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Daycycle 117 [ November 27 - December 3 ]

daycycle 117

[Nov 27 - Dec 3]

[OOC Plotting for this Dacycle can be found here.]

Early, Early Morning [0500 - 0800]
Room 1103 will be woken up at 0500 when a squadron of Internal Security Gray Ops come to arrest Felicity Smoak for treason. She will be led away at gun point and her roommates, Isabelle Lightwood and Zatanna Zatara will be immediately taken into IntSec for questioning. They will be questioned separately and intently about the activities of their former roommate, especially since this is the second roommate in three days to be arrested. They will not be released until mid afternoon.

During prisoner check at 0700 this morning, it will be discovered that Parker is among the prisoners being detained. Officials are unsure how she arrived as she was never formally checked into lock up. No one steps forward to claim the prize for her capture.

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

Buffy Summers and Clint Barton, have been selected for today’s mission. Details are below:

‘The Charity Ball made the higher ups realize how shabby the jumpsuits are in comparison. A complex wide initiative to polish up jumpsuits has been initiated. Citizens will bring you their jumpsuits throughout the day. Check clothing for stains, rips and holes and repair damaged clothing onsite.’

Please debrief the computer on the status of your mission by the end of the Daycycle here.

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties, unless specifically assigned a different shift.

At 1300 the trial for Oliver Queen, Peggy Carter, Parker and Julianne Holtzmann will be held and presided over by honorable VIOLET judge Bethany Abbott. Matt Murdock will be representing those accused of being traitors. The trial is closed, but those Specials wanting to pass information to those on trial may do so through their lawyer. Matt will not discover until the trial that if found guilty, those accused will have their clone immediately terminated. If found innocent, they will be released into Alpha Complex in the morning of the next daycycle. To date, no Special accused of treason has ever been found innocent.

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will be at 1900 in Meeting Room B, Wagon Wheel, Floor 25 and will be hosted by the Monsters & Aliens Club. Come by to witness the longest running roleplaying game in Alpha history and possibly the only true remnant of Alpha creativity.

Alternatively, there will be a wrap party for those that assisted with the Charity Ball behind the scenes. Arrangements for the party have been made by Jack Harkness under Teela O'Malley's supervision. It will be held in the Teela O'Malley studio at 1800.

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lydia scrunches her face a little. "Yeah, well...don't let them know you're learning," she warns, "they're liable to lobotomize you." She isn't saying it as a joke because it isn't a joke. For Lydia, that's actually a very real fear sometimes. Not specifically to Matt, but the Specials population in general. Their "glitches" make them different; give them free thought the rest of the Alphas don't appear to possess. They've wiped Tony's and Allison's memories of this place and Lydia's not convinced that they weren't trying to wipe everything completely so that they'd be mindless drones like the rest of the normal Alphas, it's just that Tech failed to accomplish the task.

"You'll get there," she assures him. Lydia believes that. She believes in Matt. "I'm usually right, so..." she adds loftily before grinning with her lips still against his temple. That time, she is mostly joking.

Matt says that he can put together a few things but Lydia perks up at the reminder that he's got an actual kitchen and access to food for every meal. "I can cook, if you want. I'm really good at it, actually," she says quickly as he kisses her. She returns the kiss in kind after and grins against his lips before pulling back, appreciating belatedly that sound in the back of his throat. "I'll take good care of you tonight," she promises in a low, raspy voice.

He chuckles a little, but he understands the seriousness of it. "It probably won't come as a surprise, but I'm good at pretending I don't know a thing." After all, he'd pretended to be completely blind for years when he heard, smelled and felt more than most people see. Matt wants to keep these memories of his. Even when all the senses he's lost make him angry, frustrated and bitter, he'd rather remember what he's lost. He definitely doesn't want to lose his memories of this place, of Lydia, to have to start all over again.

"You won't get an argument out of me there," he tells her with a fond smile.

"Mmm a home cooked meal? I'm not going to turn that down. You know, I used to accept pies, casseroles and fresh fruit as payment for services rendered." Legal services, of course. If she keeps saying things like that, in that voice, dinner may be late. He hums in appreciation. "I'm already counting on it."

To be honest, Lydia's not been afforded a kitchen to putter around in, with the exception of Steve's for Dick's birthday, since she's gotten here and she's more excited than she thinks she ought to be when Matt says that she can make a meal for them. It probably won't be as good as anything she can make back home, because she doubts that the quality of ingredients he's given to work with at his clearance level are going to be as good as anything Lydia could've found at Trader Joe's but...she can make due.

Kissing him again, Lydia pulls back and gives his hand a squeeze. "Services rendered, huh?" she asks playfully, knowing that he most likely means legal services, but he did walk right into that one and she can't let him get off scot-free. "What kind of services could I get..." she wonders aloud as she finally moves away and into the kitchen to pull open his refrigerator, "out of...oh!, a particularly good salad and a couple of steaks?" she asks, looking over her shoulder and grinning. "I haven't had steak in forever. You've been holding out on me, baby," she jokes.

Why he has steak in there, she isn't really sure, although she imagines it's not like he specifically chose it, so much as that's probably just part of his rations for the week and he's gotten lucky with that. "Sound good?" she asks before taking anything out of the fridge, because there are a handful of things she could make instead, based on what she's seeing in there, and she's already trying to work out alternate options if steak doesn't actually sound good to him tonight.

She's welcome to come putter around in his kitchen anytime she likes, even if it's simply to cook for herself. The quality of his food isn't great, but it's far better than soylent. Honestly, Matt doesn't cook a lot for himself. He's learned a little since being here, but it's far harder than it is back home because he can't smell how done the food is the way he could back home. He's equally as excited about Lydia cooking for him. Besides, it seems normal and domestic and he likes that probably far more than he should.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Just legal services for the general public," he tells her with a smirk. "However...for a particularly good salad and a couple of steaks, I think I could manage some more creative services. "Honestly, I had no idea what was in there. I wouldn't have known until I'd cooked it." He eats most of the veggies and fruits raw, only bothering to cook the meats. Sometimes he can smell the differences in them when they're raw, but other times meat simply smells like meat to him. He has to touch it or cook it to know what he's eating. "Of course, I was holding out. I needed you to offer to cook for me. I had to hold out on something," he grins at her.

He had gotten lucky. He just hadn't realized it. "Sounds really good," he assures her. "I haven't had steak in ages either." It wasn't something he often splurged on back home and this is the first time that he's gotten steak here.

As she starts pulling food out of the refrigerator, Lydia laughs a little at his response. "I like the sound of creative services," she confesses, albeit a little playfully, setting the steaks down on the counter and starting to look through his cupboards in search of cookware and plates. It won't take long to sear the steaks, she thinks, so once she's got a bowl for the salad, she'll start making that first, and then she'll do the steaks.

Lydia returns to the fridge to bring out some of the vegetables he's got in there. "Well, now you know, and I'm going to show you what kind of magic I can work in the kitchen," she says with a grin. A moment later, she's got everything she needs out on the counter and she's started to get to work with chopping up vegetables for the salad.

Looking over her shoulder at him again very briefly, Lydia smiles to herself. "This is kind of nice," she admits. "It's almost like we're not in a futuristic wasteland."

The salad only takes ten minutes or so to make and she'll toss it when she's got the steaks on. Heating the pan, Lydia starts pulling out spices. There aren't a whole lot to choose from and she can't do what she'd like to do to season the steak, but she'll manage. "How do you like your steak, Bae?"

"Do you? I'll keep that in mind during our consultation," he says, moving to lean against the counter as she works. He stays out of her way, but he likes being near her like this: this domestic normalcy. He thinks maybe this is what life would be like in their own world, at least occasionally.

"I've got to say, I'm looking forward to it. I've been eating most of this stuff raw or just cooking the meat in a skillet." He really is looking forward to a home cooked meal. He can't honestly remember the last one he had. It was probably something a client brought by the office.

A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. "I was just thinking the same thing. It could almost be my apartment back home."

"Medium rare if it's not much trouble," Matt makes the request. "How do you eat yours?" he asks out of curiosity.

The first steak sizzles loudly when it hits the hot frying pan and Lydia looks over at Matt as he leans against the counter a little ways away from her, giving her space to work. And she smiles when she looks at him because this is the most normal she thinks they've ever been. "Well, now that I know that, you'll be dining on raw food a lot less often, babe, I wish you'd have said," she points out in a gentle but still also somehow firm tone that suggests she's a bit disappointed he's let himself subside on subpar meals when he didn't have to.

Lydia puts the second steak in the pan beside the first a moment later. "Hopefully, sooner than later, it will be," she says with the grin on her face very apparent in her voice. Lydia's been thinking a lot about what her priorities really will be when she gets out of here. Will she still go to school, or just start a True Alpha back home? Either way, she's going to find Matt and she's going to do it wherever he is, she knows that much.

"Not at all," she says, turning over both steaks. "I take mine medium," she adds and another little smile tugs at the corners of her mouth before she can stop it, because it's such a silly thing to just be learning about someone she's already been in bed with more times than she can count, but at the same time it's the kind of conversation new couples would have and Lydia thinks that's kind of fun and refreshing months into their relationship.

"All right, can you grab us drinks? This is just about done and then I'll finish the salad and bring it all to the table," she announces. Lydia is learning to find a happy medium between doing everything for him and letting him do everything on his own, thinking either extreme on the spectrum is probably secretly really frustrating to him by now.

It's definitely the most normal he's been. He likes it. He shakes his head a little. "It's not your job to feed me," he tells her. "I appreciate it though and I'll appreciate anything you want to cook in the future." Really, he's okay with raw vegetables and the like. He cooked the meat, just not always terribly well.

He takes a deep breath, letting himself think about that for a moment. "Sooner rather than later," he agrees.He doesn't care which she decides to do as long as she does it close enough to him that he can see her every day. He'll help make it easier for her any way he can.

"At least you don't cook it into submission," he smirks in response. He nods, moving from the counter toward the fridge. "I've got cans of limey-lemon bubble beverage or I can get glasses of water." He knows that Lydia means well by trying to strike that balance, but he still misses being entirely self-sufficient. He's much more self-sufficient in this space where he knows where everything is or in his office, but it is frustrating.

"I didn't say it was my job," Lydia points out loftily. She grins a little at that. Yes it is, it is her job to feed him because she loves him and she's not going to let him keep eating everything raw if she's completely capable of turning that around. That's how she looks at it anyway. She assumes that if the tables were turned, he would do the same for her and she doubts that her assumption in that vein is too far off. "We should make a habit of this, if you ask me." For both of their benefits.

Making a face, Lydia groans her disapproval at the idea of an overcooked steak and, in her opinion, anything over medium is overcooked. She's toeing the line with medium as it is, really. "No, gross, that would be a tragedy," she replies, cutting into his steak a little as it sears and using a fork and the tip of the knife to check. Satisfied that the meat is cooked to the point it needs to be, Lydia plates Matt's steak and moves the plate toward the salad bowl. A moment later, she's doing the same with her own before finally tossing the salad quickly and dishing some of that for each of them as well.

"Water's fine for me," she replies. Bouncy bubbly beverage is Alpha's attempt at soda and Lydia's never really been a big soda drinker. Too much sugar. Here, there's probably too little, knowing the way this place likes to ruin all things good. Lydia moves to the table, setting their plates down in front of their respective chairs before pulling out Matt's chair and then dropping down into her own. "I pulled your chair out for you already, and the food is on the table," she informs him, "so don't trip." She adds that part because she knows that Matt has things a very particular way in his apartment because he has to navigate with his familiarity of the surroundings alone and she's disrupted that just now, if only slightly.

"Fair enough," he tells her. "I just don't want you to feel obligated." He can feed himself. Maybe not well, but he can feed himself. She's right though, if the tables were turned, if he had his senses and could cook for her like this, he would. As for her suggestion..."Hmmm we should. I like having you over for dinner." It's the most normal thing they can do here.

At least they're in agreement there. He chuckles at little at her comment. "Indeed it would, especially when we get steak as rarely as we do here."

He gets two glasses of water and some ice, moving efficiently and easily in the kitchen. He knows exactly how many steps are between things like the fridge and the cabinets, the kitchen and the table. Soda is one of those things that Matt can take or leave. He prefers to get his coffee via tea or coffee. He picks up the glasses and moves over to the table, nodding a little when she tells him that how she's altered the surroundings a little. He puts one glass near the center of the table just off to the side for Lydia then moves to his side of the table, finding the edge of the plate with one hand before he sets his water glass down then he sits in the chair as well, scooting it in toward the table a little.

"This smells delicious. Thank you," he tells her. "How are things going at the store," he asks as he locates the knife and fork then begins to cut into his steak.

As Matt moves through the kitchen to get their drinks and Lydia sets the table with their dinner, she smiles to herself a little dumbly. It's so stupid to be so enamored with something this damn simple, but she can't help it. Making her boyfriend dinner and being able to share actual food with him like this, it just...humanizes this place and their relationship more than she'd felt either of those things had been before and she's not really sure why when she and Matt have been through so much, but she suspects that it has more to do with the simplicity of it than anything else.

She reaches for the glass Matt places on the table for her and drags it closer to her place setting before sitting down and waiting for Matt to join her.

"You're welcome," she says with a smile that warms her face as much as his simple compliment warms her heart. This is so stupid, she keeps telling herself; feeling giddy and excited about a dinner the way she is. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but she feels how she feels and that's all there is to it.

Her smile broadens a little at his question. All of this feels so daily and domestic that if she didn't know better, she'd be able to let herself think for a moment that they were somewhere normal and not here in the Complex. His question is nothing short of "how was your day?" and Lydia thinks that's beautiful.

"Good," she replies. "I'm working on some hair products now, but they're not even up to par for beta testing yet. Right now I'm working on finding a solution that neither ruins my hair nor smells like battery acid, so it's...you know. A work in progress," she says with a little laugh as she starts to tuck into her meal. "How about at the office?"

Even back in the 'real' world this would be something nice, something to be happy about. Here, where they've got so little that's normal, so little that's good, this is worth being giddy about. Matt is equally as enamored with it. He can't stop grinning and this is something he would love to do every night. This makes their relationship seem more real, more solid and more functional in some way. This is what the every day of a relationship is supposed to be, or at least he thinks it is. He doesn't remember his parents being this way, but then he barely remembers his mother. He certainly doesn't hold his parents relationship up as anything he wants to emulate.

Not stupid at all. The gratitude he feels for being able to have this simple moment, and for Lydia spearheading it, wells up in him and for just a little while, he's glad he's here. It won't last (due to no fault of Lydia's) so he's going to enjoy it while he can.

"I'll be happy to be a tester even before you think it's up to beta testing. I'd rather you ruin my hair than yours," he tells her. "You'll get there though." It's obvious he thinks Lydia is brilliant and he's so proud of her. He takes a bite of his steak, allowing the taste of it to distract him from her question for just a moment. "Lydia, this is fantastic. If I gave any indication I didn't want you to do this every night, I take it back." He says it a little teasingly, but he does mean it.

"The office was good. I think I made a favorable impression on the judge, but she won't make a decision until tomorrow."

Laughing as she brings her fork to her mouth, Lydia shakes her head a little. "I'm only using it on the ends," she promises. "And then cutting off the damaged pieces. You'll never miss it," she adds. She could always ask more INFRAREDs to test for her like she did with the makeup, but somehow she can't quite bring herself to subject other people to the products until they're at least on the right track. She'd rather others test for quality than for functionality.

His vote of confidence does make her feel a bit better though, and Lydia smiles. "Thanks, baby," she says, final actually taking the bite she's been holding on her fork this whole time.

In spite of herself, Lydia grins as she chews, waiting until she swallows her mouthful before responding. "Mmm, changed your mind, did you?" she asks playfully. "That's what I thought," she adds, sounding very pleased with herself.

Nodding a little, Lydia takes a drink and then wets her lips thoughtfully. "Because it's been forever since she's seen a lawyer as drop dead gorgeous as you," Lydia says casually, "'course you made a favorable impression." She pauses to reach over and take one of his hands to give it a little affectionate squeeze. It's her way of telling him she's joking. "I've got my fingers crossed for you, Matty. I have a good feeling this time, though. I don't know why, I just do."

"If you promise..." he says in a teasingly reluctant voice. She's right though, he hasn't noticed that she's been trimming her hair that way. Maybe he would have noticed if he had all his senses, but he doesn't so it's a moot point. "The offer still stands," he tells her in a more serious tone of voice. The fact that she doesn't want to use INFRAREDs as guinea pigs to test functionality is one thing he loves about her. Lydia doesn't look at the INFRAREDs and see people that are inferior to her. In fact, as far as he can tell, she could care less about clearance levels except for how she can help with a higher clearance level.

He nods a little in acknowledgment, a silent little 'you're welcome'.

"After tasting a meal like this, I think I'm entitled to change my mind," he says playfully. She should be pleased with herself. It's a fantastic meal with limited ingredients.

Matt chuckles a little. "Not that I'm knocking your bias, but..." he teases her. He squeezes her hand in return. "Thank you. I like your feelings. I hope it's on track."

Grinning, Lydia shakes her head. "I promise," she replies fondly. If he was going to notice, she thinks, he'd have noticed by now. Besides, there was just that one time when it really fried her piece of hair. There's a reason she's been testing on patches that are small and easy to hide under the rest of her hair, anyway. She only lost a few of inches on that go, the rest haven't been quite as awful. "I appreciate it, babe," she adds. And truly, she does. He's got her right on the point that she cares a lot more about what her clearance level can do for herself and others and a lot less about what the clearance level actually means in this place. As far as she's concerned, it's an ugly jumpsuit no matter how she slices it, just that the YELLOW one fits a little better, gets her real food on a fairly regular basis, and makes it a little easier to spend time with Matt. That's kind of all she cares about.

"Yes, well, I figured you might," Lydia says with a playful air of smugness that she feels quite frankly, she's earned with this meal. It's not like she had a lot to work with as far as flavoring, but it's still a lot better than him trying to make a decent meal out of raw food and meat cooked based on touch rather than being able to actually look at the level of cooked. God, she hopes he hasn't ever tried to cook chicken alone. That's a lot harder to tell by touch and he could make himself really sick that way. She makes a mental note to take over indefinitely as often as possible making his — their — meals. Plus, if she's eating with Matt, that means she can give her food to Allison. Win-win, if you ask her.

Lydia's hoping that her feelings are on track this time, too. They tend to be when in reference to other people. Mostly, Lydia struggles making sure her feelings about her own situations are on track. "I'm reasonably confident. Something has to give eventually, Bae. Why not now?"

For a few moments, she's quiet, then, just enjoying her meal and looking back at her boyfriend fondly. He's the only thing about this place that makes it completely bearable most days. It's amazing having Allison back, but she doesn't get to see her friend nearly as much as she's able to see Matt, thanks to the clearance levels. Eventually, she thinks, Allison will end up working her way up, because she knows Allison and she knows it won't be a huge feat. Lydia just has to be patient. For now, she's just really enjoying her time with Matt and the ability to make things a little bit brighter in this place for everyone else, in general, in any way that she can.

She does have a lot of hair. True. Matt has never been fashionable, but it really leaves a lot to be desire too. He feels the same way about his clearance level. It lets him help others in a way that he can't as a lower clearance level (with food and giving them an alibi when it comes to curfew, lots of little things like that). It's not as good as the suit he wears back home to help people (either of them...actually, they may not be fashionable but they're really good quality) but it'll do.

She's earned that smugness and he likes to hear the playful tone in her voice. Most of the time, he just cooks everything until he's absolutely certain it's done. He might be better at it if he'd done it at home at all when he had the senses to help out. As it is, he lived on takeaway and food in lieu of payment. In any case, cooking has been an adventure here, and a not altogether pleasant one. He's more than happy to hand the duties over to Lydia, especially if it benefits someone besides himself.

"There are worse attitudes to go into life with," he smiles a little at her. He really hasn't made much headway here, a small victory occasionally, but nothing that he really felt good about.

Every day he's grateful he has Lydia here. It would be wonderful to have Foggy around, but at the same time, he doesn't want to bring anyone he loves here. If he could get Lydia out, he would. Hell, if he could get everyone out of here, he would. He hates the clearance levels, hates the way they separate people and the divide it causes. "Did you want to stay for a little while after dinner?" because she should go back to her room, but they both know that doesn't happen more often than not.

Matt's question gives way to another smile as she finishes her portion of salad and starts to focus on the latter half of her steak. She loves when he asks whether she wants to stay a little while, because they both know she'll stay the night. They both know the way this goes more often than it doesn't, but she still loves that he asks, because it's almost like when he does, they can both pretend to be pleasantly surprised when "did you want to stay a little while after dinner?" turns into "did you want to have a couple hours of mind-blowing sex, take a shower with me, and fall asleep in my arms after dinner?" and the ability to pretend like it's a surprise makes something of a secret little game, just for them.

Lydia likes that.

"Yeah, I'll stay for a bit," she agrees in the same casual tone she always does. Seeing that Matt's just about finished, Lydia pauses her own meal. "Do you want more salad, baby? You're almost out and there's still a little more left, if you want it," she offers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Daycycle 117 [ November 27 - December 3 ]

daycycle 117

[Nov 27 - Dec 3]

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