6779/Are We Even Old Enough to Drink

Are We Even Old Enough to Drink
Date of Scene:	09 August 2019
Location:	The Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse
Synopsis:	A random collection of loosely linked people accidentally meet up for dinner.
Cast of Characters:	Lory Thumper, Staren, 6386

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Lory Thumper has posed:
     Supposedly this Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse is a clean, safe, neutral area where people from any and all factions can mingle with no risks. Well...to a street cop with a suspicious mind that sounds a bit too good to be true. So, Lory Thumper has made her way here just to see if it lives up to its reputation. She is even wearing normal civilian clothes instead of her usual riot gear, although she does still have her belt just in case.

     The short bunny anthro makes her way inside and picks a table near the center of the room so that she can listen in on the conversations around pretty much the entire room. And since she is here she does at least order something. A nice strawberry daquiri and some fried green beans. She does her best to make it look like she really is only here for food and drink, but her ears and eyes are constantly alert.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is having breakfast. He may have lost track of what time it is. Pancakes with syrup, a bit of cheesy scrambled egg, and corned beef hash. Nice. He happens to glance up and see the bunny cop, recognizing her from the other day. He chews for a bit and swallows his current bite before waving from a table over. "Hey there. Settling into the Multiverse okay?"

Note (6386) has posed:
    Is it really any surprise that Note's found this place? Where she's getting the money to pay for food is anyone's guess, but.....

    But she strolls on through the door, and is quite a sight. The shrimpy young woman's positively and QUITE LITERALLY AGLOW, covered in a thin film of warm and vibrant golden light. Hair that's normally smooth black is raised largely skyward into an arrangement of luminous golden spikes that slowly wave about. The energy that surrounds her makes a faint sizzly, whoosh noise. The display is far, far tamer than what Staren usually sees of this state, though. The young Saiyan-blooded girl's tail swishes about freely and she looks much more relaxed than usual.

    "Wait a moment, that energy feels like..." Picking up on what's happening nearby, she simply hops into the air and gently soars over tables. That might be bad manners, but it leaves her hovering a good five feet over Staren's table. "You come here too?"

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory actually flinches in surprise when she hears Staren speak up. She wasn't expecting to meet anyone she knows! Especially since she knows almost no one so far! "Oh! Staren! I..uh..." She looks around to see just how much attention she might have just attracted, then sighs softly before smiling. "Yes and no. I mean, I haven't really had any trouble so far, but that space elevator situation reeeeally didn't go as I'd hoped." she says.

     Since it will be harder to monitor the room if she is talking to another table she hops up to join Staren. Only to end up frozen in place and staring a bit at the at the glowing golden-haired girl who just floated up to Staren. "Uh...hi there." she offers with a tentative wave. "Friend of yours?" she asks Staren before cautiously taking a seat across from him.

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks at Note. "Of course I do." He can surmise that she's practicing holding Super form for a long time. He nods at the comment about the Space Elevator. "It didn't go as anyone hoped. Saving the guy turned him into an outcast." He looks between Lory and Note. "...Sort of? Not close, but we've worked together a fair bit, when bad guys need to be beat up."

Note (6386) has posed:
    "That's the best time to work together!" Note crows merrily enough, flashing a V sign with her fingers over at Lory, whose strange appearance doesn't seem to bother her at all. Then again, Note seems to have a fuzzy monkey tail to go along with everything else. She lands at the opposite end of Staren's table. "Glad I ran into someone here though... don't have a lotta people to talk to 'cept on the radio."

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory can't help but smile a bit when Note gives the V sign. "Well, why don't you join us then?" Lory says to Note, then blinks at the monkey tail. "Huh. It hadn't occurred to me that there might be people who land between fully human and anthropomorphic animal." she says. When the waiter arrives with her order she waves him down to Staren's table. "It's kind of amazing isn't it? Dozens if not hundreds of worlds full of billions of people each...and it can still seem lonely out here."

     She smirks a bit after that. "But, beating up badguys is always a good way to bring people together." she says before nomming on a fried green bean and sipping her daquiri.

Staren has posed:
    Staren shrugs at the comment about blending human and animal features. A negative expression flickers across his face at the mention of loneliness. "It means that when you don't fit in, it feels even worse." Then he smiles. "But, with the new factions, it's easier to find someplace you belong, rather than feeling outcast if you want to help people but don't get along with the Union. Even people who don't join anyone" he inclines his head toward Note "can find plenty of work and make acquaintances."

    He sips some iced tea. "So what's your world like, anyway?"

Note (6386) has posed:
    "Some people keep thinking I'm part space alien." Note splutters out in exasperated fashion in response to Lory's comment. Still, she self-consciously curls the tail 'round her waist a moment later. She cants her head though with a surge of curiosity, glancing at Staren whjen he opens up this line of questioning! Her eyes then swerve back at Lory. Seems she's listening.

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory lets out a sardonic little laugh at the mention of fitting in. "Tell me about it. Try being a bunny who has pushed her way into a job that is dominated by big animals. I kind of think they let me join the Multiversal Task Force just to get me out of the precinct for long periods of time." She smiles as well as Staren mentions the factions. "My welcome with Multiversal people has been much more friendly than anything back home. Too much prejudice and not enough tolerance..."

     She blinks at Note, then looks up as she ponders. "But...aren't we all basically space aliens out here? I mean, you're only -not- an alien if you are on your home world." she says, then shrugs lightly. "My world is just...normal. I mean, apparently it is unusual in that all the mammalian species have evolved into humanoids but other than that...it's just a normal world. No magic, not super science. Just normal people living normal lives. Back home, I'm an officer in the Mammalopolic Police Department. I thought that was exciting...until I met someone from TSAB who uses spells that seem like massive death rays and that runner up to the MECC who can decimate the landscape with just her fists. Not to mention all the stuff that I saw on my first Multiversal mission."

     The bunny takes a deep breath after that, then smiles. "But, so far I've been able to keep up with just my training and a few typical riot control tools from my world. But, I need a lot more experience with opponents from all over the Multiverse if I want to be really effective out there."

Staren has posed:
    Staren rolls his eyes at the space alien comment, then listens to Lory, both ears rotating towards her. His jaw tightens a bit at the mention of prejudice. "You'd think in the Multiverse people would know better, but there's a surprising amount of speciesism out there."

    "What qualifies as 'super' science rather depends on what's 'not' super-science... given most of the Earths around are 20th or early 21st century in time, though, I suppose anything past the early 21st-century counts. Never mind that these 'baseline' earths are developing computer technology far faster than Earth did in the past of some 'futuristic' worlds..." Staren makes a lot of finger quotes.

    "I believe the TSAB has policies against death rays and favors magic attack spells specifically because they can be set to stun."

    She finishes, and Staren nods. "I see." He takes a bite of pancake. Chew, chew. Swallow. "I'm sure you'll get plenty of practice soon enough. There's the Shrine of Adversity, and simulators, and everything."

Note (6386) has posed:
    "Decimating the landscape with fists is REALLY easy. I'd show you but they'd get mad if I did it here." Note points out as if this somehow normalizes matters for Lory! It probably isn't so reassuring though, is it.

    "I keep getting surprised by how many people don't know how to fly... so uh..."

    She stares pretty hard at Staren here. "I'm starting to see just how much stuff I -don't- know outside of fighting thanks to talks like this! Hgh."

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory nods lighto to Staren. "Multiversal people seem to mostly know better. I mean...this young lady didn't even blink at me being a rabbit. But, on my Earth there is pretty hard prejudices. Things that carried over from when we were all running on just instinct. Like foxes and weasels being untrustworthy." she says.

     Then it is her turn to roll her eyes lightly and smirks just a bit as Staren gets technical about what counts as super-science. "Okay, I think that is a bit nitpicky when a giant robot or a nanobot suit or a giant space ship what can travel faster than light or technology that seems to be magic are pretty good indicators of super-science." she says.

     Lory blinks before raising an eyebrow at Note. "E-easy, huh?" she says a bit uneasily. She coughs lightly into a paw-like hand, then smiles. "Well, I am trying to get more experience in fighting, myself. So if you want to meet up in the Shrine sometime I'm all for it." she says to Note, then looks to Staren. "You too, Mr. I Don't Think Mecha are Super Science." she adds with a smirk.

Staren has posed:
    "My aunt is part fox. ...My parents did always act like she's kinda untrustworthy, though..." Before Staren can ruminate on this, though, other subjects come up. "Sure, but where's the /line/? I didn't say mecha don't count. And sure, you still need practice fighting a 'super-science' opponent and dealing with stuff like homing missiles, I imagine."

    Staren takes a sip of his drink. "So... wait. You're discriminated against for being a rabbit. Foxes and weasels are too. So which species /rule/ the world?"

Note (6386) has posed:
    "Why would being a rabbit be weird? I'm just glad you're not with those Red Pants army weirdos." Note glances over her shoulder at Lory, giving her a very confused look. "You know the King of Earth's a Dog man, right? The line of King Furry's been at it for a long, long time." She totally doesn't see any issue with Lory's nature here at all!

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory's ears splay as she hears about Staren's aunt. "See, that's what I mean. Foxes and weasels are just people like any other species. It is just a stereotype with no real foundation." she says, shaking her head. At Staren's question about just where to put the line on super science she thinks a moment. "Well...it's kind of like super powers I guess? If a random citizen from an average world would consider it to be bordering on impossible, it's probably super science."

     She addresses Note next, giggling a bit. "It shouldn't be weird, but on worlds where they don't even have animal people it is weird to them. It is kind of unfair to assume I know what your Earth is like, though. My Earth has many governments, and I live in a democratic republic." She looks to Staren again after that. "As for which species rule, typically it is the large prey animals like elephants, buffalo, hippos, horses...things like that. They have the presence to be imposing while still being able to draw in the votes of the majority small prey population."

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods at the explanation. "So it's not human stereotypes carrying over. It's a larger non-carnivore population worried about a carnivore minority eating them. Hmm." Staren considers that. "Would they freak out at humans eating meat," he gestures to the corned beef hash with his fork, "or is it more because predators actually /did/ eat people in the past and it's never been forgotten?"

Note (6386) has posed:
    The situation just got far beyond what Note really understands! She keeps looking from one of the two to the other, rather clueless about all of the implications and the depth of this conversation. "Yeah... see what I mean? I've got no idea why you're asking questions like this."

Lory Thumper has posed:
     Lory smiles to Note. "Well I'd say it is because knowledge is power. The more you know, the better decisions you can make." she says in a bit of a teacher kind of voice.

     "I think it is mostly that the predators did eat people, and not even that long ago historically." Lory answers Staren, then taps her chin as she thinks. "I think it was...only about 200 years ago that the Predator Purges finally stopped. Before that, the predators really -were- still eating people. Prey animals were generally not as strong or fast or smart as the predators, and so even though they outnumbered predators by a lot, prey lived in fear all their lives. But, sometime around 200 years ago prey started finding old human weapons caches. Then...they quickly took up arms and started exterminating the predators. It wasn't until most sentient predators were on the verge of extinction that prey-controlled governments started offering them safe living areas in return for accepting laws that prohibited the killing of any species that displayed sentience."

     Lory shifts a bit uneasily after that. "I...can't pretend that we herbivores are really okay with eating meat, but we understand that some animals literally can't eat only vegetables, and so laws were put into place protecting carnivores' rights to hunt and eat meat so long as it comes from a non-sentient species. Which on our world are fish, birds, lizards, and insects. So far it has worked fine for the last couple hundred years."

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods to Lory's asssessment of why he's asking questions.

    "Interesting. Well. I imagine most carnivores and small herbivores will refuse to leave their homes regardless, but those seeking new opportunity will find it in the Multiverse."