11792/I Always Feel like - Somebody's Watching me!

I Always Feel like - Somebody's Watching me!
Date of Scene:	18 July 2020
Location:	Study Hall / Computer Lab, Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Hank comes to Jeremy for more answers in regards to Betsy's current situation.
Cast of Characters:	SpyderByte, Beast, Nightingale, Cannonball

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SpyderByte has posed:
The lights in the computer lab is turned off, save for the ghostly glow of a dozen screens lit up. In the middle of the room is Jeremy Statton, otherwise known as Spyder Byte. The young Cyber-Goth is currently hunched over his sleek black laptop with the glowing green keyboard. His rail thin and lanky frame is buried in his oversized black hoodie, baggy black jeans and a dog collar around his throat with a tag that says: Fido, on it.

The sounds of rapid clicking is heard as his fingers blur along the keyboard. As he does, each of the screens in the room has a number of windows leaping and switching. Some have camera angles positioned, some have lines of code. Wearing a pair of large headphones over his head, the young cyberpath is tuned out and in the zone as in his mind's-eye, the room is swimming in data.

At times, he'll move his hand in the air, swiping to the left or right, as if he was shifting someting in mid-air, such as a window or a command.

Beast has posed:
Hank is dressed casually today. Blue Hawaiian shirt with red flowers on it, khaki cargo shorts, socks and sandals. Good, old fashioned summer attire. Still, the teacher is on a mission and that involves venturing out of his own lab and into the computer lab. When he enters he finds his quarry, as well as a lot of things happening on the computer screens. Glancing from one screen to the next the furry scientist will eventually make his way towards the student, hoping to get his attention without disturbing him very much.

Just in case, Doctor McCoy pulls his cell phone from his pocket and types on it, "Hello Jeremy." Very conscientious about not startling the youth.

Nightingale has posed:
     If there was one place to find Jeremy, it would be in the computer lab. And, knowing him, he was likely knee-deep in something, forgetting to eat. It seemed to be a problem that plagued some of the more dedicated residents of the mansion. As she was just going to work on a little music anyways, Shannon brings a double dose of her homemade mac 'n cheese with her, in two containers, and two forks. One is set down quietly by Jeremy, and she takes the other with her out of the way, where she can observe but not disturb his work.

     She perches at a desk nearby, setting down her laptop bag and her edible goodies. She's dressed in her black leggings, long black t-shirt with a huge hot pink sequin heart on the front, and a pair of simple black flip-flops. One more signal might be perceived joining the rest floating about in the room, but it seemed content to concern itself with notes and their myriad arrangements, in search of simple beauty. A nod and a smile is offered to Mr. McCoy, but she disturbs neither one for the moment.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is walking through the mansion checking on folks. He has found himself coming to the computer lab, and will step inside. Seeing a few people there he will nod in greeting but keeps silent seeing whats going on.

SpyderByte has posed:
If the computer room was a symphony, Jeremy would be it's conductor. He moves his hands and fingers through the air at times, yanking data over into his laptop, while managing the other screens. His thin glasses reflect the screen's glow with the multiple windows flickering in reflection. As his phone vibes, he gives a glance over towards it with a shift of his eyes, then leans back in the chair as everything goes black with a staticy hum in the air.

He takes a moment to compose himself, reaching beneath his glasses to rub at his eyes. Sniff. Mac and Cheese? His stomach rumbles instantly as he looks over to the three. "H-Hello. W-What c-c-can I d-do fff...ffor you?"

Beast has posed:
With a soft smile Hank waves to Shannon and takes a seat near where Jeremy's stationed himself, leaning back in his chosen chair. When Sam greets him Beast returns it with a nod of his own, remaining quiet himself.

Then Jeremy speaks and McCoy can do the same, "I wanted to speak to you about about Ms Braddock when you've got some time. Right now, however, how are you? Have you been enjoying your summer?"

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just shakes her head and smiles. "Just glad for the company," the winged healer replies, as she settles in to partaking of her own container of ooey, gooey golden goodness. Her little MIDI keyboard, with its piano-like keys and setup, is on the desk next to her, the laptop in front of her, and she's just slipping a pair of headphones over her ears. She's waving to Sam, and about to greet him...

     ...but when she hears about Ms. Braddock, her brows furrow. "Mr. McCoy... if you're worried about me hearing something I shouldn't, I already know something's wrong with her eyes." She shrugs, ruffling her wings and nibbling on her mac 'n cheese.

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie waves to Shannon and hmms softly. He looks over to them a brow raised a bit, and he knows a bit about Psylocke so he continues his silent mode, and listens to see whats going on with this.

SpyderByte has posed:
Reaching for his phone, Jeremy slides it open and taps along the glass a few times. He connects it to a speaker where the British female's voice of Siri can be heard. It's easier for him to communicate this way instead of stuttering.

<< I have the time. I could use a break from my work. What did you want to know? >>

As the phone speaks in that soothing voice, Jeremy blinks a few times before he reaches for the container of Mac and Cheese, leaning over to bump Shannon gently in appreciation with his shoulder. He stabs his fork into it, taking a bite.

<< Hello Mister Guthrie. >> The voice chimes out again.

Beast has posed:
"You already know?" Hank asks Shannon. Then he shrugs his shoulders, "Well, as long as everyone in here knows to keep quiet about it."

Then he looks at Jeremy and asks, "What can you tell me about her eyes? It's important that I understand everything I can about the signal that's being sent anything about the software involved that you happened to gain access to. That way I'll be able to proceed in the safest possible manner for everyone involved."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods to Mr. McCoy. "Yes, sir. Found out the same day Miss Grey and Ms. Braddock did, when we first attempted to meet with Jeremy. Called her a 'slave to the signal', and mistook her for a Sentinel." She shrugs and smiles some, leaning over to very gently shoulder-bump Jeremy in acknowledgement.

     "Figured first off, that Miss Grey would have it well in hand. She's just that good. Second, if someone's monkeying around with Ms. Braddock, the last thing we'd want to do is tip our hand about knowing. Silence is golden. Third..." She sighs softly, running her fingers through her hair. "...as much as I want to help her, at this time there isn't much I can do. Especially not with a sensitive system like the eyes. But... I'm ready and willing when that time comes."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hmms and nods "Hello Jeremy." He will tell the other. His brow raises a bit to this and will move a bit closer, getting a seat where he can listen and see whats going on.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< It was not my proudest moment of paranoia. When Miss Braddock and Miss Grey first approached my home, I felt a new, different kind of signal almost immediately in the air. It was alien in nature, but quite pure in what it's goals were. When I saw her and saw where the signal was coming from, I immediately panicked. >>

Siri is so soothing and gentle, even when Jeremy emotes through her. He reaches up to brush his hand along the dog collar about his throat, giving it a scratch beneath the leather before he returns his hands to the keyboard. He gives a few taps along the keys, then pulls up a string of data. Thousands of lines of code.

<< I do not see the world like you do. All around us right now is signals. Ones and zeroes. The language of binary. It all speaks to me like a mother speaks to their child. I can read it. I can talk to it. We have full on conversations. This signal though, it spoke to me in a different language. Imagine living in Mexico and suddenly you were hearing Chinese for the first time in your life. It was like a needle in the back of my head. Painful and annoying. The first thing I did was I disconnected her from the signal. I lashed out in panic and I killed the switch. That was when I realized Miss Braddock's eyes were what I consider to be organic cybernetics. >>

He shifts the laptop over towards them, then hits the enter button as the code unlocks before them. << I have been able to convert the signal into a language, but I am not able to read it. It's alien. Not from this world, or even from this dimension I believe. >>

<< Her eyes look like normal eyes. In fact, if you were to inspect them, they would look like normal eyes. But, deep within the tissue and cellular landscape is the most tinest of microcomputers. Powerful enough to generate a signal. It records everything, both audio and video in a most beautiful resolution. >>

<< Miss Braddock asked me to try and track it and it nearly killed me. I pushed myself harder than I ever did to the point I started to bleed. It was probably the most pain I ever felt, but it was worth it. I was able to reverse the signal back to the creator and catch an image of whoever was watching us. >>

Tapping a button, a picture shows up, fuzzy and only barely clear. A huge yellow slug like creature with it's eyes pinned open and a gaping wide smile. Behind him was a woman with multiple arms covered in body armor.

Beast has posed:
"Thank you for what you did, Jeremy. That was very brave," Beast tells the student with a serious look on his face. Then he gets back into the meat of the situation, "This technology most assuredly does sound alien, but this..." He gestures towards the language on screen. "Is unlike anything I've come across. It'll be difficult to translate it, but hopefully it will be possible." He very tactfully does not mention the possibility of having to remove Betsy's eyes to replace them with cybernetics or cloned versions.

The image of the strange creatures is studied very carefully. "I have to wonder who these people are what they want with us."

Nightingale has posed:
     Though unspoken, that possibility now looms large in Shannon's mind. She glances down at her hands, flexing her fingers slowly and letting out a deep, heavy sigh. This was one instance her gifts would do no good, and her best chance to be of any help was to stick to Mr. McCoy like glue. "It worked out for the best though, Jeremy. If you hadn't picked up on it, who knows how long it might've been before it was discovered. And how much more damage might have been done. You did something good." She pauses, glancing between him and Mr. McCoy. "Please, though. If you haven't been checked out since cutting off that signal, it would set my mind at ease if you'd let someone make sure you're okay. Please?"

     As she looks at the image, her eyebrows loft, and she munches on her mac 'n cheese in silence for a few minutes. "Part of me wants to think that they just haven't figured out how to say 'We come in peace' to us yet. But my gut feeling is that they may not mean well in this case. Otherwise, why go to such trouble to hide their efforts to learn about us? And why here, at the school? Why Ms. Braddock? What could they hope to gain?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I am fine. Shannon. I just never pushed my powers in such a manner before. If anything, the moment was very helpful. I now know I have a ceiling. >>

Jeremy taps a few more times on the keyboard, then brushes his fingers along the mouse to try and clear the image up some more. He furrows his brows a bit, then shrugs his shoulders.

<< Miss Braddock says she has no clue how she received them. So, we do not know how long these have been monitoring not only her, but us. But, the assumption is that we have all been compromised. Our identities, location, our secret aliases, our missions. >>

He lets out a slow breath.

<< I have been able to .. ah .. convince the alien technology that is buried within the school's .. computers .. to help me in the attempt to translate. I am currently running a number of systemic operations. Hopefully I will have an answer. >>

He takes another bite of food, giving a lick of his lips.

Beast has posed:
Hank frowns, then shakes his head, "I can't imagine us not being identified by these people by now. We'll need to figure out what they're saying and what they want from us." He pauses for a few seconds while he thinks things through, "Let me return to my lab. Jeremy, I've got some more computing power available down there if that would be helpful in the translation attempt." He stands up from his chair and says, "Excuse me for not sticking around, but I'd like to take another look at this stuff with my equipment." Raising a hand he gives everyone a wave, "Take care, my friends."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon frowns deeply, glancing to Mr. McCoy, and to Sam. "Here's the big question. How much of this are we going to be able to keep in-house? I've only been here a year and let's be honest, whatever missions I've been on with the A-team have been pure luck or kindness. There's still plenty I don't know. How much experience do we have in dealing with interdimensional beings like this? And if need be, do we know who we can trust, /if/... and that's strictly /IF/ it comes down to it, to call for addtional input? Because I still want to think we can nail this thing ourselves." She pauses, her frown deepening. "Would we even /want/ to take a chance on additional help? Because if we're compromised, do we want to put others in that position?"

     Those were questions that were likely to remain unanswered--but highly likely to be ratcheting around inside her mind for quite some time to come. Somehow, she had a feeling she was going to be talking to Miss Grey. Either that, or simply keeping to herself more than usual.

     "God. I think after this I'm gonna go cook again," the winged teen mutters, waving to Mr. McCoy as he leaves. "So... now what do we do?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie frowns deeply. He will keep silent for a moment, and says "Forward that image to Scott, and Jean, so they can see who it is. Best to keep this on the quiet side of things for now." He tells them as he ponders a bit what he may know of other interdimensional beings.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Miss Grey already knows about it. She and I have had an extensive talk. She asked me to speak with Doctor McCoy. >>

Jeremy turns back to his computer and taps away at the keyboard, closing all the windows once more and then retyping in a long and complicated password to secure it.

<< Miss Braddock is living off campus now at her apartment in the city. She is mostly sticking to communicating with her telepathy now. But, as far as I know, she is the only one affected in the entire school. So we do not need to worry any of us are walking around transmitting. >>

<< Miss Grey plans on working with Miss Braddock on telepathically going into her mind and trying to see why the memory of this ordeal is locked, and hopefully find more answers. I suppose now we just patiently wait. >>

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon nods, and reaches over to hug Sam. Too, she very gingerly shoulder-bumps Jeremy. "We heard nothing, we know nothing. Anybody starts poking around, we let Miss Grey or Mr. Summers know." She pauses, and cants her head ever so slightly. For a moment, it seemed as if she might say something else, but this time, keeps her cards close.

     Just what aces has the healer-in-training got up her sleeve, anyways?