May 15th [The Techening]

[apoorupbringing]

It wasn't in Chase's nature to heed the advice of grown ups, but then, it wasn't in Chase's nature to do anything that could be construed as 'adult'. He'd given the mogwai to Wiccan and shoved OL off onto Lucy, much to what he was sure was the dinosaur's displeasure, and gone to the scrapyard with the fistigons and the ex-ray specs and gotten to

Comments

[daretodo]

It's the second Sunday since Mary Jane left me, but the first I've actually spent not holed in my workshop, trying to work out the theory for something I might be better off trying to figure out practically. My few ventures outside these past couple weeks have been more geared towards the beach, the Compound -- the latter late at night, when I'm less likely to bump into anyone -- but the scrapyard seems the logical place to go in this instance, even if it stirs up some less than pleasant memories that I very deliberately push aside.

I've been doing that a lot, lately. Pushing memories aside, pushing myself forward instead of down. My chest's been ripped open, my heart torn out and broken, and in its place there's a steely determination, a cold anger that keeps the pain at bay. Well, pain, and other things. I haven't been exhibiting a great deal of common sense, either, but the distraction I've gained from that has almost been worth it, so I can't bring myself to particularly care.

Case in point: when I find the scrapyard all but humming from vibrations, I don't immediately turn back around. I've got nothing on me save my web-shooters and my cartridge belt, both hidden under my clothes, but at the first signs of trouble, I'll always head towards it instead of away, my guilt preventing me from turning my back on anything or anyone for long when there's even the slightest chance I could help. The source of the problem isn't quite what I'm expecting, and I slow my pace from a jog to a walk, taking in the light show, and the kid in the gloves -- Chase, I think, is his name, the one with the evil scientists for parents. Maybe the apple didn't fall so far from that tree, after all. I've got a bad feeling about this, spider-sense or no; Tony's presence isn't as reassuring as it could be.

"What's going on?"

[apoorupbringing]

"Oh," Chase muttered, "wow, it's like a nerd convention. Uh," he said more loudly, "yeah, hi. You guys might wanna not hang around here cuz I am-"

Right, the gloves were feeding off of his electromagnetic field, now, as well as the battery. He didn't swoon exactly, that would have been too girly for words, but he did sink down a little. The energy pulsed outward. Dirt moved.

"I'm not exactly controlling this."

[notawastedlife]

"Running away from the potential explosion, that's us," Tony said, striding forward close enough that his hair started to lift on end, so slightly, which increased as he held up a hand towards it. "I'm just going to assume that if you're bright enough to be almost killing us all, you're bright enough to have tried taking off the gloves."

[daretodo]

I follow suit, because where else, really, am I going to go? Like I said before, I don't exactly make a habit of running away from trouble, even with a less than inspiring warning.

"Are we really banking on that?"

[apoorupbringing]

"No, they're clamped on," Chase called to Stark, then shot Parker a half wounded look.

"Dude, seriously? I'm about to get fried over here, you gotta be a dick about it?"

[notawastedlife]

"He's also about to be fried, he can be a dick about it," Tony said, walking in a circle around Chase, looking at the situation, at the make-up and behaviour of the energy.

He did some calculations, and then took precise, scientific action, by picking up a piece of metal and throwing it at the battery.

[daretodo]

I've got the words wait, don't do that stuck on the tip of my tongue, but it's too late. Before I have the chance to get out so much as the first syllable, Tony's already gone and made his second mistake of the day -- the first, of course, letting this kid anywhere near the scrapyard. Maybe it's karma for the snide remark, maybe it's just another instance of my terrible luck, but the piece of metal doesn't make it to the battery, instead rebounding from the energy being produced, super-charged, and ready to tear me a new one. My reflexes aren't as sharp as they used to be -- hell, I'm hardly on my A-game even by island standards -- but I manage to duck down at the last possible moment, landing in a low crouch on the ground as I miss out on getting impaled a second time in under a year by a matter of inches.

"Or we could not throw pointy things at the death battery! Are you insane?!"

[apoorupbringing]

"Sweet," Chase muttered, then winced a little as the energy picked up in velocity and started to move around him in a counter clockwise swirl.

"Uh," he said, "shit. Guys, seriously, might wanna just let this play out. You know, battery's gotta run down eventually, right? I mean it's not a double a but it's... Anyway, just- if you could like, contain the blast radii? That'd be great. And I'll just... uh," he jerked his arms again and nothing moved.

"I'll just hang out here at the epicenter. No... no big."

[notawastedlife]

"Thought it couldn't hurt to try," Tony said, unconcerned, crouching down and frowning at the build of energy. "Obviously it could if it hit you, but, it didn't, no harm no foul. Right, can't destroy it, can't turn it off from in there, can't leave the kid inside. The electric fence trick?"

This was, in Tony's circuitous manner, referring to the old standby of wearing rubber soled shoes and holding on to an electric fence, and then getting someone to take your hand, haha, zap. It was a practical joke he was only aware of as a scientific example, because he wasn't some kind of hick farmer, but depending on the way this energy behaving, it could have applications.

[daretodo]

"I'm not taking your hand," I reply, not yet straightening, because I half suspect I'm better off down here than standing. The energy's sort of beautiful, in a way, or it would be if it wasn't about to kill the three of us, and God knows who else. If this thing goes critical, the immediate area won't be the only place in danger -- the sheer force of blast would create shrapnel that could be blown for miles, doing unspeakable damage. Just a little while ago, I told Tony that furniture's more replaceable than a person, and it's a stance I stick by, even now. Whatever ill will I have for the Island, it doesn't extend to wanting everyone stuck here dying just because some kid decided to play scientist -- though I wonder if it isn't more than just that, really.

I mean, not that I know him all that well or anything, but he seems pretty eager to stay exactly where he is, consequences be damned. There's being a hero and then there's not caring about your life, and I don't know which side he falls on. But that this isn't the first dumb thing he's done gives me pause -- or it would, at least, if thinking quickly wasn't sort of a necessity right about now.

"If you got any suggestions for who or what could, though, I'm all ears."

[apoorupbringing]

"You guys are adorbs, set a date yet?" Chase muttered, planting his foot against the battery and heaving back with his shoulders. He was strong- it came from spending all of his time surfing and trying to keep from sitting still long enough to think. The battery sort of gave, a little, the places it was soldered easing apart, and more light surged out from the gloves. He stared, eyes wide but gaze narrow.

What the hell?

Then it snapped back together again and he had to grind his teeth from making a sound.

"I think it's gonna go hot."

[notawastedlife]

"Obviously it's going to go hot, we need a timeframe," Tony said, to Chase, striding away to a nearby pile of materials and grabbing a coil of wire.

To Peter, he continued, "I'd prefer not testing out the arc reactor as a ground unless absolutely necessary. The X-Wing's built to withstand deep space and massive acceleration, and Gundanium is, I was informed, basically indestructable. Flip a coin."

Of course, the danger was then either the ship exploded, too, or you got a supercharged hunk of indestructable metal bounding around.

[daretodo]

The kid's marriage crack makes me wonder if I won't blow up before the energy tears a hole through the Island. My mouth sets itself into a hard line, my anger a hot knot at the back my neck.

I don't have a coin. That's not really important in the grand scheme of things, but there's no time to think this out in any level of detail; we're flying by the seat of our pants, here, because there's no world in which our timeframe is anything but very, very short.

"Wire it into the X-Wing," I call out, already heading towards the ship in question, so I don't do something stupid like try to rip off those fancy gloves with my bare hands. My heart's pounding in my ears, not out of adrenaline or fear, but plain rage. "We can discharge it as photon energy. Just tell me what you don't want shot."

[apoorupbringing]

Chase felt suddenly woozy. The energy wasn't just drawing out of the gloves, now it was starting to cycle back through. That had been the intention, of course, keep a continuous stream going so it didn't siphon off or burn. Energy transference wasn't the idea, here. So it was neat that it was working.

Sort of not awesome that it was working this well, though. He felt a surge go through him like a feedback loop and his heart jumped a little, either from adrenaline or the energy wave, it was hard to tell. It was moving more quickly and had become vaguely spherical over and around him.

"Soon," he said hoarsely.

"I'm putting money on kind of soon."

[notawastedlife]

"Yeah, that's accelerating," Tony said, taking hold of one end of the coil and throwing the loop to Peter. "Wire it up, I have to figure out how to get it conducting."

Just inserting it wasn't going to cut it. It needed to be channelled, diverted, and then drained so they could discharge it. He could improvise something to do the latter parts, but getting the reaction running, that was the trick.

"Do you have any control? Enough for one push."

[apoorupbringing]

Chase frowned a little, moving his fingers as much as he could, mostly to see if he could still feel them which, not so much. He nodded, barely, focusing hard, zeroing his thoughts in on push, on the one word. the line of his shoulders tightened and then expanded, like every muscle in his body was flexed near to the point of ripping, and his eyes looked white with the reflection of the energy discharge.

The sphere pulsed, swelled briefly outward for a good two seconds and then shrank inward again, but it was roiling now. It looked, Chase thought, sort of like the hurricane graphic they used on the weather channel.

He felt simultaneously charged up and totally wiped out.

"Yeah," he shouted, "yeah, maybe."