Carnegie Mellon scraps

Scraps from the Carnegie Mellon DriftSci lab. Please see also "Monkey House scraps". 
==Winter Semester==
===Chilly===
Chuck lies down to nap, snuggling against the mound of blankets in her corner nest [of Lightcap's lab with a contented sigh.
The pile snuggles closer.
"/Jesus Christ!" Chuck throws herself against the farthest wall, bangs her head. 
"Keep it down, willya? 'm trying to sleep, here."
"/Jackson?!"
"Yea."
"Why the hell are ye in here? There. Whatever."
"Job here's as good's any." The Jackson-pile might shrug.
"Would you mind coming out and talking--" Chuck swallows. "Will you come out and talk to me face to face? It's weird talking to a pile of blankets."
"Yea, I would. 'S cold out there."
"Still a baby 'bout cold, ay?"
"Still too damn cold out there," Jackson grumbles. 
"Want me to grab my parka?" 
"Really?" 
"You can't /keep it!"
"You're wonderful." 
Chuck rolls her eyes, nudges the lump. "Baby." Gets to her feet. 
"Legitimate woes, Chuck!"]
===Doctor===
2025
“Doctor Jones?”
“Not a doctor.” Jackson doesn't look up.
“Sorry, sir.”
“Not a ‘sir,’ either.” Jackson swivels his chair. “Can I help you with something?”
“Well, ah, I was wondering if you and your brother would come talk to our class about Drifting. What it's really like inside a neural handshake.”
“Why d'you think I know anything about that? I’m a lab monkey.”
The student gapes. “You-you’re Jackson Jones! One of /Vulcan Specter’s pilots. Seven kaiju kills between 2018 and 2024 …”
Jackson crosses his arms. “And?”
“… Discharged from service after being seriously injured fighting Rachnid off Brisbane …” She swallows.
“We’ll talk to your class, but no questions about the war, ay?”
“Jaegers?”
“In general, sure.”
She nods. “Thank you, Mister Jones.”
“Send an email with the details--helps me keep track. I'm in the directory.” He turns back to his monitor.
The student leaves quietly.
Jackson shakes his head.
===Smart===
January 2025
"Hey!" yells Chuck. "This's a private office! What're you—”
Logan looks up, blinks over his glasses.
"—Logan? You wear glasses?"
Rolls his eyes, waves the book he was reading.
“They … uh … look good on ye.”
Smiles, goes back to reading.
"I mean, you almost look smart in them."
Scowls, sets down the book decisively, snaps off his glasses, lunges for Chuck.
She darts out the door, laughing, Logan in pursuit.
===Cream===
(moved forward from March 'cause it seemed earlier; Pittsburgh, United States)
Chuck yawns. Again.
“Here.” Jackson pushes a warm mug into her hands.
She pushes back. “Cream.”
“Already added it.”
Glances down, sees the coffee’s perfect color. “Oh. Uh. Thanks.”
Jackson nods, limps back to his workstation.
“Where’s yours?” calls Chuck.
“Never touch the stuff. Don't do caffeine.”
Chuck sips, hums, turns back to her monitor.
===Life with Joneses===
20 January, 2025
In the middle of week two of Life with Joneses, a student worker drops a small package on Chuck's desk.
From Australia.
She mentally reviews the route to the student health center, rips off the tape, opens the box.
Thumb drive.
Sticky note.
-Download contents to a /secure machine and destroy. Trust me. —Jamie-
Huh.
Chuck plugs it into her tablet.
A tiny text file.
A huge text file.
She double-clicks the tiny one.
-Hear you're living & working with my boys now. If they give you trouble, these should straighten them out.
Use them wisely for some of them cost me dear.
Best of luck,
Jamie
Ps. The spider hopefully died in transit. Couldn't catch the little bugger.-
Chuck picks up the box with her thumb and index finger, calmly carries it at arm's length, and [leaves] it in the biohazard disposal.
Double-clicks the huge file.
Reads a few lines.
[The numb stuffing in her chest and gut loosens.]
Reads a few more.
[A flicker of something ... pleasant.]
Keeps reading.
[Warmth in her brain.
The corner of her mouth twitches against her hand; she sits straight, grabs her mobile.
.
not_a_monkey: you sir are a god
jay_walker: which 1?
not_a_monkey: any, all
jay_walker: got th package?
not_a_monkey: O YES
jay_walker: have fun!
not_a_monkey: o i will
=== Peanut Gallery ===
Somewhat inspired by this
"Anyone else's internet really slow?" asks Jackson. 
Logan nods. 
Chuck scowls and flicks her monitor. "There're /six webcams--" she sighs, stands. "Logan, you're with me. Jackson, [you have the conn]." 
.
Half an hour later, they return from the university store with--
"Seventeen webcams?" 
"Yup. Can ye help set these up?" 
"Sure, but, uh, why?" 
"Classified." 
Logan rolls his eyes. 
"Really?" says Jackson. 
"Just bolt twelve of 'em to the wall, uh, over there, k? I gotta call Lightcap." 
"Fine." 
"But why seventeen?" 
One of the webcams starts to smoke, then it sizzles, and then it lets out a defeated whine. 
"'cause the store only had that many."
===Drop Bear===
(February)
One day they come in and the dropbear is wearing a very pretty floral bonnet ... or has an itty-bitty phaser (complete with LED).
THE BONNET RETURNS! AN ITTY-BITTY PHASER!! Are you seeing Dropbear as the lab's 'mascot'? 
Yes, yes I am.
===Conference===
(this is the conference Lightcap was at during the Typhoon Daisy.) 
"Logan?" calls Caitlin. 
He waves. 
"Psychopathy, room 251, 14:30." 
Thumbs up. 
"Jackson?" 
"Haven't left since the last--ow!" 
"Mental illnesses in historical figures, theater B, 13:45. Throw spit balls if they bring up Hitler and PTSD again." 
"Awe/some." 
Logan scowls. 
"Chuck?" 
"Awaiting orders, ma'am." 
"Hold down the booth." 
"Aw, but--" 
"Cait, it's probably gonna be a madhouse." 
"Perfect opportunity to work on your /sparkling personality, Rapunzel." 
"Go to hell, Klingon." 
"Good point. So many panels, so little time... Okay, Ill watch the booth with Chuck. Sergio, Military and the Mind, room 309B, 14:15. I expect excellent notes from the lot of you. Team DriftSci!" 
"Drift!" 
(Possibly: Derek's back in the hotel room fielding calls and emails and generally feeling under the weather as a particularly vocal critic of Lightcap's was very vocal at /him and he threw up on the guy. (Chuck got a picture of the critic's face. She's going to frame it.))
=== Dinosaurs ===
Likelyhood of Siqi having several sheets of dinosaur stickers and not having a clue why: Very high. Does she also have random plastic dinosaurs? 
""More model dinosaurs..."" Chuck mutters. 
Jackson missteps. "Did you say...?"
""Yup."" Chuck, still head-first, chest-deep in a box, offers a handful. ""Want 'em?""
Jackson zips over, skids, slips, hits the--"Motherfucker!" 
Logan peers over his shoulder. 
Chuck leans out of the box. 
"'m fine." 
Logan goes back to his computer. 
Chuck returns to the box. 
Jackson counts his breaths. 
Lightcap wanders by, peers into a box. "Uh, Chuck?" 
Popppopopopopop
"Yep?" 
"We have a lot of bubble wrap, don't we." 
"Yes we do. Is there something you wanted?" 
"Is there ... Yes! Did you repack any of these?" 
"Nope, met with Xiong, signed 'em, waited for processing, hopped on a plane. Is something missing?" 
"More like 'addition-ing'." Caitlin tosses over a figurine. "Any idea where these came from?" 
"I've found loads of them, but I've never seen them before, sorry." 
"Don't think Tim would've thrown them in either... What did you say that 'Q' girl called you?" 
"Siqi? I think it was 'Wash'." Shrugs, digs around her box. "Er, Logan?" she calls. "There's a, uh, vacuumed-sealed hamster ball? For you?" She studies it. "Mini-Zorb ball? Bubble? Thing?" 
Logan gathers it up, reclines back in his chair. 
- BALL OF DIRT
Please open over a box.- 
Hmm. 
"Who'd you say you visited?" wheezes Jackson. 
"Friend of Tim motherfucking sugar maple Russians." Clears her throat. "Friend of Tang Min's." 
. 
So Logan heads into the mudroom, empties the recycle box, and frowns at the hamster-zorb-bubble-thing. 
Looks like a cloud's hanging in there or something. 
/Finally finds a seam. 
Plastic opens with a hiss. 
Bundled in the dirt is a plant. Also an envelope, standard size, feels almost like parchement, no address. 
He opens it. 
One sheet of parchment, impeccably trifolded. 
No pictures this time. 
In his ridiculously neat cursive, Feng had painted, 
- I found you! -
Logan wipes his eyes, goes to find something to act as a pot.
===Soldering===
Jackson fumbles the soldering iron, burns his finger, melts a streak along the [whatever he's working on], and curses. 
"For fuck's sake," Chuck snaps, snatching it and flipping the switch.
===Flail===
>ALC moved this up from June< April 2025; Pittsburgh, United States
The far closet door bangs shut and Chuck storms to her desk. 
Jackson glances around, grabs a stack of papers and hobbles over. “Can you take a look at these?”
“Yea, whatever.” She slams down her mobile—
“Thanks.”
—but things don't line up and it clatters to the ground.
“You okay?”
Chuck scoops it up. “Fine.” Knocks over her water bottle.
“Got it—"
“Don't.”
“Sorry.”
“Just—" She dismisses him.
“Can I—"
“Fuck off, asswipe.”
“Okay.” Jackson heads off.
Her chair topples and down goes Chuck.
“Would—"
“Fuck. Off.”
“—you like me—"
“I said, leave."
“—to get Groot?”
“Would ye fucking go t' hell and leave me alone?!”
“Yep, sorry, going.”
===Students===
Jackson suns himself in front of the science building, spring heat easing the cramp in his bad hip. His head's rolled back and his arms are stretched along the back of the bench.
--Warm enough fer only one jumper an' a coat. Awe/some.--
A quiet cough.
Takes a deep breath. --'s'nice outside. /Fine'ly.--
A throat clears.
--Hope it stays like this a while. Kin get out th' summer jumpers.--
The bench dips a little on his right.
Cracks an eye. --She looks familiar. One 'a th' grad students?-- Closes the eye.
A sigh. The bench dips more deeply.
Rolls his eyes behind his lids, opens them, turns to face her. "Kin I help ye?"
She startles. "Oh, uh, well ...."
Quirks an eyebrow.
"I'm in Doctor Lightcap's neural architecture course and I'm having trouble with the material in Unit Four and I was kinda maybe hoping you could go over it with me." She gulps air.
"That's more Chuck's area than mine. Ye'd be better off askin' her."
"But you're--"
"Ye know Chuck's inte girls?" Settles against the bench. "But we don't date students."
"'cause you're dating each other?" 
"Nope."
"But you wish you were." 
Jackson's hand says 'shoo'. "Bugger off." 
After a moment, the bench springs back up.
--Third one this month.-- Sighs.
(which sets off another round of 'watch people hit on Chuck and have it go completely over her head'. Makes Jackson feel slightly better that she's not noticing him 'cause it's not him, it's her.)
===Breaks===
“Fuck!”
A clatter from the far end of the lab.
Chuck hustles over.
Jackson under a blanket of scattered papers.
“You alright?”
“’course I am, Rapunzel,” he snarls. “I like taking my breaks flat on my back.”
==Summer Semester==
=== Welcome ===
The drop bear becomes their mascot. Eventually they have t-shirts printed with a cartoony logo version of it for all the other grad students.
'Dear student, 
Congratulations on being accepted into the Carnegie Melon Drift Science program. Enclosed is your lab gear.
Sincerely, 
C Lightcap'
=== Lab Rules ===
"Whatever can't kill you obviously doesn't belong in this lab."
===Sharks===
snikt: im bored
queen_of_the_jungle: so?
snikt: game?
queen_of_the_jungle: you are in the lab, yes?
snikt: yea
queen_of_the_jungle: we could go fishing?
snikt: sure
snikt: bt NO SHARKS ths tme
queen_of_the_jungle: i thought you liked exciting games.
snikt: ben attkd by enuff c monsters thx
queen_of_the_jungle: … i'm sorry.
snikt: sokay
snikt: gimme 5 2 set up
=== Your order, Captain ===
2025; Pittsburgh, United States
A steaming cup appears at Jackson's elbow.
“What's this?”
“Tea,” answers Chuck. Her lips twitch, eyes sparkle.
Jackson sighs. “Jest say it.”
“Earl Grey. Hot.” Chokes on a giggle.
“'bout done?”
“Heeee … Yea.” She heads toward her desk, glances back. “By th' way, it's decaf.”
She totally catches Jackson's grin.
===Fabricator===
Soooo how he decorates his workstation come the proper season. Also a jumper of his.
Little tiny tree with tinier spaceships- heeeey, they do have a fabricator! 
And after the little tiny spaceships start appearing, they catch Jackson critiquing their faithfulness to the design specs of the originals. And then obsessively tweaking the renderings until they're /perfect. 
=== Dishware ===
(Moved in as "CAD and Toys"
"Good soup?" asks Caitlin. 
Logan nods. 
"Mmhmm," replies Chuck around her spoon. 
""SPAAAAAACE!"" 
Logan snickers. 
"Sim's finished?"
Chuck checks her mobile. "Mmhmm." Takes out her spoon. "That was fast," she mutters, wrinkling her nose. 
Logan eyes her brownie. 
"Want me to save your soup?" 
Chuck gets to her feet. "That'd be great." Pointedly returns her dessert to her tray. "Brownie, too, please." 
Logan frowns. 
Caitlin, stifling a laugh, shrugs apologetically. "Sure thing, Monkey." 
"Thanks. Later, guys." 
.
Chuck slips into the lab to find Jackson engrossed in something on screen that doesn't look like a whole lot like Driftware but does—are those tiny saucers in the fabricator?
Jackson taps away.
She stares at the monitor, ignores half the lines, and then it clicks.
Another file shoots off to the printer.
"Your entire life was preparation for this moment, ay?"
Sketches, stylus, and tablet go flying. "When d'ye get back?" Blinks. "Of course not--I--there're a hundred reasons to pick up CAD."
"Uh huh." 
"Yea." Stoops to reorganizes the papers. "Go to university just to learn how to make toys," he scoffs. 
=== Holodeck ===
The grad student knocks timidly on the door.
"Hey," says Chuck. Why would a grad student be here--oh! "Looking for yer test?" 
"If it's a good ti--h-holy shit!" 
Chuck glances around the blazing desert. "Oh, yea, it does that sometimes." 
"Does that some- you- this-" 
Chuck flicks her wrist. "Guys, quit mucking around. We have company." 
"You have an honest-to-God proto-holodeck!" squeaks the grad student. 
"I told you it was a great name!" yells Jackson from behind a reef and okay they're underwater now. 
.
On a different day, Chuck leans back in her chair, tapping her chin with a stylus. "What's that spoof movie about the blue-blooded aliens? With that Toy Story guy?" 
A few minutes pass. 
"WHOOO!!!" Jackson cheers. 
"I'm trying to mock you," calls Chuck. 
Jackson leans in the doorway. "Galaxy Quest is /the best StarTerk movie ever and-" 
"It makes fun of, like, everything."
"All the StarTerk leads say it's best and I happen to agree with them so there." 
Logan's chair topples over with a crash and he keeps laughing. 
=== Close Call ===
The grad students have a running bet about when one of them is going to catch him at his desk reenacting the scene. And if they ever do, I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs hit the floor with a flourish.
"I swear by my pretty floral--"
A knock at the door. 
Jackson shoves the dinosaurs away, pushes himself into view of the door. "Yea?"
The grad student smiles weakly. "Supposed to be meeting Doctor Lightcap?" 
"I'll tell 'er yer here. Have a seat, wherever." 
"Thanks." 
Up he goes, steps carefully, gets to Lightcap's office without a spill. "Your two-o'clock's here."
"Just finishing this," Lightcap replies absently. 
He returns to the lab. "She'll be out in a minute."
"Cool, thanks." The grad student goes back to looking a postcards. "You guys are such nerds."
"The hell 're you talkin' about?"
The grad student flicks a postcard. "You've got a friend named 'Q'." 
Jackson returns to his computer. "Someone Chuck knows." 
"How'd she get to be friends with a Trekkie?"
"How'd an Australian Jaeger pilot end up in Pittsburgh working for a neuroscientist?"
"Brains? Duh." Studies the picture wall. "Is Q PPDC or something?"
The lights flicker. 
"Dunno." 
A crash from Lightcap's direction; she storms in, dusting at her jacket. 
"You okay?"
"Monitor," she waves vaguely. "Being weird. Just figure it out." 
"On it."
"Thanks. Person I'm talking to about AI?" 
The grad student waves. 
"Awesome."
=== Abyss ===
How long before Danger and Striker whip up some freaky critters from the abyss? Although it would probably be Danger considering Striker may be a bit too Chuckles-ish. 
"How'd you come up with that?" 
"Spliced a bunch of stuff together from Pitfall." 
"But it was pitch black!" 
"Turn on the light filters, goof." 
A beat. 
"Oh. Duh." 
===Becket===
>may be in the wrong spot<
Becket flutters about the lab, mumbling something about the Drift equipment making him edgy.
Logan watches, then steps into his path.
Becket stops short.
::At ease. It won't hurt.::
Becket blinks. ::You sign?::
::Enough.::
::Why?::
::Can't talk. Hear fine.::
"Oh."
::Why scared?::
"Don't like people poking around in my head."
::Understand. Not bad.::
"Just nervous about it since my brother died."
Sniffs. ::Bad feeling, right?::
"What?"
::Mine, too. Ghosting.::
"Your brother? I just talked to him ..."
::Was dead. Came back.::
"Oh. And you were Ghosting at the time?"
Nods.
"So you sorta know."
Squeezes Becket's shoulder. ::Too quiet. Scary. Empty.::
Becket lets out a shaky breath. "Yeah. You're lucky. You got him back."
::You, too.:: Tilts his head toward Mako, standing across the lab. ::You found her.::
A half-smile. "Guess we came out alright."
Shrugs. ::We lived.::
==Fall Semester==
===Not a Nerd: the Jumper===
Oh god. Imagine someone commissioning him a custom sweater with that design knitted into it.
OuO this is amusing me greatly. It's his go-to underjumper ('cause he's 'not a nerd' even though near everyone thinks otherwise). I'm also seeing a dropbear-sized version and Wash is very much 'I don't understand why the plushie is wearing clothes and why they keep changing with the seasons'. 
That is /exactly what he does. Because, of /course he's 'not a nerd'. I can imagine Wash and Logan trying to engineer situations in which he must wear the jumper so the pattern is visible.
Seasonal jumpers mandatory: nabs one of Sergio's 
No clean jumpers except that one: borrows one of Logan's 
And then someone starts trolling by making sure there are bright pink or other ridiculous jumpers about.
Jackson retaliates by procuring a 'Tangled' pink/purple jumper with ribbons and flowers, storing it in the lab, and orchestrating that grad student with the tea who gets really enthusiastic to get really enthusiastic around Wash. 
Really enthusiastic with beverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcwHdhii5hY
The IT Crowd strikes again!!!! 
=== AI ===
(find the inciting/inspiring email)
"Then you skip that part and go straight to the--" Chuck gestures. "--whatever-it-is."
"But... theory of mind?"
"When a giant robot stops working 'cause her AI feels like bein' a microwave, ye kinda hafta throw all that crap away."
"Oh. How does that work, exactly?"
"The microwave? Novel mapping--the 3 arms messed things up to no end--uh, software glitches, ambiguous directive, the sheer amount of code that went into executing a kick..."
"But why a microwave?"
"One of her Rangers wanted pizza."
"But how did it ...."
"The kicking. In order to be effective, you need to stay upright aka you need to keep your Conn-pod safe. You need to keep your Conn-pod safe because of the squishies inside. The drive is to protect- sneezing, hiccuping, falling over, flinching."
=== Monkey House ===
September 2025; Pittsburgh, United States
Chris and Blue sit outside in the sun, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather along with their lunch.
“So,” says Jackson, wheeling himself into the empty spot. “Monkey House?” 
They gape. 
“It's totally cool,” adds Chuck, standing (and looming) beside Jackson. 
“It's cute—and don't even, Rapunzel, I have four more months.” 
Chuck rolls her eyes. 
“Anyway, it's cute. We like it, even.” 
“Been wondering what to call that place. 65679 University just didn't cut it.” Chuck gasps. “We could paint it green! Or brown! Or like that Curious George story!” 
“And we could raid a fabric store and make it tactile!” adds Jackson. 
“I'm liking this plan. Thanks, you two.” 
“How did you …?” 
Chuck jerks a thumb at Logan. “He's not deaf. He can't talk.”
“Sorta,” rasps Logan. 
“Sorta,” Chuck agrees. “Ranger Jones, I still owe you for that broken nose. Shall we go to the gym?” 
“We shall, Officer Darling, after you.” 
“Why thank you, Ranger. At your leisure, Ranger Jones.” 
Logan gives the grad students a mocking salute, spins on his heel, and off they go.
=== Fishing ===
snikt: im bored
queen_of_the_jungle: so?
snikt: game?
queen_of_the_jungle: you are in the lab, yes?
snikt: y
queen_of_the_jungle: could we go fishing?
snikt: sure.
snikt: bt NO SHARKS ths tme
queen_of_the_jungle: i thought you liked exciting games
snikt: ben attkd by enuff c monsters, thx
queen_of_the_jungle: ... i'm sorry
snikt: sokay
snikt: gimme 5 2 set up
===Lecture===
Putting "Lecture" in the fall gives time for the ex-Rangers' status as not-so-terrifying nerds to percolate through the program so the students have the guts to pull something like this. You know, 'cuz they don't fear being smashed by guys who used to beat monsters to death for a living.
"You have other clothes, you know," reminds Caitlin, sniffling away on the couch.
Chuck flips her braid out and zips up her Striker Eureka jumpsuit. "I'm wearing the clothes I'm most comfortable in."
.
Her part of the lecture is very well done. 
Jackson's making eyes after the first two minutes; even Logan starts showing signs of being impressed by the halfway point.
"Any questions?"
Dead silence.
"Okay, then. Jackson—"
A student calls out, "Are y'all sleeping together?" 
Jackson heads for the floor. 
Wash does a double take of them, of the students. "E-excuse me?" 
Logan grabs his collar and tows him back into his chair.
"They're both, I dunno, batting their eyelashes at you."
"Uh, no, and since this is being recorded, I would appreciate it if you kept questions unrelated to the course to yourself." 
Another student asks, "Are you gay?" 
"Your name?" 
"Blue." 
"K, I'm docking you a percent." 
"But it's relevant!" 
"How?!" 
"You're our TA! It says so on the /course outline!" 
Another student asks, "Is he gay?" 
"I'm straight," says Jackson. "Which is exactly the problem." He hoists himself onto the desk. "See, if I wanted to sleep with Chuck, I'd actually want to sleep with Chuck and not her Driftmate, Pietr, who ...?" 
"Got /married?" Chuck hisses. "To his /wife?" 
"Might not mean anything," Jackson points out. Continues to the class, "Since Pietr and I aren't into guys, it isn't happening." 
"What about Logan?" 
.::Ace.::
"There ye have it: fun facts about your TAs and Drifting, aren't you lucky. Anythin' to do with the material or can we kick the lot of you out?" 
Silence. 
"K, we're gonna leave now and hopefully never do this again." 
"Have fun with the test," mutters Chuck. 
They flee. 
Stopping just inside the green room, they sort out whose notes belong to whom. 
When Chuck's got hers, she hefts her bag, says, "I'm grabbing antiacids and chocolate. You guys want anything?" 
.::A time machine.::
"Same," grumbles Jackson. 
"I'll keep my eye out for a Delorean." 
.
When she returns from class a week later, Caitlin exclaims, "This is great!They're finally asking questions!" She glances towards the family room. "You guys okay?" 
"Preferred it when they were quiet," grumbles Chuck. 
=== Spy ===
Inspiration
queen_of_the_jungle: your webcam broke
snikt: so?
queen_of_the_jungle: i can't see you
snikt: tht's a prblm?
queen_of_the_jungle: i ... 
queen_of_the_jungle: i use it to check on you
snikt: u spy on me?
queen_of_the_jungle: i worry for you
snikt: why?
snikt: kitten?
queen_of_the_jungle: you don't always take care
snikt: so u spy on me
queen_of_the_jungle: i want you to be happy and well
[...]
queen_of_the_jungle: logan?
snikt: if i take selfie will u feel btr?
queen_of_the_jungle: YES!
>sigh<
queen_of_the_jungle: you look pale. you are sleeping?
snikt: stuck here ovrnite. tsting.
queen_of_the_jungle: so you're leaving early today?
snikt: whn im done
queen_of_the_jungle: oh. i'll leave you alone.
snikt: thx
queen_of_the_jungle: send a pic when you're finished?
snikt: of course
queen_of_the_jungle: .:D
snikt: .:D
===Evaluation===
Can you image the instructor/course evaluations?
Are the students confident enough to 'complain' anonymously (so it would be in 2025)? 
Comments: Putting it in 2025 depends on when in May we want Wash to leave. End of May, it's no problem. Beginning of May she wouldn't be around to be sorting through them.
Comments: Hmm... maybe June or August, then? Give it some exposition (Logan & Jackson put together their system (which needs some work), Wash tweaks it, they settle down (grudgingly) to organize the lot), and voila! 
Comments: Now settled in June as one of the first things Wash does when she gets back to Pittsburgh. Good suggestion there!
"We are..." Chuck wrinkles her nose. "/Intimidating? So what, we carry around teddy bears or something?" She balls it up and throws it into the 'hell are we supposed to do about that?' box. 
"They know these 're anonymous, ay?" mutters Jackson, tossing another evaluation into the 'redact phone numbers' pile.
Logan hands Jackson a couple. 
"'Everyone in the lab is too pretty. I can't concentrate during lectures'. Really?" 
"'Their maths are terrible. They should take remedial courses. This professor offers some great ones, especially on Tuesdays at 4pm'. Is this a comment or another hit-on?"
== Scale ==
Inspiration: Suddenly; Prompts!
The grad students are peering down from the top of the rank of file cabinets at the sparking, jerking autonomous knee-high Jaeger on the floor when Chuck strolls in.
She raises an eyebrow.
"It's chasing us."
The 'bot headbutts the cabinet—
The students wince. 
—backs up, tries again.
"And every time it does that, we get a shock."
"So ... on a scale of one to Australia, how dangerous is it for us to climb down?"
Chuck scoffs, leaves.
The grad students exchange looks.
Chuck returns with a baseball bat, walks straight up to the 'bot, /whacks it.
Parts fly and it gives a defeated wheeze.
"Platypus," declares Chuck. "You two can clean it up." She settles the bat against her shoulder and strolls out of the lab.
=== Version 1.1 ===
The grad students are peering down from the top of the rank of file cabinets at the sparking, jerking autonomous knee-high Jaeger on the floor when Chuck strolls in.
She raises an eyebrow.
"It's chasing us."
The 'bot headbutts the cabinet—
The students flinch. 
—backs up, tries again.
"And every time it does that, we get a shock."
"So ... on a scale of one to Australia, how dangerous is it for us to climb down?"
Chuck cocks her head.
The students wait—wince.
"Platypus," says Chuck, and leaves.
==End of Term Costume Party==
(2026)
Speaking of Siqi eavesdropping (in "Close Call"), soon after this a package arrives for Jackson. Containing a very pretty hat. Mocking follows.
Another: Cosplay of that scene. Jackson as Mal, Logan as Jayne, Wash as Zoe.
That is a seriously, seriously clever cosplay. I don't think I'll throw them into a convention /yet; maybe an end-of-term costume party or something *ponders*. 
Yes! Or they lose some sort of bet with the grad students.
Oh yes, that is what happens. A grand debate breaks out mid-seminar as to the nature of the dinosaurs in the lab (I'm not sure how to keep the bonnet there). Maybe one of the three challenges the grads to get 100% on a co-op quiz and agree on a scene. Or the bet comes about in a different manner entirely :D 
Jackson, Logan, and Wash are dressed up as Mal, Jayne, and Zoe from the Firefly scene 'I swear by my pretty floral bonnet I will end you'. 
"It's kinda cool how you're so comfortable wearing a dress," says a grad student. 
"You're, like, not self-conscious at all." 
"Kinda in the job description. Former job description." 
The students try to parse that.
"You seem to think being a Jaeger pilot didn't involve being naked around a lot of people on a regular basis." 
""Then why aren't you naked here on a regular basis?""
Jackson splutters. 
"He'd freeze to death, obviously," says Chuck, and sips her drink.
==Variable==
===Takala===
'Takala' Afrikaans name meaning 'corn tassel'; a selfie: , 
Takala's a Vos, from one of the biracial branches. She's a pediatric nurse in training and a complete cutie. Very calm, good sense of humor.
Lightcap likes studying Vosses. Takala needs an internship. Lightcap's school needs a nurse. She brings Takala to Australia. A condition of employment with Lightcap is full classification. She's a tech-oriented 600ish.
Lightcap also keeps track of families known to have produced more than one 500+ HSP member (Weis, Joneses, Hansens, Vosses) and the young children of high HSP folks (Felix Choi, Anniek Vos).
With evil glee, Lightcap subtly plays matchmaker between Derek and Takala, making sure they bump into each other, and hoping for chemistry.
It works.
===No===
(Caitlin thinks she found a way to compensate for COROs farther apart than 20 points and wants to test it with the 30-point gap between Jackson and Wash.)
“No.”
“You’re both high HSP! You’re getting along /beautifully! There should be no problems!”
“/No, Caitlin. You're not putting her in my head.”
“I thought you /wanted that kind of closeness.”
“That’s before I really thought about it.” He looks away. “She doesn’t need what’s in there.” Leans against the worktop. “I'm not afraid of her depression, but she doesn’t need my nightmares.”
“Jackson, that’s not likely—”
He crosses his arms. “Not taking chances. Not with her.”
.
“She did okay with—”
“Vos is all sweetness and light. I'm not.” Whispers, “And she loves him.”
Caitlin chews her lip. “Not the first time.”
“She insult or try to hit him before?”
“Noooo …”
==The Borg==
09/08/2016
pickle-plum sent a post lol, just saw thi...
this happens at some 'dome, some time.
pickle-plum sent a post, “Random Headcanon: That Federation vessels in Star Trek seem to experience bizarre malfunctions with such overwhelming frequency isn’t just an artefact of the television serial format. Rather, it’s because the Federation as a culture are a bunch of deranged hyper-neophiles, tooling around in ships packed full of beyond-cutting-edge tech they don’t really understand. Endlessly frustrating if you have to fight them, because they can pull an effectively unlimited number of bullshit space-magic countermeasures out of their arses - but they’re as likely as not to give themselves a lethal five-dimensional wedgie in the process. All those rampant holograms and warp core malfunctions and accidentally-traveling-back-in-time incidents? That doesn’t actually happen to anyone else; it’s literally just Federation vessels that go off the rails like that. And they do so on a fairly regular basis. 
pickle-plum: I'm now picturing Jackson trying to 'engineer' on The Bridge like this.
pickle-plum: There is blood. And Kirra whacking him with a rolled-up physics journal.
"Uh, hi!" chirps Jackson, bleeding from a scratch on his cheek, a mangled baby finger, and a slash across his arm. 
Kirra .... 
"Wanna help me build a warp core?" 
Kirra .... 
"I was just going to--" 
Kirra smacks him with the physics journal, rolled into a convenient tube. 
"Ouch!" 
Kirra hauls him up by the back of his jumper-- 
"But the Borg!" 
--marches him to the door-- 
"The Federation!" 
--and throws him out. 
"That post!" 
Tosses the journal at him. "Lightcap wants notes." Closes the door, surveys the disaster that is the bridge. 
Footsteps slink away down the hall. 
"How the fuck did he even do this?"
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