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[the_array_team]

- Yeahyeah, ya got it but til then this'll do.

[The video feed kicks in and sets to record mid-message. The closer of the two men turns to the screen, fixing the camera with an irritable look.]

Any a' ya Transports planning on missions anytime soon and likes all of yer limbs attached, report t'the Pad for a rescan.

[And in this moment, Lowell, the further of the two scientists (although really, he’s an engineer specifically) interjects.]

Transporter. Just say Transporter. I don’t want everyone calling it The Pad. That’s the worst name. And you didn’t explain why either.

[Lowell takes a few steps closer, in full Explanation Mode.]

We need to recalculate each of your individual weights and density, for the Temporal Programmers. Without it, you’ll wind up being transported mid-way through a large boulder or something. So we’re not just saying this for the sake of being difficult.

[And now that he’s done, he goes back to what he was doing, completely ignoring the video feed. Vennett rolls his eyes.]

Like he says: It's an outdated piece a shit.

[And with just that, the feed snaps off.]



[For those who do report, the transport pad sits, powered down at the moment, with several of the access panels behind the platform are opened or removed entirely. Vennett sits in a folding chair in front of one of the computer displays. At his feet is a box of tools, and in hand is a strange black device. He doesn't look all that pleased to see you.

Lowell sits at a computer desk in the same room, ready to get the right calculations of the Transports as they step onto the Transport Pad. And while he isn’t really enthused at the idea of being here, he’s also a lot less miserable looking than Vennett. Maybe that makes him more approachable? Good luck.]



((OOC: NOTE: This is an intro for two of the new NPC characters. Come meet them! Handwaving having either done the scan or declined offscreen is totally fine. THIS IS NOT A MANDATORY EVENT.))

Comments

video

[liprings]

Well, shit! I'm totally fucking comforted. Sign me the fuck up to be blasted into whatever the hell kinda boulders you want!

1/2

[the_array_team]

[Instead of answering Jan, Vennett simply turns back and addresses Lowell.]

See. THAT right there is why I didn't say shit as t'why. They don't listen half a rat's ass.

[the_array_team]

The Pad ain't like what we .. had downside. It don't handle variables like how many fucking cookies you ate even half so graceful. Just be happy we're draggin' yer sorry ass in an' not just running it as is.

action;

[owlbrain]

[Kouichi heads down to the transport pad willingly enough. He's interested in seeing the pad up close again, and the incentive of not being thrown in boulders during missions helped persuade him quickly. One white-haired, red-eyed, fourteen year old kid reporting for duty.]

[Once he gets there, he blinks at Vennett's expression, before glancing uncertainly at Lowell. Who should he choose to approach... It only takes a moment to figure out his answer, and he steps towards Lowell.]

Hello. I'm here for the rescan...

[the_array_team]

Well, there's one with somethin' approachin' sense.

[Vennett doesn't even particularly seem to be addressing him, just turns to his monitor and starts loading a program to capture the data.]

action;

[mathematician]

First one. Possibly the only one.

[Lowell replies as he shifts his eyes from his papers to Kouichi. He gets out of his chair, and heads towards the Transporter and one of it's many open panels. He crouches down to look inside of it, and then nods for Kouichi to step on the Transporter Pad. ]

Alright. Just step on.

[And then, a look to Vennett.]

Ready?

text;

[heartsink]

[ the name attached to this account reads Haruka Takahashi etc etc w/e w/e ]

How outdated?

Text

[the_array_team]

Firmware version 18.5.2a E400 series. I know, right?

text; whoops forgot a word

[mathematician]

Not very. He's exaggerating. I've gutted and refit the whole thing before any Transports arrived. Which is why we need to retake readings.

video;

[getoffmyearth]

You really should think about getting some kind of PR person if you're going to have to make announcements like this.

Re: video;

[senseandcecilbility]

[This guy looks genuinely scandalized.]

I do not know what a PR person is, sir, but these gentlemen certainly seem to need something.

[Divine punishment, or perhaps a proper beating. He is not picky.]

[the_array_team]

[For a moment, Vennett's expression goes from a baseline irritable to actually pissed off. He takes a long, deliberate sip of his coffee, and it's gone.]

Yeah sos we thought about that all careful like.

But here's t'deal.

We're short handed.

text;

[fortissimos]

[ normally she'd ignore the network, but... missions are her only outlet right now. ]

you really need us to?

text;

[mathematician]

Would you prefer to find yourself on top of a boat, or sixty feet under the boat?

Text

[the_array_team]

Me? No. Pretty sure when the two guys directly in charge of your safe departure and return tell you to get a rescan, it's probably a good idea.

action;

[wilder]

[Ugh how annoying. But fiiine, he will head down there - even without an argument over the tablet about it. He's got a cup of coffee with him and one of the clinic labcoats and an all around look like he just got off work. But hey, better to beat the rush of arguing people considering the Initiative has his real name on file]

Hey. I'm here for my rescan? Sorry I couldn't come up with a philosophical or inane argument over the tablet first before coming down. Hope that's not a problem.

[the_array_team]

[The rush paid off, as only the two technicians are in the room when he gets there. The comment earned a snort of laughter from Vennett.]

Y'get a pass. Ol' prickly over there'll tell you when t'get on.

video;

[senseandcecilbility]

Gentlemen, would you kindly watch your language! There are women and children in attendance.

[Good Lord, are the Transports under these people's care? No wonder their situation is so dramatic.]

If I-I understand correctly, you require our measurements. [For the abomination they have created against God's sacred rules of time and space.] In this case, I would like to volunteer.

[After all, he will not be able to protect Rosette and co if he ends up inside a boulder.]

Video

[the_array_team]

Yeah, sorry, I'll watch m'goddamned mouth.


That's t'short of it. Report down here.

[Action]

[speakveryclearly]

[An alien teenager in a dull dress dutifully drifts into the transport room. She obediently gets into position but does have a polite question to ask.]

You know... there is one thing I didn't understand about the announcement. When you said this [piece of shit] was outdated - that implies being out of date relative to something else. What are you comparing the technology to, that of the United Earth?

[the_array_team]

S'relative to what I'm used t'workin' with. He's got t'parts all fancied out as much as he can, but... [He shrugs.]

UE shitheads aint able t'manage none of this.

[action]

[anotheryosuke]

[He's not planning on missions anytime soon... is what he wants to say, it really is, but first of all -- he did promise. It wasn't signed in blood or anything, but he'd like to keep his end of the deal. And while he could totally freeload or probably whine at somebody else for help...

That's the second thing, he'd just get stir-crazy if he stayed on-base all the time; he's sure there's plenty to see even where everything looks the same, because dude, people -- but to be perfectly honest, he's started wondering whether away would be safer (though the announcement is plenty alarming, thanks) considering who -- or what, rather -- else would be going stir-crazy with him. Not every mission is a high-level, life-or-death spy mission, surely?

Thirdly, and it's a dumb one and he knows it, but still: he'd never live it down if the folks from back home knew he'd been on a time-and-space-crossing adventure and been too afraid to time-travel more than once. That isn't his M.O. at all.

When he has three-or-more-reasons to do-or-die (hopefully not), Naoya knows he's been thinking too much.

So he doesn't bother responding to the post (even though he could've used better directions to The Pad or whatever), just gets the hell going. It takes a while to wander in the right direction (about an hour give or take), but he does get there eventually.

The welcoming committee is distinctly not welcoming.]

... Uh. What'm I supposed to be doing with the weird black box?

[He eyes the Pad a little nervously; he's not sure he should step on it just yet, given what they've said so far.]

[the_array_team]

[There is, without a doubt, a reason why the technical crews of the Initiative had never really been the FACE of it.]

Nothin' it's there t'gather data sos I can import inta my work too. You're here t'stand still an' look pretty.

[werewolfing]

[one scruffy slouchy teenager reporting for scanning. he eyes the whole deal with an air of half-interested skepticism]

Right, so. Where d'you want me?

[the_array_team]

[Vennett waves him towards the main set of equipment in the room, looking him up and down over the lip of his coffee mug.]

Over that way, he'll takes it from there.

video.

[justgo]

That's assuring. So what, just drop by, hop in and then hop out?

[the_array_team]

Aint much more to it than that. We're doin' all the workin' parts of it.

action;

[alittlesweptup]

[Despite what he might have told Donny, Charlie's plans for running off base are minimal - something to get out of goddamn space every now and again, but it's not really for charity and he sure hasn't put much thought into it beyond making a show of doing something proactive. What he's actually been spending time on - and worrying over - is a numbers game; how many Transports think they know better than they might actually and where that potentially leaves them in the grand scheme of 'fixing shit with time travel.'

So it's curiosity more than duty that has Charlie swinging back the transporter room; not every day you get to trade more than a few clipped words with the techs running the place, right? He rolls in, ambivalent enough. He's been here a year; by now 'the pad's hardly awe-inspiring.]

Alright there, lads. I'm here to be [--jazz hands for emphasis--] re-calibrated.

[the_array_team]

[Vennett gives him a second glance, actually. First person they've seen all day who actually looks like they're halfway decent in a fight. He waves Charlie over to Lowell.]

That way. Wont take more than a sec like.