Day 50: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[ninelivesonce]

The Sun Room was dark when Taura re-entered it; her eyes adjusted quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid one of the 'techs coming over to talk to her.

"Were you going to join us for the movie, Kitty?" she asked, waving a hand at what appeared to be a 2-D projector screen.

"Movie?" This was, apparently, the wrong question to ask, as the woman's face fell into a moue of practiced disappointment.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself, Kitty." Doing what, exactly, was something 'Kitty' was evidently supposed to know. Then the screen flicked on, and some sort of advertisement was playing while a staffer adjusted the volume. Oh. The term was unfamiliar, but entertainment hadn't changed that much.

"I mean, er, what movie is it?" Taura rumbled, keeping her voice low so as not to interrupt. That must have been the right question; the woman brightened back up and started explaining.

"King Kong!" she said, clearly expecting a reply. Then she sighed, and continued. "It's about a giant ape, brought back from an exploration," she began. "It's also a love story -- oh, just trust me. It's a classic."

"The ape falls in love?" That sounded a little outré, at least by Institute standards of entertainment. Not by Jacksonian ones, but those Taura had been just as pleased to leave behind.

"Oh, nothing like that. Well, the ape does fall in love -- but it's just a beast. Why, Fay Wray doesn't even come up to its waist." Taura blinked at her again. What did height have to do with it, anyway? She was leaning, just a little, without even realizing it. Perhaps looming would be a better word. The 'tech blinked back, and then finally the penny dropped. "Oh...oh. Maybe it wouldn't be to your taste, dear." And with that, she scurried off to adjust a chair that was already facing the screen quite adequately. Taura sighed, and slipped through the gathering crowd to the bulletin board.

[Zack]

Comments

[anemptydecapo]

There was something inherently painful about speaking with someone who thrived on having the last word. Discussions such as this usually ended one way: Venom would punish them for their unsavory attitude and leave. He had neither the time or the patience to sit and argue in circles when more important matters were at hand. Yes, he stepped wrongly in the conversation. Yes, he understood the error of his ways. It had been brought to his attention four times in the past five minutes. He wasn't a naughty child incapable of learning. No, he didn't appreciate the notion that he would need to walk on eggshells in order for the teenager to concentrate on what he needed to instead of reminding the man he was upset every time he opened his mouth.

He could have honored that with a response, but he was not going to. It didn't deserve one. The more he apologized and explained himself, the more Brainiac sought to argue with it. The boy should have been thanking his intelligence. It was the only thing saving his ego from facing the full brunt of the Guild Head's wrath.

Continuing on, Venom followed Brainiac's lead, leaning back into his own chair and turning his attention to the screen again. The credits had begun rolling by now. Hmph. "Should the device you located fall through, it would be useful to consider a second plan of action. What might you need to accomplish finding this information?"

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

...either the flickering of the screen was giving him a headache, or the discussion had. Brainiac 5 felt his brow crease into a frown again, which did nothing to help ease the feeling, and made an effort to direct his gaze elsewhere in the room.

"Ideally? I'm not sure the institute will have everything I need, or at least not anywhere that I can get to easily," he answered, biting back the snide comment that of course he had a second plan of action. "But I can perform some less specific tests with more basic equipment. A microscope and some slides would be a good place to start."

Unfortunately it was more difficult to think of where to go beyond that. He doubted there would be any old Earth equipment for scanning the human body just lying around the institute, after all. So on the chance that the omnicom couldn't do that... He'd essentially be right back where he started. Still, having just a plan was better than nothing.

[anemptydecapo]

"Hm..." A microscope? As hard as it was to think back to the night before last (all his mind wanted to remember was being drowned in blood, in feeling that warm body go cold in his arms as it desperately shuddered for air...), Venom tried, searching his memory for anything of the sort on the second floor. Aside from the various beakers, chemicals, and other lab equipment... "I haven't seen either of those in the areas I've examined," he paused, a hand briefly rising as if to brush the hair out of his face before it fell back into his lap mid-motion, "but I'm willing to check again."

But not this night. Tonight--

"Mr. Lant!" Nurse's voice cut into the thought, her right arm raised in the air as she waved at him from across the room.

The nurses were beginning to collect their charges. He'd take that as his cue to leave, then. Rising from his spot on the couch, the assassin bowed at the waist - a show of respect that may or may not have one last effort to preserve the teenager's willingness to speak with him. "If you can think of anything else, please let me now. I will see what I can do."

With that, he was gone.