What lies inside Pandora's Box (Tag Snow)

[Karima Shapandar]

Weekend, Early Morning


Flying is something many humans dream of, but few actually are able to do. Most of those that can are some how distinguished from the rest, perhaps not in a good way, but the ones you want to remember usually are. To be able to defy gravity, one of the few forces humanity has very little power over. Certainly we have found ways to temporarily subvert it, but it is a force that never gives in, and it never gives up. It is a force of nature and to be able to simply cast aside such a force is one of the single most self empowering triumphs any can over come.

Right Now.

Karima is flying.

She's soaring across the sky wearing a black skin tight uniform that appears to be one part kevlar, and one part spandex. The designs are unorthodox, creases, lines, dents and extrusions. She's a super hero and this is her costume. It looks alien and most would assume it is, but it's actually quite clever. It resembles most closely the average 'cell' in Karima's head. Her biology is unique among humans in that the majority of it is a merger of biology and technology. The suit's various creases and designs are more or less the internal framework of many of her anatomical 'cells'.

Suddenly, her various detection systems alert her to the presence of several fighter jets closing in on her position. They do not respond to hailing and they are shielded from her ability to wirelessly interface with them, and are already locking onto her position. She pauses and begins to assess the situation. This high in the open air, despite the nearest population center being dozens of miles away, debris from a dog-fight might injure innocents. She must be very careful. As she considers, missiles fire. Their guidance systems are easily confused and the arrangement of deadly weaponry quickly spirals out of control before finding her, creating a halo of explosions around her position. At that point, they open their machine guns up on her and begin making quick diving passes. Karima does not give them a stationary target to hit. She dodges, and lets them chase her. This cat and mouse only lasts a few seconds, if that, how ever, as Karima quickly out maneuvers the clunky air craft and disables them violently.

Bright beams of red light flood from her eyes, and pour over crucial points on the jets. Machines like these fighter jets are several thousand ton flying bombs, but Karima's precision strikes are more than adequate to disable them without destroying the pilots. As they all begin ejecting and their clumbsy fighter jets plummet to earth, Karima grabs one from mid air. Just as she is screaming at him to demand to know why she was attacked, she realizes who it is she has captured as she tears the helmet off. Bolvar Trask?! And he's holding a small globe. He's grinning. The globe explodes and Karima blacks out.

When she comes too, she's strapped down to a table. The very same table she destroyed not 6 months ago at the facility where she was 'created'! He's rebuilt it. He plans on continuing his research, but doesn't he understand? Karima is not a weapon, she is not a puppet. She is not a toy. Her head is literally open, a multitude of wires pour off the exposed advanced looking circuitry in her brain, a framework of small wires, metallic shapes surrounding a sphere of light which seems suspended on air that spins around feverishly and unending. She thrashes and struggles, but even her impressive strength is not enough to break the shackles holding her. Surrounding her are faceless surgeons, military personnel, and Trask. But Trask isn't standing by himself. He's got a young Indian girl next to him, who looks terrified. He's holding a gun to her head. The girl looks remarkably like Karima. They are in fact Sisters. Pavana Shapandar. She is several years older than Karima, early twenties. She looks normal, as if she had been living her life just fine. There are no words, only Karima's relentless screaming at Trask, her blind rage and fear, shouting for her sisters safety, shouting for Trask to release her, but Trask only grins and then pulls his trigger. Karima's restraints break, she leaps from the table, her eyes explode with beams of red hot light as she turns every man in the room into ash. Every man except Trask, whom she instead takes by her bare hands and crushes into a bloody pulp, with tears in her eyes and fury in her heart.



Then she wakes up.



Sleeping and dreaming aren't the same for Karima as they are for other humans. She can literally record her dreams and barely loses consciousness when she powers down for rest. She only needs about 15 hours of sleep per week, her days last between 48 and 72 hours and she only sleeps for around five hours at a time every few days. There is no restlessness, there is no moment between awake and asleep where she is 'falling' asleep. She closes her eyes and wills herself to sleep. Often times she remains standing when she does this, simply because it takes up less space.

Most of the time, she simply doesn't dream, she maintains a multitude of autonomous projects. Calculators running calculations and simulations, a variety of independent software designed to conduct operations inside her own mind without her immediate supervision. The software isn't sentient, it's just a bunch of tools of Karima's own design. One thing is certain how ever, when Karima sleeps, there is a certain something lacking from her mind-scape, a certain level of consciousness that enables her to dream absent that is normally present during her waking hours. She is normally perfectly able to perceive her surroundings, and is in complete control of her body.

Normally.

At the moment, she is very much not.

When she comes too, she isn't even where she went to sleep, which was on the shield Helicarrier. She is actually in the woods some where, half naked and alone. She's wearing only a pair of black lace panties and a shield standard issue cotton tee shirt. Around her is a mess of devastation. Tree's ripped right up by the root, many shattered at the core of their trunks. Karima's knuckles are bloody and there are scratches and scrapes all over her entire body. She's on her hands and knees with the remains of a tree that was previously standing behind her a little ways, only the shattered and splintered trunk remains sticking out of the ground. The tree is small, only about 40 feet tall. What is left of it under her is nothing but a crushed bunch of branches and mangled tree trunk.

She quickly looks left, and right, then stands and survey's her surroundings. She has no immediate memory of the dream she just had. Simultaneously a thousand different operations activate inside her minds eye and all other operations are temporarily suspended as she attempts to learn where she is and how she got here.

Her queries only return question marks. Erroneous data which suggestions she may be under the influence of another. There is a brief spark of fear and anger at that supposition, but a sweep of all her systems finds nothing out of the ordinary save one minor detail. The momentary emotional out burst is immediately quelled and corrected. She does not panic, she is not afraid.

The only detail seeming out of place is the quarantined zone. Within Karima's expansive mind, there is a data set which Karima keeps locked away even from herself. It is a mass of memories and files that Karima simply can not bare to consider. Karima doesn't feel emotions like a normal human being. Emotions cause her errors, and on normal grounds, the emotions are small little quirks, tiny errors that are easily solved. But what ever is in the quarantined zone is there because it is more or less a literal virus of memories. The emotions spawned from those memories cause so many errors that it threatens Karima's internal infrastructure. She could easily delete them, and yet she does not. An illogical practice that she can not and would not bother explaining to any one. She theorizes though, that one day when she corrects her operating system and is able to feel emotions once again, she will open Pandora's box, and see what is inside. No possibility is inconsiderable for her after all.

The thing that seems amiss about it, are two points of note. One being that the literal size of the quarantined zone has grown in size by 7%, which is a considerable amount, and that she accessed it approximately four hours and seventeen minutes ago, which was approximately eight minutes after she went asleep. This is literally impossible for her to do, to her knowledge, and so she assumes it is an error. For the moment, the more pressing matter of returning to civilization takes precedence, and so she pursues that end.

A most curious thing though then occurs to her.

She is approximately three miles away from the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. There is nothing else noteworthy about this open tract of forestland out in the middle of northern New York State. She has been researching this institute recently. There are some on the Shield helicarrier that have suggested she see people at the institute. She knows there is a man there named Forge who can likely be as beneficial to her as Tony Stark. Further more then that, the founder and headmaster of the institute is legendary for his ability to help others. And if there are any who need help, it is Karima.

It's very curious she would wind up here while apparently sleep walking. There is no destination close where she can calculate as high a chance of receiving aid in returning to the shield helicarrier than the Xavier Institute, and so she proceeds towards it. When she finds herself on the grounds, she simply appears out from a tree line and begins walking towards the school.

[Snow]

Snow couldn't sleep. She had never slept well in new places, and the Institute was about as new as she could get. She wasn't complaining or anything, seeing as the Institute was probably the best thing to happen to her since losing Ariantan. It was a giant facility, and the people there seemed really nice, for the most part. She was looked at as new, and was odd for that reason, not because she was an alien or because she had strange looks. It was...nice. It took some getting used to though. Snow was used to people giving her odd and sometimes hostile stares as she walked up a street. In New York, those who were odd were considered 'mutants'. While Snow wasn't really a mutant, seeing as her powers were completely normal on her home-planet, she would rather have people think her a mutant than an alien. Aliens seemed to be even more feared than mutants, and that was only because they were mainly speculation. If Snow were to expose herself as a being from another world, she could start a riot. Not that there weren't already riots about mutants....It gave her a bit of a headache to think of everything.

Luckily for her, now that she was at the Institute, she really didn't have anything to worry about.  There, at the Institute, she was safe.  She had already decided to take classes at the Institute, and not at a local school as some students did.  She would get to have a real education for the first time in her life.  Ari had done a great job of keeping her up to date on studies and such, but all that had changed when Ari had died almost four years before.  Snow hadn't had much of an education since then, and, though her photographic memory prevented her from forgetting any of her lessons, she still felt in need of a brush up. The Institute classes would give her that, and lessons on how to cooperate in a team and control her powers.  It was perfect.  A 'win-win' situation, as American's would say. 

She had been given a dorm to herself for the moment, until the Headmaster and Mistress could figure out who she would room with, or if she would room at all.  It was the first time that Snow had slept in a real room for a long time.  Of course, she hadn't slept on the ground since arriving in America, but cheap little motels who didn't care if you had a fake I.D. or not didn't count as 'real rooms'.  And that was what Snow had been staying in.  Now that she was part of the Institute, she could perhaps find someone who could give her a real I.D., but until then she would stay in the Institute.  And who could go bored in the Institute?  It had everything; a pool, gardens, wandering room, a game room, her own room; the list could go on forever.  They even had rooms where she could practice her own powers, though she knew that she wasn't allowed to go there without an adult. Something called a 'Danger Room'. No, Snow could never get bored.

But, she could get restless.  Maybe it was the unfamiliar sounds of the ginormous building settling, or the wind outside that was keeping Snow up, but whatever it was wouldn't let her rest in peace.  Finally, after several hours of drifting in and out of sleep, Snow decided that enough was enough. She got out of her bed, and took off her wool pajamas. Now, one might think that wool pajamas in the middle of summer would be a tad hot, but not to Snow. It was curtsey of her powers, which ensured that she would always be cold. Snow's skin never warmed above ten degrees Celsius (forty degrees Farenheit-ish). It was something that never had bothered Snow, but it was a pain trying to buy warm clothes all the time. So, she put on thick blue jeans, a turtle-neck sweater, and her weather-proof hiking boots.  She left her hair down, as she usually did, and crept out of her room.  Snow walked down the hallways, relying on her perfect memory to guide her through the maze-like hallways.  Soon, she was out on the grounds.

The early morning air was crisp and cool for summer, and mist blanketed the grounds.  The sky was just beginning to lighten in the east, creating the perfect time for Snow to wander the grounds without being interrupted.  Besides, it would be good to get to know the grounds and layout of the land.  That was always the first thing Ariantan had told her to do when coming to a new place. By learning the layout of the land, you evened out the advantage of homerange, incase of fighting.  Of course, at the Institute there probably wouldn't be any fighting, but it wouldn't hurt to know the layout anyways. So Snow began to wander the gardens, going down endless passageways.  It was interesting how early morning seemed to make everything gray and bleached. Roses that Snow knew were vibrant reds seemed faded and forgetten. The green grass of the lawn appeared to be dull and lifeless. Even the sky was a musty gray.  To anyone else, the scene may have appeared sad and disheartenting. To Snow, it was just a world waiting to be uncovered, a mystery.

She eventually came out of the gardens and into the less groomed areas, near the borders.  The woods there were tall and daunting, and made Snow feel very small.  The sky was lighter now, but the woods were still as dark as night.  Snow shivered, suddenly feeling colder.  The forest made her afraid, made her think of hidden creatures and lurking monsters.  This was why, when a girl suddenly appeared out of the trees, Snow yelped and shot a blast of frigid water at the person.  Had it been winter, the blast would have been ice, but seeing as it was summer, the ice melted in the hot air and became frigid water. Not the very best greeting, especially if the girl was a lost mutant or another student, and Snow quickly realized that when the girl didn't seem to want to attack. Snow stood back out of her defensive stance, blushing furiously. 

"Sorry about that...I guess I'm a little jumpy, and you scared me," Snow said, rubbing her hand against the back of her neck.  She hoped the other girl wouldn't be too offended.  

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima had not been making any attempt to sneak, to her, her presence was as bright as daylight in the dark. She saw the girl Eons before the girl saw her, clearly. She could smell her, see her biorhythms through the trees, hear her heart beat and the sound of her foot steps. Overlaying Karima's normal vision was a scanning vision pattern unlike any other that could sense the body heat, vital signs and surface neural activity of living beings. Snow stuck out like a sore thumb against the cool morning air and cold tree trunks. She trudged onward knowing full well she was likely about to encounter either a student or staffer of the school she approached.

Karima wears very little at the moment. A pair of black lace panties which cling to her hips and backside like a silky glove, and a SHIELD issue grey tee shirt with the shield logo in gray on the arm, over the left breast and in big on the back. These were slightly more official than those you could likely buy in the store, if you could even buy any in the store. Beyond that Karima is beautiful, she is the furthest thing from a monster on the surface as you could get. Her bone structure is unusual, her height is medium, her breasts are modest but gorgeous and perfect, her hips and general measurements are almost photo shopped, her skin is pristine and without flaw except for the uncountable scratches and scrapes she had all over her bare thighs and arms. The shirt itself had several tears.

And then there was the blood. Karima's hands are quite bloody. But that's what happens when you punch a tree trunk with the force Karima can muster. Her skin offers no super human resilience, it's the titanium below that can take the blows. In fact, if you look beyond the blood, there are points on Karima's hands that a very clear tell tale gleam of metal shines through. She looks roughed up, like she's been in a hell of a fight. The problem is, Karima was fighting trees, while sleep walking. Worse then that, she can't even remember that she was doing it, which is highly irregular for some one like her.

When snow attacks Karima, though, bad things happen, or well they would have, if Snow hadn't immediately shown she wasn't a hostile. Snow might be able to tell, in fact, the way Karima moves after that might startle her worse than first contact. Karima moves in such a fluid display of agility it's obviously superhuman, the way she bends and twists and ducks away from the water before a single droplet can hit her is almost poetic. Like it was preplanned, choreographed even, like she saw it coming before it was coming, precognitive. This isn't the case, Karima simply reacts this fast, that's what she does.

After that though, Karima's nature as something beyond normal becomes even more obvious as her fingertips literally split open and inch and a half long razor blade claws spring forth, they're curved, slightly serrated and vicious. They make a slight clinging noise as they're released and Karima poises herself to shred Snow up one side and down the other, except in the briefest of moments before she can, it all ends, before Snow becomes a bloody mess of meat and bone, Karima stops. She stops just short actually. It all happened so fast though, From the point Snow attacked Karima, to Karima standing literally inches from Snow poised to turn her into ribbons, one second? Maybe Less? of course, Karima had no intention of even hurting her, she would scare the hell out of her in hopes of that quelling any desire to harm Karima. It had worked before, after all. Then again, that situation as well as many others like it, often caused more problems than they solved. Unfortunately, Karima lacks the tact and empathy to be diplomatic, she can not smile, laugh, put her hands up and say it's alright. She has no warmth in her voice, she is not friendly and does not know how to be friendly, because she is a machine.

"It was not my intention to scare you. I am in need of assistance. I am a liason to shield, but was sleep walking. I fell asleep on the hellicarrier and woke up 2.87 miles from here in the middle of the forest."

As Karima relaxed, took steps away from Snow, and her fingers returned to normal, she seemed utterly disinterested in any reaction snow has had to her threatening and utterly violent reaction to Snow's attack. There is something distinctly military about her though, the shield issue tee shirt doesn't help either. She doesn't seem bothered by how little she is wearing, and she doesn't seem to care about whether or not she continued to scare the crap out of snow. Her entire demeanor is remarkably empty, like a doll, it's very uncanny valley, especially given how young she seems, she is still obviously a teenager. If snow's hearing is particularly good, she can probably hear the whir of servo and hydraulic inside Karima's body as she moves and flexes. Then again, if Snow could hear remarkably well, then she'd have heard Karima walking up through the trees.

[Snow]

Had Snow been paying attention, as Ari had always taught her to do, she would have heard Karima's trek through the woods long before she saw her. As it was, Snow was too busy thinking about the scariness of the woods, among other things, and did not hear Karima approaching. Because of that, Snow was completely and utterly surprised when the girl, not much older than Snow herself, appeared. What happened afterward was a complete blur in Snow's memory.

She could remember striking out, sending a blast of water at the girl, and yelping. The next thing she knew, however, was that the girl was standing inches away, serrated claws protruding from her fingertips, poised to strike. Snow didn't know what to do; fight or flee? Had it been winter, Snow could have fought and won, seeing as she would have been at her strongest. Seeing as it was summer, Snow would have fled had the girl not backed up and retracted her claws. Perhaps Snow's apology appeased her? Half of Snow still thought that the girl was some kind of monster, but that possibility was quickly shrinking. Instead, Snow began to open her senses, to gain any knowledge about the strange, half-naked girl in front of her.

At first, the only thing that Snow could pick up was the heartbeat...but there was something else that was bothering her. It was a low whir, almost like the sound of machinery. But...this girl couldn't possibly be a...?

Snow received her answer in the girl's answer. "It was not my intention to scare you. I am in need of assistance. I am a liason to shield, but was sleep walking. I fell asleep on the hellicarrier and woke up 2.87 miles from here in the middle of the forest." Emotionless, simply stating fact. The more Snow thought about it, the more it made sense. In fact, as she grasped the idea, other sounds came to her heightened senses. Another type of machine sound, almost like a second heart. The more Snow listened, the more she became convinced of what the girl was.

And so, she began to look over the girl. The girl wore little clothing, being only covered by panties and a large T-shirt. She seemed completely unruffled by this fact, only adding to Snow's suspicion. She was quite pretty, and obviously a young woman. She looked about eighteen, only two years older than Snow. What bothered Snow, however, was the blood. If the girl was indeed what Snow thought she was, would there be blood? Snow looked at the bloodied and bruised hands, noticing the split knuckles and scrapes, as if the girl had been punching something hard. But...what was that? There! A gleam of metal underneath the layers of blood and skin. A couple sparks popped as the girl moved her hand slightly, and Snow's suspicions were confirmed; the girl was some kind of cyborg or robot.

This whole thought process took about three seconds, from start to finish. By then, the girl had waited long enough for an answer, and Snow knew that she should reply soon. So, she reviewed what the girl had said. Something about a shield, a helicarrier, and sleep-walking. "I'm sorry that I shot at you with water. I feel really bad about that, since you were just coming for help. Um, anyways, I'm sure someone can help you bandage your hands up at the Institute...but I'm not really familiar with a shield or a helicarrier. I'm Snow, by the way. What is your name?" Snow thought it best to be direct and honest in everything; it was just her nature. She patiently awaited the girl's reply.

((Eh. Anyways, just another reminder, but I leave tomorrow for a six day trip on which I will NOT have computer access. A day after returning from that I leave for a two week family reunion, but I WILL have computer access for that, and will be on to reply, though it may take me a bit longer.))

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima studied snow, but she studied everything, her eyes might be staring dead at Snow, but they can see everything, even the blurry details in her peripheral vision is as clear as day to her. Karima attempts a smile, though it looks forced and fake, despite how well timed it might be, it simply isn't accurate. Karima has plenty of subroutines for acting as real as any human might, but she never uses them. The dishonesty was reserved for times of need and she had no need for subterfuge now. Who ever this Snow person is, she is clearly a local of the school and thus, likely no threat to ber.

"I am Karima Shapandar, designation Omega Sentinel. Bandages are unnecessary, most bacteria and air born pathogens find my body inhospitable, so there will be no infection and they will heal. I have sustained multiple bullet wounds in the past and been fine. Pants would be appreciated though. Also, if the sight of my hands unsettles you, I am willing to bandage them to ease your thoughts."

Karima was gracious, even in her emotionless and seemingly cold and empty demeanor, she had an air of propriety and selflessness. She was kind, considerate, and thoughtful even if she didn't show it like a normal person would.

"In either case, please, I would like to enter the school. I believe the correct addage is "I have a feeling I should be here.""

She is certainly trying. The truth is, Karima has no idea, it's a mystery, the first real mystery since her escape, most everything else just comes to her with logic and reason, but this was something else entirely and it warranted her full investigative abilities. How could a being like her go to sleep on a flying fortress and wake up half naked in the middle of the woods hundreds, if not thousands of miles away?


[]

[Forge]

Clad in a t-shirt and shorts, Forge jogged along the trails around the Xavier Institute. This early in the morning, the trails were free of students and teachers; nearly anyone who was awake at this hour was occupied with breakfast or a shower. The only interruptions to the sound of his footsteps and breathing were birdsong. It was peaceful, and beat the hell out of using a treadmill. Besides, he'd spent the last two days cooped up in his lab on a new project. After he'd finished, getting some fresh air and exercise had been a top priority.

A half hour into his jogging, there was a thin layer of sweat covered Forge's body. His cybernetic limbs were bare; here, at the Institute, there was no need to keep them covered with their synthetic skin covers. He was breathing heavily, but not winded. It would be at least another ten minutes before he turned around and made his way back to the school. That would still give him plenty of time to take a shower before his first class of the day. As he jogged, he planned out the next week's lessons.

At long last Forge began the run back to the school, slowing down to give himself a chance to cool off. As he approached the school's lawn, however, he began to hear something odd. Voices. Hmm, that wasn't something that he'd expected to hear out here. Not this early, at least; anyone outside at this hour would probably be alone. Forge slowed, turning towards the sound and listening more intently. They were closer to the school than him, but not by all that much. He couldn't make out words from here, but there were at least two people, both female. Slowing down to a walk, he stepped off the trail and towards them.

A minute after Forge began to hear voices, two figures finally came into view. One of them he recognized immediately; Snow was a new student, but her apparent 'alien' status was something that had caused a bit of a stir. She wasn't the first extraterrestrial to grace the halls of the Institute, nor would she be the last, but they were still uncommon enough for everyone to take notice. The girl with her, on the other hand, was entirely unfamiliar. And, he noted abstractly, entirely pantsless.

Although Forge had immediately noticed that the strange female was presumably a SHIELD agent, gorgeous, and half-naked, there was something else about her that was far more interesting. Oddly enough, he wasn't quite sure what it was. The instinct that his powers functioned through, usually content to stay quiet when he was this far away from any advanced technology, was in the middle of going haywire. Huh, that was odd. It was definitely pointing to this new girl, not Snow, and unless SHIELD was experimenting with some really strangely concealed gadgets, it wasn't just reacting to something that she was carrying on her person.

Forge frowned in contemplation, trying to figure out what his powers were reacting to. From where he was standing, he couldn't make out the gleam of metal from Karima's knuckles, and he hadn't heard enough of the two girls' conversation to figure out what she was. Snow, at least, seemed mostly undisturbed by the newcomer, so for now Forge would assume that he didn't need to put in a security call. “What's going on here?” he asked, slowly stepping through the underbrush to make his way over to them.

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima knew that Forge was coming long before he showed himself, she turned her head to glance in his direction as he approached and all at once, most of her attention became centered on him. His cybernetics were most interesting. Aside from possibly Tony Stark, Karima had not met any other cyborgs since her escape and thus any cyborg she met immediately warranted her full attention and curiosity. Of course after Karima ran Forge's picture through several of the many data bases she has stored on her internal hard drives, she knew who he was. Of course the information Shield had on him was limited, as it likely was with most of the mutants and their affiliates. Name, known abilities, current residence. It was surprisingly barren though, likely due to his affiliation with this school. She had a very good feeling the organizations branching from this school were as formidable as Shield was, despite its apparent humble nature.

"I am Karima Shapandar, Designation Omega Sentinel. There is a very long and complex explanation for why I am standing here and I would be happy to tell it to you, how ever The short version is; I am a mutant, I am lost and I need help."

At that moment, Karima lifted one of her hands and examined the damage visually. The bloody gore was matched in shock value only by the metallic nature of her visible bones under it, it's just her knuckles, but that is enough to warrant some serious double taking. It would heal just fine of course, for some remarkable reason, Karima does not scar like you would expect her to. If that were the case, she would be covered in scars from all the work done to her in recent years. It likely has something to do with the finer nuances of how her mutant power works. Then again, maybe there's something else going on inside her. The titanium alloy which her bones are composed of isn't simple non living metal, it's been for ever changed by her power and is just as alive as bones composed of calcium would be. This is why you couldn't simply print out a blue print of Karima's designs, build it and expect it to work. There is so much more than meets the eye with her.

[Forge]

It didn't even come close to the weirdest introduction Forge had heard during his time here. The only part that even really registered was the name 'Omega Sentinel'. As in the giant, mutant-hunting robots? That did match the vibe he was getting from his powers, although it still made absolutely no sense. When had Trask started making his robots sexy, and why hadn't he heard about it before now? It was then that Karima held up her hands, and Forge keyed in on the glint of metal beneath her knuckles. Oh, now that was interesting. He took a few steps forward, automatically moving in to get a better look. Metal. Definitely. Her skin and hair looked real enough, but they weren't all that difficult to fake. The blood was more difficult. This wasn't another clone-kid of Wolverine's, was it? Somehow, Forge suspected the answer was more complex than that. Oh, what he wouldn't give to get her down into his workshop, and take a better look at that chassis.

But that wasn't necessarily out of the question. She'd said she needed help, and that was pretty much why the Xavier Institute existed. The thought that this was a trap crossed Forge's mind briefly. If the 'sentinel' designation was accurate, she could be waiting to get inside the school before going murder-happy. But, if that was the case, why had she announced her name? Besides, if she wasn't capable enough to get inside without help, then she probably wouldn't be much of a threat in the first place. Letting her in would probably be safe enough, as long as Forge kept an eye on her.

“Right then, let's get you inside,” he replied after a short pause, decision made. “You look like you could use some repairs.” Was repairs the right word? He wasn't sure if her skin was natural or not, and the metal he'd seen looked fine. Forge gestured down the path behind him, waiting for Karima to walk over. The less time they'd wasted standing around here, the sooner he'd get to figure out what the hell she actually was.

[Karima Shapandar]

If Karima were an uppity civil rights activist, she might've considered Forge's comment to be very racist and assuming. The thought crossed her mind oddly, but only because she specifically do not need repairs, and it was only one of about ten thousand others that occurred to her as a result of his statements. As soon as Forge declared it though, Karima turned and began walking at what ever pace he set for them to walk, back towards the house.

"I do not require repairs. Only pants. My blood is mostly inhospitable to common pathogens and as far as I can tell, I will heal normally. Though if the wounds disturb you, I can cover them."

The thought did ring something else through Karima's mind. If she were sufficiently damaged, would her cybernetic portions heal naturally or would she need to actually be repaired? She had never been damaged to that point before.

"Your cybernetic appendage, did you create it yourself?"

Karima asked without a single ounce of actual curiosity in her tone of voice. It's so flat it almost sounds condescending, and the fact that Karima does not even look at him when she asks the question makes it even more insulting. The fact is though, it isn't in the slightest, if anything karima is impressed, of course she has no idea how to show it, unfortunately.

[Forge]

So she healed naturally, had a metal skeleton, called herself a mutant, and went by the name of 'Omega Sentinel'. She looked human, acted like a robot, and made his powers go haywire. Damn, he was going to need to start taking notes to keep up with what was going on. At least it seemed like she was willing to follow him back to the mansion; hopefully things could get a bit more cleared up in there. He began to lead the way back towards the grounds at a brisk walk. “Well, if you don't mind, then they're fine as-is. You did realize that some of your blood is blue, right?”

Forge wasn't sure if the blue blood was a mutant thing, a robot thing, or both, and he was pretty sure that she had, in fact, noticed that little detail about her anatomy. Still seemed like a good plan to point it out, just in case losing her...coolant fluid...was more dangerous than blood loss. Although, to be fair, human blood could act as a decent coolant fluid as well. Hmm, that gave him an idea that he probably wouldn't be allowed to research around children. That particular train of thought, however, was cut off as Karima began speaking again.

“Yeah, I did,” he replied to her question, glancing down at his arm fondly. For the moment, at least, his hardware was a bit showier than hers, and it was a question he was used to. Somehow, Cable managed to constantly avoid that topic, but Forge had no problem talking about his creations. He wasn't sure he liked that tone of voice, though. Was she mocking them? Nah, couldn't be. His arm and leg were works of art. He could—and had—arm-wrestled the latest Iron Man suit and come out on top. Well, at least until Tony decided that lasers should be involved, the asshole. But still. Unless this Karima could make a better cybernetic limb, she had absolutely no right to be anything but impressed.

[Karima Shapandar]

All of Karima's perceptive powers had momentarily focused on analyzing Forge's cybernetic limbs for possible upgrades. She didn't see anything she thought was better than what she had installed already, but most of her cybernetics weren't simple science, they were much deeper then that. Her mutant power allows for obscenely advanced technological application as her literal physiology is melded with normal technology to produce previously unhead of possibilities. Her bones are made of Titanium alloy, but their functionality as human bones has not be sacrificed in this transition. The same is true of her muscles and tendons which are now composed of high tensile strength titanium alloy cables and high yield hydraulics. The hard ware they put into her was top of the line, and her mutant power only made it better.

"They are impressive. Additionally, I have noted the loss of both bodily fluids. Local valves have been closed to prevent excess loss and production has been increased 2.3% to make up for the lost fluids. Joints and power bases in my hands and wrists will operate at 11.3% reduced efficiency until local repairs are completed. I have analyzed your cybernetic limbs and while cost prohibitive and likely require quite a lot of daily upkeep, they are very impressive. I am detecting several wireless connections blanketing the campus, I have optioned to not brute force hack them to gain entry, if given entry how ever, I could transfer schematics of my designs to local storage for your analysis, if you believe they might help improve your designs."

She assumed she was speaking to a technological genius if he had created his artificial limbs, so perhaps she could risk speaking to him technically rather than in lamens terms as she did with so many others.

Karima had no trouble keeping up with their pace, indeed she could probably go much faster, but she had no reason to. She would move at what ever pace Forge set, he was leading her after all and she would follow him where ever he went.

[Forge]

Forge nodded along in comprehension as Karima gave him a better idea of what had broken. Hmm, valves on veins sounded like they'd be damn handy. He was working on some medical nanites, and integrating that feature was definitely a possibility. The fact that she was operating eleven percent below capacity wasn't something he liked to hear, though. Without those valves in place, he figured she probably would have been bleeding profusely. Which also meant local circulation was minimal. Had she considered adding in localized generators to compensate for injuries? He'd have to look into her blueprints soon. After she was back to operating at full capacity, of course. “Well, if you need a shop for repairs, we have one of the best around. If you need medical instead, that's pretty much the best, too. And if you just need a space to rest and heal for a bit, well, we have that too.”

It seemed like the girl hadn't been mocking his limbs after all, and Forge smiled briefly to himself. Yes, they were impressive. It occurred to him briefly that she might just be sucking up, but he brushed it aside. He'd count the compliment as genuine, even if she had ideas for improving them.

“You can use the student network, if you want. That's the one named 'student'. Please don't break into any of the other ones. I'll warn you that I've been upgrading these for years, though. I might have already tried whatever ideas you have.” Forge still wasn't convinced that he could trust her, but what other options were there? He wasn't going to turn away some injured girl—whether she was human, robot, or both—and if she had been polite enough to not break into any of the institute's secure networks, it seemed pretty unlikely that she'd do any harm. Forge just really hoped that he was right. If not, he might have to resort to violence in front of the kids. That was usually something he tried to avoid.

They continued onto the main trail, and after another few minutes, the forest gave way to the institute's lawn. Forge paused then to glance over to Karima. It was always entertaining to see people's first reactions to the mansion.

[Karima Shapandar]

When the trees gave way to the lawn and the trio step forth, Karima regards the Mansion as she does everything, with hallow listless eyes, she continues walking. There was no gawking, and no stares. She didn't seem impressed in the least. When Forge gives the green light, Karima logs into the student network and immediately begins accessing every last iota of information available on it. She wont access any nodes of the network which are strictly prohibited by any sort of encryption despite her ability to do so though. Any time she encounters such a wall, she'll simply turn around and go another way. Still all the same, she simply investigates the maze of data like a mouse looking for cheese. Along the way she uploads technical designs and specifications for her body.

"Tony Stark seemed impressed by my designs. The nature of my bones and their ability to maintain all homeostatic function while simultaneously being made of titanium alloy seemed particularly interesting to him. More than what you can see with normal naked eyes is a hybrid fusion of biology and technology. My fusion is a result of a mutant power, not technological prowess, so the fusion takes place at the cellar, micro organic level. My mitochondria are batteries, my nuclei are tiny microscopic CPU's. I hadn't noticed it until he mentioned it, and then investigated. My vision is able to zoom to microscopic levels if the light is sufficient. Any way, you likely wont be able to reproduce the technology outside my biological environment due to it being related to my mutant power. Regardless, the designs are sophisticated and may offer inspiration towards parallels. It was mostly a friendly gesture. I have a desire to fit in here. I would like to stay here for awhile. I do not need repairs, the wounds and damages to my cybernetic parts will mend on their own. I only require extensive repairs when the damage is extensive, hypothetically, I have yet to encounter extensive damage."

She was not sure how else to approach the situation. She knew people reacted to her differently than they did others, she could try and make a show of it, put on a smile, and behave like a normal person. It might even make collecting data easier in some ways, but she wouldn't want that data to be erroneous in the likely event she reacts incorrectly to something, and receives an equally unlikely reaction to her incorrect reaction. She had run the simulations prior and decided it wasn't worth the risk. She needed accurate data to compile a proper emotional matrix to build her new operating system on. Besides that, it was morally wrong. Most likely.

[Forge]

Forge frowned as Karima mentioned the interest of another inventor. Stark had already met her, and he hadn't called Forge in on it? Rude of him. The billionaire barely even counted as a cyborg. Still, the hybridization that she mentioned was very interesting, and Forge was willing to put aside his irritation towards Stark in order to find out more about her. Mitochondrial batteries. Fascinating. What else didn't Karima know about herself, if that much was new information? Forge lengthened his stride, crossing the lawn at a brisk walk. The sooner they got her settled in, the sooner he could take a closer look. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd find something that Stark had missed.

Karima's intention to stick around for a while was interesting, and Forge could hardly say that he was opposed to that plan. Still, it wasn't his decision to make, and it was possible that Scott or Charles would shoot it down. She had to be at least in her late teens, which meant she probably wasn't student material. And although the institute was a refuge for mutants, they might not be inclined to trust this particular one. Forge, at least, was all for the prospect of having another cyborg around that wasn't Cable. Only time would tell whether or not Karima would work out here. She was odd, but hardly the oddest individual that had come to the school. They took all sorts. “Well, I can see about getting you set up with a room and some clothing for now. Then we can talk about your future here.”

It didn't take them long to reach the front doors, and Forge opened one for the girl. Finding a free room and spare clothing wouldn't take long at all; more often than not, people ended up at the Institute with next to nothing. They were pretty well-stocked for this type of event, even if Karima wasn't exactly a typical runaway.

[Karima Shapandar]

Karima followed Forge into the mansion, and then in what ever direction he might chose to walk. Any student she encountered were regarded casually, or rather emptily, as most would see it. Karima's demeanor might have been a lot more frightening if the damage she had sustained during her sleep walking had been more significant, as it stood, the occasional spark from her knuckles and the shiny metal bits that were vaguely visible might not stick out to much. The school is filled to the brim with things that are unusual after all.

"I do not require a room, I have no possessions and have no need for privacy. I sleep very seldom and when I do sleep, I can do so standing up. Clothes are as necessary as the local social economy requires. I have found that I have a preference for clothing which enhances my natural sex appeal, though I have no direct intention of being manipulative. I can not explain that preference, I am sorry."

Karima did not specifically feel the need to apologize like that, but she was aware manipulating other people was morally distasteful and in some ways out right wrong and Karima simply couldn't explain her preference for clothing which enhanced her sex appeal. Sex appeal has many uses of course, and all of them are social in some way or another. Karima did not have any immediate need of a mate though, especially considering she is slowly coming to realize she has a higher preference for girls than she does boys, which is another mystery that her numerical and logical mind cannot quite decipher. Ultimately, since she isn't advertising for a mate, she could only conclude there are some aspects of her mind she is unable to explore fully until the operating system rewrite, which prompted her reasoning for apologizing. After what happened today, Karima has become legitimately concerned about what she may or may not be capable of doing without her knowledge. It was just one big question mark after another, and initially, after escaping from Sentinel, they weren't to frequent, but now she seems to encounter them constantly. Blonde Hair, pretty face, high priority, logical reasoning, none. Short shorts, low rise, high priority, logical reasoning, none, make up, dark eye liner, red lipstick, high priority, logical reasoning, none, Cheryl Harrison, potential mate, High priority, logical reasoning none, Crow, another potential mate, high priority, logical reasoning, none.