16535/Night Moves

Night Moves
Date of Scene:	10 December 2023
Location:	Cathedral Square - Founders Island
Synopsis:	Catwoman and Batgirl meet in the shadows and discuss tech, of all things.
Cast of Characters:	Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon

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Selina Kyle has posed:
Gotham City at night could be the setting for a gothic horror movie, especially Cathedral Square. Between the old government buildings and the Cathedral itself, there is an unusually high concentration of flying buttresses and gargoyles.

There is also the Gotham Diamond Exchange, which has some of the highest security on the Eastern Seaboard.

Some of the security measures at the Diamond Exchange was designed specifically with Catwoman in mind, which is why she is stepping up her surveillance game tonight. A small drone flies around the Exchange building, filming and recording as it weaves in methodical patterns around the building. And way up in the bell tower of the Cathedral, Catwoman operates the remote and observes mostly through the camera's eyes.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Those who knew Batgirl well knew that she was a purveyer of many a Bat-shaped drones these days. Even some of her throwable batarangs were drones of a mini-form. Thus when one of her flock reports a operational drone in this part of Gotham City, at night, it pings Batgirl with an alert of which is worth checking out.

That bell tower...

What Selina might notice is a new drone joining hers in the sky, followed by three more, all of which are surrounding hers, pulling up around it like a police escort, though their all-black surfaces make them fairly hard to see to the naked eye at night.

There's a crunch of falling pebbles, the sound of a pigeon cooing, then taking to flight from one of the open balconies behind where Catwoman is, and she'll know. She always knows when a Bat has arrived.

"I find this... concerning." A demonic female voice says, modulated by the systems of her bodysuit's neckguard.

Batgirl is perched on the side of the balcony, with Gotham City's skyline behind her, her green eyes staring in to the dark of the tower toward where she assumes Selina still is...

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman tilts her head at the sound, but she doesn't get up. She doesn't run. She could, of course, do both, and it's quite likely that she'd get away. But she's done nothing wrong, right?

Still crouched and overlooking the square from her vantage point, she fiddles with the drone controller. "Yeah? You find it concerning that I've picked up a new hobby? Because I find it concerning that something is interfering with my drone."

Okay, so it's not like Batgirl threw a batarang at it.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
A smirk slides across Batgirl's exposed lips. She stands there on the stone railing of the balcony with the cold December wind rushing across her form, her red hair fluttering off to her side, along with her black and gold cape.

"Is that what this is?" She asks in that modulated voice of hers, meant to put fear in to her foes, but Selina knows it for what it truly is... simply a voice masker, of which she knows Barbara's voice well already. but! When on the job, you get on the job Batgirl.

She steps down off of the stone railing and toward the shadowy bell tower's interior archway.

"You're just bored, I take it? Picking up new hobbies to keep yourself out of trouble..."

The way she says it, it sounds clearly like she doesn't really BELIEVE it.

"My drones are just greeting yours, simple friendship in flying computers..."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman is sitting where she can look down and watch the drone without having to rely on the cameras. She still flies it, although now she is bringing it back to her. Her gaze focuses on flying, so she doesn't look over at Batgirl when she speaks.

"Listen. If you must know I'm testing out some new tech. The Diamond Exchange is a good trial run, since it's some of the highest security in the city." Selina also knows it like the back of her hand, so she has a good baseline of knowledge for the drone's accuracy.

She lowers the controller for a moment and looks at Batgirl directly. "If I -was- up to anything nefarious I'd be down there, not up here."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl moves through the tower's interior now toward where Selina is piloting her drone. Her own drones are operated by AI through her command, with the aid of her wrist mounted computer for instance. In the moment, her drones are just keeping a watch over Selina's as she controls it, no interference preventing it from being flown.

"True enough." Batgirl says as she passes through rays of ambient light coming through one of the tower's side windows. She pauses just inside the shadows now, the gold emblem across her chest standing out even in the dark, along with her gold and bronze hued boots.

"They're afraid of you more than just about everyone else." Batgirl says. "I'm surprised you haven't offered to work for them. I'd imagine it would pay quite well." She says in an even tone, as her voice modulator fades out half way through what she says, her voice's true sound becoming the baseline now as her suit deactivated the modulator.

Her green eyes spare a moments glance toward the drone Selina was utilizing tonight. "Made any discoveries then?" She asks, her eyes going back to the talented thief.

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina chuckles at that, a shadow falling across her face and highlighting her red lipstick. "Yes, well mine aren't the sort of credentials one puts on a resume." she replies wryly. "At least not as Selina Kyle."

"And they -should- be afraid of me, after all the times I've been inside their lovely facility without anyone knowing..." She offers a knowing smile at that.

Her drone pops up, then, and buzzes inside before landing on the stone floor. "I need better camera resolution, for starters. Cameras missed several things that I know were there. The night vision worked well enough, but I'm not completely happy with that, either. I think I need a better IR light source." She starts shutting down the drone. "And it's too loud."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"There's been many cases of hackers being hired by the companies they've hacked." Batgirl fires back with a calm edge to her voice, her cape continuing to gently flow around her form in the wind through the open bell tower. "Seems like the same could be offered for you. But maybe that's too much of putting a cat in the bird house, so to speak." She says with a hint of a grin showing again.

When that drone arrives, it draws her attention, and her gold and bronze boots step toward it. She lowers her gaze toward it, looking it over. "I'd offer to help you bring some of your tech up a few notches, but that might be a terrible idea on my part." She states then as she glances to her left toward Selina, the small smile showing she's still just toying with the other woman through the banter.

Her own drones spread out, and begin a perimeter flight around the tower, some taking a clockwise path, while others counter it in an opposite route.

"I do admire you trying to up your tech game though. Call me biased, but I love my tech toys, if you haven't noticed."

At the railing now, Babs takes a moment to peer over it, before she looks back toward the Cat.

"Lets say you were interested in doing something nefarious tonight. What would be your target down there?" She asks then. "Hypothetically speaking, of course..."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Catwoman unslings a narrow backpack that's sized just right for the drone and its remote. She chuckles up at Batgirl, then. "You don't think I'd turn a few heads if I just strolled into the lobby of the Exchange in my leathers and mask? They'd probably see it as an opportunity to take me out of the picture completely." Not that it hasn't been tried before, of course.

The drone slips into its neat little pocket as she continues. "I do appreciate the offer to help, but I understand the conflict of interest, of course. No offense taken." Zippers are closed up and she slings the neat little package onto her back again. "I know how you Bats are with your toys. Just trying to keep up as I can. For now, let's just say I'm not convinced."

Selina rises smoothly, then, and steps to the railing beside Batgirl. The whip is coiled around her waist, handle within easy reach. "What would my target be down there? What a curious question." she replies. "The obvious target would be the Diamond Exchange, assuming I was after something pretty. But let's not underestimate the value of knowledge, shall we? Government buildings with all -sorts- of interesting records, for starters."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Diamonds are so cliche." Batgirl fires back with a smirk as she regards Selina again. "I've no doubt you'd turn every single head in the place, if you strode on inside it. I mean... that's what happens when you reach legendary status." She says with a coy undertone. A glance given back to the city below before she continues. "I've seen Catwoman bobbleheads for sale online, you know." She says, with her green eyed gaze going back to the other on her left. "You know you've made it to legendary status if you have a wobbly headed figurine for sale."

She's smirking at the other yet still, before she draws in a light breath, and lets it out between her lips, a puff of white steam on the cold air's embrace.

"I won't cramp your style much longer either. I just wanted to... check in, and make sure. You did seem a bit bored the last time we spoke. This seemed like a much more ... pro-active Cat, than I've seen in awhile. You see why I just /had/ to poke my nose in and see what was what."

Selina Kyle has posed:
Selina laughs softly at that. "I've always wanted to be a bobble-head, of course." she replies, red lips drawing into an amused smile. "All the same, Selina Kyle has quite the impeccable reputation as a philanthropist. I wouldn't want to tarnish her image."

"I do appreciate you checking in to make sure I'm not up to no good, although that's usually the role of a cricket, not a bat. Trust me when I say, however, that -when- I return to my old ways it will be nothing short of spectacular. Has it occurred to you that part of the reason I did what I did was out of boredom, but the other part was simply for attention?"

Ah, but -whose- attention? No, the answer is obvious.

"I haven't forgotten about your offer to join the Birds, by the way. Name the time and the place."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
One thing Selina would know about Batgirl is that she mirrors Batman in a lot of ways, and it shows. Such is the way of someone who trained directly beneath the Bat that Selina knows so well. She may be radically different from him in so many ways, but still... there's a 'scent' of Batman in how Batgirl operates too. One difference is that Batman was much less likely to show emotion on the visible elements of his face, Babs is much more open to displaying expressions of her feelings in the moment.

Selina continues to get a soft smile in fact.

"I understand entirely. We all need a little attention sometimes." She states before turning, and pausing, she looks back the way she'd originally come from before she regards the Cat once more. "I'll send you a box of camera upgrades, for your drone." She offers then. "I am sure you'll use them for only the best of purposes."

The smile on those pink hued lips turns in to a little grin before the Batgirl turns to head back the way she'd come, back in to the shadows of the Bell tower once more, back toward that balcony she'd first appeared upon.