capeandcowllogs | First Lesson

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First Lesson

WHO: Dr. Drakken and Pokey Minch
WHERE: Drakken's secret lair
WHEN: Tonight (5/9)
WARNINGS: Probably none
SUMMARY: Dr. Drakken decides to give Pokey an impromptu lesson in mad science following Shego's death.
FORMAT: Whatever

To a point, the actual severity of the reason for his lesson somewhat escaped Pokey. He understood that it was bad that someone died; even if he was a jerk, he didn't want to see people get killed. Worse, the current death was a friend of his current teacher, which probably meant he'd have to find some way to dull down his usual enthusiastically obnoxious personality. Which was a nearly Herculean task, but if it meant he was going to be taught something, and probably going to even get to work on robots, it was worth it.

Still, it was hard to be somber like he was supposed to when getting to learn science. He'd have to at least try, though, as the last thing he wants to do is irritate one of the few people who'd offer to actually teach him further in his trade.

He looked around at the lab in wonder. Despite having been the main financial backer for it, he hadn't been down often, and it still amazed him whenever he got to enter it. Taking a small swallow as he looked in admiration at the lair, he called out, "Hey, Doctor Drakken? You in here?"

Despite his quiet tone of voice, the lab was big enough it caused it to echo throughout.

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Drakken is there, but he is preceded by a pair of his heavy-duty syntho-drones marching by, carrying a large crate between them. They pass Pokey without even noticing him. Or perhaps just ignoring him.

Then Drakken appears, wiping his laboratory gloves on a rag.

"Ah, Pokey. Welcome back. The lair is nearly complete, as you can see. Good location you found us, too. Coastal, plenty of escape routes. And excellent underwater views in the suites."

Pokey's only there partially at Drakken's greeting. His attention, as it is, is fully drawn by the drones. Maybe they didn't notice him, but damn if he isn't noticing them. He lets out a small, childishly impressed "Wow" at the sight of them, not paying Drakken any mind until the robots have passed the corner and out of sight.

Turning to his current teacher, Pokey shook his head and smirked, "Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good place too. What can I say? I got an eye for location of real estate." He took a look over his shoulder before asking, "...Did you make them all by yourself?"

He waves them away as if unimportant.

"The syntho-drones? The henchmen we've been hiring are fine, but I need some muscle whose loyalty I can count on. Besides, I've got the formula for their synthetic innards memorized."

He taps his head, which leaves behind a spot of grease he removes with an annoyed gesture.

"Now they were an interesting project. I needed strength, but also mobility - something I couldn't get with traditional metal robots. That is part of the 'function dictates form' lesson I mentioned to you before. Remember that. I got the fighting agility and strength I required, but it cost me in terms of durability. They aren't bulletproof."

Pokey put a hand to his chin as he thought on Drakken's words for a moment. "So you're going to have to make compromises with design then too, right? You have to decide what's more important in the machine and go with that, but you can't just put everything on it and hope it works."

He thinks a minute more before tilting his head curiously, "Do you only have one model of them? Wouldn't it make sense to make different models? Like ones with less mobility but are bullet proof, or is that simply confusing the formula for it too much?"

He nods.

"That is easy enough to do. Frankly, I just just stitch kevlar onto the ones I've already got for a slight loss of mobility. They were originally designed to go up against Kim Possible - an extremely agile opponent. These ones are second-generation - a more durable skin. Turns out there've been some advances in bullet-resistant fabrics since I turned out the first ones."

He walks to a large drafting table, with blank blueprints and drafting paper on it. He turns back to Pokey.

"And you always have to make compromises with design. Sure, you improve them after the fact - that's why so many machines have sub-types - but the initial design is usually about balance if you want something that is useful in more than one situation."

A thought seems to strike him.

"Reminds me. Giant robots. Sure, they're intimidating and powerful - and look pretty darn cool - but make them with treads. Legs? Not a good idea. Easily tripped, and you waste half the torso installing responsive balancing equipment."

Pokey listens to intently, looking at the paper with interest as he tries to think. He's excited and nervous and scared at the same time. "So, then, if you what about if you wanted to make a robot specifically built for speed and/or stealth? Not necessarily a combatant, but a reconnaissance or spy robot?"

He tears off a piece of the drafting paper to start doodling. The first one he draws is a small animal looking robot, almost rat-like. "I mean, one would be a kind of quadruped model, and that would allow for better stealth and a more animal-like design, if you form it well enough people won't think as much of it. It'd be slower than it should be, but less noticeable."

The next doodle is significantly quicker, and seems to be a simple orb. "Or would this be better? It'd be aerodynamic and quicker than the quadruped, but people would notice it easier since it's so far out of the norm and people are more likely to take notice of it."

He taps the pencil on the table as he asks, "I mean, which would be the better model idea? Am I getting this at all?"

He smiles, nodding. He used to approach it exactly like this once upon a time. He's certainly got the right idea.

"You're on the right track - but you have to think internally, not externally. The external shell comes later. You can make it look like anything."

He takes Pokey's drawing, however, and places it at the top of the drawing board. Then, he begins to sketch out a hind leg mechanism.

"Think...about how it will move. Robots are just like humans, they need to have bones and sinews."

He points out the specifics. "So the metal struts are the bones, and the ball and socket joints allow pivoting..."

Pokey almost feels a small sense of pride at seeing his doodles being displayed. He was used to any plans he made just getting tossed away or being berated for them. Actually seeing one being kept in one piece was exhilarating.

Looking at Drakken's own drawing, he put a hand around his mouth as he stared down, thinking. Slowly, he finally ventured, "So, then, would the wires and crap be like the veins, carrying electric current and power? And the other mechanical parts being like the muscles to measure how intense movement is? But, I guess, the most important thing is that you need to measure just how much there is, since you need to make sure it's appropriate for the size? Like, you need to measure just how much it can move, or the ways it can move, based around the internal mechanisms?"

He looked to Drakken, seeing if he approved of the conclusion he was trying to draw.

He grins, patting him on the head.

"Got it in one, Pokey, got it in one."

He expands on the drawing a bit, attaching the read legs to a central backbone.

"It helps that we know this is going to be small, for reconnaissance. The basic metal we use determines how much stress it can take. This wouldn't survive a ten storey fall, but it'll get from A to B."

He points to Pokey's original drawing.

"The benefit to the small design is we don't need to install anything to hide it more than it naturally can hide itself. Meaning there's a lot of redundant systems we can cut out to save weight."

He adds in some basic power wires, and also a central power battery in the 'belly' of the thing.

"This will actually have more range of motion than the animal equivalent. The best part about ball-and-socket joints? Quick rotation."

"I think I get it." Pokey responded happily. He'd never really thought about it before, but it made a lot of sense. In his childish eagerness, external design had always topped efficiency. He was an intelligent child, but easily excitable and prone to making idiotic design choices. But with the aid of the more experienced scientist, he was beginning to get a fundamental idea of what he should be doing.

"Then, I guess, it would make sense that the design might be more rear-heavy than front heavy too. The back legs are usually the ones that dictate the movement for a lot of quadrupeds, so they'll need more attention. At the same time, since it's meant just for surveillance, you wouldn't have to really worry about putting any real defense mechanisms on it. Like, it'd be cool if it had razor teeth and junk, but it's superfluous, and could take take room away from installing other stuff that could be used to actually increase its potential for surveillance systems."

"So, I guess, a lot of the most important internal parts will be centered in the back and center, and the front will probably be a lot lighter in that department."

He grins.

"Precisely! Though, in this case, we can do something a little different."

He sketches out an arched spinal column, connecting to smaller frontal legs. Then, underneath, he draws a simple square attached to runners.

"And this weight can be slid forward and back to help balance the structure. Meaning, in effect, we can maintain the balance automatically. Since it only has one function, the circuitry to control the movement is relatively simple."

And he draws out a tail, made of interconnected metal rings.

"And the tail helps us even more as a result. Now, with the basic form ready, we can build the main power unit into the head and attach the surveillance gear directly to that."

Pokey grinned ear from ear as he watched the robot come together. At times, he was afraid it would turn out to be boring, but plotting like this...it was honestly fun. It didn't bother him that he had even forgotten the tail, at least for a moment, though he knew it should have.

"Then I guess it becomes a question as to what surveillance gear we install in it. Installing a recorder would be simpler and take less room, but it has the fault that if we lose the robot, we lose whatever it could see forever. A direct uplink, however, while taking up more room would make sure we could see whatever it sees immediately."

He tilted his head a bit, hand to his chin. "...Shouldn't we think about the design of the feet too? After all, we need to consider what surfaces it's going to go over. I mean, if we're going with the small and rat-like design, we could build a lot easily and put them in several places in the city too. Like, it wouldn't usually seem like a great idea to put something in a sewer, but actually observing the sewers could give you a good idea of the basic design and structure of the city."

His grin spreads. He was hoping he'd catch onto that last point. He responds, however, in order.

"It might be worth considering adding a belly-based system for deploying small recording devices, though again we'd lose a little bit of agility. And you're right on the money with direct uplink - the benefit being we can run the antenna into the tail - it'll be both protected and conveniently stored."

"Alright, Pokey - what would you recommend for the feet? What factors do we need to consider for something in a moist environment that has to be stealthy?"

"Huh, I hadn't even thought of using the tail as the antenna, but it makes sense." Pokey replied chirpily.

He tapped his chin slightly, finally deciding to think out loud as he puzzled it out. "Well, it's going to need some kind of smooth traction that'll help it avoid slipping and sliding. You could pad the feet, but that'd be a bit much. ..Maybe some type of micro-fiber could be put on the feet to help it keep it's footing? It would also be a good idea to end the toes in small claws like they would be in a real rat. The claws'll increase its grip."

"Score one for Pokey for suggesting claws."

He rubbed his hands together, then started to draw them.

"And we can actually cheat a little with the pads. We can get the deadening effect and the traction with one simple material - felt."

He went on, waving his hand as he narrated.

"There was this one battle. The Mongols were taking on some enemy and they thought they were safe because they had ice on their flanks, but the Mongols added felt to their horses' shoes and thundered across into their lines in full order and demolished them."

He taps his head.

"Sometimes, you can cheat a little and use cheap materials with just as much effect. You wouldn't believe how much money a little bit of tape or foam padding saves you while still being effective."

"Really?" Pokey squinted his eyes a bit. "I never really thought of doing that. I guess I thought that if you're going hi-tech, go all the way. Like it would diminish it or something to use simpler materials. But I guess that makes a lot of sense to do that, really."

He thought for a minute before smirking up at the scientist, "You know, when you first got ported in, I thought you were kinda a goober. I guess I was wrong about that. You're actually making this interesting cause, I gotta admit, I got a short attention span a lot of the time."

He tilted his head slightly and asked, "...Was it fun? Back where you're from? 'cause you said you had a real rival and everything."

He put the pencil down, sort of staring off into a far distance that wasn't there.

"Oh, it was. The thrill of it. Every day was us versus the world, walking the razor's edge. And yeah, sure, we got thwarted but you know what? We almost won nearly every time. Possible had to get lucky every single time - we got so close so many times!"

He focused again, picking up the pencil.

"But those days are gone now, can't have them back. Time to look to the future. Oh, and I always have the same thing. You just want to get to the next idea, the next plan, the next act of creation. Hah, all you can do to keep focused on the task at hand. Which is why I treat every little part as its own little victory."

Pokey looked in wonder as the doctor described his previous life. "Still, it just sounds really cool. Like, I only ever had one scheme before this and...really, it wasn't all that fun, thinking back on it. It's kinda hard to have fun when you're scared of the thing you're working for the whole time."

He quickly snaps into a smirk. "So you were talking about how we were going to work on improving your syntho-drones, right? So what kinda plans do you have?"

"They've got this stuff now, a sort of weave where each strand works like kevlar. They actually make suits of it now. We'll be putting that to better use. Should give enhanced durability without any appreciable loss of dexterity."

He finishes off the surveillance gear on the head of the drawing, and leans back, inspecting it.

"Hah! What do you think? Looks like it'll work just fine to me!"

Pokey looked it over for a minute, scratching the side of his cheek for a moment. "It looks pretty good, but do you think we have room in their to add an audio option to it? Even if we're using them for things like sewer surveillance, in a place like this who knows what kind of crazy crap we'll find."

He reaches into a pocket, pulling out a tiny object slightly smaller than a penny.

"Oh, microphones are easy. This one records and broadcasts sound a distance of two hundred yards. You'd be amazed how they've miniaturized the things. Hah, who ever though the Cold War would actually be useful to science?"

He taps the pencil against his lips.

"And you know, if they were linked to some sort of central computer, we could get constant feedback and audio analysis."

Pokey wonders at it for a moment. He'd certainly seen them that small during his journeys through time and space, but he hadn't really thought about using them. General functionality hadn't been something he tended to focus on with his inventions. He smirks a little, "To be fair, war has always kinda been the best friend of innovation. People seem to really work their hardest on making stuff when trying to kill each other."

"...You think it'd be easy to put in a recording system too, so we can keep files of what the surveillance bots pick up? I mean, I thought that was kinda a given, but I didn't know for sure. After all, there might be something we miss the first time around on things."

He laughs.

"It is now. Back when I started, digital storage was still newfangled and tiny. Hiding recording devices involved sneaking suitcases in. Nowadays, you can store the data for later broadcast. Quite something, really."

He scratches his head, doing a few quick calculations, finally circling a surprisingly small number.

"That's what I project the per-unit cost to be."

Pokey's eyes lifted a little, clearly surprised, though a small, curled smile easily rose to his lips.

"Really? We could probably have the City nearly infested in a month or two, maybe even earlier, if it's that cheap Doc. Though I guess we'd want to take it slow to avoid detection to begin with."

Leaning against the table, Pokey asked, "I got a question about general villainy, as related to our brand, in general Doc. What do we do if we get caught? Cause I assume that, sometimes, it's inevitable. And to be honest? I'd be more worried about the fallout if we piss off other bad guys than good guys here, if it comes to it. 'Cause really? Anything's fair in this, right?"

He smirks, putting down the pencil.

"Oh, it always happens. Villains tend to compete terribly - for resources, for certain parts...heck, just for pride!"

He turns to an empty piece of paper and draws out three seperate spheres.

"And this is how the brand will be just fine. Over here, we have Legi-Tech, our technology firm. And in this bubble are the laundry and fast food businesses. And this third one - totally unconnected to the other two - is our...side business. Two of them are completely legitimate, all across the board. We build in a few safeguards to make sure only one of us is actively engaged in villainy at a time - the law won't be able to touch us."

"As for other villains..." he chuckles darkly, "that's what the synthodrones and other weapons are for. Assuming they even find the lair, that is. Besides, there's always Plan B for dealing with fellow villains: sell to them."

He smiles a little at Drakken's descriptions. He figured as much, but there was something...exhilarating about being given conformation about everything. And the way Drakken put it made it seem so much fun.

"To be fair, Doc, I'm kinda going to fall under the radar anyway. I don't think anyone's gonna be looking for a kid, especially since I've been trying to make myself helpful around town so people wouldn't suspect me when things start up anyway." Which is partially true; no point in telling Drakken that he considers all this a game as much as actual work, and the fact that he genuinely had decided to help people for slightly altruistic reasons. Telling him that wouldn't be very villainous. "'Sides, any villainy I actively do'll probably be pretty small compared to the rest of us. So really, we just need to worry about you and Doc Horrible in that respect. I don't think we have to worry about competition for a bit until things really get rolling."

Smirking a bit, he replied proudly, "Naw, I bet they won't find the lair, at least not automatically, especially if we keep the side-business on the down-low. I'm wondering if we have a pro-"

The boy seizes up for a moment and proceeds to have a small coughing fit. It's brief, but the coughs sound painful and wet. He simply goes silent for a moment before clearing his throat and continuing, "Wondering if we have a proxy to use as stand-in for one of our businesses, to keep from being implicated to too many of them?"

That coughing fit gives Drakken pause. That..is not a healthy sound.

"Hey, I think you ought to sit down. That is not an 'everything is hunky-dory sound'. You had that checked?"

And then his mind seizes on the rest of what he said.

"Oh, that's for accounting and legal - they'll wind a paper-trail so convoluted that even a super-powered lawyer with, I dunno, special filiing powers wouldn't figure it out. Heck, back home even when I was a known criminal, I could still market a mind-control shampoo - I just had to obey truth-in-advertising laws. You'd be amazed what you can legally market."

Pokey sits down as asked by the doctor before responding. "Yeah, I got it checked out. It's just a small bug they said should be gone in a week."

Which is an outright lie. The damage done to his body by the Time Distorter, despite how minor it was, was irrevocable. He was good at lying, but the boy knew it would probably only be a matter of time before the doctor figured out there was something genuinely wrong.

His eyes light up at Drakken's mention of how you can market nearly anything. "Yeah? What else have you gotten away with?"

And Drakken has seen 'small bugs'. He's had small bugs. That is not a small bug. But, for the moment, he'll let it go.

"Well, that was kind of the big one. I mean, really, I got to legally market a mind-control shampoo. Just had to follow truth-in-advertising laws since it wasn't carcinogenic or otherwise unhealthy. So all I had to do was call it what it was: 'Lather, rinse, and obey'. Of course marketing was a problem and then Kim Possible showed up, but I sure learned the value of lawyers that time!"

He scratches his head, thinking.

"And there was the cupcake operation, though that was a front. Made a fortune before the market tanked. Anyways, you'd be amazed how much profit even small legitimate operations can pull in."

Pokey taps his fingers on the table, thinking for a moment. "Y'know, we've got the legitimate front businesses. How smart is it to occasionally dip into less "legitimate" tactics with the side business? Like adding something to the food and junk that naturally makes them crave our products, like at the fast-food joint, over other businesses. Like, is that an acceptable risk, or is it too risky in being noticed and drawing attention to the fact we might not be completely on the up and up?"

He shrugs.

"Depends. If we can get away with it, it might work - but the thing is...people really like their junk food. There's this weird thing where they know it's bad for them but they want it anyways. Can't explain it, brain something or other, whatever."

He grins, throwing his hands in the air, his voice rising gleefully.

"Point is, they'll eat it and love it, and we don't have to do a thing! Hah!"

He punches the air, smiling at Pokey.

"We get 'em mentally, we don't even need to change anything. And, well, so long as whatever additives we might choose to use are legit on their own, we're fine, legally."

He shrugs and smiles at the Doctor's enthusiasm. "I guess that makes sense. I was just thinking that it usually isn't a bad idea to try and raise the odds in your favor, if given the chance."

He brings a cupped hand to his mouth to stiffle a small yawn. "Hey Doc? You said the suites are pretty much ready here, right? You don't mind if I stay in one tonight, do ya? Cause I don't want to have to go all the way back to the safehouse I've been staying in."

That, and the idea of just getting to stay in the lab in general appealed to him. The possibility of not being entirely alone too, but he wouldn't say that out loud.

"Yep, they got finished off yesterday. Not quite perfect - hot means cold and cold means hot with the taps still - but other than that, fully ready."

He gestures over his shoulder with a thumb.

"Down the hall, take the third right and...well, I dunno, just claim one I guess."

"I can live with that." He'd lived in worst conditions. This was hardly all that trying on him.

He got up from his chair and moved to start heading down that way. "I gotta admit, I'm kinda beat since I had to get up early." Smirking, he looked behind his shoulder and asked, "So...what're we gonna do tomorrow, Doc Drakken?"

"Depends." he says, grinning widely.

"What do you want to do?"

Grinning back the boy says, "Well, you talked about teaching me the specifics of ray guns so that'd be cool. Maybe work on robots a bit more."

He snaps his fingers, "Oh, how does getting to work about avenging your friend sound, Doc?"

"Like music to my blue ears."

He grins, standing up from his chair, arms going behind his back. Classic supervillain pose.

"Ray guns in the morning, vengeance in the afternoon!"

Pokey simply nods to the evil genius before starting to head down the hallway. "Well, see ya' then, Doc."

He takes the first room he can get to before going into another small fit of coughing, though it subsides quickly. He feels horrifically tired, but he doesn't go to sleep just yet. Standing in front of one of the small mirrors in the room, he attempts to try and get the pose Drakken had assumed last just right.

If he's going to be a mad scientist, might as well try and learn how to look like one, as well.

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First Lesson

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