Limited Science and You

[HighVoltage]

The dull roar of hundreds of people talking at once washed over Mari once she’d picked up her badge and made her way deeper into the convention center. Unofficially referred to as the ‘Big Boy Science Fair’ by Spork, the Pittsburgh Area Science and Technology Conference (or PASTC for not much shorter) was a gathering of some of the most brilliant minds in the area, each displaying various technological advancements in their respective fields. While the official title did include ‘Pittsburgh Area’, that moreso referred to the area the conference was held in rather than where its attendees and presenters hailed from.

This was Mari’s fourth year attending. She’d never been a presenter, and had long ago decided she never would be. This was due to practical reasons as, much like an artist, every tinkerer or inventor has a unique style to their work. For example, Auraliese’s creations looked like the mechanical equivalent of a child creating a “potion” on the playground. It would take Mari twice as long to convert something to a different style, and even then there would always be the chance that someone could connect it to Kitsune and Nine Tails.

So she instead attended these conferences for a couple of other reasons. The first was to see what the competition could be carrying. Nine Tails was far from the only group willing to perform less than savory acts at a competitive price, and while Mari may have been smart enough to keep her own technology out of the public eye, there could be others that weren’t quite so careful.

The second reason was less charitable: plagiarism.

Again, a term taken from Spork but one that actually fit the situation at hand. Sometimes innovation required inspiration, and sometimes that inspiration was from seeing the horribly inefficient way that someone was generating a laser and attempting to amplify it through a set of no less than thirteen highly precise lenses that could only handle five short bursts of approximately 720 milliseconds before at least one of those lenses needed to be changed. Honestly, someone creates a basic ray gun and everyone loses their mind over the fact that it’s just a more advanced version of using a magnifying glass to burn ants.

No, of course Kitsune’s signature weaponry didn’t come from a desire to improve upon a terrible design. That would be nonsense.

Spite was also involved.

Regardless, Mari began to wander the artificial aisles of the convention, her gaze passing from one booth to the next. The problem with gathering a bunch of brilliant people and asking them to show off their work was that none of them had social skills. So when she saw a bright-eyed young woman eagerly explaining what was going on at her booth, Mari stopped and listened, curious as to what was going on.

 

[Katpride]

This is one of Venus’ favorite events. The PAST-C science fair is just so cool! There’s so much to see, and she’s nearly done with the requisite two hours of presenting! She just has to pitch her mom’s project to one last group, and then she can go see everyone’s cool projects.

Not that her mom’s project isn’t cool, but Venus has spent the last several weeks helping her prepare it (and the past two hours running through some variation of the same script) so she’s ready to see something new.

But first, the presentation. Since this will be her last before her mom takes over, she takes a sip of water and adjusts the stand one final time, making sure everything is perfect. This is the second year her mom has let her do half of the talking at her booth, and Venus has gotten even more business cards than last year. This is a great place to get investors.

“Have you ever broken a bone?” She calls into the crowd, her voice pitched to reach the latest group of people wandering by their booth. “It takes forever to heal, right? And casts are so unwieldy and inconvenient!”

She catches the eye of one of the women in the group, her smile growing broader when she sees the glint of interest there. “With Maria Votticelli’s latest invention, bone cement, you’ll cut the healing and hassle in half! This is the future of medical technology, folks.”

That should draw them in. She lingers just so by the side of her mother’s booth, close enough to the table that they’ll have to enter her orbit to talk to her. And then she can get their business cards, hand out her own, and answer questions. It’s the perfect scheme, because it’s not a scheme at all! It’s science!

 

[HighVoltage]

Interesting. While biochemistry and medical science weren’t her forte, Mari certainly could appreciate the advances made in the field. Spork would disagree, but Spork also agreed to let her experiment on them and attach things to their spine, so they weren’t really the best point of reference for what her areas of expertise were. This bone cement could certainly be handy for them, though.

Spork had broken several bones before Mari had even started Nine Tails, and with their recklessness, combined with her occasional fuckups in the augmentation department, that number had almost certainly hit double digits. Wrangling a Spork who couldn’t move a part of themself or get it wet was truly an endeavor. More than once while enduring this, Mari considered asking Sisyphus for his boulder, just to take a break.

The crowd murmured after the girl’s speech was concluded, a wave of people forming an unruly line to ask questions and exchange business cards. Mari kept a handful that she’d taken from various booths, intending to properly research the companies later. Some of them had little holes stabbed through them with a pen. These were for her targets. They’d get extra research later on.

Mari waited until the majority of the crowd had moved on before making herself known and stepping up to the younger woman presenting. She seemed the bubbly sort, not someone Mari would usually expect to see in these conventions, let alone presenting.

“Good afternoon,” Mari said, putting on her business smile. “I have to admit, I’m very intrigued by the applications of bone cement. Do you know if or when Dr. Voticelli intends to release it for public use? I would certainly be interested.” She extended her hand for the girl to take.

“I’m Mari. Do you work for Dr. Voticelli?”

 

[Katpride]

Her pitch worked just as intended, and Venus made a concerted effort to keep the brightness of her smile capped at an acceptable level of radiance as she fielded questions and collected cards. She couldn’t look too eager, or she’d scare away the more serious business-types who thought that all scientists did was scowl at notebooks all day.

Venus had definitely scowled at a notebook or two in her time, but that wasn’t all she did. Take today, for example. She’d caught a lot of flies with a moderate dosage of honey, and almost no vinegar at all.

She thanked one last person and turned to see the woman from earlier, the one whose eye she’d caught, approaching her. Her own eyes lit up, though she quickly mastered her excitement. She wasn’t sure if the woman would actually end up talking to her, or if she’d move on when it got busy and forget to circle back. That happened sometimes, especially with younger or shyer people.

Professionalism, she reminded herself, tamping her smile into the barest flash of teeth. She took the woman’s hand and shook it firmly, not too tight or too loose, letting go after two shakes. “A pleasure to meet you, Mari! I’m Venus, one of the doctor’s lab assistants.”

Also her daughter, and her main lab assistant, but it was best to start small. Venus took a half-step back towards the table, drawing the eye towards the simple display set up behind her. Two tri-folds framing a skeletal arm and the prototype applicator for the bone cement. It wasn’t filled, of course, but it was cool to look at. “We’re in the last stages of testing currently, so if all goes well we expect to have something on the market within the next few months.”

It would depend on a lot of things, of course, but Venus knew her mom was in talks with investors and manufacturers. It was just a matter of time. She reached for a business card from the stack on the table, and held it out to Mari with a smile. “If you’re interested in following the process, we post updates on our website.”

Her nail, painted in a vibrant blue, tapped the spot on the card where the website was written out.

 

[HighVoltage]

“Nice to meet you, Venus.” Mari took note of the girl’s handshake, her excited demeanor, the way she almost seemed to be restraining herself. Either she was just a really chipper person, or she was quite passionate about science, and in particular Dr. Voticelli’s work. A little enthusiasm could go a long way, Mari had found, especially when it came to bridging gaps with people.

“I’m very excited to see how it goes, and what else Dr. Voticelli will be able to put together.” She took the offered business card and put it with the others. “Have you been working with her long?” She was fishing a little bit, hoping to get more information. Based on what she’d seen today, Maria Voticelli may be worth investing in. It’d been a little bit since Mari had formed a new shell company to funnel some of her illegitimate funds into legitimate ventures, and all her current ones were too far removed from the medical industry. They would draw unwanted attention if they suddenly invested.

“Are you busy?” Mari asked, throwing out a line. Venus looked eager enough, so she might be amenable. “If you’re going to check out the rest of the convention, do you want to check it out together?” Mari wasn’t really the chatty type, but she’d started to feel her eyes glaze over, and feared she would fall asleep if she was by herself.