Participants:
Scene Title | Comic Book Hero |
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Synopsis | Adam continues to apply doubt to Magnes' world |
Date | May 14, 2009 |
It's a somewhat pleasant night in Tokyo, and Magnes has been jogging for a few hours, occasionally stopping to take a break. "Man, where's Karakura Town? Is it even in Tokyo…" he muses to himself, wearing a long sleeeved white cotton shirt, nicely fitting blue jeans, and white sneakers completely unrelated to his skates. That's right, he is without skates, though he does have a long metallic pole strapped across his back as he runs. He's not allowed to use his powers to jog… Oh, and he has no idea that Karakura Town is fictional.
Adam is in an outside cafe, casually leaning back in a comfortable chair. He has a cup of tea in front of him and appears to be talking casually to some tattooed men who deign to wear sunglasses at night. He nods a bit and they eventually stand and make their way away when he notices a white boy running down the sidewalk. A rather, unfortunate familiar boy. He ponders trying to get his attention.
Magnes is definitely familiar, even though his hair is a bit longer and unstyled. He stops in front of the cafe to take a breather, briefly scanning the area, then… double-take. That's the guy from the park! He quickly looks away, pretending he didn't see him. Why is that guy in Japan?
There's a certain amount of reasonable answers to the question 'What is a New York pizza boy, wanna be superhero follower of Hiro Nakamura doing in Japan?' Adam purses his lips a moment in thought as he takes another sip of his tea. Clearly, as he was watching the boy, he notices the attempt to be discrete. And for that reason only, he calls out, "Magnes. How odd to see you in Japan."
"I could say the same to you." Magnes quickly retorts, looking back at the pole strapped to him. Please don't ask questions, please don't ask questions. "Yeah, I'm here visiting a friend, a pen pal." Crap, pen pal, why did he say pen pal? Do those even exist anymore?
Adam would show insult, but Magnes is only a boy, he hasn't had time to figure out who to insult with illogic and who not. He purses his lips again and then says, "Oh, how interesting. I'm a businessman, my work takes me all around the world. To be honest, it seems a bit odd to me a pizza boy is able to afford the airfare."
"Ah, well, my pen pal has lots of money, I got special seats." Magnes explains, since some of that technically isn't a lie. He did have a special seat. "Oh, wait, you saw me do that jump thing. Uh, about that…"
Jump. Interesting, Adam hadn't been clear on the mechanics, but there's a detail. He ahs, "A rich pen pal. Interesting they wouldn't visit New York instead. Or…do things over the email." he tilts his head a moment, he has more questions to make the boy uncomfortable, but he allows the boy to keep talking, "About that.."
"Alright, I'll admit it, I have a power, super jumping is my power." he explains, blatant lie this time, but the less information people have, the better. Spider-Man learned this at some point, stop f'ing telling people that you have Spider-Sense, and so he did. "So, we're good then?"
Adam considers the mechanics to this. California to Japan is one heck of a jump, that seems less logical. The arc alone should take the boy to space. He considers his tea as he works this out in his mind, no, the boy is holding back, but there's only so many possibilities that will eventually work out. In the end, he looks up, "Good? I didn't realize we were bad." he pauses, "Why are you carrying a metal pole?"
"O-oh, this? It's nothing." Magnes' nervousness is already apparent, reaching back to touch the pole for a moment, then tries to relax and focus. Relax, focus, flower arranging, Kimiko's cleav— /flower arranging/! He takes a deep breath, then his nervousness seems to get pushed to the back of his mind. "My friend is really into martial arts, so he's been teaching me to spar. I was just jogging. And I would have thought that the last time we met left a bad impression…"
Adam shrugs a bit, "You can't begrudge children for believing in comic book philosophy." he considers, "Your friend is quite…formidable. Rich, martial artist." he pauses, "Why, he almost sounds like Hiro Nakamura." how about that. There really isn't many logical conclusions Adam can come to, the only question is, what to do about the boy. As he looks the boy over, he considers. Killing him is an option. But he's a friend of Abby's, certainly /that/ would go over well. He sighs out loud before he finally says, "Magnes, why don't you sit down. I have an important question to ask you."
Magnes coughs, almost chokes when Adam says Hiro's name, but quickly catches his breath and walks to sit across from Adam. The pole is turned slightly, but he doesn't remove it. "An important question?"
Adam nods a bit, "Have you ever heard of the Company?" he questions.
"The what?" Magnes asks, having no idea what that is. But it's obvious he's had contact, considering the mark on his neck. "Um, no, I mean I've heard of compan/ies/. Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega, Wizards of the Coast…"
Adam tilts his head a moment before he says, "Unexplained marks on your neck out of nowhere? Missing days?" he asks as he sips the tea quietly, "Bring back any memories?"
"Huh, I did have missing hours once, but I don't think I have any marks…" Magnes reaches into his pocket, pulling out his red Nintendo DS-lite, then looks at his neck in the reflection. "Whoa, what the hell is that?"
Adam seems almost exasperated at the boy's utter lack of self awareness. Yeah, this one would take years for the Nakamura's to train. At any rate, he lets out a breath, "That's a tracking mark. They kidnapped you, hit you with a marker to keep track of you and then erased your memory for a few hours or days, depending on how long they kept you. That's what they do."
"But why? How do I undo it? What did they do to me?" Magnes asks as he slides his DS back into his pocket, then something occurs to him. "Why do you know all this? What's going on?"
Adam smiles enigmatically, "Why? To control and monitor you, of course. They call it bagging and tagging. Isn't that a delightfully chilling colloquial term?" he pauses. "They figured out what your power is.." he says the next in term that shows he clearly doesn't believe it, "Your /super jumping/. To make sure they didn't think you were dangerous or could turn dangerous." he sips his tea, "In fact, they're doing it all around New York right now. There's no telling who they've grabbed or might grab next." he shrugs, "I've never noticed if Abby had the mark. Ashame if she did, worse if she didn't, because that means she's on the list."
"Is it the government? Nathan Petrelli?" Magnes is full of questions, appearing more shocked by the moment. "And why do you know all this? Who are you?" he asks again, because there's no way he's letting that question slip. But he's also not elaborating on his own power, at least not yet…
Adam shrugs a bit, "Yes. Yes." he says in reply simply, "That's the short answer. But it's really more complicated than that. Frankly, I don't think you could handle how complicated." he pauses at the question, "I was once part of the Company. Originally, the vision was sound. But…as with all organizations, the need for power and control corrupted it. And let's just say, I was ousted. And now.." he leans in, "I'm going to destroy it."
"I don't know, all that crazy stuff you were saying the other day…" Suddenly Magnes decides that this man might be dangerous, and for some reason places both of his hands on to the table. "I want to know everything you know about this 'Company', and I want to know who you are, and why you're in Japan." he asks far more seriously, moving a foot to try and place it against Adam's. He's attempting to make both his and Adam's legs incredibly heavy, as well as their hands. That's why his hands are on the table, hands hanging down hurts.
Adam seems as if he was about to talk and then his legs get heavy. He looks down for a moment at the ground, then back up to the boy. "Super jumping, hm?" way to play your hand, Magnes. Then he's quiet. "I'll show you something." he says as he tries to reach into his jacket. He gets some of the way and then his hands move to the table, "Well, I was going to show you something."
"You haven't seen my hand." Magnes warns, not taking kindly to mysterious strangers. He stares at Adam with a tilt of his head, then asks, "What do you wanna show me? And don't try to trick me, I've been kidnapped before, I know how it works."
Adam is quiet, suddenly, just staring at the boy. Eventually, perhaps the boy will realize that Adam won't be discussing things under these conditions.
Magnes sighs, releasing Adam from the increased gravity, though he keeps his foot next to Adam's unless he moves it. "Sorry, but people are always keeping information from me, saying I'm not ready, that I can't handle it. You could be trying to hurt my friends, I don't know, I just want information. Wait, you know Abby?"
Adam still doesn't answer. But he reaches into his jacket and takes out a folded pictures. It appears well used and he unfolds it quietly. In it, are a bunch of older men and women who are smiling for the camera. Most of them are likely nobody to Magnes. But a few…like Daniel Linderman, or Arthur and Angela Petrelli….but perhaps the most interesting figure, the one who should currently be most familiar, is Kaito Nakamura."
"The Company." Magnes says as if something just completely dawned on him. "From 9th Wonders, that's real?" he asks, looking over the picture to see who he recognizes. Sure, anyone he's seen on television like Nathan, and he's seen Kaito in pictures so far, but it's definitely him. "U-um, do you know who that is?" he asks, not wanting to give information, but he taps a finger against Kaito.
Adam rolls his eyes at Magnes 'sudden realization'. He takes the picture and carefully folds it away and puts it back in his jacket before he says, "I don't know, Magnes. Do you?" he leans forward, "Do you /really/?"
"I do, but I can't say it unless you do." Magnes insists, folding his arms stubbornly. "So, do you know who it is or not? And I don't know what exactly the picture is, but I know it has something to do with the Company. I didn't get that far in the issues."
Adam arches a brow, "Why, that's Kaito Nakamura. President of the Yamagato Corporation and one of the founders of the Company, the man who's hospitality you are currently enjoying." he pauses, "Though, I doubt it's by willingness." he leans in, "He never cared much for /gaijin/."
"I don't get this, it doesn't make any sense." Magnes sits up straight now, trying to put it all together. "Does Hiro know what his father is doing? What about Kimiko? I feel like there's something important you're leaving out. Why are you telling me all this?"
Adam shrugs his shoulders, "Those seem to be questions you should ask them. I think you'll find your friends keep more secrets from you than you'd really be comfortable with." he tilts his head, "Because you need more information before you make yourself a silly mistake. Really, you should be at home protecting Abby, but who am I to say, I just assumed you were concerned for her. The Company knows no good will." he pauses, "Can I call you gravity lad? Isn't that a comic book character?"
"That better not be a threat." Magnes warns, scowling as best he can manage. "I can get to America if I need to. And don't assume you have my powers all figured out." He stands up, clearly not liking Adam at all as he pushes his chair in. "I'll ask questions, I'll sort this all out, and you're gonna stay the hell away from Abby or I really will play my hand. I'll handle the Company when I get back to America, there's plenty of people protecting her. And you can call me whatever you want, but I know you're up to something. Mysterious charismatic guys, the most suspicious of them all. Hitler was charismatic too."
Adam arches a brow, "Why would I threaten Abby. Abby is a good girl, a gift from God. I simply noted she needs protecting." he tilts his head for a moment, "Nor will I stay 'the Hell away from her'. We're friends." he pauses at the Hitler was charismatic too and then says, "So was Dr. Martin Luther King."
"Martin Luther King didn't talk about killing thousands to save a million." Samson adds, starting to walk away. "Abby doesn't need friends like you, I know you're up to no good. Trying to turn me against Hiro, twice, and talking about genocide. I'm not dumb."
Adam sips his tea, "We shall see."