The Marvels of Science (IC)

[Supercape]

6th December. Hanover District (The Lab)

Supercape was busy underground, playing with the particle accelerator, when his PDA started beeping.

Blast and Damnation he cursed, powering down the fusion reactor. He mopped his brow, and cursed again. Fine tuning the collisions was a sensitive, delicate process that required immense concentration. And all his senses - not just the human ones. The slightest distraction and...

He really should have put it on silent. He had been so close to seeing if his theory on type III gravity was true...

So what was all this fuss about? He looked at his PDA. Another student from Claremont! damnation!

Well, it kept the Lab in business, and it was often quite fun, teaching. He glanced down at the name, and took an involuntary gasp at the name...

[Aoiroo]

Traveling through the city as often as she did during the school week proved troublesome, but some things in her home lessons just didn't match up to the Claremont circulem. Apparently, earlier in the semester there had been a couple of practical experiments in her physical sciences class that she could not simply call exception from. Redoing the experiment in class seemed unlikely because of a school wide project concerning dimensional protection seemed to be pulling most of the science resources. Still she was a bit uncomfortable going to the lobby of the large building brimming with metal, the meer sight made her want to pull the sleeve of her coat down a little further over the exposed flesh between her wrist and gloved hand. She went to the front desk to meet a lobbyist with a nice smile and asked about the appointment made for the replacement experiment. Apparently her guide was busy so she sat quietly in the lobby chairs and waited for their arrival.

[Supercape]

Supercape remained in his Superlab costume, with concealed face. It was much the same as his regular hero costume, except his cape was replaced by a pristine white lab coat that sparkled slightly.

Goodness me he murmured, trying to compose himself. Etain...

He had, as Professor Quill, only recently defeated an ancient evil under Freedom City with Etain, and now he was meeting her again as Supercape. He had half a mind to tell her his secret Identity, but the less people knew the better. It was going to be damn hard however.

Arriving on ground level, he adjusted his lab coat, wishing he had a bow tie to adjust. Seeing Etain, he walked towards her as confidently as he could muster, and waved a greeting.

No Latin he reminded himself.

"Good morning" he remarked, holding out his hand.

"Supercape, one of the Laboratory heroes. Pleased to make your acquaintance"

[Fox]

Dragonfly nearly plowed right into the pair, walking along with an electronic pad in her hand, muttering something about balancing out vibrations in...something. Whatever she was looking at, it was engrossing enough that she only stopped short when her visor put up an alert, warning her she was about to try walking through a short young woman, a fellow Lab member...and a wall. She blinked, looking up and taking a step back to restore everyone's personal space. It took her another moment to get her brain back on track. "S-..sorry. Distracted. Why are you on the--"

She looked around. not the seventeenth floor "...ground floor. How...? Nevermind. Not important." She reached under her visor to pinch the bridge of her nose, sighing. "Going to walk out a window one day."

[Aoiroo]

When her guide for the project arrived she stood up and walked over. Making a short bow before presenting a smile to the man in blue and white. He seemed a little familiar though since she had met so many people since coming here it was hard to place. Opening her mouth she was about to return the greeting when when Etain found herself being knocked back by a girl with a large amount of gadgetry. She was glad when the girl took a step back after the meeting because it stopped Etain from doing so. She couldn't tell on sight, but there was a lot of metal in general on this girl and her little reaction to such things was rather unfavorable for this envirement. Though when the girl started muttering, she couldn't help but listen in on habit.

"Ohh, that would be very bad since you do not seem to have wings. Though maybe you might have something else to fly, or maybe something to fall slow."

[Supercape]

"aha yes" interjected Supercape. "And this is my comrade - in - science, Dragonfly"

Very bright young lady, heads not all with it, however. Needs a bit of direction.

"Dragonfly, this is Etain Maher" he pronounced, making it quite clear that he needed to consult his PDA to find her name. "A student from Claremont. You know, we show them around the Lab and give them some science lectures now and again, all in the name of good community spirit and all that?"

He sighed. The reality was that most of the Lab scientists where geeky scientists. Superheroes, yes, but they were all somewhat wrapped up in there own science worlds. Gossamer and Miss Americana were probably the most "normal" - at least superficially. Of course, Miss Americana was anything but "normal" once you really got to know her.

"Anyway..." he continued "I am sure it is a pleasure for us both to meet you" he elbowed Dragonfly gently.

[Fox]

"Ohh, that would be very bad since you do not seem to have wings. Though maybe you might have something else to fly, or maybe something to fall slow."

Dragonfly rolled her eyes - the head movement apparent, even if her eyes themselves were barely visible under the visor. "Working on it. Could teleport to safety if I noticed in time. Better than falling the whole way...flying's a challenge to do. Have gone through a lot of mannequins...close to a solution."

She tapped a finger against the pad, still somewhat lost in her thoughts. lasting longer without destabilizing - would be better if I could reconfigure the-

"Anyway..." he continued "I am sure it is a pleasure for us both to meet you" he elbowed Dragonfly gently.

That snapped her out of it. She blinked, lowering the pad. "...it is? Why?" catch up - Claremont? - private school - something about - ah community outreach - publicity - bothersome "...right. High school. My...condolences?"

[Aoiroo]

Etain turned her quietly at the peculiar girl.

"Flying is hard alone, you could ask for help. There are lots of interesting people in the city after all."

Her thoughts went to Quentin, though she wasn't sure he could fly he could teleport. Though she couldn't say anything, after all it was a secret. Hopefully there wasn't any mindreaders in the area.

"I do not understand is there a problem with school?"

She tried to think about the school,

"It is strange, but everyone seems nice. The teachers seem mad sometimes with me though, I never speak out of turn to them."

[Supercape]

"No no, nothing wrong with school. Fine institution!" replies Supercape, with as much encouragement as he could muster. He gave a sideways glance at Dragonfly, and pinched his forehead.

I need some Asprin...

"My colleague here was just saying how Right High School is". Dragonfly was perhaps the worst teacher material in the known universe. Shame, given her brain.

"And we are both very much looking forward to showing you some of the Marvels of Science!"

[Fox]

Dragonfly shrugged, the gentle correction completely unnoticed. "Wouldn't know about high school. Less about Claremont. Little experience with- we are?" She blinked again, glancing from Supercape to Etain and back again. "I...okay."

The pad twisted and disappeared, folding away into nothingness in her hand. She winced, leaning her head to the side and stretching. "Good idea to take a break anyway. Going to go crazy at this rate. Prove everyone right. Haven't helped give a tour yet, anyway. Probably wise. Might be interesting, regardless." most things are worth doing once - can go back to work later - probably a dead end anyway

[Aoiroo]

Glancing at the girl, well more at her hands as the device in them simply disappeared from existance she smiled,

"I did not know about high school either, it was quite surprising when my guardians first sent me there."

She looked over at the girls hands,

"Where did you banish your tablet to?"

She was looking carefully but she couldn't see the seems of an illusion or traces of a teleportation spell, plus the girl had just say she had not yet perfected it so it was unlikely that she had done so on something she might want to use later.

[Supercape]

"Excellent!" replied Supercape. Dragonfly seemed to be back in the world of the living again.

"So, Etain...ummm. Miss Maher" he coughed "...Miss Maher I mean, forgive my impertinence. I suggest we start off with the simulation suite! both are free at the moment"

He lead her to elevator shaft B, and stood waiting for the high powered elevator. Reaching into his lab coat, he produced a small card on a neck chain and handed it to Etain.

"Visitors Pass, good for one day. Don't wander to far! it has a tracking device!" he smiled.

[Aoiroo]

"Etain is fine, it is what I say to people to call me when we meet."

Etain followed up to a point but stopped just short of the elevator,

"Umm, is it possible that we should take stairs?"

Though some modes of transportation were uncomfortable, there were few that she refused as openly as being trapped in a small metal box for which there seemed no escape. She was also reluctant to take the chain of the necklace in her gloved hands, so instead she grabbed the plastic and let the metal chain hang down out of her hands and away from her body.

[Fox]

"And," Dragonfly noted as walked with her new companions, nodding toward the pass, "won't be respected everywhere. Some rooms have warning signs for a reason."

awkward silence - answer question? - supposed to be showing off technology anyway - unlikely to reverse engineer off a demonstration The young woman held her hand out, the pad twisting and folding back into being, then disappearing the same as it had before. "Folded space - 'dimensional pocket'. Very useful. Fairly common...not widespread or commercially available. Abusable. Safe, reliable personal storage. Good for personal items, vehicles, spare clothes...very useful for intimidating criminals. Transfer isn't dangerous, but I'm told it's unpleasant."

"Umm, is it possible we should take stairs?"

She tilted her head, frowning. claustrophobia - cleisiophobia - fear of elevators? no latin name "Could. A lot of climbing...exercise is probably healthy. Why?"

[Supercape]

Supercape looked up. There was only a ceiling of course, but mentally he was counting the many floors. Fifteen. Fifteen floors. And the floors were not conservative either. High ceilings.

"Yes, of course. Exercise! Jolly good Exercise!"

He started limbering up almost unconsciously, stretching his quads.

"Only fifteen floors! wont take a moment!"

Inside, he groaned. He was fairly fit, thanks to all the cycling he did. But fifteen damn floors was tiring for anybody.

[Aoiroo]

"I am not fond of elevators."

Wasn't a lie, wasn't a complete answer but it wasn't a lie. Stairs generally weren't made out of metal, the guard rails were, but she didn't have to touch them. Even if the stairs were metal, they didn't surround her completely. As they started towards the stairs, she glanced at just how very tall this building was. She was in decent shape, but it might prove troubling.

"You talked about teleporting earlier, I have no problem with that if it is available."

[Fox]

Dragonfly shook her head, sharing the glance at the heavens as she calculated the likely height they'd have to take. floor height f times floors n plus inter-floor spacing s times floors n divided by average height of step... "Have to know where I'm going. Could end up in a wall. Personal teleport, anyway...could reconfigure on the fly for multiple passengers but it would carry some risk. Prefer to return you to your school with limbs intact. Though there is fascinating work being done on prosthetics in one of the labs...."

[Supercape]

Supercape glanced at Dragonfly again and shook his head in despair. The young woman had clearly had all tact surgically removed at birth.

I must scan her brain at some point. Prefrontal cortex may be implicated. Diminished response inhibition...

He shook his head. Yegods! its catching! he thought to himself.

Whatever the reason, there was no doubting Dragonflies intellect. It just needed pointing at times.

As for the stairs, he could have easily transported the three of them up, but that would give a rather significant clue to his identity. To the observer, his teleport looked similar to any other, but to the traveller it might well not. On the other hand, how many times had Etain teleported?

"Going up" he pronounced, placing a head on the two women, before the world collapsed to a pinpoint.

And expanded again just outside the simulator suite A.

[Aoiroo]

Etain smiled dimmed a bit to a slighter one with hints of concerns for the other girls implications,

"Ending up in a wall sounds bad, and I am very fond of my limbs. I never leave home without them."

She was about to give up with a step, but the other guide managed to take care of the problem. The place there were now was a hallway in front of a door labelled simulator A. It didn't have any windows which seemed quite strange.

"What is done in this room?"

[Supercape]

"This, my dear" said Supercape, with a wide grin and obvious delight "Is one of our simulator suites! it takes up a whole level and, via holograms and other devices, can simulate nearly every environment!"

He put his hand to the door, and the entrance slid open.

The suite was indeed massive, a grey room with an illuminated grid on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Doors lead off to the side control and monitoring rooms.

"For instance" he continued, calling out to the room "Computer: Run Simulation: Forest 1".

From out of nowhere, a gentle midwestern forest environment sprang up around them. A soft zephyr blew in their faces, and birdsong could be heard in the distance.

[Fox]

Dragonfly relaxed a little, looking around the familiar room with something vaguely approaching calm happiness on her face. She'd been spending a bit of time in these rooms recently - she'd never gotten to spend much time in nature, and didn't have the free time to do it now, so these simulations tended to be the next best thing. They were almost...relaxing.

"Engineering was...interesting. A challenge. Wasn't my project, but I lent a hand...mostly getting various systems to work together as a whole. A lot of creations to get to cooperate and interact without shorting or overheating or whatnot. Or," she added as a last-minute thought, thinking back to the mess of wires hidden behind the walls, "building a fire hazard. Final product is actually very safe. Popular off-hours spot for employees...can't blame them."

[Aoiroo]

It was an impressive illusion, the details were of a different season, since the grass was too crisp for the late autumn reflected outside, but otherwise it was very beautiful. Kneeling down on the 'grass' she removed a glove so she may feel it while the others chattered on about this place. However, what was strange was the praise it was getting,

"Is this so, unique?"

[Supercape]

"No no, we have another suite just like it one floor above!" laughed Supercape in a friendly manner.

"It's not unique however, I'm sure Archeville and his company have similar technology, perhaps even superior. And the Freedom League too. Perhaps several places. Rare, however, is certainly an adjective that could be applied. "

He strolled around a bit, admiring the view "this is just show case simulation. Good for some rest and relaxation. We have a variety of similar programmes. However, we often use these for experiments. For instance, zero gravity..."

"Computer: Add zero gravity environment" he called out.

With a sickening redistribution of blood, the gravity ceased, and all three heroes started floating. Some leaves started floating in mid-air.

[Aoiroo]

It was rather interesting things these illusions. The people mentioned she was less then familiar with though she did know of the Freedom League if only by some things that are talked about frequently on the television as well as some of the in class dicussion at Claremont. Looking around she did find the scene more thoroughly relaxing then the world outside this room, though that quickly changed as the gravity ceased to hold them down.

Etain had been flying before, there were several different means she did so including after coming here the back of a rather colorful unicorn. This however was not like flying, they weren't brazing against a force or facing wind with an increased speed, it wasn't even like regular floating, they were simply not held down by anything any longer. The sensation greatly surprised her and an exaguratted motion left her in an awkward spin the sent her floating upside down. She looked down towards her skirt for fear that it might pull down her legs, but with no weight to do so it just stayed awkwardly there was Etain flondered by waving her arms trying to get upright once more.

"Some help, please."

[Supercape]

"Ooops" apologised Supercape, drifting over to her. He had built his costume with a reactive microgravity compensator, and was pleased it was working. It was a simple matter to fly over to her, and put her head upwards.

"Of course, we can modify the settings... Computer: Reinstate Gravity at 0.1 G"

The effect was instant but not jolting like before. A light sensation of weight came across the three heroes, and they slowly drifted back to the floor.