6546/Lessons in Self Control

Lessons in Self Control
Date of Scene:	16 February 2019
Location:	SHIELD - Rec Wing - Gymnasium
Synopsis:	Deputy Director May takes Nyx out of medical and with Micah's help teaches her a little bit.
Cast of Characters:	Melinda May, Nyx, Foxfire

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Melinda May has posed:
Since Nyx has been working with Skye on reining in her powers some and appears to be making good progress, May has arranged a small 'reward' for her. Knowing the young woman has been cooped up in that medical ward for several days now, she offers the young woman some exercise gear and leads her to the gymnasium, where new recruits are just finishing up their daily PT.

"There shouldn't be much in here that'll react badly if you lose control," she tells Nyx. "We've got a couple of hours blocked out for you." She wanted to get more, but even her level of authority can so do only so much.

Nyx has posed:
Several days. Well that is one way to look at it. When one breaks it down though Samantha has been stuck in the restricted medical section for 12 days now, approaching two weeks of isolation outside the visits from Doctors, Scientists, Psychiatrists, and Agents.

At some point, probably on day two, Samantha started wearing a variety of SHIELD fatigues, because she only had the clothes on her back short of Agents visiting her parents. Who had been told she is fine but still packing an overnight bag would be weird. Way easier to give the girl rankless military fatigues and a medical tag (vs. Visitor or Agent badge).

Her head is on a swivel though while walking all the way through the Triskelion to the Gymnasium. Sam honestly didn't see a lot on her first trip through the facility. There is definitely a lot to see too. "I've been practicing it a lot on the laptops Agent Johnson left me. I'm pretty sure I know what it feels like now." and more interesting she seems to be a technopath who can do it on command.

A lot of people would want someone who could make computers and technology sit and roll over on command.

Also notable, because of course someone is monitoring. There aren't any invasive pings or network invasion attempts from the girl. A lack of noise or motion in the electrical sphere around her as they make their way to the Gym.

Nyx is being quite good right now, it knows what is at stake at this point.

"So uh.. what do you want me to do?" and of course Sam thinks this is more tests not just time to be out of her room. She glances over at the weight lifting equipment and then back to May.

Foxfire has posed:
Working the bag is a youngish man with a beard just on the neat side of scruffy. He's probably less adept at it than a lot of people Nyx has seen and definitely less adept at it than people May has seen. Still, he does know what he's doing even if this is clearly more of a workout than any kind of fighting training.

He glances behind him and... oh. That's Melinda May. He's heard of the woman by reputation to be sure and she has a hell of a reputation. The young girl with her he doesn't know. Daughter perhaps?

No... they don't really look anything alike.

The agent gives a little wave. Should he wave? Waving... is probably okay.

Hopefully.

He looks pretty normal, this Agent in training. Though... he isn't. And that might be fairly obvious to Nyx.

Melinda May has posed:
May gestures to the room in general, seeing the young man at the heavy bag and giving a nod in reply to his wave. "Anything you feel like. I'm sure you've built up a bit of cabin fever by this point." For her own part, she'll be content with just letting Sam putter about for a while or spar with the kid if she asks though she suspects the kid doesn't realize she could ask. Maybe...

She gestures for Murphy to join them. "How about we ask for some suggestions?"

Nyx has posed:
Samantha actually looks confused, she isn't the tallest teenager really and the fatigues are pretty small. Maybe she is the youngest agent in training ever, though the wristband looks more like medical and restricted access. It has a tracker in it as well, passive RFID and a dab of radioative isotope that can be scanned easily without high technology. Basically painting the target.

"Wait.. um... I just get to do stuff. This isn't a test or .. to show what I can do.. or anything?" yeah after almost two weeks of being a lab subject this is almost too much of a surprise "Holy shit." pops out of Sam's mouth though when she looks over at the person May is gesturing towards. "What is wrong with his back?" ... ... nothing well on a glance seems to be wrong with his back though.

Foxfire has posed:
Micah quirks a brow in question but comes on over without delay. "Director." He greets her. Is it director? Interim Director? Vice Interim... well, best to keep it simple.

He hadn't quite heard what Sam said about his back though he'd find that quite curious. It's not visually obvious. Not with his shirt on anyway. If one has read his file one knows about the biotech in his back but... you know. Not just by looking at him.

"Agent in Training or...?" Bring your niece to work day? He doesn't say that. He just looks between the two. "Sorry. What can I do for you? Oh. Uh, I'm Agent Murphy. Agent Probate Murphy, technically."

Melinda May has posed:
"Yes, you just get to do stuff," May replies to Sam's surprised tone. And then her eyebrows draw together slightly at her question about the agent's back. She doesn't see anything amiss. Must be something the girl's abilities is pegging on, and she resolves to go remind herself of the contents of Murphy's file.

"Potential new agent in training," May replies to Micah. "She's been in Medical for longer than anyone should have to endure. Care to offer a tour of the gym?"

Nyx has posed:
Samantha rakes her fingers back through her hair and tries not to stare at Micah. She isn't doing the very best job not staring. Then what May said sinks in and she looks back to May.

Cripes. Skye said this might be possible. That they weren't just going to stuff her in a hole is Skye could help it and just forget about her. For some reason the whole potential new agent in training makes her feel good, if the grin is any sign.

Then she looks back to Micah. "Hi, I'm uh.. Samanha." because everyone knows the name she gave Vision isn't her dumb name anyways. Though she likes Nyx still. "What's Agent Probate mean?" yeah the girl did not do great in high school.

Foxfire has posed:
"Means I'm in training. Call me Micah." He extends a hand to shake and, nodding to May, gestures for the two to follow him. The SHIELD facility has a nice gym of course. It's got a lot of money and a lot of people who like to use it.

Agent May will find later that Micah has both a technical background in DARPA and an intelligence background from the CIA, which... one definitely can't tell just by talking to him.

"So we've got the machines here. Free weights over by the mirror wall over there. There's some mats over there for martial arts training and the bag I was working on over there. Do you have a routine or... did you want to start with some stretches? Do some.. I dunno. Tai Chi?"

Micah looks to May. She's defintely got a fitness routine. And can probably do a lot better than tai chi. The suggestion of sparring HAS occured to him but he doesn't make it just yet.

Melinda May has posed:
May seems totally fine with letting Micah offer the ten cent tour, following along silently. Though, at his seemingly innocently asking Sam if she has a routine, she does have to put some effort into maintaining her usual neutral expression. She's pretty sure the kid will have NO idea what Murphy means by that.

But, it'll be amusing to see how she replies. So, when Micah looks toward her again, she simply offers another small nod and lets him interpret it however he will. That in and of itself should reveal something about the young man.

Nyx has posed:
Unknown to everyone involved, the handshake is very useful for Nyx. It gets a pretty solid read on Micah and his implants without broadcasting anything at all out on any network frequencies. Everything is under control for poor Sam.

Samantha will fall in for the tour of the SHIELD Facility there, looking around curious as he points stuff out. "What do you meean routine... oh like working out. I .. uh don't even have a gym membership or anything." the teen admits then asks curious "What is Tai Chi?"

Near the free weights though Samantha will reach out and snag one of the fifty pound circular weighs with one hand and heft it, and by heft it she sort of gives it a measuring jerk of her hand letting it get a smidge of air and then catches it before setting it back down. Like someone does with a tennis ball. "Is Tai Chi like martial arts or something?"

Foxfire has posed:
Micah quirks a brow at the display. That... she doesn't look nearly well enough built for that. Oh she might be, sometimes people have that wirey kind of strength but she really doesn't look it.

"Oh-khay I don't think you need any strength training. Yeah, Tai Chi is kind of like a martial art. Good for stretching and relaxing muscles when you do it slow. But, uh, maybe Director May would like to go a few rounds with you or something like that? I'd offer but my Haganah is only competant. I think the Director might possibly be a better teacher."

Also it won't be him getting thrown against a wall if that happens. It's entirely possible Samantha doesn't know her own strength. Besides, May had nodded hadn't she.

"Unless you'd prefer me to take the lead on that, Director?"

Melinda May has posed:
May also watches Sam with that weight and makes a mental note to see if either Rogers or Barnes have time to work with her on that. But for now...

Micah's explanation of Tai Chi is accurate, if amusingly simplistic. Though now that he's broached the subject, she can get a read on how much or how little fighting skill the young woman has. "I suppose I can try a bit." She seems to be intentionally trying to make it sound like she's humoring Micah. She gestures toward the sparring mats and heads over that way if Sam seems amenable to it.

"The main point of martial arts is to learn physical discipline, much like learning a musical instrument. With enough training and practice motions become almost reflexive, and then your chances of defending yourself are vastly improved." She steps one foot back slightly, taking a stance clearly indicating she's ready to spar.

Nyx has posed:
There is this helpless sort of shrug from Samantha "I'm a whole lot stronger than I look these days...." which is the sheepiest sort of understatement that someone could deliver. "I was never very good at gym class though no, mostly I found ways to ditch and do other things without being expelled." another sheepish shrug.

The thing is she probably does need Rodgers or Bucky to work with her, because right now she really has no clue of her own strength and neither does anyone else.

"I'm happy to be out of medical though. Even if it just walking around and talking to people who aren't scanning me or asking me about how I feel about my parents or my fifth grade history teacher who gave me an F... or why I tagged the schoolbus in junior high.. uggggn." okay that at least was a pretty solid teenager noise.

When May gestures over to the mats though Samantha will follow that way, she seems amenable. At this point in her stay like she said she is just excited to not be watching the SHIELD equivalent of a TIVO with old shows and movies on it.

Samantha looks down to May's stance then over at Micah and back again. "I'll be honest. I've never done anything like this before..."

Foxfire has posed:
Micah stands off to one side, one arm folded across his chest, the other holding his chin. He's watching. Watching is, really, the thing he's best at. Most science is watching something to see what happens really, and comes to that most intellgience is watching someone to see what happens.

His mental profile of Sam is as follows: Young, bored, possibly a little bit frightened either of her circumstances or her powers or both. He very much gets the sense that whatever happened to her happened recently. The way she keeps talking about her tells him that she's got unusual abilities and that she didn't used to.

His profile of May, on the other hand exactly matches the profile of the person at an infiltration job that you spend the entire evening avoiding without looking like you're doing that. Observant and scary. This makes sense. She's a director, after all.

"I'm sure Director May will make sure no one gets hurt."

Because if anyone is going to see to that, it's her.

Melinda May has posed:
May stays still and waits for Sam. "Everyone has to start somewhere. Do what you think is right." She resists the urge to make a reference to that movie The Karate Kid and has to mentally curse the agent she was partnered with who made her watch all those cheesy old movies.

"And Murphy is correct. I wouldn't suggest this if there were a risk of someone getting hurt." Well, other than herself. But she's aware of the risks.

Nyx has posed:
Is May aware of the risks?

Thankfully though Samantha was not lying when she said she had no clue what she was doing. After a long moment of hesitation like this may be the next in a long line of tests and throwing a punch may be utterly failing some psychological test about aggression, she nods "Okay..."

The lack of training is painfully obvious as Samantha steps closer and sort of punches at May.

Her fist is wrong, thumb on the inside.

Her balance is wrong, leaving herself massively exposed.

If May dodges no problem. If she tries to show some Akido or Judo though, May finds herself working with a whole hell of a lot more momentum than should be there in motion. Basically Samantha will be landing hard if that was the move of choice.

Foxfire has posed:
Micah has known for a long time that throwing a hard punch can cause more problems than it solves if you don't have proper technique. And that... isn't. He winces slightly, mostly at the technique itself and not what it's going to do to anyone because he still has faith that no one's really getting hurt here.

It does bring to mind the first time he tried to throw a punch in an armor that can lift 25 tons. He'd wound up with his arm - his ENTIRE arm - stuck in a wall.

Melinda May has posed:
Of course that attempt at a punch doesn't land. And it wouldn't be fair to the kid to land her on her back so quickly, so she simply dodges and catches the girl's arm before her momentum knocks her off balance. "Okay, not the first worst try I've ever seen." That would have been a particular biochemist.

"All right, a few things to start with. When you make a fist, keep your thumb outside of your fingers or it'll hurt yourself as badly as someone else when you hit them." She holds up one fist to demonstrate. She then gestures Micah to join them. "Also, when you throw the punch, use your entire torso but keep your feet planted firmly."

Nyx has posed:
Samantha did swing with a lot more force than she should have been able to, so while she is dodged and caught. May has to feel that swing and yeah it is a lot. Wall punching a lot.

"Uh... okay." and Sam bites her lower lip watching May and then she mimics the making of a fist and tries to mimic the footing. She throws a second punch slower just demonstrating now. "Like this?"

Foxfire has posed:
"Try to strike with your knuckles too and not the flat of your fingers just below them. Those are a lot more fragile and if you hit something hard you'll break your hand. Or, well, a normal person would break their hand."

In general if you hit something really hard with an unprotected fist you'll break your hand. Back in the days of Queensbury pugilism before modern boxing was formalized with gloves and such, people tended not to punch eachother in the head for exactly that reason. The skull, as it turns out, is really good at its job.

Micah coughs when he realizes he's spoken up. Director May is, unquestionably, a better authority on this than he.

Not that he's wrong.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods her approval of the changes in Sam's footing, and then again as Micah also offers some wisdom. "He's correct. Also, keep in mind that at our height most people will underestimate us. That's another thing you can use to your advantage. If you would, Murphy?" She gestures for the probie to hold up his hands as punching targets.

"Thumb outside your fingers, try to use your knuckles, also try to keep your wrist straight. That means that you've got more of your arm's structure behind the punch." She demonstrates by slow-motion swinging a punch at Micah, showing how her entire torso's momentum is included.

Nyx has posed:
"I definitely do not want to break my hand." Samantha notes softly and then steps around watching the swing. Her eyesight is .. remarkable according to the lab tests. There is no squinting or peering as she watches the interplay. "Okay wrist straight, thumb on the outside, footing balanced."

Samantha alters her footing a bit more watching Director May throw the slow motion punch and then tries to copy it in very slow motion. "Am I .. going to need to know this?" she sounds like she is worried she won't sound grateful for being out. "Though I suppose I can't solve every problem by shooting lasers at it..." which may catch Micah's attention.

Foxfire has posed:
Micah holds his s up, palms open to let May punch at them. Even this COULD hurt if she did it too hard or did it wrong but it's May and she won't do either. He's not in the least bit worried.

Now Sam on the other hand might concern him quite a bit.

"You wot?" It is 'wot' too. The vowels flatten out as the scientist-agent blinks. Shoots lasers at it?

Okay technically they're some kind of particle beam but he doesn't know that, he hasn't even remotely seen any documentation on this young lady.

"Where //did// we pick this one up, Director?"

Melinda May has posed:
May looks at Sam. "You might. You never know when you might be in a situation where you won't be able to shoot at things." Like, say, in a crowd of civilians, or a room full of highly volatile explosives. "And we'll work on the lasers another day, I couldn't get clearance for the high ordinance range on such short notice." Either she's world's best deadpan comedian, or she's completely serious about that.

"Stark Tower," May replies to Micah immediately. Let him make of that what he will. Seeing his reaction will be enough.

Nyx has posed:
Sam rubs the back of her neck and looks sidelong at Micah and then back to May. "I get that. Lots of times you can't use lasers. I definitely don't want people punching me if I can avoid it though. So worth learning." then she trails. "High ordinance range... do you actually have a place where I can practice eventually... I'd really like to learn to aim better so I don't hurt anyone and I am pretty sure doing it outside is not a good idea." so many dead trees in Pelham Bay Park can attest to this.

"Oh.. uh yeah Mr. Stark called you guys after Ms. van Dyne and all had me see him. He wasn't actually there it was a pretty cool hologram.. and then this Coulan Robot shot me with a taser.. things are a bit blurry after that.. but hey here I am.. SHIELD medical patient number.." she glances at her wrist. "A34291J2... or Sam." trying for humor. "Also I'm from the Bronx."

Foxfire has posed:
"Stark To- naturally..." Micah hasn't met Tony Stark of course but there is ANOTHER man who has a reputation. "Did he find you, Sam, or did he invent you?"

That's a joke or a bit of joke. Naturally Micah is sure that Tony found Sam somewhere and called SHIELD in to handle the situation. Presumably after having flirted with her outragously because that is ALSO Mister Stark's repuation. Whether it is true or not he's not sure.

"Well Sam from the Bronx, hopefully things will be a bit more comfortable for you here, shortly."

He got that she's spent a lot of time in medical...

Melinda May has posed:
Now that's an entirely valid question from Micah. May knows the kid wasn't invented by Stark, but it's certainly a reasonable conclusion.

"We are working on making things more comfortable. But there have been some considerations to take into account, and from what I gather they're fairly close to resolved. Yes?" She looks at Sam as if to confirm whatever she just mentioned so vaguely.

And if they're not, she's got a requisition in place to have all electronics shielded or removed from a room usually reserved for guests. That way at least the kid won't be stuck in Medical anymore.

Nyx has posed:
There is a dirty look from Samantha to Micah at the found by or invented by. "Vision found me.. well okay no Wonder Woman found me" cough caught.. cough.. "The first time. Then Vision and The Wasp dropped me with Tony who passed me off like a hot potato to SHIELD. I wasn't made."

When May asks her question though Samantha is paying very close attention to the Deputy Director. "I think so. I think Skye thinks so but I don't want to .. I mean Agent Johnson. I don't want to put like words in her mouth... but I've been practicing a lot with the laptop and TV and I think I got it." there is a pause when she realizes May was being vague. "I uh.. I got a feel for it now." she adds unsure if she should still be talking.

Foxfire has posed:
Micah gives Sam a sheepish grin and a shrug. "Sorry. Sounds like you've met just about every major hero type out there on your way here."

Why did they wind up passing her off to SHIELD. Good question. Not really for him to be asking though. He's got his own things to prove to SHIELD. Granted it seems like he possibly has less to prove? Or at least, he doesn't have to prove that he is not an active menace.

"Well if they let you start moving around you'll probably see me a bit more? At least here. I split my times between the labs and field work. I have a bit of a background in both."

The agent glances at May. "I do have a background in high energy physics though. I'd be happy to watch and analyze if you decide to have her shoot her lasers off at the heavy ordinance range."

Melinda May has posed:
"You're off to a good start," May reassures Sam. "Keep working at it. Things will keep getting better."

She then nods her agreement with Micah's assessment. "I already have the paperwork ready to assign quarters to you, Ms. Twining. I'd say you're just about ready to relocate." And then likely either Skye or Darcy (or both of them) will probably take the kid under their proverbial wings.

"Good to know, Murphy. I will be sure to put your name on list to help with the lasers." Because having someone around who already has some background in high energy physics will be very helpful. After all, there's only so much the current staff in R&D can handle at any given time.

Nyx has posed:
That news really perks Sam up. I mean sure it isn't going home, but once one can shoot lasers and has SHIELD and Iron Man on your case can one ever really go home. The answer is no. No one can not.

So quarters and learning how to use said lasers. That sounds fantastic at this point to Samantha. "I am so relieved." it probably helps she didn't just go off shooting lasers and kicking down doors to escape. She grins to Murphy, no longer giving him a mean look from the whole made by Stark crack.

Foxfire has posed:
"I'll watch my E-mail then." Micah says. It looks like things are wrapping up here and he's nearly done with his workout. This has been interesting though and he'd quite like to see more of what this young woman can do.

He might have to be exposed to May more for that which is... well, he hasn't pissed her off yet so that's a good sign, right?