4352/Cat-chup and Cleanup

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Cat-chup and Cleanup
Date of Scene: 09 December 2020
Location: Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis: Terry and Nadia catch after his return from space. Plans for a scientific study of magic are made. Space exploration technology is discussed. And Italian food is had. The Red Room is not after Terry's Mom (yet).
Cast of Characters: Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Terry O'Neil, Iason




Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
To say the last three months have been a productive time in the Tower laboratories would be a vast understatement. With the lab's other primary residents off in space that left Nadia to literally create sub-light propulsion engines from scratch, before collaborating with Kian and Gar to make some sort of psychic beacon that they were eventually able to insert into hyperspace, and lately she seems to have been trying to figure out how to tear apart space/time itself in order to get her friends back. She may or may not also have been kidnapped by the Russians in there somewhere.

Nadia is not the neatest of people and needless to say after all of that the lab is in a state of disarray, parts and projects all over the place. As a result, the Waspette now finds herself frantically cleaning and dismantling various projects, both to cannibalize parts that might be useful fixing the Milano and to avoid whatever fate might await her should Caitlin lay eyes upon the lab in its current state.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
And into the kingdom of disarray walks the Cheshire Cat, wearing the old combo of hoodie and jeans that he used to wear before he got a uniform. Back when Donna was threatening to call him 'hoodie cat'. His uniform got shredded in the incident that landed them in the other dimension, and he hasnt had time to get a new one done. For now, though, this will do. He can't be back into action until his ankle heals fully, anyways, so it is time to catch up with his friends.

"Naaadiaaa-" he calls as he walks into the lab, "What is this that I heard about Russian?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia looks up from the disassembly of a particularly complicated looking device. She is wearing her Van Dyne-designed Waspette uniform, minus the helmet. Form fitting works very well for lab safety after all.

She blinks for a moment when Terry comes in, looking up from her work, "Russia?" She actually looks like she has absolutely no idea what Terry is talking about for a few moments, before realization dawns across her face, "Oh! Did someone tell you about how I had to go to Russia for awhile?" Yes, Nadia, 'go to Russia for awhile' indeed.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The Cheshire cat crosses his arms and looks around the place. "Dear god, it's like my soul organized this place... how do you not get /lost/ in all of it?" He chuckles and shakes his head.

"I didn't hear it quite like that. The way you put it, it sounds like you went on an all-expenses paid trip to Saint Petersburg and spent a week buying fanciful winter clothing. The way /I/ heard it, it was more along the lines of Mwahahaha, you're coming with us!"

That last part is a good impersonation of a melodrama villain. "Care to tell me about that? But the reason I came in was because... well. I haven't see you in /three/ months. And I've got a big thank you to give you. You were part of the key that brought us home."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia stands up dusting herself off, she can finish dismantling the Space/Time Compression Matrix later. "I've been busy, okay? Trying to get back some wayward friends who got themselves lost in a collapsed wormhole." she sticks her tongue out at him. It is obviously feigned annoyance. "Normally it's much neater, by the way the T-Jet flies in space now and can get to Pluto in a couple hours."

She finds one of the wheeled stools to sit on and kicks one over in Terry's direction, "At least I didn't have to tear a hole in Space/Time, I was working on some theories after meeting those aliens looking for the Forever Dark thing, but then you guys managed to make it back on your own. By the way... never do that again, I refused to believe it but people thought you were dead."

She pauses until she remembers the question she was actually supposed to be answering, "Oh right, Russia. It's complicated, they showed they could easily strike at the people around me, they got my Dad, an Avenger taken into custody on a Hague warrant, so I went with them willingly so they would let him go. I wasn't expecting Janet to get taken to, but she got caught up in it trying to stop me from going. She knows me well enough that when she heard the news about Dad she figured out what I was going to do, only they intercepted her. But I'm back and everything is fine."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh man... that's... that sucks. I'm sorry. But it's good that things are back in order. I am honestly worried about that- that they'll try to get me through my mom... or April. Especially now that I am thinking of making my identity public..."

The Cheshire nods, and interjects "Your probe... that got us back. There was a moment we were lost in Hyperspace... at the moment that I sensed the telepathic message, it turned out we were going in the opposite direction. Wihout that probe, we would have been totally gone."

He sratches his chin, "You have taken time for yourself out of the lab, right? You know... to go out, take some air. Hace a cupcake?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia just sort of peers at Terry for a moment, "Why would the Red Room be after you? They only want me back because they raised me and they want me to make superweapons for them. Something about a Carbonadium Synthesizer." She asks clearly assuming he means the same they.

At the interjected subject change she beams brightly, "That was actually Gar's idea and Kian helped as well. We managed to combine Psion Particles with Kian's electromagnetic wave based telepathic broadcasting. The technology has some really interesting applications. The idea though, to make a probe and to try and make a signpost home, that was all Gar. I just helped with the Science and getting us into space. I think it might be worth building an actual FTL spacecraft though, lately incidents involving space and aliens seem to just keep piling up."

At the question about time for herself, she is a bit evasive, "I've been helping repair the Milano, that's outside right? Oh and I went and visited Janet at Avenger's Mansion the other day! Wait there's cupcakes? Did Cait make them?!" It's been three months since she's been able to eat Cait's baked goods.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Wait... let's go back a step or two. Who... or what... is the 'Red Room?' And there had better not be someone involved there called The Red Queen, because I know someone who would sue. But nah- no cupcakes yet. I think Cait is in shock after seeing what three months of leaving the kitchen to Gar have wrought..."

He grins, crossing his arms. "So it was Gar's idea... I am proud of that green guy. And you guys, too. We all are very lucky that you guys are part of this family. You know... once you get that FTL spacecraft shaken in, I wouldn't mind taking a ride on it. My first journey into space wasn't exactly good for sight-seeing... but man. Let me tell you... no, let me show you!"

He takes out his phone and quickly goes to some of the footage he took. The first one... the seven planets, orbiting a singularity. They are far too close, and yet nothing seemed to happen to them. "This is your purview, I am not a scientist, but I know enough to know that this should be absolutely inpossible..."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia shakes her heads, "No queens, only Mother. The Red Room takes infant girls, exposes them to a variant of super soldier serum and then trains them to be the deadliest assassins and spies in the world. That's where I was raised." She says as if this is a perfectly normal thing. "You said you were worried they would go after someone named April or your Mom, I just kind of assumed it was the same them."

She nods her head when he praises Gar, while spinning in slow circles on her wheeled stool as one does, "Yeah, he really stepped up and took the lead with Donna gone, even negotiated with aliens when we were out near Jupiter trying to get the probe into hyperspace. It doesn't do FTL yet, only ninety-nine percent of the speed of light." 'Only' but super scientists are never satisfied until they've broken every single law of physics it seems.

"Oooooh!" Nadia's eyes light up going a bit wide when Terry unveils the footage. "That's amazing!" After a moment she starts to study it more analytically, "Should be by Earth's current understanding of physics, but every time I meet new aliens I learn there is /a lot/ we still don't know about physics. Also magic, that's like a whole other set of physics that needs to fit into physics somehow." Needs to, because that's how physics works damn it! "From everything we learned talking to those aliens, I think you guys were in something called The Forever Dark, a pocket dimension from a wormhole within a wormhole that was apparently created in the future and travels backward in time. They had an almost religious reverence for it. I definitely want to study any video you got, there's probably a lot we can learn from it just from visual observation alone."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Of course, I'd be glad to give you a copy of all my files. I'm putting together a whole narrative of it for the Planet... after I drop the bomb about my secret identity." The Cheshire grins and looks at his phone for the time. "I'm meeting a friend tonight, but I've got my social media post set to go by then... it should be interesting."

He glances at Nadia. "So you think magic needs to fit into a subset of physics? That's an interesting thought. You know... I don't exactly know everything I can do, but I can tell you that if you want to run any experiments with my magic, and see what data you can derive from it. I have heard that my Rabbit Holes tend to defy a whole bunch of known information... so... who knows? Maybe we can make some groundbreaking discoveries... or end up swallowed into another dimension. I mean, it's happened once before." he grins.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia stops spinning and gives Terry a bright smile, "I mean that's what physics is, it is just observing how the universe works. We don't make laws of physics, we just observe and record them. It's why we don't have a complete picture yet and there's still a lot more to learn, it's all about what we've figured out. So if magic exists, it should fall into physics as existing phenomena, it's just a question of what sort. Do you know Dr. von Doom? He's a brilliant scientist and also a very talented sorcerer, his work is really fascinating. I suspect it mainly involves previously undocumented energy forms and properties of the mind and observation related to Quantum Mechanics that we are still only just beginning to understand. Anyway, I would love to take you up on that and study your magic sometime!"

She pauses as if remembering something, it is easy to get lost in her enthusiasm, "Are you sure it is a good idea? Showing that footage publicly?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I'll take your word on Doctor Doom, Nadia- he and I don't tend to run in the same circles. And by that, I mean that I'm not in the habit of rubbing elbows with rulers of other countries, sorcerers, or those with a penchant for... well. You know. I wouldn't call myself a sorcerer as much as I'm, I guess, a magical creature. From what I understand, I don't need to perform magical rites or the likes to bring about my desired effects, but they come second nature to me when I use them. I haven't tested the hypothesis that I could -perform- magic in the way that sorcerers can... but that might be something to try out."

He ponders this for a moment, and almost misses out on the question. He nods vigorously, "I think it's an excellent idea. Nadia, think about it- the Titans are the first people in humanity's history to set foot in a place like that. We've made history. Science journals will want to talk to us- and you, as one of our resident geniuses, will have a lot to say with the data we collected. It can add yet another example of the argument that just because we put on spandex and punch bad guys, it doesn't mean that some meaningful discoveries are outside of our wheelhouse!"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Dr. Doom is really nice! He offered to possibly let me have Latverian citizenship when Val told him about the Hague warrant and international custody battle, though things weren't able to get settled in time and then he had to go back to Latveria and take care of some things, so I haven't seen him in awhile." It perhaps has never occurred to Nadia that some of the circles she runs in thanks to her Avenger parents are anything but normal. "Maybe we could ask Wanda to try and teach you some magic? She's really good at it, too." By Wanda, she of course means the Scarlet Witch. But to Nadia they're all just people.

"It's probably fine." She eventually agrees with Terry about the data, "I just worry what certain organizations might do with that data. It's funny, I never used to worry, but every time I talk about things in public I seem to get scolded by SHIELD and I guess they do have a little bit of a point with some of these groups ...like the Red Room. Though I still don't think Science itself is either good or bad. We just need to stop bad people from using it for bad things... I'm rambling again aren't I?" At the very least she's gained a modicum of self-awareness over the past year.

Iason has posed:
"You kind of are, but you've got to remember that I am dating Gar. I'm kind of immune to it," Terry says with a grin, "And SHIELD likes to shush a lot of things up all the time. They're like that annoying woman at the movie theater who goes "SHHHHHHHHHH" at you just because your candy wrapper crinkled *once* when you were uwrapping it. So annoying. Lois thinks that once I make my secret identity public, they'll want to vivisect me or something."

At the mention of the Scarlet Witch, he gives a little chuckle, "Nadia, why would the Scarlet Witch teach a lil' nobody like me some magic? Any time I enter a room, I'm the only one there I've never heard of!"

He glances at the laboratory "So when do you think you'll be ready to test that faster-than-light thing? How /do/ you test it without being in danger?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia's expression can't help but betray amusement at Terry's description of SHIELD shushing people, "Is that what happens in movie theaters?" She asks curiously, "I've never been to one." There are gears turning in her head, now pondering movie theaters and potential candy she had never given much thought to previously.

At Terry's question about Scarlet Witch, Nadia just grins. "Why? Because you're great and I'll ask her to and she's really nice, so she'll say yes." She nods to herself several times as if she is absolutely certain of this.

The question about FTL travel almost catches her offguard as the topic shifts from magic magic to science magic. "The new drive systems in the T-Jet can already reach Pluto in a few hours. But I might be able to add systems for faster than light travel soon," she glances side to side before lowering her voice conspiratorially, "I'm studying the systems in that alien spaceship we're fixing and with a bit of time might be able to duplicate or at least make my own version of their technology." She grins in a fashion worthy of the Cheschire Cat. "Why is there an extra-solar planet you are wanting to visit?"

Iason has posed:
Vorpal makes a mental note: take Nadia to a movie theater. Ideally one of those nice IMAX ones with all the bells and whistles.

Note to the note: Bring Kian along, too, because why not?

"In some movie theaters, but we're going to have to get you to come with us to one of those cheesy holiday movies. It's a must."

He looks a little skeptical about the Scarlet Witch, but he simply nods. "Well... I was thinking. Once we have that going, maybe we can use it to do a little bit of searching... maybe help Kian find his way home?" he asks, scratching his chin, "Instead of us getting lost in space, we can start a trend of us getting... you know. Found. Or finding people's homes. Things like that."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Oh, right!" It had completely slipped Nadia's mind that Kian might need a faster than light ship to try and reach his home planet again. This is ironic given all the time she spent helping him crack conversion rates for Earth measurements to his own. "Well I was planning to work on that anyway, we seem to be getting threats from space and aliens showing up left and right, it seems only prudent that we have a ship capable of faster than light travel. Maybe the Deep Space communications array I've been helping my Dad work on can help Kian, too. We're going to test it this weekend and hopefully not annoy nearby aliens too much... Just, you know, say hello."

Iason has posed:
"I think that's a very good idea... you know." He ponders, "We should tell birdy buddy about it after the tests are successful. Now... I have to ask you. When was the last time you ate. This is followed up by the next question: DO you remember when was the last time you ate?"

Terry didn't grow up around mad scientists, but he grew up with a very dedicated PI mother who liked to work into the late hours of the night. This isn't something new to him, "And if you have a big hole in your stomach, might I suggest you accompany me to my favorite italian place so we can get some fuel for your brain and everything else?" he grins. "My mom got me a gift card as an I'm So Glad You're Not Dead present, so treat's on me."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Food?" Nadia blinks several times, oh right that thing her body requires to continue functioning. "I... I think had an apple this morning?" She offers, that's food right?! "Oooh Italian! I heard that's where pizza comes from! Let's go! I'm glad you're not dead too by the way! Wait there's supposed to be presents?! I'm still learning all the times you're supposed to give presents, there seems to be so many. I guess not being dead is a good time. I will figure something out! Anyway onward to the food!"

Iason has posed:
Terry chuckles and gestures for Nadia to follow him, "Relax, you don't /need/ to give me a present for not being dead. Acceptable present days are one's birthday and, usually, the winter holidays. Oh, weddings, too... It's pretty simple over here. Some countries have a lot more elaborate systems with social obligations and the like."

He grins, "Oh, pizza is just the tip of the iceberg. This place makes a spaghetti alla puttanesca that will make you get on your knees and thank your favorite deity that you are alive to taste it. And that's not even as good as their tiramisu."

He leads Nadia out of the lab, like the Pied Piper, with the lure of food.