Hi everyone! Arces here.
In January of 2017 I left a review on this fanfic. I didn't expect a reply, but that was exactly what I got, and before long Cookie and I were having long, serious discussions about the fic and where the story was headed. I've been a beta for Practicality Saves The Day ever since. So it saddens me to say that I'm leaving after this chapter. I've had a lot of fun, and I hope you will keep having fun as the story continues! We've come very far, and the story certainly isn't over yet. ;-)
Arces
The research institute, as I previously stated, was in the form of a rectangular box, enclosed by barbed wire. From the satellite data we identified tiny wooden structures that were later found to be dog houses.
The great thing about the modern world is that it is so easy to get data.
We paid someone to hack the institute with ransomware. Next, we hacked them. This got us all the files we wanted while reducing suspicion. Other times, we'd find information listed freely online.
In preparation for the mission, we trained, trained and then trained some more. Jacob had the luxury of forgetting about the mission when he went home. I didn't. The mission was the only thing my father thought or talked about for the next few weeks, and this meant that it was the only thing I talked or thought about as well.
An idea planted itself in my mind and I decided to just see where it would take me. We had a list of the staff, and most of them had public Picbook and ConnectIN accounts. This meant that anyone could access their resumes, details about their life and so on.
We had just bought some very good facial recognition software, so I thought this would be a good thing to test it on. It wasn't as if we didn't have access to facial recognition software before, but the technology had been so unreliable that we'd probably get the wrong people.
I began. First, I got the list of all the staff in the building. This came with the photos that they had taken for their ID cards. Then I created a script that searched the internet for any faces that even remotely matched theirs. Well, matched it and lived in the relevant localities. Just because I had a photo of a redhead, doesn't mean I wanted information on all the redheads in Ireland.
I also used these ID photos to search for any relevant social media accounts. It was a fairly easy thing, as most people set their profiles to public by default.
There were a lot of false matches though. To fix this I sent the photos to a simple program I made. It showed a name and associated ID photo. To its right was a photo that the software thought was the guy. If it was, I'd click a green bar to the left or press space. If it wasn't the guy, I'd click the red bar on the right or hold the spacebar.
I had to do this, tedious though it might have been. Technology isn't magic. Face rec software runs on math and, ultimately, probability. The probability of someone having certain dimensions of a face. The more things matched the less likely it was someone else.
This means that if the light sucked when someone's portrait got taken, the computer might not even think there was a face there. This even when humans can tell there clearly is. But remember, humans can understand context. So while humans can infer from given information, anything outside of a computer's programming is impossible. You take bad light, add in a mask and it's basically game over for face recognition software. Well, for the one we had. No doubt things have gotten better since the long forgotten days of what? Five years ago?
I matched faces on my way to school and pretended it was a cool minigame to make things less boring.
After this, I made another script that copied information from any public social media accounts that matched the faces I had. Why not do this before? Because one photo is good. But many photos, from different angles, is the gold standard. More data means more details, so the computer has to do less guesswork with running probabilities. Often, these same photos were on their social media pages with captions like "just went to Nanna's house" with an image of them with their family pet. So I could be sure it was them.
I also took information from local public records searchable online. Or whatever the online equivalent of the old Whitepages book is called now. Frankly, I'm surprised those were even legal back then.
From there I put together a list of relevant details that I wanted. Things like the full name, phone number, common nicknames, address, marriage status, previous job, known skills, job title, previous jobs and sometimes, arrest record.
Then I used the magical powers of the CTRL+F function to search. There was no way I was going to read all of it. There were many, many terabytes of information to sort though. Not that I wanted to. A few of the staff members had said stuff about child actors that was… explicit. I felt like I was going to get authorities called on me when I read some of it by chance. There was no way I was going to let any of that on my computer, so I kept it all on an external harddrive.
No, using the cloud to store things isn't an option when you are part of an international 'terrorist' group. ANY device even connected to the internet sends information. And anything sent over the internet is viable to someone. The last thing any of us needed was the CIA knowing what we were up to since someone got tired of changing their password everyday. So I used a burner laptop, phone and PC to do this. It depended on what I felt like using that day.
By burner device I mean one that is physically broken such that it can't be connected to the internet. Or Redtooth. Or anything fun. If any devices try, through the USB method for example, it shuts the computer down and if that can't be done ALL info is deleted.
Removing the parts of the computer that allow it to connect to WiFi and Redtooth frequencies are the ONLY way you can be sure that people aren't taking data from your device. Any idiot can write a computer program that automatically makes your computer connect to any nearby WiFi and begin to send data to someone else. Heck, they can do this while you think that the WiFi is out since the icon is off and you can't open any websites.
This is why I NEVER discuss anything relating to my powers on my normal phone or computer. They are the phones and computers that I used for fun. Nothing play most apps or games, you need to give up a lot of privacy protections. That's why I had two phones.
Even though I still had to do a lot of manual work to fact-check, in reality I actually had it quite good. The computer could do most of the work for me, I just had to dot the i's and cross the t's. One big annoyance, however, were the resumes. Some people were just bad at making them, which in turn only made it harder for the computer to process it.
I took all this sorted information and put it into a program that ran on all operating systems. Then, I tested the hell out of it. It took a lot of work. But, soon it was done. It helped that there weren't many staff members.
I showed what I made to my father and he absolutely loved it. He was planning on having someone do something similar, but it was great that I had taken the initiative. We still had to memorize the faces of anyone important. He let me place the program on the devices we carried.
"This is cool! But also scary," Jacob said as we tested the program on the goggles we were to use during the mission. We were in the living room. He had a photo of a random guard turned to it and a drop down appeared with a list of relevant information on him. Tapping the device allowed for more information to be seen.
In the end, I made the stuff super basic. This wasn't a program that ate up storage space for breakfast. Look at the person, here's some data. Look up a name, here's some data. Nothing overly complicated.
"Yup. The availability of information on anyone is why we have to be more careful than most. That said, don't worry. Father and the professor fix things, to an extent."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, it's standard for them to have people scour the internet and get things removed if it compromises a student. You can do a lot with the power of hacking or telepathy."
"Wow. So the professor overrides people's will to have content taken down?" His smile had turned into something else. Something unpleasant.
"Yea, to protect other mutants. It's the only way to protect his students." My shoulders hunched, yes, I was defending Xavier, but it felt fine in this context. "Sure, you're not supposed to post about your powers online, but if someone does, or if something bad is captured on video, it has to be taken care of."
"And- and he just does that without asking?"
"Yes. He does that for anyone around our age. He doesn't have to worry about you as much though, since after you started hanging around me, making sure you don't accidentally get exposed is now my father's responsibility."
"What? Why?" Jacob gave me an alarmed look. I shrugged.
"Informal unspoken agreement. That said, if anyone associated with Xavier does see anything that isn't right, they'll be sure to have it fixed and then contact us."
"Why wait?"
"Speed. A person would read it and blab if people don't move fast. It's just safer that way."
Jacob did not like this arrangement. No one had told him! What right did either of them have to take these measures without his knowledge?
"Well, that explains why my social media account settings suddenly changed before. I changed it back though." He swiped at his device. "They set them back," he grumbled.
"They work pretty quickly. My father hires good people." They were paid to look around the internet and report anything suspicious relating to mutants. Any disappearances, any leaks of data, anything. We still have them, but more than before.
My friend somewhat settled down, but was still a bit miffed. The more steps he took into the world of being a mutant, the less he found he knew. That's the thing about my father and Xavier, they are different personality wise, but in other ways operated the same.
My Father represented a direct threat to the human-dominated status quo and this spooked humans just enough for them not to openly call for our killing. Which meant Xavier could indirectly influence state policy. If you chased through the mounds of paperwork, you'd find his influence everywhere. He was a major contributor to charities that helped mutants and even directly lobbied the government for equal rights for mutants. This on top of his many speeches, which helped with mutant awareness.
Father and Xavier were among the most experienced mutants on our planet that we knew of. They were no doubt the most influential mutants as well. This also meant they couldn't help but see other younger mutants as being in need of help and guidance. This led to a high degree of paternalism. The fact that they could help others soon turned into the idea that they must. Which turned into, they must help other mutants, even when they don't think they need help, as clearly the mutants do not know better. The majority of mutants are very young, so really I don't think they see most of us as adults. Xavier's oldest students were in their mid 30's and they were children to them, what chance did Jacob or I have at being treated like adults?
As a result of all this, they often made secret plans with each other that governed things involving us. Both felt responsibility for the mutants of the world, most of which being under 35. They separated the mutant populace to those under the umbrella of Xavier and those under that of Magneto, with the rest being considered neutral. Still, even the nonaffiliated mutants were divided into 'Xavier's' and 'Magnetos' responsibility, as Jacob found out.
I didn't mind my father doing this. I didn't mind my parent being a bit paternalistic. I knew I could trust him not to harm me. Besides, Magneto represented a degree of stability that I hadn't known for most of my life, so it was reassuring to know that someone cared about me even though I was a mutant. It was going to take more than him doing everything he could to ensure my secret wasn't exposed for me to consider objecting to this. Complaining would threaten the stability that I felt I couldn't live without.
Jacob was different. He had a good life, a normal life. He didn't trust either of the men. Especially not to the degree that I trusted Father. As a result, this sort of caring that they did felt at best like unwelcome intrusion and at worse, a way to keep him in their debt and dependent on them. He could and would handle this himself. He didn't need Magneto child-proofing his devices!
Jacob liked training with us. Well, mostly. He disliked the demanding physical pace. He did however, like eating lunch with us or hanging out with me during our brief reprieves. He liked to play fetch with Watts or play a game of Avenue Brawler.
He wasn't bad at training. Unrefined, sure, but otherwise solid. When we fought each other, I tended to win. I'm not as strong or as tall as him, but he often made technical mistakes that leveled the playing field. I tended to grapple him, then place him in a chokehold. It was a good way of ending fights since even if he broke free, he became a bit winded so his movements were sloppy.
He despised training using his mutation. Sure, my father always had terrible people around for him to practice on in the park, but that didn't make his guilt go away completely. So he'd do everything possible to avoid that part of training. If my father was anyone else, it would've probably worked somewhat. But my father is who he is so these attempts never panned out. He always managed to get Jacob to use his powers, even if it was for a second. It often happened during these training sessions that Jacob would suddenly run off to the side before throwing up, though. The act of overriding the wishes of another human being tended to do that to a person.
When that did happen, we'd pause, take a break, and then try again. It was still very shocking to 'pushiness' that my friend complained about was nothing compared to how he normally was during training. While I missed the intensity and sense of urgency my father brought to our typical sessions as it was somewhat motivating, I did enjoy the reprieve.
My friend didn't need much practice to control people. The real issue was getting him not to feel guilty about it.
We trained night and day. Jacob would pick me up from classes and we'd drive straight home. Well… on most days. On days with insane traffic we'd do brief detours to avoid it or buy food for ourselves. The first time we did this, my heart rattled.
I wasn't supposed to be doing it. I was supposed to get the car and head to the house immediately. But we weren't going home, we were at a campus McRonalds drive through.
Jacob scanned the menu. "So what do you want? I'll treat this time, you really helped me a lot with editing that paper."
We have to go home! Father's going to wonder why I'm not there. Okay, it's fine. Breathe in. Good. now out. I was looking at the brown dead patch of grass to my left side, completely zoned out. "Chris?"
I hope he's not looking at the GPS right now. We should be okay as long as he doesn't use street view to see where we are. He'll probably think it's traffic. No biggie. It's ok. Don't freak out.
"Chris?" Jacob said a bit louder.
And- And even- even if he does, it'll be okay. He let me off the hook last time even though I lied. This is nothing in comparison. It'll be okay. I'm supposed to recruit Jacob so grabbing food so he's not hungry is okay.
It took him hitting me on the head with a rolled up paper to snap me out of it.
"Ah!"
"Oh, so you are capable of speech?" He said, clearly annoyed. I blushed and read the menu quickly.
"I'll get a number 4. Small."
He nodded and spoke both of our orders into an intercom. We drove forward, then stopped behind another car in line.
"That was a bit of a harsh way to put it." The other boy said. "Still, what gives? Are you still worried about the lab report you submitted today?"
"No, I had a good partner to do it with, it's just. I'm- we were supposed to go straight back and that… bothers me."
"I'm sure your old man won't mind."
He called him my 'old man'? What if he says that in front of him?! I can't have him test the man. His patience isn't unlimited. Jacob, I like you, but you raise my blood pressure!
A tap jolted me back to earth.
"Relax, If he raises a stink, I'll say it was all my idea, because it is. I know you highly value his opinion."
That and I'd prefer to go more than 3 weeks without being punished for something. And the fact that you're my friend AND a key element in a mission makes that super fucking hard!
"Good to hear." I showed none of my earlier stress. Jacob wasn't satisfied with this answer and didn't bother to hide this from his face. Before he spoke again, the blue Mercydos in front of us moved forward. It was our turn to grab our food. He paid by scanning his phone and pulled the meal inside through the car window.
We began to drive home. I checked my phone and allowed myself to breathe when I saw that no one had texted me. This was a good sign. Father would've said something if he were angry.
"Chris? Are you okay?" He let his eyes leave the road for a second to gauge how I was feeling.
I wasn't going to make it easy on him.
"I- I someone tried to kidnap me before, and I'm- I'm not used to being off schedule."
That was true, and also false.
"Oh, okay, I get it. Don't worry, I won't kidnap you. Well… today anyway." His trademark grin had returned.
"What?"
"I might need to. You've been a bit of a hermit lately. And I want to take you to a party I've been invited to. Don't worry, it's a few days after our 'voyage'."
We arrived at the house on time through Jacob's use of creative driving maneuvers, none of which were legal. Thankfully, we weren't caught.
Despite my worries, my father didn't bring up our detour. He wrinkled his nose and glared at our meal, clearly grossed out, but didn't comment otherwise. Training proceeded as normal, and our leftovers 'somehow' ended up in the trash. After this, my friend went home for the night.
Once we were left alone in the living room after saying goodbye for the night, I said, "Father, we didn't come home straight away. Sorry about that."
"It's fine. I doubt it was your idea."
"No, it wasn't."
"Sinclair is a special case. I want to recruit him, but he very much values doing as he wishes. A touch of…" He stretched out the last word, elongating its sound, "Flexibility is needed. He certainly hasn't been taught to follow orders like you."
"Clearly." My tone showed my annoyance. "He broke every speed limit known to man. He even called you 'my old man'. It's… unusual being around him." A burning gripped my heart, which I recognized as dread. Even referencing the things he did and said made me feel like I was the guilty one.
"I can see that at times. Don't worry yourself. I can handle a 16 year old's words. Clearly, his casualness bothers you though." The pain left and I was all at once relieved.
"Yes, I guess being concerned about you blowing your top over that is pretty silly. Still, I don't like him calling you that. On a personal level."
"Don't concern yourself with these things."'
"Got it."
My father went into the kitchen as he had decided to make dinner on that day. Right, I didn't say so before, but my father is a very good cook. He also always made healthy meals. I've never seen him drink a soda in my life.
I didn't have much to do and decided to feed the goldfish Toad had bought. He normally kept them in his room, but this time, he had left them on the small glass table in front of the living room couches. I tapped the can twice and let the flakes sink into the water. The fish immediately started eating.
I wonder if this is a big enough bowl.
Time to consult the world's best source, the internet. A slight ping came from my phone. I swiped it to life.
"Yes!" I jumped up and down. We'd done it.
"What's all the excitement about?" My father called form the kitchen
"Oh sorry, I was loud. I… Jenny and I got a perfect score on our lab report."
"I see. Congratulations."
"Thanks. Jacob edited it. I'm going to text him and tell him how I did. But…" I laughed, "I kind of don't want to!"
"Why?"
"He's going to make fun of how much I worried about the report."
"Then it sounds like you certainly do need to tell him." He said this in his typical amused tone.
I called him, and just as I'd said, he made fun of my ridiculous fears of failing and told me to lighten up.
This incident along with other small unusual behaviors were NOT forgotten by my friend. Every incident gave him more and more clarity into my life and views.
If I was more observant, I would've noticed this myself. I would have adjusted my behavior to not give myself away. The problem was, for all of my years of keeping things close to my chest, I had never had to do it against a telepath. I knew a bit about analyzing people, but he was far better, plus he had the advantage of telepathy.
In the last 2 days before the journey, his doubts in my father and his concerns had both increased, not decreased. I had completely failed at that part of my mission.
I always read every PM and review even though they can be terrible since the internet is a dumpster fire of horror at times. I never expected it would lead to Arces. But I'm glad it did. Working with them has been a pleasure and I'm very sad that we must part, but I'm happy and honored that it happened.
Short Chapter but I'm going to need to alter my way of doing things since I no longer have a beta. I figured informing on what's going on while adding to the story would be best.