1011/Stars Aligned

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Stars Aligned
Date of Scene: 06 April 2020
Location: Secure Storage: Triskelion
Synopsis: Eee! Fancy plane!
Cast of Characters: Dane Whitman, Daniel Hastings, Jane Foster




Dane Whitman has posed:
Woe be unto that sad, oft-bewildered creature that is the "Level 0" Agent here at the Triskelion. Technically, they are not yet agents at all, even though they signed the right paperwork to get a paycheck from SHIELD. But there are still orientations and evaluations and all those sorts of bureaucratic requirements that even superheroic spy agencies still very much have to do. So today Dane Whitman has been in the Triskelion since the break of dawn for the second day in a row. The first day was the medical and psychological evaluation...and pretty much that was it, given how exhaustive that particular exam was. Today? All the fun and excitement of learning how things are cataloged in Secure Storage.

Obviously, the various contents in Secure Storage are still barred from Dane's eyes, save for the select few items that he's supposed to wander through here and find. A HYDRA-issue energy blaster, circa 1944. A damaged personal force-field generator from some alien invasion or another. And...a...glue gun? Who the hell is "Paste Pot Pete?"

"This has got to be a joke." Dane mutters as he wanders down a particular pathway, to the appointed "slot" for said glue gun. The last he needs to scan the barcode of, with the tablet he's carrying. And of course...only emptiness greets him.

"OK, seriously...is this some kind of initiation joke?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
The door to Storage opens and a fellow wearing a lab coat with a tablet tucked under one arm makes his way in. Dane would know him as Doctor Hastings from Happy Harbor. He teaches physics. Naturally, SHIELD has another purpose for the fellow and from the looks of his badge.. well.. he /is/ allowed to be down here. In fact, he's walking towards one of the larger storage bays and typing in a code to open it. It's the size of a hangar that bay.. but he just opens up the personnel access door. "You alright there, Dane?" He calls over as he hears the 'curse'.

Jane Foster has posed:
It's been a week, and the week has barely started yet. Circulating notions trace Jane's social media presence after an interview at the Future Foundation, one that didn't quite come out on time as anticipated. "Technological difficulties" and "rescheduling to allow more in-depth questioning" greet some disappointed fans, though the 'Star Walk' of those guests features a few tasty soundbites to satisfy the audience beyond the actual Fantastic Four's crazy buildings.

Then, work of another kind requires a check-in. A miserable sort of check-in, without coffee. Swinging by the cafeteria to take full and unquestioning advantage of the swill on brew, she fills up a cup and downs the first with the intense purpose of someone ready to pull a fourteen hour day. Because honestly that's how it goes at SHIELD. Everything in overdrive. Literally that's how it goes. Is she even allowed to have coffee down here as she trudgs along? Darcy would know, but Darcy isn't working here, back at the lab digging through piles of material and staring blankly at some of the findings from the brunette cosmologist. Or that letter from the Nobel committee.

"Next time, I'm taking the stairs. I'm on to you," she tells the elevator and steps out. It obligingly slams the doors on her, leaving Jane in company. Mostly. She already has the latex-free gloves on, her hair pulled back, a white coat about to be substituted over her blazer. It's too nice to think about t-shirts. Not on site here, she isn't. "Morning," she calls to Daniel, spotting him. Level 4 has some privileges, at least. Eventually she'll be walking up on Dane, for whom a quick look for a badge name -- hers, clipped to her pant pocket until she gets that coat on. "Welcome to the party. All fun and games down here," she adds with a friendly wave.

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Doctor Hastings! Fancy meeting you here." There's a flicker of surprise but perhaps not nearly so much as to indicate there weren't some suspicions from Dane as to where Doctor Hastings might be moonlighting. "Is "Paste-Pot Pete" actually a thing? Because I don't know if that makes me want to laugh, cry or both." He searches the containers around the empty spot the item should be, finding no sign of the proper container. "And if it IS a thing what are the odds someone would need to check out his glue gun today of all days?" While there's a mild exasperation, there's also a certain sardonic humor. It couldn't be easy, could it? "All right...where was temporary holding again?" The place where checked-out items are placed for return to the archives.

Dane has barely turned away when he's greeted by Jane, whom he hears before he sees, starting to reply. "Yeah, seems like a barrel of l-" He doesn't quite get the rest out as he now lays eyes on the good Doctor, "Oh, wow, OK. You're Jane Foster." He manages to recover from his mildly slack-jawed surprise by extending a hand, "Dane Whitman. Big fan."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    Daniel has to take a moment as Dane waxes on about his woes. The look on his face was a mask.. a mask with mirth in his eyes. He does at the last point back to the receiving bay doors and the office right next to it. "Just tell the clerk you're filing an armadillo." Clearly, that's code for something. Daniel might have been inclined to explain but then he spots Doctor Foster arriving and he brightens. Sure, he's never met the woman but do you have to? She's got a social media presence like few others short of Dr. Tyson.

    "Doctor Foster!" Daniel calls out. "Over here." There's a wave beckoning the woman they're way until she's at a conversational distance where he replies, "Morning." Brightly to her greeting. "I was wanting to show you something in bay six." He glances over at Dane. "If you swear you saw nothing.. I might share. It's the least I can do for your help at prom." He was still standing nearish to the door he'd just keyed open and so finally opens it with a gesture of welcome to the astrophysicist.

Jane Foster has posed:
"There's always an opportunity to improve a nom du guerre. Fancy a fellow making a paste gun lacked the sense of humour to come up with something particularly creative. I bet 3M has a copyright infringement case," deadpans Jane. She looks a bit tired, though not overly concerning to send her into a medbay and hook her up to an IV. "No agency or villain wants to encounter the dreaded Cadre of Corporate Lawyers. Not without someone like Jennifer Walters covering your back." She offers her hand not recently carrying a cup of coffee to Dane, smile on her lips. A firm grip, nothing otherworldly about it, but she has a few calluses and proof of working with her hands. "I'm not the star attraction here. That might be Captain Rogers. But it's a pleasure, Mr. Whitman. Call me Jane, we'll rhyme." Jane and Dane, running down the lane, trying to escape danger again.

Her sunny bearing doesn't shift much as she falls into their presence, giving Daniel an equally bright wave with the other hand. A handshake for him, too, if he wants. "Doctor Hastings, that's music to my ears. Get me out of filing more paperwork and copies in triplicate, please." The mournful shake of her head is the curse of scientists employed by governments everywhere. "Bay six, you said? What do you have on file?" She pushes her hair back from her face, a lost sort of chance there, the brief glimpse of a pale gold bangle visible above the gloves before her sleeve covers it up.

Dane Whitman has posed:
Dane's expression grows brighter at the handshake and the commentary from Jane, though there's a flicker of curiosity in it when he spots the golden bangle on Jane's wrist. Not something he wants to ruin the moment by commenting on, but something tucked away for another conversation when it wouldn't feel like unnecessary prying. Much less from someone she's known all of ten seconds. Besides, given her interactions with Asgard it doesn't seem off-kilter that she might have been gifted something from them.

"Doesn't look like anything to me, Doctor Hastings." Dane calls out to Daniel and follows along behind Jane when she's beckoned. He does, perhaps wisely, set the tablet he's carrying outside the bay in question. It is a recording device after all and probably not something he wants to violate some rule he suspects but does not yet fully know by bringing it in there.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    "Oh.. this I think you'll like." Daniel offers mysteriously as he walks over to the wall and turns on the bay lights. As the sound of high power lights kick on, the illumination paints the presence of what has to be a starship. About the size of four quinjets give or take, the vessel looks worse for wear but it looks like the landing pylons have been repaired. The engines have large swaths of carbon scoring from likely plasma burns and there's a hole in the port side from an interior explosion. Should anyone be familiar, it's a Kree design. "First, I want to say it's a pleasure meeting you, Doctor Foster. I've been trying to get on your calendar for some time so I thought bribery might be the easiest way of cornering you." He smirks faintly at that.

    "Secondly, I present to you a Kree shuttle. This one was owned by a smuggler that I.. procured it from." Stole? "He was rather popular with the local constabulary unfortunately so when I took off.. they came out in force much to my surprise. Still.. it got me back."

Jane Foster has posed:
The bangle doesn't like to slide around too much, and neither is Jane removing it for the purposes of entering a restricted area. She already has most of her jewelry pared down, presenting a proper appearance without entering slovenly or stern Nurse Ratchet territory. Her eyes narrow when the floodlights kick in, her hand raised to guard her eyes against the incipient blindness that might come from how much energy the bulbs put off. "You weren't kidding when you said Bay Six, were you? I thought you might have a speedboat lurking in here, not something the size of an Airbus." That's her understatement in action, even as she keeps pace between them. Any necessary pauses for retinal scans or fingerprint checks against the ID she carries, just in case. Further efforts as necessary to confirm her identity are obliged until she's in.

A Kree ship confronts her. No, it's not as elegantly designed as the ones she knows. The lines and shapes cause her eyes to widen. "A smuggler. What quadrant were they operating in? I assume they didn't get more than two AUs in, or else we would have heard about Space Defense or whatever they call it now?" The bribery is a promise that works, one she gives a brief, swift grin at Daniel to. "Getting on the rotation with /this/ definitely works. You can also just ask Darcy or hack my Google calendar."

She sets back on her heel, staring at the options in front of her. "Let me get this straight. You brought this thing in. You know how to pilot it, or was it running on auto? Does it -have- auto? Damn."

Dane Whitman has posed:
"OK, did I say "Didn't look like anything? This is definitely something." Dane chuckles, starting to wander just a bit to take in the vehicle from multiple angles, though he's careful not to touch anything. "I had to deal with one of their Sentries once, a couple hundred miles east of Jerusalem. Didn't exactly have the tools to examine it once it was brought down. But I've never seen a Kree ship up close. Or really in person at all." He crouches down, studying the undercarriage, "Any idea what kind of power source it's running with? And does it have an artificial gravity field?"

You can take the Engineer out of the workshop, something something.... There's certainly an appraising, analytical aspect to Dane's gaze, now almost completely lacking in attention to the other two present, but for the fact he's still asking questions.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    "It does. At least when it's powered up. The engine is a loss which is the true tragedy here and why I wanted Doctor Foster to poke her head about." Daniel gives a gesture to the side where the personnel ramp was down but the door was secured by a magnetic lock of SHIELD design. He walks up the plank and swipes his keycard, punching his access code, before the door unsecures. "It has a plasma based drive system.. but most importantly.. it is jump gate capable." And /now/ he looks towards Jane.

    "Come on in. I'll show you what's left of the drive mechanism. I wish I could say it was intact but part of the reason I'm here now and not say.. here eighty years ago.. is because it isn't." Daniel profers a wan look as he steps inside. Lighting strips have been installed along the walls and he activates those so that the interior of the vessel can be navigated. Most of the interior space is given over to cargo but there's a small living suite.. which isn't where he's headed. Rather, it's back to the cramped interior engineering space where a hole can clearly be seen passing to the exterior. "My hope is that we can at least work out how this vessel interacted with the transgalactic warp gate system. Whether there's a physical device cloaked in our solar system.. or if there's a specific point where gravitational constants are just right for the generation of a stable rosen bridge." He runs a hand through his hair then smiles. "I've spent the last week catching up on your published works. It's good stuff."

Jane Foster has posed:
"Exciting times. You want me to give her a look and see what sort of operative materials she has going on? I don't speak Kree, or read it, I am afraid. Is that a barrier to entry or does SHIELD have someone they can spare to show us any manuals?" That's probably humour from the astrophysicist, but she looks up to the ship with keen interest. Then back to Dane, measuring his response just long enough to aside, sotto voce, to Daniel: "I've seen that look before. We might need to cordon him off." All the same, she seems to understand, a sort of affinity drawn up in the words that mean no harm. Pulling up her gloves a little higher, she stops to button her coat and secures one or two loose things around her.

"Jump gate? Could indicate use of spatial anomalies, but the questions are... too many to count. Immediately, what sort of range restrictions, how does it compensate for exotic matter and energy transfers, and if it's limited strictly to this dimension." She pads along, taking in the whole of it. "I've been working on some of the equations and parameters drawn up when the incident in New York happened, because the transition of materiel and personnel through gateways was obviously a key concern. Not to mention, plenty of folks who would love to get their hands on something like that. Transporting armies across a continent in moments? A stable gateway? Jump drives are a whole lot different, and what sort of power source it requires is another issue altogether. They'd need to find something to fuel it, and continuous at that. We were throwing around the idea of solar-generated, but..." That's just a word fallen into the frying pan as she takes in the space, glancing around the cargo bay, the interior consoles, anything vaguely familiar. Know when you're out of your league? When humanity is digging into the secrets of alien tech, that's how. "Stable points for Rosen bridges inside the solar system, especially /anywhere/ near Jupiter's influence, are problematic to measure. Not the least because, you know, people hear 'invasion point' and start panicking. She really is beautiful, isn't she? Nice to see the interior of something not designed immediately for war. I don't care if the Kree think she's a junker." Her pause follows there, looking back. Oh Daaane.

Dane Whitman has posed:
"I'd say there's a strong circumstantial case for the Kree having -some- sort of stable transit point in or near our solar system. I'm far from an expert, but I do know they've been playing tourists here since at a minimum sometime during the Reign of Augustus, and my gut tells me probably a lot earlier than that." Dane has indeed torn himself away from the exterior to come take a look at the interior, eyes taking in every detail, grinning like a kid in the candy store, though his hands remain kept to himself still, despite the urge. Oh to be able to start digging, but that, alas is likely for agents with a higher level of clearance than he, and likely better formal credentials too. "If it's an exterior gate system, I'd put my attention on looking for whatever might send the signal to the gate itself. It -might- be tied in to the normal comms, but if so I'd bet it's a kind of piggyback. This might not be a military ship but that's the kind of signal you'd want to be double-plus secure, both coming and going."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    "So.. I have some of those answers." Daniel profers as he finds a fried console to sit on. "First, I speak Kree. I was their guest for a few years.. which is how I learned how to pilot this beast. Second, they use a system of jump points. There's a system called the Universal Neural Teleportation Network. There are specific points in habitable systems that tie into the network and the jump systems interact with it. The how and wherefore of this system is the mystery here. So.. yes.. the Kree have been visiting. Yes, they arrive at a specific point. I was aiming for that point when the drive malfunctioned. If we can get the computers powered up, the coordinates might be in the buffer. Barring that.. there's a star chart I downloaded that has the jump points in it."

    Daniel looks to Foster and sighs. "Hence why the ship is in this hangar and not still on the moon where I crashed it. The last thing we need is for someone to get their hands on it and figure things out before we do. But yes, they've got a stable jump point within the system and a drive system that'll carry the ship at sublight speeds.. but significantly high ones. Usually such that it'll take an hour or three to reach major habitable planets."

Jane Foster has posed:
"I would suspect a transit point being set up with some kind of fixed technology, yes. Probably shielded, almost certainly so. They wouldn't have had anything to fear for long-range detection until midway through the last century, at any rate, other than circumstantial passages seen by long-range telescopes. And not like people were looking for something so small," Jane muses. "I doubt anything says we are entirely off limits. My money is on a problem linked for Alpha or Proxima Centauri, where there could be a more active base, and then you are dealing with a toe hold this way. Four to six light years really isn't anything for more advanced technology, at least as near as I can guess." Jane doesn't run her hands through her hair, far more akin to standing still and observing with all her other senses too. She has some degree of clearance, but not Rogers-Romanoff levels, and besides. There are more points of trouble she could get herself into this way. "Communication protocols would require something signalling like that to be outside the comm system, as you said, except for a safeguard. At speeds being traveled, notifying the recipient through the bridge wouldn't necessarily be possible." She works her lower lip between her teeth, thinking about it. "Jump points you can hone in on, on the other hand, those are straightforward enough. Highlight one, relay the signal through, kick the other point on the other side to active and recover the signal when it comes through. If the anticipated jump isn't made, shut down or report immediately back on the fail and start sweeping for confirmation of what happened. That's how I would do it, at least in a rough and dirty sort of way. The issue again is all about stability for any sort of jump point. Stable bridges -do- occur naturally, but they are pinpoint. Anything larger causes too many distortions to remain fixed for long, unless you're starting to walk into quantum theory surrounding quasars. And I hate to disappoint, but I doubt even the Kree are messing around with quasars. The sheer energy output doesn't make up for the distance and other difficulties." Like giant jets of plasma, huge gravity field disruptions, and quasar dragons that live in the middle, deciding aliens are crunchy with ketchup. Right?

She smiles at Dane, encouraging, and then circles around. "I'd love to see the star chart. Are you certain what plane or axis it was taken from? Figuring those variables should allow for any adjustments to our own stars and asterisms, which is generally going to matter." Her fingers pinch her nose. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear this thing can reach, say, Mars or the Saturnian moons in three hours. That's just as bad as the people who can get faster than light speed." She grins. "Some have all the breaks, and some of us are plain Jane humans watching from the sidelines."

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Or maybe it's the other way around." Dane's talking half to himself at this point, rubbing at a bit of the scruff on his chin in thought, "Maybe it's the gate that's actively broadcasting, looking for something passive on the shuttle. A key of sorts. It'd still have to be something extremely narrowband, or maybe on e-m frequencies not traditionally used for communication. Hell, it could even be gravity pulses for all I know about the Kree's overall tech level besides "Way further along than us."

Dane seems to come back to himself shaking his head a bit and smiling a touch sheepishly, "Sorry. You said you wanted to try to get a console powered up? Also you said it was a -Neural- Teleportation Network? That seems like an awfully specific word to attach to it. Any idea why?"

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    "Well.. so.. here's the interesting thing." Daniel notes with a thoughtful cast. "When I was learning how to fly the ship and plot jump coordinates.. there wasn't really anything in the various databases about how the system worked. It was simply.. approach the gate.. key in desired jump destination.. the navcomputer would tell you how many jumps it would take to reach your final destination.. as if there were specific linkages from point a to point b and b to c such that a and c weren't linked and you had to make the circuit. I.. don't think the gates are Kree tech. Merely that they learned how to activate the gates and now use them."

    "I've got an associate I've been working with on the data crystal. I made a point of filling it with as many star charts as I could before I skipped the planet." Daniel observes. "I wrote a primer on Kree if either of you are interested. Or.. I may start teaching it here at headquarters. I'm sure Captain Danvers can as well so that's two of us. I'll see if I can't corner her for a chat though she's about as 'at large' as I am.. or more." To Dane, Dan gives a shrug. "I'm sure the system relies on an AI interface. I didn't name it. I'm not a telepath either. Thing of it is.. powering the main console is going to be good for viewing the data but not downloading it. For that we need some manner of interface to convert the data. Which as I say is being worked on. The main topic I'm hoping the both of you can help crack is.. the way the ship interfaces with the warp gate. Which.. is somewhere back here in the blown out section." He lifts some broken cables then lets them drop.

Jane Foster has posed:
"Exactly." Jane nods to Dane's suggestion about reversed course. "Until we get a look at the innards, we just don't know. I have little confidence and more than speculation until we get some scans and blueprints out of this dame of yours." She would pat the ship, but somehow that feels a bit sacrilegious under the circumstances. Rather better to give an admiring look. "She came down on the moon, you said? That might change a few things if they got damaged or jarred out of place. Still, I see where my next few weeks of daydreaming will take me." A loose, quick smile rises on her lips. "It's incredible to see all of this. We might want a hacker on board with this. Someone who can convert the information on the system, whether it's AI or something else, into useable, feasible data. I don't know if it counts as a Tony Stark kind of thing or a... Computer person sort of thing." Names are in mind, but she bites them back with a grin.

"Learn Kree? Count me in. I will probably need a bit of it just to make heads and tails of their options, but you have it." She holds out her hand like that, stifling a laugh. "Somehow avoid one of the great breakthroughs of our age? Director would have to pin me down and carry me out, and I would be awfully sad that came to pass." Just bubbling with enthusiasm there.

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Huh." Dane considers the information Daniel provides, mulling it over in his head for several moments. Older than the Kree? How many layers deep does transgalactic civilization go, he can't help but wonder? Then again, we're talking going-on 14 billion years to play with, and that's assuming that there's nothing out there that predates the Universe itself, which...even in Dane's somewhat narrowed field of experience he would be hesitant to rule out at this point. "You speak Kree? That's...pretty awesome, actually." Dane comments, "Maybe once I'm through orientation."

Dane moves over towards the blasted out portion, specifically looking at the broken cables, and this time he does touch, lifting up one of them to examine the ends, to see if he can ascertain what kind of conductive material is contained within.

"Can't say for sure, but either way I'd suspect there's a fair bit of digging to do to find it. In fact, is there some kind of drop-dead date before SHIELD has a team in here to try to take this thing completely apart, catalog everything, and then maybe try to put it back together or maybe just try to learn what they can from the individual pieces?" It would be a damn shame, but at the same time it's in the pursuit of knowledge...sometimes the only way to learn is to take something apart.

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    "I think Director Fury has left the ship in my hands.. at least in that regard. Stark's had a look at it but has other projects of his own he's got in the pipe so unless we have specific questions I don't think he'll be paying it much mind. Until we get it spaceworthy." There's a snort of a laugh at that. "It does have a modest armament.. considering the owner wasn't exactly a law abiding sort. Though I don't think it'll win any dog fights." There's a shrug tendered to no one in particular. "What I'd like to do is get a full scan of the ship.. which will mean upsizing the usual devices.. then we can sit in one of the VR offices and pick it apart without removing bolts."

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane considers the matter of the ship for a moment. "It's yours until they say otherwise, in other words. Sounds about right, and honestly, taking on the project as your own gives you SME status. They would not be willing to necessarily overthrow you on that as long as Hill or May are kept informed, unless they have something else in the directions you were notified about. Are there any limitations we should be aware of? Other than the obvious, don't use it to invite trouble, no joyriding, and no broadcasting intermittent pulse waves into the stars?"

She strokes her fingertips along the wall, finally, giving it a friendly sort of greeting. "Getting proper scans is important. I agree, we will need at least some idea of schematics to work with. With a few good holographic projections, we can work around the trickier spots without putting our newbie here in one of those outlet pipes, banging around with a wrench. Mir spacestation methods, not needed here." She winks to Dane, though the bunch of cables he is giving a once-over hold some interest. "Any other protocols we should be aware of? Did they already run decontamination through here?"

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Look, just because I always wanted to be Scottie when we played Star Trek as a kid...." Dane retorts towards Jane in a wry tone, with expression to match, "And boy I wish someone had asked the decontamination question before I started touching things." Not that this has ceased his look at those cables. "Maybe some kind of silver alloy? Definitely metal in there, but it's not pure silver...wouldn't make sense for high frequency conduction. Sheathed in some kind of fiber? Almost looks crystalline. Probably E-M shielding." More half-talking to himself at this point. "So a smuggler...they done any in-depth interior scans already?" This directed towards Daniel. "Bet he's got a secret stash somewhere. No guarantee there'd be anything in it, though."

Daniel Hastings has posed:
    Daniel laughs, "I think they take solace that it can't fly right now and that we're a long way from making that happen." His eyes flit over to Dane who's no doubt having an engineering joygasm right now. "Depending on the power supply, I'd like to see what we can do about adapting the quinjet's cloaking technology and applying it. The fewer civilizations that realize we're going interstellar the better." There's a small shake of his head to Dane. "Other than to sweep it for biologicals then quarantine it just in case? It's been collecting dust. Except when I can get in here and poke.. but frankly.. I like having more heads than one on this. I'm assuming you want it.. I'll talk to the higher ups. We could use an engineer on the team anyway." He winks. "That's assuming that Fitz doesn't have a fit because he can't fawn over it.. so you'll probably have to share." Shifting to look at Jane, he adds, "And I'd like to talk to you again.. on the jump principles. Run a few things by you. Whenever you're free next."

Jane Foster has posed:
Oh, the dangers of the joygasm. The pair of them, engineer and astronomer, are probably in their own circles of bliss on the lower mountain of heavenly delights. Further up might be the insights brought by years of study or months of digging deep into the heart of exciting Kree insights. Jane huffs out a breath. "Remember what I said about my calendar? I need to block out everything as long as we have this piece available. It's going to put such a wrench in some of my research, but fortunately Matlab takes weeks to come up with data. And I can make the interns work on it." Interns! They are majestic, paid, and reasonably compensated for their travel expenses. "I might need to talk to NYU and Columbia about it, now. Come to think. Maybe we can reassign..." She halts herself, and sheepishly grins. "Sorry, thinking outloud."

It takes a moment for her to get her grounding again, sensible and purposeful. "This is definitely a gem for you, and I am happy about it, Doctor Hastings. Not only for what it means for you, but because you have a bona fide mystery on your hands. You can count on me to put my head together with yours and see what we can do. Fitz might want to marry the girl, but that's another matter." She gently waves her hand and gestures to Dane. "What's your take on this? Are you in need of any specific materials at this point?"

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Haven't met Fitz yet, but they sound like my type of guy." Dane finally, carefully sets the cabling down. "I'd be thrilled to help out, though I don't want to step on anybody's toes or push aside anybody who might be better qualified. Still the new guy, after all." Dane rises from his crouch. "But if all that's worked out, just tag me when you're headed this way from our mutual day-job." He dusts off his hands, and grins at Jane:

"Me? I'm just glad to be here. Anything specific probably just depends on what SHIELD has on hand, but either way short of Tony Stark's personal workshop I'm betting it's already well beyond anything I could list off the top of my head."

Jane Foster has posed:
"He's a character. You will find a lot of us like that, I suspect." Jane waves a hand to relatively indicate the whole of the hangar bay. "Shield isn't only for the policy wonks and the suits." She breaks into another of those smiles, putting her hands back in her pockets. "You and I both. I still feel like the new girl and half the time, they go right past 'doctor' or any credentials. Got to earn your way around here. Not that I mind, but sometimes it drops perks in your lap. Like this." She nods to the bird. "I should have my phone number on file, but when we get back out there, how about I make sure you have it? Don't leave me out of this. I have so many questions."

She blows out a breath and then can't help but add for Dane, "Don't even let me get started. Some of that tech in there is mine. Was." A minute clarification. "Though I get to play with better toys, so it all balances out, I suppose?"