13880/Skii Ball Arcade Time!

Skii Ball Arcade Time!
Date of Scene:	19 January 2023
Location:	Radical Arcade
Synopsis:	An eclectic group meet in the arcade for a pizza party and discuss why vinyls are superior.
Cast of Characters:	Monet St. Croix, Martha Johansson, Noriko Ashida, Jamie Madrox

---

Monet St. Croix has posed:
The time? Eight pm. The place? The Radical Arcade. Where a variety of machines had been setup to DDR, karaoke, and even some old fighting games played by LASER BAR. Everything from the early 2000's had been taken out of storage and everything was flashing like a Las Vegas casino. THere was pizza, soda, ice cream,a nd the types of things that hyperative mutants should not be having only about an hour and a half away from closing time. But it was still there.
    And an irritated Ms. St. Croix looked ever so demeaned by having been set on 'monitor' duty for it.

Martha Johansson has posed:
Martha Johannson is here, eating a slice of pizza. She's not focusing much on it, or, this moment, playing a game, because she is ooching over towards where the media server for that sick eighties soundtrack is located. She is craning her head because she is obviously scoping it out, probably to no good intent. She is not *actively* involved in any game other than 'pizza eating' but she does have a USB drive resting 'covertly' in one hand.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko really hasn't come down to the Arcade yet.  Perhaps it has something to do with her being known to fritz out electronics at times.  Perhaps she didn't want to hear the drawn out groans of students when she entered or the complaints about her being the cause of why some Fleeb now has a shot battery.  For whatever reason though, tonight, she's finally wandered down.

The speedster's head simply appears, popped in to see who might be in there.  "This place should have prizes and ticket cards," she comments aloud to no one in particular, since upon stepping inside, no one follows her in.  Nori's eyes zero in on the food and she quickly walks like a cartoon in fast motion right to it.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And there goes the food supply. Monet is a little too slow to catch awareness of Noriko right before the after-image of the girl evades to get over to the buffet. Monet goes to let out a sigh. Why does she bother?

As several of the studetns are no doubt going 'awww' at Noriko making a rush, Monet goes to correct, "There will be more on the way." Meanwhile, Martha is getting to listen in on the glam. And something called 'CD's' that are being used. What exactly are they? Shiny little throwing disks?

Jamie Madrox has posed:
It's not that hard to run into a Jamie Madrox. Throw a stone, and you'll probably hit one. Both the advantage and disadvantage, because of course if you hit one with said stone, then there is another to encounter along the way. The charm and the curse of the Multiple Man.

This Jamie has found his way into the Arcade, seemingly intent on either some amusement or taking the time to master another game to add to his collection.

Martha Johansson has posed:
Martha shifts herself a little closer to the sound system, leaning even more casually back as if she is too cool and above it all, which is probably true. Her T-shirt is completely black, like, one presumes, her heart. "Hey," she says to Noriko, toying discreetly with the USB stick. "You think? I don't think they're made out of my money. Don't eat all the pizza." She has a whole second slice on deck.

"This thing is retro as heck," Martha continues. "Like look how huge this thing is, Noriko, and it's got like what, five? CDs in it?"

Noriko Ashida has posed:
Noriko is not paying attention to anyone but the food for the time being, at least until she realizes Martha might be talking to her.  Luckily she doesn't miss anything but a part of the first syllable.  "Didn't you hear her?  She said more is coming."  Noriko knows because she's the one who has to pick it up.  "Why don't you mind your own appetite and stay out of my nutrition needs," she says sharply with narrowed eyes, right before she rapidly wolfs down two slices just fast enough that she knows Martha can see it happening.

"What's your point?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would glance over at Jamie, "Ah, excellent Mister Madrox." An adult figure that hse could foist on whatever responsibilities she had been laid with here. "Would you care to take a hand at organizing the next round fo snacks?"

Upon watching Martha and Noriko discuss CD's, Monet would make a face. "All music sounds much better when it's in the form of a vinyl. It has superior contrast and quality."

Jamie Madrox has posed:
The very words "Madrox" "adult" and "responsibilities" are rarely ever suitable to apply near each other. Tonight is no exception. "None of mes are currently in the food service business," he says a bit brusquely as he makes his way over to review the machines. "People don't deliver here anymore? One of our hairier members take a bite out of this last delivery guy?"

Turning to regard the discussion about music, Jamie snaps his fingers and points at Monet. "She has a point. I tested it." He adopts a casual lean against the wall, shifting into storytelling mode. "I really wanted to know, for my own purposes. So I queued up "Ride the Lightning", FULL ALBUM, mind you, on a turntable, a cd, and on a lossless MP3 recording, same room, same environment, same me, same time. Precise conditions, and then I sucked all of the mes back in. And wouldn't you know?" He raises a hand to indicate Monet. "The vinyl version was way, WAY better when I calibrated the experiences exactly against each other, memory by memory, note by note."

Martha Johansson has posed:
Martha makes a vague gesture at Noriko. While it is not obscene it is certainly not friendly. It's sort of a sweep of the hand and arm. "Because I didn't eat dinner. What do you mean what's my point? Because it's like, twice your age, it's gonna break or something." Martha pockets the USB drive, forlornly. "Also New Wave sucks."

Whatever is playing at this moment is not New Wave.

Martha crunches forlornly on her slice of pizza, looking out and around at Monet on nursemaid duty and the new person coming inwards. Perhaps one man - or many. And then she looks over as that man, the "multiple" man, speaks of... "Metallica?" Martha says. It is actually impossible to tell purely from sound if she is surprised of contemptuous.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"All I said was this place should have prizes and ticket cards?"  Noriko obviously isn't following what conversation she seems to be having with Martha.  "I don't know what you're talking about.  This isn't New Wave and I haven't been talking about music.  I've been talking about food."  That Noriko hasn't completely proverbially torn Martha's head off is a sign that she's trying, whether anyone knows that or not.

"If New Wave sucks, what's on your drive?"  Does Noriko care if it is music related?  Nope.  This is just a means to bother.  "Vinyl would be great if there was like a tiny one that could withstand the forces of my running and stuff.  Doesn't it have to be level?"  Noriko looks to Jamie and then to Monet.  "Wait does electromagnetism affect vinyl?"  Her tone suddenly lifts a little, her posture straightening.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would give an emphatic nod over to Jamie. "Exactly. The music comes out with more nuance. It is not the same recording, the scratches removed electronically, the notes smoothed over, and the background clutter tuned out. You get it purely. the slight imperfections that make the composition true. You can feel the nuance and celebrate it all the more. Choreographed.. But with all those small things amiss that are the way it was intended to be heard."

Sure Jamie's probably exaggerating but Monet will take up the backup as she can. "Generally no. Players are old and the moving parts are mechanical. Static or elecriticy may disrupt the playing of them on occasion but not to any significant degree."

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"It is entirely an aspect of the physical," replies Jamie to Noriko. "The very vibrations of sound that were produced by James Hetfield, preserved for eternity on the grooves and lines of black vinyl. It is a connection, of sorts, to the music itself, to the artist." He shrugs slightly. "Not a reproduction, or a facsimile, or a reconstitution as in the case of an MP3." He laughs for a moment. "Kind of like me, I suppose."

To Martha, he offers a grin. "Yes. Metallica. Nowhere near that New Wave crap, as you said."

Martha Johansson has posed:
"It's mostly German," Martha tells Noriko. "I thought it'd be like, I could sneak it in here and nobody would notice it was SUPER different but I guess this thing's from the Middle Ages." A beat or two as the topic shifts to vinyl. Martha frowns in thought. How DOES vinyl work? There's a needle. There's - aha, thinks the part of her brain laden in teenage opposition. That's the angle. (For most of Martha this is just: hey, waitaminute.)

"Well I ain't gonna say you should brag about Metallica," Martha says. "So what I'm wondering here is, you scratch up records, right? Like you're just playing it and it's the same thing that scratches it, it's not like you drop the CD or something."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Oh."  In her mind she's said it longer, like a revelation, but it comes out of Noriko's lips as clipped and short.  "What kind of German music?...It totally is a reproduction because they have to make more than one," Noriko needles at Jamie with her pedantic point.

"It's not like they replay the song every time they wanted to cut a record."  For those paying attention, Noriko is obviously using her powers of deduction.  She didn't even know how vinyl worked a second ago.  Her brain circles back to the idea of a mechanical music player as she munches down another slice and chases it with some soda.  "Maybe Kitty can hack into the player and give it some more capabilities."  She shrugs.  "If all of the vinyl players are old, how do you get one?  Ebay?  Craigslist?"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would go to let out a sigh over. "Very well." She would just let the others go to discuss it. "And it's a matter of auditory preference. To those with good taste and good hearing, it sounds better. IT doesn't have the artificial qualities that you'll find from things that have been downloaded. It's all perfected. Small dissonance removed and tweaked in minor ways. It removes much of the enjoyment of it." She would let out a sigh at Noriko.

"There are no doubt several in the Mansion. I can get you some sent up and you can see which ones you like in your coffin if you owuld enjoy it?"

Jamie Madrox has posed:
Shaking his head slowly, Jamie pushes from the wall and makes his way over towards a console. "If something is perfect, it lacks the certain qualities that make us human. It may as well just be made by a machine." Of course, he says this while sidling up to a machine. "There is a certain character to vinyl. Even individual vinyls, all slightly different, and showing the age of their use. A slight hiss appears in one spot, and you hear it every time thereafter. It is your hiss." He turns to look at Martha. "So then when you hear the song on the radio, absent that hiss, it's discordant. Strange. Unfamiliar. Not something you recognize."

Martha Johansson has posed:
"See, I actually was gonna warm people up," Martha tells Noriko, "because like the first hour was gonna be like Zep, Sabbath I guess, a couple of things from Cult, I was gonna put in some Yes and shit to throw off the old guys, but then I was gonna thread in Helloween and Gamma Ray and so on. I figured this place is open like three hours a week so if we started now then in like four days people could handle entire Blind Guardian cuts and then we can actually get some good music."

"No GWAR until February," Martha says, as if this is compromise. Then back to Jamie. Martha is polite enough to listen through all of it, even nodding slightly, though she kind of folds her arms. "So how is that human though?" Martha says. "Like being like other humans is the whole human thing. Like, that's their whole THING. Like you OUGHT to be saying that makes vinyl *mutants*, am I right?"

A beat passes and she furrows her brow. Something else seems to be nagging at her but it isn't clear what. Perhaps she is appreciating something new and hating it?

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"You definitely prefer vinyl," Noriko observes the obvious of Monet.  She smirks.  "I was always breaking Jubes' laptop and other stuff.  I'm not allowed to touch it directly and ever since Senor-uh, the thing I used with it broke.  I kind of gave up after that," she explains.

"I'd love something like that.  Do I need any extra equipment or is it like a boombox?"  Jubilation must have taught Noriko about such ancient devices given she's the one into all the retro stuff.  It's now much clearer that she cannot hide her excitement.  One of her gauntleted fingers is chattering and buzzing as it taps against her leg, as if to contain all of her excitement.  "But I'll probably get my own when I can afford it.  I don't want to take it away from other people."

When Jamie further explains the individuality of each record, it seems to strike a chord with Noriko finally.  "Oh.  I see what you mean.  That's cool."  But there's little doubt she won't fully appreciate it till she has her own records to covet.  "Radio music sucks anyways.  They always play the same things in almost every station.  I'm still waiting on something that can keep up with me though.  I might have to invent it though."  She sighs and rolls her eyes.  "But I can't sit through one more class lecture or I'm going to tear my eyes out or something.  It was enough just to get through high school."

"I think he means they are flawed individually.  Humans are fullll of flaws that make them unique assholes, even if it's all just a variation on the same DNA, but she does have a point.  Is it mutants or mutanty?"  She skips the derogatory mutie term.  "A human goes through life and their DNA gets all effed up from the environment and aging and all that."  She doesn't seem too concerned with putting words in Jamie's mouth.  There's a certain cavalierness she adopts.

"It's too bad it doesn't take USB.  That would have been fun to see if anyone noticed.  We could try that in the rec room though.  See what kids we can brainwash."

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would nod over at Noriko, "It is a player. It involves a rotating platform for the record, an insturment to properly read the record, a motor to run it at the proper speeds, and some controls. It is rather simple. They are easy to fix so even if one is damaged. And records impart memories with them. As Mister Madrox said.. It will be your scratch. That place on it where it was nicked a litlte more by the rod. IT will imbue it into your memories." She would smile.

"And you can look into having some of the records accelerated to some degree if that might help. But you also have to sit and enjoy tehm." She would glance over at Martha. "Is everythign all right?"

Jamie Madrox has posed:
"Something like that," replies Jamie, nodding in agreement with Noriko. "Although some would say that mutants are just evolutions of humans, from the get go, born differently, but.." He laughs quietly. "I'm an interesting study in that, really. A brand new me comes out, each time, and as it weathers time, it weathers time differently. It's still the same me, but..."

He looks to Martha. "I can be the ultimate study in nature vs nurture, if I wasn't already a fully boiled and matured person." A glance to Monet. "Or immature, as the case may be." He adds a wink.

Martha Johansson has posed:
"You could get a digital recording, if like, these old farts haven't convinced you it's gonna rot your brain, and speed it up," Martha tells Noriko. "I mean you probably thought'a that already, I'm just saying in case you idn't."

Beat, beat, and she says to Monet as she gets up, "YEAH, I'm fine," before moving back to a normal voice, "I just wanted to eat some pizza and see if I could work the music but I guess: Not. Thanks for asking, though." To Jamie, then, she says, "Oh yeah that's why that was bugging me." A second or two passes. "I don't have a cool line," Martha concludes, before picking up her plate and scooting to head up stairs.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I honestly just want to be able to listen to music is all.  I don't care if it is scratchy or not."  Noriko considers the prospect of having to sit still and enjoy the music.  "Isn't that always the catch?"  She lives in a world not built for her.  She purses her lips."

Noriko stretches fast enough to punch someone into the wall, but no one is there to be punched so all is okay.  "Yeah I guess I just don't know how to keep myself from frying the electronics though.  The way I see it is, either I get really rich and pay someone to solve these problems or I spend all of my time cramming science crap into my brain, which is fine, but it doesn't make me any smarter."

Her eyes open wide, "Oh shit!  I forgot about the pizza!"  HOW!  She shakes her head.  "Gotta go!"  She'll obviously be back later, but she has to use that dang slow old truck to get there.  She's been /told/ for using her powers and possibly blowing school cover, or rather reminded.  "I'll see you guys later!" she pops her head back in to say before racing up past Martha along the way.