Mutant High Issue 2: A Hard Lesson

[kirinke]

**OOC: AAH, 26 posts and a lot of stuff going on to respond to.. Brain asplode time!!**
"The truth is, ALL of our files were copied, and I don't know how they did it. - we've had experts from SHIELD themselves check our security, and they were unable to hack it. Cerebro, our computer system, is a very advanced, very LOYAL Artificial Intelligence System. We have files on all known mutants in there, and it's SUPPOSED to be accessable only by myself, and Professors Gray, McCoy, and Xavier. A technopath would have to be extremely powerful to get in, especially without triggering any of our backup security. They couldn't have just stolen the password, it requires retinal and verbal identification. And as for reviewing our records or restricting our data.. you can ask Professor X about that when he wakes up, but until then the answer's no."

Serena frowned at that. "What about mutants who can shapechange or alter their appearance? I knew a few who could do that to lesser degress, mostly just changing their eye/hair colour and becoming taller or shorter, but I'm sure there are those out there who can copy someone so successfully they essentially can by-pass security that way."

 

[Fangor the Fierce]

*Out in the wilderness*
Spike had managed to keep up to Wolverine for most of the night, though fatigue was catching up with him and he was having trouble seeing in the dark. Finally he turned past a tree and felt, more than heard, the thing land behind him. Powerful arms grabbed him, pulling him in and sharp claws appeared in front of his face.
"If I were a badguy you'd be dead. Thought I told ya to stay home." Wolverine let him go then, glancing down at his arm where your spines had pierced, watching it heal. "Not a bad job of tracking me this far, though.."

[sblock=OOC]Also fangor, I realize you do have a lot of senses that should've warned you about it, but.. he's Wolverine. [/sblock]

"If you were a bad guy, you would have had to kill me...." is Spike's response, as he hints at the amored plating that extends his body. "Plus, I'm a lot harder to kill than you might give me credit for. But enough talk, where's the action? Are they close? Is that why you halted, not wanting me to get blindsided by any other enemies about? Everyone can use a little backup."

Spike's own weapons come into view, his elongated fist spikes reaching further than Logan's can. Hopefully he can use them effectively, if they are to be used...

 

[Caros]

"Put on a pretty good one didn't I? Even fooled the actor." Alchemist was suddenly all smiles, eyes tipped upwards to the roof, his clothing shifting from those morose blacks to dark blues and whites. "Do me a favor, never do that again... I hate falling."

He took a moment and a deep breath before continuing. "I need to leave here, today. If I just walked out the door they'd send someone after me, which would defeat the whole point. Needed to make sure they'd leave me on my own." He paused, a smirk briefly curving his lips. "Well, not entirely on my own."

"I'll explain everything in a bit, but I could use your help. I'm going to my room to pack. I need you to drag anyone you think can fight and pass for a flatsca.... regular person, god I've been here too long." He slapped his forehead, giving a low, quiet chuckle. "Anyways... I need to talk to them. Just bring them to my dorm and I'll owe you one. Hell I'll owe you two."

Without another word he turned, heading off at a jog for the elevator.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Miranda listened to the conversation and upon hearing the references to SHIELD and the military she decided to step out, just in case it became heated debate. Personally she didn't have any qualms about espionage or the armed forces, but unfortunately she knew that to some the mere mentioning of government agencies in a conversation about mutants tends to bring up fears about registration acts and the loss of civil rights. Of course, this paranoia seems to get worse when government agents are in the vicinity.

Miranda's glanced around the room the scratched her head. Weren't there more of us here? She remembered seeing Kitty leave after Alchemist, but when did Pyro and that other girl leave? This was exactly why she never threw parties. It's too hard to keep track of people when they aren't apart of the conversation.

Miranda's eyes began to glow faintly as she tried to extend her life-force sense beyond the room in a similar manner to how she did when tryed to locate Professor X. However, unlike before, it she noticed that it required no extra effort to sense people beyond the room. Unfortunately, the amount of people she sensed was a little overwhelming.

[sblock=Notice Check That most likely failed.]
Notice: 1d20+4=7.

[/sblock]

The glow in Miranda's eyes began to fade as she glanced over towards Astrid, "Astrid, did you see where Pyro went? I wanted to introduce both of you to my old friend Eric..."

[sblock=OoC]I'm assuming that Jubilee signed then left since she hasn't made her presence known to anyone. [/sblock]

 

[kirinke]

"Anyway, maybe you should look at the security tapes with that in mind. I mean, see where each of the faculty members who have access to Cebero were at the time of the attack verses where they should have been. If you see em in two places at once, then you'll know how it happened." Serena says brightly.

 

[Victim]

"Parents are marines," Sparky explained offhandedly.

"I'm sorry." Temper says reflexively. "I guess that does explain some things, though."

Derek shrugs "Potentially Unlimited means that as far as anyone can tell, they could do anything relating to their mutation. Mutant powers have limits, just like normal people. You can push thoser limits, but without some superhuman aid a person can't pick up a house no matter how much they train their muscles. It's the same with Mutant powers... Someone who can control fire, like Pyro, can only control so much, no matter how much he practices. If he had the potential to control an unlimited supply of fire, he'd be Omega. Jean Grey has the ability to do anything with her mind, beyond even the potential of Xavier, who's considered one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. Between all the others.. Kappa, beta, Alpha... you can upgrade with training, but Omegas are born, just like a Human doesn't becom a mutant, a Mutant doesn't "become" an Omega. It's allready in his or her genetic code."

"Unlimited growing room doesn't describe capability at any moment though. Hmm, let's try math for an analogy..." She thinks out loud. "The functions Y=1/10*X, Y=X, Y=10*X, and Y=X squared all have a limit of infinity as X increases to infinity. They'll continue to increase with no upper boundary. But they're still increasing at different rates. So think of our hypothetical Omega fire controller in the same way. He can control an unlimited amount of fire. But how quickly can he expand the amount of fire he's controlling? Can he increase the temperature of his fires with basically no upper limit, or will ordinary fireproofing remain effective?"

"So mutants aren't human?" She asks carefully.

" Did you have a problem with the kids who did well in school and got A's? Or those who excelled in sports? Not much different if you think about it, most of our life is lived being categorized by someone else. Grades, Ranks, Job titles, 'mutant power designations', it's all the same, only thing that really matters is what WE do with our skills, and how we respond to how we're rated.. we can accept it, we can try to better ourselves, or we can become full of ourselves like SOME people.

"And you don't think that rating system has anything to do with the attitudes of SOME people? Grading people based on their genetic code sends the wrong message if behavior and choices are what's truly important, right? While categorization systems can be useful tools, they also train to people to look more at the package that something or someone is coming in, rather than the actual item or person. It's the perfect mode of thought for a bureacracy, and a terrible way for a person to be."

And what's your problem with SHIELD? I hear Professor X is good friends with one of their higher ups, Nick Fury. "

That's not a good sign. "Where to begin? SHIELD is unconstitutional. It's a military force aimed against both internal and external threats, so it's a weapon pointed at the heart of the country. Since it has some international forces from other NATO countries, it can employ personel from one country into another, minimizing the loyalties and sympathies of its forces towards the native population. It develops and restricts advanced technology so that conventional forces can't oppose it. SHIELD is one of the greatest threats to freedom in this country," she says passionately.

 

[ShaggySpellsword]

Xi'an abruptly shifts from his usual calm demeanor and grows fairly intense after overhearing Temper's most recent tirade.

"And SHIELD also tends to put their "harmful" international resources at the disposal of people like Professor X, giving them the opportunity to take mutants who are being abused in other countries, heck, who are being EXPLOITED because of their powers, and bring them here to the school where they can be treated like people, not like freaks!"

Xi'an catches himself growing emotional and looks slightly embarrassed and begins to turn and leave.

"It's just not all black and white is all..."

Having heard what Professor Summers had to say and letting Professor Monroe know his desire to be a young X-man, Xi'an starts towards the door.

 

[drothgery]

(Eric's being quiet for this side-trek into discussions of SHIELD and Alpha and Omega mutants because my knowledge of X-men lore is rather minimal; sorry.)

 

[Victim]

Xi'an abruptly shifts from his usual calm demeanor and grows fairly intense after overhearing Temper's most recent tirade.

"And SHIELD also tends to put their "harmful" international resources at the disposal of people like Professor X, giving them the opportunity to take mutants who are being abused in other countries, heck, who are being EXPLOITED because of their powers, and bring them here to the school where they can be treated like people, not like freaks!"

Xi'an catches himself growing emotional and looks slightly embarrassed and begins to turn and leave.

"It's just not all black and white is all..."

"You're right Xi'an," she says calmly as he walks away. "It's not all black and white. So trusting people because they helped you once might not always be the best idea, since people often have ulterior motives." You don't have to agree. Just think about things. Please.

 

[Jemal]

"So mutants aren't human?" She asks carefully.

Derek shakes his head, putting his hands up in a defensiver gesture "Heh, I'm not getting into THAT debate. Genetically, there are supposedly as many differences between mutants and humans as between humans and other primates, but that's led to a LOT of disputes over whether we should be treated differently, or as some people think, if we're a 'superior race'. Personally, I don't think it matters, but I seem to be in the minority on that."

Xi'an abruptly shifts from his usual calm demeanor and grows fairly intense after overhearing Temper's most recent tirade.

"And SHIELD also tends to put their "harmful" international resources at the disposal of people like Professor X, giving them the opportunity to take mutants who are being abused in other countries, heck, who are being EXPLOITED because of their powers, and bring them here to the school where they can be treated like people, not like freaks!"

Xi'an catches himself growing emotional and looks slightly embarrassed and begins to turn and leave.

"It's just not all black and white is all..."

Having heard what Professor Summers had to say and letting Professor Monroe know his desire to be a young X-man, Xi'an starts towards the door.

"He's right. There's at least a dozen kids in this school who'd be dead or worse if it weren't for heroic actions taken by that 'unconstitutional threat' you seem to despise so much. SO next time you so blatantly disparage the men who saved me from a life of slavery, it'll be the last thing you say." The voice comes from behind, and a short, angry looking girl with blood-red skin is looking up at Temper. "I may not be as smart and full of myself as you seem to be, but I do know loyalty and honour."
"Hey, come on, settle down, Big Red, everyone's entitled to their opinions right? Just stay calm, subjects like this are always heated enough without threats of violence.."

Meanwhile, Cyclops continues discussing with some students, apparently not noticing the SHIELD debate near Temper. "As far as I've heard, eyes are the hardest part to change, and even the most talented of shifters are - As far as professor Xavier has been able to discern - Incapable of changing their retinal patterns. As for where everyone was when the files were downloaded, Xavier and Gray were unconscious in the danger room, I was on the front lawn, and Beast was teaching. Video monitors don't show any 'copies' of us anywhere else, though that is something we checked."

**Wilderness**
Logan grinned "I know that, kid. Thats why I haven't give you the slip. I noticed you about a mile back. Stopped cause you're starting to slow down, get sloppy. I figure if we run into something I don't wanna have to babysit. If you're gonna follow me anyways, you might as well get some rest so you can help. Don't worry, I won't leave while you're sleeping, I'd say you've earned the right to do this."


**OOC: Hmm, it won't usually be a problem but I had just noticed last time I posted that I made both Cyclops and Phase blue.. Oh well, I doubt they'll be interacting much so I hope it's not too confusing.
And yes, Jubilee signed up and left, as did a couple others. (Also, Pyro hasn't left yet, as of my last post he was walking angrily towards the door, and I was waiting to see if anybody stops him before he goes and tries to blow up alchie. )

Fangor, if you choose to keep going you'll be Fatigued during the next day (And not the kind you can cure with a hero point.), but if you want to keep going it's your call.