[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/q6Z1XiY.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/GzP5SAm.gif[/img] [color=FFFF31]Location:[/color] The Watchtower, Floor 25 (The Lab) [color=FFFF31]Interacting with:[/color] [color=ff5f0f]Nathaniel[/color] [sup][@Universorum][/sup] [hr][/center] [indent]According to Einstein, repeating something over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Austin pondered this notion as he sat in his self-proclaimed nerd den, which just so happens to be the lounge area the computer and mechanics lab on the 25th floor of the Watchtower. Since the birth of the Coalition and the acquisition of this lovely office complex made-new, Dr. Daley spends much of his time on this very floor, often accompanied by techno-wizard Solomon Acosta. The entirety of the lab spans three floors of the Watchtower, not including the basement, which stores most of the chemicals and supplies needed for the researching members of the Coalition. Floor 26 is the chemistry or “alchemy” lab, Dr. Thomas’ domain, and floor 27 is biology and medicine, Dr. Bleakley’s territory. Although ‘divided’ by scientific practice, the doctors of the group can be found milling around all floors of the three-part lab, collaborating and - on rare occasions, for Austin, at least - simply socializing. That being said, on this day, Dr. Daley was firmly holed up in his own personal stomping grounds. Was he insane? The shaggy-haired, scruffy 27-year old looked around himself, gathering evidence to support such a claim. Austin was sitting cross-legged on an overstuffed couch, still wearing his flannel pajama pants. He had a bowl of lucky charms in one hand and a TV remote in the other. Channel 5 news was broadcasting Nathaniel’s press conference on the wall-mounted flat screen. Surrounding the couch was a ridiculous littering of crumpled up fast food wrappers - despite some of the other Coalition members’ insistence that they all remain in peak physical condition, Austin continued to eat whatever he wanted, especially when under duress. And right now? Well, it’s safe to call what is happening right now being [i]under duress[/i]. On the coffee table in front of Austin - where there was always no less than three different cups of coffee in various stages of being drunk on any given day - there was a laptop, currently open to a search engine page, and exactly five coffee mugs. The laptop screen displayed the results of his most recent combination of search word terms. Useless results… yet again. Accompanying the computer was a scattered plethora of manilla envelopes and file folders, [i]both[/i] government-issued documents and news reports, and [i]all[/i] equally useless in his attempts get a lead on any other potential Enhanced persons in the area. So, here he sat, repeating the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. [i]Insanity.[/i] Austin thanked his lucky charms that there wasn’t a psychologist among them. Wouldn’t that be awful? The last thing he would need was for it to be confirmed that he was, indeed, insane - [i]“Mad Scientist Superhero”[/i] - what an original headline that would be. Austin chuckled to himself, which sounded more like a tired exhale of breath than a real laugh. When was the last time he had slept, anyway? Surely he’d had no more than a catnap or two, not since this thing with the mayor went down. On the topic of mental instability, now, that masked man in the videotape was the truly insane one. Austin hadn’t been the same since watching that tape; It shook him, deeply. It was one thing to see gore and horror in the movies, but to see gruesome, emotionless murder take place in reality… that was something else. All it took was the feeling of world’s weight settling on his shoulders once more for Austin to set down his cereal bowl, and pick up the laptop again. He was [i]technically[/i] a superhero. And, for some reason that Austin still couldn’t quite fathom, children had action figures of him, and they looked up to him. Whether or not he looked or felt like a hero, he had to be one, for them. Austin had to do anything in his power to prevent something like this from happening again. If there were other Enhanced to be found, god damn it, he’d find them! With that thought, Dr. Daley put his nose to the grindstone and continued his search, sipping from the warmest, and hopefully freshest, of the five coffee mugs before him. [color=ff5f0f][b]“Austin?”[/b][/color] Nathaniel’s voice called from a distance, it sounded like it was coming from the hallway. Austin looked up from his computer, confused. Wasn’t Nathan just on the television… and now he was here, at the Watchtower? Channel 5 news had apparently moved on to the weather, and Austin had completely missed the ending of the press conference in his focused, researching state. [color=FFFF31][b]“Uhh… yeah… in here!”[/b][/color] Austin called back, brushing himself off in an attempt to look less like a complete bum. Oh well, Nathan was used to that sight. If it weren’t for him and Reni, Austin would never look presentable enough for the media’s eyes. [color=FFFF31][b]“The lounge,”[/b][/color] he clarified, realizing ‘here’ probably wasn’t the best description of his location. The rush of Blur in front of him had barely phased Nathaniel, he wasn’t very quick to react to Jason, the younger man was always off to the next objective in seconds; he always had… too much going on. Nathan didn’t even have a chance to respond before… [i]whoosh[/i], the Blur was off again. Shaking his head, Nathan headed toward the lounge, which he honestly should have checked in the first place. Once he arrived there, the Sentinel stood with his arms folded over his chest. [color=ff5f0f][b]“I’m almost certain that I already know your answer, but… did you find anything new? Maybe it’s only us and him. That’d make this easier, wouldn’t it? Of course, nothing’s ever [i]that[/i] easy. That isn’t even my last press conference this week, things are crazy. I don’t want there to be anymore. If they come, and they side with him, we’re done. We only lived there because he [i]let us[/i] and there is no way we survive round two. Not with the way things are right now.”[/b][/color] Nathaniel’s harsh words made Austin sweat a little. Harsh, but true, that was the worst part of it all. [color=FFFF31][b]“Well… ehh…”[/b][/color] the doctor fidgeted in his seat. He sighed dejectedly before setting the laptop back down on the table. [color=FFFF31][b]“No. Nothing.”[/b][/color] He said as quickly as ripping off a bandaid, minus the wince. Hopefully he didn’t wince because, knowing Nathan, he’d probably be chastised for his lack of masculine bravado. Maybe not, things were pretty tense lately, given that there was a crazy super powered criminal on the loose that could [i]literally[/i] have killed all of them… and might still do so, when given another chance. [color=FFFF31][b]“Maybe Wyn or Pat have had better luck?”[/b][/color] Austin offered half-heartedly, standing up now as an indication that he’d be willing to go meet with them. It had been a while since he spoke with either of them but, like Nathan just said, he probably already knew the answer to that question… The answer to that question was no. They hadn’t had better luck, Nathaniel already knew that. He already knew that the actual chances of them ever locating another Enhanced were unwieldy low, at this point it wasn’t even worth the efforts. Nathaniel looked at Austin with a strangely defeated look and shook his head, [color=ff5f0f][b]“No, just… just forget it. Forget about finding them, it probably isn’t going to happen. Let’s focus on things we can do. Do you have… any good news for me? About anything, at all. You can even make something up.”[/b][/color] Austin stared blankly at him. He wasn’t about to lie, but he was supposed to say [i]something[/i] here, he could tell. Nathaniel was giving him that look that people give him when they expect some kind of socially acceptable response. [color=FFFF31][b]“...no?”[/b][/color] He said meekly and put his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants, his shoulders slumped with the action.[/indent]