7648/Experimental Data

Experimental Data
Date of Scene:	01 September 2021
Location:	Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Kara and Caitlin spend some time catching up in the labs.
Cast of Characters:	Caitlin Fairchild, Kara Danvers

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Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin's commandeered part of the labs again. With Nadia working out of the expansive GIRL facilities, there's a lot less contestation for lab space. And like a perfect gas, Caitlin's work has expanded to take over the whole workspace again. There's some new equipment in place, and it looks highly specialized. A large cylinder about a yard in diameter is humming merrily away with an array of precision lasers dancing behind safety shields, forging intricate tracts inside a walnut-sized sphere of some gelatinous material.

"No-- too much, dial the occlusion down by three percent," Caitlin tells the computer. It beeps at her and she squints at the monitor from behind her tinted anti-glare glasses. She's dressed casually, in calf-length jeans with a pale cuff and a high waist. A t-shirt of red and grey horizontal stripes gives it a little muted contrast, all worn under a well-used white(ish) labcoat.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara doesn't use the laboratories. As much as she would never say as much to Caitlin or the other technologically inclined Titans, the equipment is all rather primitive to her. Rather than admonish the gleaming technological wonder of Titans Tower, she just plays dumb and does her tinkering at home or in the Fortress of Solitude.

"Hello, Doctor Fairchild!" she calls merrily before she is even in sight, x-ray vision making it easy to know who is in the lab even from the stairwell, "What are you making? Am I intruding? I was upstairs and saw you working down here. I have brought hot dogs."

5bSure enough, Kara carries a large hot dog with the works in each hand. She's not in costume, rather she's wearing her civilian clothes although she's done away with the wig and glasses while she's here in the Tower.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin looks up when she's addressed and smiles at Kara. "Kara, you don't have to call me Doctor in the Tower. You don't have to call me doctor while we're out in the field, either," she points out with a good humor. "If I'm doing genetics and engineering stuff, then I guess you can call me doctor."

It's hard for Caitlin not to eye the hot dog hungrily; fortunately one's handed over before Caitlin starts grabbyhanding at it. There are a few empty SnackyShake(tm) bottles nearby; Caitlin's brainpower must be at full go today.

She wheels over to a relatively empty table, puts down a few napkins, and starts digging in with an appetite. "Hohmgsh'sgud," she mutters. Three big bites eliminate half of it before she comes up for air, politely covering her mouth.

"I'm making a new brain for my drone," she explains, turning back to Kara. She points at a unit on the bench, a complex bit of machinery with a blue organic component bubbling merrily away in a fluid-filled cylinder. "Well, a mobile brain, for the drone unit. The heuristic programs and whatnot are in quantum storage. I'll clone over the operational protocols once it's finish growing." A fingernail clicks on the edge of the laser apparatus.

"How about you, whatchu up to today?" Caitlin seems to welcome the company, and invites Kara to grab a chair with a wave of her hand.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"I was working on putting together a new costume design," Kara answers, practically beaming at the great reception her gift of a hotdog gets, "I showed it to Donna. She thought it was good, so I think I will make it my usual one. There was one with no leggings or skirt, but no one can stand up to you in such a competition, so I went with something more classically Kryptonian."

She looks at the bubbling fluid in the cylinder, peering at it thoughtfully before smiling.

"Organic computing is so fascinating. On Krypton, we veered away from it in favour of quantum crystal entanglement but it is always so interesting to see how others approach similar problems. I should show you Kelex sometime, maybe you can get some inspiration from him?"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"You've mentioned him a time or two," Caitlin agrees with a nod of her chin. "I'd love to see it sometime. Him," she apologizes, a beat later. "I've seen a little bit of Kryptonian engineering, but it never fails to just, like, blow my mind." Fingers flex near her temples. "Quantum entanglement suspended in a geodesic lattice, it's ... I mean, we've barely scratched the surface of that with Z-Point constructs, and you guys use them like they're, they're -nothing-."

"Tell me this, is Kelex a true AI? Learning, adaptive, intelligent?" she inquires of Kara, and scoots her chair closer with a fascinated expression. "I don't know if that's even a distinction y'all make, I mean we've got Life-Model Decoys and other Virtual Intelligences, but there's maybe... I don't know, not even a hundred authentic AIs in the world that we know of, with adaptable heuristics."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"He is," Kara answers, thoughtfully, "Or at least I think he is. You are right that it is not a distinction Kryptonian philosophy or science really addresses. But he learns and is even a capable teacher. He was built from plans left behind by my uncle who had an exact copy of him on Krypton. He has much instruction to give about my homeworld. I can take you to see him, but I will need to ask my cousin's permission. His home is a ... private place."
"Do you like your hot dog?" The way she pronounces it. Hot dog. Like to separate words with a period between them.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"It's great, Kara, thanks. Perfect, really, I was starving. I've been eating nothing but protein shakes all day. I know they meet my caloric needs but they aren't great at making me feel sated. Y'know?" Caitlin turns back for her last few bites of the snack, carefully wipes her mouth clean, and deposits the leavings in the trash.

"I really don't want to get up in Kal's business," Caitlin tells Kara with a troubled look. "I mean it sounds really neat-- Kelex, I mean-- but that's y'all's /home/. I mean it's mostly Kal's, but, I wouldn't feel right about just showing up there to look at his cool stuff. He doesn't keep it open like the Watchtower; it's not there for people to visit and learn from."

She looks a bit flustered, badly covers with a wry smile: "Plus, I mean, I'm sure I'd trip and fall and break the last Kryptonian flower vase in the universe or something."

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Oh nonsense," Kara says with a wave of her hand, "He does not live there all the time. It is like ... what is the term you use? A summer house. Except it is cold. Or I am told it is cold. It is not something I have really had to worry about since I came here."

"Everything Kryptonian is much stronger under a yellow sun. It is decided. I will take you to see the Fortress and if my cousin complains I will tell everyone about how I used to change his diapers!"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Yeah I don't know about the cold thing, either," Caitlin agrees, and wrinkles her nose. "That trip we took to the jungle, when it was like, ninety degrees and 110% humidity? That was miserable. You can always layer on more clothes if you are cold, but when you're sweating and overheated, all you can do is plunge into the river now and then and hope the piranhas don't chew your gear apart."

"Okay. If-- /if/," she stresses, palms lifting, "Kal is OK with me coming by, and there's no ... blackmailing or pressure required, then yeah, let's do a trip up there," Caitlin agrees. She flashes a beatific smile. "I will do my best to not be a nosy parker while I'm there, either. No trying to reprogram the computer or anything like that," she promises.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"I know you will not. You are the most thoughtful of the Titans. I have often said this."

That said, she takes another bite from her hotdog and beams broadly.

"What else do you have planned for today? Are you going to keep working on your drone?"