13767/Is there actually such thing as a vacation

Is there actually such thing as a vacation
Date of Scene:	07 January 2023
Location:	R and D Labs: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Carin is asked to Engineering where she meets Dr. Fitz. The testing begins on Monday! Until then, food and a room.
Cast of Characters:	Leopold Fitz, Carin Taylor

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Leopold Fitz has posed:
The holidays are beginning to come to an end; January 6th has come and gone, and it's time to take down the decorations. The outer portions of the Research and Development Labs look as if a Christmas elf vomited all over the rooms, filling it to the brim of holiday cheer. One of the jobs, now, of the interns is to remove the decorations, boxing them away until next year.

Agent Dr Leopold Fitz has missed the holiday celebrations in New York, in the Triskelion and all the different department parties that hold something of a requirement to attend. He was away in Japan, dealing with yet something else that needed his attention.

Looking as if he's just off the plane, Dr Fitz has a backpack out in the corner, on a rolly-chair that is tucked under a long engineering desk. A suit jacket is hanging on the back of that same chair, a little crumpled due to wear over many hours worth of flight. He wears a long sleeved oxford shirt, the top button undone, and the tie that he wears pulled down and away to give him a little breathing room. A pair of slacks with leather belt, his ID badge hanging from his belt, and a pair of leather oxfords finish the outfit. He's got his hands out, extended, holding on to the edge of the table, and he leans, staring at a //rock//; it looks unimpressive, unimposing.. but yet, there it is, and it has the engineer's attention. Shaking his head, his voice is low, "Y'haven't said anything again, have you." A statement that is given with a softly lilting Scottish brogue. Quite pronounced, really. "I think you're laughing at me."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Maybe it's just in time for Dr. Fitz to return to stateside, because he's not stuck arguing with a rock for too long before an employee with 'Security' on his badge clears his throat behind him. How long had he been standing there? Perhaps not long. Perhaps long enough. "Doctor Fitz," he states, loud and clear to get the attention of the disheveled doctor. "Visitor for you," he then clarifies, "Recruit. On-boarding processing. Told to refer her to your department, sir."

    And standing next to him, is the very picture of a ragamuffin. Well, cleaner, perhaps, and just as tall as Leopold. It's a young woman in a black hoodie with a faded, purple heart design on it. One hand is stuffed into the front pouch pocket, the other is holding a SHIELD business card. Long, runner's legs are wrapped up in tight jeans. And her shoes... are some utterly wild bright red techy-looking things. The jeans and the hoodie, though, look like mid-shelf thrift store finds, and her wild mane of red hair is as bright as those crazy shoes.

    But what's most striking? Not her green eyes, but her pale skin. She's white. Not caucasian white, but ivory white. Albino if not for those emeralds not making eye contact with Fitz. To say nothing of the lightning bolt tattoo that takes up almost the entirety of the right side of her face. She nibbles on her lower lip, lipstick in purple, "...hi..?" she says, finally directing her gaze towards Leopold, lifting the business card. "Um... Natasha said... to come here..." she states. There's a 'Visitor' badge clipped to the edge of her hood.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
The *ahem* that is softly molded within the sound of a clearing throat does get Fitz' attention, but he doesn't turn around at the sound, nor does he at the initial polite, 'Dr Fitz'. He rolls his head back, closes his eyes, and perhaps his lips move to count before he catches the rest of the message. He takes a step forward towards the table, his hands dropping from bearing his weight in the lean, and he turns around, only to lean on the table from behind.

Dr Fitz looks youngish; the baby-face makes the lightly colored facial hair look like an attempt to gain more years than he has. Blue eyes are keen, however, intelligent. While Carin may not know it, but his nickname is 'the big brain of SHIELD'. He's just not well known outside the very small circles because of security. 99.9% of his work is classified, never to see the light of day, much less anyone below the rank of Level 6. The rock isn't moved; who pays attention to geological lumps?

Fitz looks at the form and figure of the newly arrived. He's quiet for a long moment before he quirks his head, "If you're who I think you are," and there's the calling card, "I got word." His words are lilting, and they're given in a friendly tone to help offset any discomfort. It's not easy, after all.

"I'm Leo Fitz," and he extends his hand, "You must be Ms Taylor." He glances up at her escort and nods in their direction, the gesture dismissive, "I'll call when she's ready to be picked up."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    The security guard remains until that little nod is given. "Yessir," he states. Simple. Brief. Professional. And then gone.

     Carin waits for him to leave before doing more than nodding to Leopold. The business card is pushed into her pocket before both hands are revealed, fingers lacing together. "You did?" she asks, almost surprised. "...of course you did. There's so many people here, and Natasha seemed like she was in charge of things when I met her... I think?" Maybe it's nervous energy, but she does stop herself.

    "Carin is fine, actually? Do I.. call you Doctor? Or... Mister Fitz...? Or is Leo okay?" she tilts her head one way, then the other, looking around. "This place is huge..." she says finally, with a small hint of trepidation. "Did... you need to ask me stuff? I think they said I had... more finalizing paperwork to do later.." she lifts a hand and fidgets with the Visitor badge. It's almost like she has a little bit of trouble simply keeping still.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz lowers his hand and exhales in a quick breathy sigh before he shakes his head. "Agent Romanoff? No. She's up there, though, but not in charge. There are plenty of supervisors an' commanders an'.." Apparently he could go on as to the chain of command, but instead, he finishes up with, "I received a note from the Director. Said that I might be interested in speaking with you." There's a hint of a smile, a chuckle following, "Any idea why he'd say that?" To an engineer?

He does offer a quick shrug as he pushes off the table finally and drops his hands into his pockets. "People call me 'Dr Fitz', 'Fitz' or 'Leo'. It doesn't matter, really." Obviously //never// 'Mister' Fitz.

Fitz takes a sidestep and follows her gaze around the lab, his own little personal domain here where he is 'king'. It is a lab with windows as walls as well as solid walls in the back for the more private work. Machines line the walls, testing equipment as well as projects in many different stages of completion.

He stops his brief wander and leans against a locker, blue eyes looking intently, "Tell me about yourself. Why have y'been asked to Engineering?"

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin was perhaps a mix of too distracted by the lab for a few reasons, and still a little timid of Leo to shake his hand. Maybe it'll come later. Then those green eyes widen at the mention of the Director. Not that she'd know him from Mace Windu. "...that's... high up.. right?" Maybe she'll learn the chain of command later. STill, she listens, no longer looking around, focusing on Fitz as he speaks. At the question, though, she lets it linger.

    Her attention seems to be heavily focused on some of the machines. As if they might be triggering some hints of old memories. Not the best kind of memories, either. Slowly, though, she shakes it off, taking a long breath. "...Engineering... right... um... I.. here.. this first..."

    She steps forward finally, pulling something else out of her pocket. It's a USB thumb drive in blue. It's Kord Co branded. "...it might shed some light but also..." she tries to figure out how best to simply... tell Leo about herself. "...I was experimented on and modified by a company called Cyberdata to create mind-controlled super-powered soldiers. Someone helped me and some others escape before the mind conditioning could be finalized but.. everything else was already done..." She turns her head and pulls her hair out of the way some, showing the ports in the back of her neck.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Leo watches Carin as she considers, his head tilting, watching where her eyes go when they begin to flicker and linger on particular bits of his testing systems. His head bobs slowly, and as the USB is pulled from her pocket and the provenance is given, he's half holding out his hand before it lingers in the air. A brief scowl comes and goes at the name of Kord, but he says nothing. Instead, he retrieves his hand, not taking the USB. He'd have to isolate everything before running it, and as far as he's concerned, the information might not be formatted in the way he'd like.

"Cyberdata?" Instead, Fitz moves down that path. After all, he happens to know a good hacker, right? "I hadn't heard of them," is murmured after, the thick Scottish lilt remaing as an underscore.

Showing off the dataports, Fitz takes a step forward to see them a little more clearly. Man-machine interface. "How extensive is that? Is it fully integrated into the neural network, or just in certain parts?" Jemma would love to see this, and she'd probably be better at the explanations of the possiblities this could mean for the young woman before him.

"Soldiers? So, is it just this, or any augmentation?" He's trying to be kind, he is. It's not formulated to be an interrogation, no. His words are gentle, though they absolutely hold the air of professional curiosity.

Carin Taylor has posed:
    Carin seems confused when the drive isn't taken, so it's still in her hand as questions come at her. Sterile and simple questions. That's good enough. It doesn't feel like an interrogation. It feels like a simple exam. She might still be defensive but it's a less acute feeling. Natasha's words still echo in her mind. A chance to start over. Resources. Allies. "Cyberdata," she nods slowly. "...they want me back and AIM wants me too... I'm.. sure there's others.." she says quietly, the showing of the dataports a good excuse to look away.

    "Fully integrated, there's... a Brain Box. Wired into the ... I think orbitofrontal cortex. The... drive has data on it, from an unintegrated Brain Box Ted scanned. Mine is... permanent, I think?" she sounds unsure. "They did a lot... augmented reality HUD, database, wireless connectivity, communications... and that's just... the Brain Box..."

    She lets her hair fall and pulls the sleeves of her hoodie up some. "...joint reinforcement and... my whole body is sheathed in some kind of... hybrid kevlar... it's so I don't hurt myself when I run.." she explains. "I can move really, really, really fast." Maybe that explains the crazy shoes. "..Ted confirmed the trackers and mental conditioning the Brain Box was supposed to have were disabled by the.. handler who freed me."

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Call it professional elitism; Fitz would do the same for Starktech. He prefers to work from ground up, under his own conditions and by formulating his own theories along the way. "If you don't mind," Fitz begins slowly, "I'd love to see a set of x-rays on ye." Just to check positioning and exactly how extensive the 'Brain box' truly is. For that, of course, he'd really want Jemma around again. She's the biochemist.

Watching her actions, the deliberate movements, Fitz takes a couple of steps in Carin's direction, looking at her arms before he lifts his gaze once more to her face. "I'm sure they'd like to get you back. An', of course, the others." Though, Natasha is right; in SHIELD's fold, she'll have the protection of the entire Agency.

"Do you have a place to stay?" It's a change of topic, and one that points a little more towards the personal rather than the professional. "Safe, that is."

Carin Taylor has posed:
    "Right now?" Carin asks, regarding the X-rays. Then she shrugs, "Sure? I mean. I don't have anywhere else to be, or... anything else to do.." she says quietly. After all, if things went... weird.. she could just run, right? Right. She's been through worse. And survived worse. She's trusting these people. She's trusting Fitz. "Just tell me where to go?" she looks around at the equipment again. She's being good, though. She's not pinging local networks for comms connections. She's not overly-scanning the machinery. Not that her internal database has anything based on /this/ stuff.

    "I'd.. rather they didn't.. of course... and... I should.. be safer here? With the rest of you? And... I... think I want to help. I don't like fighting.. but.. I can.." she explains quietly. "I've been staying with Ted but it might be safer here? And easier for me to get.. integrated?" she gives a half-smile.

Leopold Fitz has posed:
Fitz shakes his head though he does gesture grandly with his right arm in the direction of what is undoubtedly Jemma's lab that is currently empty. "We'll be there. Later. For now? I'll escort you out to HR and housing. We'll get you a place." He reaches out for the visitor's badge that hangs, but doesn't grab it; instead, he points. "You'll have a new ID made tomorrow, or Monday. Until then?"

Taking a step sideways, Fitz takes hold of his suit jacket and shrugs it on before lifting his backpack from off his chair and tosses it around his shoulder. "Then we'll start the studies."