LOG: Kitty and Haroun - Planes

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Haroun thanks Kitty for her efforts in Upgrade and asks her if she'd be interested in taking on a little design project for him. She tries not to be too eager when she accepts. Set before Haroun's adventures in Medlab.



Fridays were excellent because there was only her math class and the quantum lab before work. It meant Kitty didn't have to be in the city until almost noon, and gave her a chance to catch up with what was going on at the mansion. She'd done breakfast with 'Yana earlier before the blonde had had to get to her classes and now she was heading down the hall towards Alison and Mr. al-Rashid's suite.

"Mr. al-Rashid?" she called, taping on the door. "It's Kitty. You wanted to speak with me?"

Haroun took more time than he wanted to get to the door, but he got there and opened it for the girl. "Kitty, yes, please. Come in. Tea?" he asked, as the smell of freshly-brewed mint tea filled his apartment suite. "Please, sit." he said, motioning to a chair by a drafting table - one that he wheeled himself behind once the girl was comfortable.

Haroun in a wheelchair was a very weird sight. Coming inside and taking the proffered chair, Kitty shook her head. "Nah, I'm ok, thanks. What can I do for you, though?"

"First things first." he said. "I understand that your aid was essential in the rebuild process." he said. "Words cannot express how grateful I am for another chance at life. By any real measure, I should be dead or, at best, living my life as a cripple. Your efforts have given me another chance to be whole, and I appreciate it with all my heart." he said simply. "If there is any matter in which I can help you, all you have to do is ask. Now, the other matter I wanted to talk to you about - I understand that you could be considered quite bright." he said with a grin. "I was wondering if you would like to take on a design project for me. I can't pay you, unfortunately, and it can't appear on any transcript, but I can guarantee you full cooperation and the chance to play with some very advanced hardware."

Kitty tended to think of what she'd done in the upgrade to have been the gruntwork that let Doug focus, sure that he'd have been able to do the same things she did if he hadn't had to concentrate on creating an entirely new language, but she rather got the feeling that downplaying her part wouldn't go over well. Besides, somebody always had to do the gruntwork. So she just nodded, looking faintly embarrassed, and moved on to the other matter. "I don't really need money these days," she said. "My job pays very well on an undergrad scale, although the grad students always say it's not enough. And it's not like it would be the first project I couldn't talk about." After all, hacking classified documents and so on was not really the sort of thing you put on a resume. Well, not the sort of resumes she'd needed so far. "What's the project? I'm always up for being useful."

Haroun grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that." he laughed. "Basically, I'm looking for non-invasive ways of shielding sensitive electronics from rogue E-M output. Or any E-M output, actually. The system ties into several external systems, so a simple Faraday cage will not do. I don't want to prejudice your thinking, so I will leave it at that, other than to answer any specific questions you might have. And we are not at liberty to convert the system upwards to a pure optics play or backwards to vacuum tubes."

"Hmmmm," Kitty said, leaning on the drafting table and cupping her chin in her hand. "Interesting. Any E-M, you said? Are we... Well, to be blunt, is this a lea... an X-Man thing, and you're worried about concentrated and directed E-M such as a certain psychotic magnetopath might have access to, or are we talking more about incindental, random E-M fields? Or both?"

Haroun winked at Kitty. "Use your imagination." is all that he said. "I'm really not at liberty to discuss specifics. So - you interested?" he asked her with another grin.

Kitty's first thought was 'oh my God, yes'. Her second thought was 'they wouldn't be asking me if Forge hadn't...' After beating back the guilt as being inappropriately timed, her third thought, and what she finally said, was "Oh my God, yes. One of those questions which doesn't really need to be asked."

Haroun nodded. "Good. I'll get you modelling time on the mainframe here - that should help you with your efforts. Think you can get me your initial thoughts in, say, a month? If you have any questions or want any clarifications, feel free to ask. I'll make time to answer any questions you might have about materials, budget, fabrication, anything." he said with a grin. "I've given you a lot to think about. Go on, shoo, get cracking!"

Kitty laughed, hopping up off the chair. "A month it is. My boss is going to be so annoyed. This is at least as interesting as his quantum stuff, but he can't get a grant out of this work..."

"One last thing before you go." he said. "There is a certain degree of confidentiality assigned to this." he cautioned the young girl. "Not that I think you'll turn into a blabbermouth on me - if I thought that, I never would have approached you - but especially with people on the outside, I need you to be cautious."

"Don't worry, sir," Kitty promised. "If you want I can try to only work on it here at the mansion. Or at least only work the calculations here."

"I trust your judgement." he said with a smile. "Now go on, you've got classes to attend." he said, shooing her towards the door.

"And a train to catch," she said, glancing at her watch. "Thank you, sir. I'll see you later."