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WHO: Qubit and anybody!
WHERE: De Chima #003 and elsewhere
WHEN: First week or so of August
WHAT: A new guy settles in, where by "settles in" I mean "immediately starts making a mess."
WARNINGS: none known!

A. De Chima #003 : Interior (closed to roommates)

The first night, it was all Qubit could do not to collapse the second he came in range of a bed. A "long day" didn't begin to describe it. He ached all over, his head was pounding, and yet... there was no way he could just pass out like this. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Tony's withered face, sunken eyes glaring up at him - hateful, wretched, for the first time weak. And when he opened them, he heard the echo of Modeus laughing at him in Bette's voice.

By now it was dark out. What with having jumped from evening back into morning, he must have been up for well over 24 hours already. But he couldn't sleep. He knew he wouldn't be able to, not with so much work still to do.

He knew as soon as he walked in that the house they'd sent him to wasn't vacant. But getting to know whoever else was staying here wasn't high on his list of priorities at the moment. If Modeus was around, Qubit would almost definitely be his first target, and he'd rather not make it easy on him. He might be able to rig the house's wiring into a makeshift perimeter alarm, but he'd need a control panel for that at the very least, and ...

... and there was a blender in the kitchen. "Ahh, you'll do nicely."

So, yeah, residents of #003, there's a strange man in your kitchen telekinetically taking apart your nonessential appliances and reassembling them into things that are very much not kitchen appliances. Also, his eyes and hands are glowing bluish-green whilst he does this. Hope you didn't need that crockpot.

B. De Chima Neighborhood (open)

Over the next few days, Qubit was in and out a lot. He'd wasted no time throwing a proverbial armful of irons into the fire - secure the house, look for Modeus, locate the army's Porter, build his own Porter, make a better computer, find a good source of scrap, keep an eye out for anything suspicious ... Realistically, it was probably more projects than he ought to take on at once, but it felt as if a sort of mad restlessness had taken hold of him and wouldn't let go. And occasionally, when he caught a glimpse of his reflection, startled himself with the haggard, half-frenzied look in his own eyes, he wondered if maybe its grip wasn't the only thing holding him together.

But it wasn't as if he could stop. His own Earth needed him. No - strike that, Earth could probably do with a bit less of him. But Kaidan and Gil needed him. He was the closest thing they had to a leader, his embryonic ideas the closest thing they had to a plan. Of course they were more than capable of fending for themselves, but he knew Kaidan, she'd never settle for fending. She'd do everything in her considerable power to help, and more, if she could manage it. Really, she was the least alone out of any of them, but he couldn't help worrying all the same.

He spent a considerable amount of time away from the house, at least in absolute terms, but mainly in spurts of an hour or two throughout the day. In between, there were ample opportunities to catch him porting in and out, and he wasn't really bothering to be surreptitious about it.

His teleportals, not exactly engineered for stealth, glowed bright blue and made a distinctive humming noise whenever they were open. Sometimes Qubit came through with nothing, sometimes with a few scraps of broken technology that he'd toss into the shed, and once or twice he got lucky with an armful. But so far he'd had slim pickings...

C. near any of the Porter cities (open)

... which was why he was surveying junkyards. And scrapyards, and the occasional garbage dump.

Sometimes he'd be scanning the area with a tricorder-sized device he'd whipped up for that purpose the other day; other times, poking around in the midst of it, trying to find something that hadn't already been stripped for copper and such; but more often a combination of the two.

So, if you were the kind of person who liked to hang around junk- and/or scrapyards, there'd be a pretty good chance of running into him there.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What normal people, non-imPorts, would call strange, Kon was used to by now, either due to his own world. Or simply because this place offered up some amount of strange shit on its own. So seeing someone in the neighbourhood going around with scraps of junk, it didn't phase him. It was when he was flying back to his own apartment after a quick patrol over an area that had seen activity recently that his attention was drawn to this new man. Mainly because of his method and the way he just looked so determined. Maybe exhausted. It looked the same from the distance he was at.

So naturally Kon got closer. More to check up on him, ask if he wanted any kind of help. You know, the neighbourly kind of stuff you do. Kon dropped to the ground with very little sound as he hadn't been going at any great speed. He offered the man a smile and nodded to the scrap he had on him right there.

"You uh...you need any help? Look like you've got enough for some kind of weird sculpture."

Qubit was halfway to the shed when he caught sight of someone in his peripheral vision and just about had a heart attack. He was exhausted, and wound up tighter than a ten-day clock besides, so when he jumped a good half of the parts he was carrying spilled into the grass. "Jesus," he hissed.

But - it wasn't an attack, just some kid he hadn't seen there. Qubit took a deep breath, annoyed at his own overreaction, and continued to the shed with what he hadn't dropped. He'd just make more of a mess trying to grab them. "As a matter of fact, yes. If you could get those, please."

Oops, he probably should have cleared his throat, or said 'hey' before he landed. This could have been avoided, but Kon didn't really think about that. Or that the guy would drop things. So when he said he could help him, Kon went over to the pieces on the ground and picked them up before following him over to the shed.

"Sorry for spooking you. I'm Kon, I live close by and it looked like you could use a hand.

So what's it all for?"

"A number of things," Qubit said, nudging the door open with his foot. "None of which are weird sculpture, incidentally."

That was supposed to be a joke, but his delivery was so deadpan it might be hard to tell. He wasn't about to talk about the more sensitive projects, not at such an early stage, but he supposed he could mention one of the more obvious ones if it'd satisfy Kon's curiosity.

"Right now, I'm trying to set up something that can pass for a security system," he explained, dumping the parts haphazardly onto the pile he'd already accumulated. What was there definitely didn't look like it would go in a security system - it was a mishmash of unrelated junk, including circuit boards, a couple of CRT monitors (one with the screen busted in), and a microwave that'd apparently been on fire at some point. It wasn't a huge collection yet, and certainly not enough, but he had a few dozen kilos there at least. "Just leave that stuff anywhere."

"Cool, cause I'm bad at pretending to like things. Those sculptures outta metal and stuff are weird."

Yeah, if Kon knew it was a joke, he didn't act like he did. Kon looked at the stuff Qubit had collected with a raised brow. What he saw, he really couldn't work out how the hell someone could make anything out of the junk. He'd been around enough tech people to know you needed better stuff than what this guy had. Maybe some parts that actually...worked. But he wasn't about to go and dash some guys dreams of making something out of this. The idea was great, but Kon had his doubts.

He placed the scrap down on a small heap so that there was less risk of it spilling over.

"So you mean like intruder alarms or some kind of scanner?"

Honestly, Qubit kind of liked found-object sculptures. Not that he knew anything much about art, but taking old, useless trash and making something new from it - that was a sentiment he could get behind wholeheartedly. But that was just his taste, he wasn't about to pick an argument over it.

"The former, mainly. For a building this size, more than that would be overkill."

Well hey, you're old so it would probably make sense to like stuff like that. It's okay, Kon won't judge. Much.

He reaches down to pick a part up and looks it over, chucking it up and down as if judging its weight. Then he looks back at Qubit with a curious and confused look about him.

"So...how exactly are you gonna get all of this junk" and he motions around the space, "into some kind of working alarm?"

The whole not dashing dreams process didn't last long at all. He was far too curious to know what this guy thought.

(Wow, rude.)

O ye of little faith. Qubit reached over and deftly snatched the part back, smiling smugly. "Like this."

He let go of it in midair, where it stayed, linked to his hand by a weird greenish-blue light. If one were to look at his eyes, they were glowing, too, with a circuit-like pattern distinctly visible. In the space of a couple seconds, the part changed, twisting itself into its new shape; what settled into his palm afterward was a small remote control, and this he held up for Kon to see.

"Satisfied?" he added.

(Ancient dude. Ancient.)

Kon watched with fascination as Qubit used his power and the way it just seemed to become something else entirely. He looked to Qubit's face as it happened and saw his eyes, looking back at what was now a remote and grinned.]

Holy...that's pretty awesome! [He looked around the shed.] So you can manipulate the kind of things in this shed. That's a neat trick to have.

"Mm-hm, certainly is," Qubit said with a nod. It wasn't by far the most impressive trick he was capable of, but he wasn't about to go into exhaustive detail. Anyway, he motioned to the door outside. Go on, scoot, they're done in here. He'd added a digital lock to the shed, too, which would activate with a little beep once closed behind them. An analog lock would have been adequate, probably, but he couldn't make those.

Qubit might have seen this slim girl going to and from next door a few times a day. Often wearing her black and yellow armor. Sometimes working on something technical in the garage.

She does notice him for sure, though; that portaling makes a very distinctive sound. So one day as she's working on what looks like a bike, she decides to catch him as he comes back. She hears the humming start and grabs a rag to wipe off her hands before jogging over to see what's going on.

"You know, depending on what you're looking for there's probably an easier way to get this stuff."

On this trip Qubit had come back nearly empty-handed, except for a virtually intact car battery that he'd honestly been a little miffed to find in a junkyard. Hazardous! materials!! Why was that so difficult for people to understand? ... But he'd gotten a free car battery out of it, so there was that, at least.

At least this young lady was nice enough not to sneak up on him. He'd seen her around, true, but hadn't paid her much attention, despite the armor. "Oh, I'm sure there is," he replied, stopping to let her approach. "But somehow I get the impression our gracious hosts might object to my jaunting over to China for the afternoon."

She's not the ninja type, to be honest. Not worth the effort.

"Yeah, it's a bit close to Russia. You might start off the war in earnest." She's joking, even though she knows distantly that it's a real threat. She glances over the car battery, curiosity getting to her.

"So what are you trying to find?"

That, and China was a communist state itself, at least where he was from. (Whatever was left of China, anyway. Damn it, he needed to work faster.)

"Parts," he explained simply. "I'm working on a couple of builds at the moment. Some better security, for a start. Or, I should say, more security than none at all."

Now that was interesting. "What kind of security? For the house?" She'd never considered in necessary. Who'd want to break into their house? Half the time people probably wondered if anyone even lived there it was so quiet these days.

No, for all the other buildings I live in that need securing. Okay, no, that was unfair and mean. "For the house," he said instead, nodding. "I can't be there to watch the place all the time."

Theft was a major concern; his tech was dangerous in the wrong hands (read: just about any hands that weren't his). And he wasn't about to mention that whole thing where he might or might not have misplaced a body-hopping supervillain who might or might not be out for his blood right now. But that was also a major concern.

Victor was another man who'd been unable to sleep. Since coming into this world he had begun losing sight of the boundary between light and dark, morning and night, dawn and dusk. He doesn't leave the house much other than to attend his place of work; a local elementary school where he finds strange comfort in tending to wounds. Between the days he reads local newspapers and boils a kettle of water on the stove for his tea.

It was a ritual. One of the few familiarities from home that brought some elements of nostalgia. Except here he had no company for afternoon tea. There was no company that he wanted; that he could tolerate without thinking of Victoria. He can hear her voice as he steps into the kitchen during the early hours, saying she finds her tea too hot. Or too cold. His hair is loose, his scarf undone, and he wears everything but his long coat. This person... is new. The others he hasn't bumped into too much.

... Then he eyes his kettle. Which didn't look anything like it had before. And there's a tiredness behind his eyes that does a remarkable job of hiding his annoyance at being disturbed this early in the morning. The weight on his shoulders isn't about the kettle. It's about every memory that it presented.

"Pray tell, what are your intentions? And for that matter your name, sir."

Yeah, that definitely wasn't a teakettle anymore. Even while Victor spoke, its parts kept morphing and reassembling themselves in the air into something completely different. Qubit didn't stop working at the man's approach, but did spare him a glance. That was... a lot of hair.

"Oh, sorry. Do you live here?" he said, in a tone that was friendly enough. "I hope I didn't wake you up."

Just like that, it was done. The light from him faded down to nothing, and Qubit placed the completed devices - a pair of motion detectors - down on the counter with the rest. Said counter was a bit of a disaster area at the moment. He'd finished the control panel for the system already, plus a few other peripherals, but he always seemed to end up with an assortment of miscellaneous parts left over, so there were plenty of scraps, too.

"I'm Qubit. Just arrived earlier today." That this was the house he was assigned to should be obvious, so he didn't bother reiterating it. "As for my intentions - I'm installing a rudimentary security system. Nothing to be concerned about."

Both eyes were on the kettle as it changed shape and purpose, and reassembled into something resembling nothing Victor had seen before. It was a curious thing. The light shone on the metal scraps before it dimmed. Victor was considering what to do with the remains already, but it didn't answer the question of what he was going to use to make his tea. But that was of less concern than making certain somebody felt safe in their own home.

The idea of having warning before meeting someone new would have been appreciated. But that was easily solved by registering and thus securing funding for a home alone. But he did not want to stand on either side of the fence. He wanted to keep out of this war they were fighting. This way, rent was cheaper, plus there was the warmth of feeling close to people too.

Though half the time he didn't know what to think about that after-

He spared Qubit a glance before his eyes darted back.

"That is a security system?" How absurd. But he's more dumbfounded than anything. "How does it work?"

From the way Victor's dressed - his hair undone, his clothes loosened, it was an easy guess this was his place of residence. He's also something of a scientist himself; medical, really, but that doesn't hide natural curiosity.

Part of Qubit wanted to say just Google it, but ... it was this guy's house, he could at least do him the courtesy of explaining. He picked up each device as he went over it.

"Motion detectors - this sort uses both infrared and microwave sensors, to pick up sudden heat changes or objects in motion. Door sensors - just a reed switch and magnet, simple but effective. This one's the control panel. And I'm pretty sure I can rig the wiring to pick up any perimeter breaches these would miss."

Though he had not witnessed such technology at work before, Victor was able to imagine the result by pondering the words and descriptions with which he was familiar. There was no prior knowledge to understand the function of infrared, to pick apart the word and analyse it till he garnered some meaning. He knows of switches, wiring, magnets and control panels - though he was not well-versed in the machinery of the flying airships used by his homeland.

He glances around the kitchen, to find if there was any device he could use to create what had been his reason for coming here in the first place.

"Indeed. You seem quite capable, sir. I would offer you a cup of tea, but that seems quite impossible now."

Impossible? Nonsense, hadn't he just seen an electric teakettle around here somewh- oh wait. Qubit's smile faded somewhat. "Ah. Yes. That." He scratched his head reflexively. "Well, it's all I had on hand, short of taking apart the fridge... I'll replace it later on, don't worry."

Junkyards certainly weren't places Hermann frequented by any stretch of the imagination, but understanding the parameters of his new abilities meant that he could make things, and for those things, he needed certain bits and pieces of other things.

Most pressingly, his cane was still made out of parts of a crutch, and a few days of use was starting to get to him. Sure, he could always buy one, but he had a feeling they'd need the rest of their money for other things- like food and clothing- before either of them were paid again.

He also needed a laptop, because office work was far from ideal, but again, out of his budget and possibly even his skillset, but if he was lucky, he might find one in need of only minor repairs.

So it was with these thoughts in mind that Hermann found himself at the outskirts of Maurtia Falls and picking his way around heaps of junk, prodding the occasional object with the end of his cane or viciously kicking something out of the way. It was something of a chore all on its own that his brain couldn't stop reminding him that Newton wan't within immediate reach.

It took the better part of a half hour to realize he wasn't the only one there, and another good fifteen minutes of small circuits around the area before recognition kicked in. Another five were spent in silent debate over whether or not he should approach, until he finally gave in and made his way over to the other man.

"..Mr. Qubit?"

Kasumi's recommendation had been solid, it turned out. Once he came to Maurtia Falls, it had only taken him a couple of tries to find a junkyard with sufficiently low hazardous waste standards, and now he was turning up useful stuff by the boxload. And what do you know, the owner was even letting him take it for free (after he'd threatened to turn the guy in for illegal dumping).

That said, she'd also been dead on about the needles. Qubit had picked up some heavy-duty work gloves on the way over, but he still had to be careful where he stuck his hands, so he didn't really spare much attention for anything else. He'd seen a dog around earlier, and generally attributed any odd noises he heard to that.

Even then, Hermann was about the last person he'd have expected to find poking around a junkyard, so this was a surprise. Not an unpleasant one, though. Qubit smiled and got to his feet. "Dr. Gottlieb! Funny running into you here."

Hermann gave a brief, tight smile in return and nodded, eyes glancing over Qubit's small collection, then turned to assess the pile itself.

"It's certainly something of a novel experience- one I hope not to repeat with frequency, however.. it seems we have similar purposes."

He was grossly unprepared however and had to hope something jumped out at him, rather than dig through who knew what. Next time perhaps, if he didn't manage to find anything today.

"Collecting parts for the Porter, I imagine?"

"Mainly that, yes," he said, taking off his gloves for the moment. "What on Earth are you here for, though?"

"Parts enough to assemble a functioning laptop, ideally."

But that wasn't looking likely today. "Newton has also requested a radio and a pair of glasses. As if I'm likely to find any intact, let alone his prescription type."

Edited 2015-08-13 04:30 (UTC)

There was a bemused half-snort at that. "He can't just pick some up at CVS? You'd have better luck there, I'd think."

Anyway, he leaned over his box of parts, one hand at his chin. "You're welcome to anything I've found. There should be a couple of circuit boards buried in there somewhere. Or, I could always throw something together for you - unless you want to take a stab at the assembly yourself," he added, with a knowing glance in Gottlieb's direction. His being here at all implied that was the plan. And Qubit absolutely did mean with your powers, he was curious to see them in action.

Hermann gave a shrug and meandered closer.

"I don't pretend to know the inner workings of Newton's brain, and I honestly don't particularly care to." The irony of course, being that they shared a psychic connection. One that wouldn't leave him alone. Don't mind the random glare he casts off in the direction he guessed Newton was in.

But back to the matter at hand.

"I'd rather not inconvenience you, Mr. Qubit." And yeah, he totally caught that. "I'm not certain my ability extends to manipulating electronic parts, so I'd likely be building it by hand- nothing remarkable. However.."

Spotting a cracked mirror with a faded golden frame, Herman maneuvered over to inspect it. He traced the inside of the mirror with a fingernail and a gentle pulse of light had the frame separating from the mirror. Less subtle was the way the golden frame came apart in precise pieces. Hermann examined the ones he dubbed to be in the best condition and took them in hand to bring over and show Qubit.

"If you're interested.."

After a moment of concentration, the pieces disappeared from his palm in a flash of tiny digits and reappeared in the next, newly smoothed and warped into something resembling a handle. The dull grip of his own cane popped off like it had been inexpertly taped there, and the golden handle disappeared and reappeared affixed where the previous one had been.

Hermann placed his cane back down on the ground, testing his grip and leaning on it with a smile. "And that is how.. that works. Much better."

Qubit watched the demonstration intently, not missing the subtleties. It looked like a sort of ... low-level reality warping, at least in its present form. Everything in the universe could be described with math at some level. Was Gottlieb just tapping into those essential equations and writing his own? Depending on its limits, a power like that could be incredible...

"Intriguing," he said, eyeing the handle. He would have liked to take a closer look, but he wasn't about to ask for the cane. "Have you had a chance to try it on a larger scale? Same level of complexity, but scaled up?"

Perhaps he should have held it out for inspection, but it's not difficult to recreate. It was also a sorely needed improvement, a material much closer to familiar underneath his hand.

"I've done some testing over the past few days," he acknowledged with a nod. "Not the most comprehensive study yet, of course. There are many factors to account for. However, as one might expect, small, simpler objects are easier and quicker to manipulate. Size and complexity seem to correlate with time on a varying scale. I could bend sheet metal without much difficulty, but if I wanted to twist it into a more intricate object, it would take longer as I charted the new factors into the equation. Repeated uses of the same or similar designs would complete more quickly, although with still some allowances for relative size for reasons I've yet to fully determine. Therefore, it's typically more efficient to scale down the pieces I'm working with."

Bless your scientific heart, Gottlieb, it had been a while since he'd gotten to talk shop with someone like this. "But in theory, you could still fabricate the individual parts of a machine and then assemble them," he inferred. "And make something more complex in that fashion." To what extent he could use his powers for the assembly step was uncertain, but as an idea it had potential. ~~Especially when combined with Mako's power, though he didn't know that yet.~~ Like Qubit, he needed raw materials, but those were simple enough to come by.

"Now, I notice there was a moment in there where the material disappeared," he added, gesturing to the cane. "Where did it go, do you know?"

"In theory," he agreed. It all required more extensive testing, but he needed a laptop sooner rather than later. Best perhaps to start smaller, as well.

Hermann frowned, the one question that nagged at him since he'd first witnessed it in the hospital. "Nothing conclusive, I'm afraid. A type of liminal space wherein it's interfaced with my calculations.. the time spent in transference." He shrugged. "Another pet project."

He stooped down to pick up a small strip of scrap metal, and when it reappeared, it was shaped into a small, mathematically perfect cube. Hermann offered it for inspection. "Newton offers his greetings, by the way."

A liminal space... the time in transference, or to put it another way, transference through time... He might actually be on to something there. Qubit's line of thought seemed to solidify along with the little metal cube, which he took and turned over in his hand, focusing so intently on it that he barely heard the next part.

"Huh? Oh, pass him mine, then," he said absently. "I wonder... this is really something. Let's say you start with one object at two points in time, t₀ and t_i... but somewhere in between those two states, you're taking the object out somewhere and applying a four-dimensional transform to it. Deforming through space, translating through time." Yeah, he definitely felt like he had something. He became more animated as he spoke, gesticulating excitedly. "Then when you project the result into 3D space at t_i, what we see is completely different, but it's still fundamentally the same object. Oh, this is brilliant!"

Edited 2015-08-13 16:28 (UTC)

He'd almost forgotten how exciting it could be to exchange ideas just for the fun of it- with no crushing desperation stifling natural curiosity to puzzle together the unknowns. Hermann straightened, a thrill running over his skin as Qubit's theory sparked effortlessly off his half-formed considerations. His fingers flexed, and he earnestly wished for a blackboard and several pieces of chalk.

"Somewhat difficult to prove," he lamented by necessity. "But that is nonetheless a fascinating theory- it is the same material, simply altered by parameters I've defined. To use a tired analogy, I will not be turning lead into gold or modifying anything on an atomic level, but the physical properties of the object.."

Left him with an astounding amount of control over his surroundings. His grip shifted, leaning almost dangerously forward. "I've also found I do not need to be physically touching the object, although my calculations are more accurate if I do so- likely due to familiarity.."

But he already knew the exact dimensions of the tiny cube in Qubit's hand, and watched as it settled back in the same place instead as a sphere. "The range of which simply seems to be my visual field, but there's more testing to be done on that front, as well."

For a second Qubit was mildly startled at the cube disappearing, but as it gave him a chance to watch the process up close he couldn't complain. Like the cube, the new sphere had a polished surface, totally free of tool marks, reflecting his face like an M.C. Escher drawing. It'd be the same volume down to the atom, of course. If only he could actually perceive what was happening! Imagine being able to see into the higher dimensions, then they could prove ...

What would Tony have seen, looking at that?

The thought struck him hard, out of nowhere, and all the vigor went out of him like air escaping a balloon. He saw the change in his reflection almost before he felt it, and he turned and took a couple slow steps away from Gottlieb, taking a deep breath to try and put his composure back together before he could make a fool of himself. He couldn't even imagine seeing like the Plutonian saw, hearing everything he heard. It was beyond him on so many levels. For God's sake, Qubit, pull yourself together. Why are you even thinking about him now? He has nothing to do with this. He's dead.

"I must say, with all these new considerations to take into account, these abilities seem to have nuggets of smaller mysteries wrapped in them," Hermann was saying, finally warming up to the idea of having superpowers if they furthered his understanding of the universe. "If I had to adopt new capabilities, I'm relieved.."

He trailed off as Qubit staggered back, and Hermann watched with a pinched expression, consciously straightening before he fell forward himself. His words over the past minute had been nothing alarming, he reflected. But was there a deeper revelation there, lurking where he couldn't see it- something horrifying about tapping into higher dimensions?

Hermann shifted, uncertain. "..Mr. Qubit? Are you quite alright?"

His back still turned, Qubit waved vaguely with his free hand, then brought it up to rub his eyes. It wasn't that easy to reduce him to tears, fortunately, but his eyes were stinging with the threat of it, and it took him a few seconds to swallow and unclench his throat. "It's nothing. I'm fine," he said.

You can mourn for Tony. Just not today, all right? Kaidan had said, smiling. Fine, but when? There simply wasn't time. He had to fix this, he had to get home before the damage was irreversible. If he let himself fall apart now... well, he didn't know what, and that was a terrifying prospect in itself.

He took a deep breath and straightened up. Without looking, he extended a hand toward the scraps he'd gathered and let his power do its thing. It was quite a bit flashier than Hermann's, manifesting with a greenish light that extended from his hand and lifted the parts into the air. They changed there, warping in shape, fitting themselves together, new circuits growing across the boards almost as if alive... The whole process took about five seconds, and when it ended, Qubit had in his hand a brand-new, matte silver laptop, complete with a charger. On the back of the screen, where you'd normally find a logo, was engraved a simple letter Q.

That done, he faced Gottlieb again and offered it to him with something like a smile. It didn't reach his eyes, though; they still betrayed the weariness in him, deep and crushing.

"Here. Nothing on it yet, but it'll run Linux," he said casually. At least with machines, complexity was quantifiable.

It didn't look like he was fine from where he was standing, but Hermann was hardly going to insist. Whatever the man was dealing with wasn't his business, and he wouldn't know the first thing about what to say even if it was. But what had been the trigger? If he knew that, perhaps they could resume the discussion, but as it was, all he could do was stand and wait for Qubit to regain himself.

The green light forced him to take a step back, but all he could think as he watched complex parts weave themselves together, was that at least it wasn't Blue. It looked like something out of a comic book, but then, this was the first power he'd really seen outside his own. It far outstripped his own capabilities certainly.

Hermann stared at the sleek, silver laptop, looking like everything he needed in one simple piece of technology, and hooked his cane over his arm in order to turn it over between both hands. A lovely simplistic design, compact and durable, and complete with a charger to ensure its battery life. No visible defects, and the Q on the back of it like something of a maker's mark that made his lips twitch into amusement.

"Remarkable." He was far too impressed to be appropriately conscientious. "A level of mastery I doubt I'd ever achieve, and certainly nowhere close to that speed."

Hermann folded it down and held it to his chest like one might a precious child. "This will be perfect. I simply cannot thank you enough, Mr. Qubit."

Yes, take good care of that newborn computer. Its name is Shelby. ~~No it's not.~~

Qubit's smile turned more genuine, a subtle change but noticeable. There was still that existential tiredness, but it felt a little less heavy now. That's right. We can still try to do good. Isn't that what I always say? It wasn't enough, it would never be enough, but it was what he had.

"Then don't," he said, amused. "And don't sell your own abilities short so soon. You're still new to them, I've had most of my life to practice. Now, what was the other..." He snapped his fingers a few times. "Ah! Radio."

Repeating the process for a radio receiver went even quicker. For that he settled on a desk radio with a vaguely retro design (in green, of course), but touchscreen controls. This he handed over as well. "AM/FM, shortwave, satellite. I assume he wants at least one of those."

Hermann conceded the point with a nod, uncertain of how he felt about being here or having these new abilities for so long. He'd have to store all his findings and carry it around with him for whenever he was able to return to his own dimension.

But the radio took him by further surprise, and he stared at it a moment, chagrined. "Ah yes, you are.. very kind, Mr. Qubit. A moment, if you would."

With his cane taking up one hand, he had a limited amount of objects he could safely carry at once. Hermann hadn't been particularly concerned initially, as he'd expected to be bringing back mostly parts for these things. His ability allowed him to repurpose stray materials into a sturdy enough duffle bag at least, and he tucked the laptop, charger, and radio into it with a satisfied huff.

"I'll be sure he thanks you properly." For a given definition of 'proper'. "..Or at least makes the effort to do so."

"Oh, right." He'd forgotten to consider that it might be a pain carrying all this stuff with a cane in your other hand. Fortunately, Gottlieb seemed to have it under control, so Qubit just handed him the radio when he was ready.

"I'm serious, don't worry about it," he said. "Now, do you need a lift home, or...? I mean, not that I'm trying to get rid of you, you're welcome to stick around, but you don't seem the type to enjoy spending your whole afternoon in a scrapyard."

While he was of the opinion that someone should hold Newton accountable for basic social niceties when they were merited, he could admit it was something of a delusion.

Hermann cast a look around the junkyard and gave something of a shrug. He had some reason to linger, but he also wasn't looking forward to taking the transit system back again.

"That would be an accurate assessment." Not that this particular set of clothing hasn't been through the mill already, but still. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I suppose."

"No trouble at all," said Qubit, already tapping out some numbers on his watch. "Where are you staying? Government housing?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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B for the cool kids!

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Sorry for my crapness with taking forever.

no worries!

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hi and now im the one taking forever 8'D

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A new crock pot please

yeah sure eventually

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C- Maurtia Falls

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warning: science content (of questionable validity)

my hero

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