A New Frontier

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cooper6_icon.gif marlowe3_icon.gif

Scene Title A New Frontier
Synopsis Marlowe and Cooper engage in a venture where few have gone before.
Date February 2021 to April 2021

Navigation

February 15 “Discovery”
February 28 “Enterprise”
March 2 “First Contact”
March 14 “The Trouble With Dribbles”
March 15 “Kobayashi”
April 13 “To Boldly Go”

February 15, 2021

“Discovery”

Yamagato Park Gardens


"I absolutely do not want to see you with a shaved head. So, no, Professor X. You don't need to be bald for this procedure."

Marlowe's tone is not a chiding one, even if her emphasis on the "not" part of her words has the potential to fall short or upon deaf ears. It's not Cooper's fault, though, not fully. He, unlike the previously named professor, has no telepathic suggestion ability. Just charm, humor, and good ol' normal human persuasion.

The crisp, sunny day is a good one to be outside in Yamagato Park. The weather, however, remains ominously clouded by smoke in the further western horizon. The Safe Zone was still safe, but crews had already been dispatched to assess and aid in the firefighting efforts. Marlowe's department for civil engineering and development began working with the city early on. That disaster stopping effort is no walk in the park, as it is with the pair currently doing just that.

One of them, anyway.

"But why do I get the feeling you're still tempted to do it anyway?" Marlowe turns her gaze down to Cooper beside her, a shaped brow lifting in skepticism.

“Hey! Don’t knock bald,” Cooper declares with a mischievous grin, now that he’s been given something to tease her about. “Being bald means one of three things.” He holds up three fingers and ticks off each as he continues, “You are a sexy, sophisticated man - see Captain Picard - or you are a certifiable badass - see John McClane and the Rock…. Or Both… which is totally Professor X.”

He runs a hand over the unruly shaggy mane of hair, scratching at the back of it. “I think I could pull it off. It would look better than having half my hair shaved like some cyberpunk flunky. Though it might look cool if I shave both sides and make a mohawk.”

There are no words from Marlowe to counter the certifiable badassery nor sexy sophistication of the aforementioned fictional characters (although there is a brief further uptick of a brow on her part for The Rock named amongst them), she has to struggle to hold back the incredulous laugh when Cooper goes on to mention pulling off a mohawk. A hand raises to her mouth to briefly hide the initial twist of her lips. The hand soon drops back away and on to the man's wheelchair on the back handle, turning him so that she can look him straight on.

"Thomas Cooper, if you decide that skinhead or mohawk is a good look for you, I will reject this application for the Calceus prosthetic and send you to one of my competitors." She sounds serious, even in the pause before her mouth quirks up crookedly on one side. "Or, maybe we'll have to reprogram you while you're under the knife." Can they do that? She gives off the impression that it's possible. Highly unethical; she'd never do it. But. Possible?

Then she straightens up again, releasing the handle and looking back down the path they're on. "But anyway, I rather like being able to play with hair. It's one grey area where I have to do it the 'old fashioned' way." Her looks down to her hand, fingers wiggling. "My ability doesn't work when it's still connected to someone's head." Unbothered, she resumes their languid pace onward towards the Yamagato corporate building looming ever so slowly closer in the distance.

That gets a popped up brow where Marlowe can’t see it from her spot behind him. Cooper can’t help but wonder if he heard it correctly or heard something he wouldn’t mind hearing.

He isn’t sure, but Thomas does hold up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. No Sinead O’connor or Rufio impersonations…. Wait…. Rufio didn’t really have a mohawk… No Mr. T impersonations then.” Letting his hands fall to loosely lace in his lap, he struggles not to fidget. He was perfectly capable of propelling himself along, but not when she had offered.

“I have to admit…. I’m kinda nervous,” Cooper says after a moment of listening to the noises around them. It was a whole different atmosphere than what was outside. “Not doubting your skill, but like… it’s a huge thing that will have an impact. I mean, I know having a bomb blow up and take my leg is pretty life altering, but… I didn’t have a choice in that, someone else made that choice for me.”

Thomas shifts to cast a look back at Marlowe, his voice thoughtful, “I’m purposely choosing to do this. The leg is awesome, but there is a lot of… stuff that will come with it that I’ll have to live with… and live knowing I made that choice.” His brows furrow and attention shifts away to no particular point.

“That make sense?” Cooper finally asks when his attention focuses back on her.

Marlowe doesn't mock-threaten further with xenomorphs, pirates, or alphabetically named teams of ex-cons for Cooper's hair style choices at his surrender, and for a short time she lets her small victory bask in the ambient noises of the park around them. He can't see it, but she's glancing down to that very head of hair every so often, pondering in silence.

When he speaks up again, admitting nervousness, she's caught in a reverie that startles her like the kid caught drawing on their notebook instead of taking notes. "I know. It's a lot to take in," she reflects, meeting his eyes briefly before he looks away first. "But respectfully, Thomas, I don't think your life will change all that much. At least, I hope not for the worse." When he looks back up to her, Marlowe is once again caught studying his face.

"Are you still worried about the potential side effects? Or is it the money?" Or is it something else, she leaves off the tail end of her query.

A finger taps at the back of his other hand thoughtfully, as Cooper admits, “It’s the side effects. I know you mentioned that your friend Monica has lived with that syndrome a long time already. So, I know I can do it, I just… my mind is just messing with me I guess.”

He gives a soft huff of laughter. “Ellen read some stuff she found on a wiki and let it get to me. She’s worried too,” Cooper says sheepishly.

"I…" Marlowe starts to slip into something of reactionary explanation about side effects and cybernetics research, but she catches herself. After a beat, her expression softens and she reaches over to offer a reassuring pat on the man's shoulder. "I'm not saying there's no risk," she leads (perhaps not reassuringly at all), "but I will do everything I can to ensure a safe procedure and smooth transition on through physical therapy. And if it helps at all, you only need to look at our own Mr. Otomo for example of how well things are working."

Marlowe is quick to cushion her statement further, "Everybody's situation is unique, of course." The shoulder gets another light squeeze. "And you know, I'm not going anywhere. So you'll just have to grin and bear it. You and Ellen." So it is decided, Marlowe claims.

Cooper doesn’t turn to look at her, instead he tips his head back. The act deepens the lines of his forehead as he looks up at her. “No risk, no reward, right?”

It’s a good thing that she wasn’t a telepath, else she’d know what he thinks about how lovely she looked today… not any different than before, but today her hair framed her face perfectly.

Next to her, he felt so… plain.

His smile shifts crookedly to one side at her, before Thomas realizes he might be staring. His head snaps back up and he awkwardly clears his throat asd hopes his face wasn’t flush like some kid. He was too old for that… right? “I trust you and your work. That leg you designed is amazing. I think having you watching over me like a… a.. I dunno, a guardian angel?” He grimaces. It sounded better in his head. “Uh… anyhow, it helps.”

"Mm… let's say more like, we'll anticipate any possible risks and head them off before they impinge upon the reward parts," Marlowe counters for the simplified saying. Still, she understands the phrase, and glances down as he looks up at her. He finds her smiling back, brown eyes meeting hazel with a glimmer of amusement, and she dares for a flittering moment, affection.

And, pleased at the compliments paid her. Then she looks back up as he looks away, because they're moving and someone's got to watch where they're going. "The leg isn't all my doing. I have to give credit where credit is due, Ms. Dawson and Mr. Otomo being willing test subjects and live, in-field data point providers definitely sorted out a lot of the kinks in the cogs." The flush of her cheeks at being called a guardian angel thankfully is hidden by the sun breaking through the thin layer of smoke haze in the skies. Sights set upon the Yamagato Industries building, they reach the end of the garden pathway and turn on to the pedestrian sidewalk.

"I'm glad to do it," Marlowe says quietly. The genuine tone winds around the statement, taking a more lighthearted twist as she adds, teasingly, "I believe you're worth the trouble."


February 28, 2021

“Enterprise”

Yamagato Industries Medical Wing - Cybernetics


Thomas Cooper is seeing red.

Against the sterile walls of Yamagato Industries' medical wing, the matte red suits of the surgical cybernetics installation team assigned to his operation are swirling around as if in a choreographed dance. While he is lying upon the steel operating table, the spoken Japanese is flying around in quick, slurring syllables together unlike any audible conversational lessons a Teach Yourself! Japanese could ever offer.

More importantly, though, there's no one there to translate unless he were to ask one of the staff. Marlowe Terrell is MIA. His guardian angel, as he had described her weeks ago, has not yet blessed the medical wing. To be fair, she's spent those weeks as busy as one might expect of a Director of Technology would be. Even so, her emoji-laden communications were consistent leading up to the big day. Assurance of her presence had been promised.

“Hey…” Cooper says from his spot on the table, head lifted from the flat pillow he had for his head. “Um… excuse me.” He tries to lift a hand to flag one of them down, but it’s strapped to a board with IVs and he ends up lifting it up.

“Mr. Cooper, you must lay still,” scolds one of the nurses, forcing his arm back down.

“Sorry… but… Where is….” Thomas starts, but the nurse is already back to their task. “Hey!” There was a knot of anxiety at his core. Marlowe had promised him she’d be there. He didn’t know these other folks. Finally, after attempting to get someone to talk to him, he finally shouts above the din. “HEY! WHERE IS MARL— I MEAN MS.TERRELL!?

The shout halts all activity and the noise hushes as every conversation and status check stops to attend to Cooper's outburst. Each of the medical team turns to the other, as if embarrassed for him rather than looking chastened by his demanding query.

"Mr. Cooper," the head surgeon tries to soothe in an accented but smooth flowing English. "Understand that you must be still, calm. Any extreme biochemical changes in your system could possibly hinder the procedure." He doesn't immediately answer on the whereabouts of the tech director, but turns to speak to what Cooper can only assume is the thin air around them.

And the air answers back, the Japanese more neutral robotic but unmistakeable. Jiba is present and accounted for. The surgeon shakes his head at the AI’s answer, apparently unhappy with it. Bedside manners take over and couple with culture politeness, and the doctor tells Cooper, “She is… delayed.” End of explanation. “Please, lie down.”

When it seems like Marlowe is truly about to stand the surgery up, the set of double doors leading into the operating room opens with a hiss of sterilizing spray and vacuuming ventilation. Another figure enters, but rather than the matte red medical suits, Marlowe is dressed in an engineering team grey and yellow jumpsuit bearing the Yamagato Industries patch on the shoulder. Her hair is up in a bun, covered with a red surgical cap matching the med team’s suits, and her face is partly covered in a white PPE mask. In her hands, a large black metallic briefcase is carefully set on a nearby table. She speaks quickly to the team surrounding Cooper, sounding particularly apologetic to the head surgeon and yet commanding in the next breath. Pre-operative activity resumes, but with a sense of relief around it.

Marlowe turns to Cooper, reaching for his hand but not disturbing it on the table. "I’m so sorry Thomas, I didn't mean to be so late after my meetings.” Trying to be reassuring and to help alleviate his anxiety, she adds with a lighter smile through her eyes. “But, to be fair, they couldn't really start this without me. And of course, without— that." Her head nods in the direction of the briefcase.

A nurse unlocks the shell and opens the lid, revealing the matte black curvature of the tailored cybernetic limb awaiting him. The literal next step.

There is so much relief when Marlowe sweeps into the room it’s palpable, the worry melts away into a more manageable level and allows for a smile.

When the case opens, Cooper’s eyes widen in appreciation and he gives a low whistle. “Imagine all the chicks I could pick up with that baby,” he jokes. “Or at least one, really pretty and super smart one.” That was not smooth at all Cooper… Of course, It might be the drugs starting to flow into his system that loosens his tongue and has him slurring his words a bit now.

He’ll groan about it later, no doubt.

Dropping his head back to the table to get the room to steady up again, Cooper hums the theme music for the Six Million Dollar Man. Or… he at least he thinks he is.

"I formally advise against picking up any human chicks until you've completely healed and undergone the standard regimen of tests to ensure integration went well," Marlowe says, a wryness in her tone. She then lightly boops a spot in the middle of his brow with her finger. "But I can make it so you can lift at least one… two… three…"

He doesn't hear the final notes of the intro he's humming.

She spares him the real sticker shock.

Muffled voices and soft beeps are the first things he comes back to when the anesthesia reversal drugs begin working their way through him. The lighting in the post-op and observation room is kept at an ambient glow while they await his return to wakefulness.

“«Heart rate a little up, but all vitals normal. He should wake soon.»” The nurse’s scolding tone has a calm, professional lilt when she’s not forcing him back on to the table.

“«Okay, thank you. I’ll stay with him.»” Marlowe’s note is taken as a dismissal to return to other duties, and the room quiets as the nurses leave. Only the sound of beeping and lightly hissing air pumps accompanying a rise in a sweet piano and saxophone melody before Billie Holiday’s voice starts in on These Foolish Things. Rather than being eased into a chair to wait, however, Marlowe leans over the matte sheen of the cybernetic leg exposed from the sheet in an inspection of the anchor point where machine meets flesh.

“Heeey, pretty laaady, you come here often?”

The words slur sluggishly from the head of the bed, where Cooper’s head wobbles across the pillow. Blinking hard and squinting at the blurry figure of Marlowe, he gives her a crooked smile. “How did I do coach? I still have a future in sports?”

After a moment, Thomas’ face scrunches up a bit in a grimace as the pain - even muddled - it aches. “Oooowwww.”

She wasn't expecting to be caught leaning so closely to him, but she recovers from the initial startle with a faintly sheepish smile at his groggy state. "Actually yes I do," Marlowe answers, straightening from his leg and moving over to the upper half of Cooper. "Well, I did for a time, when there were more reasons to." The vagueness leaves it up to him to speculate on why.

The humor remains as she reaches over to adjust an IV tube straying away. "I'm not going to lie to you, you took that like a champ. But it's going to take some Herculean efforts to get you back into fightin' shape."

His pained grimace softens her expression and grows seeds of concern for him. "Is everything okay? Are you feeling any extreme discomfort? Let me know if I need to adjust…" Her gaze trails back to the exposed leg, lingering upon the matte black surface as a number of possible, empirical issues spring to mind.

“M’fine,” Cooper murmurs, even if he is aching, pain killers can only mask so much, but he won’t admit it, not wanting to look like a total wuss. Reaching up, feeling the slight tug of the IV, he reaches for his head gingerly. “Just a little…” Whatever he was going to say is arrested at the feeling of the bandage there. Oh. He’d forgotten about that.

What he didn’t forget though, he sees peeking up over the top of the covers. Marlowe can hear his breath catch when he sees the metallic foot twitch slightly. Fingers dig into the covers and pull up enough to see the knee of it with wide eyes, knowing it was now attached to him. “That’s so SciFi, man,” he breathes out in awe.

Marlowe smiles up in her eyes, chin lifting a touch with pride at what she views to be a compliment to the work. The turn of her face to the cybernetic limb hides the flicker of worry that crosses it when she reaches over, fingers stretched to almost touch the cool black casing. The tips of her manicured nails hover then pull back slightly. "I hope you're happy with it," she says following the hesitant pause. "It's a bit late for buyer's remorse, at the moment."

Shrugging off some invisible doubts, she glances sidelong to Cooper's face, watching his expression, gaugingly. "In the coming weeks, we'll get to see how it works out. Make any finer adjustments. Talk about a maintenance plan." She looks like she'll go on, catching herself after another click of her tongue. "God, I sound like a guilty used car salesman. Which is hardly what all this is, isn't it?" A different question arises, unasked, but surfaces long enough to cause a nervous laugh and a clearing of her throat.

Eyes wide with wonder turn towards Marlowe, or as wide as they can get looking as doped up as Cooper is. “You kidding? This is amazing!” he declares words slurring slightly, “I mean… it was amazing before, but it’s different to actually see it attached to my leg.”

While she might not be looking directly at him, Cooper is sure looking at her. There is a rather school-boy-crush look on his face, at least until he realizes he’s staring and gives his head a little shake. Thoughts like too good for you and // above your station// flitting through his mind like a bucket of cold water.

Cooper does notice something in her expression and looks at his new leg. “Hey,” he reaches out to weakly grip her arm to pull her attention. “Seriously, Marlowe, thanks for the leg up.” His head tilts towards the leg in question, his eyes sparkling with barely contained amusement at his own lame joke. “Though I’ll have to rethink that pirate costume. Al might be disappointed he was going as my parrot.” It’s hard to tell if he’s joking or not.

The 'leg up' joke is just what is needed to break through the clouding doubts, blowing them away with a refreshing new laugh from Marlowe. She looks to the hand on her arm, then to back to Cooper's face as her hand oppositely moves from hovering over the cybernetic limb to covering his. Her fingers, at present unadorned with her usual metallic jewelry, slide lightly over his knuckles in a reassuring rub.

"You're already thinking of a costume? A little early to start on Halloween, no?" Marlowe glances up in calculating how many months are left to the spooktacular holiday season. It's still a ways off for sure. "I'm impressed you can get a guinea pig to sit on your shoulder for long enough to beg for crackers. Although, you do make a good case for a pirate costume. Could always reverse all this and leave you with a wooden peg leg for a month." She's teasing, though, Marlowe would never. Not to someone she liked.

“Pish tosh…” Cooper somehow manages to slur primly, “It’s never too early to consider your options. It’s my second favorite time of year.” Lids droop a little as the drugs start to pull him back under for some much needed rest and healing.

Just when it seems like he’s out for the count, Thomas suddenly breathes in deeply and forces his eyes open again, maybe it’s because of the hand on his or the thought he utters like a drunk man. “I know… I’ll go as Robocop. Maybe you can.. Be… Murph…y.” It’s debatable if she can hear that last bit as exhaustion from the big day wins over again quickly, though his hand briefly twitches a little tighter on her arm.

It isn’t long before his hand relaxes and Cooper starts softly snoring. No doubt he’ll be dreaming about robots and Lee Majors.


March 2, 2021

“First Contact”

Yamagato Industries Medical Wing - Post-Op Recovery Ward


“So how does it look?”

It was hard not to move with a beautiful woman leaning over him, her attention on the incision on his scalp. Thomas’ pale green eyes are focused hard on a point on the wall away from Marlowe, his hands in loose fists resting on his knees. He couldn’t help but find it weird to have one pliable while the other was a cool hard surface under the pant leg. “Do we get to start trying to walk now?” The question was so full of hope.

The weirdest thing yet might be the fact that the surface of the leg not only can be felt through fleshy fingertips, but that the cybernetic limb itself provides haptic feedback through the limb as well. He feels the leg, and the leg also "feels" the touch.

Cooper can also feel the rubber glove covering Marlowe's fingers as she's pushed up some strands of his hair to examine the stitched incision where the surgeons had used to go into and insert his neuro-implant. "I think it looks good," Marlowe replies after a few passing moments more. She straightens up from him, smiling in satisfaction that nothing looks out of place. "Well, once your hair's grown back in it'll cover up and look lovely. Then it'll be between you, your barber, and whoever you let get close enough to ruffle your hair."

She turns, peeling the gloves off to dispose of them nearby. Once done, she remains by the trashcan and glances back to the bed where Cooper sits. Her brows arch up, her smile twisting up further. "What would get you up and moving? Maybe if I told you I saw some snacks by the nurse's station?" Surely, donuts were not on the hospital's menu options for recovering post-op patients. But her tease is accompanied with a gesture for him to stand and approach. If he wanted.

When she turns back, Marlowe catches her patient reaching out and touching the leg. Poking a finger at it, his mouth is in a rather childlike ‘O’ shape. When he realizes he’s been caught, his face flushes a mild pink and he presses his lips together self consciously. It’s been long enough, yet he still can’t help but be awed at the sensation.

“I dunno…. A walk with a pretty doctor? That’d be motivation enough for me,” Thomas jokes, even as he pulls his feet off the rests and onto the ground.

“Though… a good donut would be a close second.” Cooper gives her that cheeky grin, before shifting to push himself to feet. He doesn’t put pressure on the leg at first, Marlowe can see a flicker of uncertainty. But slowly, he shifts his weight and a smile grows as more pressure is put on the leg.

When Cooper looks at Marlowe it is in triumph. He was standing on two legs again. “It’s like I neverrrr…. Oh crap!…” The moment he tries to take a step, the knee of the leg buckles and he drops rather clumsily back into the wheelchair. While many might be discouraged, Thomas can’t help, but break out into a laugh.

Marlowe gives the man a wry smile, watching his awe to the haptic feedback linked with the prosthetic leg. "Well, damnit Thomas, I'm not a doctor or a physician. Mental note, attempt failed to produce desired result," she replies lightly and 'doctor'ly. Her lightheartedness fades in favor of focus as she watches unassisted Cooper's standing motion. Initial success gets a wider, pleased smile from her.

The surge of confidence and expectations quickly flips to concern and shock as soon as she sees his first step, the tilt, the fall. Marlowe's reach is too slow to stop him from it, but thankfully the wheelchair is there to catch him. For a moment, her heart has leapt up into her throat. "Are you okay?!" She rushes the couple of steps, closing distance from the trash can to the chair.

But then, he laughs. Her fussing concern doesn't disappear, but subsides into a befuddled sort of half-baked release of a faint chuckle. Marlowe bends to a knee, her hand immediately moving to his leg to check for any issues with its structure, its functions. He can feel her hand traveling across its cool surface, starting at the ankle joint, sliding up to the knee.

Oh lord! Being able to feel her fingers on that leg is too much, the laughing quickly stops as awareness settles in. Luckily, he manages not to flush, cause yeah… that felt too nice.

To stop it, before he embarrasses himself, Cooper’s hand intercepts hers, scooping them up to hold. “I’m okay, Marlowe,” he assures her gently, the amusement and mirth was still there under the surface. “I was just thinking about when Ellen was learning to walk… I must look like a fool falling like some toddler taking their first steps. She’d totally be laughing at me too.”

Her hands are given a tug upward as determination settles back in, “Come on. I’m determined to get that walk with you while I can.” Because, one day Cooper will be rehabbed and ready to get back to work… then when would he get a chance to talk to her.

Her fears of malfunction allayed and hand arrested, Marlowe looks up when his hand stops hers. Belatedly she realizes, too, what it must look like to have her first reaction be a feel-up. "Ah, right, good," is all she manages under the weakened smile. Again, she pushes to her feet and grips his hand in hers. "Yes, let's try it again. At the very least, we can go see what the nurses are sneaking in." Awkward embarrassment replaces with mirroring his determined expression. She nods once to indicate she's ready to help support him.

"Okay? And one, two…"


March 14, 2021

“The Trouble With Dribbles”

Yamagato Industries Gymnasium


Two weeks since the operation and the physical therapy has been intense. Yamagato's cybernetics and medical teams are polite and accomodating, driven to provide the best results and absolute success with the man's prosthetic leg. But with their mutual schedules being quite busy, it seems like Cooper's chance to meet up with Marlowe again is slim. He'd barely seen her after the recovery period, once or twice, but in the company of doctors and nurses and tech teams to ensure his receipt of the Calceus limb was smoothly transitioned. As it is, he's sat down in a comfortably sized physical therapy room with the expectation that one of the trainers will be in shortly to guide him through his examination and exercises.

A small, pleasant chime alerts the door of the room is opening, then it slides open with a pneumatic hiss to admit the latest arrival. Marlowe appears clad in a grey sleeveless sports bra top and black shorts bearing the Yamagato logo artfully patterned down the right side, and the woman walks in with a twirl of a sweat towel ready in her hand. "Cooper! Are you ready for this?" she dares him, eyes twinkling and her face, not done up with the usual makeup with nevertheless somehow shining. Or maybe it's the small stud earrings, visible because of her hair being done up in a top bun, sparkling under the bright lights.

There is a brightness in the look Cooper turns her way, like a dog seeing his favorite human after a day apart, which is mirrored in the smile that breaks out when he sees that it is her. “Marlowe! Hey… Hi…” The greeting is sputtered out as he rises to his feet, awkward as always. At least he’s standing with far more grace than last time. “I mean.. I was before, but this is a pretty great surprise. I’m freakin’ pumped now.”

The agent wasn’t dressed as nice as she was, with his black basketball shorts, with a blue stripe up the sides and a teal tank top with a cat with a headband saying Check Meowt. His hair is tousled like he’d been in a rush and the hair of his beard might be laying a bit flatter on one side. Clearly, he’d been running late.

“You look….” Cooper suddenly realizes she’s dressed down in a way he's never seen her before “….Amazing. Been trying to get ahold of you, but they keep telling me you were swamped.” He’s working very hard to keep eyes up. On her beautiful face.

"Aww, thank you! And you look… rested," Marlowe replies with a short laugh after having caught sight of what he's wearing. Her grin turns crooked, then a little more sly as she reaches out to try and encourage the bent bits of beard to sit more symmetrically. It doesn't work out that well.

But speaking of working out. "It's kind of too smokey outside to go on a run, but hey that's what the indoor gym's for, right?" She winds the towel around the back of her neck, hands hanging on either side. "How's about a little one-on-one at the half court? You up for it? Do you, in fact, got game?" An added edge wraps around her tone, friendly challenge present in her invitation to competition. This was definitely not going to be an ordinary, boring jog on a treadmill.

That attempt to fix Cooper’s beard makes the man very self-conscious, but the simple gesture also amuses him. His mildly embarrassed smirk pulls to one side and he runs his hand over the long rough hairs himself. Not that it does any good. But he also looks down at the mismatch of clothes, especially, the shorts that not only showed off his new leg, but the heavy fresh scarring of the one leg that survived.

“I… ah… forgot to set the alarm,” Thomas admits sheepishly, looking up at her and scratching the back of his neck, then brushing that hand over his hair too.

Her challenge though… There is a flicker of worry that plays over his features. Running was one thing, playing basketball needed a lot more grace. Sudden stops, twists, and such. “Sure! Warning though… I’ll whoop your butt.” He doesn’t sound confident, but he is trying. But then he gets an idea and his smile turns a touch impish, “And let's make it interesting… The loser buys the winner dinner.”

Marlowe had made the challenge with a confident gleam in her eye, but the offering of a wager sharpens the glimmer's intensity. "Loser buys dinner? Hmmm…" She's making a show of considering him, looking the man up and down exaggeratedly before she settles into a disarming grin. "You're on." With her agreement, she gestures for him to follow and off they go out from the therapy rooms to the company's spacious gymnasium.

As much as there are futuristic elements within the architecture, including the scoreboard that Marlowe sets up through a short series of taps on her work tablet, the actual basketball court hasn't changed. "The boards were salvaged, revarnished before installation," she says whilst she neatly folds her towel on their sideline bench. After a few minutes taken to stretch - they're being safe about it after all - she then picks up the ball and passes it from hand to hand before she tosses it to Cooper, inviting him to be the first on the attack.

Even though he still admiring the refurb job, he still manages to catch the ball deftly with both hands. “Pretty nice place…” Cooper says giving another look around, while he starts to lazily dribble the ball. “Not bad at all.”

Cooper takes a few side steps across the court, watching her move with him. There is a confidence to that shit-eating grin he now wears, he clearly thinks he can win this… maybe.

Or he’s bluffing.

Suddenly, in a burst of action, Cooper moves one way in a fake and then jerks the other way, twisting around Marlowe's slim body. It gives him a perfect opening to try for a layup. As he - with tongue out mind you - jumps up to try and toss it in, he finds himself misjudging the strength of the new leg.

Instead of a nice bank off the backboard and into the net, the extra strength throws off his aim. The ball hits the very center of the square and bounces back out into the court. Cooper meanwhile comes down with a bit of a stumble, looking rather embarrassed for that blunder.

Cooper gives the appendage an annoyed glare, even as he moves into defense mode. “Okay, robot leg, lets get on the same fricken page here.”

Shoes squeaking along said gym floor, Marlowe at first doesn't look as serious as she could be in defending against his dribbling. She's watching, arms out and waiting for him to make the first move. When he fakes her out and spins around her guard, she's caught off it and turns to catch up. Only by the power of his cybernetic leg throwing off his shot does she exhale in relief. It comes out as a laugh of mild sympathy. Marlowe gets the rebound, retreating a few steps back to the top of the key.

"Nice moves you got there," Marlowe says with a couple more dribbles. "Guess I forgot to mention the extra oomph you might get from the reinforcement there… my bad." Her grin grows again. She's not really sorry about that feature. After a partial double fake to move forward, Marlowe doesn't approach the net at all, but steps back to jump and shoot for a quick two-point shot off the backboard and in. She holds her hands out as if to say 'oop, I did it again!' and encourages him to retrieve the ball and attempt another move on her.

If anyone wasn’t expecting moves from their opponent, it’s Cooper. His jaw drops a little while watching the ball drop through the net. He can’t help but let out a low whistle, after snagging the ball on the bounce. “The smart chick’s got game. Respect.”

Then he’s off, sneakers squeaking on the highly polished gym floor as he tries to put some distance to try for a new shot. This forces Marlowe to work her defense, between that and faking her out a few times. Though his new leg’s hardware is integrating well, it’s obvious he will need more agility training. When he suddenly changes directions (yet again), his foot doesn’t move just right, the toe catching on the floor, making him stumble a couple of steps to regain his balance.

To cover it up, Cooper makes a sloppy throw at the end of it. Unfortunately, the ball bounces off the backboard, just outside the square…. It’s a miss. Watching the ball bounce away, he wipes at the sweat beading on his forehead, making the longer strands cling to it. “I on the other hand… do not have game,” he says with a self-depriating laugh. “My Exes would agree.”

Marlowe isn't afraid to put in the work. As Cooper dribbles the ball beyond her reach, she briefly eases off her defensive pressure when the next fake out does its job. Her zag to his zig leaves an opening. But when his shoe toe catches on the polished floor and she can hear the leg working to keep the man upright, she doesn't wind up blocking his sloppy shot attempt. Though she turns to watch the ball sail overhead and bounce off, the woman is slow to make a move to retrieve it. Concern briefly crosses her features, then is dashed away with a chortle. "Already mentioning the exes? Come on, Cooper. No 'ex'-cuses," she says and turns to scoop up the runaway ball and returns to the top of the arc to reset them.

"But if you're going to go there first," Marlowe says with a teasing crooked smile while dribbling the ball similar to how he had done earlier, "I'll play. Worst date experience: he spent the whole time talking about cars and how women couldn't drive, even though I was the one driving. Then he said he wanted to meet up with his friends because 'I need them to know you're real'." The anecdote serving as a distracting bit of head games, she switches up her offensive moves. Instead of pressing forth, Marlowe falls back just past the three-point line and takes the shot. The ball arcs down, sweeping cleanly through the net without touching the rim. She barks out a triumphant 'ha!' with a fist pump.

The ball is caught as soon as it leaves the net and Cooper dribbles it down the court while he impishly plays her game. “Well, Ex-cuuuuse me, Miss Badass, for bringing up such an un-Ex-ceptable topic during such an Ex-ellence game where you are doing an Ex-ceptional job kicking my butt.”

Standing just past the key, Cooper dribbles there giving her an odd look. “Your taste in men is almost as bad as mine in women.” He sounds both sympathetic and amused. “Me… I married my worst experience… Total cliche… Vegas, drinking, and marrying my stripper girlfriend. Who took all my money and snorted it up her nose.”

Cooper stops dribbling, standing there looking at the hoop with a frown. After a moment he gives himself a little shake and gives her an apologetic smile. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be bringing up exes,” he gives a self-deprecating laugh and takes off. Running across the court, dribbling the ball, he grins with wild determination. “Let’s see what this leg can do.”

What is he thinking?

Not far from the hoop, Cooper takes one last step and grabs the ball. Then using his new leg he manages to launch himself high enough to reach the rim of the net and dunk it in. Completely surprised at what he’s just done, he almost forgets to grab the rim. He hangs there swinging for a second and then drops, actually, landing on his feet.

Thomas looks completely shocked.

Then suddenly his arms are in the air, his expression triumphant! He was losing, but he didn’t care! “WOO! White men can jump! With assistance, but I totally did it!”

Peering curiously at Cooper's shift from puns to past follies, Marlowe is left with a half-smile lingering once he's composed himself from the memory. "It does ex-plains some things, but you're right," she lobs back at him with an underlying agreement to drop the subject. She's readying for a replay of his prior tactics, but then when he leaps over her, she backs up with eyes wide and mouth open.

Then she remember to pick her jaw up off the metaphorical floor, and breaks into a quick jog over. Her smile is huge. "Whoa! Who the hell knew you had that in you? That was awesome, Thomas."

“Sure as heck didn't,” Cooper admits with an incredulous laugh at his good fortune.

Accompanying her enthused tone comes a smattering of applause from behind them both as a small audience of other Yamagato employees has filtered in at the other end of the courts for their own exercise time. Marlowe turns and waves at them before going to retrieve the ball. "Okay Mr. Bird," she says when returns and resets, "time to get serious, hm?" Dinner, after all, is on the line.

It's not as easy in her next attack. Marlowe fakes a few times in both directions, but pulls back as Cooper keeps pace defensively. With his height advantage, she seeks to negate it by getting up close and forcing his position to back up while she edges closer to the rim. A couple of times there's an opportunity for him to steal or knock the ball away, but she protects the ball well enough to finally turn around him and take a shot around his blocking hands. The ball scrapes off the board, off the rim, and rolls in through the net. "One more and you'll owe me dinner," Marlowe warns teasingly.

Lazily dribbling the ball back to the half court while giving the crowd a wave, Thomas takes a moment to grin over his shoulder at Marlowe. He knows he’s beat, but won’t show it. “Wow, you sound rather confident in my imminent demise at the hands of one of the loveliest and smartest scientists Yamagato has to offer?”

Turning to face her and the net some distance behind her, Thomas puts on his game face, “But I know for a fact, I have a sure fire way to stay in the game. I only need three points and I can do that in one move.” By the sudden shift in his stance, it is clear he’s preparing for a Hail Mary throw from half court.

“Get ready to go into overtime, Miss Terrell,” Cooper brags as he takes the ball in both hands, and with a small hop to help his momentum, he throws the ball.

"Flattery will get you many places," Marlowe laughs lightly as she sways in her defensive stance, "but I do have to correct you that I'm an engineer." The lovely and the smart parts, well those she leaves alone and doesn't debate.

Once he signals his intention to huck the ball from the half court line, Marlowe holds up her hands to show she's going to let him do so unopposed. Anticipation builds. She sucks in a breath as he releases the ball, follows the arc and… winces slightly when the basketball bounces off the backboard but doesn't go in. Disappointment slips into her expression for a few seconds, but then she remembers to grab the rebound and her final shot - an easy layup - to end the game with her victory.

Marlowe returns to Cooper's side with the ball and smiles warmly to the man. "That was actually pretty close," she says of the long shot. "I'll admit I was a little bit worried. So." So. The smile on her face turns crooked as she hands the ball to him to carry. "Do you have any allergies you didn't tell the medical team about?"

Taking the ball from Marlowe, Cooper gives her a bit of a lop-sided smile. He tosses the ball lazily from one hand to the other as he looks at the net. People on the sidelines are standing up from the bleachers, glancing their way and talking quietly amongst themselves.

“Yeah, I think I would have been shocked if it went in,” he admits as he turns to go, waiting just long enough for her to join him.

Halfway across the court towards the door, a sharp whistle and a “Hey!” has Cooper turning back to find the group that had been watching them was taking to the court. One of the men holds up a hand like he’s holding a ball, the other pointing to it.

“Oh!” Cooper holds up the ball and gets a confirming nod. “Sure!” He calls out. He could just roll it across the court to the players or walk it back. Instead, Thomas takes a moment to line up one more shot and lobs the ball across the court. He doesn’t even wait to see what happens, turning back to his conversation with Marlowe, offering her an arm in a rather gentlemanly fashion. “No allergies… that I know of.”

While he escorts Marlowe towards the door, behind them is a collective gasp as the ball falls to earth again and…

Right through the net. Whoosh.

“Just on principle I don’t eat coconut… It's just gross,” Cooper adds with a wrinkle of his nose, lifting his voice to be heard over the explosion of excited chatter behind them.


March 15, 2021

“Kobayashi”

Fort Jay & Yamagato Park


T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 3:33 pm
Hey! I got some possibly bad news.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 3:33 pm
Oh wait… I’m supposed to

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 3:34 pm
👋 🔥👩🏽‍🔬. 👎📰@👔.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 3:34pm
I hope I got that right. 😟

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 16:48
Hey u! 💖 sry I was 🔒⚙️🏢
neway 😁 wassup rock 🌟
finally ready for 🏀 rematch 🦿man?

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 16:49
wait 🛑🛑🛑
uh oh 🤨🥺

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 16:49
Bad news? What is it, Thomas?

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:50pm
Locked out of your building? Oh no! I know how to pick 🔒! Don’t tell anyone! 🤫

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:50pm
Oh. Wait. Ellen translated.🤪 It’s all good! 👍 I could wait for you all ☀️ and 🌙, 🔥👩🏽‍🔬.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:50pm
It’s 🤐. But I’m going ✈️ to 🕵️ and my bosses want to know if you think me and my 🦿 is good enough for the field.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:51pm
OMG!! 😲😲😲😲 Ellen just showed me the 🍩 emoji… needs more 🌈tho.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:51pm
🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩🍩. 🤣 So cool!

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 16:53
😆💖 full agree! 🍩👍👍⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💭 🤔 no trouble with the 🦿? it's fine for ✈️
harsh environment 🌡️ tests of all components already done
🔥 / ❄️feedback still might need minor adjust 🤔
u think ur ready for it? go for it! ✊🏼
keep the 🔋 charged if u feel it’s slow
shouldn’t b
Shinjiteiru, Thomas. I believe in you.

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 16:54
😆 if that is the bad news…
Is that the bad news?

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 4:57pm
👎📰 for me. Means less ⏱️with 🫵🏻. I was 😃🦥, even if it was just for my🦿. You are a fun person to be around and kinda get me.

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 5:01pm
So…. I… was wondfntr984thsoi

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 5:01pm
Sorry. Ellen bumped me and I dropped the phone, oops! Anyhow, I hope I am not overstepping some line in the sand, but… Maybe when I get back we can go get ☕ or maybe 👗👔🍲👫.

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 17:02
🤭wwww
suuure, blame Ellen ✨😜

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 17:04
but Thomas
if this u askin me out
for ☕
right b4 u ✈️?
📅👎🏾😔💔
tsk tsk
this aint Casablanca
leave a girl wanting more tactics
are so 👴🏫
im no 🌹 to ur 👨🏻‍⚕️
u 💭 wut i mean?

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 17:04
that said
the answer
will have 2 wait
til u 🛬back in 🗽

M. Terrell
月 3月15日 17:06
come see me b4 you ✈️, 🍩
and u better miss me
at least as much as ur 🧞🐷
😊😉😘

T.Cooper
Mon, Mar 15, at 5:09pm
🚫❓ there. 🔥👩🏾‍🔬>🧞🐷 🤫🤫🤫 Don’t let him know. 😉
See you soon. 🍩 out.
🥰


April 13, 2021

“To Boldly Go”

Yamagato Park Gardens


“I wish I could tell you more about it, the downside of working for a government agency, I guess,” Cooper says as they walk along the same path Marlowe once wheeled him along. It felt like ages ago, even if it had been a few short months… and yet…. It also felt like not enough time.

Unlike last time, Thomas walked beside her on two legs, even though one of them made soft noises as he walked. She made that happen, too. He felt weirdly awkward, with one hand shoved into the pocket of his slacks, the other scratches at his furry jaw. Text and cute emojis were one thing… Face to face with the Yamagato super star was another.

“Glad we got to talk again before I leave tomorrow,” Cooper adds, fumbling on small talk, grasping for a topic, so he could linger longer. “Cause, I didn’t tell you… but I got asked if I wanted to be SESA Liaison for Yamagato.”

"Hey, I work for a multinational global enterprise too, so you don't need to tell me twice." Striding beside the SESA agent, Marlowe is the opposing picture from Cooper with her day's uniform of a business suit that mimics the shades of grey borne in the company logo, accompanied by a pop of baby blue in the blouse under the jacket and her golden hoop earrings swaying with each step. She's not nervous, at least nothing that he could properly tell. Her response isn't callous either, but an attempt to ease him.

When he mentions the offered position of being the government agency's liaison to hers, though, it's Marlowe's turn to seems awkward and silently grasp for a response. The glittery, red encased tablet she clutches in one hand is brought up to her chest as her pace slows slightly. "Do you know what that entails? Are you thinking about accepting?" she asks, her look up to him half-hoping for one answer, half-expecting another. "How much more paperwork are you willing to put up with?" Said paperwork would come over digitally, of course. There's a underlying tone to the query that suggests she might not be talking about paperwork at all.

Cooper’s pace shortens when she slows and his robotic knee clicks softly as he shifts his stance and stops. “I mean… I would be lying if I didn’t say it’s tempting and I can put up with a lot of paperwork…” He studies her, trying to really read her reaction. His smile hitches up in that lop-sided, boyish grin of his. “This place is pretty rad with all that cool tech and bonus points for having the coolest person working for them. It’d be a pretty sweet gig.”

Glancing back at the looming buildings of Yamagato, the smile falters a little at the edges. “Plus, a HR nightmare like me doesn't get a lot of chances like this. But…” Thomas drawls out, looking back at the beauty next to him. “I love field work and helping those, like you and Ellen.”

Leaning over and lowering his voice, Cooper admits rather sheepishly, “And let's face it, I don't think I could be impartial here anymore,” his head ducks down self consciously, pale eyes cutting away like he’s almost afraid to look at her after that admission and straightens. Clearing his throat, he moves to start them walking again. “You know… at… at least not with you working here.”

Marlowe takes half a second to restrain an amused laugh before she catches up to his stride. "Well thank you for your honesty. Listen, I'm not telling you how to live your life, Thomas Cooper. But I will say with fair warning, the position of a liaison isn't for anyone either. And, I…" Her smile wanes a touch as she looks to his face with a softened regard, taking in the pale eyes, the youthful qualities to the light in them. The words she originally would have said pull back.

"It's not about being impartial. You'd need to still be working with 'SESA first' mentality, just with the added complicated beast that Yamagato is," she directs instead. "It's very different from field work, but still a battleground. Some fights it'll seem impossible to choose." Especially now, given the politics and changes happening. Marlowe's expression shifts to one of worry for the man. Ultimately she shakes her head to ward away the cloud of concern.

"Did your bosses at least tell you how long you'd have to be out of country?" she asks, "Or is that also classified?" Manicured fingernails tap on the tablet, lighting up the screen with the Yamagato Industries logo as a lock screen before it's swiped away in favor of background with a meme text that states: ENGINEERS TURN COFFEE INTO BUILDINGS. It's briefly visible before she taps a calendar scheduling app with several colorful coded blocks of meetings or other reminder data.

“A week at most,” Thomas says after a moment of thought, glancing at the tablet in her hands. His smile softens a little. It's the little things that get him… like glittery tablet cases and Star Trek references. “It’s hard to tell with these things.”

When the calendar comes up, he slows up and slips around behind her and comes up on her other side. “Is that a calendar?” Cooper says. “Does this mean coffee is a go when I get back?” He’s like a little kid, all wide eyed and hopeful.

Before she can answer, Cooper’s pocket gives off the whoop of a police siren. He looks mildly annoyed, Marlowe would recognize the ringtone for work. Instead of ignoring it, he pulls out his cellphone to see what they wanted. He stops in his tracks and holds a finger up. “Actually, hold that thought.”

Now Thomas is like a downtrodden kid when he looks up from his phone and gives her a mournful look. Why didn’t he just ignore it? “I gotta go. Work’s calling.”

The prospect of only a week's time away brings Marlowe's hopefulness back to the forefront of her expression, tempered with a quirked smile when Cooper asks after her app. She's already started to input a couple of items in said app, but the alert of his phone pauses her fingers briefly on the date confirmation.

"Damnit Uncle Sam, worst timing ever," Marlowe laments softly. Her finger finishes the creation of a new event named with emoji rather than any sort of detail. She's blocked a time out for ☕🍩🈯. "There. Now you've got a new reason to make it back in one piece," she says with a tone of finality. Her smile twists into a wry tease as she secures the tablet away. "Come on then, Agent Cooper," she encourages as they turn away from the looming company buildings and towards a street that will take them to a exit point. "I'll see you out."


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