Text; Pull Point Plot (Aged-Down Barnaby)

[prepairing]

[The attached ID reads Barnaby Brooks Jr. As a spokesman for a prominent energy drink brand, his name and face are splashed on all sorts of magazines and advertisements, and anyone who's been here for even a short amount of time might know him as a hero who's very public about his crime-fighting activities.

Generally speaking, it's rare for him to use text over the network. Of course, the message that follows doesn't exactly mesh with his usual image, either.]

I've got three questions. If you've got an answer for any of these, I want to hear from you.

#1: What do you know about this symbol?

#2: Who the hell is this?

#3: Do your numbers reflect the market's ACTUAL demand for heroes, or are you all just calling yourselves heroes because it's become the popular thing to do? At this rate, your characters are just going to overlap. Unless you've got a good hook, your odds of standing out or building a solid fanbase are pretty abysmal.

[You shouldn't need a 15-year-old kid telling you this, he irritably thinks to himself. And yet here we are.]

Comments

[mightthinkthat]

3. We're called by others 'heroes' and only a few of us have gimmicks. I'm in my sixties. No one wishes to see me in spandex. Possibly a cape, but that is a fashion that does flatter.

[prepairing]

So "hero" is a title other people foist on you, not the other way around. Is that what you're saying?

And spandex needs to go out of style already. Robotics is a much better alternative.

[mightthinkthat]

I wouldn't use the term 'foist' myself, though I don't doubt others would. It's not exactly an insult. But essentially, yes.

I'm sure. You'll pardon me if I count myself out of the field, I'm quite happy in a good old fashioned suit.

voice;

[onhold]

( There is definitely something afoot here. )

Seriously, you too?

voice;

[prepairing]

[He debates sticking to text, but there's something oddly familiar about that voice, like someone he's heard before in a far-off dream.

Which sounds way more sentimental than it actually is. As things are, Barnaby just flatly asks:]

...Me too what.

text;

[imfired]

1. i don't know
2. i don't know
3. i don't know? what does this have to do with 1 and 2

text;

[prepairing]

1. Okay.

2. Fair enough.

3. Who said this question was related to the other two things? I wanted to understand more about the local hero industry, so I asked.

[Actually, that last answer is a bit misleading. It has every bit to do with item #1, but he’s not about to admit that over the network.]

text;

[imfired]

alright kid jesus
i'm onot a superhero so i don't know
can't take care of my job let alone a city or whatever

how's that for an answer.

text;

[medalsome]

[.... Okay, it sounds like Barnaby is also having some trouble. Great. Okay...]

Back home I was a hero before I came here. When we were brought here, a lot of us gained special powers we didn't have before, but apparently in this world you are only a hero if you have special abilities. Makes sense, I guess.

Everyone who is brought here from a different world has been given powers, whether they want them or not, so it's not just a cry for popularity. But it's pretty easy to get popular. The locals generally seem to like outgoing heroes.

text;

[prepairing]

I never asked for my powers either, at home or here. Hardly anyone does. Welcome to the club.

So there's still a really big demand in the market for heroes even though there's so many of you. Is that what you're saying?

[medalsome]

Right. Not a voluntary things for most people...

Basically. Supposedly the Porter cannot be controlled, so it sometimes ports in people who are Not Very Nice, to put it mildly. That means they also get powers, if they didn't have them already, and it requires more of us who are good to take them down should a dire situation arise. I'm not exactly sure how it was where you were from, but I know back at my home heroes were always appreciated.

text;

[amadaman]

That's Kotetsuo-san




[he doesn't notice his typo. sorry Kotetsu. Sorry Tetsuo.]

text;

[prepairing]

[Finally, someone who's actually helpful...]

Who is that? Another imPort?

My phone is filled with pictures of him, and I don't know why. It's creepy.

[amadaman]

[...

That sounds almost stalker-ish. But he also thinks a majority of those photos might've been selfies by Kotetsu. Ken continues without making the typo this time, but still not realizing his first one.]

Yes. He's someone who came from the same world as you. You two were colleagues and friends, but since a lot of people have been having their ages and memories shuffled around, I guess you don't know him yet.

Kotetsu Kaburagi.

text;

[hoboagogo]

oh my god does that guy do his beard like that on purpose
you'd need a stencil or something for that

[Sorry, Barnaby- Middle-school-era Shinjiro is not particularly helpful.]

text;

[prepairing]

That’s the worst part about it. If it was an accident or bad genes, that would be one thing, but the shape is way too precise for it to be anything but deliberate. Unbelievable.

[hoboagogo]

i can't even imagine someone doing that every day
like if he misses is he just gonna be uneven until it grows back?
is his beard like that in every picture?

text;

[earnedmystripes]

uhhhhhh thats me
who uh
who are you?

text;

[prepairing]

Barnaby.

Your future "friend", I guess.

text; id: wild tiger

[earnedmystripes]

[If Kotetsu was better at subtlety he'd probably wait a bit before doing this, but alas no such luck. Once he'd found he had the option on this thing, of course he'd gone for it. At least it's not audio?]

youre missing the whole point of being a hero!!

text;

[prepairing]

[...Oh good, it's this guy.]

And what is that?

text

[monster_san]

[now, this is unusual. she's only met him once, but the tone of 2 and content of 3 seem... off, based on that, although reading over his chat with Ken clarifies.]

1. I believe it's called an ouroboros? I think it's Greek, but I could be wrong. I do know it's very old.

2. I don't know, but he looks like quite a character.

3. I think it's a role the Americans want us to play for propaganda purposes. Superpowered people are less intimidating when the news can report us finding lost dogs or stopping car accidents.

text

[prepairing]

1. That's about all I've been able to find out on my own. Have you come across anyone who wears this symbol as a tattoo?

2. That's a nice way of putting it. I was going to say he looks like someone who lost a bet. Why else would anyone wear their facial hair like that?

3. It's not a bad strategy if you want to make people with powers less threatening to the public, but they'd probably have a more powerful campaign with a smaller, stronger lineup of heroes to promote.

text

[khajidont]

[...ah. He knows what's going on.]

So how old are you anyway?

text

[prepairing]

What does that have to do with anything?

[There's a reason he's using text, okay!! He doesn't want to advertise it to the world.]