Eye for an Ally

Summary:
March 11, 2015: The Dread Pirate Rose Wilson needs an eye upgrade…

Xavier Mansion

Living Room - a room to the rear of the mansion with access to the yard by way of a porch and french doors.


Characters

NPCs

  • None

Mood Music:
[*<http://insert.video.or.music.link.here>]


It is a few hours after their conversation with Remy and Doug (and Rose's first Danger Room session with Sentinels). Lunch was had, and since Mike and Lunair were in the grounds, Nate asked them to come to talk. They arrived in time for the coffee. There is also beers and ice cream on the table. "Good to see you, Mike, Luna," he invites them to sit down, "we wanted to ask a couple things."


The gold-skinned robot guy has been spending more time than usual at the Mansion, since there are things here that he has to look at and help with, but he's also becoming somewhat used to traveling out here a lot. At Nate's invitation, he has joined the others, but he doesn't eat — he just refueled yesterday.

Mike looks at Lunair and then back at Nate, and then at Rose.

"I hope I can answer. If the question is 'can I have a flying car' the answer is 'only if you pay for it.'"


Lunair is probably due for a lecture on why we don't double tap targets with rocket launchers. Which is a thing she does. But she's around. And when she's asked to come talk, she does just that. She looks thoughtful, and a tiny dino pokes out of her hair, then back into it. She smiles faintly at them. "Pleasure is all mine. And sure, what's up?" She goes blank, quiet again.


Rose is opening a beer, flicking the cap to the nearby garbage can and drinking heartily. After getting your ass handed to you by Sentinels and cushioning ones fall in the Danger Room, even though it is simulated the exertion is still felt as well as ghost pains, things she revels in. Pain let's you know you're alive and sometimes… That you still feel.

White hair is freshly showered and braided back in the viking style of corn rows up the sides to mohawk the platinum locks to a long fall down her back, a sweep of white across her face to cover one eye, the other an arctic blue that sweeps over Mike and then lands on Lunair.

"As I told Remy, money is not an issue here… But I did not think of flying car possibilities…" Bottle top now taps in thought against her chin. "How fast?"


Nate has a mug of coffee, but leave the beer within reach, because he will move on it in five minutes. "Hah, I knew she would want a flying car… but that is not the main subject. See, Rose lost an eye about a year ago. I was wondering if you can make cybernetics, Mike."

Then he turns to Lunair. "And I was wondering about what kind of anti-tank weapons you could design for the X-Men. Sentinels are pretty much tanks with legs, and too armored even for many alpha-class super-humans. Calvin made some pretty convincing sims for the Danger Room." He pulls up a laptop from under the table, "I have the specifications here. Lets see if we can figure something out, hmm?"


"The one I made for Scott can hit 550 miles an hour," Mike confides to Rose. He looks at her curiously.

"Cyber-eye? Maybe. My first manifestation of my mutation was when parts of my body began spontaneously turning into cybernetic replacements. In one case, my eye, when someone punched me. So it depends on how badly damaged the optic nerve was… how did you lose the eye?"

He's curious about the thing Nate's showing to Lunair, though, so he detaches his left hand, which scuttles over, a camera growing out of the back of it, to snoop the schematics. It may even ride on Lunair's shoulder if she (and the dinosaur which may or may not inhabit her hairstyle) will allow it.

Where the stump would be, he grows a sort of scanner device so he can look at Rose's eye-socket if it gets that far.


Lunair listens. She smiles a little at talk of a flying car. She'll probably get something non-alcoholic. "After I zapped Hawkeye with the nudity ray, I guess I'm kinda banned from drinking." One can only imagine the horrors an unleashed twerker could do. She doesn't seem bothered by Rose or Vikings and smiles to Rose. Even. Really. "Flying cars are cool." Yes. She's still weapons grade awkward.

She falls quiet as Nate talks to her. Headtilt. Hmmm. "I guess it depends. They are probably all kinds of EMP proof. You could vibrate them," Giggle, "use extreme temperature, simple explosives, and so on. Your best bet might me electromagnetic forces themselves." And Lunair would totally put party hats on the damn things. "But sure, I'll look." Yes. She will!

She goes quiet at talk of Rose's missing eye. Lunair doesn't seem bothered by bits of Mike walking onto her shoulder. "Hi." Cheep. Her tiny dinosaur walks over, perhaps curious. And yes, she giggled at the idea of vibrating Sentinels. Terrible.


"I was stabbed by my brother." Rose states casually, though when Mike seeks to get close and scan her upper lip recoils and she back up a step, which leads to thighs meeting the edge of a table, no further to go and her empty hand is lowering, reaching, feeling. The Rose does not take kindly to having her personal bubble popped.

When her grip finds a way to just take out frustrations with a white knuckled fist on the eave her head snaps back, enough to clear the hair from her face and reveal the black empty socket surrounded in scar tissue. "I've only sported a patch. You can consider me the Dread Pirate Rose. But I think it's tim for an upgrade."

Sipping on the beer she tried to divert her attention to other conversations, distract…

"Doug sad he could work on some software, but the hardware was the costly and more difficult part… Could you upgrade my motorcycle?" Brow perk.


"The nerve should be fine," notes Nate, sipping from the coffee mug. Staring at Mike's mobile hand with some kind of morbid curiosity. "It was a sword, it punctured the ocular globe and destroyed the lens, but didn't go deep."

The data in the laptop does not include full blueprints, just estimated capabilities. Early model Sentinels are not fully EMP-proof, rely on batteries, have slow jets with little autonomy, but are still very tough physically. Latest model capabilities are insane: Non-magnetic materials, include nano-robot repair and re-configuration arrays, adaptive capabilities to situations, super-sonic anti-gravity flight, cold fusion power plants, full EMP shielding, redundant systems, AI-based firewalls against cyberempaths, psychic bafflers, neutralizations systems, forcefields and composite ceramic armor tougher than a battleship. Those monsters look able to take close hits by tac-nukes. It says 'designed to hunt and destroy omega-class mutants' right there.


Mike has to fork a separate consciousness to handle that data. Nate might even notice the slight echo, since Mike's in his most human-like chassis. Metallic gold skin, blue nylon fiber hair, but otherwise as close to an LMD as anything this side of SHIELD R&D. Damn. (Sorry, Mom, it was worth it.) These things could probably make his life very difficult. Maybe even kill him, or as much as one could do to a guy like him.

"Sure," Mike says to Rose. "So, do you need vision restored? I can easily make a prosthetic, but if you want it to be more than that, I'll need to work with someone who's a doctor so I don't mess things up interfacing to your optic nerves. And yeah, I can upgrade motorcycles. I did that for Lunair, not sure if she's noticed yet."

The hand on Luna's shoulder does the "Thing" trick where the index finger reaches out and scritches the wee little dinosaur as it balances on the other fingers.


BLINK. Poor Rose. Lunair looks a bit uncertain. Sympathetic? Processing social input? She looks confused, looking at the laptop. "Geez. Omega-class people? What could I even hope to…" Headshake. "I'll have to think. They probably did make them vibration proof. Well, we should look at one thing at a time," She offers. "While I bet she has the best pirate costume /ever/." Ever. Really. Seriously. She does not want Rose to shiver her timbers. Because sinking boats would suck and so does being stabbed! In the face! "Replacing an eye is no small feat," She offers. She's sitting near the others, talking quietly.

She looks a bit lost, admittedly. She pauses. "Wait, you did -? Cool. Thanks," She nods to Mike. She smiles at the hand scritching the dino. Sir Cheepington seems puzzled.


"It does not have to see. Consider it getting some sense knocked into me this morning, or perhaps knowing things are not what they were, or will they ever be…" Rose's voice drops and she sweeps a hand through her hair, letting it fall back into place over her eye. "It doesn't have to match. I want it to have a use. If I am getting a new eye I am going for broke. If I can see, fine, but I want it to help. Not hinder anymore." A murmur but when Lunair gives her that look, perhaps pity in there her spine straightens and she pushes from the edge of the table, downing the rest of the ber and discarding the bottle to follow up with another.

"Once that is done, we can discuss the bike." Trontastic!


Nate nods to Mike's words, "I think Jean or McCoy can handle the biology parts. But I have heard of folks with advanced cybernetics out there, so it's gotta be possible." Then he smirks at Lunair, "yeah, you would be surprised what people can do against these things when they are backed against a corner. They can be taken down, even by normal humans. Stuff that can take down tanks will affect them. They have some vulnerabilities… like they usually cram all the sensors in the head and if they lose it they become pretty clumsy. And they are so complex that knocking down their main CPU renders them very stupid. Most will shut down. Also, there are masking devices to make them think a mutant is a normal human, and decoys to make them detect there is a mutant where there is just a big bomb."


"What do you want it to do?" Mike asks. Without getting too close to Rose, he takes some closer scans of the orbit with missing eye, using a non-visible-light laser and a red-light laser. Damaged skin around the orbit… she really should have a prosthetic eye in there to prevent infection and keep things from slowly, slowly collapsing anyway. That, he can make. But she'll want to clean things, first.

"OK. I'm summoning a parts bin, since this is going to take some stuff that I don't have in this chassis. If the biology parts match up right, I can give you binocular vision back. I can even add some infrared and low-light function. I'd rather not add offense — it's too easy for someone to hack that kind of thing and make it into a liability to you."

The parts bin launches from a depot in Salem Center. Mike has been stashing bits and pieces of useful tech all over the place.

The hand hops down and thing-walks over to the table and starts projecting a holographic image of an eyeball - sort of an eyeball. The image is slightly transparent, but one can see as it rezzes up different systems.


It wasn't pity! Lunair tilts her head. She pauses. "If you start shooting eye lasers, that would be both cool and scary." Pew. Lunair does seem to like Rose well enough. Even if it is apparent she struggles like a stuck duck. "Well, I guess that's true." Ehmm. "I bet it'll be cool no matter what." She believes. For whatever reason.

Lunair goes quiet a moment. "I think it should do what you wish it to, be it sight or lasers or whatever. I don't get the feeling you deserve to lose your sight," She pauses. "I should probably get hit for saying that."

Hmm. Lunair listens at his words. "Hmm. That makes sense." Ponder. "I'll think about it. But I think today is eye day. Laser day? Pirate Girlfriend Appreciation Day? I forget these things. But, have you met my dinosaur?" She genuinely tries, even if she's awkward enough to get shot into the Middle East and considered a conversational attack.


"I already lost the eye, Lun. Nate and… friends taught me how to balance and function without, it'd be all new again to regain it after this much time. I can do without sight if it is additional or will hinder.." As Mike speaks about his own advancements to it she nods. Lasers would be cool! That gets the snap of her gaze toward sher once more in appreciation and debate.

"Infrared, night, perhaps scans, in depth analysis, if I want the feed of what is being 'seen' to go to others.." Rose pauses and smirks. "As I said. I am going for broke, if it can fit in an eyeball sized machine… I want it. I am but a human. Help me get some wings." In saying as much her arms spread at her sides, palms out as if she was expressing empty handedness.

Rose is more than human, but to Sentinels and omega mutants, she goes squish too. Not only Luna and Mike get metal perks!


Nate snorts at the 'but human' part. As if humans are not dangerous enough. And Rose is physically equal to Wolverine. On the other hand, he will also feel better if the girl goes to battle with more than a pair of steel swords and light armor.

"Hey, we already have Cyclops for the eye lasers," he notes. No copying Scott's powers; that would be rude. Luna and her dinosaur get an odd look. "Alright, that about the eye," he watches at the hologram forming. Probably too technical for him, but cool to watch. "Now, about weaponry. Both for the Sentinels and… has Scott given you the no-killing allowed speech already?"


"Wings too?" Mike asks Rose, grinning. "You don't have the neural centers in your brain for those, but if you've spent enough time hang-gliding, I could fake it. I know a good wing design."

And yes, Tony Stark would have a fit and a half if Mike "liberated" the Falconwing design he learned by repairing Falcon's wings, just for Rose. But then the design doesn't work very well for 99 out of 100 test pilots, so there is that.

"I'm Red Team, I know the drill, Nate. Also, my mother would be incredibly upset with me. And Papao would slap me with a wrench. OK, adding basic self-repair systems to the design here and here - and a heads-up info system … I could give you Lex-o-Vision, everybody hates those little eyeglass camera things. Oh. That reminds me. How much memory do you want it to have? My eyes are good for a week's worth of visual and audio recording."

Yes, his eyes can record audio. Because sometimes he takes one out and puts it on a shelf where it can watch things. Don't judge.

"Oops. Mansion defenses, that's mine, not a hostile missile, please stop targeting… thank you," Mike says as a sphere of metal about two feet in diameter lowers into view through the window to the spacious lawns. It moves to a door, hovering, and assumes a station-keeping hover next to Mike.

"OK. Preliminary eye will take me about ten minutes. Tiny parts are tiny."

He goes into a sort of 'trance' and bits of matter start streaming through small openings that appear in the sphere, gradually building up to the eyeball structure. The hand skitters off to the infirmary, to find a bottle of contact lens wetting solution.


To be fair, Lunair's metal perks only come with activation. She's sorta hosed if she can't get her armor up. Something about tranq darts and a pizza. "Also if you ever wish, you can ask me for armor in a fight. I figured out rocket boots. I did launch into a porta-potty. That really sucked." But hey, they know she tested them, right? The tiny Nemicolrap-whatsits is already walking at Rose. At the no killing allowed speech, Lunair looks… shifty. Oops. Fidgetfidget. There's not any telepaths nearby… RIGHT!?

Lunair smiles at the wings comment and Mike's response. "Want me to bring you some ore after this?" She asks. Lunair is watching quietly, as the tiny dino wanders towards Rose. "Oops, lemme know if he's a bother. Pinchbro is chilling in a tank." She's… becoming quite the zookeeper? Lunair says nothing on killing. Really. Awkward.


"Can we make it so it can be uploaded and downloaded to free the space up so if I cannot get back to free it up…?" Rose is sure Mike gets it, but she pauses when Nate states no killing, looking over each of them and settling that dagger like glare upon him but with more of a /really?/, effect.

"You can take the animal out of the wilderness…" She says lowly. "Does it count if I slip and fall and they..?" She makes a gesture something like seppuku with tongue out and head canted. Little splurk sound.


"Hey now, you sure you want all you see uploaded to the net through radio-waves?" Because Nate knows something that shouldn't go up there is going to end up there, sooner or later. Camera eyes might be worse than laser eyes.

"X-Men do not kill," he adds. "Well, I think it actually means X-Men are not out to kill unless we really, really, have no other option and we honestly tried not lethal options first. I think Scott passed a memo recently. Xavier's rules." Nate is not an strict adherent to the idea, but he has been trying to get them alive ever since he found out there is a functional law system in the USA, with human rights, justice and jails.

That was quite the shock. Apocalypse's justice back home was a joke.


Mike must have a third process running to listen to conversation, because he chuckles at Rose.

"Yes, of course, and it can also do real-time transfer. You'll need to work out the details and integration with Doug and maybe Jean, or whoever helps you install the interface, though. Make sure they keep the broadcast in your control. Do you know if you're going to want to take it out very often?"

Out in the hall, the hand … jumps up and pushes an elevator button, then drops down. Infirmary is downstairs, as is tradition, right?


Lunair listens. "If you do stuff like that, be sure it's all on a secured channel. Hawkeye still hasn't forgiven me for all the youtube videos of the time I zapped him with the nudity ray." It's a bit of a side example, but someone can think of AWKWARD SITUATIONS that might not belong on the internet or whatever. She looks quietly amused by Rose and Nate's expression, though it is apparent she really does have more issues than a newsstand when it comes to expressing emotion properly.

She says nothing on killing. No siree. Nope. Nothing at all. Innocent and pure as the driven snow (in New York). Though, generally Lunair does respect the wishes of others when it comes to non-lethality around them. Left on her OWN, however… (or when she follows around certain hyperviolent gun nuts). "… yeah, and don't double tap with a rocket launcher." She does look kinda guilty for that one.

For now though, Philbert von Cheepington is going to carefully put one wing-hand onto Rose's hand if not stopped. Erhmahgawd, a new human to explore! "Hey! Only climb if she's okay with it."


"Taking it out and putting it back will be for funsies. You know." A wink to Mike and Rose smirks, though the rule mongering and recitation by Nate is souring her carefree mood. "I kill if it is me, my friends, or them. I choose them. I won't change colors and if that is what is being asked of me…I don't do rubber bullets and fireworks." She levels her gaze upon Nate. "You should know this by now." Her voice lowers at that final statement, and if now… Coming here, he wants her to /change/ for people she hardly knows when she didn't for people she did in 616.

"I can leave." Point blunt.

When the tiny dino touches down on her hand her eye snaps downward, the tension a palpable thing… Until that moment. Fucking kyootness and its timing. Rose doesn't move, in fact she turns her palm upward. She wanted to hug it right now. But she wont. She's pimp.

Dust yo' shoulders off.


Nate sighs. Yes, he knows Rose. "Eh, I think if it is us or them we are allowed to kill them… dunno. I just don't want you getting into trouble." He has no code against killing, Rose should know. But Xavier is a freaking saint and he lives by impossible standards that likely, someday soon, are going to get him killed. "We can leave," he agrees, "but we can also stay."


"OK," Mike says; it's not his call to complain about whether or not she wants to kill; he doesn't if he can prevent it, because having died once, he's not willing to inflict that on others if he can help it. Unless they're demons. Demons just get sent back to their spawn points anyway, right? He won't kill one if he has reason to think otherwise. If Nate were listening in, he'd be aware of that from the 'conversation' mind.

"Well, you'll need to remove it once a month or so to clean it off, unless I can make a compatible nanomembrane to line your eye socket. You'll also need to recharge the repair-goop every six months or so. I'm using a specialized nanoforge in it, so it will just need to be refilled with clean water and mineral water and some silicon," the robot says as the eye structure begins to form in place. There's a shell of pure black - carbon fiber and silicate and some other things. That'll attach itself and integrate to the optic nerve, using the same kind of connections Mike's own cyber-eyes had made when he was still organic. Then the eyeball will link up with it. Then, after some conversation with Cypher, maybe, Sight!

"It's almost done. We'll need to have the fine-control telekinetic or healer here before you install it." To make sure it connects properly and safely.

Off in the distance, several floors down, a hand hunts for eye rinse and wetting solution…


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