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[ For a moment — a too long moment — she thinks about chucking the box she had picked up at his head rather than dropping it in the basket. It wouldn't hurt much and it'd satisfy her bridling annoyance for the moment. ]

[ Especially when he continues in what she can only decide is a mocking manner (it's not, but still). In the same deadpan way as before she questions back: ]

What do you think?

As long as you're not picking fights.

[ Not like he used to, as a kid. Years and years later, he knows he was acting out and picking fights with assholes because he wanted to feel in control of something and wanted to be the hero out of some fantasy, swooping in to save the day.

Mostly, though, he just got his ass beat.

He's heading down the aisle way, apparently bored with medical supplies for the moment, before grabbing something bland. Like un-branded toothpaste – recommended by 9 out of 10 nameless dentists! ]

Anyone interesting?

I don't start fights I can't finish.

[ THAT IS NOT THE POINT NEBULA? It is not what he means? (She thinks it's what he means) ]

[ Regardless of how plainly - blandly - she says it, like it's not even a thought to get stuck on, she does consider his next question. Thinks minutely of the girl who's probably too innocent for a world like this thinking she's likeable and nice. And she's not sure what to do with that — ]

No.

[ Said too quickly, added just as quickly: ]

Someone who is Asgardian. Someone who agreed with Thanos's rhetoric. And an idiot jumping on tracks.

[ There's more but they're the first ones that come to mind as interesting. The first is the one she possibly considers as most valuable. ]

Edited 2023-08-01 04:48 (UTC)

[ His nose wrinkles in distaste at— well. All of that. But his attention catches on the bit that matters.

Thoughtfully, ]

Asgardian, huh?

[ He's reasonably sure they're alone in the store, but he pauses, listening. Maybe he's paranoid as fuck, and he can count on one hand the number of people he trusts in this place and still have fingers leftover. And maybe it's silly, considering whoever their captors had some ability to watch over them.

Still, he tries to make sure they've got the store to themselves, at least for the moment. He knows his senses aren't quite as keen as Nebula's, which is why he drops his voice. ]

Anyone else here?

[ She sees no point in hiding whatever it is from their captors. They've clearly got eyes on them somehow - somewhere - though it's unnoticeable to any of them how. ]

[ Watching for a moment, brows and mouth bowing low as she does, and pauses. It's not hesitation, exactly, but something in her throat. Her hearing and eyesight are mechanical and those are some of the best the universe had to offer — It was rare she didn't hear something. ]

[ She's capable now - still - but it hasn't gone unnoticed that the scale has decreased. That once again this place had messed with her body, already not entirely her own, and she wonders what's the point if it cannot function? It's a small moment, not quite hesitation - perhaps frustration. ]

[ A frustration that catches in her throat in a way normal frustration doesn't, pales her tone as she answers: ]

If I thought there were would I be speaking freely?

[ No one is there, but that's not why she stopped. ]

[ Concern flashes across his face at that little display. A novel in micro-expressions, he might think if he were a more poetic person.

Instead, he thinks, Well, that wasn't good.

He doesn't claim to be an expert in reading Nebula's expressions, but he likes to think that he's gotten a decent amount of practice, over the years. He frowns then, shifting his backpack from one side to the other.

He files this away for later. ]

Met a guy, seemed like he was from our world. Knew about the Infinity Stones. Claimed he got one from the vault that opened up, too, but if he did, I doubt he'd just be sitting on it.

[ If Peter had an Infinity Stone, for instance, he would've already wrecked the place.

Then, as an afterthought, because Nebula and Rocket surely had more affection for these folks than Peter ever did: ]

Mentioned the Avengers, too.

[ ~~It's nothing. Surely it's nothing.~~ ]

[ She won't linger on her own stray thoughts - doesn't want to - but she does scowl at the mention of Infinity Stones. They still existed now, for them, but someone holding onto one here and now? Not good. ]

[ The addition earns a pause. She'd had enough time to get acquainted with them and the team that answered to Romanoff. Not nearly sentimental with all of them, but between the mentions it's enough.]

Clearly not Thor. Guy got a name?

[ She can have a guess. Her memory's got the files from those discussions for the time heights - The tesseract was one and someone was a name in it. But best not assume. Her expression says she might have an idea now, though. ]

Edited 2023-08-01 05:52 (UTC)

[ They haven't gotten to introductions yet in their thread oops, so Schrodinger's name mention may or may not go here. ]

Tallish guy. Pale. Black hair. British accent. He had a sort of cultured undertaker vibe to him.

Morticia Addams, but a dude.

[ Not that Nebula will understand the reference, but as with most of his references, it was more for Peter's benefit than anyone else. ]

He called the thing a Tesseract.

[ And Peter only ever knew the Infinity Stones by their proper names, not the fancy names they were given later – Power, Space, Time, Soul, Reality, and Mind. ]

[ Someone else might ask who Morticia Addams is. Part of her wants to, but she dismisses it as another bit of Peter reference nonsense. The description matches what she knows of the man she met, at least, and she tilts her head. ]

The Space Stone, then. It was in New York with Thor's brother, Loki... It adds up.

[ Because names might not have come up in either of our conversations yet... But I realized late last night she would know thanks to time heist discussions ~~and that's how Thanos found out~~. She taps a finger against her leg. ]

But do we really think that this place would bring in a working Space stone?

[ He snorts out a laugh. ]

Yeah, absolutely not. I figured it had to be a replica, but he seemed convinced it was the real deal. But if it is, then whatever is keeping everyone from tapping into their normal abilities is affecting an Infinity Stone, too.

And I seriously don't wanna think about what it says about this place if anything like that is possible.

[ Because the implications of that are. Not great. To say the least. ]

If any place can get a hold of the stones so easily then we're all in danger.

[ It's stating the obvious, but it's an obvious point she feels needed to say. Because he's right, it means that whoever has got a hold on them has the ability to get all the stones if they wanted... and that the could suppress them. ]

[ No one should be capable of that. ]

Things just got a lot worse.

[ Falsely bright, ]

So, what. We thinkin' ten spears? Twenty?

[ Because joking about it is way easier than facing the reality of it. ]

We could probably make a few slingshots, too.

[ She frowns at him, because while he can joke about it she's not quite at that level. Getting closer some days, but this is turning more into 'defensive mission' mode than it's not by the day. ]

We need a reliable team.

[ Is this her saying she misses the other Guardians? Yes. Yes it is. Do~~n't~~ call her out on it. ]

[ His demeanor dims a little – not that it was very bright to begin with, but still. ]

Yeah, probably. Wouldn't want them to get stuck here, too, but...

[ So apparently they're on the same wavelength, on this front. For all Peter's talk about there being able-bodied adults around here, he'd much prefer to have the other Guardians on their side rather than an assortment of untested strangers.

He sighs quietly, before forcing himself to put that thought aside for now. No point in wishing for something; better to work with what they have. It's his specialty, after all. Improvising.

He jerks his head toward the exit. ]

Hardware next?

[ 'But'. ]

Doesn't matter anyway. [ Her immediate response is more than a touch understanding. There's no use getting caught up in what could be. She's worked with what she had for most of her life, getting sentimental now would just cause problems. ]

[ Mumbled, half to herself: ] Sped up talking to Gamora, though.

[ Because speaking to her sister about helping them was always on the table. It'd just been backburnered to allow her time and peace. She was here and maybe if they played their cards right they could bring her back — That'd already been something Nebula had mentally decided had to be an objective in anything they do. ]

Hardware it is.

Find anything else out?

[ His gaze flicks over to her when she mentions Gamora – again – and while he doesn't say anything aloud, he nods. Maybe a little more curtly than would be expected of him, but—

It's complicated. It's so complicated. It's quantum physics complicated.

He leads the way out of the store, and when they're back on the eerily deserted street, he glances around to get his bearings before leading them off down the block. At her question, he lets out a noncommittal hum. ]

Mostly finding out that folks around here have a whole lotta baggage, but that's nothing new.

[ Lots of people with lots of trauma. And isn't that just wonderfully familiar? ]

Been listening to people's theories about the place. Folks think this could be computer simulation. Someone else thinks this could be an astral projection, or else some kind of psychic world. Dunno how much water either of those ideas hold, but we can't rule anything out.

[ Nebula notices that look, but doesn't say anything. If he has a problem with it he'll need to speak up for him to do so. While it was somewhat of an unintentional knife at him, it's still a matter of fact; Above anyone else, Gamora was so often her battle partner in life that she's going to think of her. Without the rest of the Guardians... ]

[ She shakes it off. Scoffs. ]

Who knew. [ Agreed, deadpan: ] Maybe it's a reality television show.

[ And they're the actors having to go through it. That's not something she wants to think about. ]

We can't know who's closer until something gives. No one shows up to refill the stores, but they always refill. Things move orderly, like they're supposed to. Always.

Which kinda gives weight to the idea of this being a simulation.

[ Not that Peter cares all that much about which theory, if any, is right. He's more interested in figuring out what the hell is going on so they have a more stable base to work from. ]

What about you? You find anything out?

Nothing concrete.

[ Mildly, brows furrowing. Which is a problem. ]

Someone suggested a science from their world. One in which the reality of the world alters to your perception. Might work for a store having food, but with this many people here we'd see a mess of a city if it were the case.

[ Or maybe not, given there's so many humans. She knows this isn't what she considers 'normal' however. She doubts Peter did either, at least before. ]

... The computers house no information. There's no way for me to access anything because there is nothing to access, the files are missing or corrupted.

Same thing with the paper files. Everything's blank.

[ Peter hasn't bothered with the shit at city hall, but he did poke around at the bank when it first opened up, wondering if maybe he could dredge up files on the city's former residents or the bank's former clients. (He may have also been interested in doing some light identity theft, assuming there was anything worth thieving. Hey, old habits die hard.)

Predictably, he turned up a whole lot of nothing. ]

They did a really thorough job of wiping away any evidence on who might've been here before us.

Paper's burn up easy. It's a lot more difficult to scrub a computer clean.

[ Said with a slight shake of her head, dark orbs setting straight ahead but creased underneath brows: ]

Either they really want to emphasis there's no help from the outside or that we... what? There is nothing else beyond but this city?

[ She may scoff a laugh at the thought, but it's not impossible. Much of her life had been led with the belief that she couldn't escape from Thanos's control. That she would live and die a tool to him and his "parenting" had worked to ensure that. This place wants to cut them off, there's no denying it. ]

Burning paper is one thing, but I'm getting the impression that the forms are literally wiped clean. Like, the papers are put away into folders like they're alphabetized, but they're all literally blank. Like, Clint Eastwood at some point filled out form SBB-317, but all the writing is gone.

[ Not unlike how one might wipe a whiteboard clean.

He sighs again. By now they've reached the little hardware store further down the street – in the middle of the city like this, it seems like this might have once been an established mom and pop shop that the city cropped-up around. Maybe it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a big, warehouse-sized hardware store, but it probably has what they're looking for.

He holds the door open for Nebula before ducking inside as well. ]

I dunno. Maybe it's not even an intentional threat. Maybe there was a crop of folks here before us, and now they're just. Gone. And they don't want us looking into it.

Not unlike the rest of this city. The only place with names is the graveyard and the bank.

[ And she's not equipped to think about what that could mean. Or maybe she was and she simply didn't want to go down that trail of thinking. ]

[ She moves past him - doesn't shoulder him, at least - when they enter and turns her attention to the furthest aisle on the left. ]

Now we're here in their place. Who's to say we're not next?

No, we probably are.

[ And again, that same false levity, as he slips in after her. The front displays appear to be various light bulbs in all manners of shapes and sizes. How fun. ]

No telling which batch we are. How many times they've run this same test. Maybe it's just a variable thing – maybe this go-around, they're trying to figure out how we'll do without bureaucracy or civil service?

[ Nebula decides to bypass the first aisle rather quickly, but noted the various wiring and metal plates that can be used for later. Half your body didn't wind up some form of machine without you learning how to handle it in a pinch. But even beyond could-be weapons like hammers and pliers she's looking for something else first. ]

[ She snorts at the suggestion: ]

Not well with their denizens killing each other already.

[ Since the whole reason the ruckus of someone dying for "science" started because someone else had been the fault of one. She may not touch the network much, but that doesn't mean she hasn't lurked it. ]

They'll get more bored by the day and start taking each other out.

[ Which is alarming if only because... the dead come back to life here, apparently. That's unsettling she decides, moving to the second aisle. If the first was for fixtures this was for windows. ] Plenty of blunt and sharp objects.

Edited 2023-08-02 05:19 (UTC)