8665/Ghost and the Machine

Ghost and the Machine
Date of Scene:	14 November 2021
Location:	Recovery Room 01: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Darcy turns up during Ava's vigil over Finley's comatose form to offer her expertise. This forces Ava to actually experiment with the q-bands matter-conversion capabilities. She has no idea if it actually worked... yet.
Cast of Characters:	Finley Ellison, Ava Starr, Darcy Lewis

---

Finley Ellison has posed:
Agent Finley Ellison lies unconscious in the hospital bed, her diminutive form dwarfed by the medical devices that surround her. Machines beep softly and emit dim glowing readouts on their screens. It's quiet in comparison to Agent Ellison's dramatic entry into the Triskelion in the arms of Ava Starr, and the frantic journey into medical quarantine. Not much had been learned in the intervening hours, despite the tireless efforts of SHIELD's medical staff. And now, Finley lies mostly alone. Doctor Campbell attends to her within the quarantine room, his identity obscured by the hazmat suit.

Observing the data from outside the glass walls, Doctors Wade and Harlow pour over the information they've gathered from Agent Ellison's body. Doctor Harlow groans and stretches. "We're getting nowhere," she murmurs softly to her companion. And then louder, "I need a coffee. Do you want anything?"

Doctor Wade doesn't respond, engrossed in the data. When he blinks and raises head, she's already exited into the waiting area, making a bee-line for the awful coffee machine in the hallway.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava Starr has not left the room outside the quarantine room. She knows... She **knows** whatever is affecting Finley will not affect her. If it could, it would have before now. Thus, the only reason she isn't in that room with her partner is because it bothered the doctors to constantly end up walking right through her, intangible as she is. She was in danger of causing them to make mistakes.

She wants no mistakes in this.

So, she sits intangibly on the back of a chair outside the room. Really, it's the illusion of sitting -- for both her and everyone else. Her feet are on the seat of the chair, her butt on the top ridge of its back. It's complete illusion, since she could just straighten up, float down, and walk straight through the wall, if she wanted. But she's trying to be good. Really, people should be impressed.

Most of them are just spooked, but well-trained enough to ignore her, since she's not proving to be a threat.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy spends a lot of time explaining to people that she's a very specific kind of doctor, and not the medical sort, but at SHIELD, when you end up labeled as an expert on 'alien nonsense' as a general category, people tend to forget the rest. The boss suggested they just pay to get her a medical degree. Like that's no big deal, going to med school on top of the rest of her job!

But it's fine. It's fine. She makes do. And they have real Doctors for actual, you know, the gross blood and guts and fluids stuff. Hopefully, they've gotten things started enough that she can make sense of whatever they've found.

But the fact remains that if they bothered to call her, it's because they did find something, and they found something WEIRD. Weird, granted, is a sliding scale around this place. Her daily work down in her testing lab is pretty weird by the common standards of the human race. Yet she's well aware there's plenty of room for it to get stranger from there. So Darcy arrives not casually on her own to take a peek, but with a technician she's roped into wheeling a cart full of equipment. She's in her labcoat for now, unsure if she'll actually have to go into hazardous containment.

"Hi, hello, uh, bye?" The greeting, at first, is to one of the medical Doctors who is apparently leaving. "Uh, if you're getting-"

It's OK. Different cliques.

She continues past them, into the observation area, and focuses in on Ava, since Ava is all who apparently is left. "Hi. So... those guys on the way out tell you anything? The memo I got downstairs was kind of brief. What are we dealing with here, exactly?" She approaches the window to get a look herself, while motionining along her assistant with the equipment.

Finley Ellison has posed:
Doctor Harlow barely notices the newcomer as she's on her way out the door, laser-focused on acquiring more caffeine. Doctor Wade stares bleary-eyed into the air in front of him. The cart of equipment doesn't even register, let alone the two people that accompany it. Doctor Campbell, inside with Agent Ellison, does offer a friendly little wave from behind the glass. His colleagues' behavior garners a disparaging little shake of his head and a shrug. 'Sorry,' he mouthes exaggeratedly.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava's green eyes sweep over Darcy, like she's trying to decide if the woman is of any use or not. Finally, she rises, floating through the chair to come to stand properly on the floor. "Alien nanites," she tells her. That's what they're dealing with. "From Hala. I think." She grimaces. "I mean, unless they were imported. In which case, I have no clue."

Her accent is English -- likely London, but not the High Street, by any means. This woman has the air of a scrapper about her. And her focus is apparently all on getting Finley help. "If you can help her..." Ava will bend over backwards to help Darcy in return. No small thing from a woman who has recently been declared the new Protector of the Universe.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy's brow knits. The memo did certainly include the basics of it, 'alien nanites,' although hearing it in person is definitely a bit different. And there are details. Hala. How long ago was it that all these alien words, referring to distant planets, systems, even galaxies would have been gibberish? Now they're almost common office terms. The work they called her up from? Well, it wasn't actually on Kree tech.

It was on gear left by some of their enemies. So, close enough, in her book.

"OK, well, that's a ballpark, anyway. But I'll be very honest, I have no idea if I can help her. This is all pretty new territory, for me personally and us as a species even. Lot of guess work. Lot of experimentation. But, I'll do what I can." It's an honest, up-front kind of offer, setting expectations. Then, having said as much, she turns and approaches the glass, on the side where there's an intercom into the chamber.

"Anything you can tell me, Doctor Campbell?" she asks, touching the button.

Then it's time to put the cart to work! Well, to start going through all the doo-dads and whoosits she's brought up. "So... most of this is actually Shi'ar tech, or well, relates to my study of it. That's been my priority, since the 'incident' with them, helped along by our cooperative defector friend. But they're both galactic-level civilizations, some of the top-dogs of our universe, or at least, our... neighborhood of it. And they hate each other. So I think there might actually be something to go on there, right? You have enemies, you tend to try and mess with their stuff, right?" As she speaks, she's setting up a breadbox-sized contraption on the top level of the cart, making sure one side faces the glass. She holds the (perfectly normal, A/C) power cable up for her technician, who goes to plug it in.

"First step is just to see if we can get readings for exotic radiation. Figure out what kind of power source we're looking at. All tech's about what powers it, at the basic level."

Finley Ellison has posed:
"The nanites have induced her coma while they do whatever they're doing to her body," Doctor Campbell tells Darcy. "They seem to be trying to incorporate into her biology -- we can't be sure." He eyes the helpful Darcy and her cart of devices. "Suit up and we can get started. Unless it'll take readings through...? Of course." He looks a little chagrinned. And then a little concerned. "Should I be in here while you're doing that?"

The exotic particle readings are strange. Not quantum matter radiation, not cosmic matter radiation. Shadow matter radiation.

Ava Starr has posed:
"They have a quantum signature," Ava notes. A beat. "Or... they did. Now they're in her... I can't tell any more." Her voice is flat as she speaks. Factual. Finley would know that only means it's eating her up inside and she's trying to control her more violent tendencies. She wants SHIELD's help. And she doesn't want to be kicked out for making a mess. To an outsider? It's all just-the-facts-ma'am.

She can't keep up with the alien reports, though she tries to. She knows Carol was dealing with the whole Shi'ar mess before they all joined those loons on the Milano to help Phyla with her quest to kill the Mad Titan. Fat lot of good it did any of them. Still... it does mean she pays attention. Aliens no longer seem a fanciful threat to her.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Nothing harmful about my machine, it's all input, not output. But no, the glass isn't going to stop any of the kind of radiation I'm looking for. Neither would your suit." Darcy smirks. "But that just means we're all as screwed out here as you are in there, if that makes you feel any better." She's helping! And while there is a grim reality to this warning, she usefully adds: "But the same logic applies for the cells in our body. Most forms of exotic radiation involve the smaller 'elementary' subatomic particles; they go through us like we're not there, and shouldn't be capable of causing damage in the way that larger emissions, like gamma rays, do."

If she's wrong? Maybe they get super powers!

"Plus, why would you design a power soruce for biologically-targeted nanotechnology that was harmful to that same substrate? Doesn't make much sense from a design perspective. If you wanted to kill the host with lethal radiation, you'd just use the lethal radiation in the first place, not add some weird extra step in the middle." She pauses, and looks thoughtful. "Well, there's probably some edge-cases for the mission profile of the delivery system..."

However! All of this turns out fine. After a few moments, some lights turn on, on the rear panel of the machine, signaling that it has - presumably - finished doing what it is meant to do and got some kind of basic reading. The whole thing is actually pretty crude, in that there's no computerized readout of any kind, just a few different status lights. It may reflect the very basic level of understanding of these unknown energy forms. And while she moves over to verify the box's findings, she looks back at Ava, a bit perplexed. "At a basic level everything does, but I assume you mean that it was unusual in some way? Did you get any readings I could look at? And do you just- uh, see that?"

Back the box. "Well, this is weird. But I guess that's kind of to be expected, right?" The box probably only registers 'weird' stuff! "So... yeah, this is weird. Our theories on dark matter - or it goes by some other names, mirror, shadow - are really just that, theories. But that's basically the only answer for what I'm seeing. Because basically I'm seeing nothing, while seeing something, if that makes sense. It's stuff we only know about because the math tells us. Proof by absence, sort of thing."

Finley Ellison has posed:
Doctor Campbell gives her a dubious thumbs up. "Uh. Let me know if you need anything, then," he says. "Here to help."

Ava Starr has posed:
"I... feel it," Ava admits. "I see it." She shakes her head. Unsurprisingly, the doctor with her strange machines sounds like every high level scientist Ava has ever met -- mad as a hatter and mostly incomprehensible. Then again, she traverses the quantum realm in the blink of an eye and has been torn apart and put back together so many times by the deep, tidal forces of the universe, she can't begin to imagine herself sane.

She reaches up to touch her throat for a moment. Then, she loosens her collar and tugs at a chain around her throat. Eventually, she is able to pull out a fairly sizable wire and crystal pendant. "She made this," she tells Darcy. "It usually reads the energy I'm using. But... maybe it captured something when the swarm went after her?"

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy generously returns Campbell's thumbs up. Her expression is bright and encouraging! Big smile!

"So yeah, I don't think any of us are going to die from radiation. Her dying from the nanites is another question. Because unfortunately, what I just said is about as much as I know about that kind of power, let alone can do with it. I was hoping, if it was something more obvious, we might stop them that way - figure out some quick equivalent to an EMP to zot them all out of commission. But a dark matter particle bomb is a little above my current expertise." Stepping back from the machine, she turns to face Ava again. "That doesn't mean we're out of options. I can study it a bit, and maybe float the topic past Michael. He's a soldier, not a scientist, but turns out a Shi'ar basic education is worth a lot on Earth. Won't help with the theory but maybe he'll know if they have any similar tech."

Then there's a pause, as she reaches up to adjust her thick-rimmed glasses (very hipster chic, for a scientist) to regard the other woman. "Wow yeah... that sounds like a very interesting and handy talent. I'd love to do some-" OK, it's a little ominous she knows, to tell people you want to experiment on them! So: "-work with you in the lab, see what you could see if some samples. Another time, anyway."

Instead, leans to peer at the crystal. "Reads it? And, uh, how does it display what it's reading?" The blinking lights on the back of that box may be simplistic, but to her, this... is a rock!

Finley Ellison has posed:
Doctor Campbell, showing no signs of turning green or passing through walls or disappearing, returns to his patient, hoping the nanites don't decide to jump hosts once they've finished with Agent Ellison. He wasn't nearly so worried about his situation an hour ago. Maybe he should have been. Maybe he needs to rethink his life choices.

Ava Starr has posed:
If Ava had a dime for every scientist who told her they wanted to experiment on her, she'd be richer than Tony Stark. Her back stiffens, until it seems the woman redirects to working *with* her instead of *on* her. Wise choice, doc. Slowly, the assassin lets her body uncoil. "She had some sort of interface that she could plug into her laptop," she admits. God knows, Ava's seen it enough. She even examined it at one point -- since it was helping decipher readings coming from her.

She looks down at her hands and the silver bracers that cover the forearms of her suit. Her eyes narrow and she looks around speculatively. "Uh..." she says softly, then. "You might wanna step back." Actually, Ava steps back. She's never actually done this before. Successfully.

But this is Fin's life, she's dealing with. There is no room for mistakes.

She closes her eyes for a moment. A look of serious concentration beetles her brow, scrunching her eyes. She looks for just a moment like she's getting ready to lift 1000 pound weight. Her hands spread in front of her, palms facing one another with a few inches in between. Slowly, energy begins to bounce and glow between them. Nothing but the glow is visible at first, little microbursts of energy. Slowly, though, atoms turn into molecules that turn into chains, that turn into materials. It's like watching a sand castle being built from single grains of flying sand until, suspended between her hands, a small electronic cradle of sorts appears. When she opens her eyes, the cradle drops into her cupped palms. There's a small USB port on its side, and a space for it to make contact with the coils of wire on the pretty pendant.

Ava looks mildly stunned, truthfully. And faintly apprehensive. She thrusts her hands out toward Darcy, the device between them. "If I didn't screw it up," she tells her, "this should read the crystal. I don't know what software she used to import the data, though."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Making people rethink their life choices is a specialty of Darcy's! Of course, she's made some strange ones. It takes a lot to be so nihilistically blase about various forms of cosmic doom.

"Oh that makes sense," she begins to reply once Ava starts explaining. "So it's basically serving as a form of data storage itself and- oh." She takes requests to step back seriously, and does so, all bravery in the face of exotic radiation aside. However, if asked, she would call it prudence, and not cowardice, and one cannot help but notice that Darcy's expression remains very -curious-, above all else, as she watches this process of spontaneous creation. A light even turns on, on the back of her machine from earlier!

"Wow." She adjusts her glasses again. "So that was... some kind of, what, molecular assembly? Kind of like Star Trek replicators?" Who says fiction can't be an inspiration for real science? Those guys had touch screens way before anyone! "Because hard light projection would read differently. Either way, I /definitely/ need to get you into the lab to help me with a few things, waaaay faster than 3D printing..."

Awe at the process aside, and she really does look quite awed by it, Darcy returns to the matter at hand soon enough. And here, her expertise /does/ shine through. "Oh, don't worry about the software. I'm kind of a computer whiz, too. If it can use USB, the hardware has to be similar enough that I can figure it out. I'll write the drivers from scratch if I've gotta!"

Finley Ellison has posed:
Of course this is the moment Doctor Harlow, practically vibrating with the amount of caffeine imbibed, returns. "Sorry about earlier," she apologizes. "I just couldn't think straight. Best I get back at it, though. Strange stuff, huh?"

She breezes through the waiting room to immerse herself in her readouts. "Wade," they can hear her chastising the man staring off into space. "Oh, come on!"

He startles. "Huh? oh..."

And Doctor Campbell is still attending to his patient, his back to the women in the waiting room. Which means that no one -- other than Darcy -- witnessed Ava's production of a unique device from thin air.

Ava Starr has posed:
Ava gives a bit of an awkward shrug. "Something like that, yeah." Really, she has no idea. She's just hoping it doesn't short out Darcy's laptop. Because she just made a tool she doesn't understand based only on what she knows it looks like and what it *should* be able to do. She's *really* hoping the q-bands can translate that into something real and working.

After all, she flubbed all the glass marbles she tried to make.

The rest of the science team comes back in and Ava glances briefly to them. They, however, are no longer as important to her as Darcy. She gives the astrophysicist a wry smile. "If she were awake, Fin would love you."

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Hey, laptops are cheap when the government is paying for them. If Ava knew all the gear Darcy had bricked in the course of her work for the progress of humanity, there wouldn't be much cause to worry over one more!

As for sleeping beauty's would be opinion? This just causes the physicist to grin. "All the more encouragement to get her up and about, huh?" Finally, she actually accepts the held-out device and turns to set it on her cart of lab goodies. "But really, this is a lot, you've done a big chunk of the work - sorting out how to get it working is just details. And assuming the readings are a bit more complete than boxy's here," and she pats the weird scanner-on-the-cart affectionately, "that should be a good step in putting together some kind of solution. No one has experimentally verified dark matter, but one of the theories behind it is the particle violation of mirror symmetry - that in essence, the particles have to be there, we just can't detect them. And with more complete readings, maybe I can work out what the proper initial image is, to create the right 'reflection', if that makes sense? Kind of work backwards."

It makes sense to her.

As the others return, she looks up from her gear and gives them all a smile. "Patient is all yours, ladies and gents. If you can figure out out to get those things out, by all means, but otherwise, I'm coming back up here with an even bigger toy on my cart."