15929/The song of the spaces between atoms.

The song of the spaces between atoms.
Date of Scene:	30 December 2023
Location:	Nadia Pyms necklace lab. Somewhere adjacent to the microverse.
Synopsis:	Nadia shows off her personal lab to Caitlin Fairchild. They chat about science, evil groups, and how easy it is to abuse cool super science.
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (Pym), Fairchild

---

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
There are many ways Nadia tries to win over anyone interested in GIRL. Showing them the GIRL HQ building is one. But for those with superhero backgrounds? Well then she sometimes goes that extra step to impress.

An arranged meeting at GIRL, in her office, is really just a formality. As the real journey takes place after!

A zap of Pym particles. One trippy adjustment in size and a short trip through a maze within the crystal. And Nadia has flown Caitlin all the way into the landing platform of her personal private necklace lab.

The island itself hangs in the void of space between atoms. The 'sky' is filled with immense sphere like structures and weird glowing aurora caused by free flowing electrons. In the distance there's a big pink crystal castle. A lot like someone watched a /lot/ of Disney shows before carving it out from rose quartz. And the grounds are filled with unique plants, mostly orchids, that exist no-where else in the universe. Each a custom genetically engineered work of art produced by Nadia to decorate the place.

"So most people find the view down a little... Off putting. So if you suffer from vertigo don't look over the edge. Don't be alarmed if you hear any unusual noises. Sometimes the molecules vibrate and it makes a sort of 'music'."

The insectile wings retract and fold away into the backpack of her Wasp costume.

"And if a door is locked please don't try explore. I only lock doors if there is something dangerous on the other side."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin Fairchild wraps her arms around her chest, turning in a slow circle as she takes in her surroundings. "Off-putting? No, no, not at all. It's beautiful," she says. Not entirely her style - the princess aesthetic had never really been Caitlin's thing, she'd leave that to Molly Hayes - but she was too taken aback by the sheer reality of the place that it was hard to fathom.

"The Pym Particle is such an amazing discovery," she says, shaking her head, "It's a shame it's so sparse in supply - imagine if you had enough of it, you could revolutionize travel, commerce, all of human society," she says.

She's wearing more of her traditional 'costume', a jumpsuit in green and purple, with a zipper in the front, custom designed for her particular frame and body. It was far more durable than ordinary clothes, although she still found ways to tear it more often than she'd like.

"Have you recorded the vibrations? What am I saying, of course you have. I'd be intrigued by their properties."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"It's not really a question of the supply," Nadia admits, safe in the knowledge that here in her place no-one can spy on the conversation. "I could generate as many as I needed. But releasing the knowledge of how they are made to the world? I'd be chaos. Think of the military uses. Nuclear weapons you can hide in an ear-ring. Assassinations would be virtually impossible to stop. Governments would fall. It would be a revolution but not the peaceful scientific sort I would want to bring."

She motions for Caitlin to follow her down the path.

"Oh and don't walk too far off the paths. Some of the flowers have pollens that are part of the security system."

The castle itself might seem Disney on the outside. But inside? It's all science girl. The lab is the focus of everything. All paths lead to and from it. But there are places to cook and eat, relax, and accommodation. Who knows how many people could live inside comfortably. Probably dozens. Although the clutter suggests it's just Nadia here. Half read books and laundry piles line corridors.

"I have full recordings of everything that happens here," she confirms. "I mentioned I had connections to an evil group when we first met. Well when I escaped from the Red Room I stole a bunch of their archives. So I have all many of research archives. Not to mention dossiers and details of evil schemes."

Once they reach the lab? Well it's a mix of state of the art super tech mixed with old Russian devices that've been so heavily modified it's impossible to say what they even do anymore.

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin Fairchild nods, "I'm all too aware of how science can be abused by the military, by the government. And I've seen it done enough with corporations. Still, there has to be someway to harness it more greatly while keeping it secure. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that, I'm just stricken by the wonder of it. We forget how remarkable, how novel it is to be in these incredible superscience spaces. These discoveries just didn't exist for so much of the history of the planet. It's all so damn new."

She explores the equipment with a curious eye, eyes and fingers carefully examining without tampering with anything. She makes more extensive remarks regarding some of the radiation experiments, being more in line with her current expertise. Although, like everyone, she was being drawn scientifically more and more towards the quantum.

"Might be worth studying the schemes. And maybe checking in on some of them. Long buried seeds can sometimes still bear fruit," she says.

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
Nadia Pym seems more than happy for Caitlin to have a go with her labs equipment! As a physicist herself there is a ton of tech that is exciting for studying radiation and quantum mechanics. And honestly where better to study quantum mechanics than in between molecules?

"That's one of the reasons why GIRL has such a strict no weapons policy," she admits. "I want people to be free to work on anything they like. But if we allow weapons research or anything with direct defence applications the US Government could requisition them. Kane Industries give us a lot of legal protection but better to be safe than sorry."

Does this stop people misusing perfectly innocent inventions? Probably not. But at least anyone trying to steal GIRL tech will have to weaponize it themselves...

"Oh I've read everything. I try to keep myself fully up to date on everything the Red Room does. They still want to kidnap me to make me work for them. Mother, the leader of the Science Class, does not take rejection well. I think she'll keep going after me until one of us is dead..."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin Fairchild nods, "I like that. I was always meant to be a weapon. Made me averse to fighting, at first. Like I was giving in to what they wanted. But I has to fight back to gain my freedom. And then I found other ways to fight and make the world a better place. But I want to do it with my mind even more than I want to do it with my fists," she says.

"I don't know much about the Red Room, but I/O probably wasn't much different. I blame the influence of Nazi scientists on a lot of the discoveries and academics of the 50s and sixties. Poisoned the ethics of the generation before us who learned from them. Not all of them. Your father, for instance."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"We can be more than whatever they wanted us to be," Nadia says with certainty. "And yeah I agree. There are some issues you just can't beat by punching them. Hunger, thirst and lack of affordable housing. All things you can't just bodyslam into submission." Although Caitlin probably could punch hard enough to dig a house from solid rock. "Eventually GIRL will be moving the world into a post scarcity society. That's my ultimate goal."

She sighs.

"So the Red Room are a collection of Russian spies. I think they originally were formed in World War 2 but the origins of the group are a mystery. If you've heard of the Black Widow she was trained by the Red Room. World class spies intent on world domination. The Science Class was intended as a way to make spy gear for taking out superpowered threats. Aliens, mutants and gods."

There's a shrug. "I've never actually met Doctor Pym. He's always been so busy with his work."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin Fairchild sighs, "My Dad and I have only met once," she says. "He wasn't really my dad, just my...donor, I guess. But my parents weren't really my parents, either, just ops waiting to see me ripen like a tomato on a vine," she sighs.

"Damn, I think I need a drink," she laughs.

"I'm excited to be a part of GIRL going forward. I think we can do great things together."

Wasp (Pym) has posed:
"If you want a drink," Nadia says with a laugh. "I have some vodka for medical reasons." In some poisoning cases the correct medical treatment is alcohol! So like all good medical institutions she maintains a supply of extremely pure vodka. In addition to alcohol used for scientific purposes which is not intended for drinking.

But hey Caitlin could probably drink it without ill effect. It just won't taste so great.

"I'm extremely glad to have you with us! I'm sure I've got some chilled glasses in at least one freezer." Probably they are beakers for science uses. But shhhh. "We can celebrate your recruitment. And I'll put on that audio recording. It really is unusual. The closest thing I can describe it as would probably be whale song."