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DAYCYCLE 5 [ NOV 16-20 ]

DAYCYCLE 5

[ NOV 16-20 ]

MORNING

You wake to yet another exciting day in Alpha Complex at 0600, but you may immediately sense that something is off. Your mind is muddled and it takes you a moment to remember where and who you are. But even that is uncertain, because if you think hard enough, you can remember people calling you other names. In fact, you can remember a singular, life changing memory that makes no sense when you compare it to all of the others that you possess…

Heads are going to roll at the MemoMax facility. Apparently, last night instead of downloading memories, someone hit the upload switch instead. Each Alpha Complex citizen now possesses life changing memories from another citizen’s life. This doesn’t make much difference for the majority of Alpha’s citizens, but makes a big difference for the Specials who possess the glitch that left them with past memories. Enjoy this window into a stranger’s life while you can, by midnight tonight the MemoMax facility will be under new management and memories will be restored to normal.

Ray Palmer and Alec Hardison are pulled from the morning briefing for interrogation regarding Maria Hill and her recent actions. Hardison is released after a brief session, but Ray is subjected to almost an hour of questioning due to him being the common link between recently convicted traitor Abbie Mills and Maria Hill.

No missions are issued to any of the specials today.

All other Troubleshooters: You are to report to your Service Firm positions for the day, until called on for Troubleshooter duty.

AFTERNOON

There is an R&D Synovation conference today beginning at noon. R&D Project Directors host these conferences so researchers can share ideas and show off their latest triumphs. However, because R&D researchers tend to be highly secretive about their work, many present bogus projects and inaccurate data, to throw off their jealous rivals. All citizens at a clearance level of RED or higher are invited to attend.

EVENING

There will be a TopWare party in the Troubleshooter’s common room at approximately 1800. Come see the wonders of TopWare and all it’s capable of! Bring your ME cards.

Sleep aid gas is expelled into the sleeping quarters at 2100.

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"No, no it's my fault. Really." Guy built like him? Should really keep a better eye out. Not that Ray's bulky enough to cause much damage -- hell, not like he's got much idea how, either.

So it's an apology that comes out immediately and though it's practiced, the way Ray slows down and takes stock is borne of real concern. His hands flit about before clasping in front of him, some weird urge to steady Lydia by the shoulders squelched with minimal effort.

"Oh-- you're new, right? Well, new-ish. Technically we're all new it's just there's been a lot of-- uh, turnover lately." As one of only three women among the specials, now? Unfortunately Lydia stands out a bit. He holds his hand out to her, accompanied with a smile to hopefully glaze over the fact that two of his friends have now been carted off for treason. Were Ray a bit more discerning he might start to worry about his reputation. Or that he's cursed somehow.

"Lydia, isn't it? I'm Ray. Ray Palmer. I'm sorry I didn't get to introduce myself earlier."

Edited (my bad sry sry nat was still here at this point oops!) 2015-11-23 16:06 (UTC)

Lydia shakes her head and looks graciously apologetic. "Call it a draw?" she offers, because she hadn't been looking at all, so she know she ought to shoulder at least some of the blame.

She looks curiously at his somewhat awkward gesticulations, but doesn't call them out. It hadn't really occurred to her that she was that much in the minority of the specials, but he seems to know who she is already, so she must be. To her, the group are largely a sea of faces and she'd failed to take notice of men versus women in the numbers because she doesn't really think it matters much. Apparently, others notice these things. "Oh, uh...yeah, sort of." She teeters on continuing before pressing her lips together to stop herself. Just because Barry agreed with her doesn't mean that everyone will and the last thing she wants is to end up back in that stupid orientation again. "I know what you mean, yeah, I'm newish," she clarifies with a smile, shaking his hand.

"Lydia, yeah," she agrees. "Nice to meet you, Ray."

Heroes do that, Ray.

Her eyes narrow slightly and her face scrunches as she shakes her head as if to push the dream away. That's...weird, to make that sort of connection. She was the person in the dream, so there's no way of knowing whether his name is coincidental or maybe the name in the dream was. Maybe they'd met before and neither of them remember because there are so many people in this place, Specials or not. "No, that's okay, sorry, I feel like that name is familiar, maybe we met in passing a couple of days ago or something and it was in passing or something." She pauses and murmurs mostly to herself, eyebrows arched with incredulity. "Or maybe this place is just driving me insane."

Ray does tend to be overly friendly. He can see the possibility that Lydia overheard his name, but his ego is too large to let him think he'd forget her. He nods; a draw is totally acceptable.

"Well, I was on my way out, to find somewhere less ... stepford candle party-ish?" Why does Ray Palmer know about Tupperware parties? Who knows. But soon enough the party will wind down and it'll be creepy gas time.

Something about Lydia makes him want to stick by her. Or-- confide in her? That settling feeling combined with his cluelessness when it comes to his sometimes-overbearing nature makes up his mind.

"You know I wouldn't mind some company, actually. The way the others look at us sometimes I feel like we should have a Specials buddy system." The invitation comes with a bright smile he can't quite shake. Though warm and genuine, charisma for Ray tends to fall on the side of extremely business-like, unfortunately.

Lydia lifted her chin and then started to nod. Yeah, there was nothing all that appealing about the idea of a candle party, it just beat the hell out of hanging out with her roommates she barely talked to. "That sounds like an infinitely better idea than heading to the stepford candle party for lack of other options," she replied with a small smile.

She doesn't know what it is about Ray — maybe just that random connection she'd made in her head to what felt more like a dream than a memory and his name — but she decides sticking with him for now would be a better idea than anything else she could be doing to kill time before the gas knocked her out for the night.

Ray says something about a buddy system and Lydia's stomach tumbles uncomfortably as she looks down, thinking of the failed mission with Barry and how, if they'd been alone, things might not have turned out quite as well for them as they had. "Yeah...tell me about it," she agrees, pressing her lips together and then looking up at him again. "What did you have in mind?" she asks and, okay, maybe it's a little bit flirtatious, but how can she not be? Look at the guy, for Christ's sake.

Well that sure isn't a smile you can ignore. Ray's answering one turns mischievous, as he pretends to think for a moment.

"It might be kind of boring." At first, he'd been mainly concerned with piecing together all this disparate information running through his head. The contradictions had prolonged the disorientation he'd felt when he woke up on that cold table. And the more he tried to understand what was happening to them all, the worse it got.

But there are some things he's good at. "But equally potentially dangerous, which sounds contradictory, I know. Can you keep a secret?"

Lydia lifts her eyebrows. She can do boring. Boring is typically safe. But then he continues and completely contradicts her line of thought. Lydia looks curious; intrigued.

"Oh, honey...I have secrets to put a confessional booth to shame," she replies. If, that is, her "glitches" are accurate to memories. "I'm listening," she adds, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

That makes him laugh, warm and louder than he'd intended. Honey indeed.

"Well, uh--" He pauses, eyes darting around for any listening ears, before bending a little closer and speaking a little lower. (A ha, Ray Palmer does have some semblance of self-preservation after all!) "I shouldn't say it aloud. But I can show you. Back in my room, since it's probably empty right now."

He's ... still working on that whole inadvertent innuendo habit.

Well, if that's not an invitation, then Lydia's not really sure what is and she's not even sure she can remember the last time she got invited back to someone's room. Certainly before whatever this place is, that goes without saying. She grins mischievously.

"Okay, lead on then," she says easily, brushing a piece of hair from out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

She's not exactly used to not being wanted; her mind goes there because it seems obvious enough to her where he's going with this whole thing. And again...look at the guy. Seeing whatever he wants to "show" her in his room sounds infinitely better than some creepy stepford party, anyway.

Edited (tab + space :( I wasn't done yet, dammit. lol) 2015-12-21 21:54 (UTC)

The gesture makes him pause before leading the way back to his quarters. A minuscule moment that conjures that gut feeling again, takes him back to his dreams from the previous night and seems to string gossamer between the two of them.

But it's a short way back to the RED residency, and before long they're approaching the door. Fortunately he'd been trained by a particular blonde with legs much shorter than his own about the merits of making sure you don't leave your partner three hallways behind.

"Oh-- it's not very big, by the way-- but it's intricate!" He pauses at the door, and then swings it open to allow Lydia entry at her will. "And I did say it could be boring. It depends on your interests, I guess. Fair warning and all."

Edited (i hit submit and thought ... 'oh i can make that much worse' ;)) 2015-12-21 22:05 (UTC)

Lydia's right behind him all the way. She's always the one who needed saving back home, so she's learned at the very least to keep up. Between his awareness of his strides and Lydia's unwillingness to be left behind, there manages to be little space between them by the time he reaches the door.

The comment catches her a little off guard and the fact that she's thrown off a little is evident on her expression, but she regains her composure quickly. "Well, that's awfully honest of you..." she thinks aloud before giving a shrug. She'll take what she can get and if there's one thing that's always been proven to help Lydia clear her head and be more zen, it's sex. Are you really sure you want to know what the hell he means by intricate in this context, Lyds? she thinks to herself for a split second before dismissing it.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," she says smugly before letting herself into the room when he opens the door.

"Oh. Oh my god. No I meant--"

He's doing the awkward unintentional innuendo thing again and Felicity isn't here to fix it. Whoops.

"Hang on." Ray rushes past Lydia then, a flurry of too-long limbs fueled by the desire to exit this awful misunderstanding as quickly as possible. He squats at his bedside, knees angling out away from himself as he drags out what looks like just a rusty metal container, no bigger than a shoebox.

Once it's clear, he stands, lifting it with ease by the handles at the sides.

"This is what I was talking about." One hand moving to support the container from below, Ray pulls the top off to reveal dismantled electronics and wiring. If Lydia has ever seen anything like it before, she'll recognize the bomb parts as such.

Oh. ...so...this is not going to end in sex. Lydia looks a little disappointed and feels a little more disappointed, but she watches him pulling a metal container out from under his bed and wonders what the actual hell he actually did mean.

He lifts the lid and Lydia moves closer to look inside. It takes her a second, because at first all she sees is the forest — wires, metal, and plastic — and then she sees the trees — electronics, their wiring...and the light bulb moment — and Lydia's eyes dart back up to meet Ray's face.

"Is this...what I think it is? Or, more accurately, was?"

Ray looks way too excited given that there is no sex being had at this moment. Unfortunately he's ... not always the most observant of people, and with his focus trained on the pieces in the box he completely misses the billboard before him. Way to go, bud.

"A bomb, yeah! Well-- parts of one. I had to hand in as much as I could, but there was some advanced circuitry I wanted to take a look at." Because who wouldn't, right? That's a totally normal thing to want to do, examine a cyberpunk bomb. Yep.

"It was piecemealed together, I think. The guy we took it off of probably scrapped parts for awhile before finally getting enough to make it."

Ray, you sweet summer child. Her disappointment shifts into discomfort. Lydia's lips press together as she listens to him while looking down at the parts and clasping her hands together behind her back to quell the urge to touch the thing.

"We?" she asks curiously rather than accusatory, eyes shifting back up to Ray's face. "Where'd you get it? I mean...you know?"

At least that shift in Lydia's mood is clear enough to get Ray's attention. He watches her, that spark flaring between them again in some deja-vu-eqsue tug in his gut.

"Oh-- it's from the hostage situation another Troubleshooter and I handled a few days ago. I turned in the explodey-parts, really. I just..."

He sighs, putting the box to the side and wringing his hands for a moment. "If I can learn more about the technology in this place, maybe I can stop feeling helpless."

Ray looks back up at Lydia, curious and almost suspicious. The screaming, the feeling of imminent loss shadows his subconscious. "And I just got the feeling you know something about that."

Tucking her hair behind her ears, Lydia looks back at him as he explains and she nods. The other Troubleshooter — we — got it from a mission — where. Lydia doesn't really have any reason not to believe him and, while she's no bomb expert, she doesn't really see any kind of detonator or sealed chemical containment unit in the pile of rubble he's found, so it's not like she thinks it's still active.

He says he wants to feel less helpless and Lydia knows that feeling. All too well. She doesn't realize that he's said that on purpose, though, until he continues. Lydia looks up sharply, a plethora of emotions swimming in her eyes: the sense of loss because she hadn't been able to help Allison and then she'd lost her; worry, suspicion, the helplessness that's still hungover from the mission yesterday with Barry. The memory that didn't belong to her at all... "Something like that..." she admits softly, a ghost of a smile trying to tug at the corners of her mouth and managing still to fall short of her eyes.

Ray smiles back, and reaches over to squeeze Lydia's shoulder -- a brief acknowledgement that she's trying. That he understands completely.

"You know," he starts, voice quietly amused. "I don't know why but even though I knew your name was Lydia, I wanted to call you Allison. Isn't that weird? I mean, I don't know any Allison's but it just seemed to... stick to you."

That's totally the best way to distract Lydia from all of this crazy, right? Cause Ray totally has the best luck ever.

If Ray is going for a more genuine smile, he's gone far in the wrong direction. Lydia's breath hitches and the color drains from her face as her eyes widen and she looks up at him. One of her feet moves as if to take a step back while the rest of her body fights it because she knows he's not a threat and, really, how could he know?

"That was my best friend's name," she tells him, attempting to regain her composure and recover. At least, she's trying to look the part. "She died," she adds, as if to explain her reaction.

Edited 2016-02-18 15:55 (UTC)

"I'm sorry." That kind of pain isn't something anyone should have to go through. It changes people, carves them out. Leaves a person-shaped hole behind that never quite fills back in. No matter how hard you try.

"I lost my fiance." He says it quietly, and not that he owes it to Lydia, but-- sometimes just knowing another person has been there helps. Like it dispels some of the resentment and guilt. You become a member of a really depressing club instead of just a single person, left alone.

When Lydia had been little, her maternal grandmother died in Eichen House. They'd been really close, but Lydia was so young that she doesn't really remember it.

Jackson died, once, but he'd come back. It hadn't stuck.

It isn't like Lydia didn't know loss, but losing Allison had been different. She'd felt Allison's lifeline being severed. She'd felt that sword in her gut and she'd known. She'd just known.

Beyond the loss of her best friend, which Lydia wouldn't ever wish on anyone, having to feel something she didn't understand, something on a higher plane that connected her to it and made no sense to her, all the same, that felt worse, she thought. It felt worse because she still didn't understand it and one couldn't ever move on from something if they couldn't accept it...but how could she accept it if she didn't understand it?

Lydia's hand found Ray's and she gave it a little squeeze. Heroes do that, Ray. She sucked in a sharp breath and pressed her lips together. She didn't understand that vision, either, and she didn't want to. It wasn't hers to understand; she knew that much. "I'm sorry."

One corner of Ray's mouth turns up-- not the kind of smile that's full of joy and unironic enthusiasm for life, but real all the same in its subtlety. The kind of smile people like them use to connect to each other, that says: it gets better, but it never goes away.

"I haven't even been here a week, and this is the first time I actually feel like I'm having a real conversation with someone. Thank you, Lydia. Really." To suddenly feel human and real again? Ray is pretty sure that is a priceless gift. And something he'll never forget.

Lydia met Ray's weak smile with an attempt of her own. "I just got here, but the same thing is true," she said. "Yesterday was my first day and they sent me out on a mission and..." she paused, trailing off slightly.

They'd let her out of containment and sent her off on a mission with Barry wherein they'd been carjacked and she'd almost had to shoot someone to keep them both alive — not something she'd ever thought she would have to do and certainly nothing she would have ever wanted to do.

"Well. It's different having a real conversation than congratulating one another on surviving something terrifying. So thank you, Ray." In retrospect, that was probably the moment when Lydia decided Ray was going to be stuck with her as long as she was here.

He nods back, glad for a mutual connection. It would be awkward were Lydia to just be fulfilling something he hadn't realized he'd needed. This is nice.

"You know, you might be my first new friend. If it wasn't lights-out soon, I'd say we should celebrate." His smile comes back in full force. It's nearly painful, how genuine Ray is. All of his emotions sit on his sleeve on display for the world to see.

Technically, lights out should be the commencement of celebrating, sweetie, she thinks, but holds her tongue because he didn't bring her to his room for sex and she's certainly not going to be the one to proactively offer it up as a possibility now, especially after a heartfelt conversation like that one. She shuts the thought down.

"You too," she says, because she's not entirely sure that Barry counts, all things considered. She does know that this feels like a first friendship in this place, though, and if it walks like a duck... "Maybe tomorrow, hmm, sweetie?" she asks with a smile.

"I'd like that." This is a pretty good end to a pretty crazy day-- well, several crazy days. He nods and moves to tuck the box away back underneath his sleeping area. His PDC dings a warning.

"Oh-- five minutes to sleeping gas. You might want to head back to your room."

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sanguinescry - 2016-02-24 18:16 (UTC) - Expand

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