Participants:
Scene Title | Doing? What Needs Done? |
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Synopsis | Delilah has her recruitment interview. |
Date | June 4, 2009 |
Village Renaissance Building, Cat's Penthouse
Arriving by any of four elevators, visitors will find they open into three foot corridors facing wide double doors made from sturdy southern pine which swing outward and have the strongest locks available. The stairs lead to single doors, also outward opening, at the end of three foot corridors. Entry requires both a key and a keycard; other security measures are a video camera and voice communication terminal at all doors. The 4th Street side has floor to ceiling windows interrupted only by the access points. Cream colored curtains are normally kept closed.
This level has enough space for sixteen apartments. There is an office space with reception area, conference room, and executive office; a room for archery practice and other forms of physical exercise; a very well appointed kitchen and dining area; a music zone with an array of instruments, electronics, and amplifiers; an entertainment area with an HD set covering an entire stretch of wall from floor to ceiling; a locked room where security footage for the building is recorded and can be monitored; a laundry room; a staircase for roof access; central air and heating; the main bedroom and a few smaller guest rooms; plush deep wine carpet everywhere except the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms; and track lighting everywhere overhead. The light levels can be lowered or raised in the entire place, or selectively by segments. The overall decor suggests the occupant is a woman.
Thursday morning, and time has come to handle a piece of business among so many other pieces of business Cat has on her hands. Things were arranged with Helena, and as the display on her iPhone reads 10:57 she's expecting the leader to arrive soon. That same device is used to text Delilah with an invitiation to come up, there's things to talk about.
Knowing both can get in, Cat's waiting for them in the entertainment area with lunch and drinks for both. Her own is on a coffee table next to a glass of Pepsi. To occupy herself while waiting, she's rewatching last night's Yankees game, eyes on the huge HD set. The odd thing is the device is turned off.
The elevator doors -ping-, and in walks Helena. If she came with an escort, they're waiting on one of the lower levels - also, Helena appears to be raven-haired today, due to the useful application of a black wig that makes her look like an incarnation of Snow White. "Cat," she calls out in greeting, "Hey."
Rewatching a game without a TV? Strange. Meeting the lady that was on TV for the past couple days? Stranger, but considerably more awesome. For Delilah, there is probably a bit of celebrity awe if she does know about who else is coming- and if not, Surprise! The elevator doors ping for her a couple minutes later, the redhead wandering slowly into the unlocked penthouse not long after Helena. Dressed as she usually is, the only new thing is the presence of a square bandage on the back of her neck. "Cat?"
There are voices entering her perception, and so she rises from her seat, also emerging from the memory she was indulging in. Cat steps into the open areas at the center, so both can see her, and indicates where she's set up for them. "Morning," she calls out for the benefit of both as they emerge from different elevators and entrances. "If you would, close and lock the doors behind you?"
Helena gives Delilah an easy smile as she passes by her to turn the key on the elevator. She might not be immediately recognizable - the wig is a rather startling difference. With that she murmurs, "It's too early for a beer. Cat, can I raid your fridge? I haven't eaten since I got up this morning and I could eat a zebra."
Why do people have whole floors sometimes? Delilah was fine with that teeny little trailer and then the apartment in the lower floor. Big homes escape her. No need to ask about the door, though, as she has a habit of shutting and locking all of them anyway. Helena's presence makes it a semi-group effort. Already working together, how quaint. Dee smiles back, though far more brightly than is necessary, really. The wig does wonders, because the younger woman only knows the familiarity that comes with that 'have we met?' moment.
"I missed my usual break too- ahh-" Even halfway through saying something of similar effect as Helena, Delilah's stomach lets out a rude gurgle. That.
"I've got Piccoli's and soda in here," Cat tells the leader with a laugh. "A zebra? Interesting image. One might think it would be more me than you doing that, after all, as Knox says, I'm a lioness." She turns to the redhead, making the same invitation. "Hungry, Delilah? Piccoli's is excellent."
Having declared it so, Cat moves toward the area she came from and the seat her own food is in front of.
Helena lets out a sunny, "Hooray!" before she pads off to the kitchen and opens the fridge. As she starts taking out foodstuffs, she calls out affably, "Introduce me to your friend, Cat. I'm guessing she wouldn't be here if you didn't intend for us to meet."
"I've never heard of it." But if Cat says it is excellent-. And somewhere in there is Delilah imagining Cat chasing down a zebra and pouncing on it like the dog in Duck Hunt.
Helena, however, is being heavily considered- but only because Delilah is convinced that she should know her. Oddly enough, it is quite possible that Delilah has only heard clips of her interview- the voice may be the only thing. "I think I know you already." Eventually, she does join Cat in the entertainment room, still looking very uncertain about Helena. "You sound familiar." Yep. Voice.
In the entertainment area, waiting for them to join her, Cat is puzzled to not find Helena entering and her voice instead calling out and becoming distant. "Just a moment, Delilah. I'll be right back." Her head tilts to one side, and she emerges to go after her. Bring her back, at that. The refrigerator has food in it, and drinks, but there's no Piccoli's. That's in the entertainment area, where Cat said it was, she having been expecting both of them around that time and being prepared.
"Looking for something?" she asks with a laugh moments later when she enters the kitchen. "I'll introduce you, of course. I just thought you like to do that yourself, sometimes you choose not to."
"Fair enough." Helena says, as she starts spreading mayo on some bread. "I'm Helena." she offers to the redhead. "It's nice to meet you, Delilah - and actually, we have met. Your ability had fired up and you were freaking out, there was a crowd - I helped you get away."
Helena! Click, clickclickclick. If thoughts were audible, Delilah's skull would be making several of these noises all at once. Or close to it.
Hungry, yes- but it's hard to ignore someone that helped you out- especially once you also happen to realize that they are also currently splashed all over the newswaves, and incidentally as the figure of the group that Cat has been educating her about as of late. "Oh. Oh. Oh my gosh." See? It progresses. "In November! Election night!" Delilah is on the edge of her seat quite by accident. "I knew I knew your voice, I heard it on the radio this morning." The interview! "I remember you being blonde." Very astute.
Oooookay. Cat watches Helena proceed to mayo up bread, and shakes her head. "Are you okay, Helena?" she asks, curiously. "Because I've got Piccoli's for all of us in the entertainment room, and I told you that, but you came here to make your own. Did something happen, you don't like Piccoli's anymore?" Her backside rests against a counter for a moment, then she pushes off to head back to Delilah in the entertainment room, only to see the redhead has joined them in the kitchen.
"Delilah Trafford, Helena Dean. Helena, Delilah. Now it's official," she offers with a quiet laugh.
"Piccoli's!" Helena is visibly delighted, it's not like she gets to eat much of the stuff anymore. She makes her way into the entertainment room, brushing her dark hair back with irritation. "I hate this thing, it gets in my way." she says, reaching for a sub and falling back into a chair.
Food, Helena, Food, Helena. Delilah is having a bit of trouble deciding which to commit her immediate attention to, but since Helena chooses food, she decides it is safe to concentrate on the lunch part of a lunch date. So many questions, though. And, wig! Now that they are closer, Delilah can see those signs. "Could always find the kind with a fake skin. I hear they itch though." Not to mention there is a Sal floating around- but small talk is really all that Dee can come up with all of a sudden. Is it too soon to ask things about what she's been doing? And the prison thing? How do you act around Helena Dean?
That, in Cat's view, would be the purpose of having food, beyond it being lunchtime. To put people at ease. She settles into her seat and takes up some of the eats provided here, also the glass of cola. Helena's wig is looked over, and a suggestion made. "It's safe in here, you can take it off if you like."
Then, to Delilah, she says "This is basically the next step in things we talked about, meeting others of like mind. To relax and talk things over some."
"Ehh, I'll just have to fight with it in the bathroom to put it back on." Helena makes a face and nods to Delilah, "God, but they do." There's a pause. "You know, you may not remember, but we've met. Your ability was kicking in, and there was a crowd, and we got you away. There was a fog. Remember?" She gives Delilah a smile and then nods to Cat. "Holly's blog is getting so many hits, it's insane. And now there's this book out. I'm wondering if Cameron's brother is going to have a hard on to put a bullet in my skull."
At 'safe', Delilah does sort of relax. And then Cat pretty much tells her in the course of words- relax. For a minute it truly felt like some kind of interview. Even the redhead's spine seems to unwind, and the teenager adopts a less rigid posture- though not a careless one. Cat gets a nod, and Helena a smile. "Everything after a certain point was a blur, but it's had to totally forget the day you accidentally start throwing people into seizures." Dee chuckles, but only just enough to make it lighthearted. "I remember. Gah, manifesting on Election day… Book?" Even bestsellers escape note.
"I doubt that, Helena," Cat opines. "And we have the full story of what happened to his brother." Her tone is solemn in speaking of Cameron. The images seen when they found him outside the Hangar are fresh in her mind, as if they'd been seen just minutes before. "I never met Mr. Patterson, though. I'll have to read his book. It's selling so well."
Silence is next as she bites into food and chews carefully, slowly.
"Jeremy Patterson's The New Urban Rebellion." Helena explains. "It's doing quite well, yes. It's giving us some good press." she notes, and then sighs. "That may be Cat, but it's his own brother who's looking to head up Frontline. I'm guessing there's some bitterness there, and when it comes to family, it's hard to believe some things, regardless of how true it might be."
After a few bites of her food she nods, "I can relate, believe it or not. Abrupt thunderstorms can be damn frightful." Settling back, kicking off her shoes and curling her legs up like she lives here, she inquires, "So I'm guessing, Delilah, that you want to be part of all this?"
After mentioning election night, Delilah's hand does subconsciously stray back on her shoulder to press at the tape of the bandage on her neck. It's an almost thoughtful motion. The title of the book is tucked away in her head, and as for the other stuff, that's simply not her business yet. A few bites are taken while the other two discuss Frontline and brothers.
"I've been helping out the Ferrymen and Cat, working here. I think Cat thought it logical to ask me-" A small smile is given to the virtual matron of the building at that. "-and that wasn't misplaced. Yes, I do." When it boils down, it is not difficult for her to choose between doing something and not doing anything.
Helena's removal of shoes and curling up doesn't even draw a glance from Cat, suggesting perhaps the leader could live here if she chose. The Hostess is silent in listening as information is shared, the mention of Cameron's brother heading Frontline causing a raised eyebrow. That's interesting indeed.
"She and I talked a while back, after I mentioned maybe bringing her aboard and got the nod," Cat states to Helena. "I covered the basics, but left the more in-depth things for you to cover after speaking with her. Or after acceptance, coming from me." Her food is lifted again, she returning to silence.
Helena nods to that, seeming pleased, but the expression she regards Delilah with is somewhat too old around her eyes. "Do you understand what we do? What we try to do, anyway. The Ferrymen have a very specific purpose, and so do we, for all that we're under the same umbrella. There's risk in what they do, but we put ourselves in danger a lot of the time."
Delilah knows that Helena cannot be much older than her- but she can see that age in her eyes. It's hard to miss. "Yes. I understand your purpose, and I understand that what you do is dangerous. I'm not unfamiliar with putting myself in danger for a purpose." Not to say she is never scared- just that she knows the feeling. "The Ferrymen do good work. Great work. And so does Phoenix." Even if extremely above the level of the Ferrymen.
Helena wouldn't call it so, just different, and equally important. "I think the biggest challenge for a lot of people involved in this is the understanding that once you're on board, what you do? Can effect all of us. Going out and getting into a brawl. Saying the wrong thing over tea in Chinatown. Getting picked up for jaywalking. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't live your life, but you need to be aware that there are things one can do which will prompt exposure. Common sense is kind of important." Helena raises a hand, adding quickly, "I'm not saying you don't have it. I'm not even saying I'm the epitome of it. I've done some ridiculous things for my own admittedly selfish reasons."
"Everyone has times that they don't embody common sense. I like to think that I do- but I think I have some learning to do when it comes to my mouth. Not like I tell people things, god no- I can keep secrets- just that sometimes I'm too …frank." And at that, Delilah bites on her tongue, glancing off at the air for a second. A playful gesture, yet serious. "And some people call me naive. But only because what I was doing at the time seemed silly to them. But I always know what I'm doing, even if someone else doesn't realize." She's got her head screwed on pretty tight, considering.
"I had to really watch my step when I was living with my aunt. That was obviously not the same degree of being one's utmost considerate, but concept-wise, I understand. And I would be more than ready to step it up a few dozen notches." Even starting at the bottom of Phoenix seems like something she'd be totally fine with. "If I have to work at my place in things, so be it. I just have the feeling that there is a place for me."
Helena feels like in some ways she's staring into a mirror, it's like Delilah carries a piece of her that got left behind when she was first tossed into a cell at Moab. It's wonderful, and a little sad. "What about being asked to do things that don't seem to make sense, or put you in deliberate danger? We've had people walk away because that was too much for them. Sometimes what you're asked to do is very hard and straining, and it's all appreciated, but we also don't necessarily have time to pat each other on our backs, either." It's not that Helena's trying to discourage her, but she is trying to give Delilah an idea of how some of it can feel."
Maybe Helena dropped that piece and Delilah thought it was a shiny bauble. Worse things have happened. "If I'm asked to do something, I do it. I don't have a habit of asking questions when it comes to some things in my life." Cat can vouch. "If something needs doing in the first place, there is always a reason. Even if I don't know it. I learned that working here. Knowing something is putting me in the line of fire doesn't seem a whole mess different. There's always a reason. But I'm not entirely guided by faith either- I know when something is fishy." Women's intuition.
Helena smiles at that, nodding a little. Go team Delilah! "What do you see yourself doing?" she asks. "What is it that you want to do? Are you Registered?" Now they get down to the particulars, the nitty gritty.
"Doing? What needs done?" Delilah does smile more broadly now. "It's not like I'm some ex-military grunt or black ops, so obviously I'm not warzone material, but I learn quick, and I learn well. 'M not registered. I thought about it, back in November when it happened. But when I started reading books and realizing what I could do-" Delilah almost winces, her hand going up to her neck again. "-I knew that it'd be a mistake. I'm dangerous, and so few others seem to realize."
Her fingers now find the corner of the bandage on her neck, twisting the white square off of her skin and showing what is under it to Helena and Cat. A small magenta colored biohazard symbol, outlined in indigo and strategically placed over her tracking mark. "I was tagged by some… people, though. I don't know who they are, but I've heard things. I put this over it today. I consider this my registration."
"The Company." Helena nods. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, even if you probably don't remember it. If you want to be at the forefront of things, we can get you the training you need - how to use a gun, how to defend yourself, that sort of thing, but we try to keep violence limited to actions of self-defense or the defense of something greater than ourselves. Of course, the latter tends to get us blamed for the things we're trying to put a stop to, like the Verrazano bridge."
For having such a simple name, it's awful hard to remember them. Delilah nods, pausing at the last part. "I had the feeling there was something else going on…" And now she sort of knows, but true to form, she does not ask questions, though curiosity is obvious on her features. "I have a gun." She starts, sheepish. "…I'm just as likely to shoot myself in the foot as incapacitate someone else."
"If it makes sense, I can start small. I don't expect trust, I have to earn that- and I have to learn to swim before jumping in the river, right?"
Helena's smile quirks, turns a little wry at the mention of the proverbial river. "By the time we're done, hopefully we'll have moved the river." she tells the redhead earnestly. "My understanding is that you've been helping Cat with housekeeping this place. Obviously you want to do more than dust furniture. Right now we're sort of in a transition period. We know what we want to do, but are still coming up with ways to go about it, and with the direction things are moving in, we may have to change our original plan. Many people have talked about a war coming, if that's the case, we know who we have to fight for. I'd rather continue to push the agenda of everyone working together, but we may not have that opportunity anymore."
Lesser men and women have moved mountains. Which are a lot tougher than rivers! "Years ago, war would have never been a word I thought I would possibly see come alive in my backyard." Delilah breathes a small sigh. "Those people- Humanis First- they're backwards. But I suppose a lot of people see Phoenix as backwards too. A perspective thing."
"Peaceful resolution is always preferred, but I'm going to have to agree that it may not have a place to be used anymore. At least not right now. 'Cause when people start trying to kill each other out in the open like that plane…? It is probably beyond 'hey, let's talk about this'. I'd rather be peaceful about it too, but when push comes to shove, sometimes shoving back is the only thing to do until things change." But only just enough shoving, of course!
Helena once more nods her agreement, smiling and visibly comfortable with the conversation so far. "I may not be able to instantly bring you into things. Eventually you'll be shown where our HQ is, how to keep your eye out for recruits, but if you have projects you want to undertake, just shoot me your ideas. We're close in age, and you could more easily recruit than I can."
"Baby steps." Delilah cites that she's perfectly fine with those once again. "I used to think that someone like you would be quite a bit older. Not that I count age as a big factor, just that there are always mental images." The redhead smiles. "As for recruiting, that's something I'll only trust myself with once everyone else trusts me first. I don't want to accidentally suggest someone that ends up a liability."