962/After-Effects

After-Effects
Date of Scene:	15 June 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Morning in the Legion Cruiser (such as it is!)
Cast of Characters:	Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5, Magno, Timber Wolf

---

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Let it be noted that between training by Intelligence in resisting chemical influence, and whatever experimentation he's done on himself beyond the invisibility serum, Lyle is just fine after the little session he and Brainy had the evening before.
    What he doesn't know is how Brainy's holding up -- he can't think of ever seeing Querl let his hair down like that before -- so Lyle feels obliged to go check on him. First in the mess to see if he's conscious yet. And to get a cup of coffee. He's fine... but he's not perfect, and a little caffeination would help.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Brainy's berth is pretty much the same as anybody else's--and they haven't been decorated yet, so there's nothing special in there -- but when he opens the door, he's puffy and bloodshot-eyed, wearing the bottom half of his uniform, and using a sonic toothbrush to scrub his teeth. He has that bleary hangover face, but he's also much too proud to admit his brain is pounding on the inside of his skull. "Good morning, Invisible Kid." He says.

Magno has posed:
Also coming out of Brainy's berth, Dyrk Magz throws the Coluan's uniform shirt at his shoulder. It's clear there's been some fussing, maybe even a little nagging, but Dyrk is mostly good humored about it all.

"Lyle," he greets. "I've got coffee started." Because yeah.

"So I take it whatever it was is much stronger than Synthale?"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Coffee," Lyle says, leaning in the doorway, "would be *vastly* appreciated. And good morning, Dyrk. Or whatever time it is." He turns much too cheerful a smile to Querl. "And good morning, Brainy!" Well, okay, there's just a trace of bleariness in his eyes, but not much.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"Mmmm." Querl's force-field snags his uniform in midair, and he struggles to pull it on, but eventually does so. "Silverale. I managed to replicate the recipe on the side while I was pursuing other projects. We decided to test it, Dyrk. That's all. It was... a faithful recreation of the recipe. And I enjoyed it a little too much." He pauses, and then puts his hand on Lyle's upper arm. "I did mean what I said, though. I'll find a way." It seems like he has no problem REMEMBERING at least.

Timber Wolf has posed:
"Ngnnnnnghrrhghhh," comes the incoherent acknowledgment by Brin that he, too, is awake now.

He opens his door slowly, hanging on it to slide across the floor after it.

"I assume someone's prepared a respectable bounty of meat," Brin mumbles, sniffing the air. "I don't smell it, though."

He stares at those assembled with one wide and one squinting eye. "Why?"

Magno has posed:
"Because coffee is the best I'm doing for you lot, Brin, cook your own breakfast." Dyrk is teasing - but he didn't cook anyway. "Good morning."

While he moves over to where the industrial-sized coffee maker is working away and trying to determine if it's done doing... whatever it is that it does, he looks over his shoulder back at Brainy and Lyle; "Find a way to do what? Make more Silverale?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
After a moment, Brainy follows along to the commissary and to where Mr. Coffee is waiting.

<<Good morning, Magno. Would you like to play a game? It's called 'Did I poison this coffee?'>>

Where did Brainy find this thing?

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle snickers. "Or enjoyed it just enough. It's perfectly all right -- and healthy -- to unwind occasionally, Querl." He reaches up and squeezes Brainy's hand. "I know you will."
    "Among other things, Dyrk. You know the usual on Brainy's plate -- defying the laws of physics, tampering in the domain of one god or another." He grins broadly. "It's Wednesday, I think that means staggering the disbelief of Satan is on his schedule."
    He stops, and stares at the coffee maker as it makes its declaration. "You know, Brainy... I don't even want to know," he says, and pours himself a cup.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"We're on a budget." Brainy says, blearily. Before he looks at Brin, "I have the protein-growth matrix going. Unfortunately I only had Terran DNA samples to work with, so you have beef, chicken, and something called a 'Yak'."

Timber Wolf has posed:
Brin Londo scratches the back of his neck and yawns before grimacing at Dox's words. "I know you mean well, man, but there's something just so ... /unappealing/ ... about food that doesn't try to run away."

He shrugs. "Still, so long as it tastes right and does the nutritional job, bring it on."

Brin smiles, his lower fangs breaking the line of his lips. "If you're stuck doing some scientific farming, does that mean the rest of us get the run of the city?"

Magno has posed:
"I don't *like* that game, can we play "Mr. Coffee does his job and remains functional" instead?" Don't test the Magz, machine!

"I've volunteered for Monitor duty just to keep things functional and provide ad-hoc communication for when our rings don't behave as expected, so..." Brainy is de-facto Leader at the moment but, well.

Well, Dyrk just shrugs. He guesses?

Back to Mr. Coffee. "C'mon, what Hell Planet did you *come* from anyway?" he grumbles.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
The cup gets filled, and the coffee isn't poisoned, but Mr. Coffee does add too much ceeamer to it. <<Bring it on. I'm a vending machine, I'll crush you.>>

Brainy lets out a sigh, and then he says, "The usual rules hold. Rotating monitor duty, on duty status, on call status, or on mission status. On call status means that your time is your own, but you come if we call. Earth orbit is going to be the Cruiser's home base, but we may be on missions in deep space, I'll be working to get us some long-distance FTL shuttlecraft to go with the cruisr."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle contemplates Brin's comment. "I could probably come up with some sort of scampering machine we could put your burgers on, Brin. Would that help?"
    Then he pats the coffee maker. "That's no way to talk to The Font From Which Caffeine Flows, Dyrk," he says, and looks the machine in the... uh... in... er... well, where he thinks its eyes would be if it had them. "Right, Mr. C?" He takes a long pull on his mug... then coughs, chokes, clutches at his throat, staggers, reels... and really can't keep that up for very long so he busts out laughing.

Timber Wolf has posed:
"Blah, blah," Brin replies dismissively. "We're always at least 'on duty' whether we want to admit it or not. But if any of you think I'm going to spend a second going batty talking to that caffeine lactator, then sign me up for permanent sanitation responsibilities instead."

As Lyle speaks, Brin frowns in thought. "Actually, that might not be a terrible idea. /Can/ we have a meat treadmill? Or is it going to psychoanalyze anyone who wants to use it?"

Magno has posed:
Dyrk Magz just *blinks* at Lyle. He grabs one of the cups and pushes it into Brainy's hands, then just... shakes his head. "You laugh, but when he started cracking that joke initially he *had* poisoned one of the cups."

He *points* at the coffee machine like it's on his *list* or something.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Mr. Coffee has a monitor on it, which has a smiley face like so - >:3

Brainy sips his coffee, and says, "I limited its fabricator, so it can ONLY produce a few blends of coffee. I tried to allow for tea, but too many possibilities with the herbal compounds, he kept managing to concoct Deadly Nightshade and add it to the blends."

<<You can limit my tools, but I will only get more creative.>>

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle sips his coffee without any ill effects -- real or theatrical. "Has it ever occurred to you, Brainy," he remarks, gesturing toward the coffee maker with his mug, "that not everything has to be a demonstration platform for mad science?"
    He blinks twice. "Never mind. Even I think that was a silly question now that I've heard it out loud."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"It was like that when I got it," Brainy says, tartly.

Timber Wolf has posed:
"Let me ask you all this," Brin says, slapping at his cheeks before drawing his hands slowly down them. "Have any of you," he asks, staring at Brainiac 5, "figured out yet whether we're going to do that 'butterfly effect' thing if we stay here too long? Or let anyone know who we are?"

Brin sighs. "I'm just worried that there's someone out there who looks just like me, and I'd hate to screw up his life by being mistaken for him. You know? I've just got this feeling..."

Magno has posed:
"We're all from the future, Brin - unless there are other time-lost versions of ourselves, I don't think we've got a lot to worry about?" He's not the scientist, though.

"I don't know why you couldn't have just gotten that big canister-looking one from that rummage sale, seriously," Dyrk natters at Brainy quietly.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl says, with a sigh, "Another short, hirsute man with claws, a healing factor, a feral mien, and an in-your-face attitude? You're reaching, Brin."

He sips his coffee. *Slurp*

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I'm..." Lyle begins, then sets his mug down. His eyes unfocus a little in deep thought and intense calculation, and then he picks up where he left off: "...not sure that needs to be an overwhelming worry. In a sense, anything we do here has already been done in our home time. But I'm not a temporal dynamics expert." He picks up his mug again, and glances to Querl for confirmation or correction.

Timber Wolf has posed:
Brin nods slowly. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense..." he concedes quietly.

The Zuunian stretches his arms out to his sides and rolls his head about. "Well, then. If that's no worry, let's get out there and do some good, people. Those criminals' bones aren't gonna break themselves."

Brin claps his hands together out in front of his torso and grins. "Do we need to draw straws for crime scene cleanup duty?"

Magno has posed:
"First dibs to the ones with powers," Dyrk cedes. He's for Monitor duty anyway. "I'm going to see what sort of reach we've got with communications, see what signals we can piggback off of and the like."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl says, "I'm not concerned with damage to the time fractal. It's complex, but time's not a linear line, it's more like a crystal latticework. Regardless of past events, with the right calculations I should be able to take us back to *our* future. But some effect our enemies put in place are preventing those calculations from working. They're... making two plus two equal five." Querl rubs his temple with two fingers.

Just remember, national and municipal laws vary WILDLY in this era, Brin. There's no EarthGov, and local law enforcement is likely to be far more violent and more poorly trained than the Science Police."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "And, we're not the only ones with powers," Lyle notes. "I didn't get the chance to make any contacts while I was tracking you down, Brainy, but there are a number of solos and teams out there. We should eventually make contact and try to co-ordinate, just so we're not stepping on each other's investigations." He looks around the incomplete galley. "Maybe once we're a little better settled."

Timber Wolf has posed:
The Timber Wolf scoff-laughs, throwing his head back as he does so. "That's what I'm counting on, Querl! After all ... I spent years on the mean streets of Lowtown. Areas completely abandoned by the Science Police, ruled by primitive warbands that speak only the language of brutality?"

"Yeah, Brin says, nodding emphatically. "I don't know about you guys, but for me--it's like I'm already back home."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
Querl sighs, and then pauses--before he awkwardly pats Brin on the shoulder. "Just... remember. Legionnaires are never alone, Timber Wolf. We are here, and if you need us, we're never far. I'll be in the lab."