Jarissa/By the Light of Day
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
((Author's note: this installment of the ongoing "News Cycle" saga in the Virtue Forum thread "Uncommon Valor" takes place after the unauthorized publication of several heroes' secret identities, and the resulting horrific assassination of one exposed heroine. Plot complications created by Soaring Valor and Shining Glory used with permission; from here, around page 106 in the Uncommon Valor thread {figuring the default setting of 10 posts per page}, zany hijinx ensue. Don't just stand there, jump in! --Rissa 01:58, 25 March 2008 (MST) ))
What I really need, Rissa thought, is a hat.
She glared around the sunlit train car disgruntledly. Yeah, polarized glasses would be best, but since nobody makes a design that'll stay on my misshapen friggin' head, a hat with a nice, wide, slightly floppy brim would be just about right.
In her left hand, she held a large coffee she'd picked up at Aroma's; her right hand clutched almost convulsively around the top of a soft, feminized backpack. The daisy-printed blue material had worn through in only two spots, easily patched; Rissa considered it a great bargain for a buck at the pawn shop, though it was probably the ugliest thing to pair with leopard rosettes on her arm.
Not much of the coffee had yet been drunk. This really wasn't the time to be thinking about fashion failures.
As the Green Line train pulled into the shadows of the Founders Falls station, Rissa carefully wove her way toward the sliding door. Two businesswomen harumphed at her while taking her seat; she couldn't take it personally, as they'd also harumphed at the college kids who now crowded the exit ahead of her.
"Hi, Elltee," Jarissa grumbled as she approached the Vanguard bunker. She started shifting her burdens around, trying to get at her badge. "Just passing through. When's the last time Peregrine got invaded?"
Lieutenant Traviss waited impassively to inspect her identification. "I heard an all-clear called about ten minutes ago, but with the Rikti, who knows? You can proceed, Jarissa."
The trick, by the way, is in going through a static teleportation portal without spilling one's chocolate-covered cherry flavored coffee. And then turning around and doing it again, to get to Peregrine Isle without having to take the Talos ferry.
From there, flashing her badge again on the way out of the building, Rissa didn't have too far to walk. She managed to get to Curry Cove Park without any villain incidents; grateful for the auspicious start to her day, she went directly to City of Gyroes. As she was paying, an odd thought prompted her to look for the manager.
"What's the franchise policy on media appearances?"
Dusting his hands on his apron -- on which Rissa saw stitched the standard "Welcome to the City of Gyroes, my name is" and in less delicate embroidery, "Barry Lockhardt" -- the manager blinked at her for several seconds before saying, confused, "We don't sign release forms unless Corporate approves it ahead of time. Why?"
Jarissa grinned. "Awesome. I'll cater my next supergroup quarterly meeting through you guys, then." She hummed merrily under her breath, hugging the bag of food and her coffee and the backpack full of evidence, as she headed for one of the umbrella-topped outdoor tables.
Setting up her lunch took almost no time at all; she spent the most effort on strategically placing the paper bag, the napkins, and the cardboard soup cup so that any stranger trying to take her picture couldn't help but get a CoG logo smack in the middle of it.
Perfect, she finally decided as she started to unwrap her sandwich. Well. It would be ... if I had a hat.
