Operation: Roll Out

[initiates]

Date & Time: January 31st - February 4th, Present Day Exsilium Time
Location: Neo Las Vegas, in what formerly was called Turkey.
Characters: All Transports!
Summary: Transports have been sent to Neo Las Vegas to gather information on the origin point of the United Earth and the UE AI. Conference sabotage and the rest is expected and invited!
Warnings: Gambling and alcoholic beverages quite likely! Please PM the mod account for anything else.

By day, the landscape isn't desert, precisely, so much as it is dry. Winter's settled in and found in the biting chill of the wind when it finds you standing on the street. Hovercars and taxis thrum down the cobblestone streets, cavorting and honking like a noisy crowd of inelegant, overweight geese. Men walk by on stilts half in make-up, on their way back to their stage for the next night. Walks of shame are taken proudly in this district, one of the few approved and sanctioned vacation zones in the United Earth.

Evidence of law enforcement can be found all around, but they seem altogether too pleased to be there too. Talk with any one of them about crime rates, and they're liable to laugh at the idea. Those who come to gamble know the house is rigged to win. It's not about making or breaking the bank -- people whose funds dip too low are politely escorted back to their rooms and given a set of normal playing cards -- but it is about enjoyment.

Of the flesh too, and it'd be difficult to find anyone working in Neo Las Vegas who suffers from modesty, or anyone visiting who seems unwilling to politely ask visitors and staff if they'd like to keep them company for the night. In fact, Transports may find themselves needing to turn down multiple such requests! The refusal is always taken well. These are people looking to have a good time, and that's all.

No chance taken, nothing gained, right?

At night, the city really comes alive, the lights in all the hotels and casinos turning the Neo Las Vegas Strip into a carnival of sensation. Drinks and recreational drugs are freely passed around, men and women engage in a variety of sexual and other hedonistic excesses without regret, and the beautiful interiors and ostentatious or playful exteriors of the buildings hide and reveal a rich tapestry of events, delectables, and desires waiting to be fulfilled.

Neo Las Vegas is a fun place, and it is a safe place, and it is Where the Conferences For Our Future Are Made. Playtime is on, gang.

Comments

[urbanmagic]

[It was hard not to, really.]

Tell me about it. It's funny, he's so good when it comes to handling bad guys, but horrible when all the attention is on him.

[controlledvariable]

Robin used to be like that, but he did get better at it as he got older.

[He also kind of turned into a jerk, but she can't imagine that happening with Jaime.]

[urbanmagic]

The one in the tower, right? Never talked to him much, but he seemed err... [Well, how do you describe Robin?]

[controlledvariable]

Creepy, controlling, like he has a permanent stick up his ass?

[Well.

She's not wrong.]

He used to be a sweet kid, he could even have fun, when I could talk him into a date. He just started taking the hero gig too seriously, after... everything.

[After she died, and his dad died, and his two best friends died.]

[urbanmagic]

I was going for the word serious. Didn't realize he was that bad. [Then again, this is also why she didn't join the Titans. Seriously they had issues, and it was weird to be in the same team as the guy she's dating.]

I only know him from rumors. I wasn't in the tower that much longer than you when we met. Things kind of went downhill really fast. [And she's never visited since.]

[controlledvariable]

He can be.

[It's kind of a problem, even if Steph can understand it, and she's glad that it seemed like he was starting to loosen up a little and learning to trust people again.]

Seems like that's kinda how the Titans are. I wish I could say things get better in the future, but...

[From what she's heard, they've gotten worse.]

[urbanmagic]

The hero life is a hard path to follow, especially when you've got a target on your back. [She's pretty sure all of them have a huge one, with the villains they meet.] I was surprised you didn't join them-- not saying you have issues, just that teen heroes all fighting for the greater good and all that.

[controlledvariable]

Not that I was ever really asked, but all that saving the world stuff wasn't for me. I wanted to focus on the smaller things, make it better for the people in my neighbohood, not run off to fight aliens.

[She can leave that to the people who are equipped to fight aliens.]

[urbanmagic]

Sounds like the plan I would've chosen in your position. Can't imagine being someone the world looks up to to save them. Figured Batman wouldn't have enjoyed the attention much either.

[controlledvariable]

He hates it, most of the Bats do. It's hard to do what we do if you've got the world looking over your shoulder.

[Most people forget that at the end of the day, they're detectives more than they're superheroes.]

[urbanmagic]

But what you do is admirable. [She points out, smiling.] Me? I like looking for new things. Hidden treasures, new spells, occasionally dealing with fiascos. I can't do the whole hero gig. I don't even enjoy sticking in one place at a time.

[controlledvariable]

Not everyone with powers is obligated to be a hero.

[blah blah blah great power and responsibility, but she doesn't think anyone owes the world anything.

as long as Traci isn't hurting anyone, she can do whatever the hell she likes.]

[urbanmagic]

Not my point. [She reaches up to tap lightly at Steph's forehead with a finger.] I'm just saying-- you guys do what you do for other's sake, and that's admirable.

[controlledvariable]

I was just saying, too.

[But she holds up her hands in a playful gesture of surrender. She just wanted to make sure Traci wasn't gonna be beating herself up over it.

Also, she's bad at accepting compliments.]

And we're just doing what we can, I don't think we deserve the admiration any more than a firefighter or an EMT does.

[And cops and soldiers, maybe, but she has a complicated relationship with both of those.]

[urbanmagic]

[Nah, she never will. She's content with her lifestyle.] Well, I guess. So, how's that exactly working out here again?

[controlledvariable]

[a shrug, as she sips her drink]

Not a lot of room for vigilantes, in war. I'm more of a soldier these days.

[And she's learning to be okay with that.]

[urbanmagic]

Gotta admit, I'm not quite sure I do well in that role, but we'll see.

[controlledvariable]

You don't have to try. [As much as a magician, and one as powerful as Traci, would be useful, Steph doesn't want any more soldiers. She's seen what it's done to Jaime.] There's plenty of us willing to fight this battle, you don't have to throw your lot in with us.

[urbanmagic]

Does that include Jaime? [She's suspected as much. If she were honest, she wouldn't want to participate in a war at all, but she's sure plenty of others in the same situation felt the same when they first got here.]

[controlledvariable]

Unfortunately.

[She wishes it didn't, but Jaime's got himself involved and it's hard to go back from that.]

[urbanmagic]

[That explains a lot.] Then, on a scale of one to ten, just how bad is the situation at hand?

[controlledvariable]

About fifty, on a good day.

[They're in a world that's falling apart, committing genocide to win a war that seems impossible.

It's pretty bad.]

[urbanmagic]

You're not exactly convincing me that staying put is a better option here. [Right. She figured.] Anyway, they probably expect some help, so might as well do what I can.

[controlledvariable]

If the "they" you're talking about is the Initiative, you don't have to worry about it. They're not really worried about us anymore.

[They're mostly concerned about not being wiped from the time line.]

[urbanmagic]

Aaaand why's that? [She only got here and she isn't even significant anymore.]