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[doctopoda]

Display Name: Otto Octavius
Profile Photo: is a selfie taken by your tentacle still technically a selfie



[This is just a very short message, sent out a day or two after the end of the Confluence. Otto had wanted to believe it was otherwise - had spent time looking for the boy. But he's seen this before. It's clear what happened.]

Just so everyone knows: the older Spider-Man vanished in the Confluence.

Comments

[doctopoda]

Oh, it's definitely a variation. Mostly, I just don't like bringing Guild equipment home.

[He's got two one non-Alliance meta kid in the house, and issues trusting the guilds!]

[levelshift]

That's smart, too. They're shady as fuck.

[But he has severe trust issues with any major organization that wrangles superpowered people and tries to present itself as benevolent.]

[doctopoda]

As an Alliance member in excellent standing - don't trust them!

[levelshift]

Wait, even their own members think they're untrustworthy? Then why did you join them?

[doctopoda]

I can't hide that I'm a meta, and I didn't feel like being arrested for it.

[levelshift]

What, are you some kind of kaiju?

[Normally that would just be a bad joke, but there is the distinct possibility that is actually the case here.]

[doctopoda]

[He could be annoyed by that, and briefly is, but...you know what, it isn't worth it.]

I have robot arms, actually.

[levelshift]

[He'd love to respond with wow, that's weird but honestly, given he needs his brain hooked up to a supercomputer just to function normally, he doesn't have room to talk. Besides! There are some extremely concerning implications here.]

And that's enough reason for law enforcement to arrest you?

[doctopoda]

As an unregistered meta, yes.
And that was when I first arrived. Things have gotten worse for those who don't join up since.

[levelshift]

Shit.

[Does he need to worry about this, too? He doesn't know what these robot arms look like, they sound more obvious than his choker, but if people are looking for anything outside the ordinary it's still noticeable.]

The Alliance is the only option? Those fucks tried to bribe me when I showed up with some medical technology, it wasn't a good look for them.

[That isn't the whole story, but the entire incident left him feeling way more vulnerable and suspicious than he'd like.]

[doctopoda]

You've got the Society too. They're technically a subsidiary of the Alliance, for "villain reformation". In practice, they seem to grant a lot more freedom to their members than the Alliance, but I wouldn't trust them much either.

[Though his reasons for choosing the Alliance over the Society are fairly personal!]

They didn't give you all those brochures when you showed up?

[levelshift]

I had other priorities to deal with than reading some fucking brochures.

[He's realizing after sending that that he could have worded it more politely. After all, no one aside from the Alliance members who picked him up would have any clue
about the total loss of function he had to deal with after coming through one of those portals. Most people's brains still work just fine.

He sighs, exasperated with himself.]

The Society doesn't sound any better. 'Villain reformation'? That isn't the least bit convincing.

[doctopoda]

That's probably why they dropped that part from the official name.

[But he remembers! Otto raises his eyebrows a bit at the snappishness, but dismisses it; it's a rough transition for everyone.]

But no, they're not really any better. Depends what flavor of surveillance you like better.
Or you dodge registration. It'll make your life harder, but a lot of people do.

[levelshift]

Smart move on their part.

I'm guessing dodging registration is even more difficult if you're underage. Right?

[doctopoda]

Yes, it is.

You're still on the Guild's dime right now?

[levelshift]

[Not unexpected, but he's unhappy nonetheless.]

Yes, I am. Why?

[doctopoda]

Stock up on what you can with that credit card. I've only heard of them coming down on people who buy luxury sports cars or something like that with them - get all your essentials, cash, things you can sell if need be. They won't keep an eye on that.

You'll need somewhere to stay other than the hotel, of course, and you'll want to line that up early. Stay too close to the deadline and you risk them coming to ask which group you're joining.

[levelshift]

[Essentials........

He'll have to stock up on cans of coffee, then. Hopefully it'll be fine if it isn't kept cold, there's only so many of them he can fit into the minifridge.]

Alright. Stocking up doesn't sound difficult.

How hard is it to get an apartment here?

[For someone who is both a kid and has no ID. And... in general, honestly. This isn't something he's ever had to do before, since the city always took care of his accommodations while he was in school. After he dropped out, Yomikawa stepped in.

What a pain in the ass. He doesn't need the guilds after him about that, especially when they've already hassled him about attending school.]

[doctopoda]

That depends - how old are you?

[levelshift]

[Ugh, if he has to ask that then the answer probably isn't good.]

15.

[doctopoda]

[Well. That's not great!]

You're probably going to have a hard time passing for a legal adult. Or getting a decent job.

Are you going to need somewhere to stay? There's a number of us who'd be willing to take you in.

[levelshift]

[There is absolutely no way he'd be able to pass for 18 or 21 or whatever the age for 'adult' is here. No way in hell.]

Fucking hell.

Yeah, shacking up with a total stranger sounds like a great time. I'm trembling with excitement at the thought of it.

[God, what kind of misfortune is this?]

There's really no other options? Dormitories? Anything?

[doctopoda]

I know it's not ideal, but nothing about this is.

[Geez, don't bite his head off.]

I think that meta high school might have boarding, but that comes back to the registration issue.

There's a bunch of kids out in Little Love. Maybe they've got space.

[Otto doesn't know a ton about their situation - he doesn't keep tabs on every kid that arrives here, there's just too many - but he knows there's a decent group of them. Anyway, roommates around his own age would probably be easier.]

[levelshift]

School isn't an option for me.

[He honestly has no idea if the place is anything like Academy City's schools, but he won't take that risk. Thanks, trauma!

Anyways, none of this is looking good. Living with other kids might actually be the worse option. At least with an adult there's the expectation that they can take care of themselves. But kids... he'd be putting them in the line of fire if the kinds of attacks on him that happened back home happened here.

Crap, who knew housing could be so complicated? It almost makes him miss his school dorm. Almost.]

I'll look into it.

Thanks, I guess.

[doctopoda]

Sure. And you can let me know if you need anything, okay?

[He's helped bankroll a lot of unaligned teens in his time here, what's one more?]

Or ask around on here. None of us want to see one of our own struggling.