heirtothedragonsfire | Research Centre Hunting with chiron

Adia and (as Isidor accurately predicted) Caspar arrive on-time, making their way to the building from the direction of the Shopping District. The young scientist is dressed in a warm winter coat, dress slacks and leather flats visible below its hem. Caspar's suit is dark and unassuming, a curious break from character if his flashier suit at the holiday party is anything to normally go by. He's doing a good approximation of Lyall, gaze cast suspiciously around them while they walk, although he does relax considerably upon seeing Isidor.

"Morning," he replies. He doesn't quite smile, but his expression is polite. Respectful.

"Hi, Isidor." Adia gives the other woman a warm smile, although it's not nearly as bright as it's been in the past. Maybe she's just tired? She's wearing make-up, but no one ever taught her how to fake a refreshed look. Still, she seems alert enough when she looks up at the building in front of them. "Oh, it's so modern! This isn't already being used for something else?"

Isidor might not be her brother but she can tell when something is Wrong. She looks between the two of them, but it's clearly not an issue between the couple. However, in her world it's expected to turn a blind eye to even the most glaringly obvious signs that there's a problem. It's their own, and it's private until they involve her.

With Adia's exclamation Isidor reasserts her smile and turns to follow the scientist's gaze. "It was. It's currently in the process of being emptied. The current owner wants to move his work to his home universe and he's asking for quite a reasonable price, considering the facilities."

She starts walking towards the glass doors. Inside a bright purple creature with four beady eyes on a cephalopod-like head spots them and calmly moves to the door with its tentacle feet that twirl through the air like water. One of its arms splits into 'finger' tentacles and lets them in.

"This is Oomra," Isidor tells them once the doors open. "He's in charge of negotiating the sale and," She turns to smile at the alien, "is being very gracious in showing us around." The smaller tentacles around Oomra's face curl and twist. Isidor holds a hand out to gesture to the others. "Oomra, this is Ms. Costas and her companion."

"Greetings," he says in a voice that seems too robotic to be his own. Perhaps the Nexus translator is simply applying a human voice for their benefit.

Caspar catches her assessing gaze, but a quick glance at Adia seems to quell any rudimentary desire to talk about what's on his mind. He follows the two women to the doors, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the... realtor? Perhaps he's spent too much time around pokémon lately, because this alien reminds him of one. "Hello," he says simply.

"Nice to meet you, Oomra." Adia smiles, cordial enough for the both of them. "I'm looking forward to seeing the space." Thank goodness Isidor is handling their end of the negotiations, she already looks like she loves it.

This is a good start indeed. Isidor's smile is even more genuine when she turns to Oomra. "If you could give us the tour you gave me, that would be wonderful. I can explain to them what we've discussed already."

Oomra makes a sound rather like air bubbling up through the water, then he turns and starts to lead them past the reception desk to one of the far doors. Isidor waits to start walking so that she's in line with the other two. In a hushed, soft voice she explains, "His people speak very slowly. It makes it easier for me to explain what I already know and then you can ask him any questions I can't answer."

Raising her voice again, she continues, "This has been used as a commercial laboratory up until now. Mostly dealing with pharmaceuticals, but there is a smaller section dedicated to medical engineering. Oomra has offered to include a full sterilisation sweep in the deal to make sure no harmful substances are left lurking in the corners."

She gestures to the long glass boxes running up the sides of the foyer where each floor is clearly visible. "The elevators are large so that they can carry equipment, but they work with a technology I don't understand so I've asked Oomra if they might be able to refer someone who might be able to maintain them, along with some of the other technology native to his world."

The explanation piques Adia's interest in their alien tour guide, and she peers after him curiously, wondering about his people's culture and physiology. Caspar gives her a small nudge and whispers teasingly, "Stay on task, sweetheart," which makes her smile sheepishly and redirect her attention to the building itself.

It's encouraging that the space had already been used for scientific pursuits, and that a sterilization sweep is included in the sale. The elevators make her frown a little, although not because of their size or sleek, modern design. "There's no way to refit them to a more familiar technology?" she asks. "It'd be a problem if one broke and we couldn't get someone to look at it right away."

"Oh it's possible to refit them, but that's a lot of time and money," Isidor points out. "For now it's as effective and much cheaper to hire someone from Oomra's world. We'll need someone for maintenance either way."

Oomra leads them to a corridor that is a little wider and taller than the average Earth corridor and mostly plain but for simple wavy lines that cross over each other painted onto the walls. They stop at one of the nearest rooms. It's almost completely bare but for a few tall desks and screens embedded into the walls like noticeboards.

"The first few offices were mostly for administration," Isidor explains. Though she encourages them to take a look around, she stays close to the doorway. "We can repurpose rooms like these for people who just want a space for data analysis or academic research purposes. Then if they want to they can book a test space in one of the laboratories or test spaces."

The answer satisfies her for now, so she falls silent and continues to follow along. Caspar seems to be making note of the number of rooms along the corridor and the paces between them, looking back every so often from the direction they came.

Adia wanders into the room, imagining what it might look like as a place for data analysis or literature research. Already the space seem larger than necessary, but perhaps it's best to plan optimistically. Anyway, she reminds herself, it's not like it's her money being spent on the facilities. If she wants to go bigger than Adia envisioned, that's her prerogative.

"That's a good idea," she tells Isidor as she rejoins her in the corridor. "We could have some sort of self-sign-up so that test spaces don't get double-booked."

As much as this project is for Viatorus and Adia, it's for Isidor too. This will be the second official sign of a Durant presence in the Nexus. Her brother's office benefits from being small and personal, but if this is going to be representative of her family then money matters very little. More importantly, nothing can go wrong in the short or long term, and she needs to plan for the future, a very expensive thing indeed. As it is, she doesn't look overly concerned about it right now.

Isidor nods along with Adia's idea. "If we could get it digital we would be able to have a system with live updates. It looks like this place would be accommodating enough for digitising that sort of thing, but that might be a project for after we get everything up and running."

"Synchronicity is vital to productivity," Oomra says and then burbles. "Most of the rooms are computer linked."

They pass through a set of doors and the next room they come to is a laboratory. Apart from the gaps clearly meant for machinery, it seems fairly standard. There are cupboards, worktops, windows, a sink and a space dotted with outlets for bunsen burners.

"I'm not sure if scientists would share a space like this or whether you'd all need to keep your rooms separate," Isidor admits as she looks around. "This is made for a team, not individuals. Most places I looked at were."

"Maybe something like a kiosk by the front door," Adia muses. "It should be as user-friendly as possible, though. I don't want anyone feeling like they can't use the center just because they aren't used to computers." It might be a moot point for scientists, as anyone too far back in the past would also be confounded by the lab equipment, but she's met enough magic users to know that electronics are sometimes not their forte.

Oomra's words catches Caspar's attention, a small frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Is there a firewall?" he asks the alien, forgetting to redirect his questions to Isidor. "Any fail safes to the network?"

The sight of the laboratory makes Adia's eyes light up. She walks around its perimeter, admiring how clean it looks, how it's blank with possibility. "My advisor once told me that a scientist who doesn't share her lab space is either selfish or has something to hide. Honestly, it doesn't make sense to have a bunch of separate little rooms, not when you can run several experiments at the same time."

Isidor tilts her head, conceding with an easy shrug. They agree on the main point at least, but she's happy to let Adia fret a little over being considerate while she focuses on the larger issues. "That's a good point. We'll have to strike a balance between something universal and something efficient."

Her thoughts on administration problems are interrupted by Caspar's questions. It's not hard to spot the underlying tension behind them. Or perhaps she just has more experience with witnessing, and partaking in, an overprotective inquisition. She raises an eyebrow at him but as much as she wants to make a sharp remark, she restrains herself, pressing her lips together tightly instead.

"Yes." Oomra doesn't seem to notice anything amiss with the humans. Although the level voice of his translator would probably it difficult to tell if he had a tone anyway. "A simple reboot and regular backups are important. Synchronicity is important."

Isidor's scrutinising gaze lingers on Caspar before she turns to Adia again with a smile. "Good. That means we can keep the labs as they are and leave the larger rooms untouched for bigger projects. And maybe we'll even encourage some collaboration along the way."

It clearly pleases Adia to know that Isidor agrees with her. Accessibility is important, although considering that this facility was once run by aliens, perhaps she doesn't have to be overly concerned about that.

"Synchronicity," Caspar repeats dryly. He meets Isidor's scrutiny with an unapologetic shrug and mutters to her, "An unprotected network means that someone could hack into it from anywhere, including a sign-up kiosk. This place needs to be virtually and physically safe. And while we're on the subject, how many points of entry does this place have? Is there a security system? You can magically ward this place, too, right? The electronics won't interfere?"

His specific line of questioning makes Adia glance his way. It puts an unfortunate damper on her excitement over the space, but she manages a smile, anyway. "That's the goal -- collaboration, I mean. Which spaces would be set aside for magical experiments? Can I see them?"

If it wasn't for Adia's attempt at stirring up some excitement again Isidor might have stared at Caspar for much longer. As it is she turns her smile from the scientist to their guide.

"Oomra, could you please show Ms. Costas the eastern wing and share our previous discussion about it?" She turns to the cylon. "I need to have a word with Caspar while you talk. We'll be right behind you."

Pinning Caspar down with a perfectly neutral stare, it's only when Oomra and Adia have a head start that Isidor turns and starts to follow them. They're still well within sight, and close enough to overhear with ease. Oomra burbles, tentacles twisting in different directions as he explains the intricate ventilation system sitting within the walls.

"I know we don't know each other well, but… You realise I work in security, don't you?" She asks quietly. While they walk she hardly looks at Caspar, instead keeping her eyes firmly fixed on Adia and her voice lowered for privacy. "And that my life's work is the safety of a rich, talented lineaged mage who is a prime target both because of how weak he is and how important his father is. I was brought up learning how to defend against boogeymen and hitmen alike. If there's anything this facility is going to be, it's safe."

"Oh, u-um," Adia starts to say, but by then the alien guide is leading her towards the eastern wing. She casts a nervous glance backwards before giving him her attention, nodding politely as he waxes rhapsodic about the building's infrastructure. She knows full well what's about to come up in their conversation. It's inevitable.

Caspar does not back down from her stare, neutral for neutral. It's only when she's done explaining that the hard lines of his expression soften and he averts his gaze. "I don't doubt your expertise," he replies. "It's just become a lot more personal for me lately. The Nexus is a lot less safe for Adia lately -- she has a stalker."

Isidor's head snaps to him, automatically checking his expression. There isn't the faintest sign that he's joking, or even unsure. She turns back to watch Adia with a frown.

"Grilling a potential seller on security that we will be setting up doesn't help her," she says after a long silence. "Unless Oomra is her stalker, all you're doing is beating your chest. Which, to be honest, is never helpful. She won't thank you if you ruin this chance, and it won't make her any safer, or happier. Talk to me about security, talk to Oomra about… I don't know…" She waves a hand. "What kind of machinery this place accommodates."

Again she goes silent, thinking about this new information. It doesn't affect her directly, but Adia is a partner in this, and one of Viatorus' few good influences in the Nexus. After a minute to think, she lowers her voice and continues, "When you get angry and aggressive it shows her you're scared. I guarantee you she's scared enough as it is. Even though you're scared you can't show it. Not in front of her. You have to be calm, Caspar. That's what strength is, not beating your chest and interrogating people, but being strong enough to stay calm under pressure."

"Hey. I didn't grill him. I asked a question about firewalls." His frown reappears briefly at the mention of machinery, unable to tell if that's a slur against his robotic nature or not. "I asked you the rest of it, didn't I?"

His defensiveness persists, not in the mood for a lecture, even if she's right. It was a lot easier to remain calm and collected about potential threats in the Nexus when they were just that. Potential.

"Adia likes it when I'm genuine with my feelings," he quips, tugging at the cuffs of his sleeves. A few seconds pass and he adds with less acidity, "I was the one who convinced her to keep this appointment, you know. I don't like her being too scared to visit the Nexus. But I want her to be safe, too. Her stalker is a serial killer, and he's convinced himself that he's in love with her." He grits his teeth. "And the worst part is, I don't know where or when he's going to pop up next."

Up ahead, Adia seems rather relaxed as she listens to Oomra. Of course, she has a powerful Cylon and an even more powerful mage walking directly behind her. She's in good hands.

"There's a difference between being honest about how you feel and keeping yourself under control," Isidor drawls back. She gives him a moment of silence after he's finished to let the tension fade again. Also to give her time to consider the implications of a serial killer stalker lurking nearby. "I'm not saying it's easy or that you shouldn't protect her, but there's a good way to do things and a bad way to do things. Broadcasting your insecurities is not a good thing. In business, politics, warfare or personal combat, making yourself readable and predictable is probably the easiest way to be defeated. It makes you easy to manipulate or work around."

"Look, you're right to be protective, and you're right not to underestimate him. You've got all this energy and you want to act, so channel it the right way instead of at the people around Adia." She looks to him. Despite his attitude she can't help but be filled with sympathy. After all, it was only a few months ago she was reminded of what it was like to deal with Viatorus' attackers. "You don't have to be as helpless as you feel. You just need to be organised." She turns back to watch Adia. "Talk to me if there's something you want her to be able to do and I can run through safety measures with you. I can put you in contact with the company I use for our bodyguards. They come from a world with advanced technology and magic. Scrutinise them if you like, use them to scour your perimeter so they can be Adia's bodyguard while you get back to being her boyfriend. She needs normality. More than that, she needs you to show her that everything's alright, that there's hope, not that everything and everywhere is a potential threat."

Caspar stares ahead of him, stony-faced, silently resentful that he -- a Cylon -- needs to be advised on these sorts of matters. It's only because of Isidor's expertise, and the fact that she acknowledges his very legitimate concern for Adia's safety, that he listens at all.

It's a while before he replies, not until they are nearly to the eastern wing. "That's generous of you," he says finally, consciously pushing down his own ego for the greater good. Namely, keeping his girl safe. His gaze flicks to Isidor once before resuming its watchful guard over Adia. "I'd appreciate that contact." He pauses again, then adds, "Adia's friend Harley has an idea about how to draw her stalker out of hiding but it's dangerous bordering on crazy so I'd like to talk about that to you if you're serious about your offer."

That might have to wait, because apparently they've reached their new destination. Oomra burbles something to Adia about magic not being his expertise before looking over at Isidor expectantly.

Edited 2018-02-28 16:36 (UTC)

Harley. Isidor's eyes sharpen and her mouth drops to ask if this is the same Harley that she knows of, but Oomra interrupts her by calling for her attention. She looks from Caspar to Oomra and back again.

"I'm always serious, Caspar, even you should know that," she says quietly before stepping up to the other two.

"A lot of these rooms are similar to the rest of the labs. The facilities are slightly less up to date, though, which is convenient for any stripping out we'll need to do." Isidor talks and walks, leading them into one of the rooms and gesturing around as se talks. "Other than desks, cupboards, and perhaps a sink or gas outlet, magical academics shouldn't need as much furniture. Space will be more important for them, areas that are resistant to fire or destructive magic."

"Since magic is exceptionally varied from practitioner to practitioner and world to world, we might consider leaving some rooms open to rent and renovate however a person likes, within reason. Obviously there will need to be rules and regulations, and they will need to fund the renovations themselves." She looks to Adia. "But we can go over the financial aspect of this at a later date."

Well, now, that's a look that he didn't expect. She's turned away from him before he can comment, so he shrugs to himself and follows. If she's as serious as she says... which, okay, she is... then he'll have time to ask for advice later.

Adia's expression brightens when Caspar returns to her side. She puts a hand in his while she listens to Isidor's explanation, peering around the room as indicated. "That is something I've noticed, how much more varied magic is than science, especially between worlds. I'm glad you're taking that into consideration." She twists thoughtfully at the fringe of her scarf. "I wouldn't be surprised if some scientist came along who wanted to use more advanced equipment, but that's also something they could provide themselves. The list of equipment I gave you is fairly standard."

Isidor nods along with Adia's thoughts. "So long as their equipment doesn't have any harmful side effects they're free to bring it in. Leaving people to customise their own spaces will encourage them to stay long term and ease our finances."

"There are a couple of bigger spaces," she says as she starts to lead them down another corridor. They come to a pair of double doors and sure enough they find themselves in a much larger room with a much higher ceiling. A large glass tube sits at one side, connected to a multitude of screens. Several creatures looking like Oomra but with white circles on their skin, are moving large crates onto a hovering cart. "They're still removing some of their equipment, but you can already see the potential for a space like this. Engineers could use it for building larger prototypes, or mages could experiment more freely, and safely, with different magic."

It's good to hear that Isidor is taking those sorts of things into consideration. "Some equipment can be dangerous if it's not properly maintained," Caspar comments mildly. "Best to have a periodic review of those customized spaces."

Adia nods thoughtfully. "He's right. I know that Viatorus was interested in the idea of an MRI machine, for example, but that creates a magnetic field that you'd have to properly shield for. Oh, and we'd need eye wash stations and emergency showers in the labs, some of the chemicals we use are caustic or flammable." Safety is a serious matter, although she's not tugging at her scarf or the strap of her messenger bag or any of her usual tells that she's anxious about it. Caspar gives Isidor a vague smile. See? He can bring up concerns without freaking out his girlfriend.

When they step into the large room, Adia's gaze immediately goes towards the aliens with white circles. Why do they look different from Oomra? What's the significance? She bites her lip to keep from asking. "Oh, this is a lot of space! I guess that would be good for engineers. It's far more than a microbiologist would ever need, but then again, we do our research in miniature." She giggles at her own joke, then remembers that she is in the presence of a cool business lady and not a fellow nerd, and drops her gaze, blushing a little.

Caspar chuckles. "Very clever."

"Don't mercy laugh at my dumb joke," she mutters, even though the smile on her face returns.

Oh Isidor sees that look from Caspar and raises her brow ever so slightly at him for a second before flicking her attention back to Adia. "Eye wash stations and emergency showers. There's more than enough room to put those in."

"There are rooms for that on every level," Oomra tells them. "They will need to be adapted for humans."

Adia's joke gets a smile from Isidor. It's not quite a laugh, and it's more out of reflex than anything, but it's there. After adequate time for the amusement to settle, she continues on. "I know more than a few cousins who work better with larger works. We might use one of the rooms like this for the magical section to allow people to test their progress. We can implement a rota system for that as well."

"There are a couple of different rooms on the other floors." She inhales and recites, "Meeting rooms, storage rooms, that kind of thing, and a small canteen at the back of this floor."

"Some of them," she says to Isidor, automatically amending Oomra's words. "I want this center to be as accessible as possible." Not everyone is a human in the Nexus, no matter how much Caspar occasionally grumbles about it.

Relieved that Isidor is not put off by her joke, she turns her smile into studious interest, but her expression breaks once more when the canteen is mentioned. "You mean like a kitchen?" she asks, eyes widening excitedly. "Can we see it now?"

Caspar chuckles again, this time spontaneously, giving Adia an affectionate squeeze of her hand. "You sure you don't want to open a restaurant instead?" he asks, prompting her to roll her eyes at him good-naturedly.

"We don't have much in the modern way of cooking yet, back home," she explains to Isidor. "Everything takes forever to cook. I never thought I'd miss a microwave. Oh! Can we get a coffee machine?"

"You're right, but... Until we know what other... kinds of people might want to make use of the centre, we can't equip it accordingly," Isidor points out. "The more we discuss it the more it seems this place is going to be a work in progress for a long time."

The sudden excitement seems to come out of nowhere, but when Adia explains, Isidor can't help but crook a smile. She nods. "A very basic kitchen."

"Humans cook everything, don't they?" Oomra muses aloud, already heading towards the exit.

Isidor smiles at Caspar and Adia before following him. "Not everything, but most things, yes."

"We eat our food fresh," Oomra continues. "That is why there is no need for... What did you call it?"

"A refrigerator," Isidor answers.

Oomra hesitates on the spot for a moment to say, "Yes." Then he continues on to lead them to a large open area at the back of the building. One wall is glass and shows a pond outside. On the opposite wall there are cupboards and an island area, presumably for preparation.

"Oh, that's true." She frowns a little to herself, then nods. "We'll leave it open-ended, then." A work in progress for sure. She doesn't want any scientist to feel left out... well, any ethical scientist, anyway.

She follows behind Oomra and Isidor, pulling Caspar along by the hand. She's already turning down her expectations. It doesn't sounds like Oomra's people have much need for typical kitchen appliances. "We'll definitely need a refrigerator in here. I already put one down on the list of equipment, but that was for lab samples and you absolutely do not want to encourage people to put food in the same fridge. It can ruin the samples and it's gross."

"Yeah, didn't Mark almost eat a bite of blood agar once because he thought it was jelly?" Caspar comments, the pre-War memory popping up in his mind suddenly.

Adia makes a a face. "Ugh, don't remind me." She turns her attention towards the pond outside and smiles at the view. "It must be nice to sit here and eat. Very relaxing."

Research Centre Hunting with chiron_survivor

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