Science of Stabpunching 201 [IC]

[Gizmo]

"Well, that kinda sounds like tremendous balls, Dok," Erik opined, sliding his foil along the length of his opponent's to divert the force of the swipe elsewhere. He'd never really considered the downside to a superhuman intellect, but he could imagine what it would be like if Eli were always stuck in his highest gear. "I guess I can relate. I kinda like playing to an audience, though," he admitted, going on the defensive for a moment as he considered. "That said, most people aren't really on board with the 'playful insults as a display of affection' thing. That can be awkward."

[Dr Archeville]

The Doktor gave an "eh, whaddayagonnado?" shrug.

I wonder if Erik has used that 'time in a bottle' gift Eli made for each of us? That would be a sight to see!

"Yes, some tailoring of responses is needed for, well, any situation," Archeville replied in a more jaunty tone, taking advantage of Erik's shift to go all-out on attack (and still falling short of being able to breach his defense). "Fortunately for me, that is something I do know how to do, and why I am -- compared to most other super-intellects, at least -- seen as a charming sophisticate, and not a total dweeb."

At least, not unless I am focusing all my phenomenal mental power on a task!

"Speaking of affection... do you see where Billy and Lynn's relation has had any impact on their heroing work? You always hear the adage 'never date your co-workers,' but the work we do and the living situation you all are, well, quite different from most workplaces." Archeville had eased up on the attacks, instead sending several testing probes Erik's way.

[Gizmo]

"Ha, yeah well, let's just say I wouldn't mind having a super quick brain to go along with the mouth sometimes," Erik admitted with an easy laugh, turning enough of his attention back to warding off the scientist's assault to make a show of it. "The flowing blond hair doesn't exactly hurt the rep either, I'm guessing." A flick of his wrist sent the more restrained probing strikes away at deceptive angles. "Billynn? I don't always get it, but I think it's good. You'd rather have Colt defending his family here than just being a guy from another world stuck here, right?" It was a little more coldly analytical than Erik's true feelings, but it did answer Archeville's question more directly.

[Dr Archeville]

"Come by my office someday -- or my home," he replied while shifting attack angles in an effort to find some opening, and finding none, "and I will see what I can do about boosting your intellect. Temporarily, at least."

Hrm... yes, my Neural Stimulation Headband should work for him!

"As for... 'Billynn'," Archeville continued, shifting to an odd over-under strike combo, "well, yes, I do agree they are an unexpected pairing, but more to the point, is that there is a pairing. I mean, no that it is exactly uncommon among teams such as this -- close quarters, shared interests, shared stresses, and so on -- but there is always the concern that such a relationship would compromise missions. That, for example," he suddenly lashed out with a strike to the left side, "that Billy might focus overly long on Lynn and not see the threats coming towards you or Eli or Mona. Have you noticed anything like that?"

[Gizmo]

"Uh, yeah, I'll have to try that sometime," Erik responded dryly, his expression making it clear that letting Archeville tamper with his brain was not particularly high on his list of fun activities. "Have you?" he countered the Doktor's question, matching a definitive block of the lashing blow to his words, stopping his opponent's sword cold. "If you wanted totally objective tactical analysis, you could have built a bunch of mindless robots," the fencer pointed out.

[Dr Archeville]

"I have not, though," he slid his blade along Erik's until it was freed, "my not knowing how close an eye to keep on you all, how much I should be supporting -- or meddling, depending on your view -- is something with which I have long struggled. Between everything else on my plate -- running ArcheTech and membership in the Freedom League being simply the two biggest pulls on my resources -- it is a difficult equation to balance, even for me. Although, I must say," the Doktor held his blade up, and began slowly circling the swashbuckler, "you all have done remarkably well for the city, and for yourselves."

Mend those bridges!

"And, no, I do not want robots, I want people. Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people!" he said with a lunge, then pulled back to deflect any counters. "Alright, so Vince is fine, and Billy and Lynn are good. What about the newest member, Eli?"

[Gizmo]

Nonchalantly allowing the scientist to circle him, Erik avoided the inevitable attack with a touch more acrobatics than he'd been using up until that point, coming up smoothly on Archeville's other side. "Heh, well, Zip reminds me a lot of myself, which... not entirely a good thing." Almost as suddenly as he's moved to the left, he was back on the right, demonstrating an effortless mobility. "Then again, way smarter than I took him for at first. Dunno if that's just maturity or if higher education took a little while to kick in or what, but he's got a real future to look forward to."

[Dr Archeville]

Archeville chuckled, "not sure I would ascribe maturity to him," he continued circling, trying not to gape at Erik's blatantly superior moves, "at least, not yet -- but he is definitely working that brain of his. A refreshing thing to see! I have-"

A loud beeping from Archeville's labcoat diverted his attention.

Uh-oh!

"Pardon me," he pulled his Electromagnetic Screwdriver from his pocket and answered it as one would a mobile phone. "Archeville here... yes... oh... yes, of co-"

Erik was unable to hear the next few words, due to an alarm going off in the Brownstone. The alarm just as suddenly cut off, replaced by the crackling voice of the police band. "All units in the vicinity of Hanover Institute of Technology report to the Wayne School of Management. Sightings of giant robots rising from the construction site have been coming in..."

Robots! I love facing robots! I hope it is a new type I have not encountered before!

"Looks like a cache of killer robots was unleashed as they were digging for the foundation of a new building," the Doktor said, with a somewhat disconcertingly huge grin on his face. "Care to join me?"

[Gizmo]

With a sudden surge of movement, Erik knocked the Doktor's foil from his hand, sending it spinning into the air before tossing his own practice weapon up after it. Snatching the pair of blades out of the air with one hand in the instant the drifted parallel to each other, he brought them back down and moved to stow them away with a lopsided smirk. "And you were worried you didn't know how to relate to other people," the swashbuckler laughed brightly. "Lead the way, boss man."