Vending Choices [OTA]

[enthunder]

Who: Lightning, OTA
Where: Standard coach
When: Apple, day 16
What: Vending machine antics
Warnings: None

It had been a long shot to begin with, typing in a generic information book title and hoping that the vending machine would play nice, but it was the closest thing to an information source that they'd gotten yet. It was worth a try.

Thing was, she now had choices. Choices that she hadn't expected, which was actually kind of aggravating if she thought about it. Considering, she scanned each of the offered titles, and occasionally tapped the screen so it wouldn't time out. When someone entered the standard car behind her, she waved them over.

"Hey, what do you think?"

Comments

[hashtagparkerluck]

Clearly, this is a job for a Spider-teen as Peter has walked in with his bag of candy. He's just shoving some sour gummies in his mouth with Lightening asks about the books. His eyes widen and he quickly glances around to see if anyone else is around before looking at the screen.

"Um-either the one about the void trecker coming to town or the diary." He offers. Or, that's what he meant, what actually comes out is a lot more like. 'Uhb- e'ther the oneb 'bou combing t' townb or da dairy.'

[enthunder]

She nods, still frowning at the screen, "Yeah, I was... Uh," it takes her a second to realise she actually didn't take in anything he just said.

"Say again?"

[hashtagparkerluck]

"Oh sowry." He says, mouth still full of candy before he takes a second to chew it up and swallow. Oh man, how he's missed his sour gummies.

"Uh-Either the one about the trecker coming to town or the diary-either one might have some more insight as to what we're supposed to be doing on this train." He clarifies before sticking more candy in his mouth.

[enthunder]

"I'm not sure what a photo essay is, so I think you're right." She takes out her journal and notes down Diary of a Voidtrecker and When the Voidtrecker Came to Town. And remarks absently, with optimal Big Sister voice, "If you don't slow down with those gummies, you're gonna choke."

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony was getting bored. There was only so much a person could lounge around or explorea train. While he thought it was amusing the kids were now walking around with bags of candy, he had no intention of buying those himself. Why buy it when he can make it?

Anyway, so he's here and Light's just randomly asked him a question. He comes over and looks at the screen and then back at her. "Why on earth would you want any of those?"

[enthunder]

"I thought there could be some clue to what this whole thing's about in one of them," she explains, indicating the titles. "Albany knew about the Voidtrecker Express and its mission, so you'd think that someone would have written about it at some point."

[runs_on_batteries]

He can't argue with that logic. He looks back at the list. "Perhaps the diary?" The others looked like they'd mostly be fiction. It was possible the diary would be too, but it sounded the most promising. "It wouldn't be the worst idea to keep a diary either." He had no patience for that sort of thing, but if someone else could stand it the knowledge might be helpful.

[enthunder]

"Peter thinks so too. That and 'When the Voidtrecker Came to Town'... Guess I can get two." She pulls out her journal and makes another mark next to the Diary title. She's got plenty of time to decide, if the order won't arrive until whenever their next station is.

"If it won't stick around after we do, a diary won't help much, will it?"

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony looks at Lightning in surprise. "What makes you think it won't stay here if something happens to us?"

He hadn't thought about any of them randomly being sent home. Would there be any warning or would they just be taken as abruptly and unwanted as the first time. What would determine that? Would they finally see who is behind all of this?

[enthunder]

"Hibiki is missing, so I guess we'll see," she points out, cynically. "Not to mention there's nothing in here from the last group of 'heroes'."

Not that she has any ideas how to find out more information. In a fit of irritation, she jabs in an order for the two books she'd marked, and checks her much-reduced point total.

[runs_on_batteries]

"She's not really missing. She left while we were on the platform. How she managed that, I have no idea."

Lightning did raise a very good question. He hadn't thought about whether they were the first on this train or simply the first new brood. Were their belongings gone or simply taken while the train had obviously been cleaned? There were far too many questions and too few answers for his liking.

It was her demeanor when she pushed the buttons that brought his attention back to her. "Having some sticker shock?"

[enthunder]

"Sticker shock? What's that?" She closed the roster with a swipe, and leaned back. "I'd say if we don't know why or how she left, it counts as missing. Did you try talking to her? Because it was like we weren't even there."

[runs_on_batteries]

"It's.. oh. It's what we call it when people buy something and then regret it when they see how much they've just spent. The sticker being the price tag." Tony nods at her description of the girl that they now knew had left.

"It was very strange. Do you suppose it was some kind of mind control? I'd say maybe that's how they got us here but I don't know if I would've gotten anywhere given my condition when I first arrived."

[enthunder]

"There's nothing else to buy right now, and at least this way I'll feel like I'm doing something," she considers, and her mouth twists wryly. "But I suppose sticker shock is part of it."

"As for what could've gotten us here? Beats me. Sometimes, you meet something so powerful or unfamiliar that your mind can't accept it... that's my theory."

[runs_on_batteries]

He chuckles, pleased she understood the humor in that silly term. "Whatever knowledge you can gain from the books would be useful. If nothing else, we could start a library to give us all something to do."

His humor dims at the idea anything could be too powerful he couldn't understand it. Had she met him? "I'm not sure what to make of them, but I doubt their so all powerful and omnipotent as that."