11225/Lab Rats in the Roost

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Lab Rats in the Roost
Date of Scene: 18 May 2022
Location: Level 1 - Labs - The Roost
Synopsis: No description
Cast of Characters: Tim Drake, Phoebe Beacon, Carrie Kelley, Conner Kent, Gabby Kinney




Tim Drake has posed:
    The way it works is that, despite there being an expansive range of manufacturing equipment a few floors down, most of the actual prototyping work for equipment happens up in the labs. Of course the computer terminals at the work tables link up with the machines downstairs, but for the most part working out the kinks in any new developments happens here. Safe environment, and all.

    Especially given the extensive list of corrosive, toxic, and potentially radioactive materials used in said prototyping work.

    Tim's out of uniform in jeans and a t-shirt, but he has gloves on, and a pair of safety goggles pushed up atop his head. Either he's been working or he's about to start, but right now he's perched at one of the computers, touch-typing as he reads off a set of computer print-outs at his elbow.

    Outside the door, Yap sits on a doggy bed specifically arranged for him, given the occasional long periods of time that Tim will be locked up in the labs. Currently, asleep, a squeaky toy of a police officer eating a donut still in his mouth.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe makes her way down to the labs, wanting to check in with the bestie before she heads out on her patrol. She's wearing a gray under-armor tank top and a pair of soft leggings, giving a stretch an d ayawn. All her scarring on her left arm -- from the burned in magic symbols to the burn-like whorls on her left shoulder are visible, as is the silver locket she wears.

    She leans over, and presses an innercom button.

    "Hey Bossnerd. Busy?" she asks, reaching down and petting on Yap.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie has been in and out of the Roost over the course of the last month, working toward the end goal of making this reality truly her own. For years she has been wishy-washy about what her purpose was here, holding grudges that she has finally let go and finally, she know what her purpose is.

What that means for the Outsiders, and the Bat Family is that Carrie Kelly was stronger than ever and had a plan. She had finished up her Bachelor degree and had moved right into designing and creating various types of drones to aid the teams. Sure, Batman had his gadgets, and they worked great, but she wanted more and so she was making more.

Heading to the labs with a large plastic crate in hand, she was first surprised to see Yap, and more surprised to find Phoebe standing outside. She was wearing street clothes, nothing fancy really. Pair of denim shorts with sandals, a tank top in pale green, and a hoodie tied by the sleeves around her waist.

"Evening," she offers almost cheerfully, inching toward the door. "Uh... we locked out?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's head pops up like a gopher, and he looks wide-eyed over towards the door. The glass walls haven't been set to privacy mode which means he really shouldn't have been caught unawares, but when he nerds out too hard sometimes his situational awareness fails him. Honestly less a Tim-specific problem and more a general-nerd problem. It happens.

    "No. Wait--," and then he spends a couple of moments clicking around on the computer before the door audibly unlocks. "No." He flashes a cheeky smile over in the door's general direction as he peels off his gloves. "Just typing up my lab notes. Come on in."

    Like a stealthy ninja (on all fours) Yap has roused and taken up a spot amongst Phoebe and Carrie's waiting queue, though he does nothing more than lift one front paw in silent questioning before Tim whistles and the dog trots in, one ear perked high and the other one flapping around. He proceeds directly past Tim into the computer lab, to where ANOTHER doggy bed awaits.

    Yeah, there are a ton of them in the Roost. It's practically a barnyard.

    "Sup," Tim says in general greeting, but his eyes are glued to the crate Carrie's carrying. Aware of her new position as an Oracle, Tim's probably thinking it's some of that top tier Bird of Prey tech.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nah, probably just Tim working on something that he didn't want Yap underfoot for, huh Sir Yappington?" she questions the dog, as if the dog would answer as she reaches down to also scritch behind the ears.

    "Nothin' on my end. Just checking in after Sunday to make sure your brain meat's in good space and not bad space or outer space. Not every day a bunch of young people go and close a gate, y'know." Phoebe remarks with an incredibly casual air to it, as if it wasn't a big deal as she goes to assume a space on a handy, unoccupied desktop.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Under normal circumstances Carrie is a graceful person, a ninja in fact, but carrying the over sized crate was proving to be a little bit of a challenge, so as she entered the room, she tripped. The crate hits the ground and the contents skitter out and slide along the floor. To the untrained eye, it looks like bits and bobbles of computers, but the things that really stand out are the numerous little drones.

Four of the drones rolls along the floor then takes off into the air to buzz around the room. This causes Carried to curse under her breath. A couple more drones that look like spiders start walking toward the nearest person they land by, just to stand there, no larger then a silver dollar.

"Fee, Fi, Fo and Fum, get your flittering little rumps over here," she gestures to the air as she picks herself up. "Those are Spyder's, information gatherers, don't mind them."

She rights the crate and starts putting the things that didn't run away on their own back into it. "Just a few things I borrowed," she looks at Tim. "So we can reverse engineer the crap out of them."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner didn't expect the Roost to be crowded a weekdays. He just came to chat with Tim a minute, but hearing several voices coming from the labs, he goes down to see who is around.

Lets see. Tim's voice, Phoebe's voice, Yap's 'voice' and... Sparrow? Yes, that sounds about right. "Hello there," he greets as he enters the lab, looking curious at the glass doors. "What are you up to? Something else that explodes?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Not long after Conner comes Gabby looking a little confused. Or distracted. She's hunkered down near the ground watching and following another little Spyder that had slipped free of the box before Carrie had gotten it entirely into the lab. Hearing voices, she glances up, and points at the skittering little drone.

"Heeey so... This is neat, but is it supposed to be here?" There's a little hint of uncertainty to her tone. It wasn't as if the Roost wasn't attacked recently after all. Seeing something mechanical zooming about was questionable.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Believe it or not, I think I prefer fighting demons to angels. At least they're upfront with wanting to murder us."

    Tim spins around on his stool, away from the computer screen, but he snatches up the clipboard his papers are attached to and begins to flip through them. Speed-reading is one of the skills he's decently good at multitasking with. So when he answers the prevailing question from both Phoebe and Conner about what he was up to with "Nothing that's going to explode *now*," it's only mometarily delayed.

    And then there are drones. Tim tracks the movement of one as it zips around above him, eyes moving rapidly. "Bee-oh-pea stuff?" he asks, brows raised, and then he stands up to clear off a space on the table. The drying beakers, flasks, and other glassware get relocated to a counter along the back wall. "If it's Birds stuff then there's no security issues having them here. We're pretty well-integrated," Tim tells Gabby.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Oh no the Angels were really up front, just took 'em a while to get around to it. And just that one, really. All the others... eeeeeeeh. OK. Maybe /two/." Phoebe replies, "But yeah, most demons aren't so up front. Those three were just pissed off that --" she's cut off a moment as she watches the drones from Spyder go all over the place, and she just gives a wry little smile, and picks up her feet so that none of it gets on her.

    "Not like JLD stuff." she explains to Gabby "Where it's always a security risk."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The four fliers buzz back over to hover near Carrie's head as she finishes picking up the last of the things.

"The Fs are all my creation," she states, then gestures to the crate. The four drones zip right in and land, then shut off.

"The Spyders, that's with a Y, not an I, are also my creation," she adds, looking toward Gabby who has one. "They're harmless until activated, just wander around looking cute and metally. No threat with any of this," she indicates the crate. "It's Birds of Prey tech I'm studying."

Reaching into the pocket of her shorts she pulls out what looks like a cell phone, turns it on and a little tone plays, then she hits a button on the screen and all the little Spyders start making their way back to the crate. "These are all various prototypes I'm working on, eventually I should be able to offer use of all kinds of little walkers and fliers for the teams. They already access heads-up displays to share information." Now she looks around. "I hope no one is feeling threatened or in danger, I swear I'm on your side."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner snerks, "as if Hope and Laura were no making enough explody things every other day..." he pauses when he sees Phoebe's new scars. He didn't even know she could scar with her healing powers. He directs the girl a questioning glance, but says nothing out loud.

Then he spots one of the spyders with Y. "Yeah, it had to be spider-shaped. Fan of Spider-Man too?" He grins at Carrie. "Man, I bet Harper would love these critters."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney gets fully to her feet again once the little bot is confirmed 'OK.' Her eyes are still on it though. Even when Carrie signals it to come back to rejoin the others her eyes watch it's movements not unlike a cat stalking it's prey. Silently. From afar.

Finally blinking out of her staring she glances around at the others with a warm enough grin. "Nah I'm not worried, just making sure. And yeah JLD is an experience," she has to admit with a rather amused grin. Even so she fixes a LOOK at Phoebe. "Are you up to patrolling again already? You took the worst of it the other night."

A step closer is taken. To the droid.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim crouches down to observe one of the Spyder bots as it trundles on by. "When you say information gatherers..." he begins to say aloud, though he tucks that thought away for later. After all, he can pick Carrie's brain about her own prototypes any time; having some BoP tech to snoop around in is an infrequent occurrence.

    He takes up his previous seat again, though with the stool not so directly in front of the computer this time. Feet pulled up so his legs are folded together, Tim steeples his fingers against his chin. "I've been trying to write up a comprehensive survival guide for magical-and-or-mystical situations for the non-magical among us," himself included, "But I'll admit the internal inconsistencies are making that difficult so far. Some forms of magical theory contradict others... some magic is purely the application of will on the fabric of space-time, and there are no rules for that at all."

    There's a brief moment of grumbling and nose-wrinkled frowning about that, but that's all Tim says about it. Instead, he says, "We can always use more explosives."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Most of the Spyders starts marching their little eight legged selves back to the crate, but Carrie isn't counting them as they go. The command she issued from the phone should bring them back eventually, though some might still just stand around, or tap their little legs on the floor, or walk in circles... as she said, they are prototypes in the works.

"Not a fan specifically," she offers Conner. "Eight feet make it easier for the drones to get purchase on things, like climbing up the walls. I have three fully functioning Spyders right not. EMP delivery, information collection, and distraction devices." Even as she says this she spots one making it's way up the wall, so she walks over to collect it.

"I thought about using a beetle design instead, but I also needed them to be sleek, and able to fit through smaller openings," she plucks the one off the wall and puts it in the crate. "I haven't had much dealings with magical types, just some strange alien things that tried to eat my face. Conner was there for that."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe looks to Conner, and then to her plethora of scars, and then sheepishly covers her left arm.

    "Sorry, I usually cover 'em up." she explains quietly, and she purses her lips a moment, and she holds her hand over them, breathing out. "Long story. A couple of long stories." she remarks to Conner, and then with her attention split, she purses her lips, and then pokes at one of the spyders.

    "So, kinda like tachikoma -- do they report back in adorable little kid voices?" she questions, reaching into a pocket to pull up an athletic sleeve so that no one has to deal with the scarring.

    "And magic is weird. There's my inside magic, which is hereditary, then there's ritual magic like the kind I was learning from my -- mentor before he buggered off. Twice. That's more the kind of magic like you see when summoning and stuff. Wards on the floors. I've been told it's a bit like telling a lie so well that reality beleives you and then suddenly --"

    "Verte capillus mustellae paulo rosea--" she states out loud, with a wave and a curl of one hand --

    And without any other fanfare, Gabby Kinney now has BRILLIANTLY PINK hair!

    And Phoebe sort of sits back and gives a tired smile.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Yes, and I want to find more about the lightning woman," comments Conner. "SHIELD took the weird aliens; I don't think they were supernatural. Supernatural gives me the worst vibes."

Which is why he winces when Phoebe turns Gabby's hair pink. Don't touch his hair!

But also reminds him something else. "By the way, Tim. A woman called Helena came to see the Roost. I think you sent a report about her a while ago. And we found out Rose in the roof. She was, uh... the usual. Rose." Tim knows how THAT goes.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Just as Carrie looks away Gabby takes the opportunity to strike at her target! A poor confused little spyder drone that was doing it's best 'break dance' impression while spinning only half of it's legs in a little circle. It's a quick movement to catch and scoop it up, intending to hide it behind her back, when her attention is diverted a multitude of ways at once.

First was that little itchy, dizzy feeling which lasts a half second after Phoebe gestures. A single blink resolves that only for a new conundrum to come out: Her vision was blurred pink at the edges. Usually it was black where her hair fell down just to the sides of her face, barely in her vision, and she completely ignored it. Now? Pink.

Reaching up she grasps at a bit of her hair to tug it in front of her face staring at it. The other hand remains behind her back with Spydie as she stares. "Ooh Mustilae like badger. That'd be me then yes." A grin cracks over her face as she fishes in her pocket for her phone to take out for a quick selfie. "This is going to everyone," she states gleefully while striking as much of a pose as she can! The Spyder by now has caught onto the back of her shirt and clambered up to her shoulder so there's a few suspicious little appendages in the photo with her testingly waving around.

More seriously she straightens again giving a nod. "Yeah, I never met Rose before but I heard about her. She seems nice though! Offered me dating advice. ... Hooking up advice?" There's an uncertainty to her tone as she glances toward Conner for clarification. "Mostly advice of 'do not date just play', but I told her I like holding hands and she grumbled a bit and went back to tanning." Yes. That's resolved now.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "I think Helena will be an asset to the team. A bit standoffish still in the way most of the Bats are, but you remember how long it took me, so."

    No doubt there are sensors all around the Roost that would have registered Rose's presence. And yet Tim still visibly reacts to the news, shoulders hunching up and the corners of his mouth twitching.

    "Yeah. I guess I should probably talk to her, at some point. About, uh. Things." He stares unblinkingly at a point on the far wall for a long, long moment, before all the air eases out of his lungs in a slow exhale. Gabby's magical hairstyling moment is a much more enjoyable thing to focus on, and he flashes her a thumbs up at the new look. "Good to hear that she's okay, though," he adds. That's important to note, no matter what their personal history might be.

    He leans over the table to try and peer into Carrie's crate. "Seems they'd bve perfect for infiltration. Sneak in through a vent and find an open USB port to plug themselves into," he says.

    If Tim perhaps spies Gabby snatching a drone, he says nothing. For Now.

    "If it means less contorting ourselves into vents, I'm all for it."

    And then he lowers his face into his hands when Gabby mentions Rose's... advice.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses at COnner's reaction to the magic she so casually flung around, and she draws back, hugging herself a little, and gives a soft "Sorry, Conner, didn't mean togive you the Heebie Jeebies." in apology, and then just keeps her hands on either side of her arms for now.

    "Good idea to keep everyone on the team updated to the doings of others. And, Gabs -- on the dating advice front -- don't date anyone on the team. And if you can, don't date anyone who has a chip on their shoulder, unless there's a Dale on the other." she states with as serious an expression as she can muster.

    Specifically to draw attention from poor Tim.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
A broad grin spreads across Carrie's face at the mention of tachikoma and cute little kid voices before she says, "They didn't, but they will now!"

Mental note taken to make the Spyder sound like techno-kids, she picks up the crate and takes it over to set on the table by Tim. "Two of the Spyders are just that Tim, walking USB ports that can hack computers for information on their own," she explains. "The EMP Spyder got tested on a mission with Robin, worked like a charm to knock out the power and shut down the security of the warehouse. Eventually all of these," she points into the crate, now looking at the number of Spyders in there, but still not counting. "Will have designations for one of those two things, and possibly other things as well."

Now that the tech is in Tim's reach, she looks toward Phoebe and offers a smile, "You shouldn't worry about hiding your scars, unless you really want to I mean. They don't make you any less of a wonderful person, they're just reminders of when things got bad."

Now her green eyes swing to Gabby and her new pink hair and the smile goes back to a grin. SHe can see the Spyder on the woman's shoulder, but doesn't seem to care. "You should think of dating as another form of training, because there are always going to be bad dates to learn from, but there are good dates to remember as well... not that I'm dating anyone, or have recently... just saying, that's what I heard about dating."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Rose is great giving terrible advice," mentions Conner, also looking as if he wanted to do some facepalming. "And at picking places for sunbathing. And most life choices..." which is not something to take lightly. In most regards she is as much family as Tim or Bart. But Conner is not great at making good life choices either. So what can he do?

Probably not listen to Carrie either. "It is not training. It is living," he protests. "And I don't think Rose's style will fit you well, Gabby. I'd say 'always listen to Tim' but in this he is as clueless as most anyone else. No, even worse than average."

"Anyway, I am going upstairs to grab a bite and get back to New York. Gotta do a lot of writing before the weekend," he waves and heads out.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney grins a bit at the talk that goes on around her. The little wiggling of the Spyder on her shoulder is caught in her camera lense on the phone, so she reaches back with her free hand to high-five one of it's wiggling little legs. Alas, this means others have spotted it as well, so she scoops it up gently to set it back on the floor, nudging it along. "Go on, go back with your friends," she coos as if it were alive and not a robot.

Glancing back up at everyone she just smiles ruefully. "Hey, Julian and I were pretty good together while we were an item. Just things happened. He felt guilty and ..." Here she shrugs, not getting into details. It's probably the first time she's ever even mentioned the name of the prior boyfriend she's spoken about on occasion.

"I don't have any plans to date teammates, but I also don't have any interest in teammates as it is. I guess I don't need dating advice so much as I need to stop meeting guys who can't make up their minds." Standing again, head shaking, she lets out a sigh. "Heck Robin dumped me and we hadn't even started dating yet. Go figure." She pauses, pointing toward Carrie and Tim. "So, uh, please no teasing him. I know you wanted to, Tim. It's over." A solemn nod is given before she glances back to Phoebe. "So how long is the hair going to last like this? I might want to go show it off to Rien and dad to see them freak."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim scrubs his face with both hands and stifles a groan, but then he sits back up abruptly, expression totally normal. "Let's lay it all out and see what we're working with, here," he says as he makes grabby hands in the direction of the crate. Though he does actually lean over to help with the unpacking of tech.

    "Date or don't date. Just don't make me give the responsible-behavior-talk because I am not emotionally or physically prepared for that right now."

    He makes a noise when he's called clueless. Because Tim is Tim and of course that bothers him. "Look, maybe I'm in a slightly unorthodox relationship," and even he has the good sense to pause at the weight of that massive understatement, "But it's been eight months! We're doing great!"

    And of course when Gabby starts talking about the almost-sort-of-didn't-happen relationship with Damian, he shuts up. All he does is shoot her a concerned look, and when he passes by her -- to go get some equipment to start taking the tech apart, per his explanation -- he squeezes Gabby's shoulder lightly.

    "No teasing," he promises. And then he's gone.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
For a moment it look like Carrie will say something to Gabby about Robin, but she refrains and instead looks to the Spyder the woman set down. Dutifully it starts break dancing again, clear indication that the servos need some work but seeing it doing that makes her giggle. "Okay, so not all of them are useful yet," she uses as an excuse before walking over to pick it up. "Gabby, what would you like your Spyder to do? Dance, sing, play music, spy on people? I can make anyone a specific design of commands for whatever needs they might have." She grins then adds, "I like the pink, and I won't tease."

Now that she had the last wayward Spyder, she moves back to help Tim unload the crate. "I can 'borrow' some other things as well, Babs gave permission. You're welcome to take it all apart, put it back together, etc. I just want to learn from it as well."

She takes a quick glance around the room before finally just asking, "So why don't we date team mates?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "--ROBIN DUMPED YOU?!" Phoebe blinks, opening her mouth, and then closing it, and then she gives an exasperated sound and leaning her head back. "I gave him all my good advice. For naught." she breathes out in a huff, and then she looks to Carrie.
    "Intra-team drama. Like for instance, if I -- as an example -- dated Laura -- also an example, definitely not interested -- and I wronged her, can you think of the the ways that she would flay me alive if she felt like it? I've got a magic healing thing goin' on and I don't think that anything would fix what she could do!" Phoebe states, giving a very extreme example as she gives a smile, and then she points to Gabby.

    "Three Hours. And then poof, back to being dark haired."

    And then she points at Carrie.

    "My scars make other people uncomfortable because of aforementioned healing thing. Half of these were burned into my body on my lonesome and the shoulder was from being stabbed by a giant scorpion made of sand and the disembodied heads of my loved ones screaming for help."

    She points to retreating Conner "Be safe!"

    She points to Tim "Get me a coffee!" she grins

Gabby Kinney has posed:
While Gabby was usually the one to babble and let things out so it didn't get to her in the long run, she wasn't really expecting such a reaction from everyone over that little blurted bit. The shoulder squeeze from Tim gets a little rueful smile along with a silent nod of appreciation for the gesture. She's just about to state that it was okay, she hadn't had time to really get all that emotionally involved, when instead Phoebe blurts out in shock.

"Uh?" She blinks several times looking confused. That had been rather typical for her lately though. "Kind of?" There's an uncertainty to her tone though all she can do is shrug helplessly. "We were out for pizza and then he kind of... apologized for screwing things up, said we ought to reconsider hanging out, and ran." Another helpless shrug.

To Carrie she blurts out, "Oh! Music, please! That would be awesome. I mean," she glances to the Spyderbot with a grin as well. "I imagine also surveillence would be good but music would be pretty cool." She already had plans involving a tiny tophat and possibly some costumes. Paint? Maybe paint.

Her phone buzzes in hand drawing her attention back to it to flash a grin at the screen. "Okay, hate to run but Rien is about to introduce Robbie to dad and I am SO going to be there for that after what dad did to poor Tim thinking we were dating. We weren't. Aren't. But dad's over-compensating for not being there most of my life and Tim was with me when I got my claws enchanted." With a quick wave she turns to head out. "Thanks for the hair, Phoebe!"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Listening to Phoebe's explanations it made sense, though she couldn't imagine that sort of deep level of problems. She offered a nod at the end of it, getting enough of it to understand how it was looked at with the team.

"Your scars don't make me uncomfortable," she then adds, just so Phoebe knew, then she returned to spreading the tech out on the table.

"I'll get one set up with connections to Spotify, Pandora, and all the other music sites out there Gabby, as well as of course surveillance and recording. I'll need your phone, when I'm done, to put the app on it." She looks back to the tech. "Be safe out there Gabby, I'm going to get to work on this stuff, see what I can see."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know. The only one that bothers Tim is the shoulder, because he was there for that one." Phoebe explains as she draws one knee up, her bare heel against the side.

    "Everyone's going to want one, you know. Half of us will give them cutsey names, the rest of them will have standard serial numbers." she gives a wry grin to the redhead. "So, tech genius like Tim and Barbara?" she asks in curiosity.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie pauses and looks over at Phoebe, then leaves the teach to walk over and sit down beside her.

"I can see where that would be touch for him," she admits with a slight shrug. "We can't change the past, can't conceal the wounds, even the ones that are inside can't be hidden really, but we can work through it all together, right?"

Opening her hand she shows one of the spyders in the palm, just dancing away to it's own unheard music. "I'm okay with making many for everyone," she says with a grin. "What would you like yours to do?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a small smile, and her eyebrows rise up as she looks to Carrie, and she tilts her head back.

    "It's a complex story. I think he partially blames himself, which he shouldn't." she states softly, and reaches up with her free hand to touch on the silver locket around her throat, and then opens one eye, and just watches the spyder in the palm.

    "A tech in the hand is worth two in the bush, or so I've heard." she remarks wryly, and then she looks over to Carrie. "I'm gonna have to think on it. Tech and magic don't get on in some cases."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Wiggling her brows a little, Carrie leans closer as she says, in a drug dealer selling on a corner voice, "We'll figure out how to make them work together. That's what I'm hear for after all, have to help the whole team, not just the non-super, non-magical types."

Sitting back her eyes shift to the locket for a moment, then move back to Phoebe's face. "That sounds like Tim. Blaming himself for things that likely had nothing to do with him, or that he could do nothing about... I think we're all like that though. It's the primary reason I became an Oracle. I hope to see things and give warning before they get bad."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a sidelong smile to Carrie, dark eyes giving a mischevious look to the redheaded oracle, and she then leans back.

    "Usually if I'm trying to divine something, it's locations. I was... I was able to help find Cass that way." she admits quietly, looking down at her calloused hands. "That's really all we want to do as heroes, right? Help people. Pay the price so they don't have to..." she trails off, and closes her fingers.

    "So you're going to be the eyes-in-the-skies and voice in the ear for us Gothamy types?"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie leans back, looking toward the table of tech. It was an extravaganza of information waiting to be learned, and each component would lead her to a better understanding of AI, drones, and so many other gadgets. She could hold up in a fight, was great back up from range, but hand to hand was still a little on the weaker side.

"That's what started me on my journey to "hero"," she makes air quotes to go with the word hero. "I wanted to help Batman, but... that was /my/ Batman, not this one. It still gets confusing sometimes."

She shakes that off water off a coat of fur. "I want to help as many people as I can, and I decided one of the best ways for me to do that was apply my true skills in a manner that would be most effective. So yes, I'll be the Eyes in the Sky, the voice in your ear, and the swarm of drones ready to help out. I will also still be in the field when I'm needed, but this..." she gestures toward the little Spyder that is still stupidily just dancing. "This is what I know best, what I studied for, and if I can use a drone to save someone from injury or death, better the drone get destroyed, right?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a wry grin, and then she leans forward.

    "Yeah. That... I can relate to that. Last summer I ended up kind of emergency-tutoring under a magician. We got close -- like, father-daughter close. He was the closest thing I had to a parent who was like me. Bloodline, curse -- this summer we were supposed to take off two weeks and tour all the towns in the UK that have horrible lewd names and take our pictures at each town sign and a pub. And then maybe I'd go to Uni or College. Then... some stuff happened. Turned out he wasn't the 'real' one. And the real one doesn't want much to do with me anymore." she states, and then she breathes out.

    "My true skills? I'm the light in the dark." she states, and she brings up her hands, the same way that Carrie motions to the tachikoma -- Phoebe is never going to not think of it as thus. It's stuck.

    "The healer, the hopeful one --" she forms a ball of light in her hand, and it orbits her fingers, rose-gold and giving little crackles of energy. "The friendly neighborhood supernatural freakshow and exorcist."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
A frown takes over Carrie's face as Phoebe talks, her head tilting slightly to the side as she watches the woman perform magic, something she herself could never in a million years do.

"Why would you call yourself a freak?" she asks bluntly, obviously confused by this choice of words.

"Inhumans, mutants, meta-humans, they're the next step in the long line of evolution, or some unfortunate soul that got experimented on, and people call them freaks. They aren't freaks, and neither are you. Just because your different, doesn't make you someone on the outside of things." She pauses there, trying very hard to understand what it was about Phoebe that made the woman thing the way she does.

"Whom ever or whatever has set that thinking in your brain, it might be time for some adjustments and reprogramming. I mean I'm sorry the real one wants nothing to do with you, but that's /his/ loss. I think you're great Phoebe, and beautiful, and smart and in no way a freak or a burden or anything like that."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's mouth forms a thin line. Her eyes, the color of dark coffee with the same rich brown-red highlights of sunlight through a clear cup of black coffee just peers out into the room, watching as that rose-gold orb circles, and she blinks back tears. The head and hand go down, the orb fading as the hand drops.

    "Yeah, I'm sorry. Just," she brings her other hand up, circling about her temple. "Still dealing with greiving parents and my home and stuff. Working through things. Sometimes gets a bit screwy, you know?" she explains it away, withdrawing into herself. And she breathes out.

    "Was your Batman as broody as ours is?" she questions, forcing a segue, "or did he like, wear rainbow colors?"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The process if withdrawing that Phoebe does is watched, the change in body language and the explanation through out to make it go away, or at least try to. Carrie wouldn't comment further, she could see it was something of a touchy subject, so for the time being she would let it slip by.

"My batman was older, much older," she states with a slight shrug. "And an expert in brooding, just like this one. He wore black, but the idea of rainbow Batman tickles my funny bone, and now I want to make that action figure on a 3D printer."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Say you got it in a BatMite meal. It'll probably prompt the boys to go out and try to find it." Phoebe suggests with a slight mischevious grin, looking to Carrie. "Have to give the bat insignia sunglasses or something, 'cause the colors are so bright." she taps her fingers against her arms a moment, her eyebrows rising up. "We all kind of have muted tones though, except Robins."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
The wheels are turning, in her head Carrie is already writing out the code for the printer.

"The sunglasses are a nice touch," she laughs, chewing at her bottom lip before looking back to Phoebe.

"I've gone to a black and forest green, armored suit now, so I can't be mistaken as a Robin... even if that used to be the sole goal I had. It will never happen here, so I had to move on. Now I forge my own path. Make a name for myself. Even considering changing my moniker from Sparrow, to something else... but Rainbow Batman will happen, then I'll start making the Robins."

She considers a moment, "BatMite meals huh... perfect."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I started gray with slight blue, with the armor Tim designed back when I first joined the Outsiders. Now that I'm in the Bats properly? There's orange added to it. And a darker gray. Tim and I are playing with making the orange glow so that it can be a sudden introduction." Phoebe relaxes a little bit, and she looks over.

    "NEver thought of myself as a Robin, really. Not much of a bird."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Setting the little spyder on her knee, Carrie lays her head back against the wall. "I was just a kid then," she admits quietly. "Batman was the coolest, bravest, and I wanted to help him... I had to force myself down his throat to get him to let me, and then this..." she gestures to the room in general like that explains everything.

"Glowing orange huh? Not very stealthy, but it would make a statement," she then comments with a grin, looking back at Phoebe. "I'm not a bird either, not really... thus why I'm considering a moniker change."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'll always be Balm, in my mind. It's the moniker Tim and I decided because... ah... Beacon was a bit on the nose." Phoebe gives a wry smile. "It's really been two years since I was wearing a wool jacket with bullet proof plates sewn in. Man, the armor doesn't get *nearly* as hot!" she laughs.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"Balm is fitting," Carries says with a smile, shifting her legs a little to get more comfortable. The spyder holds on for the moment she's moving, then goes back to dancing.

"It's been seven years since I landed in this reality, so... seven years of searching for a purpose. Finally found it, now I just need a moniker to match it. Any suggestions?" She glances back to Phoebe. "All serious suggestions will be considered."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Mmm. I'm afraid I'm all out of serious suggestions." Phoebe states, closing her eyes a moment. "All I have is a ton of Lord of the Rings and Mythology-supernatural-trivia. Delphi would be a good one. Their Oracles were called Pythia. There was an oracle at Siwa if you like the Egyptian theme -- which, being Egyptian, I'm kinda partial to --" Phoebe considers "Ovation, related to the word Ovate borrowed from Celtic, for a seer. Could also be related to a term for possession --" she tilts her head, looking at Carrie "You learn about that sort of thing in the back of a cab being driven upstate to combat demons, you know." she jokes, like it was the most natural thing int he world.

    "Or if you like the more techical side, Daemon -- like a mailer Daemon, but might be too close to Damian -- or Cricket. Like Jiminey. The voice in the back of your head telling you that you're doing somethign wrong, dummy."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Listening to each suggestion Carrie's smile just gets bigger and broader. Some of those were really good ideas that she would never have thought of herself.

"Hey, those sounded pretty serious to me," she comments. "Better then what I came up with. I mean seriously, the only thing that popped into my head was Syntax, and that's not much of a moniker."

"Delphi, Pythia, Siwa... those are really good, and Siwa, honestly that's a really cool name. I'll add them to the 'consider these' pile." She looks up at ceiling. "Cricket. That's a giggle, but still a good name. Maybe I'll making jumping around while whispering in ears a thing."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Delphi sounds like a winner. The place is associated with oracles preeeetty sure as far back as there's been a hole in the earth and a lady to sit over it." Phoebe gives a wry smile, and she scoots forward. "So yeah, you've got a list of names. Ovation I like. Bit like Ovaltine -- you know they used to give out decoder rings with your ovaltine?" she asks, half distracted as she stretches her scarred left shoulder.

    "All right. I oughta get out and get my patrol started before either The Man or the Mite gets on my case. If you need any other advice --" Phoebe gives a grin, walking backwards and holding her little finger and thumb out "Call me!"

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Carrie picks the spyder up off her leg, than stands up. She offers Phoebe a wave as she departs, then heads back to the table with all the tech. Choosing a new moniker was something that needed to take time, to find just the right one that fit, but Delphi and Ovation were high up on the list. For now, however, she was going to work on reverse engineering tech.