10311/What's In YOUR Utility Belt

What's In YOUR Utility Belt
Date of Scene:	04 December 2019
Location:	Crime Lab, Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Wherein Volt meets with Robin to discuss his costuming and gear loadout needs. Robin discloses his full (read: not full) arsenal, and development gets underway!
Cast of Characters:	Volt, Robin (Wayne)

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Volt has posed:
It's been a time, decoding and figuring out the communication device. But Volt hasn't been sitting idle. Even when he wasn't sure he should stay, he was still fiddling with it, looking over the manual. He's pretty sure he's figured out most things - what abbreviated communiques mean, how to access different little odds and ends within them. And he's resisted the urge to try to pick it apart and disable the tracking! He counts that as a personal victory. But all in all, that familiarity is coming in handy now as he sends a message.

<<Hey, Robin. I think this is the right- yeah. Okay. So word is, you're the guy I need to see about gadgets and gear. And after that last outing, I'm pretty sure I know what I need - and maybe a little something extra you might be into. You free?>>

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin messaged back. <<I am in the laboratory.>> A floor that Stardust had mentioned was off limits without a Titan there. <<Meet there.>> Short and to the point, much like Robin.

  The crime lab was by in large the cleanest area of the Tower. Robin's cape was left at a stand next to the elevator, allowing the Titans leader to work without having the cloth interfere with his work.

  Robin was seated at a lab table, with various sets of trays and mechanical pipettes to dose exact amounts to be tested. Spectrum analyzers we're working their magic.

  Robin of course was still in full gear, sans cape. His mask of course was still on, fully keeping his secret, as was Robin's custom. He didn't seem angry or pestered, just at work.

Volt has posed:
Volt made a small 'o' of surprise when he was told where to go. Indeed, that area was off-limits! What juicy secrets could be hiding there? He wouldn't keep Robin waiting.

The door would soon open, and in strolls Volt. In all likelihood, any interested Titans have likely accessed a ridiculous database of faces to ascertain his actual identity by now. After all, he doesn't have a costume to work with. Which is kind of what brings him here! He spots his quarry up ahead, and hesitates a little, unsure if he's disrupting what's going on or not. But after a couple seconds, he moves further ahead.

"Checking out the weird tubes'n stuff from the warehouse?," he asks.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin kept at it, he was more than capable of doing two tasks at a time.

  "Yes. The mixture of chemicals will be a signature for these people. If we find that specific mixture again, we will know who is tied to it." He adds in, loading the cassette into the machine and allowing it to continue on.

  "You did an adequate job out there. Took instruction, better than another teammate did." Oh yes, the leader took note of the sass he got from Kian, that was another brow beating that would have to be done soon as well. "Uniforms, are not what I do. You will have to source your own for that. But we have resources you can use. Tell me about your gear." He asks, moving back from the equipment and giving Drake his currently undivided attention.

Volt has posed:
Volt cringes a little at the mention of the 'teammate'. Ohh, he can guess who he's referring to. What an awkward situation. He'll be glad to not be a part of /that/ conversation. "So you mean like.. tracking bug pheremones?," he's guessing. He's not well-versed in science or technology. But if he's understanding right, that's a reasonably close way of understanding what he means.

It's interesting, but he gets the feeling asking questions down that line will seem like wasting time. So he refocuses on the main topic at hand. "Well, I'll lay it all out. I shoot lightning and can do a lot've things with it, but the skills I bring to the table are about infiltration. Breaking and entering. Utility belt would be the best place to start. I need a set of lockpicks - I'll take something for cracking electronic locks, too, if we've got it. Using my power on those kinds of locks is like a crapshoot. Overload it and you trip security or put the door in complete lockdown, instead of opening it up. But I'd probably need actual training on using something like that. Need a grappling gun, too. Been messing around in the Danger Room with one of those, and.. well, you obviously know what's up. And lastly, smokebombs - something small to scatter in a pinch."

He glances aside, lips twisting a little. "Not sure if this would count as a 'costume' piece or not, but... I've got this idea. Put conductors in the fingertips, at the knuckles, and on the soles of the boots. Just some small... plates."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Yes. Not unlike pheromones." As Drake continues, Robin keeps paying attention. Though he does interject. "You can get a lockpick set online easily. Assuming you know how to pick a lock."

  The comment about a utility belt as a grapple has Robin thinking someone is trying to step on his turf, but he keeps silent for now. Only giving Drake a small glower of his eyes. "Making plates to route electricity through, good idea. You can send the electricity through your feet like that?" He would admit he has not kept up with Drake's dossier as much as he would normally, but his situation in Gotham had meant he spent much time away from the Tower. "I cannot provide you with the grapples we use. Bat gear is a tight secret."

Volt has posed:
The glower gets an innocent blink, but Volt doesn't read too much into it. "Hey, that's cool. Don't need what you use in particular. I'm just really limited in how fast I can get from Point A to Point B, and rooftop access points are usually the least protected. Otherwise, I'm grounded or stuck trying to climb walls. That's not usually very subtle." His hands lift, palms out. "I don't need anything as ultra high-end as what you use. I've been working with one in the Danger Room, and I've gotta imagine your gear's more than meets the eye."

And then he seems to get it.

"But I mean, hey, I can do some snooping around in general. I might have a connection or two I could play. Maybe." It'd be a longshot, but he's not wanting to create friction.

Instead, Volt shifts the focus onto the question posed him. "Totally. I've been working on a technique to create rapid bursts of electricity, and sync it up with strikes. It's obviously /way/ shorter range, but a lot less taxing, without losing that force behind it. And I'm wanting to get better at hand-to-hand stuff. I can't just rely on my one power to get me through everything, y'know? I've gotta improve. Besides, you've already got an electro-buddy. If Kian ever decides to throw down, what niche am I fillin'?"

Despite the rather dour question, he poses it with a small, hopeful smile.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Do not call him my buddy." Damian says, slightly growly. He and Kian were not friends, obviously. "You should always focus on improving. I will take a look at the Danger Room's files on grapples. Given your powerset, have you ever thought of small filaments to use as flash grenades? The correct metals with electricity can produce a quick flash powerful enough to blind people and make an escape. The effects could last longer than smoke pellets would, and you could keep more on you than a normal charge."

Volt has posed:
Volt's eyes glaze a little. Filaments? Is he talking about flash-paper? He has no idea. Eyes shift sidelong, then back to Robin. "Maybe?," he says. If he's understanding right, tenuous as it might be, it's an interesting concept. "But I'm also looking at it as like a covering measure. People can't see into a smokecloud too well, but I don't actually need to see them to be effective. Get caught in a crossfire, drop a smoke and get low. Then send electricity along the floor to tag everyone up ahead. When the smoke clears, baddies are down and me'n anyone else are clear."

His arms fold loosely over his chest, head tilting faintly aside. "Hn. Might also need a flashlight. Not exactly impressive on a superhero level, but it's not like I have nightvision." Beat. "Wait, can we do that on a mask? Or like a visor? And would it be actually safe from me using my powers?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Filaments, what we used before LEDs. Tungsten, other-nevermind." He stops himself, moving on.

  "Night vision can be incorporated into a mask. And is a better option than a light. And it does not allow someone to see you in the dark. But the system will have to be a closed loop if it is shielded."

  Robin continues on, taking out one of his smoke pellets. "Different formulations make a more condensed smoke. Find what works for you, you do not want it to linger more than necessary. In teammate situations you need your teammates to see too."

Volt has posed:
Yep, Volt is totally not following the explanation of a filament. He looks like he's really trying, though. Some words he gets. LEDs, he knows what that is - mostly, at least. Tungsten, that's a kind of metal. But no, bailing when he did makes the most sense. Volt was not going to get it sorted out. And he seems mostly on board with the next part. "And with a visor, I'm guessing? But how do you mean 'closed loop'?" That part he didn't follow. On its face, it doesn't sound like such a big downside. That said, it /would/ probably need some sort of precaution or option to not be extra susceptible to his powers, should he project an aura - be it lightning or EMP.

Hands stuff into his pockets, lips twisting. The logical part of his brain is saying carrying both the pellets and flash-whatevers would make the most sense; have the right tool for the right time. But toes. He doesn't intend to step on them. "To be fair, that'd be true for either approach. If you've gotta call out to get down or cover eyes, the other people will probably do the same, right? But then, we're talking about a stun instead of just making someone have a hard time seeing. On the other hand, a flash is /really/ the opposite of subtle, and a cloud of smoke could mask movement without drawing too much attention - quietly. Then again, someone could just barrel through the smoke..." The back and forth could go on indefinitely. Volt squints a little. "What do you think, Robin? The thing you mentioned earlier, the.. filament? I'd be interested to give that a shot, see how it gels, but I'd definitely need to understand it a little more. Like, do I have to zap the whatever-they-are to activate it? Is it paper? Pellets? Rave-tubes?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian points to the side of his mask. "It is connected to my gauntlet's computer, which has a direct link to the Batcomputer in Gotham. To shield it completely, your visor or mask would have to be a closed loop system, none of the connectivity that mine would have."

  Damian stands, motioning to Drake to follow him to an empty table. Where Damian starts to empty all of his pockets and gadgets. "High disbursement, high concentration." He calls out, of the two smoke pellets he extracts from the same pouch. Then small batarang looking items. "Flash grenades." More small batarangs. "Incendiary, fragmentation." He pulls out another pouch, extracting one of every birdarang inside. "Blunted, sharp, distraction, remote control." He pulls off the R Badge from his tunic. "Wireless hacking device." Then pressing the R symbol, the R pops off, revealing a scalpel like device. "Emergency shuriken and blade."

  "Rebreather, katana, PEPS launcher, grapple gun, batclaw, explosive gel and detonator, lockpicks, one set in my glove and a small one in my throat." Yes, he said throat. He doesn't remove that one for obvious reasons. The amount of gear that was now on the table was immense, but everything had a place on his uniform. "I make the decision on what to use in a fraction of a second. And this does not cover what is not in my usual load out."

Volt has posed:
"So it'd be just a standalone device. Right? That's what you're saying?" Volt is really trying to follow! "If that's the case, that wouldn't be a problem. Sure, it'd be cool to be all wired in, but if it comes down to it? I just need it to function."

He follows along to the table. And what plays out before him is not unlike those cheeky spy movies, wherein someone gets caught at a metal detector and unloads twenty or so pistols. It's hard to even keep up with all of the various things being put down.

"So your superpower is being a walking infomercial." There's a beat before he steals a glance to Robin. "/Kidding/," he asserts, just to be on the safe side. A more sincere appraising look is given the armament, followed by a dubious and obvious look at his throat, then back down to the gear. "I can safely say there's no way I'm coming close to matching what you do. When I developed my skills, it was by being a /damn/ good hoodrat. Jacking cars, ghosting into places, spotting security systems, working around'em, cracking locks, pilfering. Sometimes in broad daylight. Generally speaking? When it comes to my belt, except for that grapple zipline, the.. flash-or-smoke, and lockpicks, I'd want those pockets empty. Pick-up on site. Retrieval. If things went bad back at the warehouse, I could've grabbed samples to bring back here."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian holds up his index finger, pulling out one more pouch. "Forensic sampling kit, first aid kit." He comments, removing the circular piece that everyone seems to think is a big belt buckle, revealing the true buckle underneath it. "You can find a medium between all of this. You have to choose what you want." His skill, not unlike any other Robin before him, was being a human Swiss Army knife, that big one that costs $500. Along with being a ninja, an assassin, and a detective.

  Robin began to place every piece he had laid out on the table back onto himself. "So, figure it out. The load out you want. I will see what I can come up with."

Volt has posed:
Volt nods distantly. It's a lot to take in. Was he not thinking broadly enough? But if he takes too much time, he's stuck as Captain Janitor longer. It's hard to feel proactive like that. And he needs to source his costuming and get it done, which means pegging the final details. The idea of a nightvision mask or visor is pretty ballin', though.

"I'll think on it s'more and do up a list. The smart move right now is probably keeping it low. I'm not used to working with a lot've extra tools just yet. If I expand too far, it'll take longer to get really effective. But I'll be honest, you've gotten me really curious about the.. flash-filament thing."

After a beat, he steps back.

"Hey. Also. Thanks for giving a stray a shot, by the way. I'll spare you the earful I gave Stardust, but - I appreciate it."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "I will create some prototypes for you to try out in the Danger Room. We can figure out which filament would work best for you. As soon as you figure out what will be the load out is, and I mean what smoke pellets, what visor, what other things will work. I will see about the grapple. It will take a bit to get a working system, and what I can steal from the design we use without being the exact ones. If Batman figures out who outfitted you, I will catch hell for it if it is not different enough to shake him from figuring it out.

  "You are competent, unlike some others who have tried to join our ranks." Yes, a dig at Kian, but others who came before him as well, as they are no longer here. Including a lantern that lost her power battery. Damian was glad she did not last.

Volt has posed:
"Well... that's what I shoot for," jokes Volt. Competence; or at least being more competent than some others. He felt it was a clean enough response, given he suspects that was another shot at poor Kian.

The mention of going both smoke pellets /and/ flash filament is a little surprising. He's taking that as a very good sign; that Robin doesn't think he's trying to encroach. That's a nice feeling. It even earns a bright smile. "Yeah, sounds cool. I'll get it narrowed as soon as I can. If you need me to go full generic, I'm cool with it. I just need something to zip me - and maybe another person if I need to catch'em - reliably."

He steps back again, glancing to the table Robin had left behind. "I'll let you get back to work. I'm gonna get back to working on my thing." Turning, he tosses up a casual two-fingered wave, "Later!"