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Post by Singularity on Jan 9, 2017 4:20:36 GMT -5
During the day, it was hard for a sentient quantum singularity to be out and about in New York. The busy streets were unforgiving to someone that looked so clearly not human, even a child. She had thought perhaps there would be some more understanding humans. She seemed to remember there being. Or was that somewhere else? It was hard to tell exactly which reality it was she had landed in. She had only just gotten here a matter of days ago, after all. The poor child didn't know anyone yet, or where anything was, or what anything was for that matter.
But she knew the lights of Coney Island. She'd seen them ever since she'd gotten to the city, and she wanted to see them better. She didn't want to go during the day. They weren't as pretty during the day. But at night? They sparkled like the stars. It was beautiful.
Tonight was the night, she decided. She watched the sun set and watched as the boardwalk sprang to life in a riot of color. Her eyes lit up excitedly as she soared over the cityscape to get a closer look.
Everyone was gone now, but that didn't bother her a bit. It just meant she was left to herself to gawk and marvel at the spectacle around her. Her feet touched the ground and she walked along the lane, eyes taking in everything she could. Every bulb, every color, everything. It was amazing. The music was still playing in a select few stalls, and the child couldn't resist letting herself sway to the beat of the carnival music. In fact, she was so used to being alone and unobserved, she danced her heart out to the music, taking to the skies.
The higher up she got, the better she could see the whole park. It was beautiful. There seemed to be a part of it missing, though. Like someone had taken it down. She wondered what used to be there. Whatever it was, if it was nearly as cool as the rest of the park, it had to be amazing. She flew around and observed every angle of this magnificent place.
She slowed down when she saw a person walking around. But there was no one else. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be here? Oh no. She slowly touched back down onto the ground and followed behind him. The idea, of course, being that if she was behind him, she wasn't in front of him and he couldn't see her. It was easy not to make any noise, being mostly weightless, but it was harder to ignore her curiosity. She moved closer and closer to this man until she had all but forgotten her original goal of hiding.
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 9, 2017 4:38:17 GMT -5
This late at night was when Artie usually preferred to be alone. He knew Laura didn't like it when he would go out without her to protect him, but the gates had been shut and the park had been closed for the day so...he would be fine. Not like he went anywhere unarmed anyway. And the solitude helped him clear his head. Thankfully when the sun went down, so did the irksome sea birds as well. It was only him and the lapping of the waves at the base of the place.
The lights created shadows all around him. He found it almost poetic...but his paranoia didn't necessarily appreciate it. As he limped down the dock toward the end of his Coney Island, he leaned on one of the nearby posts and looked out at the water. It made him think of how much he appreciated machinery. Sure, the tides would flow in and out, but they were often inconsistent. A storm could come along and disrupt its rhythm entirely. But the machines he would create...his Ticktockmen....this place's modifications...his weapons....it was all precise. All exact. Never faltering.
It was part of why his insanity was so irksome to him. He tried to keep it together as best he could but even he could occasionally become...inconsistent.
As these thoughts went through his mind as he watched the moon beams shine through the separations of the wood on the various buildings around his little island, he got the distinct feeling that someone was watching him...
He pulled his pistols and turned swiftly around.
"WHO'S...." he started to say, "...there?"
Artie saw a.....ghost? It had deep eyes that seemed...infinite. Some sort of.....what was that? It wasn't much taller than he was but it seemed...ethereal. He staggered backward a few paces, his cane clattering to the planks and he nearly stumbled in surprise.
"What....what are you..." he stammered, "What do you want...? I'll shoot you right here, don't make me get my boys up here. Or my Ticktockmen. You even know who you're dealing with?"
The moon shone on his spectacles and his mask, hiding his eyes with discs of gleaming white as he gritted his teeth, admittedly more afraid than he allowed himself to let on.
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Post by Singularity on Jan 9, 2017 4:53:38 GMT -5
This was far from the reaction the girl tended to get. She curled in on herself, floating in midair, covering her mouth like she had accidentally said something offensive. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. She'd never had a conversation with a human before. The stars within her being seemed to grow a little brighter as she grew more flustered.
She tried to regain her composure, or whatever composure a girl of her age could have, and picked up his cane and offered it to him. She had seen humans walking around with them. Sometimes it was for show, but sometimes they really needed something to lean on. She hoped this would serve as any sort of apology for startling him.
"I didn't mean to scare you," she managed to say, the first words she'd ever uttered on this planet. "I just wanted to look at the lights."
She had the tone of a child that wanted little more than to see something pretty. She was still half curled up into a ball in midair, but not because she was afraid of the pistols in his hands. As a matter of fact, she didn't seem afraid at all, despite her posture. She truly was little more than a child that got caught doing something she shouldn't have been doing.
But, now that he mentioned it, he did look familiar. She couldn't place it, but she knew his face. Where had she seen his face before? She had a flash of a memory of the man in front of her, but younger and wilder. Was this a future reality from the one she had been observing? No, that didn't seem right.
She moved a little closer to him, tilting her head to the side curiously. "What's your name?"
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 9, 2017 5:05:31 GMT -5
Visibly stepping backward when the...thing rose into the air, Artie kept his pistols aimed and ready, his eyes blaring with the intent of battle. Her small diamonds or...lights on her or whatever they were...stars? glowed brighter as she covered her mouth as if she'd swore in front of an adult.
An adult? She sounded like a child. Some kid.
And then this....thing....offered him his cane. He lowered his pistols and looked the girl up and down, his mouth agape. It was all so much to take in all at once, he wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation.
Then he had a flash of memory. A memory he thought of often. A little girl with dark, long hair, no coat out in the winter cold. The tundra. His coat. Given to her. His Laura. That night...
She'd been so helpless, so unsure. He remembered how he felt. How often he'd felt alone and frightened when he was a child. Frightened of his father, frightened for his mother, hating them both, wanting to see them burn...but that was another emotion and wasn't the one he was looking for. He holstered his pistols and accepted his cane, leaning on it to relieve his bad leg.
"It's all right," he said as he extended a hand to her, "I'm Artie. Artie Cade. This is my amusement park. You like it?"
He gestured to it, the lights lining the streetway and the bulbs along the roofs.
"There's no need to apologize, I just get...jumpy." he said with a small smirk.
It was true.
And this floating girl seemed a curiosity to him. He wondered where she'd come from, where she was going.
"What's your name?" he asked, trying to stifle his worry that she wasn't someone like Laura after all.
He wasn't entirely sure. Laura was one in a million, always was and especially to him. But he'd come across others with their own interesting things about them in their own right....Barbara...Mystique...he'd heard about the Kingpin's lackey...he wondered if this girl was another one of them. The odd ones. Well, certainly she was odd, but the more he was in her presence the less worried he felt.
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Post by Singularity on Jan 9, 2017 5:44:28 GMT -5
Artie. Artie Cade. Artie .... Cade? .... No, that wasn't right at all. That was almost right, but it wasn't right. He looked so much like someone with something close to that name, but it wasn't him. This wasn't that reality. At least that could be ruled out. But was it a future? Or a past? It was so hard to tell.
She was jolted from her thoughts when he gestured around, reminding her of the beautiful lights. She smiled brightly and spun around in air to take in the sights before reminding herself that she was having a conversation. A real conversation. This was a big night for her. Her body grew a little more pink as she got more excited, her smile growing wider.
"This park is amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" She looked back at him, nothing but honesty on her face. She was telling the truth. She always did. She wasn't even sure if she knew HOW to lie. "I've been all over the galaxy and this is the first amusement park I've ever seen!"
She was about to answer with a name but, well, she realized ... she didn't think she had one. "I ... I don't know my name." She looked at the ground, a little embarrassed, before looking back up at him. "I'm a sentient quantum singularity so ... I guess I'm ... Singularity."
It was certainly nice, having a conversation with someone instead of just being shunned or cast aside. This human was interesting. She could sense that he was a little more understanding of unique people like her, and that set her at ease. She could also sense that he was a little paranoid, and she didn't want to aggravate that. Though, she did wonder who this "Laura" was.
"You really built this place?" she asked in her same child-like wonder. "Wow! That's incredible!"
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 10, 2017 10:56:09 GMT -5
All over the....galaxy? In any other area he would have decided that was crazier than he was, but Artie considered the fact that...well the girl was made up of star stuffs so here they were.
"Well I didn't build it entirely," he admitted, "But it's been mine for a bit now. I've improved on it."
He indicated with a point of his cane to the area where the ferris wheel had been.
"Over there?" he said, "That used to be a huge wheel, as tall as a building almost, lights all around it. But there was an accident recently so I'm having to rebuild it, I'm afraid."
He then considered her name. Singularity? Bit wordy, wasn't it? He wasn't sure it would stick in his mind as easily...a nickname was in order. An abbreviation.
"I'll call ya Sing," he said with a smirk, "Seems shorter enough to me. And catchy."
He looked the girl up and down as she floated there, wondering why she was here...what she wanted.
"How'd you get here?" he asked, "Do you have...a ship or a residence or...you can come down, you know. I won't bite, I promise."
Artie chuckled at this last bit. Technically he could bite. And hard. And he tended to. But not at this moment, and certainly not with this creature. The more strange people he tended to meet, the more fascinated with the world in general he found himself becoming. Which was certainly a curious thing for someone as jaded as Artie Cade.
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Post by Singularity on Jan 12, 2017 17:33:55 GMT -5
Singularity looked toward where the wheel was meant to be and tried to imagine it. She failed, but it gave her an idea. She held her hands close to her chest and suddenly expanded them out, stars forming the outline of what used to be the ferris wheel. Her eyes lit up, deciding it was pretty. She'd probably keep her eyes on this place to see when it was finished being rebuilt so she could see what it really looked like.
She tilted her head to the side a little at the ... was that what was called a nickname? She'd never had one before. It wasn't terrible, though. It was sort of endearing. And, from what she understood, people were only given nicknames if they were friends. That was exciting. The stars in her body lit up, the pink of her nebulae brightening with the realization.
"Do you remember a few months ago when a meteorite landed just outside the city?" She remained floating, as it felt most natural to her. But, she did float a little closer to the ground. She made it a comfortable distance from Artie. One that humans would find appropriate from almost strangers. "That was me. I fell." She shrugged and smiled, as if it was no big deal. But it did hurt, and it had taken her a couple of week to recover from the fall.
She didn't find herself that interesting, so she decided to change the subject. She was far more interested in the lights around her and the man that oversaw them. "Do you build stuff? What kind of stuff do you build? Is it as pretty as all of this?"
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 13, 2017 3:31:08 GMT -5
This young....whatever she was....was fascinating. Utterly fascinating.
Artie watched in wonder as the girl...was that the right term? Yes, girl. He watched as she created the specter of the ferris wheel right where it had been placed...and very accurately, at that.
"Incredible..." he found himself saying, half to himself as he couldn't help but let his jaw hang open, "It's....it's beautiful...."
He soon regained himself as the illusion passed and was glad that the girl was at least a bit more at an eye level with him. He examined here as subtly as he could. She did appear to be made up of...shifting stars. What might have looked like the whole of space, he supposed, but condensed into the shape of this girl.
"Oh that was...you!" he said as he nodded, rather dumbfounded, at the girl's explanation, "I see, I....well I hope you're all right now."
He was, too. That was not an insubstantial fall.
Artie wondered very sincerely what else this girl could do...and the wheels in his brain began to move in their rhythm. How might he best gain this girl's trust? How best might she be useful to him? Fisk might not stand a chance...no, the whole country might not stand a chance.....
He quickly shook these thoughts out of his head. No. This was the here and now, and this was a little girl who was displaced. He'd been there before. That was hardly the way to consider it. Not now.
"Oh I build many things..." Artie replied with a grin, deliberately vague, "All manner of machines, most of this is all my modification or doing entirely. Tomorrow I'll close the place down to the public and show you how it all works, how does that sound?"
He wondered what Laura would think of this girl. Or Barbara. Or Mystique for that matter. He decided not to dwell on it. After all, Laura knew his mind best, and she would give him her trademark glower without having to say anything. She'd know what he was up to.
But was he up to anything, he found himself asking. It felt almost more like habit now than genuine will. It was all occasionally very confusing, and this was a hell of a way to interrupt his thinking time. But a welcome distraction.
"Where is it you stay while you're here?" he asked, "Have you...met anyone else at all? I can't be the first!"
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Post by Singularity on Jan 13, 2017 21:23:23 GMT -5
There were certain things the space girl was good at. She wasn't remarkable at reading minds, but she could pick up on a few things. Phrases, feelings, intentions, and sometimes even motives. Now, though, all she was picking up on were a few phrases and a couple of feelings. Something about how she could be useful, but then doubt. It was confusing. She wasn't sure if he intended to use her as a weapon or what, but the thoughts left his mind as soon as the doubt showed up. Not that they didn't seem to linger, but they didn't seem active. That was probably a good thing.
Upon hearing that she could be shown how all of the mechanics work, Singularity lit up. She spun in the air, hardly able to contain her excitement, and she supposed that would have sufficed as an answer to the question, but she had to take it a step further. Before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around Artie and nuzzled him excitedly. "Oh, I would love that!" she practically sang. "Thank you!" She let him go, curling in on herself again when she realized they might not be familiar enough to hug yet. Still, she kept the smile on her face and beamed at him. "I'm sure everything is amazing!"
But there was that name again. Laura. Among a couple of others, but Laura was the name that stuck out. Even when it was a passive thought, it carried such an emotional weight, it was hard to ignore. Her childish curiosity was too strong to ignore it this time. Before she could stop herself, and not that she would have anyway, she asked, "Who's Laura?" Once said, though, she realized it may have been a mistake. Reading minds might have been rude. She covered her mouth, as if she knew she might have done better to stay quiet, but she just couldn't help herself.
In an effort to change the subject, she teetered on the very tip of her big toe like a ballerina and looked at the ground. "I don't have anywhere to stay," she admitted. "I fell and I've been wandering all this time. There's so much in this city to see, it hasn't been hard to keep moving, but it is kind of exhausting. Sometimes, if I feel like I need to sleep, I'll sleep on top of the flame lady." She pointed up to the illuminated Statue of Liberty. More specifically, she pointed at the flame in the statue's hand. "It's nice and quiet up there, and I can see everything in the city!" With a casual shrug, she went on, "I've met lots of people, just flying around, but none of them have been as nice as you!"
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 14, 2017 0:03:51 GMT -5
A hug was not something Artie had anticipated. It was a sturdy hug too, the kind that lets you know the hugger meant it. He emitted a chuckle that indicated it was a bit bewildering but gave her a pat on the back in return. She was sweet, that was certain. Sweet and naive. NO! No. Not those thoughts creeping in again. No no. "I consider it fairly wonderful, if I do say so myself." he replied with a grin as he examined his nails. His follow up was halted by the question of who Laura was. Now how would she know about...could she read his thoughts? No that was absurd, but...was it? She was a creature from another world made up of stardust and things, it was crazier to think there was something she couldn't do at this point. " Uh..." Artie said as he withdrew his wallet and flipped through to a space for a photo and held it up to the girl, "Laura is my daughter. Here's us the day this place was opened."The photo was slightly worn from much use and travel, but it was still crisp. Artie was smiling broadly and even Laura was smiling. She'd been happy to see Artie so happy that day. Mostly out of relief that he'd gotten his front up and running, but still. The girl did occasionally portray affection for her father. And he relished any bit of it. It occurred to him that she might not understand what a daughter is. "A daughter is like a uh..." he began to explain, "Well I'm her father and being a father, if you have a child, there's a sort of a...well I protect her. Or did, I guess, heh. That was a long time ago. Mostly she protects me....she's a good kid." He smiled at the photograph fondly as he looked at it again. Upon hearing that she had no actual residence, the wheels turned again. He let them turn, because his mouth said something else. "Well that isn't right...!" he said, "Do you need somewhere to stay? Can't sleep out in the cold here...if that affects you, I admit I don't know. Here, come with me."He gestured to one of the booths that was marked Closed For Repairs. He withdrew a key from his pocket and unlocked the side door, revealing that it opened an entire side of the small structure. He pushed a button with the tip of his cane and a freight elevator squeaked its way up to the right level and locked into place. He slid the gate apart with some degree of difficulty and gestured inside. "That is...if you'd like," he said, "I understand if you'd prefer the statue over there. Which we call the Statue of Liberty. Up to you, my dear."He limped his way inside the freight elevator and waited. The wheels in his head had determined that if he stood there, she might be more inclined to join him, lest she be alone again in the night. |
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Post by Singularity on Jan 14, 2017 1:18:17 GMT -5
Singularity hovered over Artie's shoulder to look at the picture and brightened up. Laura seemed like a fascinating person. She had a look about her like she had seen some terrible things, but there she was. Smiling. Singularity liked that about humans. There was no way for her to know what Laura had seen to give her such an intense look without being right next to her, but seeing that smile was heart warming. "She's pretty," she said, not realizing she said it out loud. Laura and Artie were genuinely happy in this picture and it made Singularity happy by extension. "She looks like a good kid, too."
When Artie then told her to follow him, she didn't think twice about it. The trouble with being what she was, was that she was generally fearless. She didn't worry about what might happen to her, because she was also very sturdy. She could take care of herself if she was in any danger. Of course, the trouble with being in danger was that it was hard for her to tell when she was actually in danger. She was so adventurous and fearless, danger never even appeared on the spectrum. So, if she was in any sort of danger by following this human, she had no idea, because it never even occurred to her. After all, she didn't quite enjoy sleeping in the cold. It didn't affect her as it did humans, but it wasn't as nice as sleeping where it was warm. She never noticed that until she slept somewhere warm.
She watched as Artie opened the gate to what looked like a small room and tilted her head to the side curiously. Did he mean for her to sleep in that room? It was small and it didn't seem particularly special. In fact, it seemed rather drafty. Not at all cozy like she thought it might be. But still, her curiosity got the better of her and she floated over to join him in the tiny room. She stood and waited for something to happen for whole seconds, but nothing happened. She looked at him. "Is this it?"
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 14, 2017 12:20:41 GMT -5
Artie caught himself smiling, a genuine smile in lieu of his more diabolical rictus grin.
"She is pretty, isn't she?" he said with a chuckle, "She doesn't really believe me when I say it."
He smirked at the girl and pulled the door closed again, activating a switch that got the elevator moving.
"Oh no," he grinned, "Not it yet."
The elevator went down, down, down at a reasonable pace. When it landed on the bottom floor, he once again pulled the great heavy cage door aside and gestured into a long hallway, well furnished and wallpapered in a lovely dark red to go with the wood tables scattered along the wall, all very neat.
The Rabbit Hole was but a wall panel away, but it contained no guests at the moment, so Artie's fears of hearing any screaming from one of the vaults in there were thankfully subsided quickly.
"This is my home," he said as he limped down the hall, gesturing to lovely paintings of New York City, some less contemporary than others, "Laura and I run...well she runs the bar that's next door. I used to but maintaining Coney Island and...other business has taken precedence for me, so I figured what better person to leave it with."
He chuckled and tapped on a section of wall with his cane. A door opened to reveal his office, also lavishly furnished in dark wood and deep reds. An oversized, wing backed chair sat behind the desk. The secret panel behind the chair that housed his collection of death masks was hidden at the moment, he rarely opened it for display unless he felt the need to intimidate a client. He limped over and gestured around the room.
"As you can see I have a...particular color scheme." he giggled.
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Post by Singularity on Jan 17, 2017 3:46:33 GMT -5
When the cage doors opened, the star being was already in awe. They were in a whole new place! It was like her teleportation, but slower! She hadn't expected it at all, if she was being honest. She floated up close to one of the walls, inspecting every detail and texture, finding a wondrous beauty to it. As naive as the child was, she could also appreciate that the humans had learned to make all of these things. And the fact that one man was responsible for this was remarkable to her.
She followed him, still awestruck that he could even find the time to build this ... or did he have it made? The more she was around him and the more she looked around, the more he reminded her of someone. Oh, what was his name? Wasn't it Artie Cade? It sounded like it. And he looked so much like this Artie, too. Was it the same person? Or was she remembering another reality? It was so hard to figure out.
When they got to the room, she failed to see the significance of it, but it was still pretty. He giggled, which made her smile, and he was clearly proud of the room which made her like it a little more.
"You remind me of someone, Artie. I just can't remember who."
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X-23
Heroes 
There are two types of people. you are weak, or you are me.
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Post by X-23 on Jan 20, 2017 20:12:12 GMT -5
Laura wasn't zoned out when she walked into the office and failed to notice the unique being. It was simply the four things she was currently thinking about taking up all her concentration so she'd ended up with tunnel vision. "Father, I was looking through the finance books and realised it would make more sense to move the work from 17th on 3rd to the edge of Lane Street." she'd actually spent the last two hours tallying it up and justifying the idea In her head before coming to bother her Father about it. As usual she wanted to feel like she had proof she was making sense before hand.
Whatever the pro's and cons of the plan, they would have to wait though as Laura finally noticed what seemed to be a woman made of the night sky. This was new. This was so new that everything Laura had thought she needed to focus on was put on hold to consider this....... whatever this was. The most immediate fact was Artie was calm so there was no need to over react for now. Asses the situation before freaking out.
So rather then anything drastic, Laura simply tilted her head in confusion as she tried and failed to get her senses to understand what she was seeing. Throwing the idea of being able to define this scientifically just by staring, Laura mentally shrugged and decided there was nothing for it but to accept night sky people exist. or maybe just this one existed. either way it was something for her to just get on with.
"Hello." Laura said slowly, having no idea if this being spoke English, she glanced at her Father in hope of advice. "I am Laura Cade. It is nice to meet you?" At this point either she was being understood or she wasn't, no reason not to be polite either way. How the hell did her Father keep doing this? finding impossible females? Barbara. This being. Laura herself. There was some mention among his men of a blue lady or..... maybe THIS was the blue lady but she didn't really match any of the descriptions she'd overheard..... but apparently the blue lady could change somehow or that might have been hysterics over complicating the story? and the one that had given him the limp.... did that count? no probably not.
the point was 'how the hell did her Father manage this a fourth time." and what was she supposed to do with this information?
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Post by Artie Cade on Jan 22, 2017 14:28:03 GMT -5
Artie tilted his head at the floating girl.
"Remind you of someone...?" he asked, genuinely unsure how that was possible especially considering his mask, "Well, I-"
He was interrupted by the arrival of Laura, who seemed just as perplexed as one might have expected. But Artie lit up that she had arrived for introductions in such a perfectly timed fashion. He noted what she said and limped to his desk to make note of it.
"Edge of...Lane Street....." he said half to himself as he wrote and finalized the note, adding a question mark to the end to make sure he knew it was a floating notion and not a solidified plan until he went over it too, "Not a bad idea, my dear, not a bad idea at all."
He grinned as Laura made her very polite introduction and nodded, pleased.
"The one from the picture I showed you," he said to Sing as he indicated to Laura, "My daughter."
He couldn't quite get out of his head the idea that Sing seemed to continue to think he reminded her of someone...what did that mean? What could that mean? Was it just a passing fancy? Was there somebody running around who also had a facial wound so they wore a mask, or....? Could be anything. But for the moment he decided not to bother with it.
"Laura, this is Sing....er uh, Singularity. But I think Sing works just as well." he grinned as he indicated to the girl, "She was wandering about Coney Island and we hit it off so I decided it might be good to at least offer her a place to stay, was just in the process of showing her around uh...some of the property."
He leaned on the word 'some' a bit and raised an eyebrow to Laura to indicate he didn't mean to show her any part of the Rabbit Hole. Just the nicer spots.
The idea made him shudder, he didn't even know what he could do with this sort of being in the Rabbit Hole. Much less want to do.
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Uh..." Artie said as he withdrew his wallet and flipped through to a space for a photo and held it up to the girl, "Laura is my daughter. Here's us the day this place was opened."
