maskormenacelogs | catch-all ( to distract our hearts from ever missing them )

[ Huh. That's an application he hadn't thought of - and really, the fact that he hadn't makes him feel a bit guilty. That should be a natural application for the tech. Anyone who can't use their arms and legs for some reason would absolutely benefit from having a neuro-cranial transmitter, even if all they could control were microbots. He's already demonstrated how useful that is when you're missing the use of a limb. ]

That's ... pretty cool, actually. Did you have to fit everything else with receivers then? Or'd you make something more universal?

[ Alas, Hiro doesn't see the trust that takes for Cadel to tell him this, but he relaxes anyway. IT's good conversation. ]

[Not making a big deal out of it helps a lot with him talking about it. Not to mention, someone who can both follow and is interested in this.

Cadel lights up in that talking-about-Sonja-and-computers way that is essentially unseen about any other subject.] No, I was... Well, I was hacking into the campus facilities database to access their remote signals. [His guilt is subdued and muted, since he's already had this conversation with Saul, his dad, about hacking.] It was for a good cause, and I thought forgiveness would be easier than permission. She just couldn't go around like that when she didn't have to.

And I have a lot of experience with traffic systems, [he thinks to add at the end.]

[ It's not like Hiro has any problem with hacking anyway; he just wants to know how he did it. And that sounds pretty cool. ]

Yeah ... Yeah, it sure is. You just gotta go ahead and do stuff or you'll never get done. 'sides, that sounds pretty useful and also like it wasn't gonna hurt anyone else. So why would anyone be mad?

[ With that, the elevator beeps at them - they've arrived at the lab level. Hiro steps out into the facility proper. He's located in the larger open space with multiple people working all at once, though he has a private room too he can go to if necessary. Guess which space is his. It's the one with all the robot parts and a half dozen Bayminis sitting in various levels of completion. ]

[Cadel himself doesn't have any problem with hacking, but he's also aware that his moral compass is shot and when he has the luxury to, he tries to obey the law.]

Saul is a police detective, [he says wryly.] My adoptive dad. He's understanding, but I try not to put him in a hard spot. That's another reason I didn't ask first, so he could say he didn't know. [Otherwise Cadel agrees with Hiro that you just have to do things and damn the consequences, and certainly, here without his parents, he has no reason not to do just that.

It's definitely easy to tell which space is Hiro's, and Cadel heads toward it without asking.] Where do you want us to set up? [Since he thinks there is probably an internally organized system despite all the mess, and doesn't want to go just clearing space.]

[ Gosh. He kinda knows how that goes. Except there was no hiding his less-than-legal activities from his brother, thanks to the GPS trackers in his clothes. ]

Yeah ... yeah, that's a good call. We're still young enough we'd get off easy if we got caught anyway. When I got thrown into jail the one time, my brother ended up on the adult side. Man, he was furious.

[ But, more importantly: the lab. Once he walks into his space, he flicks a mental switch in his mind. All of the junk on his desk and the floor immediately floats up into the air, forming a recognizable pattern - a 3D workspace. It's easy enough to navigate, anyway, and now there's plenty of room on the desk for Cadel to stash his computer. Hiro gestures to a clear spot. ]

Right here is good. You can hook straight into the right-most monitor.

[Saul knows better than to try to place one on Cadel, if for nothing else than how consummately it would destroy Cadel's trust in him. But he's also too smart to give Cadel's extremely smart enemies something to hack into to pinpoint his location at all times.

Otherwise, Saul would absolutely like a tracker on his kid, too.]

You got thrown in jail? [he blurts out, before getting thoroughly distracted with this casual display of power.] Okay, that's still awesome, [he interjects, setting his bag down and unpacking his stuff. He starts hooking up cables as he talks.] Anyway, I've been in witness protection a bunch of times, and house arrest, but not actual jail. When I was really little they didn't think I knew what I was doing, [he confesses with a roll of his eyes.

Duping the police isn't something Cadel is proud of anymore, but his disdain for being dismissed has never changed.]

[ Cords snake out of the back of his monitor seemingly on their own, so that Cadel can make all the connections he needs. Then he idly works the computer without touching it and sets things up so that Cadel can bring up his stuff. This is where Hiro's power is at its most useful: in his lab, where he knows everything inside and out, and he barely even has to think to make everything around him work the way he wants it to. No wonder he gets a hell of a lot of stuff done when he barely even has to touch the controls directly. ]

Witness protection? Why? Did they seriously underestimate you that much? The police are so dumb.

[Cadel might be jealous at the speed at which he can work, except that it's definitely suited for physical applications, which is not Cadel's favorite. He's much happier with his own power, now that he's getting comfortable with it. If there's anything he's envious of, it's how at ease Hiro is with his, trusting it completely.

Cadel at least flicks his computer on mentally and goes through boot up processes with mental commands as well, subtly tensing as he goes to answer.]

... The last time it's not because they underestimated me. I could help better than anyone else, and I eventually did, [he can't help insisting, since that had been his own sticking point.] But I was the target. [He usually is.] Saul finds it morally bankrupt to use me as bait for someone that dangerous.

[This is the sanitized version, and Cadel isn't sure how much farther he wants to go with it, so with a flick of his gaze he sends the schematics for the DNA recognition interface onto the larger monitor. That's probably sufficient distraction.] Here. This is what I have so far.

[ Huh. That's ... uh. While Hiro'll admit that both of them seem awful young to be bait, he knows he'd try it himself if the situation called for it. Plus he's done so, so much worse as a superhero ... Being a target seems relatively normal compared to jumping into an interdimensional portal. ]

You did it okay though, right? So what's the big deal? They oughta respect you by now.

[ But he doesn't press for details, especially with those schematics coming up. He immediately leans over to get a closer look. ] Whoa. Nice.

[Cadel has used himself as bait loads of times. For some reason his dad has an issue with doing the same. (Truthfully, the fact that he does is a big part of the reason Cadel is so attached to him-- it's not something his previous fathers would've blinked over.)

And as for doing okay... After watching all of his loved ones end up in the hospital on his behalf, Cadel had panicked, faked his death in the hospital records, fabricated a bunch of digital money, and run off to America to face his foe himself, then turned himself into the FBI. He can see why respecting his autonomy is not so high up on the police's list, after all that. Plus they have the records of what he'd done before.] It was a little more complicated than that, [he mutters, and lets it rest there.

Instead he nods toward the schematics.] I was able to take a look at Isaac's RIG-- I don't know if you know him, but he's a deep space engineer from the future, well, the relative future. He has some extremely optimized neural interfaces, and it helped me refine the design.

catch-all ( to distract our hearts from ever missing them )

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