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Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts (IC)


Raveled

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Sil waved slightly as Ironclad made her way out. Not like she was going to stop her, there were places some people had to be. Turning towards Dragonfly she had a hidden smile under her mask,

"Well you're still in your teens aren't you, most woman don't stop growing until they hit there early twenties, and most people are everchanging as life goes on. But it's good that you have some sense of vanity, because it would mean this would go to waste."

Reaching into purse she pulled out a box just about the size of her palm. It had a clear plastic top that showed a simple silver dragonfly pendant on a chain. She handed it forward,

"Merry Christmas, though I'll be honest I didn't plan on getting it it definitely seemed to suite you. I only wish I was savvy enough to make it into something a bit more practical but it's pretty none the less."

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Dragonfly blinked. Could stick around; thank you, again, for the pet. I love him. Won't keep you if you're busy, though....

"Wouldn't take it very hard. First time Ironclad and I met I held her at gauntlet-point. Thought each other were villains. Actually tried to fight each other. Could have won that battle!" That last bit was called out in the exiting Ironclad's direction, teasingly.

"Merry Christmas, though I'll be honest I didn't plan on getting it it definitely seemed to suite you. I only wish I was savvy enough to make it into something a bit more practical but it's pretty none the less."

That shut her right up again. She blinked, looking at the little pendant. It was pretty fitting, but.... "Can't...I can't possibly. Looks expensive...have nothing to give back in return. Don't even know what I could...."

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She looked at the necklace,

"This little trinket, nah I swiped it up for a good price. Anyway, it's not about getting something in return. Honestly I don't know exactly what it's about."

Thinking over it for a second,

"I guess I just like giving gifts, it's fun to see the looks on peoples faces when they get something they like. I've got quite a list this year though, lots of new people I've met. Not exactly sure what to get half of them but I can wing it just fine. Some gifts just jump out at you, like this little thing."

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Dragonfly, with great hesitation, reached out and took the little box with such great care it seemed like she was afraid it was going to shatter or disappear on her. "I...thank you. Don't...don't have much experience with gift-receiving. Or gift-giving. Sort of...very overwhelmed by you and J-" She blinked, and quickly corrected herself. "Ironclad. I'll...can try to repay you. Somehow. If you ever need anything built, or fixed, or...."

She gingerly pulled the pendant out of its box, holding it up to admire it, letting it turn in the warehouse lights. "Very pretty," she quietly observed.

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"That's alright, for now a seat would be fine."

Honestly her legs hurt because of the persistant wandering that had taken place while trying to locate the warehouse.

"Anyway, I'm rather troublesome to make gadgets for."

Grabbing a a chair she sat down quietly,

"Or rather my powers are, I can't take anything that isn't naturally flat with me, like I couldn't flatten this chair with me, or a cell phone they just don't go. Got a pretty strict guideline, nothing thicker then half a centimeter. Which is okay for simple stuff, bandaids, phone cards and the like. Plus well my clothing, minus most shoes, but other then that not much can really conform to that sort of guidelines."

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Dragonfly frowned, carefully putting the pendant back in the box, visibly relieved to have something less awkward to think about.

"Engineering challenge," she agreed, leaning back against a workbench. "Difficult. Specialize in spacial manipulation - could MAKE something thinner - but technology carries risks. Can't adapt your mechanism without knowing how it works...can't use whole warping engine - engine itself is, well." She lifted a heavy-looking gauntlet, waggling her fingers. "Most of the space. Wouldn't give that to you anyway. Some things I don't release...concerns. Paranoia. Mm."

She tapped a finger on the lip of the bench, frowning. "Some things can be made small. Circuitry is...difficult at that limitation, but not impossible. Have some thoughts on thin screens...The Lab has resources there." single-layer visual output - project of....mmh - can't remember - could redo it from scratch - not that complex if it only needs to be done once or twice

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"Honestly I probably couldn't get the hang of using something like your guantlets even if you made a pair thin enough. I don't need much in ways of weapons anyway."

Holding out her hand she flattened it,

"When I change form I don't lose any mass, instead I am condensing my form without expanding it's surface area. This makes my fingers a really dense, and really quite sharp. It's probably the reason why it's hard to take things with me because most things resist forced condension like that."

She let her hand reform as she glanced at the computer,

"Well the only thin screens that would be possible would be glasses, which I can wear as long as the lenses aren't too thick."

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She chuckled - barely - and shook her head. "Was only pondering applying the technology to compression. Gauntlets wouldn't work for you, anyway. Have no actual interface. Need to be controlled with your mind. Security concern, plus makes it easier to keep them flexible."

"Thin screen I'm thinking of would be...flexible." She mimed bending something lightweight. "Like a piece of plastic. Circuitry is a challenge, wouldn't be very durable, but otherwise likely doable. Was just pondering. Glasses are a good idea, though - can do a lot with a screen always in front of your face. Fond of it myself," she observed, tapping her visor. "Still. All theoretical. Don't know what you'd want made, if anything."

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"I wonder how you did that, and well just about everything else you do with computers. Remote accessing seemed plausible too, but a mental link sort of explains that computer set up you had up stars. Gotta say, it certianly threw Creature Feature for a loop, though he is from the tech support generation, where any and all problems on a computer can be solved with either a reboot or a one eight hundred number on the side of the box."

She spun the chair around and sat on it leaning her front on it's back with a leg on each side,

"Well it all depends on how far it could be spread out. If a pair of lenses were to be set up, it could probably be be just built into the mask. It gives a larger surface area for extras then a regular pair of glasses for certian."

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She shrugged. "Convenient. Use a keyboard sometimes, but keyboards are slow. Easier to be direct."

Dragonfly stood up straight, stretching. "Practical considerations, then. Lenses are theoretical - what would you want them to do? If anything. Surface area allows for some options...mask offers room for some circuitry, provided it's flexible. Difficult but not impossible." feedback more of a challenge - wired gloves? - tactile interference - eye-tracking? - difficult on that scale - might be fun

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"Well if I had some high tech glasses in my mask, probably some night vision and maybe infared, at least some flash goggles if only because being blinded is very inconvinent. Though it probably means you'd have to replace the mask as a whole to work with it, probably add some extra padding to fit in the circuitry. Though you can't go as thick as lets say, kevler, I tried and it's a no go for my powers."

Though she liked the idea of planning this stuff out, it was a rather complicated sounding order, not to mention expensive. Given, she wasn't ordering anything, maybe she should backtrack and try to remember how they got this far into planning something she didn't actually ask for.

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Dragonfly hmmed, tapping her leg with a finger. flash goggles are easy - night-vision and infrared somewhat harder - space concerns - photo receptors - processing? - distributed across the whole mask perhaps - power source...human body vents a lot of heat through the head

"Would have to replace the mask, yes," she noted. "Attach the lenses, lay circuitry...not that thick, not using silicon boards. Would need to keep it mostly flexible - it is a mask, not a helmet. Helmets are easier...so much space. Masks are much more interesting."

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"I don't think I could get a helmet thin enough, though a choker around the neck area could probably hold some less flexible circuitry, as long of course as it's well insulated. A thin collar maybe, nothing to wide so I can have free movement. It'd be a good place if only because most criminals don't aim there, least not generally."

There weren't many criminals that aimed for the neck, head yes, chest more so because it's a broader target, the inbetween was usually untouched, unless vampires got involved, but then again it wasn't the usual crowd she dealt with.

"Replacing the mask isn't a big deal, though this one is sewn into the collar, so I'll have to cut the thread and resew if this gets made."

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Dragonfly tilted her head, and then nodded. "Good thought. Relatively safe, more...'wiggle room' without causing discomfort...."

She trailed off, looking past Sil at nothingness while she ran some designs in her head. not flexible - too thick - could work - insulation material interesting - thoughts there - power sources - heat sinks leading to - mm - not bad "Could make you something like that," she finally said, slowly. "Might be a fun project. Would need a mask to work with, though. Integrated system. Installation always the most time-consuming part of a project like that...best to make sure it's something that fits well, first and foremost."

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Reaching up she took her finger and pointed at her eyes,

"Well, my mask is a standard bac lava, so it already has eye holes. They make several different types from different fabrics but they generally keep to the same size and overall design. As far as surface area goes, I like to keep a full face mask and not let my hair hang out cause someone could easily grab it otherwise and that really hurts. Plus the whole indistinct rounded human shape is just useful for the whole living shadow thing I have going on. Given, some appearance changes can be fine as long as it's subtle, and well black."

Leaning forward on the chair she thought on the subject for a second,

"How'd you choose the colors for your costume? It's a pretty good choice, and pretty cool looking, the light blue compliments your complexion."

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"Mmh. Will look around. Some materials would work better than others, should match the rest of your outfit. Ideally."

"How'd you choose the colors for your costume? It's a pretty good choice, and pretty cool looking, the light blue compliments your complexion."

Dragonfly blinked, glancing down at herself. She tilted her head, picking at it a little bit as she thought. "Metal is just...metal. Fondness for steel plating, older materials...often just more reliable. Black is simple, goes with anything...blue started as a distorti--.....mmh." She thought on that one for a moment, trying to translate it into something that would make more sense. "...space-warping technology gives off light, a little bit. Energy source I'm using, and the warping itself, excites particles...gives off a glow. Mostly superficial, can adjust a little along the spectrum with resonance, materials. Reds, blues, greens, yellows...decided on this shade of blue. Just...like the color. Feel stupid saying so, but it seems...don't know. 'Sciency'. Breaks up the darker colors, too."

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"It is very sciency, it's a nice electric blue and the contrast from the darker colors has a nice effect. It really suites you."

Crossing her arms on the back of the chair she leaned her head onto them,

"If it's energy, it probably won't have problems like fading or chipping. That girl, Ironclad's suite is green, I wonder what type of paint she uses. There aren't many metals naturally that color, and it probably takes on a lot of damage."

She started to think back on the incident meeting the other girl who also happened to have a gift for Dragonfly, other then the fact that she had been threatened there was something that bugged her,

"I wonder how she found me, I was up against a wall at the time which would be really hard to spot from a birds eye view."

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She frowned, trying to estimate how many bells and whistles Jessica had stuffed into that suit of hers. "Not sure," she admitted. "Multiple methods. Would use thermographic vision, myself - still give off heat, even if you're flat. Am sure Ironclad has better ways. Helmet allows for a more robust sensory suite."

She shrugged. "Never seen her suit 'flake' or chip...have to assume she's treated or plated the metal. Or invented a new paint for the armor. I would."

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"Huh, guess I can't really buy material that's heat cloaked, even a wetsuite which is insulated wouldn't keep a body hidden for more then a few minutes, they tested it on Mythbusters. Guess I should avoid ever having to go against infared cameras, given even if I could beat them, I don't know what situations might require such a thing. Unless I went against a pyro villian or a flamethrower since if it can heat cloak the living thing that is the human body it should at least be fireproof."

Looking down at her costume she shrugged a little. It was leather, or pleather and generally pretty warm, though definitely not the most durable thing as she thought to the bit of patchwork she had to do on a back when some decided to blindside her in the back and managed to tear it along the velcro and even further.

Maybe I should get some start wearing some underarmor.

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She just shrugged. "Can't guard against everything. Always something else. Best to emphasize your strengths. Can't hide from infravision, but infravision is relatively rare - don't think it shows up often as mutation or magic, difficult or impossible to fit in anything but a full mask. Commercial goggles are expensive, anyway. Any suit that hid your heat completely would be bulky or would overheat you, without very special engineering. Suppose it could be done, though."

She started to get that unfocused, 'building things in my head' look to her before shaking her head and snapping out of it. This time, at least, she'd caught herself. "Better off trying to protect yourself, or finding ways to be less visible to more common sensors. Or senses. Mostly the same thing."

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"Well that's the best anyone can really do. Besides, I'm sneaky as heck otherwise, certianly managed to get in past your security. You've probably upgraded it since then and it's not like I'd want to sneak into here again, I don't like breaking and entering into peoples homes it's impolite."

Standing up from the chair she started to stretch her legs a little bit and try to think of what else she had planned. Taking a step back she found herself nearly tripping over the little rolling 'pet' Ironclad had presented as it was moving around and trying to get familiar with the inside layout. Giggling she looked around for a second,

"Hey, you got the time? I haven't found a watch yet that's thing enough to wear in costume."

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Dragonfly glanced at the main screen, which brought up a nice big digital clock revealing that the day had been passing pretty quickly - it was now late evening. She tilted her head. "Mmh. Time flies." no watch - will have to remember that

"Places to be?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the little ball - her little ball, a notion that still made her nervous and slightly giddy. annoying feelings "Is getting a little late, I suppose."

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She took a glance at the clock,

"It's getting a little late. I should probably get going, things to do, people to bug, criminals to tie to lightposts. You'd think they'd be slowed down by the cold but apparently some of them have some holiday shopping to do. Though it's not nearly as bad as October, not by a long shot."

She started to head where she knew the front entrance was,

"You have my number I think, somewhere. You need to call, best do it in the morning, I'll be groggy, but I'll also be home otherwise I'm booked until New Years."

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Dragonfly nodded. "Be careful. Not the best neighborhood...probably know that already. Think I told you last time...mmh. Regardless. Door should be unlocked by the time you get to it. Will think on the mask...likely the sort of thing that takes some planning. Will let you know. And..."

She hesitated, looking awfully awkward again. "Thanks...thank you for the scarf and dragonfly. They are....appreciated."

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She smiled a bit to herself as she turned the handle,

"Duelly, I'll be careful, and your welcome, I hope you get some use out of the both of them."

Turning back she gave a light wave,

"Later, hope you have a Merry Christmas."

Pulling the door open she made her way outside into the cold, she shivered a little and closed the door quickly so as not to let the cold air in before turning two dimensional and heading down the alley.

That's delivered, I wonder who I should visit next?

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