fandomhigh | Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

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Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

Today’s class had Parker grinning like she’d won the lottery, or better, stolen the lottery winner’s winnings.

“LASERS.” Her preeecious. She pointed to the two set-ups in the room: one a simple set of laser lines very close together (less than an inch apart or above the tiles that went across the floor), leading to a door; the other, a corner with moving lines going across all three dimensions, moving in a random pattern that made perfect sense if you were Parker. “Today we’re having you figure out either of these two set-ups, whatever’s easier for you, really, although I’ll tell you right now there’s better food behind the moving laser set-up.” She straightened. “Now, I don’t expect you to get this on your first try, or without some instruction, so pay careful attention, okay?”

Parker then proceeded to do this: ~~At least the bits without Hardison and Eliot~~

“Okay! Also, there are at least two, three other ways around this. That don’t involve going through the field.” Although why you’d do that when you could twist and turn your way through a laser field, Parker would never understand.

"You're welcome," Eliot said. Yeah, that was about all he'd managed to contribute to this class other than the food.

“These lasers are visible right now, so you know, remember: in real life you might have to spray them with aerosol to see them.” Parker clapped her hands. “OKAY LET’S GO!”

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Like the lasers are going to get you.

Kathy Li

Amy Raudenfeld

Edward Kenway

Flick

Vider Bearskin

Rapunzel

Marasiah Fel

Minako Aino

Kaylin Neya

Parker may not be that helpful, but Eliot might.

Kathy watched the demonstration avidly. She'd never considered using her agility to get through a FIELD OF LASERS before and now she was wondering how that had never crossed her mind before.

This. Was. Awesome.

Flick half watched the demonstration though most of his thoughts were somewhere else. Or with someone else, that is.

"Are they magic?" Kaylin wanted to know. "And why do you have to dance all around them Can't you just walk through them? Or do they cut you in half or something? Well, not here obviously, but, you know."

"They're rigged to alarms," Eliot said. He wasn't about to start trying to explain the physics and optics of them -- he wouldn't know where to start. "They're a way for the owners of a place to know when someone's there who shouldn't be. You touch 'em, interrupt 'em in any way, people know you're there."

"Huh..." She considered that. "I guess back home most places just have magic wards."

Eliot shrugged. "Kinda the same as here. Just, you know, with science. You still gotta know what it is and how to get around it."

"Can you break the science-y thing that makes it work?" she asked.

"I can, yeah." Eliot raised his eyebrow. "Think you can?"

Kaylin shrugged. "Maybe? I can probably make it stop working, but I don't know if that would make alarms go off. I'm good at breaking stuff, but I don't really understand your, um... technology?"

"Well, seems to me there's two ways around that," Eliot said. "Either try it and see what happens and hope you can dodge or beat any security that shows up --" that would be what Eliot used to do "-- or see if one of your classmates knows more about and can help out." And that was (sort of) what he did now.

Having a hacker on your team really was quite the benefit.

Kaylin looked around, assessing her classmates. "If Barry was here... He would know how to do that."

She sighed. "I don't understand enough about it to know who could help. I haven't seen anyone here do anything like this."

And she wasn't particularly trusting.

"I'll give it a try."

Eliot made a mental note to get more tech type stuff going in the class and nodded to her. "Go for it. If you're gonna fail at something like this, ya might as well do it somewhere you're guaranteed not to get hurt."

She nodded. "Will do. And at least I know I'm good at running and fighting."

Not good like Eliot, but then, no one was good like Eliot.

1: Floor lasers
2: Moving room of lasers!

There are moddable tool boxes near the entrance to each set-up, as well as a control box to attempt to jury-rig, re-program, or hit it with a hammer.

“Now you have to go back for the spoon!”
“NO YOU DON’T.”

Kathy glanced at the tool boxes, looking to see if they had mirrors (or aluminum foil, or really anything suitably shiny) because she'd just covered a chapter on Optics in her Physics course, it felt like she should really put that knowledge to work.

But what she should do was vastly different than what she wanted to do. And what she wanted to do was not at all something that could be covered in a textbook. After a few minutes of internal debate (peppered with longing looks towards the moving room of lasers), Kathy left the roll of tinfoil out near the floor lasers and skipped over to where she really wanted to be.

She managed to eel her way through most of the sim all right, but then her foot crossed a laser and the alarm went off.

Next time, a moving laser hit the same spot on the floor her hand did.

And again. And again. And again.

Dammit! What was she missing!

Flick spent an inordinate amount of time near the tool box, trying to see if he could disable the whole thing since he damn sure wasn't flexible enough to slither through them.

Lasers - and, well, grace - were pretty much outside Kaylin's skill set. So, she set to work diassembling the control box.

Not gently.

Door 1 Dessert: Brownies
Door 2 Dessert: Brownie sundaes

Door 3 : to mingle with people in the other room. Ooo. It appears you are in Washington D.C., to judge by the view out the window.

Why exactly *are* they teaching you this?

Because Parker insisted?

Not that Eliot objected -- at all. He loved watching Parker do her laser dance thing.

Parker was doing it because KNOWLEDGE WAS POWER as Nate and Evil Nate (i.e., Sterling) had taught her, and everyone should be empowered!

And also, able to get into a Steranko, but that might be next week's thing.

LASERS. WHEEEEE.

Also, from the best ep ever:

LASERS FUCK YEAH!

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!

... also applies to NPC characters, because Parker and Eliot got Hardison to help again, if you want one. :>

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Creative Problem Solving, Tuesday, period 3

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