"Have you had any experience in self defense?" Lenna inquired. From the situation the girl had been put in earlier that day, Lenna assumed the answer was 'no'. Still, it was good to ask, for Slate's sake. It might be better if the girl had such training. If she needed help with that, Lenna could offer it. All Henrietta needed to do was ask.

'Interesting.' Between 'interesting' and 'lame,' her power was most certainly 'interesting.' Slate blinked at the animate filaments as they whipped through the air in the windless board room.

"Is it--are they--completely prehensile, then?" He asked. "Would they protect your head from trauma fully, or block harmful forces more like a helmet--stopping the offending object, but still transferring some of the impact force to your head?" Having an innocuous shield hanging from one's head could be beneficial in many mental scenarios.

>> "Have you had any experience in self defense?"

Slate listened for that answer, as well. If Ms. Lenna could start her training… that would be quite useful.

Slate asked if Henrietta’s hair could be used like a helmet. The girl thought for a moment. “I’ve never thought of trying that before, huh. I can use it to block things coming at me, but I’m not sure if it’d be quite like a helmet. Does that make much sense? I’m just not sure it’d protect my head fully from an impact, but anyway. They can pick up things.”

Lenna wanted to know if the brunette had had any training in self defense. “Um, no not really. It’d probably be good if you could train me a little, Lenna. It definitely be good to know some things in that area, I do believe.” She smiled at the woman. “It’d be an honor considering how good you seem to be at it.” She was referring to when she had saved her from the muggers.

Helmet hair. Lenna had had the occasional experience with such a thing, though not in the prehensile-hair variety. More in the 'motor bike helmet' realm of things. It didn't look good. Helmets were useful, but... they did nothing good for hair except shape it. If Henrietta had stated she had helmet-hair, Lenna would have felt a momentary sense of sympathy. Yet, she wasn't sure. Maybe they'd find out, if Lenna trained her? The secondary thought of combat utility was much more logical and useful than the first.

Lenna nodded, and conjured a smile as Henrietta asked for her help in training. "Certainly," She replied. Lenna might not be able to teach her exact forms of martial arts, but she could train the girl to take care of herself in a fight. That much was certain. Lenna swung a look to Slate. She hadn't inquired about this yet, but now was as good a time as any to ask. "Does this facility have such a place to train? Like a gym? Or do you know of any, close-by?"

The Kabal's Leader nodded at Henrietta's continued explanation of her power. That made quite a bit of sense.

>> "Does this facility have such a place to train? Like a gym? Or do you know of any, close-by?"

Again, a nod. "It does. We have a training room capable of holographic and robotic displays, similar to the X-Men's danger room." Actually, they had several such rooms. The Kabal's former leader had liked to have more toys than the other children, it seemed; there had even been a replica of the Danger Room inside a replica of the Mansion, until Slate had ordered both of them disassembled. He did not want to explain to Cold Steel why the Kabal maintained a training ground in the shape of the X-Men's base. That would have been… poor for inter-team relations. "We also have a more standard gymnastics room, and weight room, as well as jogging trails around the grounds."

"If you would like to train now, one of the guards can show you the way," Slate offered.

For himself… he still had a ledger to annotate.

Lenna mentioned a training facility. Henrietta glanced at the leader of the Kabal, waiting for an answer. He said they had something like the X-Men’s Danger Room. She had never been into the Danger Room personally, but she had heard about it and thought it sounded really interesting. Slate had said that she could still become an X-Men, so maybe she would get to see the interior of the fabled room one day.

She looked to Lenna to try to figure out what she was thinking. It sounded like she wanted to train the girl and so far Henri liked Lenna pretty well. Part of her felt a little guilty for even going to another group besides the X-Men, but it sounded like they would take her in without all the training. She just needed some self defense and all she wanted training in was helping people. She didn't need all the fancy holograms, just someone to explain her job. That was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?

"Uh, I guess it depends on what you two think I need to know."

How much training did she think Henrietta needed?

"Enough to keep muggers at bay?" Lenna coolly suggested. If Henrietta fell prey to muggers again before her very first mission, that just wouldn't do.

As for what Slate had said... Holographic... Her knowledge of English was good, but that word... she hadn't heard used before. Nor had she really heard robots used, outside of futuristic literature and science fiction films. And, it was similar to the X-men's 'Danger Room'...? That was a stupid name. As long as the labs had places to train, that was good enough for Lenna, holographs or not. Probably, not. Lenna recrossed her arms.

"I'm willing to train you whenever you want." Now, or later. Regarding the later, a thought struck her.

"... we'll need a method of contacting you." Lenna looked to Slate. "Think we could get her a phone?"

Slate's lips quirked at Lenna's reply; enough to keep muggers at bay, indeed. Somehow, he suspected there was a story behind that.

"There is no particular training that you 'need' to know, combat-wise," Slate added. "The Kabal is not like the X-Men and the Order: we try to avoid combat. It is rarely useful for humanitarian goals." And when it was necessary, he had people who were already quite well trained in it. Henrietta would be going down a different career track, he believed. She struck him—and would likely strike others—as someone who intended no deception, and her abilities could help her escape if something went wrong. She could make a good forward face for their above-board humanitarian efforts. "I do expect all Labs and Kabal employees to train in self-defense, however. Myself included."

>> "Think we could get her a phone?"

"Ah, yes. Simply see Ms. Mortman, at the front desk. She can give you a temporary phone; we'll provide a stipend for you to purchase a more permanent one from a regular store. You may choose whatever you wish, but please be certain it can function internationally." Slate's lips twitched. "You will see a lot of the world, working with us."

Henrietta was relieved to learn that the Kabal tried to stay away from violence and fighting. Slate did explain that he wanted her and all his other employees to know how to defend themselves. She gave an understanding nod. It was reasonable to want people to know how to defend and take care of themselves. The brunette suspected that it would be a good idea for almost all people, not just Kabal members. There were a lot of bad people out there and it would be a positive thing if they were able to keep their attackers at bay.

Lenna mentioned giving the girl a phone and she felt her jaw drop a little. The leader of the Kabal confirmed the idea. Henri looked between the two with her mouth still gaping. "Uh, I don't know if I can just accept a phone like that. It wouldn't feel right. If I got another job, I'd be able to get myself one in a few months. I really do appreciate the offer, but I don't want to take advantage of you. That would just be wrong on my part." The girl was being honest. It was a great offer and she was thankful, but a part of her knew that that wasn't the right thing to do.

Henrietta was now a little side-tracked with the idea of traveling. She felt like she was some sort of CEO with an assisstant who appears out of no where saying, "Here's a phone and a ticket to travel the Earth." The brunette smiled at the two of them. "Thank you very much." She felt her face turn a little red. "Um, I suppose that a waitressing job won't cover international phone bills, huh?" All of a sudden, she was a lot more open to the idea of a free phone.

By 'rarely useful', Lenna assumed Slate meant 'indispensable'. Obviously, he must have slipped on his tongue. Or maybe the goatee had in some way affected his diction.

For Henrietta, though, the image he'd painted of the Kabal there was the right one. They didn't want to scare the girl, after all.

Her focus returned to Henrietta... just in time to see her jaw plummet. She... turned down their offer? For the rather necessary Kabal communicator? "I think you misunderstood," She smiled sweetly. "It isn't taking advantage of anything. Think of it like a doctor's pager. He doesn't usually add his friends to the item, because it's to alert him of emergencies. Situations where he is needed, and the hospital must contact him at once. It's for us to contact you. Not for non-work usage. It's a necessity." It really was. Without it, communication would be a real drag. If Henrietta continued looking the gift horse in the mouth, it might ride off... but, it seemed she caught on.

>>"Um, I suppose that a waitressing job won't cover international phone bills, huh?"

"Probably not," Lenna replied with a slight smirk. "Like I said, it's a necessity. Honey, we insist."

…Slate realized that Henrietta had likely never held a job before this. If she had, it had certainly not been the type to require employees to carry a certain tool; like a box cutter for a stock room clerk, or a tape measure for a fabrics dealer. Or a phone, for a team whose members he needed to be able to contact at any hour.

Ms. Lenna's explanation came as welcome back-up.

"…As I said," he reiterated, "you should pick up a temporary phone with Ms. Mortman until you can secure a better one. As you will need the phone for your employment with us, we will provide a stipend both for it and the bills you incur while using it for Kabal purposes. You are welcome to pay private expenses from your own salary." She was a high school girl. It occurred to him, suddenly, that those expenses might get quite high.

Lenna explained further use of the cell phone. The girl began to feel like an idiot as she listened. She hadn’t necessarily thought of using the phone as a personal device, but they thought she meant to call others. It wasn’t quite the idea she had had, but it was nice of them to clear it up nonetheless. Part of her still felt a little guilty that they would have to get her a phone so they could talk to her. It made her look really immature or at least she thought it did.

Slate again said to go pick up a phone from Ms Mortman. This time Henrietta nodded as a sign that she would do it. “Alright. I’ll do that on my way out.” The girl remained seated. She wasn’t sure if there was anything else he needed to ask or say. As she sat there, she remembered something she wanted to ask. “When should I start my self defense training and with whom?” She turned to Lenna. "Would you train me or someone else?"

((A while back Martin said on the Cbox that he’d like to train Henrietta too, so I’m not sure what you two think.))

Slate backed Lenna up, and Henrietta agreed. Lenna was glad she'd decided to make this easier. Slate might have questioned Lenna's decision, if the girl she had brought to him for Kabal work was anything less than trainable. Lenna personally thought she was. She had the determination, albeit the younger, more-immature version, and she was willing to do what she could to help their cause. Those were both noteworthy.

On the topic of training, Lenna nodded. "I've already agreed to help you train, but trainign with others would be fine as well. You could probably also take one of those 'self-defense' classes Mr. Swartz mentioned. I'm certain if we asked Noin, we could get you set up for those." They might be a good addition to her training. Lenna was skilled in fighting, yes, but the teaching side of it, she hadn't had much practice at. Likely, she was rough around the edges, there. A weekly martial arts class might teach Henrietta disciplines she'd need. It was beneficial for her to pursue such disciplines, just as further education was worthwhile.

If Henrietta joined the X-men, it was likely she'd get training there, too. My, but this girl had a bevy of trainers in the wings.

((ooc: Go ahead and train as you wish, Henri. Have fun! )

Interest in and offers for training continued to be exchanged between the two women. Slate would have offered himself as a trainer as well, if he were not so firmly in the 'student' category. His healing abilities allowed him a certain leeway--most people would not recover quite as well from the various... self-defense errors he had committed. Most people would have fewer limbs, as well.

Their meeting seemed to be drawing to a close. Slate rose, and again offered his hand to the young woman. "Welcome to the Kabal, Ms. Henrietta."