trans_9 | Mad Scientist In The Making

Nate had gotten his armor back from Stacy. The initial elation had slowly given way to a very businesslike examination of the suit's use however, following a troubleshooting session in the City. It seemed that Stacy had locked down the suit's time travel capabilities. So that meant he wouldn't be going anywhere, and he wouldn't be pulling weapons out of the time stream either. A few of the deadlier weapons in the suit itself had been disabled. But he'd be able to get those back up and running.

The thing that he had most wanted to know however, was whether the Vision programming was present. Running through his checklists and looking through the programming ands source codes of the armor's minimal AI system, he was soon satisfied that his suit wouldn't be walking around on it's own anytime soon. Good. One less headache for him. Something he was thankful for, what with the way his head had been pounding recently. That being said he didn't want to be walking around in that suit at the moment. At least, not while it was looking like that.

So it was that he ended up in the Special Weapons area, various tools littering the table next to the larger one that he'd laid the suit out on. First things first, he'd need to get rid of that helmet. He didn't want his face hidden, not anymore at least. So he worked for an hour or so at pulling the components from the helmet and incorporating them into the suit. Of course, for the HUD he'd need to find an alternate method. Perhaps he could rig up a retinal projector keyed to his DNA? Well, time enough for that later.

The sound of clinking and fiddling could be heard for a long time. His eyes began to grow tired as he kept working. How many hours had it been? Didn't matter, he had his suit. He needed to finish. Now that fusion cell connected to that power cable. And that ion regulator into that outlet. Yes it was going fine. Picking up another fusion cell, he grabbed his screwdriver and began to unscrew the cap. Hopefully the gel hadn't congealed after disuse, or else it might--

BOOM

The cell exploded in a great spray of coolant gel and metal parts. One sliver of metal ran a cut along his cheek, and he was glad he'd had the foresight to put goggles on, as others pinged off the protective eyewear. Setting down his screwdriver, he pulled the goggles off, a bemused expression crossing his face as he lifted a hand to wipe the gel off it. His hair stuck out at odd angles from the release of static the exploding fusion cell had caused, and he sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

Maybe that was enough for one night.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well, normally we prefer to know who is in the laboratory and what's being done here, but that's our fault for not clarifying on the matter. It's all right."

Billy closed his eyes and rubbed at his brow. Wyn had showed him a certain shielding technique that he hoped to someday duplicate mechanically. But how to describe it? "If they could use sensors to detect imminent explosions and instantaneously form an energy barrier around all personnel for their protection, that would be ideal. Thanks to the mistletoe incident, I know that such barriers can spawn anywhere." He grimaced, just a little. Those hours waiting for a kiss had not been fun.

Pulling his mind back into the present, he looked over Nate's suit once more. "This technology is really something. Maybe we have a scanner here that can test the cells' stability before installation. Here"---and he was off digging for one, popping back up with an odd scanner in hand---"try this."

"I'll make sure to ask next time. Didn't mean to overstep my bounds or anything."

He nodded, listening. That didn't sound too difficult to be honest. "Seeing as Stacy already seems to have the shield generators in place, the only issue would really be detecting the imminent explosions." Pausing for a moment he ran through designs he'd seen before in his mind. "For combustionables, early warning combustion sensors could be hooked up to the generators to give them ample time. The problem would be explosions resulting from non-combustion chemical reactions and the like. But I'm sure with the brains on this ship we could design a sensor array to detect those too."

He rand a hand over the suit, wiping away some of the dust. "It was designed by an older version of myself from far in the future. It's based on many of my own design concepts though." He paused when Billy held up the scanner, taking it with a smile and setting a fusion cell into the little array. "Awesome."

Listening to Nate's proposal, he whipped out a datapad and took a few hasty notes. "I'll suggest that to the rest of our crew when we meet up---I'm sure it should be possible to devise a solution between us. Thank you."

Billy raised an eyebrow at the reference to a 'future self'---"So in a manner of speaking, this is all your work. Impressive." Not that Billy envied Nate or anything. Billy could build a cool battle suit if he wanted to, he just happened to like the blue spandex better. Or at least that's what he liked to believe.

"It isn't a problem---is it functioning? I haven't exactly had the opportunity to test many of these devices." He looked vaguely nervous, as if expecting another explosion.

Watching Billy take notes, he tilted his head. No one had ever taken notes about anything he'd said before. It felt... good. "It's no problem. I've got a few possible design ideas if you wouldn't mind my input. They're only theoretical at best. But they at least serve as a starting point."

Don't even get him started on the time travel stuff. He hated time travel. "In a manner of speaking. I'm trying to translate what I know from the things I've put together into the thoughts of my future self. It's uphill work." Really Hate hadn't done anything, and he was learning as he went along. If he saw Billy's suit he'd probably have been very interested.

The machine beeped a few times and the light went red. "It seems to be. Though this fusion cell seems to be dead too. I'll have to change the insulation gel later. Maybe one of these works." He plucked out the dead cell, setting it aside and replacing it with another.

"I wouldn't mind it at all," he said, grinning. Him, turn down input from another scientific mind? Never.

Glancing down at the suit's construction, he considered Nate's dilemma. "You see the finished product, but the components fit together in unfamiliar patterns. It's an interesting approach to problem-solving, but it's never been a simple one."

Billy examines the dead cell briefly. "Hopefully one of the other two works. I'll cross my fingers."

"Awesome. I'll draw up some plans and Omnicom them to you then." He grinned in return. Really, he loved feeling useful.

He nodded. "That's exactly right. It's like a cave man trying to modify the tire mechanism of a car that was based on his original wheel design. It's at least decades ahead of anything I'm capable of."

With a smile, he flipped the sensor to 'On' again. It whirred and beeped, and this time, the light turned green. "Looks like this one's still good. That's all I need for now."

"I'm sure you'll get there in the end. My technology-based knowledge is some years behind most of my crew's, but there are materials in the library that I've been using in an attempt to catch up. It's not an easy task by any means, but it helps." Oh, it was definitely not easy. Billy's head still spun from all he'd read about future transportation systems.

When one of the cells appeared to be functional, he smiled. "I'm glad I could help."

He nodded. "The library's definitely been a great help, but it's a little difficult to find source material for such a specialized field. Neurokinetics don't seem to span many universes. I've gotten a few helpful articles though." Nate wasn't doing much better. He probably understood only a fifth of all he was reading. But the more he tinkered, the more he felt he learned.

"I owe you one." He smiled in return. "Saved me the time it would have taken to build a sensor."

Mad Scientist In The Making

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