fandomhigh | How to Make Friends and Influence People [Tuesday, March 11, 2014]

How to Make Friends and Influence People [Tuesday, March 11, 2014]

Anakin, who'd gotten a visual reminder of the time his son and Gavin Darklighter had thought they'd been Siegfried and Roy, not the most dignified island moment ever, might have let that influence the mood he was in when he'd programmed the Danger Shop.

"Welcome to Geonosis," he said with a wicked smile as each student found themselves handcuffed to a huge stone pillar in the middle of an arena. "Sometimes negotiations go poorly. In this case, they've gone straight to poodoo. You have thirty seconds before your captors will release an acklay--an image of a giant bug helpfully sprang to holographic life before them--"a nexu, and a reek."

More photos helpfully showed what was going to try to eat them.

"Working together, get out of the arena." Anakin smiled. "And girls, you have a hairpin inside your sleeves because when I was in this very same situation--" which said something about the poor choices Anakin had made in his life, "--my first wife was smart enough to have one in her sleeve and used it to pick the lock on her cuffs. I was too busy bickering with my teacher at the time to do something just as useful."

He smiled again. "Welcome to aggressive negotiations."

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Or hope really loudly that one of your classmates knows how to get out of their handcuffs and can help you.

Oh.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no. Elsa knew that this simulation couldn't hurt her by now, but she had no idea how to use a hairpin to pick a lock, and no inclination to let anybody get close enough to help her. She could struggle and strain at her bonds, but to no avail.

She was bound and determined to keep from panicking, but that was easier said than done. Regal poise. Hopefully nobody would notice if she was murmuring her 'Conceal, don't feel' mantra under her breath.

Mercy dashed over, hairpin at the ready and ever so grateful that her fiance, Samuel, had taught her how to pick locks.

"Elsa! I can get you out of there!"

"What if I'm perfectly comfortable right where I am?"

... She really, really wasn't. At all. But she was far less comfortable with the idea of anyone coming anywhere near her hands.

"Well..." Mercy looked toward where the creatures were supposed to come from. "You might not be too comfortable in a few more seconds. I promise I'm good at this, it'll only take me a few seconds, and it won't hurt or anything. I just have to get my hands on that cuff for a sec. But if you really want to stay... I can't make you leave."

Elsa really kind of wanted to just curl herself up in a ball and pretend the rest of this class period wasn't happening, actually.

"Please, just... just don't touch me," she murmured, not quite able to curl herself up the way she might have, were her hands free.

Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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"Looks like a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into!" Joker called to her. "Unfortunately, the crowd doesn't seem swayed by your beauty. Clearly, there's something wrong with them!"

"I think there's a lot wrong with this entire situation," Elsa shot back, sounding just the tiniest bit perturbed.

Okay, no, she was practically seething.

"This is not okay!"

As though there was any doubt.

"This is so far from okay that we can't even see 'okay' from here!" Joker agreed. "At least it's not real?"

"If it was real, most of us would be dead." Elsa wasn't even going to mince words, where that was concerned. It was the truth. "As it stands, is there any guarantee that people aren't going to end up hurt? This is... it's grossly irresponsible."

This was probably the most harsh her language was going to get until she worked her way up to a good rant.

Mercy shifted in her clothes, pulled her paw out, shifted back, adjusted her clothes, and dashed to the closest classmate to try and give them a hand.

Took her about 2 seconds. 28 left to help out or climb up the pillar if no one needed her help.

After his rousing speech, Joker gave Mercy a "Psssst!" and rattled his cuffs. "Help me, O beautiful were-fianceé! You're my only hope!"

Mercy dashed over to him and quickly unlocked him and the monkey thing. "Be careful of what you say. If Samuel ever heard you he'd have a fit!"

"I'm more worried about the acklay, nexu, and reek right now," Joker told her. "Sammy's not on the list A-T-M. I don't suppose your garou-powers come with super-strength, or a venomous bite, or the ability to talk to animals?"

"Yeah, we should be so lucky," Mercy said dryly. "I'm fast, but that's pretty much it. I could try ti shove you up the post, though."

Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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See, if Victor knew he had powers, this one would be easy: He could manipulate the metal to let his wrists go about as easy as he could chew gum.

But at the moment he had no idea, so he was twisting his hands to try to pick the lock. He thought he was finally getting somewhere when the hairpin slipped from his hands.

And then there was a lot of Spanish cursing as he searched the floor for the pin. Not that he'd figured out how to pick it up without using his hands yet.

"Open your hand," Elsa said gently, coming up from behind. "I can't touch you, and I don't know my way around those locks, but I can give you the pin back."

It was the best she could do, Victor. Maybe if this was an actual life-threatening situation, this would go differently. But as it stood...

Victor sagged with relief, then sat back and obediently held his palm out so Elsa could get at it. "Thanks, Elsa. You're saving my life. Or at least making this class way less frustrating."

"I aim to make your continued living a little easier," Elsa replied, just a touch wryly, as she dropped the pin back into Victor's hand. It was a bit colder than perhaps it ought to be.

That was totally because it was chilly on the floor, and not in the least because Elsa was just a touch stressed out after Mercy picked the lock on her own handcuffs. Really.

Edited 2014-03-11 15:29 (UTC)

Re: Get out of your handcuffs!

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Joker looked hopefully at Skippy, who was handcuffed beside him. "Can't you, like, pick up a hairpin with your tail and use it to pick the locks?" he asked. The pyjak, of course, had no idea what Joker was asking -- and wouldn't have been able to, anyway -- and just let out a sad little moop. Joker sighed. "Cartoons have failed me."

If his omnitool had been more tricked out, he could (maybe) have used it to pick the locks himself -- but it wasn't. He wasn't helpless, though -- he still had his special superpower. He used the omnitool to amplify his voice as much as it could.

"PEOPLE OF GEONOSIS!" he shouted, addressing the crowd. "HEY! Stop cheering a sec and listen, dickbags! I sure hope your tickets were free, 'cause this is gonna be one hella disappointing show! I don't know what your leaders have promised you today, but we're a bunch of helpless kids! I mean, I'm a cripple, for goodness sake! What fun is it gonna be for you to watch us stand here and get slaughtered, huh? Are you here for a public execution, or are you here to be fucking entertained?!?! Am I right? Huh? So... Those animals they're gonna release -- wouldn't you rather they fight each other, instead of us? Or maybe those guards over there, with those actual fucking weapons? Isn't THAT the kind of show you're really here to see?!!? So who's with me? Who wants to see a real fight, with the animals versus the guards? Fight... the... guards! Fight... the... guards! Everybody, now! Fight... the... guards! Fight... the... guards! FIGHT... THE... GUARDS!"

It was worth a shot, anyway. The worst they could do was boo him, after all.

Stone pillar. Earthbender. Three guesses what happened next.

Once Korra had cracked the stone around the pin fastening her cuffs to the pillar, it wasn't that much work to push her pillar down and across to try to block the giant toothy creatures' path some.

Well, maybe it was a lot of work if you weren't the Avatar, shh.

"YOU!" Joker shouted, excitedly. He started making his way over to her as fast as he could manage. "You are my new best friend!"

Were Korra's fingers on fire as she (carefully) melted the locks on her cuffs? Yes they were.

"I am?" She said.

Yesterday, Cosette would have been helpless to get out of the handcuffs by herself, because yesterday, Cosette hadn't been from a reality wherein prisoner 9430's body was in fact recovered in the waters near the Orion on November 17, 1823.

Today, however, was a different story. Something as simple as picking a lock with a hairpin was child's play to a girl who had been, as she liked to joke, raised by wolves. The lock was a bit more complicated than she was accustomed to, but she still managed it in just under thirty seconds.

And immediately ~~because ha ha still drowning in work~~ looked for an escape, because the Thénardiers hadn't raised her to be altruistic.

Jessica was a trained SHIELD agent with extreme flexibility. She was out of the cuffs in seconds without using her strength OR the hairpin. Her thumbs were a little sore afterwards, but it wasn't that bad.

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