The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Burying her face in his neck, she sobbed and cried. Admitting things that she had only ever told Sloth and herself. Her feelings for him, her regrets over having ever left... all of the terrible things that had happened to her.
... All of the lovely people she had met.
With a sniffle, she curled up in his lap, not finding the position awkward in the least, and stared vacantly at the wall. In a small, terrifying way, his silence reminded her of the dream. That dream...
But... one could not simply force themselves awake... and he was warm and very much alive in this vision. She would take what was offered to her, and be blissful for however short her sleep was. She knew that when she woke up there would be a lot of things to think about... a lot of questions.
Like... who had that boy been? How had she fallen back asleep? What had all of that racket been about, anyway? Right now however, in the comfortable silence that had fallen over her, she stared at her pig- who was oddly still- and sang a little greek tune to herself quietly, toying with the tipple tufts of hair at the back of her seats neck.
The Greek giggled, not worried in the slightest about her companions sudden trip to the floor. People couldn't get hurt in dreams... so there was no reason for concern. Setting the plate aside, she slipped back out from the covers and let her feet touch the floor. It was cold, but she didn't notice. The various things coursing through her body left her feeling airy and light, as if she were made of something other than flesh. When she walked, it felt kind of like she was gliding.
Standing, she moved to the foot of his toppled chair and stared down at him, before the pig caught her attention. Piggy snuffled at the air, before wriggling futility to get herself up onto her toes. The small creature clambered across the floor as fast as her legs could take her, before running smack into the wall beside Andrea. Piggy was still half asleep, but her excitement was overwhelming. She let out squeal after high pitched squeal of glee, and Andrea laughed heartily at the animals antics.
Then, she looked back down to Saph... and emotion overtook her. It was a dream... she knew that... but she missed him so much. This vision, this un-reality was as close to him as she had been in what seemed like years.
... and there he was, just sitting there before her.
Tears clouded her eyes, and she flung herself forward, over the toppled chair, and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. "... I miss you so much... why must you torment me like this...."
A dull throbbing woke her up. She was dragged from the darkness of a dreamless sleep, into a reality where something was squirming against her head. Blinking up at the ceiling, not noticing at first that it wasn't the same as her own, she reached up and rubbed one eye with a gloved hand. The back of her neck smarted something fierce, but Sloth seemed to be okay, and she chalked it up to a muscle cramp. The room was silent, and as she pushed herself up and glanced around, she found that it was not her own. It was someone else's... The sound of soft breathing caused her to turn her head, and she froze like a deer in headlights.
Saphirus... the man who had been plaguing her thoughts and dreams since she had left the Mansion... was sleeping peacefully in a chair next to her bed. It only took a moment for her medication addled brain to come to the conclusion that she was dreaming again. In a way... the realization caused her panic to fade. He was alive in this one, it seemed. Though he looked like he hadn't slept much at all. Smiling softly, she pushed her covered back, glancing down at her jammies. She exited the bed, not even noticing the spots of blood and fluids that she had left on the pillows and sheets. Sometime in-between her trip from the Sanctuary to the mansion, her missing serpents had decided to return to her. Though they were small at the moment, much smaller than when they had been violently forced to part with her, she took no notice to the many squirming black bodies wriggling about her head. This was a dream after all... she was hardly surprised that the pesky things were back.
Barefoot, the Greek slipped around the room, peeking in places, poking at holes in the walls where bits of broken metal and plastic were lodged. She assumed that the many little springs and shards belonged to the broken clocks scattered about, and moved on. There was a desk... a bathroom... a pig who was snoring gently in one corner of the room. Her smile widened at the sight of the animal, and she padded over to softly scratch it's belly. She had missed the little hog... very much so. Andrea turned back to the sleeping man, who's ragged appearance wiped the smile from her lips. He looked as though he hadn't eaten very well either... or showered for that matter. Turning to the door, she stepped out into the hall quietly. It was dark outside... but whether that meant it was night, or something else she couldn't tell. Dreams were funny like that sometimes.
With her head in the clouds, she wandered down to the kitchen, following the old familiar path that she was used to. She set about gathering things to cook, wondering slightly what everything was so... normal. The last time she had dreamed about real life things, she had been back in Greece. She missed dearly her mothers cooking...
After fifteen minutes or so standing around in front of the stove, she managed a decent looking omelet, grabbed a plate and some silverware and wandered back up to the room she had come from. She half expected everything to be different when she got back, and was mildly surprised by the fact that it wasn't. Saph was still sleeping, Piggy was still snoring... everything was normal. She shrugged it off, and closed the door behind her, climbing back into the bed, and settling the plate in her lap. Reaching out with the hand closest to him, she touched his cheek gently, and smiled.
No complaints about her presence were made, so she stayed seated and folded her hands in her lap. She did not know if such a movie would become something great... it would be the first of it's kind that she had ever seen... or been a part of for that matter.
"...I do hope it is. Good, I mean. ...Have..." Andrea looked to her table companions, tilting her head slightly in curiosity. "..Have either of you ever done anything like this before? I have not... It is, um... most unusual."
Fidgeting in her seat, she tried to keep her voice low, as the actress who had been sneezed on had come back. Her attention shifted to what was being said... which, was pretty brazen in her mind. Showing the obvious tension between humans and mutants, and comparing the man to such a figure as Hitler... The Greek never would have been able to work up the courage to do such a thing.
It was an interesting comparison for sure, one she had never even thought about. Then again, she tried not to think too much these days. The shout that rang out through the room caught her off guard, earning another timid jump. She turned in time to see a man shield the producer with... something. From where she stood, she could not tell what it was. Andrea shifted in her seat, standing uneasily, and watched as the assailant was carted away.
He had been part of the riot... An Anti-mutant protester. The action jolted her back into a state of paranoia, and Sloth curled tighter around her shoulders, hissing softy as he eyed the surrounding cafe occupants suspiciously. Muttering under her breath in her native language, she laid a hand on the large white serpent, and tried to calm herself.
The police had it under control. She told herself. They had everything under control. "It is shameful how some people act. Needless violence will only ever be met with more needless violence." She muttered absently. Turning back to Sam and April, she remained standing, not wanting to reclaim her seat until Sloth had calmed down.
She froze behind him in mid step, managing not to run straight into his back. Suddenly fearful that she had said something wrong, that she had upset him somehow, she focused all of her attention onto him.
His words touched her. The emotion held within them. She listened, lips parted slightly with concentration. He spoke as if he were a shell of a person... someone lost within himself. She could relate. Her eyes dropped from him to her feet, and she lapsed into thought as he continued on. Sin... her oldest friend. The basis of her theory on why she had been cursed. Sin begets sin. That line echoed within her. She had blamed her mutation on such a thing for so long, that it was almost part of her now. He turned to her, and she glanced up at him again. The pain was clear in his eyes. It tugged violently at her heart strings.
>>"Some people will say 'that they had to... to survive.' what they really mean is that they were too confused... too scared to do anything else. I was seventeen, just a stupid kid, when everything I knew suddenly went up in smoke. I didn't know what to do, and all I had left was my mutation. I know this is all beneath me, but I've been doing this for so long now I'm not sure if I know how to do anything else. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to stop..."
Without a word, she tossed Sloth over her shoulder, an action the big snake didn't take kindly too, and enveloped the man in a hug. Tears of her own had sprung to her eyes, but she fought them back. He didn't need her crying on him on top of everything else she had done. "Oh.. Jirou. You must be so strong..." All of the things she had been through in her life, and she had been sobbing mess for most of it. She withdrew from people, cut ties, and wallowed in self pity. Yet the very man who has just such determination in her a moment ago, was standing before her, slipping her a glimpse of his pain, and he stood tall and strong. He reminded her so much of Saph... so strong, yet so complex. Squeezing tighter for a moment, she finally let go and stepped back, a little flushed in the face because of her actions.
"..sorry.. I- I couldn't help myself." She straightened her sweater, smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress, and tried to pull herself together. People getting emotional around her always sent her into fits.
"We... we have all told ourselves that at some point or another... I know I have... It sounds as though you have had a very hard life... much harder than anything I would ever be able to relate too... But there is always hope. There is always a silver lining." She looked down at her hands, small hands and fingers that rarely saw the light of day... always hidden away beneath her gloves. Turning her chin a little, she caught sight of a little flower box set in front of a shop window. Filled to the brim with red, yellow and white spring daisies. Sniffling slightly, she stepped over, peeling one glove off, and wrapped her bare hand around the head of the flower. It only took her a moment to turn it completely and once the stem was hard and brittle, she snapped the flower from its base and turned back to him.
"We must learn to take the burdens that life gives us, and turn them into something beautiful."
With her gloved hand, she held the flower out to him, smiling as brightly as she could with tears still stinging her eyes. "We do not know each other very well, this is the truth.... but I have faith in you. You will find your path in time, just as I will. We must simply believe... if not in yourself, then in those who care for you."
Slipping her glove back on, she resumed her spot before him, her mind drifting slightly. It felt almost...wrong, to try and help someone else, when she could hardly even help herself. The words of the mutant at the Sanctuary were always there, just under her skin. Festering and burning her when she let them drift to the surface. 'You are the most pathetic and cruel kind of monster. The kind that lies about it.' Her smile faltered for a second, a brief moment where she found herself analyzing what she was doing. Was she really just lying to him? Covering her tracks to make herself feel better?
"I am sorry, I am probably rambling now.... I used to know someone like you. He hadn't believed that he could be anything different either." She muttered, shaking herself before darker thoughts could invade her mind. "He found a path, though... So can you."
The Roach was wrong, she decided. She'd prove it. "If you ever have time you should look into the Xavier Sister School... The people there really helped me out when I first came here."
She had never thought of it in such a way before. Confiding in another mutant, purely out of kinship. She thought back to Saphirus... how very little she had told him about herself. How distant she had stayed. She had never been one to open up to others. In a way, she guessed that that quality of hers had made it all the more easy to cut ties and run.
...but now that her loved ones were safe and she was getting used to life at the Sanctuary, his words were actually of some use to her. Who, if not her own kind, would understand her? Other afflicted, who already had practice and patience with their own powers... they would. Pursing her lips, black hair flopping over one shoulder as she turned her chin to watch a car pass by, she came to a decision... She would take his words to heart, and when that familiar darkness tried to swallow her again, she would think back on the time she had spent with him. With a relaxed smile on her lips, her cheeks flushed lightly and she patted the big snakes bony head.
"I am still getting used to having them. Eh, I mean him." She corrected herself, the smile dropping from her face momentarily. She did not want to bring such things up, not when the conversation had turned in such a positive way. Stifling resentment at her own big, stupid mouth, she quieted as filled her in on the box, and more...
The way he explained it, his warning and his plan, it frightened her. She found herself staring down at the package for a while, while he spoke. Wondering what was hidden away beneath the paper and cardboard. Every word he bounced off of her made the situation sound more dire. She gulped, and wrapped her arms around her middle tightly. Unfortunately, she was no closer to being freed from Sloths grip on the box... so she was more or less forced to play along. Nodding her head gently, she fixed her shielded gaze on the man, and frowned.
"Can you promise me that?"
"I promise, Jirou.... I will keep as quiet as possible... I do not wish to get you into any more trouble than I already have."
The thought of running and leaving him behind to face uncertain dangers on his own... and the fact that he expected such a thing to happen in the first place, worried her. But instead of dwelling on it, she pushed the thoughts from her head. They were best to be ignored until breathing down her neck. Fixing a small, nervous smile back on her face, she continued on.
"...You are far too nice for a job such as this.... I think it is un-befitting of you."
Her hands flew to her ears, small balled fists tucked away within latex gloves. "Stop it!" She squeezed her eyes shut, stumbling back a step, and felt hot tears prick at the corners of her eyes.
He wasn't doing anything... nothing at all, to put her fears at ease. He was fueling the fire of panic in her heart. That feeling of overwhelming emptiness... A familiar ball of ice sprang to life deep within her chest, and she trembled violently. The blood... the thing in the water... the knife...
Everything pointed to something terrible, and he wasn't doing anything to tell her otherwise. "Don't you dare say another word!" Her knees were threatening to buckle under her. She could feel darkness clawing at her, dragging her closer to unconsciousness. She didn't want to think... to think about him that way. She didn't want dear sweet Martin to turn into something... something like the lion.
Vivid memories flashed across the back of her eyelids. Flashing knives, nightmarish growls. So much blood... "You aren't like them..." Axes shaded in light pink, neatly cutting a human down before her eyes. "...You aren't... please... say you aren't..."
Sleepily rubbing at one eye, Andrea turned to the giant of a man first. He was in a rather undressed state, wearing pajama pants himself. Must have been woke up by all of the racket, as she had. It took her a moment for her mind to come to terms with how she should react to being called Sweetness. Her mind all but froze up, gears clanking and grinding to a halt, and her body was consumed in a flustered, nervous flush. It caught her off guard so much, that without thinking she raised her eyes and met his.
He didn't even move, just continued leaning against the wall as the other man started to speak. In her muddled state she didn't even realize she had used her power on him, and simply turned her flushed cheeks to the other.
>>"We gotta get you out of here, okay? Just follow me, we're going outside to wait for them to give an all clear for the building."
She nodded at first, allowing him to start to lead her off. He seemed honest enough, and the tremor that shook the floor was more than enough proof in her mind that something bad was happening. Not to far away, however, she glanced over her shoulder to where the other man was, and stopped. "Wait... we can't leave him if it is dangerous to be here!" She turned, attempting to weakly shake his hand off of her arm, attempting to head back. It would do nothing but weigh on her conscious if she left the man sitting there like a duck in water, while there was some kind of disaster going on.
Sloth, still wiggling around in a daze, had his eyes locked on the masked man. He could see two of him, and both of them were wobbling around so excitedly, that the big serpent just wanted to crawl on over and see what was going on. Maybe he tasted good? Maybe that was why he was dancing like that... The snake didn't know, but he leaned back from Andrea's shoulders anyway, toward the mans arm that had just been escorting them away...
>>"There you go again, lying to yourself. There are many kinds of monsters out there, and you may not be like some of them, but you are your own special brand, you."
Her own special brand? She shivers, partially with anger... partially with fear. It was prodding into the depths of her fears... and she didn't like it. She felt like a cornered animal, ready to snap at any moment, or go running for the door. She had never felt such a wave of... hate before... Like she just wanted to... to..
>>"Not... Particularly bright in this room, is it my dear? Forgive me for being blunt, but you don't strike me the primadonna type. One might come to the conclusion that you wear those glasses, either to protect yourself from prying eyes, or to protect the world from prying eyes of your own..."
...To hurt him.
One hand reach up and gently touched the corner of her glasses. Gloved fingers hooking around the edge. She could so easily take them off and end the conversation. So easily... and yet, she knew she couldn't. It would only prove him right if she allowed her anger to overwhelm her better judgment.
>>"You are right, though... I don't know you... Perhaps I could try, though? Tell me... what is your name?"
The flood of mixed feelings shifted suddenly. She didn't know how to deal with this... big man. One moment he was stalking around her, the next he was politely asking her name. Some of the bubbling anger dissipated, and she was left trembling, and frightened. "...A.. Andrea..." She spat, her teeth still clenched, and she blinked. Why had she given him her name? She honesty didn't know.... perhaps it was due to the manners her parents had bred into her, that she had felt compelled to enlighten the man on who she was. He didn't deserve it, though. "...My name is Andrea."
She nodded, even though he didn't see it. There were plenty of varying myths about the Gorgon and her sisters, she had read up on most of them years ago, back when her first mutations had started to kick in. Most of them revolved around the myth he had mentioned. Medusa had earned the gods anger, and was punished for it accordingly.... but there were others. The one she felt most inclined to believe revolved around the theory that it hadn't been Medusa's foul after all. That she had fallen prey to the hands of the Sea king, Poseidon, in Athena's temple... and that was what had sparked the goddesses' anger.
But... whether she was innocent or not, she had turned into a beast of legend in the end. Andrea often wondered if it could be blamed on the Goddesses curse, or if Medusa had always harbored that kind of monster within her. It was a question that she often asked herself... at least, after her encounter with the giant bug in the sanctuary, she had. He had seen her as one of the mythical beings, and he had very enthusiastically set about pointing out all of the qualities she shared... With that dream still haunting her, she hadn't been able to argue much.
Keeping step beside him, she shook herself before spacing out completely. He was right! Compared to the myth she was a saint, as he had said himself. She inwardly shook off the doubts, however temporarily.
"It doesn't do you any good to mope around feeling sorry for yourself though. You aren't exactly the only mutant out there with appearance issues. Remember the last time we ran into each other? I'd say things could be a lot worse."
He... had a point. And a fair one at that. She had met others with mutations just as bad as her's, if not worse. She ha spent so long bemoaning herself, blaming all of her troubles on the snakes, hands, and eyes..... that she had forgotten herself. "You are right." She answered back, lifting her chin a little. Certainly the beast that had chased them from before had it much, much worse. She thought about the mutant she had met in the sewers, and clutched her book to her chest. Even though her curse made things hard for her... she was still accepted. She still had her humanity, her morals... her mind. "I'm sorry, Jirou. That must have come across as so... depressing." Plastering a smile on her lips, she grinned back at him. "I have let myself flounder like this for far too long... I fear I have been keeping myself away from people.... I have allowed myself to become rooted in such terrible thoughts."
She couldn't even recall the last time she had spoken to one of her friends. Not to Jorge, not to Verdi... She had allowed herself to hang around the wrong kind of people, justifying it in a way, but it had caused her to become a depressing shell of her former self. "...And thank you, for the compliment." With a little bit of renewed energy in her step, she carried on beside him. She felt... better. About her current situation. He was such a nice man... So willing to help her out when she had caused him such trouble! The Greek giggled, scratching at Sloths chin.
"...If you do not mind me asking, why are you delivering this package? Is it something special, like a birthday present?"
After a moment, she turned and noticed who she was sitting with. It surprised her at first, to see another who shared her skin color. Though, in all honesty the other girl was greener. With her jacket sprawled across her lap, she shook herself, stopping the open, unashamed stare she had fallen into momentarily.
Sloth tugged at her gently, in the process of attempting to creep his way closer to the man sitting beside her. A man who politely introduced himself, and was quietly followed by the girl who shared a similar shade of green. The Greek turned, catching sight of Sloth's attempt, and quickly drew the serpent back to her. "Ah, sorry... " She shifted him on her shoulders, tucking his head around behind her so that he could not reach either of the other mutants.
"He is only curious, I promise." She stated softly, offering a polite smile back at them. "I am Andrea... it is nice to meet you, April... Sam." Fidgeting with her hands in her lap, Sloth peeked through her dark hair at the other green one, long pink tongue flicking out to taste the air. Somewhere, there was a mutant running about that reeked like delicious rodents. He could smell it. Andrea eyed the two from behind her glasses, before speaking again.
"I do hope I am not intruding on anything... I did not know where to sit. I would feel just terrible if I was ruining the scene for you by being in the way."
She was sure that she could stand and find another seat if necessary, even if the place did looked a little packed. Before she could ask any more questions though, it was announced the the scene was about to begin. She turned her head, curious to see what was going to happen, before she remembered that extras were not supposed to look toward the main characters.... Or at least in all of the movies she had watched, they weren't.
A mighty sneeze burst out of nowhere, earning a slight jump from her. She turned then, catching sight of the lead woman, covered in an icky yellow goop. She wrinkled her nose, and turned back to the table. "oh...That poor girl... getting sneezed on." Her tone conveyed her sympathy, and she imagined there were many hot showers in that girls near future, if not some kind of complicated decontamination.
"Well, I suppose I don't really have an option now do I? We've still got to find a way to make him let go though."
Andrea nodded, taking his comment a little to seriously. Sloth had made it impossible for him to do his job on his own. He had to drag her with him... and she was clearly only good at causing problems. A little bitter smile curved the corners of her lips, but she kept them sealed. She had no ideas with which to solve the problem, nor did she know of any way to force the snake to let go that didn't involve bodily harm.
"Follow me. We still have plenty of time to get there, so I guess there is no need to rush."
She followed. There was no reason to argue with him. With her book tucked close to her chest, she kept her hold on Sloth, though he had calmed down a little. He ceased attempting to bite at her or wiggle free from her grasp. Enough so, that she was able to keep a hold of her book with one hand.
"If you don't mind me asking, what is with the book?'
She winced visibly, but attempted to cover it quickly. What he asked was something that she would normally not answer. It was personal... and more than a little embarrassing. But... she owed him for all of the trouble she, and she felt like he deserved some sort of explanation. "...I..." She started, keeping her eyes locked on where her feet were falling. "...I was researching the Medusa myth." She admitted. Her cheeks burned slightly. "... and Perseus."
She fidgeted, and Sloth fidgeted as well. The great snake wasn't used to feeling shame or embarrassment, he didn't understand the emotions, and unfortunately he was attached to a walking shame factory. "... She was cursed, you know. Perseus ended her suffering..." But it didn't matter to him. She felt instantly silly for even mentioning it, and clutched her book tighter to her.
Glancing over her shoulder toward her doorway, she set her dolls down and pushed herself to her feet. “Coming momma!”
With a little giggle, Andrea skipped to her door, reaching up on her tippy toes to grasp the doorknob. Today was her birthday. She was four years old now, and her mother had made her a birthday cake. She had not been allowed downstairs while everything was being set up, so she had retired to her bedroom to have a birthday themed tea party with her dollies.
With her hair bouncing around behind her, black as midnight and only long enough to touch her small shoulders, she took to the stairwell, hopping down them one at a time. Her Birthday dress bounced with her, pink frills and lace supported by a little petticoat underneath. Half way down, she paused, small orange eyes widening. She had forgotten her tiara! The child turned and made a mad dash back up to her room, where she dug around in her toy chest until it produced the little silver, plastic crown. With her outfit complete, she hurried back downstairs.
“Andrea, there you are... My, don’t we look royal?” Her mother greeted her in the kitchen, plain white apron dotted with strawberry frosting and flour. The little girls eyes darted around excitedly, looking for any signs of presents or cake. She spotted it, across the kitchen on the counter, and padded over quickly. “Where are your shoes, dear? I thought I told you not to wander around barefoot.” Clicking her tongue, her mother turned and wandered out into the front entryway to find her daughter a pair of shoes. Andrea stood where she was, perched on little green toes, and attempted to catch a peek of her cake from over the edge of the counter.
She was still too small! Little pudgy green fingers gripped the ceramic tile as she strained and attempted to pull herself up to look. “Ah-ah! No peeking, young lady! I didn’t slave away all morning so you could ruin the surprise before the party even starts!” With a squeal of delight, her mother scooped her up into her arms, turning her away from the cake, and carried her into the living room. Shoes were slipped onto her feet along the way, before she was set back down on the couch. “Do you know how old you are today, sweetheart?”
“Yes momma, I’m four!” She held out four little fingers, grinning a gap-toothed smile at her mother. She knew her numbers almost as good as she knew her letters. She could spell her whole name without needing help anymore! “...Where is papa?” Her father had left for work hours ago, like usual, but he had promised to come home early for her party. She was practically giddy at the thought. Her mother quieted for a moment, her eyes taking of that far off look she got sometimes, before she smiled and stroked her daughters hair. “He’s on his way, love. Come now, lets get you ready for the party.” Taking her mothers hand, she followed her back upstairs like a good little girl, fighting the urge to pop her thumb in her mouth. Her momma said it was a nasty habit, and she got swatted on the hand if she was caught...
An hour later, with her hair fixed in tight little curls, Andrea squirmed her way back down the stairs, and headed for the front door. She had heard her fathers car pull into the driveway, and she already had a big goofey grin slapped on her little pudgy face. With her mother still upstairs fixing her own hair, Andrea was at the front door and reaching for the doorknob before anyone could stop her. Before she could tug it open with both hands, however, she remembered what her father had taught her.
She was never to open the front door unaccompanied. The world is a very dangerous place, he had told her, while she sat on his knee and looked through the pictures of a story book. Do not ever go outside without one of us with you, or someone will scoop you up and take you away someplace terrible.... and you will never see us ever again. Do you understand?.... The child dropped her hands from the doorknob and stepped away from it, orange eyes wide and frightened. She had almost forgotten! How stupid she was, having nearly gone and let the bad people in like that!
Bouncing on her feet impatiently, she watched as the knob slowly turned and the door opened. Her father stepped into the house, briefcase in one hand, the other busy loosening his bow-tie. He shut the door behind him, and Andrea rushed leaped forward to hug him around one leg. “Daddy! Daddy!” He patted her hair, taking care not to ruin her curls or knock the little tiara from her head. “Happy Birthday sweetheart! Give your old man a moment to get ready, okay?”
~~
Her mothers eyes blocked out her vision, held gently over her eyes. The little girl wiggled gleefully, unable to contain her excitement any longer. “Are you ready, Andrea?” Her mothers thickly accented question earned a vigorous nod from the girl. “Okay, here we go!”
The hands were pulled away, and the world came into light. Before her sat her bad yard, the picnic table had been moved onto the patio, and was decorated in pink and white. Balloons of the same color scheme danced with a gentle wind, and the cake her mother had slaved over was sitting smack in the middle of the table. “Happy Birthday!” Her parents cheered.
She squealed and ran for the table, tripping over her own feet half way there. She was so excited, that even though she skinned one green knee, she got right back up and clambered onto the bench. Her cake was vanilla with strawberry frosting. Her mother had made pretty frosting roses in each corner, and had scrawled her name through the middle in beautiful Greek letters. Her eyes grew as big as saucers, and she marveled at it like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
Her parents stepped up beside her and her father lit the four candles that sat in each corner of the cake. “Do you know what you want to wish for, Andrea?” He asked, tucking his lighter back into his pocket. She nodded her head, curls bobbing, and locked her eyes on the little flames as her parents softly started to sing the birthday song to her. It wasn’t her favorite song, anyway... she much more preferred the songs her mother sang, to the songs her father had brought over with him from America.
Besides, she had a wish to make! Squeezing her eyes shut, the child concentrated as hard as she could. Her face twisted, little hands clasped together before her. As the song ended, she sucked in a deep breath and blew as hard as she could.
They clapped for her once all four flames had been snuffed out, and she turned and grinned. Her mother set about cutting the cake up, while she crawled into her fathers lap. “Do you wanna know what I wished for, daddy?” She asked, her little voice filled to the brim with excitement.
“Now now, you know wishes won’t come true if you tell them, Andrea. You have to keep it to yourself.” He answered back, grabbing both plates his wife handed him, one for their daughter, and one for himself. She nodded, her nose wrinkling, and she stared at her plate for a moment. Then, without warning, she turned and cupped her hand to his ear, whispering as only a child can.
It would probably be easier to keep the robot part of it purely in my dream land.
But having people be assigned certain roles, perhaps things that they would never do in real life, would be the premise of it.
I imagine it would be similar to the dream machines in Fallout 3. Where one person, who would be the NPC dreamer in this case, would be handing out said roles and shaping the dream world to what he wants.
It would be up to the dreamer to 'wake up' and figure out what was going on, and in the dream setting they would probably have to get together and take on the NPC as a group. Which would mean fighting a lot of dream creations, and coming up with wacky dream powers. ~Since anything is possible while sleeping~
Okay... So I had an odd dream that was MRO related, and thought maybe it'd make a fun little side plot for a few people.
Basically, it's Stepford wives, MRO style... but the whole thing would take place in an elaborate combined dreamworld. Each character that joined would probably start off as something that a mutant NPC dreamed up, like a perfect little house wife for example, (or whatever you can come up with), so that it fit along with the theme of the book/movie.
But I would need help figuring out what the details would be, to make it fun for everyone involved. Since it was a dream and I don't remember much past Megan being a complacent robot house wife.
