18007/The Devil Is in the Details

The Devil Is in the Details
Date of Scene:	20 May 2024
Location:	S.T.A.R. Labs
Synopsis:	Robin drops a sample off for analysis at S.T.A.R. Labs and meets the most curious individual: Kid Devil.
Cast of Characters:	Kid Devil, Damian Wayne

---

Kid Devil has posed:
    Outside the main building there's someone... unusual. Red-skinned, with horns, silvery grey hair, tail, the whole nine yards. He's got on a sleeveless black shirt and trousers made of some kind of carbon composite. He's standing near a wood-slat bench, considering it with a skeptical gaze. A metal reusable coffee cup is in his hands, and affixed to his short trousers there's a S.T.A.R. Labs badge-- this one printed on metal instead of the usual plastic.
    Now and then he looks up and around like he's expecting someone, but mostly trying to ignore the odd looks he gets from folks around. Even for this place, he's a bit *out* of place.

Damian Wayne has posed:
The Titans have been working on a sensitive investigation. They, of course, have their own lab facilities at Titan's Tower but nothing as sophisticated as S.T.A.R. Labs. So when it came time to have an unknown metal analyzed, the choice was obvious. Damian suited up, loaded a sample container in the storage compartment in the Redbird, and roared off to S.T.A.R. Lab.

It's a gorgeous spring early evening and the young vigilante is enjoying the ride. Soon enough the Redbird comes ripping up the street approaching the lab facility. At the gate he announces to the automated security system: "Robin, the Titans." From the speaker a robotic voice announces "Voice print and facial recognition complete. Welcome, Robin." And the gate opens. Gunning the throttle of his motorcycle once, Robin enters the grounds.

"What the hell?" he murmurs when he sees what one might say is the literal devil lounging around outside. He can't resist this so he guides the Redbird closer before bringing the bike to a halt. Robin tips his head first one way, then the other. He opens his mouth but then closes it. Finally he takes a deep breath and says, "Hi. I'm Robin." I mean, duh. This is the Titans' home town. There might not be three people in the city who can't instantly identify all of the major Titans members.

Kid Devil has posed:
    The closer one gets, the more incongruous the appearance of the... yes, that must be a teenage devil. Does Hell have teenagers? That would probably explain a lot. Kid Devil stands with a still posture, but the tapping of his foot and the twirling of his tail convey impatience. He's just taking a sip from his coffee when he spots a notorious vehicle entering the secured grounds of the lab and he blinks those luminous yellow eyes a few times in evident disbelief.
    "Uhhh, hi!" he says, now brazenly scoping out the motorcycle. "They didn't tell me it would be you! And you'd be riding this! I, uh-- hi, hello, big fan. I'm Eddie. Wow!" The devil boy's hand starts moving out toward the bike but he forces himself to withdraw.
    Again he blinks, the bright eyes strobing almost anxiously. "D'you have the sample? I've got a metallurgy lab reserved upstairs. Are, um... you just dropping it off or did you want to... come up and watch? Er, help? Anything."

Damian Wayne has posed:
Doesn't this day just keep getting curiouser and curiouser. Still seated on his bike, Robin folds his arms over his chest and leans back a bit, regarding Kid Devil with undisguised skepticism. He /is/ Damian Wayne. Skepticism courses through his blood. "Okay, alright, I think I have questions," he says.

"Number one, and these are...these are in no particular order, how old are you, Eddie?" he inquires. He emphasizes the word 'Eddie' like it might actually be an unusual occurrence to meet a devil named Eddie chilling outside of S.T.A.R. Labs. Although if such a thing were to happen anywhere, it would probably be here. "And what are you exactly? Cuz -- and I'm sure you've heard this before -- you look like a devil from Christian mythology."

There might be more questions but for the moment Robin is going to leave it at two.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Eddie remains borderline bubbly while he kind of stares at Robin. Questions! He nods quickly, affirming his willingness to cooperate. But he grins a little-- enough to flash a hint of those tiny demon fangs-- at being interviewed by *Robin* of all people.
    Finally he forces himself to calm as he chugs down more of his quad-shot espresso. That'll help.
    "How old, uh, sixteen?" Eddie seems uncertain at the purpose of the question, but plays along anyway. "And what... well..."
    The devil boy glances down at himself, then at Robin. "Y-yeah, I've noticed." For a moment his jovial air dissipates. "It's kind of a long story? There was this whole thing with an extradimensional soul-bartering entity, but in the end all this turned out to be, um, genetic. Latent."
    Then he grins again; maybe this time more forced than it was. "I'd offer to shake hands, but, you know. Hah!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Okay, no. You can't just leave that hanging out there without an explanation. An actual little pre-smirk forms on Robin's face...a proto-smirk, if you will. "No, Eddie, I don't know. Why can't you shake hands?" He's being more lighthearted than Robin is rumored to generally be, but gathering data and information is What He Does. Information is at the very beating heart of investigation and crimefighting and otherwise serving the public. Plus this is odd and he just wants to know more.

Robin pops the kickstand of the Redbird and lithely dismounts the bike. "So you're basically a mutant, then?" In some quarters 'mutant' is a four-letter word. But Robin says it with no judgement, just a casual, matter-of-fact tone to his voice.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Eddie tilts his head, blinking again as if the answer should be obvious. He's standing next to a bench rather than sitting on it; his clothes (and even his badge) are made of unusual materials. But to answer the question he extends his arm, holding the coffee cup out. Within seconds the liquid inside begins to boil and fume, sputtering steam through the lid as the coffee inside splatters and plinks on the metal. "I mean. It's a joke, I can control it when I need to. It does keep people from bumping into me on the subway, though!" he adds with a laugh. Yeah, that's it.
    "Mutant, ummmm, I guess? I think in my personnel file here they put 'metahuman' but that's basically the same thing, isn't it? *Biologically* there's a lot of academic noise about-- is there 'a' mutant gene, or is it more of a network of related, interconnected expressions, and then there's the whole epigenetic angle, like, is it more likely to be kids who 'ate paint chips' or 'lived under power lines' or 'had a demon for a father'." He rambles, obviously highly engaged on the scientific discussion, but also making air quotes with each of those hypothetical scenarios.
    "What about you?" The devil boy counters. "I know there are a lot of *theories* but none of them entirely convincing to me! I mean-- if you want to keep it to yourself, that's alright, of course."

Damian Wayne has posed:
As casual as he is acting right, Robin listens intently to everything that Eddie says. As mentioned, very little is more critical than *knowing* and *understanding*. "Mmmmm. Mmm. Mmhmmm," he says quietly as Kid Devil gives his explanation.

"True, put ten really smart geneticists in a room and start talking about mutants and metahumans and you're going to get ten different opinions," Robin remarks. His expression and body language don't telegraph any alarm, but you bet your butt that he is mentally refreshing himself on which pouch in his utility belt the foaming fire suppressant grenade is stored.

"So did you?" the costumed vigilante inquires casually. "Eat paint chips or live under power lines or have a demon for a father?" He doesn't sound sarcastic; he sounds like he really wants to know.

In response to Kid Devil's questions about him Robin responds, "I can't talk about myself, Eddie, I hope you understand. It's not just about me, I have the secrets of many others to protect."

Kid Devil has posed:
    Kid Devil adds, with that impish grin, "And by the afternoon you'll have a hundred new opinions, after their opinions have spent some time breeding with each other. I think that's why the UN banned geneticist conventions," he adds in a totally deadpan tone. He giggles then and takes another gulp of the still-boiling coffee, without any apparent distress.
    "Did I--?" Eddie begins. "Oh. No, not that I'm aware of? My aunt Marla worked at a movie studio, so I was getting into all sorts of stuff there. Electronics mainly. Though, suck up enough of that blue smoke and who knows what'll happen?" More joking; clearly his preferred defense mechanism to avoid bad-thoughts.
    He can't help but look slightly disappointed to have the Robin Mystery unresolved yet again. Despite looking over the other guy he hasn't settled on any answers. But he shrugs, and smiles. "Of course! Of course. Totally fine, I just, I mean, what kind of scientist would I be if I didn't at least *ask*, right?"
    Then he winks, an innocent-enough expression on anyone else that, with his demonic visage, would look incredibly menacing to a civilian.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Fortunately(?), Robin has stared down much more menacing visages so Eddie's expression doesn't seem to spook him. "Okay, so I'm supposed to hand over our top secret metal sample to a teenage devil?" the costume vigilante asks rhetorically. He peers down at the non-standard S.T.A.R. Labs ID hanging off of Eddie's pants. "Well why not. I mean, you're inside the facility. That's hard enough to achieve."

Robin issues a voice command to the Redbird: "Release sample container." There is a chirp of ascent from the vehicle followed by a clicking sound near the rear. Robin tugs a small, unmarked metal container out that is about the size of a matchbox. "Here ya go," he says, holding it out to Eddie. "It has an unusually high concentration of carbon but we couldn't get more than that."

Kid Devil has posed:
    Eddie tilts his head at Robin. "I... work here...?" he says, almost unconvinced of it himself. "They told me to meet someone down here to receive a sample, I just. Nobody told me it was gonna be *Robin*."
    He lowers his ambient heat as he carefully takes the container from Damian's palm, his claws drumming on the exterior with a faint clackclackclack. He turns the box over in his hand and offers, "I can get you some sample jars that are more heat-resistant if you want? I mean, all my stuff has to be... it's sort of become a specialty, I guess. Can't tell you how many game controllers I melted before I just made my own."
    He gently shakes the box while listening to it. "Hmm, cobalt... molybdenum... and about three percent helium isotope?" He even maintains that look of concentration for a few more moments before busting out in a giggle. "Just kidding! I've gotta run it through a full panel of stuff upstairs. Care to join? Surely the great and ~mysterious~ Robin knows how to operate a spectrophotometer. Otherwise I'll dump the results into the database and--"
    He pauses and squints. "Not like you're in the address book, I don't think, but I guess the Titans have access?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin gets an astonished look on his face as Eddie starts rattling off the alleged contents of the encased sample. Then he frowns in that you-got-me sort of way. He /looks/ like he is probably rolling his eyes, but they are not visible behind the white shields of his domino mask. "Okay, good one. You got me."

Then the costumed crimefighter re-mounts the Redbird. "I'll leave you to it. I'm sure you guys have much better equipment than we have at the Titan's Tower lab. The Titans have a login to the results server. Just tag the team and we'll be able to see what you come up with." He pushes a thumb button and his bike roars to life. He maneuvers the vehicle so it's pointing toward the gate. He nods in Kid Devil's direction. "Nice meeting you, Eddie. Until next time." Then he guns the throttle and the Redbird speeds away.

Kid Devil has posed:
    Eddie grins broadly at his successful prank. The fangs really show off this time as the devil boy lets out a joyous laugh and even clutches his belly. He slowly recovers with a theatrical 'whew' sound.
    "Yeah, yeah, we've got all the things! Should be a couple of hours to run through everything. Assuming I'm able to scrape off enough for the tests. Either way I'll let you guys know what I find."
    He smiles more warmly and takes a bow. "Great to meet you, too! Wow. Robin. Nobody's gonna believe this!" Off he goes, practically skipping back into the building as his tail whirls along behind him.