Log:Three's Company, Eighth's a Crowd

2014/09/05 Allison Chen Paragon Porter Psyn Showdown

2

The holo-projection Allison requested displays a satellite view of a brand new roof, with three icon'd specks in the yard. There are two more, highlighted in red, that appear to be right next to the others. Until the view rotates to an oblique view rather than overhead. Now the vertical distance of the marks in red can be seen. Vertical distance that is rapidly shrinking.

"Subjects located, approaching your position. Distance, two-hundred-fifty meters and closing. ETA: Twelve seconds. Eleven. Ten...

A couple counts later, the red highlights of one figure are visible to those looking up. Crimson energy flares as counter-thrust slows the descent to a comfortable landing.

As for the other, it speeds past in a dark blur and simply... lands. The impact is enough to shake the ground, knock Porter onto his backside, and set off nearly every car alarm from the yacht club to the mall. Which is an annoyingly large number of cars.

With the holo being displayed, Allison says "Julius, keep the holo displayed from house projectors.." as she fires her thrusters and aims upward on an intercept course. Her plan is simple... as she ascends, her gravitic shields deploy, surrounding her with a bubble of stressed grav-fields. With the opponents on an arc to fall, and her able to adjust her trajectory, she's going to make at least one of them slam into her, hopefully doing some damage when it's not prepared for impact, and hopefully knocking it off course as well.

And, Ally radios to the house, "I'll be fine. Please don't worry about.." and the shield is glowing brighter than usual as Fourth impacts it. For the briefest of moments, it appears as if it's going to hold.. which to be honest, is surprising as hell even to Allison. But then it loses its coherency, and Fourth impacts Allison's nanotech body. She grins and says, "Peek-a-boo." to him as he bounces off of her and continues on a new trajectory towards the ground, "Aww... didums fall down, go boom?!" she calls out as she continues hovering up there.

It wasn't flying. It was falling, with style... and braking thrust supplied by Allison. The being known, or formerly know? as Fourth barely seems to notice the deceleration. He/it straightens and waits.

Paragon squints at the holo projector. At first she comments, "But there's only three of us. What're those other two..." and then the angle pans. She blinks. She looks up, and her helm snaps shut, encasing her head. A panel along her inner wrist slides open and she slips the remote she was holding into it before the panel seals over it again. "Since when could Fourth fly?" she asks jealously.

And then it's proven that he can't as Fourth lands, shaking the ground with his entrance. The alarms signal to all of Paragon's old neighbors that she is, unfortunately, back in the neighborhood. Which had briefly experienced a peaceful lull in her absence. Paragon remains stable, then looks down as Porter falls onto his backside. She reaches her hand down to offer him a hand up. "You okay, Partner?"

At the sound of car alarms, a patrolling Showdown happens to take notice. He was simply hover-skating along the boardwalk. Then he hears that? Switching his movement powers, he takes off into the air in a blaze of blue and gold before stopping and switching in mid-air to seemingly float downwards. The near-sudden blur is a bit disorienting, making it necessary that he stays up in the air high enough that only another flier's going to get an easy target... or someone with a really good aim.

His feet give off a pale green glow that forms a four point star pattern as he lowers himself down towards the ground from around 50 meters in the air, the wind from the bay making his scarf flap as he puts a hand to his hat to adjust it. "Hey, who dropped the meteor!?" He calls out as he descends. The new hero's a big blue and gold target, but seems to not be concerned about it at all. All confidence, and looking quite ready to find out what in the world is happening.

MEANWHILE, AT THE MALL:

Malcolm Gibbs was trying to buy a new leather jacket for winter motorcycling when the earth moved beneath his feet. Simultaneously, car alarms start going off in and around the mall. Based on years of military training and general super-heroing, Malcolm senses that all is not kosher in Denmark. Putting down the jacket he intended to purchase, Malcolm heads for the door while popping out his PDA to scan for local news alerts that might point him toward the seismic culprit.

Don't worry, Malcolm will get there in due time.

"Ensure the recycling of the defective unit. Remove the others." It is the more slender, red-lit figure that speaks. Fourth remains silent.

Fourth

This tall figure stands at about 6 feet tall, covered in articulated, form fitting high tech heavy armor. It gleams like bluish-gray metal. The body is broad chested, muscular and athletic. The plating along more flexible areas, such as the abdomen and sides of the torso, are banded and flexible. The front chestplate has angled edges and looks like a solid piece, save for some hairline seams. In between the plates and in areas where there is no armor, a black armor mesh material shows through that doesnt quite look like fabric. This can be best observed on the figure's hands. The backs of the hands are plated, but the rest is just covered by the resistant armor-mesh gloves. The faceplate of the helm has a flat profile with a thin, jagged line seam that represents a mouth with teeth, and two eye-slots. The helm completely encases the head. From deeper within the helm, one can see the "eyes"; two glowing red orbs that burn so bright they appear orange nearer to their center. They blink out in unison from time to time or narrow into lines of determination. When Fourth talks, the voice is tinny and echoes from within the metallic helm. The voice is imposing and very definitely male. There's a robotic quality to Fourth's actions, but also a humane aspect.

Normally careful, Allison does not delay here. She knows that this guy is dangerous and she needs to do as much damage as she can, as fast as she can to add on to the impact effect before the target can get a breath and a second wind (IE: Recovery).. so she drops about halfway to the ground, getting to a range of precisely seven point six four meters away before her shoulders sprout high tech cannons on skinny little attaching stilt like things. The ion cannons blaze and fire a burst of shots at the same target she felt the impact from. "Concentrate fire!" She calls out. She's learned a little something from Julius it seems.

She may have a valid point. The ion bolts strike Fourth square in the chest and ... might have annoyed him? There's a spark or two.

It does appear to annoy the red-lined one. "You will not interfere," it announces. This was heard once before. A hand lifts and a rapid-fire succession of electro-magnetic pulses are looses at Allison. These were witnessed thelast time, also.

Anastasia was in the area when she heard all the noise and such. She ducks out of an alley where she had summoned her costume from home and changed and then hurls herself in that direction moving through the air as she tries to find out just what is going on."

Glancing towards Red-dude, Allison raises a brow. "What are you..." she begins, before rapid fire pulses blast outward and strike her. Nanobots go dark around the spots she is hit, and sparks flare as she shakes her head, "Ow!" she mutters, "You are a copycat! Can't think of anything of your own eh?" she asks. "Well, allow me to show you some more stuff!" [OOC] Porter fudges Porter's for the sake of ease.

Porter is fine. Or he was. He knows these two. Well, sort of. He's already fought of Fourth once. Porter can do it again. And just like before, he runs right up to the metal monkey and punches him in the chest. The same one that just ignored Allison. "Stay away from her, you -AHHH!" There is the satisfying crunch of flesh and bone as Porter's hand, wrist, and forearm cry uncle. Followed by him crying out. Then crumpling to the ground. Well, it was satisfying to someone, maybe?

Showdown looks at what's happening, then flips in the air and pushes off another 'platform' as he dives at Eighth by pushing off the new one to achieve his version of flight straight for the more sleeker cybernetic type that's definitely hostile. Once close enough, the hero swings out with his left hand but deceptively... it's an open palm strike? What in the world?

The energy surge dissipates across Eighth's torso. Very quickly. The force of the strike forces him backwards, though he catches himself.

Showdown brings his feet to stand on the ground as he keeps his hand where it was, then twists it around to a closed fist as the red stone on his left hand pulses briefly. "I don't know what's going on, but you're not pulling a cheap shot like that again!" Fourth turns from the pile of Porter and towards the one nearly adjacent. He brings a heavy gauntleted first back and drives it forwards towards Showdown.

Paragon watches Eighth warily as he gets hit by Showdown, deciding to avoid him for now. She knows just how much he can damage her systems. And then she observes and cries out in dismay as Porter tries to rush to her rescue and crumples. She angrily clenches her fists and intones mechanically to the pair, "This defective unit is not to be recycled." She leaps at Fourth as her fist draws back in a long windup before it surges forward.

The pointed strike creates a Paragon-fist-sized dent in Fourth's chest and slides him back several meters.

"Okay. You want to play the copycat game, fine." says Allison, smoldering from her EMP burn marks. She surges towards Fourth, not wanting to spread out her fire. "You should realize that my tech is so much more advanced than yours. I can't wait to see what else you try to copy..." And... she winds up a fist and then... vanishes.

Eighth checks fire when the primary target vanishes. "Re-acquiring. Systems at one-hundred-seven percent."

Psyn watches things from above. She paused to hover at about 40m up in the air, taking everything in. She recognizes at least one of the people as a hero and since the other two seem to be attacking her and the others she can roughly make out the sides. She focuses and then sends a mental blast wave centered between Fourth and Eighth that will hit both. The pendant on her chest flashes as she uses the ability

The invisible (to most) burst of psionic energy has invisible (to all) effect.

Psyn frowns a little as it doesn't seem to do much and will have to do a more focused strike next.

Fourth straightens up and moves for Paragon, reaching out with big, metal-meaty paws. He would pummel her, but she is special.

Paragon grunts as her arms get pinned down by the bear hug from Fourth. She tries to stabilize her footing on the ground to brace as she tries to jerk her arms out to break the hold. "Get...off of me!" she says as she exerts herself.

Psyn decides she needs to focus and sees Paragon grabbed by Fourth. She figures she can try to help out there, so she focuses and then sends multiple rapid fire blasts of mental energy, looking to overwhelm if possible.

The focused burst of mental energy zaps through Fourth's helm. It then passes on through to dissipate harmlessly. There is no detectable resistance nor any reaction at all from Fourth. Psyn feels like she just shined a light through transparent glass.

Showdown brings his hands around as he gets back to his feet, having been knocked for a loop. Bright white light suddenly moves between his hands before solidifying into a mass of heat and fire. A bright mass of heat and fire, but definitely something of a physical nature. Looking over at the fight between what looks like is two Paragons, he looks to Eighth. "Hey! Here's a primary target for you!" Then he spins and lets fly the entire ball of heat and fire in Eighth's direction.

The explosion now forcers Eighth a step or two forwards, momentarily off balance. This also gets his attention. He turns towards Showdown, lifts both hands, and unleashes a blast of energy from each that merges into one large beam.

Time... to turn the tide here. Allison rolls her invisible neck and her cannons actually grow larger. The barrels widen as she drifts forward to ideal range once more. The muzzles start glowing even as ion induction chambers grow on the ends of them. Charge starts to build in those oversized capacitors as she aims and builds that charge some more.

Showdown is flung backwards by the beam, a brief field of gold appearing on him to block the beam before he ends up going backwards and flipping in the air to land on his feet. He calls back at Eighth, "That's all you got!? Your friend hits harder!"

Paragon glares back at Fourth with narrow lines of light for eyes. She doesn't want him to get away this time. She intends to capture him. And since he just tried to grab her, it seems only fitting to turn the tables. Her plated hands reach out to try and clamp down on her twin unit.

It is apparent that Paragon's interaction with society has taught her to give much better hugs. She has had much practice in comparison to Fourth. Great strength is also helpful. Torso plates screech and squeal in protest and some collapse. The only sound Fourth makes is a strange gurgling of escaping air. From between the rents ....meat squeezes out. Dead and partially rotten meat. Which would also explain the smell. None of this stops Fourth from attempting to brace his arms and spread them to splay Paragon's grasp.

The twin cannons actually grow, as the nanotech keeps increasing the capacitor size. Paragon's never seen this trick. In fact, nobody has. It grows until it's a cannon with twin grips and fires a 2 foot wide beam towards Eighth..... as it does that, Allison screams from the sheer backblast and exertion it took to do that. Wow... the beam goes on for a full second before it fades, and Ally halfway drops to one knee, but catches herself.

Paragon manages to maintain her hold on Fourth. As meat oozes out from him and a putrid smell reaches her nostrils, she grimaces behind her faceplate, takes a breath, and holds it. For a very long time. "Fourth, stop this...I don't want to damage you," she pleads, even though she knows his programming makes it useless. Seeing the state that Fourth's organic components are in, she worries if the same will happen to her if she gets 'recycled'.

The energy pours into Eighth, cascading over his form, much of it along the accented lines of light across his body. The force throws him across the ground, past Paragon and Fourth's snugfest to dig a line through the sod. With his face.

Paragon's head jerks towards Allison as she hears her scream, while wrestling with the horror that Fourth has become. "Sis!" she calls out in worry just as Allison catches herself. [OOC] Psyn says, "okay work calls so my pose will be a pose out, sort of fits since I can't do much it seems"

Psyn sighs as she seems to have absolutely no effect. She looks down and then cocks her head to the side, "Sorry, I can't even touch them. Maybe I can help out next time." she calls out from where she hovers in the air and then takes off hurtling herself through the air with her psychic flight.

Paragon notices something about Fourth. The flesh oozing out. It's dead. Not just undead dead, but rotting for days dead.

Showdown moves his hands as he sees Allison shoot off something that... well... yeah, he's not sure WHAT that was. But he is noticing she might have been hurt by that. And Eighth is still moving. A sharp glow comes from his left hand as he shifts his energies around, then zips forward to get between Allison and Eighth, then moves his hand up as if presenting a shield. The next thing that happens starts as a single hexagon appearing suddenly, then it expands to the side and upwards quickly, blocking the way.

Fourth continues to remain silent and once more attempts to pry himself free of Paragon's Hug of Crushing Doom.

Paragon maintains her grip on Fourth while the other heroes keep Eighth off her back. As Fourth pushes back against her arms, she tightens her grip and squeezes back in the hopes of knocking him out so she can help with the other unit.

The more she squeezes, the easier it is for Paragon to get a grip. There is more howling of metal and some crackling sounds of bone. Fourth's chest and abdomen continue to narrow and distort. He takes it like a man, however, and doesn't utter a word. There is only the sounds of gasses, liquids, and semi-solids forced out or around under the pressure.

Paragon suddenly realizes her miscalculation in horror. While Fourth is still as strong as he was, his structural integrity is not what it once was. Her eyes grow large as she hears the cracking of bone and screech of compacting, twisting metal. This...this isn't what she wanted...

Eight stands up. The black plating makes it difficult to view any scorch marks, but the red lines across it are throbbing brightly. Angrily.

"Structural Integrity Ninety-one percent. Power Systems at one-hundred twenty-three percent. Priority Alpha: Recycling of Malfunctioning Unit."

With the energy field in place, the unit pivots towards Paragon, lifts a hand, and releases a brilliant ruby beam.

Paragon cries out in pain that turns to a growl as the blast disrupts her systems and organic components. She twitches and loses her grip on Fourth and staggers a step back, clenching her teeth. She sways a little in place and hunches a bit.

"Faraday cage built into your skin eh?" asks Allison as she gets up from her kneeling recovery posture. Her musculature grows visibly, nanobots adding what looks to be bulky muscle. Not overly bulky, but bulky enough. Her thrusters fire and carry her towards the guy... at high speed... and she's trying to become his newest problem. "Now focus on me you tech stealing putz!" She says as she swings a fist towards his face.

Flying up and over the wall, Allison glows and her grav bubble pops into being once more. "Hey you tech steeling putz!" she yells as she rockets towards him on her thrusters. "You are really delusional if you think you can win this! Oh wait... maybe you're just stupid!"

Showdown turns as his barrier fails to stop the beam, letting the barrier fade away as it appears to be ineffective. He still has the hoverpads on, too. But... well... to deal with Fourth, especially in close range? He's going to need something heavier. Especially as Paragon is in firing range. Bringing his hands up, he mimics running them together before a large purple hammer construct appears. That then is dropped backwards over one for the head to slam into the sand. Bracing himself a bit, he zips forward to get adjacent to Fourth.... then spins and attempts to slam the hammer into him to send him away from Paragon. The entire movement leaves a large trail in the sand behind him, even shooting out some.


 * CONK* The standing yet slow Fourth is knocked back several meters and teeters over onto this side. It's difficult to see any specific damage amidst the already crushed and rent plating.

"Structural integrity of re-animated unit at unacceptable levels. Priority: Retrieval and repair." Eighth summarily ignores Allison and lifts from the ground, hovering to land adjacent to Fourth.

Showdown lets the hammer fall to smack into the sand as he stands ready. He says back to Paragon. "You okay?" He looks to Fourth, "Hey, what's wrong with you!? You look like her and you're attacking her? At least the other one I can understand! He looks like a freakin' light up toy!"

Paragon's eyes are dimmed, but they start to gradually regain luminosity. Her voice echoes from within her helm, "Checking systems...". Her eyes flicker and brighten again as she starts to straighten up. "I'm fine," she says mechanically, getting her bearings. "He's programmed to obey his creator. They both are. They won't listen to reason, because they -can't-," she explains to Showdown.

And now that he's closer. Julius puts the range up on Ally's HUD. "Oh goody..." she mutters. She veers and her thrusters carry her towards her real target. "No you don't. Not again!" she announces as she shifts her power... the shield dropping as she gets there, and her muscles bulking up. Now... she's not going for a punch. She simply tries to grab and squeeze the guy.

Showdown looks to Fourth. Then looks to Paragon. "Where's the controls located?"

Paragon's eyes dim slightly. "Models in my series had a control chip installed inside the skull. Not sure about this new model, though. I've not seen one like it before," she nods her head towards Eighth.

"I have an idea.. if you wanna c'mere and put the squeeze on the guy." suggests Allison towards Paragon with a grin as her bulked up muscles hold him in place.

Eight is much more huggable than Fourth. There is no smelly ooze. Just a satisfying flexibility of lighter plating squeezing against flesh. "Error. Structural integrity compromised. Initiating power transfer."

Where is a convenient power source? The micro-reactor inside Allison.

Showdown nods. "Help her with the newer one... I'm going to try to free your brother."

Paragon nods in the affirmative to Showdown. "Sounds like a plan."

Reactors. Lots of little ones. Yeah.. Allison narrows her eyes as she hears Eighth's words. "Wait, what does he mea.... owww!!" she cries out as energy bleeds from all of her nanobots at once. That's the problem, they're not entirely stable, and they power each other in a freeflow power network. See, she didn't really plan -this- far ahead... then again, she never PLANNED to have her flesh consumed by nanobots and replaced by them too. But energy powers out of her and into the guy in her arms. "Okay, seriously.. Someone hold this tech-tard..."

Showdown darts to the side as he shifts his energies, then raises a wall between the Fourth and Eighth as he lets his hoverpads fade away to land him lightly on the sand.

Paragon worries as Allison cries out. Any concern she has for what Eighth can do to her systems goes out the window as she leaps over to Allison's side and tries to grab ahold of Eighth for her. "I got this," her voice echoes to Allison.

Paragon can feel her power systems taxed further the moment she makes contact with the conductive Eighth. Eighths chassis is taxed more by Paragon's might, however. Too. Much. Hugs. Porter might be jealous, if he we conscious.

"Error. Structural integrity failing. Retrieving secondary unit for transmatter recall. Initiating in 4... 3..."

Fourth takes a single step, damaged plates grinding as it reaches through the throng of women to touch Eighth.

"2...1..." A bright flash and the pair of damaged units are gone.

Paragon's systems register the power drain, just before the pair disappear and her arms close on thin air. She pants a little and looks to Allison. "Are you okay...?" Paragon is free of external damage, except the parts of Fourth still stuck or running down her armor. While she was all for hugging her mechanical siblings, she won't be hugging her real family anytime soon.

When they vanish, Allison Shakes her head like a punch drunk boxer. "Damn..." she mutters. After a couple seconds, she steps towards Paragon and says, "I'm sorry sis. I wanted to interface with them and free them, so they could be like you... but I couldn't do it."

Paragon smiles softly behind the helm. "But you tried. That's what matters," she says encouragingly, relieved to see she's at least fine. She goes over to Porter afterwards to check on him.

Chen comes racing into the scene from the direction of Ming Street and the Chinese market, "Hi! Chen to the rescu..." her voice trails off as she take in the scene, "... too late?"

"They teleported away." mutters Allison as she staggers over towards Porter's unconscious body. She feels drained... literally and figuratively.

Chen morphs to lose her nose as she gets a sniff of the rotten meal aroma hanging around Paragon. "Tell me that's not you, Paragon." she demands worriedly.

Paragon kneels down next to Porter, then stares at her hands for a moment. They're...covered in ichor and grossness. She can't help him like this. But at least nothing looks critical at a glance. Her head pans up to Chen, her eyes flickering from the power drain. "Chen! Hey," she says warmly as she rises to her feet and glances towards the house. She spots a garden house on the side and starts heading towards it. "I would give you a hug, but I'm a mess."

Chen nods and goes to Porter. Lifting him carefully she says, "Should I take him to your house, to the hospital, or what?"

Paragon chuckles tiredly. "Not me. Thankfully. It was Fourth." Her tone becomes a little more somber. "I guess this is what starts to happen to the units that get 'recycled'," she comments as she gets to the hose and unwinds it a bit, turning on the water. "Is his arm broken? I couldn't touch him like this to check. Unsanitary."

Chen takes a look, "No bone sticking out but I'm no doctor. It might be fractured. I can't tell."

PSSHHHTTTTTT! PSSHT PSSHT! Paragon sprays her hands and chest plate with several blasts of cold water, hosing off the mess from her. Her nose wrinkles behind the faceplate. "Gross. What did they do to him..."

Chen stretches out a arm to take the hose, "Turn around, I'll do your back."

Paragon grins behind her helm and does an about face. "Thanks, sis." She holds her arms out from her sides so the hose can get anything else that may be stuck to her.

Chen hoses down Paragon thoroughly. "That should do it for now. You still want a shower with lots of scented soap though. The stink is lingering. What happened?"

Paragon groans a little at the smell. "Long, scalding hot shower for me. Got it," she cringes a bit as her helm flicks back and collapses. "Thanks again," she offers up a smile, then shakes off a bit of the water running down her armor. "Allison was just doing the big reveal on the house. Apparently she's been working hard to get it rebuilt! With some added structural integrity this time," she grins a little, but still seems a bit serious and worried. "And then Allison's tracking systems alerted us just in time before Fourth and the new unit dropped in from the sky," she says quietly as she walks back over to Porter, her brow creased with worry. Smiling softly to herself, she says, "Porter tried to be the hero as usual and punch Fourth, but he hurt himself pretty bad doing it. I hope he's okay..."

Chen morphs into a medical examination table with Porter laid on it so Paragon can check on him.

Paragon retracts the armor plating from her hands. At least those are clean since the armor protected them from Fourth's oozing. She gently examines Porter's arm while he lays on medical table Chen. "Well, good news is it isn't broken. But there may be some bruising down to the bone," she says as she holds up his hand and examines the knuckles. "Might be sprained, too, but nothing serious," she sighs with relief and lays his hand across his stomach, then looks at his face while he sleeps it off. With a ruffle of his hair, she says softly, "It was a valiant effort, Partner. We've got you."

To Chen, Paragon suggests, "Well, looks like I've got my first house guests. Maybe we should get him inside so he can sleep it off. I havne't even been inside yet." She wears a tired grin, but she feels her systems starting to recover and repower quickly. She should be at full charge shortly.

Having... recovered herself, Allison steps over at that comment and grins as she looks at the house. "You didn't lose your remote already, did you?" she asks with a smirk.

"No no, I've got it right," Paragon holds out her right wrist and a panel slides open. She withdraws the remote and finishes, "Here."

"Ah, handy storage location. Nicely done." remarks Allison. "Julius. Feel free to start Tour Mode over again." she remarks with a grin as she adjusts her smock/sweater/whatever to try to cover the burned out nanobots on the places where she got -shot-.

Paragon glances at Allison worriedly. "You're...damaged," she says softly. Now two of her family members are damaged on her account. "I'm sorry..."

"It's not your fault. That tech-tard stole my weapon concept and used it against me. That's... not cool. Now I'm -really- gonna get this Mechaneer..." Allison shakes her head, "Self repair routines are online. They're just.. working a bit slower because of the nature of it. It's from my own anti-tech localized EM Pulse needle effect."

Chen stays in medical bed form and just grows feet so she can carry Porter into the house. "Lead on. Did you rebuilt as it was or did you change anything?"

"Oh.. I changed a few things. Like the materials being lightweight yet durable metals Quinn used for his space station. With cosmetic exteriors to look like the house used to look. I also took the liberty of giving the house its own computer, not an AI, just.. an onboard system without a name yet." She looks to Paragon, "You get to name it." she adds with a shrug, "Oh, I installed a lab in the basement so I can work on myself and Paragon there, and a gourmet kitchen so she can really cook her heart out..."

"Sounds great. Especially the kitchen." Chen says and grins, "I can talk to my grandfather and get you a special deal on herbs and spices."

Paragon nods as she listens to Allison, still looking a tad worried and guilty. She blinks a few times and tilts he rhead. "Name it? Hm. I've never really named anything before." Not even herself, really. "I will have to think on that." Her smile brightens at the mention of the gourmet kitchen. "Yes, I owe you all some treats. It's been too long." Smiling to Chen, she says warmly, "Thanks for carrying Porter. And a special deal with your grandfather would be great. But I would prefer to pay him full price."

Chen points out, "If you pay full price it isn't a special deal."

"Are you against to barter options involving favors or labor that you do to save -him- money in exchange for supplies?" asks Allison. "Payment doesn't need to always -be- currency." she remarks as Julius springs into holographic form and says, "Please, come in. Tour mode begins now." he says as the front door opens invitingly.

Paragon chuckles and concedes to Chen, "I suppose you're right. Both of you." She glances at Allison and smiles a bit. When the front door opens on its own, she looks at it in surprise, then looks at Porter, then back at the door. "Well, the redundancy features seem to be working," she says with some uncertainty, since the door didn't shudder or only open halfway. "Or maybe Porter's unluckiness isn't in effect when he's sleeping?"

"Or perhaps it's fueled by his belief. If he thinks he'll ruin tech, then he ruins tech. Right now, he's contemplating eyelids." offers Allison, "But.. that was a complicated way of agreeing with you on the consciousness angle."

Chen pads up behind Paragon and Allison on six feet.

Paragon scratches the back of her head. "Hmm. I hadn't thought of that," she comments as she steps into the new house, glancing about to take it in. She makes sure to step aside to make room for the other two to enter while she pauses in the foyer.

Inside, the hallways look 99% the same as they used to. There are some small changes, like the micro-lenses watching the entryway hallway from down the hall, or the holo-emitters all over the house to manifest like... computer junk. Ally follows behind Paragon as Julius points out the similarities and differences in calm tour guide mode.

Paragon looks about in surprise as the layout looks generally the same. The upgraded kitchen that Allison came up with from the dream kitchen browsing she did has some differences. The kitchen is now part of the open floor plan of the main living area rather than a separate room, so Paragon can talk to friends and cook while they lounge in the adjacent living and dining room. It gives the house a much more open floor plan feel. And while the furniture is slightly different, the placement is much the same as before.

Paragon lets out a happy sigh. "It feels like coming home again..." she says sentimentally.

Chen has no problem in following her memory and padding into one of the spare bedrooms. She gently transfers Porter to a real bed and then morphs to a large golden retriever before rejoining the tour.

"Exactly. You deserve that feeling. So that was part of the gift." offers Allison. Julius leads the tour into the living room, with tables, chairs, sofa, the works. The TV is different but... duh, Ally made a whole new level of 3D and/or Holo-projecting Entertainment center. Surprised? Most wouldn't be.

Paragon smiles happily as Chen returns. "Thanks for taking care of him, sis." She glances to Allison. "And I haven't forgotten the chocolate chip cookies you wanted," she says with a grin. Allison's comments make Paragon look a little embarrassed. She has her blushing face on, minus the color. "I feel like I receive a lot of things I don't deserve. But I appreciate the gift. Truly," she says shyly as the tour continues. Her eyes grow wide at the entertainment system, causing her to grin. "Maybe I should start hosting movie nights for friends and family while I cook up treats?" she muses to herself.

"Well, I won't lie. I had hoped you might consider that." offers Ally with a shrug. There's also one of her computer designs where Paragon may have had something older and not so... Ally-fied before. Julius describes the capabilities of the upgrades and then moves on towards the kitchen. One designed specifically with Paragon in mind. It is supposed to look like something of a blend between June Cleaver's happy homemaker from the 50's, and some Ikea tech sleek thing. If there -can- be a balance between them that is. It has an island prep table with built in things like cutting board, retractable knife block, and a whole... pots and pans hanger overhead. Then there is a conventional oven and stove along with another thing built into the wall... that's a wood fire oven just in case she wanted to bake pizzas the -old- way. Julius informs her, "There is also a retractable grill just outside the back door on the patio."

Chen curls up in front of the entertainment centre and appears to fall asleep.

Paragon claps a hand over her mouth as she eyes the kitchen and all the goodies it comes equipped with. "Is that a...wood fire oven??" she gasps. "Pizzas. All the pizzas. I have just the homemade dough recipe. And breads! Ohhh, this is going to be amazing," she says with a huge grin plastered on her face. All of the carbs. They are coming.

Seeing Paragon so happy is all that Allison wanted. "I wasn't sure if you were a barbecue grill type, but I figured you'll have -guests- who are." she offers. The tour will point out all of the details, and even give the option of gas and/or electric oven and stove. It's a system that can switch from one to the other, since Allison wasn't sure which Paragon -preferred-... as opposed to which she had available before.

Paragon is nothing short of ecstatic. "Of course I'm a grill type! I'm an all food type. Ohhh, the things I'm going to make for all of you," she says happily, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. She's glowing like a child on Christmas. "Ooo, set the stove and oven to gas, please," she informs the computer system.

Chen lifts one eyelid and gives a doggy smile as she hears Paragon enthusing.

That is pretty much the same way Allison reacts. If she had a tail, it would be wagging. She just stands back and watches while Julius pauses to allow for the reaction before moving on. "We have included a hazardous factory level first aid kit and supplies in the basement as well." he states. After all, that was -his- idea. "Since you are in a rather dangerous line of work, and not all repairs will be done on your mechanical systems."

Paragon glances over to Chen and grins. "And what treats would you like?" She makes sure not to touch anything just yet. Not until she get steam cleaning, anyway. But she looks...happy. Really happy. Perhaps for the first time since the whole Regent situation started. She also seems a bit emotionally overwhelmed.

Chen answers, "Pizza sounds good." Paragon lets out an appreciative whistle. She always did keep medical supplies on hand for herself and others. Especially since people had a tendency to get concussed or get hurt around her house or before arriving. Herself included. "That's perfect. It always helps to be prepared."

"Now just relax Paragon." Yeah, Allison has never really referred to her as 'Third', only as Paragon, for that is how she sees her sister, as the Paragon of what it means to be a hero (or heroine!) Ally just leans on the wall over there, and grins as she watches. "Bedrooms are really just bedrooms. I never really thought they needed a ton of extra decorating and such, but they should look the way they did before... Oh, I also sent you an email just now, with pictures of the place inside and out, so you can forward it to the Guardians so they know they have their house back the next time -they- might want to visit."

Relaxing and Paragon have often been strangers until recently, and even now it takes the word of a loved one to get her to actually try and relax. "Relax...right," she nods as if reminding herself after having already just been reminded. She takes a deep breath and lets it out, reining in her excitement. "The bedrooms are mostly guest bedrooms, so they just need the basics. As you said, no extra decorating needed." Even her own bedroom was rather spartan, and the walk-in closet hardly utilized due to her limited wardrobe. She had very few keepsakes, since most were photos stored on her internal drives.

"I'll have to forward that e-mail to the Guardians. I visited them just recently, after Ariel was finally stopped and Porter was out of the hospital. They weren't too upset with the loss of the house. But I did get a little scolded. It was a nice visit home for a few days," Paragon comments, before shooting a grin at Chen. "Pizza it is. I make a mean pizza. And that was before having a wood fire oven."

"Paragon... you -are- home." remarks Allison with a warm smile. It's amazing how a face made out of nanotech can convey such an earnest expression, but hey, this is -sis-, right? "Home is where you are loved. And where you -feel- comfortable. Trust me, here, you are loved." Chen stands and pads over, morphing as she does to hug Paragon, "Allison is right." she says simply.

There's a moment where Paragon just blinks at Allison's words. Her eyes glisten and the corners of her mouth quirk up in a smile. "I...I am home. And I feel loved." She wraps her arms around Chen in a big sisterly hug. "Very loved...more than words can express," she says to both of them. "But what makes it feel like home is having family here." Her voice sounds a little strained from emotion.

"Okay, mushy stuff warning.. next thing we'll put on a chick flick, get out the ice cream, and bawl as we gorge and watch sad crap." offers Allison. "Personally, I'd rather have Pizza and watch stand up comedy."

Chen grins as she hugs Paragon, "That gets my vote too."

Paragon lets out a laugh. "Pizza and comedy or action flicks! Or a good sci fi...I never really understood those romance movies." She pauses. "Hm. Except the action romance ones. I think I understand those a little bit."

Paragon lets out an embarrassed sigh and seems to be considering something.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asks Allison as she heads for the fridge and opens it. There's a bunch of -generic- groceries and supplies in there... nothing for specialty pizza stuff. "Oh, tell Julius what you need, and we'll send the order to the store and I can dash out and pick it up."

Chen says, "Got a notepad and pen around here anywhere?"

Snorting, Ally mutters, "How twentieth of you..."

Chen chuckles, "Is that short for no, Allison?"

Paragon gives Chen another warm squeeze in the hug and gently releases her, taking a few steps back. She rubs the back of her head sheepishly. "Thoughts...yes. It's been a while since I've been able to just talk to you two without something happening. I feel like I've been keeping secrets from you, but I just really haven't found the time or figured out how to talk about some things..." she says with nervous embarrassment. She suddenly looks very shy. And then she gets distracted by groceries and glances at the fridge. "Hmm. Ciabatta bread. Shredded Parmesan. Fresh mozzarella. Basil Marinara. Pesto sauce. Pepperoni, sausage, proscuitto, pancetta," she starts to rattle off a list, then stops. "Well, there's a long list...I'll give the rest to Julius once I've fully compiled it.

Chen says, "And unless your Julius can transcribe to Chinese I still need a notepad and pen." She looks to Allison, "Have you tried composing text in Chinese on a PDA? Pen and paper is much easier."

Noting each item as it's stated, Julius makes a notepad, electronic of course, appear. Then he says, "Before we go further, allow me to introduce you to your computer." Another totally generic holo appears as it powers on. And in a far more bland voice, it says... "Greetings. I am your Home Automated Nanoaugmented Computer." And Ally raises a brow. "Well, I suppose you could just go with Hank."

Paragon nods thoughtfully. "Maybe Hank for now?" she seems agreeable to it. "Maybe over time it will want a name of its own," she grins.

Chen takes the stylus and writes in Chinese on the notepad's touch screen. "If you're dashing out to get ingredients, Allison, can you pick these up in the market in Ming Street."

"I didn't install a full AI Paragon. It's just a VI at best." she remarks. She looks to Chen, takes the pad and turns it sideways, "I assume your uncle will know what this means?" she adds with a grin.

Chen says, "My grandfather. And yes. My handwriting isn't that bad."