Participants:
Scene Title | Creepy McCreepster |
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Synopsis | Mallory tells her twin Simon what she's discovered in the search for PARIAH. They figure out what to do and how much they'll tell their employer, Diego. |
Date | October 28, 2008 |
To all appearances, little has changed about Washington Irving High School, although it was closed for 20 months after the bomb exploded in Midtown. The windows broken and walls graffitied by mischievous teens during that interval have been restored to their original appearance; the hardwood floors have been recently waxed, the walls are clean, and row upon row of lockers line the halls of all eleven floors. The entrance hall remains elegant in its wood paneling and fireplace, as if nothing untoward ever happened.
It's lunch time and Simon is outside in the school yard, sitting on one of the gnarled roots emerging from the ground around the half dead tree in far corner. He's facing school, watching kids trickle out. Some head to the bleachers. Others go to the cafeteria. Still others sneak off the grounds, which is easier than many might think. His cell phone is in his hand and he looks down at it to check the time that's written in bold analog across the screen. Once that's done, he puts it away and busies himself with his brown paper bag, opening it and pulling out a bag of Cheez-Its.
"Those are disgusting," Mallory announces from behind him, having crept up while he was checking the time, hands jammed in her hoodie's pockets. No lunch bag on her right now.
Simon twirls around at the sound of Mallory's voice, eyeing her. "Geez, Creepy McCreepster. Stop sneaking up on people." He scoots over a bit, in case Mallory wants to take a seat on the root as well. You never know. "What's up?" The bag of AMAZING cheese snacks gets torn open and he pulls out a few to munch on
Mallory does, in fact, take a seat on the root next to Simon. "Hey. So. Found something interesting in Stillwater. Well, at Stillwater. I haven't really gone poking /in/ Stillwater. So I'm poking the video, right? Fortis et Liber? And this chat message comes up that's not connected to, like… anything."
Simon raises a brow and turns to his sister with a curious glint in his eyes. "Oh yeah? It wasn't a stalker, was it?" He narrows his eyes, having had too many run-ins with one particular stalker himself. Then again, Mallory *was* stalking these PARIAH people, so… "What happened?"
Mallory shrugs a little, shoving some of her hair out of her face. Looks like she hasn't combed it today, either. "Don't think so. It was weird. I tried going against it but I couldn't find where it was coming from. It wanted to know who I was and I said I was nobody and not a threat. Didn't seem to like that." She swings her legs a little, up higher on the root, sneakered feet dangling. "So they blocked off access from Stillwater's system. I've been in libraries since then, working on untangling the defenses." Her nose wrinkles. "I still haven't told the boss. What do you think I should do, Si?"
"I don't know," Simon tells Mallory with a shrug. "What's been bothering me, though, is that Mr. Smith didn't tell us why he hired you. I mean I'm interested in the videos because, well, I'm evolved. And I'm curious and have a lot of time on my hands. Mr. Smith, though, runs a big ass company. What does he want to do getting involved with terrorists?"
Mallory's head bobs. "That's why I'm not telling him yet," she says with a wry little twist of her lips. "I don't know his motives. I'm thinking of telling him I ran up against their defenses and that's why Stillwater's locked out. That's the truth. And then maybe I'll ask what he wants with them."
"Yeah, I was planning on asking him, too. You should tell him at least that, though. You don't want to get pulled off the assignment." Simon considers this for a moment and then nods. Yes, that sounds about right.
"Yeah," Mallory says, all pensive and such. "Yeah, I'll do that. Just be careful, okay? He might not /like/ me asking questions."
"Then let me ask the questions. If you want." Simon shrugs again, because he doesn't really know what the best course of action should be. He's never dealt with these things before.
Mallory tilts her head to the left. "If he doesn't want me asking questions, he probably don't want you asking them, either."
"Yeah, but I'm not part of the project, so he can't fire me from it. Right?" Simon is just the numbers cruncher, after all. "And don't worry. I can handle Diego Smith," he adds smugly.
Mallory raises her eyebrows. "You can? Uh huh. And how would you 'handle' him, Si?"
"Oh, I don't know." Simon sighs and looks over at Mallory. "Maybe we should both ask him? Seperately? Together? Have you figured out I don't know what I'm talking about, yet?"
Mallory opens her mouth, then shuts it. She eyes him, looks away, then opts to speak once more. "I'll do it."
Simon nods and eats a few more of his snack. "That's fine, then," is his simple response.
"Right. So if I turn up dead at the bottom of the river, you know who to blame," Mallory tells him lightly, reaching over to pat his back as she hops off the root.
Simon laughs and waves to Mallory. "I'll see you later. Have fun in class." He frowns at that, then continues on with his lunch.
![]() October 28th: Hindsight Is 20/20 |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
![]() October 28th: Masquerade Ball I |