Summary:Nadia and Junko have a chat about recent history in the library. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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While the G.I.R.L HQ is well stocked with books and research material it's unfortunately a touch impractical to stock all the books that a collection of genius scientists might want. And for those occasions when a reference book is needed on short notice there's always the good old fallback of the New York Public Library. Which is why today Nadia Van Dyne has headed out in search of two things the library has an excess of. Maps and local history books.
The petite young woman, dressed in a simple jeans & t-shirt combo alongside her trusty G.I.R.L branded bomber jacket, must have at least half a dozen map tubes tucked under one arm along with almost as many history books under the other. It's a minor miracle she hasn't dropped anything or had a collision. Thankfully this isn't the first time she's overdone it with the research materials!
Slowly but surely she wanders in search of a table that's empty enough to fit all of her finds.
Junko might not be the library, but if there was something she had an exess off, it was time. Time she wasted quite often in the library, studying old maps to learn how the city grew, reading up on old buildings to learn about their construction and trying for herself to determine where those million miles of tunnels under the city were. The New York under New York. That is, if she wasn't beating up the people in the budo-class of the day in her fortightly routine, or making a calligraphy workshop on the first friday each month. No, today was library day, and she had a map of the sewer extension as planned in the early twentyth century on the table, slowly tracing some of the lines with a finger while looking up reference points in a modern streetmap. "That makes no sense…" she mutters, wearing a long skirt and blouse, a little bit of buisiness chique… and she esides her maps, the table is empty…
After a not so subtle approach, it's hard to sneak when you're constantly in danger of dropping map tubs everywhere, Nadia makes an ahem coughing sound as she approaches Junko. "Excuse me," she says with a touch of a Russian accent, raising her voice as much as she dares in a library. "Do you think it'd be okay for me to share this table with you?" She offers a friendly smile. "Or if not perhaps I could just leave these here for a moment while I look for another spot."
She awkwardly leans to one side and nudges the books under her arm using the back of an empty chair. Forcing them back into a slightly more stable position. "I may have got a little carried away with my reading material!"
"Eh, no need to look for another spot. The table is big enough after all." Junko answers, pointing to the free space as she sorts her own maps a little and thne offers Nadia a hand to get the stuff onto the table and not spilled all over the room. "eh, how so? That's like… research material, right? Not like one or two paragraphs actually relevant per book?"
Nadia Van Dyne puts her prizes down with a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she offers. "Oh well.. I plan on reading every local history book produced over the last six years. And then I have corresponding maps for each of the times the books were written. To provide a bit of context." She frowns. "In a way though it's not really /research/ as such. I'm just doing a little light reading in between other projects."
The asian girl eyes the map stack, then the books, then the girl again. "Right, that's light reading… I mean, ok I am trying to figure out if there is tunnel or steam pipe under my home but you are sifting through maps and checking them back against the recent history books? Shouldn't that be done against the contemporary ones of the maps?"
"In terms of content rather than by volume," Nadia replies with a wink. "Oh yes that is what I meant.. When they were written about. Not the publication date although I suppose that might be mildly interesting for other reasons.. But that's for another time I think." She adjusts the piles so each book is paired with a map tube. "Have you considered using ground penetrating radar? You could probably rent a machine for the day and it would probably cost.. I think less than a hundred dollars but that's a very rough guess. You might be able to find a cheaper price if you ask around."
"Oh, I could do so, but that would hole me up in the cellar for a couple hours and not leave me to spend a week of afternoons doing something." Junko replies, sshrugging a little as she pulls her maps away a little, looking over to Nadia's choice. "Anything specific you seek?"
Nadia Van Dyne tilts her head curiously, then shrugs. "I guess that's not much different from what I'm doing," she admits. "Just learning for the sake of learning. Unfortunately I won't know if there's anything I need to know about until I find it. I… only moved to America recently you see. And the part of Russia I grew up in was very.. out of the way." She pulls out a chair and perches on the edge as she opens the first map case. "You might also be able to find the information by consulting the original planning approval documents for the building. If the city has them. So if the maps don't give you any clues that might be a good next stop."
A couple moments Junko ponders, ooking over to the maps Nadia was working with, then her own. "Well, the original planning documents don't list what is some dozen meers beneath and they don't list what tunnels they dug under the town later. Subways, new pipes, power, gas, steam… All that? Only on the maps. That's why building in the apple is such expensive. Planning."
Nadia Van Dyne can't help but scowl at that notion. "How every inefficient. I would have thought it would be sensible to list that sort of information so the construction company can make appropriate decisions about the foundations." Her own pile of books and maps all seem to cover the few years before and after New York was attacked. With a lot of focus on the areas that are still blocked off for various reasons.
Her fingers drum against the table as she considers something. "Maaaaaaaaybe you could try looking into the sale of the mineral rights? I must admit I don't really know how they manage buildings in America. Back in Russia a task like yours would probably be impossible unless you were willing to bribe a lot of people or very politically powerful."
"You know that most of New York was built upon New York and some was done illegally or not properly regulated or up to code. And then a lot of documents were lost in the attacks you seem to research around. And some was destroyed and reworked in a hurry." Junko notes, laughting a little. "There is no mining rights for New York City. But in Russia I would just bribe the officials and then could do as I want."
Nadia Van Dyne shrugs. "I didn't actually, so that's very helpful. I only moved to this country within the last year," she explains earnestly. "I'm less interested in the damage itself and more in the various ways it was inflicted. I'm doing some scientific research that is very delicate and I want to be sure nothing happened that could influence my readings."
"How it was inclicted? Eh, space monsters from a rift or something. I think SHIELD has taken in the corpses and looks into them since it happens. Some others might have ended at Homeland Defence, the Army or the Navy." Junko states the obvious, stretching out her modern city map and pointing to the desaster zone. "A fine enough topological map should show the paths of crashing things and one could reconstruct the battle in parts based on the destruction patterns."
"That was roughly my intention," Nadia agrees, patting the local history books. "I'm also looking through social media accounts which list first hand accounts…" She chews her lip thoughtfully. "But the bigger question for me at least is what sort of rifts? And did the creatures have unusual propeties. That sort of thing. There is only a fractional chance it could cause my research to become dangerous, but I feel like it's a sensible precaution to ensure that fractional chance is as tiny as possible."
"I have no idea… I mean, there are probably scientists that know a lot about this. Uh… The Richards spring to mind. Or of course SHIELD. Maybe the Avengers too. I have no idea what their information sharing policy is though." Junko notes, being affiliated with none of the three. They were just known big players. "You could inquire at them."
Nadia Van Dyne beams a smile at Junko. "You know I might just do that," she decides. "Well, make enquiries at the Baxter Building anyway, I very much doubt SHIELD would be willing to help. I'd been thinking I might look into if they are accepting interns or something along those lines too. So I can probably.. how do they say.. kill two birds with one stone?"
Junko laughtes a little at the notion, just nodding as she looks back at her own work. "Well, if you do, they have some nifty tech there. If you could borrow something for a ground scan that all maps the place, I would offer my cellar for a test run."
"I could build a ground penetrating radar," Nadia says with a shrug. "Probably with parts from a well stocked electronics store. It's really nothing too complex just.. I haven't needed one as of yet. But I thought you said you liked looking through the maps?"
Junko chuckles a little. "Yea, to some degree it kills time, but I could need a way to confirm it, and if you want to impress the Richards, you might want to bring a science project that is better than a volcano or a potato making light. Anyway… uh… where do I have one…" A couple moments the asian girl searches her pockets, then pulls out a heavy card, the front written in Japanese, the back in english, heavy cardstock, very careful choice of characters. Junko Saito. Yojimbo. Saito Staplery - and a buisiness address in Japan. But the phone number was US.
As Junko hunts for a business card Nadia digs into her jacket pocket for her own and offers it in return. It's a neat little card with 'Genius in action research lab' alongside a logo with the acronym G.I.R.L and an insect wing design. It states it's a non-profit and that Nadia Van Dyne is director. "I think I can manage something," Nadia assures. "I have sold a few patents so far. Nothing too Earth shatteringly exciting but they keep the lights on." After taking a moment to read Junko's card she adds, in only mildly accented Japanese, "It has been a pleasure to meet you Miss Saito."