[CLOSED] Science happenings

[beastisbeauty]

Bruce Banner is in his laboratory. He has been studying the rift and is currently analyzing soil and vegetable samples from the area, comparing them to samples taken from other areas of the city. He works with his head down, mainly ignoring the other people in the area, who are doing their own work. Like always, Bruce is polite, diffident even, but distant.

Bruce is not content to remain in this reality, even if the rebels should ultimately defeat ROMAC and their unjust laws. Freedom is well and good, but he has a team to get back to. Bruce Banner wants to return to the Avengers, the only friends he had made, since creating the Hulk. He had purpose in his home reality and he is determined to get that back.

current location: rebel base laboratory

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

"Tortall," she says with a wry smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. She's certain he hasn't heard of it. "I was born in Galla, but Tortall is where I wound up. I've checked world maps, but it's not there--not even under some other name."

[beastisbeauty]

Bruce smiles, shaking his head.

"No, I've never heard of it. Have you looked at the stars? Do..." he breaks off laughing. Even if the stars are in similar positions, the patterns in them that form constellations would be different. "Do they seem to be in the right places?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shakes her head. "No. I haven't been out much at night--but it's so bright here, I doubt you could see the stars, anyway." And honestly, she's not sure what the point would be. She's fair certain she can't get back to Tortall any way but through the rift, and she doesn't need to look at the stars to know that this isn't her home.

[beastisbeauty]

"I can show you images on the computer. It'd be interesting, see, if you were from Earth, but in a reality so different that all the names, even the shapes of the continents, were different," Bruce said, happily.

[wildmage_daine]

Daine sighs and crouches down so she can pick up one of the squirrels, which happily submits to her cuddling. "Would that help get me home?" she asks after she's straightened. "Because I don't need to look at star charts to know that this realm is nothing like where I came from." It comes out a bit more sharply than she intended.

[beastisbeauty]

"There are no guarantees," Bruce answered, not taking offense at her tone, his own one of understanding. "The more we know, however, the more closely we analyze each case, the more likely we are to find patterns that will lead us to the answers we are looking for."

[wildmage_daine]

"I s'pose I could look." Daine's still a bit dubious, but at least it sounds like he's not asking her to do something that might upset her for no reason besides satisfying his own curiosity.

And speaking of his curiosity. It seems Bruce is yet another person who might need to be steered back on track on occasion, not unlike Numair or Lindhall--or Andrew. "So, what did you want to ask the squirrels?"

[beastisbeauty]

"Hm?" Bruce asked, looking a bit startled. "Oh! Right. Um. Ask them if they remember a time before the rift, please."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's already nodding; she'd asked for older squirrels that remembered what it was like before. Still, she translates Bruce's question and waits for their responses. "They miss it--they miss things being settled."

[beastisbeauty]

Bruce brightened, glad they had found animals who remembered before the rift.

"Ask them if they can remember anything odd happening or changing, before the rift appeared."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine passes Bruce's question along, frowning a little as she listens to their responses. "Not really, no. I--I think it might have been a gradual change. It doesn't sound like the rift just showed up one day out of nowhere, more like it... grew."

[beastisbeauty]

"Grew...okay. Um. Ask them, what they first noticed. I mean...was their anything visual? How long before things started appearing? Has anything they know of ever disappeared?"

[wildmage_daine]

"Nothing visual," Daine replies, shaking her head. "All they ever really see is the stuff - or the people - the rift spits out. They haven't noticed anything disappearing, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened, only that they haven't noticed." She pauses, listening some more, then adds, "It was a few seasons, they say, between when things first started to feel funny and when things first started to appear."

[beastisbeauty]

"So, a couple of years? They measure seasons like we do?" Bruce asked. "The rift. What comes through most often? Not people, surely?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine shakes her head. "A few seasons, so maybe a year, year and a half."

The squirrels all chime in with lists of the strange things they've seen - or their families have seen - come through the rift. "Sometimes it's people, and sometimes it's things that aren't alive, and sometimes it's nothing at all - just air, I guess." She shrugs.

Are we done? one of the squirrels asks. I'm hungry.

Daine smiles and crouches so she can tickle the squirrel's ears. "You've been very helpful. Sorry for taking so much of your time." She digs out a few more peanuts from her pocket and distributes them, then straightens. As the squirrels leave, she turns to Bruce. "Sorry - I'm sure you have more questions, but I can't ask them to put their lives on hold. They're busy, especially in winter."

[beastisbeauty]

Bruce smiled, nodding. "It's okay. It's a start, at least. I appreciate you and them taking time to help me."

[wildmage_daine]

Daine smiles back, relieved that he's not upset about cutting the questions short. Plenty of folk wouldn't be so understanding of an animal's needs. "It's no trouble," she says with a cheerful shrug.

[beastisbeauty]

"So, what next? Do you think another animal could be of some help?"