Caution: contains Season 3 material!
Starring:
Summary: Niki enlists the help of her son to find out who Tracy Strauss is and finds more than she bargained for; Micah is let in on an unrelated secret.
Date It Happened: March 19th, 2008
Operating Systems
Queens, NYC
School. While your everday average American kid seems to abhor it and despise it, there is always one that doesn't. Enter Micah Sanders. In the late afternoon/early evening hours, you can usually find him right where he is now. At his desk. Laptop and homework out in front of him and lost in concentration.
There's obviously something on Niki's mind. She's distracted, going through the motions of getting Micah home, tidying the house, doing this and that and the other thing while her son settles in after school; she should let him get some homework in first. There's usually something on her mind these days; ever since she came back, memory intact and then some, her focus split on a hundred different things. Now, though, her focus zones in on Micah, as it often does. She comes to stand at his door, nudging it open. "Hey, baby. You got a second for your mom or is that homework gonna take all day?" Niki says, good-natured… but there's that hopeful, urgent tremor underneath. She wants something.
Micah isn't that far lost in the homework that he doesn't hear the door open. As it does, the pencil in his hand pauses in the casual motions it was making and he turns to glance over his shoulder. "It's extra credit, mom. The teacher gave it to me because I finished up the homework for the week." he explains, grinning. "But yeah, I have a second." he immediately adds, setting the writing instrument down and spinning himself around on the chair. It's clear to him that something is bothering his mom, but he doesn't yet let on. No need in adding stress. Yet.
"Extra credit. Of course." There might be something pressing on her mind, but Niki can't help but smile warmly at her genius son. She jogs into Micah's room and sneaks around to the back of his chair, leaning down to rest her chin on his shoulder. With a playful little smile, she peeks around at his homework, and then pecks him on the cheek. "Well." She stands up, keeping her hands on the back of his chair, becoming serious — slowly, then more rapidly. SHe frowns. "You know how you looked into Cam's parents for him and found all that information?" she prompts. "Now, I don't want you to make it a habit…" There's law-breaking involved, somewhere, somehow, she's pretty sure. "But I really need you to look up a name for me."
Micah says, "Seriously!" Micah enforces with a light chuckle mixed in with it. The extra credit is further endorsed as truthful when she peeks at the homework. Calculus. His eyes watch his mom as she checks out the homework, and even sparkle a bit at the peck. Yes, she is starting to feel like the old mom again. And it's a change definitely welcomed by him "I promise I won't make a habit out of it." he grins, turning back around towards the desk just enough that he can hover his hand over the laptop. "Who are we looking up?""
Niki looks this way and that around the room to find some manner of chair to sit on — she finds one made of canvas, likely one Cam uses to play on the computer with Micah. It's … a little small, and when she drags it over and sits down she's shorter than Micah. Tension settles over the mother's face and she stares down the laptop before anything is even researched. "Her name is Tracy Strauss." She twists, reaching around to slip a business card out of the back pocket of her jeans. She slides it onto Micah's desk for reference purposes. It says things like 'Political Advisor' and 'Governor Malden'. "S-T-R-A-U-S-S," she reads. Even with the simple spelling of the woman's name, Niki sounds confused. "Anything you can find. Especially… anything that has to do with me."
Micah watches his mother with a bit of interest. It's not often that she's asked him to use his power. Often it was in an emergency or life-threatening situation. You know. Popping electronic locks. Secured elevators. That stuff. This is different. "Ok mom." he says, turning to glance fully at the laptop now. And then…it starts. Screens go fluttering by. At first, only basic systems are accessed. Easy access ones. DMV. Census. Social Security. Medical records. After a moment, his closed eyes stop fluttering and the first hit is pulled up on the screen. "Here's the easy stuff, mom." The screen shows the Social Security file on Tracy Strauss. Date of birth. Parents. Current occupation. Address. Yeah, easy stuff.
Social Security Administration
File: 550943-TS-453
Name: Strauss, Tracy
Date of Birth: August 24th, 1974
Mother: Rosenthal, Rebecca
Father: Strauss, W.
Current Occupation: Assistant to Governer Malden
Niki leans in close, eyes narrowed, focused on the screen as she watches the information fly by. Names, file numbers… none of it is familiar, none of it seems important, but then— hold your horses. She scooches in closer to Micah and his desk, reaching out to tap the middle of the laptop screen with a fingernail. August 24th, 1974. "That's my birthday," she says slowly, her words weighty, important. Alarmed. She sits up a bit straighter, mind going a mile a minute.
"…this is— " She starts to shake her head in disbelief. What's more, denial. "Micah, can you find out more? What about where she was born? She said she's from Beverley Hills. And— bring up a picture, but don't freak out, okay? I don't have a clue what's going on either." Okay, that's a lie — she's starting to get a clue, and she's the one freaking out.
Micah glances over, curiously, at his mom. "I think I can." he says, taking a moment to cross reference his mom's information with this other woman's. When he does, it pulls up birth certificates and photos on both people. "You both do have the same birth date." he says, asking the system to pull up a photo. "Let's see what she loo….." He pauses as the picture appears. "Mom?" he asks, turning to glance at Niki. "That's you."
"That's the thing." The photo popping up startles her, even after meeting the woman in it. Niki shakes her head again, her brows frowning tightly, confused. "It's not me. It's someone who looks… just like me. And lemme tell you, it's weird." It's not like Niki is a stranger to having conversations with people who look exactly like she does — this whole experience may, in fact, be weirder for Tracy — but it's still freaking weird. What's more… "Wait," she leans in closer again, scanning the cross-referenced info, the birth certificates now that they're both up. Her gaze picks out:
Our Lady of Perpetual Faith Hospital
12:56 AM
6 (lbs) 4 (oz)…
On both.
"She looks exactly like you though." Micah answers, following his mom's gaze back to the computer screen and what she is looking at. "And you were both born at the same hospital, at the same time." he adds, glancing again at her curiously. "Do you think…" It's a possibility to him…but… "…she's your twin?"
The birth certificates both say single, twin, triplet and all the rest are unchecked. "It's obviously not a coincidence." Niki tears her eyes away from the flood of information and looks to Micah. "If she is … it looks like you have an aunt." She closes her eyes and run her hand through her hair. This is a lot to process all in one day. Or you know— ever. Her world is rocked.
Micah noticed that too, but it wouldn't be the first time things have been forged. "Maybe we should call her and ask?" he offers, getting the laptop to halt the flow of information. Yeah, he can tell it's a bit much right now, and offers out a smile of hope to his mom. "Or…we can wait for a bit until you think it's right. You want me to keep digging to see what else I can find?"
"She's as clueless as we are," Niki replies unhelpfully, but offers Micah a gracious smile. "She found me first. Came by the house while you were at school." Another shake of her head. "No, the sooner the better. Keep looking." A beat. "This is really easy for you, huh."
"Ok, mom." Micah says, turning back towards the laptop. "Did you all get to talk much?" he asks, while hovering his hand over the computer. It's a simple string of requests. Cross-reference the hospital name, date of birth, and attending physician with any other records out there. And within a matter of minutes, there's another hit. "Mom, check this out…" he says, pulling up an image of a rather obscured birth certificate. Seems someone didn't know how to work the scanner properly. "It's another birth certificate with the same information. But you can't make out the name."
"A little, yeah, sure." Niki waits it out while the Micah searches in his special way. The more time it takes, even though it's not much at all, the more distressed she starts to look. Her gaze is faraway this time, lost in her own mind. She's just starting to lean her head against Micah's arm when he calls attention to the screen and she leans in to look. "You mean … there's— " This is too much.
Micah nods slowly, before offering out a comforting hand towards his mother. "It looks like it." he says, probing a bit further. "But there's nothing else linking this one. Or at least nothing easily found." Again, he halts the flow of information, darkening the display. "Sorry, mom. I know it's a lot of information." Even more than she's seen, in regards to the amount of data Micah's been pushing through the computer.
"Don't be sorry," Niki counters, managing a smile meant for Micah. "I got what I asked for, since you're a whiz kid." She grabs his comforting hand and squeezes. "Thanks." She takes Ms. Strauss's card off the desk with the other and idly flips it this way and that between her fingers like a playing card. "You think you could print some of this out? … Proof that I didn't imagine it."
"Absolutely." Micah responds, tilting his head towards the computer. A quiet command. An even more silent obeying of it and the printer on the corner of his desk fires to life. In a short matter of moments, it has printouts of all three birth certificates, social security file, and pictures of Niki and Tracy.
When the printer rumbles to life, Niki has to look back and forth to make sense of what's going on; it only takes a second to clue in, of course. She smiles, marvelling, but giving her head a shake, too. "You're just getting better and better, you know that?" She pushes up with hands on her jean/clad thighs. "I'll let you get back to your… what is this." She glances about the desk and cringes. "…calculus." Looks like Micah isn't getting homework help from his mom, not that he ever needs it. She turns, only to whirl back around thoughtfully. "Micah— "
Micah grins widely, as his eyes sparkle a hint of thanks. "Well, when you give me things like this to look up, it helps me improve." Right, as if he doesn't use his ability in school or the real world. At least not that she knows about anyhow. "Yeah, calculus. My teacher thinks it might be more of a challenge then the normal material." As she turns to leave, he turns back to his desk, only to have to glance back. "Yeah, mom?"
The distinct impression of a "never mind" or "nothing" skirts Niki's lips, on the tip of her tongue. She hesitates, considering the young little man in front of her. The nothings and never minds don't come, are in fact pushed down, as she comes to lean against the desk. She takes the pages fresh from the printer and looks down at them, but she's not really looking at them. "You know… I wouldn't ask you to use your ability for things this if it wasn't important, right?" Niki furls the papers over; this isn't about her mystery look-alikes and maybe sister(s). No, this is something else. She seeks out the boy's gaze. "I'm going to tell you a secret, Micah…" Does this ever go anywhere good? "Because I think I need your help."
"Of course you wouldn't, mom." Micah responds, nodding. Of course she wouldn't. Then again, he tends to use it when he thinks there's a need to. Not always when she asks. "And I don't mind helping. It's really kind of fun, actually." And that's being honest. Sometimes he feels more at ease talking to the machines than other people. "It's ok, mom. You can trust me." As if he's ever given her reason to not trust him.
Trust is a non-issue. "I know, baby. It's just… I don't want to get you in trouble. You have to promise me that whatever you do on the computer, you're invisible," Niki says, desperately adamant on that point; if anything was tracked back to Micah, if something happened… she'd never forgive herself. "The company I started working for when I didn't have my memory," she begins, "Pinehearst. It's run by some… bad people. Really… just… terrible people," she says slowly, watching Micah to make sure he understands. "I'm still there now because I'm trying to stop them." Micah's mom, the hero?
As if all of this should take Micah by surprise? He knew something was wrong with his mom. She went missing for some time. Came back and was different. But now things are improving. It's not a surprise that bad people were involved. "I…I can't promise that for sure, mom. Every computer system is different. Different security systems. Different operating systems. But for the most part I can mask my activities. It just depends on how good they are at digging around for traces. But I do try." he explains, knowing that some of that probably didn't make much sense to her. As for the bad people… "I want to help too, mom. Anything I can do, just tell me."
Niki clamps her mouth shut, shaking her head in a tiny gesture of thought to herself. "No, they're good. I can't risk them finding out. I won't let that happen. So— you use a different computer," she suggests, as if she has any clue how this works. "Something without a name." It makes sense, right? "They have a lot of… security. Confidential files. I'm running into walls. A have a little help inside, but…" She actually laughs, here, which likely isn't a good sign; it's a little unhinged, especially in contrast to the in-charge voice she was just starting to get into. "There's just so much."
"I know where to go, then." Micah says, nodding his head gently. "The library has computers for the public to use. And a lot of them too." It almost sounds like the boy is forming a plan. Botnet, anyone? "And I might have someone who can help, if you can get something inside." Yep, he does have a plan. The excitement shows on his face, as he grins up at his mom. "Don't worry, if we work together, we can tackle any challenge. Right?" Or at least that's what he remembers her saying on more than one occasion.
Niki was the one who brought this up, put this plan into motion in deciding to involve Micah, but she has her reservations all the same. Worry glints in her eyes as she listens to him scheme confidently. "You bet," she says after a moment, breaking into a smile and reaching out to give a super light punch of comraderie to Micah's shoulder. Serious Mom Face soon sets in. "Listen, Micah," she tucks her hair behind her ear, "I can't express how careful you have to be. That I'm even bringing you into this is— " A testament to how important it is, how urgent, no doubt, but she cuts herself off to smile. "Together," she reminds herself, turning to search around the desk for a pad of paper and pen. "Okay, here's what you're looking for…"
Micah needs to be given some credit, as he picks up on the hint of worry. I guess being around your mom growing up for the most part makes you pretty good at reading her. So even as he laughs at the light punch, he nods. "I know mom. No one can find out it was me. But…" here's the kicker, "…they can find out /where/ I accessed from. If they manage to uncover the steps I take to hide my tracks. That I can't avoid. Which is why I'll have to switch between libraries, and other places with computers. So if they do, they won't have just one place to look." Give the kid credit, he's read enough comic books to have a good grasp of strategies. "Just give me something to go on and tomorrow after school I'll stop by the library and see what I can find.
Niki studiously writes, making a list. On the bottom, she adds HIDE THIS!!. She folds it, gives it a hesitant eyeing, frowns, and generally hems and haws with herself before taking Micah's hand and curling the note into it. "I'll go with you. And— I know where you can go if you need to use different computers. Anywhere in the world." A pause. She gives a silly little smile and shrugs a shoulder. "What? I have friends who travel."
Curling the list up and sticking it in a small compartment of his backpack, Micah nods. It's a small enough spot to be missed unless you're looking well for it. Generally, Micah keeps a flash drive in it. At mention of 'anywhere in the world', he looks up at his mom with a wide grin. "That wouldn't happen to be a certain Japanese man, would it?"
"Only one of them," Niki answers with a wink. She gives Micah a quick, firm kiss on the top of his head, lets go of his hand and the secretive list of doom, and starts to head for the door. "Have fun with calculus," she adds with a smile. While Micah has signed on to help her with the challenges of Pinehearst, it's also one more thing to worry about, on the heels of everything else. And there's sure a lot of everything else.
"All right!" Micah exclaims, not able to keep his excitement in check. But he does at least hold still for the kiss and grins. "I will." he adds, settling back into the chair and turning back to his homework. But not for long, turning around as his mom moves to exit the room. "It's going to be ok, mom. You'll see." Annnnnd…..there it is. That ever present glimmer of hope that Micah always seems to carry.
"…Yeah," Niki says, touching the doorframe as she turns around at the last moment. In the face of that bright smile of the boy's, she can't help but reflect that glimmer of hope, just for a second. Following that, a solid conviction. "I know it will."