9686/The Blue and the... Green

The Blue and the... Green
Date of Scene:	17 January 2022
Location:	The Coffee Bean
Synopsis:	No description
Cast of Characters:	Sofia Quintera, Ted Kord

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Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera wanders in, looking somewhat confused, like she's out of place here. She's looking down at a clipboard she's carrying, with paper notes (primitive!) written on them. Yes, this does seem to be where she was headed, according to her written notes. She looks around the room, resisting the urge to take her hand-held scanner from her hip while people-watching.

Ted Kord has posed:
There's a scream from outside followed by several car horns honking. A small flying drone opens the door and the Blue Beetle flies in on his aero discs. He does a backflip as the discs fly off his feet and onto the back of his costume. He gives a wave outside that generates several swear words and questions of his intelligence and ancestry. The bot closes the door, waiting outside as Ted turns to... bored apathy from the customers and staff.

Ted pulls his hood back and drops his goggles around his neck. He notes the pretty blonde, then the pretty blonde who has green skin. Ms. Martian? He'll find out if this is the case. He goes to the counter and places an order, excusing himself as he walks around Sofia.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera is startled but not obviously so; she's learned to not be jumpy whenever Earthlings ... do their weird screams and swearing. Aha, a bot and a human of some sort! Metahuman? Mutant? Kryptonian in disguise?

There's only one way to find out. She takes out her hand-held scanner, flips some switches and sets a few buttons, and looks around the room. As she does, the scanner follows her gaze; she glances down twice to make sure it's scanning the robot and the person in blue.

Ted Kord has posed:
There is a signal from the bot to the human inside the store. The bot itself registers as highly advanced for Terran engineering but probably a local product. It is likely an AI though a simple one. The man's costume has a plethora of cybernetics, allowing him to alter its cut and hood, control the environment, and recharge the flash gun at his side. The belt contains devices of indeterminate usage but the backpack...

Two Fourth World aero-discs are attached there. The man replaces his goggles and looks directly at Sofia. He waits. Then he takes a sip of coffee and waits a bit more. The man inside costume is the least interesting component. Base line human though 'normal' might be going too far...

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera spares a glance to her scanner and finds nothing of interest, then looks at Ted as if concentrating, brow furrowing in the same way that Superman does when using x-ray vision or J'onn does when reading minds. She's gotta keep up appearances about her "mutant power", of course!

Then she nods and smiles a polite, perfunctory smile at Mr. Kord. "That's quite an interesting get-up you've got there," she comments, her scanner unable to properly parse any Fourth-World tech and just flagging an error.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord does a short runway walk and a turn. He stops near where she's waiting. "Thank you. I do my own tailoring. Did you build that scanner yourself? Beeeeecause I might want to buy you a coffee and try to get a closer look at it. Nothing to say about my bot? He'll be disappointed. Eh, he's a little full of himself. He's a frustrated von Neuman Machine, but a nice guy."

He comes to a decision, gathers his nerve it seems, and says, "What kind of coffee would you like? They have Bones Brand here. It's very good, especially the sea salt and caramel. My name is Ted Kord. I'm the Blue Beetle." He holds out his hand awkwardly.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera tilts her head to the side. "Von Neuman machine?" she asks, unfamiliar with the term. We probably have a name for them in Shi'ar. "I do not care for coffee very much. My name is Sofia, but if we're going by codenames, mine is 'Probe'. Not that I am as famous as the Blue Beetle, of course. I'm just getting started" Her half-smile after that might be a smirk; who even knows if she's being sarcastic? "I cannot read anything from your 'bot; my mutant powers only work on biological organisms." She speaks with a measured preciseness to her words.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera holds her hand out to Blue Beetle and shakes it awkwardly, since that seems to be the thing commonly done here. "I did not make this, it is what is called a 'focus' for my power. It is actually an old television remote control. I am told that with more training, I would be able to scan people without a 'crutch'." It's disguised as a remote of some sort, but probably it wouldn't take much work to prove that a lie, if one were so inclined and/or had the means.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord sips some more coffee. "That's a little funny. Remotes are sometimes called magic wands. That's another type of focus." He notes the handshake in passing.

"So if you don't like coffee, may I buy you something else? Cocoa? Or did you come in here to get warm and look for superheroes?" He lets the remarks about his 'fame' slide. Half the time he gets called Blue Spider-Man.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera says, "Some cocoa would be nice, as long as it contains no hallucinogenic, soporific, or sympathomimetic properties."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord goes to the counter and comes back with cocoa and a plate of cookies. He indicates a table to Sofie and says, "I'm going to sit down. If you want to join me we can talk." So she wants cocoa but doesn't know what's in it? She avoids vernacular. She avoided admitting she also scanned Bobo. Despite this he doesn't get any kind of a menace vibe from her, or much of any vibe except maybe -lost?

Ted gets a lot of those.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera definitely has that lost-and-confused look to her, but gratefully accepts the mug of hot cocoa. She smiles at Ted, only slightly perfunctory, and lifts the mug to sip at it. Then she blows over the top then sips again, hopefully not burning her tongue.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord regards her over his coffee cup. He is silent for the moment. He tries to take in more details her. Clothes? Hair? Makeup? He wishes he could get a look in that focus of hers. "Not from around here, are you?" Shot in the dark.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera shakes her head. "No, I am from Tijuana, Mexico. It is south of California," she helpfully adds. She wears no makeup and her hair is just worn back in a single ponytail, practical and designed to keep her hair from her face.

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera says, "Oh, this is very good, thank you very much, Mister Beetle."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord sips some more coffee. He says, "I'm from Chicago. You speak english very well."

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera smiles. "Thank you, I did very well in school." She has an unidentifiable accent, with enough of a formality to make it clear that she doesn't speak English as her first language. She doesn't at *all* have a Tijuanan accent or even anything recognizably Mexican. And since she's not written as a comic book character, she doesn't randomly inject Spanish words into English conversations for no apparent reason whatsoever. Madre de dios!

Sofia Quintera has posed:
Sofia Quintera looks down at her cocoa suspiciously. "I believe this may actually possess minor euphoric qualities," she states matter-of-factly. "That is probably why I am enjoying this. In addition to, of course, the company." She tries to feign a warm smile, but such things do not come naturally to her.