4308/Professor Beast in the Computer Lab with a (Metaphorical) Knife..

Professor Beast in the Computer Lab with a (Metaphorical) Knife..
Date of Scene:	15 March 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Beast, Emma Frost, Phoenix

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Beast has posed:
This late at night rarely anyone is in the school's computer lab. In fact, like a few other specific rooms, it is only available to faulty after curfew hours. Which is why at this moment we find one Doctor Henry 'Hank' McCoy perched on the edge of a chair (literally) as he does some research at one of the more powerful (and firewalled) terminals. The blue furry feline simian looks tired.. perhaps a bit agitated, and driven as he taps on a keyboard with clawed fingers at a machine gun pace.

The three screens before hom flash and scroll, complex data from multiple sources streaming down the sleek lcd monitors. Chemical formulii.. mathematical proofs.. blue prints.. /genetic/ maps.. The more the mutant doctor reads, the more he growls, as search after search comes up the same. "Data Not Found" or some variation there off. He gahs and pushe sback in his chair, scooping up his coffee mug and walks in circles, cursing in latin. "They had to get the information from somewhere..." he mutters to himself.

Emma Frost has posed:
As luck would have it, Emma Frost hasn't made it home yet today. Between classes, and other matters, she's been detained. And while she'd much rather check up on hor matters stand on the DOW and the TSX, not to mention how things are in Tokoyo, she's made a detour to the faculty only-after hours computer lab to get some figures before heading home to settle down and plan her next moves for Frost Industries.

What she didn't expect was company.

And despite the fact that Hank was here first, Emma still made a point of stopping and looking about the room with an agrieved air, much as if he'd put her out by his mere existence, let alone by being in the lab at this hour.

It's that pinched expression that first greets Hank.

Beast has posed:
Beast hasn't noticed the new teacher enter as of yet, his mind racing in a million directions at once. Thinking about his trip to New York to assist the Avengers who were following up on the kidnapping of a few mutants who dissapeared then returned days later to attack people with greatly changed or enhanced powers..Thinking about the chemical breakdown of the substance used that instilled paranoia in the kidnappees.. and discovering that the component which had altered/empowered them was based off his OWN work, work he had thought he had destroyed years ago..

Digust and anger seethe through him, and his thought become darker, hard to keep focus on, become more /primal/ as the animal in him, which he is slowly loosing full control over but hasn't told anyone, threatens to surface. He takes a quick sip of is coffee, hoping the sugar and caffiene will clear his mind.. then stops and sniffs the air.

"Who...?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma is nothing if not patient when it comes to making her displeasure known. There's a certain rolling grace to the buildup a proper freezing glare can create, or a perfectly executed scathing tone..

"Who?" Her gaze settles upon the man, and for a moment she considers bypassing the perfunctory nature of conversation and merely taking what she needs from him and moving forward from there. However, as pleasant a thought it is, it also would be self-defeating at the moment while she's still got the clear upper hand. Or so she thinks.

Emma makes a tsking noise. "Really. Your manners are lacking. I do hope you're done. I have work to do." She manages to make herself sound both bored and impatient all at once, suggesting that she's done him a favour by waiting this long.

Beast has posed:
His catslit-eyes narrow behind his spectacles and he slowly and carefully sets his mug down on the edge of the nearest desk. He stretches to his full height, regally grasping the lapels of his oxford tweed jacket, and stares down his snout at the blond woman. "/My/ manners?" he asks, his voice a throaty growl, a highly educated baritone with a slight 'fuzz' given to it by his bestial nature. "And how is it good manners when you did not even announce your presence?" he asks, sniffing once. Yeah, he pulls off the tenured professor pretty good, and that jungle feline presence just adds a bit more edge to it.

"It's Miss Frost, is it not? The new..." he screws up his snout a bit now, putting some disdain into his voice... "'Administrative Sciences' teacher, I believe?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma? Is not phased one bit. If anything, she's rather more bored than when she arrived.

"Now, see, you actually do know Who. And think of the time we've wasted. I'll allow you your cleverness based on the fact I'm the newest member of faculty. As to announcing myself? I'm not in the habit of announcing my presence like a school child in a lab that sees little to no use after hours."

She smiles now, a carefully considered thing.

"You, are Doctor Hank McCoy. I'll spare you the tiresome jokes. We can both imagine I've said them. We laughed. We moved on."

Beast has posed:
The blue bestial boffin rolls his eyes and turns around on the stool upon which he is.. perched? Yes, perched. Like a gargoyle, only much more handsome and a thousand times smarter. "And I will spare you my misgivings of having to regard Business Administration as a 'science', which somehow falls under my purview as the Dean of Sciences for this fine institution." he grunts as he crosses his arms against his large chest and pushes his spectacles up is snout an inch. "As for announcing yourself it is only /polite/, especially when you are skulking around a boarding school, at night, which is inhabited by super powered adolescents with enough combined power to level a moderate sized country."

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a sound which might be an attempt at droll laughter from the woman. "Really, is that your best attempt at an insult? Pointing out that Business Administration isn't a science? Actually, if you paid any attention at all to the matter, you'd realize that there are entire subsections of psychology and sociology devoted to the science of consumerism. Not to mention the sheer magnitude of mathematics involved in the economics of the matter. However, I don't believe that I was suggesting you should regard it as anything."

She drags her gaze over his gargoyle stance in much the manner of implying he'd have to raise himself out of the gutters to even approach the critical thinking required to evaluate Business Administration as anything at all.

"Of course, since you already know who I am, you also know I hold several patents under my own name for actual scientific advances. As for your vague threats of the students and what they can do, I'm more than well aware and equiped to handle them and myself."

Beast has posed:
Beast groans and reaches up, pinching the bridge of his snout with a paw and muttering under his breath. "I am /not/ going to get into a debate on the 'science' of consumerism, thank you very much. It just kills a little more of me every time I have to even think about it and how it is slowly ruining the human race and stifling actual scientific progress when it /could/ have done the opposite.. And do /not/ get me to debate the questionable mathematics, either. The only reason it works is because people have /faith/ that it will work, and if you have faith in something long enough, no matter how many times it is wrong, it will /eventually/ be right.. It is the infinite monkey theorem..."

He then narrows his eyes on her slowly. "And Please, you do not want to get into a patent measuring contest, /Miss/ Frost. Trust me, you surely do not. Though I will be fair to you and at least give you the benefit of the doubt that you came up with your patentable ideas on your own and did not.. liberate them in any way." he says. Oh yes, he is implying he definitely knows some of her abilities.

He steps down off the stool and brushes his pant legs off then eyes her up again, and readjusts his bow tie. "And It was not a threat against you, nor was it vague. It is the same advice I give /every/ new student AND faculty member. School is a high stress environment as it is, Miss Frost, and is doubly so when one is still in the throws of the hormonal changes that puberty wreaks on them. Add to the fact that after a decade of /relative/ peace, and even some acceptance, between humans and mutants now we are finding a upsurge in animosity towards our kind. So take my advice as /earnest/, not somehow /insulting/ you. Is this understood?"

Emma Frost has posed:
"Please," Emma drawls. "If you're going to talk about mathematics as faith, at least have the courtesy to warn a woman. While I'll give you the almighty dollar might be worshipped as a god, trust me, it isn't one, and any fool stupid enough to believe it is deserves to be milked for all they have." Her smile is cold and feral. "And I take great pleasure in helping others realize that mistake."

"Your loss if you fail to acknowledge the truth of the matter. You leave yourself open to manipulation.. and.. how did you quaintly put it?" There's a pause where she might *actually* be trying to remember the word, only one knows she isn't, and the dramatic effect is on the level of his implication as to the lack of her own skills. "Ah, yes. Liberated. You leave yourself open to be liberated from your own ideas. You should at least have a basic understanding of what it is that you are sneering at before you cast disparagment about so freely."

"As to my skills - both in the matter of patents, and dealing with the students, there's really only one way to find out, now, isn't there?"

Beast has posed:
Beast actually looks.. amused now, and leans back against the table with his arms crossed once more. "The almighty dollar, as /you/ put it, may not be 'God' but that doesn't stop your kind from selling the public that it /is/. Much like a Vicar at church, as you will, even if their own faith has fallen short. But let us not quibble on it.." he says. "I am much more interested in you believing I am open to manipulation. And that I don't understand. Fascinating, your arrogance. This will be a very interesting experiment..." he murmurs.

He then pushes off from the table and shrugs. "And yes, there really /is/ one way to find out whether you will fall or fly. Truthfully, whether you believe it or not, I hope you fly. I know quite a bit about you, Miss Frost, more than you may think. And despite that knowledge I hope you do well here."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma actually laughs now, and mimes pulling a knife from her chest and holding it out, hilt first against her forearm, to him. "I do believe this is yours?"

"Though now I am curious just what it is you think you know about me."

Beast has posed:
Beast grins.. it is a toothy grin. Less refined then his accent. Almost as bestial as the rest of his visage. He reaches out and pantomimes re-sheathing the imaginary blade. "Thank you, m'lady." he says and then bows, before straightening up once more.

"Well curious is how you will have to remain, Miss Frost. I am actually /not/ trying to be vague nor mysterious. It is just that you are an.. unknown quantity.. in a number of major equations. I don't like unknown quantities. You think you would not be vetted to the fullest of our ability?" he asks. "It helps when one is not only blindingly brilliant in their own right, such as myself, when it comes to searching the deepest and darkest depths of information both openly available and not, but also has access to friends and colleagues who rank among the greatest minds on the planet. Like I said, I don't /like/ unknown quantities.. Especially psychic ones. I like to be armed."

He then grins even more and claps his hand together. "Don't take it personally, Miss Frost. You would do the same. In fact, I would be insulted if you hadn't already built a sizable dossier on us. And it is not like I have filed my own coalated and analyzed information, in full, into our records.

Emma Frost has posed:
This time Emma's laugh isn't quite so bright a thing as it was with the 'knife'. The moment having passed. "And you claim there's not validity to the science of economics? You can't play both sides of that argument my dear man. Dossiers exist for one reason, and one reason only: to insure that you get the best deal you can out of any interaction."

She smiles that cold thing that doesn't reach her eyes and suggests that even the effort of it all is rather tiring. "Of course I've read up on you all. I had no intention of tying myself to a fly by night piece of real estate with no actual value to me, now, did I? I came here for one reason and one reason only."

His use of the word psychic earns him a derisive eye roll. "Please. If you must use that word, you might at least try to make it sound less of a circus freakshow. I don't sit at booths at local fairs and tell patrons what they want to hear. There are no tall blondes in your future Dr. McCoy, just as there is no mysterious benefactor going to leave you a fortune. I'm as highly skilled as you are at what I do."

Phoenix has posed:
It is just fitting that Jean would elect that moment to step into the computer lab, just a routine walk about the school really, but enough to catch snippets of conversation. "Psychic unknowns are really no different than any other unknowns," Jean drops her two bit, smiling teasingly at Hank, before turning to look at Emma, "I see you're endearing yourself on our resident doctor?"

Beast has posed:
Beast doesn't look any less un-amused when she calls him on his paradoxical behaviour regarding the econimic science of the deal. "I am not playing both sides, My dear Miss Frost. I said I disliked the field, and it's loose basis in questionable mathematics, not that I /did not/ understand them. There is a difference." he points out with a feral chuckle... Much more animal like then it had been shortly before her arrival to the school.. It seems to have been a slowly noticable trend with the blue furry doctor the past few months though he hasn't talked to anyone about it. At least no one at the school itself, so she wouldn't know about the slow change taking place in him.

He then actually looks a BIT apologetic and nods, as if a score had been made on him. "I apologize. You are right, that the term Psychic, is rather.. tinged by 'supernatural' notions... But alas I did not term the original, and unfortunate, nomenclature regarding such phenomena. I much prefer Psionic, myself, to be honest..."

HE turns his head as jean enters and offers he a friendly nod. She too must have noticed the slow change in him since.. well sometime. And the fact he has harried back and forth between New York on non-school related projects. Reading his mind may have been more difficult then usual, though. Both her and Charles trained the X-Men on psychic defense.. and his mind, his intellect, is not only vast but QUICK.. multiple threads of thought on esoteric sciences, operas, calculating PI... And now there is that strange almost animal subconcious tainting his mind.

"Good evening, Jean. How are you this fine evening." he motions to Emma. "And yes, I am getting to know the enchanting Miss Frost. A most.. dedicated woman."

Emma Frost has posed:
Hank earns an arch of brow for his apology, if only for the move to the word psionic.

"The mathematics aren't loose, Doctor. They're merely bound by a different aesthetic set than your cramped laboratory and its inconsequential doodads." Emma actually waves a fluttery hand in the air, utterly dismissive of his work, seeing as he started that exchange with his calling her achievements at invention into question.

Anything else she might have been going to say is swallowed by Jean's greeting, and the blonde woman's drawing herself up to spare something of an almost smile for the Headmistress. "Endearing isn't the word I'd have used," she murmurs almost too imperceptibly quietly to be heard. Hank, likely, wouldn't miss it regardless. "More like making... proper introductions of ourselves."

Phoenix has posed:
"She has a steadfast ambition, I will certainly give you that," Jean remarks to Hank. The beauty of her telepathy, compared to Emma, lies in the fact she's not openly seeking to invade minds. If anything, she mostly spends effort on the opposite, trying to not accidentally overhear thoughts not meant for her. There are, of course, exception to the rule. Plus, she's been dealing with some strange issues of her own, ever since that fateful space mission. But other than occasional oddities, she's been more or less as she's always been. "Just wanted to check why we still had light in the computer lab, but so long it's not students looking for porn, I'm satisfied."

Jean nods at Emma's version of what is transpiring, "getting to know one another is all well and good, we're all on the same side here, it is a school," Jean winks, before offering, "I'd view economics as one application of mathematics, regardless of what's Hank's feeling on the matter. I suppose it's no different from scientists supposing 'social sciences' shouldn't be considered a science," she looks at Emma with a grin, "but we'd know better."

Beast has posed:
Beast ois and looks back to Emma and shakes his head. "The mathematics /are/ loose, Emma." he says, using her first name for the first time. "Overall, at any rate. Because they aren't /just/ based on intrinsically quantifiable values. You can't quantify 'greed' to a specific ratio. You can't quantify 'want' to an exact rate. Unlike biology or physics, where I /can/ take values down to an appreciably quantifiable near-zero variance of confidence, Economic and socio-political mathematics have to attempt to calculate 'feelings', which by their very nature are un-quantifiable.. Unlike Business or Government, Organic Molecules don't get happy or sad because taxes were raised. Neutron Stars do not have bad hair days to throw off their orbital calculations..." he then realizes he is ranting and ahems.. straightening up and readjusting his glasses. "Forgive me."

Quickly turns and rests a hand on his chest, looking hurt at Jeans assesment on the subject of econimics as acceptable mathematics. "Et tu, Jean!"

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a soft snort of sound from Emma. "You're a piece of unquantifiable science, Hank." Taking a page from his book and using his name in return, though there's question as to the warmth of the gesture. "Just because you don't understand the exact applications and manipulations of the numbers doesn't mean they're any less valid than those you tout. And I remind you that every science finds itself in the territory of measures that are questionable until the methodology is solidified and the mechanics are understood. Mendel himself merely lucked out. Had he picked any other variable with those pea plants we'd still be in the middle ages of genetics."

His reaction to Jean has the woman pursinng her lips in an effort to disguise her amusement. "I remind you have the dagger I returned to you. You may wish to offer it in return to your Brute there."

Jean gets a calm, "As you can see, the discussion has been.. lively."

Phoenix has posed:
"I merely suggested it is an application of mathematics, the calculations are not entirely made up, you have to allow that much, don't you, Dr. McCoy?" Jean asks Hank, laughing at his evident anger over her willingness to accept Economics as a science. "I'd also venture that more often than not, Emma here, has been dealing with exact measures when feelings are involved...I trust she's not beyond making them fit her desires," a blatant accusation of power use for success, but Jean is no fool, she realizes the difficult a woman would face in the harsh business world Emma is navigating. She has no doubt Emma is using her gifts to be so successful.

"Well, now that I've seen the lab isn't misused after hours by students, I'll leave you to your argument. I'll offer a tip, however, respecting one another's field of expertise, yield better shot at forming a friendship." At that she turns to leave the lab.

Beast has posed:
Beast looks between the two ladies and then hrumphs, shaking his head. "No fair ganging up on me.. " he grips, though there is only a LITTLE rancor in that comment.. He then sighs and nods to Jean. "Yes yes, no blood being spilled here. Do not fret. The only thing being wounded here is my pride... though I think I am giving as good as I get." he quips. "Sleep well, my friend."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma allows a hint of a smirk - a thing borne of actual amusement, and a possible relenting of her icy facade. "I might allow you're nearing the ballpark," she murmurs for Hank's ears.

Jean gets an inclination of head. "No blood. Or, if there must be some, I'll be certain the stains are gone by morning."

Beast has posed:
Beast nods slowly. "Yeah the ballpark... stains gone..." he says, almost absent mindedly.. And suddenly he looks tired. Not physically, but something deeper.. something more soulfull. LIke something just came to his mind, flittering past for but a moment. He then shakes it off and offers Emma a respectful nod. "Thank you.. for allowing me that, at least." he says, then looks towards the door. "Anyways, I think it is time for me to get some rest... My mind is running rampant and wearing me out..."

Emma Frost has posed:
There's a flicker of something that might be concern.. or merely just curiousity.. over the sudden look of exhaustion. She's certain she's missing something, but short of prying - and prying really is a thing she does well - she has no actual recourse to know what's up.

"If you're quite certain that's all it is." Having made note of Jean's admonition about respect and friendship - the blonde frost queen not yet certain if she'll allow for such dalliances as friends here; as it is, aquaintances seem a stretch. Though Jean is right - there is value to cultivating such things. "For the record, I didn't steal those ideas. They were my own. As was the research and testing to ascertain the items worked." This followed by a dismissive shrug, as much as if to say, I wouldn't want you to think I cared.

Beast has posed:
Beast is almost out the door and stops... then slowly looks back over his shoulder and offers Emma a faint but sincere smile. "I know you didn't steal them." he says, matter of factly. "I knew that before we even hired you. As well as everything else. Well.. not everything else, but enough. Makes you wonder, hmmm?" he asks. "Sleep well when you get there, Miss Frost. And don't stare at a computer screen too long.. It will mess up your circadian rhythm."

And with that he slips out.