Bigger Things At Stake

Participants:

cat_icon.gif kaylee2_icon.gif

Scene Title Bigger Things At Stake
Synopsis Kaylee finally finds the time to bring the memory of Joseph's captivity to Cat.
Date July 7, 2010

The Verb: Cat's Penthouse


It hadn't occurred to Cat that she might seek out Kaylee while at Gun Hill, on the roof of the building which contains apartment 404. She'd conducted her business there and returned to the Village, considering when to visit the Garden and look up Jonas, when the telepath called asking to meet.

A short time later, when Kaylee arrives, the pair come up by elevator and enter the residence. "So you were in Boston," Cat is saying as she opens one of the double doors and holds it for the guest, "how'd it go?" She eyes the woman, a bit concerned, knowing her connection to the place from a dreamscape she was made privy to once.

"Good for the family we took there, but not so great for me, except the company I had on the trip." Kaylee offers as she steps past Cat into the penthouse, eyes roaming the place. "I mean, I did finds my birth certificate." She pauses several steps in before turning to look back at Cat. "I was born Kaylee Anne Ray… my mother changed it later on I guess cause my social security card has Thatcher." There is a touch of bitterness in her tone.

"But that's about all… Well… I found the apartment from the nightmare." There is a slow shrug of her shoulders, saying in a way nothing special there. "Oh… and Edward Ray never claimed children when he was at MIT." More bitterness.

"That's not why I'm here tho." She gives Cat a small smile. "I'm long overdue to bring you some information. Joseph has memories of what happened when the visions happened." She goes quiet giving the other woman a moment to process that.

Attention is calm as the blonde speaks, Cat shows some understanding of the sentiments she believes are felt about the matter. She gets it, being the renamed child of Company researchers Arthur Petrelli had murdered, burned alive in fact. None of that is spoken between them, however, she chooses to simply let it be a silent acknowledgment across a span of moments.

When the silence is broken, she addresses the matter of visions and sharing of data. "I remember," Cat states with a nod. "Had planned to do this a while back, but it's never too late, really." The doors are closed behind them and secured, she then makes her way toward the kitchen. "Thirsty?" she asks.

"Water would be great. Ice cold preferably." Kaylee grins a bit as she says that, wrist lifting to wipe at a bead of sweat left from the searing outdoors. It's bad enough that she's been wearing tanks tops and shorts, with her hair pulled up in a pony tail.

Following the other woman, Kaylee looks a bit sheepish. "I'm sure you understand why I snatched up that chance to go to Boston. It was just too convenient, though I didn't expect the good pastor to agree to come with me when I asked." It ended up taking both sources for the information out of the city.

"But yeah, no time like the present." It's chirped from the telepath's lips, after a moment.

"We do what we need to do," Cat replies quietly, "where we need to do it, and when." The refrigerator door is opened and a bottle extracted, its contents clear fluid. She hands it off to Kaylee, remarking "Di-hydrogen monoxide." Taking a seat is eschewed until and unless the telepath sits. "It wasn't hard to figure out what the Institute did, with Gillian already known as missing. I went looking for Joseph after the mess on that bridge. Didn't have a vision myself, though. I was awake."

The bottle is taken with a appreciative look, "Thank you." The word sides out as if relieved Cat had something cold to drink. Kaylee doesn't move to sit, but leans against the counter while opening the bottle. "Yeah… that whole day was insane." That's all she really says about that for a moment.

A long drink it taken from the bottle, the plastic creaking in her hands. With a happy sigh she lowers it again and by what she says she's not mentioning her own vision. "Yeah, his memory just confirms it tho'" Brushing a thumb across her lower lips to brush at a bit of water there she turns thoughtful.

"Whatever they injected him with, it powered him up and when he was able to let that energy go, it shredded his memories. Which was lucky for us." Kaylee gives her a rueful smile. "I can show you the event." Her hand lifts to tap at her temple. "In fact, Eileen asked me to show you and Joseph has given his permission. Since you have the best memory of us all."

"They call it amp," Cat replies, "I don't know the recipe for it yet, but I believe one part is Refrain. Colette said when Bella had her, she was once injected with something that made her go into overdrive. Lasers and the like. I made some suggestions to Jensen on how to go about snatching Bella and securing some information." Her features shift back to that calm businesslike demeanor she often projects in speaking of this. "It involves getting her alone and making sure we don't get interrupted, taking some steps to ensure she answers all questions truthfully, and putting something into place so she'll both not remember any of it and keep feeding us data from the inside." Kaylee's face is observed, watched, as she speaks. Perhaps to gauge reactions to the topic.

When she cedes the floor to Kaylee, the silence indicates she's ready to receive the transfer.

Taking another sip from her bottle, Kaylee eyes Cat for a moment. The lid is twisted on the bottle and set on the counter. Brows furrow at Cats idea, head nodding slowly. "That's an interesting idea. Though… personally, I'd rather see her stuck in her own head and forced to live what her victims did." The telepathic woman may not run with Adam Monroe anymore, but there is still a very dark part of her that peeks out from the deepest part of her. "A much more satisfying end then simply taking her life."

She moves to close the distance between her and Cat, wiping the condensation from the bottle on her shorts. "This will be easy, if you dont' resist me. Hopefully, you ability doesn't overload me like Sabrina.. Adam's former assistant. Her mind was like a spinning hard drive, constantly moving and so it overloaded my own."

Cool fingers reach out to touch Cat's temple, already she can see the concentration on Kaylee's face as she thinks back to what she learned from Joseph. There is a light feeling of pressure as one mind connects with the other and the memory trickles between them. It's not as clear and crisp as it was in Joseph's mind, much like when you make a copy of a copy. Some of it is jumpy, other parts a bit hazier, but the important stuff is there. The faces, the progression of events… The moment that people drop to the floor.

It's all there for Cat to soak into that sharp memory of her's.

There's no resistance, nothing of the kind Kaylee may remember from their first encounter when she called up a long string of information to provoke overload and cause a physical reaction that would give her away. And there's certainly no mental singing of Abba tunes, that's Helena's thing.

She's quiet during the exchange, eyes focused ahead and mind clear, to observe what's relayed and record it in her own mind. The voice is used again only when it's over, amid a facial expression which has sharpened into hidden anger. "I may ask you to do this again soon, after I line up a technopath. Maybe Wireless, maybe someone else, but… I think this can be made into video footage."

Fingers are removed from Cat's temple once the memory winds to it's end, "Really? I… dunno. Not sure Wireless would trust anyone to do anything to her mind." Besides she's kinda scary, but then Kaylee doesn't voice that. The telepath, back up back to the counter, until she lightly bumps into it, only then does she lift a hand to massage at a point just above the bridge of her nose, as if it will relieve the pressure there, not as bad as it can get at least.

"If this is what the Institute is doing… there has to be a way to take it down." The telepath is frowning deeply as she says that, water bottle back in her hands. "Get those people out. We still haven't seen hide nor hair of Gillian, which considering what she is… I don't think we will see her."

There is a heavy sigh, "Unfortunately, this isn't a two bit side operation like Sheridan's trials… this is a big deal." Kaylee takes another deep drink of water before glancing at Cat.

"I've done a thing like it before," Cat replies, "got a telepath to lift images from my head and filter them to a technopath, who then converted them into .jpgs. I'll look into it, get some other opinions on whether or not to make the attempt and what to do with the footage if we do. A thing like this, with those people in the record, could have an impact on their operations. The Institute is a tough nut, any little thing we can get may be valuable." Features darken, the eyes flash a hint of what she's capable of doing. "Don't think for a single moment there's any intention of giving up on freeing Gillian. I just don't know how yet."

As she settles into a chair, the topic is rewound some. "About Bella, I get it, wanting to trap her in her own mind, to punish. She's deserving. But if we make a move at her, there are more pragmatic things to consider. We need someone inside the Institute feeding us data. Operations, personnel, goals, locations, etc. That's why I recommend giving her a lasting command to keep things flowing. We would question her, implant the suggestion, and let her go with no memory of seeing us. Not a mark on her, no missing time or reports of being missing, nothing that would give the Institute red flags and reduce her value as a source."

Given her confidence in speaking of such an undertaking, Cat's probably designed and carried one out before too.

There is a soft sigh and a slow nod of her head as Kaylee listens. "I understand wanting to use her as a mole." Leaning against the counter, Kaylee crosses her ankles, hands roll the bottle between them. "Doesn't make the desire to pay her back for what she's done to Joseph… and Colette." The last name added quickly. "Any less."

"I might be able to do that… if… we can get her asleep without her knowledge — drug her or what not —I can dig around without her knowing." Kaylee offers the information helpfully, head tilting to one side in thought. "That is our best bet, cause altering her memories is tougher then it looks and there is a limit of what I can manipulate. Making her forget… that's tough… I haven't done that much and I don't know how long it would last."

"We're still planning," Cat replies. "The time I helped plan something similar, we had a persuader on board." She pauses, eyes closing, before forging ahead in a quieter voice that sounds a bit haunted. "There's a number of people I'd really love to exact vengeance on, to punish. But there's always bigger things at stake than my vendettas, and getting that vengeance won't raise the dead. It would ultimately be unsatisfying, for that reason. I also choose not to let those persons have power over me, by devoting so much time and energy to it."

"I know… and as Joseph might mention… there is always Judgment Day." Kaylee says with a heavy sigh. A hand moving to rest on the edge of the counter. "But I'm getting tired of all that 'Good guys finish last' stuff. He doesn't deserve any of that."

The hand is used to push away from the counter, a step is taken away from it. "I keep saying, I'm not gonna let it happen again, yet he continues to go through all this." Kaylee sighs heavily, a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth, eyes cast to the floor for a moment. "Anyhow… that's all I needed to do, my job is complete. Anything you need from me?" Blue eyes drift from the floor to Cat, brows lifting slightly with curiosity.

"Not right now," is Cat's answer. "I need to talk with Raith again soon, see about whether or not the move on Bella will go forward. And look into the idea of making video footage." Her seat is abandoned, steps move toward the door. "Thanks again for coming."

She sees her visitor out, business concluded, and turns her mind to other things. Like meeting with Jonas at the Garden, and asking about this Brum character.


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