Michael’s Mechanical Mayhem [tag: Helen, open]

[Deleted]

It wasn’t that Henry was oblivious to the recent glitches; it was that he’d been a little too busy to actually sit down and locate the source. It was much easier just to patch a system or rewrite the occasional code than overhaul the entire network just to find the cause.

So, when Henry found that the feed from the Infirmary camera wasn’t getting through, he just adapted it to get a direct feed. It didn’t take him long, and it meant that he could still spend some quality time with Ingrid. Henry soon put it out of his mind.

Then, amidst all the social interaction and computer chaos and attention the Sanctuary was getting, a message appeared on Henry’s computer. Henry’s eye twitched as he saw it. He couldn’t even tell what it was, but it was on his system and he didn’t put it there.

“Er, Doc?” Henry radioed Helen Magnus. “Er, Doc. My computer is going crazy. Got a message here. Think it's for you.” Henry took a closer look. It looked handwritten, but done using a computer programme like Paint.net, or something. It was fixed as the screensaver, but nothing Henry tried could get rid of it worked. And one more thing, it wasn’t in English. “It's in Praxian. Doc, I could really use your help.”

Henry sighed, patching into the network via his unaffected computer tablet. Simultaneously, he tried to perfect the English to Praxian Babel Fish program he’d been working on, but never found the time to complete. Hopefully thid would provide the motivation for him to finally finish it.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

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Helen Magnus had been stuck in the science lab for the most part of the morning, when she received a radio call from Henry upstairs. She was a busy woman, and had been trying to work on a method to isolate the mutated cells from Kathryn Lawson’s system. Alas, every attempt had the mutated cells multiplying even more. Rubbing her temple to ease away the headache that was slowly forming, she finally picked up the radio call from Henry.

Helen frowned, ”That does seem rather odd. Keep tabs on those signals, Henry. I’m on my way.”

Flicking off her rubber gloves, she hastily made her way through the long corridors of the Sanctuary, and a small trip up the antique lift, in order to make her way to Henry’s lab. Her black heels clicked as she went by, and her hair was slung over one shoulder in waves. She wore a sleek black pencil skirt, and an ash-grey blouse. She walked immediately into the lab to see Henry staring at his set of computer screens. Most likely trying to decipher the strange message.

Helen stood beside Henry, and peered onto the computer screen. Her blue eyes scanned the message, but obviously she could not understand Praxian. So in a sense, they were both clueless. Her expression turned somewhat confused, ”I can’t seem to decipher it. How reliable is your Babel Fish program? Even a partial translation would suffice. Though I do find it odd that it looks…..Hand-written.”

She had a few ideas, but they’d know more if they knew what this message meant.

[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

And of course, there was a little child who could read praxian, or rather, he could read his own writing. Now, as we have all learned, little Michael was a curious little child. He’d come in from when he was staying outside, and he had a burn on his arm to prove this, and now he was once again wandering the halls of the sanctuary.

He’d taken Helen Magnus’s earlier words “not allowed to wander until healthy” to heart, and he was healthy now. So, he was allowed to roam the halls. He wandered aimlessly for quite some time, occasionally he would push his power to activation, in order to get past some troublesome locks. Soon enough, however, he pushed past one such lock that lead him to Helen Magnus herself…and another person he did not know.

Just so long as he did not go…near…that person, he would be fine, but he did go to Helen Magnus’s side almost immediately. His eyes had slowly returned to normal, and the boy was once again his normal self. He wasn’t smiling, it would be a little while, but he was happy enough. His brown hair continued to get into his way as he moved, covering his still slightly skinny face. The little boy was still wearing a pair of henry’s old clothes, without the shoes and socks. He’d been in the grass, and liked to feel it against his feet, so he was sporting a few new cuts, as every boy eventually gained.

[Deleted]

Henry smelt and heard the boy before he saw him. Barefoot, the boy barely made a sound. That made Henry even more wary. The fact that the boy smelt… well, he smelt like Henry a little, confused the HAP even further. It all served to disorientate him. Henry tried to ignore the extra stimuli and concentrate on Doctor Magnus’ soothing voice.

Right! The Babel Fish programme. Henry input the data and ran it through the programme. He winced when all that came out was: “Marmt Eanl kdwebm sleidn Mron’a mudamy”. Henry ran a hand through his hair, tugging on it softly. That’s when the boy entered.

A small child, but the fact he was in Henry’s clothes made him a threat instinctually. Henry flinched at the sight of the new person in the room. It was almost as if he could sense the other boy’s power. Henry had worked hard to earn his position of the Sanctuary. The fact he thought he could lose it all to some new boy made the fight or flight response kick in.

Henry couldn’t flee. This was his laboratory. This was him home. The stranger was staying away, hiding behind Magnus. Magnus didn’t see the child as a threat. Mind you, Magnus never saw Henry as a threat when he was a child either. Henry didn’t want to fight, so he pushed the fear aside and tried to prove that he belonged here too.

It had only been thirty seconds or so since his Babel Fish programme failed, so Henry tinkered with it, desperately trying to make it work, to prove his worth. After another ten seconds of trying, Henry got the idea to run it through anagram software.

“Ha!” Henry declared, with childish glee over the small victory. The screen now flashed: My mum and dad weren't EM abnormals like me.“Huh.” Henry frowned, looking at Doctor Magnus, still wary of the small boy behind her.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen was just about to say something, until she heard the almost silent footsteps of a child. She had guessed it was Michael before she even turned around. Giving Henry a quick glance, she turned around to find Michael standing there barefoot. Helen face softened into warmth, as she boy came up to her once again. He was attached to her. That was obvious. Or maybe she was just too attached to him? No, she thought. He was her patient, and she was his doctor and temporary guardian. Nothing more. In retrospect, he was not her child. It would be a long while until she committed to such a thing. However, she would try her upmost best to locate his parents. Dead or alive, she needed to know.

”Ah, Michael. Been playing outside I see? I hope you were not there on your own.” She gave the boy a concerned glance, then turned to face Henry at the desk once again. You could say that Helen was quite a protective woman. Especially to younger children. Now after the death of Ashley, she was even more so. It was an instinct she could not ignore.

A few moments later, Henry managed to cracked the code, as he gave a delightful shout which almost made Helen jump. With an accomplished look, she nodded at Henry, ”Well done, Henry.” She peered at the screen, she lightly bit her lip. A beat later, she took the chance to glance over at Michael once again. She crossed her arms lightly, and looked at the boy. Yes, she was very curious. ”Did you send this message? What are you trying to say, Michael? You know, you don’t always have to send messages. You can tell me anything.”

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

Michael did in fact jump when henry shouted out in glee, and he quickly hid behind Magnus’s leg. Due to the recent traumatizing incidents that had happened, it really was no wonder that he was scared of loud noises. The message of his had been decoded, which he was rather pleased about, but the Helen Magnus asked him questions.

He didn’t much like to talk out loud, especially not in front of people that made him nervous, like Henry did, but he did anyways, speaking softly, intended for Magnus to hear only, though due to henry being right there, he could probably hear as well.

“M…mom and dad…aren’t like me. Th…they adopted me because…because my real mom and dad didn’t want me.” He now moved to clutch his teddy-bear tightly. If someone had a very quick thinking mind, they might figure out, at this point, the origins of such a bear. He squished it against him where it was laying in his pocket, and then looked up a again, at Helen Magnus.

Perhaps it was a sign of separation anxiety, that teddy-bear. Or perhaps it just showed how the little boy could become attached to things easily. But Michael was an odd, odd child. He’d needed some attention long before he’d even gotten out of praxis. If his adoptive parents had perhaps told him “No” once before, he wouldn’t be so sad all the time, because it would show they did care a bit more. He loved his adoptive parents dearly, but he’d really craved attention, as every young boy his age did. He gulped lightly, not wanting to let the conversation go that way when the other male was in the room, seeing as he didn’t know this person who just seemed to make loud noises. Michael lightly tugged on a bit of Helen Magnus’s clothes, as if trying to pull her to the door.

[Deleted]

Henry could smell the fear that came off the small boy, and cursed himself for it. He knew what it was like to be afraid. He tried not to think what it was like, when he was taken off the Moors as a boy, placed in the Sanctuary. He was feral, and did a lot of things he wasn't proud of. The Doc put a lot of time and effort into helping him be the man he was today, more human. He shouldn't be jealous, just because the Doc was giving another boy the same attention and chance she gave him.

As guilty and ashamed as Henry felt, he couldn't extend himself to greet the boy. His social skills had increased vastly, but Henry was still rather awkward when it came to reaching out to new people. Instead, he turned his attention to the computers, letting Helen tend to the child. Henry tried to give the impression he wasn't listening, but his HAP ears would pick up every word, however unintentionally.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen knew Henry was putting up defences. It was a natural assumption, and quite frankly, Helen accepted it without any shadow of a doubt. Helen honestly didn’t know what to do with the child. She would never stop looking for his parents – foster or otherwise. She needed finalisation. Conformation that the boy did indeed have family. What could Helen possibly do? It wasn’t her child, and she needed to stop getting so emotionally attached. After what happened to Ashley, by the looks of it, Helen needed to increase her own defences.

”Henry – I will input the child’s DNA fragments shortly into the system, so that we can attempt to locate his foster parents. Do you think there is any way to gain access to the Praxian database? It may be a good start. I will give you the task of finding out details of the boy’s parents. The sooner we can find them, the better.”

She gave Henry a quick glance, as she was pulled slowly aside by Michael. ”Yes, Michael?” Helen leaned over, so that her eye was level with his. ”You have foster parents? Can you tell me their names? What about your real parents – Do you know anything about them?” Helen offered a comforting smile, and nudged at the bear the child was holding, ”This bear means a lot to you. Be sure to take very good care of him.” She lowered her voice, and spoke in an energetic tone. Much like anyone would talk to a young child. It was motherly thing. A tenderness towards the child, yet she tried to simplify things as much as she could so that he understood. The sooner she located his parents – foster or otherwise, then the sooner he can be with them.

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[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

So many questions! He took a moment to bring them into his head, but Helen Magnus did something he wasn’t prepared for. She nudged against his bear. He quickly moved it and held it up to his chest. He liked Helen Magnus a lot…but there was only one other person he’d let touch his bear…and he hadn’t seen Adam in a long time.

Michael held onto his bear tightly for a moment and then slowly spoke, as if hesitant. “M…mom and dad didn’t want me. My…my foster…foster parents could talk to animals I think.” This was mumbled a little bit. His foster parents were not strong, and nothing about them really stood out ,which had been the point of putting Michael with them. Because of michael’s odd gifts, he was considered extremely powerful, but by putting him with these parents, the little child wouldn’t be scrutinized growing up. His real parents did not want to have him because…well…most likely they just wanted him to live a closer to normal life than he was living, though at this point it was proving the opposite effect. If he ever was reunited with them, there would be a lot of issues he’d have to work through.

From the dredges of his memory, he remembered his foster parents first names…it was hard. He always called them mum and dad after all. However, it was at this time that his photographic memory came in handy. He remembered them writing it out. On papers and the like, of course. “J…jeff and mary weatherfield.” He said quietly. They had names…that should mean that his parents can be found.

[Deleted]

Finally, Henry had a task to focus on, even if it was a seemingly impossible one. It gave him something to concentrate on, apart from the fear of the situation, the impending sense of doom that was probably overly dramatic.

Once Henry had adapted the Babel Fish programme to translate all of his coding into Praxian, it was a lot easier to hack into the database than the thought it would be. Most of the firewalls had become obsolete without anybody to maintain them.

When Hollow Earth was destroyed, some sort of self-wipe application deleted most of the data, losing what little was left of the civilization. Henry desperately tried to restore it as best as he could, but there was no back-up, at least none that Henry could think off. He was trying to scrape together what information had been overlooked, yet most of that was fragmented.

All he had was a lot of broken data, and way too much to sift through. He needed to narrow the search and there wasn’t a way to do that. Well, not until Henry overheard Michael mention the name of his foster parents.

Henry was elated when the search came up positive, although he made sure to keep his elation to himself as much as he could. It was one of the last things to be wiped, so it was much easier to recover, and a lot of the data was intact. After he ran a few programmes on it: decryption, reformatting etc.; it was pretty much legible. It was only then that he read it, and his face fell.

“Er, Doc?” Henry called, as softly as he could, but he couldn’t hide the anxiety and urgency. He tried to speak softly, so the boy wouldn’t hear. “I managed to do a search on the foster-parents. Didn’t think I’d get a hit, because there isn’t much data to work with.” Henry showed her the screen. “I’m sorry, Doc.” Henry really was. He glanced back at the child, hoping the pity didn’t show in his eyes. He quickly turned back to the Doc, looking at her as if she had all the answers, as if she could fix anything, even this.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

[OOC: I'm sooooooooooo sorry for the delay!!!]


Helen turned back to Michael with a look of surprise and intrigue, ”Your parents could communicate with creatures? Fascinating. I’ve heard of such a kind before, and yet I’ve never been able to confront one. They are not an easy species to locate.” They were indeed a fascinating group of Abnormals. Their clan was scarce in numbers, which made it even more difficult to locate one. Helen had tried seeking them out, in order to offer them her support. A Sanctuary, if for whatever reason they may be endangered. But alas, the search was tiresome. They were spread out all over the world, and kept to themselves for most part of their lives. Some smaller clans even lived like tribes. Secluded from the rest of the world. All so that their gifts were protected. There were several names for these types of Abnormals. In a modern sense, they were known as Animal Whisperers. Or Lexirian, in Praxian terms.

Then he revealed the names of his foster parents. Helen immediately shot Henry a look, and then then he typed eagerly away on his keyboard in order to find a positive match. Though the next few moments caused Helen to hold her breath, she lightly grabbed Michaels hand to gently pull him along and re-joined Henry’s side. Helen watched as Henry tried to find a match. Once Henry was done with the search, Helen’s stomach lurched slightly. It was the horrible feeling of dread.

Helen blinked several times, not knowing if she should tell Michael the news or not. She did not want to emotionally hurt the child, and so she pushed that thought aside. Quietly, Helen spoke to Henry once more. ”Can you enable a DNA trace to his birth parents?” She hoped Michael did not catch on. Even at his age, he was quite remarkably aware. More than more children she has come across. It was terrible enough that he had lost his home. Now the loss of his foster parents may not be something he could handle. She only hoped that Henry was able to locate at least one of his birth parents.

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[Deleted]

((No need for apologies, Doc. The fact you manage to keep this place going is amazing.))

Henry nodded as he attached the DNA machine to the system. Magnus inputted the DNA and computer did the rest. The STR analysis was surprisingly successful, but Henry tried to curb his reactions. He didn’t want to scare the boy again.

Henry became slightly distracted. Was he alone in his lab that much? Sure, he talked to himself quite a bit, but that helped the invention process go a little smoother. He wasn’t that mad, crazy scientist who lived in the basement of his mom’s house, was he? He didn’t have a mom for a start. He was socially functioning, wasn’t he? Sure, he went to cons, but that was with Biggie for protection.

By the time Henry managed to shake the fear he was potentially a ‘creepy loner’, the information had vanished from the computer screen. “No, no, no.” Henry muttered under his breath. Henry tried to get it back, but the information had now been deleted. There was a chance it was deleted automatically, but the fact that Henry had just been able to access it for a second made it very unlikely.

Henry tried everything he could, he knew what it was like growing up without knowing what had happened to his parents, but he could find nothing. More than nothing. It was as though somebody was covering their tracks, like it was being kept hidden. It was infuriating, depressing. Henry didn’t want to have to tell the Doc he failed.

Looking over at the little boy, Henry tried to talk to the Doc in private. His voice was so quiet; it kept cracking slightly as he tried to explain as subtly as he could.

[MICHAEL MATTHIAS WINSTON]

Michael knew what he’d find. He knew what anyone had found when they even tried to search his parents. They were smart. Smarter than any person he’d ever met. If his parents didn’t want to be found, they weren’t. He actually turned away as henry started to search for his parents, through…through some stupid internet. This wouldn’t work. Not on his parents, ever.

He closed his eyes tightly, trying to keep the tears from falling out of them, and staining his cheeks. And now…and now they were just bringing the hurt back up again. The feeling that he was once again left without his parents, because they didn’t want him. Or whatever their reason was.

Raw emotions triggered the power this time. It welled up inside him…and it sparked out. This was not something he was used to. His power had never, never never physically manifested itself in such a way. He wasn’t even conscious that this was happening. The first to go, unfortunately, was Henry’s monitor. The monitor luckily held none of the data, but unless Michael went back into it, this would not work again.

The next? Well…anything that was hit by the pure electrical charge it seemed he was generating. There was something protecting him from his own means…though what, a person could only make a guess at. And yet, in the midst of all this chaos was a crying little boy, who’s parents did not want to deal with the little boy they’d created.

[DR HELEN MAGNUS]

Helen clenched her jaw, and placed a reassuring hand on Henry’s shoulder. She knew, deep down, the search would have disappointing. She would never give up that search, however. It was possible that his parents were hiding out somewhere. In which case, they would be even more difficult to find. But right now, she was worried about Michael. Such a fragile child, and now devoured of his parents.

Then suddenly, the computer monitor fizzled out. Initially Helen was confused, but then it clicked to her mind. Michael. She looked back at Michael to find tears streaming down the child’s face. But as the same time, the technology in the room was going crazy. Some began to fizzle out, leaving a stream of smoke wafting in the room, whilst many completely switched off. Helen could practically feel the static within the room, and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

The child could potentially erase all data from within the Sanctuary walls. This could be very disastrous, and could even jeopardise its shielding and basic defences. But then again, she could not simply just lock him up. In was unjust, and cruel. The boy was only young, and did not fully grasp the extent of his own Abnormality. Yet, she did not want to hinder the ability from him. No, she wanted him to control it for himself. Which meant he would need some form of meditative therapy. Either way, the child’s ability was out of control.

Helen places a comforting hand around the child’s shoulder, in an attempt to calm him. Regrettably, it wasn’t working too well. It had been many years since she ever had to comfort a child. And it scared her somewhat, that she may lose all form of those instincts.

The last was Ashley.

Helen tried to soothe the child with a soft voice, ”Shhh, it’s alright Michael. It will not end there, I assure you. I will find your parents if it’s the last thing I’d do.” Helen backed away from the computer, as a small electrical surge pulsed through it almost zapping her. She needed to get him out of that room.

”Henry – I need to move him from here before he causes further damage.” Helen tried to nudge the child lightly, towards the door. She glanced back at Henry, ”Let me know if you get the systems up and running. I also have a thought – Is there a way to somehow diffuse the effects of his technopathy by use of a device? Perhaps we can modify the vampire bracelet Nikola created to accommodate him?” She knew Henry was capable of such things. As far as genius’ go, he was high up on her list. She admired him for his technological flair. Something she wished she possessed, however that was one perk on the fact that he was a hyper accelerated protean. A HAP, as they refer to it as. Or in old folklore terms – Werewolf. But he was brilliant, with or without the Abnormality.

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[Deleted]

Henry’s eyes grew wide as his computer monitor blew up. He did his best not to panic, BUT HIS LAB WAS BLOWING UP IN FRONT OF HIM!!! He blinked as Magnus did her best to usher Michael out of the room, still in shock.

Henry had to concentrate on what Magnus told him next. Something about diffusing his technopathic effects? Henry just nodded, eyes still wide, anxious to see what damage had been done to his beautiful computer system.

---

After changing his nineteenth fuse of the day, replacing yards of fried electrical circuits and several burned out motherboards, Henry was worried he’s start speaking with a Scottish accent soon, although the Sanctuary was more like DS9, but still, Henry was a little worried.

It was a lot of work to get the computers back online, finally, without them crashing all the time. Henry figured he’d be able to crash after that. In truth, he napped for about two hours before he was woken by an idea, the image of a certain bracelet beaming brightly in his head.

Finding the bracelet should have been easy, but it had been filed away in the Sanctuary inventory, so Henry spent hours trying to locate it. It was easy to get distracted down there, and Henry had to do his best to concentrate on the one thing he wanted and not the thousands of other pieces of technology that could come in useful sooner or later.

Eventually, Henry made it back his lab with the bracelet Tesla had crafted. He really could have used some explanation or a manual to go with it, but both Tesla and Henry never worked that way, both for different reasons. Sometimes, Henry wondered how trusting Tesla would be if it wasn’t for the whole Edison thing. Or having the rest of the world against him, too. That can’t have helped.

Henry never received anything but support from the Sanctuary, yet he still doubted his own ability. He rarely failed, but Henry still winced at the thought of working in Tesla’s shoes. Henry worried he’d bitten off more than he could chew with this new project.

Plus, he was tired. The buzz from the electrical surge earlier was finally starting to wear off. Henry’s eyes were starting to close. Thankfully, Henry remembered his big idea just before he fell asleep whilst standing.

Tesla’s bracelet didn’t change the DNA of the wearer, yet it managed to prevent the source blood from being detected. It would be far easier to tweak the bracelet from disguising DNA into dampening technopathic abilities. Henry was never one to do things the easy way. He wanted to create his own.

Henry didn’t want to prevent the child’s abilities, just make them easier to control. Anything to do with the EM field was tricky, and Henry managed to shock himself a couple of times as well as blow a few more fuses before it was anywhere near ready.

At this stage, Henry was half Hap and half lab rat. He always tested his experiments on himself, but he couldn’t really tell how well it worked until he tested it on someone who had the technopathic abilities. He could still work the computers normally whilst wearing the cool looking wristband. That was a start. It no longer shocked him. That was even better. He’d never risk shocking a kid.

Henry perfected the physical aspects of the design, black leather and silver. It looked pretty neat, but Henry couldn’t pat himself on the back just yet. He still didn’t know how well it worked. He wanted Michael to test it, but he didn’t want to panic the kid any further. A quick glance at the security footage revealed that Michael wasn’t in the infirmary, or in the corridors. Henry was too tired, and reluctant, to search further.

The wristband lay on the top of Henry’s workbench. Michael could always test it later. Right now, Henry had some sleep to catch up on. Although, the showers in the west wing of the Sanctuary were still acting up. Henry decided to take a look at that first.