Xaviers!

Natalie walks out of the admin building, hands in pockets, as she walks across the grounds. She takes her time, walking at a slow pace and looking around. She avoids the buildings, sticking to the more open areas on her walk.

((Open))

After a few moments of being alone with her thoughts, Natalie would be joined by Will, dressed in an X-Team uniform, and walking at a bit of a faster pace until he caught up.

"Afternoon, Natalie. Out for the fresh air?"

"Afternoon, Will. Just taking some... non-technical time as Professor Terrance puts it. She wants me to take some 'physical grounding time'. It's a chore, but small price to pay to keep the reports of my stability good, right?" She looks him over, "What about you? Did you just come back from training?"

"Just kind of taking a patrol of the grounds. You know, I've yet to really walk around this campus; I've been going off of memories of a different place entirely. Figured it was time to fix that oversight.

'Physical grounding time', as in, not locked into the crystal computer? I mean, I guess I see what the Professor is saying, but..." he trailed off, with kind of a face.

"Oh, I can't get away from the crystal computer. I *think* she understands that," Natalie says, "Do you need a tactical map? I can get you one."

"I'd love to look one over; get a better lay of the land, as it were. At your convenience.

So, what are you supposed to do to please the Professor? Just get some physical activity; stop looking at a screen? I'm not entirely sure I get the point of it."

"Be around people and the physical world, I guess. And the Point doesn't count for these purposes. I asked," she chuckles.

"I suppose cutting yourself off from everyone else on campus is a bad thing, in the long run," Will said, after a moment's thought. "Still. You've been so much more content since gaining the computer, you'd think she'd be asking you to lean into that, rather than walking around solo."

"To be fair to her, I think this is a little beyond her normal schooling. They don't exactly teach counseling a human computer core at university."

"If she's looking for normal, she's in the wrong place," Will chuckled. "We're an odd bunch, here, and that brings with it unique challenges.

Then again, I've seen the weirdness of this place bring out the best in people. She'll come around, I'm sure -- and until then, I suppose there's no harm in humoring her."

"I make the others come out and move around the campus, if Professor Terrance wants me to do that a bit extra myself, I suppose I can hardly complain. So how are you doing? I noticed the room assignments are getting shuffled around after the remodel."

"I make no attempts to decipher what goes on in ASHLIE's head at any given point," Will laughed, raising his hands in a defensive gesture. "I suppose she thinks it will build team unity, or something.

As for us? Well, we're...adapting. I don't know how much you've picked up on from the grapevine, or rumors, or surveillance nets, but I have found myself in a...new paradigm, I suppose."

"I try to maintain a detached disinterest in the dorm rooms, out of respect for people's privacy," she says, "And I've been brain deep in reworking some of the network. What's your new paradigm?"

Will nodded. "Yes, of course," he said, scratching his chin, before going into a businesslike description of the past couple of months.

"...And so, the end result of experimenting with the MGH was a chaotic and unpredictable expansion of self, if you would. The thoughts crowding in, piling on top of one another. It was..." he paused, for a moment, looking out over the woods around campus.

"I used to ache, you know. Every day. Every moment." His fingers tightened around his wrist, his nails digging slightly in and leaving faint impressions in the skin. "It was as if something was inside of me. Crowding me out and crushing me. Too much wine in too small a bottle, always threatening to overflow. Kudzu of...of the soul, if you excuse the metaphor. And I had been dealing with it for so long; I didn't even know it anymore. The pain was ubiquitous, a constant background soundtrack to life. The MGH helped, at first -- it grew the bottle. But that just meant more wine, and when the bottle returned to it's original size, I found myself drowning. I looked for release elsewhere, to simplify, to reduce, to stop. Finally, it was Miriam and the Morrigan who found a solution. They've encased me in a sort of...dimensional peace. An externally enforced calm and quiet."

"It's...fuzzy in there, I suppose I'd say. Peculiar, though not worrisome. And I find myself not turning things over anymore. Not calculating. Not worried, or trapped, or haunted by nightmares I've no desire to recall. I'm simply...stopped."

He smiled, a little abashedly. "Some people go to the spa. Some people read a book. Some people return to nature, or exercise, or smoke a joint or whatever. I have tried those; they are quick-fixes at best. Some of us simply need the stress of decision-making removed, at least now and again. I haven't the faintest if this is a permanent solution, or if it's even a solution at all. For now, at least, I feel..." he trailed off, trying and failing to find the right words.

"Like you've found your space?" She hazards a guess.

Will nodded. "In part. And like I don't have to be everything to everyone all at once.

I suppose you understand, somewhat."

"I do. I also understand being full of all sorts of thoughts and things running through my head."

"Yeah, but now you have a hyper-gigaton processor to help you out there. When I tried some computer shifting so Tosh could take a look, his instinct was to throttle."

"It's the natural response to 'too much'. Doesn't mean it's the right response. And not everyone has has a crystal computer to help with handling the 'more'."

"You're right, of course, and I appreciate the efforts to figure things out. There may still be some ground for fruitful endeavors there, as well.

But that is my new paradigm, now. Bits and pieces of me taking the forefront as needed, while the rest rests at home."

"That's a paradigm I can understand, more than some of the 'way things work' around here."

"We're a strange lot, that's for sure. Somehow, it does all seem to work out in the end.

And that, I suppose, is why I wish Professor Torrence would just let you be you, rather than forced walkabouts."

"I guess she doesn't want me to get lost... and that's easy to do. Especially since I tend to get absorbed in my work."

"Is that something you're concerned about?"

She seems to think about that for a bit, "Not really, no. But I've always preferred working with devices and code as opposed to people. But I can acknowledge that there are things devices and code can't do and if you don't know the people because you've been tied up with things, then..." She shrugs.

"But that's just a reason to get the people to come to you, to interact with your new place in the world, if you ask me."

"Maybe," she says, "Though I do feel like I should be doing some work to understand the nebulous 'them' as well. I want people to be comfortable coming to me for assistance."

"That....is a fair point, and a hurdle I've never quite been able to clear myself, if I'm being entirely honest.

And going full Lucy van Pelt seems a bit of a ...downgrade for the Crystal Computer."

"I don't mean to imply it will be easy or that I've done it yet. Just that I think some level of it is worth doing. But it can't be just me doing the work of understanding, because that's not fair to me." She pauses, "I should probably say that to Professor Terrance at my next session."

Will nodded. "You have to meet people halfway. And give and take is necessary. But don't be like me, going halfway, and then halfway from there, and halfway from there. A Zeno's Paradox of social networking."

"Not so much a slippery slope as icy steps there," Natalie agrees.

"You'll do alright. You're a key part of a big team here; you're irreplacable. People will come around.

And if you need any help, I'll make sure people get in line."

"Being the bridge to and alarm system for access to other dimensions does have a certain importance."

"Part of me was jealous of you, you know? That's a hell of a responsibility to shoulder."

"I'd time-share, but I don't think it works that way. Shari's bummed that I have to stay on campus."

"One campus, a thousand dimensions. I suppose it's a fair trade.

Maybe you could talk to Tosh and get him to repurpose one of those drones he has," said Will, slipping into problem-solving mode. "Not quite the same, but a first step."

"Have to do some bandwidth tests to make sure I can actually observe through them, but it might be worth asking. Thank you."

"Of course. We'll figure out something to help everyone adapt; that's what the X-Men are here for, after all."

"Adapt and evolve," Natalie agrees. "Even if the initial evolution is kind of forced on us," she smiles.

"Best thing that ever happened to us, no?" Will smiled back.