11947/Dr. Stonelove: Past is Prologue

Dr. Stonelove: Past is Prologue
Date of Scene:	20 August 2022
Location:	S.T.A.R. Labs
Synopsis:	A visit by some of the Titans to STAR Labs winds up with a power outage, an attack, and a hacked-into Cyborg. What's wrong with the tallest Titan? Who attacked STAR Labs and what are they after? Will Maddie get her lightsaber back?
Cast of Characters:	Victor Stone, America Chavez, Madison Evans, Heather Danielson, Gar Logan

---

Victor Stone has posed:
    Victor Stone has set up a tour of STAR Labs for the Titans, ostensibly as part of an outreach program designed to get young people interested in science. It's really admittedly less about the Titans getting involved in science than it is about photo ops and meeting interns--in other words, for the Titans to burnish the reputation of STAR Labs. But it's meant to be a two-way street, with the Titans hopefully getting inspiration or seeing some cool science.

    /Really/ though the whole reason Vic brought people along was as a buffer for strained conversation with his father. Silas Stone is leading the tour, and he and his son are being perfectly polite to each other, but for a father-son relationship it's obviously kind of strained. Still, they're at least /trying/ to get along for the sake of Vic's friends.

    "And this is the climate sciences lab," Silas says as he leads them into an open area full of workstations and computers. "Mostly we're doing long-term climate modeling, but there's some exciting work being done with materials research and the bio labs, in finding a way to not only halt but reverse the effects of climate change."

America Chavez has posed:
    America isn't a scientist. Her own methodology when it comes to transdimensional or transtemporal (sometimes both) travel is more a matter of instinct and comes from her heart more than her mind. That doesn't mean she's not into science. It's always been fascinating to watch as the people of Earth strive to understand and control the forces of nature around them and if she can help garner interest for that, then all the better.

    The stark, sterile white of the labcoat stands out sharply against her darker skin and the star-printed shirt and hotpants underneath are -definitely- not work appropriate, but she makes it a fashion statement all the same as she looks over the tour and listens. Silas' explaination about their work towards repairing the climate piques her interest; after all she spends a lot of time in the air.

    "Reverse?" she asks. "So you can actually repair the damage that's been done? I didn't think that was possible. I mean, sure clean things up and it slows down... but actual reversal? What's the timetable on something like that?"

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison has been wearing her new lightsaber around the tower almost constantly - who wouldn't? A lightsaber is your life, right? And she's obviously thrilled to have it, at last.
    But bringing something like that to a science lab? Well. That's something else entirely - so she's traded her brand-new, very shiny lightsaber for a crisp, sparkling white lab coat, and has had an almost endless array of questions anywhere they go in the labs. "So like - that would be stuff like that whiter-than-white paint that's supposed to reduce cooling needs, bringing down energy consumption, and reflecting back some of the heat of the sun to reduce the planet's temperature?" Madison asks in a bright tone. "And like - carbon capture and the like? Are you also finding new ways to capture greenhouse gases? Or like - more renewable energy sources or- I mean there's just a //million// different thing."
    Grinning at America she adds, "Oh, it can definitely be reversed it's just- I mean, if we haven't even //halted// it yet - we got to pull that off first, you know? We'll get there!"

Heather Danielson has posed:
    Little Miss P.R. ... that's something that Heather feels has been attached to her name as well as her codename. A big portion of what she does for the Titans has come down to speaking to the press... that, and dealing with visitors to the Tower. So a chance to get away and visit STAR Labs feels like a vacation of a bit to her. That, and she really likes the idea of being able to contribute. And then there is the fact that she is so far from a highly educated scientist that everything here might as well be Greek to her.

    However, she finds herself looking down at the labcoat she's wearing and wrinkles her nose. It doesn't do her overall look any favors. But hey, she's just enjoying the show thus far, and doing her level best to not appear an idiot.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's in attendance, wearing a visitor's lab coat and safety glasses. This is whether it's needed or not, and it looks about the way one would expect it to when his costume is on beneath it. This also means blue shoe covers over bare feet.

"Guys, look. I could pass for a real scientist," he says, no matter how untrue that may be. "Of course, animals are my thing, but everyone's gotta have a specialty."

For the most part, the Titan is refraining from saying too much. He knows things aren't the best between Vic and his old man, so he's got an eye on part of that. Tone of voice, any particular looks from one to the other, things like that. With others along with them asking the pertinent questions, he settles for making scientist-like sounds of "Hmm!" or "That's interesting!" while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Silas nods to America and Madison. "Carbon capture's a big one, as is renewable energy. Our biggest concern is that, well--there's a lot of /really/ smart people in the world, including AIs and aliens. Carbon capture, weather control--all of that's definitely on the horizon. But what we /don't/ want to do is accidentally plunge the world into another Ice Age, say. A lot of what's going on is humans accelerating and exaggerating natural processes... so if we just pull too much carbon out of the atmosphere, what chain of events does that set off?"

    Vic grins. "They're trying to avoid being mad scientists, basically. Which Gar could /definitely/ pull off. A real Dr. Doolittle." He's more relaxed than he might have otherwise been, with his friends around. "There's some promising stuff, though, yeah. And some of the work's on stuff like adapting to what's already been happening, making sure we have seed banks and reducing cooling needs, prepping for extreme weather."

America Chavez has posed:
    America narrows her eyes a bit at Vic's comment. "Alright. But..." she smirks. "Hear me out. Trying to avoid it means that someone might slip up. I believe in the altruism of humanity as much as the next hero, but even the most well intentioned type might accidentally discover how to make a death ray."

    She flashes one of her bright smiles. "I get that you might not want to show off the giant disc that can block out the sun to the normal masses, but we're the Titans we've got higher access, right?" she asks, looking to the rest of the group, her gaze lingering a bit long on Gar and his studious appearance before she goes to their guides.

    "So... what's some of the more experimental tech or developments you've got going on in here?" she asks looking around as if they might be just around the corner if she looks hard enough.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "Well, reducing cooling needs is where that white paint comes in. I hear it's really, really good at that. Or, you know, even just adding solar panels - it not only generates electricity, it also significantly shields the roof from heating up from the sun's energy, reducing cooling needs in the house. It's utter win-win," Madison explains in a cheerful voice. This was all stuff she learned when her dad was putting solar panels on his home.
    America's question has her perk, though, and the teen bounces up onto the tips of her toes. It's entirely too youthful of a behavior for a kid who's now //seventeen// - but it seems like some things aobut Madison may never change. "Oh, yes, tell us about the new tech!"

Heather Danielson has posed:
    New tech? Heather perks up and strides along in the wake of the gathered Titans. Once more, she doesn't speak up just yet. Mostly a pair of eyes with feet. She's also a supportive teammate and friend in a time when a teammate needs that.

    But yeah, she remembers being as enthusiastic as Madison, and smiles warmly. And then she looks to Gar and smirks. She mouths 'maaaad' to him in response to Vic's statement about Mad Scientist stuff. But then she goes back to observing and just being present.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Not mad at all! Just a parallel sort of genius to what you're all used to," Gar states, and the only way he could puff up any further would be if he turned into a peacock. "Yeah, I talk to animals all the time and they tell me this place is getting too hot for them. We gotta take better care of the planet, but let's start by lowering everything a couple degrees if we can. We don't need another Ice Age."

This time, he /does/ turn into something: a green version of Scrat, complete with saber-tooth teeth and a big bushy tail, suddenly gesturing wildly for an acorn if the antics are any indication.

Moments later, he's scrambling up the side of the tallest Titan to mime for one about the size of his head, hands rapidly moving this way and that around without touching anything beyond the shoulder he perches upon. Satisfied with the proportions of Vic's noggin, he squeaks and flashes a double thumbs-up.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Before Silas can really get too much into "new tech" or anything, Gar has become a squirrel. A saber-tooth squirrel? The reaction in the room is, at first, stunned gasps--oh no an animal in the room!--but then people start to laugh at the antics. Vic, for his part, kind of bats at Gar as his friend climbs onto him. "Hey, man, cut that out!" He's half-laughing, though.

    Which is right about the time that the lights go out, coupled with an audible sound of various systems powering down. There's a few groans of annoyance, and Silas frowns as he looks around. "That shouldn't--Victor, keep an eye on things here? I'm going to go check the power station."

    Vic frowns, lowering his arms to stop trying to bat Gar off his head, and instead bringing up a flashlight. "Sure thing," he says. But he's suddenly tense. Random power outages just don't happen in STAR Labs.

America Chavez has posed:
    Gar's display of his usual antics earns a grin from America but then the lights go out. She's immediately tense and on edge. The power going out could be due to any number of things: summer storm, surge on the grid, or even a power company accidentally hitting a trip line. But the power going out at one of the nation's top research facilities? That didn't happen for accidental reasons.

    She slips off the white labcoat, it restricts her movement a bit too much for her liking. "Vic? Should we let him go alone?" she asks the big man. Her voice is pitched low so as to not carry far. "I don't want to alarm anyone here, but this can't just be a freak accident. They have generators here and everything..."

Madison Evans has posed:
    As the lights goes off, Madison goes from giggling at Gar's antics, to turning in place, a puzzled look on her features. "Uhhh..." she starts, "is this place... on the grid? I mean, I'd've thought you have your own, on-site- yeah. What she said," she remarks - her voice overlapping, and agreeing with America.
    "I could go with him," she offers quietly. "I'm just some kid, no one really //knows me// yet - you know?" So she could slide under the radar if there is trouble.
    Should she have brought her lightsaber after all?

Heather Danielson has posed:
    I mean come on, who wouldn't laugh at Gar's antics. When you can literally -become- the comic relief character out of a movie... it's like a total cheater cheater move in the comedy department. It's literally like the first thing that's come out of Heather's mouth since she entered the building.

    And then the lights go out, and she blinks and turns her head left, then right and all that. She shuts up and just listens. Well, she shuts up for a moment and adds, "I could go with him. I'm like a walking meat shield." she says as she pulls out her mobile phone and turns on the flashlight function.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan's joking around is over with almost as soon as it'd began when the lights go out. Back to himself as he changes in mid-leap off of Vic, he says, "I don't think that was part of the show. Anything here we should know about? That sounded like a total shutdown. And yeah, where's the backup power?"

The natural instinct is to want to go along to the power station, because if this is abnormal as it feels there could be something there, but he glances back toward Vic for a moment. "They've got a bunch of security here, but I've seen this kind of thing too often to just act like it's nothing. If anyone's going, we're all going." His phone, too, comes out to help with the light as long as nothing auxiliary turns on.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Everyone's volunteering to go help Silas check on the power room, which makes Cyborg chuckle. "Dad's not likely to let us down there, but he'll have security with him, they'll--"

    There's a sudden hiss and crack, and Heather falls back as a flash bang and then smoke grenade both hit the room. It's liable to be disorientating, and the smoke smells odd--some kind of toxin involved, maybe?

    And then there's several more people in the room, a shout of "Nobody move and nobody gets hurt!" while guns are drawn! As if a whole group portaled into the room, surrounding the heroes. Clearly they didn't expect the Titans to be here today, or it's unlikely they'd be moving the way they are. They're aiming, at first, at the scientists at the workstations, who are mostly half-blinded or coughing from the smoke.

America Chavez has posed:
    Ms. America generally flies about the vaccum of space without a suit on, so the chemicals inside the gas canisters are pretty easily disregarded as the first whiff forces her to hold her breath... which she can do indefintely if the need arises. The flashbang is a bit more of an issue. Loud noises and lights are disorienting for sure, but do little more to the punching heroine than anger her.

    As her vision clears, she sees another sight that angers her more, people being threatened. Her teeth clench and her fists ball, knuckles cracking under the strain of her irritation. Her eyes fall on Heather, who took the brunt of the blast, and it only fuels her anger. "Who are you and what do you want?" she demands of the one who seems to be giving orders.

Madison Evans has posed:
    Madison has never seen a flashblang before - and it's disorienting to the teen, who shields her eyes and takes a step back from the source of the light and noise.
    As she becomes aware of the other voices in the room, shouting out threats and commands, she does the one thing the disoriented teen can think of to protect herself.
    You can't see me. You can't see me. You can't see me.
    The mantra is her own little protective charm, allowing her to fade from view as she moves away from the threat, waiting for her full vision and hearing to return. And what is that smell- shit. Should she hold her breath? How long can she hold her breath? Jedi can hold their breath for a long time - can't they? And they can also get rid of toxins. Right? ... right? She'll be //fine.// Surely.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Look out!" Beast Boy only gets a moment to throw an arm up in an attempt to shield his eyes from the flash, but the bright nature of it against the mostly darkened room is still troublesome. Then, there's whatever's in the air. Whoever's behind this, they wouldn't go straight to some kind of fatal toxin..would they?

Only one way to find out. "Don't move? Yeah, right. You picked the wrong day, pal."

What's one creature that doesn't need to see in order to get around, even if it actually can? The bat, and Gar's version of one quickly elevates above the level of the smoke grenade, making use of his hearing and echolocation to pick out what they're dealing with. From above he still speaks, "Guys, there's like ten or so, I think!" And he's diving toward one right now, changing into a gorilla to grab at him and whatever he might be about to use on them.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Whoever's dropped in on them was definitely /not/ expecting Titans. Madison disappears, America's threatening them--and Beast Boy just drops on one, causing the guy's gun to go skittering off. Then all is confusion, as a couple of the intruders shout, "Titans!" and "They weren't supposed to be--" and "Just activate it go go go!"

    Several of the intruders move to attack the Titans, about four swarming America and another three coming to help the one Gar's already tangling with. None of them even notice Madison. Another one presses a button on something and suddenly Vic--who was bringing up his sonic cannon to prepare to subdue them--screams in pain and drops to his knees, clutching his head.

    "Get--out--of--aaaahh!" he shouts. "What do you /want/?!"

    From the look of it, the leader is trying to hack him, maybe, using a tablet they're holding.

America Chavez has posed:
    America is mad and when Ms. America is mad... people get hurt. Bullets, tasers, gas, not much can phase her and even less can when she's in wreck your everything mode. Punches fly and after the resounding impact of skin on skin, so does a goon. She's silent, because of the gas and the lack of air, but even so her absolute disdain is evident. A kick with Utopian power behind it sends another man flying into an opposite wall.

    "We need to clear this..." she coughs, "gas and help Vic." She coughs again and punches one of the men, using her unique ability behind the punch to open a large star shaped portal behind him. There are a number of worlds with similar atmosphere's to Earth in the multiverse. But having a similar atmosphere doesn't mean they have the same barometric pressure. The world her portal leads to looks rather barren and rocky and the gas--as well as much of the oxygen--in the room moves from high pressure to low pressure as atmospheric patterns dictate and while the air is considerably thinner for a moment, it does clear.

    A wave of her hand closes the portal, allowing the toxin to live out the rest of its existence on that unihabited world before she turns to the final of her four goons. A hand reaches out to grab him by the throat. "Fix him" she demands, pointing to the agonizing form of Cyborg nearby. "Now!"

Madison Evans has posed:
    As Madison's sight and hearing come back, she watches as one of the intruders pulls out a tablet - and seems to do something to Victor.
    Vic. Her friend. Who designed her //lightsaber// for her. Well - that absolutely wasn't going to stand! Still holding her breath, she moves quickly, dodging around people who don't seem to see that she's there (still the best Force power!) so she can close on the man. The pull as she grabs the tablet is so utterly unexpected that there's no tug-of-war, it's simply hers as she looks desperately for a cancel button - but there's nothing like that.
    "On it!" she tells America. Where's the off switch, where's the off switch? Dodging away from the man, to avoiding any attempts to snatch the tablet back - swipes to bring up to the power button - and hammers on it repeatedly. JUST. TURN. OFF.

Gar Logan has posed:
The Garilla's head turns at the sound of Cyborg's shout/scream, and he answers this by grabbing two intruders and slamming them together without pause. The effects of the smoke grenade threaten to interfere, as even an ape is going to cough with enough exposure to it, but America's trick helps clear the air in a very literal way.

"Whatever you're doing, you're making a big mistake!" Beast Boy bellows, because of course he's going to be loud. When have you ever seen a gorilla who was quiet?

A gun is taken then snapped in half, and after he's put another couple out of commission he turns as if he's going to just swat at the tablet. "Break it if you have to!" is 'advised' once he sees Madison with it in hand. 'Advised' because it sounds a lot more forceful than he means it to be.

Victor Stone has posed:
    The leader of the group starts to chase after Madison as she grabs the tablet, except that she's invisible, so he's left running the other way. The gas is sucked out of the room, several of the group go down to America and Gar's violence. Whatever plans these people had, they've definitely gone off the rails.

    Then the lights start to flicker back on.

    "We're blown!" the leader cries. "Everyone out!" And a portal opens, and he jumps through, followed by the other few who are still up. Which leaves the tablet and the knocked-out people behind, as the power revs up and surges back on.

    Vic's lying on the ground by now, unconscious evidently, even though Madison hasn't quite managed to turn off the program on the tablet.

America Chavez has posed:
    America gives her hostage a shake and then punches him out before throwing him aside. "Madison? Where are you?" she asks, looking around for the invisible Jedi. "Gar see to Victor... we need to make sure he's still..." She pauses, realizing that she's giving orders when Gar is the senior Titan of the group. "Sorry..." she says giving the shifted man an apologetic look. "Habit..."

    She instead keeps looking around for Madison, maybe outside the frenzy of the combat they can figure out what's going on and turn off whatever is harming Victor. Taking care of him is priority, she'll figure out where those goons came from and where they went after.

Madison Evans has posed:
    As the badguys starts to retreat, and Madison reaches the safety of the otherside of the room - she fades back into view. "I'm here! I'm here! I don't know how to fix it!" she says urgently, still clutching the tablet. "I tried shutting it down. What's wrong with him? Can- there's //science// people here, someone has to be able to fix it!" There's a hint of panic on the edge of Madison's voice - reflecting her desperation to get Victor back up.
    The tablet is held up - ready for a more experienced hand to take over.

Gar Logan has posed:
Beast Boy makes good use of his extra strength, piling up the unconscious bodies like stacking sacks of potatoes or similar. "They're getting away!" he calls out, to make sure the obvious is stated as those who can make use of the portal to scram.

His attention shifts back toward Victor, then America, and finally Madison as he turns back to his usual self again. The lab coat remains, though the eyewear is gone. Shrugging out of the top layer to leave him in just his costume, he waves a hand in America's direction. "Don't worry about it. Good idea, but I have a better one." He isn't making any jokes here. Not right now.

Gesturing toward Madison, he waves her over, meeting her halfway. "Let me have a look at that." With the scientists and others here mostly having ducked away for safety, he takes possession of the tablet. Rather than trying to get into it at all, he simply throws it on the floor and stomps on it repeatedly, courtesy of becoming a horse as he rears up and comes down hard a few times. Those hooves are good for something. "If that doesn't do it..!" he says, not even making a 'horsing around' joke.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Breaking the tablet does the trick. Vic blinks awake, staring up at the ceiling, breathing slowly. "Wh-wha-what happened?"

    Silas comes running back into the room. "Security tells me there was a breach--" He stops on looking at the piled-up bodies. Well, yeah. Evidently, a breach. He rushes over to Vic, kneels down next to his son. "What happened? Are you injured?"

    Vic frowns, blinking again. "I... I can't move," he says. "I don't--understand. Dad? Why are you--" He pauses. "What time is it? My internal clock's not working."

America Chavez has posed:
    With the smashing of the device and Vic's awakening, America relaxes... some. "Some guys came in and sort of scrambled you, -amigo-" she says to her fallen comrade. "We took care of some of them and got the device that doing the scrambling... Gar stampeded it and snapped you out of it."

    She frowns. "Can't move?" she looks to Vic's father. "That... that's not good, is it?" she asks. "We should get him off the ground. I can help move him in you need the assistance."

Madison Evans has posed:
    "No, but if you smash it-" Madison protests, but it's too late. "What if we needed to look at that program to see what was //done//?" She points out, before gesturing to the conscious - but now immobile Victor. "We'll figure it out somehow," she promises Vic.
    "Umm. You weren't out long, you know. Barely a minute's passed since they busted in."

Gar Logan has posed:
Stamping his way back from the tablet, the horse turns into the Titan one more time, and Gar shrugs with his palms up toward Madison. "He was in pain and you were locked out. He should be able to tell us what it did, but even that's troubling." There isn't much else he can add before Silas is back, and he moves over with the others who go to check on Vic.

If America needs a hand, Gar offers it one way or another. If not, it's moral support time. "What'd they do, dude? Shut you down? And how did they even portal their way in here in the first place?" Vic's father is included in the questions, along with getting some of his attention. "They took out the power so they could get in here undetected, but the good guys just happened to be here to wreck 'em. You wouldn't happen to know what they were after, would you?" That question sure /sounds/ rhetorical.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Last I remember, I was in Titans Tower," Vic says, frowning. "It must've been... if we're at STAR Labs it was yesterday?"

    Silas frowns. "Help me get him to the medical bay," he starts.

    "Nah," Vic interrupts, "I can go to Titans Tower medical. We'll figure it out." There's an undercurrent in his voice of... irritation, maybe.

    Silas hesitates, then sighs and nods. "Alright. Fair enough." He looks to Gar. "I'm not sure--we're going to have to question these people, see if anything went missing. But if they affected Victor..."

    "They knew how to hack into me," Vic finishes. "So they were after me. Or you, through me. So it's best if I'm out of here, yeah? And then you can go around and ask questions and figure out who you pissed off this time."

    Silas doesn't react to the accusation, just remaining stony-faced as he turns away. He's clearly worried, though. "It was nice to see you all--but I think you had best take Victor home, as he's asked."

America Chavez has posed:
    America's mouth forms into a tight line at the awkward and uncomfortable exchange between Victor and his father. She doesn't know the history there, but she knows that there is -history- there. She nods to Silas and then turns. "On three..." she says, kneeling down next to Victor. "One. Two." Before she gets to three she's lifting the big man up onto her shoulder. "Three."

    She looks to Beast Boy and nods in Silas' direction. Clearly an indicator of trying to smooth things over and to make sure they stay in touch with anything they find. "Next stop, Titan's medical." She kicks a foot out and a large star shaped portal opens up onto the Titan's medical bay. There is a moment as the different seals merge and then she's stepping through to deposit the injured comrade.

Madison Evans has posed:
    "We'll take good care of him, sir," Madison informs Silas with a reassuring smile. She's well familiar with how tense relationships with father figures can get - but that's no need to be rude.
    "I, umm - I guess we'll send someone to pick up our things later. Look after them for us, please?" She's leaving her lightsaber behind in the 'coat check' - and she hates that. Absolutely hates it - but Victor comes first. With that - she steps through the star shaped portal, reaching up as high as she can to clap Victor on the back. "We've got some real geniuses here to help sort everything out. I'll go see if I can find Caitlyn, yeah? And Vivian. And Nadia. And- ummm, who else should I get?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan rubs the back of his head at some of the interaction between Victor and his father. Nope. No comment there. That's just something he's going to keep to himself. It still leads to a short, "And we'll be in touch. We'll let each other know anything we find out about this." Not just one side, there.

"C'mon, man. Let's get you back and get you up and running again. You shouldn't just be /missing/ stuff back to yesterday. That isn't good at all." Whatever's left behind, it'll be taken care of one way or another.