Cyroa

"Maybe," he said with a smile. He had a bit of a puzzled look on his face for a brief moment at the Power Rangers comment but it faded quickly. He had no idea what she was referring to though given the context he could make some guesses. He really needed to work on his culture research. "Well, that pretty much bring us full circle. I've done a bit of wandering and research of course but I'm not expert. Still, if you want to wander around the campus or whatever, I'm game. I've no plans," he said with a shrug.

Cole slid out after her, making a mental note to pay her back once he got some money. "Temp fate? Bah, whatever," he waved it away. "We aren't doing anything wrong and there's no curfew that I'm aware of for the middle of the day. Nighttime, yes. After lunch, no," he said with a grin. "I'm up for a bit more. I'm fine with heading over there if you are." Cole followed her outside and headed towards the parking lot and the bike. They had just rounded the building and entered the parking lot when there was a ripple and several 3 or 4 foot tale black 'spikes' slammed into the ground off to one side. A woman's voice, filled with derision and arrogance, drifted down to them. "Let's see how good your training is loosers..." Off and up in the distance, a figure disappeared around a corner.

He gave a smile. "That's a pretty lofty goal. But who knows? Maybe you could be that powerful and heroic someday. Is that something you want? To be a superhero?" He chuckled at her fake reading; he barely knew who he was, the chances that he wasn't going to change on some level were infinitesimally small. Still, he understood and appreciated what she had been trying to say. "I'll do what I can," he said with a small smile though he noted she avoided answering his question. "School? Well, we've only been here a few day. Still settling in I guess. But honestly, it is way better than the Facility so I've got no complaints at all. How about you?"

Cole didn't have a pad and pen in front of him, but he was still taking notes and writing down everything she said. He was just doing it in his mind. He tried not to make it too obvious; he wasn't entirely successful. He was going to have to research the places she mentioned as soon as he got a moment. 'Dating hotspots' was also important. But his main topic was going to almost certainly be 'normal dating routines' or some such. "Training? I could teacher about building a quantum state flux detector or maybe building a pocket sized mini-reactor or...which isn't what you meant at all," he said ruefully. "Ok, I can do that. I think," he muttered to himself.

He gave a rueful little smile. "That wouldn't be helping you at all. Besides, it'd be a little rude and insensitive in my opinion," He waved her apology away. It wasn't a big deal. "Not a clue. I've done no research whatsoever on such things. I really don't have any powers like you if you recall. I was just using logical progression and reasoning. Emotional projection is only a tiny step from emotional reading which is extremely close to true telepathy. Maybe with training your powers will expand and develop that ability as well." He looked at her curiously as he closed her eyes and pinched her nose; it was something people who were frustrated or had headaches did (not in this case but he didn't know that). "Are you alright?

Cole shook his head. "No no, you misunderstand. I'm not asking you to make me feel anything. That would be reminiscent of wherever you went to school and endured all of that. I was trying to show that not everyone is afraid or reluctant because of what you can project into them. That I apparently cause or make you think of some kind of stress, hence the black aura. That I am trying to rectify that by my willingness to undergo whatever negative feelings I provoke in order for you to feel better. I am not concerned or worried about how it will affect me." He left his hand there but shrugged. "If you don't want to risk it, I understand. I am simply offering."

"I guess; I wouldn't know really know how useful it is," he said with a shrug. "I haven't really tried anything like that. As far as I know anyway." He nodded and took a few steps to the middle of the room. He counted to 10 once she was ready and then activated the systems. He gave it another 10 count before taking a dozen regular steps to one side. He gave it another 10 before deactivating it. "How was that? Do I need to redo it?" He really had no idea how effective the stealth system was really.

Cole nodded as she spoke, taking in what she said and did as well. "So you were having fun and your power spiked somehow. It went out of control and people no longer thought it cool. It made it harder to have friends or maintain the image of who you were 'before'. Here you're safer, on a more even footing I would imagine, not to mention the possibility of finding a teacher for your abilities thereby learning how to control it hopefully. Sounds like a good thing for you to be here then, despite the trauma and difficulties you've likely endured," he said with a nod and a little smile. "I do hope you'll be happier here." He paused a moment, looking over at her and the dark glow. "So, given the aura you're projecting or just did project, are you implying that I am making you uncomfortable or unhappy somehow? I don't mind you projecting those previous problems on me; I understand. But I don't want to be making you uncomfortable." He continued to look at her a moment. "Have you tried reading emotions from others or forcing yourself to feel something in order change that aura?," he asked curiously. He lifted a hand hand and put his hand out, holding it there a long moment. "If you want to try, I'm willing," he said honestly.

"Ah. Well, she is pretty. Not sure about similar interests; some I'm sure of. There are some I'm sure: bikes, she like sparring I think. Maybe a couple other things. Does that count?," he asked curiously. "Ok, so a date includes a trip to the mall," he said, already making mental notes on what a date entailed. "What else do students from school do?" He figured this was a prime opportunity to gather as much data as he could on what dating entailed. He was perfectly aware that, while the internet was a goldmine of potential information, it was not always true; actually it was pretty likely that the Net was seldom based on truth as near as he could tell.

Cole nodded to her. "So it is special then. It's like keepsake, a treasure memory or a badge of the effort you put in. That's pretty cool." He had no idea if had ever trained or for how much but, from the testing he had undergone, he knew he was no slouch. "What made you start studying? That is quite an investment of time for a young person. I'll take your word about changing. How did everything change for you?". It wasnt the same question as how was she different but it was along a similar vein.

"Oh, guessed I killed that reference," he said with a smile. "There are a lot of game references being bandied about; not hard to get them mixed up I guess." At her mention of Caresse and 'sparks', he raised an eyebrow. "Uh...while I know from my readings that teenagers are supposed to be rather awkward and deal with some form of trepidation when dealing with the opposite sex, I can't help but mention, that with the lack of memories, I have an extra hurdle of literally having no experience on this sort of thing. I don't know what 'sparks' are really. That said, she is a lovely and healthy looking girl," he added. He was definitely going to have to do some more research on dating and what it entailed if this was actually going to happen. "Is the mall and shopping normal for double dates," he asked curiously.

Cole chuckled. "I've used the internet to try and figure out the pop culture stuff though I have to say it is rather...broad and extremely inefficient computer network. Information is scattered everywhere, none of it organized or even labeled correctly. Huge sections that are simply empty or blank. Quite frustrating really." The internet bugged his more orderly engineering tendencies. It was just so...ugh. "I've actually been to the mall, just to put a physical representation to the terms and connotations I've come across. Most of the shops I didn't bother with of course since the school provides me with basic clothes but I really liked Radio Shack. While the materials aren't quite as advanced as I like, there's all sorts of options there. It has a lot of potential for shopping for supplies," he confirmed. He looked at her quizzically a moment. "I'm guessing you don't mean the Andromeda Galaxy. Another game? Either way, I'd happily accept help in comprehending how the whole pop culture bit works."

He thought a moment. He wasn't going to mention the computer or library files he had in his suit, but there were a couple other things he could mention. "Well, like most suits I'm certain, it protects me from various environmental hazards and contains life support systems. The disks I throw can also be made to explode, with a little less force though I can also charge it with various energies as needed. As I mentioned before, it enhances my own physiology to some degree providing some healing benefits. It is also extremely resistant and protects me extremely well. What else? Oh, one of the systems can enhance those protections to make me practically immune to small arms. Or I can realign that matrix into a stealth suit instead." He paused. "Yeah, that's about it," he said.

Cole nodded with a curious look. "Sure, I'd like that. I'm interested in seeing how that would work. Never actually had Mountain Dew though," he said. "We could certainly do both. This would almost certainly be an extremely realistic experience. I'm not sure how much fun some people would have being attack and chased down by scary zombies," he added with a chuckle. "Rifts sounds pretty interesting if somewhat confusing. But that should be easy too. Heck, we could do anything you can imaging and I can figure out how to code really. There shouldn't be any limits. If we want people to have their powers, I'd need to have accurate readings to correspond to the computer factors of course. Or we could just make random powers or weapons or anything. There's no reason all of of us couldn't be using plasma swords and power armor I suppose. The sky is the virtual limit after all," he said with a chuckle.

Cole nodded but didn't move to get anything to drink. He hadn't worked up that much of a sweat; it hadn't been too strenuous at all. "I'm ok, thanks." He gave a little shrug at her next instructions. Even as the lights went down, his systems compensated automatically. Functionally there was no difference for him. He didn't waste any time before turning and doing almost the same movements he had done a few moments ago; running and jumping around the equipment. He finished by hoping down off the wall to stop and stand where he had started to wait patiently for his next set of instructions.

He nodded. Since she didn't continue explaining, he let it drop. Either there was nothing much to talk about or, more likely, she wasn't comfortable sharing it with someone she didn't know too well. "Wait, so this game is all about loosing? There's no chance to win? I don't understand. What's the appeal of that?," he asked confused. That concept just didn't seem fun at all to him. "Oh, of course. The files would be completely separate of course. Just like on a normal computer. Only on a much grander scale." He quirked his head at her. "Wait...is this for training? Or for fun? Either is fine of course...I just didn't there there was a situation where we would every be guarding an Old West town from a horde of George Romero zombie shows. And...what is Rifts, besides the obvious definition?"

"Your powers are genetic then? Were, or perhaps are, they heroes or just people with powers?" He was curious, partly given he had no idea about his own past. He quirked an eyebrow. "That certainly sounds like a rather eclectic mix of things. And your story takes place in this game world?" He flipped through the book, curiously, absorbing what he saw. "These look pretty cool. And having written several stories is rather impressive. Quite an accomplishment. We can definitely use your writings as the basis then. Once the base system and the rest are done, it shouldn't be nearly as hard to put them into a 'world' format for the computer."

"Wow, that's pretty good. Teleportation, strength, healing and enhanced metabolism? Pretty varied there. Cool." He munched on his sandwich almost absently. "Well, I don't have any major project ideas at the moment. I can start working on the design tonight. I usually do that stuff pretty fast. Building...," he shrugged. "At least there's no rush." He looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Zombies and cowboys isn't original? Really? Huh..." He shook his head, thinking he needed to do a little more research into pop culture and entertainment. "That's cool. Once I get close I can take your work and scan it in. A program using basic historical settings should be enough to fill in the miscellaneous details, buildings and such while using your writings and drawings as a template." He nodded, smiling. "Yeah, we can do this." He took the book from her, flipping through it. "Nice. How many stories have you done? How long did that take you?"

Cole hrmmed a long moment. "Well...theoretically, yes it should be possible. I'd need a room to do this all in. Correct number of chairs and such. Not to mention extensive cerebral screenings to get the neural mapping right. Power shouldn't be a big concern; system will require a good amount but nothing beyond what I can develop. Obviously I'd need to create a custom machine for the hosting. Probably several really to make sure the filtering and feedback are tolerable and controllable," he mused. He had an almost faraway look on his face while he was talking. And it seemed more like he was talking to himself than explaining it to her. "Of course, then I'd actually have to code and design the virtual world and scenarios...though I might be able to simply create an algorithm to filter and create it from other mainstream sources." He nodded, focusing back on her. "It should be doable...might take me some time to build of course, but doable."

"It's copied from that movie actually. I'd actually seen them on the Net while stuck in the Facility. I like trying to build things so, figured I'd see it is possible." He chuckled. "I haven't started building it yet; just working on the designs and engineering of it. Think I got it. I'll probably take a crack at building it tomorrow or the next day. I think I should be able to get it built with a couple days work...barring any unforeseen accidents of course," he adds with a grin. "This will be the first time I can build something without someone taking it away. Should be fun." "You use a sword? Is it anything particular like a monomolecular blade or something you could buy somewhere," he asked curiously. "I've done some sparring but don't really have a preference for anything particular," he added. "Do you do martial arts or something? Or just have a thing for swords," he asked curiously.

He looked up at the big circle over his head. "Ok then." He keyed the primary systems to the enhancement mode. He frowned at the circle a moment and took a breath. Raising his hands, he took a basic stance to get ready to handle some weight. "Alright, I'm ready. Here we go..." With a final nod, he started pushing and exerting as much force as he could bring to bear, pushing the systems to his rated limits. It wasn't complicated, just simple application of force after all.

He shrugged one shoulder. "I never really got a full tour but I did memorize the floor plans as well as the grounds layout. I admit to doing a little exploration on some of my free time. I'm fine with walking around seeing stuff again or simply hanging out. Completely up to you." He hands her the digital sketch pad. On it, were multiple pages. Some were of a plasma-sword and another was of a motorcycle. The drawings were easy enough to make out though the writing was rather technical. "One is a weapon, yeah. Vicky mentioned it that first day and was curious if I could make it work. The bike...well, that's just something of a hobby."

He nodded, bringing up the tertiary systems. "I'm not that athletic," he said, almost apologetically, "and definitely not a gymnast. But I do have some systems for movement." He turned and started running around the track. It wasn't hard since the suit was doing the real work. On the longer stretches, he'd throw in a leap to see how far he'd go. Landing on the walls or ceiling didn't seem to affect his movement or trajectory either. It was just another surface to him. Finally he moved over to the gymnastics equipment. Using the metal as a conduit, he digitized himself and solidified at the other end of the material.

He gave a little nod. "Video games are more reactionary, less social affects and likely require less imagination. Well, in the fall, a whole new crop of students will be showing up. Maybe you can start a group then; make a few converts? The school is pretty big; it shouldn't be hard to find 4 or 5 people with similar interests." He quirked an eyebrow at her question. "That depends. Do you mean the 'consumer' version and popular use of computers to simulate a virtual reality or the actual definition and application of the concept? The common version is really just using a camera-like view to move around a computer simulated layout. Which is really just simple graphics coding honestly. The later is more immersive as you are actually transferring and projecting, depending how the application I suppose, into the machine and code. Obviously the latter is significantly more complex given your also adding neural encoding to the mix." He took a sip of his drink, realizing he'd gone a bit off topic and was expounding. "So, to answer the question...a bit," he said with a chuckle. "Why?"

I'm also heading out. Leaving this afternoon and will be back Thursday. Will likely be able to do some posting just limited.