It was a breezy and cool September day in Rapid Rivers, with a low of 75 degrees Fahrenheit having its citizens muttering about the winter chill coming too soon. Nestled close to the southern tip of Florida, the name is a misnomer due to the settlers being warned away from crossing the rivers by the native tribes. It helped that they were able to secretly sabotage any attempt, and it was only decades later the colonials realized they had been duped as neither of the rivers emptying out into the Atlantic were particularly 'rapid'. The twin rivers divided up the city neatly, with the wealthy residential neighborhoods and more modern urban expansion in the north, while the docks, old town, and the large cramped ghetto of the Barrows took up most of the south.
Despite their best efforts, the beautiful beaches had minimal invasive expansion from resorts or private residents attempting to parcel bits of it for themselves, with most of the cultural and low-brow nightlife moving west from there towards the university and the more hip and gentrified urban residential living. Downtown split the northside from the old city center and the Barrows, the spires and skyscrapers having been built mostly during Rapid Rivers growth spurt at the turn of the century, with new towers springing up each taller and more extravagant as the money poured in, and forcing the city to make Century Park to preserve at least some greenery.
Rapid Rivers isn't as large or as old as some cities like New York or London, but its financial and fashion districts were as wealthy and diverse as any due to the year-round warmth and... colorful citizens. The refurbished American Hero Project Tower was a glistening spire with a clear view of the ocean on the edge of downtown, one that a very bored and dramatically sighing Slingshot wishes she could enjoy; the communications hub she was stuck watching over nestled deep inside the building. She was pretty sure, having been a former member of the AHP, that comms for this part of the building should have some kind of view, but 'Maven' had gone over the old headquarters with a fine-toothed comb and the layout was completely different from what she was used to.
Not that Slingshot could complain... the LoV being smaller meant the residential areas were larger and had the sun and view she was currently craving, plus a bathroom she would have turned villain for when she was living in NYC. Throw that in with the fact that her and Nike also didn't pinch pennies with the coffee budget like the AHP, and she could forgive the few hours a week she was stuck inside with nothing but the bays of computers, monitors, and the occasional voice of the team's AI to keep her company.
There were also no rules about wearing your uniform when on duty, so Nikki could work in her silk pajamas and little else. She knew some of the other girls had trouble adjusting to the Rapid Rivers idea of what "modesty" meant but Nikki wasn't one of them, happily choosing comfort and showing off her athletic frame, more than enjoying the near constant sun on her ebony skin compared to dreary NYC. She was far from alone in showing skin around town, the city's palm trees, beaches, wealthy socialites, and general villains meant you never knew if the half-naked giggling blonde on towering heels walking down the street was a former lawyer or clerk turned victim or one of the many bimbos who enjoyed the talents of Rapid River's world-famous plastic surgeons.
It also made things harder when someone like Bimbette was on the loose, although after a call from Miracle Maiden, Voodoo Queen had left to go fly out to the university and check on Maven's tip that something was off, Minerva the AI her teammate having provided a possible list of locations on campus where they might find the rogue super villainess. The AI was head and shoulders above any other Nikki had worked with before, and she was still trying to figure out what she thought of Chloe after all these months. The tech genius mostly kept to herself but the fact that she was capable of starting up something like the LoV and clearly familiar with Nike meant she should have left some footprint in the super world.
The most interesting thing Slingshot could find out about her though was a few research papers on artificial intelligence ethics and a few other high-brow tech nerds she was acquainted with. Otherwise, the world basically knew her as your every-day smart college kid... who could apparently help fund an entire superhero team and equip it with the kind of tech that would have her AHP contemporaries drooling. While that mystery was certainly worth looking into... Slingshot had zero intentions of rocking the boat when she had finally found a comfortable medium between her personal and super life.
She had her own reasons for joining the Ladies of Victory, but she also realized how much she needed a break from the constant obsession the American Hero Project had with it's image, requiring it's champions to be a bastion of morality and courage filled to the brim with people as weird and messed up as the rest of the world was tiring. She was always willing to play by the rules and put forward a public, marketable face when out in costume but that wasn't enough for the very controlling Miracle family.
After one too many interferences in her private life and some very personal butting of heads with the heads of the AHP, she was already planning on resigning when Jen asked her to join the LoV with her parents blessing. Suspicious timing aside, the new team had its own issues to deal with (with her secretive co-worker being the least of her concerns) but Nikki was finding it easy to fall into a relaxed groove as she set about trying to find something to keep her occupied during what was looking to be a rather boring afternoon.
"Hey Minerva, can you bring up the original flag for Bimbette showing up around the university?" With little else to do, she might as well see if she can help her teammates at least narrow down their search without them having to interrogate every buxom sorority girl they find.
"there is no original flag for the villain bimbette on campus."
What?
"Umm.... Can you bring up something I can use to help Voodoo Queen and Miracle Maiden track down what they're looking for at RRU?" The AI and the girls were aware of possible Bimbette activity around the university but didn't have a flag for it? She knew Chloe had access to the systems from outside the tower, so why would she be calling in backup if she hadn't made a flag for it.
What's going on?
"confirming.... providing content tagged for future observation."
