Ianto and Sam, Cardiff

[likesthecoat]

The Hub is a bit dark, with the blue lights from the computers playing off the walls, and a soft glow from the greenhouse above the central area. Ianto flicks on a few more lights so they don't trip over the steps and their own feet, and calls, "It's just me, I brought a friend, we're going to look for things to fight demons!" in a tone that suggests he doesn't expect anyone to answer.

The others must have left for the day already, and Jack is probably on a roof somewhere.

"Let me get a notebook and we can get started," he tells Sam.

Comments

[gavemea_45]

"Yeah."

Sam gives the 'coaster' a curious look.

"Does it work on, er, nonliving forms?"

[likesthecoat]

"We've never tried it on one. They tend not to run away so much."

[gavemea_45]

More and more, he's got a sinking feeling this is going to be a dry well in terms of finding anything he can use to help Dean.

"I meant -- well, hm."

He studies the disk a little more.

"I guess you've never had the chance to test it on a spirit, huh."

[likesthecoat]

"No, never. We don't get much call for that. When we do, it usually turns out to be something else. Alien, of course.

"The only things we've really dealt with that you would consider properly supernatural were the Old Ones and the demon Abbadon. With the Old Ones we could only give them what they wanted, and with Abbadon Jack ... sucked the life out of him, basically."

And he hopes to never experience anything like that again, seeing Jack so cold and pale.

[gavemea_45]

"Of course," Sam says. "Right."

A wry, wry half-smile.

"The fewer the demons the better, I always say."

[likesthecoat]

"One was enough," says Ianto with feeling. "But I doubt that method would be effective again, even if your demons aren't fifty feet tall."

[gavemea_45]

"... fifty feet tall," he echoes. "Uh, no."

A beat.

"At least I hope we don't run into one of those."

[likesthecoat]

"I hope so too."

He frowns at the items in the file. "Anything that detects life forms helpful? Or something purely ... not-alive?"

[gavemea_45]

"Hm. I don't know," Sam admits, after a moment. "I mean, if it's hiding, that's one thing -- but... "

Another beat.

"Ever used an EMF reader, or anything like that?"

[likesthecoat]

Ianto has to think. "No, I don't think so. But that's something you can pick up in any electronics store, isn't it?"

[gavemea_45]

Sam smiles.

"Not quite like these. They can be tuned to pick up paranormal frequencies; spectral residue, that sort of thing. Dean built our first one out of Radio Shack parts, but they work really, really well."

[likesthecoat]

"Spectral residue--ectoplasm, yeah?"

[gavemea_45]

"Sometimes, yeah. That's usually the sign of a really strong spirit, though."

"More often it's just like weird electronics -- lights flickering, TVs fuzzing out, that sort of thing."

A beat.

"Which is why I was wondering -- how does your thing work? Detecting life forms, I mean?"

[likesthecoat]

"Well, like it'll detect body heat or a heartbeat within a fifty-metre radius. I'm not entirely sure of the science itself."

[gavemea_45]

"Cool," Sam decides. "Or, well, not in the case of body heat, but it sounds like more than just infrared-- anyway."

"Can you show me how it works?"

[likesthecoat]

Ianto picks up the gadget and turns it on, and tunes it a moment. "Here's us," he says as two green dots show up on the display.

He twirls a dial. "This is expanding the radius...so you can see we've got three weevils in the cells right now. And here's Myfanwy ... we could see if anyone's out on the pier, even."

[gavemea_45]

"How far does it reach?" he asks. "And how big does the life form have to be to show up?"

[likesthecoat]

"Fifty metres, and basically it just has to generate body heat."

[gavemea_45]

"Useful for finding a demon's host; dunno how well it'd work for anything else we usually come up against."

Sam gives Ianto a wry half-smile.

"You, uh, remember what I was like when possessed, I'm betting. That's kind of what we're dealing with right now. Only a lot of them."

Beat.

"Some of them really old and powerful."

[likesthecoat]

"I remember," Ianto says quietly. "With so little experience with demons I really don't know if there's anything more helpful here. You're more than welcome to this, though, if it'll be helpful. I'll just check it out of the archives, and try to get it back to us at some point."

[gavemea_45]

"I will," he promises. "And ... thanks. A lot."