Logs:Gordian Knot

Gordian Knot
Dramatis Personae Cerebro, Scott
In Absentia Halim, Joshua, Charles, Hive	2024-04-17 Do you need me to repeat anything? With smaller words?
Location the airwaves at xavier's
About an hour and a half after the training session, a rapid series of messages ping Scott's phone. (Cerebro -> Scott): Are your school evacuation plans updated to account for the size of the student body? (Cerebro -> Scott): And to account for a hostile technopath? (Cerebro -> Scott): If not, then you might want to dust them off It takes Scott about two minutes to respond. (Scott -> Cerebro): Yes to hostile technopath after last year's panic button blip. No to updated size of student body. I can put together a new plan and run some drills. Would probably piss off anyone trying to give midterms this week. A full thirty seconds pass before: (Scott -> Cerebro): You have some bad news for me, I take it. The reply comes less than a second after Scott hits send. (Cerebro -> Scott): It's not "immediately evacuate the school" bad (Cerebro -> Scott): But it can't hurt to be prepared (Cerebro -> Scott): Do you know Halim Tawadros? (Cerebro -> Scott): Wait, let me back up (Cerebro -> Scott): I was investigating some abnormal Sentinel activity and encountered this technopath working for the DHS (Cerebro -> Scott): That's not the bad news part, I know what I'm fucking doing (Cerebro -> Scott): Oh actually now it is kind of relevant to know if you know Halim Tawadros (Cerebro -> Scott): Reverse that back-up (Scott -> Cerebro): I'll run the drills anyway. What kind of abnormal Sentinel activity, did this happen around the school? The name is ringing a bell, if I keep thinking about it it'll come to me. (Scott -> Cerebro): I remembered it. One of Jackson's team. (Cerebro -> Scott): Abnormal like "I didn't spot them until they were almost on top of us, but luckily for us they were on their way to kill the shit out of the Brotherhood instead" (Cerebro -> Scott): I guess you don't realize how abnormal that is, but I trust me (Cerebro -> Scott): I'm extremely good at what I do There is a minute pause that would not be noticeable except that the other messages arrived almost simultaneously. (Cerebro -> Scott): This guy is better (Cerebro -> Scott): Also he's working for HAMMER now Scott takes a little time to produce this next message. (Scott -> Cerebro): I see. Are the kids in danger right now? (Cerebro -> Scott): I don't know (Cerebro -> Scott): Maybe not immediately, because I think he's under psionic compulsion but still has some...free will (Cerebro -> Scott): Or whatever (Cerebro -> Scott): But the Brotherhood might try to kill him anyway he's really dangerous (Cerebro -> Scott): Oh and he breached my network and might know what I am (Cerebro -> Scott): That's a Bad Thing. This is all Very Bad and I don't know what to do (Scott -> Cerebro): What you are? (Cerebro -> Scott): There's this meme I've been holding onto for 20 years, but I think it would be wasted on you (Cerebro -> Scott): The important part is: if the feds find out, they will come after me (Cerebro -> Scott): Please believe me (Scott -> Cerebro): Where do you work from? I can fly out and get you, let you stay at the school while we figure this out. (Cerebro -> Scott): I work from here and I can't leave (Cerebro -> Scott): I mean I haven't tried in like 30 years (Cerebro -> Scott): But my life support system is huge and complex and if it's disrupted I will die (Cerebro -> Scott): Again Scott gives up on texting and hits "Call". Ring ring ring. The call hardly gets through the first ring before it's picked up. "You are the only autistic I know who prefers phone calls," Cerebro's voice on the other end is much clearer than is usual for voice calls, "and I know blind autistics. Do you need me to repeat anything? With smaller words?" Scott takes this probable insult in his stride. "Hey, Cerebro," probably he just can't initiate a phone call without a greeting. "Is your life support system the computer? -- I thought that was already broken. What exactly did this Halim guy get a look at, is there a way to tell? System... logs?" The last sentence is a half-hearted, off-the-cuff guess. "No," the sysadmin says at once and then, faintly exasperated, "well, yes but not the one that's broken. Not just the one that's broken only. What the fuck do you think runs the Danger Room? And have you ever wondered why Hank won't let you peek under the hood?" Another minute pause. "Other than the fact that he's a pompous dickbag. Obviously." There is a pause on the other end of the line before Scott says, faintly embarrassed, "Figured it was just Hank being Hank. I don't think I ever asked, either, computers aren't my thing. Okay --" Now he resumes his more natural commanding tone. "Walk me through what happened." Cere huffs, not entirely without humor. "To be frank, it probably was mostly Hank being Hank, with a small side -- nay, garnish of respecting my wishes." There's really no acrimony in this, just a kind of comfortable fatalism. "Fine, brisk walkthrough only. So what happened was I told someone Halim was alive -- someone trustworthy -- and they accidentally took one of my drones to him who, being a stupid powerful technopath and also a douchebag, hacked said drone, which aforementioned trustworthy person then brought back here inside my fucking defenses, if only briefly." He says all of this at a somewhat normal pace rendered surreal because he never really pauses, not even to take a breath. "Anyways, I sandboxed him -- that's like quarantine -- with a quickness, but he did get a glimpse of my network only. How much of a glimpse is an open question, because the relevant system logs are on the drone only, which is in another dimension now." "Hmm." Scott probably just said this to acknowledge that he heard all that, for it's a little while before he clears his throat to continue. "You told Joshua," is what he says first; this is only a guess but he seems to think it is a good one. There's no blame in his tone, at least; he's as matter-of-fact as he would be diagnosing an engine. "Okay. There's no signal in that other dimension -- thing, so do you think if he brought the drone back it would have disconnected Halim, or would you both be -- hmm." Another pause, then Scott says, his tone very measured, "What do you think would be the easiest solution? Gordian knot. Do you think we could just -- go talk to him?" "I don't snitch," Cere says, prim and maybe just a little miffed. "Also, how the hell do you know so much about --" Okay, more than a little miffed. "-- actually, not important right now. I got booted from the drone only when the drone got booted from this dimension. I want to say the same should apply to Halim also, but for all I know he's out there exploring strange new universes. In my drone." Is that jealousy? It sure sounds like jealousy. "I don't think actually there is an easy solution, but if you want to Gordian knot about it, he's having an apartment in Arlington, Virginia. Do bear in mind this fuckwit can hack anything with a signal and some things without, also." That's definitely jealousy. He takes a deep breath -- the first audible one in this call. "I know I'm being a wanker, but I was actually trying to help. I fear he is in danger and we also, because -- and I cannot stress this enough -- he's been brainwashed and works for a federal agency famous for imprisoning, torturing, and killing mutants only." Scott gives a disparaging snort, but his voice is a little amused when he says, "I'm not snitching either." There's a faint scraping sound in the distance as he adjusts his chair, then, "You were both trying to help, I know that. What makes you think he's in danger, did the Brotherhood find him first?" "Oh no, I found him first." Cerebro manages not to sound too obviously affronted by the implication that he did not. "They know only that he was the one behind Ascension Island. His physical location was discovered on accident less than fifteen minutes ago only, by someone trustworthy." He hesitates, uncharacteristically diffident. "I hadn't even meant to track him down just yet. I doubt it will come so easily to the Brotherhood, but they are surely looking for him also." This pause seems more thoughtful than hesitant. "Besides which, he is in constant danger from his handlers, and possibly even more now. If our encounter led to abnormal cycle or bandwidth usage, that might actually flag him for a code audit. Those are computer words, but to be clear he is not a computer. He has an actual physical body and all." A very brief but very noticeably silent pause. "Don't worry about it." "I am worrying about it." Perhaps this went without saying, and Scott does not justify this in any way. "Do you think the Professor can help him?" "Suit yourself. As regards the brainwashing..." The line goes eerily quiet again as Cere trails off. "Did you know, it's quite hard actually to --" He makes a frustrated noise. "You don't need the gory details. The point is, memory quote-erasure-unquote is messy, and deleting an entire relationship is a lot to mess, yet I saw no signs of tampering where his missing memories should have been." This time he's quiet and not silent. "But some part of him knows he is not free. He told me as much, in a way his handlers weren't like to clock. Chaz has got a lot of tricks up his sleeves, and Hive also. Even if they can't retrieve his past, he should still get a say in his future." Scott is quiet for a moment -- "An entire relationship?" he repeats. "Is Joshua --" he evidently sees this as a useless thing to ask, and drops it. When he speaks again his voice is a little muffled -- his chin is in his hand. "Okay," he says. "Then, we have to try."