Tachyon - aka Dr. Meredith Stinson - has a new toy. It's supposed to be a portal to other universes, but it's been hella finicky. Even Tachyon's legendary enthusiasm is starting to fizzle; she's been working on it for weeks of regular time, which is who-knows-how-long for the speedster in high gear.
Devra can tell her mentor's frustrated by how she keeps forgetting to talk in normal people speed. Her lectures keep starting out as a high-pitched buzz.
Devra's sure she could help with the thing, if Dr. Stinson would let her anywhere near it. It's not like she would blow it up or anything, she's learned after the last four - well, five - accidents. And the Omni-Drone Incident. And...anyway the point is she could help and Stint's not letting her. Boring.
So of course she does the logical thing, and sneaks in to steal a peek. Peeking ensues.
...
!!!
It's so fabulous. And complex. She can feel the internal parts with her mind, from the tiniest of microchips to the largest capacitor bank. It's a fascinating work of art. She just has to get a closer look.
Her technosense gives her the best feedback from inside the ring. She can almost get a picture of what it's supposed to do, but it seems a little...off. Inefficient, or just not quite right, like a stained glass window with a piece missing. It wouldn't hurt to try a few tweaks, would it? And Dr. Stinson would be so impressed when Devra got it working right. Maybe the Stingy Stint would finally let Devra have a go at the cool shit.
Fiddle.
Fiddle fiddle.
ZAP.