Anybody home?(HIVE)

Matt had finished the swim in better time then expected, most people who'd been stupid enough to swim this would make about an hour, he'd managed just over 15 minutes. I almost want to do it again, that was fun. He grinned to himself as he climbed the rig to the door. He could have added some stealth and maybe even got himself in but he figured breaking into the place, even as a show of skill, might not be appreciated. He waited for the girl-robot to show up with his glasses, it wasn't an issue now but it'd need them tomorrow. He sat by the door with a sigh, he'd expected someone would be around to greet him, maybe if it were earlier, no use being impatient.

“No Rawhide. You're going up. I have better things to do. If you don't like it, take a number!” Is what Hugh should have said.

The guy was just uncompromising. Pix had only seen Protege truly give him orders. Anyone else received a low guttural growl in response to their instructions. At best. When the stout, angry student told Pix to deal with the arrival, there was no arguing, “I'm suppose to be good at arguing.” He had griped all the way to the lift, neglecting even the company of guards as was standard protocol in such situations.

Funny. This was exactly the kind of situation where it would be useful to have a servant. And where was his android Nix? Out. He needed to keep better tabs on her. Unfortunately keeping track of her every move was too much bother in itself. Pix could get her a phone, but he didn't want to spend more money than he had to. Besides, she could have had a built in communication system that she'd 'forgot' to mention. He'd ask her about it later.

The roof shook with a light impact. The top of the shaft had been reached. Hugh pulled a lever for the manual opening of doors and stepped out into fresh salty air. A seagull cried overhead. The sprite man turned his pixelated expression to the side (>_>) and glanced at the dripping wet stranger. Ha. Must have fallen out of his boat.

Of course there had been no knock. Whoever this was may have only been taking a rest on HIVE property. Bad place to stop, given the hidden turrets and lasers up here. Hugh continued his sidelong glance as he spoke, “I don't have any spare change. Clear off.” You stand when waiting at the Academy doorstep.

Matt didn't stand when the guy address him, he looked up and sighed, this was what he was dealing with? "I'm not here for change, now either give me an audience with someone who matters or I'll have to carve my message in your stomach before I go." He figured it wasn't the greatest choice of words. He'd assume they have more then just one guy to block their door if this was a legit 'Villains school.' So he let out a small chuckle. "does an invite change anything, I even swam all the way to this god forsaken school - eh, it was kinda fun"

He decided to stand and give the man some sort of decency. He stood taller and looked bigger then Matt, most people did and it always amused him whenever someone made the mistake of thinking it an advantage. He watched the guy move in the dark, something looked off about the guy but he couldn't quite place it.

It was bad enough he didn't stand, now the stranger was being openly aggressive and derogatory. A show of power perhaps. Normal for people wanting to join the academy. Though at a glance the kid didn't look like much. No wonder he was so belligerent, he must have been used to offsetting visual judgements. It was fair enough. The only thing that stung was Hugh's sudden wave of discontentment. Why him?

“You can try. It won't stay there.” The irony here was that bladed weapons were practically useless against his meta-human form. Slicing chunks out of Pix would only cause his pixels to reassemble. Leaving a message in him wasn't possible. Not saying it wouldn't hurt. Just there would be no lasting damage. It was unlikely that the humour of this in-joke was shared, and Hugh kept the explanations to himself.

Instead the guy continued in a more agreeable manner. And he was correct, an invite did change circumstances. Hopefully whoever it was would vouch for the lad. Then blame could be applied should there be any future dissatisfaction. Ineptness would not be tolerated in new students. It's better exposed sooner, rather than later. Pix mused.

“Oh course it was, but you stink of brine. Now I have to share a lift with you.” () Thankfully not for too long, “Move it. And I'll take you to someone who 'matters'.” Quotation fingers accompanied his last word. Pix stepped back inside the lift and beckoned the stranger after him. The visitor evaluation had been brief, briefer than it really should have been, but Hugh knew what he was doing.

“Call me Pix. What do you go by, and who'd you say invited you? Quickly, please.” It was a long way down.

Matt raised an eyebrow at the guys comment, he saw a bit of a twisted sense of humor and some show of power something that he'd expected. It wasn't as blunt as he might have done himself but if they we're going to work together they'd need to hold back, even he was aware of that. "cutting useless, noted." I could still just beat the crap out of you, or hell, maybe just crush your limbs - I haven't tried that, wounder if it'd really work.

"If I was aware my actions would inconvenience your senses I would have took a cab. Hindsight's 20/20" He stepped into the lift with a grin, as much as it was worth he didn't dislike this guy yet, maybe he wasn't so bad. "A friend of yours, actuality. The girl Nix, well robot. Not a subtle one." He looked at the guy trying to piece together what he was worth.

And foresight was worth more than 20. Honestly, in what other profession on Earth would you show up to an interview having just crawled out of the ocean? Pix was almost afraid to take him to see the Headmaster. This was less than acceptable presentation. Thank goodness there was a chance of it being called off.

As he once more used the lever to slam doors shut, Pix double-took at the stranger, “Nix?” There was a heavy weight to the name. Only after the lift shuddered in motion did Hugh continue, “Forgive her. Whatever she said she's not put together right.” His thoughts drifted to whether he could be held accountable for Nix's invite. Unlikely. The android was a student here herself. Despite being owned by him she was given some accountability. He just hoped she selected smart.

“And for future reference, she's more of a pet than a friend. Okay we're descending into HIVE now. The facility is deep under the sea.” While not visible above the waves, there was quite a drop from the oil platform to the lobby. This elevator was a lifeline, “If you want to join you have to prove yourself. Impress the Schoolmasters. They'll either test your fighting ability, your intellect, or maybe your awareness.” Pix pointed to one side of the lift and changed expression, “For example. This lift has no buttons.” (^_^)

A hole would open under Matt. The lift pod they were stood inside had been constructed of pixels. Ever since Firebrand and Dark Matter's arrival this transport network had been broken. The shaft was clear now, but no one had yet installed the actual carriage. Pix had fashioned a temporary one out of his own power, allowing him to move it himself. It also afforded him the opportunity to give this stranger his first H.I.V.E. test. If he could survive the drop then they'd know he wasn't a washout.

Matt just nodded to the boy, a pet, well she was just a robot so it made sense - seemed like a damned good robot to him. "I'll try remember that, it seems rather well put together in my mind. Guess there's a few glitches, I'm not much in the whole computers thing." He shrugged then he thought he might figured this guy out, was he sizing Matt up? Honestly he could understand why, he didn't exactly seem like the more useful character. Given some time he'd be able to step up and prove some worth.

He just nodded to the guy, he'd need to prove exactly what he expected, he figured this would be a quick exam, then a nice job to hold him over and maybe someone would give him a reason to stick around. Then the guy dropped him, he cursed as he righted himself, landing on his feet before they gave out. It wasn't a huge drop to him but it still hurt like hell. He grabbed both legs and began healing, whoever this guy was is going to get it. Once the pain subsided he stood, moved into a hallway and put his hand on his knife. Wait, this isn't useful, or was he bluffing. screw it, I'll just crush the son of a $%@#. He took a few paces back from where he'd expected the boy to open the lift to avoid any more tricks and waited.

Guards took station behind specially developed laser-proof screens in the wall and aimed down the far end of the room. The lobby was separated from the rest of the academy with a thick metal door made of some material that was no doubt harder than steel. Though steel was a poor comparison for toughness nowadays. The soldiers had been admittedly spooked by what had plummeted down the shaft. A standby alert had been noted on the wall terminal. If central control didn't hear back from them in five, then an alarm would have filled the school.

Yet that was hardly necessary. They were not under attack, they were admitting a new student. One that could be relied upon to take the brunt of impact, it would seem. A slight thud could be heard before the lift doors flung open. Pix was inside the pod still laughing against a wall, “Your face! You were like - 'argh'! And then you were gone!” He had for some time now wanted to put someone over a trapdoor. Thank goodness the guy survived or he may have actually gotten in trouble for that ill-conceived prank.

A snicker continued, “Hey guards! Open the bulkhead. He's probably sore. Am I right?” Goading an outburst had the stranger not taken it well was a stupid idea. Pix counteracted this by disassembling the lift pod and momentarily flooding the lobby with pixels. Keep some space between the two.

As Nix approached the shaft she waved aside the guards opening the door herself with her sonic screwdriver. As they contacted the control room. She didn't know what Pix had just done so she ran straight up to Matt. Smiling brightly "You made it!" she said. Then looked over at Pix, why would he be sore? From the swimming? No, with Pix there was no way it was so simple. "What did you do Pix!?" she said obviously irked.

Did he have to mess with everyone? What was his problem. She had just wanted to recruit a new guy. She had the worst luck. "Whatever he's told you is probably only half true." she said dismmissively, shooting a dirty look at Pix for his....Pixness. He could just let thugs he could he? No he had to rough up the knew guy like he was some bully in third grade picking in the new guy. Idiot. "Welcome to the hive, you've already met Pix. He's my owner. Unfortunately he also enjoys joking around apparently."

Matt was about to lunge at the guy, but he held himself back enough once he noticed the different expression on his face, his drop was a prank but he'd manage to cover it as a test of his ability before willingly sending him to see the headmaster. He figured it smart enough, he couldn't hold that against him. "I'll give you this, but next time you pull something like that I'll be on you like a pit bull." He said as he stretched his arms and took a few small jumps to test his legs, his natural healing had kicked in and he could barely feel anything at this point. "Aside pissing me off something like that doesn't phase me." He was stretching the truth a bit, the landing did hurt like hell, but it wasn't a big deal to put in a bit of healing and move on.

He turned and walked towards Nix, into the HIVE, he wondered if everyone how many people would pull something like Pix, the next unlucky fool would take a beating for it. "Alright, lets get this test over with. Once I'm settled in I don't see any reason to mess with my stuff, unless I get free reign to." As he stood by Nix he reached his hand out, she still had a few of his belongings and he did want them back.

Oh, excellent. The newbie had managed to hold himself back. Pix liked people who could take a bit of grief. Being able to laugh at yourself was a very important character virtue. It was part of the reason why he hadn't cut Nix off when she started to contradict him. Though he narrowed his eyes a bit what she proclaimed only half of his words to be true (>_>) “I just got him where he was going faster. All part of the aptitude test.”

As the stranger turned to his android again Pix took the opportunity to change back into his human form. There was no danger here, so he preferred seeing things as they were meant to be seen – 3D. A motto for life and the cinema.

“Nix will take you the rest of the way. Don't worry. There's no more lifts. Just give us a word in private first.” Either waiting until Matt had turned away, or stepping back, Pix turned to his android with a disapproving expression. His voice lowered as he addressed her, “I'll forgive you for not seeing the genius in what I did. You're only mechanical. Dropping that guy down the lift shaft was covering your hide. Do you know what would have happened if he'd died? I may be told off, but no one would know you'd sent him. Talk to me before you invite people in future. Where the hell would I be if they put you in detention?”

The truth of the matter wasn't nearly so heart-warming. Admitting to errors in judgement wasn't Hugh's thing. Though he was, at times, exceptional at distorting the truth. Win a few points with that screwy android of his. A prank could be made to seem noble.

She didn't believe that he did this for her, he didn't care enough. He was to selfish, and only saw her as a pet. A pet! She was older than he'd ever get! Even if he lived five times linger than the usual human. He couldn't even see what she had learned in her years. Even if he was "more mature" than her. She couldn't help if she was immature! It was fun and she had just gotten her freedom, well, more free than she was on the ship. Pix couldn't order her when she wasn't around, which she made sure was as often as possible.

Trips, walks, whatever it took, she even had teleported out on him a few times. Though he didn't like it or she thought he didn't. She never went back to check on him of course. That would be stupid. "yeah, just mechanical" she said walking away from Pix. She had an extremely sarcastic tone. Pix obviously thought she was an idiot. She would teach him one day "Where do you want me to take him?" she said clearly annoyed. God she had bad luck.

Matt sighed as he stepped aside, he wasn't really that annoyed he just wanted his stuff back and to finish this whole process. While he waited for the two to finish their talk he decided to take in his surroundings, something he'd managed to forget about - after Pix's little prank one would think he'd have done this sooner. Careless, I really should keep my eyes open. He thought about sitting down but figured they wouldn't take that long with whatever.

((OOC:Sorry Matt. Didn't mean to keep you waiting a week. T_T ))

What? Was that not even worth a 'thank you'? Pix had just used grade A rhetoric on the little robot. She acted as if she didn't believe him. This bad blood between them was made all the worse considering Nix didn't have any blood to turn bad. He wanted blind obedience from his robot companion, at the very least for her to display a little respect. He could shut her down with a word for crying out loud. Surely that deserved a bit of groveling here and there.

Originally Pix had wanted to win Nix over with simple words. Talk her out of this rebellious streak, but he'd never been one for patience. His failure was fast frustrating him. In its place something childish would emerge.

"The Headmaster of course." Pix replied to her gradually departing form. Hadn't even dismissed her... "Nice sunglasses by the way. Be sure to fully wear them until Headmaster approves his presence here." That'd teach her.

Nix would hand all of the guys stuff back, well, not the sunglasses. Even if Pix ordered her to wear them, they were still cool. She would wear them either way. He DEFINATELY, wasn't making her wear them, it was a conscious choice that she liked them....pix was stupid. Either way, she felt victory in simply knowing she annoyed het owner. He deserved it, the self rightous, narcissistic little freak. One day he would eat his words. Even if she had to force feed them. He would know that he had made a genius angry.

She turned to Matt motioning for him to walk next to her. She was a talker, despite being so new to the language, she couldn't seem to stop talking to people, now that she was allowed to. Where as before she had only been allowed to speak when spoken to. But now, she could express all that she learned. "So you have to meet our headmaster and blah blah, just don't be an idiot and you'll make it in, Kay?" she told him, glad she finally was telling someone what to do. It felt refreshing. Fun. But not as satisfying as Pix made it seem. Once out of earshot she added on "Seriously, hit him, any time"