Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation [Open]

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

Brainiac 5 hasn't been outside of his area of the labs much of late, preferring to keep working if at all possible and finding it easier than most others since he doesn't need to break for food or rest nearly as often as organic crew members do. Not to mention that the last few times he'd ventured outside, he'd gotten caught up in an altercation and, earlier, run into a particularly irritating girl who'd compared him to a vegetable of all things.

Therefore he's determined to stay in here where the company is infinitely better and continue working on his experiments in power sources. He's not, despite what others might think, sulking. He's simply working on something that requires a lot of concentration and--

His sensors beep faintly. Apparently his work requires slightly more attention than he's been giving it, because it's about to overload.

"Oh," he says. He has just enough time to throw up a forcefield around the device, his work station, and, by proxy, himself, so that nothing else in the area is going to get damaged. And then it explodes.

He thinks that the forcefield contained the worst of it before it gave out, but he's not entirely sure because he's busy describing a near perfect arc through the area before colliding heavily with the door. Which promptly opens and dumps him out in the hallway.

"Ow," he mutters. This really isn't turning out to be his day. Or week.

Comments

[ihasvision.livejournal.com]

"Domo arigato Mr. Roboto. What's with the being floored?"

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

He pushes himself up, arms extending until he's upright and stable, then withdrawing to a normal size again.

"I made a minor... miscalculation," he says stiffly, dusting himself off as a few whisps of smoke coil out of the lab and into the hallway. "I'm fine."

[ihasvision.livejournal.com]

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure I heard something blow up."

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

His jaw tightens a fraction at how blunt the statement is. "There may have been a... relatively minor, yet unpredicted reaction that escalated slightly more rapidly than I was prepared for. However I was able to keep damage to a minimum."

Which a glance inside reveals to mean that only his workspace is a charred mess right now.

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"... did something just explode?" Wyn asks, offering B5 a hand up. She hadn't been on her way anywhere in particular, and this was proving much more interesting than wandering aimlessly through the meatship.

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

He winces, but accepts the hand up with a grateful smile. "...relatively speaking," he says carefully.

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"Was it that array I was working on? I knew I shouldn't have left the battery in." It probably says something about Wyn's style of work that she immediately assumes that any and all explosions are somehow her fault.

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

Brainy blinks and shakes his head. "No, I was... working on a possible energy source, but it's been somewhat more volatile than I anticipated." He flicks a few specks of ash from his hair and sighs.

"I did manage to contain the damage, however."

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, that happens." Wyn says sympathetically, nodding. "What was the energy source, if you don't mind my asking? I've just been using the bleedoff from the arrays to recharge the sort of battery-ish thing I've got, but that's really not quite feasible for everyone else."

"... well, that's good. I think." she continues, glancing through the doorway of Special Weapons at B5's version of 'contained'.

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

"Dani supplied me with some ecto energy a while back which might be a feasible option. I've been working with very small amounts, since it tends to be somewhat..."

He follows her gaze into the lab and the roughly circular blast zone centred around his workspace. "...sensitive to impurities, which seems to cause an extreme reaction. Unfortunately 'impurities' thus far have been including most of what I'm trying to use with it at the moment."

He sighs, clearly put out, but hastily adds, "however you'll notice I have been containing the damage."

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"Seems, um. Volatile." Wyn's head tilts as she surveys the blast disapprovingly. "I'd suggest using magic instead, but it might be even more liable to explode if you don't know what you're doing. And apparently doesn't exist." The last bit is only teasing, but magic could be a slightly more viable power source. Maybe.

"And containment doesn't really help if you're getting sent flying into a door, though. Does that happen every time?"

[hatngartersnake.livejournal.com]

"Brainy!" Jeka called out, before she'd even rounded the corner. It was a near-reflexive response to the sound of something exploding in the lab. This wasn't the Brainy that she'd first thought of, but she didn't hesitate to fly over to his side and offer him a hand up.

"Are you all right?"

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

He takes her hand and pulls himself up carefully, dusting the traces of his latest experiment gone wrong off his clothing. "I'll be fine," he sighs. "I just wish I could say the same for my work space."

He glances back inside the room and winces at the gently smoking remains of the bench and his experiment.

[hatngartersnake.livejournal.com]

"Could your lab back home be ejected into space 'just in case' too?" Jeka asked, peeking through the door as well. "You seem to have managed to keep the explosion contained."

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

Brainy blinks, then considers it. "No, but it is a good suggestion for improvement. Just in case." In case of what is entirely up to interpretation though.

He wanders back into the lab and starts picking up what remains of the experiment. "Yes, I seem to be getting better at that part," he says absently. "It's the keeping it from exploding that I need to work on." The last part is said with a wry smile.

[hatngartersnake.livejournal.com]

"Chuck came up with the idea. The rest of us agreed that it made sense." And promptly formed a betting pool on how long it would be before they had to use the "emergency eject" option.

"Is it salvageable?" she asked, following him inside and inspecting the wreckage in his hands.

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

"Bouncing Boy?" he asks curiously. "I would have expected Cosmic Boy to insist on it..." He frowns. "Besides, I don't normally cause so many explosions. This substance is simply turning out to be more volatile than I anticipated."

He turns his attention to the wreckage and, without thinking how it might look to someone else, extended an eye to get a better look at the fragments. "Hmmm, most of it should be. But I'll have to see about making it more durable in the future."

[hatngartersnake.livejournal.com]

"No, this was on the Legion Outpost. Bouncing Boy wasn't big enough for a lab," Jeka explained. She brushed her hair back and smiled a little. "I'm sure you don't. I've already heard about how everyone down here is working very hard with limited materials."

The extended eye didn't bother her much, although it did remind her of Gear. She hoped that he was all right; hopefully in the Pod Caverns with the other Legionnaires. Hopefully.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. What were you working on, exactly?"

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie had been leaning up against one of the walls some small distance away, not necessarily the best place to be - but it beats actually sitting on the floor. He's been staring at the Omnicom in his hand for some time now, trying to figure out how to get it to work, and not really succeeding. The sounds of something blowing up make for a welcome diversion and he heads off in that general direction.

However, since he's not at /all/ sure there aren't going to be more explosions, he cautiously sticks his head around the corner first. It doesn't seem like there's any immediate danger, so instead he addresses the figure in the hallway.

"Och, what was that?"

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

Brainiac 5 groans from where he's lying on the floor and with some reluctance, picks himself up and dusts himself off again. "That was an energy overload caused by a minor issue," he answers. "Resulting in a small explosion."

His fourth one for the day thus far, but now he's determined not to give up out of spite. He's going to get this to work one way or another, though... it would be nice if he could manage it without the explosions or the consequential impromptu flight they tend to cause. Or at least if his trajectory would keep him inside the lab for once.

"You needn't worry, it's perfectly safe for the time being." At least until he starts back on the project at any rate.

[bonnypiperlad]

"Aye, well..." If that was a small explosion, Jamie's not at all sure he wants to know what would be considered a big one. "You're not hurt, are you?"

He's looking at Brainiac 5 a bit oddly - as if not sure quite how to classify the other being. Absentmindedly, he's tapping the Omnicom that's still in his hand against his leg. It's the back of the device, though, and hopefully not something that will trigger weird squelchy messages that can be heard all over the ship.

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

"Damage to my body was minor and my repair systems are already compensating," he answers absently.

Something about the silence is strange, and he glances up to catch the odd look. Ah, he's familiar with that one. "I'm guessing you're one of the crew members with less extraterrestrial experience?" he asks.

[bonnypiperlad]

"Not exactly," Jamie replies, cautiously. "It's just..."

He did say 'repair systems', right? Jamie really hopes that he had misheard that, because then that means 'robots' - at least, in his mind. And that brings up a whole weird area, given his recent past.

"I'm just trying to figure out if you're the one that made these?" He holds up the Omnicom. He's not positive he's got the right scientist, but he guesses it's a safe enough question while he tries to discover if he's talking to a robot or not. Although Lois did mention someone with green skin...

[brainy-bot.livejournal.com]

Oh, that would explain the confused looks. "No, I'm the other Brainiac 5," he explains with a faint sigh. "There's two of us, but we're noticeably different."

He glances at the Omnicom, wondering if that's the reason he's here. "But if you're having problems with that, I'm capable of taking a look at it for you, if you like."

[bonnypiperlad]

"Oh, aye. The other Brainiac 5." There's a pause, then Jamie blinks rapidly for a moment as that sinks in. "Wait, what?"

He rubs his eyes with his free hand, and then adds, "You don't have to explain. It's just..." This place is making his head hurt. "Nevermind."

Back to the Omnicom. "Anyway, I think this wee computer thing is broken."

It's really more like he hasn't actually figured out how to turn it on yet, but he's not going to admit to that out loud. Instead, he holds it out. With luck, once he sees someone fiddling with it up close he'll get the hang of it.