15802/Improbability Drive: Involvement issues

Improbability Drive: Involvement issues
Date of Scene:	14 November 2023
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	The Infinite improbability drive was put to the test and a few things were learned by the (anti)heros. Like, make sure you're dressed when a scenario is started.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Phantasm (Drago), Lucifer

---

Sinister has posed:
It's snowing. It was bound to happen, that first hit of the season. And it's mid-november, so dreary is par for the course. Filming in this kind of weather has to be for exactly the right kind of action. And if that's not in the offing, presumably a text for a bit of brainstorming and weird video feed review, plus drinks and snacks, might go answered in the positive, right?

Yesterday, we'll have to admit, was just plain weird.

Sinister's fiddling behind a panel hidden in one of the walls behind a painting, working with two different tools held in his mouth, one in each hand and some fine soldering equipment being levitated and operated just by his BRAIN. The smell of melting and burning metal is a very unique one, isn't it? That's why the fire is roaring AND the balcony doors are open just a smidge, despite the snowfall.

ZZZZZZZzzzzt <<So, I invited Nick over. We should probably see if my work here will actually review the crystal memory record -- then we can actually take an outside look at the first go around.>> Zzzzzz-KKZZt.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As the elevator door dings open, Nick's attire betrays the weather going on outside. The lighter jacket for the fall has been switched out with a longer coat which does well to go down to his knees at least. Everything is zipped up and each button on the overlayer has been brought into duty to prevent any air creeping into any feasible gaps. Judging from that, the gloves and hat still being on, and the scarf being the only thing undone, Nick does not appear to have dallied in his trip over from wherever he had gotten the message.

It appears the importance of the situation has been made clear... even if the details were yet again...lacking.

"What happened now?"

Lucifer has posed:
The scent of hot metal is a very distinguishable one, but it's not one that Lucifer turns his nose up at. The warmth of the fire mixing with the chill of the occasional breeze from the windows being open does create an interesting atmosphere inside but at least one - the fire - does stave off the other well enough. The text from Nathaniel reads a bit odd but it seems like the man is trying to see if he can pull imagry from what happened yesterday so they could actually...watch it? Maybe?

Lucifer sometimes has these moments where he just nods his head and pretends to understand up until the moment of fruition.

At the arrival of Nick, Lucifer gives a smile to the man and then shrugs his shoulders. "Nathaniel turned on the probability machine yesterday. It did something funky. So now I'm waiting for him to finish poking at it with sticks and stones to let us know what the next steps are. How are you Nick? Would you like to shed some of those layers?"

Sinister has posed:
"Mmmmnnnnfmmm," When you have tools in your mouth. One is quickly switched out, a second goes in to help his hands fixate what he was working on and he looks up at the lights in the penthouse for a moment as they dim, then brighten. He grins around the screwdrivers and sends everything off to its respective box. Leaves his mouth free, which is useful for communication purposes, even if in his case, it isn't essential.

"I think that probably worked. Hex, would you please configure the holo-imaging to quantum crystal playback?"

"Certainly, Nathaniel." The voice is like a living creamsicle, coming from various hidden speakers.

"Ohh. I like that. When you get a bee in your bonnet and have the computer AI sample sexy voices. Maybe I shouldn't have done that..." He looks over at the elevator, at Nick, then Lucifer and the melting snow on attire. "New York seems to be being itself. Good evening. Sorry, was I vague again?" The inquiry had, he looks up and around, frowns and makes his mouth small as he peers at the hidden holoimagers "I say Quantum feed, you say certainly but we're distinctly lacking in a feed, Hex."

"I appear to be hampered by a firewall, Nathaniel."

"Augh, crap, I forgot about that..." pulling out his phone, he puts his thumb to the screen, stares at it a few seconds, then looks over at the gentlemen again. "Booting up the drive had a rather peculiar side effect and it took me a hot minute to work out how to create an interface with the drive. I'm hoping we can have a look at the images and scenario data and see what we can glean..." another peer at the ceiling "...there. Better?"

"Yes Nathaniel, searching crystal archive."

....*muttered* "There's only been one bloody scenario, for crying out loud."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
To the mention of the machine being shut on, Nick gives a slow nod in response to that. "...How bad was it?"

The musician clears the doorway and makes his way over to the bar area, draping the scarf onto a chair while popping off his hat. Another nod is given to Lucifer's question about the loss of layers. "Yes, coat first... then machine antics."

Fingers twist with each button as Nick listens to the exchange between Nathaniel and the machine, a brow lifting to the AI's voice.

...Well...it's better than the voice of what Hawking used. Granted, he was a bit too famous to be experimenting with different sound clips after the fact. It was a brand by that point, so he was at the mercy of what the 80s had to offer.

Hearing the doctor's mutters at the end, Nick gives off a slight snerk. Shaking his head as he sheds the coat. Pretty much the coat appeared to be the fanciest part of his attire. While that could have been considered church attire friendly, the outfit underneath was a simple pair of jeans, boots, and a navy long-sleeved crew neck shirt with the hint of a white tee peeking from underneath the collar. The gloves stay on. He saw that open window.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer takes a slow breath. "Apparently, me being me, a series of things happened. First, the event was based on an improbable outcome. Second, because I am me...or because I was the subject matter, I got sucked into the actual simulation. And the simulation itself was...interesting. It was basically what would have happened if I won against my father, and then somehow became god." Lucifer explains a bit and then shakes his head.

When that voice responds to Nathaniel, he raises a brow and then glances over towards Nathaniel. "Well...that's an interesting voice...it's silky and smooth...and almost...creamy..." He looks himself over and then takes a breath and looks back to Nick, notiing the man keeps his gloves on. "You know. We do have a fire going." He offers before moving to the kitchen and puts a pot on, filling it with water.

"It was all bright, and people were only happy. The best part was when I unscrewed the sun for a moment. Like it was a fucking lightbulb." Then he looks back to Nathaniel. "How's it going with everything?"

Sinister has posed:
"Playback imminent. Shall I proceed?" Hex asks.

"Please do," Sinister gives a double gun thumbs up at the two others and presto change-o, the holoimagers in the penthouse along with the hidden speakers, provide surround sound immersive replay theatre.

Unfortunately, it only goes as far as the balcony doors, but standing there, it's possible to view the illusory images of what transpired out there and the audio isn't cut off.

It's all a bit bizarro-world meets A Beautiful Mind and Being John Malkovitch.

Walking to the kitchen to fuss up a cup of earl grey, Sin leaves the other tea offerings around if they're also desired and leans against the counter closest to both men. "Cue: me programming like a mad thing in the lab and imminently..." the golden Sinister appears in the playback.

"It's got some rather obvious glitches and I'm pretty sure we -have- to come up with a way, if any of us get sucked in, to differentiate that this isn't the reality we know."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick nods to the comment regarding the fire. Shifting a bit closer to the fire, he stills. Pale eyes watch as the scene plays back. Lucifer's added description to what was going on is listened to before Sinister calls out when his double appears.

Nick blinks to the brightly adorned doctor, looks to the real one and then to goldie. "It has the feel of a dream." Nick comments, "Or a magically interactive drawing." He allows, thinking back to when he could just condense the size of a drawing with a pinching motion.

"Did the projections change any of the things on your person or just what was around you?"

Lucifer has posed:
"So things that I...I guess it's hard to describe. I remember reaching for my robe and putting on my slippers, but I don't actually recall them -being- there. They just...were. So things in my perception of person did not change. Just the bits around me." Lucifer admits readily.

"I suppose the first thing that really caught me off guard, aside from the brightness of everything and the....very religious type choir tunes coming from the television...was actually the fact that Nathaniel...was cooking." He looks sidelong to his lover fair for a moment before going to the fridge to pull out a bowl of diced apples - red and green - and then proceeds to pour them into the pot, adding in a bit of sugar after. "Sorry darling, but we've had this talk before of you admitting that you cannot cook very well. That's usually left to me. The toast was one thing, but eggs and bacon? That was the weird bit." As, in his recollection, Nathaniel would very much just wind up scrambling eggs because they didn't cook right - or the yolk always broke.

"Then there was the wording used. It seemed very much an interesting thing that Nathaniel was using very PG-friendly words instead of cursing. As if he wasn't able to do such. The phrase What in the kittens is going on...being a telling thing." He continues.

"Overall glitches, yes. Needing to figure out if it's real or not a strong second. And not knowing if the subject will always be pulled into the simulation or not...a resounding third."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister sniffs a couple of times. "Spiced apple?" Oh, that might end up being a very good distraction for the man, given his expression. Just what one needs on a wintery day in November. He inches closer to where Lucifer's boiling it all up and just idly inhales vapours.

Arms get folded as do legs as he leans against the kitchen counter close to the cooktops, nodding in agreement to Lucifer's observations.

"I cannot forgive that particular scenario for putting me in -crocks-. And a twee kitty apron." Cats may have been a theme in that world. A puuuuuuuuuurrrsistant theme. "It seemed like a strangely overlit watercolour painting to my perception, but I wasn't -in- the scenario."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick gives a slight head tilt to the concept of Sinister cooking. He wasn't privy to the inability to, he just assumed Sinister was just too busy to do such things. Everyone had their quirks. "Well, I mean, things you keep in your pockets." Nick clarifies, "When I use my abilities, it generally extends to what I'm wearing or carrying so they're typically not under the affect of the dream being traveled through. Just my will. So maybe getting in the habit of carrying a keepsake with you could help with determining?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Yes. Spiced apple...cider I think? I think this is cider...not like juice because I'm not pressing the apples..." Lucifer confirms with a nod. "All in all it was very surreal... and I felt like I was both there and not there...I think when I was able to literally unscrew the sun and screw it back in...I knew. Like I truly knew. Then I confronted the scenario and that's when Goldie Sinister appeared." He smirks, then shifts to lean close and nose into Nathaniel's neck. "Anyway... I think we need to run something where I'm not the subject...but how can we tell it who to specify towards? Or is that another glitch we need to work out?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister hmmms, brow coming together in a steeple as the mention of a keepsake is brought up. "I'm... not sure exactly how what you're describing would help ground a person in reality -- if one is experiencing an altered state, the recollection of a token would go out the window, without superlative willpower involved. However... you've just given me an idea, if i can figure out how to execute it."

There's a laugh at the unscrewing of the sun, followed by the subtle shake of his head. "That was extremely unexpected and sublimely ridiculous. But your question is a genetic one, in this instance, a -personal- biocode. In order to run your scenario, I used one of your hairs to inform the machine of the target, but I believe a retinal scan, or a spit test would be adequate to the task also. It does need to be run through again though, with a less obvious question. I chose that deliberately to provide a question to answer that was wholely obvious on the observer."

His tea steeped now, he adds a little lemon and a drip of honey and sips, looking at both men, whilst basking in the scent of apple spice and earl grey. "So, any ideas that you think would be obvious to differentiate, whilst we're working out kinks?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Maybe you might not remember having the token, but how long do you go without putting your hands in your pockets?" Nick comments. "Even just a basic note." He pauses, considering the question. "One part of lucid dreaming is developing a system where you do regular reality checks through the day which kind of grooms you to eventually do it while you're dreaming. It just seems like something that could help."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer continues to fuss over the spiced apple concoction he's currently working on making at the stove. Little bits of the conversation here and there while he's adding a few more spices and checking the apples to see if they're mushy enough yet to move onto phase two of the drink.

"Wait. You need it run through again with me as the subject? And a not so obvious question? What was the question before then? What would have happened if I became God?" Asking this as he side-eyes his lover and then looks back to the pot simmering away, filling the whole penthouse - soon - with the scent of apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. "Anyway. I don't mind it... but I think an anchor test might be nice too. But if this only works on a personal type of point...how the hell are we going to configure it against a whole asteroid? Using the stones we have as biochemical connections?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister listens to Nick's reply, his head tilted. By his expression he's still not utterly sure how that would relate to being able to differentiate being a part of, or apart from the scenario. "I can see that long-term, if we were uniquely attempting to use the machine, solely and only us. But we may have to add additional factors, that we would not necessarily have the time to train in such mental exercizes. We'd have to have a hard and fast training system for anyone that has to be involved in a scenario, to drill them in how to utilize that kind of mnemonic. I'm open to hearing how, but that might be a notion that needs to be stuck on the corkboard of brainstorming and revised if it has refinement potential."

The scent is extremely comforting. He takes another hearty swig of tea.

Eyes slide to Lucifer. "The question was simply: what if Lucifer had won? Becoming god wasn't involved, but it seems that's the most likely outcome that the drive extrapolated. The machine focuses on the individuals doing the asking, you see, or extrapolates the identity of who is the focus by their unique and unreplicable self. And it was a past query, one that was an obvious one that did not happen, but one that could be easily observed and analyzed for how the drive relates to living individuals experiencing it. /Further/ questions, I suspect will be more present. Choices about to be made, filed into the interface and extrapolated from the individuals presenting their unique data. So, if we three were asking if our choice to do this or that is a workable outcome, it will pull the details from the intention of now and ourselves and play that scenario out. I have a feeling someone out of any team will have to stay outside of the machine's immediate vicinity, to be the interface avatar, as long as I can get that to work immediately in the outcome. It took a while, as you saw, for the program to write itself in."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick sighs, throwing up his gloved hands "... Well, I have offered my suggestions of the long term approach and just have a freaking note explaining what's going on in the pocket and you've shot both of them down. Unless you're up for the buddy system, I'm tapped out on ideas."

Lucifer has posed:
"Should I mash the apples a bit and then strain it through a cheesecloth... or should I puree it and push it through a seive?" Lucifer asks this, aloud but perhaps to himself? Perhaps seeing how Nathaniel might prefer it? Who knows.

When Nick gives that sort of outburst, he glances over to the man and then shakes his head some. "I have no idea... I'm only asking questions to make myself seem like I know half of what's going on. I think I get most of it... but..." He shrugs and then looks back to Nathaniel. Almost giving him a stern, 'are you ignoring him' type of look.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister gives a broad sweep of one hand, palm up as if to say 'whatever works'. He isn't particularly fussy it seems, when it comes ot the preparation of spiced apple cider. However, the outburst makes him blink and blink again in a flutter of lashes, looking at the look he just got given by Lucifer with a taken aback drain of emotivity. It rallies though, with "...I try not to get deeply into the science of these things, honestly I do. I also tend to think beyond the instance, it's what's made me quite good at keeping several steps ahead of the game in many situations. I wasn't trying to shoot you down, I was trying to pull the thought apart and examine if it's possible to do it. It would be in your ballcourt, if you were to teach the methodology to those invested in this critical timeline, Nick. If you think it can work, you'd have to teach -us-... all of us... how it's actually done."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick is quiet for a few moments. Staring at Sinister. How does one not get the concept of a note in a place one tends to check on the regular?

Quietly, the musician glances around before he shifts over, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.

There's the quiet scrawl of wording before the pen is set down with a clack upon the counter. The paper is then crisply folded. The note is held up as he walks over to Lucifer. Offering it over to him. "Can you put that in your pocket?"

Once the note is taken, Nick moves back over towards the fire and sits.

Lucifer has posed:
Mashed apples pushed through a sieve it is then. Because it's just more fun that way. So Lucifer tests some of the apples with a fork again only to be satisfied with their consistency. He turns the burner off, sets the pot aside to let the apple mixture cool a little bit and then turns to face the other two. "I know you do, love, but sometimes you really do need to explain stuff to me as if I were a five year old child..." He offers this gently and is about to likely say something else when Nick walks over and hands him a note. With a lofted brow, he nods, and tucks it into a pocket. "Sooo... you stand over there and we try the probability machine one more time?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister watches the demonstration of the note-writing with a blank expression, tracks it as Nick walks over and hands it to him, reads it and then when Lucifer takes it, he looks like he's struggling with a lot of things all at once. A deep breath is taken, then he turns to the room, setting his tea down and states. "Hex, replay and pause the beginning of the scenario..."
"Yes, Nathaniel."

And it opens with Lucifer in bed. Naked as a jaybird, rousing up to the day.

He sighs then, looking at the ceiling and back a the archangel on the bed. "What happens when you wake up in bed with no pockets, Nick?" he turns, expression bland. "Which is what I was getting at. How do you train the brain, if you happen to engage in the scenario in a weird beginning point? Pockets and notes won't work." He gestures at Lucifer in the bed, then Lucifer in the room. "End scenario."

Blink, off it goes.

"I wasn't in it. But there was a version of me that was, acting more or less like myself. If /all/ of us end up in the scenario in a compromising way, where what we are perceiving doesn't challenge our reality all that much, how do we remind ourselves of the note in the pocket of the real world we left behind?"

He looks to Lucifer then, rubs at the bridge of his nose with the pad of his thumb and then shrugs, arms spreading. "What question? And who stays out of the machine's scope?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick glances up to Lucifer mentioning him wanting to go into a simulation right then and there. "Oh if you're jumping into one right now, I should update what I gave Lucif-"

Nick looks over to Sinister as Lucifer appears naked.

And then comes the lecture.

"...Remember when I asked if the person in the projection's immediate self and belongings is altered and you guys went 'No'? My suggestions were based off that. So okay you win. Unless you want to do a The Silence style solution and write directly on the arm."

Nick looks over to the fire, "And I never suggested we ALL go in."

Lucifer has posed:
"Maybe it's also different if we know we're asking it a question? Not knowing I was being used in a simulation of sorts was likely what maybe caused the bit of confusion at first?" Lucifer looks between the two men. "There are a lot of variables we don't know yet... but we need to find them out before we can do any real work with the machine Nathaniel and us have worked hard to put together." He offers this much more and then turns to his lover fair.

"Give me whatever you need to that I can spit in or put my saliva on somehow. As for the question... I'm not sure... cause the one I really want to ask....we may not like the answer to. Cause it really will involve what happens if I go toss the Apophis Meteor out of existence..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's mouth opens, closes again, nose wrinkling and then? The calm. He shakes his head, turning toward the lab as he nods to Lucifer, beckonning to both men. "It wasn't about winning. This isn't a competition I care to be in..." he says it quietly and without much nuance or marked tonality, punching in the code on the door and placing his hand upon the pad to scan it.

The lab looks pretty ordinary inside, as far as Sinister-influenced labs ever do. Of the actual feather of Uriel in its cube, there is no sign. What there IS is a computer bank, with multiple screens in a semicircle and a keyboard in the bench, sleek designs and only a /few/ chromed flechettes to add that quality of steam punk. Two hand pads on either side of the keyboard appear to be the main culprits of chroming... One has to have certain aesthetics, doesn't one? There's a kind of plastiglass centrifuge device by the keyboard, with a simpe probe and a sample tray that pops out, which he gestures toward.

"This is a work in progress too, I do like things to be finished properly. This is so -rough-." Doesn't look it, but there we go. He floats over a probe, turns to Nick and nods to him. "Maybe you should be the interface this go around. Think of a question that you want to know the most likely probabilities of, involving the two of us..." he gestures at himself and Lucifer. "...Enter it on the keyboard and place your hands on the sensor pads to engage the interface itself. You'll be holographically inserted into the scenario after it boots up. We'll enter our uniqueness into the drive."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The musician frowns, not really looking at Nathaniel as his face dances between expressions. But as the lab door is opened and it appears they're supposed to follow the doctor inside, he complies. Silently looking over the scene before glancing over to the hand pads and the keyboard. Nick looks over to Sinister. "... Supposing I did pick a question to kick of a scenario. How would I stop it from my end if it was necessary?"

Beyond the overly dramatic 'kill the spell' way that is.

He looks to the setup. "Do I just lift my hands up to stop?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer easily follows Nathaniel into the lab. He's been in here many times before and he will likely be in this lab again. Sometimes he's even been in this lab on his own, only for Nathaniel to find out later. And be a little miffed about it. None the less, as he walks in and listens to the conversation between the two men, one shoulder lifts in a shrug. "The way I had to stop mine was to tell it No. Like, No, this isn't real and I don't accept it. I suppose it may differ from person to person or scenario to scenario..." This much more is said before he shifts to sit on the most empty spot of a counter that he can find. He doesn't have much more to add than that, letting Sinister take most of the questions as this is all his project.

Sinister has posed:
"The chances are, you might have to knock us out of it, if what we're in has fuddled our brains... you'll appear incorporeally in the scenario. But yes. Hands down, activates the drive. Input on the keyboard. Put the hands back on the pads and state 'abort scenario' should do the trick. If it doesn't..." Sin indicates a silver button on the plastiglass housing array. "Hard reset. Press and hold for the count of three."

Then, he nods to Lucifer. "You were the only one in it. Not sure how it'll work with two of us inside. Anyhoo..." the learning curve's interesting at least, right? He efficiently swabs his own cheek with a bit of saliva and moves to do the same for Lucifer, inputting the material into a petri-dish like tray of the drive casing.

"Ready when you are, Nick."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks to Lucifer as he explains how he got out of the last one. Good to know for if he's ever on the other side of the simulation and so he nods. When Sinister provides more information for the other end of the process, Nick nods.

"Alright."

He pauses, looking to the pair trying to think of a question that ONLY pertains to Lucifer and Sinister.

The gloved hands are lifted and set upon the pads. Seeing and sensing no change he frowns. "...does it do anything to let you know when it's time to input stuff?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer doesn't know the answer to Nick's question because it seems he wasn't in quite the same boat as Nick is going to be in. He takes a breath and looks around a moment, letting Nathaniel swab the inside of his cheek to collect the saliva sample that's needed.

"So, wait, are we going to witness the inside of this whole thing then? Or..." He's now a bit confused how all this actually works.

Sinister has posed:
There's a silent point at the gloves. "Reads biometrics. Unfortunately your gloves aren't exactly alive. In the strictest sense." Sinister does consider the rest of that though, musing. "Not really, although I possibly should add a voice prompt. I did go through this megalomaniacal phase where I liked having everything saying 'yes' at me, or being a good little bot program, but I grew tired of it after a bit. Just type it in."

Looking at Lucifer, he shakes his head. "We shouldn't. We should be engaged in the scenario. We'll re-emerge in here though, most likely."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick watches the lifted hand and follows the direction of the gesture. Seeing the gloves and hearing the explanation to go with it, he sighs. "...Right."

The hands slide off the pads before the musician tugs off the right glove, shoving that into a pocket before he takes a bit more time to peel off the left one. Shuffling the somewhat inside out glove to the other hand, he tucks it into the same pocket as the right.

Gloves taken care of, the hands move back to the pads, revealing the middle and index fingers to be bandaged at the tips.

Seeing a change in the lighting, Nickgives a slight nod. "Better."

Shifting over to the keyboard, Nick types in his question.

Question entered in, Nick moves back to the pads to set his hands on them again. And now it's time to watch.

Let's see what happens if Lucifer and Sinister were put in charge of planning a birthday party for a twin set of five year olds.

Sinister has posed:
The scene flashes brilliant golden in what should blind all involved...

But then, there's the penthouse with party streamers and balloons everywhere and Nathaniel Essex in the middle of darting into the kitchen area, with a harried look. "This is not how I remember -anything- of being a child. Why are they all wanting to play on my smart phone? Please. PLEASE tell me that the sausage rolls came out alright. And where did we put the candles for the birthday cake? Remind me, next time we think daycare friends are a good idea, that there's party planners and people you can hire for this sort of thing."

Music is playing and with a glance at the wall, the music stops. "Pass the parcel seems to be only interesting to half of them."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Sitting over in the corner, Nick seems slouched over by a rather expensive looking record player. One hand is holding up the needle arm off of the record. After the interested parties make their general discoveries of what is under the next layer, Nick lowers the needle arm back onto the revolving record, starting the music up again. He looks over to Sinister and Lucifer, "You know, you could have saved a lot of money by booking someone else to play 'DJ'. I bet Wade's still laughing."

Lucifer has posed:
"The sausage rolls are fine, kids these days are spoilt brats into mostly technology... we could probably put on some kid show on the television and they'd all just sit there and be mesmerized for hours..." Lucifer says this as he pulls the rolls out of the oven, sets them down and then moves them to a cooling rack, makes another pitcher of drink and grabs the candles to set beside the cake. "Nathaniel. You need to BREATHE. Even if you don't /need/ to...you *need* to..." He tries to emphasize the necessity in two different ways as if to say 'Calm Thy Tits!'.

"Wait. Why is Wade laughing? Are you not the DJ? Did he over charge us? Not that I care..." A pause. "Gillian, no no, we don't eat that sweets..."

Sinister has posed:
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. This is fine." Sinister's reply is chipper, as their apartment 'burns' around them. He stares at the sausage rolls, then idly picks a kid up telekinetically and moves them out of the way of the 'sharp objects' and things that they really, really don't want to be broken.

Nick's interjection has him tilting his head. "Yes, it does seem like ... maybe it's a form of hypnotism I've yet to master-- mind-numbing television. That's why I didn't have one for the very longest time..." he sighs. "Nick, it's mostly about trust. Half-pint little human beings have these vetting processes, or so the parentals told me. Gads, parents. Spoiled as much as the kids are... No! That is NOT for show and tell, it's very delicate and could break at any second..."

Cue: hurrying over to save a piece of priceless decoration from a 'what is it?' curiosity.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks over to Lucifer with 'a look'. "If you want a DJ, you should probably start with 'I'd like to book a DJ' instead of specifying me to act as a DJ." As a child hovers by, Nick pauses, to watch the kid give a happy laugh. "...Ok. Maybe it is better that you specified me after all."

He lifts up the needle arm to stop the music again. At least the ones that want 'free shit' are currently distracted. But there are only so many layers to go. "I'm a bit surprised that none of the other parents aren't here."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks, then blinks again. He's midway to approaching a child when whatever Nick is doing finally clicks in his mind. He looks to the man in the corner. "Doesn't being a DJ just mean you pick the music that's being played? You're currently ruining the needle of a quite old and very expensive record player. Also...why are you using a record player?" He asks this while looking around a moment. No parents? What does he mean...

"I mean there are...were...should...be...other parents...here..." He stops, blinks, looks around. "Anyway. Yes. Maybe. I need a drink..."

Sinister has posed:
"It could be worse," Sinister mutters under his breath. "It could always be worse..." and with a setting of the object on a high shelf, he turns to look at the crowd of half-pint people. Face by face they're regarded, then Nick in the corner, 'scratching' old-school. There's a head tilt, his lips parting, as he again looks at every child in the room, one by one.

"It seems illogical that every single parent deposited their tiny offspring on us, without any assistant chaperone at all. I don't think we're quite that trustworthy with other people's children."

He blinks a few times, walks through the milling crowd, skillfully avoiding the one that's cheerfully tearing up old wrapping paper all over the place and comes upon the wall of drinks. A simple choice: a large bottle of unopened whiskey and the 'adults' in the room can be extremely bad examples.

He ends up over at Lucifer's side, staring at the candles and the cake. A couple are placed into the icing, with those birthday sparklers, also.

Then abruptly: "Whose kids are these? We don't have any. I don't think I know a soul that has twins. Remind me again why we agreed to..." pause "...to..."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks over to Lucifer to his question. "You would THINK it would..." Nick replies back. "But... you booked me and NOT a DJ, to be a DJ." Without breaking eye contact with the devil, Nick sets the needle arm back down.

"I didn't plan this party so I can't answer that." Nick replies to Sinister's question. "Did someone try booking Lux for this party and this became the better option for location?"

Lucifer has posed:
"To babysit a room full of toddlers above a million dollar bar where we wouldn't have hosted a child's birthday party even if it was our own flesh and blood?" Lucifer finishes Nathaniel's thought process before throwing his arms in the air. "I don't know. Nick is playing old-school DJ, the kids are mindless, you're freaking out over....everything...and...and..."

The Devil even forgets he is the Devil for a moment, helping to finish putting the candles on the cake before he fishes into his pocket for a lighter only to pull out... a note. He looks at the note and lofts a brow up. "...Kumquat."

Sinister has posed:
Kumquat? - the word is mouthed with a puzzled bettling of the brow, then the planes of Sin's face smooth out. "This is a never-was, couldn't be. This isn't..."

He looks around at the children. "...real."

But the struggle occurs when he attempts to reason why he feels that way, looking perplexed, then annoyed at himself. A sausage roll is picked up and he defiantly eats it in one go, mechanically testing and tasting the thing.

"Still tastes like a sausage roll. But I think there's a truth here, we'd be very atrocious party hosts for offspring that are not our own." He looks about at the flock. "This is a disaster."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
DJ Nicky-Nick looks over to Lucifer as he says the word, not at all seeming to get the reason for that. "...What? I'm not hungry."

Lucifer has posed:
"It's not real. It...." Lucifer pauses a moment, gaze shifting to the ground before he takes a breath and looks up again. "...never came to pass." He finishes and then glances over to Nathaniel. "Another one of those simulations. What if scenarios like....or something...my brain is a bit...fuzzy." Like he's walking in and out of a dream in the moment.

"Nick's the holder this time. But this isn't real. The whole of this room could go to shit and it wouldn't matter...." He grins then before walking over to something on a shelf. Likely some deemed priceless piece of porcelain...and he delibrately knocks it off the shelf so it shatters on the floor.

Sinister has posed:
The sound of the shattering is enough to fracture the entire landscape of the Penthouse into jagged golden lines, which fall apart and away, evaporating.

The trio are left in the lab once again, considerably less golden and /out/ of the scenario.

Sinister blinks owlishly, several times. "That is a very peculiar experience, now that I've actually been IN one. I think the answer to that question though, is rather obvious..." he shakes his shoulders out, rolling the left, then the right and looking about. "Everyone alright?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With the shattering of the landscape, the golden line crosses along the holographic version of Nick, causing for the unsettling appearance of him falling into different pieces before fading away.

The actual Nick is a bit over, intact and injured hands upon the pads.

His expression is quite different than the ones the couple were enduring in the simulation as he's somewhat smiling.

Well at least his mood seems to be a bit better.

"I was so sure you'd have figured it out sooner." Nick admits, lifting his hands off the sensors.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks once, twice, then three times as things break around him and the world returns to normal. The lab and all of them within it. He looks himself over and then gives a nod of his head. "Seem to be all in tact and present...yes." He offers this with a grin to Nathaniel and then glances to Nick.

"You'll be in one of these yourself without being at control of the helm and find out just how easy it is for the lines between reality and simulation to blur once you're within it..." Lucifer comments this much to the man and then shrugs. "At least one point is proven. Objects on our person remain..."

Sinister has posed:
"Yes, this is very true. Kumquat," shaking his head, there's a quiet chuckle from Sin. "Although it did take a hot minute to realize that was a trigger word." Stretching his back in reverse, he heads to the display, giving a crooked grin at the smiling Nick and punching a few things, placing a single finger on each of the pads and stating "...replay..." they all get to see the scenario play out again, on the holoscreen.

Sin steps back, sidesteps the couple of paces to be alongside Lucifer and blinks owlish at the screen. "Comedy mayhem and tiny people aside... it seems that the scenarios have some plot holes. The lack of parents was a big trigger, as I recall. On my part anyway."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Well, in that case, we'll want to hope whatever simulation I'm going into doesn't require the new song before I know what's going on." Nick pauses to the confirmation that objects on the person remains. "In that case...Why would you enter into a simulation without clothes?"

When Sinister tells him the word, Nick pauses, "...Funny enough I kind of figured that'd be your way to confirm that you were out of the simulation by have me confirm the word on the sheet of the paper since I would be the 'outside the simulation' checkpoint. "Fortunately the other me had no idea why Lucifer said that."

The muiscian reaches his good hand to his pocket to retrieve his gloves.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer considers for a moment and then takes out the silver cigarette case from his pocket, withdraws two, and then replaces the case. He waves one at Nathaniel as if to ask in silence if the man wants one. "So while we're inside the simulation...try to find the plot holes...something that is so out of place it's ridiculous..." He offers this while watching the replay of their moment.

As he turns to look at Nick and comment as to why one would enter the simulation without clothing he notes the bandages on the man's left hand. "Well... when one is naked in bed and is pulled into a simulation...one remains naked... so the simulation takes us in as is. What we're wearing, what we have on our persons..." He pauses. "Did you get into a fight with a wall or something?"

Sinister has posed:
Sinister takes the cigarette, lighting it with a dint of extreme squinting at the tip, then frantic inhaling as it dully catches. He's practicing that, leave him alone! The gaze slides to Nick though, as the question he was bound to ask has already been voiced.

Idly, he slinks an arm around the devil and pulls hip to hip.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The musician looks over to Sinister curiously to the explanation for the lead up to naked time simulation. No heads up beforehand?

Nick turns the left-handed glove right side out. The question about a fight with a wall gets a curious look directed Lucifer's way. "What? No fights. Why?"

Glove on hand, he starts to carefully slide the glove over the bandaged fingers, taking care not to mess them up in the process.

Once the glove is finished, the possible meaning behind the question is registered. "...Ah. Right. Shostakovich."

He tugs on the other glove, "Trio Number 2. About 30 minutes per run through. We had more than one..."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer ah's and then nods his head. "Ah, hurt yourself for your craft... now that is some dedication." He lights his own cigarette then, taking a deep inhale before looking over the lab again. "Well. We've answered a few more questions I think...but we might have developed a few more..." Saying this much as he then shifts to walk towards the exit of the lab back into the Penthouse proper.

"So what's next then?"

Sinister has posed:
"We'll have to add more factors into the equasions, aka: more people in the scenario, to see if that effects it. We've done two active so far, the glaring hole appeared to be larger with more individuals in the scenario..." Sinister winces in sympathy with the injured fingers, but he makes no move to be Doctor with them. Although he can, he's not usually that sort of medic. Something does bare clarification though.

"The first scenario, I had no idea we were going to get sucked -into- the action. My input was a very obvious one, what if Lucifer had won... and I had to have a little of Lucifer to feed to the machine so it could isolate his timeline. Luci was contemplating eyelids at the time, but I couldn't rest any more, so went to work. Long and short of it, now we know."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Alright. So try scenarios with more people. And make sure NOT to plug one in until all the potential participants are properly dressed." Nick sums up. He glances over to Lucifer, and gives a small smile, "So, do you guys need me for anything else tonight? On a related note to Shostakovich, I now have a violin in need of cleaning."

Lucifer has posed:
"I don't think we need you for much more, Nick. I think Nathaniel and I have enough to mull over for a bit." Lucifer smiles. "And I have an apple cider to finish making.." To which he moves so he can go into the Penthouse and heads to the kitchen to actually work on said drink. Which will leave Nathaniel to finish up with Nick if needed.

Sinister has posed:
A bit of typing on the keyboard and the lights in the rest of the penthouse and the lab itself, brighten once again as the machine is powered down. Sinister exhales, "Apple cider..." and turns his back on the thing for now. A nod is given to Nick, with a thin smile. "Thank you, by the by. Do you need a ride back home?" -- saying this whilst raising one hand, in a loose gesture at the ceiling, the smell of ozone begins.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick shakes his head to the offer. "Thanks, but I should be fine. Once I get my stuff together I can take a shortcut." He looks to the couple, "Have a good evening."