Testrun! It's showtime!

[a_louse]

1. [You're in the middle of some kind of disagreement, or had one recently. Whether it's a big and important thing or a relatively trivial one, it doesn't look like any kind of compromise can be reached. And then, suddenly this guy shows up.]

I am Roger Smith, Paradigm City's top negotiator. What seems to be the problem?


2. [You got into trouble, and a bunch of armed thugs or other human-sized bad guys have accosted you in a dark street. Looks like this is going to end in a mess... But suddenly a smoke bomb explodes, blocking the vision of most of the bad guys and causing them to cough! A man in a suit swings in on a line, landing a kick to the head of the one that escaped the smoke!]

I suggest we get out of here. Fast.


3. [Roger got waken up by some loud noises before noon, which counts as way too early for him. Now he's going down the corridor like a slightly annoyed zombie, trying to find the source of the noise.]

What is this ruckus...

Comments

[savagelinks]

[The shopkeeper is very surprised by this. But hey, he isn't complaining as he catches the coin.]

"Yeah...but I'll tell you what: keep that up with all these kids, and there won't be much left where that came from."

[Without another word, he turns around and departs. Crisis averted! That leaves Roger behind with the scarred girl, who is staring at him suspiciously right now.]


...Are you for real?

[a_louse]

Time is money. The price of one apple is worth much less than the time spent arguing and trying to figure out who was telling the truth. And it's a negotiator's job to reach a solution that satisfies both parties.

Did you really take it?

[savagelinks]

I take what I can get my hands on, but that's only in fights.

[She takes out an ID from her school uniform's pocket, but very reluctantly.]

Marion Strayer. I'm with one of the ESUN's R&D programs, under Akashi Technologies.

If I actually wanted an apple, I'd buy it.

[a_louse]

Ah, my apologies. Seems like I made a mistake myself.

You seem awfully young for a researcher, though.

[savagelinks]

That's because I'm not. I just...help out.

The program I'm talking about is one of the weirder ones, and I was reassigned to the UG recently.

[a_louse]

Weirder ones?

[savagelinks]

We deal with superpowers. The ones that are harder to explain.

[a_louse]

Do you have any?

[savagelinks]

Yeah. What it is, I can't actually tell you.

But it's pretty useless on its own.

[a_louse]

It's not a power that makes random items around you spontaneously invisible, is it? That would explain the apple.

[savagelinks]

I kinda wish it was that simple.