We're Going to Need More Timmies

Log Title: We're Going to Need More Timmies Characters: Ar-Gent Silverfinger, Dr. Arkeville, Odd Jaws, Sci-Nide, Steel Raven, many Timmies Location: Sci-Nide's Labs Date: May 16, 2019 TP: Nucleosis TP Summary: Sci-Nide and Arkeville begin probing the mysteries of the nucleosis pathogen, starting with some baseline tests. As logged by  Ar-Gent Silverfinger

Log session starting at 20:10:54 on Thursday, 16 May 2019.

'''Sci-Nide's lab is a bustle of activity, which is hardly unusual. Half-finished projects on tables decorate the room. But today, Evil Inc's mad scientist has cleared space to study something new- a virulent affliction that slowly paralyzes its victims. There's so much to learn from it!'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger, gentlemech spy and leader of Evil Inc enters the room, escorting Dr. Arkeville from the human habitat area. He pauses briefly to remove his peril-sensitive sunglasses and tuck them away for the return trip through the Maze of Peril. "Here we are! Sooner or later you get used to it all. I'm pleased with your progress on the kittens, but we've had an opportunity fall in our laps that we simply must take advantage of. Sci-Nide, if you would?"'''

'''It's been over four months since Doctor Arkeville has been rescued by Evil, Inc. Since then Arkeville has been busy. First order of business was to improve and replace his missing cybernetics. Next was replacing the flying chair he prefers to use for getting around - walking is for the hoi polloi! He's used the rest of his time developing laser kittens for Evil, Inc, but he is already getting bored and ready for a new challenge.'''

'''Steel Raven is simply following for the moment, her gaze roaming over the enviroment but says nothing. At least not yet'''

'''Timmy-231 is just one of many of the Timmies corralled into the area, and the area they're in is filled with interesting levers to pull, buttons to push, and things to drink. All of which are probably bad. Timmy-231 tilts his head as he looks at a large lever next to a large hammer. Directly underneath the hammer is another Timmy. He looks from the lever, to the hammer, then back to the lever. Timmy-231 pulls the lever. A resounding smash results as the hammer drops, smashing the other Timmy. He exclaims, "Neat!". A moment later, he pulls the lever again, causing it to smash the same Timmy a second time. "Neat!" and then he pulls the lever a third time...'''

'''The original resident Mad Scientist turns as Ar-Gent and Arkeville enter his lab. "Ah, so nice to see you Doctor; I see you have at least begun the process of settling in." Sci-Nide then turns back to the Interocitor in the room and begins adjust various controls. After a moment the screen comes to life showing various different views of a pathogen. "As you can see here we have a virus that only seems to affect inorganic life; namely the Cybertronians and similar beings. We have obtained samples of it from both the autobots and Decpticons. They have hopes of finding a cure, and that is certainly useful, but I want to see how the disease progresses, and what happens if we alter it."'''

'''He steps away from the machine, "To that end I have created a series of test subjects, which I call Timmy, and have begun creating in batches of six. To try out various hypothoses on." He motions towards the pen holding the Timmies, "As you can see they are eager to be part of this plan."'''

'''Also in the room is a single Timmy in it's own enclosure. There is a nameplate on the outside that reads: 'Control Subject: Timmy #1 - Do not expose to pathogen or variants.

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger chuckles. "A fine troop of eager young cadets," he says approvingly. "I look forward to your results. Of course, I -would- like a cure developed, so it can be auctioned off to the highest bidder."'''

'''Arkeville hovers in on his flying chair. His neck cranes in interest at the notion of an inorganic disease that affects Cybertronians. He looks at the different views of the pathogen and then at the pen of Timmys. Turning back, he scans and rapidly absorbs the gathered literature on the malady. "Do we have any access to pure nucleon?" he asks, leaning on his existing expertise in experimental energy sources.'''

'''Sci-Nide raises an index finger as if to say something, but folds it back down. "Ah... not as such; yet. We are attempting to contact the creator of this malady to see if he may be interested in furthering his research."'''

GAME: Ar-Gent Silverfinger FAILS a LEADERSHIP roll of Immense difficulty.

'''Timmy-231 turns his back as an automated Timmy sweeper upper removes the bashed Timmy from the room. They're busy today. And while no Timmy is necessarily dangerous or malevolent, there's no sense of consequence. Timmy-231 picks up several vials, and notes a small bowl to combine them in. "Huh, I wonder what will happen?" He immediately downs two of the three vials together, just chugging them without remorse. The third one, he gingerly pours into a bowl. Nothing happens. Harmless foam starts to form at his mouthplate as he remarks, "Huh. Nothing. That's interesting!"'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger rubs his chin thoughtfully. "No, there's none officially in stock, and no steady supply. A few of our members might have some on them, for the combat kick, and we haven't inventoried the old moon base in quite a while." He spreads his hands and smiles. "Still, I imagine you'll want far more than drips and drabs for this kind of work. Let me make some calls and see what I can turn up."'''

'''Arkeville nods. "Examining it in its purest form and seeing its effects on subjects, then comparing that to the effects of the nucleosis strain, may proof illuminating!" Arkveille's exposed eye widens in excitement - here's a chance to do some real science, with the added bonus of robot suffering! "Let me know when you get in the good stuff, if you please," he asks respectfully. "In the meantime, I'll see what I can do with what I've got!"'''

'''Sci-Nide reaches into a pocket of his lab coat, after a moment he produces a test tube full of a glowing, dark purple substance. "I am curious to see what effect this will have on the infection." HE sloshes the liquid back and forth in it's container. "But I do need to synthesize more before I try anything on a large scale."'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger swaggers over to one side where there's a microphone. He checks to make sure that it's still hooked up to the same connections it was -last- time he was in Sci-Nide's lab. A certain element of caution is necessary in an evil genius' lair. Having confirmed that the microphone will do what it did before, Ar-Gent flicks it on and speaks into it. Elsewhere, in the "Employees Only" section of the base, his voice is projected over loudspeakers. "Attention: there are rumors that the highly dangerous, nay, even deadly substance known as nucleon may be used to enhance combat ability. If you have some on your person or in your quarters, report to the entrance of Sci-Nide's dome, where you may turn it over in return for not joining his test subjects today."'''

GAME: Ar-Gent Silverfinger PASSES a LEADERSHIP roll of Immense difficulty.

Odd_Jaws staggers through the area, barely cognizant, his leg is on fire, and he doesn't seem to notice.

'''Arkeville listens to the echoes of the announcement and wonders if any volunteers will be able to make their way through the death maze to drop any off. I mean, surely there are other ways, but making them run the gauntlet of danger seems the most entertaining. In the meantime, Arkeville focuses his exposed eye on Sci-Nide. "Is that what I think it might be?" he asks in curiosity, moving his chair a bit closer.'''

'''Sci-Nide 's optics light up, giving portions of his face an errie, tangelo glow. "It very well might be, but that depends on what you think it is." The test tube gets tucked back away for the moment.'''

'''While the scientists confer, Ar-Gent heads to where Odd Jaws is smoldering, grabbing a fire extinguisher along the way. He deftly puts the henchman out, then crouches down and pokes Odd Jaws. "Hmm. Offline."'''

'''Arkeville looks over as Odd Jaws is declared offline. "Does he need to be repaired, or stripped for parts? I am quite capable of either." He contains his curiosity for Sci-Nide's mystery liquid for now. He's positive that the mad scientist in him will soon drive Sci-Nide to make a demonstration - with a possible exposition-laden speech. Arkeville would know - he's made of the same stuff. In the meantime, he flies his chair over next to Ar-Gent, stopping at a respectful distance.'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger gets back up, dusts off his knees, and sets the extinguisher down. "I'll go see if there's any answers to the call." He steps out the door, putting on the sunglasses as he does.'''

'''Sci-Nide spares Odd Jaws a glance. "We should at least give him a once over; just to be sure he's fit enough to be repaired and brought back online." His gaze returns to the rest of the lab. "No where did I put that..." He mutters absently.'''

'''Arkeville nods, making himself useful. He lands the chair and hops off, pretty spry now that he's got his cybernetics back. He hauls a sensor from its mount on the chair. Walking closer, he uses the sensor to scan Odd Jaws. Frowning, he reports in disappointment, "He'll live." Arkeville sighs. "Want me to see to his repairs?" So much for a night of mad science. This scene has already jumped the shark-minion.'''

'''The Junkion scientist doen't respond at first as he's busily looking through his shelves. "I know it's here somewhere..." A few more shelves checked, storage cabinets opened and shut, until he finally finds what he was looking for. "Aha!" What 'it' is turns out to be a container of a shining blue liquid.'''

'''Having retrieved the object of his search Sci-Nide looks over to Arkeville. "Hmmm? Oh no, not now. Much more important things to do." The mech walks over to a table and places the container of liquid down and removes the top. "What we have here is perfectly ordinary energon. I'm sure you're quite familiar with it's properties."'''

'''Arkeville looks up with interest. "Yes," he acknowledges. "I pondered for years the perfect means to poison the Decepticons' supplies without getting caught, but never quite found the means." He grins and then cocks his head slightly. "They never appreciated me the way you do, of course," he says quickly. "I don't make it a habit of planning sabotage against my employers. Only those that cripple me and hold me hostage for decades," he amends.'''

'''That test tube makes another appearance. This time Sci-Nide removes to stopper keeping it shut and lets just a few drops of that glowing, dark purple liquid fall into the energon. The transformations is by no means instantaneous, but it is rapid as those small spots expand and expand until the larger container is now that same dark shade.'''

'''The stopper is replaced and the test tube put away. "It works exactly as advertised, but I can't use this all up. It may prove useful in reconstructing Spec-Tor at some point; if we deem that necessary."'''

GAME: Dr. Arkeville FAILS an INTELLIGENCE roll of Extreme difficulty.

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger returns, stepping through the doorway and tucking away the sunglasses again with one hand. He pauses when he sees what Sci-Nide is up to, waiting a moment for the scientists to notice his appearance so that he doesn't startle them. Dark Energon is dangerous as it is without a spill.'''

'''"Hm, yes," Arkeville answers non-committedly, focused more on the energon reaction than talk of whoever this 'Spec-Tor' is. "I know many ways to generate energon, or to covert energy to that substance... but this is something new." He glances up at Sci-Nide. "This is as close as it gets to what the Decepticons would consider 'forbidden science'. Wherever did you get such an interesting specimen?" Arkeville grins with curiosity, exposing several twisted, yellowed teeth.'''

'''"Oh, we had a space station that collected and concentrated Unicron's essence. As well as housed a super laser for other purposes." Sci-Nide waves a hand up towards the ceiling as he continues. "Sadly the Fallen took most of what we had gathered, but I managed to secret this away for further study. I will be honest, I have been wondering what would happen to human cybernetics if it was introduced to them. To say nothing of what may happen to the humans the cybernetics are attached to."'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger ahems, "If I may interrupt for a moment.." he sets several ampules of yellow, glowing liquid on one of the tables. "A bit disappointed in our smugglers. Might have to hold a seminar," he muses. "Your samples, gentlemen. I leave it up to you to determine if it's sufficiently pure for your purposes."'''

'''Arkeville's eyes widen at the possibilities. Of course, it would be dangerous and foolhardy to the extreme to experiment on himself, especially with dark energon. But, of course, think of the power! Then again - "Perhaps the effervescent Inferno would like to volunteer as a test subject for that?" Arkeville volunteers. "He -" Arkeville interrupts himself as Ar-Gent offers actual nucleon. "Oh, my!" Arkeville gasps, giving nucleon heart eyes. Ladies, find yourself a man who looks at you like Arkeville looks at dangerous sources of energy.'''

'''Sci-Nide nods, "We will need a baseline reading on what this does to a test subject before it has been engineered into the pathogen." His optics drift over to the pen of Timmies, "And we have plenty of test subjects available..."'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger steps back to stay out of the way of the science. It's good to see his employees happy, though.'''

'''Arkeville nods. "Well, let's pick a Timmy and get started! Shall we isolate him from the rest first, though?" Arkeville looks eager to start the science.'''

"Yes, get him out from the rest of the herd. That way they don't contaminate our results," Sci-Nide answers.

'''The mech walks over to the Timmy holding pen and works a series of buttons, levers, and switches which (somehow) lead to a single Timmy being selected and separated from the group. This one is then release by the mad scientist who takes hold of his subject's arm and leads the eager dupe to a small cell, just a bit bigger than the Timmy.'''

Heedless of the dangers, Ar-Gent lights an enercig as he watches Sci-nide work.

'''Arkeville watches in fascination of Sci-Nide's setup. So much fancier than Trypticon's lab!'''

'''Sci-Nide grabs one of the yellow ampules then walks over to the non-control Timmy's enclosure. He slips the item inside, watching and waiting.'''

It doesn't take long for the inquisitive Timmy to find the amuple and figure out how to use it.

'''The Timmy exclaims, "Oh, gee, that feels neat!" as steam rises from his small frame.'''

'''Dr. Arkeville watches with rapt attention. Will he get stronger? Faster? Explode? No matter what -- it's all useful data!'''

'''Sci-Nide takes a few steps away from the steaming Junkion Labrat. Quietly observing.'''

'''The Timmy vibrates a bit for a moment, staring at his hands with optics that seem dialed up a few notches higher than usual, then jumps up and down a few times before running in as big a circle as he can manage in the small cell. He quickly ends up parkouring off the walls, actually putting a small dent in one side before suddenly seizing up and falling over. Splat.'''

'''Dr. Arkeville oohs. "Very nice! Very nice!" He looks up at Sci-Nide "What else does it do?" he asks excitedly.'''

GENERIC ROLL: Ar-Gent Silverfinger's generic roll succeeds.

Timmy twitches where he's fallen, a sign of life.

'''Sci-Nide says, "Well, it is a perfomance enhancer, but we should manufafcture more before using up the supply we have. That way we can get a proper range of data..." One of his optic ridges raises as Timmy twitches. "It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive."'''

'''Arkeville nods, getting the concept if not the pop culture reference. "If you give me a sample, I can see if I can replicate it for you. And maybe make some improvements."'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger hmms. "That's all we have at the moment, but I'll see what else I can turn up."'''

Sci-Nide says, "Improvements would be useful, but we are trying to figure out this pathogen, a possible cure, and other potential, perhaps, useful mutataions we can make to it."

'''Dr. Arkeville nods quickly. "Oh, yes. I can multitask. And I'll even document my research for replication." For a mad scientist, that's offering a LOT.'''

'''Sci-Nide nods, "I shall leave you to it then." He finally closes up the open container of dark energon and removes it to a safe, secure cabinet; which he locks.'''

'''Ar-Gent Silverfinger grins. "An excellent start. I'll take my leave. Best if the laymen are out of the way, right? And I'll send housekeeping around for Odd Jaws." He beams at his mad scientists. Unstable, dangerous, but never a dull moment.'''

Log session ending at 23:37:51 on Thursday, 16 May 2019.