Post by deo on Feb 8, 2017 19:25:45 GMT
There was and always shall be a constant humming in the AEGIS squad G breakroom. They had sent guys in to try and fix it, but the thing was that it was right underneath the Citadel’s global observation and response network hub (GORNH), so short of tearing out the whole ceiling to put in new insulation or moving twenty servers to an offsite housing there was no way to completely block it out. So the squad G breakroom hummed a bit while Goldrush and Morph were studying.
The room was still quite nice despite the audible din. There was a large and newish tv mounted on the far wall facing two couches. In a corner next to it was an Xbox that had seen two weeks of actual use this year and was then soon forgotten to languish in the corner. Morph and Goldrush were both sitting at the long table behind the couches. There was supposed to be a training exercise that day, but the squad’s new overseer bailed last minute; something to do with a string of art house burglaries.
Goldrush and Morph didn’t get the Slack message canceling it till they were already there, and neither had any real intention of leaving. Morph was a ward of the Citadel anyway and Goldrush’s parents weren’t picking her up for two hours. Sure, she could run to her home in the suburbs outside Reach in a few minutes, but then she’d just be staring at a TV there, so why bother using the calories?
Besides, Morph was here, and she thought that was weird. I mean he trained with the rest of the squad, but he never really actually said much. And there was something about him that was curious. Not off-putting exactly. And she wouldn’t call it bad, or wrong. Oh course not, she wasn’t biased or anything. It was just something that he had never addressed. So as Morph turned on whatever was on ESPN she asked him point blank.
“So Morph, this is a weird question and all, and you don’t have to say if you’re not comfortable, but I was wondering why you’re the gender you are? You know like, why are you a boy? Is it biological or are you shapeshifting?”
He paused a bit.
“I’m not totally sure I understand the question,” he replied.
“Not that I have a problem with men or anything,” Goldrush said, “or anyone really. I just don’t want to call you something based on your looks if you identify some other way.”
“I still don’t follow.”
Goldrush tried again.
“Well what I mean is that you were cloned. You are a clone of Mirage made by the whole “Project…” uh what was it?”
“The Government,“ he said, “, its, its just a really convoluted deal, and they were all fucking nuts, and its easier to say I was cloned by the government.”
“Right and you’re a clone of Mirage.”
He nodded, his face somewhat quizzical.
“Yes…”
“Who’s a woman,” Goldrush nodded back.
He shrugged.
“I…guess.”
“Well ok, wait, what? What do you mean you guess?”
He shrugged again.
“I mean, I guess. I’ve only met her like twice before she dumped me off here. I guess she looks like what you’d call a woman, so she’s probably a woman.”
“Well looking like a woman isn’t what makes you a woman, its what’s inside that counts” Goldrush said with a slight but civil tone of defensiveness.
Morph didn’t seem to notice.
“Right, but for shapeshifters it kind of is what’s outside that counts” He said.
“Ok,” Goldrush responded now somewhat perplexed herself, “but that’s just what she looks like, but what gender is she actually, underneath it all? Male, female, fluid, or like something else?”
“Underneath it all,” Morph replied slowly, “underneath it all she’s a shapeshifting meta-human who could shift into either gender. She could become President Reagan if she wanted. I don’t know if there’s an ‘underneath’ underneath it all. It’s just all surface, all the way down. Does that help?”
“Oh. I guess.”
There was a pause. Goldrush wondered if she had offended Morph. She hadn’t.
“Yeah, well maybe not,” Morph added unhelpfully after thinking about it, “ I mean I don’t know her I guess. I guess she could be different. She had a family and a childhood before her powers kicked in, and I was grown in a lab tube, so I don’t know.”
Goldrush nodded.
“Right, so what you’re saying is that with no memories or cultural understanding of gender norms, you just picked being male at random, and don’t see yourself as either gender?”
“Well no… not random… all the government scientists were white guys so I just shifted into something like that. Then I broke out, and met Mirage and all the rest of you… I’ll be honest, I have a vague idea what the differences are supposed to be now, but I'm mostly guessing.”
“Oh. Ok I guess. That makes sense.”
“Yeah,” he said actually starting to ponder it, “I guess I never thought about it. I guess I could try being female and see if it ‘feels’ different.”
Morph almost subconsciously shifted genders. Her hair growth was the only really noticeable cosmetic shift. Goldrush observed as Morph looked around the room without any apparent focus.
“How do you feel?” Goldrush asked.
Morph shrugged.
“Mostly the same… just, shorter? I guess I feel shorter.”
“Huh.” Goldrush said.
It was then that Cryo-Boy knocked on the side of the door. He peeled around to look in.
“Hey Goldy, and uh, and you,”
“Its Morph” Goldrush said.
“Yo.” Morph replied.
Cryo-boy blinked a few extra times.
“uh, ok whatever,” he said, “We’re needed downtown. It’s a real assignment this time, no drill. Galaxy Girl told me to tell people. Don’t know why it’s somehow my job, but you’ve got fifteen minutes before the chopper takes off.”
Goldrush blurred out of the room glad for the chance to end the inadvertently awkward scenario. Morph followed after. The room continued to hum.
The room was still quite nice despite the audible din. There was a large and newish tv mounted on the far wall facing two couches. In a corner next to it was an Xbox that had seen two weeks of actual use this year and was then soon forgotten to languish in the corner. Morph and Goldrush were both sitting at the long table behind the couches. There was supposed to be a training exercise that day, but the squad’s new overseer bailed last minute; something to do with a string of art house burglaries.
Goldrush and Morph didn’t get the Slack message canceling it till they were already there, and neither had any real intention of leaving. Morph was a ward of the Citadel anyway and Goldrush’s parents weren’t picking her up for two hours. Sure, she could run to her home in the suburbs outside Reach in a few minutes, but then she’d just be staring at a TV there, so why bother using the calories?
Besides, Morph was here, and she thought that was weird. I mean he trained with the rest of the squad, but he never really actually said much. And there was something about him that was curious. Not off-putting exactly. And she wouldn’t call it bad, or wrong. Oh course not, she wasn’t biased or anything. It was just something that he had never addressed. So as Morph turned on whatever was on ESPN she asked him point blank.
“So Morph, this is a weird question and all, and you don’t have to say if you’re not comfortable, but I was wondering why you’re the gender you are? You know like, why are you a boy? Is it biological or are you shapeshifting?”
He paused a bit.
“I’m not totally sure I understand the question,” he replied.
“Not that I have a problem with men or anything,” Goldrush said, “or anyone really. I just don’t want to call you something based on your looks if you identify some other way.”
“I still don’t follow.”
Goldrush tried again.
“Well what I mean is that you were cloned. You are a clone of Mirage made by the whole “Project…” uh what was it?”
“The Government,“ he said, “, its, its just a really convoluted deal, and they were all fucking nuts, and its easier to say I was cloned by the government.”
“Right and you’re a clone of Mirage.”
He nodded, his face somewhat quizzical.
“Yes…”
“Who’s a woman,” Goldrush nodded back.
He shrugged.
“I…guess.”
“Well ok, wait, what? What do you mean you guess?”
He shrugged again.
“I mean, I guess. I’ve only met her like twice before she dumped me off here. I guess she looks like what you’d call a woman, so she’s probably a woman.”
“Well looking like a woman isn’t what makes you a woman, its what’s inside that counts” Goldrush said with a slight but civil tone of defensiveness.
Morph didn’t seem to notice.
“Right, but for shapeshifters it kind of is what’s outside that counts” He said.
“Ok,” Goldrush responded now somewhat perplexed herself, “but that’s just what she looks like, but what gender is she actually, underneath it all? Male, female, fluid, or like something else?”
“Underneath it all,” Morph replied slowly, “underneath it all she’s a shapeshifting meta-human who could shift into either gender. She could become President Reagan if she wanted. I don’t know if there’s an ‘underneath’ underneath it all. It’s just all surface, all the way down. Does that help?”
“Oh. I guess.”
There was a pause. Goldrush wondered if she had offended Morph. She hadn’t.
“Yeah, well maybe not,” Morph added unhelpfully after thinking about it, “ I mean I don’t know her I guess. I guess she could be different. She had a family and a childhood before her powers kicked in, and I was grown in a lab tube, so I don’t know.”
Goldrush nodded.
“Right, so what you’re saying is that with no memories or cultural understanding of gender norms, you just picked being male at random, and don’t see yourself as either gender?”
“Well no… not random… all the government scientists were white guys so I just shifted into something like that. Then I broke out, and met Mirage and all the rest of you… I’ll be honest, I have a vague idea what the differences are supposed to be now, but I'm mostly guessing.”
“Oh. Ok I guess. That makes sense.”
“Yeah,” he said actually starting to ponder it, “I guess I never thought about it. I guess I could try being female and see if it ‘feels’ different.”
Morph almost subconsciously shifted genders. Her hair growth was the only really noticeable cosmetic shift. Goldrush observed as Morph looked around the room without any apparent focus.
“How do you feel?” Goldrush asked.
Morph shrugged.
“Mostly the same… just, shorter? I guess I feel shorter.”
“Huh.” Goldrush said.
It was then that Cryo-Boy knocked on the side of the door. He peeled around to look in.
“Hey Goldy, and uh, and you,”
“Its Morph” Goldrush said.
“Yo.” Morph replied.
Cryo-boy blinked a few extra times.
“uh, ok whatever,” he said, “We’re needed downtown. It’s a real assignment this time, no drill. Galaxy Girl told me to tell people. Don’t know why it’s somehow my job, but you’ve got fifteen minutes before the chopper takes off.”
Goldrush blurred out of the room glad for the chance to end the inadvertently awkward scenario. Morph followed after. The room continued to hum.