Friends On the Science Side (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

10/5/2010

Murdock had watched a show on the television about the alienation of public life in the big city, about how you could live there for years and never know your neighbor's name, how you could travel across town and never speak to the hundreds of thousands you passed. The people on the show had been very sad about this. Though it made him feel strange to think so, in unnameable and unthinkable ways, the former Omegadrone did not feel sad about the anonymity of the city. No one had spoken to him ont he long bus ride out to Hanover, not even when he'd boarded the bus in Lincoln and his heavy step had made it bow. He liked that. "Thank you." He tipped the driver as he left, the words the first he'd spoken that day, indeed, in several days, and walked out towards the parking lot of the office building where he'd been summoned by his new contact, Miss Americana.

[Electra]

The building Miss Americana had directed him to was entirely nondescript on the outside, just one more brick-faced building in an industrial office park full of them. There was an intercom by the door, but he did not need to use it. As he approached, the door buzzed and the latch clicked open to allow him in. "Back here," Miss Americana called from the end of a short white hallway. The front room of the building was empty, an unused receptionist desk collected a very faint patina of dust, and no chairs sat in what would've been a lobby. Down the hallway were a couple of closed doors, and then at the end of the hall, a heavy fire door stood open onto what was obviously Miss A's lab.

It wasn't the best or biggest lab ever, but it was clean and serviceable, with all kinds of computers and sensors and what seemed to be a substantially modified MRI machine. A padded table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by sensors that were already beeping and scanning. Miss A, goggles safely covering her eyes, was tinkering with one using an odd-looking tool. She looked up and smiled warmly at Murdock as he arrived. "I'm so glad you could make it!" she told him. "And early, too! Just give me a couple more minutes to finish calibrating this, and by then my other guest should be here as well. Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

[Avenger Assembled]

I am not in the Helpful Hospice. I am not in the Helpful Hospice.

"No." The former drone slowly paced the room, his footsteps resounding as he examined the laboratory with an expression that was hard to read. "I apologize if I have arrived too early. I took the crosstown bus." He smiled back, and Miss A could tell he meant it, but the expression still looked decidedly odd on his face, as if muscle and the bone beneath weren't really meant for that kind of look. "Your facilities are new."

[JackgarPrime]

Not far from where the other two had met, a recognizable shape of silver flew above the streets. However, unlike the usual jetting that he does, Victory was in "cruise" mode, only using the jets at the bottom of his feet. Dressing more of a casual contact, he even went without his helmet, letting his short mostly-blonde hair out in the air for once. It was a good feeling. Wearing heavy clothes to conceal his parts, he chose to go with the flight jacket he used to use in the Air Force, and jeans loose enough to not get caught in any of his panels. It was still kind of tough dressing "normal" in this body, but he was getting used to it.

Finding a good point to touch down, Lance floated down to the street, slowly turning down the power of his foot-mounted boosters until they were all the way off, letting him land gently, although with a very slight "clang". Looking about, he walked toward the address he was given, the location stored in his internal navigation system, leading him to the door. Looking at the intercom, he moved his gaze to his palm, which showed a hologram spelling out the address, and checking it again, just to be sure. Yup, this is it. Hitting the button on the intercom, he wonders what sort of facilities would be within.

[Electra]

"Oh, don't worry about it," Miss A assured Murdock, "you're only a few minutes early. I had planned to be ready, but this torsion meter is giving me fits. This is my new place, you're right. I just moved in a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still getting things set up. I wanted someplace easier to get to, where people would be able to find me when we want to work together. My old place was much more remote. Eventually I'm thinking about decorating it a little, but who has time?" She looked up as a chime sounded. "Speaking of time, here's Victory now, and right on the hour. Perfect!"

She pushed the button to unlock the front door and waited for Victory to arrive in the laboratory as well. "Hello, it's so good to see you again," she told the new arrival. "I'm just finishing getting set up. If you're hungry or thirsty, there are some snacks in the fridge over there." She gestured to one wall, where a beat-up little mini-fridge sat on top of a set of serious-looking metal safes.

[JackgarPrime]

When the door opens, Lance greets his host with a smile and a quick little two-finger salute. "Hey there. Hope I'm not late. My internal clock's been a bit wonky lately." He takes a step in, doing his best to walk lightly. Normally, due to the very tough metal the AEGIS' labs make their floor out of, he can walk normally without doing any damage. In here, he's trying to be a bit more careful. It's a bit odd, but he's been gradually getting more used to it. Of course, he'd rather not walk at all if he can help it.

As he steps in and takes a look around, he sees the other guest. He wasn't told much about him when she invited him over, but she did mention something about a "commonality" they had. Taking a step over to the other guest, he puts his right hand out, currently without any of the strength-enhancing armor that's usually equipped on it when he's fighting. "Hey there. You must be Murdock. Name's Lance."

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock fixed big, dark eyes on Lance, the lines that criss-crossed his skin visible even on the whites of his eyes and onto the irises. "Yes." There was a long pause, as of gears turning in his brain. "Hello, Lance." He extended a hand, his brown skin gleaming in the artificial light of the lab. His handshake was rock-solid, his grip backed up with a superhuman power to match Victory's, but not squeezing hard enough to actually hurt. "You must be the other."

[JackgarPrime]

As he shook the other man's hand, he felt a substantial bit of strength from the hand. He smiles a bit more, his suspicions being confirmed. Giving a nod, he disengages the handshake. "Good to meet you. And...well, I suppose I am?"

After the shake, he turns his head over to their host. "So....speaking of which, what was it you needed us here for?" He had his theories, but, since he doesn't know anything about this other guest, he can't quite be sure...

[Electra]

Miss Americana gave both men a warm smile. "As you might know already, both of you are cyborgs and both of you are working as superheroes. Victory, I know that you have a team devoted to keeping you in tip-top condition, but it never hurts to have someone in the field who can patch you up if necessary. And Murdock, I don't know if you have any arrangements for your upkeep and maintenance, but I would be happy to help you." She perched on the side of the lab table, folding her long legs demurely. "But in order to be able to help you, like any doctor, it helps to have readings on you when you're in optimal functioning condition. That way if things ever do go wrong, I have good specs to go on for how things are supposed to look."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes. I appreciate the offer, Miss Americana." His reaction to Miss Americana was, Murdock decided, a fine testimony to his own humanity. Murdock fixed his gaze on Lance, his mind on the obvious problem here. "While I know how to repair my artificial systems, I lack the technical ability to do so myself. Victory, my artificial nature is not like yours. It may distress you. I apologize for any offense that I will cause you."

[JackgarPrime]

Victory chuckles after Ms Americana talks for a bit, then shakes his head. "Like I said to our friend here, when I'm not on-duty, the name's Lance. And I guess you plan to do the examinations now? I suppose that's fine,a s long as you remember our agreement on what you can and can't check..." Listening to Murdok's response, he quirks his brow in curiosity, as he wonders exactly what that meant.

"Not like mine? Well, I'm the only one of my particular model, as far as I know, but something tells me that's not exactly what you meant, eh?" As he speaks, he's pulling his arms out of his jacket, in order to be ready for the exams.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Please don't be alarmed." When he'd asked the question gently, Murdock pulled a black metal cylinder from his belt. With a snap of his wrist, suddenly, the cylinder erupted outward and wider in his hand, bursting forward into the clear, unmistakeable shape of an Omegadrone's pike! The tip hummed with sinister energies, a whine like a dentist's drill, while the blade gleamed with wickedly polished metal. Worst of all, though, was the metal that had burst from his hand and arm, sliding right out through the slits in his skin, covering his arm with the unmistakeable armor of an Omegadrone. Watching Victory warily, almost tiredly, for his reaction, Murdock said, "I do not have the tools to repair the pike. If you wish to study it, I will need to keep it, as it is bonded to the circuitry embedded in my arms and requires them to function."

[JackgarPrime]

At first, Lance watched curiously as Murdok began his change. But as it went by, he began to recognize parts of the armor. He wasn't sure exactly what at first, but once the entire arm was covered in the metal, he knew where he had seen those designs from. Images he'd seen all those years ago...they were fuzzy, being so young at the time, but he knew them. Not to mention the many simulator battles he's went through. As soon as he knew what it was, he threw the jacket off, showing his body without the extra armor. From his back all the way down his left arm, he showed to be entirely mechanical, while the front of his chest and almost entire right arm, save for a patch on his shoulder, were still the same flesh he was born with. The baggy jeans stayed on, at least for the moment.

With speed nearly uncatchable to the eye, his v-shaped booster array sprung from his back, but he did not activate it just yet. He does, however, get a stern look on his face, and his entire body tenses up, ready to leap at less than a moment's notice. He doesn't speak, but his eyes dart from Murdok to look at their host, as if asking "What the hell is going on?!"

[Electra]

Miss A quickly stepped forward, in between the two cyborgs. "Lance, Murdock, it's all right!" she assured them both in her most soothing voice. "We're all friends here, honestly. I should've told you beforehand, Lance, that was entirely my mistake. Harrier is an escaped Omegadrone, he was able to sever his connection and regain normal mental function. Through courage and luck, he made it to Earth Prime, but of course he faces a lot of problems here because of his appearance."

She turned to Murdock. "That's another thing I'd like to try and address," she told him. "I know the armor is bonded too deeply to you to be removed, but if we can change the appearance of it, that might make your life a lot easier."

[JackgarPrime]

Lance drops a bit of the tension when Ms. A steps in, but he's still on-edge, just in case. He had turned off his automatic link to base, since he was off-duty, with only the vitals currently being transmitted. Good thing,too. If his superiors had seen what he just saw, they'd have agents here within moments. Taking a small step back, he switches his glance between the two, back and forth, before finally drawing the binders back in to his body with a loud "click."

Lance tries to figure out what to say, and as he thinks, his mechanical hand starts to randomly open and close in rhythm, without him thinking about it. "....Alright....I'll take your word on it....But if he does ANYTHING suspicious...."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Everything I do is suspicious." It wasn't a complaint. It was a statement of fact. Having eyed the other cyborg, his eyes dark, as he showed his power, Murdock returned his attention to Miss A. "The pike is powered by its physical connection to the material universe. This allows it to channel destructive power. But it can be damaged, or broken, which would allow Terminus technology to fall into the hands of the innocent. This cannot be allowed. "

[Electra]

"Right, no damaging or breaking the pike," Miss A said with a nod. "But we still might be able to disguise it a little bit, maybe even rig you up with a portable holoprojector. It wouldn't have to be foolproof, but if it could fool the civilians, it might keep a panic like what happened last time from happening. I'm sure we'll figure something out."

She turned her attention to Lance. "And I did talk to your supervisor, and we won't be doing any sort of metallurgical tests today. That's not my specialty anyway," she admitted with a breezy laugh. "I'm more interested in seeing how your cybernetic parts mesh with the biological systems of your body. If you're ready, go ahead and get up on the table and lay down. I won't make you strip down or anything, she teased.

[JackgarPrime]

Lance keeps his eye on Murdok, noticing the momentary glow for a moment. Curious at that, his eyebrow quirks for a moment, but he says nothing. Having a moment to calm down, Jack takes a breath, then nods, reverting to a more neutral expression. He takes a step towards the table and rests a hand on it, before turning around and sitting. He's very careful as he sits, though, as he isn't entirely sure whether it'll hold his weight or not. Finding that it does, he lets his body weight shift to how it would normally be sitting.

Catching her little tease, he crackes a little grin at the corner of his mouth. "No? What a shame."

[Electra]

"Maybe later," Miss A told him with a grin, patting his boot as she walked by. "That table's rated to hold a few tons without a problem, so don't worry about breaking it. Just stretch out and make yourself comfortable, this won't hurt a bit." Once Lance was situated, Miss A wrestled a rack of sensors over the table and into position. "Lie as still as you can," she told him, "this should take about five minutes. All I'm doing now is taking medical readings of your body at rest."

[JackgarPrime]

Lance's shoulders move up and down a bit, probably from a very light laugh under his breath. He swings his legs up, and they make a bit of a clanging noise as they land on the table. Laying his body out on the slab, it doesn't take him long to relax. He goes through so many tests day in and day out that he ends up using them as an excuse to rest. After all, the only thing he has to do a lot of the time is lay there. And considering how much time he spends out on patrol, he's happy to take a rest. Although, as soon as it's over, he'll often find he can't wait to get back in the air. "Alright. Ready when you are."

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock stood without pacing as he watched Miss A tend to Lance, his body and face still and composed. He hadn't responded to her offer, but the sharp-eyed Miss A could easily see the Omegadrone's strong hope and desire, not so carefully suppressed by that blank look in his eye. He was a very polite man, and didn't say a word as she worked. Life without fear. A life I could live without fear of exposure, with no greater curse than any other cyborg. It would be... He couldn't even put it into words.

[Electra]

As promised, the exam didn't hurt a bit, consisting as it did mainly of blue lights that played over Lance's body, scanning him and sending readings back to the excitedly chirping bank of computers on the other side of the room. "Temperature's good, blood pressure is good, blood chemistry is a little bit off, but that might be normal for you..." Miss A spoke loudly enough for Lance to hear, but she seemed to be talking more to herself as she jotted notes on an iPad and watched the screens. "Can you tell me a little more about what shape your body was in before you got the implants?" she asked Lance suddenly.

[JackgarPrime]

Lance wasn't sure if he should sit up yet, so he just rested his hands on his stomach for now. He idly listens as she runs off her diagnosis, and nods at the blood chemistry comment. "Yeah, it's not quite like it used to be. The flesh parts of my body in general aren't exactly as they were before. They gotta be able to handle the speeds I move at, after all."

Listening patiently to the question, he sighs ever so slightly, and sits up, flexing his flesh right arm. His mechanical left hand points at it. "This...." He then moves the hand in a circle covering his head, his chest, and some of his upper thighs, but that's it. "...and this. Basically, what you still see is what I had left. Plus some nasty burns,too."

[Electra]

"So they cut down till they were able to find healthy tissue and grafted the cyborg parts on from there?" Miss A asked. "Was that immediately after your accident, or did they wait until you'd healed what you were going to on your own? How long did the post-surgical recovery take?" Belatedly it seemed to occur to her that this might be a painful subject for him to remember. "I hope it doesn't bother you to talk about this," she added. "It's just a matter of scientific curiosity, I'm not trying to pry into your history."

[JackgarPrime]

"So they cut down till they were able to find healthy tissue and grafted the cyborg parts on from there?" Miss A asked. "Was that immediately after your accident, or did they wait until you'd healed what you were going to on your own? How long did the post-surgical recovery take?" Belatedly it seemed to occur to her that this might be a painful subject for him to remember. "I hope it doesn't bother you to talk about this," she added. "It's just a matter of scientific curiosity, I'm not trying to pry into your history."

Lance shakes his head, with a dismissive smile on his lips. "Nah, it's alright. I've talked about it a million times. I appreciate the concern,though." Taking a breath before he speaks, Lance tries to relax as he talks, although, honestly, it still isn't the most comfortable topic. "Well, they waited a little while after the accident. They wanted to make sure that whatever was left of me was still in working condition. Which it is, for the most part. They did let me know about it pretty much as soon as I woke up, though. But they wanted to give me time to think about it. In case I decided I just wanted my discharge and pay..."

Looking down at his mechanical hand, he opens and closes it a few more times, although his gaze seems to go right through it, staring at something far off. "I don't really know exactly what they did on the surgery. It's way past my understanding, that's for sure. I could repair a jet engine, do basic maintenance on myself, but what they did....that's far beyond me." Looking back up, his eyes glance to the ceiling, thinking back. "As for how long the recovery took....it's hard to say. The recovery and re-training sort of blended together." His eyes come back down, to look at Ms. A, and he gives a light shrug. "I suppose you could say it's still going on, since they're always upgrading me."