Research Time (Open to Heroes)

Participants: Ryan Choi, any hero 
Open/Closed: Open to heroes
Location(s): Metropolis Science Police HQ
Time of Day: 2:30 in the afternoon
Weather: Heavy rain, thunderstorm, kind of cold
Summary: Ryan Choi is attempting to work on several projects at once, maybe a fellow hero can help him out.

~~~

If there was one glaring fault Ryan Choi, aka The Atom, had it was how engrossed in his work he could get, while also being easily distracted by a new challenge or project that presented itself. Much like his mentor, Ray Palmer, Ryan would fixate and focus on a task until it was complete, nearly every time, but things could always steal either of their attention. It was what both made running the Metropolis Science Police both a good and bad job for him. While this gave him an opportunity to work on his own goals and research, he also could get distracted by other projects on hand.

Ryan's main focus, despite being a Physicist first and foremost, had recently been on the Metagene. The Metagene was a part of ones DNA that helped grant powers and abilities in someone. However, it wasn't always natural. There were a lot of people on Earth who had powers, but they hadn't come from the person themselves. External forces were very common causes of someone gaining powers. People such as Man-Bat, as well as himself and Ray were good examples of external forces granting powers, as the former gained his powers from a formula, and both of the Atoms used the Bio Belt to grant them density manipulation and shrinking powers. Ryan's research however had lead to some suspicious findings for him. Things that had been causing him to question a lot of things, and to spend an unhealthy amount of time focused on the singular subject.

Ryan's current confusion had stemmed from sequencing some DNA to attempt to find a pattern in those without powers, those with naturally born powers, and those with powers coming from external sources. Not a lot of things had matched, outside of non-powered individuals having very similar structures. When sequencing for metagenes however, things flew out the window. And what's more, his own DNA made even less sense. It didn't seem to match really anything. He hadn't matched with non-powered DNA, which he initially chalked up to the Bio Belt, but having looked into the DNA of other external sources, nothing showed to match there either. Ray's, for example, showed more similarities with non-powered DNA, where as someone such as Man-Bat showed non-powered DNA but with consistent change on a cellular level, as his formula had seemed to change who he was as a person. Ryan's though, was different from nearly everything else he had looked into.

Massaging the bridge of his nose as he looked over the mess of papers spread out on his desk, Ryan turned to the countless white erase boards in his office, all scribbled on with near illegible quick form writing. He tried to focus before a buzzer sound echoed out and a voice game over his speaker.

"Sir, your 2:30 is here, should I send them in?"

"Oh, huh? Right...yes, please, send them in Mr. Saeed"

The sky over Metropolis was uncharacteristically dark, and the air carried an unexpected chill, the sort that nipped at exposed skin and coloured complexions ruddy. Koriand’r, however, barely felt the gnawing cold - it was nothing compared to the bitterness of space, through which she’d often flown. The driving rain, though, had soaked her through, plastering her long hair to her back while her skin glistened with diamond drops of moisture. Civilians raced about the streets, seeking cover or shelter as thunder struck overhead, cowering as lightning flashed. Koriand’r simply turned her face up toward the storm, smiling a little.

To many, such inclement weather was an inconvenience, an annoyance that nature had conjured to ruin their day. However, the Tamaranean found delight in thunderstorms, as she did so many things. She cared not if she was dripping wet, nor about appearing bedraggled. She lived in the moment, and that moment – when the clouds above raged – was beautiful. She wished to experience it fully, not from behind a glass window pane.

As such, she reached the headquarters of the Metropolis Science Police a little after she should have done, appearing at the entrance somewhat drowned, but still very much recognisable as Starfire of the Justice League. She pressed the buzzer – located on a key panel by the front door – and watched as cameras mounted above the doorway swivelled toward her. They regarded her for all of a second before the metallic portal hissed open, allowing her entry into the building.

Stepping inside, she shook her mass of hair, and found herself quickly greeted by a tall, thin, handsome man of middle Eastern origin, who introduced himself as Saeed.
“I am here to visit Doctor Ryan Choi. I think he is expecting me.”
Apparently no confirmation of her identity was necessary, as Saeed dashed to a desk and announced that the Atom’s 2:30 appointment had arrived.
“You can enter now, Miss…Starfire?”
Kory smiled warmly at Saeed. “Please…Koriand’r.”
“Of course…Koriand’r. Just take the door ahead, then your second right.”
Nodding her understanding, Kory headed toward the passage beyond Choi’s assistant, though he put an arm out, as if to halt her as she passed.

“Do…you need a towel or…something?”
The concern in his voice was obvious, and Starfire gently rested her hand on his wrist. The warmth of her smile only intensified. “I will be fine, but thank you for your concern.” Two pats later, and she continued her journey toward her destination, arriving in the Atom’s lab with a hiss of sliding doors.
“I apologise for being late…I found myself caught in the storm.”

Ryan Choi

The small hero let out a yawn and removed his glasses. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Ryan made a mental note that he needed to stop staying up for days on end just to accomplish small amounts of work. It really wasn't healthy, even if Ryan was able to get more done.

His mind was snapped back into the moment as the alien known as Starfire, or Koriand'r, came in to his office. He quickly grabbed his glasses and gave her a small bow. "Oh, no need to apologize Miss Starfire" Sure she had told him before to call her Koriand'r or Kory, but Ryan had a bit of a verbal tick to refer to his fellow heroes by their codenames, even in more social of scenarios. His head quickly swiveled around as she mentioned the storm, before he realized he had turned all of his windows into a more interior room style so he wouldn't be distracted by anything. "The storm?" he questioned, before moving a bunch of papers and pressing a button on his desk. On the second level of his office, the walls slowly shifted and revealed themselves to actually be windows. The outdoor storming scene then became apparent to the Doctor, though there was no noise coming from the rain. Ryan's office was fairly soundproof, even from external noises. "Huh...I wonder how long that's been going on for"

Turning his attention back to her, Ryan quickly shuffled down the stairs of his second level before giving Kory another small bow. "I apologize for the mess, I've been very frantically at work. Haven't had much chance to clean" The room was an absolute mess. Not in the sense of a dirty mess, but just countless papers and white boards all over the place with little rhyme or reason, seemingly. The young doctor paused and then took a step back from the alien and lifted an arm and giving himself a small sniff. "Okay, it mustn't have been too long, I do not smell like Mammoth after a rampage just yet" He needed to clean up though, it had been almost two days of non-stop work. Ryan had barely even left his office over the past while. His schedule really wasn't important however.

"Oh! Were you able to gather what I needed? I know it was a strange request, but were you able to get a hold of Bumblebee and get a small sample of her blood?" Ryan's research needed more samples to look into, and one of the few he fellow size changers he thought of was the hero Bumblebee. He didn't know her personally, but she had been a Teen Titan before as far as he knew, so he figured another former Teen Titan could maybe get into contact with her. "I may have made a break through in some Meta-Gene research I'm doing, and a sample of her DNA could prove very insightful"