ArchivedLogs:Natural Born Cheaters

Natural Born Cheaters
Dramatis Personae Gabriel, Peter
In Absentia	2013-08-03 '
Location <WES> Tilt - Salem Center
Loud, loud, loud; the first noticeable thing about this arcade is the noise. Games of every kind each make noises of their own, from the roll-thunk of skeeball to the wakka-wakka-wakka of Pacman to the stomping beats of DDR to the shots and yells of more modern shooters -- there is something for every taste, here, and over it all the constant backdrop of conversations and laughter, or shouts of anger or celebration as someone dies or claims a new high score. Peter is here! Clad in his red hoodie and blue jeans; along with two-toed socks -- the chitin-clad boy is something of a common occurrence around these parts, and though he often gets a number of stares (and perhaps a few utterances of 'thfuckisthat'), he rarely seems to be armed with anything but a smile -- and a fistful of quarters. Maybe that's why no one tells him to piss off; he's actually pretty quiet, all things considered! At the moment, the teen has slapped himself in front of an old GALAGA cabinet; he's /beating the shit/ out of some enemy ships. At the moment, he's already gotten the double ship bonus -- his space shuttle is /two/ shuttles, joined at the hip, firing a constant stream of tiny little blips up into the endless patterns of enemies descending down toward the scene. Peter plays with a great deal of focus -- his grip on the joystick is loose, his hand /hovering/ above the fire button, tap-tap-tapping it with ridiculous speed. He's pretty much got all the high-score spots on this cabinet; they're all now named 'ASS'. Hee hee, /ASS/. Meanwhile, the Pac-Man cabinet is currently abandoned, located very closely to the GALAGA cabinet. Atleast, until a figure approaches it with a cup of coins. Gabriel is dressed in a long denim jacket, pair of blue jeans, and brown boots. He takes a quick look at the high-score, before tossing a coin in. "Hah! My record's still up here. Was sure someone would have beat it. Maybe I can get the kill-screen this time.". As soon as the game begins, he's rapidly move his hands, with a sort of finesse that only a Pac-Man expert, if there even is such a thing, can do. He glances over at Peter, for a quick second. "Heh, you're pretty good.". "I," Peter responds without even looking up from his game, "am /awesome/ what are you talking about. I am the best at GALAGA /look/." And suddenly, Peter isn't. Looking, that is. He just turns his head away from the game, stepping back to peer at Gabriel. Tap tap tap, flex flex flex -- he's on one of the bonus stages. And somehow managing to hit pretty much /all/ of the targets. Without looking. This lasts for about 5 seconds. When suddenly, KABOOM. His left wrist twitches; one of the butterfly monsters swings down and suicides itself into Peter's crafts. Peter turns to the screen with disbelief, jaw hanging: "Wh--NO. That isn't supposed to--pffft." He /kicks/ the machine. Kind of gently. Gabriel smirks at Peter, as he says this. He's still playing pretty rapidly, having not lost a single life yet. "I guess I spoke too soon.". He laughs slightly as he says this. "Do you wnat to know a secret? There's a really interesting bug on Galaga that can go a long way to getting a kill-screen.". He smiles, as he continues. "I used to go to a prep school up here. I'd spend all my time down at this arcade. I consider myself an expert on these types of games, I guess.". He laughs. "Name's Gabriel, you?". "--Peter. What's a kill-screen? Bug what bug," Peter asks, /glaring/ back at the screen, even as he fumbles for another one of his quarters. Having apparently failed to even score in the top ten thanks to his attempt to impress. "Prep school?" Peter follows up with: "Wait, uh, the one --" He swivels his head away from the cabinet, /peeeeeering/ at Gabriel closely. "--not, uh. The -- Xavier's?" Gabriel swivels his body slightly, turning to Peter. He's still playing the game in his peripheral vision, not as quickly or as talented but still doing well. "Yeah, that's the one. You go there? Is McCoy still the doctor there?". He smiles, scratching his head with one hand. "Keep this between you and me, but I'm slightly old. Okay, I'm 23, who cares.". He laughs a bit. "A kill-screen is where, old arcade games, you get to a high enough score that the screen just, freezes. Anyways, the bug is, kill all of the ships except two of the bees on the edges, and then, dodge the bees for about, 20 minutes or so? Eventually, the bees will completely stop shooting at you. After you kill them, no ship will shoot at you until the end of your game. Pretty neat, eh?". He smiles. "So..". He stares, his eyes flickering, as he basically freezes. In a few seconds, he snaps back. "What's your mutation? I mean, I can see the blue, but...". "McCoy is--uh, yeah he's still -- the doctor there," Peter says, violet creeping up into his face; his eyes shift back to the screen as he pumps another series of quarters in. "Oh, /oh/, that's a -- okay I don't think. I've ever gotten a kill-screen before," he admits. "Just really high scores. Also that's a cool bug but like, /twenty minutes/? That seems really boring. I might try it, though." At the question of Peter's mutation, violet shifts into hard-line indigo; his face darkens with the force of his flush. "Maybe that /is/ my mutation. That I'm blue. I mean --" Peter starts, before he just shrugs and -- while playing the game with one hand, he twists his other hand into his pocket, squirming... when he lifts it out, a quarter is sticking to each of his fingers -- and his thumb! He wiggles them at Gabriel, as if to illustrate. Gabriel smiles, as Peter shows his ability. "Interesting! Maybe I can show you my ability someday. Maybe even later if you're up to it. Perhaps in the parking lot." He smiles, before turning his face grim. "Don't worry, I'm not a kidnapper or anything. Damn, that makes me sound like a kidnapper, doesn't it?". He laughs a bit. "I'm just..interested in mutations. They're fascinating what people like us can do.". He's still playing the game, as he says this. "I can hint you onto a key of what I do, atleast. Remember when I was staring at you? I was scanning to see potential outcomes for what would happen if I asked that question.". He smiles again, as Pac-Man eats Blinky. Or potentially Clyde, they all look the same. "Yes actually I would /imagine/," Peter admits, "that saying you are not planning to kidnap me actually strongly correlates with the sort of thing people who are planning to kidnap me would say. But, uh, you don't seem. Like you're about to kidnap me." At the mention of scanning potential outcomes, Peter's eyebrows /shoot/ up -- peering at Gabriel. Almost, well. /Suspiciously/. "Waitseriously? You can -- see like. The potential outcomes for actions, or something?" Gabriel begins laughing again. "Yeah, but it hurts my head. I can also...". He takes a quick glance around. He looks for an opening of views, where no one will spot him. "Check this out.". He holds his hand up, putting his middle and index finger up. He points across the room. In seconds, he's clamping his fingers down. Suddenly, VROOM. His matter is literally /blinking/ across, like some form of teleportation or super speed. When he stops, he's on the other side. He waits for another opening, and does it again, appearing back at the arcade cabinet, quickly catching the joystick. But, sadly, while he was doing this, Pinky got him once. "Damn. Oh well, I can still get a kill-screen, I bet.". He brushes his brows. "Okay, that took a lot of energy out of me, so no more warping tonight.". Peter opens his mouth to say something after Gabriel says 'Check this out', but by then -- Gabriel is /warping/ like a little zoom -- past Peter, to the other side of the room. Peter's eyes widen; he snaps around to stare at Gabriel's new position -- and then he's warping back. Still, Peter's staring. His ship has gotten asploded in the Galaga game. "--did you just," Peter begins, eyebrows scrunching together. "--you should. Be careful," he says, his voice quiet, eyes slinging this way and that. APPARENTLY, no one saw. But still! "--is that. Like, are you -- super-fast?" Gabriel is laughing again, back to the Pac-Man game. "I don't think it's super-speed, no. In my perception, when I use it, instead of me going to the other side..the other side is coming to me. It's like I'm basically warping space-time or something." He smirks at Peter. "I know, I know, be careful. You sound like one of the professors at the Institute there. God, brings back memories.". He drops another coin inside, solely because he already lost a life. "I assume the school's safe, seeing as no one has drone-striked it.". He looks like he's going to continue, when his phone beeps. He pulls it out, reading a text message. He mutters slightly under his breath, but still hearable if you're close or have super-hearing. "God damn it Jack, stop being so needy.". "--ohyeah, the school's--I mean, it's still /there/ nobody's. Blown it up or anything actually we're pretty okay all things considered I don't even think anyone's ever even /attacked/ it," Peter says, kind of all-at-once, his eyes briefly flicking down to Gabriel's phone. "--I mean. People have attacked /us/ like crazy, but not in the school. And not the school /itself/. Jack is --? Oh your phone," Peter says. Gabriel smiles in relief about the school. "That's good. One of these days it's going to get bombed or something.". He winces slightly when Peter asks about Jack, however. "Jack is..". He hesistates. "A business partner. We..'work' together, you could say." He smiles a bit. "We're professional thieves, you see.". He stares for a second, before laughing. "Had you fooled for a second, didn't I?". He gets another text. "God-fucking damn it. It was nice meeting you Peter, but I gotta run. Make sure Jack doesn't get himself killed. See you around, perhaps.". He smiles, as he angrily begins tapping back at his phone. "Stupid asshole...". "--uh, oh," Peter replies, at the comment about professional thieving. But when Gabriel follows it up as a joke! Peter gives a half-grin: "/Oh/! Oh, okay, uh, I see. Okay -- um, bye, Gabriel. I'll try that GALAGA trick. Um, good luck!"