16130/Cave Pitstop

Cave Pitstop
Date of Scene:	21 October 2023
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	Batgirl pays a visit to the Bat Cave, with a busted up car, and a box full of fancy power pucks (their alternate name!)
Cast of Characters:	Barbara Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Phoebe Beacon

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Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl's sleek Batmobile roars into the concealed entrance of the Bat Cave, its engine sputtering from the strain of a high-speed car chase. The vehicle's once-pristine surface is now marred with dents and scrapes. Smoke billows from the undercarriage, evidence of the Batmobile's arduous battle.

Of course, this is Barbara's own Batmobile variant that she engineered, and developed herself at the Clocktower. It is a two-seater, with the seats in a 'fighter jet cockpit style' with one situated in front of the other.

As the hydraulic lift system lowers the Batmobile onto the platform, Batgirl emerges from the forward driver's seat, her black and gold costume bearing scuffs and smudges. She takes a moment to assess the damage, her green eyes narrowed with concentration. The computer systems blare urgent warnings, and Batgirl knows that the Batmobile needs immediate attention.

She steps over to a work station, her cape flowing around her form as she moves, and instantly reaches for a fire extinguisher. Turning back to her vehicle, she moves toward it, and begins blasting the vents where the smoke is pouring out from, creating a cloud of puffy white extinguisher exhaust!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Car trouble?"

Whether it was the approaching vehicle that drew Bruce Wayne to the Batcave or just that he was already there, the words float out from the shadows before the figure of the Batman emerges to follow it. Wearing most of the costume, save for the cowl pulled back to rest behind his head, he turns his gaze to assess Barbara's Batmobile as he slowly descends towards the landing.

No judgement, of course. He has certainly limped back under worse circumstances in the past.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The sound of the Batmobile roaring back in, Phoebe comes up from one of the training areas, flicking her staff closed and poking her head out.

    "Car trouble?" she asks back, drawing herself up and over one of the railings, wearing work-out clothes as she gives a huff out, her pink hair a bit all over the place as she looks to Barbara and to Bruce, and she rubs the back of her head a moment, lips pursed.

    "... oooh, man something sprung a leak?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
A few more bursts from the fire extinguisher come from the spout that Batgirl holds out over the vent of her vehicle, as both Batman and Phoebe arrive at similar times. Finally, though, she drops the extinguisher to the ground, and reaches up to pull her own cowl off of her head, since it functions like a helmet and isn't directly attached to her cape. She runs a hand through her fiery red locks of messy hair then, pushing them aside as she looks over at Batman, then to the pink haired Balm. She smirks toward them both, and lets out a heavy sigh.

"Molotovs are a ... nuisance..." She mutters back to both of them as she reaches out to grab the vent that the fire had been coming from.

Using her suit's strength enhancements, Babs just rips the vent plate right off the side of her car.

"Another court case riot broke out following the guilty verdict on the Jameson case. The mother who supposedly killed her husband and kids. People aren't happy about it. I thought I'd provide... some assurance of keeping the place safe and calm. So much for that idea." She notes as she turns around to drag the fire extinguisher across the floor by its hose toward the work station.

"I brought you something too." She says back over her shoulder, though its uncleear which of them she might exactly be talking to.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Hard to contend with an irrational mob."

Bruce continues over towards the Batmobile, but with little urgency in his gait as Barbara seems to have it well in hand. He has had his own experiences, of course, with mobs both angry and organized.

"I imagine that you helped at least some. We cannot win them all." He glances over at Phoebe as she approaches, giving her a nod. "That doesn't mean we stop trying." Not that he expects that is what Barbara was saying at all, merely affirmation.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ooch, yeah. The whole 'alcohol spreading while on fire' thing." Phoebe replies as she listens, and makes a face, and her expression falters. She'd tried to stay away from the Jameson case... she frowns, and rubs the back of her neck.

    And at the comment that they don't stop trying, Phoebe gives a small smile at that, rubbing the back of her neck.

    "Hopefully you weren't hurt in the trouble... looks like the car took the brunt of it."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs takes a moment to replace the extinguisher cannister before she slips it back in to its place on the work station. "No physical injuries. Just mental." She states with a glance back to Phoebe, showing her a warm - if a bit tired - smile. "The physical injuries will come when I get this thing home and have to fully rebuild it for the third time this year..."

As she starts to walk toward the vehicle again, she regards Batman. "I brought you some new battery technology that my company has been developing. I thought you might like to take a look at it. It's solar based, in-part, but also regenerates its own supply based on a number of factors, such as how much you move while wearing it."

She reaches in to the back seat of her cockpit-style car, and pulls out a black case that she flips on to its side and carries it over to Bruce.

"We're calling them 'sun cores.'" She says, offering the case over, it containing six of the disc-shaped batteries set within form-fit foam inside.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce offers a nod to Babs at her lament about the car, no stranger to having to rebuild Batmobiles. "Easier to rebuild that than you," he murmurs, with a nod of acknowledgement to his echo of Phoebe's comment. He continues along to take a closer inspection of the vehicle, not that he is moving to touch it. He gives Barbara her space, and does not presume to intervene.

He takes a look at the case, peering down at the batteries. "What kind of storage and throughput can it manage?" He plucks one of the batteries out, manipulating it carefully with his fingers, feeling for weight and size. "Very sleek. I can think of a number of applications for something this size."

He looks up to Barbara and offers a rare smile. "Always looking out for us."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "This is why I use my bookmarked teleports. And it's true. I can reassemble the parts, but death is a little out of my wheelhouse yet. Ask Tim." Phoebe points out.

    That and the last driving lesson she had ended up with her kicking some guy in the head, and almost ended up in the paper for kidnapping a celebrity because someone threatened Alfred. It was a weird Wednesday.

    "What kind of power can those sun cores provide?" she questions, "Are we talking like -- thousands of miles on a single charge for an electric car?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
While Bruce investigates the cores case, Babs steps back over to the open vehicle canopy. She leans inside her front facing forward driver's seat, and pulls out a custom built tablet computer device. She keys it up in her gloved hands, and queues up her maintenance app that is designed specifically for running active diagnostics of the 'sporty' Babsmobile.

She hears Bruce's question, followed by Phoebe's own, and a smile shows on her face as she stares at her tablet.

"It's not designed for vehicles like an EV." She clarifies ffor Phoebe. "It's more designed ffor soldiers, law enfforcement, or... us. Out in the field, so to speak. They're not likely ever to get to the open market though, as they're more just a proof of concept." She states, getting a initial scan going, her green eyes look up to both of them then. "There's no conflict minerals inside them. No cobalt. Thus no slave labor... Expensive, sadly. Far too expensive to likely ever get them to the public."

She nods once toward Bruce and the core he holds. "It has a kinetic charging system for its own capacity, of up to 20 thousand M A H. The advanced gyroscopic, and piezoelectric sensors draw energy from the wearer's movement, giving it additional recharge capabilities even in the absence of sunlight..."

She shows a small smile then as she glances back down to her tablet computer screen, it illuminating the pale skin of her face. "Fast charging, open to every type of smart phone, and all the equipment we're ever tasked with getting charged in our own arsenal..."

She's clearly proud of them.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"Huh."

Bruce turns the battery over again, and runs his fingers along its surface. Clearly, he is calculating out which applications they would be suitable for.

"What is the speed of discharge? Can it push enough current in a burst to act as a weapon?" While Batman has not adopted Nightwing's trademark electrified batons, nothing says that there are not other tools that could make use of such a device. "Certainly, that is plenty of a charge for some of the more passive devices in the utility belt." He taps at his chin with his other hand. "It may best be used for the rebreather, to extend its usage in the elements if there is an extreme need."

He considers Barbara's comment about the expense, and nods. "Morality does not come cheaply these days. But I am sure we can budget for a number of these for Wayne R&D. What is your pipeline looking like, and when are they going to be available for purchase?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And Babs deserves to be proud of them. Phoebe doesn't handle the cel; she's content to look on, she knows this isn't her strong suite.

    "So, like wearing some sort of array in the suit, using the suit movement could charge it too and enable like, Osprey's gauntlets electrical shock, or a stronger charge through like, palm-pads or qi connections to Red Robin's staff as applications that we could us directly. But also for emergency power in case of failure?" she considers.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Once more, Barbara regards Bruce, but is soon to divert her attention with a finger-point toward Phoebe. "I've never liked being limited by battery capacity. I've never liked my wrist computer telling me I need a recharge, or as you said the various shock weapons becoming useless in what they're designed to do, when you need them in a pinch." She smiles softly again as she glances at the diagnostic on her tablet. "This, I would call, step one in helping solve that. Making either our suits a charging station, or something we can carry with us. The last thing we need to be doing is finding an outlet in a warehouse." She says the last bit with a clear indication of her sarcastic intent with those words.

When she looks back up again, she smiles toward Bruce. "I'll have some sent over to Fox in a week or two. I'd like to get them in the hands of the GCPD as well.. but right now, if we do sell them, they'll not be easy on the wallet. Five grand per unit.." She has a small frown touch her lips at the price tag, indicating how she's had hopes of lowering that and clearly with struggle.

"But, yes, you could overcharge it and it could become a weapon itself... but you're looking at a one-time bang and boom effect. Expensive electric grenade..."

Her tablet beeps as the results of the diagnostic come across the screen. She lowers her eyes to read it over. "Well, good news is I can probably drive home safely." She states in a moderately distracted tone, her eyes scanning the various damaged systems being reported.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"That was my guess," replies Bruce, placing the battery back in the case and snapping it shut. "A fantastic source of sustained power for the essential devices. Far more valuable than a weapon." He smiles at Barbara and sets the case down on a nearby table. "Thank you. I agree with Phoebe's idea, if we could find a way to put a network of charging lines throughout the suit itself, then potentially we could charge through motion while having them out."

    here is a brief chuckle from Bruce. "Although I suppose we would have to make sure there are no dangers to passing even that small of a current consistently around us, but I could insulate it enough, I would think, internally." He turns back from the case at Barbara's comment, taken out from the path of speculation on their use, and back to the conversation at hand.

"Anything I can do to help before you go? I could at least have Alfred bring a cup of tea. I am sure he would not mind having a brief chat first, too."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I don't blame you. I hate running out of power as well." Phoebe gives a wry smile. "And the rechargable batteries just never lived up to Duracell." she jokes, and sits on a handy outcropping of rock... but when it's mentioned she had a good idea, she feels her cheeks and ears warm up, rubbing the back of her head as she looks between the two elder Bats.

    "That would be pretty badass." she states, leaning back on her seat, looking between Babs and Bruce.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
A few gloved finger strokes hit the tablet's screen in light taps, and soft swipes, but then Babs just lowers it down to her side in her left hand. She glancees between them, before smiling toward bruce. She shakes her head at the offfer of tea. "I don't want to disturb Alfred at this time of night... I'll come back by over the weekend though, in a more normal capacity. I gotta make sure to say 'Hi' like a normal person, right?"

She grins softly then and there. "This is why I brought you these prototypes. I wanted to see where your mind would go with them. I'm eager to hear what you come up with, too. Let alone what Fox, and his team can do with it."

She looks again to Phoebe, and upnods toward her. "Make sure to keep him up to date on all the charging needs of a youth today." Babs says before turning back toward the table where she gathers up her Bat-cowl helmet. She steps back toward her car then, and starts up the side of it, soon to settle down in to the seat again, with her helmet resting on her lap. "If I dripped oil all over the platform, I apologize in advance." She says with another grin before her car is rumbled to life again, and the canopy slips shut on the battered surface of the Babsmobile.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There is a brief nod from Bruce at the notion of not disturbing Alfred. "Yes. Normal. Us." But nonetheless, it seems that Alfred will have to go another day without his favorite Gordon, as Bruce takes a few steps back to give Barbara the room to head out. He waves his hand vaguely at her apology. "It has seen far worse."

And then he takes another few steps away as Barbara prepares to drive off, before turning his gaze towards Phoebe.

"If you spent less time scrolling the Facebook, you wouldn't need a recharge so quickly."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "HEY! I don't spend time scrolling Facebook! ... I send Tim TikTOk shorts to try to make him bounce off buildings." Phoebe protests as she hops to her feet, but her eyes give a little playful roll.