trans_9 | Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation [Open]

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Better Living Through Reckless Experimentation [Open]

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.

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"Either that, or you'll need to modify it into some sort of very finicky jet pack," Jeka agreed. She had never spent much time in the labs back home; having trouble doing nothing when she could be doing something for one, and being quite vulnerable to the inevitable explosions for two. But she was enjoying talking with Brainy, and he didn't seem to object to her company. She'd duck behind something if it seemed like an explosion was imminent.

His question dovetailed rather nicely with her own curiosity about his Legion. It rather touched her to learn that the Legion wasn't alone in the multiverse, and the combined similarities and differences only intrigued her more.

"I wouldn't mind at all," she said, folding her hands. "Is there anything in particular you'd like to hear about? The battles, the day-to-day living...?"

She wasn't sure if he knew about her transformation, but if he did, she hoped he didn't ask about it. It still scraped her scales, even if she had gotten over the worst of it.

The smile makes a brief return. "I don't think people are quite that desperate to fly," he says. "Especially if they end up a smattering of molecules the moment something goes wrong." It's meant to be a joke. Really.

"The... other Brainiac 5 told me a bit about the battles you faced and some of the... losses." Enough to make him feel distinctly uncomfortable about approaching the topic just yet. "So I suppose some of the day-to-day things would be nice."

He's not homesick, he's simply curious. And that odd change in his voice wasn't loneliness, it was... Well he was certain it was something else.

"And if you don't mind, I'd also be interested to hear something about yourself and how you came to join the Legion," he adds hurriedly.

"You never know," Jeka said, a little playfully. "I think some people on board might be willing to risk it, under certain circumstances."

Hm, someone seemed to have forgotten that someone else has had previous experience with a Brainiac 5, all differences aside. Never the less, that certainly wasn't an indulgent smile Jeka was swallowing.

"Hmm, well, we can start from the beginning, I suppose," she said. "I was traveling around the UP when I heard that the Legion was having try-outs, so I thought I'd see if I could make the cut. My father forbade it, of course, but I was already on Earth when I called him, so there wasn't much he could do to stop me. I spent two days working on my audition and my disguise." She smiled at the memory. "It worked quite well actually, although Reep -- Reep Daggle, Chameleon? Is he a Legionnaire in your universe? -- did tease me later about how he thought I was going to take his head off. He was pretending to be an attacker, to see how the finalists would behave in a combat situation. I and two others -- Dyrk Magz and Tasmia Mallor passed, and that's the story of how I became a Legionnaire."

I'll make a note to work on that," he says. "Anyone in mind for the first test subject?"

Jokes aside, Brainy is happy to listen while Jeka talks and he works on reconstructing his experiment at a surprisingly rapid pace. He pauses once she's finished speaking, a couple of questions weighing on his mind.

"I'm familiar with Chameleon Boy, yes, though he did only join the Legion in the last couple of years. Still, he's proven to be an asset to the team, beyond the obvious family connection." He pauses for a moment, thinking. "Unfortunately I'm unfamiliar with either of the other names mentioned, or yourself, though I'm sure Lightning Lad would be thrilled to hear that the proud tradition of Legion try-outs was upheld elsewhere."

The attempt at humour is obvious, he hopes. Unless the try-outs Jeka is familiar with are less... hectic than the ones he remembers. "But my main question is why you'd need a disguise in order to attend at all. I don't see any reason why the Legion wouldn't accept you based solely on your current appearance."

"I'm sure the moment the very mention of jetpacks appears on the comm channel, you'll have people beating down the door," Jeka said, pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

"Reep's family connections must be different in your universe," she said. "In mine, his family posed a similar problem to my own -- his people wanted him to return to Durla and be their spiritual leader, my father wanted me to return home and begin training for the monarchy." She tilted her head to the side. "'Lightning Lad'? Superman kept calling Live Wire by that name, we never quite understood why."

Jeka winced a bit at Brainy's second question. She should have thought he'd note that. "I had experienced an unfortunate amount of xenophobia during my travels," she said. "I didn't know how much of the Legion's reputation for acceptance was just gossip, and I didn't want my appearance to color their judgment. If anything, their reputation was an understatement." She pressed her lips together. "And I've only looked like this for a few months."

"I have to wonder how many would stay for the tests once the possibility of exploding got out however," he answers, smiling again.

"Considering Chameleon Boy's father is R. J. Brande, who founded our Legion, I don't imagine there are any problems with him being a Legionnaire," he continues. "And if Live Wire is Garth Ranzz in your dimension, then they're the same person. But that your Superman would know him by the name he has in my Legion..." He stops working again, the small laser cutter in one hand dangerously close to taking a piece out of his other arm.

"Perhaps he's had experience with different dimensions as well." Narrowly missing taking off one of his fingers (not that it would have been a major problem if he had, simply embarrassing), he gets back to work.

"I've always found the Legion to be accepting of others despite the occasional rocky patches," he says. "But I suppose... wait, what do you mean you've only looked like that for a few months?"

"True enough," she agreed. "Still, I'm sure someone will find a use for it." Someone almost always did, it seemed.

"Yes, that certainly wouldn't pose as many problems as Cham had in my dimension," Jeka agreed. "R. J. Brande founded our Legion as well, but he's a human, not a Durlan." Her Legion probably wouldn't have gotten off the ground if Brande was a Durlan; people were still wary of that species, just because they were shape shifters.

"Mm, yes, Garth Ranzz goes by Live Wire in my Legion. I suppose Superman could have had some experiences with different dimensions; we didn't have much of a chance to talk with him before we had to return to the thirtieth century."

Jeka grimaced. "Not too long ago, I was exposed to something called hypertaxis energy, which resulted in sudden, abnormal, ungoverned evolutionary change." At least, that was what she'd been told when she'd woken up. She hadn't been aware of anything but the pain. "My DNA started breaking down. By the time they were able to stabilize my genetic structure, it was too degraded for them to return me to normal. Instead, I ended up...like this."

She wrapped her arms around her torso and looked away, her hair falling over her face. She wasn't as bad about her transformation as she had been at first, but it was never going to be something she liked.

"I believe Brande is actually Durlan stuck in human form, but I haven't had the opportunity to approach the subject. It's likely to be rather sensitive." Sparks fly and a few pieces of technology are moved or discarded, and the device he's working on is starting to resemble something functional again.

"Hypertaxis energy?" At that, he stops what he's doing and Jeka is suddenly the subject of intense scrutiny. "That sounds..."

He realises a moment later from her reaction that this is a very touchy subject for her. "...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up anything that might bother you."

"Mm, that would certainly be a sensitive topic," Jeka agreed. "I believe that my dimension's Brande is human, or at least mostly human. He has some telepathy; but I couldn't tell you how strong it is, save that it's stronger than my own."

She almost lashed out at his scrutiny, but his apology stopped her long enough to take a deep breath and compose herself. "Thank you. Your counterpart knows far more about the whole mess than I do, you may ask him about it if you wish."

At least he hadn't said that it "wasn't that bad". She had been sick of hearing that nonsense before she'd even left the sickbay.

Eager to change the subject, Jeka brushed her hair back and inspected the somewhat more-repaired device. "How is that coming along? Should I be prepared to duck any time soon?"

Telepathy? He files that away for later, wondering if it applies to the Brande he knows or not.

And as for Jeka's entirely understandable reaction to him staring... Brainy drops his gaze apologetically. "I'll think about it," he says. "But if you'd rather it not discussed, I can keep the information to myself."

One or two more minor adjustments and the device was ready for another test run. Hopefully one that wouldn't result in an explosion this time. "I should be able to try again," he answers. "But I can wait until later if need be." He doesn't want to put anyone at risk or make Jeka think she had to leave.

"I don't--" Jeka paused and closed her eyes, breathing in deeply and holding it for a moment before breathing out again. "I would rather that it didn't become a conversational topic for the ship at large, but I would not mind if you and your counterpart discussed it." If she had minded, she wouldn't have told him where to go for more information now, would she? "You can tell him that I gave you both permission."

She straightened her shoulders and blew out another breath like she was trying to shake off their other topic of conversation. "Shall I duck behind something before you try again or do you think it will be successful this time?"

"I understand entirely," he answers in complete honesty. "We all have things we'd rather have kept out of the public eye, myself included. To be honest, I'm..." There's a pause as he searches around for the right word, before settling on, "...flattered, I suppose. That you trust me enough to tell me this much. Especially considering we don't know each other particularly well."

He smiles more to himself now. "It's... nice."

He's dangerously close to saying something a little too sentimental, so he quickly changes topics back to the experiment at hand. "It might be best for you to at least get some distance. Just to be safe. I can provide you with a small shielding unit if it would make you more comfortable, however I should be able to contain the energy if it explodes again. I've gotten good at that part."

Jeka smiled at him, although it was still tight around the edges.

"As I said before, you're a Legionnaire. That, and what I've seen of you since we met, tells me enough that I can trust you." The fact that he'd been willing to set aside his obvious curiosity about hypertaxis energy -- or at least offer to -- was also a large number of points in his favor. After all, what could be more irritating to a Brainiac 5 than unsatisfied curiosity?

Well, both of them could agree on the topic being less comfortable than they'd like, so she was willing to accept the change as well. "I'll get some distance then. I don't think the shielding unit will be necessary, I trust that you're capable of containing the explosion, if it does occur. Unless you have a shielding unit you'd like me to test?" She was sturdier than she looked, in any case.

"That won't be necessary," Brainy says. "I've had my own forcefields for years now, and while I may consider upgrading them in the future, I doubt it's something I need to work on right away."

He finishes the last of the modifications on the device and tweaks a couple of settings. Then he glances over to check that Jeka is clear. "Ready?"

"Ready," she answered, having slithered behind a piece of equipment for cover. She peered over the top of the machine and gave him a thumbs up.

Brainy flashes a quick smile that he hopes is more reassuring than it feels, then he activates the device.

As all the times before, there's a brief moment where it looks like everything's working perfectly, and then--

BOOOOOM!

Lying on his back on the floor again, he was starting to wonder if this was an experiment in creating an energy source, or a subconscious training session in getting forcefields up quickly.

Jeka reflexively turned away, protect her head with her arms and a length of her lower body.

"Brainy? Are you all right?"

Well, at least he hadn't gone through the doors this time?

"I'm fine," came a slightly shaky voice from the other side of the room. He just felt like lying down for a moment or two. Actually, part of his head felt like--

He glanced up. Yes, there was a slight mark on the wall above him. He must have hit it and bounced off.

He sighed and pushed himself up slowly. "My systems are just repairing the damage, but I'll be fully functional in a moment."

"Perhaps you ought to take a break," Jeka said, slithering out from behind her makeshift shield and inspecting the resulting damage. "Pounding your head against a wall isn't going to do any good."

She offered him another hand up, and noticed the mark on the wall. "Metaphorically," she added.

"I was thinking of heading over to the sensoriums later," he remarked absently, rubbing the back of his head and accepting the offered hand. "But I might try just a few more changes before then. I think I have an idea of what's going wrong now..."

"Your counterpart demonstrated that the sensoriums can actually affect things, so if there are other tools that you need for this project, it might be best to visit them earlier rather than later," Jeka said, pulling him to his feet and inspecting him for obvious dama-- injury. "I've certainly been reveling in the fact I can have sonic showers instead of being 'cleaned' by the tentacles in the Clothing Chamber."

Brainy shrugged. "My body maintains itself in that respect, though the information is useful."

He smiled up at Jeka. "Maybe some of my own laboratory equipment would be more useful, and I also could to test how much I could get the ship to create for me."

He glanced back at the mark on the wall as his systems finished repairing the last of the damage. "...not to mention there may be better safety devices in place," he added.

"I was relieved to find it out myself," Jeka said. "It meant the difference between feeling clean and feeling like a layer of pod goo is still clinging to my scales."

She smiled back. "Better equipment and better safety certainly sound like grand benefits in the overall scheme of things. Shall we? If the power source is particularly heavy, I can help you carry it."

That actually got a faint chuckle from the Coluan. "I suppose I'd feel the same in your situation."

Brainy frowned at his project, debating Jeka's offer. "It's not heavy, but maybe some other time. I think I'll try a few more things here first," he decided eventually. "But thanks for the offer."

"Well then, I--"

Jeka's omnicom beeped, and she pulled it out of one of the pouches on her belt.

"--I'll have to meet up with you again later; I'm needed on a patrol."

She slipped her omnicom back into its pouch. "You'll have to tell me how this works out, Brainy."

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