torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH SULU]

Frowning briefly, Sulu put the gun back exactly where it had been. "You deal a lot with... uh, I guess that's magical, huh? I mean, lifeforce and stuff, that's a little more occult than scientific." He glanced around, hesitating before leaning in to read a label. "What's a 'Droon'? And it's always better to know what you might be getting into, rather than just hoping that nothing bursts through your airlocks mid-warp. Even though that can't happen, really."

Ianto shakes his head. "I wouldn't say 'magic' exactly. Jack's convinced that there's a scientific explanation for everything, just that we haven't figured it all out yet. I mean, the Resurrection Gauntlets and the Life Knife were made out of the same material that's unlike anything we've found anywhere else. It's possible we just don't know the scientific explanation for it all yet."

"As for a Droon," Ianto said, with a grimace. "They're basically extraterrestrial insects. They lay their eggs somewhere warm and wet, which actually usually ends up being the sinus cavities of humans. People don't realize this, because they just think they're getting a particularly nasty head cold. Most of the time the eggs are harmless, and people just sneeze them out, but sometimes they survive to hatch. Lucky for us, before they hatch, they emit huge changes in alpha-wave patterns, so we can go and rescue whoever it is by tracing the patterns before it's too late. These audio paddles submit a frequency that forcibly extracts the egg out."

"Smart man." Even if there were a lot of things you just couldn't explain - at least, that was the impression Sulu got after being on the community. "There are always new things out there, so it's likely that's the case."

He made a face. "I do not envy you guys. Parasitic lifeforms are one of the worst things to deal with. Luckily, McCoy gets to deal with that. ...Not luckily for him, but still." He looked around briefly and then caught sight of a large weapon; sidling over to read the label, he grinned. "I'm pretty sure there's got to be a more official name for this thing than 'Jack's Big Gun.'"

Ianto chuckles. "Yes, well, he has his moments."

At the mention of the gun, though, Ianto's face colored. He'd actually forgot he'd labeled it as that. "Oh, that?" he stepped forward, a bit embarrassed, towards the big gun. "I forgot that I had it labeled as that honestly." He scratches his head, smiling and blushing. "Honestly, I don't think we have an official name for it. It's just a really big laser gun, I think."

Maybe it was the label that kept Sulu from actually trying to pick up the thing, or maybe it was just the fact that you don't go grabbing other people's weapons when they're specifically named their gun. Either way, he just gave Ianto a very amused look.

"I can see the really big part. I think you're actually missing the 'really' from the label." He laughed, "And to keep from sliding dangerously far into innuendo territory, I'll keep all my questions to myself."

Ianto quirked an eyebrow at him. "If I didn't keep it in here, he'd just have it out on display in the Hub the whole time. Got to keep the 'really' out, though, lest it inflate an already engorged ego. And I'll really stop now," he said, with a face and a blush. He just hadn't been able to resist.

"If you'd like, we could go to the special archives now as well," he said, moving the subject of conversation off of 'Jack's Big Innuendo'. "Afraid you can't touch much of the stuff in there, but its interesting to look at, at least."

Sulu laughed at that giving Ianto a look. "Really. Are you sure you got that all out of your system?" After a brief glance to all the other cool things he could grab at and examine, Sulu nodded. "It's probably better if you show me something else, before I decide to go through your entire catalog of weapons."

"Yes, I'm sure," Ianto said, still flushed a bit. "For now, at least."

"C'mon, then." He opened the door, leading them back into the archives. This time he walked back towards his computer desk, only turning to the left right before it. There was a door much like the last one. He stepped up to it, leaning in for the retinal scan. The lock to the door unlatched when it confirmed his identity, but paused in opening it. "I'm going to remind you now that this is the secure archives, and when I say don't touch, it really means don't touch, yeah?"

The security measures didn't seem nearly as strange the second time around, and Sulu gave Ianto an honest smile. "Not a problem. I was serious when I said I wouldn't touch anything unless you said it was all right." After all, he knew that sort of rule was put in place for a reason - generally, it was for the same reason he had to contain some of his plants.

Ianto nodded, then opened the door to the secure archives. It was different than the weapons archive and the main archives, because rather than having everything out on the walls like the former, it had shelves like the latter. However, these shelves were covered with labeled containment boxes of various shapes and sizes, inside of which held some of the most dangerous items Torchwood had ever had the misfortune (or fortune, depending on how you looked at it) to encounter.

"Welcome to Secure Archives," Ianto said. "About half the stuff in here has been used to try to, or in the wrong hands would end up destroying this planet."

((Once again, secure archives are found in the archives list, have a blast~))

"I get the 'no touching' rule a lot better with that sort of intro," Sulu said, heading in to look around (all from a decent vantage point; it was easier not to touch things when you weren't in reach). "What I have to wonder is, though, isn't it kind of dangerous to have every destructive device in the same room?"

"Well, we don't have the explosives that we've found in this room," Ianto said. "That would be stupid. But it is caled secure archives for a reason. The door's keyed only to me and Jack, and, well, Jack's always going to be around, so there's no worry there. Plus, it's not like we'll ever need anything out of here. They'll stay in this room forever, if we have any say in the matter. Besides," Ianto continued, "nothing in here will react to anything else, especially not while in their separate containment boxes. I'm only one man--I can't keep track of a separate archive for each object, even if we do have the room for it."

Sulu nodded, pretty much approving of the explanation - it honestly didn't seem like there was going to be any easy breaking-and-entering going on in Torchwood, anyway. "Understandable. I was only asking because, well, it's usually the most pressing question on my mind when faced with dangerous objects. That, and, 'How quickly can this turn into a terrible situation?'" He grinned at Ianto, "But I have a feeling you've got it covered."

"So," he said, looking over one of the objects conveniently labeled, "What's a Ghost Machine and how badly does it ruin lives?"

"We've got it as covered as we're going to get it, at any rate," Ianto said, with a shrug and a smile. Yes, the objects were conveniently labeled, but that was for the benefit of whoever it was that would follow after Ianto, should he die or leave Torchwood or become incapable of telling anyone about the rest of the things in there.

"A Ghost Machine, eh? Well, see how it's got two different halves?" Ianto asked, pointing to the two separate halves of the object. "It contains nanotechnological quantum transducers that can convert emotional energy left over from significant events into visions of those events. One half allows you to see the past, the other allows you to see one version of the future. Obviously, the future is not meant to be known ahead of time. That's why it's in here. It's better if we don't mess about in things like that."

Sulu frowned thoughtfully at the explanation, crossing his arms. To him, it sounded like something the 21st century would cook up in a sci-fi novel or something, but the fact that it existed was pretty intriguing. That kind of technology could, theoretically, lead to some major leaps in development around the world - which, obviously, was not how it was supposed to work out here.

"Makes sense," he said after a moment, "Not the mechanics of it, really, but the reason why it's here. I'll be honest, something like that would be amazing to take apart and examine. There's nothing like that anywhere that I've been - or, well, that Starfleet's been." He glanced at Ianto, "What constitutes as significant, though? Sorry, you might be stuck here answering kind of ridiculous questions."

"Anything that's significantly emotional," Ianto said with a shrug. "I don't really know the details myself, no one was really paying much attention to me at that time. But when Owen used the one half he witnessed a crime from the past, and when Gwen used the other half she saw a murder that happened in the future."

"Sorry I can't be more helpful about it, really," he said. He bit his lip a little. "I think it's better left alone and out of this century, though. Both of them were pretty shaken up about it all. It doesn't seem to be something to be playing around with, even if it is in the name of science."

"No, it's okay. Like I said, that was kind of out there, even for me. And don't worry, I'm not planning on hijacking it to try and see what makes it tick," Sulu laughed, "I'm not capable of insidious plots like that."

Sulu looked at Ianto and smiled. "I feel bad, just sort of picking and choosing whatever looks remotely interesting or has a catchy name - is there anything in here you find particularly interesting? Or is it all just kind of run-of-the-mill for you by now?"

"Well," Ianto said, looking around. What was interesting to him? The black tile had been the warning for the end of days, the Amok was ridiculously dangerous to be around, the Depressor... Ianto stepped forward, going for the alien pendant, probably the only item in the whole place that didn't scare him. "This," he said, flicking open the containment box and taking the pendant out. He handed it over to Sulu. "Here, put it on. I guarantee it won't do anything bad to you. This is just in here because its one of those things that could prove to be problematic should it fall into the wrong hands."

((So! The alien pendant allows the wearer to read people's minds/hear their thoughts. Ianto, fortunately, knowing that the thought reading is coming, is able to control whatever he's thinking, because every employee at Torchwood One was required to go through psychic training, so! That's what it does. Ianto wants to surprise Sulu with that fact, but I felt that you should probably know, just to be prepared. xD;))

It was probable that Sulu shouldn't automatically trust guys handing him necklaces that need to be contained in secure vaults, but he could always chalk it up to living life on the edge. He took it from Ianto and gave it a brief once over, before giving Ianto a skeptical look. "Promise it's not going to kill me in some horrible way?" he asked, even though he was already putting it on. Hey, what the heck.

I don't have the ability to make your head explode telepathically, so I think we're in the clear, Ianto thought at him, smirking. He was concentrating very hard to keep his thoughts trained on this moment here, and not wandering off to think of Tosh using the locket, and Mary, and how Jack had killed her and how it had paralleled Jack killing Lisa and how the rest of the team had finally forgiven him for her after that. No, he was definitely not going to think about that. He just hoped the mental chant of now, now, now, now, now to keep him focused on the present wasn't transferring over for Sulu to hear either.

It took Sulu a moment to realize that Ianto's voice was... well, in his head instead of out-loud, but when he did, he beamed like a kid who'd just discovered Santa Claus really did exist.

"Oh, wow." He felt the pendant at his neck and barely restrained himself from making a total idiot out of himself. There were a few telepathic alien species in his universe, but humans never could figure out how to do it themselves - at least, in a way that wasn't immediately dismissed as a hoax. "This is amazing! - Is it only one way?"

"Yep," Ianto said, with a nod, "don't worry about me getting at anything you don't want me to know." Works a bit different if you start trying to dig for thoughts, really, he thought before thinking that he really shouldn't have thought that. Not that he didn't trust Sulu not to go through his memories, but sometimes even suggesting the idea made people accidentally try it, and if Sulu saw into his head, there'd be a lot of things he could find that would make meeting with him a lot more awkward. It was one thing hearing him talk about it, but it would be a whole different ballpark reading Ianto's innermost thoughts.

"Things like this are why we got psychic training at Torchwood One," Ianto said. "I was only a junior researcher, but I got pretty good at it. Too bad you have to be prepared for it though. I had a friend read my thoughts with it during...one of the darker times in my life, and I'm not exactly proud of what she heard." Lisa..., he thought, but he quickly shut that thought process down.

Luckily, Sulu was smart enough to divert his attention away from the idea of wandering through Ianto's mind with a quick recalling of a relatively basic equation - something that'd he'd learned to do in case of psychological warfare. Kind of like recalling his name and rank repeatedly, but a little more involved. "Not that there's much not to know," Sulu shrugged.

He bit his lip at the stray name he heard, looking a little awkward. "Yeah, it doesn't seem like something that's easy to control. You want me to take this off?" Though it was really cool, he wasn't about to let Ianto accidentally let anything else slip that he obviously didn't want heard.

Ianto nodded. He was a bit rusty at the shielding, and it was a lot more difficult than it sounded. "Yeah, sorry. It's been a while since I've had to do stuff like this. I'm not Jack." He shakes his head. "I don't know how he does it, but the man's mind is like a three foot wide wall made of steel. Obviously, they must go through a bit more training at the Time Agency than we did at Torchwood One. Especially compared to the work they did with people in my job. No one really worried too much about the archivists getting their minds read, it was all just standard procedure." He tried very, very hard not to think of Jack while Sulu still had the pendant on. Especially not about Jack and the stopwatch. Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch, after all.

Sulu thought something was coming through when he was removing the pendant, but luckily (probably for both of them), that was quickly ignored and forgotten as he took the thing off and handed it back to Ianto. Well, "forgotten," at least. "I can definitely see why you might not want this wandering out of your sight, though. Especially since mind-reading is kind of one of those things that everyone wants to do."

He sort of wanted to ask who Lisa was, but he had more sense than that. Curiosity, cats, etcetera. He shook his head, deciding to forget about it. "I'm a little amazed at all the psychic... stuff you guys have. I mean, I know there's merit to the whole idea, but we don't have any telepathic pendants or future-machines."

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