Session Start: Wed Sep 07 18:47:39 2011 <@Ked> [The Hunt] <@Ked> [Monday, August 6, 2490 - 1815 Snowflake local time] <@Ked> [A traincar rolling north towards Zone 11] <@Ked> Farah's been summoned by Lady Turbulence for The Scan, or something science-y anyway. It took a few minutes to wrangle a short squad of Guard to, uh, guard her on the empty, solo, automated, private traincar rolling up the tracks to the zone with the lab in it. <@Ked> [mini start] <@Ked> Today's drivetone theme appears to be something out of the punk genre. It doesn't match the mood of the Guard at all... * LadyCrystal seems rather unconcerned about the whole scanning thing, one leg crossed over the other and her foot moving to the beat as she lounges. While she hasn't fully realized it yet, her glowing, prismatic hair's somewhat longer now -- down almost to her shoulders, in fact. * Sergeant is female, twentyfiveish, and can't seem to keep herself as paranoid as she thinks she should be, alternating between scanning the fences outside the window and slumping down into a seat. * Corporal looks like he should be in high school with the snowflakes, and is veritably bouncing with excitement. Relax, it's not the end of the world, ma'am. Yet, anyway. Don't call me ma'am, my lady. * LadyCrystal smiles in the Sarge's direction. Far too relaxed about this. "Sorry, force of habit." Thus, she scans her uniform for a nametag. * Corporal has dug out an actual pen and notepad. "My lady, pardon me, but could I get an autograph?" Magics, Jim, don't bug her with silly stuff like that. * LadyCrystal nods, takes the offered goods and signs away. She's actually spent time working on a signature that doesn't match her normal handwriting, so it's deliberately slow. "And done. Really, it's fine. I'd probably be doing the same thing if I were him." It's still kinda rude. You're not some sort of celebrity. Well, not in general, but... I guess to a lotta people, we are in a way. Kinda hard to put it in words. ...c'mon sergeant, she's one of the most famous people in a 200- klick radius. * Sergeant grimaces. "One of my cousins rode gunner on the hovercraft that drove the snowflakes into Zone 12. The sort of person who can face the thing he described, that's not a person who deserves to be bugged for an autograph." * Corporal shrugs. "A Lady can be both - should be, even. But let me know if I'm bothering you, Lady Crystal." It sounds sorta backwards, but I don't wanna exactly be put on a pedestal? It's... well. I'm happy with autographs, but at the same time I don't wanna seem like I'm *too* distant from the people I hafta help protect. It's complex, and I'm still feeling out my boundaries, you know? * LadyCrystal smiles a bit. "Yeah, I'm a Lady, but I'm also a Snowflake, born and bred." * Sergeant raises an eyebrow, but turns to scan the platform as you pull into the Zone 11/12 station. Coool. Like I said, Sergeant, it's complex. And who knows, I could change in a year. Or a month. I only know what I am right now. ... and that's wondering what the hell I'm in for. * Corporal winds up driving the Lady around and down to the lab, using what looks like an up-armored golf cart. I wish they would just put in an elevator. * LadyCrystal shrugs. "It would make sense." <@Ked> There are a few extra cars in the Lab02 underground parking lot than you're used to seeing, including three that match the zippy sedan you rode in past here with Lady Unicorn driving. * LadyTurbulence nods politely as you approach. "You can wait here, Corporal. I can take care of her downstairs." * Corporal salutes. "Yes'm!" * LadyCrystal nods to Turbulence, then salutes jauntily in the direction of the Corporal. "Have a good day, now." * LadyTurbulence frowns at the young Lady. "This probably shouldn't take too long, but if you like we can stop in the lounge for a snack first." Sure, couldn't hurt... and oh, come on with the frowning! * LadyCrystal grins a little. "I gotta put my best face forward for all and sundry, right?" * LadyTurbulence turns before Farah can finish, striding away down the ramp. "Well, we do have a guest you haven't met before." * LadyCrystal raises an eyebrow at the elder Lady's speed, but follows behind her nonetheless. "Oh, the anticipation. Either this is going to be really, really good or I'll need therapy afterwards." Sounds like she's mostly joking. * LadyTurbulence stops at the 3B lounge. "All we really have is lab food - you know, pre-sealed so nothing from downstairs can contaminate it." * LadyTurbulence waves Crystal at a rack of snack food. That's fine, I'm not picky. You can eat while we walk. Don't worry about crumbs - that's what lab assistants are for. * LadyCrystal does root through the rack, taking a few moments to make a selection before she grabs a sweet padleaf bar and unwraps it. "Yes, ma'am." * LadyTurbulence doesn't have much more to say as you walk down the next three floors, though Crystal does catch her looking back at her with a intense, worried expression. * LadyCrystal eats along the way, looking to and fro. She does catch the look, and tries to make her drop in enthusiasm as unseen as possible. <@Ked> The scan lab doors are open when you reach them, and a middle-aged woman is directing a forklift carrying a desk-like mechanism through the opening. ... huh. Lady Crystal, meet one of our colleagues: this is Lady Hammer, who did me a favor and flew in some extra gear for tonight. * LadyHammer has long brown hair, very carefully tied up in a secure bun, framing a delicate but scarred face. * LadyCrystal wolfs the rest of the bar down, crams the wrapper somewhere under her gaudy, gaudy crystal tiara, and bows. "Nice to meetcha finally." Hi, Crystal! * LadyHammer zips the forklift through the doors and sets the desk-thing down with the kneewell facing out towards the center of the room. Instrumentation and modular electronics packages stud its surface. They've been keeping me away from you kids - I thought I'd never get down from orbit to see you. If she asks you to spar, Crystal, just say no. Aw, c'mon, they heal as well as the rest of us, don't they? * LadyCrystal chuckles a little. "Oh, c'mon. You're talking to me, that's like asking a kid to say no to candy, even if it wrecks their teeth." A pause. "... she'd probably wreck mine without the sugar, I imagine." But I'll keep that in mind, Turbulence. * LadyTurbulence shudders and looks away. I don't know what she's complaining about - I've never beaten her. Twelve spars. Three broken legs. Five broken arms. One fractured skull. One broken jaw. ...I've lost track of ribs. If you'd let me keep the hammer, you wouldn't get hurt. Tell that to Princess Nitrogen. Oh. Huh. I see. * LadyCrystal doesn't sound all that deterred. * LadyHammer spits. "Deserved everything she got." ...right. * LadyCrystal rolls her shoulders idly. "Yeah, I imagine I'm here to get pulverized like Swarm?" * LadyTurbulence shakes her head. "Anyway, Farah - we're going to measure you a couple of different ways tonight, try to work the kinks out of my scanner. If you could just hop up on it for a moment? Keep you hands inside the scanning radius, please." Right, right. I heard about that one. No, I'm just here as the delivery girl. * LadyCrystal hops on without much hesitation, doing as told. * LadyTurbulence waves up a console, and pulls out a data element. "Good." Hammer, you too. * LadyHammer shrugs and steps up. Comparison time? Okay, now, the thing that Hammer brought in is one of the backup MICS receiver arrays. Normally these things are used to detect interstellar transmissions, but they do just as good at detecting local fields. ...so if you could, uh, climb into the middle there, under the arch? Will I explode? * LadyCrystal smirks -- looks like she's climbing anyway. Not unless Hammer has secretly replaced the interface capacitors with antimatter. Tuck in your arms... good. Huh. Hammer, you next. * LadyHammer has an easier time - she's short and lithe. ...right. * LadyCrystal makes room, looking towards Turbulence and trying to gauge her reaction. * LadyHammer crawls out. * LadyTurbulence is in full Science mode now, doing complex things to a control interface. "That matches the working theory... now can I get Lady Crystal back on my scanner? You can sit down there if you like, this could take a bit." Alrighty, ma'am. * LadyHammer moves to look over Turbulence's shoulder. "There was a difference, then. Are you going to be able to tune yours?" * LadyCrystal repositions herself, sitting lazily. "Sounds like I'm a winner here..." Maybe? It's a two-dimensional phase space, so we could go right by it if it's small. ...or not. That's pretty obvious, isn't it? * LadyCrystal almost asks about what's going on, but keeps quiet and just listen for now. Farah, there does seem to be something a little different about your magic, and we're adjusting the scanner, which I built tuned to my magic. Where are the Ningyo on that scale? * LadyTurbulence points off to the side. And the whites? I'd have to scale out - they're upstairs a floor or two right now. Oh, yeah. I suppose that makes some sense... But she feels like Earth Magic to you, Hammer? * LadyHammer shrugs. "Yeah, not like a red at all. There's no difference." * LadyTurbulence points at something Farah can't see in the holo. So? It's like, just next door. I don't see the big deal. Hmmm. Oh, Lady Crystal? On an absolute scale, you're scoring like a senior lady tonight. What's your title again? That's... not right. I'm Lady Crystal. Go figure. * LadyCrystal looks a bit more confused now, sitting up fully. * LadyTurbulence sweeps her holo away, and looks at Lady Crystal fretfully. Okay, I'm sensing some bad news. Just be straight with me, Turbulence. You'll live. I think that's a joke, right? * LadyCrystal snerks. "Well, of course I'll live. Or is that the bad news." * LadyTurbulence grimaces, and then gives an Order: "Pick your nose." * LadyCrystal doesn't even quite realize she's picking her nose until she looks down. "Gyeh! Ah, dammit!" Stop, stop. Please. Sorry. * LadyCrystal does so, grimacing a little as she shakes her hand out. "Yech." ... is this about Wildfire? Well, I suppose that'll be good enough. * LadyTurbulence shrugs. "Thanks for coming down, Lady Crystal. Can you find your way back to your ride?" * LadyCrystal seems more bothered by the non-answer than by the nose-picking, rising to her feet with a worried expression. "Yeah, I can." I really want to spar sometime! I'm still on space duty but if you comm me I can make arrangements. * LadyCrystal manages a bit of a smile. "Cool... but... although I know I'm talking to the wrong people here? We would really, really like to be in the know as far as what's going down. It's hard to do the whole heroic deal when we've got a hundred questions dancing in our heads." ... but I imagine it's bigger than we know, huh. * LadyTurbulence sighs. "It's always politics. Things happen, and the people in charge don't like the way they happen, and all of us scurry around to try to convince them it's all right anyway." And even that's saying too much. Don't worry about it. Just keep beating up the monsters, and CALL ME! * LadyCrystal sighs. "It's getting a bit too thick for us, really. And I'd rather we weren't worried about stuff we can't know about... but I kinda get it. If you can put a bug in Football's ear about us, though..." With that, she turns, waves, and starts walking. This hides her deep, deep scowl quite well. <@Ked> [end mini]