Trooper Station, Friday

[firstofitskind]

When Liam had arrived that morning, Calvin had muttered something about the Bee Lady and crystals, before heading out the door with the rest of the squad so fast there was practically a smoke trail.

Liam was a little surprised they were so willing to do anything resembling work, but he figured that if Kaidan ended up stopping by, it would probably make things less awkward.

He had the helmet Sabine had painted, as well as a spare chest piece he'd taken from the armory, propped up against his desk as he worked on paperwork in the meantime.

Comments

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan planned his morning run with a stop at the Trooper Station. The morning had been gross with humidity, and he appreciated the air conditioning when he pushed through the doors. Stopping at the front desk, he asked if Liam was there.

[firstofitskind]

The station was small enough that there really wasn't anything designated as a "front desk"; just a few work stations and Liam's office, the door to which was open.

"Hey, Kaidan," Liam said, when he looked up and saw who had come in. "You made it."

[spectre_alenko]

[ooc: oops]

"Hey, Liam. How's your morning going?" Kaidan asked, "The air out there is thick enough to chew."

[firstofitskind]

[ooc: no worries!]

"Aside from the entire squadron deciding they need to go help the Bee Lady rub crystals on her bees to 'cleanse their chakras'?" Liam rolled his eyes. "Not a whole lot." Huh. Maybe the humidity was what had her so concerned...

[spectre_alenko]

"The.. Bee Lady.. rubbing what on bees to do what?" Kaidan shook his head, "Nevermind, I've just decided I do not want to know. I'm just going to pretend it's some sort of powder to do something with mites. That's a thing people do with bees that sort of makes sense." He was learning.

"So, no troopers?" He sounded a tiny bit disappointed.

[firstofitskind]

"Honestly, that's my reaction to half the calls I get in this place." Like the ones about the raccoons. Why was whether or not they counted as recyclable still up for debate?? Why?

"No Troopers themselves, but I do have some armor for you to take a look at," Liam said, gesturing for Kaidan to come take a seat.

[spectre_alenko]

Raccoons are organic. They'd go in compost. Recyclables are for inorganic matter. Too bad Kaidan wasn't telepathic to know Liam had that question. It was the kind of obsessive clean freak pedantic rules trivia that Kaidan all but lived for.

"Great, thanks!" He sat and asked, "Is it active armor, or retired?"

[firstofitskind]

Tell that to the people who insisted on bringing them in for Recycling Amnesty Day, Kaidan.

(Which wasn't actually a thing, by the way. Despite some people's best efforts.)

"Well, this particular helmet is recently retired due to a non-standard paint job," Liam said with a laugh as he put said helmet on his desk. Indeed, it was rather liberally covered with all sorts of designs in bright colors. "But it and the chest piece despite the fact that the link goes to the entire armor set shh I have here are the same design that they're currently using." Here in town, anyway. He had no idea what may or may not be in use in a certain Galaxy Far Far Away.

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan would, probably using charts and helpful diagrams. Earnestly. Helpfully. That was the kind of guy he was.

Kaidan winced at the technocolored helmet, "How.. no, that's probably also something I don't want to know. Can I try it on?"

He wanted to check the peripheral range of the eye lens. It looked like it would be a narrower field than average. Also, he was secretly 12 and that was a new helmet design; of course he wanted to put it on his head.

Kaidan's lips twitched when he saw the chest piece. Sculpted pecs, really? But it looked sturdy enough. "Any idea what they're made of?"

[firstofitskind]

"Go for it," Liam said. "As for what they're made of... something called 'plastoid'? Despite the name, it's far stronger than any Earth-based plastics." He shrugged. "Hera over at the junkyard could probably tell you more about its specific composition."

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan grinned and pulled the helmet over his head. He checked the peripheral acuity, also the up and down spectrum. It resulted in his head leaning back and nodding, then tilting side to side. It probably looked quite ridiculous.

"Feels almost like fiberglass," came his voice, muffled from inside.

[ooc: also I feel like he looks like this rn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-GSgh42GZ0]

[firstofitskind]

[ooc: *cackles*]

It did look somewhat ridiculous, yes. Which was why Liam had grabbed his Global off his desk and was snapping a picture or two as he bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"How's the weight?" he asked. He'd never actually been tempted to try the things on himself, but they looked heavy.

[spectre_alenko]

"Are you taking pictures?" Kaidan asked, voice still muffled but very amused, "If so, I want a copy. If you're firing rubber bands at me, I can't feel it from in here."

He lifted the helmet off his head and put it back on the desk, scrubbing a hand through his hair to fluff it back up. Well, more to hide that it was fluffing itself, biotic static being what it was.

"Not too bad, really. Lighter than I'm used to. It's offline so I can't tell if there's a lot of telemetry. My helmet's wired fifty different ways, and all those components add up - some need neck reinforcement. This one doesn't, just sits on your head." He brushed his hand over his hair one final time, "Claustrophobic, though, a little. The eye lens is a bad design."

[firstofitskind]

"The ones here just have basic comms, no scanners or anything like that," Liam confirmed.

He started to say something else, then shook his head, looking a little sheepish. "I was going to ask for your calling card, so I could send you the pictures, but I'm going to guess that's not tech you use." Even if Kaidan's world had used them, the tech would likely have been outdated by his time, anyway.

[spectre_alenko]

That was useful to know. Kaidan made a mental note of it.

"I have a business card?" Kaidan offered, "It has my email address on it." He dug one out and handed it over, a little confused by the terminology for 'calling card'.

[firstofitskind]

"Similar idea," Liam said, noticing that look of confusion. "Except the ones I'm used to have the contact info digitally encoded. More secure than giving out an actual number or email."

[spectre_alenko]

Kaidan quirked a half smile and shook his head, "Where I'm from, that wouldn't be practical. Too many AI or VI programs out there that could crack a digital encoding."

And the Geth. Not that the Geth would ever do anything with information except ask annoying questions like 'Why is this feline frowning'.

[firstofitskind]

"Yeah, AI isn't too much of an issue in my reality," Liam shared. "... At least, not since the last time I was there. I suppose that could've changed by now."

[spectre_alenko]

"Be glad," Kaidan made a face, "Most of the problems in my reality were a direct result of organic and inorganic life in conflict. Sentient organics don't take it well when their computer-driven creations start asking 'Do I have a soul'."

[firstofitskind]

"No, I can't imagine they would," Liam shook his head. "Taelon tech was all organic-based to start with, I wonder if that has anything to do with why it never was much of a problem for them," he mused. Mostly to himself; he didn't expect Kaidan to have any actual answers regarding technology he'd never seen.