[CLOSED] That was love and it's an ache I still remember

[looksfine]

Characters: Aya and Not!Razer Wally West
Date: Mid-June
Location: Wayne Enterprise
Situation: Wally comes for a visit to check out the place, and along the way, encounters a certain living robot...who might be thrown by the auditory similarities between him and a certain Red Lantern she used to know.
Warnings/Rating: W for Wally.


During the daylight hours, Aya made every attempt to put time into the laboratory at Wayne Enterprise. It was an inherited duty, with many recent disappearances. People she had known casually. People she respected, and would honor by taking up as much of the responsibilities as she was capable of.

Fortunately for their memory, Aya was capable of a lot of things.

Multitasking, for instance. Without the basic necessities most carbon-based life forms required, she could go for hours, non-stop, with little regard for the passage of time. Awareness, yes. Regard? No. She had far more important things to regard, including the multiple holo screens worth of data scrolling in front of her.  Which she was doing at that precise moment, cross-referencing and analyzing each and every variable.

"Yes.  I believe the probability of success will increase to 74.3 percent with these newest alterations."

Comments

[runrightround]

"Well, you have the main encrypted frequency, right? And that's the only one." He holds up one hand, with one finger pointed and proceeds to do the same with his other hand. "But if there was another signal set up somewhere, with a dummy frequency it could make a decent decoy."

He rubs the back of his neck.

"It might give you a little time to work on the encryption for the main one in peace. Theoretically, anyway."

[looksfine]

A dummy frequency.

Something Aya had not previously considered. In fact, she could not recall any of her recent discussions with her fellow...science bros (as the colloquialism apparently went)...involving such a suggestion.

"Would the current frequency of the public local transmitters not be considered a dummy frequency, then?"

[runrightround]

The fact that his suggestion wasn't shot down right away gives him a little sense of pride. He's glad to be of some help, even if it's just tossing around ideas.

"I wouldn't think so. Not if everyone already knows about it. I'm thinking the dummy one would have to be semi-encrypted, to make it look legitimate. Kind of like a Trojan Horse, but more radio signals and less sweaty Greeks."

[looksfine]

Of course she wouldn't shoot him down right away. Aya didn't do that...usually...unless the shooting down was such an obvious response that it required very little processing on her end. Which was not this time, so...right. Actual processing.

"Interesting. You are suggesting we deliberately leave a frequency vulnerable to act as a distraction from a far more hidden encryption beneath it. But would it not be obvious that this frequency was being seldom used?"

[runrightround]

"Good point." He taps at his chin, thinking. "We could round up some volunteers to use it. Just enough to make it look like it's something important."

There's no shortage of people around here that are able and willing to help, surely.

"They'd just have to make up some convincing nonsense to say."

[looksfine]

"Would you be willing to take charge of such a unit?"

Since it was his suggestion in the first place.

[runrightround]

"Me?"

It's not often that someone suggests Wally be in charge of something, so he's a little surprised. At least at first, he snaps out of it quickly enough and smiles. He's happy that he has a chance to actually work on something.

"Yeah! Totally. You can count on me."

[looksfine]

"Certainly. It was your idea. I can think of no reason at this time why you should not be the one to implement it."

She smiled warmly at him. The sentiment was completely genuine.

[runrightround]

"Thanks partner."

He holds his fist out to her, expecting a fistbump in return. This seems like a special enough occasion for one. It doesn't occur to him that it might be strange to her in anyway, he just keeps blabbering on.

"Or co-worker? I don't want to assume I'm on the payroll now... Wait, do you even get paid?"

[looksfine]

Her eyes fell to his hand first, confused, then back up again at the question.

"There is sufficient allowance in the budget for monetary compensation. I do not require much, as I do not require most of the usual necessities that other living organisms do, so I have made a point to prioritize payment to those who have offered their services here as well."

[runrightround]

"Oh. Sweet."

Money is money, and it's really not that big of a deal to him, but he's not going to complain about it. He waves his fist around a little.

"Are you going to leave me hanging?"

[looksfine]

Of course Aya would follow the procedures she had learned to be the expected cultural norm. Work required compensation. Particularly of this nature, where said compensation would result in the individual being able to care for himself with regards to basic necessities. Food. Housing. These were important.

"Hanging?" She continued to stare.

[runrightround]

"You know." He continues to wave his hand around. "Don't you?"

After an awkward second or two (or three!) he realizes what's happening here and he makes an 'ooh' sound. Wally has gotten so used to hanging out with the team, where there are fistbumps aplenty, that he may have forgotten that not everyone ever knows the majesty of the move. He puts his hands on his hips and grins at her.

"You really don't know how to fistbump? That's a shame."

[looksfine]

Fistbump...fistbump...

Oh!

"Hal Jordan has spoken of this Earth tradition on more than one occasion. Is that what you were attempting to initiate?"

[runrightround]

Hal Jordan? How does she know Hal Jordan? Wally takes a second to really look at her and, yeah, he notices the lantern symbol and the green. Interesting. One thing at a time though.

"If you know the Hal that I know," he pauses briefly. She probably doesn't know the Hal he knows. "Or some version of the Hal I know... then yeah."

[looksfine]

"I know multiple Hal Jordans. The one who first gave me my name...he is not here." She sounded almost saddened at this thought. "But there is still one who remains in Keelai, to my knowledge. The younger one no longer registers on my scanners."

[runrightround]

"I met the one that's still here, he's not from where I'm from either." It's strange knowing how she feels about the lack of a familiar Hal, but that's how life goes here. Apparently. "So, you're a Green Lantern? With the cool constructs and everything?"

[looksfine]

"You are familiar with the Green Lantern Corps?"

[runrightround]

"Yeah!" Uh. "Well, not overly familiar. I know there's a lot of Lanterns and you guys protect planets. And space."

[looksfine]

"Then they do exist in your universe of origin."

She seemed incredibly pleased by this fact. Proud, even.

[runrightround]

"Mhmm. Between them and the League, it's a wonder bad guys ever try anything."

Of course, it would be weird if there were no bad guys, then what would all the superheroes do? Delivery? He shudders at the thought.

[looksfine]

"I am unfamiliar with any particular League. Are they another variation of the Corps?"

Like Star Sapphires, perhaps?

[runrightround]

"No, they're... You really don't have a League where you're from? What do the not Lantern heroes do?"

Does everyone do their own thing like Red Arrow? Because that sounds like a cluster...ahem.

[looksfine]

"I am not certain. From the moment I was first brought-online, I have affiliated myself with the Green Lanterns, and only the Green Lanterns."

[runrightround]

"Sounds like you see a whole lot of green. Anyway, the League is sort of like the Lantern Corps, but there are more heroes involved and a variety of powers. And color..."

Spandex in any color of the rainbow, really.