[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GV9UV83.png[/img][/center]
[indent][b]//AE 53, Sol 13
//Day 1 of the Play/Tech Expo[/b][/indent][hr]
[sub][@PapiTan][@Digmata][/sub]
There was nothing else to be said. It was the space of a few meters, perhaps, but in that moment, in that frothing, seething moment, Elpis could feel it.

A chasm. A chasm unfathomable, one that could not be circumnavigated no matter how grand one's wings were. An alien gale whipped through sheer cliff faces, while beneath bubbled black waters whose toxicity caused birds themselves to plummet to their doom. Such was the hatred, the spite, the obsessive [i]rage[/i] lying beneath the surface of the Moon Arrow, that all thoughts, all mirth, all childish petulance was silenced by the shadow within Amaris. There was no coming back from that. No coming back from this.

And perhaps, there never was any chance to begin with, that they could have been any friendlier than what the executives demanded. Not with this innate disgust would colour every interaction, past, present, and future.

The sirens caught up by then, the police having slowed their chase once Talents involved themselves. There was no need for Neo-Astraea's law enforcement agencies to be involved in anything more than the cleanup and aftermath. Two approached Elpis, still stunned by what she had peaked within the dark side of the moon, and statements were given, evidence gathered, the scene cordoned off. Within another fifteen minutes, traffic started flowing through this artery of District Mu. Within the hour, there were more exciting incidents for media drones to track.

They all left, leaving the Maiden of Hope alone, lost in the thought that she did [i]something[/i] wrong.

[sub][@Taka][@Psyker Landshark][@Yu Narukami][/sub]
A hundred cameras were recording, and countless more were watching all across Neo-Astraea. Re:Arcade? The next advancement in VR gaming technology? Now THAT was something worth getting excited about in Play/Tech! There was not a single person under the age of 30 that hadn't fostered dreams of becoming a Talent, of becoming a superhuman worshipped by the masses, and if there was a simple device that could safely let one experience all that?

Well, of course people would get excited!

Even as the air seemed to be a couple degrees colder than it ought to be, the fervor of the crowd ramped up. News reporters were pushing forwards now, demanding answers to their questions about this new invention, the specifics behind the pseudo-scientific principles that it ran on. Fans online were already starting up their own little wars, especially with Zephyr's own gauntlet thrown down to challenge not just Ladyice, but also Armada himself, the KING of gaming. Sure, he didn't show up nearly so often in realheroics, but who could deny his skill in virtual environments, where he could literally supersede the code? It was the sort of overconfident brashness that people loved.

Both positive and negatively.

Which way it all fell, in the end, depended entirely on the three Talents performances in Re:Arcade tomorrow.

...

Anyone with a brain, of course, would understand then, that the victor would be decide [i]before[/i] this demonstration of a fight began.

[hr]
[b]//News Round Up[/b]
[hider=Elpis]"Huh, didn't know she was tough like that."

"Aw, she reminds me of my daughter. As a matter of fact, I'm going to adopt her!"

"Did no one at Aspera teach her how to handle traffic incidents? That was an entirely reckless way to stop that car!"
[/hider][hider=Amaris]"Wasn't there supposed to be that collab stream with Elpis today?"

"Shot through the heart <3"

"What a bitch. Didn't even come back for Elpis afterwards. Typical het-Talent, too busy giving self-insert options."
[/hider][hider=LadyIce]"UOHHHHHHHHHH!"

"BROTHERS! LET US UNITE! Crush those bastard Zeph-Heads! I don't want to see a single ONE of them on stream tomorrow!"

"...hey, wait, how do I redeem that whole 'spend a week with her thing'? I was the only one to buy that thing, I think..."
[/hider][hider=Armada]"Prince Armada is radiant as always uwu"

"Ugh, why [i]is[/i] he spending any of his attention at all to those skanks and bitches?"

"Anyone know anything at all about Re:Arcade? I can't even find like, a price tag for it."
[/hider][hider=Zephyr]"Sorry guys, we'll be locking down the discussion channels until afterwards. But don't worry, the Skybreaker is going to absolutely ANNIHILATE these frauds."

>several memes and 'highlights' of all the times Zephyr has fumbled in public, with clown music as the soundtrack
[/hider][hider=Kirara]"Hey, take that shit down guy. Camrips are NOT ok. If you were a true fan, you'd want other fans to support our Light properly."

"Anyone find the address of those scalpers yet? Think I got them pinned down to RD Chi."

>a 50 minute long reaction video to a three minute long music video, where the opera singer simply nods his head, replays the song, and eats some spaghetti.
[/hider][hider=Astraeus]There is but a single post tagging Astraea. In it features a Hero and a Villain. The Hero directs the Villain to fight him somewhere more empty, before the two of them transport to Astraea's empty 'Daily Posts' page.
[/hider]