Oli really didn't consider themself to be the best judge of character. There had been times were they trusted people who turned out to be cruel, and feared people who wouldn't hurt a fly. It also didn't help that they, currently, couldn't even see why they were talking to. So they couldn't watch his body language or facial expressions.

Worst case scenario, they hop from one phone to the other and and reveal they are a mutant. And then this guy freaks out and smashes them on the concrete.

Best case scenario, this guy is also a mutant and the two fist bump and bond.

Oli continued to noodle their choice, eventually deciding the guy couldn't be that bad. He was a music major! Who studies music for four years and comes out the other side bigoted! Right?

"I...wouldn't say it's a secret...more of a precaution...Alright, I'll show you. Do me a favor and tap the phones together?"

August agreed, and tapped the two phones together in a motion that looked more like toasting glasses. This motion was entirely lost on Oli, who still couldn't see. If they could have seen they probably would have approved. But they immediately sense when the two phone's touched.

A soft glow appeared around the Nokia. After a moment that glow faded, and the glow then appeared around the newer phone. The glow pulsated a moment, and then too faded. The phone, completely untouched, woke itself out of 'sleep' mode. A, very long, password was entered and the phone navigated itself to it's home screen. The phone, aside from the fact it operated itself, initially seemed completely normal.

But then, drifting among the apps, Oli themself appeared. And while the figure was made of polygons and some detail was lost they were clearly humanoid shaped and fully animated. Pale skin and bright red hair, wearing what looked like a hoodie and sweat pants. The avatar stretched their arms above their head.

"Golly! It's nice to be back in a modern phone! Old tech puts such an ache in my back!"

The avatar of Oli gives their torso a twist, trying to work out a knot. After a moment they turn to face August, smiling up at him. Finally, back in a phone with a camera, they could get a good look at him.

"Thanks for the ride! I appreciate it!" The avatar laughs, nervously scratching at the back of their head. "Oh gosh! Where are my manners! My name is ZERO-L-ONE, or Oli if you prefer!"

Okay, so technically, technically, there were mystics out there that hated mutants. The cult itself, the well drinkers, had maybe sorta kinda been founded on it. Predicated on it? They had a predilection, a predetermined penchant for hate. Problematic? Probably. If August had not been someone who had fallen ass backwards into the order.

August was not into the cult or its views, not religiously. He was decidedly atheist, somewhere between neutral and ambivalent regarding mutants. Maybe even altruistic. He has mutant friends. He had mutant enemies, or at least folks who didn’t like him for him, which was their right. He didn’t care too much, either way. Mutants were like everyone else. They could be good people, they could be bad people, and they could be a fine upstanding mix of both worlds. They made choices. Like he’d said before, everyone makes choices. You choose to be awful. Just as you choose to be outstanding.

He didn’t get the hatred thing. Bigots. Against mutants, against races, against people who loved someone somebody objected to, or felt some way someone else did not understand. He didn’t understand that. If he disliked a person, it wasn’t on account of any defining trait. Other than maybe being an asshole.

Maybe he had mixed or contradictory feelings regarding mutants. He was mortal. Some mortals can be bad. Some good. With Mutants, it was the same. He did not have a prevailing wind, either way. Nothing that pushed him entirely in one direction. When it got down to it, he supposed he was selfish about the whole thing. Me-centered. What can this do for me? How do they treat me? Are they going to harm me? Was he flawed? Yeah sure, you betcha. Bit of a narcissist. Totally! Did he avoid the hateful people he knew in life? As much as he could. Would he stop them, if they wanted to do something that made him feel uncomfortable. Look. Not everyone is wired to be a hero. You’d have to ask August in the moment what he was feeling. What he was thinking. Would he do a counter protest against, say, the Westboro Baptist church? Or the church of humanity? Maybe. Or maybe he would turn a blind eye. Would he have strong feelings? Of course. But actions and how one feels don’t always line up. It would be a constantly shifting maze of cause and effect, for his morality. Thing, and response. Because he was chaotic neutral.

Good ol Chaotic neutral, if he were using dnd terms. Not operating on a code of laws and morals that is entirely lawful, or good. In the moment, living on a case-by-case basis. Focused on what makes them tick. But able to be swayed. He’d been swayed to help when the creep had been bad, after all.

The creep had shown poor content of character. Negative content. And so August had responded with negativity. Our actions are important. August’s response to the phone doing glowy things was— nonchalant. It didn’t really define him at all. Or maybe it did. He was neutral. He did not make a big deal about it. Didn’t even say “already knew that.”

He followed the Tao of Wheaton. “Don’t be a dick.” He thought he was chaotic neutral, but maybe he was selling himself short.

—

He saw the phone’s glow, saw the glow flow. Saw the show, ‘fo sho’. And didn’t applaud or squeal with joy.

It was very cool, the phone thing. The awakening. Even the avatar, which appeared, then stretched. A nice touch. Red hair. Youngish. Hoodie. Sweat pants. ‘Still androgynous, he thought. ‘Still a CELLPHONE’, he corrected himself. Who was he kidding? To say anything else would just be silly.

>> "Golly! It's nice to be back in a modern phone! Old tech puts such an ache in my back!"

“Gives me hives,” he agreed. “It is the worst!”

They thanked him, and introduced themselves. He watched the screen, watched them smile up at him, and decided now that they had a camera, they had a visual on him. Which meant if he wanted, they could probably see a pretty fun gag. First things first, though.

“Nice to meet you, Zero-L-One.” He said easily. “My name is August.”

He would have waved, but he still had the Nokia in hand. So, he said “Excuse me,” and bent to set it in their bag. As he did, the better phone, Oli’s phone, sort of got swinging casually as he unconsciously lowered his arm in the motion of putting away the Nokia.

Before he brought the phone back up to eye level, to right things, he did a quick series of gestures and finger swivels with his now free hand. He looked at the phone, and turned away from the bag, smiling.

Behind him, a red column of light started blinking in the darkness of the garage. Directly above the bag. He acted like he hadn’t seen it. But the cellphone had a clear visual.

“Sorry about the shaky cam. You’re probably used to it though. Do you— wait.” He stopped. “Do you hear a beeping?”

He wiggled his fingers out of sight of the camera, and cast another minor illusion. It beeped in time with the red columns flash.

The avatar gave a little bow as August introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you Mister August, I like your haircut!"

Oli, luckily, didn't experience motion sickness. At the point in their life they were pretty used to being tossed and swung around. They spent too much time in pockets and backpacks to have a weak stomach. Oli's polygonal eyes flickered around the screen.

"And, I haven't forgotten that I owe you, I've got Venmo and Paypal..."

Their voice faded out, the avatars eyes suddenly looking over August's shoulder at the strange red light. Had that...always been there? Oh gosh...maybe the pair accidentally set off a security alarm...Oli squinted slightly, trying to get a better look, but was unable to see the source of the light. Such is the struggle of only being able to see where they were pointed at.

And then the beeping started, and August could hear it too.

The little avatar frantically started pointing behind August, trying to get him to turn around.

"Oh gosh! Uh! I think there might be a bomb! Run! Hurry!"

Oli sounded genuinely afraid. And now Oli wished they were back inside the Nokia. For all its flaws Nokias were comically durable, and with any luck were durable enough to survive an explosion.

"H-hold on! Well keep running! Uh...don't worry! I'll call the police!"

Suddenly Oli's avatar vanished from the screen, and the phone's dial pad screen opened.

A bomb. They thought it was a bomb! The look of amusement rapidly vanished as Oli said they’d call the police.

Voice dead, listless, August said: “No. stop. Don’t. It’s not a bomb, just.”

He was moving, towards the backpack. He reached in, and while his hand was hidden, did a quick gesture and palmed the Nokia. He pulled it out and showed them. It was the source of the light and sound.

His smile was a little sickly, but they couldn’t see it. Their camera was focused on the Nokia phone.

“Don’t call the police. I think someone... just left you a message?” He said weakly.

9-1-1 was a pretty short phone number. Luckily August was able to stop them before they could make the call. The avatar squinted slightly, suspicious. Something about his tone was...weird. Like Willy Wonka half-heartedly pleading for the children not to wander off.

And, while Nokia's weren't Oli's preferred tech, they had never seen a Nokia beep that way, nor flash a red light.

Suspicious-er and suspicious-er.

Oli addressed August, even though they were turned to face the Nokia.

"Well...it's not my phone, you...uhm...borrowed it from my client." They let out a soft sigh, remembering they would have to explain that to their supervisors later. "He might be trying to get in contact to get his phone back...could you read the message for me?"

While this was out of the ordinary for an old phone Oli wasn't about to dismiss it quite yet, especially if it was their client trying to get in touch. That or maybe Oli was just gullible.

“Yeah, sure. Hold on.” August said.

With one hand, he maneuvered the Nokia so it was open. Turned the whole thing horizontally, and triggered the minor illusion he had set up. The beeps and blinking ceased.

An image appeared above the horizontal flip phone. It was small. Probably a hands height. Was dressed in a white robe with a black belt. Had red hair done up in twin buns. And was approximately Oli-shaped. Its voice was straight out of a new hope, with some minor edits. Because it said:

“Help me, Zero-L-One Kenobi. You are my only hope.”

If he’d been majoring in the illusion school, the message might have gone on or been better than the grainy, pixelated, slightly blue hologram he had given them. Instead, it maintained cohesion for a second, then fizzled out in a burst of static. He felt a little drained. For his skill levels, getting sound and picture had been pushing it.

“Huh,” August drawled. “Guess you actually can teach old tech new tricks.”

Oli braced themself as August picked up the phone. They still weren't convinced this wasn't a bomb, or at least some sort of trap. And even though they don't need to breath Oli found themself holding their breath as the phone was opened.

Then the hologram scene played out in front of them.

And Oli lost it. The little avatar began to laugh, the laughter growing until they were doubled over and clutching at their stomach. A few times Oli attempted to speak, most just breathy 'haa's and 'hoo's. The little tech mutant getting a pretty big kick out of the illusion.

Eventually Oli was able to compose themself.

"Gosh! And you had me worried for nothing! Master violinist and master prankster!"

Suddenly the avatar changed, just barely, their curly red hair now done up in little space buns.

"Not a bad look!"

Oli looked up at August, still grinning.

"I had a feeling you were a mutant! Are all your abilities related to pop culture references?"

The corner of August’s mouth twitched as Zero L One started laughing. Then, it pulled into an outright grin.

He had been worried they might not think it was funny. They’d reacted so strongly when they thought it was a bomb. But now? They were good.

He chuckled as they adopted a Leia hairdo. Modeled it. Then moved on. To suggest he was a mutant.

He wasn’t. He wasn’t going to be rude about it though.

August smiled at them and said: “A master magician never reveals their secrets. That would ruin the illusion.”

Wink wink. Say no more.

He was a good liar. Now they would think he had illusion powers, when really, that was only a minor part of what they could do.

He could live with lying about the whole thing, and not having to explain magic. Even if it was totally cool and got peoples attention. Some reacted strongly to the suggestion that magic exists. Even stronger still, if you start calling yourself a wizard. Though going by dnd lore, mystics were more like sorcerers weren’t they? A special source, magic appearing rather than having to be trained...

“Dig the hair. You should totally update your avatar and make that a thing.” He said lightly. “People love Star Wars.”

"Alright then, keep your secrets!"

Oli said with a smirk, for some reason mixing a Lord of the Rings reference with all the Star Wars talk. Well...Lord of the Rings had wizards, and this guy was a 'wizard'

August's high charisma and Oli's overall naivety resulted in the tech mutant immediately biting the bait that this guy was a mutant. And not just a mutant but an illusion based mutant! How cool! That made the whole 'wizard' comment from earlier make a lot more sense. Oli was still getting used to the mutant community on the east coast, maybe wizard was a code word or something.

"Well! One of the good things about my mutation is that I can be just about anyone I want to be!

They punctuated this fact by changing their appearance again, this time wearing the same shirt August was wearing. It was not a perfect match, and was slightly pixelated, but still pretty close.

"I tend to dress depending on my client. The space buns are a cute look though! I'll have to remember these for later."

The little avatar perked up, grinning up at August.

"Speaking of client! With Mister Branford...gone, I've got a free schedule today! Woo! Unexpected day off!"

The avatar gave their hands a little, excited, wave.

"You don't happen to need any tech-support do you Mister August?"

Can be anyone they want to be? What an interesting and useful mutation!

“Fun!” He commented.

The costume change on cue was even more fun. He was impressed. He even giggled a little. Then nodded seriously about the space buns comment.

“They are important if you want to save the world.” He proclaimed. “Or at least look like a Disney Princess.”

Disney owned Star Wars now. And marvel too. What didn’t they own? So Leia was a Disney Princess for the mouse, yes. Yes she was.

As for the what to do on a day off, and tech help. Well. “Shrug.” He announced audibly. “I was going to get a new phone, but I left my place in line. Guess if you wanted to I could drop you off here. Or you could help me set it up when I go get it, if they even still have some.”

They sell like hot cakes, after all.