taxonomites | | 007 | [ Visual ; Location: Frye Ranch ] - Desperate times call for desperate measures

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| 007 | [ Visual ; Location: Frye Ranch ] - Desperate times call for desperate measures

Tony is tinkering around in the workshop at Frye Ranch for what must be the millionth time. He's not doing anything of importance, not necessarily, but instead, is trying to divert his thoughts to something other than the continued string of failures he's been experiencing.

Also, he just likes to keep his hands busy, and poking around Kaylee's workshop is doing just that. Finally, after much rummaging around, Tony glances at the tablet lying on the table next to him. He figures he's put it off long enough, and so, he asks, "Hey. DG, are you busy? I need you to take a look at something for me. Now would be nice, but whenever you have time."

He pauses and stares again at the tablet, thinking of what else he wanted to say. Finally, it comes to him. "Oh yeah, and if anyone else can use magic to alter the properties of elemental compounds, I'll want to talk with you as well."

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"What sort of properties are you looking to alter?"

Tara feels she should be a little more proactive with her services, considering. And Tony Stark promises to be a better sort of conversation than her last one with the Master.

"I don't care if you're skeptical or not, but what I need is someone who can make an elemental compound that can sustain a person's life." Tony doesn't say whose life, because for the moment, that information is on a need-to-know basis. If Tara achieves something, then he'll let her in on what's going on.

"Glitch already has the compound made; it's just not working the way it should."

"Oh - I'm sorry." She doesn't sound like she disbelieves him, and she frowns.

"I... I don't know if I can help exactly the way you had in mind. But I'd like to try, if you're not opposed. I'd need to see the sick person, though."

She can't promise anything, but if she can look at the aura, she'll have a better idea of what she can and can't do.

It was a shot in the dark, asking others if they could help, but Tony remembers Glitch saying there were others like DG who might be useful. So he doesn't discount Tara just yet. "Right now, I'd try anything."

Even if she's not sure she can do anything, it's still worth a try. "You'd probably have to stop by Glitch's workshop, because he's the one who has the compound."

Now for the hard part. "The sick person's me. Finding me won't be hard; I'm at Kaylee's workshop." He sounds nonchalant as usual, of course, so unless Tara's listening really closely, she probably won't pick up on anything. Tony's just good at hiding things when he really wants to.

She nods; if she notices, she doesn't show. "Okay. I'll come see you first, if you don't mind - then I can take a look at the compound after I know a little more about what we're dealing with. When would you like me to stop by?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm not doing anything now if you feel like stopping by." Tony glances down at the table in front of him. "I'm just working on a few things, nothing important. See you when you get here."

Tara arrives about an hour later, with a bag of supplies over one shoulder. She left Andrew in charge of the shop, and it feels nice to get out, even if the reason is serious.

"Hello?" she calls, as she arrives.

When Tara walks in, Tony's still poking around the workbench, not really doing anything in particular except trying to stay busy. He stops what he's doing and turns around. "Hey. You're Tara, right?"

He sounds cheerful enough, in spite of everything. Having someone else to talk to is a welcome change, and so he smiles at her. "Come in then." He is fully aware that one of the first things she'll notice is the glowing light coming from under his shirt, but he's gotten so used to explaining about it that it doesn't bother him anymore.

What she'll find if she starts examining him is a different story, however. He decides not to draw attention to that until she asks.

Edited 2010-08-15 21:11 (UTC)

She gets a little, just from meeting him, but she has no doubt she'll get more if she concentrates. She smiles a little in return, and nods. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

"I can wait, if you need to finish anything up."

"That's okay. I was just killing time anyway." Tony holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you. So, do you want to start?"

Tony's suddenly reminded how much he hates doctors; Tara doesn't seem like a doctor-type, but still, he hates examinations and all the poking, prodding, and awkward questions that come along with it.

"It um... just needs a moment. If you'd like to sit... wherever is fine."

She might want to ask him some follow up questions, and him sitting will give her a moment to gather her focus.

"Yeah, okay." Tony pulls out the nearest chair and sits down on it, looking at other things in the room instead of at Tara, figuring that since she asked, she needs to concentrate.

No point in being a distraction. Not right now, anyway.

She takes a moment, and pulls his aura into a bit of sharper focus. It tells her quite a bit.

After a moment, she says, "I see. This element glitch made... it'll neutralize what's coming from that sort of core, right? It's not poison, exactly, but something similar."

While she's reading his aura, he watches her closely, trying to figure out what she's doing. It's something involving supernatural abilities, obviously, but beyond that, Tony's not 100% sure what she's doing.

What she says next makes it pretty clear that she's reading him somehow, and can see the palladium core. "Yeah. That's the plan, because the core that's supposed to be keeping me alive isn't working anymore. It's made from palladium, and apparently it's not meant to be put inside a human body." Those were impassioned, detached words but why waste emotion on this? It wasn't worth it. "The compound, though... It needs a kick to get it to work. That's why you're here."

If she could give the compound that kick, then great. Most of Tony's problems would be solved then.

"I think I see. It's a bit more... scientific than I'm used to, but it might be doable." She'd really like some help, though; a power boost, if nothing else. Her magic still wasn't at 100%, and it was a tricky proposition.

"Where did it come from, the core? Is it synthetic?"

"Well, it's up to you to decide if she'll be any help or not, but DG said she'd stop by to take a look." Again, he's not sure if any of this will make a difference, but he obviously wasn't getting anywhere on his own.

"It's synthetic in the sense that it's not natural like a fruit or vegetable is," Tony said finally. "It comes from the ground like those do, so I guess you could say it is if you wanted to. But the way it's produced is does involve some altering, so for simplicity's sake, yeah, it's synthetic."

As soon as she finished her conversation with Tony, DG locked up the workshop and jumped on to her bike. She sped through the streets at a ridiculously speed and, consequently, completed the journey in very little time. As far as she was concerned, speed limits were flexible. Besides, the streets of Taxon were always all but deserted.

“Tony?” she called, parking up outside the ranch and stepping on to the porch with her helmet under her arm and her hair tousled by the journey.

"We're in here, DG." Tara couldn't help smiling a little; having her friend to help couldn't help but increase her confidence. Tara'd always preferred doing magic with someone else anyway, and she had no doubt they'd be able to manage if it could be done.

"Hey, DG," Tony called back, glad that she'd finally shown up. It would definitely be nice to have a couple people lending their expertise to this, if they could. And if not, well, again, it was worth the effort. Better than not trying at all, Tony thought.

DG's own confidence increased when she returned Tara's smile. Her friend had been an invaluable source of help and encouragement during her magical growth. She had a lot of confidence in Tara's abilities and was sure that they'd be able to achieve things together that they wouldn't be able to achieve apart.

"Hi," she said, making her way inside and discarding helmet. "Are we ready to start?"

"If you are - I was just taking a look. Do you know anything about what Glitch did to make the element? That might help us focus, a little."

Tara goes into magical mode, but also doesn't want to let Tony feel took excluded.

"He's explained most of it."

And DG had, unfortunately, only understood a fraction of that. She'd left the O.Z before she'd been old enough to study their particular brand of science lessons. The chemistry lessons she'd attended in Kansas didn't help when it came to moratanium or enchanted emeralds.

"I wasn't there when Glitch made the element; I just saw it when he was done, so you'd be better off asking him."

Tony wished he had been there, because that would have been something to see, but then again, the creation of an element was fairly straightforward - making sure you had the right environment and equipment needed to make it. The real fun came once the element was done and ready to be used.

"So, anything else you'd like to know?" He wanted to get the ball rolling but that couldn't happen unless DG and Tara were fully informed and aware of everything that was going on.

"I can be there in a few minutes," she said with a wry smile, already reaching for her helmet. There were many good things about being self employed and the ability to choose your own hours definitely came at the top of the list. She'd always finish the work she needed to get done, but her poor time keeping had often got her into trouble back in Kansas. "Where are you?"

"Great. I'm at Kaylee's workshop now but since it's Glitch's project too, I should probably relocate there." He figures if DG is anywhere, she'd be at the workshop with Glitch, but if she is, that just makes things simpler.

"I've got my bike," she pointed out, "I'll get to wherever it's easiest for you to work."

The project might have been shared by a lot of people, but it was Tony's life and, in the end, the main decisions were his to make.

"Right." He reminds himself DG was just a kid, compared to- Wait. He's a kid too, in a lot of ways. Reckless living is what makes life fun and exciting, and he has no plans to stop any of it. He just has to figure out this little snag first. "Well, why don't you just head over to Kaylee's workshop when you have a moment."

He'd be there, and by then, that other girl he'd talked to probably would too. Why not just put all his eggs in one basket? That meant less complications and less waiting, and Tony hates complications and waiting. "See you soon."

DG might have been relatively young, but she'd grown up quickly. Particularly after finding herself in the O.Z and unlocking certain hidden aspects of her past. If she committed to something, she'd stop at nothing to see it through. She didn't have any problems with responsibility.

"See you soon," she echoed, heading out of the workshop and on to her bike.

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| 007 | [ Visual ; Location: Frye Ranch ] - Desperate times call for desperate measures

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