They're Kindred Instruments

by **Theresa McMasters** » Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:11 am

Theresa hovered in the center of the Danger Room, eyeing the flight obstacle course that the AI had laid out for her. She was dressed in the costume she'd finally settled on. The winds holding her aloft rustled the cape and she looked up as the countdown started. When the tone sounded, she shot off, clearing the first few obstacles with ease, banking and weaving. Then the hard stuff started like hard ninety degree turns, moving rings that she had to fly through. And just when she thought that was going okay, the room started throwing tennis balls at her with ridiculous accuracy. She caught the first one in the back, slowing her up enough the the follow-ups pelted her from the sky, breaking her concentration. The room caught her and lowered her to the floor, ending the program with the "Would you like to try again?" message displayed prominently.

((Open))

by **Maya Mills** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:39 pm

Maya was watching from the door quietly, dressed in a training uniform. She didn't want to interrupt.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:44 pm

Theresa sighed, walking in a circle while she thought about what went wrong. That's when she saw Maya. "Oh, hello."

by **Maya Mills** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:47 pm

"Hello," Maya says. "I can come back. I don't mean to interrupt."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:51 pm

"No, it's alright. I think I'm still nursing my bruises from my last try. My name's Theresa. You're one of the new Institute students, right?"

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:35 am

Maya nods, "I'm Maya. Maya Mills."

She looks like a dear caught in the headlights.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:52 am

"Is something wrong?" Theresa looked concerned.

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:08 am

"No. I...the Danger Room seems a little, well...dangerous."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:33 am

"Not for you guys. There are safeties in place to keep things from getting out of hand. They loosen things up a bit for the University students who've proven they can handle it." She looked at the room, "Computer, switch simulation to McMasters-Meadow-Alpha, sunny day." The room shimmered and adjusted, going from the flying obstacle course to a relatively pleasant, non-descript meadow.

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:00 pm

Maya steps into the Danger Room, "...and you're sure nothing's going to explode or shoot lasers at us?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:05 pm

"Not in this program. Maybe the occasional bit of rain if I want, but it should stay sunny."

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 1:57 pm

"You can control all weather? Not just, like, wind? That's pretty cool," Maya says, stepping a bit further into the room.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:02 pm

"Wind is easiest and most useful generally, but yes," she said, holding out a hand. A small cloud formed over her hand and rained itself out quickly.

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:06 pm

"That's really cool. I'm still learning how to turn things 'on' and 'off'," Maya says.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:07 pm

"Everybody starts there. I used to have this happen over my head every time I got angry or upset."

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:11 pm

"That must've been hard," Maya says sympathetically.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:18 pm

"I had to learn to live with awful hair for a while until I got it under control. But it is possible to get these things under control. It just requires some work."

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:56 pm

"I hope you're right," Maya says.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:48 pm

"Why shouldn't I be? If I can learn to get a handle on my stuff, anyone can."

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 4:59 pm

"I don't think that necessarily follows," Maya says. "I mean, your powers probably work much differently then mine. I think. I don't know. Sorry."

Maya blushes and stares at the ground. The Danger Room made her nervous.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 5:26 pm

"Hey, nothing wrong with saying things don't make sense. I still do that. You're right that our powers probably work differently."

by **Maya Mills** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:22 pm

Maya smiles, "Thanks."

"I think I'm starting to figure it out though," Maya says. She holds out her hand and concentrates on her anxieties, trying not to push them out of her mind for once.

Her heart beats a little harder at the terrible thoughts in her head, but her hand slowly dissipates into a cloud of swirling blue smoke.

Steady...

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:28 am

Theresa nods, "Looks like you're getting it. Part of it is figuring out what process works to get control and then refining that process to eliminate crutches."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:32 am

"Did you have crutches when you started out?" Maya asks, her hands reforming.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:35 am

"A few for various things. Some emotions made it easier to do certain things like anger to fuel a thunderstorm. Hand gestures helped me visualize what I wanted to do. I still use them occasional as a focus point, but I don't strictly have to have them."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:38 am

"How much weather can you control anyway?" Maya asks. "I mean, how big of a storm could you make?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:41 am

"I could probably make it rain all over Maldon if I wanted, but large scale changes have large scale consequences. If I worked really hard, I could probably make it snow in July, but again... consequences."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:42 am

"Like what?"

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:55 am

"Sensitive plants would die because of the snow cover and lowered temperature. Crops in the affected area might end up stunted because of the abrupt change. The atmospheric disturbance is created could cause a ripple effect of other unusual or possibly even severe weather."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:59 am

Maya's eyes widen, "That is complicated."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:11 am

Theresa chuckled, "It is. Computer, overlay existing environment with Tempest-Vision." The scene changed, the landscape of the meadow and the sky overlayed with shifting patterns and myriad interactions as breezes moved and grasses shifted and the patterns adjusted to the new flow. "This is about as close to how I see things as the Danger Room can render. I don't see things like this all the time, though there was a time when I couldn't turn this off."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:53 am

"That'd....that'd be pretty overwhelming," Maya says.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:02 pm

"Computer, turn off overlay," she said and the meadow returned to normal. "It can be. I got lost in it more than a few times when I was first learning how to read it."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:16 pm

"Lost?" Maya asks.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:24 pm

"Zoned out, lost track of time. That sort of thing."

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:11 pm

"Can you predict the weather?" Maya asks.

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:13 pm

"To some degree, though like most forecasters, the farther out, the less likely I am to be right. While things follow patterns, there are a *lot* of variables." She sat down on the grass and motioned for Maya to join her.

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:19 pm

Maya sits down across from Theresa, "Well. At least you always know if you'll need an umbrella."

by **Theresa McMasters** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:36 pm

"Nothing wrong with getting rained on now and again I've learned. But enough about my insanity. You turn to smoke I take it?"

by **Maya Mills** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:39 pm

"Something like that," Maya says. "It tends to put people to sleep, so I don't think it's exactly smoke, but the general idea is the same."

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