A rare day with little students about, much of them off playing or working on their homework like the good little students they were meant to be. Granted not all of them had chosen to focus on their scholarly activities, much of them continued to play, though a weekend was one for rest and relaxation, not necessarily always working. Sophia felt differently; to Sophia, this weekend was merely a chance to focus on any number of plots and ideas for her new class. Since deciding that her initial concept of focusing on physics of her own level was too strange for the students to understand, she decided it was a different method needed to be used instead. Right now was a partial planning stage, using the nature of the school’s text book for examples of what to use, she decided to focus the study on mutant powers, teaching the students the physics behind some of their powers and how each one of them had some level of physics related to it. Perhaps the great concept was simply that they would otherwise appreciate the text and concepts if related to themselves instead of just anything else.

Still, it wasn’t without her own practice as well, Sophia could try to do two things at once, but she rather practice more than anything else. Despite the sunshine outside, Sophia found solace in the Library, few other students were, there, perhaps one in the corner reading to herself, another searching to a text book, but merely looking around for something to entertain him more so than his actual scholarly work. Sophia on the other hand found a nice relaxing chair, a small table beside it rested a small book of various sketches and diagrams, ancient mathematically language to those who could not decipher the cryptic language of the physics Sophia naturally dealt with. The text book in her left hand reading, but curiously, it was her right hand that moved the most.

With each pause, Sophia’s right hand swayed back and forth, as though counting beats to music or swaying it in time with the sound of the clicking clock in the room. But the clicking was not of the clock, rather were was a set of glass beads, probably an inch in diameter, five in total, swaying back and forth like a Newton’s Cradle, a kind of desk accessory that sat on an executive’s desk and merely moved back and forth as though they understood the nature of it. Sophia did though, the Cradle naturally demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via spheres that swung back and forth hitting one another, but Sophia was doing it with glass beads instead, and none of them attacked to any strings or stand. Rather Sophia was simply practicing, trying to focus on one thing, while doing another which was far more difficult. Even if she couldn’t follow the book perfectly, she was already well familiar with the material, the motion of the beads in replicating the concept of Newton’s Cradle was far more important to Sophia, and even if she knew she made a slight mistake, anyone watching would have not known there was one.

Still, Sophia could feel a lingering stance walking in to the library, hearing the doors open and then close, with heavy footed steps walking along the wooden floor. It was impossible to not to notice, there was a faint smell of oil and grease, the kind from a car or mechanical device being worked upon. Sophia didn’t like it, but didn’t look up, despite the steps getting close to her, and even her finally recognizing who it was, “I was surprised… I didn’t think you knew where this place was.”

Jacob was a man on a mission. He had recently had a run in with a group of ‘gangsters’ if you wanted to call them that, and he had realized that his ability was not going to be able to protect him in situations like that every time. If he was going to be ready for anything, and he prided himself on that, he was going to need to figure out how to make his own body armor. But if he did that, he was going to do it right… and do it himself. Vests and things like that were great, but they were cumbersome, heavy, and required a great deal in order to get them on quickly. He needed something that could protect him that he could wear underneath his clothing… and would keep people from shooting him.

His run in had him staring down three barrels, after saving a pair of mutants that didn’t want to join their ‘gang’… the only thing that kept him from dying was the fact that he could sense that one of the guns didn’t have any ammunition, and he had managed to keep the other two from firing with his ability. His stride, as ever, was fast, heavy, and with a purpose, but still oddly more quiet than most, a skill that he had learned during his time in his Armor unit. He could be utterly silent if he wanted, but he wasn’t about stealth today, he was about speed and power. His pursuit of knowledge on this front had brought him to the mansion, but seeing that most of the faculty he would want to ask was busy, he instead opted to see if there was any good reading material in the library that he could reference.

He was holding a large green hardback notebook in his right hand, for taking notes in, as he entered the library. He had mostly used his ability to find it, after all, the very walls of the places he was in seemed to radiate with hidden functionality. The grouping of the computers, large room, and the fact that there were several areas of the large room completely vacant of mechanical objects had tipped him off, and his guess had paid off. Now that he was here, he could sit down and relax, and try to find a good book on the subject he needed.

Unfortunately, though, he did happen to see one of the few people who grated on his nerves more than most… Sophia Stratford… the ‘mightier than thou’ little girl that he had the distinct displeasure of introducing to the mansion. He tried to pass her by without recognizing her existence, but she spoke, and that forced his hand. He didn’t however, slow his stride, his eyes locked onto the signs categorizing the books. “Good morning to you too, Ma’am.” His tone was even, collected, and utterly cold… and he moved passed her without a second thought. He finally found the area he was looking for, and spotted a book called ‘Warfare Equipment and Weaponry’, and grabbed it, as well as a couple of other similar books regarding the equipment that many of the armed forces today were using and the theories behind them.

Bringing to the furthest table he could from Sophia, but sadly still in her line of sight, he laid his own notebook down, and a pencil and pen, and began with the first book, looking through the contents until he found the section pertaining to body armor, and began to read.

It didn’t feel like spite, but Jacob neither really gave Sophia much interest and simply went about his way, taking an arm full of books to a table just on the opposite side of the library to her. Granted Sophia thought this was merely being rude at this point, but considering that she knew he didn’t particularly like her, that was his problem and not hers. If he didn’t want to bask in the warm glow that was Sophia’s otherwise natural beauty and charm, that was all him at that point.

Still, Sophia decided best to try her own best to ignore him as well, both had things they were trying to do and Sophia wasn’t about to let the simply nature of a gear head get the better of her. Sophia had to rise above, and the fact that he didn’t even comment on her Newton’s Cradle was more or less just an additional annoyance. Apparently the man couldn’t see skill and genuine talent at all, of course if he couldn’t in the office, he probably wasn’t going to acknowledge it ever. Still, that wasn’t about to stop Sophia from trying to craft a new toy to play with.

This time Sophia decided it ideal to craft an hourglass, wondering if she could make one complex enough to actually work. Granted the glass she had been using for the Newton’s Cradle was just enough to make a rather simplistic one, she wanted something fancy, mostly due to her own nature of being complex, but also merely to show up anyone watching how skillful she was with it. It took about five minutes or so of working the glass to get it about right, though all the while, refracting light all over the library as she had. Unannounced, the sunlight had started to shine in to the library a lot more than it had earlier, and now as she manipulated the glass, shards of glass falling into place caught rays of the sunlight and shined them in all directions, but Sophia hadn’t been paying that close attention at all. Rather, she was half paying attention, looking over every few words from book and completing the hour glass seemingly from memory and trying to do so as best as she could. She’d occasionally look over and see that she needed to fix something, but otherwise, she was doing well.

But her lack of attention likely was an issue to others, who saw the hour glass transforming before them, but more or less saw beams of light directed back at them for a fraction of a second. And when it was finished, it looked like a rather impressive hour glass, no taller than four or five inches, but it was fairly impressive in construction and design, very neat to look at. As she floated in the air, turning it over to start the small crumbles of glass inside the hourglass to start, the hourglass started refracting light once more in various directions, but this time, the bulk of it was going to Jacob, and all the while, Sophia was rather unaware, a small smirk on her face as she read over text in the book and glanced over in Jacob’s general direction toward an actual clock on the wall.

Jacob was neck deep into these books, and thus far, he had come up with a large amount of bupkiss. A lot of this stuff was based on technology he already knew about… he needed something new, something more up to date. Kevlar plating, coiled plastics… all of this required the bullet to enter the material for the effect to take place. He needed something that was lightweight, could be worn on the body, and could withstand a bullet directly without shredding. He knew he wouldn’t be able to do that against most Armor Peircing rounds… but he also knew he could damn sure try. He knew the technology was out there… but the physics of it were just too complex…

Son of a…

There was someone, sitting not too far from him, who was supposed to be a real egghead when it came to physics… and it was also probably someone who was on his top ten list of people who aggravated the living daylights out of him. She would know how to make his goal a reality… he knew it… but it was likely that he had burned that bridge. But, there was never a bridge too burnt that it could not be reconstructed… and perhaps he could play a certain card with her that he had done with a particular Commander of his to get something done.

But before any of that, he was seriously thinking about shattering the hourglass she had made into a billion pieces… the light from it had been annoying, but it almost seemed like she was purposely trying to piss him off. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was working that way, and kept calm and collected… but he did shield his eyes as he looked up from his work. “You know, you could make a killing in windshield repair at my shop if you ever needed some spare cash.”

There it was, the icebreaker, the one statement that both paid her a slight compliment, as well as trying to open her up towards having a nice, polite, intelligent conversation. After all, he needed her help with something, and they had gotten off to a very rough start thus far. He didn’t like her attitude, and that seemed to grate her nerves as well, creating a chain reaction of mutual friction between the two… but the question was, could they set those things aside and work together? Time would tell, but if Jacob was a betting man, and he wasn’t, he would not bank on the idea of Sophia and himself working through this without disrupting the library.

Jacob was the most scary when he started getting utterly quiet and controlled, and he had been described before as having a ‘deathly vibe’ when he got in that mode. He really hoped that Sophia played nice and didn’t bring that out of him… it brought a lot of aggravation simply because of the memories tied to that… all the frustration at not being able to accomplish something that he always fought so hard for. He would be courteous and polite for now, and see how things went.

It was hard for Sophia to want to look up, she wasn't too interested in the looming shadowing looking down upon her with a rather tripe comment about whatever it was he thought was important. Though just for her own thought, she forced all the glass like sand to the bottom of one of the hourglass jars and flipped it over, as though timing how long this would last. Not that Sophia expected to last long, but she did wonder how this would work and if it would end up being something interesting or just a reason to disagree completely with him on any number of different menial thoughts he was having.

“Well lets pray that that never happens," while the notion of making a little extra cash was a possible one, Sophia had a trust fund that wasn't likely to dry up any time soon. And if she really was in a pinch for money, Sophia could always create a series of really impressive glass jewelry, and after a day, trick a bunch of stores and pawn shops in to buying her very extravagant jewelry for next to nothing. Though at the same time, Sophia was praying that there was never an instance where her life had gotten so bad that she needed Jacob's help just to put a few bucks in her pocket.

“Something I can help you with?" granted, when she had been talking, her voice had been dismissive and otherwise uninterested in even giving Jacob the time of day to look up at him considering he hadn't even done the fairness to retort to her earlier when he walked in. A mere hello wouldn't have sufficed, the 'ma'am' part was particularly annoying, since Sophia though of 'ma'am' sounded old and denoted her as being older than she certainly wasn't. Sophia wasn't going to take the notion of her being older when she was no such thing.

Jacob didn’t take her comment too seriously, but he thought that it meant that he was relatively same to assume she had a fair amount of money. That would fall right in line with the ‘mightier than thou’ persona that was shaping around the woman… but he had to push past that… he was able to deal with others that made him mad… and he would do so again. He had to… it was not only in his best interest, but it also would serve as to temper himself and increase his threshold for dealing with people he didn’t care for. Taking in a deep breath very subtly, he exhaled, and prepared to speak as she asked if there was something she could help with.

“Perhaps.” He started with that, and then stood from his position, leaving his books behind but bringing his notebook. He would return the books in a moment, but first, he wanted to see what she thought of his idea. “Long story short, I’m trying to create the next generation style of body armor to protect the wearer. Something that could cover from neck to toe without hindering mobility. I have some basic concepts, but unfortunately the physics of the mesh is still hard to figure out exactly.”

He presented his notebook for her to view. It had 15 pages of notes dealing with a flexible type of Kevlar weaving, mixed with a pattern of almost dragon-scale micro-plating designed to withstand enormous amounts of shock without breaking. There were some detailed schematics of the scales, weaving, and even mounting points for more traditional armor… but he couldn’t get it quite perfect. It was well more advanced than anything the military had today, but then again, he had poured a lot of time, energy and knowledge into this project. His worked showed that he did indeed know what he was doing, but some of the more complex math dealing with the physics of the pattern and the shock limits were off slightly… complex work for Jacob, but Sophia would likely notice.

Sophia had to handed it to Jacob atleast, but this was well out of her field. Sophia well understood the basic of Physics perhaps better than anyone in the mansion, but her expertise was not in practical physics, somewhat theoretical applications of physics in Space, without of gravity, as well as the greater understanding of celestial bodies and their physics, which again, theoretical. The answer Jacob wanted was not one she could speak to very well, if anything it was a topic that was difficult answer, since she wasn't an engineer at all. Frankly, this was why they had professionals, people dedicated to the research and study of this kind of technology, but Sophia could hardly fault someone for seeking her approval.

“No…" though when she said it, she was merely looking at an equation, tempted to erase it completely since it wasn't right and hardly the one she would have assumed he came up with. She did that a few more time, though not nearly as loudly, mumbling to herself, reading over his notes as though she kind of understood the nature of his purpose in it, but the math was wrong, the application was difficult, but this was not something Sophia could help with, but now the question was how to help, assuming she would.

“Your equations are wrong, they don't take nearly enough of the environmental data or reaction in account, much less structurally, this is something that that kinda looks like it would be way to heavy to wear. Plus, this isn't exactly my expertise," her voice was almost shrew as she said it, almost oblivious to any effort and work put in to the designing of such an armor. But like she said, this wasn't her area of expertise, she couldn't speak to it, she didn't know the first thing about bullets or armor, short of what they were and what they were used for. This was a field WELL out of her range, and she wasn't afraid to admit it now, “Besides, this is what lab geeks do for a living. Governments give a great wealth of money in government contracts to companies to design this kind of stuff. If it were this simple to design it, then it wouldn’t be a billion dollar industry."

Jacob waited for the ‘you’re an idiot’ speech, but as he looked at her, particularly in her eyes, as she was reading through the equation, he could see that special type of focus had taken root. He was the same way when he was working on something particularly delicate or something that took a lot of focus, he would zone everything else out and ensure he was doing things just right. He listened to her words, nodding slightly, but wouldn’t let it go quite that easily.

“Aside the environmental and reaction data, which I am working on as well, what parts of my equation are incorrect?” It was a simple enough question, but he was going to shell her with a few more points of information aside that. “The Lab Geeks get it wrong… a lot… and it’s usually because of the physics. I have watched good men die using what are now outdated pieces of body armor. I have relatively good skills when it comes to design, schematics, and the simple mechanics of armor. Weight is certainly an issue, but I think if I replace the flexible Kevlar weave with a carbon-fiber weave, it would make it about half the weight, if not less, than it is now.” He also needed to ensure that he added in one more thing.

“Besides, the Armor Develapers that have those contracts? They don’t want to design anything too good, or they won’t have a job. The technology is here, I just need to make sure I have the physics right. What information would you need in order to make this equation complete?” He was a lot smarter than he looked, regardless of the fact that he didn’t have quite the schooling that she did, but he was fairly certain that he could make this armor work if she would help him… he just wasn’t sure that she would, help him, that is.

“It would probably be quicker to tell you what is right than wrong," granted that was a short list, since a lot of the equations were the wrong ones, or atleast with math that was foreign to Sophia. But this all stemmed from it simply not being her interest or forte; military hardware was tested properly not by math and science, but by actual reaction. Dozens of variables could exist and a lot of those Variables, Sophia didn't know or care to know, since a greater majority of them all required she know a lot of about these materials and what they could or couldn't do, “But that's really besides the point. This is not my area of expertise. I don't know the material or their properties, like weight, density, shred factor, or even if they crumple on impact, not to mention I don't know a great deal about guns or bullets either. People who know about this stuff spend a great deal of time focused on this one field of engineering, which is what this is… Eng-a-near-ing."

“Physics aside, this isn't what I know. If you wanted to talk about celestial bodies and or even some fields of lasers, perhaps I could help, but I don't have the data to make this work, even with the right equations," and if he really wanted to make the science work, it was going to cost him. But it was what he said that still irked her greatly, the commented about the lab geeks. Granted, when Sophia used the term, it was meant endearingly to the many people she knew who had true passion for the study of these fields. But when she heard Jacob describing her lab geeks as them always getting it wrong, it only hurt Sophia more, since she knew those people and didn't like hearing that they got it wrong.

“And I'll have you know, if it took two people to make the world's best armor, then go present it to someone other engineer or physicist. The people who do this for a living don't make horrible things, they make the best that they can, but it's the gun industry that continue to make better, more deadlier weapons," Sophia closed the notebook, and tossed it back to Jacob, this wasn't something she could help with. And even if she could, she'd dedicate time and energy that would eventually be for nothing once they figured out a bullet that could penetrate it. Now it was time to return to her own studies, for which the sand in her glass hour glass had ended, “If you want to save people's lives from gun fire, find a way to make it so aren't getting fired at. Make it so their lives aren't in harm's way to begin with, maybe then you'll save people's lives."

Jacob supposed had wished now that he had knocked on wood with his previous thought, her first sentence condemning what was a good amount of hard, brain-cracking math and work into a hodgepodge of numbers, letters, and equations. It grated his nerves, but if she could help him, he would bear it for now, and showed no reaction to what she had said besides patiently waiting for what she would say next. When she slowed down to tell him that it was engineering, which was obvious, but did it in such a way that it made it look like she was all but saying he was stupid, the fuse was lit. His anger, very well concealed, began to appear, but his type of anger wasn’t a boiling rage like most; it was cold, like it was fueled by death itself.

She admitted that it wasn’t what she knew, and ultimately, that she wasn’t going to help him, and even suggested that he find a way to prevent people from getting shot at… and that is where he drew the line. She knew nothing of the complexities of combat.

“The only way to stop violence is to stand up against those who would harm others. Unfortunately, standing up to them, often enough, gets you shot at.” His tone was low, and ice cold, pain and suffering from experience hanging from each word as he uttered it. “The government doesn’t have the funds to mass produce the best protection, and all I am trying to do is survive the trials that come with the goal of making a difference. You don’t want to help? Fine. I’ll find someone who is more capable than you. I didn’t ask you to design the armor… and I truly wonder if you were in the situation where the bullet was coming towards someone near you if you could step off your high horse long enough to save their life. Something tells me you would think about it long enough for it to be too late.”

Jacob closed his notes, and began to move back towards where he had started working originally. He wouldn’t be able to study properly in this atmosphere now, and he needed a place to defrost his nerves before he did something or said something he would regret. The shred of respect he had for the woman was hanging by the thinnest of threads… and it would take quite an act of valor to gain any kind of foothold in Jacob’s mind again.

Jacob's cold words didn't particularly make Sophia any more pleased with him, if anything it was becoming annoying. What was Sophia suppose to do, suddenly drop everything and stuff ballistics of bullets and armor to try and figure out the proper equations and formulas to make what he wanted work? What he wanted was armor that didn't hurt someone, the notion was impossible, not only because gun makers would just find a way to make so that armor was eventually negated, but it was simply the culture that needed to be changed. This wasn't Sophia's knowledge or understanding, this was beyond her reach, she couldn't possibly give him what he wanted.

And there in laid the problem, and what was getting annoying for Sophia. Brilliant, yes. Clever, certainly. Egotistical, to certain degrees, and more likely in the mind of Jacob's. All knowing, not in the slightest. So when it came to notion that she wouldn't leave from her high horse to save another person, it was further annoyed Sophia to point she that her own hour glass stopped floating and fell to the ground. This had gone on long enough, and Sophia wasn't about to let one man's crusade be a judgment against her. She marched herself over toward Jacob, and decided a piece of her mind wasn't going to be enough.

“Now look here, I've told you several time, this isn't my field, it never was. I never got in to the field of Ballistics because it goes down this route of weapons and I wasn't interested in the person being responsible. I don't want to be the person responsible for making weapons that kill people or armor that fails to keep a person alive, it's why I didn't specialize in that field. So just because I can't help you, doesn't give you the right to be upset with me. It's not my field, get over it," was the first part. She wanted to make it perfectly clear that her expertise wasn't this, so he had no right to be upset with her over something she couldn't answer. It would have been like being upset at a puppy for urinating on the floor when you hadn't trained it yet. But she wasn't finished yet.

“But you know what, even if I could answer it for you, you probably wouldn't be satisfied with my answer anyways. You've never been happy with me, because what, I didn't shake your greasy hand when we first met? Or is it because I can't shoot a gun and don't know a thing about the military or fighting? Yeah, I don't know any of that, but doesn't make me or you any better of a person. You want to protect someone, fine, you make the BEST armor you can, one that can stop a bullet and never harms a person, they'll just make someone to break it eventually, and even if you could make it, it's be too expensive for anyone to purchase, even the government," which was a solid point. What they had now was probably really good weapons and probably really good armor to protect them, but it was also basically was what cost effective and reasonable for people to wear. There must have been people who have created the best possible armor, but they can't utilize it because it's not reasonably feasible. But still, it was hardly the point for Sophia, “You have a one track mind, and if something doesn't go your way, live with it. Don't take it out on me, just because I can't help you because I don't know how to!"

Jacob could tell that this was going to get ugly… the moment that the hourglass clattered loudly on the desk, he knew she was coming. Apparently, he had struck a nerve, and honestly, he was perfectly fine with that… they were finally on the same page in that regard, and he certainly was ready when she approached. He would do like he did in every confrontation of this nature, stay calm, collected, and use his natural ice-induced anger to keep him from saying anything he didn’t mean. That was one thing that was great during a deployment. A lot of people, when they got angry, they got ‘hot’ and their anger would boil until they did or said something they later regretted, losing the ability to think clearly. Jacob, on the other hand, seemed to grow colder the angrier he got, and that was extremely helpful in a lot of situations, this one included.

The mechanic continued to put away his books, and once he was finished making them nice and neat, turned his full attention on the woman before him. He had been listening to every word she had said, and she was currently talking about why she hadn’t a sliver of respect for her… although that in itself was untrue now. She had a sliver of respect from Jacob, simply because she had the courage to stand up for something that she believed in, and didn’t shrink away like some individuals did from Jacob. He wasn’t a small guy, but he tried to mask his natural intimidating stature with being as gentle and kind as he could to people, but even then a lot of people would, and often did, shy away from him. Not Sophia… that was good… she had courage.

Jacob waited until she was finished speaking, and would address each point individually so nothing could be misunderstood. “You aren’t into the field of Ballistics… I knew that when we first met. I wasn’t asking you to delve into the field so you could go above and beyond to help me. I was simply asking for you to make an effort to assist me if you could in any way, and based on what you said, you can. Physics are a part of mechanical function, so I know a bit about it, but I don’t have the skills necessary to ensure that my math is right in a lot of areas. I understand there are parts of it that only someone who does know ballistics would know, but based on your words, you do know something, and instead of making an effort to help, you threw your hands up and told me to look elsewhere. He paused, letting that fact sink in. She had mentioned that she saw errors in his math, and in order to know something was wrong, you had to know what right was.

“And ordinarily, I would have had absolutely no issue with you turning me down and asking me to go see a subject matter expert… but where the problem lies is in how you said it. ‘It would probably be quicker to tell you what is right than wrong,’ I believe were your exact words. No tact, no respect for the fact that I have poured hours of work into this project, and the way it was said was ‘belittling’. You and I are no better human beings than anyone else in this world, mutant and human alike. Everyone is capable of doing just about anything they set their minds to. You are a prime example. You are just as capable of being homeless in the streets as you are in pursuing your education and gaining a higher state of learning. But you thinking that because you made that choice that you are any better of a human being than someone else? That is nothing but idiocy, and you don’t come across as someone who likes doing anything unintelligent.” He was finished, and his eyes were locked with Sophia’s own, his own form of showing her a little respect and checking her reaction. The eyes could tell books about a person without them even saying a word, as well as the body language.

“Oh but I am better than other people, I know it. And you believe in it too, even if you don't want to admit it, and it's stupid to think otherwise. I can't imagine you've never avoid the homeless, bowed your head to a person in charge, or sacrificed yourself for some 'greater good'. In any of those, you judge yourself against the person and react accordingly. And therein lies the truth, the fact is: there is a pecking order in the world, an unfair one, but you choose where you find up on the ladder, and you take that spot on your own. A homeless person has no chance at catching up to me, even if they try all their life, they have neither the advantages nor the support to climb the ladder past a certain point. I was born lucky, I admit that, but even if I am lucky, I still climbed the ladder and got into a higher position in the world," smug to the core, arrogant even, but she was proud of it too. Sophia knew her place in the pecking order of the world, she sought to be near the top, if not at the top. The fact that she'd been denied that top step on the ladder only meant she had to work even harder get to it. But even Sophia knew she'd never get to the top, it was a pipe dream, but a dream none the less.

“You think everyone is equal, we all have an equal chance at life, but we don't. Take mutants for example, a horrible one, but still an example… Why are some given a gift of mutant powers, and others not? You'd say genetics, but then that assumes that one genetics are better than another, aren't they? And what about those mutants who have mutations which hamper their lives and make it more difficult to live? Are they worse off than normal human without mutations? You see, you look at students and thing, 'I don't want to be him.' or even, 'I wish I were him.' Don't be ashamed to admit it either, even I admire and despise people," it was then this look in Sophia eyes said 'check', as though her words were like a kind of chess game that she was playing. She didn't like chess, but understood the value in playing it appropriately, and she could be good at it, but she wasn't perfect, nor had she mastered it. There were other things more valuable.

"As to your project, you're hard work doesn't add up to anything yet. I can't respect things that don't exist, much in which I can't respect something without results. Would it have made you feel so much better if I said, 'Thata boy…?" now she was mocking him, talking like she would to an infant child. There was need for it, but it did reinforce her point, "No, it wouldn't have done any good. A response doesn't have to have tact, it doesn't have to have any sort of respect for what anyone does. Despite doing your best, if you still do something horribly flawed or fail to succeed, I should respect that? Not to say that your noble goal is flawed or anything, but honestly, I should pat you on the head if you get a person killed thanks to faulty equations? Even I know when you don't need a hydrodynamics formula in ballistic equations, not to mention you're using too many variables and not enough constants. What was right, the trajectory for which your bullet was coming out. How about it, you want a cookie for your success?"

Jacob was bristling with frost as his rage continued to work its way through his now frozen mind. His eyes, locked onto Sophia like a pair of laser guided missiles, ready for launch, continued to pierce through her eye sockets like frozen daggers, showing her all the respect he could muster for someone who continuously was digging a hole farther and farther down. “No, I don’t believe in it, and if you ever pulled your head out of your fourth point of contact, you would realize it too, but let me explain it to you, since your too high up on your pedestal to see the truth.” His tone was cold as well, and it was apparent that he was carefully controlling his words, but he was also on the offensive now, not holding back his opinion of this woman that was so obviously deluded in her own visions that she couldn’t see straight.

“I don’t avoid the homeless. Respecting someone’s rank and respecting them as a person are two different things. And sacrificing my time or effort to help others doesn’t place me above them, like you say. You say a homeless person has no chance of catching up to you? I beg to differ. When he takes your life in order to sell whatever you own to eat for the day, how does your higher knowledge stack up? It doesn’t. At the end of the game, the King and the Pawn go into the same box. All life, and eventually, death, makes us all the same. What matters is what you do in that time where you are alive. Simply because you like or dislike a person doesn’t make them any better than the other, it’s simply a matter of opinion. Certainly, when, how, and where you are born play a factor. I have seen people living on the streets become great and powerful, and those born into power trickle down to where they have to beg to live. I have seen people who were raised in an Shelter for Orphans become Generals.” The last little bit was a blatant truth.

“But in the end, all that matters is what kind of impact we make on the world. The people we help, or the people we crush, along the way. You think you are above others, but you are the one flawed.” He paused then, knowing that more than likely he wasn’t going to get through to this woman.

“You don’t want to help other people. Fine. But don’t be surprised when you are the one needing help and no one comes running.”

Colt finished packing his things, putting books on the cart where the staff would put them back where they belonged. He prepared to leave, but paused, feeling like the woman probably deserved a warning. “Last thing… and I’m only going to say this once; Don’t disrespect me again. I have fought and bled so that people like you could study your books without worrying about the threats that face this country, and if you feel the need to treat me like a child, you will find out how easily the Knight can take out a Queen.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise, and the tone in his voice was so cold it could have easily been mistaken for Death himself. Jacob wouldn’t kill her… there wasn’t anyone else in harm’s way because of her, yet. But he would not hesitate to bring her to a subtle state of unconsciousness, and leave her drooling into the carpet, and not lose a wink of sleep over the matter the following night.

Without another word, he moved to leave the Library. She had only a couple of seconds to stop him if she wanted to do so, but he had a feeling he was going to leave in silence.

How fitting, a chess metaphor, it almost silly that he consider himself a knight and Sophia a queen. But frankly, it was truthful, and even then, he assigned an arbitrary value to Sophia and one to himself, for the Knight was considered a lower ranking chess piece over that of the queen who had far more freedom than that of a knight to move. But it made sense, "Am I suppose to be thankful that you bled to keep me safe?"

"I'm certain I never asked you to keep me safe, and a great number of people besides me never did either. Some people would even wonder how you kept us safe exactly? By launching in to the affairs of another country and attacking them, before they attacked us?" she wondered aloud, hoping to stop Jacob by the door. He told her not to disrespect him, but it wasn't disrespect if she didn't respect him to begin with. Hiding behind this notion of 'I fought for this country, so I deserve respect,' notion was stupid. Why would Sophia respect a person just because they fought? Was the cause just? Was the fight to save the lives of those here at home? There were so many logical jumps you had to make before you could name the claim that one person protected another, one would argue that people over there weren't going to get to her at anytime, and even if they did, who was to say that Sophia couldn't protect herself.

"You didn't protect me, you 'served' your country. And in trying to serve it, you are misled to believe you somehow protected me from some foreign threat. In the end, did you take a life? Wasn't that life equal to yours? If it was, then what gave you the right to take it, because you wanted to live? Or to protect people you never met? You want to say people are equal when they're not, that's simply not the truth. Because if it was, then you had no right to take a life equal to yours. And even if you did, you placed yourself on a lower step than the people your protecting, or on a higher step than the person you killed. Sure we all wind up in the same place when it all said and done, but the difference is that when a pawn dies, no one throw them a parade. Some people are better than others, it's natural to believe that, to go against it is to go against nature," Sophia at this point just wanted to drill this point in. There was whole other point she wanted to make, but this was key, this idea that people have a value and it is constantly measured against others. This was something Sophia believed in, it's wasn't a matter of assuming everyone was equal in some way or shape, people weren't equal, value was placed on them, and the goal in life should have been to get the best value possible.

The other point was Jacob's objectification that Sophia wouldn't help another person. This was wrong, Sophia had no problem with helping people, but people had to pass certain qualifications to get her help, which weren't that hard to pass: "And don't think I wouldn't help another person either, that's just rude on your part. If you want to help a person, you have be able to offer assistance first. If I can't lift a person up, I should try to sacrifice myself to keep a person from falling? No, I should go and find another way to lift that person up or find help, otherwise there's no need to sacrifice myself as well. You should want to help people, but you have know how to help them first, and rationalize how your actions will help them and lift them up from a position. I wonder how you 'serving' your country helped other people and kept them winding up in the same place they were before? I think it helped someone else far more than me."