1374/On The Bridge

On The Bridge
Date of Scene:	09 July 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Invisible Kid, Mon-El

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Invisible Kid has posed:
    An omnicom floats into the bridge.
    Outside of the Legion, that might be a little weird. Inside the Legion, there are multiple rational explanations for why that might be happening.
    It floats over to a terminal, which lights up, data flashing across the screen. A sigh, which turns into a back-of-the-throat growl. Lyle's voice comes out of that vicinity: "I don't know who I want to get my hands on more. The Time Trapper for stranding us here, or Micro Boy for messing with the cruiser," and ends with a huff.

Mon-El has posed:
    Mon-El is currently on the bridge, watching over the monitors, and acting as the mission monitor duty guy. His eyes scan the screens, and monitors the power consumption without too much concentration. His hands tap a few controls here and there, keeping everything under control. With a small intake a breath, Mon sighs, and frowns. It was...quiet.

    Mon-El watches as the omicom floats by. Then hears the voice, a familiar one at that. "Tough question Lyle." Mon smirks. "I would have to say "a little of column A and a little of column B." Lar crosses his arms, and says, "Getting frustrated?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Oh! Hey, Lar. Sorry, I was so engrossed in what I was doing, I didn't see you there," Lyle greets, a little sheepishly, and flicks back into visibility. "I had forgotten I was still invisible, too. *And* I had an argument with the coffee maker, so I haven't even had a cup yet today."
    He perches himself on a button-free edge of the console. "And a little of columns C through R, and columns S, T and U are starting to pester for attention. I still can't get a handle on any pattern to the flight ring damage done by the time travel, and I'm starting to think that it might actually *be* random, not just appear random. Routing ship sensors to Quis is proving a little more complicated than expected because his ship is... kind of weird. Should've expected that, since it's extradimensional, but still. I'm getting a little worried that we haven't picked up signals from other teammates in a while. And Brainy keeps making election noises, and that's a distraction we don't need yet."
    He glances back down the corridor. "And I *really* need a cup of coffee, but that stupid machine is having itself a snit."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Good day Lyle." Mon-El smiles warmly at his friend's arrival. "Yes, I can see that. Although, I am usually easy to spot. After all, I frequently find myself the team target, so to speak." Lar's eyes reflect his smile. "Ah. Yes, that coffee maker is...weird. I tend to fly into the nearest city, and grab a cup of Starbucks or Tim Horton's." He pauses, regarding his teammate thoughtfully.

    "Yeah, Quislet's technology is strange to say the least. No wonder you are having issues." Mon-El nods and says, "Well, it could be the obvious answer. That we are the only members of the team that are trapped here. Perhaps the others are still home, trying to find us?" Now that didn't sound convincing.

    "Coffee...just a minute..." WIth that, and a swoosh, Mon-El is gone, to return in exactly 1 minute, 37 seconds. "Sorry. The Barista there was a bit slow." The cup has his name on it. "Lorg". "I hope I got it right?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "If it has caffeine, it's right," Lyle says appreciatively, "and you are officially my hero. Thank you." Silence -- well, a couple gulping noises -- while he takes a drink. "So. Much. Better."
    He sets the cup aside a moment. "I suppose it's possible that it is random. The problem is that true randomness is surprisingly difficult to create. If it was completely random, we should have all popped back into different times, not the same. So there *has* to be a pattern. It's just one that's eluded both me and Brainy so far." That last sentence is ground out, like he really didn't want to have to say it aloud.

Mon-El has posed:
    Nodding, Mon-El hands him the cup, and smiles. "Glad I could help my friend." Standing back, Mon-El waits for Lyle to take a drink, and then watches as Lyle sets it aside.

    "True enough." Mon-El smiles at the "little" joke. As Lyle continues to explain it, Lar nods, and says, "That makes a lot of sense." Lar hrms, and says, "A pattern...well, I haven't seen one either. So no fault of either of you. Has Nura chimed in on this too? She's the precog."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Not yet, no. I should consult with her," Lyle says, considering. "Or if she can predict the movements of Our Little Pest," he adds, making a 'tiny' gesture with thumb and forefinger. I'm really of two minds right now. I'd hate for any more of our teammates to fall into the same temporal mess we're in right now, but we *really* need Salu right now. So far as I know, we haven't had any luck contacting what's her name, van Dyne, yet."

Mon-El has posed:
    Nodding, Mon-El adds, "Yeah, she's one of those Avengers right? Hmmm." Lar nods, and says, "It is too bad that Vi isn't here. That might be a pre-ordained plan as well. After all, the little saboteur is hard to catch unless we had someone like Vi, or even Cham, to get into the small spaces and root him out." Lar taps his chin lightly and says, "Maybe you and Brainy should put together a mechanical Vi." Mon smiles, holds up his had, so he could finish. "A small robot to root him out into a trap?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle nods. "I've... *we've* been working on something along those lines. Molecular hunters. The problem is they need to be small enough to still be molecular, but large enough to take some programming, and while we've made some progress, it's nearly intractable. It needs to be simple and complex at the same time, and that's almost as mutually exclusive as it sounds. I've had some luck with storing data and instructions in quantum superposition states, but no actual breakthrough yet."
    He drains off about half his remaining coffee. "On the plus side, aside from Our Little Pest, none of our enemies appear to have followed us through. Also on the plus side, Our Little Pest can't destroy us without stranding himself permanently in this time, so his actions are constrained." He grins lopsidedly. "So there that, at least."

Mon-El has posed:
    "I thought you might be." Mon-El grins. "Yeah, I can see the challenge. Especially with the level of technology here, and the resources at our disposal." Mon-El is smart enough to follow along, but he could never do what Lyle and Brainy could do.

    "Well, none of our enemies have followed us through the temporal incident that we know of. And you are right, our "pest" does have to be careful. Unless he doesn't care." Mon-El mirrors Lyle's grin. "You are right though. That would be out of character. We have that at least, as you say."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle finishes his coffee. "Sometimes you have to take your wins where you can find them. And if he came back on his own, or by a differnet route, rather than by hitching a ride with one of us, that might give us a path back to *our* time."
    He sighs, hops up off the console, and gazes up through the dome to Planet Earth above. "D'you know what the worst of it is? It's not being in the wrong time, it's not the uncertainty about where so many of our teammates are, it's not Micro Boy... it's the not knowing where the line is. The things that we don't dare do that will change the future. Our past. Brainy thinks the timeline might be self-healing. I really hope he's right. I would really hate to disappear in a puff of chronological inconsistency."

Mon-El has posed:
    "Yeah, sometimes wins are few and far between," Mon-El agrees. "I don't think he was a part of this though. Seems out of his weight class. Hmmm." Mon-El ponders that for a minute, and then looks over at Lyle as he continues.

    "AH. Deep thoughts Lyle." Mon-El looks at the screen and out into space. "The line is a tough thought. Considering just by being here we have altered the past...and the future." Mon-El ponders the next chain of thoughts. "I don't know about that. I don't think time is self-healing, but who am I to say? I'm no Circadia Senius, Brainiac 5, or Time Trapper. I just hope we don't change too many things. I don't want to disappear either."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I guess. I mean, we know not to do the big stuff, like crash the cruiser into Wyoming and set off the Yellowstone supervolcano." Lyle grins. "Although that would be cool to watch. From a distance. If the planet wasn't populated." He folds his arms behind his back and turns away from the view. "I really hate the idea of having to let something awful happen because it happened historically and if we prevent it, we change things."

Mon-El has posed:
    Mon-El nods, his smile acknowledging the Yellowstone event. "I know. It would be something...anyway, I understand what you are saying Lyle. After all, we thought you were dead for a long time. Sometimes, events happen, there are ramifications, and we move on. Maybe that is what Brainy is getting at when he says time is "self-healing". Mon-El says, "Well, I'm going to take a break if you are okay with taking over here?" Mon-El puts his right hand on Lyle's shoulder. "Try not to worry so much. We'll get out of this. After all, patience is a virtue." Mon-El winks, and nods. "You okay?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Yeah, I'm good. I'm just not much of a philosopher. That's where my brain gets gummed up," Lyle says, looking at the hand. "I... don't remember if I ever apologized for letting you think I was dead. I think I did, but if I didn't, Lar, I am deeply and profoundly sorry for putting all of you through that. And if I already did, I am *still* deeply and profoundly sorry. It doesn't matter that there were reasons, it was still an awful thing to have to do to you, to all of you."
    He reaches up and pats the back of Mon-El's hand. "Yeah, I'll take over here. The monitors are kind of meditative when they're quiet. With any luck they'll stay that way for a while and I can get some good theorizing done. And... thanks."

Mon-El has posed:
    "It's all good my friend. No need to apologize. I understand why and what happened. I am a pretty forgiving sort. The team is as well. We all do what we have to do." Mon-El nods at Lyle, and removes his hand. "After all, it was a joyous occasion to find out you were still alive! And that is no small thing. It is good to have you back."

    "You are welcome my friend. I will see you soon. Enoy your theorizing." With a warm smile, a final nod, and a swoosh of air, Mon-El is gone.