Log: Sarah and Forge
Jul. 10th, 2009 11:11 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsHappy Birthday, Nikola Telsa!
Sarah goes to Forge to start her training.
She wasn't sure if he'd be in the lab or not. Of course, Sarah wasn't sure where else her would-be-mentor would haunt either so the young technopath went with her first instinct, trekking back to the place he'd taken her on her first day in the mansion. "Mr. Forge? Are you here?" the student called, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything too important. "It's Sarah Vale."
"Miss Vale?" The response seemed to come from... the ceiling? Glancing up, Sarah could see Forge apparently standing normally on the edge of one of the lab's walls, his feet encased in large metal boots sporting various glowing tubes and dials. "I was just experimenting with large-scale applications of the Van Der Waals force, it's quite interesting, you see. Instantaneous induced dipole forces, via the London dipolarity effect, have the curious interaction of--"
His exposition was interrupted by a low hum from the boots that rose to a high-pitched whine, followed by a muttering of "...that's not good sound..." before the boots emitted a loud bang and shower of sparks, plummeting the inventor to the floor in a thump.
Quickly, Forge jumped to his feet, brushing dust off of his lab coat and coughing self-consciously. "Of course," he continued as if nothing had happened, "there are still some power fluctuation issues inherent in the design. Note to self, factor in better weight ratios. Where was I just now? Miss Vale, yes! How are you?"
The girl's jaw dropped when she watched the man tumble off the wall and onto the floor, only to jump apparently unharmed. "I... I'm okay. Are you?" she asked, taking a step closer to him with a concerned frown. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Hm?" Forge looked himself over, reaching up to straighten his goggles on his forehead. "Oh, fine. I take worse tumbles like that on a standard Danger Room run. What's a few bumps and bruises in pursuit of science, hey? Now I just need to..." He wiggled his legs, trying to free his feet from the cumbersome boots that now seemed to be firmly attached to the floor. "Hold on, there's a quick-release somewhere... I swear I put it in... damned conceptual models..."
With a series of whirrs and clanks, the boots unfolded and Forge practically skipped out of them, the image almost uncannily like a giddy schoolgirl who'd been told it was Pony Day. "See? No harm done. Even Tesla zapped himself a few times testing out alternating current. There should be some kind of axiom about that, all progress comes with the occasional stumble, or something." Realizing that he was rambling, Forge cleared his throat and glanced over at Sarah. "I'm sorry, there I go again. What was it you needed again, Miss Vale?"
She blinked owlishly for a moment, trying to process all the technobabble she'd heard in the past minute and a half before taking another step into the lab. The place was incredible, better than anything she'd seen in any movie. To be able to possibly work and train there - with a man who could walk on walls, no less - was something Sarah was looking forward to.
"Um, I just wanted to stop by and say hi since I haven't seen you in awhile... and to, um, maybe see if we could talk about starting to help me with my powers?" she asked. the corners of her mouth tugging up in a hopeful half-grin.
Forge's face practically lit up as he shuffled over to one of the work benches that lined the walls. "Yes, of course, certainly! In fact, I was thinking about that - what you said about familiar devices being easier to work with? Well - here, it's best if I demonstrate." He rapped his knuckles on the surface of the bench, and a holographic display sprung into life before him. Tapping his fingers on the imaged keys, Forge extended his hand as a small black sphere dropped from the ceiling, pausing an inch above his palm, tiny lights blinking.
"I designed these when I was... about your age, I guess. Still getting the hang of my power. Been refining them ever since. Compressed-air propulsion, rudimentary adaptive logic circuits, broad-spectrum electromagnetic sensors... I'll admit, originally the idea was to spy on cute girls in the shower, but then I realized I was thinking too small," he explained. "Remote cameras for search and rescue, use multiples for triangulating GPS locations in three dimensions... well, just basic utility but I am getting off the point."
He set the small sphere on the table and twisted the top in his hand, separating it into two hemispheres, the complex arrangements of wires and circuitry inside looking like a multicolored rat's nest. "You," Forge announced to Sarah, "are going to learn to build one, step by step. No better way to understand machinery than from the inside out, I say."
Sarah's jaw - which had fallen open again in amazement - snapped shut when he announced her first task. Build one? She could barely turn out the light with her powers and he wanted her to build a... whatever the heck it was that he was expecting her to duplicate. The technopath swallowed hard, her brow furrowing as she looked over the object but kept her fingers
balled tightly at her side before returning her gaze back to her new mentor.
"Do I have to call you Obi-Wan, too?"
Forge made a small snort of amusement. "Better than the usual Star Wars reference I get," he raised and flexed his metal hand for emphasis. "But no, Mister Forge is fine. Or 'sir', if you're feeling overly formal. To be honest, however? You don't have to do anything, Miss Vale. There are a lot of options available to explore your powers. I'm just one of them. With practice, you could..."
He paused, feeling suddenly short of breath. Patting his recently-unbandaged ribs gingerly, Forge hooked a stool with one foot and dragged it over to sit down. "Well, it bears some explanation, given certain comments upon your introduction a few weeks ago. When I told you that I'd met one technopath like you before? There's some room for trepidation there. His name is Francisco Milan, and he's a bit of a nutjob. The first time I met him, he caused enough feedback with my prosthetics to stop my heart." Forge smiled, slowly trailing the fingers of his right hand along the edge of his left shoulder where metal flowed into flesh. "So at one extreme, there you have it. The first technopath I met actually killed me. And that was without any formal training. Last week he managed to seize control of an automated hotel in Dubai and nearly finished the job. A power like yours, it can be limitless if you allow it to be. But without control, you could be someone very, very dangerous."
The younger mutant remained quite for a few long moments, soaking in what Forge had just told her about his experiences - recent ones, even - with the other technopath and what it meant for her. "I'd never try to stop your heart," Sarah promised, her eyes wide and glittering with the first hints of unshed tears. "I mean, I can't even make the toaster in the kitchen work but even if I could, I'd never do that." Dangerous? Her?? Sarah wrapped her arms around herself and continued to frown. "I want to have control. I want to know how to use my powers and not be afraid that I'm going to make airplanes fall out of the sky when I ride on them."
"The only way to overcome fear is through knowledge," Forge insisted, reaching under the work bench and coming up with a handful of wires, a small light bulb, a switch, and a battery. "Once you understand something, you can't fear it anymore. So here's where we begin. The basics of electric current, and we work from there as you're comfortable. Sound good?"
Taking a deep breath, Sarah turned and found another stool to drag over to where Forge was already sitting. Climbing up onto it, she gave a firm nod of her head. "Show me how to use the Force and I'll get my Nana to send us some cookies that can rival any the Dark Side have."
Forge smiled broadly. "Miss Vale, this is going to be an excellent working relationship, I can already tell. Now, first things first, the definition of an electrical circuit is..."
Sarah goes to Forge to start her training.
She wasn't sure if he'd be in the lab or not. Of course, Sarah wasn't sure where else her would-be-mentor would haunt either so the young technopath went with her first instinct, trekking back to the place he'd taken her on her first day in the mansion. "Mr. Forge? Are you here?" the student called, hoping she wasn't interrupting anything too important. "It's Sarah Vale."
"Miss Vale?" The response seemed to come from... the ceiling? Glancing up, Sarah could see Forge apparently standing normally on the edge of one of the lab's walls, his feet encased in large metal boots sporting various glowing tubes and dials. "I was just experimenting with large-scale applications of the Van Der Waals force, it's quite interesting, you see. Instantaneous induced dipole forces, via the London dipolarity effect, have the curious interaction of--"
His exposition was interrupted by a low hum from the boots that rose to a high-pitched whine, followed by a muttering of "...that's not good sound..." before the boots emitted a loud bang and shower of sparks, plummeting the inventor to the floor in a thump.
Quickly, Forge jumped to his feet, brushing dust off of his lab coat and coughing self-consciously. "Of course," he continued as if nothing had happened, "there are still some power fluctuation issues inherent in the design. Note to self, factor in better weight ratios. Where was I just now? Miss Vale, yes! How are you?"
The girl's jaw dropped when she watched the man tumble off the wall and onto the floor, only to jump apparently unharmed. "I... I'm okay. Are you?" she asked, taking a step closer to him with a concerned frown. "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"Hm?" Forge looked himself over, reaching up to straighten his goggles on his forehead. "Oh, fine. I take worse tumbles like that on a standard Danger Room run. What's a few bumps and bruises in pursuit of science, hey? Now I just need to..." He wiggled his legs, trying to free his feet from the cumbersome boots that now seemed to be firmly attached to the floor. "Hold on, there's a quick-release somewhere... I swear I put it in... damned conceptual models..."
With a series of whirrs and clanks, the boots unfolded and Forge practically skipped out of them, the image almost uncannily like a giddy schoolgirl who'd been told it was Pony Day. "See? No harm done. Even Tesla zapped himself a few times testing out alternating current. There should be some kind of axiom about that, all progress comes with the occasional stumble, or something." Realizing that he was rambling, Forge cleared his throat and glanced over at Sarah. "I'm sorry, there I go again. What was it you needed again, Miss Vale?"
She blinked owlishly for a moment, trying to process all the technobabble she'd heard in the past minute and a half before taking another step into the lab. The place was incredible, better than anything she'd seen in any movie. To be able to possibly work and train there - with a man who could walk on walls, no less - was something Sarah was looking forward to.
"Um, I just wanted to stop by and say hi since I haven't seen you in awhile... and to, um, maybe see if we could talk about starting to help me with my powers?" she asked. the corners of her mouth tugging up in a hopeful half-grin.
Forge's face practically lit up as he shuffled over to one of the work benches that lined the walls. "Yes, of course, certainly! In fact, I was thinking about that - what you said about familiar devices being easier to work with? Well - here, it's best if I demonstrate." He rapped his knuckles on the surface of the bench, and a holographic display sprung into life before him. Tapping his fingers on the imaged keys, Forge extended his hand as a small black sphere dropped from the ceiling, pausing an inch above his palm, tiny lights blinking.
"I designed these when I was... about your age, I guess. Still getting the hang of my power. Been refining them ever since. Compressed-air propulsion, rudimentary adaptive logic circuits, broad-spectrum electromagnetic sensors... I'll admit, originally the idea was to spy on cute girls in the shower, but then I realized I was thinking too small," he explained. "Remote cameras for search and rescue, use multiples for triangulating GPS locations in three dimensions... well, just basic utility but I am getting off the point."
He set the small sphere on the table and twisted the top in his hand, separating it into two hemispheres, the complex arrangements of wires and circuitry inside looking like a multicolored rat's nest. "You," Forge announced to Sarah, "are going to learn to build one, step by step. No better way to understand machinery than from the inside out, I say."
Sarah's jaw - which had fallen open again in amazement - snapped shut when he announced her first task. Build one? She could barely turn out the light with her powers and he wanted her to build a... whatever the heck it was that he was expecting her to duplicate. The technopath swallowed hard, her brow furrowing as she looked over the object but kept her fingers
balled tightly at her side before returning her gaze back to her new mentor.
"Do I have to call you Obi-Wan, too?"
Forge made a small snort of amusement. "Better than the usual Star Wars reference I get," he raised and flexed his metal hand for emphasis. "But no, Mister Forge is fine. Or 'sir', if you're feeling overly formal. To be honest, however? You don't have to do anything, Miss Vale. There are a lot of options available to explore your powers. I'm just one of them. With practice, you could..."
He paused, feeling suddenly short of breath. Patting his recently-unbandaged ribs gingerly, Forge hooked a stool with one foot and dragged it over to sit down. "Well, it bears some explanation, given certain comments upon your introduction a few weeks ago. When I told you that I'd met one technopath like you before? There's some room for trepidation there. His name is Francisco Milan, and he's a bit of a nutjob. The first time I met him, he caused enough feedback with my prosthetics to stop my heart." Forge smiled, slowly trailing the fingers of his right hand along the edge of his left shoulder where metal flowed into flesh. "So at one extreme, there you have it. The first technopath I met actually killed me. And that was without any formal training. Last week he managed to seize control of an automated hotel in Dubai and nearly finished the job. A power like yours, it can be limitless if you allow it to be. But without control, you could be someone very, very dangerous."
The younger mutant remained quite for a few long moments, soaking in what Forge had just told her about his experiences - recent ones, even - with the other technopath and what it meant for her. "I'd never try to stop your heart," Sarah promised, her eyes wide and glittering with the first hints of unshed tears. "I mean, I can't even make the toaster in the kitchen work but even if I could, I'd never do that." Dangerous? Her?? Sarah wrapped her arms around herself and continued to frown. "I want to have control. I want to know how to use my powers and not be afraid that I'm going to make airplanes fall out of the sky when I ride on them."
"The only way to overcome fear is through knowledge," Forge insisted, reaching under the work bench and coming up with a handful of wires, a small light bulb, a switch, and a battery. "Once you understand something, you can't fear it anymore. So here's where we begin. The basics of electric current, and we work from there as you're comfortable. Sound good?"
Taking a deep breath, Sarah turned and found another stool to drag over to where Forge was already sitting. Climbing up onto it, she gave a firm nod of her head. "Show me how to use the Force and I'll get my Nana to send us some cookies that can rival any the Dark Side have."
Forge smiled broadly. "Miss Vale, this is going to be an excellent working relationship, I can already tell. Now, first things first, the definition of an electrical circuit is..."
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