ic Visiting Hours (IC)

[Fox]

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.

[Gizmo]

Holding open a door for a pair of suit-wearing professionals as they left the massive egg-shaped structure, the young, masked woman in the crimson jacket whistled tunelessly, acutely aware of her conspicuous attire. Slipping into the lobby behind them, Jill O'Cure tugged selfconsciously on the bottom of her black midriff top with one hand as she balanced a tray with a pair of tall coffee cups in the other and did her best to stride confidently to the reception desk. "Hi, I'm ah, here to see Dragonfly? Shortish, blonde?" The sidekick gestured vaguely with he free hand to indicate height. "Wears a blue visor and these big glove things? ...this is kinda weird, huh?" Flicking her eyes away, she bit her bottom lip and brushed a lock of dyed black hair away from her bandanna mask. "Yeah. This is kinda weird."

[Fox]

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.

[Gizmo]

Accepting the security pass, Jill shoved it into a pocket in her dark crimson jacket giving the receptionist the flattest of looks before walking off toward the elevator, making a point of standing straighter and squaring her shoulders. "Happen to know for a fact one of your bosses wears a tiara; nobody gives her grief," the teen muttered in annoyance, inwardly reconsidering adding a grapple to her equipment as she waited for Dragonfly to arrive in the lobby. Even in Freedom City, visitors in full costume avoided a lot of hassle entering through an upper level window.

[Fox]

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?"

[Gizmo]

"Hey! Ah, the bus, mostly," Jill greeted, her mood immediately brightening as she reflexively brushed at her unruly bangs. "Really, though, I wanted to stop in sooner rather than later, but things are kinda nuts lately, running around all over, so I was in the area and I figured, hey, gettin' your super-science on and all, coffee's good, right?" The coltish young woman raised the tray of cups slightly to illustrate the point. "Didn't mean to pull you away like that, sorry. Shoulda called first." Her expression turned a shade chagrined as she resisted the urge to give the receptionist a look over her shoulder.

[Fox]

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?"

[Gizmo]

Jill shoulders relaxed a bit when Dragonfly said she was glad to see her. Although her first semester at Claremont had helped her retrain some of the social skills she'd let atrophy over the past few years, the taller teen was still uncomfortable taking the initiative. She'd second guessed herself more than once just on the way over to the Lab. "Wow. Lotta people complain about there not being enough hours in the day, but you're actually doing something about it, huh?" The medic in training had become reasonably accustomed to similarly outlandish projects from Doktor Archeville and did her best to take it in stride. "Well, I wouldn't say no to the nickel tour. But mostly, yeah, just wanted to say hi, maybe hang out a bit."

[Fox]

Dragonfly grimaced a little. "Try to mess with time as little as possible. Dangerous...highly suspect there are individuals and groups who watch that sort of thing very carefully anyway. But the theory is interesting, and there are some...careful applications. If I can't make the day longer I can do more than one thing at once in that day. Fun challenge."

She led Jill back toward the elevator, hitting a button and watching the numbers tick down. "Could at least start with a tour. Don't get to show things off often...not very good at leading crowds." plus - last time almost died - don't mention that out loud "Implied you enjoyed biology or medicine at the N....earlier? Could show you the med floors."

[Gizmo]

Jill raised her eyebrow over her bandanna mask, her interested piqued as she took a sip from her own cup. "Yeah? I thought you guys were mostly robots and ray guns and that kind of stuff." She raised her free hand to wave off her own statement. "Which is totally cool, still! Just not, y'know, my thing." Quietly clearing her throat, she smirked a little. "So, yes, I would love to see the med floors. Thank you."

[Fox]

Dragonfly shrugged, stepping into the elevator as the doors opened and pressing the button for the 11th floor once Jill had joined her. "I am. Robots and ray guns, I mean. Medical knowledge is...limited. Mostly abstract. But the Lab does everything - engineering, chemistry, medicine. Also...mmh."

She tilted her head, frowning at the floor indicator, which had switched to trying to take them to floor 13. Lights danced behind her eyes and the system switched back to taking the pair to 11. "Also... occasional injury. Accident or mishap or...well, haven't had deliberate sabotage yet, but possibilities are there. Good to have quality facilities on hand. Can do some research, push the field, provide aid for on-site personnel or...not sure, but probably take a small load off nearby hospitals in an emergency. Grue attack or...." She shrugged. "Just useful to have. Devoted two floors to it."

[Gizmo]

"Wow, way to fill a gal with confidence there, Powergloves," Jill drawled as Dragonfly finished listing the variety of situation in which medical facilities would be useful. She found the shorter girl's stream of consciousness style of speech oddly endearing; it gave the impression of honesty, and you could practically hear the gears turning in the blonde's head. "Makes sense, honestly. I mean, Dok A alone is a total omni-discipline genius. Might as well go for broke and throw in the kitchen sink." It was exactly the sort of thing she wished more superhumans were doing rather than spending all their energy on fighting, necessary though it often proved to be.

[Fox]

She grumped. "Haven't had a bad accident since...mmh. Early December. That I know of. Simulation suite no longer purges with vacuum and attack drones when there's an error, anyway. Don't even know who designed that. Still need to find them. And smack them."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, letting them out into a clean white hallway full of broad windows and doors looking into rooms full of medical research and equipment that'd make the most high-quality private hospitals in the world weep. "Eleventh floor; medical research and facilities," she announced, a little pride in her voice. "One of the best in the city. Possibly not in the world...hard to compete with some specialists. Relatively small patient capacity limits us somewhat, but we have good people and equipment. No founders with significant medical skills that I know of, however. So sometimes an unfortunate lack of focus on these floors."

[Gizmo]

Jill covered her mouth with the back of her free hand as she coughed, nearly spitting up her mouthful of coffee at Dragonfly's sullen threat of moderate violence. "Heh. Don't mess with the boss lady, huh?" she managed as she caught her breath through a mix of sputtering and chuckling. "It's pretty nuts that you're one of the 'founders' of this place. I mean, just... wow. Impressive stuff. Obviously, like you need me to tell you." The coltish teen looked about the medical facilities, trying to take as much of it in as possible.

[Fox]

Dragonfly paused, grimacing. "Not....I mean, I am, but...mmh. Odd to think about. Idea just sort of came together...someone suggested it, others agreed it was good, a few of us came forward to contribute resources and expertise." She shifted a little and frowned. "Not sure what to think about being a 'boss lady'. Admit I've thought of starting an independent company, though. Income, new projects. Mostly income. Personal reserve won't hold out forever."

She shrugged. "Mostly good to help people. Build things that aren't...that are beneficial. This building just lets us be more...organized. Connected."

[Gizmo]

"Ugh, money. Yeah, that I get," Jill commiserated with a mild grimace, covering the look with another sip from her cup. "But, I mean, all this... it's good, y'know? You're successful, sure. Really, really successful. But you're using your gifts to help so many people at once. That's the really amazing part." Her cheeks coloured slightly as she brushed her bangs away from her eyes absently. "And I don't usually gush like this. Sorry. Just impressed, I guess."

[Fox]

The young inventor just hmmed, sipping from her coffee for a moment. "Good to build helpful things," she finally agreed. "Penance, or..."

She blinked, and shook her head. "Sorry. Tangents. Maybe more impressive than it looks," she continued, rather modestly. "Will hopefully be able to help a lot of people, yes...eventually. Honestly just one piece of a larger machine, myself. 'Founder' or not. Have to divide my time...but the projects really should help. Quality of life, better equipment, new developments. Can't always punch a problem."

She tilted her head, looking around at the machines. "You're the expert. Curious - what do you think? Honestly don't visit this floor much."

[Gizmo]

"Dios, swap 'punch' for 'stab' and you've just sundered my brother's entire life philosophy," Jill drawled, rolling her eyes. She hadn't missed Dragonfly's offhand reference to penance, but decided not to pursue it. "Expert? Guess I am. Huh." Despite her demonstrable skills, it was rare for her medical expertise to be recognized like that outside of academic testing. Standing a little straighter, she looked about the winding hallway as they walked. "Well, I like the floor design, anyway. Decontamination chambers, looks like, in front of all the ORs. Infection is always a huge concern. Having the testing equipment right there cuts down on the number of beds, but I'll bet it cuts down on diagnosis time, too."

[Fox]

She nodded, frowning. "Always trade-offs...could have built more equipment into the walls, but then it shuts down the floor when we replace or upgrade. Special or compressed storage slows things down when it malfunctions...." She shrugged. "Patients who don't need the machines could be kept in spare rooms. Or the holding cells...that last one sounds like something they wouldn't be happy with. Perfectly serviceable rooms, though. Just have to remember not to lock the doors."

"Still," she added, tilting her head. "Glad it meets standards. Know the machines and how they function but lacked...context."

[Gizmo]

"The context is pretty much 'they make you not die'," Jill admitted, pausing to peer through a large glass window into a sterile room at the equipment within. "Looks like a lot of the stuff in there is automated, or at least remote control. Guess if you were dealing with a lot of question marks you'd want to keep stuff as quarantined as possible. Is that a teleporter, there?" she asked, pointing out a large cylindrical fixture on the ceiling.

[Fox]

"Mmh. I believe so." Dragonfly tilted her head the other way, lights dancing behind her eyes as she asked it. "....yes. It is. Not sure if it's ever been used, though. Good for getting patients here in a hurry, getting them into a holding cell if the problem makes them dangerous. Last option isn't entirely containment - nullifiers. Hopefully won't ever have to use them, but can't predict the future."

She blinked, raising an eyebrow as the lights faded away. "Don't....think they're hooked up to anything. Recent installment, maybe...have power but don't appear to be connected to anything but themselves. Odd. Will have to ask about that - someone's half-finished project?"

[Gizmo]

Jill was silent for a moment as she gave Dragonfly a sidelong glance. She hadn't been sure if she was imagining it in the elevator or not, but she'd definitely seen something going on behind the other girl's visor this time. "Hee, that thing your eyes do when you're concentrating is really, ah, neat," she finished lamely, covering with a longer pull on her coffee. "The power dampeners are probably a good idea, anyway," she continued quickly. "What if you had like a meta-parasite or something, right?"

[Fox]

"Hm?" Dragonfly blinked from behind her coffee cup. "Ah. No. I mean, yes - but not really concentration. Mutation - inherited. Can talk to computers with my mind." sounds kind of flat said out loud - mmh - name it? - seems stupid "Eyes are...don't know. Unknown biological side-effect? Back near the retina....I think."

She shrugged, and took another sip. "Parasites...yes. Or unwelcome guests. Or accidents with experiments that cause the development of new abilities. Or projects gone uncontrolled. Too many possibilities...seemed reasonable to have the option available."

[Gizmo]

"Oh, you cannot," Jill scoffed out of hand without looking away from the medical equipment until realization slowly dawned. "...seriously? That's how you got your contact info on my phone! Snap." The coltish young woman rubbed the back of her masked head, bemused. "That... explains a lot, actually. Inherited, huh? Mom or dad?" Her tone had grow surprisingly sober and a little quieter, both hands cupping around her coffee as she leaned against the operating room's glass window.

[Fox]

"Mmh," Dragonfly eloquently replied, taking a long drink of coffee. "Efficient that way. Giving out numbers is often very awkward. Resisted the urge to rework your phone's software, however; voids the warranty. Also didn't 'snoop' for your number. Impolite, not my business." Apparently invading someone's phone to shove your number into their contact list was completely ordinary and unremarkable.

"Mother," she added, remembering the question as she leaned against the window herself. "Family trait, apparently. My mother, her mother, her mother. Presents a bit differently each time - changing technology, probably. Useful. Very handy for my work."