9212/Computers are your friends. Noisy ones.

Computers are your friends. Noisy ones.
Date of Scene:	15 September 2019
Location:	Computer Lab - Xavier's School
Synopsis:	Meeting a kindred soul. Hackers Unite!
Cast of Characters:	Samuel Morgan, Smart Alek

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Samuel Morgan has posed:
    'Special'. It's a word that often comes with connotations, and Sam bears the title with the same stoicism as he has everything else in the past few months and years. But it highlights the necessity of doing things in increments, of pacing himself... of the staff member that escorted him into the computer lab and discreetly stands not too far away in case intervention is required.

    It was, in short, time to overcome another hurdle. For a second, Sam hovers on the treshold of the lab, about to suggest they take him back to his room, when he mentally chastises himself for a coward and walks in. The pull of the place is immense, the chatter that he's sure nobody but he himself can hear. With great care, he seats himself at a desk, as far away from the door as he can manage, and with his back to a wall.

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek enters the Lab, He moves along the aisle and notices Samuel in the back, he blinks a bit... He pauses there a few computers down from him. His softly glowing blue eyes seem to flicker between Samuel and the computer and back again. The staff member nearby steps closer and asks, "Anything wrong Alek?" He nods a bit, "That's my usual .. I'll sit here instead." As he counts a few computers down the way and sits down, He glances again over to Samuel, "Hi. The E key is a little sticky, the monitor has a dead pixel 3 from the left and 1 from the top of the screen. No one notices it I think, but I did." He states as he looks back to the computer in front of him.. it boots without him touching it.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Oh, thank you. I... wasn't planning on using the keyboard." Or the monitor, for that matter, but Sam thinks it might be best to tell people the whole truth in increments. His own blue eyes look over to Alek, even as on the monitor of his computer the login screen skips towards the desktop. And then he notices the odd thing... reaching out with a sense that he's sure nobody else shares to find out how Alek's system suddenly booted without being touched. Could it be?

Smart Alek has posed:
    It's actually obvious to someone else with similar ability to listen to the digital chatter around them. Alek seems to be emitting digital signals. Alek cants his neck a moment as well.. "I don't use the keyboard usually either.. I just like to touch things.. helps me understand things better. How do you use your computer?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Kind of... in the back of my mind." It sure seems as if Sam's system is doing things by itself, and the teenager is looking at Alek with what seems to be like a genuine smile. "Also, hi. I'm Sam, joined a few days ago. They reckon I'm a technopath."

Smart Alek has posed:
    "Technopath. They said that about me too... My only friends have been electrons for a while... I finally found some people that attempt to understand me here. I'm Alek." He seems to take a moment to review something, "Wait you can hear them too? The cell phones, computers, fire alarm?" his eyes dart around the room, "It's noisy isn't it?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Phones, tablets, computers, thermostats, the fire alarm... everything. I can feel them, I can hear them..." Sam agrees, relaxing in his seat. By now he's turning entirely to face Alek rather than the screen of his computer, although it seems to be churning through a lot of the introductory materials for the school. "Gets to be too loud sometimes. Is there... is there a place we can go that's away from all the noise? Away from the wi-fi too, gives me a headache from time to time."

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek smirks a bit, "I found a spot in the basement which seems to have walls that absorb radiowaves.. I have a few theories why they do, but it keeps the Wifi noise out. I can show you the spot, give your brain a break." he turns as well to look at Sam, it's sort of that drag racing scene where the two drag races are looking at each other and not driving. His computer seems to be flipping through various websites.. from the chatter, you can guess he's looking for mentions of other technopaths in the news.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "I'd like that. And there's a few strange spots around the school that I've found, some pretty strange machinery built into a few places that... really shouldn't be there." Should he mention the heavy duty hydraulics under the basketball court? Sam wants to, but... he still doesn't know who he can trust, and how much they an be trusted. But he does pick up on the sites being browsed, even as he's working his way through as much information as he can find about Xavier's school. "Oh, ehm... you won't find me like that. Not that I'm aware of anyway." Meaning whatever caused him to be discovered for some reason didn't make the news.

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek hmms a bit, "Yeah, some strange machinery... we are some very strange people too." he pauses a moment, "Probably not paid for a coke, telephone call, or a snack in a while huh? Those machines aren't very chatty and very obedient aren't they?"

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "They.. didn't have any of those where I come from." It's not a lie, just not the entire truth. For the first time since coming to the school, Sam feels self conscious about his circumstances. Here's someone just like him, almost exactly like him, and he doesn't want to waste the opportunity by scaring Alek away. "At least they're not like automatic doors, they're so full of themselves..."

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek says, "Yeah... the sonics they emit, it's distracting.. though I have to say.. it feels.. good? Kinda like taking a shower when I walk through it." His thoughts are racing now.. indeed he's found a kindred spirit, "You meet Doug yet? He's... similar to us, he seems to understand things without learning them.""

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Another smile and a nod. "Yeah, I've met him. He and Sam picked me up from..." And just in time, Sam manages to stop himself from blurting it all out. It's deceptively easy to talk to Alek, less on his guard the entire time. "Can't say I hear the sonics I'm afraid. I know the emitter is there, I can feel it, I just can't feel the waves themselves. Must be nice."

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek says, "Yes and No..." he sighs, "I don't know what other people see at times... nor hear. I taste the bleach used to clean the cutting boards in the kitchen. Though, it's not like 'taste', it's more like... well, yeah.. sense." He leans back, "We're so similar... I wonder how close our DNA matches..." he glances back over to Samuel, "Yeah.. that's too forward to ask to share your DNA with me... " He blushes, "I mean, I just need to touch your hand.""

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    It's like a portcullis is slammed in front of Sam, his smile evaporates in that one instant. "That's probably a very bad idea." It would, in fact, be and absolutely abysmal idea, but he can't exactly tell Alek why, not without going into full detail about why he's on special status in the first place. Best to risk offense than to ruin any chance of a friendship altogether. "But... yeah, I've never met anyone similar. It's actually a bit of a relief to know I'm not all alone, you know?"

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek nods, "I'm sorry.." he looks down at his hand.. "It is kinda probing, forgive me." He nods aggressively, "When I met Doug, I thought I had met someone finally that could understand me.. Now, I've met another." He looks back to his Computer now... he's found indeed someone like him, what do you talk to yourself about?

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Now is, perhaps, the one time to try the thing he has always wanted to try. Ever since he first knew vaguely what he was capable of, Sam always wondered if it were possible. With a smile, he sends a text file to Alek's system, without actually creating a proper file for it, existing only as a random collection of code for a moment. <How about talking between ourselves in a way nobody else can hear?>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek raises an eyebrow as he sees the movement of binary to make the message, he adds to it <Of Course. Passing Notes In Class.. I like it> He grins as he glances to the minder, and then over at his computer, which he then pops up a minecraft window to make it appear that he's no longer communicating with Samuel.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
Samuel turns in his seat and focuses on the screen he doesn't need to see, but stares at it with interest regardless. A casual observer would think he's quite happy to read about the history of Breakstone and Westchester. <Ever heard of a Laura Kinney? They want me to talk to her.>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek thinks a bit as he mines some redstone <Nope, never heard of her. I.. have a small circle of people I talk with. I generally only interact I had with people was the online gaming tournaments before here. Do you know why they want you to talk to her?>

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    There must be a lot of history to Westchester, certainly there is to Salem, because Sam is entirely engrossed in the minutiae. <Miss Grey thinks we have similar enough backgrounds that we should meet.>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek can spend hours upon hours playing minecraft, so.. nothing surprising as he digs endless rows of mineshafts looking for diamond <She a technopath too?>

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    <No, I don't think so.> And, to be honest, that's about all Sam knows about her anyway. And rather than continue the conversation, he goes on a completely different tack. <Is that a game you're playing?>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek continues playing the rather 'simple' looking game <Yep, Minecraft, been playing since Beta. I guess you never played it? It's kinda like a lego set.>

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Now there's a memory... For moment Sam wonders if his old lego set is still in Virginia, long enough for the computer to look up prices for legos before he rapidly gets it back onto the previous page. <Never had much time to play games. Maybe you could teach me?>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek blinks a bit <Wow, a techopath without gaming is like a day without sunshine, of course I'll help anyway I can. What did you do with your time then? You spend it testing usernames and passwords.>

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    There's a smile on Sam's face, for no apparent reason. <The gym. I spend a lot of time in the gym.>

Smart Alek has posed:
Alek shakes his head a bit <Not spent a day in the Gym in my life. I spent most of my days in various libraries and electronic stores. Well, at least your on my side in a fight right?>

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    <You can bet on that.> And then some. It's not every day that Sam actually makes friends... anyone picking on Alek is going to quickly regret it.