Inventions of the Exceptionally Nerdy [Open and bendytimeable!]

[morphitudinous]

After a quiet scare with a little laser in his pocket, Billy had come to an alarming conclusion: he needed a pocket protector. The little device, the one true sign of a nerd, would keep him from poking or shooting himself. But that wasn't all it could do! With Billy's mind at work, he came up with another idea: the pocket trap. With some clever signaling coding, he could trap the hand of anyone who tried to pick his pocket. It would definitely help keep his morpher safe!

He wound up stretched across a meat-couch of the Observation Deck, working on adding little strips of identifying material to what was undeniably a pocket protector. Maybe he wouldn't make it cool (nothing could do that), but he'd definitely make it useful.

As he worked, there was a certain undercurrent of excitement on his face. He smiled more often, sometimes looked far into the distance, and could be heard humming if the observer was close enough. Something good had happened to him, and maybe it wasn't entirely due to the pocket protector.

Comments

[thewunderkind]

Oh guess who was behind him.

Trouble named Lash. She'd been practicing her sneaking skills by walking behind him when suddenly...

"HELLO!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy had been engrossed in his work once again. That finger-snag was coming along nicely, not too painful but definitely protective, when the noise startled him. He jumped. the piece flying out of his hands.

Oh. Of course, it was Lash. He pouted at her, leaning over to grab the pieces. "Good afternoon to you too."

[thewunderkind]

She caught one of the pieces on her fingers, and played around with it while he picked up the rest before handing it to him, grinning at her plan that most certainly had succeeded.

"Gee you look unnaturally peppy today," she remarked. "Pouting aside of course, tee hee hee!"

[morphitudinous]

Billy accepted the piece almost gratefully, slotting it right back where he'd intended it to be.

"Well, I'm having a good day for once, Lash. Surprisngly enough, it sometimes happens. And---wait a minute, I don't pout," Billy insisted.

Liar.

[thewunderkind]

Oh she had him exactly where she wanted him, really. It was always fun to tease her teammates.

"Really? Then what did you call what you just did a few minutes ago?" she said, pretending to think about it. "So are you on some sort of breakthrough? Found a way to install more lasers?"

[morphitudinous]

"A negative facial expression," Billy said, fully expecting this explanation to be laughed at. But he was planning to stick to it.

"There's a small laser-like system in this device. It's part of the main feature! When it detects unauthorized entry, it snags the person's hand until I can deal with them."

Cool, yes, but it couldn't quite account for all of his excitement.

[piggyback-ride.livejournal.com]

As was usual for reclusive telepath, she found herself walking to the Obs deck, intent on simply gazing out into the Bleed and doing some much needed thinking.

Seeing Billy, she paused in her step and walked over to see what the teen was up to.

"My, doesn't someone look excessively cheerful today?"

The voice, while feminine, wasn't actually heard. No, she was 'speaking' to him directly in his mind.

[morphitudinous]

Voices in his head. Who did he know that could send their voices into his head? Stacy and Kaya, and...well, the voice didn't quite sound like either of them. Billy jerked into a straight posture in his seat, looking wildly until he found the source.

"Is that a problem?"

[piggyback-ride.livejournal.com]

A wry smile played on her lips as she watched Billy scramble to find the owner of that voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that!" the blond woman replied, sticking her hands in her pockets. "It's (actually) quite the ameliorating thing to see aboard this ship. Over near the entrance, by-the-by," she said, offering a small wave.

[morphitudinous]

Direction! Billy spun around, folding his arms over the back of the couch to look at her. At least he knew who was in his head.

"There you are. So...not that I'm positive you would answer honestly, but how deeply can you see inside my mind?"

[piggyback-ride.livejournal.com]

"Far enough that I can drastically alter who you are and you would never suspect it. Not that I would (or could, given our omniscient 'mother')." She smiled. "Honesty for you."

The woman took a few steps forward, her face turned in his direction, though it was difficult to tell where she was actually looking, due to the visor.

"Nothing to worry about, though; it's only surface thoughts. You'll have to pardon the (egregiously rude) sudden jump into your cognisphere; I'm limited in other forms of communication, I'm afraid."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

And it was all too obvious that someone was going to pick up on that: Kaya, the one person who could feel it when Billy was feeling particularly elated. Of course, if he was feeling her emotions, he wouldn't need to see the limp in her step or the glow to know that she was feeling particularly upbeat herself.

"Billy!" She greeted him, giving him a hug. "How are you? I could feel you from the mess hall! What are you up to?"

[morphitudinous]

"Kaya." Her emotions tended to bounce across and inflate his. Billy stood and carefully returned the hug, looking just a little embarrassed when he pulled back.

"I was working on a small invention, but you probably want to talk about whats' on our minds, huh?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya giggled. "Well yes, that's be nice but you will show me that invention later, won't you? I love seeing what new things you've come up with."

She joined him on the couch. "So tell me: what's on your mind?"

[morphitudinous]

There was no point in delaying things. Billy took a breath and smiled, hoping he wasn't about to be smacked.

"I was in the chapel with Ronnae a few days ago. We drifted to the subject of weddings somehow, and...I ended up proposing to her. She accepted."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Smacked? Why on earth would he be thinking that she would be smacking him? Rather, he was now knocked off the sofa when Kaya charged into hi hugging him tightly.

"OH MY GOSH BILLY THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS!" She said all in one breath, almost close to tears. "I knew the two of you had something special, I just knew it! Well have you gotten her an engagement necklace yet? Wait, that's just in my tribe. Does your culture do that? Oh, I'm so excited for you two!"

Yes, Kaya was now jumping up and down and taking Billy with her.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi regarded the pocket protector with some curiosity. It looked like some sort of sheath, but it was far too small to reliably hold ammunition, and too flimsy to hold anything very heavy.

"What are you working on?" Billy seemed unusually happy today, too. Curious.

[morphitudinous]

"It's a pocket protector," Billy explained, just a little too happily. He patted the smooth surface, proud of his almost-finished creation. "It'll ensnare the hand of anyone who tries to steal from my pocket."

With the things he carried there, he needed that level of protection. "What brings you out here?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

That got Billy a headtilt. "Why would anyone want to steal from your pocket?" No one had ever stolen anything from his pocket -- but then, he rarely kept lasers in it. Explosives, though... he totally carted those around.

"I was just in the area and heard some humming. Sounded like someone was in a good mood, so I just decided to drop by and see what was up."

[morphitudinous]

"I have a few valuable things in there. The omnicom with administrator access, for one, even though it's protected in a few other ways. I also have my power morpher and some invention prototypes I wouldn't want to leave lying around."

Yup! He was gradually turning into the mad scientist that some of his predecessors in the department had been. When the happiness was mentioned, though, he ducked his head and looked distinctly awkward.

"Oh...that. I was thinking about my morning." It was a great morning!

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Well, it wouldn't due to lose those," Zouichi said, eyeing Billy with no small amount of curiosity. It would be rude to pry too much, but...

"Got a lot done this morning, I guess?"

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

Ron...was being Ron. As in doing something weird mostly for his own amusement. Namely, walking around on his hands for basically the reasons already established.

"Heya dude! How's it goin?"

[morphitudinous]

"Ron!" Billy had to shake his head. It was good exercise for Ron's arms, Billy was sure, but wouldn't it give him a headache?

"Fairly well, actually. This invention hasn't caused any problems yet."

The other good news could wait a moment. "You?"

[potentialmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Eh, kinda coming of the KP high, but other'n that, pretty good." He answered, flipping back onto his feet.

"Monkey-fu coordination, gotta love it. But you're kinda lookin' way too happy for just a working invention." And Ron would know, given the kinda life he led. "What else is goin' on?"

[morphitudinous]

"I know what you mean," Billy whispered. It was hard, missing the friends that had gone. He was lonely again, but...not all that lonely.

Caught again, of course. Billy grinned at Ron sheepishly. "I'm getting married."