fluxnet | video; un:marvelgirl

[ The face that comes on video is a young woman with fiery red hair and a tired looking smile. She's doing her best to try to keep it all together given the circumstances here and the circumstances she left back home. ]

So, uh, hi. My name is Jean Grey. I've also gone by Marvel Girl and Phoenix more recently but...[ she shrugs and chuckles ] not really sure what the point in keeping superhero codenames would be in a place like this. Just Jean seems pretty good to me.

[ She waves a hand. ] Anyway, I've been trying to get to know people. I'm used to living in a school with a lot of people I know. They're loud sometimes but, I dunno, I guess it's different when you know them. I had a question though, to try to get to know people better. Where I come from it's not uncommon for people to have special gifts. What I wanted to ask is, how common is that where you're all from? And if you're comfortable saying, how many of you have gifts? I'll understand if anyone isn't that comfortable talking about their own, where I'm from it's also super common for humans to hate people with abilities. So, no worries if you don't want to talk about it and thank you to anyone that does.

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And you definitely don't do that, right? [ Something told her he might let it get out of hand now and then, but that was mostly just because of their previous conversations.

She took a drink and leaned her elbows on her knees as she listened to him. ] That sounds so many levels of shade it's practically black. People really don't have a problem with a corporation basically acting as a government? Not that an actual government is always better but this sounds pretty weird. Did the founders of Shinra build the city with the intention of ruling it or something? [ If so that was pretty...megalomaniacal. Okay, well, time for another drink. ]

Nothing about that sounds normal. In fact it sounds like a recipe for disaster. What happens if something damages the structural integrity of plates?

No. [He chuckled, though, running a hand back through his hair.] At least not often, or I try not to. [That counted for something, right?]

Midgar was established as a place for Shinra employees to live, originally. Then, people got hurt on the job and couldn't work anymore, or kids were born and something happened to their parents. Basically, Midgar grew organically as life happened in a city built for a corporation. Only, businesses and societies aren't the same things, and people aren't transactions. That doesn't stop Shinra from treating us like we are.

[He scoffed, and it sounded tired, as he clenched his jaw.]

Funny you should mention that. They have emergency release mechanisms. You know, so they can be dropped if they need to be. I honestly can't think of a time that would be necessary...unless you're trying to literally crush a resistance cell and anyone unlucky enough to live with them.

Not often, huh? [ She teased with a quick smirk.

She shook her head as he continued. ] That sounds crazy to think an entire city grew because of a corporation. It must have a lot of power outside of just that city in your world. [ Which was even more crazy to think about. ]

Wait--what? [ She blinked and her expression twisted to a tight confused frown. ] There's so no reason for something like that. Unless they planned on killing their own people at some point.

As little as I can help it.

[A little self-deprecating humor goes a long way, right?]

They have as much power as they want. They have an entire division dedicated to the development of weapons. [He nodded, eyes on his coffee mug, hands clenched around it, jaw tight.] That's the last thing I remember. To stifle 'rogue elements known to reside in the Sector 7 slums, orders were approved to drop the sector 7 plate'. Me and my team joined the militia to keep them off the pillar, but the best we've got are improvised bombs and home-repaired, cast-off weapons. I just hope we stalled enough for people to get out.

Nothing good ever comes from having divisions dedicated to weapons development. [ There was a firmness in her voice like someone that knew that all too well. She took a deep breath as she explained and then reached a hand out to put it on his leg in sympathy. ]

I'm so sorry.

Common sense, right? [He shakes his head, taking another, much longer, drink from that mug.] Well, anyway, you wanted to know what I was up to, so...there you have it.

I'm sorry if asking brought back bad memories for you. [ She gave his leg a brief pat then went back to drinking from her own mug. ] Sounds like a lot to have been up to.

[He shakes his head, forcing a smile.]

It's fine, really. The way I see it, if Shinra cared enough about what we were doing to drop a plate, we must have gotten our message across. Maybe that's enough.

[ She gives him a sad little attempt at an encouraging smile. ] That's one way to look at it. I hope it is enough to do something. What do you guys do after something like that?

Something like what? Dropping a plate? I...don't know. They hadn't pulled it off, when I, you know, left home, I guess. [He cleared his throat, finishing off his whiskey and pouring another.] They'd done a damned good job of going through me to get to it, though.

So there's a chance they didn't? [ A chance is a chance, right? Even if it's small. ] Going through you? That sounds uh, not good.

Yeah, I wasn't in too good of shape when I showed up here. [And he's pretty sure he was dying when he blacked out. It felt like it, anyway.]

But yeah, if anybody could stop Shinra, it was Cloud. He's, uh, SOLDIER. They're enhanced combatants made by Shinra. He went rogue and now he's a mercenary, and he's damned good at it, even if he's kind of cold. He was expensive, but he's proven worth it.

How not too good of shape are we talking here? [ She turned her head to look at him and tilted her head. ]

I guess that's good you got some help. Sucks you had to pay for it.

[He shrugged at that.] Everything's sort of hazy when I think back. Everything hurt. They're soldiers with military arms. I had one pistol with a duct-taped grip.

Oh. [ She bit down on her lip. ] I hope it doesn't end up being as bad as it sounds for you.

Well, if it does, I've got it on good authority this place isn't so bad.

[He gave her a small smile at that.]

At least I can't complain about the company.

[ She put a hand over her mouth and laughed. ] Well, I'm glad you can't complain about me.

[It occurred to him, then, that maybe he should try to flirt more often and focus less on saving the world.

Didn't he have game once? Maybe?]

Pretty much the opposite.

I guess I can't complain too much either. [ She drops her hand and gives him a smile. ]

Yeah? [ He smiled, reaching out to refill their mugs, because it's hard not to smile when a pretty woman tells you she might like your company at least comparably to how much you enjoy hers. ]

Cool.

(OOC: Want to let it fade out there? Say they idled on small talk for a while and called it a night?)

video; un:marvelgirl

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