Participants:
| Scene Title | Basement Shadows |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Cardinal pays a visit to the basement of the garden after Colette lets slip the resident. |
| Date | May 5, 2010 |
The Garden - Basement
No ones supposed to be coming down, and no one does come down. Brennan's spending another day in the basement of the garden, back on the cot, book open on his chest but he's staring up at the ceiling. This is his second time through the shining and he's been really wondering why Tasha did choose this book.
Well… that's only half true. No one's supposed to be coming down, but someone does come down.
A shadow bleeds along the ceiling, whispering in a trickling spill down the wall; the doctor might think it just a trick of the light as he watches it move slowly down, at least until Richard whispers softly, "Good day, Doctor." Doctor…
What the hell. There's a bewildered look at the movement that he's seeing, not connecting it to an evolved individual from a month ago. Brennan blinks, rubbing at his eyes as if maybe it's just coming from staring at the ceiling and walls too long. Then there's the idle though of maybe there's some sort of mold down here and it's causing him to hallucinate which only makes the physician in him cringe because really, there likely is mold of some sort.
This quickly evolves into thoughts of hallucinations when the shadow speaks to him. Till he remembers the snow bank, Liette and all of that. "Shadow man. Found me again I see. Sorry, I don't have her for you to talk with this time"
"So I see… you know, Doctor, I could be wrong…" A twist of shadow lazily rests on the wall beside the cot, and Cardinal observes, "…but this really does look like a jail cell. Not that you're missing much at the moment, aside from the biggest storm ever, but I'm guessing you had a fight with your friends?" A falling out…
"You could say that. I Have to say, the institute had at least better accommodations for their cells." A smile curls his mouth up. "There's some trust issues. Some people don't much care for some things that have happened, lack of communication, fear that I'll rat them out. They already asked Kaylee to go rummaging around in my head. I'm assuming, that my friends have no clue that you're down here do they Cardinal"
"I sometimes forget to ask permission for things," Cardinal replies with a whispered chuckle, "It's a problem I have. So what exactly's the cause of your falling out…? I heard a few scattered bits and pieces about what's going on with Liette, but nothing coherent." Colette babble…
"Institute released me, so I could deliver a message and an ultimatum when they assaulted one of the safehouses in midtown and caught some ferryman and myself. When I delivered the Ferry's return ultimatum they took Kaylee for something. I was told I was coming down here or else, and or else was intimated as a bullet to the back of the head. I've had a few visitors but" Fingers lift a c'est la vie. "I'm down here till they decide for themselves whether i'm safe enough to return to the wild that I won't rat out their various safehouses or… "
"I can understand their paranoia. They've got a lot of innocent people depending on them…" A quiet murmur from the shadowman, "…I assume the Institute found out where Liette is, then? What's going on?" Going on…?
"They don't know where she is, or they'd have her already. Ferryman claim to have her parents, they're waiting on dna testing. Institute's demanded her back or they will clear out with force every safehouse they can till they find her, and Doctor Luis wants her back, or he'll sink the coast into ice age and further. It's out of my hands Cardinal. I haven't even seen her since I was released, they have her sedated and negated" To the best of his knowledge they do.
"Sedated? They have her parents? I thought that Luis…" Wait, wait. The shadows spread further, pulling apart across the wall as Cardinal hisses, "Luis is to blame for this weather?" How…?
"Liette's sister has atmokinesis. This storm? THis storm is her sister wanting her back Cardinal. I had a set amount of time to return her, before he was going to do this and Julie went right along with it. On the upside, the abilities fade after four to five months so… if they intend to wait it out. Where are you going with this questioning, what exactly do you want Cardinal? Just came to get a looky loo at me?" He shunts his gaze towards the shadow, watching him.
"I'm just trying to keep an eye on what's going on, Harve. An ear to the ground, so to speak… I can't exactly do my job if I'm not well informed." Whatever his job might be. Cardinal asks in a quiet murmur, "So who're her parents, then, if it's not Luis?" Luis…?
"I never got their names. Little busy dealing with relaying the ultimatum's, playing messengers there. Or being down here. Sure if you slither around enough, you can't miss them. One's tall guy, scruffy, dark hair, don't believe he's a proper member of the Ferry. Others is a blonde, long hair. Colette might be better able to point them out than me. Neither has visited me down here. Doubt they will"
"A bit vague. I'll have to ask around…" A whispered sigh from Cardinal, "…anyway. Your family know where you've been, Harve?" Your wife?
"No" It's spoken out on a sigh. "I didn't want the Ferry dealing with her if things went south. She's upset with them enough" Michelle's oblivious to where he is. "She's probably wondering where I am, hopefully soon enough they'll turn me loose but with the storm, highly doubtful" Which is looking like it will only get worse. "I made a deal with the department of evolved affairs to keep liette safe and they'd watch over my family and keep them safe. I'm sure they're fine. Thank you for asking"
"The Department of…" The statement's sharp, a bit startled, and then Cardinal drops silent for a few moments before murmuring, "…no wonder they have you down here, Harve. The Department's about as crooked as it could possibly get. They're not any of our friends. Quite the fucking opposite…" The enemy…
"I don't need the lectures or further talk about the government being evil. I work for the Suresh Center as well. So park it at the door. They don't know about the department of evolved affairs. Far as I'm concerned, i'm more worried about 'the nice ferry' and 'the others' who I was so succinctly informed that if they don't like my answer, even if i'm released, I still might find my head with a bullet in it. I just want out, so I can go back to my wife and prepare for the ice age, or death by institute since i'm quite obviously not able to carry out their demand. Luis isn't the person people need to worry about. He's a man who cares about his daughter, someone who treats them like daughters. It's Broome people need to worry about. So unless you can manage to get me out of here…"
"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, Harve," Cardinal replies quietly, "Sometimes, I suppose that hell can be a cold one. I'll leave you to your book, then, since you've already made your decision." The shadows move; rippling along the wall, crawling towards the ceiling.
"That I have and that it is Cardinal. That it is" He does that, goes back to the book at hand, digging a hand around for the ipod of questionable taste and attempting to pass time lost in the world of Stephen King.