Separation Anxiety? [OPEN]

[morphitudinous]

Blink. Blink. Blinkity-blink.

Why are there three blue lights blinking from a small corner of Obs Deck? The blond kid in the simple blue polo and khaki pants might have an answer for you.

He's surrounded by small blue boxes and various inventions on the table and chairs around him, and if not for the fact that he's fiddling away on yet another invention and acting as if nothing's wrong, he would look just like an ex who'd been thrown out of his former significant other's house.

In between tasks, he lowers the tools and gazes around the deck, almost as if he's looking for something (or someoone) else. Hey, maybe he and his big mess ended up out here for a reason.

Comments

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"Christ Jesus, did you drag your whole life out here with you?" Wyn says by way of greeting, giving the mess around her friend a highly skeptical look. She delicately shoves a blue box out of the way before she flops into one of the chairs, crossing her arms and giving Billy an expectant look. What you're doing looks interesting, Billy; care to share what it is?

[morphitudinous]

"'My life' barely survived the trip here", he counters playfully, looking over at Wyn. She seemed to want something specific from him, but he couldn't honestly think of what that might be, and that was a reason to be worried.

"Have I forgotten something that I was supposed to give you? I've been busy lately, and certain things have slipped off my radar. That's partially what brought me to this point."

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"And that's why you ask people for help. I've been looking for an excuse to field-test my apportation rig..." Wyn says with an affectionate roll of her eyes. "... or, y'know, I could do it the normal-person way." she adds hastily, unsure of whether or not Billy would like his boxes submitted to a very minor warping of the space-time continuum.

"Not... unless I'm missing something. You gave me the jukebox, remember?"

[morphitudinous]

"I did. I'm glad you liked it," he says with a grin.

But wait---Wyn, you've just seized Billy's attention. "Apportation rig? I'd be honored to help you test it, if we have the chance. How has it functioned so far?"

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

Wyn thinks for a moment before answering. "With small, solid, non-moving objects being moved extremely short distances? Very well, actually. With anything more complex than, say, a book, or something in motion, or being forced to move it farther than a couple of meters? ... the code's in need of refinement, let's put it that way." she admits, slightly sheepishly.

[morphitudinous]

"Define 'extremely short'", he asks. "Could you move...say, a tennis ball across this room? To that table? I've partially constructed teleportation technology before, with some knowledge of your starting point I may be able to help you. What happens if you overload its capability?"

[madeofwyn.livejournal.com]

"Tennis balls are hollow, so... to the table, yes; across the room, no. And overloading hurts." Wyn says with a wince, unclasping two silver-wire cuffs from her wrists. Although they appeared to be solid when she was wearing them, the bracelets easily flatten out once they're placed on a table.

[feelnothinatall.livejournal.com]

Ahava merely cocked an eyebrow slightly at the mess; there was definitely something going on here that was worth a second look, she decided. Heading over to Billy's location, she waited until he looked up and met his gaze with a friendly smile.

"Working on something important?"

[morphitudinous]

"Hi," he greeted, waving up at the woman. Billy thought he might have seen her in a crowd before. "No, this isn't anything particularly important---just some useful tools I think we may need later on. I was just using my time in the laboratory to finish some projects before I was forced to relocate."

Next, he had to ask: "Were you busy? I'm sorry if my mess distracted you."

[feelnothinatall.livejournal.com]

"No, not particularly," Ahava answered truthfully. "Actually I was only looking around to try and meet some more people. Considering everything that's been happening and how many of us there are... well. I suppose I can't spend all my time hidden away in a lab, right?"

Not wanting to disturb anything in case it was important or fragile, Ahava leaned against a wall nearby, arms folded and watching Billy's work with interest. "You were forced to relocate?"

[morphitudinous]

"Maybe I should follow your example. I might not have a choice in the matter, actually. As I heard secondhand some time ago and just experienced, the AIs are concerned about burnout. Stacy 'strongly suggested' that I take a break from that room for a duration of no shorter than 24 hours." If he had any skill at impressions, he probably would have attempted to mimic her voice.

"You're from the Science department, right? I'm guessing you have a full work load too." Billy leaned toward her slightly, interest growing.

[feelnothinatall.livejournal.com]

"Which is why you moved everything out here?" Ahava laughed. "I'm surprised she hasn't tried to stop you, she can see nearly everywhere, can't she?"

At the mention of the Science department, her smile broadened. She'd taken the time to familiarise herself with the names of most others in the department, but putting faces and personalities to them was going to take a little longer.

"Yes, but it's nothing I can't handle. I'm Ahava Yewande; apparently I've been assigned as senior Science staff member." It had been news to her as well, but all things considered she was happy enough with the assignment.

[morphitudinous]

"Maybe she's relieved that I'm breathing recirculated air in a different location, or perhaps she knew that there was a greater chance that I would be distracted if I moved outside." That wasn't a jab at Ahava, as evidenced by the slight smile on Billy's face. He meant to be grumpier about his position, but the woman's cheer was too infectious for his mood to resist.

As it happened, Billy was quite happy to see the happiness with her position. Scientists doing their work for the love of it were always the most pleasant to work with.

"I'm Billy Cranston, co-chief of the Engineering department. I'm pleased to meet you," he said, standing and hesitantly offering his hand. Did her culture use this greeting?

[domeanthings.livejournal.com]

Tex's hologram blips in to eyeball the mess of boxes and inventions warily. Crossing her arms, she looks from the pile to Billy, tilting her head a little to the side. "You do know what you're doing, right?"

Forgive her, Billy. After Blood Gulch, she has reason to watch tinkerers carefully.

[morphitudinous]

She'll be forgiven. Accidents have happened before. Terrifying food-exploding accidents of messy proportions. After acknowledging the hologram with a bow of his head, he slips into the formal, obedient speech pattern he uses when addressing superiors.

"I do. This is a simple movement detection device that will blink and emit a sharp sound when a person steps within the programmed radius. It contains no chemicals or other ingredients that would create a destructive reaction. Those items are always constructed in the laboratory with appropriate protections in place."

[domeanthings.livejournal.com]

"...So it's an alarm. Where's it going?" Not that she's worried about setting it off, but knowing where the alarm would be coming from would be nice. "And why do we need one?"

[morphitudinous]

"If the rest of the department and the Command Staff approve, I'll eventually set it up in Special Weapons. Most crew members have been coming to us with requests, and we grant them whenever we can, but we've had minor problems with people helping themselves to our equipment and supplies before. Security has been patrolling the corridor in front of the lab more frequently, but I'm going to propose stronger measures to the. This is just a miniature prototype, and one small part of the plan."

Billy looked up at the armored hologram then. "What do you think?"

[domeanthings.livejournal.com]

Tex eyeballed the alarm again, then nodded. "If it keeps the morons on the crew from getting to something shiny and dangerous and doing something with it? Sounds like a good idea to me."

She paused. "You have a backup plan for people screwing with the alarms, right?"

[morphitudinous]

"Affirmative. The security patrols will continue, and there will be functional backups of all the security measures in inconspicuous locations. There are prototypes of other equipment that I couldn't bring out in time." The volume of his voice dropped in the middle of that sentence, as if he then realized that it was probably a bad idea to detail security measures where anyone could listen.

Unsure what to say next, he studied her curiously. "May I have your name?"

[diana-inthecia.livejournal.com]

The Observation deck sure had been busy every time Diana had shown up there. And yet the number of times she'd been up here, she hadn't seen any blinking lights. That's when she noticed someone.

"Hello there," the tall Amazon greeted him.

[morphitudinous]

Between the lights, the blond head snapped up. This time, Billy didn't have to stand up to know that the woman towered over him height-wise. Her appearance suggested incredible power as well, and perhaps he was slightly intimidated.

"Hello," he greeted, peering up at her through the strange plant-glasses. "May I help you with anything?"

[diana-inthecia.livejournal.com]

"Do you know about these blue lights? I don't remember seeing them before." He seemed like the type to know what they might be. The outfit, the tools, the mess. Unless somehow the Amazon didn't quite understand technology as well (or usually, as poorly) as she believed she did. Computers weren't commonplace in Themyscira and while she learned them during her time with the Justice League and such, there was still so much she didn't know of them.

[morphitudinous]

Oh, a technical question. He could answer that! "This is a prototype of a lab security system I might implement later on. The main component is the black orb in the center---that's the sensor that will register when the area within a certain distance of it is breached." He looked up to see if she understood.

"The lights are indicators. When the lights are blue, nothing's been detected. Yellow lights indicate a minor breach, like an object rustling in the wind, and red lights indicate that something large was moved in the area." To demonstrate, he picks up one of his tools and brings it close to the black orb---the lights turn yellow when it brushes the edge of the radius, and red when he fully sticks his hand in.

"I'm just testing the basic function now. The finished product will accommodate a larger area and have a stealth mode---anyone attempting to steal things would easily notice the lights and find a way to disable them."

[diana-inthecia.livejournal.com]

If it hadn't been for the demonstration, he might've lost her in the technical moonspeak. She understood some of it, given J'onn rambling on about technical stuff, but she got lost after a while. Then understood. "That does sound quite useful. Is there a problem of theft among the crew?" It was a purely curious question, not a bit of fear in her voice at all.

[morphitudinous]

Don't worry, Diana, you're far from the first person to be confused by Billy's monologues about the wonders of technology.

"Unfortunately, yes. When we first started organized work in the department, a few items vanished and were never seen again. Since then, we've taken inventory of our supplies and brought security patrols to this area at night, but I'm concerned that that might not be enough deterrence."