figure it out

“Yeah that’s true,” Chase nodded. After having the only real big secret in his life revealed, he wasn’t too worried about MALUM coming after him again. “Do you have any clue how you would try to stop them? Can’t you use your techie abilities to trace things back, see what their VPN is or something?”

“I mean a VPN is a virtual private network, the whole point of it is that the signal from their IP address gets bounced around all over the place making it damn near impossible to trace where the activity originally came from. There’s technology to help you get around it but that sort of stuff isn’t available to the average consumer. A few of us tried it when they originally launched their attack but their defenses are pretty solid- I’m sure there’s a few bitter tech geniuses on their team.”

Each time they listed a name, Sadie wrote it down. She found this all so interesting but also she felt ignorant. Sadie wanted to learn more, understand more. “Thank you so much,” Sadie smiled. “Hey, you know a lot more than I do. This was already a huge help,” she insisted. “I just hope that I can write something that can help you and others feel at least a little bit more represented. There’s certainly still not enough coverage for you all to feel a part of the narrative,” she sighed softly. “Honestly I don’t even think I should be the one writing it, but I hope that writing it can encourage others like me to educate themselves more. We won’t know unless we go out and get those answers for ourselves, no?”

Evan shrugged, “honestly every person you ask about who should be writing this kind of stuff will give you a different answer. Personally I don’t give a shit the identity of the person writing about these things as long as they’re doing it with the right intentions and not just for clout or because it’s trendy or whatever. If we want representation across the board then why would we discriminate against the identity of the author? Doesn’t make sense to me, but everyone has their opinions. Just make sure you’re sensitive and you’re talking to the people you’re writing about, y’know? Do your research. I’d also encourage you to trash publications that aren’t making more of an effort to be inclusive, but there’s probably all sorts of politics involved in why that’s a bad idea.”

“I guess so. Although I certainly don’t like leaving the house without it. It’s a safety net of sorts,” Tessa replied truthfully. “Hmm, good point. But yeah, it’s true about the heroes. They’re like a real-life Instagram feed sometimes and it stings the soul.”

Evan shrugs, “I don’t feel close enough to feminine to feel like those kinds of things apply to me, but it’s always good to have something that makes you feel safer, I guess.” It was something they’d tried to get into when they were younger, but honestly makeup had just never called to them. “Yeah, I take solace in the fact that for my part in that whole world I don’t have to try half as hard to be liked or look good.”

“I was going to say, have you ever played baseball? I feel like you’d be good at it.” He commented, trying to think of the last time he had played the game himself. “I must have known, maybe I’m telepathic and I didn’t even know it.”

Evan laughed softly, “in highschool, when I was trying to be more butch.” They nodded, “that, or I’ve just got the erratic look of a student who never has the time or wherewithal to buy breakfast foods.

Eliza reached out to the other, helping them steady themselves and not end up on the pavement, “Mon Dieu, are you sure you’re okay?” She couldn’t help but ask them, worry present on her face though the questions that followed made it clear that the other was doing just fine. “I guess it’s just an ice thing, cryokinetic.” She smiled, “Though I’m not exactly-… practised at my trade yet.”

Evan brushed off their concern, nodding- their hometown Beachwood was famed for vicious winters, they’d skidded on many an ice patch.”Right, sure. Sorry, I’ve been conducting this whole study on water based powers so it’s just-- cool to meet another one of you, because a lot of people who can control water can still control ice but they can’t actually make ice, if that makes sense. Like what you’re doing is changing the chemical structure of the water and that’s just fascinating so-- sorry. I- yeah. It’s cool, that you can do that.”

“Okay, I think we should switch out the accents, and then test it. Then when it works, we can hand it in.”

“Right. I think I’ve still got some of that sleek black material left so I’ll go with that and you can have a lowkey vibe. I’m far more confident that it will work than I am about the fashionable aspects of it, promise.”

“Show, touch, sounds the same to me,” Bea smiled innocently.

“Then your fucking ears need cleaning because they’re distinctly different words.”

“People make strawberry toothpaste too. Do you not get put off there?” Winnie countered. “That’s sad though. I think minty flavored things are awesome. Too each their own I guess.”

“Yeah and it makes me feel even weirder- do you wanna brush your teeth with something that tastes like fruit?” Evan shakes their head, “I like sea salt and caramel flavors, or orange.”

Zoe nods in understanding, she gets all of it, really she does, it had been one of the many reasons she had decided to come to the Academy in the first place. “Kneepads are going to be essential I imagine.” She said.

“Oh yeah, you heroes love you dramatic landings.” Evan rolls their eyes skywards for a moment, but also smiles a little at just how commonplace such phrases have become in their life. “That shit is always hell on the knees. But like I said it’s worth the check. The day I get lazy is the day it turns out I made a suit for someone who swivels their head like a goddamn spinning top and I didn’t give them enough neck support, y’know?”

“Hey you don’t need the makeup,” she shrugged. “Some of us do.” At the other’s words Tessa chuckled, “Thanks. But you didn’t say anything to contradict the saggy arms so at least I know what to keep an eye on,” she added, in a joking mood today for some reason.

Evan wrinkles their nose, “I mean no one needs it, but that’s only if you push aside hetero-normative society and pressures and whatnot.” They shrug, “weightlifting? Don’t ask a techie for body confidence solutions. All I’ve got to offer is ‘don’t watch the heroes’ because they’re all absurdly athletic.”

“That is a very good point,” Sadie nodded, scribbling down more notes as she found this exchange fascinating. She wanted to know what she could be doing to make her work more inclusive. “While I’m going to go home and do some deep diving tonight– are there any artists and designers you know about that you’d love to see features on?”

It was actually-- flattering, to be listened too. Evan didn’t often hark on about their gender identity because it was honestly only a small part of them- they’d often made the joke that they identified first and foremost as a scientist, and any gendered title came after. “Uh- King Princess, they’re a musician. Heather Cassils is a performance artist, Wu Tsang is a filmmaker, Beatriz Preciado might not be someone to feature but they do a lot of interest writing on gender theory. Zak Krevitt! They’re a photographer, a sick one... That’s all I’ve got right now. There are better people to ask honestly, but you can find way more online.”

“Oh?” he quirked a brow upwards. “Got a juicy secret of your own that you’re sitting on?”

Evan snorted. “We’ve all got secrets, I wouldn’t exactly call any of mine juicy, but I suppose that won’t really be up to me in the end. No matter what happens we’ll all end up being judged by our peers, who may have a different idea. I’m just waiting for the damn to break.”

“Most of that went right over my head, but it sure sounded impressive. I’m much better with street smarts than book smarts,” Dawn explained with a chuckle. “I am also a chewy in the middle kind of person though and this is incredible! If you ever make more of these, please come find me.”

“...Call it a cheat sheet, if you want. Just a guide on how to make different kinda of cookies- like more brown sugar to make it chewy, less flour to make it crunchy. That sort of thing.” Evan shrugs, “I wrote up the recipe so I can send it to you if you want.”

“I mean if all you need is to sit in on a few classes, then I don’t see a problem with it,” he replied with a little shrug. 

“You’re saving my life honestly. You’d be stunned how many would be heroes just don’t seem to know jack shit about how their own body works, I’ve tried talking to them about it but the closest I’ve ever gotten to anything helpful is ‘sometimes big jumps hurt my knees’ and I can’t do a lot with that.”

“Marzipan?” she paused, considering for longer than expected. “Now that is an idea! I’m going to have to give it a whirl. Hopefully it’ll be as good as the flavor you like so much– or even better?”

“I know, I know. I get that look whenever I bring it up. Honestly even if it was a limited edition thing you did or something I’d freak the fuck out. Is it weir dto miss an ice cream?”

“That’s okay,” she told the other with a little sigh of distress, hoping she’d find the bag soon. “I wouldn’t want to pull you away from your book,” Lennon dismissed, beginning to move away to look for the bag, worried she lost its contents.

“It’s probably about time I took a break from studying.” They decided with a shrug, dog-earing the corner of the page and setting their book down, “don’t wanna burn out or get a headache. Navy, you said? Any other defining features?”

Gabriel listened as the redhead set down whatever they were tinkering with, beginning to talk about their reason for coming to the garage. “Interesting,” he replied, squinting a little at them. He wanted to send them away and insist he had better things to do, but cases like this didn’t often walk into his shop. Gabe was often just stuck with fixing car radios and changing oil. A change of pace was welcomed. “Alright, do you have the design with you?”

Evan pulls a roll of blueprint paper from their backpack and unfurls it on the table, “see I had this idea- and I’ll be totally honest, I’m not even sure it’s feasible, but that’s where you come in- the whole reason I’ve never liked mechanical suits is became they’re so... Static, they don’t adapt. What if a hero needs panels in one place while they run and then more panels in a different area when they slide across the floor, y’know? So I’ve been trying to figure out if I can make a suit with panels that shift somehow by like, voice command or... Something, that’s where I get stuck.”