ArchivedLogs:Re-Inventing the Wheel

Re-Inventing the Wheel
Dramatis Personae Kisha, Sebastian
In Absentia	2013-07-03 '
Location <XS> Computer Lab
All modernism in contrast to the old-world elegance of most of the mansion, this room has been dragged into the twenty-first century wholeheartedly. Rows of top-of-the-line computers provide internet access to any students who lack their own in their rooms, and sleek tablets give the mansion's artists a place to practice their digital art when the art studio does not suffice. Whether knuckling down to pull an all-nighter on a research paper or simply killing time browsing, students can be found in here at all hours in front of the glows of the screens. Sometimes you just need to borrow a bunch of hardware. For those times you just have to raid the schools computer room. Kisha, in desperate need of screen space, has hooked her hat up to four of the biggest monitors the school has to offer and seems to be sat doing nothing? Arms crossed and foot tapping she simply sits, hat on, staring. STARE. Sebastian is quiet as he slips in to the room. Not nearly so flamboyant as his usual, it is difficult really to tell him apart from his brother by sight; plain grey Xavier's tee shirt, plain khaki cargo shorts, no shoes, backpack on his back. Except it becomes easier when he actually diverts from his path to veer towards Kisha instead, with interest. "What are you doing?" He peers at the monitors curiously. Kisha barely blinks at the question, then after a few moment she smiles. "I'm typing. What does it look like? Possibly like I am sitting on my scrawny ass doing nothing? If so then mission accomplished!" She drums her fingers on the desk. "I ran into Tony Stark while I was on the tour and asked him for tips on brain computer interfaces. I've /finally/ got it working just about right. I just wanted to try various screen configurations to make sure I could perfect the drivers for my other /other/ new project." Under normal circumstances probably the mention of Tony Stark would send Sebastian into a fit of fanboy geeking but this time he just nods, peering at the hat and then at the screens. "I see him sometimes," he says with a little bit of distraction, "what can you do with it?" His brows raise. "-- What other project?" "You do? I heard talk that Peter has a job there now," Kisha notes idly, tilting her head. "This thing? It's basically set up to act like a multibutton mouse. I can move the cursor, select things and I have a few custom keybinds. Generally so I can do some very basic coding tasks without using a horribly slow virtual keyboard." She shrugs. "My other /other/ project is making a ultra secure USB disk which lets me boot a custom operating system on any machine I can plug it into. Encryption and extreme electronic paranoia options to the... I was going to say gills, but that seems strangely weird considering you have them." "I have a job there, now," Sebastian says with a small tip of his head. "You know, there's actually a lot more really cool things you can do with -- well, I guess you'd need to change your operating system even /more/ to synch it right but if you're building your own anyway --" Sebastian huffs out a quiet laugh, his gills flaring briefly. He presses them down with his fingertips. "Do you have something to hide, or do you just want to be on th safe side?" "That's a co-incidence," Kisha says, curiosity beginning to set in. "Of course I have things to hide, don't you? And for the record I know there is more it can do, but I have very limited processing power. So simplicity is best. It's designed to go with a machine that fits inside a pocket watch case." "No it isn't, I introduced him to TonyStark." Sebastian smiles at the question, small and amused. "What would I have to hide? My life's been plastered all over TV." He slips his backpack off his shoulder, dropping down to sit in a seat nearby. "You know, one of the most important parts of security -- computer or otherwise -- is having a realistic threat assessment. I don't need to build the Treasury vault if I'm protecting my little brother's piggy bank." Kisha chuckles. "The thing is.... I have everything to hide," she notes dryly. "I have friends who are mutants, notes on what they can do and how I might be able to assist with technology. Then I have all my research notes, including things which are probably state secrets. Plus we live somewhere which is at a high risk of an anti-mutant raid. Do you really need me to go on ?" "Nope. But you know our school /already/ --" Sebastian starts, but then just shakes his head. He gets back up from his seat, picking his backpack up again and shouldering it. "Just kind of seems like reinventing the wheel. But I guess that's kinda your --" His nose wrinkles apologetically, head shaking. "-- Nevermind. Um." He glances at Kisha's hat, and then slings his other backpack strap over his other shoulder, taking a step back. "Sorry. I didn't -- shouldn't interrupt." Kisha turns. "I don't re-invent the wheel," she says with a shrug. "More like I just borrow the original schematic. As for the school security can you honestly say it's flawless? We've had more than a dozen kidnappings, your own included." Her head tilts, then she finally takes the hat off. "Are you okay? You are acting /strangely/. As if you either think you have offended me or you find my reasoning offensive somehow." "I don't think any of that is really a problem with the school's cybersecurity. We were stolen from the city. That would be like blaming the sysadmin because you printed out your emails and left them on your coffee table." Sebastian's gills flare open, fluttering for a moment and then flattening again. "Sorry," he says with a slight darkening of cheeks, "I think I just sort of assume I offend everyone lately." Kisha raises an eyebrow. "Something up? I suppose I can offer an objective point of view," she ventures. "Although my people skills are considered to be somewhat lacking. The device in question was something I intended to carry with me off school grounds. If someone tried to kidnap me there'd be little I could do to stop them, which means my devices have to be secure enough that if they fall into the wrong hands they don't reveal anything important." "I can't really argue with that." Sebastian's lips twitch wryly. "Kidnapping is pretty much an extracurricular around here this year. I was thinking of starting a club. Teach kidnapping survival skills." His fingers wring at the strap of his backpack, claws prickling into it. "Nothing's -- up, really, I just. Make a lot of people uncomfortable lately. Um. Since --" The smile curls a little wider, but there's not much /cheer/ to it. "Since forever, I guess. Since biting Ivan. Since Stark's press conference especially, though." Kisha aaaaahs. "The video," she says knowingly. "That has probably made many of the newer students uncomfortable? It does not worry me if that makes you feel any better. I am not an especially good meal and the kitchen is within easy walking range. What're you working on as a Stark intern?" Robotics I expect?" "It made a lot of people uncomfortable, judging by --" Sebastian's brows furrow, and he shakes his head. His blush deepens. "I'm not an intern," he says, a little bashfully. "He just hired us as. Um. Just /hired/ us. As regular employees. In R&D. I work a lot with robotics and AI and oh my /god/ some of the things they have in the labs --" He bounces where he stands, his expression actually lighting for a moment. "I think you'd probably just want to /camp/ in there a while." "Why would I camp? I don't sleep," Kisha points out, flipping her hat over and pulling out the inner workings. "I have some idea what it must be like. I've taken the tour so often they know me by name. I wouldn't mind a Stark grade AI. Software is the one area I am lagging behind in... I have to actually self teach myself everything as I go. Just as well I have so much study time." "Yeah, but they keep all the really exciting stuff out of sight and protected by guards and a pretty restrictive NDA," Sebastian says with a wrinkle of his nose. And then, "I can help," he offers, with a deeper blush. "With the software. I can't really hold a candle to what you do with hardware but with the programming of it --" He shrugs a shoulder, shifting a little awkwardly from one foot to the other. "I think I could help." Kisha digs her hand in her pocket and pulls out the rest of her computer creation. "I made the case using tungsten carbide. Probably the most expensive and awkward part but I would bet you couldn't scratch it with a sledge hammer." She flips the case open, then snaps it shut again. "That might be helpful. I frequently find myself using open source solutions from the internet, but there are limits to what people will give away for free. I confess I had been thinking of a notion.... Like a secret wikipage for the fellow students who are into science. So we could collaberate on things in a safe, discreet space that not even the teachers can pry into." "That wouldn't be so hard to set up," Sebastian muses, and now he is taking his seat again. He pulls a tablet out of his backpack, turning on the screen. "And I don't /think/ it's even against rules technically, I mean. There's not rules against /science/, right?" He is tapping at his screen with one hand, but his other is reaching questioningly for Kisha's device. "Can I see?" There is a look of decided interest replacing his previous awkwardness. It is /probably/ about to be Nerd O'Clock.