Who: Aleksei, Jacob
Date: September 10th, 2010
Summary: A discussion of telepathy and cheating
Aleksei is propped up on a couch, magazine in his lap and iced coffee at his side; he sips from the tall cup slowly, and seems to read even more slowly - he certainly spends a whole lot of time on one page, at least.
Jacob wanders into the coffee shop, stepping over to the counter. On spotting Alek, he sends a quick, « Hey. » He looks back, placing his order to the slightly nervous-looking man behind the counter, who can't stop staring at his eyes. Iced cappucino in hand, he makes his way over towards Alek.
Aleksei tenses but.. this isn't the first time this has happened, and he almost immediately knows what's going on. He relaxes again and thinks back «Dude, hey» to the telepath, then watches him as he comes in. "I think the counter guy wants to ask you out, the way he keeps looking at you," the boy says as Jacob comes over. "How have you been?"
Jacob shakes his head, and grins, "A lot of people look at me like that. Some people think I must be an alien, some are just plain weirded out." Then he shrugs and smiles, "I'm ok. Kind of bored. My classes don't start until the end of next week."
"Oh, man," Alek says, "CLasses started a week ago and already we're drowning in homework. How much will they give you in college? A whole lot, or is it mainly convincing them not to simply tell you to get out?"
Jacob grins and says, "Probably both. But, if you need help until my classes start, let me know." Then he adds, "In high school, none of the teachers trusted me. I had to take my tests either in a room totally alone, or under the eye of a meta-detecting T.A."
Aleksei's eyes widen. "They have those!?" he says. "I.. didn't know," the boy shifts nervously. "You think.. they could detect me?" he says quietly, glad Jacob knows his secret. "Man, I never thought about that. Of course that would make trusting you hard."
Jacob nods quickly to Aleksei and says, "Hired specifically to make sure I didn't cheat, though he probably did watches in other classes. They can't actually detect you unless you use your powers, so you should be fine. They also have devices for the really high-tech schools that can block all powers. My mom wanted my old school to get one of those, less of an invasion of privacy, but they weren't funded well enough."
Aleksei relaxes a bit more and sips his iced coffee. "I had no idea; I've never heard of one. I wonder.. if my old school had anything like that, and they never told us. I bet they wouldn't, but I also bet they would not have enough money for something like that." He obviously thinks about it more, though.
Jacob grins and says, "Part of my life, having to know about those things. I'm not sure what the University will use, but they have to be more funded than a small town high school." Then he says, "This isn't Leigh's first year at your school, right? Maybe you should ask her about whether your school uses anything like that."
Aleksei oohs and nods. "Good idea. They might not make that public.." he says. "I still might need to change on school grounds, especially if it's an emergency." He taps fingers on one knee. "I could ask my father. He'll be teaching at the university. I'm sure they must have /something/, given the higher stakes of exams and such.."
Jacob nods quickly and says, "I'd love it if you could find out. I don't want to be accused of cheating again just because I could. Everybody could cheat, doesn't mean they do."
"I agree; it's been a temptation a few times, let me tell you. Just my super-hearing could make a lot of things easier," Alek says.
Jacob nods quickly to that and says, "You're right. But even people without powers, it isn't that hard to cheat in other ways. Maybe a little harder to get away with, but still. I've never cheated once. I've never had to, I remember everything I see."
Aleksei gives a wry smile. "That's pretty amazing; that would solve a lot of problems," he says. "You think that's a side effect of your power, though? Maybe it, like, made your mind more efficient?"
Jacob considers that a moment, and says, "Maybe. I learned how to find things in other people's minds before I even learned how to talk. I guess it could be sort of a side-effect that I'd always know how to find stuff in my own." He grins.
Aleksei flashes a smile. "You built your own filing system.." he chuckles. "It's a good thing at least your Mom was a telepath. Who knows how long it might have been until they figured it out, otherwise, when you simply didn't talk. You wouldn't have needed to…"
Jacob grins, "The whole town knew when I was born, I think they probably would have figured it out anyway. But you're right. I didn't learn how to talk for ages. Not until my dad started refusing to answer me unless I said things out loud."
Aleksei ohs as he remembers the psychic yell thing. "Is is hard, slowing down to talk to people and such, instead of just going mind-to-mind?"
Jacob nods quickly and says, "Oh yeah. Even harder not to read people all the time. I… well, I hear everything. All around me, all the time, every person is talking that I can hear. I sort of tune it out, like you tune out conversations in a crowd."
Aleksei hmmms. "But.. do you remember everything you 'hear' as well? Like, could you replay yesterday and pay attention to the talk around you at that point?" The boy has a curious and even studious expression on his face.
Jacob blinks, and hesitates. He thinks a moment, then shakes his head, "I can't, really. I think I only remember things I notice. Things I pay attention to."
Aleksei hmms and seems to note this down. "OK, interesting. Very interesting." He ponders this and blinks at Jacob. "Sorry for the third degree. My own powers are so mysterious that talking to someone who knows how their stuff /works/ is just.. refreshing."
Jacob nods quickly with a grin, "No problem! Glad to talk to someone about it, besides my parents, who aren't scared of me because of it."
