15801/GIRL's just wanna have fun (by genetically engineering people so they can't turn into vampires.)

GIRL's just wanna have fun (by genetically engineering people so they can't turn into vampires.)
Date of Scene:	13 November 2023
Location:	GIRL HQ
Synopsis:	GIRL begin looking into ways to cure the Dracula virus. By researching about vampires. It turns out Firestar has had a bad experience with Dracula himself. Kara uses her super senses to confirm Angelia isn't currently a vampire. Nadia gets excited about all the DNA testing they'll need to do.
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (Pym), Firestar, Supergirl

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Wasp (Pym) has posed:
GIRL isn't fully open yet but it's already had it's first walk in request for consulting services! And, in typical superhero fashion, it's a little bit weird. And thus a call has gone out for assistance with research and out of the box thinking. A room has been booked for people to drop in. Computer terminals have been set up. And plenty of physical reference material has been obtained!

But what is this mystery task? And why does it involve Eastern European folklore, population growth modelling software, a stack of genetics text books, and a complete set of Twilight books which no-one is owning up to having brought along.

There's also a plastic bat hanging from the ceiling. But then GIRL isn't all that far from Gotham....

The only hitch? Nadia was so keen to get started she forgot to include what the research project was about in her message.

The petite Russian super genius looks to be wearing a rumpled Summer dress with white socks and buckled shoes. And is surrounded by text books and whiteboards covered in equations. Judging by the number of empty coffee mugs she's been there for some time.

Firestar has posed:
Angelica hears the call of the GIRL power. She makes her way to the research station. She looks around and puts her backpack down on a table. Where is the Nadia lady?

Looking down at one of the books she pauses and raises a brow,"Eastern European folklore?" she questions softly and opens the book a few pages, looking at the contents.

When she says the words, she doesn't realize that a slight shudder runs through her body. Page, page, and oh joy. That guy.

She shuts the book and turns away. There is a lot of other folklore out there and doesn't need to jump to conclusions. She's a scientist. Facts first. Stalking away from the book she looks around,"Hey Nadia, I am following the trail of coffee cup, where are you hiding?"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
The Nadia lady, technically she's got some formal title like Research Director but almost certainly wouldn't respond if you shouted the title out, is by the whiteboard. The research area is pretty open plan! No-where to hide without her powers. Not that she'd really bother to shrink herself while researching like this. It makes it really awkward to write on the whiteboard for one thing. They don't make pens for tiny flying scientists.

Nadia's note to self. Invent specialist whiteboard pens. Or swap them for smart boards. Why not both?

She seems to be using a computer to try work out the number of descendants could possibly be infected following the exposure of an entire town at a point in the past. The equations seem to suggest... a lot. It's a big job ahead of them!

"I'm over here," she says after scribbling a few more lines. "I'm looking for input into vampires. Are they real? What are the rules if they are?"

Firestar has posed:
Angelica smiles and follows the voice for a moment. She doesn't let things sink in at first. Then, after a tick she pauses and her eyes go wide,"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

For her part, she is in sight of Nadia now, but dead stop and pale as a ghose or any vampire every appeared to be. She touches a desk and her knees shake just a moment.

After a moment she shakes it off and rights the proverbial ship and waits for Nadia to repeat herself.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"I've been asked to try come up with an anti-Dracula virus," Nadia explains matter-of-factly. Like it's the sort of thing people usually do. "Now the person who asked me seemed pretty serious. They displayed some ability to manipulate the security staff. And it seemed like... well she didn't seem like the practical joke sort." She frowns. "Unless Gwen and Harper are doing a really elaborate prank..."

She shrugs.

"Supposedly a curse interacted with a virus. And spread to an entire town. And the people from that town have been passing it on ever since." She gestures at the various boards with data on. "So first I'm establishing just how many potential cases we could be looking at."

"Then it's a case of working out if we can remove the genetic component safely." She grins. "Specifically it's Dracula related. But I think any general vampire research will be helpful for background research."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica moves hands to her arms, crossing them and rubbing her biceps like she is cold. This one? Cold? She takes a shaky step and then takes a seat in a chair and she whispers,"He's real." It's all she gets out for a moment or two.

Closing her eyes, Angelica looks up trying to prevent emotions from overwhelming her. After a few shaky breaths, she opens her eyes again. There is a little mist in them.

"I can tell you a few things. The primary one being, Dracula...is...real." she finally chokes out,"He's a manipulative monster and a mind bender. Definately real."

She looks to the ceiling and blinks twice hard. A tear slips from her left eye and trails down her cheek. She sighs and says,"Not to put it past Gwen to be playing a joke, but that part isn't funny."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"I think maybe the person who came to see me was a Vampire hunter of some kind," Nadia muses. "I'm sure if it's a joke they didn't know you had a history with him. It'd most likely be them teasing me for not knowing about popular culture. But I have a pretty good sense for when people are misleading me. The Red Room are very skilled at deception and you learn everything about lying."

She motions for Angelica to take a seat.

"There's a pot of tea over on the side if you want some," she offers. "And cookies too. So the mysterious individual said that when Dracula dies he triggers a cursed virus which turns someone else into a new body for them to inhabit."

Firestar has posed:
"Maybe later." she replies to the comment about the tea. Settling into the chair a little more and considers,"The one thing I can tell you about him, he's fast, strong, has mental powers, and didn't like it much when I turned the fire up. I suspect that means it will kill him."

She wipes her eye and laughs humorlessly,"Look at me. You're going to thing I am out of my mind. Be showing me the door or showing me to a rubber room."

She can't get her head around the people joking about him. She sighs and says,"If I encounter him I have every intention of nuking him." This one is typically pretty easy going so that might be a very telling statement.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"From what I was told killing him just causes him to move to a new host," Nadia admits with a frown. "Which is why I've got a bunch of alternative solutions to rule out. Like time travelling back to cure the initial infection. Trapping Dracula in statis for eternity and phasing him out of shift with reality so he can't interact with anything ever again."

You know simple rational solutions.

"Why would I disbelieve you? I've already agreed to help someone else curing potential Dracula victims. So logically speaking that would imply I believe there is some merit to the notion." There's a re-assuring grin. "One of our members is a witch. She assured me magic is real and there are plenty of magical superheroes. It'd be much weirder if I thought it wasn't real."

Firestar has posed:
A slow, inhale and exhale and Angelica nods,"Hate to think someone else might become the monster." she admits, eyes widening,"Or to be the person in question." She listens to the ideas and nods,"If there was a way to prevent his shape shifting abilities I figured it out a long time ago."

She is thoughtful and then finally says,"Encase him in something, drop him to the bottom of the ocean or on the surface of the sun. The ocean wouldn't kill him, so I think that would render stasis as long as someone didn't dig him back up. Maybe the Marianas Trench."

She shakes her head and adds,"Maybe fill the box we put him in with concrete?" Scientist is coming through now. Still a little shaky, but maybe payback is a little high on her plans for Dracula.

Supergirl has posed:
"If you need someone delivered to the sun, I can probably make that happen," Kara, in her full Supergirl regalia, says as she just kind of wanders in. "It's a quick trip."

Clearly she's been listening, but then again, it's kind of hard for her not to listen.

"Vampires are a nasty business, though I might be immune."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"I think throwing into the Sun will just shift the problem back to another host body," Nadia says with a shrug. "And encasing someone in concrete is certainly possible but it's not really a long term solution. As part of my research I looked into Japanese vampire mythology. And even when the vampires coffin sank in a ship wreck he still eventually got out again. That was about a vampire called Dio though. Not Dracula."

She gives Kara a wave. "I have /plenty/ of things I'd like throwing into space. But none of them need to actually hit the Sun. Not yet anyway. I'm working on a device which will let us tap into the Sun for limitless clean energy."

Brow furrowing, deep in thought, she adds "Kara you might, in theory, be able to vaccinate the number of people we'd need to cure. But it'll be tricky actually finding everyone who would need a dose and we can't just vaccinate /everyone/."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica looks towards Kara with a nod and she pauses. The sun idea isn't good. The ocean isn't permanent either. She frowns and wonders outloud,"I wonder if you or Superman could fly him out to Saturn or Neptune. Pluto for that matter. Still existing, but not existing here?" she suggests.

There is no question, she /really/ doesn't like him. At all.

She considers what Kara says and asks,"Are you sure you are immune or you think you are? I haven't seen the disease up close, just the carrier. Your skin is tough though. How are you against magic things? There is definately something magic about him."

Again, she is analyzing things. Not accusing or being smart, trying to figure something out.

Supergirl has posed:
"It has less to do with being tough and more to do that I am chock full of the sun. It's where my powers come from," she says with a shrug. "So I bet my blood is like battery acid or liquid fire to vampires." She pauses, scrunching up her nose. "Maybe. I actually don't know, I don't remember the last time I fought vampires."

Her eyebrows knit together, completing the picture. It's probably adorable. "Magic is, well, I'm just as vulnerable to magic as anyone else."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"We won't actually be /fighting/ Dracula," Nadia says, fighting the urge to giggle. "We're working out a treatment to stop people who are carriers for the Dracula virus turning into Dracula."

She pauses and gives Kara a look. A curious look. The 'I have an idea' look.

"You know that means we could in theory use your genetic material for making a vaccine. Sort of. If we replaced all the Dracula virus bits with Kryptonian DNA. So they store solar energy and prevent vampirism..."

Kryptonian DNA manipulation probably goes on the probably impractically hard solutions list.

"Although I can't rule out that we'd actually have to fight a vampire. Probably this sort of research might be pretty dangerous. If you do want to know more about fighting vampires I have the contact information for the client! Her name was Vampirella."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica is thoughtful about the idea of Kyrptonian blood being ascid or liquid fire. She frowns a little and mutters,"Wonder if there is a way to test that? Weaponize..." she pauses and realize what she is saying,"...sorry. Sometimes I get obsessed, especially when it comes to...him."

She hears Nadia's idea and her brow raises a little,"I like that." she admits thoughtfully. She considers something for a while and mutters,"I would like to meet her. Her name is a little...on the nose though."

She is finally steady enough to get up and go to where the tea and hot water is. She selects a tea and starts to steep it, her eyes distant for a moment.

Supergirl has posed:
"Luckily for you, I've got some skill in the genetics area. Together we might be able to whip something up," Kara says, suddenly beaming. Beyonf being full of the sun, she's just...very sunny.

"Honestly, we could probably extrapolate from there. From a vaccine, I mean. Weaponize it." Her eyes flicker towards Angelica. It's a good idea. May as well encourage it.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"I'm hoping to also get Gwen involved with the genetics and biochemistry side," Nadia says brightly. "Everyone who has time is welcome to help! The more the merrier. Vampirella is going to be providing samples for study. I'm hoping she can get us some willing carriers we can test. Rather than any... bits.. of victims."

But she can't rule it out. Certainly 'Rella seemed like the sort of lady to get involved in trouble.

"I don't intend on breaking any of GIRLs no weapon rules. But a portable vaccine dispenser system is acceptable. We can't just release a virus that'll spread uncontrollably though. Too much risk of it mutating and becoming dangerous. Which could be catastrophic if we were to introduce alien DNA into the environment."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica blinks and remembers that pesky no weapons rule. She takes a sip of her tea and mutters softly,"Sorry. I get edgy on that subject. No weapons rule slipped my mind."

Speaking of slipping her mind. Her eyes widen a little and she says,"You're not Karen. Holy..." she pauses and tells Kara,"I am so sorry. I was not paying close enough attention. I'm Angelica. Sorry for not catching that."

Supergirl has posed:
"Right, right. No weapons," Kara says. 'Here,' is what she thinks. The Fortress of Solitude is, after all, a place where miracles can happen. Given all of the equipment and sundries available there, she might be able to work something up on her own.

Maybe.

The blonde starts a little when Angelica realizes she isn't Karen. It makes her giggle. "Close. I'm Kara. Karen is ... my sister. Sort of. It's complicated. It's nice to meet you, Angelica!"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
There is a pause. As Nadia looks between Angelica and Kara. Then back again. Eventually settling on Kara. "Is your sister interested in science?" she wonders innocently. "Perhaps you could ask her if she'd like to come hang out sometime? Assuming she's curious that is. The more the merrier!" She doesn't immediately hand Kara a bunch of brochures. But only because she already sent her plenty of promotional material. "Weaponizing the vaccine isn't the initial goal. We just need to work out a way to stop people turning into hosts. If we can get that sorted... Well it'll be a numbers game at that point. If we can stop any new Dracula bodies being formed then people who want to hunt vampires can deal with the final stage."

She doesn't seem quite as interested in the notion of vampire hunting as she is the challenge of making weird super vaccines!

Firestar has posed:
Angelica smiles and tells Kara,"Your sister is a good sort. I like her a lot." She sips her tea and gets her head off the weapon thoughts and opens it to something less direct, but is at the same time more direct.

"So if we could wipe out the genetic marker it would, in theory take him off the board for good." she muses thoughtfully,"Adapative bastard might find another way." She really has a hate on for him,"Still. I think that might be great. Figuring out how to isolate the gene will be tricky too, but not impossible. A little outside my scope, but I am glad to help where I can."

Supergirl has posed:
"I can work with Gwen on the genetics stuff," Kara says with a shrug. "I was doing genetic engineering when I was ten, but that was before I was sent here." Krypton was wild. Nadia would have enjoyed it. Her head tilts ever so slightly, her lips twitching upwards at Angelica saying those nice things about Karen.

This thoughtline is incredibly amusing.

"Extra hands are always useful!"

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Gosh Nadia really would have enjoyed it on Krypton. It's probably best no-one ever suggests a time machine or else she'd go back and try visit.

"I'll be joining in too," she asserts. "I don't want to miss out on anything this fun! Genetic engineering is one of my hobbies." She genetically engineered herself to give herself super powers in her teens while a prisoner at the Red Room. This is totally her idea of fun. "The more eyes we have on the problem the better though. I'll be using some of my personal labs and, if you don't mind Kara, I might run a few tests at Titans Tower. Just to save Kate a little money on new genetics equipment."

Sadly this isn't likely to be a well paying project. But it's different. It's strange. And most of all? Potentially very fun. If you're Nadia anyway.

Firestar has posed:
Angelica smirks, listening to the two nerding out a little on things over her head. She laughs softly and finally tells them,"Well for this one I can clean up, fetch things, and order pizza like a champ. When we have to make things about it move, well that's me." she admits.

She does think about the things both women say and studies Nadia a moment. A thought for another night maybe, she doesn't ask anyway.

Supergirl has posed:
"Feel free, Nadia. They're yours to use. I mean, no one else uses them much," Kara says with a smile. "Besides me when I get bored, anyway. They should be pretty well stocked. Let me know if something's low and I'll get it replenished." The burden of leadership.

"Don't discount yourself, Angelica. You might not be a scientist, but you know more about this specific issue than either of us, so your insights will be gandy. Promise."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Pretty much everyone at GIRL is some sort of scientist or an engineer," Nadia points out brightly. Ignoring that technically there is a third type of person you might meet. Eccentric billionaire. "It's just Angelica is focused on physics and not genetics. Well not yet anyway. I'm sure she could learn!" Although given all the pressures on a superhero's time it's unlikely to be a quick process.

"There's a lot of non genetics work we'll need to do too," she muses. "Statistics, background research, magical theory, and we're going to need to collate as much data about vampires as possible. The more we know the better."

She blinks a few times.

"Once we have samples I think I should probably test everyone involved to make sure we're not carriers and if we are we can focus on curing ourselves first. The last thing we want is to discover the next Dracula will be a member of the project team. They could sabotage our research. Or make a more virulent strain and infect the whole world... I suppose once we have more research material it'll need to go in an extremely high security vault. Something which will obliterate the samples in the event of any breaches in security."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica smiles a little and tells Kara,"Oh I am a scientist. My speciatly is physics like Nadia said. Movement in general, radiation in particular. I live with it everyday so I had to get very well educated about it. I am working on getting a degree. I've already done the work, so might as well have the papers. Genetics and engineering are a little above my paygrade."

Her eyes widen a little and she takes a sip of her tea,"You can start with me then. If we need to check that sort of thing I want to know if I am susceptible. It might be that's I unfortunately caught his attention." She still hates the whole thing, but this aspect pricks the scientist's mind and that sort of hypothesis isn't too crazy for her. She didn't explain everything to Nadia yet.

She takes a breath and exhales,"Spiderman and Iceman had to come for me. I was at a dance, a handsome man swept me off my feet, the next thing I know I am in a coffin laying on cold dirt. I see him and start to heat up, next thing I know Spidey and Frosty are at my side, shaking me out of things. I have no idea if he bit me for sure, I mean there were no punctures, but it isn't unheard of that vampires have magic that could mask that." She looks a little sick at the thought.

Supergirl has posed:
Kara's expression slips into a frown. "The old Mind Whammy, huh," she says at Angelica's story, shaking her head. "Terrible. I'm sorry he did that to you. Though, if you're full of fire, he had to or you would have incinerated him, I bet."

Super Vision. She can -see- the heightened microwave radiation around Angelica.

"With a couple vials of blood, we should be able to discern quickly if you're infected or not. Though, honestly, I wonder. Hold still."

Kara steps closer to Angelica in a rustle of cape. She stares at the other woman, her eyes narrowed. What starts as simple scrutiny turns into a thousand yard stare. Then a million mile stare. What she's doing is combining her x-ray vision with her microscopic vision. She's looking at Angelica's blood -right here-.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"Kara should be able to detect any residual damage that might have occurred if you were bitten," Nadia muses thoughtfully. "But we really don't have anything to test against yet. Sure we could run tests on Angelia but would we know for sure if any changes were the result of a vampire? Or of her powers? Unless you have genetic samples from before the incident?"

She snaps her fingers.

"A hair brush perhaps? Or an old tooth brush. Anything at all we could get a pre-Dracula sample from. Then we will be able to see if any DNA changes have taken place recently."

"Maybe Spider-Man isn't quite the menace the media say he is." She bites her lip. "Maybe." She's still not entirely convinced he isn't getting Gwen into trouble!

Not that Gwen needs help getting into trouble.

"From what Vampirella told me he doesn't seem to possess female hosts. I don't know if that's a personal choice or if he's not able to take them over. But it does suggest you're probably unlikely to turn any time soon."

Firestar has posed:
She sits very still while Kara looks at her. She seems to understand what is happening pretty quickly. She listens to both of them and tries to remain still while her eyes move to meet Nadia's.

"If my life is on the line, there is nobody that I would want coming for me before Spiderman. He has a heart of gold and if his plumbing was different he would belong among us."

There is a fire in her eyes when she talks of Spidey. Not angry, just making sure,"He's among my best friends in the world and I stood up to Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman about him. I love being a member of the Justice League, but at the end of the day Spidey saved my life more than once and put his in jeopardy to do so."

She looks a little relieved at the idea of not being a host because he doesn't posess females.

Supergirl has posed:
Kara's stare seems to last an instant and forever. She blinks a few times, taking a step back, shaking her head to get her perspective back out to normal. She takes a deep breath to fight the vertigo that comes.

"Well, your blood looks normal. Might want to watch your cholesterol though," she says with a grin, clearly joking.

Cholesterol doesn't matter when you're a microwave emitter.

"I didn't see anything weird, or anything I didn't expect to see, so I think she's fine."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"It can't hurt to run comparative genetic tests anyway," Nadia says innocently. Like she's slyly looking for an excuse to do a full DNA breakdown on a mutant with interesting energy powers. For SCIENCE!

And also vampire prevention. But mostly the science.

"I promise it'll be non-invasive testing!" She flutters her lashes. "Who knows if we're really lucky we'll find some common genetic element between Vampirella, Angelia and Kryptonians that makes you all immune. And then we can turn that into the basis for our cure."

Firestar has posed:
Angelica lets out a breath and nods when Kara makes her assessment of things. She nods finally and tells her softly,"Have to cut down on all the ice cream." she teases finally,"I am relieved to hear you don't see anything unusual. It's always haunted me."

She looks at Nadia and a smile shows again,"I will have to go deal with some family drama, but I will get you a tooth brush and maybe I still have the home genetics tests you get in high school. It might take me a bit to find it." She winks and adds,"It's tempting to see what makes the microwaves work. I know."