| Ultragirl and the Starship Milano |
| Summary: | Part 2 of Ultragirl meeting Star-Lord again; she makes it on board and receives a cool reception from the ship's AI. |
| Date: | 2016-11-01 |
| Related: | Mind if I drop In? and A Strange Phone Call |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Ultragirl is allowed through the hatch into the airlock. You hear an intercom open up, and Peter says, "Welcome aboard the Milano. I don't think I got your name."
"People call me Ultragirl", is the reply she gives as she flies into the hatch and comes to a light landing. "Your contact info on my phone says you're … 'Star-Lord'…?", she says, in a querying tone of voice, holding up the device in question. The call's ended, now, but the screen shows an image of Quill's face, with the name Suzy just mentioned written across the top of the screen, identifying the contact.
Peter says, in a somewhat taunting tone, "Glass houses, 'Ultra' Girl. Would you like to come inside?"
A female voice interrupts in an urgent tone, that may sound slightly familar, if your character knows of the actress Alyssa Milano. "Star-Lord, I recommend standard decontamination protocol."
Peter responds incredulous off mike, "What? Why?" then "Sorry…" he says into the microphone. "Give us a moment."
Milano responds, "The visitor's biology is of an unrecorded type, increasing the risk of nonstandard bacterial interaction." the tone is ALMOST clinical, but there seems to be a slight underlying haughtiness at the moment.
Suzy looks puzzled for a moment, thinking to herself, 'I guess this is the first time they've been to Earth, or something.' Thumbing the screen to put the phone to sleep, she reaches into her jacket to stow it back away… when her eyes widen to show surprise at another thought: '… that means this Star-Lord guy's not even human! …and he looks as normal as anyone else!'
Looking up at the ceiling, as if she doesn't realize there's anywhere else she should look when speaking to be heard over the ship's systems, Suzy says aloud, "I don't mind decon if it's to keep everyone on this ship healthy." Looking about, she then asks, "Is there some special room I have to go into, or something? Or is it gonna be a wierd glow like in the movie or on TV?"
Peter says off mike, "Hell, you're probably right. Sorry." Then back into the intercom, "It really is rather unobtrusive. If you stay where you are, you'll see a ring come down with a sort of force field looking glow. It might tingle a little. One sweep and you're good." No response is heard from whoever Peter was speaking to.
Suzy nods her head, then, as if thinking that she can only be heard and not seen, adds, "Okay." She lifts her hands and holds them out to her sides and looks up, waiting for this 'ring' to come down.
Just as described, a large ring encompassing almost all of the space of the hangar slides out of the celeing and activates, descending. A pool of light washes over you until the ring works its way down to the floor. The light turns off and the ring retracts.
Milano says, "The visitor will relinquish all weapons into the provided bins." An outline encircles a metal rack of bins where weapons can be locked in with a user-supplied passcode.
Peter again admonishes the voice, "Be nice, she gave her name, she's a guest now. And I don't think she needs any weapons." and again back into the intercom. "But please do follow that instruction if you have any." sounding a little embarassed.
Suzy pouts a bit. "I don't have any weapons", she says, putting her hands on her hips. 'Wow', she thinks to herself. 'Don't they even have some kinda metal detector thing, like at the airport? How can they be all Star Trek with other stuff, and not have scanners like any movie ship?' She ends up looking a little annoyed, actually, by the time she's finished that thought.
The inner hatch finally opens and you are able to climb into the ship. Peter is there to greet you in a sparse corridor, and says, "Finally. Come onto the bridge, there's more room there." he invites, leading you towards the control room.
Nodding, Suzy starts to tuck her hands into her jacket pockets… but then consciously keeps them out. After all, if they asked her to leave behind weapons, even if she doesn't carry any, it stands to reason that the crew of this ship might be carrying guns… and she ought to be ready to fight, just in case. She follows along, trying to keep track of turns and such, in case she has to make it back to the airlock on her own.
When Peter shows you onto the bridge, you see who (or what) he was talking to. A faintly glowing and transparent image of the ship's AI is standing near the command chair, watching both of you. Her face seems robotically blank, and Peter keeps looking slightly annoyed when he looks at her. "Ultragirl, this is Milano. You're looking at a holographic avatar that speaks for the computers and subsystems of the ship, and helps automate command and control when the ship is understaffed, as it is now." he smiles, and continues rambling, "Actually she's been so handy I'm thinking of dropping that last bit." His tone makes it sound like he's trying to placate a reulctant hostess with his praise. Why he'd need to do that for an AI is not immediately clear.
Milano's having none of it, her face remains impassive and she says simply, "Hello, Ultragirl. Welcome aboard. Would you like any refreshment?"
Ultragirl nods her head as Peter speaks the introduction, then says, "Hi… and, thanks, but I'm okay. What should I call you?", as she looks about for a place to sit… as a way to hide that she's concentrating a little on seeing auras, so that she can verify her earlier conjecture about Peter not being human.
The man responds, "You can just call me Peter. Thanks for helping me out the other night, by the way. I really was feeling that might be a close call for me. If you don't mind my asking, you clearly have some remarkable abilities, that I don't know from Human or Kree. Are you what they call a mutant?"
Milano just watches, impassively.
Peter gestures and says, "Any seat you like," heading for the center seat himself.
Suzy sits down, looking up at Peter as she does, having an excuse to actually look over his aura. 'Wierd… he's human -and- aliens?!', she ponders to herself. "I guess I'm a mutant, yeah. I didn't even know I had powers until only a couple of months ago", she adds. Then she looks over at Milano's avatar, and asks, "He's Peter… what should I call you? … and how come you didn't know what humans were for the decon thingie if he's half-human?", with a gesture towards Peter as she finishes the second question.
When Suzy sits down, the controls and lights of that station immediately go black and inert, with a slight hum down. Peter glances at Milano, "Really?" he asks, again slightly peturbed.
"Standard security protocol," the holo responds, to which Peter replies "I'm sure,". The holo continues, responding to Suzy. "You may call me Milano. Your physiology reads as part human, part Kree." she answers simply.
Peter nods, satisfied that the AI is at least responding well to direct questioning.
Suzy's facial expression is disbelieving. "No way. I'm human, just like both my mom and dad, and the doctors haven't ever said any different. Have you ever scanned a mutant before?", she replies. She doesn't seem perturbed about the disabling of the controls at the station at which she sits. Then, she purses her lips for a moment. "… that's what that Vance guys said, too, tho… 'Kree'…", she adds, lifting her hands to make air-quotes with her fingers as she says that last word.
Peter says, "Two of the guys you ran off last night were Kree—you know, the ones holding the big guns? But yeah, if Milano says so it's probably right." he gives a wry grin, "Maybe your family history is more complicated than you were told."
Milano gives a smug little grin at Peter presuming her to be accurate on that point.
Suzy shrugs. "My mom and dad were plain humans. They weren't even mutants, as far as I know. And I met my grandparents, on both sides, when I was little. They were normal, too", she counters. "There's no way I'm… well, is 'Kree' a word for 'mutant human' for you?", she then asks of Milano.
Milano's eyes seem to roll up a little as if she's looking up something on the top of her eye sockets. Then she looks back down at you. "The Kree are a race of humanoids from the planet Hala."
Peter says, "There you have it. In my universe they're real assholes most of the time. It doesn't look like it's too different here." offhandedly.
Milano projects an image of a male Kree, with blue skin, armed for battle.
on a floating virtual screen that slid easily into view.
Suzy purses her lips, again, as if in thought. "I'm not from some other planet. I was born right here on Earth… but, yeah, there's a lotta jerks here on Earth", she says. When the holo of a Kree warrior appears, she nods and says, "Yeah, that looks like the guys from the other day, with the big guns. I'm not blue, like they are." She holds up one of her hands as an example, waggling her fingers about.
Peter says, "Well, I'm not going to contradict you, but I think the scanners detected something real. I bet some of the folks back at the Xavier Academy could help you figure it out, if you want to. Heard of it?" He looks you over, as if checking for any hint of blue on your skin.
Milano shifts the image screen to display a photograph of the Xavier Academy.
Suzy looks at the photo, shaking her head. "Nope. Never heard of it", she affirms. She glances back over at Peter… but there's no hint of blue on her skin — not that a whole lot of her skin's showing, being as she's fully dressed for the chilly New York autumn, and only her hands and face aren't covered by clothing. "… What?", she asks, not knowing what the scrutiny's about.
Peter sits back, abruptly, and says, "Sorry, was seeing if you had even a little blue."
Milano says, "It is unlikely to be able to determine genetic clues better than my scan via visual inspection, no matter how carefully you stare." again the slight diversion from a clinical tone as you sense she's ribbing him.
Peter smiles, "Now, you're acting more yourself. It's better." he reaches out and tickles the "belly" of the hologram. The light distorts around it, and though it's probably doing nothing to her functions, the image responds by a slight giggle.
Peter says back at you, "I think you'd find them very interested in the puzzle if you ever care to go."
Suzy nods her head. "I guess I can google 'em up", she replies. "… why were those Kree guys after you, anyway?", she questions.
Peter says, "Ok, this is where it gets complicated. They're not after me, they're after my… the old me." he hesitates over the terminology. "I came from another… reality? Apparently here there was a guy who looks mostly like me and has my name and gets in trouble with the same kind of people."
Suzy purses her lips and furrows her brow. "That's… that's what Vance said about -me-…. that I'm from a different universe and that I'm not the Ultragirl he used to know before Reed Richards 'fixed' (with air-quotes) reality", she says after a minute. "Only… if I was from a different reality, wouldn't things -be- different, like, so I'd notice? Everything seems the same as I've always known it, from what I can tell", she says, though there's a hint of doubt to both in her voice and in her body language.
Peter says, "I'm told sometimes the different realities people come from are nearly identical. For example, Kitty didn't even notice a difference until she saw my eyes. That was… a mess." he chuckles about it now, though.
Suzy leans back in the chair she's in, folding her arms together in front of herself. She's clearly having a 'what if it's true?' sort of moment. It's also just as clear that she's having trouble believing it… except that she's now heard it from two different sources, from two different points of view. There's also the mention of someone else who was able to corroborate it as the truth. After a few moments, she asks, "Who's Kitty? Would she be able to tell about me, too?"
Peter explains, "Kitty Pryde… she lives at the Academy as well, right now. She was engaged to my… predecessor? Everyone's really got to agree on some terms for this. She had to adjust to that while being the person to help me figure out my new life. Eventually it worked out very well after all." he smiles slowly. "She's one of the people I was going to have you talk to, though her talents don't directly relate to your problem."
Milano continues to just watch the two talk, staying quiet for now. Though, her demeanor has become less robotic. There's blinking, and slight reactions to when people are talking. She just looks like a very quiet person listening to a conversation.
Suzy nods her head, looking… not confused… more uncertain. "Well… I… I guess I should get going", she says as she gets to her feet. "You've got my number… if you can help me meet your friend and the people at that Academy, give me a call, okay? I'm gonna go home. I think I need to sleep on this." She stuffs her hands into her jacket's pockets, absent-mindedly, and this time leaves them there.
Peter nods, "I'll do that," he stands up to show you to the airlock again. "Is your friend… Vance? Able to help you too?" he asks.
"He says he's my friend", Suzy replies as she follows along. Then, she blushes a little when she adds, "He said that he and the other Suzy were lovers. I dunno if he can help, but he seemed to want to try to help. I just…. I didn't believe him. I honestly thought he was kinda crazy. … guess, maybe, I was wrong?"
Suzy doesn't even seem aware that she used her own name, instead of her 'Ultragirl' pseudonym.
Peter opens the hatch for you. "I can't say if he's being truthful about that, but it might be worth a listen."
With a nod of her head, Suzy floats up off the floor and out the hatch. She pulls one of her hands out of its pocket, waving as she drifts away, then turns and leans forward until she's horizontal as she flies away, hand going back into the pocket.