Deep Underground Boston Facility
Simulation AV-1

It was nice to have a slower week after so much STRESS. Although a mani-pedi was certainly in order sooner rather than later, The Chameleon found it much easier to relax amongst the digitized strings of Alfonzio's Italien Eatery (because places with alternative spellings weren't only more distinguished, but expensive as well and, therefore, good. Her hands ran through her blonde hair as she eyed the wine menu. What kind of wine says, "I'm a party girl," while also saying "I'm a prisoner in my own mind," she wondered. After much thought, The Chameleon decided upon a pinot grigio with descriptors such as "fruity" and "existential." The perfect drink to pair with a high-quality rack of lamb that she had been daydreaming about for at least a few hours now. Looking across at her friend who was joining her for dinner was a fairly low-poly count 3d model that didn't share the polish that many of the simulated denizens Chameleon was used to interacting with. The usual hyper-realism replaced with something that could only be considered high-tech if shown on a Dreamcast. It was certainly a female body, but it was being crudely controlled by the current overseer of operations in the facility: Darcy Ellis. She was totes a weirdo and too sentimental to stand up for herself, but it was better than dinner alone, amirite? Darcy spoke through the avatar, the sound of her grossly slurping up a Cup o' Noodles being picked up by the microphone. (EW)

Darcy: "Thanks for having dinner with me, Cham. You don't know how desolate it gets out here at night, when everybody's gone home. It is just some major suckage. Like, everyone has a family to go back to and I just have to grit and bear it here."

Chameleon: "Desolate? You do realize you're speaking to the person inside of the big isolation chamber. Plus, it's not like I exactly get to see my family either."

Darcy: "I didn't mean it in a rude way or that my angst means more than yours because CLEARLY you've got more going on than me..."

Chameleon: "And what is THAT supposed to mean?"

A gruff, slightly annoyed sigh escaped Darcy as she clearly was a little worn from interacting with Chameleon acting in their Vaughn-emulating form. Her voice raised a tad as she responded, the audio compressed slightly due to the increase in volume.

Darcy: "Well, I'm not the one who signed up for some personality-erasing nonsense because I didn't feel good about looking at myself in the mirror. Plus, you half-assed your effort against Unknown Soldier anyway, so maybe I should've laced some boots and let them probe my mind instead?"

Her sass was hella not appreciated.

Chameleon: "Oh no, you did not! You know it's not that simple!"

Darcy: "Oh really? Well, you seem to be fine enough wasting everybody's time with this shit when you're not going to commit!"

Chameleon: "You really want to know what got in the way of the Soldier match?"

Darcy: "Yeah, I would, considering its my salary that'll get slashed because of it!"

Chameleon: "...It was too personal."

Darcy: "...Wait, what?"

Chameleon: "Other matches I can just put on the face and ignore everything, but not that one. It brought back a lot of bad memories."

Her tone softened. The 3d model twisted its head to stare at Chameleon.

Darcy: "What did you do, Cham? You keep alluding to things, but you've never told me what it really was that set you off. I know you can't tell me who you are, but I think you at least owe me an answer to what made you The Chameleon."

The Chameleon thought for a fleeting second, almost swallowing the words in her mouth, attempting to not let them flee, but they rushed out despite the effort.

Chameleon: "A lot of anger. Jealousy. I... convinced myself that I was something I'm not and because of that, I became it. I hurt a lot of people. Friends, family, those who looked up to me. I abused so much of my ability to analyze and think through things and by the end I was unrecognizable, regardless of the fact that it was still me underneath. That's why I'm this. If I'm going to so easily become something I'm not, why not choose things that are better than me?"

Darcy: "How sure are you that they are better? Honestly?"

She couldn't answer. Not without unraveling a thread that was far too integral to everything it stitched together.

Darcy: "Look, you don't have to say anything, but I kinda get it."

Chameleon: "...How?"

Darcy: "Well, it's just... my sister was always the better looking and better in school and better at socializing and... well, just everything came to her so easy. And I'd always look at her and think "that's someone normal, not somebody extraordinary and they can try whenever they want and succeed with just a little bit of effort. If she's just normal and I can;t do half the shit she can, what the hell does that make me?" So, I tried to scrub it all away. I tried god knows how many different methods to just hide myself behind fancy clothes and makeups and jobs and the more I did all that, the less it hurt to be me. Because I didn't have to be me anymore, I could just be a few nice words I read in Cosmopolitan and a cute dress."

Chameleon: "What made you stop?"

Darcy: "Had to. It was exhausting. Each minute of each day required so much effort just so I could hide who I really was behind something more digestable for other people that I felt like death most of the time when I was allow. You know, you can't run from yourself. Not for long. It was always comes knocking back and for me that knocking came when my sis was diagnosed."

Ellis glanced down, only now realizing how much time she'd spent on something so teenage and desperate.

Darcy: "And now I'm here, having dinner with a self-proclaimed nobody and talking about my problems. Jesus, I probably just need therapy."

Chameleon: "Why don't you have Dante do it?"

Darcy shuddered, a near retching sound(Again, EW) coming from over the microphone.

Darcy: "That fucking creep? No thanks! I'd rather some BetterHelp schlub than that maniac."

Chameleon: "He's a lot nicer than he seems. He helped me out a lot after my recommendation from my last therapist."

Darcy: "Did he really though? Is this what help is to you?"

Chameleon: "It's better than nothing."

Darcy: "Heavily debatable."

Chameleon: "What did he do that pissed you off so much?"

Darcy: "Well, a LOT, but it's his entire program I disagree with. It's like those people who want to make designer babies: it's just highly marketable eugenics. He goes on this big spiel about how he wants to rid the world of personal imperfections, but I think he just wants a world so screwed-up that he looks normal by comparison."

The Chameleon shrugged, not agreeing, but disinterested in fighting back against the sentiment too hard.

Chameleon: "I think it's just a matter of people wanting answers about themselves. You can spell it out for some people, but they'll never notice if they don't know what they're looking for. I'd like to believe that Dante's just someone willing to take the harder route in making people understand the dirtier parts of themselves."

Darcy: "Well, you're allowed whatever faith you wanna give, but I'm not about to pick up a bible and start praying."

Chameleon: "It's not the law. You can, like, do whatever you feel like."

Darcy: "Even if it's not taking your lord and savior so seriously?"

The Chameleon glared through her mask, shaking her head before looking around the dimly lit Alfonzio's, a hint of confusion in her movements.

Chameleon: "You are srsly a lousy dinner date. I wonder when my wine is coming..."

A loud sound of splattering liquid blared over the microphone, as disgusting as the words that described it.

Darcy: "Waitwaitwait! You can't just call this a-!"

Chameleon: "You. Less nerding. More wine-getting."

Darcy: "There's no wine!"

Chameleon: "WHAT?! What kind of middle-class, bottom-feeding restaurant is this?!"

Darcy: "A simulated one! There's no food!"

Chameleon: "Oh. Well, I knew that."

Darcy: "Besides, it's about time to run the real meat of this program-"

Chameleon: "I'm abstaining from meat for a few weeks. Dietary reasons."

Darcy: "Not like that! And didn't you order lamb anyways?"

Chameleon: "It was a recent decision."

Darcy: "My point- my point is that we really have to get you to the main part of the AV-Program. You've been going a lot of intense simulation lately and this is the last big one before Dante comes back, so this should go fairly smooth. Beginning... now!"

And in an instance, The Chameleon is transported to her BRAND NEW TV SHOW only on the @AwesomeLadz Network: A Friendly Chat with The Chameleon! She stood in front of the fake audience which is completely indistinguishable from a real daytime television audience. She waved at the crowd, doing a little courtesy in her crimson dress, rocking it like there ain't a care in the world(except for her many, many sponsors. Don't wanna earn their ire, kidz.)

Chameleon: "Hellooooo!~ It's me, your favorite lass with a glass skipping class, The Chameleon! And welcome to A Friendly Chat where we get to talk about everything going on in the world, granted that it can be answered in the span of a few minutes, doesn't frustrate my advertisers, and doesn't contain any news or subjects that are unfriendly!"

She clapped her hands as the audience roared in approval, one of the studio crew moving in position to take questions from the audience. The Chameleon repositioned herself to center frame so the camera got a totes beautiful and elegant shot of her and her amazing set!

Chameleon: "First question! What's your name, girl?"

Miranda: "I'm Miranda and I wanted to ask about your thoughts on how to become a more complete person."

A saucy "Ooooo" left the crowd as Chameleon prepared her answer in real time as she spoke.

Chameleon: "Well, what is being complete, N-E-how? It is being #braveandcourageous and trying to go out and really accomplish great things on your own, or can you be just as fulfilled by foregoing all of the and just lucking out on a cousin who has enough prestige for both of you? And if that doesn't work, just hope that you share a name with somebody more impressive and that should be half the work! Because we all know that being a complete person is about being completely vacant of anything that can be viewed as negative or unlikable or even mildly uncomfortable. My advice? Each morning I picture myself as cake frosting. Why cake frosting, I hear you ask? Well, cuz' it's sweet, but not much else and that's what I aspire to be to be complete! Thanks for asking, Miranda!"

Miranda sat down happily as another audience member walked up to the mic, a little nervous about her question.

Jessica: "Hi, uh-Chameleon... I'm-uh, Jessie and I'm wondering what you-um think about the Ukraine-Russia war an-"

A large alarm started to beep as the crowd hollared. Chameleon lowered her head with a presumed smile.

Chameleon: "Awww, I'm sorry, Jess, but W-A-R is one of our "no, no" topics. And as punishment for bringing it up, you have to go to the Unfriendly Room!"

Jessica: "B-but it was a fair question!"

Chameleon: "Who cares about fair? We're about marketable, DUH!"

She waved away Jessica as a few guards detained her, dragging her kicking and screaming from the studio under the gentle thunder of the audience's approval.

Chameleon: "Bye, bye, Jessie! Okay, next Q for me to A!"

Kaylee: "Kaylee here, Chamy! Single mom and my daughter is really worried about not fitting in and its affecting all aspects of her life. How do I convince her that her personality and work ethic matter more than material goods."

Chameleon: "Uh, you D-O-N'T!"

Another shrill cry erupted from the many women watching live, Kaylee's face drooped into a confused smirk.

Chameleon: "Personality is what poor people use to feel as special as rich people. It's junk you don't need. I'll let you in something my pal Darcy let me in on this morning: If you don't like things about yourself, you can just bury them as deeply as possible and hope none of it surfaces! Your things are basically you! If you don't surround yourself with good people, who you can identify by the fancy stuff they wear and eat, then you're gonna end up as trash and no mother I know wants their darling daughter to be a filthy trash ho. Get out there and spend, your daughter's life and popularity depend upon it!"

Mandy: "Ooh, ooh! Chameleon! My name's Mandy and I wanna know why is being popular so important?"

Chameleon: "Let me stop you right there. Being popular isn't so important, it's LITERALLY the most important! If you're not popular, where are you gonna get your friends? Sure, they might toss you out as soon as you're not sociably beneficial to have around, but you'd do that to them anyways! Popularity defines so much of our lives and because nobody can be bothered to put "effort" into what they do, they can always rely on a popular friend to get them into places they deserve to be. Because you deserve to be treated as the best even if you're a discount Sarah Lacklan! Okay, last question before we move onto the Puppy Portion! EEEEEEE!~"

Clie: "My name's Clie Maxx and I have a question, Ms. Chameleon!"

Chameleon: "Go on right ahead! I'd love to hear i-.... do... do I know you?"

Clie: "I don't think so. What advice would you give to your opponent, Angie Vaughn ahead of your upcoming match?"

Chameleon: "Oh, I think she's been following my advice to the letter! I don't think she needs a bit more help at all!"

The Chameleon signaled for a commercial break and began to hop back towards her desk as a strange transmission began to fill the set with loud sounds of laser fire.

Erin: "Sir, there has been major hull damage done to The Khybaris. We are in dire need of your assistance."

The Chameleon tried to laugh it off, the memory of a long past simulation seeming to invade her current, cute and informative one.

Chameleon: "EL-OH-EL, I think you got the wrong number aaand-"

A female reporter ran up to her, shoving a large microphone into her face, loud as she insisted upon an impromptu interview.

Harley: "Chameleon, Chameleon! Harley Tellins here and I'm just wondering what you have to say about that attack on the tourist now that several weeks have passed!"

Chameleon: "E-... excuse me?!"

A harsh winter wind blew in from the left while the sands of the scorching desert pelted her from the right.

Chameleon: "This is getting WEIRD! Technical difficulties, folks, we'll be right back once my producer knows what H-E-double hockey sticks the flip is going on here!"

Darcy's voice boomed over the loudspeaker, a panic clear in her speech.

Darcy: "You're entering recursive self-awareness! I can't shut off the simulation chamber or else you could get brain damage! I need you to stop focusing on yourself and your own experiences! This is basically like a digital panic attack, so I need you to calm down!"

The Chameleon smiled through her mask, chuckling as she answered, the canned laughter mixing with her own.

Chameleon: "Oh, you silly! I can't."

"I can't."

"I... I...."

She brimmed with joy as she turned back to the camera, trying to ignore the many simulated experiencing folding in on one another.

Chameleon: "I'll see all of you on the next episode of A Friendly Chat! Remember, nothing that won't make you popular isn't worth doing. Oh, also! Please help me. I need to get out of here, Darcy, please. I'm scared, plea-"

*the feed cuts*