Cisco Ramon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
franciscoramon) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
riverviewlogs2017-04-28 11:06 pm
franciscoramon) wrote in riverviewlogs2017-04-28 11:06 pm
OPEN | i wanna be where the people are
who: cisco + anyone!
what: catch-all
when: mid-april through may
where: anywhere; if you want an individual starter lmk!
warnings: will add as necessary
fireflies
[ When Cisco had gone firefly catching, he had been intending to study them - do a few modest experiments, see if he could figure out what was making them light up in so many colors. He has a scientist's curiosity, and needed something to get his creative gears going.
The trouble was, it didn't really take the scientific method to realize pretty soon that those fireflies not only bit (which is just so rude), but that their bite had some pretty serious impact on people's moods. It reminds Cisco of Rainbow Raider, and how he'd used color to send people into paroxysms of murderous rage. At least this isn't that bad - but the effects are still profoundly inconvenient.
The trouble is, knowing they might make his emotions go haywire didn't actually make him want to study them any less. In fact, quite the opposite. He wants to know how. But there's no good way to determine that without being around the damn things, so basically, that just means getting bit. A lot. And trying his best to manage the fallout. But, there's only so much avoiding he can do - he's bound to run into some people while tweaking on firefly magic. ]
moontech lab
[ Cisco's been settling in nicely at his job since his arrival. He's gotten things set up how he likes them - or at the very least, tolerably close to it. He's talked to a few members of the perimeter guard, the police force, and the firefighters, and he has a good idea of what they need. He's working on some interesting ideas for tech to keep them safe.
But he's also not hesitating to put the word out - to his roommates, and other random people that he speaks to - that if anyone needs a tech solution to any kind of confounding problem, that they should come and see him at the lab and see what he can whip up for them. Cisco might charge a nominal fee - guy's gotta eat, after all - but is aiming to make connections rather than make a profit. He knows from experience how important it can be to make friends, to have allies, and making stuff for people has proved to be a good way to do that in the past.
He can be found at the lab, surrounded by tables covered in bits and bobs - wires and circuit boards and tools and a laptop or two buried under things. ]
misc
[ Cisco isn't someone who does well with idleness. Sure, he appreciates the necessity of goofing off, of not working nonstop, but usually his leisure is busy - he's either marathoning some sci-fi show or playing his way through the newest triple a game in a single day, or devouring the latest science journals by the dozen, or going to clubs to dance until he can barely stay on his feet.
The trouble here is that here, a lot of those options aren't really open to him. So he ends up taking over a table at a coffee house that reminds him, just a little, of Jitters. He may stay there for hours on end, watching the people go by, but he is not wasting time. Cisco's brought a journal or two that he's using to sketch out designs for tech, to write down observations and theories about this place, and take notes on the few people he has met so far. Honestly, if anyone looked in them they'd probably find it a little creepy, but everyone acclimates in different ways. This is his.
Still, he has a smile to offer anyone who looks familiar or stops by his table to check in. ]
what: catch-all
when: mid-april through may
where: anywhere; if you want an individual starter lmk!
warnings: will add as necessary
fireflies
[ When Cisco had gone firefly catching, he had been intending to study them - do a few modest experiments, see if he could figure out what was making them light up in so many colors. He has a scientist's curiosity, and needed something to get his creative gears going.
The trouble was, it didn't really take the scientific method to realize pretty soon that those fireflies not only bit (which is just so rude), but that their bite had some pretty serious impact on people's moods. It reminds Cisco of Rainbow Raider, and how he'd used color to send people into paroxysms of murderous rage. At least this isn't that bad - but the effects are still profoundly inconvenient.
The trouble is, knowing they might make his emotions go haywire didn't actually make him want to study them any less. In fact, quite the opposite. He wants to know how. But there's no good way to determine that without being around the damn things, so basically, that just means getting bit. A lot. And trying his best to manage the fallout. But, there's only so much avoiding he can do - he's bound to run into some people while tweaking on firefly magic. ]
moontech lab
[ Cisco's been settling in nicely at his job since his arrival. He's gotten things set up how he likes them - or at the very least, tolerably close to it. He's talked to a few members of the perimeter guard, the police force, and the firefighters, and he has a good idea of what they need. He's working on some interesting ideas for tech to keep them safe.
But he's also not hesitating to put the word out - to his roommates, and other random people that he speaks to - that if anyone needs a tech solution to any kind of confounding problem, that they should come and see him at the lab and see what he can whip up for them. Cisco might charge a nominal fee - guy's gotta eat, after all - but is aiming to make connections rather than make a profit. He knows from experience how important it can be to make friends, to have allies, and making stuff for people has proved to be a good way to do that in the past.
He can be found at the lab, surrounded by tables covered in bits and bobs - wires and circuit boards and tools and a laptop or two buried under things. ]
misc
[ Cisco isn't someone who does well with idleness. Sure, he appreciates the necessity of goofing off, of not working nonstop, but usually his leisure is busy - he's either marathoning some sci-fi show or playing his way through the newest triple a game in a single day, or devouring the latest science journals by the dozen, or going to clubs to dance until he can barely stay on his feet.
The trouble here is that here, a lot of those options aren't really open to him. So he ends up taking over a table at a coffee house that reminds him, just a little, of Jitters. He may stay there for hours on end, watching the people go by, but he is not wasting time. Cisco's brought a journal or two that he's using to sketch out designs for tech, to write down observations and theories about this place, and take notes on the few people he has met so far. Honestly, if anyone looked in them they'd probably find it a little creepy, but everyone acclimates in different ways. This is his.
Still, he has a smile to offer anyone who looks familiar or stops by his table to check in. ]
no subject
[ It's just a subtle thing; if Cisco hadn't happened to be looking in the direction of Chandra's hands he wouldn't have noticed the tea going from warm but not steaming to steaming when she held it. ]
Okay, so that right there? That is awesome.
[ All good intentions about making small talk before he really dives into asking about her powers go right out the window. How could he not just jump right in, after seeing that? Cisco leans forward a little, hands splayed on the table and eyes bright. ]
Did you do that on purpose?
no subject
*People being so surprised-but-in-a-good-way about her powers was weird, she preferred people just being casual but the attention was kinda neat. Now that it wasn't 'kill you and your family' attention.*
I mean sometimes I just radiate heat, which isn't on purpose. But this isn't that.
no subject
How'd you even learn to control something like that? Are there pyromancy gurus, are there schools, did you just practice a lot on your own?
[ He has his reasons for being curious how people with powers are treated in other worlds. Things can't stay the way they are in Central City forever. Metas have only been around a year and a half - there's a lot of different paths that things could go down. Cisco wants what information he can get on some of those options. ]
Where I'm from we've got metas, right? Did I tell you about metas, I can't remember? Anyway some of them are really in control of their powers right away, and some of them worked to get better control, and others just- [ Cisco shakes his head, trying hard not to think about the fact that he belongs in the last category himself ] -none whatsoever.
no subject
*Chandra's not overly bothered by that, anymore. Sipping at her tea as she waited.*
You mentioned them, humans that can do magic. Which is really just 'humans' in most planes I've been to. Well, everyone but home.
*She was thinking about Kaladesh as home again, since that's where family is. But Regatha was her home. So was Ravnica. Sorta. Each had people that mattered.*
All of my friends had to learn what makes us unique. Not always the same way, I guess. Fire is all about emotions, desires... learning to shape it is a lot more about shaping myself than it is about knowing things. So I don't have to own a billion books on different things that aren't very interesting.
*That was Jace. Jace had books. Lots of books, too many books if you asked Chandra.*
What do you do?
no subject
Trained by monks is a legit origin story. Was, um, the execution thing - that 'cause of the powers or something else?
[ He just wants to know in advance for once if he is befriending a criminal. Sure, she seems nice so far, but so had Lisa Snart. Even if she says she hadn't committed any horrible offense, Cisco's not going to just take her word for it - but he might as well start by asking. ]
Well, technically it's not exactly magic. Just... abilities. That come from specific changes to people's DNA. And it's only a tiny group of people who can do it, like, 1% of the population of Central City, which still translates to about 7,000 metas and that might sound like a lot, but considering we're talking out of an overall population of 7 billion people on Earth, it's pretty rare.
[ He doesn't bother to hide the uptick in his interest, when she starts to talk about how her powers are tied to her emotions. ]
But how did you figure out it was tied to your emotions? I mean, did you just... feel it? And are you saying you, like, meditate or do some kind of mindfulness thing to manipulate your powers?
[ As for what he does, Cisco has just a moment of hesitation. Is she asking about his profession, or about his powers, assuming that he is in some way like her? And, well, the fact that he IS doesn't mean he's going to tell her that. They just met. So after his pause, he answers quickly as if she were asking about his job: ]
Oh, I'm a mechanical engineer, which basically means I mostly use the stuff I know from reading about a billion books in order to design and build machines.
no subject
You're an artificer? That's what my parents do, well... did. It'll help make this make sense. I hope. I think.
Okay so the place I'm from has this stuff called aether. It's an energy that exists in the sky, some air currents bring it down to the cities where it gets collected and refined. My parents, well, the government wasn't really big on sharing this stuff. So we kinda smuggled it to people that could use it.
First time I was moving a canister for my parents, I got pinched by the Consul enforcers and, um... they were kinda jerks and my hands burst into flames. You can guess that was a bit surprising. Did help me escape because it surprised them just a bit more than me.
*She was a criminal, but she was also on the right side of that. ...and it wasn't like that was why she was sentenced to death.*
Anytime I got angry, or excited, or really pissed off. Which, I was twelve, and the Consulate was hunting me and my family, until they killed my dad and tried to kill me. So let's just say I was, um... there was a lot of fire until I found my way to the monks who taught me to not burning down everything.
*Chandra Nalaar still has problems occasionally burning down everything.*
There's some meditation but I'm bad at that. Some ceremonial dances, exercises to help hone the fire into something more interesting. Like, you know, monk stuff.
*Chandra realizes that doesn't explain anything, but she's really bad at this.*
no subject
Sure, I guess I am.
[ And then he sits back and listens to her story, taking the occasional sip of his tea but not interrupting. In his head, as he listens, he's performing a kind of translation - aether sounds like electricity, or some equivalent energy source. By the sound of it, the government was more than a few steps over the 'oppressive and evil' line and Chandra and her parents were just chaotic good. He can tell there are gaps in the story; probably she is glossing over things, sparing the more unpleasant details. Even if what they were doing was for a good cause, her parents making her smuggle illegal canisters when she was twelve is a bit sketch in Cisco's opinion - but he's not about to say that about her obviously now-dead parents. ]
I wonder why that is? I mean... if there are physiological changes happening that explain...
[ He drums his fingers against the top of the table, wanting to ask something but a little unsure how to phrase it so as not to sound like a complete creep. ]
So, I've got a proposition, and if you're not down it's like, totally cool, but do you think maybe sometime you could come by my lab and I could run a few tests? See if I can pick up on what's happening with your body chemistry when you use your powers? It'd be totally safe, I promise.
[ After all, from the sound of it, when she's in a bad spot, Chandra has the capability of burning everything around her to a crisp, and Cisco does not want to be a crisp. Or his lab for that matter. ]
What d'you mean, more interesting?
no subject
*Understanding beyond the fact that her fire did what she (mostly) wanted wasn't really a concern for Chandra. Who cared how the izzet tinkerers made flying boots, the important part was how they exploded taking the test goblin with them.*
Oh, well, I'm not really one for delicate things but...
*Chandra cleared a bit of space on the table and started drawing with her fingers. She wasn't completely inept at constructs. Just... most of hers exploded or were the size of a bus. Or were the size of a bus that just exploded. Still, not a lot of time for a tiny butterfly made entirely of fire to fly around the table and land on Chandra's hand.*
The stuff I make doesn't last very long. But I can teach them to do simple things until they go poof. Or boom.
no subject
Because I could learn a lot about how your powers work, and how this- this moon is making it so you can't planeswalk which I'm guessing means move from universe to universe. And if I can figure out the specific physiological triggers for your powers, it's possible I could synthesize something that might help you amplify them or control them more easily. Plus... plus don't you want to know? Aren't you curious? If I was a pyromancer I'd want to know everything I could about my powers, just in case.
[ Please ignore the almost desperate projecting that's going on here just because Cisco can't control his powers and doesn't understand them and is afraid of them, Chandra.
He watches the little flame butterfly as it flits around the table, moth dropping open a little in wonder. ]
That's so awesome.
no subject
Um... I guess if it's that important to you, but I don't get it. Whenever I've needed to make my powers stronger I've found an artifact, or had one made. It isn't like the blind eternities is lacking in pyromancer equipment.
And I know plenty about my powers, how they feel. How not to evaporate my soup. How to make butterflies out of fire. I've never really relied on books and stuff to learn about them. That isn't me.
*Really this would be so much easier if she wasn't here and Jace was. He could enjoy all the talking and experimenting and learning stuff and she could be able to planeswalk freely.*
It's pretty sweet, but I'm better at bigger things. They just aren't good for keeping buildings, you know, not on fire.
Um, which one are universes again. I don't ever remember how people from other places measure this stuff.
no subject
[ The truth is, Caitlin's the one who is the doctor - Cisco can do some basic stuff, enough to make some observations about how her powers work, but if it's possible to examine some kind of object that amplifies or impacts her magic, that will be much easier and safer, in Cisco's eyes. ]
Yeeaahhh and I imagine the owners of this place wouldn't much appreciate that.
[ He taps at his chin, thinking how best to explain universes to someone who is from a different one - where there is magic and a different vocabulary around science. A challenge, but not anything he isn't up for: ]
They're just... everything. Everything that exists within a particular version of reality. People here who came from different places? We call those places universes, where I'm from.
no subject
*Artificers are super cool, but this isn't Chandra's thing. She can only- oh!*
Well, I guess my clothes are kind of enchanted. I weave some specific magic into them so they don't burn. It was really awkward the first time I ended up on fire in clothes that couldn't survive fire like me. But that's a really simple thing, anyone at the monastery could do it.
*Chandra let the butterfly burn out as she tapped her fingers trying to figure out how to explain this.*
So each plane I visit is a different universe? Or at least in a universe? Why are things so stupidly complicated..?
no subject
[ Maybe it'll all end up being fruitless, but Cisco is not one to give up before he at least tries, and tries, and tries some more. ]
Fireproof clothes. Like it. I designed something like that for a friend. Well, redesigned it. Originally this suit was supposed to be for firefighters, but I made some adjustments so his clothes wouldn't catch on fire from friction when he's running thousands of miles an hour.
[ It's clear from the way Cisco grins a little and laughs as he says that last bit that such an incident has definitely occurred at least once before. It wasn't like Barry had started with an extensive wardrobe, either. He really can't afford to lose any more sweaters. ]
Prrrrobably? Not really sure. See THAT is exactly the type of question I can answer better if you let me study you, a little bit.
[ Everyone is curious about SOMETHING, after all. ]
no subject
*The life of a planeswalker, replacement parts from all across the eternities.*
Running that fast, huh? I mean it sounds fast if it can get end up on fire. And you made that suit? And studying me could help you make more things like that?
*Maybe he could make something along the lines of what Dad could make.
no subject
[ Probably. Almost certainly. He'll be very, very careful with it, at least. There's always some possibility of damage, but he wants to see it even MORE now that he knows it has components from three different worlds or dimensions or whatever a plane is exactly. And besides, there's not really all that much more risk to it than if she left it sitting wherever she's storing it. ]
Lemme put it this way: sometimes he runs so fast he accidentally rips a hole in time and has to do a day over. So... yeah, fast enough to end up on fire, if he's in regular person clothes.
[ No harm in bringing up Barry's ability to time travel - not in this place, when he is universes away. ]
Yes! That's the idea. More things like that and stuff I've never even thought of before. Just - to learn. You never know what's possible unless you examine what's already out there. And in this case, that's you, and your powers. Plus... plus there are some metahumans where I come from who have powers they don't know how to control. Seeing what happens in your body when you're controlling yours might be useful, if I ever end up back there.
[ Certainly not referring to his own powers, nope, no way. ]
no subject
Has he tried decaf?
*Yeah she's not going to try to understand it, she'll make jokes. So much easier!*
But... my powers are magic. It doesn't sound like the same thing. My powers aren't just me, they're everything. I draw power from the plane I'm on and it's as much a part of me as anything else. You really think that'd help with what you want?
no subject
We won't know until we try, now will we?
[ There is a confidence in Cisco's voice; he doesn't know about magic, true. But it seems possible he and Chandra are just using different names for the same thing. That she somehow can manipulate the molecules of air, that she draws on energies not immediately visible (electromagnetism, maybe, who even knows) and that her 'magic' is no more than a scientifically explicable skill that hasn't been studied yet.
He tops off both their cups of tea and says: ]
That's the awesome thing about science. You never know what the answer's going to be, before you do it. You just have guesses, and then you mess around and see whether or not you were right, or if you were totally not right at all. And the more messing around you do, the more you learn, and the more you know about the world, and the better everyone's understanding is of how the universe works. You see?
[ He might not make a convert of her, but he still wants her to at least understand WHY it matters, why he wants to at least try. ]
no subject
Eventually she comes back to where they are.*
My dad would have loved you. Well, if you're so sure it can do some good.
Sure. The worst that happens is part of your lab ends up on fire.
*What? It was a fairly obvious possibility with what she is.*
no subject
When she agrees and says the worst case scenario is burning his lab down, Cisco smiles again, reassures her: ]
I'll stock up on extra fire extinguishers.
[ And then, pleased that they are going to see each other again sometime in the future, that they'll get to talk more and also that he'll get to learn about her powers, Cisco shifts the conversation for now to Riverview - her favorite places here, adventures they've both had since they arrived - and they pass another pleasant hour or so just chatting, comfortable and friendly despite the occasional miscommunications because of their very different worlds. ]