1475/Now, Why Would They Call It a Danger Room

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Now, Why Would They Call It a Danger Room
Date of Scene: 02 May 2020
Location: The Danger Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis: Kian, Naomi and Vic trade some flight pointers.
Cast of Characters: Kian, Naomi McDuffie, Victor Stone




Kian has posed:
    Now, Kían had the sense to ask more than one person what the Danger Room was and how to set it up for a slightly more intensive flying exercise, mainly because he simply doesn't know when someone's having fun with him.  He figures any answers that everyone gives are almost certainly accurate.
    Good luck with that.
    He hesitates long over the control console, mainly because the Latin alphabet still gives him some difficulty.  Fortunately, he has good notes in his own writing.  After puzzling over it for a few minutes and tentatively clicking a few keys, he's actually surprised to see exactly what he wanted—moving hoops and barriers at various altitudes.
    With a satisfied, even happy, "Kya!" he kicks into the air and hovers there a moment, picking a likely route….

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    She hadn't exactly asked for a time to use the Danger Room.  She wanted to get some training though and didn't expect someone to already be in the room.  She couldn't really train her strength in here but she could at least train some other things.  That is, when she walks in and blinks at what she sees.  Is it some kind of odd obstacle course?  She is currently in her casual outfit, no glasses or anything.  She feels confident not wearing her disguise around everyone here.
    "Oh, hey Kian," she calls out with a smile, waving at him before nodding and then looking up at the obstacle course and then back at him.  "I didn't know you were in here.  Having fun?"

Kian has posed:
    The birdman is just about to launch into an attempt at clearing the moving targets when he's called from below, and spirals down, though he does not land.  Instead, he hovers there easily.  "Kié, Náomi," he greets with a smile.  "It iss not fun yet, but it iss will be, yis."  He looks up and around at the aerial obstacle course.  "Iss al-mos' like home.  I am make bet-ter some day, but iss good for now, yis."
    In a sudden access of energy, he circles Naomi once and returns to his hover.  "Hyu f-ly too?  Hyu iss f-ly wit' I?" he asks, then zooms off to the nearest hoop, without waiting for a reply.
    Naomi has seen Kían fly, but she's probably really never seen him completely cut loose before—she could have inside Raven's mind, but they were all kind of busy at the time.
    Through the first hoop, up over a high wall, sharp bank left and under a low blockage, then a sharp right through a diagonally moving hoop, small enough that he has to fold his wings and let momentum carry him through it like a sparrow flitting through a chain-link fence.
    "Iss fun, yis!" he calls back, clearly enjoying himself.

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    "Uh…."  She doesn't so much as fly as she sorta is a bullet at the moment.  She's gotten far better but she kinda has trouble with going fast.  She can fly pretty well at the lower speeds but when she starts to cut loose, she just isn't there yet.  Kinda the problem with being handed a bunch of power without an instruction manual.  First time she really flew, she cleared the country in an hour.
    "I kinda fly," she states and laughs a little sheepishly before she shrugs, and then is in a flash in her alternate form.  She floats up a little and smiles at him.  "Wow.  You really are good at that.  Not sure I can keep up."  She laughs.  "That's pretty impressive."

Kian has posed:
    Kían smiles broadly and warmly.  "Iss wor-k har-d," he says.  "Iss not as good as home.  Eart' iss… nnh.  Not know wor'd.  Eart' iss pull more."  As he has before, he resorts to a sort of pantomime.  "Eart' iss like this," he says, letting his hand fall, "and Kyshán iss like this."  He lets his other hand fall too, but more slowly.  "Un-der's'tan?"

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    A blink and she tilts her head.  She thinks for a moment.  "Wait, do you mean gravity?" she asks as she floats up a little more.  "I guess that might be what you mean."  She is no scientist, but she's not dumb.  She just shrugs.  "I guess, I see."  She nods her head.  "I don't know really how my flying works."  She nods her head.  "So not sure if gravity has anything to do with it."

Kian has posed:
    "G'raf-tee, yis, iss wor'd I am not remem-ber!" Kían says, his eyes lighting up.  "Eart' iss more g'raf-tee.  Am f'ly bet-ter at home.  Much wor'k.  Am p'lay for family qihár team.  Iss game we haf."
    He circles Naomi a couple times, appraisingly.  "I am not know how bes' to hel'p hyu f'ly.  Hyu iss not f'ly nor-mal."  Well, for certain definitions of 'normal', whatever that is anyway.
    "If can hel'p, I will," he offers.  "If hyu lear'n f'ly less fas't, iss more easy to con-t'rol."

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    Smiling, she nods her head.  "Oh, I know to go slow.  I just don't know… much about it.  I can fly.  I just don't get how."  She looks down at herself and then looks up at area above and below before shrugging.  "I think it has something to do with this power."  She glows for a moment and then lets it go.  "It is like I am pushed along."  She laughs a little.  "And it is kinda hard to control.  It's like trying to hold on to a rocket."

Kian has posed:
    "You no haf win'g, I don' know how hyu f'ly!" Kían says with a chuckle.  "I am can say, hyu iss mus' f'ly in curf, not in line."  He makes appropriate gestures with his hand—a graceful swoop versus a sharp snap.  "Hyu iss wat'ch I, yis?"
    Without waiting for an answer, Kían peels away, dropping towards the floor, then repeating what the moves he started the aerial maze with: elegant and efficient swoops and turns, planned on the fly—no pun intended—and executed with graceful precision.
    And then he repeats it again, this time moving only in straight lines—and it can only be done more slowly than before.

Victor Stone has posed:
    As part of his ongoing systems ramp-up, Vic was doing a routine systems check when he noticed that the Danger Room was active.  After thinking it over for a few seconds, he decided to drop by.  Either some of the pre-breakup Titans are letting off some steam, in which case he'd get to fight alongside them for the first time in years, or some of the newbies are having a go of it, in which case he can see if he's cut out for a bit of friendly coaching.
    So it is that a minute later, the elevator door pings and Vic steps out into Kian's obstacle course.  Or, more accurately, the floorspace below Kian's obstacle course.  He stands next to Naomi and watches Kian's aerial acrobatics, then greets both of the room's occupants: "Hey there!  Mind if I join you?"  He glances over the room's setup, assessing it quickly with a smile.  "Advanced obstacle course for fliers, huh?  Not really one of my strong suits, but I do know a thing or two about holding on to rockets."
    He raises one eyebrow at Naomi and then fires up his own flight systems, elementary though they might be compared to Kian's effortless zooming around.  With a thrum overlaid with keening turbines, future-tech rockets flare up in his metal feet, hands, and back, and with their assistance, he leaps into the air.  Instead of dropping back down, he hangs in midair, making slight adjustments in the positioning of his feet and hands to stay stable.

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    A smile as she looks to Kian: "I mean, I get that."  She laughs a little and nods to him.  "Just… trying to adjust speed while moving and turning is a lot," she states simply enough before she blinks as Victor arrives.  "Hey, Victor," she calls out and blinks as he lifts off and then she chuckles, "That's kinda more like how I fly except."  She gestures down and the glow flares around her as she suddenly raises up about twenty feet and she flails.  "Oops, a bit much," she states and swallows.  "Gotta be careful."  She chuckles and nods her head before looking back to Victor.
    "Still trying to get the hang of this."  She nods her head as she shifts in the air, smiling as she floats there.  "Though I sometimes do better when I'm not thinking about it."  She laughs a little and idly rubs her arm.

Kian has posed:
    Kían swoops around into an easy hover.  "Kié, Vik!  I am not know hyu f'ly.  Iss like Náomi, yis?"  He pirouettes neatly in place, taking in the whole of the course.  "I am tol' iss room for ek-ser-size."  Yup, English is still a work in progress.  "I am tol' how to make air maze, wan't to s'tay good f'lyer."
    He blinks, and suddenly looks a little uncertain.  "Iss o-kay to use?  I am not as'k, saw iss not be use, wan't to t'ry."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Of course, Kian.  The stuff in the tower was pretty damn expensive, you better be using it!"  Vic grins broadly, hoping that adding a little extra oomph to the expression will help it translate across species.  "Get in all the exercise you want, you've obviously got skills to keep sharp."  He laughs quietly.  "Me flying next to you flying is like a city bus next to a Lambo, but yeah, I make do.
    "I know what you mean, Naomi," he continues.  "It's easy to get caught up in your own head when you're doing something tricky.  The best bet is to run daily drills—make it part of your routine, like brushing your teeth.  With enough practice on each move, the execution is just instinct."  As if to demonstrate, he does a quick side-lean and flares his jets, and is suddenly skidding laterally at basically the same altitude, diving through a ring next to him without looking at it.  He reverses the move, and just as suddenly as he started moving, he's stable again on the other side.
    "It looks like you've got more than enough get-up-and-go.  Just a matter of figuring out how small the doses of it should be."  He gives her an evaluating look.  "And if I may suggest—if you're having trouble combining thrust with maneuvering, maybe don't at first?  Give yourself a boost of speed, then drift on momentum while you maneuver so you can concentrate on what you're doing."

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    "Easier said than done but sure."  Naomi smiles and then floats to the side a little and then she focuses and flies through one of the rings but can't turn fast enough to hit the next.  She spins and then turns in the air but then turns a second time and ends up facing hte wrong way.  She then turns back to look over at Cyborg.  "Sorry, the first time I really flew… I went from Oregon to New York in just under an hour and then caused a crater in a suburb."  She sighs.  "I'm definitely better now but it takes a lot of concentration."

Kian has posed:
    "Iss take p'rac-tiss," Kían calls encouragingly to Naomi.  "Shoul' haf see I, when I fir's lear'n fly.  I am not good, then.  Am bet-ter now.  Iss p'rac-tiss."
    He watches Vic's lateral through a hoop and back again with interest.  "Ooo," he says appreciatively, "Iss woul' be good in qihár, move like that.
    Perhaps unsurprisingly, words about flight are some of the ones Kían made a point of learning, and he's able to pick up the gist of Vic's suggestion about coasting.  "Yis, iss let s'peed and g'raf-tee do wor'k," he adds to Vic's suggestion, dropping down to the beginning of the course again.  "Iss like this!"
    The birdman builds up a quick burst of speed, then folds his wings in tight, floating through the first ring on a ballistic arc, letting gravity guide the whole process—another quick burst of speed, then wings folded again to arc just over the high wall, then allowing himself to fall freely, spreading his wings only when necessary, gliding under the third barrier, then a kick to the side and up, wings folded, through the fourth ring.
    Then he spreads his wings again to fly more normally.  "Power an' no power.  Iss both good."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "If it weren't easier said than done, Coach would be out of a job," Vic says to Naomi, with the knowing smile of one reciting a well-worn joke.  "You're getting off to a good start—you're just getting to the second or third step and realizing your body has gotten ahead of your brain.  Break it down into little moves and practice them until they're each second nature.  Then, don't just start flying—plan out your path so you can always think about the next move instead of the one you're already doing."
    He watches Kian's demonstration with another grin.  "Yeah, man, that's exactly what I'm getting at," he calls out.  "Granted, you make it look really freaking easy.  Us Earth people are going to have to work up to something like that one step at a time, without the benefit of those years of hard work.  Even those of us who can fly are basically just learning to get off the ground."

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
    A blink and Naomi stares at the way Kian moves.  Like watching an acrobat at the Olympics except it's up in the air instead.  She shifts in the air a bit and then looks over at Victor with a grin before laughing.  "That's always been my problem.  Getting ahead of myself," she states and nods her head.  "I don't like to wait."  She shrugs and then she floats back down.  "Well, that gives me a lot to think about but…."  She releases her powers and returns to her casual outfit and looks at a watch.  "Just as I thought.  I am kinda out of time."  She nods.  "I appreciate you both helping me out."  She nods her head.

Kian has posed:
    Kían waves to Naomi as she leaves.  "Iss mus' p'rac-tiss," he repeats with a smile.  "I am f'ly for… nnh.  S'till lear'n hyu num-ber."  He holds up both hands—eight digits, three fingers and a thumb on each.  "I am f'ly for this many Kyshán year.  I am not know how many Eart' year in Kyshán year."
    He titlts his head at Vic, and circles him slowly.  "Iss coul' have win'g made.  F'ly more easy."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Victor waves to Naomi, then turns to Kian and laughs.  "Funny you should mention it—I sort of do.  The Cyborg parts are modular—I can take pieces off, replace them with other pieces that are better for different things," he explains.  "One of my sets does include wings.  They let me fly long distance without a vehicle, or glide quietly over a shorter distance.  They aren't as dextrous as your wings—they don't move as well—so they aren't really good for tight maneuvering like your Danger Room program helps you practice."  Although he's conscious that Kian is still learning English, Vic doesn't shy away from more advanced vocabulary, he just tries to remember to offer a simpler wording of anything he thinks might trip the newcomer up.

Kian has posed:
    As long as Vic speaks slowly, Kían can pick up most of it.  He has been studying!  "Haf see made win'g, at home.  Iss for… for hwen hur't.  Hwen hur't bad.  Iss… not use much."  Explaining why would take more English than Kían has access to just yet.
    The birdman looks around.  "Iss good maze here.  I am wan' un-der's'tan' bet-ter.  I am can make bet-ter.  Iss good.  Iss can make better," he says confidently.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic eases up on his thrusters and drops back to the floor with a solid ker-thunk.  Once he's down, he tilts his head and gives Kian a a funny look.  "Yeah—I guess you wouldn't know this, but that's how I ended up as Cyborg.  I was in a really bad explosion.  The prosthetics—the made body parts—they are replacements for what was destroyed."  That last word seems a bit hollow—a clinical choice for parts of his own body being burned away.  "I would have died without them.  Prosthetics this advanced are, as far as I know, one of a kind."  He stretches out the fingers of his metal right hand, examining them.  Then, he smiles again, deliberately, and just as quickly as it arrived, the moment of melancholy passes—or at least subsides.  "I might be able to help with the interface.  If you describe step by step what you're looking for, I can show you where the right settings are and walk you through it.  But you should make the actual changes—that will help you learn."