Kintsugi Plays Fallen Hero: Retribution (ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ …(^_^)…)

we did previously say that we'd grown fond of Dr. Mortum and our masquerade as Barbara (or more accurately random.org said it for us, but still)--maybe the 'fond of Dr. Mortum' thing is starting to catch up to us and we're feeling a little bad about the lying? not like we're gonna come clean right this instant over the phone, but...

 

> It gets harder and harder to lie to her.

You look in the mirror, trying to focus on anything but yourself. "I don't feel too good."

"Are you getting sick?" Dr. Mortum's voice is filled with worry.

"No. I just hate places like this. I hate putting on this mask. Having to lie to people."

"You don't have to lie to me." Her voice has gone soft. Understanding.

"But I am…," you pause, but she has no way of connecting the dots, so you continue, "…I wish I could tell you everything, but…"

"I understand," she assures you. "I know what this business is like. Truth has little to do with it."

"You don't understand."

"Maybe I do. Let me ask you this; do you really care about me, or is that a lie too?"

"I do. I wouldn't lie about that." You try to swallow down your nausea. Just about everything else. False face. Fake body. "You're a good friend. Too good. That's why I feel so shitty."

"We both have made a habit of lying and using people. That doesn't mean we have to like it."

"I wish I could change things." Just breathe. You called her to calm down. "I really do."

"I'll be working late tonight if you want to come over. We can share a pizza, some wine, and the latest gossip."

"As long as you don't microwave it again, that was the most terrifying thing I've ever eaten."

"Was it the extra cheese, mon amie?"

"It didn't help," you add, unable to stop the smile. You know what she's doing, of course. Making you feel better. Thinking about other things. And it's working. "I'll give you a call once this is over, and we'll see if you're still up."

"That has never stopped you before."

"True. I'm evil like that." The smile remains after you hang up.

You put away the phone. Give yourself another long look in the mirror.

Other guests walk into the bathroom, your moment of solitude gone. That's your cue to finish up, give yourself a hard stare, and go out there and do your job.

> Nobody Else Will

Once out of the bathroom, the crowds swallow you like you were invisible. You might as well be; even though Barbara is attractive, this room is filled with people like her. Looking good. Being fashionable. You smirk faintly as you adjust the glasses you've borrowed from Dr. Mortum. They do nothing for your vision, but it's a good tool to have in places like this. You never know when you need some surreptitious footage.

It's a big crowd filled with important people showing appreciation for the arts. Or rather, for their own wallets and reputations. You know the paintings here sell for ridiculous amounts; the Norma Lee original they used for the ad is worth more than what you got from your early robberies when you were saving money for your armor. But that is not why you're here. It's certainly not because you like the place; it would be hell in your real body, and it's barely tolerable in this one because you can't read their minds.

Thankfully.

Time to mingle—you've got important people to meet.

The person you are looking for is one of the preeminent heroes of the city. The Rangers might be the federal government representatives, but the Guardians are wholly in the mayor's pocket.

You could live with that, but what's more worrisome is that you think they might be in Hollow Ground's pocket as well. With the way they ignore the kingpin of Los Diablos's territory while cracking down on any upstarts, is it any wonder that rumors start flying? It's only a matter of time before they move on your crew, so when you learned that their leader, Captain Blaze, was going to be here tonight, you couldn't resist dropping by. Nothing like meeting someone face-to-face to take their measure.

Even if it's not your face.

You make a beeline for the drinks, picking up a tall flute of champagne. A drink can have many uses, but you only want it to soothe your nervous hands. Something to sip on. Something to help you focus.

Shape up. You were supposed to leave the doubts behind you in the bathroom.

Your target is not hard to spot, half a head taller than most people here, with the careless confidence of the popular. Brown hair slicked back in a fashionable wave, the olive skin smooth and photogenic.

Captain Blaze of the Los Diablos Guardians.

　‣ I'll pretend to be a fan. He's a bit of a diva.
　‣ I'll arrange to stumble into him to see his reaction.
　‣ I'll pretend not to know who he is and start talking art.

Time to see what our local government heroes are made of. Best opening move to get a read on this guy?​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.
Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 22% / Anonymity: 78%
████▒███████████████
Ruthlessness: 30% / Empathy: 70%
████████████████████
Daring: 46% / Caution: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 80%
████████████████████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66% (+3)
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 61%
████████████▒███████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Could be useful.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 60%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

If "a bit of a diva" implies the sort to get annoyed when not the center of attention, then talking art sounds amusing to me.

But if only a bit of a diva... How he reacts to a stumble might be more informative, gives whether he's alert, whether he's sharp about the correction, and so on.

 

Noting that it looks like we currently have 2 votes for "either talk art or stumble into him"; if anyone else has an opinion, or either of you has a preference between the two, we could use a tiebreak!

 

hmm. of the two, I think I will vote for 'stumble into' over 'pretend not to know who he is'.

 

> I'll arrange to stumble into him to see his reaction.

Looking at the Captain, he doesn't seem to be very aware of his surroundings. Not like Ortega would have been, always with that fidgety smile, switching positions to keep an eye on the room. This man has had his back turned toward you for a good five minutes now. If you wanted him dead, it wouldn't have been hard.

This Barbie mentally evaluates how to kill everyone she meets!​

Of course, his confidence might be because of his abilities, but still. Sloppy.

You meander through the room, making sure that he's not the obvious destination. A few laughs, some introductions to people you pretend to know, and then a misstep, crashing into his side, spilling champagne all over his tailored suit.

"What the—" There's a grunt of irritation as the Captain catches you before you hit the floor. Interesting. He caught you, but even before he was aware of what was going on, he treated you like someone that needed to be saved. Like a civilian and not a suspected attacker.

"I'm sorry," you mumble, taking note of the fact that he's holding you without effort. Strong. Not ungentle as he helps you back to your feet. "I didn't look where I was going."

"Don't worry about that," he says with a wide smile; by now, the onlookers are admiring his prowess. "At least it wasn't red wine." He dabs a little at the champagne stain but doesn't look worried.

"Once again, I'm so sorry." You watch as the stain starts steaming, slowly evaporating from the suit, leaving just the faintest discoloration behind. That's impressive control.

"It's fine…," there's a pause as he's searching for your name.

"Miss Sevigny-Waldau," you reply without pause, picking a complicated one that sounds impressive, but he'll surely forget.

"A pleasure to meet you," he says, smile open and friendly. "I don't think we've met?"

"Sadly, no," you say, echoing back the smile. "But there's a first time for everything."

"Indeed, indeed." His stance relaxes slightly.

　‣ I'll bring up one of his old fights.
　‣ I'll bring up Anathema to see what he thinks.
　‣ I'll bring up the Rangers, see how he reacts.

We've got our initial read on him, and now we've got his attention. What do we want to probe for—insight into what he's like in a fight? Thoughts on the new villain in town? Relationship with his team's federal counterparts?​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.
Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 29% (+7) / Anonymity: 71%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 30% / Empathy: 70%
████████████████████
Daring: 51% (+5) / Caution: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 80%
████████████████████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 61%
████████████▒███████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Could be useful.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 60%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

I'm torn. I don't wanna switch back to going Oh You, You're Great like mentioning an old fight might, but I definitely don't want to bring up Anathema out of nowhere. Rangers by default.. ?

 

Sooo… how 'bout them Rangers?​

> I'll bring up the Rangers, see how he reacts.

"I have to say I'm surprised that the Guardians and the Rangers haven't teamed up yet," you muse. "Surely there must be threats big enough for that to happen."

"Not these days," he scoffs. "It's not like the Catastrofiend is back or anything. And if it was, we could deal with it on our own."

"Not a fan of the Rangers?" you ask innocently. "I mean, Marshal Steel can be a bit of a hard-ass if rumors are correct—"

"Wei is not the issue." The Captain cuts you off harshly enough that there's definitely bad blood there. "Charge is just difficult to work with…."

"Really?" Interesting. Wei. Not many people call Steel by his given name, and you've never heard him mention the Captain. On the other hand, Steel doesn't exactly share his private life with you. "I find that hard to imagine."

"Don't trust what you see on the screen." Ortega is a touchy subject. Is it because she's hogging the spotlight, or is there something else there? In either case, it's a sore spot and a weakness. "She's not as nice when there are no cameras around."

"Sounds like someone's bitter," you tease because if a random stranger can make him lose his cool by just mentioning Ortega, it will be hilarious when Anathema brings it up in a fight. That's how you get an edge.

"Captain?" One of the well-dressed men leans in, tapping his watch. "Don't forget we've got people we need to see here."

"Of course." His smile has gone thin and polite. "Will you excuse me?" The last is aimed at you, but you can already see that his mind is elsewhere.

"Of course," you say amiably, making sure not to pay attention to the man that nudged him into moving on. You recognize a handler when you see one. It looks like it's not just friends having a chat, but the media detail keeping an eye on proceedings. While you're certain the Captain won't remember anything, you're not so sure about them. Better to be forgettable for now.

> Keep An Eye Out

Getting a fresh glass, you do your best to get lost in the crowd once more. You need to make sure to give the impression that you're not here for the Captain, that it was just a chance encounter. How many in his little coterie work for the city? What kind of people is he here to meet and mingle with?

Anything you can use?

Sipping your drink, you try to place their faces. You're good at that; it was your job for too many years. Watch at parties. Don't be noticed. Remember everything. Overhear what you can. You don't have your telepathy to help in this body, but you have an attractive face and enough experience to sort the facts yourself.

Not just leave it to the others to analyze.

The Captain seems to be here to grease some wheels. Meet some politicians. Shake some corporate hands. Interesting, while it could be routine mingling, it could also be a sign. Batten down the hatches before a storm, make sure to keep your allies happy, prepare for the worst if you need it. Is the mayor about to make a move that might ruffle some feathers?

You make careful note of the people that he talks to and their facial expressions. Are some of them voicing complaints? You recognize that polite stiffness in their stance, looks like the mayor has sent him in to smooth things over. Corporates. You gently touch the glasses Dr. Mortum lent you; a few quick shots should be enough to identify them later.

It could come in handy.

You smile quietly as you do another lap through the crowd. It feels good to finally be moving forward. Now you just need to spend some time admiring the art as camouflage before you can safely extract yourself.

Enjoy the exhibition. Appreciate the skill. It's good; you know enough to pick up on that, but you wish some paintings didn't remind you so much of your nightmares. Too sharp. Too jagged.

You suppress a shiver as you look at one of the disjointed cityscapes, huddling under a cruel, caustic sun.

what is this

You can feel a drop of sweat slowly making its way down your spine, but you're not sure of the cause. It's not that hot here. So why do you feel dizzy?

It's something that's been happening in Barbara's body lately, not unease exactly, more like a feeling of familiarity. Of inevitability. Déjà vu…

　‣ I've been doing my best to ignore it. I am in control.
　‣ I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.
Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 29% / Anonymity: 71%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 30% / Empathy: 70%
████████████████████
Daring: 51% / Caution: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 80%
████████████████████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 61%
████████████▒███████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Could be useful.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 60%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

The mind of a supervillain, folks

 

That weird hostility towards Ortega is hilarious and also a glaring weakness that will make him easy to defeat, thinks Josie without a hint of irony

 

>can't stop thinking about it. what is Happening to our favorite barbie. why is she melting. that's not supposed to happen.

 

Starting to worry that maybe we've started finding traces of thoughts or personality here!! It's at least as plausible an explanation for some of these shenanigans as other ideas I've floated.


Also,

#concern

 

did we accidentally get the limited-edition Irrepressible Thoughts of Death Barbie? :(

Yeah, it's one thing to drop cryptic, ominous references to 'the Farm' and offhand mentions of your involvement in assassinations—but enduring parties all that time?? That's dark even by grimdark post-apocalypse standards.

 

I bet they don't even like the shrimp cocktails anymore........

 

help, our Barbie is malfunctioning :(​

> I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

You haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It doesn't feel physical, not exactly. More like a slight stutter in doctored surveillance footage. Is it a glitch or tampering?

You have no idea, but you feel light-headed, and when you close your eyes, it's like looking into the sun. Butterflies brushing against your face. Nothing threatening, just disconcerting, almost as if…

"It's striking, isn't it?" The voice is familiar, but the tone is not, and you nearly jump as you look up and see who's talking to you.

Daniel. Not in a suit, either the hero variant or the normal kind. Just black jeans and a subtly patterned shirt, his sports coat draped over one arm in the increasingly warm interior. No tie. He looks casual, but in the way that rock stars do, his outfit as expensive as any fancy suit. You don't look this effortless without a wad of cash and a tailor backing it up.

　‣ "It's intense," I mumble, trying not to look uneasy.
　‣ "Yeah, it is," I say breathlessly as I look at him.
　‣ "Makes you wonder how the artist sees the world," I muse.

…Glitching or not, Barbie should probably respond to this stranger she's never met before.​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.
Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 29% / Anonymity: 71%
█████▒██████████████
Ruthlessness: 30% / Empathy: 70%
████████████████████
Daring: 51% / Caution: 49%
██████████▒█████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 80%
████████████████████

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
█████████████▒██████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 61%
████████████▒███████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Could be useful.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 60%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

Since we're already thinking about how we're thinking...
‣ "Makes you wonder how the artist sees the world," I muse.

 

> "Makes you wonder how the artist sees the world," I muse.

"Makes you wonder how the artist sees the world," you muse. What are the thoughts behind these paintings? What kind of emotions is she trying to channel? Not good ones, that's for sure. "Not sure if it's strength I'm looking at or despair." The orange tones are toxic enough to make your head hurt, but at the same time, it's hard to look away.

"Not sure it has to be one or the other." Herald tilts his head, thankfully focusing on the painting and not on you. "You need strength to overcome despair."

"Despair is not something you can overcome. Only endure." You keep looking at the painting, not at him. He feels so different now that you can't read his thoughts, more sure of himself somehow. Or is that the surroundings?

"True, but…" He gestures to the painting. "Sometimes staying alive is the only victory you can hope for."

"What do you mean?" You stop hiding your frown, searching the thick layers of paint in front of you for whatever truth he's discovered.

"Norma Lee lived in Los Angeles when it happened. The Big One." Herald's voice has gone soft, almost personal. "She survived, but it took months before she could be evacuated. What she saw there, what she lived through…," a pause for a sympathetic look belonging to an older man. "It traumatized her. They say she started painting to deal with things. It took her almost twenty years to put her work out there, but once she did, it was as if a dam had burst."

"You know a lot about her."

"Not as much as I'd like. She's very private. Even for an artist." An apologetic laugh. "The works here are from her Sunset series. Some critics are calling it her homage to the New West movement, more restrained than her In The Shadows series, but…" He shakes his head. "I don't agree. It's not restrained as much as…oppressed?" He turns to you, clearly looking for your views on the matter.

Interesting. You're used to the way men treat Barbara, especially when you are dressed up like this. The fact that Herald is not coming on to you comes as a surprise. There's no sly charge in his smile, no subterfuge in the way he's honestly asking for your opinion.

　‣ "I'm not an expert," I say. "Just here for the party."
　‣ "I can see what you mean." Oppression. Isolation.
　‣ "No, that's not it." It's too wild, too devouring.

Do we have opinions on art?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

Their sense of style is androgynous, secondhand streetwear, with many piercings in their ears, nose, and tongue. They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
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Subtle Manipulations: 74%
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Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.
Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
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Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
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Leadership: 55%
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Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 29% / Anonymity: 71%
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Ruthlessness: 30% / Empathy: 70%
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Daring: 51% / Caution: 49%
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Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 80%
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Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting. Josie is using Barbara as a spy.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
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Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 66%
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Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
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Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
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Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Friendly.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 61%
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Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Could be useful.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 60%
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Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

Herald is an art history geek?

 

came to an art exhibition to talk about art, the absolute mad lad

 

Flying... arting....

Clearly, if I do my own run sometime, I'll need to befriend him as sincerely as I can