Participants:
| Scene Title | All Eileens Are Mine |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes calls Raith for a meeting, who finds himself wondering if the young man's finally gone off the deep end. |
| Date | April 13, 2011 |
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a double-decked suspension bridge that connected the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City at the Narrows, the reach connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger lower bay. Before the bomb, this vehicle-only suspension bridge spanned the divide between two boroughs as one of the major through-ways, but shortly after the bomb, this bridge, like many others were blockaded by Homeland Security and used as a Government-Personnel direct access route into the city. Only authorized emergency vehicles and government agencies were allowed passage across from Staten Island, as a measure of keeping emergency traffic flow free.
In the months following, the blockade remained despite the lack of necessity in the matter. By the beginning of 2007 it was deemed that the bridge would remain restricted to government vehicles indefinitely until the majority of repair to Manhattan was completed. Currently both levels of the bridge are blocked on all but one lane by concrete dividers that, without the assistance of heavy lifting equipment, cannot be bypassed by vehicles. The bridge remains reserved for emergency use only, though in the beginning of 200, pedestrian traffic was authorized on the upper deck of the bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn. Trespassers on the lower deck could be detained by Homeland Security indefinitely.
For a long time, the bridge was one of the best ways in and out of Staten Island since the Staten Island Railway ceased operations shortly after the Bomb. At the end of January, 2009, it was partially destroyed in what authorities called a "freak explosion" and is no longer operational.
After a brief call to one Jensen Raith, Mr. Varlane waits on the Brooklyn side of the Narrows bridge at around 1 PM, sitting in a brown La-Z-Boy, reclining with his feet up in his blue blazer, grey shirt, and blue jeans with his fancy cream colored Oxfords. It's hard to say why he has a La-Z-Boy up here on a broken bridge, why he's just taken a painkiller, or why he's also reading an old beat up, possibly familiar copy of the Art of War, but it is a sight to see.
Unlike the last time Raith saw one Magnes J. Varlane, his hair is slicked back with gel, and he has a bit of a goatee. Goatee indeed…
One o'clock, or a bit after, really. That's the price paid for going unnoticed in New York City when everyone is looking for you. Of course, when he finally comes into view- and in turn, when Magnes J. Varlane comes into view- there's a brief moment where he wonders if all the subterfuge really helped if, well….
The ex-spy approaches, stops just a few feet away and surveys the situation in front of him. Not at all what he was expecting. "That's a really nice bike," he says sarcastically. Sunglasses? Check. Long coat? Check. Weapons? None visible, but almost certainly, he's got a couple hidden out of sight. Because that's how things work when you are Jensen Raith.
"Hello Jensen." Varlane uses his first name, an odd thing for him, but he simply turns the page and continues reading, only briefly looking up. "You're looking well." he idly notes, then lays his head back and stares up at the suspension wires, a few of the severed ends hanging. "I'm glad you could come. I was wondering, why isn't Abigail Beauchamp dead yet? Just out of curiosity." he asks this very calmly, closing his book to look the man in the eyes now.
It takes Raith a few moments to process exactly what he just heard. Not at all the sort of conversation he was expecting at all. "Well," he begins, "That is a complex and multifaceted question. You would think with how many times she's exploded into sunfire, so might've expired by now. I'm not totally sure how she affords her clothing bills, but that's beside that point. Most of that, really, is beside the point. The point is, why're you asking?" It's a question, sure. But at the same time, it's also a challenge, which is definitely a strange thing for Raith to do, perhaps, knowing that the man he is challenging could throw him up into orbit if the mood struck him.
"She killed Kazimir. Why haven't you killed her?" Magnes asks as if talking to a subordinate who's gone and fucked up, his patience more of a thin veil right now than anything else. "I mean, really, have you just stopped believing in Vanguard, or do you have a good reason for me?" He reaches into his blazer, pulling out a small clear vial of liquid, one for which a needle would be needed to extract the contents. "Because if you can't do it, then when the time is right, after I've learned what exactly it is she loves, I will destroy it all, and then I'll inject this into her. Do you know what this is, Jensen?"
It may well be that Magnes' question of what's in the vial doesn't even register with the ex-spy. Raith is staring at Magnes. Not in shock or horror or confusion, but in a mix of incredulousness and disbelief. The expression, the carefully measured pause during the stare, and the tone of his voice when he demands of the younger man, "Have you lost your damn mind?" are those that might be worn and used by an over-stressed father faced with a son who had just stated he didn't need to get a job because he could raise enough money to live on by donating blood. "Killed Kaz-" Another sharp pause as he throws his hands up in the air- "I don't even know where to start with that! How do you…."
Raith's face goes directly into the palms of his hands. Apparently, today is a good day for him to develop a serious drinking problem.
"Have you lost yours? Has all that remains of Vanguard in this upside down world just gone soft and become dogs of the Ferry? Eileen runs it now, doesn't she? And Abigail is still alive." Varlane suddenly stands, the chair popping everything into an upright position, then he faces the man with the book held tightly in one hand, and the vial in the other. "Even if she didn't kill Kazimir, she's dangerous. She explodes into fire, she can't even control it. She should have a bullet planted squarely into her mendulla oblongata. And what about that Trafford girl, with poison seeping right out of her skin? Has it ever occurred to you that she could one day mutate and create some sort of deadly gas cloud?"
He doesn't say what the vial is, he instead slides it and the book back into his blazer, then pulls out a Company-looking gun and aims it at the man's head. "You are the one who has lost his mind. So I want to know, are we going to get back on track, find Eileen, and get back to work, or are you someone I can no longer rely on? You're not like Eileen, I can't manipulate you, I can't take what you love or snap a bird's neck. And if I can't rely on you, then you're a liability to the future of this world."
On the one hand, Magnes is totally right: Abigail Beauchamp is dangerous. Delilah Trafford is dangerous. And while we're on the subject, Magnes J. Varlane is dangerous. Something's not right. "Fine." For someone staring down the barrel of a gun, Raith is oddly calm. It's part of why he was brought into the Vanguard in the first place. "I'll take care of it. I'll even pretend that I agree with your insane notion that you can still control Eileen. But remember this. I've already seen the future. We'll get back to work, sure. Anything you say, boss. But we won't be working towards the future.
"This world doesn't have one. Not any more."
"Seeing it and living it have a completely different meaning and effect. We have a future, and it's a Vanguard future. And do you know how that future is achieved? Successfully cutting the entire Evolved population to close to nothing, that's when we'll have our utopia. No one can change that, no one can cure death. It's the unavoidable plan, the vehicle of our success, the final solution." Varlane doesn't stop aiming the gun at his head, he doesn't even take his eyes off of Raith for a second, he's not going to do something stupid like leave an opening.
"Find names, names of the people Abigail Beauchamp currently loves, but I don't want her dead until she's had everything she loves stripped from her." He finally lowers the gun, but doesn't seem any less defensive. "And while you're at it, kill Gabriel Grey, I hear he has his filthy hands all over what's mine. All Eileens, in every world, are mine."
There's another pause, not while Raith stares down Magnes to see which one flinches first, but while he thinks. It's apparent that he's thinking about, well, something serious. "I, um…." Stuttering is completely unlike Jensen Raith. Even when he's unsure, he never stutters. Only when he's confused. "Sorry, could, could you say that very last part just, one more time? About all the Eileens?"
"I can never get back to where I'm from, back to the Eileen of my world, so this Eileen is mine, because this is where I am. No matter where I am, if there is an Eileen, then she is mine. Anyone who doubts or challenges this won't live to doubt or challenge another day." Magnes tilts his head slightly, a grin beginning to grow on his face. "I would hope you're not doubting or challenging. You are an intelligent man, Jensen."
Another pause, although this one is much shorter, and filled with less confusion from Raith than the last one. "Hell, I've heard stranger," he says. So Varlane is from another planet. Sure. Why not? It's not a topic he plans to dwell on. "I'll take care of it. Gray and Eileen." Hopefully, he means 'kill Gray' and 'find Eileen' and not some other combination of words. He probably does. "What else is there? You say there's a future. What else do we need to fight for it?"
"People without ambition, but not necessarily weak-willed. The lost, the hungry, those in need of a purpose, a direction, and hope. Find people with nothing, so that we can give them something. You're with those Ferry, don't let them go to waste, the alternative is a future of me hunting and shooting them in the head." Varlane says nothing of the fact that he'd shoot plenty in the head even if they were under him. "And I'm going to need a boat, one large enough to be a small base of operations, but small enough to go unnoticed. Perhaps a yacht… That'll be all for now, I have more errands before we can execute more of this plan."
He raises the gun, but doesn't aim it at the older man. "And Jensen, don't betray me. I'd hate to make you walk the plank, and we are going to have a plank."
"Wouldn't dream of it, sir. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Raith doesn't really wait for an actual excuse. He simply finishes saying what needs to, and then takes his leave, exiting the scene as calmly and nonchalantly as he entered it, even though his mind is racing to snap the pieces into place. He needs to find Eileen, and Gabriel. The entire Remnant, and then some others. Whatever is going on with Magnes Varlane, it has the potential to create a firestorm of other problems. Problems that Raith is really not in the mood to deal with now or ever.
He's too old for this shit.