There's always room for one less...

[akablackkitty]

The general atmosphere of the Conrad Hotel basement still isn't at its best, all things considered. Despite the looming threat of Romana waking up and possibly smiting everyone who isn't one of her angels, there are people around. Doin' Stuff.

Marshall Flinkman has staked out a little corner of the common room and jacked a table that is now filled

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[swingsetheart]

Lavendar has always been one for exploring, even places she's familiar with. It's a way to get her mind off of things, a way for her to just let go and have fun. She's managed her way into the common room today, looking under tables, chairs... everything. It all has a story to tell in her mind, and by looking to see what was about? That was the best way of doing so!

Well, then she spots the fellow in the corner, constructing.. something. Her wings are out (they're small, childlike, cream colored and irresistibly fuzzy) and she approaches with great curiosity.

"What'cha makin'?" A big smile.

[akablackkitty]

Despite not really being aware of his surroundings, it's not entirely jolting to hear someone speaking to him randomly. He's used to it and so, at first, he doesn't look up.

"Well, I'm trying to see if I can make a tracking device out of this necklace, using spare parts. It's a bit clumsy, but it might work with about a radius of, oh, twenty or so miles." He nods to the aforementioned necklace lying in front of him as he continues to tinker with it with a couple of finely delicate tools- really, it's best not to ask how he finds these things. It's just a piece of cheap gold costume jewelery with a heart-shaped locket, which is now laying open with the skeleton of what looks like a tiny microchip inside it where a picture might be otherwise. "Theoretically, this would be much easier if I had access to equipment much more refined than what I have, so this is about like hacking into a bank with a plastic whistle, but I make do with what I can

[swingsetheart]

Lavendar listens with great interest, even though half of the words he is saying she doesn't quite understand. Whatever he's doing, though, does seem pretty complex.

Either way, it's something she's never seen before, and that's enough to keep her interest. Giggling, she shakes her head and wrinkles her nose, "Nope, sorry. But it seems kinda hard."

Nodding to emphasize her point, she leans her elbows on the table, wings giving an absent flutter as she examines his work. "It looks cool though."

She smiles up at him, seemingly oblivious to the awkward in his own smile. But that's just Lavendar. She's always smiling, always curious and wondering. And she especially loves meeting new people! And New People with neat hobbies are even more interesting.

[akablackkitty]

For a normal person? It'd be downright impossible, but for Marshall... Well, let's just say that Marshall typically doesn't get that normal people's brains don't typically work like his does.

"Not really, no. Well, not for me anyway, but I'm sort of a genius. Well, not sort of, by any means." From anyone else, that would be an arrogant statement, but from Marshall it's kinda adorable. "Uh... Anyway. Even still, it's harder than normal, but... I like a challenge!"

The awkward smile vanishes, because Marshall does tend to love to prattle on about his gadgets and there's nothing awkward about that at all. "It's very cool. This is what I used to do for a living, you know, before I fell through the Rift. Although I guess I could do it for Torchwood too if I ever got the equipment."

He pauses. "I'm Marshall, by the way."

Yes, Marshall, introducing yourself to people before you ramble at them is generally a good idea.

[clockwork_doc]

Doc must have some sort of ability to smell out the tech-heads in this hotel. Wandering back from the cafeteria after a quick snack (even the most dedicated scientist needs to eat), he spots Marshall in his corner and goes over for a look. His eyes rove over the piles of bits and pieces, then settle on the man himself. He smiles. "Hello. What are you working on?" Things went well when he asked Aubrey what he was doing some days ago -- hopefully things will go well here too. Doc loooves talking science.

[akablackkitty]

Marshall holds up a finger to indicate that he'll respond as soon as he finishes tweaking this one thing, and then looks up, holding up what amounts to a heart-shaped locket by its chain, open to expose what looks like some kind of computer chip now blinking in short bursts.

"Well, in theory, this is a tracking device. A bit clumsy and the frequency can probably be jammed by microwave ovens in the general vincinity and it only gets a twenty mile radius before it konks out, but it's not bad for a prototype using only spare parts, if I do say so myself." Oh yes, Marshall is often proud of his toys. Especially when he made them out of junk. "Of course, it's not nearly as subtle as I'm goin' for, but this is just a practice round. Make sure ol' Flink's still got the moves in another universe."

He chuckles and it eventually peters out awkwardly. "So, uh, I'm Marshall Flinkman." He offers his hand. "You a tech geek too or just passin' by?"

[clockwork_doc]

Doc takes the hand and shakes it. "Dr. Emmett Brown," he replies. "Yes, I'm one of the 'tech geeks' around here. Though my expertise lies in much less recent technology, I'm afraid." He looks over the tracking locket with interest. "Not bad at all. Even if it can be jammed by microwave ovens." No, Doc hasn't seen one, but he can get a rough idea of what they do from the name. "You do what you can with what you're given." Doc's done that many, many times.

He eagerly looks back at the spare bits still on the table. "Where did you get all this? I've got some projects going myself, and spare parts are always needed."

[akablackkitty]

Marshall grins. More tech geeks are always awesome, especially since he's used to being the only one around. Both the CIA and SD-6 only really had need of one person of Marshall's caliber. He's good at what he does.

"Don't I know it," he says, mildly sulky. He misses his government budget and all the things he could do with it, but hey! Maybe Torchwood will come into something. Maaaaybe.

Marshall looks down at his parts and grins sheepishly. "The closets, mostly. I think most everyone who needed parts has already picked through the good stuff, but there were a couple of old VCRs stuck in corners that I gutted and Tosh had some spare computer chips from back when she was building laptops. Mostly it's just a fluke that I found anything at all."

The narration often wonders if maybe the closets are about as magic as the endless hallway and always seem to produce what one needs, but... That's probably not the case. Marshall's just resourceful.

[thepizzalord]

The odd, slightly demented-sounding giggles have attracted Harry's attention, so he takes a break from organizing his latest batch of supplies and seeks out the source. He pokes his head into the sunroom and spots Sonja. "Hey," he greets her with a smile. "She lives!"

He eyes her book curiously. It doesn't strike him as a particularly funny subject, but he's run across people with all sorts of ridiculous ideas on how magic works. "Good book?" he asks, not really meaning that at all.

[powerisall]

Sonja looks up from the book, the laughter dying down to a snicker. "She does. It takes a long time to recharge from something like that, but I'm better now. I've actually been up for a week, but I've been at Shep's building trying to get that fucking door fixed." And succeeded too, finally. Sonja's multi-talented and she didn't want any actual repairman snooping around in the area, especially since the building was obtained in desperately illegal ways.

She stares down at the book, shaking her head. "Stupid as fuck, but I needed the laugh. Spice racks and chanting naked in the woods to unnamed pagan goddesses just sounds ridiculous on any level, no matter how magic actually works." She arches an eyebrow at him. "And if they do that where you're from, I reverse the right to mock you forever."

She means that out of love, Harry. She likes you. Really!

[thepizzalord]

Harry laughs. "Nah, I could never really get into the whole naked dancing thing. And sacrificial virgins are just so hard to find nowadays." Once, he might've hesitated at making light of human sacrifice. Now it's just a silly idea. No pagan goddesses here, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, go about your business, citizens.

"Granted," he adds after a moment, "it's not always the most glamorous thing in the world, but normal people have no idea how it really works. Better that way."

"Although it does lead to your kind being mocked and belittled for their contributions to society," Lash adds. He looks over at her and gives her a warning look, although it's not too severe. She's right, although he hates to admit it. At least here, his abilities and knowledge are respected. That's a definite improvement.

[powerisall]

Sonja laughs. Shepard said he was a decent enough guy, but somehow she missed the memo on him being funny. Maybe he was funny before and she didn't notice it, because she was too busy focusing on transmuting the circle. Either way, she thinks he's funny now.

The laughter dies away and she fixes him with a look. Not so much a threatening look as a deeply serious one. "You bet your ass it's better. What people don't understand, they try to destroy or squash out. It tends to make people a bit tetchy. And I don't want any witch hunts down on my head." She frowns and looks away. "'Course with the way things are going in this city, eventually people are going to start figuring things out. The boss man thinks he's got a war with the angels, but wait until the normals start banging down his door."

Sonja... Doesn't have a very appealing view of normal people. For what amounts to good reasons, not that she needs one.