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ax_mainKitty and Tommy take a look at the hard drives they retrieved from The Right facility. They don't get anything - but they come up with a plan.
It was a little strange being in Illyana's room without her there as well, but considering the way they'd left things -- really nebulous, with a side helping of 'Tommy's a jerk,' -- it was probably for the best. Tommy was momentarily still, straddling the back of Illyana's desk chair, his arms folded across the top. His attention -- most of it, anyway -- was taken up by watching Kitty work her geek magic on the computer parts they'd hijacked from the lab. He fought the urge to kick the chair closer or zip around and watch from her other shoulder. The tiny screwdrivers looked pointy enough to take out an eye if he bugged her bad enough. "What do you think?" he asked after a moment of silence had passed.
To be honest, it didn't look good. Kitty had already tried getting info off of the drives with her own equipment and had found them fried, like someone had taken a giant electromagnet to them. Her only hope was to try and manually get a few fragments off of the disk itself. She wiped at her scraped, itchy cheek and went back to pulling the casing off. "Look, they did a number on them. Whatever it is they did."
"The one we ran into said she fried everything. Given the way she zapped me, it had to be something electric. It felt kind of like..." he trailed off. "Not like I think lightning would be, I didn't burn. But like current. Or... muscle contractions and crazy cramps. If she did the same thing to the computers-"
"Wait." Kitty dropped her screwdriver and turned toward him with a frown. "Zappy. But not burning." And crampy. Oh god, could someone really be that strong? The color kind of drained from her face a little and she got a superific frown, like her world would never be right again.
"Yeah. Like..." he tried to think back, without thinking too much. Harder than it seemed. "Like when you get a charlie horse in your leg, but everything. All at once." Tommy frowned right back at her. "Why is that a big deal? Don't get me wrong, it sucked royally, but you've turned me intangible before."
She sighed. "Cause it sounds like she can control electromagnetic fields. Even bio-electric ones, which is why you got all charlie horse-y. But it's also why the disks are fried. There's no way I'll get anything off of them. And if they keep beating us to these places, then getting information off of any kind of computer or machinery is a no-go."
"Damn!" Tommy didn't second-guess it; if Kitty said they were fried beyond repair, then they were. He did kick the chair back this time, spun it around while he was still on it and bounced it back off the bed to wind up pretty much where he'd started. "So, what. We have to try and figure out where they're going to be and get there first?" That, or... make friends. That seemed slightly easier, but maybe not safer.
Kitty gave a little nod. "Right."
Then she paused and got a little thinky look on her face. "Unless they took information before they fried it. Which means they have it..."
"It's possible," Tommy admitted. "We have no idea how long they were there before they started blowing things up. What's'er'name was spilling some things, but not that." He frowned at her again. "If this is about blowing up locations, then I'd say whatever - have at. The fewer of those places in the world the better. But if it's about survivors, and finding them first..."
Kitty chewed on the inside of her cheek. "If we could find out where their home base is, I could sneak in and get the information."
He nodded along with the idea. "How would we do that, though? Unless you managed to get a gps tracker on them or something. They've got a teleporter, so depending on their range they could literally be anywhere in the world."
She pursed her lips, her thinky look getting deeper. "Doesn't hurt for me to brew a tracker up...just in case we run into them again. Right?"
"Seems like sound strategy to me." The restlessness got to be too much and he bounced up from the chair, took a quick tour around to look at the pieces open on her workdesk. "Are you okay, by the way?" He glanced at her along with the subject change. "I know it wasn't exactly a fight, but you don't strike me as the kind of person used to getting involved in schoolyard rumbles."
Kitty frowned, but looked over at him, a grim determination in her eyes. "I was worse off after the Museum thing. Now...now I'm going to find a way to do this my way. Besides, that girl blasted me for no good reason, and there's no way I'm letting them get away with all of my info. Not for long."
He almost didn't parse that properly - her information? But she hadn't been a test subject- then he realized where, exactly, the possessiveness was coming in to the equation. "I knew I liked you," he offered instead. "How can I help?"
"Hm," Kitty looked thinky again. "I may need you to get the tracker onto someone, if we get near them. With your speed, they might not even notice. Except...would the wind you kick up give it away?"
Tommy considered it, but had to reluctantly nod. "Yeah, probably. I can be sneaky or I can be super-fast, but not both at the same time. But I don't need to use my speed to pick a pocket, especially if it's just putting something in."
And to show off--because unlike his powers this was something he'd worked at to learn, thank you very much--he snagged the mini-screwdriver out of the pocket of her shorts. Then he handed it back.
Kitty's eyes widened. "Okay. That's even more cool than your superspeed."
Tommy made a show of bowing. "I also pick locks. It turns out juvie's not a complete waste of time."
Kitty didn't say that juvie shouldn't be time at all, but held that in, instead reaching to take her screwdriver back. "Okay. So I'll let you know when the tracker is ready. Until then, keep your ear to the ground about those guys, okay?"
"Yeah." He lingered a moment longer rather than zipping off immediately, though his legs were itching to move. "If you need an extra pair of hands-" eh. She didn't want him kicking around, filling up her space. "Never mind. Catch you later."
"Hey," Kitty reached out to grab for his arm, hoping to catch him before he zipped off. "Wait."
Tommy paused, glancing down at the hand around his arm. "I gave the screwdriver back."
"Extra pair of hands, right?" Kitty asked, remembering how he'd watched her when she was playing with his controller. If he was really interested in electronics, then she wasn't about to turn down the help. "I have a bunch of phones I need to update for the other students, on top of making this tracker. Think you can do a little detail work if I show you what to do? We could get everything done faster."
One of his eyebrows went up, just for an instant, waiting for the punchline. It didn't come. And he smiled. "Yeah. I can do that."
Kitty nodded. "Meet me here on Saturday after lunch and we'll get to work."
Tommy took his hand back and fired off a salute, as flippant and obnoxious as he could make it. "You got it, boss." And smiling, he sped out of the room.
It was a little strange being in Illyana's room without her there as well, but considering the way they'd left things -- really nebulous, with a side helping of 'Tommy's a jerk,' -- it was probably for the best. Tommy was momentarily still, straddling the back of Illyana's desk chair, his arms folded across the top. His attention -- most of it, anyway -- was taken up by watching Kitty work her geek magic on the computer parts they'd hijacked from the lab. He fought the urge to kick the chair closer or zip around and watch from her other shoulder. The tiny screwdrivers looked pointy enough to take out an eye if he bugged her bad enough. "What do you think?" he asked after a moment of silence had passed.
To be honest, it didn't look good. Kitty had already tried getting info off of the drives with her own equipment and had found them fried, like someone had taken a giant electromagnet to them. Her only hope was to try and manually get a few fragments off of the disk itself. She wiped at her scraped, itchy cheek and went back to pulling the casing off. "Look, they did a number on them. Whatever it is they did."
"The one we ran into said she fried everything. Given the way she zapped me, it had to be something electric. It felt kind of like..." he trailed off. "Not like I think lightning would be, I didn't burn. But like current. Or... muscle contractions and crazy cramps. If she did the same thing to the computers-"
"Wait." Kitty dropped her screwdriver and turned toward him with a frown. "Zappy. But not burning." And crampy. Oh god, could someone really be that strong? The color kind of drained from her face a little and she got a superific frown, like her world would never be right again.
"Yeah. Like..." he tried to think back, without thinking too much. Harder than it seemed. "Like when you get a charlie horse in your leg, but everything. All at once." Tommy frowned right back at her. "Why is that a big deal? Don't get me wrong, it sucked royally, but you've turned me intangible before."
She sighed. "Cause it sounds like she can control electromagnetic fields. Even bio-electric ones, which is why you got all charlie horse-y. But it's also why the disks are fried. There's no way I'll get anything off of them. And if they keep beating us to these places, then getting information off of any kind of computer or machinery is a no-go."
"Damn!" Tommy didn't second-guess it; if Kitty said they were fried beyond repair, then they were. He did kick the chair back this time, spun it around while he was still on it and bounced it back off the bed to wind up pretty much where he'd started. "So, what. We have to try and figure out where they're going to be and get there first?" That, or... make friends. That seemed slightly easier, but maybe not safer.
Kitty gave a little nod. "Right."
Then she paused and got a little thinky look on her face. "Unless they took information before they fried it. Which means they have it..."
"It's possible," Tommy admitted. "We have no idea how long they were there before they started blowing things up. What's'er'name was spilling some things, but not that." He frowned at her again. "If this is about blowing up locations, then I'd say whatever - have at. The fewer of those places in the world the better. But if it's about survivors, and finding them first..."
Kitty chewed on the inside of her cheek. "If we could find out where their home base is, I could sneak in and get the information."
He nodded along with the idea. "How would we do that, though? Unless you managed to get a gps tracker on them or something. They've got a teleporter, so depending on their range they could literally be anywhere in the world."
She pursed her lips, her thinky look getting deeper. "Doesn't hurt for me to brew a tracker up...just in case we run into them again. Right?"
"Seems like sound strategy to me." The restlessness got to be too much and he bounced up from the chair, took a quick tour around to look at the pieces open on her workdesk. "Are you okay, by the way?" He glanced at her along with the subject change. "I know it wasn't exactly a fight, but you don't strike me as the kind of person used to getting involved in schoolyard rumbles."
Kitty frowned, but looked over at him, a grim determination in her eyes. "I was worse off after the Museum thing. Now...now I'm going to find a way to do this my way. Besides, that girl blasted me for no good reason, and there's no way I'm letting them get away with all of my info. Not for long."
He almost didn't parse that properly - her information? But she hadn't been a test subject- then he realized where, exactly, the possessiveness was coming in to the equation. "I knew I liked you," he offered instead. "How can I help?"
"Hm," Kitty looked thinky again. "I may need you to get the tracker onto someone, if we get near them. With your speed, they might not even notice. Except...would the wind you kick up give it away?"
Tommy considered it, but had to reluctantly nod. "Yeah, probably. I can be sneaky or I can be super-fast, but not both at the same time. But I don't need to use my speed to pick a pocket, especially if it's just putting something in."
And to show off--because unlike his powers this was something he'd worked at to learn, thank you very much--he snagged the mini-screwdriver out of the pocket of her shorts. Then he handed it back.
Kitty's eyes widened. "Okay. That's even more cool than your superspeed."
Tommy made a show of bowing. "I also pick locks. It turns out juvie's not a complete waste of time."
Kitty didn't say that juvie shouldn't be time at all, but held that in, instead reaching to take her screwdriver back. "Okay. So I'll let you know when the tracker is ready. Until then, keep your ear to the ground about those guys, okay?"
"Yeah." He lingered a moment longer rather than zipping off immediately, though his legs were itching to move. "If you need an extra pair of hands-" eh. She didn't want him kicking around, filling up her space. "Never mind. Catch you later."
"Hey," Kitty reached out to grab for his arm, hoping to catch him before he zipped off. "Wait."
Tommy paused, glancing down at the hand around his arm. "I gave the screwdriver back."
"Extra pair of hands, right?" Kitty asked, remembering how he'd watched her when she was playing with his controller. If he was really interested in electronics, then she wasn't about to turn down the help. "I have a bunch of phones I need to update for the other students, on top of making this tracker. Think you can do a little detail work if I show you what to do? We could get everything done faster."
One of his eyebrows went up, just for an instant, waiting for the punchline. It didn't come. And he smiled. "Yeah. I can do that."
Kitty nodded. "Meet me here on Saturday after lunch and we'll get to work."
Tommy took his hand back and fired off a salute, as flippant and obnoxious as he could make it. "You got it, boss." And smiling, he sped out of the room.
