[open] she blinded me with science

[sciencelizard]

Who: Anyone interested in using or exploring Hadriel's Lab!
What: A lab mingle! Get involved in a new project, meet others using the space, or just blow something up. Dealer's choice.
Where: The lab
When: Early November (Nov 10th-15th), as new arrivals come in
Warnings: Should be clean!

Hadriel's lab sits among the shops near the Coliseum, home to the science-minded types of Hadriel. The door's open as long as there's a researcher inside, and the workspace has opened to have a few different workstations, along with a main desk housing a large supercomputer. There's a bunch of raw scrap metal from the last year of raiding decrepit buildings, along with tools for welding and soldering electric components, if you have them. People can feel free to poke around, work on something, or simply curiously stop by!

Feel free to make a top-level for your character, and tag around!

Comments

alphys | ota

[sciencelizard]

[Alphys can be found at the lab most days, now effectively it's de-facto organizer; she can be found pouring through piles of notes, typing away at the supercomputer, or even poking around with scrap metal. Most of the time nowadays though she's sitting with a cup of coffee, face flat down on the nearest surface, and just yelling a little.

She could use the distraction, honestly, if someone wanted to chat.]

hanako 'rosalina' nurumi 🌹 ota

[hasitsthorns]

[ Scattered around the lab, there can be found some notes:



They're usually motivational quotes, sometimes stupid jokes- But they're all meant to be uplifting and add a litle cheer. Feel free to contribute your own or ask the culprit - scribbling away at a new one - what the fuck is up with this. ]

[completelycrazy]

[Meanwhile, Newt is running around making edits.]

[hasitsthorns]

[ She doesn't notice at first. It actually takes a few moments; it's not until she finishes scribbling on another one and is about to place it that she catches the unfamiliar writing. Reads it. ]

WHAT KIND OF ASSHOLE DID THIS?

[ She knows exactly what kind of asshole, honestly, and is looking right at him. S T A R I N G a hole into his soul. (The best part? She's not actually mad, she actually thinks it's pretty funny. But she wants to see how long she can keep it up.) ]

[completelycrazy]

[Wow, that reaction's a little much. Newt scoffs, rolling his eyes as he reclines in his chair.]

Chill, would you? You're the one cluttering up the lab with your dumb little notes.

[He, unfortunately, is kind of annoyed. Maybe it would've been less annoying sans the freak out? Eh, whatever. Still annoying!!!]

[hasitsthorns]

[ It stings, a little. Not what he says, but that- She remembers her and Newt's back and forth in the lab. The way she'd pretend to be upset and he'd just come back with something even more ridiculous to make her drop the front and laugh. The way that Haven had helped them understand one another, even for as emotionally inept as Newt could be.

She needs to stop thinking this one is the same and placing those expectations on him. For the both of them, she can't. ]

Excuse you, [ she continues, holding up her head and practically looking down her nose at him. ] Who put you in charge, anyway? I'm going to clutter it up with even more dumb little notes now in spite.

[completelycrazy]

[Oh, good, his favorite reaction. He reclines in his chair, folding his arms.]

Well, unlike you, I actually have a reason to be in the lab. I'm working. And you're here to, what, take up space?

[He rolls his eyes, waving her off and swiveling back to his notes. There's a blank book from the library off to the side, most of the pages having been ripped out and are now scattered on the table in front of him. They're mostly sketches and coffee stains with a few lines of chicken scratch in between.]

Stay if you want, but this is a workspace. [He says, hypocritically.]

[completelycrazy]

[Newt, likewise, has been basically living in the lab seeing as he has yet to find a house because why bother when you can just crash anywhere?? Anarchy cave is great.

Anyway, he, uh, has some concerns about Alphys here. He slides over in a rolly chair and just kind of listens to her wail for a sec.]

Hey, pal. [He prods at her shoulder with two fingers and takes a sip of his own mug of coffee.] What's, uh, whatcha doing there?

[sciencelizard]

[Newt please the lab has a couch and a kitchenette. Get a bed. She loves you please find a bed.

Regardless, she stops making that noise when he touches her at least, rolling her head heavily sideways towards him, glasses askew.]

Dying. Slowly. W-Waiting for my brain to decide it's done with this and just leave my whole head.

[She pulls herself upwards, a sheet of paper sticking to her face for a second until she pulls it off and lays it back down with the others.]

Sorry if I was, uh. Bothering you.

[completelycrazy]

[But this is?? so much more convenient??? Also if he had his own place, he'd have to clean up after himself and cook and no one wants that, least of all him.]

Hate to break it to you, Alph, but your brain's good and stuck in there. You're gonna have to deal with that some other way, sorry to say.

[He claps a hand on her back. Buck up!!]

You're fine, though. You want some coffee? I think there's still some left in the pot.

[He swishes his mug at her, and then picks up the paper she's just peeled off of her face.] What're you working on?

[sciencelizard]

[Newt you better be at least cleaning your dishes, she's a lazy disaster but even she has limits.

She sighs a bit, leaning forward and propping her head up with her elbow.]

I used to uhm, have a colleague here who was studying the D-Door with me. Except she was a quantum physicist and time traveller. I think she was getting really close to a, uhm, breakthrough when she disappeared. So now I'm trying to make sense of what she left behind.

[Her face slides further down on her hand, mashing up the skin in her cheek.]

Except I'm not a physicist and all the p-people I usually ask for these types of questions aren't here. So I'm dying.

[completelycrazy]

[No can do, Alphys. He has important sciencing to do? Dishes are for like whoever cleans stuff in the cafeteria at the Shatterdome, honestly. Like the cooks or something? He doesn't know. Food just happens magically.]

Quantum physicist and time traveler, huh? [He nods like this is the most normal thing ever. He's learned, having been in Hadriel for a little while now, just to roll with those weird-ass punches.]

Physics isn't really my thing, but I'll take a look for you. I've had to listen to Hermann babbling about his "theories" and crap for years. That stuff gets stuck in your brain, y'know? [And maybe she does, since she apparently knew him, too. Newt grabs for the rest of the papers.]

What questions you got? [He claps a hand on her back. Chin up, pal. Newt's on the case!!]

[sciencelizard]

[Newt P L E A S E. This is the metric opposite of working with Marian. They will enable each other's trashpile nature.

Regardless, she offers him a little smile, before reaching back to the table and spreading the notes out of the pages that are in front of her.]

So, f-from what we know about the Door, it's open-- seconds, maybe not even that, only once a month. I surmised that it made it's selections of who or what was coming through magically, a-allowing similtaneous movement based on area of effect. But she was working on a speed theorem that might've been able to answer how it accessed those particular worlds, or points in spacetime. If we could... do that, simply, we would have the location's of people's worlds. Then we could work on reversing it.

[She groans again, sweeping her hand over the papers, careful not to jostle any.]

Except it's quantum travel theory and I know n-nothing about that. Especially not without her machine that crunched this data. I don't even know how she got half these numbers!

15th

[survivorsguilt]

[Ellie has been meaning to pay her a visit ever since Malkus mentioned she's a scientist. The uh, the lab coat makes more sense now. It's not hard to sneak inside, and she's absently worried about Alphys' lack of security.]

Alphys...? You in here?

[sciencelizard]

[To her credit, Alphys has at least put boards on broken windows, and the doors do have locks. But they're rarely locked during the day, and there's a lot of entrances to this place that she just doesn't think to fortify. As of now, she's sitting behind a desk at the front of the room, papers spread, lukewarm coffee resting just within her reach.

She snaps her head up when Ellie speaks, giving a little smile. It's so good to see her up and running. To just... be alive.]

H-Hey! Yeah, uh, over here.

[Alphys gives a little wave from the front.]

It's good to see you.

[survivorsguilt]

Yeah, you too.

[Alphys has such a gentle, friendly presence. It always makes Ellie feel at ease. She waves back, and wanders over to flop down on her butt on the floor beside Alphys' chair.]

You busy? I can come back if you're working on something. Or I could wait a bit.

[sciencelizard]

[She pushes her chair back from the desk a bit, spinning a little with her little legs kicking.]

No, uh, it's f-fine. I've been going over this stuff for, like, ever, so it's probably better I put it down for a while.

[She clasps her hands in her lap, smiling.]

What's up?

[survivorsguilt]

[what the fuck cute]

Nice! Perfect timing, then.

[She grins back toothily and with a touch of nerves, overcompensating because she knows the following conversation likely won't be pleasant for either of them.]

Sooooo... I didn't know you were a scientist until Malkus told me. And I kinda wanted to ask you about something. But if I say what it is and you don't wanna know about it at all- or, I mean, if you think it's gross, that's fine-

[She trails off, and scratches at the back of her neck awkwardly. Off to a great start, Ellie.]

[sciencelizard]

[Truthfully, she's pretty nervous about what Ellie is about to say. Not really because she knows what's coming, but the opposite- she has NO idea what Ellie is about to say. And when someone strolls in and says "I need to talk to you" out of somewhere to someone who's an anxious mess, all she can think of are worst case scenarios, all of them involving her personal incompetence. She swallows, trying to push them from her mind, and nods in a way she thinks might look emcouraging.]

It's fine! I'm, uh, really used to gross stuff. What's, uh... what's the thing?

backdated to nov. 12 i have no shame

[barold]

[Angus had mentioned a lab. Seeing as just about everyone discouraged him from going to the library first, this seems like the most logical place to start. If he is to figure out this Door, what it's made of, the internal rules it follows, the criteria that governs who gets picked when from where, he needs equipment. A laboratory seems like his best bet.

It takes some fiddling with the map on this phone he's still not entirely used to, and a lot of wandering around before he finally finds the building. He hasn't felt like getting this close to the Coliseum since he arrived. The lab looks safe though, and the area is quiet, so he sucks it up and pokes his head in through the door.

It's high-tech. Of course, anything seems high-tech after a decade of working in a literal gerblin cave. Where to even start...

After a few minutes of shyly looking around, he catches sight of what appears to be a young dragonborn woman with her head on a table. Her coloration isn't one he recognizes. She's too pale to be of golden draconic ancestry... Maybe not dragonborn, then. She is, however, the only other person around. Barry has no choice but to take a deep breath and approach her.]

... E-Excuse me, ma'am? Are you in charge here?

GOOD, YOU SHOULDN'T

[sciencelizard]

[Alphys had been... well, relaxing was not the right word. She wasn't yelling anymore, but there were still no answers and her head was pounding- whether that was the material, the light, or the combo of how much coffee and how little sleep had already ensued in the last 24 hours was anyone's guess. But she was fervently lost in thought, trying to parse a particularly annoying section, when she finally hears another voice.

Alphys whips her head up, glasses askew from the motion, and a few of the papers in front of her flutter as she moves. Oh shit, when did he come in?? Isn't she supposed to be on some sort of hit list??? And she just-- does this, oh my god. She scrambles to keep all the paper on the desk, adjusting her glasses to actually look at Barry.]

Uh, yes! I mean, sort of. It's a c-communal lab but I guess, uhm, it's mine?? Technically?

[Wonderful first start, there.]

[barold]

[It's like seeing himself in a small, yellow lizard woman. It's almost a little uncanny.

Seeing the fluttering papers, Barry is quick to approach and help her catch them all, scooping up the loose-leaf on the far end of the table and handing them all to her. Without peeking, of course. Scientific integrity, confidentiality, all that.]

A-Alright, okay. Excellent. Communal, you said? [He clears his throat.] I, uh. I was wonderin' if I could have a look around for some equipment. If y'got any oscilloscopes lyin' around, or EMF probes, anythin' t'measure electromagnetic fields.

[Like any old civilian could just blunder in and borrow complicated measurement tools on a whim. Barry adjusts his glasses and hurries to add:] If-- If there's any protocol t'lending out equipment, any required forms or payment or work hours I gotta log, of course I'll do that. I'm good for'em.

[sciencelizard]

[Alphys has met many, many other scientists in this place, but Barry is probably the closest to her that’s ever come through here. Cute glasses, bit of a stutter, it all checks out. At least it doesn’t seem like he’s here to immediately stab her, so maybe she’s gonna get away with this one without being murdered by some robot emissaries.]

Well, uh... we’re n-not really that well stocked. This wasn’t, uhm, really a place that was left from the original city? A friend of mine built it, a-about a year ago, but everything we have pretty much has to be built.

[She does look remorseful at that; she’s got some tools, but so many of hers are made for magical frequencies, not electromagnetic.]

It’s also, uhm, really hard to track e-electromagnetic fields, seeing as the whole place moves every two months.

[barold]

Really? [That's... honestly incredibly impressive to Barry. As someone who's had to steal and scavenge and improvise laboratory equipment for a decade or so, having such a high-tech lab crafted by hand in just a year's time is astonishing. And sure, now that he's looking around, actually studying the environment, he can see the seams of the place, the lacking stock. Expecting that kind of sophisticated equipment might have been premature of him. But it's still impressive.] I never woulda guessed, tell ya the truth, ma'am. It looks great.

... Wait, the city moves?

[That's news to him. No one at the house had told him that - either they don't know, or they just didn't remember to. There's apparently a lot to keep track of around here. Barry nods slowly, running a hand through his receding hair.] It moves, okay... D'you know why it moves? How far? Why only every two months?

[sciencelizard]

Oh, gosh, s-so you're really new, uhm...

[Okay, this is gonna take more explaining than she thought. She shifts a bit in her chair so she can rest her hands on the tabletop, linking her fingers together in front of her chest.]

So... the gods who run the city. They're hiding. There's this enemy, uhm, known as the Null-- they're robots, mostly, and they're hunting the gods down, trying to kill them. They don't, uh... seem to c-care so much if we're in the way or not. So Fear, uhm, has the power to move the city. I guess it's every two months because that's when he has enough power, or something. He messed up once, and the whole place split in half. I think that was... last spring, a-around the end of it. They found us then. It's when most of us found out the Null were, uh, real.

[She unlinks her hands, rubbing one on the back of her neck.]

Sorry, it's-- it's kind of harrowing, but there's not a lot we can do about it. They've been trying to contact us on the network, turn against the Gods, but I've just been t-trying to keep my head down? But it, uhm... hasn't been working very well.

[Not with, y'know, getting publically blacklisted and her head put up on a platter, basically.]

Anyway, it makes it really, uh, really hard to track anything outside of the city. Or figure out where we are, because well, that's not. Really a fixed p-place.