Fox

Gaian Knight grinned, hopping up onto a platform that pulled itself together from random rocks and debris - it was like slipping on a comfortable pair of shoes after working with the alien-but-familiar soil of Fleur's world. Though that certainly had its perks - I think I was finally getting used to it. Even the bees! I really do wonder what happened there.... "Absolutely," he said, bowing. "If they - or you - ever need anything at all, don't hesitate to give me a call. You have one hell of a home, ma'am - or heaven of a home, really!" He laughed, his platform picking up into the air a little. "It would be a very interesting project to get it cleaned up and returned to a more natural glory."

He just shrugged, chuckling and looking around. "It's a beautiful place now," he noted, a grin in his voice. "The hard part would just be to extend that beauty out further. And probably deeper, come to think of it...when I get back I'll have to do some reading. I'm pretty sure there are a few groups doing some research on cleaning up ground and water pollution with the available earth. Carbon gravity filters and the like, y'know...I'll certainly let you know what I find out." It's really a shame I can't get here quite like she can, he frowned, looking back up at the bees and their new home. This place really is absolutely incredible. A whole planet....goodness. "Well. As much as I truly hate to leave, I should probably get going, if you don't mind giving me a lift. As depressing as it is to say...my day job calls." I'm just never free from you, grading work, am I? I really need to request some TAs or something. He waved to the bees, chuckling. "Ready when you are."

Dragonfly just snorted. "Don't mind him. Takes job too seriously. Suppose I'm not one to talk...very good at his job, though. Better mildly insulting than careless." She reached out and stole one of the cups, taking a sip. "Wasn't too busy. Theory work in my office...bending time. Hard to do without breaking something, or risking breaking something. Requires care. Engineering." She shook her head, shrugging. "Glad you stopped by - could use the break. Anything you want to see, or just here to visit?"

Dragonfly shook her head, pulling her attention back into reality. need to focus - probably right - do need sleep - later "Can rest later. No. No need for amends, I mean - happens. Should have properly shielded it. Hindsight...mmh." She tapped a finger against her leg, frowning for a moment before brushing the idea aside. shielding - mental note for later She mostly just listened as the others talked, trying to focus on the heroes instead of the tired white noise of experiments and half-finished designs in her head. "Could arrange for space in the Lab for you, if needed," she noted, glancing at the other founders and doing a bit better about staying attentive when she talked. "Organization for research and engineering. To help people. Have the space...garage workshop, maybe. Low-security area, often private. Good power supply. Resources, too, if you ever need repairs. Gives you someplace safe and useful to stay until you find your own, if you want it. And if there are no objections." also easy observation and constant monitoring if you're dangerous - not suspicious but can't be too careful - unwitting threats are still threats - still - hope not - fascinating design

Mara blinked, frowning for a moment - the frown got a little deeper when she realized she'd only made it a few sentences before lapsing back into fragments and rambling. ugh - not like anyone even needs those words anyway She tried again, focusing more on not being distracted from 'proper' English. "I...yes, sort of. I dabble....it keeps me busy. Haven't- I haven't built a full, high-tech suit, though." yet

Dragonfly raised an eyebrow, peering down into the cloth bag. planes - drink machines - a burger? Still...it had been a long night. She hadn't even realized she was hungry, but the smell coming from the bag was making her stomach growl. Carefully pulling the burger out with one hand, she took a bite. Dragonfly made a sound of pure culinary satisfaction, her shoulders slumping a little as she melted and her world turned into delicious, delicious flavor. that - that is a very very good burger The rest of it disappeared so fast she may as well have sucked it into her dimensional pocket, interspersed with mumbled 'thank you's toward the jolly old gifter.

Dragonfly finally appeared from the elevator as it hit the bottom floor, glancing around as the doors slid open. people - not a large crowd - individuals - suit - dress - stack of 23 cd cases half empty - receptionist - judgey - security guards - left one same as last night - double shift? extra hours - inquire later - ah "Jill!" "Didn't expect you," she said, making her way over. "Not a complaint. Still. Curious - what brings you here?"

Dragonfly uses Datalink to sweep for nearby electronics. Her range isn't awesome, but it's worth a shot. A datalink 'scan' is an Extended Search. Her base range is 100ft; assuming I didn't lose my way on any of these tables a 100ft-radius area takes about ten minutes to search. Invisible Castle is mean sometimes, so she'll take 20. That pushes the time up to 200 minutes; mental quickness drops it back down to 2 minutes. Search 'roll': 26. Post pending results.

The receptionist glanced at Jill, then to her clothes; then back to her face (or, at least, her mask); then to the tray; then back to the face. Without taking her eyes off the young heroine he reached out to hit a button on the desk and a light on his headset flicked on. "... Yes, Miss Dragonfly? There's a-- .... .... Yes, I am sorry. Dragonfly, there's a young woman here to see you. Did you by chance order coffee from a themed- .... No, I suppose you wouldn't." He slowly reached for what must have been a button hidden under the lip of the desk. "If you like I can see if secur- Yes, I'm sorry?" Looking Jill up and down, he continued, "Dark, midriff. A young woman, wearing- Ah. You can." He glanced over at a camera that had, for no apparent reason, turned to look at the front desk. "Yes, that's her. I can- .... Are you certain? .... No, ma'am, I heard...yes, ma'am. Right away." With the sigh of a man who has to deal with scientists all day, the receptionist ended the call and politely handed Jill a keycard on a lanyard. "You've been issued a security pass, ma'am, and Miss Dragonfly herself will be down in only a moment to provide an escort. Thank you for visiting the Lab, please avoid any doors marked 'high sec' or sections which do not accept your card, and have a wonderful visit...if you will excuse me, I have to contact security and explain why they just lost one of their lobby cameras. Again." Dragonfly was actually in a fairly good mood as she made her way out to the elevator. As her moods went, anyway - she didn't get visitors often (word had gotten around that people may be best served meeting one of the more...charismatic founders) and she'd been hoping for a chance to talk to Jill again. The equations could wait! She paused, blinked, and turned back into her office to jot a sudden inspiration on the whiteboard, finishing out that part of the theory she'd been agonizing over for the last couple hours; even at a swift trot she barely made it back to the elevators in time to catch the next one down.

Dragonfly grimaced. "Have...had a long few days. Need to sleep, too...haven't in several days. Will get around to it. Priorities....yes." She blinked, belatedly realizing that she was answering questions with context that only existed in her head. keep it together "Preserve organic life, yes, I mean. I do. We, do. Save lives, stop crime. Prevent crime before it happens, preferably. Not always an option. Good when it's availa--mmh. Sorry. Rambling." She glanced over at the building, tilting her head. "Made...quite a splash. You did, I mean. Figuratively. Shockwave and interference in.......mmhh. Bricked a sensitive piece of equipment while I was doing adjustments, very unusual. Teleportation, or some sort of displacement in...." She trailed off, eyes a little unfocused as she turned what she knew over in her head. "....not entirely sure. Wish I had better data. Could only analyze after the fact, track a source...didn't have proper instruments recording at the time. No reason to. Unfortunate...."

"'s a warehouse," she grumbled, "not a cave. Perfectly well-lit. Would be lit if the city grid went down, even." She took a seat, brushing some hair out of her tired eyes. "I like my warehouse. It's mine. And it's quiet." change the subject - nobody cares "Claremont? Haven't visited. Graduated, dropped out? ...suppose that's not my business. Curious, though. Never- mmh. Not really a...school person. Myself."

Tarrant chuckled, nodding at Doctor Archeville and giving his companion a short bow. "A pleasure to meet you both - Archeville, I think?" For some reason, I thought he'd be taller. Maybe it's the contrast.... "You two certainly know how to make an entrance; and here I had to get dirty taking the...ah. Express train." He chuckled. "I don't suppose you sell those teleporter widgets on a teacher's salary? They seem like they'd be pretty nice for cutting down the commute." He stood with his hands in his pockets, gazing up at the church as the group chatted. You're a fantastic piece of work, he thought, though it couldn't hear him. You've gotta be...goodness. Over a hundred years old? The stonework feels at least that - 125 if you're a day. Beautiful. They couldn't have possibly picked a better spot for a wedding, could they?

Dragonfly crouched by the edge of the cliff, peering down and scowling. how - hologram unlikely - easily tested - illusion similarly unlikely - carplane? - mmh - possible - doubtful - maybe - drop to secret entrance or catcher's mitt system - very strange She didn't turn around as Silhouette caught up. "Don't suppose you can fly," she commented, gazing down into the water.

January 13th, 2011; 6:23pm The Lab arched up into the winter sky, its egg-like shape playing tricks on the eyes of anyone who stood at the base and looked up. Thirty stories of the best science and engineering this side of ArcheTech, even just after normal business hours it still had its share of people coming and going for one reason or another - workers, visitors, scientists, hopefuls. Up in her office, Dragonfly frowned in front of a whiteboard. Her rooms may have been equipped with the finest simulation and design technology money could buy - and she ought to know, she'd contributed her fair share of that money, not to mention personally installed most of the electronics in the room - but few things could beat a good, old-fashioned whiteboard and some dry-erase markers. Some thoughts needed to be physically written down, and while erasing paper was a pain, chalk boards got too messy.

"Not a story many would believe," Dragonfly replied as she hopped out of the sleigh, glad once more for her still-active armbands as feet hit the snow. "Even with the things we see. Supervillains, superheroes. Aliens. But a ride on Santa's sleigh?" She adjusted her gauntlets, raising an eyebrow at Jack's antics. "Bells rely on a small, hard ball inside a much larger container to create sound," she explained, a trace of humor coloring her voice. "Could just stop moving your head - jingling would cease."

Dragonfly blinked, momentarily shaken out of her curiosity. A little abashedly, she pulled her mind away from the robot's workings, taking half a step back for personal space. "I...mmh. No. Thank you. Ate just...." She blinked, and tilted her head. "....yesterday. Will be fine. Have no intentions, was...curious. Sorry. Get.........carried away. Sometimes."

Mara winced twice - once in reflex at hearing her own last name, and the other accompanying a sharp glance in Jessica's direction when she was associated with the Lab. what is she - mmh - I'm not - I mean I am but I'm not - sometimes a secret identity is more trouble than - ugh She made a mental note to have some words with Jessica later, in private, and turned her attention back to Blake. talk like a normal person and hope he doesn't make the connection - hate having to watch what I say - annoying "Hello," she said, nodding. "I've heard a bit about you. Jessica seems...fond of you."

Dragonfly swore, in English for once, as she sent back her reply. Signal weak - will follow as best I can until it disappears. Interference, shielding maybe. Can't risk being seen; will go as close as I can and wait for your arrival. Will probably lose him for now. Hope he's able to take care of himself until we can find him. She followed up with the last good location she'd gotten off the tracker and let herself fall back a bit, trying to rely on the weakening signal and her visor's infravision to track the vehicle's progress. hope you're okay Creature Feature - may have to be alone for a bit - better still have that watch

Dragonfly readies an action to blast any enemy that attacks, as soon as they attack. She knows this has to go south eventually!

Dragonfly was smart enough to say nothing - she was a bad liar and she knew it. Instead she pretended to be exactly what she was: a heavily-armed, high-tech threat. As soon as everyone had reached for their guns she'd put up her force field and charged both gauntlets, letting distortions 'bleed' out of them and twist the air...just so they knew she wasn't wearing useless toys. When the weapons went away so did her readied charge, though her protections stayed up as a gentle reminder. For the umpteenth time she was glad she'd designed her visor the way she had - it kept the upper part of her face almost completely obscured, just enough detail coming through to know she was watching, but not enough to know who, or where. As long as she kept her head still, she could scan the room with impunity, maintaining a watchful eye on every threat in her field of vision.

Dragonfly frowned, having abandoned her wall when it had - being a wall - failed to save her from people. Both arms were wrapped around her torso to minimize her already unimpressive size, but otherwise she seemed to be holding up okay. "...not as bad as expected," she admitted, watching the people enjoy themselves. "Excellent PR, I suspect. Should be able to do good things here. Good to have public support, anyway...they seem to enjoy giving it." She glanced back toward the elevators, and grimaced. "Cannot possibly have taken that long to fire slime off her suit." took the easy way out - mmh - wish I'd thought of it

Dragonfly blinked, dismounting her bike as the robot addressed them all. She was too distracted to even pull it into her dimensional pocket - the moment the thing had come into view she'd started scanning with every ounce of ability her visor afforded her. Which, admittedly, wasn't a lot - what little she could see just created more questions. "Spacial...combat applic...ations...." she muttered, tilting her head to the side and circling the robot like a curious predator. "What are you. Fascinating. Would love to open you up - construction is more advanced than most of what I - mmh, don't even know what that would do unless it - ahhh, resource supply, interesting, if a little vague. So much you just can't know without taking the shell away." Lights danced behind her eyes as she kept inspecting - but not touching, at least not yet - and she reached out toward the robot with her mind. Now are you a proper AI? Organic pilot, dog-brain pre-programmed, true sentience...what's in here I wonder...fantastic work...who could have possibly....

If it was anyone else, trying to put an elf hat on Dragonfly's head would be an invitation to spend quality time in the void of her dimensional pocket. If it were any other day of the year, an invitation to ride in the sleigh would have been met with a snort and a muttered excuse. She wasn't even convinced she'd have accepted if she hadn't just spent the last while in a place that may as well have been built out of concentrated Christmas cheer; all she knew was that this was the happiest and most care-free she'd felt in...well, in ever, really. Probably since she could walk upright. For one night she let herself relax, if only just a little. For however long it took to help Santa do his Santa thing across the world, her day-to-day worries and longstanding concerns were pushed so far into the back of her mind they were barely even there; even her migraines gave her a Christmas break. After all, she observed to herself as she wryly bantered with Jill in the back of the sleigh, she - they, all of them - deserved a little piece of mind. They'd just helped save Christmas!

Dragonfly couldn't sleep. Her friend had been released from the hospital - a supposedly clean bill of health - but her brain just wouldn't stop, regardless of the fact that she hadn't put head to pillow in going on three days now. Her best friend - her first and one of her only friends - was going through rough times and there wasn't a thing she could do but wait and offer her support when or if it was asked for; at some point she assumed she'd just collapse from sheer exhaustion and spent emotional energy, but in the meantime she was trying to keep her mind off things by tinkering with a small metal platform. Which promptly and without warning exploded in her face. Swearing copiously and waving a hand to clear the acrid smoke streaming out of the guts of the thing, she angrily muttered something about THIS being exactly why she never really messed with time; a couple minutes was all it took to diagnose the problem (interference from what - the size of jump it would take to generate feedback like that in a live machine is - what in the world) and track it to at least a very vague location. Barely a minute later a very tired but very curious young woman had grabbed her gauntlets, shifted to her costume, and hit the streets on her bike to figure out who - or what - had just popped onto the local timeline and ruined a month's work.

perhaps not so inappropriate "Sure. Could use a meal. Haven't eaten since....mmh." She tilted her head as they made their way over. "...last night." spaghetti - slightly overcooked - sauce was very good though "Shouldn't laugh at small restaurants," she noted. "Some of the best food. Privately-owned, quality ingredients...deli along the South River has excellent sandwiches. Gyro cart makes its way toward Greenbank through the Fens sometimes...delicious. Wish they came closer, but probably isn't very safe."