Training

Posted on Sat Dec 16th, 2023 @ 5:08am by Duke Drake & Sakura Tanikawa

1,329 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: 1.5 - Non Mission Posts
Location: Doc's Office
Timeline: Early October 1992

Doc slammed his fist on his desk in frustration, his Personal Computer, recently purchased from Radio Shack was supposed to make it easier to keep up with documents and was supposed to improve his productivity. Unfortunately, the dang thing wouldn't even turn on for him, and after fighting with his new computer for far longer than he cared to admit he swallowed his pride and decided to get help. He paged for Sakura over the intercom requesting her assistance in his office.

"I know Americans tend to use brute force to fix problems, Professor," Sakura observed from the door, "but I promise that the computer won't like it." She grinned and sauntered closer to the desk. "So it won't start?"

"Nope, the guy at Radio Shack said this 386 would be perfect for my home office. I hooked everything up and pressed the button on the screen here and everything stays blank," Doc explained.

"I never worked for Compaq, but I do know the 386," she said. She gestured for the Doc to move to one side and she stood in front of the machine. "Now, what's wrong, imouto?" she whispered to the computer as she lay a hand on it.

Her eyes went lavender as her mind went into the computer.

Doc watched Sakura's eyes shift as she focused on the task at hand, the eye color change was a bit unnerving. He was almost afraid to speak and break her concentration. He took a sip of his coffee out of his favorite mug with a Star Trek quote that says "I'm a doctor, not a Miracle Worker," with a picture of Bones, as he watched Sakura work.

Computers were an incredible machine for the mutant called Tekku. Any piece of machinery, she could view how it worked and interact with it with her mind. But computers hit differently. Anything with a bit of random access memory and storage, she could project her consciousness into it and interact with it like a real place. Her brain interpreted it like Tron, though on a smaller scale. Not a city, but a large building with many rooms that she could travel quickly between. Programs could be interacted with directly, and damage could be easily identified, bypassed, fixed, overwritten, etc.

"Did you manage to get it working earlier?" Sakura's eyes were still purple and unfocused, but she could still speak, with effort, and hear the professor. "Or have you never been able to get it running at all?"

"I bought it last night, set it up this morning, and haven't been able to do anything with it. I keep pressing the tv button here,"DOc said pointing to the monitor, "and nothing happens at all."

"That explains it," Sakura replied. Her eyelids fluttered and her eyes returned to normal. She shook her head to help calibrate her senses back into the real world.

"So first," she said, grinning at her supervisor, "we need to learn the basics of the computer. This part," she said, touching the cube-like screen, "is the monitor. All it's doing is display. This part," she touched the rectangle on which the monitor rested, "is the computer. You need to turn both on." She did so, and a series of loading screens were displayed, including the logo for Windows 3.1. "They sold you the latest version. This is a good machine you bought."

"Thanks, I should have brought you with me to purchase it, but at least I didn't get buy a melon," Doc said as he turned from the computer screen to Sakura. "So how are things going here for you? It's been about a month since you moved into this crazy house."

“It’s going well,” Sakura answered. “It’s good to belong, finally. In my old jobs, after a month I’d already be looking for other opportunities, knowing that I’d be let go after my contractual minimal time. The kids are a handful but they’re dedicated. I like teaching them.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How long do you think until they accept us out there? Will it ever even happen?”

"I don't know when they will accept us, right now the general public thinks 'mutants bad' and it will take teams like Xavier and the X-Men to show that not all mutants are in fact bad. I do think it may happen over time, if the government doesn't force registration or use the Sentinel Program that I've heard rumors about. Have you heard any of the rumors around the Sentinel program?"

Sakura nodded. “I read about it in the paper a little while ago. Scary stuff. I’ve been trying to read more in tech journals but Trask Industries has been surprisingly tight-lipped about the program.”

"That's the part that scares me, the government is pushing this mutant registration on one hand, and in the other one of their biggest contractors is rumored to be working on some sort of mutant acquisition or detainment tech. The fact that the government has leaks all the time but are suddenly quiet worries me even more. I have tried reaching out through some unofficial channels, " Doc explained, "But I've had no luck. I'm almost to the point where I feel like we may need to go on a fact finding mission ourselves.

"The Trask laboratories should be fairly well interconnected," suggested Sakura. "I might be able to get a lot of information from their computer systems, if I could access one. It might not even need to be at their main campus."

"I think they have an office in Mississippi for testing their larger equipment around a less dense population. If we can put together a small team, no more than four of us, I think we should check it out. With you as our tech guru, I can disintegrate doors as necessary to leave the site, but my abilities aren't conducive to an infiltration mission without being inside the facility first and knowing where I'm going. I can also be there in case my medical needs are required."

Sakura nodded. “I can start doing some research. I might find site plans or blueprints somewhere. Leave it with me for a few days?”

"Sure just keep this quiet, I think I'm going to get us some training together before we go out on a mission like this. It may be nothing more than learning how to use all of our powers together without hitting each other, but you never know what will happen once we are mid-mission. I want us to be as prepared as we can without going into full Rambo-Mode."

"That makes sense," Sakura agreed. "I'll come find you with a plan when I have one, and I'll keep it to myself for now."

"Sounds good, Sakura, In the mean time I was thinking of throwing a Halloween party, and I'm looking for a theme. Do you have any suggestions?" Doc asked.

Sakura grinned, teeth shining with a brightness that rivaled the joy in her eyes. Halloween was one of those things that she truly loved about America. "Well, we're a school first and foremost, so maybe favourite character from a book? Do you think we might have a budget to take the students costume shopping?"

"We could always have Joe help them if they want something custom,and he already has the teacher's measurements. I'm certain we can swing it budget-wise for the costumes and refreshments," Doc replied as he rubbed his chin while thinking.

"I'll pay him a visit," Sakura said. "I want to go downtown this weekend anyway."

"Sounds like a plan, I'm headed to town to meet Mary Beth for coffee and beignets, we can carpool if you want, " Doc offered, "As long as you don't tell anyone how technologically challenged I am," he said grinning sheepishly.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Sakura said with a reassuring nod and a wide grin.

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