[ Opening Mingle ]

[randomly_modding]

[Everyone will wake up suddenly, as if having drifted off -- while sitting upright in an uncomfortable office chair. In one hand they're holding the communicator, and in their lap is propped a clipboard with a job application (standard, looking something like this; it requests up to ten years of job history, ) and a pen. The waiting room is also fairly standard, except for being empty.]

[The communicator's lock screen reads, Complete the job application. Time limit, twenty-four hours.]

[There are magazines, fake plants, and computers. There's a staff lounge with food -- tupperware that might have belonged to some of these nonexistent workers, popcorn and cocoa packets, vending machines -- and restrooms. There are exits, but characters will be unable to use them... or make their own, or escape in any way.]

[So the characters are stuck here, until tomorrow morning. Set up a comment telling everyone what your character is doing, and thinking, whether they're obeying the task or not, at any time during the day. Then tag other people! Be sure to check back later in the week, when people are encouraged make threads for the evening as well as the day! Characters that have been claimed are also welcome at this point to join the community, and will be able to make their own posts, which can be tagged by anyone taking part in the event.]

Comments

[cleanedslate]

Definitely seem to recall a certain amount of desperation being involved.

[ just sayin'. he's peering over your shoulder, by the way. ]

[sublimating]

[pushing himself up on one shoulder, lips quirking up reluctantly] Now that you mention it, I think that might have been a subject of discussion. I wasn't... exactly planning to put it on my resume.

[cleanedslate]

Which part trips you up? Is it the "secret government agency" part? The "superhero" part?

They have a skills list, right? Put down "rampaging". Pre-9/11, you could maybe get away with "terrorizing a small town", but these days they might not like that.

[ he's the most helpful job wingman ever ]

[sublimating]

Yeah, the-- I was trying to avoid the rampaging part, actually.

[he shifts to get a better look at Tony. well, you're all intact, and healthy-looking, and apparently defenseless]

[cleanedslate]

[ shut up about the defenseless part. he's never defenseless. learned that lesson well! ]

Why? You've got like, six -- maybe seven years experience at that. Employers like that!

[ casually ] The roof of your mouth doesn't taste like chloroform, does it? I can't really tell.

[sublimating]

Yeah, but it's not the field I want to go into.

I am not actually all that familiar with the taste of chloroform. [and, pointing the pen at him] This is your cue to say, neither am I.

[cleanedslate]

[ juuuust a long enough silence to make his point ]

Who, me?

No. No, definitely not. [ beat ] I've heard that tequila is not completely dissimilar.

[sublimating]

[oh Tony. he rubs his forehead, and then ignores that nobly] So someone -- abducted us right from inside your car? [how does that even work. this reeks of magic. he's not a fan]

[cleanedslate]

[ he has a visible halo, what are you even worried about ] [ also not crazy about magic, but even less crazy about this ]

--From my car.

[sublimating]

[he looks up again at that tone, frowning] ...Right. You insisted on putting me up after we left Central Park...

[cleanedslate]

[ this is really not -- funny ] Yeah, that was... That was -- like seven months ago.

[sublimating]

[sorry, what now?] Seven... months ago?

[he wants to say obvious things about how he can't just have lost seven months, but it is, of course, obvious. there's an awkward beat before he chuckles, reluctantly, and rubs the bridge of his nose] Well, that's -- not great!

[cleanedslate]

[ this means you don't know any of the things he -- will have told you, by the end of his movie! maaaaan. ]

You know, it's funny, I could have sworn you didn't disappear or anything. Drove you all the way to the airport, hopped on a plane to Malibu. Definitely didn't seem like you were secretly here.

[sublimating]

[you just drove him to the airport? jerk] And I only just got here, so I'm pretty sure I haven't been secretly here for seven months, waiting for you to show up.

[cleanedslate]

[ and then he took you to Malibu. pay attention, BB. ]

Time travel? Don't say time travel.

[sublimating]

Despite all evidence to the contrary, our lives are not turn of the century sci-fi. I guess maybe...

[he hesitates over 'parallel universes'. that's not somehow less science-fiction than time travel]

[cleanedslate]

Better Verne than Burgess. [ seriously ]

MWI? A weak coupling between yours and mine? [ nudge nudge wink wink ]

[sublimating]

[a little sigh, but he allows] I wouldn't expect to find a weak coupling in a... 90s software startup. [he flicks a gaze around]

Are you proposing that there's a universe where I got kidnapped during our car ride, and -- a universe where you got kidnapped seven months later -- by the same transdimensional culprit?

im3 spoilers /im a little late warning, sorry everyone

[cleanedslate]

[ this is why you're his fave ]

Hey, I'm not proposing anything. This is not a thesis. It's not even a hypothesis. [ he rubs his wrists, tilts his head back to look up at the ceiling himself ] Plenty of other explanations.

[ Skrulls ] Memory-modification. Or loss. [ he doesn't like either of those ideas, and one of his hands drifts down to rub his ARC reactor through his shirt. he was really looking forward to getting this thing out of him ]

[ then he glances at you, and he feels guilty! ]

Maybe we've been here the whole time and I've just been hallucinating from the pain of whatever they did to grab us.

[ a beat ] I don't exactly like any of the alternatives, though.

/yep, all the spoilers

[sublimating]

I think I'm gonna go with the many-worlds version myself.

[he does rest his hand on his chin, though] So what do you exactly -- think happened in these seven months? [try the cliffnotes version. he knows you can do it, Tony]

/WHEEEEEE

[cleanedslate]

[ he raises an eyebrow at Bruce, because this is literally a seven month long story, but okay ]

We put the Tower back together, only now it's less me and more Avenging Things. There's a suite for everybody, but the top ten floors are still Candyland. [ promising, and then he turns on his heel: ]

I know you've been playing Lord of the Flies for the last half a decade, but tell me you know who AIM is, that'll save me a lot of time.

[sublimating]

Sure. Advanced Idea Mechanics. They're all over the news. They've made some of my favorite anti-personnel weaponry. [that were designed to hit him in the face]

[cleanedslate]

[ also why you're his fave ]

Heh. Yeah, that's the one. But on the side, they also front for a major terrorist organization, and churn out slightly less than super soldiers who are awesome at everything right up until they literally explode. Nasty little bug in the code.

[sublimating]

[oh] That... seems like it could pose a small problem.

You know, I was really kind of hoping somebody would learn from my mistakes.

[even though Ross made another Hulk just to try to erase the first one. c'mon, guys. is maybe making more Steves really worth making a lot of Hulks and Extremises?]

[cleanedslate]

[ unfortunately not everyone agrees the Hulks and Extremises are bad, per se ]

What can I say? Learning from mistakes is not in everybody's wheelhouse. [ he spreads his hands ] In fact, AIM seems especially bad at it. More than ten years, and they never went back to the drawing board. Just swept the bodies under the rug and kept right on going.

[ a beat ] Hey, at least their tech worked -- 83% of the time. That's at least twice the odds you get with Hammer Tech.