8587/Don't They Know

Don't They Know
Date of Scene:	30 July 2019
Location:	Rec Room - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Elixir causes existential despair with his taste in music.
Cast of Characters:	Cypher, Elixir, Beast

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Cypher has posed:
It's early in the morning, and someone is playing the piano in the rec room. While it has sound-muffling installed in the walls so people can play music without waking up the entire house, but somebody is REALLY banging on it. So far, it's just chords, like someone's taking a moment to re-aquaint themselves with the keys, but they're not being shy about it.

It's enough to jiggle the cup of coffee in somebody's hand.

Elixir has posed:
Josh steps out of the elevator from the base. He has finished morning training and some experiments he is working on and is in search of coffee. Hearing the racket though, he detours and pokes his head into the rec room. When he sees Doug at the piano, Josh gives a half smile and comes in.

"If you wanna break it I can just get you a hammer," Josh says lightly with a mock wince at the volume.

Cypher has posed:
"It's just like Elton John said. A piano is a percussion instrument." Doug says, "It's not MEANT to just be played gently." He's standing in front of the piano, his mismatched hands on the keys. He's wearing jeans and a tank-top that says 'Bullets Find Me Attractive' which is a mean joke but if you can't laugh at yourself...

He looks up, and then starts to beat on the keys.

"Whoah, everybody talkin' 'bout the Seventh Son, in the whole wide world there is only one - *I'm* the one! Yes, baby, I'm the one!"

Elixir has posed:
"Who the heck is that? Wasn't a piano tuner I bet," Josh says and winces again when Doug goes back at it. He chuckles and shakes his head.

He raises a hand to wave at Doug with a smile, and heads for the door.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy is stepping into the door, a twinkie in one hand, dipping into a coffee mug in the other. "Josh, Doug. Good morning."

Cypher has posed:
Doug stops, with his fingers on the keys. "Hold on."

"Turn around, Oscar, and get back here. You just 'who is that'? to *Elton John*?"

He sits down. "Okay. ...Okay." He says. "I need a second to process this." He pauses. "...Okay."

"Who do you listen to, Foley?"

Elixir has posed:
"Hey Hank, how's it going?" Josh says to the big blue man with a grin. He keeps going a couple steps not realizing Doug is talking to him, then turns around when he hears his name. He comes back over and runs a hand through his hair, then shrugs.

"Top 40 usually? Like, I'm all about Krew and Exchange Dream right now. And Drag Zone," Josh says with shrug, naming a current top hip hop, pop and alternative rock group respectively. His tastes are about as cliché as a suburban white kid with no musical interests beyond what's on the top of the streaming services would be expected to have.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy chuckles. "How old is Elton John these days? You can't blame kids these days for not knowing who the heck he is. Come on." The twinkie gets dipped again, the cream mixing a little with the coffee, and the coffee getting into the cake, making each taste better.

Cypher has posed:
Doug closes his eyes, and lets out a sigh. "Music is timeless, Hank. Debbie Harry is as old as my nana, and she's STILL great."

He glances up at him, and then says, "He probably doesn't know who Oingo Boingo were, either. Totally unmoved by 'Weird Science', Hank... and we all know that's your jam."

Doug drops his fingers back onto the keys.

"I was justified when I was five, raisin' Cain, I spit in your eye! Times are changin', now the poor get fat, but the fever's gonna hit you when the *bitch* gets back!"

Elixir has posed:
"All Greek to me. Maybe it's stuff my parents would know?" Josh asks with a shrug to Hank. "They listen to oldies stuff like Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and the Jonas Brothers? I dunno."

Cypher has posed:
Doug stops playing abruptly, and he *sputters*. He's at the keyboard, choking. Cough cough! Hack! "You're kidding me." He says. "You're KIDDING me." He stops, and drops into a sit at the piano, and then he sighs, and looks up at Josh, before he runs his hand through his hair. "...You're hopeless, golden boy. All of this stuff was before *my* time too, but I love it. It *speaks* to me." He shakes his head, and then moves to close the piano, slowly. "Well, I'll cut it out before I wake up Rogue and she decides to demonstrate her dislike of Johnny Rivers by putting her fist through the Steinway."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy chuckles. "Play some Boingo. Dead Man's Party. Try to Believe." Walking up behind Doug, taking a long look at the piano. "sometimes you just have to expose them to something better, and then it might catch."

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks up at Hank, and gives him a little smirk, before he starts the tinkling chords that mark the beginning of 'Cinderella Undercover'. "Like this?" He asks. "When I was young my mind would always wander away, I couldn't talk, never had nothin' to sa-a-a-a-ay~"

Elixir has posed:
"Sorry, Doug, I was a jock in school," Josh says apologetically with a suppressed grin. "I'm not very deep when it comes to music. I think Jonas Brothers were from like, same time as Beethoven? I'm gonna get some coffee and let you guys geek out on music I've never heard of!"

Josh grins and waves to the two and heads out for the kitchen.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy starts nodding in approval with the music, while finishing off the twinkie, and resuming sipping at the coffee. "Yes. Good taste."

Cypher has posed:
It's a little dark, maybe, but sometimes music gets that way. "I like Josh," Doug says, "He has a good heart. But I sometimes think he needs to cultivate his curiosity about life a little bit. Still, you can't make people be something they're not... you just gotta appreciate them for who they are." He remains seated at the piano, looking a little wistful.

"Hank, what's your opinion on Kurzweilian transhumanism?" He asks, musing as he wraps techno-organic fingers around a hot cup of coffee.

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy grabs a place to sit, as he continues to watch the piano, being played, or not. "Depends on what you really mean by that. Descriptive, or proscriptive?"

Cypher has posed:
"Well, you're the most intelligent man I know." Doug says.

"Once upon a time, Warlock and I discussed the risk of permanently being merged into a single being. I was more okay with it than he was. But later, the thought that I might be converted into a techno-organic lifeform and cease to be... well, human, it frightened me." He looks at his hand, black and shiny and threaded with gold circuits. It's pretty. But it's not human.

"Now I don't know."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy smiles. "Well my question means, there are two ways of interpreting transhumanism. One is that, as a general rule, the acceleration of technology is inreasing. Another is, we should strive toward a so-called singularity. I disapprove of the latter."

Cypher has posed:
"Well I was thinking more about his notions of consciousness... what makes us human." Doug says. "I've known people with cybernetics, more man than machine. Some of them were awful, ruthless, evil. But not all of them."

"Am I the original Doug Ramsey, or am I a copy? Does it matter?" He shrugs once, and then says, "I think... the idea of becoming a techno-organic life form doesn't frighten me at all. But the fear I see in other people's eyes... that frightens me. You know what I mean? I mean, you've dealt with transformations and questions of humanity of your own."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy snickers. "In every other episode of Star Trek, Captain Kirk's body was taken apart at the molecular level, and a description of it put into a computer matrix. That matrix was then used to create a copy of his body, molecule by molecule, somewhere else. Was he still Captain Kirk?"

Cypher has posed:
"And Lwaxana Troi traveled from surface to ship by shuttlecraft whenever the option was available because she *hated* the idea of being molecularly disassembled and reassembled someplace else." Doug says, holding up his black and gold finger at Hank in a point. "Even Star Trek couldn't *avoid* the question."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy nods. "The question you're asking isn't about transhumanism. It's about the nature of the soul, and the seat of consciousness. It's as old as humanity. What do you believe?"

Cypher has posed:
"I believe..." Doug says, "That the one thing that makes me uncomfortable is a change to my thinking that might cost me the people I care about. The rest doesn't really matter to me. And if those changes allow me to better serve the cause... my tribe, if you will, then so much the better. I could live with being a techno-organic being... if the people around me could live with me being one." He lets out a sigh, and puts his chin in his hand.

"BUT. It's getting more and more difficult to get a girlfriend. I mean, after this, tinder's right out."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy finishes his coffee, and stands again, folkding his arms. "Who here is having trouble with ... or do yu mean outside of here, and in the rest of society?"

Cypher has posed:
"Well, Sam got used to it fast. Berto was -- startled by it, and not thrilled." Doug admits. "It may have... but that doesn't really matter. And -- yeah. I can cover it up with an image inducer if I have to, or long sleeves and a glove, though it's... weirdly uncomfortable covering it up for long periods of time. I'm still figuring it out." He glances up at Hank, and shrugs. "I'm rolling with it! But enough about me. What's on your table, Doctor McCoy, and how can I help? I'm a helper... says so on my badge and everything."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy sits back, cupping his chin, taking a good, long look at the arm in question. "I have an assignment for you. I'd like you to find a charity that caters to wounded military veterans, and go spend time with them. Many such veternas are like you and have to deal with having parts of their bodies that are not their own. But unlike you, they don't have the whole mutant stigma attached. And yet.. they struggle, before accepting it. I think exposure to others who are dealing with similar problems, might help you."

Cypher has posed:
"You think they'd be okay with this?" Doug asks, "Or should I hide it?" He curls his fingers, and then sighs. "...I appreciate the advice, Hank. I'll do what you ask. I'm working through it, I really am. Seems like we're all working through SOMETHING around here."

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy smiles. "They might... look at that level of technology with suspicion. I suggest adding some sort of camouflage to make it look like a more ordinary prosthetic." (Ed: which are probably pretty advanced these days!)

Cypher has posed:
"I suppose I could use an image inducer to make it look like a piece of Stark Prosthetics." Doug says. He looks back down at the piano. "Thanks, Hank." Then he looks up at the door. "I still can't believe that guy doesn't know who Elton John is. He's not even dead!"

Beast has posed:
Henry McCoy snickers. "I'm sure I could think of musicians you've never heard of. Buck up." He gets up, but then looks back. "And when I say assignment, no pressure. It's more of a suggestion. Take care of yourself."

Cypher has posed:
"I'm well acquainted with your love of Burl Ives, Hank." Doug says, utterly flat." He opens the piano again, and starts playing chords. "Any requests?"