Riffsational!(IC)

[Cubist]

That's a great idea Jay! But by all means, I can wait until the show is over. I can listen to the music until he's done. Let's go find him," rang out the voice, sounding deeply relieved.

Jubatus didn't raise his eyebrows at this reply—but only because he didn't have eyebrows to raise. Hm. Wasn't that many clock-seconds ago, she was practically nailed to this spot. She's getting used to her condition? "Okay, sounds like a plan," the feline said. He started moving at normal-for-a-civilian walking speed, and asked, "What sort of music d' you like?" In part, the intent of his question was to continue giving Constance other things to think about than her bizarre state of existence; in part, Jube wanted to see if she actually could move from this spot, which she hadn't been able to before. Not gonna upshift on her—assuming she truly is a living sound-wave now, my top speed is four, five times greater than hers.

[Ari]

GM

There was a short silence before a faint ringing sounded above Jubatus, followed by the unsteady sound of Constance's voice

"Well, I like rock music a lot. I love Madman Finale. I've heard some of Riff's stuff before at parties and stuff, can't say I'm that into it but it's not too bad. I sometimes do music myself, mostly piano pieces by Mendelssohn to keep in practice. What kind do you like Jay?"

A faint thrumming seemed to be taking on a steady rhythm, which seemed to be the sound of Constance keeping herself steady somehow. As they went back to the stages, the two quickly heard about the battle that had happened, about the weird water man and the hatted magician and the archer. Most of the passing Freedonians were quite calm about the event, though some were nervous that this heralded another attack.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay waded into the water and glared at the tracks, trying to intimidate them into continuing farther. After a long minute it was evident the plan wasn't working and she splashed ashore and followed the tracks back up to the grove, and then the music back into the more populated sections of the park. She noticed people were giving her sidelong glances, and though intellectually she knew that part of being a superhero was being the center of attention it made her skin crawl. She just wasn't used to so many watching her; the fact that they were all taller than she was and any group of them would block her line of sigh didn't help matters.

The archer found a handy head-height wall and, grabbing the top, hoisted herself over the edge and sat there, legs swinging freely. She watched the man with the guitar on stage, trying to lose herself in the music for a moment. At least it had a good beat; she found herself reflexively kicking to the thumping bass line, bobbing her head up and down with the rhythm of it.

[Cubist]

Thrumming? Ringing? Whatever the sound was, it didn't much resemble anything Xavier had heard before; his ears flicked without conscious volition, reflexively attempting to zero in on the source of the peculiar noise. Yeah, she's a living soundwave, alright. Probability of that just cracked the "perverse not to grant provisional assent" barrier. He was acutely aware that his ears just didn't register anything below 100 Hertz or so, and he wondered what he was missing on the low end…

"Well, I like rock music a lot. I love Madman Finale. I've heard some of Riff's stuff before at parties and stuff, can't say I'm that into it but it's not too bad. I sometimes do music myself, mostly piano pieces by Mendelssohn to keep in practice. What kind do you like Jay?"

Damn. I was afraid she'd ask that. The question hardly hurt at all, so Xavier decided to answer honestly, rather than provide any sort of evasive un-response: "These days… Not a lot of contemporary tunes, hip-hop or rap or like that. I, hrrrm… My ears have been crap for lower frequencies ever since I went through some pretty extensive changes a while back, so anything that's built on serious percussion, I can't hear a good chunk of it. I'm listening to instrumental stuff, mostly." And will she connect the dots from how [bg=black]xxix[/bg]ty my voice sounds? "The kind of things Tomita and Wendy Carlos have done with Bach, for instance—and if you've never heard any of those names, yes, I do have old-fashioned tastes in music. Hrr… Ever heard of Jinx?" he asked. 'Jinx' was the name under which Xavier had recorded and self-published seven CDs of his own music; it would be interesting to find out if Constance knew anything about Jinx.

[Ari]

GM

There was a slowed thrumming before Constance answered

That's too bad, lot of good drummers these days. I know Bach, sure, but Tomita and Wendy Carlos are a little before my time, sorry.

she said sadly, perking up at the mention of Jinx

Ooh! You know that one too? I listened to that stuff all the time when I was a teenager, I still do a lot of the time. ~Aaand he told her of his life/in the land of submarines!~

she sang out, the singing oddly distinct and sounding like it came from a machine instead of a person. With a short laugh she asked

Jay, what are they talking about? Is there a supers fight going on somewhere nearby? I've heard there's one going on all the time here, but that's hyperbole, right?

She sounded more than a little nervous at the idea, despite her own assurance.

[Cubist]

"Ooh! You know Jinx too? I listened to that stuff all the time when I was a teenager, I still do a lot of the time. ~Aaand he told her of his life/in the land of submarines!" she sang out, the singing oddly distinct and sounding like it came from a machine instead of a person.

This response was unexpected, but not implausible; Xavier sold his CDs online, and he knew that some of his customers wanted their discs sent to addresses beyond U.S. borders. "Yeah, Running With the U-Boat," he said with a smile. "Never could figure out how that one got as popular as it did; I always saw it as a fluffy little joke, myself."

"Jay, what are they talking about? Is there a supers fight going on somewhere nearby? I've heard there's one going on all the time here, but that's hyperbole, right?" She sounded more than a little nervous at the idea, despite her own assurance.

"More like 'lying with the truth'," Xavier replied. "The Freedom City greater metropolitan area is a few hundred square kilometers, okay? So: At any given moment, there is a decent chance of some kind of super-involved incident happening somewhere within those few hundred square klicks. But that sentence is equally true if you swap out 'super-involved incident' for pretty much any kind of event, so just how meaningful a statement is it? All of which said and acknowledged, yeah, it sounds like there might have been a super-fight. However, it doesn't seem like there's any other sign of the fight than just people talking about it—no wreckage, no overturned cars, none of that kind of stuff—so I'm thinking it must not've been a bad one." And the feline scanned the surrounding area with his eyes, looking for indications of what might have actually happened…

[Ari]

GM

Well, I liked it.

Was her only reply on that front. As they got to the gate of the park she went on

Well, just so long as nobody got hurt during it. I've heard that some supers get into really brutal fights.

They passed by the car that Pawn had thrown on top of the other car, both of them perfectly pristine and not damaged in the slightest. As the two altered humans sped by Constance suddenly spoke up

Hey, can you hear that? Some kind of radio's playing over by the...I guess that's the road? That thing with the sounds of tires on asphalt? Sounds like a radio, anyway...so what do you think Riff will be able to do? I mean, to fix me?

she asked nervously, the Fastest Cat Alive and the living sound proceeding apace through the startled crowds of music-lovers, sweating families and general convention-goers from all over the city, Freedonians stepping back to let the strange cat pass by, a few of them recognizing Jay and offering cheerful hollers as he loped down the twisting paths to Riff's stage, which stood out from the even more eclectic and enthusiastic crowd cheering the band's performance.

[Cubist]

"Well, I liked it," was her only reply on that front.

"You and a lot of other people," Xavier replied. "Not the first time I've guessed wrong about what other people will like."

"Well, just so long as nobody got hurt during it. I've heard that some supers get into really brutal fights."

"Possible, yes, but far from required. Like I said: Whatever happened here, it was pretty low-intensity."

"Hey, can you hear that? Some kind of radio's playing over by the...I guess that's the road? That thing with the sounds of tires on asphalt? Sounds like a radio, anyway...so what do you think Riff will be able to do? I mean, to fix me?" she asked nervously.

Radio? Hm. Not sure what she's picking up on, Xavier thought to himself. In answer to Constance's question, he said, "I don't know what Riff can do for you—hell, it might be that he can't do a damned thing to help you out." He spoke quietly, trusting that the involuntary soundwave would be able to filter out his words from the ambient crowd-noise, and acknowledging his fans with silent gestures of his arms and hands. "What I do know, is that if there actually is some way to help you, Riff is much more likely to have that solution on tap than I am. And I know that he's a hell of a lot more knowledgeable about sound than I am, so he'll have a hell of a lot better idea of what your options are. Let's put it this way: The situation you're in is a crapshoot, and if I was making a list of people who can load the dice in your favor, Riff would definitely be on that list. He's not the only one, just the most readily accessible at the moment. Okay?"

As the two wended their way through the throngs of music-lovers, Xavier kept a watchful eye out in all directions. If he and/or Constance was surprised by some hostile entity, it wouldn't be for want of his attention!

[Ari]

GM

Constance gave a short buzz that sounded vaguely agreeing. Jay had given her a lot to think about.

The bizarre duo made their way unmolested to the cheering crowd before Riff's thundering stage, the final set quickly approaching, something that all of the fans could sense in the air, with all its attendant slight feeling of regret as the music began to draw to its final chords.

Among the crowd Constance's faint thrumming became much faster, and Jay could catch snatches of song she was quietly singing along with the band on-stage.

[Cubist]

It was hard to tell, what with the lack of any physical presence to observe, but Jay Xavier had tentatively concluded that Constance was growing accustomed to her bizarre current state of existence. Good, because I have no friggin' idea whatsoever what to do when a friggin' soundwave goes ape[bg=black]xxix[/bg]. And if it turns out that she's stuck as she is… well… it's good that she's getting a head start on acclimation.

The music did not affect Xavier; he didn't allow himself to be affected. He focused his attention everywhere except the stage Riff was performing on. Strictly speaking, he really shouldn't ought to be leaving that sort of blind spot in his surveillance, but since this particular "blind spot" was occupied by a hero with a good deal more experience than him, Xavier figured it was okay.

The feline kept a watchful eye on the crowd, and hoped this would be one of the times when his well-honed pessimism proved to be unfounded…

[Ari]

GM

Several minutes later...

With a resounding chord, the last song ended, to a chanting, screaming roar of applause that echoed throughout the park. After a few moments of pleading with Riff for "One more song!" the audience reluctantly began to disperse. The road crew began the brisk work of disassembling the various sound equipment that littered the stage, and at long last Constance stopped singing along to the music, having found out how to change her tone and pitch to match it with no little glee. She led the way to the stage, calling back eagerly

Let's go, Jinx! It's time to meet our destiny!

she laughed easily, her earlier fear and uncertainty evidently much abated. Warren was suddenly accosted by the living sound wave, who greeted him sprightly

Hi Riff! I'm Constance! I got turned into sound by this machine in Spain, and according to Mr. Xavier here you can help me with that. Is there anything we need to do first, before the fixing starts, I mean?

[Cubist]

And then Riff's concert ended, the sound of the last encore faded to inaudibility and beyond.

Let's go, Jinx! It's time to meet our destiny!

Interesting: Never actually said I was Jinx. But she obviously figured it out herself, or at least remembered my name from album notes. Okay, higher brain functions don't seem to have been degraded by the transformation, that's good. Xavier nodded and replied, "Right with you, Constance!"

'Higher brain functions not degraded' did not rule out the possibility of her mind being affected in some way, shape, or form, however. Woman's kind of… overenthusiastic, just now. Pretty quick turnaround from the massive fear she'd been feeling when I first talked to her. Best case, she's got some sort of empathic thing going, soaks up emotions from what she hears; worst case, the transformation hit her with Borderline Personality Disorder or something.

Hi Riff! I'm Constance! I got turned into sound by this machine in Spain, and according to Mr. Xavier here you can help me with that. Is there anything we need to do first, before the fixing starts, I mean?

Oh, great. Better nip this misinterpretation in the bud, pronto. "What she said—of course, I did not make any promises about what you might be able to do for her. I just figured she's been dealt a really weird hand, and hopefully, you could stack the deck to tweak the odds in her favor, okay?"

[Darksider42]

Warren cracked his fingers just as he got off stage. Playing for extended periods of time had a habit of locking up his hands. He made a mental note on trying to figure out how other guitarists are able to play that long without that problem cropping up. He shrugged that thought away as he pulled his guitar off...

...And subsequently found himself surrounded by a strange set of sounds that sounded like someones voice followed by Xavier sudden appearance. "Whoa, Ok. Slow down man." Riff said, raising his hand. "Still trying to play catch up here." He took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes, getting his mind to focus. "OK. Start at the beginning. Can you explain exactly what happened that lead up to the event of you being transmogrified into sentient sound waves?" He asked.

[Ari]

GM

There was a soft change in the humming that surrounded the pair, Constance's voice sounding a little more anxious than a moment before

I..I'm sorry Jay. You're right, you didn't promise it would work, but it's almost my only chance, and I was excited, hoping it would work out.

the sapient soundwave buzzed closer to the ears of Riff

Alright, sorry, let me start over. My name is Constance Medina, I was a student back at the Universidad of Madrid, at a science expo held..a while back, I don't know how long ago that was really, anyway I was pushed through a machine that turns other forms of energy into sound, and was turned into this soundwave. I was sealed into pellets that Mr. Xavier here shattered a few minutes ago, releasing me. That was a great song by the way,

she added that last more cheerfully, repeated tellings of her tale seeming to do a lot of good

will you be able to restore me?

[Cubist]

Inside his brain, Jay Xavier winced when he realized that Riff might just be a little tired after playing a however-many-hours-long set. Idiot! Just because you get your second wind so damn fast, that's no excuse for forgetting that other people take a lot longer to recover!

"Whether you can help, yeah, that's the question," Xavier said to Riff. "Hrrrm… You two talk amongst yourselves. While you're doing that, I think I'll see if I can find that Manderley joker; should still be in the near vicinity, modulo the possibility that he's got access to a teleporter or whatever."

With those words, the feline upshifted, and Jubatus started an expanding-spiral search pattern, his quarry being the man who'd installed the hypersound pellets just a fraction of a clock-hour ago…

[Cubist]

…and the doucheweasel wasn't there. Nowhere to be found in the Battle of the Bands festival grounds, nor in the whole of Riverside Park, nor yet anywhere within a 15-block radius of the Park. Manderley's scent-traces were still strong—Jubatus could trace the man's actions over the past few hours—but the most recent scent-trace, which was strong enough that it had to have been laid down only a few clock-minutes ago, ended in mid-stride, as if a flyer had plucked him off the ground, or perhaps Jube's caveat about a teleporter had been accurate, damn it all. The bottom line was simply this:

Manderly was gone.

It was an annoyed cheetah who returned to the pavilion Riff had been performing on, But then, this particular cheetah was usually annoyed about something, to the point that nobody who'd worked with him noticed anything unusual. In order to minimize the level of distraction he presented, he downshifted about 30 feet in front of the Guitar Genius and walked calmly up to him. Riff and Constance were probably still chatting, and Jube didn't want to interrupt them any more than was absolutely necessary.

[Darksider42]

"Hmmm..." Riff nodded as he listened closely to Constance speak. He found it fascinating that despite her new form she could still think coherently like a human being. Though he reminded himself that the Factor Four were in a slightly similar situation, along with a few other heroes that populated Freedom City. "Well, assuming the machine that transformed you is still at the University I could possibly make a few adjustments to it in order to make you corporeal again." He paused, thinking a little more on the situation. "Then again, it might be possible that Archtech or A.S.T.R.O labs might have the resources to restore you. I'm not sure how pressed for time we..." He was worried a little worried about her. He was not sure how she was able to maintain coherency in her new form and he had no idea how long she could maintain it without fragmenting away into nothing.

Then again, he had to remind himself of others in her situation. Riff Crossed his arms and tried his hardest to figure out a solution.

[Raveled]

Blue Jay had enjoyed the music, but now it seemed that the band was taking a break. She had observed from her high perch, and only the narrowness of the wall had stopped her from trying out some of the dance moves Mali and Sam had taught her, but now that it was over she hopped down and started walking through the crowd.

She was still angry that Water Boy got off scot-free thanks to Top Hat. The way she walked, and the fact that she wore a mask and had a bow strapped to her back, got her extra room in the crowd and let her see farther than she would normally be able to, so she was able to spot the lead singer for the group talking to... a cat that walked on two legs? Her biology lessons came back and identified it as a cheetah. That still didn't explain what it was doing here, and standing upright. And then it was gone, as fast as that.

Blue Jay kept her distance from Riff, watching him carefully. He seemed to be talking to something in his hand.

[Ari]

GM

Though Jubatus searched with all of his usual care and attentiveness, the so-called Manderley was nowhere to be found. A few of the other park-goers had seen him going out into the woods, but as it turned out, all signs of him vanished just a few feet into the trees. Even his scent halted abruptly.

With a much more tentative air Constance suggested

Well, Mr. Riff, I've lasted this far out of the capsules. Maybe I can hold myself together indefinitely? But..you can manipulate sound, right? Could you figure out a way to..I don't know. Make me visible? Compact me so I can have this change reversed? If you think A.S.T.R.O or Archetech can help me too, I'd be really grateful if you could lead me to them, but I was hoping you could build something that would let us get me back to the way I was. Oh! Just a moment, Mr. Riff

she suddenly seemed to vanish. Out of seemingly nowhere a slightly accented voice spoke to Tona

Hi! I'm Constance, don't worry I'm a living soundwave. Those are some pretty neat piercings! Where did you get them?

the voice asked cheerily.

[Raveled]

Sudden, inexplicable, sourceless sounds were never a good thing, in Blue Jay's experience. Mind you, most didn't sound like Kimber, either, but that was no guarantee that this wasn't a threat. In a flash she had her bow in hand and an arrow nocked. She peered around, but there didn't seem to be anyone hiding anywhere that she could see. Which probably meant that whoever was speaking to her was truly invisible. That would make fighting the, quite difficult, but the young heroine was ready to give it a go if it came to that.

"I got them by hand," she said cagily, still looking around to try and locate the source of the voice. "Why don't you come out, and I can tell you what some of them mean?"

[Ari]

GM

Sorry. I can't. I'm just above you if that helps, I can hear your heart somewhere just below me, anyway, I-uh...

There was an awkward silence before the voice spoke again, this time with a strong undercurrent of chagrin.

That isn't how that was supposed to sound. Er...I don't have any eyes, you understand, so seeing is pretty hard besides what bits I can pick up from really big pulses of noise bouncing off surfaces. The only alternative available to me is sound, which at least is useful for judging distances?

with more strength she went on

Annnyway! So you made them? That's neat! Are you from a tribe or something?

she asked, the sound coming from nearer to Tona's head.

Oh! Just remembered that I need to talk with Mr. Wilder about fixing me. You want to meet him?

[Raveled]

Blue Jay didn't stop moving, trying to keep the center of the sound in 'view.' "I didn't make them myself. People I lived with made them. They were the only way of remembering things and marking certain events. We never had --" The heroine realized she was beginning to ramble and sidled up to Riff, still trying to keep the source in her sight as best she could. "What. Is. Happening. Here," she demanded.

[Cubist]

In this situation, Jay Xavier lacked Wilder's high degree of relevant expertise… but if you wanted to trawl the ocean of digitized human information for specific knowledge, Xavier had few rivals. So while Constance and WIlder chatted amongst themselves, Xavier took a tablet computer from his Vest of Many Things and occupied himself with searching out alternative routes by which Constance might be able to regain her former mode of existence.

…Sonichron, that's interesting, they got a hypersound facility near Secaucus, New Jersey… ArcheTech has two high-energy labs within a 150-mile radius of the City…

"What. Is. Happening. Here."

Xavier's ears twitched. He'd heard that voice before, at the Lacrenza Apartments fire. And… yep, same costume. "Hello, Blue Jay," Xavier said. "What's happening here is a music festival, plus a couple of instances of weirdness. I take it you've had your nose rubbed in the weirdness?"

[Raveled]

Blue Jay turned and saw the cat-man again. This time the sight clicked and she recognized the fast-moving hero from the apartment fire. He went by some weird word, what was it again? "Jubatus. That's it, right?" She looked around, still trying to locate Constance. "I fought a man who threw water and another one in a top hat who cheats. Now I'm talking to a girl who isn't here. Weird seems to be the order of the day, yes."

[Ari]

GM

It took only a little while longer for the sapient soundwave to figure out what Warren's lengthy silence entailed.

Oh! Sorry, Mr. Riff, didn't mean to put it all on you like that. Let's see...I think if you got a transformer, even a little one, you could probably just throw me straight through it with another soundwave, and I could be reformed!

she wandered over to the speakers, tracking them by the faint buzz that emanated from the large banks of sound amplifiers, asking hesitantly

Do you think that maybe you could turn some of these into a transformer? The one that altered me..it resonated kind of like these do. Jinx, what about it, think that could work?