➽ VIDEO

[ladybro]

Who: investikate and you!
Broadcast: fleetwide video
Action: the iskaulit or the blameless
When: evening

[ the feed jumps straight to broadcast with kate bishop's face framed in the shot's centre. she must have only recently been below on the poisoned moon because she's still wearing her mask. give her a moment, and she's tugging it down around her neck before removing it completely. ]

Quick and painless interruption. I promise. Couple weeks ago I talked to a guy who didn't even know about the Avengers. So who does? What about the Young Avengers? I've seen a few familiar faces but there's gotta be more of us. Right? [ oh, she sounds hopeful. ] Or maybe you've heard of the Avengers while you were stuck somewhere else before here. I'd love to hear about it.

[ --- kate waits in silence for a moment, before adding: ] Also, I wish the fleet had a dance club. [ ... ] Hawkeye, out.

[ later that evening, she can be found at the classier gin joint on the iskaulit. although she's in a dress and her hair could be accurately described as done, kate sits with a nursed singapore sling and a notepad at her corner of the bar. it looks as though she's reviewing earlier conversations from the network, and is transcribing the occasional note. that said, she seems approachable. whenever someone passes by, she nods a greeting and smiles. doesn't hurt to be polite. ]

Comments

[ladybro]

And trailer-sitting. [ kate tries to explain with as few unnecessary details as possible. ] I moved to LA for a while and in order to make ends meet I looked after things for this sweet old couple while they were on vacation.

[huaaaaagh]

[LA, huh.]

Not a bad job, I hear. Pickiness aside. What's LA like? Is it nice to live there?

[ladybro]

Beautiful. And I was right on the beach and -- and the people were decent. Not like New York decent, but a different kind of decent. Some of them, anyway.

[ the rest were d-bags and she barely left that city alive. ]

[huaaaaagh]

Sounds amazing. I've been researching schools in the area back home, so I'm asking everyone I can about it.

[ladybro]

Really? [ she sounds enthused. ] What are you hoping to study?

[huaaaaagh]

Robotics and advanced computer tech- specifically mechatronics. I've been taking courses in my high school, and it's amazing stuff. Research tells me that the US is the place to go for top-tier education in that field.

[ladybro]

That's some heavy stuff. I used to work with a guy who was a robot -- well, android.

[huaaaaagh]

[Well, you're doomed now. You've pinged his favourite thing.]

Android? Seriously!? What was the AI like?

[ladybro]

Top of the line. Apart from the appearance thing, he might as well have been human.

[huaaaaagh]

Oh man... that's so cool. AI is just- amazing. Back home there's a little girl AI living with me, and it's the same with her- when we first met, I had no idea she wasn't a regular human.

[ladybro]

[ but then she can't bring herself to explain how the vision -- that vision, jonas -- is dead.

so kate keeps up the braver face. ] Is that how you got interested in AI?

[huaaaaagh]

[If you want to break hearts, maybe. He's pretty clueless.]

Mostly, yeah. I was more interested in the computer aspect of it- building the system with the most advanced technology, stuff like that. But having Yui around keeps me motivated to learn how to get them to communicate.

[ladybro]

Who made her?

[huaaaaagh]

His name's Kayaba- he was a genius in the field of computer development and virtual reality. She was originally created as a player-supporting counsellor in a game.

[ladybro]

[ and here's kate -- half private eye, half superhero. she'll keep asking questions so long as he keeps answering them. so. ]

A game?

[huaaaaagh]

[And here's Kirito, answering her question. Technically.]

Yep. A game.

[Very... technically.]

[ladybro]

What, uh, kinda game?

[huaaaaagh]

[must he really]

Ah... do you know anything about MMOs? Online multiplayer games?

[ladybro]

I can't say I've played any but -- yeah, I'm familiar with the concept.

[huaaaaagh]

Okay, well- imagine one of those, but instead of on a computer screen, it's connected directly to your brain, so you experience it all firsthand. When you want to move your body, those brain signals get intercepted and redirected to the in-game digital body.

It's an amazing technology that allows players to fully immerse themselves in a digital world.

[ladybro]

[ as amazing as that sounds, kate can't help but think about the lurking dangers of such a technology. she could name at least five villains (off the top of her head) who could cause some major mayhem with a tool like that at their disposal.

but she doesn't rain on his parade. ]

How does it do it? Does it read brain-waves? Or do you have to...plug yourself in?

[huaaaaagh]

[Yeah, four thousand people died in SAO. His parade has been well and truly flooded by now.]

Originally it was a helmet people wore over their heads, designed to use harmless microwaves to redirect the brain signals. These days it's like a fancy visor, but it acts more or less the same way.

[ladybro]

Like, 100% harmless?

[huaaaaagh]

[Hahaha... ha... ha...]

...I won't lie and say that the prototypes didn't have issues. The Amusphere is fine, though. There's a lot of safety features to keep the players healthy, actually.

[ladybro]

What, like a built in pedometer?