[Plot] X-Man Prefect-Haters Club

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Caretaker. How aware of the estate are you? As in, your sensory capabilities."

[Haley Crusek]

Haley stuck out her tongue at Miriam.

If she was gonna be called 12 may as well own it.

[The Caretaker]

"At present? I am able to manifest a hard-light avatar in most locales. I am missing key monitoring modules and, as we discussed, the defense module. I am not omnipresent, even if I can 'be' anywhere on the grounds."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"I mean when you're fully enabled."

[The Caretaker]

"Fully functional? Yes, I would be well aware of any threats to the lighthouse, external or internal."

[Natalie Denisov]

"Is it possible to just obtain the sensory modules without the defense module?"

[The Caretaker]

"It certainly is, but it's less than ideal if the crimson moon waxes and we're suddenly armpit deep in redcaps."

[Miriam Bell]

"Bit of a one-track mind on that one. You sure he'll be all that helpful with the Lippinsno--Lippincott situation?"

[Toshiro Narumi]

"That depends. Caretaker, is it within your parameters to eavesdrop on the headmaster for us?"

[The Caretaker]

The butler-like figure straightens up and looks Tosh right in the eyes.

"Well, I would suppose that depends on whether you consider him a threat to the lighthouse, and the dimensional access it provides."

[Haley Crusek]

“He’s a douchebag,” Haley quipped. “So probably, yeah”

Clearly, a convincing argument.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Probably not, no," he admitted, "It was worth a shot."

"But it's good to know you're limited in scope. So, all I believe we have left defense-wise is limiting the use of lethal measures when at all possible."

"I assume everyone here agrees with that?"

[Natalie Denisov]

"I question the need for a defense module at all, given that the X-men live here," Natalie says, eyes still on the Caretaker.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"I appreciate your faith in us Nat but the X-men can't always be here. And as the guy who usually ends up patching holes in reality, I'd appreciate a little prevention."

[Natalie Denisov]

Natalie makes some indecipherable gesture and lets it drop, but her mental sense is distinctly disappointed and angry.

[Miriam Bell]

"That's nice and all, but I didn't really walk all the way out here to hear about your latest nerd thing."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"I understand, Miriam. But I have just one more question for it before we get back to Lippincott."

"Caretaker, are there other modules you need to download and, if so, what are they?"

[The Caretaker]

"There is of course the communications module. The modules of a Mastermind system are intended to be able to recover from a situation like this by redownloading damaged or absent components. Thus, I can certainly request those downloads, but the communications module is the portion that can actually allow individuals to travel to and from the Starlight Citadel and request proper authentication to do so."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Since the crowd is growing restless, we can discuss the finer points like authentication later."

"Unless there are any other questions?" he asked the group.

[Haley Crusek]

“Yeah. So like. How is this going to help us get rid of the guy who’s doing his best “College Dean from Animal House impression?”

[Leo Eskandari]

"I say we get the hell on with this," Leo voted grumpily.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Alright then Caretaker, we'll talk more later."

"Okay. On to business. What else do we know about our, at best, overprotective headmaster so far?"

[The Caretaker]

The Caretaker shimmers as the hard-light projection dissolves, and soon 'he' is gone.

[Shane Marsh]

"It's not exactly on topic," Shane said, having stayed silent until then, "But there's a new prefect. Will."

[Natalie Denisov]

"Well, shit," Natalie says, "That makes all this much harder."

[Robin Stanton]

"Oh come on, what!?" Robin groans, throwing her head back dramatically.

[Samantha McManus]

"Are we still thinking that Will isn't being manipulated in some way?"

[Miriam Bell]

"I'm not sure, but I could find out. He did slip me this." she says, reaching into her pocket to pull out a couple-inches long silver spike. "Which seemed important but I'll be damned if I know what it is or what it's for."

[Toshiro Narumi]

Tosh stood up and asked, "Can I take a look?"

[Samantha McManus]

"Given that I have two werewolf girlfriends and he's not happy with me, that's a bit... chilling."

[Miriam Bell]

"I guess. It is made of silver." she says as she hands it over to Tosh.

[Narrator]

From what Tosh could tell, it was an ordinary, unordained silver spike -- three, maybe four inches in length, very pointy on one end. Solid. No messages engraved on it or anything.

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Assuming Will wouldn't deliver such a threat, we can probably rule out a stake," Tosh said as he studied every inch of the spike with his big ol' science brain, "But damned if I can tell by looking."

"Can you sense anything electronic Nat?" he asked, holding it out to her.

[Narrator]

There was nothing electronic inside the solid silver spike. For all intents and purposes, this was all it was.

[Haley Crusek]

“Is silver deadly or just really painful for werewolves? I get my movies and real life supernatural shit mixed up.”

[Miriam Bell]

"I'd argue that getting stabbed with a sharp spike is already plenty painful in and of itself." Miriam adds 'helpfully'.

[Diego Zapata]

"Are we sure it isn't a piece of Will?" Diego asked.

[Samantha McManus]

"I mean, even if it is, that doesn't mean it's a sentient piece."

"Unless you feel like giving back your Christmas gifts from him."

[Toshiro Narumi]

"Well, would you sense a, you know, from it if it was?"

[Robin Stanton]

"He can't split himself into sentient pieces. Not without the MGH."