“Actually, it wouldn’t be a problem, but they have a failsafe installed. If someone tries to open the lock without a key, it has a secondary locking mechanism that will seal the door tight. I could stop it from doing that too, but it also ties into the alarm system in the mansion, so we probably should keep things on the legitimate side of things and wait for them to let you in. I don’t want them mad at me for not following the rules.”

"That makes sense to me," Mariusz replied, moving to the other side of the room from where Sophia was so as not to bother her as much with the way he smelled. "We may as well be diplomatic about it as we are both rather new here." The last thing Mariusz wanted, or needed, was to be causing any sort of problems in the Mansion given the various irons he had in the fire for pursuing a means of earning his keep while he was living here. Given his means he was rather loathe to accept charity without doing something to make his own way while he was there.

"So, Mari… What do you think of this place?"

"A most excellent haven for mutants, especially those with physical differences like myself or Regan. If you have not met Regan yet you are in for a treat," the Czech man said, leaning against the wall and ruffling the feathers on his wings a bit. He was not much closer to Jacob than he was to Sophia. He extended the talons on his right hand and produced a small tool in his left for cleaning them. "As for the school, I could not say. I was not educated here and, at the moment anyway, I am not on the faculty. Still, the grounds are lovely and we also have a very talented mechanic for those who need a mechanical means of conveyance," he continued, with a nod in the direction of Jacob. "Also, the library really is top notch."

Jacob nodded thoughtfully at the comment that Maruisz made, but then he decided to inspect his specimens a bit more thoroughly. Picking up one of the glass jars that were sitting behind him, he looked carefully at the yellow ‘Banana’ spider, known to the people who knew spiders as the Brazilian Wandering Spider. The thing skittered away from him, and he marveled at the little creature. Such a small thing capable of rendering someone completely and utterly helpless in five mere minutes. Insane how Mother Nature worked, and in this case, could provide the answer to his problem. He had already worked out the delivery system of getting his chemical cocktail to the target, he just needed a safe nervous system paralyzing liquid, or even a gas. Maybe both.

As the wheels in his mind continued to turn, he heard what the woman said. “To be fair, I didn’t know the system… my ability allows me to manipulate and detect mechanical objects. Your’s apparently, deals with your glasses, or something relative, as that is the second time they have changed while I have been in your presence.” His attention to detail was top notch, and as he made his proclamation, he stopped looking at the spider for a moment, and looked directly into her eyes. He knew when someone was lying, instinctively, but he also stated it with such a nonchalant nature that it was as if it was a predetermined fact. He knew he was right… he just didn’t know the details of what he was right about.

Turning his gaze back on the spider, he then proceeded to chat with Mariusz as though nothing had happened. “Regan is certainly fun to be around,” he agreed. He made a mental note to check out the library, but thought perhaps a guide would be good for the gear-head. “You will have to show me the library sometime Mariusz, I would enjoy a new book. The last one I read was very interesting; The Dark Tower series.” With that, he set the spider back down behind him and returned his focus on the pair in the room.

Libraries were something Sophia hadn't stepped in to in a while. Her last time in one wasn't so much to learn anything so much as trying to add her own papers in to it, hoping that if she wanted to, she'd find her own research papers inside the various Physics Journals that she had published the paper in. Still, the library seemed like old day, considering you had many more avenues for which to find data, especially the internet. Still, it sounded more like quite place, but from the children running in the halls a moment ago, and hearing some children outside even as the three spoke, Sophia could sense that it was unlikely a quiet place was to be found in such library. Still, if anything from all of this, Sophia wondered who this Regan person was.

But Sophia's main little excitement might have been Jacob trying to figure out what her powers were. A giggle from her turned in to a rather smug smile, not intentional, but someone trying to figure her out was extraordinarily funny to her. Sophia always believed herself an open book, anyone wanting to know something simply had to ask, but they had to ask first, she wasn't going to divulge everything right away, and certainly not before she knew who was asking. Jacob was wise to notice Sophia's glasses changing, but, "If you think my power is limited to just changing the shape of glasses, then you would be a sadly mistaken."

"If you must know…" with a rather smug look in her face, as though she knew the most secret of secrets, and was about to share it with people that would never be able to repeat it. She was rather full of herself, though she thought herself naturally better than others in this regard, it was just her own stupidity really, not having met enough other mutants to know she was probably only moderately powerful, and not extraordinarily.

Just as she was about to continue, the window just on the far side of the room suddenly began to crack, and not necessarily small either, within just a second or two, the glass seemed to have cracked from a singular point. Lines jagged and none to straight line from a singular starting point, fracturing the glass while it still held tightly in its frame and house. Once everything was good and cracked, the glass seemed to float forward, as though exploding outwardly at first, flying in toward the room as though in slow motion, "My power is Hylokinesis…"

"The power to manipulate glass in its entirety," having to say the word slowly, just as though she were teaching a class on herself. But what would have likely annoyed others the arrogant look on her face, as her hand were folded on to her leg, not motion of her body, except for her eyes staring back at the glass, her peripheral vision lined with Mr. Jacob and Mariusz. As she finished her demonstration, the glass floated back into place, each piece shard of glass lining back up where it had initially belonged, and each piece existing now in its original home as though it never moved at all. And as Sophia attention now turned back toward the other two in the room, the glass window was slowly sealing itself back up, the cracks disappearing and the window returning back in to a single piece of glass, as though it had never been damaged or injured in the first place.

Mariusz was not familiar with the Dark Tower series of books, he preferred to stick to historical and theological treatises, if not those then he would read the classics. Still, he would have felt it rude to point that out to Jacob, so he remained silent on the matter. After all, he considered the big man to be an acquaintance that was in good standing, bearing no grudge against the man there was no reason to be potentially rude to him. "I would certainly be happy to do that some time. I would imagine you would be able to obtain a copy of the book you are seeking there and, if not, it could probably be ordered for you," he said, ruffling the feathers on his wings a bit as he leaned against the wall and regarded both Sophia and Jacob with a golden-eyed gaze.

The Czech mutant's feathers ruffled a little bit more when the glass in one of the window panes started to crack and then shatter, seemingly of its own volition and free will. His eyes widened a little bit as the glass floated free from the frame. He listened as Sophia explained what it was that she could do and settled down a little bit, watching the display of the woman's powers and abilities. He watched as the pieces of the glass floated around a bit then returned to their place in the window and the window resumed its normal shape and nature as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

"Very impressive," the feathered man said as the last of the pieces of glass resealed themselves back into a whole window. "You could be quite dangerous with those powers, to both person and property. Still, you seem to have a remarkable degree of control over your powers. Of course, I would not trade the ability to fly for anything," he continued, falling silent for a moment. Manners seemed to indicate that it was now incumbent on him to continue the conversation forward in a linear manner. "What brings you to the Mansion," he said at last, addressing the question to Sophia.

Jacob remained silent for a moment, watching with passive curiosity as Sophia demonstrated her ability. It was much like his own, although he had never tried to manipulate an object to float around. He now knew a new word; Hylokinesis, which meant the ability to manipulate glass. It just hadn’t come to him as something that was possible, as he believed that his ability was purely in the function of the mechanics. Still, it was something that was worth a try, as its application could be very useful if he could muster it. Very carefully, he pulled out a very treasured pocketwatch that he was given to by his father. It was noticeable the amount of care he took in placing it in his palm, and he tried to muster it to float, but it was unfruitful. As to play it off, he simply opened it, checked the time, and wound it physically with his other hand, regardless of the fact that he could have done it with his ability.

He did this with subtle motions, so as to not draw attention, and likely his failure was not noticed, but that was fine either way. He gently placed the watch back into his inside pocket on his leather jacket, and turned towards Mariusz for a moment. “I would enjoy that tour. But isn’t someone supposed to be here to in process new students and such at all times?” He was of course comparing it with the Army equivalent, Staff Duty, where there was someone on duty 24/7/365. But then again, this wasn’t the Army, and he shouldn’t be expecting so much out of the faculty for a School, even one so prestigious as this one.

Regardless, he was done asking questions and whatnot, and leaned up against a spot that was bare on the wall, his eyes losing focus but taking in all his surroundings, a sort of Zen mode where he could pay attention to his surroundings but lose track of time and allow things to at least seem to him to pass more quickly.

(Sorry for the short post, but Jacob isn't really going to be able to do much)

Though clearly an impressive display, Jacob seemed less inclined to believe it a worthy talent. He had merely pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time, as though this were all merely a bore to him. Seeing Sophia’s great powers were not enough for him, he was so bored by her presence and her display that he couldn’t even bring himself to say anything. Had he displayed any sort of skill, surely Sophia would have clapped or made an appropriate gesture toward his ability, but it seemed he didn’t have the courage to do it himself. But such a gesture, or rather the lack of any sort of comment about her ability, was more or less like a slap to Sophia’s face. She knew who she wouldn’t pull out from a burning building if ever such a chance came.

The demonstration wasn’t for nothing, at least Mariusz thought it was impressive. Though his comment about be a danger to life and property seemed a bit extreme, if worse came to worse, Sophia could always hurt a person, but she wasn’t about to kill anyone, no deed anyone could do deserved to have their life taken away as punishment, or at least thought Sophia. Still the question about the purpose of her being here was one she was hoping could get resolved, but it seemed not necessarily in a timely manner, “Well I was looking to simply get information, but it feels as though I’m getting sold more and more on the idea of moving here instead. In all honesty…”

“I was considering moving here. My accommodations at the University are not going be renewed this next semester, so I was hoping to find proper housing arrangements. And since a majority of apartments have denied my applications, this was looking like my last viable option,” it was much like the nature of her NASA trials, she had failed that, though clearly she shouldn’t have. She feared it was her poor physical skills, but more likely, she wagered, it was something else. But the same was not true of the university, they had learned that she was a mutant through online source, and thus, despite hiring her to be in charge of the telescope at the campus, they had decided to not renew her program for the upcoming semester, "Of course, I'll pay whatever the boarding costs demands, and if need be, I could make it an effort to teach a dumb down lesson or two on Physics, should it be required. Though I imagine it's not the decisions of either of you two, unless this is a rather elaborate interview process designed to gauge my actual opinion or demeanor?"

”No, Tommy really you did good. Just try not to sneeze next time your quills are out, if I didn’t cover myself in ice my shirt would have been the least of my worries.” Sam said patting the young teen on the shoulder instead of his head where a series of quills rested on his head similar to a porcupine. ”Enjoy the classes today alright and I hear you fail another quiz I’ll be sure to let your mother know got it? Book smarts now, street smarts comes with age.” Sam said lifting his shirt up and placing his index finger in a large hole that Tommy had created with his quills. It was sad it was his Zeppelin shirt.

Once Tommy left and went his own way Sam was now tasked to deal with those who had accumulated in his office or at least one of the offices, due to them being short staffed for the day Sam had been doing not only his teaching position and his greeter position but he had been forced to catch up on some paper work he was saving for Drew.

”Damn shirt.” Sam muttered as he opened up his office door and entered it spotting three figures he hadn’t seen before. ”Don’t think I know any of you. I’m Sam, can I help you?” Sam asked passing all three without giving them much of a look until he was behind his desk rummaging through one of his desk drawers for a shirt without a hole in it.

”There we go.” Sam said finding a clean shirt and setting it on his chair however not changing due to three strangers in his office. ”Sorry about that, they got be pulling triple duties while Tricity and Neena are away… who you probably have no idea who they are.” Sam paused for a second and looked up from his shirts to finally gaze at the three that were in the office.

The first one who had caught his attention was the guy with the wings, he was a resident from what he could guess one of the new fliers hopefully better behaved than the Irish one. After a second Sam’s eye fixed on the other two, one was a jarhead from the looks of it holding a pair of jars and the other was a woman in a blue suit. ”I’m guessing you are the only one with an appointment.” Sam said pointing to the woman first.

Mariusz was about to answer Sophia's semi-unasked question that he was fairly certain there were no boarding costs for living at the Mansion. Before he could speak however the door to the office opened and a man Mariusz had not yet met, but whom he assumed to be the owner of the office they were currently standing in, walked in and introduced himself before beginning to rummage through the drawers on the desk in the office. After a bit of searching the man, who had named himself Sam, produced a shirt and the Czech mutant noticed that Sam seemed to have an eye patch, which he found most interesting though he was careful not to stare as that would be impolite.

Mariusz was just about to open his mouth to begin introducing himself and the others in the office to its owner when Sam turned his attention to Sophia and mentioned that he assumed she was the only one with an appointment. In truth Mariusz was not sure whether Sophia had an appointment or not, but it would have been rude to interject and speck for her regarding whether or not she had one. He was certain the blonde woman would know whether or not she had an appointment, so for the time being he stood in his spot leaning against the wall and waited for his turn to be addressed which he was sure would be forthcoming.

Jacob had been polite long enough. He allowed a pause, forming his words in his mind before messing up what he would say, considering that she would likely throw it back into his face. He drew in a breath, preparing to let this woman have it verbally in his own way, when a new individual entered the room, cutting him short. He took in a bit more air into his lungs slowly and silently, and exhaled twice as slow, allowing his heart rate to drop and his anger to soothe itself back into the recesses from which it came. They must have been pretty short staffed if the man was pulling three different duties at the same time.

He took a moment to size the man up… decent build, a bit shorter than himself, he looked like a combatant type. Still, it could just be a work-hard type individual, but he liked to consider himself a pretty good judge of character. He spoke of two individuals that he didn’t know, and then referred to the woman who had an appointment, wanting to get her taken care of first. Jacob remained silent, still in his state of Zen where he was watching everything but focusing on nothing. He would patiently wait his turn to speak to the man.

He instead looked towards Mariusz, who had been silent as well. Picking up the spiders, he moved closer to avoid interrupting the interview, if it could be called that. “Hey, who here would know some advanced chemistry?” He kept his voice low and subtle, but loud enough that the young man would be able to hear him. If he figured this much out, he would try to talk to Sam at a later time, and carry on with his business. He didn’t want to be around Sophia when she started gloating about her pedigree anyway.

Sophia thought it was about time, though wanting to say it aloud was a different matter all together. Of course she wasn't too involved at this point with worrying about time, she was more concerned in how this 3rd person entering the room was going to be situating himself. Clearly he had been doing something that was either dangerous, judging from the nature of his torn shirt, or he had been working on something that just so happen to have torn his shirt easily, giving hints to a very well defined chest of muscles underneath. The later could have been just about anything, and judging from what the other two had thus far mentioned about this being a school for mutants, well it could have been just about anything. Still, this individual seemed quick to the point, and was not interested in a large series of uninteresting debates on such. If it were the case, then Sophia needed to be on her best behavior.

"Indeed, I have an appointment, but I am not in any rush today. If you need to change, I can… avert my gaze. That or the other two here seemed to have a need for you as well, you can assist them first if need be," despite having to get this over with and simply ask her questions she had about the mansion, she knew it would look far better to everyone else if she selflessly gave up her turn to others. Granted she might wait, but she new Mariusz simply wanted back in to his room, and Mr. Jacob was looking for someone who knew something about chemistry and matter. Mariusz's request short and quick, Mr. Jacobs a little more involved, but in any case, Sophia had time. The better question was if this Sam had patience to deal with them, or if he would have any leftover before he got back Sophia. Still, Sophia was not in a rush, "All I have are questions for you today sir, hopefully followed by a request. But like I said, I'm in no hurry today."

Giving Sophia a slight nod Sam smiled, ”Don’t mind if I do,” Sam said not really waiting till anyone was looking away but rather carelessly changed shirts laying his now holey Led Zeppelin shirt to rest while he put on a clean white short sleeved shirt. ”Why we can’t have nice things. Shame, favorite Zeppelin shirt.” Sam said lifting the holey shirt and putting his finger through it then turning to smile at everyone else.

”Well, miss… I don’t have your name but answers are what I have an abundance of…” Sam said pausing before adding, ”Unless you ask Granny, Gemma, or any of my Exs. You ask them they will tell you all I got are problems…” Sam smirked slightly and put his shirt down. ”Sorry, tasteless joke.” Sam said shrugging slightly hoping he didn’t offend anyone.

”Well if you aren’t in a hurry miss, I think I’ll handle the other two just because they seemed to be in a bit more of a hurry.” Sam turned and looked to the two men, ”I can only assume this is the case because you don’t have appointments.” Sam leaned towards the desk and outstretched his hands towards the pair or men then he offered his hand towards the woman.

”Now what can I do for you gentlemen?” Sam asked pointing towards the two jars with the spiders in them, ”Can I ask that you keep those two in the jars while your in the mansion, I doubt those are house pets. Even if they are the last thing we need is one of the students shrieking and blowing a hole in the floor trying to get rid of them.”

Jacob continued to monitor the man, and just simply sat back and waited, taking everything in and making mental notes in his mind on his opinion of each individual, with the exception of the young Avian Diplomat, whom he was sure was thankful for not getting tangled in the mess that would have been ugly between himself and Ms. HigherThanThou. He smirked slightly at the joke he made, but didn’t bother to comment. When Sophia selflessly offered to wait until they were done, he was ready to jump at the opportunity to get away from her before the image of himself making her cry became a reality. He addressed the man with the respect he felt that he deserved.

Jacob turned, facing Sam directly, and looked directly into his eyes. He was standing at a modified position of parade rest, his feet shoulder width apart, and his body straight, while his hands cupped the two jars in front of him, in clear view, one in each hand. “Of course, Sir. Honestly, I just need to know who I need to talk to in regards to high-end chemistry. Got a bit of an experiment and I need some assistance with it, and don’t feel like being paralyzed because of my inexperience in the field.” He held up the jars for a moment, then referring to the spiders. “The spiders will remain in their jars, I assure you, Sir.” Once he had his answer, he would be on his way, but until then, he took a step back, once again with his back against the wall, and allowed Mariusz to approach about getting his door opened.

He thought of one more question, but decided it would be best to wait and track down the man a bit later… he seemed to at least have some ranking authority here, so he would be the one he tracked down later to ask about the Jet, as well as that one room he sensed down below that had some impressive mechanical function, even if he didn’t know their purpose.

"I have a request, and also a few questions," Mariusz admitted, standing up a bit straighter from his position where he had been leaning against the wall while placing a hand on the bow slung over his shoulder to make sure it didn't rattle and clatter against the wall when he stood up. "I am Mariusz Kasparek," the Czech man said, bowing slightly. As he had yet to make the acquaintance of the man in who's office they were all standing it was only proper that introductions be made first. "This is Jacob," he continued, gesturing to the big man, "and this is Sophia." With the introductions having been made it would now be alright to launch into what he was doing in the office in the first place. "I am here for a few reasons. First, I seem to have locked myself out of my room here. I thought I had my keys in my pocket when I went to work out, but it seems I was rather badly mistaken. I can assure you I am not given to roaming the grounds and Mansion with a weapon on my person, beyond those weapons that are attached to my body."

"It also seems to me that you are likely to be someone in authority here at the Mansion. I have been thinking on it for sometime, and I would like to offer my services as an instructor for the school. However, I am not sure who I would need to talk to about such things. I was rather hoping you might be able to point me in the right direction to begin working towards that," Mariusz said. While he was also in the process of working on becoming an X-Man he was given to understand that was a largely behind the scenes kind of role here and he also wanted to be involved with doing something that would have a bit more of a public face on the fact that he was doing something to pull his own weight around the Mansion instead of freeloading.

The joke was somewhat tasteless, but Sophia was neither familiar or concerned with any of this man's Ex's or such. Granted Sophia wanted to care about this gentleman if just to get herself in place proper, but she refused to laugh or even smirk at the notion, simply giving him a rather cold stare as though she weren't overly concerned about the attempted humor. Still, when his attention went to Mr. Jacobs Spiders, Sophia could only full heartily agree, so who ever this guy was had a bonus in Sophia's book. Eye patch didn't help, though it did make him kind of rugged in a sense.

What annoyed Sophia the most was an introduction by someone else. Mariusz had introduce everyone to everyone, and it annoyed Sophia because she could be her own champion and voice if she wanted to. The fact that others were going to monopolize her appointment was not a huge bother, but from what Sophia understood, Mr. Jacob wanted help for his spider project, as disgusting as that sounded. And Mariusz wanted back in to his room, but now he wanted more broader questions to be asked too? If you were all asking question and such, they should have been doing it on their own time Sophia believed. However, Sophia had given them a chance to be dealt with first, she was not in any immediate hurry. Her time was her time, so as much as these boys wanted to ask questions and take up time from Sophia, it wasn't going to paint them well in her book.

She was going to remain silent, nod when her name was called, and simply wait. Patience was a virtue, and being in control of her emotions was important to ensure that not all the windows broke on her way out. Maybe some would vibrate and crack, but hopefully, her annoyance wouldn't destroy the entire place's supply of glass.

When Mariusz gave the introduction to everyone Sam started to develop an idea on who he was dealing with. The one that had a meeting set up was Sophia someone that seemed to be all mostly business, something Sam determined when she didn’t even give him a reaction at his tasteless joke while he at least got a small reaction from the one called Jacob.

After shifting his gaze from one to the other he then looked back towards Mariusz, ”So you are Mariusz, I read your file and I got to say between us four,” Sam leaned in towards the group and pretended to whisper, ”I already like you better than one of the other feathered mutants in the school. Safe to assume you’re not much of a trouble maker right?” Sam smirked then turned his attention towards Jacob.

”Chemistry isn’t really my field but if you take those jars to a” Sam put his hand to his mouth for a second as he ran a list of names who might be able to help Jacob with his ‘experiment’ ”Yeah, I think Arnie should be able to help you out. He isn’t in our chemistry department but he has a knack for experiments and he has from what he is somewhat familiar with critters like that. He is our creative arts professor and like the title entails he is very creative and quick and steady hands.“

Sam raised his hand up to about Arnolds height, ”About yay tall red hair a little bigger build than me. Hard to miss tell him Sam sent you, about two doors down on the left.” Sam paused and then added, ”If you don’t think he can help you after you talk to him come back and find me and I’ll introduce you to Doc.”

Sam turned and looked to Mariusz, ”I would be the one you’d want to talk to about a position in the school, I’m not the headmaster but like I said, they got me pulling triple duty till Neena and Tricity get back. Can I ask what position you’d be applying for?” Sam asked curiously before adding, ”I have a copy of your key as well, we can get that door unlocked no problem. What room is it?” Sam went behind his desk and into his drawer where he kept all of his spare keys to the mansion.