For those that were requesting it.
Paige's point of view.
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November 17th
I convinced Toby, Happy and Sylvester to help me understand video games. Walter would say I coerced them into it, but words are really just semantics. He had been teasing me since the whole X-box ordeal. Well, we sure showed him.
I made sure that Walter was busy for the entire afternoon before setting my plan into place. He had been mentioning this appointment for a couple of weeks now, and I mentally stored it away in my steal trap of a memory. I waited a good five minutes after he and Agent Gallo left the garage for whatever meeting they had planned before approaching the Human Calculator. He was busy at the white board, muttering to himself as he re-wrote parts of the equation, rubbing numbers off with his fist and then proceeding on to the next line.
"Sylvester?" I asked cautiously, not to disturb and scare the worrisome individual. He was jumpy and if I wanted to secure his assistance, I needed him calm. "Sylvester?" I called to him again, knowing it was a common occurrence for team member's of Scorpion with the genius intellect to get lost in thought. Sometimes, it took more than once to get their attention. "Earth to Sylvester?"
"Paige?" He asked as if he was coming up from air. Surfacing from a jump into the pool and seeing daylight after a long arduous swim. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and focused his keen intellect to me.
"Yes, hi." I said walking to the board as if I was trying to decipher the code. I crossed my eyes, and tried to focus to see if there was a picture that would pop out of the board like those three dimensional books I read when I was a child. I could never get the picture to appear. "I was wondering if you could help me?" I knew that Sylvester had a high emotional intellect but it also made him anxious and suspicious of certain attention he received.
"Absolutely, I will try whatever I can." He said rubbing his hands together, as if his mind was rejecting his words and causing him to worry. It was such an interesting reaction that I am sure the team did not notice. They all had their own quirks when their intellect seemed to manifest reactions without their brains noticing.
"I want you to help me become a champion at video games." I said tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. I knew there was at least four hours before Walter and Agent Gallo were due to return.
"Champion?" Sylvester's head cocked to the side as if he was testing the word. Seeing if it was one he would retain in his vocabulary to the relation of video games. I watched as his face moved through a multitude of emotions until it settle on one. His laughter bubbled up from within, and he was soon pulling his inhaler to his mouth to aid in breathing. "Oh, Paige. That was good."
I put my hands on my hips and glared. What was so funny about the idea of me being good at video games?
"I'm being real." I snapped, holding down my foot from stamping. This team did not take me seriously. "I need your help, I want to be able to beat Walter at his favorite game. He has been teasing me for two days. I need your help with that revenge."
Sylvester fixed his eyes on mine. I knew he was thinking through the probability and the mathematical anomalies, and I needed to give him one more bit of information to push him over to my side of the game. "Think of it, getting one up on Walter, besting him at his own game. What was he calling you after the last time you lost to the rubix off?"
His dark look stopped my words from uttering the mocking title. "Fine. Let's do this. But if we are, we are going to need help."
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We found Toby sitting upstairs in the living room. He was typing away at his desk, putting together a brief synopsis of the last mission. The synopsis he had yet to finish and turn in to me. Walter had banished him to seclusion and no internet access until he finished. That was just the tip of his controlling megalomaniac ways. Sylvester thought it would be best if he broached the subject with the behaviorist. I didn't think it would take much, colluding was an inherit trait of the psychologist.
"Hi, Toby!" Sylvester awkwardly shimmied up to Toby, sitting as close as he could to peer over his shoulder. I gave him a look but Sylvester was already in full on creep mode. "How's the report coming along?"
"I told Walter I would get this done." Toby snapped furiously tapping away. "I don't need to be babysat." I moved closer to the men sitting down on the coffee-table ottoman piece of furniture. I never understood which functionality it was used for more.
"No, Toby," I said but Sylvester moved his finger to his mouth. He mouthed, 'I got this.' I widened my eyes and shook my head. The behaviorist missed the whole interaction because his face of hidden by the laptop screen.
"Listen Paige." Toby droned. "I am sorry for not completing this on time. I understand for the efficiency of the opp, but these synopsis are so inane." He fixed his hat lower on his face.
"Are you almost done?" Sylvester asked. I glared at him.
"Well, seeing as I have nothing to distract me from this imbecilic assignment," Toby muttered and I reached my wits end. I shoved the screen of the laptop to slam down, and he barely had the time to get his fingers out of the way. "What the hell?"
"Sylvester is helping me become an expert at video games." I said, "Are you in?" The psychologist fixed me with a vacant look, brought his finger to the side of his mouth and holding it there for a moment. He was sizing up the offer, wanting to know what he could maximize out of the situation.
"What is in it for me?" He asked, and Sylvester shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, not to be an ass, but Paige, you and video games is like trying to shoot a bat blindfolded and underwater." I gave him an odd look at his comparison. I looked to Sylvester who nodded as if the words made perfect sense.
"I will write your synopsis for the next four missions, and you will get to pull one over at Walter." I offered.
"Where do we begin?" Toby asked tossing his laptop to the other side of the couch and we moved downstairs to the gaming center. It was rigged up by the resident mechanic, Walter and Sylvester. Screens attached to a rolling fence. The kind that is used as a security gate. Each flat screen ranged from thirty-six inches to sixty inches. The gaming consoles sat on floating shelves about two feet from the ground, and rigged up to the various inputs. We sat on the black leather couch, I had a white x-box game controller in my hand, and the boys were trying to guide me through the simply maneuvers of mortal combat.
"I don't get this." I snapped as Sylvester screeched at me to use the left toggle to move my eye sight, and then the right toggle was to move about. I had yet to land a hit on the practice dummy. "How am I supposed to hit the other buttons if I am using my fingers to move about?"
It had been nearly two hours of getting down their "basics". What button's to push to turn on the gaming system. Funny, it was the stupid logo on the control that essentially was my downfall a couple days ago. I had tried to point that out, but the boys were already in deep teacher mode. I had just gotten the hang of not moving my arms in a flailing motion as if my movements would help in the game.
No, they did not.
I had barely been able to hold the enlarged controller in my petite hands. Gamers are so weird. Toby had to peal my hands off the damn device four or five times before I got the "gamer stance" correctly.
"Trust me, there is nothing hotter then a girl playing video games." Toby commented and then grimaced at me. "If they can play them well, I mean. Shit, sorry Paige."
I shook my head, "No offense taken." I despaired and dropped the controller to my lap. I figured it was the equivalent of throwing my hand over my eyes and throwing myself into the back of the couch. The effect would be lost on the geniuses. I stood up from the couch, jogged into the kitchen and pulled out a water bottle. Who knew keeping oneself hydrated was necessary in being a "gamer." I was chugging the water when I heard the quiet clearing of someone's throat. I turned to find the mechanic standing opposite of me.
"Um, what are you doing?" Her voice was low and I could tell she was trying to understand the situation. This was Happy's quirk, her response to the uncertainty. She usually treated it with an aggressive hostility. Accusing the information from the culprit.
"Drinking water?" I respond to her question with a question. An antic I learned from the pint-size mechanic. She rolled her eyes. She wanted an explanation about the video games. The reason the boys were engaging with me as if they would not on their own volition. I could feel offended but really I was not the first person on the team they would ask to play a video games. This had happened only twice. The first time I had staved them off, making an excuse of getting Ralph home for bed. The other time was a disaster. I knew they had a silent conversation about my inability and came to conclusion to not ask me to partake in the future.
That, and I declared video games were on par with the devil.
"I want to beat Walter at video games." I came clean. I knew telling Happy of my plan, the outcomes could be one of two ways. She would either join in with the plan and help me, or go straight to her phone and tattle. Not tattle but she would inform Walter of the mistreatment of the team. It was a ballsy move to include her with my plan. I only thought this because Happy was more Walter's friend then mine. I knew they had a relationship likened to one of siblings. Closely bonded by a kindred childhood. Happy gave me a searching look, as if she was repeating the words in her mind over and over. She took one step closer, so her hands could rest on the granite counter top.
"So, I take it you have the boys helping you?" Happy asked and I knew my plan was still safe by the conspiratorial look on her face. The excitement danced in her eyes. "What are we waiting for?" She nearly frogmarched me back to the gaming area where the boys were writing down different move combinations. Left arrow up down right up down down down, then another left down right up, equated to a barrage of different hits.
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It was an hour later, and I had been yelled at, reprimanded, indulged, balked at, pushed and snapped at by all three of the geniuses trying to guide me through the movements of the stupid game. This had been the hardest afternoon in the last year, and I was no where near close to being able to move and hit at the same time. I could make the player move forward, but I somehow got distracted by the other toggle and would end up looking straight at the floor or up above. Toby had tried to equate the game to some real life situation as if the parallel would equate to something in my mind. It caused tears to well in my eyes. Sylvester tried to teach me a mathematical equation to remember the different combinations. An onomatopoeia aid that did nothing for my memory. Happy just yelled at my inability. I knew they were all getting to their wits end.
"This is never going to work." I sighed dropping the controller for yet another time. Walter had texted stating the meeting was shorter then expected and he would be returning to the garage within the hour. He had called first but I ignored it, hoping he would remember that ignoring a call meant I was busy and was not able to take the call. He did, so he texted.
Happy picked up the control and finished off the move, perfecting the sequence and completing the attack with a finishing move. I glared at her gift. She smirked and shrugged her shoulders.
"If only you could play for me." I sighed taking the controller from her hands and restarted the level. I heard the intake of air from all of the geniuses, but thought nothing of it. I was trying to focus on hitting the L1 button to duck, and then spin attack. It did not work. The quiet only enraged me more towards the stupid game.
"What if we could play the game?" Happy jumped to life, taking the controller from me, and grabbing the extra spare, the one that was not Walter's favorite. He was even controlling about his controller. We all followed the Asian mechanic with our eyes at first, and then trailing her when she went to the other side of the garage. Happy was pulling out the smallest of screw driver's she owned, and set to work deconstructing the devices. "Toby do you happen to have one of those small processors from the Bronson job?" Toby nodded and scurried off to his tool box where he kept extras.
"Are you trying to trick the communicating system?" Sylvester asked looking awed at the mechanic shock the wires in the device. Toby hurried back holding a few processors.
"I didn't know how many or what sizes you needed. I just grabbed them all." He said brandishing the tools to the mechanic who motioned to him to set them down.
"I am trying to separate the wires, so I can connect them to the processing chips." Happy started to explain to me and the boys. She took out a pair of pliers readying to cut the input feeds. I had to ask a question.
"Why don't we just swap the controllers?" I asked not wanting to damage the system just on my desire to beat Walter. I knew how expensive the controller's were but I knew they would not move toward deconstruction if they could not rebuild the device. Sylvester chuckled at my question. Truly, working with geniuses was trying.
"Walter will know if we did that." Happy explained, "The light turns on here." I looked at the device knowing that the curly haired genius would call the bluff within seconds. Damn him and his observational skills. "I am intersecting the feeds between the processor with the communication software. Essentially circumventing your controller with ours. This will keep the light on, and we will play Walter while he thinks it is you."
The plan was genius.
"So I am just a puppet." I resigned to the fact.
"At least you are a pretty puppet." Toby chuckled while eliciting a crude remark. I pouted but knew that had no effect on these three. I normally reacted this way when Walter denied me some simple treasure, such as a sugary coffee, window shopping, shopping in general, having a glass of wine or a cronut. That delicious dessert that is a combination of a croissant and a donut.
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It was later that evening, Walter and Agent Gallo returned with a bag of Thai take out, and we were all eating around the table regaling about the day. The team and I had come up with a semi plausible morning while hiding the truth. Walter did not bat an eyelash when I stated I worked diligently paying bills and do other odds and ends before going to pick up Ralph from school. The team continued the family dinner until Agent Gallo was called away to deal with some federal issue, and Ralph set down to complete his homework. Walter was on his way upstairs when I called out to him.
"Hey, Walter." I watched as he hesitated mid step before turning to look at me. He looked a bit tired, but his eyes lit up when they connected with mine. I had to remind myself to breathe when he gave my that scorching look. "Want to play a game?" I mimicked the line from the recent scary movie we all watched on Halloween after Ralph had fallen asleep. He smirked, but I could tell he was intrigued.
"What might you want to play, Miss Dineen?" He comically asked while descending down the four steps. He liked to use my full name when he was feeling playful. When he wanted to engage with an emotional outcome. It was a recent development with his emotional intelligence.
"I thought we could play some Mortal Kombat on the x-box." I said nonchalantly and he moved closer to me as if he was a lion stalking its prey. A smile danced across his face, the half one he saves mostly for me, right before he was going to make a joke at my expense. "Stow it, mister." I said holding my hand to his mouth. He grabbed my fingers threading them together. He brought out hands up, and kissed the back of mine.
"I would never." He said and pulled me over to the set up. I made sure to grab my controller. The dummy one, that was acting as a conduit from actual controller the team would be using in my vendetta against Walter. He grabbed his 'lucky' handheld and plopped onto the couch. I rolled my eyes, and took a seat a few inches apart. Distance was key. We started the game with Sylvester manning the first round. I had to keep up the charade by pounding away at the buttons, you know giving some semblance that I was playing. I remember the first look he gave me when I got the KO for knock out after just three minutes of combat. I smirked at his bewildered glare.
"I demand another game." He snapped not taking the loss well but he was still jovial. He probably thought it was a fluke. "Beginners luck." He confirmed my suspicions. A small smile spread across my own face. This time it was Toby who took over the controller. I knew from the attack style. Sylvester liked to parry and then go in for long sequence maneuvers. It was more safe than sorry. Toby liked to go in for the attack trying to deal as much damage in the first bit of the round. He was more apt to do shorter sequence but effective in damage. This game lasted longer. I knew it was to do with Walter going easy on our first game. He was not holding back this round. I continued to press the buttons as if I was really playing.
"Not such a grand master, are you?" I teased and his look darkened.
"Grand Master is only related to chess." He snapped. He wanted to go one more round, which was all right with me, Happy was dying to get her hands on the controller for a test spin. Her fighting pattern was fast like Toby but even shorter jabs. She wanted to get in close, and then put up a block until she saw the opening to deliver harsh blows. This game lasted even longer then the last. Sweat began to glisten on his forehead but Walter did not pause to wipe in case it compromised the integrity of the match.
"Did you know what I meant?" I asked calmly to his chess remark.
"Yes." Walter seethed still pounding his fingers against the controller.
"Why do you have to be a jerk about it then?" I responded, and leaned back into the chair. Walter was hunched forward. It was then, I could tell the knock out was coming because Walter had forgotten to block, and Happy dealt her round house kick that drained the remaining life, Walter's character possessed. Walter's groan and shouts echoed across the metal in the garage.
"How," He demanded. I swallowed and put the controller onto the coffee table. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Must be beginners luck." I stated triumphantly and stood up from the couch. The victory, although cheating, was still tasting good. I wanted to laugh in his face but he would know something was up. The win was short lived when Ralph entered the area and threw me under the bus.
"You weren't playing mom." Ralph explained to his genius idol. "The rest of the team were playing for her." Walter's eyes danced from my son's to mine, and then back. "Mom was not using the right button strokes. The rest of the team is in the kitch-"
"Thank you so much, Ralph." Walter interrupted. "How should we punish them?" I saw the gleam in his eyes, and both men came at me at the same time. I did not have the time before the both descended on me, and start their ticket assault. Tears of happiness began to tickle down my face when they finally let up. Walter was holding me around the waist for support and I continued to giggle. Ralph moved to the gaming system and I felt a hot breath on my ear.
"Walter." I warned feeling my pulse race at his proximity. The chuckle that escaped his mouth tickled my ear.
"Don't even think that I am letting you off the hook so easily." He put kiss to my cheek and left to go to the kitchen to find the team and the mirrored controller. I heard the yells of indignation from Toby, the laughter of Happy and the worries of Sylvester as they responded to Walter's accusations. I rolled my eyes, moved over to the couch and reveled in the fact that the team and I were able to get one up on Walter.
It was a job well done, and a day well spent.
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Fin.
Hope you enjoyed.
Please tell me what you think!
I don't own Scorpion.