Astrid hadn’t been kidding when she’d decided to be first in line for Utopia. When the tours had been announced, she had practically ran to the nearest store in order to sign up. There was a way to phone in a request for a tour, but getting her hands on a phone had simply been too difficult. So, she had done it the old fashioned way. Lucky for her, it seemed to have worked. 

So, her name was one of the first on that list. And apparently most of the lists. She had been instructed to come to a little airport on the edge of town at a specified time for the travel. She flew over and arrived a little bit early, more than a little excited about the prospect of Utopia. 

Astrid showed up, expecting to be loaded onto a plane, only to find that there were no planes waiting on the tarmac. Instead, there was a man with strange lines running down his skin. He was, without a doubt, a mutant, and apparently their transportation.

She was ushered into a circle with about thirty other people as a sort of bubble-like thing formed around them. The man blinked theatrically, and in an instant, they were somewhere else.

They were in Utopia.

Astrid’s eyes widened in wonder. The landscape was not at all what she had been expecting. The entire area had been climate controlled, and buildings lined the streets. In a way, it resembled New York, but newer, and with even more green space. It was bright and sunny, and the air smelled fresh. It was nearly impossible to imagine that they were actually in Antarctica.

Workers walked up and down the streets, clearly still trying to get things ready for the grand opening. Many of them had visible mutations, but it wouldn’t be a difficult stretch of the mind to assume that even the ones that looked human shared the commonality of the x-gene.

Her young mind attempted to wrap itself around the fact that Utopia had only been announced a few months prior to that day, and yet everything looked like it had been there for a while. It was really incredible to realize what mutants could do when they banded together.

A woman seemed to materialize in front of the awestruck group. She was mid height, with bouncy blonde hair and a wide smile. “Hello there!” Her voice rang out overtop of the chatter, “how’s everyone doing this fine morning? I’m Lauren, and I’m going to be your tour guide today. Does anyone have any questions before we begin?”

Lauren didn’t seem to be listening as she had already begun to walk forward. “If you look here to your left, you’ll see our new Utopia senate building. Well, that word ‘new’ is relative. Everything here is new, and all made by mutants just like you!”

Astrid tried to take everything in as they walked through the streets. Everything was so shiny, so perfect. The rest of the tour was going to be great, but unnecessary, she realized. She had seen enough to realize that Utopia was the place for her.

Lauren’s rather shrill voice cut across Astrid’s thoughts and attracted her attention back. “We’re going to take a look inside the senate building. Within a few weeks from Utopia’s grand opening, we hope to have a fully functioning legal system and economy. Any jobs that you had back home can be acquired right here in Utopia, plus so much more. We want everyone here to have the best life possible here. The committee behind Utopia is working very hard to get things working perfectly for when y’all are ready to move in.”

The group walked up the long set of stairs that led up to the huge doors of the senate building. Overtop of the doors there was written Hic Manebimus Optime, which Astrid cocked her head at curiously. It was some latin phrase, she assumed, but she had no idea what it meant.

They stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around so that they could look at where Lauren was pointing. “Over there you can catch a glimpse of one of the many housing buildings that have been erected here. If you’re not into the apartment life, don’t fret! We have plenty of family housing options available too.” Lauren’s bouncy curls moved as she turned her head to address the crowd and her smile followed in chipper suit. “Now, any more questions before we move on?"

English was difficult, but she was beginning to get the hang of it. She had understood most of the words that the woman had said. Astrid stared up at the huge building and tried to imagine what her life would be like once she had moved in. It was going to be so incredible.

"Yes, hi, could you tell us again how all of this is being funded?"

A stunning. No, seriously, stunning blonde with perfect teeth, bright blue eyes, and a well modeled face had raised her hand and spoken up before she was called upon. She was the very definition of va va voom. She asked the rather pointed question in a sweet, innocent manner, as if she were asking where the bathroom was.

The woman in question wasn't an obvious mutant by any stretch, but she definitely carried the x-gene. To tell the truth, she didn't even really look like this, nor was she a she. More, gender fluid, actually. That was a story for another time; for now, the topic of the day was that this whole project had to cost a startling amount of money. Now, Jaager worldwide claimed to be footing much of the bill with help from mutant backers, but what did that mean exactly? Why were they doing it? From the good of their hearts?

If this place was truly legit, then the world would be better for it, but a certain Leslie Erickson, presently in the form of a lady under the moniker of Denise Colland, highly doubted that.

She doubted a lot of things... She didn't doubt that their tour guide was pretty attractive, though. 

What a @#$%... How dare she have adorable, bobby little curls. How dare she have a great smile... Denise was going to try her damnest to make her nervous in front of a large group of people for that. It was one of her favorite pass times. Her eyes scanned the crowd that was now looking her way. It wasn't uncommon for mutants to have a little disdain for their non-visible compatriots, and she was getting a bit of an impression of that from some of the crowd. They could deal with it, though. 

She made a silent note to herself to make her hair curly the next time she hit up a bathroom.

At the back of the group, swathed in bland head scarf that hid the majority of her features from prying eyes and a formless, comfortable dress, stood another who had some serious questions about the authenticity of 'Utopia' and all it stood for.

Personally, the Greek was not a fan of the concept. She understood it well enough, considering she was one of those very visible mutants.. but she didn't like it. She felt that at such a crucial time for both mutant and human kind, unity was needed more than separation. She felt that sending that while there may have been good intentions mixed in with the idea... there was more harm being done when it came to repairing the very fragile co-existence mutants and humans shared.

When the blonde woman toward the front raised a question about how the whole thing was being funded, the Greek slipped around a few people and towards the front. She had glanced around a bit, but had been more focused on what the other woman, Lauren, had been saying.

As she moved she set about removing her scarf. Green skin had been visible before in small patches, but now it was laid bare for all to see. Her hair, carefully pinned back and away from her face was free for the first time in a while.. with her snakes lazily peering about at the other occupants of the tour. Most unusual was the fact that she was not wearing her sunglasses for once. Instead, she'd slipped in colored contacts. The deep orange very nearly matched the color of her actual irises.

Her intent was to listen in, scope the place out as thoroughly as she could. Not for herself, mind you... but for the many she tended to during the days and weeks she worked out in the city. She wanted to make sure this place was as great as it sounded before she sent any needy mutants along on their way.

The tour had been interrupted by a little blonde carrying a stack of boxes that was absurdly disproportionate to his stature. He caught Astrid's eye almost right away.

The sound of tinkering distracted Lauren from whatever she was about to say, causing her to look a little bit irritated. She covered it quickly with a smile, saying, “We’re still working on getting the colony-wide internet set up.”

Astrid asked a question, having a great deal of trouble with her English, before running off with the little boy. Lauren had done her best to answer, but by then, she wasn't listening.

"You need to stay with the tour at all time!" She yelled after her desperately, knowing full well that it was useless. She couldn't exactly argue with the boss' son. The woman sighed, adjusted her uniform, and looked back over the mutant crowd. "Sorry about the interruption. If you'd all like to keep following me, please."

((OOC: Continued for Astrid in Utterly Unlivable. Feel free to keep going with the tour, or keep having more people join in!))