Forsythe

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Spaceship
Skills: None used

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You're not telling me anything mom and James didn't already, Vis. All of you adults are rather sparse with information on how exactly am I supposed to do that, though. Last I tried a short while ago, I told her my primary reason for existing and how it affects what I do, and she ended up taking it as an insult. Somehow I don't think that's a good friendship prospect...

Vicky replied to Vision, keeping to herself the And I couldn't care less about my social standing with these guys, they are all just potential work if they ever lose their shit. part. Sometimes she felt like she would get better answers from r/AskReddit than from her elders.

Alas, one way to improve her number of friends, which right now included the sum of Tom and Mai, was presenting itself. After all, where should an introverted engineering nerd start looking for friends if not among extroverted engineering nerds? That's right, Tori. Baby steps! She smiled at the Starfleet Leia: "Oh, for sure! I actually sent you guys an application yesterday, although if you were organizing all this-" she pointed to the space hunk, "-It's no wonder I didn't get a reply. I'd be happy to show up, and I got my own place in the basement if you ever need more workspace! Oh, I'm Victoria." she briefly wondered if she should salute, make a V hand or something, before settling on offering a handshake.

Leah then walked by and asked to join herself, which Victoria loathed to admit surprised her a little - She had Leah pegged as a Jock type that spent all her time in the gym. She would have to update her notes in the evening, today was eye opening on many levels. "Oh, hi there. How'd whatever you went to do with Andy after the sword fight go?" she inquired off-hand to get more information.

Beast Wars?

Interested as well.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Spaceship
Skills: None used

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Judging by the mood around the group when he approached, the Junior Ultron was not the only one creeped out by the Vision. At least they didn't have to deal with nonverbal communication that made even the ChatGPT from the twenty twenties look like an ancient greek master of rhetorics. Ironic, really, that even Ultron proper behaved more human than the synthezoid. Courtesy dictated she answered though.

Greetings. I would not call them friends just yet. Some of them I have only met for a few minutes for the first time today. The others... I did not talk to them much the past two years. I'm still evaluating whose company I prefer. Other than that? Overall a good day. Roommate may be a bit of trouble though, with her powers. So far though she seems unaware, or unwilling to bring it up.

Teddy seemed... less than enthusiastic about the prospect of sparring. "S'Okay to say no, you know..." she muttered a bit sadly. It was fine really, although Victoria was a bit saddened at the thought, as hardly anyone else she was even remotely familiar with had the strength and constitution to go toe to toe with her suit. Her eye wondered to Leah. Yeah. Throwing a horse is fine, but I can throw a bus. Somethimes the fighting class is more like walking around in a city made of cardboard. And I won't be caught dead asking Cas to set something up for me, she'd try to make a date out of it I bet.

Everyone was saying something, making small talk (And taking offense?), none of it the least bit interesting to Victoria. To top it all off, the herd of people that she ditched at Agatha's seemed to make its way here. Why are these guys everywhere? They're like a disease... At least she is not among them. the van Dyne frowned, "I'll go check with the space people, make sure that they got my application... and that they aren't Skrulls... or something. See you later." she waved at the group, heading towards the star-trek themed group. She hoped she would not have to wear a silly costume, that was not part of the plan when she applied.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Spaceship
Skills: None used

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As the spaceship came closer into view, Victoria could feel herself growing restless, wanting to just jump on the construct and start tearing it apart, figuring out how it worked and then making it into something better, preferably armor-shaped. A task that did not seem all that difficult, considering that the ads were woefully boisterous - They were not showing a spaceship, they were showing half of one, with all of the damage.

Which was why it put such a damper on her mood when she noticed a certain someone standing next to it, looking all interested. Victoria was unsure what it was, but something about the synthezoid gave her the creeps. Something was just fundamentally wrong with the way Vision talked and acted that she had half a mind to flee, with 'kill it with fire' being a close second. She wondered if, if there were more of them, they would all cause such feelings in herself - if it was just Vision himself, or if it was their kind. And she was at her core an Ultron, like she is one to talk! And yet...

So of course, Diana called up to him. FML, Victoria managed to think, putting her attention on the once more growing group of people and trying to ignore the Synthezoid's presence to the best of her abilities. Diana helpfully supplied the name of her companion, which immediately flooded her system with VEIL threats again, however Victoria silenced them on the grounds that there was no reason for Zelda to use her powers at the moment. None of the other people gathering around seemed to be much of a VEIL problem, so she believed she could manage just fine.

As everyone and their grandmother engaged in greetings and introductions, Victoria chimed in: "Hello. Victoria van Dyne, pleasure to meet you all." she said towards the group in general, before addressing the senior, "Yeah, sorry about that, I spent most of my time studying or training. I've been told I need to get out more though, so... here I am. I'd love to spar sometime to benchmark my armor though!" she offered, trying to make small talk, failing miserably and inevitably falling back to the one thing she could talk about for ages.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Fortune telling > Spaceship
Skills: None used

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Vicky nearly hissed as Andy waved at her. So much for being stealthy. As she was not called out loud though, she just waved back and Homered into the crowd. As she was walking, her phone buzzed and she pulled it out to have a look. She did not particularly like social networks, but in her effort to gather intelligence, she was following most everyone who was attending the school.

One look at the feed, and she had to mimic a gag at seeing Sabine Fucking Bassard's generic words of 'wisdom' accompanied by a hashtag diarrhea. Who knew that an AI inhabiting a robot body could be made to want to vomit. Yet the Devil Herself managed. Can her sheep really not exist without seeing her mug every few hours? Or is it only she believing it so?

Mercifully her attention was shifted by a voice calling out her name, and she spotted Diana walking in the same direction, along with one of the new faces. "Oh, hi. Ups and downs, I have to say. Yourself? Heading for the spaceship?" she asked, not going to look a gifted opportunity to practice her social skills in the mouth.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Fortune telling > Spaceship
Skills: Having no presence

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As far as processing speeds went, Vicky's circuitry rivalled the greatest human minds and even Ultron himself. Yet still Mai, fuelled by what chemical analysis of the remaining odours revealed to be pot, was capable of jumping from conversation to conversation and from suggestions to actions through hyperspace. Victoria could not even react to her outburst about Agatha before she was already disappearing into the tent. "I'll... take that as a 'Fuck you, but let's do it'?" she noted, more for herself than for the group.

Warning: Concentration of VEIL threatening personnel in the area exceeding safety margin.

Speaking of the group, her eyes lingered on Bassard for a second. That made two of the highest threats to her secret were indeed here, and she wondered if she should just go see the spaceship now and come back to Agatha later. Zari seemed to latch back onto Andy, so she would not be leaving her alone. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Come back in the evening, help Agatha take down the tent- Is that a dragon egg?! Well, now she knew what jealousy felt like. The urge to ask about it was almost irresistible, but she figured there would be plenty of time to do that later, when there were less people around.

Conviniently, it seemed everyone was too distracted by the new faces to even notice she was there, so Victoria backed away in an attempt to quietly fade back into the crowd, hoping to perhaps find a smaller flock of people to engage with, although if she was to be honest with herself, she was starting to have just about enough of socializing for one day. It was OK to take baby steps, right?

Computer says no.

Oh fine, I'll go look at the bloomin' spaceship and try to chat someone else up. But I'm going for a flight afterwards! Alone!

Rolls

Disappear without notice: Failed

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Foam sword fighting > Fortune telling
Skills: None used

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Whatever King said has flown over Vicky, as by the time he reacted, she was already leaving in the direction of Agatha's. When Zari commented on her remark though, she pouted: "It's not that I don't want to join, although I don't. But I did not sign up to English language and rhetorics class because I approve of the misuse of the language in any of its' historical versions to look cool. If he wants to do an imitation, he would do well to put some effort into it. I don't get riled up about many things, but spoken language is already vague enough as it is without adding more confusion by using it badly."

Her phone than screamed "YOU'VE GOT MAAIIIIIIIIIL!" in the voice of Super Kami Guru from the Dragon Ball Z abridged parody twice in a row. "Allright, it looks like Andy and Leah are on their way over to-"

She failed to finish her sentence, as she was interrupted by one of the things in life she both dreaded and appreciated. Phan Le 'Chill' Mai was a walking contradiction, as far as Vicky's feelings towards her felt. Mai was, admittedly, the first person in the school that opened up to her, which genuinely helped her to come out of her shell. Without Mai, Victoria believed the endeavor might have failed altogether, and for that, she was grateful. On the other hand, to her socially awkward self, Mai was entirely too much to handle. Regular Mai could make Victoria shudder awkwardly, or be at a loss of words. This Mai was high as a kite. This was the kind of Mai that made Victoria want to flee.

Alas, it was not to be. As Mai reached out for her, Victoria thought it best to tank the glomp lest the Asian girl might fall if she tried to dodge. She stood there frozen awkwardly, before her system recovered and she gently patted the other girl on her back. "Hi, Mai. You should introduce yourself first before asking." she scolded lightheartily, stopping herself just short of using a tone of voice reserved for babies and little children. "We were heading to Agatha's, you want to come with?" she offered, trying to ignore the screaming of the olfactory sensors in her nanite shell.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Foam sword fighting
Skills: None used

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Victoria prided herself on not giving up easily. She was a machine, and while not free of the faults of humans on purpose, she could ignore them a lot better than they did. But this girl either did not know that she was a machine, or she was denser than the core of a black hole star, as no matter what she did, she could not provoke a reaction to the topic. And if she was honest with herself, it was kind of annoying!

However, that annoyance paled in comparison with that poor theatre troupe reject. Where Meghan's power failed to have any effect on her, King's verbal vomit was succeeding beyond reason in making her angry. When Zari also proclaimed no interest in joining the group, Vicky snorted and in a rare moment of savagery, picked some particularly saucy lines form the classic to paraphrase: "I wonder that thou will still be talking, nobody marks you, thou sodden-witted lord! Hast thou no more brain than I have in mine elbow? I do desire that we may be better as strangers, forsooth."

Turning away form the clown, she addressed Zari: "Sure, let's go to the fortune teller's. I need to say goodbye to Mrs. Harkness before she leaves. I'll let them know to meet us there. There is also a spaceship on display, I want to hit that before the day's over." she said, pulling out her phone.

From: Viking Vicky
To: What's with Andy?; Earthbender
Subject: Done with swords
Hi. Zari's done humiliating me in the ring, so we're heading to Agatha's. Holler if you want to meet someplace else!

Hitting the send button, she pocketed the phone and started walking, pointing at a tent in the distance: "That-a-way."

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Foam sword fighting
Skills: None used

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Victoria was happy the situation seemed to defuse, even if the matter of perspective remained unresolved. She supposed it was good enough that Zari knew not to pull any punches in an actual fight, and that she could humor her roommate with doing things her way this once, in the name of making an acquaintance. "Yeah, no kidding. I finally got into a flight oriented class this year. I mean I guess it's good to first get us to learn to fight on our feet before teaching us to go airborne, but it feels like throwing away a massive advantage. I wonder who'll end up teaching the class? I hope it's not Phony Stark." Vicky frowned.

She also remembered she instigated this spar for another reason... initially. Time to see if she could get the truth out of this woman. "So, I see Mr. Eyeball, and did I also hear about Mr. Jaws? No space for robo-girls on your crew?" she asked, wondering how blunt was too blunt, although her logic circuits were not throwing out any VEIL warnings just yet. Come oooon, I can't actually ask you if you know I am a robot, help me out here! Said circuits also reminded her of an earlier note she made though: "Oh, if you need tools and a bench to finish the other guy, I have an entire workshop here. I'll show you later!"

That all said, as far as the fight went, she was fighting herself more than her opponent at the moment. Zari landed another blow on her seemingly effortlessly, while Vicky felt like she was moving through molten glass, her reactions slowed down due to inexperience. "I did not think holding back was going to be this hard. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to exploit every opening. Having to think about an action rather than just doing it by feeling stinks, it's like being in freshman year again." she shook her head, as if the motion could help clear her head or deactivate the mannerisms she learned in combat class for, well, all her life up until now. Still, the change in approach seemed to work somewhat - Zari only reached her arms this time, not her body. Theory is good, improve the execution... as much as you can in ten minutes. This time, she tried to fake an downwards diagonal slash from her left, only to change it to an upwards strike at the last moment.

Avengers Academy: Junior Year 💥

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Shieldmaiden

Victoria van Dyne

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Location: Foam sword fighting
Skills: None used

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There was the urge to roll eyes again, although for the sake of electronics everywhere and not pouring more gas on the fire, Victoria remained stone faced. Which one of us is misunderstanding things again? I do recall saying fencing or what have you. It doesn't matter what the rules are, there being any rules is the problem. Well, let's not agree to disagree, I guess. Let's ignore the fact that someone like Teddy would shatter steel blades and bend these ones into knots with one blow even if he followed tHe RulEs. It's never going to be fair, no matter what you do.

Done with that conversation topic, she decided to humor the asgardian and remounted her blade. That faced her with another problem though. She had no idea how to fight like this. Alright, Tori, pause. Take inventory. Analyze. Improve.
Replaying previous rounds…
Analyzing patterns and trends…
Simulating responses…
Tactical recommendations:
- Use of off-line footwork to obtain a favorable angle of attack
- Avoidance of movement directly toward the opponent
- Extension of the sword arm in a straight line from the shoulder to obtain maximum reach

Analysis time: 0.367 seconds
It wasn't much, but her instructions prevented her from doing much more than that. Not that analyzing a few hours of fencing footage would do her that much good without actual practice.

"Have at thee. Also, flying horse? That I can't wait to see! Sometimes it feels like i'm the only flier here." She smiled, while adjusting her posture. She turned herself profile towards Zari again, only this time with her sword hand forward at maximum extension, intending to move to Zari's right side, block her action while doing so and then attack with a thrust from the side or back.