Players:
Summary: Kisha, Rashmi and Travis' conversation takes many interesting turns.
Date: June 6, 2011
Log Title: Things That Go Boom
Rating: PG-13
Barnes Academy - HoloQuad
Stepping into the HoloQuad one would almost forget that they were in an underwater school. The sky changes to reflect the time of day, sunny with clouds during the day to night time reflecting what the Northern Hemisphere would look like without light pollution. Sunsets and Sunrises are even reflected in the room. It's impossible to tell there is a ceiling up there. Plant life, benches, fountains and pathways make the room look like a luxurious park and unlike the sky, the rest of the room is real. Sometimes a breeze passes buy and the room is always a comfortable temperature giving the students a way to feel like they're outside enjoying the fresh air.
It's lunchtime at Barnes and Travis has decided to eat his tuna salad sandwiches in the HoloQuad today while doing some last minute homework. He stayed up late watching the Rockies game instead of focusing on his History home work so now he's working on typing up answers in regards to questions on the ethics of various war tactics. He's dressed in his Barnes Uniform, custom for his six arms, as he types on the small netbook he has for school purposes. A half eatten tuna sandwich is in one hand, a bottle of soda in another and a third hand holds a bag of potato chips.
Without quite enough time to get back to her room and tinker Kisha has settled for the next best thing. Skipping the 'nutritionally balanced' tripe they called food in favor for a large mug of something which is either engine oil masquerading as coffee or coffee which thinks it's engine oil. Slung over one shoulder is a clear plastic messenger bag with 'This computer has e-rabies' on it along with a repeated biohazard symbol design that seems to contain her school issue phone and comptuer. And nestled in her lap is her ever present touchpad computer, which she's furiously typing at. All the while blasting out earblistering industrial music from some earphones hanging forgotten from around her neck.
Rashmi drops onto Travis' bench, setting a small stack of books on her other side. "Hey," she says to the boy, patting his lower right forearm. "Stuck on anything?" She blinks, as Kisha's factory noise masquerading as music drifts over, and looks up, but simply offers her suite-mate a casual lifting of the hand in greeting.
Travis swallows his bite and shakes his head. "No, it's a lot of opinon type questions. It's all ethics type stuff, things you're good at." He says leaning over to give her a kiss on her cheek. "You want a tuna fish sandwich, Mom made them. I think I have two left." Who knows how many he's eaten already since he boy can pack away food like most teenage boys can. As Rashmi waves her hand to Kisha Travis comments. "She's been in here for a while listening to…I don't know what. She was on the plane with us to Africa right?"
Kisha glances up at the motion in the edge of her peripheral vision, before taking what seems to be a long sip of her drink (although thanks to the thickness of the coffee in question it's barely more than a taste). "Computer save data state, then begin running test routine… lets go with routine beta," she says presumably to an inbuilt microphone. "Now lets see what other coursework I have to endure." Finally she responds to the wave with a brief nod, then a glance at Travis and a eyebrow raising.
Rashmi nods. "She was one of the lucky ones," Rashmi murmurs to Travis, "she stayed behind to help fix the plane. Be patient with her, she's… kind of abrasive." Raising her eyebrows back at the other girl, she tilts her head. "What's the project, out of curiosity?"
Travis waves one his hands at Kisha as she raises an eyebrow at him before nodding to Rashmi. "I'll keep that in mind, but then was anyone really lucky when it came to that trip?" He then perks his head in interest at the answer to the quesiton Rashmi asked her.
"It's a program for automatically brute forcing computer networks on mass and enabling the webcams. With the intention that civilian phones and computers can then be tuned into a tactical surveillance network," Kisha explains idly glancing between Rashmi and Travis. Then with an entirely innocent expression she adds "Out of interest are you selective breeding for multitasking traits?"
Rashmi very nearly drops the book in her lap at the question, head snapping up and blinking, wide-eyed, at Kisha. "I… *what?*" Looking down at herself, then at Travis, she flushes nearly bright enough to match her hair, coughing into the back of her hand. "…Um. No? We're just dating?"
Travis looks at Rashmi and shakes his head. "No, I think she was asking if I was breed specifically with six arms so I can multi-task..I think, you could be right." He says kind of dryly and sighs. "Hi, it's nice to meet you again. I'm Travis, we met on the the Xavier's Plane to Africa a few months back. How are you liking Barnes so far?" He says in an -almost- snarky tone but not quite.
"I was making a joke," Kisha points out, rolling her eyes and letting any snark implied or otherwise smash against her relentless lack of people skills. "And for the record yes the nature of the joke was what you assumed Rashmi." There is a slight pause in which the technoempth glances around for any close by teachers. "I find it overly restrictive in a way that inhibits creativity. Also I must admit I find a power training facility being built under the sea a little…. foolish. On the plus side they /do/ provide a steady supply of electricity and I'm having all kinds of fun making the IT department waste hours on simple tasks."
"I'd hoped," Rashmi says with a quirk of her lips, "but sometimes it's difficult to gauge." Leaning against Travis' shoulder, she offers a little half-shrug. "Personally, I'd call it a challenge. See how creative you can be within the lines… which I guess you're doing pretty well, just, y'know, try not to tie up *too* many of them. Worldwide threat response and all that."
"I don't know, I have full access to the workroom here for my carpentry and I have a problem with finding out I want to do too much with the tools they have." They have stuff that Travis never even knew existed. "And techincally it's not under the sea, it's under the Hudson River I believe." He says more trying to point out a fact then being a jerk.
Kisha shrugs. "Won't be much consolation if the outsides crack open and we all drown. But I stand corrected nonetheless," she concedes. "For the record there isn't anything wrong with selective breeding. I myself would gladly have Tony Starks babies, providing I had chance to build a suitable mechanical womb to grow them in." She smiles. Another joke perhaps? We can but hope. "If they needed the processing time for /important/ things they could always stop trying to snoop on me. But that's beside the point. Lately I've taken to reading to expand my understanding of this kind of agency. Charles Stross has written some fascinating books on the topic." And they're all entirely based in fiction and hopefully despite her interest will remain that way….
"No no," Rashmi says, her patience beginning to show signs of strain, "I mean…. oh, nevermind." Blowing out a deep breath, she picks up her book, leaning against Travis' shoulder once all is where it should be. "…So! Have you looked through the curriculum for next year's classes yet? Now's about the time you want to think about what you want to take next, and all…"
Travis puts an arm around Rashmi's shoulder and squeezes it gently. "I haven't looked into much for next year. I was thinking about talking to Index to see what's open and weighting my options from there. I'm gonna continue doing some priviate study on medicine and anatomy through out the summer though to help with my healing." He doesn't really know what to comment on what Kisha says so for the moment he's kind of quite in regards to that.
"Personally I was thinking of taking… well anyone could guess really. Anything technical, chemistry, physics and anything that uses a computer. Except graphic design," Kisha notes, idly tapping away at her computer as the first stages of data come through from her main machine. "I was half tempted to take any supernatural studies courses too. So that I could refine a technological means for the rapid and painful destruction of demons. Although off hand I can't think of any examples of a mutant being adapt at magic, so perhaps that course of action is unlikely to meet with much success." She frowns. "Who is Index by the way? Computer filing system of some kind?"
Rashmi nods slowly. "Well, there *is* a general course like that… The teacher's name is Aethelwyn, she's from overseas… well. Sort of. She's a *real* pixie, not like Megan. Anyway. Index. He's an Agent, actually… um. …I forget, what department is he in, usually?" she asks of Travil, brow furrowing.
"My roommate. He's a Young Avenger, Wiccan. His powers are mutant based but also magic. I don't really know how it works but he is a mutant who is adapt at magic." Travis says. "And as for Index, he's the drama teacher. I don't acting or anything but he's this super secretive agent guy who you know has seen stuff but can't talk about it. I've volunteered to help with sets for his acting drama stuff since I do the whole wood working thing."
Kisha blinks a few times. "That would explain why I haven't heard of him before," she admits. "Drama isn't a class I have ever considered, not even when I was normal. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume Wiccan wouldn't be willing to let me use him as a test subject?" She pauses for a moment then shakes her head. "No no-one ever is. Perhaps I could simply have a magically gifted individual put power into something, banishing rounds for a firearm say. Of course I'll need to build myself a gun. Is that against school rules? I keep meaning to find the time to read the entire manual but my paper copy is just the right thickness to use as a mouse mat."
Rashmi's lips twitch upward. "Sort of," she says. "Firearms training isn't available until you're eighteen, and you'll probably want a gunsmith certification before they'll stop being nervous around you and parts for weaponry. ….You know," she says after a moment, "you *could* get a digital copy from the school's network, if you wanted."
"Well…I doubt it cause he is a Young Avenger. That team of kids sanctioned to be superheros by the Avengers themsevles." Travis says. "I would think it is against school rules to build your own firearm. They definately take firearm saftey seriously here and I had to take a few courses before I could even fire a small handgun." He explains.
Kisha beams. "That could explain why they confiscated all those smoke grenades I had tucked away," she muses. "The kind you use for paintball. You can get them online in bulk, I figured I might find them useful if ever I needed to escape an assault on Xaviers. A little bit of a moot point in some ways, household chemicals alone can serve if you're creative." She frowns at her screen. "But don't worry I have no direct desire to arm myself right now. Being caught up at Masons concert in mutant town entirely put me off the concept of direct physical involvement. But I might create some form of UAV for use in training scenarios, perhaps I'll challenge myself and just use mechanical processing in homage to the great Babbage himself."
Rashmi chuckles, letting out a quiet breath. "That sounds… a lot less worrying, at least. Though if you're looking at harmless fun, you *could* see if you can catch Agent, um… Oh, what's Corrin's partner's name… Kozlowski! That's the one. You'd probably get along with him pretty well, he likes to make desktop trebuchets that end up putting rubber bands through walls. If nothing else, probably the school'd be happy someone was around to correct his math, y'know?"
"I haven't done paintball or airsoft in years but I used to go regularly so I know what you're talking about." Travis says before giving Kisha a questioning look. "So what's with developing all these weapons? I mean you're good at computers I'm figuring so why not do something less…destructive? You seem like you just want to do harmful things."
Kisha blinks, then shrugs. "Things which go boom are fun?" she offers, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Haven't you ever watched Mythbusters? Some of the best ones they've done involve weird weapons. Like the meat powered rocket…. Which is an idea I should have tried while I still had a sky I could fire rockets at. Ahh well! Live and learn. But anyway I haven't actually built anything of that nature. I dabble with things when they strike my interest or if they'll advance my research." She frowns and as an afterthought adds "I heard about Kozlowski before, a very anal man with a talking animal thing mentioned him."
Rashmi frowns slightly at Kisha's description of Quetzal, but shakes her head… then blinks. "…Wait. Meat *powered* rocket? Like, a missile that runs on steak, or a missile *made* of steak?"
"I haven't watched it in a long time." Travis admits. "And things that go boom can be fun but really scary too if you watch them go boom with less than desired results." He says frowing a bit before raising his eyebrows as he echos Rashmi. "Meat Rocket?"
"The first. Only it used Salami as fuel and not steak," Kisha informs solemnly. "It has enough energy that if you use too much they explode before launching. Quite big explosions actually. I have the episode downloaded if you ever want to see. It's one of the few shows I always make time to watch." Something blips on her computer screen and the technoempath mutters curses in Russian. "I better head off. I have a processing glitch and I need to reboot my main machine before it bursts into flames." She springs to her feet, the pauses. "Not literally I might add. Anyway it was nice meeting you again Travis and no doubt I'll see you around the suite sometime Rashmi. Have a pleasant day."
Rashmi coughs, lifting a hand in farewell. "You too, Kisha. I'll put some of that Purple Stuff in the dining room cabinet if you need it, all right?" Shaking her head as Kisha makes her way out, she lets out a long, slow breath. "…Remind me," she mutters for Travis' benefit, "if both of them ambush me about keeping an eye on a new student again, that I should probably be drawing base pay for it…"
"Take care Kisha." Travis says as she takes off and he chuckles at Rashmi's statement. "Yeah, she doesn't seem like the most social person. And she has more of an obession with blowing this up and weapons than most guys do." At least that what he thinks. "So do you have any ideas for next year?"
"Well she's nice enough, once you find an in," Rashmi replies with a shrug. "Just, getting to that point… eh. Anyway. Next year? Pick up my classes again, so between that, the firm, and Saturdays I'm probably going to be back to being incredibly busy…"
"So that means I have to plan a few dates before you start getting incredibly busy." Travis says with a grin before it fades. "Oh! So you know how I lived in St. Louis. Apparently these two super villians from there escaped recently. They were caught shortly after I moved there but the stories my friends used to tell me…I just hope St. Louis is okay."
Rashmi blinks sharply, eyebrows lowering. "…Two of them? Um… Travis, d'you remember what their names were?"
Travis thinks for a bit. "Umm…it was a few years back. They had a daughter I remember hearing but noone really knew what happened to her. Mindgrade I think was one of them?" Travis says. "Give me a second." He starts to type on the laptop and pulls up the news article he saw a few weeks back. "There, Upgrade and Mind Bender."
Rashmi's response to that is.. interesting. Her face goes pale, then her shoulders slump, head dropped into her palms. "That's what I was afraid of," she mutters, sucking in a deep, steadying breath. "St. Louis is going to be fine, Travis… Just, um… we won't be. Remember that girl Connor brought to the march, the one with the tape recorder? That's Heather… their daughter."
"Yeah I remember her." Travis says. "She was also at the rally to help out with the whole mutant town shooting." He says before a look of shock crosses his face. "Really, that's her? Now..I kinda feel bad. There were a lot of really weird and kinda mean stories going around about here cause noone knew what happened." He admits. "So..wow…we won't be okay? Are they coming after her?"
"Yes," Rashmi says without hesitation. "Heather knows them better than anyone, and she's been kind of a wreck because she might think everyone else is just another mind-game for her… But they're *real.* They can hurt her like nobody else can… and they want her back." Hunching her shoulders, the redhead shivers. "And they'll probably look for other people to add to their collection, while they're at it."
"That's horrible, that's their daugther. How can anyone…" Travis says knowing the answer even though he doesn't want to admit it. He closes his eyes for a bit before looking at Rashmi. "Add people to their collection…you and your friend Connor are probably in danger cause you're friends with her."
Rashmi shakes her head. "I doubt it… Connor can get away too easily, and I just flat know better than to make a target out of myself. But there's a *whole school* full of kids who can wreak all kinds of havoc with a little push, Travis… *that's* who *I'm* terrified for."
"Do they know?" Travis asks. "I hate to suggest you for this or even talk to one of your friends at the school even, maybe talk to the kids there. Let them know what's going on. Maybe have Heather help so they can identify the signs and just be on their guard. I mean, maybe if we knew better what we were getting into by going to Africa we could have prevented something."
"I've given Ms. Frost everything Heather and I could come up with," Rashmi says heavily. "But I *really* doubt it'll do much more than minimize the damage. I mean… it's a house full of *teenagers,* Travis… Teenagers whose teachers are going to be saying 'Don't go out, don't make yourself a target, safety first' and *who listens to that* even when it's *so important?*"
"Minimizing is better than nothing." Travis says a bit half heartedly. "It's tough, I didn't listen when my father told me to stay back and instead I saw something I'll never forget. I'm not blaming him or myself I'm just saying you're right. Kids don't listen."
"I know *I* didn't," Rashmi murmurs, closing her eyes and resting her head against Travis' upper shoulder. "*I* didn't just get myself locked up and hung over a lake of fire, but like five other people, because I had to go after Lucas, no matter what *anyone* said." Shaking her head, she snakes her hand into one of Travis', squeezing gently. "And besides… how d'you avoid someone who can get into your head and tell you what you're seeing?"
"Wear tin-foil hats?" Travis says trying to lighten the mood just a slight bit. "Sorry, just, yeah, it's hard. And Rashmi…I think you'd do something like that again if a friend was in trouble. You did for me and the others who got taken and you got yourself caught because of it. You just, you have a big heart and you care about people. It's a good thing I like to think."
"Well yeah, but that's *me,*" Rashmi says. "If *I'm* the only one on the block, that's easy to deal with. When you get other people hurt because of what *you* want? What's a little different."
"But did you force them?" Travis asks. "It's always easier for the bad things to happen to us, but when they happen to others because of us it's harder. Trust me, I know." He says smiling at Rashmi. "Sorry but I gotta jet for this History class. I'll see you after classes today?" He says giving her a quick kiss.
Rashmi bobs her head, reaching up to give the boy's neck a brief hug, a peck laid on his lips. "In the gym; I've got training tonight, and I want to loosen up before Ms. Drew throws me all over the mat again. Take care!"
