xp_logs | Log: Love Thy Enemies (Forge, Sam, in the lab Monday afternoon)

While doing some modeling for Haroun's cyberware, Forge needs to get some sample readings from Sam. Despite some initial awkwardness with a combination of Paranoid Forge and Intimidating Older Brother Sam - the two discover they have a lot more in common than would be readily apparent. An interesting conclusion is reached.

The labs weren't a place Sam went much, or actually at all. Even though he enjoyed piloting the Blackbird when Scott actually let him, he didn't have much of an interest in the mechanical side of things. As a result, his entrance to the labs now marked the first time he'd ever even seen them. Spotting the wiry form of Forge bent over a bench intently, he walked over towards it. When the boy didn't look up, Sam cleared his throat softly. "Forge?" he asked. "The docs said ya needed ta see me about somethin'?"

"Jay?" Forge said in a confused tone, then swiveled around to look at Sam. "Oh, sorry. Sam, right? You and your brother, same accent and all. The docs said... oh, right! Flight stress tolerances!"

Pulling out a stack of reports, Forge began laying them out on a counter, dimming the room lights slowly. As he swiftly arranged the reports, a wireframe display began forming in midair, a free-floating holographic blueprint of the redesigned JETSTREAM cyberware.

"I've got your medical fitness reports here, and the tape I shot back in last semester's Flight class. Since I have to design Jetstream's cyberware to work with his power, and since your power's practically identical to his, I need your input."

"Well, Ah wouldn't say our powers work _exactly_ alike..." Sam said with a shrug, looking at the blueprint. "Especially given the cyberware. But Ah suppose they are at least close enough to be goin' on with." He cocked his head, still somewhat confused. "So what exactly is it ya need from me?"

Forge rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. He was not going to cringe and stammer in front of Sam. Even if he was Paige's older brother who, while probably not as liable to fly off the handle as Jay, was probably even more overprotective of his little sister and if he had any suspicions about anything could probably do any sort of horrible things to Forge.

Right. No pressure.

"I, ah, was looking at how you steer. When I did my Flight final, I mean. You direct thrust via your... 'blast field', is it? Simple directed vectors, you're basically a big rocket engine." He shuffled a few papers, and highlighted the lower spine area on the diagram. "According to medical records, you've got a good amount of flexibility in your lower back, greater range of sacroiliac spinal motion. It's what helps you turn sharper, for example. Also shows here that in your first few years at the mansion, you had chronic back pain until your body adapted."

Forge paused, gesturing to the hologram. "Jetstream's used to flying using his integral jetpack to provide attitude and pitch changes. More like a helicopter in concept, separate controls for speed and direction. But in the new design..." he rotated the hologram to a full-body orientation. "No jetpack. The cyberware will channel his thrust downwards through the legs, similar to your flight. What I need from you is a quick test of your lower back flexibility, something I can snap a few x-rays of and work on implementing for the cyberware."

Sam was amazed. He hadn't been so much aware of all the little things involved in analysis of mutant powers. But looking at all the data Forge had already gathered, he was overwhelmed at the amount of work the teen had already done to help in the redesign of Jetstream's cyberware. Sam still hated Haroun's living guts, but he'd do his part to see that the Moor got back on his feet. For Al's sake, at least.

He blinked a bit at the fact that the thing Forge wanted most was data on how flexible his lower back was, but looking at the wireframe schematics, he supposed it made sense if they were going to eliminate the jetpack that had been an integral part of Jetstream's cyberware. He spared a quick, none-too-polite wish that Haroun might have a bit of problems with the fine control of his power, just to put the shoe on the other foot a bit, but quashed it rather firmly.

"All right," he said, somewhat bemused. "What do ya need me ta do so ya can collect data, then?"

Forge held up something that looked oddly like a cross between a weightlifter's belt and a child's first musical keyboard. "Buckle this on, big part over your lower back. Then just go through a series of stretches. The sensors will figure stresses in your lower back and spinal discs, and I'll be able to replicate that in the cybernetics." He flipped a few switches and paused. "Oh yeah, medical ethics," he said with quiet sarcasm, "I'm supposed to ask you if you mind me using the results of this test to work on this project, since technically this falls under your medical privacy and all that."

"Ah ain't gonna lie and say Ah'm crazy about the guy this is goin' ta help," Sam admitted candidly. "But Ah'll do mah part." He spoke quietly to himself. "Ya have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But Ah tell you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you." Sam sighed and buckled the belt around his waist. The path of a Christian wasn't always easy.

"Amen," Forge said without sarcasm, watching the readings as Sam began the stretches. If there was some kind of animosity between him and Mr. al-Rashid, it didn't seem to be a professional one. That meant...

"Wait, you used to date Ms. Blaire, didn't you? Wow, this has got to be kind of awkward for you, I'd imagine. How do you, I mean... you've got to want to be there for her for, I don't know, comfort, I guess. With Mr. al-Rashid being all messed up and comatose and out of the picture."

Sam gritted his teeth. "Ah'd rather not talk about it," he said in a somewhat clipped tone. He was sure the kid was just curious, and didn't mean anything by it, but he was doing his best to move on and live his life, like he'd talked about with Domino that one night. It wasn't easy, and being reminded of just how badly he'd screwed things up with Al didn't help. "Ah've checked on her a bit, made sure she ate and all," he admitted. "But that's all." She loved Haroun, and Sam would do his best to accept that, as little as he got along with the fiery Arab.

"Hey, I know what you mean," Forge said, distracted by the numbers scrolling on the printout. "You see her hurting and you want to help out, even if you're not the one she--" he stopped, catching himself before he said too much. "Sorry, I mean. I just know it's not easy to try and be her friend when there's more there."

There was something odd there, something Forge wasn't saying, but Sam figured it wasn't any of his business and continued stretching, trying not to feel self-conscious about the picture he must present, contorting himself at the waist with a strange belt on. He wasn't sure what it must look like, but he imagined it looked pretty ridiculous. He tried to come up with something else to say, but the conversation had pretty firmly stalled.

"So..." Forge drawled, trying to fill the awkward silence. Oh lord, had Sam picked up on what he'd almost accidentally said? Was that the cold silence of How Dare You Have Designs On My Little Sister? Soon to be followed by the Bounce You Off The Pavement From Six Thousand Feet Up? "...your blast field means you're functionally invulnerable, but only as long as your biochemical reaction is going and you're flying, right?"

"Well, Ah've actually been able to use it while stationary, but it's a whole mess harder than usin' it while flyin'," Sam replied. Forge seemed...fidgety, Sam supposed was the best word. A little nervous, quick to keep the conversation going and fill those awkward silences. He was a bit confused as to what might be making the young man nervous, though, as he seemed very much in his element, surrounded by electronics and talking science.

"Interesting," Forge mused, trying to relax a little. Sam seemed friendly enough. But maybe that was a ruse. He knew those Kentuckians were subtle and crafty and... wait, no. Jay and Paige were both about as subtle as jackhammers when you got right down to it. And Sam didn't exactly seem like the devious mastermind of the clan.

"Seems as if you Guthries all have wildly different mutations, yet they all hold a common bond that protects you from harm. You've got your field, Paige can turn into invulnerable armored stuff, and Jay can heal from darn near anything. Wonder if there's any correlation. Any of your other siblings exhibit mutant abilities yet?"

"Not as far as Momma has said," Sam replied. "We're the oldest, Jay, Paige, and Ah. So Ah'd imagine it'd show up first in us. But that don't rule out one of our younger siblings manifestin' when they get toward puberty. It's possible," he allowed.

A series of beeps let Forge know the test was finished. "You can take that off now," he remarked, punching a few commands into the computer. The hologram swiveled again, showing the original spinal construction in pale blue, overlaid in gold with the recent data from Sam. "Wow," Forge said in mild astonishment. "The discs in your lower back are amazing, it's like they're capable of kinetic dispersion while maintaining cushioning under torque - that's right. The doctors were wondering back when you crashed in Greece, how you didn't break your back. It'd take a mountain falling on you to do that. Congratulations," he said, "you're partially unbreakable. At least your lower spine is."

It really was humbling, how quickly Forge's brain worked. Sam was just glad he was on the side of the angels, as it were. He could have never reached the instinctive conclusions that Forge's brain leapt to. "Ah'll take your word for it," Sam replied, taking off the belt and stowing it neatly in an open space on one of the benches. Most of Forge's explanation had been incomprehensible except for the end, but he was rather used to that, given Paige and her obsession with chemistry. "So Ah understand Paige's been helpin' ya out with this project," he said, continuing his internal train of thought. "It amazes me how smart she is," he said with a note of brotherly pride tempered by the fact that they had a rather stormy sibling relationship at the best of times. "Ya got that same sort of gift," he continued. "Ah may not understand half of what ya been sayin', but Haroun's real lucky to have ya workin' on this project."

"She's amazing," Forge said, almost too quickly. "I mean, um, she's a great partner. Brilliant mind for chemistry and the medical aspects of stuff. And I absolutely respect her as a brilliant partner and as a person and as your sister, of course. Absolutely."

All right, there was definitely something about how quickly Forge was talking, but Sam was darned if he could figure out why. It was almost as if Forge seemed intimidated by him. Which made no sense. Sam liked to think that he was a pretty easy-going person, who would be the last to intimidate anyone. And he liked the earnest young Forge. "Ya all right there?" he asked slowly and somewhat confusedly. "Ya seem a mite jumpy."

Oh god, he KNOWS, Forge thought. This had to be one of those "lull the kid into a false sense of security" things. "Should I be jumpy?" he responded slowly, trying to look calm. "I... I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything that I'd need to be jumpy about. We haven't - I mean, not like I've tried anything- that is, there's nothing to be jumpy about, nothing at all, I..."

Daring to make eye contact, he could see that Sam wasn't buying the attempt at dissembling, not for a moment. With a groan, Forge slumped into a seat. Best to just be out with it and take the inevitable consequences. "I kissed her. We were having an argument and we were both angry and yelling and she wasn't getting the point and ... well, there you go. And if you're determined to do the Big Brother Defends Little Sister's Honor, I feel it only fair to inform you that a) she kissed back, and b) that I do bruise easily."

Sam blinked. "Huh." He wouldn't have imagined that Paige would go for the wiry Forge, but the more he thought about it, the more the pair seemed to have a lot in common. He smiled down at the morose young man as he slumped in his seat. "Relax, Forge, Ah ain't gonna thump ya or nothin'," he said reassuringly. "Gee made it clear ta me a while back that Ah ain't got no business stickin' my nose in her affairs, 'specially when it comes to boys." He didn't recall hearing about any trouble with Paige and Angelo, but then he supposed that his sister wasn't exactly going to be coming and confiding in him about her love life ever since the arguments they'd had.

Blinking, Forge slowly relaxed, letting out a laugh of relief. "Yeah, that does sound like her. And really, it's not like there's any 'affairs' to speak of. I mean, yeah, she's wonderful and amazing and..." Forge trailed off as he became aware that he was talking to Paige's brother and that Sam probably didn't need to hear all the details. "And unless I'm wrong, she's still got a thing for the fuzzy blinking light ghost that's haunting the basement and annoying the crap out of me when I try and work. So yeah, there's nothing to be concerned about. I'm losing a romantic triangle to a night light."

Sam chuckled wryly. "Ah'd say you've got a much better chance than Ah do," he replied. "Ah'll tell ya somethin' that took me a while, probably too long, ta figure out." He leaned a hip against one of the benches and crossed his arms. "No matter what happens, there ain't nothin' wrong with bein' her friend if she winds up pickin' the other guy. Ya been talkin' about how amazin' Gee is, and you're right. But if she winds up goin' with Jono, don't go spendin' the next six months mopin' about it, like Ah did over Al. It don't do anyone any good." He leaned a bit closer and patted Forge on the shoulder. "'Sides, ya never know what might happen. Gee's pretty unpredictable, an' Ah can see that ya have quite a bit more in common than Ah might've first thought."

Was that... approval? Forge was stunned. "Thanks," he blurted out. "I mean, I'm cool with being her friend, no matter what else comes out of it. I'm lucky just to get to spend time with her, and I'm not about to jeopardize that by being all stupid."

"Good. Ah spent entirely too much time bein' stupid," Sam admitted candidly. "Don' go makin' the same mistakes Ah did." He grinned. "An' as Gee's older brother, consider the 'hurt her an' Ah'll hurt ya' speech made, regardless of what Gee might think of me pokin' in where Ah ain't wanted." He shrugged. "But Ah like ya, an' Ah know ya ain't about to hurt her intentionally, so don' go worryin' about me showin' up at your door with mah daddy's ol' shotgun."

Forge smirked. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. And I know Paige can take care of herself - she could probably put me through a wall if she wanted to. And... if it's not too much to ask... don't say anything to her about this?" Forge reddened slightly. "You probably know how she is about... stuff... and I just want to give her some space right now with things. And Jay! For god's sake, don't say anything to Jay. Please."

"Fair enough. Not that either of them really seems to want ta be talkin' ta me all that much," Sam said quietly. "Ah'm their idiot older brother an' all." He shrugged. "But yeah, Ah won't say nothin' ta either of them."

"I don't... I don't have any brothers or sisters," Forge admitted, "but if I could hazard a guess, I'd say the age difference alone could make things like two different worlds. I mean, you're what, four years older than Paige? Six years older than Jay? And you guys are the oldest. And you'd been here a while before either of them showed up. You all lead pretty different lives. I know the both of them are... difficult to figure out at times." He smiled slightly. "But they're both great people, and I know I'm lucky to have them as friends."

"Jay thinks I abandoned the family when they needed me," Sam said slowly. "Ah s'pose that might have somethin' ta do with it as well. Gee...well, we just had that argument about me passin' judgement on her love life. So Ah dunno. Ya might be right about the age difference, but Ah dunno." He nodded and smiled a bit sadly. "But you're right, they are pretty great people, and they're just as lucky ta have ya as a friend, Forge."

Forge just nodded at that, listening to the computer beep behind him. "Well," he finally said, "I've got some work to do. Time to build a version of YOUR lower spine and get it ready to be put into Mr. al-Rashid." Raising his head, he smiled over at Sam. "You have to admit, there's a nice bit of irony there. With this new design, he's going to have to learn new reflexes on how to fly. And the part that frankly, I'm not planning on telling him? I've extrapolated the reflex patterns off of the data I videotaped from you, for my Flight final. They'll be hard-coded into the interface chip and his body will slowly start developing them as natural reflexes. In other words," Forge said, typing commands into the computer, "you're making it possible for him to fly again. Whether he knows it or not, he'll always owe you one for that."

Sam paused on his way to the door of the lab. "Ah'm not sure what ta think of that, honestly," he admitted. "There's a part of me that enjoys the irony, Haroun havin' ta learn how ta fly like me after so much ribbin' about my lack of control. But Ah'm not sure Ah like what that says about me, either," he continued. "Ah'd like to think Ah'm not a very vindictive person, takin' pleasure in the awkwardness of others an' such. Ah mean, Lord knows the man is goin' ta have enough problems, an' he's lucky just to be alive." It was something he'd have to ponder, and possibly do some praying for a bit more understanding and patience.

"Fair enough," Forge said after some thought. "If you ask me, it just says that you're human. You might not be his best friend - hell, you've got every reason to be vindictive, if you ask me - but you're willing to help him not only live, but regain the things that're most important to him. That says a lot about you."

Sam paused again, considering what Forge had said. "Thanks," he replied after a few long moments. "Ah appreciate that." Perhaps the standard he was trying to hold himself to wasn't entirely realistic. Not that there was anything wrong with striving to be better than he was, but Sam reflected that maybe he needed to allow himself more room to be human occasionally, and not view every instance of falling short as a personal indictment. "Anyways, ya got stuff ya're workin' on, so Ah'll leave ya to it." He waved slightly and made his way out of the lab.

Pondering those last words, Forge set the computer to begin the spinal modeling. Tapping his pen idly on the counter, he leaned back and activated the mainframe's voice input. "Computer," he said, hearing the acknowledging beep, "Unlock file and mark for priority attention: Starsmore, Jonothon. Compile notes and send to my personal workstation."

Alone in the lab, Forge spun in a slow circle on his chair, listening to the machines hum. "Love your enemies," he said quietly, to no one in particular. "I guess we'll see."