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| Scene Title | Another Day, Another Failure |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes runs to Yana in panic after losing days of his life, receiving the usual reception, and a warning. Which results in yet another failure on his part, and Yana starting to see him as a possible liability. |
| Date | April 11, 2011 |
Yana's Apartment
He's been wandering, he's not sure how long he's been wandering, but at around 10am Magnes shows up at Yana's apartment door, knocking and appearing a bit disoriented. He's in a black blazer with a white buttoned up shirt, blue jeans, and red Chucks. He doesn't appear to be hurt exactly, but he sounds and looks confused. "Elvira, it's Magnes!"
If there is a pet peeve of Yana's that is top on the list, it is receiving unexpected company. There is no telling what she could be doing at the time, or if she is decent enough to warrant a surprise visit. Being caught unprepared simply won't do for her. As it stands, she is fortunate, or rather Magnes is, as Yana is already up and put together by now, having had her morning coffee long ago, and checked the news reports for any signs of her latest project on the rise. At her side, a stack of documents that were given to her by Calvin, which are her credentials to earn her way into the correctional facility. As there is a knock at the door, Yana looks up with a raised brow, and over at Christopher. It would be a fitting punishment for her to not answer the door. That would teach him to call before coming over. Even if some horrible creature were chasing him down about to kill him. Yana is that anal about it. She lets him stew for a few moments while she makes up her mind, before sighing and scraping her hand through the air and a scoot gesture for Christopher to answer the door.
"Elvira!" Magnes says in a distressed tone as he starts to walk through the door, his manners a bit lacking, which is strange considering his usual need to impress her. "I was, I don't know, I was walking, I'm not sure what's going. I checked my phone, it's Monday." Not that anything he says is making a lot of sense.
Yana of course looks quite unaffected by his demeanor. In fact, judging by the half lidded look she gives him, it goes without saying that she cares more about him breaking proper decorum than about his general state of being. "I called you." She responds plainly, "Only once, but I felt it was good form to warn you about what is going around. You had initially missed your window of opportunity, but since you're here.." Yana sets her pen to the side.
"Elvira, why is it Monday?" Magnes asks, apparently a bit preoccupied by the whole time skip as he walks over to her, taking a seat on the couch. "It's supposed to be Friday, but it's Monday, it's like, I'm missing time."
"Magnes, do you do Methamphetamine? Crystal Meth is the term most often used. Heavy users often develop symptoms of losing large sums of time, unexplainable by them, but obviously it is the degenerative properties of the drug." Yana sounds dead serious in her question. Still not escalating her mood by a single fraction. "I suspect that it is Monday because that is the sequence in which the days of the week follow. According to the calendar, if you will check, it is April 11th, and April 11th falls on a Monday. Perhaps you should check yourself into a hospital. Are you ill? You haven't perhaps caught the flu have you?"
"I don't do drugs. This last time I went missing for a weekend I was kidnapped. Oh god, I don't remember anything, at all. Was I even missing? And I don't have the flu…" Magnes groans, placing his forehead into his palms. "I'll need to talk to my other friends later. But, alright, I'm fine, just tell me what was on your mind? What was that about the project?"
Still so very bored about the face, Yana sighs and lifts herself up from her seat. "Christopher, if you would, please? And some chamomile tea to take it with?" She shifts her gaze over to her attendant. The large man is obviously on the same wavelength as Yana because he knows exactly what she is talking about, and goes to fetch it promptly. "Magnes," she returns her attention back to him, "You're not thinking rationally, here. Firstly, if you were kidnapped, they wouldn't have just released you just like that—" She hesitates. Wait a second.. Just the other night, Calvin kidnapped a girl, and had Yana infect her to be released back into the population. She is having her words stuffed back into her face, reconsidering. "Mm." she narrows her eyes, "No. It is very unlikely that you would have been infected. For starters, I'm the main source of the virus, and I wasn't tapped to introduce it into your system. Plus, I doubt that Mr. Rosen has anything against you, or let alone knows you. But, just in case.."
Yana takes a step or two which brings her to stand right in front of Magnes, "Hold still.." she rises both of her hands to place on either side of his head, lifting his face to look at her and examine him while her eyes take on a green glow, scanning his system for signs of the new virus. Satisfied after a few moments, she releases him and returns to being very nonchalant. "No, you're fine. So obviously, someone was playing some kind of prank, so you should look to some of your closest friends who would be likely to do so, and have the capabilities to pull such a hoax, first."
Christopher returns with a pill, and a cup of tea for Magnes. "Take that valium and settle yourself down. You'll think clearly once you have relaxed. Now.. Thanks to the assistance of Mr. Rosen, I have successfully introduced a new strain of the H5N10 virus into the population. This doesn't mean that Evolved are safe.. quite the contrary actually. The virus simply isn't as selective as it once was. It will infect not only Evolved, but non-Evolved as well now. Mr. Rosen has a vision, I believe, and I see quite a bit of merit in this vision. He is really something of a genius in this aspect." She finds herself a seat at the counter, sliding her legs up to cross properly over each other. "I'm working on an alteration that will make the virus harmless to Evolved, and stay deadly for non-Evolved. Evolved will still be able to carry it, but it won't actually infect them. Which mean they can spread it all the same. I project that this will form many changes, and of course an alteration of this nature will take me a bit of time, but it will happen."
Magnes takes the pill, then carefully grabs the cup into both hands, sipping down his tea and swallowing hard. His cheeks are a bit red after she's touched his face, but he simply nods when she confirms that nothing is wrong with him. "So you're infecting non-Evolved so you can open the door to giving them abilities? But… couldn't children get that? I mean, there's not a high chance of death, right?"
Ohhhh, there it is. That little thing in him that she detests is rearing it's ugly head. Morality mixed with a hint of naivety. And also the thing that prevents her from totally laying everything out on the table for him. He isn't fit to be privy to the whole scheme of her nature. "Children can get it anyhow, Magnes. Do you know how difficult it would be to make it so selective that it doesn't infect children? I'm not even going to fathom that possibility. It's really a shame. All the potential you have, but the inability to achieve it. I'm beginning to have my doubts that it can be fixed."
"But it's not, like… entirely deadly? In the end we'll be able to save people because of the results we get?" Magnes is asking this in a tone that suggests he's trying to find the merits in the plan more than anything, one full of hope for Elvira's goals. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to make sure that what we're doing is right."
"Have you not been watching the news reports? The new strain is quite deadly. I could of course remove it, but—" Yana is really starting to grow a little irritated by his persistent desire to save people. This heroic quality he seems to possess is almost more than she can deal with, "You know, nevermind. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine, and you'll get everything you ever wanted out of life in the long run. Just give it some time." You know what that was, that was a pat on the back and a zip of the lips. A little positive reinforcement and misdirection to keep from talking about 'adult' things.
Magnes hunches over and frowns, staring down into his tea as his elbows rest just above his knees. "What are we going to gain from this, Elvira?" he asks, very seriously, not looking up at her. This is the tone of doubt. "I don't feel very good about this."
"Of course you don't." Yana almost snaps, and it is the first time her voice has registered a single bit of elevation above her level of calm. There is emotion behind it, and certainly not the kind that Magnes is looking for. It even has Christopher peering at her, knowing that this subject must be something that has been bothering her, for it to spark that kind of reaction. "Because you don't have what it takes. Not for science, and not to be on top. You are so deeply integrated with these definitions and emotions of what is right and wrong, black and white. You cannot actually do what you have to do in the end, because you are weakened by your heart. You let it lead and rule your life, and ultimately, it will be your downfall." Yana stands, taking firm strides across the room while letting a hand fly firmly in the air as she talks. Dismissing this and that.
"The first doe eyed damsel or waifish child that throws you a sympathetic look will be the last thing you see as they jam a dagger straight into your bleeding heart, and make it literal rather than just a term. This.. right here. This.. you right now are exactly why I miss Gregori. He was a victim of destiny to be sure, but Gregori was a king in every way.. no.. He was an emperor." She calms, ending up facing the mirror, standing infront of it to where she can see her own reflection, and Magnes across the room. "But he had his weakness.. And just like I described, it cost him his life." she reaches for a picture of her husband on the table, lifting it and looking it over. "And in his ashes, I learned just how to remedy myself of that same weakness. He made me stronger."
"I'm doing my best, what do you expect me to do? I needed to know what we would gain, I can't accept that we'd just be putting lives at risk for no reason, that's why I asked. I'm even celibate now, so I can close off that one big emotional distraction." Magnes frowns and starts to stand, eyeing the door. "I can't be your husband, and if you think Calvin is such a genius then let's see if he tries as hard to please you. I try, I really try, but it's not going to happen over night. Just be patient with me, and know that right now, with who I am, I can't accept hurting or potentially hurting people without a good reason. I just need a reason so I can accept it…"
"That is just it, Magnes. Calvin doesn't try to please me. And do you know why? Because our established relationship has nothing to do with that type of attachment. However, you cannot seem to fathom how that could possibly work, because you're so wrapped up with your infatuation to be able to focus on the task." Once again, her voice begins to elevate. It is only noticeable because it is unlike her. "You just. Can't. Separate things, can you? You can't see that in trying to please me, that you are doing the exact opposite because I don't want to be pleased, in that way. If you get some kind of satisfaction from appeasing me in whatever way, then produce results. Active results. You brought to me a list of possible people, with the stipulation that they might be 'bad'. But that was it. It wasn't solid. Calvin, produced a warm body, right in front of my face. He got together credentials and documents that places me directly into a correctional facility to do as I need. And he has no qualms or restrictions about who becomes a test subject." Once she has given her speech, Yana sighs and shakes her head, "I don't think I can give you that reason, Magnes. I cannot depend on your support for sure. More than likely, you'll be too shortsighted to understand or accept, and I don't think it is something I am willing to chance on."
"Alright, fine, if Calvin does everything that I can't, better than I do, then I guess you don't want me around. I'm sorry for wasting your time." Magnes stands up completely, leaves the mug floating in one spot for Christopher to take when he's ready, then marches to the door. "I tried, I really tried, I'm not Calvin, I'm not just perfect without effort. If you don't want me to come back then just say so."
By this time, Yana has been brought her own cup of tea, as Christopher knows Yana is getting a little worked up. The tall man retrieves the one left by Magnes, wordless as always, and sets it in the sink. Yana simply returns to her state of being calm, and brings her tea to her lips to take a sip, "Goodday, Magnes. Do try to take things calmly. You'll only hasten the downfall you're walking towards, if you don't." Yana, queen of leaving things unsaid, and keeping the cord dangling. He can dig his own grave, lie in it and cover himself with the dirt. She doesn't have to lift a finger.
"Just call me or something." Magnes adds as his tone softens a bit, and closes the door behind him and heads down the hall. Another day, another failure.