(A/N) Hey guys, time for your third consecutive chapter in as many days, and I hope you're enjoying them! I would advise you not to get used to it, it won't happen often, so enjoy it while the good times roll! This chapter was written by Baldore, so it's another Jarvis chapter, so let's all see what the Project Freelancer engineer is getting up to, shall we?
Enjoy!
Chapter Sixty-Two – Define Insanity?
Private Jarvis Voisine
Written by Baldore
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Einstein never said that. And neither did Benny Franklin." – Salon.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
By the dictionary definition the definition of insanity is 'the condition of being insane or a derangement of the mind.'
In law, insanity means 'such unsoundness of mind as frees one from legal responsibility, as for committing a crime, or as signals one's lack of legal capacity, as for entering into a contractual agreement.'
And each of them were completely and utterly wrong. Insanity wasn't any of those things. Not even remotely close. Well, okay, maybe there was a grain of truth to each of those statements, but Jarvis knew what the definition actually was.
A two word definition, as it turned out – Project Freelancer.
Sure, Jarvis liked it here, loved it even, but some of the freelancers were. . .unstable, and that would be a kind way to put it. Heck, he really did like most of them. Well, the ones who would acknowledge his existence, anyway. York, Florida, Georgia of course, and a few others. Jarvis had even watched a Grifball game or two with some of 'em. But they were nuts.
A few fries short of a happy meal. Didn't have fifty-two cards in their deck. Their elevators didn't quite reach the top floor. They've got bats in the belfry and are a sandwich short of a picnic. Off their rockers, out of their minds! They're out in left field, they don't quite click with reality and have lost every last solitary marble. Up the pole, not all there, off their trolleys!
Bonkers, bananas! Crazy, loopy lunatics! Madder than hatters! Berserk! Cuckoo! Disturbed, gaga and completely, utterly loco! Insane, mad, mental maniacs and more than a little nutty! Psychotic, strange, troubled and quite a few loose screws!
Stark raving mad!
Suddenly, a sharp pain manifested itself in his hand. Apparently, contemplating the crazies on the ship made him careless and prone to electrical shocks... Shocker.
"Dang." Metal clang.
"Shield." Metal clang.
"Generator." Metal clang.
"Uh, Rook?"
"What?" The female engineer stopped beating her wrench against the panel to snap at Jarvis' tentative inquiry. At the angry response, Jones (recently added to the group working on Project Canada – Jarvis' nickname for the secret project had stuck among those working on it – for extra manpower) shot his friend a glance that said 'be glad the wrench isn't hitting you.' Jarvis winked at him sarcastically, but mentally reflected that taking his friend's advice wouldn't be a bad idea – Rook had one hell of a right hook, as he had learned to his cost in the past.
"Uh, well, how do I say this tactfully..." Jarvis mused, a half-smile on his face. "Either you don't realize we're improving the MoI's shields or you're trying to beat it into submission."
"What's your point?" Rook murmured, raising the wrench threateningly, and Jarvis took a careful step backwards, not wishing to provoke her any further.
"Maybe you should not be trying to kill it?" Jones suggested, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.
Their friend snorted, brushing away Jones' hand derisively. "I'm not killing it. I'm fixing it."
Jarivs stared at her for a moment, his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise, and his reply slipped out before he had a chance to stop himself. "Well...that's debatable."
As Jarvis' fellow mechanics' conversation entered a rapid downward spiral from 'conversation' to 'offensive argument', he tuned out. Turning back to the coils of wires he was working on, he finished the repairs to the massive bundle. As soon as he was satisfied that they wouldn't short circuit if used, he flipped on the console controlling them.
With a dull whirling, the console came to life. Jarvis grinned beneath his helmet at the numbers. Increased output to the shields with decreased energy intake...not that he had much to do with it. That'd be thanks to the group's electricial engineer, Jacque. Jarvis was basically there to do the hands on work. Glancing over at Rook and Jones, who were still bickering over something or other, Jarvis decided that an intervention would probably be a good idea.
"Hey, you two, any news on Georgia?" he asked, still tapping in the console for readings. "I mean, I actually like this freelancer, and one of the other brutes beats him up! What's up with that? Aren't we all on the same side here?"
"Yeah," Rook agreed, aborting the argument with Jones. "At least he's back now. Who beat him up in the first place?"
"Carolina," Jones stated, matter-of-factly, turning back to his work with a theatrical shrug and a shake of the head.
Jarvis frowned in confusion, as that didn't sound quite right to him. Carolina had struck him as more than a bit too professional to end up in a fight with another 'lancer. "You sure?"
Jones looked up and nodded. "Definitely."
"The number one 'lancer beat someone up? Why?" Again, it just sounded wrong to him. Carolina seemed to be much too stable for that kind of thing, even if she was a little...dedicated. However, before Jones could reply, Rook cut in, beginning to pack up her tools:
"You guys done with your thing-a-madoojers? It's about time to head back."
"Yeah, were done, let's go." Jarvis stashed the tools and loose wires into their proper places, just so a curious burglar or 'lancer wouldn't destroy all of their hard work. "And Carolina probably just had a bad day. Didn't his girlfriend die a while back?"
Jarvis made the connection. "Oh, California. That's the guy whose girlfriend died," Jarvis corrected, before smirking at him. "You were sure it was Carolina, huh?"
"Eh, they sound the same to me. Both have the Ca- and L in them." He shrugged as they headed back to the mechanic's section if the ship used for Project Canada, and some jokingly referred to it as 'The Lair'. "Anyways," he continued, dropping his voice to a quiet whisper. The Director had been very clear the Project Canada was, as Jarvis liked to think of it, 'Top Secret'. Jarvis was willing to bet that there was even an old fashioned folder with TOP SECRET in big red block lettering. Maybe even some guy who announced his surname prior to his first. "Any progress with the robot problems?"
"No, we've still got the same things happening, every time–" Jarvis started but stopped as they passed a Freelancer – Nebraska, Jarvis was pretty sure – giving the trio an odd look as their conversation stopped short. Three sets of eyes followed the 'lancer until he was out of hearing range and Jarvis continued. "The suits are still too small or the body too big, and it's just not holding power like it should."
"Why don't we just make the body smaller?" Jones asked, still new to the project.
Jarvis shook his head. "We can't for two reasons; first, we're already barely within the Director's parameters. And second, if we make it any smaller the it'll snap under pressure. And we've still got the power problem."
"Why don't we use the Mark VI instead of the Mark V?" Rook asked. "Wouldn't that allow some more room for stuff?"
"Well, that'd fix some of the size issues but..." Jarvis trailed off as he looked out an observation window. They were currently passing some planet or other, one that had an asteroid belt. Something Jarvis had always loved. For whatever reason, he just loved the sight of massive rocks hurtling through space with massive amounts of speed before colliding with another object, decimating both of the aforementioned objects in a moment of pure, mutually destructive awe.
Wait. . .
Speed.
Speed is kinetic energy.
Energy shortages...
Too big...
The mechanic's mismatched eyes suddenly lit up in joy. He quickly changed his route to one with a destination of the 'lancer barracks.
"Voisine, where are you going?!" Rook yelled at him as he sprinted away, and Jarvis flinched at the noise.
"Go on guys, I just figured it out!" he yelled over his shoulder before he turned a corner. He'd never been very athletic in high school, but he had run track, once upon a time, so he could at least run. He was currently going full steam ahead as he reached the barracks.
Only briefly stopping to check Georgia's room number, he continued his quest. Though, one innocent bystander (a purple armoured, blonde anger-explosion waiting to happen) was accidentally body-checked by the mechanic. All the stunned Freelancer got was a frantic "Sorry!" before he was off again before she could kill him.
When he finally reached Georgia's door, he pounded mercilessly on the metal until it slid open to reveal a disgruntled Freelancer, whose face hadn't quite healed up since he had been discharged from Recovery. Jarvis suddenly realised, with a slight mental wince, that Georgia probably wouldn't want to be bothered about this kind of thing, at least until he got a few days of R&R first. "What...?"
"I found out how to fix the issues!" Jarvis blurted out, praying that the Freelancer wouldn't just shut the door in his face. "Guess!"
"Wait, the size issues or energy?" Georgia replied tiredly, trying to get the excited mechanic to clarify, though his eyes (even the black one) were starting to show some of the Freelancer's characteristic energy.
"Both!" Jarvis shouted back, grinning from ear to ear. It wasn't often that those under Georgia's command managed to come up with a solution to a problem before the freelancer, and Jarvis had to admit that Georgia's spell in Recovery had probably been the main reason that Jarvis had been able to seize this opportunity, but he'd be darned if he wasn't going to lord this over the others.
"Uh-huh...wait, what?" the Freelancer asked, wiping sleep out of his eyes and blinking rapidly, evidently trying to wake himself up in order to listen.
"Kinetic energy recycling!" Jarvis exclaimed, offering a fist bump without any further explanation, his grin widening even further.
"You lost me..." Georgia said, before understanding flooded his features and he tentatively fist bumped Jarvis, his hands trembling slightly, although whether that was from excitement or the fact that he was still recovering from his injuries, only a doctor would know. "Wait, do you mean..."
"Yeah, if we replace most of the power cells with kinetic energy converters, we'd solve the size issue since they're smaller. Then with only a few power cells, we should be able to power the robot! Maybe solar panels in the armour too. It'd completely eliminate the need for recharging! We could use the power cells for storage and get almost ninety-nine percent back straight to powering, and whatever got used would be recovered from the solar panels!" Jarvis nearly sang, frantically gesticulating like a puppy that had been giving a maniacal combo of Red Bull and coffee as he explained.
"That might just be crazy enough to work," Georgia grinned and Jarvis could see the gears turning in his head as he considered it. "I think we could do it, with Project Freelancer's tech . . ."
"Project Canada for the win!" Jarvis announced proudly, probably earning some unwanted attention. Well, as long as the Director didn't hear of it. . .
Georgia stared at him for a moment, clearly confused, but just shrugged and grinned back in reply.
"Canadians rock, eh!"