SEPTEMBER CATCH-ALL // PRE-EVENT // OPEN & CLOSED

[bifroster]

WHO: Jane + Open and Closed Prompts
WHERE: All Over The Place
WHEN: September 1-7 (Before The Event)
WHAT: Various prompts, plots, etc.
WARNINGS: No warnings; will update as needed

NOTE: All of these prompts are going to be backdated before the major world event. Open prompts are in the log, closed prompts are going to be top-level comments. Backtagging throughout the month is wonderful and encouraged! No rush, no pressure; a lot is going on in this world and the real one!



A; DONUTS & CONVERSATIONS // OPEN

Due to being disorganized more often than not, Jane didn’t have much time for anything more than coffee for breakfast during the school week. But for once, for once, she had all of her ducks in a row and was ahead of the game. It was also a Saturday. That meant donuts.

Heading off in a random direction, Jane had no plans other than to enjoy the day. Papers were graded, nothing for work needed to be attended to immediately, and everything else important had been scheduled some other time during the upcoming week.

Feel free to run into her. She might be offended if you steal a donut, though.


B; RETURN OF THE ROBOT DOUBLE // OPEN

Jane was pissed. Anyone she passed could see that.

For you see, she was chasing after herself. The robot double, that is. It was easy to tell the difference between the two of them: one of them was cackling with evil glee and missing an arm. The real Jane was focused, had both arms, and wanted to end this robot.

But, as Jane’s state of disarray and some impressive bruises showed, this robot double was tougher than it looked. She might need some backup.


C; SCIENCE PROJECTS // OPEN

Sadly, Jane’s classroom was still a burnt mess, but her students did have easy access to a wide courtyard with plenty of room and open grass. It was a bit of an adjustment, but she did enjoy the fresh air, as did her students. It also allowed for more informal lessons, where students went off to work on their own projects and collaborated with one another. Jane of course kept an eye on everything, but could be found working on her own projects too.

Did you and Jane have a project you wanted to tackle? Feel free to pop on by!


D; FOLLOW THAT ROCK // OPEN

Well, what do you know? During some conversations during the meteor shower about a month ago, the possibility of a meteor surviving burning up in the atmosphere came up. It’s totally possible and a much more common occurrence than most people thought! However, what is really rare is a meteor crashing down and leaving a crater. Meteorites smaller than grains of sand? Yes. Around the size of large pebbles? Sure.

This one, though, would be about the size of a bowling ball by the time it hit.

Luckily, Jane was tracking its trajectory and … it landed in the middle of Heropa Park For some reason. She could have sworn it was going to end up in North Dakota! Want to join her?


E; WILD CARD // OPEN

Is there something I missed? A plot you wanted to do that I forgot? Feel free to write your own starter or ping me (stardating @ plurk) so I can add it to the log up here!

Comments

INFINITE COSMIC POWER // CLOSED TO DAVID

[bifroster]

Hey, David! I got everything set up, so come over to my apartment whenever you’d like!

Jane was excited about this experiment. It was an area of science she hadn’t been able to really explore before and the possibilities were endless. She could toss Mjolnir around and hook it up to all the machines she wanted for analysis, but there were some aspects of it that were more mystical than quantitative. Of course, given that David would be using his powers and touching Mjolnir, there could be some risks she had to account for.

So, within easy reach, Jane had water and snacks, a few different river rocks she harvested herself without touching them, and anything else she could think of that would help him recover from whatever he felt or saw. There might be a new plant and a blanket she made sure to only touch with rubber gloves and kept in a brand new bag too. Hopefully it would be enough.

Itty Bitty Living Space

[helpdesk_hero]

It would damn well have to be enough. Or so they would have to hope.

David, true to form, shows up and knocks at her door almost ten minutes before he was scheduled to arrive. The man believes that punctuality is important. And, for a change, he's in a short sleeve shirt. If he's in for a penny on touching things, he might as well let his skin be able to breathe. Especially since Jane knows how to respect the other of his two powers.

"Jane," he greets when she invariably opens the door. "Ready to probably fry my mind with an ancient artifact?"

[bifroster]

Jane wasn't expecting him to touch Mjolnir for an hour either. Maybe just start off with hovering his hand over it, getting a feel for it first.

"I spoke to Mjolnir first, about not frying your brain, so hopefully it won't come to that," she said with a grin. Mjolnir was in the middle of the coffee table, with the snacks and other supplies near by.

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, that's kind of her, to not rush him. But the fact was he couldn't get readings without touching it. He sighs and moves toward the coffee table, considering the thing.

"Okay. So... There's a good chance this is going to overwhelm me. And to do this I need to lower all my defenses. Which means I need you to be okay with a few things. First, we have to move the coffee table, or just everything on it, to a bare stretch of floor so I'm not going to fall on it if I pass out. Second, we need to lay the blanket out on it, provided it's relatively new. Even if it was just in a store for a while. Carpets? Too many tales. Third..."

At this one, David looks very awkward. Nervous even.

"You ever see my show? The one where I do psychometric reads of antiques?"

Basically what he's saying is how much she's seen of it. David is always so careful on the show to not overwhelm himself, and that meant that during it he didn't wear his glasses, his gloves, any jewelry, clothes that composed of multiple layers. Fuck, they carefully shot to make sure that no one saw that his feet were actually in sterile hospital booties so that he had only very short lived objects touching his feet. Still, if she had seen the thing, she'd definitely have noticed that David dressed VERY differently for the show while still seeming professional than he did in real life. David in real life was ALL about the layers, now that he had his gift under more control.

[bifroster]

Of course, there wouldn’t be any rush at all. She had learned her lesson from previous explorations and experiments—safety, even when everything was an unknown, was important. Especially when her friends were involved.

“No problem,” she said, heading over to move Mjolnir and push the coffee table out of the way. She also moved some other pieces of furniture so there was extra room. Reducing the chance that he would hurt himself should he pass out was also a good idea. “I just bought the blanket and made sure not to let it come in contact with anything. It’s in the bag over there, but it’s more like a throw blanket. Did you need something larger?”

But David being nervous, or even awkward, was new to Jane.

“Your show?” she repeated. “Yeah, I’ve seen an episode or two of it. Why?”

Then she realized.

“Oh! Oh! Yeah—that’s fine! I mean, I’m fine with that if you’re fine with that! I mean, your powers work the way they do. Do you want me to turn the heater up? I should probably close the curtains too for privacy.”

She always figured that he had a reason for dressing like that on the show and it was made clear to his audience, or they figured it was just an aspect of his powers.

[helpdesk_hero]

"I just need a blanket that hasn't had an interesting life. It's better that way."

But he moves to the bag and fetches the blanket out. He can spread it himself. Because then, you know, he's trying not to be flustered over what he's about to tell her.

And then she's figured it out, all on her own. Wow. That's... that's helpful. Fuck, he missed working with smart people.

"I'm worried Mjolnir is going to blast through all of my defenses, so less clothes will be easier. Sure, I can typically block items from my mind now, thanks to Judd's training, but the older something is, other than rocks, the harder it is."

He lays the blanket out and toes off his shoes. His socks get carefully tucked right into them.

"I... on the show I go commando. I hate it. I don't talk about it with the show. I let people think it's to make me look good. It's control. But you're, uh... okay with me stripping down in here? I can keep my boxers on."

[bifroster]

"Well, I don't think machines weaving it and handling into a package to a store should be all that interesting."

As he explained his reasoning, she nodded along with understanding. Mjolnir is something that is hard to comprehend, even though she has interacted with it a number of times. It might just always hold some mysteries and secrets. But she gets why he's leery. This could be dangerous. Him doing whatever he could to negate negative side effects was the best course of action, even if it was a little embarrassing for him. She would hate to have to do that for a show of all things too.

"You're fine, David," she assured him. "As long as you're comfortable and feel safe. I'm just here to help if something goes wrong and be there to help when you're finished."

No judgement, no unwanted oogling. Hopefully her home would be nothing like the studio.

[helpdesk_hero]

"The blanket remembers everything from the moment of completion. So all the packaging process, and the waiting in boxes, and being stocked on shelves, and waiting..."

It's not interesting, but it's something. But he smiles at her, because she's kind and supportive and he likes that in a friend. But he gives her one last smile as he starts to pull of his shirt and then shuck his pants. Soon he's left only in boxers, folding his clothes carefully and setting them out of easy reach.

"Make sure you're close. You'll be able to move Mjolnir away from me."

NO BURNT COOKIES // CLOSED TO KANEKI

[bifroster]

“Thank you so much,” Jane said to Kaneki as they organized ingredients on her kitchen counter, the kitchen finally cleaned up from her last … attempt. She had since made some more noodle dishes. Not all of her flavor experiments were successful, but at least it was edible! “What are we tackling next?”

FRIENDSHIP DATE // CLOSED TO KNOCK OUT

[bifroster]

This time, Jane had come to Jeopardy to meet up with Knock Out to hang out. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do, probably something like see an outdoor movie (depending upon the weather) or even just walk around the city where he could move around easily, but she was looking forward to it none the less. If not for the porters, it would be so much harder to meet up with him in person. Not that she thought their friendship wouldn’t be as meaningful if it was long-distance, but she had grown to appreciate being in the same room as those she held dear.

“Hey, Knock Out!” she called as she entered his hangar. “It’s Jane!”

[redcosmedic]

Knock Out did not appear to be in the hangar, though he had agreed to meet her there. The work area — divided now between his section and Ironfist's — was tidy and neat, tools returned to their places, machinery shut down. It was quiet enough that she should have been able to hear footsteps on the concrete floor (especially mech ones), and yet there's no such warning as Knock Out's voice comes from behind her.

"Good afternoon Jane, you're right on time."

The source of the voice is apparently human, with dark hair and red eyes, dressed casual but stylish, and a sly grin that might seem awfully familiar.

[bifroster]

Jane hummed to herself in thought as she looked around. Everything was shut down, but she could have sworn they were going to meet up here. Was she mistaken? Did she get the time—

“Gah! Knock Out!” she yelped, jumping around in surprise. Only to stare flabbergasted at someone she had never met before. She frowned. Hold on a moment. “Wait. Oh my god. Is this your holoform?”

[redcosmedic]

He's pleased that she guesses correctly right off the bat, and the grin stretches. "It is, I've been working on it again, on and off for the last few months. Smoothed out some coding bugs, figured out why I had light refraction problems between 1100 and 1600 lumens. Solving the buffer crash problems is going to be a longer term project, but it's good for at least two hours now."

He turns, side to side, showing the holoform off. Under the overhead lighting, shadows and highlights play correctly across the simulated fabric of the clothes, hair and skin.

[bifroster]

"That is amazing!" she exclaimed, watching him turn around. Even if she looked closely, she couldn't tell that he was now in a hologram form. It all looked real. "What about if you touch something or someone bumps into you? Does that cause a buffering error?"

[redcosmedic]

Cheekily, the holoform reached out and poked her arm. There was a peculiar soloidity to it... there was no give to the skin, and no temperature, but it imparted force like it was a physical limb.

"Kinetic buffers, yes," he agreed. "That's the two aspects of a holoform: hard light emitters and kinetic buffers. Visual and tactile, respectively; obviously anything kinetic requires a much higher energy expenditure, but since they only engage when physically interacting with something, they generate less errors. Meanwhile the algorithms which handle texture and lighting rendering have thousands of compilations every second. If you miss a few, visually you probably won't notice, but they stack up fast. And my buffers aren't that large, compared to many mechs. Racer frames never are."

[bifroster]

"Whoa." She couldn't help but poke him right back, reaching up to his bicep to feel for herself in another way. She didn't feel any give or temperature this time either, but she bet he could overcome that if he wanted to. "That is amazing, regardless of the buffer capabilities. What did you do to count for the random light changes that might happen? What happens if you get wet?"

[redcosmedic]

"Predictive radiometry algorithms," he explained, looking just right pleased with himself. "It's not perfect, but because it's easier for me to sense electromagnetic radiation than it is to measure where it crosses the visible light threshold on the spectrum, I can make longer term projections about where certain conditions will fall and adjust accordingly."

"The holoform can't 'get' wet," he said. "I can simulate it looking wet, though I haven't actually coded those parameters, but kinetic buffers only engage in reaction to applied force, and route through haptic sensors. So while I technically could set up something to detect 'feeling' raindrops, for example, that would crash my buffers in minutes."

His smile tames from vibrant pride to something more self-conscious. "And I thought you might enjoy the chance to engage in more conventional places, for a change. There's a café on Chapman Ave that's supposed to be very good."

MOON BASE // CLOSED TO KON

[bifroster]

“Ready?” Jane asked Kon, bouncing on her toes.

She had only been to the moon base once before this, to explore and see what it was like. If she weren’t so busy with earth-based things, she might find some way to live there. As it was, it had been a while. Their experiment had gone off without a hitch on smaller scales and she could not wait to see what the results would be without any modifications!

A donutsssssssssss

[articulations]

Saturdays were always the best for donuts and a coffee; find a nice little cafe with a shaded patio, enjoy the breeze and quiet lull of conversations either passing by or two tables away. Saturdays were also best for simply enjoying a walk, for going to the park, for the idea of practicing with a lightsaber. The very same that she almost always kept clipped at her waist, the handle silver and curved.

It was as Leia was approaching the cafe that she spotted the other young woman headed for the same door. She smiled and stopped just outside of it. "Good afternoon. I suppose I'm not the only one who enjoys pastries and coffee on a Saturday."

[bifroster]

Jane hadn’t been able to have a leisurely Saturday in a while, but she agreed: Saturdays were for all the things Leia described. She had no intention of doing anything more strenuous than getting the donuts that were calling her name.

“Leia!” she greeted. This was the first time they had met in person. “I heard this place makes really good donuts. The classic flavors, of course, but some wilder ones too.”

[articulations]

"They do." She smiled and moved to open the door, stepping back to let Jane pass through first. "I'd like to think that, by now, I'm a weekend regular. They're just too good to pass up."

Inside, at this time of the day, it wasn't so busy. The same for the cozy patio at the front. It felt...relaxed. Which was good. Exactly what they needed.

"I like to come here often to do my work." The portfolio binder tucked under her arm meant that today was a mixture of work and relaxation. "Is this your first time here?"

[bifroster]

Jane smiled. Leia seemed like the kind of person who would want to become a regular somewhere. To be recognized and have something stable was nice.

“It is. I usually just grab something closer to the university, but I had the time today to go a little more local. Got any menu favorites?”

[articulations]

"A plate of macarons is one of my favourites to go with a coffee. You can choose six out of the many assorted flavours they have. Also, I'm a fan of the butter tarts." She was moving closer to the display of baked goods. "If you're looking for favourites on donuts, there's one I've only had the chance to enjoy the one time. It was referred to as Coffee Crisp? But there's also the French Toast donut and the Lemon Meringue donut."

[bifroster]

"Oh, macaroons," she repeated, interested in that. Though, she felt that she needed something with a little bit more to bite, as delicious as they probably were. "But I think I'll stick with the donuts, it's a bit more filling. How does the lemon meringue work? I'm guessing the french toast has cinnamon and custard incorporated somehow?"

[articulations]

"It's a donut filled with lemon filling and they add the meringue on top. I think I'll go with that for today, with some of the macaroons." Leia moved to put her order in, including a coffee, paid and then stepped aside for Jane.

"I must say though, french toast? I've only had it the one time, at another cafe for breakfast. We never had that back where I'm from." Moving to grab her drink, she added, "I've been here for so long, I feel like there's still so much to try."