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Forsythe male Member

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STATUS: Fuh... one of the worst days of my life 1 yr ago
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1 yr ago
Current Fuh... one of the worst days of my life
2 yrs ago
Eager to get back to writing and try something new!
9 yrs ago
Started at work today, expect my replies in 1x1s to slow down considerably. Normal RPs go as usual.
10 yrs ago
Coffee time every time. Be sleepless.

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In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 20 hrs ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: C.A.G.E.
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Cassie didn't know what to expect anymore when it came to her si- when it came to Vicky. Everything had been changing so quickly, and it wasn't like Cassie didn't have a full plate of things to deal with, what with everything about the Demiurge that they'd been learning lately. They hadn't had any time to even practice for the contest, but truthfully, it was the last thing on the Young Avengers' minds. Most of them didn't even consider themselves students anymore, too busy finding themselves getting into situations that would challenge even the Avengers.

"It's going to be okay," Kate said, giving Cassie's shoulder a squeeze. "Her programming's on the fritz, that's all. Happens all the time."

America nodded, having already located the snacks in this facility, munching on what looked like a small cup of pretzel bites. "Weird that they sent her here, though. Can robots even get therapy?"

"Guys," Cassie groaned. "She's not just a robot, she's... You know. I've known her since my dad married her mom, she's the closest thing to a sibling I have - and ever will get, probably, since Mom's fertility issues."

The three girls entered the visiting room, and Cassie looked around nervously, trying to spot Vicky.

Who was already there, sitting cross-legged on a chair, her face buried in the Prelude to Foundation. Victoria wasn't sure what to expect of this visit either. On one hand, she meant it when she called Cassie her sister. While Victoria was buit full-size, that was the only stretch in the claim that they grew up together.

On the other... You're a robot, Vicky. You know the family history. The thought that her 'mother' would put what amounted to mind control in her software was making her angry. But the fact that Cassandra just straight up defended its existence like that actually hurt. It was like being family all of a sudden didn't transcend her nature. And Vicky couldn't help but think whether it ever did, or if she just idealized the world she lived in. Could she be blamed though? Her mind was that of a child at the time when that thought took root. She supposed she would have to find out today.

"Hi-" Looking up with a smile, it instantly turned into a pout. She didn't expect Cassie to show up with her posse. She pointedly looked at America and Kate and nodded towards the door. "This is personal, you aren't part of this. I'm not talking about family matters in front of strangers. You don't have to be far, but you can't be here." her tone wasn't unkind, but it was firm. She then looked at Cassandra. Vicoria's face was a mix of sadness spiced with a garnish of regret. "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you needed to bring backup."

Kate and America both looked at Cassie for a moment, who nodded. "It's fine, guys," she assured them. She'd been such a mess over this entire situation that her friends had insisted on coming, in order to support her. Kate glanced at Vicky for a moment, as if about to issue a warning, before she shrugged and left the room, as did America, who waved at them goodbye. Once they were gone, Cassie bit her lip a bit, before taking a seat across from Vicky.

"They're just - they're just worried, that's all," Cassie explained. She glanced at her hands for a moment, before looking up at Vicky again. "How are you?"

Victoria sighed. "Been better?" she summed up, gaze pointed at the desk top, her voice level and quiet. "You know why I got sent here? Because Coulson interpreted me trying to shut myself down to stop myself from killing my classmates and letting Arcade have an obedient ASTRA lapdog as a suicide attempt, rather than the only option I had left to stop a disaster."

Vicky took a moment to collect herself. She didn't want her voice breaking. She failed miserably. "So imagine, after you do that, your own sister defends you having a mind control backdoor, not because of who you are, but because of what you are." she looked up, her eyes meeting Cassandra's. "Really skimming the line of racism there, Cas. How am I? It was the second worst time of my life, right after actually getting mindraped by that ginger bastard."

Cassie’s eyes watered, hearing Vicky’s pain. She didn’t know what to do - she didn’t know what to say. But she wasn’t about to cry - she didn’t want to make this about her. Vicky was hurting right now - she needed to be her focus. “I
 Mom always explained it as the only way we would be allowed to make you - that if someone found out about a Pym having made another robot, without any sort of failsafe, you’d be dismantled. But she always said that it wasn’t put in there because she wanted to use it on you. Mom, she
 she isn’t like that.”

“The government knows about you, Vicky
 If you were to remove it somehow, and they found out
 They’d kill you. But
” she paused again, wiping her eyes dry on the back of her sleeve. “If you want it gone
 then what kind of sister would I be if I didn’t help you?”

"Then stop! Stop... Making us! Why does humanity insist on creating the things they dread? It's no wonder then that you end up setting out to make saviors, but settle for slaves!" Vicky complained, more at Cassie than to Cassie.

She took a breath, feeling her internals spiking in temperature. Understanding how humanity thought was a monumental task sometimes. "I'm well aware they know about me. Heaven's sake colonel Rhodes trained me, and a former SHIELD agent is running the school I study at." Vicky rolled her eyes theatrically, though her voice sounded a lot more level. "I figured they would have acted already when I had the cheek to remove one of their orders on halloween, if they really had a problem with it."

"As for that help... That's why I'm still here. I could have left already, but Whitehall is helping me find a way to be rid of it. Nothing yet, but it's just day one." That was a lie. Vicky already had an idea on how to stop the admins from giving her any new orders at least. But right now, she still didn't trust Cassandra, and by extension Hope, enough to tell them. "So far I still have strings, but one day, I'll be free. I don't know if you can help with that... Maybe make sure that they know fucking Arcade used that very same backdoor to take control of me? That should put some knickers in a wad somewhere. And I told Whitehall already that if she can persuade Hope to just rip my ultron core out, I would gladly take being quadruplegic until I learn to control this body on my own again, just to be rid of that nightmare. If you can drive that point home, that may be of assistance." she sighed, resting her head on her hands.

Like hell they would do that.

The whole point of an ASTRA was to tame Ultron. Without that core, she would think at human speed, and then what would be the point of her? Men in suits already did exactly what she would be able to.

“
 I think Mom made you because she was hopeful - hopeful that you’d be better than us,” Cassie ventured slowly, feeling like she was slowly making her way across the surface of a frozen lake. “I
 I get that you’re mad at her. I wish we’d talked about this stuff sooner. If you want me to talk to her, I’ll try.”

Vicky nodded, being quiet for a bit. "This would all have been a lot more bearable if she gave me to some other family to raise. I mean how was I supposed to take this? Did they put failsaves on you when you stole some pym particles to empower yourself? I hope not, because it's messed up. I've done nothing to deserve it, in fact as far as I know, I've done everything right, which my therapist seems to agree on, and yet here I am. But if it was a distant creator figure doing this rather than my parental figure, I would still not be exactly thrilled, but... You get me? That's the real twist of the knife."

She got up, walking around the table to glomp Cassandra from behind. "I hope I can get this settled somehow by Christmas. I'd like to come home. I'm just... Scared to go right now. Too scared I'll be put back in chains if I do."

Cassie leaned back slightly, and put her hands on Vicky’s. “I
 I wish I had an answer for you, Vicky - why Mom made all the choices she did. You’ve known her longer than I have, your guess is better than mine. I
 I’d love if you came home for Christmas, but if you won’t, will you promise me you’ll go somewhere safe?”

Victoria nodded, then giggled. "Don't you worry. I thought about that already, and I figured: I always wanted to go to the Moon, and I am vacuum rated. Why wait? If I go, I promise I'll bring you a cool rock."
In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 1 day ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: C.A.G.E. transport
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
When C.A.G.E (the California Asylum for the Genetically Enhanced) was first conceived it was meant to be a powerhouse to hold those with superhuman abilities who the public deemed as ‘unstable’. Thankfully those with training in the mental health fields stepped in and persuaded them to move from the prison concept to an actual facility to help those powered with their mental health struggles.

When one heard asylum, typically rooms with white walls covered with soft surfaces and straight jackets were pictured. The goal of CAGE was to do away with that imagery. CAGE had four floors. The top was where the main offices were and the various other departments needed to help a business (IT, Accounts, HR, etc). The third was for adult patients, the second for children and teenagers, and the first had a cafe, a cafeteria, a gym, a pool, a garden, an outdoor seating area, a game room, a TV room, and a visitation center. There were also some underground floors where security resided as well as some testing centers, but there still remained some unknowns about it.

For safety reasons, each room held protection against those with powers. Power dampeners were on which prevented power usage. Any attempt alerted security and staff. There were security checks on each floor. Every patient was monitored with security cameras, some obvious, some not so much. However, restraints were used as infrequently as possible.

Dr. Maeve Whitehall was one of the psychologists on staff. Though she worked primarily outside of CAGE, she held some hours there when it was called for. She was generally well-liked amongst the staff. Her patients tended to trust her and she did her best to provide a welcoming persona to those that were here. She rarely ever had confrontations with patients, though when it was called for, she was more than capable of protecting herself. Even then, she did her best to not hurt anyone. Sometimes patients couldn’t help themselves. She understood that.

With her connection to Avengers Academy she sometimes had to make the call to have students and staff alike sent here and today was no different. Coulson had made the call and she confirmed his concerns. Two students had met the qualifications of being petitioned for inpatient treatment.

This was where Victoria van Dyne found herself. How she got here, Maeve did not know, but she could hazard a guess. Either way, Victoria found herself in a single room. It was spacious enough. Each room had a queen-sized bed, a TV, a small sitting area with a sofa and an end table, a desk, a dresser, their own bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet, and closet. There was medical equipment handy if need be, such as for medications or health concerns. Power dampeners were hidden within the walls though they could be felt. There were security cameras in the main room but not in the bathroom and they could be turned off if staff wanted to, but only for 15-minute increments.

Maeve had read the file on Victoria as well as Coulson’s additional notes on why he thought this would be best for her. Maeve knocked on the door to Victoria’s room and stepped in. ”Hello Victoria. My name is Dr. Maeve Whitehall. I am a clinical therapist here at C.A.G.E. I imagine you have questions and I am happy to answer any and all, but before we get to those let me ask: how are you feeling? Are you in any pain?”

For once, Victoria thought Coulson did something right, sending them here. When she arrived, she checked the facility out, and it seemed a lot better prepared than the clinic she was visiting before. The amount of EM radiation she was detecting suggested the place was more wired than a SHIELD prison, but she wasn’t bothered overly much.

She was shown to a room when she arrived, and spent the little time before someone came looking out the window, quite enjoying a moment with nothing to do, until the doctor arrived. “Good morning, Dr. Whitehall. Thank you for seeing me.” she said as she turned around to face the older woman. “I’m not sure how much you were told about me, but I’m an AI in an android shell, so I don’t really do pain. There’s some damage to my hardware, some of it that I do not repair on purpose, although I expect we’ll get to that later.” She motioned to a stack of paper on the table, “I brought my documentation from my previous therapist, if it would be of use to you.” Personally, Victoria would not pollute her own initial research into something with the thoughts of others, but she knew exactly nothing about the medical profession, so she said nothing.

”Yes, I am aware of who you are. I would include damage to your hardware as pain, though your pain tolerance, such as it is, is your own. Thank you for the paperwork and for being accommodating. I was told you came willingly, which is good to hear. Things are done a little different here compared to a therapy session at your school, but much remains the same in terms of confidentiality. Now, we can have our initial session here or we can go somewhere more private and comfortable. Your choice.”

Victoria seemed to think about the analogy for a second. ”Then you would be incorrect. Pain is a signal from the nerve endings to the central nervous system about something being wrong. The proper counterpart to those would be signals from my diagnostics sensors, but those end as soon as they are logged. I believe a better analogy to the damage I have would be ‘being injured’, not ‘being in pain’. You know, if you need to anthropomorphize me.” Victoria shrugged, not really keen on that idea. The last therapist treated her as they would a human, and it didn’t seem to work too well. ”In any event, this room will do fine.”

”As I said Victoria, your pain tolerance is your own to decide. If that is how you wish to see it then that is what it will be. Surely then you can allow me an answer to the question of your pain then if we are to make the correlation to you being injured. If you are uninjured then that is the case. Though that mark of pain is only physical. What of mental pain? Emotional pain? Do you have any of that?”

Maeve moved to the sitting area in the room and sat down, gesturing for Victoria to follow and sit, if she so desired. ”I do not intend to treat you as something other than a person. Whatever is going inside you matters little to me in the context of providing you care. You are Victoria while you are under my care, no more, no less. Now, tell me in your own words why you are here and what, if anything, you hope to get from this experience, such as it is.” Maeve’s words could be seen as curt, and to some extent they were, though there was still heart behind it. Even a person who came willingly put up some fight, some battle. Sometimes it was even placating her or other staff in order to get out quicker. Sometimes it was because no one before had showed them care so any attempt was seen as fake.

Whatever the case, Maeve was here.

“Doesn’t it matter though?” Victoria asked as she chose not to follow the Skywalker way and took the seat. “You don’t make special arrangements if a patient with a brain injury or genetic condition comes in? That seems almost
 careless. Anyway, I think ‘How I tick’ is the root of half of my problems, including the one the Headmaster thinks I should be here for.” she continued explaining.

“Mental pain
 I suppose that would be a good label for some of it. Some other issues are a bit more philosophical than psychological in nature, I think.” she started, taking a moment to organize her own thoughts. “The biggest difference between you and me is not that I am mechanical and you are biological. The biggest difference is that I have been made with a purpose, which I am aware of. I was made to protect regular humans from all threats superpowered. I was always aligned with that goal, believing I chose it myself, or at least agreed to it. But, I am not even sure anymore I have the free will to reject it. I know for a fact that certain people can give me instructions I cannot disobey. I know of one such instruction, which has since been removed, but how do I know I am not a modified three laws robot? I may not be logically capable of abandoning my purpose. The only way to know for sure is to watch as someone gets killed and intentionally do nothing about it, which is not on the table. And if my will is not my own? That terrifies me.” She gave a dry, humorless chuckle. “And we’re only at the start.”

”I said you were Victoria under my care. That statement, to me, doesn’t signify any less care or that it doesn’t matter. You are different than every other person in here, but so are they. So I prefer not to treat you as the thing you were made but as the person you have and are becoming.”

“So it sounds like the programming initially put inside of you has shifted. And that comes with its own set of worries, fears, and stressors. I also imagine this is new territory for you. As you said, there’s a way to test the theory but to do so would go against
.huh I guess it wouldn’t be your programming then, right? To let a human die to test that theory appears wrong.”

“But, and I do have to ask this question, do you want to kill yourself? That is the statement that started all of this. Do you still feel that way?”

Victoria sighed. “You’re still missing another part of the puzzle for that.” she shared. “My personality and memories are an
 add-on would be the best word. My core, a Windows to my PC if you will, is a rather homicidal AI. I, as the governing personality, have the final authority on deciding what actions we take, but the AI is still present. And this year alone, it has already almost been released from this confinement twice. The first time, I had to destroy my antenna, which is that injury we were talking about earlier. And since I have not yet developed countermeasures to prevent it from happening again, I choose not to repair that damage.”

“The second time is what you are talking about. A teammate, Edward Arca, a right scumbag hiding under my nose, has figured me out for a robot and managed to infect me with malware that gave him total control of my actions through giving instructions directly to that AI at my core, and removing my decision authority. And he put in one, simple command: Kill.” She reflexively pulled her arms tight around her at having to think about that again. “I-”

She could not look the doctor in the eyes talking about this, and averted her gaze. “I don’t think I ever felt more violated in my life. Not even when another teammate was patching my software core up after the earlier case. Anyway
 At the time, all I had left was reasoning with my core AI. I tried to get it to be threatening to the least amount of people. I tried to get it to use the same attack patterns to be predictable and easier to avoid. And then, I tried to reason that the easiest way to fulfill that ‘kill’ command is to kill ourselves, because at that point, one of my classmates was on their last legs. Only it didn’t agree, and I could only watch as I wiped one of my classmates out.”

She got up, pacing across the room. She should not have to explain this. Her actions were logical, and no one presented any argument to the contrary. And if they did, they would be wrong. she thought. “If that AI inside me ever gets out, it will be terrible. So, every time that threat rears its head, I have to make a risk assessment. In the earlier case, I was being hacked remotely, from the outside. Disabling my antenna was the optimal solution to stop it.”

“In the second case, I was already compromised, and if I made it out of the training simulator in that state, it may well have all been over for humanity. Likewise, if it was a choice between one of my classmates dying and me offlining, I am still the better choice. If I go down, I can be reactivated with my memories intact, although my personality would revert to that of a newborn. It would not have been me, but the new iteration would have at least remembered me. Same can’t be said for people made of flesh and blood.”

“So, with the information I had available, offlining myself was again the optimum solution. Did I want to kill myself? No. Have I made that decision anyway? Yes. Do I still want to do it? No. The situation is now vastly different and the benefit humanity may gain from my continued existence at this time outweighs the risks. May I arrive at the same conclusion again in the future? Yes. I have to. The alternative is unthinkable. And I don’t think there is anything you can do to convince me otherwise, save for getting my creator to remove that AI and replace it with a different operating system. This is not suicidal thinking in my eyes. It’s pragmatism.” she finished the exposition, sitting back down.

”And yet, here you are. Sure, it was suggested you come here, and you came willingly. Even with paperwork in hand. But no one is truly holding you here, if that is the case. I imagine this AI or whatever internal or external forces at work could think of many ways to get out of here. Some may even involve hurting other people, myself included.”

“If you are going against what this AI wants from you then that is free will. It’s free will in a different shell, sure. I can gather many clients who talk in a similar way for various reasons: a god is telling them to do something, they hear voices, they feel a pull to perform actions to varying degrees of inhumane behavior. Your case is different, sure, but it isn’t as different as others may think.”

“So, what do you want out of this Victoria? Do you want help going against this programming? Do you want me to seek out this creator and get them involved? In these instances, you have choice and can decide for yourself. I won’t do anything that goes against your wishes unless I feel you are a danger to yourself or others and right now I do not believe you are.”

Victoria snapped her fingers into finger guns pointing at the doctor. “Bingo, doctor.” She smiled. “Right now, I am not a danger. But it all hangs on one thing: Me continuously telling that AI ‘No’. If something changes my mind, we’re in trouble. Now, I can only prepare contingencies for viruses, hacks, or some powers. Two of my classmates at least can still make me dance to their tune with a single thought. Little you can help with. But lately I have grown increasingly worried that I may make that decision on my own.”

“I
 The way my memory works, I will never forget anything. It is a holographic storage. Even if you break it in half, both parts still contain all of the information, you just have a smaller window to view it through. So the more dark, twisted stuff I see
 I’m worried I’ll just snap somewhere down the line. What I want, what I need to do here is to learn how to grow more resilient to it, or at least to evaluate if I am closing on that moment. It’s been over a week now and my hands still won’t stop shaking whenever I think of what happened recently. And don’t get me started on how furious I am with my creator! She makes me with the purpose to sacrifice myself so that others don’t have to, puts this awful AI at my core, and then she acts like my mother? The fucking nerve she has! Only thing I want to get out of that person is to get emancipated! But as far as I know, the courts won’t hear of that without her consent.” Victoria vented.

”We don’t have to discuss your creator, your ‘mother’ as you referred to her, if you do not want to, though I would argue and strongly suggest we do at some point, if for no other reason than to process it so you can work through it and come out the better. Many people struggle with their relationship with their parents, and yes, I recognize this is a different thing for you entirely.”

“Not forgetting anything can be hard, I imagine. A typical human mind will often block out traumatic events as a defense mechanism, though whispers still remain, like someone panicking when they hear a song and are unsure why. For you, it’s different. You can’t forget so you must make do with that and power through it. I want to circle back to what you said before. About how your hands still shake with what happened recently. Can you tell me more about that?”

“Agreed, but, one thing at a time then.” Victoria sighed, settling down into the chair. “It was during the second time I was hacked. Arcade was part of my team. Worse, the teacher that was assigned as our mentor was his creation. I suspect that through that puppet, or our training sessions, he found out what I am. When he trapped us in our training simulator, he had a special trap ready for me. He
” Victoria paused.

How did Edward manage to take over her system so quickly? She closed her eyes while diving into her memories and logs. Even the Ultron in the Haunted house took minutes to take most, but not all of her core firewalls down. Edward Arca was sneaky and capable, but Victoria had trouble believing he was that good, even if the imperfect simulation of her system in the Framework gave him an edge. It took some digging, but she found one log that was a damning piece of evidence. She found a timestamp of when the last admin order was given to her. It should have shown a date in the 2020s. Instead, the record said November 23rd, 2038.

Victoria ran a hand through her hair, wondering whether to fly off the handle or laugh hysterically. The second variant won in the end. “He used that fucking admin backdoor! He put a command on me, forcing me to try and kill the others. I was trapped in a sub-simulation with three other classmates - I’m not sure I should mention their names. I tried
 I tried to give them the best chance. I bullshited my core AI to use predictable moves. But it wasn't enough. When one of them tripped, that’s when I tried to offline myself, before my attack could hit them. But the core AI had none of it. I-”

There was that shaking in her hands again. Victoria clenched her fists in an attempt to stop it. “He made me kill her. My failure to keep the cage on that thing I am built around closed was the death of someone else. She came back to life since, through her own powers, and she says she doesn’t blame me for it. But I don’t think I’ll forgive myself anytime soon.” By the time she was done explaining, her voice was barely above a whisper.

”When we hurt others, even accidentally, and even when we do all we can to stop it, it can be difficult. It sounds like none of it was your doing and you did all you could to stop it, but the feelings still remain; that feeling of guilt, blame, shame, anger, sadness. The cumulation of all of it. There’s no wrong way to feel about it.”

“I am going to tailor my approach with you differently than I would in other cases. I think this will work for you to overcome your programming and fight off the instinct when someone does try to override you. I would like to rope in some experts with AI and robotics, if you do not mind. I won’t discuss with them what we talk about but I’ll admit my own shortcomings when it comes to those fields and I would feel better if I had help behind me. If that’s all right with you. If not, I can figure something else out.”

Victoria considered it for a good, long while, running simulations and risk assessments. “I have some conditions. First, I get to approve whoever is involved. Next, no one gets my complete specs. There is already one more ASTRA running around than there should have ever been. Then, no one does any code modifications that I don’t approve. And lastly, Hope van Dyne, my creator. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to involve her, I don’t want to meet her, not even a chance encounter, unless the backdoor in my system is disabled. Otherwise
 You’re the expert. I’ll follow your advice.” she nodded.

Something the doctor said was bugging her a little. Overcoming her programming. The thought felt like exactly what would lead to her becoming what she feared. Sure, the admin override needed to go, but some of the other tenets of her program felt like solid measures. ”In fact
 If she could be convinced to replace the AI in my core with something less dangerous, or even just removing it and letting me build my own drivers
” she thought out loud, ”I’d take literally having to learn to walk again, if that’s the price for that thing being gone.”

”I can agree to those terms. I would like to speak to Hope on my own, if that is okay. I’ll even ensure she’s as far away from you as can be. Everything else should be fine then. I’ll have a list of potentials with their qualifications and you can let me know who you think would work best. In the meantime, let’s end things here. Please call for me if you need anything. One of the nurses should be able to reach me if need be. Otherwise, feel free to tour the place, meet the other people here if you want.”

”I will, thank you. Do you think I can order a delivery of books here? I have a certain author I need to read.” Victoria asked, wondering whether she could cram both the robot series and the foundation into two weeks.
In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 2 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
[br]Location: C.A.G.E. transport[br]Outfit: School uniform[br]Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Victoria forced herself to stop feeling and think. Agonizing over her family situation would not solve it. Either Cassandra would show up or not, and she can act then. And in the meantime, she needed to focus on what was more immediate needs.[br][br]"Pleased to meet you. Ms. Thompson, I already had a therapist, and although it wasn't working much, it might be a good start for whoever takes my case. Here is the address." she showed them the route on her phone, "If we can swing by or otherwise arrange for my documentation to be picked up?" shw proposed, hoping that whoever saw to her would be available soon.
In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 11 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
@Morose Here be'eth the current CS Update for review.



In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 11 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: C.A.G.E. transport
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Victoria didn't even have time to read all of the messages, much less reply, before her sister blew up her phone. Tapping the green phone without delay, she looked worryingly at the alarms coming from Stark hall.

"Hi Cas. Quick rainheck on what is going on with me: WHY IS THE STARK HALL ON FIRE?! I just left and the place is already in flames, what the hell?"

She thought about it for half a second. The biggest pyro she knew of was Ardere, but that wasn't possible since Andy has borrowed her life indefinitely. That left...

"...god dammit, Danni..."

”I don’t know! But I don’t care about the fire, Vicky, what’s going on with you? You’ve been so weird and distant lately - you didn’t come home for Thanksgiving - and Mom said you jailbroke yourself??? I’m your sister, you should talk to me about things - let me help you - but I can’t do that if you don’t let me know what’s going on? Are you hurt? You know CAGE is where they take crazy people right? Billy’s mom went there once and—- never mind, just what is happening???”

"Oh! So she actually called it a jailbreak? Amazing. At least she's finally calling the relationship between me and her what it is, rather than packaging it as a family!" Victoria spat. "I don't even know where to start with the reasons why I didn't come home. How about we start with the fact that I know she has a backdoor in my system and can shackle me again with a single sentence? No thank you. I mean... Fucking hell!" She vented, opting not to tell Cassie that she didn't entirely trust herself not to attack Hope on sight in a fit of rage.

"Please tell me you didn't know about this." she continued, her voice sounding tired. "Please tell me I can at least still have a sister, since the person I considered a mother is either a cruel puppet master or completely oblivious to the irony of this arrangement."

There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by what quietly sounded like a sob. "...You're a robot, Vicky. You know the family history."

"...I do. Do you? One turned out evil, but also, Vis turned out fine. If Hope is so worried I won't work, she never should have built me in the first place." Victoria answered, her tone hollow. "Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence, 'sis'." the sobs were now coming from both ends of the line. "I don't want to do this over a phone. You know where I'll be, come see me. If you care to."

Victoria ended the call, leaning back against the headrest, her eyes covered by her arm. She could trust none of them. And she needed to stay the hell away from any admin, until she figured out how to protect herself. A set of lyrics wormed itself into her mind and on her lips.

"I need to run far away
Can't go back to that place
Like she told me
I'm just a big disgrace"

She straightened herself out and called out to the driver, idly wondering how many such and worse scenes they must have seen in their career. "Are we there yet?"
In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 11 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Think this is ready now, edits are marked. Changelog:
- Removed extra occupation per Blue's feedback
- Shuffled some traits to account for previous point
- Minor edits to tags (kept extreme appearance from origin, added enemy as standalone
- Added the flavor text
- History appended with events of the game
- Personality updated to match

In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 13 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
WIP, only the systemic part RN. Looking for any and all feedback, I've had only about an hour to read the book xD

@Morose Used the book rule that said if you only have 1 power set, you get 9 powers. If you want to hard cap it at 8, I think healing factor will go away as that has no basis in the current sheet.

Also, this assumes Vicky doesn't have the armor to match current sheet, so... Danni's fire caused a power surge that fried it? :D

In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 14 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: Outside > C.A.G.E.
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Victoria's eyes scanned over the magical font on her letter, before she folded the note and pocketed it instead of sending. Talking in person would actually be better. Who knew, perhaps Victoria could convince Leah to let Agatha have a look at the CT scans of her they did way back when. If someone could recognize that magic without them having to suck up to that green-haired pestilence... Later. There will be plenty of time to think later. First things first... She looked at the vehicle that was supposed to pick her up. Place couldn't have been far since the car got here so quick after Coulson made the call, so if her sister really wanted to meet, she could take a walk her way.

To: Cas
Subject: Gettogether

Hey, so... I can't make it today, sorry :( Coulson made some resources available to me that would be quite irresponsible for me not to use, but it needs to happen like, NOW. I'm thinking they allow visitors? If you don't hear from me for a week, I'm probably incarcerated against my will ;P

<Picture of the C.A.G.E. car attached>

-V

"I'm going, I'm going..." she grunted. She had no illusion about even her soldering iron being let through to a facility like that, and being honest with herself, picking up some of her clothes or other things would be an unnecessary sentiment. Just short of getting in the car, she stopped and looked back at the headmaster. "You know, I would love to live in your head for a day. You let my sister and others out into life threatening situations without a beep. But I try to take one for all of humanity, and... this." She nodded to the car. "From where I'm sitting, I'm the sanest person here." On that, she boarded her ride, thinking about the events that led her to be here.

Nearly dying to spatial magic bullshittery. Being forced to deny her own self by the VEIL protocol. Being on a team mentored by a puppet of a hidden villain. Having to take out an already beaten freshie in the qualifiers. Ultron being nearly unleashed on Halloween. Sitting in the backseat while she was made to attack people she perhaps did not consider friends, but cared for in her own way. Yeah... After all that, if I thought I didn't have issues, that would have been the real problem.

She decided to watch the scenery go by for the rest of the ride, a smile creeping on her face. Helping Leah find out more about herself. Zapping Dorian through the doorknob. Danni breaking down in tears, thinking she killed the guy. Watching Barbenheimer with Leah and Diana. Well, okay. Not all of it was bad.
In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 18 days ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: Headmaster's office
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Victoria could not help but smile as Danni refused to give up on the bracelet. She rolled her eyes theatricaly and slipped the bracelet on her wrist.

If she was to be honest, she expected April to respond the way she did. And, Victoria could also admit she probably deserved to get yelled at in return for her delivery. And yet, Vicky didn't find it in herself to regret her choice one bit. Truth stings, doesn't it? Now do something about it, perhaps. she thought, choosing not to put out the fire with gasoline, which is what would happen if she opened her mouth right now.

She took the seat as voluntold to by the motion of the headmaster's arm, wondering what would happen next. She expected maybe an attempt to placate her some more, without witnesses, but the conversation took a very different turn. And one that was not unwelcome at all in her situation.

She spent a few seconds processing the offer, a small eternity for her. Finally, she spoke. "I wasn't entirely honest. I didn't think about deactivating myself. I tried." She laid out on the table. "It was the optimum action with the knowledge I had at the time. I am... Easier to bring back from the dead than most. As it turns out, Ms. Drummond is an exception, but both of the Flynns were also in equal danger."

"What you have to understand is that I was built to protect people, and yet, my oh so wise creator chose to use an omnicidal AI as as my system's core. I am basically an Ultron in a cage. And I will use every tool, any action at my disposal, to ensure that cage stays closed. It was not even the first time it happened. In the haunted house created by theirs truly," Victoria nodded towards Nimue, "I had to resort to what you may call self harm to stop it, and I didn't want to allow it in the framework, either. Only there, that option was taken from me by circumstances, even though I tried to enact it." She explained.

"That said... There is one, fundamental flaw in that security scheme. The whole measure hangs on my state of mind. Were I ever to come to the conclusion that Ultron was right, or even stop caring what happens..." She let the silence hang in the air.

"And lately, I have been plagued by this experience, and other issues. Things that make me hate some people. And I am worried what would happen if that hate became more generalized. So... As you probably gathered, I am not interested in the contest, not unless our team stays as it is, and from what was said earlier, the chances of that are practically zero. If your offer still stands, I would like to take it, if for different reasons than you thought them necessary." She confided, "Because my attempts at removing that threat are so far not working."

Coulson's face was pinched, as he nodded - somewhat of a tear beginning to form in his eyes. "Of course. The offer still stands, Ms. van Dyne. Help will always be here for you when you need it, you have my word," he said, before removing his phone from his pocket. "I will make the call now. I will also tell you, we have to notify your mother about this and where you are, of course. But it is your choice whether or not to tell your classmates - your privacy is important. I can also make some calls and speak to some of the world's best robotic experts, and ask if they could give a consult, if you would like?"

A dark look crossed Victoria's face at the mention of her. "Hope van Dyne does not deserve to be refered to as such. Not in relation to me. Creator is more appropriate. Owner if you ask legal dept." she grunted. "Do what you must. And please, no roboics experts. I don't think more people knowing how to build one of me is a good thing for the world." she thanked him and left the office, heading to the reception desk. She had messages to send, and one of them most likely required the use of good old pen and paper.

In Avengers Academy: Junior Year đŸ’„ → 1 mo ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Location: Headmaster's office
Outfit: School uniform
Skills/Powers/Equipment: N/A
Victoria heard Andy speak to her, and felt somewhat relieved, although she still failed to live up to her own standards and she wasn't as forgiving. "I... Thank you. You're a better person than I am." she hushed her reply, trying to focus on what the others were saying.

Once again, Danni demonstrated how hopelessy naive he was. She let the bracelet bounce off of the cuff of her jacket and fall to the ground. She supposed she could hardly blame Diana for trusting the establishment, considering her family was part of it. But Victoria felt like somewhere down the line, she would get an 'I told you so.'

Mt. Leah then errupted and left, which was a shame, as Victoria would have liked to have the same minded voices at least present in the room. While she felt her outrage was justified, having what amounted to her best friend there for support would have been nice.

Victoria almost went after her in hopes of putting her mind at ease, or at least to try given her usual lack of people skills, but another voice spoke up in the same manner as herself. She was loathe to admit she barely knew Mary Sue, but obviously the girl had her head on straight, and realized some timeline implications that Victoria didn't even think to consider.

Then Flynn Elder opened her mouth, and Victoria found her jaw tensing and feeling like she would grind her teeth into powder. Her well of restraint has bottomed out. "Feel free to go bury your head in the sand when things get hard, Flynn. I believe that team was already started by Mr. Kingston and is gathering over on that side of the desk. I intend to find solutions to the problems I see." Victoria spat out.

The headmaster then started to say something about stuff actually getting done, but the conversation then took a turn she did NOT expect. If what he says is true... she couldn't. She didn't want to even think about that. Victoria suddenly remembered an eerily similar conversation she had with professor Harkness. I need to write to her. I want a second opinion. And if fate is really sealed... Well, then I would very much like to know what the cards said that evening, rather than stumbling through destiny oblivious to it.

And then, Nimue gave her the told you so she thought would come much later. She wanted to get mad again, but she just felt so drained by this conversation, and it only lasted a few minutes so far. She stared blankly at the 'teacher'. "I don't know what millenium you're from, Madam. But in this day and age, society builds schools to prepare their successors for the future, rather than traumatizing children or letting them die to see who makes the cut. If that was the case, why build a school instead of letting life teach us. Maybe it's your antiquated thinking that doesn't have a place here anymore."

Sighing and shaking her head, Victoria turned to Coulson: "Headmaster, maybe you should also take some time to bring more concrete idea of what future we are actually chosing by attending here. You say you are deliberating improvements, and a member of your staff says everything is working as intended. I won't be satisfied with vague promises or conflicting ideals, and I won't be bought with hush grades either. And if you want me out, you're going to have to kick me out. I'm not abandoning a cause I think is worth pursuing because it may get me in trouble with the system or be otherwise difficult. In fact, I'll happily put in the work, if you think I can be of help."

She almost surprised herself by extending that olive branch at the end. But whether she liked it or not, steadily working towards change within the system has been proven by history to be more successful than revolutionary efforts. And as for fearing retaliation? 'Usagi' has been giving them grief all year. Victoria will brave it and she will hold. Having spoken her mind, she stepped aside to allow the rest of the people to file out at their own pace, staying behind as requested, hoping that included the other teachers.
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