They couldn't have been that stingy if they let you make it out with a piece anyway. [From first glance there isn't a lot he can pick up and so from there he drops to the floor so he's level with the table, opening his backpack and pulling out some tools. Namely, he's grabbing a flashlight, a magnifying glass, and a few other items.]
What else did you guys see down there? Sounds like you were in a group I didn't hear anything about yet. [Luckily he's working fast. While waiting on an answer he's already flipping the crystal around to get a closer look, tinkering and examining as he goes.]
[The number of tools emerging from Hiro's backpack was a surprise-- why did he have all that on hand? Was this a machine otaku sort of thing? -- but seeing this kid go straight to business on the crystal was kind of fascinating.]
Psssh. They were stingy enough to kill me over it, so unless I touched it's unbeating heart somehow, it might not have been paying any attention.
You probably didn't hear anything about it because we didn't really run into anything all that interesting-- aside from the ghost and the gems and stuff. It was just tunnels and more tunnels under some place that didn't look like the city, that's all. The place where I found the crystals was kinda fancy looking and not really Cerealia-like, but... [And here, he frowns.]
I don't really know if my group found anything else after I kicked the bucket. I kinda made a beeline here after I 'woke up', so I didn't get to check in on them yet to see how they're doing.
[Yeah that's a pretty apt description...ah well. It should be clear why Rei initially recommended him to look at the thing seeing how he's multitasking in his examinations and tests while holding an intelligent conversation. Or at least a coherent one.]
Everything out there was designed to kill us. One of the guys we were with exploded because he tried to steal something, and we almost suffocated for getting locked in a room full of their stuff. [Too casual? Too casual. He's had a few days to rest and get his head back together at least.] We were one of the groups that didn't end up in a tunnel, I think, since we were in a room that led to somewhere I think inside the CERES tower? I'm still not really sure. I'm still putting pieces together about where people really went. We didn't get anything interesting either besides a ton of pictures and video footage.
[He picks up the crystal then, knocking it on the table to test something before stopping and squinting at one place on it.] ...I can tell you one thing. Whatever this is isn't exactly one in a million. Actually? Guess it's number 002213. [He frowns, tapping it again and going back to his investigation. It's wonderful that he spends hours and hours a day analyzing pretty much everything around him. That makes this much faster.]
...think I've got an idea what this thing is. When Rei gets here I'll explain.
[Rei's listened to the whole thing quietly from the kitchen doorway, holding a tea tray. That she now brings back into the room and sets on the table.]
[Yusuke knows about as much about machines as he does ancient latin, so the fact Hiro can fiddle around with this thing and chat at the same time was pretty impressive, actually. His face drops at Hiro's nonchalant description of his group's trials, momentarily thrown for a loop.]
E-Exploded? [Man, he was lucky to just get out with a stopped heart, then.]
Jeez, sounds like you guys had fun. Wish I could say we got some more solid evidence of the stuff we saw down there too, but it's kind of hard to keep CEREVices in your pajama pockets. You got any of that video or pictures on hand? I kinda wanna see what you guys found out.
[His eyebrows raise at Hiro's discovery, though, and he's about to say something before Rei reunites with their group.]
Yeah, don't do the 'dramatic beat' thing. What are we looking at here?
[He shrugs because yep, Chuya sure did explode. Hiro had to wash his shoes and his hoodie a couple of times just to Not Remind Himself about it. But with Rei in the room he sits back and he grins slightly.]
I'll show you both footage we got if you want but this thing deserves a little more attention. I checked it out and used some of these things to run a couple of tests--[It's all pretty complicated bullshit, mostly, but he's still fairly casual about it.]--and...it's just a rock.
[...] Just kidding. I think it's actually supposed to be like a generator of some kind. Maybe a battery? It's meant to keep something running. There're two spots on it for a positive and a negative charge and it just kinda feels like it's meant to be humming. [Whatever that means.] I'd have to take it back to my lab to really see what it's supposed to do and maybe try to pry it open since it's tech. Would that be cool with you? Since you're the one who grabbed it, I mean. Baymax and I could probably do better analysis with better tools, too.
[Rei notes Hiro's melancholy shift and sits down beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder. And...when he outright lies, she gives it a squeeze.] Cheeky little thing.
[Frowning again, she looks at Yusuke, since this is definitely his call. She'd give it to Hiro straight away, but not her...battery rock...or whatever, so it's his choice and she won't influence him one way or another unless asked for her thoughts.]
[Yusuke's body tenses as Hiro leads up to his conclusion... and then visibly sags at his 'reveal'.]
A rock? Seriously? We went through all this trouble for a--
[And then the other shoe drops, and there's an irritated growl in reply. It took a good amount of willpower not to just bop the kid on the head for messing around with them, and to Yusuke's credit, he doesn't do so until Hiro's done with his analysis. (Don't worry, it's not that hard-- it's more like a noogie.) He's actually kind of impressed Hiro was able to gather that much in such a sort time, however.]
That's for the lame lead-in.
So, a battery, huh? Wonder if it's connected to whatever powers the tech around here or something... though it doesn't make sense why it'd be sticking in a window, of all things. Or why that ghost was so protective over it, for that matter. I mean... who gets their ghostly undies in a bunch over a fancy looking double-A?
[He feels Rei's eyes upon him at the question, and Yusuke glances at her, before looking back at Hiro. Part of him didn't really want to hand it off to someone else, given the circumstances of how he got it, but... on the other hand...]
Do what you gotta do, though. It's obvious that there's nothing in my-- or Rei's-- area of expertise that can figure out this thing, and you already found out way more than we did in a much shorter amount of time. Just fill me in with whatever you wind up discovering, alright?
[He totally deserves that and it's for that reason he laughs under his breath. He's pretty pleased with himself all the same but when Yusuke brings up that point he shrugs in response.]
It'd make sense if the window wasn't a window and was a panel of some kind. Like an energy or a laser field. Something trapped that still needs power. And if it was a panel to keep something in or out I'd probably be a little protective, too.
[There's a reassuring smile.] You can come to the lab if you want while I experiment on it. Rei knows where it is and Baymax and I are pretty used to people coming in whenever they feel like it. [He knows he'd be a little iffy about letting some stranger take his hard-earned things, too.]
[Rei nods along with what he's saying. She follows. Energy grids existed in the Planetary Castles, as far as she knew, and inside Ami's little demiplane, so that wasn't too foreign. She doesn't have much to say though, except to add to Yusuke:]
It's just a block or two from here, I can show you if that helps.
[Yusuke rests a hand on his chin, giving Hiro's theory some thought. It made sense, but...]
Was it the ghost it was keeping trapped, then? No, that wouldn't be right, why would it be protective of something keeping it stuck there...?
[His head snaps up, though, at Hiro and Rei's offer, blinking a few times in disbelief.]
Wait, uh-- for real? It's not gonna distract you or anything?
[And there's a slight frown as he weighs his options.]
I'm not really, er... a science kinda guy. I'm probably gonna wind up standing around being awkward or accidentally break your developing cure for cancer or something like that. Not that I'm not interested in what this thing actually is, but...
[He'll be like a bull in a china shop, is what he's trying to get at.]
If there was something out there that I was afraid of, I'd want to be behind glass, too. [Just saying. They don't really know just yet what it could have been. But he's already sliding more of his tools back into his bag and nodding along.]
Dude, you make it sound like my lab's super clean or whatever. It's fine. [He's a super genius but he's also still a young teenager.] Plus I think we can probably find you a chair and then you can be sitting around awkwardly instead of standing...and I trust Rei to keep you in line. [That might be a joke, but he's grinning up at Rei anyway. Back him up on this.]
Exactly. Like the prison I was in. And I've seen things like that before. Hell, one of my duties at home is to watch over something that's sealed away. [She's referring more to the general duties a priestess has instead of something senshi related, but there's that too.]
And it should be okay. Hiro's right, his lab is not exactly organized. Cluttered is the word I'd use. Like the rest of him. [She shakes her head, ruffling his unruly hair. He is still a kid.]
Besides, it's not like you're going to be touching anything delicate, right?
[There's a brief, quizzical look in Rei's direction at her comment-- so much of her life at home was a mystery-- and Yusuke crosses his arms in thought.]
But what could be scary enough to spook a ghost? If it was to keep it safe, then why didn't it just tell us that? Maybe I would have put them back instead of all... this. [Nevermind that he broke them all, but--]
[There's something almost akin to a pout at both Hiro and Rei's comments, however, and he lets out a small, annoyed huff.]
I'm not the kid here, guys, knock it off. I mean, I'm not gonna do something stupid and turn on all your Bunsen burners all at once or something. [... would Hiro even have those in his lab? WHO KNOWS.] I just... I'm not gonna get half of this stuff, okay?
[But his expression shifts to something more muted, debating it over in his head.]
But... if you say it's cool, then alright. I'll pop in at some point, just to see how things are going. Do you know how long it'll take, though?
There were a few things that pissed off the ghosts around here a few months ago. Could be something like that...and I don't have Bunsen burners! [Huff. It's almost like he's been insulted.] I'm not the chemist here. But it shouldn't be hard to explain everything to you once I figure it out myself...I'm not entirely sure how long it'll take. Depends how hard it is to crack open and study. Maybe a couple of days? Maybe a week? Depends how the tech behaves.
[You know, like it has a personality.] You're both free to drop by whenever. I have a couple of other things I want to study anyway so this shouldn't be too hard to work in.
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What else did you guys see down there? Sounds like you were in a group I didn't hear anything about yet. [Luckily he's working fast. While waiting on an answer he's already flipping the crystal around to get a closer look, tinkering and examining as he goes.]
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Psssh. They were stingy enough to kill me over it, so unless I touched it's unbeating heart somehow, it might not have been paying any attention.
You probably didn't hear anything about it because we didn't really run into anything all that interesting-- aside from the ghost and the gems and stuff. It was just tunnels and more tunnels under some place that didn't look like the city, that's all. The place where I found the crystals was kinda fancy looking and not really Cerealia-like, but... [And here, he frowns.]
I don't really know if my group found anything else after I kicked the bucket. I kinda made a beeline here after I 'woke up', so I didn't get to check in on them yet to see how they're doing.
no subject
Everything out there was designed to kill us. One of the guys we were with exploded because he tried to steal something, and we almost suffocated for getting locked in a room full of their stuff. [Too casual? Too casual. He's had a few days to rest and get his head back together at least.] We were one of the groups that didn't end up in a tunnel, I think, since we were in a room that led to somewhere I think inside the CERES tower? I'm still not really sure. I'm still putting pieces together about where people really went. We didn't get anything interesting either besides a ton of pictures and video footage.
[He picks up the crystal then, knocking it on the table to test something before stopping and squinting at one place on it.] ...I can tell you one thing. Whatever this is isn't exactly one in a million. Actually? Guess it's number 002213. [He frowns, tapping it again and going back to his investigation. It's wonderful that he spends hours and hours a day analyzing pretty much everything around him. That makes this much faster.]
...think I've got an idea what this thing is. When Rei gets here I'll explain.
lamest of lame tags
What is it then? I've been listening.
no subject
E-Exploded? [Man, he was lucky to just get out with a stopped heart, then.]
Jeez, sounds like you guys had fun. Wish I could say we got some more solid evidence of the stuff we saw down there too, but it's kind of hard to keep CEREVices in your pajama pockets. You got any of that video or pictures on hand? I kinda wanna see what you guys found out.
[His eyebrows raise at Hiro's discovery, though, and he's about to say something before Rei reunites with their group.]
Yeah, don't do the 'dramatic beat' thing. What are we looking at here?
no subject
I'll show you both footage we got if you want but this thing deserves a little more attention. I checked it out and used some of these things to run a couple of tests--[It's all pretty complicated bullshit, mostly, but he's still fairly casual about it.]--and...it's just a rock.
[...] Just kidding. I think it's actually supposed to be like a generator of some kind. Maybe a battery? It's meant to keep something running. There're two spots on it for a positive and a negative charge and it just kinda feels like it's meant to be humming. [Whatever that means.] I'd have to take it back to my lab to really see what it's supposed to do and maybe try to pry it open since it's tech. Would that be cool with you? Since you're the one who grabbed it, I mean. Baymax and I could probably do better analysis with better tools, too.
no subject
[Frowning again, she looks at Yusuke, since this is definitely his call. She'd give it to Hiro straight away, but not her...battery rock...or whatever, so it's his choice and she won't influence him one way or another unless asked for her thoughts.]
no subject
A rock? Seriously? We went through all this trouble for a--
[And then the other shoe drops, and there's an irritated growl in reply. It took a good amount of willpower not to just bop the kid on the head for messing around with them, and to Yusuke's credit, he doesn't do so until Hiro's done with his analysis. (Don't worry, it's not that hard-- it's more like a noogie.) He's actually kind of impressed Hiro was able to gather that much in such a sort time, however.]
That's for the lame lead-in.
So, a battery, huh? Wonder if it's connected to whatever powers the tech around here or something... though it doesn't make sense why it'd be sticking in a window, of all things. Or why that ghost was so protective over it, for that matter. I mean... who gets their ghostly undies in a bunch over a fancy looking double-A?
[He feels Rei's eyes upon him at the question, and Yusuke glances at her, before looking back at Hiro. Part of him didn't really want to hand it off to someone else, given the circumstances of how he got it, but... on the other hand...]
Do what you gotta do, though. It's obvious that there's nothing in my-- or Rei's-- area of expertise that can figure out this thing, and you already found out way more than we did in a much shorter amount of time. Just fill me in with whatever you wind up discovering, alright?
no subject
It'd make sense if the window wasn't a window and was a panel of some kind. Like an energy or a laser field. Something trapped that still needs power. And if it was a panel to keep something in or out I'd probably be a little protective, too.
[There's a reassuring smile.] You can come to the lab if you want while I experiment on it. Rei knows where it is and Baymax and I are pretty used to people coming in whenever they feel like it. [He knows he'd be a little iffy about letting some stranger take his hard-earned things, too.]
no subject
It's just a block or two from here, I can show you if that helps.
no subject
Was it the ghost it was keeping trapped, then? No, that wouldn't be right, why would it be protective of something keeping it stuck there...?
[His head snaps up, though, at Hiro and Rei's offer, blinking a few times in disbelief.]
Wait, uh-- for real? It's not gonna distract you or anything?
[And there's a slight frown as he weighs his options.]
I'm not really, er... a science kinda guy. I'm probably gonna wind up standing around being awkward or accidentally break your developing cure for cancer or something like that. Not that I'm not interested in what this thing actually is, but...
[He'll be like a bull in a china shop, is what he's trying to get at.]
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Dude, you make it sound like my lab's super clean or whatever. It's fine. [He's a super genius but he's also still a young teenager.] Plus I think we can probably find you a chair and then you can be sitting around awkwardly instead of standing...and I trust Rei to keep you in line. [That might be a joke, but he's grinning up at Rei anyway. Back him up on this.]
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And it should be okay. Hiro's right, his lab is not exactly organized. Cluttered is the word I'd use. Like the rest of him. [She shakes her head, ruffling his unruly hair. He is still a kid.]
Besides, it's not like you're going to be touching anything delicate, right?
no subject
But what could be scary enough to spook a ghost? If it was to keep it safe, then why didn't it just tell us that? Maybe I would have put them back instead of all... this. [Nevermind that he broke them all, but--]
[There's something almost akin to a pout at both Hiro and Rei's comments, however, and he lets out a small, annoyed huff.]
I'm not the kid here, guys, knock it off. I mean, I'm not gonna do something stupid and turn on all your Bunsen burners all at once or something. [... would Hiro even have those in his lab? WHO KNOWS.] I just... I'm not gonna get half of this stuff, okay?
[But his expression shifts to something more muted, debating it over in his head.]
But... if you say it's cool, then alright. I'll pop in at some point, just to see how things are going. Do you know how long it'll take, though?
I am so sorry for the delay!
[You know, like it has a personality.] You're both free to drop by whenever. I have a couple of other things I want to study anyway so this shouldn't be too hard to work in.