Curtis Shane Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Professor Fallon rounded into the laboratory, with a sudden pause as he observed the bespectacled blond youth attaching pads with wires running into a boxy device that he hadn't exactly seen before. "What are you doing, Curtis?" The teen super-genius looked up to see the science teacher and his mentor with an anticipatory smile. "Professor! You know I've been trying to study the basis for how my cyberkinetic abilities function?" The professor couldn't help but allow a sly quirk in response, this being the lab used for much of his and Curtis' work, and as such was festooned with various scientific machines and advanced computer programs. "Considering how you've monopolized the MRI and other sensors, of course. Is this a new sensor of yours being applied to the quest?" "No," Curtis, generally cheery when absorbed in his geeky, scientific, advanced, worldshaking, awesome work, sat down in a chair. "I've already figured it out roughly. It's a latent capacity to sense and interact with electromagnetic waves. Extremely low level, in the brain... and with the neural stimulator, I'm going to see about amplifying its capacities." George Fallon immediately remembered once again that Curtis was a teen, and in particular was intellectually self-assured to where the risks of experimenting so directly on one's self might be ignored. Until it was too late. "Curtis-" Too late, Curtis mentally sent a command for the stimulator to begin. Almost immediately, he felt a warm feeling in his head, but then it jerked into a sudden sharp wrenching pain that made him cry out... and a visible crackling jolt of electricity blasted into the neural stimulator. Professor Fallon had already moved and yanked the wires away... Curtis shuddered, and then looked at the ruined neural stimulator, then at Fallon's highly worried yet somewhat angry face. "Uh.... called it?" --------- Dragged off sternly to the nurse, given a few tests and examinations, and banned from the lab for a bit, worst of all! Curtis would say that it had been worth it. Except getting banned from the lab. All his work was going to be thrown totally off schedule! In the meantime, he'd been directed to practice his powers, in a place where no one would be at risk for now. This barn qualified... but Curtis couldn't get it. He focused trying to recapture that moment of power, but with all the gritting of teeth, he couldn't get more than a few sparks that faded away. "This should be easy! Like calculus." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 "Baby, I'm down by the barn." Warren casually strolled along the shoreline, the cell phone Oneca bought for him was against his ear. He scooped up a stone and with a jerk of the wrist it was skipping across the icy waters edge. It was still winter, but the weather had been just above freezing enough that most the snow had melted into the ground and mud was everywhere. The iced over lake had melted with just enough remaining along the shore line and if one looked there was still random heaps of snow all over the place still clinging for their freedom to exist in a climate no longer suited for it. Spring would be here soon. "It's cool, really." He smiled as he spoke to her and counted the rings in the water. "We can meet up when your done. Do what you gotta do, I'm not going anywhere." He taped the screen and continued to walk, scooping up another stone and tossing it along the waters' surface. It had a deep purple tail of energy that followed it before it skipped once, twice, three times and exploded with enough force to send water up in a ten foot geyser. Warren made it look so easy. most kids had been here since the Academy was founded and had no better grasp on their powers then they day they arrived, others still were getting the hang of their abilities but still lacked the control. Not Warren. He seemed to take to his abilities like they were natural, or practiced long before he arrived at the school, a trait that had been earning him some notoriety as a mystery among his peers. "The hell you doin' here, Shane?" He asked the lone nerdy mutant. "I thought you dorks dissolve in sunlight and get all short of breath when you get nature in your lungs." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Shane Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Curtis, when considered on the power practice/comfort scale, rated very high actually, largely because his staggering intelligence was basically as much a natural part of him as his toenails, and his sole power before now, the cyberkinesis came quite naturally to him, probably as some chose to mock, he was already a tech geek maniac. The electrical powers though, it was clearly not the same thing, and Curtis wasn't sure how he was supposed to get these to- "The hell you doin' here, Shane?" He asked the lone nerdy mutant. "I thought you dorks dissolve in sunlight and get all short of breath when you get nature in your lungs." Curtis snapped around, to see Warren looking at him. "For the record, Drumm made me start the first semester with the track team. Not that that was a smashing success," he truthfully and self-consciously added. "I... developed electrical powers." Technically true, albeit shading the circumstances. Curtis did not want to open himself up to a mad scientist joke or three. "And I'm practicing them- with not much success." To prove the point, Curtis lifted his hand and tried to focus again, face screwed up in concentration. All that emerged with a few sparks and snaps. "It doesn't make sense, the cyberkinetic powers came so naturally." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 "New powers are tricky." Warren said casually. As always he didn't seem to impressed with any new news nor did he seem like he didn't care. "When did you figure out you could do that?" Curtis was still carefully trying to create any sort of effect. "See, I created a neural stim-" Warren gave him 'that glare'. "I really don't care." "Right." Curtis cleared his throat and continued on. "Point being, that ever since this morning I've been releasing an above average number electrostatic discharges. Discharges, might I add, that I've exerted some control over. Currently I'm merely trying extrapolate the logic that if I can exert some minor control over the discharge that it must be some new form electrokinetic control." This is why Warren liked being out of the Facility and in the Academy. At the Facility, when a mutant displayed any sort of new ability, he'd be called in to imprint them and learn what there new power was and what it could do. It was his niche': learning what others could do and exploiting their weaknesses. A few images of those cold, white rooms flooded his thoughts as conjured memories of the faces and names of the innocent mutants that trembled at his touch as he robbed them of their identity and became a twisted, mocking reflection of who they were. With a dee breath he banished the thoughts and remembrance of the times he honestly enjoyed it. Power could be one hell of a drug. "Look, uh," He stumbled on the words as his thoughts were divided. Socializing for Warren was not that different than it was for Curtis, unless the subject matter interested him greatly, or he was comfortable around the person, being friendly wasn't easy for him. "Don't rush it. New powers develop over time, it's like learning to walk again all over. Soon enough it;ll go from applied skill to instinct. It always does." Easy for him to say. His 'instict' was stealing powers and 'applying' them. The rest of the world had to do it the hard way: learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Shane Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 "Easy to say," Curtis commented, shaking his head. "Sounds like a platitude, I swear." Suddenly, he fixed Warren with an intense, scrutinizing gaze. "You imply that you've developed new powers with some regularity. I might as well ask, what kind of method did you use to practice applying them?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 "No," Warren corrected him. This was usually the part where the two of them got into a fight and the he punched Curtis in the stomach or something out of frustration. Admittedly, he considered it as an option, hell, violence was always an option with Warren. "I implied that if you're patient, your power will develop. Jesus Curtis, you're the most impatient fucking person I've ever met." Truth be told it was a valid question though, so Warren reached down and scooped up a stone. "Alright, you understand the basic theories behind elctrostatic, right?" Curtis crossed his arms, slouched his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow, adopting an 'are you being serious' posture. "Right, sorry I asked." With a roll of his eyes the teen mutant focused on the rock and before long the stone shimmered and sparked to life with a tell tale purplish anima. "Glad you do, because I know shit about the topic. I do know about kinetics though. I read abotu it once I developed this ability to here. I know how it works, I know that I need to hold an object, not just touch it, so I can't activate it through, say, a punch. It's too fast, there's not enough time to establish a resonance with the matter. So? How does electricity work? Flicking your hand back and forth is something I'm sure you're doomed to for the rest of your life," Since he was trying to help him, Curits waved off the masturbation joke with a dissmissive 'up yours' smirk. "Have you considerd maybe that since you have a high 'charge' in your body that you might have to conduct it through something?" Warren shrugged. "Shit dude, I dunno, try stuff out. Stick your hand in the water, see what happens." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Shane Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Curtis shrugged and considered Warren's words. Though one barb had to be answered... "For the record, I'm very patient." Curtis saw a nearby old, somewhat rusting pipe running down by a wall. "Being a super-genius is a completely innate capacity of mine, flexing it is as reflexive as you counting to ten. Cyberkinesis came nearly as easy, probably because it's not too far a leap from writing assembly line code to mentally commanding a computer." "You're glazing my eyes over, Tchaikovsky." Warren snorted, crossing his arms. "Really having to figure out powers is a new thing, Your Majesty Bullington the Uneducated." Curtis fired with a sarcastic tone with the title he gave Warren. "I'm not a composer or musically inclined." He placed a hand on the dirty, old pipe, and stared at the metal. Copper, definitely a conductor... this could work... Curtis brought up the stored information about charge, and focused in internally as a mantra: The charge transferred between times and is obtained by integrating both sides: where is the net outward current through a closed surface and is the electric charge contained within the volume defined by the surface. I am sending Q into this pipe. Ti is NOW - And sparks of electricity arose, surrounding his left hand and he could feel the sensation of it being conducted by the pipe.... the rust was being smoked off a bit, and then Curtis withdrew his hand. "There we go." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 "See?" Warren rolled the flat rock through his fingers, a daring move considering that if he dropped it, both he and Curtis could be in traction for months. "For our kind, knowledge is power. I admit, I have a bit of an advantage since knowledge of a power is granted when I steal it, and I think that's why I have these sort of insights. We just sorta have to understand ourselves, I've learned to understand myself, by stealing the understanding of others." The rumors of Warren power thieving becoming a bit of a horror story around the campus. Others doubted he could do it, while others still thought that once he had them... he didn't have to give them back. Truth be told, only Oneca had witnessed his ability to copy mutant abilities, but he didn't seem shy about talking about it. "C-could, you not do that please?" The genius motioned to how Warren kept tossing the stone end end on his knuckles. Warren laughed slightly, pretending to almost drop it which made Curtis flinch a bit. "Relax, I barely charged it. Sometimes the amount of energy is related to the size of the object, sometimes not. Stone is one of the weird ones though, these puppies can hold a lot of energy." "How much?" Curtis asked, his natural curiosity piqued. "On average." "That's just it, there's no average. A pebble can be a satchel charge but another pebble, equal size, might just go off like a cherry bomb." He tossed the flat stone over the water's surface and it skipped once, twice, thrice, and then detonated with enough kinetic force to punch a basketball sized hole ten feet downward, once the water filled the gap it thundered upward into a geyser several feet into the air. The whole time the water sparkled and shimmered with trace energy signatures, purple motes danced about the water's surface then dissipated. "That never gets old. You're up, c'mon, get those electric hands of your going, let's see what you got." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Shane Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Curtis took a breath, impressed a little bit by the show, following the rise and fall of the water. "Alright..." Curtis paused, trying to use the mantra and focus again, and his right hand was surrounded by an equally visible and audible nimbus of electrical energy. It felt easier though, as if he didn't have to envision the equation so strongly in his mind. That seemed promising, at least from Curtis' perspective. Time to project then. He raised his hands, and focused through to concentrate, flexing his equations and scientific visualizations as an afterthought.... ...And nothing. "C'mon..." Warren said impatiently, waiting and not yet recognizing that Curtis had run up against a silent, invisible, but impervious wall. Curtis scowled, frustrated and intent on hoping to show off a little... His gaze turned to the wood of the barn. Innately non-conductive, but, he observed... moist... Curtis hoped at least he could get some sort of light show out of this. He turned and made for the wall, raising his right hand, and giving it a sudden, rough choppy blow. It stung his knuckles, but small streams of electricity coruscated across the damp parts of the wall, filling much of it with a sudden, swift, flame-like glow, before the energy flicked and died out, leaving a hint of smoke behind. Curtis turned and regarded Warren levelly. "That pass inspection?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z020 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Oneca ghost in behind the two boys, arching a brow at the odd site. She landed on the ground with a crunch of snow and crossed her arms. "Y'know, I'm not opposed to the idea of a threesome, Rev, but him?" She strode towards her boyfriend, all sultry smolder and teasing teen. "And if this isn't about making out, you owe me. It's freezing out here and I expect to be kept warm." Dressed in her usual corset, skin-tight pants, and flowing cloak, she hardly looked cold, but neither of the boys were about to contradict the tempestuous younger Bahaar sister. She pulled Warren into a less-than-platonic hug, pulling him down into a show-off kiss. Once they both finally had to surface for a breath, she glanced at Curtis as if just really noticing him for the first time. "Hey there, Sparky. Tryin' to set the barn on fire?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Verona Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 "He's tryin'." Warren smirked. He never let her go, keeping his arm tucked under hers and wrapped about her waist. "Sorry baby, I didn't know he'd be out here, but Tchaikovsky here learned he could generate electrical current, so we're fuckin' around with it. Besides, with a punch like that, you'll break your damn fist before you ever light up anything." ,, Laughing to himself, he let his arm slide off of Oneca, something that took effort when he was close to her. "Where'd you learn to throw a punch, Squint?" Warren approached him and looked to the barn. "Seriously, you hit like a girl." ,, Oneca cleared her throat, leaned all her weight on one leg and crossed her arms, hefting up that cleavage of hers in a way that took Warren's mind to bad places. ,, "I said girl," He smiled and looked a her. "Not woman." ,, "Nice save." She mused still giving him grief with a well grin and raise of her brow. ,, "Come here, Squint, if you're going to throw a punch do it right." He took his own brawling stance and displayed for Curtis how he should throw an appropriate punch taking note to explain shoulders, extension of the arm, and how to protect exposed areas. "It's no wonder you got your ass shot, ain't you ever been in a fight before?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Shane Posted February 5, 2013 Author Share Posted February 5, 2013 "One, up until the rescue mission, no." Curtis said flatly, seeing as he'd never been the type truly intent on physical confrontations. "And for the record, I was struck in the shoulder by a rubber bullet," thus demonstrating another failure to grasp the figurative in comments. "It was a lucky shot." This made Oneca and Warren stare at him, and Curtis scowled back (which he seemed to do a great deal), and clarify: "I did the practical thing and dove behind cover as quickly as possible. It was a lucky shot." ,, Regardless, he tried to take up a stance based on what he'd seen of Warren's example, but facing the wall, and Warren tried not to sigh, the squint's form was terrible. Unfortunately, Curtis seemed to not realize this, as his hands lit up against with electrical current. ,, "Tchaikovsky-" ,, "What?" Curtis asked, in a more sarcastic tone than he intended, but something not quite under his conscious control tensed.... ,, It was not Benjaman Franklin's kite night lightning bolt, but the timing and sudden appearance of the blue-white electrical blast emanating from Curtis' hand to the roof combined with the crackling boom made up the difference for impact. Everyone nearly jumped, and a light shower of blasted wood and sawdust started to slowly come down on the three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z020 Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Oneca gave a jaded slow clap. "If you burn the barn down, you're making us a new make-out spot, Sparky." ,, She leaned back and watched her boyfriend work, a small grin gracing her lips as she thought over the same sort of lesson she and Warren had. If this one ended with him and Curtis making out, she was going to be a bit weirded out. And take pictures for blackmail. ,, She studied the scorch mark for a moment, then asked, "So, can you do anything other than blast shit with it? I mean, that's fine, I guess, but it'd be way more useful if you could charge your cellphone with it - without blowing it up." Her words were shallow, but Warren knew that look. She really was thinking about other applications of the power, about to harness electricity itself and make it more than just a Fourth of July special effect. Curtis would probably do it a bajilion times faster than her, but she'd never claimed to be the A student. ,, She had found some innovative uses for her ability to fly, though..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.