6790/Field Trip: Central Park Zoo

Field Trip: Central Park Zoo
Date of Scene:	12 July 2021
Location:	Central Park Zoo
Synopsis:	Happy Harbor goes to the Central Park Zoo and it turns out almost normal. Just someone trying to kidnap a Penguin!
Cast of Characters:	Morrigan MacIntyre, Vivian Vision, Madison Evans, Emily Roberts, J'onn J'onzz

---

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan's ordeal with Logan almost murdering James was put to the back of her mind for the moment. For now, she needed to focus on school and the field trip that they had planned. And a visit to the zoo made everyone feel better. Unless they were against the captivity of animals, this was definitely not the place to visit. The kids were getting the star treatment today. A guide through the zoo and a special surprise encounter with one of the zoos inhabitants. Exciting!

Morrigan's at the back of the group as they head in, Duncan's handling the front today given he's taller...and probably looking less tired than his boss. Morrigan's dressed in black slacks, black walking flats and a lavender colored blouse. Her sunglasses are firmly in place over her eyes. "If you guys get hungry, just let us know and we can stop somewhere. There's food like every five feet." she muses as she walks with the twins.

Vivian Vision has posed:
One of the perks of a school trip is that Vivian Vision can fall back on acceptable cultural norms for deciding what to wear. Clearly it's only right and proper to be wearing the Happy Harbour School Uniform for an educationally inclinded school trip.

"Personally I have no need for food," she notes helpfully. Even if it's probably obvious just from looking at the synthezoid student. "But I am more than happy to wait for anyone who does need to acquire sustenance."

The wonders of the internet allow her to instantly know as much about any of the animals as their guide. And to then display the information via holographic screens for anyone else who is curious.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Between watching the various animals as they wander the zoo, and chatting animatedly with the other students, Madison's gaze keeps going back to the Headmistresses hair - puzzlement and curiosity on her features. The white streak wasn't there before. She was //certain// it wasn't there before. Right? ...right.
    "I wouldn't mind of a slice of pizza, at some point," she suggests. "When everyone's ready to eat." She stares at some otters playing in the water for a while - feeling a little jealous. It's a warm day. //She// wants a pool to play in!
    It's as they start to move on that she finally just blurts it out. "Why'd you change your hair?"
    Was the rude? That was probably rude. Shit.

Emily Roberts has posed:
Despite her Grandparents having encouraged her to go on this trip to 'make friends for when she starts school in August', Emily isn't making much of an effort to do that. She keeps a polite distance from the other students, one hand holding the strap of the backpack slung over her right shoulder, the other holding a phone with a *lot* of text on screen.

After squinting at her phone for a few moments she throws a half-hearted glare up at the sky which apparently had the gall to be a beautiful sunny summer day. As if it weren't enough that it's making her phone's screen hard to see it's already feeling like wearing a black denim shirt and a pair of jeans was a terrible idea; even *if* her sleeves are rolled up.

Sullenly pushing her phone back into her pocket, Emily glances up as people start talking about food. Heaving a sigh of relief at the thought that she might get some time to sit down and do something besides stare at animals today.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"And sometimes I envy you on that, Vivian." Morrigan sighs a bit wistfully. Calorie counting sucked! "But also that means you don't ever get the craving for a good donut at two in the morning." she frowns at that. "Food is sometimes a joy." she adds.

The otters, they are adorable. The always put on a show when there are people that are there to watch them, but there is one that defys the norms and is napping on its back.

"Pizza is something we can do." she nods to Madison. Then her question makes her blink, "Ummm...to make a long story short...magic always has a price. It's why I don't always use it." she tells her. "I paid it to save someone I am rather fond of." she states quietly. "But...that's neither here nor there." she muses.

"Is there anything that anyone wants to see in particular?" she asks them.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "So... It's just gonna stay white now?" Madison asks in a curious tone. "I mean - it looks very pretty, really. If you ask me. Which you didn't, but still- ummm. It does. Look real pretty, that is," she supplies. Maybe that covers for her social gaffe of having asked in the first place.
    She then nudges the nearest student to her - who just happens to be Emily, conveniently. "Don't you think it looks pretty?" she invites.
    As for what she wants to see, she gets a thoughtful look on her features. "....I mean, it's not an aquarium. I guess they probably don't have any sharks... Hmm. Do they have pandas?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's... green. J'onn floats in over the zoo, spotting the collection of students with Ms. MacIntyre, then slowly lowers himself down to stand with them. He is presently wearing a polo-style shirt in pale blue, and a pair of knee length khaki shorts. A pair of sandals adorn his feet, other wise he is himself in every way.

"I apologize for being late Ms MacIntyre, there was an incident with an ant and my room."

Emily Roberts has posed:
"Don't suppose they keep a particle accelerator around here..." Despite muttering to herself Emily can't help but feel her cheeks flush when she realises that she's said it loud enough for the people around her, including the Principal of her new school, to have heard what she said. "Haha, uhh, that's... that's a joke. Uhh, penguins I guess?" Everybody likes those right?

Feeling the discomfort that comes from being the momentary center of attention, she fishes her phone back out of her pocket. She can't necessarily see the screen well enough to read it, but she can at least *pretend*.

Of course, her attempts to re-distance herself from everyone fail miserably when the girl next to her nudges her. Looking between the girl and the Principal, and not having payed enough attention to know what exactly they're talking about, she forces a smile "Uhhh.. I mean... I yes?" Hopefully this won't get her called out for sucking up to the Principal or anything.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I am perfectly able to consume food in an emergency. It's an emergency way to generate energy via a chemical process," Vivian admits with a shrug. "And I can simulate all the sensations associated with the enjoyment of eating even without actually eating." She smiles. "But yes being solar powered and not needing to handle waste products is a big advantage."

Her attention turns to Emily for a moment and her head tlts to one side curiously. "If you are in need of a particle accelerator you will not find one in the Zoo. However if you can provide me with details for /why/ you need it I could send them to my Great Aunt Nadia. Her research lab is very well equipped."

Her attention turns to Madison. "You should not be alarmed by a change to someones hair colour. It is very easy to adjust with easily available chemical dyes."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a look to Madison and there's a softer smile to the girl, "Thank you. It's going to take some getting use to...but it'll be fine." she tells her. "You girls are kind." she tells them. "And they don't have Pandas here, but we could always take a special trip to the National Zoo during the school year. The aquarium there is pretty great as well if you like them." she tells Madison.

When J'onn floats down there is a smile, "Hello J'onn and no worries on the lateness. I know how those ants can be." she chuckles to that. "We're glad you made it though." she adds. Then her attention goes to Emily, "I don't believe that they do, but Doctor Stark has one, though I'm not sure he's giving tours for it." she admits. "They do have penguins here though. We can do that." she smiles.

There's a look to Vivian and Madison, "Vivian is right, sometimes people just dye their hair. My case is a rare circumstance." she admits. "How about we head towards the waters to see the penguins? And it'll get us closer to our special interaction." she tells them.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Oh no," Madison says with wide eyes. "What did Bo //do//?" she asks. Why was Bo always causing trouble?! "He's a good ant! Really!" she's quick to defend the carpenter ant. Someone's taken quite a shine to Bo - as if that wasn't already perfectly clear.
    Towards Vivian she's quick to add, "Oh, I'm not alarmed - certainly not alarmed - I was just curious, but my mom is always telling me it's rude to ask questions about how people look, so I asked and then I remembered and I just- well. I didn't want to cause any offense, you see," she explains. "...I hate it when people get upset, especially if it was my fault. You know?"
    She's happy to head towards the penguins as she adds eagerly to Emily, "Penguins are great - aren't they? I'm Madison. What do particle accelerators do? I mean - accelerate particles, presumably, but.... um...." What does that mean, exactly?

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn offers Madison a smile as she brings up the exact ant. "He did not do anything bad, and you are correct that he is a good ant. He managed to get himself caught on the bed and may have chewed through a few things to get free again, nothing so horrible as to worry, but there was clean up required."

He steps over so that he is more with the group, and not apart from it, and immediately sets to watching other people moving through the area. His mind reaches out only to touch for those who might be thinking negatively toward the students or himself, other wise he does not invade.

His attention is drawn back to the group, once he is certain there is no immediate danger. "If the question is asked politely, I see no reason that you should consider it rude to ask. I realize that some may take offense to being asked about their appearance, and I most certainly get a number of questions myself, but there is no harm in asking."

Emily Roberts has posed:
Emily's eyes close momentarily and she does her best not to groan. "Okay, I don't... I was just kidding about the particle accelerator thing guys. I don't actually... well I mean maybe there are a few hypotheses that'd be great to test but I doubt anyone with a particle accelerator is going to allocate years of experiments to some teenage girl's educated guesses."

Taking a deep breath she offers Madison a strained smile "Yeah, penguins are great. I'm from New Zealand so naturally I'm all about birds that can't actually fly. And uhh, particle accelerators are used for experiments in high energy physics. Using them to smash particles together at high speed was how the existence of the Higgs Boson was confirmed." She seems to relax a little as she talks about physics, feeling a little more comfortable.

J'onn's continued presence and conversation finally clues Emily in that he's apparently part of the school too, and looking between him and Vivian she gives Madison a nudge "So... uhh, this is normal here huh? Gonna take a little getting used. My old school was a little more... boring."

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision nods to Madison. "Yes that is a perfectly understandable concern when interacting with people," she agrees. "Although sometimes people should be upset. If they have carried out harmful acts then you should not overly concern yourself if they are made unhappy."

She blinks a few times and then frowns.

"Why would they not grant you time if the research is worthwhile? My Great Aunt certainly would not. She's a similar age to you. If she blocked access based on age she'd prevent half our lab from using it." A beats pause. "If you can email me some theories I will forward them on for her to review."

She gives J'onn a little wave in greeting.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a laugh when it is indeed Bo who got in trouble. But she doesn't say anything. She didn't really need to ask about the ants. "No one is upset, Madison. You're fine asking things here." she tells her. "I'd rather people ask questions than remain silent." she points out.

She then quiets as they make their way into the 'waters' exihibit that holds the penguins and other aquatic creatures. "Oh, they do have some small sharks." Morrigan states to the group as she reads one of the signs. "But penguins first." she smiles. "And you'd be surprised by some of the resources the school has, Emily. But we can talk about that at another time." she tells her. Then she's back to wandering at the back of the group while they enjoy the penguins.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "O.M.G.," Madison exclaims - yes, she says the letters. Yes, it's okay to judge her. "This school is soooooo different from my last school. You're going to love it! A //space ship// landed on the track field last week. I got to go onboard! And when I told it to make 'Tea, earl grey, hot' it did! And also: check this out." She pulls out her phone, unlocking it, and finding photos of ants - ranging from a hamster sized one in her hands, to a cat sized ant in her arms, to a mastiff sized ant beside her, "That's Bo!" she adds brightly. "He's the best - he wasn't hurt was he?" she asks as an aside to J'onn, and finally to a photo of her riding a //pony sized ant.// "This was all for my science experiment for the school science fair," she adds. "This school is //the// best."
    "OH! PENGUINS!"
    Exciteable, and distractable. That's our Mads.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn shakes his head, "No Miss Evans, he was not hurt. He chewed himself to avoid being hurt."

His eyes shift to the penguins, and in that moment he realizes he's never seen them before, except pictures. They were odd little birds, waddling along, unable to fly, and for a moment he felt sympathy for that fact.

Emily Roberts has posed:
Emily looks at Vivian strangely "Your Great Aunt is a similar age to *me*? And she has her own particle accelerator?" Any remarks she might have been prepared to make on what a crazy place America is turning out to be are discarded when the chance of gaining access to the accelerator is brought up. "Are you serious? Oh, uhh, crap umm.." Fiddling with phone to bring up the 'add new contact' screen she passes it to Vivian with an almost breathless "Could you..."

As much as she might have preferred to just stare excitedly at Vivian, Madison's enthusiasm saves her from embarrassing herself when she's forced to respond to the slightly younger girl. And, as it turns out, the girl is a font of interesting information. "Wait, you're kidding. An *actual*... okay. Okay! The thing that made you tea. Was it just like a voice activated hot drink machine, or..." Then the pictures of the ant, and Emily can't help the slight fangirling as she breathes "Wait, do *you* know Doctor Pym?? Hey, no, Penguins can wait we need to talk science!"

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian Vision sighs. "Madison you should probably not be consuming things on alien spaceships until someone has checked to ensure they are safe. You have no way of knowing what pathogens might have been on board. And just because it created a beverage for you does not mean it created a beverage that was non-toxic to humans."

When the phone is held up she just waves her hand. "That will not be required," she assures. Having picked up the relevant info electronically and sent over the relevant contact info. "See. All done. My Great Aunt is Doctor Pyms daughter. He is technically my Great Grandfather and teaches at the school. So you will have plenty of chances to meet him."

Looking over at the penguins she helpfully adds "Did you know scientists carried out a study to work out the pressure with which a penguin can expel waste?" Quite why they did that is another matter entirely. One which she can't explain.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a look over the students and J'onn talking and she takes a moment to just enjoy things. No one was trying to stab anyone. No one was bleeding to death. There wasn't anything happening with the world that was going to need to be taken care of this instant.

That's until the group is passed by someone wearing a penguin mascot costume, waddling quickly AWAY from the exihibit and back towards the doors.

A few seconds later there is the sound of running, "Someone stole one of the rockhoppers!" comes over the radio. Morrigan almost facepalms. "We're not getting involved in that." she points out to the teens and J'onn.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn freezes in place, turning, about ready to do something when Morrigan announces they were not getting involved. His head tilts slightly, "Are you certain Ms MacIntyre? I could very easily find the one responsible before they get too far away."

He's not even certain what a rockhopper is, perhaps one of the penguins. "It would be no trouble at all."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I- oh. I shouldn't? But I already did. Greg said it would be alright," Madison remarks with puzzlement - before looking back to Emily. "It also made a burger and fries for me. And some sort of... chicken dinosaur meat from Greg's home planet? And a salad. It's like a real food replicator! ...I think. It might make other things? I didn't try to make other things." She gets a thoughtful look on her features for a moment - before realizing there were other questions still on the table.
    "Oh, umm, yeah! Doctor Pym helped me with my experiment. I was testing the bite strength of different sizes of carpenter ants. It was really very interesting. The biggest ant broke the pressure gauge, thou- wait. Penguin poo- wait."
    There's just so much going on...
    "Someone's stealing a penguin?! WHO DOES THAT?"

Emily Roberts has posed:
Narrowing her eyes at her phone, Emily checks to see if Vivian's email address actually *is* in there. She's a little surprised when it actually is, having assumed that she was being brushed off. "Wait, so... your Great Aunt, the one with the particle accelerator, is Doctor Pym's daughter? And you'll pass along my hypotheses to her?" By the end of her questioning, Emily's voice has gone up an octave and her eyes are wide.

She doesn't get much chance to linger on the amazing luck that has just befallen her because Madison is describing the food replicator. And that's yet *another* thing to get excited about. "Wait, so it could just make anything? Did the owner tell you how it worked? Do you think it was constructing and arranging molecules on the atomic level?"

The revelation that Doctor Pym *actually teaches* at the school leaves Emily honestly looking a little teary eyed, and all she can really think to say is "This is the best school in the world."

Vivian Vision has posed:
It only takes a moment for Viv to holographically project an image of a Rockhopper for J'onn. "I can also gain access to the security system to locate the thief and direct the police to them," she offers. "I would not even need to leave the group."

She winces when Madison describes her activities on Gregs spaceship. "It's certainly not wise. You just need to look at history to see what happens when you introduced a pathogen to a population that has no resistance to it. While Greg and the ship might mean well that doesn't mean it is a safe place to visit." She sends a list of recommending reading on the subject of xenobiology to Madisons school email address. Some not so light reading for later!

While she's at it she forwards a GIRL brochure to Emilys phone. "I would not have made the offer if I was not serious. That would be very rude. Not to mention cruel..."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan shakes her head at J'onn, "It's whoever is in the Penguin suit. And security can handle it. Not our jobs to stop something like that, even if we have the means to." she tells the Martian. It was rough being given powers, or having them inately, but it was something everyone needed to take to heart, not everything was solved this way.

The security guards seem to have a handle on it though as they go hurtling after the penguin costume thief. It looks like something out of Scooby Doo really. They tackle the person in the suit and the head goes rolling off and a rockhopper hops out, wiggling it's feathers before it poops right by the head of the gentleman that was in the suit.

There's more than a few confused looking people, but they go back to what they were doing now that the momentary excitement is over.

The penguin hops it's way closer to the Happy Harbor group though while the guards take care of Sir Sticky Fingers.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "I, umm, I don't know how it works," Madison answers uncertainly. "He didn't tell me - I didn't ask. But the ship was, umm... consuming? A piece of an old car and using it to make new components to repair the ship - I guess it was damaged. And he told the ship I had access to make," she clears her throat, "'anything available on Earth.'" She just lets //that// hang in the air. "Just //think// how many things are available on earth! I wonder if it could make me an opal like... this big?" she asks - holding her hands out to a baseball size. That would be a pretty big rock.
    And yet she's still thinking so, so small.
    Maybe that's for the best.
    "You should visit the ship too!" She says to Vivian. "I mean, if we were going to get sick from something... wouldn't it be from //Greg// himself?"

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
It should be obvious by the slightly confused expression on J'onn's face that he does not fully understand why he shouldn't help if he can, but he accepts her decision and offers a nod, "As you wish."

He has always been on to aid, no matter how big or small, it was part of his reason for being on Earth and being part of the Justice League. It was obvious that not every thing required the whole Justice League to handle, and the idea of calling them for a missing penguin was actually amusing to him, but still, his desire was to be helpful when he could. After all, Earth was not his native home, he was a guest, it was better to aid and show appreciation for being allowed to stay.

Emily Roberts has posed:
"Is this ship still around? I mean, just, y'know. Penguins and crap are great and all but a field trip to an alien space ship would be pretty sick." Emily looks absolutely unrepentant about dismissing the poor penguins. Who cares about stupid watery birds when there is SCIENCE to be discussed!

Though, after a few moments, she gets a thoughtful look on her face; brows pulling down into a faint frown. "Would it be, like, I dunno, cheating to just like ask this alien guy what the science behind the ship is? How it works and stuff? Like, is it cheating if it's not humans figuring it out for themselves?" It's about as much philosophy as Emily has ever cared to entertain, but she seems pretty serious about the question. "I mean, like, would it cheapen it?"

Vivian Vision has posed:
"I am using a lot of my spare time working on an Earth developed FTL starship," Vivian says modestly. "I have also been on a spaceship already while helping the Titans. We went to Jupitor and met aliens who had giant construction machines."

She doesn't cringe when Madison says she was told she could make 'anything available on Earth'. "Yes, quite possibly. But I would hope the school ran appropriate tests first... I do not wish to get anyone in trouble but it was /extremely/ irresponsible for him to phrase his order like that. You could have made nuclear weapons or a mutant hunting Sentinel robot."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan gives a look to J'onn and there's a bit of a frown to him, "It's complicated human stuff, J'onn. I'm sorry." she tells him. Then she's shooing the penguin back towards its handlers, "You'll be fine with these guys little one." she muses.

Then she looks at the time and ooos quietly, "Alright. We need to get over to the sea lion feeding and then you guys can wander around on your own for awhile." she smiles to the group.

Sea Lion feeding?!

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn accepts that this is a human thing, that actually made sense to him over all. "That I can accept and understand Ms MacIntrye, thank you."

Sea Lion feeding? Oh this he ha to see.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Umm, last time I checked it - well. It wasn't there," Madison admits - obvious disappointment on her features. "I'd even brought the ship a wagon full of stuff for it to eat!" She heaves a sigh. "But Greg'll know where it is! I told him to use the Chameleon Circuit to make it look like a water tower. So if you see any water towers that weren't there before...!" She beams at Emily, then looks at Vivian with an aghast expression. "Why would I ask for something like //that//? I don't want a nuclear winter! People would die!" And she points at the nearby bird as she adds, "And penguins!"
    Then a moment later, "...can't we pet the penguin?" she asks wistfully.

Emily Roberts has posed:
Emily side-eyes the Principal, the abudance of science talk having quite effectively broken her out of her shell as she muses aloud "I'm not sure that's as cool as you seem to think, Miss. But if it means I get to sit down and start writing an email I'm a hundred percent on board."

Apparently she can be a bit cheeky when she's in a good mood. Who knew?

And when they get to the feeding and it's confirmed to be about as cool as watching her Grandma feed the local stray she does indeed take the opportunity to sit herself down, take her laptop out of her backpack, and start composing an email. Science waits for no man, or teenage girl, after all.

Vivian Vision has posed:
"My point exactly!" Vivian informs solemnly. "Giving someone free reign to have access to any technology without considering the consequences is not how someone with access to an advanced interstellar vessal and matter replication technology should be acting."

As they head over to the Sea Lion show she frowns. "Is it normal to think training animals to perform like this is a little cruel?" She looks around the group. "I suppose they might consider it 'play' and enjoy it. But I would really rather have that confirmed by someone with an animal telepathy power." She adds this to a list of things to ask at Titans Tower. Beast Boy might well have an answer.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"Yeah if it was giant ants and things like that it would be better." Morrigan states absently. "If you guys don't want to feed the sea lions you don't have to. There's also the penguin meet and greet as well for those that just want to see them up close." she smiles to that.

She gives them time to do their meet and greets though and there's a bit of a moment taken to gather everyone up. "Alright. We'll do lunch and then you guys have the rest of the afternoon to wander without the adults. If you get into any trouble, just reach out to us. Otherwise we'll meet back at the main entrance fifteen minutes before closing." she tells them.

With that said, she steps back and lets them go on their way. And she was going to go find a shady place to sit and read.

J'onn J'onzz has posed:
J'onn would remain with the students, not in their space but close by to ensure nothing happened, other wise he would look at the animals. He'd never come to the zoo, so this was new to him.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison actually enjoys feeding the animals - and getting to meet the penguins. I mean - sure. It's not giant ants. But sea lions are still //pretty cool//. "We're feeding them fish. Why //wouldn't// they like it?" she asks uncertainly. "I mean - you shouldda seen all the stuff my mom could get me to do for a mini-marshmallow!" She grins at that thought.
    Once the students are free to explore on their own, she decides to stick near Emily, chatting excitedly about all the data from her ant research - and even pulling up photos of the charts and graphs. Somewhere in there she abruptly remembers to adds, "Oh. I'm Madison, by the way."
    Yeah. She'd forgotten that all this while. Oops.

Emily Roberts has posed:
Emily splits her attention between writing a long email to Vivian and trying to maintain her side of the conversation with Madison. Fortunately, Madison's enthusiasm means it doesn't take much effort. And the science is pretty interesting, even if it *is* more biology than she usually cares for.

She isn't at all embarrassed when she has to add a "Oh, right, I'm Em" after Madison's belated introduction. Names are the least of her worries right now between the interesting conversation and the important email she's writing.