xp_logs | Bishop and Forge

Bishop gets bored, checks around at the mansion's security, then pesters Forge. After some sniffing around they talk for a minute then go get drunk.

Bishop had scrounged around to find Forge's workshop. He heard that this guy was both a genius and head of security, but more importantly Bishop had absolutely nothing to do but look around at all the changes he would make if he lived in the mansion. At least, if he was going to step onto someone else's turf and start recommending changes, he could knock.

At the hint of motion outside the doorway, Forge's attention was momentarily piqued. He paused from his task of polishing a set of tools and looked up. After a few seconds of puzzlement, he cocked his head in contemplation, then nodded. "Bishop, right?" he asked. "One of Remy's."

"Over there they call me one of Emma's. Funnier still, she calls me a detective still, when she's in a good mood. I prefer to think I'm one of my own." Bishop stepped in with a slight stack of papers and set it on his desk. "I didn't have anything to do, thought you might like a few ideas from someone with a fresh perspective."

"Let's see," Forge quipped, returning to absently polishing a microspanner. "I regularly have Remy test the security here, and no, I haven't been able to catch him yet. But I'm getting there. Part of a fun little exchange. I regularly send Doug upgrades to Snow Valley's computer hardware and help Mark out with a new electronics schematic now and then, and Remy regularly visits here at zero-dark-thirty in the morning and points out gaps in my security knowledge. At least he's not stepping out of a dark closet to give me a wedgie."

He stopped and looked up from his work. "At least, I'm going to assume you were talking in the context of my work here with the security systems, and not offering help in a mechanical sense, because if so... well, I could use a good laugh."

Bishop smirked. Clearly the rumors of him being a genius were from his own mouth. "Remy doesn't exactly have the same qualifications I do either. Not saying they're worse, just different. Maybe he could use you getting the drop on him for a change to bring that to his attention." Of course, he wasn't above appealing to people's desires in order to be listened to.

Forge tapped the spanner against his chin thoughtfully. "I am a fan of getting one over on Remy Lebeau. You're ex-NYPD, right? Jubilee and Doug have mentioned you once or twice. I gather that the kind of security you run for Snow Valley is a bit more active than what we see here, yeah?"

Bishop nodded to the question about his history. "Their security's based more on anonymity then it is here. I'm going to guess that's why Remy's always able to get by you. This place has to be out in the open and also appear like it has the usual security of a school. It's my understanding that our international police keeping veterans had to deal with people that had clearly high security and a lot of resources. I've dealt with local people who have limited resources and have to avoid attracting attention."

"Resources aren't so much a problem here," Forge explained. "If it can be invented, I can invent it. The limits are both the Professor's financial reach, which although considerable isn't unlimited, and then the more important factor."

The young inventor sighed and set down his tools, steepling his hands in front of his chin. "It doesn't just have to appear to be a school," he explained. "This is a school, not a fortress and not a prison. The X-Men's presence notwithstanding, the Professor won't have the students living in an ironclad castle. As safe as we'd be sealed off from the world in an impermeable sanctuary, it'd fly in the face of everything he's trying to teach here."

"You know what's going on here better than I do. I'm not going to take it personally if you don't use any of this. Like I said, I was bored and thought you might find something in there you like." That was the extent of Bishop's thoughts on the matter, too. He didn't base his worth of what other people thought about him or what he could do. If it helped out the mansion then that was good. If it was worthless that was fine too. At worst they'd have both just wasted a could hours.

"Yes," Forge agreed. Not out of any form of arrogance, it was a simple statement of fact. "But I know enough to realize that I'm not an island repository of all knowledge. So we've dealt with different kind of threats here in the past. Random, specific, and nonspecific," he ticked off on his fingers. "Random threats, well, you can't really prepare for those. There we use training, putting the students through drills of how to get to shelter, things like that. Then you've got nonspecific threats. Someone tries to drive a car bomb through the front foyer, or sends anthrax in the mail, or just shows up with a team of gunmen or mutant terrorists to trash the place because of what we stand for..."

He stopped to take a breath, then smiled. "Sorry, soapboxing. Anyway, there you get to the nitty-gritty. Threat recognition, X-Men response, nonlethal technological deterrents. There it's a game of defensive strategy. What gets me, though, are specific threats. If someone wants to come in here after a body, the kind of people we're talking about are almost forces of nature in and of themselves."

"That's true. I don't envy your job. I guess that's why I took a look around, most people forget how important small things like appropriate lighting can be." Bishop shuffled a couple pages in and tapped the page. "This will make any person who tries to approach the mansion cast a shadow across a camera's line of sight. That's something almost everyone misses unless they've worked in heavily urbanized areas."

Huh," Forge said, looking over the proffered diagram. "Simple but intriguing concept. And enough to act as a virtual moat to redirect anyone who'd recognize it, funnel them towards a predetermined avenue of approach. Sort of like getting to set up the chess board before your opponent makes a move. Asymmetrical warfare." He grinned self-consciously. "Scott's been having me read up on it for a while now. Using one's limitations as advantages." He held up his prosthetic hand as emphasis.

"Now, I thought I'd taken care of that issue, here let me show you..." He pulled out a grease pencil and marked lines on the diagram. "Motion sensors and all sorts of other passive and active systems, but ambient systems... I like it. Simple and effective. Hey, if you want a tour, I'll show you firsthand. Even some of our active defenses. Managed to snare Jubilee a few weeks back."

Bishop nodded at the offer, Forge was at least interested enough to offer a show and that was good enough for him. Bishop wasn't one to think he couldn't learn something from anyone, it also probably took some courage to declare yourself a genius. "I've actually been training with Scott for a few months now. He has a much better grasp on all the things mutants can do then I do." He was spoiled, if someone projected energy he was immune and if not then they usually weren't a threat that couldn't be handled.

Forge snorted. "That's because he's lived here since he was like, eight. Back in the dark ages. Guy has no life outside this place, I swear."

Leading the way to the outside, Forge opened the door to his workshop. "And so I hear you're missing a stash of bourbon. Tell me, have you ever tried Attilani rum...?"