The Sun Shines Night And Day (IC)

[Electra]

Another quick teleport had them back at the civilian enclosure, where the rest of the refugees were poking curiously at the nearly-grown vegetables that had apparently been growing just fine during Stesha's brief absence. There was a bit of a commotion about the precipitous return of their scout, and Stesha suspected that it would only get more exciting once he'd relayed his findings. She was going to have to have a talk with everyone about respecting boundaries, it seeemed, but for now she doubted the humans were going to venture too far.

"I think I'll go back to the cottage with you," she told Trevor. "This whole business is wearing me out."

[Gizmo]

Nodding amiably, Trevor waited until they were well away from the ad hoc camp to unfasten his mask from behind one ear and let it hang around his neck, looking surprisingly like ordinary winter wear in its undone state. "Let me know if you need to slow down or take a break," he encouraged the botanist, coughing in mild embarrassment before clarifying, "Because of all the teleporting, not... erm. Well." After continuing on for a new minutes in silence, the young man spoke up again. "Survivors are lucky you found them."

[Electra]

"I'm a little stunned I didn't discover them before," Stesha admitted. "But I concentrated my explorations on the surface, not in caves and under the ground. They must've passed right under my radar. I wonder if there are more, and where, and how many." She massaged her forehead with two fingertips. "That's definitely a problem for another day, though. I really appreciate all your help," she told him. "It's not exactly the simple engineering problem I promised you, but it was really nice having some help to handle all of this... everything." She waved a hand with a rueful smile.

[Gizmo]

"Mnh, wasn't that bad," Trevor assured Stesha with a slight gesture of dismissal. "Normally trips to other realities are all exploding helicopters and obnoxiously handsome space princes and bleak, existential angst." Rubbing his face at the memories, he snorted ruefully. "At least there wasn't another version of me this time. Unless one of your buzzing friends went by 'Beefore Twelve Oh One'."

[Electra]

It took Stesha a moment to get the joke, then she laughed. "No, the bees aren't from Bee Earth or anything like that, though I wouldn't be surprised if there's one out there somewhere. The Beekeeper bred them to be his soldiers, but they deserved a better life than that. When he went to prison, I brought the bees here so they would have someplace to live besides an underground bunker guarded by extremely creepy robots. There aren't many places on Prime with enough open land and understanding neighbors to house a colony of truck-sized bees, no matter how easygoing they are when undisturbed."

[Gizmo]

"Impressive solution," Trevor agreed, looking up at the cold, grey sky contemplatively. Not many would have been inclined to treat a villain's monstrous forces with much compassion, and actually coming up with a successful arrangement for them certainly went above and beyond. The young man found he had a growing respect for the unassuming botanist. Somehow every encounter with her had left his spirits oddly bolstered, though he was at a loss to sufficiently explain why.

[Electra]

"It's good for all of us," Stesha told him with a smile. "They're good company, and Derrick is less worried about leaving me alone out here if there are at least some other friendly sentients around.Though apparently the place has been full of them the whole time! Bees and gardeners have always had a good relationship." Her grin took on an edge that one didn't normally see from friendly Fleur. "The fact that having them here means that the Beekeeper will never get his creepy hands on them again is just a bonus." They arrived back at the shed, this time without the ominous buzzing noises. "Would you like some more coffee, or some cookies?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor blinked several times, evidently having trouble parsing what Stesha was saying. "Should get working on the generator," he noted looking over at the shed. "Going to take a while, still." Turning back to the pregnant plant controller he hesitated for a moment before admitting, "Once I'm finished, though... cookies would be... nice?" It was painfully clear that the young man had found himself suddenly and unexpectedly outside the realm of his social experience.

[Electra]

"All right," Stesha replied easily. "I'm going to go in and make a few phone calls, get some wheels turning. Surely someone has a line on some decent cloths and shoes I can get for cheap. Come on in when you're finished, or if you get too cold out here." She gave him a smile, then turned and went into the little plant house, leaving him alone with the generator at last, with neither human refugees nor giant insects anywhere in the vicinity. Next to that, the actual mechanical problem seemed almost trivial.

[Gizmo]

With a serious nod, Trevor turned his attention to the generator. Ultimately, he had to replace the bulk of the wiring leading out to the underground cables connected to the remote enclosure, but most of the device was salvageable. Rerouting then replacements through a series of breakers would hopefully make any future overloads quick fixes until an additional generator could be installed. Bolting the metal paneling back in place, he restarted the shed-sized contraption and sauntered back to cottage, carrying his toolboxes with him. "Running again," he informed Stesha when he found her. "Take a while to get going."

[Electra]

Stesha made a bit of a strange sight, stretched out on the couch with a giant sunflower hanging down from the ceiling over her head.In the center of the sunflower was a portal, and through the portal light streamed and warm air blew, and Trevor caught a glimpse of a plain-looking white ceiling. She was texting rapidly into a smartphone, but stopped and sat up when Trevor came in.

"That's wonderful!" she said enthusiastically. "I owe you big time. Why don't you have a seat and I'll pour? I popped home and made a fresh pot while you were out there. You're lucky, you got the very last of my caffeinated coffee." Stesha sighed a little over that forbidden treat. "So what are you studying at school this term?" she asked, heading over to the kitchenette to pour the coffee and pick up a tray of pink and white sugar cookies.

[Gizmo]

Trevor gave the tray of cookies Stesha retrieved a look that suggested he was waiting for them to come alive and attack him, but the young man said nothing beyond a murmured thanks as he sat down. He'd gotten a lot better at socializing with his peers and classmate over the last year or so, but he realized he still had a ways to go. "Ah... some advanced physics, mathematics. Theory, mostly. Get a chance for practical application in the field."

[Electra]

"I'm sure you do, with all the equipment you use in the field," Stesha nodded, taking a cookie herself and opening a bottle of water as she sat back down on the couch. The portal, which seemed like it might open onto her apartment at home, emitted enough light and heat to make at least this small area of the cottage cozy. "It seems like a very omnidisciplinary exercise. How do you know what types of equipment you'll need for any given job? Do you have a certain set of equipment for different types of problems, or do you make your best guess based on what you know when you go out for a call?"

[Gizmo]

Resisting the urge to give the gaping hole in reality a wary glare, Trevor took a cookie from the plate almost hesitantly. "Bit of both," he answered her question, taking a small, thoughtful bite. "Hedge my bets some, though. Most of my equipment is designed to be modular." Warming up with a sip of coffee, the young man gradually became more animated as he started in on the topic. "On Mr. Lumin's class trip, I rigged what was basically a gas leak detector to a miniaturized computer running a rosetta stone program to translate the Mai'yoa language. It's partly olfactory," he explained matter-of-factly.

[Electra]

"Derrick told me about that," Stesha replied with a nod, looking quite interested in the explanation. "He was very impressed with your ingenuity, and the work you and your classmates did on that trip. He really felt badly about taking you into such a dangerous situation without realizing it, but he was proud of how well you handled it. When you say modular, do you mean that you actually carry around parts and pieces of devices, and assemble them right there on the scene when you need them?"

[Gizmo]

"Mmn," Trevor confirmed with a shallow nod, taking a larger bite from his cookie and chewing thoughtfully. "Thank Ford for standardized parts." Indicating the sugar cookie with sudden insight, he noted, "Can't carry every dessert, but can carry all the basic ingredients, make up recipes as needed." The young man shook his head soberly as he took another sip of coffee. "Couldn't have known Mai'yoa would come under attack. Glad we were there to help." A slightly embarrassed grin threatened to pull at the corners of his mouth as he admitted, "...also good chance to demonstrate combat competency to certain parties."

[Electra]

Stesha's face lit with a smile as she figured out his meaning. "Oh, that's right, Wander was on that trip too, wasn't she? I remember that now! Yes, there's something about winning a fight and saving the day that can really be romantic, in an odd sort of way. Special sort of teamwork," she repeated with a chuckle. "It's just as well, though, that you don't need to bake your instruments at three hundred fifty degrees for twenty minutes. I think that modular design is very clever. I always wondered a little bit how you and your grandfather did it."

[Gizmo]

"Heh. Hopeless cook anyway," Trevor informed Stesha with a small, rueful shrug. Washing down the last of the cookie with a long pull of coffee, the young man sighed. "Can be difficult being the significantly less powerful partner. Not an ego thing," he clarified, raising a hand defensively. "But she worries." He wasn't really sure why he was confiding in the botanist like that; normally he was reluctant to speak to anyone about personal matters. Perhaps that was why, and he simply needed to get some of it off his chest.

[Electra]

"Trust me, I understand!" Stesha told him with a chuckle that was a little rueful itself. "I like to think I've come a long way since I got into the hero game, but when you're married to Dark Star, it's not easy to measure up. It doesn't help that last year I was badly hurt by his evil double, who got a sucker punch in on me before I knew what was going on. The problem with energy beings is that they don't grow facial hair, so it's hard to tell the good ones from the bad ones," she joked. "I recovered, and it isn't as though I don't take care, or that I get hurt often, but it's not always easy to convince him that I can hold my own. I think for him, and maybe for your Wander too, they get so used to not having to worry about their own safety, it's twice as bad to suddenly have to worry about the safety of someone they love."

[Gizmo]

Trevor contemplated that theory for a few long moments, frowning slightly in thought. "Makes sense." In Erin's case he knew it was more complicated than just that. After losing literally everyone she'd loved, her worrying had considerably more legitimate context. The young man's expression clouded further as he considered and evil doppelganger of Dark Star. "Hrnn. Anti-Earth?" He unconsciously dropped his voice into a lower register with the question, along with a touch of gravelly roughness.

[Electra]

"He wasn't exactly here for an interview, but we think so," Stesha agreed. "But a dimensional traveler, not just a universal traveler like the one here. He'd destroyed most of the universe he'd been in most recently, then been imprisoned in a special containment field and launched away. He happened to come down here, and managed to imprison Derrick in the cage he'd been trapped in. Then he went looking for everything Derrick cared about." Stesha looked uneasy at this memory, and quickly shied away. "But the doppleganger was eventually dealt with, and I hope he'll never, ever hurt anyone again."

[Gizmo]

Trevor's features set into an impassive mask, but something about the set of his eyes made the expression positively grim. After a long moment, he unstiffened with obvious effort. "...mnh." Taking a quiet sip of coffee, he looked at the plate of cookies almost contemplatively before deciding to take another. Taking a bite, he told Stesha, "These are really good." Normally the comment might have seemed like a transparent attempt to change the topic, but the youth delivered it with an offhand lack of guile.

[Electra]

Obviously happy to change the subject, Stesha smiled again. "Valentine's Day is coming up, and I had the pink food coloring right there... it was such a rotten morning, it was nice to do something productive. I'll give you a baggie and you can take some of them home with you. I've been baking things like mad lately, even though I've had hardly any spare time. The more I give away, the better off I am!" Despite the words, she took another cookie. "I haven't had lunch yet," she reasoned, obviously laughing at herself. "How long do you think it will be before I can restart the generator?"

[Gizmo]

"Made them...?" Trevor murmured largely to himself, apparently not having considered the option. "Generator's running now, but nothing stored," he explained with a vaguely apologetic shrug. "Need to give the sun and wind time." The renewable energy collector was well designed and a logical choice for the remote cottage, but it was still at the mercy of the elements. "Probably about-" Stopping abruptly midsentence, the young man placed a hand over his eyes with a chagrined wince. "Valentine's Day. Right."

[Electra]

Stesha struggled not to laugh at the young man's obvious chagrin. "You still have a few days," she told Trevor encouragingly. "You're only really in trouble if it's February 15 before you remember Valentine's Day." She got up and went to the kitchenette, digging a box of sandwich bags out of a drawer. "You're also very lucky, because Valentines' Day is the perfect holiday for flowers, and I know someone who could hook you right up with that." Coming back to the couch, she began to drop cookies into the bag. "I do owe you a favor, after all!"