1799/More Practice in Mutant Town

More Practice in Mutant Town
Date of Scene:	22 May 2020
Location:	Bushwick <Mutant Town>
Synopsis:	Elliot and Max run into each other again while practicing their powers. More physics conversations abound. They discuss a potential combo and how their powers work. Max's eyes are revealed for the first time to Elliot. Elliot explains her struggles with words. They agree to get something eat at Fred's.
Cast of Characters:	Maxwell Wave, Elliot Hayes

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Maxwell Wave has posed:
Maxwell is working on his rooftop jumping again. This time he has abandoned the motorcycle helmet and just gone for a paintball max over the bottom half of his face along with his usual goggles. The motorcycle suit remains along with his messenger bag and a bandolier full of tubes of ball bearings. He is getting better at making his location look more like feats of parkour. He's abandoned low-g in favour of small bursts of reverse gravity which cause him to fall upwards and also slow his descent before impact.

It seems to be working really well for him. He's excited and having fun with it including performing flips and other acrobatic stunts. Of course, he messes up every now and then. He tumbles, and he falls. A few bruises here and there, but the motorcycle suit seems fairly adequate to keep him from getting torn up. Having just tripped over a vent on a rooftop, he giggles to himself while laying flat on his back. It's a great opportunity to look up at the clear blue sky.

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"I think I might be the only one in the city who bothers to look up most of the time," Elliot calls from not too far away. SHe's just meandered her way up to the rooftop while Max has been practicing his aerial acrobatics, combining the ability to use the stairs in an adjacent building and access the fire escape with a bit of free climbing. As before, the blonde hasn't bothered to conceal her identity. SHe looks perfectly normal, although she is rather short if truth be told. "You're pretty easy to find." Elliot seems content with that. She may have come from school, given the messenger bag, day pack, earbuds, and casual clothing- including a NYU sweatshirt, for those who are checking out the details.

"What are you actually doing anyway? ...Need any help?"

Maxwell Wave has posed:
Max sits up and pulls his mask down, because he already shared his identity with the student. It just seemed equitable. He offers a bright smile. "Oh hey there, Elliot. Uh, well, if I'm being honest. I'm trying to look... superhuman? Like Spiderman. I have a theory that if I present myself as super strong or agile, it will throw off anyone I have to confront."

He rests his forearms on his knees and sighs, "But it's not easy. Good practice though, even if I abandon it for something different."

He gaze up towards her since he still sitting. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, getting in more practice yourself?"

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"It doesn't actually sound that difficult to pull off," Elliot replies thoughtfully. SHe shifts her weight from left to right for a second as if weighing options, then lets the messenger bag slide down from her shoulder to fall to the ground. In this one instance Elliot gets to be taller than Max, and she smiles down at him lopsidedly as she steps a bit closer. "I was thinking about getting in some practice, or maybe just coming and saying hello. Thought Id figure it out when I got here." She shrugs her slender shoulders slightly. "So. What is the relevant difference between being super strong and what you do anyway? As long as you pretend to pick stuff up will people even notice? I have to be, um, clever to make things fly around but you can probably just throw things at people, right?... Maybe I should practice making- you know. Things... Err..."

Elliot is reaching for her smartphone now. She is staring at it for a second, pressing a few buttons rapidly, before adding, "Electromagnets. Makes sense. Right?"

Maxwell Wave has posed:
Maxwell listens very attentively and seems rather eager for the feedback, he always had a thing for peer review. "Well, one relevant difference is that I'm not very durable at all. Nothing I do is.. umm.. super intuitive. I have to be very precise in what I'm trying to accomplish. From what I've seen on the news and in rumour, people who are super strong... tend to be super tough! Like bullet repelling. My thought is.. if I can project a sense of invulnerability, maybe people will just give up if my super persona arrives! Also maybe if people know I'm in the area, they'll just.. not do bad things. I think Spiderman and Superman have that effect, not that I ever really expect to hold up to those heavy hitters."

He offers a big shrug, "Make sense?"

He leans forward at her. "Ah yea, electromagnets definitely. Hey I got something that can help with that."

He tosses her a tube of ball bearings from his bandolier. "Ferrous. If you give two the same charge, bet you could launch one!"

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Basically, if I keep ball bearings around I could be a human railgun," Elliot replies thoughtfully. The ball bearings are caught easily and the ncradled for a moment before she opens up the tube and pours them out into her hand, "This could be, um, a little dangerous if I'm not careful. The easy part, though..." She lifts her hand, upward, letting a ball bearing roll up her palm and onto the tip of her index finger as she raises it. "So far so good, right?" Maxwell earns a grin. "And I get you. SO it takes a lot of work to get similar results, and you're vulnerable to getting in the face. Have trouble controlling kinesis then? I wasn't sure if you'd be bulletproof or not."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
"If I'm paying attention, I am effectively bulletproof. Though if I'm focusing on that, I'm not doing something else. Everything is a trade off. So a little deception might pay off." He explains further and drums his fingers on his knees. "My ability is.. kind of like a kinesis, but not exactly. I can manipulate the magnitude and direction of forces. I do not generate some mysterious force of my own like others, so I work with that I've got. Fortunately, gravity is everywhere, at least if I'm on a planetary body like Earth. Not really intending to go into space."

He looks upwards a little nervously, "If I could just move things, it'd be a lot simpler in execution. Though there are some advantages, like.. if you and I worked together, I could amplify your railgun technique and maybe create an effect even more terrifying."

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"We could try that out if we knew what we wanted to shoot at?" Elliot tears those pale green eyes away from the ball bearings long enough to stare fixedly at Maxwell once more. "It seems like it's worth a shot. I think... I can handle the ball bearings just fine. I don't know why I was worried. It feels- pretty natural. Not that easy to control where it goes, though. Thinking in reverse is weird." THe ball bearing shifts along the girl's skin and circles her fingertip before actually levitating off of her hand. It wobbles when she shifts her hand, responding to every movement. "Have any ideas on where would be a good place to practice that?"

Maxwell Wave has posed:
"Sounds fun. Though, maybe after you've practiced with it a little bit. And geez, yea. Aiming is really tricky. The ball bearings aren't the greatest for long range shots to be honest. There's a reason people invented rifling. Based on how your powers work, you might be able to come up with something a bit better designed. I use these because they are cheap and everywhere." He meets Elliot's gaze and the introvert in him feels a little uncomfortable, but he holds it. "Honestly, a rock quarry or the beach. Somewhere if something unexpected happened, we wouldn't injure anyone... else."

He rubs the back of his neck, "And where people wouldn't be annoyed with the sound. As you likely know, when things start breaking the sound barrier, even if they are tiny, things start getting loud. I bet your railgun in full swing would sound similar to a suppressed gun or something."

He blinks as he watches her manipulate the bearing. "Crazy how you can do that. Charges and electricity in general, just feel so weird to me. I can see some of their effects, but I couldn't imagine what your brain goes through to calculate and manipulate electrons."

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Railguns would be better off using, um. I don't know. Fish have them. Things... Not wings, um-" The blonde lifts her hands, framing them like one might make a pair of wings whilst mimicking a bird. "On the sides of the rounds. Rifling isn't going to do any good without a barrel anyway. But- I don't know," Elliot replies rather thoughtfully. "It might as well just be written down for me. It feel very natural. I have issues with covalent bonds, though. Free electrons are a lot easier to manipulate." The ball bearing is left to float for now, and Elliot's gaze eventually shifts away from Maxwell to again stare out across the buildings. "That's a good point. I don't think there are any good places in the city, to be honest. So we'll have to go on a road trip sometime. You can show me some of the things syou can do. I can manipulate electrons, but I don't have any clue how _your_ powers work."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
"I do seem to violate some fundamental laws of physics. I'm not exactly sure how they work either, but I know what they do, and how they effect things. And well, considering the history of humanity's understanding of physics, that's probably pretty decent. I've got a model! It's right most of the time."

He chuckles a bit, "Ah, I think you mean fins. Though if you could achieve rotation on your projectile, they'd likely fly straighter as well." He offers a frustrated sigh and nods at her, "I figure as much. Just comes natural seems to be the answer for those of you who can.. manipulate electricity, or what's at least been my guess. Quantum randomness and all, I could see how else it could work."

He rolls up to his feet and stands in front of her. "My powers feel more like.. a video game. You know point and click. Imagine if you could select something in motion and drag your mouse to change its direction and its relative speed. Seems easy, but you got to develop those umm.. What do they call them.. ah.. right! Twitch reflexes to get good at it."

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"That makes sense," Elliot confirms, nodding thoughtfully. "It would drive me crazy if I had to put that much effort into it. I don't exactly 'know' how the bonds work so much as I can see the currents moving, and the electrons just kind of shift when I think about it a certain way. You must have a lot of precise control over how it works then?" Elliot is apparently genuinely curious, and as Max comes to his feet her eyes shift upward in order to meet his own. Now he is taller than her once more. The truth is that Elliot is tiny, even if her energy might sometimes fool one into thinking otherwise.

"Sounds pretty cool. Anyway... Right. I mean fins. A fin stabilized rail system would probably be sufficient to get a, um, straight shot. I could add spin by rotating the magnetic fields, I *think*, but that sounds... Pretty hard." Elliot shares a rueful grin, tweaking her phone in her hands and fidgeting slightly while she considers the proposition. "We have plenty of time to work that out. After practicing your acrobatics what's next on the list for you?"

Maxwell Wave has posed:
Max holds her gaze as she explains a little bit of how her powers work. He looks happy but also a bit jealous. "Bah, so they just do what they tell you! I always thought electrons had a mind of their own, I guess they just like you!"

He offers an amusing pout and nods, "Precision, I have in spades. I just wish I could wire a computer up to my brain and automate some of it. As for what's next, I hadn't really thought that far. I'm off today. One of the reasons I'm practicing."

He looks her for moment and considers his next words carefully, "You, uh.. want to hang out or something? You know... beyond practicing. And if you came up her to practice, I don't want to stop you! Just... Well, I don't talk to many people who seem to get what you get. It's uh.. kinda awesome?"

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"...Sure. WHy not?" There's that slightlylopsided grin again and Elliot takes a deep breath as she rolls her shoulders and shifts her weight back onto her heels. "We're pretty much just... Hangout out already." She swings her arms now, the ball bearing having been largely forgotten as it orbits her left arm.

"Get what I get? You mean... Basic science and engineering or the whole... Powers thing?" Elliot pauses for a second then adds in a deadpan, "I don't get cmputers at all. I mean. Not the way people usually do. They're pretty talkative but coding is pretty much nonsense so far as i can tell."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
He seems pretty happy to get the grin in return and then shrugs, "I guess that's true. Just it's been kind of accidental up to now, or felt like it. Maybe we could go get some pizza or something."

He nods again, "Science, Engineering, and powers. We've got a nice bit of overlap, makes it very easy to talk to you." He laughs and shrugs, "Yea, I can't code at all. I've always struggled with electronics, but... talkative? Is that something else you do? Like do you talk to electronics, or do you mean they just beep a lot, or maybe you hear the circuits moving around?" His brow furrows a bit as he tries to figure that bit out.

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Remember you said you thought electrons have their own personalities?" That lopsided smile starts to become a sly, teasing grin that widens slowly as the question settles in. She gestures animatedly with the hand holding her cellphone. "Well... They do. Basically. I'm not sure if they're always aware or if I make them that way, but they communicate. I can see through cameras or get data off of a computer. Usually, they're kind of friendly, honestly. Don't ask me to explain how that works."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
Max blinks behind his goggles and gapes a little bit in awe. A long drawn out 'Whoooa' escapes his lips as he listens to her. "Okay, that is really neat. Kind validates something for me, but that must be insanely useful. I mean.. you were certainly born in the right decade! You are surrounded by it. Good thing you seem really nice, because I could only imagine the kind of havoc you could cause with an ability like that. I mean.. railguns and powerline surfing is one thing, but in a world where data is king and queen, that's uh... just wow."

"Well, next time I have computer trouble, I'm asking you... since I've always wanted to just have a heart to heart with them. Ask them why they hate me." He laughs.

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Well, we can ask them why they're broken but if something's seriously wrong I might not be able to do anything," Elliot replies, laughing in turn. She's starting to flush a distinct shade of red that borders on crimson, but it doesn't stop her from giggling up a storm while she does so. "But if they hate you that can actually cause a lot of problems. You'd be amazed how well asking nicely seems to work. For me, at least."

Elliot wiggles again, then adjusts her daypack where it rests neatly between her shoulders. "It *is* pretty nice. Phones like to gossip. Cameras can be harder, they're usually pretty proud of their security prowess. But, you know." She gestures vaguely. "But I don't get software stuff. At all. So you might want to keep the geek squad around still."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
"Well, if you can ask them what I should be telling geek squad, that's at least a leg up." He's a bit charmed by the laughing and giggling. Always nice to meet someone who seems genuinely happy. He kneels down into a squat and goes through his backpack for a moment. He pulls out a different pair of goggles and then carefully peels the pair he's wearing off. His eyes are glowing a purple hue today, the light dusting his cheeks, no irises or sclera to be seen in the radiating orbs revealed behind the goggles. He stuffs the original pair away and begins the process of putting on the others. "So, did you want to get something to eat? or is there something else you wanted to practice?"

Elliot Hayes has posed:
Elliot is reduced to blinking profusely when Max reveals his glowing eyes, but she doesn't comment on them. Instead she watches as he changes hig oggles and lets her attentiveness cover for the silence while she considers the question. "...Something to eat sounds nice. Is there... Anywhere around here you're really into? I wouldn't mind seeing more of the town." As she speaks Elliot slowly tears herslef away and then moves to retrieve that messenger bag once more. The ball bearing continues to follow along while she does.

Maxwell Wave has posed:
     "Well, I really like Fred's to be honest. It's like an IHOP on steroids. Just really good hearty food. Though I'm not sure what kind of food you are into, Elliot. Guess this is the best way to find out though." He gazes around for a second then offers a sheepish grin, "Uh excuse me for a second."

He walks around an HVAC unit that's mostly large enough to provide him some modesty. He unzips out of the motorcycle suit down down to a white tank-top and a pair of black boxers. A pair of jeans is pulled out of his backpack which he quickly stuffs himself into. A Stanford t-shirt shortly follows suit, tugged over a pretty fit physique. Evidently, he didn't just exercise his powers and mind. His hair is a mess between the t-shirt and goggle adjustments. He slings his backpack and pulls out his cellphone, using it as a mirror as he tries put his hair somewhat back into place. "That.. uh.. work for you?"

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Sure. I think I can find- somethng," Elliot replies. She averts her gaze politely as Maxwell circles the heating unit and waits, tapping a toe against the ground, while he changes. When the man returns he is favoured with a nearly incandescent smile. She then nods once. Firmly. "I have some... Trouble with ordering, sometimes?" SHe pauses for a second. "Anyway. We'll figure it out! No big deal. Right?"

Elliot is perhaps just a bit too quick to cross the roof and begin making her way toward the ground. She isn't running away. Is she? "Meet you in front of the building and we can go ahead and get something."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
Running or not, he's after her. He hops off the side of the building and coasts slowly to the ground, able to take a more direct method. He likely passes by her and is there waiting when she's got both feet back on terrafirma. He rubs the back of his neck and swallows for a moment. Feeling a little self-conscious. "Hey.. umm... Sorry about the eyes. I know they are a little weird. Wish I could turn them off! But you know, sometimes you just can't.. change things. Anyway, happy to help you order! I have a hard time making decisions too, but I have a few favorites I could share. I really do recommend the chicken eggs benedict. If its kinda filling.. you know!" He toes at the ground with his sneaker.

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"Oh! ..." Elliot pivots on her left heel and for a second she is staring at Max. The blonde blinks a couple of times before slowly reaching out to place a couple fingers against his goggles. She lifts them. Slowly. It requires her to rise onto the balls of her feet so that she can properly reach. "It's not your eyes. I just- words are hard. I guess?" She is making vaguely circular gestures with her free hand, index and forefinger extended like she is tracing circles in the air.

"I- um. Don't eat certain things. Like..." Elliot pauses and the interminable circling stops so that she can reach for her collar. She lifts up a beaded chain from which hangs a Star of David. "You know what word I'm going for here." She winces slightly. "Right. So other than that we're fine."

Maxwell Wave has posed:
His eyes still glow beneath the goggles, though they've changed to cyan. He's initially nervous but then smiles when it's revealed not to be his eyes. He nods slowly, "Ah.. Got it. Well, I can't say I know all the rules for kosher, but I can look them up.. and yea, we can definitely help you out."

It starts to click that maybe there's some legitimate hurdle for Elliot with her speech. His immediate response is to consider how best to help. He grins down at her and leaves his goggles up. Despite lacking irises, the shape of his eyes and his eyebrows are fairly expressive. He reaches up and takes one of her hands and then starts walking into Fred's.

Elliot Hayes has posed:
"We'll figure it out. I can look up the rules and stuff on my phone and share, I just---" Elliot pauses. "I lose words. Names, objects. That kind of thing. So it's hard to articulate what I want. You know? Normally I just avoid going out to eat and that sort of thing, but... I think we can try it." So saying, Elliot settles those goggles back onto Maxwell's eyes. She taps a finger on his nose, and then takes the offered hand so they can begin their walk to Fred's. "The condition is called- um... Nevermind. I'll ask my- talking thing... Comm unit... Whatever. Later."