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[hackitude]

Hey all. Quick PSA:

Over at StarkTech there's a team of us that are working on a solution to some of the weird ~memory shenanigans~ that you might have seen around lately. We're no closer to a cure, but I'm pretty sure we HAVE now successfully got a working prototype for a "vaccine" of sorts. Basically we've figured out how to upgrade the imPort nanites to protect anyone else from getting false memories implanted in their head and believing that they're real.

If you want to swing by StarkTech any time this week, we'll be happy to fix you up. Free lollipop for people who come in, and it doesn't take any time at all. You can pop in over a lunch break.

The project's being headed by Jemma Simmons, Hiro Hamada, and me-- hi, I'm Skye, if we haven't met before. We'll be rotating different shifts, so you might not see all of us, but one of us will be around.

[Kick off for the memory sharing plot! Again, you don't have to have commented to this post to participate. Feel free to assume your character went in and saw one of them, or if you aren't comfortable handwaving having met one of them off screen, you can always say a random faceless lab-tech saw to you instead! Feel free to comment in here if you feel your character would though, or if they have questions, and network threads can always transition to action threads if you feel like playing it out. Skye, Hiro and Jemma will be out and about in places. Peace out!]

Comments

[hackitude]

It shouldn't actually interfere with the reception or transfer of memories in any way, afaik?? I thought doing that was getting into territory with too many variables. Simpler is better and all that.

All it does is stop the brain from recognizing memories that aren't yours as yours. So you'd still be able to see a false memory, if you got one. You'd just know it was false.

[expatriates]

Then, you're right: win-win. Good work, Skye.

[hackitude]

[STAY COOL, SKYE.]

... Yeah. Thanks. It is pretty good, huh? Go team.

[NAILED IT.]

[expatriates]

So you work at StarkTech too then, right? Ever met the guy?

[hackitude]

Are you kidding? Someone around here has to deflate his ego on a bi-weekly basis to stop his head from growing too big to fit through the door, and isn't going to be Simmons.

[expatriates]

That'd be a no and a yes, then. I guess I don't have to ask what you make of him.

[hackitude]

NOPE. I am actually legitimately being paid here to make smart remarks at Tony Stark's face all day.

(Okay I lied that's not really in my job description.)

(But I get away with it anyway. BEST JOB EVER.)

[expatriates]

Made any progress with the excruciating narcissism?

[hackitude]

It's a work in progress.

I like to think I'm doing my part, though. Fighting the good fight, etc.

[expatriates]

"Rome wasn't built in a day."

Who's in the lab now? I've got some time to kill.

[hackitude]

Just us three. Stark's somewhere else. Wanna come in?

[dID THAT SOUND CASUAL ENOUGH?? DID IT? YEAH. IT TOTES DID. GO ME. I'M SMOOTH.]

[expatriates]

Unless you're all booked up for appointments.

[hackitude]

Nope. Not booked up. Totally free.

[please come]

[expatriates]

Then I'll be there soon.

[hackitude]

Sweet! See you soon!

[She says, and looks around the lab. Cheeseburger wrappers everywhere. It's been a rough few days.

Maybe she'll just clean up around the place really quickly.]

-> action?

[expatriates]

[ Despite her words, Nat doesn't make it over straightaway. Loose ends to tie up. But after a half hour or so, she shows up at the lab, dressed casually in jeans and a leather jacket.

Simmons, she'd recognize from the network, but Skye and Hiro are another story, so she lets herself get away with an automatic scan of the room, blinking quickly when the heads-up display that worked its way into her head when she came through the Porter starts actually scanning it. Literally.

Her blinking at least seems to interrupt it, but it does unsettle her in a way that presents only in a distant, distracted gaze rather than any real, obvious discomfort. ]

yes totes

[hackitude]

[Skye's back at her laptop doing more work when Natasha walks in, and she swings around in her swivel chair, eyes slightly wide and grinning.]

Hhhhey. Agent Romanov, right? Skye.

k hiro and simmons are free to hijack whenever if they feel so compelled

[expatriates]

[ She doesn't look like SHIELD. Doesn't carry herself like it, either. Then again, there are plenty of different levels, and every single one would still call her Agent Romanoff. Natasha's forehead creases a moment, thoughtful as she turns her attention on Skye, looking her over. ]

I prefer "Sir."

[ Her deadpan is hard to distinguish from her smirk, but it's there. She moves comfortably into the lab, approaching Skye's chair. ]

You're SHIELD? [ Or been talking to Simmons. The latter is obvious, so she opts to question the former. It's not as if she goes around advertising herself as agent. ]

[hackitude]

[Oh. She's snarky. Skye decides to like her immediately then and there just for that.]

Sort of. As much as someone can be, when it technically doesn't exist anymore. I mean, I only got my badge like the day before everything went to crap, so. [She shrugs.]

[expatriates]

Everything ends sometime. [ SHIELD, though, felt closer to her in a lot of ways than any of the other powers she's seen crumble. But that's for Fury. For Rogers. People who are still fighting. ] The brighter something burns, the faster it goes out. You get used to it.

[ Not a demand to toughen up, exactly, even if it can give that impression. This is Natasha's best effort at being comforting without being disingenuous. ]

Hiro mentioned an injection.

[hackitude]

Right. [She looks over to where Simmons is, and... well, Simmons is busy with someone else, so she looks back to Natasha.]

I can do it, if you're comfortable with that. I mean-- I don't have any fancy PhD's like Simmons does, but she drilled me pretty hard on how to give injections. You know. Useful... field knowledge... stuff.

[Jesus christ she must sound like an idiot.]

[expatriates]

[ wow none of this is remotely comforting or reassuring, skye. luckily, natasha isn't worried about the damage she can do with a single injection. ]

I'm sure you'll do fine.

[ Natasha slips off her jacket, setting it aside on a countertop and rolling up her t-shirt sleeve just in case. What she really means is 'yes, I'll be your guinea pig' because no one ever gets better without practice, but she's going for supportive here. Confidence does wonders. ]

Have many people been coming in to get the injections?

[hackitude]

Quite a few, actually. I gotta say, I'm feeling pretty good about it!

[FAMOUS LAST WORDS.

In any case, she preps a needle and Natasha's arm the way Simmons taught her to, trying not to think too hard about it. If she thinks about it, she'll get nervous. Just gotta focus on Natasha.]

[expatriates]

Has your team done any work to figure out what's been causing these memory problems to start with?

[ The anxiety is easy for Natasha to pick up on, so she sets about nonchalantly starting a conversation to distract her somewhat. Proceduralized actions tend to be less affected by stress. The less she overthinks what she's doing, the more smoothly it will go.

She settles against the countertop, holding her arm out patiently. ]

[hackitude]

Someone mentioned lightning strikes, but... I don't see how that can be possible. Unless they're like... magic lightning. People get hit by lightning all the time and don't wake up with new memories.

[Natasha's calm helps calm Skye too, and the injection is over before you know it. Surprise-- she's actually got a pretty steady hand.]

... There. All done. Lollipop?