Sufficient Information (OPEN!)

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

Vapour fluttered idly around the room, waiting for her next command as she paged through an article on monoclonal antibodies and waited for her latest dataset to finish processing. It was taking roughly 15 minutes longer than it ought to do, but she knew better than to waste time being impatient. Everything got done in its own time.

Is it raining yet? she asked. Vapour flapped his wings in acknowledgment, then soared over to the window. The next moment, what he "saw" overlapped the article she was reading-- still no rain, good.

What she sees....

She really needed to begin exercising regularly. One never knew when being physically fit could come in handy; and she'd heard very interesting things about parkour....

Well, that would have to wait. She had work to do, articles to read (and write!), a household to organize, not to mention that she was going to have to arrange to meet students to see who might be willing to contribute samples for examination.

Yes. It was going to be an exciting year.

Vapour

[Alex Grayson]

Alex was still quite new to Hammel. That being said, he was naive about the place, and the people. Someone had told him that the basement was a cool place to explore. Alex, being the clueless freshman that he was, wandered down, expecting to find some sort of something. He wasn't sure exactly what, but what he saw wasn't what he was imagining. Right now, he was in the middle of a slight migraine due to one of the visions that he really couldn't understand- this one was not a repeat, it was a new one- this time, it looked like an older Alex- someone tall, lanky, and smiling- was looking quite content. He wasn't sure who else was in the vision, but it was definitely a girl.

He was still thinking about it as he poked his head into the lab. What he saw was definitely not something awesome- it was the lab he'd heard some weird stuff about the lab down in the basement. Why didn't he make the connection? A bit frustrated, Alex bit his lip. He was quite certain that he'd made some noise on the way down. There was no escaping talking with the researcher who was working away.

Silently, he watched, putting his hands into his pockets, and couldn't help but worry what was going to happen now.

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

She was reviewing the protocol for recruiting donors from the student body-- this was going to require multiple meetings with the school's authority figures, she knew. She only wanted volunteers, of course, and many people would be uncomfortable with the very concept of donating blood, let alone spinal fluid; but it was necessary to have as broad a range of data as possible. They had to begin to understand meta development and powers to begin working to remedy some of the more tragic side effects....

Even if she hadn't heard him approaching, Vapour would have-- and did. The tiny bat was currently dangling from a shelf, eyes fixed on the doorway. He swooped from the shelf ledge to her shoulder, sharp eyes fixed on the intruder.

"Yes, yes," she said, a bit absently. "I know, we have a visitor."

She set aside her papers and stood to face him. "May I be of some help, Mr...?"

[Alex Grayson]

Alex looked around the lab, freezing when the researcher saw him.

He knew that the research lab occasionally had students volunteer blood samples and whatnot to better understand the metahuman genetics and to grasp side effects and other ways to combat the side effects of powers. Alex was already more familiar with the side effect of his power than what he would have liked to be at this point. Though, he still wished he was normal, and without the ability to tell the future. It was a curse- definitely not a blessing.

"Grayson... Alexander Grayson, ma'am," he said to introduce himself. She was sort of intimidating to the boy, but he was new- almost everyone was scary at first. "I...I'm new here... I was exploring," he explained quickly. "I'm sorry..." He would leave if necessary, and was actually prepared to do so.

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

"Mr Grayson, yes. I'm Dr Morley," she said, pleasantly, "and I'm rather new here, myself." Vapour shifted position on her shoulder, still watching the student, and she reached up absently to "pet" him, although without actually making direct contact.

"No need to apologize, you haven't done anything wrong. What have you found during your explorations so far, Mr Grayson? I trust you haven't found anything... unpleasant." She didn't generally waste time with small-talk, but the boy was clearly nervous, and there was no call to make him more so.

[Alex Grayson]

That was unexpected, yet Alex said nothing. He simply gave a nod of his head to acknowledge the fact that she had said something. "I've just been able to find my way around the school, I think I know where everything is," he replied quickly. He felt quite awkward by the whole situation- Alex didn't quite know what the rules were about coming down into the research lab.

"Are students not allowed down here?" he asked quickly. He didn't really know the rules yet- Alex was so new to the school that the rules hadn't exactly sunken in. Sure, he'd been told most of them, but his memory was something else.

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

"I don't suppose it's a place they generally wander into," Morley said, "but then, this is my lab, so I do feel I can decide if it's all right or not. There's nothing hazardous being done here, unless you count possibly sustaining a paper cut."

It occurred to her that since she hadn't actually met any students at all, this might be a good time to do so. "Tell me a little about yourself, Mr Grayson-- unless you're eager to go back to your exploring?"

There was a definite note of approval in her voice.

[Alex Grayson]

Alex gave the scientist a nod. If she was okay with him being there, then he'd stay- simple. She seemed like a nicer person that what he'd expected her to be, which was a definite good thing. Who knew- maybe it'd come in handy one day to be known by one of the researchers at Hammel.

"I'm a Precognition meta," he told Dr. Morley. "I'm a bit of an artist, I guess. I draw a lot." He shrugged- he liked art, but never really considered himself great at it. He wasn't the most confident individual, either. "I'm from San Francisco, I'm the youngest of four."

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

"I see. Interesting. Mr Grayson, my work here involves finding out ways to lessen some of the more unpleasant side effect that accompany some of our... gifts," she said. "In the very near future, I expect-- with the full permission and support of school officials-- to ask for volunteers from the student body to assist with that research. I wonder if you might be interested in participating. I'm hoping to begin by gathering first-hand accounts of perceived negative effects of powers-- again, after making appropriate arrangement with school authorities."

[Alex Grayson]

Alex listened. He hated having the migraines from his power; they were something that made him hate his ability even more. Telling the future was something that Alex didn't want to be burdened with. "I can participate," he said with a nod. If he could help other precognition metas get rid of their migraines, he'd be more than happy to participate. "Have you found anything interesting yet?"

[Dr. Loveday Morley]

"A great deal that's very interesting, Mr Grayson, but very little helpful," Morley said, "although that's primarily becaue the data itself is limited, not that it's inherently useless. Not surprisingly, very few people are willing to openly talk about their talents, and those talents' drawbacks, to researchers; even one of their own. I'm hoping to encourage an atmosphere of academic and intellectual trust while I'm here."

Vapour fluttered from the stack of papers back to her shoulder, eyes again fixed on Alex. The double-vision effect was giving her a bit of a headache, so she dismissed him for the moment.

"I do appreciate your willingness to help," she added, "and I hope to have some formal procedures in place before the end of the month. Generally, however, I will hope to meet regularly with each participant, as well as having each student do a daily personal report, as well. We want to know to what extent everyday conditions-- sleep, food, stress and so on-- may affect our talents and side-effects."

She paused. "There are, of course, those who will disapprove of our efforts to minimize the negative side-effects of meta talents. However, those people are stupid; therefore, we will disregard their disapproval."

[Alex Grayson]

Alex listened to what Dr. Loveday had to say. It was definitely interesting- and it made him curious. He'd heard that side effects were unavoidable, and that they'd never find a permanent cure for them, and that Alex would have to live with his migraines for the rest of his life. What she was saying definitely had his attention- he didn't want those migraines or the paranoia that came with being able to see the future. Living in fear made life hard. Alex knew that tons of others with the same ability and side effects were out there, and being able to help get rid of their discomfort would be amazing.

"I'd be happy to do that," he said with a nod. He was certain that the scientist wouldn't really do much to harm him from what he'd seen so far, and she could be trusted. Once she had Alex's trust, it'd be hard for him to take it away.

However, he found the last bit slightly amusing, and gave her a nod.