| Beyond Our Secrets |
| Summary: | Karen Starr and Laurel Klein finally meet outside their costumes, as their friendship solidifies even further. |
| Date: | 2014-03-07 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
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Having spent quite a bit of time together in costume, much of it socializing rather than just catching and fighting bad guys, Kara decided it might be a very good idea for she and Laurel to spend a little time in the potentially more relaxed atmosphere of being /out/ of costume. Thanks to their recent collaborations, she has an easy way to send a message, and so she does, offering to meet Laurel 'in civvies' at a particular address in a particular city at a particular time. It just /happens/ to be Washington, D.C., because she decided that strolling the monuments could be a way to engage with one another.
To someone who knows Kara, it shouldn't be that hard to spot Karen Starr. But there's just something about her demeanor, her posture, her attire and style that minimizes the recognizability of many of those features of Kara one would expect to stand out. She's wearing jeans with sport hiking boots, a t-shirt beneath an open flannel shirt, with a jacket over that. She has a phone clipped to her belt, and is wearing glasses that the astute would recognize as technology. Specifically, they are StarrWare OpteX Glasses. Her watch also appears to be a StarrWare TemPor. Her hair also seems to be much closer to a dishwater blonde, rather than Kara's bright, almost platinum locks, and with a rough wave to it, rather than the precisely crisp style of Kara's coiffure. She stands in front of the Lincoln Monument, looking up at the former President's likeness seated so impressively upon the throne-like chair, at the appointed time.
"You know, he hated sitting." Of course, there's no sneaking up on a Kryptonian. Not unless your first name is Bat and your last name is Man. Instead, Laurel Klein simply jogs up the steps. She's dressed relaxed today. A comfortable pair of jeans that have worn at the knees. A pair of day hikers. A simple button down shirt and, over that, the sort of field jacket you only get if you've actually BEEN on the Moon. Or, in Laurel's case, if your father has actually been there. She's done nothing to disguise her silver-grey hair, however. It remains shining and cut in a style that suggests the Caesars of old.
"I'd read that. He preferred walking, and was actually a very physically active President." Karen offers, turning to smile at the silver-haired young woman. "Wow. That's a really neat jacket." The blonde nods to Laurel. "It's a nice day out." she offers. Never does she acknowledge that she already knows the woman coming up beside her, or to identify herself. Apparently she's trusting Laurel to figure it out.
"I borrowed it from my dad." Laurel admits as she walks forward until she can join Karen in front of the giant statue. "Still, as big as he is now, I imagine the statue would just be towering if it were standing up. Which it has at least once. During a small alien invasion a few years ago. I had to put it in orbit to protect it from being destroyed."
Karen smiles at that, even as a video of the event plays out superimposed over the view from her left eye. "He was pretty tall. The tallest President I've found in my searches so far. And I like that he was physically quite active, a wrestler. Not /as/ much once he was President, but he didn't entirely stop, either."
"Well, who wants to be the guy who beats the President in a wrestling match?" Laurel wonders, glancing over at Karen. "Are those the new prototypes? I've read up on them. Very spiffy. I bet you get a lot of interesting emails from privacy advocate groups… and other concerned citizens."
"Or the gal. Either one would be quite awkward, to say the least." Karen offers with a smile. "These aren't prototypes, no. They're just top of the line production models." She shrugs a bit. "To be honest, there haven't been a lot of complaints from privacy advocacy groups. They don't do anything more than your average smartphone. They just make all of that a bit more readily accessible." Of course, the glasses do have both audio and video sensors, and they use the wirelessly paired Kordphone to process the data and enhance it when desired. But they only do that when asked, so it's up to the wearer to decide about such things, and bear the brunt of choosing to do so in a circumstance where others being recorded object. "I also made sure that by default, warning lights turn on when the sensors are engaged." Just like the webcam on a computer.
"The warning lights are a good idea. Otherwise, well, it is obvious when someone's recording you with a phone. Or more obvious anyway." Laurel points out as she turns to fully face Karen. Apparently, she's had enough of the Great Emancipator for the moment. "They suit you, too. I hate to admit it but the truth is glasses to make a person look smarter. Years of cultural bias and programming showing, I'm sure."
Karen chuckles at that, her eyes twinkling with merriment. "Well, I'm glad you think they suit me. Thank you." She extends her hand. "Karen Starr. Nice to meet you." Because a re-introduction is appropriate, after all. "I have had suggestions from some beta testers that we remove the option in the settings that allows the warning lights to be suppressed. But I'm not generally in favor of not allowing a user to do what he or she feels is what they want. I just figure if they make that choice, they face the consequences of their choices."
Laurel considers that for a moment. "You won't have that option everywhere. In California, for instance, they have very specific laws about recording things secretly. You'll be facing lawsuits there." She takes the hand that is offered her. "Laurel Klein. A pleasure, Karen Starr. We have a bit of your technology in our house. Mom loves your coffee maker, especially. Being able to set it to brew based on the proxmity of her phone and the rate of travel… well, she appreciates having the cup when she gets through the door."
The tall blonde smiles at that. "Our first real foray into non-wearable tech. But it was an ideal move, and a lot of people have really appreciated it. My team have been working on several other smart house items. We're testing them and debating which should get the push next to market." Karen's company is quite the innovator, really. "I'm letting my project teams duke it out, for now. I've been concentrating on the X-Prize project. And school, of course."
"Of course." Laurel says. "And fielding off takeover bids from Stark, Lexcorp and Hammer I suppose." She shakes her head. "Amazing. I don't want to diminish what you've done, of course, but I can't imagine anyone without your… unique abilities could do what you do and manage to stay awake through class, too." She laughs at her own joke. "My dad used to say that he got more sleep while he was in space than he ever got in the lead-up to a mission."
WayneTech and Kord Enterprises, too. "Well, there have been a few offers." Her tone says that some of them haven't exactly been friendly takeover attempts, either. Karen chuckles softly and shakes her head. "Honestly, it's quite possible that others would find it very difficult. I do at times. But I feel it's important, and worth attempting. A lot of good change seems to be coming from our efforts." Including the WorldWatching app and the intel it has provided to heroes around the world.