February 16, 2015:
Mockingbird visits Emmett in the tech lab for some upgrades to her battle staves.
Tech Lab - Triskelion
It's a lab!
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions:
Plot:
A Dark Hold
Apocalypse: Only the Strong
Blood versus Family
Bones Of The City
Breaking the Universe
Cyberdata War: First Strike
Dangerous Esterikos Wonderous Mystikos
Dark Gods & Times
De Oppresso Liber
Demon Lord of New York
Diaz de Muertos
Don't Tell Thanos The Babysitter's Dead
Empire of Tears
Escape from Sakaar
From the Ashes
Gateway to the Stars
Genosha: Rebirth
God Of The Dead
Hacker, Sass-Mastah, Engineer, Spy
Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung Setzen
Mood Music: None.
Fade In…
Emmett Argyle is an interesting duck in the world of SHIELD. He's part field agent, part lab geek. That means he can equally be found in the company of Fitz and Simmons as he can be on the firing range or in the gym. Right now he's in the lab, hunched over a computer, a cold cup of coffee at his elbow. He's staring at schematics and not looking particularly engaged. In fact, he looks a tad cross-eyed.
*
Agent 19 has been a bit of a little thundercloud around the Triskelion for a few days. She hates what Valentine's Day does to people, so she tends to batten down the hatches and put herself in 'all business' mode. The dread weekend has passed, however, so she's back to her sunnier disposition as she heads for one of the tech labs. Mockingbird is wearing jeans and a retro Atari logo tee, but she's also wearing her battle staves harness and carrying the pair of batons in them. In her hands are two cups of Starbucks, one for herself, and one to bribe the other agent. "Hey Socks, how goes?" she quips.
*
Argyle lifts his head and blinks. "Oh hey, Agent Morse. Not bad, not bad. Just fightin' with an old problem. Keeps biting me in the ass." He squares his shoulders back and typeity-type-types to enter the end of whatever thought he was fighting to hang on to. He swivels on his stool and drums fingers against the side of it.
*
The extra coffee is handed to Emmett as Bobbi settles on a nearby stool. "How about a new problem then? One that's a lot easier to work on, and probably more fun?" she offers. She sets her coffee down and pulls the staves from the back-mounted slings. "These babies have been with me a long time, and I think it's time they got an upgrade. I was thinking something zappy, and maybe something sharp and pointy I could pop out of the ends." She spins them expertly before connecting them together to form a bo staff. "Any ideas?"
*
Argyle's eyes light up at the sight of the coffee. "Oh, you're a saint. A wingless angel." Then he leans in conspiratorily. "The coffee here is terrible. I swear, there's something in the air that makes it taste…sour. But when you're neck deep in a project, it ain't like you can just pop across the street." He inhales the aroma of not-lab coffee and swallows a mouthful while Bobbi explains her project.
"Oh yeah, no problem. Easy peasy." He holds a hand out as an offer to inspect one of the staves.
*
Bobbi disconnects them again and hands one over. "We seem to be tangling with things that are more than human a lot lately. I need some things that will give me an edge against supers or demons or whatever the heck else Hydra and AIM are brewing up." The other baton gets twirled in one hand absently, just force of habit for the blonde agent. "And if you think the coffee is bad in the tech lab, try it in the biochem lab sometime. I think the problem there is that you can almost identify the off stuff in it and that makes it terrifying."
*
Argyle wrinkles his nose at the description of the biochem coffee. "Aww yeah, naw. Never gonna borrow a cup from them. Thanks for the head's up." He stands up and swings the stave around like he knows what he's doing. "Tricky bit'll be keeping them nice and balanced. I don't wanna throw off your muscle memory for the sake of a few new toys. That won't do you no good."
*
"Don't worry too much about it. I can train back up if I have to, but not needing to relearn would be awesome," Bobbi notes with a grin. "So, are you good with all kinds of mechanical and electrical equipment, or just weaponry?" she asks, curiously.
*
Argyle tosses the stave up and catches it. He repeats it a few times. It might just seem like an idle thing, but he's watching it far too carefully. He's checking balance and weight and filing it away. "Well, I studied mechanical engineering. But my focus has always been on weaponry. Why, do you have a fuse box that needs rewiring?" He grins wryly and flips the stave back around to her. "I can fix you up with a couple of variable current tasers. I'll put the blades in the other end and do my best to keep them balanced."
*
"I wish it was as simple as a fuse box, but no. I was looking back at some old research of mine, based on some even older research. I can work on the biochem bits of it, but the machinery parts are pretty much a mystery to me. Unless I can get a meeting with Howard Stark." Bobbi smirks at that. Pinning down the elusive and mysteriously young again Howard has proven tough. "How long do you think it'll take for the upgrades, Socks?"
*
Argyle shakes his head and makes a few notations on a nearby pad. Weight notes. "Not long. Day or two. Then I'd want you to test it and I'd calibrate it from there. You got a preference for type of blade?" As for the other project, his brows go up. "Well, I'm not Stark-smart. Hell, I'm not even FitzSimmons smart, but I'd be willing to take a look."
*
"I'll forward you the notes I have on it. Stuff I did out of grad school really, when I was working with Doctor Wilma Calvin," Bobbi promises. "And good, I can live without them for a day or two. I'm thinking nothing lengthy for the blades, daggers more than swords. Just something I can use in a pinch to pin something or puncture something if I need to."
*
Argyle pops his lips, then nods to her. "C'mere." He gestures with one hand, then starts to whistle as he crosses the lab to a storage locker. He swipes his ID card and presses his thumb against the pad. Bobbi will have to put her print on it too, before she can enter behind him.
These? These are his babies. The walls are covered in weaponry, ranging from modified standard issue gear, to pieces that look like they're straight out of science fiction. He whistles an idle tune, then finds the drawer he's looking for. He hooks a finger in and pulls it out, revealing a mass of sharp blades nestled in black foam. "I'm thinkin' something dagger or bayonet style."
*
Bobbi lends her print to the scanner as she follows. She lets out a low whistle at the sight of the nest of weaponry. "Sweet. I need to get me a cache like this." She peruses the blades and gestures to one that is dagger length but pyramidal like a tent spike would use. "Like that maybe?"
*
Argyle picks it up and hefts it. He wrinkles his nose. "Hmm. I'm thinkin' I'd have to tool it specifically with a more lightweight alloy. I know how heavy the taser bits are gonna be, and I need to counterbalance. No prob, though. You want a black finish or a silver one?" Cause hey, aesthetics count!
*
"Silver. I like to be a little bit fair to the opposition and give them a chance to dodge what's coming," Bobbi quips. Clearly there is good reason for her codename. "Thanks, Socks. Anything I can do for you in the meantime? This is a big favor and I'll owe you one."
*
"Hey, it's no favour," says Argyle with a wink. "S'what I'm here for." He motions to the door. The blade is held in one hand. "Though I'm always looking for sparring partners. The lab geeks break kinda easy."
*
"Then sign me up for some spars, and I'll gladly oblige you," Bobbi chimes. She's always happy to spar. Even if it's just verbally sometimes. "Or I can sign Hawkeye up and you can beat on him for a while." Ah yes, volunteering one's ex-husband for a beat down. Classy.
*
"You're gonna have to give up your babies if you want me to do this. Unless you want me to make you all new ones, which I certainly can. But from my experience, you full-time field agents get kinda attached to your gear." Argyle sets the blade back down on his workbench and makes a few notes to himself in engineer-eeze.
He cracks a grin at the Hawkeye comment. "It's gonna be a real favour if you want me to lay the smack into your ex." He says that with a good humoured chuckle. "Sides, he could totally take me down without breaking a sweat." Which is actually selling himself short. He's not exactly a wimp when it comes to field work.
*
"Clint just gets a bit cranky this time of year," Bobbi confesses. Not at all due to her serving him divorce papers on V-Day. Cough. She hands over the other baton though, and undoes the harness for them, handing that over as well. "Here's hoping I don't taser myself or stab myself in the foot with the updated versions." She laughs.
*
"Not exactly a favourite time of year for terminal bachelors, either," says Argyle with a little grin. He's still making notes on nearby graph paper and has already started sketching out designs. Unlike some of the other eggheads, he prefers to work on paper for his first drafts. "Don't worry, I'll build in some safety features. You'll be able to disable 'em entirely with a flick of a switch, or have it ready. Just like a gun with a safety."
*
"Perfect! Thanks Socks. I'm going to go get some work done but I'll forward you those files," Bobbi notes. She reclaims her coffee. "Don't let the good stuff get cold on you," she advises, "and drop me a text when you want to spar." She gives the guy a wink and makes her way back out.