Log: Forge and Sarah

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While wandering around the mansion, Sarah meets one John Henry Forge.


The place was huge.

Like, huge huge.

Swimming pool. A gym. Classrooms. A stable. Dorm rooms - including hers which Sarah wasn't sure she could find her way back to after traversing through what felt like countless hallways and staircases... though the petite brunette was certain that she hadn't even seen half of her new home yet.

Having made her way back to the front door - familiar landmark; good place to start again - Sarah took a deep breath as she tried to find her bearings again. "Come on, Vale, you can do this," she said to herself, looking from left to right, absently tapping the phone at her hip while hoping she wouldn't have to call her parents to have them call the headmaster to send someone to find her.

"Miss Vale? Sarah Vale?" came a voice from behind her as the peculiar syncopated sound of Forge's footsteps resounded off the abnormally-quiet halls. Striding into the foyer, he gave a half-hearted wave and a one-shouldered shrug of apology. "Sorry, the Professor fired me an email letting me know you were here and that I should show you around, but I was down in my lab working on some project turnover - oh, right," he stopped himself and sheepishly cleared his throat, sticking his hand out to her. "I'm Forge. I'm kind of like the tech support guy here at the Institute. I trust you haven't gotten too lost yet?"

Warm, brown, wide eyes moved from Forge's face to his arm and back again. Wow. "Well, um, kind of?" Sarah said with a frown. "The place is kind of big and all. My fault for not staying put, I guess. I didn't know there was a tour." Especially not with a guy who was part - all? - robot. Thoughts of how her powers could interact with hardware like that started popping into the young technopath's brain. "But yeah, I'm Sarah. Or Sa, if you want," she replied, taking his hand and praying he wouldn't blow up or go haywire on her just for toughing him.

"Excellent!" Forge exclaimed, seemingly oblivious to Sarah's curiosity as he gave one quick handshake and then turned towards the hall. "Um, most of the classrooms are that way - but we finished classes this last week, so you've got plenty of time to avoid those. Staff offices are that way - big double doors at the end are the Professor's office, he'll probably want to see you after this. My office is right next to his, so we can just double back and... wait, let me speed this up."

He pulled what looked like an oversized PDA out of his pocket and peered at the screen before tapping in a few commands, calling up a midair hologram of the mansion in translucent blue light. Various rooms lit up as he gave a verbal tour at the speed of babble. "And the kitchen's here, there's almost always someone cooking a group dinner but feel free to raid anything that doesn't have someone's name on it. Garage is this way - do you drive? Anyway, I'll download the brief tour to your school-issued phone, makes things quicker. Did I miss anything? Oh, right! New Mutants! Kind of a silly name," he admitted, "but it's like the Institute's youth program. Building teamwork with your peers, working on your powers, et cetera. What is it that you do, if you don't mind me asking?"

Mouth moving like a fish out of water, Sarah's brain worked to keep up with everything though her concentration was shattered the moment the hologram flickered to life. "Sweet," she muttered, balling her fists at her side to keep her itching fingers from reaching out and frying the thing on accident. Not the soft of bang she wanted to start the summer off with. Still... it was an amazing gadget and if the school boasting such things people could just walk around with, Sarah was looking forward to starting her training more than ever.

Forge's question snapped her back to the present. "Oh. The guys my Dad talked to said I was a technopath. Basically, I can talk to computers and stuff. Sometimes, I can make them do what I want them to do." Once she got to know them, that was. Speaking of which... "Can't I keep my old phone?"

Stunned, Forge bobbled the device in his hands, the image skewing and flickering as he barely caught the projector before it fell to the ground. "I'm sorry, did you say 'technopath'?" He could almost hear the blood rushing through his veins as his heart raced in a moment of panic, remembering his experience in Serbia with Milan, Cortez, Doug and -yes, it sounds stupid even saying it in your head- the electric ghost of Nikola Tesla.

"That's what Dad said the guys on the Hill pushing Mutant Rights called me. I mean, I think that's what he said. I could be wrong," Sarah said quickly, unsure what it was that she did wrong to make Forge react the way he did. "Communicate and control - or well, supposedly - computers and electronics and machines, yeah? Did I get the right name?"

Forge nodded, unconsciously tilting his head and staring at Sarah as if somehow the mechanisms of her power would be visible. "Yeah, yeah, that's textbook-standard technopathy, for as much as such a thing exists. I've only ever met one other," he said as he turned to head down the hall towards his office, motioning for the newest student to follow. "It didn't go well, to say the least. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see firsthand what you can do? Call it... curiosity."

"Well, as the tech-support guy, I guess it's something I can try. I don't really have a lot of control over it yet, I mean. I only started being able to do things in January," Sarah explained, falling into step with him, trying to figure out what she could do to show him her powers once they got to wherever they we going. "My computer started following verbal commands like pulling up requested webpages and emails and then my Mom's car almost drove us off the road once when I got mad and told her I wanted to go back home."

The parallels to Milan's power were getting a little creepy for Forge, but he pushed down the anxiety and gestured Sarah into his office, quickly rummaging through one of the ubiquitous boxes he had stacked along the walls. "Aha, here we go..." he said, pulling out a small minidisc player and handing it to Sarah. "The controls are busted, so one of the kids gave it to me to tinker with. Dead media format, but whatever. Show me what you can do with it?"

"I really don't think I can do anything," she told him honestly, shaking her head even as she took the player from him. "I'm not good with stuff I haven't spent a lot of time with which is why I'd like to keep my phone instead of taking the school one." Still, the young technopath would give it a try. A quick check confirmed there were batteries in the machine and after flipping it back over and on, Sarah took another deep inhale and focused. Her fingers were far from any buttons and the little brunette even went as far as to close her eyes.

"Turn off," came the command as firm and authoritative as she could make her voice, though added a quick "please" to the end. Machines didn't seem big on manners but it didn't hurt to be polite. In her hands, the player gave a little buzz, prompting Sarah to repeat her request. "Please, turn off." The device responded with another whirl before going silent, its little green light winking out.

With a pleased smile, Sarah opened her eyes again, focusing on Forge as she offered him back the machine laying on her open palms. "Not really impressive, I know, but I'm still learning. I'm better with my stuff though like my iPod and phone and computer."

"Interesting," Forge murmured, turning the device over and over in his fingers. "So your power doesn't tell you anything about how it works or why it's broken?" As Sarah shook her head, Forge turned his hand over, walking the small player across his metal knuckles like a coin, back and forth, end over end.

"That's my deal," he offered as an explanation, holding his metal arm out to show her the various pistons and servos, the newer steel forearm and elbow subtly contrasting with the older myomer-and-fiber upper arm after his collision with Lil in Budapest. "I've got something of a giant mutant brain for machines. See how things work, invent anything, et cetera."

Tossing the disc player back into a box with a clatter, he leaned forward conspiratorially. "So, Miss Vale, how would you like to learn more about machines? And hopefully, if you're up for it, really learn to set that ability of yours loose?"

"That's kind of why I'm here," the young technopath said with a laugh. "To learn and you know, get better with my powers and stuff." Sarah reached into her pocket and tugged out the copper-colored cell phone decorated with little stickers in the shape of gears. "Can you make this do whatever the other phone can do? I'd kind of like to keep it because the more I know a machine and use it, the more I can control and talk to it. Same with my laptop though it's kind of a dinosaur."

Forge passed his fingers over the phone, eyes twitching from side to side. "I can upgrade the firmware, sure. Add in the satellite connection, the networking capabilities, keep the same hardware if that's what you're comfortable with. Same with your laptop, I'll just need to borrow them for an hour or so..."

He smiled broadly and cocked his head. "Which should just be about enough time for you to have some tea and chat with Professor Xavier, if I'm understanding that particularly annoying telepathic tickle in my brain. Well, Miss Vale, I look forward to working with you. I've never really had a protegé before, but there's a first time for everything."