among her own kind

[she_sells_seashells]

Shell Bell finds Milliways once when she is eighteen. She has been there for two days now, setting up her sign ten minutes out of every waking hour, wiping down tables for her quarters in the staff area, eating buttery potatoes (she has been told that this is a complete nutrient package, for humans). Her wand is holding a bun of hair in place on the back of her head. Her shells are stashed safely in her room; she's budgeting carefully and she'll pay her tab when she leaves.

No one's talked to her due to the sign yet. They don't always. She sets it up anyway, like clockwork, so everyone gets the chance.

Comments

[pythbox]

"Holy shit," says Darcy. Without her quite meaning to, her right hand drops to the hammer. She deliberately unwraps her fingers from the handle and flattens them against her leg.

"Okay, so that is really shitty," she says, "but I think it might be a little above my pay grade. I mean, there's all these epic poems where the lone hero goes up against the army of whatever-the-fuck, but in reality the lone hero had an army of his own and half of them died. I hate to say this, but I might have to give you a rain check at least until I graduate from lady warrior school and maybe until I can bring some friends."

[she_sells_seashells]

"I'm currently planning to overthrow it in a guerrilla warfare slash terrorism campaign with two people who won their Games and whatever magical or technological trinkets we can beg, borrow, barter, or buy here."

[pythbox]

'Terrorism' makes her wince.

"Well, if something comes up that you could use a half-trained thunder-thrower for, and that... doesn't involve terrorism directly, because I'm pretty sure I'd lose my Mewtwo license... sign me up."

[she_sells_seashells]

"How much range and how much lightning are we talking about? And what counts as terrorism to Mewtwo?"

[pythbox]

"I haven't actually tested the range on the lightning yet," she says. "I'm gonna, though; my boss has her eye on a nice empty patch of desert. And, uh, when I asked Thor how much lightning I could summon if I had to, he said 'Enough'. Haven't proved him wrong so far."

[she_sells_seashells]

Bell takes it that Darcy doesn't know what counts as terrorism. "We don't have a plan yet, and unless your range is more than a couple blocks I think we may have a comparable item already acquired - different stuff, similar effect - but if I think of a place you'd be useful and I see you again, I will let you know. I don't like to sound like I'm begging, but I am: have you got anything on you other than the hammer that you'd part with that a group of Panem teenagers are likely to have trouble finding? We're selling advice on taking over the world, because my alts tend do to that and I seem to be heading that way myself, and also custom engineering projects from Tony." She doesn't mention the assassinations. Mewtwo probably wouldn't like assassinations.

[pythbox]

"Nuh-uh," she says regretfully. "The hammer's pretty much it as far as my fancy shit collection."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Might not be fancy to you. I have a little audio recorder that I think probably cost pennies where it came from. I'm not kidding about the economic equality. I mean, I have seen Tony Stark engineer things on TV, that's how he won, but it cannot hurt to give him things to take apart and figure out and soup up."

[pythbox]

...Darcy double-takes.

"Whoa, okay, back up. Stark? Tony Stark? Tony Stark is an ex-gladiator in your world?"

[she_sells_seashells]

"...Yes? Why, do you have an alt of him? He and his twin sister were consecutive winners, her first. What's his alt do? Does he ever come here?" Bell asks, leaning forward intently.

[pythbox]

"His alt is uh, kind of a massive dick? Also an only child, like, as far as I know. And kind of a superhero. Well, he made this big famous speech on national TV about how he's totally not a superhero at all, but he flies around in a robot suit defending the nation, so. Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, as far as I'm concerned. Which I'm pretty sure is where he was going with that, because the guy has an ego the size of Texas."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Oh. Mine seems very friendly, not at all dickish. He's about my age, though, how old's yours? And did yours build his own robot suit? Because if so, that does sound like an alt, not a name collision."

[pythbox]

"He's... I think in his thirties? Definitely built the suit, yeah."

[she_sells_seashells]

"I'll tell Sherlock to warn her brother to not become a dick in his thirties," says Bell. "You don't know if he comes here? Actually, how many 'superheroes', or technically-not-superheroes, do you have flying around saving people from things? Some of them have to have finished lady warrior school or the equivalent, yes?"

[pythbox]

"Um... Tony Stark's really the only superhero I'd say we've got," she says. "Unless you count me. But I don't count me. I only really heroed the one time."

[she_sells_seashells]

"Will you go anywhere if I go ask Sherlock how her brother takes to being interrupted while working and then, depending on her answer, bring him back to meet you, or return alone, or possibly bring Sherlock if you sound interesting to her?"

[pythbox]

'Sherlock' makes her blink, but hey, she's heard weirder.

"Nah, I'm sticking around for a while anyway," Darcy says agreeably.

[she_sells_seashells]

"Great! Back, accompanied or not, soon." And towards her sign she goes.

"Sherlock, met a lady with a magic space hammer that she cannot lend out and is not fully trained to use, but she knows an alt of Tony - in his thirties, only child - who has built himself a suit of armor and makes it his business to fly around saving people from things. How does Tony take to being interrupted while working?"

[sicaria]

"Tolerably well. Would you like me to fetch him?"

[she_sells_seashells]

"Yes please. Do you want to meet the magic space hammer lady, as well?"

[sicaria]

"Tempting," she acknowledges.

[she_sells_seashells]

"All right. I'll put the sign away in my room for now, then."

[sicaria]

"And I will find Tony," she says, getting up from the table.

[she_sells_seashells]

They relocate each other after sign has been put and Tony has been got. Bell leads the way to Darcy!

"Darcy, Tony and Sherlock Stark," she says, "Panem versions. Tony, Sherlock, this is Darcy, she of magic space hammer."

[sicaria]

Sherlock studies Darcy closely.