The Laboratory

The Laboratory of Squad 12 was, as should be expected, quite a sight to see in terms of technological advancement. Hundreds of low humming machines of all sizes, blinking lights, and all sorts of chemicals in beakers and books lined the room. Paperwork was not a common sight, as Alexander had mechanized the process of filling and sending it, allowing him more free time to work on his inventions.

Around the Lab one could see a few humanoid shaped robots, their appearance sleek and futuristic looking. As Alexander was currently alone in the Squad, he had created these to serve as functional work bots to keep the Lab running smoothly, as well as assist him in any experiment or invention he was working on. The Captain hardly even noticed them anymore, as they ran quietly and were programmed to be unobtrusive as possible.

Overall, here is where the magic happened, and here is where the Head of R&D could be most often found, as opposed to his Office.

Saito-san wrote:

"Hah, I would prefer you listen to my request because it is interesting, not my luck in getting these physical traits. However the first I can agree on entirely." The Healing Taicho couldn't resist poking a bit of playful fun at her companion.

"Your chivalry is too much. I have no idea where we need to go." Letting out a small laugh, the taicho of the fourth division still took the invitation to start on their way though. She hadn't caught the titles of the books but it was too late now to look back. "But the books look rather interesting. What titles are you reading?"

It would be nice to talk something other than medical while they walked. It was her day off after all

"'The Anatomy and Physiology of Bounts: The Complete Edition', and 'A Treatise on the Nature of Spiritual Energy; A Mathematical Attempt to Examine and Categorize its Potential'." Alexander replied as he followed her out, making sure she wasn't taking a wrong turn anywhere. "To be honest, the first one interests me more. Have you ever encountered a Bount, Miss Lakshmi? Fascinating creatures to be sure, although they seem to be an endangered race." The Twelfth Division Captain asked the Fourth, finally stopping a few seconds later as they reached the entrance to the Lab.

Alexander turned for a moment as a small advanced looking device appeared from inside the wooden walls. With spider-like agility in his fingers, he quickly typed in a series of numbers with his free hand and then waited as a retinal scanner confirmed his identity. A clicking sound was heard as the door then opened on its own with a bit of a hiss. He then turned back to look towards the other Captain.

"I have to take precautions, as there are things in here that could be harmful in the wrong hands." He remarked, this time with another small grin like before. "Again, ladies first."

"They are rather interesting. I was always curious about how those spiritual beings who reside in human world live, though I rarely have encountered them. I might have when I was younger?" Lakshmi made a small sound as she thought, while continuing down the hall. As he unlocked the door, through rather strong means she remembered.

"Oh! Yes, I think I did a few hundred years ago. They steal souls and prolong their life correct? I ended up killing it before it could be captured. A pity. It was a depraved being, older than it should and it's mind had snapped." The door opened and she entered the room first once again. "I bet there are all sorts of things someone could make use of. What do you need me to do or where to stand? Is there any special procedure for this?"

The Taicho was obviously very curious and interested, her eyes almost glowing as she looked around. It was all rather fun and interesting to look at. She didn't touch anything, oh no. That would be rude and probably dangerous.

"Indeed. It is not too dissimilar to how Hollows feel the compulsive need to absorb other souls. You've probably heard humans refer to them as 'vampires', you know, their crazy folklore and all." Alexander replied as he entered the Laboratory a few seconds afterward and placing the heavy books down whereever he could find a flat surface first. Already in his inventing mode, he then immediately headed over towards one of the counters and began pulling out all sorts of mechanical objects, tools, you name it, out from different drawers and cabinets.

"Shame you weren't able to capture it. We as a society have a decent understanding of them from engagements like your own, but a live subject is always much more informative as far as research goes." The R&D head remarked as he continued to gather materials necessary for her request. Without looking back at the other Captain nor breaking his stride of collecting his things, he tossed a small high-tech looking container over his shoulder for Lakshmi to catch.

"Channel a bit of your energy into that. I'll need it to configure the restraints to respond to your spiritual power." Alexander simply stated, already sketching out different possible designs in his mind for the Fourth Division Captain's request.

"I wouldn't call it crazy, its merely their minds way of accepting and being aware of things with no knowledge to explain them." Lakshmi shrugged and stood there waiting patiently for the other Taicho to get whatever he needed ready. "Yes, if my team and I had been prepared... Unfortunately we weren't."

She caught the container and brought it up to her face, examining it briefly. Focusing, a threadlike bit of her spiritual energy was quickly channeled into the box. It was an icy blue and filled the container as she held it up to her face once again to examine it. "Is this enough?"

Turning his head, Alexander quickly nodded to her question.

"Should be fine. I only need enough to get the energy flowing into the restraints." The captain said as he got a pencil out and made some really quick and rough sketches of styles of restraints, turning around and walking over towards Lakshmi after he finished.

"Which style would you like? I've drawn up a few here based on efficiency and portability, but I can create whatever design you desire." Alex said as he offered her the piece of sketch paper. There were quite a few on there; One was a fancy looking pair of handcuffs, another was a choker-type, connected by threads of spiritual energy to 4 other clasps around the wrists and ankles, and so on.

Holding the paper, Lakshmi hmmed to herself. "Can you do more than one? Handcuffs are useful and this one here that binds limbs to bodies. Both would be the most useful of the designs, I don't want ones that can hurt even the most unhappy of patients."

"Hm...normally I would only say one, but for you, I can make an exception." The Captain paused to grin a little bit. "In return, can you do me a favor later on?"

Regardless of her answer, Alexander already began walking back and starting his construction of the handcuff-type constraint. With masterful dexterity and in an almost robotic like manner, the R&D Captain was quickly connecting metal to metal and tiny wire to tiny wire, and so on. It would take a few minutes, but this was child's play compared to what he had worked on in his life.

"Just a favor? No specifics?" Lakshmi quirked an eyebrow, wondering what the R&D Division Taicho would want of her. He seemed entranced in his work but she figured if he could either multitask and answer, or would wait until they were finished. It was beautiful in its own way, that sort of mindset and she watched a bit away from the action, but close enough to see somewhat.

"Can I refuse this favor if its outside of my morals? Or am I going to be locked into a contract that I must fulfill whenever you desire it, like some odd yakuza drama?"

"Since you are a fellow intellectual, I won't force you into it." Alexander replied with a chuckle to her question about his favor as he continued to work on the handcuffs. Just a few more connections to make and...finished. He placed the small capsule of Lakshmi's reiryoku into a matching slot on the cuffs, and within a second, the icy blue energy surged through the mechanical restraints, continuing to do so in a never ending fashion. So long as she could control her own energy, the Captain could use these cuffs forever.

"You could do one of two things. You could make me a copy of the latest information you have on the aging condition that Captain Jurobei suffered, or you could let me take you out on a date somewhere in the Human World sometime." He paused. "Whichever is less painful." The R&D Head said with a suave sort of smile as he set the cuffs to the side for her to come get as well as another canister for the Healing Captain to fill up, already beginning to work on the other restraints she had asked for.

Alexander could be smooth when he wanted to be, or rather, wasn't thinking about science.

"That is rather pleasing to hear." Lakshmi's voice was wry, she kept her debts and Alexander had helped her out quite a bit by doing this job. It was done now, and entirely without anything to show on his part. Yes, knowledge was knowledge but... People deserved compensation for their work.

"Hm..." Moving to the workstation, she picked up the cube and quickly filled it up before setting it back down as she thought. Picking up the cuffs and examining them thoroughly, she turned them around and around as she looked to see what had gone into it vs what it was now. Could she give up such information to Alexander? Jurobei was special to her grandmother in... not exactly a caring way. He was such an old enemy/friend that by now the lines had blurred, if they had ever been clear cut.

"Jurobei's information is under tight restrictions, as is any for the ones of our rank. I suppose the date may be the lesser of two evils, less likely to bring Gigi's anger down on me." She grinned, a playful twinkle in her eyes to take the sting out of her words. "Your work is amazing, I have to repay you somehow."

"Hm, well, can't blame a guy for asking right?" Alexander remarked in an honest manner, before smiling as he turned towards Lakshmi for a moment. "I preferred the second option anyway." He grinned again. "You flatter me. I'm sure you've done things with medicine and healing that I could never dream of doing." The R&D head said, his grin turning into a genuine smile before he turned back towards his desk and continued to work on the second set of restraints. Wire to wire, metal to metal, again his hands moved swiftly and dexterously.

When he was finished, he tilted his head over towards his right and made a come hither motion to one of the work-bots running maintenance around the Lab. "You, come here." He ordered, and so the android did, as it quickly and fluidly reported for duty in front of the two Captains. Grabbing the other energy receptacle, he inserted it into the choker and put said restraint on the droid's neck. Again, her icy blue energy shot through the piece of hardware, surging every so often much like the handcuffs. Alexander then turned back towards Lakshmi with a pleased look on his face.

"Try it out. Don't worry, it can't feel any pain, not that it should anyway. I don't make mistakes in my designs." He said in a reassuring manner. She did want a harmless way to hold back aggressive patients, and his work would deliver that. When the Captain of Squad 4 channeled her reiryoku inside of the device, she would see threads of energy shoot out and form strong clasps around the droids wrists and ankles, much like an old-timey chain restraint used on prisoners back in the day.

"You are rather curious, its nothing to find fault in." The Taicho couldn't help but be a little flattered at the science Taicho's comments. He was rather forward in his appreciation, which was nice. She hadn't expected him to care for more than experiments to be honest. "If you ever get injured, I can show you how good I am. You'll just have to wait until then, I rarely get to do anything big unless its a peer injured. Unfortunately."

She seemed put out by those orders, using her abilities was one of those things she loved as much as learning new techniques. This Healing Division Taicho would love to use everything everyday, but that would wear her out unnecessarily. Unlike Alexander whose abilities relied more on his brain, hers also required the use of her spiritual energy as much as brain. Lakshmi didn't even think though that she had the harder job, just was given a lot less freedom to exercise her more fun skills.

As much fun as it was watching him work, she was happier still to try out the new inventions. The robot or whatever it was stood there, as she smirked. "Interesting."

A bit of her energy flowed into the restraints at her willing, and Lakshmi watched as it held onto the android easily. Not content to watch from where she was, she walked up to the restrained android. Walking around it, she eyed out how the body was held and what exactly it did to the arms and legs. Touching here and there, she made sure it was holding while also being loose. Turning back to the other Taicho with a grin, she clapped her hands together and beamed. "This is most wonderful! They work nicely. I can see no obvious flaws, as expected. A trial run should be sufficient to figure out of they are appropriate. Would you mind if I tried them out on myself?"

"Still don't believe me, eh?" Alexander said with a bit of an amused smirk as he walked over and took the collar from the android, shooing it away before placing it around his own neck.

"Go ahead. Give it another shot." He grinned a little bit. Alexander put his pride on the line in his work, and he was willing to go to any length to prove it. Not that he didn't trust Lakshmi, however, but what better way to show something of your own works than to test it on yourself?

Even if something went horribly wrong, the Captain installed a fail-safe mechanism in almost every invention he made. Better safe than sorry.

"Well, I wanted to use myself since I would know what a patient can stand..." Lakshmi was smiling as she tried to hold in laughter. This would be so much better than trying it on herself. She'd be able to tell if he had any issues as it was.

Her power flowed through the collar, down to his wrists and ankles and she peered closely at the Taicho, much closer than she had been before as she examined how it restrained him. Her eyes were bright and curious, looking over everything she could as she examined from a small distance. Her hands reached out as if to grab him but she pulled back with a small flinch. "May I touch you? I want to see how it holds against you properly Taicho Alexander."

"If I were an uncouth man, that statement could be taken the entirely wrong way." Alexander couldn't help but chuckle as he stood there, restrained by his own device. He moved his wrists and ankles a little bit to show her that they worked how they were supposed to.

"Its tight but not constricting, as per my design. Should be perfect for the more aggressive patients." He remarked in a more professional manner. "By all means, feel free."

"I don't mind. I have heard worse, though the odds are I've heard better." She couldn't resist the jab, it was too easy. She liked this back and forth, though when it came to actual working they both seemed to be able to handle this.

With his permission, her hands shot out and she grabbed a wrist turning it lightly as much as she could, bending over and examining herself the movements possible with them. Her hands traced the edge and felt what she could of the pressure. "Very very interesting..."

Kneeling, regardless of the floor, she bent over and checked his ankles carefully. After a few more moments, she pulled her power from the restraints as she stood back up. "This is absolutely perfect. Thank you."

Taking the collar restraint off of his neck and placing it in one of her hands, the R&D Captain simply smiled as she thanked him. It felt good to be praised for your work every once in a while, even if it wasn't horribly complex in nature.

"Please, its the least I could do. With one so proficient as you in your Healing arts, the Seireitei would in dire straits. If I can use my work to help, then I will." The Captain spoke sincerely. He enjoyed being around Lakshmi, as he felt she shared his desire of the pursuit of knowledge. He felt more at ease being around such people.

"Oh, I almost forgot." The Squad 12 Captain remarked all of a sudden as he reached into his shihakusho and pulled out a small fancy compass-looking device, which was actually a portable version of the Squad Database of Information. Alexander always made it a point to log every invention that he made, or job that he took on in his computers. With agile fingers activating the device, a small holo-screen appeared above the metal object and the information about the restraints was logged, and he snapped the device back closed. Chuckling a little bit, he placed it back within his robes.

"Sometimes I've found that I forget to make a note of what I've done. Such a small thing, it slips the mind when there are bigger things to think about." He paused as he looked towards the other Captain.

"So, let me know when I can call in that favor of mine, hm?" He grinned in the same suave manner as before. "Oh, I mean, Senior Captain Lakshmi Auna Mehra." He said in a soldierly manner as he bowed his head a little bit in jest.

"Such compliments! My ego is going to grow too large to accommodate at this rate." As she was handed the collar, Lakshmi continued to examine it. She was intensely curious even now and kept turning it over as she traced fingers along it. "Its good to hear, I shall come to you with further issues then. It is tiring trying to work to fix things yourself, when there are experts like you around to deal with such things."

"Hm? Oh." Her blue eyes glanced up, startled as he mentioned forgetting. It had nothing to do with her or her requests though, merely notes. The object was interesting, but didn't steal her attention for more than a few seconds. "Wouldn't want to forget any small details. Very smart and attentive. You really are rather suited to this division."

Holding the items she came in for, the woman smiled warmly at Alexander and gave a small curtsy as pulled her Haori out like a skirt with her fingers. "Of course, Taicho Alexander Releigus. I shouldn't be too busy a bit later in the week, I'll stop by later when I know my next day off. It should be fun."

"`Bye Alex." Waving her fingers in a more playful and informal way than she had before, Lakshmi smiled and turned to leave the laboratory.

Caught off-guard by Lakshmi's playful finger twirling wave, Alexander found himself stumbling on his words for a second until he could get his thoughts in order. It was hard to catch the Captain of Squad 12 at a loss for words, but it was possible, as the Captain of Squad 4 would see.

"It should be a grand time. I hope you will grace me with your presence again soon, Miss Lakshmi." He remarked with a genuine smile as she walked out of the door carrying her equipment. Did he actually just flirt with somebody? Human to human interaction was never Alex's strong point...perhaps he was getting better at socializing.

"EXCELLENT JOB, MASTER. YOUR CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS HAVE IMPROVED BY 5.5534 PERCENT." A cold robotic voice would suddenly announce as one of the android mech-bots nearby spoke to its creator. "I HAVE PERFORMED CALCULATIONS AND THE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS FOR THIS EXCURSION WITH CAPTAIN LAKSHMI IS-" The droid tried to speak before its head was smacked by Alexander, spinning around Looney Toons style before the mechanical creature could fix itself. It wasn't a hard hit, but it would have looked humorous if anyone else was still around.

"Never tell me the odds." He remarked with a grin as he began putting away all of the equipment used for the previous creations. The Captain would putter about in the Lab for a while yet, eventually leaving the room later on.

There would be a new person looking to make a deal with the tech devil, Captain Des enetered the lab with a loud, "Yo!" as she sought to flag down the captain.

Right before he was about to leave, Alexander was suddenly met by another Captain, the one who called herself Des.

"Ah, just as I am finished with another Captain, another walks right in." The man smiled a little bit as he turned to face the young woman. "Captain Desdemona. What can I do for you?" The R&D head asked. She was probably looking for some equipment, he assumed.

"You're all techy and stuff, so I need like an invention that shocks everybody. Like a tazer bomb. People Like to get unruly from time to time and punching a bunch of people gets old and requires time and restraint. So a taser would just make everything so much easier." The Captain explain while making very descriptive gestures.

A taser-like charge in the form of a bomb? Well, it was certainly an interesting proposal.

"Not to deter your request or anything, but wouldn't using kido work for this purpose, or can you not use it effectively?" The Captain honestly asked the other. Although he could adequately perform kido expected of a Captain, it was never his strong suit either.

Des scratched her head sheepishly before letting out a sigh, "Yeah no, I did the bare minimum to pass at the academy and after that I kinda just dumped that knowledge. Nothing beats getting up close and personal with whatever you plan on crushing."