Summary:Toni and Io got out to an arcade to try and relax after days of work trying to rebuild what was destroyed in their recent trip in the Ukraine. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
  |
Following the chaos in Ukraine, the group returned to the RESCUE campus for treatement as well as…well, recovery, in more ways than one. Though she was very distracted and moody the whole trip back, when they do arrive, Toni almost immediately offers to let Io use part of her lab space to restore Goliath. She's a bit cautious around the younger woman, watching her for signs of aftereffects of what she wnet through.
The last anybody had heard Io talk was when Posse had essentially thrown Io out of where she was resting while the blue-haired girl was trying to repair her cybernetics.
Even when offered the lab to restore Goliath, Io had only given Toni a brief blank stare, then a nod.
She'd been holed up in the lab ever since - and electronics blazing all around her. One didn't have to strain in the least to hear the thumping punk music blasting from her wireless earbuds, two TVs were on and several laptops were churning information around her. But, most of her attention was on the robotic dog. And had been.
It wasn't hard to see for anyone with a pair of eyes that Goliath meant as much to Io as the most loved pet of any family - in some respects he was her Old Yeller.
But, late into one evening she is actually muttering along with the words to the music. An improved sign, clearly, and Goliath seems nearly all put back together.
It's been sort of odd, really, in that Toni does almost exactly the same thing. She goes straight over to her controls for her lab, sending numerous robots scurrying forwards to clear a large area and begin assembling a large, reinforced worktable, similar to what she uses to work on her armor. Though this one is about twice the size. She does, at least, think to raise a little soundproofing wall between where she's working and where Io is working so she's not distracting her. And then, she just totally vanishes back there and barely comes out save for restroom breaks, water, and occasionally, when she remembers it, something quick to eat.
It's another hour, two, perhaps, after that, before the noise around Io dims to almost a standstill, and all at once. And, instead of half-mumbling, or singing under her breath she speaks, asking, "Alright, Goliath. Time to wake up, yeah?"
She finishes the last bit of polish on the metal, raps his head with her knuckles twice, then taps her finger to one laptop that's been sitting mainly still and inert, but always near her.
A few moments later, and Goliath's eyes burn a bright red again.
"Took a shitload of parts," she tells him, "But I got you back. And managed to fit some insulators in so if it happens again, it won't be as bad." She raps his head again, "Don't do that again, you got it?"
Goliath barks, once, then stands up on all four legs, ready for 'action', as it were.
"Yeah, I know you don't remember what happened," she tells him. "You don't need to. It's not important."
The conversation seems to draw attention from the other side of the wall after a moment, as the sound of welding that's been going pretty well nonstop for hours comes to a halt, the little bursts of sparks and light accompanying it dying off, before Toni, looking a bit frazzled and rubbing her face, comes around the soundwall, setting a welder down on a nearby table, then smiling weakly. "Ah…he's back? Is he okay?" she murmurs.
Io doesn't seem to acknowledge, or maybe even realize, the pattern of behavior she's gone through in the least. She makes a face at Toni's question, patting the robotic dog's back affectionately, "He doesn't have any memory from before we left. That was the last time his auto backup kicked in. He's got diferent parts, too. Probably a few things to tweak, until I get him back to where he was. Not sure he'll ever be exactly the same." Another face, "Assholes."
Toni mms, folding her arms over her chest as she leans back against the wall. "He shouldn't be the same anyway. You'll make improvements you might not have before, or alter schematics. Upgrades happen. Everyone changes. No reason he can't too and still be basically the same Goliath." She yawns a bit, then eyes Io. "…and how are you feeling?"
Io makes a sound that may, or may not be a vauge concession to the wisdom of Toni's words, perhaps having not thought of it like that before. But when it comes to her, and her 'feelings', Io squints and seems suddenly on guard. Suspicious. "Why?"
"Because I'm not completely oblivious, and I know how fucking awful what happened would be to someone with your gifts." Toni says bluntly, tilting her head. "And you haven't talked about it or had anyone talk to you about it…so…I wanted to put it out there, you know?" She shrugs. "I know that Roni usually has the bedside manner, not me, but…"
Io rolls her eyes, and then looks away, to look at Goliath, "Tell you what," she says in tone and body language that leaves no doubt in Toni's mind that Io isn't someone who discusses their 'feelings' and has no plans to do so now, even with everything that happened, "I thank you for letting me use your lab to get Goliath back, and you say 'Sure, Io, glad to help'."
She looks back at Toni, "Then I'll forget that you tried to mind-shrink me, and we'll still be cool. Fair?"
Yep. SHe'd probably even frustrate Roni, if Roni tried to do the same.
Toni rolls her eyes. "Not mind shrinking you. Do I look like a psychiatrist? I'm offering as…a….friend. If you want to talk. HOlding that stuff in doesn't always end well, and no one is gonna hear it but me." she points out. "But yeah, glad to help you get your friend up and running again, either way."
"We're talking right now. See, you're saying a sentence, then I say a sentence. It's a full blown conversation," Io deflects, and deflects quite well with apparently more than a little practice. But she hasn't stalked out of the room yet, so it at least isn't going horribly wrong.
She seems to regard Toni a few long moments after her last words, then nods agreeably, "Yeah. So, let me buy you a beer or something."
Toni hmmms, then nods. "Sure, why not? Got a place in mind?" she wonders, pulling off her work gloves and tossing them ont he table as she undoes the messy purple bob at the back of her head and runs her fingers through her hair.
"There's an arcade bar called Quarters about fifteen minutes from here, or so. Got pinball, few other arcade games, couple games of chance, that golf game, even got an old guitar hero arcade game up and running still. I do some maintance for them from time to time, so I get a discount over there. Got a full bar, too. Run competitions sometimes, but I'm not allowed to participate." She rolls her eyes, "They think I cheat."
Toni grins faintly. "Hmm, sounds good, sure. I could go for some pinball…haven't played in ages." she admits, walking over to nab her coat and pulling it on. "Or whatever game's there, really. Can't remember the last time I ate something."
Io grabs her own coat and puts it on, looking to Goliath, "Get some sleep," she tells him, "And when you wake up do a self diagnostic. We'll make sure all your programs are running clean when I get back."
The dogs eyes go from a bright red to a dull red as it lays down in a true 'sleep' position for dogs as it goes into 'sleep mode'.
"Stay away from the fish there, it's all canned. But their onion rings are fantastic," she advises Toni. And, as a sidenote, adds, "You're driving."
"Sure, sure…" Toni says with a yawn, heading towards the underground transport over to the garage. "Long as you buy the onion rings." Toni's car, as it turns out, is a Tesla. One she's modified to improve several thing sabout, but basically a Tesla roadster. She only has one car, and it's at least partly because she can tinker with it and make it a test bed, really. A short trip, and the pair pull up in front of Quarters, parking, as Toni steps out.
The arcade/bar is not particularly busy, but neither is it dull and quiet. The games themselves make the noises of electronic beeping, whirring, booping, and electronically infused voices call out various accomplishments or statuses of pinball machines and games from the 1970's all the way through present day. Nearly all the machines seem to be in extremely good condition.
A few people are in the bar area, while a couple other singles and a few groups are spending tokens in the arcade area.
"This is one of my hangouts," Io says, lifting a hand while being greeted by one of the waitstaff - a fairly cute young girl, her hair dyed pink and in pigtails.
"That's Chelsea. She's good people. She'll kick your ass at Terminator Pinball, too."
"Hmm, noted." Toni says, waving to the pinkhaired girl in passing as she smiles at her faintly. "Nice to meet you Chelsea. "Just the pair of us today, taking a break from working on stuff." She looks around curiously. "Man, this place brings back memories."
Io flops ungraciously in a seat, "Chelea, baby, get us a couple orders of onion rings, a nacho platter, and I'll take a house beer. Whatever she wants to drink, too. Just put it against fixing Golden Axe for you last week, yeah?"
She looks back to Toni after Chelsea cheerfully agrees, pats Io on the shoulder and takes Toni's order for drinks, then she's headed off to go talk to the kitchen and schmooze some with the other customers - tips, and all.
"Yeah? You've been here before?"
"House beer is fine for me too.." Toni says, sliding off her jacket and slipping into the boot as well as she stretches out, wigglign into place. "Well, not here specifically. When I was in college there was still an old video game arcade down in student town, called…Starport, I think? Was a pretty big place. Lots of old games, mostly those big multiplayer ones like the old D&D game, or Turtles in Time, stuff like that. Lots of fighting games, some old school stuff. Pinball, that was mostly the time my mother made me go to a summer camp and I ended up fixing up an old Star Wars pinball machine and playing that instead of going outside to try and suffer through playing soccer."
Io rolls her eyes appreciatively. "Sports. I can't believe there are people out there who enjoy getting sweaty, out of breath, and getting their noses broken on other people's knees and elbows." She makes a face to match her tone, "Whatever floats their boat. People thought I was stupid for flunking gym. I had better shit to do." She shrugs.
"I might like some sports…" Toni allows. "But that particular camp, everyone just kinda forgot me. I didn't know anyone and it was really boring and shallow. One of those 'young leaders' conferences for people who want to play politician, where you elect a goverment from the people there." She shrugs a bit, shaking her head. "I couldn't wait to leave the moment I got there."
"Eh. Never went to camp. Boring. My parents tried to send me one time, and I told them if they did I'd shut the entire house down until I came back." She grins, shrugging. "I didn't go." She exhales, and leans back in her chair and rubs her face. "Fuck. I'm tired. Think after this I'm going to crash. What day is it, anyways?"
Toni ums, then pulls out her phone to check. "…been four days?" she says after a moment. "So Saturday now." She mmms. "Are you still staying at your old place, or did you move into the dorm at the campus?" she wonders.
"Why would I move to the dorms?" The look Io gives Toni now is like the girl had asked one of the most idiotic questions she could. "All my stuffs at my pad. And you only have me as a part time job," she reminds - a deal which she presently seems okay with. And considering the two outings she's had with RESCUE? One probably can't blame her.
She finger-raps on the table. "Four days, huh? Shit. Probably means my take out I left in the fridge is bad. Fuck." She looks mildly displeased by this.
"Happens. Why I just order when I'm hungry now, otherwise I forget and it just goes bad and develops into a alient sushi civilization in my fridge somewhere." Toni notes dryly.
"So, what've you been working on anyways?" Io dives into the nachos, apparently just as ravenous as Toni said she was, when their food and drinks are brought. "Anything cool?"
Toni hesistates, snagging some of the onion rings and starting to dip them in ketchup. "…I didn't do so great back there, in Ukraine. Titanium Man pretty much wiped the floor with me. I let…everyone down." she says with a frown. "Not to mention my Patriot armor was…trashed. I'm lucky I didn't get hurt worse than I was. I could salvage a fair amount, but there are microfractures throughout the armor, it'll have to be completely rebuilt. So…I decided instead I'll incorporate the components into a new armor."
"Good. It pisses me off when people just throw tech away. They're assholes too." She exhales, "After I get some sleep if you want I'll help you with that. Make sure you got everything running optimally, and all that shit." Io shrugs, "Least I can do, right?"
Toni hesistates, then nods slowly. "Yeah, that'd be helpful. FAster than me doing the tests manually when you can jus ttell me what it needs." she responds. "I wouldn't be throwing away the armor pieces I am, but I can't fix them without completely reforging them, and I might as well make them a new piece entirely at that point and improve on the design. I'm not going to be underpowered next time."
Fingergunning, Io nods, "You got it." She adds. "I'm not all into building power armor, and making lasers and things, but, I got a lot of good ideas. I can take a volkswagon bus, and turn it into an armored car. Did, once." She grins, some. Shrugs, "That was kinda cool."
"What happened to it?" Toni says curiously. "Or are you still driving it around?" She pauses to sip from her drink, trying some of the nachos as she leans back on her side of the booth. "And it's not so much building the armor as building the idea better, I guess."
"Was a contract job," Io confesses, "Did it for some conspiracy theorist guy who wanted to go off the grid." She seems a little amused by this memory, and the fact of it. Adds, thoughtfully, "But, it's not a bad idea to think about building something for RESCUE, either. Insulated, non-violent, transport for the armor, and team, HQ for me." She gets a wistful look in her eye.
Toni studies Io thoughfully, noting the look. "…did you have plans for what something like that might look like?" she wonders. "I mean…depending what you have in mind, we can probably find a good base vehicle that can be converted over as a command vehicle."
"Nope. Not yet." She scratches the back of her head, thoughtfully. "But, I can figure it out. Just need some sleep. Give me a few days, I'll get back with you on it."