WHO: Ryan WHAT: Messing around with some tech stuff, thinking hard on a few things. WHERE: His apartment that he shares with Rhett WHEN: Early Sunday
Ryan didn't want to think about it too much. The whole purpose of bringing work home with him was so that he could keep his mind off of everything with his tinkering, instead of his mind focusing on the bad things that had come down on them recently. Home security was still the same. Maybe a little more advanced each day, but overall it had the same purpose. Keep the bad guys out. The challenge came with distinguishing who was a bad guy; a simple machine would never be able to pick up on the nuances required to figure that out, or to distinguish between a small time shoplifter and a three time murderer. Ryan was good with his equipment, but he wasn't that good. All transgencis had some training in robotics and the like to use in a pinch, but his special training was in recon.
It wasn't a hard repair he was making. In fact, it was something he could have left for some other guy who couldn't do the super soldier things he could do and should be putting his attention on, but the somewhat mindless task actually felt soothing. It was weird; he desperately wanted to do something to get them all out of their predicamemts, but the repetitive nature of insert-part-tighten-here made him feel grounded. There was nothing he could do about their situation right there, but he could fix other problems in their lives. Smaller problems. Starting with this camera that always seemed to go down on them.
He pulled away a few parts before he had his 'aha' moment. Computers and technology were so finicky sometimes. It was amazing that they could actually do what they do considering how much could go wrong. It was an easy fix--well, for him at least. He just needed a smaller tool, and the last time he'd seen it had been in his brother's room. Rhett wasn't home, so he had no qualms in padding into his twin's room in pursuit of the sacred tool that would make his job at least ten times more interesting.
What he saw when he entered the room wasn't a widely coveted tool, but the weirdest shrine Ryan could ever imagine. He stepped closer to the one wall, his mouth tightlipped and frowning as he raised his hand to touch a painting of the blue lady that Rhett had obviously done himself. There were dozens of them, in a variety of colors and mediums, but the subject was always the same. Always that stupid woman who drove Ben to be a serial killer. Ryan sank slowly onto Rhett's bed, allowing his eyes to wander. The shrine was so vast that it took up his whole room. Pictures, sculptures, magazine cut outs. Ryan could kick himself for not noticing this sooner. He'd been so preoccupied--
He pulled himself off of the bed and grabbed the tool he needed. It wouldn't do for Rhett to catch him in there, especially when he had no idea where his brother had gone to in the first place. For now, he'd fix the damn camera, and then worry about his brother.