Technology 101: Lie to Me

[Shadowkat]

"Okay, why does this one line never want to stay connect," Kitty grumbled to herself as she finished setting up the focus of the the morning's class in front of the room. Since they all had a test last week on the inner workings of nanites and transmitters, she decided to treat them all with a fun lesson today on lie detectors. She did this rarely and only when she felt her class can handle it, as it was something that could be easily abused. Right now, her main focus was getting this polygraph hooked up to her laptop before the students came piling in after breakfast. From the sounds in the hallway, Kitty had to work fast.

"Gotcha!" She yelled happily as she managed to connect the polygraph up to her computer and the projecter so the others could see as well. It was the same type of polygraph that was used by the FBI and CIA, as Kitty insisted on having all of the state of the art stuff, arguing that technology changes constantly and they have to be updated at all times. She restocked on new equipment yearly, though she was selective about which pieces she wanted updated.

The door opened and Kitty's wavy hair flipped around her as her head turned toward the door and her face broke out into a beaming smile at the sight of the first arrivals. "Happy Monday guys! Had a good breakfast? And look no food fight today, I'm impressed!" She laughed thinking back to the cookout and the incident the prior Monday that had some of the students taking the test with oatmeal and cereal in their hair.

[Taffy]

"Don't remind me Miss Pryde." Ricki said with a stiffled yawn as she entered the classroom with her new room-mate looking rather cheery by her side and flashing Miss Pryde one of her all-time natural smiles. Ricki'd gotten into her room a little later than usual last night after speaking to Maddy for a while and finally getting her head sorted about the girl. In all fairness, by thetime the girls had parted their own ways, Ricki'd actually genuinely got to like Maddy quite a bit and she felt damn right stupid about having any negative feelings towards her New Teammate and possible friend after all. However, Ricki wasn't recollecting that for nothing.

When Ricki went to sleep, she'd been all alone. Waking up to find another new Acolyte: a Blue one, did give Ricki quite a fright. So, Ricki knew that she had a new roommate, because she'd come back into her room on Friday to find stuff in there that wasn't quite hers, but she didn't really know who her new roommate was up until this morning when a Blue Girl in PJ's burst through her room door heading for the bathroom to get ready.

Ricki had to say: this was perhaps the worst time for her to get a roommate. Especially one who looked as good as Jocelyn did. She was absolutely gorgeous and it just made Ricki feel a teensie bit more insecure, especially after her epiphany the night before. But still, Jocelyn was still a really nice person, very talkative too and quite cheerful and full of life. Both girls were headed to Technology 101, so they figured why not together right? Get some bonding time in the middle as they walked, considering Joce made it very clear that she probably wasn't going to be sleeping in the room most nights.

"It took me forever to get the food out of my hair last week! I thought i'd finished all my shampoo this morning while I was about to go for a shower. I had to borrow Jocelyn's! But then I found my 'emergency bottles' tucked away in one of the drawers after I got out. Butttttt not complaining! Joce's shampoo makes my hair smell even bettter!" Ricki grinned at her new team mate, skip-walking over to a computer. "So! What's on the agenda today Miss Pryde?"

[Splice]

"Oh no WAY!" Jocelyn exclaimed excitedly when she saw the polygraph on the desk. "A lie detector! Now this is a way to start off the my first class with ya Kitty! You're awesome!" She laughed and looked over her shoulder. "HEY JAX! Grab Wolfboy and get in here, I'm declaring you my partner for this class!" she yelled and winked at Ricki. "Gotta have my basis covered and what better than a guy that know technology better than anyone else?" Jocelyn liked the cute little blonde, it was hard not to like her. She talked almost as much as Joce could and was just a sweetheart.

When she woke up curled up against Shade that morning, much to the embarrassment of Chester, pleasant as it was and as much as she really didn't want to leave, she refused to shower in the guy's shower and wanted her own change of clothes. Bursting into the room nearly gave Ricki a heart attack, but it was hilarious and so worth it.

Jocelyn hopped on the desk in the middle of the classroom and crossed her legs, bare as usual and clad in only jean short shorts. "Man when I left here, Kitty was just THINKING about starting to teach a class, and now look at her. I may even call her 'ma'am'!" she said with a giggle and looked around the room with wide eyes. Jocelyn loved school, but just attending it and not so much the actual work that came with it.

She had studied intensely in Atlantis everything from history to weapon and armor making, and battling styles. Her Uncle and her father wanted her to be fully prepared and be a full Atlantean in every sense of the way. She didn't know if anything here could top all that she learned in Atlantis, but Joce was willing to try. She loved all the teachers and the students so far were pretty cute. To top it off, class was the perfect place for her and Jax to look for eye candy.

[-RAM-]

"C'mon man, before she decides to fly-attack us both." Jax sighed dramatically as him and Riker walked into the classroom, their conversation on the New Mutants being interrupted by Joce yelling. "I feel so violated! First you try to abuse me, now you're trying ta use me? What is this!" he grinned widely at Joce as he said the words, his expression making it pretty damn clear that he was only joking. Riker'd informed him about Technology 101 this mornin' and hell, like Jax was gonna miss that class. He'd take any chance he had to use (and maybe even misuse) his powers. Plus, it was the perfect place to show off.

He figured he'd probably get a little bored in the lesson though, 'cause if they taught what they taught in normal schools out here- his work would be done within 2 seconds. But Riker simply said that it was their Team Leader's class and that the whole team always made an effort to show up due to respect if not anythin' else. Jax figured he'd find someone in the class to keep him company but turns out he didn't really need it. The sight of the Lie Detector on Shadowkat's table actually had Jax pretty excited, although he figured that Riker still wouldn't be all that into the whole technology thing.

"Alright my blue diva, you got me claimed. We'll ace this class together, don't fret." He grinned at her, his eyes vaguely fallin' over to the blonde chick who came in with Joce. She didn't have anything all that eye catching about her, not to Jax anyway. But she looked like one of those real wholesome types; she was pretty, Jax'd give her that, but nothing more really. He waked over to where Joce was sitting and popped onto the table besides her, swinging his arm around her shoulder. "I hope you've kept it challenging Kitty." Jax said, his cocky smirk appearing on his face. "Or else Joce and I are just gonna get so bored."

Jax grinned at his team leader, before using his arm that was already around Joce's shoulder to pull her into a loose yet unescapeable headlock. "Aren't we Jocey-pie?" he mocked in a bit of a patronizing tone as if he were talking to a real little kid.

[Katana]

Katana scuttled into tech class behind the two boys. There was no better word for it as she walked in with her head held down and her shoulders scrunched up as if she was trying to make her face just disappear. She had taken Kyle's advice to try to look more presentable. Well not his specific advice to try some make up. She didn't own any and had no idea how to use it anyway. But she'd showered three times to get all the grease out of her hair, and had missed breakfast brushing out all the tangles. Then she'd put it up in a pony tail to get it out of her face and hide the split ends. For the first time in months the clothes she was wearing were clean, if a bit faded, and she'd scrubbed her skin so it no longer looked dingy. Even her finger nails were clean. While she looked a lot better, she felt terrified and not just because it was tech class, her second least favorite class after gym.

Even the sight of the lie detector on Shadowkat's desk didn't cheer her up. Not when she saw 'Mr. I'm so special, worship me for my fancy car' was in her class and was all chummy with Riker, the most scary of her enemies. With my luck he's a NuMutant. Most of them took this class and made her life hell just as much as the Paragons. Not only that but Katana had to sit up front so she had her back to them, which just made things that much more fun. And they have a new friend too. Lovely. she thought with sarcasm as her eyes turned to the very pretty blue girl she'd seen in English class the other day. She looked a little too long and then tried to pretend she'd only been looking at her new friend Ricki.

"Hi," she said to Ricki. "That lie detector thing looks cool. Think it really works?"

[Sketch]

Max slunk into the classroom and practically dove into the first open desk he saw. The last time he’d been in school he was twelve and probably growing a lima bean in a Dixie cup or something equally unimpressive. Somehow he doubted things here would be even remotely close to that. The New Mutant double checked that his sunglasses were perched in their usual place, hiding his eye-shine from the others as he furtively glanced around him, trying not to look on edge. Indeed, Max appeared perfectly apathetic and disinterested, if not wholly approachable. It was in the slope of his shoulders, the serious line of his mouth, and rapid tapping of his sharpie against the top of his desk. He might have looked indifferent, but Max was vibing ‘Stay the hell away from me’ with every intense movement.

“Good morning, Miss Pryde,” he muttered from his seat before falling silent again. Max did manage something akin to a smile aimed at Jocelyn, but she was busy roughhousing with the kid with the Bugatti and he doubted she even noticed his small effort. Max’s attention deviated a moment later anyhow when he caught sight of the guy with the dog tail. Max blinked and pulled his Ray-Bans off, his warm brown eyes startled wide. He really didn’t know what to think of all this. He had seen mutants on TV before the lockdown, knew that they came in all variety of colors, sizes, and degrees, but seeing them first hand was something else. It was overwhelming and exhausting and Max pressed the heels of his hands against his temples, hoping his head wouldn’t pop at the sight of his other classmates. He would just focus on the class and try to get used to people with tails and blue skin and God only knew what else. Eyes glued to his desk, Max’s mouth pressed into a thin line as he uncapped his sharpie.

Max wasn’t all that familiar with computers, he wasn’t tech savvy in the least, but he really wanted to make a good impression with his team leader. He had already run afoul with one teacher since he’d shown up at Xavier’s and Max wasn’t looking for a repeat. He had been practically chased out of the library the previous night. Apparently, Rogue did not particularly care for the fire bird he’d loosed in the stacks. She had made him tear up the drawing and then practically dropkicked him into the boys’ dorms. Maybe this time he would be able to draw something that didn’t get him in trouble…

The lines of the drawing glistened momentarily before the apple appeared beside Kitty on her desk, shiny, red, and perfect. Max made no indication that it had come from him other than a small nod at his teacher before he folded his arms, his strange left eye glowing softly.

[Clutch]

"Kris did my hair last night, but I do like how it came out this morning. I think it would work with your hair too Heather!" Ana said in a light voice to the smaller blonde by her side. She had been trying to cheer her up all morning, after hearing the deadpanned tone that her normally cheery best friend used when telling Ana about her date last night. It broke Ana's heart that her best friend had to be hurt in the process, but ever being the honest one that always let her opinions be known, she assured Heather that it was not the end of the world, and that there was someone better for her out there. All of breakfast was spent cheering her up until Emma called her away for a moment to talk to her.

"Hallo Kitty!" Ana waved cheerfully to her team leader and walked with Heather to their seats in front of the room, unfortunately right in front of the stupid homeless bum and his new blue girlfriend. <Guess that must be his standard for someone who is not underweight,> Ana thought frowning for a moment before she took her seat with Heather. "So what is it that Emma wanted to talk to you about?" she asked curiously peering at her friend and trying to discern what the expression on her face meant.

Ana was quite proud that despite Heather's sullen mood, she still managed to dress well and look as classy as she ever did. It was good that she was not going to let some stupid boy bring her down and the raven haired beauty new that Heather was made of much stronger stuff than many gave her credit for. She let a couple of strands of hair with curls on the end fall over her shoulder, ignoring the two behind her as she focused on Heather. It didn't matter how great her outfit was, with her favorite skinny jeans, ballet flats and her soft light blue off the shoulder top, she couldn't even take the proper pride in it with her best friend and teammate looking so down.

[Splice]

Jocelyn didn't grow up in this crazy school surrounded by boys without learning at least some tricks up her sleeves. Her hands reached out and grabbed up his ribs at the ticklish spots that all guys had and she kept tickling him till he let her go. "Don't abuse your free eye candy!" she yelled with a giggle and punched him lightly in the stomach as she giggled and turned back to the classroom only to make her stop mid giggle and her eyes to go wide. Man I have good timing, Jocelyn thought as her eyes were glued to the long pair of legs that walked into the class.

Okay, I know I saw her somewhere before... She licked her lips as she leaned into Jax, keeping her eyes trained on the pretty raven haired little thing that sat in front of her. "Okay I so call dibs on her. Look at those legs! She's beautiful!" Joce said in a low voice to Jax, her eyes trailing down her form and then down to the cute blonde next to her. "Two lookers in one! I got dibs on Hottie Long Legs though!" She hopped off the desk and went over to sit on the chair behind her desk, her head cocking to the side as she grinned up at Jax. "Wanna bet that I can get her charmed by the end of the day?" Joce bit her lip and grinned at the eye candy galore that got to sit in front of her.

[Hardlight]

There was nothing better in Kevin's opinion than a challenge, and technology class was one of those things. He was bright, top grades back in his last school, but here it was a little different and gizmo's weren't really his strong suit. He especially liked abstract things like Philosophy, Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, higher math stuff and real things like Earth Sciences and Biology and even History. Kitty's class had been something he wanted to try and he found it had a challenge to it that even though the material was not his cup of tea, he could sink his teeth into thanks to the difficulty of it all.

"Good morning Miss Pryde." Kevin smiled as he bounded in. His step had a lightness to it after the night sleep he had. He'd put all of the things that were bothering him in that little red wagon in his mind and pushed it off the edge of the cliff he imagined into oblivion. It was a trick his Grandmother taught him and he used it now and then when things piled up. He just had been dealing with a lot, like new friends and the loss of new friends and the weirdness that a touch of being liked did to a kid who'd been hated and teased most of his life.

There was a freedom here at the academy and Kevin had taken advantage of it. He didn't want to keep being such a jerk so he did what he always did. He prayed a little, forgave himself a lot, and decided he would do his best to just make himself a better Kevin. If he tried every day to make himself a little better than the day before he was sure he could handle it, and things would be better for all his friends.

No more sniping on Heather, or shunning Kris, or making Lorelai out to be such a big issue in his life. He had it good and he was grateful for what he had. All he had to do was remember how things used to be and he knew he was living the good life now. His mind was cleared of the clutter of the past and he was ready for the challenges of the future he really did love a challenge. He stood looking, not sure where to sit or who would like him as a study partner.

[D'mnchyld]

Oh boy, can't wait.. Sean's gonna teach me how to ride a horse.. eeep.. her mind wouldn't focus on much else so she'd given in and just went with the excitement she had been feeling since helping him yesterday. The animals of the world, in general, didn't care much for her.. sure, but truth be told, she didn't blame them. She didn't expect anything now, not like when she was little and tried to have a pet or pet somebody else's dog or cat, now she understood what the prejudice was all about and she couldn't blame them. ..hope they give me a chance to-!

She rushed into the class and almost bumped right into Hardlight, standing there just inside the doorway. "Hey Kev, s'cuse me." she said skirting around him before finding a spot to sit next to Riker and giving a little wave to her Team Leader Kitty. "Oh is that like a -? No WAY.. a lie detector!?! Coooool" she grinned and nudged her shoulder into her fuzzy faced team captain. "You get a load of that thing?" Her grin was a little devilish as she imagined what might be getting ready to go down in class today. She wasn't sure if Sean was coming to class today, which was why she sat with Riker. Having to make final preparations in the stables might take all her boyfriend's day, but she'd take good notes for him if he didn't show up and switch seats to be his partner if he did.

[NightShade]

Ivy walked into the classroom, hugging a book to her chest. Yesterday hadn't quite turned out as she had sort of hoped it would; she didn't end up hanging with Ian and a few of their friends. She was sure he had gotten caught up in something more interesting. Understandable, completely, but it did bum her out a bit as she'd actually been looking forward to it. Maybe he did hang out with some friends, but forgot to come find her. She would've gone looking, but she didn't want to feel like an idiot walking around the school looking around for people when she didn't know where they were. Regardless, after the slight disappointment she just settled back into reading and writing. It got her mind off it, and she was just looking forward to classes starting for the week.

When she walked in, she saw a few new people she didn't know, and some she still didn't know very well despite having seen them around. She looked around for Ricki, and saw her with the really pretty blue girl as well as this muscular looking guy she assumed was new. Ivy bit her lip softly; it looked like Ricki was good where she was, and Ivy debated whether or not she should go over and join them or leave them alone.

As she debated, she looked to the front of the room to see what was on the agenda for the day's class. Lie detectors! Ivy's eyes widened slightly as she bit her lip again. She would probably fail even if she didn't have something to hide, being put on the spot made her just plain nervous. She prayed she wouldn't be called upon during class to be a guinea pig, and tried to dismiss the scary thought when she relaxed her face slightly, deciding to go over to say hi to Ricki.

Pursing her lips, she pushed up her glasses with a finger and slowly approached, wary of the muscular guy and the seemingly enthusiastic blue girl. To seem not so bookish as she normally would, she uncrossed her arms from her chest and clutched her book in one hand, obscuring it at her side by her oversized hoodie sleeve. "Hey, Ricki," she said quietly, giving her a small smile. She felt suddenly very sheepish, even though it was Ricki. She thought it was probably just the people around her, and she debated just saying 'Never mind' to go find a seat elsewhere. Ricki looked like she was having fun without her.

[Haven]

The rush up to class from the chrome subterranean levels took way too long. Just like usual her and Doc McCoy were takin care o'business and as he always did when he got absorbed in his work, he lost complete track of time. Niki never cared much and actually if she was to be honest about it, she liked it when they were together so much that she didn't pay much attention to the time. He was the Father-figure she had come to attach herself to and her devotion to him had actually been the reason she decided to take Kitty's class.

If she was to be a real assistant to him, she needed Technology 101 to be worth her weight.

Though the lab had started off as her prison, she had actually come to make it a place of comfort. She didn't get paid for her work there, quite uncharacteristically she refused, but if she needed money she just asked Beast for it and he never said no. Her real payment was in paying him back for being the one teacher who cared enough to stick his neck out for her, that and he took all her crap with a grin, so he was cool in her book. Kitty's class would just help her stay on top of things, with all the 'new-tech' the Doc came up with just about daily she could use all the help she could get.

As she took her time, emerging from the elevator in the foyer then climbing the stairs where she'd given Frostbite something to think about and deliberately strolling down the hall at a half pace to class she could see some students rushing into the Tech room. Behind her in the hall footsteps told her others were coming as well, or she was about to get jumped. Either way she let her forcefield roll up and cover her. It was an old habit when she heard footfalls behind her, but old habit die hard they always say.

Without a word she entered. Her skin, pale, eyes piercing as she looked around the room into the faces of the others. Glancing to her right she saw little Kevin. Smallest of the Acolytes and a pain in the ass at times, especially when she wanted her man to herself, standing there like some kind of wallflower. She wanted to ask him what his problem was since he almost always sat with the snobby rich kids in class, but he didn't look like he had a problem.

"C'mon" she said to him in a hushed tone out of the corner of her mouth and headed up to a seat behind Katana. Kevin wasn't stupid, so she could do worse for a partner, and he was an Acolyte so she figured it was only right she take care of her own. Well whatever reason he ain't sitting with the rich kids I don't care, but if he needs me I ain't gonna turn my back on him. Might as well be my partner if he wants. He's a good little guy and the pair of us can watch Katana together, keep her from making an ass outta herself. She settled in her seat.

[Perigee]

Penny was excited for her first full week of classes, even if she did have to wait until tomorrow for flying. And team practice. she reminded herself. Why can't it be Tuesday now! But this technology class looked like it would be cool. Shadowkat was teaching and she'd been told that pretty much all the NuMutants took it. The mass of wires hooked up the computer and projector on the teacher's desk look pretty impressive too, but knowing nothing about technology Penny didn't have the first clue what they were. Standing just inside the doorway she looked around for a seat and debated whether to go grab one near her new friend Ricki or near k'8. k'8 she decided. There were more empty seats there and she'd had so much fun sitting next to k'8 in art.

"Hey k'8." she said cheerfully. "Hi Riker." she added flashing her team captain a smile. "This class is huge! Shadowkat must be a really cool teacher." Art had been pretty big too but she'd expected that since I mean who didn't love art. But technology sounded like a hard class. She wouldn't have taken it if she wasn't a NuMutant, and even now her excitement was tempered by her nerves. "Any idea what we're doing today?"

[Hoax]

“After you, darlin.” Dor stepped aside to let the saucy thing with the pale skin and white hair enter ahead of him. Some ratty little thing blew past him a second later and Dor snorted before he strolled into the classroom, cleaning off his glasses as he went. Some people were simply born without manners. He spotted his roommate right off the bat. The guy was glowering in his seat, looking for all the world like he was trying to melt a hole in his desk with nothing but force of will, and Dor rolled his eyes. As far as roommates went, things could have been worse. Sketch hardly spoke, and he hadn’t brought any shit to clutter up the room. All in all, it was a good fit, but the guy needed to lighten up something fierce. Ignoring his roommate entirely, Dor chose a desk in the thick of the others beside some morose looking blonde.

Dor glanced up at Shadowkat, the Shadowkat, and smiled. “Mornin, Ma’am. Ah have to say, Ah didn’t think Ah’d like havin to get up for this, but Ah think Ah might like this class just fine.” He glanced at the pretty but gloomy blonde and her leggy friend before winking at the pale girl he had followed in. Stretching nonchalantly, Dor concentrated on his power. He had been trying out this new version of his ability all morning and he was pretty pleased with himself. Ms. Frost had done the impossible and stopped the cacophony of noise that had been assaulting him since his power had manifested. Now when he wanted to listen to an inanimate he had to focus on it, open his power to that item and that one alone. It was going to take a bit of getting used to the blessed silence and focus his mind, but Dor was never one to shirk work. In a few moments he was knew the names of the people around him and what they could do.

“Here for the easy ‘A’, Chande?” Dor smirked at the larger boy. The guy looked like he had his hands full with Jocelyn and Dor chuckled. “Bet I can beat the polygraph, Miss Pryde. Ain’t a soul here can lie to me.”

[Klash]

Walking in with Johnny, his roommate, Romon looked around the class with wide eyes. There were already a lot of students in the class, not as much as there were in the cafeteria but still a good deal. "Welcome to the first class friend," he said in a low voice to Johnny and smiled at the pretty teacher that he learned earlier was the infamous Shadowkat. He went to the desk and that was empty on the side of the class up front, where the next desk over was the girl Heather that he met yesterday and next to her... Wow! I have not seen anyone as lovely as her in a long time.

Romon blinked as he looked her over, trying to remember why he didn't see her at breakfast. He'd seen the blue Atlantean, Jocelyn if he recalled when he introduced himself, at breakfast and stared at her a good amount of the time. He met a good deal of his teammates and had a good time talking to them, but her he did not meet. When Romon was in the Soccer League, him and his buddies would watch the cheerleaders in what his friend Leo called 'Bird Watching'. Romon had too much respect for women to blatantly treat them like objects, but he still liked to look when he saw a pretty girl.

He already thought Heather was really pretty, hot even, but the girl next to her was downright striking. She was thin and tall and had the lightest blue eyes he'd ever on a girl. She was just so pretty that it had him stare for a moment, blinking as he felt that initial bolt of attraction that was familiar to all who saw a person that they found pleasure in looking at. "Wow... Gavin wasn't kidding when he said there was no shortage in pretty girls," Romon said to Johnny, looking back at him briefly before looking at the raven haired beauty as discretely as he could.