[closed] dumb science

[completelycrazy]

Who: Newton Geiszler, Alphys, Shigeru Miyata, Michael Munroe, Cashmere, Scott Ryder, George Lass, Steak, Lee Rosen, Cecily Trevelyan, Sora, Red Wine, Riku
What: Time to attempt to catch a nautilus!!!!! This is a catch-all mingle for The Plan
Where: The lab & around town
When: Throughout the month of Feb (this plan has Phases, all good plans have Phases)
Warnings: N/A but will update as necessary; everyone cw your threads accordingly please

Comments

steak / ota

[battlebound]

— introductions;
( HEY SCIENTISTS AND NOT-SCIENTISTS, WHAT THE FUCK IS UP.

... Okay, maybe that isn't quite the volume of Steak's entrance, but rather, lowly muttered comments at the man next to him. Whether they're disagreeing on things or simply... chatting? is honestly debatable, but coming into the laboratory and seeing everyone assembled, Steak quickly straightens up and clears his throat. )

Ah... Hello there. ( He doesn't recognise many people here, but that's hardly surprising given how new he still is. It hardly matters. Everyone is here for the same reason, at the end of the day. ) Who's in charge here?

( And what are the others doing? )

— cage building;
( The members of this plan will quickly learn one thing: Red Wine and Steak can argue about anything. Did Steak breathe too loudly? Or did Red Wine push past Steak while picking up tools?

And today, like every other day ending in... Well, nothing because Hadriel doesn't have a functioning calendar system, Steak and Red Wine are arguing again. The sounds of yelling echo throughout the laboratory, Steak's hand turning white as it curls around the piece of steel in his hand. )

YOU BASTARD!

( With the way Steak's face is turning red, you'd think this was a real, harsh blowout. But most likely, it's that Red Wine called their order of Knights mercenaries again.

Which they are not.

Steak turns on his heel, resisting the urge to dive his fellow knight and instead begins to turn back to the parts of the cage he's working on. And, left relatively unaware of anything that isn't how annoying his partner is, he doesn't quite notice the person standing next to him until it's too late. )

Ghk!

( Well. That's... dignified. )

D-did you need something?

— wildcard;
( Hit me with anything! Steak is here to build things and fight a Nautilus! He owes them for that chunk they took out of his side (: If you wanna chat about anything, hit me on isanghae#8071 or forethought. )

intros

[completelycrazy]

[Let's pretend that everyone goes quiet and dramatically looks at Newt because this was his dumb idea in the first place. "In charge" is... subjective.]

Uh, that'd be me. Can I help you?

[It's said with the air of someone who was handed the keys to the kingdom because he's been asking for them for centuries but now he doesn't know what to do with his reign???]

intro

[toiletseat_girl]

[she sizes up the new guy. wasn't he one of the ones attacked by the nautilus creatures in the first place? she's pretty sure he was.

cool. whatever, means he knows something of what they're dealing with here. she should probably not actively try to piss him off, right?

right.

if he looks at her and pays attention, he'll see that she's just wearing a sweater with a pair of skinny jeans and ratty black Converse. so, not at all dressed for the weather, but not seeming to show any signs of ill effect to it, either.

she tosses her hair and answers his question]

That would not be me. I'm the bait.

cage building

[closerift]

[ Steak nearly runs into her, actually, but Cecily just scoffs and quirks a brow. ]

Just a cage built, I s'pose. [ Though she's pointedly not doing any of the cage building herself. ] Unless you're here for the other part of things, like I am. I am woefully out of practice making traps.

[ She'd once been so good at it, too! Varric had taught her artificing well. ]

You all right? [ She asks after a pause, noting the redness in his face. ]

cage building

[meteorcrash]

[ This isn't much like building the rafts and wooden toys from his childhood on Destiny Islands. This felt much more intensive and important, with more sharp ends; Riku wants to give this project the focus it needs, especially around a set of stranger.

But Riku hadn't expected the antics from Steak and Wine. He's a little taken aback by the yelling, but there's something about these two that tells him this fighting has gone on for longer than he thinks. It breaks the tension a little.

Riku is that unfortunate person standing beside Steak, still holding the part that he was fixing against the base of the cage. He stares back-and-forth at the two before focusing on Steak, snapped out of it once Steak looks back at him. He shakes his head. ]

No, I'm fine. ...You okay?

cage building!

[sciencelizard]

[Look, Alphys is just out here doing her ding dang best at this circus we're calling a project. It's bad enough she agreed to do something ridiculous to help Newt, and now people are losing it and she was maybe supposed to keep this project on the rails somehow? Everything is a mess. All of it's a mess. Alphys is just trying to keep her head down and outta the goddamn way as they have it out, but now she's been Noticed and what if she just died.

Alphys gives him a smile, but it's obviously strained and plenty nervous.]

Uh! No! N-Not really just tryingtohelp--

[She kind of looks like she might choke.]

Newton Geiszler | ota

[completelycrazy]

if you need an excuse to get involved...

[Newt is Up To Something, this much is evident by the state of the lab when you walk in. It's like his personal collection exploded—cages of various sizes, all made of Null scrap and wood, are scattered around the workstations, as well as whatever other random scrap materials Newt could get his hands on. He's even dragged his little cart in here, nudging some desks out of the way in the process.

He's sitting on top of a table when you come in, a little jittery (from too much caffeine or too little sleep? it's anyone's guess) and scribbling something in a notebook. He does hear you enter, though, and he looks up. Maybe you're one of his beloved and definitely not taken for granted interns or maybe he's never seen you before. Either way, his question is the same:]

Wanna help me catch a nautilus?


building

[The blueprints have been drawn up, the team is assembled, the plan is (mostly) decided... All that's left is construction and then actually carrying out the plan. And probably tweaking the blueprints and plan like seven more times. And picking up more helping hands. And... Okay, so there's a lot left to do. One might even say they're just getting started.

It reminds him a bit of PPDC in its heyday, when he had a team of scientists working for him, assisting in his research. It's a good feeling. He thrives on his own and tends to be a bit of a control freak, but it is nice to have other hands and heads invested in his cause. To his surprise, his ragtag band of helpers has been exceeding expectations, as an added bonus. He didn't expect much honestly—it's not like he's got a wide selection of impressive resumes to choose from—but even with Hadriel's slim pickings, he's confident in his team. He kind of has to be.

...But he's still going to shoo you away when you pop over to his desk to see what he's up to.]

Nope, go focus on the actual construction. You should have plenty of scrap to get the base structure down.

[And he's working on getting more, by the looks of it. One of his larger portable cages is partially disassembled on his dissection table, the components dismantled and sorted accordingly. Sometimes you gotta cannibalize what you love to get other, cooler stuff done.]


wildcard

[come at newt with whatever or hmu at mippins or on disco at mippins#8461! esp for the actual hunting part, though i'll prob put up another starter under this once we hear back from the mods.]

first option!

[toiletseat_girl]

[the Lab looks like Hurricane Newt hit it with a vengeance and she's left sort of. staring. at the mass of shit surrounding her. what the fuck? no, seriously Newt, what the fuck?

and he's sitting on a table. sitting on a table. something has clearly gone awry in that big brain of his and she's morbidly curious to find out what it is. it's like some of her gorier deaths when she was a Reaper, she thought that scene from "Fargo" was impossible and no one could actually go through a wood chipper.

turns out she was wrong.

so when he opens his mouth and speaks, she's both surprised and not surprised at all.

she takes a moment to consider.

and another moment.

and another.

...fuck it. why not?]

Okay, sure. Sign me up, Fearless Leader.

wildcard

[64th]

[ Cashmere approaches Newt while he's at his desk, deeply engrossed in his project. she's kind of though he was sort of maybe kidding with this whole catch a nautilus thing, or at least was pretty positive that someone would have talked him out of anything truly crazy. this is apparently one of the rare times that she is wrong about something. ]

Hey.

[ she's hung around the lab enough that she doesn't wait for him to stop working (then she might never get a word in), figuring that he's listening even if he might not look like he is. ]

You're serious about going to catch one of these things?

building

[meteorcrash]

( ooc: let me know if this is okay or needs tweaking! )

[ Riku's been here since the construction began. Sora had been the one to relay it to him initially, and with that, Riku had decided to come along. Still, the explanation about it had been bare bones. Riku still had questions, and he figured he would find the answers once they actually execute the plan.

After arriving, Riku could easily discern one person in particular who seemed to be the conductor of the project. They weren't exactly what he was expecting. (Are those tattoos? All up his arms?) And maybe labs can't be all prim and pristine, but he wasn't expecting the state of this place either.

For the first half hour or so of the construction, Riku will focus on his task. Newt may or may not notice that this is someone who came in secondhand, without having met him at all first. After helping to secure a few things onto the cage, Riku decides to make good on actually meeting this person. He walks up to Newt, taking a moment to watch him pick apart the portable cage at the table. He's seconds from speaking before he's immediately shooed away. wow!!

He raises up a hand in front of him in defense. ] I just have a few questions. I sort of came here following a friend. You're the person who came up with this, right?

building times

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael frowns.]

I don't exactly know anything about construction, but okay.

[He doesn't go, though.]

I was going to ask what you're doing with all your, uh, animals. While all this is going on.

First pls.

[drabsolutelynot]

[Rosen had come into the lab out of sheer curiosity. He's not been inside yet, or at least he hasn't to his own recollection. If the previous Rosens had well...it's not of much use to him.

But he pauses in his unsolicited unguided and likely unhelpful tour of the place when he's abruptly addressed with an unexpected question. He turns on a dime to look in the person's direction, a dark grey brow furrowed deeply and his expression akin somewhat to someone trying to make sense of finding a dead bird in their lunchbox, but says nothing for a long time. Instead he just takes his time looking this person over.

Interesting.

After an awkwardly long while he gives a businesslike nod]

Yes.

building

[crownnecklace]

[Like. Okay, yeah, sure, but at the same time Sora's just giving Newt a curious look as his eyes shift between Newt and the dissection table.]

Wouldn't it be faster if you had more than one person taking apart your other stuff if that's what you're working on?

scott ryder | ota

[casualryder]

what's the worst that can happen

[It doesn't take a lot to get Scott on board, especially once he's aware that there's no plan to hurt the Nautilus and just capture them. He doesn't feel right but he keeps telling himself to suck it up, then he realizes he sounds like his dad and that honestly gives him another worry to focus on for the time being, so it works out.

Once everyone is gathered and it seems like a plan is in place there isn't much to be said or done. They certainly have an interesting group here; diverse, odd, ragtag, but that's a familiar feeling, so there's a comfort in it.

He clasps his armored hands together.]

Right, well, what could possibly go wrong?

construction

[Just because Scott was feeling weird and iffy about this whole thing didn't mean he wasn't going to give it his best efforts to help. He decided to himself that while he would rather not kidnap one of these creatures they barely know anything about on the off(?) chance that this was a big misunderstanding and they don't actually want them all dead (let him be optimistic) he also came to the conclusion that it was likely the best way to get answers. They did have a few people get attacked and killed, after all. Necessary. It's necessary.

Either way, those troubling thoughts somewhat out of the way, Scott is focusing a lot of his efforts right now into helping with construction of these cages. He'll most likely be using his biotics to hold up large pieces in place while you or anyone affixes them to where ever, or just moving around large pieces in general. His body bathes in a light blue glow as he does so, though sometimes he needs a break. This is a lot more of a strain than it looks, okay?]

Hope these things are going to be sturdy enough.

wildcard

[feel free to hit Scott up during any phase of the plan. I just went with what I could come up with prompts for, honestly! He'll be all around helping where he can. Contact me at nicknacked or my discord at Nicknack #8988 if you want to plot/have any questions!]

Option 1!

[toiletseat_girl]

[George honestly has no idea how Newt threw this plan or this group of people together. the only ones she actually knows are Newt and Alphys. everyone else is like a friend of a friend of a friend or she'd know 'em if she saw 'em. "oh yeah, that guy!"

and she fucking blows at being social.

but. whatever.

she can't resist a question like that. don't ask her to]

Should I begin or end with "everything?"

construction

[completelycrazy]

Me too.

[Is that uncertainty? From Newt??????? The sky is falling, the apocalypse is nigh, etc. etc.

Newt has been largely playing overseer while the others are in the lab. He's hands-on when he's alone, but it's better for everyone if he just coordinates while he's got company. They'll get better work done if he's not nitpicking their every move, which he himself is willing to admit. Besides, he's done plenty of heavy lifting through drafting up blueprints and dismantling his other cages to provide more parts. It's not like he's slacking off.

Even if that looks like what he's doing now. He's leaning against one of the empty workstations that's been temporarily shoved out of the way to make space for building, and has been for a while. He's sipping on the dregs of Hadriel's nearest approximation to a Rockstar.]

But I don't see a way to reinforce these beyond what we're already doing. We don't have the materials for anything stronger, and we still need the things to be, like, portable.

first option!

[aroundthecoroner]

[Michael's not exactly an optimist at the best of times, and this is dicier than usual, so sorry Scott.]

I mean, uh. We could all die? And then they'd have to send a party out after our bodies or we probably can't get revived.

[Cheery.]

alphys | ota

[sciencelizard]

i. building

[So when Alphys volunteered to help, she was mostly doing it for two reasons. One, Newt was going to do this if she did something or not, and if she's involved she can make sure he does it as safely as possible. And two, she desperately wants to communicate with one of the creatures making divebomb attempts on the city. She tried- very fruitlessly- to make peace with the Null, and even the reassurances she's gotten from [name] aren't ideal. She wants to do better, this time. She wants to be one of the people who does better.

But that starts with actually helping, and that becomes leading the build team. With a bunch of people who probably don't know what they're doing, and aren't used to the hackneyed ways the tools they have work. So Alphys will find herself flitting between people, tapping her claws together nervously as she tries to supervise.]

So uh, it's not really a f-full welding setup, but if you point it this way it should seal the joint... please be careful.

[She's kind of reaching for it, but slapping herself back. She can't just do everything, but... she's getting antsy.]

ii. wildcard

[Have something else you wanna do with Alphys during phase 1? Hit me up at cancerously or PM and we'll discuss!]

1.

[toiletseat_girl]

[George has no idea how she got suckered into this.

well, she has some idea and that idea is called NEWT, but let's not go there for now.

she's doing what she can to actually be helpful with the whole construction shit, but she'll be the first to admit that she took an extra study hall instead of shop back in high school, so fuck if she knows how to use most of these tools.

so any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance?

'cause she has no fucking idea of what it is she's actually doing]

Okay, so this way. Not that way. [she adjusts her hold on the tool so that the angle changes]

[she can reach as much as she likes if it means George doesn't fuck this up]

i

[judgementor]

[Despite looking like he just walked out of a fancy Victorian party, Red Wine seems to know what he's doing very well when it comes to the hodgepodge tools that they have to work with in the lab. He takes a moment, each time he picks up a new one, to quietly examine it with sharp red eyes before he puts it to use.

With this--? He doesn't have much time to puzzle over it before he hears a voice, sees a hand reaching out, and he doesn't snatch the tool away from her. The man appraises her for a few seconds, then offers it out to her.

Anyone might expect him to be haughty about it, but the tone that comes out is surprisingly gentle.]

Show me.

i, sorry if this is too late!

[crownnecklace]

[What Alphys gets is absolutely a teenager who isn't entirely sure what he's doing but he's trying his best anyway. Upon hearing her, he pauses in his motions and readjusts his grip on the tool in hand.]

Sorry. I've never used one of these before so I was hoping it'd kind of work itself out.

shigeru miyata | ota

[mysophobic]

( Introductions; )

[ So if anyone's around they'll probably notice that Shigeru is extremely quiet to the point of being weird?! But have no fear, he's just mute so it's no big deal. Still if anyone should bother coming over towards him he'll just give a happy smile and wave.

Of course once the device comes out he'll type away before showing it so whoever he's speaking to. ]

Hello! I'm Shigeru Miyata. I'll be helping with manning the cages and also any medical emergencies that might happen.

It's nice to meet you! Let's all do our best and keep each other safe, okay? I know we'll be able to do this together! You're in really good hands with me so don't worry, either! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ* [ Shigeru can you just...not. ]

( Cage Building; )

[ So Shigeru isn't much of an architect or a builder by any means, but his powers make it really easy to break things down and rebuild them. So while anyone who helped with the cage might see their work being destroyed he's totally not doing that?! If anyone is around while he's near the cage they'll see a giant floating purple sigil just floating in the air behind him, as he practices with his powers to get the timing down for when they catch the Nautilus. His eyes are a bit freaky too and he might startle if you come to close while he works. He looks pretty focused as metal bars just kind of disintegrate at first at an alarming rate only to...mold back into fully formed bars as he stares at them while lightly touching them with gloved hands.

But once he's done he'll wipe his brow and let out a sigh as he leans back to regard his work. He needs to get timing right and hopefully this will suffice and do the trick. ]

( Cage Building II; )

[ So while building a cage for said Nautilus creatures people are gonna get hungry, right?! The first night of construction Shigeru will definitely be cooking up so good ol' homemade stew. After all everyone needs to keep their strength up and keep warm, so the two sorta work out?! Either way he'll have a nice little pot of stew cooking on a makeshift fire while he hums to himself. It'll be outside the lab so anyone around is definitely going to get some. ]

( Wildcard; )

[ ooc; If you want to thread out any injury threads for during the capture process feel free to hit me up! ]

introductions!

[sciencelizard]

[It's pretty rare Alphys doesn't know someone in Hadriel. Of course, there's new arrivals coming in all the time, but most often they come by the lab immediately if they're going to be involved in their work at all. But she's never seen him, and while it's difficult for her to initiate those kinds of conversations, his warm greeting gets her interest.

What really gets it is that top-tier emoji useage, though. Alphys reads through the note he gives before her eyes go wide and she looks excitedly up at him.]

Ohmygosh you know what emojis are.

[Fantastic priorities, right there.]

cage building ii!

[judgementor]

[He has his own reasons for stepping outside. Though there's little of it visible in the lab as they work, the blood from the dissection of any number of corpses and parts of corpses in the place has left the kind of scent that someone as sensitive to the smell of blood as Red Wine is can all too easily pick up. It's strong, unpleasant, and it's giving him a headache.

Being outside, just for a few minutes before he gets back to work, is usually enough just with the fresh air, but this time another aroma catches his attention.

Someone cooking?

He brushes a few specks of dirt from his sleeve distractedly as he approaches, speaking when he's close enough to question:]

What is that you're making?

Red Wine / OTA

[judgementor]

introductions;

[Red Wine... doesn't actually introduce himself at all at first. He bickers with a certain red-headed man with horns until said man decides to speak, and as Steak straightens up and says hello, Red Wine simply leaves him to it.

He shifts his attention each time a person speaks to his companion, but says nothing until an elbow is jabbed sharply into his side.]

Don't nudge me, you dolt. [His voice comes out in a low hiss at first, then smooths out as he finally steps up and gives a short bow.] Our thanks for the invitation. Where do we begin?

cage building;

[A resounding holler of YOU BASTARD! from another member of this motley group follows Red Wine as he walks across the room, a subtle smirk pulled across his lips. It's a day, and once again, Red Wine and Steak are arguing over nothing.

They haven't yet come to physical blows in the lab, but really, it's only a matter of time.

The dark-haired Food Soul retreats to a relatively safe distance, where he's working on something of his own, and takes a sip from a glass of wine. Where on Hadriel did he get wine? Where was he keeping the glass? All good questions, but a better one would be how he manages to never spill any.]

You, [He hails the next person who passes, setting his glass down.] Spare a moment? I could use an extra hand with this.

[Always polite. So polite. To everyone except for Steak.]

outside;

[Sometimes, Red Wine will simply get up and walk out, carefully placing down whatever he happens to be doing at the time before he leaves. Each time this happens, he doesn't go much further than the door of the labs but stands against the wall beside it, eyes half-shut and one forefinger curled lightly against his lower lip.

He doesn't anticipate being followed, or questioned, but anyone approaching him with a look about them as if they might want to know why he's standing outside when all the work is still going on is met with slightly raised eyebrows and a soft 'hm?' of questioning.]

wildcard;

[Wildcard me!!]

outside;

[battlebound]

( Even Steak, for all his sense of smell is nowhere near as attuned to blood as Red Wine's, finds the smell of the laboratory less than pleasant. Sure, these people must do good work for the community, but it doesn't make the remnants of monsters any more pleasant to endure.

Normally, they get to move on after they've killed something, get to leave it to rot without smelling the body that's left. But not here.

So, he takes a break after a couple of hours, after seeing Red Wine duck out of the room, and grabs a conveniently located bottle of water.

Strangely, constructing a giant cage is also very sweaty work. )

Here.

( The water is less offered and more shoved towards Red Wine before Steak stretches his arms above his head and allows the cold air of the frozen city to lap at his bare skin. )