8352/A Stroll in the Park

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A Stroll in the Park
Date of Scene: 21 October 2021
Location: Washington Square Park
Synopsis: Demona receives an invitation to visit GIRL HQ.
Cast of Characters: Susan Sullivan, Nadia Pym-van Dyne




Susan Sullivan has posed:
    It's just the right time of day for Demona to be sitting in the sunshine under one of the trees in Washington Square Park. With her eyes closed, she lets the warmth of the sun cascade over her pale skin. She will neither tan nor burn. It's simply a pleasant feeling. She lets out a contented sigh, vocalizing a soft, "Mmmm," which the speaker in her skull-themed gas mask amplifies to an audible level.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Today is a very novel meeting for Nadia, usually she just researches promising candidates for G.I.R.L. and drops in on them out of the blue. Internal referrals have been far less common, which only made it more interesting to her when Gwen brought her a couple of suggestions.

Driving up curbside to the park, Nadia doesn't bother finding a parking spot, that is a fool's errand in New York. Instead a beam fires out from her sleeve and shrinks the car small enough to fit in her pocket.

Stepping into the park proper, she's dressed in a black and red plaid skirt trimmed in black lace that reaches just above her knees, knee-high black stompy boots, a black T-shirt that reads 'Just a GIRL who loves Wasps' in pink lettering, and a purple and pink bomber jacket with the GIRL logo on the back. Inconspicuous she is not.

Looking around Nadia finally spies someone matching the description Gwen gave her, the skull gas mask is a dead giveaway. "Hi! I'm Nadia, you must be Demona?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona perks up at her name. She stands without seeming to use her legs. She turns her body around to face the woman identifying herself as Nadia. "I am," she says. "I confess, I don't get many people looking for me." She looks down, then up the woman. "Do we have a friend in common?" she asks. "I'd remember meeting somebody who looks like you."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"We do!" Nadia informs Demona with an easy smile, a very easy going person she doesn't seem at all intimidated by the gas mask. "At least I think we do, unless Ghost Spider was secretly stalking you or something." She pauses for a moment to consider this possibility. "Anyway, Ghost Spider said you might be a good candidate for our team at GIRL, Genius In action Research Laboratories. You do know Ghost Spider right?" Images of Ghost Spider stalking potential recruits are now dancing through her head.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. "We've met," she says. She checks around before reaching up and clicking a switch on the side of her gas mask. The speaker isn't active as she leans in close to Nadia. "She helped me install the reactor in my van," she says, quietly, as if that's some kind of secret.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Reactor?" That gets Nadia's attention, but not in the way it might for most people. There is a sparkle in her eyes like she thinks that is one of the coolest things she has heard so far today. "What kind of reactor? She's pretty good at that, though you should see her Genetics work, it's really genius stuff."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "It's Latvian," Demona says, still hushed and mispronouncing the country name. "Kind of a basic-principles reverse-engineered arc reactor knockoff. It is pathetic in its power output compared to the real ones, but it can take any size and shape chunk of Vibranium up to its internal capacity, is powered by something that was blown to pieces, and provides more than enough power for the van." She moves to a comfortable conversation distance from Nadia and turns her mask speaker back on. "It took me some time to make it compatible. Would you like to see the van?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Ooooh," Nadia nods her head several times, drawing out the hard O sound, as she listens. "Arc Reactors are really cool! Tony never lets me play with them though." She leans in almost conspiratorially, "But sometimes Riri does." Before straightening back up again. "They're really neat! Where do you get Vibranium from, do you know Shuri?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Really wish you wouldn't say the V-word out loud," Demona says, leading the way. "I don't know Shuri. The metal chunk came from something that was destroyed. I don't know where it came from, it was just in there when I got it. I took it apart and made high-res 3D scans. I'm not sure if I can recreate it without doing some destructive testing to figure out what everything's made of, though."
    Approaching a van with solar panels lining the roof, Demona opens the side up, revealing a long bean-bag chair looking stuffed mattress cover and a area with an unusual laptop. "I'll let you see the power output. It really is quite miniscule. I don't want to flash the world my ball with all the surveillance in the modern world." She enters the van. "You can come in this time," she offers.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia blinks at the way Demona says the V-word. "What? Why? That stuff is really cool!" It seems completely lost on her why talking about Vibranium might be hush hush. Perhaps because she seems to know the Princess of Wakanda.

"Shuri will usually let me have at least a small amount to work with if I need it for a project. She's one of our members at GIRL. We've actually been working on some alloys that try and retain its properties while being able to be produced on a larger scale."

You know, normal 17-year old teenager stuff.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Yeah, well," Demona says, "I don't want anyone knowing I have some. My van would be stripped to nothing, and I very much doubt I'd be compensated." She looks around the wood panel interior of the windowless van. Blackout curtains front and back keep light to a minimum in there. "This is kind of my whole life," Demona says. "The thought of losing it...terrifies me."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia hesitates at the entrance to the van, no quite climbing in after Demona. She may be foolhardy at times but seems to draw a line at getting into strange vans.

The line of reasoning still seems a bit lost on Nadia but she just gives a light shrug letting it go. "So you live in the van? That's pretty cool." There's nothing condescending there, she seems to genuinely think so. "Soooo, what kind of Science do you do? High energy reactions?"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "I'm kind of doing whatever," Demona says. She clears her throat. "I have been studying the flow of qi, but I doubt that's empyrical enough for your group." She gestures toward the front of the van with a head nod. "I reverse engineered a Latvian arc reactor orb. I don't know what field that is."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia tilts her head to one side slightly, "Flow of what?" She doesn't seem familiar with the term, "What's that?"

"Reverse engineering something related to an arc reactor is pretty cool." She leans on the doorframe of the van. "GIRL is a research collective and think tank that encourages young women in STEM and tries to give them role models they can look up to. We have specialists in all kinds of fields. And then there's Val who I think is a specialist in all of them. She's a bit of an overachiever. Sometimes we also help stop science threats too, as one does. But our main purpose is research and inspiring young women so no brilliant scientists get left behind and to help make the world a better place through our innovations!"

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona looks at her hands, then up at Nadia. "That sounds amazing," she says. "You think I could do that?" she asks, almost unbelieving.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia shrugs a bit, "Maybe. Seems possible. Ghost Spider certainly seems to think you can." She grins, "Tell you what, why don't you come visit our headquarters on the Pym Technologies corporate campus sometime. There's some security checks we'll need to do. Our head of security is kind of zealous, but secretly really nice. You can see a bit of what we do and then decide for yourself if it's something you think is right for you and want to be part of."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Deal," Demona says with a nod. "Thank you," she says with a smile that reaches to her eyes. Apparently, she's very enthusiastic about this particular opportunity.