Crane.

Overboard || Kat & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Morning

The coffee machine finally clicked, announcing that it was ready to drink. Ben didn’t think he’d ever been happier to hear that noise than now when it mean he could leave this conversation. Grabbing his cup, Ben poured himself a brew then gestured to it, asking Katherine whether she wanted one too or not - it didn’t hurt too much to be polite.

“No, not a technopath.” He answered, not surprised that she’d made that jump to conclusions. “I can make digital things real, and real things digital. for example, this cup. I could put this in my laptop, then take it out again once I’m at my office. I’ve tried before, but the coffee always always comes out cold.” He sighed, and shook his head, wondering if there were some way for him to keep the drink heated whilst in digital transportation. Perhaps he could do some experimenting. “Anyway, I must be off, systems don’t secure themselves.” Ben announced, picking up his laptop, nodding a goodbye to the young lady and just hoping that she didn’t follow him when he left the room.

Katherine waved her hand- she still wasn’t used to the jittery feeling after drinking caffeine yet. She figured after detoxing for 6 years, she would do well to avoid the habit for as long as possible.

A smile spread across Katherine’s face, “sounds like a programming bug, completely understandable though.”

Nodding, Katherine waved at the man. He could leave, that was fine. For now, she was going to poke around some more on the level, at least until security or whomever this badge belonged to, found her out.

[CLOSED]

#p:overboard #katherine

Under The Bridge || Micah & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Afternoon

Micah tried his best- it was a fun task, for about the first three minutes. He could come close to nearly cracking it, just for the pattern to restart, over and over again. By minute five, Micah caught himself mumbling under his breath. At minute seven, he threw his hands up in defeat, and in no small degree angry frustration.

“If I had maybe 5 more seconds, I’d be able to get in, maybe.” Micah said after giving himself one minute to calm and clear his head. “By the time someone like me could crack it, we’d already be picked up, or give up.” He said, rubbing his hand over his head.

#P:under the bridge #micah

“That’s just what I wanted to hear.” Ben smiled, turning the monitor back around the right way and tapping a few things back into the code. If Micah said he’d be able to get it with five more seconds, then Benjamin was going to shave a few seconds off the refresh time, just to make it harder. That was all he really needed for now, and he didn’t want to bore Micah whilst he changed the code, so he stood up and held out his hand toward Micah again. “Thank you very much for your time and help, I’m sure I’ll be calling on you again soon enough.” He shook the young man’s hand before walking him to the door, closing it behind Micah. Hopefully this would be the end of this certain project, at least until someone managed to actually break in. “Thank you again.”

[CLOSED]

Under The Bridge || Micah & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Afternoon

Micah nodded, relieved and trusting Benjamin. “I imagine that will be our next venture though, digital diseases in the medical field…” Micah mused, both very intrigued and terrified by the idea.

In awe, Micah observed the changing landscape. He wasn’t sure where he would need to go, but it was worth a shot. “You would need multiple abilities to crack this- specifically enhanced speed and technopathy… I’m willing to try it out!” He said, placing his hand on the monitor.

#micah #P:under the bridge

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. The maze was designed specifically to be practically impossible to crack, especially from the inside. Sitting back, he wafted his hand in front of him and let Micah do his thing, watching on the other monitor as an alert popped up, telling him that someone had entered the maze. “From this, you would have about ten minutes before some Fortis people picked you up, so I’ll give you that long.” By then the route through the maze would have changed nearly 50 times, if Micah could crack it, he’d just have to make it more complicated, add some more twists in there.

Overboard || Kat & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Morning

Katherine knit her brows, trying to judge the sincerity of the comment, but still remaining skeptical. There wasn’t anything saying she wouldn’t be able to snoop about again, hopefully without any extra company. “Well, it is early…” She trailed.

“Good to know,” Katherine said, glancing at the laptop, then around the room again. “Technopath… cool word. Are you one of those?” She was quickly growing bored of this interrogation, and she figured she wouldn’t be able to go toe to toe with someone experienced in technology, so belaboring her search in the technological aspect would prove fruitless.

#p:overboard #katherine #This can be the close or you can add something to it :D

Under The Bridge || Micah & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Afternoon

Micah nodded, fully agreeing. People like him, Renata, others, surely, had a particular talent for cracking the hardest of cases without so much as a trace. It was just one particular part of their gifts- an intuition of machinery that would only grow as the years went on.

He raised a brow, looking at the man suspiciously, “I trust you enough, but this isn’t going to harm me, is it?” Micah asked for clarification. A fellow much like him- Hana Gitelman- had been caught off by a virus which ultimately led to her demise. Often he wasn’t worried of it, but to chance it without asking would be unwise. “We can become ill from viruses as well. But I’m willing to test it out, otherwise.”

#P:under the bridge #micah

“No.” Ben stated quickly, wanting to dispel any worries of that straight away. It would be fairly easy to implement a deadly virus within their security that could kill or infect someone trying to break in. However Benjamin wasn’t in the business of murder.

Pulling up a file on his computer, he turned the monitor around to show the design to Micah. At first glance the image looked like a fuzzy box, but further inspection revealed that it was actually a huge, deeply intricate maze. “This is the new design. The path changes every 13 seconds, and whilst you’re trying to figure it out, our systems will be finding out your location and sending a squad to meet you and pick you up. Do you think you’d be able to break it?”

Strangers in the Night || Benjamin & Charlie || V8 W4 Wednesday Night

psychicnavigation

Charlie couldn’t help but pout at Ben’s response. It wasn’t something she’d expected, in all honesty. Most people were more than happy to recall better times and memories with others, though maybe it was the thought of doing it with a stranger that was off-putting.

At his explanation, Charlie nodded once in acknowledgment. “Of course. I completely understand.” His lips curled up into a small smile after a moment. “But you change your mind or can think of anyone that you’d be able to get into contact with, I’m sure you’ll find me somewhere around the city.” Another pause. “Though, I’m sure you’re right about finding some friendly ones.”

#p:strangers in the night #charlie

Ben was not used to this level of conversation with a stranger, and if he was being honest, it was beginning to annoy him. Was this just what people were like here? With everything going on, h figured people would only get more hostile on the streets. How could this person know if he was a Special or not, how could they know if he was dangerous. Perhaps Charlie was a Special, shouldn’t she be more careful?

“I can assure you I wont change my mind.” He said, with not even a hint of apology in his voice. “And unfortunately I wouldn’t really be able to put you in contact with anyone without know whether they’d want to be put in contact with you, I’m sure you understand.” Deciding that he’d been quite rude enough to someone who seemingly did not deserve it, Ben sighed and looked at the burned out building again. “It really is a shame about this place. A terrible shame.” Ben muttered sadly, turning away, nodding a goodbye to Charlie before walking away to grieve a friend on his own.

its-michael-emerson

Adorable Michael at New York Comic Con 2012.

#fc

Under The Bridge || Micah & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Afternoon

Micah knew about Benjamin, of course. He’d not yet taken the time to meet him yet, but he figured it would happen at some point, and he tried not to worry too much about it. What was interesting to Micah was that the man did cyber security, and Micah knew he had a technology based ability, but he didn’t understand it.

“Of course,” Micah said, nodding as he did so. It was becoming a common thing for him to sit behind desks, but he supposed a delinquent such as himself should be more accustomed to positions like these. “What is it you wanted to talk about?” He asked, though he supposed it had something to do with either their abilities or the technologies affected by them.

#P:under the bridge #micah

Taking his seat, Ben waited for the boy to be comfortable before he spoke. He knew he often came across quite ‘school-teacher-esk’, but it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it, it was just how he was - hopefully Micah wouldn’t be too off put by it.

“Well Micah, I was hoping for a favour. You see, I can spend forever creating defenses that could keep out the most hardened of hacking veterans. The real challenge is protecting our systems from people like you.” Ben vaguely gestured towards Micah, assuming that he understood the point he was making. “I need you to test out the new safety protocols I’ve put in place, to see if you can get through them.”

Overboard || Kat & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Morning

Katherine made an unamused noise. Fortis is more reliable in this world, sure, but that still didn’t mean she trusted them, or anyone who was working with them. But he was not wrong- she knew Fortis was secretive, and at least others were aware of this fact.

She still didn’t trust him though. “Don’t you have a kid for that?” She asked looking at “Michael, Mitchell, something like that?” She knew there was a technopath that handled things like that, but not much beyond that. “If it’s just a laptop, why is it hidden down here under…” Katherine paused to glance at the badge, “Level 6 security. You don’t hide a laptop behind a level 6 door. Or do you?”

#okay so like #jim caviezel is not who i picture as ben's late husband #but i mean #look how honest to god gay they would be

Casting his eyes to the ceiling, Benjamin almost wanted to laugh. Distrusting Fortis was the smart thing to do, but even a cynic such as himself knew the limits. “It’s here, my dear, because this is where the coffee is.” He said, gesturing to the coffee machine he was patiently waiting for to heat up. As if he would keep anything actually important on anything that could be removed from his office - he knew better than that.

“I assure you my actual work is kept behind something far safer than a door.” Benjamin tapped a few things on his keyboard before closing it - though there was nothing special about his laptop, he’d rather not leave it open for all to see. “And the boy you’re referring to, Micah, may be a technopath, but that doesn’t mean he knows everything.”

#p:overboard #katherine

follow-voice

HAROLD FINCH & JOHN REESE. CONVERGENCE

Strangers in the Night || Benjamin & Charlie || V8 W4 Wednesday Night

psychicnavigation

“Yes, such a shame.” Charlie gave another internal grin at the mourning for another Evo they’d killed. He got such a thrill watching people suffer like this and knowing the world was going to be a better place without this Evo in it. And now, this man was hopefully going to lead her to even more that they could potentially take out before the end of the month.

Twisting her face into a remorseful expression, Charlie turned to Benjamin again. “Oh? Well, maybe, since I’m pretty new in town, we could meet for dinner one night? The group you’re speaking of, I mean. We could talk about this place, get a proper greeting in. And I could use a few friends in town.” It was almost too easy, manipulating this man in giving her what he wanted.

#charlie #not gonna get him to open up so easy X)#p:strangers in the night

And just like that, Benjamin’s anti-social nature reared its head again and he, quite quickly responded to their proposal. “No.” He didn’t even look in the stranger’s direction, his eyes still lingering on the doors of the pub. It hadn’t even occurred to him how rude that probably seemed until a few moments later. As easy as it would be just to leave it there, the person had been helpful, so it wasn’t really fair to just cut them off like that.

“We don’t meet any more, I’m afraid. I wouldn’t even be able to contact the others I don’t think.” I don’t want to contact the others was more accurate, but that wasn’t a conversation to have with a stranger. “I’m sure you’ll find people though, there are enough people in the city, some of them have to be friendly.”

its-michael-emerson

Michael as Stuart Wesmar on “Without a Trace” (s1e19 “Victory for Humanity”, 2003).

Facial expressions appreciation post.

#oh man he looks so young wtf #fc

Arctic Sounds || Nick & Ben || V8 W4 Thursday Morning

nicholas-wycliffe-blog

“Aw, buddy!” Nick grinned, recognizing almost instantly what game the young man was playing. At this point he knew to start laying off. The poor guy already looked like he was about to keel over from a heart attack. Nick had made it this far without killing anyone, he’d hate to break that streak now.

“Fine. Your unit’s fixed by the way, there was just a little bit of debris messing with it. Should keep y=your room nice and chilly.” Nick stepped away from the wall and turned to Benjamin, wondering if he’d still get a thank you, of if he’d burned that bridge. “You’re welcome.”

#next volume they're gonna wreck shit up #nick #P:Arctic Sounds

Benjamin was nothing if not stubborn, and so gave no indication that he even knew Nick was still in the room, until he announced that he was finished. Ignoring him forever would make the man more insufferable the next time, so instead he chose the next best thing.

Glancing up from his monitor momentarily, he regarded Nick with nothing more than vague recognition. From there he gestured towards the door before turning back to his computer. “Thank you, you can leave now.” Was he being petty? Yes he was. Was it well deserved? Probably not, but that had never stopped him before.

[CLOSED]

Strangers in the Night || Benjamin & Charlie || V8 W4 Wednesday Night

psychicnavigation

Grinning inwardly, Charlie put her bets frown on and turned to him. “Well, I think it was in the paper or on the news, I can’t remember the details exactly, but I heard that there was one death. Apparently the own, I think.” She sighed and turned back to the building, do her best to hide a smile. “I’m not too sure, though. I only just arrived in town a few weeks ago and was thinking about trying this place out.”

It definitely would have made excellent hunting grounds, but some deaths out weight fun. “I’ve heard great things about this place. Makes me a little disappointed I didn’t get to come by sooner.” Charlie glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. “Did you know the owner well?”

#p:strangers in the night #charlie

At the statement that either Porter or Donald had perished in the fire, Benjamin bit his tongue and closed his eyes. People were loosing their lives all around them, and it felt like things were only getting worse. Whether and accident or intentional, things like this didn’t deserve to happen to such good people as the young men who ran this bar.

“Not particularly.” He answered, admittedly a little weakly. “A small group of us would meet semi-regularly. The owners were always very courteous. A shame-” Ben shook his head. “It’s a damn shame.”

Overboard || Kat & Ben || V8 W4 Wednesday Morning

If there was one thing that Katherine had learned she had in common with her dead self, it was that they both had an insatiable need to poke into things they probably ought not poke into. She may or may not have grabbed a higher clearance pass to get into the more restricted areas, but by the time she left, there wouldn’t be anything that would definitively say she had borrowed the pass.

That was the thing about locked doors- too often they beckoned to be opened.

She figured no one would be about this morning. Honestly, pervasive curiosity aside, she wondered why the hell she, herself was out this early. But none the less, there stood a man, who no doubt totally heard her clacking away on the linoleum tiles. Katherine raised a brow, crossed her arms, and approached the man and his computer slowly. “I’m already here, already seen it. What’s it do?” She asked, in no way leaving the conversation topic up for discussion.

Ben considered the implications of disappearing into the network for only a moment before the young woman engaged him in an actual conversation. As much as he disliked being forced into situations like this, he couldn’t just escape from every single one, he’d start to get a reputation.

Whilst the coffee machine whirred away, Benjamin glanced at the lady and then looked back at his computer. “It stores information and accesses networks.” His tone was unintentionally deadpan, a side effect of it being so early. “It’s a laptop, nothing fancy.” Ben further explained. He was head of digital security, he knew better that to openly display confidential bits of tech. “Though your assumption that it must be something secretive sheds a light on your experience with this company.” Was his attempt at a joke; he didn’t attempt them very often.

#p:overboard #katherine

Arctic Sounds || Nick & Ben || V8 W4 Thursday Morning

nicholas-wycliffe-blog

“You don’t know that!” Nick protested, even though Mr Crane was 100% totally right. Apparently implying that this fancy, graduate degree having, big shot software-developer was the same as a humble janitor hit a nerve, which of course meant that he had to keep pushing as much as he could get away with.

“And if I had built them, would we be on even footing, and would you stop being a prissy baby?” Could he be fired for that? Would Crane want to get him fired? He could just apologise and hope for the best? “I’m only trying to do my job, after all.”