Colors Burst Chapter 2 Begins Mar 26

Personnel Report #3310: Wildstyle and Counterfeit 

Lancers Counterfeit and Wildstyle have been butting heads since the latter joined the Association. The two appear to have very little in common and have a way of getting under each other’s skin. Staff have observed that, when paired together, their mission success rate plummets. This sort of behavior is not entirely unfamiliar to us (Lancers Jaguar and Corona experience similar difficulties when paired), but given the already complicated recruitment of Counterfeit and the significance of the Lovelock family name, the Association would like to remedy the conflict. 

Our intended solution? A bonding activity. If the two girls had a chance to better understand each other, we posited, they might perform better together. Counterfeit outright refused to participate in the exercise until she was offered significant compensation. Wildstyle, on the other hand, excitedly accepted—no strings attached.

Both were allowed to pick an activity to do together. Wildstyle chose to have high tea at the Turner Pavilion in the Acme Botanical Gardens. She began by calling Counterfeit's outfit "cute" and "totally hipster," followed by a request for tips on living as an "authentic street kid." Counterfeit took great offense to this, though Wildstyle did not understand why. 

When the tea tower was brought out, Wildstyle enjoyed her tea and scones. Counterfeit, on the other hand, ate nothing, instead opting to shove all the food into her bag. She refused to say why, but when Wildstyle wouldn’t stop asking, Counterfeit eventually snapped that she was saving the food for her orphan children. Wildstyle seemed surprised, then apologized. 

For Counterfeit’s activity, the two met up at the Paintball Terror Dome outside of Acme's Black Market district. It appeared that Counterfeit hoped to intimidate Wildstyle, but to her surprise, the latter was actually excited to be there. By nature of the bonding activity, the two were put on the same team. For the better part of the match, Wildstyle was more interested in creating paintball art than actually fighting. Counterfeit grew frustrated and eventually abandoned the other girl to fight on her own. 

After eliminating all but one of the other paintball duos, Counterfeit found herself pinned down in the corner of the arena. The remaining team began pushing forwards, leaving her nowhere to run. At the last moment, however, Wildstyle charged the duo from behind and took one out, giving Counterfeit the chance to eliminate the other. In that moment of celebration, the two girls seemed to form a momentary bond. We were ecstatic at HQ, believing we had finally united them, until we watched Counterfeit pull back and walk away. Though her fellow Lancer attempted to follow after and engage her, Counterfeit showed no further interest in interacting.

Perhaps these two girls are just too different. Counterfeit is a scrappy street kid fighting for survival. Wildstyle is the daughter of a millionaire, wanting for nothing. Both Lancers have significant misunderstanding of each other and that rift cannot be bridged in one day.

The exercise was not a total loss, however, as Counterfeit and Wildstyle’s performance on missions together has improved significantly since. Their personalities and backgrounds do not mesh well, but they seem to have found a way to coexist. We may be able to apply similar bonding techniques on other problem pairs in the Association, ie. Corona and Jaguar. Further testing to come.