The Mad Science Laboratory

Jinx sat on a stool on one side of his steel operating table and laid his arms across it as he watched the door. "No matter where I go....this is my home. No matter the good or the evil I do.....this is what I come back to." He slid his fingertips along the clean metal surface making streaks that slowly disappeared in front of him. "Now if only I had direction."

A nagging voice sounded from the computer behind him. "You reap what you sow, Syrus. Diccessension and mistrust do not make for building blocks one can use to make a future." It was the ever present computer program he had dubbed SCAR. "Shut up. Don't you think  I know what I've done. I made my bed and now I have to sleep in it...or burn it....I forget how the proverb goes. Either way....I need to decide what to do with my life. Perhaps I'll just open up this shop to everyone and install cybernetic upgrades to everyone that wants to do so. How does that sound?"

A low hum came from his computerized friend as SCAR thought over the option. "Do you think your past will allow for such neutrality?" Syrus thought as he stared at his palms. "Hard to say....I guess I won't know until I try."

Walks in flexing his wings.

Nice shop, seems like I've been here before.

Looks at his wings

OH yeah

Syrus sits up and laughs at his friend. "Good to see that the upgrade is working out for you. I had to relocate since the end of our last group. I felt it was best to move my shop out here to Tokyo. I prefer the scenery and I have a lot of connections out here, but listen to me prattle on." He says as he raises from his chair and moves to the cupboard. "Let me fix you something to drink. A cup of hot tea perhaps? The least I can do for a visiting friend." Jinx sets to making a pot of tea.

"Were you needing anything tweaked while you were here? A cybernetic arm perhaps or maybe a set of gills? Never know when a Hawk will need to catch fish." He laughed heartily as he watched the kettle boil.

I could go for some gills, be an amphibian :P

Watching as person after person entered he realized that business may take off much quicker than he thought. "Why yes Akira. I have dabbled in the flat-space tech, but I would warn you now that the cost of creating such technology is great both in money and in time." He pulled the kettle from the fire and poured the tea for himself and Hawk. "I would be more than happy to create such devices for you, that is if you would allow me to examine a bit of your current technology to add to my knowledge base."

Seeing Midnight, the man he had known since he first ventured to the west, Syrus smiled. "Of course it is you, dear friend. Come in and tell me of what I can do for you."

Syrus laughs as he notices Cham come out of nowhere....almost literally. "If that is what you wish, I can do it. All I need you to know is that there are no refunds on purchases made here. I am a one time offer type of salesman, but my work is of the highest caliber."

Walking to a jar on one of his shelves he pulls out a set of cybernetic gills floating in plasma. "Still interested?"

Sets the gills on the operating table and waves to NH, "Come in dear man. Goodness, goodness. The place has only been open for a few minutes and already so many customers. I wonder what would have happened had I advertised." He chuckles leaning on the table.

Looking back to NH he grins, "I know you need to have some work done from when we spoke earlier. What did you have in mind?"

Blows the steam off his tea, and make his way to the freezer.

I'm sure you hot tea is great my friend but, you know a southren boy likes it with ice.

Sits down on a nearby stoll, remembering J1NX cutting into his eyes.

You better think about carefully Cham!

Retrieves Akira's wristbands and places them into the deep recesses of his coat, out of sight of prying eyes. "Hmm.....he left before I could ask him about his comments from earlier. I wonder what he had planned for us. I'm sure he will have more to speak on it once I get all this business knocked out."

Begins tending to other customers. "Who will be next?"

He smiles and pours another cup of tea for the weary Midnight and sets it on the operating table. "Telekinesis...hmm....I have dabbled with the idea of a telekinetic surge emitter. I haven't tested it yet, but it is very simple to put together." He stirred his tea and sipped long from the china cup. "It is a lot like putting in a psychic shield, but in reverse. Instead of decreasing the delta brain emissions it increases them and focuses them." Syrus ponders as he looks into his cup before nodding assuredly. "Yes, I'm sure it would work....furthermore I know I could construct the device to do it. Mind you though it may take some tweaking. There is know telling what you may be able to do once it is in place. You may be able to push so hard the front of your skull pops off. While you are recovering from the surgery I would like you to remain in my care. Is that sufficient?"

Looking at the video running on the monitors Syrus smiled and sipped his tea. "It seems to me that you are in need of one of my special suits." He says with a stifled chuckle. "I have been building suits for quite some time...perhaps you should check my current catalog. If you find a model you like that I still have on file we can modify it to your liking." He sets his cup down and forms a pyramid of his fingers as he ponders.

"This is Syrus' favorite part of the job. You really have come to the right person for a powersuit." SCAR spoke from the speakers concealed around the room. "The only man that boast a larger collection is Tony Stark himself." A low grumble came from Syrus as he hurled a book at the computer. "Shut up you malodious virii! Stark only has more because of his head start." He breathed heavily still holding a heavy grudge with the famed Iron Man. "Besides his hunks of metal look more like rockets then the works of art that I create. My suits don't look like suits at all." He looks back at the Nighthunter and smiles wide. "Let me show you. SCAR initiate protocol 7-ECHO-November."

A melodic chime was heard and the wall to the side of the shop slid down, control by an unseen mechanism.  A set of large windows was in the walls place and from behind the glass came a buzzing noise as the lights of a great warehouse came flickering to life. A long cavernous workshop was beheld before them and hanging from racks upon racks were the thousands of suits he had created for his own personal uses. "This gentlemen...is my gallery."

Syrus quickly pushes the button under the operating table slamming the wall back into place. "Of course my good sir. I am always welcoming new business. A power source upgrade you say...I have just the thing." He walks to one of his numerous cabinets and produces a small iron box. "I have a replacement that should work just fine, but I require two things from you." Syrus held up his fingers in order as he counted. "First, I require payment up front which for a piece such as this it will cost ¥750k. Secondly, I require your old power source to perform the retrofit."

Syrus extends a hand to him. "Do we have a deal?"

Syrus quickly pushes the button under the operating table slamming the wall back into place. "Of course my good sir. I am always welcoming new business. A power source upgrade you say...I have just the thing." He walks to one of his numerous cabinets and produces a small iron box. "I have a replacement that should work just fine, but I require two things from you." Syrus held up his fingers in order as he counted. "First, I require payment up front which for a piece such as this it will cost ¥750k. Secondly, I require your old power source to perform the retrofit."

Syrus extends a hand to him. "Do we have a deal?"

Syrus winked slyly at Midnight. "I'm going to charge you for parts, but not for labor. The things I will need to get to make your upgrade will cost me some money, but normally it is the labor that I charge the most for." Jinx nudged him playfully. "But, since I have never actually done an operation such as this before, I will give you the benefit of being the first participant. Its like a prize for being my guinea pig. How does that sound?"

Grabbing the core in his hand he carried it past the group towards his safe room. "Do not disturb me while I work....that goes for all of you. I need to keep this operation completely clean and have no time to deal with interruptions." Looking back at Siphon he nodded. "If you get tired of waiting I have a lounge and a sauna downstairs or I can simply deliver the part to you once I am done and I will take the cost of delivery out of what you have already paid me. I will know your decision if you are still here or not once I return."

Ducking inside the dark room he seals the door behind him and prepares his tools. "Uranium...how unstable. Now hypercharged Xanthium...that is a power source. It is too fortunate for me that I own the universes  largest stock pile of the material. That's what happens when a meteor hits your house after colliding with a black hole." Syrus laughs as he works tirelessly in his specially built room. It was shielded from energy fluctuations, psychic probes, and most importantly....technopaths. Being one himself he knew what a technopath could do to his work if one got cocky enough to try anything. It was a precaution he was willing to deal with in order to work uninterrupted and away from prying eyes.

After tinkering and shaping for well over his originally stated 1 hour, Jinx was finished. He had molded a new case around the new power source and secured it in place with a bit of welding tack and a few hexagonal screws. "A fine work of art if I do say so myself. This should give him the power of a small sun and put his old battery to shame." A coat of polish and another coat of paint left it a menacing shade of chrome and black that gave off a faint orange glow.

"Syrus, you are approaching the 9 hour mark. I think it is time you returned the power source to its owner." SCAR stated politely.

"One final touch." Syrus said as he emblazoned the underside of the device with his emblem, the broken clover, and waxed it clean. "Now we are done. Send word to Siphon that his new power source is ready for him when he sees fit to pick it up. If he is unavailable I will deliver it to him personally. "At once, Syrus."

Leaving the workbench he exited to the main room of the shop and began to make ready for the day.

Nice place you got here...

Looks up to the doorway and issues a huge grin to his old friend. "Glad you like it. Come in, come in. No need to be a stranger in my home." Jinx moves to his tea cup sitting on the operating table. "Do you believe I converted the place from an old machine shop into this?" He chuckled lightly to himself. His motions were more fluid now, like a ripple in a pond, as he carried the cup to the sink and washed it out before preparing more tea. "I want to give a little back to the world I take part in. Maybe show off a few of my new designs as well." Dusting off a stool he pulls it up to the table and sits down. "I could use a hand around here though. Someone that is good with their hands."

He pushed the googles up on his forehead to look at Chris with his own eyes. "You know of anyone that may be interested?"

Smiling he looked down at the floor before looking back up to Chris. "I need some one I can trust. Someone I can share my methods and techniques with so that if, or more appropriately when, I am out of the shop customers can be dealt with. I could leave a robot in charge, but they are unreliable in the more human aspects of running a shop such as this."
 
Standing and pouring a new cup of tea, Syrus continued speaking as he walked methodically about the room. "I don't even need someone that can perform all of my operations, only someone with the knowledge of what we can do here and an ability to haggle. I am a businessman, among other things, but I am fair. I do know though that if a person with no technical knowledge tried to take on this position they would be lost."

He returned to his seat and sipped his tea. "I just need a compitent person that is able to understand a few things about the work I do here and make sure that people leave satisfied."

Sitting up, Syrus smiled wide at the cute little lady that walked through his door. "Never too busy for you, darlin'. What did ya bring me?" He pushed his tea cup to the side and pulled another stool to the operating table. "I swear I'd never get to eat if it weren't for folks like you keeping up with me Lexi, thanks." He saw her peeking from behind a stack of various technical manuals and issues of scientific america and laughed. "Careful dear, those things are a bit old. Almost antiques I would suppose, since the digital age has come about."

Leaning back in his chair he hummed a little to himself. "So, kitty kitty, is this just a friendly visit or are you needing a little work done? I do both bionic and cybernetic enhancements. I could even give you your own powersuit." He said the last bit in a sing song sort of tone.

"How about it?"

After eating he saw Siphon enter. "The unit is ready. I spent a few more hours than I expected on it. Sorry for the delay, but I guarantee it's worth it. The unit can now deliver 450% more power than your original unit. Do not attempt to tamper with its settings though. I calibrated it very carefully so it could give off optimum power without sacrificing size or durability. If I were to amp up the power levels any further though there is a chance that it would blow right  through you and everything else in a 10 block radius. It wouldn't be pretty."

Sliding the new unit across the table he smiled content with his work before looking back to Lexi. "If that is how you feel, then I will let you do as you wish, but I still think you would enjoy having my suit wrapped around you. I could custom fit it to your personal needs and there is no need for form fitting if that is your wish. Besides, that way I can keep an eye on you when you're out of my sight." He winks playfully at her and laughs. "I mean to get the whole team into my suits so I can monitor vital signs, give automated assistance, provide emergency care...the possibilities are endless." He sipped on his straw in vain hearing the slurpping sound from the bottom of his cup. "I want to put my mind to use in the best way possible. I thought that would be the perfect way."

Syrus did away with the trash on his work table and then grabbed his tools. He had another project at hand and knew that time was of the essence. Looking at the board on the wall with his current projects he sighed happily.

1. Midnight Lantern - Telekinetic Surge Emitter -Paid
2. Akira Overdrive - Flat Space Technology Upgrades - Unpaid/Collateral
3. Nighthunter - Powersuit Upgrades - Unpaid
4. Siphon - Power Source Upgrade - Paid
5. XXXXXX - Special Project - Collateral

"Enough work to make a good week or so." He pulled out the psionic shield that he had salvaged and rebuilt and began to break it down to its base parts. Speaking to himself as he worked from behind the amber lenses of his goggles he loosened screws and moved brackets. "A quarter turn right and then a dot of solder here....I reverse the polarity of the gravimetric field generator and isolate the phase inverter....now the psionc wave assembly should be able to conform to the device." He puttered and tugged and jostled until the pieces fell into place and it looked stable. It was as if he was putting together a pocket watch, he thought, as he slipped all of the harmonic brackets into place.

- 4 hours later -

"Finally, a working prototype. I hope that Midnight will be happy with the upgrade. I will have to schedule time with him later for the install. Now to other projects." 

Syrus lay unhappily sick in his bed watching Lexi fuss over him. The spider drones clung to the walls and worked tirelessly to aid their master in his attempts to recover from the virus he had picked up. To an outsider it may have appeared as though he had a terrifying infestation of cybernetic bugs, but in truth it was them that kept him stable. The original prototype for the spider drones lay beside Syrus, extending a saucer for his tea cup. Syrus had nick named him Alpha and painted a long black stripe down his back to denote him from the others.

"Lexi...I wouldn't dare fight you. Not over my own health." He lay still for a moment in the bed before sighing in mixed content and grief. "You don't need to fuss over me much. I'm a big boy....just a big sick boy this week. BEst be careful that you don't get hat I have though, Andy would kill me if I got you sick." He felt a tug on his shoulder as one of the spider drones pulled on his sleeve. He leaned over and the dear little mechanical darling had fixed his master a cup of tea. "Thank you my pet." He took the cup and sipped it as he looked at Lexi happily. "I'm glad you came.

Syrus set his tea cup down on the saucer and continued tirelessly watching the monitors from the spiders around his room, each one linking to a camera he had positioned somewhere outside in the world. "Alpha, my friend, I do believe that we have stumbled upon a fascinating turn of events you and I. I had originally created you and all your little brothers and sisters to help me monitor the world for trouble. Now I have found another use that I never imagined. With these constant streams of video from all over the globe I may be able to aquire even more knowledge that was previously left unrecorded." Alpha simply sat there and watched his master geture with his hands at the younger, newer models that clung to the walls about the room. "Imagine it....one source for all known information. Better than the internet....better than an encylopedia....it'll be amazing." Syrus smiled before coughing into his sleeve.

The dust had settled on every table and made no mention of all that had been here once before. The doors were barred and the windows boarded not a soul had ventured inside since the Master of Mecha had disappeared. The neon sign outside had fallen into disrepair and broken and all that knew of what this great place once was had now forgotten.

Until now...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

In the darkness of the shadows a faint light could be seen from inside the workshop. It flickered and danced as the doors began to creak. "The time has come my pets. Open your gates to me once more." A shadowy figure spoke quietly from beyond the door. With a burst of energy and the smell of melting metal the doors to the once proud home of the Mad Scientist known as Jinx lurched forward and open. Sanding there in the darkness was a larger version of the spider drones he was normally seen carrying and in its talons was a blow torch. "Alpha, my faithful pet. You have done well. I am glad to see you still function." The house cat sized mechanical spider rubbed lovingly against his master and moved back into the darkened room lighting candles with the torch. "Looking round Jinx let his night vision aid him as he searched for the emergency breaker. "Got it." he said pulling the breaker switch. Lights began to flash as the whole shop came alive with energy again. Alpha turned off the torch and set it on the table. "This place needs a new coat of paint, if you know what I mean Alpha. Consider this my return to the business. Let me know if anyone arrives while I'm unpacking." The little bot clanked an arm against its body as though saluting and moved to sit in front of the door and watch with its cyclopian eye for anyone incoming.

An old client walks towards the lab, a large grey wolf walks in front of him. The wolf's eyes serve as his master's who has been newly blinded. The wolf lets out a low growl as he sees the little bot.

Easy Smoke......we are at a friends.

Walking into the lab, Hawk is out of place a woodsman among all the clanking metal......

Jinx you here, I brought you some oil haha! He calls out teasing his old friend who he used to refer to as the tin man.

walks in wearing his tattered trench coat and a dark silk like mask over his face. His goggles glow a crimson red as he makes his way inside his new teammates facility.

slowly the feral warrior walks around looking at all the gadgets that lay around on high tables. little machines seemed to move throughout the shadows as if they were mice lurking about for food. as ronin made his way around his hand slowly crossed of metal and plastic. so much technology in one room.

fancy place you got here jinx my friend but may i ask wheres the beer?