[color=bfbfbf][sub][table= //////= POST DESIGN v1=\\\\\\][row][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/Se2sWzK.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][/row][row][cell][sup][img]https://i.imgur.com/3mGvCEG.png[/img][/sup]

[color=2e2c2c]___________________________________[sub].......[/sub][/color]
[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]LSF HQ   ·   Late Afternoon   ·   In collaboration with [&.Exit][/color]LSF HQ   ·   Late Afternoon   ·   In collaboration with [@Exit][/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]_[/color]
[color=9f9f9f]

Jin silently strode down the cold halls of the LSF headquarters. Their feet knew the path well, leaving their brain far too much time to think.

[i]What’s Mr. Sato’s mission? When will I know? And… why me? I mean, yeah I got the skills, but, you can’t teach experience, everyone says that. I ain’t been running solo long enough. I don’t fuckin get it. 

Unless. Maybe. If what Sato said is actually true, maybe Cap stuck his neck out for me?

But what the hell would he do that for? There’s nothing in it for him.[/i]

Jin’s mind spun in circles, and they pressed their thumb just above their left eye where a little pain was starting to throb. It was all a puzzle, and they couldn’t make any headway in figuring it out. They stopped short, realizing they had reached their destination already. After they scanned their badge, the door opened with a whoosh of even colder air.

[color=a187be]“Knock knock, Doc.”[/color] Jin rapped on the doorframe to announce their presence. 

[b][color=white]”Yes, Jin. Do come in.”[/color][/b]

[b][color=white]”Just who I was hoping to see.”[/color][/b] Came a familiar, somewhat tired female voice from inside the workshop. Stepping through iron doors transported any and all into the mind of a woman that very few could understand. Concrete walls became cold steel, every inch of which was lined with ‘innovation’... or destruction. It was often hard to tell the difference for anyone but one. To Doctor Sylara Li, each piece of metal, every screw and spring and stripped wire were the pieces of painting she could see clearly in her mind’s eye. The pieces of a puzzle that only her hands knew how to put together. As they were now and to the untrained eye, they were like bones and carcasses of science and physics hung on walls and shelves. Like slices of meat and fish.

The woman’s library of work, a record of her accomplishments, were strewn in haphazard piles in the room. Steel frames given life and then just as quickly forgotten and dismissed as older models. Technology outdated as soon as it was discovered. She was ever looking toward the future, even as she approached her fifties and the years ahead of her began to dwindle. Even as the hairs on her head began to gray, the spark in her eyes never left and it was that same spark that regarded Jin as they entered the room. Eyes that pulled apart everything in front of them to understand the individual pieces only saw the body and soul of a person they had helped to create. A mind like hers, yearning to see and understand the unknown and explore the darker corners that others did not.

Today, ‘last year’s model’ was non other than a miniscule piece of technology. A marvel, even when compared to the latest Xuoshi model drones. Jin’s tadpole had become one of their closest companions when on the field. A brain already able to dissect the world around them into basic law may not have needed assistance in any form, but Doctor Li understood that a mind could only do so much. That rules meant to be unbreakable could only be bent so much before they broke you instead. Machines could go beyond that and it was through Jin’s tadpole that they could achieve as much.

[b][color=white]”I think you’ll find the updates to your friend here more than beneficial.”[/color][/b] She began, tapping the small device with a long and thin metallic pointer.

On the table in front of her and the approaching Jin was a small metallic shape that seemed to start cuboidal and shape itself into a point. Almost like an elongated teardrop about four inches long. Once coaxed, a small light blinked at the ‘nose’ and the shape suddenly split down the middle. A line appeared along the center and the two halves unfolded like wings, folding horizontal and parallel to the table top as if it were flexing or stretching. Once the wings had folded back into itself, the main body lifted itself off the surface on six miniature legs and the head popped free. The orange light swiveled up to look at Jin as they approached, ‘blinking’ at them and walking around itself in a small circle as if elated to see them again. It chirped something high-pitched and pleasant at them.

[b][color=white]”The slight damage to its communicator has been fixed and improved for range as well as the visual link.”[/color][/b] She placed the peripheral contact lens in its case next to the Tadpole. [b][color=white]”And that was just what you asked me to look at.”[/color][/b]

Jin grinned huge as their friend came to life. [color=a187be]“Hey, buddy! Good to see ya!”[/color] They reached out with a fingertip and stroked the bot’s ‘head’ as if it was a pet. The bot made a noise very similar to a purr. [color=a187be]“Tad looks good as new, Doc.”[/color] They picked up the bot with care, turning it 360 and looking with a sharp eye. [color=a187be]“Alright. What else did you do?”[/color] Practically every time Tadpole was left in the Doctor’s loving care, it came out with at least one fun new upgrade. Some were innocuous and fun. Others were far more useful. Most of the time, the upgrades were things that were at a skill level that was so far above Jin’s own, it was almost depressing. Almost.

If anything, it made them want to work even harder to get to the Doctor’s level.

The Tadpole began to disappear in the palm of Jin’s hand, slowly becoming translucent until it was entirely transparent after less than a minute. [b][color=white]”I managed to finally fully integrate visual camouflage. It's most effective when it’s standing still and will become visible once it starts to move again. Also…”[/color][/b]

Jin let out a little gasp, green eyes glittering as their little robot friend completely disappeared from view. [color=a187be]“Doc. You finally did it!”[/color] Jin had a camouflage suit of their own, one that they had trained for hours in but had not yet put into active use. Dr. Li had been trying to get the visual camo to function for months for the AI spotter bot, but there had been setbacks aplenty. It seemed that the smartest woman they knew had finally cracked the code. Experimentally, Jin wiggled their fingers behind the space where they knew Tadpole sat. There was some visual distortion, but it was subtle, and would likely need another sniper to spot it in the first place.

[color=a187be]“Aw, shit! Me and my buddy are gonna be the sexiest duo no one will ever see comin’! Wait, did you say ‘also?’”[/color] Jin’s head whipped toward the Doctor, a childish glee in their gaze. [color=a187be]“What else did you do?”[/color]

Sylara reached under the table with her right arm and grasped a heavy steel plate that was several inches thick. What would have been impossible for some was only a slight inconvenience to a woman who had done work on herself as well. The servos in the metal of her arm chewed audibly at the air as she carefully placed the heavy slab on its side standing up. She then tapped around its center and waited. The tadpole, still invisible, leapt out of Jin’s hand and onto the spot Sylara had directed it to. Its smaller shape seemed to warp the air around it as its camouflage struggled to keep it obscured, only letting up once it had landed. Now corporeal again, it wiggled its tail a few times before forming a sharp point and aiming the tip at the steel plate. The tail then began to rapidly spin and dig into the surface, filling the air with the sound of grating metal. Despite the noise, Tadpole burrowed through with ease and after only a few moments, it had crawled completely through the fresh hole. It appeared on the other side of the plate, the edges of its wings glowing bright red and its head shaking free some of the swarf that had collected on it.

[b][color=white]”Heat is absorbed through its wings and stored as energy. The metal casing has been improved to resist abrasion. It's impossible to make it quiet when cutting through steel but through softer materials, stealth can be maintained.”[/color] [/b]

[color=a187be]“Oooh!”[/color] Jin applauded a bit, impressed. [color=a187be]“That’s a game changer. Add that to the visual link and suddenly I can see through walls. Nasty.”[/color] They let out a little whistle, and Tadpole, done dusting itself off, sprung from floor to table, then to Jin’s shoulder. Jin gave it another fond rub on the head chassis before returning their gaze to Dr. Li. [color=a187be]“You’re the best, Doc.”[/color]

[color=white][b]“Oh yes, I know.”[/b][/color] Sylara didn’t even blush at the praise. It wasn’t ego stroking bullshit, it was factual truth. [color=white][b]“Alright, one last thing.”[/b][/color] She gestured for Jin to follow, and they walked through the lab together. 

There was always so much to view in Dr. Li’s lab. Blueprints, models, and even things that were still in idea form. Jin knew better than to ask about any specific thing. The Doctor was very protective about her unfinished work. Any prodding about it would get the curt answer [i]‘you don’t eat bread while it’s still dough’[/i].

[color=white][b]“Here.”[/b][/color] The Doctor stopped in front of a tall display case. [color=white][b]“Don’t tell Dermok, but I’ve got a bit of a preview for your next mission.”[/b]
[/color]
Jin frowned slightly, confused. [color=a187be]“[i]Next[/i] mission? We just got back.”[/color]

The Doctor waved her hand, dismissing the question. [color=white][b]“They’ll chew my ass off if I give you any more detail.”[/b][/color] She fished a remote from a lab coat pocket.[color=white][b]“Feast your eyes on this!”[/b][/color] With a little flourish, the case opened.

Jin stared, looking between the contents of the case, and the expression of glee on the Doctor’s face.

[color=a187be]“Heh. You’re kidding, right Doc? …Doc?”[/color]

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