endbringer, meet gun

[peterxy]

...Very unseasonable rains can be seen in the distance from the shores of Acapulco.

The Brockton Bay Protectorate starts organizing volunteers to be transported or teletransported in batches to it. Heroes, rogues, villains, anyone's assistance is appreciated. A rendez-vous point is set for non-Protectorate capes wishing to volunteer, and Protectorate capes are informed of the situation via communication devices.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

"There are of course what I would normally call common-sense rules about conduct and the abuse of power, and if any of the authorities in your life oversteps those bounds you can go to any of the others to have that addressed."

[mxglam]

"And... gender isn't one of those? She could present a boy cape as a girl cape, for example?"

[alicornucopia]

"Ordinary genders are well within the normal range of cape prerogative on costumery and presentation. This thing you are doing is not. Ms. Yates is entirely correct to insist on an apolitical stance. You wouldn't be the first with some personal identity frippery that has to be dispensed with for the public eye. Do you think there are no gay superheroes, none who feel strongly about religion, none who could if invited argue for hours about hot-button issues that would have half the country up in arms over whether their favorite agreed with them too? You aren't special. I don't care which you pick, but if you don't pick, you're staying inside or Ms. Yates will pick for you."

[mxglam]

"Hm. I don't suppose I could pretend to be two heroes or something."

[alicornucopia]

Piggot smiles thinly. "Can you be seen in two places at once?"

[mxglam]

"...possibly."

[alicornucopia]

"Then that might just satisfy everyone. If you can't work it out to the point where the two of you can attend events together, though, you will have to narrow it down."

[mxglam]

Sigh. "Okay." Think. "Okay."

[alicornucopia]

"I'm glad that's cleared up. Now. What are your powers? I have Lorica's descriptions, but field reports are never as detailed as they could be."

[mxglam]

"I can conjure things. There are limits to what, but they diminish with time and especially with practice. The more I conjure a thing, the faster I can do it and the more complex I can make it. I know I can conjure them within my field of vision, I suspect I can do more than that but haven't properly tested my hypotheses. For as long as I'm paying attention to a thing I conjure, it continues to exist; after I stop, it ceases to after half an hour, unless I pay attention to it again, in which case the timer resets. If someone squints too hard at stuff I make, it disappears. I can make it break the laws of physics a bit, but not too much; more entropy makes this easier. I can also alter stuff I didn't conjure to make it behave in different ways, though that's harder and more limited. I believe the limits to that also diminish with time and practice."

[alicornucopia]

"Lorica has, surprisingly, volunteered to handle your powers testing entirely on her own, which I won't deny she's qualified to do. Make yourself available to her," says Piggot. "Until you have a patrol schedule - or two - her time is more constrained than yours and you should defer to her on when these appointments should be."

[mxglam]

"Oh, that's neat!" And makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside again for some reason, even if they're not exactly surprised. "I will use her help. And um. I'm sorry."

[alicornucopia]

"Write up your apology to Ms. Yates and see if she believes you," suggests Piggot. "Particularly since your proposal has her doing twice as much work for you."

[mxglam]

"Yeah. I... Should I do that now? Personally? I was thinking of waiting a day until I talked to her again, because I think she's not particularly happy with me for now."

[alicornucopia]

"This is why I suggested a written apology. Email her. She can be reached at pcyates@protectorate.gov."

[mxglam]

"Alright. Was there anything else?"

[alicornucopia]

"That will be all for now."

[mxglam]

"Okay."

Leave, close door carefully behind themself. Hover hover. It is lunch time, where might one get food? They neglected breakfast entirely.

[alicornucopia]

There's a breakroom kitchen with various frozen food to microwave, snacks, ice cream, sandwich fixings, and a pot of soup covered in saran wrap labeled if you eat this you owe betty a thank you.

[mxglam]

Alright. They will microwave some food and hover back to Lorica's workshop while they eat it with conjured utensils.

[thinkering]

Lorica's there munching a hot dog, frowning at a projected screen covered in software diagrams. It flickers out as soon as the door opens. "Hi Glam."

[mxglam]

"Hello. I think I see what you mean by 'pressing the right buttons.' I will write Ms. Yates a written apology and email it to her."

[thinkering]

"Send it to my bot for editing first if you like," suggests Lorica. "You have a computer?"

[mxglam]

"I do, I brought mine from home, though if you're willing to lend me one that will save me the work of going to my room to get it."

[thinkering]

"Nah, use yours, my old laptop version is missing half its bits and would've been too frustrating for anyone but me to use anyway."