Who: Luke and Renard, and an NPC What: Touring R&D When: Saturday morning! Where: Thomas, Inc Warnings: None!
Renard was up to greet the sun Saturday morning, enjoying his breakfast before heading to the office to catch up on more paperwork. By the time 10am rolled around, Renard was itching to head down to Research and Development. The department consisted of a mix of people from FoxTech and Thomas, Inc, but the man he was going to see specifically for Thomas’s suit was one of Renard’s most trusted friends, Michael Davenport.
Luke was due to arrive any minute now, so Renard finished with the last of his paperwork and called Michael quickly to warn him of their arrival within the half hour. He was just signing off on invoices when a knock came at his door. “It’s open Mr. Henry,” he called, not looking up from his paperwork until he heard the door open.
Early mornings weren’t really his thing, especially since the night before had been a late one, but after multiple cups of coffee Luke was as alert and awake as he was ever going to be. He might have been a little too wired by the time he arrived at Thomas Inc., which combined with his excitement made it hard to keep still, but he managed to a decent job of hiding it once he entered the building.
He knocked once, just to announce his arrival, and pushed open the door once he heard Renard’s reply. “Morning, Mr. Todd,” he said, barely managing to suppress a grin. “I’m on time, right?”
With one last signature, Renard was done with his paperwork, and he offered Luke a welcoming smile. “Right on time exactly,” he replied warmly, taking the last few sips of warm coffee from the mug on his desk. “I was just finishing up some paperwork,” he explained as he stood from behind his desk and walked toward Luke.
“Excited to see the ‘inner workings’ of the R&D Department?” Renard asked, though he was fairly certain he knew the answer. “They’ve had a special project for the week that I’m told is just about done. I need to ensure they’ve met all the specifications for both versions of the product,” he explained, leading Luke out of his office and down the hallway toward the elevator. They were going to the 7th floor, and Renard’s office was on one of the upper-most floors of the building.
He could have tried to play it cool, but Renard was probably aware of how much he was looking forward to this. Luke knew a little about Sparke’s R&D from what Bly had told him but due to confidentiality and all that his information was minimal. Thomas, however, had never mentioned much about his company so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Yeah,” he admitted with a grin. He followed Renard out of the office and towards the elevator, brightening at the mention of a ‘special project’. “Really? Will I get to see it?”
Renard was pleased to see Luke so excited about seeing R&D, and he filed that bit of information away to explore at another time. He pressed the button for the 7th floor and the elevator doors slid shut. “Of course. I need your opinion on it, actually. It’s for Mr. Brandon,” he explained, without really explaining much of anything. “Every project in R&D is considered a ‘special project’, but some are even more special, if you would. This particular project is a base jumping suit that has the capabilities to monitor the jumper and his environment during the entire jump. Mr. Brandon asked for one of his own, so I had some of the guys down here working on it for him.”
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing what could have passed as a construction zone. The only walls were the four building walls, lined with specially treated glass that was tinted, bullet proof, and shatter proof. There were shades as well, and some were drawn in various parts of the floor. The elevator was smack dab in the middle, and all around them were the bare iron supports creating a grid like pattern of the room. Those grids all housed different projects, with a handful of workers scurrying between two or three different projects. Renard led Luke down the main aisle about halfway down before turning left and going all the way to the far wall. “Mr. Henry, I’d like you to meet Michael Davenport, the head of the R&D Department,” he said, by way of introductions.
Michael Davenport stood at 5’11”, with long arms and legs. He was far from lanky though, and there was just the barest hint of well-defined muscle beneath his Dockers slacks, blue button down shirt, and lab coat. He had brown hair and eyes, and had no defining features about him, which made it all the more easy for him to blend in to a crowd. “Mr Henry! Renard said he was bringing a guest,” Michael greeted excitedly, casting Renard a look that clearly said ‘you should have warned me’. He held his hand out for Luke with a smile.
Luke knew exactly why Thomas would want a base jumping suit, and he had a strong feeling Renard did too but was the kind of person who kept those kinds of things to himself. Few people were that trustworthy. “Thomas likes his base jumping,” he said with the hint of a smile, assuming there was no need to elaborate. “The best part is no one expects it.”
He paused before exiting the elevator, looking all around while Renard led him to wherever they were going. It took him a moment to realize he was being introduced to someone since his attention was still focused over his shoulder at what was going on in the various grids, but he turned back around fairly quickly and offered a grin. “Yeah. He offered to give me a tour of R&D and I couldn’t say no. Nice to meet you,” he added, shaking Michael’s warmly before letting it drop. “I hear you’ve been working on a base jumping suit.”
Renard chuckled at Luke’s observation that no one would expect Thomas to base jump. That was entirely true if the man they were discussing was only Thomas. He left it at that though, and watched as Luke took in the R&D Lab. It wasn’t the most conventional of labs, but the setup had worked so well at FoxTech that Renard really wouldn’t have had it any other way. Plus, a lot of the projects were just parts of a larger whole.
“Yep, I’ve got all the adjustments finished too. The market one was finished a couple days ago, so that’s ready for you to look at too,” Michael replied, speaking at first to both of them, but directing the last bit to Renard, who nodded.
“Let’s see it then. Run through all the features, too,” Renard asked warmly, excited himself to see the project. Michael nodded and went to stand at one end of the rectangular table, where the suit was laid out. It was designed to Thomas’s measurements, but was also roomy enough for him to wear a layer or two of clothing underneath it.
Michael was visibly excited about this particular project, though he had no idea who the suit was for, just the measurements and specifications. “Well, the material is a bit thinner but stronger than the suit for distribution. We used a more specialized material that’s resistant to tears or scrapes, but that’ll still do the things it needs to do. All the monitoring systems are still in place, and we added a shield layer on the inside of the suit to mask body heat. This wrist watch,” he held up a watch on the larger end of the spectrum, “will show all the necessary data when set to that setting, or it’ll just show the time. One of my favorites actually. Anyway, besides monitoring the outside conditions and the person’s vitals, the watch can project an image of the intended jump and do all of the calculations in seconds. It’ll take into account the person’s height and weight as well, that just needs to get inputted by whoever’s getting this tech.”
Renard grinned, accustomed to Michael’s fishing trips. “Everything is exactly what I asked for and then some. Thanks for taking the initiative on the wrist watch, Michael,” he said warmly, with sincere gratitude. Michael was always the type to go a step or two further than asked, and that was exactly why Renard had assigned him this particular project. “Mr. Henry, what do you think?”
Luke inched closer to the table, eager for a closer look. He studied the suit while listening to Michael describe the various features, growing more and more certain by the minute that Thomas would be impressed. Personally, he was relieved that it sounded like a lot of the attributes seemed to be in place to ensure the safety of the person wearing it. “The wrist watch is really cool,” he agreed, not exactly eloquent but genuine all the same.
It didn’t look like the suit would be as heavy as the Bat’s current armor - and he knew firsthand how much weight that added - which meant it would probably be easier to move in, though he didn’t know how exactly Thomas planned on using it. “I think it’s pretty impressive. Whoever ends up using it will probably think the same.” Part of him wished he could have his own version, but he didn’t really need anything high-tech. Not like the Bat did.
Renard was pleased with Luke’s observations despite the lack of eloquence. It was perfect for Thomas, though he wished it was possible to request that it be bullet proof. The feasibility of it just wasn’t there. The material used for base jumping suits just wasn’t meant for bullet proofing. He hoped Thomas would be pleased with it all the same. “It is, isn’t it?” he replied warmly. “Lets see if we can’t modify it for every day use, hmm?” The question was directed to Michael, who nodded appropriately.
He then turned to Luke. “Would you like to take a look at some of the other projects?” The question was a harmless one, and if Luke was going to take a strong interest in the company, well, Renard wasn’t opposed to swaying Luke’s favor toward the R&D Department. Ordinarily, the department wouldn’t get much attention, but with Renard’s careful focus, he made sure the department would be well stocked with projects.
He gave the suit another long look before tearing his gaze away and returning his attention to Renard. Luke was becoming accustomed to the tedious side of business, which involved Board meetings and long discussions over this potential project or that current endeavor, and for once it was nice to get a look at something more hands-on. “Yeah, that’d be great.”
Renard was obviously pleased with Luke’s reply and offered a nod of thanks to Michael. “Have it boxed up for me, please. I’ll be taking it with me,” he instructed.
“Not a problem, and it was nice meeting you Mr. Henry,” Michael replied, warmly and satisfied that his project had passed inspection.
Renard led Luke through the grid, showing him each and every project housed on the 7th floor. He was personally responsible for assigning all of them, and was well versed on the technology and theories behind all of the various gizmos and gadgets. It took them a good while to get through everything, but as they ended up back at the elevator - where Michael was waiting with a box just as Renard asked - he was fairly certain Luke had enjoyed the trip.