Cyroa

"Being a writer? Sounds interesting. You'd probably do really well as a journalist considering you can get to practically anywhere before anyone else. Be where the news is 'hot' in a couple seconds flat. Or you'd probably do rather well on tech and research pieces considering the access you have," he said with a nod. Being a writer held no real appeal to him but if it worked for Sharl, cool. "I'll stick with science and inventions for now I think." Cole looked at the other young man a long moment and shrugged, deciding on the polite, approach. The story needed some work. "Hey Sharl, do you mind if I scan you?" He was being polite in asking first since he could have just done it without asking. "For a little research I'd like to do," he said with a nod. He was already pretty certain about some things; this would help lead to some more 'blatant' confirmations.

Derrick muttered softly to himself, putting aside his almost sorted list. He could not simple ignore the cry for help, such a thought would never even occur to him. However, he certainly did not want to take little Ammy only with him into space; not just yet anyway. Besides being a bit young for such a possibly risky endeavor, he was fairly certain Stesha would not approve. Time for a quick field trips. He quickly began grabbing necessary items and putting them in a bag. They had been planning on putting together a travel bag together of course; he just didn't think they'd need it quite so soon. Plenty of extra diapers and wipes, more than a few onesies, some blankets. A cold pack with some milk. Pacifiers. He was amazed at home much stuff he needed to pack up. As soon as she was packed up, a quick transformation and he'd opened up a portal to Prime. Scooping up Ammy gently and the bag, he zipped through. He took a moment to create a safe bubble for his daughter before heading out at maximum speed with his senses searching for Stesha. He had no idea where she was but he'd recognize her signature anywhere. It only took a couple minutes zipping around the Earth before he found her...in Africa. Streaking up to her, he wasted little time. "Love, a ship is in danger. Here's Ammy and her bag," he said telekinetically handing them over. "Only a couple light years out, I should be back soon," he said. And with that, he rocketed upwards and away!

Dark Star barely had time to step through the portal before he registered that Stesha was in costume and waiting. He quickly assumed his human guise, just in time to take the messages and accept the kiss with a smile before she was gone. He blinked as the large flower resettled it self. He gave a little shrug and started to look at the small sheaf of messages in his hand when Ammy decided that it was a good time to let the entire countryside know that she was alone, hungry and unhappy about the situation. Putting the messages down quickly, he practically ran to her room with all the apprehension of any new parent. It took a little time to get her up, get her settled, change her and the clothes she was in, then change his own clothes after not moving out of the way quickly enough and get a bottle ready to go. Finally, he settled down in a chair with the green haired beauty (the smaller one) in one arm. Once she was settled sucking down the bottle, he used his free hand to start going through the messages. "Oh my goodness. These are rather...extensive. It is going to take quite a while to address all of this...time to prioritize I suppose."

Cole nodded to Vicky in understanding. "Ah, I understand. I'll have to do some research in him later." He took a step back. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough. Nice meeting you both." Hefting his bag on his shoulder once more, he turned to Caresse with a nod. "I'm coming," he replied. He walked besides her, a couple steps away of course so as to not make her uncomfortable, towards the administration building. It might have been a bit of an odd sight but it didn't bother him. "Ok, let's get going," he said with a final wave to the others.

The communicator beeped as it connected to Prime and began to play. "You have 83 unheard messages. *beep* Message 1. Hello, I'm trying to reach Fleur de Joie. This is Doctor Mihambrath. We have something of a crisis here. We were preparing to harvest a massive crop of grain for starvation relief. The entire crop has been all contaminated with some kind of virulent fungus. We doubt its natural and are working on it but...if we don't get some help within a couple weeks, the crop will be lost. There's some time of course but please don't take too long, we really need your help.*beep*" The message was dated two weeks ago. " Message 2. Hi, John here, trying to reach Stesha. I know you're still on your maternity leave but we've got something of a crisis and you always had some great solutions. We've got a wedding in a couple weeks..and we lost the entire batch of flowers and the new ones won't be ready in time. I don't know what we're going to do! If you have any ideas, we could sure use them! *beep*" The message was dated about two weeks ago. *beep* Message 3: Hello? We're trying to reach Dark Star. We have a significant problem here..." " It seems there were quite a few people who needed the power couple.

Staring suspiciously at the device a moment, he turned it on. "Yes, I hear you. I understand the dilemma and will be there shortly." Turning the device off, he placed the communicator on a shelf so it wouldn't be so easily lost this time. He quickly moved over to Stesha and gave her a quick kiss before resting his hand lightly on Ammy's head with a smile. "Oh, they mean well. There are just trying to improve humanity's knowledge base. Can't fault them for trying to do the best they can with what is available," he said. "But I'd rather be needed here," he confirmed. "This shouldn't take too long." Stepping back, he release the energy inside and the human guise of Derek was quickly overtaken by Dark Star. "About a half hour I should think," he commented as he summoned the power to open a portal back to Prime. "I shall see you soon, love."

He gave a shrug. "Hobbies are still worth pursuing if you enjoying them. Do you have an idea for a 'career'?" He frowned a bit and then shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, not really. I mean, yeah, as we said before, I'm pretty much past high school level and some college level classes. But I have no clue what I want to do. Sure, being a scientist would be great. Building things would be awesome too. Research, development all sounds great. But not sure want I really want, you know? Its kind of hard to decide on a future when I don't have a past," he said with a little shrug. "I'm still going to do the research and building of course; just not sure if that's going to be the be-all-and-end-all if you know what I mean."

Derrick smiled at her and walked over to take the communicator, leaning down for a quick kiss. "If I knew a darn thing about building one of them, I'd probably make a dozen of the things just so we would have plenty of them and not risk loosing them somewhere." He gave his wife a wain smile. "Well, it really will not take me long to pop over to another galaxy and I can always be home for dinner," he said with a small smile. "But, no, I do not intend to take any long trips though we both know I cannot promise that," he said. "Honestly, I am amazed we have gone as long as we have without one crisis or another requiring someone to contact us," he said ruefully as he lifted the communicator and 'dialed' Prime.

Quirking an eyebrow, he looked at the digital youth a moment. "I admit that food hasn't been a big area of research for me. I tend to forgot to eat a meal now and again when I get focused on working," he said with a nod. "And no, I didn't know that. I'm guessing you've put in a bit of time and research into the whole 'food' thing," he said with a grin. "Have you tried cooking? You might like being a chef if this is that interesting to you."

Derrick lifted a pile of clean clothes, pushed aside a stack of diapers, looking for the little device. "I still say you should have just let me alter the couch's molecular structure and then reform it. The stain would have been gone and you wouldn't have noticed a thing. The couch would have been perfectly fine. Aha," he said pulling something out of the debris of their living room. Unfortunately this item squeaked and rattled as he pulled it up. "Ur...nope. Not it." Putting the baby toy aside, he metaphorically dove back in, searching for their comm. "I really need to do some cleaning apparently," he said half to himself.

Cole gave a little smile, happy the change of topic went well. "Do you actually taste it," he asked curious, "when you 'eat'? I'm curious how that works for you or if you have senses I don't and what the analogs could be." He gave a rueful grin. "Ok, I admit to being curious about most things. So...curiouser maybe? So, please, if get too curious, tell me to stop." He shook his head once. "Nope. No flight capabilities...though I suppose I could design something to do that. I was actually thinking of building a vehicle, like a bike or something, now that whatever I make won't get taken away," he said thoughtfully.

Derrick stretched with a yawn. He didn't really need sleep, either did his wife. And thank goodness for that! Their little bundle of joy was up at all hours demanding to be held or fed or what-have-you. Not that he minded! Far from it! But he had to wonder how a set of normal parents handled such an exhausting task as caring for an infant. It was a bit exhausting even without the need to sleep. Still, he could honestly say (and when wasn't he really?) that this was one of the happier times in his life. He had spent the majority of the last several weeks here on Sanctuary with his wife and newborn child. Taking only a few hours here and there, most of it had been spent in peaceful if somewhat exhausting bliss. But it was time to get back to their routine. The universe needed them almost as much as their daughter did. And now that she was settling, somewhat, it was time to get to it. He looked around idly in the crazy baby gear cacophony that their home had become, looking for the communicator that would let them check in with the League, as well as their friends and others who needed them, back on Prime. Of course...he'd had no luck searching for the darn thing in the last 10 minutes or so. "Honey? Where did we put the communicator?" It might have been a bit surreal to some how 'normal' the pair of powerhouses could sound, but it was just natural to them. Sure, he could have changed and looked for it in a flash...but he was enjoying being husband and daddy a bit too much to just revert to being Dark Star easily.

"Sorry man. Didn't mean to imply anything or mean you could be replaced. I was just curious if there was like a dozen of you all connected and linked together or if you could replicate or something. My bad," he apologized quickly. Yet another conversation in which he'd managed to give the wrong ideas on. He was getting good at that unfortunately. He wracked his brain for seconds (long in his own head) and tried to move away from his unintentional insult. "So, uh...what do you do for fun anyway?" It was a somewhat lame attempt to change the topic but still a valid question and curiosity at least.

Cole shook his head a little. "No no, I'm sorry. You misunderstood me I think. I get transformed and sent down the network and then transform back. But there's still only one of me. What I meant was, are you sending the 'original' you down the network or are you making a coping and deleting the original?" He paused in thought and then quickly continued. "Actually, as a digital entity, can you make copies of yourself? Send multiple 'you' to various systems? Do you have a base 'code' stored somewhere? A digital 'backup' I guess? If so, you're effectively immortal as long as there's power to a system you can reside in," he said contemplating the possibilities. "Sorry if I am prying; I've never discussed the electronic world with a digital person before," he said with a sheepish smile.

Cole could be convinced to help with set and prop design... though don't want to overcrowd this thread honestly.

Dark Star Back in the Saddle Same Old, Same Old Far Side of the Moon Gorgon: Science for the World (Lab) Any Port in the Storm Torque Supersonic, Superhuman, Supernatural Cole + Caresse Starbucks and Sketches

He nodded, just as interested. "Well...its mostly non-destructive. If come out of a lamp or something, the bulb blows. But I've tested it on electric plugs and those tend to work ok. I'm still trying things out honestly. I was fairly circumspect while in the Facility but have begun trying new things as quickly as I can." He paused for a second. "No, I'm fairly certain I am digitizing myself and gear. Otherwise, why would I be able to think while in transit? Though I suppose I could make an argument for both possibilities honestly," he mused. "How does it work for you?"

Cole nodded emphatically. "I can understand that, sort of. Well, not the perspective thing. My suit," he gestured to his armor, "can actually...I guess 'digitize' might be the best phrasing...it can digitize itself and travel down networks and such. It's wild. Crazy fast but a little disorientating honestly. I can get almost anywhere with it really. Not sure if how you travel is like that but, yeah," he gave a little shrug. "I still don't get to experience it like you do though."

The smaller ships, more fighter-like in design and function turned to attack and harry the energy-based hero. While the smaller weapons were not as powerful or as dangerous to Dark Star, they couldn’t exactly be ignored either. Enough of them could and likely would hurt him if they could concentrate their fire. The larger vessels, barring the crippled one, turned as headed away. Using the fighters as a screen, they began charging up their engines to make good their escape. Even before the fighters had finished their screening run, the larger vessels flashed and disappeared quickly as they jump out of the system.

Sighing, Dark Star shook his head in regret. People never learned that violence was not the answer. Now he had to find a way to stop this without anyone getting hurt. He quickly turned and let off a large blast of energy; the beam slamming through the engine housing of the bigger vessel, crippling it and setting it to drift. He immediately swooped up and over, targeting the other massive vessel with the same attack. He wasn’t quite as effective though. The ship staggered and the engine flickered briefly but managed to keep its power and continued to fire. It did turn and start limping away even as its weapons glowed, preparing to fire.

Now, it was a sad fact that Dark Star often faced that was that in situations such as these, people failed to see reason. Often enough someone would open fire on either him or their original target. However, this wasn’t one of those times. This time everyone turned and opened fire on him! They had seemingly decided to ignore each other and focused all of their firepower at him. Despite his dislike of violence, he was still prepared for it. He ignored the missile fire and evaded some of the energy beams. Those that connected, he manage to shrug off and absorb the energy without taking any significant damage.

As he zipped in closer, it was easy to see dozens of smaller vessels as well as a couple bigger ones swarming around two sizable ships. Missiles and energy beams were flashing every which way. Minor explosions sent shockwaves through space. It was dangerously chaotic. Dark Star had learned long ago to not assume anything when entering volatile and often violent situations. That and his personal philosophy and tendency towards non-violence had led to his standard procedure when entering a situation. He flew right into the heart of the violent maelstrom and floated there before broadcasting to all ship. “Attention all vessels participating in this conflict. This is Dark Star. Please stop all violence immediately before anyone gets hurt. I do not wish to take drastic steps to ensure this.†He waited a very long moment as he hoped everyone would come to their senses and stop all this.

He was on the outskirt of the more ‘civilized’ region of near space. Where the various star empires ended and the untamed and unclaimed areas tended to be. It was also where some of the more difficult and annoying threats tended to lurk, hence Dark Star’s tendency to visit them. An usually it was just a quiet zip through the various systems. This was not one of those times unfortunately. Ahead he could already detect the signatures of multiple vessels and weapons firing. Without pause, he shifted course and headed right in. Given his speeds, it took only a moment to cross the few lightyears.

Dark Star flashed through the depths of space. He didn’t have any particular destination in mind; just zipping through something of a ‘patrol’ he supposed just like most heroes on Earth would. His ‘territory’ was a tad bigger was all. And just like the heroes on Earth, he wasn’t the only good guy out here but, just like there, he was often on his own. And today he wasn’t being quite as leisurely with his flight speeds as normal. After all, he was rather eager and interested to get home. There were two beautiful ladies waiting for him! Needless to say, all of his outings of late had been rather rushed and hasty to some degree.

Cole nodded. "Yeah, even the emitter is just a substitute for you, isn't it? Even the portable one is just a kind of interface for you I guess. I can't imaging your perspectives on the material world as compared to the digital one. How you do both is quite interesting really. I envy that perspective and knowledge. It's pretty unique," he said honestly. Cole always looked for the positive, his curiosity not seeing ( or perhaps trying to minimize) the downside of Sharl's state though he certainly acknowledged the difficulty therein.