Bomb's Away! (IC)

[Electra]

The waldoes obligingly ceased their rolling of the bomb, though one did turn its metal fingers to the window to give Supercape a saucy wave. A few moments later, Miss A stirred once again, removing the gloves, then the goggles. "It's disarmed," she told him, shaking out her hands as though they'd become cramped from the micromanipulations. "I'd like to take it all the way apart to see how it works, but it should at least be reasonably safe now. Looks like it was full of poison gas, with an explosive propellant. We're lucky it didn't detonate during the invasion, that's a very populated area."

She smiled at him, smoothing her hair back into place from where the goggles had disordered it. "Thanks for the shield, by the way. I'd hate to have to replace all the equipment in my lab, assuming I survived any explosion. You're really not going to tell me where I know you from?"

[Supercape]

"Poison gas!" gasped Supercape, psychosomatically choking at the thought. "Lot of good my force field would do for that... if it got through the blast shield..."

"As for my identity, well to be honest I'm not really much of a hero... probably best if I keep that a secret. I'd be the laughing stock, or worse still, would loose my cosy little existence. Not that I don't trust you of course madam" he added hastily.

"Impressive work, by the way... where did you pick up that talent?" he asked, glancing over at the dismantled bomb.

[Electra]

"Engineering is engineering," Miss A told him with a little shrug, tucking her tools away once more. "A lot of it is just simply understanding how things are put together generally, then applying that knowledge to the specific. I've seen studies of Grue technology before, learned how other pieces of their munitions have been disabled. Eidetic memory," she added, tapping her temple lightly. "It was really just a matter of putting theory into practice.

Now that the crisis was past, she walked up to the blast shield and began to look at it more carefully, analyzing it with a handheld scanner. The scanner seemed to have some trouble with it, reading one second and not the next, as though it were only finding anything to analyze about half the time. "I've never seen anything like this, though," she admitted.

[Supercape]

"Hmmm yes... see... well. I don't know what you are like with Quantum mechanics, madam, but it's not strictly existing right now. At least not in 4-dimensional space. Its a false vacuum state, well... that's the short version of explaining it without going into Heisenbergian parametric m-theory... here, let me show you..."

Excited as ever, he took up a pencil, licked it, and started scribbling equations on some scrap paper, completely oblivious to his current identity or circumstance. For all he knew, he could have been delivering a seminar to an interested student at Freedom University...

[Electra]

Miss A sat down next to him, watching as he scribbled, and clearly keeping up without a problem. She asked questions that showed she certainly had more than a basic knowledge of the field, though even she couldn't add more than new theories to his knowledge about the workings of his own power.

"I'd love to get you back in here when I have all my equipment set up," she told him. "I'm still moving in here, obviously, but once I'm settled, I have some diagnostic tools that could provide a much more revealing look at the quantum matrices surrounding you as you use your powers. It's all theoretical, which is pretty much the word of the day when it comes to quantum physics in any case, but I think it would be fascinating. Would you be interested?"

[Supercape]

Supercape opened and shut his jaw involuntarily.

Its Chriiiiistmaaaaaaas! said the ten year old kid inside him, ripping open the presents to find lego and mechano.

"Ooooooh" he replied "I would be delighted. Delighted!" he was actually a little damp in the eye, and was hopping from one foot to the other. "The laboratory at the university is not half as well equip...ahem...yes, anyway...the stuff here is simply splendid! absolutely top rate stuff!"

[Electra]

"Perfect!" Miss A said pleasedly, filing away the information about the university without so much as a blink. "It will probably be another couple of weeks before I'm ready to do any intensive analysis here, but you'll be the first one I contact when it's done. Except I'm afraid I don't have any way of getting in touch," she added delicately. From the way he acted, she was almost sure he was either a teacher or had aspirations of being one. There had been a professor at the brunch, she recalled suddenly, perhaps several of them.

She honestly hadn't been paying too much attention, busy with controlling herself on her first public outing in this model, but she did remember that there was one who'd been very eager to work with everyone. Who was it, Liebinz, perhaps? Well, she would go take a look at Professor Liebinz later, just to satisfy her own curiosity.

[Supercape]

"Absolutely no problem my dear" Supercape replied, brandishing his Superphone "my very own Superphone! here, let me give you my number..." and so he did, scribbling it down with pen and paper.

"I don't suppose..." he continued, somewhat abashed "...you see, whilst I'm a bit of a whizz with the maths and theory and everything, never been absolutely A+ with the whizz bang technical mumbo jumbo. Bit concerned about the old security aspect of this phone..."

Leaning towards her, as if plotting a conspiracy, he went on in a lower tone "between you and me, not that super a phone at all, regular common mobile. Um, don't suppose you could spruce up the security on it a bit? make it a bit untraceable and all that jiggery pokery?"

[Electra]

"Sure, I do that all the time," she told him, reaching out her hand for the phone. "This is a... pretty basic model," she told him, doing her best not to laugh, "but I think I can do something with it. Give me fifteen minutes or so. You can go ahead and poke around the lab or whatever. There's drinks and snacks in that minifridge over against the wall." Catching her lower lip between perfect white teeth, she began tapping on the keypad, doing god-knew-what to the poor little cell phone.

[Supercape]

Supercape pottered over to the Fridge. As an afterthought, befitting the environs, he concentrated for a second, and his cape whirled around his body and reformed as a sparkling white lab coat. He made sure his mask remained. Picking up what seemed to be an advanced Micromacrometer, he fiddled around with it as he poked around in the fridge.

"Got any tea, my dear? Shall I put the kettle on?"

[Electra]

"Fraid not," she called back distractedly. "You can make some coffee, I've got some instant crystals and a hot pot over there by the pile of ramen, but no tea, and no kettle either. Soda's more my drink of choice. And that's an interesting look on you," she added. "Sort of Doctor Zorro, MD. Is quantum mechanics your field?" she asked idly, wondering if he might be interested enough in her toys to speak more frankly.

[Supercape]

"No problem really" replied Supercape. He filled up a mug with water, gazed into it, and in a moment it was bubbling. "Nudged a few atoms, E=MC squared and all that". He then proceeded to spoon in a modest amount of instant coffee.

"I'll bring some Earl Grey next time. And a kettle. "

Fiddling with the micromacroscope again, he answered her question "Yes, Quantum mechanics is an area of interest. Fascinating stuff. I dabble in all sorts really. Psychology, philosophy, physics, biology. Just not to good with the practical side of stuff. Suppose I should apply myself more."

"And what about you, from whence comes your knowledge? you look very young to have accumulated such expertise."

[Electra]

"I got a super-mind along with the rest of my powers," Miss A told him matter of factly, even as she pulled the back off his phone and attacked the insides with a slender tool. "Once I had that, it was easy to study everything that interested me, so I accumulated a lot of knowledge in a relatively short period of time. It's really amazing how much information is just out there, on the internet, in libraries, at university lectures, all there for free, right for the taking. And then I practiced a lot, taking things apart and remaking them or cannibalizing them for parts. There's plenty more to learn, though, and Freedom City's the place to do it. What do you want your passcode to be?"

[Supercape]

"Oh, um... how about Planck. Throw in a bit of history" he replied.

"Super-mind eh? wouldn't mind one of those myself. Just a few more IQ points to grease the wheels, so to speak. Can't really complain about the old grey matter to be honest. "

He sipped at the instant coffee, pretending to find it acceptable to his refined taste. When Miss A wasn't looking, he poured it into a potted plant and made a "mmmmmmm delicious" sound.

"By the way, how are we going to dispose of the poison chemicals?"

[Electra]

Miss A turned to look at him, giving him an enigmatic smile. "Planck it is," she agreed. "Just dial 6626068 when you want to get into your phone. I'd need to actually dig in and modify the hardware to make it totally untraceable, but this will make anyone interested in tracking you work quite a bit harder. If you're interested, I can put something together for you that will do more, but that'll take some time and some parts."

She looked over towards the bomb thoughtfully. "I'll need to take the bomb apart to access the gas, then I'll probably rig up some storage device to keep it secure until I can find somewhere to dispose of it. Probably not inside a plastic plant, though," she said with the faintest of smirks on her lovely face as she handed him the phone.

[Supercape]

Supercape frowned. And coughed. If he was wearing a bow tie, he would have adjusted it. Indeed, his hands had halfway moved to his neck as his jaw stuck out ever so defiantly.

Damn, I wish I was wearing a bow tie right now he thought to himself, in rather an irritated mood.

"Yes, well. I suppose a touch of chemical analysis wouldn't go amiss on that front. And perhaps a bit of outer space disposal, if necessary. I mean, how high can you fly?"

[Electra]

"I'm not quite at escape velocity speeds," Miss A told him, "at least not yet." She felt a little bit bad for teasing him, both because he seemed annoyed and because it had been a slip of persona, but what was done was done. "And I imagine that Grue technology is probably reasonably hardy against the rigors of space. I know a chemist I may be able to consult with on finding a nullifying reagent, that would probably be the safest option. Do you know any space fliers, if it becomes necessary?"

[Supercape]

"Ummm, not personally, no. A friend may. Although this particular chap seems to be at the other end of the universe right now, so probably a dead end at the moment. Don't suppose you have any space suits do you?" he asked, half seriously. There was so much stuff littering the room, he wouldn't have been surprised.

"Nullifying may not be necessary. We could just strip away the atoms, or superheat it until the chemicals fall apart. Probably simplest, if we have somewhere to contain the heat or radiation. "

[Electra]

"I'm afraid I'm not set up for either of those things at the moment," Miss A said with an apologetic shrug. "As I mentioned, I'm still moving in, and, well, those things are both a little outside my area of expertise anyway. I'm sure someone has those things, it's just a matter of finding out who, and pooling resources. There must be a more efficient way." Efficient herself, Miss A stowed away her tools, then went over to the minifridge and got herself a can of Diet Mountain Dew. As she drank, she took a thoughtful look around the lab. "Honestly, there's just not enough room here for anything a superhero might need. Meeting other heroes is a good start, but we need a better way to work together."

[Supercape]

"Well, that meeting set up by Dr Archeville was a good start you know...umm...so I hear...." replied Supercape.

He coughed into his hand.

"Lots of good idea's there. Pooling resources, maybe even getting some kind of laboratory together. I hear you were there amongst all those boffin chaps. If that kind of cooperation can happen, the skies the limit!" he enthused.

[Electra]

It wasn't exactly difficult to see through Supercape's paper-thin deception. Now she was sure he was one of the civilian men at the brunch. Now that she thought on it, Liebniz was too short, frail and old to fit the bill. He could be the other professor, Quentin Quill, or John Fraser, who'd looked a bit older, but could easily have dyed his hair and affected a limp. Interesting.

"I would like to get in touch with some of those people again," she agreed, "but most of them seem to have been civilians, unless they simply all chose to hide their identities. Getting civilians deeply involved with a superlab seems a little bit irresponsible, given the shenanigans heroes tend to get into. I do plan on speaking to Dr. Archeville again soon, though. He is probably the best connected scientist in the area, if not anywhere."

[Supercape]

Supercape arched his back and twiddled his thumb.

She's not stupid he concluded. However, I cant go telling my secret identity to everyone

Should have gone to the blasted meeting as Supercape. And should have set Liebniz trousers on fire. But life is too short for "Shoulda"

"Yes, the good Doctor has a top rate mind" replied Supercape. "Errr... ummm...."

He was still undecided about telling all.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours was the only stupid phrase that entered his head.

"Sooooo, about this secret identity stuff...." he started, sounding her out.

[Electra]

"Secret identities are very important," Miss Americana agreed judiciously, making sure to tuck away the threatening smile. "It's the rare superhero who entirely abandons her civilian identity to go full-time, if only because it does feel a bit silly to go to meetings and job interviews and introduce oneself as Miss Americana. I totally understand the need for them. However, they do certainly get in the way from time to time, and they certainly make it more difficult to create a network of like-minded scientists, super or no."

She set aside her half-finished soda and began to check on some readings from a set of monitors running continual field-stress experiments. "I suppose it's a decision every hero has to make for themselves."

[Supercape]

"Well I don't think I can abandon mine. Its far too cosy" replied Supercape "and flying around in a cape isn't so compatible with it. On the other hand, you make a pertinent point about co-operation. "

He started twiddling with a retroprospectoscope in an agitated fashion. "A most excellent point. For instance, I can hardly go about studying this..." he produced a sphere of quantum matter that floated away like a soap bubble "...in my day job, and I don't have the resources to really look into my abilities properly at home. I'm sure given a good laboratory I could discover fascinating things. "

He put down the instrument. "Well, I was at that meeting, you know. Actually, you probably do know. I won't say who as, but you may guess. Only guess mind!" he winked "so I hope the pooling of resources does come together. "

"Oh, mind the thingy!" he added, as the small sphere of quantum material drifted over to a shelf, and knocked over a precariously balanced rack of test tubes.

[Electra]

Miss A yelped, rising into the air herself to field the test tubes and address the ball. With the tubes securely in one arm, she told the ball, "Careful analysis of your state of quantum flux indicates that you do not, in fact, actually exist." She glared sternly at it, wondering if the errant creation would actually pop out of existence. "Your accent does suggest a possible suspect," she told him, "but I am, of course, only guessing."