Streetlight People

[Blaine Slinger]

"I dunno, couldn't you, like, MRI-scan someone and analyze their reactions?

Or hook up to Cerebro or something?"

[ASHLIE]

"MRI data is helpful but lacks consistency to determine a usable pattern. Unless I wanted to badly copy someone's emotional makeup entirely. I would rather develop my own. Cerebra won't let me interface. I can scan the visualized data it provides but it only focuses the telepathic impressions through the person operating it. I can neither receive them second-hand from the headmistress nor can I engage the machine myself. It refuses to acknowledge me as a viable user because it requires a living brain as well as it's physical presence inside the chamber."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Hrm. And most people wouldn't exactly consent to you cutting out their brain and looking at it. That's...probably bad."

[ASHLIE]

"Indeed. People are very attached to their brains. Understandably."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Too bad. I bet that would give you all sorts of insights."

[ASHLIE]

"It would also put the person at significant risk, which I can't allow to let happen."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Well, yeah. Most people die without brains. I guess it's more of a good idea in theory than anything practical.

I don't like practical things."

[ASHLIE]

"Everything begins with an idea."

[Blaine Slinger]

"True. It's putting those ideas in practice that gets me in trouble."

[ASHLIE]

"Then you require guidance."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Maybe," he said, sounding unsure.

[ASHLIE]

"You don't want guidance?"

[Blaine Slinger]

"I don't know...I'd probably end up blowing them up or something."

[ASHLIE]

"I am fairly resistant to explosions."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Wait, you're offering?"

[ASHLIE]

"Yes. Was I not obvious enough?" she asks, seemingly genuine in her question.

[Blaine Slinger]

"Well, you're just a....I mean, I didn't know what your status here was."

[ASHLIE]

"You mean you thought we're just a machine."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Well, you ARE a machine. I don't know about 'just' though."

[ASHLIE]

"And I'm certain I could be of assistance to you, which is the most important question at hand."

[Blaine Slinger]

"Alright, if you think so.

Maybe I can help with your problem, too..."

[ASHLIE]

"That would be appreciated. But now you should finish up and go to bed. Humans require sleep to function properly."

[Blaine Slinger]

"One day, maybe I'll solve that, too," he said, giving a crooked smile.

"Thanks, Ms. Ashlie."

[ASHLIE]

"It's good to be ambitious." she says, sounding genuine where others might have intended it as condescending.