fandomhigh | Science Classroom; Tuesday [ 08/02 ].

So there it was. A large chunk of rock sitting in the middle of a laboratory classroom, waiting to be researched. Jane wasn’t entirely sure it wanted to be researched, though, with all the elusiveness and mystery it was giving off, but, then again, geology was hardly her area of scientific expertise, and she had a feeling it wasn’t quite Miss Granger’s forte either.

Thankfully, that was why they had their brilliant and inquisitive students to help, yes?

Goodness, she hoped so! Either way, a ~~handwavey~~ message had been sent out to the student body, encouraging anyone who was interested to come on in and help them out today.

“Hello, students,” she gave them a bit of an uncertain smile. “Thank you all for coming and giving us a hand with this most mysterious piece of rock. It’s so good to see so many of you eager to help, but Miss Granger and myself must ask you to take the utmost care. Clearly, we are uncertain what we are dealing with, so we must be careful.”

"Yes, please. I wish we had more information to give you," said Hermione, and don't think that wasn't bothering her. Of course, she'd also decided that if there was some strange mysterious rock that no one knew anything about, she was not going to be touching it unless it was absolutely necessary. At least without gloves. She knew that was probably just paranoia. "If there is anything you can tell us about it, don't hesitate to speak up."

“We’ve got gloves, microscopes, goggles, you name it,” Jane offered, “and also plenty of books for reference. Let’s use our resources and try to figure out what we can. Consider everything; even if you find something that’s just minutely interesting or different or strange, it could be useful.”

"Now, if anyone has any questions, we'll answer them as best we can," Hermione went on. "But let's get started and see what we can find, shall we?"

[[ written, obviously, with the fantastic

smartestone and for all you sciencey types; ~~please wait for~~ the OCD is ready for examination! ]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"What the -- huh?"

Part of him was frustrated, but the other part was delighted that the rock was putting up a fight. "Hello, rock, you're on fire!"

That was helpful.

Turning up the heat, Tony watched as still nothing happened. Then, after a moment, finally shut it off.

"Huh. Think adding water will crack it?"

"Couldn't hurt," Topher said with a shrug. He actually had a squirt gun on him at all times now -- defense against people like Kate and Ramona, for the most part -- so he took it out and squirted it at the rock.

And... no reaction.

"SERIOUSLY!?"

Tony made a frustrated noise, entering that into his phone. "Do you think the school has any CO2 on hand?"

Topher was facepalming.

And once that was over? Running a frustrated hand through his hair and shaking his head.

"Probably not," he said. "We could make some, though. Yeast fermentation?"

~~So said his mun's ninth-grade Bio-Chem!~~

"...might take a while." DAMN IT, HE MISSED HIS PROFESSIONAL LAB FILLED WITH FUN TOYS.

"I wish this place had a particle accelerator," Tony muttered sulkily.

Topher's head snapped up, his expression going abruptly snark-free.

"You have one of those? Not like crazy doppelganger me says he has a duplicator, right? Like, you legit have one?"

Oh, man. BEST FRIENDS FOR LIFE.

"...you have another you too?" That made perfect sense in Fandom. "And, well, yeah. I practically grew up in the labs at Stark International."

"JEALOUS." No, Topher didn't have a clue what Stark International was, but he heard the part about the labs and that made him jealous.

"Dude. Dude." He was getting more excited by the minute. "Do you have neural programming software in your labs?"
Of course if they were going to get off-topic, they had to get off-topic about this.

"I've been working on some neural-electronic interfaces, actually..." OH GOD, THIS CAN ONLY END IN TEARS.

TEARS... OR BEST FRIENDSHIP.

"No way!" Topher flailed, nearly overturning a tiny bottle of he-didn't-even-know in the process. He pointed rapidly to himself, exclaiming, "So am I!"

Somewhere... Peter was planning something horrible.

"Really?"

It was only fair. He had had a crappy birthday; therefore, Topher and Tony had to pay.

"Really!"

He was bouncing, oh yes.

"What's yours supposed to do?"

"Well, the idea is to allow someone to control or access electronic devices using only their thoughts," Tony said. Because tech talk was awesome. "Coupling that with sophisticated prosthesis would let people live normal lives."

And, you know, Stark Industries would make another fortune.

THAT. WAS SO. COOL.

Archnemesis or not, Topher had to get excited about that.

"So you're tapping into muscle memory and everything?" he confirmed, still bouncing. "Hooking up the cerebellum to the prosthetics just like nerve endings?"

Tech talk was so awesome.

"Actually--" Tony glanced around as if to make sure no one was listening in. "That one Japan we visited? They had these nano-machines that were integrated into the nervous system, so it was like your brain and nerves were part of the computer."

"Whoa."

And that got Topher's brain a-whirring. If that sort of technology was possible, then couldn't people have all sorts of nano-machines inside of them? And what about neural architecture to modify mannerisms, or program people with ideas or personalities or even thoughts?

Almost blushing a little, he leaned in and pleaded hopefully, "Can I see?"

THAT WAS A BAD THOUGHT, TOPHER. THIS WAS TO HELP PEOPLE.

"I haven't been able to successfully reverse-engineer what they had, but I guess I could show you some of the plans," Tony said after a moment. "Only if you don't show or mention them to anyone else."

Named Peter.

HEY. HIS THOUGHT COULD HELP PEOPLE TOO. IT WOULD HELP A CORPORATION MAKE A LOT OF MONEY AND HELP HIM ACQUIRE JUICE BOXES.

Also it could help end the world.

"Okay!" he promised, bouncing a little. "Yeah, definitely. Lips are sealed. Promise."

SQUEE!

STOP ENDING THE WORLD. GOD, TOPHER.

"Tomorrow, okay? I'll bring what I have to the dorms."

"Yes!"

That was Topher pumping his fist in the air. "See you then!"

Science Classroom; Tuesday [ 08/02 ].

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