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xp_logsMolly asks Garrison to show her the ropes on how to run the Danger Room.
Molly had been on the other side of the danger room plenty of times. In fact, she'd broken some stuff in it before. It was the problem with being super strong. But since she'd started college she really started to get ideas from stuff and wanted to know how to do things or why they worked. Okay, so it had totally always been there but this helped.
So that was why she walked into the danger room's control room.
"Hey, Mr. K, got a sec? Or like...five minutes?"
"Do you have coffee? If you have coffee, I have time. If you don't, you need to bring coffee and I will give you time. I might demand a shrubbery as well." Kane said, yawning. He'd been at it entirely too long, overhauling programs that the last debacle of an upgrade had messed up and couldn't be fixed en mass. Once he'd gotten going, he decided to abuse his powers to stay at it and was now at the end of almost thirty hours in the booth.
Molly paused. "Don't got coffee or shrubs. I got some gum?" she said, holding up a stick of Orbit and shaking it as if it'd totally make it more exciting.
"But I can totally go to the kitchen and get you something. I think somebody made dark roast."
"Somewhere in this room is a Keuring. If you can find it and make it work, I will be in your debt." He yawned again.
Eying him suspiciously, Molly started looking around. "Is there something wrong with it?" she said. He made it sound like it was broken or something. Keurigs seemed pretty easy to work.
But upgrading one...hmm...
She pulled out a tiny Moleskine notebook and scribbled something down before stuffing it back into her back pocket.
"Other than being buried in paper and not magically teleporting coffee directly to my hand, nothing."
Molly made a thoughtful noise and nodded as she scanned the room before finally...
"Ah ha!" she said, grabbing a cup and squinting at the selection of coffees. There were a variety for all the people who were on DR duty.
"Which one are you in the mood for?"
"Anything I don't have to make myself. I have the worst taste in coffee."
"I don't really like coffee," Molly said, grabbing one of the donut shop k-cups and popping it into the Keurig. "I usually drink anything but that. Except Red Bull. They're kinda gross too."
She sniffed a little as the smell of coffee filled the room. "Love the smell though," she said, popping on a lid and grabbing some creamer pods and sugar packets and a stirrer before making her way back over.
"Here ya go," she said with a grin. "I wasn't sure if you liked cream and sugar so I just grabbed some of both."
"I like my coffee as black as... I don't have a good line that isn't problematic. I like it just black? Is that cool?"
Molly laughed. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" she said, plopping down in the seat beside him.
"So do you gotta sec now or should I wait until the coffee kicks in?" she said.
Kane took a long sip and sighed. "Oh yeah. That's the stuff... Ok, shoot. What do you need?"
Molly eyed the DR console. "Well, I was wondering if you could teach me how to make Danger Room scenarios? I had some ideas and I think it'd be cool to do like....a random Danger Room scenario maker to surprise people...y'know, to help train them to expect the unexpected? But I was thinking instead of it pulling up one someone's already done, it could draw from other ones to make one that's completely new. Like an artificial neural network for scenarios."
"Sure. That's... well, it's not easy but it's not witchcraft either. Pull up a chair." Garrison shifted over and tapped a few keys.
"Good," Molly said, taking a seat and scooting over toward the console. "I want a challenge."
She was already in college learning more about mechanical engineering and Sif taught her a little about Asgardian tech, but she wasn't going to be going there for awhile and this was one of the closest things to advanced tech there was on this planet outside of SHIELD or Tony Stark or something. She wanted to learn about how it worked.
"Alright, so there's two levels of DR design. There's our modular system which is a combination of programs that will allow you to create a scenario, and then there is the advanced system, which is building from the ground up. There's only a few of us who are well trained on the advanced system, so let's set that aside for now. Once you get the modular system down, Scott or Hank can look at further training." Kane tapped a few buttons.
"The DR uses a combination of advanced holograms, solid light projection and a fully modular surface configuration to create your scenarios. About the only thing it can't create a reasonable simulation of is zero-gravity and immersive water pressure. And before you ask me why, I just drive this bitch. The tech is for people significantly smarter than the smart people who make me look stupid."
The two huge screens above the console flipped to new settings. "Now, there are two parts to every scenario. First is the scenario itself. Second is the specific metrics you want to take from it. There are sensors in the room that can capture all kinds of data, including detailed bio-metrics. But unless you know what you want specifically, it can take longer combing through the data than it is setting up the scenario. So, you need to know what you're looking for. The cool thing is that much like the predictive text on your phone that thinks anybody really means to type 'ducking', as you start to select your metrics, it will suggest additional elements and relevant cross references from past scenarios. See, the more we use the DR, the smart it gets and the deeper an evaluation can go. When we bring a new mutant in with flight powers for testing, the scenario gets informed by every session from every other flight capable mutant that's ever been in this room."
"Oh, cool! Machine learning," Molly said, writing things down.
"So people have to be in this room? How do you get the biometrics for the Brotherhood or other bad guys? Do you extrapolate the data from similar powered persons to run the scenarios....Lorna for Magneto, Wolverine for Sabretooth, and so on?"
"We actually have them on level controls, so we can push them up or tone them down depending on the session." Kane tapped a couple of buttons and stood up. "Come with me. The interface in the DR is better for you to start with. Get a couple of hundred simulations under your belt and then you'll be ready to get under the hood, so to speak."
Molly flashed Garrison a bright grin. "Okay, lead the way," she said. She wasn't afraid of hard work. If she wanted to be good then she was ready to put in the practice.
"I've never seen the DR interface before. How complex is it?"
"The main suite? Hugely, but it is about dealing with a million permutations. We're using the more intuitive operator system." They walked into the room at its default, stark walls and tech. Kane made a couple of gesture and suddenly his hands were ringed by golden holograms. "Ah, logged in."
Eyes widening, Molly stared at the holograms in wonder. "Awesome," she said. It reminded her a lot of Asgard tech.
"Where did the Professor get all this technology anyway? It's been here for like....ever, right? Who invented it?"
"No idea. There's a few super-geniuses behind it, as well as mutants with technology based powers. Since I've been here, it's been continually upgraded by people like Hank, Forge and Reed. I'm told some of the microprocessors are almost nano-tech size yet still constructed, which suggests some seriously high levels of telekinetic or magnetic manipulation. Raises some possibly interesting questions about the pre-X-Men era of the mansion, which Charles tends not to discuss much."
Kane waved a hand and the room shifted to them standing out on a hill, looking over a small valley. Mountains rose in the east and a sharp, thin breeze blew up past them from the creek below.
"Feel the wind and the sun? Smell the scent of grass? Feel the brush of the undergrowth and the turf under your feet? Now, here's what's really happening." Kane waved and the holographic element was removed. They were standing on a small hill, the floor around them having dropped down.
The metal floor underneath had a spongy organic quality, giving slightly under their weight. Molly could see multiple vents and lights trained on them, replicating the wind and scent of the outdoors. Around her feet, tiny follicles rose up from the floor in the immediately area around her shoe, simulating the grass.
Molly let out a soft, excited laugh, biting her lip as she crouched down to gently touch the tiny follicles. She glanced up.
"Why doesn't he wanna talk about it?" she stood up, taking a couple of steps closer. Her eyes widened. "Oh...because of....that thing? The big crappy day thing?" she whispered.
"No, this is something from before. He's never talked to me about it and I respect his privacy enough not to ask but... Magneto was entirely too familiar with the mansion and Cerebro technology when the mansion was invaded 16 years ago. Essex was an old associate." Kane shook his head. "My gut tells me that Scott and Jean and the others weren't necessarily the first stab at the X-Men thing and that whatever happened went very, very wrong. But... that's one hundred percent conspiracy theory. I have no proof and make no accusations. Just... a gut feel."
Falling silent a moment, Molly tilted her head. "Huh," she said, slowly nodding.
"That's....a big theory," she said, rocking back and forth thoughtfully.
"But....hypothetically...the DR's been looked at, right? Everything's ship shape? No Hal 9000s or Brainiacs or Ghosts in the Machine? Same thing with like...security and...everything?"
"Hey, don't start spiraling. My theory aside, the security and the DR are decades past whatever their original programming was. I wouldn't worry about it being safe." He decided not to mention the disaster of the last attempted upgrade. "It's about as safe as it can be."
Molly quirked a brow. "You better knock on wood right now, buster," she said with a smirk. "Cause you just jinxed it." She looked around the room.
"Couldn't hurt to double check every once and awhile though...?"
She probably had been around Wade too long but she'd also lived at the mansion for awhile. Finding out the DR was made potentially with help by the lead bad guy of their rival boy band was really cool but kinda scary. She flashed him a grin.
"Not spiraling, just trying to be good, rational superheroine."
"The tech team have this place in hand. I'm just an operator. Speaking of-" He brought the interface back up and the room configured in front of her back to the default setting; a big, bland steely cube. "Alright, so here's where we start. Hold up your hands and say 'interface' in a clear voice. I've just cleared you for basic access."
Molly suddenly let out a loud squee-like giggle. She bit her lip. "Sorry, sorry," she said, letting out a breath and drawing her hand down in front of her face as she bit her lip. This was just so cool.
"Okay," she said, holding up her hands. Clearing her throat, stared up at the center of the room, putting on her best professional sounding voice.
"Interface."
Her hands were suddenly lit with golden light. In front of her was a strange keyboard, without letters but categories like environment, lighting, weather, challenges and other elements. "Start by pressing 'scenarios'. That will give you a list of the standard scenarios accessible to all operators. For now, you'll be limited to making changes and modifications to existing scenarios. Once you're more experienced, we'll let you start making your own or going outside of the set parameters for an existing one."
Molly's eyes never left the interface, even as she listened. She nodded. "Oh man, I got so many ideas. You guys are gonna flip."
She eyed the scenarios button, then reached out to press it, watching a number of different scenario icons pop up.
"Am I allowed to combine some scenarios together?"
"In a limited fashion. The DR is complex enough that you're going to be on training wheels for awhile. Believe me, you'll have your hands full with just the basics for the foreseeable future."
Molly slowly grinned. "Challenge accepted," she said. She held out her hand to Garrison to shake.
"Thanks, Mr. K, for giving me the chance."
"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for people to ask. The DR tends to intimidate people, so I don't get a lot of people asking me or Scott to look under the hood. It really is pretty remarkable." Kane shook his head. "Oh, word to the wise. Don't look at any of the logs for sessions after midnight or so."
The look Molly gave Garrison was like smelling curdled milk. "Ew," she said with a laugh. When he didn't shake her hand she shrugged and put it down.
"I like tinkering with machines. I'm working on an engineering degree at ESU. Minor in robotics, and whatever classes look cool," she said with a smile.
"For that end, you need to talk to the tech team. I just work on the design/programming side."
"Training wheels, right?" Molly said.
"Gotta crawl before I sprint."
"And sprint before you fall off the edge of a mountain." He gave her a look. "It's a common programming mistake here. Swear to god."
Molly squinted with intrigue. "Okay, I want gory details. Spill."
Molly had been on the other side of the danger room plenty of times. In fact, she'd broken some stuff in it before. It was the problem with being super strong. But since she'd started college she really started to get ideas from stuff and wanted to know how to do things or why they worked. Okay, so it had totally always been there but this helped.
So that was why she walked into the danger room's control room.
"Hey, Mr. K, got a sec? Or like...five minutes?"
"Do you have coffee? If you have coffee, I have time. If you don't, you need to bring coffee and I will give you time. I might demand a shrubbery as well." Kane said, yawning. He'd been at it entirely too long, overhauling programs that the last debacle of an upgrade had messed up and couldn't be fixed en mass. Once he'd gotten going, he decided to abuse his powers to stay at it and was now at the end of almost thirty hours in the booth.
Molly paused. "Don't got coffee or shrubs. I got some gum?" she said, holding up a stick of Orbit and shaking it as if it'd totally make it more exciting.
"But I can totally go to the kitchen and get you something. I think somebody made dark roast."
"Somewhere in this room is a Keuring. If you can find it and make it work, I will be in your debt." He yawned again.
Eying him suspiciously, Molly started looking around. "Is there something wrong with it?" she said. He made it sound like it was broken or something. Keurigs seemed pretty easy to work.
But upgrading one...hmm...
She pulled out a tiny Moleskine notebook and scribbled something down before stuffing it back into her back pocket.
"Other than being buried in paper and not magically teleporting coffee directly to my hand, nothing."
Molly made a thoughtful noise and nodded as she scanned the room before finally...
"Ah ha!" she said, grabbing a cup and squinting at the selection of coffees. There were a variety for all the people who were on DR duty.
"Which one are you in the mood for?"
"Anything I don't have to make myself. I have the worst taste in coffee."
"I don't really like coffee," Molly said, grabbing one of the donut shop k-cups and popping it into the Keurig. "I usually drink anything but that. Except Red Bull. They're kinda gross too."
She sniffed a little as the smell of coffee filled the room. "Love the smell though," she said, popping on a lid and grabbing some creamer pods and sugar packets and a stirrer before making her way back over.
"Here ya go," she said with a grin. "I wasn't sure if you liked cream and sugar so I just grabbed some of both."
"I like my coffee as black as... I don't have a good line that isn't problematic. I like it just black? Is that cool?"
Molly laughed. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" she said, plopping down in the seat beside him.
"So do you gotta sec now or should I wait until the coffee kicks in?" she said.
Kane took a long sip and sighed. "Oh yeah. That's the stuff... Ok, shoot. What do you need?"
Molly eyed the DR console. "Well, I was wondering if you could teach me how to make Danger Room scenarios? I had some ideas and I think it'd be cool to do like....a random Danger Room scenario maker to surprise people...y'know, to help train them to expect the unexpected? But I was thinking instead of it pulling up one someone's already done, it could draw from other ones to make one that's completely new. Like an artificial neural network for scenarios."
"Sure. That's... well, it's not easy but it's not witchcraft either. Pull up a chair." Garrison shifted over and tapped a few keys.
"Good," Molly said, taking a seat and scooting over toward the console. "I want a challenge."
She was already in college learning more about mechanical engineering and Sif taught her a little about Asgardian tech, but she wasn't going to be going there for awhile and this was one of the closest things to advanced tech there was on this planet outside of SHIELD or Tony Stark or something. She wanted to learn about how it worked.
"Alright, so there's two levels of DR design. There's our modular system which is a combination of programs that will allow you to create a scenario, and then there is the advanced system, which is building from the ground up. There's only a few of us who are well trained on the advanced system, so let's set that aside for now. Once you get the modular system down, Scott or Hank can look at further training." Kane tapped a few buttons.
"The DR uses a combination of advanced holograms, solid light projection and a fully modular surface configuration to create your scenarios. About the only thing it can't create a reasonable simulation of is zero-gravity and immersive water pressure. And before you ask me why, I just drive this bitch. The tech is for people significantly smarter than the smart people who make me look stupid."
The two huge screens above the console flipped to new settings. "Now, there are two parts to every scenario. First is the scenario itself. Second is the specific metrics you want to take from it. There are sensors in the room that can capture all kinds of data, including detailed bio-metrics. But unless you know what you want specifically, it can take longer combing through the data than it is setting up the scenario. So, you need to know what you're looking for. The cool thing is that much like the predictive text on your phone that thinks anybody really means to type 'ducking', as you start to select your metrics, it will suggest additional elements and relevant cross references from past scenarios. See, the more we use the DR, the smart it gets and the deeper an evaluation can go. When we bring a new mutant in with flight powers for testing, the scenario gets informed by every session from every other flight capable mutant that's ever been in this room."
"Oh, cool! Machine learning," Molly said, writing things down.
"So people have to be in this room? How do you get the biometrics for the Brotherhood or other bad guys? Do you extrapolate the data from similar powered persons to run the scenarios....Lorna for Magneto, Wolverine for Sabretooth, and so on?"
"We actually have them on level controls, so we can push them up or tone them down depending on the session." Kane tapped a couple of buttons and stood up. "Come with me. The interface in the DR is better for you to start with. Get a couple of hundred simulations under your belt and then you'll be ready to get under the hood, so to speak."
Molly flashed Garrison a bright grin. "Okay, lead the way," she said. She wasn't afraid of hard work. If she wanted to be good then she was ready to put in the practice.
"I've never seen the DR interface before. How complex is it?"
"The main suite? Hugely, but it is about dealing with a million permutations. We're using the more intuitive operator system." They walked into the room at its default, stark walls and tech. Kane made a couple of gesture and suddenly his hands were ringed by golden holograms. "Ah, logged in."
Eyes widening, Molly stared at the holograms in wonder. "Awesome," she said. It reminded her a lot of Asgard tech.
"Where did the Professor get all this technology anyway? It's been here for like....ever, right? Who invented it?"
"No idea. There's a few super-geniuses behind it, as well as mutants with technology based powers. Since I've been here, it's been continually upgraded by people like Hank, Forge and Reed. I'm told some of the microprocessors are almost nano-tech size yet still constructed, which suggests some seriously high levels of telekinetic or magnetic manipulation. Raises some possibly interesting questions about the pre-X-Men era of the mansion, which Charles tends not to discuss much."
Kane waved a hand and the room shifted to them standing out on a hill, looking over a small valley. Mountains rose in the east and a sharp, thin breeze blew up past them from the creek below.
"Feel the wind and the sun? Smell the scent of grass? Feel the brush of the undergrowth and the turf under your feet? Now, here's what's really happening." Kane waved and the holographic element was removed. They were standing on a small hill, the floor around them having dropped down.
The metal floor underneath had a spongy organic quality, giving slightly under their weight. Molly could see multiple vents and lights trained on them, replicating the wind and scent of the outdoors. Around her feet, tiny follicles rose up from the floor in the immediately area around her shoe, simulating the grass.
Molly let out a soft, excited laugh, biting her lip as she crouched down to gently touch the tiny follicles. She glanced up.
"Why doesn't he wanna talk about it?" she stood up, taking a couple of steps closer. Her eyes widened. "Oh...because of....that thing? The big crappy day thing?" she whispered.
"No, this is something from before. He's never talked to me about it and I respect his privacy enough not to ask but... Magneto was entirely too familiar with the mansion and Cerebro technology when the mansion was invaded 16 years ago. Essex was an old associate." Kane shook his head. "My gut tells me that Scott and Jean and the others weren't necessarily the first stab at the X-Men thing and that whatever happened went very, very wrong. But... that's one hundred percent conspiracy theory. I have no proof and make no accusations. Just... a gut feel."
Falling silent a moment, Molly tilted her head. "Huh," she said, slowly nodding.
"That's....a big theory," she said, rocking back and forth thoughtfully.
"But....hypothetically...the DR's been looked at, right? Everything's ship shape? No Hal 9000s or Brainiacs or Ghosts in the Machine? Same thing with like...security and...everything?"
"Hey, don't start spiraling. My theory aside, the security and the DR are decades past whatever their original programming was. I wouldn't worry about it being safe." He decided not to mention the disaster of the last attempted upgrade. "It's about as safe as it can be."
Molly quirked a brow. "You better knock on wood right now, buster," she said with a smirk. "Cause you just jinxed it." She looked around the room.
"Couldn't hurt to double check every once and awhile though...?"
She probably had been around Wade too long but she'd also lived at the mansion for awhile. Finding out the DR was made potentially with help by the lead bad guy of their rival boy band was really cool but kinda scary. She flashed him a grin.
"Not spiraling, just trying to be good, rational superheroine."
"The tech team have this place in hand. I'm just an operator. Speaking of-" He brought the interface back up and the room configured in front of her back to the default setting; a big, bland steely cube. "Alright, so here's where we start. Hold up your hands and say 'interface' in a clear voice. I've just cleared you for basic access."
Molly suddenly let out a loud squee-like giggle. She bit her lip. "Sorry, sorry," she said, letting out a breath and drawing her hand down in front of her face as she bit her lip. This was just so cool.
"Okay," she said, holding up her hands. Clearing her throat, stared up at the center of the room, putting on her best professional sounding voice.
"Interface."
Her hands were suddenly lit with golden light. In front of her was a strange keyboard, without letters but categories like environment, lighting, weather, challenges and other elements. "Start by pressing 'scenarios'. That will give you a list of the standard scenarios accessible to all operators. For now, you'll be limited to making changes and modifications to existing scenarios. Once you're more experienced, we'll let you start making your own or going outside of the set parameters for an existing one."
Molly's eyes never left the interface, even as she listened. She nodded. "Oh man, I got so many ideas. You guys are gonna flip."
She eyed the scenarios button, then reached out to press it, watching a number of different scenario icons pop up.
"Am I allowed to combine some scenarios together?"
"In a limited fashion. The DR is complex enough that you're going to be on training wheels for awhile. Believe me, you'll have your hands full with just the basics for the foreseeable future."
Molly slowly grinned. "Challenge accepted," she said. She held out her hand to Garrison to shake.
"Thanks, Mr. K, for giving me the chance."
"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for people to ask. The DR tends to intimidate people, so I don't get a lot of people asking me or Scott to look under the hood. It really is pretty remarkable." Kane shook his head. "Oh, word to the wise. Don't look at any of the logs for sessions after midnight or so."
The look Molly gave Garrison was like smelling curdled milk. "Ew," she said with a laugh. When he didn't shake her hand she shrugged and put it down.
"I like tinkering with machines. I'm working on an engineering degree at ESU. Minor in robotics, and whatever classes look cool," she said with a smile.
"For that end, you need to talk to the tech team. I just work on the design/programming side."
"Training wheels, right?" Molly said.
"Gotta crawl before I sprint."
"And sprint before you fall off the edge of a mountain." He gave her a look. "It's a common programming mistake here. Swear to god."
Molly squinted with intrigue. "Okay, I want gory details. Spill."
