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Jay’s hand snaps back at Jackson’s words. It’s like the guy has eyes in the freaking back of his head when it comes to his technology projects. He walks down the row, taking the time to appreciate the small nuances between each prototype. If you asked for the scientific explanation of any of it, Jay could provide a shrug and nothing else. Working in the field for as long as he has, he can see the differences; Jay may never be a tech guy, but that doesn’t mean he takes any of it for granted. The work they do at the Bunker has saved his life too many times to count, and he’s never one to discount technology or the merits of upgraded gear.

“But it’s shiny.” There’s no answer as Jackson gets back to work. It’s the lack of response that Jay’s come to expect, but it does absolutely nothing to curb his curiosity. Being out in the field means that Jay gets to test all of the shiny new toys. Lord knows he offers himself up to be a human crash dummy or science experiment more often than not. Jay makes sure not to reach out for anything else. He doesn’t want to be a nuisance to Jackson but Jay’s curious to a fault. It comes with Jay’s personality to want to know and experience things hands on. He leans in close, just a little too close for Jack’s comfort

“Depends. Would the explosion leave a cool scar?”

Eddie can’t help themselves sometimes. Being a physical person and all, just looking never is enough. They are wandering aimlessly - wandering a term used loosely because the garage and mechanical shop are both their frequent hang out in free time - when they try to find ways to busy themself. And in doing so, they find themselves reaching out to grab something that definitely should stay out of their hands off the shelf.

Eddie would have, too, if it wasn’t for that blunt command. They barely draw their hand back, but they do focus their eyes on the owner of that voice. Someone who is mostly engrossed in their computer. So much so, they don’t even look up to address Edison personally. “If that’s supposed to deter me you’re doing a shit job.” Eddie finally draws their hand back and shrugs with a rather audible huff. “All the more enticing actually, when there’s a risk involved.”

“It’s not risk when it’s inevitable death.” Jack pointed out, casting a quick glance at Edison before going back to his work, nothing they were still eyeing the things on his desk.  “And for the record, I don’t do a shit job at anything.  I’m amazing in every way.  You probably should write that down or something, so you don’t forget it for later.”

“But it’s shiny. If it isn’t meant to be touched why it is shiny?” Frankie’s voice has a bit of a whine to it. She’s bored. And also amused. Frankie is a field agent for a reason. Number and code go in one ear and out another and make little to no sense to her besides the bare minimum she needs to know. It still fascinates her though and she could sit for a while and listen to others talk about their work with admiration for their skill.

Frankie lets out a huff and pulls her hand back to her when it is swatted. A pout forms on her face like a small child being told they can’t take a cookie from the cookie jar. It doesn’t last long though. “I think you are confusing me with Jefferson. I mean are we talking big explosion, mild explosion?” Sure Frankie actually doesn’t want an explosion in the bunker, but it doesn’t mean she can’t joke and have her finger go to hover over the item. All she is missing is the teasing tone of ‘I’m not touching it’ but she feels that might push the limit to much and she pulls her finger back after Jack frowns at her.

“So whatcha working on?”

“Especially when it’s shiny-- what are you, a dragon?  Back off!”  If she was going to be so obnoxious about it he was too.  He tore his eyes away from the screen to eye the precarious hand that he knew was intentionally egging on his temper but he didn’t give into the bait.  It would only encourage her to do worse and that was the last thing he needed right now.

“You’re a certified asshole,” Truth mumbled under her breath as she stepped back and looked at the room around her. She knew she couldn’t check his trash without causing damages, but she could still check the others’. She went through all of them, swearing under her breath. “I swear if it’s you, I’ll cut your fingers off.”

“It’s here,” She said, taking it out of the trash. At least she knew who took it without her permission. And now she would have to disinfect it and put up with Jackson’s sarcasm, which wasn’t going to make her less upset. She walked back to her desk and grabbed hand sanitizer to wash the car carefully. She then placed it back when it belonged and turned around to look at Jackson. “Sorry.” She said, her voice barely audible.

“That--” He pointed accusingly but then, after a pause, nodded with a half-shrug. “That’s actually entirely true.  Well it would be if someone would actually give me a certificate.  I could use more trophies.”  He laughed at his own joke, arms crossed, as he watched her busy herself rummaging through nearby trashcans.  Truly, any of them could be hazardous but it was on her at this point for trying.

“Flustered? Flustered?! It’s not a stupid car, you’re stupid. See the difference?” Truth didn’t mean it, she never meant being mean, she just couldn’t think of anything else right now. “You’ll see how stupid it is when I’ll spill a glass of water on your prototypes.”

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as looked around her. “Well, everyone but one person it seems since it’s gone. I’ve been looking everywhere,” She was too stubborn to just leave it there. It was only the two of them in the labs and she didn’t have anyone else to ask. “Fuck off, stand up and help me,” She said, kicking his chair a couple of times, making sure it was strong enough to would shake him. “C’mon, help me! Look in the trash.”

"Okay first of all, I am not stupid, I am a certified genius.  Ask anyone.  Second of all if you touch my shit you’ll lose your fingers and I’ll only feel like, a tiny bit bad about it because then I can’t pawn crap off on you so maybe just...slow your roll a little bit okay.  It’s just a toy.”

Truth wasn’t bored. She was upset. She couldn’t find her broken car toy that was usually beside her computer which was unbelievable. Everyone in the labs knew they must not touch it, in any case. And when she didn’t see it out of the corner of her eye, she couldn’t focus. She was looking around everyone’s desk when she reached Jackson’s. She couldn’t see anything in the middle of his prototypes and every time she tried to move one of them, just inches to the side, he stopped her.

“Fuck, alright, did you see my toy?” She snapped at him, placing her hands on her hips. People usually laughed at her when she was angry – she was small, with an innocent face, and it looked ridiculous. As much as she usually wanted to learn things with Jackson, sitting by his side and saying nothing, just observing, she couldn’t care less about it right now. “Someone took it, and it better not be you.”

A heavy, audible sigh leaked out and Jack hung his head, finally finding it worthy to break his eyes away from the screen and look at Truth over the rim of his glasses.  “You’re all flustered about that stupid car?”  He rolled his eyes in preparation for the scolding he’d get for that comment and backtracked.

[[LOADING FILE]]

>>:// [[ACCESS GRANTED]]

ALIAS: AGENT JACKSON NAME: [[REDACTED]] POSITION: TECH OPERATIVE ACCESS LEVEL:  TWO

>>:// [[AGENT JACKSON INTEL]]

>> First to achieve a perfect tech score despite being a high school drop out. >>Jackson seems to drink at least five cups of coffee a day. >> Medical Log: Agent was admitted with a broken nose and a long list of excuses. Jackson was given an eye exam and should not be without glasses or contacts. >> Note: Agent Jackson’s fifth request to be moved to field operations has been denied; for the fifth time in a row Jackson has failed the interpersonal evaluation. Peer canvas has resulted with the following list to describe Jackson: tactless, brash, rough around the edges, and short-sighted.

>>:// [[AGENT JACKSON IS TAKEN]]

Faceclaim: Max Thieriot

>>:// ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS CODENAME: JACKSON >>:// DECRYPTING >>:// TEMPORARY ACCESS GRANTED