| 'Special Police' Business | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summary: Superboy returns to Twisted and blames himself for the destruction that he wasn't around to try and stop. The date might not be appropriate for this. The scene actually ran for a week or so off and on, but this was the date it was started.   |
Doris, the somewhat elderly receptionist, pushes her glasses more properly onto her face before saying to the teenager, "What can I do forya, dearie." She looks utterly and completely bored out of her mind. In fact, hidden from sight behind the window is her current sudoku puzzle she's been working on. "Arguably anyone here is 'authority'." Superboy blinks at the reaction, forcing him to rub the back of his head nervously. "Um. Right. Yeah. I suppose." He looks around while he ponders his answer ultimately going with more off the cuff generalities, "Okay, but is there someone MORE in charge? Maybe a guy who looks like a supervillain with feathers in his hat or something?" He looks around again, expecting to see a picture of the current officers or something. "Maybe a Chief of Police? Someone who oversees everything?" There's probably ways he could have approached this better, but this morning he didn't even know he'd be standing here let alone stuck trying to figure out the hierarchies of a place like this. Doris just looks at Superboy, blinking slowly as he goes on. Something about a guy with feathers in his hat? What is this kid going on about? "Are you saying you want to talk to Captain Cosgrove or Chief Hurris?" she says a few seconds after Superboy asks the appropriate question. Cosgrove and Hurris... likely two names Superboy may remember from the TASK days. Though Cosgrove was just a minor officer... and perhaps Rayne was in the Welcome Center at the time? The Metropolis Kid blinks again at the names. This is so different than what he was greeted to last time he was here that it's surreal. "Um. Yes. I suppose I do. The Chief if possible, but if he's busy or something? Just someone important." He lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry for all the hassle." He means it at least. He's not trying to make anyone's lives harder. Clearly someone else has already handled that. "She," Doris corrects. She goes into her computer... as a receptionist, it's her job to keep tabs on who's available when. Roughly speaking, of course. "Okay, looks like you're in luck, honey. She should be in her office now. What is it you wanted to talk to her about?" Of course, it's also her job to act as a bouncer, of sorts. Superboy gives an obvious deer in the headlights look at the question. What WAS he here to talk about? He fidgets anxiously rapping his fingers against the countertop as he thinks. "I... uh... I guess?" Then it clicks in his mind and he stands a little taller. "I want to ask for a job." Doris, of course, just sits there and watches as Superboy fidgets and tries to come up with why he's here. "Uh-huh. Let me text her for ya." Text while she's got that big landline phone with buttons to instantly call every extension? Well, she doesn't know Rayne for certain is in her office. Also, she is referring to Superboy as 'another teenager' rather than in glowing terms right now. This isn't the first time, oddly enough. Even if you just count the past few weeks. "Careful, dearie, she's older than me and doesn't take crap from anyone." Why yes, she is messing with Superboy at this point. Even if she's not lying. The hero does a double take at that, wondering for a moment if he isn't making a huge mistake. Then again, he has super powers? What's the worst that can happen? It's not like he plans on punching the head of TASK through the TASK Building again or anything insane like that. Still, one has to chuckle. "Yes ma'am. I appreciate the warning. I'll be on my best behavior." He copies the gesture he's seen on TV many times and misquotes, "Big Blue Boy Scout's honor." Superboy still doesn't quite grasp that some people don't have a clue who Superman is but hopefully it'll at least get a smile out of her. Doris continues looking at her phone. Rayne could be in the middle of something, of course. She does look up when Superboy makes his 'Scout's honor' line, waits a full second, then says, "Whatever you say, honey." Nope. Didn't crack a smile or anything out of her. She looks back down at the phone again and says, "She said to give her five minutes. Can you wait over there?" There's place for seating in the reception area, of course. "I'll call you up when she's ready for you." Superboy grimaces at her reaction and the news but gives a polite nod. "Thank you. I appreciate that." Maybe he should have considered doing some investigation first, but here he is without a single clue what's going on. He lets out another heavy sigh and walks over to the uncomfortable seating area by the window feeling incredibly out of place. Not to mention the subject of unwanted attention wearing a bright red and blue bodysuit and matching leather jacket. He tries to get comfortable, sighs again, and decides to hell with it. He might as well own the stares. He hovers just above the chair in the air with his hands behind his head. Not the most graceful way to wait for someone, but at least he's comfortable now. There's about five or so minutes again, and then Doris calls out, "Okay, Big Blue Boy, you're up." She gets up from her seat to open the partition for him. Which, of course, he easily could have simply flown over. It's more a politeness thing on her part and a sign that 'hey, employees only beyond here, m'kay?' kind of thing on the partition's part. "Down the hall and to the right, honey, you can't miss it." It's easy enough to get to, and inside, Rayne is there, still looking over something on her computer when he gets there. Assuming he knocks, she'll tell him to enter. Fidgeting with a pair of earbuds, Superboy is just about to pop them in his ear when Doris gets his attention. Of course it works out that way. It always works out that way. He gives a nod as he puts his feet back on the floor, excuses himself around a man in handcuffs, and shoves the headphones in his pocket as he walks behind the partition. "I appreciate it." He gives her a polite smile as he proceeds down the hallway, glancing around at random doors as he makes his way to the obvious office, knocking on the door and standing awkwardly until he's given permission to come in. Pushing the door open it's obvious he wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe some grizzled Jim Gordon type or an angry Maggie Sawyer. What he didn't expect was the 'babe' from the UR with the rainbow hair from three years ago. "W-wait a minute." He looks at her, and then back at the door. "Wait, seriously?!" He looks the same as she probably remembers. His uniform a little more worn in. Some stubble where there wasn't before, but he still looks every bit the 16 year old impulsive teen he was last time he visited Twisted. "I have the wrong office, right? You can't be this Chief Hurris I'm looking for, right?" He laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "But, wow. Small world right?" There's an obvious wince as he realizes this world has gotten much smaller since last time. "...too soon, maybe?" Maybe. Rayne looks up from her computer with a tired look. "Chief of Police Rayne Hurris. You're in the right place," she says at a near monotone. "So you /are/ the same kid from back then. Superboy, was it?" Superman is a thing that existed in fiction in her own world, so even if she wasn't familiar with Superboy himself from before then, the derivative was relatively easy to remember. She tilts her head slightly at the wince, then, when it's pointed out why, she winces a little, as well. "Yeah, a little," she mumbles, then shakes her head. She then clears her throat. Straight on to business with her, it seems. "So. You wanted a job? You're aware there's a lot more to being a police officer than the literal fighting of crime, right?" Yes. She knows he can fight. She witnessed his fight with Kotal back then. Superboy makes his way to a chair, gesturing towards it for approval before sitting down in it. "Yes ma'am. I know there's a lot more to it than just beating up the baddies. I may not look it but I've been in the hero business for a number of years." He reaches up, taking the glasses out of his hair and puts them away. "Also, by the way..." He takes off his gloves and offers a hand to shake not knowing that's not really something she does, "My actual name is Kon-El, although some of my friends have taken to calling me Conner." Not fazed by the likely refusal of shaking, he sits back and strokes his chin. "Which, I guess sounds a little like Conner? Kon-er?" He shrugs it off. "My whole life I've been a hero, ma'am. It's literally what I was created to do for the most part. I see the state of this place now and I feel bad for it. I could have-" He shakes his head, "I SHOULD have been here. I don't know exactly what's happened, but I don't want to see anything worse come to this world. I want to help." Rayne in fact nods at his gesture towards the chair. She hates it when people insist on standing in her office. "Connel. Right. Sorry, I think we only met... once? Twice sort of?" She's looking at something on her computer again before she looks up to see the offered hand. "Uh... no thank you. Um, it's not, you, it's kind of a... personal space thing," She doesn't make eye contact as she says this, but definitely looks annoyed. At herself. "Maybe, if you use a bad Asian stereotype." There's a sharp intake of breath as he mentions the state of things and that he should have been here. "Tell me, Connel," she says softly. "What could you have done to halt an extreme case of dimensional tearing?" She shakes her head, then sounds more business again. "Right. Well. You just need to remember, it's not all about the big, world ending threats. Say you're called in to a noise complaint, and find that you have a couple that are in a loud argument. No blows have come to pass between them, but there's a lot of anger, a lot of yelling. What do you do then?" This is her go-to when someone that acts like a big-shot combat type wants to join. No, when the situation hits where there's a big obvious combat threat, she can count on putting out a bounty and having that help the situation, if vigilantes and concerned citizens with power don't deal with it first. What she wants in regular officers is more help with the little stuff. Kon kinda feels bad he kept plowing through his introduction without giving her much a chance to speak back, but it's questionable if he shows that well enough on his features. Regardless, "Well, ma'am. First it's Kon-El. Like Kon is the name. House of El. Sorta like a first name-last name." He tries to offer a polite smile. He's not trying to be difficult. "Second, I would step between them. No blows. If I stay focused I'm near-invulnerable. Better they take it out on me than each other. Then I would try to diffuse the situation by getting them both to calm down. At worst I'm capable of separating the more aggressive from the least aggressive until a compromise can be reached." He ponders a moment before adding, "Honestly I could probably distract them by making a loud commotion before stepping between them, but people don't often call for help because two people are arguing politely." Rayne blinks, then bows her head slightly. "Oh! Sorry, sorry, Kon El." No, it's okay to get annoyed at someone that's getting your name wrong, Rayne thinks. It's not like Rayne was doing it on purpose. She listens to his answer and nods. "Good," she says. It's not so much his exact techniques in dealing with that situation(when called in for a noise complaint, making another loud commotion is probably not the best way to go about things) as the fact that he didn't seem thrown off by the question. He already knows that this is how police work. "So. You're familiar with TASK already, I presume. I was second in command when the... incident occurred with your arrival. As you've likely noticed, TASK has been dissolved in favor of a more traditional police department. Needless to say, the prior director had nothing to do with that decision." No, she's pretty sure a god of war would have wanted to keep it as a more paramilitary organization. "I try to keep us less focused on the... combative side of things, and more the 'serve and protect' and 'civil servant' sides of things. Keep the chaos from overcoming everything." She lets out a tired sigh. She wasn't prepared for a job interview today. "You've passed my initial tests, Kon-El. Just... keep in mind the uniform doesn't include blue and red spandex or leather jackets." Well, she does let one of the detectives get away with a trenchcoat. Somehow, Sam just seems completely /wrong/ without it. She can't explain it. Superboy winces a bit at the mentioning of the 'prior director'. That certainly wasn't one of his finer moments and he still kicks himself about the way it turned out. "I think a more traditional police department was probably the right move. I know I overreacted and antagonized things last time, but in my defense where I come from that had Legion of Doom written all over it. I've probably apologized to the point of being obnoxious about it but I am still sorry about that." As for the uniform, "Please don't mistake what I'm about to say as trying to be difficult." He taps the S shield on his chest, "Where I come from this is a symbol that gives people hope. It's a badge that I took a long time to earn and it generally comes with a certain degree of respect. I know here it's probably just a marketing ploy to sell some cheap merchandise, and I know in my past I was guilty of using it as such before I knew better." He knows he's rambling a little and pauses to stop himself, "But if I learned anything from my forced education from Batman, this also draws attention away from other targets. I'm near invulnerable and I can take being shot at. Other people can't. I will happily wear whatever you like but if I'm with a group of people and someone has a gun? This red and blue means I'm more likely to take that bullet than someone less prepared." He holds both his hands up in a show of consent, "But that's your call. I won't question it again unless you feel I've earned the right to do so." Rayne waves away concern over the past discretion. "Yeah, I actually completely understand where you were coming from, there." Remember, she's the one that was very quick to assume misunderstanding back then. What takes her back is the actual pushback to what she thought was a light joke when she said it. She blinks at that, but then nods slightly. "It's a matter of solidarity, of showing that the force is a cohesive and legitimate force rather than a rag-tag gang of people telling people what to do. It's also to point out that you're not above or receiving special treatment over other officers, so to speak." She sighs and rubs at the the bridge of her nose, right between her eyes. She's not being as eloquent as she'd like today. "That said, we do allow for badges and ribbons earned elsewhere to be displayed under the badge on your uniform. That S qualifies. But the uniform stands. Even I'm in it, after all." The Metropolis Kid holds his hands up in the air again, "Hey, I said I wouldn't fight it. It's your call. I'll probably still wear it under the uniform though, fair warning." Something about being able to take off a shirt and surprise people with who he really is does kind of appeal to him for some strange reason. "Honestly at this point it's sort of a second skin to me, but I'll do whatever it takes. I'd much rather work with you than be in your way." Nonchalantly he runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back. "Is there any place I can go to get caught up on things since I was last here? Everything is so different I almost didn't recognize it as the same city." He pauses on that note, "...and what's up with 'Mabase'?" He really should have done some homework before he came in here. Rayne shrugs. "What you wear as underwear is your business." She slumps her shoulders ever so slightly at the mention of wanting to work with her rather than against her. Once again, she didn't even know they were tensing up until she let it go. "Ugh. Returners. Hadn't really considered that. I suppose the Library likely has past newspapers to look through? I... we don't have a set entity for getting caught up as opposed to being new here." She frowns at the mention of everything being so different. "Yeah, well. It practically isn't." If she's interpreted what Jack said correctly, however, it seems to think of itself as being the same city, even with the landscape and name change. "Oh... well, everything, the universe, planet, city, and street were all called 'Twisted' so we decided to, well, not have it be quite so confusing. We named the city after some ruins that were being studied before... the dimensional tearing incident." Superboy's head drops as the mention of the library. "Of course the library survived! That makes too much sense. It's probably right next door too knowing my luck." He looks up at the celling and sighs. "I should have looked for it before I came here." The rest he quietly nods his head to. "That all makes sense. Way less confusing. Still, there could be worse names to rename a city to." He sits quietly a moment again just to make sure there's nothing else she might feel the need to explain to him. "So... does this mean I'm in? I don't want to assume because that would be all kinds of awkward for everyone." Assuming she answers positively he'll let out a sigh of relief himself before reaching into his pocket and handing over a fancy looking plastic card with a circuit pattern on the back. "THAT I was supposed to hand over last time I was here and... well... we both know why I didn't. It's some sort of uplink card? Apparently it will work with most computers like a modem or something? It's supposed to give you access to the police database on my world if you need it. I'd tell you it's Earth-1, but apparently everyone tries to claim they're Earth-1 when they start exploring the multiverse? I think officially we're Earth-12 or something? They tried to explain it to me once but I got lost pretty quickly." Rayne shakes her head. "It's never just up to me. Cosgrove gets a say with who's on the regular forces." Meaning, not the lab techs or detectives. "So if he doesn't like you, you don't pass the cut." She tilts her head at the card, however. "Earth... right. Multiverses that are aware they're multiverses. And everyone wants to be number one, don't they?" She sighs and shakes her head. Still she takes the card with a look of curiosity. "We generally focus on what people do /here/ as opposed to elsewhere, unless we have a treaty that says otherwise... But also knowing what we're dealing with for some people can be good." Kon-El nods his head, "Hey, how you use it is up to you. At least you have it should you need it. We only found out about this world originally because two of our rouge's gallery snuck off from Arkham Asylum. First time I was here was just to help scout the place for our own records." He shakes his head. "Alright, I've probably wasted more than enough of your time. This Cosgrove? Do I need to go speak with him or should I just leave my information and wait for him to get back to me? I'm kinda itching to go start reading up on things so I can get that out of the way as quickly as possible."
Rayne tilts her head as she considers. "I'll look into it," she says. Meaning she'll likely talk to the department heads about it. Meaning, the one full time lab tech, the council of three detectives, and Cosgrove. When Conner asks if he needs to speak with Cosgrove or wait, Rayne doesn't respond, instead looking at her computer and doing something there for a moment before finally saying, "He should be in the building right now." She gets her internal radio off of her desk, not taking it off its charger, before asking on it, "Cosgrove, are you in? I've got a potential recruit for you to interview." "Yeah, lemme just finish my cup of coffee." Rayne looks to Conner again and says, "Looks like you can get that done with right now. I'll have him meet you in-" The radio interrupts her again with, "I'm done with my cup of coffee." Rayne blinks at the radio, then looks back to Conner again. "I'll have you meet him in one of the interview rooms. They're dual purpose, not just for suspects."
A playful smirk falls over Superboy's features as the disembodied radio voice insists on reporting back on the ever important status of that cup of coffee he was drinking. It takes most of his concentration not to start cracking jokes immediately afterwards. He runs a hand through his hair again while chanting a mantra of 'keep it together' in his mind. He has to do this right. He's gotta be professional. He's been doing good so far. "So, it's not just a clever name, then?" WINCE. Well, he tried. "I-I'm sorry. Where would those be?" He stands and inches towards the door eager to get out of the room before his quips again. Rayne doesn't look as annoyed at the quip as Superboy might have feared. She's not cracking a smile or anything, mind you, but she doesn't look /more/ annoyed by it. "Down the hallway to the right, then make another right. They're labelled. Wait outside them, I don't know off hand if one is in use or not right now, and besides, I want you readily visible for Cosgrove." With that said, she looks like she's back to work as normal, looking over something on her computer. The Boy of Steel offers a brief wave and a nod of his head, "No problem, thanks!" As soon as he gets out into the hallway he lets out a deep exasperated sigh before glancing around to figure out what direction he needs to walk towards. His eyes briefly lock on a well-dressed woman with an armful of paperwork who gets a smile flashed in her general direction as well as a mental note to look for her again later before marching down the halls trying to regain his usual composure. Eventually after a passing glance at any other females who happen by he makes his way to the interview rooms, leaning in a few windows to take a peek before deciding to lean against the wall and wait for this Cosgrove guy. Of course the next female to pass by is an orc in regular officer uniform. But soon, an older, slightly heavyset man steps up to Superboy and says, "Hey. You the new kid? Come on in." He has a plate with a few donuts on it in one hand, and another cup of coffee in the other. He pushes the door open and walks in, sits down, then waits patiently Superboy to take a seat as well. Well, he does start eating one of the donuts. The teen simply blinks at the stereotype standing there before him. "Huh. Yep." He follows him in the door, spies a free chair and takes a seat without the courtesy he offered Rayne of waiting for permission. This isn't an office after all. "Kon-El, sir." His chest puffs up just a little as he adds, "Superboy back where I come from." He spies the man's badge a moment before asking anyways, "You're Cosgrove, I assume?" He's trying not to seem nervous, but he is. At least the Chief was someone he knew previously. Cosgrove shakes his head. "Nah. Freakazoid's not green." He dunks his donut and takes a bite, then says, "You look like one of them, whatchyucallit. Superhero types. How come you wanna be a cop? I would've just run around doing the superhero thing if I had powers." Superboy blinks again, didn't he just say he was Superboy? "Yes sir. I am." Maybe he needs to be more direct about it? He pushes off his chair and hovers in the air, taking a standing pose with his arms crossed. "I'm a clone of Superman, the greatest hero on my world. Like, I said. I'm Superboy!" He comes to a rest on the ground and retakes his seat. "With everything that's happened here on Twisted, I want to help. I'd rather do that helping the police instead of fighting against them. I can stop bullets, I can move faster than a speeding train. I've got tactile telekinesis and can smash through walls!" His mood tanks a little as he moves onto the subject he still regrets, "But last time I was on this world I ran around pretending I was an officer and started a fight with the Director of TASK. I caused some pretty serious property damage and when I left I wanted to go find the deepest hole I could find and never come out again." He gestures towards the city outside the walls, "....and when I do get brave enough to come back everything is destroyed. I should have been here. I have to pay back that debt, and this seems like the best way to do it." Cosgrove smiles. "Oh yeah! I remember that. It was pretty funny. No one took keeping you locked up seriously." He dunks some donut again. "So you wanna do the whole fighting thing? There's a lot more to it than that. You gotta have a sense for this stuff. Lemme see what you've got." He takes a sip of his coffee as he considers his first question. "You're out there, on patrol. You see a guy. Looks all suspicious and stuff. Real shifty like. What do you do?" Pondering a moment, the kid offers, "I'd watch him for a moment, make sure he's not doing something obvious. Then maybe stroll up and ask him if everything was alright? Maybe he's fine. Maybe he's not. An innocent person has nothing to hide right? If he runs, catch him and find out what was the matter." Superboy raises an eyebrow and asks, "Do people really expect superhero types to just start punching first and asking questions later?" It certainly seems that way. Cosgrove drinks his coffee, then says, "Interesting," before writing something down on the pad of paper that was already in the room. "Depends on the Superhero, kid." He continues writing something, then asks, "What's your favorite motivational poster?" Blinkblink. Well, that got weird fast. "Um... Motivational Poster? Like the cat on the wire that says, 'Hang in there?'" Kon-El has no ready response for that one. He doesn't even remember paying attention to them outside of the internet making fun of them. "I guess the one with the eagle on it?" Eagles are good, right? Truth, Justice, and all that. Cosgrove smiles at the mention of the cat poster. "Yeah. Hang in there, kitty. I like that one." He takes another sip of his coffee and asks, "Which one? I kinda think those ones are cheesy. But cheesy can be good. Like a good cheeseburger. What do you like to put on your burger?" Okay, he's got to be messing with him at this point. That's okay, he can mess right back. With a smirk, Superboy excitedly answers, "Oh, man. I'd take anything but mustard. Just pile it on there." He barely waits a moment before trying to turn this around. "You know any good places still around for burgers? I could totally go for one." There's no way he's going to buy into this. It has to be a joke. Cosgrove frowns, "Anything?" He starts writing more down on the pad again. Something he wrote, he apparently underlines three times. "Yeah, there's this place three blocks down, two to the left. Good place. You didn't answer which eagle poster, though." | |
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