[Closed] Down the Tubes: Breakdown

[fwips]

WHO: Breakdown crew
WHERE: The Bunker
WHEN: August 28
OPEN TO: Peter, Fang, Sam, Lyanna, Owen, Danny R
WARNINGS: Nothing yet

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There's no real rhyme or reason to the six of them that end up in the pod, and Peter figures if that's not a metaphor for life, he doesn't know what is — Most things are determined by the people who just happen to be around at the time. A little curiosity and the ability to swim is all it takes. One push of a button and they make a team, zooming off into the dark as they drip onto the pod's corrugated metal floor.

[Continued in the comments]

Comments

[fwips]

It's good, solid advice she's giving, but Peter isn't listening — He's already set the brake and jammed himself up under the pod along the track. His wrist device emits a little bit of light, but it's not nearly enough to get a decent read on what they're looking at, and he scoots his way back out, grease already smeared across his chin and dingy white scrubs.

"We need more light," he says, stepping past the track and into the glow of the room beyond. There are shelves, and lined up on them are old-style lanterns — The kind with a crank you keep in case the power goes out.

"Perfect," he says, grinning as he pulls one down.

[twistedjudge]

"Take a lantern before you go!" she calls after the retreating backs. Peter's not the one she's worried about, since he's staying there where she can keep an eye on him and he seems pretty intent on the work that needs to be done. Hopefully the rest of the group is willing to follow those guidelines; she's gonna be rolling her eyes if people don't want to follow basic safety protocols.

"Here, let me have that," Fang says, moving to grab another lantern in case it's needed and holding out her hand for the one Peter grabbed. "I'll take care of all this sort of stuff so you can work on that. Just tell me if you need me to hit anything." Because, as they all know, thirty percent of fixing a broken piece of equipment is knowing exactly where, when, and how hard to hit it to get it working again.

Moving back to the pod, Fang sets down the two lanterns about ten feet apart to give them something resembling even coverage of light, then starts cranking the one closer to the pod after a moment of studying it. The filament flickers and then shoots into much brighter light the longer she cranks; when it looks like it's at full power and will stay there for awhile, then she moves onto the second one, repeating the process. "Any idea what's going to need to happen here, or do you need to look a little closer first?"

[fwips]

So this girl is cute but kinda pushy, Peter thinks as he obediently holds out the lantern. Not that he's saying it's a bad thing, it's just— well. Apparently she's in charge. Having had Tony Stark as a mentor, he just goes with it.

"It's mechanical, not electrical, like I said," Peter replies and drops to the ground again so that he can scoot back up under the pod's carriage. "If we're lucky, it's something simple that won't require a major repair, but we might have to look around for spare parts— Could you angle that more to the left?" He squints against the light as it shifts. "Thanks."

It doesn't take long to pinpoint the problem, and he frowns. "It's a bearing," he calls out. "It looks like it was sitting unused for so long, the lubricant got too viscous. It should be an easy fix, but—" He sighs, hefting himself back out from under the pod. "Only if we can find a replacement and a decent lubricant."

[twistedjudge]

Angling the light to Peter's specifications only takes a second, Fang nudging the lantern with her foot into a better position and then settling back to wait for whatever pronouncement he gives. She's at least used to people younger than her being good with machines (just look at Hope), and so she has no problem with waiting for Peter to complete an initial inspection and figure out what's gone wrong.

Still, when he crawls out with a pronouncement, she can't help but frown. Electrical would almost be better, because she's willing to bet there's still power down here in some shape or form. Finding a spare part... well, that's going to take some luck. Also knowledge of this bunker, which they don't have. "You're sure?" She doesn't sound like she really doubts him, more like she just wants confirmation. And then there's a sigh and she's shaking her head, looking around the room they're stuck in. "Can we even fix something like that without getting the entire thing off the track? We didn't bring any tools to take apart a machine, and I doubt they've left a set of whatever they used to build this place just lying around."

Still, there's no use in not trying to get the thing done. Expressing doubts and planning for the worst is reasonable; sitting around complaining and waiting for the bad to come is worthless. Moving back over to the shelves with the lanterns, Fang takes down one of the last ones there and cranks it, looking back at Peter again. "I'm followin' your lead - if you had to put this stuff somewhere, where would you put it?"

[fwips]

"I can fix it," Peter insists, holding a splayed hand her way — Just slow your roll, there, lady. It's under control. "It'll be harder to fix if we can't find supplies, but I'll be able to do it."

They have the pod here, the rows of lanterns... If nothing else, there might be something in the complex he can dismantle, improvise. He didn't get to where he was back home by not being able to make the most out of what was on hand. If Mr. Stark could build an actual Iron Man suit in a cave from spare parts, Peter can fix a bearing in a creepy bunker.

"In a closet, maybe?" he answers as he picks up one of the lanterns and hops over the end of the tracks and into the bunker beyond. "I might have to take something else apart to get what we need, but maybe we'll get lucky."