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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2015 4:26:49 GMT -5
The doors slid open to the office building in the heart of West Gotham. At any normal time, the sun would be flowing through the window on the wall and lighting up the offices, but considering the early hour all that was visible was sunlight just peeking over the horizon. Into the darkened offices stepped Lex Luthor, one hand in his coat pocket, his other holding a briefcase. Lex looked around casually before he pulled his hand out of his pocket and flicked it, glancing at the watch. 6:25 AM. Hope had told him Nina arrived usually close to 7 AM. That meant Lex had almost thirty minutes to go through her offices. He stepped towards the doors, stopping as he saw the voice lock on the side. Nina had good security here. He'd expected nothing less when he had suggested the security firm.
Lex Luthor: "Door Override Code: Lillian."
The doors opened and Lex smirked as he stepped through. Another upside to hiring the security firm he had suggested was his heavy bribe to make sure he had overriding capabilities. Lex stepped in and around the desk, powering up the computer. Opening his briefcase, he took out the slip of paper with the password Hope had watched Nina enter a few times and entered it, as well as pulling the thumb drive from his pocket. He slipped it into the computer, and booted up the virus installed upon it. It was quick. It was quiet. And it would copy all files without the slightest trace behind. While the virus did its work, Lex reached down to the drawers and opened the second one, pulling out a pair of files within. Flicking it open, his eyes grazed the paperwork slowly. Smiling, he closed the drawer mostly, and then looked up to see the virus was finished. He slipped the thumb drive out of the computer and into his pocket, and then walked over to the corner couch. Sitting back comfortably, he flicked on the nearby lamp and lifted his wrist to look at it casually. 6:50. Nina would be in shortly, and he was looking forward to greeting her.
It was time they had a talk.
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Post by Nina Stenet on Jul 7, 2015 3:32:33 GMT -5
At some point Nina really should take the opportunity to thank Edward properly for bringing her to the attention of all the other various people she's come into contact with since she met him. She never has, and there's times when she suspects that the proper way to do so would be worse than the way she responded to him nearly killing her. Especially when she reaches the doorway to her office and sees who is sitting inside. Frowning, she glances behind herself, but predictably Hope is standing right behind her. Sighing almost silently to herself, she says simply, "I thought something was off."
It had been a normal morning for her - getting up early, readying herself for the day, but something hadn't felt quite right. She'd not been able to figure out what it was exactly at the time, but in hindsight it had been Hope - the already very professional bodyguard had been even more attentive than usual, being aware of who they'd be meeting today. And of course they decided to surprise her with it - wonderful. Still, though she's confident that even Taya couldn't keep her from leaving if she really wanted to, and she has a hunch that Lex knows that, she doesn't have sufficient reason to do so. After all, though having Lex in her lab is definitely not something she's happy with, that's only on the level of being extremely annoying to her. Besides, it's not like she can completely avoid the man if he really wants to talk to her by simply walking out the door.
So she willingly walks into the room, seating herself at her desk and putting her briefcase on the floor next to her - as she does so Taya closes the door and positions herself in front of it. Though Nina missed fully noticing the subtle hints that Taya was expecting something this morning, as she settles herself at her desk her eyes noticeably linger first on the drawer and then at her computer - both have been touched. Her lips purse just slightly but she makes no direct comment on that - well, of course Lex would have no regard for her privacy. Then again, she's come to expect that of everyone lately.
Instead, once she's seated herself she simply turns her full attention to Lex. "What can I do for you this morning, Mr. Luthor?" she asks with just enough stiffness to indicate that she's not especially thrilled to be finding herself in this conversation. Though, truth be told, she's actually becoming somewhat used to people just showing up - she's somehow managed to attract the attention of quite a few people who do that at this point.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 2:10:14 GMT -5
Lex was casually sitting, legs crossed, leaned back. It was a subtle play at comfortable dominance, he did it effortlessly, as if he belonged here, was visiting an old friend, fingertips placed together as he let his face transform into a natural smile, as if he were honestly pleased at a joke from an old friend. "Always so concerned for my well being, Dr. Stenet." He cocked his head slightly as if considering the opening statement. "What can you do for me? A professional, service oriented, a polite enough opening. You never ask what I can do for you, though. This is a mutual relationship, Dr. Stenet. Focused on mutual intellectual enrichment, one scientist to another. "
He leaned forward and carefully put a small object on the desk, about the size of a golf ball. Dr. Stenet would have recognized it from previous business meetings, a small holographic projection device, one that Lex fiddled with constantly, it had gone through a few iterative improvements since she'd seen it last when it was still a cube. It was spherical now, in a smaller case, there were no bits hung on the exterior, the case was a luxurious purplish color with a green trim and the lenses seemed to blend in perfectly with the case. He'd obviously learned his lessons from the older model and made it smaller, the shielded lenses on the sides of the sphere shifting slightly and changing the shape with a minor almost inaudible whir as it was placed down, the internal gyroscopes playing with a subtle mechanical precision to keep it in place. It was a combination of genius craftsmanship and iteratively improved polish. The device was getting nearer to getting out of Alpha if Luthor was already working on miniaturization.
Nina would know he probably built the entire thing personally. It was one of those odd projects that Luthor kept to himself to keep himself occupied, when he wasn't being an "Evil Corporate Overlord" or a "Megalomaniac Power-Mad Technocrat" or "Spitting in the Face of God" or whatever those people at the Metropolis Village Caller had called him during the Occupy Metropolis protests last year.
"You accept my support so grudgingly, I'd think I was some sort of . . . supervillain." He smiled faintly at the thought of that, laughing a bit. "Still, I wanted to see you face to face for this one. I tried to set up an appointment, but of course. . . well, some things are too important to wait. Tell me, Dr. Stenet. . . what do you know about nanomechanics?"
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Post by Nina Stenet on Aug 4, 2015 0:34:28 GMT -5
"You already do plenty for me, Mr. Luthor," Nina replies rather mildly, "You're clearly concerned about my continued well-being, and of all the things that you could do for me that is probably the most important. But if you're concerned that you've been neglecting to hold up your end of intellectual exchange, rest assured that I've been inundated with new avenues of research to pursue lately - I feel no lack." After all, it seems like LexCorp has a never-ending supply of consulting work for her, and much of the time she learns something in that process.
But a part of the flood of information is the fact that she's not getting it only from there. There's also her own line of research, but even more than that was what she was able to get from working with Mr. Fries. Years of knowledge on how to apply cryogenics to medical problems have fallen into her lap, and she's only just begun to wrap her mind around it. She can only guess how much Lex is aware that she has it, though - he must be aware that she's met with Fries twice recently in as many weeks, thanks to Hope.
That had been a rather messy conversation: Fries had insisted that she was coming but had questioned the presence of Hope and, upon learning the bodyguard's connection to Lex, had absolutely refused to allow the woman to accompany them. Hope had been adamantly opposed to the idea of allowing Nina to go with him in the first place, and even more against the idea of Nina going without her. But ultimately the bodyguard lost that little debate because Nina, though she chaffed at the demanding way Fries was asking for her help, preferred to go with him without Hope than to let it devolve into an actual physical fight.
After all, like she told Hope, she'd been 'kidnapped' by Fries before and expected to be returned in one piece again. Her only real objections to the whole thing was being ordered around and the principle of the thing - her time is better spent solving the problems of billions, not one woman. Though perhaps it's paid off after all, since the man gave her so much access to so much of what he's learned. At least the first time paid off - the second time was as unexpected as the first but far more pointless. Both times she was gone for most of the day, but while she came back the first time exhausted but content the second time she'd been quite annoyed. Of course she never confided in Hope about what she'd been doing while she was gone.
In fact she never breathed a word of it to anyone. At least, not as far as Hope would know. Hope would be extremely well aware that Batman paid Nina a visit between Nina's adventures with Fries. But what they talked about is anyone's guess - the first thing that Batman and Nina did was dismiss Hope from the room, and her every attempt to eavesdrop was thwarted. Never mind that the conversation took place within Nina's own apartment, where it's practically impossible to blink anymore without it being recorded. Trust Batman to know how to get around that though.
In any event, Nina has certainly had a full enough plate lately, which may factor in slightly to her welcome. But it's mostly just the way he dropped in. Sighing lightly at his words, she dryly comments, "There are five men in my life with a penchant for turning up whenever they want without warning or regard for how I might feel about it. The others are Batman, Question, Freeze, and Edward. Does this sound like a list you ought to belong in, Mr. Luthor?" Having said that, she adds, "And I know a lot about the subject, but not that much within it."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2015 18:36:38 GMT -5
He idly traced his finger over the edge of the holographic emitter smiling at her statement. He wasn't unaware of how Dr. Stenet spent her spare time. In fact he'd invested a not insignificant amount of resources on trying to keep a handle on her activities. Her time with Victor Fries was of interest, of course, as was her research into cryogenics and medical interventions. In time he himself hoped to speak with the elusive "Doctor Freeze" although if he was anything else like so many of the eccentric geniuses in this city, the good doctor would probably much prefer hiding in a refrigerated wagon, or retrofitted warehouse, or run down ice cream factory, or some sort of arctic exhibit at the zoo, instead of a multimillion dollar laboratory. It was an unusual affectation of the Gothamite that Lex Luthor was starting to find almost charming if it weren't so frustratingly stupid. Still, as Dr. Sivana had told him in the past "When passions of pride come into conflict with simple solutions, the passions of pride are always predominant, Alexander."
Perhaps the old man was correct, although Luthor always found it incomprehensible, both the pride in others at denial ofhis open offers of support, and in their odd belief that such denial would make any difference in the end. Victor Fries was not known for his subtlety. The Batman, was another issue altogether that Luthor wondered if he would need to face sooner rather than later. He knew it was inevitable that the Urban Legend of Gotham would come to him. The Bat was known for threatening any that treaded in "his city" and Luthor did not so much as tread, as make large grabs at the landscape. Batman would come, before long. Luthor would only then find out of Contingency Menoetes was enough. If not there was of course Project Eretos, but Luthor hated to have to go that far. Either way, the extremity of the Arkham City initiative would probably distract the Bat.
He did not say any of these things, however. It was irrelevant to the current conversation, nor did he mention the other problem. The one with some of Nina's research. He'd spent a great deal of time reviewing what had been brought to him, what he'd been able to put together from watching, listening, purchasing companies and shell companies and shell companies of those companies until no one was certain who owned what anymore, of getting into almost incestuous standardization leasing arrangements and in two cases just simple construction plant infiltration. Of arranging subtle enhancements to the electronics of ten separate companies, direct leasing to Stenet labs and through old fashioned legwork. The problem that nagged in the back of his mind as Luthor hoped that Nina Stenet was one of those eccentric sorts who lied in her documentation and notes and work.
He did not say any of these things. . . but instead smiled faintly "Your social card has been overfull lately, hasn't it? And of course cryogenic research can be quite the satisfying interest, once one gets past the inevitable cellular ruptures that come from expansion of the water in the body. Then again finding that perfect cryoprotectant that isn't toxic, and of course allows the body to be reanimated to appropriate temperatures without remaining in sub-zero temperatures is the trick, isn't it? I'm, of course, interested to see what you and your associates come up with, of course, and should your associate wish to get in contact with me, you can give him my card. I'm always willing to take time to speak with men of" he smirked a bit sardonically "cold logic and I'm certain assets can be unfrozen without needing to establish slush funding." A joke from Lex Luthor? He shook his head and then raised an eyebrow at Nina. He's getting the feel for Gotham finally.
"Naturally, though, I'd hardly put myself in the same category as most of the parasites in your life. I only make offers, I only seek to facilitate your own natural interests. It's one of the reasons I bring you gifts. I haven't even asked for exclusivity contracts, I've been nothing but a gentleman since we've begun our mutual relationship." He settled back as he said "I'm certain many men have a significant interest in giving you ways to direct your talents, but I don't see many of them funding it or willing to facilitate it to the level that I am, unless of course Mr. Wayne's made a new offer I'm not aware of." He smiles as he says "And if that's the case, I hope you do me the service of a counteroffer, I do find our mutual conversations to always be enlightening, Dr. Stenet, and, like you, I'm in this business for the advancement of the human condition. It's one of the reasons I wanted to give you what might be the secret to perfect cellular regeneration . . . or a potential extinction level effect if we don't quite understand what we're looking at." His face fell serious for a moment, as he got very quiet, staring into the distance, almost as if he were looking through Dr. Stenet. The words grew starker, and the color changed slightly. Paler? Redder? Hard to say in this light, he sounded angry, no . . . not angry. . . it was a sound that Dr. Stenet had not heard in Lex Luthor's voice before. . . desperation?
"In fact it did lead to the rather recent and . . . horrific death of over 236 citizens of Metropolis, including scientists, civilians and police respondents. If it hadn't been for the sudden and overwhelming intervention of the Alien. . . It is predicted that this would have likely taken well over 1400 additional lives before STAR Lab specialists, LexCorp consultants, military respondents and MSCU could have contained it. It was . . . instantly classified, although not by my choice, although I understand the reasoning behind those who made this choice."
He clenched his hand in a fist, then unclenched it. "Nina, I don't mind telling you, I own a lot of things. I work in shadows and I work in possibilities and I work in futures with dangerous people that play on a stage of wider reach than most people can even comprehend the existence of. Oftentimes I make purchases that change the world. Sometimes these changes benefit billions of people, sometimes these changes help bring the world closer to a dreamlike future. Sometimes it leads to a nightmare. I'm of mixed feelings, honestly, with this purchase. It's brought me nothing but pain so far, Nina. Death and a legacy of nightmares that I'm only starting to unravel now that I have access to their materials and contracts." He looked up at her, seriously, a somewhat grave expression on his face.
"I can understand if you'd rather I discuss this with someone else, though. But I'd rather share with you, Nina. I respect your gifts, and frankly I'd like to think of you as a friend, although I'm sure you'd rather think of me in much more colorful terms. I'm going to be honest, and . . . open. I don't know what we're dealing with. I do know that it's led to a lot of pain, and has the potential to lead to something apocalyptic if we don't understand it."
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Post by Nina Stenet on Aug 7, 2015 21:55:26 GMT -5
Not at all surprised when he mentions Fries, Nina doesn't react much when Lex starts talking about him. At least not until the puns begin - that gets a very slight eyeroll. "Well, if I see him again, I can tell him that you'd like to talk to him, but I can't make any promises. I never know if or when I'll see him," she says mostly dispassionately, though if anything she sounds mildly annoyed. While she feels like she gets along with the man about as well as one can, and she can't say that she didn't get something substantial for her trouble, she can't say that she's completely happy with him either.
She sits back in her chair as he goes on to try to explain how he's different from the other men she listed, noting that he never once attempts to address the one way she mentioned that they were similar. Of course Lex is different from the others, just as each of them is different from each other. "No need to sound jealous, Mr. Luthor - I'm not cheating on you with another businessman," she remarks, sounding amused by her own words even though his tone is so extremely serious.
Though her own mood becomes immediately more serious when he mentions the deaths in Metropolis. As he probably suspected, that captures her attention and she listens carefully as he explains some of the circumstances around it. Her expression is thoughtful, but also somewhat distant, as she asks, "And what do you assume that I can do about it, Lex? I'm not sure why you believe I wouldn't want to - what kind of a person would I be if I didn't? But I'm only one woman. Do you think I can do more than Superman?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2015 3:24:38 GMT -5
He smirks at the cheating statement, and lets the Fries comment pass without comment, it's just part of that gentle verbal interaction that comes between colleagues, and despite himself, he really does enjoy these talks he has with Dr. Stenet. He had a very serious look on his face, though, as the business matter turned to horrific matters. He actually looked troubled as he continued to idly run his finger over the holographic emitter. This was a side of Luthor that frankly, Nina was not particularly used to seeing. The in control Luthor? Sure. The arrogant Luthor, of course, the magnanimous Luthor, naturally, the irritated Luthor at times. . . the troubled Luthor? The Luthor whose thoughts were ruminating, and who had 100% of his focus on some task? An uncertain Lex Luthor. This, in some ways, was unique and troublesome. He'd come in humility, asking a favor, irritated but also. . . frightened? It was hard to read Lex Luthor, Nina had seen him control a room even with a gun to his back. She'd seen him face off against unimaginable things. But this frightened Lex Luthor, disturbed him deeply, and she could even see a moment of . . . hesitation in his eyes. "Honestly. . . yes. I know for a fact that you can do more than Superman in this place. If I needed something destroyed. If I needed a multibillion dollar building hurled into the Sun. If I wanted a tornado or a two faced speech, I'd want Superman. If I wanted something hit very very hard, or for a continent to be cracked in two at a whim by an alien .. . I'd want Superman. . . what I need, is something much much more important." He hit on the recording, the augmented reality formed over her desk turning it temporarily into a street in Metropolis, people walking about. Then the street cracked open and something large and fleshy came out, with bioextrusions of teeth and nails, moving tendrils of Vitiligo skin, patchy and changing color, remnants of muscle and blood and biomass shifting, absorbing and mutating in real time as the thing moved to the street. A woman is touched on the leg as she is caught by surprise, and her dress is left behind as the thing sucks her in like a sponge, she's absorbed like something out of a bad 90s music video, morphing screaming silently on the muted recording as the nerves in her skin are stretched into directions they should not be, as her eyes are consumed, her teeth moving down along the surface of her skin, bones puncture, then are reabsorbed until she is part of the larger biomass, now spreading and moving over the street. Another person turns shocked, and is absorbed similarly, a business suit left on the ground as the flesh shifts and the skin boils, little fragments of hair, teeth, bone, popping up and disappearing again. It's a monstrosity. Lex Luthor's face is cold at the sight of it, staring at the thing as it moves and devours more and more people in a massive destructive swath. " This . . . has been classified by the United States Government, your previous NDA applies to your . . . knowledge of this incident." He swallows as he says "The source of this . . . incident, was an underground Metro Genetics lab in Metropolis. . . A . . . new acquisition of LexCorp, we're still discovering labs and experiments that they were developing. Several of which we've had to shut down, more of which we've .. . had to continue for various reasons. This, however. . . " He purses his lips as the creature expands up buildings. The police are starting to respond. " I don't know how this happened. I don't know how it could happen. It's like a nightmare of a bioweapon come to life and run amok. . . but the sad and ironic thing, Nina? This . . . was not a bioweapon. The research at Metro Genetics Facility X1B was purely medical." He shook his head " I'm still discovering new aspects of this recent purchase, and while I regret the purchase, I feel a duty now, to Metropolis. To the world. . . I have to know how this could happen. Because if this were an accident, we have to make sure it doesn't ever happen again. . . and we have to understand how to stop it if it does. Or even more. . . how to cure it." He looks up at Nina, staring her in the eye as Superman comes down and starts to fight it on the screen. " We've entered a new world, Nina. We've entered a world of wonder and a world of horrors, a world of concepts that are beyond the purview of any previous human understanding and imagination. This genie is now out of the bottle. While we may try to hide its existence from the world, it will be found again. And when it is, who knows how this could manifest? This was done at a single facility, and from what I've seen of the records, this was . . . entirely by accident, not even close to the original focus of research. I need to know why. I need to know why these men and women had to die, and I need to know what killed them so that it doesn't . . . happen. . . again." He stares at Nina, full eye contact, serious now. He's focused on this, entirely. No ulterior motive now. On the screen, Superman lifts the thing into the sky. " You're one of the leading experts in molecular bioscience. For purposes of this . . . there is literally no one else I know who is better suited to help me go to the site, review the research and find out what's happened. Figure out if it's terrorism, or biocontainment breach or illegal experimentation. . . or if it's just a quirk of fate. But this strain of research from Metro Genetics is occuring in many places, not just in the United States. . . not just under LexCorp supervision. . . this will come again, and I need your help to make sure it won't. And in this way, your mind is more powerful than ten thousand Supermen."
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Player: Avalikia ~
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Post by Nina Stenet on Aug 14, 2015 21:08:00 GMT -5
Between certain key memories of the past, her concerns about the present, and her worries for the future, Nina simply can't find it in herself to fully trust Lex and so she's at least a little bit reserved when it comes to him. But even so, she's finding that she's capable of working with him. In fact, it's not an entirely unpleasant thing to do - she's always enjoyed a good challenge, and Lex provides her with challenges on several levels. Then again, he's not entirely pleasant to work with either - he makes her feel like she has to constantly be on her toes and keep an eye on him, and rather than being a fun challenge that part is exhausting.
In fact, when his expression turns fearful, a part of her starts questioning whether he's as scared as he appears or if he's instead merely appearing scared in order to manipulate her. Which is not a point that she wants to have to question - in fact, that's a rather miserable thing to have to wonder about. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, after he emphasizes the fact that the help that he needs is more her forte than Superman's, he's soon showing her something that makes all such questions seem extremely unimportant.
It's one thing to tell someone that 236 people died in an incident, and that it could have been worse. More people than that die of other things everyday, in Nina's perspective. But it's quite another to show them exactly how those people died, especially when the cause is so grotesque. There's a moment of shock on her features when the monstrosity appears, and a hint of confusion - though she doesn't say anything out loud, it's not difficult to tell that she's wondering how such a thing can even exist. But those expressions disappear quickly when the creature touches the woman - they're replaced by two very strong and very distinct other emotions: horror and fascination.
The reason for the horror is quite obvious - that's no doubt an absolutely horrible way to die, and quite disturbing to witness. Nina's hand lifts to cover her mouth, her eyes going wide at the sight of it. But at the same time she's also fascinated by the sight, which makes her unable to look away. How does that... thing... even work? Why is it? So many questions, no answers - not to be seen in this recording, and Lex is saying that he can't offer any. When he looks at her, she's slow to meet his gaze - even after Superman removes it from view, she's still looking at where it was in deep thought. But eventually she does, though she doesn't immediately say anything - she's been rendered quite speechless, actually.
But once the shock and horror of it isn't quite so fresh and she's actually able to think, and after she's had several moments to actually process what she saw and decide what she thinks of it, she nods to herself a few times as she says, "I can do this." For as big of as surprise as it was to her that something like that can be, she sounds remarkably confident about that. Clearly it's possible, because it was there, and if it's possible then she can understand it - generally speaking, anyway. "I'd imagine the site is in ruins, the researchers are dead, and that it will be extremely difficult to determine what it was before it became whatever that was?" she asks, mostly rhetorically, realizing the difficulty of that problem. Shaking her head, she adds, "I don't think that I'll complain that Superman didn't save us a sample, though..."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2015 7:24:53 GMT -5
He nodded at the questions, waving his hand over the hologram to disrupt it. The image shrunk into a small model then a flat screen that lay flat on the table as if it were a file folder. A smaller image projected onto the table that Nina just noticed suddenly grew and created a 3-D model above the desk of the facility. Lex Luthor was nothing if not prepared for a report. The facility itself appeared to be underground and very deep indeed. "The facility is likely in ruins. It was well underground, carved out of the solid mica schist that makes up much of New Troy. This, more than anything, has kept the facility largely hidden and secure. It lies significantly below the surface, 390 feet, approximately 36 stories, over 200 feet below, and well away from, any of the Subway stations or Sewage lines. "
The model itself appears to be a large sort of structure at the end of a long tube that extends upwards. Lex moves his hand to the hologram to take the tube and pull it up, as if lifting the whole "model" up. "The only way up or down was the Umbilical Tube, which carried elevators, electricity and anything to the surface. All entry into or out of the lab would need to be through this tube, unless one wished to drill through 36 stories of solid rock. The tube itself had numerous containment procedures." He stretches the model out, grabbing each side of the tube and letting the image zoom in, showing large containment doors up and down, large double sealed things of metal and magnetism. "The elevator worked through electromagnetism to prevent need for mechanisms, with doors opening above and below the doors to allow for immediate cutoff from any materials in the lab. The door themselves were approximately three feet wide and closed over the entirety of the tube. Air was circulated within the lab to maintain the quarantine procedure. When the . . . subject, came upwards, it literally smashed through the containment doors. All 25 of them. Each one would require well over 80,000 psi to bend, let alone break."
He dragged downwards more to the lab facility. It had a few wings, a few major labs. "Information from the lab sensors remained underground. There were several facilities, three major lab groups . . . and very scattered information as to what they were studying. The last submitted funding requests outlined the experiments as focused entirely on utilizing stem cells to reduce the incidence of organ rejection following surgery."
He shakes his head as he says "If there is a sample remaining, it'd be in there. From what we see in the recording, the subject did not merely . . . devour its victims. But also grew an equal amount following eating. In addition, it appeared to grow on its own. This suggests that the victims biomass might have been added to the subject. . . although the mechanism of this is . . . unknown at this time." He's focusing now. The science before him was keeping him calm, there was horror, certainly, but a disciplined mind did not recoil at horror, but instead classified it, utilized it, used it as a learning experience. Understanding dispelled fear, and discipline led to understanding. It was an old lesson but one that remained a constant basis for his prolonged gaze into the abyss.
"I have my hopes, however, that no sample remains. But you'll understand that I've not wanted to send a team down to investigate, for obvious reasons." He leans forward, leaning on the desk as he says "I'm very much afraid that I'll need to, though. There's no more data to glean on the surface from what I can see, unless you can figure something else out. And if there's anything left down there, it's growing and needs to be destroyed, although I'm hoping that starving it for oxygen will kill anything below."
He looked up, staring into Nina's eyes. "What are your thoughts, Dr. Stenet?"
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Player: Avalikia ~
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Post by Nina Stenet on Aug 20, 2015 4:40:05 GMT -5
It's indeed difficult to be both horrified by something and to think about it scientifically at the same time. And she's dealt with many horrifying things - it's just that most of the horrors that she's used dealing with are microscopic in size, even if they're still capable of toppling a person. What she's just been shown is something else entirely. And yet she long ago learned to set aside the natural reaction of horror to any such thing when she needs to - it's a mostly pointless emotion that gets in the way of thoughts more suited actually doing something about it, though she's obviously not immune to it and it took her some moments to get to that point. Once she does, if anything the horror in the back of her mind only increases the intensity of her study.
Watching carefully as she's shown the facility, she can't note just how horrible of a design it was for what happened. If they accidentally released smallpox or something it would have been perfect to contain it, but not that. "In retrospect, perhaps they should have gone for a one story, above ground, rural design," she comments at the facility's design, as that would have afforded anyone inside of it at least some opportunity to escape and probably not put anyone outside of it in danger, assuming Superman's response time was anywhere near similar. As it is, she can be glad that she wasn't one of the scientists trapped down there with whatever that was.
Fully invested in the conversation now, there's still a slight hint of unease around her features as Lex goes into further detail about what he knows and suspects about the creature's growth. "Perhaps they were studying a metahuman cell line - one with a healing ability," she speculates out loud, as that would explain a few things. Especially the question of energy - metahumans often seem to possess the ability to defy the laws of physics concerning conservation of energy, even though careful study usually usually reveals that they're simply able to tap into a source of energy not typically available. Nina actually isn't sure where the energy comes from for her own ability, only that it must be considerable. While one might not think that moving small objects would take a lot of energy, she's gotten those small objects to move at pretty remarkable speeds before - and felt no diminishing of her power besides a little exhaustion from the concentration.
When he goes on to explain that the lab itself hasn't been investigated yet and asks for her thoughts she's silent for several moments, her forehead creased in deep thought. But finally she starts to slowly shake her head, "No, I can't think of a way - not in a space that large. Not when something remaining could be quite small - it strikes me as being rather cancerous in nature. If that's how it grows, even the smallest piece could be dangerous." Looking more specifically at Lex, she comments, "It's tempting to suggest that you simply seal up that umbilical tube, lose any data that may be down there, but we don't know that another one of those things won't manage to crawl out of there again anyway so that's not really the safe option."
Pursing her lips, she looks back at the map and asks, "Would it be feasible to send some sort of a remotely controlled robotic device down there first?" She has no experience with such things but she's heard of them, and she too doesn't like the idea of people having to go down there, at least not without some idea of what they'll find.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 3:24:38 GMT -5
Lex Luthor nodded as he said "I'd thought it was a cancerous strand, but none of the funding requests or reviews showed any signs of cancerous samples as a strand of communication. If they'd gotten such a sample accidentally, or created one that would be another issue. As for the metahuman element, from what I understand the samples created were done entirely from scratch, so if there were a metahuman investigation, it would have been hidden from the records, although the records are remarkably spotty and I'm inclined to believe that someone was engaging in private research using company resources. Then again, the approvals and the development of many of these projects occurred during the LexCorp partnership with Metro Genetics, and not the LexCorp purchase. As you well know, at times partnered researchers often engage in their own private projects without any input from LexCorp." There was a pointed statement in that, although Lex decided to let it hang in the air without further comment or deliberation. If he were attempting to prove his point about lone agents using their own resources without peer review, it was a mixed and muted point at best, and most likely it was either an attempt to reduce any blame on himself, or to explain his frustration with not having all the information at hand. With Mr. Luthor, sometimes that was hard to tell.
"There might be a difficulty with getting a robotic drone to investigate, however. It would certainly be the safest option, especially regarding any risk to investigators.. . the only issue would be getting the continual feedback to the surface with the continual interference of that much stone. We could send down a drone, but getting the controller on the surface to establish feedback might be difficult. I suppose if we were to lower the drone and the controller into the Lab, it could allow for continual feedback while the controller is locked safely away in a sealed container. " He puts his fingertips together as he says "The container is airtight, sealed, and armored, meant for quick and easy delivery with interior 3d Printing facilities and holographic emitters. We've been using them as temporary and mobile lab facilities, although they're still in in development. They're designed for harsh environments and long term use. With luck, modified versions might be used for underwater research, or even modular construction of interplanetary facilities." He said this offhandedly, discussing the nature of the LexPod.
"Yes, the use of a ground drone might be the safest option. We have a prototype drone project to allow these sorts of investigation, utilizing holohaptic feedback. It's a department of defense project, but we can utilize the resources and material as part of an "Active field test" to allow exploration and investigation. We can arrange for it to be sent down, set up the control chamber in a LexPod to allow for real time haptic feedback, then allow the drone to move through the hallways while the LexPod remains shielded at the entrance of the Lab. . . would you be willing to come to Metropolis and work one of the drones? It would be the quickest and likely best way to engage in the operation. If we do this plan, I plan on operating one myself, although I was also planning on personally investigating the lab in a prototype armored suit, to mitigate the risk of contamination or trauma. . . either are appropriate options that allow the experts to investigate the setting while minimizing any risk to the surrounding areas. And frankly, I'd like you to be part of the primary investigation team, simply because it might be necessary to have an immediate expert opinion on the situation." He did need her to be part of the investigative team. While he could make do with finding a sample and bringing it to her, it would be exceedingly dangerous, although he knew that she had to be the one to investigate and look at the sample. He doesn't discuss the idea of an above ground surface lab. He wasn't in the habit of depending on superman to protect his research, and if any of these things remained, it was only the underground nature of the facility that kept the remaining samples away from the general population.
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Post by Nina Stenet on Aug 28, 2015 1:48:04 GMT -5
As Lex's comments reveal more about what he doesn't know than what he does know (or at least that's his story), Nina's lips purse slightly. A part of it is because she'd rather get answers than confirmation that she's asking good questions, but it's also some annoyance at how he's being so careful to explicitly explain how he is most certainly not responsible for whatever went wrong. She doesn't even care about that. Well, if she came across some actual evidence that it was his fault she'd hand it off to the proper authorities, of course, but she doesn't expect to - whether that's because he's telling the truth or because he's hidden it from her doesn't really matter that much at the end of the day. Either way a lot of people died and at the very least she believes that he doesn't want anything similar to happen again. "I'm sure that if they'd told you that they were researching anything like that you would have stopped it," she comments quite dispassionately, which makes it difficult to tell whether she meant exactly what she said, or if she meant to be sarcastic or ironic - the truth is probably some blending of those.
As he goes on to explain in detail some of the equipment that they might be able to use for the project, she listens for a bit, but after awhile of listening she dryly comments, "Sounds like this is a good opportunity for you to try out all sorts of new toys." Though a frown comes to her face almost immediately when he asks if she'd operate a drone, and it quickly becomes more and more uncomfortable as he talks more about what he'd like her to do.
Nina is not a coward. Not unless half of the things that Hope reports about her aren't true, anyway. Of course a part of the reason it's half of what she reports is because Hope doesn't bother to report upon the daily tedium that is most of Nina's life and instead focuses on what she knows her boss would like to know. And the fact that you can throw the doctor into all sorts of situations that would frighten most people and not see more than the slightest hint of nerves seems noteworthy. However, being asked to do this particular thing definitely seems to trouble her more than a little bit.
"You said that thing broke through 25 containment doors?" she asks rhetorically before commenting, "So if there's more where that monster came from, wouldn't anyone in that LexPod be in an even worse death trap than the researchers who were down there must have been? I'll come to Metropolis, but I don't think you want me to set foot in that lab until you're certain it's safe." By which she, of course, also means that she personally does not want to go down there and in fact would probably outright refuse if she felt that was what it takes to keep herself on ground level. Lex may be daring enough to want to be one of the first ones in, but she's not afraid to hold the opposite opinion.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2015 3:56:48 GMT -5
Lex is obviously frustrated by the entire situation, as a man used to being in control of his universe he often got irritated when things didn't go to plan, although he'd learned a long time ago to try to take things in stride. He wished, deep inside, that this was his fault. That this was some sort of weapons project gone awry. It'd be easier to accept that his hubris had created a monstrosity as opposed to capricious whims of science or unknown elements.
"Nina, I appreciate your faith in my inherent goodness, but let's be honest with eachother. Everybody knows that LexCorp has a long history of weapons development along with medical development and a lot of other scientific research. I'm aware of the fact that I myself founded the company based on profits from weapons development for the United States Air Force, but we also have a long history of safety and appropriate precautions. Having a nightmarish flesh monster devouring American Citizens in the middle of the financial district of the largest city in the United States. . . MY city. . . is not anything that any rational human being would approve of. Yes, I would have put a stop to that if I'd have known what it was, and the fact that I seem to have not only not known about it, but apparently helped fund this disaster? It's a personal insult to me." He seemed angry, his voice was getting that terse shortness that happened when he started to lose his temper. Nina saw this sort of Lex sometimes, usually three drinks in and talking about Superman or the situation in Khandaq. Lex Luthor's motivations were abundantly clear and very personal in this matter.
"As for the LexPod, it has defenses that the containment doors did not have, and as we learned from the fight with Superman, this thing doesn't like heat. The LexPod is more than capable of producing enough external heat through the focused drilling lasers to fend off any attack from something similar to this. If need be, the LexPod can burrow itself into the shale wall and seal itself inside." He rubs his temple as he looks over the model.
"Besides, I'd have to ask what the alternatives would be. . . In terms of finding the cause of the problem, the alternatives are bringing any samples we find there out of the lab to you, which is frankly untenable and would put potentially the entire Eastern Seaboard at risk. Either that or not being entirely certain that the laboratory IS secure. If there's some sort of microbial contaminant or airborne component or biohazard, it might be likely that there IS no one other than you who could even recognize it. If it's not exposed to any sort of biomass sample, we may not be able to know what to detect, and if you could communicate with a team down there, we wouldn't need to lower the LexPod to a forward station to provide a drone link."
"Without you, we could send a team down, assume we'd cleaned out the place, only for a reading to show that there was something a forward team missed. If we were trying to clear out insurgents or metapowered terrorists or a bomb, I'd send down the MCU, or a STAR Labs Containment Team, or even the LexCorps . . . but I'm going down because I don't have anyone on my payroll I trust as much as me to recognize the technology and see what they've been doing. . . and I want you there because I don't know anyone as knowledgeable about the science behind something like this as you. If I thought there was another way, I'd suggest it. If I could create a relay station while maintaining safety for the people of Metropolis, I'd do it. If I could just ask Superman to drill a hole through the Shale and punch the microbes, I'd do that. But I need YOU, Nina. I need you to see this and to be certain that there is no risk to the people of Metropolis, and no risk to anyone else. I understand your fear for your own safety, but I can't guarantee that lab is safe or secured. We know that there is no movement down there, no signs of heart beat or significant metabolic processes, but . . . we don't have much more information. We can't send a probe down there to do readings without bringing it back up, which as you understand is impossible. I need an expert to tell me if it's safe, I need an expert to help me find out what happened and how we can prevent things from ever happening again, and you're the expert. "
He looked at her square in the eyes, "I'm open to alternatives, but I can't think of another way to keep the people of Metropolis safe."
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Post by Nina Stenet on Sept 13, 2015 23:23:00 GMT -5
As Lex explains how very personal this is to him, Nina frowns and looks down at her hands for a moment - clearly trying to decide what to say. When she looks up she says, "If you can't handle the fact that your money might be used to fund a disaster, then you shouldn't invest in scientific research. The very nature of the field is to meddle in things that you don't understand. You don't learn anything if you don't take risks. But I seem to recall that between the two of us you're the one who is quickest to claim that the risks of speeding ahead are not merely acceptable but necessary. That idea alone increases the odds that something will go wrong, no matter how many precautions you take - you can't take precautions when you get so far ahead of yourself that you don't know what precautions to take." No, she doesn't think that it's his fault that this happened, but then again there were probably many contributing factors and she's willing to bet that Lex appears among them somewhere.
But she's far more interested in how it happened and how to ensure that it doesn't happen again than she is in why it happened. She hardly sees it as her responsibility to point the finger of blame - perhaps she might find evidence that helps those with that responsibility to point it in the right direction, but she'll not volunteer to have that job herself. That's one of the many reasons why she'll only accept the role of consultant for LexCorp instead of the one of employee - she would be be even more bothered to play a part in causing such a thing to happen than Lex is. At least she's capable of ensuring that nothing like that creature will ever crawl out of her lab.
Her lips purse slightly as Lex tries to convince her to change her mind - but then again, she should have expected as much. She's talking to him, after all. Though she must admit that it is sounding a bit safer than at first glance. Not enough to persuade her, but a step in the right direction. He does, perhaps, have a point with the rest of what he says as well, but that's not necessarily as persuasive as he might hope. In fact, while he's not saying anything that isn't true, it's not difficult for her to spot the bits and pieces he's leaving out of his description of the situation. Whether that's intentional or not isn't something she could say, though.
"But there's one big difference between sending a team down and sending me down - if something unforeseen happens and you lose one or more of them, that's awful, but they can be replaced by others just as capable. You only have one of me - I can't be replaced. Do you really think that this is a good risk to take?" she asks. As cautious as she is, however, the question isn't rhetorical - she really does want to know what Lex thoughts are on that. Not that she necessarily trusts his judgment when it comes to what is and isn't an acceptable risk, but his opinion is nevertheless something to factor into her own thoughts on the subject.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2015 16:33:21 GMT -5
Lex Luthor looks very intently at Nina for a moment as she lectured him, a very cold tone in his voice as he responded "I'm very well acquainted with risk, Nina. I'm very aware of the risks that come from my work, and I'm willing to accept that on occasion, the work that we do will have unforseen and at times horrific consequences, just as I accept that at times they will have miraculous results. What I am unhappy with is the fact that this work is so shoddy, the information and documentation limited and in some places potentially misleading, and the fact that instead of being able to get all of the information we need in backups and centralized databases and with multiple redundancies, I have to create a full operation just to get the most basic information as to how this disaster occurred. I can accept sacrifices are sometimes necessary for a greater good. What I cannot tolerate is shoddy work. This would have been a very simple matter if Metro Genetics had installed the appropriate safeguards and backup systems available even at one of LexCorps temporary and mobile laboratories. There was, near as I can tell, not a single backup of the data available on the surface, there was not one defense mechanism to address . . . this, or whatever they were working on. This was not a failure on a single point. To get to this point was a failure on multiple levels by multiple people who did not think ahead." He's irritated, but not at her. He looks at the issue and appears irritated, he's honestly speaking his mind in this case. He exhales as he gestures at the holographic display.
"Do you think I want to ask for you and me to have to personally go down and risk ourselves just for information gathering? Knowing that sending anyone else down might have the potential to just make the situation worse? Knowing that no matter how well trained, no human being alive can be sent down there without a significant risk? I can work to minimize the risks, but yes. It is a risk. It is a significant risk, it's just when I've done the calculations every other solution is a greater risk, not just to you and me, but to the species and to the world itself. If it mutates in an unusual way, if a single cell of . . . this . . . gets out of the lab? Or worse, crosses the species barrier?"
He sighs as he shakes his head saying "I'm open to options, Nina. But I'm in a rather uncomfortable situation of not having any to work with. We'll send down robotic sterilizers to astrolabe the entirety of the lab with forward AI drones to minimize the risks. We know heat works on these things, the proteins must denature, because the Alien's heat extrusion was able to destroy it, and eventually when it was forced into the sun the samples were destroyed, even on the alien."
"But short of having a forward base down there to operate the drones, and having the expert look at the data, we won't know if that's effective or not. There was a team of people who would be much better suited to this than you or I, but if they're alive, they're in that lab, and it's much more likely that they were absorbed into the biomass of the creature that the Alien hurled into the sun. I'm honestly looking for options. I can send a full team of very capable individuals down, but sending one incompetent and sending one hundred incompetents will lead to the same result. Failure. This may be something that only you and I are capable of. If you have any other options, I would very much prefer to do that instead, if I could be 100% certain it wouldn't lead to a species-wide existential threat." He looks thoughtful, like he's honestly reaching for answers, and Nina could be damned certain if there was someone who wouldn't want to risk himself, it was Lex Luthor.
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