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[boobwindow]

[ ID reads Karen Starr.

As for Karen, she's seated on her bed in her shared housing complex. Next to her bedside, on the small dresser, is a tall iced cappuccino that's already a quarter finished. Most of her hair is tied up and she's dressed in a camisole and three quarter pants, but interesting there's a light sweater laying near the edge of the bed.

It's much too warm for long sleeves. ]

Probably a bit weird to ask, but how many of you are going to the jobs they set up for us? I can't exactly complain about doing work I know how to do and being able to earn money ASAP, but it still feels a bit like a demotion. I liked the view from my office window.

[ She sighs and scratches above the digital tattoo on her wrist. ]

Ugh... and I don't suppose someone's found a way to get rid of this?

Comments

[boobwindow]

[ And she thought she had a rough time with the All-Stars sometimes. ]

I would hope you wouldn't leave a three year old unsupervised ever.

She that much of a handful?

[liverletdie]

She's three, and she's smarter than I am.

[ As if that's enough of an answer. ]

Actually, I'm pretty sure she's more intelligent than her father too, and he often blows me out of the water.

Besides, I'm not exactly -- [ A very obvious wince ] -- I'm not the person you want watching your children, but when there's almost nobody else...

[boobwindow]

[ Well, that's both intriguing and surprising. ]

It's good she has someone. I get it, though.

You don't have a friend to help out? Someone from home or someone here? I would be the last person to suggest something like this, but even three year old girl geniuses need female figures in their life. Or someone to help watch over them.

[liverletdie]

Well, there's our other roommate but...

[ A wince. ]

We all have our responsibilities to balance. It's definitely a shuffle.

[boobwindow]

Roommate troubles already?

[liverletdie]

[ His smile is there, but there's a hint to his eyes of something a little deeper. ]

Oh no, we're all doing fine. At least we know each other.

[boobwindow]

[ It gets her wondering about the sort of tension going on in the household. She holds no doubts this roommate situation has been a bumpy ride so far. ]

It's something, at least.

The kid doing okay, by the way?

[ Three year old or not, it's been one hell of a month. ]

[liverletdie]

Val? Oh yeah, she's fine so far. Her family is used to this kind of nonsense.

Believe me, if anyone can handle this, it's her.

[ But she is three. Tony isn't so good with the emotional nurturing thing. ]

[boobwindow]

[ Oh... oh, she gets it now. In some ways that's good, but in many others ways not so much. She's seen how family can get tied up in the superhero drama. ]

Tell you what, how about one of these days I meet Val?

[liverletdie]

You know, I think that might be good for her. Especially if you want to meet her. She's a bright kid, I'm sure you guys could find plenty of theoretical properties to talk about.

[boobwindow]

She sounds like it.

The government can't get her to register, can they? She's technically not... able to sign for herself.

[liverletdie]

[ A pause. ]

Why can't they? She can make a decision later, if she chooses otherwise. She's intelligent enough to make an informed decision.

[boobwindow]

I would think it's trickier with minors, even ones as smart as she sounds. She is three, still.

And this registration business rubs me the wrong way.

[liverletdie]

Ah.

Well, minors may be minors, but they still have superpowers. Registration ensures that they're accountable for their abilities. Think about it as having a driver's permit for superhumans.

[boobwindow]

People should be held accountable for their actions, but I'm under the impression superpowered folk are born with it and shouldn't require a permit for something they had no say about in the first place.

Where I'm from we've got plenty of capes and masks running and flying around without the government digging their fingers in.

[liverletdie]

And when the inexperienced children take down a school full of children because nobody bothered to hold them accountable?

Superhumans don't police themselves properly, I'm afraid. Where I come from? We tried that for so long, until things got out of hand.

[boobwindow]

[ She pauses as this is getting heated and souring fast. It's more than tempting to tell Tony what happens when information that should have been privy to select individuals falls into the wrong hands, about the innocent people who still get hurt because of it.

Secret identities, damn it. ]

I'm sorry to hear that happened, but what happened in your world doesn't mean it's bound to happen in every universe where someone can fly or lift a truck over their heads.

I don't think the superhero community is without flaws and sure, if things get out of hand those responsible need to be held accountable, but where does the policing start and where does it end? That's what I'm worried about here: it sounds and looks like a pretty package, but who really knows what they want with any of us?

[liverletdie]

Here, we don't. You're right.

But, I understand their position entirely. I've been in charge of that lead, before. It's not pretty, but sometimes it's the only way to solve a problem. Or at least the safest and most expedient.

[boobwindow]

Well, I can't say I do.

[liverletdie]

I don't expect everyone to.

Especially if they've never been mired in the superhuman situation for years before. I've been living this life for too long, I've seen too many attempts to do exactly this, and none of them worked.

[boobwindow]

And what does your government do exactly with anyone wearing a cape or mask? Are they protected? Are the people in their lives protected? How much free will do they have?

[liverletdie]

We protect as best we can. A registered identity isn't necessarily a public identity. They aren't synonymous. They're free to operate as long as they've registered. If they want to, they can draw a paycheck for doing the work that they're already doing.

It makes balancing a personal and working life easier, it makes things less difficult for the heroes, and it means that when something happens, we can protect them.

I've done the secret identity thing, it created more problems than it solved.

[boobwindow]

[ A paycheck? As much as she and the other heroes have joked about it, they could probably never cash in a check for what they do.

"Created more problems than it solved." She thinks of Sue and Ralph and her heart sinks. ]

It's got to be difficult at times, but public identities gotta have their cons. I remember a couple of years back a [ good friend ] woman married to one of them was murdered. It was highly publicized, especially since his identity was public.

[liverletdie]

It happens.

[ He said it a little tersely. ]

It's happened to a lot of people. It happened to me, maybe not a wife but --

Anyway, it's not about making it public to the general public, not really. It's a good gesture, and one I'm more than willing to give, but it's not for everyone. Not everyone has money and power and nobody relying on me to make it by. We have an organization that holds onto them -- SHIELD. They're in charge of Superhuman affairs anyway, and have been for years. We're not exactly just posting these out on the internet for every person with a grudge to find.

[boobwindow]

[ It shouldn't have happened, but again, how to make that argument without revealing how invested she is in that? The community's never been the exact same after Sue. ]

So, we're talking a subdivision of the government? Or something completely different?