foreverphantom

Can child labor laws be violated when the ones putting in the requests are the parents? [ asking for a friend. ]

It's possible. The worst part is that it makes sense and it's a strategy that could probably work. The leaders have been here for some months already, and if it's only been the eight of them I can see why they need the extra help. What I don't see is why they waited so long, and why us. Nobody's been able to answer that part for me either. It's not like everyone here has had experience with this kind of thing before.

[ winces a little ] Never mind, then.

Good question. I'd say maybe they picked at random, but if they have such detailed profiles on all of us, then they clearly did their research first. Maybe they wanted different types of people, to...make sure all kinds of "heroics" [ yes he does finger quotes ] get covered?

[ there's a little snort and he waves it off. that's a topic for a totally different time. ]

Someone asked about the profiles. Supposedly the penguins wrote them. [ which. why. ] Prinnies, or something? So at least we know who to blame for that invasion of privacy.

[ he considers this. ] That's a strong possibility though. Without knowing what we're up against, it's hard to say what kind of people will be the best for saving the city and everything. Some people are used to combat and some people are used to easier work. We're going to need all kinds, even if I still don't know how the teams were made.

The penguins, huh? So then there's a chance the profiles can be wrong, too. [ he does not trust the penguins to be completely accurate all the time. even if the profiles are eerily detailed. ]

I suppose so. But if it's supervillains we're supposed to dealing with, I don't know how anyone who's not used to combat is supposed to handle it.

There's a chance, but...if I'm completely honest mine has a lot of stuff that is right. It's just missing other stuff, too. Guess the penguins can't be right all the time.

[ hm... ]

Well...how much combat experience do you have?

[ hums ]

Combat experience? Oh, I've got plenty.

[ cool, now you have his attention. ]

Really? What kind? Longblade? Shortblade? I mean you could be an archer but that doesn't seem to fit.

[ there is a misunderstanding here. ]

[ fucking blinks. ]

What? No, I don't use weapons.

Oh. [ right. hand-to-hand exists and is more common for some people. ]

Hand to hand then. [ but he's like. ignoring that slip-up and venturing on to his other point. ] Worst case scenario we find people who are trained to help give a few crash courses to people who aren't. The basics for survival. It can't be that hard.

[ sure. hand to hand. let's go with that.

anyway, he nods. ]

The powers should help, too. I mean, not for us, this is a downgrade, but for people who've never had to fight before, it'll probably go a long way.

[ he could ask. he won't, but he could. ]

Right. All of the powers are public on the database, even if the names don't make it always obvious what they are. If people are struggling with how to use theirs, they could even find people with something similar to train that way. Learn to use their abilities even better to carry them through the competition.

[ it's fine, nico can just think he's a world class martial artist. who phases through things. ]

Crowdsourcing the power knowledge. Now there's an idea.

Unless people don't want to help someone on another team in case it might sabotage their own chances of winning.

[ look the guy's catchphrase is going ghost, he can make some reasonable assumptions but he's not sure how to ask!! ]

It's about the best I can think of for now. The people that want to sit out can do that, but I think there'd be enough people among us who would be willing to help. Even if it's just pairing them up with someone on their team. I doubt there's a team out there that doesn't have at least one fighter.

[ otherwise that would be kind of insane? to him, anyway. ]

[ ask him why he's a ghost, coward ]

It's a start. Maybe there'll even be "easy mode" things them to do. Ease them into it. [ shrugs a little, he doesn't know ]

[ don't think that i won't in this here pc!! ]

...what, like a tutorial? [ lol. ] That wouldn't be too bad either. Get a feel of things without going too easy. That's half the reason we train our new campers, it's easing them into things they aren't used to yet. Should apply here, too.

Not everything can be a world-ending disaster, I'm sure some small stuff will come up without it even having to be an engineered tutorial.

...wait, campers? You run a...superhero camp?

Sure. Maybe it really will be just getting people's cats down from trees.

[ ...but he shakes his head. ]

Not a superhero camp. And I don't run it, I'm just a counselor And I live there. It's where all of us train when we start coming of age and everything.

[ that's putting it lightly. ]

...where you train to run dangerous errands for your parents.

[ a dry laugh ] Jeez, even my parents weren't that crazy.

[ there's a very much not-amused but kind of exasperated grin. ]

Would you believe me if I said the training was actually a better alternative than leaving it alone?

Really? Dang. Sounds like one hell of a rock and a hard place you're stuck between.

I wouldn't say "ghost-hunting" and "exploring uncharted metaphysical dimensions" is easy either, you know.

[ explain the ghost. ]

Maybe not, but I had a choice in those.

Mostly.

That almost sounded believable until you clarified. What do you mean mostly...?

Well...ghosts were never an issue until I meddled with things.

I felt...responsible. I didn't exactly want to hunt ghosts, but I kind of started the problem and I was the only one who could take care of it, so...

[ yeah okay that makes some sense, maybe. ]

I can understand that, yeah. [ hm... ] Are you still the only one who can take care of it? How do you even hunt ghosts where you're from?

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