ic Nanofibers (IC)

[Electra]

Erin nodded curtly, but said nothing more as they pulled into the long driveway that led to the Hunter mansion. She parked the truck and got out, then dawdled around taking a chamois cloth and wiping smudges off the shiny blue paint. Even after everything that had happened the past couple of years, the truck still looked like it had just rolled off the lot. She wondered suddenly if that would have to be checked as well, since she'd driven it to work more than once, but didn't mention it for now. The thought was almost more depressing than getting herself scanned.

"All right," she said finally, folding the chamois and setting it aside. "I've never had to get scanned for nanites before. What do we have to do?"

[Gizmo]

Trevor let Erin take as much time cleaning the truck as she wanted to without comment, knowing both how much the vehicle meant to her and how little she was looking forward to the task at hand. "Back in the day, a race of microscopic aliens tried to colonize the Patriot's digestive tract," he explained in a completely serious tone when she inquired, the only noticeable inflection a touch of scorn given to the name of the Liberty Leaguer in question. "Ended up having to shrink themselves down to save him, but the full body scanner they used to find the alien ships in the first place should still be in the Manor."

[Electra]

"The Patriot?" Erin asked, her lips thinning dubiously. "He was active like back in the fifties, wasn't he? Are you sure a machine that your grandpa used on him would still work now? Or be, you know, safe?" Her steps lagged just that much more as they headed for the clock that led to the basement. "Maybe waiting till Dr. Atom or Daedelus aren't so busy or something would be a better idea. This is just a precaution, anyway," she pointed out. Despite the invulnerability of her body, she was a bit nervous trusting herself to medical technology built before people knew that stuff like X-Rays was unhealthy.

[Gizmo]

"Designed by Dr. Tomorrow," Trevor clarified as he moved the grandfather clock's hands into position and waited for the timepiece to slide away to reveal the downward staircase. A considerable amount of the technology in the Manor incorporated elements gleaned from the time traveler, and consequently featured a number of benefits that hadn't been readily obvious at the time but were much appreciated in the modern day. "Besides, been under a tarp for half a century, know it hasn't been tampered with." It wasn't so much that he thought Archeville could have gotten to Dr. Atom's equipment - Daedalus' lab he had his concerns about - if only because the deception would have been an unnecessary risk on the would-be conqueror's part, but the young man wasn't about to say no to a little added insurance, either.

[Electra]

"Last time I saw Dr. Tomorrow he yelled at me for hanging out with Quark," Erin muttered. "Still hung up on the whole half-century thing. If this gives me some kind of disease or mutation or turns me invisible, I'm going to be really mad at you," she warned half-seriously. Despite her complaints, she didn't waste any more time as she followed him down the stairs and into the depths of Midnight Manor. She'd seen it many times now, but it was still quite an impressive sight, all the dark walls and gleaming stainless steel that had been there since long before her parents were even born.

[Gizmo]

Trevor quirked an eyebrow slightly at the mention of meeting the time-traveling founder of the Liberty League, but remained on topic. "Can see Atom instead, if you'd like," he noted seriously, stopping at the foot of the the staircase to look at Erin. He never would have suggested using the equipment in the Manor if he'd had any reason to doubt its safety, occasional bouts of ill-advised self experimentation aside, but there was little point checking for nanites if the process was only going to add more nagging worries in their place.

[Electra]

Erin considered that seriously for a moment. She trusted Dr. Atom, had to after what the one on her world had done to save her life and bring her to Prime. But that didn't mean she didn't remember that his science wasn't always flawless. Plus, he had a lot better things to be doing today. "No," she said after a quiet moment, "let's go ahead, unless it's rusted clear through or something. A nanite can't be any harder to find than a shrunk-down alien." She sighed, then changed the subject. "Speaking of, when are we going to look at your grandpa's flying saucer?"

[Gizmo]

"Aliens were already small," Trevor clarified as he led the way further into the Manor, past the display cases and monitor equipment toward the point where the cavern floor abruptly dropped away to open up into yet another curving staircase carved into the stone, descending into the lower levels. "Only the League had to shrink down. Heh..." Something amusing seemed to occur to the dark haired youth as he set foot on the first downward step. "Maybe if you're brave during your check-up, can look at the saucer afterward. Also, lollipop."

[Electra]

Erin glared at Trevor for his flippancy, but it held no real heat. "It had better be a good one," she muttered darkly. She looked around as they went, filing away information and quashing the voice inside that was nervous about going down into the unknown darkness. "I don't think I've seen this part of the manor before," she commented. "I didn't really realize how big it was. It's bigger underground than the house is up top, isn't it." Given the size of Hunter Manor, that was definitely saying something.

[Gizmo]

Although the gently curving staircase that wound downward into the earth disconcertingly lacked any kind of railing on the side open to the chasm, flood lights mounted in the far wall kept it well illuminated and shortly into their descent Trevor's hand found its way into Erin's own. "Lower level is mostly storage," he explained simply. "Gradually added to over the years for one reason or another. Tunnel leading out to sea for watercraft, too."

[Electra]

Erin squeezed his hand and resisted the urge to leap off the stairs just to shorten the trip. It wasn't wise to do that when there might be sensitive equipment right at the bottom of the stairs. "You could have a hell of a Halloween party here," she observed, her words echoing and bouncing off the walls. "All dark and creepy and kind of cold and dank." She looked over at him, furrowing her brow. "This isn't going to be like a naked scan, right? Cause otherwise I'm going back for a heater." Complaining was petty, she knew, and she could handle a little cold, but the complaints made her feel just a little bit more in control as they marched ceaselessly into the darkness.

[Gizmo]

A half dozen jokes of ranging good taste appeared half-formed in Trevor's mind, but he could not bring himself to bring any of them to utterance, instead merely raising one eyebrow toward the brim of his fedora. "Ah, no. Doesn't have to be," he replied after a moment's silence which brought them further down the staircase to a point where they could now see the lower level and the various tarp covered objects stored there. "Clothes shouldn't make such difference. Should empty your pockets, though."

[Electra]

Erin took him at his word, removing her belt and setting it aside, then automatically running her hands over her hips as though she expected pockets to magically appear in the skintight uniform. She ran a hand through her hair, setting it comically on end in several places, and took a deep breath. "Right, all ready." She followed him through the forest of shrouded old machines, her nostrils twitching at the smell of machine oil, ozone, and the faintest hint of rust. If this was a gadget graveyard, there was certainly enough stuff playing the part of the ghosts. "It's very... secure down here," she said, her voice echoing off into the dark.

[Gizmo]

The pause in Erin's voice caused Trevor to blink once and look about as he pulled the tarp from over top a large device significantly taller than he was. With his metahuman eyesight, the young man sometimes had to take a moment to extrapolate what darkened places would look like to others, and now he was forced to admit that their current locale was more than a touch foreboding. "Ah. Sorry. More lights here somewhere..." Letting the covering drop the the floor, he walked over to the wall and felt about until he found the controls for another bank of flood lights that illuminated with an audible sound.

In the new light, the uncovered object was revealed as a framework of three metal posts spaced equidistantly and supporting a ring at the bottom and top, with a third apparently designed to slide up and down the open cylinder. A monitoring station the shape and size of a small podium was connected to the main piece with a number of thick cables, adorned liberally with monitors and dials.

[Electra]

Erin blinked as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. In the white light, the place looked less like a graveyard and more like a laboratory where everyone had gone home one day and just forgotten to come back, about fifty years ago. Taking one more look around, she stepped into the empty space inside the rings and between the pylons where a victim (patient, definitely think patient) was obviously supposed to stand. She turned in a full circle, looking around at the machinery. "Well preserved," she noted. "I'd have thought it would've rusted out in fifty years in a basement."

[Gizmo]

"Should be fine," Trevor agreed, powering up the console and waiting for its outdated monitors to warm up and come online. Pushing a lever a few inches upward from its rest at the bottom of the panel, the dark haired youth waited for a moment, the frowned when nothing happened. Lifting the brim of his fedora slightly with one hand, he laced his fingers absently through his hair in thought. Before he had a chance to reach any conclusions, however, the moving ring of the apparatus made a brief grinding sound before slowly starting its decent. He looked to Erin with a silent, apologetic look.

[Electra]

Erin raised an expressive eyebrow in Trevor's direction, but remained otherwise still to allow the scanner to do its work. She jumped when the unit's harsh alarm klaxon went off, indicating the presence of metal in her body as the ring traveled past her shoulders. Tense, she watched the monitors as an image resolved, not a nanite colony but a tiny cylinder of metal, pointed on one end, in her left biceps. Erin stared at it for a moment, then let out a burst of half-frustrated laughter. "God, no wonder those stupid birth control shots hurt so much. They broke off the damn needle in my arm."

[Gizmo]

Trevor seemed considerably less amused as he regarded the monitor. "Incompetent..." he grumbled largely to himself, the faint beginnings of a scowl playing at his lips. "Hardly the first metahuman they've treated, could be more careful. Hnh." Letting out a short breath to calm down, he took a closer, more analytical look at the tiny piece of metal. "Well. Too small to be any danger. Body should expel it on its own eventually. Still."

[Electra]

"Trying to get the shot for the first time was kind of rough," Erin admitted with a wry twist to her lips. "They tried to just do it with a super-strong intern and a titanium needle, and you see what happened. Didn't really work so well." She rolled her shoulders, raised a hand to the spot where the tiny piece of metal still lay. "Eventually someone suggested they just pop a nullfier on me for a couple of hours, long enough to get the shot and let it metabolize. That worked way better. Reminds me I'm due for another booster at the end of this month. I'll have to find someplace to go and get it, I guess."

[Gizmo]

Trevor maintained the suggestion of a scowl tugging at his mouth, irked than someone had thought that the brute force method had been an acceptable tactic for introducing chemicals into his girlfriend's body. "Hnn. Would have suggested Archeville..." Adjusting the lever on the control panel again, he sent the sliding ring continuing the rest of the way downward. "Maybe the Lab. Think they focus more on technology, but sure they'd have a nullifier to borrow. Could go with you?" he offered.

[Electra]

"I'm not letting Archeville within five hundred feet of me with a regular syringe, let alone a nullifier cuff, Erin grumbled, then released an explosive breath. "God, when I think I almost asked him if he would take on Singularity, just so I could get her out of Blackstone... that would've just been the capper on the whole godawful mess. He could've taken off her nullifier, turned her loose, and had himself an instant amazing distraction." She shook her head, before remembering she was supposed to be standing still. "Anyway, I guess The Lab is probably my best bet, at least with all those women superheroes they have to know something about where to go for that stuff." She hesitated a moment, torn between not wanting to look like a coward and a strong sense of unease about strange medical professionals. "Maybe if you came with, we could both check them out."

[Gizmo]

Trevor's mouth opened slightly to ask if she meant checking out the women superheroes before thinking better of it. Erin had never been a huge fan of doctors or medical facilities, and Archeville's betrayal had only made that worse. "Sure," he nonchalantly replied instead, not making an issue of it either way. The least he could do was be present to lend moral support. Besides, at this point, an extra set of eyes to make sure everything was on the up and up was starting to look like a good idea instead of just paranoia.

It only took a few more moments for the scanner to complete its cycle, the sliding ring moving all the way to the bottom of the column and then back to the top. A green light lit up on the console. "Clear," Trevor announced, letting out a small breath.

[Electra]

Erin let out a long breath, then hastily climbed out of the scanner. "He must have had bigger fish to fry than one security guard," she decided, brushing decades-old dust off her pants. "Or he just went straight for the brain stuff, figuring that's easier than trying to sneak anything past my physiology." She ran her fingers through her hair, watching while Trevor shut down the machine. "I don't want any specifics, but you've got a plan somewhere that would let you stop me if I ever did get mind-controlled again, right?"

[Gizmo]

"Prefer to plan to avoid the worst case scenario," Trevor noted frankly as he powered down the scanning equipment and tossed the tarp back over it. "But. If it came to it, the plan is to do anything it takes to get you back." It was said without any particular weight or edge, in the dark haired young man's usual even tone, but Erin could tell he meant it literally. Tugging the heavy material into place to cover the cylinder once more, he clapped his hands lightly to shake dust from them. "Think I owe you dinner."

[Electra]

Erin cracked her neck and rubbed her left arm, fidgeting idly while Trevor finished his work. She wasn't entirely satisfied by that answer, but if he told her more, she might be able to infer his actual plan and get around it if she ever were mind-controlled, and that would defeat the whole purpose. He was being smart, keeping his cards close to the vest. "Not quite dinnertime yet," she observed, "but we did miss lunch. And the kitchens are still pretty bare. But I think if we're going to go the whole route, we should do it now before I lose my nerve. Think Eve or Alex are available for a visit today?"