"I think I saw her move the speakers into here..."
George said as he and Penelope stepped inside, carefully starting to make his way through the mess. He knew what to touch and what not to, so hopefully they shouldn't have any problems with the machine.
"If I may.. what the hell is the sandwich for?"
Penelope asked.
"Personal project."
George said, still holding the plate as he looked around. He looked reluctant to let it go "I've been trying to improve how I make food..."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I want to be able to cook properly. Though the twins would never let me cook for people here, it would be nice to know I could."
George said with a shrug, carefully lifting up a few pieces of scrap metal.
"Yeah... knowing those two, they would probably get a bit competitive over it." Penelope said, wandering around the mess, lifting a few strange contraptions of inventions Eliza had given up on. Useless prototypes and things of that nature.
"That... and they know I hurt Waya..."
George said softly "So I am pretty sure they hate me." He cocked his head, then ducked down under the bed in the corner. "Oh... she didn't use the speakers for anything." he said, tugging out some small speakers attached to an MP3 player. "Or rather... it seems she was listening to something..." He unplugged the player and left it on the bed before starting to take the speakers from the device.
Penelope walked over to him and took one of the speakers. She read the fine print on the back and tilted her head, "Eh... these don't get very loud."
"They didn't used to."
George said with a nod, taking them carefully over to a bench "But Doctor McCoy liked to keep a few things around that looked harmless but could be used as defensive countermeasure
s if something went wrong. These speakers can pack quite a punch."
"Think there is some sort of headset I could hook into this thing?" Penelope asked.
"I can create something." George said, carefully handing the speakers over to Penelope "Stay here, I'll be back in a second with a good receiver, alright?" He nodded to her, then slipped away, plate and sandwich still in hand.
That was so strange to her, but she shrugged and perused around, looking at odd things on the shelves. She wandered over to the portal and examined it closer.
The portal was quite stable, for something that wasn't meant to be there. It wasn't seemingly leading anywhere at the moment, but the noise was still there. It just took getting closer before Penelope could feel that deep thrum she'd experienced earlier.
It was so sudden and she hadn't heard it earlier. Penelope dropped the speakers and staggered back, "Oh fuck..." she said with a soft moan, wrapping her arms around herself.
As she took a few steps back she found it seemed to fade quickly. There was almost a wall of sound around that portal, the stuff she liked it seemed. It was incredible how deep Eliza could get that wall of sound to resonate.
Penelope chuckled, looked over her shoulder and held out a hand toward the portal. When it gave another thum of vibration, she shivered and squeezed her knees together. Damn!
The portal was a constant hum of that low sound, which seemed to vibrate beyond hearing at times. Eliza's talents seemed to be in quantum physics and fluctuations, and getting Penelope off. Best that she didn't think about what else Eliza would be able to do though.
Penelope's magenta skin flushed a bit and she stepped back. With George on his way over here, best not tempt herself.
George returned before Penelope's urges got control, walking in with nothing but a small earpiece in his hands. "This should work." he said, moving over to the speakers "The real problem is compacting the speakers down a bit more."
"I'll buy something when we get back, but I just want SOMETHING, you know?" Pen asked, trying not to let him know what she had been up to.
George looked down to where she'd dropped the speakers, luckily he had no expressions on his face so he couldn't show her that he guessed what she might have been doing. He went over, picked them up, and went to Eliza's workbench. It would have all the tools he'd need. "I don't suppose you have a belt to put this on?" he asked Penelope.
Penelope was still in her x-suit she had just picked out. A tight fitting garment with white embellishments that matched her hair and a belt on her hip, "This should be alright. I could find another if this doesn't work.
George nodded, starting to take little bits and pieces of the speakers apart, being careful as he disassembled them. "Can you take the belt off or do I have to attach it to you standing up?" he asked. Asking her to take her clothes off didn't cross his mind.
"Fine fine... Mr. Snippy.." Penelope said and took it off for him.
"I was not being... 'snippy'. I was not sure if the belt could be removed from the outfit." George said gently, starting to measure out the speakers next to the belt.
Penelope sat on a stool and watched, "So... are you going to eat the sandwich or just carry it around and letting it dry out?"
"What sandwich?" George asked, still working on the belt and distinctly not holding a plate or a sandwich any more. He'd left with it, and returned only with the headset for her.
She sighed, "Nevermind." Penelope said. Was that a disfunction or something?
George was smiling, though he wasn't. There was just a way that he was standing that just seemed to suggest he was laughing. "Your voice creates force correct?" he asked carefully "And this will increase the force you create?"
"Not at all." Penelope said, "I manipulate sound waves into blunt energy waves."
"Alright..." George said with a nod "So this WILL increase your force. Are you sure you want something attached to your body that will put out that much force?"
"I had a better one on Mojo's world." she explained, "I can handle it just fine."
"If you're certainly." George said with a nod as he started to run the wires through the belt "How are you finding it here?"
"Alright." Pen said. "I mean, aside from everyone here being a complete stick in the mud most times."
"It's generally what happens when you're abandoned in this place alone." George said with a shrug, carefully adjusting the speakers "They're like this to survive. Though I believe they will be making up for lost time if the mission is successful."
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Think about what?" George asked as he carefully put the speakers together. They'd need some kind of power module that would last a few good hours, if not days.
"About this whole portal thing." she clarified.
"Well..." George was quiet for a moment, then said "If it were any other group of people this would have been a doomed project. But we've got some very strong people here... I mean, they managed to rescue you from Mojo."
"Hardly." Penelope scoffed, "They are pretty sloppy for x-men."
"Don't insult the people who decided to help you." George said gently, wiring things slowly "They could fail horribly but they are good people."
"Did I ever say that?" Penelope asked, "No. I did not. Good people. Sloppy at rescuing."
"Considering it never was a rescue mission..." George pointed out gently, trying not to roll eyes he didn't have. He was silent for a bit, then said "You are prone to insult people you do not intend to. Though I am sure you are aware of this character fault."
"At least I have character." Penelope said in her defense, not liking the tone George was giving her.
"Just because a person has something does not make it automatically better than the absence." George said as he worked "Genital warts, for example. Now, do you want these speakers spread to each side of your hips, or closer together near the buckle?"
"Right at the ovaries I think." Penelope said and placed her hands in the right spots.
George nodded, adjusting the speakers and carefully starting to cobble the belt together again with the speakers in place. He was just wanting to get these in place before finding that power source.
"So... what did you do with the sandwich?" she asked.
"I gave it to a friend." George said with a little shrug "What else am I meant to have done with it?"
"Who?" Penelope asked.
George paused, looking around and seemingly confused. "That's an odd question." he said gently, turning back to the belt "I make a sandwich and give it to someone, cause I sure as hell can't eat it, and you feel the urge to ask "who"? It was Junior, if you must know."
"You were just being suspiciously vague." Penelope stated.
"I felt no need to go into every little detail about giving a sandwich to a friend." George said simply as he worked.
Penelope still felt something weird about that but didn't say anything. She leaned against a table and glanced to and fro, bored with watching him work on her belt.
After an extended silence, George finally said softly "If you're that uninterested, go stick your hand back in Eliza's machine."
"Bet you'd like to watch that, huh?" she snickered with a cocky grin. Pen was a little surprised he had seen, but played it off like she did not care.
"As strange as it might seem, I'm not a relentless sex addict." George said with a little shrug "And I'm surprised you admitted to doing that..."
"That thing has some wicked bass." Penelope said.
"Just make sure you don't get addicted..." George said gently "I wouldn't want to hold an intervention for you because we find you down here licking the speakers."
She rolled her eyes, "Are you done yet?"
"Almost." George said, a few little sparks coming from the belt as he attached the wires "There..."
"I'll have to order someone to make me a waterproof one eventually." Penelope siad.
"I can do that when we return." George said, holding up the belt and showing that the cables and wires were all tucked nicely away "But for now, this will have to do."
She put it on and asked, "Is it wireless to the headset at least?"
"Yes." George held out the headset for her "I suggest you don't use it in here. It's rather powerful."
"Where is your sense of adventure?" Penelope asked and put the headset on. "Hello?" she said into the mic.
George didn't flinch, but the noise that came from the speakers was much clearer and stronger than they should have been. It was almost a below of "HELLO?" from her belt. "That isn't the loudest setting." George said gently.
"Ooo..." she said and the speakers played. "Testing!" she chimed and cranked a knob on her hip. It got...quite loud and she turned it down. "Oh this is rad. Thanks!"
It pretty much got near ear-drum rupturing levels, George had said before that it had been a small defence weapon of Hank's. "No problem." he said with a little shrug.
Penelope headed for the elevator, wanting to test this out.
"Be careful." were George's words to her as he went to sit down on the bed, frowning at the media player of Eliza's he'd pulled out before. He carefully slotted it into himself, starting to download the playlist.
Stumble!