2019-11-03 - Further, Higher, HAXZ0RZ

Summary:

Carol wrote a book! What could possibly go wrong?

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: Sun Nov 3 20:35:08 2019
Location: Explorers Club Bookstore

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

anya-corazonkoriandrkamala-khanroxanne-spauldingcarol-danvers

It's a good day for a book signing! In this case, Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, is doing a book tour, as she's published an autobiography. "Higher, Further, Faster." And actually, she wrote it herself, honest!

(Okay, she did get a few tips from some writer acquaintances, but still, the words are all hers. They helped edit and stuff, though.)

In any case, she's doing a book tour! The nice thing about being based in New York, there's no shortage of bookshops. So she's kicking off the tour here at the Explorer's Club, since that's a spot that definitely resonated with her. Currently, the Avenger is in her full costume, smiling pleasantly and greeting the people that come in line as the event did just get underway…

Two hours ago, Kamala Khan was about to board the ferry to head from Jersey City to New York City for the book signing. But no, in the middle of her boarding, ninajs attacked. Not just ninjas - CANADIAN NINJAS.

An hour ago, Ms. Marvel is sitting on top of a smoking T-54 tank, scolding. "I'm not sure if you're the reason people put pineapple on pizza, but it was a terrible idea, even if it their rights, but that doesn't mean you need to attack everyone to force your pineapple pizza agenda on everyone else! Think about that while you're in jail."

If you didn't think Kamala wouldn't be here, you'd be sadly mistaken. She's already got a copy of the book in her hands, but that's not what she's wanting to have signed. Instead, she's pulled down the poster from her wall and has it rolled up. Clutched against her chest, the Pakistani girl is dressed in a brightly colored t-shirt with wool-lined leather jacket, ushanka, blue jeans and cloth boots.

Bouncing on her heels in excitement, Kamala stands on her tip toes to see how long the line in front of her is. And then she sighs, slumping. Hopefully, Carol won't leave before she gets the autograph. Even if Ms. Marvel probably /could/ get an autograph. Or come in costume. But she didn't think about these things!

Koriand'r is waiting patiently in line for her turn to speak with the Marveled captain. Her friends advised her that her normal look probably wouldn't go over well with the notoriously discpline-oriented Captain, so, grateful for their assistance, she promised to wear something more conservative for the meeting. She arrives in a long-sleeved, high-necked top… that leaves her midriff bare… and hotpants… and thigh-high boots, all of it in violet latex with silver trim and large green gems.

It's called a compromise, okay?

She has no book in her hands as she waits her turn to approach the space captain. There's a noticeable gap in the line behind her as the people in line decide they don't want to risk finding out if her hair is actually on fire. She pays this no mind, just humming cheerfully to herself and waving hello to her friends as she waits her turn.

Following the formal night at Luke's Bar up in Harlem, the bar was mysteriously closed for a few days days. When it finally reopened, no one had seen sight or sound from one of its bartenders/cocktail waitresses, Anya Corazon.

Text messages sent to her have gone completely ignored, at least until now, and of anyone who has tried to reach her, the only person she responded to was one Roxanne Spaulding.

<Hey. Sry for (ghost emoji). Meet me at Abu's Bodega, 20 minutes (black heart emoji)>

That was an hour ago.

Two young women come strolling down the street at a nice, even, leisurely pace. One of them is Anya Corazon. Her bright pink hair has been teased and hairsprayed up into a vicious mohawk, her scalp freshly shaven to an absolute bare minimum, the stubble dyed purple. Her frame is crest by a black leather, punk rock style jacket, complete with studs and a gigantic patch of Kurt Cobain's face stretched across the back. The shirt she's wearing is a ripped up, black bodysuit with a bright red swastika on it - don't flip out yet, folks, for there's a circle and a slash through the swastika, just like the 'No Smoking' sign. A common emblem of the antifa/socialist movement. Fishnets are stretched out over the bodysuit and also over dark purple tights on her legs, either a DIY project or a bodystocking, but the black denim shorts will keep that secret a secret indeed, and her feet are encased by black combat boots that rise up to just below her knees, covered in buckles. The backpack slung over her shoulder is covered with patches, ranging from things like 'FUCK THE POLICE' to an artful picture of Fred Rogers.

Anya is carrying a brown bag by the top, concealing what must be a jar or bottle of something inside. She and her counterpart have not yet entered the bookstore, but they can be seen from across the street as they come around a corner.

OUTFIT: The usual: Leather jacket, purple skirt, purple crop top, chunky boots. Cigarette.

THE SITUATION: "Anya, do we gotta go to this? It's a BOOK signing. Nobody even BUYS books anymore!" Roxy is doing like, three things at once. Two of those things include her cellphone (a beat-to-shit Galaxy Something Old), and an increasingly perplexed expression while she navigates Amazon. The other thing includes occasionally trading out the cigarette in her mouth with the brown-bagged bottle she's carrying. As to what's inside? Anybody's guess. Whatever it is doesn't smell like paint thinner (unless Anya's real good at mixing Hidden Drinks).

"See? I just DOWNLOADED the book." Illegally. Roxy doesn't say that, but nowhere on the Amazon page she's showing Anya does it say 'Thank you for your purchase.' IN FACT, it is a Google search engine showing results for 'CAPTAIN MARVEL STUPID BOOK DOWNLOAD'. Roxy maneuvers across the street with Anya, slips her own bottle into a bag she's carrying, and pauses in front of the bookstore. She frowns - place is packed.

"Huh. All this for a book? Didn't know there was a, uh. -Book fandom-. It's like that Barry Cropper author all over again." She's hard to hear over the collective Audience Mutterings, overheard exclamations along the lines of 'Captain Marvel's here! This is awesome! She saved my mom from an exploding gas station!' 'I love her hair!' 'Holy shit is that STARFIRE?'.

Roxy puts out her cigarette on the bookstore's doorframe, and shares a sidelong glance with Anya. It's nice being low-key — and in Roxy's case, so barely-powered that you don't quite register to the local news.

Captain Marvel is definitely not going anywhere anytime soon, from the looks of it, as she's having a lot of fun! She signs books or posters or T-shirts, depending on the request, and she also is taking selfies with people requesting them.

There's also a sign that says that all the proceeds are going to charity, since… well, yeah, she's an Avenger. It's a whole thing.

Then, well, Koriandr shows up in line, which causes Carol to smile, "Kori! I didn't think I'd see you here!" She crosses around the table, and (assuming Koriandr doesn't object) gives the younger woman a firm hug! "How have you been? I haven't seen you in months! Is everything okay?"

Kamala can easily see this from her vantage point in the line, as can Roxy and Anya for that matter. At least Kamala is getting close to the table…

Koriand'r doesn't object at all, returning the hug and pairing it with a warm kiss. She draws back easily as if none of that was weird, and explains, "Yes, I wished to make words with you when you had time to speak them. It regards a friend who requires the favor." She smiles prettily (definitely the kind of smile you make when you're buttering someone up for a favor) and she steps aside from the line to make room for the people behind her. "But it is perhaps not the most appropriate time? I shall bide your fan-kingdom's audience."

As the line shifts and moves, Kamala really really wants to cheat, stretch her neck and peek. But nope. She's behaving. However, when Carol calls out to Kori, the young woman has a momentary small cringe and she looks down, her cheeks darkening, and expression unreadable for a moment.

But it's Roxy's complaining that gets her attention. "If you don't want to get her autograph, you don't have to? I mean, she's done all of this amazing stuff and helps out and just is amazing, there's no need to pick on people that admire her. I mean, people go to see football players and wrestlers and even voice actors…" and Kamala loses any steam that she has and just slumps a little. She illegally downloaded the book?

She did. And as Roxy is flaunting that, the screen flashes a few times, and then changes. A figure shows on the screen, and he blinks his eyes a few times. «Well Hello There!» comes the text on Roxy's phone. And imediately..

«Downloading Contacts …. 25% Complete» and rising.

And then it jumps to the next phone via the local Wi-Fi.

Kamala's eyes widen as she watches the figure appear on the screen above the store that shows Captain Marvel in her costume.. but now it's a mecha-goblin that appears.

"You don't have to," Anya tells Roxy, "but I have to. You can wait outside, y'know, or we can-" She suddenly shoves an arm in front of Roxy, blocking her from taking another step as some dude bolts past them and into the open door, nearly striking them both.

"Hey!" she shouts. "Watch where you're going, pendejo!"

The man turns and looks at the two, a condescending look in his face. "Go faster then!"

Anya answers him by shoving the brown bag under her arm and flipping him the bird. Then she squiggles her hand around her backpack strap and shoves the brown bag inside, concealing it from view. "God, sometimes I hate boys," she utters to Roxy as the young man rushes into the bookstore. "Harry Potter," she says. "And that was made up. This is real. Don't you think that's cool?" She eyeballs Roxy skeptically before pulling the door open and stepping in, falling into line behind Rude Dude.

She's certainly not giving the back of his head the hairy eyeball or anything.

Carol grins at Kori, and nods, "Sure… we can talk about this in a bit. Just come over here, and we'll get you out of the way…" She turns towards the next person in line, but that's when she catches the figure on the screen morphing into the mecha-goblin. "Well, and here I was expecting the Wrecking Crew." She glances back and forth, eyes narrowed as she realizes something is definitely wrong, but not quite sure as to what

It's cool. Roxy's distracted anyway - her phone started acting funky. She's used to being Sistered in the hardcore fashion (See Gen-13: ANY OF THEM), and Anya's Friendly Forearm Block meets Roxy's forehead in a way that immediately has the dual-dyed gravitista pausing in her footsteps. Roxy is trying - and failing! - to get her phone to stop falling prey to adware! Really, the only thing that pulls her attention upwards is a swear word. Pendejo! It's been a few since she's heard that.

"YEAH," rejoins the leatherclad mini-punk, but the guy's already turned around. To Anya, she offers a roll of slender shouldesrs. "Hey," she replies cheerily. "If Bald Spot wants to go fast-"

"I HEARD that," comes a grumble from up front.

"Let 'im. I, uh. Think I messed up my phone." Roxy hands her phone to Anya - what is happening here, please? - just as Kamala starts in on the berating. It has the other teen's face stormclouding pretty fast.

"Yeah, sure! So she hops in a time machine and goes back to the DARK AGES to write a BOOK about how she hadda MAKE HER OWN BUTTER, right? It's the futu- present! We don't need books! They give me headaches!" Her voice rises. She has completely forgotten about her phone. More important things are happening.

Koriand'r perks up when she hears Kamala's voice, and she almost lifts into the air to try to spot the very small human through the crowd, but then Carol is shepherding her off to the side. Best to be polite, then. She has no phone on which to observe the impending cyber-attack or possibly physical attack, so she remains blissfully unaware of whatever that's all about, just asking Carol, "Wrecking crew? Is something in need of demolition? I am very good at that," she offers modestly.

On the main screen above the store, the billboard changes further, and the techno-goblin is standing next to a whiteboard. "Oh my, what wonderful information I have today! Since Ms. Marvel won't come out to play.. I found this young lady instead. So rivetting. And goodness, the way she bends to peer pressure."

On the screen comes up a phone prompt.

Unknown: Come on baby, just a little peek.

RS: I dunno, it's embarassing. I'm not /Cait/.

Unknown: Oh come on, you know you're my babe.

RS: XD XD XD just dont show anybody this picture okay baby u gotta PROMISE <3

Kamala's features blanch further. "Don't do it!" the young woman cries out. Going after /her/ was one thing. But now he's going after someone else. "I don't even know who you are, but I'm sorry I beat you in World of Warcraft!"

Picture downloading: 45% complete - on the main screen, for everyone to see.

The moment Anya has Roxy's phone in hand, her eyebrows are shooting upward. "Did you-" she starts, glaring at Roxy for a moment before returning to the phone. She bats at it a couple of times, trying the basic ways to stop and block malware, but when the image jumps to the WiFi and ends up on the screen, her eyes widen. "Ummm. Hold on."

If there's one thing she's good at, it's tech. NYU just graduated her early with a double BS in computer sciences and electrical engineering, after all.

"Books are awesome," Anya says in a distracted manner as she starts the process of hacking into Roxy's phone, not only to stop whatever is happening, but to try and trace it to its source. If there's one thing she's good at beyond spidering and mouthing off to people, it's this. "Seriously, if you wanna do this again, I'm totally giving you a book before I get you any-" She stops for a moment, glancing up from the phone to see who is around before she admits to buying booze for an underager. "-do you any other favors."

Glancing up at the screen, Anya briefly looks at Roxy before going back to the cell phone, trying to reverse hack… whatever this is.

'Hey, what's on the screen?'
'Who's RS and what's this picture?'
'No, who's CAIT?'

Roxanne is pulled out of her argument with Kamala not by the start of the conversation, but by mention of her sister's name. It's then that her vision tracks to the uplifted eyes at the book signing, tracks from them to the big-screen TV above it all. She doesn't say much of anything, do much of anything, or really react in any sort of visible, discernible way. Her eyes widen, sure - in this moment, they're practically pools of the thinnest lavender-hued ice, her lips frozen in a brittle, cherry-pink smile.

Her pupils constrict, and she swallows. In this moment, it reverberates in her ears like a drumbeat in an empty auditorium. She *knows* what that picture entails. That picture… is going to get her *kicked off of this game*.

Roxanne is trying to marshal her thoughts and failing. At the same time and completely coincidentally, Anya will feel the featherweight phone in her hands suddenly posessed of the weight of a military tank, ushered groundwards with a force and compulsion that suggests an enormous hand had *SLAPPED* it towards the floor.

"H-HEY!" Roxanne shouts, finally able to make some kind of decision about what's going on.

"THIS IS A BOOKSTORE! THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES!" Bookstores are not libraries.

Carol blinks at the hacking going on the big screen, then she looks over at her 'handler', "Shut that off now! See if you can trace where that's coming from!" She starts glowing as she looks around… but really, fighting a hacker like this is a bit beyond her experience.

Now, if this was Doctor Doom or something? Sure, she'd punch him into next week. Also, he has way more class than this, even if he is an evil dictator. As it is, if the percentage gets too high… well, she'll just blast the bloody screen. She can buy them a new one*.

  • In other words, she'll guilt Tony into buying them a new one.

Koriand'r is less concerned with money than Carol is. And personal property. She sees her friend's image being uploaded onto the screen, and delight at being reminded of her friend is suddenly replaced with suspicion at what seems to be nudity is suddenly replaced with rage at the realization of what Roxy would feel if someone saw this.

People see Koriand'r cheerful all the time. They see her relaxed. They even see her distressed and hurt. Until now, most of them have not seen her furious. Her natural glow explodes into a sunlight-bright flash; her hair turns translucent as the fire at its tips races up its length to her scalp, lighting from within; her eyes become phosporous grenades in her face; wispy green flame fills her palms. "YOU WILL NOT!" she screams (for those who have heard her sing, it might be odd to note her voice remains very high-pitched in fury) and she hurls a pair of viridian fireballs at the screen, the first warping it into grotesque bubbles like the surface of an overcooked pizza, the second melting the display to slag. She whirls around on the crowd, rising three feet in the air as she does, her hair a scarlet half-helix contrail whipping about her with the urgency of her wrath. "Who has done this horrible thing?!" she demands of the fans waiting for their autographs.

A normal person would've dropped that phone and likely ended up with a broken wrist. The phone, however, hovers in Anya's hand for the briefest of moments, muscles beneath her jacket bulging against skin. It takes a second longer than it should have, but she releases the phone, even going so far as to let it throw her hand downward in a violent spasm.

"Dammit, Roxy!" she spits out, turning to stare at her friend and pretending (surprisingly well, considering how bad she's been at this sort of thing in the past) that she smacked it with her hand. "I was trying to reverse hack that!" she blurts out.

Huffing, the young woman shoulders her way out of the line and goes running for one of the cash registers. "Lemme lemme lemme," she says to the confused employee, waving her hands to shoo the cashier out of the way. However, before she can access the computer, Koriand'r is melting a plasma screen, and she's shielding her eyes and looking on with wide-eyed wonder.

Anya is making very little progress. The virus is alive and breathing, jumping and using firewalls to defend itself against from Anya - the same firewalls that Anya was trying to use to defend against the virus that's has taken root in the woman's phone.

Then the phone is smashed - which should solve the issue. Right? Nope.

On the screen, the picture finishes downloading.. and..

… then just before Roxy's pale thighs come into view, Koriand'r's plama bolts melt the screen, destroying it utterly.

But on every phone that is connected to the store's wi-fi, the picture shows up.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/imagecomics/images/7/79/Freefall.png/revision/latest?cb=20070130053659

Ready for school, babe!

Then the screens fade, and leaves the words: You know what I want, Marvel.

Roxanne is just going to stand here! She's really in a state of existential panic, and while everybody else in her team might lunge into action, Roxy's always had a particular flare for - and vulnerability to - her image being wrecked. She's a punk drama queen! She smokes, she's cool, she has the hair! She can't be outed as a… as a… Roxy's eyes are screwing up while she sorts her thoughts on all this.

Starfire's launching plasma beams at televisions? This is backdrop to some internal anguish.

Anya's shouting at her for something? Roxy doesn't even realize. She's used to being yelled at - sue her! She has an interesting collection of photos! She's inspired! Unfortunately, Anya's Metal Gear Solid over by the cash registers right now and out of earshot.

And then. And then!

A unique blend of relief and *even more anger* floods Roxy's mug, and she's finally able to spur herself into action. Who the HELL is letting her schoolgirl look out of the bag before next semester starts!

"Damn it! That's my — I gotta buy all new clothes now! EVERYBODY'S GONNA COPY THAT LOOK! That was A DIME, you JERK! It was the DOPEST!" Roxanne pushes past Bald Spot, moving towards Starfire, Danvers, and whoever else is nearby. She pushes a finger squarely into Carol's sternum and fixes the celebrity superhero with some *serious* heat.
"Are you a hacker?? Do you KNOW how to HACK the BAJEEZUS out of this Samsung Supervillain? My, like, decency's all BARF and stuff right now!! It took me forEVER to put that look together! We gotta get this guy!!"

Carol blinks at Kori blowing up the screen, then sighs, "Um, yes, the Avengers will foot the bill for that…" And then she turns to see an enraged Roxy poking at her sternum. Which, well, not many people would do that to her in the first place.

"You're Roxy, then? I like your attitude. And I agree, we have to get this guy." She frowns, looking around, "Unfortunately, hacking and computers is not my area of expertise. I'm in complete favor of punching this guy repeatedly if we catch him, though." With that, she looks around, seeing if there's any other clues… since, well, she knows people. And one thing she knows about villains that are exhibitionists like this?

They love to see the results of their work first-hand. Hackers or not.

Koriand'ror probably Starfire as of this moementglares out at all the fleeing patrons who have decided an angry cometwoman is not worth price of admission, though their rush to get away does soothe her anger somewhat; it's a goodish sign that if the enemy is among them, then he is defeated. Her scorching nimbus abates somewhat, and she touches down to ground to ask Roxy solicitously, "Are you well, friend Roxy? Do you know who has done this to you?"

"Holy shit this thing is alive," Anya mutters to herself as she goes back to the computer. "This is… what the…" Her fingers are flying across the keyboard in rapid fire, and she's getting nowhere. This from the young woman who hacked the DoD database at 15; not to be malicious of anything, but to prove that she couldn't. She didn't even download anything, she just planted an .mp3 file from a particular old school hip hop band (Outkast) about a particular war in the middle east (Bombs Over Baghdad) because it seemed like a fun way to protest America's obsession with war!

She stands back when the picture reveals itself to be… not nudity. She looks up to watch Roxy with a frown, and then looks back at the computer to see a message… one she assumes is meant for Carol.

"Everyone, AIRPLANE MODE," she shouts, her voice suddenly carrying over the crowd. "On your phones. NOW!"

Then the young woman is climbing up on the counter, decency be damned, and pulling the power plug from the store's router/modem combo. No power, no connection, at least to the store's network. Something tells her it's too little too late. "On second thought just turn off your phones," she announces to the group. "It's probably too damn late, or whatever, but-" She blinks, realizing that she's shouting at a room full of people while standing on a checkout counter wearing that outfit. A pause. Perhaps longer than she intended. "-but, look I know this stuff, okay, so just do it!"

She demonstrates by pulling out her cell phone and immediately powering it down.

Kamala is crest-fallen. This was her problem to deal with back in Jersey. In fact, she hadn't even brought it up to Carol the first time they met. But now - it wasn't /her/ that the hacker went after. It was someone else. Someone that Kamala was /just arguing with/ and oh god, she's even more guilty now. As others are shutting off their phones and heading towards the doors, Kamala is making her way to the front.

Once there, the young Muslim woman looks towards the group. She's so outclassed. But she knows one of them. "Hi, Kori." she greets the alien woman. And then she looks to Carol. "Hi. Uh." But she's dumbstruck for a moment, and really, she looks to Roxanne. "I am /so sorry/!" she suddenly gushes. "I didn't know he would know I was here, and I had my phone off and everything and and I said I wouldn't do what he wanted me to do and and…"

Attitude? Danvers doesn't seem to understand that Roxy is channeling pure fashion-fueled fury. So much fury that it takes Roxanne a minute to realize that Captain Marvel knows her name and really probably shouldn't. Did Rainmaker do this? Is Rainmaker outing them to random (CAPTAIN MARVEL IS NOT RANDOM) strangers!!? Rgh!! Roxy's too angry about her PRIVACY being INVADED in the worst POSSIBLE (not even close) way to think about her friends betraying her. It is, in fact, SO bad that she…

"Yeah! You got it, Gabrielle." Roxanne doesn't know what to call Danvers. She's going to settle for referring to Xena's stalwart companion and frequent fantasy partner. Figures they're both Amazonian, that'll work. "I'm gonna go over here and help my friend get everybody's phones turned off! You handle the bad-guy beatdown and I'll make sure the sheeple turn their Palm Pilots off or whatever!" Roxanne briskly moves away from Captain Marvel because no she does not want to have to tell anybody who she is or what she does.

On her way to Anya, Roxy is hailed by Kori! Kori looks *absolutely wicked* right now. "You look absolutely *wicked* right now, Kori!" Roxy squints up at the blazing superhero - there's a watchword about books and fahrenheit 451 in here somewhere, but Roxy hates books. "I got NO IDEA who did this to me! Morpheus maybe? Wasn't Morpheus a hacker? Or, uh. Lawnmower Man?" Roxanne is *really* struggling. "I gotta go help Anya though! We're working with the lil' people since we're lil' people, you know how it goes."

DUTYSWORN, ROXANNE HELPFULLY leaps over the cashier's counter and shouts from behind Anya. "TURN YOUR PHONES OFF."

When Kamala calls out to her, she'll find the teen safely ensconced behind the register and countertop, one hand in the open/unguarded cash drawer. Listen. That outfit cost money that Roxy does not have. Outfits do not grow on trees.

"H-hey! Don't be sorry!" Roxanne plants a palm firmly atop the cash register, as though she'd coincidentally placed it there. "So that means you're a hacker, right? How do we hack this guy into the ground?" Roxanne has a poor understanding of what hacking is.

Carol does follow Roxy, a bit curious about what's going on here as she looks at Kamala, "Hey… you know this guy? Do you know how to find him?" Because she obviously isn't in league with him, and Carol hasn't quite put two and two together with Kamala and Ms. Marvel, so…

With that being said, she taps her hidden earpiece, since Kree tech should be something a bit safe from this guy. She then says, "SHIELD, this is Agent Danvers. Yeah, bit of a disruption here, I need data logs on network activity from my position. Yes, I know it'll take a while, but we need this done fast. Thanks." She then glances over towards Kamala, waiting for her to explain a bit more about this guy's deal.

Anya has absolutely no idea that Roxy is planning something behind her. She doesn't have any kind of spider-sense, unlike her counterparts. This would all be so much easier if she were in costume. Who's gonna listen to some punk girl with a swastika (albeit, a 'no nazis' one but the image alone makes a statement most people just don't want to talk about, much less broadcast) on her bodysuit.

Suddenly she's going pretty quiet, and her expression seems to fade. She looks from Kori to Carol to the woman Carol is talking too, and shakes her head. With one leap she hops down from the counter, and turns slightly, now sideways to Roxy.

"It doesn't work like that," she answers Roxy quietly.

Finally approaching the other two, Kamala closes her eyes and looks like she's on the verge of tears. "So there was this guy…" Roxy will know THAT'S HOW ALL THESE STORIES START. "…he was in my guild. He went by LeetSkills, and we paled around on quests and things. Then he started getting all creepy. Like, he knew where I lived and went to school, and then he knew my name. I mean, not SlothBaby, but my real name."

"Then he found out.. well.." Reaching into her pockets, she pulls out a small piece of blue fabric, and then reaches up, placing it on her face. Hopefully Carol will recognize the stretchy young woman from the rooftops of Jersey City. "…he knew about my.. writing about you, and my other work, and my feelings and…" she's got her hands to her side, in small fists of rage. At least she's not embiggening them. "When I finally tracked down LeetSkills.. he didn't even know. He'd bene off his account for months.. something took it over. He had to make a new account. The admin said that he had been hacked, but his acocunt was still there and and.. interacting."

Reaching back into her pocket, she gets a little flash drive. There's a little lightning bolt on it. "…this was sent to me a few days ago. At school. And he wanted me to give it to you to put in the Avengers' computer. Or do it myself. I told him no. That I wouldn't betray you, myself.. everyone.. for whatever was on this. And he started sharing information. On my friends. My family. On my most intimate thoughts.. and I thought I could weather the storm. He even threatened to tell the world what I did. But I'm just some girl from Jersey. Noone would care, right?"

"…then he came after someone else, tonight. Someone I don't even know. And was willing to hurt her because I wouldn't obey.. and.."

"Kamalafriend!" Koriand'r cries and cheerfully hugs the smallest human in the room, unmindful of the fact that her aura is pretty tropical-hot right now, though it's rapidly cooling as anger is replaced with delight at seeing so many friends. Then, with no awareness of how off the hug is in timing relative to that speech, "Someone is threatening to show your diary to the world? Then he is a villain and we must destroy him," she says firmly. "I will not have anyone do this to my friends." Her hair is pretty lambent at the moment, but still at least three steps away from the nova of fury it was a minute ago. She folds her arms forbiddingly across her chest and asks, "How do we locate this fiend?"

Returning Kori's hug, Kamala lingers for a moment, before wincing. "Hot, hot!" she manages before she pulls away. "Try that again after you cool down." There's a little blush at that, before she moves to answer the question.

"….he's not a real person. He's a program. A virus. We can only stop him on the digital level." Kamala responds. "…and I don't know how to do that. Every time I've tried, I failed."

It's not a hacker. It's a virus. Anyone want to go on a computer trip?

"Oh," replies Roxy to Anya, lamely. She knows she's got Difficulties when it comes to understanding electronics. Most of her understanding of the world is limited to what she sees in movies or reads in magazines. Anyway, nobody's looking at her funny for being near the cash register so…

ROXY gets $57!

Hand stuffed into her coat, Roxy glances sidelong at Kamala, and increasingly wrapped up in the teen's story. There's games, trust, betrayal… it's enough to have Roxanne slumping forward onto her upraised palm, elbow supporting her head on the countertop. The store's more or less empty now, and with the modem turned off, the COMPUTER VILLAIN is probably doing… nothing.

"So he hacked your *brain*, huh?" Roxanne's eyes are wide, her voice deadly serious. She finds a roll of quarters in the cash register.

"Is it weird having your brain hacked? How do we fight against a guy who can hack into your hea- oh. Virus. Wait, that makes sense." Roxy nods, hand disappearing into her jacket once again.

ROXY gets $5!

"Whatever you guys are doing, I, uh. I want in. I can help out with, like, Facebook and Instagram and stuff."

Carol places her hands on Kamala's shoulders, "Okay, I thought you looked a little familiar." She smiles reassuringly, looking at Kamala, "So, here's what we'll do. It wanted you to place that on the Avengers computers? I think I can do one better." Her look grows decidedly sly at that, "Because I think it's underestimating what Reed Richards might be able to manage."

She also looks sternly between Kamala and Roxy, "And don't ever think that I'm too busy to help with something like this. You both are definitely worth the effort, and things like this are why I decided to do what I do in the first place." Not quite Captain America inspiration, but she definitely means it, corny or not.

Also helps explain why there was such a crowd of people coming to the signing of her book.

(Fortunately, Roxy finished her petty theft before Carol looked her way.)

Looking to Koriand'r, and then to Kamala, whatever it was that had caused Anya's change in demeanor seems to be reversing. "Anything's possible," she answers. "And this guy sounds like a real…" She glances to Carol for a moment, and clears her throat of the word that was going to be said. "… turd."

Anya straightens. "AI can be undone. And if it's a real person, like… a cyperpath, or an alien entity that's infested the internet, or whatever… you don't just have hacking. You have psychology. You can fuck his mind up so much that he breaks." She shrugs. "If he wants to fight dirty, fight dirty. I'm in." Then she grins wickedly. "Done it before."

Koriand'r obligingly backs away from Kamala, no offense taken. She's aware she's hot; she's putting out enough BTUs her vision is slightly heat-distorted. "I do not know Earrrrrmerican technology, so I must leave you to that and also follow Captain Marvel because I had a very important question for her but please call me if I can be any help in apprehending the villain!" she says SO SMOOTHLY, already a few feet in the air before zooming off after Carol Danv'rs.

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