Summary:Hank McCoy and his assistant Sharon/Catseye take a tour of the RESCUE campus, courtesy of Toni Ho, Roni Kelsey, and Posse. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
The RESCUE campus stands out a bit from most modern tech campuses. Sure, there's a lot of green enclosed in security walls, and the central spire that contains the corporate offices is fairly standard design. It does, however, show individuality in that it resembles a helix design, the green glass exterior shimmering with solar circuits embedded in the windows. From a square base, the front of the building becomes bevelled teardrop that narrows towards the top, twisting slowly like a DNA helix so all of the reflected light and/or heat from the windows aren't all projecting the same way at the same time, as well as allowing a smooth continuious charge. Surrounding the centerpiece are paths that lead past flowering bushes and trees here and there, forming a circle around the main building and leading around behind it to a fountain, from which paths lead to the other main buildings - the labs, clinic, the Foundry (the engineering spaces), and the Swamp, the dorm area so called because of the large duck pond in front of it that separates it from the other buildings.
In addition to employees and occasional patients. The paths are wide enough to easily allow those in wheelchairs or riding in powered conveyances to get around without interferring with people walking back and forth. What does stand out is the notable number of people in Overwatch uniforms, that being the security division for RESCUE. Rather than your average security, the guards on duty are wearing armor with helmets, though the faceplates are transparent to make them less imposing, and their armaments are sidearms and shock sticks primarily, rather than the full rifles equipped during an emergency. While unusual, the workers seem pretty used to the security measures…then again, when you go out of your way to annoy tech villains, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
There is, of course, a parking garage inside the main gate, which is primarily underground to lower its footprint, and a main gate that's open at the moment to allow people to drive in and out, though the driveway in does show a bit of security in that it has a more leisurely curve to it back and forth, allowing one to admire the surroundings but with some of the very solid looking flower beds blocking a direct run from the gate to the main campus. Just in case.
The reception area is very high tech and modern, with holographic displays mixed with living plants, a melding of nature and tech, with a large circular open desk at the front where a trio of receptionists keep track of who's coming and going, with security stations to either side people pass through to move in and out of the deeper building.
Of course, they're slightly nervous today, because parked on one of the comfortable chairs in the waiting area is one of their co-CEOs, who is busily working at something on a large tablet with an advanced CAD type program, sitting crosslegged and completely oblivious to why people might be nervous to have one of their head boss ladies parked where she can see everything going on while they try to work.
Having been given an open-ended invite to drop by, Hank decided to do just that. BUT…being Hank, he also sent a text message to Roni & Toni so they'd have warning and know to expect him. ::Per our discussion I'd like to drop by your campus today, if that's not a problem please let me know. I'll also be bringing my lab assistant, Sharon Smith if that's okay?::
Text sent, he would gather up Catseye as they were in the city already for a conference at NYU, and once they're given the go-ahead then Hank and Cat get to pile into a /real/ dinosaur of a car - '78 Ford Grenada. Dark blue of course, and though it looks normal enough, one he's modified fairly extensively. After all, /the driver/ tips the scales just over four-hundred pounds! So…shocks, suspension, frame, better and cleaner engine, and a truly obnoxious sound system!
Naturally they'll be stopped at the gate.
And the reason why there is no space in this entire campus that is not 100% wheelchair and handicapped accessible comes rolling down the ramp from further into the building, her hands tapping the tops of her wheels to slow her descent so that she comes to a stop beside the brightly-haired half-asian woman working so intently on her tablet. Dr. Veronica Kelsey is, as usual, dressed in business attire - slacks and a buttondown blouse - with a while labcoat, her IDs stuffed into the pocket and hanging around her neck.
Roni's glasses always seem to have a bit of odd light flickering within the lenses; not quite a reflection, but something else entirely. "How comes the model for improving the miniaturized vectored thrust systems?" she inquires of Toni, as she then glances to the side, new flickers of light in her glasses warning her when a visitor's badge is used at the front gate and access to the parking garage. "He's here."
Roni pulls up her phone, glances at the screen, and then taps in a message to security, passing Hank in with the guest badge and directing him to the parking garage. "They'll be here in a minute or two. Don't forget to save your work." She winks teasingly at her partner, and rolls a bit closer to the exterior doors as they wait.
Sharon is in the passenger's seat of Hank's car, typing up her notes from the conference on an impressively slender laptop. "Will finish full set of notes, later. One page summary of presentations that Catseye attended and DoctorHank could not are done, synopsis of presentations worth following up on are done. But properly shredding the -idiots- takes more time." She flashes Hank a grin, "Assume, like MotherMotherFrost, DoctorHank regards 'Research paper better used for lining birdcages' as colorful but lacking in detail." She pulls out a driver's license for the guard at the gate, confirming that her name is indeed 'Sharon Smith' no matter how fake it sounds.
Toni says distractedly. "I think I have the program better balanced now, or at least I've removed the unintended spin during high speed manuvers. I'd feel like a X-wing doing a trench run or something constantly otherwise." Today, she's wearing glasses herself, though just plain ones with round lenses perched on her button nose, her brow furrowed slightly in concentration as she works, which with her white lab coat, jeans, and teal blue t-shirt leaves her looking like the most hipstery of tech hipsters.
"Oh, that reminds me, do we want art out here? I met a woman who does interesting recreations of historical armor and weapons. Mostly the armor I was interested in, though she's got a really large collection of all sorts of sculpted artwork too she might be willing to part with…impressively she made most of it herself, which is /really/ impressive given the quality of the recreations and how many styles she does. Both European and Asian armor, she has a Song dynasty recreation that looked like it stepped out of a Hong Kong epic."
She assumes Roni will let her know should their guests actually arrived. After all, they gave permission for the guards to let them through and the two will get visitor badges with their names at the door too. Which are little rectangular markers that somehow adhere to clothing when you press the little button on them, then release when you press it again.
A green-eyed glance is spared to the CEO pair as they chat in the lobby with a calm that's rare among the rest of RESCUE's staff. Hovering as she's want to do at the edge of the room, Posse's standing by a wall in the distinctive all-black of Overwatch's security suit. Sporting sleek, curved panels that might be a carbon-fiber weave, the rounds of her joints look almost turtle-like and the many, many small pouches peppered across her outfit stand out distinctively - including the pistols strapped to both of her thighs in drop-leg holsters. The back of her body armor says 'Chief of Security' almost as a formality.
"ETA three minutes," she chimes in neutrally, in what might be her own way of reminding the ever-tinkering Toni to hit save.
"Mmm…it seems Miss Frost and I have more in common than I had thought. Shred away, Sharon, but…do keep it professional." Hank grins hugely as they park. "Just try to think of it as a challenge and valuable practice." Once they're parked, he climbs out of the car (which doesn't even dip a bit! Rock steady.) and smiles to Catseye. "These are some /remarkable/ women, Sharon. I think you'll get on like gangbusters. We met during that Apple debacle some time back."
Hank's dressed in a suit of course, indigo brushed silk jacket with a nehru collar, black slacks, fine white cotton shirt and a narrow tie. For a burly fellow covered in fur he actually cleans up pretty nice. Granted, the RESCUE girls last saw him after a night of chaos while he was in costume, so, definitely not his best.
Sapphire eyes drink in the details of the campus, as they make their way to Reception, his badge adhered to the jacket.
A pause, looking to Cat. "My tie straight?" Why YES, Hank /is/ a tad anxious, wants to make a good impression. Only after he's given his friend's imprimatur does he lead the way into the lobby, getting the door — assuming it doesn't swoosh open on it's own, of course.
Catseye checks Hank's tie, and smiles. "DoctorHank looks great." She herself is clad in a purple business suit, slacks not a skirt, with an ivory blouse and lace cravat. She looks closer to human than Hank does, but still can't quite pass. The lavender hair could be a thorough dye job, as even her eyebrows are lavender. Purple round-lensed sunglasses hide her eyes, but no effort is made to hide her lavender furred tail, indeed the suit is cut to accommodate it. Her jewelry is tasteful, though expensive, and she manages to stride gracefully despite three inch heels, though perhaps the tail helps with that.
"Good. We'll model that later. If so, that'll be a nice benefit. I did not like the visual of an entire flight of Humblebee Model 2s veering into high-speed spins and then slamming into a brick wall at speed, like they were trying to drill out the mortar." Hey, better the Humblebees, even if they had been real and not virtual models, than a person in a plan or in one of their suits. But in spite of herself, Veronica tends to anthropomorphize their little drones more than she should. They're not quite Tachikomas, but she loves them nonetheless.
"Thank you, dear." Roni offers drolly to Posse, giving their head of security and her friend a saucy little wink. Then she eyes Toni curiously. "Artwork? That would be an interesting idea. Paired perhaps with some light sculptures as well." Given the holography embedded here, that would be easily enough done.
Then the doors whoosh open in front of Hank, and Roni clears her throat and resumes rolling for said doors. "Good afternoon, Dr. McCoy." she begins, right hand extended as her left brakes the wheelchair. "And you must be Sharon Smith. Welcome, both of you, to RESCUE. Ms. Smith, this is my partner and friend, Toni Ho. And this impressive figure is our head of security, Ava. She most often prefers Posse, by the way."
"Something like that. Or maybe making it part of a larger art fixture, I dunno." Toni shrugs. "I just like what I like that, but I'm sure we have an interior decorator on retainer or something, right? We can ask them." She glances to Posse. "…do we really have our Overwatch people wear all that gear around the campus?" she says, frowning faintly to herself.
She asks this as she nods absently as Posse gives the ETA, but doesn't stop until the door slides open, glancing over, then saving her work and tucking the pad under an arm as she hops to her feet, wandering over. "Hello again, and hello Sharon." she says politey, her lips quirking. "I like your hair." She herself has a darker purple tone to her own that is certainly a function of dye rather than natural.
Posse's eyes shift to the front door a few seconds before it opens to admit their guests, two emerald eyes of very faintly different hues watching the beastly blue doctor worry about his tie. "Just me," she answers to Toni, matching the scientists frown with a smirk. As introductions start, the Chief of Security hangs back to allow the co-CEOs to go first before stepping forward to present herself, moving with a fluid grace that's only marred by electric whining at ultrasonic frequencies. Armored up, she comes to nearly the same height as Sharon.
"Good to see you again, Doctor Kelsey." Hank's ridiculously overlarge hand is very gentle as he shakes Roni's hand, he's /always/ super careful with his grip, claws and superhuman strength sort of require it. And then he offers the massive mitt to Toni. "Hello again, Doctor Ho." He smiles toothily. "Thank you for allowing this visit, sorry for the short notice." He grins to Posse then. "Ava? Nice to have a name other than your Callsign." She too is offered a handshake.
He steps back after that, to make room for Catseye. "Sharon Smith, Doctor's Kelsey and Ho, the CEOs of RESCUE, and Chief of Security, Ava." A smile. "And ladies, this is my friend and lab assistant, Sharon, though she generally prefers Catseye."
Catseye smiles as Toni complements her hair. "Thank you." When Hank imakes the introductions, she nods to each in turn. "Pleased to meet you all." Purple-hued lenses hide her eyes, which are indeed cat-slitted. She will shake hands if they are offered, but does not offer her hand first. Her tail is currently neatly curled around her left leg, kept carefully out of the way. Automatic doors and tails do not always get along well.
Veronica offers her hand without fear to both, and smiles at Hank's obvious care. "Ava prefers her callsign, but she tolerates a rare few friends calling her by name like a person." she teases, and then gestures to the legged and more mobile folks to proceed her before she then about-faces on two wheels, sharply, and then rolls after them to form up beside their guests.
"This is the main building. You walked around the duck pond to get here. The building on the far side is what we call The Swamp, the dormitories for all staff who live on campus. You saw the parking garage. But this, Helix, is the heart of our campus. There's an additional lab building beyond Helix, but most of our labs are here, as well as our business offices and most operational centers. Our first basement is entirely allotted to Ava and her security teams." Veronica offers, explaining the basic layout of matters. She pauses, then, to let Ava and Toni speak. This is about all of them, after all.
Hands are shaken! The tail gets a curious look though Toni doesn't comment on it. "Toni is fine." she says simply. "No need for doctor, it's not like we're in public or in a working environment where it might matter. For posterity or whatever." the Chinese engineer adds dryly, before quieting to let Roni start on the tour, commenting when she pauses.
"The clinic over there is Roni's domain, while the Foundry…that's the engineering and manufacturing building over there…and Overwatch command is basically the basement. Though we've been considering consolidating that a bit more with some dorm space and such, so everyone is in the same area in an emergency."
Posse accepts Hank's Great Blue Hand and gives it a reassuringly firm squeeze through her textured glove. Just like when they met on the street there's sturdy metal within his grip. A soft snort is given in amusement at talk of her 'callsign' before the armored guard moves to shake Catseye's hand as well - making direct eye contact through the clear screen of her visor and the young woman's tinted lenses. "Nice eyes; good night vision?"
Once the tour begins formally, the cyborg steps aside and tucks in at the edge of the group, keeping the quartet to her left. "Emergency shelters, provisions, and fire suppression are all up to or beyond code - and Foundry and Security areas both connect to a testing range for gear that needs more expansive trials," she adds to Toni with a note of pride. "Overwatch staffs a private security team, QRF, and disaster first response. Dr. McCoy you've seen some of that in action already."
"And I'm Hank, please." Hank says with a grin. "I must say, your campus is impressive. Your security presence is a bit daunting at first, but it certainly makes sense considering what you do. At least the non-security personnel seemed used to it." As they move along - both on legs and wheels, Hank walks with his arms behind him, one hand gripping the opposite arm at the the wrist, the other hand facing palm out, with fingers curled.
"Oh, I meant to ask you … did you find any signs your systems had been compromised?" He's hoping not, and that if so the hints he could give were helpful.
"My own labs are more compact, I haven't the space you all do. Still, they work well enough, much better since Cat agreed to be my assistant." Never you mind she has to remind him to eat most days! He's getting better! (He's not) He's trying to be, anyway. (Very true!).
"I would love to visit both Clinic and Foundry, if that's an option." A grin then. "And the proving grounds, of course." Yes, boys and their love of toys — especially the ones that go 'Boom!'. "Oh yes. Iron Patriot is very impressive, and your own armor as well, Ava." He grins and takes the familiar path instead of the alias. "I have to say that the non-lethal weapons systems you've come up with were highly effective. The pepper shot alone was brilliant."
Catseye smiles politely at Posse's question about her night vision. "Better than average." MUCH better than average, but she prefers not to go into details on first acquaintance. She looks around the grounds with interest, her tail relaxing a little, though she's quick to pull it back from any hazard. She sighs with mock-envy, "Just imagine how much more could accomplish, if had entire TEAM to prevent certain people from blowing selves up." She pokes Hank teasingly with her tail, then quickly snatches it away again before he can grab it. Her grammar is slightly odd, as if English was not her first language perhaps? But no trace of accent in how she pronounces words, which is unusual.
"Well, Hank mentioned the Clinic first, so why don't we go there? We can then route through the proving grounds to the Foundry. I doubt you have much interest in seeing business offices and conference rooms." Veronica comments honestly, and gestures around a particular holography pedestal, which as alighted with a larger than life replica of Toni giving a speech at one of their recent conferences, presenting some of their disaster-support technologies. The three women show no real sign of paying the thing any mind at all; they put things like this up to impress business folk, not visiting scientists.
Veronica turns and heads down the short hallway to the triple-paned sealed doors marked with the Caduceus. Keen eyes may pick out the play of less than visible beams of light over her face and her badge, and a very, very soft 'beep' from something electronic on her chair, and then the glass doors can be heard subsonically unlocking and then whooshing open.
The clinic is exactly as one would expect .. and yet not It is clean, and smells it, but without the heavy antiseptic smell one would expect. The lighting is subdued, not as glaring, but with work lights at every station which can add brightness where it would be useful without assaulting the eyes of others passing by. And the place is warm, relaxing, comforting, clearly with an effort and eye towards not feeling coldly sterile, lonely and intimidating like a hospital, while having all of the amenitites.
"These are the treatment suites. Through those doors you can see the observation lounge above our main surgery theater. Tow more theaters nearby, much smaller observation stations for those. We're no full-scale hospital, but we can handle just about any small-scale medical incident, even critical surgeries, on-site." Veronica explains, as they roll through. "You will notice that our gurneys are equipped with auto-guidance conveyance; they will move the patients as ordered, without wasting staff."
"Building weapons, even nonlethal ones, is something I'm still not entirely comfortable with, but I can't deny that there are times they're needed. And they're certainly an improvement over conventional firearms and tasers our security would have to use otherwise. And yes," Toni adds, "We do have a fairly strong security presence, but that's a combination of having secure areas and having a history with certaing groups, such as AIM, causing trouble for us when they can. I'd rather have a bit of extra security around to make people feel more secure than be caught off guard." She waves to one of the passing guards, who nods respectfully as he heads past with his female partner. "The stun lasers they have are capable of dealing without causing much permanent harm, at least."
She glances over to Roni as she takes over showing off the clinic. She seems to take Sharon's odd way of talking in stride; it's not like she's intelligible or something, after all. "It's similiar to Roni's Humblebees in terms of guidance, it's sort of a, mmm, hive-based system where all the gurney's connect together and are constantly calculating the safest and most efficient courses based on where they all are at that point in time."
"Thank these two," Posse notes with a nod towards the doctorate pair. "They built all the high-speed gear here, I just drive it." While the cyborg might have ample first-hand experience with this part of the campus, she goes quiet as they enter the treatment area and lets Veronica lead. Her eyes occasionally scan the room around them and below the visible spectrum, light beams sweep out from her armor to take the measure of their traveling guests, as well as anyone else passing through.
Oh there's no question Hank's impressed by what he's seeing, though he holography doesn't even get a blink, clearly the man's pretty used to such things himself. An amused look to Cat as she pokes him — and he makes no attempt at all to grab the tail - he knows better. "Well, I haven't blown anything up in some time, thank you, Sharon." Ooh! Sharon, not Cat, she scored a hit! "Mutated, well, that's another matter." He admits.
"The coding of the VIs running your nav systems must be quite intricate, coordinating so many discreet units is a non-trivial task." Hank observes. When they get to the Clinic, he can't help but sigh a bit, so much space! And the fact that compactness isn't the chief design factor is so /nice/. "Certainly a very capable trauma center, however." He accepts the explanation of the security, he gets it, though the Institute doesn't have the guards, it definitely has plenty of security. And some of it? Not so nice at that.
It is pretty plain that Hank's hearing extends beyond the normal human range, and he blinks whenever any of the light beams hit him. Just instinct, but also proof his sight is acute too. "Ava, don't denigrate yourself, super-tech isn't of any use if there's not people skilled in its use, mm?"
Catseye gives a delicate little sniff at Hank. "Would be nice to have a quiet month…. a quiet -week- in the lab. Statistically, it has to happen sooner or later, yes?" She sounds almost pitifully pining, but her tail is almost looping with amusement as she teases Hank. "VI's very impressive, yes. Unpredicted emergent behavior is a non-trivial issue." And not something commonly thought of outside the field, but when you give s system like this a set of rules, sometimes the weirdest behavior emerges as a way of following the rules.
It's an effort for her not to flinch from the light beams, she manages to suppress her reaction, except for the tail tucking close. Ultra- and infra-sonic sounds have a similar effect on the cat-girl, making the fur on her tail slick down and her tuck it close to her body.
"Sorry about the lights. The gurneys and doors are all operating on LIDAR imaging sensors." Veronica comments, upon seeing her guests' reactions. She feels bad, as she had no desire to make anyone uncomfortable. Especially not her guests.
"Our level one and two bio labs are down the hall here." Veronica offers as she gestures to the glass-fronted doors. Cirology and microscopy are on the doors. "Then through these doors " More of those serious security doors, " we have our level three and four bio labs." Roni wheels into one of these, where three-D printers are actually printing designed organs out of biological materials inside sterile sealed cages.
Veronica continues to lead the guests around, showing off much of what they do, if not quite everything. Apparently it's going to be a long and very informative tour. But there will be dinner along the way, and fun games in the proving grounds, so no one gets bored.