New Eden - City of Tomorrow!

Who: Ares, his robot dog, Sugar and OPEN (as many people as would like a home check from Ares!)
What: Going door to door checking on people
When: After the blackout
Where: The Whole Nest

( It was actually Ares' day off )

Hi, just wanted to let you know that you can stay home with your family. We can't get up to the station anyway. Emergency Services will take care of anything that comes up. Do you need anything? Food? Medicine? Blankets? Candles? I'm not sure what it's going to be like if the power goes out when the storm blows in, so be prepared for anything.

I've fixed and reassembled the dog I found yesterday, if you want Tucker to have it during the storm, I can bring it over.

This place isn't what I was told it would be.

Anyone got any intel for me?

So...we're just all gonna not address the part about this gift basket promising us that this is a safe place to be?

That's not completely concerning to anyone else?

Did everyone else receive a random gift basket?

I really don't want to be the only one, and already have a weird stalker.

Who: Christian and Ares
Where: a bench just outside the Justice Center, early evening

Christian had wandered with Olivia as she shopped, smiling as best he could, ever the perfect boyfriend. When she finally headed back to her pod with her new treasures, he went right back to Room 101, hoping to find Tris, but Tris wasn't there yet. It was probably for the best anyway. What was he going to say to him?

Christian ordered a drink, then another, but he didn't drink much now and by the time he was done with his second Jack and Coke he was drunk. He waved off another, forcing a steady hand as he paid and made his way out of the bar on shaky legs. There was a coffee cart that didn't have a person behind it, but it gave him a disposable cup of black coffee and he clutched it to his chest, trying to sip at it and hoping it would sober him up sooner rather than later. He hopped the monorail, getting off at the one stop he was sure that Olivia wouldn't be at and finding a bench in front of the building labeled 'Justice Center'.

If he became a lawyer he might work at a place like that. Or at least, he would be somewhere like that for court. If he finished he'd likely have to work in a big building with windows, like the firm he'd interned at last summer. It was a shame. Christian was pretty sure he'd be better at being a public defender or a prosecutor. Then he could spend all his time in that sort of building. Christian pulled his knees up to his chest, letting the coffee dangle in one hand as he buried his face in his arm, trying not to cry. Crying was for wusses, but he was drunk still and honestly the sense of loss he'd felt when Olivia showed up was palpable. It made him ache all over. He loved her, she was his best friend, but he'd never be in love with her. He couldn't.

He hitched a sob and hoped no one noticed. At least he seemed to be mostly alone.

Who: OPEN TO ALL
Setting: Pool at the Health and Living Center

It had taken a touch longer than Ethan would have liked to set up the party, but he found that he found a cart and drug everything he needed with him. Then he set the whole thing up, a bar mostly set up on the table off to one side, a couple of coolers with other options, and even some snacks. The pool was great, glittering fake sun that still felt warm against his skin and and clear water. He’d hoped to find more in the way of floats, but after digging around in a closet near the pool - there wasn’t anyone to stop him since most of the attendants were robots - he had found a few pool noodles and training boards. He’d tossed those in too and then found a way to start up the music.

It took half an hour, but by the time he was settling on a chair with a drink, he was pleased with the pleasant lull of music and the comfort of his lounge chair. His trunks were made to be looked at, red and hanging low enough to show off the edge of where his tan ended if he moved the right way. It might have only been spring, but spending two weeks in the Caribbean when it got oddly cold in New York in April had been a smart idea on his part. All in all, perfect pool party. The place they were at was weird, but Ethan was determined to enjoy himself.

Who: Clementine and Ares
Setting Clementine's pod

Ares went home, changed into his T-shirt, running shorts and sneakers, and made his way to Lark at an easy jog. He was going to see Clementine, Miss Clementine to him, and hopefully have a relaxing night of singing and sex.

They had become friends her first day there, she was singing Patsy Cline's "Crazy" and he joined in and the next thing he knew he had an easy friendship with mutual benefits plus he got free clothes sometimes! He wasn't always sure exactly what she got out of it, but he was happy that whatever it was, it kept them together.

They were casual lovers, not exclusive, just enjoying each other. Clementine was like that. She was a free spirit and she put no demands on anyone else.

They were opposites in many ways. When Ares took his clothes off, he folded them and put them in a little stack out of the way. She flung hers all over and worried about finding them later. He admired her spontaneity. She seemed to think his habits were cute.

He knocked on her door, softly singing "Long Black Veil".

Who: Bear and Ares
Setting: Community Hub and Justice Center

Ares' uniforms were always clean and pressed, they came that way from the laundry, still, he looked at them all to see if one looked any better than the others. He was nervous, for no apparent reason. Like Jeb had said, it wasn't like he had to be married to the guy. Still, he wanted things to go well. He was showered shaved and everything that could be shined, was shining. He cuddled with Sugar for a while and thought about breakfast. "Should I bring something? How do I even know what the guy likes? Donuts, right? Everybody likes donuts." Sugar barked his agreement.

"Yeah, and coffee, though I don't know how he likes his coffee. Maybe he's a tea drinker? Maybe he doesn't do caffeine? Nah, cops are like soldiers, you gotta do caffeine." He threw Sugar's ball across the room and the dog chased it. "I guess I'll just grab a bunch of cream and sugar and sweetener and whatever the hell else people put in coffee and leave it at that."

Sugar brought the ball back to him, put it at Ares' feet, sat and barked. "Good boy, Sugar!" Ares sighed. "Should I take you with me? Or now that I have a partner, should I leave you at home? You'll have to sit in the backseat, I don't think you'd like that. Plus if we actually pick someone up, they could damage you." Ares threw the ball again. He looked in the mirror. "Officer Flintly, I'm Officer Rangel, good to meet you. . . . too formal, maybe." He smiled at himself in the mirror. "Barrett Flintly? I'm Ares Rangel, looks like we're gonna be partners!" he rolled his eyes at himself. "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

Ares really was at a loss, he never went on dates, and in training and the military you always learn everyone else's name by someone shouting it out at roll call. Ares checked the time. "Damn, I have to get to the bakery! Sugar! Sugar come, sit! Do you want to nap while I'm gone or do you want to play?" The dog cocked his head to the right. "Okay, nap." He put the dog up on his bed and set him to sleep mode. Then he hurried out, got in the patrol car and headed to the bakery.

Fifteen minutes later he was sitting at the station, well, the Community Hub and Justice Center, but most cops still just called it 'the station', coffee and donuts on his desk, fending off cops from the last shift. "Open that box again and you'll pull back a bloody stump, Sullivan."

"Fuck you, Rangel, you ain't gonna eat all that yourself."

"Go home." Ares picked up the overnight report. More and more people seemed to be walking around nude in their pods. Or maybe it was just that more people seemed to be complaining about it. No one actually knew if it was illegal or not, but they had to log every complaint anyway.

He heard someone walking into the station, it was an unfamiliar gait. He looked up. "Uh, hi, are you Flintly?"

Does anyone have any idea what powers this marvelously improbable and entirely impractical place?

Who: Jeb and Ares
Setting: The Tune In

After his shift, Ares went home, changed out of his uniform and into his blue jeans, plain, faded, red t-shirt, and black high top sneakers. He petted sugar and played ball with him for 15 minutes, then set out for his usual after hours haunt, The Tune-In.

Once there he sat in his usual seat at the end of the bar, out of the way, but with a good view of all the TVs. He loved watching the flickering images of life in the Fifties, but he especially like the shows about families, he only wished they had sound.

When the bartender came over he smiled, "Hey Jeb, how's your day been? I'll have a bourbon please." Ares liked Jeb, he was a good guy. He cared about things, about people. He was a good listener and so was Ares. When two good listeners got together, the conversation was rarely superficial, or filled with small talk. When Ares asked Jeb how his day had been, he really wanted to know, and Jeb knew that he really wanted to know. It was like that, and a friendship had formed. And now, there weren't many days that Ares didn't see Jeb. He liked that, because he cared about people too.

I would like one of the small robots which resemble dogs - but I would like one that resembles a cat. Does this exist? If so, where and how do I purchase it?

What's up?

Who: Ares and OPEN
Setting Monorail

New Eden was absolutely humming today with people coming in for the first time. Ares tried to remember if he had come on a quiet day or with a big rush like this, he wasn't sure, but it didn't matter anyway.

He wore his uniform and let his partner know that he was stationing himself in the smaller monorail to the Nest, for the day, and to buzz him if there was any actual crime. Often new people were concerned about their luggage, he could let them know that it would be waiting for them in their pods. Some were worried about heavy or awkward things, he let them know that there would be robots there to help them, or he could help if they had a problem talking to or trusting robots. Some people were confused by the map, and he could help them find their way. Sometimes people just seemed confused in general and they tended to go toward someone in a uniform. Of course he knew that the uniform was intimidating to some, but he couldn't help that.

Most people were excited, coming here for their first day of a vacation, a convention, or about to start work on a dream job. It made Ares happy to see them so happy.

Some, though were a bit confused by the architecture, or the, hmm, well the efficiency of it all. They were put off by the lack of human touch or interaction, so Ares was there to make them feel at ease.

He stood at attention near the door and introduced himself as people boarded, so that they could ask him anything they wanted to know then or they felt comfortable asking when the monorail came to their stop.

"Hello, I'm Officer Rangel, may I help you with anything?"