Jack smiled. "Alright. Thank you." He took off his coat, and looked around for a moment, before hanging it on a hook beside Lincoln's, hanging his hat on top. He pulled Tip out of the coat pocket, putting it in his pants pocket. He pulled it out again, frowning slightly. "Come on, Tip." He murmured. "Work for me?" He asked softly. Tip was silent for a long moment. Then, just as Lincoln was coming back, it said loudly, "Cloaking features failing." It's form shimmered and changed from a pocket watch to another device. Still small, but obviously not anything that belonged in the early 1900s. Jack swore.
(By the way, starting late tomorrow and going through Friday, I most likely won't be on much, if at all, bc I'll be busy)
(Ok! I’ll probably be busy too)
Lincoln returned with an old beige undershirt of his he didn’t wear anymore and a pair of sleeping pants, “Will these work?” He held them out to him. He tilted his head at the small contraption, “What in the world is that thing? If you don’t mind my asking.”
(ok!)
Jack nodded. "Yeah, it'll work." He said with a small smile. He hesitated, biting his lip and looking from Tip to Lincoln. "Damn it." He muttered. "So…this is Tip." He held up the device. "It is…very complicated." He said, biting his lip slightly. He held Tip gently. He hoped he could figure out a way to fix the little machine.
He set down the items in a nearby chair, fascinated by the little machine, “What does it do? How does it work?” He held out his hand, just hovering over it without touching it, as if asking permission to hold it. His expression lit up like a child seeing a bag of candy or a new toy. He practically shook with excitement and curiosity.
Jack bit his lip again. He looks adorable… He thought, and he pushed the thought away. "Er… it's a…" He hesitated. "You can't tell people." He said slowly. "And technically, I'm not supposed to tell you, but…it's a time travel device." He said. "How it works is…very complicated." He said. "You can hold it." He handed Tip to Lincoln gently. Tip was silent for a long moment, then suddenly said, "You aren't supposed to show me to people, Jack." It said. "Especially not explain me." The little AI almost sounded like it was reprimanding Jack. Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know. But…he might be able to help fix you." He told the machine.
(bump. Not meaning to be rude, I just bump after a few days of inactivity)
(Np, I was pretty busy with school and wouldn’t be able to write a good, descriptive reply so I waited until the weekend
Now I can! :) )
Lincoln pulled the strange machine close to his face to examine it, turning it over in his hands. He was completely and absolutely enthralled at how it could talk, and understand language. “I guess I can see if I can fix it. How does it work and what does it do?” He looked back up to Jack. “This is incredible,” he laughed excitedly and went to go sit down at his desk where his tools were. He turned Tip over on its back to try and find and opening.
(alright! Awesome! :) )
Jack came over, leaning against Lincoln slightly so he could point things out. "Let me see." He said. He tapped a few buttons, and the back panel slid open, exposing a mess of wires. "I have the instruction manual…" He trailed off, clicking a few more keys on the device, and a holographic manual and plans appeared. "It works using, er…I didn't actually make it, so…I don't know. All I know is that it punches a hole through time and stitches it together. Like…like making clothes. It pulls two pieces of fabric together, except in this instance, it's not fabric, it's time. And I'm the thread, poking through from one time to a different one." He said slowly. "This device is the needle."
Lincoln listened with half belief and a sliver of doubt. He started laughing as he stared at the holographic images and heard a logical explanation for time travel. “No…” he smiled, “No, that’s not possible, you’re fooling with me.” He tried to touch the hologram, but of course his hand just went right through, “This is incredible,” he said again, “Technology beyond my intelligence. Beyond my professor’s intelligence!” He looked more at the mess of wires, “Tell me, what time did you come from? When were you born?”
"I'm from 2113, I was born in 2092." Jack replied with a small smile. "And no, I'm not joking." He reached out again, tapping a key on the device, and the hologram zoomed in on the same area of wires that were visible on the back. "I'm just…stuck. Two of the wires have failed, along with the chaos handler." He explained. "The chaos handler is for keeping me in one piece, basically. If it doesn't work correctly, I might get left behind somewhere on the journey between this time and my own, drifting forever in…blank nothingness." He shrugged slightly.
“Wow…” he scratched the back of his head, “I might not have the right tools for this but I suppose I could see..” He opened a few of his drawers to find and take out his toolbox, “There is a real possibility I might break it even more. But I’ll do my best.” He took out a clamp small enough for the wires.
Jack nodded. "I can contact the Corps for new parts, but…" He sighed softly. "Admittedly, they don't like me very much, so it might take a while." He looked around. "Is there room for me to sit down anywhere?" He asked, looking back at Lincoln. Tip made a soft chirping sound, but didn't say anything.
“Hm…” Lincoln tapped the table in thought, still looking at Tip. “Oh,” he registered the question, “Yes, there’s an old sofa over there but if you want to get ready for bed I have clothes in my wardrobe in my bedroom upstairs. Farthest door down the hallway on the right. Across from that is my washroom. Use whatever you need. There’s more comfortable seating up there.”
"No, i meant sit down here." He replied, biting his lip. "So I can help out with Tip." He looked at Lincoln. Also, he was sort of nervous about borrowing clothes. They would smell like Lincoln, most likely, and, well…Lincoln was attractive. He wasn't sure he wanted to put them on until he was in private. Didn't want to make a mistake.
Lincoln nodded in understanding, about wanting to help with Tip. He was completely unaware Jack actually had interest in him too. “Of course. There’s a chair like mine over by the fireplace,” he gestured over to the other side of the room. He looked over to Jack for a moment, inwardly glad that Jack had accepted his invitation to spend the night, but also anxious that he might make an utter fool of himself.
Jack nodded, and pulled the chair over, sitting down beside Lincoln. "So do you think you can fix him?" He asked, looking at Lincoln worriedly. "I… no offense to you or your time period, but I want to go home." He said with a soft laugh. He swallowed, looking at the little AI device after a moment. Tip was silent, the holographic plans still hovering in the air.
“I understand,” he focused his attention back to Tip, “I’m sure I can fix him eventually. It seems rudimentary enough once I understand the workings and the um..the manual.” He squinted at the hologram, “Some of these are new words. What is…Upcycled?”
"Oh, upcycled means… something was used, and then the materials were used to create something new, so we don't waste the planets resources." Jack explained, not sure Lincoln would understand what he meant. "Also, there's a dictionary setting." He reached out, tapping a button. "What word definition do you want?" Tip asked robotically.
(oh by the way, do we want Lincoln to be able to fix it after a while and then Jack like… shows him the future as a way of showing thanks, or should Lincoln not be able to fix it, so Jack is stuck at least for a while? It's up to you, I don't mind either way)
(Hmm…I like both of those options
So maybe Lincoln shouldn’t be able to fix it right away so Jack’s stuck there for at least a couple days, and Lincoln is able to give him some of the little obscure information he knows about the titanic? It would take him a bit to learn the new technology anyway too)
“Aha,” He sat forward in his chair. He turned his head to Jack, “What word don’t I know? I can’t think of anything,” he chuckled. He found Tip amazing, wonderful, the peak of performance and near height of technology, the actual height of technology being the time travel, of course.
(alright, that sounds good!)
Jack chuckled softly. "I don't know. Hey Tip, what word does Lincoln not know?" He asked. Tip was silent for a moment. "Error, unable to fetch information. Please use correct search parameters." The AI said. Jack smiled lightly. "Mm. Guess no one knows." He said, then yawned, covering his mouth with one hand.
Lincoln laughed heartily “I mean any words that are in your century but not in mine. I’m sure they’ve invented new words in a handful of centuries haven’t they?” He leaned against the table with his elbow, sideways glancing to Jack with an amused expression.
Jack chuckled. "Oh, alright." He replied. Let's start with something simple. He grinned. "Well, there's a word from a musical that i doubt you've ever heard." He cleared his throat, and sang, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, even though the sound of it is always quite atrocious. If you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!" He grinned, chuckling softly.
Lincoln squinted at Jack with strong confusion for several moments, then started laughing, “The hell?” He sputtered, “What does Supa…frackiluscious…” covered his face with his hands, still laughing “No, that’s—seriously not a word.” He glanced at Jack through his fingers, “Is it?”
Jack smiled. He looks so cute right now… He thought, biting his lower lip for a moment. "Yeah. It's from a book, then a musical, then a movie." He said, chuckling. "It is a word." He smiled at Lincoln's confusion. Tip remained silent. Jack watched Lincoln, smiling. "Would you like another word, monsieur?"
