12562/Nothing Floppy About These Discs

Nothing Floppy About These Discs
Date of Scene:	16 December 2020
Location:	Jeremy's Room (West Halls), Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Close calls! High drama! Floppy discs!
Cast of Characters:	Wolverine, SpyderByte, Phoenix

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Wolverine has posed:
The X-Mansion is usually quiet this time of year. With students home for the Holidays, and Logan usually off in the Canadian Rockies avoiding any students that didn't leave for the Holidays... it's a great time for the rest of the staff to enjoy a nice cup of cocoa and enjoy the silence.

But this year, Logan stayed put, and some of the students got into a fight with Magneto. Holiday Cheer is cancelled until further notice.

Carrying a large cardboard box that's packed to overflowing with what appears to be junk, Logan makes his way down the hall of the dormitory. The box is packed so full that the line of junk is actually above his head, and jostles with every step while he tries to hold the box together with both hands.

Fortunately, he can get around pretty well without seeing, so he only bangs into doorknobs and accent tables every once in a while, each time exclaiming "DAMMIT!" loud enough to wake up whoever is trying to sleep in late.

Eventually, he gets to the door that he wanted, and with a bit of finesse, manages to hold the box and operate the doorknob. When he pushes the door to Jeremy's room in suddenly, coming in back first and turning around awkwardly, the Overburdened Canadian drops the box just inside the room and finally announces his presence.

"Knock knock, kid! I brung ya a present!"

SpyderByte has posed:
It's a good thing that Jeremy doesn't just randomly walk around his room naked. This would be a horrifying moment. Then again, having Logan just burst into your room is scary in itself. It's one of those moments where you hope he doesn't have the claws out and you didn't do anything dumb to get in trouble earlier in the day. If they send the Wolverine in to drag you back for detention, you most likely screwed up big time.

The youngest 'member' of X-Force and the resident techno-goth is currently hunched over his computer at his desk. The thick blackout curtains are shut and the lights are turned off. It's also really warm in here. Probably from the amount of technology he has crammed into the dorm room. He has four monitors mounted on the wall with a bright and colorful LED based desktop humming away with loud fans under his desk. The keyboard itself has green glowing keys to match the mouse. There is a visible jerk of his body upwards in alarm as he looks over at Logan, then glances at the box.

He squints his eyes from behind his thin glasses, then pushes himself upwards to his feet. As usual, he is dressed in black, though no chains on today. It's just a long sleeved black Ministry shirt with black jeans with numerous slashes through the legs to reveal patchwork underneath. He looks from the box, back to Logan, then back to the box as he approaches to peek inside.

"H-Hello Mmmuh-Mmm.. ssster Loooog-g-gan."

Phoenix has posed:
Since the meeting in the medbay, Jean's been quiet. A bit too quiet, which probably didn't bode well for anyone or anything that was occupying her thoughts. She must have been lurking nearby, because she's trailing Logan as he loudly carries a robust amount of crap to the student's wing. Since it was a place he generally avoided with great prejudice, that probably meant something was afoot. So nosiness prevails.

About half a minute past Jeremy realizing he's not (probably) in trouble, the redheaded woman appears to lean in the doorframe and look between the two. "Gentlemen." She says by way of greeting, with that subtle emphasis that conveys that sort of 'so, getting into trouble, are we' kind of impression. She's dressed comfortably, jeans and a lightweight smoky blue sweater-shirt. "Jeremy, how're you feeling? Back at it, I see."

Wolverine has posed:
It's not easy to sneak up on Logan, and sure enough, he doesn't sound surprised to hear the feminine voice coming from the doorway. So maybe he isn't up to anything too terrible this time? Maybe it's a Christmas Miracle after all?

"Well, I say 'present', but it's more like a favor."

The junk the box is filled with looks like old computer parts. Really old computer parts. Some of them look like they were ripped apart, while others have the distinct clean edges of an Adamantium claw.

Then there are some tape reels, and the remainders of a floppy drive. Along with about a hundred floppy discs.

Logan puts each of his hands on one side of his back, and leans backward as if trying to work out a cramp. There's a very loud pop, along with the sound of metal knocking against metal inside a sheathe of flesh.

"My uh... computer got broke. I figured what with you bein'... doin' all this recuperatin'... you might as well do somethin' while you're doin' nothin'."

Probably best not to ask about the bloody handprints on the busted cathode ray tube monitor.

SpyderByte has posed:
There is another round of slow blinks from Jeremy as he stares at the box of broken parts. He rubs the back of his neck, then glances upwards at Jean to offer her a weak smile. He gives a silent nod of his head, then tips the box over to the side gently so that he can rustle through it.

He finds what he is looking for in the form of a SATA hard drive. He turns it around in his hands and then heads over to his closet. Sliding out a plastic bin, he pops the top off and roots around.

It takes him about thirty seconds to find what appears to be a sled like device, followed by a long cable that he attaches to the back of it. He slips the hard drive into it, then heads over to his computer as he places it down next to his keyboard. He leans in and plugs the sled into his computer, then navigates his mouse over to his directory.

Launching the hard drive, he scrolls through the items for a moment, squints at a particular folder, then looks back at Logan. Slooooowly he looks at Jean, then looks back to Logan, then loooooks back at Jean. He clears his throat and clicks the window off. He is not going to snoop in that one.

He reaches up to rub at the side of his head for a moment, wincing as a jolt of pain pokes him between the eyes.

"I-I-I c-c-caaaan ffff-ffffff..." He lets out a loud sigh. "FIX IT." The words come out loud, almost as if he was yelling them after his 'tick.'

Phoenix has posed:
It's a bland, long suffering look on Jean's face as she looks back at Jeremy's shifting expression and then slowly turns green eyes towards Logan. Then it's back to Jeremy as she speaks.

"Since it's the property of a staff member, if there's parts that you need to order then just toss me the order list and I'll expense it. Thing'll need to hook into our cloud backup in case of, mm... 'non-warrantied damages', but I know that you have access to all of that. Even if you were never given the passwords." There's a brief flicker of a smile on her face as she says that.

"Anyway, I can leave you two be. I was just seeing what was going on. Need me to bring you up anything, Jeremy?"

Wolverine has posed:
Looking back over his shoulder, Logan gives Jean his best attempt at a genuinely hurt look. It's almost convincing, but there's a reason that Logan isn't the school's drama teacher.

Xavier's has a drama teacher, right? If they don't, Rogue is probably unemployed again.

"Seen enough already? You hear that Jeremy? She thought you was up to somethin' fishy."

The files within the hard drive have a lot of references to 'weapons' and a whole lot of uses of the Roman numeral ten. There are virtually no images at all, just lots and lots of text and some crude 80's style computer charts. Many of the files have been scrubbed, however, leaving nothing behind except for the file name.

There's also a playable early version of Minesweeper.

"I'll take a beer, if yer offerin'. Helps me pay attention when there's talk of computer stuff."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< His password is .. password. >>

The speaker set up near the bed sounds off in the digital voice of 'Siri'.

Another speaker near the desk chimes in as well.

<< In fact, most of the staff members have default passwords. >>

Unplugging the hard drive from the sled, Jeremy puts it to the side, then launches his email open and begins to create an 'invoice' for Jean. He is meticulous in his line items.

*Intel i12 Processor 8800K
*32GB 3600MHZ RAM
*ASUS ROG Goliath Motherboard item number 5264-A
*1000 Watt Power Supply
*SteelSeries Carbon Fiber reinforced case with bulletshield glass siding.

He hits send, then swivels around in his seat to face them. Offering up a sheepish smile, he blows some black hair away from his face. He taps his fingers a few times together, then lifts his shoulders upwards a bit.

<< I have a location of DAMT's research facility. Federal government sponsored secret department. Doctor Brightman is not involved. They took his research and they are weaponizing it. >>

Phoenix has posed:
"Oh splendid." Jean mutters tiredly. "Another topic to add to the next staff meeting."

She looks like she might be about indulge Logan's request for a beer, but Jeremy brings up the DAMT and her expressions darken. She reaches behind her then to close the door as she steps properly into the overheated room. "Someone always would have. It's always how stories like this play out. So the /government/ is involved? Ours, others, or a combination? And directly, or under their noses? This wouldn't be the first time the government fails to take note to leaking finances. Do they just have the one facility or are there more out there?"

Wolverine has posed:
For a moment, it looks like one of Logan's greatest desires is about to come true, only for the dream to evaporate as the resident hacker actually finds something of use. Way ahead of schedule.

It's okay, he'll get a beer later. Even if he has to hand it to himself.

"Hang on a sec... does that mean it won't do any good to go ahead and kill Doctor Brightman? 'Cause I was sure that would fix the problem."

Where the rest of the X-Men are playing chess, Logan is off on his own playing Whack-A-Mole. Figuratively, usually.

"Don't know about you two, but I think I'm gonna move to Genosha. I heard they just got a new brewery there has NINETEEN different types a beer, and no shady government creeps tryin' ta decimate the mutant population."

"High taxes, though."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Our government had a hand in financing a project, which in turn branched off into it's own entity. The research that Doctor Brightman was overseeing was in regards to finding an actual cure to help mutants with obvious problematic mutations. Our government is no longer involved, as in they are no longer funding it. DAMT is it's own secret agency buried deep. A large batch of the drug was sold to them, then they went quiet. I found a few files linking to their research facilities and I was able to track down their location. I don't have much else at the moment. Most of my data gathering was based upon Brightman's and McCoy's research. >>

Shaking his head, Jeremy slumps bakc into his seat a bit as he drums his fingers along the keyboard to pull up a number of documents that he attaches to an encrypted file to shoot to Jean via email. It has an insanely long password to go along with it.

<< I don't think killing him would fix anything. He is just one man. DAMT is one of many agencies around the world that is trying to solve the mutant, or super person problem. They are just the ones who have the most intelligence that is credible at the moment. >>

Blowing his hair away from his face again, he swivels the chair around to face the pair of them, wrapping his arms around himself in a bit of a hug. He turtles up a bit in the chair as he stares at his bare feet, toes wiggling.

<< Magneto wants information as well. I promised him I would send him some if he did not kill anyone at the facility he attacked. >>

He scuffs his foot against the ground. << I haven't sent it yet. He did steal my laptop after all... even if it's empty. >>

Phoenix has posed:
"Jer, while I appreciate everything that you're doing to help, please stay far away from him." Jean cautions the young technopath. "He's a very charismatic man, and many times he seems like he means well, like he's doing the right thing. But never forget that the second you aren't useful or may be a threat, his charm ends. He wouldn't hesitate to kill you if he thought you were a risk to him. It's why we don't work with him even when our goals are mostly in alignment. The X-Men aren't perfect, far from it, but those lines don't exist to him. He wants mutants to survive and thrive, but only in as much as he's at the front of the line. So cut off communication with him. He he does reach out to you, tell us."

She turns a brief, searching look towards Logan before looking back to Jeremy. "The X-Men should be able to take it from here. Try and rest, alright? This is getting too dangerous, and I want to make sure you don't get pulled any deeper into this right now. Especially with anything that may draw them here. We're likely on their radar now, so we need to work as quietly as we can at this point."

Wolverine has posed:
"Yeah, that guy's a dick."

Always able to turn a complicated idea into a very short sentence, Logan glosses over all the many layers of nuance in the complicated dance between the X-Men and the Brotherhood. He's not wrong, necessarily, but if the gifted youngster wants a bit more illumination, he'll have to get it from someone a bit more enlightened.

"What Jean said. You've already put in a lot of hours on this whole situation, and it ain't good for ya."

Logan has pretty strict ideas about what is 'good for' someone Jeremy's age.

"You get yourself healed up, and we'll get you outside. We'll get us some motorcycles, and go cruisin' for..."

A quick glance at Jean is all it takes to transform Logan's train of thought mid-sentence.

"... some good discounts on... computer parts."

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I have put more time into other projects in the past. This isn't even the worst thing I've seen in my life. >>

Jeremy adjusts his glasses over his nose a few times, then slides his computer chair over to the drawer so that he can reach in to find a pair of socks, then tugs them on.

<< I won't send Magneto anything, but once he figures out there is nothing on the computer, he is going to want to find me, or at least what I took from them. >>

The idea of crusing for computer parts on a motorocyle causes him to squint his eyes for a moment, followed by a small giggle.

<< Okay. Sure. I know of a few places that we can get black market parts for very cheap. >>

Phoenix has posed:
"And if he comes threatening my students, he'll find out that his helmet doesn't protect against everything." Jean says with a concerning degree of calmness. "As it is, I already owe him a talk." She probably owes Logan a talk right then too, but there's only so many hours in the day.

"I'm serious though, Jeremy. Time to go hands off. I know you've seen horrible things, but right now I want you to focus on healing and resting and keeping a low profile. The plate's getting full on what all we need to monitor and protect, and I don't need anyone coming after you specifically and adding on to that."

Wolverine has posed:
It's true, Logan is probably owed a thorough talking-to, but fortunately for him he's further down the list than Magneto. It's as safe a place to be as any, if you're trying to avoid a dose of Phoenix-fueled righteous anger. But Logan was framed for whatever he did, honest.

"Don't worry, Jeannie. The kid is gonna stay right here in his room and behave. Ain't that right?"

Turning around, Logan starts walking toward the door. He pauses just long enough to put a hand on the redhead's shoulder before moving on.

"And stay away from Porntube, it's fulla viruses."

"XXXcelsior is alright though..."

And off he goes, leaving his box of junk behind, probably in search of beer, or revenge.

SpyderByte has posed:
Blinking his eyes slowly, Jeremy stares at Logan widely over his glasses.

<< I don't watch porn! I don't think like that about anything! >>

He slumps down into his seat, looking embarrassed as he glances over to Jean for a moment before he lets out along sigh. He works his hands together for a moment, then disconnects from the network as his eyes give a rapid flicker.

"Okay." He breathes out the word, then pushes himself out of his bucket seat and ambles over to his bed, flopping down upon it.

"I-I-I will jussssst sssstaaaay here."