Owner	Pose
Ava Starr	The warehouse Ava Starr -- a.k.a. Ava Foster, on the lease -- calls home is a fairly old edifice. It was last active as a legit commercial space probably about twenty-five or thirty years ago, but it was built at the height of the War Years a good 80 or so years ago. However, though the young woman hasn't made any apparent improvments in the place to look at it, an educated eye will see that's simply not true. A lot of the apparent wear and tear outside is purely cosmetic. The property is well secured and well surveilled. Inside, though it still has that worn feel, it has been outfitted to handle a remarkable amount of state-of-the-art technology, including a small fabrication area. Dominating the main space is a fairly large scaffolding for a machine that looks like it could be the beginnings of a Quantum Tunnel machine. It's still a long way from done. The real heart of the place, though, is the second floor loft that was once a collection offices and work rooms that overlooked the main floor. Those old structures have long since been gutted, opening up the space. There's a kitchen at one end, a living room space in the middle, and a couple of screened off sleeping areas along one wall. At the far end, though, is Ava's Quantum Energy Chamber, a glass box that focusses quantum energy and contains a small bed for her to lay on while it does. Not so far from it is some sort of electronics work space Finley has set up. Indeed, the pair have been working on her little energy problem for a while now and have settled in as roommates. It shows. The space, though furnished with thrift store finds, is simple and homey without being extravagant. Less converted loft chic and more safehouse utility. But, still... it works. There are signs that Vance has been playing in the space, now. Perhaps even working with Finley. Indeed, though Ava is loathe to admit it, there are signs that the place is actually becoming a viable lab and workspace. Maybe this odd almost-team she has stumbled into might actually do something useful. Hope, however, isn't an emotion Ava often indulges. She's been let down far too many times. The only problem now is... is these people let her down, she's dead. Literally. Even if no one will be able to find her body, after it's atomized itself from one end of the universe to the other. (Again... literally.) She's trying not to dwell on that fact as she finshes securing the Ghost suit, fastening its collar around her throat. She finds, as uncomfortable as the suit can be, it helps. It buys her more time than the failing QEC seems to. Or, more accurately, it stretches out the gradually decreasing time each charge in the chamber provides. Whatever the case... she wears it more often than not, these days. The only thing she hasn't donned are the gloves and the mask. She doesn't need them, right now. She needs to go pick up some more materials. Or do something to feel like she's helping herself. That's what she needs.
Phyla-Vell	Phyla-Vell has been keeping an eye on the micro expressions of Ava. Her only other example of humanity up until recently was Peter Quill. The warehouse is looked over and absorbed as 'this is what a normal human home looks like' in her mind. The touches of futuristic ideas dotting the workspace where Vance has started to contribute are not lost on her. Space age technology in a pre-warp civilisation stand out.     Her eyes are sympathetic to Ava's plight, the pain is all too real but the cause is still a mystery to her. "I'm going to need to scan you," she says and moves a table out of the way to make space in the lab-like area. Not her whole body like before, only her hands, begin to glow white as she starts to mould the air around her like clay, quantum and cosmic energy form to create real matter out of seemingly nothing. A three sided frame that meets in the middle; purple but metallic looking, she taps one of her gauntlets and a holographic display appears.     She tilts her head a moment, then sweeps back a locke of her white hair out of her eyes. "This shouldn't hurt," she warns that indeed could very well hurt, "But please stand in the center of the triphorge scanner."
Ava Starr	Ava turns as Phyla-Vell begins to speak. There's a cautious look on her face, despite the fact she more or less agreed to all this when she brought the strangers home. Then, the alien woman is forging something out of nothing -- well, not quite nothing, since Ava can sense the quantum energy clearly enough -- and Ava arches a brow as the scanner builds itself in the middle of the floor. "That's a trick," she says drily. When Phyla says the scanning shouldn't hurt, Ava lets out a snirk. Even if it does hurt, she doubts it'll hurt more than she already does. There comes a point when a body just stops feeling pain. Ava isn't there, yet. But... it'll come. She's not even sure it'll worry her when it does. Ultimately, however, she crosses toward the woman and carefully steps into the middle of the odd frame.
Phyla-Vell	Even before Phyla has activated the thing it is doing something. Some kind of quantum resonance to it once within its boundary. She nods her head, "Yes. The Q-Bands allow my to manipulate quantum energy, infused with celestial energy, allows me to make things. In this case I need to understand what's happening to your body. I'm afraid even if your friend sat me down for a while to explain her science it might take me too long to understand."     A small shrug, "I am a soldier, not a scientist. But I do have plenty of friends out there in the stars who might be able to help. If I can first narrow down the problem. Even poor Vance is struggling with the technology on Earth," she motions to the attempts he's making. "If he had access to more advanced technology on, say, Knowhere, or Hala, or Xandar, he could likely help you considerably."     She swipes her hands through the hologram and then flicks it toward the scanner. It bursts to life bombarding Ava's body with subplank ghost particles to determine just what's going on with her.     It's not immediately obvious to her as she looks at the holographic display, but the expression on her face is one of shock that Ava is still alive at all. "What in the nine realms..," is her first vocal response to the scan data. That's never a good sign.
Ava Starr	Ava chuffs briefly at Phyla's comments about Earth tech and Vance's struggle. "He said he wanted something called meta... something. So, yeah. I can tell he's out of his depth." It's odd for her to think that the strangers consider this cutting edge tech to be the equivalent of a bronze age hammer and chisle. Then again, the woman in front of her just made matter out of energy. Nevertheless, the scanner no doubt shows exactly how fierce the battle between entropy and adhesion is within her molecules. On a quantum scale, her cells are like a starfield of galaxies forming and failing only to form again in the span of nanoseconds. Supernovas explode, scattered their energy across the cosmos, only to be rebuilt out of new matter, over and over and over again. All on a sub-molecular scale. It's no wonder she's in constant pain. What's probably surprising is just how well she's adapted to it, all things considered. More surpring still... the fact this primitive pre-warp society had minds smart enough to create the containment suit she wears. It's far from perfect, but still effective -- if only to a small degree.
Phyla-Vell	Phyla cups her chin as she stares at the data. It's beyond fascinating. It's downright revolutionary. A person can live this way? the chain reaction seems to be subtly accelerating. Her eyes go to the stabalisation chamber she's been using and it all starts to make sense.     "I've never seen anything like this before," she begins. "But I can see what's going on. Not that I know how to fix it, but I think I can buy you a lot more time to find the answers you need."     She shakes her head. If she's to figure out where all this energy is coming from and going she'll need far more sophisticated scanners, perhaps the ones on Hala would suffice. It's like Ava lives on the very edge of the quantum realm inside of her, the ebb and flow of energy moving back and forth between multiple realities.     She shuts down the scanner and says. "I'm going to manufacture a small quantum stabalisation field. With practice and time I can make more of it faster. Your entropy is extreme low... that is to say the information in your matter is more unknown than most matter, variables that shouldn't be hidden are displaced elsewhere, possibly in to the quantum realm itself."     "What needs to be done is to add order to the system which will slow it down, give you more time. It's the darnedest thing.. nature abhors chaos, systems tend toward more orderliness over time. Energy levels balance out, the universe becomes dull until a spark of interest sets off a chain reaction and things change. But with you, you are that spark, constantly evolving and changing. Honestly, you could be exactly the kind of thing that might start a whole new realm..."     Far from simply dying, Phyla is beginning to wonder if Ava is more like a ticking time bomb, ready to be the next big bang whether the universe wants it or not.
Ava Starr	Ava hears words coming out of Phyla's mouth. She's pretty sure none of them mean what she thinks they mean. At least, they don't mean what Ava thinks they mean. The most she gets out of it is: 'Wow, this is weird' and 'how are you still alive?' Maybe with a dash of 'I think I can make you a bandaid'. Her foster father once tried to explain quantum mechanics to her. He went into this whole big spiel about entropy and the fact that the universe is always tending towards breaking down from order to chaos... and then back again. In a cycle. He said something to her about her cells and molecules doing that at an accellerated rate because of the influence of excesses of quantum energy in her system, and how that had changed the very basic nature of her physical composition. She worked hard to try to understand that. For a moment, she feels like Phyla is telling her the exact opposite. Then, she realizes the woman is starting from chaos in her theory and moving into order, rather than the reverse perspective her father favoured. Different halves of the same cycle. She chuffs softly again. "What do you mean a whole new realm?" she asks, brow arched quizzically. "I don't need to become a whole new realm. I just need my molecules to stop trying to kill me."
Phyla-Vell	Phyla rubs her hands together and nods her head, "No one needs you to become a whole new realm. That would be extremely bad for this realm." She shuts her eyes and then holds her hands out in front of her, each palm facing the other. Her body begins to glow and a tiny point of light forms hanging in the air between her hands.     Waves of energy pulse back and forth from her hands, wrapping around that tiny point of light, coiling and twisting, and the slowly the point of light begins to glow in size.     Phyla-Vell's face twitches, her eyelids move, she's concentrating hard on this and a bead of sweat trickles down from her hair line across her cheek. Like placing a magnet near sensitive electronics, Phyla is building up some kind of quantum device right next to Ava.     An injector-gun like form wraps around that growing ball of light and forms in to physical matter. She catches it in her left hand and opens her eyes.     Wiping her brow, she looks down at the injector-gun she's made and then back to Ava. "This is it, the moment of truth. As far as I'm aware, this has never been done before." She presses her lips together, "It could kill you.. but you believe your death is imminent, so it's now or never." Phyla-Vell is used to doing things fatalistic, but she recognises that that is her brand of life and not for most people. It's one of the reasons Peter and Phyla got along all those years ago.
Ava Starr	Ava eyes the woman as she creates a tiny star, for all intents and purposes, between her hands... and then wraps it in a device. Her brow arches and an eye narrows. "So, you're telling me... it's kill or cure." A beat. A dry snirk. "Sort of." Not so much cure. More... bandaid. She studies the woman for a moment and weighs the odds. Phyla says she's not a scientist, but she must have some understanding of it all in order to create these strange pieces of technology out of nothing. Or is it that the bands are doing the heavy lifting? Vance said they were crazy advanced. Or, at least, he implied it. There's no way for Ava to know, short of peppering the woman with questions. She considers it for just a moment, until a strong spasm of pain runs down her spine and reminds her just how little time she's got left. Her eyes close against the pain, though she makes no sound to indicate just how much it hurts. Instead, she inhales a deep breath and, opening her eyes, nods her assent to the alien. "Do it."
Phyla-Vell	Phyla-Vell shakes her head and corrects her, "Not a cure. Just more time. Your state is runaway, to stop it we're going to need to get far more detailed scans, multidimensional ones, possibly on Hala. There's a scientist there named Yv-Kar who might have the answers you're looking for."     She studies Ava for a moment. The stubbornness it must take to live with this condition and the bravery (or perhaps desperation) to accept the help of an alien she only just met. Phyla nods to her when consent is given and he steps up.     "Brace yourself," she says and places one hand on Ava's shoulder, the other brings the gun to her neck and rests there for the barest of moments before she pulls the trigger.     The complex quantum lattice enters Ava's body and immediately begins to unfold, like quantum scaffolding it maps across her entire body. That is the most painful and invasive part - the second, the release of all the energy she put in to it? not nearly as painful. Quite the opposite, as it calms the raging storm inside of her. Like her QEC treatments but on steroids.
Ava Starr	Ava closes her eyes tightly again as Phyla depresses the trigger on that gun. The fact she's trusting an alien who conjures things out of nothing really is a testament to just how desperate she is. She understands this isn't a cure, and that it may kill her, but she'll risk it for the extra time... if it works. She doubts she'll make it to Hala or Knowhere or Xandar -- whatever those places are. (Well, okay. She's pretty sure she'll make it Nowhere... but that's just a misunderstanding.) And she doubts she'll ever meet Yv-Kar. The woman standing before her aside, Ava has no reason to think she'll ever even see the inside of the Peak, nevermind some place halfway across the galaxy. All those thoughts, however, are pushed aside as the injection forces the quantum matrix into her body. For the first time, she reacts visibly *and* audibly to the pain, a gasp followed by a deep groan through clenched teeth escaping her. Her body stiffens, fists balling, and her lips pull back from her teeth in a snarl... that slowly fades as the energy washes through her and starts to ease the agony back to a more tolerable level. Her groan becomes a slow, shuddering sigh, and it's only as the pain continues to recede below the level she's learned to consider 'normal' that she realizes just how bad it really has gotten. The fact that in moments she feels like she's had a full eight, maybe twelve hours in her chamber... and that it continues to recede further -- back to levels she can hardly recall, levels reminsicent of her adolescence -- is a greater relief than she has words to say. She ends up slouched forward, hands resting on her knees, panting softly, not because of physical exertion, but because of physical relief. She can feel muscles unwinding and nerves slowly relaxing. Fire cools and though the burn is still there underneath everthing, it's so comparatively quieted it might as well be gone. "...oh my god." Ava's voice is barely a whisper. She looks up at Phyla, staring at her incredulously for a moment. Her dark eyes are glassy, filling with unshed tears of relief, gratitude, and... possibly... the first hint of real hope she's felt in years. "Thank you."
Phyla-Vell	Phyla-Vell can't help but wince as the pain rips through Ava. She's experienced this kind of medical delivery before. Before she became Quasar, The Protector of the Universe. Her eyes look over her searchingly.. but she's still breathing, still moving. Her eyes leaking just like Quill's do.     She takes a knee next to Ava and smiles, "You're welcome. I don't know how to calculate how long this will last. Perhaps your friend Fin will be able to do it. But I'd like to propose we move your equipment and personal belongs and persons on to the Milano. It's not my ship, we will have to talk to the captain, but he's Human and he owes me. There's a very low probability you'll find a cure on this planet - as smart as your scientists and doctors and engineers are, they just don't have enough experience with this kind of thing."     "Also, worst case scenario, you get to see alien planets before returning home." She pauses, "Though I have to warn you, we're planning a rescue mission against one of the most feared warlords in the galaxy. His name is Thanos. He and I have a long history. He's been hiding his fleet for some time now and we're not sure why - but we've recently learned thanks to defection in his ranks that he's gathering up some of the most powerful weapons in the universe for his war."     She tilts her head, "I aim to stop him. I'm not asking you to help, just warning you that you might be in harms way. Also, the Guardians of the Galaxy have a bit of a reputation for sticky fingers and have made a lot of enemies. But the crew is loyal if you treat them right. So loyal they're willing to risk everything for one of their own.. hence the rescue mission. Hel, even why I'm on board with them right now. You, Fin, Vance, you should all come. Vance doesn't belong here - not with everything he knows about the future of this planet."
Ava Starr	Ava slowly straightens as Phyla speaks, though she ends up ultimately sinking down to sit on the floor, her back against the scanner frame. "I can't speak for Fin or Vance," she says, her breathing easing with each passing moment. "But I owe you a date with Captain Marvel, if I can find her. And if you can take me to someone who can fix this permanently, I'll take on God himself, if I have to." It's not the fervent devotion of hero worship in her tone, though there's still relief there, to be sure. It's more the practicality of understanding there's nothing of value she has to trade for the service Phyla offers other than her skills as an assassin and agent. "Give me a good enough scope, a gun, and a decent blind, and he'll never see what hit him." The description of the Guardians actually brings a wry smile to her lips. She almost laughs out loud. Half her life has been spent with thieves... and enemies. She doesn't say it. Chances are her last statement is a broad enough hint there's more to her than a weird suit and energy flux problem. "You call your friends and tell them to expect company. I'll call the Avengers mansion and make the Captain an offer she can't refuse."
Phyla-Vell	Phyla smiles and takes a seat next to Ava. She flicks the cloak out as she settles and says, "You do. I need to find her. To help with Thanos." She tilts her head, "There's something special about this planet isn't there. The guardians all said there was more to this rock than meets the eye and the moment I land, I meet you. Why my mother would move here has always been a mystery to me. If this Captain Marvel isn't my mother, may be she knows where she is."     She just let slip she's actually looking for her mother who ran away to hide on the 3rd rock from Sol on the arse end of a galactic arm for aid fighting one of the worst warlords the galaxy has ever known.     She nods her head, "We have a deal. I'm sure the Guardians will be happy to have someone watching their six from time to time - though you might have to upgrade your weaponry." She's seen enough in her short stay here to know this planet is only just starting to dip its toes in to energy based weapons.     She hops up and offers Ava a hand up too. "Good hunting Ava. I will keep my heart open to good news about Captain Marvel."