8378/Applied Research

Applied Research
Date of Scene:	23 October 2021
Location:	Labs - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	Seek and ye shall find.
Cast of Characters:	Kian, Victor Stone

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Kian has posed:
    Kian's presence in the labs is hardly unusual, especially considering his insistence that he has an advanced education in theoretical physics.
    What he's doing now, however, just might look a little odd, since the small unit in front of him doesn't look like anything that came out of the Titans' lab.  It's projecting a holographic display about half a meter one each side, that the birdman is peering into intently.
    Also, he's nodding his head as if in time to some music, not that any can be heard.  Once in a while it's accented by a snap of the fingers, or shake of the shoulders, or even a soft trilling.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic spends a /lot/ of his time in the labs, and he's been fiddling with a couple things they brought back from Rann--looking into Zeta Beam technology, mostly. It's the trilling that gets his attention pulled away from analyzing that data, however. He's got /really/ good hearing, okay?

    He tracks down Kian finally and stops before bringing his presence to the bird-man's attention. He peers at the holographic display, tilts his head. Well, it's fairly obvious what the tech is /for/, but that doesn't make him any less curious.

Kian has posed:
    Well, let's hope Kian is more attentive to detail in the field, because right now he's oblivious to the presence of Vic.  It's an open question as to whether he's even *aware* of anything outside the thre-dimensional display he's studying so intently.
    In fact, he's so oblivious that... well, there's a quote of unknown origin that goes, /Sing like no one is listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on Earth/.  The first part, sing like no one is listening?  Yeah, that's what Kian is doing right now, in his own language, in a weird scale that seems to have more notes in it than a Western normal octave.
    And then he opens his eyes and sees Vic and squawks embarrasedly and almost but doesn't quite fall over backwards off his lab stool.
    "Ki-AI!  Where did you come from?  I haf... I was... ai, /c'Rhys'yw/."  He grips the edge of the lab table to ensure that he doesn't topple over.

Victor Stone has posed:
    "The door," Vic quips. "Unless you mean before that, which, I don't know if we've had the 'human reproduction' conversation?" He grins at Kian. He's joking, obviously.

    "Nice song," he comments. And then, so Kian isn't embarassed, "What's this? I mean, obviously some kind of holographic display projector..."

Kian has posed:
    Kian relaxes -- as embarrassments go, this is a minor one.  "As far as I can tell, human reproduction works very much like Akiar reproduction," he says, grinning, but apparently seriously.  "This iss my personal computer, from home.  I brought it back wit' me.  I was listenin' to Kaia t'Lyr, she iss one of my favorite singers."  Who knows how he was listening to it; there was nothing audible coming from the equipment, nor was Kian wearing anything even remotely resembling earbuds.
    "Right now I haf this connected to my communication console up in my room, an' they are scannin' for the Akiar tachbeam communication beacon.  Of course, I do not even know if I am in the same galaxy as my home worl' but since Terry was able to get us there an' back again, I at leas' think we are in the same universe.  But, it iss a big universe, yis?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic actually asks the question: "How were you hearing anything? Is there some kind of directed auditory field?" He steps around to come closer to the projector, still looking it over.

    Then he says, "Same universe, that's... something. It must be hard, not even knowing where your home is from here. I mean, you'll alway shave a home here, but... you know what I mean."

Kian has posed:
    "Oh, there iss a mental connection to my computer," Kian explains indifferently, like telepathic wifi is perfectly normal.  "I woul' like to think that because Terry was able to get us there an' back that it may be closer than I think... but I need to fin' it to be sure.  I mean, it coul' be halfway across the universe, or only a few /shaktar/... nnh, sorry, only a few light years away."
    He leans back a little and smiles.  "An' even if it iss too far away to detec', it does not matter, Terry can get me home an' back again whenever he feels up to it.  You shoul' come wit' us some time.  It iss so peaceful an' quiet."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Okay, admittedly, to /Cyborg/ telepathic wifi is perfectly normal, but he's half-machine. So he raises a brow, and then says, "Wait, your people just... /all/ have mental computer links? Oh, that's /cool./ They're /so/ useful, right?"

    His attention is half on the scans he's made of the Akiar tech; he looks it over while he talks. "Peaceful and quiet is nice enough, although... not gonna lie, I've been itching for some action. Not that I /want/ some baddie to come attack the Tower, it's just been a while, y'know?" A while, sure, Vic. A couple months at most?

Kian has posed:
    "I haf had enough of dik-heds for a while," Kian says, "but I suppose you are more use to that happenin' a lot more often than I am."
    He gives the computer an affectionate pat.  "The min' port is central to mos' Akiar technology anymore.  Almos' everythin' runs on it.  I control my estate managin' systems that way.  An' we use a version of it to sen' the telepathic message to the other universe you were stuck in las' year.  Nadia came up wit' a workable version base on my description, an' we put Gar's mind-call into it since his woul' be known bes' to everyone that had gone."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Ohhhh," Victor says, nodding. He remembers that whole business. "Okay, I see, yeah. Crossing universes with the tech, that's... impressive." He takes a step to the side, getting a better, 3D view of the computer. "What's this here?"

    He indicates the one bit of it all that doesn't /quite/ look normal to his readouts. There's the memory, there's the display tech, there's the processor... and then there's whatever it is that Cyborg's pointing at, the piece which doesn't have an immediately obvious purpose to the human.

    Idly, "We need to expand your vocabulary regarding villains. Remind me to come up with a lesson on insults."

Kian has posed:
    Kian blinks.  "Iss 'dik-hed' the wrong word?  I haf learn it from you," he says, quite seriously.
    He follows where Vic is indicating.  "I think that iss the communications port, where it talks to other equipment.  I haf it talking to my trimensional in my room while they both scan for a tachyon communication beam from either of our worlds.  Unfortunately there iss a lot of sky and only so much can be scan at a time.  But," he concludes, "I can be patien'.  Especially since now I can return any time that Terry iss willin'.  An' because now my frien's an' family know I am alive an' well."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "Oh, no, it's /absolutely/ the right word!" Vic says with a grin. "But when we get into a big battle with a nasty villain you're gonna need some more ammunition in your, uhh... verbal quiver." He frowns. "...That didn't quite make sense. My /point/ is, part of being a Titan is the word play, and I think you're getting enough of a handle on English that we can start teaching you to fling insults at your foes."

    Oh, this is a /terrible/ idea, Vic.

    He leans in to look at the communications port. "Tachyon communications? Interesting." He glances up and smiles. "It's good they know you're okay. And they're fine with you staying here?"

    Just a /hint/ of worry in his voice. Vic doesn't want to see any teammates leave, but especially Kian. He can't imagine the Titans without their winged alien, not anymore.

Kian has posed:
    Kian nods once.  "Yis, I haf tol' them I mus' be here for now.  There are thin's that threaten Eart' that do not threaten either Akiar or Kyshan.  An' threaten my frien's."  He smiles slightly.  "An' of course Terry an' Gar are here, an' I mus' be wit' them.  An' fortunately the Imperial family agrees.  Raka, my /tenar/, he did not agree an' neither did Kala, my qihar coach.  Or most of the pries's and priestesses.  Unfortunately for them, they haf declared me a /Rhytak/, an avatar of our goddess Kiare... an' I tol' them that if I am a godling, they cannot tell me what to do, an' if I am not, they cannot tell me that I am and so can not tell me what to do."
    That brings out a genuine smirk from the little birdman.  "Logic wins again, yis?"

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic winks. "Logic wins. What's, ahh... /tenar/? Qihar coach?" He's genuinely curious, obviously. If they've covered this before it's stuck in a processing loop in a databank somewhere, behind the mental cycles taken up by pondering tachyon beams and Zeta beams and hey could they just build a whole /network/ of these things?

Kian has posed:
    Kian smiles shyly.  "My /tenar/ is my lover, my family by choice.  Raka has been /tenar'h/ for years.  Gar an' Terry are my /tenar'yw/ now, and Raka has other /tenar'yw/ so he does not need to haf me there.  /Qihar/ iss a sport we play; my coach Kala wanted me to stay because I am much faster now because Eart' gravity iss a little higher than Kyshan gravity.  She said I coul' get promoted to the nex' higher league."
    He grins.  "*That* almos' made me stay."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic grins broadly. "Yeah, I get you. I mean, honored you stayed when you could've been promoted, but I know a lot of it's Terry and Gar. /Sports,/ though, that sounds pretty cool to go see! A whole sport where everyone's flying, that's..."

    A pause. And then, "You know, a lot of the Titans can fly. Maybe you should teach us the rules!"

Kian has posed:
    "I woul' like to.  I think the rules haf to be alter a little for non-winged flyers, though.  I do not know, I will haf to think about it.  Gar got to play, on my worl', an' he iss good for a newcomer.  I--"
    He breaks off, and stares at his computer.  No, not stares.  */STARES/*.
    "/c'Rhys'yw/."
    It comes out like a squeak.

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic peers at the computer and then at Kian. "...What's up?" He can't quite tell if it's something... bad? Embarassing? He doesn't know what the word means.

Kian has posed:
    Kian doesn't seem to hear.  He's leaning close over the holographic display.  There's (apparently) text, but it's in his language.
    He's quiet a few minutes.
    Then he looks up, and starts laughing.  A snicker at first.  In fairly short order, a body-shaking laugh, wings spread wide, almost until the tears come.
    "I do not belief it!  So close all this time!"  Sound starts coming from the unit, apparently in Kian's language.  "Imperial News Service, Kyshan office!  An' only twenty light years away!  I do not *belief* it!"

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic's eyes widen. "What /seriously/?!" He claps Kian on the shoulder, grinning. "Dude, that's... I mean, probably within range of the FTL ships the Reeds and Pyms are developing, let alone... wow, that's /great/! Oh, man, you've gotta tell everyone, starting with Terry and Gar, this is /great/ news!"

Kian has posed:
    "I do not trus' starships yet.  It was bein' on one that sent me to Eart' an' I do not wan' to take the chance on bein' thrown to another world again."  Kian peers into the display as images -- apparently from his world -- flick by.  "But now I can talk to my frien's an' family when I want.  An' visit when Terry is up to it.  An' when they get a fix on Eart's location, they can see if this iss one of the worl's they haf detected.  An' if it iss, I can help them with figurin' out the transmissions they are gettin'."

Victor Stone has posed:
    "That's fair," Victor says. "I mean, there's a reason I'm so insistent on lab safety, whatever kind of jokes I might make." It was a lab accident that caused his current condition, after all.

    "Really, though, Kian, I'm happy for you! I assume twenty light years doesn't mean, like, everything's twenty years out of date."

Kian has posed:
    "Oh, no.  Tachyon beams are almos' instant.  Otherwise I coul' talk to my family jus' after I was born an' tell them what was goin' to happen to me, an' since that did not happen when I was a baby, it iss not the way it works," Kian says, sounding *very* much like a theoretical physicist having a special moment.  "An' -- ah!"
    The display is a view of a wooded area that clears as it nears a lake, over which a sun is setting.  "I haf connected to my /kirat/, my home systems.  This iss the view from my home there."  He clasps his hands over his chest, gazing happily at the view.  "That iss the third thin' I miss. My family, my frien's, an my view."

Victor Stone has posed:
    Vic shuffles himself a bit to be able to see the display. He takes a long moment to appreciate it--the lake, the woods, the setting sun. "That's beautiful, Kian," he says softly. He's coming to appreciate alien viws more and more these days.

Kian has posed:
    "You will see it some day.  You mus' come visit," Kian offers, quite seriously.  "I hope it will be a place to go for all of you, for some peace an' quiet.  The Gods know we need it some times."