I am not ruling anything out you see."

---------------

Felicity felt someone bump into her and then heard the words about being lost in their own thoughts and she chuckled.

"No big deal I tend to blend into the wall if I'm not careful."  It wasn't even her looks.  Felicity wasn't vain, but she knew she was good looking.  But when you had spent your teenage years not wanting to be noticed the habit died hard.  And regardless of what you looked like, your aura was that of an invisible specter.  

"And yeah I'm enjoying the party.  Although I have to admit I am a bit out of my element."  Then she registered that he needed to check something behind her and she jumped out of the way after realizing it.

"Sorry I was in the way I didn't register what you said right away.  I'd blame it on someone spiking the punch but I have no excuse I haven't had any."  A nervous laugh made its way out of the vigilante.  


@astraica

[Deleted]

Astra breathed a sigh of relief and smiled ten-fold at Kirian remembering her. "I agree! I'm so glad I came now." She said happily. "I wasn't expecting to come.. Because..." She said hesitantly, then changed the subject with a happy tone. "But this event is so great to have! I hope they raise enough money to repair the damage to the city. And it's Christmas!" She finished, spreading her arms wide and then closing them in, palms curled against each other as she bounced happily on the spot.

That was when Alice walked up and Astra's smile widened even further at seeing Alice's interaction with Kirian, and giggled at her thumbs up. She was so happy Kirian had a friend so close to her! She stood there waiting for them to talk a bit, and if Kirian forgot about her, she would just wander around the room some more happily. She didn't mind at all. Maybe she would get to talk to her after a bit.

Ribbon Harmony

[Deleted]

The mint continued to find itself along her nostrils as she looked around and watched as the people began to talk. Tears were starting to feel her eyes as she blinked and stood. "I need help," she said as she looked around and spotted the rather tall young man. "Tall like a tree no wonder," she said as she cut herself off and hastily attempted to make her way over to him when he curved and was headed to the bathroom? The look of disgust mixed with tears made her quickly prance over in his direction.

"Excuse me," she said to (@cas) "I think you should know that public restrooms almost always carry germs and I could really use a bit of a hand right now." While she assumed that her face was not swollen she did not think it would stay that way for long. "It'll just take a second and really look where we are at, can you really say that you are in the holiday season if you are not willing to help a stranger out?" She was taking a chance that maybe there was still good people in the world though it seemed right when she really still found that was a belief something happened to assure her that she was more than wrong.

@cas