maskormenacelogs | AGE PLOT SHENANIGANS

[Cafe food isn't an answer, he wants to say, but he doesn't want to look like he doesn't know what cafe food is. He'll see when they get inside, however. He huffs to himself, annoyed by Kitty's attitude, but that doesn't stop him from rushing to the door to hold it open. Manners are important, even if the person you're showing manners to is kind of a jerk.]

[ And Kitty opens the door, and -

Yeah. Okay. This...is...a hookah bar. There are relatively few cushions and couches about, and the few people in there are lazily smoking pipes and looking at the two kids with skepticism and vague alarm. Kitty stares back a moment, and then looks at the kid, and then looks up again and then chokes - ]

Um - sorry. Sorry -

[ And then awkwardly she flails her arm out to shove the boy back from the doorway and then slams the door in front of them. When she looks over at him, her cheeks are pink. ]

I - they've...changed. I think.

Hey!

[He was tryig to open the door for her, and she shoved him out of the way! R U D E. Though, from little he saw, it was clear that this was no cafe. He looks at the building, and back to Kitty, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he puts the pieces together in his head. There's only one explanation, and that is...]

You're lost, aren't you?

Wh...what?

[ She goes even pinker. ]

No! I know...exactly where I am. The cafe is just different! That's all! It's changed from last time!

[Yyyep. She's definitely lost. He's not going to rub it in, though]

Well, let's go somewhere else, then. Come on.

[Aaand he's going to walk back to where they were, backtracking until he can find someplace familiar]

[ She gives a cluck of frustration and jerks her head. ]

I said I know where I'm going! Look, my flat's a half-mile that way. Stop going back to the park. That's not even a nice park.

[He stops instantly, his body going stiff, before he spins around and scowls at her. Come on, you don't have to yell!]

It's not a bad park.

[Not that he cares much about the park either way. Right now he's being petulant and argumentative for the sake of being petulant and argumentative]

[ She clenches her fists, anger rising up in her - and a desperation, too. This...goes...maybe...a little beyond the thing with the cafe. ]

It's stupid. And don't...Don't act like I don't remember things. All right? I know where I'm going.

[ Kitty takes a breath, trying to force it down. ]

[Okaaay, this is. Weird. He stares at her for a moment, still tense, nausea settling in his stomach. He's not scared or afraid or anything like that, but he's feeling the very specific discomfort one feels when when they know that something isn't right, but they don't know what isn't right about it, exactly.]

So... where are we going, then?

[ You know you're having a bad day when you've got a little kid staring at you like you're a serial killer. Kitty rubs her hand over her eyes, and takes a deep breath, forcing all of her aggression and frustration way down into the boiling bubbling pit of anger that seems to be simmering away in her belly. It's fine. It's all fine. ]

We can go to the cafe where I work. They'll give us free stuff there.

[The mention of free food makes his eyes light up instantly. Normally he wouldn't be so desperate, but his hunger's getting worse and worse, especially since that last "cafe" was a bust. Besides, the normal rules about taking food from strangers doesn't apply here. Employees don't count as strangers.]

And it's not a problem?

[ She shrugs. ]

They'll probably give me sh...

[ ...uh. ]

Grief. For not being able to work yet again. But no, it won't be a problem. The owner likes imPorts. He likes having them show up. He'll be happy to have us.

If you say so...

[He shrugs, not wanting to argue it anymore]

But it's kind of weird, isn't it? How many people like us, I mean. I know that there are heroes out there, but most of us haven't really done anything.

[ Kitty grunts in acknowledgment. Where her older self would have been a bit more kind, a bit more gentle, her younger self's short temper leads her to a brusque: ]

They're always happy to use people who might be advantageous.

What do you mean?

[Congratulations, Kitty, you're talking to Edgeworth before cynicism and bitterness took over his life. The idea that people here might be taking advantage of them hasn't even crossed his mind]

[ She looks over; her manner softens just a little. So she shrugs. ]

We're celebrities, aren't we. Intergalactic travelers. All of this attention and praise - we don't get it because we've done anything yet. We get it because we might do something. Because they want to win us over so that when something does hit, we're already predisposed to support them. We can help them. They want to make sure we will.

[Intergalactic travelers? That makes his eyes widen, awed by the sudden realization of just how significant their presence here was. Yeah, he knows there's people from all sorts of strange and faraway places, but he never included Los Angeles among them. It's a little odd, and more than a little overwhelming, to realize that you're the space alien.

He doesn't have long to think on that, though. As soon as Kitty mentions doing things, his train of thought switches gears to a topic more familiar to him, to questions he's pondered long and hard despite his young age]

Well...

[He tilts his head, looking her in the eye. His expression is not irritated, it is not petulant, it is not judgmental. However, he does not blink or look away, and he won't until he gets an answer]

If we can do something, then shouldn't we do something?

[ Kitty meets his eye a moment, then gives a half shrug. Yes, her brain says, but there's a discordant cynicism in her heart. So her answer is measured. ]

Sure, as long as we can figure out what that something is. I mean, most people here - they've just got things like super-strength, say. But you can't exactly go and punch poverty or injustice till it gives up. You can't use laser-vision to destroy systematic discrimination on the basis of class or nationality. Unfortunately. So we're sort of stuck on wanting to do something but not knowing what.

You don't have to just sit around and wait. You just have to figure out what you're good at, and use it. Like...

[He pauses, trying to take his thoughts and put them into words, when all of a sudden his eyes light up]

Okay, so, let's say there's this one guy, he's got all of the things that you think a hero has. He's strong, he can see through walls, he can fly, he can do anything. But then there's another guy, who can't do any of that, but he's really smart. He can do math, he can do science, he knows everything.

And...and there's a bridge, and it's collapsing, right when everyone's on the road. Everyone. It's a really, really bad bridge, okay? Now the first guy, he can fly in and hold it up, and save everyone who's stuck there. But the second guy, he can design newer, better bridges, bridges that won't fall apart like that. Both of them are saving people, they're just saving them in different ways.

So, about what you said... you're right, you can't punch poverty or injustice until it goes away. But one person can punch the bad guys, while everyone else works on all the other stuff. So it's not like super strength or laser eyes are useless, you just need to know when to use them.

[ What a sweet kid. Honestly. She thinks that without any irony or sarcasm at all. He really is terribly, terribly sweet. And so Kitty is quiet for a moment, hands in her pockets, walking along, before she answers. And when she does, her voice is low, less aggressive than before. ]

How often does it happen that a bridge collapses, though? Just on its own. Maybe once every two years. And we're useful then, all right. A building burns down every month or so, and we can help then - firemen can too, sure - [ And they will, too, you haven't even got to buy insurance beforehand like you've got to in her home - ] But we're better at it. All right. We can help with those sorts of things, and we do.

Except that we don't get looked at and treated like we're people who can help out by saving a life or two every few months. We get looked at and treated like we're something really special. We get treated like we're better than everyone else. We get houses, and parties, and free cars, while other normal people go hungry. In theory - yeah. We can just be people with extra talents who get called in when the bridges break. But in practice, we're getting interwoven into a tapestry of discrimination and mistreatment of common people. Of xenophobia, paranoia, and aggression.

[ A slight pause, before quietly: ]

I wish we could just be good. I wish we could bring about only good things. But there doesn't seem to be a world that exists that'll look at the powerful and not just see a wicked opportunity.

[Miles didn't see the problem with getting a house, or money, or anything else they needed. After all, it wasn't like they chose to be here. So, what was wrong with the government helping them out until they went home? He knows deep down that this isn't what Kitty means, though, and when she mentions others going hungry, his stomach starts to twist itself in a fit of guilt.

Still, there's one thing he doesn't get. He lowers his eyes for a moment, and when he looks up at her, his gaze is more uncertain]

So, you're saying that being here, it's hurting people. But...

[He frowns, not really getting it]

But how?

[It's not the words he has a problem with. Discrimination, injustice, he understands the definitions, the meaning, though he's too young to grasp the full gravity behind them. What he doesn't understand, though, is how their presence is contributing to that. If it was something as simple as "we're taking things other people need", he could understand that, but the way Kitty speaks makes it sound far more complicated than that]

[ She's quiet a moment. ]

To begin with...they spend lots of money on us. That could be spent on social services - school, or support for the impoverished. And they use us as a threat to intimidate their enemies. And...

[ She hesitates. He's got to know this, hasn't he? So that he knows not to trust everyone as easily as...Well, as he trusted her, honestly. ]

And there are some imPorts who hurt others. Who kill the local people when they can't even defend themselves.

[Okay, that makes more sense. He still doesn't think it's wrong to spend money on them, but... maybe they could cut back on the fancier stuff. Like the cars. Or the parties. As for the second part...]

But...

[His voice is uncertain, and he grips the side of his pants before continuing.]

That's part of our job, isn't it? To stop... those imPorts.

[ Her answer is just a short, sharp shrug. ]

Maybe. They want us to stop those imPorts. But why's the government even bringing in people like that at all? Or letting people like that roam free?

[ And then - ]

Anyway, that's part of my job. Or I consider it that, at least. You shouldn't feel obligated to fight anyone.

[Lowers his head and remains quiet. He doesn't really have a good answer for that. But once Kitty talks about her job, he snaps his head back up, giving her his full attention]

Wait, I thought you weren't interested in this stuff. This... hero stuff.

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