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xp_logsWhile looking for Tommy, Forge runs into his suitemate. The two manage not to kill each other, but instead wind up cooperating on a bit of a project that can use both their talents...
Forge bumped the door to the suite open with his hip, two cans of soda in one hand and his laptop tucked under his other arm. Glancing around at the two closed doors, he set down his burden and walked over to one door, rapping his knuckles on it swiftly. After waiting a moment, he leaned his ear towards the door. "Hey, Tommy?" he called, knocking again. "You in? Got a moment?"
Another few seconds of silence, then Forge looked down at his wrist and smacked his forehead with his other hand. "Class. Right. Leave him a note, then." Patting his pockets for pen and paper, he came up with nothing. But Tommy's suitemate would definitely have some.
Knocking on the other door in the suite, Forge rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for an answer.
Shiro was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his seat with his drawing pad resting on his lap. He'd been glaring at it for a good half an hour, pondering the political cartoon that he had to draw for class. The writing courses were the hardest in his opinion. Not to mention that the only politics that he really kept up with were Japan's, and he doubted that anyone would understand his commentary about Shinzo Abe.
The knock on the door was a welcomed distraction. "Open," he called out, looking up from the blank paper. But he frowned when he saw who was behind the door. "Oh. Hello, Forge."
"Hey," Forge answered with a jovial smile. "Can I borrow a pencil and a piece of paper? I had some chemistry stuff I wanted to go over with Tommy, but he's in class, so I was going to leave him a note." He peered past Shiro to the empty drawing pad. "Oh, hey, working on something? Anything interesting?"
"Sorry, no paper or pencils in this room." Shiro eyed the half dozen sketchbooks on his bed and the package of pencils on his desk suspiciously, as if their presence were forcing him to interact with Forge. With a sigh, he ripped a sheet out of an empty notebook and handed it and a pencil to Forge. "Just empty books where my homework is supposed to be."
Forge nodded, leaning against the wall to scribble a quick note for Tommy. "Hey, you're taking a lot of Visual Arts classes, right? Something that got brought up in my Marketing class today gave me an idea. X-Men type idea, and I want to get your opinion on it. Got a moment?"
"No, I go to a college named the School of Visual Arts because I want to obtain a degree in chemistry." But the mention of the X-Men made Shiro's ears perk up. "What do you need?"
Forge walked over to the small couch in the suite's common room, perching on one arm and opening his laptop. Absently, he tossed one of the cans of soda to Shiro as he pulled up a file on his screen. "I was going over the designs for the trainee uniforms, the ones Clarice did? And you're well aware that they're different than the full leathers, lighter armor, all that. And so I took a look at the basic design of the X-Men uniforms, and I found a lot of redundancies. For example, why is Rogue's uniform armored if she's bulletproof, you know? Could probably redesign it to cut down on restrictiveness. And yours here..."
With a click of a key, Forge pulled up a still photograph from one of the Danger Room sessions, showing Shiro taking off in flight. "Heat and flame resistant, which makes sense, but it's... well, you don't just give off heat and flame, you know. You go blasting full power, and everyone for a city block's going to feel like they've been sitting inside a microwave for ten minutes."
Shiro followed Forge into the living room and caught the can. He eyed it warily, as if it were going to explode, and left it alone until Forge opened his. Paranoia is the key to dealing with some people, apparently. "They could all use a healthy tan. What is your point?"
"Point is," Forge explained, "A while back, I designed a suit for Alex that would dissipate the energy he gives off, keep him from going nova, all that." He called up another image, that of Alex's bodysuit with the concentric rings on the chest. "Those light up the more energy he's putting out, sort of an alert system. Now, I could design something similar for you, something to diffuse the ambient radiation you give off, and also to let you know just how much you're putting out. A sort of... plasma tachometer, as it were."
"Thanks?" Shiro almost asked what the catch was, but caught himself. "But I do not have the same problems he does. He needs help keeping all the energy in period. I would need to see how much waste I am putting out. And I am not wearing X-Under Armor."
Forge pondered, then tapped some more keys, bringing up the image of Shiro in the uniform again. "Easy enough to do. A display integrated into the design of the uniform, maybe on the glove or the forearm? And to bleed off that extra energy harmlessly..." He thought for a moment, then used his finger to trace lines on the screen, radiating over Shiro's shoulders. "Same principle as the catalytic converter on a car's exhaust, only instead of breaking down chemicals into harmless by-products, it can convert heavy radiation into a less harmful form."
Snapping his fingers, Forge turned to Shiro. "And that ties into what I wanted to talk to you about. Normally I'd go to someone like Clarice for design ideas, but she's out of the area and, well, how many of the X-Men really want their uniforms to glitter and sparkle? I can design the uniforms to be practical, but I honestly don't have the talent for not making them look ... well, stupid. You're an artist, you've got an eye for design. Mind lending a hand?"
"You want me to help you design new outfits for the X-Men?" Shiro asked skeptically. Well, this was certainly not something that he was expecting to do ever, especially with Forge. "Okay." He rushed back to his room to get his pad and pencils. "Are you keeping with the leather and kevlar or changing to something new?"
Forge thought for a while. "The leather/kevlar blend is good, but I can make it lighter and more all-weather while still keeping the same durability. One thing I was thinking of is integrating the communicators into the uniform jacket, using it like an antenna so that the earpiece can be smaller. As for the actual design, I think if we come up with some ideas and get each team member's input, it's a good start." He looked over at Shiro and shrugged. "We had a guest professor in Marketing talking about how sports teams would make alterations to their uniforms in between seasons, and how it was often effective after a losing season to help the players put their past performance behind them. Corporations do the same thing with brands and logos to encourage more productivity. You've got to admit, this has been a pretty rough year for the team, as a group and as individuals."
He let that hang in the air for a moment, then looked back to his computer. "I might never be able to put on the leathers and go out doing what you guys do, but if I can come up with ways to help, ways that I can use what I can do for you guys - then I want to do what I can. And if improving even the little things keeps you guys safer out there, then count me in."
Shiro's pencil was dancing across the page, quickly sketching a human figure. "You are such a goody two-shoes idealist that it sickens me," he muttered, adding the traditional uniform to the sketch. "Comms right here?" He pointed to the collar with his pencil and made a note, and then added the earpiece to the figure. "So like those Blue Tooth things that everyone in New York City wears so you think that they are all mad and talking to the voices in their heads."
"Exactly like that," Forge replied, ignoring the idealism comment. "Given that at any given point some folks actually are talking to a voice in their heads, I figure everyone should be used to the looks by now." He looked at Shiro's drawing, then nodded. "Some folks are going to need custom designs, especially the fliers. Hey, here's an idea I had for Storm..."
Forge bumped the door to the suite open with his hip, two cans of soda in one hand and his laptop tucked under his other arm. Glancing around at the two closed doors, he set down his burden and walked over to one door, rapping his knuckles on it swiftly. After waiting a moment, he leaned his ear towards the door. "Hey, Tommy?" he called, knocking again. "You in? Got a moment?"
Another few seconds of silence, then Forge looked down at his wrist and smacked his forehead with his other hand. "Class. Right. Leave him a note, then." Patting his pockets for pen and paper, he came up with nothing. But Tommy's suitemate would definitely have some.
Knocking on the other door in the suite, Forge rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for an answer.
Shiro was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his seat with his drawing pad resting on his lap. He'd been glaring at it for a good half an hour, pondering the political cartoon that he had to draw for class. The writing courses were the hardest in his opinion. Not to mention that the only politics that he really kept up with were Japan's, and he doubted that anyone would understand his commentary about Shinzo Abe.
The knock on the door was a welcomed distraction. "Open," he called out, looking up from the blank paper. But he frowned when he saw who was behind the door. "Oh. Hello, Forge."
"Hey," Forge answered with a jovial smile. "Can I borrow a pencil and a piece of paper? I had some chemistry stuff I wanted to go over with Tommy, but he's in class, so I was going to leave him a note." He peered past Shiro to the empty drawing pad. "Oh, hey, working on something? Anything interesting?"
"Sorry, no paper or pencils in this room." Shiro eyed the half dozen sketchbooks on his bed and the package of pencils on his desk suspiciously, as if their presence were forcing him to interact with Forge. With a sigh, he ripped a sheet out of an empty notebook and handed it and a pencil to Forge. "Just empty books where my homework is supposed to be."
Forge nodded, leaning against the wall to scribble a quick note for Tommy. "Hey, you're taking a lot of Visual Arts classes, right? Something that got brought up in my Marketing class today gave me an idea. X-Men type idea, and I want to get your opinion on it. Got a moment?"
"No, I go to a college named the School of Visual Arts because I want to obtain a degree in chemistry." But the mention of the X-Men made Shiro's ears perk up. "What do you need?"
Forge walked over to the small couch in the suite's common room, perching on one arm and opening his laptop. Absently, he tossed one of the cans of soda to Shiro as he pulled up a file on his screen. "I was going over the designs for the trainee uniforms, the ones Clarice did? And you're well aware that they're different than the full leathers, lighter armor, all that. And so I took a look at the basic design of the X-Men uniforms, and I found a lot of redundancies. For example, why is Rogue's uniform armored if she's bulletproof, you know? Could probably redesign it to cut down on restrictiveness. And yours here..."
With a click of a key, Forge pulled up a still photograph from one of the Danger Room sessions, showing Shiro taking off in flight. "Heat and flame resistant, which makes sense, but it's... well, you don't just give off heat and flame, you know. You go blasting full power, and everyone for a city block's going to feel like they've been sitting inside a microwave for ten minutes."
Shiro followed Forge into the living room and caught the can. He eyed it warily, as if it were going to explode, and left it alone until Forge opened his. Paranoia is the key to dealing with some people, apparently. "They could all use a healthy tan. What is your point?"
"Point is," Forge explained, "A while back, I designed a suit for Alex that would dissipate the energy he gives off, keep him from going nova, all that." He called up another image, that of Alex's bodysuit with the concentric rings on the chest. "Those light up the more energy he's putting out, sort of an alert system. Now, I could design something similar for you, something to diffuse the ambient radiation you give off, and also to let you know just how much you're putting out. A sort of... plasma tachometer, as it were."
"Thanks?" Shiro almost asked what the catch was, but caught himself. "But I do not have the same problems he does. He needs help keeping all the energy in period. I would need to see how much waste I am putting out. And I am not wearing X-Under Armor."
Forge pondered, then tapped some more keys, bringing up the image of Shiro in the uniform again. "Easy enough to do. A display integrated into the design of the uniform, maybe on the glove or the forearm? And to bleed off that extra energy harmlessly..." He thought for a moment, then used his finger to trace lines on the screen, radiating over Shiro's shoulders. "Same principle as the catalytic converter on a car's exhaust, only instead of breaking down chemicals into harmless by-products, it can convert heavy radiation into a less harmful form."
Snapping his fingers, Forge turned to Shiro. "And that ties into what I wanted to talk to you about. Normally I'd go to someone like Clarice for design ideas, but she's out of the area and, well, how many of the X-Men really want their uniforms to glitter and sparkle? I can design the uniforms to be practical, but I honestly don't have the talent for not making them look ... well, stupid. You're an artist, you've got an eye for design. Mind lending a hand?"
"You want me to help you design new outfits for the X-Men?" Shiro asked skeptically. Well, this was certainly not something that he was expecting to do ever, especially with Forge. "Okay." He rushed back to his room to get his pad and pencils. "Are you keeping with the leather and kevlar or changing to something new?"
Forge thought for a while. "The leather/kevlar blend is good, but I can make it lighter and more all-weather while still keeping the same durability. One thing I was thinking of is integrating the communicators into the uniform jacket, using it like an antenna so that the earpiece can be smaller. As for the actual design, I think if we come up with some ideas and get each team member's input, it's a good start." He looked over at Shiro and shrugged. "We had a guest professor in Marketing talking about how sports teams would make alterations to their uniforms in between seasons, and how it was often effective after a losing season to help the players put their past performance behind them. Corporations do the same thing with brands and logos to encourage more productivity. You've got to admit, this has been a pretty rough year for the team, as a group and as individuals."
He let that hang in the air for a moment, then looked back to his computer. "I might never be able to put on the leathers and go out doing what you guys do, but if I can come up with ways to help, ways that I can use what I can do for you guys - then I want to do what I can. And if improving even the little things keeps you guys safer out there, then count me in."
Shiro's pencil was dancing across the page, quickly sketching a human figure. "You are such a goody two-shoes idealist that it sickens me," he muttered, adding the traditional uniform to the sketch. "Comms right here?" He pointed to the collar with his pencil and made a note, and then added the earpiece to the figure. "So like those Blue Tooth things that everyone in New York City wears so you think that they are all mad and talking to the voices in their heads."
"Exactly like that," Forge replied, ignoring the idealism comment. "Given that at any given point some folks actually are talking to a voice in their heads, I figure everyone should be used to the looks by now." He looked at Shiro's drawing, then nodded. "Some folks are going to need custom designs, especially the fliers. Hey, here's an idea I had for Storm..."
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