maskormenacelogs | October catch-all [open prompts forthcoming]

It's been busy around the Starrware building lately, what with the recent launch of STOP and all. Qubit wasn't as deeply involved in that project as in others, but he's certainly had his fingers in it at some point, as he does with a lot of the company's projects (if not in any official capacity).

But this isn't about that. This is about popcorn.

Qubit doesn't consider himself a petty man. Usually it's his habits and quirks that get on everybody else's nerves. But there's a certain unspoken etiquette surrounding the break room microwave. If you break it, you fix it. If you make a mess, you clean it up. And if you can't stop burning your damn popcorn in it, you stop making popcorn. Ted has crossed the line for the last time.

... No, not imPort Ted, the other Ted. He barely knows imPort Ted, he doesn't care one way or another about the guy. But Other Ted has moved offices recently, and when Qubit asks where it is, he fails to specify which Ted he means. And this is how, one day, a tiny little device appears on the bottom of imPort Ted's office chair, rigged to go off when someone sits down. When activated, the device expels a strong, aerosolized burnt popcorn smell into the office.

That ought to teach him, amirite?

[ The problem with not really knowing your coworkers is that you don't get to know the small details about their personalities that wind up being very important when you spend so many hours a week in the same place as them. For example, had Ted known Qubit has a vendetta against Other Ted's popcorn habits, they could've simply laughed this off and planned a better distribution method for the proper recipient. And had Qubit known that engaging Ted Kord in a prank war can rapidly escalate to "completely out of control, Ted, someone could've died, Ted" levels, he might've been more careful in his directions-asking.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Unknowingly, Ted sits and sets off Qubit's little gift, spending the following five minutes coughing on the acrid smell while he attempts to locate the source of the smell. Device located, he sets about asking if anyone's been in his office while he's been out, and by some stroke of luck, manages to ask the same employee, pointing him in Qubit's direction. He scowls, but thanks the helpful employee, and begins to plot his revenge without ever stopping to consider that the fact that he doesn't even know Qubit may be a hint that this could be a mix up.

Several days later, Qubit will come into work to find every single item in his office completely encased in duct tape, from his computer to his desk to each and every pen, and even to a roll of duct tape in a nearby desk drawer. No one has any idea who could've done it, but there is one obvious clue left behind: on top of the duct taped desk is a duct taped package that contains a bag of burnt microwave popcorn, and the device from Ted's chair. ]

[Now, for whatever reason, Qubit hadn't really expected any retaliation - and he certainly hadn't expected escalation. But when he comes in and everything in his office has been painstakingly wrapped in duct tape, he knows exactly who's behind it. (He thinks he does.) The package just confirms it.

In his mind, there was absolutely no call for this. Ted must have known he had it coming! And Qubit's prank didn't even cause any permanent damage! Even after he's spent upwards of an hour tearing duct tape off of things, he's nowhere close to done, and everything's covered in tacky residue besides. There's no shortage of furious complaining out of his office that day.

Qubit can be hot-tempered and impetuous at times. This is something he knows about himself. But this time, he's got almost a whole lost workday to seethe about it. By the time he goes home, he's made up his mind.

If it's a war Ted wants, it's a war he'll get.

Several days later, Ted will come into work to find his office filled, floor to ceiling, with Utz cheese balls. Nice things about teleportation: 1) you don't have to leave room for yourself or worry about getting in and out the door, and 2) when you order a shitload of Utz cheese balls, you can pick them up yourself and save on shipping. Even so, this is probably the biggest and most egregious waste of money he's committed since college (the previous one being college itself), but ... some things just cannot go unanswered.

(Well, they could, but that would require acting like a mature adult, and evidently that is not on the docket right now.)]

[ Ted used to like Utz cheese balls. But when one is greeted by an avalanche of them upon opening one's office door, and then has to spend a straight six hours shoveling them out of said office by the cartload, surrounded by the overwhelming smell of fake cheese, they start to lose their appeal.

A week goes by without any further retaliation, but one day, Qubit will arrive at work to find his office almost exactly as he left it... only everything is upside down. Not only has Ted painstakingly glued and bolted every piece of furniture to the ceiling, but he also found matching carpet to staple to the ceiling, and lights and ceiling paneling to cover the floor. It really brings the whole effect together.

The IT department is certainly going to be annoyed to find out how much computer equipment has been rendered useless by industrial-strength glue, but to be fair, they were already annoyed at having to replace Ted's equipment that had been coated with a fine orange cheese powder. ]

[And to be fair, short of melting it down, there's pretty much no way to ruin a computer to the point where Qubit can't fix it. But... how. How. That desk has to weigh a hundred pounds at least! And the floor lighting's actually wired?! If he wasn't so pissed off, he'd probably find the effort impressive.

Ted can't be working alone, Qubit concludes. It's not as if he has powers. And that means this has gone from an innocent office prank war to a conspiracy. It's time the gloves came off.

The very next day, right after lunch, there's a grizzly bear in Ted's office.

Now, I know what you're thinking, but of course it wasn't real. It was, in fact, a robot bear. But it looked real, sounded real, and acted real, rooting around in his desk drawers as if following the scent of the cheese balls. Perfectly harmless, of course. Its claws and teeth were blunt, it didn't weigh quite as much as a full-grown male grizzly, and obviously it was programmed not to actually hurt anyone - just menace and roar a bit, maybe chase them into a janitors' closet, that sort of thing.

And this time, Qubit wanted to see the look on his face. So he picked a cubicle within sight of the door, someone he was on a project with at least, so no reason why he shouldn't be there. Other Ted would get off lunch any minute, and then, let the games begin...

(If he saw imPort Ted, of course, he'd greet him with a friendly wave like anyone else. Why would he have anything against that guy? :D)]

[ When he's not in the middle of a project that's consuming all of his time, Ted likes to take a nice long lunch. Longer than is technically allowed by Starrware policy, but he's never really been one to listen to policy anyway. So Qubit is going to be waiting awhile before Ted strolls in, still picking at a to-go bag of fries with salt and vinegar he got on his way back to the office.

The fact that he's absorbed with checking something on his phone means he doesn't notice anyone eagerly watching his door from nearby, so there's no stopping him as he unlocks the door and heads inside.

There's a pause, punctuated after a moment of silence by a bear roaring, before Ted calmly comes back out with his things under one arm, a paper and pen in hand. He scribbles a hasty "DO NOT DISTURB" note, tapes it at eye level, locks the door, and walks away without any further reaction. ]

Qubit's picked up a decent amount of medical technology over the years, out of necessity more than anything, but it's not where his expertise lies. That's Angela's field, and it'll be up to her to ensure the Watchtower's medbay is up to snuff. Although, to that end, he has extended an open offer to try and build whatever machinery she needs. They've been fortunate enough not to need it yet, but in this line of work it's just a matter of time.

So, that's one purpose for them meeting today. The other is to take a look at that armor of hers, which somehow they've not had the time to do yet. He's not sure what kind of improvements, if any, he'll be able to come up with, but the fact that she might be willing to let him try is already significant. He's never been all that eager to share or collaborate on his own tech (especially while it's still in development, which it always is), for fear of theft and misappropriation (not paranoia, though, because it's actually happened).

Anyway, though. They're here, so let's get down to business. "Where would you like to start?" he asks her.

Edited 2016-10-14 19:57 (UTC)

Angela had looked over the medbay several times, taking notes on the equipment, writing a list of the things she would need and the specs for them that she could remember. Occasionally she would hum or tap a pen against her bottom lip as she looked over a machine. It wasn't completely dated and actually worked well considering the world they were in. Once she had been satisfied with her list of things she was convinced Qubit could build, she handed it over. It wasn't long, two small machines and a medium sized one.

It was the second reason for them to be meeting that had her excited. They had spoken about possibly looking at upgrades and she had thought of a few practical ones that if they were possible, would be great.

At his question she inhales and closes her eyes, there's almost a soft golden glow as her suit slowly appears, the effect looking as though it were small machines coming out of her and interlocking and building parts of her suit. Once it's done she rolls her shoulders and the mechanical wings spread out and yellow light flares out like large feathers before they fade and the wing frame retracts. The spinal column at the back makes small clicking noises and opens, her legs and arms seem to part so she can step back and then leave the suit there in a solid state.

"It's able to stay out until I bring it back..in? I'm still not sure if it's in me or if it's the nanites creating it every time. I can give you a run down of what I know this suit can do."

(Because I'm terrible at describing things, when the suit comes out, I was kind of thinking it would look like the hand part, but without the crackle.)

Qubit gives the specs she gave him a quick once-over before nodding and pocketing them. They're all amply within his ability, so he'll put those together on his own time.

Now, Angela's armor. He watches with rapt attention as she assembles it - or as it assembles itself, should he say? The process is marvelously complex, microscopic pieces drawing together into a macroscopic system. He's a little surprised it comes off, though. Given how seamlessly it's been integrated into her, you'd think it would be a little more reluctant.

He circles the empty suit, finally getting a good look at all the details. His own power gives him an intuitive "feel" for how it functions, but it's a poor substitute for, say, the design docs, or hearing from the inventor.

"Well, the nanites have nothing to do with our powers," he points out, reaching up as if to fiddle with one of the wings, but then deciding at the last second not to touch it just yet. "The government nanites, anyway. More likely it's intrinsic, one way or another. Anyway, yes, if you would. The original is your own design, isn't it?"

There were parts of the suit that made no sense to her. It wasn't all armour so she didn't know exactly how it remained standing on its own, but if she had to guess then it was probably linked to her power of summoning.

She's learning something new as Angela thought their powers were linked to the nanites. She notices him going to touch and smiles.

"I was part of a team, but the majority of the ideas came from me and I watched over the development."

Angela steps closer to her suit and and runs a hand down its spine.

"This one allows me to strafe quicker and at bigger distances. A few feet if I need to in a fight. It provides self healing to any minor wound like a cut and gives me more defense and a feather fall landing.

The one from back home, the original it had better healing and I could fly towards someone I consider an ally so I could heal them quickly. The blaster on the side also actually worked."

"It doesn't now?" Qubit bends down to the holstered blaster, but sure enough, it's purely decorative. He also hasn't failed to notice that structurally, this thing shouldn't be standing. Interesting. This was raising even more questions than it answered. "Could be they decided to cut features in favor of portability..." (Although who "they" are, of course, is anyone's guess.)

Straightening, he habitually takes a second to fix his lapels. Power-augmented movement, fall protection, wound regeneration... So the blaster and independent flight are the main things missing. But before they delve into that...

"Can you summon it again?" he asks. "While this one's still here?" If she can make more than one, that could clear up the storage vs. re-creation question.

"The blaster and my staff don't work. The staff activates, but it did what my powers do now only a greater distance and without the drain on my own energy."

She frowned and shook her head at his question. It was something she'd tried before when she realised that she could actually summon her suit.

"I haven't been able to and I don't think that I can. I have to touch the suit again and bring it in just to get rid of this version. I suppose it makes sense though."

"All right. That answers that question." And that fit with what they already knew, about damage persisting between summonings. "But where does it go?" he murmured. "If it's storing yourself in your tissue, then there ought to be a discrepancy in your mass before and after. Which could limit our upgrade options…"

(Qubit no, don't talk about a lady's mass.)

Angela doesn't seem to take any kind of offense to Qubit's words, she does raise an eyebrow however and wonders if he actually knew what they could imply.

"I couldn't tell you where it goes and I haven't felt any different when the suit is summoned or not. And I can only think of ridiculous options which I have no way of testing, or even know how to."

He'd sent her the simple text early in the morning. Finishing up moving labs this afternoon. Care to assist? In fairness, the moving process was already underway - he'd already taken most of the equipment that was small, modular, or durable enough to move with a hand truck. But his Porter was a different story. That was an extremely complex, precise, and large piece of work, which he'd have to take apart here and reassemble on site, then spend half the week getting it tuned again.

For one, though, he'd made up his mind regarding Mako's offer. He'd had lab assistants occasionally, in the distant past, but the only ones who'd been able to keep up with him were 20 of his past and future selves. He wasn't setting the bar that high, obviously, but it'd be a tough act to follow nonetheless. He wasn't entirely anticipating that it would work out. That was just being reasonable.

But he was willing to give it a try, anyway.

The location he gave her was Starrware's headquarters in De Chima. On the third floor was the lab he'd set up shop in almost fourteen months ago - and outgrown a month after that. He met Mako in the lobby, though.

"Qubit-san," Mako said, bowing. She was still unsettled about recent events, but smoothed it over with her pleasure at seeing a friendly face. Enjoying the technological aspects of assisting him was something she'd been looking for ward to since they had discussed it. Her mind would be mostly occupied by whatever challenges he set before her and she was pleased with the prospect.

"Mako," Qubit replied, returning bow for bow. "Thanks for coming in on short notice. I hope you don't mind a bit of heavy lifting," he added, smiling facetiously. (Wait a minute, isn't it usually the guy who gets called in to move furniture...?)

They took the stairs up to the third floor, and at the proper door Qubit punched in his code and held the door for her. Despite all his bleeding-edge technology, he could still be a little old-fashioned at times.

The lab itself was about the size you'd find at a university - big enough for normal purposes, but not for a prolific inventor who could skip all the steps between big idea and working prototype. Though he'd partly cleaned the place out at this point, there was still plenty of work to do. The room's dominant feature was the ten-foot-tall trapezoidal arch against the back wall, fed by thick bundles of cable that snaked about the room in every direction - some into the ceiling tiles, most across the floor. They were a little more organized now than he'd had them at first, though. At least now you could walk around without having to step over one every two feet.

... Maybe not terribly impressive to someone accustomed to hanging around Jaegers all day, but still.

"I do not mind, I seem to be uniquely equipped to handle it." She follows him and pauses to inspect the room and the arch before moving to approach it. Her eyes travel to the cords and cables and drift over the arch critically before she nods.

"This will not be a problem."

"Good, good. Then let's get started." And almost as an afterthought: "Don't stand too close."

Qubit raised his hands toward the arch, almost like a conductor quieting the orchestra. What looked like blue-green circuits lit up his eyes, and bright light the same color spanned the short gap between his hands and the machine, enveloping the latter. The gate was very much not designed for portablity, and he couldn't go disassembling it willy-nilly if he wanted it operational again within a month. So it was a tricky operation, delicately pulling apart microscopic connectors in spots where they'd be relatively simple to put back together…

He finished in about ten seconds. The gate split into twelve pieces of more-or-less equal size and weight, and Qubit took a few steps back to make room for them as they set themselves down neatly on the floor and counters. "There. Now, you've got enhanced strength, as I recall?"

"I do," Mako said, watching him with fascination. That was very new. "And flight, of course. Wherever you need this, I can put it." She was very much interested to see where that was, given its unusual design.

"That's what I thought," he replied, straightening his coat. A tap on his watch opened a shimmering blue portal in midair. "We'll take them one at a time. They're very sensitive, be sure you don't drop them." Even split up, the segments still weighed a good 30 or 40 kg apiece, and their size and irregular shapes and weight distribution made them unwieldy to carry. But once she had one, he stepped into the portal ahead of her.

The other end opened into a significantly larger space, and with a much different sense of decor. Instead of cinderblock and linoleum, the walls and floor were steel and sturdy plastic, with the lights recessed rather than exposed. The ceiling was a little higher and the floor a lot clearer, apart from the equipment he'd already moved in, most of which was still waiting around to be rearranged.

On the whole, the place most closely resembled the interior of a sci-fi starship. There was a slight dip in temperature between Starrware and here, not uncomfortable but definitely noticeable, and from somewhere out of sight the sound of welding occasionally drifted down to them.

But, perhaps most importantly, it was definitely not in De Chima. The portal spanned a distance of at least hundreds of miles. Had he known she was mid-Drift, he probably would have warned her about that.

"Once I have a grip," Mako said with a soft laugh, "I will be fine. I wouldn't be very much help if I dropped it, would I?" It wasn't much effort, really, to pick up the first piece and follow him through. She took in the surroundings without more than a slight nod. This new place was definitely much, much cooler in several respects.

Distance wasn't so bad with the Drift, it was the momentary disconnect that made things weird and uncomfortable for that half second she went through and came out. Mako had done it before, popping to Nonah and back to De Chima on a regular basis,so it wasn't a surprise at all.

October catch-all [open prompts forthcoming]

Starrware

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Watchtower - for Mercy

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Lab - for Mako

Re: Lab - for Mako

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