13301/The Mutant Farm: Got some questions for you, Lucas

The Mutant Farm: Got some questions for you, Lucas
Date of Scene:	16 May 2021
Location:	Library - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Lucas gives Jeremy some new information to pass on.
Cast of Characters:	SpyderByte, Lucas Farmer

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SpyderByte has posed:
Into the library Jeremy goes as the Goth walks with a jingle and jangle of chains hanging off his hips and legs. He looks tired and run down today. Sliding off his backpack, he unlocks the padlock and opens it up with the zipper. Sliding out a sleek laptop, he opens it up in front of him, then gives a motion of his hand as the screen lights up, solid green with white text. He blinks twice as the password logs the machine in, then settles down in front of it with a thump.

With a yawn, he reaches into a side pocket to take out a large energy drink and cracks it open with a hiss, then takes a sip. He gives a lazy glance to the screen from behind his thin glasses as two windows launch, one of which appears to be a overhead satellite view, and the other is several images of streets in New York City.

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Contrary to everyone's beliefs, not only grand-mas have a hard time with computers: anyone who never used a computer is faced with the same incertitudes, worries and.. scares to break it. This is the case for Lucas, and - despite being reasured that he /cannot/ break it - the young mutant seems a bit wary as strange beeping sounds come out of the computer as he hits a couple keys.

Of course, Lucas woud sit at the back of the Library, trying to be as invisible as possible. The denizens of this school still felt strange to him. But a few of them - like Jeremy - had found a way to make it feel better. Coincidently, said Goth just walked in the Library, the sound of chains always alerting Lucas, for some reason.

Leaving the computer to compute things he has no clue about, Lucas stands and walks over to Jeremy, his pace silent like a prey trying to avoid being heard.

"Hi Jeremy," comes his calm and low voice.

SpyderByte has posed:
Glancing upwards from the laptop, Jeremy's eyes settle on Lucas's from across the way. He looks exhausted, possibly from crying as he slips his glasses off. He offers up a quick smile to the new boy, one that is forced and strained. He puts his glasses to the side and rises upwards a bit, knuckling at his eyes.

<< Hey, Lucas. >>

The voice from his phone chirps at his shoulder. As usual, it's modulated to sound soft and friendly. By now, his hair is hanging at his shoulders, long and black colored with dark brown roots.

<< You doing okay? >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
As he closes the distance between them, a frown appears on Lucas' usually inexpressive face. Kids not doing well, the new guy at the school knows about it, having seen them a lot where he comes from. There could be many reasons for a kid to look unwell, and most of them aren't good reasons in his book.

"I am fine," he says, with the same low voice. "But you look bad, Jeremy." He then glances around, as if to make sure no one was around or hearing them, as he asks, almost whispering, "Were you beaten?"

SpyderByte has posed:
Squinting his eyes at him, Jeremy gives a shake of his head.
<< No, of course not. No one here hurts each other. It's just that there was an accident in the city and Rosie hurt someone really bad with her powers. A local. She ran away, scared. We can't find her yet. She's lost in the woods somewhere in Salem and she doesn't have her phone. I can't find her. >>

The young Goth eases down into his seat again as he brushes his fingers along the top of his computer.

<< Satellites are slow to update their imagery and I have to be careful so not to be caught. She left a trail of destruction though. >>

He lets out a loud sigh as he rubs at his face again, giving a sniff.

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Jeremy's answer is both reassuring and reinforcing what he was told about the school, that no one hurts anyone. In the other hand, hearing about Rosie is slightly upsetting. This is the first he's heard of an incident involving Rosie, the other student that came to him the other day with presents. Curious, and unaware of computer etiquette, Lucas moves to stand behind Jeremy, to look at the windows that Jeremy opened on his laptop.

"She is lost, we can go look for her? If she left traces behind her, she should be easy to find." Yes, isn't it that simple? "Or use dogs. They used dogs where I come from, to track... people." For some reason, he's not mentioning the Farm directly.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< We have better than dogs. We have Logan, Dr McCoy, Miss Grey. Those with powers to track easier. I am just trying to do some pre-emptive work to give them some type of direction. I don't know. I just feel useless. >>

Jeremy says as he leans back into the chair, rubbing at his face a few times with his knuckles. On the screen is a slowly refresing website of a camera feed. There is the woods with several trees knocked over.

<< Gray was trying to track her but she outflew him, so he came back empty handed. He's upset also. I don't know how to make him feel better. I'm not good at dealing with humans, just machines. >>

As his fingers slide along the keys again, he taps a few more times on it with a sigh.

<< Hey, can I ask you some questions about the Farm? >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
And Lucas isn't the most useful either when it comes to comforting others or even dealing with humans. All he can offer is a simple, "I'm sure they'll find her, and she will come back. I wish I could help her."

That said, still standing behind Jeremy, Lucas nods, his eyes riveted on the screen, mesmerized by the satellite image appearing on it.

"I do not know much about the Farm" he says, "I will help you. What do you want to know?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I want to know if you have any names. I have dug around deep in the files that was left behind, but I need to know more. Do you have names of leadership? I can probably find information on them and help pass it along to Shield. >>

Jeremy says as he gives a motion of his hand along the keyboard and the windows swiftly change, to that of the destroyed rubble of the Farm. He starts to pull up files that he was able to extract, running a script to continue backing it up to an external drive on their Intranet.

<< The X-Men are moving forward with plans to find the rest of the children. Just any extra information would be great. >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
The images of the now destroyed Farm visibly bring some bad memories to Lucas, as he steps back instinctively at the view of what was his former /home/. For a moment, the lad remains silent, eyes on the images as his brain is filled with images from the past, not so distant past that he can't feel the same emotions now than he did then.

"I'm not sure," he finally says, "Most of the guards were Joe, or Frank, Jack." He pauses, trying to remember the names of those higher in the chain of command. "I think I heard a client once, talking to the Owner. They were standing at a distance, and... The client said something like, Hey Ray... or maybe Gray? I'm not sure."

SpyderByte has posed:
Nodding his head, Jeremy taps along the keys as he filters through the images at various rooms down below the surface, most of which appear to have been destroyed either by the Juggernaut or on their way out to cover their tracks. He takes the names and starts running them through their database of employee files.

<< I am sure we captured most of the lower level employees and guards. But if you are able to find a name of the clients, that would be very helpful for me. If not, do not worry. I will still find them, it just may take longer. >>

He gives a slow blink of his eyes as he turns his attention back to him, tilting his head to one side.

<< Be strong, Lucas. >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Oh, he's strong and resilient. And determined to help as much as he can. As the images of the various rooms appear on the screen, triggering as many memories, Lucas closes his eyes. One of the images in particular, brought back a specific memory. The images of one of the destroyed fake-barns on the surface, by the electrified fence.

"Wait! There!" Lucas cuts in, pointing at the image of the barn. "Yes... wait..." He's trying hard to remember. "Yes. There was a huge thunder storm that day, and the fences were deactivated. Guards were all over, screaming... Yes, and one of them said, /Go talk to fourteen/... I mean, not /fourteen/... more like Forteen... And it was someone in command, because I never heard of a guard with that name."

SpyderByte has posed:
Giving a nod of his head, Jeremy glances over towards the list of names that scrolls swiftly in front of him on a side window. It starts to slow down, then pauses on a single name: Raymond Fortin. He gives a click of his tongue as the name higlights, then he taps a few keys to start running a search in the deep, dark web. He is going to attempt to find as much information as possible. His role in the Farm, any type of connections, bank accounts.

<< I think I found something. This guy is a ranking officer, very high up on the org chart from what I can see. His badge had the highest credentials I have seen so far. >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Lucas leans forward, reading whatever he can on the man. He only has a normal brain and a few education, so reading takes some time. Nonetheless, Lucas can easily see that said Fortin has an interesting background.

Former member of the Canadian Forces, 2nd Airborn - the unit that was disbanded after some /incident/ in Somalia, involving the beating to death of a teenager boy. Then Fortin was reassigned to the UN Peace Mission in the Balkans, where once again, he was involved in the illtreatment of disabled kids in an hospital. Discharged from the Canadian Forces.

The information then becomes blurry, as no official records seem to provide much more information than the usual annual income reports, which, in the other hand, show a steady increase in revenues.

Lucas finishes reading, most of it making no sense to him, "Do you have a picture of him?"

SpyderByte has posed:
<< I can try and find one >>

Jeremy's voice chirps again as he continues to type along the keyboard. He sets up several firewalls, then goes about looking to backdoor in through a government agency to try and spy on this man's files, hopefully complete with a photo. He props his chin up in the palm of his hand, blowing some strands of bangs away from his face.

Lucas Farmer has posed:
It take some time, the computer is accessing data from all over, guided by Jeremy. If there is would it be only one photo of this Fortin online, the Goth will fish it out. And it is exactly what happens.

On the screen appears a photo of a group of soldiers, visibly taken from a book, showing members of the 2nd Airborn in Somalia, before the /incident/ that prompted their return to Canada. Nameless soldiers stand in front of a tent with a sign - Camp - 2nd Airborn. Reading along the short description, it mentions that members of the 2nd Airborn were mostly discharged after the Court Martial, and that all of them were such proud members of the unit, they had the word /Airborn/ tattooed on the inside of their lower lip, which would not be visible when smiling.

At the view of the group picture, Lucas jumps on his feet, his stress level raising as he points at one of the men. On the photo, the man must be in his twenties. "Him, there! I have seen him at the Farm. But he looks way older now. His hair are white now. But I'm sure it's him." Looking a bit more at the photo, Lucas then shakes his head, "I dunno the others."

SpyderByte has posed:
Giving a nod of his head, Jeremy zooms in on the soldier, then saves the photo to the file that he is building. He gives a scratch of his arm over his shirt with his rough fingernails, those that appear to have been chewed on a bit and painted black.

<< Okay. So it looks like he is the second in command. This is really good information, Lucas. It's going to help out a lot I think. I will make sure to send this up to SHIELD when I can, once I complete my findings. >>

He tilts his head over to him, giving him a smile.

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Visibly shaken by the view of the images of the Farm and its henchman, Lucas nods,sighing. "Okay. They said I have to talk to these /shields/, but I am still waiting." He takes a deep breath, "I doubt I can tell them much more, I have seen things, but I can't show them what I saw. It's in my head." Figures.

Then Lucas turns on his heel, announcing. "I will eat then go look for Rosie." Yes, that simple. They told him he can do what he wants, and looking for a lost friend is better than wasting his time with trying to understand how to use a computer.

SpyderByte has posed:
<< Don't worry about Rosie right now. I know they will send out a search party. But, when you talk to SHIELD, it's a government agency. Filled with people who protect the world from threats like the Farm. If you need help, Miss Grey can use her powers to look into your head and show the others what you see. She can see through your eyes, and your memories, as long as you're willing to allow her to. She won't do it without your permission. >>

Jeremy reaches out to give his hand a squeeze, curling his fingers around his for a moment, to give him a bit of strength. He knows that shaken look so well, one that he has seen in the mirror, in Gray's face, in Rosie's.

<< The last time we saw Rosie was miles away though, deep in Salem Center. It'd take some time for us to get there, we'd have to drive. >>

Lucas Farmer has posed:
Lucas reciprocates the squeeze on the fingers, maybe just a bit too much. While most people at the school consider him like a kid, he's quite tall for his age, though not very muscular. Another thing that he possesses at a higher rate than teenagers of his age, is determination and frustrations that could last for a lifetime.

"Yes, I'm sure someone will look into my brain, isn't it all they wanted to do to me, back there?" Anger joins frustration as the emotions build up. "You said you could drive, didn't you? I mean," he looks around at the grand library with its computers, plush chairs, amazing collection of books. "I'm safe here, I can do what I want. But I can do /nothing/. This looks like a Farm, with better furniture. How far could I walk, before someone came to bring me back?"

As he vents out his frustration, large books on the shelves start to shake, some slowly sliding out of the shelves.