8318/Epic Van of Destiny

Epic Van of Destiny
Date of Scene:	19 October 2021
Location:	Washington Square Park
Synopsis:	Mairin shows off her robot moth and Gwen helps she and Demona install a reactor in Demona's van.
Cast of Characters:	Susan Sullivan, Mairin Moran, Gwen Stacy

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Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Before Ghost Spider had finished fixing the damage she'd caused to the van in the scrap yard, Demona had driven it away. It wasn't particularly hard to find for someone who could swing high over everyone, especially given what was known about the van's owner. Meanwhile, Demona had sent a text to Mairin to have her meet in Washington Squarer Park. The van is parked just outside the park, all locked up as one does in New York City. Demona waits for Mairin on her disney princess blanket spread out on some grass. She sits in the lotus position, unperturbed by the wildlife that just treats her like a part of the landscape.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin climbs out of a taxi, immediatly recognizes the van, then looks around for Demona. Not immediatly seeing her, Mairin takes a walk around the van, looking at the damage, or at least as much of it as she can see. As she does so, a large moth flutters around her head, up over the van, back, over to a couple sitting on a bench, then back... Always returning to orbit around Mairin's head, and occationally land on her shoulder.

    It isn't until Mairin gets to the park side of the van that she spots Demona but, seeing as she's obviously meditating, Mairin doesn't shout to her. Instead she just walks up as quietly as she can and sits down, the moth coming to a rest on her shoulder.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
It's not exactly the van that catches Ghost Spider's attention. so many vans in New York after all! But more the trademark blanket she had seen before. And you add that to the nearby van? Well, that would be pretty much who she had met at Spiderman's scrapyard a couple days back. So with a detour Gwen swings from one building to the other, body arching before she comes to a land on the ground, on her ballet slippers.

And yes, she lands on the ground this time instead of on the van! So no more breaking stuff. She also lands near Mairin, a curious look given to the woman, head canting to the side almost as if trying to put her face somewhere, "Do I know you from somewhere?" says the masked spider before her eyes drift to the meditating 'princess'.

"And are we both waiting for the little mermaid to finish her meditation?" she grins under her mask, folding her arms together.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona doesn't react to any of this until Gwen adds the sass. "You know I can smell you both," she says. She opens her eyes and looks up at Ghost Spider, then over at Mairin. "Hi," she says with a smile. She looks back up at Gwen and says, "Hey, I know I freaked out, but I hope you don't feel guilty. I also wanted to apologize for bailing before you had the chance to finish even trying to fix the van. I was more than a little upset at the moment."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "I don't think so?" Mairin answers Ghost Spider as she leans away from her a bit. As much to get a better look at her as anything else. "I definitly would have remembered meeting." She smiles just a little, then just waits for Demona to tell her why she asked her to come.

    This close, it's obvious that the large moth, roughly the size of a grown man's hand, is not organic in the slightest. But rather a little metalic robot that simple *looks* like a moth unless examined closely. It's little metal wings flap lazily as it sits there.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"And that's only a bit creepy." Ghost Spider retorts at Demona when she speaks about being able to smell them, "But I will let you know I have been brushing furiously as of late." nothing like rehashing a joke. A nod then at Demona, "And it's all cool. Not like the materials on that scrapyard are the best." a glance over to the van. "You haven't gotten to fix it yet, have you? It was part of why I was looking for you."

A look back to Mairin and she mmms, "I dunno, something is familiar and--" she pauses at noticing the moth. Or in this case robo-moth. "Nice! It looks quite real unless we're close. And .., how are you controlling her?"

Yes, it does seem Ghost Spider is rather curious where it comes to electronics engineering, she leaning to take a closer look at the moth.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona furrows her brow as if something's wrong. She looks at Mairin, then at the moth. Her eyes go a bit wider. "Oh!" she says. "Oh, it's a little robot!" She leans in and looks at it. "Wow!" she exclaims. "Roboticist extraordinaire!" she says as she leans almost uncomfortably close to Mairin to look at her little robotic insect.
    After a few moments, Demona leans back to sit upright and says, "I thought I was doing well because I figured out how to install that orb you gave me in the van. Did you have a breakthrough on power? I mean...you must have. Those wings aren't solar panels...are they?" she asks, definitely confused by all the fine mechanical components.

    "Oh!" she interrupts herself, standing without using her leg muscles. "Speaking of all of that," she says, stooping down to scoop up her backpack. "Mairin gave me something. I asked her here to help me install it into the van, because I finally figured out how to do it safely." She unzips her backpack and holds it up for Gwen's inspection. Inside, there's an orb the size of a large grapefuit or small melon. The purpose isn't immediately clear. "It's a reactor," Demona says quietly.
    Demona closes her backpack and smiles. "You want to help me and Mairin install the third charging method in the van?" she asks Ghost Spider.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    The moth flutters down to Mairin's hand as she raises it, and she holds it out for both Ghost Spider and Demona to see. "I'm not quite there on the power, no," she answers Demona first. Her smile grows at all the questions. "I'm using small batteries right now. That's one reason I have her active. I want to see what kind of life I can expect in a real world environment. I'm not expecting much."

    She looks over and up to Ghost Spider. "It has a built in micro-AI. Just enough to follow basic moth behaviors like avoiding objects and flight. Actual commands are gesture based for the most part, but I can give it more specific ones by amipulating the spell on it."

    She drops her hand and the moth hovers there for a second before fluttering over to land on Ghost Spider's hand.

    "I'm still perfecting that part. I was meaning it to land on your shoulder."

    She stands and holds a hand out to Ghost Spider. "I'm Mairin. If you have an interest, we'd love to have your help."

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Ah, AI. Seems rather advanced.." Ghost Spider looks at her hand as the moth lands there, she turning it up to take a closer look, nodding her head in approval even if she also grins at the reveal that it was to land on her shoulder, "I am still trying to figure out a way to join both. AI and electronics that is. AIs aren't really my strong point." she explains. "This is pretty amazing though ..." at the name introduction she looks over, pausing. "Mmmm, now I definitely feel like I know you ..." or maybe it's Gwen. Darn dual identities! Still, she extends her hand to shake Mairin's. "Good to meet you. I am Ghost Spider. And of course I would like to help!"

Head turns to look at the orb-like reactor Demona has on her hand. "So when you said you wanted an arc reactor you weren't joking." she laughs.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Yeah, well," Demona says, the orb still in her backpack, hidden from public view. "There's space under the hood for it, but I don't really want every security and surveillance system in the tri-block radius watching us." She shrugs. "I figured I'd drape my blanket over the hood and work under there. There should be enough space for the three of us to do that side by side. Thoughts?"

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Ghost Spider's close scruitiny of the bot shows some very delicate fabrication work. As well as the fact that it doesn't appear to be a single unit. But just as she might get a bit more info, the tiny thing emits an ear-splitting whine. Mairin quickly snatches it out of Ghost Spiders hand and a second later th whine stops and it is in thre seperate pieces.

    "Sorry.." she says sheepishly as she tucks the pieces into a satchel at her hip. "I fogot it was set to do that." She clears her throat and focusses on Demona. "Yes. That sounds great. It's been a long time since I've worked on a vehicle." She grins and motions for Demona to lead the way.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Sure. We will recruit the Little Mermaid's help for this undercover job." Gwen states back to Demona at her plan of hiding them under the blanket to work. And yes, she does sound rather amused. "I am all for that!"

The ear splitting whine of the little bot has Ghost Spider sharply look back at it, puzzled as her head cocks to the side, "Self-destruct mechanism?" she asks.

"And Demona, the question here is .., what are you wanting to do with your van that will need a reactor? I am guessing this is not a simple thing.." she nodding at the reactor, then back to Mairin. "Your design I am guessing?"

She walks closer to the van, but like Mairin she waits for Demona to get the set up done before she squeezes under the hood. She is nimble though so she will pretty much be fitting anywhere!

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. "Okay," she says. She leans down and snatches up her Ariel blanket and drapes it over her shoulder. She continues as she walks toward where the van is parked, "Firstly, I've been wanting to do this since I was a little girl and I first saw Atlantis. Audrey is badass, and this thing is absolutely the kind of unobtainable awesome I have wanted since seeing orichalcum from that movie. Secondly, the power output on this thing is kind of pathetic. We took it apart and figured out why. I call it a reactor, but it could barely power a whole suburban duplex. I don't really want to go into it in public, but the power source is a fragment of something and can be any size that fits. Thirdly, if I ever get the axial flux hub motors on the van and some ultracapacitors to even out the flow, I want a power source that can keep up with the demands."
    Demona opens the van's hood. Inside is very empty. The gasoline engine the van originally had has been replaced by a high-torque electric motor, leaving huge areas just empty. She drapes Ariel over the van's opened hood, covering the opening with little mermaid cuteness. "Besides," she says, "this was a gift. I'm going to use it, and the only thing in this world that's mine is this van. You can be sure if I had a helicarrier or an underground lair, I'd be installing it there, instead." She ducks under the blanket with her backpack.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "Not my design no. Just something I was able to aquire." Yep. Nice and vague. "But we've examined it thoroughly and we have the specs. Installing it shouldn't be a huge issue." She sets her satchel on the ground by the car, reaches in, and pulls out another three pieces of bot. A few rubic's cube-like motions later and she's setting something that looks like an oversize daddy-long-legs on top of her bag.

    Then, with a grin, she ducks under the blanket next to Demona.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Alright then ..., keep your secrets." Ghost Spider replies in a teasing manner at both Mairin and Demona as they sort of evade where the item actually came from. Not that Gwen presses about it. She is all about the mad science. So of course that she also slides under Ariel's Protection and wiggles over to a side, legs folded under her, "I see you are also somewhat of a mechanic yourself too, Demona? Mechanical engineering?" she then asks.

That brings Gwen to look at Mairin again and then ... "Ahah! Moran, right?!" she pointing towards the other woman, "I have read some of your work on quantum transmission for E--, I mean where I study." smooth...

"I am a fan." She then admits with a nod.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona brings out the reactor and says, "I did a little fabrication," she says, "but we'll still have to do a little welding." She looks at Gwen. "Can you use your webbing for temporary adherence so I can use the torch and mount this properly?" she asks.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    After some time working with the two other women, Demona's prowess shines alongside theirs. Soon, she's got a working reactor under the hood of her van, all wired up with special circuits she's made to keep it from frying anything. "There," she says. "Now if the van ever goes under 100% charge, I know there's some major problems." She smirks. "I also love that I can plug my van into a house and basically be a mobile generator." She reaches up to the hood. "Okay, Ghost, come on out of there and I'll close things up."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin's blush is visible even in the darker confines of the blanket enclosed hood. "I... Well it's... Thank you." And then she focusses on the work at hand.


    Mairin's demeanor shifts once the work starts. From blushing shy scientist to confident technologist in a blink. She does more advising and spuervising than actual labour. This is Demona's van, and she wants her to have the satisfaction of doing the job herself. The job done, she takes a little walk around the van, stretching her back. At her height, that wasn't the most comfortable position.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
There's that saying a spider can get anywhere. And it comes true now as Gwen indeed gets all nimbly-wimbly under that hood to help with the setting up of the reactor on the van. And yes, there are a lot of curious questions about the thing, how it works and Gwen pretty much following along with the other two, certainly no slouch where it comes to this.

When it's eventually all fixed up she comes crawling back out from under it, suit with smudges here and there. She sighs. "Straight to laundry it will go." she pushes herself upright.

"And there, work done.." arms again folding together, "You know .., I have some people you two should meet. You got the kind of minds that would go well with a certain group I belong to." she offers.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "I'm down," Demona says with a smile. "I don't know how you got so dirty working on an electric vehicle, but I'm very glad to have had your help." She closes the van's hood and folds up her Ariel blanket. "I've gone back to school, so to speak, so text me...or I mean...have Spider-Man text me. He has my number. I've been in his basement. Met his aunt. You know. All that stuff-what. He has my number."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Wanders back over in time for Ghost Spider's invite and pauses. She's just opening her mouth to answer when Demona does and then she's giving the girl all kinds of surprised looks. "Spider-Man's basement?" She chuckles. "Although I suppose I have no room to talk," she mutters to herself.

    "What kind of group?" she asks, politly. The last time she signed up with a group she got far more than she bargained for.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"A group of like-minded scientist types like us." Gwen replies to the duo, "Called GIRL.", a look to one and then the other, "I will talk with Nadia about it and get in touch. And why don't you just give me your number instead of me having to go to Spidey to send messages as if he was a glorified message boy, mm?" again that teasing tone from under the mask.

"And if you have been on his basement, good. That means he trusts you. And he has good judgement about people."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "I'm not saying my number out loud in this much traffic," Demona says. Here," she says, holding out her phone, "text yourself on my phone." She turns toward Mairin and says, "I'll tell you all kinds of cool stories when we get back to the lab." Quite a promise.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin waits for the number transaction, her expression a little confused and a little thinking. "Wait... Nadia? As in, Nadia Pym-Van Dyne? That Nadia?" How many Nadia's can there be that are geniuses after all.