Gold Exchange 8 - [action/video]

[canthandleacape]

[action 1: daytime, Justice League Sirocco HQ]

[Booster's down at JLS HQ, surveying the damage done by the oni and everyone's favorite intrepid time travelers. Other than the new improvised skylight, the damage is thankfully mostly superficial, and the building's not really that much worse off than it was when Booster first acquired the place. Overall, definitely salvageable.

Booster stares at the hole in the roof for a while before he starts... laughing?]

Man! I am so stupid! I honestly thought we could manage to stay in the black this month! What a joke, right?

[He bends over and sets one of the surviving chairs upright, solely so he can collapse into it dramatically.]

Well, gotta face the music sometime. Our government budget's just not big enough to make ends meet on its own. But don't worry about it, they don't call me the Corporate Crusader for nothing! I'll get this sorted out, no problem.

[It's almost like the past few weeks never happened.]

[action 2: nighttime, the rooftops of Sirocco]



[As always, Supernova can be spotted patrolling the night skies. He's understandably more distracted than usual, often spending a long time standing around on a single rooftop before moving on. It makes it pretty damn easy to track him down for a conversation, if anyone wants one after everything that's happened recently.]

[video]



Hey guys, kind of a weird question for you today. Has anybody noticed any kind of connection between the kind of stuff they remember and what current events are in Sirocco when they remember it?

Comments

3

[has_a_blog]

I remembered that I knew one of those trolls once. A few days later she showed up here.

[canthandleacape]

Yeah? Weird, that's the opposite of what I noticed.

[has_a_blog]

Yeah?

[canthandleacape]

Usually something happens and then I remember something kind of related. Like, I wasn't the first guy here to remember being a superhero, and I remembered my birthday on my birthday, stuff like that.

[has_a_blog]

Nah, it's always been random for me.

[canthandleacape]

Guess I'm just seeing a pattern that isn't there. But that's probably a good thing for you, given what's happened recently.

[has_a_blog]

Yeah, from what I've remembered so far it seems like my life before this was really stupid in the weirdest fucking ways.

[Video (I have to remember to designate it a little better.)]

[trustycrowbar]

[He's still a little pissed at you, Booster, but the question makes him naively think he's got an opportunity to be right about something for a change. He slurps his coffee before he says anything.]

Wait... do you mean that the current events are what trigger the memory relapse? Because sure, that'd only make sense.

[canthandleacape]

I guess? It seems pretty weird to me when it happens.

[trustycrowbar]

Well yeah, but this whole situation isn't exactly normal. When we first get here we have absolutely no memories of who we are and what we did before this! The only things we have to remind us are the anemoi--which STILL seem pretty fishy to me--and the world around us.

If we once knew how to drive a car for example, we'd probably remember it fastest by actually trying to drive again... or even if you DON'T know how to drive you can be like that chick with the Mercedes and do it anyway... I guess it's a bad example, but you get what I mean.

[canthandleacape]

I remember how to drive, it's not that hard to figure out. That's not really the kind of thing I'm talking about, anyway.

[trustycrowbar]

[He takes another drink. Judging by the sheer number of windows around him, he's probably at a coffee house or something.] So, what're you talking about then?

[canthandleacape]

Well, I remembered when my birthday is on the day itself, and a couple of other people remembered being superheroes before I did, and--you know what, it sounds pretty stupid when I say it all out loud like this, forget I ever brought it up.

1

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen is exploring, and has apparently wandered into JLS HQ. So here, Booster, have an anthropomorphic peacock in Chinese robes looking curiously about the place.

[canthandleacape]

Whoa, hey, we're closed. Unless you've got some sort of serious emergency, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

[nomen_est_numen]

"Hmmm? Oh, no, no emergency. Only... this is the headquarters of the Justice League, is it not?"

[canthandleacape]

Yeah, that's us. Did you need something?

[nomen_est_numen]

"Not to put to fine a point on it, but your..." he makes a tumbling gesture with one wing in an attempt to come up with a proper word. "...organisation was indicated to me as a potential source of these... anemoi things. Now--my source was not terribly specific, so I took it upon myself to obtain my answers directly." He dusts plaster off of another chair with one wing. "Are you, in fact, a source of anemoi and, if so, what are your requirements for obtaining some?"

[canthandleacape]

Yes, we do that, and no, there aren't any requirements, just. Not now, OK? Come back in like a week when we've got this mess cleaned up.

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen looks about, then casually tips a filing cabinet back upright with one foot with only the slightest wince of pain. "Or I could aid you in your efforts and get it done that much faster."

1

[the_ko_stands_for_tiger]

Is it really that bad? Don't we have, I dunno, advertising, or some of that crap going on?

[canthandleacape]

Not unless there's some SoftBank around here giving you money on the side and you forgot to tell me about it.

[the_ko_stands_for_tiger]

Not unless they extended business to other dimensions without me knowing about it. Actually, I don't even KNOW what the hell the big businesses are around here. Never really was the sorta thing I had to deal with. I just took the advertisements they stuck me with and did my own thing.

[canthandleacape]

Great! You should find the kind of stuff I have in mind to be very comforting and familiar, then. Hopefully you're not the only one.

[the_ko_stands_for_tiger]

Just as long as it doesn't require me dressing up in anything stupid.

[canthandleacape]

I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do.

2

[gogoghostpowers]

[Oh. It's this guy again. Danny spots him sometimes, but since his last attempt at talking with him didn't go too well, he decided not to bother him on their weird nighttime patrols.

Tonight, though, he's acting a little strange. Just...standing on a rooftop?

Danny can't help but wonder. He flies up from behind and lands on the rooftop next to Supernova.]

So...see anything interesting out there?

[Awkward conversation-making time? Awkward conversation-making time.]

[canhandleacape]

[Supernova jumps a little, startled by the sudden question. When he realizes who it is, he relaxes a little, insofar as Supernova can ever be said to relax.]

Oh, hello, Daniel. No, I'd say things are pretty normal again now.

[gogoghostpowers]

Huh.

Then why are you looking at whatever-it-is so hard?

[canhandleacape]

I'm just... thinking about a few things.

[gogoghostpowers]

Like what?

[He WILL get to know you better. These skies aren't big enough for two strangers! Two acquaintances though? Sure.]

[canhandleacape]

[Supernova pauses for an awkwardly long time for responding. You really have to ask, Danny? Really? Booster is biting back so many snide comments here.]

Recent events.

[gogoghostpowers]

...Yeah, okay.

What about them, though?

[canhandleacape]

Mostly I'm wondering if there was a better way to handle it. A way that avoided any bloodshed.

[gogoghostpowers]

[...oh.

Danny has to stop and think long and hard about what to say next.]

Maybe...maybe that was the best way. Even if it's still pretty bad.

[He doesn't know how to handle this. He's never had to handle actual blood, real people getting seriously hurt or killed--at least not that he remembers. It's always been ghosts. Already dead. How much harm can you do to something already dead? Danny has no idea how to confront a question like this.]

[canhandleacape]

That's definitely possible. No, not just possible, it's probably the truth. What we do is very dangerous, I've remembered that much.

[gogoghostpowers]

[Danny looks down to the side and rubs the back of his neck with one hand.]

I guess so, yeah.

[Most of it felt like a cheery little game, at least in his memories. It feels so strange, having all that experience from back then and it being so much more dangerous now.]

1

[stinglikeabat]

[Joachim's around, clearing up the morass of shattered furniture and ceiling bits.]

Well, at least you have a sense of humor about it!

...Me, I kind of like the new window.

[canthandleacape]

[Booster looks up at the hole again.]

It does kind of brighten the place up some, doesn't it? Maybe we'll keep it.

[stinglikeabat]

Just as long as we decide what to do about it before it rains. You know what the weather can be like around here!

[Oh hey, here's the other leg of that desk.]

[canthandleacape]

Yeah, we should probably stick a tarp up there in the meantime. I can handle that. Damn, did we use a tarp the first time we fixed this place up, or am I going to have to go buy one?

[stinglikeabat]

We did have to fix up the roof back then, I remember. That one bathroom on the second floor kept leaking, and it took us all day to figure out it wasn't coming from the pipes.

[canthandleacape]

Oh, right, that, how could I forget? OK, I remember where we put it now.

[Booster bounces onto his feet and gives Joachim a friendly shoulder pat as he passes by.]

Keep up the good work.

[3; Video]

[healeveryone]

Yeah, sometimes! Like I remembered a fire one evening like the night the the fire broke out, and I remembered my first day with my family around Christmastime here! Well, it wasn't really Christmas that day, but it was a really good way to end the holiday.

[canthandleacape]

Oh, yeah, I remembered my family around Christmas, too. It didn't even occur to me to connect it with the holiday.

[healeveryone]

I hope it was a nice present, at least.

[canthandleacape]

[There's a slight pause before Booster smiles in response. His family's a far cry from perfect, but ultimately, yeah, he's glad he's remembered them.]

Yeah, of course. Family's important, right? What else have you remembered about yours?

[healeveryone]

A couple things! My dad's a doctor, he was always working on his research at home. And my brother...I don't remember much besides his name and his face, but I know I really loved both him and my dad.