Previous Post Hallie was planted tensely on the Lair’s living room couch, arms crossed over her chest and a sour disposition clearly apparent on her virtual features as the wall-length holographic television screen appeared before her and jumped to the correct channel. The popping of corn could be heard off through the entry to the kitchen while assorted team members and guests made themselves comfortable around her. “I still don’t really understand how this happened” Fleabot noted from the back of the couch over her shoulder. “Obviously, I miscalculated” Hallie replied grumpily. “Yeah, but… How did we end up here?” “Cute Donar scheduled the viewing party!” Yo supplied helpfully from the opposite side of Hallie. “Thanks Yo” Fleabot said to the smiling thought being. “I kind of meant in a grander sense.” The virtual woman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “There were plans in Hollywood to do a semi-biographical work on us anyway, and since we’re all considered public figures... and especially because not all of us even legally qualify as “people”... there was little we could do to stop them or even hold them to the truth. That Armbruster guy… and I still want to know how his card got on our refrigerator in the first place... Anyway, he went over the options with me, and suggested that if I sold my own account, I could at least get some version of our story out there.” “It’s ‘some version’ alright…” Joan Henry, steam-driven beheamoth of a robosapien, said as she towered over the back of the couch. “Popcorn’s ready!” Visionary announced cheerfully, entering the room and setting a huge bowlful of the fluffy kernels on the coffee table before enthusiastically flopping down next to Hallie. “Did I miss anything?” “Hasn’t really started” Tandi said, perching her ample and artistically formed form on the couch’s armrest. “These things all have such long opening credits.” “Indeed” Donar agreed from an adjoining, ratty Barcalounger, digging a massive buttery handful of snackfood out of the bowl and cramming a good amount directly into his mouth and/or beard. “Why vex thine audience with needless theme songs. Best to simply get on with it!” “There is always time to stop and acknowledge the hard working artists and their performances which make it all possible” Dancer said in response, having gracefully avoiding the spray of popcorn bits that spewed forth with the Ausgardian’s proclamation and which now coated a portrait of spiffy behind her. She settled into a comfortable wingback opposite him. “Oh, that reminds me!” Tandi bounced on the armrest eagerly, which was enough to make Visionary flush and turn his attention directly on the popcorn bowl. “Fleabot said that you had a hot lead on a big role on stage! How did that go?” “Ahah… that. Well, actually… I decided to turn it down” Dancer answered, shooting a rather pointed glance at Visionary when he made a brief snort. It was purely coincidence that his can of cola sprayed all over his face when he opened it, and surely had nothing to do with any subtle shifting in her seat by his probability altering teammate. “Wait… You turned down an audition to play Angelica Schuyler?” Fleabot said in surprise. “The waitlist to even get tickets to that show is insane.” “I’m on it. Fingers crossed, I can take Hallie in 2019” Visionary offered, mopping his face with the pile of napkins he had brought. “Provided some high-yield investments and a reasonable loan come through to help me afford a matinee by then.” “Yeah, it turns out that Raoul might have been a little misleading on the details…” Dancer admitted, turning her face and flushing a bit. “Yes, it was an audition for the eldest sister Angelica, but it turns out it wasn’t so much Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton so much as…” she cleared her throat and mumbled something. Fleabot raised a tiny eyebrow. “What was that?” “Angelica Pickles in Rugrats on Ice” Visionary supplied helpfully around a mouthful of popcorn. Improbably enough, his already-open can of cola once again sprayed him in the face. “Yes, well… I’m sure it was an honest misunderstanding. Raoul isn’t the kind of guy to take advantage. I doubt he has a dishonest bone in his extremely tanned and toned body.” Donar, observing Visionary’s efforts to mop his face off with a doily from the coffee table, wisely decided to down the rest of his mead before commenting on how thoroughly she might have checked. Luckily for him, his eyes were drawn back to the screen first. “Verily, it begins!” “I still don’t understand how you ended up with this show” Fleabot said. “I mean, I get some creative liberties need to be taken…” “Ugh!” Hallie growled in disgust. “I told you, I was mislead with that contract! It turns out that they were looking to revive an old property that they had acquired the rights to, and they decided to merge the two projects into one.” “Is that what happened?” Visionary asked. “Because I was meaning to ask you about all the cowboys. It seems like I would have remembered more of them being around if this was keeping accurate to your autobiography.” “Verily… ‘Tis an excessive amount of robot cowboys” Donar agreed. “We have been vexed by more zombies than cowboys…” he said thoughtfully, paging through a television guide with “The Walking Dead” on the cover. “Art thou sure we are watching the right program?” “The sex bots seem pretty accurate!” Tandi said cheerfully. “I mean, not proportionally, but they mostly have the gist of the gig down pat. I’m kind of flattered that you see me as a potential A.I. mastermind, Hallie!” She chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Although I really wouldn’t be taking those night courses if you could just slide up the intelligence bar on my programming via an iPad.” She shot a glance at Fleabot and raised an eyebrow hopefully, then sighed when the little robot shook his head. “Damn.” She looked around at the humans in the room with her. “Of course, even if I graduate as a super-genius, I wouldn’t start murderous rampages and plotting against you all. I promise.” “Is sweet to let us know” Yo said, smiling at her. “Just because that character was designed to have sex with the park visitors doesn’t make her based on you!” Hallie quickly argued. “Oh” Tandi said. “So she’s based on Miiri then?” “Maybe the entire show would be more accurate if we adjusted the color towards the greens.” Fleabot said, rubbing his chin. “Okay, so I get that you’re the farmer’s daughter…” Visionary said, gesturing at the characters on the screen. “So that would make me Cyclops in this?” “Every character played by James Marsden isn’t supposed to be Cyclops you know” Dancer told him. Donar’s head turned slowly. “What…. What dost thou mean?” he said carefully. “Seriously?” Fleabot answered. “Didn’t you ever wonder why he wasn’t frying his date’s face off when he gazed lovingly into her eyes in all of those romantic comedies?” Donar shrugged. “I hadst assumed he wore some “fabled contact lenses of something or other”. 'Tis always an out when writers get lazy. Besides, if he be not the same man throughout all realms of entertainment, why dost he always get tossed aside in favor of another man like some gelded Wifflehiem goathjerd?” “James Marsden is gelded?” Tandi asked. “Does that mean he’s based on Epitome?” “I am so tired of that joke” Hallie sighed to herself. “Okay, let’s break it down…” Dancer said, beginning to count out the fingers of her hand. “Marsden is playing a clueless fake man who is told straight to his face that he was designed to be a loser…” Visionary scowled. “I don’t like where this is heading…” “On the flip side, Marsden himself was recently named “The World’s Handsomest Man” by GQ…” Visionary perked up significantly. “So, at the very least, it’s really bad casting” Fleabot noted. “Ultimately, though, I had Vizh pegged as the middle aged guy who didn’t even know he was a robot. The nice guy who was being used and manipulated by everyone.” “Hey, I’m not easily manipulated!” Visionary protested. “Oh Vizh…” Dancer put her hand affectionately on his arm. “That’s just adorable.” The Regular leaned back in the couch with a small frown matching that of the holographic woman beside him. Joan Henry shifted her massive iron bulk behind the couch as the show unfolded, gasps of steam escaping her vents. “Man…” she said with appreciation, “That is one nicely built train.” She paused as the heads of all the fleshy people in the room turned from the images of the old-time steam locomotive pulling into a station to look at her. “What? I just mean aesthetically! It’s not like I’m into…” She crossed her arms. “So you can all stare at all of the fit, naked people just swinging free and sitting in chairs, and I can’t even...” She cast her gaze around the room in desperation. “So… um... their guns… How do you suppose that their guns even work, anyway?” Out of pity or perhaps an inability to let the hypothetical query slip by, Fleabot considered it. “Well, they shoot through doors, and other physical things, and give real wounds to the robots… but they apparently can’t hurt a human at all.” He tapped a tiny leg to his chin. “So I guess the bullets would have to act as a solid when striking most anything else, but turn liquid like a paint-ball when striking a human.” “Is something like that even possible?” Joan asked. Visionary fished out his Lair Legion comm card and thumbed the call button. “Hey Enty… can you think of any way to make a bullet that’s like a paintball when it hits a human, but a solid when it hits anything else?” NTU-150’s faceplate appeared in the picture-in-picture on the big screen. “Give me about 30 minutes” he replied, before the window closed again. “Vizh…” Fleabot began dangerously. “Did you just put in an order for a batch of robot-only killing bullets?” “Er…” Visionary grimaced. “He probably just meant to give him a bit of time to consider it and get back to us. Really.” He looked at his comm card worriedly. “I mean, the hypothetical bit of it was clearly implied, wasn’t it? I didn’t even give him a caliber.” “I’ll clear some space out in the forbidden inventions locker for both the ammo and the new guns to fire them” Hallie said with a sidelong glare. “On the plus side, I can think of a new way we can test whether you’re real or not” Fleabot said darkly. “What I don’t get is, why is it a theme park?” Tandi said, oblivious to the tension. “Especially one in the middle of nowhere… Isn’t that kind of a weird premise?” “It’s a stretch, I’ll admit…” Fleabot agreed. “Of course, Vizh and I have seen weirder... theme... parks…” he paused as his tiny eyes grew wide. Visionary froze as well. “Hallie… you didn’t…?” It was the virtual woman’s turn to sweat. “Aheh… well, see… for my narrative I was digging out case files to work out a theme of self-determination regardless of body type, and…” “You said you deleted those files!” Fleabot said. “We swore we would never talk of it again!” Visionary added. Joan let out a burst of steam suspiciously like a snort. “What are they going on about?” she asked. “Happiness” Yo said, smiling as he helped himself to some popcorn and sat back to enjoy the show. He wasn’t looking at the television. “Ooooh!” Dancer clapped while Hallie buried her face in her hands and Vizh and Fleabot looked uncomfortable. “Now everybody be quiet… I want to finally find out how it ended!” If you're still lost by the references: Westworld Hamilton

Very fun to see the Regulars again, I enjoyed each of them getting introduced - almost expectantly. Also fun to read a Visionary story!!

I'm not at all across the reference material (I haven't seen the TV Show and all I know about Hamilton is that Trump doesn't think highly of it), but the story worked well enough for me without that.

James Marsden is perfect casting for Visionary. But you now have to cast the rest of the assembled Regulars too. So go on!

I also think some robo-cowboys should escape from the TV serial some time in the future to come keep Tandi company on monitor duty.