4030/ZZGU: We have a tentacle problem

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ZZGU: We have a tentacle problem
Date of Scene: 04 November 2020
Location: R and D Labs: Triskelion
Synopsis: SHIELD enlists Dr. Banner to help detect breaches from ZZGU's Earth.
Cast of Characters: Bobbi Morse, Bruce Banner




Bobbi Morse has posed:
An agent escorts Banner through the Triskelion to the Research and Development wing. Not much has changed except what's going on in them. In this particular lab Agent Morse is chatting with some younger looking labcoats as they examine a container filled with a black goop.

Bobbi looks up when she sees Banner and the agent. She dismisses him and offers her hand to Bruce, "Dr. Banner. It's good to see you again. Thanks for coming on short notice. We have a problem that I think you might be able to help with, if you're willing that is."

She picks up a tablet and offers it to him. On it, a video of a hanger containing an obsolete NASA shuttle - and a glowing portal with long tentacles poking through, waving about. There is Supergirl in frame fighting the thing, and another unidentified vigilante. The portal abruptly disappears and chunks of tentacles hit the ground squirming and wiggling about.

"Quite literally, a monster from another dimension is attempting to breach in to our world and conquer us...," she says without any hint of 'prank' in her posture or voice.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner takes the offered hand and adjusts his glasses as he looks up at the screen. "The pleasure's mine, of course. I hope I can help."

He examines the creature on the screen carefully, cocking his head at the massive tentacles, "I assume the tentacles were retrieved and kept for analysis?" he says. "Pretty clear quantum breech there. I assume there's an intelligence behind it. Probably not in a creature like that, but that could just be me stereotyping. No reason to assume all intelligent life is humanoid," he says.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Astute as always Bruce," she says with a smirk and motions to the tablet. "This creature apparently invaded another version of Earth some forty odd years ago and the people have been fighting it ever since. Some of them escaped their version of Earth and made it over to ours. It turns out, this goo - ", she motions to the sample they have in the lab that is being treated with the utmost respect.

"Somehow induces a form of mind control. It ranges from creating psychosis, insanity, all the way to utter devotion to the thing and the desire to propagate its influence. Now, one of the people that came over was some sort of genius and built this device," she explains.

She lifts a finger and reaches over, tapping 'next' on the tablet. It's security footage from an apartment complex and based on the design and dilapidation, it's a safe bet it's from Gotham. There is a sudden glow through the windows of one of the apartments followed by a blur shooting across camera and blowing a hole in to it. A few moments pass and another flies in to the apartment.

"Wait for it...," she says as there is little activity on the security footage. A man rushes out of the apartment looking a bit crazed. Then the light goes out and Supergirl steps out of the apartment and throws up. "We have yet to talk to the girl of steel about what she experienced in there, but it's our understanding that a DEO scientist was exposed to that ooze and has since built a portal."

She takes in a deep breath and says, "Which means people on their side and people on our side are both trying to open portals between our worlds and let this thing through." She folds her arms, "To put it simply, we need a way to detect these breaches so we can respond asap and shut them down. If what we've been told is true, we cannot afford to let this creature cross over. If another version of Earth failed to defeat it in a 40 year battle... well..."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner watches the footage carefully, treating it more as scientific evidence than anything criminal or superheroic. If anything, the entire concept fascinates him on an intellectual level. Quantum physics weren't his specialty by any means, but he's become more interested in the concepts recently, especially given some of his own work with chaos theory trying to develop a model of the seemingly unpredictable effects of gamma mutation.

"Essentially they're making some sort of disruption to the quantum frequency of the dimensional layer. Synching it up with the other dimension. They must know the proper way to find that frequency or else they'd just get any random dimension. It could also be that there are corresponding devices on the other side. So we need a sort of quantum radar, that can track any shifting in frequency. Be hard to do worldwide, though. Maybe citywide, if that."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods her head, "If it's a matter of perspective, we can put the device up in a satellite - or many devices if it comes to that." She frowns a moment and says, "There's two people you could potentially talk to about this. Pym Tech and the Fantastic Four. It's my understanding that both groups have in the past experimented with opening portals."

She waggles a hand, "Not that it's the best option, but if we are on top of stopping breaches in to our world, we might be able to go on the offensive against this thing in their world. If you know Supergirl, you could talk to her about what's been going on. She is meant to be available to us via our agreements with the DEO... but that's more ink on paper than reality."

"We have the device used in both portal incidences available downstairs for you to examine. Obviously.. uh.. don't turn them on. But the team down there has many a lot of observations so far. One reason your name came up - there's a weird gamma radiation burst that occurs where the portal event horizon touches our Earth."

Bruce Banner has posed:
"I have learned not to tamper idly with powerful scientific equipment. Especially those that emit energy," he says simply. He assumes he doesn't need to give the specific reasons because they're obvious.

"I would definitely like to speak to Supergirl. Some understanding of what's on the other side could provide clues as to just what this dimension is like - and how it might be located indpependently. She might even have residual energies attached to her. I've theorized that the Supers must have some sort of energy absorption abilities to fuel them, but I've never been able to examine a specimen..." he says, then looks down quickly. Don't refer to people as specimens, Bruce.

The gamma radiation does pique his interest and he goes to a computer, "Do you have those readings available?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi winces a little and chuckles, raising a hand. "Look I know you're super strong and all, but may be don't refer to one of the Kryptonians as a specimen. They might take it the wrong way and suddenly you're hurtling through space." She raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"Downstairs, with the team. You're free to work on this problem outside of the Triskelion, but for obvious reasons the equipment, samples, and data needs to stay here. The DEO lost a lab and several agents to this stuff. They had to eat humble pie and ask us to help them out.."

She shakes her head and then offers her hand to Bruce, "Thanks for this. And good luck. Let me know if you come up with anything interesting. You might have better luck than us trying to get through to Supergirl via the Avengers. You have connections to the Titans and the Justice League right?"

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner sighs, "I didn't mean it in a demeaning sense. On the contrary. There's nothing I respect more than scientific material. More than most people, at any rate."

"How much datasharing is between your databases and the Avengers? Just in case I want to work on any of it in my own lab there?" he asks.

"Well, Tony Stark has those connections, on behalf of the Avengers. I don't have any personal friends in their ranks, but, well, I don't have a lot of personal friends period."

"I'll need the necessary guest identification and clearance. I sometimes keep odd hours, but don't worry, I have no interest in anything here except the science."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi raises an eyebrow again and smiles. "The Avengers are a SHIELD initiative. You need it, you've got it," she reminds him but grins because the lines aren't that clear cut any more. "I guess you'll need to talk to Stark then. And you've got friends. Nadia van Dyne Pym thinks you're awesome."

She takes a lanyard out of her pocket which says CONSULTANT on it and hands it over. "This'll get you in to the right files and doors for the job. If you feel you need access to something you can't get to, send me a message and I'll sort it out. Director Levine owes me."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner smiles, "A SHIELD initiative? Oh, yes. Of course," he says. "But any subsidiary may not always have full access to the resource of the...parent entity," he says.

He takes the lanyard and drapes it around his neck easily enough. "I'll need passwords and such but that can all be given electronically. I mean, I would remember them, I have an eidetic memory. Well. Most of the time," he says. There are a few blackouts in there, after all.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Oh we don't use passwords. We do it the other way around. If you should have access to it, or need access to it, someone else adds it to your library. It removes the ability for hacking and makes social engineering a lot harder," she explains. "I'm going to be up here in this lab for a while longer. My specialty is biology after all.. so I'm currently looking at this crazy sample. It seems to have some sort of parasite in it. Anyway, good luck with the weird portal stuff."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner nods, "And to you with your biosamples," he says. He'll go downstairs to look at the local lab equipment and will make his presence known befor e heading out.