[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/7NSt6Na.png[/img][/centre] [b]All Tandems | PRT Headquarters June 19, 2021, 9:02[/b][hr]Tandem was surprised to see Axiom unmask herself so readily… [b]Tandem 3 | PRT Headquarters, Hallway June 19, 2021, 9:03[/b][hr]… Was that a sign that they’d done some more in-depth background checks on her and her teammates? Axiom probably wouldn’t have unmasked to them so readily if there was any chance they might secretly be gang members, or mastered, or something like that, right? Or maybe Axiom was just an idiot? Probably not, she seemed smart and could tinkers even be idiots in the first place? If their powers taught them the principles behind their technology, surely a certain level of intelligence would be needed in order to actually apply that knowledge… or maybe tinker powers worked more like some thinker powers and just sort of gave a recipe for tinkertech without requiring any sort of understanding? Tandem’s own thinker ability was a bit like that – if she chucked a book into her inventory for a couple of hours, she’d be able to recite its contents word for word, assuming she knew the language at least, but she wouldn’t gain any deeper understanding of its contents no matter how long she let it sit in there. She decided to ask someone about it later, probably either Axiom or Wattson… [b]Tandem 2 | PRT Headquarters, Meeting Room June 19, 2021, 9:03[/b][hr]… Argue as she might as to the necessity of having one of her own, Tandem did understand why it was important for most capes to have a secret identity. News hadn’t exactly been easy to come by while she’d been homeless – at least not the kind that concerned anything outside of her immediate environment and things that might affect that environment – but capes were pretty much Tandem’s favourite topic, and she’d talked about it enough to have at least some idea of the sorts of things that could happen when a cape’s identity got exposed. Not to mention that PR kept on drilling the concept into her. [s]She wished they’d stop.[/s] For capes, secret identities were a safeguard against other capes – the kinds of monsters that might decide that rather than risk going after another parahuman, it would be easier to just target their civilian friends [s]or family[/s]… Which was why it seemed like kind of a big deal that Axiom would willingly unmask herself so soon. That was a major display of trust when literally every person in the know represented another liability, another avenue by which a loved one might be hurt. Tandem felt a familiar pressure on her mind, her other selves pressing on her – trying to derail her from her current train of thought… Of course, the risks of having a public identity only applied to most capes, and Tandem was lucky enough to be one of the ones who couldn’t really be targeted like that. Most of her current friends were the kinds of people who had long since figured out how to lay low and fend for themselves; and even if they weren’t they’d already told her they weren’t the sorts of people anyone would bother with tracking down in order to get at her. And if she made new friends in her team they would have powers so that wouldn’t count. … and it wasn’t she had any fam- The instance was terminated and replaced. [b]All Tandems | PRT Headquarters June 19, 2021, 9:05[/b][hr]Oops, she’d been getting distracted. There was so much to do and she was meant to be doing literally anything else. For starters, she’d stopped paying as much attention to her surroundings. That needed to be resolved. She also had to grab that tinkertech. And after she’d done that maybe she should go and introduce herself to her teammates in the end – right now seemed like a very good time to do something like that. Collecting the earpiece, Tandem quickly duplicated it twice, making sure to keep at least one of her clones in the hallway at all times. Only once there were three copies of the tinker tech, did Tandem move to equip any of them, hesitating only slightly before curiosity got the better of her and she slipped the devices onto two of her three clones, the third copy being stowed into her inventory by the clone in the hallway. Tinkertech acquired, Tandem turned her attention to her teammates and considered the best way to approach introducing herself. Maybe she should just come out and ask them how their powers worked? That was what she wanted to talk about, and what she assumed everyone else would also want to talk about. Who didn’t love power talk? [color=ff00c2]"What powers do we all have around here?"[/color] Before Tandem could begin to question her teammates, Shatercrash beat her to the punchline; not that she would complain this made things far easier for her. Tandem jittered on the balls of her feet, the lingering shock and panic from earlier, rapidly giving way to excitement in anticipation of the power talk. When no one immediately spoke up, Tandem took that as her opportunity to do so. [color=938787]"I can store stuff I touch and then put it back anywhere within a certain distance of one of my bodies,"[/color] Tandem chirped, demonstrating the ability by briefly storing her mask before making it reappear in the air a foot or so in front of her head, deftly catching it before reaffixing it to her face. She hadn’t bothered to give herself any sort of introduction, not even thinking to, and instead jumping straight into the long-awaited power talk. [color=938787]"I also have another power that makes there always be two or three of me, and I can move them around, and they’re all me, so it doesn’t really matter if they get stabbed or something as long as one of me is okay. Oh, and I get good at using things that I have stored for a while. And…"[/color] As reluctant as she’d been to speak before, now that she’d gotten started she struggled to stop. Nonetheless, Tandem cut herself off. There were so many things to explain about her power set and she was itching to tell them all, but that would take a while, and she could recognise that she was kinda butchering her explications right now, so she could at least wait until she was calm enough to do it properly. In any case, even more than she wanted to explain her powers, she really, really, wanted to hear about her team teammates'. [color=938787]"Um, there’s lots and lots of things I can do with my powers but it will take a long time to explain them all…"[/color] Tandem had intended to leave it at that, but was struck by a brilliant idea. She dismissed and reconjured the clone she was using to interact with her teammates, repositioning it such that its back was pointed towards the adults. Then leaning in conspiratorially, Tandem created a fold in her poncho reaching into it as though she were the world's most conspicuous drug dealer reaching into their coat. She conjured several bags of confectioneries to her hand. [color=938787]"Anyone want some candy?"[/color] Tandem stored a bag to replace it with another, cycling through to show off her impressive collection. Technically speaking all of it was stolen, but that probably didn’t matter; it wasn’t like she could return it now or would even if she could for that matter.