Welcome to Tesladyne! Science while you wait.

[tesla_bot]

The door is a free standing frame on a small plywood dais at the focus of a tremendous amount of cabling and particle emitters. The whole area smells of ozone.

"Watch the step. The platform's cheaper to replace than the floor if the focus wanders."

Tesladyne's high energy (dimensional) physics area is done in early twenty first century institutional - white walls, semi-random grid of light, but varied floor tile colors. The framework is from a school of design that favors being able to clean an area with a pressure washer, The drains are a hint. Decorations are spotty. Beyond the collection of calendars with scribbled notes and the cork board spotted with envelopes and scraps of paper it's still mostly bare. The warning signs are clear, bright, unobstructed and supplemented with signs like 'Do not look in laser with remaining eye.'

There are no windows and only one door to the rest of the facility.

"Welcome to Tesladyne."

Comments

[tesla_bot]

One of the guards takes a radio off his belt and begins exchanging code phrases.

Meanwhile on the monitor, a skinny figure in Tesladye coveralls and a knit cap opens the door and glances around the hallway before making a quick walk down the hallway. Running might draw extra attention.

The radio is slid over to Jordan before it crackles to life again, "What do you have for me?"

[evilontheloose]

"I got him." Jordan will give the location and a description. "Should I lock him in for you?"

[tesla_bot]

"Between the third and forth doors," says Robo, "There shouldn't be anything useful in there."

The thief should be past door three in four... three... two...

[evilontheloose]

One, zero... lock, lock.

"Got him." Jordan is not smug, no.

[tesla_bot]

Smug, satisfied at a job well done, whatever. The feeling likely increases as the figure tugs at first the fourth door, then the third, then the fourth again with increasing franticness.

"Jenkins," says Robo over the radio, "I want him in one piece and able to answer questions I'm asking."

Jenkins grunts.

The capture, when it occurs is less of the traditional fight between experts and more along the lines of being tackled and pepper sprayed by a guy in a gas mask.

What? Playing fair is silly when there are other options.

[evilontheloose]

There is no 'fair'. There's 'smart' and 'dumb'. Jordan is glad to see Tesladyne seems to go for 'smart'. "And one more job well-done."

[tesla_bot]

"In part because nobody could plan for our latest worker," says Robo, "Good work Jordan, Without your assistance none of this would have been wrapped up with anywhere near the speed we would have needed to actually catch this knucklehead."

"I hate to ask this, but would you mind saying under the radar a while longer?"

It's a terrible thing to lose an edge.

[evilontheloose]

Jordan laughs a bit. "That's one of the things I do best..." No, she does not mind. "What are you thinking?"

[tesla_bot]

"Remote work," admits Robo, "Back at the bar, mostly. I'll do my best to see you involved in the finale with these jokers, or failing that video."

[evilontheloose]

"Hm, it works for me, sure." It is actually better for her: a job without having to go to work.

Even if tinkering around this place is tempting. "Deal."

[tesla_bot]

The bar is only loosely temporally coupled to the Earth that Robo knows at best and this lets him take advantage of that. The fact that it removes Jordan as even an accidental source of intelligence and from the line of fire is a bonus. Losing people to old age is bad enough - misadventure needs no additional chances.

"Good. Let me get the sneak thief stashed away and I'll walk you back to the door."

---

"When I've got something I'd like you to take a look at I'll leave it with Bar. See you around?"

[evilontheloose]

Jordan plans to live forever, actually: old age, adversity? No, not her cup of tea.

She waits for Robo, and follows him back to the door. "It sounds good: I will look over what you drop off, work the issue, and leave it for you to pick up."