➽ 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

[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?

[huaaaaagh]

Haha... more advanced than that. It reads brain signals and monitors certain aspects of your health to keep the users from overdosing, essentially. People who can afford Amuspheres tend to be the hardcore gamers, so it's not unusual for some to stay logged on for days at a time. Food and water in the digital world can make you stop feeling hungry or thirsty, but it obviously won't do anything to your real body. Without the safety features, players wouldn't even realize they're dying until it's too late.

[ladybro]

[ -- that's, actually, really eerie. and kate's surprise shows on her face. a game so addicting that people forget to eat? forget to drink? she doesn't hide how her nose crinkles. ]

Days? How do they even have the time for that?

[huaaaaagh]

People were doing that with games long before VRMMOs existed. The new tech just made it easier to ignore certain warning signs. And that's not even getting into all the other addictions that can get people killed somehow.

[Everyone says drugs are bad, but there's all sorts of weird and dangerous things in the world for humans to hurt themselves with that to anyone else would see as mundane.]

[ladybro]

Just 'cause something isn't standing alone in the questionable choice column, that doesn't make it any less questionable. [ kate's got nothing against games, really. but she has a near allergic reaction to such levels of investment.

it's no different when she catches clint in one of his...more slothlike moods. ]

[huaaaaagh]

And just because some people are idiots doesn't mean they have to ruin it for everyone else.

VR's done a lot in the medical community, as well as therapeutics, both physical and mental. There's good and bad factors to any technology.

[ladybro]

I guess I must come across as pretty old-fashioned. [ ... ] I do tend towards the paleolithic.

[huaaaaagh]

It's not like I haven't heard it before- you're far from alone in criticizing the technology. There's a lot of people where I'm from who are against it. But for me, it's impossible not to get personal. VR's changed a lot of things in my life that I can't ignore.

[ladybro]

I guess...I guess it's not the tech I distrust, so much as I do the people peddling it. Does that make any sense?

[huaaaaagh]

It makes a lots of sense, yeah. And I can't blame you for being skeptical about it.

[There's tons of people who think anyone who uses VR tech is crazy, after what happened with the Nerve Gear design. And he's well aware that some of his decisions are questionable.]

[ladybro]

I can't say I can stomach most large corporations. Even Stark isn't without his blacker marks.

[huaaaaagh]

They're alright if they've got someone with good morals keeping things on track, but that seems to be a rare thing, historically.

[He can openly admit that, at least.]

[ladybro]

That's why you're gonna go to Cali, get your degree, and do good with it. Right?

[ you seem like a do-gooder, kid. kate approves. ]

[huaaaaagh]

That's the idea, yeah! One step at a time, obviously, but I'd love to change the world in some way, for the better. Even if it's ambitious.

[Playing the hero in so many games sort of made the heroic stuff ingrained.]

[ladybro]

Then I guess that makes you the prime example for the VR gamer who isn't too distracted and lazy, right?

[huaaaaagh]

I'm... usually pretty good at logging out when I should, yes.

[Excluding emergencies and the occasional death game.]

[ladybro]

...Have you tried building a rig like that here?

[huaaaaagh]

I wish! I mean, I'd love to try, and I've been keeping an eye out for similar tech or potential parts, but... the truth is, I've never built that kind of equipment before, and I haven't taken apart an Amusphere, either. I'm not really sure how the original works.