2801/Picking up the pieces

Picking up the pieces
Date of Scene:	06 August 2020
Location:	A temporary lab near Bushwick, NY
Synopsis:	Working to save Genosha (continued in scene 2814).
Cast of Characters:	Samuel Morgan, Reed Richards, Valeria Richards, Illyana Rasputina, Victor Von Doom, Shuri, Nadia Pym-van Dyne

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Samuel Morgan has posed:
    A few days ago, the impossible had been done. A whole section of a city, abducted by an alien, shrunk at the subatomic level and abducted into space, had been rescued, retrieved and restored. While the world (mostly) cheers, while the hard work of fully restoring the city goes on, and while the heroics are being celebrated, behind the scene the science goes on.

    Because science made this possible.

    The lab that Tony Stark had set up near the site had been half forgotten after the successful effort, even if in that valiant coup de science, the alien array needed to restore the city had been damaged. And Techno, for one, seems to think that it's worth repairing. Because the job isn't done, and won't be done until every last Genoshan has been freed and returned to their families. For that they will need the array, and the array needs... well, there's no way around it.

    The array needs geniuses.

    The call had gone out to the greatest minds of this generation, to come to this non-descript building near Bushwick, and assist in what may be the most difficult repair job yet attempted during this entire crisis. Bits of mutant had leaked into the array that towers over all, flanked by computer terminals that are dark and still. Carbon residue mars the surface of the array itself, evidence of parts that have burned out and need replacing... and not even a single tech-support sticker to be found on the whole blasted thing.

    As the team starts to arrive, Techno has set up a projection of the jobs that need doing, using a portable holographic projector that takes the form of three marble-sized spheres rolled on the floor. The lab is well stocked with diagnostic tools, fabrication equipment and everything that could conceivably be needed, with little to no idea of how this thing is even to be done.

    So stand back everyone, we're doing science!

Reed Richards has posed:
High above New York, the open-topped Fantasti-Car glides soundlessly on propulsion technology decades ahead of its time. It's an older model, affectionately called the 'Flying Bathtub', but it has been immaculately kept and still functions to a standard beyond even the most advanced aircraft. White with a blue '4' emblazoned on the front, Doctor Reed Richards stands at the fore with his hands gliding over the illuminated controls.

"Oh, there it is," Reed announces suddenly, glancing over his shoulder at his passenger, "Look, sweetie. You can see the Statue of Liberty from up here. And that's Four Freedoms Plaza over there. Do you want to take some photos for the Instant Gram?"

He hovers for a moment before adjusting the controls, prompting the craft to slowly descend and land upon the roof of the building they were summoned to. He doesn't so much climb out of the vehicle as he does flow over the side like a torrent of water that reforms into a solid outside. He then reaches back with elongated arms to try and help Valeria over the side like she were still too short to climb out on her own.

Valeria Richards has posed:
There's an annoyed sigh as the young blonde girl hops out of the Fantasticar. Valeria Richards is the spitting image of her mother at that age, and today she's dressed in a suit of unstable molecules that's given over to look just like her mother's costume. But she isn't her mother. She cannot turn invisible, nor does she have any other super powers. Valeria is just very, very intelligent.

And with intelligence comes a certain amount of...

"Ughhhh Dad I can do things on my own, you know," she huffs, boredom tinging her tone. "And it's INSTAgram, ugh Dad, seriously." She eyes the makeshift lab's building with disdain. "//Why// are we even here again? I mean, hello, whatever this stupid boring tech is, couldn't they just bring it to us?"

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Genius is a relative description. It's not a finite quantity and never totally expresses itself in sheer academic terms, for how can a number or a particular talent encapsulate the capacity for making lightning in a bottle? Humanity's greatest gifts sometimes run deep and subtle, instead of in the piles of PhDs or strings of 0s and 1s applied to a common end.

The array need geniuses?

It gets a wizard.

Not the only one in the room, but definitely the only person who carries that as her primary job title. One moment Illyana isn't there, the next she is. Space unspindles around her, cradling a prize within its fibres, and the filaments illuminate to set her down lightly on both feet. She banishes the rent behind her with a thought, examining the projections through that frosty, ice-cold gaze, expression cloistered.

Her head tilts slightly to the sounds outside, but no need to quite say anything yet. Hellos are best reserved until everyone is inside. Birds, stones, and all that.

Victor Von Doom has posed:
There is a momentary shift in the energies of this place, something that most won't sense but those with any sort of training or senses regarding the mystical arts will likely pick up on. It quickly strengthens and then dissipates suddenly right after the armored figure of Victor Von Doom appears before everyone. There's a moment of silence and then: "This lab reeks of Stark. A temporary lab that is on par with everything else to come from his diminutive intellect." He lets his gaze move across the room to take in those who are here, not really recognizing anyone save two faces.

The first he greets with some measure of warmth. "Valeria, my dearest Goddaughter. I hope you weren't too embarrassed by traveling in that contraption your father considers to be transportation. Perhaps I should build you your own flying fortress so you can move around in style. By the way, I have a Doombot programmed to friend you on the Facebook to get updates on you. I'm so proud of all you have accomplished, Valeria."

He lifts up a gauntleted hand and brushes the front of his armor and then addresses the other figure that has grabbed his immediate attention. "Richards." That name, once a word punishable by death in Latveria but now simply the Latverian version of any run-of-the-mill curse word, is said rather flatly and without emotion. "Happy early birthday. I'll be sending over a gift to your lab in a few days." A pause. "No, perhaps I will let Susan give it to you, she's far more responsible, and no present from Doom sits untouched for weeks or months."

He then turns to the rest of the room. "Good evening, I am Victor Von Doom, the greatest scientific mind to have ever graced the planet Earth."

Shuri has posed:
Literaly flying in, Shuri has taken off from the Wakandan emassy with wings made of hardlight and flies up into the air and then toward her target. Why did she travel this way? Because it was more difficult for her guards to follow her. Sure, they could get in a stealth vehicle and fly their way over but that would take time. They'll catch up. Eventually.

Landing before the makeshift lab, Shuri shakes her head and sighs, "I do hate this place." She states to no one in particular, "No style and lackluster equipment." She shrugs and shakes her haed. When she walks in, it's just in time to see Doom. She listens to him and stares for a long moment. She then crosses her arms and smirks at Doom, "I'm sure you do your best." She states simply enough and nods her head before looking over to Samuel, "So, have you determined the problem or should I get started?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Despite previously practically glued to the array ever since bringing it back from Brainiac's ship, first at the Titans Tower lab and then this join facility, Nadia seemed to all but disappear in the days following the Bushwick resizing. Those who were present may recall her brutally efficient takedown of many of the invading mutants in an effort to get to the machine and repair it before finally breaking down in her father's arms.

Whatever trauma she may have suffered seems to have passed though and the young teenage genius has finally ventured out of her house once more to have another look at the array, which just so happens to be on the same day a gathering of minds has been called to fix it.

She's dressed in pretty standard fair for her, a black pleated skirt that hangs above her knees, a red bomber jacket with a cool looking metallic decal on the back over a sleek black V-neck t-shirt, and a pair of what look like combat boots.

Nadia enters the lab with a starbucks cup in her hand and looks around, it is no secret that the teenage wunderkind is largely fueled by Trimethylxanthine. "Hey Techno!" she waves to her friend and fellow Titan.

Her expression lights up with Illyana appears, "Privet Illyana!" she calls to her favorite X-Person with a big smile.

As her eyes scan her surroundings they land on Reed Richards, "Oh my GOD! Is that.. are you Dr. Reed Richards?! /The/ Dr. Reed Richards?!" her eyes glance sideways curiously at the teenager with him for a moment, but she's a bit caught up in being starstruck at the moment, "I have read /so much/ of your work!"

When Victor Von Doom appears as well it seems as if Nadia might actually faint from Science Hero Overload, "Dr. Von Doom?! Oh wow, oh wow oh wow! I've read /all/ of your journal articles, your work on time travel is just amazing and the spatial and mass manipulation papers were key in designing the function of my gauntlets... can I have your autograph?!"

A stiff breeze coould probably knock her over at the moment, starstruck as she is, and as a result she misses the arrival of Shuri who she would otherwise quite like to greet!

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    In the lab, the large array towers over all. Literally. It's huge. Humongous. Gargantuan. Brobdingnagian. Granted, it has seen better days, but moving a piece of technology like that is not a trivial matter. Makes it rather impressive that it was done at all to even get it here. And near its base can be seen its currently custodian, or at least its engineer... or, at the very least, the one who had asked this diverse collection of brain power to assemble.

    Possibly a bit of a disappointment then that this figure isn't Tony Stark, or some other well known super-gadgeteer, but a teenager looking like he hasn't had enough sleep in quite some time. Dressed in a black non-descript boiler suit, the top of which has been undone and wrapped around his waist by the sleeves, this blonde-haired boy moves around with purpose, though still having his back turned to the gathering. "Good you could make it, Waspette. You too, Shuri."

    And having finished his preparation, the teenager turns to face the group, revealing his bright blue eyes and the myriad of scars on his arms, with the scorpion tattoo on his right bicep half-hidden by the short sleeved shirt. "Doctor Richards, a pleasure you could make it. Doctor Von Doom, equally, a pleasure to see you here." If he's aware of any friction between those two, he's not mentioning it, or telling them to sort it out. Illyana gets a nod.

    "In case it wasn't entirely obvious to everyone, this is the array the alien Brainiac used to abduct Genosha and Bushwick, as well as several other alien cities. My main concern is the former two, and that's why I've asked you to come. A few days ago the array experienced a power excursion during activation and was nearly destroyed." A glance over to Nadia and Shuri, as if an invitation for them to add onto that when his initial exposition is done. "Compounding the problem is that the array was then damaged in an attack while an attempt was made to steal it. It's seen better days, people, and we need it working again."

    Without so much as a glance at the projector, the image changes and starts listing priorities "It needs to be opened up, cleaned out, stripped of everything that's been damaged. And then we need to fabricate replacements for what's been lost, and repair what we can. Then, and only then, can we even start to figure out why it tried to melt a crater in New York. Any questions?"

Reed Richards has posed:
"It's not boring," Reed is telling Valeria as they step into the lab, "It's shrinking technology that doesn't use Pym particles. It's actually fascinating. I'm hoping I can get a good look at it. I've always thought that Pym wasn't the final word in molecular realignment and manipulation, but obviously there's whole schools of thought on the subject that never even approached exotic particle physics."

The sudden appearance of Nadia prompts him to raise his eyebrows, nodding his head as she speaks. However, when he goes to reply she's already moved over to Doom to ask for his autograph. He makes a tight-lipped frown and meets the Doctor's greeting with a curt nod of his head.

"Victor, I'll look forward to it. I'd return the favour, but I've never been able to get the hang of that 'Doomian Calendar' you use in Latveria. Is it the first of Doomuary? The eighth of Doomtober? Is there a handbook?"

When Sam addresses him, Reed cants his head to one side and looks curious: "I don't think we've met. Who are you?"

Valeria Richards has posed:
Valeria stands behind her... Godfather, actually... shifting slightly from behind Reed to Doom, crossing her arms and looking annoyed at having to be here. "Well, maybe not the //final// word in molecular realignment, but please. This mess looks like a bunch of idiots were trying to work something far beyond their meager intellectual capacity and... obviously... //failed//. It's really a shame when mentally subnormative creatures think they are capable of, you know, thinking." She huffs. "Also, it stinks in here." Her eyes flit to Nadia as the girl fangirls over her father and godfather, and she lets out another sigh. This is sooooo annoying. Going out with her parents is E M B A R A S S I N G because of this whole 'oh oh, look, it's Mister Fantastic!' stuff and today seems to be no exception. Shuri gets a glance and partial recognition of a nod. At least someone else Val knows has half a brain here. Finally.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Dobryy vecher," Illyana replies in her peculiar dialect of Russian, one so far eastern it belongs to Asia and not the shores of Lake Ladoga, the striped onion domes of Moscow. A little warmth and the upnod to Nadia amounts to a fairly expressive greetings for the cool blonde. Introductions are halfway done by the excitable Waspette, and she shifts her attention to Reed and Valeria, giving them both a polite inclination of her head. Shuri, a little warmer. Science Hero Overload is clearly something she must have a little resistance to, her features schooled into a mask not quite the parallel of Victor von Doom's.

"Magik of the X-Men," she explains without much of a preamble. "My expertise covers mutants, transdimensional phenomena, and magic. I can offer observations from recovering Bushwick and Genosha, and the machinery. Marvel Girl sends her regards." Also stabbing troublesome technological creations or miscreants with a terrifying radiant sword that shows up from nowhere, but no need to let that cat out of the bag with the adults around. "Good to meet you," she adds for the strangers.

"If nothing else, we have options to see its intact state."

Victor Von Doom has posed:
Doom gives one look at Shuri, then his attention is diverted to Nadia who is asking for an autograph and singing his praises. "I am happy to have been an inspiration to you. Who are you, young lady?" He steps over to a nearby workstation and picks up a clipboard with a pen attached and signs:

'For being inspired by superior Latverian science. - Victor Von Doom'

He slips the paper off the clipboard and hands it to Nadia. "Here you are."

"It is the 6th of August, Richards. Much as I like to name things in Latveria after my family, the Gregorian calendar is accurate enough for my needs that I don't see a reason to make my own calendar." Though a 'yet' seems to be implied by his tone. Putting this little 'spar' with Richards to the side he turns and listens to Sam speak, a slight disgusted sound escaping him at the mention of 'the alien Brianiac'.

"I grow weary of aliens trying to conquer my world." He mumbles, though it's probably loud enough for people near him to hear. He looks over at Valeria and then back to Shuri and nods, "Indeed, I have heard a few things about her. Then Magik introduces herself and he tilts his head. "I like you."

Shuri has posed:
Finding a spot for it, Shuri simply leans against a wall, her wings simply having disappeared before she did so. She casually leans there, arms crossed and smiles to Valeria upon seeing her, nodding, "At least someone understands the importance of asthetics." She nods her head before looking over to Samuel and hmming, "Well, it shouldn't be difficult for us to figure out his work. Brainiac was defeated by cheap insults and memes." She shrugs, "I doubt he was that intelligent. Just had access to more items than most of us do on Earth."

She turns her gaze over to Doom again and hmms at him, "I'm sure you have." She states simply and then she glances to Illyana and hmms, "Well, magic might be of use for various reasons." She nods her head. She considers then the array and looks at it carefully before she casually touches an earing causing a visor to go over her face and then she touches a bead on her wrist and another hardlight display pops up. She casually starts typing and scanning the device.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Like a science obsessed ping pong ball Nadia's attention seems to be bouncing rapidly between Doom and Reed, it's not that she would just go from one to the other, but one to the other and back and forth and back and forth again and again, hanging on both of their every word. Just spinning in a circle between them might be more efficient, but at least it's probably a good workout for her neck muscles.

Nadia takes the paper from Doom looking at it bright eyed and folds it up very carefully before slipping it into her handbag. "My name is Nadia." she informs Dr. Von Doom, "Maybe you are familiar with my father? Dr. Henry Pym."

There are so many questions she wants to ask him but Valeria and Reed's conversation draws her attention back. She makes a face at Valeria's comments about the 'failed' nature of what is in no small amount her work and Reed's comments about her father, "My father /is/ the final word on molecular realignment and manipulation on Earth Dr. Richards."

When Samuel mentions Shuri, Nadia seems to snap out of it for a moment at least, "Wait what? Shuri? Where? Hi Shuri!!!" she waves enthusiastically to the Wakandan princess.

"Ahem, yes." she slaps the sides of her face willing herself to focus, "It's basically as Techno said, the Array needs a lot of maintenance before we can figure out what exactly went wrong. Though combining extraterrestrial technology with Earth technology is tricky at best. We've made a lot of progress but there's still a lot to puzzle out. Unlike Pym Particles, at least until the final stages of Microversal transition, Brainiac's approach to this technology combines mass and spatial elements, rather than reducing the distance between particles it reduces the particles themselves. The energy requirements are /vast/. Shuri can tell you more about the power array she came up with to meet them combined with my father's Pym Cascade effect to increase the transfer efficiency. The problem may be the way we were transmitting the energy versus how the array was receiving it. It's hard to say at this point, a lot of testing is still necessary."

Her proverbial sleeves are rolled up and Nadia is ready to get to work.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Techno, of the Titans." Sam responds to Reed and continues with his presentation, arms crossed. There's no expression on his face, which is a studied mask of neutrality, while visual representations of dozens of scans scroll along the holographic display. "We grabbed this array from the ship before it went down, been working on it ever since. Weeks of research have gone into it. We need it for one more job, the restoration of Genosha, and then it never needs to blight this universe ever again."

    Several comments are clearly being ignored, but when Shuri approaches the array by herself, Sam rolls a tray with tools over in her direction. "If you're that eager to start, you can begin by stripping the outer shell over the part where a mutant attacker has melted into the power transfer relays. It'll need cleaning too." A look over to Valeria. "Feel free to help."

    Finally, he abandons his post by the array and walks over to the gathering of the Richards/Von Doom brain trust. "You're not the only one that's gotten sick of aliens attacking the planet, Doctor Von Doom, but I'm particularly sick of mutants getting the short end of the stick twice now. Nobody else is going to do this, nobody that has the best interest of the world and mutants in mind anyway, so we need your help." A nod that includes everyone. "All of your help. No solo projects. Confer, plan, whatever you need to do, but nothing gets done without my permission. Questions?"

Reed Richards has posed:
"Now now," Reed chides Valeria, waving a finger at her in a fatherly way, "Be nice. This is all very impressive and we're happy to be involved."

"We're very glad to meet all of you," a glance towards Nadia and a friendly smile, "On Earth, certainly. But luckily we get to expand our horizons today."

Reed happily speaks for his offspring, giving a warm and pleasant smile to the gathered scientific minds. After a moment he leans over towards Valeria, neck stretching a few inches further than it should to reach her so he can quietly ask her in that saccharine, fatherly voice: "Do you want to play with the other science kids?"

That said, he strides over to one of the control panels and regards it thoughtfully. He begins to adjust the controls, humming to himself as he does so. Occasionally he glances up, regarding the leftovers of Brainiac's array with a critical stare.

"Techno?" he asks Sam with a raised eyebrow, "I must say, it's wonderful to see someone so young taking an interest in science. And already so advanced! Where did you study, if you don't mind my asking?"

The mention of authority seems to raise Reed's eyebrows and he looks over towards the armored figure of his greatest rival, puffing out his cheeks in a silent 'oh boy'.

Valeria Richards has posed:
"Excuse me, who are you to 'give permission' to my father or godfather for //anything//?" Valeria looks down her nose at Techno. "Are you one of the idiots who broke this thinking he was smart enough to work it in the first place?" She glances to Shuri. "You're taking orders from an idiot with scorpion tattoo? How edgy. Come on, Shuri, I thought you were smarter than that."

She glances to Nadia. "Oh. Doctor Pym has a daughter?" She shoots her father a Look. "How come you didn't tell me that before, Dad? We could have been friends already, and that seems unfair. You NEVER let me do anything." This is obviously a long-standing tirade from Valeria. She edges over to Nadia. "I'm Valeria. My Dad, obviously, is Doctor Richards, and I'm not understanding why the edgelord is in charge here when someone who, I don't know, might actually know things about molecular destablization and restablization, atomic spacing, and sub-atomic--" she shoots at look at the guy with the tattoo. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't use big words. Shrinking and embiggening."

Victor Von Doom has posed:
Doom has taken to looking over some readouts of his own, nodding to Nadia as he does so. "Ah, Dr. Pym. Yes, I have enjoyed his small body of work." He continues to pour over the material regarding the device, nothing to indicate that his comment is anything more than an honest observation. He takes one more look at the presentation being delivered and then stares at Sam for a long, hard moment.

Then something is said that causes him to stand incredibly still and go silent. "Techno." He says in a calm, matter of fact voice. For only Richards is truly worth his ire.

He begins speaking and his tone is calm, yet direct. "Doom is well aware of the threat the mutant population is facing and Doom has given assurances to Queen Lorna of Genosha that she has his help with Genosha. You may ask Reed, but rest assured that when Victor Von Doom gives his word, his word will not be broken. As for permission, well, Doom does as Doom pleases. If any in this room are worthy enough to even -think- about requiring such a thing, that would be that man over there." He points directly at Reed without even looking at him. "And no one but Doom and Susan Richards have the right to require permission for Reed Richards to do anything either. Now then, you may be on your way while Doom continues his work. I would consider bringing forth demons to tear this place asunder, but my Goddaughter is here and I value her life."

Doom goes back to looking over the array then, acting like nothing just happened. "Ms. Pym, is it presumptious of me to assume that using your father's technology with an alternate power source may provide something of a solution. However, one does wonder just how differently the shrinking is regulated with this alien technology as compared with Dr. Pym's own technology."

Shuri has posed:
A look over at Valeria after everything is said and Shuri smirks, "First off, I don't take orders from anyone. I have a king that I don't even listen to." She rolls her eyes before she looks over at Nadia and smiles at her, "Hello, Nadia. It is good to see you again." She nods her head, "I am glad we are getting to meet up again." She then looks over at Samuel briefly and then she shakes her head and looks to the device.

"For those who can't comprehend it." She looks over at Doom and Reed before looking back to the machine, "It required the energy of a miniature star." She nods her head, "Unfortunately, I will have to work on creating a new one after the people who attacked caused the last one to go critical." She nods her head, "I had to let it explode in space unfortunately."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Techno of the Titans, you do not speak for mutantkind." Illyana's voice comes softly, toneless, unremarkable. "You do not speak for the X-Men. You do not speak for Genosha or Bushwick. Keep acting like you are the only mutant in this room fit to make decisions, and you will learn that you are a single voice crying out in the wilderness. Beware, there are wolves with much bigger and sharper teeth than you in this room and beyond." Her expression remains as cool as it always has, bleak and enmeshed in the Arctic barrens. "He speaks for himself and himself alone. Forgive me, but something must be blindingly clear so there isn't any confusion any further."

Rolling off her heel, she glides past the battered and stripped machinery, observing the sides most damaged in the restoration of Bushwick. "Throughout this you have treated your own teammates like hopeless subordinates instead of peers equally worthy of voice and respect. Others, as fucking idiots barely worthy of being in your presence. You keep putting words in our mouths, so perhaps some need to be stuffed down in yours until we can tune out that arrogant, insufferable nasal drone of a boy convinced of his own self-importance and superiority. Do you know who you sound like? You sound like a dismal copy of Brainiac, striving to stand among men and women who have worked to earn the respect and acknowledgment of their peers. They have bled, wept, failed, and rose back from the dirt to keep attaining their achievements."

A beat. "Until you have the body of work of Doctors Pym, Richards or Doom, or rule your own nation, or indeed have leadership of a team, shut the fuck up and get back in line to cooperate with the rest of us, or this entire apparatus vanishes in the next five seconds with invitations to all but you present to restore it. We require none of your permission, this isn't yours and you are a minor, so you have no authority to make those decisions. Do we make ourselves clear on the matter, or shall we translate it into a programming language to leave no doubts of our intention?"

For a moment, Illyana gauges the possibilities and that wintry smirk forms in its faintest show of cracking Baikal ice. "There is mutual respect," she says to Doom briefly. To the rest: "Here and here, I can show you approximates of its original, suborbital, post-battle, and installed state instead of just the damage you see now. Only say what you need." Advantages, then, to being the party wizard.