clockwork_doc | OOC/MuseVerse: Inkwell Party!

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Current Location: Inkwell Bar and Grill

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OOC/MuseVerse: Inkwell Party!

When he's not roleplaying in the Rift or the Nexus, the Doc Brown known as "Clockwork" lives in the Inkwell Bar and Grill, the local restaurant and hangout for his mun Victoria's muses. Clockwork also happens to own the place, so it's very easy for him to conscript it for his birthday. Anyone entering today will find that the bar has a wide selection of various cakes on it for people to sample, along with freezers full of ice cream. Clockwork himself is seated at the bar with a slice of chocolate cake, smiling at anyone who comes in.

Anybody's welcome to drop by, either just to say "hi" or to grab some cake. (One warning -- you might want to avoid the cake on the far left of the bar. Mrs. Plum made that one, and being a dead cook from "Corpse Bride" prone to putting body parts in her meals. . . .)

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"It's really hard to work out a nickname for 'Rue', though. It's kind of already short. And it's already a nickname for one of them. He doesn't have a name."

It proves to be a Leatherman. Metody got the electrician's edition.

"Hmmmm. A tricky problem indeed," Clockwork says, repressing a small shudder at the idea of not having a name. He shrugs, not sure what else he can say.

Yay, multitool! Clockwork beams. "Oh, thank you! This is great!" He happily fiddles with the various attachments. Yay technology!

"And also - carrot and chocolate cake. But, even better - "

And in hurtles Metody. Again. It would take a sharp eye or a basic knowledge of human clothing to guess that this one is female. The dress is a handy hint, though. She offers over a generic plastic tub of icecream. "Thunderstorm icecream! I have no idea."

Two happy grins. Behind them, Rue comes limping in, heavy cane thumping, breath rasping. He leans against the wall in his perpetual bad mood. There are a few more Metodys, all tiny, pale, dark haired and bright eyed, and lurking among them is the mun as well, redhaired and purple coated.

"Wonderful!" Clockwork takes the cake and adds them to the bar for sampling. Mmmmm.

And -- hello, Female!Metody. She gets blinked at a bit before Clockwork takes the ice cream. "Er, thank you," he says, shaking his head a little. Sorry, he's just a little stunned. He'll get over it soon enough. "Never heard of thunderstorm ice cream before." He looks curiously at the stuff.

Clockwork recognizes Rue and nods to him in greeting. Then there's all the Metodys plus the mun. Clockwork gives her an amused grin. "Seems like everyone I meet collects different versions of a certain character." Victoria's got her Doc's, Marie's got her Farleys. . . .

"This is my sibling Duva. We also have a sister, but she can't really leave home." Not that anyone would want her to. Metody beams, squeezing Duva. "Technically, we're the same person, even in canon, but that gets a bit metaphysical."

Both Duva and Metody bounce on their toes, looking thrilled. "It's from the bar in the Nexus! They've got concept-flavored icecreams instead of normal flavors. How cool is that?" That one is Duva, but you'd never know it unless you were watching them speak. They quite literally have the same voice.

Rue wearily nods, looking a touch put upon by all the Metadoids around him.

The mun looks a little sheepish. "I like to really explore the heck out of a theme. What really makes it awful is that they're all the same person, even in canon. Even Rue."

Who is just thrilled about this. Really.

Clockwork smirks at that. "I see. Nice to meet you, Duva." He offers a hand to shake.

"Oh, I see!" Clockwork looks curiously at it. "That is neat. Wonder what it tastes like."

HatterDoc, sitting nearby, overhears and promptly goes over with a spoon, looking curious. He politely tips his hat to the Metodys, Duva, and Rue before sampling the ice cream. He swishes it in his mouth a little. "Mmmm. Kind of tingly," he comments, taking another bite.

Clockwork looks at Rue, a little surprised. "Really? Huh." He smirks a bit. "My mun just really loves BTTF and crossovers." He motions at HatterDoc. "For example, after she discovered the joys of 'Alice In Wonderland. . . .'"

"I suppose it helps Christopher Lloyd played a part in one of the productions," HatterDoc adds. "Though it wasn't me, it was the White Knight."

"Likewise!" She cheerfully shakes. If you look close enough, there's a more female cast to her face and bone structure, but it's subtle. Very subtle. More notably, she smells like blood instead of bone.

HatterDoc gets the full focus of half a dozen identical, fascinated looks for a moment. All the Metodies tend to move as a unit.

"Well. It probably helps that you generally kick butt as a character, Doc." This one is Metody. All the others are quietly swarming the sweets. "Mad Scientists in general are awesome, and then that movie - so neat! If you ever need an assistant, I know how to use a welding gun." And another hug, on general principles.

Clockwork sorta-kinda sees the femaleness of Duva -- it's more evident in the dress. Still, given he's friends with a pure asexual back in the Rift, this sort of thing isn't TOO strange.

HatterDoc grins at everybody, then whistles. A many-legged, spidery teapot hops off the table and jogs over. "Tea, anyone?" he offers, as is his wont. Many Metodiods moving in sync barely phases him. He's Wonderlandian, after all.

Hey, the sweets are there to be swarmed. Clockwork blushes a little, steam hissing out from under his coat. "Thanks, Metody," he says, hugging back. "I'd be happy to have you." He grins. "Of course, if you think Mad Scientists are awesome, you should really meet TeenDoc." He points out the 17-year-old version of himself, currently automating a pool cue with lots and lots of gears.

And that's why she wears the dress. A pity they weren't around when Twiggy was in style.

"Oh, cute!" There is a stampede to the teapot. At least it's easy to see over them?

"Oh, awesome. I've always wanted to be a mad scientist's assistant. There's just something so cool about the whole mileau."

There's a TeenDoc? There's a TeenMetody! Or a Metodi, because this one is female as well. She looks like she aimed for goth and meandered into cloud princess along the way. She's wearing a pale blue tulle skirt and a white lace peasent blouse. There's a massive silver studded belt slung over her hips and a matching collar on her neck. Her hair is dyed silvery shades of blue and purple, and she's wearing an impressive amount of glittering opalescent eyeshadow.

God help TeenDoc. Hopefully he's not from the sixties. She bounds over.

"Hi!"

Indeed.

Said teapot is named Bernie and is pretty friendly. He toots a few times, investigating each Metody in turn. If any of them want tea, he's their teapot. HatterDoc grins. "Isn't he though? Made him myself."

Clockwork grins, looking very mad. "I know. The drive to invent, to create -- it's amazing." Mad Science is really in Doc's blood. "I'm sure at least one of my projects will find its way into the Nexus. I actually finished my flux capacitor model today." He's quite proud of that.

No, it's worse -- TeenDoc's actually Victorian. He's one of the Girl Genius universe Sparks. Sorta like Arabella from the Nexus. "Oh, hey," he starts, then stops to stare for a moment. "There," he finally finishes. Congratulations, Metodi, you've managed to surprise him.

Once it becomes clear that he can dispense tea, they all want some. There is a happy clustering and a profusion of teacups and sugarcubes. They've got no sense of personal space when it comes to each other.

The mad look gets a giggle from OriginalCrispyMetody. He's used to Bella, Doc. You don't get to be scary until you're holding a big gun and ranting about it needing to be bigger and more lightning and boom. "Science - especially when it comes capitalized and has it's own inclusive exclamation point - is just about the greatest thing ever. Er. What does a flux capacitor do?"

It could have been much, much worse. The skirt has enough layers that it isn't transparent and the blouse covers as much as the average camisole. And at least she's not wearing, say, latex pants.

"I'm Metodi. What are you making?"

And Bernie is happy to dispense. HatterDoc is in his element here, and loving it. :D

Fair enough. Though with his weather powers, Clockwork could summon up convienent lightning if he wanted. That's gotta count for something. "I know! It's wonderful! Changing the world, reshaping it to our whims. . . ." Then Metody asks that. "Oh, it's for time travel! It's designed to store temporal energy and release it once a certain threshold has been achieved. You mount it inside the appropriate vehicle. . . ." And there he goes, babbling on about temporal physics stuff the narration has NO chance of keeping up with.

This is true. TeenDoc gets over his surprise and smiles. "I'm TeenDoc -- Emmett -- either one. I'm trying to make an automated pool cue for precision aiming." He shows her the conglomeration of gears and levers he's set up. TeenDoc does nothing by halves.

"Was he hard to make? He's so neat!" This is from one of the swarm of tea seeking Metodoids, directed at Hatter in tones of happy admiration.

Metody grins. "Taking a raw world and making it better suit people's needs. Improving things and making them more efficient. It's kind of poetic. And it really makes me wish I'd gone into a different field, sometimes." Oh, wistfulness. "...oh, wow. How do you avoid temporal paradox?"

"It's very nice to meet you." She smiles and studies the pool cue. "I'm also called Ruth, even though the 'Ru' prefix has been co-opted for the night. How does it work..?"

She doesn't even bothering asking the point. Science! is a point in and of itself.

"Not too hard, I have a talent for this sort of thing," HatterDoc says proudly. Bernie toots and hops up and down.

"Exactly," Clockwork agrees. Then he frowns a little at Metody's wistfulness. "Not that there's anything wrong with geology. You do what you like to do. You're working with the rawest materials Mother Nature makes, anyway." Then Metody asks about temporal paradox. "Ahh, that can be tricky. One of the important things to remember is to try and avoid yourself. Seeing yourself older or younger without proper preparation tends to lead to shock." He looks around at the Metodys and Docs. "Less of a danger for us, I suspect, but even so."

"Nice to meet you too," TeenDoc says with a nod. And he's only too happy to explain how it works. "Well, this here lines up the cue with the ball, and this crank rotates the cue. . . ."

"He's got a personality," one marvels. There is a ripple of agreement. Personality is important.

Metody smiles. "Oh, I know. But you tend not to make cool things with the actual geology part. There's stuff that you make to look at the geology, but that's all observational. Sometimes I wish I was a participant." He looks over at their mutual hordes and laughs. "Yes, I guess it is less of a danger for us!"

Metodi/Ruth listens attentively, eyes tracking from part to part as the explaining goes on. At the end of it she hazards, "So it's designed for very delicate, precise adjustments in angle and movement, turning the game into one of pure wits instead of wits and physical ability?"

"Of course he has a personality!" HatterDoc says, waving his arms a bit. "You can't make things like these and not give them personalities! It's -- it's unWonderlandian!" Bernie nods his agreement.

"I see," Clockwork says. "Still, I'm sure there's plenty of interesting things to be found in the field. I don't know much about it myself, but a couple of things have caught my eye. Pumice has always amused me a bit." Rocks that float are cool. He chuckles. "Indeed. Still, best to avoid younger or older selves. You never know what you might change."

TeenDoc nods, grinning widely. "Precisely!" He makes a final adjustment. "There, that should do it. Let's see how it does in the field!" He shoos everyone away from the pool table, loads the cue into the device, then lines up a shot. "Prepare to be amazed!" he says, pulling the lever with a dramatic flair.

The pool cue promptly rockets through the window. TeenDoc stares after it as Clockwork facepalms. "Okay, I've got to adjust that rubber band a smidge."

"But...where does it come from? Is it something you add, or is it an innate part?" The topic is always one of keen interest to the MetodySwarm.

"Oh, man, you have no idea. There's these clever little compass-level things that you use to describe the way the rock is tilted across three dimensions, and all kinds of awesome charts to plot stuff on to tell you where stress or water or whatever is coming from. Still..." He trails off, then grins. "Though I suppose it's probably good that no one's invented a magma machine or earthquake inducer. That I know of."

Metodi has seen enough first uses of strange new devices to know to back up quite a bit. Really, experience has taught her that the safest place to stand is usually directly in front of or on top of whatever the machine is supposed to do, but no one ever accepts such comments with good grace. She jumps half a foot at the rocketing. The crowd of tiny people erupts with "My heavens!" "Gracious!" "Goodness!" "Oh, gosh!" "Gee whiz!" and the more simple, "Oh!"

Off in the back, Rue mutters, "Hell."

HatterDoc opens his mouth to speak -- then closes it again, looking puzzled. "Hmm. I'm not sure. Most everything I make seems to have some personality. I don't know if I add it in or if it just happens." He looks over at TeenDoc. "You're the one who make clanks most often, what do you think?

"I'd vote innate," TeenDoc says, adjusting his pool cue device again. "I wasn't thinking of personality when I made Spinbot, and look how he turned out." He looks, rather embarrassed, at the crowd of Metodys (and Metodis). "Sorry if I scared any of you. It's just hard to get all this right on the first try."

Clockwork grins at his Metody as he talks. "Sounds fascinating." He looks thoughtful. "You might be able to use an earthquake inducer for informational purposes, but I imagine it would be difficult to find a clear enough area to test it. Don't want to disrupt the lives of millions of people like that."

"I wonder when it comes in. There must be a before and after point." They all study the teapot, delighted with the thing. One offers it a hand to sniff, just in case it does that.

"Its fine." This is from Cloudprincess Gothbarbie Metodi. "We're all just a little jumpy, is all."

OriginalCrispy Metody grins. "I think it'd be a bit dangerous to try out. All the continental plates press up against each other - nudge one and stress build on the others. Besides, a strong enough earthquake rings the world like a bell."

Bernie doesn't really sniff, but he does gently nudge the hand. HatterDoc and TeenDoc both look thoughtful. "I'm not sure," TeenDoc admits. "It just seems to -- happen, honestly."

HatterDoc shrugs. "Perhaps there's potential in everything to have a personality, and something occasionally randomly unlocks it?" He takes off his hat and studies it for a moment. "Perhaps my hat has a personality from being worn on my head so much?" That would be a pretty smart hat.

TeenDoc smiles reassuringly. "I see. I'm just glad it didn't hit any of you." He pokes his invention with a screwdriver. "Why can none of them work on the first try?"

Clockwork nods, frowning. "Good point. You could end up doing more damage in the long term than you thought, even if you performed the experiment far away from any people." He grimaces a little. "And ethics with science are extremely important, otherwise. . . ." He trails off, not wanting to bring up old bad memories.

"There's a Japanese idea that a thing has a kind of innate personality after it's been around long enough. Sort of like it wears off of people using and caring for it. I wish I could remember the word for it."

Metodi grins at TeenDoc. "It seems like an excellent way to aim a spear with pinpoint accuracy, if you kept it so tight. And maybe you just need practice at making it? Nothing I make comes out right the first time."

Metody nods. "The trouble is that we've only got one planet. It's a bit hard to justify large scale experiments - and geological phenomena tend to be so wide in human scope that poking at them can cause a stupid amount of trouble for people. I kind of envy biologists, actually. Their experiments can fit in a room."

"Sounds about right," HatterDoc says, replacing his hat on his head. "Perhaps we all bleed off bits of personality for others to pick up." He pats Bernie on the lid.

"That's true," TeenDoc says with a small smile. "Though I've never been a fan of violent uses for my science." Lies, to a degree -- he's usually nonviolent, but he does like making rayguns. "And yes, that's usually the way. Practice makes perfect and all that." He frowns, like he doesn't quite approve. Then again, he is a Spark.

Clockwork nods back. "Yes, I would think it would be a lot easier if you could somehow isolate a bit of earth and perform any experiments you wanted without fear of ruining things." He thinks. "Like a little flying island free of people or wildlife. Of course, that could effect air currents negatively. . . . And doing it on other planets risks either hurting the inhabitants or throwing something's orbit out of whack. . . Great Scott, it really IS all interconnected, isn't it?"

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OOC/MuseVerse: Inkwell Party!

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