ArchivedLogs:Unique Marketable Talents

Unique Marketable Talents
Dramatis Personae Blink, Flicker, Heather, Paige, Theo
In Absentia	2017-09-10 "If you know how to game capitalism, though, I'm all ears."
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. The sunset Sunday crowd at Evolve lazily lingers, mutants and friends of mutants choosing to spend the evening casually lounging on the sofas. on the walk outside, and a young man in his early twenties approachesHe wears a pair of slacks and a blue silk shirt. Those who take note of shoes would notice that his are italian, and the storefront light bounces off them like a harvest moon. And harvest is what Theo has come to arrange. His right hand holds a cardboard shipping tube, and his left holds a nylon bag, almost 4 feet long, but only a few inches thick. By the looks of it, the one in his left is far heavier. He tries to open the door, but it looks like he is having trouble. He can't quite get his finger around the handle. On a seemingly unrelated note, there is also a rather fancy car parked on the street. A bright red Ferrari 458. That's not the sort of thing you frequently see around here. Heather's shoes are nothing fancy, a pair of sketchers which no longer have soles underneath them. Nor are the purple tights with orange spots on them particularly fancy, and the Hello Kitty faded pink sweater that she is wearing looks like it is something that was picked up at a thrift store. She holds up a finger to her companion, indicating that she will be right back, and zips up to the door. Her voice recorder plays, even as she opens the door with a careful, quick, jerky movement, "I will open this door for you. It is not because I think you cannot. Only because it looks inconvenient at this time." It seems the two mutants who arrive together had been in conversation before Heather zipped away. Crossing her arms across her chest, Paige lets out a sigh as her companion takes off at a brilliant pace, mumbling something about shoes beneath her breath. She, herself, does not wear any however given that her legs are supported by cloven hooves. This evening, the goat girl sports a gray pleated skirt and a white t-shirt with a fading design emblazoned onto it. Her ears flick up as Heather plays her recorder and she continues to make her way towards the duo at the door. Forget /doors/. There's a kind of ghostlike blur somewhere across the street, travelling in the direction of Evolve. Flicker ignores Door entirely when he actually arrives, materializing to settle down -- altogether more solid and un-blurry -- a short distance inside the cafe. He's dressed in dark cargo pants, boots, a grey t-shirt (a little sweat-damp) and a leather X-emblazoned jacket draped over one arm. "Oh man," his expression shifts from tired to EVEN MORE TIRED in nothing flat, shoulders slumping as he looks toward the counter. "They're out of basil lemonade. My life is /over/." He's kind of turning to say this to -- empty space? at his side? Like he expects it to respond. Catching sight of the others at the door in the process, though, his eyes open wider, brows hiking up and a quick smile returning to his scarred face. The empty space Flicker turns to spawns a spark of purple light, which rapidly expands into a swirling oval portal. The young woman who steps through it looks exhausted, her magenta-and-black hair unraveling from an elaborate fishtail braid. She wears a tailored black leather jacket with violet piping and a circled-X emblem at its belt, black tactical pants, and black combat boots with purple laces. "I think I will drink literally anything with sugar in it right now," it's not clear whether she's addressing the barista or Flicker, but she is taking out her wallet. "But let's start a large iced matcha latte. And whatever he wants." Her eyes follow Flicker's gaze at a slight delay. "Oh, hey!" She waves, spotting her neighbors. Theo starts slightly as Heather appears, but smiles all the same. "Oh, thanks very much," he says graciously, and then in turn holds the door with his foot for Paige to follow. His eyes glance at her horns for a moment, just as the natural movement to something unusual, but they return to her face almost immediately. "Here you go," he says, though it's clear that he's a little off balance as he pulls himself through the door with his load. He hasn't seen Flicker yet, but there is no mistaking that Theo looks like he normally would. Though... he looks a bit richer based on his clothes. Heather's gaze, though her eyes are obscured behind a pair of dark tinted goggles, follow Flicker when he blinks past the door. She steps on through the door once she realizes that Theo is keeping it open, giving an appreciative queak, and gives a quick glance over the patrons inside. She makes an 'o' shape with her mouth upon spotting a couple of her neighbours, and she gives a wide and rapid wave to them. "Hello!" She gestures a couple of times, waving towards herself, to indicate to Paige to hurry up a little. Apparently Paige was not expecting the door to be held as her eyes widen and she lunges forwards, unlacing her arms, to catch it. "Thank you," she replies to Theo as she pulls it open to allow him more comfortable passage before following him inside. Heather's gesture towards her entices her to let out another sigh. When she catches sight of Blink, and then Flicker, a grin forms on her face. "Oh! Hey! How's it going?" "Oh uh -- do you have that pomegranate spritzer thing still? Otherwise I'll have a root beer float." Flicker's bright smile remains; another short hop brings him closer to the others. "Devastated. But I'll survive, lemonade-less." Somehow. He does sound pretty longsuffering about it. "Hopefully your evening is better?" His chin lifts to Theo, one hand (claw, really; his segmented prosthetic arm is making no attempt whatsoever to look human -- tentacley in form, claw-tipped, currently painted black with intricate gold vinework patterned over it) raising to waive. "Dude. You got /fancy/." Lightly impressed. Blink thanks and pays Ravenna before following Flicker toward the others at a more leisurely/pained pace, rolling one shoulder and wincing slightly. "We just came from the march," she says, "no mass arrests today. Yet. Though not for lack of trying." She glances from Heather to Paige to Theo. "New friend?" Raising eyebrows at Flicker. "/Old/ friend?" Theo lets the door shut after him, and adjusts the items in his grip. When Flicker points at him, he looks surprised for a second, and then a sense of realization comes over his face. "Dawson?" he asks with astonishment, looking at the arm and the scars. "Hey, I didn't expect that I would see you here. Yeah, I guess I did a bit. Figured out how to make money. You look different as well." He indicates the arm. "Playing vigilante catch up to you?" He adjusts his stance as he realizes that Heather Paige have also joined this circle. He places the carboard tube end down on the ground, and reaches out to give Dawson a shake of his hand. "These friends of yours?" "Person who I encountered in a doorway," Heather answers Blink. "You were at the march? I am glad there were no mass arrests. And that you are okay. You seem sore though." She tilts her head slightly at the exchange between Flicker and Theo, reviewing her recordings for a brief moment. Paige purses her lips as though in deep thought, nodding solmenly in response to Flicker. "I am inspired by your resilience. It must be very difficult in these trying times." Quickly, the smile returns. "It's not bad! I got off work early tonight and Heather showed up at the shop, so it was all pretty good." Ears twitch back up at Blink's words. "Oh, that is good." Theo now receives a proper inspection, the horned mutant's eyes giving him a quick once-over. One ear stays erect while the other lowers idly, though she doesn't say anything. "Gracias." Flicker is just as solemn. "I appreciate your support, it means a lot." The solemnity vanishes into easy cheer again, strangely blithe as he extends his left hand -- turned kind of upside-down for a somewhat-awkward handshake. Still probably better than extending the Claw, at least. "It caught up to /part/ of me, anyway! The rest of me more or less got away. If you know how to game capitalism, though, I'm all ears. Med school is /not/ cheap." His cheeks have flushed slightly red through this, though, mostly at Theo's greeting. "And uh -- yeah, these are my friends. Neighbors. Friends. Heather, Paige, Blink." Indicating each in turn. "Theo and I were in school together." He's glancing past the other man. Almost hopeful. "Did Proto not survive the upgrade to Swank? I was hoping I'd see a /gilded/ bot rolling along behind you." Blink smiles at Theo. "Pleased to meet you! Are you newly.../back/ in the area?" She's looking at Theo's cardboard tube curiously, but glances back at the counter as Ravenna calls her name. "Our beverages are ready, anyway." She reaches through another portal, picks up the two cups from the counter, handing Flicker his. "Should we grab a table or something?" Theo grins. "Nah, he's in the car right now, I didn't think I'd be here for long. He has a brother now, too. I'll call them for you, I'm sure you'll love meeting Donnie, and Proto will be happy to see you."He looks over toward Paige as he continues to explain, and starts to speak louder as he ties into the conversation about the march. "It's good to meet you all. I heard about the march, and I'm glad to hear it went well." He continues the answer to Flicker. "So actually, I /have/ mastered capitalism. I'm mastering it for all of us, and that's why I'm here." He unzips the nylon bag, and pulls out a stand that is used for advertising. "The folks here at Evolve gave me the OK to set up an ad here. I'm holding a job fair next Friday. I have started a company that gets jobs for those of us with unique characteristics," he indicates toward Paige as he speaks, "Better pay, so that we can pursue our dreams, and can be well paied for it." He pops the end off of the cardboard tube, and with a singular motion, he removes and unfurls a poster designed to attach to the sign, tilting it toward Blink's curiosity first befor going to start affixing it to the stand. It talks about a job fair in Chimaera Arts Center next Friday, the company name: Effective Staffing. "I am newly back in the area. I graduated and went to MIT for a few years, started a company, and I'm bringing it back to New York," he says. "Feels like work is all I do these days." He certainly seems a bit more...cheerful than he used to be. Heather waves her hand quickly when Flicker says her name, and then she nods a few times rapidly. She plays on her recorder, "Yes. Finding a table would be ideal." She then tilts her head slightly at Theo and plays, "Mastered capitalism? That seems like a hard thing to master. I have been doing lots of task based work. For the time being. Because I am not very good at being in one place for long. But I am very good at doing many things. All at once. And I have a tutoring business. If you know the secrets to mastering it. I would like to know so that I could figure out how to have more stability." She shrugs a couple of times quickly, then pulls a notepad from her messenger bag, jotting something down on it. Paige nods appropriately at Flicker's introduction, attention caught by Theo's unveiling of the advert. Her ears twitch, the upright one now flopping down to join its twin, and her eyes light up. The furred mutant is too busy focusing on the display to notice Theo's gesture towards her. "I'm going to that," she dutifuly informs the rest of the party without invitation and perhaps with interruption. She takes a breath before turning towards the others. "I'm going to that," comes a repition. "But first I am getting something to eat. And /then/ I want to hear more about the march, if it pleases people." With a slight duck of the head, the goat girl heads towards the counter. "/Twin/ robots. Rad. I'd love to meet them." Flicker perks up when his drink arrives -- a shiver of motion later he is at a nearby table. Setting his drink down on it to claim their space. "You serious? I know /so/ many people who could use some cash. More cash. Better cash. New York City kind of cash." He's taking out a phone, snapping a quick picture of the job fair advertisement. "It looks like it's been working good for /you/. Not that I had much doubt you'd do fine after school." His smile after this is a little wry. "Taking a break is sometimes nice -- but work looks like it's suiting you. You like what you do?" "Robots! Is Spence around?" Blink is peering behind the counter and into the employee area. She makes her way to the table the old fashioned way, then sits down to sip her matcha contentedly. "Job fair! I might check that out. I get paid peanuts at one of my jobs and /decently/ at the other, I guess, but...well, it certainly won't cover tuition, if I finally do go back to school." She salutes Flicker with her drink. "But...'unique characteristics'?" "I hope you do," Theo encourages Paige. "I say mastered capitalism, but I should say that I'm still breaking it in," he gives a slightly smug grin. "I can say that I do like what I do. I used my powers to make quite a bit of money for myself doing full stack development as a contract worker. Made a good 7 figures at it, which let me start my real plan." Some of our talents should demand an incredible amount of money, if businesses realized the amount of time and capital it would save them. So my company finds companies who are willing to take the opportunities that we can afford them, and pairs them with those who have the marketable talents to match their needs. Have a skyscraper to build? Instead of renting a ten million dollar crane, why not hire a telekinetic at $250 an hour? It's safer, less paperwork, and faster than using the crane, not to mention you are going to save a good chunk of change. Need fast transport for a piece of equipment or merchandise? Why not get a speedster or a teleporter rather than ship it by plane?" The door opens again, and in hobbles two small robots. The first is shaped like and sized like a basketball, four segmented legs spidering around, and a snaking camera protrudes from the front. Those who were contemporaries of Theo could never forget Proto. He broke things, fixed things, got lost, got stuck in strange places in the mansion, and generally made Theo seem like less of an outcast. The second, following behind him, is new. It is a little bigger than his counterpart, and seems to be much less consisten in his shape. The legs are thicker, the camera snake is thicker, and it moves with a little more stability. They make a beeline for Theo and the others at the table, and Proto lets out an excited whir upon spotting Flicker. Heather leaves her recorder on the table (set to record), then brings her written note to Ravenna, along with the cash that would cover her order. She zips on back to pick up her recorder, and after a few moments she tilts her head, "I don't like transport work a lot. I would leave that to teleporters." She glances towards Blink. "I might be able to run across town faster than most things. But I still have to run across town. It's a lot of running. I like the whole of the idea though. I imagine it could help me get contract work. Keep a more stable income outside of tutoring. Which is a business that is slower in the summer." She makes a chirping sound when she sees the robots, eyebrows raising and she zips excitedly from vantage point to vantage point to get a closer look at the robots, though she is very careful not to touch. "Capitalism could do with some breaking." Flicker's head gives a small shake as he sips at his drink. "But until then I'm pretty sure there's plenty of people who'd be happy with --" His drink tips out toward Heather. "More stability. Been hard to find, lately." Eyes lighting, he flashes away from the table as the robots enter, dropping down to one knee beside Proto, his smile brighter and wider. "Long time!" His fist extends toward the robot like a fistbump. "And you got a friend and everything." He rocks back, one hand bracing against the floor. Tipping a look up to Blink. Then Theo. "Have you found a good number of companies willing to -- uh." His claw hand flicks toward the poster. "Go the mutant route? Honestly, trying to get a job since registering has occasionally been --" His cheeks puff out, breath expelled sharply. "'bout like you'd expect." "Cute!" Blink's eyes light at the sight of the robots. She looks back at Theo, studying him. "I'm sure insurance for this sort of thing has to be a nightmare. Anyway that what my boss /says/, at the job that /does/ know about my powers. They said they would pay me way more except..." She shrugs, pushing a lock of hair out of her face, and takes another sip of her matcha. "But anyway, if you can find companies that'll pay us more. Or even just more companies that will hire us, period? It'd be great for the community." Her expression sobers. "Things are hard, you know?" Theo nods as Heather gives her protest, and his eyes drop briefly to the recorder, "I can understand. There are many ways that varius talents could be applied. Forgive me, I was being generic in my examples." Proto returns the fistbump, and Donnie examines the exchange. Donnie doesn't attempt the fistbump with Flicker though. Instead, Donnie goes to Blink, raising one leg and its opposable digits, making a little fist, and examines it before looking up at her. "Why do all of my robots like other people better than me?" he asks with a smirk before answering Flicker's question. "German companies are more agreeable generally. They don't like drama, and they love efficiency. Most of my development projects were in the auto industry, which is a little bit of a crapshoot. I try to move with the higher level corporations rather than mom and pop shops, they don't want to get involved in the debate, so they tend to avoid saying no, which after the obvious benefits are presented to their project managers, they will /sometimes/ sign on. Oh, and I don't use the word mutant. Mutants are referred to as "People with unique marketable talent." He looks back at Heather and Blink. "Mutant has too much of a negative image. I am in a strange position when fighting for our rights. I have to play by all of the bogus rules that have been thrown in our way, and find ways to make them work for us." He gives an assent, steepling his index fingers against his lips. "Your boss is not wrong," Theo agrees. "There are a lot of insurance problems that come up with powers. Previously this has become a nightmare for any individual company which would want to take the path that I'm taking. That's where this is useful. Given the nature of staffing, there is a certain markup that goes with anyone I send to work at another location. I take the responsibility of the insurance. Your boss's company would normally need to hire an entire department, get a new insurance contract, the whole nine yards just to deal with it. I already have that, I just don't have work. Company's hire Effective Staffing," he indicates the poster. "The company pays Effective Staffing, Effective Staffing pays you. You work for my company, not for the company you work at. It saves them a lot of headache and trouble, and because it's what we do, it is a lot easier for us to navigate the process. My people are used to it. That's what they do." He glances around. "I never ordered anything," he observes aloud. "I am going to grab a coffee." He gets up promptly and goes to the counter. He names one of the African coffees, and patiently waits for the barista. Heather nods a couple of times when Blink says that things are hard. She puts her recorder down again around when Theo starts talking and zips off to grab her drink (a mocha in the largest size). She shuffles back over, though still pretty zippy about it, and finally takes a seat. When Theo finishes his explanation, she picks the recorder back up and holds it up to the side of her head for a little while, head tilted slightly. "I guess that makes sense, about all the insurance stuff. I would feel strange trying to distance myself from the word mutant. Because I am a mutant. And people only need to interact with me for a second or less to know that. They would know what 'talents' mean if they met me. But I guess that lots of companies do want to make distance. I don't know much about that kind of thing." "Do you pet them enough?" Flicker suggests this earnestly as he rises. "They seem like they deserve it." His brow furrows as Theo further explains. Slight at first, then deeper. "I -- yeah." He gestures with his drink toward Heather. "Am a mutant more than I'm. The product of my labor." A small wrinkle of nose. "But I guess it's just one of those things. Occasionally have to get used to playing along with -- all that if you want to get --" Now his eyes are drifting over Theo's clothes. Straightening, he shakes his head. Takes a gulp of his drink. "I gotta get back to work," kind of apologetic, "but it's good to see you back in town, man. I'll definitely pass along the job fair info to people I know." A quick nod, a quick smile, and he is blinking his way back toward -- the ceiling, actually. It's /an/ exit. Blink leans over and offers her fist to bump Donnie's...limb. "Well, you programmed, them, right?" she asks Theo's eyebrows raised. "So maybe that just means /you/ like other people better than you?" She listens to his explanation, though, frowning slightly but nodding, too. "I...I never used to be all that political, but now..." She gestures with her cup at Heather now. "I want people learn to accept us as we are. As mutants. As /people/, not things." She shakes her head. "I don't know. Language is important. But I'll call myself 'a person with a unique marketable talent' if it means paying the bills, right?" Finally finishing up her drink, she rises, opening a portal to put the cup in the bussing tray on the other side. "So yeah, I'll check out you fair! But hopefully also see you around, huh?" She steps clear of the table, waves, and hops through another (full-sized) portal, disappearing into a little slice of another street and another place. "I fear I have become a little mercenary, Dawson. I'm sorry, I don't meet up to Xavier's standard for mutant rights, but one thing I have learned, and it's not the only thing. The way you play the game when you are behind is not the same way you play when you are ahead. I'll drop by Xavier's soon, see how everyone is doing there. Take care, man, and thanks." He grins at Blink. "Yeah, I programmed them, but they are a learning AI, so I don't dictate their behavior. I don't control anyone's behavior. I'm not ashamed to be a mutant, but I think that if the mutant community wants respect, we need clout. To get clout, we have to get money. It's not right maybe, it's "the man", it can be a sell out." He takes a drink of his coffee, realizing that he's only really talking to Heather at this point, and he goes to drop into his seat again, a little less CEO, and a little more exhausted hard working man. He glances up at her. "Of course they know that they are hiring mutants, but if it makes it more palatable to someone who makes a decision, then it does. For the job fair, it means it's a little less likely to catch the attention of the FoH. Last thing we need is some spectacle that hits the news. I just want us to win, and if we gotta eat crow a little until we are the ones with the money, then I vote we eat crow for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One day it'll be steak, and hopefully we won't forget what crow tastes like, lest we become too proud." Heather nods a couple of times. "Good that they know they are hiring mutants. I've lost clients before because I have shown up as a mutant. And I can't afford to go through the time of my business without something coming of it." She tilts back her cup of mocha and plays while drinking, "I want for us to win as well. And I hope that your strategy is a winning one. I am interested in what you are presenting. I just think we might be playing a tilted game. Doesn't mean you should not try to win. Just need to keep an eye out for rules being rewritten. And I need to eat fifteen meals a day so crow will get old. I need to sometimes feel and be okay in the now." Theo dips his head, and finds himself watching the recorder more than Heather as it speaks for her. "I hope that what I'm doing can make the now a bit better as well, but right now it's one job at a time, and there are a lot of mutants out there. I am lucky among mutants," he confesses. "My power has little drawback, it is imperceptible to anyone I want to remain in the dark. Somehow, it's still cost me everything I ever cared about." He takes another sip of his coffee. "I hope my strategy works. It is not a short game. I don't have a dramatic gesture of heroism like the X-men to impress the public and save the day. I don't have a show of brute force like the Brotherhood. Everything I'm doing depends on people who do not get along, getting along so that they can all make money. It seems a shallow basis for cooperation, but I suppose it fits, because our culture is a shallow one. We have to wear the pants that fit." "I worry about the rules changing. They will. They always change. I just hope they don't change faster than we can start having enough lobby power to influence government. May not sound as encouranging. So much depends on the power money has over people, and variables that are still hidden in the future. I still believe it will work. Human nature hasn't changed in the last few thousand years too much. People are greedy." Heather picks up her recorder and fiddles with it a bit after noting Theo's gaze has mostly been resting on the device. "I look forward to seeing what you are able to do in the short game. And in the long game. I may have to use your service to supplement my own income. So I expect that I will be at your event. My own online businesses have been enough to keep myself and Paige housed. Even though summer has been much harder." She glances around and then plays, "I should catch up with Paige." She stands up, makes a half wave, and then zips off.